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Speaker 1: Welcome to Hammer territory. My name is Sean Coleman. Always

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Speaker 1: a pleasure to be with you wherever you are and

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Speaker 1: wherever you are listening. Hope that you are warm. First off,

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Speaker 1: probably wherever you are in the US, probably cold. And

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Speaker 1: also just to hope you're enjoying good playoff weekend when

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Speaker 1: it comes to football, some good college and professional basketball.

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Speaker 1: But hey, we are here to talk about baseball, and

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Speaker 1: is always here to talk baseball with me. It's my

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Speaker 1: podcast partner, Steven Talbert Stephen. Good to see Egan, Sir.

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Speaker 1: Ready to talk a little braise baseball with you.

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Speaker 2: Now, what's up, Sean. It's always good to do these

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Speaker 2: with you, buddy. Yeah, I mean, listen, it's been more

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Speaker 2: of the same right, Like we're still waiting on anything

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Speaker 2: at this point. Watching other teams sign good players, watching

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Speaker 2: other teams sign former Braves players, watching other teams, you know,

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Speaker 2: take away guys, that we're on the twenty twenty one

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Speaker 2: team has kind of been a theme of this offseason,

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Speaker 2: and it happened again recently. So we're gonna talk about that.

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Speaker 2: We're gonna talk about Tenner Scott, talk about the Dodgers. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: some stuff to get into because the feeling online is

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Speaker 2: not great. Right now, I'll start there. I think that's fair.

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Speaker 2: We have tried to be very fair on this show

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Speaker 2: where we tell people we're okay, if you judge the offseason,

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Speaker 2: let's just wait till the end of the off season

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Speaker 2: to judge it, which I think is fair. I think

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Speaker 2: that's a reasonable request. And the off season is getting,

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Speaker 2: you know, it's getting you know, the saying is it's

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Speaker 2: getting late quick you know, getting late very quickly. And

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Speaker 2: we're three weeks out from spring training and still not

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Speaker 2: a thing to talk about. So there's a lot of

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Speaker 2: frustration out there, and you know, Sean and I are

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Speaker 2: going to talk about it here for a few minutes.

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Speaker 1: Absolutely, And let's start with the well, you know, with

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Speaker 1: the Tenner Scott signing by the Dodgers four years seventy two,

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Speaker 1: meion once again their financial finago league, not suggesting that

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Speaker 1: anything you know wrong is going on there, just you know,

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Speaker 1: obviously the same creative way of signing big name free

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Speaker 1: agents that they've had over the past couple of offseason

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Speaker 1: you know, continues. And we'll first start with Tenner Scott

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Speaker 1: because you know, there was a bit of you know,

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Speaker 1: anticipation that the Braves could be in on Tenner Scott.

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Speaker 1: Davill Brian had, you know, kind of alluded to that fact,

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Speaker 1: and you know, it made sense from you know, the

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Speaker 1: way that Alex and Thopless had operated in the past.

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Speaker 1: It would have been a smart it would have been.

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Speaker 1: It made sense to go after Tenner Scott in my opinion,

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Speaker 1: because of how an effective of a reliever he is,

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Speaker 1: and also how many National League teams have very good

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Speaker 1: left handed hitters. But the thing that stands out to me,

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Speaker 1: Stephen is this is that, yes, it made sense to

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Speaker 1: go after Tanner Scott, and I would imagine the Braves

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Speaker 1: probably did have interest up until the very end. But

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Speaker 1: the Braves also probably had as we've seen Alex and

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Speaker 1: Popoulos have in the past, they probably had their set

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Speaker 1: amount that they were going to be willing to spend,

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Speaker 1: and it likely was lower than what the Dodgers had suggested.

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Speaker 1: So I feel like that Tanner Scott, yes, he would

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Speaker 1: have been a great addition to the Braves, but for

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Speaker 1: what he signed with the Dodgers, I'm okay with this

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Speaker 1: development being. With this development happening, of course, I would

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Speaker 1: have rather him, you know, gone to the Cubs or

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Speaker 1: another team, but at the price that was paid for him.

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Speaker 1: I'm okay with the Braves. Haven't set this one out.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, So in a vacuum, this is not a deal

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Speaker 2: you're that most people would be overly jealous of. You know,

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Speaker 2: paying relievers for three four years, you know, seventy two

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Speaker 2: million dollars is is not something that I would ever

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Speaker 2: typically recommend. We've talked about it on the show. Alex

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Speaker 2: in his short time as the Braves, you know, president

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Speaker 2: of Baseball Ops has actually shown a much stronger willingness

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Speaker 2: to pay big money for relievers than I would ever

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Speaker 2: be comfortable with.

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Speaker 1: And so this is not.

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Speaker 2: On the surface, this is not something that you would

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Speaker 2: think like the Braves would be in. But I tweeted

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Speaker 2: this out earlier. I will say this, you know, once

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Speaker 2: you factor in the deferrals, because it's a Dodger contract,

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Speaker 2: so obviously there are deferrals, there's about twenty million in

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Speaker 2: deferred money, and once you factor the deferrals in, this

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Speaker 2: deal is actually not all that dissimilar to the one

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Speaker 2: that Rossillo Glacias signed with the Angels in twenty twenty two.

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Speaker 2: He signed for four years at sixteen million dollars per year.

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Speaker 2: Scott just signed for four years at eighteen million dollars

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Speaker 2: per year, but again there are deferrals in there, and

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Speaker 2: once the union, you know, once they calculate the present

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Speaker 2: day value of this contract, it's going to be very

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Speaker 2: similar to what aglesi has got. And of course we

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Speaker 2: know that the Angels gave a Glaciers that contract and

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Speaker 2: then four months later the Braves traded for the entire contract.

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Speaker 2: So they were comfortable giving Iglesias sixteen million dollars a

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Speaker 2: year to be a back end pitcher. And if you

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Speaker 2: look at it, that's kind of what closers you know,

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Speaker 2: they signed Kenley Jansen for like seventeen million. Like sixteen

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Speaker 2: to eighteen million dollars is kind of what really strong

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Speaker 2: back in high leverage relievers make now. And so I

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Speaker 2: don't think the contract is as crazy as some other

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Speaker 2: people do. I think it's pretty in line with what

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Speaker 2: closers make. And I don't know if if Tanner Scott's

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Speaker 2: going to be the closer. The Dodgers don't haven't typically

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Speaker 2: had a closer. They do it by committee and by matchup,

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Speaker 2: but he's gonna be one of their best high leverage

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Speaker 2: relievers for sure. And that was my point with the

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Speaker 2: Braves was that you know, Glaciers is thirty five, he's

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Speaker 2: got one more year left on his deal. If they

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Speaker 2: had done this with Tanner Scott, it would have made

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Speaker 2: sense to me because Tanner it's kind of a bridge

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Speaker 2: to Tanner Scott becoming your closer after this year. And again,

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Speaker 2: if you're paying your closers sixteen to eighteen million dollars

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Speaker 2: a year, it makes sense to me. Like I know

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Speaker 2: a lot of people, I these are not deals that

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Speaker 2: I would sign, but that's just kind of the market.

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Speaker 1: Rate for elite relievers.

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Speaker 2: So I would have been more likely to do this

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Speaker 2: contract than maybe a lot of people were, or at

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Speaker 2: least I would have understood it more. But it didn't happen.

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Speaker 2: And you know, there was a lot of there was

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Speaker 2: a lot of scuttle butt that the Braves were interested

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Speaker 2: in Tanner Scott and so it was a very it

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Speaker 2: was a very loud reaction online today when I think

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Speaker 2: it was this morning when that news dropped that the

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Speaker 2: Dodgers had signed him, and of course coming off the

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Speaker 2: rookie Sasaki news, it was just like another gut punch,

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Speaker 2: like the Dodgers just get everybody, and I understood it.

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Speaker 2: I completely understood the frustration. If the Braves had made

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Speaker 2: three or four trades or signings to this point, the

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Speaker 2: frustration would have been substantially less. But because we're still here,

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Speaker 2: they have still done nothing. Every time one of these

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Speaker 2: big names comes off the board, especially if they had

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Speaker 2: any connection with the Braves, it just gets you know,

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Speaker 2: it just gets louder and louder and louder and louder.

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Speaker 2: And you know, I'm actually kind of curious for your

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Speaker 2: opinion show where are you? Where are you on the

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Speaker 2: frustration meter with how this offseason is gone.

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Speaker 1: I'm I'm not that high when it comes to being

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Speaker 1: frustrated at the moment. And the reason why I think

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Speaker 1: that is is because for me, I feel is if

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Speaker 1: the biggest, the biggest development that needs to happen for

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Speaker 1: the Braves to get back to where we need for

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Speaker 1: them to be like they were in twenty two to

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Speaker 1: twenty three in the regular season is already on the team.

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Speaker 1: It's the internal improvements and better health from our players,

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Speaker 1: our players simply playing to the level that they need

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Speaker 1: to be. Another reason why I'm not necessarily that frustrated

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Speaker 1: or that concern is because I feel like that Alex Enthopolis,

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Speaker 1: while he's not made a moves of yet, while he

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Speaker 1: usually likes to strike early, he's never been someone who

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Speaker 1: has been reactive to what other teams have done, or

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Speaker 1: he's never been someone that has been, you know, gonna

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Speaker 1: make a move just to make a move. I still

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Speaker 1: have I still have confidence in a move or two

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Speaker 1: is going to be made. I don't think they're going

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Speaker 1: to go into the season with all these openings that

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Speaker 1: are there. And I also feel is if once we

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Speaker 1: see maybe one of the one or two free agents

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Speaker 1: like an Anthony Sender or a Jack Flarity or someone

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Speaker 1: along those lines, not those specific players, but along those lines,

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Speaker 1: I do think that we potentially will get a notable

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Speaker 1: free agent who just is ready to sign a short

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Speaker 1: term deal and be in an environment where they know

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Speaker 1: that they're going to win, they know that they're going

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Speaker 1: that they contribute, it's going to be notable. So I

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Speaker 1: think that that's one way he's gonna be able to

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Speaker 1: fill a need plus also make a trade. So I

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Speaker 1: I don't have that much frustration because I trust in

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Speaker 1: the creativity of Alex and topless. The thing that I

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Speaker 1: will say though that does start to get a bit

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Speaker 1: worrisome is the fact that even with the Brave, even

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Speaker 1: though I have faith in the creativity, the thing is

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Speaker 1: is that these free agents who we I feel made

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Speaker 1: sense for the Braves, they're going to the Dodgers or

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Speaker 1: like for instance, you know you're seeing those direct teams

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Speaker 1: that are right there with the Braves or above them

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Speaker 1: in the National League. They are getting names that make

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Speaker 1: sense for the Braves. We're gonna talking about another in

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Speaker 1: just a second, and Stephen, that's something that you know

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Speaker 1: is not necessarily concerning the Dodgers. Were going to go

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Speaker 1: into this season being better anyway. But the thing about

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Speaker 1: the Dodgers that stands out to me is that, yes,

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Speaker 1: they are the best team in baseball if everything hits.

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Speaker 1: But we just recently have gone through a two year

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Speaker 1: stretch where the Braves have been considered that and they

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Speaker 1: weren't because of the injuries that occurred. One thing that

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Speaker 1: I think that stands out about the Dodgers. Yes, they

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Speaker 1: have a ton of talent, they're deeper than they were

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Speaker 1: last year, but it's got to stay healthy. I think

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Speaker 1: that may be the biggest question mark for the Dodgers.

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Speaker 1: Can all of this talent that they have put together

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Speaker 1: can stay healthy through a season for them to consistently

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Speaker 1: be able to repeat as potential World Series favorites.

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Speaker 2: Well, that's kind of what I love what the Dodgers

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Speaker 2: have done, because they've you know, they've got like seven

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Speaker 2: or eight starting pitchers right now. Like they've done they've

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Speaker 2: tried to do their best to kind of make themselves

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Speaker 2: bulletproof to injuries. And they won the World Series last

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Speaker 2: year with a ton of pitching injuries. They had a

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Speaker 2: ton of bullpen games in the playoffs, and they've went

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Speaker 2: out and just added an insane amount of depth all

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Speaker 2: over the field, every position, the bench, the bullpen obviously

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Speaker 2: now with Tanner, Scott, the rotation, a ton of I

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Speaker 2: mean they signed you know, they hired Otani and Yamamoto,

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Speaker 2: and then they added Blake Snell, and then they added Societ.

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Speaker 2: I mean, they just have an insane amount of depth.

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Speaker 2: And that's where I get concerned with the Braves is

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Speaker 2: that the Braves are very much tied to a handful

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Speaker 2: of injuries and there's not a lot behind, like especially

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Speaker 2: in the rotation, the rotation, the bullpen, like left field

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Speaker 2: and shortstop. I can live with a little bit, because

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Speaker 2: the rest of the offense should be really good, Like

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Speaker 2: if everybody's back, then the rest of the offense should

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Speaker 2: be good. Now, obviously they're tied to Akunya's injury and

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Speaker 2: how well he comes back, But they do have a

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Speaker 2: lot of talent on offense. That's that's not a subjective opinion,

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Speaker 2: that's just an objective truth. They have a ton of

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Speaker 2: talent on offense. But the rotation, I'm just very worried

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Speaker 2: about the death. I'm very worried about Spencer Strider's recovery.

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Speaker 2: I'm very worried about the amount of innings that Sail

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Speaker 2: Lopez and swollen back all through last year and the

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Speaker 2: residual effect that's going to have on twenty twenty five.

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Speaker 2: And just one more really strong arm in the rotation

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Speaker 2: would make me feel substantially better. And then the same

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Speaker 2: thing in the bullpen. They have lost We're gonna get

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Speaker 2: to him in a minute, but they've lost aj Mintter,

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Speaker 2: they've lost Jojimnish for probably the season. You know, Iglesias

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Speaker 2: is thirty five, on his last year of his deal

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Speaker 2: and they haven't added anything. And I just if Aglesias

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Speaker 2: gets hurt or has a down year. As currently constructed,

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Speaker 2: their bullpen is a mess. I mean, I mean, at

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Speaker 2: that point, your best reliever is like Aaron Bummer or

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Speaker 2: Dylan Lee, and that's I mean, you got to it's

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Speaker 2: got to be better than that. So I get the frustration.

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Speaker 2: I there are people that are watching this wanting me

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Speaker 2: to just completely unload on the team right now. I'm

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Speaker 2: not gonna do that. We said we would do that

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Speaker 2: if we got to the end of the offseason and

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Speaker 2: they did nothing. This is not the end of the

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Speaker 2: off season. This is January sixteenth or seventeenth, I forget

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Speaker 2: what the day's date is, but it's not the end.

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Speaker 2: There's a lot of names still out there. There's a

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Speaker 2: lot of trade candidates still out there, a lot of

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Speaker 2: free agents still out there. You know, we are one

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Speaker 2: or two blue squares away from this being a really

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Speaker 2: good offseason and the narrative being completely different. So I'm

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Speaker 2: not I'm not ready to just unload on them yet,

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Speaker 2: but I understand the frustration, and I get why every

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Speaker 2: time one of these people get signed, when these big

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Speaker 2: players get signed, people get madder and madder and matter

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Speaker 2: because there are holes on this team that I think

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Speaker 2: they need to address specifically with the pitching staff, you know,

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Speaker 2: left field and short stoff. I would love, I would

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Speaker 2: love if they finally got a left fielder, but I'm

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Speaker 2: not I'm not living and dying with that. But the

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Speaker 2: pitching staff I think needs some They need some reinforcements

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Speaker 2: bullpen rotation, and you know, we'll see what they do.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, agreed. And the thing, you know, I talk about

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Speaker 1: the fact that I have faith in the creativity of

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Speaker 1: Alex and Thopless, and so we see all these free

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Speaker 1: agent names that you know, are you know, going off

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Speaker 1: the board, and again I do think that there are

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Speaker 1: some names that could eventually make sense, especially as we

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Speaker 1: get closer to spring training. I do think Alex and

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Speaker 1: Thoppless maybe kind of playing that waiting game a bit,

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Speaker 1: seeing if there's a name that he likes that will

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Speaker 1: continue to go down in price as we get closer

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Speaker 1: and closer to spring training in the start of the season.

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Speaker 1: But on the flip side of things, you mentioned there

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Speaker 1: were a lot of trading can trade candidates out There's

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Speaker 1: Steven But to me, again, one thing that kind of

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Speaker 1: comes up in my mind again, I love the creativity

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Speaker 1: of Alex and Thopless, but how creative is he willing

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Speaker 1: to get with his most notable prospects Hirst and Walder, A. J. Smith, Shauber,

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Speaker 1: Drake Baldwin, among others. You just talked about the fact

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Speaker 1: that we've aught we've been seeing injuries smaller portion in

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty three, major portion in twenty twenty four. Those

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Speaker 1: prospects I just mentioned are our most obvious depth pieces.

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Speaker 1: So we talk about the potential of film needs through trades.

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Speaker 1: But if we don't want to trade any of those

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Speaker 1: top prospects because we feel that those are our depth pieces,

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Speaker 1: it kind of gives it brings up a very limited,

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Speaker 1: you know, very limited resources for Alex and thoughtless to

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Speaker 1: operate from when it comes to trades. So even though

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Speaker 1: there's some notable free agents out there, there's some notable

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Speaker 1: trade candidates out there as well. It comes back to

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Speaker 1: my mind is what are the thoughts on those top prospects.

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Speaker 1: Are we looking at them and maintaining them as depth

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Speaker 1: pizzas that eventually could jump up to be major pieces

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Speaker 1: in the case of injuries, or could we potentially see

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Speaker 1: one or two of them happened in trades that the

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Speaker 1: right deal comes along.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, And I've thought about that, because you're right, the

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Speaker 2: Braves A don't have a ton of top prospect I mean,

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Speaker 2: there's still probably a bottom third farm system. It's better

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Speaker 2: than it was, but they still don't you know, they're

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Speaker 2: not a top five farm system by any means, So

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Speaker 2: they don't have a lot of them, and they're very

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Speaker 2: protective of the ones they have at the moment. You know,

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Speaker 2: I don't think they're just gonna give Drake Baldwin away.

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Speaker 2: But I will say this, there are enough teams and

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Speaker 2: I do try to make a habit of reading, trying

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Speaker 2: to read about everything going on with every other team

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Speaker 2: in the league, just to have a baseline understanding of

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Speaker 2: what's happening. There are a lot of teams in the

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Speaker 2: league right now that are still trying to cut money,

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Speaker 2: and there are potential ways you can make trades. You know,

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Speaker 2: the Chris Sale trade last year. You know the potential

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Speaker 2: Jordan Montgomery trade, something like that, where the other team

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Speaker 2: is just trying to clear some payroll and you have

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Speaker 2: some you have an upside play and you can get

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Speaker 2: value that way. And I do think alex Is gonna

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Speaker 2: explore those because like I said, there's there's probably from

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Speaker 2: what I've been reading there's probably still six or seven

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Speaker 2: teams that need to cut payroll aggressively cut payroll at

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Speaker 2: some point in this offseason. And one thing I know

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Speaker 2: for sure is that Alex has money to spend, like

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Speaker 2: the payroll. Cash payroll right now is about forty million

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Speaker 2: dollars under what it was at the end of last year.

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Speaker 2: I'm not talking about luxury tax. That's a whole separate thing.

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Speaker 2: It's too complicated to get in this episode, but just

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Speaker 2: pure cash payroll, they're at about one hundred and ninety

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Speaker 2: five million right now and they ended the year at

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Speaker 2: two thirty five. So there's plenty of money to spend

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Speaker 2: and if you can, if you can find value in

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Speaker 2: places where other teams need to cut money and therefore

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Speaker 2: are are hamstrung and don't have a ton of leverage

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Speaker 2: in terms of asking for prospects, there's a lot of

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Speaker 2: trades to be made out there right now, and I

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Speaker 2: just with Alex's creativity, I would just be stunned. I

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Speaker 2: would be stunned if he didn't come up with something

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Speaker 2: where they get a really good player without having to

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Speaker 2: give up much. And because he's done it before, we've

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Speaker 2: seen him do it before, and I think he's gonna

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Speaker 2: do it again. I know people are pissed. I know

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Speaker 2: people are frustrated, and it has been a brutal offseason. Listen,

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Speaker 2: there is no You don't have to tell us about

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Speaker 2: how brutal we have to do a podcast three or

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Speaker 2: four times a week, like we know how slow and

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Speaker 2: how brutal this offseason has been. You don't have to

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Speaker 2: tell us, and we're just as frustrated. But I've said

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Speaker 2: it all along, I'll say it again. It is only

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Speaker 2: fair to wait till the end of the off season

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Speaker 2: to judge the off season. And we're not there yet.

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Speaker 2: And there's a ton of players still out there on

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Speaker 2: the free edgent market, on the trade market. There's plenty

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Speaker 2: of money for Alex to spend. I'm just not I'm

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Speaker 2: not there yet. I'm not ready to burn it down.

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Speaker 2: I'm not ready to scream at anybody. I still think

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Speaker 2: it's coming. I think improvements are coming, and I really

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Speaker 2: hope I'm right. I really hope I'm not wrong, because

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Speaker 2: that would be a brutal episode we would have to

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Speaker 2: do if we are wrong and they do nothing and

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Speaker 2: they cut payroll by forty million dollars, that's gonna.

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Speaker 1: Be a brutal episode.

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Speaker 2: We'll do it, don't get me wrong, We'll do it,

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Speaker 2: but it's gonna be a brutal one. And I just hope,

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Speaker 2: I just really hope they just go out make the moves.

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Speaker 2: There's players out there, there's value out there, improve the team,

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Speaker 2: and we can get onto twenty twenty five and have

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Speaker 2: a great season.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. And then the other thing that I'll say is

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Speaker 1: this is that you know, when it comes to, you know,

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Speaker 1: the moves that they are, the lack of moves that

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Speaker 1: the Braves are making, is that, you know, it makes

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Speaker 1: the fact that when one when a former Brave goes elsewhere,

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Speaker 1: it makes it you know, I don't know if sting's

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Speaker 1: even more is the way to describe it, but it

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Speaker 1: makes those moves when former Braves go elsewhere stick out

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Speaker 1: a bit more because you're like, well, we at least

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Speaker 1: could retain those players that we already had. And the

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Speaker 1: latest example of that is aj Minter, who not only

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Speaker 1: went elsewhere, but he went to division right division rival

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Speaker 1: in the New York Mets, and also went to being

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Speaker 1: lost to with a two year twenty two met another deal.

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Speaker 1: It seemed like a deal that the Braves could have afforded,

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Speaker 1: but it made them better obviously when it comes to

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Speaker 1: the Mets as well, filling the need for them. But Steven,

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Speaker 1: here's the thing that I'll say. I know, people black

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Speaker 1: of moves are frustrating see him enter go to a

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Speaker 1: division rivals frustrating, especially how bloved Mentor was. But I'm

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Speaker 1: actually okay with the deal that the Mets paid for

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Speaker 1: Mentor the Braves not matching that I would have been

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Speaker 1: okay bringing Mentor back probably for two fifteen to twenty. Okay,

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Speaker 1: that's fine as well. But when it comes to AJ Mentor,

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Speaker 1: I will say the one thing that stands out on

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Speaker 1: the surface, he had a pretty decent season last year

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Speaker 1: before the injury. But last year was the first time

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Speaker 1: since twenty eighteen his FIP was above four. It was

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Speaker 1: a four point four to five last year, So I

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Speaker 1: think that the underlying statistics on ag Mentor suggests that

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Speaker 1: last year he was not as good as he is previously.

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Speaker 1: Being like Ian would have loved to have had him back,

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Speaker 1: But personally I'm okay with what the Mets paid for him,

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Speaker 1: that AJ Mintor went elsewhere.

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Speaker 2: I mean, yeah, again, it's the same thing like it's

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Speaker 2: in a vacuum. It's not that big a deal. I mean,

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Speaker 2: it's not you know, they gave him an opt out,

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Speaker 2: which is a big deal. He got twenty two million,

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Speaker 2: which is a lot more than people thought with the

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Speaker 2: hip injury. You know, a lot of people were thinking

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Speaker 2: he was gonna have to take a kind of a

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Speaker 2: pillow contract, a one year prove it deal. So the

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Speaker 2: fact that he got twenty two guaranteed with an opt

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Speaker 2: out is significant. And again, in a vacuum, you're fine

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Speaker 2: letting aj Mintro walk with a with a twenty two

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Speaker 2: million are guarantee and an opt out. That's not something

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Speaker 2: that Braves would typically do. But when nothing else has happened, again,

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Speaker 2: same thing. And now another one of your you know,

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Speaker 2: twenty twenty one World Series pieces is off to another team.

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Speaker 2: And listen, that's been a theme and that's not helping. Like,

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Speaker 2: that's not helping. I mean this offseason you've had they

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Speaker 2: traded hayesel Air World Series Hero the you know, they

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Speaker 2: declined Travis Darnaut, who was on the World Series team.

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Speaker 2: Max Freed went elsewhere on the World Series team. Charlie

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Speaker 2: Morton went elsewhere on the World Series team Aj Mincher

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Speaker 2: went elsewhere on the World Series team. Like that's been

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Speaker 2: a theme this offseason where not only are they losing players,

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Speaker 2: but like this twenty twenty one World Series team has

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Speaker 2: been dismantled basically. I mean there's like two or three

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Speaker 2: guys left and that's it. So it's just not helping.

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Speaker 2: And yeah, I don't like I didn't when I saw

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Speaker 2: Aj get that kind of contract with an opt out,

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Speaker 2: I wasn't thinking, Man, the Braves should have done that.

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Speaker 2: I actually have some concerns about AJ long term the

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Speaker 2: hip injury. I'm extremely happy for him by all accounts.

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Speaker 2: He's a really class dude. Was a big part of

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Speaker 2: that clubhouse. I think the Braves have lost a ton

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Speaker 2: in the clubhouse. I've said that before with with Darnault

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Speaker 2: and Charlie Morton and Max Freed. They've lost a ton

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Speaker 2: in that clubhouse and AJ is another one. And so

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Speaker 2: I'm I'm super happy for him. But I yeah, that's

429
00:21:58,320 --> 00:22:00,720
Speaker 2: not one that I was just like, man, I I

430
00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:03,520
Speaker 2: need that contract on the Braves. Braids don't hand out

431
00:22:03,520 --> 00:22:06,840
Speaker 2: opt outs anyways, But when you stack it up against

432
00:22:06,880 --> 00:22:12,200
Speaker 2: they've done nothing. They've done absolutely nothing. The bullpen desperately

433
00:22:12,200 --> 00:22:13,920
Speaker 2: needs help. The joehaman Is news at the beginning of

434
00:22:13,920 --> 00:22:17,119
Speaker 2: the off season did not help. It just make you know,

435
00:22:17,119 --> 00:22:20,200
Speaker 2: it just it just adds on. It's just another kind

436
00:22:20,200 --> 00:22:22,399
Speaker 2: of it's you know, it's just you're just piling and

437
00:22:22,440 --> 00:22:25,280
Speaker 2: piling on stuff for people to get mad about. And

438
00:22:25,440 --> 00:22:28,399
Speaker 2: that did not help. And so having the AJ Mintor news,

439
00:22:28,240 --> 00:22:31,600
Speaker 2: the Tanner Scott news drop you know, this close to

440
00:22:31,600 --> 00:22:35,480
Speaker 2: one another. It's been brutal and it would really help

441
00:22:35,560 --> 00:22:37,600
Speaker 2: us a lot. If the Braves could could make a

442
00:22:37,680 --> 00:22:40,400
Speaker 2: move here pretty damn soon, that would that would help

443
00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:40,680
Speaker 2: a lot.

444
00:22:41,800 --> 00:22:43,639
Speaker 1: Well. The other thing that I think stands out with

445
00:22:43,720 --> 00:22:47,840
Speaker 1: the Joejimans injury as well as AJ Mentor going to elsewhere,

446
00:22:48,280 --> 00:22:49,760
Speaker 1: is the fact when you look at it, and I

447
00:22:49,800 --> 00:22:51,880
Speaker 1: think that this is the case with most teams, when

448
00:22:51,920 --> 00:22:54,840
Speaker 1: you look at the aspect of teams, I think it's

449
00:22:54,880 --> 00:22:58,600
Speaker 1: a pretty common trait that the bullpen is probably where

450
00:22:58,920 --> 00:23:02,159
Speaker 1: you see the least impact from homegrown talent. I think

451
00:23:02,200 --> 00:23:04,399
Speaker 1: if you were to go up and down major league teams,

452
00:23:04,400 --> 00:23:07,040
Speaker 1: there's not bullpens out there where you know, five or

453
00:23:07,040 --> 00:23:10,320
Speaker 1: six of the members were home grown from the farm system.

454
00:23:10,520 --> 00:23:13,040
Speaker 1: But with the Braves, especially with how good they've been

455
00:23:13,280 --> 00:23:16,399
Speaker 1: at developing pitching. It's the fact that they've not really

456
00:23:16,440 --> 00:23:20,080
Speaker 1: had a lot of bullpen pieces that have been homegrown.

457
00:23:20,240 --> 00:23:22,679
Speaker 1: You've got Dylan Lee, but before that you have an

458
00:23:22,760 --> 00:23:25,520
Speaker 1: aj mentor. Who was the last notable arm that was

459
00:23:25,560 --> 00:23:27,840
Speaker 1: homegrown and Steven Krabby. If I'm wrong, I think before

460
00:23:27,880 --> 00:23:30,040
Speaker 1: that it may have been Craig Kimprel. That's the point

461
00:23:30,040 --> 00:23:32,160
Speaker 1: that I'm getting at. You're you're looking at nearly fifteen

462
00:23:32,240 --> 00:23:35,119
Speaker 1: years of their of you being able to kind one hand,

463
00:23:35,640 --> 00:23:39,200
Speaker 1: how many, you know, Braves notable relievers have come from

464
00:23:39,240 --> 00:23:41,600
Speaker 1: the farm system. So that I think also is what's

465
00:23:41,640 --> 00:23:44,119
Speaker 1: standing out that to me is something that kind of

466
00:23:44,200 --> 00:23:46,399
Speaker 1: you know, was not talked about enough from that wave

467
00:23:46,520 --> 00:23:49,119
Speaker 1: of high level pitching talent, at least in the miners

468
00:23:49,119 --> 00:23:51,720
Speaker 1: that came at the middle and end of last decade,

469
00:23:51,880 --> 00:23:54,080
Speaker 1: is that none of them turned into valuable relievers, which

470
00:23:54,119 --> 00:23:56,200
Speaker 1: I think, you know, was a bit of a frustration.

471
00:23:56,400 --> 00:23:58,800
Speaker 1: But I think that that's something that also stands out,

472
00:23:59,040 --> 00:24:01,359
Speaker 1: is that the fact that we do not have a

473
00:24:01,400 --> 00:24:05,760
Speaker 1: lot of relief pitching prospects or depth in the minor leagues.

474
00:24:06,119 --> 00:24:09,280
Speaker 1: That's something that I think Alex and Thopless may address

475
00:24:09,320 --> 00:24:11,359
Speaker 1: in time, maybe through the draft, what have you, but

476
00:24:11,480 --> 00:24:15,359
Speaker 1: having a homegrown, reliable relief prospect right now would really help.

477
00:24:17,280 --> 00:24:19,720
Speaker 2: No, it's a good point. I mean, you know, you

478
00:24:19,760 --> 00:24:23,199
Speaker 2: look at ever since Alex has been the president of

479
00:24:23,240 --> 00:24:27,600
Speaker 2: Baseball Ops, They've done what seven drafts, six or seven drafts,

480
00:24:27,600 --> 00:24:32,800
Speaker 2: I think, and Dylan Lee is currently the only only

481
00:24:32,840 --> 00:24:35,280
Speaker 2: guy that's come through the system that's currently in the bullpen.

482
00:24:35,440 --> 00:24:38,200
Speaker 2: I mean that's you know, aj Mincher was here before

483
00:24:38,240 --> 00:24:42,280
Speaker 2: Alex and Doppels got here. So yeah, that's a great point.

484
00:24:42,320 --> 00:24:44,840
Speaker 2: I mean it's not something I'd really thought about, but yeah,

485
00:24:44,880 --> 00:24:49,159
Speaker 2: they really have not developed a lot of bullpen talent

486
00:24:49,600 --> 00:24:52,439
Speaker 2: in a long time. Really, and that you know, you

487
00:24:52,440 --> 00:24:54,640
Speaker 2: would think the number of pitchers that they acquired during

488
00:24:54,680 --> 00:24:57,399
Speaker 2: the rebuild. You know, not all of them are gonna hit,

489
00:24:57,400 --> 00:24:58,960
Speaker 2: but you think one or two would hit as starter

490
00:24:59,080 --> 00:25:00,879
Speaker 2: and then one or two were hit as a bullpen

491
00:25:00,960 --> 00:25:03,119
Speaker 2: piece and then maybe the rest, you know, fall off.

492
00:25:03,160 --> 00:25:05,840
Speaker 2: But that didn't happen really. I mean, Max Freed hit,

493
00:25:08,320 --> 00:25:11,320
Speaker 2: Mike Soroka hit for a minute, Ian Anderson hit for

494
00:25:11,520 --> 00:25:15,160
Speaker 2: like a minute, and that's about it. I mean, Kyle

495
00:25:15,160 --> 00:25:18,000
Speaker 2: Wright hit for a minute. I mean it was that

496
00:25:18,119 --> 00:25:19,920
Speaker 2: was it. You know, they didn't they didn't get any

497
00:25:19,960 --> 00:25:22,280
Speaker 2: bullpen arms out of that all out of all that pitching,

498
00:25:22,320 --> 00:25:25,640
Speaker 2: which is kind of wild to think about. Actually, So yeah,

499
00:25:25,640 --> 00:25:27,480
Speaker 2: you're right. I mean they really have not developed a

500
00:25:27,520 --> 00:25:31,120
Speaker 2: lot of bullpen and that's you know, that's part. I mean,

501
00:25:31,119 --> 00:25:33,359
Speaker 2: that's that's kind of why they are where they are

502
00:25:33,440 --> 00:25:35,960
Speaker 2: right now, where they they have. They lost too of

503
00:25:36,040 --> 00:25:38,080
Speaker 2: their top setup guys and Mentor and Jimenez, and they

504
00:25:38,080 --> 00:25:41,480
Speaker 2: don't have anybody internally that can just naturally step into

505
00:25:41,520 --> 00:25:45,680
Speaker 2: those roles. Now they'll say Daves Bill Hernandez, and that's fair.

506
00:25:45,920 --> 00:25:49,080
Speaker 2: He is. He is in the bullpen currently, and we'll

507
00:25:49,080 --> 00:25:50,520
Speaker 2: see what kind of guy, you know, We'll see how

508
00:25:50,520 --> 00:25:53,800
Speaker 2: good he is. But yeah, they just need more. They

509
00:25:53,840 --> 00:25:56,280
Speaker 2: need more in the bullpen, and it doesn't seem like

510
00:25:56,320 --> 00:25:58,080
Speaker 2: the farm is the place to get it at the moment.

511
00:25:58,520 --> 00:26:01,200
Speaker 2: Maybe we're wrong. Somebody could always, you know, bullpen, somebody

512
00:26:01,200 --> 00:26:03,879
Speaker 2: could always come out of nowhere and make a big

513
00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:06,000
Speaker 2: impact to twenty twenty five and make us eat our

514
00:26:06,040 --> 00:26:09,119
Speaker 2: words here. But I think you make a good point.

515
00:26:09,240 --> 00:26:11,520
Speaker 2: As of now, they have not done a great job

516
00:26:11,560 --> 00:26:14,879
Speaker 2: developing guys who can pitch out of the bullpen, they've

517
00:26:14,880 --> 00:26:17,680
Speaker 2: typically had to go get those externally. And we've seen

518
00:26:17,720 --> 00:26:19,760
Speaker 2: Alex add to the bullpen every year basically because he

519
00:26:19,800 --> 00:26:22,399
Speaker 2: has to because there's not a lot coming in the

520
00:26:22,440 --> 00:26:25,359
Speaker 2: system to help. So yeah, that that does not help,

521
00:26:25,680 --> 00:26:29,720
Speaker 2: and it has definitely led to or partly led to

522
00:26:30,040 --> 00:26:31,040
Speaker 2: where they are right now.

523
00:26:32,640 --> 00:26:34,800
Speaker 1: Well, and the good you know kind of what hedges

524
00:26:34,920 --> 00:26:38,600
Speaker 1: the the you know, what prevents the lack of bullpen

525
00:26:38,720 --> 00:26:41,160
Speaker 1: depth in the minors and things like that from hurt

526
00:26:41,160 --> 00:26:43,800
Speaker 1: and more is the Braves to have had a pretty

527
00:26:43,840 --> 00:26:47,160
Speaker 1: good track record of helping relievers who come from elsewhere,

528
00:26:47,400 --> 00:26:49,719
Speaker 1: what's they arrived in Atlanta do better in Atlanta than

529
00:26:49,720 --> 00:26:52,200
Speaker 1: they did previously. So that's a way to hedge against

530
00:26:52,200 --> 00:26:55,719
Speaker 1: not having a lot of relief depth. But speaking of depth,

531
00:26:55,840 --> 00:26:57,439
Speaker 1: you know, I don't necessarily know if this is a

532
00:26:57,440 --> 00:27:01,399
Speaker 1: notable signing, but at least he is a veteran major

533
00:27:01,480 --> 00:27:05,080
Speaker 1: leaguer who the Braves signed at a clear area of need,

534
00:27:05,119 --> 00:27:09,119
Speaker 1: and that was them signing veteran catcher Kurt Casally to

535
00:27:09,200 --> 00:27:12,240
Speaker 1: a minor league deal. When it comes to catching, now,

536
00:27:12,520 --> 00:27:15,840
Speaker 1: Casally has played you know, a you know, good portion

537
00:27:16,080 --> 00:27:19,280
Speaker 1: over of each season over the past several seasons, but

538
00:27:19,359 --> 00:27:22,160
Speaker 1: he feels more kind of as a last result resort

539
00:27:22,880 --> 00:27:25,879
Speaker 1: emergency catcher. Steven He's not had I believe, more than

540
00:27:25,880 --> 00:27:28,240
Speaker 1: a six to sixty ops in a season I believe

541
00:27:28,280 --> 00:27:31,960
Speaker 1: since twenty twenty. He's just he's he's very he's very

542
00:27:32,760 --> 00:27:34,520
Speaker 1: does very little with the bat. He's a very small

543
00:27:34,560 --> 00:27:37,399
Speaker 1: threat with the bat. Probably can command a pitching staff

544
00:27:37,400 --> 00:27:40,159
Speaker 1: in case of an emergency, but he doesn't feel like

545
00:27:40,280 --> 00:27:43,200
Speaker 1: the back of the answer to the question of who's

546
00:27:43,200 --> 00:27:45,280
Speaker 1: going to be our backup catcher. He just feels like

547
00:27:45,320 --> 00:27:47,480
Speaker 1: he's another option that they're bringing in for spring training

548
00:27:47,640 --> 00:27:50,080
Speaker 1: and he may get a run if we were to

549
00:27:50,080 --> 00:27:53,080
Speaker 1: see another injury to Sean Murphy or whoever else they

550
00:27:53,080 --> 00:27:55,320
Speaker 1: may potentially bring in, or even Drake Baldwin if they

551
00:27:55,320 --> 00:27:56,760
Speaker 1: call him up in some portion this season.

552
00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:01,320
Speaker 2: Yeah, listen, back up catcher is not a position. We've

553
00:28:01,320 --> 00:28:03,320
Speaker 2: talked about a ton. You know, obviously, we had that

554
00:28:03,359 --> 00:28:05,800
Speaker 2: whole show with Aj Prasinski, and big shout out to

555
00:28:05,800 --> 00:28:08,320
Speaker 2: Aj for doing that show. That was actually our last

556
00:28:08,320 --> 00:28:11,639
Speaker 2: show of mine. In your last show, check that episode

557
00:28:11,640 --> 00:28:12,960
Speaker 2: out if you haven't. We talked a lot about the

558
00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:16,880
Speaker 2: catching situation with aj obviously being a former major league catcher.

559
00:28:16,960 --> 00:28:19,840
Speaker 2: But yeah, you know there was a world where the

560
00:28:19,840 --> 00:28:22,560
Speaker 2: Braves went out and acquired a backup catcher. I agree

561
00:28:22,560 --> 00:28:24,600
Speaker 2: with you. I don't think Cassily is is that. I

562
00:28:24,600 --> 00:28:28,000
Speaker 2: think he's more minor league depth. I guess it's gonna

563
00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:30,679
Speaker 2: be Chad with Trump. Yes, that's what they're gonna do.

564
00:28:30,760 --> 00:28:32,840
Speaker 2: I thought maybe there was a chance they would go

565
00:28:32,920 --> 00:28:36,800
Speaker 2: out and get a veteran catcher to be Murphy's backup.

566
00:28:36,840 --> 00:28:40,080
Speaker 2: But I mean, you know, Trump is cheap and and

567
00:28:40,160 --> 00:28:43,200
Speaker 2: has caught everybody on the rotation, so that you know

568
00:28:43,240 --> 00:28:46,120
Speaker 2: that matters. That's a big deal. Actually, So I guess

569
00:28:46,120 --> 00:28:47,760
Speaker 2: it's gonna be Trump. But yeah, I think Cassili is

570
00:28:47,760 --> 00:28:50,280
Speaker 2: just gonna be minor league depth in case somebody gets hurt.

571
00:28:50,520 --> 00:28:52,840
Speaker 2: You know, if somebody gets hurt for ten days. I

572
00:28:52,840 --> 00:28:55,840
Speaker 2: don't know if you want to necessarily disrupt Drake Baldwin's

573
00:28:56,600 --> 00:28:59,280
Speaker 2: you know, progression, his his development and have to just

574
00:28:59,280 --> 00:29:01,520
Speaker 2: bring him up for ten days. This way, you could

575
00:29:01,520 --> 00:29:04,400
Speaker 2: maybe bring somebody else up for ten days and and

576
00:29:04,400 --> 00:29:08,240
Speaker 2: and keep Baldwin down. I'm very sure if Drake Baldwin's

577
00:29:08,240 --> 00:29:10,040
Speaker 2: gonna make it to the end of the offseason still

578
00:29:10,040 --> 00:29:14,280
Speaker 2: in Atlanta, Brave. That's not a guarantee. I mean, typically

579
00:29:14,320 --> 00:29:16,200
Speaker 2: when you have a catcher like Sean Murphy who's in

580
00:29:16,360 --> 00:29:18,360
Speaker 2: is still in the prime of his career, locked up

581
00:29:18,400 --> 00:29:20,840
Speaker 2: for this long, like it would be a no brainer

582
00:29:20,880 --> 00:29:23,200
Speaker 2: that your top prospect as a catcher you trade him

583
00:29:23,240 --> 00:29:26,040
Speaker 2: like that's that would typically be the case, and that

584
00:29:26,160 --> 00:29:30,680
Speaker 2: might still happen. We don't know. But if Dreg Baldwin

585
00:29:30,720 --> 00:29:34,280
Speaker 2: is still in around when spring training and the season starts,

586
00:29:34,760 --> 00:29:36,160
Speaker 2: then it is gonna be a see what they do

587
00:29:36,200 --> 00:29:38,320
Speaker 2: with him. Is he just catching in Triple A every day?

588
00:29:39,680 --> 00:29:41,880
Speaker 2: That would be my guess right now. But I'm guessing

589
00:29:41,880 --> 00:29:44,040
Speaker 2: he's not gonna ever be a backup. I don't think

590
00:29:44,040 --> 00:29:46,600
Speaker 2: he's ever gonna sit the bench so in Atlanta, So

591
00:29:46,680 --> 00:29:48,560
Speaker 2: I think that's what's gonna happen, And I'm guessing Casili

592
00:29:48,640 --> 00:29:52,320
Speaker 2: would just be his backup in Triple A. But yeah,

593
00:29:52,320 --> 00:29:56,760
Speaker 2: this catching situation is really interesting. If if Dreg Baldwin

594
00:29:56,800 --> 00:29:59,440
Speaker 2: makes it to the you know, season, still in the

595
00:29:59,560 --> 00:30:03,040
Speaker 2: organization is one question, are they just gonna do Trump

596
00:30:03,080 --> 00:30:05,560
Speaker 2: as the backup? Is Murphy actually gonna catch eighty percent

597
00:30:05,560 --> 00:30:09,080
Speaker 2: of the time. Like we've been told, the catching situation

598
00:30:09,200 --> 00:30:11,640
Speaker 2: is very fluid, and I'm very curious to see what

599
00:30:11,640 --> 00:30:13,720
Speaker 2: they do. But yeah, Casilly's just a guy. He's just

600
00:30:13,720 --> 00:30:15,640
Speaker 2: a minor league. He's probably just gonna be minorly depth.

601
00:30:15,680 --> 00:30:18,080
Speaker 2: Probably Baldwin's back up in triple A, if I had

602
00:30:18,120 --> 00:30:19,800
Speaker 2: to guess, And that's a decent guy to learn from.

603
00:30:19,880 --> 00:30:21,760
Speaker 2: If you're Baldwin, you know, having a veteran guy in

604
00:30:21,760 --> 00:30:24,040
Speaker 2: triple A with you, she's probably value to that. I'm

605
00:30:24,040 --> 00:30:27,120
Speaker 2: sure that's part of the calculus here. So yeah, I

606
00:30:27,120 --> 00:30:29,520
Speaker 2: don't think this is anything more than triple A depth

607
00:30:29,520 --> 00:30:32,120
Speaker 2: and giving Baldwin a guy to bounce stuff off of.

608
00:30:33,280 --> 00:30:35,200
Speaker 1: And you also have to consider the fact that you

609
00:30:35,240 --> 00:30:37,400
Speaker 1: know the Braves another reason why they may you know,

610
00:30:37,520 --> 00:30:40,840
Speaker 1: not necessarily be you know that receptive to trading Baldwin

611
00:30:40,880 --> 00:30:42,800
Speaker 1: away is what if Murphy gets injured again. You know,

612
00:30:42,840 --> 00:30:45,120
Speaker 1: if he gets injured and you trade Baldwin away, you know,

613
00:30:45,320 --> 00:30:47,520
Speaker 1: that's kind of like, you know, if if Rice Iglesias

614
00:30:47,520 --> 00:30:49,320
Speaker 1: were to get injured, you know, you're your world of

615
00:30:49,360 --> 00:30:52,720
Speaker 1: hurt at the catching position. So again just again goes

616
00:30:52,760 --> 00:30:55,160
Speaker 1: back to that lack of depth that you had mentioned

617
00:30:55,280 --> 00:30:57,840
Speaker 1: as well, so the whole key to this, Stephen is

618
00:30:57,880 --> 00:31:00,800
Speaker 1: that you know the Braves. You know. I think this

619
00:31:00,880 --> 00:31:03,040
Speaker 1: is what stands out to me if we were to

620
00:31:03,080 --> 00:31:06,280
Speaker 1: talk about is there something that I am frustrated with

621
00:31:06,440 --> 00:31:10,480
Speaker 1: or are something that surprises me? Again, it's not necessarily

622
00:31:10,520 --> 00:31:12,880
Speaker 1: that they haven't gone out and got a notable name

623
00:31:13,040 --> 00:31:15,400
Speaker 1: or made a big move. I think the biggest thing

624
00:31:15,400 --> 00:31:18,800
Speaker 1: to me is that they not addressed any of the

625
00:31:18,840 --> 00:31:22,440
Speaker 1: needs that they have. That to me is where Alex

626
00:31:22,520 --> 00:31:25,960
Speaker 1: and Thoppolss so far this off season has not acted

627
00:31:26,040 --> 00:31:29,280
Speaker 1: like himself, has not gone out and done things. Yes,

628
00:31:29,360 --> 00:31:31,800
Speaker 1: they've done a bunch of minor league signings, and one

629
00:31:31,880 --> 00:31:34,800
Speaker 1: or two of those names may eventually emerge as filling

630
00:31:34,840 --> 00:31:37,760
Speaker 1: those needs in time, But Alex and Thoppoless is always

631
00:31:37,760 --> 00:31:40,760
Speaker 1: been very astute at going out in filling needs, even

632
00:31:40,800 --> 00:31:43,000
Speaker 1: needs you may not have thought that the Braves had.

633
00:31:43,200 --> 00:31:45,360
Speaker 1: When we talk about the moves that have not been made,

634
00:31:45,600 --> 00:31:47,600
Speaker 1: the one thing that I will say that stands out

635
00:31:47,640 --> 00:31:49,240
Speaker 1: to me as we are getting closer to time, like

636
00:31:49,320 --> 00:31:52,720
Speaker 1: you're talking about it's getting late quickly, is that we've

637
00:31:52,800 --> 00:31:55,400
Speaker 1: still got those four or five needs that are out

638
00:31:55,400 --> 00:31:58,400
Speaker 1: there and we've not addressed any of them in terms

639
00:31:58,480 --> 00:32:01,920
Speaker 1: of adding, you know, notable talent the organization. What that

640
00:32:02,440 --> 00:32:05,560
Speaker 1: makes me feel is is that when it comes to

641
00:32:05,760 --> 00:32:07,320
Speaker 1: what the Braves are going to be looking at in

642
00:32:07,360 --> 00:32:11,040
Speaker 1: spring training, it's that they also feel like that a

643
00:32:11,040 --> 00:32:14,640
Speaker 1: player like, for instance, Orlando Arcia are perhaps Jared Kellennick.

644
00:32:14,880 --> 00:32:18,200
Speaker 1: Those names that struggled last year. I feel the further

645
00:32:18,240 --> 00:32:20,080
Speaker 1: and further that we go in the off season and

646
00:32:20,160 --> 00:32:22,480
Speaker 1: the west moves that we see, one other thing that

647
00:32:22,560 --> 00:32:24,720
Speaker 1: stands out to me is those names that really struggled

648
00:32:24,800 --> 00:32:27,160
Speaker 1: last year, the Braves either have faith or at the

649
00:32:27,280 --> 00:32:30,000
Speaker 1: very least the importance of those names performing well. It

650
00:32:30,040 --> 00:32:33,120
Speaker 1: becomes even more important going into twenty twenty five.

651
00:32:34,800 --> 00:32:37,920
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I'll say this about the lack of moves

652
00:32:38,040 --> 00:32:39,800
Speaker 2: because we did learn this this week. I guess we

653
00:32:39,840 --> 00:32:41,920
Speaker 2: need to mention on the podcast is that apparently the

654
00:32:41,920 --> 00:32:45,280
Speaker 2: Braves did have a deal with Jeff Hoffman back in November.

655
00:32:45,280 --> 00:32:47,080
Speaker 2: If you miss it on Busterer Only this podcast he

656
00:32:47,120 --> 00:32:49,440
Speaker 2: talked about it's already been reported that the Braves and

657
00:32:49,480 --> 00:32:52,720
Speaker 2: the that Hoffman had a deal that was nixed by

658
00:32:53,480 --> 00:32:56,720
Speaker 2: concerns about his shoulder. According to Busser Only, they had

659
00:32:56,760 --> 00:32:59,640
Speaker 2: that deal was back in November, It's pretty early in

660
00:32:59,640 --> 00:33:03,600
Speaker 2: the AUSO season, and you know, they they didn't fail

661
00:33:03,640 --> 00:33:07,120
Speaker 2: his physical, but they were concerned enough about the shoulder

662
00:33:07,160 --> 00:33:11,440
Speaker 2: to want to decrease the number of the contract, and

663
00:33:11,640 --> 00:33:13,680
Speaker 2: Jeff Hoffman wasn't interested in that. And then the same

664
00:33:13,680 --> 00:33:16,480
Speaker 2: thing happened with the Orioles and then he eventually signed

665
00:33:16,520 --> 00:33:19,400
Speaker 2: with the Blue Jays. So they, I mean, you know,

666
00:33:20,640 --> 00:33:22,800
Speaker 2: they aren't just like sitting on their hand. They're not

667
00:33:22,840 --> 00:33:25,240
Speaker 2: They're not not just at the beach like that are true.

668
00:33:25,480 --> 00:33:27,920
Speaker 2: They're clearly trying. They they they thought they had to

669
00:33:27,960 --> 00:33:29,840
Speaker 2: deal with Jeff Hoffman, which, by the way, if that

670
00:33:29,880 --> 00:33:31,520
Speaker 2: deal had gone through and he was going to be

671
00:33:31,520 --> 00:33:34,280
Speaker 2: a starter or a reliever, it's a whole different tone

672
00:33:34,680 --> 00:33:37,040
Speaker 2: of this offseason, right Like it just goes.

673
00:33:36,920 --> 00:33:38,960
Speaker 1: To your point, where there one move away from.

674
00:33:38,760 --> 00:33:43,240
Speaker 2: This exactly, we are literally one tweet, we are one

675
00:33:43,520 --> 00:33:47,760
Speaker 2: blue box there he is, sorry, No, we are we

676
00:33:47,840 --> 00:33:50,160
Speaker 2: are one tweet away or one or two tweets away,

677
00:33:51,240 --> 00:33:53,760
Speaker 2: you know, from this whole offseason looking different. And that's

678
00:33:53,800 --> 00:33:56,520
Speaker 2: why again I get the frustration. Trust me, I am

679
00:33:56,560 --> 00:33:58,640
Speaker 2: not here telling you that you have no right to

680
00:33:58,640 --> 00:34:02,560
Speaker 2: be frustrated. I completely understand. One day, I'm gonna release

681
00:34:02,640 --> 00:34:05,240
Speaker 2: the dms that we send each other every day, and

682
00:34:05,320 --> 00:34:07,239
Speaker 2: it's gonna be I mean, we have to put an

683
00:34:07,360 --> 00:34:09,560
Speaker 2: R rating on the dms that we send each other

684
00:34:09,600 --> 00:34:12,360
Speaker 2: because there's so many you know, F bombs and in

685
00:34:12,440 --> 00:34:15,960
Speaker 2: our dms every day. But I get so, I get it.

686
00:34:16,800 --> 00:34:20,200
Speaker 2: And but the off season is not over, and there

687
00:34:20,280 --> 00:34:22,760
Speaker 2: is an unusually large number of names still out there.

688
00:34:23,440 --> 00:34:25,640
Speaker 2: It's been a very slow offseason for a lot of people,

689
00:34:25,719 --> 00:34:28,040
Speaker 2: for a lot of teams. It's been like the last

690
00:34:28,040 --> 00:34:30,279
Speaker 2: three or four weeks. It is crawled. It is, it

691
00:34:30,360 --> 00:34:31,840
Speaker 2: is grinded to a halt.

692
00:34:33,200 --> 00:34:33,560
Speaker 1: And so.

693
00:34:35,000 --> 00:34:37,560
Speaker 2: You know, if the the Brakes could come out tomorrow

694
00:34:37,560 --> 00:34:41,200
Speaker 2: and sign Jerkson Profar for left field, and like everybody

695
00:34:41,200 --> 00:34:43,239
Speaker 2: feels different, Like I'm not saying it's gonna happen, but

696
00:34:43,239 --> 00:34:45,800
Speaker 2: he could. So I'm just not ready. I'm not ready

697
00:34:45,800 --> 00:34:47,799
Speaker 2: to kill him yet because A it's a good team.

698
00:34:47,840 --> 00:34:49,719
Speaker 2: It's still a very good team. And B there's a

699
00:34:49,760 --> 00:34:51,320
Speaker 2: lot of off season left. There's a lot of players

700
00:34:51,320 --> 00:34:54,560
Speaker 2: out there trade and free agents that can help this team.

701
00:34:54,680 --> 00:34:59,720
Speaker 2: So and there's money to spend, so we will maintain

702
00:34:59,719 --> 00:35:01,959
Speaker 2: our if we get to the end of this soft

703
00:35:01,960 --> 00:35:04,560
Speaker 2: season and they've done nothing. We will kill them for it,

704
00:35:04,640 --> 00:35:07,480
Speaker 2: I promise you we It's been building up for four months,

705
00:35:07,520 --> 00:35:11,160
Speaker 2: so it will happen. But we're not there yet, and

706
00:35:11,239 --> 00:35:14,959
Speaker 2: there's a lot of names money to spend, so don't

707
00:35:14,960 --> 00:35:18,600
Speaker 2: give up just yet. It's a it's a long winter. Still,

708
00:35:18,600 --> 00:35:20,600
Speaker 2: things could happen. And again, we're like one or two

709
00:35:20,600 --> 00:35:23,920
Speaker 2: tweets away from having a completely different feeling of this offseason.

710
00:35:24,000 --> 00:35:26,800
Speaker 2: So that would be my closing, my closing thoughts.

711
00:35:27,520 --> 00:35:29,480
Speaker 1: And if it feels like that we're being repetitive, or

712
00:35:29,800 --> 00:35:32,240
Speaker 1: or we're coped, or or we're going through those stages

713
00:35:32,280 --> 00:35:35,280
Speaker 1: of just not necessarily denile but trying just to deal

714
00:35:35,360 --> 00:35:38,400
Speaker 1: with the with the unexpected development, that's me talking.

715
00:35:38,480 --> 00:35:41,520
Speaker 2: That's me talking to myself, yes, talking to anybody.

716
00:35:41,600 --> 00:35:43,799
Speaker 1: We're speaking much of it. We're speaking just as much

717
00:35:43,800 --> 00:35:46,200
Speaker 1: to ourselves, if not more to ourselves. This is therapy

718
00:35:46,560 --> 00:35:50,440
Speaker 1: anybody else exactly exactly the therapy through words. A lot

719
00:35:50,440 --> 00:35:53,560
Speaker 1: of times that can that can lead to better mindset.

720
00:35:53,800 --> 00:35:58,040
Speaker 1: But setting all that aside, one notable development that we

721
00:35:58,200 --> 00:36:01,440
Speaker 1: also will see this week is the announcement of the

722
00:36:01,440 --> 00:36:05,800
Speaker 1: twenty twenty five Major League Baseball Hall of Fame class,

723
00:36:05,880 --> 00:36:09,360
Speaker 1: and of course a couple of former Braves are notably

724
00:36:09,440 --> 00:36:13,879
Speaker 1: in the running to have their names forever enshrined in Cooperstown.

725
00:36:14,280 --> 00:36:16,879
Speaker 1: As of right now, as of this recording, it does

726
00:36:16,920 --> 00:36:20,880
Speaker 1: look like that first time eligible players each Rosuzuki and

727
00:36:21,000 --> 00:36:24,320
Speaker 1: CC Sabathia their locks, they're going to be in this class.

728
00:36:24,560 --> 00:36:27,000
Speaker 1: Billy Wagner, who I believe this is his tenth year,

729
00:36:27,040 --> 00:36:29,680
Speaker 1: which is the final year in this stage of the

730
00:36:29,719 --> 00:36:32,520
Speaker 1: induction process, he I believe is a eighty five percent

731
00:36:32,800 --> 00:36:34,640
Speaker 1: He should be making it as well. And the other

732
00:36:34,719 --> 00:36:37,440
Speaker 1: name is Carlos Beltran, who I think is at eighty percent,

733
00:36:37,520 --> 00:36:41,040
Speaker 1: eighty one, eighty eighty one percent right now. Those are

734
00:36:41,080 --> 00:36:43,600
Speaker 1: the four players that I believe are likely going to

735
00:36:43,640 --> 00:36:46,480
Speaker 1: be making the Hall of Fame this year. But of

736
00:36:46,480 --> 00:36:49,360
Speaker 1: course the name that Braves Country has been waiting years

737
00:36:49,400 --> 00:36:51,640
Speaker 1: to hear finally get his just do of being a

738
00:36:51,640 --> 00:36:55,040
Speaker 1: Hall of Famer, and that is Andrew Jones. Andrew Jones

739
00:36:55,080 --> 00:36:57,360
Speaker 1: I believe right now is at seventy two to seventy

740
00:36:57,400 --> 00:36:59,879
Speaker 1: three percent. The one thing to remember when it comes

741
00:36:59,880 --> 00:37:04,160
Speaker 1: to what's known publicly on these votes is that traditionally,

742
00:37:04,560 --> 00:37:09,360
Speaker 1: each year players will naturally see their overall percentages that

743
00:37:09,400 --> 00:37:11,920
Speaker 1: they have go down a bit once the final vote

744
00:37:11,960 --> 00:37:14,160
Speaker 1: is noted. So even though Andrew is at seventy two

745
00:37:14,160 --> 00:37:16,640
Speaker 1: to seventy three, he needs seventy five percent, it seems

746
00:37:16,680 --> 00:37:19,040
Speaker 1: like he's right on that threshold. He's probably a little

747
00:37:19,040 --> 00:37:21,759
Speaker 1: bit further away than what's publicly known. So what I'm

748
00:37:21,800 --> 00:37:24,839
Speaker 1: getting at is more than likely the thing to take

749
00:37:24,880 --> 00:37:27,399
Speaker 1: away from the voting this year for Andrew Jones. He's

750
00:37:27,560 --> 00:37:30,600
Speaker 1: made once again necessary progress. He's probably going to get

751
00:37:30,760 --> 00:37:34,440
Speaker 1: another eight to ten percent boost. That likely means that

752
00:37:34,440 --> 00:37:39,000
Speaker 1: twenty twenty six is going to be his year. But Stephen, still,

753
00:37:39,040 --> 00:37:41,400
Speaker 1: I think he's close enough to where later on this

754
00:37:41,440 --> 00:37:44,080
Speaker 1: week it's going to be worth making sure to hear

755
00:37:44,360 --> 00:37:46,080
Speaker 1: what names are going to be called. And if it

756
00:37:46,160 --> 00:37:49,719
Speaker 1: is just Billy Wagner, certainly deserved, but hope Andrew is

757
00:37:49,719 --> 00:37:51,719
Speaker 1: in that class. But if it's not this year, it'll

758
00:37:51,880 --> 00:37:56,319
Speaker 1: more than likely be next year. Yeah.

759
00:37:56,480 --> 00:37:58,120
Speaker 2: I mean, if I'm being honest, I've gotten to the

760
00:37:58,120 --> 00:37:59,959
Speaker 2: point where I want Andrew in the Hall of Fame

761
00:38:00,400 --> 00:38:02,239
Speaker 2: just so we can stop talking about whether or not

762
00:38:02,280 --> 00:38:03,799
Speaker 2: Andrew Jones should be in the Hall of Fame and

763
00:38:03,800 --> 00:38:06,440
Speaker 2: now I've kind of adopted that policy for I think

764
00:38:06,520 --> 00:38:09,360
Speaker 2: that's just gonna be my standard policy for every single player,

765
00:38:09,719 --> 00:38:12,200
Speaker 2: Like should Pete Rose be in the Hall of Fame? Sure,

766
00:38:12,400 --> 00:38:14,879
Speaker 2: just so we don't have to ever hear anyone ask

767
00:38:14,960 --> 00:38:17,680
Speaker 2: that question. I'm so sick of that question. And you know,

768
00:38:17,760 --> 00:38:20,520
Speaker 2: Andrew has a real case, Like it's not like some

769
00:38:20,640 --> 00:38:22,439
Speaker 2: crazy notion that he should be in the Hall of Fame.

770
00:38:22,440 --> 00:38:24,880
Speaker 2: He's got a real case. So yeah, I hope he

771
00:38:24,920 --> 00:38:28,959
Speaker 2: gets in. You know, Brian McCann, I have no idea

772
00:38:28,960 --> 00:38:31,040
Speaker 2: if he's gonna you know, with catching, it's always so

773
00:38:31,120 --> 00:38:33,759
Speaker 2: weird with catchers because they don't they don't accumulate the

774
00:38:33,760 --> 00:38:37,359
Speaker 2: same value the way position players do. You know, there's

775
00:38:37,400 --> 00:38:41,520
Speaker 2: a question about uh Buster Posey and and and Brian

776
00:38:41,600 --> 00:38:44,759
Speaker 2: McCann and Joe Mauer, and you know, there's all all

777
00:38:44,800 --> 00:38:48,279
Speaker 2: these you know, people comparing and contrasting. I have no

778
00:38:48,320 --> 00:38:52,320
Speaker 2: idea if Brian McCann will get in again. If that stopped,

779
00:38:52,320 --> 00:38:54,200
Speaker 2: if Brian mccainnon getting in stops us from having to

780
00:38:54,239 --> 00:38:56,319
Speaker 2: talk about it, then I'm all, I'm all about it.

781
00:38:56,360 --> 00:38:58,440
Speaker 2: Anybody who wants to get in can get in. As

782
00:38:58,440 --> 00:39:00,799
Speaker 2: long as we have to talk about it anymore, so

783
00:39:00,880 --> 00:39:03,080
Speaker 2: we'll see. You know, I'm like you said, it is

784
00:39:03,200 --> 00:39:06,200
Speaker 2: very true that the the non public ballots are much

785
00:39:06,200 --> 00:39:10,120
Speaker 2: more conservative than the public ballots. So when it comes

786
00:39:10,160 --> 00:39:12,759
Speaker 2: to the ballots that get published, you better have like

787
00:39:12,800 --> 00:39:16,479
Speaker 2: a four or five percentage point margin because you're gonna

788
00:39:16,520 --> 00:39:20,360
Speaker 2: drop once all the non public ballots get tabulated. And

789
00:39:20,440 --> 00:39:22,360
Speaker 2: if Andrew's only at seventy two percent right now on

790
00:39:22,400 --> 00:39:25,400
Speaker 2: the public side, he's not getting in at the moment.

791
00:39:26,360 --> 00:39:28,920
Speaker 2: So you got to have a pretty good margin because

792
00:39:28,960 --> 00:39:31,520
Speaker 2: it drops once all the all the other ballots come in.

793
00:39:31,600 --> 00:39:34,880
Speaker 2: So we'll see. I think that gets announced. You probably

794
00:39:34,920 --> 00:39:36,360
Speaker 2: know better than I. When is that. When does that

795
00:39:36,360 --> 00:39:36,960
Speaker 2: get announced?

796
00:39:37,040 --> 00:39:39,080
Speaker 1: Tuesday? I think it's twenty first Tuesday.

797
00:39:39,080 --> 00:39:42,319
Speaker 2: Okay, so we are we are mercifully coming to the

798
00:39:42,400 --> 00:39:45,600
Speaker 2: end of this Hall of Fame season and we will

799
00:39:45,640 --> 00:39:48,040
Speaker 2: be back at it again next year. But yeah, hopefully

800
00:39:48,080 --> 00:39:50,160
Speaker 2: Andrew getson that would be great.

801
00:39:51,120 --> 00:39:53,800
Speaker 1: Yeah, and hopefully earlier this week. We'll also be surprised,

802
00:39:53,800 --> 00:39:56,360
Speaker 1: you know, by a mover to being made by the Braves.

803
00:39:56,400 --> 00:39:58,680
Speaker 1: But of course we're gonna be here with you covering

804
00:39:58,880 --> 00:40:01,120
Speaker 1: it all. When it comes to the Hammer territory, podcast.

805
00:40:01,200 --> 00:40:03,680
Speaker 1: You can find myself at Stats as they see on Twitter,

806
00:40:03,719 --> 00:40:07,520
Speaker 1: Steven at Binderscore Outliers find Hammer Territory across all forms

807
00:40:07,560 --> 00:40:10,640
Speaker 1: of social media of course, part of the Foul Territory

808
00:40:11,000 --> 00:40:15,160
Speaker 1: family of podcasts. Again, we had Aj Perzinski recently on

809
00:40:15,280 --> 00:40:17,880
Speaker 1: a show to talk with us about the Braves catching situation.

810
00:40:18,160 --> 00:40:21,160
Speaker 1: Grant McCauley was previously on the show as well, talking

811
00:40:21,200 --> 00:40:23,520
Speaker 1: about the Braves off season. I'll have a special guest

812
00:40:23,719 --> 00:40:25,800
Speaker 1: with me and Stephen probably later on this week or

813
00:40:25,840 --> 00:40:28,719
Speaker 1: early next week, talking about the bravest international signings in

814
00:40:28,760 --> 00:40:31,400
Speaker 1: the braz Minor league system and the outlook for it

815
00:40:31,440 --> 00:40:34,080
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty five. So plenty of content coming your

816
00:40:34,080 --> 00:40:37,200
Speaker 1: way regardless if a move is made or not. For

817
00:40:37,280 --> 00:40:40,360
Speaker 1: Stephen Tobart, my name is Sean Coleman. Always a pleasure.

818
00:40:40,600 --> 00:40:42,959
Speaker 1: We'll talk with you again Suit here on the Hammer

819
00:40:43,040 --> 00:40:43,680
Speaker 1: Territory pod