December 10, 2025 • 35 mins
Today on the Scott Jennings Show: Scott breaks down the headlines you need to be aware of. Then, Scott is joined by former Cardinals Exec, John Mozeliak to discuss why MLB needs a salary cap for competitive balance, & whether he thinks there will be a lockout.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Ladies as gentlemen.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Cheers Scott Jennings.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Okay, Wednesday, December the tenth, Greetings from Columbus, Ohio. If
you're watching on the live stream, you see it over
my shoulder. Beautiful Columbus. You know I lived here for
a while at one time. But I'm back tonight for
another event. The Revolution of Common Sense book Tour rolls
(00:28):
into Ohio. I'll be signing hundreds of books tonight in
Columbus with the Ohio Young Republicans.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
I appreciate the invitation.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Last night in Philly Phoenixville, more specifically, great crowd at
the theater there in Phoenix Somebody told me that theater
where we were is where they filmed The Blob. You
ever heard the movie The Blob? Apparently they filmed it
in that theater we were at in Phoenixville. But my
buddy Dom Giordano, a legend in Philly radio, was our
host and we just had a great time. So to
(00:57):
Dom and to the folks in Phoenixville, thanks for coming
out last night. Tomorrow I'll be in Michigan. I guess
I've been Michigan Thursday, Friday and Saturday. They're going crazy
for this book in Michigan, and I of course was
wise enough to schedule events in Michigan in December.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
So that's how that's how I was thinking about it.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
It's a Scott Jetting show on the Salem Radio Network.
You know, we're sponsored by Ease Total Health. Health insurance
is broken. Ease fixes it with no deductibles, no red tape,
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(01:40):
a look at it. I think there's something there for you.
I've got an interesting conversation coming up on the show today.
We'll start it at twenty two minutes after the hour.
I was lucky enough to get on the show a
fellow named John Moseaylock. Now, if you're a baseball fan,
you know John mosey Loock. He was the general manager
and then president of baseball operations for the Saint Louis Cardinals.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
He just retired.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Baseball's winter meetings are going on in Florida right now.
Of course, there's a looming possibility of a lockout if
the owners and the players can't come to an agreement
on their collective bargaining agreement, and there's also renewed interest
in whether Major League Baseball should implement a salary cap
to enhance competitiveness.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Now a lot of fans want this.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
We're going to cover a lot of baseball topics with
John Mosey lock Moe as we call him, beginning at
twenty two minutes. Now, it's no surprise that I would
have invited Mo from the Cardinals. The Cardinals are my team,
and so I was able to talk with Moe a
little bit about that, and really an honor to have
him dropping by.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
The show today.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
I'll start, though, with the news, and you know, I
could sit here and give you a TikTok update on
the healthcare debate or the NDAA whatever. We'll get to
all that in watch. Nothing's happened today, but by the
way that I can tell they're talking, nothing's happened. But
there's a couple of stories that have crossed my desk
that have honestly just made my blood boil. And I'd
(03:12):
like to spend some time today shaming literally unapologetically shaming
everyone in the Western media, everyone in politics, all of
these influencers and comedians and Hollywood types, but specifically the
(03:34):
people who are supposed to know better, the media types,
the political types. I'm going to shame them because of
these stories that are now emerging out of Gaza regarding
the kinds of propaganda that Hamas was engaged in during
the war with Israel, absolute unadulterated propaganda, and all these
(04:00):
people fell for it.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
Le'm going to start here, read you a story.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
The father of Noah Marciano is speaking out publicly for
the first time. Noah was one of the hostages in Gozip.
She was taken, She didn't make it out, she died,
but her father is sharing a story for the first time.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
About how his daughter died.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Avi is his name. His daughter was Noah. He was
set a video.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
From the Shifa hospital showing his daughter getting murdered by
a doctor who was injecting air into her veins. In
the video, Noah is begging for her life, and Avi
says in the video by the end of the clip
quote she's sweating, but there's no life to her body.
(04:57):
Noah was nineteen years old. She was one of seven
female soldiers that was kidnapped from Nahalau's military base on
October the seventh. She is the only one from the group,
by the way, that did not return alive. Her body
was recovered from a building adjacent to Shifa Hospital in
Gaza City by the IDF in November of twenty twenty three. Now,
(05:21):
in November of twenty twenty three, Hamas released a video
of Marciano Noah, the hostage, and they blamed her death
on an Israeli Air Force bombing raid. So they said,
we have this prisoner Noah, and she died when the
Israelis bombed us over here.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
What we're now finding out.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Is that she was murdered by a doctor who put
air into her veins in Shifa Hospital. They murder and
they tell you Israel did it, and everybody in the
West falls for it. Here's another one, baby formula. You've
seen this one headline Hamas hid tons of baby formula
(06:11):
to damage Israel with starvation claims. There is a Palestinian
activist who has made a profound accusation. His name is
Ahmed fu Had all Cock tib. He is an anti
Hamas activist and what he says is happening is that
(06:34):
the terror group was hoarding food meant for infants, baby
formula they hid the baby formula from the babies to
purposefully increase starvation in Gaza. Also they could blame it
on Israel more propaganda. They murdered a hostage, they starved
the babies, all so they could do propaganda against Israel.
(06:59):
And I just wanted to bring these stories up.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
To you today because.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
Everybody in the media in the West, not everybody. A
lot of folks fell for it, a lot of folks
fail for them. Now the war's over, we're learning the truth.
I mean, I never fell for it. A lot of
you didn't, but our media certainly did pretty bad. It's
a Scott Jennings show on the Salem Radio Network. I
want to talk to you about our friends at Heatholders.
(07:24):
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I was in New York City this week. I had
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War them to a football game the other day. They
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from head to toe. Last night at Pennsylvania, President Trump.
President Trump had a big rally. I don't have time
to play all the clips. I am going to play
one though, Uh Hollywood, Sean, let's hear from the President
on affordabill Let's play the thirteen second clip. I am
attacking the Democrats.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
The Democrats talking about affordability is like Bunny and Clyde
preaching about public safety. And they are really the truly
the enemy of the working class when they do it.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
He is dead right about this. You could go and
check out all the things that were said. Scott Bessen
was there last night. But when we're engaging in political
debate here ahead of the midterms, somebody, anybody, now the
President is doing it, Thank goodness, has to remind the
American people who took prices to the moon in the
first place, so now wants to lecture us about affordability.
(09:04):
Don't stand for it, folks, don't stand for it again.
Coming up on the show today, in fact, after this
commercial break, it'll be John Mozeliak, who just retired as
a Major League baseball executive, going to talk about whether
baseball needs a salary cap. But first a word from
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Speaker 2 (10:10):
Do the three week quick start. You won't regret it.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
Back with Moe Baseball Talk when we come back. Scott
Chennings on the Salem Radio Network. Angeltree Christmas campaign with
our friends at the nonprofit Prison Fellowship. You know, there
are literally thousands of children all over America who have
a mom or a dad in prison. That means they
(10:33):
won't see their parent on Christmas. That's why Angel Tree
is so important. You can put smiles on the faces
of children who, through no fault of their own, are
often struggling at a time of year that's supposed to
be full of joy. There is an Angeltree banner up
at Scott Jennings Show dot com.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
You can make a donation right there.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
It only takes thirty dollars to bless a child who
will receive a special present, a gospel message, and a
personal note from their incarcerated parent. Again, the cost to
help bless one child with angel Tree he is only
thirty dollars less than a pizza and a diet coke somewhere,
or if you're feeling generous, one hundred and fifty dollars
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Just go to Scott jenningshow dot com, make your generous
(11:12):
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and show the love of Christ through your donation to
Angel Tree.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
I don't mean the moon the moon, No.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
For America's favorite punda. It's Scott Jennings. Welcome back to
the Scott Jennings Show Common Sense for the American people.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
Have a really.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Interesting conversation Teita for you today. John Mozelock, who just
retired as President of Baseball Operations and general manager of
the Saint Louis Cardinals. He was within from two thousand
and seven through just this past season twenty twenty five.
He originally came to the Cardinals in nineteen ninety five,
working for legendary general manager Walt Jocketty. We're gonna cover
(11:57):
the waterfront of Major League Baseball, including including conversations about
whether there should be a salary cap.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
John Mosey Loock. Welcome to the Scott Shitting Show.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Thank you, Scott. I have to start by asking you
when you were early in your career, did you ever
picture yourself as a general manager of the Saint Louis
Cardinals when you started out?
Speaker 4 (12:16):
Absolutely not.
Speaker 5 (12:17):
As a matter of fact, I grew up in a Boulder, Colorado.
At the time there was no Major League baseball team,
So the two clubs I followed most closely were the
Kansas City Royals and the Saint Louis Cardinals. And my
little trash can in my bedroom was the Saint Louis Cardinals.
But ever think I was actually going to be the
general manager of that team, Never in my wildest dreams.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
Something I've always wondered, what percentage of your decisions as
a general manager are made on analytics versus just your
gut instincts And has that ratio changed over your career.
Speaker 5 (12:53):
Oh, of course it's changed. Obviously. You can think about
the tools now we have available from the analytical world.
Decision making, I won't say is easier, but there's more
confidence in what you're doing. But there are times where
sometimes you just have to make that decision and you
have to go with your gut. But clearly when you
look at at what we can capture in the game
(13:14):
of baseball now think back to like the early two
thousands when we started even dabbling in the analyogical world.
What we used to capture in a year, we now
capture in a night. So it just shows you that
the amount of information we have was.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
There ever a moment.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
And does anyone come to mind where the analytics said, Mo,
you don't want to sign this guy, this is not
the right fit for the Cardinals, but your gut said,
I don't know, I'm going to sign this guy.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
Anything come to mind, Yeah, I.
Speaker 5 (13:41):
Mean there are a lot, but I think my favorite
story on that might be U Berkman when he was,
you know, kind of struggling at the end of his career.
Math was not really in favor of signing him, and
so we went ahead and did it just because I
heard he was such a great guy in the clubhouse.
And of course he was or that magical twenty eleven
(14:02):
run and really integral part of it. So you know,
for sure, there's times where you have to deviate, But obviously,
when you're making multi million dollar decisions, you're trying to
do it in a way that you can justify not
only for just how you think about something, but how
you can defend it because of the math.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
All right, one last question on what it's like to
be a general manager. Before we get into the business
of baseball and you make a decision, you choose to
trade a guy, you choose to let a guy go,
how often do you get on your laptop for the
next you know, year and track that person's stats and
analytics every single day, you know, thinking did I do
(14:41):
the right thing?
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Here?
Speaker 1 (14:41):
Did I do the right thing? I mean, of course
in the fan base, you know, we all sit around
spending all of our time second guessing. You know what
general managers in front offices do.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Do you have time to dwell on that? Or do
you just have to move on?
Speaker 5 (14:53):
So I personally don't have time to dwell on it,
but I did have somebody like in my office that
we track players that we trade it or had some
connection to that we will always want to sort of follow.
That way, I wouldn't have to dig, so I could
just quickly go to our dashboard, pull up the player's name,
and really see how they're doing. And you know, look
like I've always said this. In my job, it's fun,
(15:15):
it's amazing, it's it's super cool. But the thing I
least liked about it was was trading players because you
get to know these guys, they have families, they become friends,
and you know, it's a tough part of the job.
And when I look back at my career in terms
of like dealing with the free agent market, dealing with
the draft or whatever aspects, it is just trading players
(15:37):
is a tough thing to do.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
You know, what's always been incredible to me is that
players who've come through Saint Louis, even when they leave,
a lot of them maintain community relations with Saint Louis.
They live in Saint Louis, they continue to do scharitable
works in Saint louis Is.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
Saint Louis unique in that, you think, you.
Speaker 5 (15:53):
Know, I again, I can't speak for twenty nine other organizations,
but I can say this, like, Saint Louis is just
an easy place to play. Fans adore you. Traffic is light,
it's easy to get in and out. You know, it's
just a very desirable place for to play. And so
you know, like when we've acquired players in a trade,
they tend to want to stay here, so we end
(16:14):
up extending them, you know, free agent market. It's never
been really having to sell the city because players know,
I mean, think about our travel We bopped in Milwaukee, Chicago, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh.
These are not like grinding flights. So you know, most
of our schedule is pretty easy to maintain. And so
and then our fan base historically has been something that
(16:35):
just embraces this team. And so you know, we tried
to really take advantage of that when when we get
players to have interest in this city.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
That voice you're hearing John Mosey Loock, who just retired
as president of baseball operations from the Saint Louis Cardinals.
When we come back, we'll talk about whether Major League
Baseball needs a salary cap. It's common sense for the
American people. Scott Jennings is here on the Salem Radio.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
Wednesday, December the tenth.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Scott Sheenning's here on the Salem Radio Network more with
former Cardinals Baseball operations president John Mozaylock in just a moment.
First though, a quick thank you to everyone who has
already joined our Angel Tree Christmas campaign. Thank you, thank you,
thank you to those who've done it, and if you
(17:33):
haven't done it yet, today's the right day to do it.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
Thirty dollars is all it takes.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
You can do it at scottchenningshow dot com joining thousands
of other people who are giving these Angel Tree children
a great Christmas through no fault of their own. They
have a mom or a dad who is in prison.
But for thirty dollars you can get them a gift.
They get a personal note from their parent who's in prison,
and they get the good news of Jesus Christ at
(18:00):
this critical time of the year. In fact, let me
play a clip from our friend Trish Reagan. Here's what
it means to her.
Speaker 4 (18:07):
I have three little kids, and I was telling them
about the Angel Tree program and how important it is
and this week especially, we should all just take a
moment to think how lucky we are. But what about
the little kids out there who don't even have a
parent right now because they have a parent that is
incarcerated in prison. And it's not the little kid's fault.
(18:28):
It's so important right now to the kids to meet
everyone here at Salem. We all want to do our part.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
Won't you please do your part? That's what I'm asking,
I've done it. I would never ask you to do
something that I wouldn't do. I've donated to the Angel
Tree campaign personally. Go to Scott schittingshow dot com. Make
your donation today. Thirty dollars. That's all it takes. If
you'd rather call, here's the number. Eight eight eight two
O six two seven nine three. I'd be honored if
(18:59):
you join me and the Angel Tree Christmas Campaign. It's
Scott Jennings on the Salem Radio Network now More with
former baseball executive John mozaylock here on the Scott Jennings Show.
All right, I want to talk about the business of baseball.
We both love baseball. It's our national pastime. For me,
I'm a fan. I follow the Cardinals religiously. But for
(19:21):
you and the job that you had, you're running a
multi billion dollar business. Business decisions do factor into things
that sometimes frustrate fans. You have the human aspect of
developing players, but then you also have the financial side
to deal with. Every team has a budget. You have
to figure out how to put the best team on
the field with the budget that you've gotten from your ownership.
(19:41):
I want to ask first, has the business end of
this always been so dominant in our baseball discourse, or
is it just feel like it's more dominant today because
we all have more access to information and the financial
disparities among teams, how much of that do you think
has changed over time and how much of that is
(20:02):
affecting the relationship between front offices and fan bases.
Speaker 5 (20:06):
I think disparity is really the key word there. Obviously,
when when you think back to thirty years ago, payrolls
were much tighter. In other words, the lowest to the
highest didn't have such a large gap. You look at
what's happening today where you have really five teams that
if you took the aggregate of their payroll would get
(20:29):
to the Los Angeles Dodgers, for example, And so the
disparity has become, you know, really glaring. And when you
think about it from a fan base standpoint, you know,
the one thing as when you think back to like
your childhood, and you know you'd follow your team and
spring training and that opening day would come and there
(20:49):
was just that like you had hope. What's happening now
in sports is it's hard to sell hope because it's
you know, people know what's going on. And if if
you're growing up and competing against teams that have a
two hundred and fifty or three hundred and fifty million
dollar payroll and you're playing one hundred and twenty five million,
(21:12):
you've got to have a lot of things go right
and it can happen. I mean Milwaukee Brewers for example,
this past year. They don't have a huge payroll, but
they had a lot of things go right for them,
but their margins like they cannot make mistakes. And so
when you think about this the business model right now,
how does baseball get to a place where competitive balance
(21:36):
isn't just a two word phrase but it has like
real teeth. And so a small market club can show
up into camp and spray and really have hope. Right now,
it's a hard sell.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
Yeah, you raise a The way you put it is
so interesting to me. What you're selling is hope, And
if everybody knows everything and there's just a sense of hopelessness,
makes it hard to sell tickets, which means you're not
selling hot dogs, which means you're putting yourself further and
further behind. And it's sort of a self perpetuating problem.
You know, we do have these massive disparities In the
(22:10):
World Series. The Dodgers spend one hundred million dollars more
on their roster that I think the Blue Jays were spending.
I was surprised, frankly the other day that Dave Roberts,
the manager of the Dodgers, said there should be a
salary cap.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
So I'm just going to ask you for the inside scoop.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
What is the current conversation in baseball and among executives
on the possibility of a salary cap? And I'll toss
this on if John Mozeliak could wave a magic wand
what would this system look like in a perfect world.
Speaker 5 (22:40):
I think from an industry standpoint right now that it's
not so much driven by the word salary cap or
the frase salary cap. It's just how do we bring
up how do we close the gap between using the
Dodgers for the Yankees and then using your Pittsburgh's Cleveland's
and kind of squeeze that. So what's driving that one is,
(23:04):
you know, local revenue. Obviously the larger market teams have
the ability to generate more. And then when you're looking
at this pie of revenue, how can we spread it out?
Enough to where the teams on the bottom of the
floor can come up and be participants, if you will,
in the free agent market, not have to trade off
(23:25):
their best players and find a way that if they
squint hard enough, they can see themselves competing in October.
Right now, we're kind of we're not there. And I
think that's the biggest challenge. And when you ask about
a salary cap specifically, obviously then it's countered with, well,
there should be some form of a floor. I think
(23:47):
everybody would agree with that. I think that when you
think about the Players Association for example, like ultimately, what
are they really trying to protect? Is it creating more
dollars in the overall market or is it trying to
protect the most elite player being able to get the
most amount of money in free agency? And that's tough because,
(24:11):
as a reminder, there's twelve hundred members in the in
the in the Players Association, so you know, not all
of them are making millions of millions of dollars, and
so it's a really tough challenge. And I think the
one thing I'd say to you right now, and it's
it's it's not really you know, punting on the question.
But the Commissioner's Office has some really smart people that
(24:31):
are going to work on this. The players Association has
some really smart people representing them, and ultimately you're hoping
that these two sides can come together so there is
not a work stoppage right now, we still have time
on our side, and given the intelligence of these two groups,
you hope they can solve this Rubik's cube, because in
(24:54):
the end, the best thing for this game is no
work stoppage. People are and that every four or five years,
we're not having an economic discussion about why I were
frustrated with the game, and that's ultimately what you want
to get to. And look, I've talked to players all
the time, who they understand the frustrations, but they also
(25:15):
are in a union and so it's a very slippery
slope for them and for me. I've obviously worked on
the management side for thirty three years and that's what
I represent. But when we all take a step back,
what's best for the game is the game of baseball
being played.
Speaker 1 (25:32):
So you're raising this conversation that's going on between the
players and the owners, this agreement that they have to
negotiate from time to time, and there is a looming
specter of a baseball strike. People remember the ninety four strike.
The World Series, I guess was canceled. But baseball sort
of rebounded in ninety eight thanks to the Mark McGuire
(25:56):
Sammy Sosa home run chase, But a lot of fans
didn't come back, and you know, I think a lot
of people just remember that as undermining the bond that
they felt with the game. Let me ask you this,
what do you think baseball fans want to see from
teams and players in this negotiation moving forward here? And
how detrimental would it be if there was a work stoppage?
Speaker 5 (26:18):
Well, I definitely think a work stoppage would not be
great for the game. Anytime you're not playing, it's not
a good thing. What do I think the fans want
to see is compromise. They look at the argument of
millionaires versus billionaires as not one that many want to
(26:39):
weigh in on. In other words, they feel like they've
both millionaires and billionaires have won. So figure it out.
And so you know, as you as we approach this,
and again we have over a year to do this,
you're hoping that both sides realize that and they realize
what's at stake. And if you think about it too,
in the terms of like, you know, owners have a
(26:59):
law window. Right an owner of a team, maybe someone
who owns it for thirty years, what's the length of
player's career. Their windows are shorter, and by not playing
the game of baseball, that's not in their best interest.
And so ultimately, you hope cooler heads prevail. You hope
everybody understands that trying to find a model that does
(27:22):
create competitive balance is in everybody's best interest, because even
though we have things in place now with a salary
or payroll tax, it's still not allowing the bottom third
to truly compete on a regular basis. And that's ultimately
what you want to do. And so when you run
(27:42):
a baseball team, what you'd really like to be able
to say is like, look, we're doing it right, We're
making smart decisions or being rewarded for it. What you
don't want to do is say like, look, I can't
get our payroll over eighty five million, therefore I have
no chance.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
I was looking at some polling data on this the
other day. A recent Whole show that sixty nine percent
of casual baseball fans said they support a salary cap.
But then you get among avid baseball fans and the
numbers went up people that watched the games the most.
That number went up to seventy nine percent. That voice
you're hearing today, John Moseylock, president of Baseball Operations, just
(28:19):
retired from that job with the Saint Louis Cardinals, really
fascinating conversation about the business of baseball. We'll finish up
our conversation with him in just a moment, but first,
a quick word from Americans for Free Markets.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
We've been talking about it and it has to do
with debanking.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
You know, these regulators pressuring banks to take away financial
services from people for political reasons.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
They did it to the President's family.
Speaker 1 (28:47):
But Americans for Free Markets is standing up and doing
something about it. First of all, they say thank you
to Donald Trump, the President, for his executive order.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
Second of all, they say Congress needs to do more.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
They need to join the president, codify the executive order,
make this critical reform permanent.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
That's what we need.
Speaker 1 (29:09):
Americans for Free Markets is making the case if you
want to get involved in stopping forever this issue of
d banking.
Speaker 2 (29:17):
Go to four free Markets dot Org.
Speaker 1 (29:21):
Wednesday, December the tenth, Common Sense for the American People.
I'm Scott Jennings more with John mosey Loock. When we
come back here on the Salem Radio Network.
Speaker 2 (29:37):
Breaking a news into the Scott Jennings Show.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
The Federal Reserve has met and cut its benchmark interest
rate by zero point two five percentage points. It's now
at the lowest level in over three years. Fed Sherman
Jerome pal still speaking in Washington. Let's finish our conversation here.
Common Sense for the American People. Here's more with John
mose Loock, former head of baseball operations for the Saint
(30:02):
Louis Cardinals. So Mo, we like to do rapid fire
on the show sometimes, so I'm gonna give you some
rapid fire questions. These are designed to be yes or no,
and if you go beyond yes or no, it has
to be very short answers. So I'm going to start here,
what of the recent rules changes work?
Speaker 3 (30:21):
Did this work?
Speaker 4 (30:22):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (30:22):
Or no?
Speaker 1 (30:23):
Instant replay, which by the way, isn't really instant, But
did instant replay help baseball?
Speaker 2 (30:27):
Yes or no?
Speaker 4 (30:28):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (30:29):
Did the pitch clock yes.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
Ghost runner and extra innings yes? Fanning the shift, yes,
larger basis. Yes, so you are fully supportive of all
the rules changes. Well, if the ghost runner is so good,
why don't they use it in the World Series?
Speaker 5 (30:44):
Okay, So here's why I'm an advocate for the putting
the runner on second. When you have a roster to
manage of twenty six players and you play a seventeen
or eighteen inning game, you're having to turn over three
or four pitchers. Right now, we've put in rules that
don't allow us the flexibility to option players back and
(31:04):
forth quite as easily as we used to be five
or ten, fifteen years ago. So if we want to
start changing those rules again, then I'm fine with getting
rid of the runner on second. But we currently are
very restrictive on how quickly we can bring some back
from Memphis to the big leagues.
Speaker 1 (31:22):
All right, fair enough, fair enough, And here's a prospective
rules question. Are you, now, as a fan, looking forward
to automated strike zones and the challenge system that's coming
to Major League Baseball?
Speaker 5 (31:33):
I am yes.
Speaker 2 (31:34):
Do you think eventually all balls and strikes will be automated?
Speaker 1 (31:38):
I do.
Speaker 5 (31:40):
I just think technology, just as it continues to evolve,
We're just gonna welcome that. And I'm very close with umpires.
You're still gonna need umpires. You're still gonna need a
home plate, umpire. There's gonna be plays at the plate.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
All right, here's three yes or nos? Should these players
be in the Hall of Fame? Dale Murphy Yes, Don
Mattingly Yes, Pete Rose Yes?
Speaker 2 (32:04):
All right, three yeses? Okay?
Speaker 1 (32:06):
Twenty eleven, Be honest, where was your confidence meter in
the ninth inning, Game six of the World Series? Down
to your last strike down to the Rangers? Had you
resigned yourself to the to a bad ending to the
World Series? And to this day, can you believe the
most incredible game and the most incredible comeback in Major
(32:28):
League Baseball history?
Speaker 5 (32:31):
Confidence level pretty low? Started shotting some notes on what
I was going to say to the club, and then
obviously David Freeze allowed me to roll that up and
throw it out, and yeah, the rest was history. But
it was I was incredible a couple of days.
Speaker 1 (32:48):
Who will manage a baseball team in the major leagues? First,
Albert Pouholz or Yati Ramolina.
Speaker 5 (32:54):
Well that's sort of a tough question for me to answer,
because friends with both but I think both are going
to get a chance. I think, you know, right now,
with Albert doing TV's out there, so I think a
lot of people are familiar with him, that's going to
help him. And then of course Yatti, I think's going
to Mexico this summer to keep, you know, grinding away.
(33:16):
But you know, both love the game, both are super intelligent,
and I think at some point they'll get their chance.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (33:22):
Question, Obviously, as a general manager, as the head of
baseball operations, you're getting a lot of commentary on the
decisions that you're making out there, a lot of that
commentary coming via social media. While you were serving in
this position with the Cardinals, did you have a dummy
Twitter or x account where you were following the commentary
(33:44):
and perhaps commenting on things.
Speaker 5 (33:46):
Okay, I'm going to answer this. Honestly, I did have
an account. It was I wasn't trying to do it
like as I was hidden because I was never responding.
But I don't think anybody actually knew who it was
because they're just random numbers and letters. But you know,
as a matter of fact, I kind of stopped like
doing the whole Twitter thing about seven eight years ago,
(34:07):
because it just became so noisy.
Speaker 1 (34:10):
Amazing conversation today. You've been a wonderful guest on the
Scott Jenning Show. Thanks for illuminating us on this conversation
about a salary caps. It's true, right, major League Baseball
is the last major sports league without a system like this. Right,
that is correct?
Speaker 5 (34:23):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (34:24):
Yeah, And I guess in your opinion it's worked out
for everybody else and something to think about for Major
League Baseball.
Speaker 5 (34:30):
I think that's a good way of saying it.
Speaker 1 (34:32):
Yes. Really honored to have John Mozelac on the Scott
Jenning Show today. A little off the beaten path for us,
but I think an interesting conversation. With Baseball's Winter meetings
going on tomorrow and the next day will be broadcasting
live from Michigan, the Revolution for Common Sense book tour continues.
Really really honored that you join the show, Happy that
(34:54):
folks are enjoying the book, and I love bringing this
to you every day. Join us again tomorrow, Common Sense
for the American people. Scott Jenning on the Salem Radio Network.
Speaker 3 (35:04):
I want to call minute you had a comm stade
Samon
Ladies as gentlemen.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Cheers Scott Jennings.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Okay, Wednesday, December the tenth, Greetings from Columbus, Ohio. If
you're watching on the live stream, you see it over
my shoulder. Beautiful Columbus. You know I lived here for
a while at one time. But I'm back tonight for
another event. The Revolution of Common Sense book Tour rolls
(00:28):
into Ohio. I'll be signing hundreds of books tonight in
Columbus with the Ohio Young Republicans.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
I appreciate the invitation.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Last night in Philly Phoenixville, more specifically, great crowd at
the theater there in Phoenix Somebody told me that theater
where we were is where they filmed The Blob. You
ever heard the movie The Blob? Apparently they filmed it
in that theater we were at in Phoenixville. But my
buddy Dom Giordano, a legend in Philly radio, was our
host and we just had a great time. So to
(00:57):
Dom and to the folks in Phoenixville, thanks for coming
out last night. Tomorrow I'll be in Michigan. I guess
I've been Michigan Thursday, Friday and Saturday. They're going crazy
for this book in Michigan, and I of course was
wise enough to schedule events in Michigan in December.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
So that's how that's how I was thinking about it.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
It's a Scott Jetting show on the Salem Radio Network.
You know, we're sponsored by Ease Total Health. Health insurance
is broken. Ease fixes it with no deductibles, no red tape,
and real benefits from day one. Visit Ease for Everyone
dot com slash Scott. I promise you that if you're
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(01:40):
a look at it. I think there's something there for you.
I've got an interesting conversation coming up on the show today.
We'll start it at twenty two minutes after the hour.
I was lucky enough to get on the show a
fellow named John Moseaylock. Now, if you're a baseball fan,
you know John mosey Loock. He was the general manager
and then president of baseball operations for the Saint Louis Cardinals.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
He just retired.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Baseball's winter meetings are going on in Florida right now.
Of course, there's a looming possibility of a lockout if
the owners and the players can't come to an agreement
on their collective bargaining agreement, and there's also renewed interest
in whether Major League Baseball should implement a salary cap
to enhance competitiveness.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Now a lot of fans want this.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
We're going to cover a lot of baseball topics with
John Mosey lock Moe as we call him, beginning at
twenty two minutes. Now, it's no surprise that I would
have invited Mo from the Cardinals. The Cardinals are my team,
and so I was able to talk with Moe a
little bit about that, and really an honor to have
him dropping by.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
The show today.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
I'll start, though, with the news, and you know, I
could sit here and give you a TikTok update on
the healthcare debate or the NDAA whatever. We'll get to
all that in watch. Nothing's happened today, but by the
way that I can tell they're talking, nothing's happened. But
there's a couple of stories that have crossed my desk
that have honestly just made my blood boil. And I'd
(03:12):
like to spend some time today shaming literally unapologetically shaming
everyone in the Western media, everyone in politics, all of
these influencers and comedians and Hollywood types, but specifically the
(03:34):
people who are supposed to know better, the media types,
the political types. I'm going to shame them because of
these stories that are now emerging out of Gaza regarding
the kinds of propaganda that Hamas was engaged in during
the war with Israel, absolute unadulterated propaganda, and all these
(04:00):
people fell for it.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
Le'm going to start here, read you a story.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
The father of Noah Marciano is speaking out publicly for
the first time. Noah was one of the hostages in Gozip.
She was taken, She didn't make it out, she died,
but her father is sharing a story for the first time.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
About how his daughter died.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Avi is his name. His daughter was Noah. He was
set a video.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
From the Shifa hospital showing his daughter getting murdered by
a doctor who was injecting air into her veins. In
the video, Noah is begging for her life, and Avi
says in the video by the end of the clip
quote she's sweating, but there's no life to her body.
(04:57):
Noah was nineteen years old. She was one of seven
female soldiers that was kidnapped from Nahalau's military base on
October the seventh. She is the only one from the group,
by the way, that did not return alive. Her body
was recovered from a building adjacent to Shifa Hospital in
Gaza City by the IDF in November of twenty twenty three. Now,
(05:21):
in November of twenty twenty three, Hamas released a video
of Marciano Noah, the hostage, and they blamed her death
on an Israeli Air Force bombing raid. So they said,
we have this prisoner Noah, and she died when the
Israelis bombed us over here.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
What we're now finding out.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Is that she was murdered by a doctor who put
air into her veins in Shifa Hospital. They murder and
they tell you Israel did it, and everybody in the
West falls for it. Here's another one, baby formula. You've
seen this one headline Hamas hid tons of baby formula
(06:11):
to damage Israel with starvation claims. There is a Palestinian
activist who has made a profound accusation. His name is
Ahmed fu Had all Cock tib. He is an anti
Hamas activist and what he says is happening is that
(06:34):
the terror group was hoarding food meant for infants, baby
formula they hid the baby formula from the babies to
purposefully increase starvation in Gaza. Also they could blame it
on Israel more propaganda. They murdered a hostage, they starved
the babies, all so they could do propaganda against Israel.
(06:59):
And I just wanted to bring these stories up.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
To you today because.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
Everybody in the media in the West, not everybody. A
lot of folks fell for it, a lot of folks
fail for them. Now the war's over, we're learning the truth.
I mean, I never fell for it. A lot of
you didn't, but our media certainly did pretty bad. It's
a Scott Jennings show on the Salem Radio Network. I
want to talk to you about our friends at Heatholders.
(07:24):
I've been wearing my Heatholders all over the place, the socks.
I was in New York City this week. I had
to walk around. It was freezing. I had on my
Heatholders socks. I had on my Heattholder's hat, I had
on my Heatholders gloves.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Everybody else looked like they were freezing. I was fine.
These things are I cannot get enough of it.
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War them to a football game the other day. They
got forty thousand five star reviews. My advice go to
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from head to toe. Last night at Pennsylvania, President Trump.
President Trump had a big rally. I don't have time
to play all the clips. I am going to play
one though, Uh Hollywood, Sean, let's hear from the President
on affordabill Let's play the thirteen second clip. I am
attacking the Democrats.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
The Democrats talking about affordability is like Bunny and Clyde
preaching about public safety. And they are really the truly
the enemy of the working class when they do it.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
He is dead right about this. You could go and
check out all the things that were said. Scott Bessen
was there last night. But when we're engaging in political
debate here ahead of the midterms, somebody, anybody, now the
President is doing it, Thank goodness, has to remind the
American people who took prices to the moon in the
first place, so now wants to lecture us about affordability.
(09:04):
Don't stand for it, folks, don't stand for it again.
Coming up on the show today, in fact, after this
commercial break, it'll be John Mozeliak, who just retired as
a Major League baseball executive, going to talk about whether
baseball needs a salary cap. But first a word from
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Speaker 2 (10:10):
Do the three week quick start. You won't regret it.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
Back with Moe Baseball Talk when we come back. Scott
Chennings on the Salem Radio Network. Angeltree Christmas campaign with
our friends at the nonprofit Prison Fellowship. You know, there
are literally thousands of children all over America who have
a mom or a dad in prison. That means they
(10:33):
won't see their parent on Christmas. That's why Angel Tree
is so important. You can put smiles on the faces
of children who, through no fault of their own, are
often struggling at a time of year that's supposed to
be full of joy. There is an Angeltree banner up
at Scott Jennings Show dot com.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
You can make a donation right there.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
It only takes thirty dollars to bless a child who
will receive a special present, a gospel message, and a
personal note from their incarcerated parent. Again, the cost to
help bless one child with angel Tree he is only
thirty dollars less than a pizza and a diet coke somewhere,
or if you're feeling generous, one hundred and fifty dollars
will bless five children of prisoners with an extra special Christmas.
Just go to Scott jenningshow dot com, make your generous
(11:12):
gift online or phone our special donation number eight eight
eight two O six two eight five y five. That's
eight eight eight two O six two eight five five
and show the love of Christ through your donation to
Angel Tree.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
I don't mean the moon the moon, No.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
For America's favorite punda. It's Scott Jennings. Welcome back to
the Scott Jennings Show Common Sense for the American people.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
Have a really.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Interesting conversation Teita for you today. John Mozelock, who just
retired as President of Baseball Operations and general manager of
the Saint Louis Cardinals. He was within from two thousand
and seven through just this past season twenty twenty five.
He originally came to the Cardinals in nineteen ninety five,
working for legendary general manager Walt Jocketty. We're gonna cover
(11:57):
the waterfront of Major League Baseball, including including conversations about
whether there should be a salary cap.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
John Mosey Loock. Welcome to the Scott Shitting Show.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Thank you, Scott. I have to start by asking you
when you were early in your career, did you ever
picture yourself as a general manager of the Saint Louis
Cardinals when you started out?
Speaker 4 (12:16):
Absolutely not.
Speaker 5 (12:17):
As a matter of fact, I grew up in a Boulder, Colorado.
At the time there was no Major League baseball team,
So the two clubs I followed most closely were the
Kansas City Royals and the Saint Louis Cardinals. And my
little trash can in my bedroom was the Saint Louis Cardinals.
But ever think I was actually going to be the
general manager of that team, Never in my wildest dreams.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
Something I've always wondered, what percentage of your decisions as
a general manager are made on analytics versus just your
gut instincts And has that ratio changed over your career.
Speaker 5 (12:53):
Oh, of course it's changed. Obviously. You can think about
the tools now we have available from the analytical world.
Decision making, I won't say is easier, but there's more
confidence in what you're doing. But there are times where
sometimes you just have to make that decision and you
have to go with your gut. But clearly when you
look at at what we can capture in the game
(13:14):
of baseball now think back to like the early two
thousands when we started even dabbling in the analyogical world.
What we used to capture in a year, we now
capture in a night. So it just shows you that
the amount of information we have was.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
There ever a moment.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
And does anyone come to mind where the analytics said, Mo,
you don't want to sign this guy, this is not
the right fit for the Cardinals, but your gut said,
I don't know, I'm going to sign this guy.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
Anything come to mind, Yeah, I.
Speaker 5 (13:41):
Mean there are a lot, but I think my favorite
story on that might be U Berkman when he was,
you know, kind of struggling at the end of his career.
Math was not really in favor of signing him, and
so we went ahead and did it just because I
heard he was such a great guy in the clubhouse.
And of course he was or that magical twenty eleven
(14:02):
run and really integral part of it. So you know,
for sure, there's times where you have to deviate, But obviously,
when you're making multi million dollar decisions, you're trying to
do it in a way that you can justify not
only for just how you think about something, but how
you can defend it because of the math.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
All right, one last question on what it's like to
be a general manager. Before we get into the business
of baseball and you make a decision, you choose to
trade a guy, you choose to let a guy go,
how often do you get on your laptop for the
next you know, year and track that person's stats and
analytics every single day, you know, thinking did I do
(14:41):
the right thing?
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Here?
Speaker 1 (14:41):
Did I do the right thing? I mean, of course
in the fan base, you know, we all sit around
spending all of our time second guessing. You know what
general managers in front offices do.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Do you have time to dwell on that? Or do
you just have to move on?
Speaker 5 (14:53):
So I personally don't have time to dwell on it,
but I did have somebody like in my office that
we track players that we trade it or had some
connection to that we will always want to sort of follow.
That way, I wouldn't have to dig, so I could
just quickly go to our dashboard, pull up the player's name,
and really see how they're doing. And you know, look
like I've always said this. In my job, it's fun,
(15:15):
it's amazing, it's it's super cool. But the thing I
least liked about it was was trading players because you
get to know these guys, they have families, they become friends,
and you know, it's a tough part of the job.
And when I look back at my career in terms
of like dealing with the free agent market, dealing with
the draft or whatever aspects, it is just trading players
(15:37):
is a tough thing to do.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
You know, what's always been incredible to me is that
players who've come through Saint Louis, even when they leave,
a lot of them maintain community relations with Saint Louis.
They live in Saint Louis, they continue to do scharitable
works in Saint louis Is.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
Saint Louis unique in that, you think, you.
Speaker 5 (15:53):
Know, I again, I can't speak for twenty nine other organizations,
but I can say this, like, Saint Louis is just
an easy place to play. Fans adore you. Traffic is light,
it's easy to get in and out. You know, it's
just a very desirable place for to play. And so
you know, like when we've acquired players in a trade,
they tend to want to stay here, so we end
(16:14):
up extending them, you know, free agent market. It's never
been really having to sell the city because players know,
I mean, think about our travel We bopped in Milwaukee, Chicago, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh.
These are not like grinding flights. So you know, most
of our schedule is pretty easy to maintain. And so
and then our fan base historically has been something that
(16:35):
just embraces this team. And so you know, we tried
to really take advantage of that when when we get
players to have interest in this city.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
That voice you're hearing John Mosey Loock, who just retired
as president of baseball operations from the Saint Louis Cardinals.
When we come back, we'll talk about whether Major League
Baseball needs a salary cap. It's common sense for the
American people. Scott Jennings is here on the Salem Radio.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
Wednesday, December the tenth.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Scott Sheenning's here on the Salem Radio Network more with
former Cardinals Baseball operations president John Mozaylock in just a moment.
First though, a quick thank you to everyone who has
already joined our Angel Tree Christmas campaign. Thank you, thank you,
thank you to those who've done it, and if you
(17:33):
haven't done it yet, today's the right day to do it.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
Thirty dollars is all it takes.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
You can do it at scottchenningshow dot com joining thousands
of other people who are giving these Angel Tree children
a great Christmas through no fault of their own. They
have a mom or a dad who is in prison.
But for thirty dollars you can get them a gift.
They get a personal note from their parent who's in prison,
and they get the good news of Jesus Christ at
(18:00):
this critical time of the year. In fact, let me
play a clip from our friend Trish Reagan. Here's what
it means to her.
Speaker 4 (18:07):
I have three little kids, and I was telling them
about the Angel Tree program and how important it is
and this week especially, we should all just take a
moment to think how lucky we are. But what about
the little kids out there who don't even have a
parent right now because they have a parent that is
incarcerated in prison. And it's not the little kid's fault.
(18:28):
It's so important right now to the kids to meet
everyone here at Salem. We all want to do our part.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
Won't you please do your part? That's what I'm asking,
I've done it. I would never ask you to do
something that I wouldn't do. I've donated to the Angel
Tree campaign personally. Go to Scott schittingshow dot com. Make
your donation today. Thirty dollars. That's all it takes. If
you'd rather call, here's the number. Eight eight eight two
O six two seven nine three. I'd be honored if
(18:59):
you join me and the Angel Tree Christmas Campaign. It's
Scott Jennings on the Salem Radio Network now More with
former baseball executive John mozaylock here on the Scott Jennings Show.
All right, I want to talk about the business of baseball.
We both love baseball. It's our national pastime. For me,
I'm a fan. I follow the Cardinals religiously. But for
(19:21):
you and the job that you had, you're running a
multi billion dollar business. Business decisions do factor into things
that sometimes frustrate fans. You have the human aspect of
developing players, but then you also have the financial side
to deal with. Every team has a budget. You have
to figure out how to put the best team on
the field with the budget that you've gotten from your ownership.
(19:41):
I want to ask first, has the business end of
this always been so dominant in our baseball discourse, or
is it just feel like it's more dominant today because
we all have more access to information and the financial
disparities among teams, how much of that do you think
has changed over time and how much of that is
(20:02):
affecting the relationship between front offices and fan bases.
Speaker 5 (20:06):
I think disparity is really the key word there. Obviously,
when when you think back to thirty years ago, payrolls
were much tighter. In other words, the lowest to the
highest didn't have such a large gap. You look at
what's happening today where you have really five teams that
if you took the aggregate of their payroll would get
(20:29):
to the Los Angeles Dodgers, for example, And so the
disparity has become, you know, really glaring. And when you
think about it from a fan base standpoint, you know,
the one thing as when you think back to like
your childhood, and you know you'd follow your team and
spring training and that opening day would come and there
(20:49):
was just that like you had hope. What's happening now
in sports is it's hard to sell hope because it's
you know, people know what's going on. And if if
you're growing up and competing against teams that have a
two hundred and fifty or three hundred and fifty million
dollar payroll and you're playing one hundred and twenty five million,
(21:12):
you've got to have a lot of things go right
and it can happen. I mean Milwaukee Brewers for example,
this past year. They don't have a huge payroll, but
they had a lot of things go right for them,
but their margins like they cannot make mistakes. And so
when you think about this the business model right now,
how does baseball get to a place where competitive balance
(21:36):
isn't just a two word phrase but it has like
real teeth. And so a small market club can show
up into camp and spray and really have hope. Right now,
it's a hard sell.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
Yeah, you raise a The way you put it is
so interesting to me. What you're selling is hope, And
if everybody knows everything and there's just a sense of hopelessness,
makes it hard to sell tickets, which means you're not
selling hot dogs, which means you're putting yourself further and
further behind. And it's sort of a self perpetuating problem.
You know, we do have these massive disparities In the
(22:10):
World Series. The Dodgers spend one hundred million dollars more
on their roster that I think the Blue Jays were spending.
I was surprised, frankly the other day that Dave Roberts,
the manager of the Dodgers, said there should be a
salary cap.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
So I'm just going to ask you for the inside scoop.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
What is the current conversation in baseball and among executives
on the possibility of a salary cap? And I'll toss
this on if John Mozeliak could wave a magic wand
what would this system look like in a perfect world.
Speaker 5 (22:40):
I think from an industry standpoint right now that it's
not so much driven by the word salary cap or
the frase salary cap. It's just how do we bring
up how do we close the gap between using the
Dodgers for the Yankees and then using your Pittsburgh's Cleveland's
and kind of squeeze that. So what's driving that one is,
(23:04):
you know, local revenue. Obviously the larger market teams have
the ability to generate more. And then when you're looking
at this pie of revenue, how can we spread it out?
Enough to where the teams on the bottom of the
floor can come up and be participants, if you will,
in the free agent market, not have to trade off
(23:25):
their best players and find a way that if they
squint hard enough, they can see themselves competing in October.
Right now, we're kind of we're not there. And I
think that's the biggest challenge. And when you ask about
a salary cap specifically, obviously then it's countered with, well,
there should be some form of a floor. I think
(23:47):
everybody would agree with that. I think that when you
think about the Players Association for example, like ultimately, what
are they really trying to protect? Is it creating more
dollars in the overall market or is it trying to
protect the most elite player being able to get the
most amount of money in free agency? And that's tough because,
(24:11):
as a reminder, there's twelve hundred members in the in
the in the Players Association, so you know, not all
of them are making millions of millions of dollars, and
so it's a really tough challenge. And I think the
one thing I'd say to you right now, and it's
it's it's not really you know, punting on the question.
But the Commissioner's Office has some really smart people that
(24:31):
are going to work on this. The players Association has
some really smart people representing them, and ultimately you're hoping
that these two sides can come together so there is
not a work stoppage right now, we still have time
on our side, and given the intelligence of these two groups,
you hope they can solve this Rubik's cube, because in
(24:54):
the end, the best thing for this game is no
work stoppage. People are and that every four or five years,
we're not having an economic discussion about why I were
frustrated with the game, and that's ultimately what you want
to get to. And look, I've talked to players all
the time, who they understand the frustrations, but they also
(25:15):
are in a union and so it's a very slippery
slope for them and for me. I've obviously worked on
the management side for thirty three years and that's what
I represent. But when we all take a step back,
what's best for the game is the game of baseball
being played.
Speaker 1 (25:32):
So you're raising this conversation that's going on between the
players and the owners, this agreement that they have to
negotiate from time to time, and there is a looming
specter of a baseball strike. People remember the ninety four strike.
The World Series, I guess was canceled. But baseball sort
of rebounded in ninety eight thanks to the Mark McGuire
(25:56):
Sammy Sosa home run chase, But a lot of fans
didn't come back, and you know, I think a lot
of people just remember that as undermining the bond that
they felt with the game. Let me ask you this,
what do you think baseball fans want to see from
teams and players in this negotiation moving forward here? And
how detrimental would it be if there was a work stoppage?
Speaker 5 (26:18):
Well, I definitely think a work stoppage would not be
great for the game. Anytime you're not playing, it's not
a good thing. What do I think the fans want
to see is compromise. They look at the argument of
millionaires versus billionaires as not one that many want to
(26:39):
weigh in on. In other words, they feel like they've
both millionaires and billionaires have won. So figure it out.
And so you know, as you as we approach this,
and again we have over a year to do this,
you're hoping that both sides realize that and they realize
what's at stake. And if you think about it too,
in the terms of like, you know, owners have a
(26:59):
law window. Right an owner of a team, maybe someone
who owns it for thirty years, what's the length of
player's career. Their windows are shorter, and by not playing
the game of baseball, that's not in their best interest.
And so ultimately, you hope cooler heads prevail. You hope
everybody understands that trying to find a model that does
(27:22):
create competitive balance is in everybody's best interest, because even
though we have things in place now with a salary
or payroll tax, it's still not allowing the bottom third
to truly compete on a regular basis. And that's ultimately
what you want to do. And so when you run
(27:42):
a baseball team, what you'd really like to be able
to say is like, look, we're doing it right, We're
making smart decisions or being rewarded for it. What you
don't want to do is say like, look, I can't
get our payroll over eighty five million, therefore I have
no chance.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
I was looking at some polling data on this the
other day. A recent Whole show that sixty nine percent
of casual baseball fans said they support a salary cap.
But then you get among avid baseball fans and the
numbers went up people that watched the games the most.
That number went up to seventy nine percent. That voice
you're hearing today, John Moseylock, president of Baseball Operations, just
(28:19):
retired from that job with the Saint Louis Cardinals, really
fascinating conversation about the business of baseball. We'll finish up
our conversation with him in just a moment, but first,
a quick word from Americans for Free Markets.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
We've been talking about it and it has to do
with debanking.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
You know, these regulators pressuring banks to take away financial
services from people for political reasons.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
They did it to the President's family.
Speaker 1 (28:47):
But Americans for Free Markets is standing up and doing
something about it. First of all, they say thank you
to Donald Trump, the President, for his executive order.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
Second of all, they say Congress needs to do more.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
They need to join the president, codify the executive order,
make this critical reform permanent.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
That's what we need.
Speaker 1 (29:09):
Americans for Free Markets is making the case if you
want to get involved in stopping forever this issue of
d banking.
Speaker 2 (29:17):
Go to four free Markets dot Org.
Speaker 1 (29:21):
Wednesday, December the tenth, Common Sense for the American People.
I'm Scott Jennings more with John mosey Loock. When we
come back here on the Salem Radio Network.
Speaker 2 (29:37):
Breaking a news into the Scott Jennings Show.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
The Federal Reserve has met and cut its benchmark interest
rate by zero point two five percentage points. It's now
at the lowest level in over three years. Fed Sherman
Jerome pal still speaking in Washington. Let's finish our conversation here.
Common Sense for the American People. Here's more with John
mose Loock, former head of baseball operations for the Saint
(30:02):
Louis Cardinals. So Mo, we like to do rapid fire
on the show sometimes, so I'm gonna give you some
rapid fire questions. These are designed to be yes or no,
and if you go beyond yes or no, it has
to be very short answers. So I'm going to start here,
what of the recent rules changes work?
Speaker 3 (30:21):
Did this work?
Speaker 4 (30:22):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (30:22):
Or no?
Speaker 1 (30:23):
Instant replay, which by the way, isn't really instant, But
did instant replay help baseball?
Speaker 2 (30:27):
Yes or no?
Speaker 4 (30:28):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (30:29):
Did the pitch clock yes.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
Ghost runner and extra innings yes? Fanning the shift, yes,
larger basis. Yes, so you are fully supportive of all
the rules changes. Well, if the ghost runner is so good,
why don't they use it in the World Series?
Speaker 5 (30:44):
Okay, So here's why I'm an advocate for the putting
the runner on second. When you have a roster to
manage of twenty six players and you play a seventeen
or eighteen inning game, you're having to turn over three
or four pitchers. Right now, we've put in rules that
don't allow us the flexibility to option players back and
(31:04):
forth quite as easily as we used to be five
or ten, fifteen years ago. So if we want to
start changing those rules again, then I'm fine with getting
rid of the runner on second. But we currently are
very restrictive on how quickly we can bring some back
from Memphis to the big leagues.
Speaker 1 (31:22):
All right, fair enough, fair enough, And here's a prospective
rules question. Are you, now, as a fan, looking forward
to automated strike zones and the challenge system that's coming
to Major League Baseball?
Speaker 5 (31:33):
I am yes.
Speaker 2 (31:34):
Do you think eventually all balls and strikes will be automated?
Speaker 1 (31:38):
I do.
Speaker 5 (31:40):
I just think technology, just as it continues to evolve,
We're just gonna welcome that. And I'm very close with umpires.
You're still gonna need umpires. You're still gonna need a
home plate, umpire. There's gonna be plays at the plate.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
All right, here's three yes or nos? Should these players
be in the Hall of Fame? Dale Murphy Yes, Don
Mattingly Yes, Pete Rose Yes?
Speaker 2 (32:04):
All right, three yeses? Okay?
Speaker 1 (32:06):
Twenty eleven, Be honest, where was your confidence meter in
the ninth inning, Game six of the World Series? Down
to your last strike down to the Rangers? Had you
resigned yourself to the to a bad ending to the
World Series? And to this day, can you believe the
most incredible game and the most incredible comeback in Major
(32:28):
League Baseball history?
Speaker 5 (32:31):
Confidence level pretty low? Started shotting some notes on what
I was going to say to the club, and then
obviously David Freeze allowed me to roll that up and
throw it out, and yeah, the rest was history. But
it was I was incredible a couple of days.
Speaker 1 (32:48):
Who will manage a baseball team in the major leagues? First,
Albert Pouholz or Yati Ramolina.
Speaker 5 (32:54):
Well that's sort of a tough question for me to answer,
because friends with both but I think both are going
to get a chance. I think, you know, right now,
with Albert doing TV's out there, so I think a
lot of people are familiar with him, that's going to
help him. And then of course Yatti, I think's going
to Mexico this summer to keep, you know, grinding away.
(33:16):
But you know, both love the game, both are super intelligent,
and I think at some point they'll get their chance.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (33:22):
Question, Obviously, as a general manager, as the head of
baseball operations, you're getting a lot of commentary on the
decisions that you're making out there, a lot of that
commentary coming via social media. While you were serving in
this position with the Cardinals, did you have a dummy
Twitter or x account where you were following the commentary
(33:44):
and perhaps commenting on things.
Speaker 5 (33:46):
Okay, I'm going to answer this. Honestly, I did have
an account. It was I wasn't trying to do it
like as I was hidden because I was never responding.
But I don't think anybody actually knew who it was
because they're just random numbers and letters. But you know,
as a matter of fact, I kind of stopped like
doing the whole Twitter thing about seven eight years ago,
(34:07):
because it just became so noisy.
Speaker 1 (34:10):
Amazing conversation today. You've been a wonderful guest on the
Scott Jenning Show. Thanks for illuminating us on this conversation
about a salary caps. It's true, right, major League Baseball
is the last major sports league without a system like this. Right,
that is correct?
Speaker 5 (34:23):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (34:24):
Yeah, And I guess in your opinion it's worked out
for everybody else and something to think about for Major
League Baseball.
Speaker 5 (34:30):
I think that's a good way of saying it.
Speaker 1 (34:32):
Yes. Really honored to have John Mozelac on the Scott
Jenning Show today. A little off the beaten path for us,
but I think an interesting conversation. With Baseball's Winter meetings
going on tomorrow and the next day will be broadcasting
live from Michigan, the Revolution for Common Sense book tour continues.
Really really honored that you join the show, Happy that
(34:54):
folks are enjoying the book, and I love bringing this
to you every day. Join us again tomorrow, Common Sense
for the American people. Scott Jenning on the Salem Radio Network.
Speaker 3 (35:04):
I want to call minute you had a comm stade
Samon
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