2 Guys Talking Baseball
Dallas Danger and Brian Logan discuss the game of baseball. Two fans, two personalities, Two Guys!
2 Guys Talking Baseball
Staying at you aunt & uncle’s!
Feeling under the weather didn't stop us from coming back stronger with laughter and gratitude as the flu took a brief hold of our studio. Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and we're swapping out the traditional turkey for Brian's homemade lasagna, complete with a side of hilarious Thanksgiving mishaps. With baseball transitioning to football, I've got the scoop on all the latest baseball buzz from the past couple of weeks, ensuring you don't miss a beat from the world of sports.
Our episode dives into the Chicago Cubs' innovative pitching strategies, with Tyler Zombrow leading the charge and bringing a modern edge to their game. The discussion highlights how advancements in technology are reshaping the pitching landscape, while also cherishing the camaraderie and culture that makes the Cubs a team to watch. And then, it's off to Hall of Fame territory, exploring the legacies of icons like Ichiro Suzuki and unsung heroes like Ben Zobrist and Russell Martin, proving that making a mark isn't just about the stats.
Get ready to catch up on MLB offseason gossip, like the potential blockbuster move involving Juan Soto and the Dodgers. We ponder the potential shifts in team dynamics and the financial ripple effects of such mega deals. As the season wraps up, it's award time, and we're here to celebrate the well-deserved recognition of talents like Paul Skeens and Luis Hill. Plus, there's a personal victory as we toast to an unexpected accolade on Pirate Flag Radio, thanking our loyal listeners for their unwavering support. Prepare for a Thanksgiving break before we come back with more thrilling sports talk.
Hello everyone, welcome back inside the Three Crows studios in Morristown, Tennessee. You are once again listening to two guys talking baseball. We're very happy to be back after a week off, which we'll talk about in a second, but let's get the intros out of the way. I'm Dallas Danger, joined as always by my best friend and colleague, the sea lion himself.
Speaker 2:Brian Logan, it has been a fantastic week, even though there is no baseball. How was your week?
Speaker 1:It was pretty good, it was all right. So, if you didn't see on social media or whatever, we were not around last week. We had planned on doing an episode. Yep, yep, we were ready, but it wasn't going to happen. Well, we were as ready as we were not around last week. Uh, we had planned on doing an episode. Yep, yep, we were ready yeah, it wasn't gonna happen. Well, we were as ready as we were gonna be it's still the off season, uh.
Speaker 1:But brian and his wife came down with flu b and we decided that instead of spreading flu b around everywhere, we were just gonna take a break, take, take the week, yeah and uh, because you were scared, you didn't want it. Well, you know, I've had my flu shot, but I didn't want to take any chances. I don't blame you, I wouldn't have taken that chance either. You peek behind the curtain. I work with the public, so you know I didn't want to take it to another state and spread it everywhere.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's how incidents happen.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's how Brian becomes Typhoid Mary for 4B.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Ashley, ashley's the one that had it. Yeah, she had it really bad. I didn't have it as bad, I had it real bad for like a day and then it got better from there, but she had it for like four days and it was rough on her. Bless her heart. Bless her heart up on her.
Speaker 1:Bless her heart, bless her heart, bless her little pee picking heart. Uh, we also want to make everyone aware that we will be taking uh next week off as well yeah, we're just taking weeks here and there off.
Speaker 1:Well, there and here, you know, another peek behind the curtain. We we record on thursdays and thanksgiving is uh, you know I have. I have basically never cared about holidays because I don't usually get them. Just everything I've ever done to make money requires me to be making money on holidays usually. But Thanksgiving is, like my one, non-negotiable. I've always liked it. And we're just not going to record on Thursday because I'm going to be at my mom's's house for thanksgiving well, you know what we're going to have here for thanksgiving.
Speaker 2:Tell me a lasagna, hey, because it's just the two of us and I can't get no deviled eggs from anybody. If you guys uh want to send me some deviled eggs, feel free to.
Speaker 1:And uh see, I don't know that we're getting deviled eggs, because initially my mom was supposed to have surgery and we weren't sure how much she was going to be capable of doing OK, and I made the mistake of volunteering Jen to make deviled eggs, oh that turned out to be the wrong decision.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but doesn't she make good deviled eggs? She makes amazing deviled eggs, but she's stingy with them.
Speaker 1:Well, it's not that she's stingy, she just, you know, didn't feel like she would have the time right, so it takes time.
Speaker 2:See, I feel that the reason I don't get as many deviled eggs as I want is because it it takes so much time to get them and make them I think if it was easier to make, I would would get more Now. I did have a friend, and his mother used to send me three dozen every Thanksgiving and I no longer can receive those.
Speaker 1:What happened there?
Speaker 2:Well, it's kind of a long story. Let's not get into that, but needless to say is I won't be getting my deviled necks from the, the lovely lady that used to make them well you know lasagna is not bad. No, I think it's different. I mean, you saw me carrying it in today. It weighed about 80 pounds. Yeah, it was a big lasagna. It was huge. As far as lasagna goes, it was one of the biggest I've ever seen.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah so that'll be. Uh, that'll be nice, that'll be. That'll be nice. We, you know, we we did a um, one of the covid thanksgivings. We didn't go anywhere, right, and we just made homemade pizza, yeah, and it was, and we knew it wasn't going to be like. This is our new tradition. It was just like a one-year thing, but we, we really enjoyed that and had a great day and well I've done the uh the kfc in the past.
Speaker 2:I've done the Golden Corral. I've done the Bob Evans. Bob Evans was good. I know that's not your favorite joint, it isn't but it was very good for Thanksgiving. But we're just going to keep it simple and we're going to make a lasagna and go from there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think that'll be great. You know, if I didn't have two other places to be on Thanksgiving, I'd come have lasagna with you?
Speaker 2:Well, you could. We'll sit and watch football, because that's what we do, even though this is a baseball show.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we could spend the whole hour talking about my disdain for Brian's love of football. Oh yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, you got to move on in the offseason. I disagree.
Speaker 1:That's why we're doing this show. That's why we're doing this show here today on week four of the offseason. So, speaking of the offseason, you know we've got two weeks of stuff to catch up on, which is nice, because we were talking a couple days ago and if we had to spread all this content into two shows, it would have not been as good.
Speaker 2:Right, but we got it jam-packed into this one.
Speaker 1:We sure do, and I hope that enough happens over the next two weeks that the next time we talk to you we've got shit to talk about. But let's start with the Chicago Cubs. All right, moving and shaking them. Where do you want to go first? I don't really know where to start. Let's go with the pitching coach, okay, yeah, I don't really know where to start. Let's go with the pitching coach, okay, yeah. So the Cubs, in a positive move, have hired Tyler Zombrow as a special assistant on their coaching staff, specifically to help the pitching. And I don't know a ton about this, tyler Zombrow, but it's being heralded as a very good move for the Cubs by most people reporting it.
Speaker 2:So I kind of want to get your thoughts on this. Well, first of all, I love the name and I'm going to mess up and say Zombo from the Munsters.
Speaker 1:But I'm going to try to get it right?
Speaker 2:No, I think he's going to add to the team a lot. I think he comes with some good knowledge and some practical application in the whole situation. He had a promising career and now he went into coaching very quickly and everybody seems to be very high on him.
Speaker 1:This just occurred to me Is Zombrow the guy that got hit in the head on the mound a couple years ago when, when he was in Durham. Yes, my brother was calling that game, yeah, yeah yeah, um, yeah.
Speaker 1:so he's got it, he's got a story and, and I think if it does anything for the Cubs approach to pitching and their pitching staff as a whole, I think it will modernize the approach, okay, and and pitching staff as a whole, I think it will modernize the approach Okay. And pitching has gotten so much more modernized than hitting. The technology has just taken off with what pitchers can do, what is tracked and the information that's there for pitchers is a little past what hitters are getting. Right now. I think hitting is going to catch up Right, but right now.
Speaker 2:It's a pitcher's game.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and every year everybody wants to bitch about oh well, they've ruined it because they changed the rules and now there's no offense. And it's like have you seen these guys?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Have you seen what these guys are throwing?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Because in the same breath, we're talking about star pitchers getting injured at a higher rate than they ever have, because these kids are throwing like full go all the time. It's really hard to hit a baseball under normal circumstances. Then you give the pitching a leg up, yeah, and it gets even harder, yeah, absolutely so, you know, I think this is a good move for the cubs and I think, again, it could modernize the approach to pitching in that organization I mean, the pitching for the cubs is really starting to come around.
Speaker 2:Since mid-season last year, right, they? They made all those trades and moves to get everybody in place, and now it looks like they're dedicated into developing them and that's, that's good.
Speaker 1:That's what we need yeah, and I mean and there's some there's, you know, I mean I think shoda imanaga may is huge for them. Yeah, if he continues on that trajectory and and continues to pitch well, um, like he has in his one season in Chicago, and he's bought in. I mean he loves being a Cub.
Speaker 2:Oh, he loves being a.
Speaker 1:Cub, and that's great. That's what the Cubs need.
Speaker 2:Absolutely.
Speaker 1:The Cubs need guys that want to be there and love being a Chicago.
Speaker 2:Cub. He gets the program of what being the Cubs are about, because there's a lot of hard days, as the Cubs normally, and being the lovable losers, you can't you know. You got to go out there and play every day as if you're number one, which they do. I mean they could be in the cellar and they play like the same way if they're you know in first place. But yeah, you got to buy into the whole product and program over there, absolutely, and history has shown that if you don't, then it just messes you up completely.
Speaker 1:Right, and there's examples of that. I think a little bit on this Cubs team too. Maybe too soon to tell about Isaac Paredes.
Speaker 2:Right, right, I mean I complain one week Next week, he's my hero. The next week I can't stand him. I mean I complain one week Next week, he's my hero. The next week I can't stand him. I mean he's got. Hopefully when he gets to the full season he'll buy into the whole thing.
Speaker 2:Going to spring training with the boys, I think, will help, of course, yeah, and getting that camaraderie. And not just he was brought in at the last second Because he showed signs of being happy that he was going to be part of the Cubs and with the program, but then he would just go and you know three or four at-bats or eight at-bats and just looked like he was just wished he was anywhere. But there, yeah, yeah, and he only smiled once. See, that's the thing If you watch the Cubs, the Cubs smile a lot. Sure, and that's because they're having fun playing the game, because they understand it's a kid's game, that you're just playing as adults, and that's one of the magic of the Cubs. That's why we I mean we really want them to win, but we're okay if they don't, right, because of the way they play and the happiness that they bring to the field.
Speaker 1:So yeah, I mean the pitching. I'm looking forward to the pitching this year. Yeah, I think I'm interested to see you know what this changes for the Cubs and how this goes for Tyler Zombrow, because you know had a promising career ahead of him and then you know the injuries and everything just were too much for him to continue playing, I guess. But I'm glad to see his baseball life continuing, I'm glad to see him get this opportunity.
Speaker 2:I think it's a really good place for him. With him just now coming into coaching, I think this is a really good environment for him.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think you're right coming into coaching, I think this is a really good environment for him. Yeah, I think you're right. Um, I, I, I, I have a hard time seeing this as anything other than a good move for because the cubs will let you kind of do your own thing too, that's.
Speaker 2:I mean, you got to be part of the team, you got to do the team stuff, but they'll let you be a little bit of an individual and as long as it comes back to being on the team, um, and a lot of the well, let's just say this, a lot of the cubs teams. You can't just pick out one guy, right. It's like, oh, that's the year that, that you know sandberg and sean dunstan and grace, you know, they were all you know. You can't just say, oh, yeah, that's the year so and so did this, right, I mean there are years like that with Sammy Sosa, but I mean, for the most part there's the great teams and them playing together.
Speaker 1:Right, yeah, yeah, that's a good point. So the Cubs, like a lot of teams, were making some minor moves over the last week. You know a lot of teams getting ready for the rule five draft and making room on the 40-man roster, bringing guys, selecting contracts, bringing guys onto the 40-man roster to protect them from being taken in the rule five. But uh, we saw a couple trades and they weren't anything huge. Yeah, they were just roster construction type things. Yeah, but patrick wisdom gets dfa'd and and you know, I I think if, if we had, if we had said that two years ago, hey, in the 2024 offseason, patrick wisdom's gonna get dfa'd, you kind of would have went, wait, really, yeah, because there was a point where it seemed like the cubs were very high on wisdom.
Speaker 2:Yeah, P Wizzle was out there with the stick whistle.
Speaker 1:Yeah, okay.
Speaker 2:When he was hitting them home runs and grand slams. He was the guy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and now. Brian and I talked off the air when this news broke. There's not really a spot for him anymore.
Speaker 2:No, I mean Paredes has taken the third base spot. You know who's going to be at first, and obviously it's not going to be him and that kind of leaves him out. Those are his two corners.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and he's played some outfield, but that outfield is pretty locked down. Yeah, you're not getting in that outfield, he's not anyway. So pretty locked down. Yeah, you're not getting in that uphill, he's, he's not anyway. Um, so interested to see where he ends up, because I do think another team picks him up.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, he's. He's a good hand and a good ball player and uh has a good attitude and everything I mean. I love playing him. I are watching him play um.
Speaker 1:I hate to see him go um, but I understand why yeah, so, um, obviously you know the moves are probably not done for the cubs. Uh, we've seen quite a few reports. Let's let's start with this one. Um, it was reported that that the cubs are entertaining the idea of trading Cody Bellinger and or Nico Horner.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm not happy with that I know.
Speaker 1:I know you're not.
Speaker 2:I get it, but I'm not happy.
Speaker 1:Let's start with Nico Horner, because I think there's less meat on that bone. Is it as simple as we're afraid? He's going to walk if he gets to free agency, so we might as well get something for him. I think so.
Speaker 2:I think that's exactly it, I just yeah, and I don't know if he's going anywhere. I mean, he's a homegrown boy. He's been there. He's grown into a man. He literally, if you watch his rookie season until last season, he's grown into a man. That's one thing. Ashley's like what happened to that boy?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You know he's a grown-ass man now and you know I think he's dedicated to the Cubs. But you know money changes everything. I guess you're right so you don't know, but I get what you're saying and I have to agree that get something for him before he walks.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I just see him as such a foundational piece of what they're trying to do, I do too.
Speaker 1:I do too. You know I mean solid defender up the middle. Yeah, puts the ball in play. You know not a lot of power, excuse me, but you know not a lot of strikeout either. You Puts the ball in play, makes contact and ask the reigning World Series champions they added a guy by the name of Tommy Edmund who is a contact first guy, and it changed the complexion of the roster. Sure, did so that one. I don't understand, because even with Murrell, who I also saw as someone they could build around, or at least with you could see like okay, the batting average is really low, there's a lot of swing and miss, there's a lot to be worked on.
Speaker 2:They just made a mistake.
Speaker 1:They haven't said it, but it's going to come out that they've made a mistake, trading him, they just have maybe so I I don't know, but you could. The point is like you could explain it, like you could go okay, they got a izak parade ace, which you know on paper a pretty good get um, and they gave up the guy with the lowest batting average in baseball. I don't know, I don't know. Nico Horner doesn't make much sense to me if they trade him away. I mean, that depends on what they get in return, obviously, if they do trade him. But I don't know. I see Nico Horner as a guy that they need to keep a hold of long term, I agree, and he could be a foundational piece for what they're trying to do.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, I think he is a foundational piece. I mean, again, I can see both sides of the coin, but who knows what the office is thinking.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:That's the thing is. We don't know what Uncle Jed's thinking.
Speaker 1:Well, bellinger's a little bit of a more interesting case to me, right, right, I think the way it's being reported best. I can tell. I haven't read a lot too deeply into what's being reported with Bellinger and the possibility of a trade, too deeply into into what's being reported with bellinger and the possibility of a trade, but it seems like most people are under the impression that it's not going to be easy to move him yeah you know, um, he's owed a lot of money and you know, can you value him at what he's owed?
Speaker 1:not really, because which cody bellinger are get Right, and I think if he goes somewhere else it might not work out, because I think he really likes playing for the.
Speaker 2:Cubs? I do too. I think he's at home there, you know. I mean, he could be the first base solution.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean I think between him and Michael Bush, that's your first base situation. And then you've still got Bellinger in the outfield, some, and you know it's just. I mean I get it. They see that same value question, but you know it's their mess to get out of and it is a mess.
Speaker 2:They need to be very careful because it's going to become a huge mess with him if they're not careful and they're not smart and so far, in my opinion, they haven't been exactly smart with some of these things.
Speaker 1:Well, that's probably fair. That's probably fair.
Speaker 2:Jed Hoyer is not beloved by Cubs fans by any means no, he just got rambunctious and couldn't pull the deal off yeah, yeah, so we'll see, you know, I'll you know.
Speaker 1:Obviously I have a real soft spot for Cody Bellinger, uh, because of his time with the Dodgers, you know well, yeah, rookie of the year MVP won a world series and was a big part of that world series run.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but he really seems to vibe with the Cubs really well and you know if you can weather the storm of the current contract and hopefully get him in a situation where he's taking less money in the future you know that's probably ideal for the Cubs, right, but you know there might be ideal for the Cubs, right. But you know there might be a team out there that's willing to give you a lot in return in the way of prospects or younger guys that you've got control of longer.
Speaker 2:He's going to end up in witness protection in California. You say that with everybody.
Speaker 1:I know.
Speaker 2:That's like the doom, like the worst thing would be to go to the South side, but really in reality it's to be lost in a sea of California out there playing for the angels.
Speaker 1:Get to play with Mike Trout.
Speaker 2:Get to play with Mike Trout. He's in Witness Protection, he's out there. He's the stalwart of the Witness Protection program out there. Yeah, he really is. He's the stalwart of the witness protection program out there. Yeah, he really is.
Speaker 1:He's the poster boy. He really is Him and Anthony Rendon out there in Anaheim, yep, but we'll see. You know this is all speculation and you know who knows how much truth there is to any of this Rumor and innuendo. Yeah, as others with podcasts like to say A lot of chatter, a lot of chitter-chatter, a lot of chitter-chatter.
Speaker 2:Throw out there to one of our friends.
Speaker 1:Speaking of chitter-chatter surrounding the Cubs with Dodger ties, one of the teams reported to be interested in Walker Bueller in free agency is the Chicago Cubs.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I would love that. I think that's a great fit. It helps the pitching staff, it gets him to ease up just a teeny bit so he can relax a little bit and pitch better, and then that's, I mean, it's just such a good, solid fit to get us some wins. And you know, I just thought of something this is totally off track. This will throw us way off into the field. What happened to the days of the 20-game winners?
Speaker 1:Well, first off, good pitchers might not go five innings. Now, right, and that's a lot of. That is the approach. Again, guys are throwing hard all the time now, so they're not backing off enough to go six, seven innings every time out and you've got to go five innings to get a win.
Speaker 2:Right, you know that's like, but remember when they used to be like oh, we're going to sign so-and-so, that's going to bring us at least 20 wins right there.
Speaker 1:I mean. I also think that pitcher wins are not viewed like they used to be.
Speaker 2:Yeah, not as important.
Speaker 1:I don't think they're important at all. You know, wins is a team stat.
Speaker 2:Uh-huh.
Speaker 1:You know, and I mean there are countless examples of guys that have won 20 plus games and weren't great pitchers.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:They just were out there at the right times. I mean, there's relievers that win 20 games back in the day.
Speaker 2:Right, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:But it's just, I don't know.
Speaker 2:It was a tangent I just threw that no, no, no, it popped in the old noggin and I thought, well, let's bring that up on the old podcast it's worth talking about.
Speaker 1:It's worth talking about, but I, but I think there's a lot of value in bueller, especially since you know his his october was different than the rest of the year, which helped him a lot, I think. But you know, this is a guy that didn't even get a qualifying offer, yeah, and now I'm starting to wonder does his market get to 21 million a year? I don't know. Um, you know, other teams have been linked to him already. Yeah, so there's interest, he has a market, but uh, I'm I'm I'm leaning more towards the likelihood of him coming back to the Dodgers.
Speaker 2:You think, one more season with them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I don't know how long-term of a deal he'd get with the Dodgers, but I think the Dodgers could give him one of those one year with an option the next year at $16-17 million and incentives can get him up to that. 21, 22 million. Um, it's, it's just hard. It's hard to. It's hard to say because so many I mean there are guys that have never been on the dodgers at all, like paul seawald, a really good relief pitcher for most of his career but, like most relief pitchers, has been a little up and down.
Speaker 1:Um has publicly talked about the dodgers, specifically in free agency, and what role he could envision for himself with the dodgers. Um, and I don't even know that he's on the dodgers radar right in free agency. Yeah, I would be a little surprised. The Dodgers don't traditionally spend a lot in free agency on relievers. They like to take guys off the scrap heap and redesign them and add pitches and change things about what they're doing. Tweak, you know, make little tweaks and get them, you know, put them through the machine. I mean the bullpen that just won won the world series and and played a huge part in that run. Um is made up of all kinds of guys like that yeah so who knows?
Speaker 1:again, this is all speculation. But as far as walker going to the cubs, you know, I kind of have to go back to bellinger, because bellinger going to the cubs for me personally made it sting less that he wasn't with the dodgers anymore. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I think the same would be true with walker. If he went to the cubs it'd be like, well, I wish he was still on our team, but I'm glad he's somewhere.
Speaker 2:That it's like uh, you know you're staying at your aunt and uncle's house for the weekend. You know it's. How is it like that? Well, because you're not at home, but you're almost home yeah it's the same family of people, but you know totally different and you know ice cream for breakfast, ice cream for breakfast, and I'm pretty sure the cubs do have ice cream for breakfast.
Speaker 1:Well, I'd say, if they want it, they've got it. Because a couple years ago, freddie Freeman he has a routine and he likes to eat I think it's snickerdoodle cookies before every game. All right, it's just part of his daily meal. He wants snickerdoodle cookies. So the Dodgers now are filthy with cookies every day. Yeah, because Freddie wants cookies. So if Walker Bueller goes to the Cubs and he's like, hey, I want an ice cream machine in here, then we're getting an ice cream, then you're getting an ice cream machine. Absolutely, it's part of the deal.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but it's part of the deal, yeah, but yeah, do you think it's like staying at your aunt and uncle's house? I don't know. I don't know, let's delve into this. Did you spend a lot of time at your aunt and uncle's house?
Speaker 1:Well, that's what I was going to say. Is there weren't a lot of aunts and uncles that I spent time with like that? Oh, okay, see, I was raised by my grandparents and aunt and uncle, so it's like home, but not really.
Speaker 2:grandparents is a different story I spent a lot of time at my grandparents places, right, right, right, but I don't.
Speaker 1:Aunts and uncles, yeah, I don't know. Yeah, yeah, so, uh, while we're on the cubs, the, uh, the hall of fame ballot came out this week. Yeah, and um, you know, not much to talk about. At the top, ichiro is probably. I mean, I think the conversation with Ichiro is is he going to be a unanimous first ballot Hall of Famer? But I don't. I would be shocked if he doesn't get first ballot. Cece Sabathia, new to the ballot, probably also a good chance at a first ballot. Correct, correct? So you're, you're, you're starting with those two guys, um, but down at the bottom of the ballot, I always love that. I always love seeing the, the. The last few guys that you know have no shot at being voted in, but they just get the opportunity to be on the ballot and do the media tour and talk about what an honor it is to be on the ballot. Yeah, and we both have a guy to talk about in that regard this week, which is awesome, and for you, it's 2016 World Series MVP Ben Zobrist.
Speaker 2:And he needs a pick-me-up from the past few years because you know he's went through some bad luck in his private life and I don't have any idea what he's went through some bad luck in his private life and I don't have any idea what what he's went through. Really, I'm just speculating that it's news that you know he's had a bad private life there for a couple years. So wouldn't it be nice for him to get back on track with a hall of fame, uh induction, that would be awesome, but I don't know if he's going to make it. I mean, do I think he qualifies? Yeah, I think he qualifies. I think he does. I mean, he's contributed to a lot of teams and been the guy.
Speaker 1:He qualifies to be on the ballot.
Speaker 2:Well, I mean if you're on the ballot. You're one step away from being in.
Speaker 1:He's more than a step away. You think I know.
Speaker 2:Why are you hating on Benny?
Speaker 1:I'm not hating. I'm happy he's on the ballot. I'm happy we get to see him interviewed about it and he gets his little moment in the sun.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:But there's no shot. You don't think so? No shot, yeah, I kind of agree too.
Speaker 2:No shot man. Yeah, he's not going to make it.
Speaker 1:They won't let Manny Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez and Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens and Pete Rose, I mean, you know.
Speaker 2:But Ben Zobris is going in See, though I can see that happening though like that.
Speaker 1:That's a little too much of a stretch.
Speaker 2:And some guy in Kansas City is just losing his mind because he was mad when he left to come to the Cubs. So he's like I can't believe Benny got in. Yeah, You're like sit down, Uncle Fred, the nephews are coming over.
Speaker 1:Okay, well, vamp about Ben Zobris and what he meant to the Cubs. Well, okay. Because I got to put a title for this show. Okay.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:I got you Apparently. We're staying at our aunt and uncle's house.
Speaker 2:Okay, right. Well, he was a glue when we needed a glue. He was a pothole filler when we needed a pothole filler. When you needed to not get that out at bat, he was the guy that you could trust coming up there to get the job done. You know, he was a utility filler upper and he did a great job filling in there and filling in the gaps which made the team a whole, which helped in 2016. And I really think that he kind of did the same thing for Kansas City and he just got moved over. I just think he's an all-around good guy. But here's the thing with what I'm saying and I just realized this he's just a good guy, a good's, not an excellent player like I'm not coming up with. Well, he did this and he did that. He's just, you know, so maybe he doesn't have a chance.
Speaker 1:Well, you know it's, it's worth talking about, on a team of guys that were viewed as the stars chris bryant, anthony rizzo, javi baez he, he was one of those glue type of guys and without him they don't win that world series, right, right. So you know he's worth bringing up. He deserves to be on the ballot. I'm happy for him.
Speaker 2:No chance yeah, no chance.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I agree, I agree, he doesn't have a chance, poor guy so as we transition to talk about the dodgers, um, the dodgers have a guy who I am a huge fan of, always have been okay, who also found himself as one of those guys that makes the ballot that you know will be lucky to get enough votes to stay on the ballot next year, right, uh, and that's russell martin, and I love me some russell martin. Uh, canadian catcher. Uh played for different teams but uh had a couple stints with the dodgers and was always in the you know in. In his first stint, especially, was one of, if not my absolute favorite Dodger. Yeah, and those were in some leaner years before we got the new ownership and went on this great run that we're on now. But you need guys like that when your team's not as good, and Russell was one of those guys and you know, great catcher more than decent hitter. A couple times he was an all-star, pitched a little bit too Position player who pitched a little bit too.
Speaker 1:That's interesting, just an awesome guy to have on your ball club, russell Martin, and happy to see him get that opportunity to, to to talk, you know, to the media about what it means to him that his career has been celebrated by getting on this ballot right and, um, you know, I always, I always think about nick swisher.
Speaker 1:You know, a few years ago nick swisher was on the ballot and nick, if you know anything about nick swisher, he's just like full of energy, full of positivity and he was just like man. This is like getting in the Hall of Fame for me, because I never dreamed I'd even be on the ballot Right, because he was always one of those role-player guys, fringe, all-star type guy, but never a star, never a guy that you thought, oh well, he's got a shot at the Hall of Fame. Yeah, and I feel that way about Zobrist and Russ Martin. But they're worth talking about, they're worth mentioning, because just because you don't get in the Hall of Fame doesn't mean you weren't a good player, doesn't mean you weren't valuable to your team and doesn't mean you weren't memorable.
Speaker 2:Well, I mean, you just named all those great players that aren't in the Hall of Fame.
Speaker 1:I mean, we've made argument on this show that it's not all it's cracked up to be. Well, that's another conversation for another day. We'll wait till the writers screw the pooch on this ballot before we talk about all that. But yeah, you know, at the end of the day it's just something to talk about and we need things to talk about.
Speaker 2:It is. It's very interesting and again I mean mean doing the media tour being included that that might just be the highlight for the guys and they might realize their chances, but but then again they might get in I would be very shocked on either account.
Speaker 1:Yeah, on either account. Um so the dodgers, since we last spoke, lost their first base coach. Clayton McCullough is the new manager of the Miami Marlins.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And happy for Clayton. He's been with the Dodgers for a while. He was in player development with the Dodgers, with Gabe Kapler, who's now the assistant GM with the Marlins. So that's probably his end there, but he was looked at by other teams. I think the White Sox considered him, and it's funny because the last time the Dodgers won the World Series in 2020, we lost our first base coach, george Lombard, to the Tigers. He's the bench coach there and that's how Clayton McCullough got to be the first base coach in the first place. Yeah, and he went the bench coach there and, um, that's how clayton mccullough got to be the first base coach in the first place. Yeah, so, and he went the same way. Yeah, and he kind of kind of had the same. Well, I mean, he had a better path. If, if your goal is to be a manager because george lombard's still not a manager, right, but you know, um, good for clayton mccullough, uh, it gives me a reason to look forward to playing the Marlins every year for a little while.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean he'll add to that ball club. And when I heard the news I wasn't surprised. You know he's a good coach.
Speaker 1:You know listen, you can talk about whatever you want in terms of how teams and organizations are operated and run. You can't tell me that most teams want to do things more like the Dodgers in some way. Right, and I think that's the advantage if you're a guy like Clayton McCullough who would like to advance your career elsewhere. You coached on the Dodgers Mm-gers and that carries some weight right now. Oh yeah, absolutely. So you know. Happy for him. We'll see who the new first base coach is and I'll miss the little headbutt celebration with him and Shohei.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, because I was asking you the first time I saw it I was like what's the deal with that thing, man, they're gonna get a concussion.
Speaker 1:But no, I it's, it's, uh, you know, a mainstay now and it's gone away yeah, maybe the maybe the new first base coach will be short and they'll still do it. Maybe because I think that's all it was it was just little ones they were trying to figure it out and Shooney just went doop.
Speaker 1:And then the Dodgers are connected to fucking everybody, everybody. They've set up a meeting with Juan Soto. That apparently is happening this week, if it hasn't already. Right, how do you think that's going to go? Well, it's very interesting to me.
Speaker 1:A lot of people see the Dodgers meeting with Soto as a formality only. Okay, because the reports on the Dodgers' interest with Soto has been. They are in if the market softens, they're not going to get in a bidding war to give him this huge $500 million contract or whatever people think he's going to get 500 million dollar contract or whatever people think he's going to get. I think there's more to it than that. I think the Dodgers are going to be there.
Speaker 1:But yeah, if it gets astronomical, I don't think it makes sense for the Dodgers, because you know why would you spend that kind of money on a contract when you already have Shohei Otani, you already have Mookie Betts, both inked up, both on big deals, and money's not an option for the Dodgers right now, it's it's. What can we feasibly do to go for it in this window? Because there's a real window of three or four years where we still have Freddie and we have all the guys we just talked about and more that are inked up longer. Soto would be a nice addition to that. I just don't know that the Dodgers are as high on him as a lot of teams like the Mets are.
Speaker 2:Well, that's what I was getting ready to say. I sort of disagree with you, I think if he doesn't go to the meds, he goes to the dodgers I mean, the red socks seem pretty in on him too, which is a little weird.
Speaker 1:They haven't been big spenders recently, but they can be. Yeah, they have been in the past. Yeah, boston's not exactly a small market. No, so I I don't know. Man, it'll be really interesting to see um, and you know personally I had said all along that if there's one corner outfield spot, I want Teoscar Hernandez back before I want Juan Soto definitely and I get that.
Speaker 1:Soto's a better hitter and brings more to the table in a lot of ways I get all that, but we have that. We have that already. Yeah, and Tao was such a, he was the heartbeat of that Dodger ball club last year and he has made it very clear that he wants to stay with the Dodgers and will do anything he can to make that happen. Yeah, but we got the news, um, you know, a few weeks ago, a couple weeks ago, I guess, that mookie betts is. The plan is to move him back to the infield so that opens up right field right. So you know, you put, you get tay oscar back, you put him in right field. You still need a left fielder and if you can tolerate the bad defense of juan soto to get the bat in the lineup and and the and the dollar amounts right, I say go for it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I do too. I do too. I think he would be a welcomed addition yeah I think he would, uh, he might even be the piece that that connects them and power boosts them into another one well, maybe, so, maybe so.
Speaker 1:I mean, it's hard to imagine adding Juan Soto to that lineup.
Speaker 2:I mean seriously. Can you imagine that I can't?
Speaker 1:I think that's the hardest thing is like wrapping my brain around. That is even a real possibility. It'd be unbelievable.
Speaker 2:I mean like literally the definition of unbelievable like people could not believe it. Yeah, people would be in the stands going. I don't believe it, people could not believe it.
Speaker 1:People would be in the stands going. I don't believe it. I also think Juan Soto is the guy he's going to be. I don't see him going to a team like the Dodgers and taking on a new role or changing the way he does anything, when he can go to the Red Sox and just be Juan Soto, or he can go to the Mets and be the guy, the one guy.
Speaker 2:But you got to think what does everybody want? They want to win.
Speaker 1:Well, I think at some level that is true for everyone. Soto's already won one. Yeah, he was on that Nationals team in 2019. And I don't see him as a win-first guy. I mean, I don't. I don't really see any Scott Boris client as a win-first guy. Yeah, I see them as get me as much money as you feasibly can, right, and you know, I just I don't know, man, I'm not, I'm not sold, I'm not high on juan soto as a dodger. I'm just not and and, and if he, if, if the dodgers do sign him, I'll embrace him like everybody else and I'll be happy and and I will want him to succeed. Obviously, right, but when we're in this hypothetical phase, I just I see the market getting too out of out of control, um, with other teams getting in a bidding war for the dodgers to really offer him the most money well, realistically, we're at this stage of the game.
Speaker 2:We're talking about the mets yeah, I think so.
Speaker 1:Uh, I think the red socks are sneaky yeah I think they're sneaky. You got to watch out for them. Um, I think they could match a mets offer. Um, if they really want to, if they're really motivated, I could see that happening. But you know, I don't know. I've heard reports that he wants to be on the east coast. You know, you just got to be careful what you believe at this stage with anybody.
Speaker 2:Well, anything that's said could be true or not true.
Speaker 1:Right, and you know, there's always the possibility that reporters are buddies with Scott Boris and are feeding information to get other teams interested or motivated or raise the price tag or whatever is going on, well you know, the price tag's getting raised. Oh yeah, it's going to be. He's going to sign a big contract.
Speaker 2:I mean, there's no way around it, yeah.
Speaker 1:Because I don't think he signs without it. No, and somebody's going to give it to him.
Speaker 2:Well, yeah, they're going to give it to him. He'll be in witness protection in California. They're going to slowly, over the next 10 years, create the greatest team ever, and no one's going to notice it.
Speaker 1:Can you imagine the Angels let Shohei Ohtani go on that huge $700 million contract, then they sign Juan Soto to like $500 million? Yeah, oh my God, that would be a big, big mistake.
Speaker 2:We could do a whole hour on how stupid that is, oh my God, that would be a big, big mistake.
Speaker 1:We could do a whole hour on how stupid that is.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, but they could do it. I mean they could, I guess I don't Anything is possible.
Speaker 1:Anything is possible. That's the thing about the offseason. We're just talking for the sake of talking, rumor and innuendo. There's nothing else to talk about right now. But, uh, yeah, who knows? I mean in the dot, the dodgers. Reportedly I've already met with blake snail, uh, who I'm not, also not very high on um, but I could see, I could see where he fits with the dodgers, I could see how he makes the dodgers better. Yeah, um, it's just, you know, I don't know, man, I, I it. A part of it for me too is like the team that just won the world series. I liked a lot, top to bottom so you don't every guy.
Speaker 1:So you know now that we're past that and pieces are going to move. Guys are going to go elsewhere. New guys are going to move. Guys are going to go elsewhere. New guys are going to come in. I got to learn to like a new batch of guys next year.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but it's going to be a good batch of guys, no matter what. See that's the. Thing that you guys have going for you. You're still going to have the core team and everything. Nice save on that cap, by the way, thank you. Thank you to have the core team and everything nice, save on that cap, by the way.
Speaker 1:Nice, thank you, thank you. But yeah, that's that's my, that's my hockey days. Yeah, with my, with my reflexes in my hand I was just about to say puck, yeah yeah sorry y'all couldn't see that it was.
Speaker 2:It was an a1 catch. It was a hall of fame catch. Ben zobris wishes he could have made a catch like that. All right.
Speaker 1:So we got some more teams and things to talk about. We're going to get to awards week later in the show, but I want to do even if it's just brief. The Royals have reportedly been in on some guys. They reportedly have interest in Taylor Ward, the slugger first baseman from the Angels, and Alec Boehm was the one that really caught my attention the third baseman from the Phillies, because Boehm was a very highly regarded prospect and when he didn't perform right away, the Philadelphia fans and him did not get along. Yeah, that's a tough fan base anyway, very tough in any sport, yeah. So, but he's come around, they've come around on him and he's been a big part of the, the success the phillies have had, um, and they and they're they've been right there, right on the c cusp for a few years now of winning one. But I could really see Alec Boehm flourishing in Kansas City.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:You know, he's not going to be regarded as one of the big signings of the year, no matter where he goes. And I think getting out of Philadelphia and going somewhere like Kansas City where they're just going to be happy to have him, yeah, might be a good fit. I think that's a really good fit for him and I think we could see another level of Alec Baum in a place like Kansas City, especially right now, where he doesn't have to go and be the guy or even one of the guys yeah, he just has to go and be Alec Baum. Yeah, and he's going to make that team better, and they're already a really good ball club with a lot of pitching, and that's the other thing. It's been reported that they're looking to unload some of that pitching surplus and are talking to the reds about jonathan india yeah another guy that I think thrives in kansas city.
Speaker 2:I think he does too, and I hate to see him go, but I think he would do well there. Freshness, new city, new league, everything.
Speaker 1:Yeah, man, I think that little bit of a restart for Jonathan India could go a long way, because he's a really good ball player.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I've seen him play a couple times and he's outstanding.
Speaker 1:Yeah, really good ball player um, a lot to offer any any ball club and um. But you know the reds, the reds might view it as hey, if we can get. You know brady singer, I think was the the, the guy specifically that was reported um to be the return on on that deal. You know, if you know they, they need pitching and if they if they can get some of that great pitching.
Speaker 1:That's that the royals have, and the royals can get a position player. That's going to make them better. You know, I think that's that could be one of those deals that works out for both sides oh, without a doubt, yeah, yeah, it could definitely benefit both clubs but I mean the bigger story. What about?
Speaker 2:the royals are going for it man, they really are in their own little way, aren't they?
Speaker 1:I love it. I love it Because you may remember, if you've been listening to us for a while, midseason last year they were my AL World Series pick, yeah, and in reality we weren't that far from that being what actually happened, yeah, so you know.
Speaker 2:A few things here, a few things there, and they're bingo-bango in there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, here's the thing. I think they see that they have a window too with Bobby Witt Jr. Mm-hmm. Because one of two things happens they use up all his team control and they have a little run and then he goes and signs a big deal somewhere else, right? Or they show him hey, we are trying to build around you here, we want you to be the guy here for as long as you want to play and we're trying to give you what you need to get us back to the promised land. It hasn't been that long since the Royals were a really good ball club in the World Series. They won one in 2015, not even 10 years ago. So I don't think they're all that far and honestly, I think if we learned anything about the American League this year, it's that it's a little more wide open than it looked like. Yeah, they beat the Yankees in that series. I don't know. I mean, maybe Cleveland takes care of them, but maybe they go to the World Series Maybe?
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, it was something that we talked about from midseason on and they just missed it. I mean, just by a hair just missed it.
Speaker 1:And just just, just by hair just missed it and it didn't even look like they were a playoff team until no, you know nut cutting time exactly, exactly but I was just trying to think outside the box and I thought the al was was anybody's to win.
Speaker 1:Um, you know, the yankees got the job done and they were sort of the the easy pick, I think, but you know they. Um, I thought the royals put up a good fight in the in the nlds there and and um, I don't think the royals are going anywhere. No, uh, next year or or for for the next few years.
Speaker 2:Um, yeah, I think they're going to slowly build and be one of those teams that comes out in the next five years and we're like, we're gonna be like, wow, where did that come from? And they've just been slowly putting it together.
Speaker 1:Because the model's there for them. Like I said, it's not been that long since they were there winning the World Series.
Speaker 1:And so they know how to do it, and they really could turn out to be this great example of how to do it in a small market, when you draft well well, you develop well, and then you get a star player out of your own system like a bobby witt, um, and and again, you just put the pieces around him, yeah, and? And you know how many people are really talking about taylor ward and alec bowman free agency everybody wants to talk about juan soto, roki sasaki, these other great pitchers yeah, they're not paying attention to those guys.
Speaker 1:They're kind of under the radar. Signings, no matter where they go. But you know, make the Royals better.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And you know that could be yeah again. I think Alec Boehm makes a ton of sense. Really helps that ball club gets them closer to competing for a championship. Yeah man, the Royals are going for it.
Speaker 2:We're going to have to keep our eyes on them next season.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely, absolutely got to keep our eyes on the Kansas City Royals moving forward, and with that let's talk about Awards Week.
Speaker 2:All right, what did I win?
Speaker 1:uh, let's talk about awards week. All right, what did I win? Well, you won um. You won best co-host in a baseball podcast. No one listens to honorable mention nice, nice and now.
Speaker 2:It was an honor just to be nominated and I'd like to accept that award on behalf of all the little people, especially the little furry ones which are my puppies, who really, really, they really just ballyhooed for me to get this award.
Speaker 1:God damn it. Now I got to get you a trophy.
Speaker 2:They were on their little puppy pads, just putting in boats after boats after boats.
Speaker 1:Lobbying with other voters.
Speaker 2:Lobbying with the other dogs in the neighborhood to get me on the ballot.
Speaker 1:So we'll go in order. Rookie of the Year was announced Monday night and the National League wasn't as close as a lot of people thought it would be. Paul Skeens got 27 out of 30 first-place votes. Jackson Merrill finished second, I think, as he should.
Speaker 1:He had a very good season, but Paul Skeens was historically good and, at the end of the day, paul Skeens, this is what he was supposed to be. He was supposed to come up and immediately be one of the best pitchers in the game, and that's exactly what he was supposed to be. Yeah, he was supposed to come up and immediately be one of the best pitchers in the game, and that's exactly what he was. From the time he came up till now, he, in a lot of measurable ways, was the best pitcher in the game. Yes, started the all-star game. What a month into his major league career. Yeah, you know, um, and is, as a is a marketable guy. I think the questions with Paul Skeens come in the fact that he throws so hard like everybody else. And at what point are we talking about an elbow injury and what does that look like for him? It's inevitable. On the other side, I think it is inevitable.
Speaker 2:I mean it's inevitable with everybody. Nowadays they get the surgery. They come back even better. Remember when that used to be the end of your career.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's the thing. Is that surgery, tommy John specifically, has come such a long way that, yeah, I mean it's not a death sentence.
Speaker 2:No, it's almost like guys are getting it out of the way so they can get better walker bueller's had two of them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, and and yeah, I don't know, man, it's just it'll be interesting to see what, if anything, a tommy john takes off of paul skeens, when that, you know, does inevitably happen. Um, or do we start to see the changes in the game where guys are avoiding that inevitability?
Speaker 2:No, I don't see that. I mean they're coming back better and I mean that I mean they really are. I mean it used to be that, it was, you know. I just don't see them doing that. I see them going ahead and just going 100 miles an hour straight ahead. Yeah, but that's what's expected of me?
Speaker 1:I was very happy to see Paul Skeens the clear rookie of the year because I thought all along and you know I have my own personal feelings about the Padres and I'm not trying to take anything away from Jackson Merrill Without Jackson Merrill they weren't as good of a ball club as they were last year by any stretch of the imagination. And he had a wonderful year and in most years the line he had gets you Rookie of the Year. Yeah, it just so happens he was up against a guy who made history as a rookie.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, it just wasn't his typical year this year.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so over in the American League. It's interesting the last time two starting pitchers were the two rookies of the year was 1981. Personally I kind of thought Colton Cous baltimore was the rookie of the year in the al. Okay, for a lot of the same reasons I thought paul skeens was, because I think colton kouser is a little more marketable, he's a little bit more of a star, potentially, um, but that's not all that goes into these awards and um, for whatever reason, the voters thought Luis Hill was the guy and the AL was very close. A lot of guys got votes and it was just sort of barely eked out for Luis Hill. And you know I can't say I blame them for having this viewpoint, but a lot of people thought Luis Hill's's win, uh, had to do with the new york bias. Yeah, and you know, does that exist like it once did? Maybe, maybe not something you could debate, you know, to death oh, it exists.
Speaker 2:I mean yeah, I mean they've always had that and they're always gonna. It's the biggest market, it's the the attitude of the team.
Speaker 1:You know, that's, that's a real thing yeah, I know, I know, but uh, but yeah. So congrats to skeens and louis hill um for winning their respective rookie of the year trophies. Yes, tuesday night manager of the year. Okay, we could go a lot of directions with this, but I want to start this by saying as little as all these awards mean ultimately, the Manager of the Year means the least. Yeah, the last like five guys to win it in the National League have lost their job within two years.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So you know, take that for what it is, but I want to talk about the National League Manager of the Year because, the National League Manager of the Year was the Milwaukee Brewers', pat Murphy, first Brewers manager to ever win Manager of the Year and the successor of your guy, brian.
Speaker 2:Craig Council. Yeah, so he moves Craig Council out of the way. Who, uh, I couldn't stand as a brewer's coach.
Speaker 1:Y'all were so pissed when the cubs oh yeah, but I like him.
Speaker 2:Now I see his. He's different. He's he. Now that I've actually heard his interviews and his interview style. He's just different and that's good. Sometimes different is what you need. But yeah, they moved him out and they got this guy in and what did he do with his first season?
Speaker 1:he wins the manager of the year I just think it's funny that craig council goes and gets that huge contract and the guy that, the guy that took his spot in milwaukee- gets all the glory.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, that, that's, that's out there, man it's something, it's something.
Speaker 1:But uh, congrats to pat murphy.
Speaker 2:I you know I don't know a lot about him, but I like him, you know um well, we don't like him because he's part of the brewers, but I'm sure he's an upstanding fella. Well, you don't like it, I? Well, yeah, when I speak of we, I mean me and ashley and the puppy oh yeah, yeah, everybody here, you're home conting house, your home contingent. Yes, the home contingent. We can't stand the brewers or, as we like to call them, the sewers.
Speaker 1:The sewers. I just wish they'd change their uniforms back. I know, but I don't want to get on a. I like the blue and yellow. The colors are all right and yellow the colors are all right, the colors I don't have the issue with. It's that terrible logo that everybody loves for some reason. Yeah, the ball glove with the b and not a fan yeah, it's not creative yeah it's just not, you know, and whatever you know, people like it and they're allowed to.
Speaker 1:But I'm also allowed to think that the uh, the m with the barley was was better because because here's the thing I was a brewer at one point, professionally and I thought that those uniforms represented what they were supposed to be, a lot better than a fucking ball glove Right, right, right. Like you might as well be the Milwaukee ball players.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's kind of like a duh logo. Yeah, it's boring, it's just stupid and boring.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I don't want to go off on a tangent. So over in the American League, cleveland Guardians first-year manager Stephen Vogt wins manager of the year, which I think is very well deserved Made a huge impact his first year as a manager. For the last few years of his career, everybody sort of knew he was going to become a manager, right. I don't know that anybody could have dreamed he was going to be this good, this quickly at it. Yeah, I want to. So Sarah Langs, who's great, gave us some nuggets on Steven Vogt. Where do I start with this? So Steven Vogt last was a player in the major leagues in 2022. He's the fastest to go from playing in the league to manager of the year ever.
Speaker 2:Only took him two years yeah.
Speaker 1:The previous record was three years. It was Joe Girardi in 2006, after he had played in 03. This is where it gets really fun. Six players older than Steven Vogt appeared in Major League games in 2024. Six, wow, six guys played in the league that are older than the American League Manager of the Year. Yeah, Wow.
Speaker 2:Kudos to him for that, though.
Speaker 1:Yeah, really cool, just very, very quickly. Rich Hill, jesse Chavez, charlie Morton, justin Verlander, charlie Morton, justin Verlander, charlie Morton, uli Gurriel and Max Scherzer All played in Major League Baseball in 2024 and are older than Steven Vogt, and Vogt mentioned that Matt and I'm going to butcher this name Quattuaro, quattuaro, I don't know how to pronounce it. I'm sorry to Tigers fans, I don't know how to pronounce your manager's name, who was another one of the finalists for American League Manager of the Year Right In 2007 with the Hudson Valley Renegades, was Steven Vogt's first professional manager. Wow, thank you, sarah Langs, for all that.
Speaker 1:If you don't follow Sarah on the socials, you should. She is a wealth of information and really cool little nuggets like that and is doing a lot to bring awareness and fight ALS, because she suffers from ALS herself and is one of the really the biggest advocate for ALS awareness and Lou Gehrig Day. Yeah, als is Lou Gehrig's disease, for anyone that has not made that connection, but yeah, so congrats to those guys, two guys I really like and I don't think they're going to be the type of manager of the year that exceeds expectations, wins the award and two years later is out of a job. Yeah, I think these are two really, really Rising stars. Well, they're just well-minded baseball people and I think they're going to buck that trip.
Speaker 2:Getting their props early in their career as opposed to later.
Speaker 1:Sure, yeah, I think it's two good managers. Yeah, to later. Sure, yeah, I think, uh, I think it's two good managers, you know? Yeah, um, I will spare everyone, uh, the dave roberts rant, because again, this award doesn't mean squat right.
Speaker 2:I mean, and we talked about that, uh, how can you do what dave did with what he had, and you know all the injuries, and not be the guy? But so be it.
Speaker 1:It's all about narrative, so be it. It's all about the narrative, and the Dodgers have high expectations, so he didn't exceed any expectations by leading them to the best record in baseball. Yeah, but I think, when you add all the circumstances in, he deserved more than three third-place votes, which is what he got.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I agree with that. I was very shocked to hear that that's what he got. I mean, had I just went into it cold, I would have said he's the guy.
Speaker 1:The sheer idea that there are five managers in the National League last year that did a better job than Dave Roberts is asinine to me. Yeah, completely.
Speaker 2:How do you do a better job with the best record in baseball and you win the World Series? I mean, how do you quantify that? I don't know.
Speaker 1:I don't know.
Speaker 2:They're smoking. The hopium is what they're doing.
Speaker 1:I think most of the time manager of the year is based off of how you did compared to your team's expectations. Right, because the only way to make a splash as a manager on the national level for these voters is to take a team that wasn't expected to be any good and be really good with them.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, and just outshine what everybody was saying about you pretty much, not just do what everybody was saying you you're okay pretty much yeah, I mean, I think that's what it boils down to.
Speaker 1:Yeah, all right. So last night we got cy young winners. No real surprises. Both these guys won the pitching triple crown in their league. Uh, national league was the braves' Chris Sale and the American League was the Tigers' Tarek Skubal. Again, no one is surprised by either one. The right guy won both Cy Youngs, yeah. But a lot of people seem to think this makes Chris Sale a Hall of Famer, and I just don't agree. Not yet. Not yet. He's had a good long career. Don't get me wrong, I'm not taking anything away from him, I just don't. I mean, he is to me a Hall of Very Good type of guy. He's a Hall of Very Good, he's not a Hall of Famer.
Speaker 2:We need to come up with a list of that Hall of Very Good, there's your title.
Speaker 1:The show is already titled, Okay all right, I'm not changing it.
Speaker 2:Okay, we don't have an eraser folks.
Speaker 1:So we'll find out tonight who the most valuable player is in the American League and the National League. But I wanted to go ahead and talk about awards, because I think we all know who's winning those. Yeah, I think the only thing to talk about is are Shohei Otani and Aaron Judge going to be unanimous? First place, they got to be right. I mean, it wouldn't surprise me if there's one voter, One voter that buys into the well Lindor played defense, and you can't give the MVP to a guy who only DH.
Speaker 2:Uncle John in the back of the room has to dissent against the decision. I can see that, but I I mean, how can you honestly make that argument?
Speaker 1:it also wouldn't surprise me to see bobby witt jr still one or two first place votes, yeah, um, just from certain voters who have certain ways of looking at it. But I mean, you can't realistically expect anybody but aaron judge to win in the American League or anybody to win the National League except Shohei Ohtani. Well, yeah, you know, shohei Francisco Lindor had a great year. Cattell Marte, to me, arguably had as good, if not better, a year than Lindor did before he got hurt. But Shohei Ohtani was doing stuff that's never been done before.
Speaker 2:Look, everybody does well, everybody seems to do good things, but it can't be argued that Ohtani wasn't better than all of them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you can't argue that I think you're right. I mean, it's just too obvious.
Speaker 2:Way too obvious.
Speaker 1:So, again, we won't be back for a couple of weeks to talk about the aftermath of it, but hopefully there's nothing to talk about.
Speaker 2:Well, yeah, yeah, I don't think there will be. I think that'll just be status quo of the headlines.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, I'd have a hard time believing that we were going to have anything to talk about with the MVP vote. I just don't see any way you can slice it up that it's not Judge and Otani. Otani is set to become only the second player ever to win an MVP in both leagues, which is remarkable. It's a short list. There's currently one guy on that list, frank robinson. So, um, you know. And again, otani just had a monster season at the plate, just a ridiculous year. And uh, you know, I will. I will never forget where I was watching the shohei otani game when he got to 50-50.
Speaker 2:Yeah, me too. Six for six, 10 RBIs. He's been slightly off the time. My goodness, yep, yep, it was incredible, it was a great night.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely Great game. And again, I'll never forget where I was when I saw it. All right, we're past an hour, aren't we? Yeah, we're good. All right, we're past an hour, aren't we? Yeah, we're good, all right. Well, I think that's all we've got this week.
Speaker 2:Well, this just in. I've been handed a note that you have been. My secretary, tiffany, has handed me a note and she has said that you have been voted the best baseball broadcaster on Pirate Flag Radio. Yeah, that's a bit of a dubious honor, but I'll take it, yeah because I didn't want you to feel left out after I won my big award.
Speaker 1:I had already forgotten you won an award.
Speaker 2:Oh man, I'm getting ready to have a parade about it.
Speaker 1:And with that, we're going gonna let you go for the week. Um, if you like what you hear, you can support us financially a couple of ways, and we would really appreciate it. Patreoncom slash 2gtb uh, some classic original episodes from our uh initial run in 2022 um, two episodes of a podcast that brian did with his wife, briefly called married with baseball, and then some other cool bonus stuff we've done along the way that we're gonna we're gonna add to again, um, in the near future. Um, we just uh just have gotten away from it and we apologize for that, but we'll we'll get back to some bonus content, especially once the season gets rolling again, and yeah, we're not going nowhere.
Speaker 1:Nah, we're going to keep doing this, we're going to keep doing it. Also, we have a great store, 2gtbstore. Jerseys, hats, t-shirts, sweatshirts, journals, phone cases, stuff for your pets just something for everybody and it's free to go look around sogtbstore and, uh, yeah, with all that said, uh, we're again. We're going to be taking, um, thanksgiving week off, so there will be no new episode next week, but we'll be back in two weeks to uh, hopefully have a lot to talk about. Free agency dominoes are going to start falling at some point, so, uh, we might have a lot to talk about. And uh, next time we uh, next time we hit record. But uh, yeah, with all that, we'll see you at the ballpark.
