November 17, 2025 • 26 mins
Ken Rosenthal reacts to last night’s news: the Mariners are reportedly re-signing Josh Naylor to a 5-year deal. (Top of show)
(4:17) The Phillies have moves to make - bringing slugger Kyle Schwarber back is atop their list.
Get 15% off The Perfect Jean with the code FOUL15 at theperfectjean.nyc/FOUL15 #theperfectjeanpod
(6:36) Guardians star Jose Ramírez is building a Cooperstown, plaque-gallery worthy resume.
(10:08) Inside Dish dissects the qualifying offer market ahead of Tuesday’s deadline.
(19:00) Ken takes your Grillin’ Ken questions, including Braves shortstop options, Ketel Marte trade speculation, Red Sox #2 starter pursuit & Kyle Tucker dark horse team.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome everyone to the Monday edition of Fair Territory. I'm
Ken rose Thal, hear you here with you for the
next I don't know twenty five minutes or so. We
do have some stuff to talk about today, some more
stuff than usual actually at this time of year, because
we have a major free agent signing last night, news
coming out Josh Naylor five years with the Seattle Mariners.
(00:23):
And you might say five years, well, Josh Naylor is
not even twenty nine yet, doesn't turn twenty nine until June.
We do not have the money yet. The expectation is
that it will be somewhere in the ninety million to
one hundred million dollar range. I would not be surprised
if it was one hundred, but again we don't know
the exact figures yet. And for the Mariners, this is
a guy that they targeted, that they wanted to have,
(00:46):
that they traded for in July and decided, you know what,
this guy is really important to us, and he is.
You saw what he did for the Mariners toward the
end of the regular season, and of course you saw
what he did in the postseason, batting three with a
nine to sixty six ops in October. In fifty one
played appearances. Beyond all that, Joshnayler is a guy who
(01:09):
has a lot of savvy for the game. We saw
that in the way he stole bases this season, and
he also brings a certain edge, an edge that you
don't see in a lot of players today. And it's
not that guys don't want to succeed, but he has
a fire about him in a way about him. Teammates
love him, and he just seems to elevate the teams
(01:30):
that he is on. It's a guy who is just
a really good player and worthy of the five year
deal considering his age. That's the key thing here now.
Obviously the Mets are waiting to sign or trying to
sign Pete Alonzo, and five years is going to be
the minimum for him. I would expect this kind of
sets the bar, at least in the term. I don't
(01:51):
know that the money will be anywhere the same because
Alonso is the more accomplished player, but the Mets people
or Mets writers noted last night, just takes an option
off the board. If the Mets do not resign Alonso.
We'll see about all that. We'll see how that all
plays out. Also with regard to the Mariners, this is
only step one. They still have a need either for
(02:13):
a second baseman or a third baseman, and the likely
next target is Jorge Polanco. This is a guy who,
of course, like Naylor, was extremely valuable for them, especially
in the postseason. A guy who was coming off knee
surgery at this time last year, but got healthier as
the year went on, and he is someone that they
will probably resign if they do to play second base,
(02:37):
but also to DH they want to keep him healthy.
That would be the key. With Jorge Polanco. They have
Cole Young at second base as well. Didn't really hit
much in his debut, but he is a guy they
are extremely high on. He was their number one prospect
just a year ago, and their infield is interesting also
for another reason. Their top prospect now, Colt Emerson, is coming.
(03:00):
He is widely seen as a shortstop but can also
play third base. I don't know that he'll be ready
for opening Day. The Mariners don't know that, but at
third base last year they played Ben Williamson, a lot
great defender, didn't hit. Traded for Ajohanno Suarez. So if
they get Polanco or even sign a third baseman, whether
it's Suarez or or Coma. They can do some things
(03:23):
then and wait for Emerson fill him in JP Crawford
or free agent after this season, so maybe that ultimately
will be Emerson's spot. The Mariners are not only a
team that was quite accomplished at the major league level
this year, but also a team with one of the
best farm systems in the game. So Naylor for five years,
the first signing, the first big signing of the offseason,
(03:45):
you see right there. Aaron Gleeman of the Athletic They
ranked Josh Naylor number fourteen of all the free agents
on the Athletics Big Board, and Aaron said, I just
had a very hard time seeing him anywhere, but re
signed the Mariners. Most everyone agreed with that this was
hardly a surprise last night. Maybe the timing was it
(04:05):
was pretty early for free agency, which only November sixteenth
last night, November seventeenth today. So good for the Mariners
getting this done. Step one for them in this free agency.
Also something to look at here a team that we've
talked about a little bit as a team that's going
to be quite interesting this offseason. And Matt Gelbo of
(04:27):
the Athletic wrote a fascinating notes column on this team
just yesterday, and that team is the Philadelphia Phillies. Why
are they so interesting? A couple of reasons. One, they
want to resign their free agents, Kyle Schwarber and j
t Romuto, and yet they can't do it right away.
Both these players are testing the market. Schwarber is a
(04:49):
guy who is coming off a monster season, is in
some demand. Now you might say, well, who is going
to sign him besides the Phillies. I'm not sure exactly
which team might be. You can look at the Mets
if they lose Alonso, the Red Sox perhaps, or the
left handed the Cubs, the Rangers, the Reds. All of
these teams would seemingly have an interest. But my goodness,
(05:11):
fifty six home runs last year one hundred and thirty
two RBIs one sorry nine to twenty eight ops second
in the NL MVP.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
I trust that there are teams besides the Philadelphia Phillies
that want to sign Kyle Schwarber, and that is a
reason why the Phillies can't get this done necessarily right away.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
It's gonna want to see what's out there, so it's
holding up the Phillies right now, and that's just the
way it's going to have to be. At some point.
I guess there is a point where they'll need an answer,
but we're not nearly there yet. Also with the Phillies,
they are looking to trade a left handed reliever, perhaps
maybe Matt Strom. And one other interesting thing in Matt's
(05:54):
notes column, they're talking about trading off the major league roster. Now.
Dave Dobrowski, as president of operations, not known for trading
anything but prospects and has always been willing to trade prospects.
But they're at a point now where they've got some
I wouldn't call it duplication at the major league level,
but some players that they can move, and this way,
(06:17):
by trading off the major league roster, they can keep
some of their better prospects. They're a little thin right now,
and they know that. After the deadline they made some
big moves, So that is something to watch with the
Phillies as well. Strom Castianos's future is in big trouble there.
They could trade Bom, they could trade someone else. They're
going to be an interesting team. And finally, before we
(06:39):
sign off on this first segment, I want to talk
about Jose Ramirez. Here's a guy that we often refer to,
myself included, as underrated. I don't know that underrated is
the right way to look at Jose Ramirez anymore. He's
not underrated, but is he underappreciated? I would suggest that
he definitely is underappreciated. Here's a guy who finished third
(07:01):
in the MVP voting. That was his sixth top five
finish in his career. You see the little ex post
from the Guardians right there. Thirty homers, thirty four doubles,
forty four steals, eight sixty three ops. This is just
a really good player. And some people have said, well,
it's he a Hall of Famer, and the Guardians referred
(07:22):
to him as cooper'stown bound. And I would suggest, yes,
that he is definitely on a Hall of Fame track.
Jason Stark of the Athletic who covers the Hall of
Fame better than anyone outside of maybe j. Jaffier Fangs.
They're different, but they both cover the Hall of Fame exhaustively.
Jason had him across the fifty yard line in his
(07:43):
July analysis of Hall of Fame candidates. Across the fifty
yard line is of course heading toward the end zone,
and he is not yet at three hundred homers and
three hundred steels, though he should get there this next season.
And keep this in mind, no third baseman has reached
both those totals three hundred home runs in three hundred
(08:03):
steals for his career. That way, if he gets there,
and he should obviously, he's in the two eighties with both,
that would make him a unique candidate. Also staying with
his team the entire career, all of these things kind
of recommend Jose Ramirez as a Hall of Fame player.
So underrated, No, you can't call him underrated when he
(08:23):
keeps finishing in the top five for MVP, but underappreciated certainly.
And if he wasn't in the same league as I
don't know, Iman Judge and cal raally, then maybe at
some point Jose Ramirez would be a stronger candidate for MVP.
But this guy almost single handedly offensively lifted the Guardians
to their shocking Al Central title nineteen and four down
(08:47):
the stretch. He is a really special player, and he
was acknowledged yet again in the MVP vote. All Right,
a lot more to come. We're going to talk about
the qualifying offer. The deadline is tomorrow, and it's something
that is quite interesting this season, in particular, stay with
us inside Dish coming up next AJ.
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Speaker 1 (10:09):
Well well, well, well, all right, time now for the
inside Dish. Now that we've seen our two Blue Genes
models Aj Pasinski and Scott Brun, the inside Dish is
something where we talk about maybe a story I've written,
maybe a trend in the game, maybe something else going
on in the game this week, kind of a combination
(10:29):
of all three. We've got the qualifying off for deadline tomorrow.
The qualifying off for this year worth twenty two point
zero two five million, almost over, I should say over
twenty two million for one year. Thirteen players received it,
and when I talked with an executive last week at
the GM meetings, he said, every one of them is
going to reject it. No one wants to be a
(10:51):
free agent with the lockout potentially looming next off season.
And I thought about that, and I asked some other
people about that, and even with the lockout looming, and
I understand what the GM was saying he's saying, hey,
no one wants a one year deal then to become
a free agent again with a lockout scenario. If you
go back to twenty twenty one, when the lockout took
(11:14):
effect on December first, what happened right before that? Do
you guys remember, I remember was a fleet free agent flurry.
Semen and Segy's I'm sorry, Semeon and Seeger Korey Seger
and Marcus Semeon signed huge deals with the Rangers. Max
Schurzer signed his big deal with the Mets. You also saw,
obviously al Garcia sign, You saw Edwardo Rodriguez sign. There
(11:37):
was a flurry right before December first hit, and it
wasn't as if teams shunned free agents. So I don't
expect teams to shun free agents either this offseason or
next offseason, because even if we lose time in twenty
twenty seven, and I don't know that, I expect that
to happen necessarily. Even if we do, even if we
miss games, eventually the sport's going to return. Teams to
(12:00):
need players, and players are going to need jobs. So
with that, there are a few players who were offer
qualifying offers who might indeed consider it taking them. And
I wrote about this last week with Will Simon and
Katie Wu and I focused. We focused on four players,
Labor Torres, Trent Grisham, Brandon Woodruff, and showed to Imanaga
(12:24):
and I'll go through them one by one because they're
all interesting in their own ways. Now, Torres is a guy,
if you remember last year, monster first half a twelve
ops before the All Star Game, named to the All
Star Team, one of a number of Tigers who made
the All Star Team, and then he fell off in
the second half. He struggled. He had a six fifty
(12:46):
nine ops after the All Star Game, and we learned
later that he was dealing with a sports tourney. I
had sports tornea surgery after the season, so teams might
be a little bit wary because of that. But he's
expected to be ready by spring training. So he's a
guy who signed a one year, fifteen million dollar deal
with the Tigers last off season. This offseason, well, he
(13:10):
has coming off a better year. He turns twenty nine
next month. This is the same age that Josh Naylor
will be next season, and he just got a five
year deal and that's a relatively young free agent as
we know, So will Glabor Torres take this deal? Well,
he was happy in Detroit, comfortable there, and twenty two
million is a big number in a multi year deal.
(13:32):
He is unlikely to get twenty two million, So maybe
he takes one year and says, you know what, I'll
do this again, go out next season, next off season
without a qualifying offer, saddling me, without the potential for
a team to lose draft picks by signing me, and
maybe be that much more attractive. It's an interesting choice.
(13:53):
He'd still be relatively young going into next off season,
turning thirty in twenty twenty seven, so I'll be interested
to see what he does. My guess is he rejects,
but I would not be surprised to see him take
it either. Now. Trent Grisham is another interesting case, maybe
even more interesting than Torres. Here's a guy that a
(14:15):
year ago the Yankees weren't even certain they were going
to tender him, offer him a contract, ends up taking
a pay cut from five and a half million to
five million, and then what happened We all saw it.
Thirty four homers, career high and a career high eleven
eight eleven ops A thirty four home run total was
(14:35):
double his previous career high. So he too is a
younger free agent plays next season at twenty nine. The
question with him is is he a center fielder. His
defensive metrics went down last year significantly. He wasn't the
center fielder he was earlier in his career, but a
number of his offensive metrics were really intriguing. Chase rate
(14:58):
fourth lowest in the majors, behind only Sodo Claibor Torres
and Kyle Tucker. Walk grate was the ninth highest. He
did a lot of good things at the plate. He's
kind of remade himself, changed his mental approach, changed things
in the box. He's done a lot of good things offensively.
So in a market short on center fielders, he really
is number three behind Tucker and Cody Bellinger. Will he
(15:22):
reject I kind of think he's going to reject the offer,
And if he does, then the Yankees have some more
interesting choices in the outfield. They have said they would
be comfortable with both Grisham and Bellinger if they could
resign Bellinger, and if that happens, they've got some interesting
choices with Spencer Jones, whether to trade him or not,
But we'll see what Trent Grisham decides. He is going
(15:45):
to be an interesting guy tomorrow to watch. Finally, two
starting pitchers, Brandon Woodriff and showeda in Monaga. Now they
are much different as far as their circumstances, but they're
both starters, and starting pitchers generally in free agency generate
the most fervent markets, the most interest because of course
they are in such short supply quality starting pitchers. That
(16:09):
is now, Brandon Woodriff is a really interesting case. You
would think this guy's definitely going to take it. He
turned thirty three in February, missed all of twenty four
coming off shoulder surgery, made only twelve starts for Milwaukee
last season, and then was shut down in September with
a separate issue. So here's a guy twelve starts in
(16:31):
two years and he's getting off for twenty two million.
Might want to take it, but I don't know that
that's the case. He had a great performance in those
twelve starts. He had a three point two strikeout walk
race that was the best of his career, albeit in
a limited sample. So Mac boyd, if you remember last year,
the same number of starts. As Brandon Woodriff, including postseason,
(16:53):
got twenty nine million for two years from the Chicago Cubs,
Brandon Woodriff might be able to do the same thing.
Excuse me, and then the show to Imanaga, thirty two
years old. The Cubs turned down his three year option,
he turned down a player option in return, and he
goes out in the open market after getting the qualifying
offer from the Cubs. So what will he do. He's
(17:16):
an interesting guy because he wasn't as good in his
second year as he was in his first. But I
would still expect him to get a multi year. So
with Woodruff and Imanaga, because they are starting pitchers, because
the demand for starting pitchers is so intense, I would
expect that they're going to get significant multi year interest.
They are among the better free agents out there, beyond
(17:39):
the top tier, which is fromer Valdez, Dylan Cees, Tatsua
Ami and Ranger Suarez. Those are the top four. So
we'll see how this goes. We'll see if anyone takes
the qualifying offer tomorrow, or we'll see if that head
of Baseball Operations who told me no one's taken it.
No one wants to be a free agent next offseason.
We'll see if he's proved correct. Could possibly be correct,
(18:02):
but I do expect maybe one or two of these
players to accept the qualifyal offer again. We will see.
All right. That is it for the inside dish grilling
tent billing Ken. We're not going to go ten grilling
Ken is next. Stay with us. Your questions coming up?
Speaker 3 (18:18):
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Speaker 1 (19:05):
Time out for Grill and Ken. The part of the
show where I answer your questions. Let's get right to
them and get to as many as we can. First,
one question comes from Tyler Max Smith, who asks, who
if the Braves failed to sign hot showing Kim, what
are some other options at shortstop? Good question, Tyler, and
the answer is there aren't many, and they might have
(19:26):
to be creative and make a trade because free agent wise,
there really aren't any shortstops out there. Bobashett, yes, but
teams for the most part do not consider him a shortstop.
And I don't believe that the Atlanta Braves are going
to pay Bobashett what he is going to command in
the open market. So they could do a couple of things.
They could bring back Nick Allen. They can maybe make
(19:48):
a trade, figure out something else. But I don't necessarily
see a great alternative besides Kim, which of course puts
Kim in a great position with the Atlanta Braves and
in general in the open market, because the supply of
shortstops is so short. All right, Next question, this one
comes from doctor Utu, who says, what are the chances
(20:11):
Marte gets traded? I assume he's talking about Katel Marte
and not Starling Marte, because Katel Marte is a name
that is out there and you might say, whoa why
would the Diamondbacks want to trade katel Marte. He's one
of the best second basemen in the game, if not
the best. He is under a contract that extends for
a while but pays him at a relatively reasonable rate.
(20:34):
What are they thinking? What they're thinking is that they
have a lot of holes. If you recall, Corbin Burns
underwent Tommy John surgery last year, so did a j
Puck and relief, so did Justin Martinez. I will, said
Nick Martinez. So that's three important pictures that they're down
just by injury alone. And of course Merrill Kelly and
Zach Allen, two of their starters, are also in free
(20:57):
agency and not expected to resign with Arizona. So in
that case, they have a lot of needs. They also
have some needs in the outfield, and that is why
they see Marte potentially if they get the right offer,
filling some of those needs and allowing them to do
some other things. So what are the chances he gets traded?
(21:17):
My guess would be fifty to fifty. I'm sure the
Diamondbacks would want a lot for ktel Marte, and it
will be interesting to see whether some team is willing
to meet their demands for him or their desires. I
don't want to say demands because teams hate that word
their desires for katl Marte. So we'll see how that goes.
But I would not be surprised to see him moved
(21:37):
one bit. Next question, this one comes from Video Game
Nation twenty six, that could be any child in America. Ken,
who do you think is a better option for the
Red Sox for a number two started Joe Ryan or
signing someone like from Er Valdez. First off, we're not
even sure Joe Ryan is going to be traded, and
it just seems to me, after making the crochet dear
(22:00):
last year and trading four good prospects, really good prospects,
some of whom have already surfaced in the majors, that
the Red Sox preference would be to sign a free agent,
whether it's Valdez, whether it's Cease, whether it's in my
range of Suarez, whoever that might be. It just would
seem that that would be the way to go. Now,
if you can make a deal that you like for
(22:21):
Joe Ryan for two years you do have a strong
form system or some other starter in that category. Sure,
maybe that's the better alternative if the prices for the
starters get I don't know, into a level where the
Red Sox are not comfortable, but my goodness, after trading
Raphael Devers and purging the three hundred and thirty million
remaining on his deal, the Red Sox should be comfortable
(22:43):
signing a big free agent. All right, next question, Let's
see what this one brings us from Jim. Jim hirta
who's a relief picture that the Dodgers can be eyeing
on the trade market. From what you hear the trade market,
I've been focusing mostly on free agents with regard to
trades and relief pitching. You know what, Jim, I'm not
(23:05):
going to answer that because I'm not sure of the answer,
and I hate to answer questions what I don't know.
Sometimes it's better just to say I don't know. We
do know that they've been linked to some free agents,
Devin Williams being one. I would think they're an outside
contender for Edwin Diaz, but really only if his market
falls apart, and maybe some of these other relievers who
(23:25):
were out there as well, Ryan Hillsley would be another possibility.
So I see them being more active in free agency.
But there is a possibility of a trade too. We
mentioned earlier in the show Matt stromp a guy that
the Phillies are at least listening on. That would be
one possibility. And I'm sure there are others. Relievers come
and go, and there are also quite a few others
(23:46):
who will be coming onto the free agent market this
week when the non tender deadline hits. That's Thursday, So
the Dodgers will play all their options out and just
see what it brings them. All Right, we have Banana,
the bad Guy, Williams forty eight to sixty. I love
these names. Who is the surprise team that you see
(24:06):
for Kyle Tucker? Great question, and I'll give you one,
and it came up. Will Salmon of The Athletic wrote
about it, as did Patrick Mooney. They wrote a combined
story about Kyle Tucker and they listed this surprise team
the Baltimore Orioles. Now, I do not expect the Oriols
to sign Kyle Tucker, let me say that right off
(24:27):
the top. But while their bigger needs are starting pitching
a top of the rotation starter number three at least,
and a bullpen that they need to address and have
started to address with the signing of Andrew Kittridge. Tucker
would fit as he would fit for any team, and
not only that. Michae Elias when he was with the
(24:47):
Houston Ashtros, and of course he's now the president of
baseball operations with the Oriols. Michae Elias drafted Kyle Tucker,
and people in baseball are often attached to people that
they draft. They kind of never to lose that affection
and feel for them, and for that reason, I can
at least see their interest. I can also see them
spending more money than they did even last off season.
(25:10):
So I'm not saying the Oils are going to be
in there deep for Kyle Tucker. I don't know that
they will. They have these other priorities, but could they
be a team that surfaces. Yeah. Remember last off season
they offered KERB Corbyn Burns one hundred and eighty million
for four years. That was a serious offer. Now Kyle
Tucker is going to be twice that most likely. I
(25:31):
don't know if they want to go there, but it's
something that I think we will see them linked to
in the coming weeks. All right, well, thank everyone for watching,
for listening. Foul Territories coming up. Jim Bowden, Lance Lynn
and Marcus Thames join Alana, AJ and Krats. That's a
lot of Rizzo. AJ presents the and Aerkrats. Fair Territory
(25:52):
returns Thursday, our usual twelve thirty EASTERNS time slot. Alana
Rizzo is back with us. We'll talk to you then.
Have a great week. Everyone has been the best dispass
Welcome everyone to the Monday edition of Fair Territory. I'm
Ken rose Thal, hear you here with you for the
next I don't know twenty five minutes or so. We
do have some stuff to talk about today, some more
stuff than usual actually at this time of year, because
we have a major free agent signing last night, news
coming out Josh Naylor five years with the Seattle Mariners.
(00:23):
And you might say five years, well, Josh Naylor is
not even twenty nine yet, doesn't turn twenty nine until June.
We do not have the money yet. The expectation is
that it will be somewhere in the ninety million to
one hundred million dollar range. I would not be surprised
if it was one hundred, but again we don't know
the exact figures yet. And for the Mariners, this is
a guy that they targeted, that they wanted to have,
(00:46):
that they traded for in July and decided, you know what,
this guy is really important to us, and he is.
You saw what he did for the Mariners toward the
end of the regular season, and of course you saw
what he did in the postseason, batting three with a
nine to sixty six ops in October. In fifty one
played appearances. Beyond all that, Joshnayler is a guy who
(01:09):
has a lot of savvy for the game. We saw
that in the way he stole bases this season, and
he also brings a certain edge, an edge that you
don't see in a lot of players today. And it's
not that guys don't want to succeed, but he has
a fire about him in a way about him. Teammates
love him, and he just seems to elevate the teams
(01:30):
that he is on. It's a guy who is just
a really good player and worthy of the five year
deal considering his age. That's the key thing here now.
Obviously the Mets are waiting to sign or trying to
sign Pete Alonzo, and five years is going to be
the minimum for him. I would expect this kind of
sets the bar, at least in the term. I don't
(01:51):
know that the money will be anywhere the same because
Alonso is the more accomplished player, but the Mets people
or Mets writers noted last night, just takes an option
off the board. If the Mets do not resign Alonso.
We'll see about all that. We'll see how that all
plays out. Also with regard to the Mariners, this is
only step one. They still have a need either for
(02:13):
a second baseman or a third baseman, and the likely
next target is Jorge Polanco. This is a guy who,
of course, like Naylor, was extremely valuable for them, especially
in the postseason. A guy who was coming off knee
surgery at this time last year, but got healthier as
the year went on, and he is someone that they
will probably resign if they do to play second base,
(02:37):
but also to DH they want to keep him healthy.
That would be the key. With Jorge Polanco. They have
Cole Young at second base as well. Didn't really hit
much in his debut, but he is a guy they
are extremely high on. He was their number one prospect
just a year ago, and their infield is interesting also
for another reason. Their top prospect now, Colt Emerson, is coming.
(03:00):
He is widely seen as a shortstop but can also
play third base. I don't know that he'll be ready
for opening Day. The Mariners don't know that, but at
third base last year they played Ben Williamson, a lot
great defender, didn't hit. Traded for Ajohanno Suarez. So if
they get Polanco or even sign a third baseman, whether
it's Suarez or or Coma. They can do some things
(03:23):
then and wait for Emerson fill him in JP Crawford
or free agent after this season, so maybe that ultimately
will be Emerson's spot. The Mariners are not only a
team that was quite accomplished at the major league level
this year, but also a team with one of the
best farm systems in the game. So Naylor for five years,
the first signing, the first big signing of the offseason,
(03:45):
you see right there. Aaron Gleeman of the Athletic They
ranked Josh Naylor number fourteen of all the free agents
on the Athletics Big Board, and Aaron said, I just
had a very hard time seeing him anywhere, but re
signed the Mariners. Most everyone agreed with that this was
hardly a surprise last night. Maybe the timing was it
(04:05):
was pretty early for free agency, which only November sixteenth
last night, November seventeenth today. So good for the Mariners
getting this done. Step one for them in this free agency.
Also something to look at here a team that we've
talked about a little bit as a team that's going
to be quite interesting this offseason. And Matt Gelbo of
(04:27):
the Athletic wrote a fascinating notes column on this team
just yesterday, and that team is the Philadelphia Phillies. Why
are they so interesting? A couple of reasons. One, they
want to resign their free agents, Kyle Schwarber and j
t Romuto, and yet they can't do it right away.
Both these players are testing the market. Schwarber is a
(04:49):
guy who is coming off a monster season, is in
some demand. Now you might say, well, who is going
to sign him besides the Phillies. I'm not sure exactly
which team might be. You can look at the Mets
if they lose Alonso, the Red Sox perhaps, or the
left handed the Cubs, the Rangers, the Reds. All of
these teams would seemingly have an interest. But my goodness,
(05:11):
fifty six home runs last year one hundred and thirty
two RBIs one sorry nine to twenty eight ops second
in the NL MVP.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
I trust that there are teams besides the Philadelphia Phillies
that want to sign Kyle Schwarber, and that is a
reason why the Phillies can't get this done necessarily right away.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
It's gonna want to see what's out there, so it's
holding up the Phillies right now, and that's just the
way it's going to have to be. At some point.
I guess there is a point where they'll need an answer,
but we're not nearly there yet. Also with the Phillies,
they are looking to trade a left handed reliever, perhaps
maybe Matt Strom. And one other interesting thing in Matt's
(05:54):
notes column, they're talking about trading off the major league roster. Now.
Dave Dobrowski, as president of operations, not known for trading
anything but prospects and has always been willing to trade prospects.
But they're at a point now where they've got some
I wouldn't call it duplication at the major league level,
but some players that they can move, and this way,
(06:17):
by trading off the major league roster, they can keep
some of their better prospects. They're a little thin right now,
and they know that. After the deadline they made some
big moves, So that is something to watch with the
Phillies as well. Strom Castianos's future is in big trouble there.
They could trade Bom, they could trade someone else. They're
going to be an interesting team. And finally, before we
(06:39):
sign off on this first segment, I want to talk
about Jose Ramirez. Here's a guy that we often refer to,
myself included, as underrated. I don't know that underrated is
the right way to look at Jose Ramirez anymore. He's
not underrated, but is he underappreciated? I would suggest that
he definitely is underappreciated. Here's a guy who finished third
(07:01):
in the MVP voting. That was his sixth top five
finish in his career. You see the little ex post
from the Guardians right there. Thirty homers, thirty four doubles,
forty four steals, eight sixty three ops. This is just
a really good player. And some people have said, well,
it's he a Hall of Famer, and the Guardians referred
(07:22):
to him as cooper'stown bound. And I would suggest, yes,
that he is definitely on a Hall of Fame track.
Jason Stark of the Athletic who covers the Hall of
Fame better than anyone outside of maybe j. Jaffier Fangs.
They're different, but they both cover the Hall of Fame exhaustively.
Jason had him across the fifty yard line in his
(07:43):
July analysis of Hall of Fame candidates. Across the fifty
yard line is of course heading toward the end zone,
and he is not yet at three hundred homers and
three hundred steels, though he should get there this next season.
And keep this in mind, no third baseman has reached
both those totals three hundred home runs in three hundred
(08:03):
steals for his career. That way, if he gets there,
and he should obviously, he's in the two eighties with both,
that would make him a unique candidate. Also staying with
his team the entire career, all of these things kind
of recommend Jose Ramirez as a Hall of Fame player.
So underrated, No, you can't call him underrated when he
(08:23):
keeps finishing in the top five for MVP, but underappreciated certainly.
And if he wasn't in the same league as I
don't know, Iman Judge and cal raally, then maybe at
some point Jose Ramirez would be a stronger candidate for MVP.
But this guy almost single handedly offensively lifted the Guardians
to their shocking Al Central title nineteen and four down
(08:47):
the stretch. He is a really special player, and he
was acknowledged yet again in the MVP vote. All Right,
a lot more to come. We're going to talk about
the qualifying offer. The deadline is tomorrow, and it's something
that is quite interesting this season, in particular, stay with
us inside Dish coming up next AJ.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
We're going to do things a little bit differently here.
I am wearing the Perfect Gene and I remember seeing
ads for the Perfect Gene, like most comfortable fit ever,
perfect fit on your body, and I was like, I'm
not buying it. Now I'm buying it and we're showing
it off on FT.
Speaker 4 (09:26):
Please get off my desk. First of all, Scott. Second
of all, I was with you. I was skeptical about
Perfect Gene and then I got a pair and the
fitting was perfect and my body's not hard to fix
is I got a big old rear and big old
legs from Laars of Squatting and they fit perfectly. They're stretchy,
they're comfortable, they're fashionable. They're everything I look for in
a gene. And now I have an extra pair and
I'm gonna wear them all the time.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
Foul fifteen is the code at the Perfect Gene dot nyc.
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tell them Foul Territory sent you.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
Well well, well, well, all right, time now for the
inside Dish. Now that we've seen our two Blue Genes
models Aj Pasinski and Scott Brun, the inside Dish is
something where we talk about maybe a story I've written,
maybe a trend in the game, maybe something else going
on in the game this week, kind of a combination
(10:29):
of all three. We've got the qualifying off for deadline tomorrow.
The qualifying off for this year worth twenty two point
zero two five million, almost over, I should say over
twenty two million for one year. Thirteen players received it,
and when I talked with an executive last week at
the GM meetings, he said, every one of them is
going to reject it. No one wants to be a
(10:51):
free agent with the lockout potentially looming next off season.
And I thought about that, and I asked some other
people about that, and even with the lockout looming, and
I understand what the GM was saying he's saying, hey,
no one wants a one year deal then to become
a free agent again with a lockout scenario. If you
go back to twenty twenty one, when the lockout took
(11:14):
effect on December first, what happened right before that? Do
you guys remember, I remember was a fleet free agent flurry.
Semen and Segy's I'm sorry, Semeon and Seeger Korey Seger
and Marcus Semeon signed huge deals with the Rangers. Max
Schurzer signed his big deal with the Mets. You also saw,
obviously al Garcia sign, You saw Edwardo Rodriguez sign. There
(11:37):
was a flurry right before December first hit, and it
wasn't as if teams shunned free agents. So I don't
expect teams to shun free agents either this offseason or
next offseason, because even if we lose time in twenty
twenty seven, and I don't know that, I expect that
to happen necessarily. Even if we do, even if we
miss games, eventually the sport's going to return. Teams to
(12:00):
need players, and players are going to need jobs. So
with that, there are a few players who were offer
qualifying offers who might indeed consider it taking them. And
I wrote about this last week with Will Simon and
Katie Wu and I focused. We focused on four players,
Labor Torres, Trent Grisham, Brandon Woodruff, and showed to Imanaga
(12:24):
and I'll go through them one by one because they're
all interesting in their own ways. Now, Torres is a guy,
if you remember last year, monster first half a twelve
ops before the All Star Game, named to the All
Star Team, one of a number of Tigers who made
the All Star Team, and then he fell off in
the second half. He struggled. He had a six fifty
(12:46):
nine ops after the All Star Game, and we learned
later that he was dealing with a sports tourney. I
had sports tornea surgery after the season, so teams might
be a little bit wary because of that. But he's
expected to be ready by spring training. So he's a
guy who signed a one year, fifteen million dollar deal
with the Tigers last off season. This offseason, well, he
(13:10):
has coming off a better year. He turns twenty nine
next month. This is the same age that Josh Naylor
will be next season, and he just got a five
year deal and that's a relatively young free agent as
we know, So will Glabor Torres take this deal? Well,
he was happy in Detroit, comfortable there, and twenty two
million is a big number in a multi year deal.
(13:32):
He is unlikely to get twenty two million, So maybe
he takes one year and says, you know what, I'll
do this again, go out next season, next off season
without a qualifying offer, saddling me, without the potential for
a team to lose draft picks by signing me, and
maybe be that much more attractive. It's an interesting choice.
(13:53):
He'd still be relatively young going into next off season,
turning thirty in twenty twenty seven, so I'll be interested
to see what he does. My guess is he rejects,
but I would not be surprised to see him take
it either. Now. Trent Grisham is another interesting case, maybe
even more interesting than Torres. Here's a guy that a
(14:15):
year ago the Yankees weren't even certain they were going
to tender him, offer him a contract, ends up taking
a pay cut from five and a half million to
five million, and then what happened We all saw it.
Thirty four homers, career high and a career high eleven
eight eleven ops A thirty four home run total was
(14:35):
double his previous career high. So he too is a
younger free agent plays next season at twenty nine. The
question with him is is he a center fielder. His
defensive metrics went down last year significantly. He wasn't the
center fielder he was earlier in his career, but a
number of his offensive metrics were really intriguing. Chase rate
(14:58):
fourth lowest in the majors, behind only Sodo Claibor Torres
and Kyle Tucker. Walk grate was the ninth highest. He
did a lot of good things at the plate. He's
kind of remade himself, changed his mental approach, changed things
in the box. He's done a lot of good things offensively.
So in a market short on center fielders, he really
is number three behind Tucker and Cody Bellinger. Will he
(15:22):
reject I kind of think he's going to reject the offer,
And if he does, then the Yankees have some more
interesting choices in the outfield. They have said they would
be comfortable with both Grisham and Bellinger if they could
resign Bellinger, and if that happens, they've got some interesting
choices with Spencer Jones, whether to trade him or not,
But we'll see what Trent Grisham decides. He is going
(15:45):
to be an interesting guy tomorrow to watch. Finally, two
starting pitchers, Brandon Woodriff and showeda in Monaga. Now they
are much different as far as their circumstances, but they're
both starters, and starting pitchers generally in free agency generate
the most fervent markets, the most interest because of course
they are in such short supply quality starting pitchers. That
(16:09):
is now, Brandon Woodriff is a really interesting case. You
would think this guy's definitely going to take it. He
turned thirty three in February, missed all of twenty four
coming off shoulder surgery, made only twelve starts for Milwaukee
last season, and then was shut down in September with
a separate issue. So here's a guy twelve starts in
(16:31):
two years and he's getting off for twenty two million.
Might want to take it, but I don't know that
that's the case. He had a great performance in those
twelve starts. He had a three point two strikeout walk
race that was the best of his career, albeit in
a limited sample. So Mac boyd, if you remember last year,
the same number of starts. As Brandon Woodriff, including postseason,
(16:53):
got twenty nine million for two years from the Chicago Cubs,
Brandon Woodriff might be able to do the same thing.
Excuse me, and then the show to Imanaga, thirty two
years old. The Cubs turned down his three year option,
he turned down a player option in return, and he
goes out in the open market after getting the qualifying
offer from the Cubs. So what will he do. He's
(17:16):
an interesting guy because he wasn't as good in his
second year as he was in his first. But I
would still expect him to get a multi year. So
with Woodruff and Imanaga, because they are starting pitchers, because
the demand for starting pitchers is so intense, I would
expect that they're going to get significant multi year interest.
They are among the better free agents out there, beyond
(17:39):
the top tier, which is fromer Valdez, Dylan Cees, Tatsua
Ami and Ranger Suarez. Those are the top four. So
we'll see how this goes. We'll see if anyone takes
the qualifying offer tomorrow, or we'll see if that head
of Baseball Operations who told me no one's taken it.
No one wants to be a free agent next offseason.
We'll see if he's proved correct. Could possibly be correct,
(18:02):
but I do expect maybe one or two of these
players to accept the qualifyal offer again. We will see.
All right. That is it for the inside dish grilling
tent billing Ken. We're not going to go ten grilling
Ken is next. Stay with us. Your questions coming up?
Speaker 3 (18:18):
Bet MGM account holders today, how about an any sport
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your wager with that token. Hits tokens can be used
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(18:42):
Territory Shop dot com is loaded with foul territory gear
and lots of fair territory gear. If you want to
give some love to Ken and Alana, go check out
a hat, a T shirt and a lot more coffee
mug in the morning. Foul Territoryshop dot com is the spot.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
Time out for Grill and Ken. The part of the
show where I answer your questions. Let's get right to
them and get to as many as we can. First,
one question comes from Tyler Max Smith, who asks, who
if the Braves failed to sign hot showing Kim, what
are some other options at shortstop? Good question, Tyler, and
the answer is there aren't many, and they might have
(19:26):
to be creative and make a trade because free agent wise,
there really aren't any shortstops out there. Bobashett, yes, but
teams for the most part do not consider him a shortstop.
And I don't believe that the Atlanta Braves are going
to pay Bobashett what he is going to command in
the open market. So they could do a couple of things.
They could bring back Nick Allen. They can maybe make
(19:48):
a trade, figure out something else. But I don't necessarily
see a great alternative besides Kim, which of course puts
Kim in a great position with the Atlanta Braves and
in general in the open market, because the supply of
shortstops is so short. All right, Next question, this one
comes from doctor Utu, who says, what are the chances
(20:11):
Marte gets traded? I assume he's talking about Katel Marte
and not Starling Marte, because Katel Marte is a name
that is out there and you might say, whoa why
would the Diamondbacks want to trade katel Marte. He's one
of the best second basemen in the game, if not
the best. He is under a contract that extends for
a while but pays him at a relatively reasonable rate.
(20:34):
What are they thinking? What they're thinking is that they
have a lot of holes. If you recall, Corbin Burns
underwent Tommy John surgery last year, so did a j
Puck and relief, so did Justin Martinez. I will, said
Nick Martinez. So that's three important pictures that they're down
just by injury alone. And of course Merrill Kelly and
Zach Allen, two of their starters, are also in free
(20:57):
agency and not expected to resign with Arizona. So in
that case, they have a lot of needs. They also
have some needs in the outfield, and that is why
they see Marte potentially if they get the right offer,
filling some of those needs and allowing them to do
some other things. So what are the chances he gets traded?
(21:17):
My guess would be fifty to fifty. I'm sure the
Diamondbacks would want a lot for ktel Marte, and it
will be interesting to see whether some team is willing
to meet their demands for him or their desires. I
don't want to say demands because teams hate that word
their desires for katl Marte. So we'll see how that goes.
But I would not be surprised to see him moved
(21:37):
one bit. Next question, this one comes from Video Game
Nation twenty six, that could be any child in America. Ken,
who do you think is a better option for the
Red Sox for a number two started Joe Ryan or
signing someone like from Er Valdez. First off, we're not
even sure Joe Ryan is going to be traded, and
it just seems to me, after making the crochet dear
(22:00):
last year and trading four good prospects, really good prospects,
some of whom have already surfaced in the majors, that
the Red Sox preference would be to sign a free agent,
whether it's Valdez, whether it's Cease, whether it's in my
range of Suarez, whoever that might be. It just would
seem that that would be the way to go. Now,
if you can make a deal that you like for
(22:21):
Joe Ryan for two years you do have a strong
form system or some other starter in that category. Sure,
maybe that's the better alternative if the prices for the
starters get I don't know, into a level where the
Red Sox are not comfortable, but my goodness, after trading
Raphael Devers and purging the three hundred and thirty million
remaining on his deal, the Red Sox should be comfortable
(22:43):
signing a big free agent. All right, next question, Let's
see what this one brings us from Jim. Jim hirta
who's a relief picture that the Dodgers can be eyeing
on the trade market. From what you hear the trade market,
I've been focusing mostly on free agents with regard to
trades and relief pitching. You know what, Jim, I'm not
(23:05):
going to answer that because I'm not sure of the answer,
and I hate to answer questions what I don't know.
Sometimes it's better just to say I don't know. We
do know that they've been linked to some free agents,
Devin Williams being one. I would think they're an outside
contender for Edwin Diaz, but really only if his market
falls apart, and maybe some of these other relievers who
(23:25):
were out there as well, Ryan Hillsley would be another possibility.
So I see them being more active in free agency.
But there is a possibility of a trade too. We
mentioned earlier in the show Matt stromp a guy that
the Phillies are at least listening on. That would be
one possibility. And I'm sure there are others. Relievers come
and go, and there are also quite a few others
(23:46):
who will be coming onto the free agent market this
week when the non tender deadline hits. That's Thursday, So
the Dodgers will play all their options out and just
see what it brings them. All Right, we have Banana,
the bad Guy, Williams forty eight to sixty. I love
these names. Who is the surprise team that you see
(24:06):
for Kyle Tucker? Great question, and I'll give you one,
and it came up. Will Salmon of The Athletic wrote
about it, as did Patrick Mooney. They wrote a combined
story about Kyle Tucker and they listed this surprise team
the Baltimore Orioles. Now, I do not expect the Oriols
to sign Kyle Tucker, let me say that right off
(24:27):
the top. But while their bigger needs are starting pitching
a top of the rotation starter number three at least,
and a bullpen that they need to address and have
started to address with the signing of Andrew Kittridge. Tucker
would fit as he would fit for any team, and
not only that. Michae Elias when he was with the
(24:47):
Houston Ashtros, and of course he's now the president of
baseball operations with the Oriols. Michae Elias drafted Kyle Tucker,
and people in baseball are often attached to people that
they draft. They kind of never to lose that affection
and feel for them, and for that reason, I can
at least see their interest. I can also see them
spending more money than they did even last off season.
(25:10):
So I'm not saying the Oils are going to be
in there deep for Kyle Tucker. I don't know that
they will. They have these other priorities, but could they
be a team that surfaces. Yeah. Remember last off season
they offered KERB Corbyn Burns one hundred and eighty million
for four years. That was a serious offer. Now Kyle
Tucker is going to be twice that most likely. I
(25:31):
don't know if they want to go there, but it's
something that I think we will see them linked to
in the coming weeks. All right, well, thank everyone for watching,
for listening. Foul Territories coming up. Jim Bowden, Lance Lynn
and Marcus Thames join Alana, AJ and Krats. That's a
lot of Rizzo. AJ presents the and Aerkrats. Fair Territory
(25:52):
returns Thursday, our usual twelve thirty EASTERNS time slot. Alana
Rizzo is back with us. We'll talk to you then.
Have a great week. Everyone has been the best dispass
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