Doc says Roki Sasaki needs a 3rd pitch, Mets "corporate" clubhouse, Yankees eyeing Goldschmidt reunion?

00:00:01
Speaker 1: No fresh signings in the past twenty four hours, but we did get some news from the league. It's not crazy big news, but it's news. The trade deadline this year will be on August third, Monday, August third, a little bit later than usual because we have the weekend, Ajane. We do not want a trade deadline over the weekend, and I agree with that. That is one of the biggest days of the year for the FT network.

00:00:32
Speaker 2: But what happened when it used to just fall on July thirty first and it fell on a weekend? Did anybody care or did we just not care then?

00:00:40
Speaker 1: We didn't care then? And now we are smarter as a sport?

00:00:45
Speaker 2: Got it? Got it?

00:00:46
Speaker 3: Are we?

00:00:46
Speaker 2: Though? We're smarter as human species and we're smarter as baseball people or slowly.

00:00:53
Speaker 1: Maybe not, I retract my statement. We're smarter about some things and we are definitely dumber about other things. True as a sport.

00:01:04
Speaker 2: True. Anyways, it's good, Listen. That means that I don't have to work an extra day in order to cover the trade deadline, because I'll already be on unless it's a Friday, then I won't be on. So no, it's Monday, Oh perfect, Monday, so we don't think.

00:01:16
Speaker 1: They would do it Friday. I think it's got to be a Monday through a Thursday, and that's how they always adjust it.

00:01:22
Speaker 2: Oh because August third second verse Jube July. Yeah, okay, I get it. I'm down with that. You know what, I'm down with this. I'm down with this as long as they don't put a trade deadline in the off season or as signing deadline the off season. I'm good with the moving trade deadline the season.

00:01:36
Speaker 1: I think message sent on that one. There will not be any movement on that front anytime soon. So you're safe. Let's charge charge. Dylan Hernandez, friend of the show, works for the California Post, which is a new publication, and he did an exclusive sit down with manager Dave Roberts. One of the notable sound bites doc said that Roki Sazaki will have to develop a third pitch to be an effective starting pitcher, and then the article talks about the twenty four year old starter turned closer turned back starter who will once again show up to camp as one of the team's great mysteries. Heyj what do you think about Roki Sazaki trying to figure out a third pitch at twenty four years old, and the backup plan that he could be a very effective reliever if it doesn't work out.

00:02:30
Speaker 2: It's only if only a show talked about this when they first signed him, thinking, Man, I wonder how he's gonna be, how he's gonna be since he only throws a fastball on a split, and when he throws as fastball and split, they're not strikes a lot. If only we had know of a show that had mentioned this, and now he needs a slider break involved hmm. Strange good though that he worked out as a closer, because now that they have Edwin Diaz, they can't use him as a closer and Tanner, Scott and everybody else at the back ano their bullpen. So we'll see what happens. Well, let's not forget he was hurt most of last year and he was in Triple A for most of the year until the end, so they have options. But this is maybe why teams No, I'm just kidding. Every team wanted this guy, so it wasn't that they just I don't know, I don't know. It's an interesting comment from Dave Roberts's close to spring training.

00:03:17
Speaker 3: I mean, I think it's definitely a good reason for exactly what I said last year. This guy will spend some time in Triple A. What are you gonna spend time in Triple A doing figuring out another pitch. It's okay that Roki Sasaki, who every team wanted, can learn things. You can learn things at twenty four years old. Now can he figure out how to throw a slider that isn't a below average spin, below average horizontal break like the ones he was throwing this year? Yeah, obviously, does it need to be a elite slider?

00:03:50
Speaker 2: No?

00:03:51
Speaker 3: And this is one of the things that when you talk about analytics and you talk about game plans nowadays, how they build them.

00:03:59
Speaker 2: What is his best pitch?

00:04:01
Speaker 3: It's the split fork ghost fork not ghost fork, but the fork ball thing. I mean, it's ridiculous. It's essentially a knuckleball. It wasn't enough, it wasn't enough strikes for him to have consistent success in the big leagues. I mean, throws one hundred miles an hour. But then again, so does everybody else. So to me, the slider doesn't need to be this elite wipeout slider. It just needs to be something that goes off of this plane, it's all up and down for him. And if you take away the fact that hitters don't need to look east and west, it makes your job as a hitter so much better. You just have to stay back through the middle. If it goes east and west too, like a slider would or some type of sinker which I don't think you would throw, it would be it would It would add to his arsenal. But it's okay. Like this team has a lot of starters. If he goes to Triple A and works this out and figures it out and builds his innings up to make him a starter, that can be depth for them.

00:05:00
Speaker 1: I'll say it again, he's only twenty four, so he could develop that slider or maybe even the.

00:05:05
Speaker 2: Notes you make Scott, what's he making this year?

00:05:09
Speaker 1: Not much? I mean the league minimum with the signing bonus that he has, but league minimum in terms of his MLB salary.

00:05:18
Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly. So guess what guys go to Triple A all the time that were making league minimum, right, Kratzy, I know you did it. I know I did it. When I was making league minimum, I went down to Triple A and had to figure some things out, But it's not a knock on him. It's a learning process and figure out a Listen, how many I know, I know, Kratzy, you play with some guys that couldn't figure out Why do you think we have the kick change now? Because guys can't supernate or pronate or whatever they need right, So now we have all these different pitches to try to help guys figure it out. Maybe he doesn't whatever this one is, whatever, the breaking ball one is that pronate, supernate whatever that one is, right, and he goes down there and they figure out some special gyro ball that dice case. I don't know, but yes, he definitely needs a third pitch if he's going to be a starter.

00:06:03
Speaker 3: I don't think it's I don't think it's as far. I don't think it's just far.

00:06:06
Speaker 2: Away as like, oh man, he just doesn't have a third pitch. He threw sliders last year. No he did.

00:06:12
Speaker 3: But when you have a pitch and you're trying to get a guy through an outing, the best of catchers are so it's so tough to be like, hey, I'll start working that slider in. Anybody can do it in spring training, but when it comes time to like win games. You're like, what am I gonna go with? Oh, he throws a knuckleball at eighty nine miles an hour. I'll throw that pitch. That splitter is it is a devastating pitch. I remember, I remember Joe Carrigan was our pitching coach and Vladimir Guerrero Junior, I mean, Vladimir.

00:06:45
Speaker 2: Guerrero was coming up.

00:06:47
Speaker 3: And Jackson, Steve Jackson was our pitcher, and he threw a splitter. He came out to the mountain and he goes, he goes, I want you to throw nine straight splitters. The only pitch I want you to throw. That is the best pitch, and you can throw against him, throw it the whole time. So there's sometimes when pitching coaches and catchers are like, well, this is the one. Okay, it didn't work, this is the one, this is the one. Before you know it, he's thrown ninety three pitches and he's thrown three sliders the whole game. That's not how you develop it. You develop it by throwing it, mixing it in, working on it in your side sessions, all that stuff. If you're looking to get your food routine down at home, you need to add some premium protein from Omaha Steaks.

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00:08:37
Speaker 2: Remember last year?

00:08:39
Speaker 1: Left?

00:08:40
Speaker 2: Remember last year though when he one of his early starts, it might have been the first start he had, the one they had in tow Didn't he start the second game of the year. Did he starts a Moto and then Suzaki or yes, I thought, and he's okay, I did those games, but there were three in the morning, so I kind of forgot what happened. He threw a slider, remember, because he wouldn't throw a fastball for a strike, and he was really struggling with the split and everyone just said, we're not swinging at that split finger. So he actually threw some slider. So that's where this is a little bit confusing to me, because he has the ability to throw a slider. Maybe they just don't think it's that good. I don't know. That's weird. That's the one thing, because I remember distinctly last year when his first start, he couldn't throw a fastball or a split first strike. So the one pitch that will Smith called was the slider because that was the one pitch he could throw over the plate.

00:09:34
Speaker 3: And analytically, yeah, they would they essentially looking at the charts that I'm looking at. Analytically, his slider is all blue and when you see blue, it means it's bottom twenty fifth percentile in the league as far as spin rate, velocity thrown, perceive, velocity at the plate, horizontal break, all those things. But he has it. When you're going into a star, you're saying, okay, well where does this guy's Where does this guy's pitches match up against the other guy? Instead of saying or you say, well, I'm just gonna throw my strengths against this guy, and his strengths are that fork ball. That yes, Scott, it does move in either direction. But he to me the starts I watched, and it wasn't a lot of starts. I might have watched half it starts.

00:10:25
Speaker 2: He didn't.

00:10:26
Speaker 3: He wasn't able to control it like some Japanese pitchers are able to control, like the split, where they're able to you don't move it, so maybe it cuts a little bit more, or it breaks to the left, or it breaks to the right.

00:10:37
Speaker 2: His is so deep, so deep, and it's more like a fork.

00:10:43
Speaker 3: It takes a lot of the spin off and so he gets more action on it, but it's less it's less controlled. He's not one hundred percent sure which way it's gone.

00:10:53
Speaker 1: Here's some good news. The Dodgers don't need him right now.

00:11:00
Speaker 2: Good problem, great the Dogs, But the Dodgers of room baseball, scot stop it. They need everybody they want all, you know what, just because they're mad. Now they're going to go out and sign from er Valdez.

00:11:13
Speaker 3: Breaking news, breaking news, and I forgot about it.

00:11:19
Speaker 2: Yeah, they could definitely afford Zach Callen right now.

00:11:22
Speaker 1: Yeah, they can afford anything. Actually, you'll find out later in our show. While why it's easier for them to afford things than some others based on a little revenue sharing agreement. But I digress. This team has plenty of starting pitching help. You're heading into a season where arms should be healthy. I mean, we get guys that drop during spring training, but there's some depth there. They actually needed him in the bullpen last year. The problem for them was the bullpen, and he emerges as this out of nowhere closer for them and picked up valuable innings for the Dodgers in their playoff run. During twenty twenty five, it looks like the bullpen is in better shape. Here's the starting rotation we're looking at right now. Yamamoto, Snell, Glass, now Otani Emmachian and Roki's on there. There are others that can be on there in that sixth slot. And yes, this is going to be a six man rotation when you have multiple pitchers from Japan who are used to that once a week deal. Otani is not going to pitch more than once a week. I imagine they're going to try and I don't want to say take it easy on Yamamoto, but definitely manage his workload throughout the season. They worked them pretty damn good last October and he's pitching bull speed in the WBC. And then of course Roki Sazaki is going to be monitored if he does end up in the rotation. But aj when you look at the relief pitching, they should be in much better shape. Also, that's not even considering that they could get a bounce back. Tanner Scott might look like himself again. Oh and then Edwin Diaz is lockdown in the ninth inning.

00:13:01
Speaker 2: Now, yeah, I mean he's been pretty good for the last few years for the old Metropolitans there in New York, So yeah, they threw him in there. The year before Tanner Scott was unbelievable. That's why they went out and got him and Blake Blake Trina. Still there isn't he last time I checked? And also, uh gosh, what's the uh Kopek? No Evan Phillips. Evan Phillips, Sorry I was. I don't know why I was. Couldn't blake his name? But isn't he coming back to the guy that wouldet the ball goes this way and then this way? I mean they've they've they just have so much depth on this team and if oh yeah, and if they're in trouble, they can always bounce uh sorry, Uh, Evan Phillips is bouncing back from Tommy john so he's not there. But in Kopec's a free agent, so apologies. But they can always use rookie Sazaki in the bullpen. He proved he could do it if they need him to. So it's just another thing that the Dodgers have done where they've just added so much depth around him. They still had the left he's in Vessia right, and some of the other lefties they have going along. So this team's fine. Pitching wise, they're fine. Remember we went in the last year. They have too many starters and they needed every one of them to get through the World Series.

00:14:07
Speaker 1: Yeah, Ben Casparius is still pretty good out of the bullpen for them. Yeah.

00:14:12
Speaker 2: When does Graderole come back?

00:14:14
Speaker 1: I don't know. I think he might be ready for the start of the season, but he's really struggled to stay on the field, so I don't know how much you can rely on him. Will Klein can pitch every day for innings and innings. Right, he was their little.

00:14:26
Speaker 2: Hero in that marathon game Bonda. Right.

00:14:32
Speaker 1: They have a number of guys that are also going to come back throughout the season from injury. So who is it River Ryan, Although I think they'll try to make him a starter. There are a number of names there. It is an embarrassment of riches for the Dodgers, and they are playing a game where they know that. I don't want to say, you know you're going to make the playoffs, but it's about as much of a sure thing for any team as we've seen in a minute. So that is why we've talked about them from an over under perspective, and it might not be the smoothest ride, but they'll make the playoffs, don't. I do think when you look at the roster it's incredible, but I don't automatically go, oh, yeah, these guys are going to steam roll to one hundred and ten wins. I don't think anybody would be surprised if we're in July or August in like, hey, who's starting on Tuesday for the Dodgers, who are they bringing up from the minor leagues? Because of the fact that there could be injuries that pop up. The World Series hangover wasn't real for them for the first time in a quarter century. But I think that had a lot to do with the fact that they almost had a different looking starting rotation from the year before. What was the carryover from the World Series twenty four to twenty five in terms of guys that were actually contributing in the World Series. Do you guys remember besides Samamoto?

00:15:54
Speaker 2: Yeah, Amamoto, I don't know. I mean who else the hitters were. A lot of the hitters were the.

00:15:58
Speaker 1: Same, right, But I'm looking at arms. Snow wasn't there, Glass Night wasn't healthy, Otani wasn't pitching, Nook he wasn't.

00:16:08
Speaker 3: There, Yamamoto, Vesia didn't throw in the World Series.

00:16:13
Speaker 2: It's in the World Series. Remember he had the personal thing mhm.

00:16:16
Speaker 1: But their rotation in twenty five was completely different in the World Series.

00:16:21
Speaker 3: That's why Dave Roberts solidified himself as the best manager in the game with those back to back not just because he won, but the fact that they won in two completely different ways. Saying, how's this team gonna win with no starting pitching done? How's this team gonna win with no bullpen done? Like this year, he's gonna be like, that's why he wants to do the Olympics. He's like, that's the only thing I haven't won yet. I'm sure he's won. I'm sure he went and coached in winter ball somewhere at some point.

00:16:53
Speaker 1: Gavin Stone is expected to be ready for spring training. That's a good arm. There's a lot to like if you're a Dodger fan. But we'll see. It'll be an interesting mystery. What does Roki Sazaki do from a development perspective? The only thing I feel like he and Dodger fans and the organization should feel comfortable with is that he is a major league caliber arm and he has proven himself out of the bullpen at the very least. That's a pretty good floor. High leverage reliever is his floor. We expect him to be a top end rotation, solid contributor. But if not, this guy's going to be special for them. And like AJ said, he's making the league minimum, so it's a good little contributor to have on the roster.

00:17:35
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's what he said.

00:17:37
Speaker 1: That's what he said.

00:17:39
Speaker 2: That's what he said.

00:17:40
Speaker 1: That's what he said.

00:17:44
Speaker 4: Uh, you know, uh, you know, I just got here and I think that I gotta I gotta CRL have to share the time with my teammates and you know, team to about different ideas you know later about everybody coaches, the organization genera.

00:18:07
Speaker 1: And then we can see that's Freddy Braalta a sn why with that footage that was his intro virtual presser and they asked him about an extension and he said TVD, Fredday's a happy, go lucky guy. He's done the extension thing before. I think if he shows up to camp, has a good time, they could start to have some conversations. The other part of the Mets conversation that we learned this week was a good interview with Joel Sherman and John Hayman talking to Carlos Mendoza, manager of the Mets. Mendy was on our show the other day and we talked about some of this stuff too. But Mendy believes the biggest issue with the Mets club ass last season was that they were too quote corporate and didn't celebrate each other enough. I'm going to start with Krats here because Kratz, you thought that they had too many gimmicks two years ago. I actually think they didn't have enough gimmicks this past season. A little fun, keep things loose, right, People don't all see the same thing. They're not all on the same page about anything in life. On the baseball field, right, I think it's fun to have some natural distractions. Maybe they were missing Hose.

00:19:09
Speaker 2: Glacias, Grimace, Grimis Primis Grimis.

00:19:14
Speaker 3: Grimace, Jseglacias, the playoff, Pumpkin the like.

00:19:19
Speaker 2: They had a lot of gimmicks.

00:19:21
Speaker 3: And to say you're corporate, I've been on I've been on teams that have been too corporate, too much like that veteran. Hey, you know what it's all about my routine, It's all about this. Some of the best teams you play on, you have some young dudes that are like, Wow, he's going.

00:19:39
Speaker 2: Out right now.

00:19:40
Speaker 3: And then we're going out and we're playing a one o'clock game tomorrow and he's hitting two dangers like running around the outfield, like there's there's a level of there's a level of immaturity that is needed. With maturity and game gamerness, gamesmanship, whatever it is, it all comes down onto winning and losing. Nobody was said they were corporate had they just beaten the Reds out and made the playoffs by one game instead of missing it by one game, like it's it's very It's like we're people saying this stuff during the season last year and for Mandy to come out and say this, that's awesome. Mendy's got a good pulse on this type of thing. And I think if he can say, hey, guys, like loosen up a little bit. I get it, we're in the big Apple, but loosen up, like, let's make sure we are. We're there for the boys, like no better view of how much the Mets in twenty twenty four we're there for each other. When you see the rotation, all the rotation, guys, somebody's starting and you know they have the numbers painted on their face. Would some people say like me, would some people say that's a gimmick. Yeah, But it's also a show of hey, you know what, we're supporting our guys. We are here for everybody. Did you see that last ye? Now, because the Mets didn't make the playoffs, that's why he didn't see it.

00:21:03
Speaker 2: You didn't.

00:21:03
Speaker 3: I'm sure they had stuff they were doing, but they were making this magical run in twenty four and everybody's like, wow, wow, they beat the Phillies. Oh man, now look at them. They're drawing on their faces so many stories. They stop doing stories when you don't make the playoffs. So I think part of it is that. But they clearly wanted to change it because they've done a lot of changing of this roster construction. In an area that I didn't think they needed to change was the offense.

00:21:34
Speaker 2: Gimmicks have to be skits have to be made organically, though you can't force it right, So you got it, they got They have to be organic in the clubhouse, they have to be organic in the dugout. You can't say going into a year, we're gonna do this. You see what happens. Something happens either early in the year or in spring training that everybody gets on board with and they say that's gonna be our skit, or someone makes a T shirt or someone does something dumb that's not offensive to anybody, and then the team rolls with it and they stick with it, and you know what, if that doesn't work, then they go to something else, and if that thing doesn't work, they go to something else. And as soon as they find that thing and they stick with it, and then the fans find out about it, usually later after it's already been a thing for a while, and it happens. How many teams are you on crats where things happened Fans media never even found out about until later on. And it was a thing in the clubhouse forever. That was That was what was great. There was inside jokes and things. I remember we were, you know, I would be on a team and Paul can Erico and Burley and some of the guys who had been around for the White Sox. We would say stuff in the paper and nobody understood, but we understood what we were kind of saying. It was a joke, and we would be like, oh, who can we get to actually report what we said and put this line in the paper? Right. It was just stuff like that, but it wasn't offensive. It was nothing we would just do it. And that's what makes a team great, and that's what makes guys have fun and get through eight months together.

00:22:55
Speaker 3: And twenty fifteen, when the Royals won the World Series the beginning of the year, if you did an interview, you had to say because the one song that we would play it was the.

00:23:06
Speaker 2: Seventeen thirty eight. Hey was so hello, you know that.

00:23:10
Speaker 3: I don't even know what the name of the song is, but you had to say the number seventeen and thirty eight in your interview, Like is that a gimmick or is that just the boys spending eight to ten hours a day and then going to hotels and going on the road together and trying to accomplish a goal. That kind of stuff comes up. It comes up at the beginning of beginning of spring training. Somebody shows up with a brutal outfit, somebody has a story, we're clowning somebody. Whatever it is, that's how you build that team together. And so if Mendy said they were too corporate, maybe they didn't spend enough time connecting, or maybe they just didn't win as many games as they thought they were going to, or the team was split because the position players were like, great, it's the fourth inning and our starting pitchers out again. We're winning seven to six, and now we're losing nine to six. Now we're losing nine to seven. All right, we got to carry this team. And maybe that's what's split the clubhouse and didn't allow Grimace or the next OMG or the next playoff Pumpkin and all that stuff.

00:24:15
Speaker 1: Trap Queen Betty Wap disagree. I think they should have had gimmicks. They had them two years ago and they actually were terrible.

00:24:22
Speaker 2: They probably did have them, we just didn't hear about them because they weren't. They probably did have them, we just didn't know about them.

00:24:27
Speaker 1: They didn't have them like they did in twenty four.

00:24:29
Speaker 2: Well, no, that's because they were riding that emotion. Anyways, Let's let's move on. Let's because we got some more. I gotta go, Leo.

00:24:42
Speaker 1: Every team's mid eighties, this is the dream, and you say we don't have parody. Bet MGM. Futures regular season win total Detroit Tigers eighty four and a half over under over.

00:24:52
Speaker 2: I I'm taking over. I'm going over, you know what. I'm taking over because they're gonna keep schooable and the division hasn't gotten any better, so I think they go over.

00:25:02
Speaker 1: The White Sox got better, the Twins got worse.

00:25:05
Speaker 2: The Guardians didn't do anything, done anything. Royals are a little better. Yeah, I mean, but the Tiger Tigers, you know they're gonna say we got Kenley Jansen. I don't know. I mean, someone has to win this division with eighty eight wins, and I'm gonna say the Tigers won't blow a fifteen game lead this year.

00:25:23
Speaker 1: Yep. They are preparing nicely for the regular season. Crats.

00:25:27
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I think I just don't see. I don't see them being a five hundred team. And if you don't, if you take the under, you have to be solidified that they are five hundred team. I think they took an absolute crater job in the second half and still won eighty seven. So if you're running Arrek Scoogle out there for all of his thirty two starts, have a tough time believing you're going to.

00:25:53
Speaker 2: Only win eighty four games. So I'm taking you over for sure.

00:25:56
Speaker 1: It's still hard for me to believe that they essentially did nothing this offseas and then they're not going to get anything for Schoogle when he leaves, and this is there, push your chips all in year.

00:26:09
Speaker 2: One more starting pitcher, Yeah, one more starter.

00:26:11
Speaker 1: Maybe Lucas Giulietto was signing soon to hang out with his buddy Jack Flaherty. There's plenty of good parts. I'm not saying I don't like the team or just I think I talk for many in Detroit when I say that's it all right. If you want a little more, an odds boost token for any sport could be yours on the bet mgm app. Score a bigger payout, apply that to your wager, and if that wager wins, you get extra winnings in unrestricted bonus dollars depending on how much you're putting down. Betmgm dot com or betmgm app. Gambling problem or concern, callen an hundred gambling. Jack Curry does that Yes Network show about the offseason. He's great reporting on the Yankees, and he said there's interest in the Yankees bringing back Paul Goldschmidt. What do we think about that fit for the Yankees? Goldie is still really good against left handed pitching. Do you feel like the Yankees' roster is starting to become a lot more platoon oriented old well, old too. That's been a thing for a while. But do you feel like it's starting to get more platoonish where they're gonna have I mean they're gonna have what if Goldie comes back, you might have half the lineup change depending on the lefty or the righty. Some teams do that and some teams don't do that at all. Right, so it felt like the Yankees used to be a team where it's like mostly the same dudes as long as they're healthy every day. And now if Goldie came back, you'd have Goldie. I mean, this is what they did. I guess towards the end of last season. Med Rosario is a platoon guy. Ryan McMahon is a platoon guy.

00:27:51
Speaker 3: Who are they playing over because McMahon I think they won his defense in there every day if I'm not mistaken. Obviously, Kabiero is gonna play short and when Valpi comes back, they don't have a platoon option. Maybe he won't play as much, but that's not platoon. Jazz is gonna play every day, Judge, He's gonna play every day. Grishamans are they gonna platoon Grisham in center field? And then when the lefty goes, they're gonna have who played left field? Veingas you can't hit right handed, yeah, you can't hit against lefties like he's.

00:28:26
Speaker 2: Not catcher Austin Wells. They trade the platoon a little bit, Ben Rice, they platoon. I mean, that's that's where Goldschmid's role would be. Was when we face a lefty, we let you play first. But here's the thing. I mean, I know Goldie did okay in New York, but he couldn't even go back to Arizona. We could have that reunite and it feels so good right in Arizona. Maybe because who's their first baseman, Peven Smith, he's left handed. Maybe they could use Goldie there and we could have the happy feels again for him and the Diamondbacks.

00:28:54
Speaker 3: I thought he should be in San Diego. We just talked to Kevin Acey. I thought Paul Goldschmidt and Sandy Diego would be would be a better fit than other places. I'm not saying he's gonna go there. I'm not saying he wants to go there or they even want him, but I mean they're given him opportunity. They have a they have a young they have a young lineup for the most part that could fill in if they don't want him to face righties. But I guess I wouldn't add too much more.

00:29:25
Speaker 1: Slow, So you would platoon cronin Worth in Goldie.

00:29:38
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I would give, I would give.

00:29:40
Speaker 3: I would give Goldie all the left handed at bats, and then cronin Worth still has still I mean, Cronilworth still has value playing more than just first base.

00:29:51
Speaker 1: No, no, no, I know that I'm saying at first base, you could platoon cron I mean, we'll.

00:29:57
Speaker 2: See he's making a song.

00:30:00
Speaker 1: No, no, I'm not saying in the full time, but I'm saying.

00:30:03
Speaker 2: There's probably Goldie in the platoon.

00:30:05
Speaker 1: When Goldie's playing first.

00:30:07
Speaker 2: Goldie's gonna want too much money to do unless he accepts the platoon role. And then you know, because if you just say, hey, I'm a platoon role, a lot of times you get some you get less money. And San Diego didn't have any money. I mean, that's all they're talked about, right, So would he accept less to go somewhere? I don't know.

00:30:22
Speaker 3: I mean, and we just talked about you darbish giving back fifteen or sixteen for this year. It hasn't happened yet, right, right, But I'm saying, I don't care.

00:30:34
Speaker 2: Here's my thing about the you, Darvish. We we haven't even really talked about this. He's just such a good guy. He's gonna give back forty five million dollars whatever he's out. I don't know what he's out the last three years around there, right, he said fifteen. So he's just like, interesting, I haven't earned it. I'm gonna give back forty five even though I signed this contract. There's gonna be some sort of a there's gonna have to be some sort of a buyout, right, he says, Because first of all, let me say this too. As much we love the PA, the PA would not be happy if he said, I'm just gonna give this back because I'm such a nice guy. Like the PA would be like, who wha, whoa, whoa whoa. No, no, no, no, let's get your money. We signed a we signed a contract, and his agent would be like, hey, man, I get my cut of that too.

00:31:15
Speaker 1: You.

00:31:16
Speaker 2: I don't know. Maybe he is that good of a guy. I don't know.

00:31:21
Speaker 1: Yeah, Well, the problem is you're eliminating the essence of a guaranteed contract. But it's for one player, and if he doesn't want to play, it's not unprecedented. Gil Mesh did it. We brought him him the other day. There's a few other names. There aren't many, but there are a few other names. Yeah, there might be an internal battle going on. You darbish might be like, yo, I'm rich and for me reputation wise and what I believe in. I don't think that I should be getting paid if I'm not playing and I want to quit. And then the other side, which is reps union the whole deal is like, we don't like that. Ultimately, it comes down to you. I think he can decide whatever you want. Starvish, but sounds like they're trying to figure things out behind the scenes. I don't think it's going to be a case like Anthony Rendon where they're still paying him the money out there, just stretching it a little bit with deferrals. It sounds like there'll be a portion of this deal that actually just gets mixed because he's not going to play. Right. Maybe they look at this year and say, hey, you weren't going to pitch anyway, so we'll take this year, we'll defer it, and then the year after that, we'll then get wiped. Something like that could occur. I'm just throwing scenarios out there. We shall see. Michael Kadier was another name that was just listed.

00:32:34
Speaker 2: By Mark Condempy.

00:32:37
Speaker 3: Every situation is different, and that's why ultimately it's up to you. You get to get to decide. And he's already done it. It's not unprecedented. He was going through something in his personal life and he gave back the four million dollars during that time. Plenty of players don't do that, so it's it's not unprecedented. While I agree with AJ it is a crazy precedent that the PA, his agents and other players do not want to like be up against that standard.

00:33:08
Speaker 2: But ultimately it's up to you.

00:33:12
Speaker 1: True as in darbish, not as in darbish.

00:33:17
Speaker 3: Back to what the original Hot Corner topic was was Paul Goldschmid the Yankees.

00:33:24
Speaker 2: Cool. I mean, I think it's great again.

00:33:27
Speaker 3: We talked about sometimes some guys have earned some leeway in getting more at bats, and I think if you think Ben Rice is as good as I think the Yankees think he is, I'd like to see a few more left Bill left at bats. I'd like to see him because of where he's come as a hitter and as a player, kind of coming out of nowhere, really establishing himself, changing things when he was in the minor leagues, to then get his shot in the big leagues. Take advantage of his shot. To me, give him that challenge, and you can have a guy who plays every day, and to me, they could enhance that roster flexibility and enhance that roster. Yeah, just the way that they can deploy different guys. He can also catch.

00:34:18
Speaker 2: They really liked.

00:34:20
Speaker 3: I didn't like the way he moves around behind a dish, but the organization really likes how he receives. And we'll see how those receiving numbers actually matter when the ABS comes in. But there's a value there when a guy can truly catch in the big leagues once every five days. But he's also playing first base. So you can give Austin Wells those days off against lefties if you're not afraid of letting Ben Rice hit against lefties.

00:34:48
Speaker 1: Goldie got one year twelve and a half. Last year. I think he'd be looking at about half of eight five to seven.

00:35:01
Speaker 3: I mean, Lane Thomas got more than that, and Paul gold Schmith think Thomas.

00:35:06
Speaker 1: We're going to make a Lane Thomas compay half pics on the age curve.

00:35:13
Speaker 3: I not six and a half million, and I think I think Paul Goldschmid. I'm just saying, based on what free agency is looking like right now, I think I think he would get I think he'd project to get more.

00:35:24
Speaker 1: I don't. I don't. Actually, I think the projections probably have Lane Thomas doing more of this season. I'm talking about what the front offices look at. The age curve part is such a big deal. Right, Hotley has been going down in one direction. I guess it's fair, not in in production against left handed pitching, but career lo slugin percentage all that. So if you're just wiping him out and making him a platoon only player, I mean the differential was large six nineteen ops versus right handed pitching. That's not good enough for a first baseman or a DH and he's not doing that for the Yankees. Nine eighty one against left that's good. But that's a platoon guy, right, that's a guy that's going to play just against lefties.