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Speaker 1: It's third. As you mentioned in Revenues twelfth in payroll,

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Speaker 1: that's a disparity that has fans kind of wondering what

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Speaker 1: the heck is going on, and rightly so.

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Speaker 2: Let's hit the homage inside Scoop with FT senior insider

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Speaker 2: Ken Rosenthal to feel Good Friday. So let's start with

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Speaker 2: your story on Juan Soto. I'll let you elaborate on

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Speaker 2: how it came together and give us a little taste

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Speaker 2: of Soto's past.

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Speaker 1: Actually, this story came together because another writer not from

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Speaker 1: the Athletic actually gave me the number of the man

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Speaker 1: who was the head of the host family when Jan

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Speaker 1: Soda was in Hagerstown in twenty eighteen. This writer had

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Speaker 1: nothing to do with this story. He covers a team

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Speaker 1: that has no relation to Wan Soto. So he was

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Speaker 1: gracious enough and kind enough to pass along the number.

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Speaker 1: And then I called Brian Campbell, who is the guy

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Speaker 1: right there, second from the left, and he's the one

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Speaker 1: who was the head of that family. Those were his

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Speaker 1: three sons, and he was married at the time, and

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Speaker 1: they had Soto and other players in their home for

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Speaker 1: span up about three years, not all at the same time,

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Speaker 1: of course, and Soto was only there for about three weeks.

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Speaker 1: But the gist of the story is that while Soto

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Speaker 1: was only in Low A for three weeks, then he

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Speaker 1: went to High A, Double A to the majors in

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Speaker 1: less than a month that season. In twenty eighteen, that

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Speaker 1: family formed a bond with him, and he formed a

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Speaker 1: bond with them, and to this day they communicate and

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Speaker 1: it's just kind of a really cool thing to see

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Speaker 1: a host family like that still in touch with the player. Now.

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Speaker 1: I should mention that with the new Minor League CBA,

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Speaker 1: there are no host families anymore. Players get guaranteed housing,

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Speaker 1: they got higher salaries, so Major League Baseball and Minor

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Speaker 1: League Baseball and the players Union determined there's really no need.

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Speaker 1: But there was a value to host families in helping

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Speaker 1: these players, some from the United States, but a number

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Speaker 1: of them from Latin America get acclimated to the culture

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Speaker 1: here just to being a professional. And from that perspective,

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Speaker 1: it was a different kind of story to do. It

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Speaker 1: was cool and Sodo was really engaged and excited to

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Speaker 1: talk about his days, even though it was only three

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Speaker 1: weeks with that family.

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Speaker 3: Did he give any specific things that he remembered about

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Speaker 3: having a host family. While it was just for three weeks,

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Speaker 3: I had a host family when I first went in

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Speaker 3: a rookie ball in medicine Hat Alberta in two thousand

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Speaker 3: and two. The Harpals to the point where they had

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Speaker 3: just had a baby, and now that baby is twenty

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Speaker 3: five years old. So there's connections when you have a

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Speaker 3: host family. But he say anything that like really stuck

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Speaker 3: out to him.

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Speaker 1: Most of the details came from Brian Campbell, the guy

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Speaker 1: who was the head of the family, and then I

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Speaker 1: would confirm them with one. I asked one about a

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Speaker 1: number of them, including when he first got the Hagers down,

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Speaker 1: he said to Brian Campbell, hey, can we go find

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Speaker 1: a game stop. I need to take care of my PlayStation.

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Speaker 1: When I told that to Soto, he just burst out

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Speaker 1: laughing because he remembered, and he remembered a lot of

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Speaker 1: these things, and what he came back most specifically was

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Speaker 1: they had a group of players in the house. I

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Speaker 1: think there were four at the time, and other players

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Speaker 1: would come over after games and they would go into

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Speaker 1: the Campbell's basement. Soto said they would do karaoke, they

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Speaker 1: would play video games, they would play cards, and that

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Speaker 1: was what Soda remembered most, those nights in the basement

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Speaker 1: when they all kind of just got together and bonded.

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Speaker 1: He was only nineteen then, he was a kid, so

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Speaker 1: it was a very important time for him in becoming

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Speaker 1: a professional. And yet to hear the Campbells tell it,

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Speaker 1: to hear Brian Campbell tell it, I should say he

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Speaker 1: was pretty much all the way there.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, and listen, at the end of the day, these

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Speaker 4: host families, they become like your second family.

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Speaker 1: Some of them.

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Speaker 4: I still have two that I still talk to. I

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Speaker 4: talked to a lot. I mean the Gallops in the

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Speaker 4: Cape Cod League. I played there twice. I remember the

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Speaker 4: daughter Kate used to do you know, ten thousand piece

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Speaker 4: puzzles and like She's like, come on and help me.

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Speaker 4: And I would try and help and get frustrated. And

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Speaker 4: Lynn and Lauren, the paul Letts and Billings Montana. I

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Speaker 4: mean stories on stories that you know, these host families,

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Speaker 4: they become your family, and you got to treat them

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Speaker 4: my goal, and they treat you like gold back. And

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Speaker 4: most of the time you don't have to pay rent

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Speaker 4: at some of these family's houses.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it's amazing, and again it's something of the past,

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Speaker 1: and in a way that's a good thing because minor

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Speaker 1: league players, their conditions have improved with the new CBA,

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Speaker 1: the fact that they're getting higher salaries and guaranteed housing.

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Speaker 1: This is something that was needed for a long time.

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Speaker 1: But there is something to the host family experience as well.

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Speaker 1: Todd and Eric, you guys just mentioned it. You still remember,

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Speaker 1: So something's lost, something gained. I would say the gain

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Speaker 1: is greater than the loss here, even though I think

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Speaker 1: certain players may miss the idea or the experience of

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Speaker 1: having host families. But those playing conditions need to improve.

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Speaker 1: And in the story, I remember asking Brian Campbell what

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Speaker 1: his reaction was when he I heard Soto got seven

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Speaker 1: hundred and sixty five million, and he said, hell yeah,

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Speaker 1: I saw what these guys went through. I saw the

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Speaker 1: impoverished conditions essentially that they were in. Let them get

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Speaker 1: all the money they can.

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Speaker 3: Love that love that. Talk about losses, the Dodgers and

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Speaker 3: the Padres have no idea what that is. Which team's

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Speaker 3: gonna lose first? Maybe neither?

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Speaker 1: Right? No, only kidding, I don't know. Eric. The Dodgers

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Speaker 1: are in Philadelphia. That's where I am this weekend with AJ.

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Speaker 1: By the way, We have the game on FS one tomorrow,

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Speaker 1: so that's a tough opponent clearly, but both teams are

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Speaker 1: quite good. It seems the Dodgers we knew would be good.

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Speaker 1: I don't know that there was as much certainty about

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Speaker 1: the Padres. They didn't do much this offseason. They were

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Speaker 1: kind of trying to stave off making trades and just

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Speaker 1: keeping their team together, and they did so. I like

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Speaker 1: obviously what I'm seeing from them, not just from the

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Speaker 1: sheer performance, but the style of play. They're really excelling

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Speaker 1: at situational hitting. They're also running a lot, and it

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Speaker 1: just seems that they're kind of clicking on all cylinders. Now,

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Speaker 1: the Dodgers are the Dodgers, They're going to do the

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Speaker 1: same kind of thing. But the way the Padres are playing,

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Speaker 1: it's even maybe a step beyond where they were at

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Speaker 1: the end of twenty four. And that's saying something.

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Speaker 4: Now on the contraria, you look at the Braves, they

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Speaker 4: haven't won a game yet. Now, Listen, they played the

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Speaker 4: Padres and they played the Dodgers. Four with the Padres,

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Speaker 4: three with the Dodgers. In some of those games, talk

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Speaker 4: a little bit about like where are these guys right

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Speaker 4: now a couple injuries aren't helping. It just looks like, listen,

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Speaker 4: they played some good teams. They got the Marlins coming up.

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Speaker 4: I think they'll bounce back, but ultimately this doesn't seem

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Speaker 4: like they're clicking right now in all cylinders.

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Speaker 1: You're right, Todd. And one thing I want to point out,

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Speaker 1: there's been a lot of talk, well, no and seventeen

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Speaker 1: has ever made the postseason. Well, guess what, they're twelve

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Speaker 1: teams in the postseason. Now, it's easier than ever make

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Speaker 1: the postseason. I don't preclude the Braves or expect that

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Speaker 1: they will not make the postseason simply because they've started badly. Now,

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Speaker 1: the questions you raise are fair questions. They've already lost

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Speaker 1: profar Rinaldo Lopez for an extended period of time. Their

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Speaker 1: bullpen has gone through some changes already. It wasn't put

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Speaker 1: together all that well, it seems, and they're gonna need

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Speaker 1: to kind of keep scrambling to find the right pieces.

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Speaker 1: So there are some causes for concern. The offense has

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Speaker 1: not performed, we all know that, but I would attribute

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Speaker 1: that more to good pitching and maybe some slow starts

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Speaker 1: by some of the players. This offense is going to

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Speaker 1: be good. Two years ago it was breaking records. Acuna

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Speaker 1: is going to come back, Sean Murphy's gonna come back

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Speaker 1: even before that, and then ultimately with the pitching staff,

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Speaker 1: you're gonna get Strider back. Their rotation is thinner now

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Speaker 1: without Lopez, there's no doubt about it. But I still

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Speaker 1: see them as a formidable team, maybe even a wildcard team.

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Speaker 1: Remember last year how poorly the Astros started the Mets started.

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Speaker 1: The lesson that I learned yet again in watching those

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Speaker 1: teams was it's a long season and things will play

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Speaker 1: out the way they're supposed to.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, you're saying that, spoken like somebody who picked the

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Speaker 3: Braves to make it to the World Series. We got it, Ken,

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Speaker 3: we got it.

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Speaker 1: You're just trying. Don't know who you're talking about.

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Speaker 3: Eric, make sure make sure you're an AJ's pick. Just

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Speaker 3: stay stay afloat. I want to go back to the

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Speaker 3: Padres though. Actually, and Jackson Merrill's extension that he got,

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Speaker 3: does this put this team because you said, oh, this

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Speaker 3: team was trying to stay afloat in the offseason, and

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Speaker 3: now all of a sudden they came up with one

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Speaker 3: hundred and thirty million dollars and I know some money's

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Speaker 3: coming off the books, but this was the same team

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Speaker 3: that was looking to get rid of possibly a Dylan cease,

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Speaker 3: possibly a Luis A rise because of the ten million

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Speaker 3: dollars they were making.

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Speaker 1: Well, Jackson Merril's not getting all one thirty five at once.

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Speaker 1: It's over a period of time. And actually this deal

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Speaker 1: is considered by most people in the industry to be

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Speaker 1: rather team friendly. So in locking this guy up and

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Speaker 1: he seems to be someone who is going to be

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Speaker 1: not just a star, but maybe a superstar in the game,

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Speaker 1: they did it in a way that really is kind

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Speaker 1: of financially logical for them and quite feasible. So as

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Speaker 1: opposed to some of their other deals, which looked inflated

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Speaker 1: at the time. Tatists maybe not, As it turns out,

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Speaker 1: they should be fine with this deal, and ultimately, once

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Speaker 1: their ownership thing resolves, and I don't know how it's

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Speaker 1: going to resolve, it's kind of a mess. But they're

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Speaker 1: drawing three million plus, their town is alive, and I

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Speaker 1: would expect while maybe they spent beyond their means a

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Speaker 1: little bit or maybe even a lot, they'll figure it

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Speaker 1: out as they go along. In these contracts, some of

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Speaker 1: them Machado, I guess would be one. Once they get

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Speaker 1: into the latter years, like all of these big contracts,

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Speaker 1: then they become perhaps problematic, but at the same time

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Speaker 1: they've got it going right now and it's actually an

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Speaker 1: example of how you can spend money to make money

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Speaker 1: and investing in your team and how it can reap

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Speaker 1: dividends for the franchise in general.

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Speaker 2: Ken, how do you look at some of these recent

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Speaker 2: extensions in terms of it being good or bad for

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Speaker 2: the game and even individuals. You know, it's hard you

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Speaker 2: look at, you know, a fan perspective and say, great,

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Speaker 2: you've got this player locked in here for a while.

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Speaker 2: Of course, industry perspectives sometimes, like even for me this

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Speaker 2: week talking to some players and agents, they're like, oh,

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Speaker 2: they left so much money on the table, you know,

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Speaker 2: Merrill Campbell as well. And I asked them to elaborate,

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Speaker 2: and you know, some of the responses have to do

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Speaker 2: with the age. That's what you hear a lot about, right,

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Speaker 2: because that's what you always have to consider with free agencies.

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Speaker 2: Guys like Laddie Junior hitting free agency early, so too,

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Speaker 2: et cetera, at this young age. They pointed to I

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Speaker 2: think both Campbell and Merrill would be free agents if

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Speaker 2: the options get picked up at around thirty two. And

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Speaker 2: I was kind of told that's the sweet spot where teams,

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Speaker 2: you know, kind of hit the brakes on position player

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Speaker 2: deals that are going to be long term, Like they're

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Speaker 2: not going to sign a ten year deal at that point.

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Speaker 2: So what do you think about the way that it's

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Speaker 2: being carved to get them to that certain number where

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Speaker 2: front offices are like, you're going to be on your

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Speaker 2: way down now.

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Speaker 1: A couple of things here, Scott one. Merrill could have

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Speaker 1: been a free agent in twenty six. So there is

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Speaker 1: some talk that he left I don't know, one hundred

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Speaker 1: and fifty million on the table, two hundred million on

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Speaker 1: the table, and yet he was adamant about he wants

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Speaker 1: not necessarily all the money. He wants his team to

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Speaker 1: build around them, and that's putting a lot of faith

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Speaker 1: in ownership to do that. But that's the position he took.

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Speaker 1: And as I said on Fair Territory yesterday, with the extensions,

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Speaker 1: it's always a little bit tricky because it's two sides

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Speaker 1: to every story. And while in Merrill's case, he had

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Speaker 1: what you would think was a valid reason for wanting

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Speaker 1: to take the deal he did. He said, hey, I

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Speaker 1: don't need all the money. I want my team to

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Speaker 1: be strong. You can make the argument, certainly that he's

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Speaker 1: hurting other players by taking a deal like that, So

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Speaker 1: the teams can use that as kind of a tool

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Speaker 1: against their own players when those negotiations are taking place

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Speaker 1: with Christian Campbell, with any young player. A lot of

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Speaker 1: times when someone or a team throws a big number

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Speaker 1: in front of them and go back to Acuna, even

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Speaker 1: with one hundred million, and that was the deal, obviously

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Speaker 1: that was undervalued, these players can think, and their parents

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Speaker 1: can think, well, all right, mister agent, how are you

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Speaker 1: gonna guarantee me that my guy's ever gonna make that

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Speaker 1: much money, that my son is ever going to make

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Speaker 1: that much money in the game. You can't guarantee it,

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Speaker 1: but here it is, it's guaranteed. Now. It's somewhat shortsighted

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Speaker 1: in my opinion, to think that way for position players,

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Speaker 1: because if you go year by year, the chances of

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Speaker 1: you getting seriously hurt are not that great, certainly not

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Speaker 1: as great as they are for pitchers, and you ultimately

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Speaker 1: might be selling yourself short. But sometimes there are financial

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Speaker 1: circumstances that come into play. With a family, sometimes there

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Speaker 1: is familiar pressure that comes into play. So it's often

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Speaker 1: difficult to judge from afar and be too critical from afar.

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Speaker 1: And I hear all the talk from the agents and

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Speaker 1: people on the player's side as well, and I understand

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Speaker 1: exactly where they're coming from. But in some cases too,

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Speaker 1: you have smaller agencies and they're afraid of losing the

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Speaker 1: player to the larger agencies. Well, if that kind of

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Speaker 1: conduct would stop, and it never will, maybe you wouldn't

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Speaker 1: have some of these deals getting struck. But a lot

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Speaker 1: of times smaller agents are afraid to lose in their

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Speaker 1: players because that's what happens all the time in this sport.

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Speaker 3: All right, talk about the sport right now. With Aaron Judging,

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Speaker 3: it is Aaron Judge doing thing. And this is hard

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Speaker 3: for me to even ask is he underappreciated for how

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Speaker 3: good he is? Because it's almost like teams are sitting

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Speaker 3: there going, no way he does this again, No way

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Speaker 3: he hits another homer, No way he goes three for four.

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Speaker 3: We just struck him out last night, and then there

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Speaker 3: he is again. Wow. Danger.

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Speaker 1: Even Aaron Boone said last night that sometimes he takes

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Speaker 1: Judge for granted, which you would think as his manager

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Speaker 1: would never have him. But if you're seeing it every

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Speaker 1: day and he only gets a double and not a home,

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Speaker 1: you're like, hey, hey, why did the bag over the fence.

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Speaker 1: I don't know that he's underappreciated. Everyone seems to know

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Speaker 1: who Aaron Judge is. He won the MVP last year,

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Speaker 1: of course, and the only thing missing with him right

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Speaker 1: now is that postseason dominance, which he has not achieved,

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Speaker 1: and I'm sure that is driving him. Obviously he wants

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Speaker 1: to be great in the regular season as well, but

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Speaker 1: that other question is going to linger, and that's the

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Speaker 1: way the game is. Right But in terms of who

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Speaker 1: he is right now and who he has been for

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Speaker 1: I don't know, the better part of his career, you

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Speaker 1: could make the case that he's one of the great

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Speaker 1: right handed hitters in the game's history. Is he the greatest? No,

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Speaker 1: I would not say he's the greatest, But if this

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Speaker 1: keeps up a couple more years, he's going to have

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Speaker 1: a case to be at least in that conversation if

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Speaker 1: he doesn't have that case right now. So it's kind

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Speaker 1: of cool to watch him because remember last year, he

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Speaker 1: started slowly and put together a massive season. This season

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Speaker 1: he started much better, and who knows what might be ahead.

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Speaker 4: I want to talk a little bit about the Cubs

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Speaker 4: here reading your article with a couple other people as well.

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Speaker 4: They are the money making machine, first of all, third

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Speaker 4: highest in revenue. They are absolutely dominating the game in that.

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Speaker 4: But my question to you is, why aren't they paying

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Speaker 4: these players to come over here and have one of

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Speaker 4: these kind of La Dodger kind of type teams and

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Speaker 4: go after the National League. That's my biggest concern.

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Speaker 1: That's the question we raised in the article, and I

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Speaker 1: wrote it with Patrick Moody and Sahada Sharma, the host

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Speaker 1: of Cubs Territory. I believe in North Side territory, and

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Speaker 1: that is essentially a todd That's what we were posing

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Speaker 1: in there. And other teams are willing to deficit spend,

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Speaker 1: They're willing to defer money, they're willing to take on

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Speaker 1: additional partners. The Cubs have not been one of those teams,

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Speaker 1: and that is one of the reasons why they perhaps

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Speaker 1: are not spending to the levels that some people might expect. Now,

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Speaker 1: granted they own the ballpark, they have to keep the

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Speaker 1: ballpark going and renovate and do all the things you

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Speaker 1: need to do to keep a ballpark running. Operation costs

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Speaker 1: all of that, and there are other expenses associated with

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Speaker 1: running a team as well, So it's not necessarily always

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Speaker 1: an even equation money and money out in terms of

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Speaker 1: major league payroll. But at the same time, it is

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Speaker 1: certainly fair to ask, as we've been asking for quite

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Speaker 1: some time now, why this team is at one level

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Speaker 1: with its revenues and at another level with its payroll.

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Speaker 1: It's third, as you mentioned in revenues twelfth in payroll.

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Speaker 1: That's a disparity that has fans kind of wondering what

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Speaker 1: the heck is going on, and rightly so. And they're

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Speaker 1: gonna face another test case as we mentioned in the

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Speaker 1: story Kyle Tucker. They acquired him with one year to go,

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Speaker 1: like the Yankees with Juan Sota last year. Most likely

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Speaker 1: he goes free agent. Do they keep him after giving

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Speaker 1: up what they gave up for him? And it's an

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Speaker 1: ongoing question with the Cubs. And I don't know that

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Speaker 1: we can expect them to spend like the Dodgers and Yankees,

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Speaker 1: but could we expect them to spend more than the Diamondbacks,

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Speaker 1: which they aren't doing right now, that's probably a reasonable expectation.

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Speaker 2: Follow up here, Ken, I mean, I know this has

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Speaker 2: been talked about a little bit. I believe Jed Hoyer

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Speaker 2: is on the last year of his deal. Quite simply,

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Speaker 2: if they don't make the playoffs, do you think that

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Speaker 2: they will look in another direction? Because there's a money

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Speaker 2: factor here, and I encourage everyone to check out the

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Speaker 2: article in the Athletic and then the farm system is

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Speaker 2: definitely starting to churn a little bit more now. But

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Speaker 2: they seem to be in win now mode, especially with

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Speaker 2: Tucker for one year and not making the playoffs for

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Speaker 2: the last few years, and not probably having as much

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Speaker 2: homegrown talent, especially pitching wise, as they would have anticipated

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Speaker 2: over the rebuild that they were going through. So what

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Speaker 2: are your thoughts from a front office perspective on where

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Speaker 2: things stand and the heat they're feeling.

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Speaker 1: Certainly, when any executive, coach, manager, player is in the

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Speaker 1: last year of his contract, there's a different element of perspective.

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Speaker 1: And we'll see how this plays out. Jet Hoyer, you

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Speaker 1: can argue, has spent more money than any team in

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Speaker 1: the Central and it really hasn't worked out. This is

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Speaker 1: since he's been head of baseball operations. He of course

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Speaker 1: was working in the geo Epstein during the Great Years

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Speaker 1: as well. Okay, but at the same time there have

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Speaker 1: been handcuffs. That's one of the terms of person that

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Speaker 1: we quoted in the story, used handcuffs put on him.

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Speaker 1: They didn't sign Matt Chapman, they didn't sign Alex Bregman.

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Speaker 1: I don't expect them to sign Tucker. So while they've

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Speaker 1: done certain things, yes, to spend more money than other clubs,

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Speaker 1: and yes, you can argue they shouldn't be a team

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Speaker 1: that in the division with the Milwaukee Brewers, Cincinnati Reds,

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Speaker 1: Pittsburgh Pirates and Saint Louis Cardinals. Ever, has a problem

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Speaker 1: because they still are the most financially robust of those clubs.

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Speaker 1: At the same time, they have done some things that

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Speaker 1: frankly are questionable with regard to their payroll. So if

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Speaker 1: Jed Hoyer is let go, if they don't have a

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Speaker 1: successful season, and there's every chance that every chance I

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Speaker 1: should say that they might every likelihood even that they will.

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Speaker 1: But if they don't, yeah, you might be able to

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Speaker 1: look at him if your ownership and say we'd like

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Speaker 1: a new voice to head our baseball operations. But if

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Speaker 1: that happens, I am quite certain people not just in

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Speaker 1: the media, but people all over the industry, fans as well,

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Speaker 1: we'll look at this and say whoa ownership is the

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Speaker 1: issue here as much as the head of baseball operations.

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Speaker 2: Well, this weekend you'll have two heavyweights that do spend

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Speaker 2: and have had success. Obviously, the Phillies are looking for

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Speaker 2: a World Series title during this run, but not just

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Speaker 2: enjoy the game. Obviously working on Saturday for Fox. But

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Speaker 2: I did not know that until you told us fifteen

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Speaker 2: minutes ago that it's an AJ Ken combos. Maybe he'll

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Speaker 2: take you to dinner or something like that. Good luck

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Speaker 2: to you Ken on the broadcast.

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Speaker 1: I just hope I just hope Scott that he lets

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Speaker 1: me on the air once or twice because it's going

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Speaker 1: to be a problem.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, use those elbows. Get in there. You know, J

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Speaker 2: is only I don't know six four, two twenty or

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Speaker 2: whatever he is, but but get in there.

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Speaker 3: Twenty.

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Speaker 2: What is he?

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Speaker 4: I thought it's a big boy. I'm two twenty. AJ's Bill.

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Speaker 4: He's a big dude. Yeah, you see him in person.

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Speaker 2: Ken knows so he's Nora.

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Speaker 3: I can't believe Ken. I can't believe Ken and AJ

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Speaker 3: are in Philadelphia and I was just checking my text messages.

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Speaker 4: Yeah.

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Speaker 3: Nothing, I guess I know nothing. It's okay. It's really far,

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Speaker 3: you know. Forty minutes is so far for me.

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Speaker 4: Nothing cratzy. Feel bad for you, doll.

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Speaker 2: It's all right.

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Speaker 1: Sorry, it's work to be done. Man. I don't know

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Speaker 1: about AJ, but I gotta work.

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Speaker 2: Ken doesn't have time for your golf games, and the

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Speaker 2: weather still kind of sucks.

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Speaker 1: Ken.

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Speaker 2: Thank you have a great call.

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Speaker 3: Thanks guys,