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Speaker 1: I'm not exactly sure where and when Poohols will get

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Speaker 1: his first chance, but that day is coming. He is

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Speaker 1: going to be a major league manager. Welcome everyone to

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Speaker 1: the Monday edition of Fair Territory. The Super Bowl is over.

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Speaker 1: Spring training is upon us, and it actually began yesterday

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Speaker 1: for the Chicago Cubs. They had their first workout for

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Speaker 1: pitchers and catchers. Obviously, with them going to Japan to

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Speaker 1: face the Los Angeles Dodgers, they've got to get started

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Speaker 1: a little bit earlier. The Dodgers, I believe, are getting

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Speaker 1: started on Monday or Tuesday, it's not quite clear yet,

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Speaker 1: but those two teams a little bit of a head

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Speaker 1: start and then everyone else will be kicking into gear

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Speaker 1: later in the week. So for this show, I want

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Speaker 1: to deal with the biggest spring training storylines. Now, often

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Speaker 1: you'll hear or see five top storylines or ten top storylines.

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Speaker 1: I'm not calling it that because I've got kind of

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Speaker 1: a weird number. I've got six. So we're gonna go

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Speaker 1: with the biggest spring training storylines in reverse order. This

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Speaker 1: is just my opinion. Your story lines might be different

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Speaker 1: than mine, but here we go. Number six. This is

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Speaker 1: one that I don't know that a lot of fans

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Speaker 1: are even aware of the implementation for the first time

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Speaker 1: in the major leagues of the ABS Automated Ball Strike System.

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Speaker 1: That's the system in which basically ball strike calls are computerized.

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Speaker 1: And we're going to see nineteen of the thirty teams

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Speaker 1: using this on kind of a trial basis. And the

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Speaker 1: way it's going to work, each team will get two challenges.

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Speaker 1: The challenge has to come from a player on the field,

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Speaker 1: a pitcher, a batter, a catcher. Can't look in the dugout.

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Speaker 1: We don't have to wait fifteen seconds. No, it's right away.

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Speaker 1: It's instantaneous. And as with replay, if your decision is

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Speaker 1: proving correct in the challenge, you get to retain the challenge,

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Speaker 1: and if not, you lose the challenge. So this is

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Speaker 1: a trial run, as I said, and if it is

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Speaker 1: reasonably successful, I expect the momentum for ABS to continue

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Speaker 1: and then possibly it gets implemented next season again with

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Speaker 1: a challenge system. I don't know that any of us

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Speaker 1: want every call determined by ABS, but a challenge system,

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Speaker 1: the idea would be to correct the egregious calls all right,

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Speaker 1: next storyline, the remaining free agents. It happens every spring.

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Speaker 1: There are players leftover, players who are unsigned, and we've

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Speaker 1: got a few big names still out there. The biggest one,

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Speaker 1: of course, Alex Bregman. Perhaps he will sign this week,

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Speaker 1: perhaps not. You see this list right here. These are

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Speaker 1: the five remaining free agents from the Athletics top forty

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Speaker 1: big board. Bregman number seven, Nick Paveta number thirty one,

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Speaker 1: Andrew Heny number thirty three, Jose Kintana thirty seven, and

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Speaker 1: Verdugo thirty eight. Some other starting pitchers still available as well,

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Speaker 1: Kyle Gibson, Lance Lynn, and a lot of relievers are

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Speaker 1: still out there Kenley, Jansen, David Robertson, Kyle Finnegan, Hector, Nerris,

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Speaker 1: many others. So we're going to see some signings all

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Speaker 1: throughout the spring, probably see a couple of trades as well.

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Speaker 1: There is quite a bit of unfinished business in the

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Speaker 1: game right now. Next storyline, well, this too happens every spring. Unfortunately, injuries.

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Speaker 1: Someone is going to get hurt, maybe multiple players are

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Speaker 1: going to get hurt. I'm quite confident multiple players will

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Speaker 1: get hurt, and you hope nothing is too serious. But

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Speaker 1: in addition to the inevitable wave of injuries that will hit.

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Speaker 1: Most likely to pitchers. We're going to be monitoring a

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Speaker 1: lot of comebacks, starting with Jacob de Gram. I would

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Speaker 1: say no, he came back for three starts at the

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Speaker 1: end of last season, but obviously the Texas Rangers want

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Speaker 1: to see what de Gram has want to keep him

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Speaker 1: healthy because when healthy, Jacob de Gram is one of

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Speaker 1: the best pitchers on the planet. Also worth watching the

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Speaker 1: Atlanta Braves. Ronald Acunya Junior Spencer Stryder. Both will be

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Speaker 1: participating in spring training. Neither will be ready for opening day,

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Speaker 1: but the expectation is that both will be back early

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Speaker 1: in the season, and the goal for the Braves is

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Speaker 1: to keep them healthy, keep them on track. Another team

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Speaker 1: I'm watching the Minnesota Twins. Now. The Minnesota Twins have

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Speaker 1: Carlos Korea and Byron Buxton, two guys who happened to

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Speaker 1: get hurt a lot. Now they're coming to spring training healthy.

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Speaker 1: Buckston in a report the other day, really seemed optimistic

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Speaker 1: about his chances of being healthy and having a big year.

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Speaker 1: But with those two guys in particular, given the number

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Speaker 1: of injuries that they've had in recent seasons, particularly Buston,

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Speaker 1: of course, they are a key to what Minnesota does,

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Speaker 1: and if Minnesota is going to do anything this season,

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Speaker 1: they have got to stay healthy. Next on the biggest

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Speaker 1: story lines list, this is a big one the return

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Speaker 1: of Terry Francona. He is back with the Reds after

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Speaker 1: taking a year off. He's sixty six years old. He

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Speaker 1: is in a much better spot physically than he was

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Speaker 1: when he ended his career with the Cleveland Guardians, and

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Speaker 1: that's good news. Also good news just to have Tito

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Speaker 1: back in the game, and really good news for the

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Speaker 1: Cincinnati Reds, who have added a number of players. They're

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Speaker 1: kind of an interesting club. Brady Singer, Gavin Lux, Austin Hayes,

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Speaker 1: Jose Travino, Taylor Rogers, Brent Souter, all these guys joining

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Speaker 1: the Reds. Suitor actually was re signed, and they've got

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Speaker 1: Nick Martinez coming back as well. This is a promising team.

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Speaker 1: Matt McLean another player coming off an injury who could

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Speaker 1: make a big impact. And what is really going to

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Speaker 1: be interesting to see is the impact of Terry Francona

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Speaker 1: as he returns to the game that he loves like

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Speaker 1: nothing else. We'll be back after a quick word from

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Speaker 1: our friends at foul Territory.

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Speaker 1: Next on the list Vladimir Guerrero Junior. Will he or

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Speaker 1: won't he sign an extension? His deadline for an extension

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Speaker 1: is the first full day of workouts for the Toronto

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Speaker 1: Blue Jays. That's February eighteenth, So really you would think

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Speaker 1: this probably has to be done February seventeenth. Now, all

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Speaker 1: winter long, we've been hearing that the Blue Jays have money. Really,

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Speaker 1: we've been hearing it for two winters. They were in

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Speaker 1: on Shoyotani last winter, they were in on Juan Soto

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Speaker 1: this winter. They've made a number of moves. But with

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Speaker 1: Soto changing the landscape seven hundred and sixty five million,

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Speaker 1: the question will be how far are the Toronto Blue

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Speaker 1: Jays willing to go for vlad Junior. J has the

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Speaker 1: one big advantage that Soto had relative youth. Soto entered

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Speaker 1: the market entering his age twenty six season. Guerrero would

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Speaker 1: be a free agent entering his age twenty seven season,

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Speaker 1: So they're comparable in that regard. Now, you may say

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Speaker 1: a first baseman getting a monster deal five hundred million plus,

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Speaker 1: no way. Well I would have said the same thing

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Speaker 1: for a corner outfielder who has defensive questions really doesn't

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Speaker 1: add much with base running, and that was Sodo he

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Speaker 1: got seven sixty five. Now he is a generational hitter.

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Speaker 1: But Guerrero, when he is right, is not too far behind.

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Speaker 1: And he was pretty dawn good last year. So this

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Speaker 1: is going to be, of course, a big story early

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Speaker 1: in spring. Again the deadline for an extension that he

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Speaker 1: has set February eighteenth. And finally, the biggest story in

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Speaker 1: the spring for me is how the Dodger's rotation will

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Speaker 1: play out. It's a new look rotation. No more Jack Flaherty,

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Speaker 1: no more Walker Bueler. But incoming are Blake Snell, Shoe returning,

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Speaker 1: and Roki Sasaki. You see the top five right there.

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Speaker 1: You can also add Dustin May and Tyler Glass now

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Speaker 1: and the real question, of course is can they all

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Speaker 1: stay healthy? That's the first question. But then from there

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Speaker 1: you wonder, okay, how is this going to work? Now?

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Speaker 1: The Dodgers are set up ideally for a six man rotation.

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Speaker 1: That was one of their big sales pitches to Susaki, listen,

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Speaker 1: we can accommodate you. We know you don't pitch more

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Speaker 1: than once a week, and that's the way Yamamoto has

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Speaker 1: pitched in the past, and pretty much last year when

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Speaker 1: he was healthy for the Dodgers. That's the way Otani

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Speaker 1: will be handled. Building an extra rest as well. And

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Speaker 1: really the only guy who wants to pitch every fifth

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Speaker 1: day or will be willing and able to pitch every

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Speaker 1: fifth day is Blake Snell. That's his preference. So for

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Speaker 1: Dave Roberts, the challenge is going to be setting all

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Speaker 1: this up, keeping all of these guys healthy. It's not

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Speaker 1: so much something to watch in the spring as far

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Speaker 1: as just how this all lines up, But really the

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Speaker 1: question in the spring will be health and the adaptation

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Speaker 1: of Sasaki to the major league game, whether Yamamoto is

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Speaker 1: right after some injuries last year, whether Tyler Glass, now

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Speaker 1: another guy who can use extra rest, is right as well.

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Speaker 1: So that's one thing that the entire game will be

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Speaker 1: paying attention to. And when the Dodgers have that first

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Speaker 1: session in spring training, when all their pitchers are lined

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Speaker 1: up in bullpens ready to go and then start throwing,

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Speaker 1: that's going to be a big photographic moment, I am

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Speaker 1: quite sure. So those are the biggest storylines again in

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Speaker 1: my opinion, Again, There are a lot of other storylines

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Speaker 1: will be following Juan Soto with the Mets, what the

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Speaker 1: Yankees look like, but for me, those are the sixth biggest.

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Speaker 4: Well well, Well.

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Speaker 1: Time Now for the inside dish, the part of the

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Speaker 1: show where I go inside a story, inside a trend

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Speaker 1: in the game, or maybe just go back in time,

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Speaker 1: back in time to my very first spring training. This

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Speaker 1: one for me is number thirty nine, Yes, number thirty nine.

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Speaker 1: The first one was in nineteen eighty seven. That's right,

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Speaker 1: nineteen eighty seven. I was twenty four years old. The

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Speaker 1: Baltimore Evening Sun, a paper that no longer exists, hired

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Speaker 1: me because they wanted a younger writer to compete with

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Speaker 1: a guy who was kicking their behinds. Even though they

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Speaker 1: had a really good baseball writer, a veteran who had

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Speaker 1: been around forever, Jim Henneman. This other writer at the

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Speaker 1: Baltimore Morning Sun had a lot of energy and just

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Speaker 1: was kind of from a different generation that was rising

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Speaker 1: up at the time. His name was Tim Kirchin, and

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Speaker 1: as I've detailed many times before, he crushed me for

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Speaker 1: the two years he was on the beat before he

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Speaker 1: left for Sports Illustrated. But that was the idea that

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Speaker 1: I would sort of kind of try to keep up

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Speaker 1: with him. It didn't really work out that way, but

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Speaker 1: that was the idea. So I'm twenty four years old.

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Speaker 1: I get hired in mid March. As with most hiring

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Speaker 1: practices even today, it took forever. There was a dinner

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Speaker 1: that I had with the editor of the Baltimore Evening

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Speaker 1: Sun and sports editor Jack Gibbons, who was at a

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Speaker 1: restaurant in Baltimore's Little Italy. And after that dinner, the

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Speaker 1: editor basically said, this kid's too young. I looked like

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Speaker 1: I was about twelve. And the hiring was delayed for

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Speaker 1: several weeks because of that. So in mid March, I

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Speaker 1: fly down to Miami. After setting up in Baltimore, I

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Speaker 1: rented an apartment really quickly. I'd been living in New Jersey,

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Speaker 1: rented an apartment, flew to Miami. That's where the Oriols

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Speaker 1: were training back then for my first spring training covering

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Speaker 1: the Baltimore Orioles. Now, I was not someone who grew

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Speaker 1: up dreaming of becoming a baseball writer. My goal out

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Speaker 1: of college was simply to work for a newspaper covering

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Speaker 1: a team in a major sports league. Could have been

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Speaker 1: the NBA could have been, the NHL could have been,

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Speaker 1: the NFL, could have been, MLB could have been, for

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Speaker 1: that matter, college football or college basketball. I didn't really care.

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Speaker 1: I loved all sports and there was no preference. If

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Speaker 1: I had ended up being a hockey writer, I would

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Speaker 1: have been perfectly happy right out of the gate. So here,

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Speaker 1: and I'm embarrassed to admit this now. I wasn't the

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Speaker 1: most baseball savvy guy in fact, and I shouldn't admit this.

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Speaker 1: I didn't even know how to calculate an eer. The

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Speaker 1: other beat writer covering the Oils at the time, Richard

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Speaker 1: Justice the Washington Post, who was also fantastic and also

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Speaker 1: kicked my rear for the entire time he was there.

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Speaker 1: He taught me how to figure out an era. Yes,

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Speaker 1: he's the one who did it, and he took a

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Speaker 1: lot of time, as did everyone, being very patient with me.

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Speaker 1: Tim was not much of an educator in terms of

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Speaker 1: one on one communication because we were in competition in

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Speaker 1: his mind, and he was right, but he taught me

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Speaker 1: so much in so many other ways, just by the

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Speaker 1: way he carried himself. Now, back then, the Ools trained

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Speaker 1: in a ballpark called Bobby Maduro stadium. It had been

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Speaker 1: called Miami Stadium before that. It no longer is standing.

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Speaker 1: It was in something of a bad neighborhood. And I

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Speaker 1: remember Tim telling the story, and I believe he wrote

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Speaker 1: it about one year he's driving up to spring training,

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Speaker 1: driving up to Bobby Maduro Stadium, dreaming of the sunshine,

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Speaker 1: the green grass, the crack of the bat, all those

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Speaker 1: things we associate with spring training. He drives up and

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Speaker 1: he sees a cop beating a guy up on the sidewalk.

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Speaker 1: But it wasn't exactly an idyllic setting. So spring training

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Speaker 1: in Bobbymdua was a lot of fun. Rather than these

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Speaker 1: major complexes you see today with all of these different fields,

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Speaker 1: six to eight fields, whatever the case might be. Bobby

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Speaker 1: Maduro was one ballpark, one stadium, and had a little

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Speaker 1: field on the side where they did infield drills and

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Speaker 1: cal rid Consenior. The manager of the time actually called

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Speaker 1: it the little field. They didn't have this sprawling minor

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Speaker 1: league facility. The minor leaguers were somewhere else, and it

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Speaker 1: was just a much different scene than you see today.

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Speaker 1: So I remember one of my first days on the beat,

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Speaker 1: and again I had never covered baseball I'm coming in

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Speaker 1: late in spring training mid March. So not only am

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Speaker 1: I behind in experience with Tim and Richard, not only

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Speaker 1: am I behind with baseball knowledge, way behind, but I'm

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Speaker 1: behind in terms of getting to know the players because

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Speaker 1: I'm showing up late. So Richard tells me one day

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Speaker 1: in the press box, and I will never forget this.

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Speaker 1: He says, Ah, Man, don't worry. This is a great

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Speaker 1: bunch of guys. Well, the nineteen eighty seven Orioles were

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Speaker 1: not a great bunch of guys, and I'm not going

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Speaker 1: to go name by name, but it was a very vital,

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Speaker 1: eclectic group that was tough for a young beat writer

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Speaker 1: to break into, especially one who looked like he was

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Speaker 1: about twelve. Tim didn't look much older in fairness, but

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Speaker 1: times were different then, and going into a clubhouse for

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Speaker 1: many of us when you certainly had a lack of experience,

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Speaker 1: was a scary thing. And I would walk in there

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Speaker 1: with kind of a nervous feeling of my stomach every day.

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Speaker 1: I never knew which player was going to be down

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Speaker 1: on me, looking at me funny, maybe even yelling at me.

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Speaker 1: So those first few weeks, in addition to kind of

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Speaker 1: learning on the job, just learning what to do. You

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Speaker 1: had to file a story for this new newspaper, all

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Speaker 1: of these different things you had to learn. I was overwhelmed.

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Speaker 1: And then we get to Baltimore and it's opening day

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Speaker 1: and it's the first day of the season, obviously very

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Speaker 1: optimistic for everyone. And it's the old Memorial Stadium, where

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Speaker 1: I had only been once before. I'd only been once

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Speaker 1: as a fan when I was working at my first

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Speaker 1: job at The York Daily Record in New York, Pennsylvania.

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Speaker 1: So I walk in and it's bustling, it's hectic, and

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Speaker 1: one of the oriols PR staffers kind of guides me

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Speaker 1: to my seat and I sit down. It's in the

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Speaker 1: first row of the press box, right at the end,

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Speaker 1: all the way over on the right side, right behind

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Speaker 1: home plate. I sit down, the game begins and I'm like,

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Speaker 1: oh my god, I can't believe I'm doing this again.

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Speaker 1: I was twenty four. I was overwhelmed. I eventually survived.

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Speaker 1: Tim crushed me for two years before he left. As

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Speaker 1: I said, crushed me every single day the morning paper

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Speaker 1: would come out at midnight. I worked for the evening paper.

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Speaker 1: Back then, there was no internet, so I could see

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Speaker 1: what Tim had in the morning paper. Actually the editors

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Speaker 1: in the building could see it. It wasn't out on

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Speaker 1: the street at midnight. It was just coming off the

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Speaker 1: presses then and I would see what Tim was doing

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Speaker 1: to me, and there was no way to catch up

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Speaker 1: until the next day because at midnight, who we're going

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Speaker 1: to call games were quicker than people were asleep. So

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Speaker 1: that's the story of my first spring trading. My first

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Speaker 1: year at the Baltimore Evening Sun was a whole nother story.

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Speaker 1: Maybe we'll do that another time. But my first ring

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Speaker 1: in Miami, Tim and Richard schooled me, but they taught

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Speaker 1: me a lot too time. Now for Brill and Ken,

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Speaker 1: the part of the show where you guys get to

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Speaker 1: ask me questions. I hear there are some good ones

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Speaker 1: this week. Let's get right to them. First question comes

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Speaker 1: from Chip Hendrix, who asks will the Braves sign a

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Speaker 1: starting pitcher? I feel they need one more innings eater. Chip.

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Speaker 1: This is something that a lot of Braves fans are asking.

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Speaker 1: And at the top of the rotation they're good. They've

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Speaker 1: got Chris Sale, they've got Spencer Schwellenbach, they've got Rinaldo Lopez.

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Speaker 1: The rest of it is a little bit less clear.

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Speaker 1: They're very high on Grant Holmes, and Grant Holmes they

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Speaker 1: expect will be in the rotation to start the season,

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Speaker 1: and they've got Ian Anderson coming back as well, and

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Speaker 1: he too could be in the rotation to start the season.

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Speaker 1: The key question is Spencer Strider. Spencer Strider they expect back,

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Speaker 1: barring any setbacks with his injury and health, sometime early

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Speaker 1: in the season. They don't know exactly when, but they

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Speaker 1: expect he's going to be back fairly early, and once

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Speaker 1: he's back, they're really in a good spot. So they

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Speaker 1: are indeed monitoring the market for starting pitching, and I

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Speaker 1: imagine they're involved in trade talks for some starting pitchers

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Speaker 1: as well. But their position, at least what they're saying,

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Speaker 1: is that they only want a starting pitcher if it's

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Speaker 1: a clear upgrade over what they have, and they want

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Speaker 1: to give Holmes a chance, and they want to see

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Speaker 1: what Anderson can do coming off his surgery. He was

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Speaker 1: a big part of their team in twenty twenty. You

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Speaker 1: remember in the playoffs, Ian Anderson was pretty good. So

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Speaker 1: they're not in a rush to do anything major if

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Speaker 1: they could somehow acquire Dylan sees Okay, great, but that

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Speaker 1: would cost them in prospects. I don't know that they're

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Speaker 1: willing to do that, So my expectation is that they

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Speaker 1: will not acquire a starting pitcher, even though I can

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Speaker 1: understand why fans are questioning, Hey, the need for another one?

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Speaker 1: All right? The next question, this one comes from Thomas Covain,

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Speaker 1: who asks Albert Pooholes has been an excellent manager this winter,

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Speaker 1: how much longer until he manages in MLB and which

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Speaker 1: team has the greatest chance of bringing him on board. Thomas,

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Speaker 1: You're right, Albert Pooholes in the Dominican Republic and in

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Speaker 1: the Caribbean Series as well, did an amazing job and

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Speaker 1: received a lot of praise from all kinds of people

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Speaker 1: in the baseball universe. Will Salmon and I from the

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Speaker 1: Athletic talk to a couple of those people. I don't know.

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Speaker 1: It was about two weeks ago, and Tommy Fam was

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Speaker 1: one of them, and there was a couple of other

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Speaker 1: people we spoke with as well, and they spoke very

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Speaker 1: highly of pooh Holes. Martin Maldonado was one of the

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Speaker 1: other players that we spoke with, and what Fam and

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Speaker 1: Maldonado said would really caught my attention is that pooh

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Speaker 1: Hooles was not especially demanding. He understood how difficult the

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Speaker 1: game is to play, and from that perspective, communicated really

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Speaker 1: well with players. That to me was a really positive

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Speaker 1: sign because a lot of times with great players, Hall

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Speaker 1: of Fame caliber players, it's difficult for them to manage

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Speaker 1: because the players that they are managing cannot do the

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Speaker 1: things that they once did, and it can become kind

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Speaker 1: of difficult for them to understand why that is not

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Speaker 1: possible for these other players to uphold the standards that

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Speaker 1: they set for many years. Pools was not like that,

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Speaker 1: and pooh Holes is a leader. He is someone who

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Speaker 1: wants to manage. He is someone that I believe, yes,

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Speaker 1: will be a major league manager. Now to your question, Thomas,

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Speaker 1: the Saint Louis Cardinals would be the most obvious fit,

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Speaker 1: but it has seen for a while now that Yadi

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Speaker 1: or Molina, Pooholes's former teammate, is the Cardinals manager in waiting.

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Speaker 1: So I'm not exactly sure where and when Pooholes will

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Speaker 1: get his first chance, but that day is coming. He

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Speaker 1: is going to be a major league manager and it's

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Speaker 1: going to be fascinating to watch. Albert Poohols in that role. Okay,

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Speaker 1: final question, This one comes from the Wrigley Wire, Who's

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Speaker 1: here's the question of the hour. Is it likely that

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Speaker 1: we will see in Alex Bregman's signing by the end

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Speaker 1: of this week? I would say that I don't know

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Speaker 1: the answer to that question, but it certainly would make

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Speaker 1: sense that if Alex Bregman was going to sign, it

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Speaker 1: would be this week. Now, he's got time before full

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Speaker 1: squad workouts begin. We all know that he can take

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Speaker 1: it up to then he can go even further. He

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Speaker 1: can take this into spring training. There is no deadline

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Speaker 1: for signings, as we are all well aware, but my

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Speaker 1: expectation is that now that Alonso is signed, Scott Boris

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Speaker 1: can focus almost exclusively on Bregman and that this will

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Speaker 1: come to a head, if not this week, certainly in

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Speaker 1: the near future. Thanks to everyone for your questions, Thanks

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Speaker 1: for watching, for listening. Where to find us YouTube, Apple, Spotify.

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Speaker 1: We will be back Thursday with Alano Rizzo's return. She

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Speaker 1: is back with us live Thursday, twelve thirty Eastern. Have

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Speaker 1: a great week everyone and join us then.

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