December 4, 2025 • 28 mins
Ken Rosenthal and Scott Braun react to yesterday’s reporting that free agent slugger Kyle Tucker visited the Blue Jays facility in Dunedin. (Top of show)
(4:06) Ken unpacks a note from his latest column that the Dodgers could trade Teoscar Hernández.
(9:08) The hosts preview the Contemporary Baseball Era Hall of Fame vote announced Sunday.
(14:21) Ken and Scott crown their Dudes and Dorks of the Week.
(21:28) Ken takes your live Grillin’ Ken questions, including if the Twins could package Buxton with Ryan, Fernando-mania, Blue Jays payroll, Edwin Diaz market & Tatsuya Imai frontrunners.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome everyone to the Thursday edition of Fair Territory. I'm
Ken Rosenthal here with as you can see, the master
of the Foul Territory universe, Scott Brown. We are not
with Alana Rizzo today for reasons that I will explain
later in the show. Good reasons, Scott. We've got a
ton to talk about as the Winter Meetings approach.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Yes, we do, and I'm excited to see you briefly
at the Winter Meetings, running around covering the sport like
you do. But let's get into what's surfacing before that,
And Ken, I think we need to start with the
biggest name in terms of who should command the most
money this offseason. That's Kyle Tucker. And that's a little
visit to a fancy facility in duned and Florida. What
else do you know? And do you think that the
(00:43):
Blue Jays are serious candidates to be able to sign him?
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Well, this was a stunning report by Robert Murray last
night about this visit by Tucker to the Jays training complex,
which is one of the best in Dned. It's a
selling point for the Blue Jays. Now, what's interesting about
this is that prior to last night, the Jay's interest
in Tucker was kind of rumored, but it was never
(01:07):
really confirmed or even seemed to be something that the
club was prioritizing. We know that they signed the two
starting pitchers, Dan Cease and Cody Ponce. We didn't know
exactly what they were doing on the position side, but
they had interest, perhaps in Tucker and certainly in resigning
Boba Schett. So this is a clear indication of their interest.
(01:29):
Whether it indicates that they're going to sign Tucker, that
remains to be seen. And let's not get carried away
with that idea. You remember Shoeo Tani a couple of
years ago visiting the Jays training complex and Dunedin didn't sign.
This is kind of a normal thing for players to do.
And Kyle Tucker does live in Tampa, which is a
short drive from duned and so really for him, hop
(01:51):
skip and a jump, no big deal to go there.
But at the same time, I don't want to underplay this.
The Jays are acting like behemoths in this market, and
this meeting with Tucker that took place last night or yesterday,
whenever exactly it was, that's an indication that they are
thinking big. It also might be a message to Bobaschett,
(02:11):
hey come down a little bit in your price. They
are all kinds of possibilities here, but the fact of
the matter is he was into Needin at their complex
and that is news.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
That is definitely news, and I will give credit. We
got to see this actually surface. If they signed Tucker
or if they signed back Bobachhett, payroll will.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Be high for the Blue Jays.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
We certainly knock on this network teams when they cry
poor and don't spend. The Blue Jays just had a
banger postseason. I know they didn't win the World Series Ken,
but they clearly made a lot of money and it
seems like they're reinvesting back into the team. You mentioned
in the story how they were at about two forty
ish mill for their opening day payroll. It seems like
whether they get Tucker Bishett or someone else, they're going
(02:53):
to be tracking well ahead of that number next year.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
Yes, they're going to open with a club record payroll
and it's right now. If they signed Tucker, likely will
be over three hundred million opening day, which is not
where the Jays have been. They've been a high payroll
team in the past at various points early nineties when
they were rolling. They had a big payroll back then,
at least relative to the other clubs. But this is
(03:18):
clearly an indication of their aggression and assertiveness in this
off season. And let's have some fun here, Scott and
look at a projected lineup with Kyle Tucker in it,
because it's kind of an awesome thing to just consider.
Here it is. You can see it right there, Springer
Tucker batting second right in front of Guerrero, Addison Barger
(03:38):
behind them, than Kirk Santandre varshow Clement and him Menez.
This is without Bobashed. I don't expect them to sign
Tucker and Bobashed, but my goodness, it is a fascinating look.
And that is a powerhouse lineup, no doubt about it.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Yeah, that looks really good. And here's a team that's
going to be in a competitive division. Yankees always good.
Red Sox should be as good, if not better, this
coming season.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
Oriels better.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
So good to see the Blue Jays getting involved on
some of the big boys.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
I like it.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Let's move to the team they lost to, and that's
the Dodgers, and I thought this stood out a ton
to me in your notes column this morning to Oscar
Hernandez is beloved in LA and we know he has
defensive deficiencies. Do you really think the Dodgers might dangle
him in trade talks?
Speaker 1 (04:24):
Well, what I reported along with Patrick Mooney today is
that his name has come up in trade conversation. Doesn't
sound like it's terribly likely, but it's an intriguing thought
for a couple of reasons. Yes, as you just mentioned Scott,
their defense was lacking last year, Tao was one of
the worst defensive right fielders in the game. But of
(04:45):
course what else is he? He has been one of
their best hitters in the postseason the last two years,
eight home runs combined for back to back World Series
champions in the postseason, and one of the more consistent
hitters during the season as well. If you trade him
at a point when you already need an outfielder, Confordo
is not coming back, then you're down to outfielders and
(05:08):
you'd have to shuffle some things around. Maybe play Payes
in right where he could be elite Andy Payes, find
a center fielder and just figure it out from there.
I'm not certainly going to do it. In fact, I
would say the odds are against them doing it. But
it's interesting to hear that his name has come up
because his contract it's complex, but it's relatively affordable. And
(05:31):
let's say the Dodgers could get an outfielder back and
then sign another one, then you have something going. And
I don't know that this means in any way that
they are going to be in the Kyle Tucker sweepstakes.
Just seems to me his price is going to exceed
their comfort level for him. But what if Byron Buxton
becomes available, What if some other players that we aren't
(05:53):
even focusing on are in the mixed trade wise, then
perhaps this becomes a viable thing. I don't necessarily expect
it to happen, but his name has come up in conversations,
and that to me was certainly interesting to hear.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Yeah, Ken, My observation is that the Dodgers are in
a place where they have someone who is going to
DH every day for them and show Heyo Tani. I
think Tao, if not a full time, is someone that
should at least be getting some serious DH consideration during
a season. Maybe you even point to someone like Jordan
Alvarez when he's healthy He'll still play the outfield here
and there, but you want him dhing most of the time.
(06:28):
You want him dhing in the playoffs where you need
your defense to be tight. The Dodgers are never going
to be in that spot, and they're still on the
hook for him for years. Do you think that they
might be able to find a team that has a
better space for him, a team that's looking for pop.
Like you mentioned, it's not easy to find the profile
of Tao on the market right now. So there are
teams out there that are like, hey, we could use
this and we could put him in the outfield occasionally
(06:51):
during the season. It's not going to kill us, but
we also have the DH spot open for him.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
I think that's a great call, Scott. And one team
that's stands out immediately as just you were talking, there
is a team that's pretty predominantly left handed, and it's Boston.
Boston has, of course the desire to resign Alex Redman,
a great right handed hitter, but if they don't, then
they're going to do some other things, and frankly, they're
looking for two bats. So that's just one team. I
(07:19):
do believe you're right that another team can fit him
in better because of the DH spot being totally closed
off in LA. So I don't know again where this
is going, but there are some interesting dynamics in play here.
And obviously if you lose Tail, then you've got to
find offense to replace him too, because he's been such
(07:39):
a meaningful part of their offense and he's also been
a meaningful part of their clubhouse. But again the question becomes, Okay,
if you trade him, then what are you doing to
replace him? And I'm sure if the Dodgers even come
close to considering this, they'll have some pretty intriguing thoughts
in mind.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
That's funny you mentioned the Red Sox like they were
in on him. I don't remember. I think they actually
publicly said that they were in on him, that they
missed out on him. Tayo was on our show soon
after he signed. I think he mentioned that as well.
So the fit makes even more sense when you consider
that the team actually does like the player in the past.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Yeah, they have, and again a lot has to happen
to get from point A to point B here, But
teams consider all kinds of things in the offseason, things
that we don't even report or even hear about. It's
a wide, wide variety. So this in that sense does
not necessarily surprise me that his name is coming up,
(08:35):
simply because, as you mentioned, they've got the DH set
for I don't know, eight more years. That's not opening
up tasker Hernandez. Even if you think he can play
outfield a little bit. Now, well, what about in the
final two years of that deal. I don't know how
that happens. I'm sorry, the final year of that deal
after this one. He's got two years left right now.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
M yeah, I know there's some crazy pervision and you
should read the article for everyone listening right now in
terms of if he gets hurt, then there's an option
you're at at all that you can get into that
in the article and the Athletic Ken's got it out
right Now. Let's move to the other column that you
put out this morning, and that regards the Hall of Fame.
There's a big decision coming up this weekend with the
Contemporary Committee that's going to try and vote in some players.
(09:20):
But you need, I believe, twelve out of sixteen votes
to go your way. But can you get into what
you wrote about and how the landscape of how people
are thinking about voting players in should change.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
Yes, Scott. So this idea that I had to write
the article stemmed from the fact that Mattingly is on
this contemporary era about and he is a guy who
had a short peak in his career, but some people
consider still Hall of Fame worthy, even though the writers
for fifteen years snubbed him in the Coopers Down balloting. Now,
(09:55):
there are a lot of layers to what I was
getting into here, but basically what I was saying is
that as the game evolves and as players' careers are shorter,
pictures don't pitches deep into games. That's another element here,
and position players and pictures both sometimes injuries force them
to retire prematurely. As this kind of thing keeps going
(10:17):
on and it has now, we need as writers to
consider these players with short high peaks in maybe a
bigger sense than we have in the past. Who am
I talking about? Chase Utley, who has done well in
his first two years on the ballot, David Wright, Dustin Pedroia,
both of whose careers ended prematurely due to physical problems.
(10:39):
And a guy like Felix Hernandez who just faded quickly
in part because the Mariners used him so heavily early
in his career. These guys all had relatively short peaks,
And what I say in the article is that generally speaking,
I prefer my Hall of famers to have longevity, to
have volume. Ten year dominance is of my prerequisite. But
(11:02):
maybe I need to rethink that, and maybe we just
need to rethink in general how we view these players now.
In the article I mentioned as well, Don Mattingly's statistics
career wise are very similar to Kirby Pucketts. Kirby Puckett
was another player whose career ended before it should have
due to the glaucoma that caused your blindness in his
(11:23):
right eye. But Puckett got in first ballot. Manningly never
got in on the writer's ballot, and this is his
fourth try on an eras committee. So it's going to
be really interesting to see how the voters look at
this on Sunday, and not just maddingly. Of course, Bonds
and Clemens are on this ballot. Sheffield's on this ballot,
Dale Murphy is on this boot. All kinds of players,
(11:45):
eight of them really good ones, all worthy of consideration,
are going to be looked at Sunday. You see the
list right there. Fernando Vealezuela. How could I forget him?
Jeff Kent? I voted for him when he was eligible.
Carlos Delgado, a guy who got overlooked at position where
there was a lot of thunder in the two thousands
when he was in his prime, but he put up
(12:06):
some huge numbers as well.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
To me, ken for the Veterans committee that votes, which
is a totally separate process from the BBWAA, this is
a stacked ballot. And even if you want to get
rid of the bonds Clemens debate and all that, it's
still a stacked ballot, like you mentioned, with Jeff Kent
getting a lot of love but not getting enough, and
I think Delgado's underrated. So here I'll bring it to
this from what you wrote about, would you vote for
(12:33):
those particular players? Now, I know you did vote for
Chase Utley last year, But then also I want to
spin it to Murphy and Mattingly, who you spent time
writing about.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
Scott. I haven't thought about this year's ballot in great
depth yet, and Write and Perdoi are certainly two guys
I'm going to look at more closely Felix too. Now,
Mattingly and Murphy, do I believe they should be in
the Hall of Fame? Do I believe the Hall of
Fame would be their presence? I do. I don't believe
that I voted for either during their eligibility, and I
(13:05):
don't recall the specific reasons. Perhaps the ballot was too crowded.
Perhaps I just didn't think their numbers were worthy, and
that is why, of course they did not make it.
But you consider an entire baseball life, and in Manningly's
case in particular, twenty years more than that as a
manager and coach, all the contributions to the game, he
should be in in my opinion. And Dale Murphy, it's
(13:28):
a tougher one for me because that peak again was
kind of short and he didn't have much that he
did after age thirty two or so. But would the
Hall of Fame be a worst place if Dale Murphy
was in it? No, it wouldn't. All right, we are
going to take a break down. We're going to be
back Scott with the Dudes and Dorks of the week
a little different flavor this week.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Right after this, hey Ft is going to be at
the Baseball Winter Meetings. Yes, we'll be live doing our
show one o'clock Eastern. We'll grab plenty of interviews before
and after the show, mix those into the show. We'll
put those up on YouTube. You can listen to them
wherever you get your podcasts. We're very excited to be
(14:09):
there for all three days in Orlando, Florida, AJ's favorite
city on the planet. So make sure you tune in
a little extra for Winter Meetings coverage.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
Next week.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
It's baseball the way it should be covered on the
FT network.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
Dude, dude, dude, all.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
Right, let's it due to the week, Ken, would you
like to go first? Or should I go first? And
I love the theme we're going with here.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
You know what, I'll go first. All of our dudes
this week look like ladies And if you don't know
the song, look it up. The dudes are dude debts
and I'm going to start with our own. Alana Rizzo.
Alana is not doing the show today for a very
good reason. She is being honored by the Italian American
Baseball Federation tonight at their gala in New York with
their Media Awards. So Alana Rizzo, you see you right there,
(15:00):
distinguished career, to say the least, she is one of
my do debts of the week and the other this
just came out yesterday Hazel May from Sportsnet. She received
the Jack Grainy Award from the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.
That is for significant contributions to baseball in Canada through
her life's work. Hazel, like Alana, very very deserving to
(15:22):
do debts for me, And what say you, Scott.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
I've got another one a due debt of the week,
and that is my teammate here at the FT Network,
your teammate even more so over at the Athletic. Katie Wu,
who has done a brilliant job covering the Cardinals on
the beat for the past five years, is still staying
at the Athletic. She's moving over to Los Angeles. She's
from California. She's going to cover the Dodgers along with
(15:46):
Fabian Ardaia, so there'll be two of them on coverage there.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
And I just wanted to point out.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
How brilliant of a job that Katie did for years.
I think that she brought just a different flavor of coverage.
She's been great on Cardinal territory. You'll see her in
some future Fi Network Action coming up, but just wanted
to give her a shout out Ken as people should
recognize her in the LA area and add her to
their follow list and look out for her articles.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
Absolutely, and Katie, like Fabian, went to Arizona State their
great sports journalism program. Both great young journalists and it's
a pleasure to work with them, to say the least,
in any medium. Yes, great dudes of the week. Yes,
love it all.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Right, let's get to the Dorks. Two good candidates this
time around. I'll try and go first on this one.
I'd like to Cueue up a tweet to help me out.
Tis the season, Ken, But when I say that, I
mean tis the season to say I'm not as rich
(16:50):
as you think I am with my major league ball club,
and you expect the common folk everyone else in the
world to believe you. So we heard about the profit
its situation for the Yankees. What a couple weeks ago.
Now let's bring in this report from Sean McAdam and
Tyler Milliken, who's part of the Jared Cravis podcast team,
pointed this out. But anyway, here's the quote. According to
(17:12):
industry sources familiar with the organization's thinking, the Red Sox
are okay going over the first CBT threshold set at
two hundred and forty four mil for twenty twenty six,
which would translate them to absorbing a modest financial loss,
But with anything beyond that, there's a reluctance to incur
bigger deficits. I wonder how that got out there. Who
(17:34):
knows the books and the finances, Who would be able
to speak on that and give information to someone. I
just have a hard time when this stuff comes out
ken believing that nobody, not even the Yankees or the
Red Sox, are making money in Major League Baseball? Why
own the team just for the love of the game.
Feel bad for me. I'm the only one that can
(17:55):
own this team, take the losses and still try to
put it into the team to make it success. Pathetic,
pathetic information that comes out this time of year. In
my mind, I don't think it has as much to
do with say, an illumining lockout.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
In a year.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
I just think we always get this every off season
and it helps to temper fan expectations.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
Oh, there are excuses every off season, and it's COVID
one year, it's the TV money drying up another year,
it's always something, and sometimes the excuses are more legitimate
than others. This one I question, especially in the first
off season after you have unloaded Raphael Devers Hello. That
move was intended to create great financial flexibility in the future,
(18:36):
and suddenly that flexibility isn't as significant as we thought
it was. Eh, we're not buying now. I want to
go to my dork of the week because it's a
familiar target to this program and it's one we haven't
hit in a while. The Athletics, the Oakland, Sacramento, Las
Vegas Athletics, And let's take a look at the artists
(18:57):
rendering of their new ballpark in Las Vegas, and I'll
show you why they are the dorks of the week,
because only the A's could pull this off. Now, I
don't know if we can zoom in on that person
wearing the jersey on the scoreboard, but that is not
a Brent Rooker jersey that he's wearing. It's not a
jersey of any player on the Athletics. It's a Jose
(19:20):
Altuve jersey, a jersey on one of their biggest rivals
in the division. So no Brett Rooker, no any other A.
But we've got Altuve showcased in this artist rendering. It's
a little thing compared to the injustices and criminal activity,
not criminal activities, but various things that the A's have
done in the past. But it's still dork of the
(19:43):
Week merit, and it is dork of the week Oakland
as whatever they are the as in the Las Vegas
a Sacramento A's Darks of the Week yet again.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
Yeah, easy one here, Ken, I mean, you're putting out renderings,
you're putting out a model, you're showing off the ballpark
cool and there's some really cool components. There is no faulting.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
There are parts of the ballpark that looks super cool.
Excited about that part. This isn't a knock on Vegas.
But when about a year ago John Fisher tells everyone
how excited he is for Aaron Judge to hit home
runs in his ballpark in Sacramento. And now that one
of the main photos here has Jose Al Tubay Jersey
on it, it's not like you have to really go
find it, right, It's not like they had fifty thousand
people in the seats and you find one al Tuo
(20:22):
Bay Jersey Like this is on the video screen on
both sides.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
Of this photo. It's just it's so ridiculous. It's so
John Fisher and company. A pretty easy fix to find
the picture of an athletics player and put that on
the board. Put a fan with a jersey from an
athletics player. Yes, they do exist, not that hard Scott Man. Hey,
thanks for helping out today, Alta. We hope you have
(20:47):
a great time tonight. We are going to be back
with grilling Ken right after this bet.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
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(21:15):
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Speaker 1 (21:33):
All right, time now for Grilling Ken, the part of
the show where I answer your questions. Let's get right
to them. First question comes from Mike G fifteen, who says,
could you see the Twins moving Ryan and Buxton in
the same deal? What would it take from a team
like the Mets or Cubs who could use a frontline
starter and outfielder replacement. Okay, the Twins right now are
(21:57):
a mystery. And I've said this I believe on our
show and also on FT there is not clarity yet
on how they are going to operate this off season.
And when I say there's not clarity, I don't mean
not clarity coming to reporters about their plans. I mean
clarity within their own organization. I don't know that they
(22:18):
know what they're going to do. They're working through it.
What I was told this week is that they'll have
clarity by the winter meetings. Okay, it's probably a good
idea to have clarity by the winter meetings. So the
question then becomes, and to the question that the person
is asking there, where are they going to go? Which
way are they going to go? I don't necessarily expect
(22:39):
them to trade Ryan Buxton. Maybe Pablo Lopez it seems
to me that there are factions in the Twins organization
that want to start building the team back up again.
Good ideas, since you've alienated your fan base. And then
there are ownership questions. They just took on the two
new investors. How much are they going to spend all
of that but to keep going backwards? If they do that,
(23:00):
then yes, Ryan becomes available, Buckston becomes available. They're probably
more valuable separately than they would be together. All right,
let's go to the next question. What I mean there
is separately in trades than they would be in one package.
Next question, this one comes from Bernie Suarez, who asked,
can you elaborate on the case for Valenzuela in the
(23:20):
Hall of Fame? I know there are many fans of
Mexican descent, like myself that became fans because of him. Bernie,
great question. And Fernando Valezuela, like Murphy, like Maddingly, would
he elevate the Hall of Fame? Yes, he would elevate
the Hall of Fame. For a moment in time, Fernando
Vealezuela was the hottest thing in the sport, and like
(23:41):
some of the others, you could say his peak was shorter.
He certainly didn't get to the major numbers in longevity
that you like to see. But Fernando Valezuela had a
huge impact on the sport, and in my view, that
should be taken into consideration in Hall of Fame balloting. Now,
he didn't get in on the writer's ballot. That's why
he's on the Eras Committee ballot, and we'll see how
(24:04):
it goes. But when you ask these questions, do I
think he belongs? Well, obviously I didn't get in on
the writer's boot okay, but if they put him in now,
it would be good. It would be a good thing,
and I would be quite pleased to see Fernando Valezuela
in Cooperstown. All right. Next question, this one comes from
(24:26):
let's get to it's Sicilian eighty seven. I love these names.
A lot of money coming off the books for Toronto
next year, true. Do you think they'll tolerate one year
of an ultra high payroll? Yes, that seems to be
the way that they're going with the signings of Cease
and Ponce, and then perhaps another big signing in store,
whether it's Tucker or Burschette. Again, I do not expect
(24:48):
them to do both. But with that money coming off
the books after next year, yes, they can operate in
the way that they're doing, and that is perhaps not
even perhaps that is one reason why they're going this way.
Next question comes from armand is amazing. Who asks, besides
the Mets, Blue Jays and Dodgers, what other teams will
be in on Edwin Diaz. Armond, I'd like to know
(25:11):
the answer to that myself, because I don't know now.
Diaz is an interesting case. The Mets obviously this week
signed Devin Williams as kind of protection against the loss
of Daz. If they get Daz back, great, They've got
a dynamic one two punch at the end of games.
If they don't, certainly Devin Williams can close, though it's
not as good a bullpen without Daz. Let's not mistake
(25:35):
that the Blue Jays we do know, have been linked
to Edwin Diaz and the Dodgers. I can expect that
they be in, but probably only if his market collapses.
I don't see them doing another multi year for reliever
after they gave Tanner Scott four years seventy two million
last offseason. So when we look at this and say, Okay,
(25:57):
which teams are in? Who else can be in? Maybe
he doesn't have a market, and certainly the qualifying offer
is something that hurts all players who get it to
some extent. But I don't ever buy that an elite
talent like a Diaz or any other player at that
caliber does not have a market. Now, he might not
have a market at the level that he wants to
(26:17):
be at, but let's say the price drops. Let's say
it's not five years one hundred, Let's say it goes
to four years, maybe even to three. Then teams would
jump in. And again it's difficult to predict. I always
tell you guys this that free agency, it's almost impossible
to predict in many cases because teams come out of
nowhere and teams do things that you don't expect. But
(26:39):
does Edwin Diaz have a market? Yes? I believe he does,
so we'll find out in short order. I would expect
where he's coming, But at this point just don't know
beyond those teams which other ones are involved. All right,
one more question before we go. This one comes from
Christian Avilis one two, three Ken Who are the front
runners for tetsuga am I now in our notes column today,
(27:02):
Patrick Mooney and I we wrote about am I and
Patrick in assembling that it was his note for the
most part, pointed out that am I as a guy
that is not necessarily wedded to any one part of
the country, or any one team or anything like that.
He is open minded. That was the point of what
Patrick wrote. Three East Coast teams I can see being
(27:25):
in on Ami for sure, both New York teams the
Yankees could use another starter. Not necessarily an absolute must,
but man, it would be great if they got one more.
The Mets, we know they need an ace and certainly
they were in on Yamamoto, as were the Yankees and
the Phillies. Another team that was in on Yamamoto two
years ago also figured to be in my Sweet Steak.
(27:47):
So those are three teams we've heard. San Francisco is out,
But here is a guy that can be a difference
maker and the best Japanese pitcher coming aboard this year.
I would expect he's going to do quite well in
free agencies. So with that, I want to thank everyone
for watching, for listening, for however you consume our wonderful
(28:08):
product here. I also want to thank Scott again for
joining us as co host. Have a great weekend everyone,
and the next time we speak will be from the
Winter Meetings in Orlando coming up Monday. Unfair Territory
Welcome everyone to the Thursday edition of Fair Territory. I'm
Ken Rosenthal here with as you can see, the master
of the Foul Territory universe, Scott Brown. We are not
with Alana Rizzo today for reasons that I will explain
later in the show. Good reasons, Scott. We've got a
ton to talk about as the Winter Meetings approach.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Yes, we do, and I'm excited to see you briefly
at the Winter Meetings, running around covering the sport like
you do. But let's get into what's surfacing before that,
And Ken, I think we need to start with the
biggest name in terms of who should command the most
money this offseason. That's Kyle Tucker. And that's a little
visit to a fancy facility in duned and Florida. What
else do you know? And do you think that the
(00:43):
Blue Jays are serious candidates to be able to sign him?
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Well, this was a stunning report by Robert Murray last
night about this visit by Tucker to the Jays training complex,
which is one of the best in Dned. It's a
selling point for the Blue Jays. Now, what's interesting about
this is that prior to last night, the Jay's interest
in Tucker was kind of rumored, but it was never
(01:07):
really confirmed or even seemed to be something that the
club was prioritizing. We know that they signed the two
starting pitchers, Dan Cease and Cody Ponce. We didn't know
exactly what they were doing on the position side, but
they had interest, perhaps in Tucker and certainly in resigning
Boba Schett. So this is a clear indication of their interest.
(01:29):
Whether it indicates that they're going to sign Tucker, that
remains to be seen. And let's not get carried away
with that idea. You remember Shoeo Tani a couple of
years ago visiting the Jays training complex and Dunedin didn't sign.
This is kind of a normal thing for players to do.
And Kyle Tucker does live in Tampa, which is a
short drive from duned and so really for him, hop
(01:51):
skip and a jump, no big deal to go there.
But at the same time, I don't want to underplay this.
The Jays are acting like behemoths in this market, and
this meeting with Tucker that took place last night or yesterday,
whenever exactly it was, that's an indication that they are
thinking big. It also might be a message to Bobaschett,
(02:11):
hey come down a little bit in your price. They
are all kinds of possibilities here, but the fact of
the matter is he was into Needin at their complex
and that is news.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
That is definitely news, and I will give credit. We
got to see this actually surface. If they signed Tucker
or if they signed back Bobachhett, payroll will.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Be high for the Blue Jays.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
We certainly knock on this network teams when they cry
poor and don't spend. The Blue Jays just had a
banger postseason. I know they didn't win the World Series Ken,
but they clearly made a lot of money and it
seems like they're reinvesting back into the team. You mentioned
in the story how they were at about two forty
ish mill for their opening day payroll. It seems like
whether they get Tucker Bishett or someone else, they're going
(02:53):
to be tracking well ahead of that number next year.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
Yes, they're going to open with a club record payroll
and it's right now. If they signed Tucker, likely will
be over three hundred million opening day, which is not
where the Jays have been. They've been a high payroll
team in the past at various points early nineties when
they were rolling. They had a big payroll back then,
at least relative to the other clubs. But this is
(03:18):
clearly an indication of their aggression and assertiveness in this
off season. And let's have some fun here, Scott and
look at a projected lineup with Kyle Tucker in it,
because it's kind of an awesome thing to just consider.
Here it is. You can see it right there, Springer
Tucker batting second right in front of Guerrero, Addison Barger
(03:38):
behind them, than Kirk Santandre varshow Clement and him Menez.
This is without Bobashed. I don't expect them to sign
Tucker and Bobashed, but my goodness, it is a fascinating look.
And that is a powerhouse lineup, no doubt about it.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Yeah, that looks really good. And here's a team that's
going to be in a competitive division. Yankees always good.
Red Sox should be as good, if not better, this
coming season.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
Oriels better.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
So good to see the Blue Jays getting involved on
some of the big boys.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
I like it.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Let's move to the team they lost to, and that's
the Dodgers, and I thought this stood out a ton
to me in your notes column this morning to Oscar
Hernandez is beloved in LA and we know he has
defensive deficiencies. Do you really think the Dodgers might dangle
him in trade talks?
Speaker 1 (04:24):
Well, what I reported along with Patrick Mooney today is
that his name has come up in trade conversation. Doesn't
sound like it's terribly likely, but it's an intriguing thought
for a couple of reasons. Yes, as you just mentioned Scott,
their defense was lacking last year, Tao was one of
the worst defensive right fielders in the game. But of
(04:45):
course what else is he? He has been one of
their best hitters in the postseason the last two years,
eight home runs combined for back to back World Series
champions in the postseason, and one of the more consistent
hitters during the season as well. If you trade him
at a point when you already need an outfielder, Confordo
is not coming back, then you're down to outfielders and
(05:08):
you'd have to shuffle some things around. Maybe play Payes
in right where he could be elite Andy Payes, find
a center fielder and just figure it out from there.
I'm not certainly going to do it. In fact, I
would say the odds are against them doing it. But
it's interesting to hear that his name has come up
because his contract it's complex, but it's relatively affordable. And
(05:31):
let's say the Dodgers could get an outfielder back and
then sign another one, then you have something going. And
I don't know that this means in any way that
they are going to be in the Kyle Tucker sweepstakes.
Just seems to me his price is going to exceed
their comfort level for him. But what if Byron Buxton
becomes available, What if some other players that we aren't
(05:53):
even focusing on are in the mixed trade wise, then
perhaps this becomes a viable thing. I don't necessarily expect
it to happen, but his name has come up in conversations,
and that to me was certainly interesting to hear.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Yeah, Ken, My observation is that the Dodgers are in
a place where they have someone who is going to
DH every day for them and show Heyo Tani. I
think Tao, if not a full time, is someone that
should at least be getting some serious DH consideration during
a season. Maybe you even point to someone like Jordan
Alvarez when he's healthy He'll still play the outfield here
and there, but you want him dhing most of the time.
(06:28):
You want him dhing in the playoffs where you need
your defense to be tight. The Dodgers are never going
to be in that spot, and they're still on the
hook for him for years. Do you think that they
might be able to find a team that has a
better space for him, a team that's looking for pop.
Like you mentioned, it's not easy to find the profile
of Tao on the market right now. So there are
teams out there that are like, hey, we could use
this and we could put him in the outfield occasionally
(06:51):
during the season. It's not going to kill us, but
we also have the DH spot open for him.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
I think that's a great call, Scott. And one team
that's stands out immediately as just you were talking, there
is a team that's pretty predominantly left handed, and it's Boston.
Boston has, of course the desire to resign Alex Redman,
a great right handed hitter, but if they don't, then
they're going to do some other things, and frankly, they're
looking for two bats. So that's just one team. I
(07:19):
do believe you're right that another team can fit him
in better because of the DH spot being totally closed
off in LA. So I don't know again where this
is going, but there are some interesting dynamics in play here.
And obviously if you lose Tail, then you've got to
find offense to replace him too, because he's been such
(07:39):
a meaningful part of their offense and he's also been
a meaningful part of their clubhouse. But again the question becomes, Okay,
if you trade him, then what are you doing to
replace him? And I'm sure if the Dodgers even come
close to considering this, they'll have some pretty intriguing thoughts
in mind.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
That's funny you mentioned the Red Sox like they were
in on him. I don't remember. I think they actually
publicly said that they were in on him, that they
missed out on him. Tayo was on our show soon
after he signed. I think he mentioned that as well.
So the fit makes even more sense when you consider
that the team actually does like the player in the past.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Yeah, they have, and again a lot has to happen
to get from point A to point B here, But
teams consider all kinds of things in the offseason, things
that we don't even report or even hear about. It's
a wide, wide variety. So this in that sense does
not necessarily surprise me that his name is coming up,
(08:35):
simply because, as you mentioned, they've got the DH set
for I don't know, eight more years. That's not opening
up tasker Hernandez. Even if you think he can play
outfield a little bit. Now, well, what about in the
final two years of that deal. I don't know how
that happens. I'm sorry, the final year of that deal
after this one. He's got two years left right now.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
M yeah, I know there's some crazy pervision and you
should read the article for everyone listening right now in
terms of if he gets hurt, then there's an option
you're at at all that you can get into that
in the article and the Athletic Ken's got it out
right Now. Let's move to the other column that you
put out this morning, and that regards the Hall of Fame.
There's a big decision coming up this weekend with the
Contemporary Committee that's going to try and vote in some players.
(09:20):
But you need, I believe, twelve out of sixteen votes
to go your way. But can you get into what
you wrote about and how the landscape of how people
are thinking about voting players in should change.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
Yes, Scott. So this idea that I had to write
the article stemmed from the fact that Mattingly is on
this contemporary era about and he is a guy who
had a short peak in his career, but some people
consider still Hall of Fame worthy, even though the writers
for fifteen years snubbed him in the Coopers Down balloting. Now,
(09:55):
there are a lot of layers to what I was
getting into here, but basically what I was saying is
that as the game evolves and as players' careers are shorter,
pictures don't pitches deep into games. That's another element here,
and position players and pictures both sometimes injuries force them
to retire prematurely. As this kind of thing keeps going
(10:17):
on and it has now, we need as writers to
consider these players with short high peaks in maybe a
bigger sense than we have in the past. Who am
I talking about? Chase Utley, who has done well in
his first two years on the ballot, David Wright, Dustin Pedroia,
both of whose careers ended prematurely due to physical problems.
(10:39):
And a guy like Felix Hernandez who just faded quickly
in part because the Mariners used him so heavily early
in his career. These guys all had relatively short peaks,
And what I say in the article is that generally speaking,
I prefer my Hall of famers to have longevity, to
have volume. Ten year dominance is of my prerequisite. But
(11:02):
maybe I need to rethink that, and maybe we just
need to rethink in general how we view these players now.
In the article I mentioned as well, Don Mattingly's statistics
career wise are very similar to Kirby Pucketts. Kirby Puckett
was another player whose career ended before it should have
due to the glaucoma that caused your blindness in his
(11:23):
right eye. But Puckett got in first ballot. Manningly never
got in on the writer's ballot, and this is his
fourth try on an eras committee. So it's going to
be really interesting to see how the voters look at
this on Sunday, and not just maddingly. Of course, Bonds
and Clemens are on this ballot. Sheffield's on this ballot,
Dale Murphy is on this boot. All kinds of players,
(11:45):
eight of them really good ones, all worthy of consideration,
are going to be looked at Sunday. You see the
list right there. Fernando Vealezuela. How could I forget him?
Jeff Kent? I voted for him when he was eligible.
Carlos Delgado, a guy who got overlooked at position where
there was a lot of thunder in the two thousands
when he was in his prime, but he put up
(12:06):
some huge numbers as well.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
To me, ken for the Veterans committee that votes, which
is a totally separate process from the BBWAA, this is
a stacked ballot. And even if you want to get
rid of the bonds Clemens debate and all that, it's
still a stacked ballot, like you mentioned, with Jeff Kent
getting a lot of love but not getting enough, and
I think Delgado's underrated. So here I'll bring it to
this from what you wrote about, would you vote for
(12:33):
those particular players? Now, I know you did vote for
Chase Utley last year, But then also I want to
spin it to Murphy and Mattingly, who you spent time
writing about.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
Scott. I haven't thought about this year's ballot in great
depth yet, and Write and Perdoi are certainly two guys
I'm going to look at more closely Felix too. Now,
Mattingly and Murphy, do I believe they should be in
the Hall of Fame? Do I believe the Hall of
Fame would be their presence? I do. I don't believe
that I voted for either during their eligibility, and I
(13:05):
don't recall the specific reasons. Perhaps the ballot was too crowded.
Perhaps I just didn't think their numbers were worthy, and
that is why, of course they did not make it.
But you consider an entire baseball life, and in Manningly's
case in particular, twenty years more than that as a
manager and coach, all the contributions to the game, he
should be in in my opinion. And Dale Murphy, it's
(13:28):
a tougher one for me because that peak again was
kind of short and he didn't have much that he
did after age thirty two or so. But would the
Hall of Fame be a worst place if Dale Murphy
was in it? No, it wouldn't. All right, we are
going to take a break down. We're going to be
back Scott with the Dudes and Dorks of the week
a little different flavor this week.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Right after this, hey Ft is going to be at
the Baseball Winter Meetings. Yes, we'll be live doing our
show one o'clock Eastern. We'll grab plenty of interviews before
and after the show, mix those into the show. We'll
put those up on YouTube. You can listen to them
wherever you get your podcasts. We're very excited to be
(14:09):
there for all three days in Orlando, Florida, AJ's favorite
city on the planet. So make sure you tune in
a little extra for Winter Meetings coverage.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
Next week.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
It's baseball the way it should be covered on the
FT network.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
Dude, dude, dude, all.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
Right, let's it due to the week, Ken, would you
like to go first? Or should I go first? And
I love the theme we're going with here.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
You know what, I'll go first. All of our dudes
this week look like ladies And if you don't know
the song, look it up. The dudes are dude debts
and I'm going to start with our own. Alana Rizzo.
Alana is not doing the show today for a very
good reason. She is being honored by the Italian American
Baseball Federation tonight at their gala in New York with
their Media Awards. So Alana Rizzo, you see you right there,
(15:00):
distinguished career, to say the least, she is one of
my do debts of the week and the other this
just came out yesterday Hazel May from Sportsnet. She received
the Jack Grainy Award from the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.
That is for significant contributions to baseball in Canada through
her life's work. Hazel, like Alana, very very deserving to
(15:22):
do debts for me, And what say you, Scott.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
I've got another one a due debt of the week,
and that is my teammate here at the FT Network,
your teammate even more so over at the Athletic. Katie Wu,
who has done a brilliant job covering the Cardinals on
the beat for the past five years, is still staying
at the Athletic. She's moving over to Los Angeles. She's
from California. She's going to cover the Dodgers along with
(15:46):
Fabian Ardaia, so there'll be two of them on coverage there.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
And I just wanted to point out.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
How brilliant of a job that Katie did for years.
I think that she brought just a different flavor of coverage.
She's been great on Cardinal territory. You'll see her in
some future Fi Network Action coming up, but just wanted
to give her a shout out Ken as people should
recognize her in the LA area and add her to
their follow list and look out for her articles.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
Absolutely, and Katie, like Fabian, went to Arizona State their
great sports journalism program. Both great young journalists and it's
a pleasure to work with them, to say the least,
in any medium. Yes, great dudes of the week. Yes,
love it all.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Right, let's get to the Dorks. Two good candidates this
time around. I'll try and go first on this one.
I'd like to Cueue up a tweet to help me out.
Tis the season, Ken, But when I say that, I
mean tis the season to say I'm not as rich
(16:50):
as you think I am with my major league ball club,
and you expect the common folk everyone else in the
world to believe you. So we heard about the profit
its situation for the Yankees. What a couple weeks ago.
Now let's bring in this report from Sean McAdam and
Tyler Milliken, who's part of the Jared Cravis podcast team,
pointed this out. But anyway, here's the quote. According to
(17:12):
industry sources familiar with the organization's thinking, the Red Sox
are okay going over the first CBT threshold set at
two hundred and forty four mil for twenty twenty six,
which would translate them to absorbing a modest financial loss,
But with anything beyond that, there's a reluctance to incur
bigger deficits. I wonder how that got out there. Who
(17:34):
knows the books and the finances, Who would be able
to speak on that and give information to someone. I
just have a hard time when this stuff comes out
ken believing that nobody, not even the Yankees or the
Red Sox, are making money in Major League Baseball? Why
own the team just for the love of the game.
Feel bad for me. I'm the only one that can
(17:55):
own this team, take the losses and still try to
put it into the team to make it success. Pathetic,
pathetic information that comes out this time of year. In
my mind, I don't think it has as much to
do with say, an illumining lockout.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
In a year.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
I just think we always get this every off season
and it helps to temper fan expectations.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
Oh, there are excuses every off season, and it's COVID
one year, it's the TV money drying up another year,
it's always something, and sometimes the excuses are more legitimate
than others. This one I question, especially in the first
off season after you have unloaded Raphael Devers Hello. That
move was intended to create great financial flexibility in the future,
(18:36):
and suddenly that flexibility isn't as significant as we thought
it was. Eh, we're not buying now. I want to
go to my dork of the week because it's a
familiar target to this program and it's one we haven't
hit in a while. The Athletics, the Oakland, Sacramento, Las
Vegas Athletics, And let's take a look at the artists
(18:57):
rendering of their new ballpark in Las Vegas, and I'll
show you why they are the dorks of the week,
because only the A's could pull this off. Now, I
don't know if we can zoom in on that person
wearing the jersey on the scoreboard, but that is not
a Brent Rooker jersey that he's wearing. It's not a
jersey of any player on the Athletics. It's a Jose
(19:20):
Altuve jersey, a jersey on one of their biggest rivals
in the division. So no Brett Rooker, no any other A.
But we've got Altuve showcased in this artist rendering. It's
a little thing compared to the injustices and criminal activity,
not criminal activities, but various things that the A's have
done in the past. But it's still dork of the
(19:43):
Week merit, and it is dork of the week Oakland
as whatever they are the as in the Las Vegas
a Sacramento A's Darks of the Week yet again.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
Yeah, easy one here, Ken, I mean, you're putting out renderings,
you're putting out a model, you're showing off the ballpark
cool and there's some really cool components. There is no faulting.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
There are parts of the ballpark that looks super cool.
Excited about that part. This isn't a knock on Vegas.
But when about a year ago John Fisher tells everyone
how excited he is for Aaron Judge to hit home
runs in his ballpark in Sacramento. And now that one
of the main photos here has Jose Al Tubay Jersey
on it, it's not like you have to really go
find it, right, It's not like they had fifty thousand
people in the seats and you find one al Tuo
(20:22):
Bay Jersey Like this is on the video screen on
both sides.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
Of this photo. It's just it's so ridiculous. It's so
John Fisher and company. A pretty easy fix to find
the picture of an athletics player and put that on
the board. Put a fan with a jersey from an
athletics player. Yes, they do exist, not that hard Scott Man. Hey,
thanks for helping out today, Alta. We hope you have
(20:47):
a great time tonight. We are going to be back
with grilling Ken right after this bet.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
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(21:15):
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Speaker 1 (21:33):
All right, time now for Grilling Ken, the part of
the show where I answer your questions. Let's get right
to them. First question comes from Mike G fifteen, who says,
could you see the Twins moving Ryan and Buxton in
the same deal? What would it take from a team
like the Mets or Cubs who could use a frontline
starter and outfielder replacement. Okay, the Twins right now are
(21:57):
a mystery. And I've said this I believe on our
show and also on FT there is not clarity yet
on how they are going to operate this off season.
And when I say there's not clarity, I don't mean
not clarity coming to reporters about their plans. I mean
clarity within their own organization. I don't know that they
(22:18):
know what they're going to do. They're working through it.
What I was told this week is that they'll have
clarity by the winter meetings. Okay, it's probably a good
idea to have clarity by the winter meetings. So the
question then becomes, and to the question that the person
is asking there, where are they going to go? Which
way are they going to go? I don't necessarily expect
(22:39):
them to trade Ryan Buxton. Maybe Pablo Lopez it seems
to me that there are factions in the Twins organization
that want to start building the team back up again.
Good ideas, since you've alienated your fan base. And then
there are ownership questions. They just took on the two
new investors. How much are they going to spend all
of that but to keep going backwards? If they do that,
(23:00):
then yes, Ryan becomes available, Buckston becomes available. They're probably
more valuable separately than they would be together. All right,
let's go to the next question. What I mean there
is separately in trades than they would be in one package.
Next question, this one comes from Bernie Suarez, who asked,
can you elaborate on the case for Valenzuela in the
(23:20):
Hall of Fame? I know there are many fans of
Mexican descent, like myself that became fans because of him. Bernie,
great question. And Fernando Valezuela, like Murphy, like Maddingly, would
he elevate the Hall of Fame? Yes, he would elevate
the Hall of Fame. For a moment in time, Fernando
Vealezuela was the hottest thing in the sport, and like
(23:41):
some of the others, you could say his peak was shorter.
He certainly didn't get to the major numbers in longevity
that you like to see. But Fernando Valezuela had a
huge impact on the sport, and in my view, that
should be taken into consideration in Hall of Fame balloting. Now,
he didn't get in on the writer's ballot. That's why
he's on the Eras Committee ballot, and we'll see how
(24:04):
it goes. But when you ask these questions, do I
think he belongs? Well, obviously I didn't get in on
the writer's boot okay, but if they put him in now,
it would be good. It would be a good thing,
and I would be quite pleased to see Fernando Valezuela
in Cooperstown. All right. Next question, this one comes from
(24:26):
let's get to it's Sicilian eighty seven. I love these names.
A lot of money coming off the books for Toronto
next year, true. Do you think they'll tolerate one year
of an ultra high payroll? Yes, that seems to be
the way that they're going with the signings of Cease
and Ponce, and then perhaps another big signing in store,
whether it's Tucker or Burschette. Again, I do not expect
(24:48):
them to do both. But with that money coming off
the books after next year, yes, they can operate in
the way that they're doing, and that is perhaps not
even perhaps that is one reason why they're going this way.
Next question comes from armand is amazing. Who asks, besides
the Mets, Blue Jays and Dodgers, what other teams will
be in on Edwin Diaz. Armond, I'd like to know
(25:11):
the answer to that myself, because I don't know now.
Diaz is an interesting case. The Mets obviously this week
signed Devin Williams as kind of protection against the loss
of Daz. If they get Daz back, great, They've got
a dynamic one two punch at the end of games.
If they don't, certainly Devin Williams can close, though it's
not as good a bullpen without Daz. Let's not mistake
(25:35):
that the Blue Jays we do know, have been linked
to Edwin Diaz and the Dodgers. I can expect that
they be in, but probably only if his market collapses.
I don't see them doing another multi year for reliever
after they gave Tanner Scott four years seventy two million
last offseason. So when we look at this and say, Okay,
(25:57):
which teams are in? Who else can be in? Maybe
he doesn't have a market, and certainly the qualifying offer
is something that hurts all players who get it to
some extent. But I don't ever buy that an elite
talent like a Diaz or any other player at that
caliber does not have a market. Now, he might not
have a market at the level that he wants to
(26:17):
be at, but let's say the price drops. Let's say
it's not five years one hundred, Let's say it goes
to four years, maybe even to three. Then teams would
jump in. And again it's difficult to predict. I always
tell you guys this that free agency, it's almost impossible
to predict in many cases because teams come out of
nowhere and teams do things that you don't expect. But
(26:39):
does Edwin Diaz have a market? Yes? I believe he does,
so we'll find out in short order. I would expect
where he's coming, But at this point just don't know
beyond those teams which other ones are involved. All right,
one more question before we go. This one comes from
Christian Avilis one two, three Ken Who are the front
runners for tetsuga am I now in our notes column today,
(27:02):
Patrick Mooney and I we wrote about am I and
Patrick in assembling that it was his note for the
most part, pointed out that am I as a guy
that is not necessarily wedded to any one part of
the country, or any one team or anything like that.
He is open minded. That was the point of what
Patrick wrote. Three East Coast teams I can see being
(27:25):
in on Ami for sure, both New York teams the
Yankees could use another starter. Not necessarily an absolute must,
but man, it would be great if they got one more.
The Mets, we know they need an ace and certainly
they were in on Yamamoto, as were the Yankees and
the Phillies. Another team that was in on Yamamoto two
years ago also figured to be in my Sweet Steak.
(27:47):
So those are three teams we've heard. San Francisco is out,
But here is a guy that can be a difference
maker and the best Japanese pitcher coming aboard this year.
I would expect he's going to do quite well in
free agencies. So with that, I want to thank everyone
for watching, for listening, for however you consume our wonderful
(28:08):
product here. I also want to thank Scott again for
joining us as co host. Have a great weekend everyone,
and the next time we speak will be from the
Winter Meetings in Orlando coming up Monday. Unfair Territory
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