Fair Territory: USA vs Mexico preview, Dominant DR, Skubal's dilemma

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Speaker 1: Welcome everyone to the Monday edition of Fair Territory. I'm Ken Rosenthal, coming to you from Houston, site of the World Baseball Classic. Pool be We'll be talking about USA Mexico. We will be talking about Trek schoobl and a whole lot more this morning. Now, all of our World Baseball Classic coverage is brought to you by our friends at Fox one, which is live stream all your Fox favorites together in one place, including all WBC games over the next few weeks, and after that the best MLB action all season long. All right, So here we go. First real test for the US is tonight in Houston at Dikin Park against Team Mexico. The environment is going to be intense, It's going to be electric. I would not be surprised in the least if the crowd is more pro Mexico than pro USA. Of course, the Mexican American community in Houston is immense, about eight hundred thousand, I believe, and a lot of them could be here tonight. So it's going to be a great atmosphere and it could be should be actually a great game. Now, you saw after the last USKA game, Mark Durosa, the manager, said that these are the best thirty players in the world. And if you read Bob Knightingale this morning, Benji Gill of Team Mexico, he's their manager, kind of challenged that and said, well, what about the Dominican Republic, what about Japan, what about Venezuela, and maybe what about Mexico. Mexico has beaten Team USA three straight times in this tournament, going back to two thousand and six, and that includes an eleven to five victory in the last tournament in twenty twenty three. What we've seen so far from Team USA, of course, is utter dominance. Two exhibition games in Arizona and then two games here against Brazil and great bitten Britain. Excuse me, the combined score of those games, if you put the four of them together, is fifty three to eleven, up eleven runs. In four games they've scored fifty three. Okay, but these were all just preludes, kind of addressed rehearsals for the real thing, which starts tonight. Now where we are in this tournament, Mexico, Italy, and the US are all tied with two and zero records, So the winner tonight has a step up toward the quarterfinals, a real advantage going toward the quarterfinals. It's still possible after tonight that all three teams I just mentioned, Italy, Mexico in the US finished three and one, in which case we go to the tiebreakers. And if you're paying attention, if you were just watching the Korea Australia game, you know that the tiebreakers in the WBC are a little bit funky. It's the run quotient differential, and Korea advanced because it had a better ratio of runs allowed to out than Australia, and it came down to how many runs they scored in this last game, the differential between the two it was seven to two Korea. Anyway, we don't have to talk about that yet with regard to this particular pool with the US, Italy and Mexico, but obviously tonight has men's importance. Tonight we're going to see Paul Skins. We're going to see Paul Skans in the World Baseball Classic for the first time. We're gonna see Mexico run a bullpen game guy named Manny Pareta, who has three Major League appearances in his career, all in twenty twenty one with Baltimore is going to start for Mexico, but he is probably just an opener. Mexico's in an interesting position. I can remember last time they had Julio Urias, they had Patrick Sandoval, they had a pretty good rotation. This time they don't have either of those guys, and within the last month and a half, Cody Ponce, Taj Bradley, and Jose Urchati have all withdrawn for various reasons. So this is going to be quite the interesting test, both for Mexico and for the US. This is the best lineup the US has, of course faced. It's one that includes Randia rose Arena as well as Jonathan Aronda from the Tampa Bay Rays and some newcomers. Joey Ortiz, Nick Gonzales. Jaron Duran from the Red Sox is in that lineup as well. It's a good lineup. So again, we're all looking forward to this. If you remember the last tournament, Mexico came really close to actually winning it. They were up by one run in the ninth ending of their semi final against Japan. What happened? Show Hey, Leadolph double walked to Yeshida and then the two run double, the go ahead double by going to Taka Modakami now with the White Sox. Of course, Japan wins that game, and who knows. If Mexico had survived in that semi final, maybe they would have beaten the US, but that of course is not how it went. So here we go tonight, Mexico and the US. And if you've been watching the World Baseball Classic so far, what you've seen, of course, from around the different pools is a number of electric moments. There's a passion in this tournament that simply does not exist in regular season baseball, and it can't exist in regular season baseball when you're playing one hundred and sixty two games. This is a seven game sprint, seven game sprint to the championship, and that is what makes it so unique. And we've seen as well over the years. This is now the sixth Classic, but over the years, starting in two thousand and six when the tournament was introduced, the passion in Latin American countries in particular is really high. The passion in the Asian countries, as we've seen in the telecasts from Korea and Japan, really high. And here I wouldn't say it's quite that high, and fans are torn between their guys playing in the WBC when they could be getting ready for the season. We'll get into that with mister Schooble, but it seems to me that in recent years, certainly the last tournament and the Tani striking out of trout for the final out, interest has grown and it is a lot of fun. It's one of the most fun things I cover, and I look forward to it every year. Now the other pools might want to talk a little bit about them. Right in pools see Otania and Japan, they've already advanced, they've gone three and zero, and then we saw just now Korea win that three way tipebreaker with Australia and Chinese tape. That is now decided. It's going to be Japan and Korea. Chinese tape is out, Australia is out. Japan and Korea go on to Miami. Now in Pool A, that is the one where you will have two teams come to Houston to face their quarterfinal, and then of course the USA pool. That pool is led by US. I'm sorry, it's led by Puerto Rico and Cuba. Right now, both teams two and oh, Canada one and one and then pool D. The team that I think has a really good chance of winning this tournament, maybe the favorite in this tournament, the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic in two games so far against the Netherlands and Nicaragua has outscored its opponents twenty four to four. Mercy ruled Nicaragua yesterday. And that lineup with Guerrero and Tatis and Machado and Marte and Perdomo, even without Jeremy Panu who has that broken finger, Julio Rodriguez, I forgot him, and a number of others, that lineup is, in my estimation, easily at the level of the Team USA lineup. And if these two teams should meet, it would be something to behold. And I'm not discounting Japan or am I discounting Venezuela in any way, But I would love to see a Team USA Dominican Republic final. That would be awesome. So we've got a lot to get to. We've got a lot to talk about. With regard to mister Trek Schoobl I referred to him earlier and his decision on whether to stay with Team USA or go back to the Detroit Tigers, from the WBC through the World Series to the World Cup, to NASCAR and IndyCar. With Fox One, you get it all live. Start your seven day free trial today offers our subject to change. Download Fox One today and stream the World Baseball Classic live now through March seventeenth. Go to foxwe dot com for complete terms and conditions. Fox One streaming now, and we'll be right back with the Inside Dish. Well, well, well, all right, time now for the inside Dish, the part of the show where I talk about maybe a story I've written, maybe something going on in the game, And today it's going to be both. I wrote about this, we talked about it on the broadcast on Saturday night. It is the single biggest issue with regard to Team USA and the WBC at the moment, and it's Trek Schooble. Will he stay or will he go? And as I wrote, this is for him a very difficult and intensely personal decision. On one hand, he wants to stay with Team USA. He wants to pitch again. Remember the plan was for him to pitch only once in this tournament, not twice. But after being around the team, after seeing the closeness, after wearing the Jersey Team USA, having USA on his chest, he feels torn. And in an interview that he did with a few reporters, including myself after the game Saturday night, we could really see and tell how torn he was. And as I wrote, you can see right there as Tarrek schoolbl ways sticking around Team USA. His decision shouldn't be criticized. Now I have my reasons for saying that, and I'm going to get into that, but here is essentially the decision that he faces. If he pitches for Team USA, he takes on potentially additional injury risk, He possibly disrupts his preparation for the regular season. And this is a guy entering his walkiear, with the potential for a four hundred million dollar contract when he has had Tommy John surgery in twenty seventeen when he was at Seattle University University, and flexer tendon surgery in August of twenty twenty two. That was when he was with the Detroit Tigers. So there's an injury history there. There is risk there. And in my view and what I wrote, and I've been adamant about this, for him to pitch at all, that was something of a surprise. Traditionally, we do not see American pitchers in their walk years pitch in the WBC. That's not something that has happened. So for School to take them ound, even against Great Britain, an inferior opponent, that said something about his willingness to do this, his commitment to do this. There was some risk in that guys are not geared up to throw ninety five miles an hour for sixty pitches at this time of year. Now, the other side of this is if he leaves, and here's the problem that he faces with regard to the scrutiny he is under. The cynicism he might face. People are going to say, okay, man, he pitched once. Great, he pitched against Great Britain. Great, what's the big deal here? Why can't he pitch again? Why not take that chance for his country? And listen. People are entitled to their points of view. But School has earned his free agency, he will earn it or have earned it with six years of service, and he has again potentially four hundred million dollars plus at stake. So for him, this is not the easiest thing in the world to decide. And again I see both sides of it. But I was pretty strong in this column I know about saying, hey, let's take a step back here, Let's maybe see both sides of this, see the nuance in this decision, See that it is not an easy choice to make. He's got people pulling at him on both sides. I don't know that he's gotten much pressure from Team USA, but so certainly just being around the players and the manager, Mark de Rosa, and the staff, he senses how important this is to everyone involved. The players love being here, they love being a part of this. And the other side of this is his agent, Scott Bors, whose job is to protect Trerek Schoubl's interest, his long term financial future, the Detroit Tigers, who will be paying him thirty two million dollars this year after losing to him in arbitration, we should say, and of course his family, who I'm sure has a vested stake in this as well. So we don't know at this stage Monday morning, as we go to You Live, what exactly Tarrek Schoolbel is doing just yet, but we do know that this whole scenario stems in part from what has happened in the past and how everything has gotten to this point. What do I mean by that? The Royal Baseball Classic, as we know, is played in mid March. It's not a perfect time for a baseball tournament, not when players are getting ready for the season. Now, players have learned over the years if they're going to be in the WBC to start gearing up earlier. But there's always been the threat of injury, even a flucash injury such as the one i'd when Diaz suffered in twenty three or the one Jeremy's Panya just suffered this year. So there is that, and Scooble has said if this thing was in the middle of the season, it would be no problem. I'd be geared up. I'd pitch in it every single time. And with the potential for Major League Baseball players to be in the Olympics in twenty twenty eight, that whole scenario could eventually come to pass an international tournament at mid season, but that's not the schedule we have right now. Now. The other factor here, the other thing that would make this maybe not an issue, is if Scooble was under long term contract already to the Detroit Tigers. Now the Tigers whatever they've offered him, so far has obviously been insufficient, and part of this is on Schooble as well. He is most likely, as a Scott Borers client, not interested in signing a long term extension, not when he is less than a year away from having thirty teams bid for him instead of one can understand his position there, and you can understand the Tigers saying why should we even bid when most likely he's going to hit the open market anyway. So all of these forces are swirling around Trek's Scooble, and again this is a difficult spot for him. It's a spot where he's almost certain to be criticized either way. And as I wrote, in an age in which we're obsessed with social media, an age where everyone has a voice, in which there really is, as I said, a cacophony of the complaints going on on all issues at all times, this is one where we can look at the glass as more half full than half empty. And what am I saying by that? What I'm saying is from a half full perspective. Trek's Scougle already has pitched for Team USA. He made that choice, He made the sacrifice to leave his team to pitch for the national team, and whatever risk was incurred with that with throwing forty one pitches in a high intensity environment, he took it and he pitched really well after allowing that leadoff home run by Nate Eaton, three innings that were largely brilliant. So from Team USA's perspective, they got three innings out of Trek Schooble that really, in most years we would not have expected them to get potential free agent pitcher facing the potential largest pitching contract in history. That was not going to happen in the past. Now, from the Detroit Tiger's perspective, and from Schoobl's own perspective, if he goes back to Detroit and does not pitch again, and oh, by the way, there's no guarantee the US would even get to the final, which is probably when schoobl would be lined up for. So this might not even surface as an issue. It's more talking point right now as the US advances and tries to advance to the knockout round. But the assumption is they're going to get to at least the quarterfinals, the knockout stage, and then go from there. So from the Detroit Tigers' perspective, and from Schooble's own personal perspective, if he goes back to them, Okay, he's done his part for Team USA. Now he's committing to his team. He's going to pitch Opening Day for his team. He's going to enter a year in which he's earning thirty two million and give everything he has to the Detroit Tigers again. Half full from their perspective as well, even if he pitches for Team USA once more, I would say it's half full for the Tigers. Now we'll see how this all plays out. We'll see what Schooble ultimately decides. But that half full thing I'm talking about where both of his teams are going to benefit from his participation one way or the other. Tm USA already has benefited the Detroit Tigers. Should he not pitch again, they will benefit. That is why I believe. Hey, let's back off a little bit here. Let's take it easy on Terrek Schooble. He's doing what he can here. He can't pitch for both teams at both times all the time. That's not something that he's capable of doing. He is one man with one left arm. So those are my thoughts. On Schooble going forward, and again, I've got to see the US qualify. We've got to see the US get to the finals. Schedule is another issue for him here. It doesn't really line up for him to pitch both in the final and an opening day. There are all kinds of issues, as I said, but again I'm going to say it one more time. Class half full here, not class half empty. We'll be back after this.

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Speaker 1: Thank you to see Geek. Back here with the Grilling Kin segment of our show. Let's get to your questions right now. First one comes from videos two o seven, who asked, is there any chance that you Cheetah's stock could arise enough from the WBCD that the Red Sox could be able to trade him. I would say the answer to that is yes, and Yashidah has shown batting clean up for Sama or Japan that he is still a capable offensive player. Now defensively that's another question. But the money is a problem obviously the two years that have left the fairlyest significant dollars and clearly the role has been a problem with the Red Sox as well, or at least where he currently stands on that roster. But yeah, this is a contributing major league player. This is a solid hitter. And is he everything the Red Sox thought when they signed him to a five year, ninety million dollar deal. No, he is not that, but he is a guy yes that I can imagine some team taking. If I were a low revenue team, I'd definitely be interested in Yashidah if I had a spot kind of in a DH way where I could fit him in and have the Red Sox pay most of the money and go about it that way. So yes, I would say Yashidah is raising his stock or has the potential to raise his stock in the WBC. All right, next question this when comes from Tyler Maxsmith, who asks, oh, when will Jerkson Profar's appeal be heard? Decided to expect the Braves to use that extra money to spring or save it for the trade deadline? Both good questions. Now, my understanding initially was that the appeal would be expedited. Now I thought that meant wow, it would be a couple of days. But my understanding of expedition in this case is it'll be a couple of weeks at least, maybe even a couple of months before this appeal is decided, and we know exactly what's going to happen with Jerks and Profars, So it would seem to me the Braves are going to be potentially reluctant to move until they have greater clarity on whether they will be paying Jerks and Profar this year, and again it's probably going to be weeks, not months. At the same time, they've got to put a better team on the field than they currently have, and they had pitching issues starting pitching issues well before this happened, and we've written about them, we've talked about them, and that's something they still can address. But to the point of the question, yes, they still could wait until the trade deadline to do something of significance because they don't have exact clarity. They don't know yet if they will be saving that fifteen million this year or not. It certainly appears that way. It is extremely hard for players to win appeals after they've tested positive, but you don't know for sure. And how dumb would the Braves feel if somehow Profar was reinstated and then they spent all that money, If they don't have it budgeted. Could they spend the money? Yes, we know that their ownership has the money. I'm not getting into that. I'm just talking about how they operate as opposed to maybe what should be. All right, next question, This one comes from Carter Hawkins one thirteen. Can are people sleeping on Moys's bellisteros for NL Rookie of the Year. Now this is not Carter Hawkins Burner account. Carter Hawkins, of course, is general manager of the Chicago Cubs under Jed Hoyer, the president of Baseball Operations. Bellistara certainly could be a possibility. I would say the leader in the clubhouse right now is Connor Griffin. Of course, he has to make the team with Pittsburgh, and even if he doesn't, comes up I don't know, late April, mid May, whenever. The case might be. His talent is such as we might see him emerge as Rookie of the year. So he would be probably the favorite right now, but pretty hard to handicap Rookie of the Year every year. So Carter Hawkins, Burner account or whoever you are, I would say there's a chance. All right, let's get to another question. This one comes from Red Sox eighteen. I guess what is the reason Geolito still hasn't signs. That is a very good question. And Zach Lettel, of course just reaching agreement yesterday with the Washington Nationals. So really, Geolito is the only premier starting pitcher left. Premier might be an exaggeration of his talents, but he is the quality starting pitcher that remains on the open market. The simple answered to this question is, hey, he's not getting what he believes he should get as a free agent, and teams are not meeting his price. Whether it goes deeper than that, I don't know, but I've said this, and I said it about Lttel too. Giledo, perhaps even more so than Lttel, is a competent, qualified major league pitcher. He's a guy who could help your staff. So at some point he's either going to come down on his price, or some team's going to come up because they become more desperate, and he's going to get signed. I have no doubt about that. There are always players who linger on the market, and you're seeing this now with Giledo and Tommy Fan From the position player perspective, I spoke last night with Rowdy Tolez of Team Mexico. He hasn't even gotten a minor league offer. So there are always players who get kind of caught in free agency, and that seems to be what has happened with Giledo. Not sure the exact reasons, but always with these things, it comes down to a difference price. All right. I want to thank everyone for watching, everyone for listening. You know where to find us every Monday and Thursday, YouTube, Apple, Spotify. I'll be on the broadcast tonight Joe Davis and John Smoltz and myself USA Mexico on Fox. We are looking forward to this game and we are looking forward as well to the Thursday edition of Fair Territory when I'll be back with Alana Rizzo. Have a great week. Everyone, enjoy the WBC.

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