WEBVTT - Andy McCullough on Dodgers/Marlins Payroll Disparity 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:02.520 The problem is that you are asking a community in 0:00:02.560 --> 0:00:05.840 people in Miami to sort of trust you when the 0:00:05.880 --> 0:00:08.600 history of the franchise is basically not to be trusted. 0:00:14.040 --> 0:00:16.720 Hey, we're back with Andy McCollough from the Athletic joining 0:00:16.800 --> 0:00:19.160 us right now. Put together what's up Andy, Good to 0:00:19.160 --> 0:00:19.400 see you. 0:00:19.520 --> 0:00:21.439 Hey guys, how are you good? 0:00:21.440 --> 0:00:24.160 How are you? And loved what you put together? Encourage 0:00:24.160 --> 0:00:26.880 everyone to check it out. The little disparity between the 0:00:26.920 --> 0:00:29.840 Marlins and the Dodgers and how that series matches up 0:00:29.840 --> 0:00:32.840 for seventy six versus sixty nine million, the payroll gap 0:00:32.880 --> 0:00:35.960 has never been wider. So before we get into that, 0:00:36.840 --> 0:00:41.240 how much consideration did you put into the Pirates instead? 0:00:41.240 --> 0:00:42.839 Because that could have fit them all too right. 0:00:43.520 --> 0:00:46.000 Well, yeah, they just happened to be spending like twenty 0:00:46.000 --> 0:00:49.800 three million more than the Marlins army. And that's we actually, 0:00:49.960 --> 0:00:53.239 you know, I wanted the story to I didn't want 0:00:53.240 --> 0:00:54.600 people to think that the framing of the story was 0:00:54.600 --> 0:00:56.320 specifically picking. 0:00:55.960 --> 0:00:58.200 On the Marlins as a. 0:00:58.440 --> 0:01:01.040 Franchise individually, because I think it's part of a greater 0:01:01.120 --> 0:01:03.000 trend you're seeing in the sport. Both you know, the 0:01:03.240 --> 0:01:06.520 the haves are spending at like accelerated rates and the 0:01:06.560 --> 0:01:08.720 teams that are not spending are just kind of holding firm. 0:01:08.720 --> 0:01:10.399 And so we could have written this like there would 0:01:10.400 --> 0:01:14.000 have been a historic disparity when the Dodgers played the 0:01:14.000 --> 0:01:16.640 Pirates this past weekend. There would have been this disparity 0:01:16.640 --> 0:01:19.440 when they played the A's. They share a complex with 0:01:19.480 --> 0:01:21.760 the White Sox, you know who. There's like almost a 0:01:21.760 --> 0:01:24.720 four hundred million dollar gap. So the Mardels just happened 0:01:24.760 --> 0:01:26.920 to be in last place. 0:01:26.680 --> 0:01:32.000 I guess, Well, and now we arrive on this series, 0:01:32.280 --> 0:01:36.640 which actually was an awesome beginning to the series. So what, 0:01:37.200 --> 0:01:40.759 in your mind was the most interesting part of what 0:01:40.840 --> 0:01:43.240 you put together? Like, what do you think someone reads 0:01:43.280 --> 0:01:47.119 and really resonates with them or stands out? 0:01:47.319 --> 0:01:48.760 Oh, I think I mean, I think it's the type 0:01:48.800 --> 0:01:51.400 of story that, how you I don't think it's going 0:01:51.440 --> 0:01:54.320 to change anyone's mind really per se because I think 0:01:54.360 --> 0:01:58.520 that everyone agrees that the payroll disparity in the sport 0:01:58.680 --> 0:02:01.480 is a problem, right, Like, it's probably not great that 0:02:01.480 --> 0:02:03.840 there's a four hundred million dollar gap. It's probably not 0:02:03.920 --> 0:02:06.440 great that you know, only teams in the top ten 0:02:06.480 --> 0:02:08.160 and payroll have won the World Series in. 0:02:08.160 --> 0:02:09.360 Five of the last six years. 0:02:09.639 --> 0:02:11.640 It's probably not great that a team in the bottom 0:02:11.680 --> 0:02:15.240 ten hasn't won since, you know, the three Florida Marlins. 0:02:16.320 --> 0:02:18.720 They just differ on the solutions, right like, people on 0:02:18.760 --> 0:02:21.200 the you know, the management side, would prefer that there 0:02:21.240 --> 0:02:23.440 are rules to curb the spending, which is why I 0:02:23.440 --> 0:02:26.280 think when the CBA expires at the end of next season, 0:02:26.440 --> 0:02:30.000 you know, the the sort of rancorousness of the likely 0:02:30.080 --> 0:02:32.040 lockout is going to depend on just how willing the 0:02:32.080 --> 0:02:33.760 owners are, you know, to push for. 0:02:33.720 --> 0:02:34.440 A salary cap. 0:02:34.800 --> 0:02:37.200 Obviously, folks from the you know, the labor side, believe 0:02:37.240 --> 0:02:39.840 that owners should be spending more, and they believe that, 0:02:39.919 --> 0:02:42.360 you know, it's like a reward a point to the 0:02:42.400 --> 0:02:45.360 teams like San Diego, like Philadelphia who have pumped a 0:02:45.360 --> 0:02:48.040 ton of money into their franchisees in the last you know, 0:02:48.080 --> 0:02:50.520 five to ten years and have sort of been rewarded 0:02:50.520 --> 0:02:53.000 by creating these contenders kind of out of the ether, 0:02:54.040 --> 0:02:56.320 you know, And the folks on the management side will 0:02:56.680 --> 0:02:58.840 counter back like, okay, but San Diego had to take 0:02:58.840 --> 0:03:00.880 out a loan to make their pay and the Phillies 0:03:00.880 --> 0:03:02.720 you know, sold a big chunk of equity this winter. 0:03:02.760 --> 0:03:03.760 Et cetera, et cetera, and. 0:03:03.720 --> 0:03:06.400 So like it's it's a common problem, you know, as 0:03:06.400 --> 0:03:09.240 AJ was alluding to, you know before the break, like 0:03:09.280 --> 0:03:12.440 there's always going to be labor strife in major sports. 0:03:12.480 --> 0:03:15.720 There's so much money involved. But yeah, like. 0:03:15.680 --> 0:03:19.600 It's it's basically like, why is there so much dialogue 0:03:19.960 --> 0:03:22.799 now about a salary cap as compared to the last time. 0:03:22.880 --> 0:03:25.520 It's because the spending disparity has gotten this wide. 0:03:26.680 --> 0:03:30.600 But AJ brought it up before the Marlins as an organization, 0:03:30.680 --> 0:03:33.200 I get it. It's different ownership, but it's the same 0:03:33.400 --> 0:03:37.160 mo make the playoffs or even win the World Series, 0:03:37.880 --> 0:03:41.280 break the team down. Even in twenty eleven twelve when 0:03:41.320 --> 0:03:43.880 they did the whole Burley and Jose Rays and all. 0:03:43.920 --> 0:03:46.680 Look guys, they even they sold the lies to those players. 0:03:47.000 --> 0:03:49.600 Come on in, we'll get your dog in the houses. 0:03:49.680 --> 0:03:53.480 It'll be great. And then bang trade and sell everybody. 0:03:53.600 --> 0:03:56.560 Is that ever going to change without Major League Baseball 0:03:56.600 --> 0:04:00.760 stepping in in some way to keep it a competitive 0:04:01.360 --> 0:04:04.400 league in the sense that it's about competition and that's 0:04:04.400 --> 0:04:06.920 why they have all these rules, or everybody would just 0:04:07.000 --> 0:04:09.440 do this and say, whatever kind of product we put 0:04:09.480 --> 0:04:09.920 on the field. 0:04:10.400 --> 0:04:11.480 Yeah, it's it's a good question. 0:04:11.600 --> 0:04:14.200 I think part of what makes the Marlins so interesting 0:04:14.240 --> 0:04:17.360 in this case is that there are, like you, if 0:04:17.400 --> 0:04:19.320 you look at this just like in a vacuum, right, 0:04:19.400 --> 0:04:21.640 what Peter Bendix in his front office are trying to 0:04:21.720 --> 0:04:23.800 do with the team kind of stripping down the big 0:04:23.880 --> 0:04:27.880 league roster, you know, trying to you know, concentrate their 0:04:27.920 --> 0:04:32.000 resources on infrastructure and player development and you know all 0:04:32.000 --> 0:04:33.400 that sort of boring stuff. 0:04:33.120 --> 0:04:34.599 You know, a weight room, that type of stuff. 0:04:34.760 --> 0:04:34.880 Right. 0:04:34.960 --> 0:04:36.640 It makes sense, right, Like it makes sense. 0:04:36.640 --> 0:04:38.960 We all know that teams in general are built from 0:04:39.000 --> 0:04:40.680 the ground up, and then you go out and get 0:04:40.680 --> 0:04:41.119 free agents. 0:04:41.200 --> 0:04:41.400 Right. 0:04:41.600 --> 0:04:44.080 The problem is that you are asking a community in 0:04:44.120 --> 0:04:47.840 people in Miami to sort of trust you when the 0:04:47.920 --> 0:04:50.920 history of the franchise is basically not to be trusted. 0:04:50.960 --> 0:04:53.240 Now most of that is under different ownership, right, and 0:04:53.360 --> 0:04:55.880 not under Bruce Sherman, and certainly not under Bendix. 0:04:55.520 --> 0:04:56.080 And his crew. 0:04:56.320 --> 0:04:58.080 But like that's kind of what they're dealing with, and 0:04:58.120 --> 0:05:00.440 that's partially why I think there's probably app feet in 0:05:00.480 --> 0:05:06.680 that market. Yeah, and so like it certainly is a 0:05:07.000 --> 0:05:09.279 we will see if they will break the cycle, Like 0:05:09.320 --> 0:05:13.400 if this group, the Baseball operations group can build something 0:05:13.480 --> 0:05:15.880 of a you know, like the version of the Tampa 0:05:15.920 --> 0:05:18.720 Bay Rays, the Milwaukee Brewers and the competes, and then 0:05:18.720 --> 0:05:21.120 they'll see if they actually spend to try and keep 0:05:21.200 --> 0:05:23.320 up with the Mets and the you know, the Phillies, 0:05:23.360 --> 0:05:25.400 and you know, to an extent, the Braves. But like 0:05:25.640 --> 0:05:27.960 they're dealing with a lot of history working against them. 0:05:28.000 --> 0:05:30.160 I guess how much did. 0:05:30.080 --> 0:05:34.720 You press Sherman about the owner about the grievance. I 0:05:34.800 --> 0:05:37.640 know he declined to comment, and I don't know, you 0:05:37.680 --> 0:05:39.760 know what kind of situation you were in in a 0:05:39.800 --> 0:05:43.279 sense of like pressing him about declining to comment about 0:05:43.640 --> 0:05:46.120 most likely a grievance that's going to be coming because 0:05:46.120 --> 0:05:49.520 of their lack of spending through what they're supposed to 0:05:49.520 --> 0:05:51.320 the threshold that they're supposed. 0:05:50.920 --> 0:05:53.440 To be in. Yeah, I mean they you just said, 0:05:53.480 --> 0:05:55.440 he's not going to talk about it, and so you 0:05:55.480 --> 0:05:57.440 could sort of ask again and ask again. But when 0:05:57.440 --> 0:05:59.440 they say, yeah, we're not talking about that, you kind 0:05:59.440 --> 0:06:02.880 of okay, fair enough. But based on what their actions show, 0:06:02.960 --> 0:06:05.680 they do not appear to be all that concerned about it. 0:06:05.720 --> 0:06:07.960 They have not upped their spending in the way that 0:06:08.040 --> 0:06:10.560 the A's have. But you know that's up for them 0:06:10.640 --> 0:06:12.919 to try and explain because they just weren't going to 0:06:12.960 --> 0:06:13.480 talk about it. 0:06:15.360 --> 0:06:19.320 Crats. Let's talk about the number one recommended dermatologist hair 0:06:19.360 --> 0:06:22.520 growth supplement brand. And it's a brand that you are 0:06:22.560 --> 0:06:23.560 just starting your journey with. 0:06:24.360 --> 0:06:26.840 I'm using what about one and a half two months 0:06:26.839 --> 0:06:29.840 into my journey. It's a six months journey. See where, 0:06:29.960 --> 0:06:33.480 see what I can get? See a little thicker, fuller everywhere, 0:06:33.640 --> 0:06:36.200 filling it out. 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Nutrifold dot com spelled 0:07:08.960 --> 0:07:11.720 and U t r A s O L dot com 0:07:11.760 --> 0:07:15.560 promo code foul. That's neutrafold dot com promo code f oul. 0:07:16.440 --> 0:07:20.960 Andy you mentioned you know what you said about they 0:07:21.000 --> 0:07:24.760 have no collateral. They have no they literally have no 0:07:25.120 --> 0:07:27.080 nothing with the fans. And I think that's the biggest 0:07:27.120 --> 0:07:29.320 thing about this whole thing that bothers me for Sherman 0:07:29.400 --> 0:07:31.160 to come on here and say, oh, we're building this. 0:07:31.600 --> 0:07:34.040 We built the thing in the Dominican and we got 0:07:34.080 --> 0:07:36.800 a better weight room, and we're doing the spring training 0:07:36.840 --> 0:07:40.040 and them now listen, spring training. It's them and the Cardinals. Okay, 0:07:40.040 --> 0:07:42.560 it's not just the Marlins saying oh so he looks 0:07:42.560 --> 0:07:44.080 like it's saying, oh, we're we doing No, it's you 0:07:44.160 --> 0:07:46.800 and the Cardinals. You know, Jupiter. The whole thing is 0:07:47.120 --> 0:07:49.280 also putting in a bunch of money. So let's not 0:07:49.320 --> 0:07:51.680 give him a badge of honor like, oh, way to go, 0:07:52.200 --> 0:07:54.680 you know, Sherman like you way to go, Bruce like. 0:07:54.920 --> 0:07:57.920 But also the problem I have is, you know, he says, 0:07:58.240 --> 0:08:00.400 and you said this, the fans. They don't believe them. 0:08:00.480 --> 0:08:02.840 They haven't given them anything to believe in the years 0:08:02.840 --> 0:08:04.720 when they've gone to the World Series and they've been good. 0:08:04.800 --> 0:08:07.200 The fans have come and they've come to the games, 0:08:07.240 --> 0:08:09.040 and they were I remember going there when they were 0:08:09.480 --> 0:08:11.320 you know, two thousand and three World Series. I was 0:08:11.360 --> 0:08:13.760 down there and it was it was everyone was wearing 0:08:13.800 --> 0:08:16.920 Marlin stuff. Ninety seven, everyone was wearing Marlin stuff. Right, 0:08:17.160 --> 0:08:19.240 But that for years and years and years, they haven't 0:08:19.240 --> 0:08:22.120 given them anything back. So at some point does I 0:08:22.120 --> 0:08:24.120 guess it's the old chicken in the egg question, right, 0:08:24.320 --> 0:08:27.880 do them spending and getting the trust of the fans first, 0:08:28.000 --> 0:08:29.880 or do the fans just have to trust that they're 0:08:29.880 --> 0:08:31.800 going to spend, which doesn't seem to ever happen. 0:08:32.480 --> 0:08:34.640 I think it's I think it's more about them putting 0:08:34.720 --> 0:08:38.240 a competitive product on the field year after year and 0:08:38.320 --> 0:08:42.880 not just you know, sort of basically finishing in last 0:08:42.920 --> 0:08:45.080 every year. Right there, The fans aren't going to come 0:08:45.080 --> 0:08:48.880 out to watch, you know, a last place team. This market, 0:08:48.880 --> 0:08:51.080 I know it's a bit apples and oranges, but like Miami, 0:08:51.400 --> 0:08:54.520 the Heat regularly finished like in the top five in attendance. 0:08:55.400 --> 0:08:58.559 You know, there is obviously a robust baseball culture in 0:08:58.600 --> 0:09:01.280 the city of Miami, and and you know, I would 0:09:01.280 --> 0:09:04.760 be interested to see if the baseball operations department gets 0:09:04.800 --> 0:09:07.600 things up and running and they have them being competitive, 0:09:07.600 --> 0:09:10.680 and that's sort of like eighty five to ninety win window, 0:09:10.720 --> 0:09:12.400 which is certainly not going to be easy to do 0:09:12.440 --> 0:09:14.520 in that division. But if they do that, if attendance 0:09:14.520 --> 0:09:18.120 improves and things like that, I suspect it would. But 0:09:18.360 --> 0:09:20.560 you know, that doesn't necessarily mean that they will be 0:09:20.679 --> 0:09:23.800 they will be competing for like whoever the version of 0:09:23.880 --> 0:09:26.960 Juan Soto or Kyle Tucker is three years down the road, right, Like, 0:09:27.000 --> 0:09:30.839 I think that they as a baseball operations department are 0:09:30.840 --> 0:09:32.800 looking at it as a challenge of like, let's try 0:09:32.840 --> 0:09:36.960 and create, you know, the most robust player development system 0:09:37.040 --> 0:09:39.240 we can, you know, have our sort of big league 0:09:39.240 --> 0:09:41.600 club and minor league system be an incubator for ideas, 0:09:41.640 --> 0:09:43.960 you know, try and be forward thinking and try and 0:09:43.960 --> 0:09:45.920 combat some of these inherent challenges. 0:09:46.559 --> 0:09:47.240 It'll be interesting. 0:09:47.320 --> 0:09:49.960 Like I think it's a it's a very experiment. Makes 0:09:49.960 --> 0:09:52.440 it seem like it's destined to fail, but I think 0:09:52.480 --> 0:09:54.800 it's just an interesting gambit that they're undertaking, and I'm 0:09:54.840 --> 0:09:56.160 curious to see how it plays out. 0:09:57.160 --> 0:09:59.600 Okay, here's here's here's a question on what you just said. 0:09:59.600 --> 0:10:02.160 Though we're not asking, and I don't think the players Association. 0:10:02.200 --> 0:10:03.720 I don't think players are asking them to go out 0:10:03.760 --> 0:10:06.920 and sign one Sodo Show, Tonny pretty Freeman. They're asking 0:10:06.960 --> 0:10:09.560 them to do more than spend one year four point 0:10:09.559 --> 0:10:12.920 five million on Kyle Quantrill. Do more, right, I don't 0:10:12.920 --> 0:10:15.320 think they're expecting them to be the Dodgers, the Mets, 0:10:15.360 --> 0:10:17.319 whoever you want to throw out there, but at least 0:10:17.400 --> 0:10:19.800 try to be competitive, not just say, ah, this is 0:10:19.840 --> 0:10:22.000 another year, we're just gonna throw it away, especially after 0:10:22.000 --> 0:10:24.160 two years ago they made the playoffs and they told 0:10:24.160 --> 0:10:26.480 the manager they're not coming back. They fired kim Ming, Right, 0:10:26.520 --> 0:10:28.400 they make the playoffs and they're like, oh, you're doing 0:10:28.480 --> 0:10:29.040 too good. 0:10:29.440 --> 0:10:30.600 Let's do something different. 0:10:31.760 --> 0:10:33.839 Yeah, I mean, I think that that was a there 0:10:33.880 --> 0:10:36.280 was an obvious reason why there was so much frustration, 0:10:36.480 --> 0:10:38.880 you know, among you know, their what remains kind of 0:10:38.880 --> 0:10:40.960 their fan base after it seemed like they were kind of, 0:10:41.440 --> 0:10:44.080 uh moving in the right direction in twenty twenty three. 0:10:44.240 --> 0:10:45.680 I think at the same time, if you look under 0:10:45.679 --> 0:10:47.640 the hood at that team, it was a lot closer 0:10:47.679 --> 0:10:49.880 to a seventy five win team than an eighty five 0:10:49.920 --> 0:10:52.640 win team. You know, not to slight the accomplishments they had, 0:10:52.640 --> 0:10:54.880 but I think it was reasonable for them to say, like, Okay, 0:10:54.920 --> 0:10:58.040 we probably you know, still need to fix some stuff 0:10:58.080 --> 0:10:59.080 with the infrastructure. 0:11:00.080 --> 0:11:01.959 But yeah, like it's a it's. 0:11:01.800 --> 0:11:06.079 A reasonable, uh sort of complaint, like Okay, why can't 0:11:06.120 --> 0:11:08.920 you do both? Like why can't you spend on the 0:11:08.960 --> 0:11:11.800 weight room? Why can't you do all these you know, 0:11:11.840 --> 0:11:15.199 sort of infrastructure things and also add to the big 0:11:15.280 --> 0:11:18.800 league roster. I think it's a you know, a reasonable complaint, 0:11:18.840 --> 0:11:21.720 and you know, their their responses like we have a plan, 0:11:21.880 --> 0:11:23.640 we we kind of know what we want to do, 0:11:23.679 --> 0:11:25.120 and this is the way we're doing it. 0:11:26.200 --> 0:11:28.320 All right, So they're playing each other right now, the 0:11:28.360 --> 0:11:32.360 Dodgers in the Marlins? Is it unfair to say, are 0:11:32.400 --> 0:11:35.280 we are? We just putting the Marlins in? Everything they 0:11:35.360 --> 0:11:39.600 touch is terrible, Like when we talk about the pitch, Yeah, throwing, 0:11:39.720 --> 0:11:45.880 like practice, live batting, practice sessions. If the Dodgers would 0:11:45.880 --> 0:11:50.520 do that, people be like, they're innovative, they're the next thing. 0:11:50.880 --> 0:11:52.320 So how can we get away from that? 0:11:53.040 --> 0:11:55.320 I think you just see if it works, like see 0:11:55.320 --> 0:11:58.280 if their guys get better, like see if there's results 0:11:58.320 --> 0:12:00.120 on the field. I mean, I think when you know 0:12:00.200 --> 0:12:03.240 Joe Sherman had the story in you know, kind of 0:12:03.280 --> 0:12:05.040 near the end of spring training about how they were 0:12:05.040 --> 0:12:08.000 doing these live vps and you know, in place of 0:12:08.000 --> 0:12:09.960 bullpen sessions, and like a lot of people, I was 0:12:10.000 --> 0:12:11.480 like texting folks around the game, like what do you 0:12:11.520 --> 0:12:13.240 what do you got on this? And they were kind 0:12:13.240 --> 0:12:15.280 of and you know, some people were like this is dumb, 0:12:15.360 --> 0:12:17.520 but the majority of people I talked to were like, 0:12:17.559 --> 0:12:21.439 it actually makes sense. And at a time when more 0:12:21.480 --> 0:12:26.440 and more teams are thinking about competing in a practice setting, 0:12:26.520 --> 0:12:29.520 like sort of amplifying the pressure of practice to prepare 0:12:29.559 --> 0:12:31.880 you for the game. Yeah, it it makes a lot 0:12:31.880 --> 0:12:33.800 of sense. And if it works, it'll be a thing 0:12:33.960 --> 0:12:37.120 that in five years, you know, we will see teams doing. 0:12:37.160 --> 0:12:39.280 It'll it could be a thing, you know, as soon 0:12:39.320 --> 0:12:41.439 as next year that we see teams doing, or it 0:12:41.480 --> 0:12:43.319 could be scrapped before the year's over. I mean, I 0:12:43.320 --> 0:12:46.640 think that like a willingness to you know, sort of 0:12:46.679 --> 0:12:49.480 look silly is kind of what an organization like this 0:12:49.559 --> 0:12:52.640 has to do. And you're right cratzy, like if the 0:12:52.679 --> 0:12:56.200 Dodgers announced this or something, or if like you know, 0:12:56.440 --> 0:12:58.320 like Max Sureser came out and said like I'm getting 0:12:58.360 --> 0:12:59.040 rid of bullpens. 0:12:59.040 --> 0:13:01.000 I'm doing live BP, you know, because this is what 0:13:01.040 --> 0:13:01.400 I want to do. 0:13:01.480 --> 0:13:03.680 Everyone be like yeah, dude, like Max gets it, like 0:13:03.760 --> 0:13:07.120 this guy's like you know, But like the Marlins don't 0:13:07.160 --> 0:13:12.520 have that credibility, right, And I think to their credit 0:13:12.640 --> 0:13:14.560 as of right now, you know, they say they don't 0:13:14.600 --> 0:13:16.520 really care if people make fun of them, if their 0:13:16.559 --> 0:13:19.240 stuff works, you know what I mean. 0:13:20.000 --> 0:13:23.280 Yeah, I'm with you. It's tough when that team is 0:13:23.360 --> 0:13:26.800 trying to lead the pack, right, I mean that's part 0:13:26.800 --> 0:13:29.040 of it too. I think you gain some credibility when 0:13:29.160 --> 0:13:32.199 you innovate and you're successful along the way. I don't 0:13:32.200 --> 0:13:33.960 think anyone wants to look at the Marlins over the 0:13:33.960 --> 0:13:37.000 past twenty years and be like, I'm copying that format. 0:13:37.240 --> 0:13:40.319 It's really working, right, there's winning, there's you know a 0:13:40.360 --> 0:13:42.400 lot of fans showing up the whole deal like it 0:13:42.800 --> 0:13:45.680 has not worked out, and I feel like they just 0:13:45.800 --> 0:13:48.720 built back up and then made the playoffs. Then they're 0:13:48.800 --> 0:13:50.600 starting over again. But I do want to spend some 0:13:50.640 --> 0:13:53.040 time on the Dodgers here, so I want to start 0:13:53.040 --> 0:13:56.079 with this, right. The off season was wild and super 0:13:56.080 --> 0:13:59.000 successful for them, and fans were freaking out. And since 0:13:59.000 --> 0:14:01.960 there're ain't no start about a five hundred team, I 0:14:01.960 --> 0:14:03.599 think it's safe to say this is not going to 0:14:03.640 --> 0:14:06.520 be the best regular season team of all time. They're 0:14:06.559 --> 0:14:08.880 not going to win one hundred twenty games. So what 0:14:08.920 --> 0:14:11.480 are your thoughts on the Dodger side of this equation 0:14:11.600 --> 0:14:14.880 where you know, money can buy you a level of happiness, 0:14:14.880 --> 0:14:17.000 but not all happiness. And then I want to get 0:14:17.040 --> 0:14:20.200 into a problem with the pitching injuries frankly, but what 0:14:20.240 --> 0:14:21.240 do you think overall? 0:14:21.840 --> 0:14:24.560 I mean, it's kind of about how you'd expect. I 0:14:24.600 --> 0:14:29.280 think maybe they've been a little bit worse, you know, 0:14:29.400 --> 0:14:30.680 than than you would have predicted. 0:14:30.720 --> 0:14:32.720 But like, yeah, they're they're. 0:14:32.400 --> 0:14:35.040 Going to win their division, they will be the you know, 0:14:35.040 --> 0:14:38.000 almost certainly the number one seed in the West, and 0:14:38.360 --> 0:14:41.960 we will see how it goes in October. You know, 0:14:41.960 --> 0:14:46.080 Toddler Glasnow's hurt Snell is you know a bit of 0:14:46.080 --> 0:14:48.000 a question mark, which should be okay. 0:14:48.440 --> 0:14:48.720 Uh. 0:14:48.760 --> 0:14:50.560 You know the running joke that a lot you know, 0:14:50.720 --> 0:14:53.240 myself and a lot of baseball writers were making as 0:14:53.280 --> 0:14:56.440 they just kept signing pitchers this offseason is like, well, all, 0:14:56.480 --> 0:14:59.200 remember this day when Ben Casparius is starting game one 0:14:59.240 --> 0:15:01.920 of the nld us, and you know Casparius is like 0:15:02.000 --> 0:15:06.720 now being stretched out potentially for the rotation. So like, yeah, 0:15:06.840 --> 0:15:09.760 I think they're perfectly in a fine spot. It's a 0:15:09.800 --> 0:15:12.880 long season. You know, they're hopeful that they can get 0:15:12.920 --> 0:15:17.960 through it in a scenario where like Snell, Glass, now, Yamamoto, Sasaki, 0:15:18.640 --> 0:15:22.480 maybe Otani and even Kershaw, you know, Dustin May all 0:15:22.560 --> 0:15:25.200 these guys are available, but most likely several of them 0:15:25.200 --> 0:15:27.160 are going to be down. But the whole point of 0:15:27.160 --> 0:15:29.000 the spending was just to you know, be able to 0:15:29.000 --> 0:15:32.280 throw numbers at the sort of inevitability of picture attrition. 0:15:34.200 --> 0:15:37.160 Okay, so let's get to picture attrition. You know, the 0:15:37.200 --> 0:15:41.280 Dodgers are down Glass now, right now, They're down Blake Snell, 0:15:41.520 --> 0:15:43.960 and we can go over a list of some others. 0:15:44.360 --> 0:15:48.960 How do we tie this into the Dodgers pitching? I 0:15:48.960 --> 0:15:51.600 would say epidemic. I mean, Andrew Friedman talked about it 0:15:51.600 --> 0:15:52.960 and said, we have to figure this out in the 0:15:52.960 --> 0:15:55.560 off season. But is it something that they're doing or 0:15:55.640 --> 0:15:58.120 is it more just about having a lot of money, 0:15:58.440 --> 0:16:02.240 spending that money on pitchers with elite stuff, and those 0:16:02.280 --> 0:16:04.680 guys tend to get hurt more often, right. 0:16:05.280 --> 0:16:07.560 Yeah, I mean, it's not like Tyler Glasnaw was making 0:16:07.600 --> 0:16:09.600 thirty starts a year for the Rays before he came 0:16:09.640 --> 0:16:11.360 over to the Dodgers, So like I would just put 0:16:11.440 --> 0:16:13.880 him in a separate category. Snell's thing seems to be 0:16:15.680 --> 0:16:18.280 relatively minor, and they're just going to be kind of 0:16:18.320 --> 0:16:21.640 careful with it. And that's sort of the uh, you know, 0:16:21.680 --> 0:16:23.520 sort of the privilege of all the talent that they have. 0:16:23.560 --> 0:16:24.640 They don't have to worry about it. 0:16:24.680 --> 0:16:27.600 But you know, like, I don't know, is it something 0:16:27.600 --> 0:16:29.960 that the Dodgers are doing that Clayton Kershaw's on the 0:16:30.000 --> 0:16:31.640 ale or the fact that he's like pitched in the 0:16:31.680 --> 0:16:34.480 majors for seventeen years, right, and then they've gone through, 0:16:34.520 --> 0:16:36.920 you know a lot of stuff with you know, the 0:16:36.960 --> 0:16:39.720 Gavin Stones, the River Ryan's, the Machines, you know, all 0:16:39.720 --> 0:16:42.360 those guys. They had that autopsy this past winter in 0:16:42.360 --> 0:16:44.840 which they were trying to figure out kind of how 0:16:44.840 --> 0:16:47.920 to keep guys healthy, and it's like, you're all these 0:16:47.920 --> 0:16:49.080 guys who were coming off surgery. 0:16:49.120 --> 0:16:51.480 They're not suddenly going to be healthy in twenty twenty five. 0:16:51.520 --> 0:16:54.240 So some of that is just the residue from you know, 0:16:54.320 --> 0:16:55.560 kind of what they were trying to fix with their 0:16:55.560 --> 0:16:59.080 player developments system over the winter. 0:17:00.360 --> 0:17:03.920 Okay, well, if you want more on obviously this series 0:17:03.960 --> 0:17:06.879 in the big picture, then check out Andy's article right 0:17:06.920 --> 0:17:08.880 now in The Athletic. Put a lot of good work 0:17:08.880 --> 0:17:11.560 into it. Andy, thanks for joining us. Man appreciate it. 0:17:11.920 --> 0:17:13.840 Thanks so much. Have a good one, guys, Thank you 0:17:13.920 --> 0:17:14.239 you too.