Which Team is Having the Best Offseason So Far?

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello and welcome to Waken Jake. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah,
felice Navidad. It's another way to say Merry Christmas. I
was talking about that downstairs this morning. Anyways, let's talk
sports instead of the languages on this beautiful December thirtieth.

(00:20):
This will be the last Waken Jake of the new year. Hey,
maybe I'm wrong, Maybe Bregman signs with the Yankees tonight. No,
there's no rumors on that. We will talk about some
of the remaining free agents because a lot of shoes
have dropped since we last talked here. May have seen

(00:40):
you on some other programming, but the last live episode
of Waken Jake was Christian Walker's an astro.

Speaker 2 (00:49):
That.

Speaker 1 (00:49):
We have seen a lot of transactions since then. Mccutche
into the Pirates. No, we're not going to start there,
but a ton the first base market, Carlos Santana to Cleveland,
Nathaniel Lowe Glabor Torres one year to the Detroit Tiger.
Sean Mannaya gets the big contract on with the Mets,

(01:10):
Walker Bueller to the Red Sox. Dreading that one a
little bit, uh, and the big one, I mean Corbyn
Burns signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks, which still a sentence
when you say it out loud, feels a little wine.
It still doesn't really feel real family wanted it? Were they?

(01:32):
Who were they in the market? Did they call them?
How'd that go down? I still want to know that.

Speaker 2 (01:38):
One of the rare like zero rumor.

Speaker 1 (01:42):
Major signings, no rumors. I'm I'm taking half pats on
the back because I said I didn't have a Corbyn
Burns team, like the Mets was supposed to be the
layup and the Orioles was the backup layup. But the
Orioles still haven't signed a big free agent, and the
Mets it feels like they're investing in pitching or hitting,

(02:05):
more so financially than the pitching where they're taking some
chances on Montas Clay Holmes, although Maniah returns and he
was really strong for them. But still like I I
don't know, I think we've hit a weird part where
with Sean and I where it's like, hey, I think
Sean Maya kind of took off and had a big
second half. Like I don't again, I don't know what

(02:26):
we should be penciling Sean Mania in for. But if
I think he's currently the Mets one b Sanga Manaya,
but I still have my theory that they're going Old
Brewers pitching factory. They will find pitching and they're paying
for hitting because my god, Lindor Soto will Pete come back.
Mark Fiento's Nimo gets paid a lot. People forget that

(02:52):
and the rest of those kids, Jose Siri forgot about that.
Might have to make my way to Flushing this year. Hmmm,
Siri and Soto celebrate. Those will be good. Uh So
let's get into that. Our guy and future friend that
we've talked about on the program, Kyler McDaniel came out
with his best and worst free agency and trade move

(03:12):
so far. That's always uh. I feel like the editors
at ESPN told him, like, hey, we need this one
because it's tough.

Speaker 2 (03:22):
We have to be able to make this a title.

Speaker 1 (03:24):
It's a great click. It's a great click about the
title of this. But let's start recapping through it, and
then we'll get into some football a little bit because
my college football playoff let me down a little bit
to start give you some thoughts on that. Uh. In
the NFL Sneaks and Ekes Closer to the post Cisson. Uh,

(03:45):
so let's go through baseball, And I forget if I
said it on the way through, because I kind of
keep forgetting Jesus Lizardo. Yeah, traded to the Phillies. That
one kind of got brushed out of the rug, like
that guy was supposed to be one of the biggest
trade prizes as of last year. And the Phillies make

(04:11):
a strength of strike, so maybe let's start with them,
and that maybe that's just because our resident Philly fans
Shelfey is in the office today and said hi to him,
Phillies man, and I laughed. I hit Shelfy with a like,
oh it's been quiet. Huh. He's like, yeah, we're not
doing nothing. They traded for Lozardo, which that's clearly something

(04:35):
very talented starting pitcher added to one of the best
pitching starting pitching staffs in baseball. They also signed Max Kepler, which, like,
again for how free agency moves go, it's not one
of the biggest moves this year, but it's also could
Max Kepler hit thirty for the Phillies next year and

(04:57):
we'd be like that was nice.

Speaker 2 (04:59):
Oh, we let them just have him.

Speaker 1 (05:00):
Definitely hitters ballpark Max Kepler's felt like he's had the talent.
A little change of scenery surrounded by more talent, it
could easily go the other direction. Welcome to free agency
or baseball as a whole. And yeah, I guess it
just has left the question mark are the Phillies done here?
They reinforced their rotation with Wheeler Sanchez, Nola Suarez, Lozardo Yo.

(05:25):
They also got Jordan Romano, So the Phillies standard is
being held to a crazy area that we're like, it's
been kind of quiet for Philly might have added a closer.
Lozardo's listed as their five. He could easily be there three.
We'll see how the season plays, and Max Kepler's probably

(05:48):
more or less an everyday outfielder for them. That along
with all the stars that were very familiar with at
this point, Philly's been in the mix. It's just are
they going to make the big move because supposedly they
keep wanting to be in on crazy moves. See I'm
a Moto. They were getting in on the bidding on
him last year. Was it Sodo or was it someone

(06:10):
else they were talking to this year that they were
doing the same. Phillies like, we're in on them, but
that doesn't mean we need it. We just think they're
really good.

Speaker 2 (06:19):
I forget, and I think they ended up like not
getting a SODO meeting, but everyone kind of thought they
could be a sneaky one for him. Everyone keeps trying
to speak Bregman to their into existence.

Speaker 1 (06:29):
That's I mean, that's honestly the final thing at this point,
because if you're looking for guys to play, it's the
Alec Bohm rumors. Shelfy casually, so I don't want him
to be held to this. But he was like, I think,
I think they keep Bomber and they rolled out till
mid season and see what what it looks like. Who knows,
because right now, if you're looking at a starting pitcher,

(06:52):
who are you taking out of the rotation Ranger Suarez.
I mean they still have time on Walker. They signed
Joe Ross. Don't let that sneak by. You had an
okay year last year. But yeah, I don't know. If
they were trading Alec Bohm and signing Bregman, they would
have to. It would be another move we know nothing about.

(07:16):
I guess Brandon, I don't know. We keep doing this
like Brandon marsh is listed as their center field there
is is good. He's good, it's not it's not a
weak spot.

Speaker 2 (07:27):
Good player.

Speaker 1 (07:28):
So uh, phillies are in the mix, will be in
the mix. And man, there's a lot of coastal elitist
stuff going on because a lot of the signings are
a n l H crazy crazy all the talent that's
leaving the ale and then b it's a lot of
the coastal teams. I mean, even with my snakes getting

(07:49):
involved there, and I probably should have started with them
because it's Cordin Burn's o'clock. Uh is it? Six years
to ten?

Speaker 2 (07:59):
Six years two six after two six years.

Speaker 1 (08:02):
Two ten, opt out after two crazy that there was
some weird burn stuff going on about you know, his
cutter had been declining a little bit and what what
do the next few years look like for corn Burns
finished last year thirty two starts at two nine to two.
His cutter got better as the season went on, and

(08:24):
the voice of god Ino Saras chimed in and was like,
this is a good contract, Like corn Burns has one
of the best pitches in baseball. It got better as
the year went on, and there are some conversations about
him and the Orioles working on different shapes for the cutter.
So maybe they just tried some stuff and landed back
where they did. And it's not like it wasn't a

(08:45):
disaster class. It's not like corn Burns had a four
to five and then they were like, hey, scrap it,
thirty two starts, one hundred and ninety four innings a
two nine two era and yeah, there's some funny business
around it. There's a lot of times when we talk
contract and then we land at the you know which
you have a team gives them the best deal, which
it feels like that's going I don't want to say

(09:06):
by the wayside, but it's opportunity, it's money.

Speaker 2 (09:10):
There's a certain minimum that any team that's gonna get
him is gonna have to reach.

Speaker 1 (09:15):
It's not exactly dollars and cents. But for Corbyn Burns,
we had the three letter word thrown out there. Tax
The Arizona taxes are better. It sounded like it was
coming down to San Francisco in Toronto, which those teams
have two of the worst taxes. So okay, I'm open

(09:37):
to that being part of the conversation. It is a weird,
interesting thing that doesn't get talked about with Baseball a
lot that it's half your games. Yeah, so like when
they play on road cities, they get taxed that rate,
which is just bizarre, like.

Speaker 2 (09:49):
They like need accountant, it's not and like I get like,
I get that legally, you know what happens another job
does that move around?

Speaker 1 (10:01):
We go on a business we go to the All
Star Game in Texas. It's not like for those three
days unless you're supposed.

Speaker 2 (10:09):
To, like, unless somebody's trying to get us in trouble
for it. We've been going to states that are knowing
so we're paying too much.

Speaker 1 (10:18):
I don't know how it works. Seems a little ridiculous.
I do know how it works. But so that was
part of the Cornburn's decision, which, Okay, when you're talking
that many dollars, and you know, I think Arizona was
something like four percent and you're talking San Francisco, I
think it's thirteen. And no one actually knows the Toronto number.
Somebody definitely knows, but everyone says it's higher than that.

(10:40):
So whatever, So half of his games he gets taxed
at a four percent clip instead of thirteen percent. That's
significant depending where the numbers landed. Now supposedly other teams
had higher offers, so again, what was that gap? And
the other thing I'd be interested in were the years.
Like we were we were surprised when Max Freed's con
track dropped and it was eight years, Like we were

(11:02):
doing the thing in the office. It was six years great,
seven years okay, and then eight years happened and we
were all like, it's also okay, Also, okay, we got
Max Freed. Let's worry about that when we have to
worry about that. Corbin Burns reminder younger than Max Freed,
Beard effect man effect six years and the money's in

(11:24):
a similar place. So great for Corbyn Burns. Great for
the Diamondbacks, which the whole thing. Hey, people didn't know
what they'd be doing this offseason. Everyone thought the big
Diamondbacks move would be dumping Jordan Montgomery, which hasn't happened yet.
Currently listed in their rotation. We'll see their owner. I
always have to look Ken Kendrick, I believe, Oh yeah,

(11:46):
Ken Ken, one of the better names. Ken Ken came
out and his Jordan Montgomery quotes were tough. What did
he say? A horrible decision? That's tough. That's tough for Monty,
that's tough for your GM, So see what happens. But

(12:09):
it felt like they were gonna move Monty after the
owner came out and said, it's a horrible decision. We'll
see what happens there. I mean, that's twenty five, twenty
five point two, something like that.

Speaker 2 (12:22):
That.

Speaker 1 (12:22):
Yeah, there was another one of the phn X guys
that I've mixed it up with them before due to
my Snakes fandom. He was like, I think the tweet was, Hey,
if we sign Kirby Yates, is that a successful offseason
for us? So the bar was low. No offense to

(12:44):
Kirby eight, who was incredible last year. Go check out
Kirby ATE's a stats. Any team could use Kirby eights.

Speaker 2 (12:50):
I think they stole on them.

Speaker 1 (12:51):
Still might Arizona that had done nothing. I think they
were one of the teams that really hadn't brought anyone in.
They traded Josh Naylor for Slade Secone, a competitive pick.
I think they were in an interesting spot with Slade
and who knows what they knew about Corman Burns at
the time. They know that had momentum that you know,

(13:14):
Slade who might have been their seventh or eighth starter,
made him more expendable to bring in Josh Naylor. I
also I got called out by Snakes fans, my people,
because I've been saying that in my head Josh Naylor
is a Jock Peterson replacement because Josh Naylor doesn't grade

(13:37):
out great defensively that they've had two holes to replace.
They've had to replace first base in DH Jack Peterson
and Christian Walker, pretty significant holes. Those guys got contracts
Jock signed. Yeah, no one talked about that. Someone probably did,
is mine look good today? Or bad? Do I look older? Ooh?

(14:02):
Is it something with this hair and jacket? I can't
tell hair, Little q zip if you're on the YouTube,
tell me there's something with this look? Is it Star
wars y? I don't know. And a as you know,
we're doing year end stuff. Thank you guys. The Waken
Jake YouTube up to twenty four k subs, So if

(14:25):
you listen on there regularly, please subscribe, and if you don't,
it all helps out.

Speaker 2 (14:30):
Listen to the podcast apps.

Speaker 1 (14:31):
We're on YouTube, We're everywhere. And yeah, there's something this
is unique for me. Maybe it's the marker. It's certainly
different interesting Jim'll now I've said Josh Naylor is a
Jack Peterson replacement lefty power. Naylor had a breakout year
last year, and he doesn't grade out that great defensively.

(14:55):
First base defense is a weird thing to measure. But
the other thing that's just in my head, this old noggin,
Christian Walker was the best. So when you think about
organizations and philosophies and how the front office thinks, and
everyone in our office was reading the book The Yankee
Way for a month there that Okay, if you're the Yankees,

(15:17):
the second baseman has to have a strong arm because
they have to do really like organizations have little things
that it's not always just put the best team on
the field. It was hard for me to picture the
Diamondbacks going from Christian Walker, who led every defensive leader board,
to Josh Naylor. I had some Snakes fans reach out
that said, they very much believe I want to say

(15:39):
it's their first base coach, who's their infield defense guy.
They said he's done good things, so they're thinking maybe
they they can coach Naylor up a little bit. I'm
not fully bought in. I thought it was interesting to
see a fan base do that, because we rarely see
the fan base give full compliments like that.

Speaker 2 (16:00):
It's like multiple people saying something too. Yeah, Sean Larkin,
I have listed as third base coach, slashing field coach.
I eat it on their site if we're If that's
who you were told about.

Speaker 1 (16:11):
Yeah, I forget if it was him, or they have
a roped up first base coach.

Speaker 2 (16:16):
Dave McKay is their first base.

Speaker 1 (16:18):
Everyone loves Dave McKay. Dave McKay who roped up seventy
four year old Canadian man running first base, fake teeth.
I like him twenty one homers in the show Born
in nineteen fifty. Think about what that guy's see what

(16:41):
he was twenty during Woodstock nineteen Sorry by Jimmy Carter. Alright,
p Jimmy c one hundred wild it's cool, Wilt numbers.
I want to see the Dbacks next move, as anyone does.
And there's different ways they could go about it, and hey,

(17:01):
if they had six hundred and ten million for corn Burns,
which the other thing that's a crazy note in this
whole conversation is they're one of the RSN teams that
their TV contract has ended in a weird spot. I
believe they were selling their games by themselves last year,
like you could just stream them.

Speaker 2 (17:20):
Yeah, they were like the first team to kind of
have to do a major pivot. I think yes.

Speaker 1 (17:25):
So again, was that good for them financially? It was
good enough that they were able to spend two hundred
and ten million dollars on corn Burns. Again, corn Burns
wanted to come there. I mentioned the tax reasons. Also,
his family lives there and he has three young kids.
Now I want to say there was a rumor about
twins or something.

Speaker 2 (17:42):
I think I know he has at least the set
of twins, and I think there is a third. And
spring training gets to be there two and he's from there.

Speaker 1 (17:51):
The Arizona spring training thing is no joke. Depending wherever
you are from, think about it. Corn Burns is gonna
live in Arizona. Now, he has half his home games
there where his family already lives, and two months of
spring training normally is away massive. That's massive to get
the contract he's looking for and erase the name Diamondbacks.

(18:16):
The joke I made that wasn't a joke. Oh, I
was wearing the hat. I took it off. I put
on this other team's hat like a fool. One of
the Diamondbacks hats I have that they sent me. It's
a cool one. It's got some of those cool like
Arizona artwork on the brim whatever. It's their twenty fifth
anniversary hat. They're a baby. They're a baby team. This

(18:38):
is new, or at least they're coming out of infancy.

Speaker 2 (18:44):
They are among if not the newest team.

Speaker 1 (18:48):
Right they've gone. They went to the World Series two
years ago or year however you'd measure that now. They
won eighty nine games year they missed the playoffs just
from that freaky Friday Mets Braves thing that went on. Obviously,
they could have won other games during their season, but

(19:08):
eighty nine wins and a World Series the year before.
It's not like Cordin Burns is signing with I don't know,
the Marlins or a whoever insert team here that if
you took away the Diamonbacks the name and that just
kind of how you know the franchise like new Arizona team.

(19:30):
I don't know. Maybe I'm too gung ho on it.
Maybe I'm just if you've got an owner that's willing
to give out money like they have the past couple
of years. They signed Jordan Montgomery, remember that signed us.
I know the owner came back and said bad things
Corn Burns. That surprised us. This is a World Series team.
They had the number one offense in baseball last year.

(19:53):
They signed e Rod, which that one was a surprise.
Like the other thing that's just in my head is
how much World Series money did they get. That's something
we always talk about, whether it's selling tickets or people
in the stands or whatever. Did the World Series type
money and winning and packing the house? Did that allow
them to get Corbin Burns? Because the best way to

(20:16):
bring people in and have people watch is have a winner.
Uh so maybe they realize that with some of the
World Series money or my other like secret option that
freaks me out that I tell dimback fans don't listen
to this. The next move seems clear. It seems like

(20:38):
they're gonna trade Jorn Montgomery because the owner said it
was a bad move. Jorn Montgomery still has some value.
We've seen the picture contracts that have been given.

Speaker 2 (20:46):
Out and on a one year, one year you could
be clean of them if it doesn't work.

Speaker 1 (20:52):
This is a guy that's a year removed from we
thought he'd get one hundred, if not more. So there's
value there and like I said, there's either a first
base or a DH spot open that that seems to
be the move. Jollie Olive tweeted out Jordan Montgomery for
Spencer toorklesin interesting some money shaking hands there, Spencer Toorkles

(21:15):
in Arizona state. I don't know that's like that one. Yeah,
it's a young player not making a lot of high
upside for Arizona.

Speaker 2 (21:25):
Again, they're always looking for more pop.

Speaker 1 (21:28):
So have you know that, Uh? Have Dave McKay just
kind of teach him the ropes.

Speaker 2 (21:37):
And they did uh for the at the by the
end of the year. I know they got Josh Bell
for different reasons, but they they had him in the
mix too. We played some amount of first space with
having Christian Walker, so that's true. Yeah, and I mean
him a nailer split some time there in DH.

Speaker 1 (21:52):
That's the other side. I poop pooed it for a second,
but also, hey, sometimes you just do have to build
the best team and maybe that's what they're looking for
or so that would be the obvious move. It's manty
out bringing another first basement or maybe there's something creative there.
We don't know right now. Peven Smith is slotted in
as a starting d H which year four of Diamondback

(22:13):
fans being like, hey, I don't think we can bank
on Peven Smith in the nicest way. He's got a
couple splits out there over different parts of four years
that have been nice. Otherwise it hasn't been reliable. It's
been reliable.

Speaker 2 (22:29):
The one I've been thinking about for them is figuring
out Monty for Yoshiet. I think they'd want more pop,
but just thinking of guys that I that we think
the team wants a team wants to.

Speaker 1 (22:42):
Be rid of socks, kind of getting off money there. Yeah, no,
that we've we've discussed that one. There's there's so many
ways they can go with it that I'm uh, I'm
interested to see where they land. And hey, I mean,
I don't know. What if What if the Dbacks are
entering their Padres moment and the Alonso price is attainable

(23:06):
and they trade Monty, Like is that just money out?
Money in? I'm I'm not saying there's any smoke or
fire there, but they rolled out two ten for Corbyn
Burns I think it was like the it's like the
sixth biggest AAV for a pitcher ever. Uh So, just
a reminder when teams get frustrated, like when we get

(23:28):
mad at the White Sox for never giving out big contracts,
this is why. And I don't know. I I guess
I'm just gung ho on Phoenix, Scottsdale and Arizona. Well,
going back to the famous State Draft Don Boy Jake TV.
I don't know, like that city has blown up. The

(23:50):
sports teams are wildly popular there, Like the Suns are
crazy popular, like they brought in Katie that was a
whole craziness. Like the Cardinals have had their moments, the
Larry Fitz Super Bowls and things like that that. I
don't know. I think it's a sports town. They host
spring training and this was part of my World Series
rants with Arizona that like this should become a big

(24:10):
baseball town. And they're making some strides that way. So
let's see the next moves for them. I would love
to see, Yeah, if they can, if they can make
the Monty thing happen for another hitter. The dark thing
for me for Snakes fans is Zach Gallen's on the
last year of his contract. Like let's say this Cordon

(24:31):
Burns thing all came together and Cordon Burns wanted to
play there. We talked about the taxes, we talked about
his family that Cordin Burns was like, hey, if you
get me to two bills, I'm in. Was that money
they were planning on giving to Zach Gallen?

Speaker 2 (24:46):
So the future money, does that make.

Speaker 1 (24:48):
Zach Gallen disposable? I don't think so this is all just.

Speaker 2 (24:53):
Yeah, probably not before the season, but if they went
similarly to a year ago.

Speaker 1 (25:00):
I don't know. It's just it's interesting to think about
because Corbyn Burns is one of those signings that isn't
just hey, this is next year, like this is clearly
affects their next two years, opt out and then I
guess you could say a little more after that. But
the Snakes they play for rings in the desert, and

(25:22):
the Diamondbacks went from quiet offseason to now kind of
electric with more room to wiggle. The San Francisco Giants
are doing things. The Padres won ninety three games last year.
What are they gonna do? As one of the wild questions,
And the Dodgers they resigned Taoscar great, it actually is

(25:49):
great and putting away World Series envy there for my
Diamondbacks and my Yanks. He loves that city, they love him.
Everything fits. I'm it's kind of how baseball is supposed
to work, Like ta Oscar became beloved by that city
and he fits the team, and he was a free agent,
so just pay him what he deserves and he'll stay.

(26:10):
And that's kind of how it's supposed to work. The
one that's just complete, uh, part of my French bullshit.
They signed Michael Conforto just for like bonus pieces like.

Speaker 2 (26:23):
That slip that in right before soda went down one.

Speaker 1 (26:26):
For seventeen I think seventeen and a half, like real money,
Like this isn't I don't know, this isn't. They brought
in a platoon guy to kind of come up, this
is you know Glabor Torres that we're gonna talk about
in a minute, Like that was a big move for
the Tigers, Like the Tigers got a top of the
lineup second basement, like Labor's probably gonna hit first or

(26:48):
second for them, and he got one year fifteen. Confordo
got more than that. And for the Dodgers it's an
extra piece. They still have outman Chris Taylor, Mickey Rowe,
Bobby Miller's currently listed as a Triple A pitcher for them.

(27:09):
Otani's gonna pitch next year. It's the embarrassment of riches
that they are currently at. And I think the other
thing that's interesting is if they try to trade a
James Outman or Andy Pahez, who both guys had really
strong rookie years.

Speaker 2 (27:26):
Uh has currently listed in Triple A.

Speaker 1 (27:29):
I mean, where things really get sick, BBD. I know
you've been dreaming of some Minnesota Twins trades for our Yankees.
Coach Trev mentioned this. You know, relievers don't have the
value we think they do. If it was a Duran
for Andy Pahz Outman, I don't know like that. It

(27:52):
just feels like that's gonna be the next Dodgers move
is going to be them bringing in either a high
leverage reliever or another just asset because they can that. Yeah,
I don't know. The the NL West is insane like Rockies,
Oh my god, you're out no offense to Kyle Farmer,

(28:17):
wishing him luck there. The Giants are really investing in
this team, and I don't know who they're keeping up
with at this point. But like dude, Willie Adamas and
Matt Chapman, those were both over a buck fifty. Jung
hu Lee was a Hundie.

Speaker 2 (28:37):
They were in on this Corbn Burns deal too.

Speaker 1 (28:40):
Something They added Robbie Ray who he gets paid money.
They were in on Corbyn Burns. They're probably gonna be
on another starting pitcher looking at their roster, although there's
some other BBD trades that have been dreamt up there
that we will see how that plays out. But I
don't know. Man. The the NL West Dinebacks won eighty

(29:04):
nine games last year. Looks like they're making moves. The
Giants eighty and eighty two. They keep trying to make
bigger moves to get in the mix. And Buster Posey's
running the team. Now watch it. The Dodgers are as
automatic as a team can possibly be. Yeah, they can't

(29:25):
win less than ninety games.

Speaker 2 (29:28):
No, impossible. The depth and high end talent is too good.

Speaker 1 (29:34):
Literally impossible. That's nuts. That's not how baseball is supposed
to work.

Speaker 2 (29:38):
And they've done it together already. You might remember this
past year. It's not one of those things where like
sometimes first your teams together is a little sloppy.

Speaker 1 (29:48):
I mean the other the other joke that was making
me laugh. Oh, Dave Roberts good manager now, so they've
got that great manager, great Hall of Fame manager. So
that yeah, the NL West. Let's see what the Padres do,
because no one knows what they're doing with their money

(30:13):
or their team. I mean they still they still have
a lot of high end talent Arise Tatis, Merril, Machado, Cronenworth, Bogarts.
I even still have some Louis Campusano stock. But we'll
get there. Cease King, Darvish, Basquez, Waldron So I don't know.
Their bullpen is still nasty, remember that. Remember this was

(30:36):
the team that was beating the Dodgers. So the NL
West is just a beautifully stacked disaster that I don't
really know. I don't know where we're gonna land, and
with the expanded playoffs and the centrals both kind of
need to pick it up. I know they don't want
to hear that from me, but whatever, Uh, let's round

(31:01):
off some of these other moves. I think one of
my favorite moves from the offseason is going to be
Nathaniel O to Texas at first I or from Texas
to the Nationals. Excuse me. Uh. At first I did
not like it because I was like, Nathaniel low doesn't
change the Nationals outlook for me. Nathaniel lo I think
is really good. Nathaniel Lowe is the six hitter on

(31:24):
one of these great teams in baseball. I'd be like, oh, yes,
there are some ways that you can butterknife his numbers.
That he has been as consistent and as good as
a lot of hitters in baseball. If you do his
last three seasons two seventy seven, three sixty seven to

(31:45):
ninety eight, ohps one twenty four ops plus, like that
is a really good baseball player. And I know, like
the home run numbers don't trump like the His biggest
flaw is no individual numbers off the map. Everything is
a solid B two seventy seven batting average B three

(32:09):
sixty on base it's probably closer to an A. But
that's a B plus twenty homers a year B minus
twenty seven doubles a year B. So it's just funny that,
like almost because he doesn't have a MLB superpower, I
think he gets knocked down a little bit. But he's

(32:31):
won a gold Glove in this league. And yeah, he
had a one twenty ops plus last year. Again, the
stat line isn't as jumpie as like, okay, what was
jin Carlos, This will be a fun game. Jin Carlos
ops plus last year one fifteen. Now he had one

(32:52):
of the weirder stat lines you'll see two thirty three,
two ninety eight, four seventy five slug seventy two homers
and one hundred and fourteen games. But it's just the
concept to me that like, Nathaniel has done this. Now
you know, since twenty twenty one, he has been Nathaniel

(33:13):
Low and I think again it almost there was a Nathaniel.
Maybe that's part of the problem. The sex appeal wasn't
as high as it was for other hitters. That they
he got traded for a relief pitcher with a lot
of control, and maybe he's good and maybe that'll be
the whole thing. And if Nathaniel has a bad year,

(33:33):
you kind of have to pay him real money. So
that's part of the thought process. We don't get into
as front offices on our own, but for the Nationals
who were rumored to be in an Alonso or Christian
Walker or Carlos Santana, they were in the first base stance,
but it was like, oh, do you bring in Santana
to kind of guide these young players? Do you bring

(33:55):
in Alonso? You take him from the Mets and you
kind of set the tone. But how's Alonzo gonna They
found a real safe spot here with Nathaniel Lowe set
it and forget it at first base. The Nationals are
going to be dictated by how their younger players develop.
Does James would become one of the best players in baseball?

(34:15):
That'll be a huge factor. Does Dylan Cruz become one
of the best players of it? That'll be a factor.
Where does cj. Abrams land in this whole thing? And
they might be in the free agent mix still, he's
one of the Bregman rumored teams. I don't it would

(34:36):
be a surprise. But right now we're entering Bregman surprise
territory because it's starting to get late early kind of
seems like it's.

Speaker 2 (34:44):
Gonna have to be a surprise.

Speaker 1 (34:46):
I don't know, we'll see. I think there's enough teams
that can fit Alex Bregman in that he's going to
be okay. But yeah, I don't know the other thing
for the Nationals say it just doesn't click next year,
which I just talked about your beautiful NL West the
NL East. What are your Mets expectations going to be?

(35:08):
They're gonna be pretty high. They put in a lot
of work. What are your Braves expectations gonna be pretty high?
They're getting some dudes back and wantn't be surprised if
they get involved in some of this offseason dance. The
Phillies Uh huh. So, no matter what the Gnats really
do this offseason, they're coming in as the fourth team

(35:29):
in the NL East. So even if you like the Nats,
say you got your nattitude up, you're into Jake Irvin.
I think we all are. Mitchell Parker breakout continues. Yep.
They signed Mike Soroka to a cheeky contract. He's got
some numbers you'd like. He used to be really good.
Like if it comes together for the Gnats, and maybe

(35:52):
it does. Who also brought in Josh Bell today? Sure
so maybe they are out on Bragwow, who knows? Are
you gonna like the Gnats more than the Mets, Braves
or Phillies coming into the season. No, So let's say
the Nats, the thing isn't fully clicking next year, Well,

(36:13):
Nathaniel Low if he's being Nathaniel Low, which for the
past four years he's only proves that he is Nathaniel Low.
You also have a pretty nice asset there. So if
they need to flip him and go get some other pieces,
whether it's at this deadline, the end of next season,
or even the next deadline, I really like that move

(36:33):
for them. And again, it was just kind of changing
my scope from in my head them signing Alonzo and
maybe him hitting forty two homers next year. That changed
the Gnats feel and Low doesn't have that, But he
also doesn't have the risk or the crazy contract that
you're gonna have to sign Alonzo to. So I ended

(36:55):
up really liking that move. Luis Garcia Junior, Good's it.

Speaker 2 (37:01):
Good year for him.

Speaker 1 (37:02):
It was a good year for him. Eighteen homers, twenty.

Speaker 2 (37:05):
Two steals, twenty four years old.

Speaker 1 (37:07):
More homers than Nathaniel Low. So let's see the other
big moves that need to be checked off. Carlos Santana
to Cleveland. Yeah, yep, Naylor out Santana in. He likes
it there. They like him one year terms beautiful thing

(37:30):
for Cleveland. That's how they operate. Manaiah, I guess I
did that one quick. But Sean and Iah three for
seventy five? Do I have that number right?

Speaker 2 (37:41):
I believe that's right.

Speaker 1 (37:43):
Same as Nathan Evaldi. Nathan Evaldi on our friend Kylie
McDaniel's not favorite contracts oh age age age. Maniah comes
back with the Mets. Leg I talked about briefly. He'll
be towards the top of that rotation with Sang. I

(38:06):
mean they're listing him as the one one hundred eighty
one point two innings pitch last year, one hundred eighty four.
Stray I gots a three four seven era, so he
was class and he clearly found something and was tapping
into something. So maybe there's more there. Uh. It is
a you're playing a video game and the years twenty

(38:28):
twenty seven, and you're like, oh, we're playing the Mets.
Who's in their rotation Manaia Sanga, Montas Peterson, Clay Holmes Like,
oh man, the video game really got weird. Video game
really took off on us. Uh, let's see what that
looks like. They clearly think they can tap into something

(38:51):
pitching wise, and They only got five point one regular
season innings out of Sanga last year, so they should
get more than that. It's just a question of what
can you fully bank on from these individual guys. But
maybe three out of four fully click.

Speaker 2 (39:08):
And I guess we really do forget just how good
Senga was in the year. He actually bitched third in
the cy Young and like, there is enough you can
you can start the year with this, even if you
think they need another Manaiah or better come to playoffs,
like you you can get that during the season if

(39:31):
if another move doesn't come together before the season starts.

Speaker 1 (39:34):
And they they have they have enough depth pieces. I
mean they Paul Blackburn, McGill, Griffin Canning, watch out change
the scenery guy next, Luke Weaver. Buy some Griffin Canning stock.
While you can try and tell me who's a budo
can start. Let's see it.

Speaker 2 (39:57):
That.

Speaker 1 (39:57):
Yeah, he returns to the Mats. That's another one of
those good free agent signings. Like, yes, he wanted to
be there, they wanted him.

Speaker 2 (40:04):
Everyone like that.

Speaker 1 (40:05):
Let's figure this out. The only team that probably did it,
San Francisco Giants. I think they are looking for maybe
the Orioles. The last body for the rotation. The Orioles
don't even the Heros are starting to get me mad,
and part of it is because the Red Sox signed

(40:27):
Walker Buehler, and I like Walker Buehler a lot, and
you saw why in the postseason the Boston Red Sox.
We're talking about all this talent moving around and a
lot of it going to the National League. The Boston
Red Sox, I think, can have a pretty good argument

(40:48):
to be your second favorite team in the AL. It's
tough to propel them above the Yankees. And there is
a Derek Jeter height chart behind me if you're watching
on YouTube. So again, maybe there are some biases that
I'm not seeing. If I am, feel free to chime in.

(41:12):
But Man Crochet, Yo, that was a big one. Walker Buehler,
Tanner Hauke who broke out last year, three one two
from Tanner Hawk, Brian Bayo, Cutter Crawford, both with different
offerings of upside or consistency. That the Red Sox have

(41:34):
their best rotation in a while. They may have their
best bullpen in a while. Liam Hendricks or all this
Chapman Slayton really broke out for them last year and
then they've got some lottery ticket guys, Michael Folmer with
the NRI they signed Justin Wilson. I don't know. I
don't know about that. My look is throwing me off Stepanopolis.

(42:01):
What is this? And that all goes with the Red
Sox lineup, that they've got a mix of it all
mostly lefties and mostly talented young baseball players. Then let's
see if there's another move in there, or let's see
if there's it feels like they're a righty move away.
And maybe that's Bregman and oh my god, Red Sox
fever will take off Bregman and Bueller. That's some Yankees

(42:25):
nightmare fuel. Maybe it's a trade, maybe it's more pitching.
Who knows. The Red Sox could not be done yet
and they could still be arguably the number two in
the AL. And if you're the number two in the AL,
you got a damn shot. And maybe they're higher than that,

(42:46):
because maybe maybe the Yankees are gonna miss Soto more
than they thought, or maybe the Yankees aren't gonna round
off their offseason, or maybe something's not gonna click. And
if you don't like Texas or Houston or Seattle or
Central yeah, Baltimore's done nothing. Sorry, Tyler O'Neal from the
Red Sox. Tyler O'Neal was great last year, so I

(43:08):
guess I should say that with a little less aggression.
But I say that because they lost Anthony Santander who
hit forty four homers, and they lost Corbyn Burns. They
haven't lost Antonderr, he's still a free agent, but they
have lost Corbin Burns, who was their ace. And there's
something to the stability of an ace and a rotation that, like,

(43:32):
I know Eflyn came over, was great, and I know
the Gray Rod breakout was kind of happening while getting
banged up. And I know they signed your guy Sugano
and maybe he's the second coming, maybe he's the Burns replacement.
And kind of like I was saying with the team
across the interstate there the Nationals, you know they're gonna

(43:56):
need Adlee Rushman a bounce back if they want to
be good. They're gonna need Holton Kauser or Cedric Mullens
to bounce back. Kouser another young guy to take a
leap Like that's so Jackson Holliday be that guy, Jordan Westberg.
God it takes a lot for me to not call
him Jordan west Bug. Maybe we'll work on that, Maybe

(44:19):
we'll meet him. Maybe he's a nice guy. Heston Kerstadt.
I don't know. Are they gonna trade for Dylan See's
Are they gonna trade more capital for another one year
free agent pitcher that's gonna demand a ton of money.
I don't know enough about the business model, but I
know like last year's Brewer's trade I was can you

(44:43):
say it didn't pay off for them? I mean, Cortin
Burns is really good, but Joey Ortiz looks solid. Dl
Hall we don't know, I don't know. I guess we
don't know yet if Joey Ortiz is good, which Joey
Ortiz played really well last year.

Speaker 2 (45:00):
James currently looks like he's a guy.

Speaker 1 (45:02):
Is he currently the Brewers starting short stop?

Speaker 2 (45:05):
It's I believe he's currently there. And I mean Orioles
disappointing in the postseason and final result, not Burns his fault.

Speaker 1 (45:15):
But not Burns.

Speaker 2 (45:16):
You had one year guaranteed of him.

Speaker 1 (45:20):
Man Tyler O'Neil had a great year. Happy for him,
and hey, there is more off season left. I thought
about doing, uh, you know, some winter losers before. But
there's a lot off you can still coming, you can
still have a full off season, you can still have
a full, happy off season. The Orioles could sign Santander,

(45:45):
they could sign they could trade for Dylan Ceas and
you'd be like, wow, Okay, that's good. So uh, if
your team hasn't been getting mentioned a lot, there's still hope.
But we're running out of some opportunities. I mentioned Glaber,
but I'll mention again briefly. Happy for Glabe. You know,

(46:08):
the defense at second base was tough that I was wondering,
like how many teams would even allow Glaber to play
second base and that's the only position he's played. And
then the crazy part out of Tiger's camp was they
said they were going to trade Torklsen and move cold
Keith to first, which col Keith, if I remember, not

(46:29):
one of the biggest cats you've seen on a baseball field. Okay,
listed six two to eleven. In my head, I thought
we were going to bring up a six flat here
and do some yeah, some cleats. So hey, if they
like him and they think that can work, and they've
got some other young talented infielders Okay, and yeah, for Glabor.

(46:51):
I mean just the way Glabor Torres hits and the
way that team has been looking for hitting. Glabor Torres
will hit with that team, And weirdly enough, I know
it's an expansive ballpark, but I have Glabor Torres hitting
some of his longest home runs in Detroit. There's one
I can picture very vividly that I think I'd tweeted

(47:13):
out without looking. I was like, is that Laborer's longest
home run this year? I think I got point dexter.
I think there was one or two more that were further.
But I've seen him hitting that park and he just
feels like the joke I keep using is let that
go tique row, But it's a little symbolic of like,
get away from the Yankees.

Speaker 2 (47:34):
Let's see get in a ballpark like that, you find
a few more doubles.

Speaker 1 (47:38):
Like America Park two games last year, eight O four ops.
This guy's a stud best ever, let's see the career splits, because, yeah,
if Glabor had landed in one of these small ballparks,
we'd be talking about can he find his thirty homer
potential again? I don't want Glabor to find that potential again.
If I'm being completely honest, I don't think that's the

(48:00):
best version of Glabor Torres career in Kamerica two eighty three,
three seventy seven A one dot ops five homers in
fifteen games. Maybe it's the next Willia Damas. Imagine if
Glaber couldn't see at Yankee Stadium this whole time, he could,
he could. Uh, he just got coached very lightly at

(48:21):
the start. And hey, for my central people, I'll tell
you what you don't want to see. Top of the order,
Riley Green, Glaber, Torres, Kerry Carpenter. Sure that'll score some runs.
And again the Dodger signed Michael Conforto for more than

(48:43):
that as a bonus piece. So that was a little
bit of a roundabout catchup of what has happened. I
think I've still missed a thing or two, but upcoming
Alonso Bragman. Those are two of the big ones. Pete

(49:05):
and the Mets have been linked. Supposedly their last offer
was around three for ninety and Pete wants a lot
more than that, So let's see who else comes to contention.
Although are a lot of the first base spots filled,
should the Blue Jays.

Speaker 2 (49:23):
They're one team that I've been kind of really thinking about.

Speaker 1 (49:28):
God, they're so righty? How did this happen again? Blue Jays? Hey,
they got him? It is Will Wagner. Wow, let's see
what goes on with them. Santander Profar is out there

(49:49):
and that's gonna be a unique free agent that no
one's going to know what to do with that. But
after that, your offensive weapons are really limited, and pitching wise,
we're actually, you know, whatever team signs Nick Pivetta is
going to talk themselves into some Nick Pavetta and I've

(50:09):
got no qualms with that. Our guy Jack Flaherty is
out there looking for some big boy money that he deserves.
Uh So, there's still a few significant pieces out there,
like I can't the Jeff Hoffman is going to be
a starting pitcher somewhere next next year. Let's see that
story come out. Tanner Scott's gonna get some real money. Otherwise,

(50:32):
we're starting to hit the point of free agency where
it can be one or two guys that you're like, oh,
I think they can help Quintana. Let's get some good
starts out of him. Who else was I looking at?
It was one of the Jesse Winker. Oh yeah, Hey,
if we tap into some good Jesse Winker and he

(50:53):
can play some corner and DH for us, Hey, we
might get a good ballplayer there for a year. But
that's just a different scope than what we're talking talking
about for a lot of these other free agents teams
that really need to get going. One of my favorite
segments to do Baltimore Orioles gotta have it, gotta have

(51:15):
something from you, and I think something's coming. I'm just
nervous about what it is, and so are Orioles fans Toronto.
My goodness, what is going on in the Great Noorte?
Because I do not know. They are in on every
free agent, it seems, but this roster is pretty bizarre

(51:38):
right now. There's some money in that pitching staff, Springer,
but Chette Vladder still there. Yeah, is your best lefty
hitter Will Wagner, Nathan Luke's Joey Loper feto I don't

(52:02):
know again, Santander to them had been my joke throughout
the year. Maybe we'll see that come to fruition because
they need some some switch hitting help. But those teams
have been oddly out of the mix. I should be
giving Tyler or Nea Moore credit, but still parts in
parts out. It's not there. Uh, let's see athletics, No

(52:26):
White Sox, no Cleveland kind of No, they've done there.

Speaker 2 (52:30):
They're they're they're a little bitt in bruised territories like yeah,
blindly trust it to be good.

Speaker 1 (52:36):
Detroit supposedly still in the mix with Bregman. That one's
always been weird for me. With the money to buy
as I just I don't see it as a fit.
But Detroit probably has some more work to do. The
Royals are always looking to do something, Angels scaring themselves,
Twins probably unloading stuff. Let's see what that looks like.

(52:57):
Have the Mariners been oddly quiet? I think so yes.
And we know they have that pitching. They've got a
couple spots in their lineup where they could use guys
right now. And they've got a couple okay spots. And

(53:17):
that's the frustration. Man, juliocl Raleigh, Randy, go get Pete Man.
Peter'll hit it out of there. I swear, I swear it.

Speaker 2 (53:35):
Just give him his money.

Speaker 1 (53:39):
They could use a lefty too, they have so much pitching.
Houston feels like they have a couple of nuclear moves.
We walked everyone through that a couple episodes ago. They've
got some outfield spots and they've got some good fits
that could slot in there potentially, although Jock was one
of them and he's gone that again. Dere like that

(54:02):
market has reopened up that I you know, as it
gets later into free agency, I think the players get scared.
But when there's limited, when there's still holes left and
you're the last guy left, I think things are gonna
work out that he would be a great fit in Houston.
Our Texas Rangers man Jock Simeon, Seeger Wyatt, Langford, Jack Peterson,

(54:28):
Adoley Scarcia, Josh Young, Evan Carter, Jake Berger, and Jonah Hine.
They have Jake Berger with his twenty nine homers last year,
slotted as their eight hitter. I'm not this isn't an
official Bruce Bochie lineup, but I think there is gonna
be some Tigers or some Texas stock being bought. Jack

(54:52):
Peterson man he got the two year with an opt
out three ninety three on base last year with twenty
three homers and four under forty nine games. If there
is a righty pitcher out there, throw Jock at him
him and Boachi are going to be delightful. Texas is
gonna be in love with him. He's gonna be beloved
everywhere he goes. I mentioned Jonah him. They signed Higgy Yeah,

(55:17):
Zeke Duran and Josh Smith on the bench, two guys
that have been utill All Stars. Leodi Tavares is currently
listed on their bench. Avaldi de Gram Gray, Molly Bradford,
my guy, Dane Dunning surviving. I wonder if they could

(55:37):
be looking to add another starting pitcher, and if I
wonder if they could kind of trade it from some
of their depth, or maybe they're one of these old
school teams. Bruce Bochie, that depth is good. That's how
depth used to be. So that's exciting. Let's see anything

(56:02):
else on West No, I'm good there. National League Snakes
in the fight. Atlanta could go either way. Sneaky Quiet
Dylan sees maybe Cubbies have had a bit of an
off season, without mentioning the VDL brew Han trade that

(56:25):
let's see again. It feels like they have another move
to make. It's just where are they're gonna make it.
But they've already put in some work. I appreciate that.
My Cincinnati Reds are kind of in a funky spot
that I don't remember that Brady Singer Jonathan India trade.
That was one of our first snacks of the off season.

(56:46):
They could be done and we'd say, okay, and I'll
come back to liking this team because they're kind of deep. Okay,
get me off the reds page. Colorado never Dodgers super team,
I am me never. Milwaukee. Milwaukee Mets have Mets Phillies
have sneakily phillied while also still being in the mix

(57:07):
for a nuclear move Pittsburgh, ah Mm, what what is
we doing? Baby?

Speaker 2 (57:19):
Get someone cutches back?

Speaker 1 (57:22):
Padres similar vote, but different giants are in the mix
for everyone. Saint Louis is not in. The Nats are
teetering that. That's kind of where it's at for December
thirtieth into the offseason. You're starting to get countdowns. I
think it's less than three months till opening day, so

(57:46):
we get with those March starts. Now under one hundred
day mark, yeah, I think we're under ninety. So that'll
lead to spring training, which will lead to everything else.
Speaking of everything else, I mean we're laid in there,
but I think it's a one ap week so let's

(58:08):
just crank as we head towards the football, and I
want to give one of our John Boy media friends
a shout out here part of the inspiration today. I
got Courage, he messaged me, and you know what I'm
gonna I'll give the selfie to BBD to get on
the screen because I was feeling a very similar emotion

(58:34):
of you know, the holidays, and everyone's podcast is on
a different schedule. Courage sent me a selfie of himself
thinking into the distance, sending to Davis Wimbledon. He said,
out walking, no waking Jake, no talking Yanks, no talking baseball,

(58:56):
Glabour gone recent, Jake, Harron. POD's getting a little long.
Things are getting dark, and I think we all kind
of knew that holiday feeling. So I'm glad I could
be back in the lab doing this. And I can't
just skip football because we're at an hour, So let's
talk about it a little bit. And I do need
to throw my college football under the bus for a

(59:19):
little bit because the first round of games were tough,
the twelve team bracket that it was the first year
they've rolled out, and I've talked about some of the flaws.
There's courage, just in the distance, just wishing he could
have headphones in hearing a voice talk about sports. I
get that feeling. I know that feeling. So we're getting learnings,

(59:48):
and it's also that weird thing that you need to
preface this with. There's only one year of data, so
we need to see more data. And I do think
that's true. But one thing that clearly felt off was
this Boise State getting a buy in a three seed
compared to the other teams. That seemed a little ridiculous.
But college football did the top top qualified automatic qualifiers

(01:00:14):
from their leagues get in, And it was interesting. I
was listening to Joel Klatt talk about that and they
said that was non negotiable because they want championship games
to matter, and by matter, they mean people pay money
to go to the games. So that's where college football
is that that Boise State in Arizona State should not

(01:00:35):
have buys. It probably should have just been the top
four teams. We're working on that, something that I think
is egregious and will be changed and maybe not. And
this is where you need more data and all of that.
But given college teams home field advantage in a playoff game,

(01:00:57):
I don't know. I think I heard Matt Lioner talk earlier.
You're like, just make all of these bowl games like
at different sites. And he gets a little tricky, right
because you're start doing teams in regions, but like nca
basketball does that, Like they don't just rank them in order.
It's like, oh, the West Region and byus a twelve seed,
Well why don't we make them that twelve seed even

(01:01:18):
if it's not fair? And everyone kind of gets over it.
So we'd have to figure that out with making these
all bowl games, and maybe we will, maybe we won't,
or maybe they like that. But SMU at Penn State,
Pony Express got grounded quickly, and part of that was
because of their quarterback. He played one of the worst

(01:01:40):
games you could possibly play, so that's not good. But
part of that was they had an early fourth and
one where he could have scrambled, he threw it into
the end zone for an interception. Bad. But also that
Penn State crowd got insane. Same thing with Ohio State.
Ohio State hosted Tennessee and then they thwomped them and

(01:02:01):
they probably would have thow opped them anywhere neutral site
in Tennessee even but the fact that they had home
field and then Notre Dame Indiana, although that final score
looks a lot closer than it was, and maybe these
were the matchups this year and these teams never had
a shot. And I talked about some of the quarterbacks
and how the quarterbacks aren't where they need to be,

(01:02:23):
or you'd be surprised how they look this college football playoff.
But yeah, it was all home favorites. And I think
I'm talking the spread too, which is insane, but college
football home field advantage is worth like ten points. I
know that's not exactly how the math works out, but

(01:02:45):
we're also talking to playoff game. Penn State was nuts.
Ohio State as well.

Speaker 2 (01:02:52):
So.

Speaker 1 (01:02:54):
Unfortunately the entertainment that those games potentially could have provided
got overruled. And I'm not going to do the whole
speech Alabama should have been in. I think South Carolina
was actually the team that got screwed the most and
all this, but I don't think it would have mattered
because they would have been on the road road playoff games.
These places were nuts, like Penn State, I think exams

(01:03:17):
were over so it was literally just drunk kids there.
That kind of matters. That's why we have home field advantages,
so something to look into. Again, maybe it's just one
year and it's how everything laid out, but like, Okay,
Tennessee was the ninth seed, Ohio State was the eighth seed,
and that gave Ohio State home field advantage. That's pretty significant.

(01:03:40):
And maybe if that's as important and maybe we want
to roll on with that. Cool, But yeah, that part
just felt a little off to me. But I'm also
a unique college football fan. So I'll tell you this
for tomorrow. Penn State Boise State. If you haven't seen
Ashton Jint play yet, uh please watch. He has loads

(01:04:03):
of fun twenty nine rushing touchdowns this year, his unique
stance in the backfield, and it's everything. Like I was
the couple the few Boise State games I got to
watch this year, which was actually more like again, it's
probably three Boise State games, but like, what the hell
am I doing? Anyways? He is complete, Like it's not

(01:04:28):
like whoa Boise State opens up a huge hole. He
beats one guy and goes like it's every carry with him.
If he gets a little bit of space, he's got you.
If he's bigger than you, he'll be bigger than you.
If he's smaller than you, he'll be faster than you.
And every run it feels like he's falling forward or

(01:04:49):
getting a couple of yards when it's even when it's
not the breakout runs. I'm very interested to see Everyone
thinks Penn State is gonna kill him. Penn State is
an eleven point favorite because they're good in the line.
So Penn State is one of the few teams that
they've held up with Ohio State and Oregon and that's
where the game is right that maybe they're just dominant

(01:05:10):
down there, and all that cool stuff about Ginty doesn't matter.
I will be interested to see u. I the way
everyone else who knows college football is talking about it
that I respect is saying Penn State is going to
give them the business in the way they talked about
the home teams doing it last game. This isn't a

(01:05:30):
home game. This is at a neutral stat the VRBO
Fiesta bol Watch out eleven point Penn State. I don't know.
I guess maybe I just want to believe in genty
too much, and maybe they're going to be outclass and
out skilled by Penn State across the field. But I
don't know. A girl can dream for now Oregon Ohio

(01:05:53):
State as I'll avenge myself from those first round matchups.
I said right after the Oregon highho State game, if
they could somehow get these teams to play in the playoffs,
and we got it. It's in the quarterfinals, which some
people aren't happy about because some people are like this,
this might be the championship game. They will run it

(01:06:16):
back with Ohio State as favorites in the Rose Bowl
against undefeated Oregon who beat them. Yo, you want to
talk about a coach being able to scream at the boys,
you guys beat this team. We're going to a neutral
site and they're the favorites. Meanwhile, Ohio State is playing
with the vimen vigor of ten thousand suns because this

(01:06:38):
is the whole crew that they never beat Michigan four years.
Ryan Day supposed to be good as dead as a
head coach, and they came down and they played one
of the best games of the season. So that is
much must watch. I started with Boise because that's New
Year's Eve seven thirty pm. Ohio State Oregon is five
pm New Year's Day. Okay, talk myself into that. Before

(01:07:01):
that is Texas Arizona State your Chick fil A Peach Bowl,
Texas is a thirteen point favorite. This is what I'm
talking about with the buys, Like parts of this system
are still clearly a little broken, and this is one
of them. I don't know. Again, I hope these games

(01:07:24):
aren't living up to their spread billing because that would stink.
But Arizona State with scataboo, that'll be the word of
the day on New Year's Day. The joke with him
is you know how good is he gonna look? With
Belichick in New England. That jokes about five years old
now because he now coaches North Carolina. But White running

(01:07:46):
back who plays just like an absolute dog. The receiving
and the rushing are electric. That let's see what he
can do to the Texas defense and Texas's offense has
left a lot of questions out there. Uh, but I mean,
this is the Texas Longhorns. There. Their two losses are
to Georgia where Arizona State. This year it felt like

(01:08:08):
they kind of came out of nowhere their losses to
Texas Tech and Cincinnati, So you know that just feels
a little different. They're head coach Arizona State. I think
younger than me. That's tough. Yeah, that hurts Kenny Dillingham. Nice,

(01:08:29):
it was a cool Wiki read again. Why was I there?
Why haven't I read a book this year? But I
read Kenny Dillingham's Wikipedia. Let's finish off Notre Dame Georgia.
This is the last game of the day. This is
the smallest line again, two kind of traditional powers here.

(01:08:50):
Georgia as a one and a half point favorite without
Carson Beck, who's declaring for the draft even though his
season is over due to injury. Uh, I mean that
is kind kind of the story that I'm It depends
what you believe in. Like Georgia without Hey, Carson Beck
hadn't played great for them recently that now they're going

(01:09:11):
to their backup quarterback name my apologies. Who is Stockton
Gunn or Stockton? That's right? Who's more of a run
threat than a pass threat? That the Georgia offense was
actually clicking decently because maybe they leaned into the run
a little bit more, and maybe that's a good thing
for them. We'll see their Notre Dame people are saying

(01:09:37):
Notre Dame might be better than them on the lines.
I was getting scared with that with an SEC school.
You know, when we're seeing some of Notre Dame's footage
against recently like Army Virginia, I don't know, maybe that's
me being rude and noxious, but this is queued up
to be one of the good ones personally, no clue.

(01:09:58):
I love the way Notre Dame has been playing, the
way they run the ball, it's just absolutely electric. I
think Georgia can say the same thing, that it should
be a fun one. And maybe it comes down to
the quarterbacks and you've got inexperienced gunner sockedon versus Riley
Leonard who's played a ton of college ball. I listen
a lot of people like Notre Dame in that game,

(01:10:18):
and not just because they're drunk irish guys. So I'm
hoping that the next couple days redeem the college football playoffs.
And if that whole first weekend was kind of a bust,
what if this weekend is great? What if the following
week is great where there's two games and then there's
still a championship after that. So it's a ton of

(01:10:39):
college football. And it's so funny how far college football
has come to get to this point, because this is
basically professional football, but hopefully we get some electric matchups
in there, and then with my NFL association, I think

(01:11:00):
I can be somewhat high and tightish because the NFL
just plays every day now during the holidays, so that's
pretty wild. Like this week technically happened going back to Wednesday,
Christmas with the Chiefs playing Pittsburgh and Baltimore playing Houston.

(01:11:20):
Both those games were a dud. I've got a few
buddies in the group chat getting pretty hot that all
of these short week games are kind of hot garbage,
and I don't know. I think there's some data that
would help, and one of those data points would be
Baltimore Houston thirty one to two. So did you get
to watch NFL football on Netflix on Christmas? You did?

(01:11:44):
And I loved it. I'm a sports junkie. The games
were bad, So we just got to figure this out again,
We're evolving, Let's just figure this out a little bit better.

Speaker 2 (01:11:54):
Still did a Thursday game.

Speaker 1 (01:11:55):
I don't know, Still did and that was a great
game because that was Seattle Chicago three final. Hey, I
don't again, I don't know how many of you come
for football stuff. I don't know how many just listen
to it. Maybe some of you like it, and I
appreciate that, Caleb Williams, some of the numbers are in

(01:12:16):
a historic area. Let's see, they're obviously a disaster. They're
they're head coach, and some of the timeouts called in
that game, we're disgusting. Know who was in the building
though in happ Chicago Bears posted him on their Instagram story.
So it's good to be the king. Uh yeah, I

(01:12:39):
don't know. The MVP conversation's fun. Go listen to the
football guys talk about that, because I don't know what's
gonna happen between Lamar, Josh uh Saquon Joe Burrow from
the rafters. There was Saturday football. Oh so you're looking
for the good game Chargers New England for seven, some

(01:13:02):
of the quarterbacks that are getting run out this weekend
by Golly again, Like it kind of doesn't matter if
you've made it to this part of the NFL season
and hey, there's some fantasy implications. You know, some championships
are going down today, but you know, the teams that
are out of it feel more out of it than
they've ever been. That the one good game Saturday was

(01:13:23):
my Denver Broncos versus Cincinnati Bengals goes to overtime. Joe
Burr for four to twelve. Bo Nicks let a couple eat,
but the Bengals and T Higgins three touchdowns. That'll go
down as a fantasy legend in some circles. They get
it done against the horse. He's in Cincinnati. Cincinnati has

(01:13:45):
playoff hopes. They need my Broncos to lose. I want
to say. The other thing is they need the Dolphins
to lose next week, so that might not happen. Oh
and they need they need the Broncos to lose the Chiefs.
So the Chiefs are probably resting their starters, but they
also might not be resting their starters because they're going

(01:14:06):
to get a bye. So if they don't play that game,
I think their next game would be like twenty five days.
So if you're a rust person, which I don't know
if the Chiefs are, you also can't get Mahomes hurt
in a game that doesn't matter. So let's see how
that sorts out. Rams beat the Cardinals thirteen to nine,
again another kind of slop fest. It ended with Kyler

(01:14:29):
coming back down the field plunks the receiver and the
helmet pops up interception to lose. It was cool to
see Arizona's tight end Trey McBride get the touchdown after
setting the record for most receptions to start a season
without getting one. Pretty insane for a tight end. That's crazy.

(01:14:52):
Big weekend for the tight ends. Brock Bowers he set
a bunch of rookie receiving records this weekend, So tight end,
big back some of them literally what was that? Joe's
McFly has gotten me with that one. He keeps calling.
He keeps calling thicker people big backs, and I was like,

(01:15:15):
can I use that? Is that appropriate? And he's like,
I think so, So I don't know it's a problem.
If it's not, I'm okay with being canceled big backs.
Speaking of more good football game the Jets. They got
obliterated by the Bills forty to fourteen final. It was
uglier than that for a little bit. Jets had a

(01:15:36):
zero on the scoreboard through three that team. Sauce Gardner's
replying to people on Instagram, what a screenshot he Higgins
He's put on t Higgins Instagram to not I would
tell him to not sign with the Jets. That's not good.

(01:15:56):
It's another thing you didn't see Belichick's Patriots doing on
so media. Raiders and Saints knew no, no, no, pay
that man. I will not be telling you that that's
so bad. Will not be telling you that, oh bad

(01:16:23):
the Jets. Speaking of Raiders and Saints, yep, the g
Man forty five points. What a game against the Colts.
Maybe it's ruined their draft position, but for a day,
the Giants were the Kings of the Meadowlands. Their only

(01:16:43):
home win. The kick returned touchdown was just a movie
by a mere Smith Marsette. Uh so, yeah, they're currently
after Shador was wearing Giants cleats. They're currently sitting at
the four pick right position for a quarterback like.

Speaker 2 (01:17:03):
And they've had of the teams in the mix. I
think they've had the strongest schedule even get up to two.
I think they need some favors.

Speaker 1 (01:17:12):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (01:17:13):
And they play the Eagles will probably be resting next week,
so it's it's a good time. It's a good time.

Speaker 1 (01:17:26):
Congrats g Man. Eagles roll on the Cowboys. Another shocker
Cooper Rush and Kenny Pickett, and I do want to
give a shout out to our guy Tanner McKee who
came into this game and got two touchdown passes. So okay, Eagles, Saquon,
they are rolling in the Giants or excuse me, Cowboys

(01:17:51):
aren't a very sad place for the rest of this season.
Let's see, what are the other games? They need to
be discussed? My computer just froze on me. Tough at
this at this point, let's see I talked about Joe Burr. Well,
what was the nightcap game last night? Oh Falcons? This

(01:18:14):
was actually fun. Falcons commanders a couple couple of the young,
hopefully stud qbs in this league. Jaden Daniels has obviously
put enough out there that everyone is now in the
Jaden wagon, which reminder, well, Poppy was there early. That
was a really fun night shift with Penix leading the

(01:18:38):
boys some crazy throws late to get them in the mix.
If you're a Falcons fan, you have to be excited
what you saw there. But Jaden, man, he is unreal dude.
When he it needs to get done, he gets it done.
And he's maybe my favorite QB to watch now. I
don't know. Everything he did is so composed and so

(01:19:02):
gliding and so in control, but yet he fights for
other yards It's not like like Kyler has hit a
point now where he slides early and that's fine because
he's he needs to do that to take care of him,
to give Arizona the best shot. Like that's just smart,
Jaden Lesson. There are times when he glides and gets

(01:19:22):
through tackles while still getting down gently, where he's still
picking up extra yards. Every facet of his game I
enjoy and love to watch. The Commanders are eleven and five.
They ended a twenty four year postseason drought. Twenty four football. WHOA,
it's football, So he's the king of that town. That

(01:19:47):
was a fun way to end. At the other Electric
game yesterday that I skipped over because my page froze.
No it's not Dolphins Browns twenty to three, some good
QB play. No it's not Titans Jaguars. No it's not
bu Panthers. They put up a big number five tds
for Baker Packers, Vikes, the Vikings and Sam Donald get

(01:20:11):
the twenty seven to twenty five victory. Packers started off
slow and the Vikings really did not. Both of these
teams are so good at spreading the ball around. Dobbs
Craft on Tavian Wick's Melton, Reed, Musgrave Heath with catches, Jefferson, Naylor, Addison, Hockinson, Jones,

(01:20:34):
Acres Ham Munt for the Vikings and Sam Donald's playing
great and the team celebration after the locker room. If
you haven't seen it on social media, go look it
up today because it's really cool to see how beloved
that guy is. And it's gonna lead to some fun
Minnesota offseason stuff. Slash. They're just gonna franchise them. Everyone's like, whoa,
it's gonna be this big, crazy conversation. You've got such

(01:20:57):
an instant get out of jail free card. He's played amazing.
We can pay him one year if he does this again,
he's our quarterback. We'll trade the first rounder we took
last year and if not decisions made could fight by
the Packers. They get back in this one. It's too little,
too late. Fikes complete the final first down on a
cam Akers. WHOA. These two teams are really good. The

(01:21:20):
Minnesota Vikings are fourteen and two good. Kevin O'Connell do
I take credit for that tall, handsome Vikings coach saw
something I didn't see this And it's just a really
interesting playoff picture because If the Lions win tonight, they're
the one seed, which means that drops the Vikes to

(01:21:40):
like the five seeds. So we're going from number one seed,
home field through the playoffs to road playoff game to start,
like I the uh NFC in a wild place, and
mostly because of that NFC North and how good it's
been this year. That yeah, it's an ugly one PM

(01:22:01):
slate because they moved the other good games to weird
primetime games this week and then those games weren't great
because they were off scheduling athletes or creatures of habit,
but it still ended up on a high note. I
mean that Falcons Commander's ot game that was worth the watch.
We're seeing those young guys sling it. So a ton

(01:22:22):
of all the playoff scenarios for this weekend. Here's the analytics.
Watch some of the college football. There should be a
couple of gems. Watch your fantasy weeks if you need
them to play out. Although Week eighteen not for me.
End your seasons in week seventeen, imo, but we will

(01:22:43):
see what games matter. Can my Broncos survive the Chiefs?
Chiefs playing their backups? Probably? I think there's a couple
other games that are gonna be Vikings Lions end. It
kind of a playoff game Sunday night. How do you
like that? So we talked a lot of sports. I'm
glad I got to I'm glad you guys were here

(01:23:04):
with it. Glad I could see King Bebes before ringing
in the New Years. So hope this got you guys
through this weird part of the year, drifting through into
the New Year's, the cold weather, the gray. We will
be back, probably not Thursday Friday. I think we're catching
up on other stuff. If there's something that we need
to maybe otherwise. We might see you next week and

(01:23:27):
we'll know, like the football playoffs. I don't know, wo
crazy time of year. Tell them about Uncle

Speaker 2 (01:23:34):
Dan Waking Jake's production of Damn Patch Productions, John Boie
Media and Workast Media

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