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Speaker 1: Welcome one and all to the Hammer Territory podcast. My

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Speaker 1: name is Schawan Covid. Hope wherever you are and wherever

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Speaker 1: you are listening, you have had a happy, healthy, and

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Speaker 1: wonderful holiday season. I'm very late Merry Christmas to all

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Speaker 1: of our listeners. In early happy New Year. We're kind

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Speaker 1: of in not necessarily the dead zone, but that you know,

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Speaker 1: that zone where it's kind of relaxation. You don't have

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Speaker 1: a lot going on, You're still around friends and family,

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Speaker 1: still in the festive mood with the holidays and everything else.

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Speaker 1: But you know what, we're also in the midst of

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Speaker 1: the baseball off season and we're covering a team that's

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Speaker 1: done a lot but likely is not done. So we

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Speaker 1: still have plenty to talk about and as always one

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Speaker 1: of the best when it comes to breaking down the braves.

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Speaker 1: My podcast partner Steve and Tobert hope you and your

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Speaker 1: family had a wonderful Christmas er. As always good getting

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Speaker 1: to talk with you.

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Speaker 2: What's up, buddy, Yeah, we are in this, you know,

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Speaker 2: in between two major holiday kind of dead zone where

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Speaker 2: most of the time stuff doesn't happen. Like on Christmas Day,

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Speaker 2: we did get a the I think the A's signed

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Speaker 2: Tyler Soderstrom to a big extension. I remember a couple

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Speaker 2: of years ago, this is the time period the Braves

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Speaker 2: traded for Chris Sale. It was like the last day

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Speaker 2: of the year. So like, stuff does happen at this time,

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Speaker 2: but it's it's exceedingly rare. A lot of front offices

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Speaker 2: spend most of this time off, you know, the week

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Speaker 2: between Christmas and things, or Christmas and New Year's, so

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Speaker 2: I'm not expecting much. I was hoping we'd get a

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Speaker 2: big flurry right before Christmas, but we didn't really get that.

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Speaker 2: Still a lot of big name free agents on the board.

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Speaker 2: I did an update on Twitter a couple of weeks ago,

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Speaker 2: and like, only two of the top ten YEA free

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Speaker 2: agents have signed. A lot of the middle of the

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Speaker 2: class has signed, but the top of the class is

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Speaker 2: still on the board. So a lots of still happen

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Speaker 2: this offseason. And again with the Braves. The Braves have

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Speaker 2: probably done more heavy lifting than just about any other team.

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Speaker 2: But as we've said, and as we're going to talk

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Speaker 2: about on this show, doesn't mean they're done. Uh, there

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Speaker 2: could still be more coming, so we'll see what happens.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and in my opinion. As a matter of fact,

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Speaker 1: with what they've done already, it means it means even

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Speaker 1: more that they shouldn't be done right. You know, there's

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Speaker 1: levels to what we've talked about. You know, we talked

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Speaker 1: me and you have talked extensively about getting that difference

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Speaker 1: maker on the offensive side, but instead they filled needs.

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Speaker 1: They've made smaller moves, but they've enhanced the significance of

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Speaker 1: those smaller moves by continuing to make those moves, by

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Speaker 1: continuing to fill those needs. Individually, signing to mikeys Strumsky

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Speaker 1: or a Hassan Kim or trading for Mauricio Duban may

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Speaker 1: not seem like that, you know important, they're that significant,

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Speaker 1: you know, in a vacuum in a singular sense on

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Speaker 1: their own, but collectively, you see how this team has improved.

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Speaker 1: But that again shines the spotlight on why this team

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Speaker 1: definitely needs to go after a starting pitcher, pitcher and

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Speaker 1: to that point, a significant starting pitcher, because that's where

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Speaker 1: they can make their difference, right, that's where they can

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Speaker 1: truly become, you know, one of the elite staffs in baseball,

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Speaker 1: and you still have plenty of starting options out there.

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Speaker 1: You know, I know that Scott and Brad had talked

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Speaker 1: about it, but from ber Valdez, Zach Gallon, Rangers Suarez,

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Speaker 1: I may, from Japan, Chris Bassett, among others. There are

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Speaker 1: some significant options that are out there. The Braves have

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Speaker 1: money with all they've done so far. To me, that

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Speaker 1: makes it make even more sense to go and be

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Speaker 1: aggressive in adding that starter sooner rather than later.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean a splash is still out there, like

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Speaker 2: if you want to make us like that was the

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Speaker 2: point of you know, most of the top ten is

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Speaker 2: still unsigned, and that's not just the Braves. Any team

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Speaker 2: out there can still go make a significant splash for

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Speaker 2: twenty twenty six if they want to. If you listen,

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Speaker 2: Kyle Tucker is gonna change somebody's entire outlook of their offseason. Uh,

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Speaker 2: Fran bar Valdez is gonna change somebody's entire outlook. Ranger Suarez,

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Speaker 2: you know, I mean there's still guys that Gallon, Cody

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Speaker 2: Bellinger is still gonna change somebody's off season pretty dramatically.

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Speaker 2: So you know, when the top of the with so

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Speaker 2: much of the top of the class is still unsigned,

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Speaker 2: like even though a lot's happened already, this offseason, not

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Speaker 2: as much as we want and certainly not at the

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Speaker 2: pace we want, but still a lot has happened, and

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Speaker 2: as much as has happened, there's still significant updates and

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Speaker 2: significant improvements that are gonna be made by multiple teams. So,

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Speaker 2: you know, even though we're you know, more than halfway

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Speaker 2: through this offseason, in a lot of ways, the biggest

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Speaker 2: moves are yet to come. And like you, you know,

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Speaker 2: like we're by to talk about, especially on the pitching side,

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Speaker 2: where I agree with you, I think the Braves can

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Speaker 2: make the biggest splash. Even though we did get a

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Speaker 2: position player kind of update for the Braves that was

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Speaker 2: a bit surprising that we're going to talk about. I

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Speaker 2: agree with you the starting pitchers, where you can really

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Speaker 2: go submit a fantastic offseason if you go add one

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Speaker 2: more impact player at that position, then you can really

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Speaker 2: say the Braves had a top to bottom, you know,

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Speaker 2: every single aspect, every single hole they had on the team,

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Speaker 2: they really went out and filled aggressively. And I would

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Speaker 2: feel really good about the offseason if they went out

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Speaker 2: and added one more significant starter to their group.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and to expound on why it makes sense, you know,

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Speaker 1: the the part of this team again. You know, again,

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Speaker 1: something that I want to point out from the from

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Speaker 1: the beginning of twenty twenty four through the midst of

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty five. Even for most of that part we

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Speaker 1: were disappointing as a team, we still had arguably the

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Speaker 1: best starting staff in baseball. I go to the middle

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Speaker 1: of twenty twenty five because that's where we really you know,

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Speaker 1: that was around the time where Swell and Bock and

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Speaker 1: Sell and others you know, started getting injured and out

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Speaker 1: for an extended period of time. But the one aspect

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Speaker 1: of our team that has been closest to a level

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Speaker 1: that you need to contend is starting pitching. And that's

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Speaker 1: why I think it's worth adding a significant difference maker

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Speaker 1: who also is durable. You know, Durability is a big thing,

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Speaker 1: and it's also with all the options that we mentioned

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Speaker 1: that are out there, all it costs is money, right,

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Speaker 1: That's all that it's going to cost. It's not going

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Speaker 1: to cost you prospects. Now, you could go trade for

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Speaker 1: a controllable arm, but you've got you probably want, you know,

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Speaker 1: proven ability, you want durability. And to me, that shines

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Speaker 1: the spotlight on one individual above others who I think

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Speaker 1: the Braves could get to a level of comfort with

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Speaker 1: this individual more than others could because of the connections

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Speaker 1: that they have, and that's from Bert Valdez. I wrote

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Speaker 1: a piece over at battery power dot com just because

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Speaker 1: when you really look at fromer Valdez, one of the

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Speaker 1: things that's unique about him that probably is not necessarily

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Speaker 1: there so much with others is that you had the

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Speaker 1: incident last year during the season where he crossed up

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Speaker 1: his catcher or excuse me, there is speculation that he

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Speaker 1: crossed up his catcher in the midst of a game

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Speaker 1: that definitely did not have, you know, the most positive

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Speaker 1: reaction around baseball. I don't think one ten second occurrence defines,

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Speaker 1: you know, a free agent's profile, especially above their production.

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Speaker 1: But I mentioned that though, because there may be character

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Speaker 1: concerns that are out there when it comes to Fromer Valdez.

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Speaker 2: Well.

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Speaker 1: Former Braves assistant general manager Dana Brown is the Astros

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Speaker 1: general manager. The Braves just signed Martin Maldonado, who's one

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Speaker 1: of the closest relationships Valdez has in the industry, to

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Speaker 1: support the major league franchise. One of the reasons why

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Speaker 1: I feel the Braves couldn't make a move for from Bervaldez.

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Speaker 1: You've got two reliable resources that can give you all

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Speaker 1: that you need to know about whether or not Fromber

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Speaker 1: is a good fit for this team. We know that

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Speaker 1: Alex and Thopless really vets thoroughly explores every aspect of

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Speaker 1: a player before he adds them. He's got two pretty

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Speaker 1: close sources to explore on Fromber if he wanted to

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Speaker 1: add them. That to me may be the biggest obstacle

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Speaker 1: because after that, when you come to the profile that

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Speaker 1: from Rvaldez has, he's almost identical to Max Free, who

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Speaker 1: you know better than anybody. Durability, one of the has

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Speaker 1: drown one of the highestenning totals of anybody over the

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Speaker 1: past twenty years, and he has thrown more playoffenings than

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Speaker 1: anybody since twenty twenty. As well, he checks all the boxes,

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Speaker 1: and with the age that he's at, those concerns are

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Speaker 1: out there. Character Wise, he may be in a contract

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Speaker 1: range you be comfortable with as well. From Rivaldez to

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Speaker 1: me is the best singular source that can check as

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Speaker 1: many boxes as you want to add to our rotation.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and listen. You can also you can call up

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Speaker 2: Marie A dubond and say, hey, you just played with

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Speaker 2: him for the last five years. What kind of guy

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Speaker 2: is he? How is he? How is he viewed in

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Speaker 2: the clubhouse? You know, last year the Braves and the

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Speaker 2: Astros got together on the Raphael Montero deal. I think

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Speaker 2: I think he came from the Astros. So like, these

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Speaker 2: are organizations that talk a lot. Obviously made a trade

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Speaker 2: last year, made a trade this year. So like you said,

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Speaker 2: there is no Alex will know exactly what he needs

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Speaker 2: to know to decide whether or not fran Barvaldez should

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Speaker 2: be a part of this organization. He there will be

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Speaker 2: no shortage of information. And if he calls and he

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Speaker 2: gets hey, you know that incident with the catcher was

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Speaker 2: a one time thing. He was very frustrated. I think

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Speaker 2: he'd just given up a grand slam. I think him

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Speaker 2: and the catcher were on the wrong page. It was

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Speaker 2: just a bad It wasn't a good moment for him.

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Speaker 2: Not making excuses. It's a bad moment, but it was isolated,

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Speaker 2: like he's been an upstanding citizen before that end since then,

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Speaker 2: or he's gonna make all his phone calls, he's gonna

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Speaker 2: learn this guy is a this guy's an asshole, like

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Speaker 2: this guy is. You don't want this guy on your run,

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Speaker 2: Like this guy should not be on your team, And

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Speaker 2: any hint of that, any not even words that strong,

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Speaker 2: any hint of that, and Alex is probably gonna say no,

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Speaker 2: especially for the money that you're talking about. You're talking about,

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Speaker 2: I mean, if he gets what he's projected to get,

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Speaker 2: which is like five years and thirty million a year,

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Speaker 2: you can't have even a hint of the guy is

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Speaker 2: not a good teammate because he's all of a sudden

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Speaker 2: gonna be the highest paid player on your team, and

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Speaker 2: you want to talk about something that could blow up quickly.

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Speaker 2: So yeah, there's no doubt in my mind Alex has

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Speaker 2: plenty of resources to go do all the due diligence

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Speaker 2: that you have to do anytime there's even the hint

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Speaker 2: of character questions. But I'll say this, if there were

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Speaker 2: character questions, I wouldn't I don't think I would hear

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Speaker 2: about his market being as strong as I've heard his

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Speaker 2: market being. Like if these were real and there were

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Speaker 2: moreultiple incidents, and there were multiple teammates saying, do not

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Speaker 2: sign this guy, You do not want this guy in

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Speaker 2: this clubhouse, I don't think his market would be as

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Speaker 2: strong as it is, because everything I've heard about his

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Speaker 2: market is you know, that five year, one fifty number

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Speaker 2: that got thrown out early is either on the money

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Speaker 2: or it might even be low. So my guess is

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Speaker 2: it was it was probably more of an isolated incident.

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Speaker 2: But we don't know. I mean, we don't know, but

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Speaker 2: Alex will know, I promise say. Alex has got plenty

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Speaker 2: of connections, plenty of people he can talk to, including

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Speaker 2: his brand new utility player that he just traded for

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Speaker 2: to figure out who Framber Valdez is, you know, And

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Speaker 2: I'm not going to pretend to be able to sit

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Speaker 2: here and tell you because I have no idea what

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Speaker 2: kind of person he is, what kind of character he has,

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Speaker 2: And that is probably a big sway on whether or

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Speaker 2: not I would give him this contract or not. If

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Speaker 2: it was just about production on the field, I would

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Speaker 2: have very little reservation other than I don't like giving

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Speaker 2: pictures five year deals. If you could somehow get him

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Speaker 2: for a four year deal, it would be even better.

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Speaker 2: But you know, that stuff we just don't have access to,

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Speaker 2: and we won't know until after, and we may never

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Speaker 2: know specifically with Valdez. If the Braves did their due

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Speaker 2: diligence and it just came back to negative for them

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Speaker 2: to continue. That's stuff we rarely get an inside look into,

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Speaker 2: but Alex has no shortage of ways to find that

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Speaker 2: information out. And whatever answer gets, will I promise you

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Speaker 2: dictate very strongly their next move, whether it's continuing down

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Speaker 2: the road with Framburgh or moving on to the next guy.

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Speaker 1: And there are plenty of options out there. The other

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Speaker 1: part of this is that, you know, is I think

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Speaker 1: that I've lighted up a bit on it just because

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Speaker 1: we've been able to fill somebody needs without giving up prospects.

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Speaker 1: Is the aspect of listen, if we're going big game, honey,

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Speaker 1: when it comes to adding the starting pitcher that likely

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Speaker 1: needs that twenty six pick is going to be given up,

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Speaker 1: give you both. You know, at one point we're like,

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Speaker 1: let's keep that, you know, let's trade for what we need.

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Speaker 1: But they haven't and they've not given up any prospects.

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Speaker 1: If the market for these starting pitchers that are out

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Speaker 1: there with the draft pick tied to them is going

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Speaker 1: on as long as it is, I know that the

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Speaker 1: markets could be strong, But what's the first guy sides

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Speaker 1: maybe there was contracts to come down to bit. If

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Speaker 1: you get a really good contract opportunity with the Swoz

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Speaker 1: or a Gallon or a Valdez, it's gonna stay at first,

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Speaker 1: I think. But I think the Brays are okay do it.

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Speaker 1: I think they would be okay giving up that pick.

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Speaker 1: And the more I think about it, if we truly

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Speaker 1: are going to go with starting pitching as our way

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Speaker 1: of being kind of over the top of where we're

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Speaker 1: going to be elite and we can win, now I'm

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Speaker 1: a bit more okay with it than it was, you know,

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Speaker 1: even a few weeks ago.

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Speaker 2: And even like a Chris Bassett, like what not pissed

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Speaker 2: me off in any way, shape or form. Like I

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Speaker 2: know people want the big the big name, but just

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Speaker 2: some durability, just some extra depth. And again, Bassett wouldn't

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Speaker 2: cost the draft picks, so you would be able to

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Speaker 2: get through your entire offseason and still maintain your entire

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Speaker 2: draft even though you got you know, you got unlucky

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Speaker 2: with getting the ninth overall pick that certainly could have

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Speaker 2: been better. But yeah, if you sign a guy like

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Speaker 2: Bassett and you just you just go with depth. I

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Speaker 2: understand the Braves logic. Though, of and we've heard this

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Speaker 2: that they are aiming very large and if they don't

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Speaker 2: get it, then they might just rely on the depth

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Speaker 2: they have. I do understand that logic to an extent,

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Speaker 2: and I applaud them for being as aggressive as they've been.

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Speaker 2: Payroll is at a level we have not seen ever,

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Speaker 2: and apparently there's still more to spend, so you know,

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Speaker 2: you have to give them credit for that. And I

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Speaker 2: understand the logic of trying to get one of these

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Speaker 2: big guys that can directly impact a playoff series. But

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Speaker 2: I think even a guy like Bassett could help a

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Speaker 2: playoff series, even if it's like you know, Scott said

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Speaker 2: this the other night, and I agreed with him, Like

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Speaker 2: you know, kennon, impact a playoff series has levels, Like

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Speaker 2: you could send Chris Bassett out for a one time

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Speaker 2: through the order, you know, for the first three innings

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Speaker 2: of a playoff game. Would you send him out for

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Speaker 2: the you know, fifth, fourth, fifth, and sixth inning? Probably not.

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Speaker 2: But there are plenty of guys the Braves could still

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Speaker 2: sign that aren't fran Bravaldez that could help in a

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Speaker 2: playoff series, So that would not upset me. I you

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Speaker 2: know it wouldn't be quite the same level of offseason

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Speaker 2: as getting one of these top guys. But just any

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Speaker 2: pitching depth at all, I'm gonna be happy with because

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Speaker 2: you just can't have enough. And I don't think the

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Speaker 2: Braves currently have enough. And we've all said that from

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Speaker 2: day one that we want a starter, and they've really

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Speaker 2: they've done a really good job adding to bullpen. Go

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Speaker 2: get a starter and you can feel you can feel

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Speaker 2: really good about this offseason.

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Speaker 1: And speaking of pitching depth, and I agree with you,

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Speaker 1: Chris Bassett level signing you know, probably would not be

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Speaker 1: you know that that can only be viewed as a positive.

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Speaker 1: But the one thing that I will say is is

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Speaker 1: that I don't think anybody needs to, you know, tell

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Speaker 1: Alex and Thoppless, or tell anybody that listens to Alex

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Speaker 1: and Thopless you know how much he values pitching depth.

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Speaker 1: It clearly is a priority. And we got a unique

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Speaker 1: perspective from a foul territory zone Rosenthal about that last week.

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Speaker 1: A bit more on Kim Rosenhal's latest report of the

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Speaker 1: Braves in just a moment after a word from our partners.

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Speaker 1: So in the week leading up to Christmas, Stephen, you know,

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Speaker 1: Kim Rosenthal and basically every other day retch a great

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Speaker 1: article for The Athletic and he'll you know, expand on

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Speaker 1: it in his Chawfair Territory, which you can find on

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Speaker 1: the foul Territory family of podcasts. He talked about the

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Speaker 1: Braves and you know, typically he's been talking about the

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Speaker 1: moves that they made and what's to come next, and

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Speaker 1: of course he's ended up pitching, but he also talked

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Speaker 1: about katel Marte and he talked about the fact that

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Speaker 1: the Braves are not a fit for katel Marte because

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Speaker 1: of the fact that they really don't want to give

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Speaker 1: up their young pitching, especially Hirston Walder. Now, I want

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Speaker 1: to put a little bit of perspective on this, and

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Speaker 1: I will admit this speculation is this is speculation on

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Speaker 1: my part, So Stephen correct me if I'm wrong. I

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Speaker 1: feel like the Braves probably checked in on Cantel Marte

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Speaker 1: at some point due diligence wise, just like they did

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Speaker 1: with Byron Buxton, his contract would be a great fit.

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Speaker 1: I feel they could have put him at short for

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Speaker 1: a year and then made a decision on you know,

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Speaker 1: putting him at second, you know, once Ozzie, you know

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Speaker 1: played another year with us. I feel they would have

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Speaker 1: done that been just fine with that. I feel like

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Speaker 1: they probably checked it at some point and the ass

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Speaker 1: even though the Braves I think are one of the

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Speaker 1: better fits to give the Diamondbacks who want young pitching,

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Speaker 1: the Braves could have given a good quantity with some

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Speaker 1: quality to the Diamondbacks for Marte, I feel like the

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Speaker 1: Braves just did not want to give the young pitching up. Now,

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Speaker 1: that may not necessarily be the most effective way of

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Speaker 1: go about doing things, but I think that what it

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Speaker 1: came down to was that the Braves probably talked with

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Speaker 1: the Diamondbacks about count tell Marte. Not only was it

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Speaker 1: not the cleanest spit, it probably was a bit too

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Speaker 1: rich for their blood, and they just pivoted towards instead

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Speaker 1: of making the home run move they potentially would add

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Speaker 1: with going after Buckston, they quickly maneuvered to just feel

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Speaker 1: needs with high floor type guys. Is that kind of

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Speaker 1: the read that you have on it? And then from

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Speaker 1: there I want to talk a bit more about what

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Speaker 1: this could indicate as far as future moves. It's not

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Speaker 1: necessarily the Saw season, but maybe into the season for

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Speaker 1: the breaks.

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Speaker 2: So my read on this could tell Marte's stuff is one.

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Speaker 2: He is one of the best players in baseball. Absolutely,

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Speaker 2: He's on a relative to his talent level. He's on

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Speaker 2: a dirt cheap contract in multiple years of team control.

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Speaker 2: I think he makes like fourteen million dollars a year

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Speaker 2: or something like fifteen million dollars a year something like that.

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Speaker 2: Not that disimilar to the Buxton deal, but I think

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Speaker 2: it's even longer than the Bucks to deal. He is

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Speaker 2: on the older side. I think he's thirty two, but

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Speaker 2: still he's one of the best players in baseball. Yes,

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Speaker 2: the Diamondbacks are not the biggest payroll team in the

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Speaker 2: in the world. Everybody knows that. So and the bi

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Speaker 2: Dinarybacks are trying to win. So, Like when I first

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Speaker 2: saw it, I was thinking, why are the diamond Backs

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Speaker 2: so eager to get rid of katl Marte, Like, this

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Speaker 2: guy is one of the best players in baseball. You

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Speaker 2: don't get guys like that at fourteen million dollars a

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Speaker 2: year very often. They're trying to win, you know, I

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Speaker 2: don't really get why they're trying to get rid of them.

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Speaker 2: And then you start reading and like, apparently there's a

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Speaker 2: lot of people in that organization that just don't like

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Speaker 2: kateel Marte. Yeah, there's been some locker room stuff. You know,

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Speaker 2: he's and I'm not going to pretend to know the

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Speaker 2: ins and outs. We don't cover the Diamondbacks and so

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Speaker 2: we don't live in this stuff every day. But there's

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Speaker 2: just a lot of smoke that he's kind of worn

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Speaker 2: out his welcome there. To be quite honest, that's the

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Speaker 2: that's one of the only reason. Unless the guy is

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Speaker 2: actively demanding a trade, and maybe he is, you don't

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Speaker 2: really trade what is essentially your best player. I think

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Speaker 2: it's fair to say kateell Martin. I mean, I know

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Speaker 2: Corbyn Carroll is awesome. I mean you could probably make

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Speaker 2: that argument, but one of your two best players on

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Speaker 2: a dirt chief contract on a team that's trying to win,

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Speaker 2: unless the guy has kind of worn out, he is welcome.

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Speaker 2: And so if you told me that alone was the

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Speaker 2: reason the Braves aren't a fit, I would believe it. Now,

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Speaker 2: we'll never know exactly, I'm I guarantee you Alex checked in.

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Speaker 2: He checks in on everybody. You're not doing your job

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Speaker 2: if you're not at least making the phone call. But again,

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Speaker 2: like same thing with Framber, like if there's any hint

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Speaker 2: that this guy is gonna be a pain in the

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Speaker 2: ass to manage, especially when you have a brand new man,

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Speaker 2: not a brand new manager. I mean what Wisse has

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Speaker 2: managed before, but he's a new manager to you. You

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Speaker 2: don't want to make his life any more difficult than

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Speaker 2: it already is with bringing in guys who were going

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Speaker 2: to be clubhouse problems. Now, I don't know, KA tell

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Speaker 2: Marte that might be an unfair statement to say that

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Speaker 2: he's a clubhouse problem. It might be something on the

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Speaker 2: Diamondbacks end, where, like you know, they did something that

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Speaker 2: kind of pissed him off. I have no idea we're

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Speaker 2: We're not in that world, but there has just been

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Speaker 2: a lot of smoke that he is. Something in that

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Speaker 2: clubhouse is not working. Whether it's him, whether it's them,

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Speaker 2: I don't know. So my guess is I think the

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Speaker 2: Braves would give up some of this show pitching.

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Speaker 1: Now.

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Speaker 2: I don't know if they'll give a person Waldroup, but

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Speaker 2: I think they would certainly give up some of it

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Speaker 2: to make a trade. I think they would have definitely

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Speaker 2: given it up for Buxton, but I don't think they're

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Speaker 2: willing to give it up and take on a potential

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Speaker 2: clubhouse problem. I think they'll do one of those. I

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Speaker 2: don't think they would do both. So that's my rito, Marte.

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Speaker 2: Anytime somebody that good, who's that cheap, is being like

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Speaker 2: actively shopped, I'm always curious because that's usually one of

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Speaker 2: the only reasons a guy like this gets traded because

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Speaker 2: he makes too much money. You're trying to clear it.

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Speaker 2: That's not Marte. He makes, you know, nothing relative to

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Speaker 2: his talent. So I just assume there's something wrong in

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Speaker 2: the clubhouse. We'll see where he gets moved to. I've

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Speaker 2: heard the Mets, I've heard a bunch of teams. But

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Speaker 2: if if that stuff is true, and I'm not saying

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Speaker 2: it is, but if it is true, I don't expect

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Speaker 2: the Braves to be involved. And I think they would

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Speaker 2: give up the pitching if that wasn't a big question.

429
00:21:57,960 --> 00:21:59,280
Speaker 2: But I don't think they would do both.

430
00:22:00,080 --> 00:22:02,520
Speaker 1: That's a very fair point, right, And I think that

431
00:22:02,920 --> 00:22:07,959
Speaker 1: you know you're correct, and that the club outspit has

432
00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:09,320
Speaker 1: to be there, you know, and everybody knows that the

433
00:22:09,320 --> 00:22:14,120
Speaker 1: Graves put a high value on that. It does though

434
00:22:14,240 --> 00:22:17,199
Speaker 1: kind of you know, also shot a spotlight on the

435
00:22:17,240 --> 00:22:21,440
Speaker 1: fact that we talk about the Braves' current starting rotation

436
00:22:22,640 --> 00:22:27,359
Speaker 1: Strider Sale Swallow Moch Rinaldo Lopez, if they add another starter,

437
00:22:27,680 --> 00:22:29,720
Speaker 1: you know, Hurst and Waldrip, so on and so forth.

438
00:22:30,080 --> 00:22:33,959
Speaker 1: We talk about how quality that has been, but just

439
00:22:34,040 --> 00:22:37,240
Speaker 1: like we also talked about last year, it could be

440
00:22:37,320 --> 00:22:40,480
Speaker 1: that in theory, but there remains a lot of question marks,

441
00:22:40,560 --> 00:22:43,800
Speaker 1: right like, not only in terms of what you're going

442
00:22:43,840 --> 00:22:47,399
Speaker 1: to get from those pitchers this year, but what are

443
00:22:47,400 --> 00:22:49,439
Speaker 1: they going to look like after this year? Like what

444
00:22:49,480 --> 00:22:51,399
Speaker 1: are they going to look like for twenty seven and beyond.

445
00:22:51,840 --> 00:22:54,520
Speaker 1: We don't necessarily know what version of Strider we're going

446
00:22:54,600 --> 00:22:56,200
Speaker 1: to get. We hope that we get what he was,

447
00:22:56,520 --> 00:22:58,879
Speaker 1: but you know, what does that look like if he's not.

448
00:23:00,480 --> 00:23:03,679
Speaker 1: I imagine that they're probably you've been an advocate of this.

449
00:23:03,720 --> 00:23:06,359
Speaker 1: I imagine they'll probably, you know, look to keep him around,

450
00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:09,560
Speaker 1: you know, beyond twenty six. But just naturally, a clode

451
00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:11,960
Speaker 1: could happen to any point. I think Spillerbach is a

452
00:23:12,000 --> 00:23:15,680
Speaker 1: top of a rotation option. I think that makes sense. Rinaldo Lopez,

453
00:23:15,880 --> 00:23:17,800
Speaker 1: You'd love to see him get back to being a

454
00:23:17,880 --> 00:23:20,960
Speaker 1: reliable starter, but that shoulder, as long as it's barking,

455
00:23:21,280 --> 00:23:23,919
Speaker 1: you just don't know what is Hurston Walder could have

456
00:23:23,960 --> 00:23:28,560
Speaker 1: looked like second third time through the league. These are

457
00:23:28,640 --> 00:23:31,679
Speaker 1: natural questions you can bring up about any rotation. But

458
00:23:31,800 --> 00:23:35,359
Speaker 1: I think for Alexandoppolis, who is who has seen multiple

459
00:23:35,480 --> 00:23:39,120
Speaker 1: years now of not having quality pitching depth be there

460
00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:42,520
Speaker 1: like he woulded. That's why he's probably he's always has been,

461
00:23:42,560 --> 00:23:44,920
Speaker 1: but that's why he probably is a bit more resilient.

462
00:23:44,960 --> 00:23:47,679
Speaker 1: In a year from now, you could have Hurston waldri Ip,

463
00:23:47,720 --> 00:23:51,720
Speaker 1: you could have a healthy ag Smith, Shav Jr. Richie Kim, Kimmanitti,

464
00:23:52,080 --> 00:23:57,119
Speaker 1: you can have a very attractive depth covered of young pitching.

465
00:23:57,960 --> 00:24:00,800
Speaker 1: I think that Alexandoppoless probably does a bit more value

466
00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:03,040
Speaker 1: on having that available now than he did in the past.

467
00:24:03,200 --> 00:24:06,520
Speaker 1: But I agree with you say mid season something comes up,

468
00:24:06,840 --> 00:24:10,520
Speaker 1: he could pivot to still add another significant offensive piece

469
00:24:10,600 --> 00:24:11,960
Speaker 1: hit the offense needs.

470
00:24:13,040 --> 00:24:15,439
Speaker 2: And I'll say one more thing about the Braves and Marte.

471
00:24:15,600 --> 00:24:17,960
Speaker 2: So my first answer was focused mostly on Marte and

472
00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:23,680
Speaker 2: the Diamondbacks from the Braves perspective. I was thinking about

473
00:24:23,680 --> 00:24:28,040
Speaker 2: this the other day. They technically do not have a

474
00:24:28,240 --> 00:24:34,240
Speaker 2: middle infielder on a guaranteed contract after this year. Mariso

475
00:24:34,359 --> 00:24:36,960
Speaker 2: Dubon has got one year of team control left. He's

476
00:24:37,119 --> 00:24:39,760
Speaker 2: this is twenty twenty six as his last year of arbitration.

477
00:24:40,359 --> 00:24:43,040
Speaker 2: Hassan Kim obviously just signed a one year deal, and

478
00:24:43,119 --> 00:24:46,080
Speaker 2: Ozzie Albi's has already passed the guaranteed portion of his deal.

479
00:24:46,119 --> 00:24:48,000
Speaker 2: He's just on these club options. It's kind of a

480
00:24:48,080 --> 00:24:50,119
Speaker 2: year to year club option thing. Now. He does have

481
00:24:50,160 --> 00:24:53,159
Speaker 2: the buyout, which I guess technically is guaranteed money, but

482
00:24:53,240 --> 00:24:56,240
Speaker 2: it's a buyout, it's not a guaranteed year contract. So

483
00:24:57,440 --> 00:25:00,240
Speaker 2: that's That's basically the Braves three main middle infielder and

484
00:25:00,280 --> 00:25:04,520
Speaker 2: all of them could be gone after this season. So like,

485
00:25:05,280 --> 00:25:07,600
Speaker 2: it wouldn't surprise me at all to see the Braves

486
00:25:07,920 --> 00:25:11,399
Speaker 2: at some point try to address some sort of long

487
00:25:11,480 --> 00:25:16,320
Speaker 2: term answer somewhere in the middle infield. Some of that's

488
00:25:16,320 --> 00:25:19,600
Speaker 2: gonna depend on Ozzy, quite honestly. Like, like, Ozzy is

489
00:25:19,640 --> 00:25:21,640
Speaker 2: a very clear candidate if he has a bounce back

490
00:25:21,680 --> 00:25:24,360
Speaker 2: year for signing an extension of some sort, but he's

491
00:25:24,400 --> 00:25:27,200
Speaker 2: got to show something. You gotta show us that you're

492
00:25:27,240 --> 00:25:31,040
Speaker 2: not just completely done as a major league player. Like

493
00:25:31,119 --> 00:25:35,880
Speaker 2: he's looked for a concerning amount of time where all

494
00:25:35,920 --> 00:25:38,879
Speaker 2: of the skills have basically declined at a rapid pace,

495
00:25:39,240 --> 00:25:42,080
Speaker 2: and now he's already dealing with the wrist, you know,

496
00:25:42,280 --> 00:25:44,720
Speaker 2: thumb injury, whatever it is that he's gonna be. He

497
00:25:45,480 --> 00:25:48,880
Speaker 2: ended last year with Hassan Kim again, a one year deal.

498
00:25:49,240 --> 00:25:51,280
Speaker 2: I'm guessing he signed that one year deal to have

499
00:25:51,320 --> 00:25:52,840
Speaker 2: a good year and then get back out and sign

500
00:25:52,880 --> 00:25:54,840
Speaker 2: a major deal somewhere else. I doubt that's gonna be

501
00:25:54,880 --> 00:25:58,840
Speaker 2: with the Braves. So like, from that perspective, checking on

502
00:25:58,960 --> 00:26:02,640
Speaker 2: Martein makes sense, Like you don't actually have any long

503
00:26:02,720 --> 00:26:06,879
Speaker 2: term answers at shortstop or second base as currently constructed.

504
00:26:07,320 --> 00:26:09,920
Speaker 2: And I know they just drafted a bunch of shortstops

505
00:26:09,920 --> 00:26:11,840
Speaker 2: in the last draft, and we'll see what those guys develop,

506
00:26:12,119 --> 00:26:14,240
Speaker 2: but currently you don't have a clear answer in your

507
00:26:14,280 --> 00:26:17,119
Speaker 2: minor leagues either for either one of those spots. So

508
00:26:18,520 --> 00:26:20,360
Speaker 2: like that, you know, it's not a question this year

509
00:26:20,400 --> 00:26:22,560
Speaker 2: because they've signed they traded for Debond, and they signed

510
00:26:22,560 --> 00:26:26,120
Speaker 2: Hassan Kim. But like after this year, the mental infield

511
00:26:26,359 --> 00:26:32,480
Speaker 2: very kind of quickly has become in totality a big

512
00:26:32,560 --> 00:26:34,919
Speaker 2: question going forward. Shortstop has always been a question, but

513
00:26:34,960 --> 00:26:38,120
Speaker 2: now with Ozzie's you know, inconsistent play and the fact

514
00:26:38,119 --> 00:26:42,120
Speaker 2: that his contract is through the guaranteed portion. They don't

515
00:26:42,119 --> 00:26:44,280
Speaker 2: have a long term answer at shortstop, our second base.

516
00:26:44,320 --> 00:26:48,919
Speaker 2: So from that perspective, I certainly understand checking in on Marte.

517
00:26:49,080 --> 00:26:51,000
Speaker 1: And the other thing to remember is that it's as

518
00:26:51,080 --> 00:26:54,160
Speaker 1: active as they have been, you know, this off season,

519
00:26:54,640 --> 00:26:57,000
Speaker 1: and even though they're probably going to sign another picture

520
00:26:57,000 --> 00:27:00,679
Speaker 1: to a multi year deal, you also they positioned it

521
00:27:00,720 --> 00:27:03,159
Speaker 1: to where they maintain I know some people may not

522
00:27:03,240 --> 00:27:05,360
Speaker 1: want to hear this, but it is a significant development

523
00:27:05,359 --> 00:27:08,359
Speaker 1: as well. They haven't given up prospects, so they still

524
00:27:08,440 --> 00:27:11,280
Speaker 1: can be a factor in trades for a significant player.

525
00:27:11,440 --> 00:27:12,639
Speaker 1: But they also are going to have a lot of

526
00:27:12,640 --> 00:27:16,119
Speaker 1: money to operate with next off season, you know, you

527
00:27:16,200 --> 00:27:19,840
Speaker 1: know the bullpen pieces, Bummer and and Mines and Iglesias,

528
00:27:20,080 --> 00:27:23,200
Speaker 1: you know, Hasan Kim Just that alone gets you nearly

529
00:27:23,240 --> 00:27:26,320
Speaker 1: fifty million dollars available. Now, obviously it doesn't work out

530
00:27:26,359 --> 00:27:28,280
Speaker 1: where it's always you know, going to be a clear

531
00:27:28,320 --> 00:27:30,560
Speaker 1: fifty million, But my point is is that they have

532
00:27:30,680 --> 00:27:32,960
Speaker 1: next off season to still address it, so you're correct,

533
00:27:33,040 --> 00:27:36,120
Speaker 1: even absolutely they need to address it. They that will

534
00:27:36,160 --> 00:27:39,040
Speaker 1: become a bigger question as time moves forward when it

535
00:27:39,040 --> 00:27:41,600
Speaker 1: comes to long term options up the middle, but thankfully

536
00:27:41,640 --> 00:27:44,160
Speaker 1: they do have multiple ways they can go about addressing

537
00:27:44,200 --> 00:27:45,320
Speaker 1: those in time.

538
00:27:45,600 --> 00:27:48,399
Speaker 2: And let me say this, we'll talk about this as

539
00:27:48,440 --> 00:27:50,439
Speaker 2: it gets closer. We're not we're not ready to do

540
00:27:50,520 --> 00:27:54,840
Speaker 2: twenty twenty six previews yet. We're still in off season mode.

541
00:27:55,200 --> 00:27:58,560
Speaker 2: But just a little nugget that we're certainly going to

542
00:27:58,600 --> 00:28:02,439
Speaker 2: talk about at some point. Ozzi Albi's is gonna have

543
00:28:02,480 --> 00:28:07,320
Speaker 2: to play at a certain level to justify not having

544
00:28:07,400 --> 00:28:10,480
Speaker 2: Hassan Kim play at second and Mauricio Dubon play it

545
00:28:10,560 --> 00:28:15,800
Speaker 2: short like I'm not sure if Ozzi plays like he

546
00:28:15,840 --> 00:28:17,960
Speaker 2: did for most of last year, I'm not so sure

547
00:28:17,960 --> 00:28:22,200
Speaker 2: that Brav's best situation isn't putting Dubon at short, who's

548
00:28:22,240 --> 00:28:24,879
Speaker 2: a much better defender than Hassan Kim, and putting hass

549
00:28:24,920 --> 00:28:28,240
Speaker 2: On Kim at second. Ozzi is going to have to

550
00:28:28,280 --> 00:28:32,919
Speaker 2: play at a level that convinces the team not to

551
00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:37,960
Speaker 2: do that, because I think that's I think that's a possibility,

552
00:28:38,040 --> 00:28:40,360
Speaker 2: and I don't I think everybody is just automatically saying

553
00:28:40,360 --> 00:28:42,680
Speaker 2: hass On Kim is the shortstop, Ozzi Alby is the

554
00:28:42,720 --> 00:28:45,720
Speaker 2: second baseman, and that's certainly how they're gonna start, But

555
00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:48,680
Speaker 2: if Ozzi Albi's continues to regress at the level he

556
00:28:48,720 --> 00:28:51,520
Speaker 2: has the last couple of years, I would at least

557
00:28:51,560 --> 00:28:54,760
Speaker 2: explore putting Dubon at short and putting hass On Gimmitt second,

558
00:28:54,920 --> 00:28:58,360
Speaker 2: because that's certainly a better defensive setup, and if Ozzi's

559
00:28:58,360 --> 00:29:01,800
Speaker 2: not hitting, it might be a better offensive setup too.

560
00:29:01,920 --> 00:29:06,120
Speaker 2: So again, that'll be more once we get past January

561
00:29:06,160 --> 00:29:08,520
Speaker 2: into the when we start previewing the team for twenty

562
00:29:08,560 --> 00:29:10,400
Speaker 2: twenty six. But I just want to put that little

563
00:29:10,480 --> 00:29:13,240
Speaker 2: nugget out there. I'm not Ozzie is going to actually

564
00:29:13,240 --> 00:29:16,520
Speaker 2: have to play at a level that justifies him keeping

565
00:29:16,560 --> 00:29:17,400
Speaker 2: that starting spot.

566
00:29:19,240 --> 00:29:21,560
Speaker 1: Yeah, and we're not necessary you know, I don't want

567
00:29:21,600 --> 00:29:22,840
Speaker 1: to put words at your mouse, Steve, and you're not

568
00:29:22,880 --> 00:29:26,320
Speaker 1: necessarily saying that Ozzie is not going to, you know,

569
00:29:26,400 --> 00:29:28,280
Speaker 1: not start. But listen, we he.

570
00:29:28,320 --> 00:29:30,440
Speaker 2: Is definitely going to start the year as the second basement.

571
00:29:30,560 --> 00:29:34,520
Speaker 1: But listen, we've seen the downside of how these injuries

572
00:29:34,520 --> 00:29:37,880
Speaker 1: are taken a toll on Ozzy. And no disrespect to Ozzie.

573
00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:41,880
Speaker 1: Absolutely I'm speaking for myself here. Absolutely love Ozzy out

574
00:29:42,240 --> 00:29:44,840
Speaker 1: obvious to person, love what he does on the field,

575
00:29:44,920 --> 00:29:48,240
Speaker 1: like like the best version of the Braves is Ozzie

576
00:29:48,320 --> 00:29:53,280
Speaker 1: being at his best. It absolutely is the truth. But

577
00:29:53,360 --> 00:29:56,600
Speaker 1: how certainly you're going to consistently get that That's become

578
00:29:56,600 --> 00:29:58,680
Speaker 1: a bigger question over the past few years. And when

579
00:29:58,680 --> 00:30:01,680
Speaker 1: we say that the Braves have added the versatility, it's

580
00:30:01,760 --> 00:30:05,240
Speaker 1: to be able to answer these questions. Okay, we've addressed shortstop,

581
00:30:05,440 --> 00:30:07,520
Speaker 1: but what if up the middle will yet we're one

582
00:30:07,520 --> 00:30:10,160
Speaker 1: of the worst position groups in baseball. Well, we now

583
00:30:10,200 --> 00:30:12,840
Speaker 1: have options to make changes to your point, So that's

584
00:30:12,880 --> 00:30:15,520
Speaker 1: what comes with that. That's what comes with versatility. And

585
00:30:15,600 --> 00:30:17,600
Speaker 1: even though it may lead to tough results at the

586
00:30:17,640 --> 00:30:19,520
Speaker 1: end of the at the end of the day, the

587
00:30:19,560 --> 00:30:21,680
Speaker 1: only results that matter. What do the brains need to

588
00:30:21,720 --> 00:30:24,360
Speaker 1: turn around to be able to win consistently? And now

589
00:30:24,400 --> 00:30:28,120
Speaker 1: that they've got some options to where hey, if you're

590
00:30:28,120 --> 00:30:29,760
Speaker 1: not playing you know, at the level that can help

591
00:30:29,840 --> 00:30:32,840
Speaker 1: us win, we've now got options that potentially, uh, you know,

592
00:30:32,960 --> 00:30:34,720
Speaker 1: could could make it to where you're you're not playing

593
00:30:34,720 --> 00:30:38,240
Speaker 1: as much. So it'll definitely be an interesting thing to see.

594
00:30:39,360 --> 00:30:41,600
Speaker 1: So we talked about the starting pitching options. We've talked

595
00:30:41,600 --> 00:30:45,080
Speaker 1: about you know, speculated interests and could tell Marte. That

596
00:30:45,360 --> 00:30:48,160
Speaker 1: shows that this off season, in terms of the roster,

597
00:30:48,240 --> 00:30:50,720
Speaker 1: in terms of the product on the field, there's still

598
00:30:50,800 --> 00:30:54,560
Speaker 1: plenty to look forward to. But what about outside of that?

599
00:30:55,120 --> 00:30:58,320
Speaker 1: What else this off season are some storylines to potentially

600
00:30:58,320 --> 00:31:01,560
Speaker 1: pay attention to that could become bigger as we move

601
00:31:01,600 --> 00:31:03,480
Speaker 1: forward in twenty twenty six. A bit more on that

602
00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:11,720
Speaker 1: in just a moment, So Stephen, obviously the big storyline

603
00:31:11,760 --> 00:31:15,560
Speaker 1: that everybody is talking about this off season, and we'll

604
00:31:16,240 --> 00:31:21,000
Speaker 1: we will expand on these certain topics in time. But

605
00:31:21,080 --> 00:31:23,240
Speaker 1: this is more just this third segment is more just

606
00:31:23,280 --> 00:31:27,080
Speaker 1: to kind of give you know, listeners storylines to pay

607
00:31:27,080 --> 00:31:31,760
Speaker 1: attention to. That obviously, is the potential of a lockout

608
00:31:32,160 --> 00:31:36,080
Speaker 1: quote unquote you know CBA, you know, negotiation window where

609
00:31:36,120 --> 00:31:40,000
Speaker 1: there's not anything going on in baseball. That looms very large.

610
00:31:40,040 --> 00:31:42,400
Speaker 1: I believe that the last time we saw this was

611
00:31:42,560 --> 00:31:45,520
Speaker 1: between the twenty twenty one and twenty twenty two season,

612
00:31:45,560 --> 00:31:47,720
Speaker 1: the year that Freddie Freeman went to the Dodgers and

613
00:31:47,720 --> 00:31:52,520
Speaker 1: we traded for att Also, that is a very real possibility.

614
00:31:52,560 --> 00:31:56,520
Speaker 1: When I say possibility, I mean now more than five

615
00:31:56,600 --> 00:32:00,520
Speaker 1: years ago. It seems to be an expectation that games

616
00:32:00,520 --> 00:32:03,200
Speaker 1: will be lost in the twenty twenty seven season. That

617
00:32:03,320 --> 00:32:07,400
Speaker 1: is something that many need to pay attention to because

618
00:32:07,440 --> 00:32:10,000
Speaker 1: it could mean a shorter season in twenty twenty seven,

619
00:32:10,120 --> 00:32:11,960
Speaker 1: and it could also mean a lot of changes for

620
00:32:12,040 --> 00:32:16,200
Speaker 1: twenty twenty seven and beyond that we currently see in baseball.

621
00:32:16,480 --> 00:32:20,480
Speaker 2: Yeah, and listen, it has impact on this offseason because

622
00:32:20,760 --> 00:32:22,320
Speaker 2: and I can't remember who said this, it might have

623
00:32:22,400 --> 00:32:27,400
Speaker 2: been Jeff Passing, but yes, if you're signing a two

624
00:32:27,800 --> 00:32:31,400
Speaker 2: a guy to a two year deal, teams are already

625
00:32:31,400 --> 00:32:33,560
Speaker 2: factoring in that that the second year of that deal

626
00:32:33,640 --> 00:32:35,560
Speaker 2: is not going to be one hundred and sixty two games.

627
00:32:35,920 --> 00:32:37,160
Speaker 2: Like That's how that's how.

628
00:32:37,080 --> 00:32:39,920
Speaker 1: Certain it was. Trade candidates and his trade piece not

629
00:32:40,000 --> 00:32:41,800
Speaker 1: only signing them, but trading.

630
00:32:41,440 --> 00:32:44,720
Speaker 2: For trading for them, right changes the value. Yeah, for sure,

631
00:32:44,760 --> 00:32:49,040
Speaker 2: you're getting less games. That's how certain people are operating

632
00:32:49,120 --> 00:32:51,000
Speaker 2: under the idea that there's going to be a lockout

633
00:32:51,080 --> 00:32:55,120
Speaker 2: and and impacted games in twenty twenty seven. Now, we

634
00:32:55,200 --> 00:32:57,880
Speaker 2: got lucky, and you know when the Braves won the

635
00:32:57,880 --> 00:33:01,120
Speaker 2: World Series in twenty twenty one, obviously the lockout happened

636
00:33:01,160 --> 00:33:04,040
Speaker 2: that offseason. That was the last time the CBA was

637
00:33:04,120 --> 00:33:08,080
Speaker 2: up for negotiation, and they got the deal done literally

638
00:33:08,280 --> 00:33:11,200
Speaker 2: just in time to save one hundred and sixty two

639
00:33:11,240 --> 00:33:14,360
Speaker 2: game season. If you'll remember, they actually took the first

640
00:33:14,360 --> 00:33:16,760
Speaker 2: two series of the season and put them at the end,

641
00:33:17,520 --> 00:33:20,719
Speaker 2: which is why the Braves and the Mets were playing

642
00:33:20,760 --> 00:33:23,800
Speaker 2: each other for the division title that year. Remember the

643
00:33:23,840 --> 00:33:25,720
Speaker 2: Braves chased down the Mets and the second to last

644
00:33:25,760 --> 00:33:28,440
Speaker 2: series was with the Mets. Well, originally that was supposed

645
00:33:28,440 --> 00:33:31,040
Speaker 2: to be the first series of the y or the

646
00:33:31,080 --> 00:33:33,200
Speaker 2: second series of the year, and it got moved to

647
00:33:33,240 --> 00:33:35,800
Speaker 2: the end because of the lockout, so they were still

648
00:33:35,800 --> 00:33:37,560
Speaker 2: able to play one hundred and sixty two last time.

649
00:33:38,880 --> 00:33:41,080
Speaker 2: There is much less confidence this time that they're gonna

650
00:33:41,080 --> 00:33:42,720
Speaker 2: be able to play one hundred and sixties two games.

651
00:33:42,800 --> 00:33:44,400
Speaker 2: And you could tie it pretty much all to the

652
00:33:44,400 --> 00:33:47,280
Speaker 2: Los Angeles Dodgers because the last two years, the Los

653
00:33:47,320 --> 00:33:50,800
Speaker 2: Angeles Dodgers have outspent everybody damn near two to one

654
00:33:51,280 --> 00:33:55,240
Speaker 2: and they are dominating the sport. And people believe that

655
00:33:55,280 --> 00:33:57,200
Speaker 2: there needs to be some sort of salary cap, and

656
00:33:57,240 --> 00:34:01,360
Speaker 2: the players have always been no cap, no question, it's

657
00:34:01,360 --> 00:34:05,440
Speaker 2: a non starter, and that alone. There's other issues, but honestly,

658
00:34:05,480 --> 00:34:08,920
Speaker 2: that alone is the reason why so many people are

659
00:34:08,960 --> 00:34:12,279
Speaker 2: convinced there's gonna be a lockout and it's gonna cost

660
00:34:12,360 --> 00:34:15,040
Speaker 2: games in twenty twenty seven, and so it does matter

661
00:34:15,600 --> 00:34:17,800
Speaker 2: this offseason. It matter even though it's a year away.

662
00:34:18,360 --> 00:34:21,160
Speaker 2: You're signing contracts now for the twenty twenty seven season

663
00:34:21,600 --> 00:34:26,200
Speaker 2: and they're being impacted by this reality. So yes, you know,

664
00:34:26,239 --> 00:34:28,480
Speaker 2: there's other there are there's other storylines we're gonna get

665
00:34:28,520 --> 00:34:30,440
Speaker 2: to that are more pertinent. But you need to be

666
00:34:30,520 --> 00:34:32,719
Speaker 2: aware as a baseball fan that this is coming down

667
00:34:32,800 --> 00:34:35,440
Speaker 2: the road. It's coming very quickly, and it is going

668
00:34:35,480 --> 00:34:37,840
Speaker 2: to have an impact, not only now. It's gonna have

669
00:34:37,880 --> 00:34:40,040
Speaker 2: an impact at the trade deadline when we get there,

670
00:34:40,320 --> 00:34:42,239
Speaker 2: and it's certainly gonna have an impact once we get

671
00:34:42,280 --> 00:34:44,279
Speaker 2: to the end of the twenty twenty sixth season, because

672
00:34:44,320 --> 00:34:45,960
Speaker 2: a lockout is going to be imminent.

673
00:34:47,920 --> 00:34:50,960
Speaker 1: Speaking of you know, the business side of things, of

674
00:34:51,080 --> 00:34:54,120
Speaker 1: another one that you know, in recent days, we've gotten

675
00:34:54,120 --> 00:34:56,600
Speaker 1: more information on you know, we we we've been through

676
00:34:56,600 --> 00:34:59,239
Speaker 1: over the past couple of seasons. There's a bit of uncertainty.

677
00:34:59,320 --> 00:35:01,480
Speaker 1: The last of season we you know saw you know,

678
00:35:01,520 --> 00:35:03,080
Speaker 1: how are we going to be able to watch Braves

679
00:35:03,160 --> 00:35:06,080
Speaker 1: games via FanDuel? And you know, you know, Amazon picked

680
00:35:06,080 --> 00:35:07,759
Speaker 1: it up and it was, you know, seemed like a

681
00:35:07,760 --> 00:35:10,680
Speaker 1: pretty good solution. Well, now there's been more to that.

682
00:35:10,760 --> 00:35:13,600
Speaker 1: There's there's more development when it comes to FanDuel and

683
00:35:13,760 --> 00:35:15,840
Speaker 1: you know, its future to be able to cover you know,

684
00:35:15,880 --> 00:35:19,400
Speaker 1: teams across multiple sports, and it certainly seems like now

685
00:35:19,520 --> 00:35:21,680
Speaker 1: that there's going to be you know, it's just going

686
00:35:21,760 --> 00:35:23,160
Speaker 1: to change. You know, fandel is not going to be

687
00:35:23,200 --> 00:35:25,840
Speaker 1: the source you know for much longer, depending on you know,

688
00:35:25,880 --> 00:35:29,160
Speaker 1: when certain you know things happen. Steven, last off season,

689
00:35:29,200 --> 00:35:31,719
Speaker 1: you did a wonderful job keeping folks up to date

690
00:35:31,960 --> 00:35:34,880
Speaker 1: and covering that. But that, once again, I don't necessarily

691
00:35:34,920 --> 00:35:37,520
Speaker 1: know if it's going to be as big of a

692
00:35:37,560 --> 00:35:40,680
Speaker 1: storyline to watch like an update for every week, but

693
00:35:40,760 --> 00:35:43,040
Speaker 1: it does. It is important to keep in the back

694
00:35:43,080 --> 00:35:45,960
Speaker 1: of your mind to know where, if a change does occur,

695
00:35:46,080 --> 00:35:48,279
Speaker 1: where you can go to access Braves games.

696
00:35:48,920 --> 00:35:51,359
Speaker 2: Yeah, here we are again once again talking about how

697
00:35:51,360 --> 00:35:53,920
Speaker 2: people are going to watch games in twenty twenty six. Obviously,

698
00:35:54,000 --> 00:35:57,400
Speaker 2: last offseason, we you know, we talked about it extensively.

699
00:35:57,480 --> 00:35:59,760
Speaker 2: We tried to cover it, you know, wall to wall

700
00:36:00,360 --> 00:36:02,360
Speaker 2: because it matters because people want to know where they

701
00:36:02,400 --> 00:36:05,120
Speaker 2: can watch games. It matters to the everyday fans. And

702
00:36:05,800 --> 00:36:08,759
Speaker 2: here we are again. You know last year it was

703
00:36:08,800 --> 00:36:11,960
Speaker 2: Diamond Sports Group who owned all of the rsns, the

704
00:36:12,000 --> 00:36:14,560
Speaker 2: regional sports networks. I do want to make a point.

705
00:36:14,760 --> 00:36:18,120
Speaker 2: People get confused. They think it's FanDuel that owns this stuff.

706
00:36:18,320 --> 00:36:21,160
Speaker 2: Fandel literally just bought the naming rights, like this has

707
00:36:21,200 --> 00:36:25,239
Speaker 2: nothing to do with FanDuel the company. Yeah, it's like Truest.

708
00:36:25,360 --> 00:36:27,160
Speaker 2: I met this point on Twitter. It's like Truest Bank

709
00:36:27,640 --> 00:36:30,319
Speaker 2: bought the naming rights for Truest Park. But true at

710
00:36:30,320 --> 00:36:33,480
Speaker 2: Bank doesn't in any way, shape or form operate Truest Park.

711
00:36:33,600 --> 00:36:36,640
Speaker 2: He just bought the name. So Fandel is just the name.

712
00:36:36,960 --> 00:36:39,480
Speaker 2: These are the regional sports networks that have been around forever.

713
00:36:39,920 --> 00:36:43,480
Speaker 2: It was Bally before, it was like Fox Sports Southeast

714
00:36:43,560 --> 00:36:46,839
Speaker 2: or whatever before that. These rsns have been around forever,

715
00:36:46,880 --> 00:36:50,000
Speaker 2: and this business model has been slowly dying for about

716
00:36:50,360 --> 00:36:53,520
Speaker 2: fifteen years now, and I mean slowly dying. And we

717
00:36:53,640 --> 00:36:57,120
Speaker 2: might be at the final nail because so last offseason,

718
00:36:57,160 --> 00:36:58,920
Speaker 2: people remember they came out they were doing this whole

719
00:36:58,960 --> 00:37:01,640
Speaker 2: bankruptcy court and if they didn't figure out a way

720
00:37:01,640 --> 00:37:04,520
Speaker 2: to get out of bankruptcy court, then the Braves, you

721
00:37:04,520 --> 00:37:07,480
Speaker 2: know they were going to completely dissolve, Well they kind

722
00:37:07,480 --> 00:37:09,759
Speaker 2: of got a life preserver at the last moment. They

723
00:37:09,760 --> 00:37:12,360
Speaker 2: made it out of bankruptcy court and everything got to

724
00:37:12,400 --> 00:37:15,680
Speaker 2: operate the same as it as normal last season, so

725
00:37:16,160 --> 00:37:19,520
Speaker 2: you know, fans got to watch games on Fandel's Sports

726
00:37:19,560 --> 00:37:21,960
Speaker 2: Network just like normal. Well, we got to report a

727
00:37:21,960 --> 00:37:25,440
Speaker 2: couple of days ago that the company that ended up

728
00:37:26,000 --> 00:37:28,840
Speaker 2: being created out of bankruptcy court, which I think is

729
00:37:28,840 --> 00:37:31,080
Speaker 2: called like Main Street Sports or something like that, who

730
00:37:31,120 --> 00:37:34,719
Speaker 2: now owns these regional sports network they're like a week

731
00:37:34,760 --> 00:37:39,080
Speaker 2: away from completely dissolving because they have no money. And

732
00:37:39,520 --> 00:37:42,239
Speaker 2: in the report it said they've already missed a December

733
00:37:42,280 --> 00:37:44,799
Speaker 2: payment to the Saint Louis Cardinals, who are one of

734
00:37:44,800 --> 00:37:47,800
Speaker 2: the fourteen Major League teams that are under these rsns.

735
00:37:47,840 --> 00:37:50,680
Speaker 2: The Braves are also one of the fourteen, which is

736
00:37:50,719 --> 00:37:54,520
Speaker 2: why this matters to us. And if this company dissolves,

737
00:37:54,719 --> 00:38:00,120
Speaker 2: if this this parent company to these rsns dissolve, then

738
00:38:00,000 --> 00:38:02,080
Speaker 2: and the Braves TV rights are once again up in

739
00:38:02,120 --> 00:38:05,000
Speaker 2: the air completely. We have no clue as I sit

740
00:38:05,040 --> 00:38:07,000
Speaker 2: here right now, I have no clue where the Braves

741
00:38:07,040 --> 00:38:10,400
Speaker 2: are gonna be on television next year, and that alone

742
00:38:10,480 --> 00:38:14,920
Speaker 2: makes this a story worth following and tracking. Now, obviously

743
00:38:15,440 --> 00:38:18,840
Speaker 2: I do not expect fans to be you know, diving

744
00:38:18,880 --> 00:38:22,279
Speaker 2: into the court documents like we were doing last year.

745
00:38:22,600 --> 00:38:24,359
Speaker 2: We will try to keep people as up to date

746
00:38:24,400 --> 00:38:27,080
Speaker 2: as we can anytime we get information. But that dropped

747
00:38:27,120 --> 00:38:30,840
Speaker 2: right before Christmas, that, like this parent company, was like

748
00:38:30,880 --> 00:38:33,840
Speaker 2: a week away from dissolving. There is a potential lifeline

749
00:38:33,840 --> 00:38:35,960
Speaker 2: out there. There's a London based company that might buy

750
00:38:36,000 --> 00:38:40,040
Speaker 2: the whole thing and keep everything status quo. That could

751
00:38:40,040 --> 00:38:43,520
Speaker 2: happen and then nothing changes, but just be aware. We

752
00:38:43,640 --> 00:38:47,040
Speaker 2: are once again on the where are the Braves gonna

753
00:38:47,040 --> 00:38:50,080
Speaker 2: be on TV? Watch like we were last offseason, and

754
00:38:50,200 --> 00:38:52,160
Speaker 2: like last off season, we will do our very best

755
00:38:52,160 --> 00:38:54,080
Speaker 2: to keep it up to date. As soon as we

756
00:38:54,080 --> 00:38:56,960
Speaker 2: get any information, well, we'll tack it onto you know,

757
00:38:57,400 --> 00:38:59,600
Speaker 2: not every show we do, but you know, when it's relevant,

758
00:38:59,640 --> 00:39:02,080
Speaker 2: we'll tack on the shows so that you know where

759
00:39:02,120 --> 00:39:03,440
Speaker 2: you can watch the Braves next year.

760
00:39:04,080 --> 00:39:07,359
Speaker 1: Absolutely, And that's the reason for bringing up these storylines.

761
00:39:07,360 --> 00:39:09,719
Speaker 1: It's it's not to you know, worry listeners, it's not

762
00:39:09,800 --> 00:39:12,400
Speaker 1: to you know, be negative, but it's it's to shed

763
00:39:12,719 --> 00:39:16,399
Speaker 1: light on not only the fact that you know, your

764
00:39:16,560 --> 00:39:19,839
Speaker 1: regular way of watching the Braves could change, you may

765
00:39:19,880 --> 00:39:22,799
Speaker 1: have to alter that. But also a year from now

766
00:39:22,920 --> 00:39:25,560
Speaker 1: we could be talking about when are the Braves actually

767
00:39:25,600 --> 00:39:28,520
Speaker 1: going to play, how next, how many games are they

768
00:39:28,560 --> 00:39:33,040
Speaker 1: going to play. So these two storylines may not necessarily

769
00:39:33,360 --> 00:39:36,800
Speaker 1: fully complete and you know, be fully defined in twenty

770
00:39:36,840 --> 00:39:40,360
Speaker 1: twenty six, but they certainly are going to continue to evolve,

771
00:39:40,600 --> 00:39:43,480
Speaker 1: and that's the reason for watching them. To make sure

772
00:39:43,520 --> 00:39:45,279
Speaker 1: that you're on top of things, which we will be,

773
00:39:45,760 --> 00:39:47,759
Speaker 1: to make sure everybody kind of knows what's going on

774
00:39:48,000 --> 00:39:51,080
Speaker 1: so that there's no surprises, because at some point in time,

775
00:39:51,280 --> 00:39:54,399
Speaker 1: on both of these fronts, the results that come from

776
00:39:54,400 --> 00:39:57,240
Speaker 1: this are going to have a major impact on obviously

777
00:39:57,280 --> 00:39:59,479
Speaker 1: not only how you watch the Braves, but the game

778
00:39:59,480 --> 00:40:01,640
Speaker 1: of baseball and the future of the game of baseball

779
00:40:01,760 --> 00:40:02,319
Speaker 1: as a whole.

780
00:40:03,680 --> 00:40:05,840
Speaker 2: And one last thing on the TV stuff, just remember,

781
00:40:05,920 --> 00:40:09,240
Speaker 2: the Braves deal with these RSNS runs out in twenty

782
00:40:09,280 --> 00:40:14,120
Speaker 2: twenty seven. So this is all under the backdrop of

783
00:40:14,640 --> 00:40:17,279
Speaker 2: at some point the Braves are going to be free

784
00:40:17,320 --> 00:40:19,520
Speaker 2: agents and are going to be able to sign a

785
00:40:19,560 --> 00:40:23,680
Speaker 2: new TV deal anywhere they want or and this is

786
00:40:23,680 --> 00:40:25,680
Speaker 2: what I hope they do or create their own network

787
00:40:25,920 --> 00:40:29,600
Speaker 2: and just control control it all in house, which is

788
00:40:29,640 --> 00:40:31,640
Speaker 2: what most big market teams do, and the Braves are

789
00:40:31,640 --> 00:40:35,120
Speaker 2: a big market. The Braves have a massive footprint in

790
00:40:35,200 --> 00:40:38,239
Speaker 2: the TV market of baseball because of how many years

791
00:40:38,239 --> 00:40:41,440
Speaker 2: they were on TBS and how national their fan base is.

792
00:40:42,080 --> 00:40:45,440
Speaker 2: They can certainly support starting their own network and just

793
00:40:45,480 --> 00:40:48,000
Speaker 2: controlling it in house. Then you're not dealing with rsns.

794
00:40:48,360 --> 00:40:51,560
Speaker 2: You're not having to worry about some third corporation, some

795
00:40:51,920 --> 00:40:56,719
Speaker 2: middleman corporation going under and screwing up everything for you. You

796
00:40:56,600 --> 00:40:58,440
Speaker 2: just control it all. That's what the Yankees do, That's

797
00:40:58,440 --> 00:40:59,880
Speaker 2: what the Mets do, That's what the Cubs do, is

798
00:41:00,080 --> 00:41:03,399
Speaker 2: what the Dodgers do. Like these big networks, have their own,

799
00:41:03,440 --> 00:41:06,360
Speaker 2: they have their own station. They control it all in house.

800
00:41:06,680 --> 00:41:08,960
Speaker 2: I hope that's the direction the Braves go. That's still

801
00:41:08,960 --> 00:41:11,719
Speaker 2: a couple of years away. First, we got to get

802
00:41:11,719 --> 00:41:14,080
Speaker 2: through all of this nonsense. But just keep that in

803
00:41:14,120 --> 00:41:16,040
Speaker 2: mind as well. All of this is on the backdrop

804
00:41:16,080 --> 00:41:18,719
Speaker 2: of not in the not too just the future of

805
00:41:18,719 --> 00:41:21,440
Speaker 2: the Breads are actually going to be TV free agents,

806
00:41:21,960 --> 00:41:24,880
Speaker 2: and you know that's going to be a massive storyline

807
00:41:24,920 --> 00:41:25,560
Speaker 2: when he gets here.

808
00:41:26,080 --> 00:41:28,279
Speaker 1: Hey and with how well the brains are done with

809
00:41:28,320 --> 00:41:31,160
Speaker 1: the business model of you know, the battery. You know

810
00:41:31,280 --> 00:41:35,160
Speaker 1: that they're surrounding areas generating you know, consistent revenue for

811
00:41:35,239 --> 00:41:37,759
Speaker 1: the steam which helps support the off season that we've

812
00:41:37,800 --> 00:41:40,719
Speaker 1: seen this offseason. You would think that they can get

813
00:41:40,760 --> 00:41:43,160
Speaker 1: a you know, a good spot going with maybe their

814
00:41:43,160 --> 00:41:45,839
Speaker 1: own TV deal. If they can find success through them

815
00:41:45,880 --> 00:41:48,440
Speaker 1: being you know, free agents in the near future TV wise,

816
00:41:48,680 --> 00:41:51,399
Speaker 1: that could be just another revenue stream to really keep

817
00:41:51,440 --> 00:41:55,120
Speaker 1: the finances in place to support a winner long term. Steven,

818
00:41:55,160 --> 00:41:57,520
Speaker 1: anything else from you as we wrap up this edition

819
00:41:57,600 --> 00:41:59,040
Speaker 1: of the Hammer Territory podcast.

820
00:41:59,800 --> 00:42:01,640
Speaker 2: No, I just want to say Merry Christmas to everybody.

821
00:42:02,120 --> 00:42:03,879
Speaker 2: You'll probably be listening to this a couple of days

822
00:42:03,920 --> 00:42:07,040
Speaker 2: after Christmas, a couple days before New Year's, So Merry Christmas.

823
00:42:07,080 --> 00:42:10,359
Speaker 2: Hope everybody had a happy and healthy, merry Christmas. Hope

824
00:42:10,400 --> 00:42:13,279
Speaker 2: that everybody has a happy New Year. Obviously, we are

825
00:42:13,280 --> 00:42:16,640
Speaker 2: gonna be here, you know, twenty twenty six is literally

826
00:42:16,640 --> 00:42:19,279
Speaker 2: on the doorstep, and we're gonna be here to cover it,

827
00:42:19,400 --> 00:42:21,040
Speaker 2: just like we were in twenty twenty five, just like

828
00:42:21,080 --> 00:42:23,920
Speaker 2: we were in twenty twenty four. Going back many years now,

829
00:42:23,960 --> 00:42:27,239
Speaker 2: if you if you count the old podcasts. So yeah,

830
00:42:27,320 --> 00:42:29,560
Speaker 2: make sure you follow along. I think the Braves might

831
00:42:29,600 --> 00:42:32,520
Speaker 2: still have a decent sized move left in them. I

832
00:42:32,520 --> 00:42:34,160
Speaker 2: think the Braves might have a couple of small moves

833
00:42:34,239 --> 00:42:36,520
Speaker 2: left in them. I don't think they're done. And what

834
00:42:36,560 --> 00:42:38,720
Speaker 2: we've heard kind of behind the scenes is they're not done.

835
00:42:39,040 --> 00:42:42,000
Speaker 2: So you know, make sure you're tuned in, make sure

836
00:42:42,000 --> 00:42:44,759
Speaker 2: you get those. You know, anytime something happens, we go

837
00:42:44,840 --> 00:42:46,359
Speaker 2: live as soon as we can get to a mic.

838
00:42:46,640 --> 00:42:48,759
Speaker 2: It's usually, you know, maybe an hour later, but we

839
00:42:48,840 --> 00:42:52,320
Speaker 2: usually try to do an emergency show as fast as possible.

840
00:42:52,360 --> 00:42:54,600
Speaker 2: So make sure you're subscribed and you get all the

841
00:42:54,600 --> 00:42:55,120
Speaker 2: new content.

842
00:42:55,760 --> 00:42:58,520
Speaker 1: Hey, and you never know, you know, you never know

843
00:42:58,560 --> 00:43:01,320
Speaker 1: what you're gonna get. You know. That's the thing about

844
00:43:01,360 --> 00:43:04,360
Speaker 1: these Habit Territory podcasts that they're gift wrapped at some

845
00:43:04,520 --> 00:43:06,719
Speaker 1: point in times. You know, with the holiday season, be here,

846
00:43:06,760 --> 00:43:10,320
Speaker 1: you could get a surprise Stranger Things season five breakdown

847
00:43:10,360 --> 00:43:13,160
Speaker 1: from yours Truly along with Steven. You could get the

848
00:43:13,200 --> 00:43:17,160
Speaker 1: forecast of a college football playoff game. You could even

849
00:43:17,239 --> 00:43:21,759
Speaker 1: get a breakdown of Stephen Tilbert's favorite Christmas meal that

850
00:43:21,880 --> 00:43:25,000
Speaker 1: he thinks he can cook, but nobody else actually agrees,

851
00:43:25,200 --> 00:43:29,200
Speaker 1: but hey, all that speculation is to leave you sitting

852
00:43:29,239 --> 00:43:31,680
Speaker 1: on the edge of your seat For the next Hammer

853
00:43:31,760 --> 00:43:34,560
Speaker 1: Territory podcast for Stephen Tolbert. You can find him at

854
00:43:34,600 --> 00:43:37,399
Speaker 1: b Undersquare Outliers on Twitter, slash x. My name's Sean

855
00:43:37,480 --> 00:43:40,600
Speaker 1: Coleman at Stat's sac Brad and Scott will be with

856
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Speaker 1: you on Sunday. Hammer Territory across all forms of social media,

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Speaker 1: part of the Foul Territory family of podcasts. Until next time,

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Speaker 1: Go brades. We'll talk to you again soon here on

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Speaker 1: the Hammer Tury