November 26, 2025 • 29 mins
Ken Rosenthal and Alanna Rizzo discuss how the whole sport is incomplete, beginning with the Red Sox rotation having acquired Sonny Gray from the Cardinals. (Top of show)
(1:34) The Mets created a second outfield hole when dealing Brandon Nimmo to the Rangers this week.
Take advantage of Ridge’s Biggest Sale of the Year and GET UP TO 47% OFF by going to Ridge.com/FOUL #Ridgepod
(5:51) The Brewers may need to subtract in order to add to their roster.
(8:33) Plus, next moves for Cardinals POBO Chaim Bloom. Bloom has already acted outside the norm for the Cardinals in one key area.
(13:12) The hosts answer your live Grillin’ Ken questions, including if Fernando Tatis Jr. could be a future Met, if the Red Sox will be a top-5 payroll team and where Tatsuya Imai could land to best compete with the Dodgers. Plus, the hosts' Thanksgiving preferences are covered.
(20:46) Ken and Alanna crown their Dudes and Dorks of the Week.
(26:03) Bonus question about Alex Bregman, and then something each host is thankful for.
Download Cash App Today: capl.onelink.me/vFut/hap8idx8 #CashAppPod. Cash App is a financial services platform, not a bank. Banking services provided by Cash App’s bank partner(s). Prepaid debit cards issued by Sutton Bank, Member FDIC. See terms and conditions at cash.app/legal/us/en-us/card-agreement. Direct deposit and promotions provided by Cash App, a Block, Inc. brand. Visit cash.app/legal/podcast for full disclosures.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome everyone to the pre Thanksgiving edition of Fair Territory.
I'm Ken Rosenthal here with my friend Alana Rizzo. We
are getting ready for the holiday. Of course, we hope
everyone is well during their travels, their preparations, and we
have still a baseball off season that is in Alana.
I would call it the formative stage.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
How's that it is, Ken, good to be with you
as always, Happy Thanksgiving everybody. I would say, Ken Rosenthal,
that our sport is incomplete. It seems like all thirty
teams still have a lot of holes to fill.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Absolutely, Alana. And we've seen a number of moves so far,
and frankly, each of these trades that we've seen have
only led to more questions, even going back to Grayson
Rodriguez for Turner Taylor Ward and then the Sunny Gray
trade yesterday, and then of course we can talk as
well about the Brandon Nemo from Marcus Simeon trade. When
(00:53):
you look at the Gray acquisition by the Red Sox,
you wonder, okay, is he the number two starter that
they were talking about or are they going to do
something else. They have a lot of possibilities for that rotation,
and it looks pretty good, Frankly Crochet, Gray, Bayo, Cutter,
Crawford coming back, Connor Lee Early, Peyton Totley, all of
these guys. Patrick Sandoval perhaps, but it just seems to
(01:16):
me that Sonny Gray is not a number two. I
know they love his strikeouts, I know they love the
strikeout to walk all that. It's all good, but is
he that guy at thirty six? Well, I'm not sure,
but I'm sure the Red Sox are thinking about many
other things as well, upgrading their offense being one of them.
And then the Mets the Brandon Nemo trade. Now, this
(01:37):
was a very interesting trade in so many ways, Brandon
Nimo from Marcus Simeon, and I get what the Mets
are doing in terms of trying to shake it up,
but I question whether Brandon Nimo was the right guy
to shake it up with. I don't see him as
the problem. He's three years younger than Simeon, and while
Simeon will upgrade them defensively, they're getting him for his
(01:59):
ages thirty, thirty six and thirty seven season at a
time when he is in offensive decline, a two year decline,
so they have to do a lot of other things.
They've opened up a hole in left field here, and
they already have questions in centerfield. They've got the kid
Carson benj coming. Are you going to commit to him? Wow,
that's a big question. And then, as Will Salmon writes
(02:21):
in our notes column today it's a combined notes column,
Will myself Katie wu He says, well, Hey, the fact
that they just traded Nimo got out of his long
term deal five years left by the way, a deal
that yes, was too long to start with. Do they
really want to enter into another long term deal with
the Cody Bellinger or Kyle Tucker? And if they don't,
(02:43):
then how do they fill their outfield holes? So these
are just some of the questions that have arisen in
recent days with these moves. And obviously we've got a
long way to go this offseason, Alana, and a lot
more will happen. It's just as you look at these
moves right now to think there's got to be more,
and yes, there does have to be more.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
And when you think of the New York Mets Kennon,
obviously with the ownership group, you don't imagine that they're
outfield or their positions that need to be filled are
going to be filled by two highly touted prospects. Maybe
one position is enough for a prospect, but two if
you're the New York Mets, I don't know that they
can put all of their thoughts in that basket.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
No, I don't believe they will. And hey, they've got
some young starting pitchers too that are going to enter
the mix this year. They're not afraid of young players.
Like all teams, they want to mix in young players
to help balance the payroll. Young players give a team life.
There's many things to recommend young players. But you're right along,
and they're not going to take a team centered around
Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor and simply say, you know what,
(03:46):
we'll go with kids and left kids and center kids
in the rotation. Not happening. They're going to do things.
And they still have two big players out in free
agency that they want to resign, or at least we
think they want to resign Edwin Diaz. They certainly want
him back, and then Pete Alonzo, it's kind of questionable
whether they want him to come back or at least
(04:08):
be a first basement. If he comes back, he's going
to be a DH In.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Part the closer market ken and you mentioned Edwin Diaz.
I believe he headlines that market. But the outfielder market
isn't that deep. I mean you're talking about probably Kyle Tucker.
I don't know if the Mets are going to want
to take on that salary, considering they just got rid
of Neimo's salary and Tucker figures to be three times that.
And then you have Cody Bellinger. Does he go from
(04:33):
the Bronx to Queens? What are you thinking?
Speaker 1 (04:36):
I would say it's possible. I don't know that you
can ever rule anything out with Steve Cohen as your owner,
but I don't know that it's likely. And then the
question becomes, if you're not doing Tucker, if you're not
doing Bellinger, how are you going to solve this outfield
question that you have. I mentioned the prospect Carson Benjo. Okay,
that's one maybe, and then you have a thin outfield
(04:58):
market in free agency b on those two guys Tucker
and Bellinger outstanding choices, but beyond them, Harrison Bader and
a few others, And then maybe they have a trade
in mind because they do have a number of young players.
They've built up their system really well. Maybe a trade
for nowfielder. I kind of sense that coming with them,
but I don't know for sure. It's just that they've
(05:20):
created a problem here by trading a long time franchise stalwart,
a guy who's extremely popular among fans and who is
still productive in decline somewhat but still productive, and here
they are looking for outfielders.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
It's going to be interesting, It really is, because five
years at one hundred and two million or one hundred
and five or whatever was left on Brandon Nimo's deal
is going to be a lot less than what Cody
Bellinger or certainly what Kyle Tucker are going to garner
as far as the free agent market is concerned. Moving
from the New York Mets and the NL East to
the Brewers in the NL Central, Ken Rosenthal, Brannon Woodruff,
(05:56):
we know that he's gone back to the brew Crew.
Good for him, and wu is Freddy Peralta Brandon Woodroff
an automatic one two tandem for the Crew.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
I don't know that I would say automatic, because the
Brewers are a team that are constantly looking to move
payroll to create payroll flexibility. But at the same time,
Will Salmon and I wrote an article I believe it
was last week after Woodriff accepted, in which we quoted
both owner Mark Attanasio and President Baseball Operations Matt Arnold
saying they are excited about the rotation and saying that
(06:30):
Woodriff doesn't necessarily lead to a trade of Peralta. They're
on the record saying this now things change. We all
know that you can't hold people to their words forever,
but it just seems to me trading Freddy Peralta when
you're only paying him eight million. I know it's only
in a relative sense, that would be a counter productive move.
You've got a potential rotation headed by Peralta, then with
(06:52):
Woodriff and Mazerowski and some others, that's potentially a real strength.
The question for the Brewer is, okay, then how do
you create that flexibility we talked about. Do you trade
a reliever like Trevor McGill You do about four million
next year, that doesn't create that much flexibility, Or and
this is the obvious solution to me here, do you
(07:13):
assign Brandon Woodroff to a multi year deal at a
lower average annual value than the qualifying offer number, which
was just over twenty two million, That to me seems
to be the way to go. Maybe you do Woodrof
at three years, forty five million, you take seven million
dollars off the twenty twenty sixth salary, and you go
from there. I'm not saying that's going to happen. It
(07:34):
just seems to me to be the most obvious solution.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Do you also deal a reliever in terms of lowering
Brandon Woodruf's aav down. Make it a multi year deal.
Do you get rid of a of a relief arm?
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Yeah, maybe you do both and that creates I don't know,
ten million, twelve million in flexibility. Again, these are hypotheticals.
I'm just throwing it out there because this is a
team that generally has to maneuver like this and tries
to maneuver like this to keep their payroll at a
certain level. They've got some offensive needs, they've got some
other needs. Bullpen actually was one. But I just don't
(08:11):
know how they're going to do it. And this is
a team that is endlessly creative, and I expect that
we're going to see something funky from them, and I
don't expect it to be a trade of Freddie perraulta
less unless the return is just so overwhelming, and you
always have to have that caveat in any circumstance. If
a team gets overwhelmed, they'll trade any player. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Sticking in the Central, let's talk about the Saint Louis Cardinals.
Katie Wu does a great job. Of course, your colleague
with the Athletics. She wrote about it yesterday. Nolan Arnado,
ken is all but gone. But we've also been saying
that for three years. What do you think happens with Ronado?
And more importantly, Hein Bloom now attaches money to retaining
better prospects. What's going on in Saint Lois?
Speaker 1 (08:52):
That was a watershed trade for them yesterday. And I
know the return is Richard Fitz and the prospect that's okay,
That's not what I'm talking out. The watershed moment was
the inclusion of twenty million in that trade to pay
down the salary of Sonny Gray make him a twenty
one million dollar player for the Red Sox next year.
The Cardinals generally have not done that much in the past,
(09:15):
but now that they've done it once, I expect that
they would do it again for Ronado and maybe even
Wilson Contreras. If Wilson Contreras changes his mind and says,
you know what, we're tearing it down a bit here,
I'd like to go. And he has no trade, as
does Arnado, as did Gray, and all of that is
part of the equation here. But what the Cardinals are
(09:35):
doing is trying to reset their team, and this is
overdue with them, and they have some other pieces Brendan Donovan,
Lars Newt, Bar, Nolan Gorman that they can also trade now.
I don't know that they're going to tear it all
the way down and just become a non competitive team
for three or four years. I don't necessarily expect that.
(09:55):
But the Sonny Gray move brought them back a major
league picture in fits, a high potential prospect with Brendan Clark.
They got some things going in this trade alone that
if I'm a Cardinals fan, I'm encouraged by it because
it was time to rip the band aid off. They've
done that. They've got a long ways to go, and Arnatto,
(10:15):
who knows where he might end up, maybe the Red
Sox if they don't get Bregman back. Katie listened to
a few other teams. I don't know that any is
a great possibility, but clearly they are motivated to do
some things here, and.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
Man, I tell you what that is the big domino
I think as a position player can to fall. I mean,
obviously Kyle Tucker to a certain extent, but what happens
with Bregman at third base I think will constitute what
happens in a lot of other places as well. Nolan
are not willing to expand his no trade clause. Again,
this is a guy that's been in trade talks or
at least conversations for a number of years. Now, where
(10:49):
do you think, realistically Nolan ends up. Does he go
to the Tigers? Do you see him someplace else? Is
Boston a fit?
Speaker 1 (10:59):
I don't know. And it's a little bit problematic with him. Now.
He's a Hall of Fame player, he's one of the
greats of this generation, one of the great defenders we've
seen in this sport period. But he is in offensive
declient or has been now. Maybe getting out of Saint
Louis and a change of scenery it's not the easiest
park to hit in would do him well. But Katie,
(11:20):
I'm sorry, Alta, I'm thinking about Katie's story. I don't
see an obvious fit. And maybe it's Detroit, but they're
not going to want to necessarily take on a lot
of money. Maybe it's some other club, But this is
going to be an interesting scenario to follow because, as
I said, there's no clear cut team with a needed
(11:41):
third base that says, oh, I've got to have Noan Arnaudo.
It's going to be a tight squeeze for whoever does it.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Yeah, it is strange. It would be nice if you
could have like just a designated defender and throw Nolan
Arnaudo out there with the decline in terms of offense.
But you're right, he's headed to Cooper cent I truly
believe that. All Right, much more to come on Fair
Territory with Ken Rosenthal on this pre Thanksgiving live episode.
Get your questions in. Ken will be answering them next
(12:07):
right after a couple of words from our friends at Foul.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
If you are still carrying a clunky leather brick that
can be mistaken for an old school wallet, may I
introduce you to what Eric Kratz is getting himself for
the holidays.
Speaker 4 (12:23):
I mean, this is the greatest wallet that I've ever
seen in my life. Your credit card's fitting here. It's
a justable lifetime guaranteed like what like? This is a
must have for the holidays.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
Absolute must have Ridge Olive matt That is the design
that Kratz has right now and you can get a
hold of that. There's over fifty plus colors and styles
to choose from. Over at Ridge. You can even get
a wallet that features every NFL, MLB or college team.
And for a limited time, Ridge is having their huge
Black Friday sale. Head to Ridge dot com slash foul
(12:56):
to get up to forty seven percent off your order.
This is by far the big discount they've given all year.
That's Ridge dot com slash foul for up to forty
seven percent off your order during their biggest sale of
the year. After your purchase, I'll ask you where you
heard about Ridge. Tell them foul Territory sent you.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Okay, welcome back to fair Territory. Get those questions in
for Ken Rosenthal. Not often do you get to ask
Ken a question directly. The first one Ken is in
regards to the Mets outfield. We were talking about it earlier, right,
we know that Nimo isn't there. They have some holes.
So this question, given the fact that Tatis Junior is
still a two hundred and eighty six million of three
hundred and forty because you see the Mets taking on
(13:39):
a bad contract Darvish or Croninworth to fill an outfield hole.
Thoughts on what San Diego would want. My friend, I
guess is a is a Padres fan.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
Well, there's a lot here to think about, and one
is would the Padres even trade Tatisse? And yes, they
are in much more of a financial buind than they've
been in in past years. They don't have as much
flexibility and they have to address their pitching with Cese
and King free agents, and Robert Suarez as well a
free agent. Would they trade Tatis? Yankee fans? I think
(14:11):
I've been fantasizing about this too. It seems to me
right now it's more fantasy than reality. Tatus is a
beloved player in San Diego. He is still young, he
is still highly productive. He's been a bit more inconsistent
than you would want. I get it, but man, I
have a hard time seeing them doing that now. The
idea of attaching another contract Tatatosa's contract, that's an interesting
(14:35):
idea too. And then the question becomes if the Mets
are taking on all they that money, what are they
giving back? And the return diminishes the more money you
take on as a team. So if you're the Mets,
you're taking all of Tatis and all of Crona worth.
You're telling the Padres, uh huh, that's what we're doing.
We're taking all this money off your hands. You're not
(14:55):
getting our premium prospects in return. To me. It's all
on a fantastical it's not necessarily going to happen, but
it's going to be interesting to see what San Diego
does this offseason to create some flexibility because they are
again not as well positioned as they've been in the
(15:17):
past to spend money. When Peter Sidler passed, it became
a different equator. And they're for sale as well, So
all of these things enter it. But man to trade
tatiss I just see that as too far a bridge
to cross.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
Yeah, that's a big one. That's a big ask if
you're a Met fan for sure. All Right, this is
in regards to the Boston Red Sox. Are the Red
Sox going to re enter the top five payroll now?
Considering that they seem like they're ready to compete. We
know that Sunny Gray is there. You don't necessarily think
he's a number two, but he is an upgrade in
most estimations of Lucas Giulio. Do they re enter the
(15:53):
top echelon of spending money?
Speaker 1 (15:54):
Ken they're in position too, There's no question about that.
And the Devor's trade created all all this flexibility for them,
and it enables them now to play in the deepest
waters possible. Are they top five again next year? I
don't know exactly, but it certainly seems like they're going
to be aggressive. And one more thing about the Red Sox.
(16:14):
People were critical of Craig Breslow as chief baseball officer
early and the deadline the first one wasn't so great. Okay,
last off season was one of the best off seasons
in recent memory by any team. It was Crochet, it
was Narvaas, it was Chapman, and then it was topped
(16:35):
off by Bregman four for four with those guys. So
Breslo by doing that, in my mind, should have increased
the faith of Red Sox fans in his ability. Now,
the Devs trade is a whole different story. It's a
whole different scenario. Entirely, but I'm interested to see what
they do. I don't love the Gray move if he
(16:56):
is the only starter they get. But again I think complete.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
We knew that the Red Sox can. We're not going
to be able to extend Bregman in season, even in
wildcard postseason, because he's a Scott Boris client. Free agency
is king when you're a Boris client. I respect that.
Does Bregman go back to Boston or is he playing
third for somebody else?
Speaker 1 (17:16):
I expect him to be back in Boston. And in
free agency, when you say something like this, you're playing
with fire because free agency things happen that you never expect.
I say this all the time. It's actually true. Of
all transactions, none of these trades that have happened so
far were anticipated by anyone, and free agency can be wild.
(17:36):
But with Bregman, it was such a good fit. He
was so perfect for them. Now he's going to be
perfect in the estimation of other clubs on their rosters
as well, and all it takes is one to obviously
take him away. But man, he is really the right
guy for the Red Sox.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Yeah, I tell you what, And I don't think anybody
embraced the Boston culture as much as Alex Regman did
last season during the postseason, posting clips from the town
trying to get into the postseason. But he knows what
Boston fans want. Ken Rosenthal, all right, shaq fu for
f four Z has this to say. What's AMI's best
landing spot to compete against the Dodgers' long term?
Speaker 1 (18:18):
It's a good question, and we're going to get to
him I in a little bit, But the Yankees are
certainly a team that's going to be in The Giants
have been linked to him. I guess they've been scouting
him or had been scouting him, as all teams have.
What's fascinating about him is that he doesn't want to
be a Dodger. And again, we're going to get to
that the next segment. And I've got some things to
(18:39):
say about that.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Ken Rosenthal, He's in the next segment, perhaps, Dude and door,
all right, Thanksgiving us tomorrow. We hope you all have
a wonderful Thanksgiving. Ryan s seven four one four wants
to know football on TV or holiday movies? Ken, big
family gathering or a small cozy one pumpkin pie or
apple pie that is a headed question there, all.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
Right, pumpkin pie. First of all, that's number one football,
yeah for sure over holiday movies. And it's our favorite
family holiday, Thanksgiving is and we gather our whole family
for it. So yes, it's not a big gathering necessarily,
but it's a priority for all of our children who
are living all over the place to get back home good.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
I love that. Happy Thanksgiving to you and Lisa and
the Rosenthal family. For me, it's football for sure. Never
a holiday movie. I can't stand Hallmark. Yeah, big family
gathering is fine. And no pie, okay, just wine, just wine,
all right, that's gonna do it for her girl and
Ken here on this Wednesday, when we come back after
a word from our friends at Foul, we're gonna be
(19:44):
talking about our dude and dork of the week.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
Hey.
Speaker 3 (19:47):
For all the parents out there with teens, it's more
hectic now than ever.
Speaker 4 (19:51):
Cash App's gonna help not her with.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
The cash App card, available to teens thirteen to seventeen
with sponsorship by an eligible parent or guardian. Every transaction
triggers real time notification for you to see, empowering your
team to practice independence while giving you peace of mind
By keeping track of their spending. You can also manage
everything directly from your own cash app account without having
to switch between the two. With the cash app card,
you and your team's balances received twenty four to seven
(20:15):
fraud monitoring, and if something ever feels off, you have
the ability to lock their card right from your phone
in just one tap. For a limited time, new cash
app customers can earn ten dollars if they use code
family ten in their profile at sign up and send
five bucks to a friend within fourteen days. Terms apply.
Cash app is a financial services platform, not a bank.
Banking services provided by cash apps bank partner, prepaid debit
(20:36):
cards issued by Sutton Bank member FDIC, direct deposit and
promotions provided by cash App, a Block Inc.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
Brand.
Speaker 3 (20:42):
Visit cash Dot App Slash Legal Slash podcast for full disclosures.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
Dude, dude, dude.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
All right, I want to start this, Sonny Gray. Good
for you, buddy, forty one million dollars for two thousand,
twenty six. I believe it is one of the biggest
contracts in terms of a one year payout. Ken, you
wouldn't certainly know more than I for a pitcher. Good
for him, doesn't matter where the money comes from I
have to take forty one million in a heartbeat. And
now he gets to pitch for a possible contender, and
(21:16):
that's good for him as well.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
No question, Sonny Gray a worthy choice for due to
the week. And I'm going to go with the guy
where we're just talking about before we went into break
my dude of the Week, Tatsuya am I. And here's why.
Too often in this sport we get sanitized answers, we
get a non bulletin board material because everyone is so
careful with what they say. This dude might already be
(21:41):
my favorite player because what he said was he wants
to beat the Dodgers. He wants to take them down.
He doesn't want to be a Dodger. Now, I'm not
ripping the Dodgers or questioning that or anything like that.
They're great, we know that, back to back World Series champions.
But this is what you want to hear, and this
is the kind of thing that shows you the kind
of competitor that Amaya is going to be. He said,
(22:04):
of course, playing together with Otaniyamamoto and Sasaki sounds like
it could be fun, but winning the World Series by
defeating a team like that is something I feel we'ld
truly have value in my life. I cannot wait for
this guy to get here. And David Bissey tweeted that
the host of Dodgers Talk, he's already trying to stoke
the fire. Perfect, let's go.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
But where does this hatred? Where does this vitrol for
the Los Angeles Dodgers come from? Where does it come from?
Speaker 1 (22:32):
It's a competitor. It's a guy saying, you know what,
it would be cool to take them.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
Down, and to take them down. Where does he end
up to take them down? Who's going to be the
competitor that's going to take down the Dodgers.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
I don't know exactly, Alanna. We're gonna find out in
free agency. But I remember Mark Messier, before the New
York Rangers won the Stanley Cup in nineteen ninety four,
said you've got to slay the dragon. Now, he was
talking about the dragon of the Rangers past and all that.
But that's what in my saying here, we want to
slay the dragon. Good luck to you, buddy, Yeah, no.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
Doubt about it. It's fun. I love it. I do
think it is good for the sport, certainly for people
to want to take down the almighty Dragon. I get
that very much. Okay, time now for our dork of
the week, all right, Ken Helstein Berner, I mean it's
(23:28):
mine's Helsteinbrunner. I mean, I don't know how it could
be any how, it cannot be anybody's dork of the week.
You're trying to tell me that we can't assume that
the New York Yankees are profitable. I don't care, Ken Rosenthal.
If the New York Yankees go oh and one's sixty
two for the next two decades. The New York Yankees
are one of the most profitable franchises in all of sports,
(23:52):
Ken Rosenthal, not just our great game of baseball. This
is silly. I want to say, as you said it
on Foul Territory. Open the books, let me see, let
me see the p and L of the New York Yankees.
I guarantee you that the New York Yankees are profitable.
Speaker 5 (24:07):
I would expect that the New York Yankees are doing okay.
And if hal Steimer is frustrated with the way his
finances are, he can sell them for what eight million
dollars or something. He's doing okay too, So that's a
worthy dork of the Week.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
I've got something of my own and it's related to
the Yankees, and it's all the people and life actually
might have been included in this conversation, all the people
who thought Sonny Gray couldn't pitch in New York, and again,
I might have been one of them. So often I
tell fans this all the time, and I try to
be deliberate in telling people this. So often we don't
(24:43):
know the whole story, and we can only judge by
what we see, and that's fair and by what we hear.
But with Sonny Gray, there was more to the story,
and I heard it yesterday and then Eric Kratz alluded
to it on FT. What he said was that the
Yankees tried to change Sonny Gray. I'm not going to
get into all the d details, the sweeper, slider cutter stuff,
but they tried to change him and the Red Sox,
(25:06):
from what I understand it basically told Sonny Gray, you
come here, you just be yourself, and that was what
caused the problem for Sonny Gray, the difficulties he had
with pitching coach Larry Rothschild not New York. Sonny Gray
is not afraid and he showed he is not afraid.
Demonstrated it yesterday by waving his no trade clause to
go to the Boston Red Sox, another high pressure market.
(25:29):
He could have vetoed them. He could have just waited
until the Cardinals found a taker in a different market.
But that's not what he did. So all of us
who question Sonny Gray, hey, we're the dorks of the
week because you know what, there was more to it
than met the eye.
Speaker 5 (25:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
Twenty seventeen with the Yankees, Ken eleven starts three point
seven to two Era one point a war. Twenty eighteen
with New York twenty three starts a four to ninera
and point one war. So all right, good luck in Boston,
Sonny Gray. Another historic franchise. He's pitched for a lot
of them in his career. All right, for those of
you still with us, thanks so much on this pre
(26:07):
Thanksgiving show. Doctor, I don't even know how to say that,
Doctor Foo to you, Doc, I don't know. I don't
want to get myself into trouble there, So here we go.
He take her run at Bregman as a second baseman.
Apparently he was willing to move last off season. So
what do you think about the position change for him.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
That's an interesting question because he was willing to move,
and in fact, when the Red Sox acquired him initially,
there was some talk of him playing second base, with
Devers staying at third. I expect, for the right deal
that Alex Bregman would be willing to move, but I'm
not sure I see an opening with a team at
second base that would necessarily justify that. Now, granted, I'm
(26:49):
just taking this question. I'm not looking at the entire
landscape at this moment, but it seems to me his
greater value would be a third. Could be wrong about that,
and certainly, with both him and Bob Baschett, teams can
look at those guys at a variety of positions. With Bishet,
the chances are he will move off of shortstop become
a second basement or third baseman, And with Bregman certainly
(27:11):
can play second or third as well. But he's still
a pretty good defensive third baseman, and if I were
a team looking at him, that's where I would want
him most. Now, if I'm a team with a deficiency
at second, I'm certainly talking to Alex Bregman and saying,
you know, what what do you think?
Speaker 2 (27:27):
Yeah, very interesting. All right, a baseball related to something,
Ken Rosenthal that you are thankful for as we get
ready to say goodbye here, all.
Speaker 1 (27:36):
Right, Alan, I've thought about this a little bit and
I've got a surprising answer. I am thankful for Rob
Manford introducing the pitchclock because the pitchclock has transformed this sport.
It has made it a more entertaining product. It has
made it something that has become again kind of a
hot sport. And you measured that in a lot of ways,
(27:58):
and maybe people would say I'm overstating it, but it
definitely has changed things. It's definitely made the sport more watchable.
And that's the whole point, right, It's an entertainment product.
So kudros to Manfred and MLB for getting that done.
There were some questions about it, questions about how it
would affect the game effect perhaps injuries, but it has
(28:20):
been a resounding, resounding success.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
Yeah, so much dead time is gone thanks to that
pitch clock. I agree with you there, I'll see your
pitch clock. I will raise you. Players really embracing the WBC. Ken,
I love the WBC. I always have and I feel
like players are so much more inclined to want to
play for their country. Whether it's international players of course,
which are such a huge part of our game. It's
(28:45):
such a global game, but even American players are really
wanting to put on the USA jersey and play for
their country. And I think that's really special. And when
you see shohe Otani be able to pitch to Mike
Trout for the final out of the WBC, I think
that's really something that is incredibly, incredibly special. I am
thankful for you. I am thankful for our Foul Territory family. Ken,
(29:06):
enjoy your Thanksgiving to all of you guys. Thanks for
being here. We appreciate it. Ken happy thanks to J Right,
Yeah sure even AJ Sure? Why not have a happy
Thanksgiving everybody. Dodgers Territory returns tomorrow and Ken is back
on Monday, ten am Eastern. Have a great week, everybody.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
Bet.
Speaker 3 (29:28):
I'MGM account holders today. How about in any sport parlay
boost token you could score a bigger payout if your
wager with that token. Hits tokens can be used on
parlays and on same game parlays. Gambling problem or concerned,
there's help called one hundred gambler
Welcome everyone to the pre Thanksgiving edition of Fair Territory.
I'm Ken Rosenthal here with my friend Alana Rizzo. We
are getting ready for the holiday. Of course, we hope
everyone is well during their travels, their preparations, and we
have still a baseball off season that is in Alana.
I would call it the formative stage.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
How's that it is, Ken, good to be with you
as always, Happy Thanksgiving everybody. I would say, Ken Rosenthal,
that our sport is incomplete. It seems like all thirty
teams still have a lot of holes to fill.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Absolutely, Alana. And we've seen a number of moves so far,
and frankly, each of these trades that we've seen have
only led to more questions, even going back to Grayson
Rodriguez for Turner Taylor Ward and then the Sunny Gray
trade yesterday, and then of course we can talk as
well about the Brandon Nemo from Marcus Simeon trade. When
(00:53):
you look at the Gray acquisition by the Red Sox,
you wonder, okay, is he the number two starter that
they were talking about or are they going to do
something else. They have a lot of possibilities for that rotation,
and it looks pretty good, Frankly Crochet, Gray, Bayo, Cutter,
Crawford coming back, Connor Lee Early, Peyton Totley, all of
these guys. Patrick Sandoval perhaps, but it just seems to
(01:16):
me that Sonny Gray is not a number two. I
know they love his strikeouts, I know they love the
strikeout to walk all that. It's all good, but is
he that guy at thirty six? Well, I'm not sure,
but I'm sure the Red Sox are thinking about many
other things as well, upgrading their offense being one of them.
And then the Mets the Brandon Nemo trade. Now, this
(01:37):
was a very interesting trade in so many ways, Brandon
Nimo from Marcus Simeon, and I get what the Mets
are doing in terms of trying to shake it up,
but I question whether Brandon Nimo was the right guy
to shake it up with. I don't see him as
the problem. He's three years younger than Simeon, and while
Simeon will upgrade them defensively, they're getting him for his
(01:59):
ages thirty, thirty six and thirty seven season at a
time when he is in offensive decline, a two year decline,
so they have to do a lot of other things.
They've opened up a hole in left field here, and
they already have questions in centerfield. They've got the kid
Carson benj coming. Are you going to commit to him? Wow,
that's a big question. And then, as Will Salmon writes
(02:21):
in our notes column today it's a combined notes column,
Will myself Katie wu He says, well, Hey, the fact
that they just traded Nimo got out of his long
term deal five years left by the way, a deal
that yes, was too long to start with. Do they
really want to enter into another long term deal with
the Cody Bellinger or Kyle Tucker? And if they don't,
(02:43):
then how do they fill their outfield holes? So these
are just some of the questions that have arisen in
recent days with these moves. And obviously we've got a
long way to go this offseason, Alana, and a lot
more will happen. It's just as you look at these
moves right now to think there's got to be more,
and yes, there does have to be more.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
And when you think of the New York Mets Kennon,
obviously with the ownership group, you don't imagine that they're
outfield or their positions that need to be filled are
going to be filled by two highly touted prospects. Maybe
one position is enough for a prospect, but two if
you're the New York Mets, I don't know that they
can put all of their thoughts in that basket.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
No, I don't believe they will. And hey, they've got
some young starting pitchers too that are going to enter
the mix this year. They're not afraid of young players.
Like all teams, they want to mix in young players
to help balance the payroll. Young players give a team life.
There's many things to recommend young players. But you're right along,
and they're not going to take a team centered around
Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor and simply say, you know what,
(03:46):
we'll go with kids and left kids and center kids
in the rotation. Not happening. They're going to do things.
And they still have two big players out in free
agency that they want to resign, or at least we
think they want to resign Edwin Diaz. They certainly want
him back, and then Pete Alonzo, it's kind of questionable
whether they want him to come back or at least
(04:08):
be a first basement. If he comes back, he's going
to be a DH In.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Part the closer market ken and you mentioned Edwin Diaz.
I believe he headlines that market. But the outfielder market
isn't that deep. I mean you're talking about probably Kyle Tucker.
I don't know if the Mets are going to want
to take on that salary, considering they just got rid
of Neimo's salary and Tucker figures to be three times that.
And then you have Cody Bellinger. Does he go from
(04:33):
the Bronx to Queens? What are you thinking?
Speaker 1 (04:36):
I would say it's possible. I don't know that you
can ever rule anything out with Steve Cohen as your owner,
but I don't know that it's likely. And then the
question becomes, if you're not doing Tucker, if you're not
doing Bellinger, how are you going to solve this outfield
question that you have. I mentioned the prospect Carson Benjo. Okay,
that's one maybe, and then you have a thin outfield
(04:58):
market in free agency b on those two guys Tucker
and Bellinger outstanding choices, but beyond them, Harrison Bader and
a few others, And then maybe they have a trade
in mind because they do have a number of young players.
They've built up their system really well. Maybe a trade
for nowfielder. I kind of sense that coming with them,
but I don't know for sure. It's just that they've
(05:20):
created a problem here by trading a long time franchise stalwart,
a guy who's extremely popular among fans and who is
still productive in decline somewhat but still productive, and here
they are looking for outfielders.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
It's going to be interesting, It really is, because five
years at one hundred and two million or one hundred
and five or whatever was left on Brandon Nimo's deal
is going to be a lot less than what Cody
Bellinger or certainly what Kyle Tucker are going to garner
as far as the free agent market is concerned. Moving
from the New York Mets and the NL East to
the Brewers in the NL Central, Ken Rosenthal, Brannon Woodruff,
(05:56):
we know that he's gone back to the brew Crew.
Good for him, and wu is Freddy Peralta Brandon Woodroff
an automatic one two tandem for the Crew.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
I don't know that I would say automatic, because the
Brewers are a team that are constantly looking to move
payroll to create payroll flexibility. But at the same time,
Will Salmon and I wrote an article I believe it
was last week after Woodriff accepted, in which we quoted
both owner Mark Attanasio and President Baseball Operations Matt Arnold
saying they are excited about the rotation and saying that
(06:30):
Woodriff doesn't necessarily lead to a trade of Peralta. They're
on the record saying this now things change. We all
know that you can't hold people to their words forever,
but it just seems to me trading Freddy Peralta when
you're only paying him eight million. I know it's only
in a relative sense, that would be a counter productive move.
You've got a potential rotation headed by Peralta, then with
(06:52):
Woodriff and Mazerowski and some others, that's potentially a real strength.
The question for the Brewer is, okay, then how do
you create that flexibility we talked about. Do you trade
a reliever like Trevor McGill You do about four million
next year, that doesn't create that much flexibility, Or and
this is the obvious solution to me here, do you
(07:13):
assign Brandon Woodroff to a multi year deal at a
lower average annual value than the qualifying offer number, which
was just over twenty two million, That to me seems
to be the way to go. Maybe you do Woodrof
at three years, forty five million, you take seven million
dollars off the twenty twenty sixth salary, and you go
from there. I'm not saying that's going to happen. It
(07:34):
just seems to me to be the most obvious solution.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Do you also deal a reliever in terms of lowering
Brandon Woodruf's aav down. Make it a multi year deal.
Do you get rid of a of a relief arm?
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Yeah, maybe you do both and that creates I don't know,
ten million, twelve million in flexibility. Again, these are hypotheticals.
I'm just throwing it out there because this is a
team that generally has to maneuver like this and tries
to maneuver like this to keep their payroll at a
certain level. They've got some offensive needs, they've got some
other needs. Bullpen actually was one. But I just don't
(08:11):
know how they're going to do it. And this is
a team that is endlessly creative, and I expect that
we're going to see something funky from them, and I
don't expect it to be a trade of Freddie perraulta
less unless the return is just so overwhelming, and you
always have to have that caveat in any circumstance. If
a team gets overwhelmed, they'll trade any player. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Sticking in the Central, let's talk about the Saint Louis Cardinals.
Katie Wu does a great job. Of course, your colleague
with the Athletics. She wrote about it yesterday. Nolan Arnado,
ken is all but gone. But we've also been saying
that for three years. What do you think happens with Ronado?
And more importantly, Hein Bloom now attaches money to retaining
better prospects. What's going on in Saint Lois?
Speaker 1 (08:52):
That was a watershed trade for them yesterday. And I
know the return is Richard Fitz and the prospect that's okay,
That's not what I'm talking out. The watershed moment was
the inclusion of twenty million in that trade to pay
down the salary of Sonny Gray make him a twenty
one million dollar player for the Red Sox next year.
The Cardinals generally have not done that much in the past,
(09:15):
but now that they've done it once, I expect that
they would do it again for Ronado and maybe even
Wilson Contreras. If Wilson Contreras changes his mind and says,
you know what, we're tearing it down a bit here,
I'd like to go. And he has no trade, as
does Arnado, as did Gray, and all of that is
part of the equation here. But what the Cardinals are
(09:35):
doing is trying to reset their team, and this is
overdue with them, and they have some other pieces Brendan Donovan,
Lars Newt, Bar, Nolan Gorman that they can also trade now.
I don't know that they're going to tear it all
the way down and just become a non competitive team
for three or four years. I don't necessarily expect that.
(09:55):
But the Sonny Gray move brought them back a major
league picture in fits, a high potential prospect with Brendan Clark.
They got some things going in this trade alone that
if I'm a Cardinals fan, I'm encouraged by it because
it was time to rip the band aid off. They've
done that. They've got a long ways to go, and Arnatto,
(10:15):
who knows where he might end up, maybe the Red
Sox if they don't get Bregman back. Katie listened to
a few other teams. I don't know that any is
a great possibility, but clearly they are motivated to do
some things here, and.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
Man, I tell you what that is the big domino
I think as a position player can to fall. I mean,
obviously Kyle Tucker to a certain extent, but what happens
with Bregman at third base I think will constitute what
happens in a lot of other places as well. Nolan
are not willing to expand his no trade clause. Again,
this is a guy that's been in trade talks or
at least conversations for a number of years. Now, where
(10:49):
do you think, realistically Nolan ends up. Does he go
to the Tigers? Do you see him someplace else? Is
Boston a fit?
Speaker 1 (10:59):
I don't know. And it's a little bit problematic with him. Now.
He's a Hall of Fame player, he's one of the
greats of this generation, one of the great defenders we've
seen in this sport period. But he is in offensive
declient or has been now. Maybe getting out of Saint
Louis and a change of scenery it's not the easiest
park to hit in would do him well. But Katie,
(11:20):
I'm sorry, Alta, I'm thinking about Katie's story. I don't
see an obvious fit. And maybe it's Detroit, but they're
not going to want to necessarily take on a lot
of money. Maybe it's some other club, But this is
going to be an interesting scenario to follow because, as
I said, there's no clear cut team with a needed
(11:41):
third base that says, oh, I've got to have Noan Arnaudo.
It's going to be a tight squeeze for whoever does it.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Yeah, it is strange. It would be nice if you
could have like just a designated defender and throw Nolan
Arnaudo out there with the decline in terms of offense.
But you're right, he's headed to Cooper cent I truly
believe that. All Right, much more to come on Fair
Territory with Ken Rosenthal on this pre Thanksgiving live episode.
Get your questions in. Ken will be answering them next
(12:07):
right after a couple of words from our friends at Foul.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
If you are still carrying a clunky leather brick that
can be mistaken for an old school wallet, may I
introduce you to what Eric Kratz is getting himself for
the holidays.
Speaker 4 (12:23):
I mean, this is the greatest wallet that I've ever
seen in my life. Your credit card's fitting here. It's
a justable lifetime guaranteed like what like? This is a
must have for the holidays.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
Absolute must have Ridge Olive matt That is the design
that Kratz has right now and you can get a
hold of that. There's over fifty plus colors and styles
to choose from. Over at Ridge. You can even get
a wallet that features every NFL, MLB or college team.
And for a limited time, Ridge is having their huge
Black Friday sale. Head to Ridge dot com slash foul
(12:56):
to get up to forty seven percent off your order.
This is by far the big discount they've given all year.
That's Ridge dot com slash foul for up to forty
seven percent off your order during their biggest sale of
the year. After your purchase, I'll ask you where you
heard about Ridge. Tell them foul Territory sent you.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Okay, welcome back to fair Territory. Get those questions in
for Ken Rosenthal. Not often do you get to ask
Ken a question directly. The first one Ken is in
regards to the Mets outfield. We were talking about it earlier, right,
we know that Nimo isn't there. They have some holes.
So this question, given the fact that Tatis Junior is
still a two hundred and eighty six million of three
hundred and forty because you see the Mets taking on
(13:39):
a bad contract Darvish or Croninworth to fill an outfield hole.
Thoughts on what San Diego would want. My friend, I
guess is a is a Padres fan.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
Well, there's a lot here to think about, and one
is would the Padres even trade Tatisse? And yes, they
are in much more of a financial buind than they've
been in in past years. They don't have as much
flexibility and they have to address their pitching with Cese
and King free agents, and Robert Suarez as well a
free agent. Would they trade Tatis? Yankee fans? I think
(14:11):
I've been fantasizing about this too. It seems to me
right now it's more fantasy than reality. Tatus is a
beloved player in San Diego. He is still young, he
is still highly productive. He's been a bit more inconsistent
than you would want. I get it, but man, I
have a hard time seeing them doing that now. The
idea of attaching another contract Tatatosa's contract, that's an interesting
(14:35):
idea too. And then the question becomes if the Mets
are taking on all they that money, what are they
giving back? And the return diminishes the more money you
take on as a team. So if you're the Mets,
you're taking all of Tatis and all of Crona worth.
You're telling the Padres, uh huh, that's what we're doing.
We're taking all this money off your hands. You're not
(14:55):
getting our premium prospects in return. To me. It's all
on a fantastical it's not necessarily going to happen, but
it's going to be interesting to see what San Diego
does this offseason to create some flexibility because they are
again not as well positioned as they've been in the
(15:17):
past to spend money. When Peter Sidler passed, it became
a different equator. And they're for sale as well, So
all of these things enter it. But man to trade
tatiss I just see that as too far a bridge
to cross.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
Yeah, that's a big one. That's a big ask if
you're a Met fan for sure. All Right, this is
in regards to the Boston Red Sox. Are the Red
Sox going to re enter the top five payroll now?
Considering that they seem like they're ready to compete. We
know that Sunny Gray is there. You don't necessarily think
he's a number two, but he is an upgrade in
most estimations of Lucas Giulio. Do they re enter the
(15:53):
top echelon of spending money?
Speaker 1 (15:54):
Ken they're in position too, There's no question about that.
And the Devor's trade created all all this flexibility for them,
and it enables them now to play in the deepest
waters possible. Are they top five again next year? I
don't know exactly, but it certainly seems like they're going
to be aggressive. And one more thing about the Red Sox.
(16:14):
People were critical of Craig Breslow as chief baseball officer
early and the deadline the first one wasn't so great. Okay,
last off season was one of the best off seasons
in recent memory by any team. It was Crochet, it
was Narvaas, it was Chapman, and then it was topped
(16:35):
off by Bregman four for four with those guys. So
Breslo by doing that, in my mind, should have increased
the faith of Red Sox fans in his ability. Now,
the Devs trade is a whole different story. It's a
whole different scenario. Entirely, but I'm interested to see what
they do. I don't love the Gray move if he
(16:56):
is the only starter they get. But again I think complete.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
We knew that the Red Sox can. We're not going
to be able to extend Bregman in season, even in
wildcard postseason, because he's a Scott Boris client. Free agency
is king when you're a Boris client. I respect that.
Does Bregman go back to Boston or is he playing
third for somebody else?
Speaker 1 (17:16):
I expect him to be back in Boston. And in
free agency, when you say something like this, you're playing
with fire because free agency things happen that you never expect.
I say this all the time. It's actually true. Of
all transactions, none of these trades that have happened so
far were anticipated by anyone, and free agency can be wild.
(17:36):
But with Bregman, it was such a good fit. He
was so perfect for them. Now he's going to be
perfect in the estimation of other clubs on their rosters
as well, and all it takes is one to obviously
take him away. But man, he is really the right
guy for the Red Sox.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Yeah, I tell you what, And I don't think anybody
embraced the Boston culture as much as Alex Regman did
last season during the postseason, posting clips from the town
trying to get into the postseason. But he knows what
Boston fans want. Ken Rosenthal, all right, shaq fu for
f four Z has this to say. What's AMI's best
landing spot to compete against the Dodgers' long term?
Speaker 1 (18:18):
It's a good question, and we're going to get to
him I in a little bit, But the Yankees are
certainly a team that's going to be in The Giants
have been linked to him. I guess they've been scouting
him or had been scouting him, as all teams have.
What's fascinating about him is that he doesn't want to
be a Dodger. And again, we're going to get to
that the next segment. And I've got some things to
(18:39):
say about that.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Ken Rosenthal, He's in the next segment, perhaps, Dude and door,
all right, Thanksgiving us tomorrow. We hope you all have
a wonderful Thanksgiving. Ryan s seven four one four wants
to know football on TV or holiday movies? Ken, big
family gathering or a small cozy one pumpkin pie or
apple pie that is a headed question there, all.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
Right, pumpkin pie. First of all, that's number one football,
yeah for sure over holiday movies. And it's our favorite
family holiday, Thanksgiving is and we gather our whole family
for it. So yes, it's not a big gathering necessarily,
but it's a priority for all of our children who
are living all over the place to get back home good.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
I love that. Happy Thanksgiving to you and Lisa and
the Rosenthal family. For me, it's football for sure. Never
a holiday movie. I can't stand Hallmark. Yeah, big family
gathering is fine. And no pie, okay, just wine, just wine,
all right, that's gonna do it for her girl and
Ken here on this Wednesday, when we come back after
a word from our friends at Foul, we're gonna be
(19:44):
talking about our dude and dork of the week.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
Hey.
Speaker 3 (19:47):
For all the parents out there with teens, it's more
hectic now than ever.
Speaker 4 (19:51):
Cash App's gonna help not her with.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
The cash App card, available to teens thirteen to seventeen
with sponsorship by an eligible parent or guardian. Every transaction
triggers real time notification for you to see, empowering your
team to practice independence while giving you peace of mind
By keeping track of their spending. You can also manage
everything directly from your own cash app account without having
to switch between the two. With the cash app card,
you and your team's balances received twenty four to seven
(20:15):
fraud monitoring, and if something ever feels off, you have
the ability to lock their card right from your phone
in just one tap. For a limited time, new cash
app customers can earn ten dollars if they use code
family ten in their profile at sign up and send
five bucks to a friend within fourteen days. Terms apply.
Cash app is a financial services platform, not a bank.
Banking services provided by cash apps bank partner, prepaid debit
(20:36):
cards issued by Sutton Bank member FDIC, direct deposit and
promotions provided by cash App, a Block Inc.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
Brand.
Speaker 3 (20:42):
Visit cash Dot App Slash Legal Slash podcast for full disclosures.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
Dude, dude, dude.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
All right, I want to start this, Sonny Gray. Good
for you, buddy, forty one million dollars for two thousand,
twenty six. I believe it is one of the biggest
contracts in terms of a one year payout. Ken, you
wouldn't certainly know more than I for a pitcher. Good
for him, doesn't matter where the money comes from I
have to take forty one million in a heartbeat. And
now he gets to pitch for a possible contender, and
(21:16):
that's good for him as well.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
No question, Sonny Gray a worthy choice for due to
the week. And I'm going to go with the guy
where we're just talking about before we went into break
my dude of the Week, Tatsuya am I. And here's why.
Too often in this sport we get sanitized answers, we
get a non bulletin board material because everyone is so
careful with what they say. This dude might already be
(21:41):
my favorite player because what he said was he wants
to beat the Dodgers. He wants to take them down.
He doesn't want to be a Dodger. Now, I'm not
ripping the Dodgers or questioning that or anything like that.
They're great, we know that, back to back World Series champions.
But this is what you want to hear, and this
is the kind of thing that shows you the kind
of competitor that Amaya is going to be. He said,
(22:04):
of course, playing together with Otaniyamamoto and Sasaki sounds like
it could be fun, but winning the World Series by
defeating a team like that is something I feel we'ld
truly have value in my life. I cannot wait for
this guy to get here. And David Bissey tweeted that
the host of Dodgers Talk, he's already trying to stoke
the fire. Perfect, let's go.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
But where does this hatred? Where does this vitrol for
the Los Angeles Dodgers come from? Where does it come from?
Speaker 1 (22:32):
It's a competitor. It's a guy saying, you know what,
it would be cool to take them.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
Down, and to take them down. Where does he end
up to take them down? Who's going to be the
competitor that's going to take down the Dodgers.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
I don't know exactly, Alanna. We're gonna find out in
free agency. But I remember Mark Messier, before the New
York Rangers won the Stanley Cup in nineteen ninety four,
said you've got to slay the dragon. Now, he was
talking about the dragon of the Rangers past and all that.
But that's what in my saying here, we want to
slay the dragon. Good luck to you, buddy, Yeah, no.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
Doubt about it. It's fun. I love it. I do
think it is good for the sport, certainly for people
to want to take down the almighty Dragon. I get
that very much. Okay, time now for our dork of
the week, all right, Ken Helstein Berner, I mean it's
(23:28):
mine's Helsteinbrunner. I mean, I don't know how it could
be any how, it cannot be anybody's dork of the week.
You're trying to tell me that we can't assume that
the New York Yankees are profitable. I don't care, Ken Rosenthal.
If the New York Yankees go oh and one's sixty
two for the next two decades. The New York Yankees
are one of the most profitable franchises in all of sports,
(23:52):
Ken Rosenthal, not just our great game of baseball. This
is silly. I want to say, as you said it
on Foul Territory. Open the books, let me see, let
me see the p and L of the New York Yankees.
I guarantee you that the New York Yankees are profitable.
Speaker 5 (24:07):
I would expect that the New York Yankees are doing okay.
And if hal Steimer is frustrated with the way his
finances are, he can sell them for what eight million
dollars or something. He's doing okay too, So that's a
worthy dork of the Week.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
I've got something of my own and it's related to
the Yankees, and it's all the people and life actually
might have been included in this conversation, all the people
who thought Sonny Gray couldn't pitch in New York, and again,
I might have been one of them. So often I
tell fans this all the time, and I try to
be deliberate in telling people this. So often we don't
(24:43):
know the whole story, and we can only judge by
what we see, and that's fair and by what we hear.
But with Sonny Gray, there was more to the story,
and I heard it yesterday and then Eric Kratz alluded
to it on FT. What he said was that the
Yankees tried to change Sonny Gray. I'm not going to
get into all the d details, the sweeper, slider cutter stuff,
but they tried to change him and the Red Sox,
(25:06):
from what I understand it basically told Sonny Gray, you
come here, you just be yourself, and that was what
caused the problem for Sonny Gray, the difficulties he had
with pitching coach Larry Rothschild not New York. Sonny Gray
is not afraid and he showed he is not afraid.
Demonstrated it yesterday by waving his no trade clause to
go to the Boston Red Sox, another high pressure market.
(25:29):
He could have vetoed them. He could have just waited
until the Cardinals found a taker in a different market.
But that's not what he did. So all of us
who question Sonny Gray, hey, we're the dorks of the
week because you know what, there was more to it
than met the eye.
Speaker 5 (25:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
Twenty seventeen with the Yankees, Ken eleven starts three point
seven to two Era one point a war. Twenty eighteen
with New York twenty three starts a four to ninera
and point one war. So all right, good luck in Boston,
Sonny Gray. Another historic franchise. He's pitched for a lot
of them in his career. All right, for those of
you still with us, thanks so much on this pre
(26:07):
Thanksgiving show. Doctor, I don't even know how to say that,
Doctor Foo to you, Doc, I don't know. I don't
want to get myself into trouble there, So here we go.
He take her run at Bregman as a second baseman.
Apparently he was willing to move last off season. So
what do you think about the position change for him.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
That's an interesting question because he was willing to move,
and in fact, when the Red Sox acquired him initially,
there was some talk of him playing second base, with
Devers staying at third. I expect, for the right deal
that Alex Bregman would be willing to move, but I'm
not sure I see an opening with a team at
second base that would necessarily justify that. Now, granted, I'm
(26:49):
just taking this question. I'm not looking at the entire
landscape at this moment, but it seems to me his
greater value would be a third. Could be wrong about that,
and certainly, with both him and Bob Baschett, teams can
look at those guys at a variety of positions. With Bishet,
the chances are he will move off of shortstop become
a second basement or third baseman, And with Bregman certainly
(27:11):
can play second or third as well. But he's still
a pretty good defensive third baseman, and if I were
a team looking at him, that's where I would want
him most. Now, if I'm a team with a deficiency
at second, I'm certainly talking to Alex Bregman and saying,
you know, what what do you think?
Speaker 2 (27:27):
Yeah, very interesting. All right, a baseball related to something,
Ken Rosenthal that you are thankful for as we get
ready to say goodbye here, all.
Speaker 1 (27:36):
Right, Alan, I've thought about this a little bit and
I've got a surprising answer. I am thankful for Rob
Manford introducing the pitchclock because the pitchclock has transformed this sport.
It has made it a more entertaining product. It has
made it something that has become again kind of a
hot sport. And you measured that in a lot of ways,
(27:58):
and maybe people would say I'm overstating it, but it
definitely has changed things. It's definitely made the sport more watchable.
And that's the whole point, right, It's an entertainment product.
So kudros to Manfred and MLB for getting that done.
There were some questions about it, questions about how it
would affect the game effect perhaps injuries, but it has
(28:20):
been a resounding, resounding success.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
Yeah, so much dead time is gone thanks to that
pitch clock. I agree with you there, I'll see your
pitch clock. I will raise you. Players really embracing the WBC. Ken,
I love the WBC. I always have and I feel
like players are so much more inclined to want to
play for their country. Whether it's international players of course,
which are such a huge part of our game. It's
(28:45):
such a global game, but even American players are really
wanting to put on the USA jersey and play for
their country. And I think that's really special. And when
you see shohe Otani be able to pitch to Mike
Trout for the final out of the WBC, I think
that's really something that is incredibly, incredibly special. I am
thankful for you. I am thankful for our Foul Territory family. Ken,
(29:06):
enjoy your Thanksgiving to all of you guys. Thanks for
being here. We appreciate it. Ken happy thanks to J Right,
Yeah sure even AJ Sure? Why not have a happy
Thanksgiving everybody. Dodgers Territory returns tomorrow and Ken is back
on Monday, ten am Eastern. Have a great week, everybody.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
Bet.
Speaker 3 (29:28):
I'MGM account holders today. How about in any sport parlay
boost token you could score a bigger payout if your
wager with that token. Hits tokens can be used on
parlays and on same game parlays. Gambling problem or concerned,
there's help called one hundred gambler
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
Two Guys, Five Rings: Matt, Bowen & The Olympics
Two Guys (Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers). Five Rings (you know, from the Olympics logo). One essential podcast for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. Bowen Yang (SNL, Wicked) and Matt Rogers (Palm Royale, No Good Deed) of Las Culturistas are back for a second season of Two Guys, Five Rings, a collaboration with NBC Sports and iHeartRadio. In this 15-episode event, Bowen and Matt discuss the top storylines, obsess over Italian culture, and find out what really goes on in the Olympic Village.