1 00:00:08,680 --> 00:00:11,520 Speaker 1: It's the Nationals offseason to do list with Andrew Golden, 2 00:00:11,520 --> 00:00:13,960 Speaker 1: who covers the Nats for the Washington Post. Andrew, great 3 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:15,680 Speaker 1: to see you, and I'll let you lay out what 4 00:00:15,720 --> 00:00:17,560 Speaker 1: you think the Nats are going to do over the 5 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:19,680 Speaker 1: next couple of months leading up to spring training. I 6 00:00:19,720 --> 00:00:23,159 Speaker 1: think this is important non Nats fans pay attention to 7 00:00:23,960 --> 00:00:25,240 Speaker 1: number one on your list. 8 00:00:25,320 --> 00:00:28,000 Speaker 2: Go ahead, Yeah, thanks for having you on, guys. Yeah, 9 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:29,600 Speaker 2: I think in terms of my Nationals to do list, 10 00:00:30,120 --> 00:00:33,280 Speaker 2: my number one is I think the Nationals to trade 11 00:00:33,400 --> 00:00:37,440 Speaker 2: Mackenzie Gore but keep CJ. Abrams. That's my number one. 12 00:00:37,560 --> 00:00:39,959 Speaker 2: Number two is acquire a first basement and that's really 13 00:00:39,960 --> 00:00:43,159 Speaker 2: important for the Nationals, I think, either via trade or 14 00:00:43,200 --> 00:00:45,920 Speaker 2: in free agency. And the thirdest, continue to shape the 15 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:47,800 Speaker 2: vision for the team. There's been a lot of changes, 16 00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:49,839 Speaker 2: and I think that that's a very important goal for 17 00:00:49,840 --> 00:00:50,680 Speaker 2: them moving forward. 18 00:00:51,640 --> 00:00:54,480 Speaker 3: All Right, I'll start off explain number one, Trade Gore, 19 00:00:54,600 --> 00:00:57,680 Speaker 3: keep Abrams. What makes you say that? 20 00:00:58,760 --> 00:01:00,680 Speaker 2: Yeah, I think with McKenzie, like I think, like, first 21 00:01:00,680 --> 00:01:02,640 Speaker 2: of all, obviously, pitcher injuries are very common, so you 22 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:04,960 Speaker 2: don't want to ever risk losing value in a guy, 23 00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:08,280 Speaker 2: especially a pitcher who has the caliber Mackenzie Gore and 24 00:01:08,319 --> 00:01:11,559 Speaker 2: as we've seen during free agency, teams really value potential 25 00:01:11,880 --> 00:01:13,920 Speaker 2: and they value stuff, and Mackenzie or has that. He 26 00:01:13,959 --> 00:01:16,120 Speaker 2: has a swing and miss stuff. He has two years 27 00:01:16,160 --> 00:01:18,480 Speaker 2: of team control, and he's pretty cheap comparatively to a 28 00:01:18,520 --> 00:01:20,679 Speaker 2: lot of the free agent leavers that are out there, 29 00:01:20,720 --> 00:01:22,240 Speaker 2: the free agent starters that are out there on the market. 30 00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:24,720 Speaker 2: Like a fan of Valadez and my guys like that, 31 00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:27,120 Speaker 2: and so I think that it's be valuable for them 32 00:01:27,160 --> 00:01:29,200 Speaker 2: to trade, you know, McKenzie while they have the opportunity 33 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:31,920 Speaker 2: to do so. Cj Abras, on the other hands, I 34 00:01:31,959 --> 00:01:33,679 Speaker 2: think that they can develop him a lot more. I 35 00:01:33,680 --> 00:01:35,600 Speaker 2: think his defense, he's been one of the worst short 36 00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:37,960 Speaker 2: stops in baseball since he debuted in twenty twenty two. 37 00:01:38,880 --> 00:01:40,240 Speaker 2: But I think he has a lot of potentially he 38 00:01:40,240 --> 00:01:42,640 Speaker 2: can unlock to improve because I don't necessarily see that 39 00:01:42,680 --> 00:01:44,120 Speaker 2: he's that bad when I watch him just from the 40 00:01:44,160 --> 00:01:46,800 Speaker 2: eye test, and then offensively, he's a really talented player. 41 00:01:46,800 --> 00:01:48,720 Speaker 2: I think there's another level that he can unlock, and 42 00:01:48,760 --> 00:01:50,960 Speaker 2: so I would hold on to him, see if he 43 00:01:50,960 --> 00:01:53,680 Speaker 2: can improve his value, you know, for another season, and 44 00:01:53,720 --> 00:01:55,360 Speaker 2: then maybe see what the market looks like next year. 45 00:01:55,360 --> 00:01:57,640 Speaker 2: But I don't see him any need to trade CJ 46 00:01:57,760 --> 00:01:59,760 Speaker 2: right now. But McKenzie I definitely think that. 47 00:01:59,720 --> 00:02:02,800 Speaker 3: They all right, I'm gonna I'm gonna follow up on that. 48 00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:04,880 Speaker 3: And it kind of goes down to your your last 49 00:02:04,960 --> 00:02:07,200 Speaker 3: question too. They went out and made kind of an 50 00:02:07,280 --> 00:02:12,160 Speaker 3: unorthodox hire and their manager, Jake but Tarra, do they 51 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:15,000 Speaker 3: believe that he is the guy for the next x 52 00:02:15,040 --> 00:02:17,680 Speaker 3: amount of years, you know, hiring someone so young with 53 00:02:17,720 --> 00:02:20,440 Speaker 3: not a ton of experience, And the fall up question 54 00:02:20,639 --> 00:02:23,520 Speaker 3: is if they do trade McKenzie Gore, is this someone 55 00:02:23,520 --> 00:02:25,519 Speaker 3: they're trying to bring into the organization that's going to 56 00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:28,440 Speaker 3: help them today or are they building for three four 57 00:02:28,520 --> 00:02:30,799 Speaker 3: years out and as Terror the guy who's going to 58 00:02:30,880 --> 00:02:32,480 Speaker 3: be there to see it through. 59 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:35,560 Speaker 2: Yeah, I think but Teria's obviously shown that he really 60 00:02:35,639 --> 00:02:38,320 Speaker 2: can develop guys, and obviously that's part of the appeal 61 00:02:38,320 --> 00:02:39,680 Speaker 2: of trying to hire a guy like him, is that 62 00:02:39,720 --> 00:02:41,440 Speaker 2: he's as good a development. So I think when you 63 00:02:41,440 --> 00:02:42,960 Speaker 2: look at what the long term goals are, I think 64 00:02:42,960 --> 00:02:45,560 Speaker 2: the goals to develop the Nationals and the players that 65 00:02:45,560 --> 00:02:47,639 Speaker 2: they have internally and the players that they draft and 66 00:02:47,720 --> 00:02:51,360 Speaker 2: develop into like really bigly contributors who can help them 67 00:02:51,360 --> 00:02:53,120 Speaker 2: down the line. So I think Paterra is here to 68 00:02:53,160 --> 00:02:55,600 Speaker 2: see this through. And so I think that when you're 69 00:02:55,639 --> 00:02:57,720 Speaker 2: looking at what they can get into return for McKenzie gore, like, 70 00:02:57,760 --> 00:02:59,680 Speaker 2: I think the goal is to do things that will 71 00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:01,280 Speaker 2: set them up to help him in the future. And 72 00:03:01,320 --> 00:03:04,680 Speaker 2: so whether that is somebody who is you know, just 73 00:03:04,720 --> 00:03:06,480 Speaker 2: like Harry Ford who doesn't have a lot of you know, 74 00:03:06,760 --> 00:03:08,480 Speaker 2: doesn't have a lot of big lead time and it 75 00:03:08,480 --> 00:03:10,320 Speaker 2: has like six years that they can get out of him, 76 00:03:10,360 --> 00:03:11,960 Speaker 2: I think if he can help right now, then sure, 77 00:03:12,639 --> 00:03:14,359 Speaker 2: if it fits within their timeline. I think they also 78 00:03:14,520 --> 00:03:16,760 Speaker 2: to acquire guys who are in the minor leagues and 79 00:03:16,760 --> 00:03:18,080 Speaker 2: could be good in a couple of years. I think 80 00:03:18,120 --> 00:03:20,079 Speaker 2: their goal is not to compete right now or even 81 00:03:20,120 --> 00:03:21,639 Speaker 2: next year, but I think looking a couple of years 82 00:03:21,639 --> 00:03:23,440 Speaker 2: down the line, and so I think it ever helps 83 00:03:23,440 --> 00:03:25,600 Speaker 2: them fit that vision all right. 84 00:03:25,720 --> 00:03:29,360 Speaker 4: Well, then leading into your second point, then acquiring a 85 00:03:29,360 --> 00:03:32,480 Speaker 4: first baseman, is it gonna be another stop gap first 86 00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:35,240 Speaker 4: baseman again it Peede Alonzo is not available anymore, but 87 00:03:35,800 --> 00:03:38,360 Speaker 4: I felt like Peter Alonzo was gonna be that, and 88 00:03:38,520 --> 00:03:43,000 Speaker 4: we always use it. It's a lazy narrative. That Jason Worth, 89 00:03:43,080 --> 00:03:45,320 Speaker 4: the guy, the guy who you're like, Oh, if I'm 90 00:03:45,320 --> 00:03:48,640 Speaker 4: a free agent, I'm okay hitting behind Pete Alonzo, I'm 91 00:03:48,640 --> 00:03:50,920 Speaker 4: okay hitting in front of Peter Alonzo or whatever it is. 92 00:03:51,080 --> 00:03:53,400 Speaker 4: So I want to go to what the Nats are building. 93 00:03:53,760 --> 00:03:56,080 Speaker 4: Is it just gonna be another Josh Bell? Is it 94 00:03:56,120 --> 00:03:58,000 Speaker 4: gonna be another you know? Is it gonna be Reyes 95 00:03:58,040 --> 00:04:01,360 Speaker 4: Hoskins because they know him? And now East what are 96 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:02,520 Speaker 4: we looking for here? 97 00:04:03,240 --> 00:04:04,720 Speaker 2: I hate to break your heart, but I would think 98 00:04:04,720 --> 00:04:07,040 Speaker 2: of being in their stop gap, That's my guess. I 99 00:04:07,040 --> 00:04:09,280 Speaker 2: don't think it's gonna be like a big, a big 100 00:04:09,360 --> 00:04:10,960 Speaker 2: name guy. I would be shocked me. Maybe there's a 101 00:04:10,960 --> 00:04:13,440 Speaker 2: potential that they they do pull that off, but I 102 00:04:13,440 --> 00:04:15,640 Speaker 2: would expect it to be somebody who's a stop gap. 103 00:04:15,640 --> 00:04:17,520 Speaker 2: Maybe you may acquire somebody in a trade. Maybe there's 104 00:04:17,520 --> 00:04:20,240 Speaker 2: a team that has, you know, has a surplus of 105 00:04:20,480 --> 00:04:22,400 Speaker 2: of you know, first base that will to acquire me. 106 00:04:22,440 --> 00:04:24,240 Speaker 2: Even the Oils and Orioles have Mount Castle, they have 107 00:04:24,320 --> 00:04:27,560 Speaker 2: Kobe May over there obviously, p Alonzo and Rutchman and 108 00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:29,760 Speaker 2: Desio and all those guys, and so I think that 109 00:04:29,839 --> 00:04:32,640 Speaker 2: maybe their potential fit. Maybe, but I would look to, 110 00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:34,440 Speaker 2: you know, I see a stop gap or somebody who 111 00:04:34,480 --> 00:04:37,080 Speaker 2: they can maybe get in a trade, but I wouldn't 112 00:04:37,080 --> 00:04:39,000 Speaker 2: expect them to sign like a p Alonzo or a 113 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:40,799 Speaker 2: big name guy. Obviously not p Alonzo. 114 00:04:42,600 --> 00:04:44,520 Speaker 3: Since there are a couple of years out, do you 115 00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:47,760 Speaker 3: see any guys on their current roster that are extension 116 00:04:47,800 --> 00:04:50,760 Speaker 3: candidates that they could kind of build around, you know, 117 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:52,080 Speaker 3: for the future. 118 00:04:52,120 --> 00:04:54,560 Speaker 2: Here I mean, obviously James Wood was the big one, 119 00:04:54,600 --> 00:04:56,040 Speaker 2: right Like, I mean, who wouldn't want to resign James 120 00:04:56,080 --> 00:04:57,840 Speaker 2: Wood to a long term deal. But when I look 121 00:04:57,880 --> 00:04:59,560 Speaker 2: at the roster, a couple of guys that intrigue me. 122 00:05:00,520 --> 00:05:02,560 Speaker 2: Dalen Lyle is somebody who was the n I think 123 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:04,320 Speaker 2: here of the month of September and was a really 124 00:05:04,360 --> 00:05:06,800 Speaker 2: good rookie in the second half. I always kind of 125 00:05:06,839 --> 00:05:08,200 Speaker 2: wonder if it'd be possible to look at him as 126 00:05:08,200 --> 00:05:10,440 Speaker 2: an extension candidate. And the other guy I look at 127 00:05:10,440 --> 00:05:12,960 Speaker 2: two is Kate Cavali. He was the first round picking 128 00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:15,760 Speaker 2: twenty twenty, missed a couple of seasons recovering from Tommy John, 129 00:05:15,800 --> 00:05:17,760 Speaker 2: but he looked pretty good last year. He has the 130 00:05:17,800 --> 00:05:20,279 Speaker 2: stuff to be a top of the rotation guy, but 131 00:05:20,320 --> 00:05:22,200 Speaker 2: he's also dealt with injuries. So I'm winning if there's 132 00:05:22,200 --> 00:05:23,880 Speaker 2: an ability to maybe leverage that and see if there's 133 00:05:23,880 --> 00:05:25,359 Speaker 2: a way to work out a long term deal. And 134 00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:28,839 Speaker 2: so obviously James would I think CJL Abrams obviously could 135 00:05:28,839 --> 00:05:31,440 Speaker 2: fit in that you want to extend CJ. But two 136 00:05:31,480 --> 00:05:33,279 Speaker 2: guys that I think will be interesting will be Dalen Lyle. 137 00:05:33,320 --> 00:05:35,479 Speaker 2: They're outfielder who I think will be their starting right 138 00:05:35,520 --> 00:05:37,360 Speaker 2: fielder next year. And then Kay Cavali, who I think 139 00:05:37,400 --> 00:05:39,479 Speaker 2: has a lot of potential but has had some injuries. 140 00:05:40,279 --> 00:05:42,920 Speaker 5: I love Lyles. I love Lyles like just his fire. 141 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:45,680 Speaker 4: He just looks like he's like a little angry at 142 00:05:45,680 --> 00:05:47,719 Speaker 4: the baseball field when he's out there. So I love that. 143 00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:50,800 Speaker 4: I love that you said that. Here's my thing. Your 144 00:05:50,839 --> 00:05:54,360 Speaker 4: third point is continue to shape the vision of the organization. 145 00:05:55,279 --> 00:05:57,599 Speaker 4: Why are we going to see that? Paul Taboni was 146 00:05:57,600 --> 00:06:00,520 Speaker 4: on our show and he really said not says the 147 00:06:00,600 --> 00:06:03,400 Speaker 4: right things, but he kind of commands that presence that 148 00:06:03,480 --> 00:06:06,320 Speaker 4: I don't think everybody in the that's current organization does. 149 00:06:07,160 --> 00:06:09,440 Speaker 4: When are you going to see something from or what 150 00:06:09,560 --> 00:06:12,040 Speaker 4: would be something that you would want to see from 151 00:06:12,040 --> 00:06:16,560 Speaker 4: Paul Taboni? Because your first point was keep cj Abrams. 152 00:06:17,279 --> 00:06:20,440 Speaker 4: You're also saying maybe worth three or four years out. 153 00:06:20,720 --> 00:06:23,360 Speaker 4: C j Abrams is a free agent. C j Abrams, 154 00:06:23,400 --> 00:06:26,680 Speaker 4: You're gonna basically build cj Abrams up for a draft 155 00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:30,599 Speaker 4: pick as a qualifying offer or a trade in a year. 156 00:06:30,760 --> 00:06:33,280 Speaker 4: So like, when will we see or what is one 157 00:06:33,400 --> 00:06:36,080 Speaker 4: thing that you would want to see the organization do 158 00:06:36,200 --> 00:06:38,360 Speaker 4: this year by the end of the season that shapes 159 00:06:39,120 --> 00:06:40,119 Speaker 4: their future vision? 160 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:43,800 Speaker 2: Yeah, I think just invest in technology and really show 161 00:06:43,839 --> 00:06:46,080 Speaker 2: they can use that technology to actually develop the players, 162 00:06:46,080 --> 00:06:47,640 Speaker 2: and they need to develop. I think they have a 163 00:06:47,680 --> 00:06:49,840 Speaker 2: lot of young talent internally, and so I think what 164 00:06:49,880 --> 00:06:52,520 Speaker 2: I want to see is just gradual and steady improve 165 00:06:52,560 --> 00:06:54,160 Speaker 2: it from those guys like A James would takes a 166 00:06:54,200 --> 00:06:56,840 Speaker 2: step forward, if Dylan Cruiz takes a step forward, Dalan 167 00:06:56,920 --> 00:06:59,000 Speaker 2: Lyle CJ. I think, like I think, what would be 168 00:06:59,040 --> 00:07:01,360 Speaker 2: a successful year for them is when you look back 169 00:07:01,400 --> 00:07:03,400 Speaker 2: and you see if these players have gotten better, and 170 00:07:03,440 --> 00:07:06,320 Speaker 2: that's proved to me that their development plan and what 171 00:07:06,360 --> 00:07:08,440 Speaker 2: they're putting into place to help these players improve is 172 00:07:08,480 --> 00:07:11,440 Speaker 2: actually working. The same thing goes for their starting pitching rotation. 173 00:07:11,520 --> 00:07:13,320 Speaker 2: I think even if they keep McKenzie, you know, Kei 174 00:07:13,360 --> 00:07:15,080 Speaker 2: Cavali and some of the young guys that they have. 175 00:07:15,240 --> 00:07:16,600 Speaker 2: They have a lot of young guys that they can 176 00:07:16,680 --> 00:07:18,160 Speaker 2: kind of work and grow and build with it. So 177 00:07:18,200 --> 00:07:20,880 Speaker 2: I think this year for me is just seeing like 178 00:07:21,280 --> 00:07:23,880 Speaker 2: which of these guys can be impact players down the line. 179 00:07:23,960 --> 00:07:25,600 Speaker 2: I think, like who can they actually develop? So that's 180 00:07:25,640 --> 00:07:26,600 Speaker 2: what I'm looking for this year. 181 00:07:27,760 --> 00:07:30,600 Speaker 3: All right, kind of off topic, but we just had 182 00:07:30,640 --> 00:07:33,080 Speaker 3: Ken Rosenthal on and Scott brought up a good point. 183 00:07:33,120 --> 00:07:35,280 Speaker 3: How do you feel about maybe a dead period from 184 00:07:35,560 --> 00:07:38,400 Speaker 3: starting tomorrow through the end of New Year's where you 185 00:07:38,400 --> 00:07:41,560 Speaker 3: don't have to work, no transactions could be done, you 186 00:07:41,560 --> 00:07:43,840 Speaker 3: could step away from your phone, you don't have to write. 187 00:07:44,440 --> 00:07:45,200 Speaker 3: Are you in on that? 188 00:07:46,120 --> 00:07:48,160 Speaker 2: Yeah, I'd be totally on that. I actually, you know, 189 00:07:48,200 --> 00:07:50,160 Speaker 2: funny enough last year and Nathaniel Lob got traded. I 190 00:07:50,200 --> 00:07:52,200 Speaker 2: was actually a holiday party with my friends at my phone. 191 00:07:52,400 --> 00:07:54,600 Speaker 2: They put your phone away for the night. I put 192 00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:57,040 Speaker 2: my phone down, wasn't looking, and I look at my 193 00:07:57,040 --> 00:07:59,120 Speaker 2: phone five hours later and Nathaniel Lobe been traded. I 194 00:07:59,160 --> 00:08:02,240 Speaker 2: missed everything, honestly, Like, I'll actually all for it. I'd 195 00:08:02,240 --> 00:08:03,920 Speaker 2: be cool with it because I definitely missed the Nathaniel 196 00:08:04,160 --> 00:08:05,120 Speaker 2: treat last year. 197 00:08:05,960 --> 00:08:08,280 Speaker 4: Well, and the first time you were on, I remember 198 00:08:08,280 --> 00:08:10,200 Speaker 4: when you were on you said your mom was watching, 199 00:08:10,320 --> 00:08:11,960 Speaker 4: So is she still going to be watching? 200 00:08:12,200 --> 00:08:13,440 Speaker 5: What's going on here? 201 00:08:14,280 --> 00:08:16,040 Speaker 2: I actually didn't tell her I was gonna be on today, 202 00:08:16,080 --> 00:08:17,520 Speaker 2: so I'm not here. She's watching. I know my wife 203 00:08:17,560 --> 00:08:19,200 Speaker 2: is watching, so I told her by it, so I'm 204 00:08:19,200 --> 00:08:19,920 Speaker 2: sure she's watching. 205 00:08:20,560 --> 00:08:23,600 Speaker 4: More more important. That is more important. But your mom 206 00:08:23,640 --> 00:08:25,600 Speaker 4: probably still wants a phone call to know when you're 207 00:08:25,640 --> 00:08:28,040 Speaker 4: going to be on, or at least like retweet it, 208 00:08:28,120 --> 00:08:29,120 Speaker 4: retweet it and send. 209 00:08:28,960 --> 00:08:29,360 Speaker 5: It to her. 210 00:08:29,600 --> 00:08:31,080 Speaker 2: She definitely will, she definitely will. 211 00:08:33,440 --> 00:08:36,320 Speaker 1: I love it well, Andrew, Happy holidays. Great to have 212 00:08:36,440 --> 00:08:38,920 Speaker 1: you on, Thanks for getting us caught up on the Nats. 213 00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:41,080 Speaker 1: And we will see you in twenty twenty six. 214 00:08:41,640 --> 00:08:42,959 Speaker 2: So I was good looking forward to doing this soon. 215 00:08:42,960 --> 00:08:43,880 Speaker 2: And you all have a happy holiday. 216 00:08:44,440 --> 00:08:46,920 Speaker 1: You too, appreciate you. Check out Andrew's work in the 217 00:08:47,000 --> 00:08:47,680 Speaker 1: Washington Post. 218 00:08:47,840 --> 00:08:48,680 Speaker 5: We'll swing right back. 219 00:08:54,120 --> 00:08:58,360 Speaker 1: It is the final Hot sheet of twenty twenty five, 220 00:08:58,400 --> 00:09:00,920 Speaker 1: and we'll keep running it every Monday, twenty twenty six. 221 00:09:00,960 --> 00:09:04,040 Speaker 1: Scott Brown with Baseball Americas, JJ Cooper and Jeff Ponce 222 00:09:04,160 --> 00:09:07,120 Speaker 1: And these are some of my favorite shows, JJ, because 223 00:09:07,480 --> 00:09:10,000 Speaker 1: we get to go over prospect returns as part of 224 00:09:10,040 --> 00:09:12,640 Speaker 1: trade packages. And let's be real, there and many fans 225 00:09:12,640 --> 00:09:16,120 Speaker 1: out there that don't know every single prospect in every organization, 226 00:09:16,200 --> 00:09:19,160 Speaker 1: and that's part of what BA does best, and that's 227 00:09:19,160 --> 00:09:22,040 Speaker 1: from big deals to small So I just wanted to 228 00:09:22,080 --> 00:09:24,120 Speaker 1: start it out this way. We're going to get into 229 00:09:24,200 --> 00:09:26,800 Speaker 1: some larger deals and some bigger named prospects. But right 230 00:09:26,840 --> 00:09:29,719 Speaker 1: before the show started, Jeff McNeil, a name many of 231 00:09:29,800 --> 00:09:33,040 Speaker 1: us know, was traded from the Mets over to the 232 00:09:33,040 --> 00:09:34,920 Speaker 1: A's and it is not the. 233 00:09:34,720 --> 00:09:36,000 Speaker 5: Most well known prospect. 234 00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:38,840 Speaker 1: And this is where most baseball shows aren't going to 235 00:09:38,840 --> 00:09:39,520 Speaker 1: go this deep. 236 00:09:39,640 --> 00:09:40,040 Speaker 5: We are. 237 00:09:40,240 --> 00:09:44,559 Speaker 1: The Mets receive right handed pitching prospect, your Don Rodriguez. 238 00:09:44,640 --> 00:09:47,560 Speaker 1: The A's get Jeff McNeil and close to six million 239 00:09:47,559 --> 00:09:50,680 Speaker 1: bucks to help cover the sixteen million that is due 240 00:09:50,720 --> 00:09:52,880 Speaker 1: for him, and the Mets will also pay the two 241 00:09:52,920 --> 00:09:55,600 Speaker 1: million dollar buyout if his option is an exercise, and 242 00:09:55,640 --> 00:09:58,640 Speaker 1: the way he's been playing lately, it probably won't. So 243 00:09:58,679 --> 00:10:01,400 Speaker 1: the A's essentially get Jeff McNeil for about ten million 244 00:10:01,400 --> 00:10:05,440 Speaker 1: bucks this coming season, and they give away someone pretty 245 00:10:05,480 --> 00:10:06,560 Speaker 1: far down the list. 246 00:10:07,440 --> 00:10:10,360 Speaker 6: So we do have we We just wrapped up the 247 00:10:10,360 --> 00:10:12,960 Speaker 6: prospect handbooks. So we just have ranked the top thirty 248 00:10:12,960 --> 00:10:15,600 Speaker 6: prospect in the A's system, like literally sending that to 249 00:10:15,640 --> 00:10:20,080 Speaker 6: the printer today. Jordon Rodriguez not one of those thirty. However, 250 00:10:20,120 --> 00:10:22,360 Speaker 6: he does rank because we also do the depth chart 251 00:10:22,360 --> 00:10:25,680 Speaker 6: that kind of expands it to like sixty players. Jordon 252 00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:31,760 Speaker 6: Rodriguez is our thirteenth ranked A's right handed starting pitching prospect. 253 00:10:31,880 --> 00:10:35,520 Speaker 6: So put him in the forty to forty five range. 254 00:10:35,559 --> 00:10:38,520 Speaker 6: I would say in the A's system, he has fifteen 255 00:10:38,520 --> 00:10:40,800 Speaker 6: innings in the DSL right. So this is you could 256 00:10:40,800 --> 00:10:42,480 Speaker 6: go a couple of ways in this. When you make 257 00:10:42,480 --> 00:10:44,720 Speaker 6: a trade like this, I kind of like this approach. 258 00:10:44,800 --> 00:10:47,200 Speaker 6: This is the we're going to take a flyer on 259 00:10:47,280 --> 00:10:50,000 Speaker 6: a guy who is far far away, who we like 260 00:10:50,520 --> 00:10:53,920 Speaker 6: the projectability. Now, the stuff, the present stuff's fine. He 261 00:10:54,559 --> 00:10:56,760 Speaker 6: sits in the low nineties, he can touch ninety five, 262 00:10:56,800 --> 00:10:59,760 Speaker 6: he's got a slider. But you are projecting out like 263 00:11:00,120 --> 00:11:02,320 Speaker 6: he's going to be five six years down the road. 264 00:11:02,840 --> 00:11:05,760 Speaker 6: There's a chance here that he could be something. And 265 00:11:05,840 --> 00:11:07,839 Speaker 6: when you're kind of making almost a little bit of 266 00:11:07,880 --> 00:11:11,080 Speaker 6: a salary dump kind of move here, that's probably a 267 00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:14,080 Speaker 6: better approach. If you're the Mets, you know, than it 268 00:11:14,160 --> 00:11:16,520 Speaker 6: is to try to pick up, you know, a close 269 00:11:16,600 --> 00:11:18,880 Speaker 6: to the majors guy who's only going to be an 270 00:11:18,920 --> 00:11:22,160 Speaker 6: up and down guy. Probably not going to say that 271 00:11:22,240 --> 00:11:24,360 Speaker 6: this is the trade that we will remember for years 272 00:11:24,400 --> 00:11:26,960 Speaker 6: to come. But there, you know, every now and then, Hey, 273 00:11:27,360 --> 00:11:29,640 Speaker 6: there was a Yordon who was traded in a deal 274 00:11:29,720 --> 00:11:33,959 Speaker 6: like this years ago. Josh Field traded for Jordon Alvarez 275 00:11:34,080 --> 00:11:36,840 Speaker 6: had yet to play a game for the Dodgers, and 276 00:11:36,920 --> 00:11:39,200 Speaker 6: he ends up being Yordon Alvarez for the Astros. So 277 00:11:39,280 --> 00:11:42,520 Speaker 6: it does happen. It's just a you know, the likelihood 278 00:11:42,520 --> 00:11:43,600 Speaker 6: of that is very very low. 279 00:11:44,160 --> 00:11:48,160 Speaker 7: Yep, it's just only only from the Yordon quota. 280 00:11:48,400 --> 00:11:51,120 Speaker 8: Like there's obviously a higher percentage of this hitting simply 281 00:11:51,120 --> 00:11:53,560 Speaker 8: because his name is Jordon. But I mean it's kind 282 00:11:53,600 --> 00:11:57,040 Speaker 8: of interesting, like low level guy, pretty good extensions, like 283 00:11:57,080 --> 00:11:59,120 Speaker 8: six and a half feet of extension. Based in the 284 00:11:59,200 --> 00:12:02,880 Speaker 8: data we have, it's low nineties and projectable. You can't 285 00:12:02,880 --> 00:12:06,000 Speaker 8: really tell too much on fastball shape down there because 286 00:12:06,280 --> 00:12:10,320 Speaker 8: some of those trackmens aren't exactly well calibrated. So it 287 00:12:10,400 --> 00:12:13,280 Speaker 8: was puting like seventeen inches of IVB and like fourteen 288 00:12:13,280 --> 00:12:16,120 Speaker 8: inches of armside, which is just kind of a nonsense number, 289 00:12:16,280 --> 00:12:18,959 Speaker 8: so probably a little bit of ride and some heavy 290 00:12:19,040 --> 00:12:21,760 Speaker 8: arm side run from decent extensions. So maybe something they 291 00:12:21,800 --> 00:12:25,040 Speaker 8: can do with this, But yeah, not a huge name. 292 00:12:26,200 --> 00:12:28,880 Speaker 1: Well, we have bigger names to dissect. Now let's hit 293 00:12:29,080 --> 00:12:31,800 Speaker 1: the first moved me. 294 00:12:34,080 --> 00:12:35,199 Speaker 5: We'll get to a few deals here. 295 00:12:35,240 --> 00:12:39,400 Speaker 1: Let's start with Shane Bass being acquired by the Baltimore Orioles. 296 00:12:39,440 --> 00:12:41,760 Speaker 1: So what did you think of this deal and the 297 00:12:41,800 --> 00:12:45,200 Speaker 1: package in return for someone who has high upside? And 298 00:12:45,280 --> 00:12:47,240 Speaker 1: I thought I saw that in the return package. 299 00:12:47,320 --> 00:12:49,280 Speaker 5: JJ. Do you agree? Oh? 300 00:12:49,400 --> 00:12:51,840 Speaker 6: Yeah, like this would You could very well argue that 301 00:12:51,880 --> 00:12:55,520 Speaker 6: this is an overpay from the standpoint of the race 302 00:12:55,640 --> 00:12:59,679 Speaker 6: got four pieces back. At the same time, I'm going 303 00:12:59,720 --> 00:13:01,360 Speaker 6: to sound like I'm talking about both sides of my mouth, 304 00:13:01,400 --> 00:13:03,480 Speaker 6: but I'm not. It also is a trade that I 305 00:13:03,559 --> 00:13:06,040 Speaker 6: like for the Orioles because the key thing here is 306 00:13:06,040 --> 00:13:08,440 Speaker 6: is while they traded, they they had the Orioles had 307 00:13:08,840 --> 00:13:11,000 Speaker 6: the draft of all drafts this year because they had 308 00:13:11,080 --> 00:13:13,520 Speaker 6: so many picks, they had so much money to spend. 309 00:13:14,160 --> 00:13:16,360 Speaker 6: And then they turned around and they traded Slater to 310 00:13:16,400 --> 00:13:19,679 Speaker 6: brun and Caden bodein from that group, they also traded 311 00:13:19,760 --> 00:13:23,880 Speaker 6: Austin Overn who's intriguing outfielder as well. But they didn't 312 00:13:23,880 --> 00:13:26,840 Speaker 6: trade from the top of their system. They didn't trade 313 00:13:26,960 --> 00:13:29,480 Speaker 6: a top one hundred prospect. They didn't really trade. You know, 314 00:13:29,559 --> 00:13:31,640 Speaker 6: this is not Nate George being involved in this in 315 00:13:31,679 --> 00:13:33,920 Speaker 6: this deal, This is not really even Michael Ferrett is 316 00:13:33,960 --> 00:13:36,600 Speaker 6: probably right now the closest to the big league's prospect. 317 00:13:36,600 --> 00:13:37,120 Speaker 5: They traded. 318 00:13:37,600 --> 00:13:40,120 Speaker 6: All of those guys that the Rays got are very 319 00:13:40,160 --> 00:13:43,960 Speaker 6: plausible future big leaguers. But if I'm the Orioles, I 320 00:13:44,200 --> 00:13:48,520 Speaker 6: just significantly upgraded my rotation, and I did so without 321 00:13:48,559 --> 00:13:52,160 Speaker 6: trading Obviously not a Samuel Basio, Obviously not you know, again, 322 00:13:52,200 --> 00:13:54,480 Speaker 6: a Nate George. Guys like that, guys who are the 323 00:13:54,520 --> 00:13:57,360 Speaker 6: top top of my system. I traded guys who were 324 00:13:57,360 --> 00:14:00,880 Speaker 6: further away. I love Caden Bodin, think Jeff does too. 325 00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:04,280 Speaker 6: Really good defensive catcher, really great back to ball skills. 326 00:14:04,760 --> 00:14:07,720 Speaker 6: But this is the Orioles. They have Besio, they have Rushman, 327 00:14:08,080 --> 00:14:10,240 Speaker 6: it's not something. And they had Ike Irish is going 328 00:14:10,320 --> 00:14:11,800 Speaker 6: to catch a little bit as well, another part of. 329 00:14:11,720 --> 00:14:12,360 Speaker 5: That big draft. 330 00:14:12,760 --> 00:14:15,920 Speaker 6: So the Orioles traded from a position of depth, positions 331 00:14:15,920 --> 00:14:18,080 Speaker 6: of depth and strength. I can't tell you how you 332 00:14:18,080 --> 00:14:20,880 Speaker 6: know debraun and over and two outfielders were gonna fit 333 00:14:20,920 --> 00:14:22,960 Speaker 6: when you can't even figure out how the guys who 334 00:14:22,960 --> 00:14:25,680 Speaker 6: were in the Oriols outfield last year are gonna fit now. 335 00:14:26,200 --> 00:14:29,480 Speaker 6: So trading from positions of strength, it makes the Rays 336 00:14:29,720 --> 00:14:32,280 Speaker 6: deeper in the farm system for further away, you know, 337 00:14:32,320 --> 00:14:33,920 Speaker 6: but for years from now. But at the same time, 338 00:14:33,960 --> 00:14:36,520 Speaker 6: if I'm the O's, I'd much rather have Shane Boss. 339 00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:39,760 Speaker 8: Yeah, and I think you get those three years of 340 00:14:39,840 --> 00:14:43,440 Speaker 8: control as well, So you essentially like trade out four 341 00:14:43,520 --> 00:14:46,560 Speaker 8: years of Grayson Rodriguez and any of the baggage and 342 00:14:46,640 --> 00:14:50,280 Speaker 8: health concerns that that came along with Rodriguez. You trade 343 00:14:50,280 --> 00:14:52,680 Speaker 8: that out for bos who's someone who's had a somewhat 344 00:14:52,760 --> 00:14:55,560 Speaker 8: checkered injury history. But at the same time, like you 345 00:14:55,640 --> 00:14:58,920 Speaker 8: kind of look at last year, you know, built up 346 00:14:58,920 --> 00:15:01,840 Speaker 8: some innings. You can probably project another twenty or thirty 347 00:15:01,880 --> 00:15:04,720 Speaker 8: onto that next year, and you're looking at somebody who's 348 00:15:04,760 --> 00:15:07,960 Speaker 8: you know, consistently out there for potentially thirty starts with 349 00:15:08,200 --> 00:15:11,680 Speaker 8: upside for more. They have had some success in terms 350 00:15:11,680 --> 00:15:15,240 Speaker 8: of reclamation projects, not that I would necessarily put Bo's 351 00:15:15,280 --> 00:15:17,640 Speaker 8: in the same camp as Trevor Rodgers, but we did 352 00:15:17,680 --> 00:15:21,640 Speaker 8: see them really, you know, watch him take a massive 353 00:15:21,680 --> 00:15:25,320 Speaker 8: step forward over the last year or so within that organization. 354 00:15:25,560 --> 00:15:28,320 Speaker 8: So I think that's definitely one thing to look at 355 00:15:28,360 --> 00:15:31,400 Speaker 8: within this trade is I think there's value going both ways. 356 00:15:31,400 --> 00:15:33,320 Speaker 8: It's one of those classic This is kind of a 357 00:15:33,320 --> 00:15:36,880 Speaker 8: good deal for both teams and the Rays depending upon 358 00:15:36,920 --> 00:15:39,120 Speaker 8: what they decide to do over the next month plus 359 00:15:39,200 --> 00:15:43,360 Speaker 8: leading up to camp, they could still potentially move some 360 00:15:43,440 --> 00:15:47,560 Speaker 8: of this prospect capital that they've built up to acquire, 361 00:15:48,080 --> 00:15:50,080 Speaker 8: you know, more major league talent. I know they've been 362 00:15:50,360 --> 00:15:52,720 Speaker 8: sort of in the mix on the Kettle Marte trades, 363 00:15:52,800 --> 00:15:56,880 Speaker 8: so this doesn't necessarily signify that the Raiser out of 364 00:15:56,920 --> 00:15:59,760 Speaker 8: it for next year, but simply sort of trading one 365 00:15:59,800 --> 00:16:02,640 Speaker 8: out set for some other assets they obviously liked and 366 00:16:02,720 --> 00:16:05,000 Speaker 8: felt they could maybe package together with some of the 367 00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:07,400 Speaker 8: other players in the system for upgrades. 368 00:16:06,960 --> 00:16:07,880 Speaker 7: In the major league team. 369 00:16:08,000 --> 00:16:09,840 Speaker 8: So I think this is kind of like the first 370 00:16:09,920 --> 00:16:12,680 Speaker 8: shoot to drop with some more Al East activity, and 371 00:16:12,680 --> 00:16:13,800 Speaker 8: there's been a lot this far. 372 00:16:14,600 --> 00:16:15,840 Speaker 1: There are a lot of jokes by the way, I 373 00:16:15,880 --> 00:16:18,640 Speaker 1: just remember it online too JJ about how the pick 374 00:16:18,720 --> 00:16:22,720 Speaker 1: goes over to Baltimore. They spend the four million bucks 375 00:16:22,720 --> 00:16:25,560 Speaker 1: on de Brun and then they get the player back. 376 00:16:25,680 --> 00:16:28,840 Speaker 1: So I know it also requires Shane boz moving. Let's 377 00:16:28,840 --> 00:16:31,400 Speaker 1: not discount that, but it is clever. They were like, 378 00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:34,080 Speaker 1: you take the pick. Oh you picked him. Oh he 379 00:16:34,120 --> 00:16:36,000 Speaker 1: gave him four million bucks. We love him, We'll take them. 380 00:16:36,880 --> 00:16:40,400 Speaker 6: Yeah, exactly. Obviously, this also was the same day we 381 00:16:40,440 --> 00:16:43,200 Speaker 6: saw another trade. I know what Jeff just said there, 382 00:16:43,200 --> 00:16:45,040 Speaker 6: and I agree that it's very possible at the race 383 00:16:45,160 --> 00:16:47,320 Speaker 6: just look at this as a way to move from 384 00:16:47,400 --> 00:16:50,720 Speaker 6: one guy to another. But Brandon Lawle going to the Pirates, 385 00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:54,840 Speaker 6: getting back the three we deal with the Astros trade 386 00:16:55,160 --> 00:16:59,320 Speaker 6: Jacob Melton and Anderson Brito, who end up now joining 387 00:16:59,360 --> 00:17:02,440 Speaker 6: what is a much deeper Rais system. I also kind 388 00:17:02,440 --> 00:17:04,159 Speaker 6: of think that there's a chance that this is the 389 00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:08,000 Speaker 6: Rays kind of taking a step back, looking around and realizing, hey, 390 00:17:08,600 --> 00:17:10,840 Speaker 6: in a division where the Blue Jays just went to 391 00:17:10,840 --> 00:17:13,920 Speaker 6: the World Series, where the Orioles are doing everything in 392 00:17:13,960 --> 00:17:16,480 Speaker 6: their power to kind of prove that last year was 393 00:17:16,520 --> 00:17:19,400 Speaker 6: an aberration, where the Red Sox are getting better. Because 394 00:17:19,400 --> 00:17:21,000 Speaker 6: we've got another trade that we're going to talk about there. 395 00:17:21,080 --> 00:17:23,159 Speaker 6: And Okay, the Yankees haven't done a ton yet, but 396 00:17:23,200 --> 00:17:25,240 Speaker 6: the Yankees were there just a couple of years ago. 397 00:17:25,280 --> 00:17:27,920 Speaker 6: They still have Aaron Judge, they have Garrett Cole coming back. 398 00:17:28,680 --> 00:17:30,679 Speaker 6: I do think it's really hard to see how the 399 00:17:30,760 --> 00:17:33,120 Speaker 6: Rays are going to be that competitive, even if they 400 00:17:33,160 --> 00:17:35,960 Speaker 6: did pick up Marte or someone else in a deal 401 00:17:36,560 --> 00:17:38,639 Speaker 6: for twenty twenty six. So if you told me that 402 00:17:38,720 --> 00:17:40,800 Speaker 6: this is the raise way to kind of take a 403 00:17:40,840 --> 00:17:43,240 Speaker 6: step back and kind of try to rebuild for twenty 404 00:17:43,240 --> 00:17:45,720 Speaker 6: seven and beyond, that also makes some sense to me, 405 00:17:45,760 --> 00:17:47,640 Speaker 6: because when I look at the rest of this division, 406 00:17:48,200 --> 00:17:50,960 Speaker 6: I do feel like that even with the prospect editions 407 00:17:50,960 --> 00:17:52,880 Speaker 6: they have, even with you know, some guys who should 408 00:17:52,920 --> 00:17:54,600 Speaker 6: be in the big leagues coming up from the miners 409 00:17:54,840 --> 00:17:57,040 Speaker 6: this year, in twenty twenty six, I still think the 410 00:17:57,080 --> 00:17:59,600 Speaker 6: Rays are probably pretty clearly the number five team in 411 00:17:59,640 --> 00:18:00,840 Speaker 6: a very difficult division. 412 00:18:00,880 --> 00:18:06,280 Speaker 5: Right now, What do you think, Jeff, I mean the 413 00:18:06,359 --> 00:18:06,880 Speaker 5: other move. 414 00:18:07,560 --> 00:18:09,960 Speaker 1: First of all, it's always fun to see a three team, 415 00:18:10,080 --> 00:18:12,240 Speaker 1: as we called it the other day, a three team sizzler, 416 00:18:12,480 --> 00:18:14,320 Speaker 1: which is a favorite word of Todd Father, who was 417 00:18:14,320 --> 00:18:15,800 Speaker 1: on the show the other day. But you know, you 418 00:18:15,800 --> 00:18:18,920 Speaker 1: don't see them often. I thought this was fascinating. I mean, 419 00:18:18,960 --> 00:18:23,119 Speaker 1: even from the Mike Burrows perspective. Here's someone that clearly 420 00:18:23,160 --> 00:18:26,159 Speaker 1: the Pirates can afford to trade away, and at some 421 00:18:26,240 --> 00:18:28,800 Speaker 1: point you do have to show that you're ready to 422 00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:31,639 Speaker 1: at least spend a little bit and compete. It seems 423 00:18:31,680 --> 00:18:33,920 Speaker 1: like they finally have put a stake down and said, okay, 424 00:18:34,119 --> 00:18:35,879 Speaker 1: here's a guy who could at thirty home runs for 425 00:18:35,960 --> 00:18:38,680 Speaker 1: us at second base in Brandon Lau. And I think 426 00:18:38,760 --> 00:18:42,320 Speaker 1: it actually shows an ounce of seriousness to the marketplace. 427 00:18:42,560 --> 00:18:45,040 Speaker 1: This helps them for their next free agent signing, so 428 00:18:45,080 --> 00:18:47,679 Speaker 1: that they can say, hey, look, you're not going to 429 00:18:47,680 --> 00:18:49,040 Speaker 1: be the first and only guy here. 430 00:18:51,160 --> 00:18:53,760 Speaker 8: Yeah, I agree, And I think, you know, this was 431 00:18:54,040 --> 00:18:57,680 Speaker 8: sort of a necessary move for the Pirates to actually 432 00:18:57,680 --> 00:19:02,560 Speaker 8: bring in, you know, some MLB oliver every day positional talent. 433 00:19:02,640 --> 00:19:05,280 Speaker 7: They really haven't had that over the last several years. 434 00:19:05,680 --> 00:19:07,639 Speaker 8: And there could be you know, there could be some 435 00:19:07,680 --> 00:19:11,040 Speaker 8: other players coming up from the farm system shortly. 436 00:19:11,040 --> 00:19:12,200 Speaker 7: We've talked a lot about. 437 00:19:12,080 --> 00:19:14,440 Speaker 8: Connor Griffin and you know, the hope that there's maybe 438 00:19:14,440 --> 00:19:17,359 Speaker 8: even a chance he's up very early this spring with 439 00:19:17,440 --> 00:19:19,320 Speaker 8: a big league club, So I think, you know, that 440 00:19:19,440 --> 00:19:22,760 Speaker 8: sort of sets the stage. The Astros were very aggressive. 441 00:19:22,800 --> 00:19:24,600 Speaker 8: I had said this, you know, over the last couple 442 00:19:24,640 --> 00:19:28,760 Speaker 8: of weeks that Melton in particular have been dangled, you know, 443 00:19:28,960 --> 00:19:32,640 Speaker 8: for pitching upgrades. They certainly view Burrows as one took 444 00:19:32,640 --> 00:19:35,320 Speaker 8: a big step forward, kind of tightened up that arsenal 445 00:19:35,359 --> 00:19:38,560 Speaker 8: a little bit more last year, and it'll be interesting 446 00:19:38,600 --> 00:19:40,520 Speaker 8: to see what the what the Astros were able to 447 00:19:40,560 --> 00:19:43,440 Speaker 8: do with him. They obviously identified something there and they've 448 00:19:43,440 --> 00:19:46,679 Speaker 8: been excellent in sort of taking these guys and shepherding 449 00:19:46,720 --> 00:19:49,320 Speaker 8: these arms to you know, three to four win seasons 450 00:19:49,400 --> 00:19:51,679 Speaker 8: kind of out of nowhere at times. So Borrow has 451 00:19:51,720 --> 00:19:53,720 Speaker 8: big town Borrows, his big talent. Should be interesting to 452 00:19:53,720 --> 00:19:55,320 Speaker 8: see what they do with him. And then I think 453 00:19:55,400 --> 00:19:58,639 Speaker 8: from the Rays perspective, you had a guy in Jacob 454 00:19:58,720 --> 00:20:01,800 Speaker 8: Melton that you know, in a lot of ways as 455 00:20:01,880 --> 00:20:04,240 Speaker 8: kind of an upgrade from some of the options that 456 00:20:04,280 --> 00:20:07,720 Speaker 8: they had in the outfield last year. It's a pretty 457 00:20:07,760 --> 00:20:10,800 Speaker 8: good bat. There's contact there, there's power there, there's a 458 00:20:10,800 --> 00:20:13,440 Speaker 8: lot of base running ability and just you know, in 459 00:20:13,480 --> 00:20:16,240 Speaker 8: general speed in his game. Can play all three outfield 460 00:20:16,280 --> 00:20:18,560 Speaker 8: positions pretty comfortably, and he's seen a lot of time 461 00:20:19,640 --> 00:20:21,880 Speaker 8: you know, in the corners as well as in center 462 00:20:21,920 --> 00:20:24,200 Speaker 8: field over the last three or four years. So he's 463 00:20:24,200 --> 00:20:26,760 Speaker 8: really interesting. And then Britail was somebody that depending on 464 00:20:26,800 --> 00:20:29,680 Speaker 8: who you talk to, he was ranked as highly as 465 00:20:29,760 --> 00:20:33,879 Speaker 8: one by some teams in this farms in this farm system, 466 00:20:34,040 --> 00:20:36,760 Speaker 8: and I think there's good reason. I mean, he's undersize, 467 00:20:36,800 --> 00:20:40,400 Speaker 8: but it's you know, three above average pitches, probably two 468 00:20:40,520 --> 00:20:43,480 Speaker 8: plus pitches at the very least, there's command there. It's 469 00:20:43,560 --> 00:20:45,960 Speaker 8: just a matter of you know how durable is a 470 00:20:46,000 --> 00:20:47,960 Speaker 8: guy who put on a lot of weight in a 471 00:20:48,000 --> 00:20:50,520 Speaker 8: short period of time, added a lot of philosophy onto 472 00:20:50,560 --> 00:20:52,520 Speaker 8: his fastball in a short period of time. This is 473 00:20:52,560 --> 00:20:56,280 Speaker 8: somebody was throwing low nineties a few years ago, and 474 00:20:56,320 --> 00:20:58,960 Speaker 8: you know, how is that workload with all those additional 475 00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:01,760 Speaker 8: factors going to sort of look over the next couple 476 00:21:01,800 --> 00:21:03,920 Speaker 8: of years. If he gets back to what he looked 477 00:21:03,960 --> 00:21:06,240 Speaker 8: like in his first year and you know, maybe puts 478 00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:09,120 Speaker 8: together a ninety to one hundred inning season, I think 479 00:21:09,160 --> 00:21:11,080 Speaker 8: that probably looks pretty good in the rays a year 480 00:21:11,119 --> 00:21:13,200 Speaker 8: from now, and you know, maybe trend Storret a top 481 00:21:13,200 --> 00:21:14,520 Speaker 8: one hundred prospect. 482 00:21:14,880 --> 00:21:16,879 Speaker 1: One more trade to hit, then we'll get the signings. 483 00:21:17,160 --> 00:21:20,000 Speaker 1: What did you think of the Wilson Contreras acquisition for 484 00:21:20,200 --> 00:21:23,080 Speaker 1: the Red Sox Jeff and three pitchers going the other way. 485 00:21:25,080 --> 00:21:25,320 Speaker 2: Yeah. 486 00:21:25,400 --> 00:21:28,440 Speaker 8: You know, I was talking to a Cardinals official finishing 487 00:21:28,520 --> 00:21:30,879 Speaker 8: up the handbook last week and I was kind of like, 488 00:21:30,920 --> 00:21:31,439 Speaker 8: are there going to. 489 00:21:31,440 --> 00:21:34,159 Speaker 7: Be any trades? Like how inaccurate is this list going 490 00:21:34,240 --> 00:21:34,560 Speaker 7: to look? 491 00:21:34,600 --> 00:21:37,640 Speaker 8: And I was assured that before Christmas that the list 492 00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:39,760 Speaker 8: would not would certainly look inaccurate. 493 00:21:40,840 --> 00:21:41,520 Speaker 7: I think it's good. 494 00:21:41,560 --> 00:21:44,119 Speaker 8: You know, it seems like, you know, High and Bloom 495 00:21:44,240 --> 00:21:46,760 Speaker 8: and Craig Breslo have no hard feelings between the two 496 00:21:46,760 --> 00:21:49,639 Speaker 8: of them, because I think this is maybe two trades 497 00:21:49,680 --> 00:21:52,760 Speaker 8: this offseason, but I think threes since the Stephen Matt's 498 00:21:52,800 --> 00:21:56,520 Speaker 8: trade at the deadline last year. They love connecting on deals, 499 00:21:57,359 --> 00:21:58,880 Speaker 8: and obviously High and Bloom, you. 500 00:21:58,800 --> 00:22:00,320 Speaker 7: Know, knows the players in this system. 501 00:22:00,359 --> 00:22:02,640 Speaker 8: A lot of the guys that he's acquired were players 502 00:22:02,680 --> 00:22:05,800 Speaker 8: that you know, he initially had acquired when he was 503 00:22:05,800 --> 00:22:08,359 Speaker 8: still with the Red Sox. I think Dobbins is interesting 504 00:22:08,359 --> 00:22:10,359 Speaker 8: from the sense of a guy that has a little 505 00:22:10,359 --> 00:22:14,119 Speaker 8: bit of major league experience, you know, maybe isn't going 506 00:22:14,160 --> 00:22:15,760 Speaker 8: to blow you away. I can't think it's kind of 507 00:22:15,800 --> 00:22:18,000 Speaker 8: the same as Richard Fitz that was in the previous deal, 508 00:22:18,480 --> 00:22:20,440 Speaker 8: but he is somebody that's going to give you major 509 00:22:20,560 --> 00:22:23,439 Speaker 8: league caliber innings and kind of be a bridge to 510 00:22:23,720 --> 00:22:26,280 Speaker 8: this group of really talented arms that are now coming 511 00:22:26,280 --> 00:22:28,840 Speaker 8: through the system led by Liam Doyle. And they acquire 512 00:22:28,880 --> 00:22:30,960 Speaker 8: Brandon Clark, who is really big stuff. We'll see where 513 00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:34,680 Speaker 8: that goes, Tin or Franklin. And then you know, you 514 00:22:34,720 --> 00:22:36,840 Speaker 8: add in, you know, Frajardo, who I think we had 515 00:22:36,880 --> 00:22:38,359 Speaker 8: talked about in the show a few weeks ago. He 516 00:22:38,400 --> 00:22:40,479 Speaker 8: was a top ten Red Sox prospect I think greaked 517 00:22:40,760 --> 00:22:44,200 Speaker 8: eighth or ninth in that system. He's going to slide 518 00:22:44,240 --> 00:22:48,960 Speaker 8: into like ten or eleven in the Cardinals system. 519 00:22:48,400 --> 00:22:48,600 Speaker 5: You know. 520 00:22:48,720 --> 00:22:51,400 Speaker 8: And then they add a guy in Blake Ada who 521 00:22:51,480 --> 00:22:53,960 Speaker 8: probably falls into the back end of the list, maybe 522 00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:54,879 Speaker 8: into the thirties. 523 00:22:55,000 --> 00:22:55,960 Speaker 7: He's really interesting. 524 00:22:56,000 --> 00:22:59,440 Speaker 8: He's got two breaking balls with twenty eight plus RPMs, 525 00:22:59,720 --> 00:23:03,040 Speaker 8: a spin on them, got a nasty sweeper. I think 526 00:23:03,080 --> 00:23:05,600 Speaker 8: it's above average, you could maybe even call it plus. 527 00:23:05,840 --> 00:23:08,480 Speaker 8: There's set sixteen to seventeen inches of movement on that pitch, 528 00:23:08,520 --> 00:23:12,320 Speaker 8: three thousand RPMs on average, and he commands it and 529 00:23:12,359 --> 00:23:14,440 Speaker 8: gets a ton of whiffs inside and out of the 530 00:23:14,520 --> 00:23:17,119 Speaker 8: zone on that pitch. I think when someone has spin 531 00:23:17,160 --> 00:23:21,560 Speaker 8: traits like that. There's typically more opportunities for that style 532 00:23:21,600 --> 00:23:25,200 Speaker 8: of player, a guy that supinates like that, to add 533 00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:27,399 Speaker 8: a bunch of different styles of pitches, to add a cutter, 534 00:23:27,480 --> 00:23:30,879 Speaker 8: to add a sinker, if you add a little power 535 00:23:30,920 --> 00:23:34,199 Speaker 8: onto aids profile. I actually think that we could look 536 00:23:34,280 --> 00:23:35,800 Speaker 8: back in a couple of years and say, oh, they 537 00:23:35,840 --> 00:23:37,560 Speaker 8: got this guy as well, Like this was a pretty 538 00:23:37,560 --> 00:23:39,960 Speaker 8: good trade overall. So I think a good move for 539 00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:42,000 Speaker 8: the Red Sox. I think it fits that lineup and 540 00:23:42,119 --> 00:23:43,800 Speaker 8: sort of what they need in terms of right handed 541 00:23:43,800 --> 00:23:46,440 Speaker 8: power and a guy that can get on base, maybe 542 00:23:46,480 --> 00:23:50,640 Speaker 8: a little positional versatility as well, and you know, potentially 543 00:23:50,640 --> 00:23:52,760 Speaker 8: an upgrade at first base. But overall, I think, you know, 544 00:23:52,800 --> 00:23:56,479 Speaker 8: the Cardinals continue to add pitching talent into this system 545 00:23:56,520 --> 00:23:58,560 Speaker 8: that you know, for a lot of years was kind 546 00:23:58,600 --> 00:24:01,760 Speaker 8: of lacking anything but soft tossing left easy through a 547 00:24:01,760 --> 00:24:03,359 Speaker 8: lot of strikes. There's a lot of good stuff in 548 00:24:03,400 --> 00:24:09,040 Speaker 8: the system now and some really interesting arms across the board. Okay, 549 00:24:09,160 --> 00:24:12,879 Speaker 8: so those are significant trades over the past several days. 550 00:24:13,520 --> 00:24:17,920 Speaker 8: And now let's get to some standout international signings. So, Jeff, 551 00:24:17,960 --> 00:24:20,240 Speaker 8: I'm going to pass the rock right back to you. 552 00:24:20,680 --> 00:24:24,000 Speaker 1: We got a bunch of questions on song Sung Moon 553 00:24:24,280 --> 00:24:28,480 Speaker 1: the KBO star who signs with the Padres, And that's 554 00:24:28,480 --> 00:24:29,960 Speaker 1: one that I didn't even see a. 555 00:24:29,920 --> 00:24:33,480 Speaker 5: Lot out there about over the offseason. So what can 556 00:24:33,520 --> 00:24:34,080 Speaker 5: you tell us? 557 00:24:34,119 --> 00:24:36,200 Speaker 1: Because he actually got more money I think than most 558 00:24:36,200 --> 00:24:39,199 Speaker 1: people anticipated. I believe it was thirteen million dollars for 559 00:24:39,280 --> 00:24:41,280 Speaker 1: him to sign up with the San Diego Padres. What 560 00:24:41,320 --> 00:24:42,800 Speaker 1: do you think they're going to get? 561 00:24:45,440 --> 00:24:46,520 Speaker 7: It's going to be interesting. 562 00:24:47,119 --> 00:24:51,720 Speaker 8: He was kind of a later stage breakout in terms 563 00:24:51,720 --> 00:24:54,520 Speaker 8: of when the production started to show up in his career. 564 00:24:55,560 --> 00:24:59,679 Speaker 8: Spent I think five or six years not really getting 565 00:24:59,680 --> 00:25:02,200 Speaker 8: full time at bats, broke into the first. 566 00:25:01,960 --> 00:25:04,320 Speaker 7: Team and twenty twenty two as a twenty. 567 00:25:04,080 --> 00:25:06,679 Speaker 8: Five year old, and then had a huge sort of 568 00:25:06,760 --> 00:25:11,760 Speaker 8: out power and production jump in twenty twenty four as 569 00:25:11,800 --> 00:25:13,080 Speaker 8: a twenty seven year old. 570 00:25:13,200 --> 00:25:14,320 Speaker 7: Followed that up this year. 571 00:25:14,400 --> 00:25:16,640 Speaker 8: He had a better year in twenty twenty four, where 572 00:25:16,640 --> 00:25:20,320 Speaker 8: he hit three forty four h nine five eighteen, had 573 00:25:20,440 --> 00:25:24,000 Speaker 8: nineteen home runs twenty one stolen bases. This year top 574 00:25:24,080 --> 00:25:27,000 Speaker 8: the home run number with twenty six. Batting average was 575 00:25:27,040 --> 00:25:30,320 Speaker 8: down a little bit, but I don't think the power 576 00:25:30,359 --> 00:25:33,880 Speaker 8: is going to quite play like this state side. It's 577 00:25:33,920 --> 00:25:38,159 Speaker 8: probably more like twelve to fifteen home runs. Maybe in 578 00:25:38,280 --> 00:25:40,080 Speaker 8: you know, a good luck season in terms of bat 579 00:25:40,160 --> 00:25:42,560 Speaker 8: and ball luck, he gets up to seventeen or eighteen, 580 00:25:43,400 --> 00:25:46,800 Speaker 8: but probably more like that twelve to fourteen, twelve to 581 00:25:46,880 --> 00:25:51,600 Speaker 8: fifteen range. Decent batting average, good contact. Hitter has some 582 00:25:51,640 --> 00:25:54,840 Speaker 8: positional versatility, you know, has played some first base, has 583 00:25:54,840 --> 00:25:57,080 Speaker 8: played some second base, has played some third base, so 584 00:25:57,119 --> 00:25:59,960 Speaker 8: it can kind of play all over the infield. 585 00:26:00,359 --> 00:26:01,800 Speaker 7: I don't know how good. 586 00:26:01,560 --> 00:26:02,320 Speaker 5: The defense is. 587 00:26:02,359 --> 00:26:05,480 Speaker 8: I think it's sort of average ish fringe averages that 588 00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:09,360 Speaker 8: he's you know, usable at multiple spots. View him more 589 00:26:09,400 --> 00:26:12,440 Speaker 8: as like a utility player than some of the Japanese 590 00:26:12,480 --> 00:26:15,200 Speaker 8: talent that's come over, but should be interesting to see 591 00:26:15,200 --> 00:26:16,760 Speaker 8: how it tracks. I just think it's hard with some 592 00:26:16,800 --> 00:26:19,840 Speaker 8: of these KBO guys, just based on the run environment 593 00:26:20,760 --> 00:26:22,879 Speaker 8: to know one for one, how that translates. 594 00:26:23,960 --> 00:26:26,440 Speaker 6: Speaking of Japanese guys, I'll kind of give us a 595 00:26:26,480 --> 00:26:28,560 Speaker 6: quick little update on who the White Sox sign Moon 596 00:26:28,600 --> 00:26:32,800 Speaker 6: tak up Murkami, who. I will say that what compared 597 00:26:32,840 --> 00:26:35,320 Speaker 6: to the fact that when you hear the tagline the 598 00:26:35,720 --> 00:26:40,120 Speaker 6: Japanese you know, the hitter who broke Sadahara's Japanese born 599 00:26:40,119 --> 00:26:43,080 Speaker 6: home run record in the MPB. Pretty shocking to see 600 00:26:43,080 --> 00:26:45,480 Speaker 6: that this guy went for pretty modest deal to the 601 00:26:45,480 --> 00:26:49,280 Speaker 6: White Sox, but it is. It is a I would say, 602 00:26:49,320 --> 00:26:51,879 Speaker 6: in this case, a low risk, high reward for both sides, 603 00:26:52,320 --> 00:26:55,840 Speaker 6: very short term deal two years. Murakami has real swing 604 00:26:55,880 --> 00:26:59,040 Speaker 6: and misissues there. How that's going to translate to the 605 00:26:59,160 --> 00:27:01,439 Speaker 6: US is going to be fascinating. Not a whole lot 606 00:27:01,440 --> 00:27:04,119 Speaker 6: of defensive value, probably a first base only in the US. 607 00:27:04,280 --> 00:27:05,919 Speaker 6: Has played some third but probably not gonna be able 608 00:27:05,960 --> 00:27:08,240 Speaker 6: to do that in the US. But the thing about 609 00:27:08,280 --> 00:27:09,720 Speaker 6: it is he's going to the White Sox. The great 610 00:27:09,720 --> 00:27:11,280 Speaker 6: thing about this for both sides here is is that 611 00:27:11,320 --> 00:27:13,879 Speaker 6: if I'm the White Sox, I'm giving him four hundred 612 00:27:13,920 --> 00:27:17,119 Speaker 6: plate appearances. No matter what happens at those four hundred, 613 00:27:17,400 --> 00:27:19,679 Speaker 6: I'm gonna say, if he's bidding hitting a buck fifty, 614 00:27:19,880 --> 00:27:22,280 Speaker 6: there's no reason not to let it go. And then 615 00:27:22,280 --> 00:27:24,480 Speaker 6: on the flip side from Urkami, if you went to 616 00:27:24,720 --> 00:27:27,720 Speaker 6: a contender for a modest, short term deal, they would 617 00:27:27,720 --> 00:27:29,520 Speaker 6: probably give him two hundred play appearances and if it 618 00:27:29,560 --> 00:27:31,520 Speaker 6: wasn't working, that have cut him loose. He may need 619 00:27:31,600 --> 00:27:33,320 Speaker 6: a little time to adjust to the US. This is the 620 00:27:33,320 --> 00:27:35,040 Speaker 6: guy who could do that, and we'll see how it 621 00:27:35,080 --> 00:27:37,000 Speaker 6: pays off for both him and the White Sox. 622 00:27:37,880 --> 00:27:41,000 Speaker 1: Good stuff, guys, And now let's bring in another member 623 00:27:41,080 --> 00:27:43,560 Speaker 1: to the party. Here, we're gonna hit the final sprint 624 00:27:43,560 --> 00:27:51,720 Speaker 1: for a fascinating topic. Here comes to Jacob Rudner and 625 00:27:51,760 --> 00:27:54,400 Speaker 1: I'm gonna go right to you, Jacob on Janey Satto 626 00:27:54,600 --> 00:27:58,640 Speaker 1: who ends up with Penn State. Can you explain more 627 00:27:58,680 --> 00:28:01,560 Speaker 1: of how this all went and what this means for 628 00:28:01,640 --> 00:28:05,800 Speaker 1: the future of players potentially hitting some college baseball overseas 629 00:28:05,840 --> 00:28:07,240 Speaker 1: instead of going pro out there. 630 00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:11,200 Speaker 9: Certainly, well, the first thing that needs to be addressed 631 00:28:11,280 --> 00:28:13,440 Speaker 9: is just how the heck Penn State. I think when 632 00:28:13,480 --> 00:28:16,679 Speaker 9: everybody found out that that was where this prospect was headed, 633 00:28:16,720 --> 00:28:19,320 Speaker 9: it was kind of a system shock for the college 634 00:28:19,359 --> 00:28:23,159 Speaker 9: baseball community. This is not exactly the path that most 635 00:28:23,200 --> 00:28:27,760 Speaker 9: potential early first rounders take. However, there were some connections 636 00:28:27,760 --> 00:28:31,639 Speaker 9: that were very meaningful for Sato in his recruitment, one 637 00:28:31,680 --> 00:28:34,200 Speaker 9: of them being that Penn State is home to the 638 00:28:34,240 --> 00:28:37,879 Speaker 9: best Japanese collegiate wrestler in the world. And I'm not 639 00:28:37,920 --> 00:28:40,480 Speaker 9: even going to attempt to butcher his name, but the 640 00:28:40,520 --> 00:28:42,640 Speaker 9: fact that he's on campus was significant, and Penn State 641 00:28:42,720 --> 00:28:44,040 Speaker 9: knew that they were going to be able to bring 642 00:28:44,080 --> 00:28:45,640 Speaker 9: in somebody who maybe had a little bit of a 643 00:28:45,720 --> 00:28:50,120 Speaker 9: language barrier, certainly a cultural barrier. Even the baseball calendar 644 00:28:50,280 --> 00:28:53,440 Speaker 9: is different. But because there was some infrastructure of elite 645 00:28:53,600 --> 00:28:57,560 Speaker 9: Japanese athletes going over to state college Pennsylvania, there was 646 00:28:57,600 --> 00:28:59,960 Speaker 9: a route for this to take place, and that's exactly 647 00:29:00,120 --> 00:29:03,680 Speaker 9: how it went down. As far as major talents from 648 00:29:03,760 --> 00:29:06,479 Speaker 9: Japan making them move to the United States, is this 649 00:29:06,560 --> 00:29:09,560 Speaker 9: going to become some widespread and frequently occurring trend with 650 00:29:09,920 --> 00:29:13,560 Speaker 9: again potential early first rounders. I somewhat doubt that, but 651 00:29:13,880 --> 00:29:16,440 Speaker 9: it is certainly a continuation of something that we've seen 652 00:29:16,440 --> 00:29:19,480 Speaker 9: at a modest rate, which is that there are Japanese 653 00:29:19,520 --> 00:29:23,120 Speaker 9: players who want to get to American college baseball in 654 00:29:23,240 --> 00:29:25,440 Speaker 9: order to become eligible for the MLB Draft. It gets 655 00:29:25,440 --> 00:29:28,000 Speaker 9: them the free agency sooner, it gets them into American 656 00:29:28,040 --> 00:29:31,800 Speaker 9: professional baseball sooner, and that's obviously meaningful from a financial standpoint. 657 00:29:31,880 --> 00:29:35,440 Speaker 9: So again, is it something that happens widespread. Probably not, 658 00:29:35,560 --> 00:29:38,080 Speaker 9: But I do think that for elite talent this may 659 00:29:38,120 --> 00:29:42,560 Speaker 9: become more frequent an occurrence from Japan to the United States. 660 00:29:44,200 --> 00:29:47,200 Speaker 6: So Jacob with this, I'm just kind of asking on this, 661 00:29:47,280 --> 00:29:49,400 Speaker 6: So what kind of talent are we talking about here? 662 00:29:51,280 --> 00:29:54,480 Speaker 9: You know, we're talking about a potential first half of 663 00:29:54,560 --> 00:29:56,440 Speaker 9: the first round pitcher. And I want to be clear, 664 00:29:56,720 --> 00:29:59,520 Speaker 9: this is not Paul Schemes of Japan coming over to 665 00:29:59,560 --> 00:30:01,840 Speaker 9: the United States. But it doesn't make him not bad. 666 00:30:01,920 --> 00:30:05,080 Speaker 9: It's a plus fastball, it's a potentially double plus splitter 667 00:30:05,080 --> 00:30:07,480 Speaker 9: that he throws into the low nineties against Team USA 668 00:30:07,520 --> 00:30:09,959 Speaker 9: over the summer the collegiate national team, he touched ninety 669 00:30:09,960 --> 00:30:13,440 Speaker 9: three with his splitter. Apparently, according to Rock Chalowski, it 670 00:30:13,560 --> 00:30:16,040 Speaker 9: was one of the more devastating splitters he's ever seen, 671 00:30:16,080 --> 00:30:19,200 Speaker 9: and he told me that Team USA's hitters just in general, 672 00:30:19,240 --> 00:30:21,680 Speaker 9: really struggled with it. Drew Burris, I believe, struck out 673 00:30:21,720 --> 00:30:25,640 Speaker 9: both times against Sato against that splitter. So there is 674 00:30:26,200 --> 00:30:29,880 Speaker 9: elite tools in the tool shed here. I think where 675 00:30:29,880 --> 00:30:33,000 Speaker 9: you start to get a little bit less generational talent 676 00:30:33,600 --> 00:30:35,520 Speaker 9: is in the control category, which is kind of a 677 00:30:35,600 --> 00:30:37,360 Speaker 9: question mark for a lot of evaluators. 678 00:30:37,520 --> 00:30:39,840 Speaker 2: And then the spin. He doesn't have great feel for spin. 679 00:30:40,080 --> 00:30:41,120 Speaker 2: It's a below. 680 00:30:40,800 --> 00:30:44,880 Speaker 9: Average, maybe fringe average slider with two plane break, he 681 00:30:44,920 --> 00:30:47,239 Speaker 9: doesn't get great spin on it. And then there's a 682 00:30:47,280 --> 00:30:50,400 Speaker 9: curveball in the high seventies that I got mostly forties 683 00:30:50,440 --> 00:30:53,120 Speaker 9: on on the scouting scale, so below average on the curveball. 684 00:30:53,320 --> 00:30:54,920 Speaker 9: There is some hope that he's going to be able 685 00:30:54,960 --> 00:30:58,000 Speaker 9: to round into form. He's very athletic, and so there 686 00:30:58,040 --> 00:31:00,880 Speaker 9: is potential that he's able to kind of broaden out 687 00:31:00,880 --> 00:31:03,680 Speaker 9: to pitch micks, but for now it is too comfortably 688 00:31:03,760 --> 00:31:06,120 Speaker 9: plus if not double plus pitches that kind of lead 689 00:31:06,160 --> 00:31:08,200 Speaker 9: the attack and will allow him to be a successful 690 00:31:08,200 --> 00:31:09,600 Speaker 9: starter in the big ten most likely. 691 00:31:10,800 --> 00:31:13,320 Speaker 6: Okay, when you say that, it kind of makes it 692 00:31:13,400 --> 00:31:15,560 Speaker 6: kind of can't help. But think of what we saw 693 00:31:15,600 --> 00:31:17,800 Speaker 6: at the big leagues last year of Roki Sazaki, who 694 00:31:18,120 --> 00:31:20,840 Speaker 6: had a really good fastball, although not as good as 695 00:31:20,880 --> 00:31:23,320 Speaker 6: it was you know in the past years, a great splitter, 696 00:31:23,640 --> 00:31:25,840 Speaker 6: and then had really kind of trouble spinning. It is 697 00:31:25,880 --> 00:31:29,520 Speaker 6: this kind of a potentially a similar profile. Doesn't mean 698 00:31:29,520 --> 00:31:32,360 Speaker 6: he's as good as Roki Sasaki, who obviously has also 699 00:31:32,480 --> 00:31:34,720 Speaker 6: already succeeded at the big league leven all, but are 700 00:31:34,760 --> 00:31:37,880 Speaker 6: that kind of profile potentially, you know, there are there 701 00:31:37,920 --> 00:31:38,960 Speaker 6: some similarities here. 702 00:31:40,600 --> 00:31:42,840 Speaker 9: Certainly I think that it's for the reasons that you 703 00:31:42,920 --> 00:31:45,320 Speaker 9: just said. This is somebody with a plus fastball. He 704 00:31:45,400 --> 00:31:48,560 Speaker 9: has triple digit velocity. We were told that he's touched 705 00:31:48,560 --> 00:31:50,360 Speaker 9: one hundred miles per hour. He was up to ninety 706 00:31:50,400 --> 00:31:53,720 Speaker 9: nine against the collegiate national team over the summer. The splitter, 707 00:31:53,960 --> 00:31:57,440 Speaker 9: like with Roki Sasaki, is in that double plus elite category, 708 00:31:57,720 --> 00:31:59,520 Speaker 9: and then, like you said, there's a lack of feel 709 00:31:59,520 --> 00:32:02,440 Speaker 9: for spin, big differences. While he is a good athlete, 710 00:32:02,720 --> 00:32:05,120 Speaker 9: he is not a very big guy. He's five for eleven, 711 00:32:05,120 --> 00:32:07,280 Speaker 9: one hundred and eighty pounds. There's a lot more room 712 00:32:07,320 --> 00:32:10,560 Speaker 9: still for physical projection despite him being on the older side. 713 00:32:10,560 --> 00:32:12,600 Speaker 9: I think it's important to remember he will be twenty 714 00:32:12,600 --> 00:32:15,160 Speaker 9: two when he is draft eligible in the United States 715 00:32:15,200 --> 00:32:18,840 Speaker 9: in twenty twenty seven. That matters, So it's not the 716 00:32:18,880 --> 00:32:21,960 Speaker 9: same exact prospect. I think that Roki, you know, for 717 00:32:22,040 --> 00:32:23,720 Speaker 9: all of the faults that he had and some of 718 00:32:23,760 --> 00:32:25,640 Speaker 9: the reasons that he went through struggles during the season, 719 00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:29,280 Speaker 9: he is a much larger pitcher. He's longer levered, and 720 00:32:29,360 --> 00:32:31,800 Speaker 9: I think that those things are easier to hang on to. 721 00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:35,240 Speaker 9: This is somebody who you know, by every definition is undersized, 722 00:32:35,800 --> 00:32:37,800 Speaker 9: but the stuff is certainly there, So yeah, you know, 723 00:32:37,840 --> 00:32:41,640 Speaker 9: I could see him being to Roki light Mini Rokie 724 00:32:41,840 --> 00:32:42,080 Speaker 9: if you. 725 00:32:42,080 --> 00:32:47,360 Speaker 1: Will, Jacob, this isn't happening until twenty twenty seven. Next 726 00:32:47,440 --> 00:32:49,000 Speaker 1: year is twenty twenty six, so this is for the 727 00:32:49,040 --> 00:32:52,400 Speaker 1: twenty seven season. Do you think there's any chance that 728 00:32:52,920 --> 00:32:54,840 Speaker 1: I don't want to say it's a leverage play, but 729 00:32:54,960 --> 00:32:57,720 Speaker 1: that you know, an MPB team, however the system works, 730 00:32:57,720 --> 00:33:00,640 Speaker 1: there can come through and be like will millions of 731 00:33:00,680 --> 00:33:02,280 Speaker 1: dollars if you don't do this. 732 00:33:04,240 --> 00:33:06,680 Speaker 9: You know, money can buy a lot of changes of heart. 733 00:33:06,800 --> 00:33:09,440 Speaker 9: I don't think that that's likely in this situation. I 734 00:33:09,440 --> 00:33:11,719 Speaker 9: can't rule it out because I'm not familiar enough with 735 00:33:11,760 --> 00:33:13,760 Speaker 9: what could happen over there and the scene and the 736 00:33:13,800 --> 00:33:14,680 Speaker 9: precedent for those. 737 00:33:14,600 --> 00:33:15,160 Speaker 2: Kinds of things. 738 00:33:15,400 --> 00:33:17,360 Speaker 9: But based on the conversations I've had, it does sound 739 00:33:17,440 --> 00:33:20,080 Speaker 9: like he's truly headed to Penn State. He's expected to 740 00:33:20,120 --> 00:33:22,440 Speaker 9: a roll in classes in the summer of twenty twenty six. 741 00:33:22,720 --> 00:33:25,000 Speaker 9: They are expecting him to play fallball with the program 742 00:33:25,040 --> 00:33:27,280 Speaker 9: in twenty twenty seven, and the only reason he isn't 743 00:33:27,280 --> 00:33:30,080 Speaker 9: playing baseball in the United States this spring, so the 744 00:33:30,120 --> 00:33:33,360 Speaker 9: college season of twenty twenty six is probably because of eligibility. 745 00:33:33,400 --> 00:33:36,440 Speaker 9: The academic calendar in Japan, even at the university level, 746 00:33:36,520 --> 00:33:39,360 Speaker 9: doesn't line up with the American collegiate calendar. On the 747 00:33:39,400 --> 00:33:42,600 Speaker 9: academic side, enrollment is still a factor. He will be 748 00:33:42,640 --> 00:33:45,080 Speaker 9: a student athlete, and so I think that that was 749 00:33:45,120 --> 00:33:47,200 Speaker 9: probably a barrier to getting him here at an age 750 00:33:47,200 --> 00:33:49,800 Speaker 9: appropriate time. Again, he is already twenty one years old, 751 00:33:49,960 --> 00:33:52,200 Speaker 9: so you know, I think that the commitment is there, 752 00:33:52,200 --> 00:33:54,280 Speaker 9: and it's just a matter of the logistics that push 753 00:33:54,320 --> 00:33:56,120 Speaker 9: him back to the twenty twenty seven season and twenty 754 00:33:56,120 --> 00:33:57,160 Speaker 9: twenty seven class. 755 00:33:57,800 --> 00:34:01,720 Speaker 1: Well, we appreciate the time, and also I think I 756 00:34:01,920 --> 00:34:04,400 Speaker 1: just will circle it back to where we started here, 757 00:34:05,360 --> 00:34:09,880 Speaker 1: Penn State, Penn State of all spots. Hey, here comes 758 00:34:09,920 --> 00:34:13,960 Speaker 1: potentially the next Roki Sazaki, first round pick in college ball, 759 00:34:14,000 --> 00:34:17,279 Speaker 1: and he's going to be pitching it Penn State. Just 760 00:34:17,520 --> 00:34:19,840 Speaker 1: if you're a college baseball fan, you know how that hits. 761 00:34:20,120 --> 00:34:23,640 Speaker 1: So anyway, Jacob, good stuff, JJ last word here on 762 00:34:23,680 --> 00:34:25,719 Speaker 1: our way out, as we say bye to everyone in 763 00:34:25,760 --> 00:34:27,959 Speaker 1: twenty twenty five that has followed this show and really 764 00:34:28,000 --> 00:34:29,879 Speaker 1: all of Baseball America's coverage. 765 00:34:30,800 --> 00:34:34,320 Speaker 6: Thank you everyone, Happy holidays, Happy New Year. But also 766 00:34:34,400 --> 00:34:37,200 Speaker 6: with that if you're looking for a last minute Christmas 767 00:34:37,239 --> 00:34:39,840 Speaker 6: if if you go to Baseball America dot conflict on store, 768 00:34:40,160 --> 00:34:43,560 Speaker 6: you could order a Prospect handbook today and by the way, 769 00:34:44,080 --> 00:34:46,320 Speaker 6: they will have the you know, send me the email 770 00:34:46,320 --> 00:34:48,080 Speaker 6: address that you want a ship to and they will 771 00:34:48,080 --> 00:34:50,960 Speaker 6: have a digital copy of it before Christmas because we 772 00:34:51,360 --> 00:34:53,560 Speaker 6: send it to the printer today. We will be sending 773 00:34:53,560 --> 00:34:57,200 Speaker 6: out we hopefully tomorrow, all the handbooks to people who 774 00:34:57,239 --> 00:35:00,279 Speaker 6: have already pre ordered at baseball America dot com, so 775 00:35:00,600 --> 00:35:02,120 Speaker 6: you can do that. If you want a last minute 776 00:35:02,160 --> 00:35:05,040 Speaker 6: gift idea, here here's one that you can actually get 777 00:35:05,040 --> 00:35:07,440 Speaker 6: in their hands right on time. 778 00:35:08,320 --> 00:35:11,840 Speaker 1: Yep, and happy holidays everyone. We're back on January fifth 779 00:35:11,880 --> 00:35:13,160 Speaker 1: to keep running with this show. 780 00:35:13,160 --> 00:35:13,759 Speaker 5: We'll see you then