WEBVTT - Rick Ucchino in for Eddie and Rocky -- 1/1/26 0:00:00.000 --> 0:00:03.840 Guys here on a Thursday afternoon on seven hundred double 0:00:03.880 --> 0:00:06.600 d well w Happy New Year. Hope you're enjoying a 0:00:06.680 --> 0:00:08.719 day off. Hope you got to watch a little bit 0:00:08.720 --> 0:00:11.640 of football today. Oregon and Texas Tech meeting in the 0:00:11.640 --> 0:00:14.920 Orange Bowl as we speak. Starting at four o'clock here 0:00:15.040 --> 0:00:17.520 on the Big One, we will have number nine Alabama 0:00:17.600 --> 0:00:20.480 going up against number one Indiana in the Rose Bowl, 0:00:20.480 --> 0:00:23.920 and then immediately after that we'll be carrying the Sugar 0:00:23.960 --> 0:00:28.040 Bowl between Old Miss and Georgia. Of course, one team 0:00:28.080 --> 0:00:31.840 has already punched their ticket to the college football semi Final, 0:00:31.880 --> 0:00:35.560 the Miami Hurricanes, with an absolutely dominating performance against the 0:00:35.600 --> 0:00:38.560 Ohio State Buckeyes last night. That game was not as 0:00:38.600 --> 0:00:42.080 close as the twenty four to fourteen final score would indicate. 0:00:42.159 --> 0:00:45.560 We will get your college football fix after the bottom 0:00:45.680 --> 0:00:48.280 of the hour news when Keegan nickoson a Bearcat journal 0:00:48.280 --> 0:00:51.000 dot Com joins me here, we'll get you ready for 0:00:51.040 --> 0:00:54.720 the games tonight and for the monumental showdown between UC 0:00:54.880 --> 0:00:57.960 and Navy and the Liberty Bowl tomorrow. But whenever I 0:00:58.080 --> 0:01:01.680 get the opportunity to host here on seven hundred WIW, 0:01:01.920 --> 0:01:04.160 especially this time of the year, I always like to 0:01:04.160 --> 0:01:06.840 bring in Jeff Carr from the Lockdown Reds podcast and 0:01:06.880 --> 0:01:10.000 Cincinnati Reds on SI, because I I honestly, I just 0:01:10.040 --> 0:01:12.399 don't know how many chances I'll get to speak to 0:01:12.480 --> 0:01:15.160 him on air before opening Day, which is not that 0:01:15.640 --> 0:01:16.520 far away. 0:01:16.640 --> 0:01:18.760 And you may be thinking, well, wait a minute. 0:01:18.600 --> 0:01:21.600 Rick, there's not a whole lot going on with the 0:01:21.600 --> 0:01:22.360 Reds right now. 0:01:22.840 --> 0:01:23.480 Exactly. 0:01:24.120 --> 0:01:27.200 That's my concern, Jeff, welcome back into the big one. 0:01:27.240 --> 0:01:29.840 Happy New Year. Hopefully you're feeling good. You didn't overdo it. 0:01:29.880 --> 0:01:32.920 Last night, Rick, Happy New Year. Yeah. No, I was 0:01:33.000 --> 0:01:36.280 kind of like keeping one eye on the buck Eys 0:01:36.360 --> 0:01:39.080 and the and the Hurricanes. I know that everybody was 0:01:39.080 --> 0:01:41.800 talking about Michael Irvin on the sidelines. I'm sure somewhere 0:01:41.880 --> 0:01:45.000 Ken Dorsey and Willis mcgahey were cracking a smile as well. 0:01:45.040 --> 0:01:49.080 But yeah, I have no bet that uh that game. 0:01:49.120 --> 0:01:52.720 Notwithstanding that has been a bit of a quiet off season. 0:01:52.720 --> 0:01:54.120 I know that the Reds just made a couple of 0:01:54.160 --> 0:01:57.000 moves for some outfielders, but that's like saying that you 0:01:57.040 --> 0:01:58.720 and I just went and got a meal, but we 0:01:58.760 --> 0:02:01.440 went to Nick don I don't necessarily know that it's 0:02:01.480 --> 0:02:05.040 going to fulfill us in the way that most nutritionists 0:02:05.040 --> 0:02:05.920 would expect it to. 0:02:06.480 --> 0:02:06.680 Yeah. 0:02:06.880 --> 0:02:08.680 Look, I don't want to spend a whole lot of 0:02:08.680 --> 0:02:12.240 time talking about what could have been with this team, 0:02:12.280 --> 0:02:15.520 But for a brief, shining moment, this club had the 0:02:15.639 --> 0:02:18.520 chance to really own this town. Man, with the Bengals 0:02:18.520 --> 0:02:21.600 and Bearcats having down years. FC Cincinnati with a disappointing 0:02:21.600 --> 0:02:24.640 finish to their season, they jump into the Kyle Schwarber 0:02:24.720 --> 0:02:28.680 sweepstakes with a strong offer, but ultimately they came up 0:02:28.720 --> 0:02:32.000 about five million dollars short per year. He goes back 0:02:32.040 --> 0:02:34.639 to the Phillies, and I think it was at that 0:02:34.919 --> 0:02:38.440 moment that the disgust with this organization hit an all 0:02:38.480 --> 0:02:42.000 time high in this city. Even after a playoff appearance, 0:02:42.080 --> 0:02:45.880 this just seemed like the right time to make a major, 0:02:46.080 --> 0:02:49.920 impactful move that would galvanize the fan base heading into 0:02:49.919 --> 0:02:53.720 twenty twenty six. It certainly it would have sold season tickets, 0:02:53.760 --> 0:02:58.840 would have sold a crapload of jerseys. They balked at 0:02:58.840 --> 0:03:04.040 the price tag given the circumstances, you know, taking everything 0:03:04.080 --> 0:03:07.440 into consideration here, Jeff, If now wasn't the right time, 0:03:07.480 --> 0:03:09.480 when will it ever be for this front office? 0:03:10.200 --> 0:03:13.320 Right? And that's where everybody's so frustrated with I think 0:03:13.360 --> 0:03:17.280 that there's a tendency to want to be sarcastic about 0:03:17.320 --> 0:03:19.960 the bit from him being from Middletown and that's the 0:03:20.000 --> 0:03:22.560 only reason anybody was excited about him because he's a 0:03:22.600 --> 0:03:25.880 local guy. But really we were excited about the fact 0:03:25.880 --> 0:03:30.400 that the Reds were finally in on a legitimate move 0:03:30.480 --> 0:03:33.280 and the chance that they can make a legitimate ad 0:03:33.960 --> 0:03:37.920 to this lineup, because they consistently do the moves like 0:03:38.000 --> 0:03:40.680 JJ Bleda and Dane Myers where it's like, let's get 0:03:41.120 --> 0:03:43.960 some dude who was really good long time ago or 0:03:44.040 --> 0:03:45.840 a couple of years ago, and he's had a lot 0:03:45.840 --> 0:03:48.760 of junk since then, and we got a script really 0:03:48.760 --> 0:03:51.120 hard to figure out exactly how he's going to be 0:03:51.200 --> 0:03:53.800 good for this team. Again, where kylege whatever, you didn't 0:03:53.840 --> 0:03:55.720 have to do that, like immediately he would have showed up. 0:03:55.760 --> 0:03:57.960 We would have had discussions about whose jersey's going to 0:03:58.000 --> 0:04:01.000 sell most next year between Ellie Delacruz and Kyle Schwarber, 0:04:01.120 --> 0:04:04.080 and there would be so many people that would just be, 0:04:04.640 --> 0:04:07.840 you know, lining up the buy season tickets. But it's 0:04:07.960 --> 0:04:11.640 not just because Kyle Schwarber. We want this team to 0:04:11.880 --> 0:04:15.200 make a legitimate look at us, this is a good move, 0:04:15.880 --> 0:04:18.560 rather than the moves where you know, I know that 0:04:19.279 --> 0:04:21.720 you've got like Ben Verlanders out there in the world 0:04:21.720 --> 0:04:24.560 that are going like, you know, these were kind of savvy, 0:04:24.640 --> 0:04:26.480 smart moves. But it's like you got to look at 0:04:26.480 --> 0:04:28.960 it from so many different angles. Just look at the 0:04:29.120 --> 0:04:32.160 straight forward facts. Can the Reds make a move like this? 0:04:32.440 --> 0:04:35.600 That's what we wanted to see. 0:04:35.800 --> 0:04:39.320 Yeah, And like, the thing that irritated me about the 0:04:39.640 --> 0:04:44.279 entire situation was the middletown thing. They went after him. Like, 0:04:45.000 --> 0:04:47.880 think about this. They paid Nick Martinez last year twenty 0:04:47.880 --> 0:04:51.640 one million dollars for one season, right, but somehow they 0:04:51.640 --> 0:04:55.960 could only find an additional four million dollars in twenty 0:04:56.000 --> 0:05:01.320 twenty six to give to a legitimate MVP candidate, and 0:05:01.360 --> 0:05:06.279 then that money suddenly disappeared. They were only going to 0:05:06.320 --> 0:05:09.440 bend over backward for Schwarber because he happened to be 0:05:09.520 --> 0:05:12.320 born here, which to me, I know a lot of 0:05:12.320 --> 0:05:15.040 people want to give the Reds credit for making a 0:05:15.080 --> 0:05:18.680 strong offer, and sure, we can give them some credit 0:05:18.720 --> 0:05:21.280 for that, I guess, but I read between the lines 0:05:21.279 --> 0:05:24.039 and I look at this and I go, yeah, they 0:05:24.080 --> 0:05:28.479 tried because they thought maybe Schwarber would accept a low 0:05:28.520 --> 0:05:30.919 ball offer to come be the hometown hero, and he 0:05:31.000 --> 0:05:31.760 rightfully told. 0:05:31.680 --> 0:05:35.640 Them, no, they were focusing on the wrong things, you know, 0:05:35.720 --> 0:05:37.960 that whole thing where like you can explain the plot 0:05:38.000 --> 0:05:41.719 of a movie badly, well, they were like explaining the 0:05:41.839 --> 0:05:45.599 scouting report of a player badly. They're like, oh, fifty 0:05:45.640 --> 0:05:48.000 home runs, could probably hit sixty seventy home runs a 0:05:48.040 --> 0:05:51.839 great American ballpark. He's got, you know, career marks that 0:05:51.880 --> 0:05:55.279 he's shooting for. No, no, no, he's vocal. That's what we're 0:05:55.279 --> 0:05:58.279 worried about. That's what we really are focused on here. 0:05:58.320 --> 0:06:00.960 And I think it's interesting because it was reporting after 0:06:01.000 --> 0:06:02.599 the fact, well, they were going to have to get 0:06:02.640 --> 0:06:05.560 creative with financials, whether that was trading of the players 0:06:05.600 --> 0:06:07.640 to free up money, or they were going to backload 0:06:07.680 --> 0:06:11.279 the contract or what have you. And so obviously early 0:06:11.360 --> 0:06:13.360 on in the off season, if the guy at signing 0:06:13.800 --> 0:06:16.400 a guy is not taking that kind of a deal, now, 0:06:16.440 --> 0:06:18.360 that gives me a little bit of hope for what 0:06:18.440 --> 0:06:22.680 they could possibly do with that quote unquote creativity financially. 0:06:23.200 --> 0:06:25.599 As the off season moves along and guys continue to 0:06:25.640 --> 0:06:29.159 remain unsigned, but as of you know, Kyle Schwarber. That 0:06:29.279 --> 0:06:31.800 was just far too early in the off season to 0:06:31.839 --> 0:06:36.839 be offering backloaded, inciniblated deals and all that other stuff. 0:06:36.880 --> 0:06:40.640 So that's really where more frustration can come into it, because, 0:06:40.680 --> 0:06:43.560 as we've said before, few people are as good at 0:06:43.600 --> 0:06:50.760 torped torpedoing their own momentum completely unforced than the Cincinnati 0:06:50.800 --> 0:06:53.560 read because they're coming off a playoff year and then 0:06:53.560 --> 0:06:55.479 you do this and then not only do you not 0:06:55.560 --> 0:06:58.960 come out after you miss on Kyle Schwarber and just say, well, gosh, 0:06:59.000 --> 0:07:01.400 golly gee, we'll try and get him again with the 0:07:01.440 --> 0:07:03.480 next offer that we make to the next guy. No, 0:07:03.720 --> 0:07:05.960 they try to convince us that there's basically not going 0:07:06.040 --> 0:07:08.440 to be another offer. And so that was the most 0:07:08.480 --> 0:07:10.440 confusing part out of all of this, is that they 0:07:11.080 --> 0:07:15.680 somehow decided to rub salt in the wound after you know, 0:07:15.800 --> 0:07:19.720 the thing fell through. So I'm hopeful that they can 0:07:19.800 --> 0:07:22.440 take what they did with Kyle Schwarber, and maybe I 0:07:22.480 --> 0:07:26.120 don't know, go talk to au Haanio Suarez, but it 0:07:26.640 --> 0:07:29.640 makes me feel as though I am, you know, just 0:07:29.800 --> 0:07:32.280 really really hoping out a left field when I say 0:07:32.320 --> 0:07:33.200 something like that. 0:07:33.680 --> 0:07:36.400 Yeah, I mean, he's not from Cincinnati. But he did 0:07:36.520 --> 0:07:40.680 play here, so there's you know, some familiar familiarity there. 0:07:41.560 --> 0:07:44.920 So no Kyle Schwarber, no Kyle Tucker, no Cody Bellinger 0:07:44.960 --> 0:07:47.480 or Boba shed or anybody like that, you know, a 0:07:47.600 --> 0:07:50.040 legitimate threat in the middle of this lineup to protect 0:07:50.080 --> 0:07:51.920 Ellie and some of the other young hitters. 0:07:51.960 --> 0:07:54.160 Instead of you. 0:07:54.120 --> 0:07:57.520 Know, trading for someone who could be an everyday starter 0:07:57.600 --> 0:07:59.680 in the outfield, they trade for Dane Meyers. In the 0:07:59.720 --> 0:08:02.720 Mia Marlins, they signed JJ Blode to a one year deal, 0:08:03.240 --> 0:08:06.400 a guy who you know, no disrespect, wasn't good enough 0:08:06.440 --> 0:08:09.280 to finish the season on the A's last year. Are 0:08:09.320 --> 0:08:11.520 these just the next two guys that we have to 0:08:11.560 --> 0:08:15.320 talk ourselves into buying their potential upside? Or do these 0:08:15.360 --> 0:08:17.360 guys legitimately have a chance to help the club in 0:08:17.400 --> 0:08:18.160 twenty twenty six? 0:08:19.160 --> 0:08:21.320 You know, for one Sprick, I'm going to give Nick 0:08:21.360 --> 0:08:23.280 Carol a little bit of credit here because what he 0:08:23.360 --> 0:08:26.000 did with these moves is that he came out and 0:08:26.000 --> 0:08:29.960 he said exactly what he needed to say. Following that, 0:08:30.200 --> 0:08:32.160 he didn't come out and say, well, JJ Blede's are 0:08:32.200 --> 0:08:34.320 clean up hitter. Dane Myers is going to take over 0:08:34.360 --> 0:08:36.240 for TJ. Friedel. He didn't say it. 0:08:36.320 --> 0:08:38.480 There would have been torches and pitch forks at the 0:08:38.559 --> 0:08:39.680 Great American Ballpark. 0:08:39.720 --> 0:08:42.559 Had he said that, I think we'd be printing t 0:08:42.679 --> 0:08:45.520 shirts like make me the GM or whatever, you know, 0:08:45.640 --> 0:08:49.000 things like that. But no, he said that JJ Bleda 0:08:49.240 --> 0:08:51.760 is basically making what he would have made in arbitration 0:08:51.960 --> 0:08:54.760 with the A's. We just gave him that number instead 0:08:54.800 --> 0:08:56.920 of the a's giving him that number, and they're going 0:08:57.000 --> 0:08:59.960 to give him an opportunity to earn an everyday spot, 0:09:00.040 --> 0:09:02.600 but he's not being penciled in. And then he also 0:09:03.840 --> 0:09:07.400 correctly cast Dane Myers and that he is a depth 0:09:07.440 --> 0:09:10.840 piece for the outfield that is going to hit pretty 0:09:10.880 --> 0:09:13.440 much exclusively against left handed pitching because he really can't 0:09:13.520 --> 0:09:16.280 hit right handed pitching at all his career has shown. 0:09:16.640 --> 0:09:19.319 But he's really good against left handed pitching and he 0:09:19.360 --> 0:09:23.160 can play well defensively in all three parts of the outfield. 0:09:23.240 --> 0:09:25.839 So you put him on the bench for the outfield, 0:09:25.960 --> 0:09:29.360 you put JJ Bleda against Will Benson to see if 0:09:29.400 --> 0:09:31.760 they can earn a spot. And then he also said 0:09:31.800 --> 0:09:34.319 the right thing after all of that, by saying, we 0:09:34.400 --> 0:09:37.520 are still going to look for opportunities to improve this team, 0:09:37.760 --> 0:09:41.640 So I'm like, Okay, good, they're not done. And reportedly 0:09:41.679 --> 0:09:43.840 they have more money. Whatever that looks like, because we 0:09:43.880 --> 0:09:45.640 heard at the beginning of the season they don't have 0:09:45.679 --> 0:09:47.760 any money, and now we hear that they do have money, 0:09:47.800 --> 0:09:49.800 and they gave money to Kyles however, and that they 0:09:49.800 --> 0:09:51.640 don't have that money because they told us after that 0:09:51.679 --> 0:09:54.400 they don't have that money. But now they have more money, 0:09:54.480 --> 0:09:58.600 So something is going to happen soon. I think. 0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:02.600 The name that keeps getting thrown out there for the 0:10:02.600 --> 0:10:04.880 better part of three years now has been Luise Robert 0:10:04.920 --> 0:10:08.200 from the Chicago White Sox. They have reportedly been in 0:10:08.400 --> 0:10:11.800 on him again every offseason for the past three years. 0:10:12.880 --> 0:10:15.680 These two sides are apparently talking. Let's just say he's 0:10:15.760 --> 0:10:19.920 ultimately the guy, because that's who they have been connected to. 0:10:20.080 --> 0:10:24.599 I can't remember, you know, to tell Marte maybe, I 0:10:24.640 --> 0:10:28.240 don't think there was much smoke there. That was just 0:10:28.320 --> 0:10:29.760 kind of a name that was tossed out there during 0:10:29.800 --> 0:10:33.000 the winter meetings. Let's just say, ultimately it is Luis 0:10:33.080 --> 0:10:36.440 Robert that comes here. Is there any confidence that he 0:10:36.480 --> 0:10:38.760 can find his all star form from a few years ago, 0:10:38.800 --> 0:10:41.200 because it almost feels like the Reds have been staying 0:10:41.240 --> 0:10:43.840 in constant contact with the White Sox, hoping that the 0:10:43.920 --> 0:10:46.360 asking price for him would come down, and it has, 0:10:47.040 --> 0:10:49.240 but so is his production, and he's just not been 0:10:49.240 --> 0:10:50.120 able to stay healthy. 0:10:51.280 --> 0:10:54.200 I think so, and it's mostly based on the fact 0:10:54.240 --> 0:10:57.480 that every other part of his game has been really good. 0:10:57.760 --> 0:11:00.960 His hitting obviously has not been, but his shielding, his 0:11:01.000 --> 0:11:04.760 base running has still been, you know, at a very 0:11:04.840 --> 0:11:07.560 good level. And we're talking about a dude that finished 0:11:07.760 --> 0:11:10.079 well into the MVP race in the American League in 0:11:10.120 --> 0:11:12.680 twenty twenty three. Of course, these last two years have 0:11:12.760 --> 0:11:15.240 not been great, and so he falls under that category 0:11:15.559 --> 0:11:18.080 that the Reds continually seem to put themselves in, is 0:11:18.080 --> 0:11:20.800 that we get these guys that were once good but 0:11:20.880 --> 0:11:24.480 haven't been good since, and so there's a lot of 0:11:24.480 --> 0:11:28.160 folks that are just like great basically Louise Roberts JJ Blade. 0:11:28.760 --> 0:11:31.440 I don't go that far. I think that the scouting 0:11:31.480 --> 0:11:34.800 report on Luise Robert is so glowy and we have 0:11:35.160 --> 0:11:39.520 seen that like top one percent of Major League Baseball 0:11:40.000 --> 0:11:43.200 athleticism that he has. But I believe he could tap 0:11:43.240 --> 0:11:45.200 back into it. I think a change of scenery would 0:11:45.240 --> 0:11:48.240 be perfect for him. It all comes down to what 0:11:48.320 --> 0:11:52.360 it costs, and we continually hear different things that, Okay, well, 0:11:52.480 --> 0:11:56.400 maybe Chris Getz, the White Sox president of baseball Operations, 0:11:56.679 --> 0:12:00.400 is starting to come down on his asking offer. Most 0:12:00.480 --> 0:12:03.040 recently we have heard that is not the case. And 0:12:03.080 --> 0:12:07.640 there are some unsubstantiated reports that they wanted Chase Petty, 0:12:07.920 --> 0:12:11.720 Hector Rodriguez and a compensatory draft pick. And I think 0:12:11.760 --> 0:12:16.000 everyone in Cincinnati would collectively just cringe if that were 0:12:16.040 --> 0:12:18.840 the trade. But at the same time, like I feel like, 0:12:18.880 --> 0:12:21.440 at some point you got to take a risk. Is 0:12:21.480 --> 0:12:24.600 that risk best put on Luis Robert? I don't think so. 0:12:25.120 --> 0:12:26.880 But at the same time, if you're not ever going 0:12:26.960 --> 0:12:28.800 to take a risk, I just don't think you can 0:12:28.880 --> 0:12:32.720 expect big time results because that's been them for Nick 0:12:32.800 --> 0:12:37.560 Cross's strategy for adding talent to this team is low risk, 0:12:38.240 --> 0:12:40.599 some kind of reward. At some point, you got to 0:12:40.600 --> 0:12:42.520 take a high risk for a high reward because it 0:12:42.520 --> 0:12:46.280 feels like the amount of risk you take is commensurate 0:12:46.320 --> 0:12:48.000 with the amount of reward you're going to get. 0:12:48.280 --> 0:12:51.440 Yeah, but you know, we gotta we don't want peaks 0:12:51.480 --> 0:12:54.640 or valleys, remember that, you know, we're trying to stay 0:12:55.160 --> 0:12:58.199 somewhere in the middle, somewhere around eighty four or eighty 0:12:58.280 --> 0:13:01.200 five wins, maybe sneak in to the playoffs, give a 0:13:01.280 --> 0:13:04.840 chance to possibly advance for the first time in thirty years. 0:13:04.840 --> 0:13:07.360 You know, that's where this team really hits home, and 0:13:07.360 --> 0:13:09.640 that's what they're trying to do here ultimately, at least 0:13:09.640 --> 0:13:11.240 that's what I'm reading into the moves that they have 0:13:11.400 --> 0:13:14.160 made thus far. Jeff Carr from the Locked On Reds 0:13:14.160 --> 0:13:15.960 podcast joining me here for a few more minutes here 0:13:16.000 --> 0:13:19.200 on seven hundredw Ricky Chino leading you guys into the 0:13:19.280 --> 0:13:22.600 Rose Bowl at four pm. It's not all bad with 0:13:22.679 --> 0:13:26.120 this team, Jeff. I'm look, I'm down on them, but 0:13:26.160 --> 0:13:27.760 there's still a lot to like. I think they have 0:13:27.800 --> 0:13:29.920 done a heck of a job drafting and developing this 0:13:29.960 --> 0:13:33.240 starting rotation. They do still have Brady Singer for another 0:13:33.320 --> 0:13:36.439 year unless they trade them. Have they done enough to 0:13:36.480 --> 0:13:37.240 show up the bullpen? 0:13:37.280 --> 0:13:41.360 Though? I think they could probably make one more move. 0:13:41.640 --> 0:13:46.560 Ideally you would be able to add somebody that's really 0:13:46.640 --> 0:13:48.800 solid both in the bullpen and in the lineup. But 0:13:48.840 --> 0:13:50.960 we know how this team works. They're gonna do one 0:13:51.040 --> 0:13:54.000 or the other, right and I think it's more likely 0:13:54.040 --> 0:13:55.920 that they do that with the bullpen than with the lineup, 0:13:55.960 --> 0:13:58.000 which is the most frustrating part of going back to 0:13:58.000 --> 0:13:59.840 all of this. But I do like what they've done 0:14:00.600 --> 0:14:03.720 with the bullpen. I mean bringing back Emilio Pagan, as 0:14:03.760 --> 0:14:06.000 boring as it might seem, to stay status quote to 0:14:06.000 --> 0:14:10.160 close a role, at least you're not betting that Tony 0:14:10.200 --> 0:14:13.240 Santion can take this over. I think he can, but 0:14:13.640 --> 0:14:16.800 he hasn't shown it yet because he hasn't really gotten 0:14:16.800 --> 0:14:20.320 that opportunity. So if Emilio Pagan can just carbon copy 0:14:20.400 --> 0:14:23.400 what he did last year for twenty twenty six, then 0:14:23.480 --> 0:14:26.480 we feel really good about the closer spot. Tony Santion 0:14:26.560 --> 0:14:29.440 has pressure taken off of him, and then hopefully you 0:14:29.520 --> 0:14:32.160 see a little bit of a bounce back from Sam Mall, 0:14:32.280 --> 0:14:35.200 because if that happens, then they have two good leftees 0:14:35.320 --> 0:14:39.080 since they added Caleb Ferguson, because until they added Caleb Ferguson, 0:14:39.120 --> 0:14:41.280 it felt like they were going to bet on a 0:14:41.320 --> 0:14:44.800 bounce back from Sam Mall after such a horrible season 0:14:44.840 --> 0:14:47.840 that he had last year. But overall, I'm I'm fine 0:14:47.880 --> 0:14:50.480 with the bull I feel like, you know, obviously the 0:14:50.520 --> 0:14:52.960 most confidence that you have in any position group on 0:14:52.960 --> 0:14:55.560 this team is with the starting rotation, but I think 0:14:55.560 --> 0:15:00.640 that the bullpen is probably it's probably second. Then it's 0:15:00.680 --> 0:15:03.280 not closer with the infield based on if some guys 0:15:03.360 --> 0:15:05.600 bounce back there as well. 0:15:05.960 --> 0:15:09.800 MLB dot Com this week picked their breakout player candidates 0:15:09.800 --> 0:15:11.760 for each team at twenty twenty six, Mark Sheldon went 0:15:11.800 --> 0:15:13.880 with Noelvie Marte for the Reds. Do you agree or 0:15:13.880 --> 0:15:16.240 is there someone else here expecting big things from this year? 0:15:17.720 --> 0:15:21.600 I think it's it's interesting how you turn this because 0:15:22.000 --> 0:15:24.240 I think you can make the argument for Matt McClain 0:15:24.400 --> 0:15:26.960 so long as you understand what it is you're saying, 0:15:27.040 --> 0:15:29.920 because she barely played in twenty twenty three, but what 0:15:29.960 --> 0:15:32.960 we saw in twenty twenty three was amazing. Missed all 0:15:32.960 --> 0:15:35.920 of twenty twenty four, played all last year and really 0:15:35.920 --> 0:15:38.480 struggled to the point that he had zero war So 0:15:38.560 --> 0:15:40.760 he wasn't a negative, but he wasn't a positive either. 0:15:41.240 --> 0:15:44.160 But at the same time, I feel like, as long 0:15:44.200 --> 0:15:46.720 as you are saying that it's a breakout, I think 0:15:46.760 --> 0:15:49.080 that Matt McClain has yet to break out, and so 0:15:49.320 --> 0:15:53.040 he would be my pick. There's still like projection systems 0:15:53.080 --> 0:15:56.520 like zips from fangrafts dot com to project them to 0:15:56.520 --> 0:15:59.200 be a three war player based on what they already know. 0:15:59.840 --> 0:16:02.760 A lot of what a breakout is is a player 0:16:02.840 --> 0:16:05.600 presenting to you something that you do not already know 0:16:05.680 --> 0:16:08.320 about them. So I would argue that Matt McClain would 0:16:08.320 --> 0:16:10.560 be a good pick with Noel V. Marte. But I 0:16:10.640 --> 0:16:12.720 agree with you, like if I agree with what Mark 0:16:12.760 --> 0:16:15.400 Sheldon said about Noel V. Marte, like as fun as 0:16:15.440 --> 0:16:17.880 he can get more comfortable in right field. We saw 0:16:18.040 --> 0:16:21.080 plenty of hard hit contact from him. He has good 0:16:21.120 --> 0:16:24.120 swing speed, which means that what we see from his 0:16:24.200 --> 0:16:27.320 hard hit contact metrics are not a fluke. And so 0:16:27.360 --> 0:16:29.840 I think that will just continue to get better for him. 0:16:30.240 --> 0:16:32.160 And how fun a story that is. Where we were 0:16:32.200 --> 0:16:35.800 giving up on him before last year, he began and 0:16:35.840 --> 0:16:38.840 he was just like, YO, pay attention. I think Matt 0:16:38.920 --> 0:16:41.320 McLain's in that same realm next year, let's hope. 0:16:41.400 --> 0:16:44.720 So, Jeff, well, hopefully we'll have time to talk again 0:16:44.760 --> 0:16:47.680 before the season starts. Where can people check out your 0:16:47.840 --> 0:16:50.240 excellent work? As always, sir, hey, you. 0:16:50.200 --> 0:16:52.920 Can always follow the Lockdown Reds podcast everywhere you get 0:16:52.960 --> 0:16:56.080 your podcast, including the iHeartRadio app. You can also follow 0:16:56.120 --> 0:16:59.000 me on social media at Jeff Carr with three fs 0:16:59.040 --> 0:17:02.760 on Twitter and TikTok. Can you flipped that username around 0:17:02.760 --> 0:17:04.960 a little bit for Instagram as well. But always talking, 0:17:05.000 --> 0:17:06.000 Red's always happy to do. 0:17:06.640 --> 0:17:09.120 Appreciate you, Jeff, I have a good one, man, Hey. 0:17:09.119 --> 0:17:11.000 Rick, appreciate you too, man. Happy New Year. You can 0:17:11.000 --> 0:17:11.400 go Red. 0:17:11.560 --> 0:17:14.600 Yes, absolutely, there you go, Jeff Carlocked on Reds Podcast. 0:17:15.160 --> 0:17:17.200 We'll get into football next after the bottom of the hour. 0:17:17.240 --> 0:17:17.359 News. 0:17:17.440 --> 0:17:19.760 Kegan nickoson Bearcat Journal dot com. Getting ready for the 0:17:19.760 --> 0:17:21.639 Liberty Bowl tomorrow plus the games tonight. 0:17:21.840 --> 0:17:23.920 I'm Ricky Chino. What's I have? One hundred w WELWLD. 0:17:24.320 --> 0:17:28.200 I'm John Decker. Join me weekdays for fifteen minutes of notes. 0:17:28.320 --> 0:17:30.880 How we will take you out to Pasadena. We're number 0:17:30.920 --> 0:17:34.240 one Indiana and number nine Alabama meet in the Rose Bowl. 0:17:34.240 --> 0:17:36.480 That will be followed by Georgia and Ole miss in 0:17:36.520 --> 0:17:38.920 the Sugar Bowl down in New Orleans. We'll talk a 0:17:39.000 --> 0:17:41.439 little bit about those matchups here, just a few in 0:17:41.640 --> 0:17:45.200 just a few moments. But first tomorrow it is the 0:17:45.240 --> 0:17:48.639 AutoZone Liberty Bowl at four point thirty. As you see 0:17:49.160 --> 0:17:52.959 takes on Navy. Keegan Nickoson covers the Bearcats football and 0:17:53.040 --> 0:17:55.840 basketball for Bearcat Journal dot Com. Great time to be 0:17:55.920 --> 0:17:59.240 him right now, Keegan, Happy New Year. I appreciate the time. 0:17:59.280 --> 0:18:00.040 How's everything going on. 0:18:01.600 --> 0:18:04.920 It's going great. I'm really looking forward to covering the game. 0:18:05.000 --> 0:18:07.320 The whole country has been waiting to watch tomorrow and 0:18:07.440 --> 0:18:11.639 Memphis at the Liberty Bowl, So I'm excited and I 0:18:11.680 --> 0:18:12.560 can't wait to see you going. 0:18:13.760 --> 0:18:16.920 It's been at tumultuous few weeks for the Bearcats football 0:18:16.920 --> 0:18:20.040 program following what was look it was an extremely disappointing 0:18:20.040 --> 0:18:22.879 finish to the twenty twenty five season, which started out 0:18:22.920 --> 0:18:25.879 with such promise. Now quarterback Brendon Soaresby has entered the 0:18:25.920 --> 0:18:29.600 transfer portal, so let's start there. Who the heck is 0:18:29.640 --> 0:18:32.200 going to be under center tomorrow and what's the game 0:18:32.240 --> 0:18:34.000 plan going to be against the midshipman. 0:18:35.720 --> 0:18:35.960 Yeah. 0:18:36.080 --> 0:18:38.960 Last time we talked to coach Saderfield before they left town, 0:18:39.080 --> 0:18:43.320 he said that both Brady Lichtenberg and Soamage Jones would play. 0:18:44.200 --> 0:18:46.280 I think it's going to be a case where Brady 0:18:46.280 --> 0:18:49.600 Lichtenberg is getting the majority of the snaps as kind 0:18:49.600 --> 0:18:54.560 of a Hey, you've stuck around for six years, you've 0:18:54.600 --> 0:18:57.639 been our guy. You've competed for a starting job and 0:18:57.720 --> 0:19:01.400 haven't gotten it. I think three times, maybe two times. 0:19:01.680 --> 0:19:03.359 Let's finally take a look at the guy, see what 0:19:03.400 --> 0:19:03.760 he can do. 0:19:03.880 --> 0:19:05.840 You know, we. 0:19:05.840 --> 0:19:09.840 Haven't seen enough reps in practice. So yeah, they're gonna 0:19:09.880 --> 0:19:11.800 they're gonna give him the ball and he's gonna try 0:19:11.800 --> 0:19:13.840 to lead the team. And then I don't know if 0:19:13.840 --> 0:19:16.080 it's gonna be kind of a split where they they 0:19:16.119 --> 0:19:19.080 want to see what Samas Jones can do, or it's 0:19:19.119 --> 0:19:21.639 a case where they they used his they use his 0:19:21.760 --> 0:19:25.840 legs and the running game and in kind of certain situations. 0:19:25.880 --> 0:19:29.200 But I think it would be mainly Brady Lichtenburg, and 0:19:29.240 --> 0:19:31.600 then they'll try to make something happen on offensive them. 0:19:32.040 --> 0:19:33.919 Evan Pryor is not going to be on the field tomorrow. 0:19:33.920 --> 0:19:37.200 He entered the transfer portal this week. Any surprise there. 0:19:39.000 --> 0:19:43.119 A little bit actually when he talked to me and 0:19:43.240 --> 0:19:46.240 Chad Brendel, my boss, after a practice and at the 0:19:46.320 --> 0:19:49.000 end of the season, he had told us, hey, I 0:19:49.040 --> 0:19:51.360 know it says I'm a red shirt senior on my profile, 0:19:51.400 --> 0:19:54.080 but I've got another year of eligibility. And he actually 0:19:54.080 --> 0:19:56.120 says that he has planned to come back, and it's 0:19:56.200 --> 0:19:58.680