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Speaker 1: Hello everyone, and welcome back to episode two seven to

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Speaker 1: nine of the Hammer Territory Podcast. I'm Scott Coleman and

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Speaker 1: I am joined today by the Great Stephen Tolbert. Brad

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Speaker 1: is currently on the other side of the world. Sean

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Speaker 1: is currently running drunk through the backwoods of Tennessee after

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Speaker 1: the Titans came back to win. So it's Stephen and

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Speaker 1: I this weekend. And Stephen, I mean, there was there

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Speaker 1: was a little bit to talk about. You know, we're

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Speaker 1: firmly in the off season now. Alexanthopolis did meet with

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Speaker 1: the media this weekend and we're gonna break that down.

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Speaker 1: But I guess before we get into the meat and potatoes,

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Speaker 1: how are you doing?

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Speaker 2: What's up, buddy? Yeah?

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Speaker 3: Man, it's been fun to watch playoff baseball. I know

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Speaker 3: the Braves aren't in it. There's a big football weekend.

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Speaker 2: Of course down.

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Speaker 3: South football is king, but yeah, so Braves storyline. Alex

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Speaker 3: finally talked to the media. It wasn't the most riveting

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Speaker 3: hour long session you've ever heard, but there was a

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Speaker 3: couple of things that we're gonna talk about. We're gonna

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Speaker 3: kind of tie a bow on snit, We're kind of

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Speaker 3: gonna move on to the roster. Some pretty interesting that

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Speaker 3: the bullpen is a fastin anything that we're gonna spend

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Speaker 3: some time talking about tonight.

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Speaker 2: But yeah, man, full off season mode.

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Speaker 3: You know, I'm watching I've got Playoff Baseball on my

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Speaker 3: TV over to my right. But other than that, yeah,

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Speaker 3: we're just kind of set in the stage for when

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Speaker 3: the off season begins, usually like the first week of November,

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Speaker 3: and then we get going so plenty to talk about tonight.

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Speaker 1: There definitely is and we'll just jump right into it.

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Speaker 1: So on Saturday, Alexanthopolos met with the media on Zoom

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Speaker 1: and I wanted to say two things quickly out front.

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Speaker 1: Number one, Alex did not say anything necessarily revolutionary or

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Speaker 1: groundbreaking or stop the presses. But it's probably the last

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Speaker 1: time we are going to hear from Alex until they

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Speaker 1: hire a manager in probably a few weeks. We'll see

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Speaker 1: how fast they progress. And I also just want to

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Speaker 1: make one note because this time a year ago, Alex

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Speaker 1: met with the media and basically everything he said, or

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Speaker 1: a lot of what he said, did not happen, and

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Speaker 1: that is both frustrating. But I also want to just

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Speaker 1: remind people that a general manager is not under oath

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Speaker 1: when he meets with the media like that. There's nothing

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Speaker 1: law binding about what Alexanthopolis says to the media. You

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Speaker 1: would hope that what he says was truthful and his

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Speaker 1: forthcoming and indicative of what's going to come this offseason.

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Speaker 1: But things do change, and again gms are not required

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Speaker 1: to say exactly what's on their mind.

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Speaker 3: Well, yeah, and especially when you know last year, you know,

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Speaker 3: the big one was they said all the coaches were

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Speaker 3: coming back, and then a week later they fired three

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Speaker 3: coaches and he said what he said was, well, we

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Speaker 3: we kind of went back and talked about a little bit,

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Speaker 3: and we changed our mind. And once you introduced the

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Speaker 3: idea that like whatever my opinion is of something on

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Speaker 3: one day can change like a week later, then you know,

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Speaker 3: when you give these press conferences and you give opinions

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Speaker 3: on stuff, there's no point in taking too much of

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Speaker 3: it at face value because one, he's not going to

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Speaker 3: tell you the truth, even if he knows that to

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Speaker 3: be the truth. And two there are times they just

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Speaker 3: straight up changed their mind about stuff, and so it's.

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Speaker 1: Just budget changes or he gets different directives from ownership,

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Speaker 1: Like there's a lot of things to play.

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Speaker 3: Here now, what he says still matter, like that we

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Speaker 3: still cover it because he is the guy who runs

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Speaker 3: the team, so his words have weight, they matter, We

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Speaker 3: cover it, we talk about it. But yes, and we

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Speaker 3: tried to say it a bunch last year, like, don't

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Speaker 3: ever take any public comments by Alex or really any

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Speaker 3: GM and anything more than face value, because it changes.

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Speaker 3: They have zero incentive to be honest. It's a competitive marketplace.

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Speaker 3: Information is power. There's no incentive to be one hundred

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Speaker 3: percent truthful. And you won't find a GM on any

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Speaker 3: level in any sport that is.

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Speaker 1: So I guess maybe the first real topic that we're

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Speaker 1: going to dig into, and this will be a brief one,

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Speaker 1: was Alex was asked multiple times in different ways about

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Speaker 1: Brian Snitker, and once and for all, I think Steven

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Speaker 1: and I are going to put a bow on this.

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Speaker 1: I know we have talked about it a lot on

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Speaker 1: the podcast, and we talked about it on two podcasts

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Speaker 1: this week, So if you missed any of those episodes,

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Speaker 1: please go back and listen. But Alex was asked and

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Speaker 1: once again he emphasized that if Brian Snittcker wanted to

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Speaker 1: return his manager for twenty twenty six Alex says he

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Speaker 1: would be back. And the other thing just of note

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Speaker 1: was that Alex revealed that when they signed Snit to

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Speaker 1: a three year extension back in twenty twenty two, it

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Speaker 1: included five years on the back end in a front

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Speaker 1: office advisory role, very similarly to the way they structured

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Speaker 1: Bobby Cox's final deal with the Braves. So that's I

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Speaker 1: guess all we're gonna that's all we're gonna hear about it, right,

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Speaker 1: Like that's it was interesting. I still think there's like

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Speaker 1: this whole conspiracy about did snid actually want to retire

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Speaker 1: and all that we've heard so much about it, we've

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Speaker 1: talked about it. I think we can finally put a

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Speaker 1: ball on this once and for all, Steven. But I mean,

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Speaker 1: did anything of that really catch your eye?

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Speaker 3: I'll say this when I when I was listening to

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Speaker 3: Snit's press conference on Wednesday, maybe I'm the most gullible

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Speaker 3: person in the world, and maybe he's a terrific actor,

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Speaker 3: but I kind of bought what he was saying that,

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Speaker 3: like it was his call that he needed to get

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Speaker 3: away from the game for a couple of days to decide.

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Speaker 3: And then when Alex talked yesterday or Saturday again, I

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Speaker 3: kind of bought it. Maybe I'm gullible, but I did.

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Speaker 3: I kind of bought it. Like he gave a lot

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Speaker 3: of facts that he really had no need to give

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Speaker 3: unless they're truthful, because it can only blow up in

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Speaker 3: your face if you're lying about that. If you're lying,

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Speaker 3: you're gonna you're not gonna give a ton of information

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Speaker 3: because you're not gonna wighe too deep in waters, you're

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Speaker 3: unsure of you're telling the truth, you're gonna give all

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Speaker 3: the information. And he gave us all the details. And

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Speaker 3: at any point, Snick could release something or have a

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Speaker 3: friend or a source release something that says, no, all

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Speaker 3: of this is nonsense. He's lying through his teeth. I

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Speaker 3: don't think Alex is gonna risk that unless he's just

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Speaker 3: tell him the truth.

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Speaker 2: I believe it. I believe that.

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Speaker 3: I still don't understand why they handle I don't know

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Speaker 3: why they let him become a lame duck coach and

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Speaker 3: have it be a topic of conversation for over a

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Speaker 3: year instead of just keep signing in the deals and

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Speaker 3: let him retire at any time in the middle. But

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Speaker 3: whatever they did it, the way they did it, They've

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Speaker 3: done stuff I don't you know, the Craig Kimberl stuff.

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Speaker 3: They've done, stuff that is weird to me that I

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Speaker 3: don't fully understand. But for all of that, when Snit talked,

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Speaker 3: when Alex talked, I bought it. Like I believe Snit

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Speaker 3: really could have managed this team if he wanted to.

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Speaker 3: He didn't want to anymore until now they're off to

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Speaker 3: a new one and yeah, I'm I'm ready to move on.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. And Alex did say when meeting with the media

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Speaker 1: that he met with the current coaching staff just to

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Speaker 1: kind of touch base with them. He didn't really divulge

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Speaker 1: anything specifically, but I think all of the coaches on

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Speaker 1: the staff, from Tim Hyers to Rick Kranitz to Weiss

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Speaker 1: to I mean, everybody on the coaching staff is very

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Speaker 1: much up in the air moving forward. We will see

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Speaker 1: once they get a manager hired, whoever that is, I

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Speaker 1: think we'll have a better inkling of who might be

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Speaker 1: sticking around and who won't be. And then lastly, on

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Speaker 1: the manager front, Alex said that he was really going

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Speaker 1: to get moving on the manager search over the weekend.

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Speaker 2: Now.

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Speaker 1: Alex said again that he does not have a list

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Speaker 1: of candidates that he doesn't have anyone in mind that

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Speaker 1: he laughed whenever he sees potential candidates listed on Twitter,

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Speaker 1: or maybe Alex is listening to our podcast even but

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Speaker 1: that's blowney. This guy absolutely knows at least a few

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Speaker 1: people who he wants to consider for the managerial job.

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Speaker 1: And then lastly, Alex did say that their hope is

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Speaker 1: to keep this as quiet as possible internally. They don't

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Speaker 1: want it to leak. That's all good and dandy, that's fine.

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Speaker 1: It is a bummer. There's no NFL style rules with

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Speaker 1: the interviewing process where NFL teams are required to disclose

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Speaker 1: I believe both head coach and general manager interviews that

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Speaker 1: role does not exist in baseball. We will see if

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Speaker 1: any names get leaked out in the next couple of

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Speaker 1: days and weeks. But you know, it sounds like Alex

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Speaker 1: is really going to get work. And now that officially

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Speaker 1: snit has moved on from the managerial role, you know,

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Speaker 1: Alex has basically four weeks until the offseason really gets

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Speaker 1: going to really focus on this and get somebody hired.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, there's no one that believes that Alex doesn't have

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Speaker 3: a list of names. When you've got a seventy year

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Speaker 3: old manager who's in the last year of his deal,

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Speaker 3: like and saw this train coming down the tracks. So

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Speaker 3: he definitely has a list. Now he might be telling

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Speaker 3: the truth that he hasn't acted on that list.

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Speaker 2: They have.

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Speaker 3: They were quite busy in September. I will say that

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Speaker 3: they made a ton of roster move they made a

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Speaker 3: ton of waiver claims. They were shuffling the deck on

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Speaker 3: the Titanic all the way to the end, so like

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Speaker 3: there might have been stuff he had to get to.

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Speaker 3: I'm sure the Hassan Kim stuff he's trying. I'm sure

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Speaker 3: he's been trying to get you know, a contract worked

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Speaker 3: out if he can before that guy decides we're gonna

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Speaker 3: talk about short stop a little later in the show.

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Speaker 3: I'm sure there is other stuff, but it's not like

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Speaker 3: it's an unimportant it's not it's the manager of the team,

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Speaker 3: like it's a pretty important, you know step. I'm I

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Speaker 3: guarantee you he has taken steps before Saturday in terms

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Speaker 3: of setting up interviews or talking to people, checking to

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Speaker 3: see if David Ross is even interested in the job,

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Speaker 3: checking the sea if John Gibbons or you know, whatever

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Speaker 3: your list of names is, just to see if they

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Speaker 3: have any interest before you even set up an interview.

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Speaker 3: But yeah, I think the process is gonna get going.

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Speaker 3: Like everything else Braves do. We will not hear a

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Speaker 3: word about it. It stucks on our end. We have

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Speaker 3: to produe, you know, make content around this stuff. Alex

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Speaker 3: is not gonna leak anything. Anything you hear from other

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Speaker 3: sources you need to take with a grain of salt

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Speaker 3: because this organization is probably the best in the sport

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Speaker 3: keeping stuff close to the vest. So we're not going

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Speaker 3: to hear anything. But as we get news, as we

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Speaker 3: hear stuff, sometimes we hear stuff behind the scenes. It's

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Speaker 3: not public. If we get the green light that we

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Speaker 3: can say it, we'll say it. But yeah, we'll see

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Speaker 3: how this goes.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, we will see. And I'm fascinated. I mean it's yeah,

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Speaker 1: me too. In our lifetime, Steven, we really haven't been

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Speaker 1: able to watch a managerial search play out, and I

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Speaker 1: mean not even just manager but general manager too, have

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Speaker 1: we ever?

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Speaker 3: Because Freddie was on Freddy Goodzalez was wasn't Freddy on

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Speaker 3: Bobby's staff.

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Speaker 1: I believe, So there was not a whole like it

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Speaker 1: was right, and I think like Freddy was kind of

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Speaker 1: towards the end. It's hard to remember exactly because it's

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Speaker 1: been so long, but you know, everyone knew Bobby was retiring,

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Speaker 1: and Freddy had been around forever and was really well liked.

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Speaker 3: And you know, it's almost like a manager in waiting

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Speaker 3: type situation, like I don't, I don't.

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Speaker 2: I have to go back and look.

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Speaker 3: I don't remember if they did a full search, but

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Speaker 3: I don't remember it. And with snit he got hired.

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Speaker 3: He was the interim manager when Freddy got fired in

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Speaker 3: the middle of the year and they just gave him

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Speaker 3: the full time job. I literally don't know in our

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Speaker 3: lifetimes if we've ever had like a full on outside

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Speaker 3: hire managerial search, you know, for the team.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, truly it was. It was when Copy

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Speaker 1: got banned, when John Coppolola got banned, and then they

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Speaker 1: hired Alex and Thopless a few weeks later. I mean,

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Speaker 1: that's the last time we've had an honest to goodness

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Speaker 1: high level of role in the organization job search.

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Speaker 2: Which I don't know.

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Speaker 1: I mean, I guess that's a good thing. It's you

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Speaker 1: could be the Mets who seemingly cycle managers every twenty

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Speaker 1: four months and cycle general managers and all that but yeah,

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Speaker 1: or Stephen, Oh, I'm sorry, go ahead, no, I was just.

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Speaker 3: Like that is fascinating that on the manager side, like

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Speaker 3: this is one of the first I think it's the

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Speaker 3: first in our lifetime when we've done a full answer.

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Speaker 3: I know they did front off of stuff, but yeah,

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Speaker 3: they've just had incredible stability at that position and so

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Speaker 3: I and that also speaks to like how important this

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Speaker 3: position is. Like I again, I think Alex is going

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Speaker 3: to do a pretty exhaustive search here.

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Speaker 1: I concur with all of that. All right, Stephen, next

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Speaker 1: week are going to get into kind of the roster

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Speaker 1: decisions the Braves have and some interesting comments about a

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Speaker 1: few real key positions of need. We're gonna get that

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Speaker 1: All right, Steven, so let's get into now kind of

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Speaker 1: the roster decisions that are looming for this team, and

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Speaker 1: I would say Alex identified a couple of positions on

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Speaker 1: the roster that maybe weren't shocking. But Alex identified shortstop,

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Speaker 1: the starting rotation, and the bullpen as all areas of

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Speaker 1: clear need. So let's start at shortstop. That one's probably

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Speaker 1: the most straightforward because there's two paths. I guess three.

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Speaker 1: The first path is that Hassan Kim opts into his

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Speaker 1: player option for next season. That's sixteen million dollars. That

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Speaker 1: is a decision that will likely be made within five

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Speaker 1: days of the World Series ending. By far and away,

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Speaker 1: that is the cleanest path forward to getting the Braves

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Speaker 1: a shortstop for next year. I guess path two is,

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Speaker 1: instead of Kim opting in for sixteen million dollars, the

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Speaker 1: Braves work out a contract extension of some kind. I'd

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Speaker 1: be curious to know if not only the Braves are

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Speaker 1: open to that, but if Kim and his agent, Scott

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Speaker 1: Boris are open and receptive to it, we'll see. Option

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Speaker 1: three is that Hassan Kim opts out of his player

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Speaker 1: option and becomes a free agent for all thirty teams

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Speaker 1: to potentially bid on. So with that said, we have

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Speaker 1: talked about Shortstop a lot, but alex Enthopolis talk like

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Speaker 1: someone who very much wanted Hassan Kim back with the brain.

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Speaker 1: We will see what happens with the the player option

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Speaker 1: and the I guess the possibility of signing him before

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Speaker 1: he even hits free agency. But nonetheless, I mean shortstop

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Speaker 1: for me is like the number one priority and they

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Speaker 1: can't do another one sixty two of Nick Allen or

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Speaker 1: the dal Bruhan or god knows whoever else they're gonna

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Speaker 1: run out there.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean short Yeah, it's the most fascinating. It's

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Speaker 3: a player option, which the Braves never have to deal with.

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Speaker 3: You know, they have very little control over this situation.

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Speaker 3: Obviously they can offer an extension, but again it's Scott

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Speaker 3: Boris as the agent. We have zero clue if he

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Speaker 3: has any interest in it.

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Speaker 2: Usually not.

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Speaker 3: Usually he wants his guy to get to the open market.

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Speaker 3: You know, other teams compete, competing offers make you know,

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Speaker 3: better offers, So we'll see. I'll say this about Kim,

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Speaker 3: he had a really kind of roller coaster last month

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Speaker 3: of the year. Like at one point he was red hot,

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Speaker 3: and then he got cold, and he got red hot

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Speaker 3: again and he got cold right at the end. His

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Speaker 3: numbers ended up kind of league averages. In terms of offense,

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Speaker 3: he's a good defensive player. I have zero I don't

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Speaker 3: know if you, I have zero feel for if he's

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Speaker 3: gonna opt into this option or not. I really it

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Speaker 3: feels like fifty one forty nine and I don't even

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Speaker 3: know which way I lean on it. But if he

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Speaker 3: doesn't opt, So, if he opts out and he gets

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Speaker 3: to free agency, that doesn't mean the Braves can't bring

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Speaker 3: him back. It just means they won't bring it back

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Speaker 3: on that contract. They would have to be the I

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Speaker 3: don't know if they would have to be the highest bid,

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Speaker 3: but they would have to have the best bid in

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Speaker 3: terms of years plus dollars. But they do like him

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Speaker 3: a lot. He likes Atlanta. He's really good friends with

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Speaker 3: Jerks and Profar. I know they talked about it the

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Speaker 3: trade deadline, bringing guys in for a couple months, just

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Speaker 3: to get them used to the environment, to see if

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Speaker 3: that helps maybe get a contract signed. So we'll see

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Speaker 3: the you know, in terms of content purposes, the most

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Speaker 3: fascinating thing is if he opts out and the Braves

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Speaker 3: have to do a full like league wide search for

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Speaker 3: a shortstop. That is not the path I hope how

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Speaker 3: I hope he just either opts in or signs a

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Speaker 3: new contract and we can forget about shortstop and move

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Speaker 3: on to other stuff. It's his call, and that's why

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Speaker 3: player options are so tricky. It's his call, and we'll

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Speaker 3: see what he does. Sixteen million dollars a lot to

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Speaker 3: leave on the table when you had kind of an

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Speaker 3: average year, So I don't think it's a slam duck

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Speaker 3: either way.

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Speaker 1: I think you can very clearly make a case for

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Speaker 1: and against him deciding whether to opt in or not.

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Speaker 1: Like you just said, sixteen million American dollars is a

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Speaker 1: lot of money to put in your pocket. And if

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Speaker 1: he has a really good year next year, guess what,

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Speaker 1: Hassan Kim, You're a free agent and you're probably going

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Speaker 1: to make another fifty sixty million dollars guaranteed, which for

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Speaker 1: shortstops on the wrong side of thirty that is not

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Speaker 1: super common. At the same time, if there's not much

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Speaker 1: of a shortstop market this offseason, then then maybe they

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Speaker 1: want to go for one big contract now and we

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Speaker 1: will see how it all plays out. But clearly, Hassan

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Speaker 1: Kim opting into his option makes everything else much much

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Speaker 1: easier because and we won't spend an hour doing a

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Speaker 1: full on shortstop breakdown tonight necessarily. But now let's say

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Speaker 1: that Kim opts out and the Braves can't get an

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Speaker 1: extension done. Now it's pretty thin out there. Trevor story

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Speaker 1: is thirty three years old. Story had a pretty good

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Speaker 1: year with the Red Sox. He was finally healthy, but

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Speaker 1: has a long injury history and could opt out. I

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Speaker 1: don't know where you stand on Trevor's story. The other

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Speaker 1: player who's coming off another really good year is Bobaschett.

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Speaker 1: The problem with Boba Schett, while he really does hit well,

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Speaker 1: is he might be the worst defensive infielder in Major

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Speaker 1: League Baseball, and nobody thinks he's a short stop long term,

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Speaker 1: probably more of a second baseman. Of course, the Braves

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Speaker 1: presumably have Ozzie Alby's. Now, maybe you can work out

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Speaker 1: something where Bishett is your shortstop for a year or

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Speaker 1: two and then you move him to second base. But

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Speaker 1: then you're paying the shortstop premium for a guy to

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Speaker 1: stand at second base, and then you're back to square one,

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Speaker 1: where you don't have a shortstop and you have a

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Speaker 1: very expensive middle infield partner at second base. I don't know.

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Speaker 1: I mean, to me, Hassan Kim feels like the easiest option.

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Speaker 1: It feels like the most Braves. He feels the most

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Speaker 1: probable of that group of three to be with the

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Speaker 1: Braves next year. But I mean, where are you at

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Speaker 1: with shortstop?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, there's none out I mean there's none out there,

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Speaker 3: like Trevor's story. So Trevor story had a weird year.

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Speaker 3: He had like a negative ten out's above average at

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Speaker 3: shortstop this year, Like at one point is a really

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Speaker 3: good defensive shortstop. But defense does not age well at

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Speaker 3: any position, and once you get above thirty, like, it's

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Speaker 3: no guarantee. Bobashd is not a good defender at all.

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Speaker 3: I mean he's not a shortstop to be honest. And

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Speaker 3: so in the Braves value defense a ton at that position.

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Speaker 3: Like if it's not Hassan Kim, I legitimately don't know

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Speaker 3: what they're gonna do. It's just a dead market. Unfortunately

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Speaker 3: for the Braves. The fact that it's kind of a

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Speaker 3: dead market is good news for Hassan Kim if he

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Speaker 3: wants to go out on the market and get a

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Speaker 3: bigger deal because there's not a ton out there. Like

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Speaker 3: shortstops just don't become available. We've talked about that for

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Speaker 3: the last three years, Like teams don't trade them, they

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Speaker 3: don't let him get to free agency, they don't become available.

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Speaker 3: And you know, maybe you can bank on Trevor's story

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Speaker 3: having a better year if he opts out. The Red

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Speaker 3: Sox do have Marcelo Meyer to kind of slide into

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Speaker 3: shortstop if they want. Maybe story opts out and you

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Speaker 3: bank on having a bounce back year. But yeah, if

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Speaker 3: it's not hawesome, I mean, I'm it becomes a fascinating

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Speaker 3: storyline at that point if he if the Braiders don't

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Speaker 3: bring him back, because I legitimately don't know who it

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Speaker 3: would be.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, me neither. So we'll see. I think Kim opting

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Speaker 1: in makes life so much easier for everyone involved. And

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Speaker 1: then Alex in the front office can just focus on

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Speaker 1: the pitching staff and they can probably focus on the

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Speaker 1: DH and the outfield, which we'll talk about a little

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Speaker 1: bit later.

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Speaker 3: And I'll add this, this is one of the times

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Speaker 3: where it might make sense to overpay a little bit

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Speaker 3: because the drop off is so it's like in a draft,

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Speaker 3: like in a fantasy draft where you pay you pick

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Speaker 3: a guy around early because what's behind him is there's

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Speaker 3: no depth behind it. You got to you gotta make

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Speaker 3: sure you get the guy, yeah, because there's no depth

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Speaker 3: behind This might be one of those situations where like

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Speaker 3: even you gotta pay a little more than you want to.

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Speaker 3: If you're Alex, I think you've got to find a

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Speaker 3: way to get Kim back on the roster.

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Speaker 1: I think with truth theorem, Alex and Thopplas probably really

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Speaker 1: likes Hassan Kim, solid defender, good on base, has always

434
00:21:24,440 --> 00:21:26,560
Speaker 1: been a good on base guy. The God knows the

435
00:21:26,600 --> 00:21:29,119
Speaker 1: Braves could use some more on bas especially at the

436
00:21:29,119 --> 00:21:31,480
Speaker 1: bottom of the order, because then you're getting guys on

437
00:21:31,520 --> 00:21:35,040
Speaker 1: base ahead of Akunya and Olsen and Profar and Riley.

438
00:21:35,520 --> 00:21:38,000
Speaker 1: Like we saw, it was not a coincidence that when

439
00:21:38,040 --> 00:21:40,440
Speaker 1: the Braves finally started getting runners on base at the

440
00:21:40,440 --> 00:21:43,320
Speaker 1: bottom of the order the offense was better. It's not

441
00:21:43,480 --> 00:21:46,959
Speaker 1: some grand mystery as to why they started scoring. They

442
00:21:46,960 --> 00:21:48,680
Speaker 1: have a couple of really good hitters at the top,

443
00:21:48,800 --> 00:21:50,760
Speaker 1: and if you have runners on base for them, and

444
00:21:50,800 --> 00:21:54,080
Speaker 1: if Hassan Kim is an option, I agree wholeheartedly that

445
00:21:54,520 --> 00:21:57,719
Speaker 1: you got to pay a few extra million dollars. Fine, Like, okay,

446
00:21:57,720 --> 00:21:59,960
Speaker 1: maybe you have to cut back on your bullpen spending

447
00:22:00,040 --> 00:22:03,080
Speaker 1: a little bit, or maybe you don't pick up Tyler

448
00:22:03,160 --> 00:22:06,600
Speaker 1: Kinley's option, or you don't pick up Pierce Johnson's option,

449
00:22:06,800 --> 00:22:10,040
Speaker 1: or you rework a contract somewhere like that's fine, because shortstop,

450
00:22:10,320 --> 00:22:12,720
Speaker 1: they can't do this. Man. We've watched three years of

451
00:22:13,280 --> 00:22:17,280
Speaker 1: Orlando Arcia and Nick Allen and it's just you can't

452
00:22:17,320 --> 00:22:19,960
Speaker 1: do it. I mean, it's really hard to live that way.

453
00:22:20,480 --> 00:22:24,720
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, I mean, and again, if you don't resign

454
00:22:24,960 --> 00:22:28,479
Speaker 3: Pierce Johnson, there's a guy you can go find out

455
00:22:28,520 --> 00:22:30,719
Speaker 3: there that might not be quite as good as Pierce Johnson,

456
00:22:30,760 --> 00:22:33,919
Speaker 3: but is pretty close. If you don't sign hass On Kim,

457
00:22:34,280 --> 00:22:36,040
Speaker 3: there's not a guy out there you can go get

458
00:22:36,080 --> 00:22:37,840
Speaker 3: that's even remotely.

459
00:22:37,880 --> 00:22:38,920
Speaker 2: It's just a different level.

460
00:22:39,400 --> 00:22:43,240
Speaker 3: So like Priority A, B and C has to be

461
00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:46,000
Speaker 3: in my opinion, hass On Kim this winter.

462
00:22:46,480 --> 00:22:47,000
Speaker 6: Yeah.

463
00:22:47,040 --> 00:22:49,960
Speaker 1: Absolutely, all right, Stephen, we are now going to talk

464
00:22:49,960 --> 00:22:52,639
Speaker 1: about the starting rotation and the bullpen, and you had

465
00:22:52,680 --> 00:22:54,600
Speaker 1: some interesting thoughts on the bullpen that I wanted to

466
00:22:54,600 --> 00:22:57,080
Speaker 1: get your take on. But first, another quick word from

467
00:22:57,119 --> 00:22:59,080
Speaker 1: our partners, FT fam.

468
00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:03,479
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470
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472
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Speaker 6: could go in that direction.

481
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Speaker 1: All right, Steven, Let's now talk about the starting rotation

489
00:24:04,480 --> 00:24:07,960
Speaker 1: and in his meeting with the media Alexanthoppola said they

490
00:24:08,080 --> 00:24:11,439
Speaker 1: want to add a starter, that the starting rotation is

491
00:24:11,480 --> 00:24:15,120
Speaker 1: a priority. That was music to my ears and God,

492
00:24:15,200 --> 00:24:19,200
Speaker 1: let's hope they follow through on that so quickly. Let's

493
00:24:19,280 --> 00:24:22,159
Speaker 1: just kind of go through the current internal options the

494
00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:25,080
Speaker 1: Braves have in the rotation, and I kind of think

495
00:24:25,119 --> 00:24:28,960
Speaker 1: they fall into a handful of different buckets. The first one,

496
00:24:29,080 --> 00:24:33,200
Speaker 1: we'll call them the really good, if healthy bucket. That's

497
00:24:33,280 --> 00:24:38,040
Speaker 1: Chris Sale, that's Spencer Schwallenbach, and that's Spencer Strider. We

498
00:24:38,160 --> 00:24:40,480
Speaker 1: have no idea of knowing these guys are going to

499
00:24:40,560 --> 00:24:42,760
Speaker 1: be healthy. Let's hope they all are going into the

500
00:24:42,760 --> 00:24:46,040
Speaker 1: off season healthy. When they are healthy, they're all anywhere

501
00:24:46,040 --> 00:24:50,439
Speaker 1: from good to elite. But we know this group is

502
00:24:50,480 --> 00:24:53,440
Speaker 1: not the cleanest bill of health. That's the big three,

503
00:24:53,480 --> 00:24:54,639
Speaker 1: and then I want to go to one more, and

504
00:24:54,640 --> 00:24:56,600
Speaker 1: then I want to get your take on something. I

505
00:24:56,600 --> 00:25:02,240
Speaker 1: think there's then a second bucket is Hirst Waldrop Hurst

506
00:25:02,280 --> 00:25:05,119
Speaker 1: and Waldrop is very interesting. He was terrific down the stretch,

507
00:25:05,200 --> 00:25:08,159
Speaker 1: as we saw, but he only did it for two months.

508
00:25:08,520 --> 00:25:10,719
Speaker 1: And God knows, we have had our hearts broken by

509
00:25:10,800 --> 00:25:14,120
Speaker 1: young pitching before because of injuries or they just don't

510
00:25:14,160 --> 00:25:17,880
Speaker 1: work out for whatever reason. But the reason I bring

511
00:25:17,960 --> 00:25:22,400
Speaker 1: up those two buckets of pitchers is that's four guys Sale, Schwalenbach, Streider,

512
00:25:22,800 --> 00:25:26,280
Speaker 1: and Waldrop. If healthy. I think all four are more

513
00:25:26,320 --> 00:25:29,760
Speaker 1: than capable as major league starters at different levels, of course,

514
00:25:29,800 --> 00:25:31,600
Speaker 1: but are all more than capable of being in the

515
00:25:31,680 --> 00:25:36,359
Speaker 1: rotation come opening day. But there are a lot of

516
00:25:36,480 --> 00:25:39,080
Speaker 1: questions with that group, and that's your Big four, And

517
00:25:39,119 --> 00:25:41,080
Speaker 1: that's why I think it was so encouraging to hear

518
00:25:41,160 --> 00:25:43,600
Speaker 1: Alex say that they want to at a storting pitcher

519
00:25:43,800 --> 00:25:45,919
Speaker 1: and that it's a priority for them this offseason.

520
00:25:48,320 --> 00:25:53,320
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's such a fascinating position group because you have talent,

521
00:25:54,680 --> 00:25:56,199
Speaker 3: like you mentioned the Big four, and then you have

522
00:25:56,280 --> 00:26:00,320
Speaker 3: Ronaldo Lopez, who the last time he was healthy whole

523
00:26:00,359 --> 00:26:01,280
Speaker 3: season was awesome.

524
00:26:01,880 --> 00:26:03,600
Speaker 2: If Grant Holmes, who.

525
00:26:03,400 --> 00:26:09,359
Speaker 3: Has this lingering potential, Tommy John We're gonna try rehab

526
00:26:09,400 --> 00:26:13,480
Speaker 3: and see what happens, you know, hanging over him, so

527
00:26:13,640 --> 00:26:15,920
Speaker 3: like how much can you depend on him for next year?

528
00:26:17,000 --> 00:26:19,080
Speaker 3: You know, you have aj Smith Schalver, who's gonna be

529
00:26:19,080 --> 00:26:22,959
Speaker 3: coming back from serious elbow injury sometime probably in the

530
00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:25,399
Speaker 3: middle of the year, depending on how his rehab goes

531
00:26:26,119 --> 00:26:28,280
Speaker 3: and then you have all the organizational depth. You know,

532
00:26:28,320 --> 00:26:30,840
Speaker 3: we're not gonna go through all those names, So you.

533
00:26:30,960 --> 00:26:33,560
Speaker 2: Have bodies like.

534
00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:39,080
Speaker 3: You could you could make the argument that they have

535
00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:43,760
Speaker 3: enough pitching. I would never make that argument, because you

536
00:26:43,800 --> 00:26:47,199
Speaker 3: can never have enough pitching. Yeah, and the Braves have

537
00:26:47,359 --> 00:26:51,919
Speaker 3: a like every rotation has injury risk. The Braves almost

538
00:26:51,960 --> 00:26:55,200
Speaker 3: have another level of injury risk, more than just your

539
00:26:55,240 --> 00:26:57,679
Speaker 3: standard injury risk, just because they've I mean, they have

540
00:26:57,760 --> 00:27:00,520
Speaker 3: not been able to keep a rotation healthy for years.

541
00:27:00,960 --> 00:27:04,240
Speaker 3: And you just look at the individual like Chris Sale,

542
00:27:04,359 --> 00:27:07,560
Speaker 3: Spencer Strider, two guys who you have to say are

543
00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:10,560
Speaker 3: high injury risk at this point in their career. Now,

544
00:27:10,560 --> 00:27:13,440
Speaker 3: I don't think it's fair to slap that on Schwellenbach.

545
00:27:13,480 --> 00:27:15,760
Speaker 3: He had kind of a freak broken elbow thing I've

546
00:27:15,800 --> 00:27:19,879
Speaker 3: never really seen before, but he attributed to like his

547
00:27:19,960 --> 00:27:23,399
Speaker 3: extra velocity. Like so when he starts pitching again, he

548
00:27:23,440 --> 00:27:27,119
Speaker 3: starts ramping up his velocity again, Like, what's gonna happen?

549
00:27:27,320 --> 00:27:29,840
Speaker 3: That's a fair question. Ronaldo Lopez has had this shoulder.

550
00:27:30,760 --> 00:27:33,240
Speaker 3: You know, he basically missed the entire He didn't miss

551
00:27:33,240 --> 00:27:36,600
Speaker 3: the entire season, like we just talked about with Grant Holmes.

552
00:27:36,600 --> 00:27:39,880
Speaker 3: He's got the Tommy John Lingering nor him. So they

553
00:27:39,920 --> 00:27:43,639
Speaker 3: have bodies, but it's such a scary group to just

554
00:27:43,720 --> 00:27:46,520
Speaker 3: go into the year with that group that you almost

555
00:27:46,600 --> 00:27:49,960
Speaker 3: have to just by default at another starter. Even if

556
00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:52,720
Speaker 3: you don't, even if you're just counting bodies you have enough,

557
00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:57,040
Speaker 3: you don't have enough. So I'm with you. I was

558
00:27:57,560 --> 00:27:59,800
Speaker 3: very glad to hear him say starting pitching is a

559
00:28:00,040 --> 00:28:02,560
Speaker 3: I already. They need, they need a guy who they

560
00:28:02,680 --> 00:28:04,680
Speaker 3: know who has got like a three or four year

561
00:28:04,760 --> 00:28:07,280
Speaker 3: track record of one hundred and eighty innings, one hundred

562
00:28:07,280 --> 00:28:09,200
Speaker 3: and seventy innings, one hundred and eighty, one hundred and

563
00:28:09,240 --> 00:28:12,920
Speaker 3: sixty like, well, they know they're gonna get six months

564
00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:14,760
Speaker 3: worth of workout of because.

565
00:28:14,640 --> 00:28:15,400
Speaker 2: There's not a guy.

566
00:28:15,480 --> 00:28:18,719
Speaker 3: There's not a single pitcher on their in their rotation

567
00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:21,040
Speaker 3: who you know for a fact you can say that about.

568
00:28:21,560 --> 00:28:22,440
Speaker 2: And that's terrifying.

569
00:28:22,520 --> 00:28:24,760
Speaker 3: And listen, if if they don't pitch, they're not gonna win,

570
00:28:25,160 --> 00:28:27,879
Speaker 3: Like they're not. You can't do what you did this

571
00:28:27,960 --> 00:28:31,880
Speaker 3: year and use twenty whatever pitchers they used. I don't

572
00:28:31,880 --> 00:28:34,920
Speaker 3: care how good the offense is. They're not gonna win

573
00:28:35,200 --> 00:28:38,120
Speaker 3: if if you know the eighty percent of the rotation

574
00:28:38,120 --> 00:28:40,560
Speaker 3: gets hurt again, so they gotta figure that's they have

575
00:28:40,640 --> 00:28:41,840
Speaker 3: to figure that part out.

576
00:28:41,960 --> 00:28:46,760
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think reliability and durability are really the key.

577
00:28:46,800 --> 00:28:50,480
Speaker 1: And obviously you're not just gonna go sign a rubber arm,

578
00:28:50,640 --> 00:28:53,160
Speaker 1: Like you're not gonna go sign like Kyle Gibson who

579
00:28:53,200 --> 00:28:56,000
Speaker 1: is famous for making thirty starts every year for a decade,

580
00:28:56,040 --> 00:28:58,640
Speaker 1: but he sucked. Like what what good as a five

581
00:28:58,760 --> 00:29:00,560
Speaker 1: era if they're gonna go out I mean they have

582
00:29:00,640 --> 00:29:03,520
Speaker 1: that his name is Bryce Elder, Yes, and we don't

583
00:29:03,520 --> 00:29:06,360
Speaker 1: want Bryce Elder to go out there. And if Joey

584
00:29:06,440 --> 00:29:08,760
Speaker 1: Wentz is still around, sure, like Joey Wentz can make

585
00:29:08,800 --> 00:29:10,920
Speaker 1: a couple of starts for you against the Marlins and

586
00:29:10,920 --> 00:29:13,640
Speaker 1: the Pirates, but you don't want Joey Wentz to be

587
00:29:13,880 --> 00:29:17,080
Speaker 1: third on the team and starts as he was this

588
00:29:17,120 --> 00:29:21,400
Speaker 1: past season. We can't do that again. And for multiple

589
00:29:21,480 --> 00:29:25,080
Speaker 1: years now, they've had crazy injuries. Chris Sale pound for pound,

590
00:29:25,200 --> 00:29:27,800
Speaker 1: might be the best pitcher in baseball. At worst, he's

591
00:29:27,800 --> 00:29:30,960
Speaker 1: top three, top five, But that guy has the weirdest

592
00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:34,120
Speaker 1: collection of injuries I have ever seen, Like, quite literally,

593
00:29:34,160 --> 00:29:36,800
Speaker 1: the weirdest collection of injuries I have ever seen for

594
00:29:36,880 --> 00:29:39,600
Speaker 1: a baseball player. You would think he's like a ten

595
00:29:39,680 --> 00:29:42,680
Speaker 1: year NFL veteran with all the broken bones and weird

596
00:29:42,720 --> 00:29:46,640
Speaker 1: stuff he's had. We'll see what kind of year Spencer

597
00:29:46,640 --> 00:29:49,440
Speaker 1: Strider has. But again, there's no guarantees with him. You

598
00:29:49,480 --> 00:29:52,400
Speaker 1: make a great point about Schwellenbach. He starts throwing harder

599
00:29:52,480 --> 00:29:55,640
Speaker 1: and his elbow broke. What does that mean? I mean,

600
00:29:56,000 --> 00:29:58,160
Speaker 1: is he going to rant back? Does it mean it's

601
00:29:58,160 --> 00:30:00,720
Speaker 1: something he's going to have to manage and the rest

602
00:30:00,720 --> 00:30:03,840
Speaker 1: of his career? Like it was such a bizarre injury.

603
00:30:03,920 --> 00:30:06,560
Speaker 1: Thankfully it was not a tissue or attendant or anything

604
00:30:06,600 --> 00:30:09,480
Speaker 1: a ligament. And then you're right, like, how can you

605
00:30:09,520 --> 00:30:13,520
Speaker 1: bank on anything from Ronaldo Lopez who missed an entire

606
00:30:13,600 --> 00:30:17,040
Speaker 1: year with shoulders that are terrifying? How can you bank

607
00:30:17,080 --> 00:30:21,240
Speaker 1: on anything from Grand Holmes, who is trying to do

608
00:30:21,320 --> 00:30:24,120
Speaker 1: something not many pitchers are doing, And that's when you

609
00:30:24,240 --> 00:30:26,480
Speaker 1: blow out your elbow or come awfully close to blowing

610
00:30:26,480 --> 00:30:29,959
Speaker 1: out your elbow, not getting surgery and just rehab and

611
00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:34,480
Speaker 1: recovery that usually doesn't work. Sometimes it does, but more

612
00:30:34,520 --> 00:30:37,520
Speaker 1: times than not. Would anyone be surprised if two weeks

613
00:30:37,520 --> 00:30:39,880
Speaker 1: into spring training we get a blue box that says

614
00:30:39,880 --> 00:30:44,320
Speaker 1: Grant Holmes has undergone Tommy John surgery. Nope, I wouldn't

615
00:30:44,360 --> 00:30:46,720
Speaker 1: be a j Smith Shauber, who knows what he'll be

616
00:30:46,720 --> 00:30:48,440
Speaker 1: able to give the team. It feels like that's gonna

617
00:30:48,480 --> 00:30:50,720
Speaker 1: be just kind of a cherry on top and whatever

618
00:30:50,760 --> 00:30:54,240
Speaker 1: you take, you get. But yeah, man, like at a

619
00:30:54,320 --> 00:30:57,280
Speaker 1: starter of some kind, please, it might be. And it's

620
00:30:57,320 --> 00:30:59,880
Speaker 1: a pretty healthy free agent class, Stephen, like everyone from

621
00:30:59,880 --> 00:31:03,479
Speaker 1: like Dylan C's and Ranger Suarez. Maybe they could make

622
00:31:03,520 --> 00:31:07,000
Speaker 1: a trade for a Sunny Gray and Nathany Evaldi. Like

623
00:31:07,160 --> 00:31:10,520
Speaker 1: there's there's going to be pittures available. You might have

624
00:31:10,600 --> 00:31:13,760
Speaker 1: to overpay, but dear God, let's get somebody to help

625
00:31:13,800 --> 00:31:16,320
Speaker 1: out this rotation because we can't do another summer of

626
00:31:16,360 --> 00:31:18,320
Speaker 1: watching Bryce Elder every five days.

627
00:31:19,920 --> 00:31:24,480
Speaker 3: Yeah, I really wish they had gotten the I know

628
00:31:24,520 --> 00:31:27,120
Speaker 3: they were interested in Nathany Evaldi last winter. I really

629
00:31:27,160 --> 00:31:28,880
Speaker 3: wish they had just gotten that done. I have no

630
00:31:28,960 --> 00:31:31,000
Speaker 3: idea what they offered. I don't know if the Rangers

631
00:31:31,040 --> 00:31:33,680
Speaker 3: just blew everybody else up the water, but that would

632
00:31:33,720 --> 00:31:34,840
Speaker 3: have been a good one because the dude is just

633
00:31:34,920 --> 00:31:37,960
Speaker 3: so durable. But yeah, they gotta do something and Listen,

634
00:31:38,040 --> 00:31:40,920
Speaker 3: If you actually get to the point where you have

635
00:31:41,040 --> 00:31:44,240
Speaker 3: all these guys healthy and pitching at the same time, fantastic.

636
00:31:44,280 --> 00:31:47,920
Speaker 3: Go to a six man rotation, limit everybody's innings, because

637
00:31:47,920 --> 00:31:49,479
Speaker 3: then the next goal is not just to get them

638
00:31:49,480 --> 00:31:51,440
Speaker 3: through the season, but get him to October where you

639
00:31:51,480 --> 00:31:54,160
Speaker 3: can pitch him in October. You can always move somebody.

640
00:31:54,200 --> 00:31:56,480
Speaker 3: You can move grand Home to the bullpen. We're gonna

641
00:31:56,480 --> 00:31:58,600
Speaker 3: talk about the bullpen a second. You can remove Rinaldo

642
00:31:58,640 --> 00:32:00,600
Speaker 3: Lopez to the bullpen, who might be a damn good

643
00:32:00,680 --> 00:32:02,920
Speaker 3: he was a really good reliever for a long time.

644
00:32:03,240 --> 00:32:06,280
Speaker 3: You might put him back there because they might need

645
00:32:06,320 --> 00:32:08,000
Speaker 3: more bullpen help.

646
00:32:08,040 --> 00:32:09,080
Speaker 2: Like, there's things you can do.

647
00:32:09,960 --> 00:32:12,040
Speaker 3: What you can't do is not do anything and then

648
00:32:12,080 --> 00:32:13,640
Speaker 3: try to patch it together in the middle of the

649
00:32:13,720 --> 00:32:17,360
Speaker 3: season with the Joey Winces and the cal Quantrells and

650
00:32:17,400 --> 00:32:18,760
Speaker 3: the Carlos Carrascos of the world.

651
00:32:18,760 --> 00:32:19,520
Speaker 2: That's what you can't do.

652
00:32:20,080 --> 00:32:23,400
Speaker 3: You have to address it now and then if some

653
00:32:23,640 --> 00:32:25,719
Speaker 3: by some miracles, somewhere in the middle of the season

654
00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:27,400
Speaker 3: you actually have too many.

655
00:32:27,240 --> 00:32:28,800
Speaker 2: Starters, you could figure it out.

656
00:32:28,840 --> 00:32:32,080
Speaker 3: There's bullpens, there's six men rotations, there's given guys a

657
00:32:32,080 --> 00:32:34,280
Speaker 3: little fifteen day breaks here and there on the il.

658
00:32:34,680 --> 00:32:37,560
Speaker 3: There's plenty of things you can do. Like the Dodgers

659
00:32:37,560 --> 00:32:41,280
Speaker 3: signed twelve starting pitchers last offseason, Like it was at

660
00:32:41,320 --> 00:32:44,080
Speaker 3: one point they literally had like a thirteen man rotation.

661
00:32:44,720 --> 00:32:47,600
Speaker 3: They made it work, like, just add arms. You just

662
00:32:47,640 --> 00:32:48,640
Speaker 3: have to add arms.

663
00:32:48,680 --> 00:32:52,360
Speaker 1: At this point in the history of watching the Braves

664
00:32:52,520 --> 00:32:55,400
Speaker 1: or just any team in baseball, have you, Steven Tolbert,

665
00:32:55,440 --> 00:32:58,720
Speaker 1: every one said, man, we have too many good starting

666
00:32:58,720 --> 00:33:01,320
Speaker 1: pitchers right now. They're all healthy, and they're all throwing

667
00:33:01,360 --> 00:33:03,360
Speaker 1: the ball really good, and I just don't know what

668
00:33:03,400 --> 00:33:04,600
Speaker 1: the Braves are going to do.

669
00:33:05,040 --> 00:33:07,480
Speaker 3: Not only is never happened with the Braves, has never

670
00:33:07,520 --> 00:33:09,840
Speaker 3: happened with any team ever in the history of the sport.

671
00:33:09,880 --> 00:33:12,760
Speaker 2: It just doesn't happen. Add On, I don't care how

672
00:33:12,760 --> 00:33:14,400
Speaker 2: many you have. Add more.

673
00:33:15,840 --> 00:33:19,080
Speaker 1: Yes, be greedy. This is still a World Series window,

674
00:33:19,280 --> 00:33:22,920
Speaker 1: but you have to figure out the pitching. YEP, can't

675
00:33:22,920 --> 00:33:23,080
Speaker 1: do it.

676
00:33:23,160 --> 00:33:25,600
Speaker 3: And I'll say no, I'll say this, they do have

677
00:33:25,680 --> 00:33:30,280
Speaker 3: more Triple A talent. They have like legitimate, like prospects

678
00:33:30,400 --> 00:33:32,560
Speaker 3: at Triple A. Now, for the first time in a while,

679
00:33:32,960 --> 00:33:36,920
Speaker 3: it's not just your Bryce Elder, Darius Vines, Alan Winen's

680
00:33:37,000 --> 00:33:39,880
Speaker 3: kind of player, Like it's like real prospects of real

681
00:33:39,960 --> 00:33:43,200
Speaker 3: upside Fuintes Jr. Richie, there's a whole bunch of them

682
00:33:43,360 --> 00:33:46,480
Speaker 3: that are like actually close now, So that will help

683
00:33:46,640 --> 00:33:49,280
Speaker 3: having actual talent down there, but you got to go

684
00:33:49,320 --> 00:33:51,760
Speaker 3: add some major league caliber starting pitching.

685
00:33:52,800 --> 00:33:55,800
Speaker 1: And not only do they have maybe talent in waiting

686
00:33:55,920 --> 00:33:58,520
Speaker 1: in Gwinet, but the farm system is also a little

687
00:33:58,560 --> 00:34:01,800
Speaker 1: healthier than it was, so you know, for years it's like, yeah,

688
00:34:01,880 --> 00:34:04,040
Speaker 1: let's go make a trade. But if you have a

689
00:34:04,080 --> 00:34:06,920
Speaker 1: bottom three farm system, even if the Braves I think

690
00:34:06,960 --> 00:34:10,880
Speaker 1: have outperformed what the expert consensus rankings have said in

691
00:34:10,960 --> 00:34:14,279
Speaker 1: terms of prospects in the organization because every year they

692
00:34:14,320 --> 00:34:16,680
Speaker 1: somehow turn out like a Rookie of the Year candidate

693
00:34:17,040 --> 00:34:19,719
Speaker 1: even in a bottom three system. It feels like they

694
00:34:19,800 --> 00:34:22,279
Speaker 1: have some more depth. They've been able to sign international

695
00:34:22,320 --> 00:34:24,799
Speaker 1: free agents for a few years now. We're seeing that

696
00:34:25,280 --> 00:34:28,840
Speaker 1: they've done a decent job drafting in recent years. I

697
00:34:28,920 --> 00:34:31,440
Speaker 1: still think that's an area for growth for this organization.

698
00:34:31,560 --> 00:34:34,799
Speaker 1: But there's some talent here like they're not and they

699
00:34:34,840 --> 00:34:38,920
Speaker 1: don't necessarily need every talented player in the minors to

700
00:34:39,080 --> 00:34:42,200
Speaker 1: help out the major league team immediately. They should be

701
00:34:42,239 --> 00:34:44,399
Speaker 1: able to add, whether they have to go to free

702
00:34:44,440 --> 00:34:48,719
Speaker 1: agency and sign one of these good established veterans or

703
00:34:48,760 --> 00:34:52,200
Speaker 1: make a trade. They feel like they have some ammo

704
00:34:52,320 --> 00:34:54,360
Speaker 1: to go out and be able to have conversations for

705
00:34:54,560 --> 00:34:57,319
Speaker 1: most players, and that's frankly something they have not been

706
00:34:57,320 --> 00:34:58,680
Speaker 1: able to say the last few years.

707
00:34:59,600 --> 00:35:03,319
Speaker 3: Yeah, there's no reason. There's no reason not to address this.

708
00:35:03,960 --> 00:35:07,240
Speaker 3: I mean, in a lot of ways, it wrecked this season.

709
00:35:07,560 --> 00:35:10,000
Speaker 3: It didn't fully wreck this season because the offense was

710
00:35:10,040 --> 00:35:13,279
Speaker 3: so bad in the first half. The offense being bad

711
00:35:13,280 --> 00:35:16,799
Speaker 3: in the first half really wrecked the season. It got

712
00:35:16,800 --> 00:35:18,960
Speaker 3: wrecked again in the second half because everybody in the

713
00:35:18,960 --> 00:35:21,759
Speaker 3: pitching staff got hurt. But you can't let that hat.

714
00:35:21,800 --> 00:35:24,439
Speaker 3: You cannot go to the You can't go into twenty

715
00:35:24,480 --> 00:35:28,040
Speaker 3: twenty six with this many injury risk in your rotation

716
00:35:28,160 --> 00:35:31,120
Speaker 3: and not address it at all. You got prospects to trade,

717
00:35:31,120 --> 00:35:34,440
Speaker 3: you got money to spend. You have to go this

718
00:35:34,600 --> 00:35:39,520
Speaker 3: You have to address this problem, all.

719
00:35:39,440 --> 00:35:43,359
Speaker 1: Right, Steven, Let's now talk about the bullpen. And this

720
00:35:43,400 --> 00:35:46,799
Speaker 1: is kind of a fascinating bullpen for me. We were

721
00:35:46,880 --> 00:35:49,080
Speaker 1: talking just before the show about kind of the state

722
00:35:49,120 --> 00:35:51,440
Speaker 1: of the bullpen, but I guess it's a quick refresher

723
00:35:51,440 --> 00:35:54,600
Speaker 1: and they'll throw it to you. Rice Eglesias is set

724
00:35:54,640 --> 00:35:57,040
Speaker 1: to become a free agent, assuming he does not work

725
00:35:57,080 --> 00:35:59,720
Speaker 1: out a contract extension with the Braves in the next month,

726
00:36:00,200 --> 00:36:05,360
Speaker 1: but Ricella is a free agent. They have legitimate money

727
00:36:05,440 --> 00:36:10,879
Speaker 1: guaranteed money owed to Joejamenez and Aaron Bummer next year.

728
00:36:11,640 --> 00:36:15,399
Speaker 1: They have Dylan Lee owed cheap money through arbitration that's

729
00:36:15,440 --> 00:36:19,680
Speaker 1: a virtual guarantee. And then they have player options seven

730
00:36:19,680 --> 00:36:23,040
Speaker 1: million dollars for Pierce Johnson and five and a half

731
00:36:23,080 --> 00:36:28,120
Speaker 1: million dollars for Tyler Kinley. Where are you at with

732
00:36:28,280 --> 00:36:32,400
Speaker 1: this bullpen? Because it's not a bad group by any means,

733
00:36:32,440 --> 00:36:35,760
Speaker 1: but watching the playoffs right now, I was quickly reminded

734
00:36:35,880 --> 00:36:38,960
Speaker 1: just how electric a bullpen needs to be in ways

735
00:36:38,960 --> 00:36:41,720
Speaker 1: that a good bullpen can just completely take over a game.

736
00:36:41,760 --> 00:36:43,960
Speaker 1: And I mean, heck, we saw it firsthand in twenty

737
00:36:44,000 --> 00:36:47,319
Speaker 1: twenty one with the Night Shift. But where are you

738
00:36:47,719 --> 00:36:50,680
Speaker 1: with the obvious knowledge that this team currently does not

739
00:36:50,719 --> 00:36:53,920
Speaker 1: have a closer under contract or a designated closure under contract,

740
00:36:54,520 --> 00:36:56,239
Speaker 1: and also that we are a month away from the

741
00:36:56,280 --> 00:36:57,200
Speaker 1: offseason beginning.

742
00:36:59,239 --> 00:37:00,520
Speaker 2: Yeah, so I was you know what a lot of

743
00:37:00,560 --> 00:37:01,080
Speaker 2: people were doing.

744
00:37:01,080 --> 00:37:04,000
Speaker 3: I was watching playoff baseballs, watching these bullpens come in,

745
00:37:05,080 --> 00:37:08,600
Speaker 3: you know, I was actually watching the Blue Jays Varland

746
00:37:08,640 --> 00:37:10,400
Speaker 3: for the blue Jays throw like one hundred and one

747
00:37:10,440 --> 00:37:12,359
Speaker 3: miles an hour, and it actually made me like.

748
00:37:13,040 --> 00:37:14,719
Speaker 2: I don't remember him a lot of the Braves.

749
00:37:15,239 --> 00:37:16,560
Speaker 3: I don't remember the Braves doing a lot of like

750
00:37:16,560 --> 00:37:17,920
Speaker 3: one hundred mile an hour pitches this year.

751
00:37:17,920 --> 00:37:20,279
Speaker 2: So I looked it up. The Braves were through the

752
00:37:20,320 --> 00:37:21,760
Speaker 2: second fewest.

753
00:37:21,440 --> 00:37:23,920
Speaker 3: One hundred mile an hour pitches in twenty twenty five.

754
00:37:24,400 --> 00:37:26,040
Speaker 2: I think the Astros.

755
00:37:25,480 --> 00:37:29,160
Speaker 3: Were the only team that threw fewer. And I just

756
00:37:29,880 --> 00:37:33,720
Speaker 3: I think the Braves need more. I think the Braves

757
00:37:33,719 --> 00:37:36,919
Speaker 3: need to be more dynamic out of the bullpen. And

758
00:37:38,480 --> 00:37:41,439
Speaker 3: you know, owing Aaron Bummer ten million dollars next year

759
00:37:41,480 --> 00:37:44,600
Speaker 3: is I'm sorry to do this, but it's it is

760
00:37:44,640 --> 00:37:49,520
Speaker 3: a bummer. I don't like you've I've heard you talk

761
00:37:49,520 --> 00:37:51,560
Speaker 3: about Pierce Johnson and like how you can make the

762
00:37:51,719 --> 00:37:55,319
Speaker 3: argument it might not be worth it if there's other

763
00:37:55,560 --> 00:37:57,360
Speaker 3: players you can go get. I don't know, I just

764
00:37:57,400 --> 00:37:59,920
Speaker 3: want to be more dynamic. And that's why, like Rinaldo,

765
00:38:00,320 --> 00:38:02,160
Speaker 3: going back to the bullpen is so interesting to me.

766
00:38:02,640 --> 00:38:05,000
Speaker 3: One because it allows you to get a starter in

767
00:38:05,040 --> 00:38:08,440
Speaker 3: his spot that's more reliable, more durable. But two, when

768
00:38:08,440 --> 00:38:10,000
Speaker 3: he was in the bullpen, that dude was thrown like

769
00:38:10,000 --> 00:38:12,160
Speaker 3: one hundred and one miles an hour, like he was

770
00:38:12,200 --> 00:38:16,080
Speaker 3: a real weapon. And I understand starter versus reliever. You

771
00:38:16,120 --> 00:38:19,080
Speaker 3: always prefer starter. But if you already have questions about

772
00:38:19,120 --> 00:38:22,480
Speaker 3: his shoulder, you need more dynamic weapons in the bullpen.

773
00:38:22,840 --> 00:38:25,600
Speaker 3: You're already wanting to get a starting pitcher in the offseason,

774
00:38:26,000 --> 00:38:28,520
Speaker 3: Like I can make a really compelling case. Why and

775
00:38:28,560 --> 00:38:30,480
Speaker 3: he you know, he, I know, originally he said he

776
00:38:30,480 --> 00:38:31,800
Speaker 3: didn't want to be in the bullpen, but by the

777
00:38:31,880 --> 00:38:33,560
Speaker 3: end of the year he'd kind of softened on that,

778
00:38:34,320 --> 00:38:37,000
Speaker 3: Like I can make a really compelling case, like Ronaldo

779
00:38:37,040 --> 00:38:39,560
Speaker 3: Lopez's most valuable position next year is in the bullpen.

780
00:38:39,880 --> 00:38:42,040
Speaker 3: The Braves do not have a closer under contract, as

781
00:38:42,040 --> 00:38:44,520
Speaker 3: we've talked about a lot Roussio. Iglesias will be a

782
00:38:44,520 --> 00:38:47,720
Speaker 3: free agent once the offseason officially starts after the World Series.

783
00:38:48,080 --> 00:38:50,120
Speaker 3: They could certainly bring him back. He was awesome in

784
00:38:50,120 --> 00:38:51,120
Speaker 3: the last four months.

785
00:38:51,640 --> 00:38:54,200
Speaker 2: But owing Aaron.

786
00:38:54,040 --> 00:38:56,759
Speaker 3: Bummer ten million, not having any clue what you're going

787
00:38:56,800 --> 00:38:59,040
Speaker 3: to get out of Joe Jimenez and owing him nine

788
00:38:59,040 --> 00:39:02,399
Speaker 3: million dollars next year. Feels like those feel like two

789
00:39:02,480 --> 00:39:06,879
Speaker 3: very restrictive things, and I would love to get out

790
00:39:06,920 --> 00:39:09,879
Speaker 3: of one of them if possible. Aaron Barmer is probably

791
00:39:09,920 --> 00:39:12,279
Speaker 3: gonna be the easiest one because Jimenez missed the entire year,

792
00:39:12,760 --> 00:39:15,080
Speaker 3: But getting out of one of those, I don't know

793
00:39:15,120 --> 00:39:18,720
Speaker 3: if the Kenley player option or the the Pierce Johnson

794
00:39:18,719 --> 00:39:21,400
Speaker 3: player option or on the table, maybe getting out of

795
00:39:21,440 --> 00:39:24,120
Speaker 3: one of those. I would just I would like to

796
00:39:24,120 --> 00:39:28,240
Speaker 3: see a few more like like super dynamic relievers added

797
00:39:28,280 --> 00:39:31,120
Speaker 3: to this bullpen, which at times felt a little bland

798
00:39:31,160 --> 00:39:33,279
Speaker 3: to me. A lot of guys who throw ninety three,

799
00:39:33,360 --> 00:39:35,960
Speaker 3: ninety four, ninety five, ninety six. You know, when you

800
00:39:36,000 --> 00:39:38,440
Speaker 3: watch playoff baseball, you just you see all these like

801
00:39:39,200 --> 00:39:41,160
Speaker 3: lights out relievers comes out. It just doesn't feel like

802
00:39:41,160 --> 00:39:42,359
Speaker 3: the Braves have a lot of that.

803
00:39:42,520 --> 00:39:43,640
Speaker 2: I would like to I would just like to see

804
00:39:43,640 --> 00:39:45,520
Speaker 2: the bullpen get a little bit more dynamic. In twenty

805
00:39:45,520 --> 00:39:46,040
Speaker 2: twenty six.

806
00:39:47,280 --> 00:39:49,840
Speaker 1: You use the word bland, and I think that is

807
00:39:49,880 --> 00:39:54,359
Speaker 1: a perfect way to describe this bullpen right now. And

808
00:39:54,520 --> 00:39:56,680
Speaker 1: can you say with a straight face that Pierce Johnson

809
00:39:56,800 --> 00:40:01,600
Speaker 1: is a good quality middle reliever. Yeah, yes, but he's

810
00:40:01,920 --> 00:40:04,200
Speaker 1: he's not humming a hundred out there, and he's you know,

811
00:40:04,239 --> 00:40:07,040
Speaker 1: he has the big curve ball, but he has flaws,

812
00:40:07,080 --> 00:40:09,239
Speaker 1: like he's not very good against lefties, Like lefties just

813
00:40:09,280 --> 00:40:11,000
Speaker 1: sit on that curve and they hit it.

814
00:40:11,080 --> 00:40:12,120
Speaker 4: They do right, He's.

815
00:40:11,960 --> 00:40:14,600
Speaker 1: Never hit Pierce Johnson, but lefties mash him and like

816
00:40:14,680 --> 00:40:19,320
Speaker 1: theyll only is a good lefty reliever. I have no qualms,

817
00:40:19,480 --> 00:40:22,200
Speaker 1: but like Aaron Bummer, it really sucks. They guaranteed him

818
00:40:22,200 --> 00:40:25,400
Speaker 1: another year that I think that was probably more of

819
00:40:25,480 --> 00:40:30,680
Speaker 1: Alex getting his budget squeezed a year ago, maybe unexpectedly,

820
00:40:30,760 --> 00:40:33,319
Speaker 1: where he had to redo those contracts for Bummer and

821
00:40:33,400 --> 00:40:35,640
Speaker 1: Renaldo Lopez to give him a little more money to

822
00:40:35,680 --> 00:40:38,960
Speaker 1: work with. Like it's yeah, it is a bummer. They

823
00:40:38,960 --> 00:40:40,960
Speaker 1: owed ten and a half million dollars to Aaron Bummer,

824
00:40:41,000 --> 00:40:44,600
Speaker 1: who also had injury concerns down the stretch. And it

825
00:40:44,680 --> 00:40:47,680
Speaker 1: was interesting that the word that Alex Enthoplis used in

826
00:40:47,760 --> 00:40:52,000
Speaker 1: his media availability was that bullpen is always an area

827
00:40:52,080 --> 00:40:55,520
Speaker 1: of focus for the team, and they're in this weird

828
00:40:55,560 --> 00:40:57,920
Speaker 1: scenario where they don't need to go out and sign

829
00:40:58,120 --> 00:41:00,440
Speaker 1: like five guys, like this is not a bullpen that

830
00:41:00,480 --> 00:41:03,160
Speaker 1: needs to be completely overhauled because they think it's pretty

831
00:41:03,160 --> 00:41:06,200
Speaker 1: good on paper and if you added a legitimate closure

832
00:41:06,239 --> 00:41:09,960
Speaker 1: of some kind, then it looks even better. But at

833
00:41:10,000 --> 00:41:12,600
Speaker 1: the same time, I'm also just not like in love

834
00:41:12,719 --> 00:41:16,000
Speaker 1: with this group. And you know, it's it's hard to say,

835
00:41:16,040 --> 00:41:18,000
Speaker 1: because guys get hot, guys get cold, but it just

836
00:41:18,080 --> 00:41:22,080
Speaker 1: doesn't feel like a championship caliber bullpen right now.

837
00:41:23,840 --> 00:41:26,759
Speaker 3: And listen, you feel it most when your starters are

838
00:41:26,840 --> 00:41:29,440
Speaker 3: hurt and your bullpen is having to cover four innings

839
00:41:29,480 --> 00:41:31,200
Speaker 3: a night, five innings a night, like they did the

840
00:41:31,320 --> 00:41:35,200
Speaker 3: entire second half. And I do think so the first

841
00:41:35,440 --> 00:41:38,600
Speaker 3: two months of the year, the Bray's bullpen, we talked

842
00:41:38,600 --> 00:41:40,760
Speaker 3: about it a bunch. They threw the fewest innings in baseball.

843
00:41:40,800 --> 00:41:44,000
Speaker 3: The starters were going like seven innings every night. The

844
00:41:44,040 --> 00:41:46,239
Speaker 3: starters were I mean a whole stretch of like the

845
00:41:46,280 --> 00:41:48,480
Speaker 3: first couple months of the year. The starters were awesome.

846
00:41:48,760 --> 00:41:51,399
Speaker 3: That's what made it so frustrating because Bride couldn't score. Yeah,

847
00:41:51,400 --> 00:41:53,600
Speaker 3: he couldn't win any games, but the starters were awesome.

848
00:41:54,280 --> 00:41:57,359
Speaker 3: And like sale Schwallenbach, it was when Strider came back,

849
00:41:57,400 --> 00:42:01,160
Speaker 3: he got hot. Elder had a really hot stretch. Grant

850
00:42:01,160 --> 00:42:03,560
Speaker 3: Holmes had a really hot like, the starters were really

851
00:42:03,600 --> 00:42:06,000
Speaker 3: good for a long time, so the bullpen never really

852
00:42:06,040 --> 00:42:08,839
Speaker 3: got used. In the second half, when the starters got hurt,

853
00:42:08,840 --> 00:42:10,120
Speaker 3: the bullpen got used a lot more.

854
00:42:10,160 --> 00:42:14,239
Speaker 2: I think it got exposed. And I just again, I

855
00:42:14,320 --> 00:42:15,080
Speaker 2: just I.

856
00:42:15,040 --> 00:42:18,840
Speaker 3: Want more what I would call weapons out of the bullpen,

857
00:42:18,880 --> 00:42:20,560
Speaker 3: where you bring a guy in you're like, all right,

858
00:42:20,600 --> 00:42:23,400
Speaker 3: this dude, this dude can shut down an inning. The

859
00:42:23,480 --> 00:42:26,560
Speaker 3: other team is dreading this dude coming out, Like, I

860
00:42:26,600 --> 00:42:29,040
Speaker 3: just don't feel like even like Dylan Lee had a

861
00:42:29,080 --> 00:42:31,319
Speaker 3: really rough second half, kind of quietly. The Braves were

862
00:42:31,360 --> 00:42:33,360
Speaker 3: out of it by then, so nobody really paid attention.

863
00:42:33,400 --> 00:42:35,239
Speaker 3: But Dyl Lee gave up a ton of homers in

864
00:42:35,280 --> 00:42:37,880
Speaker 3: the second half. Yeah, I don't know. I just I

865
00:42:37,920 --> 00:42:41,520
Speaker 3: want more weapons. I want a little bit more velocity.

866
00:42:41,640 --> 00:42:44,480
Speaker 3: I want I wanted to look a little bit more

867
00:42:44,480 --> 00:42:46,440
Speaker 3: like the bullpens that we watch, you know, on these

868
00:42:46,480 --> 00:42:49,040
Speaker 3: October nights, in these playoff games where they got three

869
00:42:49,120 --> 00:42:51,000
Speaker 3: or four guys coming out, guys you've never heard of,

870
00:42:51,160 --> 00:42:52,799
Speaker 3: Like who is this guy throwing one hundred and one

871
00:42:52,840 --> 00:42:55,560
Speaker 3: miles an hour with a wipeout side. Now I've literally

872
00:42:55,640 --> 00:42:58,000
Speaker 3: never heard of this guy before. I want a little

873
00:42:58,000 --> 00:42:59,600
Speaker 3: bit more of that for the Braves next year.

874
00:43:01,000 --> 00:43:04,960
Speaker 1: I would say it's kind of a weird weakness, but

875
00:43:05,000 --> 00:43:08,480
Speaker 1: it is like an organizational weakness for like bullpen development

876
00:43:10,040 --> 00:43:12,360
Speaker 1: over the year. And let's be clear, the Braves have

877
00:43:12,440 --> 00:43:16,320
Speaker 1: done an insane job with player development over the last decade,

878
00:43:16,560 --> 00:43:19,440
Speaker 1: Like so many good players have come out homegrown, but

879
00:43:19,680 --> 00:43:22,960
Speaker 1: bullpen like was it seven years ago? Aj Minter was

880
00:43:23,040 --> 00:43:27,040
Speaker 1: homegrown and awesome. Dylan Lee is homegrown and had kind

881
00:43:27,040 --> 00:43:30,520
Speaker 1: of an unconventional path, but he's been a good lefty reliever. Yeah,

882
00:43:31,640 --> 00:43:34,000
Speaker 1: that's kind of it. Man, Like I know Dasball Hernandez

883
00:43:34,000 --> 00:43:37,880
Speaker 1: has fans. I have no confidence in Day's bell, Like,

884
00:43:38,120 --> 00:43:39,879
Speaker 1: there's just not I mean, he's twenty eight years old,

885
00:43:40,120 --> 00:43:42,799
Speaker 1: he's a he's not a prospect that you know. It's

886
00:43:42,880 --> 00:43:46,560
Speaker 1: kind of a weird flaw in the organization. And it's

887
00:43:46,560 --> 00:43:49,040
Speaker 1: not like they can't develop starting pitching because that would

888
00:43:49,080 --> 00:43:51,560
Speaker 1: be like a crisis, like a full stop crisis. But

889
00:43:52,160 --> 00:43:54,160
Speaker 1: it'd be nice if they could not, only because then

890
00:43:54,160 --> 00:43:57,080
Speaker 1: they're cheap too, you know, you don't I hate carrying

891
00:43:57,160 --> 00:44:00,279
Speaker 1: a fifty sixty million dollar bullpen, which is probably what

892
00:44:00,320 --> 00:44:02,359
Speaker 1: the Braves are gonna carry by the time they sign

893
00:44:02,480 --> 00:44:05,680
Speaker 1: a good closer and probably at least one more we'll

894
00:44:05,680 --> 00:44:08,200
Speaker 1: call potential high leverage arm to this group.

895
00:44:09,800 --> 00:44:10,960
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't know what it is like.

896
00:44:11,000 --> 00:44:13,400
Speaker 3: Even when you play like the Nationals and the Marlins,

897
00:44:13,560 --> 00:44:15,560
Speaker 3: it seems like they've got like three or four, like

898
00:44:15,640 --> 00:44:18,200
Speaker 3: twenty three year olds that throw one hundred and one

899
00:44:18,400 --> 00:44:20,839
Speaker 3: out of the bullpen and like guys you've i mean

900
00:44:20,880 --> 00:44:22,640
Speaker 3: literally never heard of. You couldn't pick them out of

901
00:44:22,680 --> 00:44:25,320
Speaker 3: a lineup, And it seems like all these other teams

902
00:44:25,360 --> 00:44:30,160
Speaker 3: are developing. And I know the Braves like push guys

903
00:44:30,160 --> 00:44:32,400
Speaker 3: to be starters for as long as possible, and that

904
00:44:32,520 --> 00:44:36,520
Speaker 3: has produced fruit for the organization. It's not like that's

905
00:44:36,560 --> 00:44:39,080
Speaker 3: a bad philosophy. A starting picture is more valuable than

906
00:44:39,120 --> 00:44:41,279
Speaker 3: a reliever. But yes, it does seem to be like

907
00:44:41,280 --> 00:44:44,480
Speaker 3: the Braves always have to go and get externally add

908
00:44:44,480 --> 00:44:47,840
Speaker 3: their believers versus you know, having guys come up with

909
00:44:47,880 --> 00:44:50,480
Speaker 3: six years of control and the first three years they're

910
00:44:50,520 --> 00:44:52,680
Speaker 3: making league minimum and you know, you don't have to

911
00:44:53,120 --> 00:44:54,520
Speaker 3: like the Braves have to spend a lot of money

912
00:44:54,560 --> 00:44:57,239
Speaker 3: in their bullpit, like this is where you pay for it.

913
00:44:57,239 --> 00:44:59,400
Speaker 2: Is quite literally, you pay for it. You have to.

914
00:45:00,000 --> 00:45:02,160
Speaker 3: It's been a large chunk of your payroll to build

915
00:45:02,160 --> 00:45:05,719
Speaker 3: a bullpen because you have you don't have any internally.

916
00:45:05,920 --> 00:45:08,680
Speaker 3: And again, the Braves do have much better pitching in

917
00:45:08,760 --> 00:45:11,480
Speaker 3: terms of prospects at Double A and Triple A this year.

918
00:45:12,000 --> 00:45:13,839
Speaker 3: Maybe some of those guys can come up and help.

919
00:45:13,880 --> 00:45:18,080
Speaker 3: I know, Laura came up for like a week. They

920
00:45:18,120 --> 00:45:20,160
Speaker 3: barely used him, so who knows how good he is.

921
00:45:20,880 --> 00:45:22,600
Speaker 3: You know, he has trouble funding. He has a high

922
00:45:22,680 --> 00:45:24,080
Speaker 3: velocity guy, which is good to see.

923
00:45:24,120 --> 00:45:25,680
Speaker 2: But we'll see what they do.

924
00:45:25,800 --> 00:45:28,360
Speaker 1: Maybe a j Smith shover, like if he's ready to

925
00:45:28,400 --> 00:45:30,759
Speaker 1: come back in July or August and they feel like

926
00:45:30,800 --> 00:45:32,640
Speaker 1: they could use a fresh arm in the bullpen, and

927
00:45:33,040 --> 00:45:35,279
Speaker 1: maybe they don't want to tax him because he's still young.

928
00:45:35,360 --> 00:45:38,600
Speaker 1: I mean, we'll see. I mean, there's there's always ways

929
00:45:38,640 --> 00:45:40,960
Speaker 1: to improve a bullpen. That's the good thing is like

930
00:45:41,040 --> 00:45:44,840
Speaker 1: by far and away, it's probably that is an easy

931
00:45:44,880 --> 00:45:47,160
Speaker 1: area to address. It's not shortstop where the Braves have

932
00:45:47,160 --> 00:45:49,759
Speaker 1: been drawn dead for three years, but it is kind

933
00:45:49,800 --> 00:45:51,719
Speaker 1: of a weird Braves are a weird spot with the

934
00:45:51,719 --> 00:45:52,399
Speaker 1: bullpen right.

935
00:45:52,320 --> 00:45:55,560
Speaker 3: Now, and that's why Ronaldo moving Ronaldo to the bullpen.

936
00:45:57,200 --> 00:45:59,440
Speaker 3: I'm sure they talk about it a lot, and Ronaldo

937
00:45:59,440 --> 00:46:02,919
Speaker 3: got asked about so it's obviously a topic. But moving

938
00:46:03,000 --> 00:46:06,040
Speaker 3: Ronald Lopez to the bullpen makes a lot of sense,

939
00:46:06,520 --> 00:46:08,680
Speaker 3: and I hope that's something they explore.

940
00:46:10,640 --> 00:46:13,160
Speaker 1: We will see probably something I mean, I'm guessing not

941
00:46:13,280 --> 00:46:16,040
Speaker 1: till spring training. And obviously we'll see who they add.

942
00:46:16,160 --> 00:46:18,560
Speaker 1: I mean, if they if they had a starting pitcher,

943
00:46:18,600 --> 00:46:21,120
Speaker 1: if they go out and sign Dylan C's, well, someone's

944
00:46:21,120 --> 00:46:23,520
Speaker 1: getting bumped to the bullpen just from a numbers game.

945
00:46:23,520 --> 00:46:27,600
Speaker 1: But we'll see. Lastly, Alex was asked a little bit

946
00:46:27,680 --> 00:46:32,759
Speaker 1: about the outfield and DH situation wasn't really necessarily a

947
00:46:32,800 --> 00:46:35,520
Speaker 1: focus for Alex, and he kind of downplayed the need

948
00:46:35,880 --> 00:46:39,040
Speaker 1: to add a hitter. All I will say is that

949
00:46:39,120 --> 00:46:43,920
Speaker 1: while the DH catcher tandem kind of makes sense on

950
00:46:44,000 --> 00:46:48,520
Speaker 1: paper with Sean Murphy and Drake Baldwin, I feel like

951
00:46:48,560 --> 00:46:51,520
Speaker 1: you're just kind of giving up a positional advantage because

952
00:46:51,800 --> 00:46:56,160
Speaker 1: Drake Baldwin the catcher is a massive weapon. Drake Baldwin

953
00:46:56,200 --> 00:46:58,960
Speaker 1: the DH is fine, but he's not you know, he's

954
00:46:59,000 --> 00:47:01,800
Speaker 1: not gonna have a in ops or a nine hundred

955
00:47:01,840 --> 00:47:04,759
Speaker 1: ops necessarily as a DH, and then who knows what

956
00:47:04,800 --> 00:47:07,399
Speaker 1: Sean Murphy's gonna give us. We are fans of Murph

957
00:47:07,560 --> 00:47:10,279
Speaker 1: on this podcast. I think by the fan base his

958
00:47:10,400 --> 00:47:14,200
Speaker 1: defense and ability behind the plate is greatly undervalued. But

959
00:47:14,600 --> 00:47:17,360
Speaker 1: you cannot predict what this guy is gonna do offensively.

960
00:47:17,760 --> 00:47:20,120
Speaker 1: Either he's in the middle of hitting nine home runs

961
00:47:20,160 --> 00:47:22,200
Speaker 1: in a two week stretch, or he is oh for

962
00:47:22,280 --> 00:47:25,640
Speaker 1: his last forty. And maybe the Braves are fine rotating

963
00:47:25,680 --> 00:47:28,360
Speaker 1: those two. But I think I think I can speak

964
00:47:28,360 --> 00:47:30,120
Speaker 1: for you and say we are in favor of them

965
00:47:30,160 --> 00:47:34,040
Speaker 1: adding another outfielder who can rotate in his DH. It

966
00:47:34,200 --> 00:47:37,719
Speaker 1: just fixes a lot of problems and also gives you

967
00:47:37,760 --> 00:47:39,000
Speaker 1: insurance for the outfield.

968
00:47:40,520 --> 00:47:44,760
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, I want an I want a starting caliber

969
00:47:44,760 --> 00:47:47,640
Speaker 3: outfielder like I want to like Cody Bellinger.

970
00:47:47,280 --> 00:47:49,279
Speaker 2: Level, don't.

971
00:47:49,520 --> 00:47:52,680
Speaker 3: I don't mean like Jake Frayley or you know, pick

972
00:47:52,719 --> 00:47:54,840
Speaker 3: your favorite fourth out I mean a starting like a

973
00:47:54,880 --> 00:47:56,480
Speaker 3: guy who you would pay and you'd be like, all right,

974
00:47:56,480 --> 00:47:59,879
Speaker 3: he's starting somewhere, and have that guy a Kunyan prof

975
00:48:00,280 --> 00:48:03,760
Speaker 3: rotate DH. That's what I have zero interest in the catchers.

976
00:48:04,800 --> 00:48:08,200
Speaker 3: It's just not the same. Like Treg Baldlin hits good,

977
00:48:08,719 --> 00:48:11,800
Speaker 3: he's a really good hitter for a catcher, for a DH.

978
00:48:11,960 --> 00:48:16,480
Speaker 3: It's it's still good, but it's not. It's not taking

979
00:48:16,480 --> 00:48:19,239
Speaker 3: full advantage of the situation. Also, the Braves cannot, for

980
00:48:19,320 --> 00:48:22,359
Speaker 3: the life of them, keep a outfield healthy. Like they

981
00:48:22,400 --> 00:48:25,799
Speaker 3: haven't kept an outfield healthy. I mean going back like

982
00:48:25,840 --> 00:48:28,400
Speaker 3: six years back to the World Series when they had

983
00:48:28,440 --> 00:48:31,080
Speaker 3: to remake their entire outfield at the trade deadline. I

984
00:48:31,120 --> 00:48:33,160
Speaker 3: don't remember the last time the Braves kept their outfield healthy.

985
00:48:33,280 --> 00:48:35,920
Speaker 3: Akunya gets hurt a lot, it's just a fact. He

986
00:48:35,960 --> 00:48:38,680
Speaker 3: does profar. He doesn't get hurt a lot. He missed

987
00:48:38,680 --> 00:48:40,440
Speaker 3: a lot of time, but he's also not a great defender,

988
00:48:40,440 --> 00:48:43,279
Speaker 3: Like getting him out of the outfield makes a lot

989
00:48:43,320 --> 00:48:45,719
Speaker 3: of sense. Michael Harris has dealt with a lot of injuries. Like,

990
00:48:46,760 --> 00:48:49,560
Speaker 3: it's not just maximizing DH, it's also just built in

991
00:48:49,680 --> 00:48:52,560
Speaker 3: depth for a position that you've had zero luck keeping

992
00:48:52,560 --> 00:48:56,120
Speaker 3: healthy for years. So it just makes too much sense. Also,

993
00:48:56,160 --> 00:48:58,560
Speaker 3: I don't like having a full time DH. I think

994
00:48:58,560 --> 00:49:01,239
Speaker 3: it's too restrictive on the roster, having a guy who

995
00:49:01,280 --> 00:49:04,880
Speaker 3: literally cannot play the field anywhere. I don't understand why

996
00:49:04,920 --> 00:49:06,759
Speaker 3: you would give up one of your roster spots. For that,

997
00:49:07,200 --> 00:49:09,239
Speaker 3: he has to hit at such a massive level for

998
00:49:09,280 --> 00:49:11,600
Speaker 3: that to make any sense at all. And the odds

999
00:49:11,600 --> 00:49:13,839
Speaker 3: that you're gonna go get somebody at thirty five thirty six,

1000
00:49:13,840 --> 00:49:16,000
Speaker 3: which is the age most of these guys are, and

1001
00:49:16,040 --> 00:49:18,880
Speaker 3: get a like career year. It's great when Kyle Schwarber

1002
00:49:18,920 --> 00:49:21,080
Speaker 3: does it, but like, how often can you depend on that?

1003
00:49:21,120 --> 00:49:22,440
Speaker 3: And the amount of money you got to give him

1004
00:49:22,440 --> 00:49:25,200
Speaker 3: to bank on it, it's not a great bet. Just

1005
00:49:25,239 --> 00:49:27,640
Speaker 3: go get another out, Go get a starting caliber outfielder.

1006
00:49:28,239 --> 00:49:31,200
Speaker 3: Let's try to keep your other guys healthy by rotating

1007
00:49:31,239 --> 00:49:34,000
Speaker 3: them out. It just makes it makes too much sense.

1008
00:49:34,280 --> 00:49:38,240
Speaker 1: Yeah, agree completely from your mouth to Alex's ears. Hopefully

1009
00:49:38,360 --> 00:49:41,160
Speaker 1: someone clip that and send it to Alex's.

1010
00:49:40,760 --> 00:49:43,400
Speaker 2: Spots and clip it, send it there you go.

1011
00:49:44,200 --> 00:49:46,879
Speaker 1: So again, Alex kind of downplayed it a little bit,

1012
00:49:46,920 --> 00:49:50,320
Speaker 1: but doesn't mean anything. It's not when Alex.

1013
00:49:50,480 --> 00:49:54,319
Speaker 3: I'll say this, When Alex downplays something, it happens, and

1014
00:49:54,360 --> 00:49:56,319
Speaker 3: when he talks something up. But you know, it might

1015
00:49:56,480 --> 00:49:59,960
Speaker 3: we might be the reverse here, might be the reverse chinks.

1016
00:50:00,320 --> 00:50:02,120
Speaker 1: And kind of going back to what we were talking

1017
00:50:02,120 --> 00:50:05,600
Speaker 1: about with the starting rotation and having too much pitching.

1018
00:50:06,000 --> 00:50:09,440
Speaker 1: Guess what if the Braves add an outfielder and profar

1019
00:50:09,680 --> 00:50:12,239
Speaker 1: is hitting, and Michael Harris is hitting, and Ronald Cunyr

1020
00:50:12,280 --> 00:50:14,880
Speaker 1: Junior is hitting, and all three are healthy, then you

1021
00:50:15,040 --> 00:50:17,600
Speaker 1: just rotate them. And that means that each night, either

1022
00:50:17,600 --> 00:50:20,320
Speaker 1: Sean Murphy or Drake Baldwin are on the bench, assuming

1023
00:50:20,360 --> 00:50:23,360
Speaker 1: they don't get traded, okay, whatever. And if if Murphy

1024
00:50:23,640 --> 00:50:26,280
Speaker 1: has an eight hundred OPS and playing goal glove defense

1025
00:50:26,600 --> 00:50:29,200
Speaker 1: and Baldwin has an eight to fifty ops and is

1026
00:50:29,200 --> 00:50:34,319
Speaker 1: playing totally fine defense, a non problem, and you can

1027
00:50:34,360 --> 00:50:38,000
Speaker 1: bet confidently that one of those players is either going

1028
00:50:38,040 --> 00:50:41,120
Speaker 1: to get banged up or underperformed next year. And again,

1029
00:50:41,280 --> 00:50:43,799
Speaker 1: it's just this is a very good roster, or it's

1030
00:50:43,840 --> 00:50:46,920
Speaker 1: a good roster. It can be very good with a

1031
00:50:46,920 --> 00:50:50,200
Speaker 1: couple of editions. And now that they've reset the luxury tax,

1032
00:50:51,040 --> 00:50:53,399
Speaker 1: now that Alex talked about that, he said they don't

1033
00:50:53,400 --> 00:50:55,359
Speaker 1: really care about the tax as long as it doesn't

1034
00:50:55,440 --> 00:50:58,360
Speaker 1: impact draft picks, which I get this team should not

1035
00:50:58,400 --> 00:51:03,200
Speaker 1: be giving up draft picks willingly, but go out be aggressive. God,

1036
00:51:03,239 --> 00:51:05,919
Speaker 1: we can't do another offseason where they basically signed one

1037
00:51:05,960 --> 00:51:09,000
Speaker 1: player and added a bunch of filler because guess what,

1038
00:51:09,120 --> 00:51:11,360
Speaker 1: three weeks into the season. We were already feeling the

1039
00:51:11,360 --> 00:51:11,960
Speaker 1: effects of that.

1040
00:51:13,280 --> 00:51:13,879
Speaker 2: Yeah, they were.

1041
00:51:14,120 --> 00:51:17,399
Speaker 3: I mean they they were picking up bullpen throwaways at

1042
00:51:17,400 --> 00:51:20,880
Speaker 3: the end of spring training and using them. And I

1043
00:51:20,920 --> 00:51:23,839
Speaker 3: mean Hector Narus got used in a in a one

1044
00:51:23,960 --> 00:51:26,000
Speaker 3: run game in the seventh inning of opening.

1045
00:51:25,760 --> 00:51:26,439
Speaker 2: Day last year.

1046
00:51:26,840 --> 00:51:29,719
Speaker 3: Yeah, and it cost the Braves. I know, what if

1047
00:51:29,760 --> 00:51:31,520
Speaker 3: they had started the year one to zero, Like, I

1048
00:51:31,520 --> 00:51:34,080
Speaker 3: think about that a lot actually, like and they didn't

1049
00:51:34,080 --> 00:51:36,359
Speaker 3: do any They didn't add anything to the bullpen last year.

1050
00:51:36,360 --> 00:51:38,439
Speaker 3: We all off season were like, what the hell, what

1051
00:51:38,520 --> 00:51:41,040
Speaker 3: is happening. They've lost so much off their team to

1052
00:51:41,080 --> 00:51:43,959
Speaker 3: the year before, They've had no they've added no pitching. Yeah,

1053
00:51:44,160 --> 00:51:45,880
Speaker 3: do not do what you did last year, which is

1054
00:51:46,560 --> 00:51:49,480
Speaker 3: sit on your hands for six months, make one signing

1055
00:51:49,520 --> 00:51:51,480
Speaker 3: and then just try to you know, use the waiver

1056
00:51:51,520 --> 00:51:55,600
Speaker 3: wire to add everything else. Go add some real talent this.

1057
00:51:55,800 --> 00:51:57,440
Speaker 3: I mean, now that you've had the season you've had,

1058
00:51:57,520 --> 00:51:59,440
Speaker 3: I think alex Is gonna have a little bit more pressure.

1059
00:51:59,800 --> 00:52:03,080
Speaker 2: They they will. They've reset the luxury touchs. Like you said,

1060
00:52:03,480 --> 00:52:04,840
Speaker 2: we'll see where payroll goes.

1061
00:52:04,880 --> 00:52:06,880
Speaker 3: But this is a good roster. It could be a

1062
00:52:06,920 --> 00:52:09,880
Speaker 3: really good roster. Go add the players you need to add.

1063
00:52:10,160 --> 00:52:13,960
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, absolutely, and it's a pretty healthy free agent class.

1064
00:52:14,040 --> 00:52:17,080
Speaker 1: There's usually good players available in the trade market as well.

1065
00:52:17,200 --> 00:52:19,719
Speaker 1: So let's pour some fuel on this thing and get

1066
00:52:19,760 --> 00:52:21,560
Speaker 1: back to where we want the Braves to be, because

1067
00:52:21,680 --> 00:52:24,840
Speaker 1: nobody wants to sit through another seventy six win season

1068
00:52:24,920 --> 00:52:26,279
Speaker 1: or whatever the hell they just did. I mean, that

1069
00:52:26,360 --> 00:52:30,480
Speaker 1: was just not fun to watch at all, all right, Steven,

1070
00:52:30,560 --> 00:52:33,040
Speaker 1: I mean those were kind of the big points from Alex.

1071
00:52:33,080 --> 00:52:35,600
Speaker 1: He talked about the manager and the coaching staff. He

1072
00:52:35,680 --> 00:52:38,960
Speaker 1: hit on his offseason priorities. Of course, we're still about

1073
00:52:39,000 --> 00:52:41,480
Speaker 1: four weeks away from the offseason really getting going, but

1074
00:52:42,200 --> 00:52:44,399
Speaker 1: as we've said, a lot of things to get through.

1075
00:52:44,520 --> 00:52:47,120
Speaker 1: I think manager is the first domino, and then the

1076
00:52:47,120 --> 00:52:50,000
Speaker 1: coaching staff, and then you have roster decisions to make

1077
00:52:50,000 --> 00:52:52,640
Speaker 1: with player options and free agency and all that good stuff.

1078
00:52:53,160 --> 00:52:55,000
Speaker 1: I guess any final thoughts from you as we wrap

1079
00:52:55,080 --> 00:52:55,920
Speaker 1: up this episode.

1080
00:52:57,239 --> 00:52:59,440
Speaker 3: No, I would like to see them get manager solved

1081
00:52:59,480 --> 00:53:02,919
Speaker 3: before the off season begins, Like, I don't want them

1082
00:53:02,960 --> 00:53:05,920
Speaker 3: being like in the middle of November still without a manager.

1083
00:53:06,040 --> 00:53:07,160
Speaker 2: Like I would like to see that.

1084
00:53:07,600 --> 00:53:08,480
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I.

1085
00:53:08,480 --> 00:53:10,439
Speaker 3: Would like to see that solved in the next couple

1086
00:53:10,480 --> 00:53:13,400
Speaker 3: of weeks. Whatever's gonna happen with the coaching staff if

1087
00:53:13,440 --> 00:53:16,480
Speaker 3: guys leave again, we have zero idea what their contract

1088
00:53:16,520 --> 00:53:18,960
Speaker 3: status is, each of them individually, but like, what's Rick

1089
00:53:19,040 --> 00:53:21,640
Speaker 3: Kranit's going to do, what's Tim Hyer's gonna do, What's

1090
00:53:21,640 --> 00:53:23,319
Speaker 3: what White's gonna do? If he doesn't get the job,

1091
00:53:23,719 --> 00:53:26,239
Speaker 3: you might have to hire all those guys. So I

1092
00:53:26,280 --> 00:53:28,919
Speaker 3: would like to get the coaching part of the off

1093
00:53:28,920 --> 00:53:31,480
Speaker 3: season done here in October so that once we get

1094
00:53:31,520 --> 00:53:33,200
Speaker 3: to November we can get to this other stuff.

1095
00:53:33,239 --> 00:53:36,319
Speaker 2: So and I think that makes sense. I kind of

1096
00:53:36,360 --> 00:53:36,920
Speaker 2: expect that.

1097
00:53:37,560 --> 00:53:39,520
Speaker 3: So, you know, in terms of like what to look

1098
00:53:39,560 --> 00:53:42,439
Speaker 3: out for, I think the Braves are going to move

1099
00:53:42,719 --> 00:53:45,640
Speaker 3: decently quickly, as quickly as they can on this coaching move,

1100
00:53:45,800 --> 00:53:48,319
Speaker 3: this manager move. Hopefully it's something we get in the

1101
00:53:48,320 --> 00:53:50,400
Speaker 3: next few weeks and we can get it kind of

1102
00:53:50,400 --> 00:53:52,160
Speaker 3: behind us by the time the off season starts.

1103
00:53:52,320 --> 00:53:56,200
Speaker 1: Yeah, definitely, it's some big boxes to check. And hey,

1104
00:53:56,600 --> 00:53:59,000
Speaker 1: Alex hasn't been thinking about it, but now he's he

1105
00:53:59,040 --> 00:54:02,640
Speaker 1: has time, Now he's now he's thinking about it. I

1106
00:54:02,800 --> 00:54:05,040
Speaker 1: love it all right, Steven, that's going to do it

1107
00:54:05,080 --> 00:54:08,840
Speaker 1: for us. On this weekend edition of the Hammer Territory Podcast.

1108
00:54:08,960 --> 00:54:11,319
Speaker 1: As always, a big thank you to everybody for tuning in.

1109
00:54:11,800 --> 00:54:14,360
Speaker 1: If you are a new listener, welcome aboard. Please be

1110
00:54:14,400 --> 00:54:17,480
Speaker 1: sure to hit that follow and subscribe button, because then

1111
00:54:17,600 --> 00:54:20,200
Speaker 1: whenever the Braves do hire their manager, whenever they get

1112
00:54:20,239 --> 00:54:22,919
Speaker 1: resolution on Hassan Kim, whenever they go out and sign

1113
00:54:23,040 --> 00:54:25,719
Speaker 1: nine free agents this offseason to a billion dollars, you

1114
00:54:25,760 --> 00:54:28,360
Speaker 1: will get all of our takes hot and fresh in

1115
00:54:28,400 --> 00:54:32,200
Speaker 1: your feed of choice. He is Stephen Tolbert. You can

1116
00:54:32,200 --> 00:54:36,120
Speaker 1: follow Steven on Twitter splash x at b Underscore Outliers.

1117
00:54:36,440 --> 00:54:39,160
Speaker 1: I'm Scott Coleman can follow me if you so choose

1118
00:54:39,320 --> 00:54:42,160
Speaker 1: for all the Daniel Jones hot takes at Scott Coleman

1119
00:54:42,400 --> 00:54:45,720
Speaker 1: fifty five. We'll be back with more episodes later this week,

1120
00:54:45,800 --> 00:55:07,640
Speaker 1: and until then, we will see everybody next time. Yesterday, Yesterday,

1121
00:55:07,840 --> 00:55:10,719
Speaker 1: Let's say you t