2 Guys Talking Baseball
Dallas Danger and Brian Logan discuss the game of baseball. Two fans, two personalities, Two Guys!
2 Guys Talking Baseball
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What if a legendary Dodger could transform the Chicago Cubs both on and off the field? Join us as we explore the impact of Justin Turner's move to Chicago, where his leadership and versatility promise to be game-changers. We share our excitement about the new baseball season and take you through the intricacies and excitement of spring training, where seasoned players and rising stars alike sharpen their skills. Listen as we discuss the significance of Turner’s role as a mentor for younger players like Matt Shaw and his potential future in management.
Our conversation shifts to the Dodgers and their strategic offseason maneuvers, spotlighting emerging talents like Zyre Hope and promising pitchers Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki. As the trade deadline looms, we dissect the Cubs' offseason moves, pondering missed opportunities and what lies ahead. We then dive into the much-anticipated introduction of the ABS Challenge system, which aims to redefine fairness and consistency in the strike zones, ensuring accurate calls with minimal disruptions to the flow of the game.
As we wrap up the episode, we tackle some quick hits and updates across the league. Discover how Mike Trout’s shift to right field could extend his career, and why Giancarlo Stanton’s elbow issues could shake up the Yankees' season. We even touch on the Yankees' surprising decision to allow beards and MLB's potential future in streaming platforms. Don't miss out on this jam-packed episode as we cover all the bases and gear up for an unforgettable baseball season.
Hello everyone, welcome back inside the Three Crows Studios. Hello everyone, welcome back inside the three crows studios. This is your weekly edition of two guys talking baseball. My name is dallas danger and I am joined, as always, by my best friend and colleague, brian logan.
Speaker 2:It's a great week for baseball and we actually have baseball this week. That's what makes it so damn great. We have Major League games to watch. That's right. The wait is over Officially starting season two of this show. Season two, season two After four years. Third season.
Speaker 1:But whatever you say, pal.
Speaker 2:Whatever, whatever. Officially season two, but even though it's season three.
Speaker 1:I want to go ahead at this point and say, yes, we know spring training games don't count, we don't care, don't care one bit.
Speaker 2:We still watch them. We still watch them every day.
Speaker 1:Yep, and we know that there's other baseball that goes on during the winter and we have committed next winter to being more active in in that as well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we're gonna have have it together and watch the winter league. Yeah, we're gonna watch some winter league ball next year, so yeah, but we made it through the off season. Yeah, we did and, uh, you know it wasn't perfect, but we came in there and, uh, we did the best we could and I feel confident that our shows were entertaining and informative Well, entertaining at least Well.
Speaker 1:We did shows the whole time basically.
Speaker 2:Of all the shows we did. That's some of them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we had some empty formats through the winter and we just sort of talked. Anyway, that's right. But yeah, spring training is here. Spring training games are here. We're about a month or so away from games that count and we're going to start games that count in Tokyo with Brian's Cubs and my Dodgers, which is going to be amazing. Yeah, can't wait for that, dodgers, which is going to be amazing. Yeah, can't wait for that. But we got a lot to talk about with spring training and all the news. We're not even going to get to everything. I really would love to talk about the Red Sox, because I'm so fascinated by the Boston Red Sox right now. It's not even funny, but there's only so much we can get to in one show, yeah, and we also. We are starting work on our season preview, which we'll be doing at some point between now and opening day, right. So that's exciting.
Speaker 2:Where we pick our winners and losers of the year.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we're going to be prognosticating the results of this regular season and postseason and all that good stuff, so be ready for that in the coming weeks. But we had a pretty exciting at least for us bit of news coming out of Cubs camp this week. So we talked last week about how the Cubs missed out on Alex Bregman and all the reasons probably why.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:But we had seen reports even before Bregman made his decision that they had a backup plan, and the backup plan to pivot was, uh, former Dodger Dodger legend, yeah. Justin Turner, yeah yay, who is now a Chicago Cub yeah, man, that's great news.
Speaker 2:I think he's really going to contribute to the ball club.
Speaker 1:A welcome addition 40 years old, still going strong, was in seattle last year you know boston before that and then obviously all his accolades with the dodgers he's won a world series. You know this is a guy that is gonna if you let him going to change the culture of your ball club.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, he definitely is. Comes in with a great attitude. Really everybody on the teams that he's been on before seems to gravitate to him and he's what I'm told. He has a great mind for the business end of baseball and you know, I'm just glad we got. We got him.
Speaker 1:man, I think it's a big get yeah, this is, this is a nice, uh, little bow on the off season as we, as we get into spring training for the cubs and and, like you said, this is a guy from a dodger standpoint that I think has been for several years. Uh, he's been viewed as a, as a future manager, yeah, at the major league level, um, and, and I, and I would not be surprised if we see a lot of camera shots of craig council and he's right beside him in the day. I mean, that's the type of player person that justin turner is. He's going to be right there with council, uh, as much as council will put up with. Yeah, um, because him and dave roberts were. I mean, he sat right next to dave all the time in that dodger dugout.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I expect nothing, nothing less, nothing different here with the cubs. I think that's part of the reason he's being brought in is to be one of those sort of like veterans that's almost a player coach, right, you know, um, for for the cubbies and and, yeah, this is exciting man, because you know seattle last year, you know that was a cool opportunity for him, but you know, I'll be honest, I didn't see a lot of justin turner last year.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know, and I obviously with with him being on the cubs, I'll see a lot more he was almost in witness protection almost, but uh, they, we got him back from seattle and now he's back in the big time so I'm interested to see where he slots in, if he's just the guy that you find a spot for.
Speaker 1:Um was pretty much always a third baseman with the dodgers, has played some second and some first, I think since leaving la probably gonna get some reps at dh, you know. I mean he is 40, so you're not, you're not putting him at second base every day. I wouldn't think, yeah, I wouldn't imagine. But you got nico horner who might not be ready for opening day. You know, slot him in there. Matt shaw is kind of your third baseman but he's unproven and he's dealing with a little bit of an injury coming into camp. You know, I think jt's probably gonna move around and and again. He's gonna be one of those guys that can slot in two, three different places in your lineup and and is just going to kind of fill in where he's needed um, and that's never a bad thing yeah just a little utility player
Speaker 1:yeah, I think so, man. I think he's going to be a bit of a utility guy, um, but he's going to give you good at bats. He's going to make younger guys on the team better. Just by them being around him and seeing how he prepares every day, especially if he's going to be a bench player, you get to full health and he's kind of a bench piece.
Speaker 1:I think your other bench pieces and your guys that are kind of going back and forth between AAA and the big leagues, they're going to see how he works every day to be ready in case you know, because you don't know If you're coming off the bench, you don't know, right, you could be called on in the second inning, you could be called on in the ninth inning or anywhere in between, really, right?
Speaker 1:So I think he's one of those guys that's going to really teach your bench players and your younger players how to be ready for whenever you know and your younger players how to be ready for whenever your number gets called. But, all in all, a very good signing makes the Cubs better, which has kind of been the theme of this offseason. For the Cubs, every move seems like they're getting a little better every day and every week. Now we're here, we're mere weeks away from games that count and Justin Turner is going to be a contributor. Like you said at the very beginning, he's going to contribute a lot to this ball club and, if they are successful, I think Justin Turner is going to be a big part of that equation.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I do too. I think he's going to be maybe not the everyday guy, but will bring something to it, it you know. I mean, it wouldn't surprise me, though, if they did stick him at third though, and just, and he was the everyday guy yeah, you know, I think it.
Speaker 1:I think that all depends on matt shaw. What we get out of him, you know, and and and just kind of how that goes moving forward. But what I got, what a guy to have right there with Shaw to kind of help him and teach him and, you know, let him become the prospect, you know, the player that he is believed, you know, believed to be at the big league level, yeah, so good things for the cubbies man, good things for the cubs. Um, you want, do you want, to talk about a little bit about the? The game, yeah, yesterday, as we're recording, yesterday was the first game in spring training. The only game on the docket yesterday was cubs and dodgers.
Speaker 1:Um, a part of that obviously is they're going to be playing regular season games before anybody else, so they get a little bit of a head start playing spring training games. And Brian and I obviously both watched yesterday, brian more intently than me. It is the time of year that we encounter every 365 days where I have to remind Brian Logan how little spring training lineups and results matter. Yeah, but I get excited, I know you get excited, but here's the thing how many scores and lineups from last year's spring training, do you remember?
Speaker 1:None, none, not a one remember none, none, not a one. I'm pretty sure the dodgers set an all-time cactus league record for ties. Okay, last spring and I also remember last spring is when I came up with one of my own personal monikers of a team that ended up winning the world series, and that was the boys love the eighth inning. Yeah, because it seemed like last year, no matter what was going on, when the eighth inning hit the dodger because here's what, what it was, by the eighth inning you're scraping the bottom of the barrel. Yeah, these are usually, especially this time of year, minor league guys that have no shot of getting in the big leagues this year, that are just in camp. Some of them aren't even necessarily non-roster invites, they're just guys off the back fields that you get into games. Yeah, and I think last year the biggest takeaway was at that level. You know, when everybody puts though their, their batch, puts that batch of guys on the field against another team's batch of guys off the backfields, the Dodgers were just superior.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I agree, and it seemed like no deficit was too big in the eighth inning last spring Right, and that carried over to the big league club a little bit. There were times in the regular season when I went. Well, the boys love the eighth inning Right. Very different than the eighth inning mentality of the Cubs last year.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was opposite right. Yeah, they were just scratching and holding on to anything.
Speaker 1:No lead was big enough for the Cubs in the eighth inning, 15-run lead going into the eighth. Not a chance, not a chance, not a chance, but hey, the that cubs bullpen looks better. And uh, yeah, you know, the important thing is we've got games. Uh, we've got games to watch every day now and um, so what did you? What were your takeaways from the game yesterday?
Speaker 2:well, you know it's spring training pitching so I want to say that, to begin with, nobody was ready. They did get in 19 different pitchers between the two teams, which is great. That's a statistic you want. You want to see a lot of guys out there throwing the ball, getting their two innings worth, or two batters worth, or whatever it is. So that went very well. Yeah, so that went very well. You know we got we're going to talk about the ABS challenge a little bit later but we got to see that for the first.
Speaker 1:Yeah that was. That was something to we you know, Brian and I when I found out that. When it occurred to me I kind of knew all the facts but I hadn't put them together into the equation. You know that was the first major league game ever yesterday of any kind that utilized the automatic ball and strike system for challenges, and we will go a little more in depth on our feelings about it later. But that was certainly interesting to see and some of the stuff surrounding that. I think the biggest thing for me, as we kind of transition into talking about the dodgers here this week, is the 105 mile an hour comebacker. Yeah, that was huge.
Speaker 2:That bounced back to the backstop off of bobby miller's skull yeah, mean, that was incredible when I saw that happen and that's kind of when the tide turned in the game.
Speaker 1:Well, I mean, it just uprooted the whole pitching plan. So basically the way this works is in spring training you have nine guys and you say these are our nine pitchers today, these are the nine guys that we want to see. Well, when something happens and a guy gets pulled early, like Bobby Miller did, obviously you have to kind of go to again one of those minor league guys off the backfield that wasn't planning on pitching but was your just-in-case guy. Yeah, and it seemed like a couple times the Dodgers had to go to just-in-case guy. Yeah, and it seemed like a couple times the Dodgers had to go to just-in-case guys.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So you know, I think that's the reason for the crazy score. What was it?
Speaker 2:12-4? It was, yeah, 12-4. But I mean honestly, I mean I know it doesn't count, but if you want to talk about why they got 12 runs because they got the leadoff man on in several innings- yeah, they did, and that's key.
Speaker 1:The thing you know for the Cubs, the thing that I saw was guys that are going to. You know, alcantara is probably going to be on the big league club. Yeah, you know, he's going to get a lot of time and he was hitting the ball like his life and his job depended on it yesterday. I mean, Well, it might have. There are some hungry guys in that Cubs camp and that's good. Yeah, you know, I think there's a buzz about Cubs camp that maybe we didn't expect, but it's definitely there. So, you know, good things for the Cubs.
Speaker 1:Bobby Miller, by the way, got up, was able to walk off the mound to the dugout and then from the dugout to the clubhouse by on his own. Uh, was coherent, was answering questions on the field right after um. He is in concussion protocol, but so far that's all I've seen. I I there's not really been reports on his condition or you know whether or not they sent him on to get further scans or or what will. I guess it might all have to do with what happens when he wakes up today, you know, and, and how he's feeling. You know, um today, um, and I'm sure you know here in a little bit once we, once we get today's game broadcast, they might, they might, have a follow-up on that. Yeah, see how he's doing, um man.
Speaker 1:Just not an ideal start for Bobby Miller. No, coming off of a really tough year where he got kind of shuffled to the back of this starting pitching group for the Dodgers and now he finds himself in a three-way battle for one rotation spot to start the year with Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin which was really the one thing I had for the Dodgers this week was talking about that rotation battle. And then Bobby Miller, you know, gets hit in the head with a comebacker and it's like, well, what kind of wrench does that throw in this for Bobby Miller? Yeah, you know, tough break for that kid man.
Speaker 2:Very tough break. You know, one of the things that the the cubs gave up a lot of walks in that game and the reason I mean that's going to happen with with working out the pitchers, but they had something like 12 unanswered runs that they gave up again. I know it's pre-season and all this stuff, spring training and everything, but the dodgers weren't getting their leadoff man one and they weren't getting them around. And that's something they're going to have to work out, because if they were doing that against pitching that was in flux at the time, then you know what are they going to do here? You know, I think that's something they need to address and get on it.
Speaker 1:Sure, sure. And there were some bright spots for the Dodgers too. Eddie Rosario's first at bat oh yeah, I went. You know what? He's going to have a great spring. He's not going to take the AAA assignment because there's just not room.
Speaker 1:Unless somebody gets hurt during the spring, there's no room position, player wise right there's already a traffic jam, yeah, um, and I just don't get the impression that the dodgers are going to move on from chris taylor. I think they're going to ride this chris taylor contract out and give him the benefit of the doubt and and see how it goes right, but I don't think there's. You know, and again I don't know that eddie rosario takes the triple a assignment to wait on an injury. I think if he has a big spring, he's not taking that and he's he's going back on the market and somebody's going to pick up a guy coming off a really good spring that has the potential to be a pretty good contributor. You know, we've seen in the past with rosario, um, you know that 2021 postseason he you couldn't get him out for the, you know, when he was with the braves. So yeah, um, really fascinating. David bode had a nice little game. He did a couple hits you know I like that.
Speaker 2:Uh hope kid the the. Uh, yes, I hear, hear Hope is a.
Speaker 1:I'm really fascinated to see what happens with him this year.
Speaker 2:Well, if he keeps up like he did yesterday, he's going to injure himself, diving into the field or the wall. Because he had two great catches, great plays, they were just incredible. But you know I thought, yeah, man, but you're hustling a little too much for game one no man, hey, I love it.
Speaker 1:I love it. That's a guy. That's a guy who, another guy who might be auditioning for other teams. Yeah, you know, I don't think that that decision gets made this year, unless we get to the deadline and there's a need for the dodgers and they can go get a big name that fits that need. I could see Zyre Hope being a part of one of those deals, but the outfield for the Dodgers is not exactly deep and Hope is probably barring a lot of injury another year away from big league time.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:This could be a guy starting next year, as early as next year. I should say that could be a part of this big league club.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he's somebody we need to keep our eye on.
Speaker 1:He's going to be a very interesting player, yeah very highly touted, had a great Arizona Fall League last year and just further proves that the Dodgers took a guy in michael bush, who helped the cubs right away and is a part of the cubs everyday lineup now. Yeah, but didn't have a spot with the dodgers. They turned michael bush and desire hope and Jackson Ferris, who we'll probably see this spring as well, yeah, great pitching prospect. Both very young, both probably going to get to the big leagues at a super young age, which usually means hitting free agency, at a good young age, which means cashing the flip in?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, absolutely. You know, yamamoto, he did two and two-thirds inning, 27 pitches. I thought he looked great when he started out. I thought, and obviously you're only going to keep him in for the couple innings.
Speaker 1:Sure, I was shocked. They let him go as long as they did, I was too.
Speaker 2:And you know, then we had that big third inning, that six runs in the third inning, and that was a result of changing the pitching after Yamamoto. So he's going to be trouble when he's out there for a full game.
Speaker 1:Nasty. Those strikeouts were just disgusting. I mean, made Nicky Lopez look like a little leaguer. Yeah, and Nicky Lopez is a big leaguer. You know he's not the best hitter in the world, but you know he's a big league guy and has been for a while a veteran guy. And he just swung out of his shoes at strike three.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, liked what I saw out of Yamamoto, I expect Yoshinobu to have a really solid year. Yeah, obviously, as you love to say every single week, brian, he's got to stay healthy, got to. But if he's on the mound, I think he's going to lead this pitching group for the Dodgers. He's really impressive and I'm looking forward to seeing Roki Sasaki. I mean, I was kind of shocked seeing Roki Sasaki. I mean I was kind of shocked I you know when, when, when I heard that that he was gonna be the game two guy in Japan, I thought, well, maybe that's something there. No, it's pretty much set. Like they they were talking about it on the broadcast yesterday like it's decided, roki Sasaki is number two in the rotation when we get to Tokyo, which is awesome. You know, another Japanese star in these games, which is huge from a promotional standpoint. You know, from a continuing the attention that the Dodgers get in Japan. But I'm excited to see him, you know, because outside of the World Baseball Classic we don't really have a good look at him.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And he's obviously impressed the Dodgers right off the bat. If they're already saying, well, he's game two, yeah, I mean that's. You know it's an exciting time of year is what I'm trying to say it's a very exciting time of year.
Speaker 2:Exciting time of year is what I'm trying to say. It's a very exciting time of year. I do have one bit of a quote that the LA announcers has said from Jed Hoyer. They quoted Jed Hoyer as saying that we have constraints on the offseason, meaning they had constraints in dealing you know, trading, making deals. What's that about? Did we have a good offseason, did we not? Is this just what Jed's going to say now is hey, we did great, but we had problems? Is this him doing his thing? What's the help?
Speaker 1:I think and this is all conjecture and opinion, I have nothing to back this up with fact but it seems like to me when I hear Jed Hoyer, you know you get Ryan Presley, you get Kyle Tucker, you make this team better. You do all the things that the Cubs did in this offseason, which I think was a win of an offseason, because they addressed needs, they made the team better and they turned themselves into contenders since October 1. Since the last time the Cubs played a game, the Cubs have gotten better. And for Jed to say something like that and almost make excuses, I think he's letting the outside noise in too much. You think so? Well, I mean, I don't know a Cubs fan who hasn't been critical of Jed Hoyer over the last year and a half two years. Right, it comes with the territory and Jed Hoyer knows this, yeah, but it sounds to me like he's letting that outside noise in. Maybe he heard your rant about him and he's trying to appeal to you.
Speaker 2:Well, I mean, he has appealed to me. I just wish I knew which way his head was going, because his actions were pretty good. I thought so too, but his mouth is not conducive of what his actions are.
Speaker 1:It's not matching up.
Speaker 2:No, it's not matching up. He's like you know, we're making all these deals, we it's not matching up. No, it's not matching up. He's like you know, we're making all these deals, we're making the club better, but you know what? We just didn't have a fair shake in doing it. Well, my God, what more did you want?
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's true. That's true. I mean the only thing well, okay, so there were rumors about Jesus Lizardo, and he ends up getting traded somewhere else. The Cubs have some prospect capital, but maybe not as much as other teams. You know, the Phillies ended up with Luzardo and then Alex Bregman, who got $40 million a year, and I could have told you that the Cubs weren't going to pay anybody $40 million a year.
Speaker 1:Yeah, regardless if it's a two-year deal or a long-term deal, nobody's getting that from the Chicago Cubs, right, and that's not a dig on the Cubs, that's just common sense. Yeah, I mean, anybody who thought that that was going to be in play for the Cubs does not understand how any of this works. But outside of that, again you go get a guy that's a top 20 player in the whole league, which is what you're lacking. You're lacking that star, that guy that gets you over the hump, that guy that you can count on day in and day out to do something to help the team. And they made some other. I think Brujan is going to fit that role for the Cubs really well. Yes, looked good on the bases yesterday. He looked very good yesterday, one of his strengths.
Speaker 1:The key is getting him on base. If you can get him on base and I don't think he's going to be getting a ton of plate appearances I think he's a utility guy, defense first, maybe even a late-inning pinch runner type guy, but that helps a ball club. Yeah, and again they took guys. They took matt mervis. Who? What do you do with matt mervis? You send him back to triple a so he can hit 40 bombs in iowa again, or do you ship him somewhere and get a piece to help your big league club? Yeah, I said it at the time, that's the type of thing that the Dodgers are doing. That's what championship teams do. They take guys that can't crack the big league club, that you don't have a spot for, and you turn them into things to help your ball club.
Speaker 1:And I think Brujan is going to help the Cubs ball club a lot. Maybe I'm smoking the hopium, maybe I'm too high on Vidal Brujan, but I like him too much as a player to just write him off this early in his career. You know, plus what was he going to show us in Miami? I mean, right, what's anybody going to show us in Miami? Yeah, so you know, yeah, very unusual way to sort of summarize the offseason from Jed Hoyer. That is an interesting quote.
Speaker 2:It is a very weird quote. When I heard it I was kind of like huh, you know, like it didn't compute you know?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so talking about this rotation battle with the Dodgers, bobby Miller just might be snakebit a little bit.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I think he's going to spend the majority of his year barring injuries again. But if the dodgers stay healthy or relatively healthy in the in the starting pitching group, I think bobby miller is going to spend most of his year in triple a yeah I think he needs that right now.
Speaker 1:I could be wrong. This could be no big deal. This ball he took off the forehead yesterday could be no big deal. He could have dodged a bullet and just be lights out the rest of the spring. Yeah, but I just, you know, when I look at Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin, I think Gonsolin is just one of those guys you kind of know what to expect. He's not, I mean, he's been an all-star for one.
Speaker 1:But that's kind of the ceiling for tony gonsolin yeah you know fringe all-star solid guy at the bottom of the rotation, but man, I think there's 29 other clubs that would love to have him. Yeah, dustin May you can talk about snake bit with injuries. I mean, this guy is recovering again last year and while he's recovering has a freak injury eating a salad and, you know, messes up his esophagus. Yeah, and it's like I I don't want to say the poor kid is cursed, but I think if there's a shot for dustin may to be an impact guy for the dodgers moving forward it, it has almost got to come with a move to the bullpen. Yeah, he's. He's pretty much shown that he's not durable enough to give you starting pitcher in the bullpen yeah he's.
Speaker 1:He's pretty much shown that he's not durable enough to give you starting pitcher innings, and that's okay, because he still throws ridiculously hard, great movement nasty when he's healthy, nasty stuff. Plus he's a big menacing guy. You know perfect to come out of the bullpen. So I think that's probably how this shakes out. I think Bobby Miller is going to spend a lot of time in Oklahoma City with the Comets. Great name, great look for AAA now for Oklahoma City. And I think Gonsolin is that guy.
Speaker 1:I think Gonsolin slots into the rotation and I think Dustin May is is. I think they're, I think they're probably already having these conversations with Dustin May about hey, we might need you out of the bullpen and and kind of gauging where he's at. You know, with that right and if he's not down with that, I think it's time for the Dodgers to move on. And I don't know what that looks like Not a high-value guy in a trade, maybe you do a cash considerations, or a player to be named later, or just a very low A-ball type of prospect. That's years away. If they ever get to the big leagues, yeah. But if I had to place those three guys, I think that's how I would do it right now and we haven't seen gonsolin or may throw yet. We've barely seen bobby miller throw. Well, yeah, but you know, just coming off of last year and and the reputations, I think that's that's the most likely way for that to go. We mentioned the ABS challenge system. Got our first look of that with Major League players, major League teams.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was surprised that there wasn't a giant bender-like robot hump back there. I thought that that was going to be. They would be bigger.
Speaker 1:So for more on Brian's thoughts on quote unquote robot umps, patreoncom slash 2GTB. Go listen to our original episodes from 2022, where we had a long talk about rule changes before any of them went into effect and we had some fun, obviously, but we we did not expect those rule changes to go as well as they did. I'm a little afraid to go back and listen to that stuff myself, just because I'm afraid of what we said. Oh, we, we sound like idiots. Oh, of course we sounded like idiots.
Speaker 1:I mean, that's no surprise paranoid delusional, that's you that is me but yeah, patreoncom slash 2gtb. Go listen to the uh 2022 episodes, when we were really figuring this shit out and uh, just kind of saying whatever.
Speaker 2:Whatever came to mind can you hear the helicopters?
Speaker 1:some of us are still doing that. Some of us have tried to get more professional about this. Yeah, well, but okay. So After all, I am the sea lion.
Speaker 1:The funniest thing about the ABS Challenge system they're talking about it on the broadcast. In the middle of talking about it, max Muncy comes to the plate because he batted second for the Dodgers, so first inning he's in the box. And they were talking about how dave roberts, dodgers manager, was asked you know, is there anybody that is not allowed? Because because the, the hitter, the pitcher and the catcher are the only three that can challenge and you have to do it right away. It's not like. It's not like the dugout can say challenge it and then you challenge it. It's it's a knee jerk from the hitter, the pitcher or the catcher. Yeah. So when dave was asked who's not allowed, he said max muncy. Max muncy can't where he he's, he's not allowed to challenge anything. And the impression I got was because he he thinks he and, and max muncy has a pretty good eye at the plate. It's what he's really known for. But Max is also a little forceful with his opinion sometimes. So well, we get a challenge and the booth immediately is like, oh, max is already breaking the rules. No, the pitcher challenged it against Max. Yeah, so that was a fun little thing on TV it was.
Speaker 1:But I'll be honest with you. I have been begging for this for years. You don't have to go back on the Patreon to know how I feel about this concept and its place in Major League Baseball. I think it's way overdue. We are way behind on this. The technology has been there for a long time, but now it's been tested in the minor leagues. We have the data, we know what it's doing, we know what it's not doing, and now think major league baseball is trying to figure out how is this sustainable? Now, how do we apply this from the minors up to the major leagues without any hiccups well without without any negatives.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because if you introduce it and there are hiccups, like you said, I, I think people just spit it out. They're probably going to spit it out anyways. I haven't seen a lot of negative on this, which is good, because, you know, when we originally talked about the larger bases and the pitch clock and all that, it was kind of culture shock to our system, right. But once we saw it in practice, we were like oh no, this is amazing. This makes the game so much more palatable, so much easier to watch. You can get a game in in three hours now. It's not a marathon to watch a game every day and I don't see the hiccups with this. Right, it didn't take a lot of time. No, and I can't remember who I saw say this, but I saw someone make a very good point that, yes, it's going to add time to games. I think when I read up on it, the average in the minor leagues was the average challenge added, I think, 17 seconds of time to the game.
Speaker 2:That sounds right.
Speaker 1:Which isn't bad. That's not bad. Now, if you've got 10 challenges in a game, okay, now we're talking about, but that's still. You know, two minutes, yeah, and that's nothing. I don't know, man, I like this. I thought it went really well. I did too. They used it twice. Both times were kind of obvious. Yeah, you know, ball was almost completely in the zone or completely out of the zone and it got called the other way. They challenged. It gets turned over real quick. You know, the call gets overturned real quick. We go back to baseball. I just don't see the negatives at this point. I just don't see the negatives at this point. I'm ready for this in the regular season.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm ready for it too. I don't see the negatives either.
Speaker 1:The second one was a little bit longer but it's a smaller amount of time than if you had an argument. Well, yeah, that was the other thing that I saw too. That I was going to say is someone said you know, yes, it adds time to the game, but if you're arguing calls, that takes longer. Yeah, and this is going to keep the game moving in a way that if there are just bad calls all night and guys are getting frustrated and dugouts are getting frustrated, that's adding more time to the game. Yeah, and it's adding a vibe to the game that makes the game not fun.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:When the umpires take over a game like that, it's not fun anymore, you know, it's not fun for us watching, it's not fun for the guys playing and it's not fun for the guys in the dugout either. Yeah, so this kind of just keeps it moving and we're getting the calls right, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's the important thing.
Speaker 1:We're getting the calls right and I think the best thing I saw in all the media about it leading up to yesterday's game was look, this now means big moments, bottom of the ninth, two outs winning run on base or winning run at the plate. The strike zone's the same. Yeah, it doesn't tighten, because there's data on that. There's data that proves the human element tightens the zone in bigger moments and some people might say well, that's the human element and that's part of the game. It shouldn't be part of the game. If something is a strike on the first pitch of the game, it should be a strike in the ninth inning.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know what I mean. So it there's consistency now and I think, obviously, that we have the the umpire report cards. So there's there. I'm not saying there's no accountability for umpires. I think this adds a level of accountability to umpires that's going. I'm not saying there's no accountability for umpires. I think this adds a level of accountability to umpires that's going to change how they call games, yeah. So again, I'm not seeing the negatives. I'm not either. I'm not seeing negatives, I'm only seeing positives. This is great. I'm glad they're finally easing this in and I like that. It's something that's been talked about so much that it's not a thing we have to really get used to. Yeah, pitch clock we kind of had to get used to Right Bigger bases. You know some of this stuff we had to kind of get used to as we went. I just don't know how it's not going to be difficult to get used to as we went. I just don't. I don't know how it's not gonna be difficult to get used to this.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's very seamless, it's very easy um, almost negligible that it's there, but it's there for a good reason and you know, at the end of the day, if this is the type of thing that makes you hate baseball or makes you want to stop watching, then please, by all means, go watch football. Yeah, because I think, I think, largely, with these changes to to major league baseball, the people that are opposed, largely opposed, vocally opposed, I, I just I don't want them, I don't want them representing the fandom of this game anymore. Right, you know, and you can be a fan of the game, that's your right. And you can voice your opinion, that's your right. But if you're just going to be miserable, go watch another sport, go watch something else. Yeah, no, go collect stamps, for all I care.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the new, this era of baseball that we are talking about, that we have alluded to, is sort of blossoming into a golden era for this game. Right, a lot of that is because of the mindset and we are allowing players to have fun and show their passion and love for the game. Yeah, and you know that's going to make some white people mad, it just is. It's like anything else. White people are going to get mad and be mad, but don't, don't just stop trying to yuck my yum, I love baseball. I want.
Speaker 1:I want to know that the guys on the field love baseball and I want to know that the people commenting publicly on baseball love baseball. Yeah, absolutely, because you might not agree with everything I say or everything Brian says, but if you can't tell that we are passionate about baseball, then I don't know what show you're listening to, because at the end of the day, that's what it's all about. Yeah, so yeah, couldn't be happier about the abs challenge system. I thought it worked really well yesterday. Um, you know, I, just I, I again. I know I keep repeating myself, but I don't see the negatives I don't see a negative in it either I don't see them.
Speaker 1:I don't see them. This is good, this is them. This is good. This is going to make the game better. This is going to, you know, because that first challenge changed the at-bat and potentially changed the whole first inning. Right, you know it sure did. Because we go from what was it a 2-1? To a 1-2 on Max Muncy who? If you get two balls on Max Muncy, you better start putting it in the strike zone. And he put it in the strike zone, he's liable to hit it to frigging Modesto you know, yeah, Change the hole at bat, and that's good, because it was the right call.
Speaker 1:You know it was a strike and it didn't get called a strike and you know it wasn't like, hey, ump, fuck, you hurt your feelings. It was, hey, let's challenge this and get it right, yeah. And then they got it right and they moved on and it was a great game and a good day. So, yeah, we're all about the ABS system.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I like it. I like it a lot. It turned out better than we had prognosticated from before.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it turned out great. I'm very happy with it and we'll see how it goes moving forward. Not every spring training facility has this available, but most of them do. A pretty strong majority do so most spring training games. You know it's funny, the Cubs actually have the least number of games with the ABS system. They're only playing seven games with it this spring. Okay, the average is in the 15 to 18 range. The abs system they're only playing seven games with it this year, this spring. Okay, uh, the average is in the 15 to 18, yeah, range, and then I think the most is like 20 some.
Speaker 1:So that tells me the cubs ballpark doesn't have it yeah you know, um, so they'll be playing half their games without it, you know. And then then they go play road games, and some of those road games also won't have it, but nevertheless, two guys talking baseball, we give four thumbs up to the ABS Challenge System. That's right. All right, we're going to do something now. We haven't done in a long time, brian. We haven't done it in a while and that's because it's been the offseason and we've had to stretch every topic. But we got a lot to cram into one episode this week. So we're going to go back and do some quick hits. That's right, and it's folks, it's just exactly what it sounds like. We're going to take topics, we're going to talk about them quick and we're going to move on, because we've got one, two, three, four. We've got six quick hits this week. That's a lot that we got to get to, brian, are you ready?
Speaker 2:I am ready, I'm dug in and I'm stretched out.
Speaker 1:First up on quick hits. Mike Trout, legendary player Some have argued one of, if not, the greatest baseball player of all time is officially moving to right field. Right, he will get some time in center, he will get some at-bats at DH, but he is predominantly now a right fielder. This is something that we have talked about on this show the last couple of years. Yeah, you know the key with Trout. There's two keys with the Trout With the Trout, with Mike Trout, the Trout With the Trout.
Speaker 2:Swimming upstream brother.
Speaker 1:Number one the Angels got to build around him if they ever want to do anything, Yep. And number two he's got to stay on the field. Yeah, Because if he's not healthy, if he's running down balls in center field and then missing half the year, he's not doing them any good.
Speaker 2:Yeah, if Mike Trout hits a home run in California for the Angels, does it actually happen in baseball?
Speaker 1:Yes, because there's cameras everywhere, and he's Mike Trout.
Speaker 2:Okay, you know what?
Speaker 1:I'm saying, all right, he makes an impact, but that impact only goes so far. Right, he's got to have the rest of the team around him. And while we're on it, kudos to Mike Trout for being so loyal to the Angels, the team that drafted him, the team that gave him the big money extension, so loyal to the Angels, the team that drafted him, the team that gave him the big money extension. But the real question here is do we think this can prolong his career? Do we think this keeps him on the field, keeps him healthy and makes his career longer, so that we get more Mike Trout by the time he's done?
Speaker 2:I think it does. Yeah, I mean, I think it substantially gives him more time. Yeah, if he stays healthy and is out there. I think it does.
Speaker 1:Less ground to cover in right field. Yep, you know. A little bit less frequency, I would say you getting the ball hit to you. This Angels team is fascinating. We've talked about them. We talked about them last week and I love Ron Washington, the Angels manager.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Just a solid dude baseball guy. He's one of those baseball Forrest Gumps. He's seen it all. He's seen it all, he's done it all yeah. And most people don't know his name, but Walsh is great. He's won World Series on the coaching side and I'm not saying the Angels have put together a winning team, but they've gotten themselves competitive, I think, this year and they've made some moves that have them trending in a different direction than one year ago, I think.
Speaker 2:But it's still Anaheim. It is Anaheim and it's still Witness Protection and it's still not the team that's built up. That could be.
Speaker 1:Okay, anything else on Trout moving to right field, no, all right, so let's move on. Not quite as good, let me try that again. The news is not quite so great for the Yankees and Giancarlo Stanton Because, as happens every year in spring training, guys show up, they get dressed and they go. You know what? My elbow's hurting a little, and when they're Anthony Rendon, you just ignore it because he wasn't going to play anyways. But when it's Giancarlo Stanton coming off, a pretty nice October for the Yankees. It's concerning.
Speaker 1:The quote was he's in a lot of pain, um and and opening day is in doubt and you know, yeah, at this point he's just a DH because man, sometimes it looks like he can barely walk, but even when he can't walk, he's on the field and he's can't walk. He's on the field and he's hitting balls into the stratosphere. The yankees are going to be an interesting team to watch this year. Yes, they got to the world series last year, but I think that all the world series did was expose their weaknesses and if this yankees team gets back and wins an al pennant again this year, I think Stanton's got to be a big part of it.
Speaker 2:Oh, I do too. I mean this is no good for them. I mean he needs to be out on the field playing. They need him.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he's a big part of this lineup, dangerous. I mean one of those guys that just having him in lengthens your lineup. Yeah, because it puts a dangerous hitter right in the middle. It bumps somebody from the middle down lower it. You know, he's just a. He's a foundational guy for their lineup and a bump in the road problem. Yeah, let's hope that's all it is for the for the yankees sake, but uh, we'll see. Uh, also a big part of this time of year we see guys play in positions that make us go huh yeah jock peterson signed with the rangers this year pretty exciting.
Speaker 1:He gets reunited with cory seager. They won a world series together in 2020 with the dodgers. Seager has since won a world series with the rangers and jock, who only dh'd last year, he's been taking reps at first base for the Rangers.
Speaker 2:Interesting, very interesting.
Speaker 1:Only 23 games at first base in Jock's career Not something. He's done a lot. But maybe we're looking at mixing him in at first with Jake Berger a little bit. I don't know, but I think ultimately this is the texas rangers saying if this gets us jock more, more at bats for jock, yeah then we're gonna do it, because they they spent some money on jock peterson and surprised people when they gave him the contract they did, gave him the the press conference in the big rolling out. I think think the Rangers are counting on Jock Peterson, especially against right-handed pitching, to be a huge factor for them and again, I think this gets him in the lineup more.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it gets him in the lineup more, without a doubt, and that's a good thing for them. That's what they need.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and good for Jock. Love me some Jock Peterson. Got all kinds of time for him. What a dude, just just a dude man. Oh yeah, love me some jock peterson. So yeah, um, the more, the more of jock peterson I get to see, the the happier I'm gonna be right, um, you know, and that's all I really care about when it comes to the rangers is seeing jock and cory seager. Yeah, do well yeah and reminiscing about theircing, about their days as young Dodger prospects and young Dodger rookies.
Speaker 1:Yes, cue the sentimental music usual, because Vladimir Guerrero Jr set a deadline for himself and the Blue Jays to negotiate a contract extension. He says he will not negotiate while the season is going on and they did not meet the deadline. And Vladdy Jr said, and I quote now they have to contend with 29 other teams. Brian, as you and I like say, this is no es bueno if you're the Toronto Blue Jays.
Speaker 2:They got a year to sign that going away card because that's what's about to happen.
Speaker 1:Well, this is such an interesting case. So when you look at Juan Soto and the contract he he got and then you look at vlad guerrero jr, the defensive value about the same. The ceiling when they're both at their best about the same. The defensive value about the same, the age they're hitting the free agent market about the same. Now the floor is much lower for Vlad. He's had some despicable seasons, maybe one or two, that were just not good. Soto's never done that and I'm not suggesting that Vlad Jr is going to get $765 million over 15 years, but he's going to get a long-term deal and he's going to make a big payday. So you know, where does this leave the Blue Jays? If the Blue Jays are not in contention at the deadline, do we see him get traded?
Speaker 2:Yes, you do, you think so? Yeah, because they had had their shot, they could have done it already. This is almost them calling his bluff, and that's never good when teams call people's bluff well, offers.
Speaker 1:There were offers on the table. Vlad didn't like them, you know, I assume, because they weren't enough money. There's risk for both sides. Yeah, I think there's risk for the blue jays because now you're going. Well, this, this is our guy. This is the guy that we were looking to build our franchise around, moving forward, and he might walk yeah, and again at the deadline. If you're not in contention, you're going. Well, we can let him walk, or we can ship him to a contender and get some prospect capital, get something out of this, right, which is probably what they'll do. If you're Vladdy Jr, you are betting your chips are on the table that you're going to have a monster contract year. Yeah, and you're going to hit that market and you're just going to write the check and hand it to a team and they're going to sign it basically.
Speaker 1:Yep. So this is going to be really intriguing to watch how this all plays out and the Toronto Blue Jays in 365 days might look completely different, completely different. No extension with Bichette, no extension with Guerrero Jr. Different no extension with bichette, no extension with uh, guerrero jr. This could be. This could be tough, detrimental, almost could be real detrimental for the blue jays if they, if they can't find a way to get one or both of those guys under contract long term yeah we're talking about a whole different.
Speaker 1:You know, team, team one year from now. So we'll keep an eye on that. I just love the. You know now they've got to compete with everybody else baby.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a great quote.
Speaker 1:And you know the Blue Jays brass didn't like hearing that, oh no.
Speaker 1:No, no, no no no, no, no, they did not. Speaking of things that people didn't like to hear. Brian was very displeased when I told him Joe Buck is making a comeback to baseball. Don't worry, brian, he has assured us this is a one-time thing and it's there's no plans for anything long-term moving forward. But as a part of the big opening day coverage a lot of games on TV Joe Buck is going to do a game on opening day. Yay. I asked Brian before we came on the air why he hates Joe Buck and he could not give me an answer. I just do.
Speaker 2:He exists. Therefore, I feel that's exactly what happened. I don't know. I just don't like him. He's a know-it-all and not a cool way. I think he's a little condescending when he talks. He's just not entertaining to me.
Speaker 1:I felt kind of the same way until I saw Joe Buck as himself on Brockmire, okay, which made it pretty abundantly clear he doesn't take himself too seriously, okay, or at least he's in on the joke that everybody thinks he takes himself too seriously, because that was the whole joke, right, but he played into it perfectly. It was great.
Speaker 2:It was great. Well, maybe he should take up acting.
Speaker 1:Well, he was playing himself, so it wasn't really acting, he was just playing himself. There's a great scene where I think it's when they do Brockmire's intervention and Joe is a face on a screen and in between him speaking at the intervention, he's turning around and doing a golf skins game. Okay, it's great. It's great. It's not easy to find Brockmire anymore, unfortunately, but if you can find it, I suggest watching it, not around your kids, but if you're an adult who gets time to do adult things and you love baseball. Hank Azaria does a great job. It's a really moving series. There are some pretty serious moments, but all in all it's hilarious and it's great. And they had this knack in their last season of predicting the future. They sort of laid out a future and we're now sort of living in it. It's not just for baseball but the world at large. But a great show.
Speaker 1:Hank Azaria, Amanda Peet, paul F Tompkins makes a great cameo and he's one of my favorite actors that nobody knows who. He is just one of those, just one of those guys that works. He's in everything, but he's never the star. He's a that guy. He's totally a that guy. So go watch some Brockmire if you can find it. It's a great show about baseball and life, and baseball, if nothing else, is a microcosm for life, of course it is. It's a great show about baseball, yeah, and life. Yeah and baseball, if nothing else, is a microcosm for life, of course it is.
Speaker 2:I wish I had some wind chimes to hit.
Speaker 1:Alright, one last thing in Quick Hits and we will move on. This is fresh off the presses. This just came in today. I added it last minute to the format because, we have to talk about it, brian, fresh off the presses, fresh off the presses.
Speaker 1:The New York Yankees. This just in the New York Yankees, who have had a longstanding facial hair policy yeah, team got a little scruffy in the 70s. George M Steinbrenner said eh, I don't really like that. It's the army now. You got to cut your hair and you got to shave, and if you don't want to do it, we'll put you in the chair and do it for you. Which was nice of them.
Speaker 2:They are now allowing quote well-groomed beards end quote Okay, what does that mean exactly?
Speaker 1:Well, I think it means that Devin Williams, their new acquisition and closer, is pretty pissed off Because he showed up day one with a beard and everybody got excited, but then he left. He came and did his physical and left, and when he showed back up the next day to actually work out with the team, the beard was gone.
Speaker 2:Oh boo, we like facial hair. There's nothing like a good mustache, which is a down payment for a beard in baseball.
Speaker 1:Well, you know, this is interesting. You know it's maybe 20 years too late, probably, but this is the Yankees we're talking about. Yeah, right on time, so yeah.
Speaker 2:And also, you know who gets to define what well-groomed means. Well, and do we want to live in a scruffy Yankee world? I don't know if I do. I mean, you know they're the heel bastards because they're all so goody-goody. I don't know man, I liked Thurman Monson. I did too, so that's a good point.
Speaker 1:But I don't know.
Speaker 2:I don't know. I'm just up there, I don't know. All I know is I don't know. Yeah, it is weird, because you don't really know how to feel about it because you're like, yeah, this is a good thing, but, like we, we don't want to like the yankees. Well, yeah, we don't want to be celebrating things the yankees do. No, no, not at all.
Speaker 1:So boo on the yankees for waiting so long, do we? Okay? Here's the real question new york yankees, are we going to let? Are we going gonna let known physical assaulters back into the ballpark? Oh wait, you can't, because Major League Baseball stepped in and said they're not allowed anymore. Yeah, they're banned, banned, banned, banned, banned. And we gave your seats to a kid with cancer.
Speaker 2:Yep, sure did Good Good for them. Sure did Good, good for them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, all right, cool. Well, we got through quick hits. All right, that's excellent. Did you say everything you wanted to say on all of those topics Quickly? I did Okay, that's good, that's good. Yeah, that's good, all right. So last thing we really had on the list to talk about today is very interesting and we don't really know how this is all going to play out, but what we do know is that Major League Baseball and ESPN have mutually agreed to opt out of their current television agreement after the 2025 season.
Speaker 1:I have seen plenty of theories that a new agreement will be reached between the two sides. There have been statements made by ESPN, especially that they are open to that. They are open to renegotiating and continuing a relationship, but the current relationship was not working for either side that they are open to that. They are open to renegotiating and continuing a relationship, but the current relationship was not working for either side. Espn apparently has been asking Major League Baseball to amend and charge them less for the rights. Obviously, major League Baseball doesn't like that. Major League Baseball said publicly, and apparently said to ESPN in this process, that one of the things they were not happy with is the fact that ESPN doesn't cover baseball. Yeah, they don't talk about baseball. Hell, they don't talk about baseball when they're doing a game.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:They want to talk about shoes and all this other crap.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:They don't want to talk about the game. So I don't know about you, Brian, but I think this is a good way to just leave it.
Speaker 2:No, I think it's a good way to get out of it too. This is like a good breakup, like she started liking your best friend and you were like, ok, you kids have fun, your problem now. Yeah, yeah, yeah it happened to me back in the 90s.
Speaker 1:It. Just more on that later. Yeah, yeah, that happened to me back in the 90s. More on that later. It just doesn't seem like either side wants to be in business with the other.
Speaker 2:No, they are strange bedfellows. They can't get along and therefore the relationship has soured.
Speaker 1:I think there was a time not that long ago when, if you're Major League Baseball, you almost felt like you needed ESPN. Well, of course you do.
Speaker 2:But then not now. Not now. Espn's not what it cracked up to be. I mean, it was a powerhouse for a little bit, but now they're back to ping pong.
Speaker 1:But that's it's not ESPN's problem. It's not ESPN's fault. It's just that the landscape has changed. It's not ESPN's fault, it's just that the landscape has changed. When there was a difference in a cable network and Netflix and Amazon Prime, it mattered and you needed ESPN, you needed the cable network. I would argue that you get more out of Netflix or Amazon Prime these days.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you get out of an app situation.
Speaker 1:You know, I think people are already paying for a lot of these streaming apps and if they have to add one, most people, I don't think, are going to be that upset if they have to add one. Right, I don't think are going to be that upset. If they have to add one, right, I wouldn't be. Well, here's the deal, man. I just don't think it's in the best interest of MLB or ESPN to renegotiate a new deal. The one caveat that I think could swing the ball in ESPN's favor here is the fact that ESPN is currently working on a direct-to-consumer streaming option for their content. Right, and that might look appetizing to Major League Baseball. Yeah, because more people are going to watch the Sunday night game or whatever version of that you have with ESPN. If they have a cord-cutting option, correct, so.
Speaker 1:But man, I'm so sick of ESPN when it comes to baseball. I really just want this to be the end. I want both sides to move on. I want everybody to shake hands and say thanks for everything, but we're going in a different direction. Yeah, and say thanks for everything, but we're going in a different direction? Yeah, because by the time we got to this point, they both were kind of going in different directions. Anyway, yeah, and you know I don't like that. I pay Major League Baseball $150 a year and if the Dodgers are playing on Sunday, if anybody whoever's playing on Sunday night, I can't watch it.
Speaker 2:yeah, because it's on espn yeah, yeah, I agree that when what we pay, we need every game. And so much for the blackouts too.
Speaker 1:I'm I'm not well, that's a whole I'm not digging that either whole different conversation, but I think this could potentially be one step closer to MLB TV being more all-encompassing, which gets us closer to ending these ridiculous geographic blackouts that, in most cases, don't make any sense. Yeah, geographic shenanigans. Yeah, geographic shenanigans, they are geographic shenanigans, that's what they are. I mean, there are people in the Midwest that can't watch, like, four teams yeah, the four closest teams to them which are not close to them, and they don't have access to the. You know, that's the thing too. I can't watch Cincinnati Reds games live. Yeah, I don't have access to the Reds cable channel. Yeah, it's not offered on any cable that I have access to. Yeah, you know, it's crazy, it doesn't make any sense. And Major League Baseball again is in a. I mean, it's in a golden era and I think more, more people being able to watch more games should be what we're working towards if we're major league baseball, and that's a good thing we should be working towards that now.
Speaker 1:Is that what we're working towards? Who knows? Right? Uh, there are reasons to believe that that's what major league baseball is working towards, right, but who knows? At this point, um, what I what I can say is that in five years, the landscape of major league baseball and tv rights is going to look totally different, completely different, totally different, completely different, totally different. Won't even recognize it. I don't think so. I don't think we will recognize it. I think it's going to be completely restructured at some level. And I think Major League Baseball because here's the thing no other league, no other sport had their version of MLB TV anywhere close to when I mean Major League Baseball was on, was on.
Speaker 2:What was it?
Speaker 1:2010, 2011. It's been a while. You know, pre pre smart tvs, pre roku's, pre all that, yeah, you could pay one price and watch every out of market.
Speaker 2:I had it when I was still in west virginia, so that's around the 2010, right in there. So yeah, I mean you know I I got you excited about it and you know it's just an everyday thing now, but uh, it's been around a while it has and and it's gotten better.
Speaker 1:They've, they've, they've won awards, yeah, for that, for their streaming app, and I just don't understand. You know, here's the thing. Does that mean the price of that is going to go up? It does, but I'll pay more if I get more. Right, I'll pay more if I don't have to pay for Peacock and Apple TV and this and that and all these extra things and cable, because, you know, because I got to get ESPN, if I want to watch the ESPN game, so I got to pay for cable for that. Yeah, to watch the ESPN game, so I got to pay for cable for that. Yeah, you know. It's just, you know we're moving in the right direction and I don't want ESPN to screw that up for everybody.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I agree.
Speaker 2:So this should just be the end of it. It should. It should be. So long, ESPN. It's been a good time, but the party's over and it's time to turn out the lights on youn. You don't have to lie to them.
Speaker 1:Okay, it sucks, it's not been a good time get out, sorry. Carl ravitch, yeah, who never should have been doing play-by-play yeah, yeah, absolutely poor guy poor guy, all right. Well, how we doing on time, we're, we're good, we're, we're good, we're we've, we're good.
Speaker 2:We've put our time in. We've put our time in.
Speaker 1:Well, is there anything else you had in your notes about the game yesterday or anything else you wanted to talk about today?
Speaker 2:I do believe that they said even though spring training does not count, it's a good chance that we're going to do this to you guys in Tokyo, okay chance that they were going to do this to you guys in tokyo.
Speaker 1:Okay, remember what you said about the game turned around when the guy who's going to be starting for the dodgers game one in tokyo got taken out of the game because it's spring training. Well, we're going to knock him out early, sure you are? Yeah sure you are pal yeah no, it's going to be fun.
Speaker 1:I'm looking forward to that tokyo series. A lot of japanese star power. So the the you know the crowd's going to be fun. I'm looking forward to that tokyo series. A lot of japanese star power. So the the you know the crowd is going to be hot. Yeah, they love their baseball over there.
Speaker 1:And you know, getting to see shohei and, say a suzuki and shota imanaga and roki sasaki and yoshinobu yamamoto all these guys, uh, from japan, it's. It's going to be an amazing couple days of games and I'm also looking forward to the exhibition games leading up to the Major League games, because Dodgers did this in Korea last year and the Padres did too, where they played a couple games against Korean teams. Yeah, and the same, I think, is true this year. I know the Cubs are, because I've seen people trying to figure out if they're going to be able to watch those games on the Cubs' side. The Dodgers will air them, because the Dodgers will air everything. So if the Dodgers play against Japanese teams, we'll get to see it and that'll be almost as fun. Yeah, but then we'll get regular season games in Tokyo, japan. That's right, man, tokyo Soon, soon In like a month, yeah.
Speaker 2:Tokyo, japan, baseball, catch it.
Speaker 1:Fever. All right, I'm going to cut that off right here and say thank you, as always, for listening. Thanks, as always, to Pirate Flag Radio for putting up with our shenanigans each and every week and giving us all the airtime they do. We just still are in awe. We just are in shock. Yeah, we're having a blast with those guys. Yeah, it's amazing. We're so happy to be a part of that family. And with that, you should listen to the Danger Zone Tuesdays and Thursdays at 11 pm Eastern. It's our zany, unhinged, wacky, very, very, very uncool music-centric show that we do, and it is not PG. It is another thing that you should only listen to if you're an adult and you have adult time, right. But anyways, with all that said, we'll be back next week to talk, uh, more baseball man. This is cool. I'm glad that. Uh, we're, we're back rolling and there's seemingly every week there's plenty to talk about again. Yeah, ma'am, we're, we're getting ready to get in the thick of it no more, m&ms banter.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we're not on deck, we're coming up to the play that's right.
Speaker 1:Well, we'll talk to you in one week. For Brian, I'm Dallas.
Speaker 2:We'll see you at the ballpark.
