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Speaker 1: Some of those cities might end up with the team,

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Speaker 1: specifically the Rays, but at the same time, it's all

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Speaker 1: kind of uncertain right now, and that's the bigger story

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Speaker 1: coming out of Tampa Bay. Welcome everyone to the one

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Speaker 1: day edition of Fair Territory. I know it's been about

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Speaker 1: I don't know a week and a half since I

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Speaker 1: joined you. I was a little bit under the weather.

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Speaker 1: But we are back and ready to go. And obviously

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Speaker 1: the off season I wouldn't call it in full swing

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Speaker 1: because not a whole lot is happening yet, but it

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Speaker 1: is upon us and there are a variety of issues

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Speaker 1: that I want to get into today in the first block,

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Speaker 1: and then talk about the Tampa Bay situation in my

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Speaker 1: inside dish, because that is quite interesting, and of course

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Speaker 1: it doesn't have to do with the off season. It

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Speaker 1: has to do with the future of the Rays in

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Speaker 1: Tampa Bay. Let's get started with the topic du jour,

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Speaker 1: the thing that everybody wants to talk about and we're

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Speaker 1: all wondering about, and that's the future of Juan Soto

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Speaker 1: and where he is going to end up. Now, we've

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Speaker 1: heard a lot about meetings with the Blue Jays and

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Speaker 1: the Red Sox and the Mets and the Yankees. In

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Speaker 1: my opinion, and it's just an opinion, it still comes

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Speaker 1: down to the Mets and the Yankees. Maybe another team

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Speaker 1: jumps in there. We always get surprises in free agency

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Speaker 1: and in the trade deadline circumstance. I always tell people, hey, man,

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Speaker 1: our heads are going to spin at one point. If

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Speaker 1: you remember, going back years, Albert Poohols to the Angels

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Speaker 1: in twenty eleven.

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Speaker 2: That was a shocker.

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Speaker 1: Zach Rinky to the Diamondbacks twenty fifteen another shocker. So

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Speaker 1: it's conceivable that some team might jump in and shock

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Speaker 1: the world and sign Juan Soto other than the Mets

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Speaker 1: or Yankees. But I want to talk about the two

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Speaker 1: teams that have been discussed in addition to those I

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Speaker 1: mentioned them, the Blue Jays and the Red Sox. The

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Speaker 1: Blue Jays I wrote about today and the way I

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Speaker 1: portrayed it was the Blue Jays would have a lot

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Speaker 1: better chance of this happening in my opinion, if they

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Speaker 1: had Flatmir Guerrero juniors signed long term, Thenjan Soto could

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Speaker 1: look at them and say, Okay, I see a future here,

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Speaker 1: a guy who is about my age. We're together for

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Speaker 1: the next I don't know six, eight, ten, whatever, how

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Speaker 1: many years, and then we could go forward and have

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Speaker 1: a real foundation for something. Instead, the Jays do not

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Speaker 1: have Guerrero signed, they do not have Bobuschet's side, they

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Speaker 1: do not have.

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Speaker 2: A good farm system.

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Speaker 1: Sure, in theory they could pay the most money, but

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Speaker 1: what are the odds of that happening when Steve Cohen

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Speaker 1: is lurking with the Mets billions or actually his billions

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Speaker 1: that he will spend on the Mets if he chooses to.

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Speaker 1: So I don't see the Jays as a realistic option here.

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Speaker 2: And as I've said many times on.

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Speaker 1: Previous shows, and as I've written, I don't really understand

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Speaker 1: the Jay's plan. They definitely want to do something big

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Speaker 1: this offseason. They've signaled that, just as they did last

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Speaker 1: offseason when they pursued Otani and Juan Soto. But where

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Speaker 1: are we going with this? Even if you sign I

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Speaker 1: don't know, and Anthony Santander and a couple of other players, well,

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Speaker 1: you still have the problem with Guerrero potentially leaving at

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Speaker 1: the end of the year, Bashek potentially leaving at the

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Speaker 1: end of the year, and again, a weaker farm system.

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Speaker 1: It just doesn't add up to me. That's one team.

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Speaker 1: The other team is the Red Sox. And the Red

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Speaker 1: Sox it's good to hear that they're in on Wan Soto,

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Speaker 1: just as it's good to hear that the Jays are in.

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Speaker 2: That's great.

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Speaker 1: Well, every team with money should be in on Juan Soto.

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Speaker 1: The question I have for the Red Sox.

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Speaker 2: Is one they're already deep in.

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Speaker 1: Left handed hitting. Now, granted, there's only one one Soto,

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Speaker 1: and he is unique among left handed hitters, and if

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Speaker 1: you can get him, you figure out the rest. The

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Speaker 1: bigger issue for the Red Sox, though, is they need

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Speaker 1: starting pitching. This is a team that has a clear,

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Speaker 1: clear and obvious defficiency, and that's where it is. They've

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Speaker 1: got all these position prospects coming. They're in really good

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Speaker 1: shape overall, so I can see them trading for a

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Speaker 1: starting pitcher, maybe Crochet. I can see them signing a

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Speaker 1: starting pitcher. Freed or Snell would be ideal. I can

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Speaker 1: see that more logically than signing Juan Soto, unless you're

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Speaker 1: planning to do those other things too. And I'll show

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Speaker 1: what I mean by the Red Sox rotation. It's all

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Speaker 1: right handed as it's presently constituted. Tenner Hawk, Brian Bio,

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Speaker 1: Lucas Giolito, Cutter Crawford Cooper, Chris Well and Richard Fitz.

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Speaker 1: Chris wan Fitz are kind of fringy guys. The top

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Speaker 1: four are the top four, so ultimately the Red Sox

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Speaker 1: are going to need to address that. If they can

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Speaker 1: get wan Soto, more power to them. All right now,

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Speaker 1: let's talk about another Ali's team.

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Speaker 2: That was kind of in the news last week.

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Speaker 1: The Baltimore Orioles and the Oriols were in the news

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Speaker 1: because they're moving in the Great Wall of Baltimore. That

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Speaker 1: thing that is, I don't know, halfway to York, Pennsylvania.

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Speaker 1: It's now going to be coming in. The dimensions are

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Speaker 1: going to change again. Basically, when they moved it back,

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Speaker 1: as Michael Olias, their GM said, it was an over correction.

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Speaker 1: And now what they're trying to do is make the

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Speaker 1: park fairer for hitters.

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Speaker 2: It's an overly.

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Speaker 1: Fair for pitchers for the last several years, with right

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Speaker 1: handed hitters in particular complaining about the fact that you

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Speaker 1: can barely hit a ball out to left field.

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Speaker 2: So that's the one thing going on with the Orioles,

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Speaker 2: and that will.

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Speaker 1: Make Yes Camden Yards presumably more of a neutral environment.

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Speaker 1: The more interesting thing with the Orioles is what their

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Speaker 1: new ownership is going to do with regard to free

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Speaker 1: agency and spending in general. We know from what they've

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Speaker 1: said that this group is more committed than the previous

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Speaker 1: ownership group led by John Angelos. We also know that

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Speaker 1: Michaelias has been granted the ability to at least explore

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Speaker 1: the top of the starting pitching market. I wrote about

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Speaker 1: this as well today, So the question becomes, Okay, he

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Speaker 1: can explore it, but he's actually going to outbid any

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Speaker 1: of these large market teams for a max free A

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Speaker 1: Corbyn Burns, a Blake Snell. I don't see it right now,

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Speaker 1: but it's going to be a really interesting test of

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Speaker 1: Baltimore's new financial might if it is indeed at this

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Speaker 1: particular free agency. And let's see their rotation to show

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Speaker 1: you where they're at right now. The Orioles are not

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Speaker 1: in a horrible spot as far as depth is concerned.

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Speaker 1: They've got Efflin and Grayson Rodriguez at the top. That's

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Speaker 1: good Dean Kramer quality back of the rotation guy. Then

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Speaker 1: the depth guys Povich Suarez and Trevor Rodgers. Trevor Rodgers

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Speaker 1: was a bust as a trade acquisition. What they need

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Speaker 1: obviously is replacement for Burns at the top, whether it's

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Speaker 1: Burns or Snell or Freed or someone else.

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Speaker 2: Maybe a trade for Garrett Crochet. But so far they.

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Speaker 1: Are more focused on free agents than on a Crochet

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Speaker 1: trade because again they suddenly have the flexibility to at

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Speaker 1: least get into this market. Again, the results are what

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Speaker 1: matter here, and we'll see where these markets for the

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Speaker 1: different pictures go. I expect all of them, the top

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Speaker 1: guys to do really well. That's an elite category right now,

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Speaker 1: top starting pitchers. Every team wants them, that can afford them,

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Speaker 1: and well, we'll see where it goes from there. Also

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Speaker 1: over the weekend reported one other thing that I wanted

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Speaker 1: to mention a story that I did with Trent Rosecrans

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Speaker 1: or Cincinnati Reds beat writer at the Athletic, and it

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Speaker 1: was a story about how the teams are discussing a

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Speaker 1: trade that would involve Brady Singer going to Cincinnati and

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Speaker 1: Jonathan India going to Kansas City.

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Speaker 2: Now, this is an.

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Speaker 1: Interesting trade possibility. It is one that has been discussed.

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Speaker 1: It's not something we're simply pulling out of the air.

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Speaker 1: And it's not necessarily one for one, and it's not

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Speaker 1: necessarily going to end up Brady's Singer for Jonathan India

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Speaker 1: as the centerpieces for those particular teams. Each team is

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Speaker 1: talking to other clubs as well about different players that

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Speaker 1: they want, but India makes a lot of sense for

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Speaker 1: the Royals because they need a top of the order

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Speaker 1: guy in front of Bobby wit Junior. You've seen that

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Speaker 1: stat by now Bobby wit Junior hit with men on

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Speaker 1: base fewer than anybody else in the majors last year

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Speaker 1: or something like that that shows you that there is

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Speaker 1: a deficiency there in the leadoff spot. And for the Reds,

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Speaker 1: Brady Singer would add another quality starter to a group

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Speaker 1: that has a chance to be pretty formidable. Again, there

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Speaker 1: could be other players involved. These guys could end up

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Speaker 1: going to other teams, but India and Singer are definitely

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Speaker 1: the subject of trade conversations between those clubs, and I

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Speaker 1: imagine others as well. In fact, I don't even have

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Speaker 1: to imagine. I know that those names are coming up

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Speaker 1: in conversations with other clubs. So this is the kind

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Speaker 1: of thing that we felt comfortable reporting because there is

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Speaker 1: an actual conversation taking place what I am not comfortable

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Speaker 1: reporting and what I hopefully will not do this offseason,

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Speaker 1: though sometimes I fall victim to it, is say this

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Speaker 1: team is interested in this guy. Now, every team is

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Speaker 1: interested in every player.

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Speaker 2: Now.

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Speaker 1: When the conversations get serious, as they did in this

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Speaker 1: particular case with the Reds and Royals, or at least

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Speaker 1: to a stage where something possibly could happen, then it's

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Speaker 1: worth reporting. But to say six teams are on Blake

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Speaker 1: Snell the Red.

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Speaker 2: Sox are interested in every picture.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, of course they're interested in every picture. They're going

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Speaker 1: to canvass the market. Every team is going to do that.

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Speaker 2: Every team is.

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Speaker 1: Going to explore every option. So what I'm saying is

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Speaker 1: be careful with what you're reading. We'll be right back

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Speaker 1: after a quick word from Aj Prasinski, Eric Kratz and

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Speaker 1: Scott Braun.

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Speaker 3: I love a great deal, but I'm not going to

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Speaker 2: Well well, Well, time.

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Speaker 1: Time now for the inside Dish, the part of the

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Speaker 1: show where I talk about maybe something I've written, a

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Speaker 1: trend going on in the game, or I don't know

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Speaker 1: something else entirely. And today, as I mentioned at the

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Speaker 1: top of the show, I want to discuss the Rays

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Speaker 1: situation because it's a little bit more involved and a

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Speaker 1: little bit more problematic than I think most fans believe

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Speaker 1: most fans understand that they raise will not be playing

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Speaker 1: at Tropicana Field in twenty twenty five. They understand what

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Speaker 1: happened during the hurricane, the roof was blown off, and yes,

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Speaker 1: they know that the Rays have announced that they will

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Speaker 1: be playing at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, which is the

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Speaker 1: law or just spring training stadium in the area, probably

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Speaker 1: the most advanced as far as technology space, all these

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Speaker 1: different things that you would want, the best amenities, good

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Speaker 1: choice in terms of.

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Speaker 2: How these things go.

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Speaker 1: And listen, it's an awful situation in general in that

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Speaker 1: part of the country with the aftermath of the hurricane,

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Speaker 1: and the Rays in that particular case are trying to

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Speaker 1: make the best of a bad situation. What is also

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Speaker 1: going on, though, is the question of their new ballpark,

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Speaker 1: the one that they supposedly were going to move into

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Speaker 1: in twenty twenty eight. John Romano of the Tampa Bay Times,

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Speaker 1: a guy who has plugged in a calmness there who

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Speaker 1: I greatly respect, wrote last week that the one point

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Speaker 1: three billion dollars stadium deal is quote all but dead, unquote,

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Speaker 1: and the reason why it's dead is somewhat related to

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Speaker 1: the hurricane and somewhat related to the politics in the

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Speaker 1: region right now, Basically, what has happened is that the

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Speaker 1: County Commission delayed the vote on the bonds that we're

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Speaker 1: going to be used to finance the stadium. They delayed

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Speaker 1: it once, they're going to possibly delay it again tomorrow

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Speaker 1: on Tuesday, and when that happens, you get possibly the

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Speaker 1: construction of the stadium pushback beyond where it is right now,

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Speaker 1: and the Rays are going to be responsible for any overruns. Now,

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Speaker 1: we can debate all day, and it's a worthy debate

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Speaker 1: about whether teams should be more responsible for financing stadiums

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Speaker 1: than communities, Whether these partnerships are understandably attractive to the clubs,

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Speaker 1: whether the clubs should be doing more. That is a

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Speaker 1: question for another day. The question here is will Tampa

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Speaker 1: Bay Will the Rays survive in that area, and right

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Speaker 1: now it seems to be a real question. Election day

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Speaker 1: change the dynamic of both the City Council and the

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Speaker 1: County Commission. You had some people elected who are less

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Speaker 1: supportive of the new ballpark project than the people who

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Speaker 1: were there previously. And these shifting dynamics are all playing

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Speaker 1: a role, perhaps in the Ray's future becoming increasingly uncertain. Now,

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Speaker 1: I should say the Rays have been in this position

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Speaker 1: before many times where it appeared that they were in

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Speaker 1: real trouble. But in this case, the warning signs being sounded,

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Speaker 1: at least from my perspective, seem more legitimate than in

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Speaker 1: the past. And this project, this one point three billion

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Speaker 1: dollars stadium project, does seem to be in some degree

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Speaker 1: of trouble. Now, again, I want to be clear, there

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Speaker 1: are bigger problems in the Tampa Bay area than the

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Speaker 1: Rays stadium. We all know that, we all understand that.

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Speaker 1: But this raises a question about one where the Rays

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Speaker 1: ultimately are going, because if they do not end up

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Speaker 1: with a stadium in Tampa Bay in Saint Petersburg, where

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Speaker 1: they plan to build, then they are going to be relocated,

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Speaker 1: possibly sold and relocated, possibly relocated by the current ownership group,

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Speaker 1: and that raises questions down the line for expansion with

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Speaker 1: Major League Baseball. We know the leading contenders for teams

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Speaker 1: right now, and if I miss one, please forgive me.

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Speaker 1: It's Nashville, It's Charlotte, it's Portland, it's Salt Lake City,

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Speaker 1: and a number of others that have expressed interest. Montreal

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Speaker 1: has been another one one of those cities could end

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Speaker 1: up with the Tampa Bay Rays. And if one of

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Speaker 1: those cities ends up with the Tampa Bay Rays, then

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Speaker 1: it becomes a question of, Okay, how does that affect

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Speaker 1: expansion if you go back years now. Commissioner Rob Manford

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Speaker 1: has always maintained that he will not expand not authorize

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Speaker 1: an expansion or suggest an expansion until the Oakland A's

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Speaker 1: and Tampa Bay Rays stadium situations are resolved. Right now,

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Speaker 1: the Raised situation certainly is not resolved. The A's situation,

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Speaker 1: they tell us, is resolved. I'm not completely convinced that

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Speaker 1: they're going to end up in Vegas still, so we

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Speaker 1: still look like we are years away from expansion now.

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Speaker 1: Some of those cities I end up with the team,

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Speaker 1: specifically the Rays, But at the same time, it's all

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Speaker 1: kind of uncertain right now. And that's the bigger story

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Speaker 1: coming out of Tampa Bay besides where they're going to

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Speaker 1: play next year. That is a big story, and that

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Speaker 1: has its own problems. Playing in the midsummer heat in Florida,

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Speaker 1: that's a problem. Playing in an environment where there are

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Speaker 1: almost daily late afternoon rain showers, that's a problem. There

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Speaker 1: are all kinds of problems with what the Rays are

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Speaker 1: going to face next season, but they, in my opinion,

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Speaker 1: are lesser problems compared to the bigger picture. And the

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Speaker 1: bigger picture is what is going to happen to the

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Speaker 1: Tampa Bay Rays in the future. And the answer right

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Speaker 1: now is that we don't know. Time now for Grill

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Speaker 1: and Ken, let's get to your questions. First question comes

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Speaker 1: from Louisville Slugger, who asks, when it comes to Hall

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Speaker 1: of Fame voting, how do you feel about viewing a

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Speaker 1: player's numbers within the context of their era. For instance,

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Speaker 1: during Parker and Garvey's time, walks were not valued, so

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Speaker 1: they didn't look to walk in their day, but now

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Speaker 1: their war numbers have taken a big hit. This is

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Speaker 1: a good question, and a voter actually is supposed to

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Speaker 1: consider the player's performance within the context of his era.

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Speaker 1: And there are statistics now advanced statistics OPS plus eer

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Speaker 1: plus that are normalized to a league in a given year,

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Speaker 1: and they give you a context, so you can compare

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Speaker 1: Mickey Mantle in nineteen fifty six to Aaron Judge in

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty four by ops plus now in the cases

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Speaker 1: of Garvey and Parker, they're on the Veterans Committee ballot

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Speaker 1: right now, not the Writer's ballot. They're off the Writer's ballot.

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Speaker 1: They're being considered. I can't remember which committee it is,

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Speaker 1: but it's one of the Veterans committees. You would hope

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Speaker 1: that the committee members look at it the same way

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Speaker 1: because the game has changed, and the point about Walks

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Speaker 1: is a good one. Walks warrant is valued as much

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Speaker 1: I don't know, thirty forty years ago as they are today,

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Speaker 1: and it was a different game. For instance, if you

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Speaker 1: had told Willie Mays in nineteen fifty five, hey man,

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Speaker 1: forty forty is a thing. You think Willie Mays wouldn't

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Speaker 1: have done. Forty forty He could have done that in

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Speaker 1: his sleep. But ears changed, statistics change, what we value changes,

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Speaker 1: and yes, that has to be considered in the context

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Speaker 1: of any Hall of Fame vote, especially the ones that

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Speaker 1: are under consideration by the writers.

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Speaker 2: Now we can only look at guys compared to.

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Speaker 1: Players in their own ears. Can't even look at this

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Speaker 1: group really compared to players in the steroid era. That

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Speaker 1: was a different offensive environment, and we have ways to

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Speaker 1: account for that now. The next question comes from Thomas Covain,

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Speaker 1: who asks. It depends on the team, obviously, but would

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Speaker 1: you rather just sign Juan Soto or a combination of Freed,

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Speaker 1: Burns and Alonso Tioskar, Christian Walker, et cetera. This too,

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Speaker 1: is a really good question, Thomas. I'm glad you brought

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Speaker 1: it up, and I'm gonna use the Yankees as an example,

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Speaker 1: because you know, the Yankees have to have a plan B.

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Speaker 1: They certainly fear that Cohen and the Mets are going

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Speaker 1: to sign Soto, So how might their plan be? Look, well,

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Speaker 1: you can pick out some of those names and see

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Speaker 1: a logical kind of equation here. You can sign a

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Speaker 1: big starting pitcher like Fried or Burns. You can sign

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Speaker 1: a first baseman like Christian Walker or Pete a Lonzo.

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Speaker 1: You can add another player as well. In the end,

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Speaker 1: maybe you end up with a better team. Let's say

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Speaker 1: the Yankee signed William Domas to play third base.

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Speaker 2: Move Jash Chisholm the center.

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Speaker 1: There are all kinds of possibilities in a non one

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Speaker 1: Soto world. And obviously you want Soto. He's the generational talent.

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Speaker 1: He combined with Judge will be an absolute force as

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Speaker 1: he was last season, as they were last season. But

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Speaker 1: to think that in this market with the number of

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Speaker 1: quality players available that you cannot build a quality team

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Speaker 1: without Wan Soto. If you're the Yankees and you have

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Speaker 1: that money, come on, Alex Bregman's another guy. I didn't

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Speaker 1: even mention him. You could sign him to play third base.

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Speaker 1: So there are all these possibilities. There are trade possibilities

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Speaker 1: as well. So for the teams that lose Won Soto,

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Speaker 1: all is not lost. Obviously you want him, you want

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Speaker 1: it because of his age, because of his skilled all

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Speaker 1: of that, But there are other players out there, and

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Speaker 1: actually you might be able to build a more complete

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Speaker 1: team without him.

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Speaker 2: All right.

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Speaker 1: Final question comes from Dave, who asked, should I be

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Speaker 1: preparing to be disappointed again this offseason by the Red Sox.

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Speaker 2: Dave, I'm gonna give you.

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Speaker 1: An answer I hope you will like. The answer is no.

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Speaker 1: I don't believe you're going to be disappointed. I think

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Speaker 1: they're actually serious this time, as opposed to last year's

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Speaker 1: full throttle, which wasn't a full throttle at all about

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Speaker 1: getting quality players big time free agents. They know one

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Speaker 1: how embarrassing last offseason turned out to be for them,

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Speaker 1: and two more to the point, they're in a good

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Speaker 1: place right now, they have a farm system that is

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Speaker 1: really starting to produce some quality players. They have this

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Speaker 1: ability because of those players to maybe extend themselves financially

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Speaker 1: with others. They have that ability anyway, of course, and

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Speaker 1: going forward, they know they're in a position right now

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Speaker 1: we're in the Al East. While they were five hundred

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Speaker 1: last year, they should be that much better next year.

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Speaker 2: So I can see the.

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Speaker 1: Red Sox being very active on both the trade and

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Speaker 1: free agent fronts. And if you are disappointed again, Dave,

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Speaker 1: then that's on them because they are actually in a

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Speaker 1: position now where they're aiming to do some things they

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Speaker 1: weren't aiming to do some things last year, or at

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Speaker 1: least not big things. Now they are and we'll see

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Speaker 1: where they end up.

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Speaker 2: But yeah, I think they're.

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Speaker 1: Going to be better at the end of this offseason.

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Speaker 1: I want to thank everyone for watching, for listening by

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Speaker 1: now you know where to find us YouTube, Apple, Spotify, subscribe, like,

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Speaker 1: and yes we will be back Thursday with our live show,

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Speaker 1: our normal live show, this time me and the one

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Speaker 1: and only Scott Brock.

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