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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 are having a great, great week

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Speaker 1: so far, the week before Christmas. Hope you everyone is

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Speaker 1: hey getting in line to get their presents bought, or

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Speaker 1: if you've already bought them, kudos to you. I'm still

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Speaker 1: making out my list for my family and getting dirty

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Speaker 1: looks every time I see them. So I guess we

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Speaker 1: all have different perspectives on this time of year. But no,

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Speaker 1: hopefully everyone is having a happy and safe holiday season.

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Speaker 1: And Stephen, it is always good to talk with you.

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Speaker 1: Happy holidays to you, sir. How thing's been on your own?

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Speaker 2: Sean, what's a buddy? Yeah, man, it's I don't actually

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Speaker 2: remember the last time you and I did one of these.

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Speaker 2: We've done some crossover shows here recently, but yeah, it's good,

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Speaker 2: always good to talk to you. Of course, there's a

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Speaker 2: busy time of year for everybody. Of course, Christmas is

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Speaker 2: a week away, and you know everybody's shopping and getting

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Speaker 2: stuff done. So the one group of people who apparently

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Speaker 2: aren't that busy is the team that we cover. Unfortunately,

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Speaker 2: I don't know. Alex is still making out his shopping

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Speaker 2: list as well. But we have gone yet again another

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Speaker 2: you know, one of the I think the last time

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Speaker 2: we did a show was on Sunday. So we've gone

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Speaker 2: another four days without a move of any note to

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Speaker 2: talk about, which is becoming the norm unfortunately this offseason.

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Speaker 2: So we do have a couple of small things to

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Speaker 2: get to tonight. The Pray's made some announcements about you know,

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Speaker 2: fan Fest and some TV stuff that we're gonna talk about,

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Speaker 2: and hopefully you know, MLB offices typically closed pretty early

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Speaker 2: next week, so the Braves probably have another three or

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Speaker 2: four days before Christmas officially gets here to make a move.

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Speaker 2: It would be tremendously helpful for us who have to

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Speaker 2: make content if they would make a move before Christmas

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Speaker 2: so that we would have something to talk about, but

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Speaker 2: as we've seen so far, that's certainly not guaranteed. So

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Speaker 2: but yeah, man, it's always good to do these with you.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, agreed. And that's the thing about it is that

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Speaker 1: you know a couple of things, you know, kind of

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Speaker 1: you know, really you know, set this in place, you know,

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Speaker 1: with this being so close to Christmas. Number one, it's

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Speaker 1: not just the fact that the Braves haven't made a move.

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Speaker 1: They've been radio silent, right Like, there's been very little

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Speaker 1: rumors or connection to you know, talks or anything like that.

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Speaker 1: We've heard very little in the form of you know,

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Speaker 1: moves or focused players that the Braves are focused on.

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Speaker 1: You know, Bob night Gale said the Braves were finalists

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Speaker 1: in the Garrett Crochet trade.

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Speaker 2: That's fine.

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Speaker 1: You know, we did hear some rumblings that the Braves

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Speaker 1: you know, could have been talking with Willia Dobmas before

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Speaker 1: he went to the Giants. You know that that's just

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Speaker 1: general talk. But we are not seeing a lot of rumors.

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Speaker 1: We're obviously not seeing a lot of activity. And beyond that,

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Speaker 1: it's the fact that number one, the Braves have more

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Speaker 1: needs this offseason. They still need a starter, a reliever,

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Speaker 1: and another outfielder if it's to be, you know, really

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Speaker 1: an ideal off season for this team. They haven't. They

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Speaker 1: have several needs that they need to address. They have

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Speaker 1: not done anything you know that has clearly they have

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Speaker 1: not made a move that clearly has directly addressed one

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Speaker 1: of those needs is of yet. But even more so

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Speaker 1: than that, Steven you know fellow here a Territory podcaster

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Speaker 1: Scott Coleman. You and him were going back and forth

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Speaker 1: in our chat about just how much heavy lifting Alexanthopolis

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Speaker 1: usually does before the Christmas holiday, and he's done very little.

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Speaker 1: It's just it's been a very uncharacteristic start to the

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Speaker 1: off season for the Braves. Not saying that means it's

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Speaker 1: going to be a disappointing offseason two months from now,

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Speaker 1: but it's just been uncharacteristic, to say the least.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, you know, and we said it at

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Speaker 2: the beginning of the off season. If you go back

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Speaker 2: and look at Alex's history of his winters as the

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Speaker 2: Braves GM, he does a lot of heavy lifting in

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Speaker 2: November in early December. Like it's not uncommon at all,

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Speaker 2: you know. I remember the Will Smith signing, the Josh

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Speaker 2: Donaldson signing, the Brian mccannon signing. Uh, you know, the

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Speaker 2: Sean Murphy trade, the Jared Kelnick trade, Joejimenez signing, the

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Speaker 2: Travis Darnault signing, the original one. You know, you can

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Speaker 2: go on and on and on. There's there has always

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Speaker 2: been major activity early in the off season for Alex,

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Speaker 2: and I think the difference this offseason is that the

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Speaker 2: market has been so incredibly hot, and Alex strikes early

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Speaker 2: because I think he's looking for a deal and he's

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Speaker 2: been able to find those in years past that he's

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Speaker 2: just not able to find right now. And I get it.

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Speaker 2: There's a lot of angst. There's a lot of angst

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Speaker 2: among his Braves fans right now. You know, if you're

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Speaker 2: on Twitter or x or whatever the hell it's called,

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Speaker 2: you see it every day. People are angry. And I'll

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Speaker 2: say this about that because there's been a lot of

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Speaker 2: conversation about it. If you are judging the off season

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Speaker 2: before the off season is over, then I think what

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Speaker 2: you're doing is dumb. If you are somebody that simply

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Speaker 2: just wants to move to have something to talk about,

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Speaker 2: because that's the position that like we're in, I think

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Speaker 2: that's perfectly reasonable. Like other teams are making moves, and

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Speaker 2: so as a Braves fan, you know, you get a

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Speaker 2: little fullmo like you want to move to talk about,

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Speaker 2: and you want to move to think about, and a

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Speaker 2: move to dream about, and like, I get that. That

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Speaker 2: stuff to me is fine. When people are just like

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Speaker 2: I just want to move, I don't really have a

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Speaker 2: problem with that. The thing I have a problem is

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Speaker 2: people that are already pre judging the off season before

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Speaker 2: it's even over. You know, Alex is not doing this.

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Speaker 2: Ilex not gonna do it. The Braves aren't gonna spend

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Speaker 2: any money, you know, the old Braves are back. That

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Speaker 2: stuff is nonsense, and that stuff needs to be called out.

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Speaker 2: And I know Jeff Passon went on Atlanta Radio this week,

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Speaker 2: and think some of the hosts on there were we're

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Speaker 2: trying to rip Alex a little bit for his lack

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Speaker 2: of moves so far. And I think Bassan pointed out, like, listen,

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Speaker 2: this is not his type of market. And that's true,

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Speaker 2: it's not. He is not a guy that's just gonna,

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Speaker 2: you know, add twenty percent to a guy's free agent

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Speaker 2: value and say yeah, let's do it. You know, that's

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Speaker 2: just not what he does. For better or for worse,

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Speaker 2: it's not always the right thing. I'm not saying he

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Speaker 2: bats a thousand, but I think in general he's done

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Speaker 2: pretty good. So you know, if you're somebody who just

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Speaker 2: wants to move, I get it. I'm right there at

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Speaker 2: trust me. You should see our you should see our

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Speaker 2: dms that we send every day to each other on

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Speaker 2: this podcast. I mean we're desperate for anything to talk

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Speaker 2: about for content, So I completely get that. But if

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Speaker 2: you're already pre judging the off season before it's even over,

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Speaker 2: you got to relax. I mean, come on this. Alex

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Speaker 2: has been one of the best front off his execs

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Speaker 2: in the last seven years, and he's at least earned

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Speaker 2: the benefit of the doubt of waiting till the off

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Speaker 2: season is over before we judge the off season. I

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Speaker 2: think that's a perfectly reasonable request. So I get one,

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Speaker 2: I don't truly understand the other. But yeah, it's been

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Speaker 2: frustrating and we're just waiting on that kind of first

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Speaker 2: big edition. They've done some minor league stuff that we'll

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Speaker 2: talk about here in a second, but we haven't seen

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Speaker 2: that big major league edition yet, and you know, we're

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Speaker 2: just waiting now.

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Speaker 1: As much heavy lifting as Alex Andthopolis has done in

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Speaker 1: the off season, I also want to point out, and

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Speaker 1: there's been extenuating circumstances in a couple of these examples,

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Speaker 1: but I also want to point out that some of

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Speaker 1: the biggest moves that he's made during his tenure as

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Speaker 1: Graves GM have been later on in the off season.

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Speaker 1: For instance, he signed Chris Sayle, you know, I believe

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Speaker 1: it was December thirtieth. Yeah, it was December thirtieth of

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Speaker 1: the twenty twenty three He didn't sign Marcelo Zuna until

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Speaker 1: January twenty first of twenty twenty, you know, before COVID hit.

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Speaker 1: And of course, though it was due to the lockout

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Speaker 1: after the two thousand and what twenty two season, twenty

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Speaker 1: twenty one season, he traded for Matt Olsen in March.

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Speaker 1: So the thing I'm getting at is is that even

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Speaker 1: though we see a lot of the heavy lifting alexandoppless,

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Speaker 1: Steele has found good deals that obviously for multiple years

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Speaker 1: have paid off in the case of Olsen or Arizuna,

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Speaker 1: or paid off perhaps in the best movies made as

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Speaker 1: a GM in Chris Sale. So just though we have

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Speaker 1: not yet seen something occur, that does not mean that

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Speaker 1: since it hasn't happened yet, the chances of it not

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Speaker 1: being significant are much higher than they were six weeks ago.

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Speaker 1: There's still plenty of potential moves that can be made,

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Speaker 1: and if there is a GM in baseball who typically

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Speaker 1: is going to find a way to make an unexpected

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Speaker 1: move that will prove to be more valuable than anybody

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Speaker 1: could have anticipated. No one has a better track record

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Speaker 1: in that avenue than Alexandopolis.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and I think some of the inks is tied

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Speaker 2: to the free agent market just watching names dwindle. You know,

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Speaker 2: people just are checking names off, like well, you know,

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Speaker 2: the of Aaldi, Nathany Evaldi signing with the Rangers I

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Speaker 2: think really set some people off because that was one

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Speaker 2: of the few names, was one of the few rumors

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Speaker 2: that we've actually had where Mark Bowman reported early in

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Speaker 2: the off season that they were interested in Evaldi. So

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Speaker 2: when he signed, you know, it set people off. And

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Speaker 2: then Max Freed signed with the Yankees, which set off

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Speaker 2: a whole nother round of you know, another fan favorite

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Speaker 2: signing somewhere else for big money. You know, the Mets

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Speaker 2: signing Soto didn't help certainly, So I understand where the

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Speaker 2: Anks is coming from. And you know, Alex is just

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Speaker 2: waiting for his type of move, and in the past

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Speaker 2: he's been able to find those very quickly, and like

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Speaker 2: you said, there's been times where he's waited to the

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Speaker 2: end of the winter to find a you know, a

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Speaker 2: deal that he likes as well. You know, I've I

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Speaker 2: have no doubt that there are moves coming. I know

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Speaker 2: people are like, they're not going to do anything. They're

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Speaker 2: just they're resetting the luxury tax, and they if they

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Speaker 2: did nothing, they would have they would be reducing payroll

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Speaker 2: by like thirty million dollars from last year. And I

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Speaker 2: just can't imagine a world we're in the middle of

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Speaker 2: this World Series contention window while the battery is packed

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Speaker 2: every night and they're printing money over there, that they

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Speaker 2: would cut payroll by thirty plus million dollars. I just

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Speaker 2: that doesn't make sense to me. And until I see

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Speaker 2: it happen, I absolutely will not believe it. I am

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Speaker 2: still firmly in the camp that they are going to

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Speaker 2: make moves. I think they're gonna make some significant moves.

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Speaker 2: It will probably be names that we have not talked

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Speaker 2: about like it normally is, but I do think they're coming.

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Speaker 2: So we just got away for him.

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Speaker 1: And I know that Alex, you know, depending on how

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Speaker 1: you want to use this phrase, I know Alex doesn't

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Speaker 1: make a move. He's not reactive, right, He doesn't make

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Speaker 1: the move just because another team does. He tries to

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Speaker 1: be proactive and making a move that makes sense for

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Speaker 1: the Braves. But to your point, we're in the middle

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Speaker 1: of this contention window, we do have some money freed up.

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Speaker 1: We made it a point to free up money, and

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Speaker 1: we have even more reason because you know, again I

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Speaker 1: understand he doesn't make moves to be reactive, but it's

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Speaker 1: also just common since that if the Mets and the

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Speaker 1: Dodgers are continuing to get better, you need to get

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Speaker 1: better yourself. He knows now is the time to continue

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Speaker 1: to be aggressive and see what can be done. And

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Speaker 1: to your point, Stephen, I think that we are going

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Speaker 1: to see those moves made in time. But that doesn't

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Speaker 1: mean that of the move that even though no clear cut,

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Speaker 1: no you know, just straightforward move has been made to

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Speaker 1: again address you know, the need for a starter or

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Speaker 1: reliever or an outfielder yet this all season, that doesn't

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Speaker 1: mean that it's not worth discussing some of the new

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Speaker 1: faces that have been brought into the organization. Several former

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Speaker 1: nationals have been brought into the organization via minor league signings.

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Speaker 1: I know that the big one that we've talked about

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Speaker 1: so far is Brian de la Cruz, who's a former

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Speaker 1: Marlin and Pirate. But Stephen, a couple of you know,

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Speaker 1: older relievers can familiar faces in an outfielder. I've recently

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Speaker 1: been brought into the organization to come into spring training

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Speaker 1: to maybe have an outside shot at making the team.

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Speaker 1: Just anything catch your eye when it comes to the

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Speaker 1: minor league signings we've seen for the Braves over the

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Speaker 1: past week or so.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, Connor Kappel is probably the most interesting name. He's

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Speaker 2: an outfielder. He's actually had pretty good numbers as a

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Speaker 2: major leaguer. I think he's got a career like one

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Speaker 2: twenty WRC plus. He just hasn't He's he hasn't played

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Speaker 2: a lot. He doesn't have a ton of innings and

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Speaker 2: at bats, but he's got like a career three sixty

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Speaker 2: on base percentage or something like that. I I was

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Speaker 2: talking to somebody on Twitter. I wouldn't be surprised if

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Speaker 2: he ended up being the better player versus Brian Day

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Speaker 2: La Cruz, who got all the who got all the attention. So, yeah,

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Speaker 2: he's a guy that's interesting to me. You know, there

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Speaker 2: was the Jordan Williams I'm not gonna say signing because

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Speaker 2: the Braves still haven't confirmed that, but there was the

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Speaker 2: Brian Uh, the Jordan Williams report that he was signing

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Speaker 2: a minor league deal, with the Braves. If that does

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Speaker 2: end up happening, then you know, he's a guy that

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Speaker 2: throws hard. He can throw ninety eight, can touch ninety nine.

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Speaker 2: He has no clue where it's going most of the time.

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Speaker 2: His walk totals in the majors have been scary, to

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Speaker 2: say the least. But he does throw hard, and you

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Speaker 2: can't teach that. So you know, if you can find

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Speaker 2: a pitching coach that can help him with his command,

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Speaker 2: then you know, for a minor league signing with no risk,

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Speaker 2: you know it's not a bad play to make, and

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Speaker 2: there's gonna be an I think there's gonna be a

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Speaker 2: number of guys like that who they I think they're

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Speaker 2: gonna try to find maybe their eighth, seventh, or eighth

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Speaker 2: bullpen piece by bringing in a bunch of minor league guys,

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Speaker 2: guys on minor league deals and just having a big

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Speaker 2: tryout in spring training and see if any of it,

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Speaker 2: See if you hit it on any of them. They're

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Speaker 2: basically lottery tickets. I mean, that's what that's what minor

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Speaker 2: league signings are. You know, these guys obviously don't have

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Speaker 2: enough demand to even get guaranteed money or guaranteed forty

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Speaker 2: man spots. So you know, you hand them out, you

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Speaker 2: hand out an invite to spring training and and you see,

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Speaker 2: if you hit, and if you don't hit, it's no

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Speaker 2: skin off your back and just release them. So the

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Speaker 2: Reds are gonna do a number of these. You know.

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Speaker 2: Every time one of these pop, you know, you get

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Speaker 2: another round of fans being like, oh, here they go,

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Speaker 2: you know, bargain shopping again. But every team does this.

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Speaker 2: Every team signs a bunch of minor league free agents

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Speaker 2: to bring in the camp just to compete for jobs.

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Speaker 2: And you know, every every team needs triple a depth.

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Speaker 2: You know, we've seen the last couple of years with

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Speaker 2: the Braves, especially with a number of injuries they've had.

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Speaker 2: Like you you use that depth quite a bit. It matters,

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Speaker 2: Like the players you have at Gwinnett matter because you're

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Speaker 2: one play away from that player being in Atlanta. So

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Speaker 2: you know, I know they don't get a lot of

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Speaker 2: pub and I know people don't really care about them,

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Speaker 2: but you know, these deals matter. Guys like this Da Cruz,

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Speaker 2: Connor Caple like those guys could end up playing roles

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Speaker 2: on the Braves at some point. You know, even if

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Speaker 2: the Braves go out and make bigger moves. Injuries happen,

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Speaker 2: so you know why they don't get a lot of publicity.

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Speaker 2: They are important. I think the Braves will continue to

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Speaker 2: do them every team does. Bring in a bunch of

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Speaker 2: guys and see if if if, you you know, catch

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Speaker 2: lightning in a bottle and maybe get a real contributor

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Speaker 2: for twenty twenty five.

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Speaker 1: Absolutely, and the other big you know, off season story

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Speaker 1: that you know we've been kind of you know, paying

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Speaker 1: attention to steam and is of course the ever evolving

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Speaker 1: saga when it comes to just how the Braves are

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Speaker 1: going to be viewed in twenty twenty five and who's

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Speaker 1: going to be able to view them. And there was

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Speaker 1: actually news today that the Braves had agreed to basically

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Speaker 1: a new I don't necessarily know, a new addition to

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Speaker 1: their overall media deal that they have in its position

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Speaker 1: to offer a limited number of games to a bigger

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Speaker 1: overall market than they currently have, you know, through Fandel,

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Speaker 1: you know, Sports South or Fandel whatever it's called. My

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Speaker 1: point is is that it's it seems to be a

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Speaker 1: positive development that once again is aimed towards allowing a

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Speaker 1: bigger crowd to see it to be able to see

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Speaker 1: the Braves in first person or excuse me, to see

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Speaker 1: the Braves light.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, so they struck a deal with Gray Media. Actually,

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Speaker 2: not familiar with Gray Media. They're not in my area.

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Speaker 2: I'm not in I don't live in Atlanta. I live

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Speaker 2: in Birmingham and we don't have it here. But apparently

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Speaker 2: they are a smaller media network that does have you know,

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Speaker 2: stations all over the Southeast in different states and mainly

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Speaker 2: in the Braves you know footprint. And essentially the deal

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Speaker 2: today was just Gray Media is gonna simulcast fifteen additional

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Speaker 2: games in the regular season so that people that maybe

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Speaker 2: otherwise didn't have access to Braves games well at least

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Speaker 2: have access to those fifteen games. And then on top

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Speaker 2: of that, Gray Media is gonna get the exclusive rights

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Speaker 2: to ten spring training games, which means you have to

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Speaker 2: have great media to watch those ten spring training games. Now,

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Speaker 2: I had people in my mentions freaking out a little

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Speaker 2: bit because they didn't The press release wasn't super clear

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Speaker 2: because people are thinking, you know, it's a new network

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Speaker 2: that they don't have, and they were gonna lose Braves games.

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Speaker 2: Nobody's losing any games because of this. This is purely additioned.

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Speaker 2: This is purely adding on a network to the Braves,

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Speaker 2: you know, media cycle that can show games to people

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Speaker 2: that otherwise wouldn't have had access to games. So there's

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Speaker 2: no calls for concern here. You're not losing any games.

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Speaker 2: The only the only thing that's exclusive about this dealer

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Speaker 2: are the ten spring training games, and those are likely

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Speaker 2: games that you would not have had access to anyway.

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Speaker 2: The Braves and FanDuel kind of famously only only usually

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Speaker 2: air about, you know, four or five spring training games

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Speaker 2: a year anyway, So you know, yes, there will be

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Speaker 2: ten exclusive spring training games on Gray Media, but if

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Speaker 2: this deal it had not happened, you wouldn't have had

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Speaker 2: access to those ten games anyway. And then the the

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Speaker 2: fifteen regular season games are just simulcasts, so they're not

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Speaker 2: they don't have exclusive rights to those games. They just

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Speaker 2: have co rights in a sense essentially. So yeah, you're

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Speaker 2: not losing you know, people were figuring you're not losing

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Speaker 2: any games because of this, Just people that maybe otherwise

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Speaker 2: didn't have access to games will get a handful of

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Speaker 2: games in twenty twenty five that they can watch through.

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Speaker 2: If you're somebody who lives in area that has Gray Media,

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Speaker 2: then you'll have access to fifteen games that you otherwise

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Speaker 2: wouldn't have had before this.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, to bring it down a bit further, Gray seems

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Speaker 1: to be more of like a regional network in the Southeast,

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Speaker 1: and people are probably not familiar with the name Gray

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Speaker 1: because it's kind of Gray is the owner of media

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Speaker 1: outlets in several markets, you know, like, for instance, they

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Speaker 1: own a certain television station here in Memphis, or they

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Speaker 1: own a certain television station in Nashville.

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Speaker 2: I think they own a Peachtree Yes in Atlanta if

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Speaker 2: you live in it. If you're somebody who lives in Atlanta,

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Speaker 2: and obviously a lot of our followers, do you know

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Speaker 2: what Peachtree is? So, yeah, you know who this is

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Speaker 2: better than we do.

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Speaker 1: Probably, So you're probably not going to be familiar with

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Speaker 1: the name Gray Media, but you likely will be familiar

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Speaker 1: with the news station that Gray Media owns in your market.

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Speaker 1: So my encouragement would be for if you're listening to

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Speaker 1: Hammer Territory, if you saw the news today, go online

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Speaker 1: and look and see Gray Media will show all the

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Speaker 1: different television stations that they own in the specific markets

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Speaker 1: where they are, and that will provide you with the

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Speaker 1: familiar name and thus the channel that you'll be able

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Speaker 1: to provide be able to watch these Braves games on.

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Speaker 1: So that's kind of how to break it down how

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Speaker 1: you're going to be able to actually get addition, an

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Speaker 1: additional option to be able to watch the Braves games

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Speaker 1: and Stephen just a small build up to this. It

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Speaker 1: doesn't seem as if this is something that's going to

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Speaker 1: get in the way of what we talked about earlier

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Speaker 1: in the offseason. It still very much seems that option

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Speaker 1: through Amazon, where basically Braves fans can buy a separate

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Speaker 1: streaming service to get all the games that they want,

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Speaker 1: that certainly still seems to be on the table. All

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Speaker 1: this stuff of Gray Media is in addition to what's

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Speaker 1: been discussed around that option eventually coming down the line.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and we still don't have details for the Amazon stuff.

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Speaker 2: I know we said on that show that we did

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Speaker 2: when it broke that we would talk about the details

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Speaker 2: when we have them. We still don't have them. That's

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Speaker 2: stuff that actually comes out in like late January as

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Speaker 2: fans really start gearing up to watch a full season.

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Speaker 2: So once we have those details, we will obviously lay

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Speaker 2: them out as best we can. But yeah, and this,

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Speaker 2: you know, this is a relatively small deal. It's fifteen games, right,

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Speaker 2: I mean it's fifteen out of one hundred and sixty

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Speaker 2: two games. So this is I think this is a

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Speaker 2: build up to maybe a bigger relationship down the line.

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Speaker 2: You know, obviously, the Braves are going to have their

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Speaker 2: TV rights back in a couple of years. I think

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Speaker 2: twenty twenty seven is the last year of this contract

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Speaker 2: with with Sinclair and Diamond Sports, which obviously just went

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Speaker 2: through the big bankruptcy case that we covered in detail

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Speaker 2: back a few weeks ago. But yeah, the Braves will

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Speaker 2: get their rights back in twenty seven, and they can

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Speaker 2: you know, they can do anything they want. They can

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Speaker 2: start their own network, they can keep it all in house.

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Speaker 2: They can go third party again like they have for

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Speaker 2: the better part of my life. So you know, that'll

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Speaker 2: be a big story in a couple of years about

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Speaker 2: what they're gonna do with their TV rights. But as

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Speaker 2: of now, well, if you watch the team on you know,

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Speaker 2: Bally Sports last year, you'll watch them the exact same

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Speaker 2: way this year. It's just under a new name, FanDuel.

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Speaker 2: This deal today doesn't affect you in any way unless

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Speaker 2: you are somebody who didn't get Braves games before, Like

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Speaker 2: Sean just said, you might be able to get the

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Speaker 2: now check and see if Gray Media is the parent

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Speaker 2: company of whatever network that you have in your area.

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Speaker 2: But yeah, if you're if you're somebody who's who's worried

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Speaker 2: about that this does, this doesn't affect you at all.

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Speaker 2: You still watch Braves games the same way you did

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Speaker 2: last year.

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Speaker 1: And yeah, and I know that it also is continuing

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Speaker 1: to be a bit of a weird offseason in terms

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Speaker 1: of the developments that are happening.

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Speaker 2: You know.

431
00:21:38,920 --> 00:21:41,479
Speaker 1: Of course, it was also announced that fan Fest, I

432
00:21:41,520 --> 00:21:45,000
Speaker 1: know that that had turned into a regional you know

433
00:21:45,440 --> 00:21:48,280
Speaker 1: event for many in Braves country. That actually is not

434
00:21:48,400 --> 00:21:52,120
Speaker 1: going to happen this year, the Braves announced. But part

435
00:21:52,119 --> 00:21:54,119
Speaker 1: of the reason why is because it looks like the

436
00:21:54,119 --> 00:21:57,360
Speaker 1: focus is on making the twenty twenty five All Star Game,

437
00:21:57,400 --> 00:21:59,080
Speaker 1: which is going to be in Atlanta, which we're going

438
00:21:59,080 --> 00:22:01,840
Speaker 1: to as soon as the calendar serns to twenty twenty five.

439
00:22:01,880 --> 00:22:04,280
Speaker 1: You know, there's going to be ramping up for that.

440
00:22:04,320 --> 00:22:06,960
Speaker 1: But while we're waiting for the Braves to make some moves,

441
00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:09,280
Speaker 1: you know, additional information on the new way to be

442
00:22:09,280 --> 00:22:10,680
Speaker 1: able to view the Braves is going to be something

443
00:22:10,720 --> 00:22:12,680
Speaker 1: to look forward to, but Steven, there also are a

444
00:22:12,720 --> 00:22:15,440
Speaker 1: few other things on the horizon. Of course, we're probably

445
00:22:15,480 --> 00:22:17,639
Speaker 1: coming into Hall of Fame season, you know, I believe

446
00:22:17,680 --> 00:22:19,840
Speaker 1: within the next what you know, three to four weeks,

447
00:22:19,840 --> 00:22:22,399
Speaker 1: we're going to see the twenty twenty five Hall of

448
00:22:22,440 --> 00:22:24,400
Speaker 1: Fame class announce. You have to feel pretty good about

449
00:22:24,440 --> 00:22:28,280
Speaker 1: Billy Wagner's chances. You obviously are hoping that Andrew Jones

450
00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:30,880
Speaker 1: could take another leap. I don't necessarily know if he'll

451
00:22:30,920 --> 00:22:32,520
Speaker 1: take a big enough leap to be in the in

452
00:22:32,560 --> 00:22:35,320
Speaker 1: the in the class itself this year, but you have

453
00:22:35,400 --> 00:22:37,440
Speaker 1: to feel strongly that if he takes another leap, he'll

454
00:22:37,480 --> 00:22:39,879
Speaker 1: be there in the next one to two years. And

455
00:22:39,920 --> 00:22:41,760
Speaker 1: then we've also got we're less than a month away

456
00:22:41,760 --> 00:22:45,440
Speaker 1: from the international signing period, and in recent years it's

457
00:22:45,480 --> 00:22:48,160
Speaker 1: been noticed to Braves once again, I believe are are

458
00:22:48,160 --> 00:22:51,080
Speaker 1: connected to one of the you know, top position players.

459
00:22:51,240 --> 00:22:53,639
Speaker 1: The Braves have really seemed to focus to try to

460
00:22:53,760 --> 00:22:58,040
Speaker 1: put position player talent through the international market into their

461
00:22:58,080 --> 00:23:00,960
Speaker 1: system here in recent years, so be pretty important to

462
00:23:01,040 --> 00:23:03,080
Speaker 1: kind of see how that plays out as well. So

463
00:23:03,200 --> 00:23:06,280
Speaker 1: though nothing beats the direct moves the Braves could make

464
00:23:06,320 --> 00:23:09,200
Speaker 1: to improve the big league squad in twenty twenty five.

465
00:23:09,400 --> 00:23:11,359
Speaker 1: Still some really fun things to look forward to, and

466
00:23:11,400 --> 00:23:15,119
Speaker 1: it could be a rewarding offseason in those aspects.

467
00:23:14,720 --> 00:23:21,160
Speaker 2: For the Braves. Yeah, you know fan Fest being canceled.

468
00:23:22,119 --> 00:23:24,720
Speaker 2: Either Sean or I live in Atlanta, It's it's much

469
00:23:24,760 --> 00:23:27,640
Speaker 2: more of a local if you're around, then you come.

470
00:23:27,720 --> 00:23:29,720
Speaker 2: I think it's I don't know if it was always

471
00:23:29,800 --> 00:23:31,960
Speaker 2: a list members only, or if there was way to

472
00:23:32,040 --> 00:23:34,560
Speaker 2: get tickets for if you weren't an a list member. Again,

473
00:23:34,600 --> 00:23:36,520
Speaker 2: I don't live there, so I don't I was never

474
00:23:36,560 --> 00:23:38,440
Speaker 2: a part of it. I know some people were upset

475
00:23:38,440 --> 00:23:41,840
Speaker 2: about it online. You know, the Braves came out and

476
00:23:41,880 --> 00:23:43,320
Speaker 2: put out a statement and said that they're doing a

477
00:23:43,359 --> 00:23:47,000
Speaker 2: bunch of construction around the battery and they're getting ready

478
00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:48,720
Speaker 2: for the twenty twenty five All Star Game, like Shawn

479
00:23:48,800 --> 00:23:51,000
Speaker 2: just said, so that they really didn't feel like they

480
00:23:51,040 --> 00:23:55,040
Speaker 2: could put on a proper show, so they just canceled

481
00:23:55,080 --> 00:23:56,920
Speaker 2: it for twenty twenty five. It didn't sound like from

482
00:23:56,960 --> 00:23:59,480
Speaker 2: the press release that this was you know, there are

483
00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:01,680
Speaker 2: some teams that have moved away from doing these annual

484
00:24:01,720 --> 00:24:04,600
Speaker 2: fan fest and have moved to like every three years,

485
00:24:04,640 --> 00:24:07,000
Speaker 2: every five years. It didn't sound like that was happening.

486
00:24:07,080 --> 00:24:09,480
Speaker 2: This sounded like a one off because the All Star

487
00:24:09,520 --> 00:24:12,359
Speaker 2: Games come in because they're doing some construction around the

488
00:24:12,359 --> 00:24:14,040
Speaker 2: battery that they're just not gonna do it this year.

489
00:24:14,760 --> 00:24:16,960
Speaker 2: They didn't say anything about twenty twenty six. So if

490
00:24:16,960 --> 00:24:19,680
Speaker 2: you're somebody again who lives in Atlanta who went to this,

491
00:24:20,320 --> 00:24:21,840
Speaker 2: you know, I know a lot of people would love

492
00:24:21,880 --> 00:24:25,399
Speaker 2: to go get like autographs and meet players, maybe for

493
00:24:25,440 --> 00:24:27,520
Speaker 2: the first time. I think it's gonna be back at

494
00:24:27,520 --> 00:24:30,560
Speaker 2: twenty six. They didn't say anything. So yeah, keep an

495
00:24:30,560 --> 00:24:33,560
Speaker 2: eye on that Hall of Fame voting. I'll be honest

496
00:24:33,560 --> 00:24:35,680
Speaker 2: with you, I'm mute pretty much everything about Hall of

497
00:24:35,720 --> 00:24:38,600
Speaker 2: Fame voting every time it comes around. I can't The

498
00:24:38,680 --> 00:24:42,320
Speaker 2: discourse around Hall of Fame voting is exhausting, to say

499
00:24:42,320 --> 00:24:45,199
Speaker 2: the least. I hope Andrew gets in, just as a

500
00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:48,600
Speaker 2: Braves fan. You know, I think he was you know,

501
00:24:48,760 --> 00:24:51,680
Speaker 2: ten glow gloves, the number of home runs he hit.

502
00:24:51,800 --> 00:24:54,960
Speaker 2: He was certainly a flawed player, obviously. He you know,

503
00:24:55,000 --> 00:24:58,400
Speaker 2: he's not gonna be a lock by any by any

504
00:24:58,400 --> 00:25:00,520
Speaker 2: means to get in the Hall of fame. You know,

505
00:25:00,920 --> 00:25:02,840
Speaker 2: I think he's good enough. I think he's certainly better

506
00:25:02,880 --> 00:25:06,400
Speaker 2: than some guys that have gotten in, So we'll see

507
00:25:06,440 --> 00:25:10,160
Speaker 2: what happens with him. But yeah, I mean international signing

508
00:25:10,240 --> 00:25:12,040
Speaker 2: will wait and see those guys are. I mean, the

509
00:25:12,119 --> 00:25:14,920
Speaker 2: kids they signed these days are like fifteen years old,

510
00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:18,359
Speaker 2: so you know it's like, yeah, in eight years he

511
00:25:18,480 --> 00:25:21,040
Speaker 2: might be a hell of a player. So I really

512
00:25:21,080 --> 00:25:24,840
Speaker 2: don't spend a lot of time scouting you know, fourteen fifteen,

513
00:25:24,880 --> 00:25:28,639
Speaker 2: sixteen year old kids. But yeah, it's a big deal. Obviously,

514
00:25:28,680 --> 00:25:31,800
Speaker 2: the Braves were you know, under copied. The Braves had

515
00:25:31,800 --> 00:25:35,359
Speaker 2: all those penalties and couldn't you know, couldn't play in

516
00:25:35,400 --> 00:25:37,720
Speaker 2: the international market for a number of years. And now

517
00:25:37,720 --> 00:25:39,720
Speaker 2: the penalties are completely gone and the Braves are back

518
00:25:39,720 --> 00:25:42,199
Speaker 2: to being able to, you know, restock the pipeline with

519
00:25:42,240 --> 00:25:45,160
Speaker 2: some talent. So that is important. It's it's just because

520
00:25:45,160 --> 00:25:48,280
Speaker 2: I don't follow it doesn't mean it's not important. So yeah,

521
00:25:48,320 --> 00:25:50,240
Speaker 2: that'll be notable. We'll talk about it when the Braves

522
00:25:50,240 --> 00:25:53,120
Speaker 2: signed their guys. But we're just waiting on a move.

523
00:25:53,320 --> 00:25:56,359
Speaker 2: I mean, honestly, I mean we're we're just waiting on

524
00:25:56,400 --> 00:25:58,440
Speaker 2: a move. We're just waiting on some sort of signing,

525
00:25:58,560 --> 00:26:02,040
Speaker 2: some sort of trade, some sort of major league edition.

526
00:26:02,440 --> 00:26:05,199
Speaker 2: It would be tremendous if Alex could maybe do one

527
00:26:05,280 --> 00:26:08,960
Speaker 2: of those between now and Christmas to give us something,

528
00:26:09,440 --> 00:26:12,119
Speaker 2: you know, and maybe even like before the beginning of

529
00:26:12,160 --> 00:26:15,960
Speaker 2: the new year. I don't know when it's gonna happen.

530
00:26:15,960 --> 00:26:17,639
Speaker 2: I know that is gonna happen. I don't know, I

531
00:26:17,680 --> 00:26:20,000
Speaker 2: don't know what's happening. I mean, they're just they're waiting

532
00:26:20,040 --> 00:26:21,840
Speaker 2: to find the move they like, and they do have

533
00:26:22,040 --> 00:26:25,040
Speaker 2: holes to fill. This does not it's a very good team.

534
00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:27,400
Speaker 2: Don't get me wrong. It's a very good team on paper,

535
00:26:27,520 --> 00:26:29,640
Speaker 2: still one of the best teams in baseball. But they

536
00:26:29,640 --> 00:26:32,719
Speaker 2: do have clear holes that they got to fill. Left field, shortstop,

537
00:26:33,760 --> 00:26:35,800
Speaker 2: you know, starting pitcher, relief pitcher. I don't know if

538
00:26:35,800 --> 00:26:37,600
Speaker 2: he'll get to all of those, but they certainly need

539
00:26:37,640 --> 00:26:42,040
Speaker 2: to get to some of them. So we're just waiting,

540
00:26:42,440 --> 00:26:47,080
Speaker 2: just like you. And obviously, whenever it happens, hopefully within

541
00:26:47,160 --> 00:26:49,080
Speaker 2: like twenty minutes of it happening, we will be on

542
00:26:49,160 --> 00:26:53,360
Speaker 2: here talking about it, the reaction, the fallout, what it means,

543
00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:56,280
Speaker 2: all that stuff. So, just like you at home, we

544
00:26:56,359 --> 00:26:58,920
Speaker 2: are waiting, well and.

545
00:26:58,880 --> 00:27:00,600
Speaker 1: Of course, we know that this is a good way

546
00:27:00,640 --> 00:27:02,760
Speaker 1: to end this edition of the Hammer Territory Prodcast, but

547
00:27:02,840 --> 00:27:04,800
Speaker 1: do want to address a you know, a couple of

548
00:27:04,800 --> 00:27:07,960
Speaker 1: bits of positives. Of course, Happy birthday to Ronald Acuna Junior,

549
00:27:08,040 --> 00:27:13,040
Speaker 1: twenty seven years old. It is amazing to see when

550
00:27:13,080 --> 00:27:17,920
Speaker 1: you break down this different statisticals queries Keevan steven Well

551
00:27:18,240 --> 00:27:23,159
Speaker 1: that he has accomplished throughout his career, the level of

552
00:27:23,280 --> 00:27:26,280
Speaker 1: production that he's had. When you also consider that of

553
00:27:26,320 --> 00:27:29,479
Speaker 1: how many games he's missed, it's just its eye opening,

554
00:27:30,040 --> 00:27:31,760
Speaker 1: you know. So if you ever had if you ever

555
00:27:31,800 --> 00:27:34,840
Speaker 1: have the chance to you like to dance around with

556
00:27:34,880 --> 00:27:36,919
Speaker 1: stats like I do, and just want to see what

557
00:27:36,960 --> 00:27:39,160
Speaker 1: players have accomplished what by the age of twenty seven

558
00:27:39,320 --> 00:27:41,840
Speaker 1: and see the company that Ronald Acunda Junior keeps. Keep

559
00:27:41,840 --> 00:27:44,240
Speaker 1: in mind, it becomes even more impressive when you consider

560
00:27:44,240 --> 00:27:46,560
Speaker 1: how few games he has played, so obviously wishing him

561
00:27:46,800 --> 00:27:49,320
Speaker 1: a speedy recovery and then a former two time I

562
00:27:49,359 --> 00:27:52,200
Speaker 1: believe s a young winner. Corey Klueber has his podcast

563
00:27:52,280 --> 00:27:55,280
Speaker 1: now and he actually had Spencer Strider on his podcast

564
00:27:55,760 --> 00:27:58,040
Speaker 1: recently as well, and there were some good updates from

565
00:27:58,080 --> 00:28:01,280
Speaker 1: Spencer Stryder. It certainly seems as if feels like it

566
00:28:01,400 --> 00:28:04,400
Speaker 1: won't be that far past opening day that he will

567
00:28:04,400 --> 00:28:07,040
Speaker 1: be back on the mound ready to pitch for the Braves.

568
00:28:07,040 --> 00:28:09,560
Speaker 1: It looks like everything's going good with his rehab, and

569
00:28:09,560 --> 00:28:12,520
Speaker 1: I don't think anyone will deny that a clubhouse that

570
00:28:12,720 --> 00:28:16,440
Speaker 1: has a spencer strider, a competitive spencer strider, a healthy

571
00:28:16,840 --> 00:28:20,040
Speaker 1: spencer strider ready to pitch at a near Shashaian level

572
00:28:20,040 --> 00:28:22,399
Speaker 1: once again, that does that helps out the Braves in

573
00:28:22,480 --> 00:28:25,600
Speaker 1: multiple ways. So Stephen, certainly some positive vibes from two

574
00:28:25,640 --> 00:28:28,320
Speaker 1: of our most important pillars of the future, and two

575
00:28:28,320 --> 00:28:31,000
Speaker 1: guys we desperately, desperately are ready to not only get

576
00:28:31,040 --> 00:28:34,120
Speaker 1: healthy but get back to their normal, you know, top

577
00:28:34,160 --> 00:28:35,040
Speaker 1: of the league sales.

578
00:28:36,680 --> 00:28:40,640
Speaker 2: Yeah, happy birthday, Ronald, of course, get back soon. Brandon Gordon,

579
00:28:40,720 --> 00:28:42,360
Speaker 2: friend of the show brand Goddon. I think it's his

580
00:28:42,400 --> 00:28:44,280
Speaker 2: birthday today as well. Saw that on Twitter.

581
00:28:46,200 --> 00:28:48,160
Speaker 1: Years old, just a few years old, just a couple,

582
00:28:48,360 --> 00:28:50,920
Speaker 1: just one or two, but nobody nobody's.

583
00:28:50,920 --> 00:28:54,360
Speaker 2: Yeah, we love Brandon, so happy birthday him. And then yeah,

584
00:28:54,360 --> 00:28:58,800
Speaker 2: I did watch the Klober podcast with Spencer very upbeat.

585
00:28:59,000 --> 00:29:01,960
Speaker 2: He sounded very pos He was talking about how he

586
00:29:01,960 --> 00:29:06,680
Speaker 2: would be facing hitters in the end of February, so

587
00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:10,680
Speaker 2: in his mind, he was going to have a relatively

588
00:29:10,720 --> 00:29:13,760
Speaker 2: normal spring training. I think the Braves are gonna play

589
00:29:13,800 --> 00:29:18,880
Speaker 2: it very slow and very conservatively. They've already announced that

590
00:29:18,920 --> 00:29:20,680
Speaker 2: he's not going to be ready for opening day, but

591
00:29:21,480 --> 00:29:25,920
Speaker 2: the way he was talking that was more of them

592
00:29:25,960 --> 00:29:29,920
Speaker 2: being overly cautious than maybe what he necessarily needs. He

593
00:29:30,280 --> 00:29:34,160
Speaker 2: was talking like he could potentially be ready for opening

594
00:29:34,240 --> 00:29:37,440
Speaker 2: day if they needed it. You know, if you're facing

595
00:29:37,520 --> 00:29:39,880
Speaker 2: hitters in February, that's what everybody else is doing, So

596
00:29:39,920 --> 00:29:42,560
Speaker 2: you're just gonna have like a relatively normal spring training.

597
00:29:42,760 --> 00:29:44,840
Speaker 2: Now I'm guessing, you know, they will give him longer

598
00:29:44,880 --> 00:29:48,480
Speaker 2: breaks in between his throat days than normal guys, which

599
00:29:48,520 --> 00:29:51,160
Speaker 2: will back him up a little bit. But it was

600
00:29:51,280 --> 00:29:55,240
Speaker 2: encouraging to hear Spencer talk. You know, he was he

601
00:29:55,440 --> 00:29:59,560
Speaker 2: was very confident that he was ready. He's gonna be

602
00:29:59,560 --> 00:30:04,040
Speaker 2: ready to go so very soon after opening day. So yeah,

603
00:30:04,080 --> 00:30:06,560
Speaker 2: it's a great you know, uh Klueber obviously being a

604
00:30:06,600 --> 00:30:08,840
Speaker 2: formal player, he gets a lot of players on there.

605
00:30:08,840 --> 00:30:11,680
Speaker 2: It's a great podcast. I have it. That's one of

606
00:30:11,680 --> 00:30:14,719
Speaker 2: my follows on Spotify. So what pops up any time

607
00:30:14,760 --> 00:30:16,840
Speaker 2: there's a new one. But yeah, it's a great podcast,

608
00:30:17,480 --> 00:30:19,760
Speaker 2: and Spencer was on the latest one, so I suggest

609
00:30:19,800 --> 00:30:22,560
Speaker 2: you go listen to that. But good news, definitely good news.

610
00:30:22,600 --> 00:30:26,320
Speaker 2: Spencer is a massive part of twenty twenty five, especially

611
00:30:26,320 --> 00:30:29,000
Speaker 2: now that Max Freed is gone and until they sign

612
00:30:29,040 --> 00:30:33,320
Speaker 2: another starting pitcher right now, they just got four that

613
00:30:33,360 --> 00:30:35,239
Speaker 2: they can really count on that we know of, and

614
00:30:35,280 --> 00:30:40,600
Speaker 2: that's Sale Ronaldo Lopez, Spencer Swallenbach, and then Spencer Strider.

615
00:30:41,160 --> 00:30:45,120
Speaker 2: And so if he's back relatively soon after opening day,

616
00:30:45,680 --> 00:30:47,800
Speaker 2: that matters a lot obviously. I mean, this guy's a

617
00:30:47,840 --> 00:30:52,520
Speaker 2: cy young level pitcher, so it's a big deal. And

618
00:30:52,600 --> 00:30:55,520
Speaker 2: hopefully hopefully it comes to fruition knock on every piece

619
00:30:55,520 --> 00:30:57,920
Speaker 2: of wood. Hope he stays healthy, no more setbacks, no

620
00:30:58,040 --> 00:31:01,160
Speaker 2: more injuries, and we get to healthy Spencer Strider in

621
00:31:01,200 --> 00:31:02,880
Speaker 2: twenty twenty five. That would be tremendous.

622
00:31:04,320 --> 00:31:08,840
Speaker 1: Absolutely so, Stephen Pleasure talking with you once again. This

623
00:31:08,880 --> 00:31:10,960
Speaker 1: may or may not be the last time we had together,

624
00:31:11,200 --> 00:31:13,560
Speaker 1: you know, before the holiday season now, and they imagine

625
00:31:13,560 --> 00:31:15,840
Speaker 1: that you'll see you know, one or both of us

626
00:31:16,000 --> 00:31:18,560
Speaker 1: on some sort of show, you know, before Christmas arise,

627
00:31:18,640 --> 00:31:20,960
Speaker 1: But until then you can find Stephen Tolbert at b

628
00:31:21,080 --> 00:31:24,040
Speaker 1: Underscore Outliers on Twitter slash x. You can find me

629
00:31:24,120 --> 00:31:26,800
Speaker 1: at statsac on Twitter slash x. You can find her

630
00:31:26,880 --> 00:31:29,640
Speaker 1: Territory across all forms of social media, of course, part

631
00:31:29,680 --> 00:31:32,640
Speaker 1: of the Foul Territory family of podcasts. And make sure

632
00:31:32,680 --> 00:31:35,080
Speaker 1: you check out a great interview with Chipper Jones if

633
00:31:35,080 --> 00:31:38,400
Speaker 1: the Foul Territory guys had earlier this week a lot

634
00:31:38,400 --> 00:31:41,160
Speaker 1: of insight from him. I know that many and Brave's

635
00:31:41,200 --> 00:31:43,640
Speaker 1: country have enjoyed a Chipper being a bit more active

636
00:31:43,800 --> 00:31:46,719
Speaker 1: when it comes to social media here recently. But make

637
00:31:46,720 --> 00:31:49,760
Speaker 1: sure you check out a great interview with him on

638
00:31:49,880 --> 00:31:52,200
Speaker 1: Foul Territory. But until next time for Steven Tollert, my

639
00:31:52,320 --> 00:31:54,800
Speaker 1: name Sean Coleman. If this is the last time we

640
00:31:54,800 --> 00:31:57,520
Speaker 1: talked with can before, happy holidays and married to Christmas

641
00:31:57,520 --> 00:32:00,080
Speaker 1: to you. We'll talk to you again soon here in

642
00:32:00,080 --> 00:32:01,040
Speaker 1: the Hammer Territory Pop