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Speaker 1: Welcome everyone to this week's edition of Fair Territory. As always,

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Speaker 1: we've got a lot to talk about. The hot stove

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Speaker 1: is finally starting to percolate. And I say percolate as

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Speaker 1: opposed to a full boil, because this is baseball. It's

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Speaker 1: not the NFL, the NHL, the NBA. We'll get to

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Speaker 1: that later in the show. But what I want to

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Speaker 1: talk about to start off today are teams under pressure.

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Speaker 1: And one of the teams I had listed among five

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Speaker 1: that we're going to discuss in the show was the

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Speaker 1: Saint Louis Cardinals. Well, as we sit here taping on

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Speaker 1: Monday morning, the Cardinals are under less pressure than they

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Speaker 1: were twenty four hours ago because they are finalizing a

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Speaker 1: deal with Sonny Gray.

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Speaker 2: It might be final by the time you see this.

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Speaker 1: Three years, seventy five million, Sonny Gray added to the

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Speaker 1: Cardinals rotation on top of Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynne,

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Speaker 1: the two pitchers they had signed in free agency earlier.

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Speaker 2: The Cardinals went into the.

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Speaker 1: Offseason knowing they needed at least two starting pitchers, probably three.

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Speaker 1: I would suggest this is not going to happen, but

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Speaker 1: I would suggest it that they still could use another

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Speaker 1: one and maybe trade for another one.

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Speaker 2: It might be a smart thing to do.

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Speaker 1: Sonny Gray is a guy who attended Vanderbilt and wanted

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Speaker 1: to get back closer to Tennessee, where he lives. Saint

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Speaker 1: Louis was a possibility, obviously, Cincinnati was another one, Atlanta.

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Speaker 1: All of those teams fit him geographically, and now he

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Speaker 1: gets to a place where he really wants to go.

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Speaker 1: Sonny Gray second in the American League Young voting to

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Speaker 1: Garrick Cole last season two point eight nine ERA and

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Speaker 1: one hundred and eighty four innings very good ERA. Obviously,

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Speaker 1: first time since twenty nineteen he did not go on

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Speaker 1: the injured list. It was his most innings pitched since

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Speaker 1: twenty fifteen. So let's take a look at the Cardinals'

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Speaker 1: rotation now that they have added Sonny Gray to Kyle

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Speaker 1: Gibson and Lance Lynn and Miles Michaelis and Steven Mattz.

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Speaker 1: That is a pretty formidable group, pretty good group veterans all.

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Speaker 1: And at the same time, it's an interesting approach that

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Speaker 1: they're taking the three guys that they've signed, all thirty

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Speaker 1: four years of age and older, all proven workhorses, guys

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Speaker 1: who pitched a lot of innings, last year. And I

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Speaker 1: want to show you right now where the top four

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Speaker 1: starters of the Cardinals stand as far as their ages

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Speaker 1: and respective inning totals from last season. Here they are

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Speaker 1: Miles Michaelis thirty five years old, two hundred and one

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Speaker 1: in the third innings last season, Sonny Gray thirty four

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Speaker 1: years old, one hundred and eighty four innings last season,

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Speaker 1: Lancelyn thirty six, one hundred and eighty three and two thirds.

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Speaker 1: Kyle Gibson also thirty six, one hundred and ninety two innings.

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Speaker 1: So on one hand, they're getting guys who have shown

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Speaker 1: they can pitch regularly and pitch on occasion deep into game.

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Speaker 2: That's a good thing.

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Speaker 1: On the other hand, when you sign pitchers of those ages,

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Speaker 1: you are inherently taking a risk because they are old,

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Speaker 1: and at some point they become a greater injury risk,

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Speaker 1: they become a greater performance risk. All of that is

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Speaker 1: the case, but we will see how it all shakes

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Speaker 1: out for the Cardinals.

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Speaker 2: Again, I still would like to see.

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Speaker 1: Them at a starter in a trade. I don't think

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Speaker 1: it's going to happen now. Of the available starting pitchers

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Speaker 1: in free agency, we now have seen two big names

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Speaker 1: come off the board. The first, of course, was Aaron

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Speaker 1: Nola seven years, one hundred and seventy two million dollars

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Speaker 1: with the Phillies. Now Gray gets a higher average annual value,

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Speaker 1: just slightly over Aaron Nola over of course, a much

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Speaker 1: shorter term three years, seventy five million. Now we've also

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Speaker 1: seen some mid level guys.

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Speaker 2: Come off the board.

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Speaker 1: I mentioned Gibson and Lynn Kentamaeta over the weekend agrees

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Speaker 1: with the Tigers on a two year, twenty four million

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Speaker 1: dollar deal. He will give a youthful rotation of veteran presence.

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Speaker 1: He's their second significant edition of the offseason, following Mark Catta.

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Speaker 1: I kind of like what the Tigers are doing here.

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Speaker 1: They have a lot of promise in that organization, a

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Speaker 1: lot of promise in the major league roster right now.

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Speaker 1: But they need some stabilizers. They need some veteran guys,

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Speaker 1: guys who will lead them a little bit, and Maida

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Speaker 1: is someone who can do that. He's healthy again, he

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Speaker 1: should be okay. Now, the big names Yamamoto, Snell, Montgomery, etc.

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Speaker 1: They have yet to come off the board, and that

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Speaker 1: leads us to the teams under pressure, because most of

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Speaker 1: these teams not all want those three guys or some

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Speaker 1: combination or one or any of them. Quite frankly, but

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Speaker 1: let's go in reverse order of teams under most pressure.

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Speaker 1: I'm starting with the team under the least of the

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Speaker 1: most year, and that team is actually the Seattle Mariners,

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Speaker 1: one of the few teams in the sport right now

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Speaker 1: that does not have a great need for starting pitching.

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Speaker 1: The Mariners, though, have a need for offense, and they've

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Speaker 1: already traded Ajohanu Suarez to the Diamondbacks for a high

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Speaker 1: upside reliever, Carlos Vargas and a backup catcher seb Zavala.

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Speaker 1: They've also declined to offer a qualifying offer to Taoscar Hernandez.

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Speaker 1: He's a guy who picked a bunch of home runs

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Speaker 1: for them last year, but, like Suarez, is a high

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Speaker 1: strikeout type. They are seemingly trying to get away from that. Now.

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Speaker 1: They've gained financial flexibility, but they've lost some power. Let's

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Speaker 1: take a look at this where Aohaner Suarez ranked in the.

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Speaker 2: Two years he was with the Mariners in home runs.

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Speaker 1: You see Julio Rodriguez had sixty, cal Raley had fifty seven,

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Speaker 1: Suarez fifty three. Now I know he also led the

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Speaker 1: American League in strikeouts last season with two hundred and fourteen,

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Speaker 1: and that is the issue that the Mariners are trying

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Speaker 1: to address. But they're now looking at Luis Urdias at

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Speaker 1: third base instead of Suarez. Urias, Yeah, he may make

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Speaker 1: more contact, but I don't know that he's going to

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Speaker 1: give you the same production.

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Speaker 2: They need a hitter.

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Speaker 1: And if you remember cal Raley who was on that list,

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Speaker 1: he called this team out on the final weekend of

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Speaker 1: the season for their lack of spending. Created some flexibility

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Speaker 1: by letting Suarez go and letting Hernandez.

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Speaker 2: Go, or trading Suarez and letting Hernandez go.

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Speaker 1: Now we'll see how they apply it in what is

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Speaker 1: a thin market for position players. All right, next team

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Speaker 1: on this list, Oh, yes, the Boston Red Sox. Now

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Speaker 1: the Boston Red Sox.

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Speaker 2: They let go of.

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Speaker 1: Heim Bloom as their chief baseball officer, hired Craig Breslow

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Speaker 1: to replace.

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Speaker 2: Him, and they are in the same.

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Speaker 1: Position as a number of large market teams in need

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Speaker 1: of starting pitching. The problem is, and you're gonna hear

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Speaker 1: this over and over again this offseason, the demand for

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Speaker 1: these pitchers snell Yamamoto.

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Speaker 2: Montgomery, etc. Exceeds the supply. So what are the Red

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Speaker 2: Sox going to do? Well?

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Speaker 1: Over the past few years, we've seen them cut back

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Speaker 1: on payroll. Now the dismissal of Bloom and hiring of

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Speaker 1: Breslow seems to indicate that John Henry and company are

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Speaker 1: ready to spend again. And if you look at their

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Speaker 1: five year pattern here, you'll see what I'm talking about,

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Speaker 1: and you'll understand that they need to pick it up

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Speaker 1: a little bit. First in payroll in twenty nineteen twenty twenty,

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Speaker 1: the shortened season dropped the fourth, then to eighth, and

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Speaker 1: twenty one, sixth and twenty two and twelfth out of

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Speaker 1: the top ten. The Red Sox out of the top

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Speaker 1: ten last season, So obviously now they know what they

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Speaker 1: need to do. And you would think with the change

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Speaker 1: in heads of baseball operations and the general direction that

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Speaker 1: they're going in, that it's time for them to go

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Speaker 1: big again. But Craig Breslow is a new chief baseball officer,

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Speaker 1: hasn't done the job.

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Speaker 2: He's a former major league reliever.

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Speaker 1: We will see if he is ready to close. Continuing on,

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Speaker 1: Oh yes, the San Francisco Giants number two on my list,

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Speaker 1: The Giants of course, are a team that lacks star power,

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Speaker 1: a team that has failed to acquire star power in

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Speaker 1: recent seasons, and it has become a source of frustration

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Speaker 1: of course for their fans. Well, they need to be

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Speaker 1: in the mix for virtually every big name on the market,

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Speaker 1: from Otani to Yamamoto, to Cody Bellinger to Jung Huli

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Speaker 1: to Matt Chapman. I would imagine they'll be on all

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Speaker 1: of those guys. And yes, there is pressure here. There

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Speaker 1: is pressure because the president of Baseball Operations, while he

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Speaker 1: got an extension to match the same term that they

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Speaker 1: gave the new manager, Bob Melvin, three years, it's time

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Speaker 1: to produce. And this was not only an unsuccessful team

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Speaker 1: last year. This was an uninspired team, a team that

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Speaker 1: was not particularly entertaining. So Zaidy knows he's going to

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Speaker 1: need to do something here. How many of those guys

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Speaker 1: I just name that he can acquire, how many others

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Speaker 1: perhaps he can get in trade. It remains to be seen,

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Speaker 1: but Zaidi knows everyone in the sport knows he needs.

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Speaker 2: To do something.

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Speaker 1: Finally, number one on my list of teams most under

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Speaker 1: pressure the New York Yankees. Now, I'm sure most of

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Speaker 1: you watch and listening are aware of Brian Cashman's epic

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Speaker 1: rant at the GM meetings a few weeks back. That

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Speaker 1: was a rant born of frustration over the growing criticism

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Speaker 1: of his recent decision making. Okay, that's cool, we get that.

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Speaker 1: But the way to stop the noise, always in professional sports,

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Speaker 1: college sports too, for that matter, is to win. That's

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Speaker 1: how you shut it out. And the way to win

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Speaker 1: if you're the New York Yankees often is to money

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Speaker 1: whip other teams, and like the Red Sox, they kind

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Speaker 1: of have stopped doing that.

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Speaker 2: In recent years now.

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Speaker 1: They've been more at the top of the payroll rankings

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Speaker 1: and they're not as egregious in terms of their lack

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Speaker 1: of spending as the Red Sox. But have they spent, well,

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Speaker 1: that's another question. So it's pretty obvious where they need

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Speaker 1: to spend. Look at their outfield right now. This is

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Speaker 1: amazing that it's the New York Yankees. Aaron Judge, well

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Speaker 1: we know he is.

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Speaker 2: He's pretty good.

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Speaker 1: Estevan Florial, a guy who was dfa'd recently and ever

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Speaker 1: since Pereira Prospect Tube, may turn out to be a

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Speaker 1: good player. They are pretty open in their acknowledgment that

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Speaker 1: they need a left fielder and a centerfielder, preferably left handed,

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Speaker 1: and the Yankees, when they've been successful, or at least

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Speaker 1: at times in their recent history under house Steinbrenner, they

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Speaker 1: have spent money big in certain off seasons. I think

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Speaker 1: of the two thousand and eight two thousand and nine

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Speaker 1: off season. They spent four hundred and twenty four million

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Speaker 1: dollars on C C Sabathia, Mark Deschera, and AJ Burnett

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Speaker 1: that year. The following season they won the World Series

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Speaker 1: in twenty thirteen. After the thirteen season, they were in

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Speaker 1: kind of a similar circumstance. They were coming off a

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Speaker 1: disappointing season. Joel Sherman of The New York Post has

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Speaker 1: drawn this parallel and that off season too, they spent

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Speaker 1: four hundred and thirty eight million combined for Tanaka, Ellsbury, Beltron,

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Speaker 1: and McCann. Now, those deals obviously had mixed results and

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Speaker 1: a World Series title did not result. We all know

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Speaker 1: the Yankees have not won the Series since two thousand

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Speaker 1: and nine. That year when they brought in Sabathia to

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Speaker 1: Shara and Burnett at the same time, they have clue needs.

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Speaker 1: They theoretically know what they need to do and as

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Speaker 1: their owner. How Steinbrenner should be clued in at this point,

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Speaker 1: he presumably should be ready to spend time now for

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Speaker 1: the inside dish. This is the part of the show

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Speaker 1: where I go inside a story I've written recently, or

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Speaker 1: maybe inside a trend going on in the game. This week,

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Speaker 1: I'm going to take a little bit of a different approach.

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Speaker 1: I want to talk about the timing of signings and

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Speaker 1: how these things go down. And what's amazing about baseball,

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Speaker 1: or most interesting about baseball, is that we never quite

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Speaker 1: know about the timing. I touched on this earlier in

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Speaker 1: the show, and I'll touch on it later, the methodical

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Speaker 1: pace of the off season. But this year we have

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Speaker 1: a particularly interesting circumstance, and that of course is the

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Speaker 1: free agency of show. Hey Otani, when is he going

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Speaker 1: to sign? Will he wait for Yamamoto? Will he go

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Speaker 1: at the winter meetings? How is this all going to

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Speaker 1: work with Otani? You would think it shouldn't take too long.

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Speaker 1: The teams that are interested, they're not going to be

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Speaker 1: a surprise. We know essentially who they are. They know

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Speaker 1: essentially or it's to some degree how much money it's

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Speaker 1: going to take. And you would think that those teams

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Speaker 1: are going to want to go quickly because if you're

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Speaker 1: committing five hundred million dollars to a single player, just

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Speaker 1: throwing that number out there, then you want to know

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Speaker 1: if he's going to take that money, because if he doesn't,

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Speaker 1: you're going to move on to other players. Now I've

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Speaker 1: mentioned this in other shows, and it's kind of interesting

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Speaker 1: to me. This angle the idea of waiting for Yamamoto

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Speaker 1: to sign if you're Shoho Tani, because if you do that,

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Speaker 1: you're going to put other teams on tilt. So if

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Speaker 1: Yamamoto signs, for instance, with the Giants, then the teams

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Speaker 1: that miss out on Yamamoto, the Red Sox, Yankees, Matts, Dodgers,

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Speaker 1: whoever you want to name, all these big market clubs,

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Speaker 1: you would think at that point they'll be that much

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Speaker 1: more motivated to go get Otani, even though he cannot

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Speaker 1: pitch next season. At the same time, why would Otani

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Speaker 1: need to wait right for all the reasons I mentioned earlier,

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Speaker 1: So that dynamic is in play. We'll see how it

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Speaker 1: all plays out. The other aspect of this that is

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Speaker 1: really interesting is the number of free agents. Top free

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Speaker 1: agents who are represented by Scott Boris and I want

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Speaker 1: to show you the list here of position players and

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Speaker 1: pitchers represented by Boris because it's kind of telling right.

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Speaker 1: Here are the position players, really, the two top guys

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Speaker 1: Cody Bellinger and Matt Chapman, both represented by Scott Boris,

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Speaker 1: along with Jung Hu Lei, the Korean outfielder who is

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Speaker 1: coming over who is well thought of as well, and

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Speaker 1: two lesser free agents but prominent names, j D. Martinez

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Speaker 1: and Rhys Hoskins. Then there are the bors clients who

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Speaker 1: are pitchers. Some of the best here too. Two of

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Speaker 1: the best for sure, Blake's Now and Jordan Montgomery, along

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Speaker 1: with Nick Martinez and Frankie Montas. There are other players

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Speaker 1: also represented by Scott Boris, other free agents, but those

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Speaker 1: are the big ones.

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Speaker 2: Now. It leads to the.

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Speaker 1: Question, Okay, how is Boris going to proceed? How is

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Speaker 1: he going to want to stack these guys as he

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Speaker 1: goes forward? I go back to the twenty.

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Speaker 2: Nineteen Winter Meetings.

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Speaker 1: Garrett Cole, Anthony Rendon, Steven Strasburg, all represented by Scott Boris.

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Speaker 1: Within three days at the Winter Meetings, each of those

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Speaker 1: guys signed. They signed for huge dollars, over eight hundred

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Speaker 1: million dollars combined. So it could be at the Winter

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Speaker 1: Meetings that Boris goes quickly that he takes Bellinger off

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Speaker 1: the board, he takes Smell off the board, he takes

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Speaker 1: Montgomery off the board. Could happen. Also, could happen that

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Speaker 1: these things drag out. Bryce Harper, most famously several years

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Speaker 1: back at Scott Boris's client did not sign until February.

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Speaker 1: Boris does not proceed by any clock but his own,

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Speaker 1: and that will be the case again. So if he

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Speaker 1: feels like he's getting the deals he wants bingo, he'll act.

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Speaker 2: If he does not feel that way, He's not.

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Speaker 1: Going to care if guys like me or sitting there

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Speaker 1: saying let's go, it's not gonna bother him one bit.

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Speaker 1: So he in essence controls parts of each of those markets,

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Speaker 1: large segments of each of those markets. And that is

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Speaker 1: going to be something that will be following, obviously at

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Speaker 1: the Winter Meetings and beyond. Now as we get closer

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Speaker 1: to the Winter Meetings, As I talk about the Winter Meetings,

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Speaker 1: what I always love about the meetings are the ones

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Speaker 1: where it turns into, well, for lack of a better term,

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Speaker 1: a spending orgy. Now twenty nineteen was like that the

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Speaker 1: guys I mentioned cole Rin don Strasbourg, and there are

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Speaker 1: a couple of others like that as well. Again, the

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Speaker 1: best Winter meetings are the ones where the spending gets insane.

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Speaker 1: Now fans might say, I don't like that. Ticket prices

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Speaker 1: are gonna go up. Ticket prices are not a reflection

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Speaker 1: of salaries for one hundred times, their reflection of supply

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Speaker 1: and demand. The money when it starts flowing, that's when

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Speaker 1: the action gets really interesting. So two thousand the year,

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Speaker 1: two thousand the Winter meetings. Then a Rod two hundred

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Speaker 1: and fifty two million, Manny Ramirez one hundred and sixty million,

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Speaker 1: Mike Hampton one hundred and twenty one million, and who

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Speaker 1: can forget Darren Dreyford fifty five million twenty ten, Jason

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Speaker 1: Worth one hundred and twenty six million. That was a

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Speaker 1: big deal at the time. In fact, I got a

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Speaker 1: text from a GM moments after the number broke, and

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Speaker 1: the text said that number is blank.

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Speaker 2: Crazy.

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Speaker 1: I won't say what the blank is. This is the

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Speaker 1: family show, but you can imagine. Then, Also those same

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Speaker 1: Winter meetings, Carl Crawford for one hundred and forty two

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Speaker 1: million twenty seventeen, I go back to that one too,

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Speaker 1: Albert Pooles, that was a frenzy around his signing at

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Speaker 1: the Winter Meetings, which took place in Dallas that year,

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Speaker 1: I believe, which was also the place where a Rod signed.

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Speaker 2: Pools goes for two.

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Speaker 1: Hundred and fifty four million to the Angels.

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Speaker 2: CJ.

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Speaker 1: Wilson, same Winter Meetings, seventy seven and a half million. Again,

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Speaker 1: the best Winter meetings are the ones we get that

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Speaker 1: kind of action. And I'm not saying it's going to

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Speaker 1: happen at this one. I'm not saying it's not. But

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Speaker 1: the timing here is going to be critical, and that's

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Speaker 1: my point. How Boris proceeds, how Otani chooses to handle

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Speaker 1: his free agency, whether he signs quickly or not, whether

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Speaker 1: he waits for Yamamoto or not, these things all have

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Speaker 1: a pace of their own. And remember with Yamamoto, he

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Speaker 1: is already on the clock of sorts.

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Speaker 2: He's the one guy.

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Speaker 1: Actually, there'll be a couple of others too who are

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Speaker 1: posted him and Nago one of them guys who are posted.

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Speaker 1: They have forty five days from the day they are

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Speaker 1: posted until the time that they must sign, so there

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Speaker 1: is a deadline in place for them. Again, I don't

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Speaker 1: expect Otani to wait that long, but he could, and

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Speaker 1: in some ways it would serve his interest to do that.

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Speaker 1: I just don't know that teams that are interested in

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Speaker 1: him are going to be willing to tell his agent

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Speaker 1: nes Bilelo of Cia No, no problem that is take.

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Speaker 2: This to January. No, they need answers before then.

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Speaker 1: So we will see how this all plays out. Next

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Speaker 1: week on show. Maybe I'll do some of my favorite

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Speaker 1: Winter Meeting stories that don't necessarily involve spending orgies. But

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Speaker 1: I'm telling you, guys, when the money starts to flow,

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Speaker 1: that's when these things start to sizzle. Time now for

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Speaker 1: Dude and Dork of the Week. We had some really

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Speaker 1: cool candidates for due to the Week this week, guys

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Speaker 1: who've done some really nique charitable endeavors in recent days.

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Speaker 1: But I'm gonna go with someone who is just such

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Speaker 1: a unique figure in the game's history and continues to

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Speaker 1: be that unique figure in the game's history. I'm talking,

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Speaker 1: of course, about Ichiro. And if you missed it, Brad

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Speaker 1: Lefton wrote a story in The Athletic about Eachi Ro

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Speaker 1: pitching at age fifty, Yes, pitching at age fifty against

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Speaker 1: a select high school girls baseball team in Japan. Recently,

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Speaker 1: he was the pitcher. He had a group of friends

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Speaker 1: that he assembled. Dice came out Tozaka actually was the

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Speaker 1: shortstop in this game. And the reason why I'm naming

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Speaker 1: Eachi Road due to the week, Well, I could name

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Speaker 1: him simply for why he was doing this, and the

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Speaker 1: reason he was doing this was to promote high school

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Speaker 1: girls baseball in Japan. That's cool enough, But really the

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Speaker 1: broader thing for me is how much Ichiro loves the game.

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Speaker 1: And I remember writing right around the time he retired

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Speaker 1: whether he was going to be able to enjoy himself

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Speaker 1: or even function without baseball. This guy lived and breathed baseball.

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Speaker 1: And he has done that just fine, of course, and

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Speaker 1: he's done it in kind of a refreshing way. He

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Speaker 1: still plays the game, stills around the Mariners, still takes

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Speaker 1: everything he can and gives everything he can to the

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Speaker 1: game of baseball.

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Speaker 3: So Ichiro Suzuki dude of the week, dork of the week.

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Speaker 3: It's kind of an amorphous thing this week. It's not

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Speaker 3: a person in particular, it's a thing. It is actually

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Speaker 3: the Major League Baseball offseason. And let's take a look

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Speaker 3: at two tweets from fans that I received this week,

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Speaker 3: two of many, by the way, expressing frustration with the

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Speaker 3: pace of the off season. Here's one, Oh hey, new

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Speaker 3: MLB off season moves finally And if you can't see this,

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Speaker 3: you're listening on a podcast. It's a tweet with a

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Speaker 3: person who is.

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Speaker 2: Asleep, all right.

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Speaker 1: The next tweet, why is the off season dragging? That

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Speaker 1: one comes from Diane m she is at Mets South Florida.

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Speaker 1: Why is the off season dragging? Because it almost always drags.

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Speaker 1: It is the nature of the baseball off season. And

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Speaker 1: I mentioned this earlier. People ask all the time why

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Speaker 1: can't MLB be like the NFL, the NHL, the NBA.

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Speaker 1: And the difference is that those three leagues are salary

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Speaker 1: cap leagues, So essentially, teams know the limits on what

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Speaker 1: they can spend, and it's a zero sum game. They've

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Speaker 1: got to get the players at certain numbers before other

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Speaker 1: teams get them, or they're gonna be shut out. In

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Speaker 1: baseball with no salary cap, no limit, there's no set numbers,

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Speaker 1: nothing like a franchise tag in the NFL or a

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Speaker 1: max contract in the NBA, you can just keep going

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Speaker 1: and going and going, so that's the difference. That's why

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Speaker 1: baseball is the way it is.

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Speaker 2: I have thought over the years that one idea.

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Speaker 1: To kind of help things along might be to put

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Speaker 1: a trade deadline at the end of the Winter meetings.

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Speaker 1: A trade deadline, not a free agent signing deadline.

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Speaker 2: If you do a free agent.

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Speaker 1: Signing deadline, the union's going to get upset. They're going

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Speaker 1: to say it's not truly a free market. Like that

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Speaker 1: argument or not. That's the reality of the situation. But

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Speaker 1: a trade deadline that wouldn't upset the free market, so

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Speaker 1: to speak. In fact, it would probably enhance it because

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Speaker 1: it would clear the decks for teams to go out

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Speaker 1: in free agency later. To this point, baseball hasn't done that.

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Speaker 1: But imagine the Winter meetings. If we had a trade

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Speaker 1: deadline at the end, it would be a total frenzy.

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Speaker 1: It would be amazing, and we could have that kind

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Speaker 1: of atmosphere at the Winter meetings, as I mentioned the

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Speaker 1: inside dish, if the signings start to accelerate.

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Speaker 2: But we've had.

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Speaker 1: Winter meetings in recent years where it's been really slow,

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Speaker 1: almost a waste of time.

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Speaker 2: Because the action came later.

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Speaker 1: Put a trade deadline at the end of this sucker

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Speaker 1: and you'd have something pretty special.

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Speaker 2: All right, Here we go with grilling Candice.

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

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Speaker 1: ask me questions. I saw some wise ask kind of

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Speaker 1: questions on Twitter, which luckily my producer Gab did not

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Speaker 1: include here because I would have been kind of mean

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Speaker 1: if I had responded to those questions. But we've got

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Speaker 1: some good ones as well. You guys always have good questions.

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Speaker 1: So let's start today with our first question.

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Speaker 2: Let's see what we got here. This comes from Charlie

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Speaker 2: char Dude thirty six.

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Speaker 1: What teams could realistically make a push for Juan Soto?

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Speaker 1: Great question and one that is on a lot of

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Speaker 1: people's minds. First of all, I do expect the Padres

434
00:22:53,200 --> 00:22:56,280
Speaker 1: are going to trade Sodo. I believe their financial situation

435
00:22:56,440 --> 00:23:00,000
Speaker 1: dictates it. I believe their roster situation dictates it as well.

436
00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:00,200
Speaker 2: Well.

437
00:23:00,600 --> 00:23:04,240
Speaker 1: The need to replace so much pitching, So which teams

438
00:23:04,240 --> 00:23:07,280
Speaker 1: are most realistic? You've heard a lot about the Yankees.

439
00:23:07,359 --> 00:23:09,960
Speaker 1: They certainly are realistic. He'd be great in that stadium.

440
00:23:10,320 --> 00:23:12,760
Speaker 1: I would suggest the Red Sox should be in as well,

441
00:23:12,840 --> 00:23:16,760
Speaker 1: though pitching is their priority. The Red Sox could swap

442
00:23:16,840 --> 00:23:19,560
Speaker 1: out Alex Verdugo, whether in this trade or some other trade,

443
00:23:19,600 --> 00:23:23,520
Speaker 1: get Soto in there and SOO in Fenway Park would

444
00:23:23,560 --> 00:23:27,800
Speaker 1: be fascinating because he would be obviously someone who would

445
00:23:28,040 --> 00:23:30,320
Speaker 1: make better use of the opposite field than maybe he

446
00:23:30,440 --> 00:23:32,600
Speaker 1: has at certain times in his career. Not that Wan

447
00:23:32,680 --> 00:23:35,000
Speaker 1: Soda needs much help hitting, but I had a friend

448
00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:38,040
Speaker 1: of mine last night suggest that the wall at Fenway

449
00:23:38,080 --> 00:23:40,440
Speaker 1: could be the Great Wall of Soto.

450
00:23:40,359 --> 00:23:41,160
Speaker 2: If he went there.

451
00:23:41,640 --> 00:23:44,959
Speaker 1: Another team, and here's a team that obviously makes a

452
00:23:44,960 --> 00:23:48,040
Speaker 1: lot of sense and has the pitching to trade, but

453
00:23:48,080 --> 00:23:49,160
Speaker 1: I don't know if they would do it.

454
00:23:49,359 --> 00:23:50,600
Speaker 2: That's the Seattle Mariners.

455
00:23:51,040 --> 00:23:52,840
Speaker 1: And the reason I don't know that they would do

456
00:23:52,880 --> 00:23:55,720
Speaker 1: it is because Wan Soto's going to be thirty million

457
00:23:55,760 --> 00:23:59,280
Speaker 1: dollars plus for one season and then you possibly lose

458
00:23:59,359 --> 00:24:01,520
Speaker 1: him as a free You're most likely not going to

459
00:24:01,560 --> 00:24:03,520
Speaker 1: extend him. He's a Scott Boris client. He's going to

460
00:24:03,560 --> 00:24:05,960
Speaker 1: want to hit the open market get as much money

461
00:24:05,960 --> 00:24:06,520
Speaker 1: as he can.

462
00:24:06,920 --> 00:24:08,639
Speaker 2: Would the marin has been willing to do that for

463
00:24:08,760 --> 00:24:09,280
Speaker 2: one year.

464
00:24:09,560 --> 00:24:13,040
Speaker 1: I'm sort of skeptical, but he would be a perfect fit.

465
00:24:13,520 --> 00:24:13,840
Speaker 2: All right.

466
00:24:13,880 --> 00:24:16,720
Speaker 1: The next question here, let's see what we've got, comes

467
00:24:16,720 --> 00:24:21,400
Speaker 1: from jsop Jass. The Cubs have a logjam of outfield prospects,

468
00:24:21,560 --> 00:24:23,800
Speaker 1: will they trade a few to get a big bat

469
00:24:23,920 --> 00:24:27,280
Speaker 1: or number one starter? Good question, Jay, And it's a

470
00:24:27,320 --> 00:24:30,560
Speaker 1: good question for a couple of reasons. One because the Cubs,

471
00:24:30,680 --> 00:24:33,440
Speaker 1: after hiring Craig Counsel as manager, clearly you are going

472
00:24:33,480 --> 00:24:36,080
Speaker 1: to want to take the next step. You don't hire

473
00:24:36,160 --> 00:24:40,560
Speaker 1: Counsel as your manager to just accelerate a rebuilding process. No,

474
00:24:40,680 --> 00:24:43,360
Speaker 1: you want to win at this point. Also a good

475
00:24:43,440 --> 00:24:47,159
Speaker 1: question because you've identified an area of strength for the

476
00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:51,080
Speaker 1: Cubs at a time when the market for position players.

477
00:24:50,640 --> 00:24:51,920
Speaker 2: In general is thin.

478
00:24:52,680 --> 00:24:54,520
Speaker 1: So if the Cubs want to trade one of their

479
00:24:54,520 --> 00:24:58,600
Speaker 1: outfield prospects, and we're talking about p Crow, Armstrong, Owen Casey,

480
00:24:58,920 --> 00:25:02,280
Speaker 1: Kevin al Contra, Kevin came over in the Rizzo trade,

481
00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:04,919
Speaker 1: it's a good time and it's a good time to

482
00:25:05,119 --> 00:25:08,720
Speaker 1: put one of those guys, I would say, as a

483
00:25:08,760 --> 00:25:11,680
Speaker 1: strong piece in a package to maybe get something else

484
00:25:11,720 --> 00:25:15,160
Speaker 1: you want. A top starter would be obviously one idea.

485
00:25:15,720 --> 00:25:18,280
Speaker 1: You've got to replace Stroman and you've got to replace Bellinger,

486
00:25:18,359 --> 00:25:21,600
Speaker 1: So a position player, a big time outfielder that would

487
00:25:21,600 --> 00:25:23,720
Speaker 1: be great too. I don't know if they're going to

488
00:25:23,760 --> 00:25:25,879
Speaker 1: do that, but I like the way you're thinking.

489
00:25:26,920 --> 00:25:27,239
Speaker 2: All right.

490
00:25:27,280 --> 00:25:30,720
Speaker 1: The final question, I believe this one involves Oh, yes,

491
00:25:30,800 --> 00:25:33,439
Speaker 1: the San Francisco Giants. We touched on them earlier, but

492
00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:36,639
Speaker 1: we'll hit him again. Thoughts on the San Francisco Giants,

493
00:25:36,640 --> 00:25:39,280
Speaker 1: as comes from Sports Updates, Who are they most likely

494
00:25:39,320 --> 00:25:41,600
Speaker 1: to sign? Are they trying to sign multiple top free

495
00:25:41,640 --> 00:25:46,560
Speaker 1: agents or just one? Well, predicting any team and who

496
00:25:46,560 --> 00:25:49,120
Speaker 1: they're going to sign is always difficult. If I would

497
00:25:49,119 --> 00:25:51,879
Speaker 1: have told you at the start of the offseason my

498
00:25:51,960 --> 00:25:54,560
Speaker 1: prediction for the Cardinals is Kyle Gibson, Lance Lynn and

499
00:25:54,600 --> 00:25:57,840
Speaker 1: Sonny Gray, you probably would have said that's not going

500
00:25:57,920 --> 00:26:01,480
Speaker 1: to happen. But it did happen. So with the Giants,

501
00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:06,400
Speaker 1: I mentioned several names earlier, Matt Chapman, Jung Huli, Cody Bellinger,

502
00:26:07,320 --> 00:26:10,800
Speaker 1: Yoshinoba Yamamoto, all of the players that we've talked about.

503
00:26:10,840 --> 00:26:12,920
Speaker 1: Blake Snell could be another one. All the big names,

504
00:26:12,960 --> 00:26:16,760
Speaker 1: oh Tani number one on the list. How many of

505
00:26:16,800 --> 00:26:17,520
Speaker 1: them will they get?

506
00:26:18,240 --> 00:26:18,800
Speaker 2: I don't know.

507
00:26:19,600 --> 00:26:21,920
Speaker 1: I expect though, that they're going to want.

508
00:26:21,640 --> 00:26:23,960
Speaker 2: To add at least two big pieces.

509
00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:25,760
Speaker 1: And when I say big, I mean two of the

510
00:26:25,840 --> 00:26:29,879
Speaker 1: names that I just mentioned. Now, what combination, how they

511
00:26:29,960 --> 00:26:31,760
Speaker 1: can do this, who they can get.

512
00:26:31,760 --> 00:26:32,879
Speaker 2: That remains to be seen.

513
00:26:33,560 --> 00:26:36,080
Speaker 1: The thing about free agency that everyone needs to understand

514
00:26:36,320 --> 00:26:39,800
Speaker 1: is that it's not just one team's desires. It's one

515
00:26:39,800 --> 00:26:43,560
Speaker 1: team's desires against the desires of twenty nine other teams.

516
00:26:43,880 --> 00:26:45,919
Speaker 1: Now not all of them are spenders, of course, but

517
00:26:46,480 --> 00:26:50,080
Speaker 1: it's a competition. And because it's a competition, because teams

518
00:26:50,520 --> 00:26:53,720
Speaker 1: are often unpredictable in the way they behave, you just

519
00:26:53,800 --> 00:26:58,160
Speaker 1: cannot forecast accurately how this is going to go down.

520
00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:02,440
Speaker 1: Looking ahead, I'm excs expecting a busy week of activity.

521
00:27:02,520 --> 00:27:05,240
Speaker 1: I wouldn't say it's going to be completely hectic, but

522
00:27:05,320 --> 00:27:07,480
Speaker 1: maybe we'll get some trades as we lead into the

523
00:27:07,480 --> 00:27:12,440
Speaker 1: Winter Meetings, which begin a week from today Monday in Nashville.

524
00:27:12,720 --> 00:27:14,520
Speaker 1: But first I want to talk about something else that

525
00:27:14,680 --> 00:27:17,480
Speaker 1: is pretty important to me. Coming up this Saturday is

526
00:27:17,520 --> 00:27:21,239
Speaker 1: the Pedro Gomez Foundation Golf Tournament and auction at the

527
00:27:21,240 --> 00:27:25,120
Speaker 1: Whirlwind Golf Club in Chandler, Arizona. You get a lot

528
00:27:25,160 --> 00:27:27,359
Speaker 1: of goodies for playing in the golf tournament, and the

529
00:27:27,400 --> 00:27:31,000
Speaker 1: auction items include get this a four night's day in

530
00:27:31,119 --> 00:27:34,760
Speaker 1: a luxury condo, in tell your ride Colorado, that's not bad,

531
00:27:35,280 --> 00:27:37,760
Speaker 1: four box seats for a game at Fanway, four tickets

532
00:27:37,800 --> 00:27:41,439
Speaker 1: to a Yankee game, and this cool Miami package. Miami,

533
00:27:41,480 --> 00:27:46,520
Speaker 1: of course, was Pedro's hometown. In this package, two Marlins tickets,

534
00:27:46,720 --> 00:27:51,320
Speaker 1: batting practice passes, and for Miami Heat tickets. The bidding

535
00:27:51,440 --> 00:27:54,480
Speaker 1: is open now for these items and a lot more.

536
00:27:55,240 --> 00:27:57,520
Speaker 1: All right, I want to thank everyone for their questions

537
00:27:57,520 --> 00:27:59,679
Speaker 1: for Grill and Ken. I want to thank everyone for

538
00:27:59,760 --> 00:28:01,040
Speaker 1: why for listening.

539
00:28:01,280 --> 00:28:01,880
Speaker 2: You know where to.

540
00:28:01,840 --> 00:28:06,120
Speaker 1: Find us on YouTube, Apples, Spotify, Subscribe to us like us.

541
00:28:06,200 --> 00:28:07,480
Speaker 2: We'll talk to you next week.

542
00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:10,960
Speaker 1: Enjoy the continuing pace of the off season.

543
00:28:12,040 --> 00:28:14,639
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