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Speaker 1: Welcome one and all to the hammer Territory Podcast. My

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Speaker 1: name is Sean Coleman. Hope wherever you are and wherever

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Speaker 1: you are listening, you enjoyed our spirited debate over Remember

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Speaker 1: the Titans last night. We will have part two. I'm kidding,

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Speaker 1: we ain't gonna talk about that anymore. Welcome to the

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Speaker 1: Hamit Territory Podcast. The first big day of decisions for

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Speaker 1: the Braves is in the books, and we'll break it

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Speaker 1: all down. Those decisions that directly impacted the Braves today

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Speaker 1: and also decisions across baseball that could potentially play into

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Speaker 1: the Braves plans as the off season progresses. And as

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Speaker 1: always one of the best in the business when it

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Speaker 1: comes to covering the and breaking it all down, my

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Speaker 1: podcast partner Stephen Tolbert is here with us. Steven, how

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Speaker 1: are you, sir? While you give your initial thoughts of

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Speaker 1: the day, I'm gonna add the tea to your name.

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Speaker 2: Go ahead, sir, Steven Tober. Yeah, So what's up, buddy.

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Speaker 2: It's good to talk to you again. It's it's obviously

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Speaker 2: you know, it's been a while. It's been a whole

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Speaker 2: twenty four hours since we've done one of these deja

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Speaker 2: all over again. But yeah, we knew this was gonna

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Speaker 2: be a day. I mean, we've been we've marked this

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Speaker 2: day on the calendar for the last three weeks, basically

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Speaker 2: ever since we kind of saw the end of the

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Speaker 2: World Series coming. You could mark this day down it.

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Speaker 2: It's just one of those built into the schedule, guaranteed

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Speaker 2: busy days in baseballs, like the trade deadline, arbitration deadline.

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Speaker 2: You know, this is the first day of free agency,

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Speaker 2: and with that comes a lot of stuff. All the

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Speaker 2: team options have to be picked up, all the player

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Speaker 2: options have to be decided, all the sixty day al

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Speaker 2: guys have to be put back on the forty So

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Speaker 2: there's a ton of forty man roster moves all over baseball.

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Speaker 2: There's just a lot going on today. And so you know,

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Speaker 2: we had the Braves made a number of moves, some

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Speaker 2: of them surprising, some of them not. So we're gonna

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Speaker 2: start with the kind of the big ones, the ones

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Speaker 2: that were you know, really affecting the twenty six man roster,

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Speaker 2: which we had a couple, and then we'll work our

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Speaker 2: way down to the smaller ones. But yeah, we knew,

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Speaker 2: you know, we've known for a while this was going

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Speaker 2: to be a busy day. We planned to do this

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Speaker 2: show tonight, you know, weeks ago, we just we knew

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Speaker 2: this was coming.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, so we're let's get it go in order. You know,

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Speaker 1: we'll talk about the you know, the club option decisions.

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Speaker 1: That's the major news of the day, you know, the

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Speaker 1: roster moves, the the the removal of players from the roster,

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Speaker 1: and a couple of notable waiver transactions as well. Will

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Speaker 1: get all gett into all that in the first segment.

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Speaker 1: But of course, you know, the Braves came into this offseason,

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Speaker 1: we have five options, four club options. They were going

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Speaker 1: to have to decide on when player option with Hasan

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Speaker 1: Kim and of course when given when it came to

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Speaker 1: David Fletcher, who, of course his option was declined on Monday.

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Speaker 1: Hasan Kim on Monday declined his player option. That was

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Speaker 1: kind of expected. Braves picked up Ozzie Albi's and Chris

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Speaker 1: Sales options earlier this week. Those were givens. So we

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Speaker 1: go into today, we talked about it yesterday. We go

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Speaker 1: with to today kind of thinking that okay, the Braves

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Speaker 1: were likely going to pick up the option for Tyler

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Speaker 1: Kinley as well as Piers Johnson, but that was not

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Speaker 1: to be the case. The seven million dollar option for

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Speaker 1: Piers Johnson the five and a half million dollar option

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Speaker 1: for Tyler Kinley both declined today. And the first thing

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Speaker 1: that comes to mind, Stephen when I see that is pause.

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Speaker 1: And the reason that I say that is because we

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Speaker 1: saw this exact same thing a year ago. Some surprising

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Speaker 1: decisions when it comes to declining options for players that

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Speaker 1: you kind of assumed would make sense to keep for

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Speaker 1: the next year. But that's not the case with the Braves.

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Speaker 1: You certainly hope that it's free enough money or free

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Speaker 1: enough money to maybe reallocate to more talented sources. But

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Speaker 1: after last offseason, you're also like, okay, when we talk

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Speaker 1: of deja vu, hope we're not seeing last offseason start

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Speaker 1: all over again this time around.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, So obviously today the Braves declined the option, the

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Speaker 2: seven million dollar option on Pierce Johnson and the five

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Speaker 2: and a half million dollar option on Tyler Kinley. And listen,

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Speaker 2: we talked on this show several times about how neither

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Speaker 2: one of those were locks. You know, Scott was the

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Speaker 2: first one I saw bringing up a few weeks ago,

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Speaker 2: probably a couple months ago at this point about how

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Speaker 2: like seven million dollars for Pierce Johnson is a is

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Speaker 2: a discussion, Like it's not just it shouldn't just be

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Speaker 2: a no brainer. And then Tyler Kinley, of course, nobody

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Speaker 2: knew what they were gonna do, because he came over

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Speaker 2: at the trade deadline. You know, he pitched really well,

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Speaker 2: like five million dollars seemed like a pretty reasonable number

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Speaker 2: for him or five and a half million, and they

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Speaker 2: just decided to go a different way. They just decided

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Speaker 2: to decline it. You're one hundred percent correct. The first

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Speaker 2: thing everybody thought of is this reminds me of Travis

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Speaker 2: Darnault last year, where we weren't expecting them to decline

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Speaker 2: the option. They declined the option. We were thinking at

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Speaker 2: the time, well, they're clearing the deck to make some

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Speaker 2: more moves. We of course now know that they were

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Speaker 2: gonna cut payroll. We didn't know that then, and so

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Speaker 2: everybody today he kind of had the same reaction, Well, like,

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Speaker 2: are they clearing the deck to reallocate this money elsewhere

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Speaker 2: on the roster or are they pinching pennies again? And listen,

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Speaker 2: I'm not gonna preach at people who are a little

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Speaker 2: bit gun shy right now, because after how last offseason went.

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Speaker 2: I get it. I get why you would be gun shy.

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Speaker 2: We don't know that the Bridgs are gonna reallocate these

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Speaker 2: funds now. I do think they're gonna have an aggressive offseason.

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Speaker 2: I certainly think they're gonna be more aggressive than last offseason.

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Speaker 2: But you know, I think Brad. I think Brad said

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Speaker 2: it on Twitter today. I can't remember exactly what he said,

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Speaker 2: but he basically said, you know, actions over works like yes,

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Speaker 2: term of work went on and said like, yeah, we

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Speaker 2: want to be a top five payroll, but Alex went

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Speaker 2: on last year and said they were gonna raise payroll

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Speaker 2: and then payroll went down. So actions over words like yeah,

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Speaker 2: I want to see them reallocate these fun The actual

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Speaker 2: moves themselves of declining Pierce Johnson and Tyler Kinley in

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Speaker 2: a vacuum can be explained like there's a baseball reason

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Speaker 2: to do that. There's a baseball reason to reallocate those

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Speaker 2: funds somewhere else on the roster. One hundred percent. I

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Speaker 2: can make that argument. That's why we made the argument

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Speaker 2: so many times over the last few weeks about like

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Speaker 2: this should be a debate. What I can't be on

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Speaker 2: board with. What I will not in any way agree

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Speaker 2: with is them just pocketing the money and not having

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Speaker 2: you know, bullpen weapons when you could have, because that's

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Speaker 2: what they did last year. They lost a couple of relievers,

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Speaker 2: they didn't add anybody notable back, and we had Hector

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Speaker 2: Nas pitching a high leverage in the first game of

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Speaker 2: the season. So you know, the moves themselves are understandable.

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Speaker 2: But reallocate the funds somewhere else on.

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Speaker 1: The roster, yeah, absolutely, And we'll talk a bit more

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Speaker 1: about the bullpen in a moment. And the other thing

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Speaker 1: to note is this is that, you know, even though

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Speaker 1: the Braves declined, you know, the option for Tyler Kenley

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Speaker 1: and Pis Johnson, that doesn't limit them for being able

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Speaker 1: to bring those guys back on you know, new deals

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Speaker 1: if it makes sense. You know, we we we've seen

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Speaker 1: the Braves restructure deals, not necessarily decline options then bring

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Speaker 1: guys back. But that always could be a possibility. But yes,

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Speaker 1: you know, coming off last year, you know it just

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Speaker 1: you know, the Braves, you know, and I know we're

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Speaker 1: not at the tender deadline yet, but the Braves made

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Speaker 1: you know, some some pretty notable decisions. You know, they

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Speaker 1: did declined Travis Darno, they did mixtend the contract to

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Speaker 1: Ramon Loriano, and you know you saw kind of how

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Speaker 1: that worked out. You just don't want to see more

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Speaker 1: subtractions when there already is plenty of questions this saw

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Speaker 1: season not be addressed. So those are the big moves,

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Speaker 1: Those are the notable moves of the day that we're

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Speaker 1: a bit surprising. The other thing that we've been talking

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Speaker 1: about this week is that we've been talking about the

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Speaker 1: Braves clearing some forty man roster spots, and then that

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Speaker 1: occurred today through out riding several players Steven. When it

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Speaker 1: comes to some of the names that the Braves outrighted

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Speaker 1: from the forty men roster, no one really notable. But

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Speaker 1: the big thing is, of course clearing these roster spots

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Speaker 1: for people off the sixty man roster and also starting

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Speaker 1: to get some open roster spots for potential additions in

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Speaker 1: the near future.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. So, and we talked about this last night. The

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Speaker 2: Braves had to clear one at least one forty man

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Speaker 2: spot today because they had one too many sixty day

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Speaker 2: il guys being added. Back then, they had spots available,

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Speaker 2: so they had to clear one spot. Well, they obviously

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Speaker 2: cleared two spots when they declined the options for Pierce

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Speaker 2: Johnson and Tyler Kinley. Both are now free agents. But

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Speaker 2: the Braves didn't stop there. They also cleared an additional one, two, three,

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Speaker 2: four five spots. They outrighted Joel piam Stay, outrighted Austin Cox,

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Speaker 2: they outrighted Carlos Rondriguez, and Chuckie Robinson onere of the

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Speaker 2: the guys that they outrighted. They had also outrighted Jake Fraley,

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Speaker 2: but he got picked up on waivers by the Tampa

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Speaker 2: Bay Rays, I think, is what I saw. So he's

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Speaker 2: off the roster as well. He's completely in a new

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Speaker 2: organization now. And then the last forty men move they

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Speaker 2: made today was actually adding Michael Ciani from the Cardinals.

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Speaker 2: So all told, that's one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight,

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Speaker 2: seven or eight forty man roster moves they made today.

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Speaker 2: They're forty man's. It's at thirty five right now if

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Speaker 2: you subtract all the guys and then add the one

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Speaker 2: guy back. So they got plenty of forty men spots

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Speaker 2: available right now for whatever they want to do, you know,

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Speaker 2: just looking up and down the forty. I kind of

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Speaker 2: did a full reset tonight of what the forty looks like.

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Speaker 2: You know, they've cleaned a lot of it up. There's

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Speaker 2: really not as much dead weight as there used to be. Obviously,

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Speaker 2: all the sixty they got sixty IL guys are back

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Speaker 2: on it. So they're in a good spot right now

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Speaker 2: in the forty. They've got spots available. They've got a

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Speaker 2: couple more spots they can clear if they need. But yeah,

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Speaker 2: it was a busy day and they were obviously gearing

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Speaker 2: up to start their offseason. There's gonna have to be

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Speaker 2: guys that are added to the forty if they want

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Speaker 2: to protect them for the Rule five draft. And obviously

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Speaker 2: you add guys to the forty any time you sign

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Speaker 2: a free agent or make a trade. So but the

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Speaker 2: Braves have done that. They've got spots open, they got

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Speaker 2: money available. They've kind of set the deck, you know,

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Speaker 2: set the table for what hopefully is a busy offseason.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and with Sianni, you know, don't want to spend

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Speaker 1: too much time because it's more than likely he's a

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Speaker 1: roster spot basically, see Warmer. You know we've seen Alex

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Speaker 1: and top Let's do this a few times in early

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Speaker 1: in the offseason, he'll claim a guy on a roster spot,

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Speaker 1: and the Braves are one of three or four teams

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Speaker 1: that guy goes through in the off season. Sianni is

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Speaker 1: a tremendous fielder, tremendous base runner, but he's a left

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Speaker 1: handed Nick Allen at the plate. That's the best way

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Speaker 1: to describe him. So there's not much upside with him,

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Speaker 1: you know, especially with the Braves already having a Gold

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Speaker 1: Glove caliber centerfielder in Michael Harris. So you know, losing Freyley,

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Speaker 1: I'm not gonna be gonna be honest, I was kind

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Speaker 1: of excited about the idea of maybe having someone with

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Speaker 1: the upside or track record or Freeley as a fourth

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Speaker 1: or fifth outfielder. But you can also probably find that

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Speaker 1: guy pretty cheap in free agency as you get further

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Speaker 1: into the off season.

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Speaker 2: And sorry, I'll add one more thing, because they because

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Speaker 2: Frehley was claimed and Piamps was outrighted, that reduces the

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Speaker 2: number of arbitration eligible players they have from nine to seven.

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Speaker 2: So now they're down to seven and Piams and Freila

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Speaker 2: were two of the highest projected guys in terms of

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Speaker 2: total money. So, like I think the highest guy they

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Speaker 2: have now is Alex Manoa. Alex Manoa at like two

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Speaker 2: point two million, that's the highest projection they have of

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Speaker 2: any of their arb guys. So they cleared kind of

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Speaker 2: the big money out of their arbitration pool as well.

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Speaker 2: So you know, they they opened up a lot of

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Speaker 2: potential funds today and again to bring this first half,

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Speaker 2: you know, first part of the show full circle. It's

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Speaker 2: now how they reallocate those funds that is going to

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Speaker 2: be under a very very very strong microscope by everybody

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Speaker 2: on this podcast, by the fan base at large, because

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Speaker 2: of what happened last offseason. We'll give them a bit

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Speaker 2: of for the doubt, but we'll see what they do.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, No and I agree completely, and there's even more

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Speaker 1: reason for them to do it this offseason than previously.

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Speaker 1: But of course, with the more significant moves of the day,

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Speaker 1: the one aspect of the team that's really been impacted

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Speaker 1: is the bullpen. In a moment, Steven and I are

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Speaker 1: going to discuss that a bit further, but also with

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Speaker 1: the funds that are now freed up, why Alex and

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Speaker 1: Thoppolis could potentially once again do it. He did so

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Speaker 1: well in the past and really helped Bolston the Braves

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Speaker 1: bullpen for twenty twenty six and perhaps beyond.

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Speaker 2: So.

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Speaker 1: Stephen. Of course, as we discussed, the big news of

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Speaker 1: the day for the Braves is that they moved on

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Speaker 1: from Tyler Kinley as well as Pierce Johnson, freeing up

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Speaker 1: about twelve and a half twelve million dollars in the process.

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Speaker 1: Of course, they could bring those guys back, but the

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Speaker 1: big story from all that is this is that the

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Speaker 1: Braves bullpen, which we know Alex and Thopolis puts a

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Speaker 1: heavy emphasis on right now, it's basically a skeleton crew.

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Speaker 1: You've got Aaron Bummer, You've got Dylan Lee, and you've

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Speaker 1: got Joe Jimenez coming back from this in a full

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Speaker 1: year due to a knee injury. Those are really your

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Speaker 1: only reliable guys that you've got in the bullpen. Now

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Speaker 1: you've got some intriguing options, some some intriguing options to

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Speaker 1: a very limited experience like John Callers, Laura, you know,

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Speaker 1: dasbel Hernandez others. That's fine, but this bullpen needs a

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Speaker 1: lot more reliability. Now. With that being said, with these

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Speaker 1: funds being allocated, as we start to look around baseball

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Speaker 1: moves that were done today. Another move I don't necessarily know.

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Speaker 1: I surprising, but certainly intriguing is that the Rays declined

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Speaker 1: in eleven million dollar option on Peter Fairbanks. So you

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Speaker 1: now have Peter Fairbanks, Devin Williams, Rycell Iglesias, as well

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Speaker 1: as Edwin Diaz and Roger Swarez, all pretty accomplished a

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Speaker 1: high level closers that are out there in free agency. Steven,

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Speaker 1: I know that it may be a bit surprising that

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Speaker 1: we moved on from Kenley and Paris Johnson, but the

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Speaker 1: Braves do now have some significant money they teacherly can

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Speaker 1: go out in free agency and get some quality arms.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and listen, the amount of money that you allocate

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Speaker 2: to your bullpen is always a fascinating number to me

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Speaker 2: because it is a very important part of the team.

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Speaker 2: But you have to be very careful with how much

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Speaker 2: money you allocate there, and the Braves have been on

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Speaker 2: the high end the last few years. And listen, before

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Speaker 2: they declined these options on Kinley and Pierce Johnson, they

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Speaker 2: had you know, they were gonna have twelve million dollars

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Speaker 2: tied up in those two guys, another ten million to Bummer,

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Speaker 2: nine million to Jimenez's thirty million bucks right there, and

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Speaker 2: you still don't have a closer, and so it was

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Speaker 2: getting high, and I think they needed to reset that.

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Speaker 2: It's why I'm not overly upset about them, you know,

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Speaker 2: declining these options today, because I understand there again, there's

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Speaker 2: a baseball there's logic behind that, as long as you

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Speaker 2: do something else with the money, of course, and you know,

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Speaker 2: obviously Iglesias is a free agent, so his sixteen million

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Speaker 2: dollars off the payroll as well, so they have a

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Speaker 2: chance to kind of rebuild this bullpen and at the

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Speaker 2: same time rebuild the payroll that is associated with a bullpen.

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Speaker 2: And you know, especially if they can clear Aaron Bummers

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Speaker 2: like ten million bucks. I would love if I, you know,

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Speaker 2: we woke up tomorrow, we saw trade, even if it's

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Speaker 2: just a salary dump, just to clear the money, and

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Speaker 2: then you could really reset where Jmenez is like your

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Speaker 2: only high paid guy right now. You could really be

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Speaker 2: strategic and how you spent the money. I do think

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Speaker 2: they're going to spend money on a closer. There's, like

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Speaker 2: you just said, there's plenty of options. Peter Fairbanks would

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Speaker 2: would make a ton of sense. But so we're just

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Speaker 2: bringing back a Glacias. But then you can be a

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Speaker 2: little bit more strategic in how you spend in the

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Speaker 2: bullpen after that, which I think is called for. So

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Speaker 2: we'll see. I know Brad and Scott are going to

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Speaker 2: do a full show on Sunday, really dive it into

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Speaker 2: some of these free agent options contracts. A bunch of

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Speaker 2: the sites came out with their projections and predictions today

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Speaker 2: that Scott and Brad are going to talk about. So

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Speaker 2: but as we sit here right now, yeah, the bullpen

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Speaker 2: is bear. I mean, they don't have a lot, they

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Speaker 2: don't have a lot of proven. They've got some young guys,

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Speaker 2: but they don't have a lot proven. And even Jmenez,

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Speaker 2: who is technically one of their proven guys, was he

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Speaker 2: missed all last year. So and I again, I wouldn't

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Speaker 2: be surprised at all if Aaron Bummer got traded at

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Speaker 2: some point. So there's a world where like it might

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Speaker 2: just be Dylan Lee for a minute.

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Speaker 1: So they've got work to do.

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Speaker 2: But I do want them to be more mindful of

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Speaker 2: how much, what percentage of the payroll they're allocating to

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Speaker 2: the bullpen. I just think that number has been kind

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Speaker 2: of high, and I think there's a more strategic way

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Speaker 2: to handle that if they can clear some of this

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Speaker 2: other other money.

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Speaker 1: And of course there's a couple of wild card options

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Speaker 1: on the roster as well right now, Rinaldo Lopez as

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Speaker 1: well as Oms. You know, you've got Chris Sale, You've

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Speaker 1: got Spencer Strider, Spencer Schwellenbach, Hirst and Waldrop and Alex

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Speaker 1: and Thoppliss. You know, I believe went on six eighty

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Speaker 1: the Game earlier this week and he talked about, you

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Speaker 1: know how Holmes as well as a Lopez. We're being

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Speaker 1: viewed as starters right now. So that's six starters going

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Speaker 1: in the next year. But we also know that and

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Speaker 1: Thoughtless wants to add one. So I just find it

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Speaker 1: hard to believe that with the bullpen now having you know,

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Speaker 1: as much need as it does, you know, Lopez and

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Speaker 1: Holmes could be two quality pieces added to the bullpen.

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Speaker 1: So I think it's going to be interesting to see

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Speaker 1: what happens there. I do feel that Alex is going

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Speaker 1: to make a significant free agent move for one of

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Speaker 1: these closers. We know that last year he was in

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Speaker 1: the he was he had talked with Jeff Hoppin, talked

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Speaker 1: to Tannor Scott, both those guys went for pretty sizable

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Speaker 1: contracts obviously, so I think Alex is prepared. If it's

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Speaker 1: maybe even Iglesias and another bullpen arm that we mentioned.

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Speaker 1: I also do think that, you know, depending on watching

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Speaker 1: what we do with Lopez and Holmes, I also think

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Speaker 1: that we potentially are in line for one of Alex

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Speaker 1: and Thopolis's trades where he goes out and identifies an

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Speaker 1: arm that may have struggled in the recent past in

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Speaker 1: a location, but that he really likes, someone that's, you know,

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Speaker 1: got some good breaking balls stuff, what have you Like

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Speaker 1: he found in Pierce Johnson, Key Folman Kinley. I think

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Speaker 1: that you're going to see multiple two to three moves

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Speaker 1: to add to this bullpen, and maybe internal with Homes

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Speaker 1: and Lopez. But I think you're gonna see a significant

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Speaker 1: signing in a notable trade, and that's kind of going

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Speaker 1: to be the way they're gonna go through a lot,

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Speaker 1: go into a lot of different buckets to fill this

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Speaker 1: bullpen up as the offseason progresses.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. No, I would not be surprised at all if

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Speaker 2: like Ronaldo Lopez is like the eighth inning guy next year.

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Speaker 2: He was a really damn I mean, it was a

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Speaker 2: fantastic reliever through like one hundred and one as a reliever.

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Speaker 2: It would not surprise me at all if that happened,

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Speaker 2: if you know, and then maybe he moved to the

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Speaker 2: closer spot if they do a one year deal and

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Speaker 2: a closer for the last year of his contract, any

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Speaker 2: of that stuff. Like they that's how they should use

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Speaker 2: the flexibility they have on the roster with Holmes and Lopez.

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Speaker 2: They should use that to their advantage by adding another

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Speaker 2: starter and using the fact that these other guys can

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Speaker 2: pitch out of the bullpen to build depth on the roster.

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Speaker 2: And that's that's what they You know, as hard a

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Speaker 2: time as they have keeping pictures healthy, they need one

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Speaker 2: way to combat that is more depth. Like the Dodgers

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Speaker 2: didn't keep any pictures healthy last year, but they had

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Speaker 2: so much damn depth it didn't matter and they were

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Speaker 2: able to rest them all until October and then they

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Speaker 2: were all healthy in October. So, like, you build enough depth,

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Speaker 2: you're not just ultra dependent on keeping everybody healthy for

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Speaker 2: six months. And I think that's something the Bridge really

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Speaker 2: need to look into. And one way to do it

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Speaker 2: is use the flexibility you already have on your roster

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Speaker 2: by having guys who can pitch out of the bullpen,

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Speaker 2: you know, I mean Todder Gostell pitched out of the

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Speaker 2: bullpen in October. Like, let's use this flexibility to our

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Speaker 2: advantage to build some depth to protect against you know,

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Speaker 2: crippling injuries.

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Speaker 1: So names also that could be out there to watch,

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Speaker 1: is you know, going back through Jeremy Hefner's time with

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Speaker 1: the Mets and seeing all the different names that he

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Speaker 1: managed in the bullpen. Perhaps there's a name out there

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Speaker 1: that he likes that he would like to bring into

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Speaker 1: the fold with Atlanta that he feels he can maximize

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Speaker 1: their contribution. So quite a bit of different ways that

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Speaker 1: the Braise can go about it. The thing though, is

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Speaker 1: to remember two things, in my opinion, is that Alexanthopolis

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Speaker 1: really knows how to put together a bullpen, signing guys,

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Speaker 1: trading for guys, things like that. When I talked about

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Speaker 1: him being a move on the margins, to bullpen has

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Speaker 1: been one of the clearest ways that he's found so

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Speaker 1: much success doing that. And the second thing is is

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Speaker 1: that the Braves at their best have a dominant bullpen.

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Speaker 1: So you know that alexan tooplss wants that to once

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Speaker 1: again be a calling card of this Braves roster, so

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Speaker 1: it'll be interesting to see how he goes about reconstructing

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Speaker 1: the bullpen. But we talk about how the bullpen needs

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Speaker 1: to be a focus. There are many though, who do

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Speaker 1: think that one of the right moves for the Braves

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Speaker 1: of this offseason is really going to land a big fish.

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Speaker 1: But when it comes to the best free agents out there,

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Speaker 1: one thing that you have to keep in mind are

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Speaker 1: they tied to a qualifying offer. We found out exactly

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Speaker 1: who in this offseason is going to have a qualifying

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Speaker 1: offer tied to them. Could any of the these guys

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Speaker 1: make sense with the Braves. We'll discuss that in just

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Speaker 1: a moment. So, Stephen, we talked about how it's a

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Speaker 1: big decision day for every team across baseball, you know,

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Speaker 1: deciding on club options, you know, getting a sixty man

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Speaker 1: roster spot or freeing up roster spots for guys on

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Speaker 1: the sixtydil, but also qualifying offers teams adding draft pick

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Speaker 1: compensation to the top free agent so if they signed elsewhere,

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Speaker 1: the teams that they came from don't go empty handed.

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Speaker 1: And so thirteen players were given qualifying offers and they

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Speaker 1: were some of the biggest names that you would think

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Speaker 1: that thirteen players are Kyle Tucker, Kyle Schwarber, Boba Shitt,

429
00:21:37,160 --> 00:21:42,440
Speaker 1: Fran Burvaldez, Dylan Cees from Burvaldez, Dylan Ceese, Rander Swarez,

430
00:21:42,600 --> 00:21:48,560
Speaker 1: Edwin Diaz, Zach got Zach, Gallen, Shota Amonga, Michael King,

431
00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:53,360
Speaker 1: Trent Gresham, Labor Torres, as well as Brandon Woodro Remind

432
00:21:53,440 --> 00:21:55,440
Speaker 1: me when it comes to one of us reading off

433
00:21:55,440 --> 00:21:57,920
Speaker 1: a list of names to go to you next time, Steven.

434
00:21:58,160 --> 00:22:00,199
Speaker 1: But the point that I'm getting at is that I

435
00:22:00,280 --> 00:22:03,800
Speaker 1: do feel, I do feel that if the braves are

436
00:22:03,840 --> 00:22:05,800
Speaker 1: going shopping with the dream that they want to turn

437
00:22:05,840 --> 00:22:08,480
Speaker 1: into a reality, a few of those names Dylan sees

438
00:22:08,520 --> 00:22:12,639
Speaker 1: Michael King perhaps make sense. What are your thoughts? Do

439
00:22:12,720 --> 00:22:16,159
Speaker 1: you feel that any of these names that you feel

440
00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:18,680
Speaker 1: would have been big fish for the brains to go after?

441
00:22:19,640 --> 00:22:21,720
Speaker 1: Do you kind of get turned away now from going

442
00:22:21,720 --> 00:22:23,359
Speaker 1: after them with this draft picked compensation?

443
00:22:23,440 --> 00:22:27,400
Speaker 2: Stephen? Yeah, So if you don't know, the qualifying offerings

444
00:22:27,680 --> 00:22:30,360
Speaker 2: is effectively a one year deal. It's and the way

445
00:22:30,359 --> 00:22:32,440
Speaker 2: they calculate the money is based on like the top

446
00:22:32,720 --> 00:22:36,000
Speaker 2: one hundred earners in baseball and a percentage, and this

447
00:22:36,119 --> 00:22:37,840
Speaker 2: year it's twenty two million dollars. It's a one year,

448
00:22:37,920 --> 00:22:42,000
Speaker 2: twenty two million dollars contract. If the player is offered

449
00:22:42,040 --> 00:22:45,520
Speaker 2: a qualifying offer and accepts it, he's essentially accepting a

450
00:22:45,560 --> 00:22:47,919
Speaker 2: one year, twenty two million dollar deal, and some of

451
00:22:47,960 --> 00:22:52,720
Speaker 2: these players will accept it because the crappy thing about

452
00:22:52,720 --> 00:22:56,640
Speaker 2: these qualifying offers is that now they have draft pick

453
00:22:57,000 --> 00:23:01,679
Speaker 2: compensation tied to their signing, which means means that the

454
00:23:01,760 --> 00:23:04,400
Speaker 2: team that signs them not only has to give them

455
00:23:04,440 --> 00:23:07,000
Speaker 2: a free agent contract, and usually a pretty large free

456
00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:10,360
Speaker 2: agent contract, they have to give up draft picks as well, which,

457
00:23:10,400 --> 00:23:13,080
Speaker 2: of course is just the absolute dumbest system ever can try.

458
00:23:13,160 --> 00:23:16,040
Speaker 2: I just the dumbest system in the world. This needs

459
00:23:16,080 --> 00:23:19,520
Speaker 2: to go away by the next CBA, but unfortunately it's

460
00:23:19,520 --> 00:23:22,480
Speaker 2: still here. So if you want to sign one of

461
00:23:22,520 --> 00:23:26,119
Speaker 2: the best free agents in baseball, you got to give

462
00:23:26,200 --> 00:23:29,040
Speaker 2: up draft picks to do it. And for some of

463
00:23:29,080 --> 00:23:31,320
Speaker 2: these guys, like the Kyle Tuckers of the world, and

464
00:23:31,320 --> 00:23:34,000
Speaker 2: probably even like the Dylan Ceas and Rangersjarez is probably

465
00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:36,720
Speaker 2: not gonna affect their market too much. Usually at the

466
00:23:36,800 --> 00:23:39,240
Speaker 2: very top of the market, it doesn't affect guys Bobaschet

467
00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:43,199
Speaker 2: probably isn't gonna be overly affected by this. It's the

468
00:23:43,240 --> 00:23:48,879
Speaker 2: guys that are like on the fringe, like Brandon Woodruff

469
00:23:49,400 --> 00:23:53,359
Speaker 2: got a qualify though, that's going to just destroy his market,

470
00:23:53,680 --> 00:23:56,480
Speaker 2: Like people are not gonna want to give up a

471
00:23:56,520 --> 00:23:58,960
Speaker 2: draft pick to sign Brandon Woodruf. No disrespect to him,

472
00:23:58,960 --> 00:24:01,040
Speaker 2: He's just not the same level was a few years ago.

473
00:24:01,480 --> 00:24:05,679
Speaker 2: Clabor Torres, that's a killer for him. I mean, he's

474
00:24:05,720 --> 00:24:07,200
Speaker 2: he's just gonna get a lot less money than he

475
00:24:07,240 --> 00:24:09,520
Speaker 2: would have otherwise. A lot of times, what these guys

476
00:24:09,520 --> 00:24:12,240
Speaker 2: will do was is either a they'll accept the qualifying

477
00:24:12,280 --> 00:24:15,000
Speaker 2: offer and just do a one year deal with that

478
00:24:15,040 --> 00:24:17,320
Speaker 2: team and go back on the free agent market next

479
00:24:17,400 --> 00:24:20,080
Speaker 2: year free from that because you can only be given

480
00:24:20,119 --> 00:24:23,439
Speaker 2: the qualifying offer one time in your career. Or they

481
00:24:23,480 --> 00:24:25,560
Speaker 2: will accept a one year deal somewhere else for the

482
00:24:25,600 --> 00:24:29,960
Speaker 2: same purpose. And so we'll see what happens. I'm guessing

483
00:24:31,400 --> 00:24:33,439
Speaker 2: I think it was what was it thirteen guys total.

484
00:24:34,640 --> 00:24:37,040
Speaker 2: I'm guessing like two or three will end up accepting

485
00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:41,320
Speaker 2: and then the top line guys won't, you know. From

486
00:24:41,359 --> 00:24:45,320
Speaker 2: the Braves point of view, I think Dylan Cees Dylan

487
00:24:45,359 --> 00:24:47,680
Speaker 2: season Rangers, Waz are probably the two closest I would

488
00:24:47,680 --> 00:24:50,160
Speaker 2: say that are clearly worth it. I don't think they're

489
00:24:50,160 --> 00:24:51,880
Speaker 2: gonna be on on Kyle Tucker, even though I could

490
00:24:51,920 --> 00:24:53,920
Speaker 2: make the argument they should be. I don't think they're

491
00:24:53,920 --> 00:24:56,280
Speaker 2: gonna be on Boba Schett, even though I could make

492
00:24:56,320 --> 00:25:01,359
Speaker 2: an argument that they should be. But I think Suarez

493
00:25:01,440 --> 00:25:05,320
Speaker 2: and Dylan Season, maybe even Michael King the picture. I mean,

494
00:25:05,359 --> 00:25:07,760
Speaker 2: obviously the starting pitching is probably where I could see

495
00:25:08,240 --> 00:25:11,639
Speaker 2: the best argument for being for justifying it. I don't know.

496
00:25:11,680 --> 00:25:13,760
Speaker 2: I'm cious what you think. If any of these guys

497
00:25:13,800 --> 00:25:17,000
Speaker 2: are just clearly worth giving up the money and the

498
00:25:17,080 --> 00:25:19,960
Speaker 2: pick for that are a big enough need for the Braves,

499
00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:22,200
Speaker 2: I'm not I could probably be talked in and out

500
00:25:22,200 --> 00:25:23,879
Speaker 2: of a number of these guys.

501
00:25:24,960 --> 00:25:30,600
Speaker 1: UH ask me in five days. Because this leads to

502
00:25:31,240 --> 00:25:34,480
Speaker 1: what's going to occur on November tenth, which is this

503
00:25:34,600 --> 00:25:38,080
Speaker 1: coming up Monday. That's the announcement of the NL Rookie

504
00:25:38,119 --> 00:25:40,439
Speaker 1: of the Year, and as we know, that will be

505
00:25:40,480 --> 00:25:43,720
Speaker 1: when Drake Baldwin it's announced whether or not he is

506
00:25:43,800 --> 00:25:45,840
Speaker 1: in a Rookie of the Year, and then if he is,

507
00:25:45,920 --> 00:25:48,000
Speaker 1: the Braves give up a draft pick. But as we

508
00:25:48,119 --> 00:25:53,000
Speaker 1: discussed previously. I believe, Again it's really hard to guarantee,

509
00:25:53,400 --> 00:25:55,440
Speaker 1: but I believe that if the Braves were to sign

510
00:25:55,480 --> 00:25:58,240
Speaker 1: one of these free agents, one of these free agents

511
00:25:58,240 --> 00:26:00,800
Speaker 1: were qualifying offers, the draft pick they would lose would

512
00:26:00,840 --> 00:26:04,040
Speaker 1: be the one that they gained from Drake Baldwin winning

513
00:26:04,119 --> 00:26:07,159
Speaker 1: Rookie of the Year. But they may have incentive to

514
00:26:07,280 --> 00:26:10,199
Speaker 1: do that now because it's basically an extra pick for

515
00:26:10,240 --> 00:26:12,199
Speaker 1: them to play with. And that's what I'm kind of

516
00:26:12,200 --> 00:26:15,280
Speaker 1: getting that in a grand scale here is that you know,

517
00:26:15,320 --> 00:26:17,640
Speaker 1: we just talked about the bullpen. There'll be multiple moves

518
00:26:17,640 --> 00:26:21,080
Speaker 1: that are needed there. Resigning hasan Kim, maybe adding another

519
00:26:21,160 --> 00:26:23,960
Speaker 1: bat of some sort. But Alex and Thoppless, it really

520
00:26:23,960 --> 00:26:25,880
Speaker 1: seems as if he's going to land a big fish,

521
00:26:25,920 --> 00:26:29,480
Speaker 1: it's going to be a picture of some sort. Getting

522
00:26:29,520 --> 00:26:32,840
Speaker 1: that extra pick with Drake Baldwin is what really plays

523
00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:37,119
Speaker 1: into the increased likelihood that the Braves will feel comfortable

524
00:26:37,359 --> 00:26:42,120
Speaker 1: going after that big fish, either trading away extra prospect

525
00:26:42,160 --> 00:26:44,280
Speaker 1: capital for that level of a picture or being a

526
00:26:44,320 --> 00:26:46,639
Speaker 1: willing to give up that extra pick to go sign

527
00:26:46,960 --> 00:26:49,720
Speaker 1: that level of a pitcher. So that's why I think

528
00:26:49,760 --> 00:26:52,080
Speaker 1: it's so important to watch out for Monday, and if

529
00:26:52,440 --> 00:26:55,080
Speaker 1: Drake Baldwin does win in a Rookie of the Year,

530
00:26:55,560 --> 00:26:59,000
Speaker 1: I think there's just as much chance, maybe even more,

531
00:26:59,320 --> 00:27:02,000
Speaker 1: that the Brave don't even use that pickture draft player,

532
00:27:02,359 --> 00:27:05,680
Speaker 1: but they use it as extra ammunition to go out

533
00:27:05,720 --> 00:27:09,080
Speaker 1: and get a quality win now contributor to add to

534
00:27:09,119 --> 00:27:09,600
Speaker 1: this roster.

535
00:27:11,680 --> 00:27:16,800
Speaker 2: Yeah, and we've seen the Braves sign qualifying free agents before,

536
00:27:17,640 --> 00:27:22,000
Speaker 2: it's not necessarily a deal breaker for them. I remember

537
00:27:23,640 --> 00:27:27,080
Speaker 2: this was twenty twenty one, the year they signed Will Smith.

538
00:27:28,200 --> 00:27:30,720
Speaker 2: He was the I think the number one reliever on

539
00:27:30,760 --> 00:27:33,800
Speaker 2: the market that year. Anyway, he'd gotten a qualifying offer

540
00:27:33,840 --> 00:27:35,439
Speaker 2: from the Giants. I don't know why I remember this,

541
00:27:35,520 --> 00:27:38,120
Speaker 2: but he gotten a qualifying offer for the Giants. Well

542
00:27:38,160 --> 00:27:40,320
Speaker 2: the day he was supposed to decide whether or not

543
00:27:40,359 --> 00:27:42,320
Speaker 2: he was going to accept or not, his agent actually

544
00:27:42,400 --> 00:27:46,320
Speaker 2: used the threat of him signing and accepting the qualifying

545
00:27:46,359 --> 00:27:49,119
Speaker 2: offer as a bargaining chip to get somebody to give

546
00:27:49,200 --> 00:27:50,840
Speaker 2: him a three year deal. And the Braves gave him

547
00:27:50,840 --> 00:27:53,399
Speaker 2: the three year deal, and the Braves just paid the

548
00:27:53,440 --> 00:27:54,719
Speaker 2: draft pick penalty to do it.

549
00:27:54,880 --> 00:27:58,879
Speaker 1: So I guess he signed both Ozuna and Will Smith

550
00:27:58,880 --> 00:28:03,240
Speaker 1: with the qualifying offer before that twenty twenty season, because

551
00:28:03,280 --> 00:28:05,600
Speaker 1: I think that Azuna had been offered by the Cardinals

552
00:28:05,600 --> 00:28:07,480
Speaker 1: and Heed to klinb That's why the Braves wouldn't have

553
00:28:07,520 --> 00:28:09,400
Speaker 1: offered him a qualifying offer this offseason.

554
00:28:10,160 --> 00:28:12,840
Speaker 2: I think, Yeah, I don't remember that part. I definitely

555
00:28:12,880 --> 00:28:15,359
Speaker 2: remember the part about Will Smith because I remember reading

556
00:28:15,359 --> 00:28:19,080
Speaker 2: about how his agent used the deadline as leverage because

557
00:28:19,119 --> 00:28:21,240
Speaker 2: the Braves signed him on the day that they were

558
00:28:21,280 --> 00:28:25,320
Speaker 2: supposed to accept the qualifying offer. So yeah, like the Braves,

559
00:28:25,840 --> 00:28:28,440
Speaker 2: they'll do it if they feel like it's worth it,

560
00:28:28,920 --> 00:28:32,280
Speaker 2: and so it's not. And again it's relative to the

561
00:28:32,320 --> 00:28:35,680
Speaker 2: player and the talent that you're getting. When you're when

562
00:28:35,680 --> 00:28:37,919
Speaker 2: you're talking about one of these marginal guys that's like

563
00:28:38,080 --> 00:28:40,720
Speaker 2: right on the edge, it really it's really tough for them.

564
00:28:40,760 --> 00:28:43,040
Speaker 2: It really kills their market. Nick Pavel last year just

565
00:28:43,080 --> 00:28:46,040
Speaker 2: got wrecked by this thing. Happens every year. There's a

566
00:28:46,040 --> 00:28:48,760
Speaker 2: guy or two that just get absolutely wrecked by the

567
00:28:48,840 --> 00:28:52,800
Speaker 2: qualifying offer. But again, if the guy's good enough, and

568
00:28:52,880 --> 00:28:54,520
Speaker 2: like you said, they have an extra draft pick to

569
00:28:54,520 --> 00:28:56,680
Speaker 2: play with anyway, if they If Drake Baldwin wins the

570
00:28:56,760 --> 00:28:58,960
Speaker 2: Rookie of the Year, I don't think it's going to

571
00:28:59,000 --> 00:29:02,520
Speaker 2: be I think it's going to exclude them from being

572
00:29:02,560 --> 00:29:04,680
Speaker 2: in any of these guys markets. I don't think it's

573
00:29:04,720 --> 00:29:08,080
Speaker 2: that detrimental. I think they would do it for the

574
00:29:08,120 --> 00:29:10,800
Speaker 2: right guy, and I think there are more than a

575
00:29:10,880 --> 00:29:13,080
Speaker 2: few on the list that I would qualify as the

576
00:29:13,160 --> 00:29:13,600
Speaker 2: right guy.

577
00:29:14,560 --> 00:29:18,000
Speaker 1: Agree completely, and so again it'll be interesting to see

578
00:29:18,160 --> 00:29:20,720
Speaker 1: what occurs. So a lot happening for the Braves and

579
00:29:20,760 --> 00:29:23,640
Speaker 1: around baseball today, and you know, the best way to

580
00:29:23,800 --> 00:29:27,120
Speaker 1: enjoy a full course Mial seven is to first set

581
00:29:27,160 --> 00:29:29,440
Speaker 1: the table. And that's what the Braves did today. They

582
00:29:29,600 --> 00:29:31,880
Speaker 1: made sure that when it came to their roster, it's

583
00:29:31,960 --> 00:29:34,120
Speaker 1: set for them to take the best advantage that they

584
00:29:34,120 --> 00:29:37,160
Speaker 1: can to add the quality pieces to really be able

585
00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:40,920
Speaker 1: to contend going into twenty twenty six. Hey, at least

586
00:29:40,960 --> 00:29:43,680
Speaker 1: my analogy this time didn't include Lord of the Rings.

587
00:29:43,760 --> 00:29:46,760
Speaker 1: That'll come up here in the near future. Again, So

588
00:29:47,200 --> 00:29:49,240
Speaker 1: as we go through these shows, as we go through

589
00:29:49,240 --> 00:29:51,560
Speaker 1: this early off season, I think it's really important to

590
00:29:51,560 --> 00:29:54,760
Speaker 1: continue setting the stage. What's the next really important day?

591
00:29:54,800 --> 00:29:57,640
Speaker 1: That's this upcoming Monday. It's the start of Awards week.

592
00:29:57,880 --> 00:30:02,120
Speaker 1: It's us, really, it's us hopefully seeing Drake Baldwin earn

593
00:30:02,240 --> 00:30:04,640
Speaker 1: what he rightfully deserves, which is Rookie of the Year,

594
00:30:04,840 --> 00:30:07,760
Speaker 1: and the Braves getting that extra draft pick to potentially

595
00:30:07,800 --> 00:30:10,440
Speaker 1: play with. Before that, Scott and Brad will be back

596
00:30:10,440 --> 00:30:13,680
Speaker 1: with you on Sunday talking about some free agent predictions,

597
00:30:13,720 --> 00:30:16,160
Speaker 1: you know what could make sense as we're seeing many

598
00:30:16,160 --> 00:30:19,400
Speaker 1: different outlets give ideas of what free agents could be

599
00:30:19,600 --> 00:30:22,680
Speaker 1: earning this offseason. Steven, anything else from you as we

600
00:30:22,720 --> 00:30:24,920
Speaker 1: wrap up this edition on the Hammer Territory Podcast.

601
00:30:28,440 --> 00:30:31,800
Speaker 2: No, I I'll add like I think the qualifying offered

602
00:30:31,880 --> 00:30:35,320
Speaker 2: decisions come in like ten days. I think they tiplake

603
00:30:36,160 --> 00:30:38,720
Speaker 2: Tumber eighteenth. Okay, so they give them twelve days this year.

604
00:30:39,800 --> 00:30:43,880
Speaker 2: So again that can be a big day as well.

605
00:30:43,920 --> 00:30:45,440
Speaker 2: That could be a day there's a lot of movement

606
00:30:45,480 --> 00:30:47,959
Speaker 2: because again teams and players can use that day as

607
00:30:48,000 --> 00:30:51,640
Speaker 2: a negotiating tactic, and we'll also learn exactly who's gonna

608
00:30:51,640 --> 00:30:54,360
Speaker 2: accept who's gonna still be on the market. But yeah,

609
00:30:54,400 --> 00:30:58,400
Speaker 2: there's now that we're into the offseason and free agents

610
00:30:58,400 --> 00:31:01,240
Speaker 2: can sign with any team. Of course, this is baseball,

611
00:31:01,280 --> 00:31:04,560
Speaker 2: so absolutely nothing happens, you know, in basketball as soon

612
00:31:04,560 --> 00:31:07,240
Speaker 2: as free agency starts, there's like fifty signings yes, same

613
00:31:07,280 --> 00:31:10,680
Speaker 2: in the NFL and baseball. You know, free agency starts

614
00:31:10,720 --> 00:31:12,680
Speaker 2: and there's just a you know, it's just a wet

615
00:31:12,680 --> 00:31:17,120
Speaker 2: fart noise, just nothing, just nothing for weeks. So you know,

616
00:31:17,160 --> 00:31:19,080
Speaker 2: this is Scott. This is where Scott gets so mad,

617
00:31:19,080 --> 00:31:21,560
Speaker 2: and I'm with him. It pisses me off to no end.

618
00:31:21,600 --> 00:31:24,480
Speaker 2: But we're just gonna you know, it's kind of hurry

619
00:31:24,520 --> 00:31:28,160
Speaker 2: up and wait. It's like the offseason has started and everybody,

620
00:31:29,200 --> 00:31:32,040
Speaker 2: you know, chill out for two weeks until something happens.

621
00:31:32,080 --> 00:31:35,400
Speaker 2: So but technically anything can happen at any point. Now,

622
00:31:35,480 --> 00:31:37,960
Speaker 2: anybody can sign with anybody. The Braves can sign any

623
00:31:38,000 --> 00:31:42,120
Speaker 2: free agent they want at any time. And at least

624
00:31:42,120 --> 00:31:45,560
Speaker 2: now we know that's a possibility. And you know, an

625
00:31:45,560 --> 00:31:49,160
Speaker 2: emergency podcast could literally happen anymore. So that's at least

626
00:31:49,160 --> 00:31:52,719
Speaker 2: better than before where we knew nothing could happen. So

627
00:31:53,080 --> 00:31:55,560
Speaker 2: free agency has started. We will be here to cover

628
00:31:55,600 --> 00:31:59,240
Speaker 2: it all, of course, every roster move, every payroll add

629
00:31:59,680 --> 00:32:04,920
Speaker 2: anything of significance, oftentimes things of zero significance, which we

630
00:32:04,960 --> 00:32:06,160
Speaker 2: talk a lot about on this show.

631
00:32:07,440 --> 00:32:11,000
Speaker 1: Yeah, we're here to cover it all absolutely. And again,

632
00:32:11,120 --> 00:32:12,520
Speaker 1: you know the big thing about it is is that

633
00:32:12,520 --> 00:32:15,000
Speaker 1: as soon as news breaks, we're gonna be here with

634
00:32:15,040 --> 00:32:18,160
Speaker 1: you discussing it all. You can find Steven Tilbert at

635
00:32:18,240 --> 00:32:22,880
Speaker 1: b Underscore Outliers. Just ignore the the opinions when it

636
00:32:22,880 --> 00:32:25,000
Speaker 1: comes to movies, stick with his opinions when it comes

637
00:32:25,040 --> 00:32:27,200
Speaker 1: to baseball. Of course. You can find me at stats

638
00:32:27,320 --> 00:32:31,520
Speaker 1: sac on Twitter, slash x. Hammer Territory across all forms

639
00:32:31,560 --> 00:32:36,160
Speaker 1: of social media, part of the Foul Territory family of podcasts.

640
00:32:36,280 --> 00:32:39,880
Speaker 1: Until next time, Go braves. We'll talk to you again

641
00:32:40,000 --> 00:32:42,240
Speaker 1: soon here on the Hammer Territory podcast