📅 Published on: 2024-11-23 22:00:18
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Today, Reagan and I recap, grade and give insights into every National League team in Major League Baseball.
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🕵️♂️ Transcript:
ladies and gentlemen welcome in to around the bases episode 2 the long awaited episode 2 it’s been the entire season um I do apologize your boy’s been working on building my career down in South Florida um and that’s going pretty well but we got to give some attention to the fans of around the bases as well and my name is Caleb Dean and I’m joined by my co-host Reagan loer and the purpose of our podcast tonight we’re going to be recapping the entire MLB season we’re going to be giving some grades to every single major league baseball team and we’re going to be talking about what each team’s future looks like moving forward and before we get started make sure you check out those crew necks that around the felt is dropping they really are cream of the crop m rip they are magnificent so you better get your hands on one of them yeah you better get your hands on one of them because it’s getting chilly outside you gotta be comfy cozy as D says but anyway saying that he do be saying that comfy cozy but anyway we’re a couple weeks removed here from the MLB season but I don’t care baseball’s always on my mind so I’m always down to talk about it and you know I’m doing this for for myself I’m doing this for you guys and let’s talk some baseball let’s hop right in National League East the Phillies the Phillies won the National League East their record was 95 and 67 they made it to the National League Division Series and I’m G to give them a B minus for their season because they fell short again they’ve put themselves in a position to compete the past few years and they just haven’t gotten over the hump and in my opinion they took a step back this year they basically ran the same Squad out there again this year not too many modifications there but they they couldn’t get it done when they went up against the Mets in the nlds I knew the Mets were going to win I don’t know why I just had a feeling and sure enough the Mets kind of embarrassed the Phillies the Phillies kind of looked lifeless in that series their Bullpen exploded I believe they posted up like an 11.0 erra in the postseason which just opened the gates for the Mets but I mean in the regular season you got to give the Phillies props they were on Pace for 14 wins on June 8th I remember I made a reel about it maybe some of you saw it how dominant the Phillies were looking but they kind of fell off a cliff in the second half they only went 51 and 51 including the post season from that June 8th deadline right there so Reagan I’m wondering if you have any Impressions on the Phillies any guys who stood out to you yeah so to me I mean obviously uh their pitching was I mean obviously nowhere to be found come playoff time but in the regular season I mean obviously Rangers swz was dominating in the first half I mean I know a lot of Phillies fans were calling for him to win the Sai Young uh he may have had a good chance if it was just you know half a season but in the MLB ex it’s not it’s not 80 games it’s aund 62 and obviously wheeler uh their true Ace on the mound had an incredible year uh I mean 16 wins to go with a 2.57 ER I know Chris hail last night uh obviously got announced as the NL young but I mean Zack Wheeler was right there so I mean this guy was just the driving force behind it uh one thing I will I mean Nola obviously was 14 and eight but I mean he just hasn’t to me been the same I think a lot of that like a 3.5 save in the ra just a guy that gets a lot of run support I know his strikeouts were better and obviously it was much improved uh from 2023 but he really hasn’t looked like he did in that 2022 season so and funny enough in that season uh which was honestly one of his better Seasons he won 11 and 13 so that just speaks to you know how winning wins and loss is really aren’t a pitcher stat yeah um but yeah I mean I I I ended up giving them uh a B minus though or I’m sorry a b um and that’s like you said it’s you know going to the NL uh uh Championship or divisional series no no well two years ago what do you um oh yeah yeah two years ago they yeah NL pennet game and they lose to the Diamond Backs and then to take a step back and not even reach that point where it’s like you know at that point you should be taking a step forward not a major step backward so you know that that great regular season but that doesn’t matter and I think if you ask Philly fans it’s a it’s a it’s a bad season honestly you could have probably given him worse but it’s hard to give a team that won 95 games know lower than a B minus at the minimum right yeah and I mean like their pitching their pitching is really good as you mentioned Zack Wheeler right up there with the uh sa young vote winners and Christopher Sanchez is a guy who I picked out as kind of a breakout this year he uh he Inked himself a long-term deal with this Phillies Squad they rewarded his his uh Adept pitching and the Phillies they also have a guy named Andrew painter coming up in just maybe next year um but the Phillies farm system is underwhelmingly ranked 17th by Bleacher Report going into the next season so you know the Phillies I think they have to they have to make it happen with the guys that they have or they they’re gonna have to shuffle some things around and rejuvenate this squad a little bit because I don’t think they can run this core out there again and win like for me I think it’s going to be a slippery slope for the Phillies a after this season because I don’t know I think they have to shake something up like they you can’t you can’t you it’s broken it’s broken they have to do something but we’ll see what they do in the off season and I do want to move on to the Braves who were 89 and 73 and they made the playoffs by the Skin of Their Teeth but they exited promptly in the wild card there um you know huge loss uh Chris S was scheduled to start one of those games and he came up injured and the Braves they just couldn’t they couldn’t get past that first round there so I gave the I gave the Braves a B minus and that takes into account the the injuries exactly because everyone had higher expectations for this team like you can’t you can’t sugarcoat that but realistically how much of that is in their direct control because of all the injuries man and Chris Sale holy cow what a pickup that was they got Chris sale for like a pack of peanuts and two nickel AKA Von Grom and he wins that he not only wins the NL sa young but he wins the NL pitching Triple Crown he’s rejuvenated his career 18 wins 2.38 erra we’ll see if he can do it again next year but man Chris S looked like vintage Chris S and he’s a large reason as to why the Braves competed down the stretch of this season and Brian Snicker their manager he came out and he said it’s the most challenging season that he’s ever had to manage and like I mean from outside looking in I can only imagine like H how are you gonna find guys to fill those holes you know yeah I’m sorry I didn’t know you were um yeah no dude I I mean it’s that’s where it was kind of tough for me because like you said injuries you obviously lose an MVP candidate nunia uh I ended up giving them uh C+ because at the end of the day they came in as World Series um not favorites but they were you know up there with Yankees and Dodgers coming into the year I think they came in with the third best dods to win uh so to me I was you know not not super impressed with it I mean they they snuck in barely that was such a weird game I really do feel for the Diamond Backs uh we’ll get into that a little bit later uh but yeah I mean it was nice with Chris S and Spencer Strider losing him obviously hurt a lot hurt me in fantasy too I I took him very early and obviously as a Tommy John surgery but yeah I mean for Braves fans at least you can hang your hat on the fact that you’re gonna get healthy next year you’re gonna get guys like well I don’t know when Strat will be back but you know aunia will be ready to go um you know obviously you see what sale is um I’m blanking out on his name and I had him in fantasy as well and I know he was a nice pickup was it schwellenbach by chance yes swell and boach I obviously he showed a lot in my opinion so he seems like he could be you know a nice piece going forward uh yeah the way I see it right now the Braves they definitely are still in contention they’re G to be oh yeah they’re G to be a force to be reckoned with next season and Beyond um I mean so you’ve got you’ve got Strider you’ve got sail you’ve got schwellenbach and then they got raldo Lopez who showed up this year you know he’s he’s a former reliever converted to a starter and he had a marvelous season a 1.99 ER for the Braves in 135 and two3 innings pitch like that’s remarkable stuff and that’s that’s the type of stuff that the Braves needed this year with the amount of injuries they had so hats off to raldo Lopez and the Braves I don’t think they’re going anywhere they’re going to be right in the for the NL East and competing for World Series for years to come yeah I’m gonna pull up I’m sorry I’m listening to you but I’m trying to pull up yeah plus 750 to win the World Series next year so they’re actually third so that tells you you know as Brave fans like yeah it’s it sucks the way it went but don’t worry I mean Vegas and the people still view you as a major threat oh of course but I am worried about aunia does he have an injury liability now because I mean we’ve we’ve seen we’ve seen him blow out his Achilles both of his Achilles now and you know your MVP is only good when he’s on the field he’s not he’s not g to be an MVP caliber player when he’s not playing so you know they’re going to need their guys on the field um yeah I mean as a hitter I would say he’s obviously you know the closest thing to atani I mean they’re very similar players to me obviously Akuna doesn’t pitch and this is taking out otani’s pitching and obviously auna is a better Fielder than Otani he does I mean he’s a DH but in terms of like that rare ability to hit for power and steel bases I mean value he provides yeah and and I know a lot of that like a lot of people especially the old heads like I know my dad’s like ah stealing bases today is not what it was like back then and that that is true I mean it’s definitely easier to steal bases today but so what I mean these guys are rare you got to pad those stats and I mean if you can stealing bases is huge because it you know gets you out of double play scenarios it gets in scoring position and those guys are on a single yeah single those guys are in if they’re exactly especially when you have the speed of a guy like aunia like are you kidding me and he steals 70 of those that’s that could potentially generate upwards of like 30 runs for a team just by doing that yeah but hey Reagan if you have those odds do me a favor pull up pull up what the Mets odds are to win the World Series because we’re moving right in to the New York Mets the third place team in the NL 1400 so you I think they get Soo that’ll obviously change I feel like that’s that middle ground right now plus 1400 where it’s like they got a 50-50 chance to get SoDo so it’s like we’re not giving them the odds of not having SoDo and we’re not giving them the odds of having SoDo where I think they’d be like plus 200,000 if they don’t get SoDo and if they get SoDo I think they’ll be plus a thousand so I think that’s why like that’s my prediction so I think getting so or not we’ll Skyrocket it either way if you like those plus 1400 odds like now would be the time you don’t want to wait till stto is signed but I mean so as a Mets fan I’ve been a Mets fan since as early as I could comprehend baseball and this 2024 season was the most fun that I’ve ever had as a Mets fan it was just like huge clutch play after unbelievable moment after unbelievable moment and I just had so much fun with all of it and not I gave this team an a honestly based on unbiased based on preseason expectations preseason the Mets were projected to win 80 games they won 89 they squeaked into the playoffs and then they clutched up every single time they needed to in the playoffs and push themselves into the NLCS where they ran into the freight train that was the Dodgers but we’ll talk about them later we’re talking about the Mets right now Lindor legitimate MVP candidate 27 three average 33 home runs 91 RBI I’ve been seeing differ like discrepancies in his War but 7.0 wins above above replacement is many argue that he is the NL MVP or should have been you know Otani was just named it but you know Otani doesn’t play the field so you could open a whole different can of worms there but the breakout guy for the Mets Mark Vientos are you kidding me yes yes are you kidding me 111 games he hit 266 27 home runs 71 RBI in 111 games that’s a 40 home run Pace right there that’s what that is and let’s not forget about how insane his playoffs run was he hit five home runs knocked in 14 RBIs which is a franchise record for the Mets in the playoffs and he hit 327 in the playoffs he single-handedly won games for the Mets in the playoffs which is huge coming from a young guy like him and yeah I mean I could go on and on but you know as as a guy who’s a fan of the of the other New York team what were your impressions yeah I mean I I’ll say it I I you guys had a better season than us uh and we went to the World Series so uh I I fully believe that I mean you guys obviously played the Dodgers tougher than we did um and I would honestly uh I I would give you guys an A minus and you know I I got to give you some Kickback because you know this team could be even better but you have so much money tied up to people that aren’t even on the roster yeah right and I know that’s obviously not like you know that that’s a 2023 problem not uh problem of this or I’m sorry 2022 2023 season not a 23 24 season problem but still I mean and that really hampered you and I know baseball it’s not like the NFL where you you know money is not an object uh but I really think that held you guys back and I think if you know you didn’t have some of those bigger contracts you may have been able to make some bigger moves at the deadline to then get some more pieces to put you over the top so I think that is what hel held you guys back um it’s very encouraging obviously like Vientos you said um and really doing it without a True Ace um like in your pitching staff like I look at it I I don’t I mean I guess seino could say or Quint I don’t I don’t know like who would you consider the number one I mean it was It was supposed to be SGA obviously but he wasn’t he wasn’t there for the majority of the Season he only pitched five and third innings in the entire regular season um this year I would qualify manah as the ace man and he was he was like we we signed manah and srino in my eyes as placeholder guys you know like just get us get us through 2024 get to 2025 because that’s when we really want to contend and then it just brings me back to the fact that you know we weren’t supposed to contend this year nobody had us contending we we were plus 4,400 at the beginning of this season to make to win the World Series and that like I was I was almost there with that bet dude I was almost there I could smell it but it just didn’t pan out that way man manah I really hope they resign manah he’s there’s something there um I could let srino walk honestly and then you talked about the trade deadline Acquisitions I hope they resign Winker as well he’s a great utility guy and he is a he’s just a riot in the clubhouse and he’s one of those guys that your team can rally behind um but man Reagan I I could also smell a Subway series World Series man that would have been off the chain dude I like it just makes the good thing is as long like you know you know like all the TV ratings and stuff they’re like as long as the Yankees make it we’re happy if it’s Yankees Mets or Yankees Dodgers because regardless the storyline was there um but yeah yeah it would have been nice nice it’s the stuff you dream of as a as a kid like as a baseball fan man like having some of your closest friends like seeing our teams square off in the playoffs it would have been crazy but anyway enough about the Mets I could make an entire separate podcast but this this one’s about all the teams so now we’re moving on to the Washington Nationals who went 71 and 91 in the regular season I’m going to give them a c because their farm system is really really good and some of these guys are really starting to show up at the major league level for example Dyan Cruz James Wood DJ hers I like James Wood he was a beast yes and I think we’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg for James Wood and Dylan Cruz you also have Trey lipom you have CJ Abrams obviously he came up earlier but if you guys can get if you can get all these guys firing on all cylinders like this team’s going to be something and honestly they exceeded my expectations a little bit this season still nothing crazy 20 under but like I could have I could have seen him winning like 65 games at the beginning of the season and I do have to say the Nationals in my opinion they won that SoDo trade when they sent him to the Padres they won that big time they got huge names they got CJ Abrams McKenzie Gore like that’s those are guys that you build your team around and the Padre’s they didn’t see the same sort of production out of stto that the Nationals were used to so like I’m we that the Yankees got either yeah the Nationals definitely won that trade um and then so I mean I have the MVP as the farm system in general uh just because there’s just so much there there’s a lot of guys that you can get excited about down in Washington and then your breakout guy Luis Garcia j junor the leading offensive producer on the team he led the team in batting average hits RB and on base percentage and slugging percentage and Ops that’s your MVP and yeah so I mean what do you think about this team this young Washington team yeah so I I mean when when doing these grades like obviously the Nationals record is not great but I feel like with these grades you have to factor an expectation vers reality um and the reality was Washington was never going to be good um this year it was going to be a tanking year but I think winning 71 games like you know is impressive for a team that really didn’t have a lot of High Hopes I I don’t know their win total coming into the year but I if I had to guess it definitely hit I would imagine they were probably in the high 50s to Mid 60s yeah I think mid 60s I think 65 is right around where they were uh at yeah so I you know already there I mean obviously uh you know you already highlighted all the young guys and stuff but I ended up giving him a see uh because you know they didn’t take that huge Next Step they show a lot of potential but I mean at the end of the day they’re a 70 win a low 70 win baseball team so let’s not you know they’re not getting a be or anything like that but I was impressed with with they got definitely got some guys I was happy they shipped Lane Thomas because you know he’s kind of an older guy and they were able to get some more assets sending him to the Guardians so I like that and obviously between Jake Urban and McKenzie Gore they showed some flashes I mean obviously Patrick Corbin blows and kind of just got was L sent out to slaughter it felt like every week yeah dude he needs to be studied Patrick Corbin is he’s he’s BP Corbin that’s what he is all I’m saying is real runs remember his all-star year when he was like 22 years old on the Diamondbacks yeah yeah he was insane him and gold Schmid were all stars young and then he came over and helped he helped the Nationals get to that World Series he was good at the beginning of his tenure with the Nationals but yeah he’s another case of just a you know a young guy having some surgeries early on that really hamper his career yeah well lots to look forward to with this team because they’re the second youngest team in all of baseball with an average age of 26.4 on their roster so lots to look forward to there however the Marlins I’m not too sure what I think about this team I gave him a I gave him a D minus uh the Marlins it just to me it felt like they punted the season as soon as they traded arise early in the year they were supposed to be good too like well yeah pushing wild card spot yeah they made a surprise playoff run last year but they were just nowhere close to that this year um I mean they were without most of their regular pitching staff obviously Al Contra he’s on the the iil the whole year they should have him back um close to opening day next year so that’s hopeful for them um but they used 19 different starting pitchers in the regular season which I that’s insane yeah that’s insane dude that’s not a recipe for Success there’s no consistency there um and Miami’s offense I just like can’t really remember a time where Miami had a good offense like a really devastating offense it’s been years um and nothing nothing different this year honestly um but I mean guys to look out for I like Conor Norby a lot I picked him up late in fantasy he clutched up a little bit for me um and Jonah bride he’s another guy keep your eyes keep your eyes on those too and then um Jake Burger I mean Jake Burger this guy is like he’s like the veteran of this team now which is crazy to say because he’s not he’s not a veteran he’s not what you would say qualifies as a veteran but he is now in a leadership role on this team and in the second half he put up a 901 PS so I mean he took that title and you ran with it but like like Reagan how do the Marlins possibly dig themselves out they’re an F uh they’re not going to dig themselves out for a while um what I would say is I mean they’re just going to have to be one of those teams that are going to have to suffer tank for a while I mean it’s not like other sports where one player can you know really turn the franchise around I mean you can give them hope you can help with ticket sales you can make it more of an attrac attractive destination but at the end of the day I mean just look at Mike Troutman with the angels it doesn’t matter how good he was it didn’t work so yeah I think it’s going to be a couple bad years I’d say closer to 10 than five um and you know you just gotta hope I mean honestly I mean I feel like it’s weird for such a big like popular destination and you know Florida having no state taxes down there and stuff um but I I don’t know it just seems like Miami baseball just hasn’t panned out so I wouldn’t be shocked if this is a team that relocates in the future as well well let me tell you I it’s Florida baseball in general that struggles like Marlins the Marlins down here they’re the hometown team you know for anyone who doesn’t know I live in West Palm Beach Florida um they’re the hometown team down here and I’ve gone to plenty of games down in Miami and man that stadium is gorgeous I really really like that Stadium a lot indoors the back wall slides open with the the view of downtown Miami it’s stunning it really is a good location good food but just nobody shows up there like I’ll go down there when the Mets are playing the Marlins and it’s like a 7030 ratio Mets to Marlins fan like like I don’t know where everyone’s at but they’re sure not coming to baseball games in Miami I guess there’s there’s a lot of other fun stuff to do in Miami but anyway um we’re gonna move over to the NL Central now so we’ve got the um the Brewers winning that division with a 90 3 and 69 record and they lost to the aforementioned New York Mets in the Wild Card round I gave this team an A minus because they were projected to win 80 games this season and they far exceeded that that’s a fan graphs projection right there and they battled adversity all regular season they played some of the best defense and they stole the second most bases in Major League Baseball they had Woodruff on the Shelf Corbin Burns got traded to the Orioles they didn’t know who they were going to turn to in that rotation but they turned to guys like Tobias Meyers who stepped up and put up a 3.0 erra 3.5 strikeout to walk ratio and he made 25 starts but I am a little bit worried for this team going forward there’s def some uncertainties in this rotation oh yeah we got Montas Colin Ria DL Hall Aaron Sali yeah Montas bro he’s been around the block well I mean they got Peralta though but obviously he’s not what he was I believe Peralta he has some sort of option in his contract either this year or next year um but he’s not like a super long-term solution I don’t think um but I’m gonna give the MVP of the Brewers I’m gonna give yeah I mean I would he’s still pretty young honestly like he’s he’s going to be in the league for another 10 years but like I’m not sure what the Brewers do with him exactly um however if they intend if they intend to keep contending they will definitely keep him they’ll pay him but I’m gonna give the MVP to William contras he was the best offensive catcher in the League this year 281 batting average honored 76 hits to his name 92 RBI that’s what pushes your team towards the playoffs and then of course we have to address Jackson Chio he looks legit the Brewers signed him to an eight-year 82 million contract which seems like a steal I was just I was just gonna say Reagan that looks like a money contract right there for the Brewers like he’s going to look so underpaid in just a couple years um ch he hit 275 with 21 home runs or 79 RBIs and he put up a 3.8 War which is very impressive and yeah I mean he also carried them like he almost single-handedly defeated the Mets in the Wild Card round um and I mean it’s just disappointing for them that they didn’t make a playoff push they overe exceeded expectations in the regular season but then they met the Mets then they met the Mets yeah I mean I’m I I’ll give them an a I know B+ because you know like you said they did overe exceed it um but you know I don’t know it was weird too because like on paper like this doesn’t seem like that good of a roster but and obviously it doesn’t help losing Yelich um who you know at this point he hasn’t been able to stay healthy for a while he’s been a guy that’s been very injured um he’s a shell of his former self I believe yeah because I was so high on the Cubs obviously who will get into next so I mean coming into the year I didn’t think the Brewers had the fire to do it but they just kept finding ways to get it done and I you know it’s been the kind of the story of the Brewers the past couple years where you know on paper they weren’t the best looking roster but they just find ways and just keep winning and then unfortunately you know come playoff time that luck kind of runs out and it’s like that’s where you need the star power so yeah and I will say I I I hate the MLB format of you know three games like the Brewers won their division and then they’re out like I I know and I know people be like well the NFL is won game okay it’s 162 games you win 93 games you win your Division and then you know you’re out in three games like I I don’t know I think it’s [ __ ] I think it’s [ __ ] I think at the very minimum it should be five games because it’s not fair and I know they all three games are at home and that’s their advantage but to me it’s just seems foolish to have it be decided by you know a best of three game series when you win 93 freaking games yeah it does seem like a lot of investment a lot of time in invested just to be knocked out you know with a flick of a wrist but um yeah I mean we could talk about the format all we want but let’s talk about a team that didn’t make it into that format and it’s the Cubs and they went 83 and 79 like the Cubs you you were high on them I remember and I was high as hell I had them winning I thought they could win the World Series I really did because I like their pitching stff buddy I do like their pitching staff and I still do like and obvious I mean it it didn’t help that Steely you know wasn’t what he was last year and I know he was dealing with injuries and like you know Bellinger had his injuries and stuff but the bats never got going and obviously shoda was all everything advertised he had a Heth the year um and their pitching really was good it was the bats that held them back so I’ll let you get in year Spiel but I mean damn and the Cubs just kept they kept hanging around I’m like ah there’s a chance they might sneak in they might s and obviously they couldn’t get it done um because I think what the Mets and Braves had 88 wins and they had 83 so it ended up being closer than it should have been but you know they hung around for a while but at the end of the day no cigar well the Cubs are tied with the Cardinals in this division 83 and 79 um but the the Cubs played better than the Cardinals did statistically so that’s why I’m going over them first you know I gave the Cubs a C+ here because obviously you had higher expectations for them I had higher expectations for them like this team they have a very solid top three in their rotation now especially with Shota like solidified there um and they have they also have Jameson tyone and they have Justin steel Justin Steel’s still young he’s still kind of warming up I feel like in the major leagues I feel like he could be I feel like Justin steel could be a sa young contender in not he was last year he was last year he was he was and but they’re again like you said their offense let them down like they had the 10th best ER in baseball but the offense was nowhere to be found you have to put up similar numbers on offense to keep your team in that and Cody Bellinger I’m a huge Cody Bellinger fan I love this Swagger that Cody Bellinger plays with but he significantly regressed from his 881 Ops season last year um but he’ll likely stay in Chicago and see if he can pick up the pieces there um um but you know like this team had a lot of solid performances like middle of the road but there were no spectacular performances there was nothing to push them over that that wall of mediocrity that that was there um and then I don’t know if you have any thoughts about Pete Crow Armstrong but that’s a guy that the Mets dealt Cubs he is he is but I don’t know he’s kind of he’s kind of cocky in my opinion and it’s a guy that the Mets dealt to the Cubs uh a number of years ago I forget I forget the deal that was involved however um his overall numbers of 237 average there like he’s he was far from impressive on the offensive side but I mean he does play good defense so hopefully the Cubs can round him into form but uh you know if you look deeper for in Pete Crow Armstrong there’s reasons for optimism uh like his his glove his glove is going to keep him on the field that’s the thing so he’s always going to have opportunities to hit but uh the Cubs they’re kind of stuck in the middle ground in my opinion oh and one more thing Reagan I think they overpaid massively for Craig Council like why did they pay a manager so much money and then the man the team that he left went and Thrive this year in comparison yeah it’s crazy yeah I I didn’t get that one either I I don’t know man I mean I I still have high expectations for the Cubs I’ll probably be high on them next year um but you know just they gotta get they gotta get some more bats in there the pitching staff is solid but they gotta get a couple like another guy in there I think they would be a team I mean I don’t know I don’t think they’ll get Soto but they’re a team that you know should definitely offer him a big money because I think he could be someone that could really unlock that team no for sure I was talking about the lack of spect spacular performances right you bring in a guy like stto it’s pretty much guaranteed that he’s going to have a spectacular performance but anyway um the other team that I just mentioned 83 and 79 the Cardinals underwhelming um again I’m used to the Cardinals being good and they haven’t been good in a while now yeah they haven’t been good last year they haven’t been good this year um they went 71 and 91 in 2023 so they improved on that significantly but nowhere near the level that they needed to and uh you know they didn’t they didn’t even get close to making the playoffs they’re middle of the pack in ER and on uh Ops 16th and 15th respectively in those categories uh the MVP I’m gonna give it to Ryan Hesley who had a two 2.04 erra out of their Bullpen you know this guy single-handedly kept them in games single-handedly won games for them and I believe he did just go and win NL reliever of the Year much deserved for him so I believe the Cardinals I think they need to enter a little bit of a rebuild here I think that uh what’s his name uh why am I blanking on the third baseman’s name oh on the Cardinals yeah oh uh Gman or you talking about masado ar oh yeah they need to get rid of gold and I forgot about him because he was so irrelevant this year like nobody nobody talked about arnado this year this guy is ter upper echelon third baseman coming into this year and you saw it just there I totally forgot about him um but you know that’s a guy that they need to show up every single season that’s what he gets year of his career by far by dude he only had I mean he had 16 I mean dude he had 16 home runs and 71 RBI and he played 152 games I mean even in 2014 in 111 games he had 18 home runs in 61 like honestly you could say this was worse than his rookie year I mean the only year that like had technically worse numbers was the co year and he was balling out that year so I don’t know I mean average went up but he took a major step back gold Schmid was bat in 245 I mean and and that’s the thing gone dude I think he needs to retire if I yeah if I’m the Cardinals you got to get rid of both of those contracts I’d go into a rebuild mode I mean build around youngsters like Mason win in some of those guys because I mean gozman and Aon they’re not you know their Windows passing if not already passed and you know they kind of belong on a contender I guess and you probably ship them at the deadline I’m surprised they didn’t but I guess maybe they thought there was still a chance they could compete well so here’s the thing I mean I would I would give arado another year if he’s if he’s good at the deadline but your team’s underperforming maybe you move him at the 2025 trade deadline but I would give arnado another year I think this is really out of character for him I think he has the capability to pull it back but that is crazy I didn’t realize how terrible his stats were this year compared to what he had been putting up for as long as I can remember like Mark Vientos was a way better player than him in a much smaller sample size so anyway let’s um move on more mediocrity here in the the NL Central the Reds 77 to 85 this team’s just not quite there yet I’m going to give him a D minus like there wow wow yeah I mean they have the pieces but this is not this is not a complete team they’re lacking the gel they’re lacking the glue here uh and they’re they’re inability to win close games kind of speaks to a testament of potential mismanagement and that could be a reason why Manager David Bell lost his job they went 15 and 28 in one run contest so you know flip that stat it could have been a whole different season for the Reds here oh yeah flip 10 of those games and they’re a playoff team yeah but I mean no like they haven’t been to the playoffs outside of the covid Season since 2013 so that something’s go to something’s got to get rolling here for the Reds obviously I’m going to give the MVP to De La Cruz um he became the fifth player in MLB history to have a 20 Homer 60 Steel season um honorable mention I’ll say Spencer steer he hit 20 home runs and batted in 92 so that’s another big offensive threat on this team no pitching to be found however ranked 18th in ra with a 4.09 and the farm system not a whole lot to get excited for ranked 14th in the MLB’s midseason ranking so I’m interested to hear what you have to say about the Cincinnati Reds yeah I mean I was I I’ll get MSI because I still think they’re young I mean I I didn’t have a ton of High Hopes I mean obviously they got a lot of talent uh DEA Cruz obviously had a great year you’d like to see his average go up but and steer and you know India seemed that he kind of had a a good year uh for what he because he had had a lot of bad years since he won Rookie of the Year obviously so it was nice to see him bounce back I was mostly impressed with hunter green he was actually my sa young uh pick and I think he would have had a very good chance if he didn’t get injured the end of the year because I know he was like like on DraftKings I checked in like late August like he was you know he was only a little bit behind Chris S and Zack Wheeler uh and obviously looking at his numbers I mean he a 275 er uh he was nine and five um just really really balling I mean 169 strikeouts and 26 starts so he would have been a guy with over 200 strikeouts probably would have been pushing you know at that point close to you know maybe getting around the 15 win thing depending on how it went probably not that that high but uh so I was very bummed about that but very impressed because he was a guy obviously going into year three where the first two years he’d show flashes but you know he always struggled with control and obviously having mid four eras both years so it was nice to see it you know take a major dip actually he had 4.82 in his second year and went all the way down to a 2.75 uh and that was in four more game so a very big Improvement to go down by two earned runs in a one-year span so he’s a guy next year that I would be watching out for as a sa young candidate right out right out of the gates um and I think he’s going to have to be that Ace that he showed he was this year if they want to improve it all yeah I agree that’s definitely a guy who flew under the radar for me um how however I do think that he could lead this team in terms of the pitching staff but I mean they they just need more pieces around him man like they they they need more pieces um but anyway so finally in the NL Central the Pirates 76 and 86 um I’m going to give this team I actually just updated it because I was thinking about it I’m gonna give this team a c minus and for for at least the past two years the Pirates have looked like a decent team in the first half of the season right yes yep yep and like they get my hopes up they’re like oh boy the Pirates they’re finally out of rebuild mode they’re finally going to contend but no it just didn’t work out that way unfortunately but however they are building a very promising starting rotation obviously Paul SK like this guy this guy’s legit flame yep of course he went 11 and three with a 1.96 erra 0.94 Whip and 170 strikeouts in 133 Innings that’s a big stat right there for me and he made 23 starts which is great a rookie and then you look at guys like Jared Jones in his 23y old season put up a 3.56 ER he made nice contributions on my fantasy team that’s going to be a guy you’re gonna want to look out for next year um and he also had 98 strikeouts in 91 Innings so not quite as as impressive as Skin but that’s hard to do let’s be real um more of a contact pitcher but he got the job done and then you have a guy like Luis Ortiz so that’s one two and three in rotation potentially for the future um 3.22 er for Ortiz uh he didn’t throw as many innings only 86 and two3 for him uh 15 starts but their erra was still 20th in the league despite those top three guys looking really solid so you have to think there’s some major Bullpen issues going on which there are oh yeah and their offense was the third worst in the league statistically uh huge disappointments from Jack swinsky Henry Davis K Brian Hayes took a huge step back and McCutchen’s a free agent right everybody forgets that McCutchen is still in the league but this guy is impending retirement in my opinion like how much longer is this guy really gonna play uh I think if he leaves the Pirates it’s done you know like I think it’s either I think he wants to retire with the Pirates yeah and also speaking of the bullpen I mean just to add to that I mean their closer David Bender had eight losses alone like he he blew so many he only had 23 saves so I mean that’s something they really need to address next year he blew seven or eight saves I believe right yeah he had eight losses in total I mean it’s only 23 saves so I mean if you’re you know blowing one out of every four save opportunities I mean that’s not that’s not good that’s not good it’s got to be you know at least one out of every 10 you and even then that’s still not great um and then uh I I would like to add I mean I I gave him a a c min CU I they got some nice pitches like and and I was leaning D+ I mean they got some nice pieces I mean obviously batter wise it seemed like it was Brian Reynolds for every major stat obviously he’s only 29 uh so he had a hell of a year and O’Neal Cruz like I mean he had a good I guess he had a good year I mean he’s definitely not what you would hope no man I traded for him early on in fantasy because I I was really high on O’Neal Cruz I thought he was going to go off and I think I ended up dropping him at some some point and I think Colin picked him up but he didn’t do a whole lot better for Colin man he was not not the guy that I expected and I I got I got um Jose BOS who ended up being a stud uh we’ll talk about him later and O’Neal Cruz and I gave away Max freed so honestly that that trade wasn’t terrible for me but had O’Neal Cruz like showed up I would have hands down won that trade um but you know it kind of ended up being a being a draw on that trade in my opinion but any final remarks on the Pirates before we move on to the NL West no I’m good brother let’s move on alrighty so NL West of course sitting a top the NL West it’s the only A+ on the list brother yeah Dodgers 98 and 64 regular season record world champions and sorry this one’s going to hit close to home Reagan but you know this this team did what the 2022 Mets could not do this team went out and spent unworldly amounts of money and they actually did win a championship now if you recall the Mets won1 games in 2022 after going out and signing you know High the highest annual value contracts ever in major league history just to blow it in the Wild Card round but the Dodgers the Dodgers they did it they went out and spent all this money and they got the desired result and that may all be impressive but they also did it without guys for the most part like Tyler glass now Tyler glass now is a guy that they got from the Ray and he has struggled with injuries like he was there but he wasn’t fully there for this season um Clayton Kershaw he might be coming at the end of his career Dustin may out the whole year Walker buer he was out most of the year and then he came back and looked unimpressive but it didn’t matter because this Dodgers offense was so damn good Reagan yeah and I mean you know you have guys like Bobby Miller who you were expected to perform this year but he did not get got sent down to the miners a lot of adversity really this year but this this offense is just so good like how I was looking at the their lineup in the playoffs and I’m like oh my gosh dude anyone through one to nine can burn you on any single pitch I know and then just the big three too like between Otani bets and Freeman and it’s funny because like you know people like and I go back to the Yankee game where you intentionally walk bets to pitch to Freeman it’s like yeah what does that do like I’m not your poison bro like kick your PO exactly take your poison but like like are you really going to like I wouldn’t intentionally walk any of them any ever because because like they’re all so good like you know people forget about like Betts is a former MVP all yeah he’s an MVP if not or yeah okay so I mean three MVPs um and obviously Tay Oscar uh you know it hurt in the playoff seen him at a home run but I’m like you know what he clutched up for the boys in the Home Run der so always have a special heart place in my heart um but yeah man I mean it’s it’s an A+ and the funny thing is they’re pitching like you said it just wasn’t good and it didn’t matter and Yamamoto obviously that some injuries he struggled was decent he was decent he did figure yeah he struggled a lot in the beginning but obviously he you know got better when he came back but they really didn’t get to see the full version of him and obviously like you know guys like even Clayton Kershaw like we didn’t see Pitch at all this year so um oh I’m sorry no he pitched but like obviously come playoff time he did not Pitch so no and we didn’t see Otani bro Otani didn’t pitch either that’s another they still they still have that weapon in their back that’s another aspect that people forget like otani’s going to be pitching is he going to pitch next year you think I I think so yeah um he might be limited but still I mean like dude we saw this Dodgers team just run over everybody and this team’s probably at like 75% capacity like yeah I it’s just scary like we this could be the next Dynasty man H yeah I’d say so yeah but I just obviously of course I want to talk about Otani because Otani he’s the man whether you like him or not like he’s a really freaking good baseball player gener ational Talent I’m not sure we’ll ever see anything else like it first player in MLB history 50 home runs 50 stolen bases you know it’s just unprecedented type of stuff this guy’s doing um you can see why they paid him $700 million mostly deferred that’s that’s the meme but um oh yeah dude it’s like it’s actually that contract’s insane he’s getting like two million a year and then like all a sudden 600 million yeah and and those California taxes dude he’s losing like 55% of it but you know whatever um and anyway so I mean he totaled 54 homers 59 steals dude he almost broke 60 steals 134 runs scored and 130 RBI like are you kidding me that is nuts I can’t even be mad that he won the MVP I can I can be a little I can be a little butt hurt that he won the MVP but realistically I’m not going to win an argument with that type of mentality but um and you know here’s the crazy part that I just want to end off with Reagan this Dodgers team they still have the fifth best farm system like they have they have all these Stars at the at the top playing at the top of their roster top of their game right now and they still got guys on the back burners down in the miners that are just waiting to come up and devastate major league teams yeah that’s I mean that’s insane yeah it is that’s insane and they might get S out too I I mean I they get Soo like I’m not I don’t want to watch please no bro please if they get Soo we might not get a third episode of this goodness gracious or we’ll get an episode just ranting about that trade um anyway so second place the Padres 9369 they fell short again um I gave them a b this team is firmly in their contention window I would say and I think that will continue into 2025 and beyond their team Ops was 745 that’s sixth best in Major League Baseball they have a very solid rotation Dylan CE Michael King Joe Musgrove U darish I know U darish he’s getting up there in years but still like king king’s the guy that stood out for me the kind of surprise perform yeah no exactly um he had a remarkable season with a 2.85 ER across 100 70 and a third Innings and then of course you got to talk about Jackson Merrill who was contending for Rookie of the Year his Ascension very noteworthy there uh second in the Rookie of the Year running most of the year um finished with 24 homers 16 stolen bases 292 average that’s very good stuff to see from a rookie and then jerks in proar as well yeah what a yeah what a a Resurgence from him and I mean it’s pretty rare because obviously I mean I believe he’s I mean I know he’s uh I believe that was almost year 10 for him yeah he came into the league in 2012 and I mean this is by far like his best season and it’s not even close so what a year for him I mean this is the fir only the third time ever he had over 20 home runs I mean the RB were up there the average I mean this was by far the best season for him and he was a high drafted guy so that that really stuck out to me yeah you know and you don’t see that when you’re in your 30s to have that kind of uh you know that kind jump are you looking at his stats right now because if I recall he like hadn’t broken like 20 home runs in quite a few years oh yeah it was yeah no it was I I just had it up the last time he did it was in 2019 with the ace so but he came in the league in 2012 so I mean that just tells you you know to be having um what year is one two three four five 6 S 8 nine 10 11 the year 12 breakout I guess you know class classic the classic yep um and you know just this is a team that I was like I don’t know I’m kind of a Padre’s hater just because of what they’ve done to the Mets in the past but coming into the World Series uh or not the World Series rather uh the playoffs and when I was looking at setting up my bracket I was like um Can this Padre’s team make a run and I said no and they didn’t they didn’t make a run but I was I was this close I mean I was I was thinking about it I was like hm is this Padre’s team going to show up against are they going to be able to take down the Dodgers they almost did they got up 2-1 I mean they yeah they should have won that I mean I shouldn’t say but they in my opinion I gave them an a I was very impressed with the season I mean they were the only team that really actually made the Dodgers look beatable I mean they were like the Mets and Yankees like you know the Mets obviously put up a better fight but between the Mets and Yankees they really didn’t give the Dodgers uh too big of a test um and the Padres obviously had them like you know two opportunities to uh beat the Dodgers in advance so I I was super impressed with it coming into the year I didn’t even think it was going to be a playoff team I mean that other people might think they were um obviously they got a lot of star power so I like some of the moves they made I’m very excited for this team in the future I’m actually curious what their World Series odds are but I mean to me um you know they they looked like the second best team out of anyone in the League this year in my opinion so they actually got the highest grade outside of the Dodgers for me at an NA plus 1500 next year plus 15 yeah so yeah I mean I mean they have all the pieces there I think I like need ta to stay healthy too yeah they really do um but anyway I want to move on to the Diamond Backs here the Diamond Backs one hurts me a lot yeah this one this one was puzzling for me man like 8973 on paper like that’s a great record uh and I feel like they this team took steps forward and steps back at the same time I’m GNA give them a B minus just because their offense they scored the most runs out of anybody in the entire league which is insane for a non-playoff team yeah exactly exactly like their offense and pitching stats are two opposite ends of the spectrum right yeah like most runs scored second best team in Ops but the the four worst in staff ER like you have to you have to have at least middleof the road pitching to make any sort of run in the playoffs um I mean don’t even get me started on Jordan Montgomery that was such a terrible signing um thank thank goodness for the Dbacks that they only sign him to a one-year deal because that dude was a clunker this year holy cow well not even mad I mean gallon taking a major step backward you too he was still solid though 3.56 ER but yeah but still I mean he was like a sa young candidate last year he’s gotta be he’s got to be pushing like sub three I mean you know like for what he is and what he’s been and I mean obviously Merill Carol Merill Kelly missed some time and didn’t look the same either and um uh Eduardo Rodriguez obviously they brought in as well you know didn’t see a lot so a lot of you know like you said with Montgomery a lot of guys they brought in that just did not pan out yeah Eduardo Rodriguez uh 5.04 ra and then another guy I want to talk about on that pitching staff Brandon fought who pitched there you go he he pitched the most Innings out of anybody on the staff but his erra was approaching five like this guy was a hero in the playoffs last year for the Diamondbacks but he just couldn’t pull it together this year for them um but I mean you can’t take anything away from their offense really like this team’s going to be right back in it if they can figure out their pitching like their offense was Lethal catel Marte 36 homers 95 RBI those that 36 homers I believe that’s his career high I’ll check real quick and then Corbin Carroll who obviously High turned Corbin Carroll turned heads last year um and he had a terrible terrible first half but he really picked it up in the second half ended up with a 258 average 17 home runs still got those 35 steals so that being said he kind of hit a Soph yeah he had a sophomore swum for sure yeah yeah and you can expect him to bounce back so if you’re going to have Corbin Carroll firing firing on all cylinders then you know this team’s just going to get more deadly on offense and then you have a guy like Christian Walker who I’ve been a fan of um he’s incredibly underrated still an 8.03 Ops 26 homers 84 RBIs and I don’t think Christian Walkers hit his ceiling yet honestly if we’re being real if Pete Alonzo were to leave the New York I Christian Walker’s totally a guy that I would like to see the Mets pick up for that first base job if they’re not going to ship yeah he’s a free agent yeah if they’re not going to ship Mark bentos over to first base I would love to see them pick up Christian Walker I think that that would be a valid replacement uh and like I said I think Christian Walker has not hit his ceiling so um it’s crazy because he really didn’t do a ton in the he had one good year in his first seven years and then all of a sudden it clicked in year eight and he’s hasn’t looked back I mean he’s hit over a hundred home runs obviously uh I’m sorry H just shy of 100 home runs over the past three years and you know just shy of over 300 RBI so he’s been you know one of the better power bats in the league like you’re saying very underrated so somebody’s gonna pay him I think the bag oh yeah for sure and he deserves it not gonna lie um but let’s move on from the Diamondbacks so next we have the San Francisco Giants 80 and 82 regular season record this team is the definition of mid for me not going to spend a whole lot of time here SE for the Giants like this team just went missing this year I feel like I did not hear anything about this team uh usually like this is a big franchise big market and you did not hear a lot about the Giants this year not a whole lot to get excited about Matt Chapman he had a little bit of a Resurgence in his career and he was rewarded with a contract but I don’t know if that’s a good contract I think Matt Chapman might go back to his uh his washed ways after this year but we’ll see um Snell he missed time he missed significant time but he Blake Snell posted a career-high 34.7 strikeout rate which is a good sign for him moving forward I don’t know where Snell’s going to be next year that’s another another player I’d love to see the Mets pick up but a lot of players a lot of teams could use a guy like that yeah um and then you know some young guys you get really excited about Tyler Fitzgerald uh 8.31 Ops 15 homers 17 RBI or 17 stolen base is rather uh and that was only over like half a season slightly less than half a season and then Helio Ramos as well 22 homers 72 RBI uh and then you talk about guys like Logan web staying consistent as ever most Innings pitched in the NL at 204 Innings pitched with a 3.47 ER so that’s about it for the Giants uh I feel like a couple years ago when they contended and won 100 games nobody really saw that coming um this team’s definitely missing missing some pieces uh so I’m wondering what you think they’re going to do moving forward yeah I mean they’re yeah they’re at a weird spot for sure I mean they don’t have you know a lot of ton of young talent that I’m in love with or anything like that um you know and obviously you know in one of the toughest divisions in baseball because I feel like any moves they can make like at best they’re still four um because obviously you know you got teams like the Dodgers and Padres and Diamondbacks that are just jugging out with such star power because you know even with the Diamondbacks obviously missing the Playoffs um you know that’s still close to a 90 win team there uh coming off a World Series loss so it’s tough man I mean I I wouldn’t hate seeing the Giants rebuild because you know there’s not a whole lot of guys there and a lot of like older guys who you know we’ve seen flashes like between you know they obviously they had Jorge salar and they had jock Peterson um or no I’m sorry no yeah jock jock Patterson was on the team this year no no he’s on the Dbacks I believe oh yeah he was on the dback something two years ago but you know I in some of those older guys I mean it was nice seeing what Ramos was able to do but I don’t know I mean I I’d imagine they let snow go I I don’t think they’ll resign him no and then uh you know Logan web’s obviously a guy to build around but I don’t know I mean it’s gonna it’s just going to be tough they’re in such a tough division so you know and I think them not getting Aaron Jud when they were kind of going all in for them really kind of set them back as well arson judge arson judge to to San Francisco all right but anyway um another team we there is one more team in this division believe it or not is the Colorado Rockies 61 and 101 this this is baseball Purgatory in my opinion uh I gave him an F uh this ownership group just refused to want to contend like I believe that they have the resources but this like I don’t know this this is just not the right people to be running this team they have a beautiful location a beautiful Stadium passionate fans yet they just are there for the ticket sales I guess like you don’t want your team to win games fine whatever I I’m not going to change you there but like you know this is where careers go to die as we’ve seen with Chris Bryant like you know Chris Bryan’s just been injured and yeah you kind of forget they have him yeah you do and that’s what’s going to happen with anybody that signs with the Rockies in my opinion uh dead last in team ER this team honestly I couldn’t name one pitcher like off the top of my head on their pitching staff because they were just all no names and combined they put up a 5.48 erra which isn’t going to get you many wins in the Major League Baseball however the offense was good enough for 15th in the league and but you have to take into account that they play at Kors field right where the air is thinner it’s a boom box lots of home runs go out there but they’re the they’re the second worst offense when they played on the road so they play anywhere else other than Kors field they’re terrible and they’re horribly beatable um and then you look at guys like Ryan McMahon who put up Elite stats in the first half and the ownership group grou just refuses to trade him at the deadline and he just sits there and rots and he hits 100 or he hits 188 in the second half with six home runs like what are we doing to this guy’s career like I doesn’t I don’t understand it but then you know Ezekiel Tovar Brenton Doyle right spot but yes for sure both guys are studs yeah uh and especially Doyle man well actually I mean really both but Doyle had that nice you know blend of power and speed which you love to see I think that both of them deserve better than this team toar they they gave the big deal to I know they gave him like a 10-year contract but with him only being 23 and only just turning 23 in August it makes sense to pay him early yeah Tovar kind of reminds me of a little bit like of a jav bayz type player um hopefully I mean with the high strikeout rate I I hope this kid can keep it together in years uh moving 200 strikeouts in 6 I mean he almost was striking out one out of every three at yeah but he did have a that’s the funny thing he batted 270 but you know still had 200 strikeouts so like you said I mean a lot of hits but a lot of strikeouts yeah [Music]
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