February 27, 2025 • 23 mins
On this week’s offseason edition of Inside the (Rob) Parker, Rob explains why he's betting against the loaded Los Angeles Dodgers repeating as World Series champions in 2025, the likelihood that a full-time move to right field will resurrect Mike Trout's career and why the New York Yankees' new facial hair policy is deeper than you think. Plus, Rob hits us with a replay of his interview with super agent Scott Boras from last week's edition of The Odd Couple radio show. Finally, Rob closes the show with a tribute to the late, great Bob Uecker in a very special Why Baseball is Better.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
From the berkshears to the sound from wherever you live
in MLB America. This is Inside the Parker. You give
us twenty two minutes and we'll give you the scoop
on major League Baseball. Now here's Baseball Hall of Fame
voter number seven, Rob Parker.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Welcome into the podcast.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
I'm your host, Rob Parker, with a spring training edition
of Inside the Parker. And coming up, we'll talk with
super agent Scott Boris.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
We'll do a deep dive on the off season, the.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Big contracts you were able to get hit, some of
his clients, and some details in that. We'll do that,
plus getting Robbed, Why baseball is better that and much more.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Let's go.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Better to lead off it's getting robbed and keep them out.
Rob's hot take, and the three biggest stories in Major
League Baseball. Number one.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
All right, I'm just going to go on the record
and I'm not gonna mince any words. I know on paper,
the Dodgers look ridiculous. They spend a ton of money
in the offseason, we know it. Shohel Tani's gonna be
on the mound and hitting this year, and Mookie Betts
has moved a shortstop they picked up a ton of pitching.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Blake Snell. I just it's just too many guys to
even mention.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
Right, they got all the international players that they wanted,
They filled their roster. I mean, they look like they
should win one hundred and forty games out of the
one sixty two just on paper.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
But I got news for you. Baseball doesn't work like that.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
And I know they're gonna be the betting favorites and
everybody's gonna pile up money the Dodgers gonna win. How
in the world can they not win. I'm gonna tell
you how they're not gonna win. Baseball doesn't work like that.
The last team to repeat the New York Freaking Yankees
twenty five years ago when they won three in a
row ninety eight, ninety nine, two thousand.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
That was a long time ago.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
The last National League team to repeat is even more ridiculous,
the nineteen seventy five seventy six Cincinnati Reds, the Big
Red Machine. How has that not happened? With all the
great teams that were around, think about it. The Atlanta Braves,
San Francisco Giants, they won three World Series, never repeated.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
We saw it last year.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
Can I give you an example, and this is not
about repeating, but getting to the World Series. Last year,
and I said this on MLB Network before the season started,
that both the Rangers and the Arizona Diamondbacks wouldn't even
make the playoffs. And they were both in the World
Series in twenty twenty three.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Guess what.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Neither team made the playoffs forget about returning to the
World Series. Didn't even make the playoffs. So it looks
like it's gonna be Dodgers all day. They won a
lot of games, but that's just not how it works.
Remember last year, that Dodger team that won the World Series.
They were this close from being beat by the Poddres.
(03:19):
Padres had them up three to one. They choked. Padres
went like two and a half games without scoring a run.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
It was unheard of with that lineup.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
Do you remember in Game four they bludgeoned the Dodgers
at Dodgers Stadium.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
It was like a softball game.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
My point is in the series, five game series, seven
game series, you can get beat.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
That's why it's so hard.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
Even he could be the best team in the world.
The Dodgers won a ton of games the last ten years,
and they.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Have two World Series to show for it.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
How many times have we seen disappointments in the postseason
by the Dodgers A ton? But Washington Nationals were down
two on twenty nineteen to the Dodgers won the next
three games, including Game.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Five in LA.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
They went on to win the World Series. So that's
why I'm saying to you, I'm not convinced that the
Dodgers are going to win the World Series. I'm not
making my prediction yet. We still got a little time
and I'll do that, but mark my words, the Dodgers
will not nt win the World Series.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Number two.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
The Angels have a plan. They've always had a plan.
It doesn't always seem to work out for them, but
they have a plan. Mike Trout is moving from centerfield.
The three time MVP is moving from centerfield to right
field in a move they believe that will help them
stay healthy and help them have a long career. Trout
(04:49):
is thirty three now, which is amazing. Was limited to
just twenty nine games last season, had his left knee
surgically repaired twice.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
You know, so it was bad. It was just another injury.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
Play gear for Trout, who played in only thirty six
games in twenty twenty one. That was because of a
calf injury. He did play in one hundred and nineteen
games in twenty twenty two and eighty two games in
twenty twenty three because of a fracture. So it has
been a bumpy road. He's done so much in the
(05:26):
beginning of his career that he's going to be good
legacy wise long term.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
But it's a shame. And I don't know.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
I mean, sometimes guys become injury prone and it doesn't
matter where you put him. You know, you could make
him just be a DH and he still can wind
up getting hurt. He's been hurt so much it's hard
to imagine that that's all of a sudden gonna stop
because he's going to be in right field for some reason,
and I get centerfield jumping over the fence, diving catches.
(05:57):
You're playing both left center and right center. All those
balls are yours. So it will cut down a little bit.
But I'm just not sure that that's going to turn
off the injury injury wagon that has followed Mike Trout's,
(06:20):
you know, Hall of Fame career, because it just seems
like he just cannot stay healthy. And for the record,
Trout has played seventeen career games in right field one
hundred and twenty four and left, but of course he's
been exclusively a center fielder for most of his career.
(06:41):
This will be interesting to see. We all want to
see Mike Trout healthy. Can we just watch and see
this great player maybe you know, have a full season,
play one hundred and thirty five forty games, get back
to being a good player player we pay attention to.
He's really been buried to where we don't even you know,
(07:02):
figure out or ask what Mike Trout's doing. So hopefully
this will be a change for the Angels, but you
know what, nothing seems to work out for the Angels.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
The snake bit number three.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
The New York Yankees have changed their facial hair policy
that they held for a long time, and it's about time.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
And you know, I've read some comments from people.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
People always thought that was cool that the Yankees kind
of had no player was bigger than the pinstripes or
the tradition that they had, and everybody had to conform
and be a Yankee, and that sounds good, but it
was never fair.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
It was never fair. Especially for the black players.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
On a team. And I'm gonna tell you why. And
I don't know if people really know this unless you're black.
The problem with shaving is that for black men, the
reason that you see most black men with a goatee,
a beer, a mustag, some facial hair is because our
(08:04):
hair is curly, and so when you shave, the hair
curls underneath the skin. If you ever look at black
guys right who will clean shade, they see they got
razor bumps, shaving bumps. That's what that comes from. Most
white guys don't have that. Or people have straight hair
because they can cut their hair off, it grows back
(08:26):
out straight. The black hair curls underneath the skin, and
that's why you'll see black guys with a shaving bumps
underneath their skin. It's not that they don't know not
a shave or they did something wrong. It's that the
hair is ingrown hair underneath their skin, which forms a bump.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
So that's why the policy was never really fair.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
I was always surprised that a group of black players
like a Reggie Jackson in some Dave Winfield or whatever
could not speak up to that and inform George Stearin Burner,
the late owner and people in charge there. The reason
why black men often wear facial hair not all. I'm
not saying all, because obviously there's some clean shaven black
(09:11):
guys who are able to do it. But if you
ask most black guys about shaving, it's the razor bumps
that they don't want, and so having hair or beard
or goateee kind of cuts down on that. It's not
as bad on your skin. But I think this is
a good move for the Yankees. We're gonna give Devin
(09:33):
Williams some credit. Came over from the Brewers their new
ace closer, and he had the beard. And the weird
thing is the Yankees didn't make the announcement until after
Devin Williams shaved, So now you could grow it back
and look like the Menacing closer he was with the Brewers.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Now that he's in the Bronx.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
Here comes the big interview. Listen and learn so good.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
We talked with super Agess Scott Boris on the radio show,
and the first question I asked him was whether or
not he was surprised that he broke show Hail Tani's
seven hundred million dollar contract mark with the deal he
got for Juan Soto.
Speaker 4 (10:23):
Well, going into this the element of we have to
give one a lot of credit because we had, I believe,
since he was eighteen years old on. We've had sixty
eight meetings and certainly after we finished with the Mets,
(10:44):
one looked at me and goes, can we just tone
that down a little bit? But it's a lot of information,
a lot of preliminary market data, a lot of historical data.
We have a thing in baseball called surplus value, which
is a value gradient that we use, and we developed
one that I did with based upon my representation.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
Of bonds and a Rod and.
Speaker 4 (11:08):
Their skill sets and what they did and why, so
that we could really get to him and say, these
are the valuative points we look at. And when a
player goes through that, particularly an international player, you can
imagine the number of people, which is the vast, vast majority,
that say to one, how could you turn down four
(11:30):
hundred and forty million dollars? And the answer is he's
getting all this information from us about perspective values, markets,
franchise values, revenues, the sport, and really what his valuation
is going to be as he goes on in his
career in year four or five and six before he's
a free agent. And then when Otani signed, and his
(11:52):
real evaluation is at a four hundred and sixty million
dollar evaluation. That's that's what the content, because there's a
lot of it makes two million a year for ten
years and then gets paid it much later, but the
real evaluation was around that. So everyone came to want
and said, you don't pitch Otani's an extraordinary player. He
(12:16):
in addition to that, he generates, you know, hundreds of
millions of dollars of revenue for his team. You don't
do that. So your chances of getting before fifty or
four sixty that that Otani got are you know, it's
just not something you're going to be able to achieve.
Will you get as much as you got from Washington?
(12:39):
He had to hear that for almost a full year,
you know, in and of itself, and you know it's
I give him a lot of credit. He trusted our information,
our advice and ask a lot of questions, well, if
Otani's why didn't Otani get what he was worth? Or
(13:00):
all these things which are all the elements of how
we look at markets and evaluations and Essentially, he trusted
our data and the information and as it worked out
his credit, he was able to focus on playing and
played at a very high level. And then we had
(13:21):
a very strategic negotiation to arrive at really a true
expression of his market.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
Now, Scott, I'll say this, he's a great player. He
could play anywhere. That transfers to anywhere when you're great
and you're a dynamic player.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
But it looked like the Bronx was perfect.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
Dominicans loved him there, you know, like what the right
field ports. He had a career high and home runs.
The Yankees made it to the World Series. There was
a lot to like there, the lineup and whatnot. And
I get it. The Yankees offered seven sixty the Mets
offered seven sixty five, and the Mets offered the Yankees
(14:05):
had offered what an extra year? Scott, Right, So it's
a different amount of money spread out over the years. Right,
the Yankees added one more year than the Mets did.
But how difficult does that when you know, take a
player who has excelled and seem to fit in a
in a circumstance or team. Because you know this, the
Mets and Yankees aren't the same, even though they're in
(14:26):
the same city, they're not.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
What goes into that, Scott, Well.
Speaker 4 (14:31):
My job is to provide information. In the end, you
know who was providing one with the economic appraisal, not
only those two teams, but you know many others. And
in each case one had to dismiss teams. I teased
him because he had uncles and his mother and everyone involved.
(14:52):
I called it the Supreme Court of Soto. I would
give him the information, he would go back, and what
I cared about was the baseball execution information and he
had a a near eleven hundred ohps at City Field.
He played well at Yankee Stadium. We wanted to cover
(15:13):
the fact of execution, doing it in optimal places, and
he had choices there and as far as what works
best for him and his family, the ability of an
owner to support a winning roster was very important to
one because he wanted to win during the fifteen years
(15:33):
of his contract. So all those things were considered by him.
But in the end, when you go to make these decisions,
the key point what you do. I think in being
I think in being a former player, you understand how
you play and what makes you comfortable. I trust that
one knows that, and he certainly expressed it, and also
(15:56):
being around his family and giving us direction. I wanted
them to make that decision. And he certainly looked at
all that information, and you know, we spent a lot
of time covering it and called me on the phone
and said, look, go ahead and work the final with
(16:16):
the Mets. And we all think as a family that
it's best for us to do so. So I certainly
trusted in that it was very informed and has been
very methodical about his decision making, and so we we
went and executed the contract to get down with the Mets.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
Hey Scott, last thing, we got a minute to go here.
Pete Alonso going back to the Mets, I thought he
got jobed a two year contract for just fifty four
million dollars. Very few players this guy plays every day.
He knows how to play in New York under the pressure.
It's some of the biggest home runs in the postseason.
(16:55):
And they didn't have that seven hundred and sixty five
million dollars for Juan Soto, but it's only fifty four
million for one of their own.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
How tough was that for him to go back to
the Mets and for that contract.
Speaker 4 (17:06):
Well, the truth of it is is that when you
are a thirty year old player in our game and
you have a qualifying offer, meaning that you have to
give up draft picks and international money, major league teams
do not want to do that. They'll do it for
a twenty six year old or a twenty seven year
old or other, but they won't do it for a
thirty year old. And I've had issues with Matt's with Snell,
(17:27):
with Matt Chapman, and now Pete Alonzo with Bregman. They
don't want to do the long term contracts for those,
but the next year when they're free agents, then they
get their true free agent value and the market because
they are truly free there's no draft picks given right
and the clubs will then go out and pay their value.
So the system is working to where they have a
(17:51):
restricted free agency, which Pete was under because of the
qualifying offers. And you also see people talking to me,
where are the players signed so late? Because teams go
after players that are true free agents where they don't
have to give away the draft picks, and they approach
last in the mark at the teams where they have
to give away the draft picks to sign the players.
(18:12):
So the Meths, obviously because he was his team of origin,
didn't have to give up draft picks, and all the
other teams involved did not bid for Pete because, after all,
they all say, why would I ever give up draft
picks when the reward of that is getting anywhere from
thirty four to fifty home runs and having a player
with one thousand ops who has key home runs in
(18:33):
the postseason. I won't do that till next year. That's
kind of what they said.
Speaker 5 (18:39):
It's the Gambler here, vice president of operations for mlbbro
dot Com an executive producer of the MLB bro Show
podcast The Mixtape. Every Friday. You heard that right. Every Friday,
we bring you the best from the.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
World of Black and Brown baseball.
Speaker 5 (18:58):
We covered the seven point two percent of melanated Major
leaguers from soup to nuts, but with our own cultural
flair and unique voice, will take you on a ride
reflecting on the accomplishments, clutch moments, and contributions to culture
that the Bros continue to breathe into baseball, from Mookie
(19:18):
Wilson to Mookie Betts, Doctor k to Doctor Sticks from
bro bombs to stolen bases to black Aces. We're live
at the ballparks and also bringing you segments like classic
Hits with David Grubb, the Black Ace Report, the Rundown,
the walk Off, and Going Deep, just to name a
(19:38):
few of the segments that truly capture the voice of
black baseball.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
If things get.
Speaker 5 (19:43):
Out of hand, as the Boss Rob Parker, he's kicking
up dust, we will gladly pay you on Tuesday from
an MLB bro doubleheader today. Remember the heart of the
game lies in the diversity of the game and the
spirit of black baseball that dates back to the Negro
I've the Gambler, your friendly neighborhood diamond checker, making sure
(20:05):
that you stay on top of the game and in
touch with the soul of MLB, fucking up for a
wild baseball journey, showing respect to the Ogs and highlighting
the new breed of melanated Malma Robins. First thing through
MLB's pipeline, all pitching with the sound of Black Baseball.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
We got the best starting five in the business.
Speaker 5 (20:27):
Listen to the MLB Bro Show podcast the Mixtape on
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
You get your podcasts, now, bring in the closer. Here's
why MLB it's better than the NFL or NBA, and
it isn't even close.
Speaker 3 (20:50):
Reason number one thousand and fifty five why Major League
Baseball is better than the NBA and better than the NFL.
Speaker 2 (20:59):
Are you ready for this?
Speaker 3 (21:01):
Fox Sports put out a top ten pole biggest athletes
currently playing in New York?
Speaker 2 (21:10):
Hello? Is this on? Okay? You got it?
Speaker 3 (21:15):
Biggest athletes currently playing in New York?
Speaker 2 (21:19):
Top ten?
Speaker 3 (21:22):
How many baseball players do you think made the top four?
I'll tell you. In the top ten, it was five
baseball players. As far as top athletes currently playing in
New York, five were baseball players.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
The top two.
Speaker 3 (21:41):
At number two Aaron Judge, at number one Juan Soto,
and number four was Francisco Lindor. Now, I'll argue all
day that there's no way Juan Soto should be ahead
of Aaron Judges. And I get the season, he's coming
off of the record contract. Aaron Judge won the American
(22:01):
League MVP last year. Can we stop Juan Soto still
hasn't even won an MVP. I get the money and
all that, but there's no way he's currently better than
Aaron Judge as far as the number one player playing
in New York. But this does tell you about the
(22:23):
baseball especially in the town like New York where I
grew up. Baseball supersedes the NFL, supersedes the NBA.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
It just baseball is a way of life. Don't forget
three of three.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
New York once had three baseball franchises, the New York Yankees,
the Brooklyn Dodgers, and the New York Giants, three major
league teams in one city. In two thousand and nine,
when the Mets and Yankees open up their new stadiums,
are you ready for this? Eight million people bought tickets
(22:57):
for both ball parks total eight million.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
Hello, yes, eight million.
Speaker 3 (23:06):
So I'm not surprised that baseball is heavy in this
and I get it the Giants and Jets aren't really
that good, but it doesn't matter.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
I'm telling you, New York is a baseball town.
Speaker 3 (23:16):
The other two baseball players that made the list number
nine John Carlos Stanton and number ten Peter Lonzo with
the Mets.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
So there you have it.
Speaker 3 (23:25):
And the first non baseball player was number three, Jalen Brunson,
So there you go. Another reason why baseball is better
than the other sports. In the words of New York
TV legend the late Bill Jorgensen, thanking you for your
(23:48):
time this time until next time.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
Rob Parker out d can't Gavin. This could be an
inside the Parker.
Speaker 3 (23:55):
See you next week, same bat time, from same Matt's station.
From the berkshears to the sound from wherever you live
in MLB America. This is Inside the Parker. You give
us twenty two minutes and we'll give you the scoop
on major League Baseball. Now here's Baseball Hall of Fame
voter number seven, Rob Parker.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Welcome into the podcast.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
I'm your host, Rob Parker, with a spring training edition
of Inside the Parker. And coming up, we'll talk with
super agent Scott Boris.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
We'll do a deep dive on the off season, the.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Big contracts you were able to get hit, some of
his clients, and some details in that. We'll do that,
plus getting Robbed, Why baseball is better that and much more.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Let's go.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Better to lead off it's getting robbed and keep them out.
Rob's hot take, and the three biggest stories in Major
League Baseball. Number one.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
All right, I'm just going to go on the record
and I'm not gonna mince any words. I know on paper,
the Dodgers look ridiculous. They spend a ton of money
in the offseason, we know it. Shohel Tani's gonna be
on the mound and hitting this year, and Mookie Betts
has moved a shortstop they picked up a ton of pitching.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Blake Snell. I just it's just too many guys to
even mention.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
Right, they got all the international players that they wanted,
They filled their roster. I mean, they look like they
should win one hundred and forty games out of the
one sixty two just on paper.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
But I got news for you. Baseball doesn't work like that.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
And I know they're gonna be the betting favorites and
everybody's gonna pile up money the Dodgers gonna win. How
in the world can they not win. I'm gonna tell
you how they're not gonna win. Baseball doesn't work like that.
The last team to repeat the New York Freaking Yankees
twenty five years ago when they won three in a
row ninety eight, ninety nine, two thousand.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
That was a long time ago.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
The last National League team to repeat is even more ridiculous,
the nineteen seventy five seventy six Cincinnati Reds, the Big
Red Machine. How has that not happened? With all the
great teams that were around, think about it. The Atlanta Braves,
San Francisco Giants, they won three World Series, never repeated.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
We saw it last year.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
Can I give you an example, and this is not
about repeating, but getting to the World Series. Last year,
and I said this on MLB Network before the season started,
that both the Rangers and the Arizona Diamondbacks wouldn't even
make the playoffs. And they were both in the World
Series in twenty twenty three.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Guess what.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Neither team made the playoffs forget about returning to the
World Series. Didn't even make the playoffs. So it looks
like it's gonna be Dodgers all day. They won a
lot of games, but that's just not how it works.
Remember last year, that Dodger team that won the World Series.
They were this close from being beat by the Poddres.
(03:19):
Padres had them up three to one. They choked. Padres
went like two and a half games without scoring a run.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
It was unheard of with that lineup.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
Do you remember in Game four they bludgeoned the Dodgers
at Dodgers Stadium.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
It was like a softball game.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
My point is in the series, five game series, seven
game series, you can get beat.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
That's why it's so hard.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
Even he could be the best team in the world.
The Dodgers won a ton of games the last ten years,
and they.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Have two World Series to show for it.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
How many times have we seen disappointments in the postseason
by the Dodgers A ton? But Washington Nationals were down
two on twenty nineteen to the Dodgers won the next
three games, including Game.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Five in LA.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
They went on to win the World Series. So that's
why I'm saying to you, I'm not convinced that the
Dodgers are going to win the World Series. I'm not
making my prediction yet. We still got a little time
and I'll do that, but mark my words, the Dodgers
will not nt win the World Series.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Number two.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
The Angels have a plan. They've always had a plan.
It doesn't always seem to work out for them, but
they have a plan. Mike Trout is moving from centerfield.
The three time MVP is moving from centerfield to right
field in a move they believe that will help them
stay healthy and help them have a long career. Trout
(04:49):
is thirty three now, which is amazing. Was limited to
just twenty nine games last season, had his left knee
surgically repaired twice.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
You know, so it was bad. It was just another injury.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
Play gear for Trout, who played in only thirty six
games in twenty twenty one. That was because of a
calf injury. He did play in one hundred and nineteen
games in twenty twenty two and eighty two games in
twenty twenty three because of a fracture. So it has
been a bumpy road. He's done so much in the
(05:26):
beginning of his career that he's going to be good
legacy wise long term.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
But it's a shame. And I don't know.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
I mean, sometimes guys become injury prone and it doesn't
matter where you put him. You know, you could make
him just be a DH and he still can wind
up getting hurt. He's been hurt so much it's hard
to imagine that that's all of a sudden gonna stop
because he's going to be in right field for some reason,
and I get centerfield jumping over the fence, diving catches.
(05:57):
You're playing both left center and right center. All those
balls are yours. So it will cut down a little bit.
But I'm just not sure that that's going to turn
off the injury injury wagon that has followed Mike Trout's,
(06:20):
you know, Hall of Fame career, because it just seems
like he just cannot stay healthy. And for the record,
Trout has played seventeen career games in right field one
hundred and twenty four and left, but of course he's
been exclusively a center fielder for most of his career.
(06:41):
This will be interesting to see. We all want to
see Mike Trout healthy. Can we just watch and see
this great player maybe you know, have a full season,
play one hundred and thirty five forty games, get back
to being a good player player we pay attention to.
He's really been buried to where we don't even you know,
(07:02):
figure out or ask what Mike Trout's doing. So hopefully
this will be a change for the Angels, but you
know what, nothing seems to work out for the Angels.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
The snake bit number three.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
The New York Yankees have changed their facial hair policy
that they held for a long time, and it's about time.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
And you know, I've read some comments from people.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
People always thought that was cool that the Yankees kind
of had no player was bigger than the pinstripes or
the tradition that they had, and everybody had to conform
and be a Yankee, and that sounds good, but it
was never fair.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
It was never fair. Especially for the black players.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
On a team. And I'm gonna tell you why. And
I don't know if people really know this unless you're black.
The problem with shaving is that for black men, the
reason that you see most black men with a goatee,
a beer, a mustag, some facial hair is because our
(08:04):
hair is curly, and so when you shave, the hair
curls underneath the skin. If you ever look at black
guys right who will clean shade, they see they got
razor bumps, shaving bumps. That's what that comes from. Most
white guys don't have that. Or people have straight hair
because they can cut their hair off, it grows back
(08:26):
out straight. The black hair curls underneath the skin, and
that's why you'll see black guys with a shaving bumps
underneath their skin. It's not that they don't know not
a shave or they did something wrong. It's that the
hair is ingrown hair underneath their skin, which forms a bump.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
So that's why the policy was never really fair.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
I was always surprised that a group of black players
like a Reggie Jackson in some Dave Winfield or whatever
could not speak up to that and inform George Stearin Burner,
the late owner and people in charge there. The reason
why black men often wear facial hair not all. I'm
not saying all, because obviously there's some clean shaven black
(09:11):
guys who are able to do it. But if you
ask most black guys about shaving, it's the razor bumps
that they don't want, and so having hair or beard
or goateee kind of cuts down on that. It's not
as bad on your skin. But I think this is
a good move for the Yankees. We're gonna give Devin
(09:33):
Williams some credit. Came over from the Brewers their new
ace closer, and he had the beard. And the weird
thing is the Yankees didn't make the announcement until after
Devin Williams shaved, So now you could grow it back
and look like the Menacing closer he was with the Brewers.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Now that he's in the Bronx.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
Here comes the big interview. Listen and learn so good.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
We talked with super Agess Scott Boris on the radio show,
and the first question I asked him was whether or
not he was surprised that he broke show Hail Tani's
seven hundred million dollar contract mark with the deal he
got for Juan Soto.
Speaker 4 (10:23):
Well, going into this the element of we have to
give one a lot of credit because we had, I believe,
since he was eighteen years old on. We've had sixty
eight meetings and certainly after we finished with the Mets,
(10:44):
one looked at me and goes, can we just tone
that down a little bit? But it's a lot of information,
a lot of preliminary market data, a lot of historical data.
We have a thing in baseball called surplus value, which
is a value gradient that we use, and we developed
one that I did with based upon my representation.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
Of bonds and a Rod and.
Speaker 4 (11:08):
Their skill sets and what they did and why, so
that we could really get to him and say, these
are the valuative points we look at. And when a
player goes through that, particularly an international player, you can
imagine the number of people, which is the vast, vast majority,
that say to one, how could you turn down four
(11:30):
hundred and forty million dollars? And the answer is he's
getting all this information from us about perspective values, markets,
franchise values, revenues, the sport, and really what his valuation
is going to be as he goes on in his
career in year four or five and six before he's
a free agent. And then when Otani signed, and his
(11:52):
real evaluation is at a four hundred and sixty million
dollar evaluation. That's that's what the content, because there's a
lot of it makes two million a year for ten
years and then gets paid it much later, but the
real evaluation was around that. So everyone came to want
and said, you don't pitch Otani's an extraordinary player. He
(12:16):
in addition to that, he generates, you know, hundreds of
millions of dollars of revenue for his team. You don't
do that. So your chances of getting before fifty or
four sixty that that Otani got are you know, it's
just not something you're going to be able to achieve.
Will you get as much as you got from Washington?
(12:39):
He had to hear that for almost a full year,
you know, in and of itself, and you know it's
I give him a lot of credit. He trusted our information,
our advice and ask a lot of questions, well, if
Otani's why didn't Otani get what he was worth? Or
(13:00):
all these things which are all the elements of how
we look at markets and evaluations and Essentially, he trusted
our data and the information and as it worked out
his credit, he was able to focus on playing and
played at a very high level. And then we had
(13:21):
a very strategic negotiation to arrive at really a true
expression of his market.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
Now, Scott, I'll say this, he's a great player. He
could play anywhere. That transfers to anywhere when you're great
and you're a dynamic player.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
But it looked like the Bronx was perfect.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
Dominicans loved him there, you know, like what the right
field ports. He had a career high and home runs.
The Yankees made it to the World Series. There was
a lot to like there, the lineup and whatnot. And
I get it. The Yankees offered seven sixty the Mets
offered seven sixty five, and the Mets offered the Yankees
(14:05):
had offered what an extra year? Scott, Right, So it's
a different amount of money spread out over the years. Right,
the Yankees added one more year than the Mets did.
But how difficult does that when you know, take a
player who has excelled and seem to fit in a
in a circumstance or team. Because you know this, the
Mets and Yankees aren't the same, even though they're in
(14:26):
the same city, they're not.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
What goes into that, Scott, Well.
Speaker 4 (14:31):
My job is to provide information. In the end, you
know who was providing one with the economic appraisal, not
only those two teams, but you know many others. And
in each case one had to dismiss teams. I teased
him because he had uncles and his mother and everyone involved.
(14:52):
I called it the Supreme Court of Soto. I would
give him the information, he would go back, and what
I cared about was the baseball execution information and he
had a a near eleven hundred ohps at City Field.
He played well at Yankee Stadium. We wanted to cover
(15:13):
the fact of execution, doing it in optimal places, and
he had choices there and as far as what works
best for him and his family, the ability of an
owner to support a winning roster was very important to
one because he wanted to win during the fifteen years
(15:33):
of his contract. So all those things were considered by him.
But in the end, when you go to make these decisions,
the key point what you do. I think in being
I think in being a former player, you understand how
you play and what makes you comfortable. I trust that
one knows that, and he certainly expressed it, and also
(15:56):
being around his family and giving us direction. I wanted
them to make that decision. And he certainly looked at
all that information, and you know, we spent a lot
of time covering it and called me on the phone
and said, look, go ahead and work the final with
(16:16):
the Mets. And we all think as a family that
it's best for us to do so. So I certainly
trusted in that it was very informed and has been
very methodical about his decision making, and so we we
went and executed the contract to get down with the Mets.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
Hey Scott, last thing, we got a minute to go here.
Pete Alonso going back to the Mets, I thought he
got jobed a two year contract for just fifty four
million dollars. Very few players this guy plays every day.
He knows how to play in New York under the pressure.
It's some of the biggest home runs in the postseason.
(16:55):
And they didn't have that seven hundred and sixty five
million dollars for Juan Soto, but it's only fifty four
million for one of their own.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
How tough was that for him to go back to
the Mets and for that contract.
Speaker 4 (17:06):
Well, the truth of it is is that when you
are a thirty year old player in our game and
you have a qualifying offer, meaning that you have to
give up draft picks and international money, major league teams
do not want to do that. They'll do it for
a twenty six year old or a twenty seven year
old or other, but they won't do it for a
thirty year old. And I've had issues with Matt's with Snell,
(17:27):
with Matt Chapman, and now Pete Alonzo with Bregman. They
don't want to do the long term contracts for those,
but the next year when they're free agents, then they
get their true free agent value and the market because
they are truly free there's no draft picks given right
and the clubs will then go out and pay their value.
So the system is working to where they have a
(17:51):
restricted free agency, which Pete was under because of the
qualifying offers. And you also see people talking to me,
where are the players signed so late? Because teams go
after players that are true free agents where they don't
have to give away the draft picks, and they approach
last in the mark at the teams where they have
to give away the draft picks to sign the players.
(18:12):
So the Meths, obviously because he was his team of origin,
didn't have to give up draft picks, and all the
other teams involved did not bid for Pete because, after all,
they all say, why would I ever give up draft
picks when the reward of that is getting anywhere from
thirty four to fifty home runs and having a player
with one thousand ops who has key home runs in
(18:33):
the postseason. I won't do that till next year. That's
kind of what they said.
Speaker 5 (18:39):
It's the Gambler here, vice president of operations for mlbbro
dot Com an executive producer of the MLB bro Show
podcast The Mixtape. Every Friday. You heard that right. Every Friday,
we bring you the best from the.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
World of Black and Brown baseball.
Speaker 5 (18:58):
We covered the seven point two percent of melanated Major
leaguers from soup to nuts, but with our own cultural
flair and unique voice, will take you on a ride
reflecting on the accomplishments, clutch moments, and contributions to culture
that the Bros continue to breathe into baseball, from Mookie
(19:18):
Wilson to Mookie Betts, Doctor k to Doctor Sticks from
bro bombs to stolen bases to black Aces. We're live
at the ballparks and also bringing you segments like classic
Hits with David Grubb, the Black Ace Report, the Rundown,
the walk Off, and Going Deep, just to name a
(19:38):
few of the segments that truly capture the voice of
black baseball.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
If things get.
Speaker 5 (19:43):
Out of hand, as the Boss Rob Parker, he's kicking
up dust, we will gladly pay you on Tuesday from
an MLB bro doubleheader today. Remember the heart of the
game lies in the diversity of the game and the
spirit of black baseball that dates back to the Negro
I've the Gambler, your friendly neighborhood diamond checker, making sure
(20:05):
that you stay on top of the game and in
touch with the soul of MLB, fucking up for a
wild baseball journey, showing respect to the Ogs and highlighting
the new breed of melanated Malma Robins. First thing through
MLB's pipeline, all pitching with the sound of Black Baseball.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
We got the best starting five in the business.
Speaker 5 (20:27):
Listen to the MLB Bro Show podcast the Mixtape on
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
You get your podcasts, now, bring in the closer. Here's
why MLB it's better than the NFL or NBA, and
it isn't even close.
Speaker 3 (20:50):
Reason number one thousand and fifty five why Major League
Baseball is better than the NBA and better than the NFL.
Speaker 2 (20:59):
Are you ready for this?
Speaker 3 (21:01):
Fox Sports put out a top ten pole biggest athletes
currently playing in New York?
Speaker 2 (21:10):
Hello? Is this on? Okay? You got it?
Speaker 3 (21:15):
Biggest athletes currently playing in New York?
Speaker 2 (21:19):
Top ten?
Speaker 3 (21:22):
How many baseball players do you think made the top four?
I'll tell you. In the top ten, it was five
baseball players. As far as top athletes currently playing in
New York, five were baseball players.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
The top two.
Speaker 3 (21:41):
At number two Aaron Judge, at number one Juan Soto,
and number four was Francisco Lindor. Now, I'll argue all
day that there's no way Juan Soto should be ahead
of Aaron Judges. And I get the season, he's coming
off of the record contract. Aaron Judge won the American
(22:01):
League MVP last year. Can we stop Juan Soto still
hasn't even won an MVP. I get the money and
all that, but there's no way he's currently better than
Aaron Judge as far as the number one player playing
in New York. But this does tell you about the
(22:23):
baseball especially in the town like New York where I
grew up. Baseball supersedes the NFL, supersedes the NBA.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
It just baseball is a way of life. Don't forget
three of three.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
New York once had three baseball franchises, the New York Yankees,
the Brooklyn Dodgers, and the New York Giants, three major
league teams in one city. In two thousand and nine,
when the Mets and Yankees open up their new stadiums,
are you ready for this? Eight million people bought tickets
(22:57):
for both ball parks total eight million.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
Hello, yes, eight million.
Speaker 3 (23:06):
So I'm not surprised that baseball is heavy in this
and I get it the Giants and Jets aren't really
that good, but it doesn't matter.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
I'm telling you, New York is a baseball town.
Speaker 3 (23:16):
The other two baseball players that made the list number
nine John Carlos Stanton and number ten Peter Lonzo with
the Mets.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
So there you have it.
Speaker 3 (23:25):
And the first non baseball player was number three, Jalen Brunson,
So there you go. Another reason why baseball is better
than the other sports. In the words of New York
TV legend the late Bill Jorgensen, thanking you for your
(23:48):
time this time until next time.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
Rob Parker out d can't Gavin. This could be an
inside the Parker.
Speaker 3 (23:55):
See you next week, same bat time, from same Matt's station.
Host
Rob Parker
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