Speaker 1: Welcome back everybody to GM territory. I'm Trey Boden alongside
Speaker 1: Jim Bowden, the former Big League general manager, and we
Speaker 1: have a lot to get into. Let's start out in
Speaker 1: Detroit where Tarik Skuble. What is arbitration case? Thirty two
Speaker 1: million dollars? Jim, what is your take on this?
Speaker 2: Yeah? I expected him to win this case. I thought
Speaker 2: it was a slam dunk case for Turrek Scubale and
Speaker 2: his agent, Scott Boris, And mainly because of the one
Speaker 2: Soto contract from two years ago. If you remember, the
Speaker 2: New York Yankees signed him to a one year, thirty
Speaker 2: one million dollar contract. He was a five plus player,
Speaker 2: just like Scooball, and he had just come off a
Speaker 2: year where he finished six in the MVP voting with
Speaker 2: the San Diego Padres. And when you look at Scooball
Speaker 2: the last two years, he won the Cy Young Award
Speaker 2: in the American League, the best pitcher in the league.
Speaker 2: So I think when you have those kind of accomplishments
Speaker 2: and you're becoming a five plus player, you deserve to
Speaker 2: be the highest paid player in that draft, in that class.
Speaker 2: And I think him getting thirty two million is exactly
Speaker 2: what he should have been paid, So I'm not surprised
Speaker 2: he won. What surprised me was the Tigers submitting a
Speaker 2: figure of nineteen million. It just never made sense to
Speaker 2: me in this market. And look, I understand that they
Speaker 2: go all the way back eleven years ago when David
Speaker 2: Price was paid just over nineteen million as a five plus,
Speaker 2: but that was eleven years ago. Contracts have changed dramatically
Speaker 2: since then. So look, it wasn't a surprise. I think
Speaker 2: it was, you know, extremely a good situation for schoobl
Speaker 2: But at the end of the day, yeah, I expected
Speaker 2: this to be the conclusion.
Speaker 1: All right, So let's stay in Detroit, Bramber Valdez three years,
Speaker 1: one hundred and fifteen million dollars deal your take.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Look, he becomes the first left handed starting pitcher
Speaker 2: in baseball history to make thirty eight zero point three
Speaker 2: million dollars a year, highest paid ever, and he gets
Speaker 2: an opt out clause after year two. I love this
Speaker 2: signing by the Detroit Tigers and owner Chris Ilich because
Speaker 2: he'll now be spending seventy point three to three million
Speaker 2: on his two starts. Two top starters in schoobl In Valdez,
Speaker 2: I mean that's just incredible as commitment to try to win.
Speaker 2: And you know, when the question was asked, does this
Speaker 2: mean you're gonna trade Schooble, Is that why you signed Valdez?
Speaker 2: He answers, No, We're gonna go and try to win.
Speaker 2: They got a taste of the postseason last October. They
Speaker 2: know they've got a chance. This team is only getting
Speaker 2: better with a really good farm system that's just getting
Speaker 2: ready to hit the big league. So their feeling is
Speaker 2: if they can get to October and they can have
Speaker 2: Schooble pitching Game one in Valdez pitching Game two, their
Speaker 2: chances of winning short series have improved dramatically. I mean,
Speaker 2: remember this about Baldez. It's one of the best ground
Speaker 2: ball pitchers in the game, right He has a sixty
Speaker 2: percent ground ball rate. He also is the ability to
Speaker 2: miss bats. Camerica Park is a great ballpark for him
Speaker 2: to pitch half his games. Tigers have a good defensive
Speaker 2: team behind him. So look, this all adds up as
Speaker 2: a win for Detroit. And by the way, if Schooble
Speaker 2: departs in free agency at the end of the year,
Speaker 2: at least they have someone to replace him at the
Speaker 2: top of the rotation Invalvedez. So, look, I love this
Speaker 2: signing for Detroit. I do. It's a lot of money
Speaker 2: for two pitchers, but if you can afford it, that's
Speaker 2: where you like to invest your money as a GM.
Speaker 1: All Right. We also had a trade this week take place,
Speaker 1: a three team trade, which I know you've probably been
Speaker 1: a part of a couple of these. Break this trade
Speaker 1: down for us.
Speaker 2: Yeah, this is one of those trades where you're reminded
Speaker 2: as a GM that you're paid to win championships. You're
Speaker 2: not paid to win trades. And that's the case with
Speaker 2: the Seattle Mariners. Look, I think they overpaid in prospects
Speaker 2: to get Brendan Donovan, but Brendan Donovan really improves their
Speaker 2: chances of winning the division and maybe even getting to
Speaker 2: the World Series. One of the biggest needs is Mariner's lineup.
Speaker 2: Haad was a leadoff hitter, someone that gets on base,
Speaker 2: someone to create traffic. That's what Brendan Donovan does. He's
Speaker 2: a thirty five to thirty six percent on base player. Now,
Speaker 2: when you have Cal Raley with his sixty homers hitting
Speaker 2: behind you and Julio Rodriguez and Josh Naylor, you want
Speaker 2: those home runs to be two run shots or three
Speaker 2: run shots. Brendan Donovan improves your chances to do that.
Speaker 2: He's penciling to play third base to start the year. Look,
Speaker 2: he could end up at second base, depends on the
Speaker 2: development of Cole Young and Colt Emerson. That's going to
Speaker 2: dictate it. But he's got positional flexibility, can play third, second, left,
Speaker 2: So that is a plus for Seattle. So I love
Speaker 2: the trade for Seattle. I gave them a grade B
Speaker 2: on this trade, even though they overpaid. I think Saint
Speaker 2: Louis in the long run will win this trade. It's
Speaker 2: hard for me to understand that they just got two
Speaker 2: former first round picks and one second round pick and
Speaker 2: two additional second round picks. In other words, five first
Speaker 2: and second round caliber players for Donovan. That is an
Speaker 2: amazing haul for them, So congratulations for them. Durangelo Sanja
Speaker 2: is one of my favorite pitchers because he's one of
Speaker 2: the few switch pitchers in baseball history. He throws both
Speaker 2: right and left handed. How incredible is that. Can't wait
Speaker 2: to see that when it gets to the big leagues.
Speaker 2: But they also got a very athletic outfielder in Typete,
Speaker 2: who I like a lot led better they get from
Speaker 2: Tampa Bay. This is a power hitting, left handed bat.
Speaker 2: So you know, you've got a really good, good pitching prospect,
Speaker 2: you've got two outfield prospects, and then you're going to
Speaker 2: get two comp B picks coming up in this June's draft.
Speaker 2: So I gave a straight at to Saint Louis and
Speaker 2: the deal. They're doing exactly what they need to do
Speaker 2: in a rebuild. And then Tampa Bay I gave a seat. Look.
Speaker 2: I like the fact they got Ben Williamson for his defense.
Speaker 2: Doesn't have a lot of power, don't you know. I
Speaker 2: think he's gonna hit, but I don't know how much power.
Speaker 2: But his best position's third base, and they got Junior Cammenaio,
Speaker 2: so he's not playing their So you know, I reached
Speaker 2: out there at the end or the president of the
Speaker 2: Tampa Bay Rays. He told me they'll probably play second,
Speaker 2: short and third for them elite defense. I agree with
Speaker 2: all of that, but I think they paid a pretty
Speaker 2: good price to get them. Time will tell, but either way,
Speaker 2: this was a very fascinating three way deal.
Speaker 1: Sure well, it's always exciting in the off season when
Speaker 1: we get a big signing or a trade and you
Speaker 1: just know right around the corner this he's about to start.
Speaker 1: All right, So before we break down the NL West
Speaker 1: for everybody, please do us a favor and subscribe and
Speaker 1: hit the like button two. We really appreciate it. All right,
Speaker 1: Let's head out to La the reigning World Series champions. Jim,
Speaker 1: what's your breakdown of their offseason?
Speaker 2: Yeah, so Tree, they're the only team in baseball. I'm
Speaker 2: giving you an eight plus two as a grade, Like,
Speaker 2: how can you not like? Watching them win the last
Speaker 2: two World championships? Right? And sitting there at Dodgers Stadium
Speaker 2: in October, all I could I do is look at
Speaker 2: this team and go what weakness do they have? And
Speaker 2: I guess maybe the only thing I could come up
Speaker 2: with is they didn't have an impact closer in the
Speaker 2: ninth inning. They were below average defensively and right field,
Speaker 2: and probably needed one more bat to link in the
Speaker 2: lineup to equal how deep the Blue Jay lineup was.
Speaker 2: And they went out in the offseason then literally got
Speaker 2: the best bat available in Kyle Tucker, paid him sixty
Speaker 2: million a year for four years, breaking all kinds of
Speaker 2: records like wow, are you kidding me? And they landed
Speaker 2: Edwin Diaz, the impact closer formerly of the Mets, on
Speaker 2: a three year, sixty nine million dollar deal. So now
Speaker 2: they have their impact closer and Edwin Diaz and the
Speaker 2: complete right fielder now in Kyle Tucker, who, oh, by
Speaker 2: the way, is a thirty home or thirty steel type
Speaker 2: of talent plus defender, plus base runner, plus arm. And
Speaker 2: so you've added that to the Dodgers team that's already
Speaker 2: won two straight World Championships. I mean, it's just an
Speaker 2: incredible offseason for team president Andrew Free. Look, they're gonna
Speaker 2: be the favorites to win the NL West, They're gonna
Speaker 2: be the favorites to win the Anto Pennant, They're gonna
Speaker 2: be the favorites to win the World Series. And if
Speaker 2: the best team wins this year, it will be the
Speaker 2: Los Angeles Dodgers. What a great offseason. And in terms
Speaker 2: of a breakout player, the guy that excites me as
Speaker 2: centerfielder Andy PaaS. We all saw that great catch in
Speaker 2: the World Series in left center field over Keik Hernandez
Speaker 2: that save the World Series for LA. He also went
Speaker 2: twenty seven homers in the regular season. Now he got
Speaker 2: benched in October, got into a slump some holes at
Speaker 2: the plate. But I think he has a breakout year.
Speaker 2: I think we're gonna see thirty homers and I think
Speaker 2: much improved slash line as well. I'm excited about his
Speaker 2: kind of year. Okay, let me turn it back to you.
Speaker 2: Give me a prospect in the Dodger system that may
Speaker 2: not be ready right now, but is getting closer in
Speaker 2: someone that I have to keep my eye on during
Speaker 2: spring training.
Speaker 1: Well, you gotta keep your eye on this guy, Josu
Speaker 1: de Paula. You know, he reminds me of Jordan Alvarez,
Speaker 1: kind of just like a shorter Jordan Alvarez. He won
Speaker 1: the Futures Game MVP last season. He has a lot
Speaker 1: of pot, a beautiful left handed swing, and I'm excited
Speaker 1: to see what kind of numbers he's gonna put up
Speaker 1: this season in the minor leagues.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I love that, And imagine, you know, probably in
Speaker 2: twenty twenty seven, right Tucker and Wright, paus and center
Speaker 2: and to Paula and left. Wow, Dodgers. Look, they don't
Speaker 2: just have a great major league team, They have one
Speaker 2: of the deepest, best farm systems in baseball too. They
Speaker 2: are the best run organization in baseball. They spend the
Speaker 2: most money, they bring in the most revenue, and they
Speaker 2: have become the model organization for sports in general. And
Speaker 2: I've always said this, they should change their name from
Speaker 2: the Los Angeles Dodgers to the World Dodgers. I'm just saying,
Speaker 2: all right, let's get to the San Diego Padres. Their
Speaker 2: offseason wasn't quite exciting as Los Angeles is Trey. I
Speaker 2: still gave him a B minus because I love the
Speaker 2: fact they were able to bring back starting pitcher Michael King,
Speaker 2: who inks a deal of three years, seventy five million.
Speaker 2: He's one of the best pitchers in the National League.
Speaker 2: Went healthy, so hopefully he can stay healthy now and
Speaker 2: impact the Padres rotation like he has in the past. Look,
Speaker 2: it was a tough offseason for San Diego. They lost
Speaker 2: Dylan Cease to the Toronto Blue Jays on a seven year,
Speaker 2: two hundred and ten million dollar deal. They lost their closer,
Speaker 2: Robert Suarez. He goes to Atlanta, but of course of
Speaker 2: the trade deadline, they had picked up Mason Miller, so
Speaker 2: he'll be the back end closer for San Diego, so
Speaker 2: they should be fine there anyway. But the only other
Speaker 2: moves they made player wise They bringing me Gael Onduar
Speaker 2: on a one year, four million dollar deal onto our
Speaker 2: crushes left handed pitching, can play a few positions, third, first, left,
Speaker 2: d H. Gives them a bat against lefties. I like that.
Speaker 2: They also signed Sun Sung to a four year, fifteen
Speaker 2: million dollar deal. Gives them another middle infielder. Gives them
Speaker 2: some infield depth. I like that. But the biggest move
Speaker 2: they made was the hiring of Craig Staman as manager.
Speaker 2: He has never managed in his life. This will be
Speaker 2: the first time never managed professionally, and yet he is
Speaker 2: going to be the guy running the Padres now. He
Speaker 2: is well respected in the game. He has been a
Speaker 2: special assistant day J Preller the last several years in
Speaker 2: the front office. But with no experience, it's going to
Speaker 2: be a learning curve, so we'll see how that goes.
Speaker 2: The Padres did bring in Bud Black as an assistant
Speaker 2: and that should help. I think developed stanmand because Bud
Speaker 2: Black team player will certainly support Craig and help him
Speaker 2: succeed my breakout player for the Padres. They don't have
Speaker 2: a lot of candidates, so I went with Randy Vazquez.
Speaker 2: I like Vazquez. I got a good fastball. Needs to
Speaker 2: work on the secondary pitches, the sweeper, breaking balls, change ups,
Speaker 2: so that's going to be the key for his success.
Speaker 2: But I think for the first time this year, he's
Speaker 2: a guy that can have an era in the threes.
Speaker 2: He can win double digits and maybe produced between one
Speaker 2: hundred and sixty to one hundred and eighty innings. So
Speaker 2: he'll be my breakout prediction. And now for the expect
Speaker 2: to watch in the Padres system. Who you got Trey?
Speaker 1: I got Ethan Sallas. You know, he's a great catcher
Speaker 1: behind the plate, very polished his left handed bat. You know,
Speaker 1: hopefully the hit tool comes around because this guy has
Speaker 1: potential to be a star. Now, he's not going to
Speaker 1: be in the majors anytime soon, but this is a
Speaker 1: guy that I'm keeping my eye on in that organization.
Speaker 2: Okay, I like that call. Right, let's get to the
Speaker 2: San Francisco Giants. I gave him a bee and I
Speaker 2: want to start with the players. Now, keep in mind,
Speaker 2: while the Dodgers were shopping at Bloomingdale's and Neiman Marcus
Speaker 2: and Sackspath Avenue and Norde Stones for the Kyle Tuckers
Speaker 2: and the Edwin Diaz is. The Giants were at different stores, right,
Speaker 2: they were a Target and Costco and Walmart, but they
Speaker 2: did a good job on value purchases on what they
Speaker 2: were willing to spend. Right, they did Okay. Here they
Speaker 2: add Harrison Bader to play center field, a plus plus
Speaker 2: defender and center so that'll help their pitching staff. Look,
Speaker 2: I think he's more a fourth outfielder type, but for
Speaker 2: the Giants that's a big defensive upgrade and that allows
Speaker 2: them to move Lee over to right field, who was
Speaker 2: a blow average defender, so I think that helps them defensively.
Speaker 2: They also went out and signed second baseman Lewis Arise.
Speaker 2: We all know he's won three batting titles, including one
Speaker 2: of the American League, one of the National League, and
Speaker 2: one with three different teams, so that's gonna certainly help them.
Speaker 2: The downside about a Rise though, is doesn't have any power,
Speaker 2: doesn't run, and is a blow average defender with blow
Speaker 2: average range. Although they did hire Ron Washington. Ron Washington
Speaker 2: makes every infielder better, so maybe he can help a
Speaker 2: Rise get to the next level. That's something to watch,
Speaker 2: but it also gives the Giants flexibility if their rookie
Speaker 2: Bryce Eldridge doesn't hit enough to start the year, they
Speaker 2: could always put a Rise at DH and like Casey Smith,
Speaker 2: a better defender play second base. So it does give
Speaker 2: them options again if Eldridge doesn't it so I kind
Speaker 2: of like that. I also like what they did in
Speaker 2: the rotation. They added two starters. Tyler Mallley comes in
Speaker 2: when he's healthy. He is solid, a solid number three
Speaker 2: or four starter went healthy. Biggest question has been his health,
Speaker 2: and they added Adrian Hauser, who's more of a fifth
Speaker 2: starting pitcher. But both of those guys give them a
Speaker 2: lot of depth. Now the question is what's gonna happen
Speaker 2: in that manager seat. So they've they did seth in
Speaker 2: this offseason. It's never been done in the history of baseball.
Speaker 2: They hired a coach out of college directly to the
Speaker 2: big leagues in Tony Voytello. Bytello has never managed professionally
Speaker 2: in his career, has never managed players older than the
Speaker 2: college ages, which is incredible to think that here he
Speaker 2: is gonna sit in the big leagues and manage the
Speaker 2: San Francisco Giant. So I love the out of box
Speaker 2: hiring by Buster Posey. I have faith in Buster. I've
Speaker 2: heard great things about by Tello obviously the University of Tennessee.
Speaker 2: He won a national championship at twenty twenty four. Players
Speaker 2: speak highly about him. He's a great communicator, he loves
Speaker 2: the game. But he's never managed one hundred and sixty
Speaker 2: two game season. He's never even been to a major
Speaker 2: league camp. He has no idea what big league spring
Speaker 2: training is even about. He's gonna learn on the job.
Speaker 2: So look, I don't know how this is gonna work,
Speaker 2: but I know one thing. It's a huge storyline to
Speaker 2: start spring training, for sure. I think the one good
Speaker 2: news for him is Buster Posey hired two future Hall
Speaker 2: of Fame managers to his front office, and Bruce Bouche
Speaker 2: and Dusty Baker. So Tony Vortello has certainly a lot
Speaker 2: of experience and a lot of people that can help
Speaker 2: teach him and help him succeed. So I gave the
Speaker 2: Giants a b overall for their offseason moves. But this
Speaker 2: is gonna be fascinating watching Tony Vaytello manage the Giants. Okay,
Speaker 2: my breakout player with the Giants, and some of it's
Speaker 2: probably wishful thinking. I'm trying to manifest it. But I'm
Speaker 2: gonna go with Bryce eldridg who's going to DH to
Speaker 2: start the year with Rafael Devers at first base because
Speaker 2: he's not a great defender at first, he has great power.
Speaker 2: He six foot seven, and I could see him in
Speaker 2: his career hitting these Willie McCovey bombs into McCovey cove like.
Speaker 2: This is gonna be fun to watch. But the question
Speaker 2: is how much is he gonna hit in his rookie year?
Speaker 2: Is his bat ready for the major leagues? And we're
Speaker 2: gonna find out. We don't know the answer, but if
Speaker 2: he can hold his own with the bat, the power
Speaker 2: is certainly gonna play. All right, let's go to rookies. Now,
Speaker 2: give me a rookie in the Giants organization tray that
Speaker 2: you're pumped up about.
Speaker 1: My prospect to watch has to be Joe Swargenzalez. I mean,
Speaker 1: this guy has a really good glove at shortstop, a
Speaker 1: decent bat, really good speed. But referring back to that
Speaker 1: Tony by Tello higher, I think he is the perfect
Speaker 1: hire for this organization and especially for young guys like him.
Speaker 1: I mean, Tony has done an unbelievable job of developing
Speaker 1: talent at the collegiate level and these kids in their
Speaker 1: farm system. You know, some of them are those the
Speaker 1: same age as the guys at Tennessee now, So I
Speaker 1: think what Tony's able to do with younger prospects and
Speaker 1: players is really gonna make a huge impact on this organization,
Speaker 1: not just this year but in the years to come.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that makes sense. I think the big question is
Speaker 2: how is he going to handle the veteran players that
Speaker 2: are making millions and millions of dollars like Rafield, Devers
Speaker 2: and Willie Damas as well. I mean, time will tell,
Speaker 2: but he certainly has the people skills trade to your point,
Speaker 2: and certainly, as you pointed out, he's done a tremendous
Speaker 2: job developing young players. So I agree with you. The
Speaker 2: guys like Gonzales are gonna benefit by him being one
Speaker 2: of the leaders in the Giants organization. All right, let's
Speaker 2: get to the Arizona Diamondbacks. I gave them a D
Speaker 2: plus for disappointing, dismal. It just wasn't a good offseason.
Speaker 2: They didn't do a lot. They did bring back Merrill Kelly.
Speaker 2: That was their best move. They traded him at the
Speaker 2: trade deadline to Texas. But he went to school in Arizona.
Speaker 2: He lives in Arizona, wanted to back. They did bring
Speaker 2: him back. They made a trade with the Cardinals, who
Speaker 2: are paying most of the contract of third baseman Nolan Aeronado.
Speaker 2: Aeronato can still play defens at third. I believe he's
Speaker 2: a future Hall of Fame third baseman. Agent Decline, look
Speaker 2: like it's caught up to him. But you know what,
Speaker 2: I'm rooting for a comeback year for Aeronado. I think
Speaker 2: the air in Arizona is certainly is going to help
Speaker 2: his bat, I would think, and look, he's one of
Speaker 2: the great guys in the game. So I am rooting
Speaker 2: for him again. Agent Decline looks like he gets him,
Speaker 2: but we'll see. Maybe Arizona can find a way to
Speaker 2: get him back to what he once was. But besides that,
Speaker 2: they just didn't do enough really to move the needle.
Speaker 2: And I think they've kind of solidified themselves right now
Speaker 2: as the fourth fourth best team in the division. You know, Trey,
Speaker 2: I think I got the Dodgers, then the Padres and
Speaker 2: Giants very close for second and third, then the Diamondbacks
Speaker 2: in fourth place. My breakout player for the Diamondbacks is
Speaker 2: a player that's transitioning into a new position. Jordan Lawler
Speaker 2: was a former first round pick drafted as a shortstop,
Speaker 2: but because they have Heraldo Perdomo, who finished in the
Speaker 2: top five a MVP in the National League last year
Speaker 2: a shortstop, they're transitioning him to center field. He's going
Speaker 2: to be given a chance to win the center field
Speaker 2: job in spring training. I can't wait to get to
Speaker 2: the spring to see how he looks in center field.
Speaker 2: That would be a huge, huge plus if he becomes
Speaker 2: the long term solution in center field for Arizona. All Right,
Speaker 2: you give me a prospect that you like in the
Speaker 2: diamondback system.
Speaker 1: It's got to be Ethan wald Schmidt. This guy, you know,
Speaker 1: he's battled some injuries in his career, and he's still
Speaker 1: twenty three, twenty four years old, and he at the
Speaker 1: University of Kentucky towards ACL and you know, he battled
Speaker 1: a lot of adversity and came back from that. But
Speaker 1: you know, I think a lot of big league clubs
Speaker 1: look for players that can battle through adversity and overcome
Speaker 1: things like that. So I'm a big fan of his.
Speaker 1: I think he's one of their top prospects for a reason.
Speaker 1: And I'm excited to watch what he's able to do
Speaker 1: this year.
Speaker 2: Yeah, big six, four, two ten, and he's got presence
Speaker 2: when he walks into a room. You look at, go
Speaker 2: who's that.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 2: Definitely has the tools and it's going to be exciting
Speaker 2: to watch him develop. Certainly a future star in Arizona
Speaker 2: when he's ready. Tray, glad you brought him up. All right,
Speaker 2: let's go the Colorado Rockies. They were really hard to grade, right,
Speaker 2: because they haven't done a lot to improve the team.
Speaker 2: They bring in Willie Castro to play third base. He's
Speaker 2: a guy that can has positional flexibility, maybe someone they
Speaker 2: could trade at the trade deadline. They bring in Michae
Speaker 2: Lorenzen to be a back of the rotation starter, and
Speaker 2: they make a trade with Arizona to get Jake McCarthy
Speaker 2: to give them some speed in the outfield, maybe as
Speaker 2: a fourth outfielder type. But that's really all they did,
Speaker 2: so it was really hard to grade them. But they
Speaker 2: did something they'd never done before. They made a higher
Speaker 2: outside of the organization to run their baseball operations. That's right.
Speaker 2: They bring in Paul de Potesta, who has spent the
Speaker 2: last several years with the Cleveland Browns football team, but
Speaker 2: before that was a GM in the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Speaker 2: His last big league job was working for the New
Speaker 2: York Mets in their front office. So he comes in
Speaker 2: with a lot of experience, a huge analytical background here,
Speaker 2: and the first thing he does is hire Josh Burns's GM,
Speaker 2: the former GM both the Diamondbacks and Padres. Burns has
Speaker 2: been with the Dodgers the last several years working with
Speaker 2: Andrew Friedman running player development and scouting, so he is
Speaker 2: able to bring over to Colorado a lot of the
Speaker 2: intel in terms of research, development, technology, analytics, all of
Speaker 2: the stuff they've been doing in LA. He can bring
Speaker 2: that knowledge to Colorado. Now, Colorado doesn't have the resources
Speaker 2: to take it as far as the Dodgers can do,
Speaker 2: but certainly being able to bring in all that kind
Speaker 2: of information will certainly help the Rockies rebuild this baseball
Speaker 2: operations from top to bottom. So because I like the
Speaker 2: hires of Deep Potesta and Burns, I gave them a
Speaker 2: C plus. I would have given them a D for
Speaker 2: the player moves, but because they hired those two guys,
Speaker 2: I'll give them a C plus. Now my breakout player
Speaker 2: for them is going to be Chase Dolander. I think
Speaker 2: he got his feet wet in the big leagues last year,
Speaker 2: really struggle the cords field like most pitchers do. I'm
Speaker 2: not worried about it. I think he's going to keep
Speaker 2: getting better. If he can make thirty starts and pitch
Speaker 2: one hundred and seventy to one hundred eighty innings for
Speaker 2: the Rockies this year, I would do that a success
Speaker 2: and I would deem that as a breakout year for him.
Speaker 2: Hopefully it'll happen. Okay, give me a prospect that you're
Speaker 2: watching in the Rockies system.
Speaker 1: How can you not be watching Ethan Holiday. He comes
Speaker 1: from that championship bloodline with Matt Holliday as his father,
Speaker 1: longtime Rocky, and then his brother Jackson that plays second
Speaker 1: over in Baltimore. He has a beautiful left handed swing.
Speaker 1: Now he's young, it's going to take a little bit
Speaker 1: to develop, but there is so much potential here with
Speaker 1: Ethan Holiday. And you know something that I would love
Speaker 1: to see see further down the line is hopefully him
Speaker 1: and his brother Jackson can link up. Now I know
Speaker 1: that's years away, but I'm really excited to see this
Speaker 1: Holiday family continue to have a lot of success at
Speaker 1: this level.
Speaker 2: Yeah, as you know, I had both Aaron and Brett
Speaker 2: Boone at one point I had brothers in the same infield,
Speaker 2: and certainly that was fun. I don't see them getting
Speaker 2: together anytime soon, though I know the Orioles are hoping.
Speaker 2: Jackson Holiday is one of the those players that can
Speaker 2: be in Baltimore for years to years to come. And
Speaker 2: I know Colorado feels the same way about Ethan. Look,
Speaker 2: Ethan's got great power, He's a really good athlete. The
Speaker 2: hit tool will determine how quickly he develops the big leagues.
Speaker 2: You know, it's gonna take a while. It's gonna take
Speaker 2: three years, probably maybe four years before he's major league ready,
Speaker 2: but he has a high ceiling. And look, you know,
Speaker 2: I think when you look at the long term future Colorado,
Speaker 2: you combine him with Charles Condon, and all of a sudden,
Speaker 2: you've got two big power bats that can beat in
Speaker 2: second and third in that lineup, maybe as early as
Speaker 2: twenty thirty. And maybe it gives you a little glimpse
Speaker 2: of positivity going forward, because right now, all we can
Speaker 2: say about the Rockies is they'll probably have the worst
Speaker 2: record in the National League. And we'll finish last in
Speaker 2: the NLS. So just recapping how we have the Division
Speaker 2: Dodgers in first, Padres second, Giants close with the Padres,
Speaker 2: but I have him in third, Arizona four, and the
Speaker 2: Colorado Rockies five.
Speaker 1: That's going to do it for this week's edition of
Speaker 1: GM Territory. Next week we're gonna break down the AL Central.
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