February 28, 2019 • 33 mins
Doug reacts to Bryce Harper signing the largest contract in the history of baseball with the Phillies and why it’s a bad deal for everyone involved. He also tells you why he still has questions about Kyler Murray and why Jason Witten decided to come out of retirement to rejoin the Cowboys. Plus MLB Insider Jon Paul Morosi joins the show to tell Doug why the Phillies were all in on singing Bryce Harper.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the best of the Doug Gottlieb
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(00:43):
so we know how to cover almost anything. When it's
game time, have an experienced player help you stay ahead
of the game. Put their experience in a play at
Farmers dot com. Well, it is not exactly a sleepy
news list Wednesday. Um, each story trumped the other. Uh,
it's it's because it's Thursday. I'm sorry now, it is
not a You could just drop that. It is not
(01:05):
a newsless Thursday, you know. Alright, So like this is in.
You're sitting around guys, and everybody plays topper. Everybody plays topper.
They want to top each other. That's what happened last night.
Dwayne Wade hits a ridiculously lucky game winning shot and
(01:25):
you know, and wins the game. And then fast forward,
Lebron James goes one on one, loses the basketball, hits
his own one foot step back essentially wins the game,
albeit not at the buzzer for the Lakers. And then today,
well today was Kyler Murray weighs in at was it
(01:47):
two and four pounds at five ft just adhare over
five ft ten, meaning he either grew or learned how
to stand slightly taller with slightly thicker socks, only to
be topped by Jason Witten ditching Monday night football to
go back and play for the Dallas Cowboys. And that's
(02:08):
where we now, that's not where we start, because Bryce
Harper has just agreed to terms with the Philadelphia Phillies
for a new record three hundred and thirty million dollar
contract over thirteen years. That's a lot of zeros. It's
two commas and more than a quarter way to a third,
(02:28):
a new league record. That's why Scott Boris is the
best and Scott Boris is the worst. Whether it's for
the sport or for his client, there isn't and there
has never been anyone better than what Scott Boris has
(02:49):
been able to accomplish, right for his for for the
guys who worked for him, and frankly, for the market.
He creates these imaginary scenario has conversations, wait till just
the right moment. Even when the market is dead, he
finds a way to make it be very much alive.
(03:09):
Remember there was collusion two weeks ago. Then Manny Machado
signs and they wait and suddenly maybe the Dodgers are interested.
Yesterday it was let's meet with the San Francisco giants.
Let's create some sort of auction scenario where the Philadelphia Phillies,
who were always the leader to get Bryce Harper, who
(03:30):
said they wanted to spend stupid money, would feel like
they were willing to do whatever it took, and they did.
An eight year deal is not that smart. A nine
year deal feel feels uh slightly dumb. A tenure deal
is stupid. What is the thirteen year deal? Say to you,
I'm a Philly for life and while Philadelphia absolutely has
(03:56):
the money to steal from Chris Rock. You can drive
a car with your feet, but that doesn't make it
a good idea, does it. He's the best, though other
players love him. Why he keeps driving up the market? Yep,
we want one dollar more. It's actually five million dollars
more than John Carlos Stantons deal, and Staton's deal had
opt outs. Is just not so you get this rig
(04:21):
thirteen years, three and thirty million dollar deal, annual value
only twenty five point four, which is the high fourteen
highest major league history, no opt outs, massive contract. But
here's where he's the worst. Do you think Bryce Harper
really wants to spend the rest of his adult life
in Philadelphia? Wants to play in the same division West Coast, Dude, Phillies.
(04:45):
Might you know? Look, they got a chance to be
a little bit ahead of the curve, although Atlanta's got
better young pitchers and maybe better overall young players, and
there's still the Nationals that have better pitching. I know. Yeah,
By the way, we can if you're a Mets fan,
you can decry i how badly poorly the Mets have
been run, But the Mets have made the playoffs in
the World Series. You know, once in the playoffs, but
(05:06):
to in the last four years like I So it
wasn't one of the prime markets he'd love to be in.
It's not with a historically great franchise, nor one that
he grew up rooting for or even rooting against. It's
in the same division as where he used to play,
(05:27):
which eventually we'll wear off, but still is tiresome. And
in order to get that ridiculous deal, it's thirteen years,
thirteen years. So Scott Borris is the best. He's the best.
(05:49):
He told everybody. Bryce Harper is gonna get crazy money
plus three hundred million dollars. People say you're crazy, You're crazy,
he said, four hundred This is classic board US. By
the way, you put out a number like four hundred
million dollars, does we can get four hundillion dollars over
eight to ten years, and now you get them for
thirteen years three million dollars Like see, you got yourself
(06:10):
a bargain. Or you're paying twenty five million dollars a
year for the next thirteen years. The genius and diabolical
genius to UH one agent is remarkable, and that's what
today has become about we can go back to not
(06:31):
really caring about baseball because to me, it's a financial story.
This also strikes it as hey, there is no collusion,
especially when there were a couple there were three or
four teams that were reportedly interested in Bryce Harper, and
when those teams are not named the Cardinals, the Yankees,
(06:51):
the Astros, frankly, the Dodgers had the thing smart will
pay or pay for over pay you, but only for
a couple of years. Those are the franchise that's seen
Boston Red Sox, and some of it is they already
have guys, but a lot of it is that just
does that. That doesn't make sense to have that on
the books for that long. And there's also a no
(07:15):
trade clause, which, look, if it gets ugly, you know,
can that be changed. Of course it's gonna be changed.
But this is one of those it's the best and
it's the worst. It's also the best because it drives
up the value of superstar players, but it eliminates any
sort of middle class, which is what baseball and frankly
(07:38):
everyone else in the world has been fighting for. Baseball
has the haves and the have nots, and not much
in between. Very Aaron Jidge, you're very happy today because
you're next one up to get a huge deal of
Nolan Arnado got a deal. It's more than Nolan Arnado,
although far more years. Mike Trout gonna get crazy money.
(07:58):
And oh yeah, by the way, you how to feel
pretty good if you're an Angel fan, because the thought
was the one place you would go would be the Phillies,
although the Phillies will probably say, look in two years
when he's up dollars for Bryce Harper is not going
to be that much money. We gladly spend even more
on Mike Trout. But I think there's a bunch of
(08:20):
baseball teams that frankly, are happy about this all that
money into one guy. The mid the mid level guys
are kind of being squeezed, and you end up sending
him to a place where he kind of fits that them,
but he kind of doesn't. Right Like, Philadelphia is one
(08:41):
of those places that you respect how much they like sports,
but you don't really like how they like sports. Right
We gotta get to the Jason Witten's story, which is interesting.
We've got to get to the Kyler Murray measurements, which
are interesting. Let me give you the Kyler Murray thing
(09:04):
real quick before we get to Charles Davis is going
to join us from the NFL and fox. The Kyler
Murray thing. People said, well, he's so, he's five ft
ten and a hair he's two four pounds. He's essentially
an inch shorter and has smaller and has an inch
smaller hands. But it's the same height, the same, the
(09:28):
same weight as Russell Wilson. Now, Wilson had to lose
weight for the combine. Kyler Murray had to gain weight
for the combine. But when people start to go, well, look,
he's five ft ten, he's big enough. This is I
didn't go to or graduate from college, guy. I'm fully
(09:49):
aware that Steve Jobs went to Harvard and then Withdrew
and started Apple and became an iconic American entrepreneur. I'm
fully aware that there are there are a there are
a list of people who have not gone to or
completed college, who have been successful in their personal lives
(10:10):
and in their professional lives, and they have not one,
not two, but three Commas when you look in their
bank account. There's a handful of people like that. But
there's a book called freakonomics. Your word freakonomics. The idea
of freakonomics is this, there's a stat for everything, a
stat for everything. You're less likely to be unhealthy, You're
(10:34):
less likely to smoke. You're more likely to have a
sustained marriage and have a better job and have a
better life. The longer you go to school, and the
more accomplished you are in school. Additionally, your life is
All these things point better in terms of probability. If
you have two parents in the home, so can you.
(10:57):
Can you have a single mother or single father. Can
you drop out of or not go to college and
be successful? Yeah, man, you're a hungry dog and you
find a way. Absolutely, But the the odds are stacked
against you. And that is what Kyler Murray's truly up against.
(11:19):
We haven't talked about his leadership. We haven't talked about
whether or not he can process and understand reads and
change a play and read a defense. We're simply saying, well, yeah,
I know he's small, but maybe not as tiny as
you thought. And because other guys that are kind of small,
not as small as him, have been successful recently, you
(11:40):
should go with the number one overall pick there is
reward there, but there is inherent and obvious risk, and
the stats are there to point them out. Be sure
to catch live editions of The Doug Dot Leap Show
week days in noon eastern three pm Pacific on Fox
Sports Radio and the I Heart Radio app. But Jason
(12:04):
Witten's back in the National Football League to help us
tell us if he can still play as Matt Mosley.
Mosley couldn't play in his prime camp play now, but
he's a He has a great podcast called The Doomsday
Podcast for our guy ed Warder. He also writes for
the Dallas Morning News and uh it will be releasing
a special episode when they're talking about Jason Witten's news
later on today. What was your reaction when you're witting
(12:25):
back to the Cowboys? You know, I really thought you're
gonna have me on to talk about that Baylor comeback
last night over the University of Texas. But my reaction
to Witten was not one of shock at all. Uh.
I think, um, I think they've been this has been uh,
you know, in the works for a while. I think
there was a bell out plan almost executed during the season.
(12:48):
I mean he was looking for an escape patch from
that Monday Night football booth, and I think Garrett wasn't
you know, talking to him during the season, and I
think I think he really just wanted to come back
and in that thing right in the middle of the
season and and show up. And at some point he decided, no,
let's trying to make it through the season. But this
(13:08):
was this was something. I mean, you know, he's never
he's dealt with people maybe not liking him or opposing
fans not liking him. But I've known Jason for a
long long time, as you know, and he had never
dealt with the kind of criticism and the twitter just
angst and fury that he dealt with this season. So
(13:29):
he's this has been in the works for a while,
and this gets him out of the booth into the
Cowboys locker room where he's more comfortable. And then we
can see if Jason Witten becomes the future head coach
of the Dallas Cowboy future head coach of Dallas Cowboys.
There you go, there you go. Yeah, that's that's that's
(13:50):
the plan. I mean, I I that would not shot.
That would not surprise me at all. This a lame
duck year for Garrett. Now maybe Jason kind of helps
in the locker room. Maybe they have a decencyason and
maybe Garrett wins himself another couple of years on the contract.
But but you know, they're letting him coach into the
final year. That's never a great sign. If this thing
(14:11):
goes shout at all, they're gonna be looking for a
new head coach. And I mean, it's just easier to
take Witten from the team than take him straight from
the booth. And so, I you know, I don't, I
totally just I absolutely disagree with you. If he, if
he was gonna be a head coach, comes straight from
the booth, then you get to see every other You
(14:32):
get to see all the other teams, and you get
to pick the players that you want you get, and
you get to meet with other coaches and get a
really good feel for how other people do it. Oh,
I think that's overrated. I mean, these meetings that they
always talked about, Oh, ilways taking do you think they
actually tell them stuff? Doug. I mean you think they're
just opening there, opening up to I mean even the
Great eight Man. You think they're just like here, here,
(14:54):
look at our game plans, what we're doing, Troy. They're
not telling them that much stuff. Well, I mean, first
of all, you can tape, you can cipher for yourself. Second, well,
they tell you more. I got to do an NFL
game sideline. They tell you, they tell you a lot
of stuff about personnel, about guys. Let me ask the
right question. You're you're, you're, you're here in their money
there in their Monday night football. He can go he
(15:15):
could have gone into everyone. I just has the tight end.
Ever become a coach either, Usually it's a quarterback. Oh goodness,
now you're gonna make me think. There's yeah, the quarterbacks,
but you've seen offensive lineman, you know, have a history
of becoming head coaches. I mean it seems like the
Titans higher most of them linebackers. You can see it
with the Texans right now. There's no reason in the
(15:36):
world Wi tied end can't become a head coach. I mean,
here's the thing, Okay, here's here's Jerry is in love
with Jason Witten. And I'll tell you how how high
that is, even more than Romo. People sort of thinking,
you know, oh my gosh, Jerry, he does love Romo.
Romo named like one of his kids after Jerry or something.
I think one of his kids is named Jones seriously,
(15:59):
and one of his sons is named Joe Jones. Kind
of a baller name, by the way. Last there's a
there is a connection between Jerry and Witten. And even
when I was kind of toy in with Jerry after games, like, hey,
what do you think about how Jason? I mean they're
giving him a hard time about this broadcast. I mean
he was defending him to the hilt. I mean he's
(16:19):
telling me I was just in a meeting with the
broadcast team and they're telling me how improved Jason is.
I mean, he was having his back as a broadcaster
even I mean this, he's more of a son to
him than Romo. And I'm just saying, do not be
surprised if that's where this thing is headed. Now, if
(16:40):
we have an argument, you know, it may we can
probably have different minds on whether it's better from the
team or the booth that you make some good points.
But he's gonna be a head coach with the Cowboys
at some point. Matt Moseley with all kinds of different
hypotheses and theories and ideas covering the Dallas Cowboys and
the Dallas Body News, joining us on The Doug Show
(17:00):
on Fox Sports Radio. How much money can they What
was the least amount that Doc will take but that
they're gonna have to give him to get him to
sign long term? Oh, you know, Jerry doesn't mind paying
or over paying a quarterback. And uh, and boy they
are they They're gonna make this work. And I you know,
(17:20):
I'm trying to think where they'll start it. What was
the last Doug, you know, all this stuff off the
type of your head, What was the last huge quarterback
contract that went down. Yeah, it won't be It won't
be Roger's money because that But I'm thinking more someone
like on their second contract, like that, more in Dax,
more in Dax neighborhood. I mean, he's the very fact
(17:44):
that he plays for the Cowboys, and and and he
obviously they've had him at this incredibly low rate based
on you know, his production, and you can you can argue.
I mean, I don't. I think he's got incredible intangibles.
See that one of the greatest quarterbacks ever played for
the Cowboys, not even close. I mean, and I don't
think I think his ceiling is still um below the
(18:09):
kind of player that Romo was, but now they respond
to him and they love him. So he's gonna end
up getting a huge contract. I mean he'll get paid
like I mean, okay, Derek Carr. Derek Carr, Uh, he
got was it seventy million guaranteed average? He'll get that.
(18:30):
He'll get that, yeah, for sure, for sure. And they
and they, I mean they won't even blink on that deal.
They'll they He'll get He'll get whatever that much? How
much is that? How much does the Randy Gregory news
hurt them? Oh, he's a good player, I mean and uh,
and it's a sad deal because this is a guy
that's really struggling with addiction, um, and has some trouble
(18:51):
with anxiety and other I think there's some mental illness
uh issues that come about that he's really struggled with.
So uh, you know, he's one of those guys the
off seasons horrible for. I mean, like he needs to
be around the team at all times and so um,
you know, I I don't you know it hurts them.
I mean it makes it. You know, they're gonna have
to look at defensive end because Taco Charlton really hasn't
(19:14):
been the guy they had hoped he would be as
a first round pick. So they're gonna have to you know,
it kind of reinforces maybe because of Witn't coming back
there a little less at tied end and a little
more at defensive end defensive tackle. But you know, you
can't ever count on him being there. I mean, it's
just kind of sad. He you you you kind of
(19:34):
have to go in the draft thinking that Randy Gregory
is not going to be there, and then if he's there,
it's icing on the cake, like it's the you know,
but he but he you know, it's just really he's different.
You know, Irving is kind of a David Irving is
extremely talented guy who's just always gonna be in trouble.
Gregory is like a really really good person, Um, great
(19:59):
guy who's just an addict and is a victim of Hey,
you know, whatever you say in this world, it's not
the marijuana laws is in terms of the NBA in
the NFL aren't going to change in time to help
Randy Gregory. Is it. It's only weed? Like that's who's
he kicked out? Yeah, yeah, yeah, he's got weed. He's
(20:20):
got I mean, that's that's it. Man, he's he and
it's and he's treating he's treating all sorts of stuff
with weed, and he thinks that, you know, he thinks
it helped. But he can't, I mean, he can't get
away from it. And the only way he seems to
stay clean at all is if he can be around
the team. But I mean, this is kind of this
is kind of Josh Gordon. Like I mean, I'm not saying,
(20:40):
but the Josh Gordon thing it came out, it was
more than just everybody said, well, why are you suspending
for weed? And then he came out and it was like,
actually was a lot more than weed. He was doing
other he was doing other stuff. You're right, and that
goes way back to his you know, the time he
spent with us in Waco, Texas. But uh uh yeah.
But I just think I think with Gregory, it's it's
(21:00):
mainly I don't want to speak definitively that it's nothing else,
but he's he's got he's got issues with marijuana and
he cannot he just cannot stop. And they seem to
do a pretty good job with him when they can
get him around the facility and and all that, But boy,
you get him in the off season, and this thing
may even go back to the season. Um I I
(21:22):
don't know when that. You know, sometimes you go through
this pill process and so you don't exactly know when
it happened. But this is like third strike for him.
Bell rally together Jerieal Jeriel tried to take him in
and beg for hey bring him back. So I would
bet he's suspended for four to eight games and and
(21:42):
then they'll get him back at some point next season.
But it's really sad because he you know, he's he's
a good player, a good guy. By the way, Neil
and Sean both tweeted at me, so did Mike Uh,
Mike curbs Uh one tight end it became a really
good coach? Was Mike didcome? My point only like look
killing a super Bowl? But how how long ago? How
long has it been since Mike did kill with a coach.
(22:04):
I'm not saying you're you're wrong and that there have
been Lyneman and it's it's the trend now is and
frankly what what Jason Garrett is former quarterback play caller coach,
even though Jason Garrett doesn't actually call plays the Cowboys,
which is just there's another level of mose Thanks so
much for joining us. Can't wait to hear the new
Doomsday podcast or read you're working in the Dallas Morning News.
(22:26):
Thanks Mary Guest and Fox Sports Radio. The great atmosphere
at the Farrell Center last night. See you later. Hey
you gone? You're still from here? Uh shaka smart keeper's
job now. They probably need to move on. It's not
it's not working out. And boy he was doing some
showboating on that sideline when they're up by nineteam last night.
(22:46):
But they you know, he wasn't hired by this a D.
So this at some point, this new a D is
gonna get get his own guy in there, yea Chris
del Conte, who was the former a D at t
c u um. Yeah, but it'll be interesting. They're not
yet out of turn mint hunt, which is odd. But yes,
the team point lost to Baylor, who lost one of
the best players earlier this Year's not not the type
(23:08):
of look you want at you t Thanks so much
for joining us. Okay, Scott Drew Coach of the Year,
Matt Moseley, be sure to catch live editions so the
Doug dot Leaps show week days at noon Eastern three
pm Pacific, bringing John Paul Morossi. He joined the show.
Uh have you talked to to Boris? Uh? Not yet
today I have a texted with him a bit, I
(23:29):
will say that. But it is, Doug, a landmark day
in this in this particular off season for baseball, and
then the way the season is beginning, because as of
this morning, Doug, there were a lot of people around
the game, myself included, who would have told you that
there was probably a better chance of him going to
the West Coast than there was to Philadelphia. And and
(23:50):
here we now have the largest contract in the history
of the game signed for him to go to Philadelphia.
The money obviously is massive, but me a couple of
surprising parts that the A A V is not record setting,
it's it's in the mid twenties. Um, there is no
opt out at all. And and that is pretty surprising
(24:12):
obviously the full note trade clause. So he is committing
fully to Philadelphia. And and I look at it, and
I share some of your concerns. I also think about
and I think we mentioned this the last time we
talked the those those quality of life questions and and
and going now in the same division. How this certainly
(24:32):
changes his legacy in Washington, d c um and and
the the antipathy he'll here on the road in New York,
in Atlanta, where the West Coast would have been a
fresh start, closer to home for him, where he, of
course you grew up in Vegas. He'd have to spring
trading close to home. Um, I'm I'm surprised. I do
think that there would have been some higher A A
V deals out there for him, But he wanted the term.
(24:55):
He wanted to be a free agent one time. According
to Weiscott, Borris has told Joel Sherman he wanted one
more contract for the rest of his career. And my
all accounts, Doug, he has that. Um, he told Joel
Sherman that there offers forty five million dollars a year.
If that's true, then this is a stupid contract. I'm sorry,
Like that is the dumbest thing I've as a dumb
contract to take. Well, if it was times and I
(25:18):
get what you're saying, three, yeah, if it was forty
five times four, I mean so, so in your estimation,
that's profitable for you to take that, to take the
shorter term deal. Any well, any financial advice, you would
tell you the more money upfront is smarter financially, any
any bays like like, look, when he's not a picture,
(25:39):
his arm is not gonna fall off, right, he'd be
back on the market in three years. It's gonna make
more money, you know, Like worst case scenario, he could
get a twenty five million dollar per year. D he's
still in his prime. Like that makes no sense, just
the ego of like, yeah, I gotta have thirteen years.
I gotta have thirteen years just to stay have thirteen
so he gets a massive deal at the end, Like
that doesn't make any I like, once you hit a
(26:02):
forty million a year, you're signing that short term deal,
especially if it's three years, three years or four years,
you're back on the market your prime. That doesn't make
any sense to me. That's a fair point. And and
uh to me, Doug, I think and this is this
is the beauty of free agency because you you get
to decide what is important to you And to Bryce Harper,
(26:24):
I think a few things were really important to him.
Number one, setting the record, which he has done. Number Two,
apparently I say this apparently because we have not yet
heard of vocalize this, but I do think this is
a major focus. He's signing in a very hit her
friendly ballpark, a place where he can chase records, and
he can he can do it for as long as
he wants to. Now, there are those that will look
(26:46):
at Harper and wonder if in seven years, which is
midway through this deal, that maybe he would have benefited
from being a d H And where are gonna are
you gonna play well now? And and this is this
is the beauty of the term on this deal. I'm
a believer, Doug that by the time we're at that
spot in this contract, I think the H is gonna
(27:09):
be universal in major league baseball. I do. I think
that's that's part of the evolution of the game. Uh So,
maybe the Phillies felt a little more um comfortable with
that part of the deal, but apparently he really wanted
to not ever have to worry about going through this again.
He wanted to have one place. And I'm that it
(27:29):
doesn't really make sense to me, and it sounds like
it doesn't really make sense to you, but um it.
Scott Boris has said uh to the Joels Sherman, and
I was told also by a source very close to
the situation that that Bryce areper truly did not want
an opt out, that that was his choice. I was
told by a source he did not want any opt outs.
He wanted to have this be as long of a
(27:50):
term as it could be. And clearly that's what he's got,
tying a Stantons deal for the longest term in the
history of the game. Uh. JP Morosi joins JOm Rosy
joinings covers MLBON Fox Doug Out Show, Fox Sports Radio.
What was the do you have any idea what the
final offer was from the Nationals? The Nationals, I don't
(28:10):
believe Doug made an offer, um that was substantially different
from the one they made at the end of the
regular season, which was that was, as we know, three
million dollars over ten years, with a third of it
deferred according to MLB dot Com. And and also, um
that you know that when you think about that amount
of money being deferred, that that does certainly change that
(28:31):
that present value of the deal, um, but notably. And
this is where I think it's gonna feed into the
conversation a little bit for Harper and and and when
he goes back to d C in the first week
of the season. Oh, by the way, April twond market calendars. Um,
the Nationals front office, Doug, they've got a lot of
(28:52):
cover here from the PR standpoint. They made him an
offer that that we can talk about the deferred money
and everything else, but the sticker price was three million
dollars over ten, which actually carried a higher average annual
value than the deal that he signed, and he said
no to that for justifiable reasons. But the reality is
he said no. Very few Nationals fans and maybe even
(29:14):
none of them could credibly come on this program today
and tell us how the Nationals screwed this up. They
made him an offer for more money per year than
what he signed, so they have got plenty of cover. Uh,
public relations wise, they signed Patrick Corbett where they really needed,
so the Nationals too. If I'm the Nationals today, UM,
(29:36):
I I feel pretty good. And also, also, by the way,
the whole thing about him staying in the division is
when he comes back, that's gonna be a major gate attraction.
There's gonna be some pretty compelling theater in this division
for a lot of years to come. So why you
don't love playing against him? Uh, it's gonna be great
for the drama. This is gonna be a dramatic division
(29:56):
now for years to come. And and used to me,
he has done a great favor, Doug to all these
sports writers and sports commentators on the seller corridor because
they now have plenty to discuss and we'll have that.
You know that that's gonna be eighteen times a year
they're gonna play. It's gonna be a beautiful rivalry with
a lot of memorable confrontations. I believe this is a
(30:19):
deal as much as I thought that he was going
to go West. This is a good This is a
good deal for baseball, No, no, no question in terms
of I do think it's ironic though that he wants
to go to a hitter's ballpark when he was at
the Nationals Park, which uh is you know, if you
go home run park factors better better hitting park than
Citizens Bank home run in park factors. You know, it's
(30:42):
just it's the fifth best home run park to Citizens
Bank um in Major League basically, like those are two
hitter friendly joints And he wouldn't have had to move
and he would have made more money per year. Like
I don't, I don't, I don't get it. But okay, um,
I know it's only twenty five million year, so uh,
it stands the reason that they could still go after Trout.
(31:04):
Does this make it so that Trout? Is this them saying, Hey,
we're not gonna get Trout, We're just gonna get Bryce Harper.
He'll be our guy. No, I think that Trout here
we are two years away. I think it is very
much in play. I don't know, And of course it's
a little a little premature to say too many specifics
about what the plan is. But if you're the Phillies,
(31:25):
if you wanted to spend stupid money as the as
the ownership had said this winner, but you wanted to
be spending stupid money prudently in a way that preserves
your options in the future, you would arrange the deal
exactly as they have arranged it. Because the key thing
when you when you talk about being able to afford
(31:45):
Trout is the luxury tax hit. And when you spread
out the guarantee over a larger number of years than
the the the salary, the revenue sharing, it is annualized
over that amount of time, and it gives you the
ability to fit more contracts in there, so that the
annualization of that money is really important, and that does
(32:08):
give them flexibility. So if I'm a Philly Span today,
I'm thrilled I and I am also excited about what
could happen in a couple of years time because they
can afford Trout And also I'm I'm in the process
of trying to figure this out. We may be talking about, Doug.
The first time in baseball history that one team has
(32:29):
acquired three players position players who were All Stars in
the previous year. It's not just Harper, It's Harper, Real,
Mutto and Jeans Sagara three three guys that were representing
different teams last year at the All Star Game in
Harper's old ballpark are now playing for the Phillies. And oh,
by the way, they also added a former m v
(32:50):
P and Andrew McCutcheon. There's a lot going on with
a Phillies right now. I still think they may want
to address the bullpen and maybe even at a lefty starter.
How much money, how much money they have have to
do that remains to be seen. But Doug, this is
a it's a it's a great deal for the Phillies
from the standpoint of being able to spread out that
costs over thirteen years. I share your concern about certainly,
(33:11):
as with any long term relationship, they are a bound
to be conflicts during the course of it. But but
if for a team that really set out to make
a statement this wintertime and put themselves back on the
map as they were a destination for players during the
Howard and Rollins and Utly era, they are that again.
This is gonna be one of the most talked about
teams in the sport. UH and right now, Matt Clintach,
(33:32):
John Middleton, Andy McPhail, a lot of really happy people
there at the Phillies Camp in Clearwater, Florida. Great stuff
as always, John Palm Rose c j P. Thanks so
much for joining us and UH on this with with
without any question, a historic day in Major League Baseball.
Appreciate it, my pleasure. The last day of February, Doug,
we're gonna remember this conversation. Well, we'll talk a year
from now. Let's open to revisit how year one of
the Harper era went in Philly. That's a deal. John Palmer,
(33:54):
ROSSI joining us mlby on Fox
Thanks for listening to the best of the Doug Gottlieb
Show podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday
from three to six pm Eastern Time that's twelve to
three Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. Find your local station
for the Doug Gottlieb Show at Fox Sports Radio dot com,
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Radio app by searching fs R. This is the best
(00:21):
of the Doug Gotlive Show on Fox Sports Radio. Boom
What Up America? Doug Booming Up America. Doug Gottlieb Show,
Fox Sports Radio, coming to you from the Cloudy City
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(00:43):
so we know how to cover almost anything. When it's
game time, have an experienced player help you stay ahead
of the game. Put their experience in a play at
Farmers dot com. Well, it is not exactly a sleepy
news list Wednesday. Um, each story trumped the other. Uh,
it's it's because it's Thursday. I'm sorry now, it is
not a You could just drop that. It is not
(01:05):
a newsless Thursday, you know. Alright, So like this is in.
You're sitting around guys, and everybody plays topper. Everybody plays topper.
They want to top each other. That's what happened last night.
Dwayne Wade hits a ridiculously lucky game winning shot and
(01:25):
you know, and wins the game. And then fast forward,
Lebron James goes one on one, loses the basketball, hits
his own one foot step back essentially wins the game,
albeit not at the buzzer for the Lakers. And then today,
well today was Kyler Murray weighs in at was it
(01:47):
two and four pounds at five ft just adhare over
five ft ten, meaning he either grew or learned how
to stand slightly taller with slightly thicker socks, only to
be topped by Jason Witten ditching Monday night football to
go back and play for the Dallas Cowboys. And that's
(02:08):
where we now, that's not where we start, because Bryce
Harper has just agreed to terms with the Philadelphia Phillies
for a new record three hundred and thirty million dollar
contract over thirteen years. That's a lot of zeros. It's
two commas and more than a quarter way to a third,
(02:28):
a new league record. That's why Scott Boris is the
best and Scott Boris is the worst. Whether it's for
the sport or for his client, there isn't and there
has never been anyone better than what Scott Boris has
(02:49):
been able to accomplish, right for his for for the
guys who worked for him, and frankly, for the market.
He creates these imaginary scenario has conversations, wait till just
the right moment. Even when the market is dead, he
finds a way to make it be very much alive.
(03:09):
Remember there was collusion two weeks ago. Then Manny Machado
signs and they wait and suddenly maybe the Dodgers are interested.
Yesterday it was let's meet with the San Francisco giants.
Let's create some sort of auction scenario where the Philadelphia Phillies,
who were always the leader to get Bryce Harper, who
(03:30):
said they wanted to spend stupid money, would feel like
they were willing to do whatever it took, and they did.
An eight year deal is not that smart. A nine
year deal feel feels uh slightly dumb. A tenure deal
is stupid. What is the thirteen year deal? Say to you,
I'm a Philly for life and while Philadelphia absolutely has
(03:56):
the money to steal from Chris Rock. You can drive
a car with your feet, but that doesn't make it
a good idea, does it. He's the best, though other
players love him. Why he keeps driving up the market? Yep,
we want one dollar more. It's actually five million dollars
more than John Carlos Stantons deal, and Staton's deal had
opt outs. Is just not so you get this rig
(04:21):
thirteen years, three and thirty million dollar deal, annual value
only twenty five point four, which is the high fourteen
highest major league history, no opt outs, massive contract. But
here's where he's the worst. Do you think Bryce Harper
really wants to spend the rest of his adult life
in Philadelphia? Wants to play in the same division West Coast, Dude, Phillies.
(04:45):
Might you know? Look, they got a chance to be
a little bit ahead of the curve, although Atlanta's got
better young pitchers and maybe better overall young players, and
there's still the Nationals that have better pitching. I know. Yeah,
By the way, we can if you're a Mets fan,
you can decry i how badly poorly the Mets have
been run, But the Mets have made the playoffs in
the World Series. You know, once in the playoffs, but
(05:06):
to in the last four years like I So it
wasn't one of the prime markets he'd love to be in.
It's not with a historically great franchise, nor one that
he grew up rooting for or even rooting against. It's
in the same division as where he used to play,
(05:27):
which eventually we'll wear off, but still is tiresome. And
in order to get that ridiculous deal, it's thirteen years,
thirteen years. So Scott Borris is the best. He's the best.
(05:49):
He told everybody. Bryce Harper is gonna get crazy money
plus three hundred million dollars. People say you're crazy, You're crazy,
he said, four hundred This is classic board US. By
the way, you put out a number like four hundred
million dollars, does we can get four hundillion dollars over
eight to ten years, and now you get them for
thirteen years three million dollars Like see, you got yourself
(06:10):
a bargain. Or you're paying twenty five million dollars a
year for the next thirteen years. The genius and diabolical
genius to UH one agent is remarkable, and that's what
today has become about we can go back to not
(06:31):
really caring about baseball because to me, it's a financial story.
This also strikes it as hey, there is no collusion,
especially when there were a couple there were three or
four teams that were reportedly interested in Bryce Harper, and
when those teams are not named the Cardinals, the Yankees,
(06:51):
the Astros, frankly, the Dodgers had the thing smart will
pay or pay for over pay you, but only for
a couple of years. Those are the franchise that's seen
Boston Red Sox, and some of it is they already
have guys, but a lot of it is that just
does that. That doesn't make sense to have that on
the books for that long. And there's also a no
(07:15):
trade clause, which, look, if it gets ugly, you know,
can that be changed. Of course it's gonna be changed.
But this is one of those it's the best and
it's the worst. It's also the best because it drives
up the value of superstar players, but it eliminates any
sort of middle class, which is what baseball and frankly
(07:38):
everyone else in the world has been fighting for. Baseball
has the haves and the have nots, and not much
in between. Very Aaron Jidge, you're very happy today because
you're next one up to get a huge deal of
Nolan Arnado got a deal. It's more than Nolan Arnado,
although far more years. Mike Trout gonna get crazy money.
(07:58):
And oh yeah, by the way, you how to feel
pretty good if you're an Angel fan, because the thought
was the one place you would go would be the Phillies,
although the Phillies will probably say, look in two years
when he's up dollars for Bryce Harper is not going
to be that much money. We gladly spend even more
on Mike Trout. But I think there's a bunch of
(08:20):
baseball teams that frankly, are happy about this all that
money into one guy. The mid the mid level guys
are kind of being squeezed, and you end up sending
him to a place where he kind of fits that them,
but he kind of doesn't. Right Like, Philadelphia is one
(08:41):
of those places that you respect how much they like sports,
but you don't really like how they like sports. Right
We gotta get to the Jason Witten's story, which is interesting.
We've got to get to the Kyler Murray measurements, which
are interesting. Let me give you the Kyler Murray thing
(09:04):
real quick before we get to Charles Davis is going
to join us from the NFL and fox. The Kyler
Murray thing. People said, well, he's so, he's five ft
ten and a hair he's two four pounds. He's essentially
an inch shorter and has smaller and has an inch
smaller hands. But it's the same height, the same, the
(09:28):
same weight as Russell Wilson. Now, Wilson had to lose
weight for the combine. Kyler Murray had to gain weight
for the combine. But when people start to go, well, look,
he's five ft ten, he's big enough. This is I
didn't go to or graduate from college, guy. I'm fully
(09:49):
aware that Steve Jobs went to Harvard and then Withdrew
and started Apple and became an iconic American entrepreneur. I'm
fully aware that there are there are a there are
a list of people who have not gone to or
completed college, who have been successful in their personal lives
(10:10):
and in their professional lives, and they have not one,
not two, but three Commas when you look in their
bank account. There's a handful of people like that. But
there's a book called freakonomics. Your word freakonomics. The idea
of freakonomics is this, there's a stat for everything, a
stat for everything. You're less likely to be unhealthy, You're
(10:34):
less likely to smoke. You're more likely to have a
sustained marriage and have a better job and have a
better life. The longer you go to school, and the
more accomplished you are in school. Additionally, your life is
All these things point better in terms of probability. If
you have two parents in the home, so can you.
(10:57):
Can you have a single mother or single father. Can
you drop out of or not go to college and
be successful? Yeah, man, you're a hungry dog and you
find a way. Absolutely, But the the odds are stacked
against you. And that is what Kyler Murray's truly up against.
(11:19):
We haven't talked about his leadership. We haven't talked about
whether or not he can process and understand reads and
change a play and read a defense. We're simply saying, well, yeah,
I know he's small, but maybe not as tiny as
you thought. And because other guys that are kind of small,
not as small as him, have been successful recently, you
(11:40):
should go with the number one overall pick there is
reward there, but there is inherent and obvious risk, and
the stats are there to point them out. Be sure
to catch live editions of The Doug Dot Leap Show
week days in noon eastern three pm Pacific on Fox
Sports Radio and the I Heart Radio app. But Jason
(12:04):
Witten's back in the National Football League to help us
tell us if he can still play as Matt Mosley.
Mosley couldn't play in his prime camp play now, but
he's a He has a great podcast called The Doomsday
Podcast for our guy ed Warder. He also writes for
the Dallas Morning News and uh it will be releasing
a special episode when they're talking about Jason Witten's news
later on today. What was your reaction when you're witting
(12:25):
back to the Cowboys? You know, I really thought you're
gonna have me on to talk about that Baylor comeback
last night over the University of Texas. But my reaction
to Witten was not one of shock at all. Uh.
I think, um, I think they've been this has been uh,
you know, in the works for a while. I think
there was a bell out plan almost executed during the season.
(12:48):
I mean he was looking for an escape patch from
that Monday Night football booth, and I think Garrett wasn't
you know, talking to him during the season, and I
think I think he really just wanted to come back
and in that thing right in the middle of the
season and and show up. And at some point he decided, no,
let's trying to make it through the season. But this
(13:08):
was this was something. I mean, you know, he's never
he's dealt with people maybe not liking him or opposing
fans not liking him. But I've known Jason for a
long long time, as you know, and he had never
dealt with the kind of criticism and the twitter just
angst and fury that he dealt with this season. So
(13:29):
he's this has been in the works for a while,
and this gets him out of the booth into the
Cowboys locker room where he's more comfortable. And then we
can see if Jason Witten becomes the future head coach
of the Dallas Cowboy future head coach of Dallas Cowboys.
There you go, there you go. Yeah, that's that's that's
(13:50):
the plan. I mean, I I that would not shot.
That would not surprise me at all. This a lame
duck year for Garrett. Now maybe Jason kind of helps
in the locker room. Maybe they have a decencyason and
maybe Garrett wins himself another couple of years on the contract.
But but you know, they're letting him coach into the
final year. That's never a great sign. If this thing
(14:11):
goes shout at all, they're gonna be looking for a
new head coach. And I mean, it's just easier to
take Witten from the team than take him straight from
the booth. And so, I you know, I don't, I
totally just I absolutely disagree with you. If he, if
he was gonna be a head coach, comes straight from
the booth, then you get to see every other You
(14:32):
get to see all the other teams, and you get
to pick the players that you want you get, and
you get to meet with other coaches and get a
really good feel for how other people do it. Oh,
I think that's overrated. I mean, these meetings that they
always talked about, Oh, ilways taking do you think they
actually tell them stuff? Doug. I mean you think they're
just opening there, opening up to I mean even the
Great eight Man. You think they're just like here, here,
(14:54):
look at our game plans, what we're doing, Troy. They're
not telling them that much stuff. Well, I mean, first
of all, you can tape, you can cipher for yourself. Second, well,
they tell you more. I got to do an NFL
game sideline. They tell you, they tell you a lot
of stuff about personnel, about guys. Let me ask the
right question. You're you're, you're, you're here in their money
there in their Monday night football. He can go he
(15:15):
could have gone into everyone. I just has the tight end.
Ever become a coach either, Usually it's a quarterback. Oh goodness,
now you're gonna make me think. There's yeah, the quarterbacks,
but you've seen offensive lineman, you know, have a history
of becoming head coaches. I mean it seems like the
Titans higher most of them linebackers. You can see it
with the Texans right now. There's no reason in the
(15:36):
world Wi tied end can't become a head coach. I mean,
here's the thing, Okay, here's here's Jerry is in love
with Jason Witten. And I'll tell you how how high
that is, even more than Romo. People sort of thinking,
you know, oh my gosh, Jerry, he does love Romo.
Romo named like one of his kids after Jerry or something.
I think one of his kids is named Jones seriously,
(15:59):
and one of his sons is named Joe Jones. Kind
of a baller name, by the way. Last there's a
there is a connection between Jerry and Witten. And even
when I was kind of toy in with Jerry after games, like, hey,
what do you think about how Jason? I mean they're
giving him a hard time about this broadcast. I mean
he was defending him to the hilt. I mean he's
(16:19):
telling me I was just in a meeting with the
broadcast team and they're telling me how improved Jason is.
I mean, he was having his back as a broadcaster
even I mean this, he's more of a son to
him than Romo. And I'm just saying, do not be
surprised if that's where this thing is headed. Now, if
(16:40):
we have an argument, you know, it may we can
probably have different minds on whether it's better from the
team or the booth that you make some good points.
But he's gonna be a head coach with the Cowboys
at some point. Matt Moseley with all kinds of different
hypotheses and theories and ideas covering the Dallas Cowboys and
the Dallas Body News, joining us on The Doug Show
(17:00):
on Fox Sports Radio. How much money can they What
was the least amount that Doc will take but that
they're gonna have to give him to get him to
sign long term? Oh, you know, Jerry doesn't mind paying
or over paying a quarterback. And uh, and boy they
are they They're gonna make this work. And I you know,
(17:20):
I'm trying to think where they'll start it. What was
the last Doug, you know, all this stuff off the
type of your head, What was the last huge quarterback
contract that went down. Yeah, it won't be It won't
be Roger's money because that But I'm thinking more someone
like on their second contract, like that, more in Dax,
more in Dax neighborhood. I mean, he's the very fact
(17:44):
that he plays for the Cowboys, and and and he
obviously they've had him at this incredibly low rate based
on you know, his production, and you can you can argue.
I mean, I don't. I think he's got incredible intangibles.
See that one of the greatest quarterbacks ever played for
the Cowboys, not even close. I mean, and I don't
think I think his ceiling is still um below the
(18:09):
kind of player that Romo was, but now they respond
to him and they love him. So he's gonna end
up getting a huge contract. I mean he'll get paid
like I mean, okay, Derek Carr. Derek Carr, Uh, he
got was it seventy million guaranteed average? He'll get that.
(18:30):
He'll get that, yeah, for sure, for sure. And they
and they, I mean they won't even blink on that deal.
They'll they He'll get He'll get whatever that much? How
much is that? How much does the Randy Gregory news
hurt them? Oh, he's a good player, I mean and uh,
and it's a sad deal because this is a guy
that's really struggling with addiction, um, and has some trouble
(18:51):
with anxiety and other I think there's some mental illness
uh issues that come about that he's really struggled with.
So uh, you know, he's one of those guys the
off seasons horrible for. I mean, like he needs to
be around the team at all times and so um,
you know, I I don't you know it hurts them.
I mean it makes it. You know, they're gonna have
to look at defensive end because Taco Charlton really hasn't
(19:14):
been the guy they had hoped he would be as
a first round pick. So they're gonna have to you know,
it kind of reinforces maybe because of Witn't coming back
there a little less at tied end and a little
more at defensive end defensive tackle. But you know, you
can't ever count on him being there. I mean, it's
just kind of sad. He you you you kind of
(19:34):
have to go in the draft thinking that Randy Gregory
is not going to be there, and then if he's there,
it's icing on the cake, like it's the you know,
but he but he you know, it's just really he's different.
You know, Irving is kind of a David Irving is
extremely talented guy who's just always gonna be in trouble.
Gregory is like a really really good person, Um, great
(19:59):
guy who's just an addict and is a victim of Hey,
you know, whatever you say in this world, it's not
the marijuana laws is in terms of the NBA in
the NFL aren't going to change in time to help
Randy Gregory. Is it. It's only weed? Like that's who's
he kicked out? Yeah, yeah, yeah, he's got weed. He's
(20:20):
got I mean, that's that's it. Man, he's he and
it's and he's treating he's treating all sorts of stuff
with weed, and he thinks that, you know, he thinks
it helped. But he can't, I mean, he can't get
away from it. And the only way he seems to
stay clean at all is if he can be around
the team. But I mean, this is kind of this
is kind of Josh Gordon. Like I mean, I'm not saying,
(20:40):
but the Josh Gordon thing it came out, it was
more than just everybody said, well, why are you suspending
for weed? And then he came out and it was like,
actually was a lot more than weed. He was doing
other he was doing other stuff. You're right, and that
goes way back to his you know, the time he
spent with us in Waco, Texas. But uh uh yeah.
But I just think I think with Gregory, it's it's
(21:00):
mainly I don't want to speak definitively that it's nothing else,
but he's he's got he's got issues with marijuana and
he cannot he just cannot stop. And they seem to
do a pretty good job with him when they can
get him around the facility and and all that, But boy,
you get him in the off season, and this thing
may even go back to the season. Um I I
(21:22):
don't know when that. You know, sometimes you go through
this pill process and so you don't exactly know when
it happened. But this is like third strike for him.
Bell rally together Jerieal Jeriel tried to take him in
and beg for hey bring him back. So I would
bet he's suspended for four to eight games and and
(21:42):
then they'll get him back at some point next season.
But it's really sad because he you know, he's he's
a good player, a good guy. By the way, Neil
and Sean both tweeted at me, so did Mike Uh,
Mike curbs Uh one tight end it became a really
good coach? Was Mike didcome? My point only like look
killing a super Bowl? But how how long ago? How
long has it been since Mike did kill with a coach.
(22:04):
I'm not saying you're you're wrong and that there have
been Lyneman and it's it's the trend now is and
frankly what what Jason Garrett is former quarterback play caller coach,
even though Jason Garrett doesn't actually call plays the Cowboys,
which is just there's another level of mose Thanks so
much for joining us. Can't wait to hear the new
Doomsday podcast or read you're working in the Dallas Morning News.
(22:26):
Thanks Mary Guest and Fox Sports Radio. The great atmosphere
at the Farrell Center last night. See you later. Hey
you gone? You're still from here? Uh shaka smart keeper's
job now. They probably need to move on. It's not
it's not working out. And boy he was doing some
showboating on that sideline when they're up by nineteam last night.
(22:46):
But they you know, he wasn't hired by this a D.
So this at some point, this new a D is
gonna get get his own guy in there, yea Chris
del Conte, who was the former a D at t
c u um. Yeah, but it'll be interesting. They're not
yet out of turn mint hunt, which is odd. But yes,
the team point lost to Baylor, who lost one of
the best players earlier this Year's not not the type
(23:08):
of look you want at you t Thanks so much
for joining us. Okay, Scott Drew Coach of the Year,
Matt Moseley, be sure to catch live editions so the
Doug dot Leaps show week days at noon Eastern three
pm Pacific, bringing John Paul Morossi. He joined the show.
Uh have you talked to to Boris? Uh? Not yet
today I have a texted with him a bit, I
(23:29):
will say that. But it is, Doug, a landmark day
in this in this particular off season for baseball, and
then the way the season is beginning, because as of
this morning, Doug, there were a lot of people around
the game, myself included, who would have told you that
there was probably a better chance of him going to
the West Coast than there was to Philadelphia. And and
(23:50):
here we now have the largest contract in the history
of the game signed for him to go to Philadelphia.
The money obviously is massive, but me a couple of
surprising parts that the A A V is not record setting,
it's it's in the mid twenties. Um, there is no
opt out at all. And and that is pretty surprising
(24:12):
obviously the full note trade clause. So he is committing
fully to Philadelphia. And and I look at it, and
I share some of your concerns. I also think about
and I think we mentioned this the last time we
talked the those those quality of life questions and and
and going now in the same division. How this certainly
(24:32):
changes his legacy in Washington, d c um and and
the the antipathy he'll here on the road in New York,
in Atlanta, where the West Coast would have been a
fresh start, closer to home for him, where he, of
course you grew up in Vegas. He'd have to spring
trading close to home. Um, I'm I'm surprised. I do
think that there would have been some higher A A
V deals out there for him, But he wanted the term.
(24:55):
He wanted to be a free agent one time. According
to Weiscott, Borris has told Joel Sherman he wanted one
more contract for the rest of his career. And my
all accounts, Doug, he has that. Um, he told Joel
Sherman that there offers forty five million dollars a year.
If that's true, then this is a stupid contract. I'm sorry,
Like that is the dumbest thing I've as a dumb
contract to take. Well, if it was times and I
(25:18):
get what you're saying, three, yeah, if it was forty
five times four, I mean so, so in your estimation,
that's profitable for you to take that, to take the
shorter term deal. Any well, any financial advice, you would
tell you the more money upfront is smarter financially, any
any bays like like, look, when he's not a picture,
(25:39):
his arm is not gonna fall off, right, he'd be
back on the market in three years. It's gonna make
more money, you know, Like worst case scenario, he could
get a twenty five million dollar per year. D he's
still in his prime. Like that makes no sense, just
the ego of like, yeah, I gotta have thirteen years.
I gotta have thirteen years just to stay have thirteen
so he gets a massive deal at the end, Like
that doesn't make any I like, once you hit a
(26:02):
forty million a year, you're signing that short term deal,
especially if it's three years, three years or four years,
you're back on the market your prime. That doesn't make
any sense to me. That's a fair point. And and
uh to me, Doug, I think and this is this
is the beauty of free agency because you you get
to decide what is important to you And to Bryce Harper,
(26:24):
I think a few things were really important to him.
Number one, setting the record, which he has done. Number Two,
apparently I say this apparently because we have not yet
heard of vocalize this, but I do think this is
a major focus. He's signing in a very hit her
friendly ballpark, a place where he can chase records, and
he can he can do it for as long as
he wants to. Now, there are those that will look
(26:46):
at Harper and wonder if in seven years, which is
midway through this deal, that maybe he would have benefited
from being a d H And where are gonna are
you gonna play well now? And and this is this
is the beauty of the term on this deal. I'm
a believer, Doug that by the time we're at that
spot in this contract, I think the H is gonna
(27:09):
be universal in major league baseball. I do. I think
that's that's part of the evolution of the game. Uh So,
maybe the Phillies felt a little more um comfortable with
that part of the deal, but apparently he really wanted
to not ever have to worry about going through this again.
He wanted to have one place. And I'm that it
(27:29):
doesn't really make sense to me, and it sounds like
it doesn't really make sense to you, but um it.
Scott Boris has said uh to the Joels Sherman, and
I was told also by a source very close to
the situation that that Bryce areper truly did not want
an opt out, that that was his choice. I was
told by a source he did not want any opt outs.
He wanted to have this be as long of a
(27:50):
term as it could be. And clearly that's what he's got,
tying a Stantons deal for the longest term in the
history of the game. Uh. JP Morosi joins JOm Rosy
joinings covers MLBON Fox Doug Out Show, Fox Sports Radio.
What was the do you have any idea what the
final offer was from the Nationals? The Nationals, I don't
(28:10):
believe Doug made an offer, um that was substantially different
from the one they made at the end of the
regular season, which was that was, as we know, three
million dollars over ten years, with a third of it
deferred according to MLB dot Com. And and also, um
that you know that when you think about that amount
of money being deferred, that that does certainly change that
(28:31):
that present value of the deal, um, but notably. And
this is where I think it's gonna feed into the
conversation a little bit for Harper and and and when
he goes back to d C in the first week
of the season. Oh, by the way, April twond market calendars. Um,
the Nationals front office, Doug, they've got a lot of
(28:52):
cover here from the PR standpoint. They made him an
offer that that we can talk about the deferred money
and everything else, but the sticker price was three million
dollars over ten, which actually carried a higher average annual
value than the deal that he signed, and he said
no to that for justifiable reasons. But the reality is
he said no. Very few Nationals fans and maybe even
(29:14):
none of them could credibly come on this program today
and tell us how the Nationals screwed this up. They
made him an offer for more money per year than
what he signed, so they have got plenty of cover. Uh,
public relations wise, they signed Patrick Corbett where they really needed,
so the Nationals too. If I'm the Nationals today, UM,
(29:36):
I I feel pretty good. And also, also, by the way,
the whole thing about him staying in the division is
when he comes back, that's gonna be a major gate attraction.
There's gonna be some pretty compelling theater in this division
for a lot of years to come. So why you
don't love playing against him? Uh, it's gonna be great
for the drama. This is gonna be a dramatic division
(29:56):
now for years to come. And and used to me,
he has done a great favor, Doug to all these
sports writers and sports commentators on the seller corridor because
they now have plenty to discuss and we'll have that.
You know that that's gonna be eighteen times a year
they're gonna play. It's gonna be a beautiful rivalry with
a lot of memorable confrontations. I believe this is a
(30:19):
deal as much as I thought that he was going
to go West. This is a good This is a
good deal for baseball, No, no, no question in terms
of I do think it's ironic though that he wants
to go to a hitter's ballpark when he was at
the Nationals Park, which uh is you know, if you
go home run park factors better better hitting park than
Citizens Bank home run in park factors. You know, it's
(30:42):
just it's the fifth best home run park to Citizens
Bank um in Major League basically, like those are two
hitter friendly joints And he wouldn't have had to move
and he would have made more money per year. Like
I don't, I don't, I don't get it. But okay, um,
I know it's only twenty five million year, so uh,
it stands the reason that they could still go after Trout.
(31:04):
Does this make it so that Trout? Is this them saying, Hey,
we're not gonna get Trout, We're just gonna get Bryce Harper.
He'll be our guy. No, I think that Trout here
we are two years away. I think it is very
much in play. I don't know, And of course it's
a little a little premature to say too many specifics
about what the plan is. But if you're the Phillies,
(31:25):
if you wanted to spend stupid money as the as
the ownership had said this winner, but you wanted to
be spending stupid money prudently in a way that preserves
your options in the future, you would arrange the deal
exactly as they have arranged it. Because the key thing
when you when you talk about being able to afford
(31:45):
Trout is the luxury tax hit. And when you spread
out the guarantee over a larger number of years than
the the the salary, the revenue sharing, it is annualized
over that amount of time, and it gives you the
ability to fit more contracts in there, so that the
annualization of that money is really important, and that does
(32:08):
give them flexibility. So if I'm a Philly Span today,
I'm thrilled I and I am also excited about what
could happen in a couple of years time because they
can afford Trout And also I'm I'm in the process
of trying to figure this out. We may be talking about, Doug.
The first time in baseball history that one team has
(32:29):
acquired three players position players who were All Stars in
the previous year. It's not just Harper, It's Harper, Real,
Mutto and Jeans Sagara three three guys that were representing
different teams last year at the All Star Game in
Harper's old ballpark are now playing for the Phillies. And oh,
by the way, they also added a former m v
(32:50):
P and Andrew McCutcheon. There's a lot going on with
a Phillies right now. I still think they may want
to address the bullpen and maybe even at a lefty starter.
How much money, how much money they have have to
do that remains to be seen. But Doug, this is
a it's a it's a great deal for the Phillies
from the standpoint of being able to spread out that
costs over thirteen years. I share your concern about certainly,
(33:11):
as with any long term relationship, they are a bound
to be conflicts during the course of it. But but
if for a team that really set out to make
a statement this wintertime and put themselves back on the
map as they were a destination for players during the
Howard and Rollins and Utly era, they are that again.
This is gonna be one of the most talked about
teams in the sport. UH and right now, Matt Clintach,
(33:32):
John Middleton, Andy McPhail, a lot of really happy people
there at the Phillies Camp in Clearwater, Florida. Great stuff
as always, John Palm Rose c j P. Thanks so
much for joining us and UH on this with with
without any question, a historic day in Major League Baseball.
Appreciate it, my pleasure. The last day of February, Doug,
we're gonna remember this conversation. Well, we'll talk a year
from now. Let's open to revisit how year one of
the Harper era went in Philly. That's a deal. John Palmer,
(33:54):
ROSSI joining us mlby on Fox
Host
Doug Gottlieb
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