November 18, 2025 • 43 mins
The San Diego Padres have multiple holes to fill in their rotation this offseason. Kyle Glaser and Mike Cameron break down the top free agent pitching targets that make sense for the club, including why bringing back Ruben Niebla and Ben Fritz on staff shapes their strategy, how ownership and payroll questions affect their pursuit, and whether bringing Michael King back is a realistic possibility.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
What's up, everybody. Welcome into another edition of Friar Territory.
Here on the Foul Territory Network, I'm Kyle Glazer alongside
the incomparable Mike Cameron, here to break down the top
five pitching targets for the Potteris in free agency. But Mike,
before we dive into that, two big developments occurred over
the last week while you were out. First and foremost,
(00:32):
the Potteris officially introduced Craig Stammon as their new manager,
and then chairman John Siler announced that the Seidler family
will be exploring a potential sale of the team. These
two developments obviously create a pretty big ripple effect just
in terms of how the organization is going to function
and most notably, how they're going to pursue their free agents.
(00:53):
And we'll get into how it's going to affect specifically
their free agent strategy for pitchers here in a second.
But before we dive into that, just want to get
your quick thoughts on Stamman coming as a manager, good hire, bad,
higher questions, and then of course the news the Padres
are potentially going to be sold depending on what the
side of their family decides.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
To do Yesky. First of all, thank you for having
me once again. My you know, my personal.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Feelings were I didn't think that they would go as
in a direction that they're going with with Stamming, simply
because of the roster and the layout of the team.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
But obviously we knew Stamman was.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Very much in the front office, so that kind of
helped his hand a little bit. Also understanding the questions,
I mean, you understand the questions. If you're in the meetings,
you understand what's going on. But also Stamman is a
guy who played for the Padres. He's pitched there, he's
been in that clubhouse, and I think he's been out
(01:54):
of game a few years now.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
So he get a chance to see it from the
other side. And now he gets a chance to.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
Jump into the the into the captain seat and try to.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Bring his own potential meaning of what he wants this
team to look like and not just on in words.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
So you know, kudos to him forgetting this opportunity and
and and trying to trying to work this out. I'm
pretty sure Aj Priler has drilled this guy inside and
out and try to get some type of a feeling
for what it's like, uh, And then I'm hoping that
hoping that they aj and in the front office staff
(02:39):
talk to Manny and talk to Tatis and some of
the other veterans over there. Must grow with some you know,
some other veterans in that team to get a sense
of temperature gauging or feel as to how they want
to do this. Because with anyone that you bring in,
when you have these veteran leading guys that have these
long term establishments and bid stars throughout the game, you
(03:04):
have to be somewhat on the same page and try
to earn their trust. The trust will not be earned
until something is standing in their face and that's when
we'll find out what stamming is. And we're also you're
only as good as the people you put around you,
meaning you know, coaches, the analytical staff, and the people
(03:29):
who all conjured together on a daily basis to try
to make something work over the course of the season.
Speaker 4 (03:36):
No question about it.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
And where this plays into the Potter's approach and free
agency in regards to pictures. By hiring Craig Stammon, the
Potters put another picture on their coaching staff and only
on their coaching staff, and the manager see. But most
importantly they're keeping Reuben nie Let. We'll see what his
exact title is. Maybe it's that associate head coach, associate
manager kind of role. We'll see head coaches is in
(03:57):
college associate manager kind of role. It's of course bullpen coach.
Signed extension. So the pitching infrastructure is in place in
San Diego, and that's important because it means that for
the podres, you have more confidence and their ability to
go find guys at the lower end of the free
agency band in terms of salary, in terms of experience,
in terms of maybe performance last year, just in the
sense of you have more faith they can tease more out,
(04:19):
they can help guys become the best versions of themselves.
And the other part of this is with the news
that the side of their family is exploring a sale,
you understand the padres are not going to be able
to sign any of the big dollar FRA agents. And
we knew that ahead of time. We knew that already
was going to be the case, but even more so now. Look,
whenever any business is looking to potentially sale a potential sale,
(04:40):
you reduce expenses, you try and reduce the debt load.
So I think realistically for the podres understanding these two developments,
You're going to have to shop in more of the bargain, Ben,
but you have more faith they'll be able to do
so effectively. I go back to under Reuben Nieble since
he's been there through multiple managers now, and I want
to throw Ben Fritz in here too because he's been
a part of this right. We've seen them take talented
(05:02):
but inconsistent starters like Joe Musgrove and Nick Pavetta and
turn them into frontline guys. We've seen them take swing
men like Seth Lugo and Michael King and turn them
into aces. We've seen them take established guys like Blake
Snell and Dylan Cees get back to being their best selves.
We've seen them take so many different types of pitchers
and help them become the best versions of themselves. You
have a lot of faith and Mike, I will say
(05:23):
for the padre As you look at their starting rotation
right now, it's Nick Pavetta, Joe Musgrove coming off of TJ,
Randy Vasquez, JP Sears, Matt Walder, and they just resign
Kyle Hart. The Potterys are going to need minimum to starters,
and you'd like to see them get three just to
give them some depth. So it's going to be an
interesting offseason. We've talked about they need bats to improve
(05:44):
their offense, but at least they physically have the bodies
to fill out a lineup. They don't really physically have
the bodies to fill out of major league rotation right now.
So their attention is going to be primarily focused on
this as.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
It should be most definitely.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
You know, obviously League with Joe coming off of TJ,
it's gonna take some time to him to get back
into what he was once before when he was successful.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
And you're talking about you know, thiss is.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
With the with a potential opportunity of selling the team,
they're definitely gonna be looking at some of the guys
that they can maybe a reclamation project, maybe guys that
need another opportunity, had a bad season somewhere.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
And why not.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
I mean, like guys are gonna want to go to
San Diego because players they view these same things that
we do. They're looking at, Okay, you know, here's a
team that I may get a chance with if i'm
you know, get into their system and get things going
and may have.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
An opportunity for me there.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
So there's gonna be some some guys there to have
that opportunity to to to to pitch here, and it's
gonna be some names. There's gonna be some some guys
that that's gonna prob me a one year deal or something.
I don't know where about the the organization and the
ownership right now is going to go far as the
length of having players right now, As you said that,
(07:08):
they're trying to bring down the deficit of their payroll
and everything, so you know, it's probably gonna be a
couple of one year options to get a chance to
go back out and do it. And the potential too
is to look at like, man, you know, this is
a team that still can compete and have an opportunity
to get into postseason play and make some noise.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
And obviously a lot of things change over the course of.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
The year, but you definitely need to sure that up
more than anything, because we don't know how much of
the forty man roster or in the organization itself of
guys that are ready to compete for a starting spot
where you can get one hundred and sixty one thirty
(07:57):
five to one forty five five innings or whatever.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
So you got to get some guys that can.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
Take up some innings considerably since Joe is still recovering
from Tommy John Sergeant.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Yeah, we typically see guys are better in their second
year back from TJ than their first year back, So
I think you should expect there to be some ups
and downs. Mike, we're going to dive into the top
five pitching targets for the Potters and free agency, and again,
the payroll right now, it depends on your source a
little bit. But last year, the Potter's payroll cord to
Fangrafts ended up at two hundred and eleven million dollars.
(08:30):
Right now they're at two hundred and one million dollars.
So even if they just wanted to match last year's payroll,
they only have ten million to play with. Again, there
are a lot of moving pieces here, So the guys
we're going to talk about I want everyone to be
aware of. Look, you're not going to see Ranger Suarez.
You're not gonna see Dylan Cees, you're not gonna see Tetsumi,
you're not going to see Framber Valdez. We're not talking
about any of those guys, they're way outside the Potter's
(08:51):
payroll potential. And Michael King also is going to fall
into that as well, unless his medicals a wreck, which
we'll get to at the end of the show. So
all these names we're talking about, like you said, they're
reclamation projects. They're guys who the Padres are going to
have to look and see something under the hood and
say we can help him be better or get back
to their best sells. None of these guys are going
to be guys that you hear in cyng Award conversations
(09:12):
or top the rotation kind of conversations, just because the
Padres don't have the capital to go after that. So
with that, here are the padres top five targets in
free agency for starting pitching. First, well, I should say
number five. I'm going to combine number five and number four.
Four here Number five Tyler Malley, Number four Zach Eflin.
(09:34):
Both are thirty one years old. Both are coming off
of injuries. Tyler Malley was effective when he was on
the mound last year for the Texas Rangers. He only
made sixteen starts. He missed three months with the rotator
cuff strain. Did come back and finished the ter strong
overall six and four two point one. Adri zach Eflin
made fourteen starts for the Oils last year, had two
ie EL stints for lower back discomfort, had season ending
(09:57):
surgery to remove a portion of of a herniated disk
in his lower backs. We did have season ending back surgery. Again,
it's not it's a minor procedure, it's not a major one. Nonetheless,
it's something you need to be wary of. Both of
them at their best have shown the ability to be
solid mid rotation guys who can log innings give you
eras and the mid threes. Because they're coming off of
(10:20):
injury afflicted seasons, in theory, the Potters could get them
on a discount. Now, Tyler Marley made sixteen and a
half million dollars last year. Zach Eflin made eighteen million
dollars last year. So whether or not they would take
something like a one year, seven year, seven million kind
of deal, it's in question. Nonetheless, what do you think
about these two pictures as again, they're thirty one stolen
(10:41):
their primes. They've shown you the ability to be really
solid before they're just coming off of injury plague seasons.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
Yeah, both of these are a kind of a really
challenging situation.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
Obviously, they're experienced, as Zach.
Speaker 3 (10:57):
Eflin been on playoff teams. Tyler mainly been on playoff teams.
The Rotator thing, you know, hopefully Tyler I saw him
a lot obviously because he plays in the playing in
the AL West and so yeah, and then Zach Efflin
who was in the Al East. These guys definitely can
help your team. It probably will come down to medicals.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
What are they seeing from these guys? Man?
Speaker 3 (11:26):
That Rotator company is scary in itself, but as you said,
he Mail came back and was showing signs of some
growth per se in his his game as what he
was and what he what will he be in the future.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
And then you know Zach with the you know backs
and pitching.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
Man, both of those things are kind of stick up, yeah,
kind of stick up the red flag a little bit.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
But you have to be able to take a chance
on guys.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
And maybe get him at a good vedroom deal that
you give these guys a chance to do it. But
once again, God like, as I stated before, like players
love to play in environments. They obviously understand the environments
and they understand the team and they understand the opportunity,
(12:17):
and then it's San Diego.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
Man.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
I mean, guys would jump for that in a minute.
Guys dogs the market, dogs with bark and but yeah,
these these guys, man, they definitely have that that chance
to it makes you go hmmm, you know when the
agent presents it to them, Hey, this is an opportunity
(12:40):
that you can take advantage of right here. And you know,
look back problems in San Diego. It's a different it's
a different animal, you know, and you know, show anything,
your body is just a lot better acclimated, and you're
playing in a pit, a place where you can actually
where E R A plus comes into a big factor.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
When you play in a place like Stan Diego.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
Yeah, picture friendly ballpark, great pitching infrastructure, good defense behind you.
And again, all these guys were going to go down,
have concerns, have questions, But that's just where the Potters
have to finish right now. So I want everyone to
keep in mind that every name we're going to read
off here, some guys might go might Bracks might be
I don't know about that.
Speaker 4 (13:20):
Those guys.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
The Potters have to kind of transl here with only
ten million dollars or so to work with if they
match last year's payroll, and it's very reasonable to assume
they might come in under it, just given the fact
that there's a potential sale happening. Again, this is kind
of where they're going to have to shop. And frankly,
even Malley and Aflin might be out of their price
range just given their previous success and their previous salary levels.
Speaker 4 (13:42):
We'll see.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
Also, I will say Tyler Malley so cow Guy.
Speaker 4 (13:46):
Zach Eflin, of course.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
Was drafted by the Potters, was one of the first
prospects traded away by AJ probably when he took over,
so there are some ties there. Number three is interesting.
Cody Ponce Ponce was a second round pick of the
Brewers back in twenty fifteen. Again, so cal Guy went
to Kyle Poulit Pomona. He made his Major League debut
with the Pirates, didn't go well. Then he went over
to Asia. He pitched three seasons in Japan. Last year
(14:09):
he pitched in Korea for the Hanwhai Eagles and won
the equivalent of the Korean Sign Award, went seventeen and
one with a one point eight nine ERA two hundred
and fifty two strikeouts and one hundred and eighty and
a third innings. What was most interesting about Poems? And
we see this happen. A lot of guys go over
to Asia and come back different pitchers. He added two
to three miles an hour to his fastball, he learned
a splitter. He's coming back a different pitcher. Where are
(14:32):
you on the idea of bringing back someone from Asia?
Speaker 4 (14:34):
Again?
Speaker 1 (14:35):
We've seen the Padres do it, you know, Robert Swartz
came over from Japan, Nick Martinez came back from Asia,
Kyle Hart came back from Korea, the ladder of which
didn't work out too great. Well, we'll see he's got
another year after resigning with the Padres. What are your
overall thoughts on, you know, taking a shot on the
guy who Yeah, look, he wasn't great in his.
Speaker 4 (14:50):
Major league debut.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
He went over to Asia, he was coming back a
different pitcher and maybe taking a shot.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:56):
I find it, you know, more so than the aer
that I played in when got basically when they left
and went to Japan or or Korea. Find it more
happening today than ever because I feel like the gap
is closing from Asia to the starting pitching now, and
(15:19):
we're seeing some of the best starters come over here
from Japan and guys go over there and they learn
new technology, they're learning how different shapes that take care
of their bodies, they're learning that culture that they teach
over there and they're bringing it back over here. But
also they are there too. One further there, further their
(15:43):
career and learn is much more. I think this A
person like Cody Puss will be very hungry to get
an opportunity to come back to the States and play
in the big leagues again.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
And what he's learned through his his from the time.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
He was drafted to now what he is as a
veteran to come into very handy for himself to be
able a chance to come back, and no one.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
Has seen him.
Speaker 3 (16:10):
Obviously, video is different than getting into box sixty with
six inches six inches, so that could be a very
bonus point for him. And then once you get back in,
you get back on the mound in the big league
stadium or you know, get back in a big league organization.
You started to get a feel for what works for
you now opposed to what didn't work for you. And
(16:31):
then you added a pitch too so that's a benefit
for him if given the opportunity, if he decides to
do that.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
Yeah, he's coming back a different picture. And we've seen
a number of players, specifically, I'm going to talk about
the players who went to Korea and came back or
at least pitched in Korea the previous season before coming back.
There have been some successes, there have been some not
great outcomes. Again, it's a mixed bag. That's true when
signing any starting picture and free agency. You look at
the successes. Meryl Kelly's the big one. Came over from
(16:58):
Korea and frankly was one of the better and more
underrated pitchers in baseball over the last few years, helped
loop the Dbacks to World Series. Eric Fetty was another
top prospect, did not pan out in the States, went
to Korea.
Speaker 4 (17:09):
Came back. It was good in twenty twenty.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Four, was not so great last year in twenty twenty five.
Josh Lindblom is one that didn't work out, went over
to Korea, came back, signed with the Brewers, just didn't
pan out. And we have Kyle Hart who came over
and joined the Potters last year from Korea. Again his
first year he had some moments, some spots, starts, came
in relief a little bit. The Padres did not pick
up his option, but they're able to bring him back
(17:32):
on a lower dollar deal. So it's interesting, I will say,
in terms of the winners of the Korean sign Award,
as Ponte won here in twenty twenty five, Hart was
the winner in twenty twenty four. Fetti was the winner
in twenty twenty three. But the other part of this
that makes it appealing is when guys come back from Korea,
they typically don't sign for a whole lot of money.
Eric Fetty was two years fifteen million. Merril Kelly was
(17:54):
way back in twenty eighteens was different, but two years
five and a half million. Josh Lin Blom was three
years nine little for nine million. So you know you're
talking about you can get guys in that call it
four to seven million dollars a year range, which is
what the powers are going to have to do. So
you know, you don't want this to be your only
free agent signing, but I think that's reasonable to take
a shot.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
No doubt. I mean, look, you have to go in.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
These guys, they're pros, they're professionals and the teams understand
that they're trying to, you know, re establish themselves, especially
if you're coming from you know.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
Another league.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
But the biggest thing is, like every guy wants to
get another opportunity to show their growth and what they're
capable of doing now opposed to what you saw previously.
I mean, this is the can do league, and guys
are trying to trying to do what they can to
(18:53):
get themselves in a position to get back to what
they know best. And sometimes you have to take a
little hiatus is to go in and experience those things.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
And you know, everyone don't get it.
Speaker 3 (19:04):
Everyone can't go to drive line and be back with
a team, you know what I'm saying. You know, some
people have to go in and let me let me
go ahead and rework my game and maybe get a
different voice. And then, once again I failed to mention
this earlier when we were talking about Ethlyn and Melee.
The Padres have a very good track record of bringing
(19:25):
guys in and making them their best at.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
What they do very well.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
And then you bring that from the organization and you
put it with what the guys learned in Asia and
you bring it back Man you may have a diamond
in the rough.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
You never know.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
Yeah, again, he's certainly appealing just the sense of he's healthy,
the stuff is ticked up, and he's probably gonna come
cheaper than some of the other guys. Again, Ethlyn and
Matt Melee, their ceilings are probably higher, but they're more
expensive and have more question marks coming off with injury.
That brings me to number two on the list. Adrian Hauser.
Hauser has been around for a while. He was a
(20:03):
starter with the Brewers. Was fairly effective on the whole,
wasn't great, wasn't terrible, fairly effective. Last year was a
very interesting year, so he signed a minor league deal
with the Rangers, opted out after the Rangers did not
put him on the big league roster, signed for one
year and one point three to five million with the
White Sox and went on to have a really, really
excellent year with the White Sox. Was traded to the
(20:25):
Rays after the deadline. Wasn't as effective there, but overall
pretty solids. Adrian Hauser is thirty two years old. He'll
be thirty three next year. Last year eight and five,
three point three one, one hundred and twenty five innings.
Again this is one of those guys where you're not
gonna get you know, frontline cy young stuff here. But
he's healthy, he's effective, and he showed himself to be
(20:47):
pretty durable. You look over the course of his career,
it's a lot of you know, between one hundred and
one hundred and forty inning seasons. Again, he's not gonna
log one eighty. But you know, we talked about these
other guys who certainly have higher ceilings, but they have
more questions, whether it's injuries, whether it's coming over from Asia.
Howser has fewer questions. And he's also cheaper. Again, he's
coming off signing a one year, one point three to
(21:08):
five million dollar deal. This is not a guy you're
going to have to pay a huge amount for. So
if you can get solid mid three is the ra
for five mil. That's exactly what the Potters kind of
need right now. And given his health and just his
performance last year, he's with a safer bet than some
of the other guys.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
Yeah, so you know, in Houser's case, you have to
look at this in the situation for him that.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
If I get a chance to go to San Diego,
I know it will be maybe.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
Three, four or five, you know, you know, six starter,
you know, maybe a swing guy. But you know, given
the success that he had with the White Sox, you
you build on those things. You get a chance to
build on that, and then you get a chance to possibly.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
You know, put your name in the heat of a
potential playoff team.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
And I think guys will they want to get the
most money they can get, obviously, but they also want
the opportunity and innings. Is what the San Diego Padres
need right now, not at not the most valuable salary
that we can get, but a manageable salary that we
can get some innings out of some guys. And this
(22:23):
is one of the guys that's capable of doing that.
And obviously, look if Adrian Howard Houser was able to
do this with the Chicago White Sox and what they
got going on. You know, from a defensive perspective, man,
it's a blessing in itself to be able to get
on a team to where everything benefits you when you
(22:43):
enter an organization like the San Diego Padres, from the
stadium to the players and the magnitude of what it
is meant to have a potential postseason opportunity, and.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
That brings us to number one on the list. And
you hit on a very key point with the pop
need is innings because again Nick Mavetta, you trust he's gonna,
you know, carry a load for you. So Joe Musgrove
coming off of TJ and Randy Vasquez, was very, very
good at the end of last year. It's two years
in a row. Now he's finished the year strong. But
again he's been more than that one hundred to one
hundred and twenty five inning range. You know, one hundred
(23:17):
and thirty. You need another guy you feel good about
giving you one hundred sixty hundred and seventy. That leads
us to number one on the list again taking into
account all the factors we talked about, meeting innings not
too expensive, and that is Zach lttel Over Mariner's prospect.
He's been around for a long long time now. Jack
Lytell is only thirty years old. He went ten and
eight with a three point eight one ERA last year
(23:39):
with the Rays and the Reds. Was a little worse
with the Reds after the deadline, but was still starting
a playoff game for them, and most importantly did over
one hundred and eighty six and a third innings after
a one hundred and fifty plus innings season the year before.
Zach Letelz puts it back put together. Excuse me, it's
back to back solid seasons. He was signed for five
point seventy two million dollars last year. Again, he's not
(24:01):
going to get a huge side because he doesn't have
huge stuff. He's a guy who doesn't walk batters. You know,
Pitt knows this game, pitches effectively, logs innings. You look
at most of the projections out there, it's two years
eighteen mil. Maybe it's a little more two years twenty four.
But this is not someone that's going to cost a
lot of money. And look, if you're the potter is
and you can get a get one hundred and eighty
inning guy with again a solid r in the threes,
(24:23):
that five to seven MILLI year, you need to take
that because they need that badly.
Speaker 3 (24:30):
Man.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
I'm taking that.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
That's my pick because I've watched him pitch and you,
like you said, he's not a big strikeout guys. He
doesn't want many guys. He played in Cincinnati at the
end of the year, but he made a playoff start there,
you know, and the kind of experience that you need
when you still have the potential to be a playoff
(24:53):
caliber baseball team. And Zach can can fit into that
probably two or three spot right now, until Joe Musbro
gets back to this place, maybe three or four. This
will be a perfect guy for the San Diego Padres
(25:13):
to possibly invest in and give them the innings that
they need.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
He's been solid, man, he's been a solid.
Speaker 3 (25:23):
Any of those guys that come out of Tampa, man,
it's like they got they understand the factory down there,
and then you know, you go off and you do
your different things. But the opportunity to play in this position,
and once again I said it before.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
Players know when.
Speaker 3 (25:42):
They scout organizations as well, and they talk to other
players and they know that, hey, you know when an
agent reach out to like, hey, man, Padres may be
interested here.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
You know, we may have an opportunity here.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
The first thing guys do is start getting the phone
and start texting other guys that's been there and understand that.
And and they understand the guys have who've been hurt
or been in situations where they struggle to whatever it is.
They go to San Diego and it's like, man, they
turn around hem you know, they turn around different guys,
(26:14):
they do different things. And look they turned around cy
young winner. So they understand those opportunities and they're willing
to take on that situation to get a chance to
do it. And once again, what better place to do
it than in San Diego.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
And again, all these guys were talking about right, it's
very safe. Well, I don't like the proofles well, the
health scares, Like this is the bucket they're going to
have to shop in.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
So I think, yeah, to look at.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
What these guys do well and not pick them apart
because you're going to find flaws with every picture, but
especially when you talk about the bucket the Potters are
going to have to chop in. It's going to come
with the territory, Mike. There are a few other guys
who are interested me. Again, these are the five that
really jumped out as okay, kind of have at least
some combination of ten with innings, with stuff that you know,
(27:02):
the Potters could certainly use at a price point that
you know is somewhat tenable for them. But there are
a couple other guys I do want to highlight here,
and one of the big ones is Dustin May. Dustin
May is only twenty eight years old. We know how
wicked his stuff has been. He's had a lot of
problems with injuries. He did not have a good year
last year. I went seven to eleven with a four
point nine six cra between the Daughters and the Red Sox.
(27:24):
The thing is he only made a little over two
million dollars last year. If you're talking about hey, let's
take a flyer and a guy who's twenty eight with
wicked stuff. Bring him into a potter's organization that does
great work helping pitchers get the best versions of themselves,
and you probably are going to get them.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (27:40):
I have a hard time seeing him get more than
five million.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
Dollars based on the year he has every day. That's
someone again, I think that talk about buying low on
he fits perfectly.
Speaker 5 (27:52):
Oh heck, yes, I'm pretty sure his that May would
love to get back. I don't know where he's from,
but he would love probably get back to the West coast,
you know, a chance, yeah, to get Look, this guy's
got stuff, no doubt about it. It hasn't translated as
much as we'd like to see as we talked about
(28:13):
him being a prospect for many years, but at twenty
eight years old and he's already and have an opportunity
to test the market and to.
Speaker 3 (28:23):
Be one of those mid level, you know players as
you stayed at five million dollars. This is the one
guy that you got to have put some heat on.
And I'm sure he's gonna have a lot more interest
in that because he's had some injuries, but he has
this stuff to do what he's capable of doing, and
(28:44):
I mean he came from that Dodger pitching factory. But
also you know, San Diego's known for once again, as
you stated, the reclamation of getting the best version of
these guys of themselves. And being a twenty eight year
old guy, I mean, he could turn this and to
you know, if he was the silent san Diego, he
could turn this into something much bigger. And what the
(29:06):
better opportunity, you know, to put a chip on your
shoulder and to be able to chase the old back
to back champs and to kind of show them what
it's all about. Giving the opportunity. I mean, I like
the grid long stretch red. So he has he has
an edge of bottom that I like. And uh, it's
(29:27):
an opportunity you know for him, you know, to get
himself back into the the the spotlight of what he
really was as a prospect.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
And you know, look, man, sometimes it takes.
Speaker 3 (29:40):
A few years for guys to figure themselves out, giving
the injury situation and obviously the mental blocks. I heard
them talking when he was in Boston about changing up
his pitch repertoire. But obviously I saw this kids, since
he's been in double A way back in like twenty
(30:01):
twenty or whatever, nineteen or.
Speaker 2 (30:03):
Twenty, since he was in this guy, Yeah, this.
Speaker 3 (30:08):
Guy has this stuff to do what he wants to
do as a pitcher. And and another guy who if
he can stay healthy, he can give you one one
the one fifty to one seventy range at a very
reasonable price and obviously can can help you contend in
a division obviously that's top heavy, you know, with what
(30:32):
the Dodgers obviously in the bank to Bay Champs. And
then we know that the Spa school giants are probably
going to go all in now since they.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
To take a shift on everything else that's going on.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
Yeah, again, someone that Bilo twenty eight, great stuff, certainly
someone the Potters should have interest in, and we'll see
what the medicals turn up.
Speaker 2 (30:54):
There.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
Another guys want to highlight outside of the top five.
Someone to considers Jose Urchidi. Again, this was a guy
who was part of a World Series staff in Houston,
had Tommy John surgery, you know, missed all, wasn't quite
right in twenty twenty three, missed off twenty twenty four,
came back very end of twenty twenty five, barely pitched
the Tigers and wasn't particularly effective when he did. But
again he's going to be now in that second year
(31:15):
post TJ which is when we see guys kind of.
Speaker 4 (31:16):
Turn it around.
Speaker 1 (31:17):
He only made four million last year. Again, just another guy.
You know, he's thirty one, he's from Mexico, so there's
those ties there. Like again, you talk about someone who
could be a solid three four potential on the cheap
kind of reclamation project type again depending on the price point.
Speaker 4 (31:31):
Someone to consider Mike.
Speaker 1 (31:33):
There are a lot of guys, I will say from
the potterstive perspective, what is in their favor this year
is there are a ton of starting pitchers hitting free agency.
So even though you have that top tier I mean,
the depth of the market is pretty significant, and I
think that that's something that will benefit them. Talked about
the top five, we talked about a few other guys,
but look, you can have almost any type of pitcher
(31:55):
you want, right you know, former Ace look, bounce back,
you got Walker Bueller, her.
Speaker 2 (31:59):
Mom As, Lucas.
Speaker 1 (32:00):
Glito, Woodruff, Strowman. You want the guys coming off of injuries.
It's all the guys we talked about former Potters, Guys
like Chris Paddock, Cal Quantrill who were not good last year,
but you know they want to sign depth starter type
of contracts.
Speaker 4 (32:12):
Maybe fix them.
Speaker 1 (32:14):
Other guys coming from Asia, you know, Foster griff.
Speaker 4 (32:16):
And Anthony Kay. And then you've got your vets.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
Look, yes you have Scherzn Verlander, but beyond them, right
the Merrill Kellys Miles Michaeli says Jose Cantana's I mean,
there's so many options, so many ways the Potters can go,
and a lot of it is just going to come
down to what's the price point. You know, maybe it's
the guys who have to wait a little longer to sign.
It gets close to the spring training and they have
to take a deal. It's a little less than what
they hoped. We'll see.
Speaker 4 (32:39):
But I think what helps the potters.
Speaker 1 (32:41):
And I'm going to wrap up with this, is you
feel good about their ability to get the most from
any of these guys, any of these archetypes. Just given
Ruby Dieblo's back, Ben Fritz's back, the infrastructure is.
Speaker 2 (32:52):
There, definitely, you know, you start to ridding on some
of these names.
Speaker 3 (32:57):
Man, Look, there's there's gonna be interest from other teams,
but these are some guys that can really help you out.
Speaker 2 (33:04):
These guys that have some experience.
Speaker 3 (33:07):
Some of them have playoff experience, they have a World
Championship experience that different things. One of the biggest things
I think that you know, the Projectives don't have other
than JP Sears is a left handed left handed lefties
and and that could play very well much into how
they're the shaping and the designing this roster. So it's
(33:29):
going to be important to see and what you know,
J Priller and the organization decides how they want to
go and building and shaping this roster from an injury
perspective and also just from a depth perspective, and who is.
Speaker 2 (33:46):
Willing to take some of these.
Speaker 3 (33:49):
Lower end of the salaries and also mid level salaries
given the situation of the organization and what.
Speaker 2 (33:58):
They need to do. From a an answer stample, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (34:03):
As we discussed, the potterys will not be able to
shop at the talk on the top of the market,
right yeah, Dylan Ce, s Ranger, Swarez, Framber, Valdez, tatsuu Am. I.
Even the guys that are kind of the second step
below them, you know, the Zach Gallons of the world,
that they're gonna be priced out of that. I do
think it's important to talk about Michael King. It was interesting,
right a few episodes ago I talked about you know, look,
(34:25):
Michael King's gonna get paid. Him coming back is very,
very unlikely. And I saw some people saying things like, no,
you know, he hasn't proven he's a starter. He's going
to get a one year pillow contract. Guys Alex Cobb
made three starts and got one year fifteen million dollars
in his age thirty seven season and wasn't able.
Speaker 4 (34:43):
To pitch Walker.
Speaker 1 (34:44):
Bueller was terrible with the Dodgers. Pitched okay well, pitched
one in the postseason, but was bad throughout the regular season.
He got twenty one and a half million dollars in
the Red Sox Michael King. When you look at his production,
it lines up with the guys who are getting six
seven year deals between one hundred and eighty and two
hundred twenty million dollar contracts. Now, he's not going to
(35:05):
get that because he's older, he's coming off the injury.
But five one forty is what we're looking at, and
if the medical is questionable, we're still looking three seventy five.
Like the floor here is Luis Sevareno's you know, three
year seventy one million. Like this idea, he's going to
get a pillow contract or. Teams are going to look
(35:25):
at him as, oh, he hasn't proven himself as a
starter with that stuff, what he showed when he was healthy,
his age, and a lot of them are going to
view it as a fresh arm.
Speaker 4 (35:34):
He's going to get paid.
Speaker 1 (35:35):
So look, if the Potters are willing to go three
years seventy five mili, you bring them back, but is
given their payroll situation, it's doubtful they'll be able to.
But but let's let's level set here right again. I
think this idea that he's somehow going to be one
of these guys that has to take one of these
one year you know, five, ten, even fifty million dollar deals.
Speaker 4 (35:53):
That's just not what's going to happen.
Speaker 1 (35:55):
And I'm not just saying that, like talking to people
in the industry again, the floor for him, it's probably
that you've all this three or seventy five million last year.
And that's even if his medical is not great.
Speaker 2 (36:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (36:07):
Look, look, Michael king proved even with injury and coming
back guy.
Speaker 2 (36:12):
I mean, he's proved that.
Speaker 3 (36:14):
He's worthy of what someone is willing to pay him
at this at this particular point. You know, I don't
know how the the owner situation and the.
Speaker 2 (36:30):
And the organization in itself are going to be able to.
Speaker 3 (36:38):
Go a little bit above considering they put this situation
from an owner standpoint in a selle mode or just
kind of get feelers just to sell. But you know,
Michael King, man, he's earned his keep, and it's going
to be really hard to bring back a guy of
this caliber considering where we are right now talking about
(37:01):
the financial situation.
Speaker 2 (37:04):
I mean, I'm sure they would love to have him back.
Speaker 3 (37:06):
I'm pretty sure they would love to add you know,
forty five fifty more million dollars to the payroll or
whatever it is, but they're going the other way, so
they're probably gonna be looking from that and Mike King
not is going to get Michael King is not going
to get a one.
Speaker 2 (37:23):
Year Pillar deal considerably that ditching.
Speaker 3 (37:27):
Is a premium and power is a premium, and he
has one of those premiums that teams are looking for
and willing to take that opportunity to get it done
because this guy has shown over the course of the
season he was the number one He ended up being
the number one guy for the San Diego Padres. So yes,
and we're talking about a ninety Winter Playoff caliber team,
(37:49):
So yeah, he's got to definitely get an opportunity to
get paid.
Speaker 1 (37:53):
Yeah, the stuff the ceiling, and again he did show
he could ball gains and last year's injury was more
of a freaking and nerving It wasn't like your typical
elbow or shoulder, you know, huge, huge concern. And then yeah,
you know he tweaked his knee because he came back
too fast, but the stuff returned in the postseason. Again,
he's gonna get paid. I will say, like the other
thing that we need to just hit on real quick
(38:13):
here we've talked about all the guys in free agency.
Of course the trade market exists as well. The padres
ability to make trades will be limited. Just give them
a stay of their farm system.
Speaker 4 (38:22):
Again, they have guys. No farm system is ever empty.
Speaker 1 (38:25):
You look, get Cash Mayfield, you look, I mean Ethan
Salas with his back and the fact he hasn't played
that value. Again, the values at an all time low,
you know, Miguel Mendez. So while there are a lot
of really good starting pitchers on the trade market, right,
we talked about Pablo bop As, we talked about Joe,
Ryan talked about Mackenzie Gore, you talk about you know,
even Sandi al contract. Potentially the padres don't really have
(38:49):
the pieces in the farm system to get those guys.
I will say, you can always pull one over an
opposing GM, But if any GM trades any of those
pictures for the guys that have the GM should be
fired immediately for incompetence. Like it's not it's not even
close to enough of what it should be. So again,
there are going to be trade options here too.
Speaker 2 (39:10):
But given the.
Speaker 1 (39:10):
State of the potter's farm system and also the ability
to absorb payroll. It's going to be tricky. And again
that's why you know, Aj Proler has been creative. He's
been you know, the kind of GM who just when
you think the Potters can't add a whole lot, he
finds creative ways.
Speaker 4 (39:25):
To make money in the prospects.
Speaker 1 (39:27):
So I don't want to sit here and say that
anything's impossible, but realistically, again we are looking at the
free agentsy you know, mid to low end of the
of the market and trying to get the best from
That's really where the Potters are going to have to
be this year, just given their payroll constraints and given
where they are, given the.
Speaker 4 (39:44):
Fact they multiple arms too again not one arm away,
they need to.
Speaker 1 (39:47):
Find at least two, probably three.
Speaker 2 (39:50):
Yeah, So as we're talking about this, gal like this
is the roster's not bad.
Speaker 3 (39:56):
You got a tell them a back end and a
bullp Yes, all you need is a couple of guys
that can get you to what you're capable of doing.
Like you know, we're not talking about rebuilding this team
or whatever it is. This team is still and win mold.
So you just need to be able to try to
(40:17):
manufactory salaries that satisfy you know, ownership and the and
the organization to put yourself in a position to to
to get through a season. You know, looking at this roster, man,
like it is not bad as we're talking if they
are re kind of redirecting or rebuilding, and partly because
(40:42):
of that is because of what's transforming from ownership standpoint,
there are players here, man, there are definitely players here
that they can get it get it done, and that's that's.
Speaker 2 (40:54):
The most important thing.
Speaker 3 (40:55):
So you just have to be able to be smart
in your decisions and try to make the best decisions
you can and hopefully to help these players take care
of themselves in and also maybe get a backup playing
here or there to to to sure up these particular
situations that you got going on from a starting pitching standpoint.
(41:16):
And look, man, like getting Mason Miller that took a lot,
that that sucked a lot out of the organization from
the prospects standpoint, but they still look really really decent
enough to where like, hey man, you can't sleep on
the San Diego Padres because we still have a very
(41:38):
good roster from a positional standpoint, at least the starters.
And obviously there's some questions in that particular manner. But
at the same time, you know, you know, getting a
couple of these veteran late starters for a one year
pillow deal, if you want to call it, that could
definitely help out this team and still feel about what
(42:00):
they're going into and then you just ride.
Speaker 2 (42:02):
With you and see where it leads you over the
course of the season.
Speaker 1 (42:05):
Again, this is the team coming off back to back
ninety one seasons. This is not a demolition project. This
is not a rebuilding team. This is a team that
has talent and has holes and now it's about filling
the holes in the most cost efficient way possible and
we'll see how they do that. Again, a lot of
these pictures we talked about. It's going to come down
to what the medical looks like, what the dollar amount is.
But there's potential there and we'll see if the Padres
(42:27):
end up signing one of these guys or if they
get creative and going in another direction. Mike, thank you
so much for joining me. Really appreciate your expertise and insight.
Speaker 3 (42:34):
As always, always always good to be a five territory,
the Territory Network, the Friar community, spending it in general.
Speaker 4 (42:47):
Maybe always.
Speaker 1 (42:49):
Once again, this has been another edition of Friar Territory.
Go ahead and gives review, Apple, Spotify, YouTube, whatever platform
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See you later this week.
What's up, everybody. Welcome into another edition of Friar Territory.
Here on the Foul Territory Network, I'm Kyle Glazer alongside
the incomparable Mike Cameron, here to break down the top
five pitching targets for the Potteris in free agency. But Mike,
before we dive into that, two big developments occurred over
the last week while you were out. First and foremost,
(00:32):
the Potteris officially introduced Craig Stammon as their new manager,
and then chairman John Siler announced that the Seidler family
will be exploring a potential sale of the team. These
two developments obviously create a pretty big ripple effect just
in terms of how the organization is going to function
and most notably, how they're going to pursue their free agents.
(00:53):
And we'll get into how it's going to affect specifically
their free agent strategy for pitchers here in a second.
But before we dive into that, just want to get
your quick thoughts on Stamman coming as a manager, good hire, bad,
higher questions, and then of course the news the Padres
are potentially going to be sold depending on what the
side of their family decides.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
To do Yesky. First of all, thank you for having
me once again. My you know, my personal.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Feelings were I didn't think that they would go as
in a direction that they're going with with Stamming, simply
because of the roster and the layout of the team.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
But obviously we knew Stamman was.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Very much in the front office, so that kind of
helped his hand a little bit. Also understanding the questions,
I mean, you understand the questions. If you're in the meetings,
you understand what's going on. But also Stamman is a
guy who played for the Padres. He's pitched there, he's
been in that clubhouse, and I think he's been out
(01:54):
of game a few years now.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
So he get a chance to see it from the
other side. And now he gets a chance to.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
Jump into the the into the captain seat and try to.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Bring his own potential meaning of what he wants this
team to look like and not just on in words.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
So you know, kudos to him forgetting this opportunity and
and and trying to trying to work this out. I'm
pretty sure Aj Priler has drilled this guy inside and
out and try to get some type of a feeling
for what it's like, uh, And then I'm hoping that
hoping that they aj and in the front office staff
(02:39):
talk to Manny and talk to Tatis and some of
the other veterans over there. Must grow with some you know,
some other veterans in that team to get a sense
of temperature gauging or feel as to how they want
to do this. Because with anyone that you bring in,
when you have these veteran leading guys that have these
long term establishments and bid stars throughout the game, you
(03:04):
have to be somewhat on the same page and try
to earn their trust. The trust will not be earned
until something is standing in their face and that's when
we'll find out what stamming is. And we're also you're
only as good as the people you put around you,
meaning you know, coaches, the analytical staff, and the people
(03:29):
who all conjured together on a daily basis to try
to make something work over the course of the season.
Speaker 4 (03:36):
No question about it.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
And where this plays into the Potter's approach and free
agency in regards to pictures. By hiring Craig Stammon, the
Potters put another picture on their coaching staff and only
on their coaching staff, and the manager see. But most
importantly they're keeping Reuben nie Let. We'll see what his
exact title is. Maybe it's that associate head coach, associate
manager kind of role. We'll see head coaches is in
(03:57):
college associate manager kind of role. It's of course bullpen coach.
Signed extension. So the pitching infrastructure is in place in
San Diego, and that's important because it means that for
the podres, you have more confidence and their ability to
go find guys at the lower end of the free
agency band in terms of salary, in terms of experience,
in terms of maybe performance last year, just in the
sense of you have more faith they can tease more out,
(04:19):
they can help guys become the best versions of themselves.
And the other part of this is with the news
that the side of their family is exploring a sale,
you understand the padres are not going to be able
to sign any of the big dollar FRA agents. And
we knew that ahead of time. We knew that already
was going to be the case, but even more so now. Look,
whenever any business is looking to potentially sale a potential sale,
(04:40):
you reduce expenses, you try and reduce the debt load.
So I think realistically for the podres understanding these two developments,
You're going to have to shop in more of the bargain, Ben,
but you have more faith they'll be able to do
so effectively. I go back to under Reuben Nieble since
he's been there through multiple managers now, and I want
to throw Ben Fritz in here too because he's been
a part of this right. We've seen them take talented
(05:02):
but inconsistent starters like Joe Musgrove and Nick Pavetta and
turn them into frontline guys. We've seen them take swing
men like Seth Lugo and Michael King and turn them
into aces. We've seen them take established guys like Blake
Snell and Dylan Cees get back to being their best selves.
We've seen them take so many different types of pitchers
and help them become the best versions of themselves. You
have a lot of faith and Mike, I will say
(05:23):
for the padre As you look at their starting rotation
right now, it's Nick Pavetta, Joe Musgrove coming off of TJ,
Randy Vasquez, JP Sears, Matt Walder, and they just resign
Kyle Hart. The Potterys are going to need minimum to starters,
and you'd like to see them get three just to
give them some depth. So it's going to be an
interesting offseason. We've talked about they need bats to improve
(05:44):
their offense, but at least they physically have the bodies
to fill out a lineup. They don't really physically have
the bodies to fill out of major league rotation right now.
So their attention is going to be primarily focused on
this as.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
It should be most definitely.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
You know, obviously League with Joe coming off of TJ,
it's gonna take some time to him to get back
into what he was once before when he was successful.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
And you're talking about you know, thiss is.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
With the with a potential opportunity of selling the team,
they're definitely gonna be looking at some of the guys
that they can maybe a reclamation project, maybe guys that
need another opportunity, had a bad season somewhere.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
And why not.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
I mean, like guys are gonna want to go to
San Diego because players they view these same things that
we do. They're looking at, Okay, you know, here's a
team that I may get a chance with if i'm
you know, get into their system and get things going
and may have.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
An opportunity for me there.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
So there's gonna be some some guys there to have
that opportunity to to to to pitch here, and it's
gonna be some names. There's gonna be some some guys
that that's gonna prob me a one year deal or something.
I don't know where about the the organization and the
ownership right now is going to go far as the
length of having players right now, As you said that,
(07:08):
they're trying to bring down the deficit of their payroll
and everything, so you know, it's probably gonna be a
couple of one year options to get a chance to
go back out and do it. And the potential too
is to look at like, man, you know, this is
a team that still can compete and have an opportunity
to get into postseason play and make some noise.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
And obviously a lot of things change over the course of.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
The year, but you definitely need to sure that up
more than anything, because we don't know how much of
the forty man roster or in the organization itself of
guys that are ready to compete for a starting spot
where you can get one hundred and sixty one thirty
(07:57):
five to one forty five five innings or whatever.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
So you got to get some guys that can.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
Take up some innings considerably since Joe is still recovering
from Tommy John Sergeant.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Yeah, we typically see guys are better in their second
year back from TJ than their first year back, So
I think you should expect there to be some ups
and downs. Mike, we're going to dive into the top
five pitching targets for the Potters and free agency, and again,
the payroll right now, it depends on your source a
little bit. But last year, the Potter's payroll cord to
Fangrafts ended up at two hundred and eleven million dollars.
(08:30):
Right now they're at two hundred and one million dollars.
So even if they just wanted to match last year's payroll,
they only have ten million to play with. Again, there
are a lot of moving pieces here, So the guys
we're going to talk about I want everyone to be
aware of. Look, you're not going to see Ranger Suarez.
You're not gonna see Dylan Cees, you're not gonna see Tetsumi,
you're not going to see Framber Valdez. We're not talking
about any of those guys, they're way outside the Potter's
(08:51):
payroll potential. And Michael King also is going to fall
into that as well, unless his medicals a wreck, which
we'll get to at the end of the show. So
all these names we're talking about, like you said, they're
reclamation projects. They're guys who the Padres are going to
have to look and see something under the hood and
say we can help him be better or get back
to their best sells. None of these guys are going
to be guys that you hear in cyng Award conversations
(09:12):
or top the rotation kind of conversations, just because the
Padres don't have the capital to go after that. So
with that, here are the padres top five targets in
free agency for starting pitching. First, well, I should say
number five. I'm going to combine number five and number four.
Four here Number five Tyler Malley, Number four Zach Eflin.
(09:34):
Both are thirty one years old. Both are coming off
of injuries. Tyler Malley was effective when he was on
the mound last year for the Texas Rangers. He only
made sixteen starts. He missed three months with the rotator
cuff strain. Did come back and finished the ter strong
overall six and four two point one. Adri zach Eflin
made fourteen starts for the Oils last year, had two
ie EL stints for lower back discomfort, had season ending
(09:57):
surgery to remove a portion of of a herniated disk
in his lower backs. We did have season ending back surgery. Again,
it's not it's a minor procedure, it's not a major one. Nonetheless,
it's something you need to be wary of. Both of
them at their best have shown the ability to be
solid mid rotation guys who can log innings give you
eras and the mid threes. Because they're coming off of
(10:20):
injury afflicted seasons, in theory, the Potters could get them
on a discount. Now, Tyler Marley made sixteen and a
half million dollars last year. Zach Eflin made eighteen million
dollars last year. So whether or not they would take
something like a one year, seven year, seven million kind
of deal, it's in question. Nonetheless, what do you think
about these two pictures as again, they're thirty one stolen
(10:41):
their primes. They've shown you the ability to be really
solid before they're just coming off of injury plague seasons.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
Yeah, both of these are a kind of a really
challenging situation.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
Obviously, they're experienced, as Zach.
Speaker 3 (10:57):
Eflin been on playoff teams. Tyler mainly been on playoff teams.
The Rotator thing, you know, hopefully Tyler I saw him
a lot obviously because he plays in the playing in
the AL West and so yeah, and then Zach Efflin
who was in the Al East. These guys definitely can
help your team. It probably will come down to medicals.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
What are they seeing from these guys? Man?
Speaker 3 (11:26):
That Rotator company is scary in itself, but as you said,
he Mail came back and was showing signs of some
growth per se in his his game as what he
was and what he what will he be in the future.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
And then you know Zach with the you know backs
and pitching.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
Man, both of those things are kind of stick up, yeah,
kind of stick up the red flag a little bit.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
But you have to be able to take a chance
on guys.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
And maybe get him at a good vedroom deal that
you give these guys a chance to do it. But
once again, God like, as I stated before, like players
love to play in environments. They obviously understand the environments
and they understand the team and they understand the opportunity,
(12:17):
and then it's San Diego.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
Man.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
I mean, guys would jump for that in a minute.
Guys dogs the market, dogs with bark and but yeah,
these these guys, man, they definitely have that that chance
to it makes you go hmmm, you know when the
agent presents it to them, Hey, this is an opportunity
(12:40):
that you can take advantage of right here. And you know,
look back problems in San Diego. It's a different it's
a different animal, you know, and you know, show anything,
your body is just a lot better acclimated, and you're
playing in a pit, a place where you can actually
where E R A plus comes into a big factor.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
When you play in a place like Stan Diego.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
Yeah, picture friendly ballpark, great pitching infrastructure, good defense behind you.
And again, all these guys were going to go down,
have concerns, have questions, But that's just where the Potters
have to finish right now. So I want everyone to
keep in mind that every name we're going to read
off here, some guys might go might Bracks might be
I don't know about that.
Speaker 4 (13:20):
Those guys.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
The Potters have to kind of transl here with only
ten million dollars or so to work with if they
match last year's payroll, and it's very reasonable to assume
they might come in under it, just given the fact
that there's a potential sale happening. Again, this is kind
of where they're going to have to shop. And frankly,
even Malley and Aflin might be out of their price
range just given their previous success and their previous salary levels.
Speaker 4 (13:42):
We'll see.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
Also, I will say Tyler Malley so cow Guy.
Speaker 4 (13:46):
Zach Eflin, of course.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
Was drafted by the Potters, was one of the first
prospects traded away by AJ probably when he took over,
so there are some ties there. Number three is interesting.
Cody Ponce Ponce was a second round pick of the
Brewers back in twenty fifteen. Again, so cal Guy went
to Kyle Poulit Pomona. He made his Major League debut
with the Pirates, didn't go well. Then he went over
to Asia. He pitched three seasons in Japan. Last year
(14:09):
he pitched in Korea for the Hanwhai Eagles and won
the equivalent of the Korean Sign Award, went seventeen and
one with a one point eight nine ERA two hundred
and fifty two strikeouts and one hundred and eighty and
a third innings. What was most interesting about Poems? And
we see this happen. A lot of guys go over
to Asia and come back different pitchers. He added two
to three miles an hour to his fastball, he learned
a splitter. He's coming back a different pitcher. Where are
(14:32):
you on the idea of bringing back someone from Asia?
Speaker 4 (14:34):
Again?
Speaker 1 (14:35):
We've seen the Padres do it, you know, Robert Swartz
came over from Japan, Nick Martinez came back from Asia,
Kyle Hart came back from Korea, the ladder of which
didn't work out too great. Well, we'll see he's got
another year after resigning with the Padres. What are your
overall thoughts on, you know, taking a shot on the
guy who Yeah, look, he wasn't great in his.
Speaker 4 (14:50):
Major league debut.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
He went over to Asia, he was coming back a
different pitcher and maybe taking a shot.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:56):
I find it, you know, more so than the aer
that I played in when got basically when they left
and went to Japan or or Korea. Find it more
happening today than ever because I feel like the gap
is closing from Asia to the starting pitching now, and
(15:19):
we're seeing some of the best starters come over here
from Japan and guys go over there and they learn
new technology, they're learning how different shapes that take care
of their bodies, they're learning that culture that they teach
over there and they're bringing it back over here. But
also they are there too. One further there, further their
(15:43):
career and learn is much more. I think this A
person like Cody Puss will be very hungry to get
an opportunity to come back to the States and play
in the big leagues again.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
And what he's learned through his his from the time.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
He was drafted to now what he is as a
veteran to come into very handy for himself to be
able a chance to come back, and no one.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
Has seen him.
Speaker 3 (16:10):
Obviously, video is different than getting into box sixty with
six inches six inches, so that could be a very
bonus point for him. And then once you get back in,
you get back on the mound in the big league
stadium or you know, get back in a big league organization.
You started to get a feel for what works for
you now opposed to what didn't work for you. And
(16:31):
then you added a pitch too so that's a benefit
for him if given the opportunity, if he decides to
do that.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
Yeah, he's coming back a different picture. And we've seen
a number of players, specifically, I'm going to talk about
the players who went to Korea and came back or
at least pitched in Korea the previous season before coming back.
There have been some successes, there have been some not
great outcomes. Again, it's a mixed bag. That's true when
signing any starting picture and free agency. You look at
the successes. Meryl Kelly's the big one. Came over from
(16:58):
Korea and frankly was one of the better and more
underrated pitchers in baseball over the last few years, helped
loop the Dbacks to World Series. Eric Fetty was another
top prospect, did not pan out in the States, went
to Korea.
Speaker 4 (17:09):
Came back. It was good in twenty twenty.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Four, was not so great last year in twenty twenty five.
Josh Lindblom is one that didn't work out, went over
to Korea, came back, signed with the Brewers, just didn't
pan out. And we have Kyle Hart who came over
and joined the Potters last year from Korea. Again his
first year he had some moments, some spots, starts, came
in relief a little bit. The Padres did not pick
up his option, but they're able to bring him back
(17:32):
on a lower dollar deal. So it's interesting, I will say,
in terms of the winners of the Korean sign Award,
as Ponte won here in twenty twenty five, Hart was
the winner in twenty twenty four. Fetti was the winner
in twenty twenty three. But the other part of this
that makes it appealing is when guys come back from Korea,
they typically don't sign for a whole lot of money.
Eric Fetty was two years fifteen million. Merril Kelly was
(17:54):
way back in twenty eighteens was different, but two years
five and a half million. Josh Lin Blom was three
years nine little for nine million. So you know you're
talking about you can get guys in that call it
four to seven million dollars a year range, which is
what the powers are going to have to do. So
you know, you don't want this to be your only
free agent signing, but I think that's reasonable to take
a shot.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
No doubt. I mean, look, you have to go in.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
These guys, they're pros, they're professionals and the teams understand
that they're trying to, you know, re establish themselves, especially
if you're coming from you know.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
Another league.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
But the biggest thing is, like every guy wants to
get another opportunity to show their growth and what they're
capable of doing now opposed to what you saw previously.
I mean, this is the can do league, and guys
are trying to trying to do what they can to
(18:53):
get themselves in a position to get back to what
they know best. And sometimes you have to take a
little hiatus is to go in and experience those things.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
And you know, everyone don't get it.
Speaker 3 (19:04):
Everyone can't go to drive line and be back with
a team, you know what I'm saying. You know, some
people have to go in and let me let me
go ahead and rework my game and maybe get a
different voice. And then, once again I failed to mention
this earlier when we were talking about Ethlyn and Melee.
The Padres have a very good track record of bringing
(19:25):
guys in and making them their best at.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
What they do very well.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
And then you bring that from the organization and you
put it with what the guys learned in Asia and
you bring it back Man you may have a diamond
in the rough.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
You never know.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
Yeah, again, he's certainly appealing just the sense of he's healthy,
the stuff is ticked up, and he's probably gonna come
cheaper than some of the other guys. Again, Ethlyn and
Matt Melee, their ceilings are probably higher, but they're more
expensive and have more question marks coming off with injury.
That brings me to number two on the list. Adrian Hauser.
Hauser has been around for a while. He was a
(20:03):
starter with the Brewers. Was fairly effective on the whole,
wasn't great, wasn't terrible, fairly effective. Last year was a
very interesting year, so he signed a minor league deal
with the Rangers, opted out after the Rangers did not
put him on the big league roster, signed for one
year and one point three to five million with the
White Sox and went on to have a really, really
excellent year with the White Sox. Was traded to the
(20:25):
Rays after the deadline. Wasn't as effective there, but overall
pretty solids. Adrian Hauser is thirty two years old. He'll
be thirty three next year. Last year eight and five,
three point three one, one hundred and twenty five innings.
Again this is one of those guys where you're not
gonna get you know, frontline cy young stuff here. But
he's healthy, he's effective, and he showed himself to be
(20:47):
pretty durable. You look over the course of his career,
it's a lot of you know, between one hundred and
one hundred and forty inning seasons. Again, he's not gonna
log one eighty. But you know, we talked about these
other guys who certainly have higher ceilings, but they have
more questions, whether it's injuries, whether it's coming over from Asia.
Howser has fewer questions. And he's also cheaper. Again, he's
coming off signing a one year, one point three to
(21:08):
five million dollar deal. This is not a guy you're
going to have to pay a huge amount for. So
if you can get solid mid three is the ra
for five mil. That's exactly what the Potters kind of
need right now. And given his health and just his
performance last year, he's with a safer bet than some
of the other guys.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
Yeah, so you know, in Houser's case, you have to
look at this in the situation for him that.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
If I get a chance to go to San Diego,
I know it will be maybe.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
Three, four or five, you know, you know, six starter,
you know, maybe a swing guy. But you know, given
the success that he had with the White Sox, you
you build on those things. You get a chance to
build on that, and then you get a chance to possibly.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
You know, put your name in the heat of a
potential playoff team.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
And I think guys will they want to get the
most money they can get, obviously, but they also want
the opportunity and innings. Is what the San Diego Padres
need right now, not at not the most valuable salary
that we can get, but a manageable salary that we
can get some innings out of some guys. And this
(22:23):
is one of the guys that's capable of doing that.
And obviously, look if Adrian Howard Houser was able to
do this with the Chicago White Sox and what they
got going on. You know, from a defensive perspective, man,
it's a blessing in itself to be able to get
on a team to where everything benefits you when you
(22:43):
enter an organization like the San Diego Padres, from the
stadium to the players and the magnitude of what it
is meant to have a potential postseason opportunity, and.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
That brings us to number one on the list. And
you hit on a very key point with the pop
need is innings because again Nick Mavetta, you trust he's gonna,
you know, carry a load for you. So Joe Musgrove
coming off of TJ and Randy Vasquez, was very, very
good at the end of last year. It's two years
in a row. Now he's finished the year strong. But
again he's been more than that one hundred to one
hundred and twenty five inning range. You know, one hundred
(23:17):
and thirty. You need another guy you feel good about
giving you one hundred sixty hundred and seventy. That leads
us to number one on the list again taking into
account all the factors we talked about, meeting innings not
too expensive, and that is Zach lttel Over Mariner's prospect.
He's been around for a long long time now. Jack
Lytell is only thirty years old. He went ten and
eight with a three point eight one ERA last year
(23:39):
with the Rays and the Reds. Was a little worse
with the Reds after the deadline, but was still starting
a playoff game for them, and most importantly did over
one hundred and eighty six and a third innings after
a one hundred and fifty plus innings season the year before.
Zach Letelz puts it back put together. Excuse me, it's
back to back solid seasons. He was signed for five
point seventy two million dollars last year. Again, he's not
(24:01):
going to get a huge side because he doesn't have
huge stuff. He's a guy who doesn't walk batters. You know,
Pitt knows this game, pitches effectively, logs innings. You look
at most of the projections out there, it's two years
eighteen mil. Maybe it's a little more two years twenty four.
But this is not someone that's going to cost a
lot of money. And look, if you're the potter is
and you can get a get one hundred and eighty
inning guy with again a solid r in the threes,
(24:23):
that five to seven MILLI year, you need to take
that because they need that badly.
Speaker 3 (24:30):
Man.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
I'm taking that.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
That's my pick because I've watched him pitch and you,
like you said, he's not a big strikeout guys. He
doesn't want many guys. He played in Cincinnati at the
end of the year, but he made a playoff start there,
you know, and the kind of experience that you need
when you still have the potential to be a playoff
(24:53):
caliber baseball team. And Zach can can fit into that
probably two or three spot right now, until Joe Musbro
gets back to this place, maybe three or four. This
will be a perfect guy for the San Diego Padres
(25:13):
to possibly invest in and give them the innings that
they need.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
He's been solid, man, he's been a solid.
Speaker 3 (25:23):
Any of those guys that come out of Tampa, man,
it's like they got they understand the factory down there,
and then you know, you go off and you do
your different things. But the opportunity to play in this position,
and once again I said it before.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
Players know when.
Speaker 3 (25:42):
They scout organizations as well, and they talk to other
players and they know that, hey, you know when an
agent reach out to like, hey, man, Padres may be
interested here.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
You know, we may have an opportunity here.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
The first thing guys do is start getting the phone
and start texting other guys that's been there and understand that.
And and they understand the guys have who've been hurt
or been in situations where they struggle to whatever it is.
They go to San Diego and it's like, man, they
turn around hem you know, they turn around different guys,
(26:14):
they do different things. And look they turned around cy
young winner. So they understand those opportunities and they're willing
to take on that situation to get a chance to
do it. And once again, what better place to do
it than in San Diego.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
And again, all these guys were talking about right, it's
very safe. Well, I don't like the proofles well, the
health scares, Like this is the bucket they're going to
have to shop in.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
So I think, yeah, to look at.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
What these guys do well and not pick them apart
because you're going to find flaws with every picture, but
especially when you talk about the bucket the Potters are
going to have to chop in. It's going to come
with the territory, Mike. There are a few other guys
who are interested me. Again, these are the five that
really jumped out as okay, kind of have at least
some combination of ten with innings, with stuff that you know,
(27:02):
the Potters could certainly use at a price point that
you know is somewhat tenable for them. But there are
a couple other guys I do want to highlight here,
and one of the big ones is Dustin May. Dustin
May is only twenty eight years old. We know how
wicked his stuff has been. He's had a lot of
problems with injuries. He did not have a good year
last year. I went seven to eleven with a four
point nine six cra between the Daughters and the Red Sox.
(27:24):
The thing is he only made a little over two
million dollars last year. If you're talking about hey, let's
take a flyer and a guy who's twenty eight with
wicked stuff. Bring him into a potter's organization that does
great work helping pitchers get the best versions of themselves,
and you probably are going to get them.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (27:40):
I have a hard time seeing him get more than
five million.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
Dollars based on the year he has every day. That's
someone again, I think that talk about buying low on
he fits perfectly.
Speaker 5 (27:52):
Oh heck, yes, I'm pretty sure his that May would
love to get back. I don't know where he's from,
but he would love probably get back to the West coast,
you know, a chance, yeah, to get Look, this guy's
got stuff, no doubt about it. It hasn't translated as
much as we'd like to see as we talked about
(28:13):
him being a prospect for many years, but at twenty
eight years old and he's already and have an opportunity
to test the market and to.
Speaker 3 (28:23):
Be one of those mid level, you know players as
you stayed at five million dollars. This is the one
guy that you got to have put some heat on.
And I'm sure he's gonna have a lot more interest
in that because he's had some injuries, but he has
this stuff to do what he's capable of doing, and
(28:44):
I mean he came from that Dodger pitching factory. But
also you know, San Diego's known for once again, as
you stated, the reclamation of getting the best version of
these guys of themselves. And being a twenty eight year
old guy, I mean, he could turn this and to
you know, if he was the silent san Diego, he
could turn this into something much bigger. And what the
(29:06):
better opportunity, you know, to put a chip on your
shoulder and to be able to chase the old back
to back champs and to kind of show them what
it's all about. Giving the opportunity. I mean, I like
the grid long stretch red. So he has he has
an edge of bottom that I like. And uh, it's
(29:27):
an opportunity you know for him, you know, to get
himself back into the the the spotlight of what he
really was as a prospect.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
And you know, look, man, sometimes it takes.
Speaker 3 (29:40):
A few years for guys to figure themselves out, giving
the injury situation and obviously the mental blocks. I heard
them talking when he was in Boston about changing up
his pitch repertoire. But obviously I saw this kids, since
he's been in double A way back in like twenty
(30:01):
twenty or whatever, nineteen or.
Speaker 2 (30:03):
Twenty, since he was in this guy, Yeah, this.
Speaker 3 (30:08):
Guy has this stuff to do what he wants to
do as a pitcher. And and another guy who if
he can stay healthy, he can give you one one
the one fifty to one seventy range at a very
reasonable price and obviously can can help you contend in
a division obviously that's top heavy, you know, with what
(30:32):
the Dodgers obviously in the bank to Bay Champs. And
then we know that the Spa school giants are probably
going to go all in now since they.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
To take a shift on everything else that's going on.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
Yeah, again, someone that Bilo twenty eight, great stuff, certainly
someone the Potters should have interest in, and we'll see
what the medicals turn up.
Speaker 2 (30:54):
There.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
Another guys want to highlight outside of the top five.
Someone to considers Jose Urchidi. Again, this was a guy
who was part of a World Series staff in Houston,
had Tommy John surgery, you know, missed all, wasn't quite
right in twenty twenty three, missed off twenty twenty four,
came back very end of twenty twenty five, barely pitched
the Tigers and wasn't particularly effective when he did. But
again he's going to be now in that second year
(31:15):
post TJ which is when we see guys kind of.
Speaker 4 (31:16):
Turn it around.
Speaker 1 (31:17):
He only made four million last year. Again, just another guy.
You know, he's thirty one, he's from Mexico, so there's
those ties there. Like again, you talk about someone who
could be a solid three four potential on the cheap
kind of reclamation project type again depending on the price point.
Speaker 4 (31:31):
Someone to consider Mike.
Speaker 1 (31:33):
There are a lot of guys, I will say from
the potterstive perspective, what is in their favor this year
is there are a ton of starting pitchers hitting free agency.
So even though you have that top tier I mean,
the depth of the market is pretty significant, and I
think that that's something that will benefit them. Talked about
the top five, we talked about a few other guys,
but look, you can have almost any type of pitcher
(31:55):
you want, right you know, former Ace look, bounce back,
you got Walker Bueller, her.
Speaker 2 (31:59):
Mom As, Lucas.
Speaker 1 (32:00):
Glito, Woodruff, Strowman. You want the guys coming off of injuries.
It's all the guys we talked about former Potters, Guys
like Chris Paddock, Cal Quantrill who were not good last year,
but you know they want to sign depth starter type
of contracts.
Speaker 4 (32:12):
Maybe fix them.
Speaker 1 (32:14):
Other guys coming from Asia, you know, Foster griff.
Speaker 4 (32:16):
And Anthony Kay. And then you've got your vets.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
Look, yes you have Scherzn Verlander, but beyond them, right
the Merrill Kellys Miles Michaeli says Jose Cantana's I mean,
there's so many options, so many ways the Potters can go,
and a lot of it is just going to come
down to what's the price point. You know, maybe it's
the guys who have to wait a little longer to sign.
It gets close to the spring training and they have
to take a deal. It's a little less than what
they hoped. We'll see.
Speaker 4 (32:39):
But I think what helps the potters.
Speaker 1 (32:41):
And I'm going to wrap up with this, is you
feel good about their ability to get the most from
any of these guys, any of these archetypes. Just given
Ruby Dieblo's back, Ben Fritz's back, the infrastructure is.
Speaker 2 (32:52):
There, definitely, you know, you start to ridding on some
of these names.
Speaker 3 (32:57):
Man, Look, there's there's gonna be interest from other teams,
but these are some guys that can really help you out.
Speaker 2 (33:04):
These guys that have some experience.
Speaker 3 (33:07):
Some of them have playoff experience, they have a World
Championship experience that different things. One of the biggest things
I think that you know, the Projectives don't have other
than JP Sears is a left handed left handed lefties
and and that could play very well much into how
they're the shaping and the designing this roster. So it's
(33:29):
going to be important to see and what you know,
J Priller and the organization decides how they want to
go and building and shaping this roster from an injury
perspective and also just from a depth perspective, and who is.
Speaker 2 (33:46):
Willing to take some of these.
Speaker 3 (33:49):
Lower end of the salaries and also mid level salaries
given the situation of the organization and what.
Speaker 2 (33:58):
They need to do. From a an answer stample, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (34:03):
As we discussed, the potterys will not be able to
shop at the talk on the top of the market,
right yeah, Dylan Ce, s Ranger, Swarez, Framber, Valdez, tatsuu Am. I.
Even the guys that are kind of the second step
below them, you know, the Zach Gallons of the world,
that they're gonna be priced out of that. I do
think it's important to talk about Michael King. It was interesting,
right a few episodes ago I talked about you know, look,
(34:25):
Michael King's gonna get paid. Him coming back is very,
very unlikely. And I saw some people saying things like, no,
you know, he hasn't proven he's a starter. He's going
to get a one year pillow contract. Guys Alex Cobb
made three starts and got one year fifteen million dollars
in his age thirty seven season and wasn't able.
Speaker 4 (34:43):
To pitch Walker.
Speaker 1 (34:44):
Bueller was terrible with the Dodgers. Pitched okay well, pitched
one in the postseason, but was bad throughout the regular season.
He got twenty one and a half million dollars in
the Red Sox Michael King. When you look at his production,
it lines up with the guys who are getting six
seven year deals between one hundred and eighty and two
hundred twenty million dollar contracts. Now, he's not going to
(35:05):
get that because he's older, he's coming off the injury.
But five one forty is what we're looking at, and
if the medical is questionable, we're still looking three seventy five.
Like the floor here is Luis Sevareno's you know, three
year seventy one million. Like this idea, he's going to
get a pillow contract or. Teams are going to look
(35:25):
at him as, oh, he hasn't proven himself as a
starter with that stuff, what he showed when he was healthy,
his age, and a lot of them are going to
view it as a fresh arm.
Speaker 4 (35:34):
He's going to get paid.
Speaker 1 (35:35):
So look, if the Potters are willing to go three
years seventy five mili, you bring them back, but is
given their payroll situation, it's doubtful they'll be able to.
But but let's let's level set here right again. I
think this idea that he's somehow going to be one
of these guys that has to take one of these
one year you know, five, ten, even fifty million dollar deals.
Speaker 4 (35:53):
That's just not what's going to happen.
Speaker 1 (35:55):
And I'm not just saying that, like talking to people
in the industry again, the floor for him, it's probably
that you've all this three or seventy five million last year.
And that's even if his medical is not great.
Speaker 2 (36:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (36:07):
Look, look, Michael king proved even with injury and coming
back guy.
Speaker 2 (36:12):
I mean, he's proved that.
Speaker 3 (36:14):
He's worthy of what someone is willing to pay him
at this at this particular point. You know, I don't
know how the the owner situation and the.
Speaker 2 (36:30):
And the organization in itself are going to be able to.
Speaker 3 (36:38):
Go a little bit above considering they put this situation
from an owner standpoint in a selle mode or just
kind of get feelers just to sell. But you know,
Michael King, man, he's earned his keep, and it's going
to be really hard to bring back a guy of
this caliber considering where we are right now talking about
(37:01):
the financial situation.
Speaker 2 (37:04):
I mean, I'm sure they would love to have him back.
Speaker 3 (37:06):
I'm pretty sure they would love to add you know,
forty five fifty more million dollars to the payroll or
whatever it is, but they're going the other way, so
they're probably gonna be looking from that and Mike King
not is going to get Michael King is not going
to get a one.
Speaker 2 (37:23):
Year Pillar deal considerably that ditching.
Speaker 3 (37:27):
Is a premium and power is a premium, and he
has one of those premiums that teams are looking for
and willing to take that opportunity to get it done
because this guy has shown over the course of the
season he was the number one He ended up being
the number one guy for the San Diego Padres. So yes,
and we're talking about a ninety Winter Playoff caliber team,
(37:49):
So yeah, he's got to definitely get an opportunity to
get paid.
Speaker 1 (37:53):
Yeah, the stuff the ceiling, and again he did show
he could ball gains and last year's injury was more
of a freaking and nerving It wasn't like your typical
elbow or shoulder, you know, huge, huge concern. And then yeah,
you know he tweaked his knee because he came back
too fast, but the stuff returned in the postseason. Again,
he's gonna get paid. I will say, like the other
thing that we need to just hit on real quick
(38:13):
here we've talked about all the guys in free agency.
Of course the trade market exists as well. The padres
ability to make trades will be limited. Just give them
a stay of their farm system.
Speaker 4 (38:22):
Again, they have guys. No farm system is ever empty.
Speaker 1 (38:25):
You look, get Cash Mayfield, you look, I mean Ethan
Salas with his back and the fact he hasn't played
that value. Again, the values at an all time low,
you know, Miguel Mendez. So while there are a lot
of really good starting pitchers on the trade market, right,
we talked about Pablo bop As, we talked about Joe,
Ryan talked about Mackenzie Gore, you talk about you know,
even Sandi al contract. Potentially the padres don't really have
(38:49):
the pieces in the farm system to get those guys.
I will say, you can always pull one over an
opposing GM, But if any GM trades any of those
pictures for the guys that have the GM should be
fired immediately for incompetence. Like it's not it's not even
close to enough of what it should be. So again,
there are going to be trade options here too.
Speaker 2 (39:10):
But given the.
Speaker 1 (39:10):
State of the potter's farm system and also the ability
to absorb payroll. It's going to be tricky. And again
that's why you know, Aj Proler has been creative. He's
been you know, the kind of GM who just when
you think the Potters can't add a whole lot, he
finds creative ways.
Speaker 4 (39:25):
To make money in the prospects.
Speaker 1 (39:27):
So I don't want to sit here and say that
anything's impossible, but realistically, again we are looking at the
free agentsy you know, mid to low end of the
of the market and trying to get the best from
That's really where the Potters are going to have to
be this year, just given their payroll constraints and given
where they are, given the.
Speaker 4 (39:44):
Fact they multiple arms too again not one arm away,
they need to.
Speaker 1 (39:47):
Find at least two, probably three.
Speaker 2 (39:50):
Yeah, So as we're talking about this, gal like this
is the roster's not bad.
Speaker 3 (39:56):
You got a tell them a back end and a
bullp Yes, all you need is a couple of guys
that can get you to what you're capable of doing.
Like you know, we're not talking about rebuilding this team
or whatever it is. This team is still and win mold.
So you just need to be able to try to
(40:17):
manufactory salaries that satisfy you know, ownership and the and
the organization to put yourself in a position to to
to get through a season. You know, looking at this roster, man,
like it is not bad as we're talking if they
are re kind of redirecting or rebuilding, and partly because
(40:42):
of that is because of what's transforming from ownership standpoint,
there are players here, man, there are definitely players here
that they can get it get it done, and that's that's.
Speaker 2 (40:54):
The most important thing.
Speaker 3 (40:55):
So you just have to be able to be smart
in your decisions and try to make the best decisions
you can and hopefully to help these players take care
of themselves in and also maybe get a backup playing
here or there to to to sure up these particular
situations that you got going on from a starting pitching standpoint.
(41:16):
And look, man, like getting Mason Miller that took a lot,
that that sucked a lot out of the organization from
the prospects standpoint, but they still look really really decent
enough to where like, hey man, you can't sleep on
the San Diego Padres because we still have a very
(41:38):
good roster from a positional standpoint, at least the starters.
And obviously there's some questions in that particular manner. But
at the same time, you know, you know, getting a
couple of these veteran late starters for a one year
pillow deal, if you want to call it, that could
definitely help out this team and still feel about what
(42:00):
they're going into and then you just ride.
Speaker 2 (42:02):
With you and see where it leads you over the
course of the season.
Speaker 1 (42:05):
Again, this is the team coming off back to back
ninety one seasons. This is not a demolition project. This
is not a rebuilding team. This is a team that
has talent and has holes and now it's about filling
the holes in the most cost efficient way possible and
we'll see how they do that. Again, a lot of
these pictures we talked about. It's going to come down
to what the medical looks like, what the dollar amount is.
But there's potential there and we'll see if the Padres
(42:27):
end up signing one of these guys or if they
get creative and going in another direction. Mike, thank you
so much for joining me. Really appreciate your expertise and insight.
Speaker 3 (42:34):
As always, always always good to be a five territory,
the Territory Network, the Friar community, spending it in general.
Speaker 4 (42:47):
Maybe always.
Speaker 1 (42:49):
Once again, this has been another edition of Friar Territory.
Go ahead and gives review, Apple, Spotify, YouTube, whatever platform
you're watching and listening on, we'd love to hear from you.
Go ahead and hit that subscribe button, hit that like button.
Help us out big time. We've been on a big,
big upward ascent. We want to keep it going for
my camera. I'm Kyle Glazer. Thank you for watching and listening.
See you later this week.
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