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Speaker 1: Here we go the indide scoop with FT senior insider

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Speaker 1: Ken Rosenthal, the last one of twenty twenty five, and Ken,

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Speaker 1: let's start by pushing forward a move that was just made.

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Speaker 1: What do you think about the A's acquiring Jeff McNeil

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Speaker 1: and the Mets continuing to dismantle their core with Jeff McNeil,

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Speaker 1: a longtime member of the Mets now moving on.

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Speaker 2: Well, First off, the A's they were looking for a

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Speaker 2: second baseman, maybe a third baseman two, So McNeil certainly

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Speaker 2: fills a hole for them. And I saw David Forster,

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Speaker 2: the general managers, say that maybe he can be what

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Speaker 2: Ben Zoeberst was for a previous A's team. I think

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Speaker 2: back in twenty fourteen or so. I don't know about that.

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Speaker 2: I don't know that McNeil is at that level of

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Speaker 2: performance that Zoebrist was then. But I see what they're

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Speaker 2: doing here, adding the veteran who can help stabilize what

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Speaker 2: has been As you guys just were talking about an

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Speaker 2: emerging lineup, and certainly with a guy like McNeil who's

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Speaker 2: been there, done that, it should only help. Now the

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Speaker 2: Met's we knew this was coming. They basically had signaled

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Speaker 2: that they were going to trade McNeil. They really didn't

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Speaker 2: have a place for him anymore the way they once did.

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Speaker 2: And it just is another person that was there a

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Speaker 2: long time, another homegrown fixture who is out the door.

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Speaker 2: It's of course, kind of a whole thing now, right,

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Speaker 2: Nimo Alonzo McNeil all homegrown, all career long Mets. Edmund

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Speaker 2: Diaz was not homegrown. He was acquired into trade, but

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Speaker 2: certainly he had been there a while as well. They

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Speaker 2: obviously are trying to change things around in a big way,

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Speaker 2: and not just from a performance standpoint. They clearly did

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Speaker 2: not like what was going on in the clubhouse. You

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Speaker 2: can say, well, the clubhouse was certainly fine in twenty

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Speaker 2: twenty four, and it was twenty twenty five, for whatever reason,

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Speaker 2: was different. And it's not Juan Soto walking in the

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Speaker 2: door that sent the Mets crumbling. It's just a situation

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Speaker 2: where they obviously feel things had gotten stale, things had

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Speaker 2: gotten hour, and they have taken steps rightly wrongly to

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Speaker 2: make some changes.

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Speaker 3: I mean, obviously, yes, they didn't make the playoffs, yes, whatever.

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Speaker 3: We don't know exactly what was happening in the clubhouse

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Speaker 3: other than you know, stories and innuendos and all that stuff.

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Speaker 3: But how does David Sterns actually replace the production that

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Speaker 3: is now off the roster because you just it just

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Speaker 3: keep piling up. And I get it, Jeff McNeil didn't

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Speaker 3: have a position, so it's fair, But how do you

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Speaker 3: actually because you have to actually replace that production that

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Speaker 3: just keeps piling up on David Stearns here.

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Speaker 2: Eric, you're absolutely right, and we're all waiting to see

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Speaker 2: what the Mets are going to do here. Jorye Polanco

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Speaker 2: is not going to be their last move. And I

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Speaker 2: had to chuckle a little bit. And the Notes column

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Speaker 2: that I wrote with Will Simon this morning, we mentioned

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Speaker 2: that what they're looking for is a right handed hitting

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Speaker 2: for at baseman. What does that describe? How about the

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Speaker 2: guy who just walked out the door, Peter Alonzo. Clearly

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Speaker 2: they want a different look, a different vibe, whatever it

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Speaker 2: is they're looking for, and they're going to need to

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Speaker 2: do some things. I don't know what it's going to be.

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Speaker 2: They seem averse to long term deals for pitchers and

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Speaker 2: for hitters free agents, but you're right, Eric, their production

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Speaker 2: has gone down. It's interesting if you look at fangraphs

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Speaker 2: and you go to the individual team war pages or

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Speaker 2: the rankings of the team by war there's still a

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Speaker 2: top ten team by that measure. We'll see if it translates,

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Speaker 2: We'll see what else they do. But yes, I think

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Speaker 2: everyone agrees that they have a lot that they still

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Speaker 2: must get done.

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Speaker 4: Hey, Ken, when you talk about needing a right hand

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Speaker 4: hitting first baseman, is that for hey Polonko? Where do

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Speaker 4: they see him more as a twenty million dollars platoon

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Speaker 4: at first base?

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Speaker 2: Polanco's part of the solution there, but they would like

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Speaker 2: to add a right handed hitter in addition to them.

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Speaker 2: I'm sorry him. They have said basically from the beginning

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Speaker 2: with Polanco, he'll be at first base some but not exclusively.

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Speaker 2: So with him being a switch hitter, they can do

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Speaker 2: some things move him around, Dhim. I expect to dh

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Speaker 2: a good amount with the Mets, and we'll see again

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Speaker 2: how they put the pieces back together, because that's what

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Speaker 2: they have to do here. And Eric just asked about

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Speaker 2: the production. He was talking about the offensive production. Let's

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Speaker 2: not forget the reason this team crumbled last season was

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Speaker 2: they're pitching crumbled. They're starting pitching in particular, and that

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Speaker 2: is why after June whatever that date was, when they

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Speaker 2: were the best team in the major leagues. They did

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Speaker 2: not end up that way. So yes, they have to

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Speaker 2: address their starting rotation and maybe even some more help

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Speaker 2: in the bullpen as well to go with Devin Williams

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Speaker 2: and what they've done there.

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Speaker 3: To sum it up, Ken says, the Mets have a

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Speaker 3: lot to do, so it'll be exciting. It'll be exciting

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Speaker 3: new year for us to watch. But my last question

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Speaker 3: on this is the A's part of this. Last year,

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Speaker 3: at this time, the a signed or maybe a little

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Speaker 3: bit sooner, they signed Luis Severino, and KP brought it

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Speaker 3: up that it was it was kind of maybe a

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Speaker 3: little bit of a larger contract than what he needed

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Speaker 3: to get, But it was also like, hey, their a's

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Speaker 3: need to spend money. Is there still that issue? Where

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Speaker 3: did the A's like spend that money last year? And

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Speaker 3: then now no one's really even looking at that because

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Speaker 3: they clearly need to spend a lot on pitching.

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Speaker 2: Eric I wrote about I don't know a year and

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Speaker 2: a half ago, maybe it was a year ago that

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Speaker 2: their plan was to ramp up. In the years preceding

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Speaker 2: their move to Las Vegas, they ramped up a little

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Speaker 2: bit last year obviously, but when you ramp up, you

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Speaker 2: were going upward.

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Speaker 3: On a ramp.

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Speaker 2: You're not kind of going staying the same. They're not

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Speaker 2: showing that upward mobility that I anticipated, And at some

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Speaker 2: point I'm going to get back to them and address

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Speaker 2: that in some form because John Fisher, or their owner,

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Speaker 2: he has said everything's going to be fine once they

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Speaker 2: get to Vegas. Well, you've got to put a competitive

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Speaker 2: team on the field, preferably before then, but certainly by then,

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Speaker 2: you want to open that new ballpark with a competitive team.

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Speaker 2: They're getting there. Their core, as you guys mentioned, is

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Speaker 2: really intriguing. On the offensive side, it's exciting, but they

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Speaker 2: have a lot of work to do, and yes, they

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Speaker 2: should be spending more money than they are. I don't

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Speaker 2: think there's any question about that.

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Speaker 4: Ken. Let me ask you about the Red Sox and

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Speaker 4: the Cardinals. They've already made a trade. Obviously, there's history

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Speaker 4: there with the front offices. Do you anticipate some more trades?

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Speaker 4: And then I kind of ask you, is it Brian

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Speaker 4: Beayo has been quietly shopped. Do you see him being

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Speaker 4: a fit for the Cardinals and maybe a return package

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Speaker 4: for a Brandon Donovan, Kevin.

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Speaker 2: They've made two trades with the Red Sox and Cardinals.

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Speaker 2: It's between the Red Sox and Cardinals since heim Bloom

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Speaker 2: has taken over, and it's the Sunny Gray trade, the

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Speaker 2: Wilson Contrera's trade, And we reported last night in our

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Speaker 2: notes column that yes, they have discussed Brendan Day as well.

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Speaker 2: Now doesn't mean they're going to complete a trade for

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Speaker 2: Brendan Donovan. Those two teams, the Cardinals could trade him

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Speaker 2: somewhere else. Maybe it's Seattle, maybe it's San Francisco. Two

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Speaker 2: teams that Katie Wu of The Athletic has mentioned as

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Speaker 2: front runners could be another team entirely. But it's so

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Speaker 2: interesting the dynamic that is in place between the Red

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Speaker 2: Sox and Cardinals. Because, of course, ham Bloom, having been

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Speaker 2: previously the Red Sox chief baseball officer, is well acquainted

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Speaker 2: with their system and some of the players he has

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Speaker 2: acquired or players that he brought in when he was

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Speaker 2: with the Red Sox, so they've had a lot of talks.

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Speaker 2: That's why Donovan's name has come up. I'm sure the

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Speaker 2: Red Sox see him as potentially a good fit, but

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Speaker 2: at the same time as Craig Wrestler said last night

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Speaker 2: in a news conference with reporters, the Red Sox have

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Speaker 2: made ten trades most of the minor, but you can't

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Speaker 2: keep trading from your system, and Brendan Donovan would cost

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Speaker 2: more in prospects than Contreres or Gray did, so I expect.

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Speaker 2: I've written that their next move should be a big

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Speaker 2: free agent hitter, whether it's Bregman or Bishett even someone else,

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Speaker 2: but that is the way they should go at this point,

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Speaker 2: because again, they've traded enough from their system where they

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Speaker 2: would probably be better suited now making a free agent signing.

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Speaker 4: Is it something you see a lot in the game

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Speaker 4: when assistant gms are people part of certain organizations move on,

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Speaker 4: they find a common ground to make a lot of trades.

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Speaker 4: Obviously they know the farm system very well.

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Speaker 2: You do see it, Kevin. It's not that uncommon. And

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Speaker 2: I didn't answer your question about bo. He's a guy

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Speaker 2: that the Red Sox say they are not shopping, but

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Speaker 2: because they have a good amount of young pitching, they're

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Speaker 2: getting hit on those guys and his name has come

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Speaker 2: up often in those discussions. That's what we reported. I

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Speaker 2: don't know that they're going to trade him, but there

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Speaker 2: is a certain logic to it. Whereas they have now

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Speaker 2: at the top of the rotation Crochet, Gray and Oviedo,

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Speaker 2: They've got Crawford comeing off an injury, and they've got

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Speaker 2: Patrick Sandoval coming off an injury. And they've got the

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Speaker 2: two kids connerly Early and Peyton Toley who were kind

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Speaker 2: of ready to go. So could I see a Beyo

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Speaker 2: trade happening potentially, Yes, I don't know that it would

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Speaker 2: be for Brendan Donovan. I don't know that the Cardinals

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Speaker 2: even want to take on an affordable contract like the

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Speaker 2: one Bo has. But to answer your second question here, yes,

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Speaker 2: you definitely see gms who go to another place or

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Speaker 2: come from another place having a certain attachment to players

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Speaker 2: from their past. You also see it with players that

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Speaker 2: maybe they drafted before. And some people have speculated before

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Speaker 2: the Orioles signed Pete A. Lonzo that maybe Mike Elias

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Speaker 2: with Baltimore would want to sign Kyle Tucker because if

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Speaker 2: he has that connection going back with him he drafted

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Speaker 2: Kyle Tucker, didn't happen, probably not going to happen now

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Speaker 2: that they've kind of set their team up a little bit,

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Speaker 2: still needing some pitching, but you do see that often

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Speaker 2: in the game.

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Speaker 3: All right back to some and you said, maybe the

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Speaker 3: Red Sox don't want to pay as much for a

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Speaker 3: trade as Brendan Donovan would cost. Katel Marte and Brendan

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Speaker 3: Donovan are clearly the two options that are out there

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Speaker 3: right now. Can you assess the value of each of

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Speaker 3: those based on the fact that katel Marte is at

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Speaker 3: a completely different place, probably a much better player overall.

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Speaker 3: But Brendan Donovan is a younger player with two years

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Speaker 3: two full years of control. So our teams balking at

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Speaker 3: both of those? Or is it more of a wait

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Speaker 3: to see where Alex Bragman goes and then we'll fill

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Speaker 3: in our lineup and our position player stats with one

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Speaker 3: of these two guys.

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Speaker 2: Eric, These are all excellent questions. I'm not sure I

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Speaker 2: have the answers now. The one thing you're talking about there,

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Speaker 2: which is really interesting is the comparison between the two.

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Speaker 2: Brendan Donovan is more of a super utility guy at

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Speaker 2: this stage of his career. He can play any number

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Speaker 2: of positions. Second base, of course, is one of them.

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Speaker 2: He's outfield as well. He is a guy, as you mentioned,

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Speaker 2: with two years of control left, whereas Marte is signed

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Speaker 2: for six more years. Now people say, oh, that's too

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Speaker 2: long for a guy who's thirty two years old. Yes,

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Speaker 2: but his contract is so affordable that, as we wrote today,

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Speaker 2: even if he's productive for only three or four more years,

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Speaker 2: he probably would pay for himself in that regard. The

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Speaker 2: difference with Marte is the Diamondbacks want young pitching in return.

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Speaker 2: They aren't going to trade him, I believe, unless they

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Speaker 2: get that young pitching. But he's a guy that they

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Speaker 2: are seemingly motivated to move because of that ten and

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Speaker 2: five rights that kick in with him tenth day of

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Speaker 2: the season. He becomes a player with ten years of service,

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Speaker 2: five consecutive with the same team, and then you get

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Speaker 2: full no trade protection. You can effectively decide your fate

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Speaker 2: if the team wants to move you. So there is

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Speaker 2: a motivation there to trade Marte. There's a different kind

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Speaker 2: of motivation for the Cardinals to trade Donovan, and the

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Speaker 2: motivation there is he is simply their most attractive piece.

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Speaker 2: He is the guy who would bring them the most

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Speaker 2: and the two years of control very enticing for clubs,

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Speaker 2: and the fact that he can bounce all over I

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Speaker 2: wrote this today where actually we wrote this together Will

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Speaker 2: and I. Marte is not a great fit for Seattle

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Speaker 2: because Seattle wants to play their youngster, Cole Young at

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Speaker 2: second base. But Donovan is a good fit because Donovan

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Speaker 2: doesn't have to play just second base. So it's a

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Speaker 2: real interesting dynamic with those two guys right now. Do

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Speaker 2: I expect they both will be traded? I actually do.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm looking through your notes right here, and I

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Speaker 4: see the Braves not being a fit for them, And

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Speaker 4: kind of on that topic of David Stearn's kind of

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Speaker 4: changing up the roster configuration. It's even tough for me

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Speaker 4: to say it because the Braves are near and dear

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Speaker 4: to my heart. It was one of the best years

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Speaker 4: of my career in terms of the way all the

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Speaker 4: pieces fit. The clubhouse is the best I've ever been in.

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Speaker 4: I love Ozzy Albi's to death. But tell Marte is

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Speaker 4: a better player than he is. Could you see Alex

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Speaker 4: going out and making kind of a move to kind

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Speaker 4: of maybe change up, you know, you know, what's been

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Speaker 4: there for so long and bringing in a could tell Marte, I.

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Speaker 2: Don't see it, but Kevin, you're right, there is some

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Speaker 2: sense to it, and The reason I don't see it

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Speaker 2: is because the Braves are so reluctant to give up

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Speaker 2: young pitching after especially what happened last year when really

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Speaker 2: their entire rotation went down. But yes, katel Marte at

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Speaker 2: this stage is a better player than Ozzie Albi's. Ozzie Albi's, though,

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Speaker 2: is important to that clubhouse, as you know, and he's

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Speaker 2: also well below market in what he's getting in his contract.

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Speaker 2: It's a seven million dollar salary this year. They hold

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Speaker 2: a seven million dollar option on him for next year.

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Speaker 2: That's a pretty good rate, a really good rate for

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Speaker 2: a guy who, while he had a horrible first half,

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Speaker 2: had a really good second half, or one that was

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Speaker 2: in line with his career averages. So I don't see

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Speaker 2: it happening. But at the same time, Kevin, we both

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Speaker 2: know this too, and Eric knows it and Scott knows it.

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Speaker 2: Trades do come out of nowhere. So if there is

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Speaker 2: a team that trades for kotel Marte or Brendan Donovan

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Speaker 2: or anyone else for that matter, that we haven't linked

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Speaker 2: to them, that we haven't heard about, it wouldn't surprise me.

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Speaker 2: These are really good players that teams want, and we'll

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Speaker 2: do things to make room for them. I just don't

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Speaker 2: know that the Braves will be one of those teams.

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Speaker 3: All right, Ken, this is a question I've asked you

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Speaker 3: probably the last three years around this time. Are you able?

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Speaker 3: But we have tons more followers than subscribers now, so

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Speaker 3: are you able to take this next week off? Or

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Speaker 3: do you just keep your phone at a little bit

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Speaker 3: of a lower volume and if you miss a little

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Speaker 3: scoop here or there over Christmas you're fine with it?

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Speaker 2: Well, Eric, as you know, I don't like to preveil

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Speaker 2: much about my personal life, but I will tell you this,

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Speaker 2: I will shut it down and if my phone rings,

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Speaker 2: I'll pick it up maybe, but I'm not going to

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Speaker 2: be doing much. So that's the way it's going to be.

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Speaker 2: And actually, when I do take off, and it's only

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Speaker 2: really two weeks a year, a little bit more than that,

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Speaker 2: maybe I have to shut it down otherwise I'll never

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Speaker 2: get away from it. And because we all know moves

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Speaker 2: will happen between Christmas and New Year's they do every

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Speaker 2: single year. Maybe some big moves this year because of

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Speaker 2: so much that is still pending. But at some point

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Speaker 2: even I have to walk away, and I will.

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Speaker 1: Good for you, good good, and I hope that some

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Speaker 1: front offices do the same, because there are fifty two

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Speaker 1: weeks in the year, and we've talked about this, Ken,

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Speaker 1: since i've been known you on any platform we've been

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Speaker 1: on together. Can we get one week? I'm actually only

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Speaker 1: asking it for the people that we know are hustling

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Speaker 1: behind the scenes and never get enough credit and always

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Speaker 1: work too hard and don't make that much money. It's

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Speaker 1: people that are in the lower level front office jobs

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Speaker 1: that work twenty four to seven, fifty two weeks a

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Speaker 1: year one week. I don't remember if this was on

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Speaker 1: air or not the other day, but Ken, I said,

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Speaker 1: can we have almost like this semi tampering rule where

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Speaker 1: you can't do real transactions and you're not supposed to talk.

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Speaker 1: You're not going to stop every agent from having a

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Speaker 1: combo with a team, but if you at least set

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Speaker 1: that tone, that blanket, it would stop most of this

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Speaker 1: just for one week. Obviously for us it's fine. I mean,

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Speaker 1: we're covering the game, but one week where we don't

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Speaker 1: have any news that comes out and people can disappear.

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Speaker 2: Well, Scott the sport earlier in my career, and I

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Speaker 2: can't remember when this changed. It used to shut down

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Speaker 2: at this time of year. There would be nothing, and

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Speaker 2: it was adhere to. It was just kind of something

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Speaker 2: that was done. And I always joke about this, and

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Speaker 2: I'm not so sure I'm wrong, though, when Jed Hoyer

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Speaker 2: and THEOEPSTY went to Kurt Shillings house that one year

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Speaker 2: of Thanksgiving, it seemed to me that the rules kind

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Speaker 2: of changed after that. And it was almost like those

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Speaker 2: guys were, hey, man, look at us, we're working a holiday.

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Speaker 2: We're going to get Kurt shilling and they did, and

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Speaker 2: then front offices said, you know what, We're not going

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Speaker 2: to observe holidays anymore. We'll just keep going.

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Speaker 4: Now.

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Speaker 2: I'm not ripping THEO and Jed. They did a great job,

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Speaker 2: and hey, I'm sure others were working the same way

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Speaker 2: back then, but it just seems that at some point

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Speaker 2: it changed. And if you ask people in the game,

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Speaker 2: you talk to the executives, the presidents of base operations,

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Speaker 2: talk to the agents, talk to anyone involved in this

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Speaker 2: time of year in the transactions. They would like a

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Speaker 2: break too. But the way the calendar works, the way

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Speaker 2: the game is set up, with no direction, it seems

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Speaker 2: from Central Major League baseball as far as taking some time,

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Speaker 2: this is the way it's going to be. And I

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Speaker 2: don't think fans care one way or the other. They

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Speaker 2: like hearing the moves, even during Christmas time, of course,

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Speaker 2: But for people in the game, yeah, they could use

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Speaker 2: a break, There's no doubt about that.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it could be done. It could be done. That's

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Speaker 1: my if I was commissioner for a day, but for

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Speaker 1: another day.

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Speaker 2: Can I know other things ahead of that, Scott, But yes,

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Speaker 2: if we were committed, that's the problem.

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Speaker 1: It's too low on the totem pole to address. That

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Speaker 1: is the exact problem. But I'm just trying to think

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Speaker 1: of everyone on the holiday. Have a great holiday, can

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Speaker 1: and happy New Year to you. We'll see you on

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Speaker 1: one more Fair Territory I know, later this week.

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Speaker 2: Thanks guys. You guys have a great holiday too.

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Speaker 1: Thank you. We appreciate you. Fair Territory. Later this week

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Speaker 1: on Friday, will be the last episode of twenty twenty five.

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Speaker 1: Swinging right back with a signing last Leo of the year.

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Speaker 1: We just had him on the show. Pete Alonzo over

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Speaker 1: under thirty seven and a half home runs minus won

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Speaker 1: twenty five to win a hundo at the over it's

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Speaker 1: even money plus a hundo on the under Crats already

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Speaker 1: hit this yesterday. So for timing purposes, since we're getting

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Speaker 1: late KP, are you on board with Rats?

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Speaker 2: Yeah?

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Speaker 4: I was going to look up what his I don't

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Speaker 4: even need to look up. You know what his homers

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Speaker 4: per year is.

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Speaker 3: But it's also hits versus Baltimore.

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Speaker 4: Place to hit, Yeah.

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Speaker 1: And I mean man's going to be on a mission

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Speaker 1: first year off of that should be a better ballpark

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Speaker 1: for him.

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Speaker 3: Hit dingers right, Oh, entirely.

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Speaker 4: I know they move the left field back, but it

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Speaker 4: doesn't matter they up. Yeah, it doesn't matter where he

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Speaker 4: hits baseballs. It doesn't matter really what stadium is in

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Speaker 4: as long as the wind is in a factor. But

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Speaker 4: I love his ability and not only not only just

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Speaker 4: caved to the yards wears playing, but that entire division

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Speaker 4: he's playing. I think he's gonna feast. I think he's

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Speaker 4: going to feast in the Al East. I know there's

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Speaker 4: some really good pitching there, but Pete A. Lonz is

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Speaker 4: a good hitter and there's no ballpark that could hold

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Speaker 4: him in. So I mean I'm taking the over.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, So it's Krats, So am I it's actually one

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Speaker 1: of my favorites right now on the futures board. And

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Speaker 1: one last little promo to throw out there for our

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