📅 Published on: 2024-12-11 14:38:41
⏱ Duration: 00:55:24 (3324 seconds)
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Dive into the latest MLB news and updates with us! We break down the 2024 MLB Draft Lottery results and discuss the Yankees’ move for Max Fried. Plus, we analyze the Guardians and Blue Jays trade, Roki Sasaki’s potential landing spots, and wrap it all up with a recap of the Winter Meetings featuring insights from Kevin Henry.
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Timestamps:
Intro: 0:00
Draft Lottery: 2:11
Max Fried to Yankees: 10:12
Guardians-Blue Jays Trade: 18:59
Roki Sasaki Free Agency Buzz: 33:16
Winter Meetings Insights (Kevin Henry): 42:14
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🕵️♂️ Transcript:
Loaded show Max Fred is a New York Yankee andrees Jimenez was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays and the Astros are reportedly listening on stars like Kyle Tucker and framber Valdez so it’s a perfect time to play general manager for the Houston Astros and we’re also going to do the same for the Kansas City Royals but first Roki Sasaki was posted today and his agent Joel wolf sat down with reporters at the winter meetings to give us some more clarity on where the 23-year-old Jack jaanese Phenom pitcher may end up we’re also going to check in with our winner meetings correspondent Kevin Henry to talk about what he’s been hearing on this edition of the just baseball show Wednesday December 11th you got arm Laden I am Peter Apple arm we’re also going to discuss the number one overall pick Washington Nationals congratulations and all of this is brought to you by bet MGM the king of sports books remember folks to use promo code just base for up to $1,500 back in bonus bets make sure to rate and review this podcast wherever you listen and hit that subscribe button on YouTube and make sure to like and keep up with the convo in the comment section below I said before I press record button arm I had to write down this intro because there are so many things that just happened to the leadup of us pressing the record button can you say something because I’m out of breath right now I was about to say I was waiting for you to go just just just take your breath there I mean dude we good thing we pushed the episode back it’s funny you and I hopped on Zoom we were like all right we’re about to go and then you’re like wait the draft lottery is in like 40 minutes we might as well wait in that time the draft lottery became like the third most interesting thing that we were going to end up now discussing an hour in change later and that’s why the winter meetings are so incredible draft lottery was very funny very awkward too I do want to talk a little bit about that I they need to figure out how they’re going to go about that the broadcast what why was Colton cowser doing the picks do do you know why I don’t know I don’t know I don’t know why the Blue Jays traed Rogerson met is either I don’t know any of this what’s going on and cower just looked so uncomfortable the whole time just like with the 17th pick it’s the Toronto Blue Jays or whoever has a 17th pick and then I think he meant like you’re so used to hearing with the 17th pick and then a player name but there’s no player name it’s just what pick you have so he he seemed like almost like stopping himself every time um there’s nothing funny though than the panel of guys and like when they get absolutely hosed just seeing their face just like yeah and a couple teams got hosed none worse than the Marlins we’ll talk about all that uh what’s the order here you you listed it all out we have a million things to get into don’t want to take us off of the path but my gosh we could start anywhere so let’s stay on path let’s start with the number one overall pick congratulations to the Nationals I want to hear you kind of break down the draft lottery in a little bit more detail maybe talk about a few few players that you think could potentially go number one overall then we’ll talk about the max free deal to the New York Yankees then we’ll talk about the Andres Jimenez trade to the Toronto Blue Jays then we’ll talk about Roki sasaki’s comments or excuse me Joel wolf Roki sasaki’s agents his new comments what this is all getting messed up and then we’re going to meet with Kevin Henry to hear what he’s hearing during these winter meetings and then we’ll play general manager with the AST and the Royals does that sound like a good plan sounds great to me up to you Nationals get the first overall pick what’s your reaction because they didn’t have the best odds to get the number one overall pick that was the Rockies and the Marlins how does this all work yeah so it’s a bunch of bunch of pingpong balls right and you know the Marlins and the Rockies had a 22.5% chance which was ahead of everybody else that if you’re wondering what about the white socks the white socks were barred from having a top 10 pick or a lottery pick you know because once you pick inside of the top 10 a couple of times uh you can’t do that three times in a row which I I actually like that you know it disincentivizes the idea of just consistently tanking if you can’t get your [ __ ] together after two years of having a top pick and presumably selling and whatever like screw you you don’t deserve another top pick so uh the white sock not able to pick in the top 10 but that also made it a little bit more wide open for whoever else could maybe crack the the top five I didn’t think it would shake out the way that it did in terms of you know a lot of the lower probability teams jumping into the very top of this the Nationals for example had a 10% chance at the number one pick that was the fourth I odds but for the Mariners they had a 0.5% chance at the top at the number one pick they end up still grabbing a top three pick the third pick if I’m not mistaken um the Angels like they they had a good chance at the top pick they they had an 18% chance so they had the third highest probability of you know grabbing the number one selection they end up grabbing two so it’s really fascinating I like the lottery I know Marlins fans are probably livid about it right now I don’t blame them I know Red’s fans they felt like they kind of got screwed but then it came back to them um you know the next year it it disincentivizes just outright tanking obviously teams are still going to sell and rebuild and all that good stuff but like at least it makes it a little bit less clearcut of okay well if I have the worst team I know I’ve got the number one pick like the marwins should look at this and say hey maybe we try to sign a couple free agents now and and see if we can give it the old College try next year with the pitching staff we have they obviously won’t do that but that’s the goal of this I think Lottery now that they’ve implemented is you shouldn’t just automatically be rewarded for having the worst team in major league baseball do you like this Lottery system yeah that’s what I said I do like it like it’s you shouldn’t be automatically rewarded for having the worst team you’re still going to have a top pick like in top 10 10 pick and an opportunity to rebuild but like it shouldn’t just be hey if we’re the worst team we’re going to have the biggest draft pool to work with and we’re going to be able to you know do whatever we want and and you know I think it’s not just the number one pick it’s the the bonus pool that you have we talk about being able to go under slot with the number one pick and then you can now get a first round talent in the compensation round or the second round and really just maximize your potential it gives you so much more ability it’s almost like the international bonus pool it’s like you now have a larger pool than everybody else that’s inherently going to be an advantage um I I I don’t think teams should be that much rewarded for not being good consistently yeah absolutely and I am curious too and I know it’s super super early um to be figuring out who’s eventually going to go number one overall in this draft there’s a lot of time they have to have a full college baseball season so this answer is definitely going to change just like it it was JJ weatherholt right around this time last year and then of course it ended up being Travis bazana but right now the Nationals just got the number one pick who are the way too early options that the Nationals can go with yeah I mean Ethan holiday I think that’s the name that a lot of people have been talking about for a while now of course brother Jackson holiday and you know there’s a lot to like there obviously great blood lines great situation there and a guy that’s expected to be one of the top picks and then I think you look at like Jay Lavalette outfielder from Texas A&M massive massive massive power potential but also Jamie Arnold that seems like the best fit and it could be this is a perfect opportunity here right where it Jamie Arnold left-handed pitcher from Florida State he might not be the number one Prospect in the draft but if you really need a pitcher and you know the Nationals do you can now take Jamie Arnold with the first pick UND slaught him if he doesn’t you know he couldn’t dominate end up being the clearcut number one pick funky Lefty really interesting but let’s say he isn’t for the sake of the argument you could save money with that number one overall selection and then now use that to get another potential first round Talent with your next selection so it just affords the Nationals so many different opportunities and ways to kind of mix and match but also you could just chalk it and take the number one player available and feel really good about that as well um so it it puts them in a really good spot I also you know think when you look at their situation it really allows them to bolster up that system that’s already good that they already have Dylan Cruz up there they already have James Wood they already have all these pieces I think it puts them in an awesome spot and then you look at the number two pick with the Los Angeles Angels we’ve we know we’ve seen them draft guys that they could push quickly and now I mean they’ll have the number two pick where they could really push somebody quickly and it could be the best college bat in the draft right if Laval let’s there to them they could take him and he could be in the majors tomorrow so like that’s going to be really cool uh with that wrinkle and then the Mariners is just a fun one because they’re the best team within this top 10 on the major league side of things and they somehow were able to get the number three pick despite a zero .5% chance at the number one pick like the Mariners they always get creative with the draft they could also do some really fun things and then I also think it was nuts at the Cardinals uh you know were able to get that number five pick they had less than a 1% chance at the top pick as well so you know some teams that are in a little bit better Big League situations getting top picks is is definitely helpful but just also to round out the rest of the top 10 Rockies have the fourth pick Pirates have the sixth pick Marlin seven Blue Jays eight Reds nine and then the white socks 10 because that was the best pick that they could have you can’t pick inside of the top 10 um after doing that two consecutive years prior so Nationals fans got to be hyped you got the number one overall pick the year after getting Dylan Cruz like you said James Wood and they of course have CJ Abrams still at the top and they have plenty of young pitchers also we watch Brady house at the Futures game that dude hits absolute Moon tanks if you’re a Nationals fan right now you have to be incredibly excited about the future and Yankee fans they weren’t really excited about what would happen after losing Juan stto I’m sure it took a second at least for me a Yankee fan to get over that a few days later Max Fred eight years $218 million the highest amount of money guaranteed ever given to a left-handed pitcher in baseball history arm yeah which is crazy it is crazy it doesn’t seem like it with the numbers we’ve had thrown out you know over the last couple years and especially this year that feels like that number the the largest deal to a left-handed pitcher like ever would be so much higher kind of shows you how you know rare it is to to be able to Corral an elite elite left-hander um and also just the timing of things and I’m sure another left-hander is going to come and and top that sooner rather than later you you got to be thrilled if you’re a Yankees fan right you talked about it just just what’s the pivot going to look like you have an opportunity here of course you wanted juano but you have an opportunity here to you piece together the team and let’s be honestly Yankees needed more than Juan stto obviously you want to have one of the best hitters in the game but like they have an opportunity now to fill a couple voids this was a huge void I think it’s pretty crazy that they’re going eight years here but it seems like that was what they needed to do to be able to get him um and you know with with other teams competing including the Red Sox and you really don’t want him to go there after just losing Juan sto to to the Mets you don’t want to lose out on a pitcher now to your rival as well they had to go an extra year or two it may not age the best on the back end but I think with Freed’s Arsenal and everything it has a chance to uh at the end of the day you’re focused on the next three four years uh especially with the fact that you know a lot of money’s going to come off the books in year seven eight um even in the next five years a lot of that money will come off the books for the Yankees so you’ll cross that bridge when you get there hopefully Freed’s still good when he’s 3738 but I think the Yankees are more focused on how he’s throwing from age 30 to 34 and there’s a chance he could be one of the better arms in baseball so so much needed addition and you I think balances out a rotation that kind of needed a a pitch ability guy yeah love the fit for the Yankees uh for a few reasons number one I got a lot of hate for this online when I tweeted it out this stat Max freed since the year 2019 ranks 20th in Major League Baseball in innings in that span since 2019 he has a 3.06 erra among those top 20 pitchers in Innings since 2019 that is the second best erra only trailing Garrett Cole so I came out and I said he’s been very durable and I got a lot of push back I think most notably from Braves fans and just general Yankees haters which I can respect right the general Yankees haters online you know there’s some good back and forth there but I was surprised because it was as if I said he was Steven strawber or excuse me it said I was the opposite of Steven strawber guy who’s never been on the field or something like that these are the facts 20th in Innings since 2019 he has made at least 28 starts in every season outside of 2023 when he got injured it’s been consistently 160 to 180 innings for Max freed barring one injury season in 2023 and he pitched the majority of the 2020 shortened year so yes Braves fans has he been on the I a couple of times yes but look around the landscape of Major League Baseball what pitchers haven’t so in this day and age 824 innings in the last five years is durable yeah if you were top 20 innings in that span that’s the definition of durability and then in that span he’s been the second most productive pitcher in Major League Baseball another reason I like the fit Yankee Stadium short porch and right field it’s a little bit easy e to get the ball out of the ballpark well Max freed in 2024 had the second lowest ground ball R in baseball only trailing framber Valdez and notably ahead of right-handed pitcher Logan web of the San Francisco Giants he’s a big- Time pitcher he’s pitched in a lot of Big Time games he’s a lefty which is great and also it opens up a few more possibilities for the Yankees because right now they rotation looks like Garett Cole Max freed Carlos rodon Luis heel Clark Schmidt but they also still have Nester Cortez Junior and they also still have Marcus strowman and now Yankees Twitter is a buzz could Luis heel or Clark Schmidt be packaged in a huge deal to get some big time bats potentially but what it does mean right now is that these five pitchers that is one of the best rotations in Major League Baseball now the team needs more work you lose out on Juan stto you definitely need to add more bats so I love the fit but if this is the end of the Yankees off season this is truly not good enough it creates a great rotation but it cannot be enough here so in terms of the contract eight years 218 million 27 million per for eight years for a 30-year-old pitcher yeah it’s a little bit too much we said that as soon as we before we press the record button I said it was a little bit rich I could admit that right we could admit that yeah but we also see how the market is unfolding Alex Cobb just signed with the Detroit Tigers he passed his physical and they gave him $16 million after throwing about 16 Innings last year the market for pitching is just really really expensive there were multiple deals on the table there was multiple seven-year deals according to you know all of these ports and the Yankees to get their guy probably had to do the eighth year to get him is it the most rational choice is it the perfect amount of money no but I think to sign any free agent in this day and age especially in this off season with so many teams going after especially pitching you’re GNA have to give up a little bit more if you want your guy and that’s what they did so the grade I would give it I think it’s an A minus deal I that’s fair I think it’s a if you’re a Yankee fan today you should be very very excited like I am and you you shouldn’t be worried about the money I would only be worried about the average annual value because you want to have some flexibility to do some more things and I think the Yankees clearly are okay blowing past some of the the tax thresholds but yeah there’s a certain point where you you can only go so far financially um and and I think you know 27 million aav like that’s that’s a pretty good deal as you mentioned with like Alex Cobb getting 15 16 with escal that could bring it up higher than that and a good deal like I I like him as a fit but um you know 10 million more per year basis like Max freed is one of the better pitchers in the game of course you’re paying for the money on the back end and it’s almost like a a mini deferral right where you know you’re adding the year on and and that’s part of the value that freed was able to get out of this deal but the difference is like if he just pitches as at an okay level when he’s in his later 30s you know his V will be down a little bit but he’s got this assortment of pitches and you know he’s surv ding for you like that’s fine I don’t think you’ll be too worried about that in you know 2033 but I think ultimately for for right now this is the guy I think that you had to have circled I look at Corbin Burns as well but I honestly think that freed might be a better fit for the Yankees than Burns and he’s probably going to be cheaper I think Burns is going to start to push closer to 250 I’m really curious to see what that number ends up being might be more yeah and you know I I think Fred is is the best fit for the Yankees and gives them something that they really needed you talk about the ground ball rate too the Yankees were like back half of the middle of the pack I think 16th in Major League Baseball in ground ball rate uh last year and you know I think if you’re the Yankees and you talk about you know where they can have the propensity for the Home Run given the the dimensions of the stadium you want to be in the top 10 and in ground ball right you know so I I think that’s something that absolutely helps them a ton and you know you know that rhon and Garrick Cole aren’t going to get you a ton of ground balls right like garri Cole 38% ground ball rate rodon 34% ground ball rate Clark Schmidt 40% ground ball rate Lis he 35% ground ball rate like a lot of the ground balls were actually coming from the bullpen so if you’ll get a starting rotation as well even less grounders like it is good to have a guy like freed kind of balancing out this rotation absolutely let’s move on to the trade Andre simz and right-handed reliever Nick sandin friend of the just baseball show is headed to Toronto in exchange for first baseman SLC baseman Spencer hor witz and we were talking before we pressed the record button again saying Spencer Horowitz was the second best hitter on the Blue Jays last year only to Vladimir Guerero Jr now it’s interesting because Andre CA signed a pretty decently sized extension with Cleveland and I have been very very upset because I see a lot in Andre Jimenez I think he’s a great player and I’ve said that but over the past few years the bat has just been simply non-existent and at second base his defense is as good as it gets but it’s second base maybe they have a plan to move him over to shortstop but then what is truly his value because you expect the defense to diminish a little bit of course when you go over to shortstop from second base and then if the bat doesn’t show up he’d be a very good defensive Short Stop without much of a bat how much value is that and then you get Nick sandin who is coming off a tough year but it’s proven that he is at least a solid reliever in the long run but if you are a Cleveland Guardians fan and I think we share the same opinion you cleaned up here I mean I thought they did an excellent excellent job and I know it creates a little bit of a log Jem again at first base because he has played some first base but I think that you can basically kind of lock him into second base but is Travis bazana going to come up there’s a lot of different ways that we can work around this deal but if I’m a Cleveland Guardians fan I have to be really really excited here and I’m sorry Blue Jays Nation like I think the Guardians won this trade but we also don’t have all the details we’re recording about 20 minutes out after the deal has been made so maybe this isn’t the finalized deal but again we started the podcast what 15 minutes ago and we still haven’t heard anything yet yeah it’s making me nervous that it might just be the finalized deal somehow which it just doesn’t make sense to me like the there’s got to be money going the other way there’s got to be something going on because look and and Guardians fans should be happy if the Guardians reinvest some of this money that they’ve presumably cleared up into bettering the team um I I I love the addition of Horwitz because I I think this is a guy that’s one of the more underrated bats the problem for him is kind of where do you play him it’s kind of a tweener second base first base profile but he’s a guy now that can fill in a lot at second base in the meantime and also a guy that if you do end up moving off a nailer can play some first base as well he’s just a pure hitter that I think really fits in well overall um the Guardians apparently are also receiving Nick Mitchell so they got another Prospect as well who was recently a fourth round pick and put up some okay numbers in uh low a this past year so I I want to see the money side of things I’m hoping that there’ll be some more details there because that’s a lot of money to take on um I I’d imagine that the plan would be to move Jimenez to shortstop when you move off of Bo bashet maybe they’ll trade bashet this off season maybe they’ll wait now and have bashet play short and Jimenez play second and then Jimenez will then move to short next year like 2026 I don’t know it gives them some some options if you look at the smaller sample sizes at shortstop jimenz has gritted out as a well above average Defender so maybe you know that defense holds AS Plus then it makes a little bit more sense but looking at the contract now it’s 10.5 million in 2025 it’s 15.5 million in 2026 then 2027 through 2029 is 23 million per year with a $23 million Club option in 2030 that’s a lot of money for defense yeah like that’s a lot of money and understand the short stops aren’t cheap but like man I they’re really B like banking on a bounce back here and Shout Out Johnny Juna from the gate 14 podcast love what he does on social media I love that whole group I think they’re hilarious what they continually brag about and I know they’re kind of joking but it is important that they’ve won the team Gold Glove award in back-to-back years so you’re adding more defense and trading away bats that’s why I think it doesn’t make a lot of sense to us on top of everything is that even the fit for the Toronto Blue Jays because if you plan to move them over to short step that means bashet is gone one of your best hitters right I know he’s coming off a a really bad year offensively for Bo bashet but it’s still Bo bashet we expect him to bounce back so if you’re not then going to move off bashet that means it’s second base defense where it’s not as valuable as a center fielder even a third baseman a short stop a catcher it’s important but it’s second base defense especially without the shift as well so I’m I’m trying to find the light for the Blue Jays do is there a light here what would be look at this trade right now what is Ross Atkins thinking like try and get into his head even though I know you think it’s a bad deal for Toronto doing I think Ross Atkins is one of the worst Executives in the sport at this point I I really do um we talked about it even when they snuck their way into the playoffs like the way that they go about things I think you look at a lot of the roster moves I I don’t totally get it thought he made some good moves at the deadline uh so give him some credit there I think he’s looking at it like 19 million aav for a guy that should be our short stop moving forward with a high floor even when he doesn’t hit well he’s a three- win player so you know you move him to Short Stop even with that defense being being maybe a little bit you know a little bit neutered like it’s still going to be more valuable from a war war perspective that means bichette’s gone like if they’re moving him to short that means bashet like they can’t there’s no way that they’re then better I I think I think if if you move bashet at that point now I think that they’re they’re feeling like they can add to the offense in other ways are they going to add uh you know a free agent outfielder or spend somewhere else like clearly they want to spend like they they were in on stto as well they were in on Otani before and if that’s the case you took on this money but as soon as this year it’s it’s still just 10 and a half this year it’s 15 and a half in 2026 and then it really escalates in 2027 onward but you hope at that point maybe the the offense has regained a little bit but regardless they can now still go spend a fair amount of money and if you move bashet kind of wipes away I think he’s what is he going to get in arbitration this year I’d imagine it’s a pretty decent size check so I think they’re going to the only way that this could be justifiable is if they go out and spend spend spend and I think they could and by the way B bash’s supposed to make 17.5 million this year so if you move bashet that technically would clear up 7 million this year and then go spend on some top free agents that’s the only way that this could make sense to me I think they should have moved anyone other than Horwitz I think he’s a really underrated bat but I also understand that they have Addison Barger coming up they probably still in or Elvis Martinez like they they still have other guys in the fold there but I’m with you like they need offense and I think the only way that this trade is is justifiable is if they go out and sign some dudes and they tried with SoDo so maybe that’s what they’re going to do so here’s what we’re talking about with Spencer Horowitz for anyone who’s not too familiar with his game so Spencer Horowitz in 2024 SL 265 357 on base percentage with a 433 slug he hit 12 home runs in 328 at bats but really displayed some excellent plate discipline only struck out 18% of the time while walking 11% of the time now he’s not known for his speed but like arm said hits the ball pretty hard always puts up a good at bat and a 790 Ops adding that bat into the Guardians lineup when they already play great defense kind of around the diamond Guardians fans just have to be happy to get that type of bat because if we’re looking at Andre simz just over the past few years offensively it just hasn’t been good enough right 2022 was the breakout year in 837 Ops that’s when he signs the big time extension and then from there 713 Ops in 2023 still stole 30 bags hit 15 home runs it was good enough to be a solid player and he is 26 years old he’s a year younger than Spencer Horowitz but then in 2024 a 638 Ops he didn’t even get on base at a 300 clip home runs dropped down to just nine batted ball quality was really really poor didn’t walk at all a 4.1% walk rate but he’ll still steal he’ll still steal bases he’s going to play elite elite defense at second base but it’s a 638 Ops at second base it’s just yeah there’s speed and there’s defense but and you’re also paying a good amount of money for him too it’s you’re hoping the bat comes back because he did show it a few years ago and he is just 26 years old but if you look at a graph of his Ops right now we’re trending down yeah right and this isn’t just one down year after back to back great years this is a trend 8:30 to 713 down to 638 I mean that’s just 638 dude 638 Ops he and he said let me grab him that that’s a guy that I want on my team and if he hit the open market to this right now let’s say he’s a free agent he’s not getting 90 million I think he’s getting a one-year deal yeah maybe a one plus one he’s 26 years old so maybe someone would give him a multi-year deal but what would you pay on the open it would be it would be like I’d give him a I’d give him a multi-year deal if it was low aav just knowing the floor is so high because the floor is high who would you rather sign gber Tores or Andre cenz oh man I mean I’m just thinking in my head if I like I was a Yankee fan and we traded um cabber Torres and a reliever for Spencer Horowitz I’d be like hell yeah I mean it would be awesome Torres has objectively been a much better bat than Andre Jimenez has they’re like the opposite of each other which is funny and they’re both valuable like in different ways in terms of what they do well and then what they’re deficient at but I mean at the same price point I don’t know man like I I almost I almost want to take the offensive upside especially if I’m if I’m the Blue Jays and that’s the crazy part is they could have just signed glaber for a fraction of what Jimenez is Ed and then just waited to figure out the shortstop thing chilled with bichette for another another year you’re if you’re trading him now you’re still trading him at his lowest could have just let him go recoup the comp pick give it a shot this year with him there and I I just I I’m I’m going to wait until I fully blast this deal until they do some more things or don’t but you again if they if they allocate money and and and really bolster up this offense and Jimenez ends up playing short for them I could start to maybe understand it a little bit more do you think I could just hear the YouTube comments below and blue jays fans Guardians fans fans of all teams let us know are we overvaluing Spencer Horowitz a little bit after that season is 27 years old I just really liked the bat last year even even just it is crazy that Horwitz was in the deal but like even just taking on the contract in a vacuum is crazy to me uh but I I mean you know Horwitz may have you know had some some good B of ball luck or whatever the expected stats wouldn’t really indicate that I think he just hits I think there’s you know a value the value for of a player like that is somewhat capped because of the defensive limitations but again if he can just get by at second or first base like this dude’s going to be a solid solid hitter that I think can hover around the high 700s Ops and and just be a good bat for you like a lot of their other you know young bats are still trying to find that footing at the big league level I just don’t understand why you would trade one of the few young guys that fully found that footing last year I know he’s not a great defender at second base and that’s probably part of the reason why they wanted to move him like it is probably more of a first base profile but still I would have Lov to have had that bat in the fold for me the bigger part of it is just taking on this deal but if money ain’t a thing and they’re going to keep spending like I I don’t think I wouldn’t let Spencer Horwitz stop me from adding Jimenez in a vacuum but again the money side of it makes it crazy to me that then they’re also adding Horowitz to it I think that Spencer horist haters or uh maybe big- time Blue Jays fans can point to the fact well Army can’t hit lefties at all or at least he didn’t last year SL 194 272 250 against lefties but then against righties where he’s going to face most 2853 8484 for a for an 864 Ops against right-handed pitching I mean that’s mostly what we’re going to get and Andre simz put up a 574 Ops against left-handed pitching too so yeah it’s a lot of value in defense here and I get it for a team that is already arguably the best defensive team in major league baseball though like that’s the team that Andre Z men is again I think if he’s playing short I get it a little bit more they better get really creative and make a lot of moves to make this make sense all right so before we talk about Roki Sasaki and the agent his agent Joel wolf his comments which gave us a little bit more clarity on potentially what situation would fit best for the 23-year-old Japanese Phenom we’re going to take a quick break so Joel wolf Roki sasaki’s agent met with reporters today as we’re recording ing Tuesday December 10th where he announced that the 23-year-old is going to be officially posted today right he’s going to be eligible to sign as an international amateur free agent once the next International signing period begins on January 15th and remember that doesn’t mean he is going to be signed by January 15th team teams actually can’t sign him until the 15th when this new period op the 45-day posting period ends January 24th so Sasaki is most likely going to sign in that week between January 15th and January 24th but that’s not what I really want to talk about here I want to talk about Joel Wolf’s comments because he said to reporters at the winter meetings that the media in Japan gave Roki Sasaki a very hard time for his desire to leave the mpb for Major League Baseball a few years earlier than like a yoshinobu Yamamoto might in Japanese culture and this is according to an article on the athletic it’s considered disrespectful and and I quote as a result Sasaki has been subject to false rumors and accusations so arum I want to read you this quote and it’s kind of long but it’s super super fascinating to kind of get inside the head and it’s also at the end of it I don’t understand why Joel wolf even said this so and I quote I think that there’s an argument to be made that smaller midmar Market teams might be more beneficial for him as a soft landing spot coming from Japan given what he’s been through and not having an enjoyable experience with the media it might be I’m not saying it will be I don’t know how he’s going to view it but it might be beneficial for him to be in a smaller Market I really don’t know what he looks at it yet because I haven’t had a chance to really sit down with him and discuss it with him in great detail so I’m bringing up that quote for a few things number one I’m fascinated by the fact that he took the media Scourge to Heart right that might have really affected him I’m also surprised that he and his agent haven’t sat down and talked about that yet yeah or maybe they have and he’s portraying this unsureness about it that whole quote fascinating to me yeah that was that was wild I you know well the the reality is every team can give him roughly the same amount right some teams a little bit more based on the bonus pool allocation but for the most part like it’s going to be out of that limited International bonus pool so there’s not much incentive to you know cozy up to the big Market teams and I think a lot of ball clubs and and you know even us including the narrative I think a lot of people in media just all right it’s going to be one of the big teams why would he want to go anywhere else uh especially when all things are equal but I I think this was wolf maybe saying hey we want everybody to give it their best shot sasaki’s going to give everybody a fair look so I took this a little bit as just him encouraging all 30 teams to to give their best pitch but it’s still interesting because there I think there is a lot of truth to this like Sasaki did not have an easy timeout there I mean if you read the statements from his team when you know from the Marines when he when he left was like very weird and like you we had some ups and then and sasaki’s like we had some ups and downs but I appreciate them letting me go and like apparently it was he made it very obvious that he wanted to get out of there for a while now and as you said that kind of rub people the wrong way um it seemed like at times like there was some clash with the team and everything like that so that softer Landing I could understand like I don’t know how he he would handle then if that was a struggle for him like in New York or you know La I get that so I think some of it was just to let smaller Market teams know like hey you got a shot like he will will look everywhere but it was it was interesting to be so outward about that it’s not going to turn anybody off everyone’s still gonna offer him the same thing but like other than encouraging all 30 teams I didn’t really see much gain in in doing that I feel like it almost might bring more scrutiny when he comes over and saying like why did he rub people the wrong way I think people are going to be like more hyperfocused on that now that’s what I was saying and then the fact that he says we haven’t even talked about it and I also you said that these big Market teams are still going to offer them what the same thing you don’t think they’d be a little bit turned off by that or at least look into it further like if you’re Brian Cashman of the Yankees if you’re Andrew fredman of the Dodgers even if you’re AJ preller of the Padres Jed ho sure but then you’re signing him for six six seven million do like yeah who cares you know if if if it’s a problem you can probably trade them or whatever if it’s not working well plenty of teams will still be lining up to take a shot at him but it’s just it I I didn’t see much benefit to that like there was a lot of other ways where I think you could have made it clear to all 30 teams that it’s going to be a very open process um maybe I mean these these agents are smart and Joe W’s a smart guy yeah he’s smart as [ __ ] he could be playing the game a certain way and there’s a reason why he’s moving these chess pieces the way that he is but I’m with you like it didn’t really make a lot of sense if I were him I’d want to be doing anything to to really put that behind him right like and like just kind of erase that narrative like the one thing you have working in your favor is like there is not a lot of conversion over to like Japanese media and what we have going on over here like we don’t really know what what what they’re running out there stories wise we don’t see a lot of it so like if there was criticism like most of us aren’t that privy to it so I I thought that part was was was interesting but I appreciate the honesty and like some of the things that I was hearing from scouts were that you know sometimes the body language was a little bit frustrating sometimes you know teammates were frustrated with him and and and you know that he’s a young guy so I think just acknowledging that um it still was a bit of a surprise what what I do like about this though is it feels like it is a lot more open than the media made it to be and and I think that’s good news like it should be a wideopen process instead of just oh he already has this agreement with the Dodgers blah blah blah blah blah like it seems like that’s probably not going to be the case and um you know with those comments I I I really do believe that it is wide open and speaking about those West Coast reports because we’ve heard throughout this process that the two teams who have the best chance of signing him are number one the LA Dodgers number two the San Diego Padres and it makes sense because a lot of us think well Japan is closer to the West Coast it’s that easier trip over if he wants to bring family in California especially with the Dodgers right they already have these Japanese players in San Diego you have you darish and it’s a great landing spot for a future stud like Roki saki but Joel wolf was asked about is their Coastal bias and he said and I quote from this athletic article I think about five or 10 years ago that was something that maybe they weighed a little bit more but now you can fly direct from Japan to most of the major cities in the US it’s not really that much of an issue anymore so I think that first furthers your point about opening it up and saying hey we’re open to any Market we want to hear the pitch from everybody so I think that is kind of Joel Wolf’s plan but I think he was just a little bit too honest there I didn’t think he had to include all that stuff about the media and about how hard it has been and that’s one thing and then saying we haven’t talked with Roki though about it we aren’t sure is like what have you been talking about that you’re just your favorite food your favorite color I yeah like I guess maybe they were going to wait until they get all the the pitches anyways but like you still should kind of figure it out and and figure out the due diligence and and get ahead of it a little bit I I I think the side of it that you know we haven’t had a conversation much about it is is kind of wild to me too but I think that was also in part to to combat The Narrative of and the false accusations that he he very much was was adamant like we don’t have an agreement in place have barely talked about it so I think that was part of what maybe was was the point of him saying that and we’re lucky because we have Kevin Henry official bbwa writer at the winter meetings he sat down with our Jack McMullen for about 15 minutes to go over what he is hearing at the winter meetings right now Kevin Henry an exceptional writer at just baseball.com is at the winter meetings in Dallas in Arlington is it Dallas downtown right right in the Heart of Dallas here at the Hilton anat and yeah it’s welcome to the media room here here in Dallas that’s phenomenal it’s very beige I will say but uh you you have hit this insane fever pitch in the last 20 minutes or so where you had the conclusion of the MLB draft lottery and then you had Max freed signing with the Yankees and then you had Andre simz going to the Blue Jays as we record right now we’re waiting on that return from Toronto to Cleveland but in terms of overall temperature CU I’m sure a lot of people listening to this and watching this have never even sniffed the winter meetings you know maybe some have gone for the job fair you know or you just know that’s a place where things happen what does the hotel lobby look like right now yeah the hotel lobby honestly it’s so it’s dark uh as we record this it’s dark out there so it’s got the Christmas light it’s got the holiday feel to it and all that stuff but it’s lit up also with people on their cell phones I mean there is all sorts of activity going out there you know U you talked about the BL J trade I guarantee you all the Blue Jays media members are out there right now trying to figure out what that return is uh so so there’s just so much activity and the thing is about this is that you know it’s not just the MLB clubs I I ran into folks with the Tulsa Drillers that I know real well you know so a lot of the MBS out here as well it’s it’s just crazy how busy it is and just winding your way back here to The Press Room yeah it’s it’s definitely got some Buzz for sure it’s one of those landmark events on the baseball calendar and I think one that that flies under the radar because there’s not actual baseball to be played around it you know you think about Allstar Weekend and you know you’ve got the Futures game and then you’ve got the Derby and and you’ve got the you know celebrity softball game and all that but this it’s it’s strictly transactional is there much socializing that happens there or a lot of people just glued to their phones all in the same place no there’s the you know the Starbucks is the hot spot there’s a couple of restaurants that are RVE by here so it’s always packed doesn’t matter the time of day there’s always people in there and again it’s it’s it’s networking you know there’s a lot of folks for jobs here but there’s a lot of folks just try looking for that latest rumor uh and there there are definitely some deals being made here I mean as you said it’s blowing up right now it’s crazy yeah I mean it has been a a quick moving Tuesday and we’re going to check in with Kevin as well on the Thursday show on Wednesday evening but uh earlier on Tuesday you were in a media scrum involving Joel wolf of waserman who represents Roki Sasaki and that is one of these stories one of the main stories that has come out of the winter meetings aside from you know 200 $100 million contract and the night before they actually kicked off a $765 million contract but sasaki’s situation is is intricate and it’s layered um and teams obviously will be working with a set pool of money and pretty much everybody can be a contender what we know for sure is because he was posted and because International bonus pools essentially reset on January 15th Sasaki will sign between January 15 and January 23 Kevin what else else did you pick up from Joel from sasaki’s agent when it came to the process in which you know he’ll make his way stat side yeah I think for him this is going to be such a learning process you know he made very clear one of the things that I picked up from Joel wolf was that Sasaki doesn’t know much about American cities he doesn’t know much about the landscape he watches the MLB games he says he keeps up with the teams and everything else but there’s a difference between watching the Dodgers and really knowing what la like and so I think that this is going to be a huge indoctrination experience for him and he also talked about how that you know one of the the interesting quotes and I did a story for just baseball on this he talked about how that a mid Market team may be a really good soft landing spot for him and you saw the people in San Diego perk up big time whenever that was mentioned yeah so you know there’s a lot of things already connecting the Padres to Sasaki but I think that that gave them so much hope now that maybe this is something that they could actually see become a reality yeah I love that you bring that up and I think mid Market the word mid is very important there because I think a lot of people saw oh Sasaki wants to uh prioritize development oh he’s going to Tampa Tampa is not a mid-market organization they are a small market organization but the Dodgers and the yanies and the Mets are all large Market organizations right San Diego fits that bill I’ve been pounding the pavement that I think Texas makes a lot of sense for Aoki Sasaki and and Texas is you know a mid-market team why do you feel like that could be endearing aside from you know getting his feet wet and obviously I I saw the quotes about the media presence in Japan causing some some angst with him and and I think that’s such a big point is that that Joel wolf kept talking about what kind of person saki West today we all know the pitcher but but today was about the person and about that he’s really kind of a private guy and that he’s somebody that he he doesn’t talk a lot in fact uh Joel was kiddingly saying that he talks so much saki kind of shuts him down because he’s like that’s enough talking for right now let’s move on to something else and so I think that just knowing all that it makes more sense to go somewhere that’s maybe a little quieter maybe a little more laid-back where you know that you could truly develop into your own person and really you know let’s be honest develop your own brand develop your own identity I think that’s an important thing for Sasaki yeah being a frontman is is a very you know intriguing option for a guy like him um I know Joel spoke a a little bit about prioritizing teams with you know fellow countrymen on the roster and how that may not be at the top of his list no and you know there’s been all sorts of people we talked about San Diego a minute ago and that it was G to be a shoe in because of UD darish and the relationship there you know Joel kind of put a little bit of cold water on that you know basically saying that you know he doesn’t really know the relationships and and maybe we shouldn’t read too much into that because for Sasaki it was as much about learning what he did during WPC with these teammates that were on that and learning from them as much as any other relationship so if you take a grain of salt from that you look at that WBC roster well there’s a lot of options obviously for saki there 100% um you heard from Joel wolf you’ve heard from you know several agents I think Boris addressed the media uh at the beginning of the winter meetings um dropped a couple puns did he have any puns that stood out to you or no you know I’ll be honest I did not hear I I wasn’t around for him but I can tell you just the difference in tone between Joel Wolf’s press conference where he reluctantly went up on the stage here in The Press Room versus Boris you know holding Court it was a night and day I’m sure um you’ve also I I’m sure heard from Plenty of Skippers and Executives as well and I saw um tying back to your your Rocky Roots as well I know Kors is your home ballpark I watched Bill Schmidt on MLB Network and I I heard him mentioned that chase dander has you know should be given every opportunity to make the team out of spring training there were some really interesting nuggets from Bill when it comes to the quotequote let the kids play movement very much so and and we got a chance to go up in the suite with Bill and talk to him a little bit more one of questions that I ask him because we know we know how Cal quantrol is loved at just baseball we know that right you know and obviously no longer with the Rockies and I asked Bill Point Blank I said was letting Cal go a very much an indictment of what you think about this next generation of pitching coming in that you feel like they’re going to be ready and his answer was absolutely you know and so I think you could read a lot into that yes they’ve got felner and gomber and Freeland and Marquez and catella they’ve got their five right now but it’s also something that we know a lot of those guys been injury-prone a lot of those guys have also been shall we say setback prone whenever it comes to the stats and so I think that they will absolutely I I would be stunned uh just after talking and listening to bill here if you don’t see dander up there by Memorial Day wow okay so dander you know again given every opportunity to make the team at of spring and Kevin is saying by Memorial Day you also have a couple other intriguing arms Sean Sullivan a funky Lefty Carson Palmquist a funky Lefty as well so some execs there we’re with Kevin Henry at just baseball.com and I do want to ask about um some of the Skippers media availability so Terry Frank cona Craig Council two of which jump to the Forefront of my mind but I I do want to start with Bob Melvin because he has a very unique circumstance in his hands right now and that is working with a new president of baseball operations in Buster posy and he had some pretty reviews about Buster it seems yeah they you could tell that they have clicked automatically and you think of all the moves that are made this offseason I think San Francisco elevating posy and him putting his fingerprints I think we’re going to look back at this offseason ago that was probably one of the biggest moves that was made by any team and and and absolutely he and he and Melvin have clicked already and I think you see that with the Willie Adamas deal is that they wanted to make sure that they were not the also ran of this year as they have been in the past and and I think that they have absolutely made that Mark and and yeah I I I’ve you know I spent a lot of time around Bob Melvin you know like he said that KS you know he would always come through with the Padres and now with the Giants and and he’s he’s got a little different uh attitude uh it’s a little little gleam in his eyes shall we say I think that you know him and AJ PR didn’t exactly mesh in San Diego and I think that he’s finally s found somebody that he does mesh a lot with him posie I I think he’s got a baseball guy in Buster posy and I you know that’s no indictment on AJ PR obviously AJ is is very good at what he does but you know AJ was not an All-Star AJ was not an MVP Buster posy was an Allstar and Buster POS he was in a Dugout for you know over a decade so I’m sure that is something endearing another guy that has been in dugouts for quite a while that’s going to be a new one in 25 is Terry Frank cona yeah and you want to talk about glean in somebody’s eye it seems like he’s doing backflips right now he he is you know and he he literally Jed about how he hadn’t had a surgery in 11 months and how much that he really feels like he can get back and everybody was asking you know was there a moment when you felt like you wanted to come back and he made it very clear he said I didn’t really want to step away but he knew it was the right thing to do for his health he knew it was the right thing to do for the Guardians and so I think for him to be back and also have a very young exciting core in Cincinnati uh you know let’s let’s face it you know Milwaukee is going to be the favorite to win the NL Central again but there’s a lot of those other teams in their Cubs Cardinals Reds we don’t exactly know what they’re going to look like and I think Fran Kona could could really provide a good spark for them in Cincinnati Kevin last one for you is about those Chicago Cubs who are you know in the mix in the National League central the temperature around the Cubs is a little weird right now it because yeah they’re not operating like the Yankees or the Mets or the Dodgers yet they are a brand they they are a brand that is similar to the Yankees and the Mets and the Dodgers and the Red Sox Craig Council said some interesting things I read about it uh on just b.com in your article he he said you know he doesn’t think that they’re going to be quiet this offseason I I’m curious based on what you’ve heard based on you know the people that you’ve talked to what does that mean so so I think being quiet there’s different levels of volume right there there’s the Yankees the Red Sox the Phillies I think there’s that level I think the Cubs are a different level I think that they’re going to be in on some guys that are maybe second or third tier they’re not going to be those top free agents and I think that’s one of the things that you know just talking to some of the guys from Chicago here you know the fans are frustrated about that they feel like that there is an opportunity in that Nation League Central and and why would you sign Craig Council away to run a midling team right and so yeah you know so there’s a there’s a lot of questions about that and like you said the temperature is a little funky right now uh so I think you’re looking at the Cubs being one of those teams that’s going to be in on some of the lower level guys they’re still going to make some changes in the roster they’re still going to be competitive but whenever it comes to the you know the SOS the Freeds all these teams that we’ve already seen gone off you really noticed that none of them have been closely connected with Cubs unfortunate Uh Kevin appreciate you we will talk to you again tomorrow last time we checked in with you you were in Kansas City and you opted for a barbecue joint that wasn’t Arthur Bryan’s are you going to Terry blacks in Dallas what’s the word you know I I don’t want you to not invite me back if I tell you I went to another barbecue place last night but there’s one close to here Ferris beers or sorry Ferris wheelers Ferris was the movie Yes exactly yeah there you go so Ferris wheeler uh it was all you could eat barbecue night last night for 25 bucks so I will tell you the the pulled pork level here in Dallas went down considerably last evening there’s no yeah wow that’s what dreams are made of though all I was happy yeah I had the meat sweats and I loved every minute of it absolutely that’s phenomenal Kevin Henry I appreciate you in we will talk to you on tomorrow show thanks my friend appreciate you excellent conversation with our Kevin Henry he does great work you can find a lot of his written work on just baseball.com putting out plenty of Articles again about what he’s hearing at the winter meetings whether it be with the Draft Lottery lottery whether it be with Roki Sasaki or all the other rumors trades free agent signings that you’re going to find so make sure to keep up with his work on just baseball.com
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