What is The #1 Concern for Dana Brown Going into 2026

What is The #1 Concern for Dana Brown Going into 2026

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Five on Sports Talk seven Anti.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
So the question I threw at Ross was, uh, what
is the number one concern for Dana Brown now that
he's firmly under contract? Well, at least the contract's there
and he's gonna work for it in twenty twenty six.
To me, it's pitching, no if ans or butts. I
think the first I think the infield positions will be addressed.

(00:23):
I think there will be some tendering of some contracts,
maybe some non tendering. The easiest way you fix the
infield is if you non tender somebody sports RV and
do you both tender Mauricio Dubon and Ramon Urius.

Speaker 1 (00:39):
That seems like it's.

Speaker 2 (00:40):
About the same player that My guess is that Maurius
is more infield, Dubon is more everywhere. Yeah, and Dubon's
probably gonna cost you a little bit more, will be
my guest. And the numbers on his contract situation, this
is last year of arbitration. Yes, so I think that's
gonna settle itself. I think, uh, the Esch price is
hamstring will settle itself ultimately as to what he can

(01:02):
do and cannot do again, I think it's either going
to be first base or they try to move him.
I seem it can be saidt for Christian Walker. I
don't think you saw Predas as a candidate for second base,
because you're then have a long time at second base,
especially if you use Jose al Tuve at second base
a handful of times. But to me, going back to
the essential issue you have, is it unfair to say

(01:26):
one and a half starting pitchers or do you think
are you gonna put Christian Hoavier in the solid number
two club as the second second starter for this team?
One and a half sounds about right, because if you
were to really judge Christian Heavier, it's a mixed bag.
And that should not be a huge surprise because he's
fresh off of Tommy John surgery. Guys are not supposed
to come off with TJ surgery and come out here

(01:47):
and start throwing nine eight miles an hour and throwing
seven ings or two hit ball.

Speaker 1 (01:50):
Maybe he'll get ah, well he was.

Speaker 2 (01:52):
He threw six innings of no hit ball and one
of his starts right, no hi, no hit, no shut out. Sorry,
but but that was that was a one off. That
was typically what he was giving you every single time.
Man if you're a Hunter Brown and you know this
organization is in depth, desperate need of starting pitching, and

(02:14):
you've had your best season as a major leaguer. No,
it was six innings and no hit against the Angels.
Six no hit innings, see Angel, it's a double eighteen
three walks still counts. Still no hitter if it would
have counted, but he ranted a pitch count of shoes.
I'm assuming, right, eighty five pitch hit or something like that. Okay,

(02:35):
so still to me one and a half. I don't
know if Christian Javier. I think Christian Javier has got
a spot. But is he a guy that I'm trusting
on the second day of this at the start of
the season, I don't think so.

Speaker 1 (02:45):
No.

Speaker 2 (02:47):
So back to my opponent on Hunter Brown, Hunter Brown, ROSSI.
He's going in saying, uh, where's your checkbook? I'm won't
fill it off for what I want to fill it
off for, right. I mean, if anybody's got the leverage,
is he represented by rot Rars. He's not a he's
not a advertising entity. Yeah, but I don't I don't

(03:08):
like him. Scott Boris, oh Man, it was one hundred
mile an hour fastball in on the hands that Judge
sent out too.

Speaker 1 (03:18):
That's pretty clutch.

Speaker 2 (03:19):
He's a throwback to the yesterdar in power hitterers, isn't he.
He's the best hitter walking. He's we best hurt on
the planet. Well show, I would take Otanas in a
strikeout as much. Okay, well, but Judge's better power Otani.
He's a better player because he pitches. But anyways, sorry,
what we're talking about, uh uh, it'll be Trade Rumors

(03:40):
puts out their projected arbitration. They have Dubond at five
point eight million and UEUS at four point four million,
and these are generally pretty accurate.

Speaker 1 (03:48):
They do it. This website does a good job.

Speaker 2 (03:51):
Okay, Hunter Brown five point seven million, Jeremy Peny is
seven point nine million. Okay, you can overpay those guys
that number to keep them happy. Buy out arbitration years.
Give them more than what they think they're or not
more than it's more what the numbers say they're worth.

(04:13):
Invest in them. Give them a little bit of a
bonus for Jeremy Payne's career season. But we also say
about Penya. That's two instants and the injured list this year. Okay,
for an obleak and for a he got hit by
a pitch in the ribs. I know, and I know,

(04:34):
but you also know attendance is part of the grade,
regardless of the situation, right It just okay if you
want to discount him for that, I'm not going to discount.

Speaker 1 (04:43):
I'm saying.

Speaker 2 (04:46):
He played one hundred and twenty five games and they
were great. One hundred and twenty five games. How many
years you're buying what he's twenty eight O?

Speaker 1 (05:02):
I don't know.

Speaker 2 (05:04):
I know the Astros don't have the reputation doing it.
They've done it a handful of times. They're gonna try,
They're gonna try.

Speaker 1 (05:09):
Well.

Speaker 2 (05:09):
They tried to do it with Cora, he didn't want to.
They tried to do it with Springer and he didn't
want to. They did it with jose Al t V
and Alex Bregmant. They didn't try to.

Speaker 1 (05:17):
Arbitration.

Speaker 2 (05:18):
They probably tried. There was probably some discussions and Nicer
said I'm good and we'll see what I said, we'll
see an arbitration court. And they lost and Coyle Tucker's
like went good, I lost, you lose. I'm getting out
of here. And now he's a cub and now he's
gonna get paid. He bet on himself, He's gonna get paid.
It's gonna get paid, hopefully for seven years. Some people
bet on themselves and they don't get paid. Jared Kellenck

(05:40):
was one of the top prospects in baseball. See, I'll
offered him a long term base deal and then two
years later he was DFA. He was like, I don't even.

Speaker 1 (05:46):
Know where he is.

Speaker 2 (05:47):
I believe he's in I believe he's in the Canadian
Rocky League Canadian Rockies. Wow, he's at BAMF he's Yeah,
he's playing for the Calgary Sheep. Heard of vamp Bears.
Can you give me a second second city in that
part of the world.

Speaker 1 (06:01):
What do you mean?

Speaker 2 (06:02):
Uhh, Saskatoon Okay, Yeah, he's playing for the Sasacoon Sasquatches.

Speaker 1 (06:07):
I like that.

Speaker 2 (06:07):
That in two nine with plenty of power, got a
huge ops. Yeah, so we'll see. Man, that's for Dan
to earn. His feeling has been and I'll stick with it,
is that of the two Hunter Brown gets paid. They
figure something out. He gets a long term deal because
he's younger as well. So on the big board, we

(06:30):
have both get paid. Neither get paid, one gets paid.
Favorite feels like neither.

Speaker 1 (06:38):
I know.

Speaker 2 (06:38):
I don't want to think that Scott Boris wants to
hit the open market. And there are they both Scott
Boris clients. Yes, Oh we're screwed. That's the reality of it, right,
isn't Let me ask you this. Jose l two base
Scott Boris client. But but Jose was a special situation.
He bought out the Astros bought out arbitrations. Does Scott

(07:02):
Borrows have a history of players buying out arbitration years?
I'd have to go up and I don't want to
know that. You've got much more important things to do.
My point is that probably not much. I don't.

Speaker 1 (07:14):
I don't hear that a lot.

Speaker 2 (07:15):
You know, generally, he well, first of all, Scott Boris,
if you're like a quadruple player and you're struggling on
a minor league deal, you're probably not a Scott Bors client.
Scott's like, talk to me when you're a PS it's
eleven hundred exactly. So I mean you're dealing with a
kind of a different level of clients. Isn't it crazy?
Though some of his clients, A lot of his clients, frankly,
are guys that were with other agents that were just

(07:37):
trying to get their feet wet into being major league players,
and all of a sudden, he scoops up and takes
these guys once they hit that level, because Hunter Brown knows,
if Scott Boris takes care of you, you're gonna get paid.

Speaker 1 (07:47):
And Jeremy Penney thought the exact same thing.

Speaker 2 (07:49):
Yeah, I'm just trying to find a list.

Speaker 1 (07:54):
Man. Matt Chapman signed a big deal.

Speaker 2 (07:56):
I'm just looking at Wikipedia literally of Scott Boris, one Soto,
that guy got paid, but he had he went to
free agency. Blake Snell, remember Blake Snell was all upset.
He did a one year deal with the Giants and
then opted out, but then got a brain new deal
after that. Yes, and now he's got a big deal
with the Dodgers. By the way, the Dodgers are beating

(08:18):
up on them Phillies, I'm trying to see somebody who
did like a you got paid early.

Speaker 1 (08:27):
I see.

Speaker 2 (08:27):
The thing of it is, here's the question. I don't
know if the askers are going to think this way.
I don't think they're gonna go, let's go all in
on one guy because we got we got a better chance.

Speaker 1 (08:34):
Of keeping him.

Speaker 2 (08:36):
Everything looks I would hope the ASTERS is an organization
would say, look, we got a lot of money coming
off the books here in the next couple of years.
Let's do what we can to try to keep both.
And I think they will do so. But it's almost
like the same thing we were talking about nic Cassia
last ross. If you say, well, we put together an
offer and you don't get them, you don't. You don't
get brownie points for at least trying unless the deals

(08:58):
elsewhere are so astronomical that it doesn't make sense. That'll
be The question is if they don't sign here and
they get these ridiculous For instance, the astros in theory
could have signed Kyle Tucker to a ten year deal
wor three.

Speaker 1 (09:15):
Hundred and seventy five million dollars.

Speaker 2 (09:16):
Right, there's the financial that they're within their opportunity to do,
so they just chose they didn't want to do that.
If if those two guys eventually two to three years
down the road, go somewhere else and get paid astronomical money,
then you're gonna say, okay, that makes sense.

Speaker 1 (09:33):
But if they get.

Speaker 2 (09:34):
Mid level money or being who they are and the
astros could have afforded them, and that's when I think
the criticism ownership would be fair. That's why data go
to go have dinner with Jim, have us few cigars,
drink a bottle of wine, and do something outside the
norm because you're in a tumultuous time for an organization.
You still have a lot of star power, but you

(09:55):
gotta be start thinking two to three years down the
road and you're gonna It's hard to get these to
lead shortstops that have turned the corner in their professional careers.
It's hard to find a one dash one in a rotation,
and I think Hunter Brown has certainly proven that. And
by the way, you're about to lose your second best
starter due to free agency. You gotta you gotta if
you're gonna get him back if you want. Will they

(10:18):
even qualify offer him? I would say yes. I would
say yes, and he rejects it and hits the market.
That is That's it. I'm basically going off of what
I read read from Chandler Room. Yeah, yeah, I mean
he knows. I mean he's pretty smart. He Chandler Rome
thinks that that they will give a qualifying offer from
er Vel does would reject it, hit the market and
then probably go somewhere else. But if they might circle

(10:39):
back late in the game, if if Frommer's not liking
the deals he's seeing, I don't know. Do you think
people would be excited Frommer came back. No, they I wouldn't.
I would not. I would say it's actually there are
a lot of more Farmer supporters than I thought. I'm
out on him. I understand. That's okay. Yeah, way would
depend on the money, of course. Yeah, it's like one

(11:01):
year's twenty one year, twenty million dollars deal. Why not
if it's around with the qualifying offer is what if
it's a one year, thirty million dollars deal thirty millions
too much?

Speaker 1 (11:10):
No chance?

Speaker 2 (11:10):
One twenty five lower one twenty. That seems about right.
We just played the range game, did we not?

Speaker 1 (11:17):
I think so?

Speaker 2 (11:18):
One sixteen out Sports Talk seven uinty we have believe
it or not? Today came it up at one fifty.
That's in thirty five short minutes, seven one three this
old time cue for Ross seven one three two one
two five seven ninety. There's no topic, all right, I'll
come up with one here.

Speaker 1 (11:33):
I did. I did that. Our Live yesterday.

Speaker 2 (11:35):
I did my part seventh grade seven one three two
one two five people.

Speaker 1 (11:39):
You didn't help other people