December 26, 2024 • 14 mins
From the Texas Rangers to the Boston Red Sox to the Los Angeles Dodgers, MLB free agency has been active. That's why Gene Watson joined the show today to recap all of the transactions!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
It's the Craigway Show with a voice of the Texas
Longhorns in Hall of Fame broadcaster Craig Way.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Day after Christmas.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Here the game above Sports Bowl Toledo is just taking
a thirteen to twelve. Lad had a long touchdown on
a screen pass where Junior Van de Ross the third
scored on it and did kind of a a whirling
(00:51):
flip into the end zone, kind of a spin into
the end zone. He got flagged for it, but the
the touchdown stood any exports good. So anyway, it's the
team to twelve in that ball game. We'll keep you
we'll keep you posted on that. But like we said,
this being the off season for baseball and for this
(01:12):
being the holiday season, it also means the off season
with regard to Major League Baseball and some signings that'll
be underway. So with that in mind, it's always good
to visit with a good friend. Jean Watson from the
Chicago White Sox front office, but especially at the holiday
(01:33):
time of year because he's come off winter meetings, it's
before spring training, so sometimes we can pin him down
just long enough during the holiday season to do that.
Happy Holidays, how you doing, you know, great.
Speaker 4 (01:48):
Christmas, Craig, I was really excited to see you on
the air today.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
Really well, we're glad to be We're glad to be
here sort of.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Uh no, we're glad to be back on.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
I wanted to grab a few minutes with you and
have you talk about that, not only the signings that
have happened to this point in what's going on, but
what organizations go through in this last part of the
month of December before they get into January, before we
even get to spring training. So before we do that,
(02:21):
I want to ask your opinion on a couple of
signings and how things will go. First of all, a
guy you've known, we've all watched his career. He played
for my team, he played for the Braves, he played
for the Giants, he played for the Cubs, he played
for about everybody, and now he's going to be a
Texas Ranger, Jock Peterson. How about your thoughts on the
(02:43):
Jock signing a two year deal.
Speaker 4 (02:46):
He's just such a winning player, Craig. I mean, everwhere
the guy goes, they win. He provides such a value
from an offensive standpoint, left handed.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Power in that ballpark, and.
Speaker 4 (02:58):
He certainly fits them perfectly, and in time when they've
tried to be a little bit transactional and create some
financial flexibility, he became a strong trip for them moving
into twenty five.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
Hey, all right.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
And then in addition at another former Dodger now Walker Bueller,
I mean, one of the heroes of the World Series, obviously,
and pitched in that.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Last game, and you know he did.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
He did have a five to three adra and sixteen starts,
but he really cranked it up in the in the postseason,
and they had locked it down on one day's rest
that last game against the Yankees, but had a really
good start other and he signed a one year, twenty
one million dollar deal with the Red Sox. Maybe that
flies in the face of those who say the Red
(03:41):
Sox don't have any money. They've got money. The question
was how are they going to spend it? And here's
one area where they did no question.
Speaker 4 (03:48):
And I don't think there's been a team that's been
more aggressive or had more impactful moves than the Red
Sox this winter. They finished outside the wild Card by
five games.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
They won eighty one games.
Speaker 4 (03:58):
In twenty twenty four, they trade for Grant Crochet, really giving.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
Up four premium.
Speaker 4 (04:03):
Prospects that we were super excited to acquire. They signed
Patrick Sanderbal who's going to be a comeback guy as
a left handed starter, and you signed Walker Bueller. So
they certainly narrowed the gap certainly in the wild card race.
But I'm sure they will continue their push to try
to win that division next.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
Take us back to that deal again for Crochet, because
I know you said you guys are excited as you
go through your building and rebuilding through your farm system
in the youth the guys that you acquired from Boston
and Carshiera is obviously a tremendous pitcher. How about the
recap of that whole deal that you worked with the
Red Sox.
Speaker 4 (04:41):
Well, we were sitting in the room on Tuesday afternoon,
and really there were six or seven teams on the
board at the time, and we're rolling through each player.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
We're ranking out the players.
Speaker 4 (04:50):
We're breaking the players down with our scalps and just
circling like who are the anchor players of this deal?
And then after you get the number one player, who's
the best number two? And then so you kind of
rank out the deals. In Boston at the time, we
didn't really feel like it was a.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Big player in the game.
Speaker 4 (05:07):
We had a couple of teams in the National League
that were very aggressive, a couple of teams in the
American League that were aggressive. But overnight, as things began
to transpire with free agency, Boston engaged and we gave
them something that we felt like, Okay, this is the
deal we could put our heads down the pillow and
be super excited about. And Kyle Till, who was their
(05:28):
first round pick in twenty twenty three out of the
University of Virginia, an ultra athletic catcher, we're super excited about.
A lot of Aggie fans might know the name Braden Montgomery,
who was a first round pick this year in the
outfieldings transferred from Stanford and at the injury to his
ankle in the Super Regional. And then all right here
(05:49):
had started Winkelming Gonzales and a young bat named Chase
Maderon who's going to impact our major league team next year.
So really an old school trade that you rare in
today's mark and we were super excited to see it happen.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
All right, and before we're done with the Red Sox,
they did a deal a couple of days ago, they
got left hander Giovanni Moran from the Twins for the
catcher infielder Combo Mickey Gasper.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
How about that deal.
Speaker 4 (06:15):
Yeah, more of an organizational type deal, and we really
broke down Gasper for about two days. But that was
more of a depth type deal just to add to
their pen and they have probably been the most aggressive
team so far and trying to get back in the game.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
In twenty twenty five.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
Andrew McCutcheon re signed a one year deal with the Pirates.
And when you think Pittsburgh Baseball, he really is that guy,
even though he spent some years away from him and
with the Giants and everything, but now back and five
time All Star one year deal probably worth about five
million dollars. That's a feel good thing, isn't it to
see Andrew mc because I think everybody knows that it's
(06:52):
getting near the end of the line for him and
probably would be cool to see him be able to
end his career in a Pirate uniform.
Speaker 4 (07:00):
Well that's it, Craig, and I'm sure he will be
a Pirate for life. I'm sure they have some personal
services contracts waiting for him.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
Wants his career over but perfect for.
Speaker 4 (07:09):
Them in that he embodies everything that that organization has
been truly for the last fifteen years. And you know,
they've got a younger club, so he can come in
and insteal tangibly. You know what they represent as an organization.
You know, they've been very very close to winning a
couple of times, losing in the wild card rounds, and
they've got a really talented young team kind of below
(07:30):
the rate OAR team for twenty twenty five, and so
he can come in and be the tangible glue, the
leader in the clubhouse and just show those young players
how to win. And it's it's really he's a pirate
for life.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
They'll retire his number.
Speaker 4 (07:43):
He'll be in the Hall of Fame with Pittsburgh and
truly one of the great ambassadors of that organization and
the game of baseball in itself.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
Okay, so Andrew mccuncheon's thirty eight. Here, Adrianza is retiring.
He's thirty five. He was the Angels earlier this year.
He's one World's series titled with Atlanta, and he played
with the Giants and the Twins and the break I mean,
you've known him for a while, yeah.
Speaker 4 (08:06):
And you know, Craig, that's what we're seeing, especially at
the catcher's position, where guys we're retiring at thirty two,
thirty three years old. Look at the age of the
players now playing beyond thirty five years old, especially at
the catcher's position because of the supply and the demand
for the position. But more importantly, what the physical conditioning
(08:27):
and strength and condition you have done to make these
players healthier longer and keep their in shape longer. And
so you're seeing guys that are they're.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
Having longer careers, and that's certainly.
Speaker 4 (08:38):
Great for the game when and I think the DH
has been a big part of that in the National League,
where normally you know, you'd walk by a guy because
there wasn't really a positional fit. Now those careers are
being extended because of the designated hitter.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
So it's really great for baseball when guys like Andrew
who can stay in the game.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
Talking some offseason baseball signings and comings and goings with
Gene Watson the Chicago White Sox front office. Okay, let
me jump to the Astros. They signed Christian Walker three year,
sixty million dollar deal. It's gonna pay him twenty million annually.
And that came just more a little over a week
after they picked up Isaac Braidy's for the Cubs, and
(09:16):
that was the big deal that sent Kyle Tucker to
the Chicago to Chicago and then and then everybody's waiting
to see what's gonna happen with Alex Bredman and the
Astros today, even said Dana Brown said yesterday, I guess
it was that things have stalled a little bit there.
How much of that type of thing is just them
(09:38):
seeing what else could what they could do or is
it just stalled and trying to get a deal done,
because I know you've sat in those runs before.
Speaker 4 (09:46):
Well, I think organizationally, it comes down to the fact
that like when you begin, and what they've done is
absolutely incredible. Sevestrate American League Championship series before this year,
a couple of World Championships, and they have truly been
the modern day New York Yankee organization of just where
expectations drive the results. Jim Crane has done an amazing
(10:06):
job of just refeeling that twenty six man roster the
forty man roster of the minor league system. But I
think they're looking at it now and you look around
the league, and you look at the Dodgers and the Yankees,
what Boston has done, what Seattle's done with their pitching, and.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
I think you kind of got you kind of.
Speaker 4 (10:23):
Have to draw a line in the sand and say,
there's only so much more we can push. And Kyle
Tucker being traded, I think was the first sign there
have been rumors about their starting pitchers being on the
trade market, and so I think it comes down to, like, Okay,
how much do we really want to push in for
the next four or five years when we kind of
know that we don't want to be caught in the
(10:45):
middle and this has got a chance to be a
rebuild the next three or three years.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
And so it's always tough on an organization to make.
Speaker 4 (10:51):
Those kinds of decisions when you've got a player that's
the statue of Alex Bregman.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
In addition to Bregman, you look at other guys that
are out there, peed Linzo, Tai Oscar Hernandez Oh. Dodger
fans here thinking or hearing and maybe maybe he's close
to resigning. We're all hoping. Anthony Santen there from Baltimore.
And then you got pitchers like Corbyn Burns, Jack Flaherty,
Nick Pavetta, Relievers, Tanner Scott, Jeff Hoffsman Hoffman, Kirby Yates.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
You got all those guys, So.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
It sounds like there's still going to be some activity
going on here even before clubs get to their spring
training destinations.
Speaker 4 (11:27):
No question, it's always so hard for the player because
you've got your families.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
You want to know where you're going to be for
spring training, you.
Speaker 4 (11:33):
Want to begin to look for places to live in
the city you're going to be in, and so that
sense of urgency between the player and the agent always
kicks up this time of year. I would certainly look
for ti Oscar Hernandez and Santander to come off the
board quickly. In Corbyn Burns, I know he wants to
be on the West Coast, and you know, with the
payrolls it exists out there, there's only so many West
(11:53):
Coast teams that can afford him, and so that's something
that he's going to have to measure versus the annual
you know the value of his contracts, and so there's
still some work to do with a lot of the
higher end players. But I think once we get past
the new year, they'll be can put off the board quickly.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
All right.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
One other thing I had to hitch up with David Choonfeld.
I know you're familiar with his work with ESPN dot com.
He did a piece today where it was he listed
a number for every American league team at number that's
important and it was different, different numbers, different things. But
for your ball club, the number was forty nine. And
I know you know where I'm going with this because
(12:30):
it's because he wrote the White Sox bullpen set major
league records in twenty twenty four with forty nine losses
and a minus eleven point two two win probability added.
And so he said that number obviously has to improve.
Now that's that's being captain obvious there. But I know
that's one of the one of the areas that you
and the ball club are looking at, right Yeah.
Speaker 4 (12:51):
And I don't think you can you can set expectations
for your team. I think that you try to put
the twenty six best players on the field that you can.
And we're certainly very encouraged and excited about the roster
that we continue to grow on every year. I've been
a part of four rebuilds this one feels a lot
better than some in past that I've been a part of.
We've got a very very difficult decision. The Detroit Tigers
(13:13):
are going to be a monster next year. The Kansasy Royals,
you look at the turnaround they had in twenty four
from twenty twenty three, Cleveland and Minnesota are obviously powers
in the division. So the American League Central is no
joke when it comes to talent and expectations winning.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
And so we're going to continue to.
Speaker 4 (13:29):
Plod along and build out our forty man roster the
best that we possibly can and play the best baseball
we can. We're very excited about Will Venable being our manager.
But those numbers, those projections certainly don't seep into the
organization of what our expectations are each day.
Speaker 3 (13:46):
Yeah, hey, listen, I appreciate you doing this on the
day after Christmas, sending the love to Melanie the family
and happy holidays. And sure I'll see that you're still
trailing Notre Dame though. I mean, you're gonna you're gonna
go to the Sugar Bowl, aren't you be at the
Sugar knew you were gonna be.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
I knew you're.
Speaker 4 (14:02):
Gonna don't think I didn't try to do the peach
and the sugar in the same day, but it got
I got threatened with some Christmas ribbon when I brought
it up.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
Yeah, that's a good point. It's a good point. Yeah,
I need to do that. All right.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
Hey, thanks and we'll be back in touch. Happy holidays,
all right, Greig, thanks so much. All Right, that's Gene
Watson from the Chicago White Sox. All Right, we'll uh,
we've got inconceivable up next. We continue on Sports radioa
of thirteen under the Zone
It's the Craigway Show with a voice of the Texas
Longhorns in Hall of Fame broadcaster Craig Way.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Day after Christmas.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Here the game above Sports Bowl Toledo is just taking
a thirteen to twelve. Lad had a long touchdown on
a screen pass where Junior Van de Ross the third
scored on it and did kind of a a whirling
(00:51):
flip into the end zone, kind of a spin into
the end zone. He got flagged for it, but the
the touchdown stood any exports good. So anyway, it's the
team to twelve in that ball game. We'll keep you
we'll keep you posted on that. But like we said,
this being the off season for baseball and for this
(01:12):
being the holiday season, it also means the off season
with regard to Major League Baseball and some signings that'll
be underway. So with that in mind, it's always good
to visit with a good friend. Jean Watson from the
Chicago White Sox front office, but especially at the holiday
(01:33):
time of year because he's come off winter meetings, it's
before spring training, so sometimes we can pin him down
just long enough during the holiday season to do that.
Happy Holidays, how you doing, you know, great.
Speaker 4 (01:48):
Christmas, Craig, I was really excited to see you on
the air today.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
Really well, we're glad to be We're glad to be
here sort of.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Uh no, we're glad to be back on.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
I wanted to grab a few minutes with you and
have you talk about that, not only the signings that
have happened to this point in what's going on, but
what organizations go through in this last part of the
month of December before they get into January, before we
even get to spring training. So before we do that,
(02:21):
I want to ask your opinion on a couple of
signings and how things will go. First of all, a
guy you've known, we've all watched his career. He played
for my team, he played for the Braves, he played
for the Giants, he played for the Cubs, he played
for about everybody, and now he's going to be a
Texas Ranger, Jock Peterson. How about your thoughts on the
(02:43):
Jock signing a two year deal.
Speaker 4 (02:46):
He's just such a winning player, Craig. I mean, everwhere
the guy goes, they win. He provides such a value
from an offensive standpoint, left handed.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Power in that ballpark, and.
Speaker 4 (02:58):
He certainly fits them perfectly, and in time when they've
tried to be a little bit transactional and create some
financial flexibility, he became a strong trip for them moving
into twenty five.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
Hey, all right.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
And then in addition at another former Dodger now Walker Bueller,
I mean, one of the heroes of the World Series, obviously,
and pitched in that.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Last game, and you know he did.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
He did have a five to three adra and sixteen starts,
but he really cranked it up in the in the postseason,
and they had locked it down on one day's rest
that last game against the Yankees, but had a really
good start other and he signed a one year, twenty
one million dollar deal with the Red Sox. Maybe that
flies in the face of those who say the Red
(03:41):
Sox don't have any money. They've got money. The question
was how are they going to spend it? And here's
one area where they did no question.
Speaker 4 (03:48):
And I don't think there's been a team that's been
more aggressive or had more impactful moves than the Red
Sox this winter. They finished outside the wild Card by
five games.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
They won eighty one games.
Speaker 4 (03:58):
In twenty twenty four, they trade for Grant Crochet, really giving.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
Up four premium.
Speaker 4 (04:03):
Prospects that we were super excited to acquire. They signed
Patrick Sanderbal who's going to be a comeback guy as
a left handed starter, and you signed Walker Bueller. So
they certainly narrowed the gap certainly in the wild card race.
But I'm sure they will continue their push to try
to win that division next.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
Take us back to that deal again for Crochet, because
I know you said you guys are excited as you
go through your building and rebuilding through your farm system
in the youth the guys that you acquired from Boston
and Carshiera is obviously a tremendous pitcher. How about the
recap of that whole deal that you worked with the
Red Sox.
Speaker 4 (04:41):
Well, we were sitting in the room on Tuesday afternoon,
and really there were six or seven teams on the
board at the time, and we're rolling through each player.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
We're ranking out the players.
Speaker 4 (04:50):
We're breaking the players down with our scalps and just
circling like who are the anchor players of this deal?
And then after you get the number one player, who's
the best number two? And then so you kind of
rank out the deals. In Boston at the time, we
didn't really feel like it was a.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Big player in the game.
Speaker 4 (05:07):
We had a couple of teams in the National League
that were very aggressive, a couple of teams in the
American League that were aggressive. But overnight, as things began
to transpire with free agency, Boston engaged and we gave
them something that we felt like, Okay, this is the
deal we could put our heads down the pillow and
be super excited about. And Kyle Till, who was their
(05:28):
first round pick in twenty twenty three out of the
University of Virginia, an ultra athletic catcher, we're super excited about.
A lot of Aggie fans might know the name Braden Montgomery,
who was a first round pick this year in the
outfieldings transferred from Stanford and at the injury to his
ankle in the Super Regional. And then all right here
(05:49):
had started Winkelming Gonzales and a young bat named Chase
Maderon who's going to impact our major league team next year.
So really an old school trade that you rare in
today's mark and we were super excited to see it happen.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
All right, and before we're done with the Red Sox,
they did a deal a couple of days ago, they
got left hander Giovanni Moran from the Twins for the
catcher infielder Combo Mickey Gasper.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
How about that deal.
Speaker 4 (06:15):
Yeah, more of an organizational type deal, and we really
broke down Gasper for about two days. But that was
more of a depth type deal just to add to
their pen and they have probably been the most aggressive
team so far and trying to get back in the game.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
In twenty twenty five.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
Andrew McCutcheon re signed a one year deal with the Pirates.
And when you think Pittsburgh Baseball, he really is that guy,
even though he spent some years away from him and
with the Giants and everything, but now back and five
time All Star one year deal probably worth about five
million dollars. That's a feel good thing, isn't it to
see Andrew mc because I think everybody knows that it's
(06:52):
getting near the end of the line for him and
probably would be cool to see him be able to
end his career in a Pirate uniform.
Speaker 4 (07:00):
Well that's it, Craig, and I'm sure he will be
a Pirate for life. I'm sure they have some personal
services contracts waiting for him.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
Wants his career over but perfect for.
Speaker 4 (07:09):
Them in that he embodies everything that that organization has
been truly for the last fifteen years. And you know,
they've got a younger club, so he can come in
and insteal tangibly. You know what they represent as an organization.
You know, they've been very very close to winning a
couple of times, losing in the wild card rounds, and
they've got a really talented young team kind of below
(07:30):
the rate OAR team for twenty twenty five, and so
he can come in and be the tangible glue, the
leader in the clubhouse and just show those young players
how to win. And it's it's really he's a pirate
for life.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
They'll retire his number.
Speaker 4 (07:43):
He'll be in the Hall of Fame with Pittsburgh and
truly one of the great ambassadors of that organization and
the game of baseball in itself.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
Okay, so Andrew mccuncheon's thirty eight. Here, Adrianza is retiring.
He's thirty five. He was the Angels earlier this year.
He's one World's series titled with Atlanta, and he played
with the Giants and the Twins and the break I mean,
you've known him for a while, yeah.
Speaker 4 (08:06):
And you know, Craig, that's what we're seeing, especially at
the catcher's position, where guys we're retiring at thirty two,
thirty three years old. Look at the age of the
players now playing beyond thirty five years old, especially at
the catcher's position because of the supply and the demand
for the position. But more importantly, what the physical conditioning
(08:27):
and strength and condition you have done to make these
players healthier longer and keep their in shape longer. And
so you're seeing guys that are they're.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
Having longer careers, and that's certainly.
Speaker 4 (08:38):
Great for the game when and I think the DH
has been a big part of that in the National League,
where normally you know, you'd walk by a guy because
there wasn't really a positional fit. Now those careers are
being extended because of the designated hitter.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
So it's really great for baseball when guys like Andrew
who can stay in the game.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
Talking some offseason baseball signings and comings and goings with
Gene Watson the Chicago White Sox front office. Okay, let
me jump to the Astros. They signed Christian Walker three year,
sixty million dollar deal. It's gonna pay him twenty million annually.
And that came just more a little over a week
after they picked up Isaac Braidy's for the Cubs, and
(09:16):
that was the big deal that sent Kyle Tucker to
the Chicago to Chicago and then and then everybody's waiting
to see what's gonna happen with Alex Bredman and the
Astros today, even said Dana Brown said yesterday, I guess
it was that things have stalled a little bit there.
How much of that type of thing is just them
(09:38):
seeing what else could what they could do or is
it just stalled and trying to get a deal done,
because I know you've sat in those runs before.
Speaker 4 (09:46):
Well, I think organizationally, it comes down to the fact
that like when you begin, and what they've done is
absolutely incredible. Sevestrate American League Championship series before this year,
a couple of World Championships, and they have truly been
the modern day New York Yankee organization of just where
expectations drive the results. Jim Crane has done an amazing
(10:06):
job of just refeeling that twenty six man roster the
forty man roster of the minor league system. But I
think they're looking at it now and you look around
the league, and you look at the Dodgers and the Yankees,
what Boston has done, what Seattle's done with their pitching, and.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
I think you kind of got you kind of.
Speaker 4 (10:23):
Have to draw a line in the sand and say,
there's only so much more we can push. And Kyle
Tucker being traded, I think was the first sign there
have been rumors about their starting pitchers being on the
trade market, and so I think it comes down to, like, Okay,
how much do we really want to push in for
the next four or five years when we kind of
know that we don't want to be caught in the
(10:45):
middle and this has got a chance to be a
rebuild the next three or three years.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
And so it's always tough on an organization to make.
Speaker 4 (10:51):
Those kinds of decisions when you've got a player that's
the statue of Alex Bregman.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
In addition to Bregman, you look at other guys that
are out there, peed Linzo, Tai Oscar Hernandez Oh. Dodger
fans here thinking or hearing and maybe maybe he's close
to resigning. We're all hoping. Anthony Santen there from Baltimore.
And then you got pitchers like Corbyn Burns, Jack Flaherty,
Nick Pavetta, Relievers, Tanner Scott, Jeff Hoffsman Hoffman, Kirby Yates.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
You got all those guys, So.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
It sounds like there's still going to be some activity
going on here even before clubs get to their spring
training destinations.
Speaker 4 (11:27):
No question, it's always so hard for the player because
you've got your families.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
You want to know where you're going to be for
spring training, you.
Speaker 4 (11:33):
Want to begin to look for places to live in
the city you're going to be in, and so that
sense of urgency between the player and the agent always
kicks up this time of year. I would certainly look
for ti Oscar Hernandez and Santander to come off the
board quickly. In Corbyn Burns, I know he wants to
be on the West Coast, and you know, with the
payrolls it exists out there, there's only so many West
(11:53):
Coast teams that can afford him, and so that's something
that he's going to have to measure versus the annual
you know the value of his contracts, and so there's
still some work to do with a lot of the
higher end players. But I think once we get past
the new year, they'll be can put off the board quickly.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
All right.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
One other thing I had to hitch up with David Choonfeld.
I know you're familiar with his work with ESPN dot com.
He did a piece today where it was he listed
a number for every American league team at number that's
important and it was different, different numbers, different things. But
for your ball club, the number was forty nine. And
I know you know where I'm going with this because
(12:30):
it's because he wrote the White Sox bullpen set major
league records in twenty twenty four with forty nine losses
and a minus eleven point two two win probability added.
And so he said that number obviously has to improve.
Now that's that's being captain obvious there. But I know
that's one of the one of the areas that you
and the ball club are looking at, right Yeah.
Speaker 4 (12:51):
And I don't think you can you can set expectations
for your team. I think that you try to put
the twenty six best players on the field that you can.
And we're certainly very encouraged and excited about the roster
that we continue to grow on every year. I've been
a part of four rebuilds this one feels a lot
better than some in past that I've been a part of.
We've got a very very difficult decision. The Detroit Tigers
(13:13):
are going to be a monster next year. The Kansasy Royals,
you look at the turnaround they had in twenty four
from twenty twenty three, Cleveland and Minnesota are obviously powers
in the division. So the American League Central is no
joke when it comes to talent and expectations winning.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
And so we're going to continue to.
Speaker 4 (13:29):
Plod along and build out our forty man roster the
best that we possibly can and play the best baseball
we can. We're very excited about Will Venable being our manager.
But those numbers, those projections certainly don't seep into the
organization of what our expectations are each day.
Speaker 3 (13:46):
Yeah, hey, listen, I appreciate you doing this on the
day after Christmas, sending the love to Melanie the family
and happy holidays. And sure I'll see that you're still
trailing Notre Dame though. I mean, you're gonna you're gonna
go to the Sugar Bowl, aren't you be at the
Sugar knew you were gonna be.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
I knew you're.
Speaker 4 (14:02):
Gonna don't think I didn't try to do the peach
and the sugar in the same day, but it got
I got threatened with some Christmas ribbon when I brought
it up.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
Yeah, that's a good point. It's a good point. Yeah,
I need to do that. All right.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
Hey, thanks and we'll be back in touch. Happy holidays,
all right, Greig, thanks so much. All Right, that's Gene
Watson from the Chicago White Sox. All Right, we'll uh,
we've got inconceivable up next. We continue on Sports radioa
of thirteen under the Zone
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