Episode 33 - WBC storylines, Spring Training Stories, & ESPN Top 100 Players

Mo and Will break down all the excitement so far in the WBC. They also tell some spring training stories and talk through the ESPN Top 100 players. Who was too high? Who was too low?

*Note - This episode was recorded on Tuesday afternoon before the US team didn't know how tie breakers work in the WBC

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:06

It's MVP, the Mo Vaughn podcast. It's powered by Vaughn Sports Academy and Perfect Game. I'm Mo Burge, of course. The man himself, one of the most feared hitters of all time. Mo, how are we feeling? First of all, you're down there in the beautiful weather in Miami. We're starting to get a little bit of a up here in like the northeast and midwest, but it's it's a lot easier to be happy when the sun's shining all the time. I'm telling you, man. I was just down there in Florida. It felt good.

SPEAKER_02 0:29

Let me tell you something. When I moved down here about 10 years ago, I was like, man, what am I gonna do? I really don't like the heat. I was like, didn't have too many friends. And then um I got into this whole baseball game with my son, like, you know, seven years ago, and I've adjusted to the heap. And now I never want to leave. Like, you gotta pry me out of here to go do stuff. Like, I and people, you know, I get these card shows offers$40,000,$50,000. I'm like, bro, I'm not, I'm not going anywhere. I'm I'm here. You know what I mean? Like, this is my base. I got VSA here, the weather's here. And I I always tell people on our worst day in Florida is better than anywhere else in the country. And I fully believe that.

SPEAKER_00 1:18

As I see the LA hat on. I am a Cali kid at heart, but I gotta tell you, man, Florida's growing on me. Every time I go down there, I'm like, I get it. I get it now.

SPEAKER_01 1:26

Then we could be sitting next to each other.

SPEAKER_00 1:28

I know. Well, you know, my son graduates in June. You never know. I might be, I might end up down there in Miami next year. Nelly's trying to get me to come down there, too. I was just down there with him. He's trying to get me to come down.

SPEAKER_02 1:38

No taxes, boy. No, no taxes, baby.

SPEAKER_00 1:41

I know. That's uh that's a huge draw because when you go back to Cali, it's the opposite. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:46

And I don't mind Cali, but man, rough.

SPEAKER_00 1:49

Whole different ball game. We got a ton of stuff to talk about today. Um, obviously, we're gonna get to some spring training stuff. The ESPN Top 100 uh came out. Look at that. I got a little bubble thumbs up on my side. Um ESPN top 100 players came out. We're gonna touch on that a little bit. But we got to start with the WBC mo. How much are you watching? How exciting is this? Because I remember, you remember when this thing first started and they couldn't even get pitching coaches to return phone calls to get guys on teams? This thing is electric now. Absolutely electric. Everybody's watching.

SPEAKER_02 2:19

So, you know, I got season tickets for the Marlins, and I've had pretty much every game, and I've been giving away to all my, you know, people in my in my crew. Um, I actually have the both semifinal games, the quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals, and I will be present. Um, I went last year, I saw the championship game, I saw uh uh a lot of the games. I think it's tremendous. I think anytime you're able to put on your you know your your your country's jersey and go out there and represent, it's it's I did that once when I was in college. I played for the only one of the you know, United States teams. I went to Taiwan and Taipei Taiwan. Um nothing great, but just wearing that uniform is is is is tremendous. And this thing has been great. And what I see is like, look at the all the like we have you know our our our United States team with a bunch of powerhouse individuals that know how to play the game, they're great at it. You know, I love seeing skiing, school ball, all these dudes. I like seeing the dudes. I want to see the dudes come up and do what they do. But there's a bunch of players, there's a bunch of angels players that are in the farm system playing on like like Manny Marius' son. Um the other night. Two bombs. Lefty end, left one off a lefty one. So these opportunities that these these other players that are younger who are not on the team yet get to play at such a game. Look at Contreras' son, 17 years old, going throwing flames. I actually, he actually was with us at the at the um at the event in San Diego last year on the West Squad. So to see these young guys coming up, getting opportunities, and then the development. Look how close Dusty Dusty's got that Nicaraguan team. They were one pitch away from getting their first win. Like this thing is great. I I um I I I just think that they should expound upon it, try to do it more. Maybe not more, but do it in a better time, maybe do it at the all-star. Extend the all-star. I heard this from one of my GM friends. Extend the all-star breakout. Then guys are much more healthy. Uh everybody, everybody who's not playing may get maybe gets a two-week reprieve. And then now you got your good guys going and they're ready to go. Wasn't my idea. This is but I've I've heard this from one of my GM friends. And, you know, because his you know, his thing was guys aren't ready to pitch yet. Guys aren't in the flow yet. If you, if you really and listen, I know we need to promote our game, but damn it, this WBC is awesome. It's awesome. Awesome.

SPEAKER_00 5:15

You know what's funny is that's a that's a great idea because I don't know if you saw the NHL did that Four Nations thing. They did it at the All-Star break. I love that. I love this thing.

SPEAKER_02 5:22

You know that.

SPEAKER_00 5:23

Yeah, amazing, right? And I think I think you're onto something there because in the beginning, I want to I don't want to say the U.S. was mailing it in the first couple years, but they weren't really buying in. And it took the Pacific in those uh Latin countries, they were they bought it instantly. And the USA had to say, all right, we better step our game up because these guys are they're coming for our throat, right? I think they've you put you put this thing at the all-star break when guys are really in a groove, when guys can be stretched all the way out. You know, people are a little nervous about having their their bell cow pitchers in high-leverage situations this early in the season. You throw out at the all-star break, all of a sudden this thing heats up even more, which is crazy to me because it's already red hot.

SPEAKER_02 5:58

Listen, I I I I look on both sides, you know, I've been in ownership situations, and you look at your players, man, like, listen, we don't want this guy to get hurt. And then, you know, how do we do this so everybody's comfortable? And I think that's kind of what, you know, and MLB's got, you know, the drawbacks of why they want to keep you all and I and I get all that. But for me, everybody's Dominican, Puerto Rico, uh, Canada, all these countries are getting better and better. And we need to understand that we got to continue to get better and better and better and give our best guys the opportunity to perform at the highest level without injury. And I think that may be one of the things. Like I told you, not my idea. So I was talking to one of my friends, and he was like, listen, man, I wouldn't mind my guys going out there, but let them go out there after they've gotten, you know, three minutes. Everybody's strong. Everybody's we don't have to worry about things. And and I and I can see where you're coming from as a general manager.

SPEAKER_00 6:59

Yeah, and I think, you know, the the the intensity of this thing is already so high, right? Like these games are intense. The crowd's into it, the teams are into it, guys are barking, celebrate, and all that stuff. You put it the all-star between guys are and the things are partying.

SPEAKER_02 7:13

Listen, don't get me wrong. I'm one of those old school, keep your head down guys as a player. I just I and I and it it wasn't because I was trying to disrespect not disrespect the game or not disrespect the player, the players, or the teams. It was more of this is a marathon season. You can't get up too high and you can't get up too low. You have to like stay on this theme ship plane, and you gotta keep your mind. But damn it, these guys are partying when they're doing well, and it's great. It's great. We all gotta evolve and get better and realize, smile. You can have fun, you could do all this, you could, you can celebrate, and you're not disrespecting anything. It's just where we are right now. Let's go with it.

SPEAKER_00 8:00

Yeah, the young kids are having fun. And you brought up one of the, I think one of the coolest storylines of this thing so far, a really young kid, 17-year-old, uh Joseph Contreras. He's, you know, he was a PG all American. We actually just put out a day in the life with him. We we got to follow him around at perfect game uh for his final high school start before the WBC. I mean, this is a you know, 100 mile an hour flamethrower kid, 17 years old going up against that USA lineup. You just don't get stories like that in Major League Baseball, right? I mean, the closest thing you get is maybe a late season call-up and the Dodgers happen to be in town and they got to go up and still tell you. But that lineup, that USA lineup, can you a Mo take me into the mind of a 17-year-old kid going up against that lineup and then sawing off Judge's bat getting out of that jam and that in? I mean, that was crazy.

SPEAKER_02 8:44

Well, you know, I I love what Aaron Judge said, and and what a what a guy to represent. You know, and I've always listened this guy's a Yankee guy. I ain't supposed to like Yankee guys because it's just that's not what we're not supposed to do. But if there's, you know, you know one of my favorite players is was is the captain. I've I remember when he came up, and the other guy is is just the humanity, the humility and the human humanity of Aaron Judge, you you kind of pull for him. And he's just said it, it was the makeup. He was standing on the mound like, I'm gonna shove this ball up your butt. And he went and did it. And that's what you need. Us big leaguers who've played in Preston present, we can tell if you're ready or not just by your presence and how you, you know, your mound, you know, your mound, your mound presence and your, you know, how you do certain things. So I just think that those opportunities wouldn't happen before. Now, with the with the you know the expansion of the game, people are coming in, you know, coming in on the backside of with their, you know, where they were born, when their parents were born and getting these opportunities at such a young age and doing well. Like I said, Manuel Rare is his son. Two bombs, lefty, off a lefty, off a righty. These guys are, I think they're in the the Angels system. The Angels got a lot of things to look forward to. It's a pitcher on Great Britain that's in the Angels system. And these guys are performing at that high. They they said that hype is crazy over there. I can't, you know, I I know what it is. I've I've been to it. I can't wait to get there for the quarter semis and championship game. It's gonna be great.

SPEAKER_00 10:14

So I was uh I was down in Orlando. We were shooting a new series called Uncommitted, which I'm super excited about. We're kind of, you know, we at Perfect Game, we highlight a lot of the top, top players, like the Pontreras's of the world. We're doing we're starting to follow some guys who are fighting to get a D1 offer, right? They're like kind of on the border, coming off injury, maybe undersized. We're down there filming that. And I was hungry. I go out to get some food, went to Twin Peaks for food, obviously, just for food.

SPEAKER_02 10:37

It's great food there, man. Great food. Great, great place. Good.

SPEAKER_00 10:41

Great place. But I thought it was cool was the entire place when Contreras took the mound, it was it started slowly. Like obviously, I was there to watch that. We live in this world. I was hyped, I knew it was gonna happen during that game. But slowly but surely, tables started to turn and everybody started to watch, and they're starting, everybody's tapping each other on the shoulder, going, This kid's 17. That's a 17-year-old kid up there pitching against USA. It's cool, I think, between the WBC and MLB the show, the video game, what you're starting to get is these young kids turning eyeballs back to baseball because it's cool and it's exciting again. Something that for a while, for whatever reason, they didn't think it was. Those two things I think have really gravitated kids back towards the game of baseball, which is awesome.

SPEAKER_02 11:19

This is I think us, you know, PG, you know, we really, you know, focus on that. We focus on what our young people, what we think our young people do and want. Because that's where what we have to attract. We have to keep getting our game, growing our game with the younger minds. And if they, you know, we we look at those things, you know, what are what are you what are our young young boys wanting? And how whether it's whether it's the colored shoes or the color, everything's color, everything's neon, everything's crayon, you know, different things. You have to capitalize on that to keep our game where it needs to be. And all you have to do is take a measuring rod of young people and you'll figure out what you need to do. But I think the main thing is the fun of it. The fun of it, the partying of it. What we called back in the day uh disrespect, it's now the way the game is played, and we need to like like go with it. We need to we need to go with it because that's where it's at. And we see in this in this event, people are having a fun playing the game.

SPEAKER_00 12:25

Yeah, and you still have some of that pageantry to it, right? I mean, I I think did you see uh uh Sam Toriev from the Czech team got the standing ovation in Japan uh for his time with with you know playing for that country. I mean, that's just such a cool moment. Japan is so into baseball, they understand, you know, the the gravity and the above that moment in his career. And it's cool to see, you know, I think, like I said, I think in the beginning, USA was kind of sleeping on this thing. And now I think even as fans, we we watch those other stadiums and like, all right, we better bring it down in Houston, we better bring it in Florida because Japan's going nuts every single inning.

SPEAKER_02 12:58

Well, listen, I would I I have so much respect for for Japan just by the way they play their game. You know, I you hear stories. I've never been, I would love to go over there and and just take in what they do and how they do it. And, you know, they're coming. They're coming with it. What are they they're going for their third in a row? And don't think that at one point they're gonna they're gonna shut down. They're not. Um, but you but you're right, man. Like we have got to give ourselves the opportunity to put the best players up. And now you're looking for it. Like, I'm checking this, checking the, you know, my phone, you know, all day. What do we do? Who do, you know, you're you're looking for, you know, you know, you're you're looking for what that USA uniform has done. And it's it's just great. And I think we need to just keep keep keep enhancing it, keep trying to push our best guys forward to be out there on the stage.

SPEAKER_00 13:47

Yeah, USA's leading their pool right now. Um, they have not locked themselves into the quarterfinals yet, but it looks like they probably that was a huge win last night over Mexico. They're 3-0 in their pool. Um, and I thought it was really cool.

SPEAKER_02 13:59

It's not, it's not, it's not like guaranteed. They got to win this game. And if it's a three-way tie, it's the tie between the three people that are tied, not about what else you did. So that other game, if they blew out somebody, that doesn't matter. It's it's they gotta win this game today. They gotta they gotta win. So, you know, it's it's it's not a shoe and we gotta play well.

SPEAKER_00 14:20

How about uh how'd you feel about Scoobyl, who just openly admitted, he said, I came here thinking this was kind of an all-star game thing. I was gonna do my one-start, I was going home. He's like, man, maybe I don't want to go home. In fact, maybe I want to pitch again, which I know the Tigers were not feeling. They're like, we had a plan, let's not break from the plan. The Scoobyl admitting, like, hey, I didn't realize how intense this was gonna be, how much I was gonna be into it. He said, one way or the other, I'm staying with the guys. I don't know if I'm gonna pitch, but I'm gonna stay with the guys. I love that.

SPEAKER_02 14:46

I was counting on that. I was counting on that action happening with all of the guys. That because I was playing in in in, like I said, Taipei Taiwan in 1988. No fans in the stands. And there's just a proud moment of wearing the USA uniform. It means something. You play a little harder, you play a little tougher, you focus a little bit more. And I figured I'd go, all these guys that are gonna go now that haven't been, they're gonna get so juiced about it, they're not gonna want to go home. I heard, oh, he's gonna come in and throw a start and he's done. He's not gonna leave. He's not gonna want to leave. He's not gonna want to leave. And that's what that's what needs, and that's what we need these guys to come back to to our game, you know, to our league and be like, yo, man, you get a chance to go play for USA, you better do it. I tell you one who I'll tell you one guy who was always understanding of that was Roger Clemens. He always knew the importance of putting on that uniform. Roger would do anything to play on a USA team all the time, anytime he recognized early what it meant. And I think, and it didn't, he didn't need to go to understand it. He understood it before. And I think now there's gonna be a lot of talk. Hey, man, this was a great experience. We, you know, we need to get our best guys, and and the and the venue is gonna make them stay there, and that's what you wanted, all by themselves. They ain't gonna talk to anybody.

SPEAKER_00 16:20

You know, it's funny. We uh we pushed out that clip of when Clemens was on with you and he was talking about, look, I don't need to be in the Hall of Fame. I didn't play baseball to be in the Hall of Fame. I played to play with those guys to win games, and that's that mentality. A lot of people paid attention to the Hall of Fame part of it, but if you pay attention to the other part of it where he's talking about, I played to go to battle with my guys every single day and try to win baseball games with my guys, that's that mentality you're talking about, right? And once you get there and you're in the trenches and you got USA across your chest, how you walk away from that and be like, oh, I can just go back and they just wanna be on their own. I just don't think anybody can. If you get caught up in the moment.

SPEAKER_02 16:53

Listen, that's that's really what it's all about. Listen, I'm sure, I'm sure Watt Roger wants to be in the Hall of Fame. He's such a competitor. And but you I can guarantee you this. There's more stories of I hated Roger Clemens when I played against him, but I loved him when I played with him than anything. You could talk to the Yankees who couldn't stand facing him when they had him on the Yankees, they were like, Mo, I know what you're talking about. I said, You damn right. You want that guy. Pedro, you want those guys. You want those guys in your back pocket when you need them because they're gonna step up and you'll never forget it. I got stories of Roger Clemens right now. I told you, when I was in Minnesota in a one-nothing game, somebody threw the ball close to me, and he was on the mound, and you know, Minnesota when at that time they're playing in the old dome. All you gotta do is get one body with somebody on base, and they start hitting the ball on the ground, and the ball starts traveling all over the place, and that's how they beat you. He drill somebody in the bottom of the eighth, Matt Lawton, bang. I go, Roger, what are you doing? It's a one-run game. I don't care what the runs are, the ball doesn't come near you. And I think that's what people respect, and that's what the players respect. We want that. And it's never forgotten. It's always a wink of an eye. You don't got to talk about it. But when Roger Clemens walks in the room, and that type of guy walks in the room, respect is given. It doesn't need to even be talked about. It's it's always gonna be there.

SPEAKER_00 18:28

We we're getting some of that attitude here in the WBC, too. Did you see a Rosa Arena come to the plate, try to try to dap up Cal Riley, who's catching Cal said, nah, man. This ain't that. We're not I'm not dapping you up at the plate, it ain't happening. Then a Rosa Arena goes at him in the post-game interview. Those guys gotta be with each other all season, but look, tensions are high, man. You got your country in your chest. I love that. Absolutely love it from both sides.

SPEAKER_02 18:49

Well, you know, is is the example of that is the hockey guys. You know, they they, you know, you you read about the the closeness of of the Panthers and all the great teams, especially you talk about the Panthers because, you know, I read an article about how they all just quietly do their jobs and they go out and win, and they got the agitators and they got the guys that they know exactly what they're doing. But when they're on opposite sides, they compete and they will fight it out, and that's what needs to happen at this game. There's nothing wrong with it. They're gonna be friends in the locker room. But here, we're on different sides, bro. It's it's it is what it's with. Wait, ain't nothing to talk about. We'll talk after this is over.

SPEAKER_00 19:33

Mo, I I also got swept up in the uh heat of this thing. I gotta show you something. Hold on, I got something. Uh oh. I had a couple pints uh at the Twin Peaks. Got a little excited about the WBC. I went on eBay. Look at this. Oh, that's I'll be rocking this USA Windbreaker. Now, I might have overpaid for it a little bit. It's a it's a throwback from the 90s. I got it off eBay, but I was excited when it came, and I'll be rocking this all weekend for the uh for bracket play in WBC.

SPEAKER_02 20:02

I think I gotta give me one of those or something like it. That's hot. I need something like that. That's tough. That's wonderful.

SPEAKER_00 20:08

The 90s, 90s like windbreaker starter jacket stuff, man. That stuff's untouchable. Untouchable. That's the height of fashion in my mind.

SPEAKER_01 20:16

Yep. Yep, yep.

SPEAKER_00 20:18

All right, so we got spring training going on as well. Um, some some interesting storylines going on. Obviously, everybody's starting to warm up. Everybody's kind of paying attention to WBC. A lot of the big names were over there. But there was a couple things that have happened in spring training I want to get your thoughts on here. Um, first of all, have you you did spring training in both Arizona and Florida, right? Did you both do both? Correct.

unknown 20:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:38

Which how did what do you think is the difference as a player between the two places? Because I've covered both. But like as a player, is there a huge difference between one spring training league or the other?

SPEAKER_02 20:48

The only thing that was different for me is I was such a routine, I was such a routine-based player. The one because when you play in Florida, there's distance between the the the ballparks and the teams. So when you arrive, you take batting practice on the field. And then you go play like a normal normal game. Because the distances are so close in Arizona, you kind of take batting practice at your home field, then you get in the car and you ride to the game. I I found it difficult to get ready like that when I was over there. I mean, I I remember my you know, my first spring training, I hit one home run. I I just I just couldn't get loose. It felt like it felt like I couldn't get loose. I went to Arizona and wow, what a what a what an expansion of a city. Like, like it is huge. And and you know, now that now everything's strategic. You got the West Coast pretty much on the west side, you know, on in the A Z you know, side, and you got the East Coast teams and a little bit of the Midwest on the on the you know in the Grapefruit League, and you know, everything is. Kind of streamlined, but yeah, man, um, that's the difference is because the parks are so close in in the in the cactus league, you take more BP at home and then get in the car and go play versus the Grapefruit League, you travel, get off the bull, bust like a normal game, warm up, take your BP and start the game. That was the difference for me. Interesting.

SPEAKER_00 22:20

How about like the because I know in A's V because I covered the Guardians, Indians then guardians now, uh, I think I did three or four spring trainings. And the one thing I found really interesting was because everything's so close, when that off day sinks up between a couple teams, and boys are out. Everybody's out in Scottsdale, right? Everybody's out there. If they're blowing off from steam, they've been working every single day in the heat, they're playing every day. Is it like that in Florida too? Or is everybody kind of like stuck in their own pockets of the state because you're so far apart?

SPEAKER_02 22:48

We're a little bit stuck in the pockets. I mean, I played in early was Winterhaven, then it was Fort Myers, and then I went to I went to LA, I went to Arizona, and then I came back to Port St. Lucie. So there's more uh, you know, you know, you're right. When you got an off day in cactus league, Scottsdale is right there. Everybody's partying. You know what I mean? Listen, I didn't need a reason to party. I was always trying to have some fun. Um versus when you're in the cactus league, in the in the grapefruit league, you gotta really travel and get there and pick your spots when you when you want to do things.

SPEAKER_00 23:33

Yeah. Um I I got a funny story. I was out and covering spring training. I this has got to be, I don't know, maybe like 17 or 16, something like that, somewhere in that realm. And I'm out there covering the Guardians, and I'm you know I'm doing the day-to-day reporting, and I'm also doing like um network shows with Tom Hamilton, who just uh really famous play-by-play guy, just got put into the um baseball hall of fame. But there was an off day, and a bunch of the Guardians guys and some other teams, I'm not gonna say any names, were going out that day. So we go out, it was like early afternoon, we all go out and we're starting to get after it. Next thing you know, I'm jumping in a sprinter van and we're going to Vegas. I mean, and you know Vegas, it's not it's not a close ride.

SPEAKER_02 24:11

It's I mean, you're you're going to be it does it in your in the in the damn AC blowing off or something happening. Like, wow.

SPEAKER_00 24:18

So we're in a sprinter van and we head to Vegas. And I mean, bro, we got after it. I mean, these guys were getting in Vegas, you know, in the middle of the night, they jump back in the driver, back in the sprinter, the driver's driving us back. I got up the next day and went to the facility. I mean, my eyes are beat red. I can barely form sentences. I gotta do this network show with Tom Hamilton. You'd have thought these guys got 12 hours of sleep. They bounce right back, no problem. You'd have you would have never known these guys were out. I'm like, these sickos, man. I don't know how they do that because I was struggling.

SPEAKER_02 24:48

Listen, man, it's in our DNA that after the game, you know, some of us need to go and and and and wind down, and we're gonna have a couple cocktails to do that in some establishments. It's just that's that's what we do. It's kind of like been passed down. Um and then we're you the the the goal is to be there the next day, no matter what. You gotta be you gotta show up and and and and be ready. And let's just understand something. It's always, you know, I look at myself and go, man, maybe if I got a little bit more sleep when I played, I'd probably be even probably be a you know a better player, you know, if if I got a little bit more sleep. But um that's our mentality. Our mentality is I don't think we're we're we're not quite like hockey players. Hockey players are very tough. They go back in the back and get stitched up and their teeth knocked out and they're they're they're back on the ice, you know, within five minutes. But baseball players, we understand clearly that the biggest, the biggest, you know, the biggest thing that we need to be is we need to be available for our team every day. And I think that's just a mindset and the mentality of us baseball guys.

SPEAKER_00 26:03

Yeah, I mean, that goes back, right? I mean, there's the legend of the Wade Boggs 107 beer flight back in the 90s. I mean, you go all the way back. We got a bar here in Cleveland called Hotes, and Hoates got pictures of Babe Ruth all over the walls. Apparently that was his bar when he would come play in Cleveland. And they tell they tell legends of having to drag his ass out of there, drunk as a skunk, and he'd go hit bombs. I mean, this is like you said, it's nothing new. This is but they do you show up, do you show up when you play?

SPEAKER_02 26:25

Listen, it's it's you know, when you're playing in some of these hot bed situations, however, people deal with stress is different, man. Some, you know, I could I could hang out a little bit and come to the ballpark and work. Was it probably, you know, you know, would I would I as as I look back and I'm older and I'm 58 years old, I'd probably be like, man, I should have got a little bit more sleep. But that's how some people operated. Some people needed to like blow off steam in that way, and they were ready to go each other each day. I'll tell you what, though, anybody that that understands the game and and and and and understands what what being a team is, as long as you're ready to play on, you know, by the time that thing says 705, nobody really cares what you do.

SPEAKER_00 27:12

So um I want to go through this uh ESPN top 100 players list. And and look, I guess the way they did this year was a little different than in the past. Um they basically pulled X amount of people who cover the league, and they took the average of everybody's rankings one through 100. They put them together in this list. Look, this this stuff really doesn't mean anything, but I know guys take it personally when they get rated a little bit too low. Like, did you ever have an instance like that in your career where somebody wrote an article or said something to you like, hey man, I'm better than that dude. I don't know what you're talking about.

SPEAKER_01 27:42

Oh man, they were always writing stuff in Boston. I tell people all the time, when we lose, it was woe's too fat.

SPEAKER_02 27:50

When you know they were always looking for an angle to blame me regardless. I could be hitting 330 with 40 home runs and 120 yard reis, and it would be my fault. Why would we lose? Um somehow, somehow, some way. Um, so those those type of articles come. I think now, man, like there's so much, there's so much media coverage, there's so much, you know, social media, there's so many, everybody's trying to have the top story. I'm not sure like the top hundred players, I don't really remember that coming out when I was playing. I'm sure it was there, but maybe I wasn't looking because I was just always focused on, man, I gotta get up, I gotta get ready, and I gotta drive these runs in to help our team win, regardless of what anybody says. Um, but now, you know, with the game, and you even said it, with the video games, all these different references and all these different, you know, um, you know, different strategies and and and levels, and this stuff is right at the forefront. So these top 100 players come out all the time, and and look at it, they do it in the NFL, they do it for all this other stuff. It's it's here because everybody's looking for these stories to write.

SPEAKER_00 29:02

Yeah, you're looking for clicks. And I'll tell you what, these these type of articles always get my clicks because I love to see where guys fall. And I'm just gonna run through the top six real quick. You tell me if you have any issues here. They got Rotani 1, Judge 2, Bobby Witt Jr. 3, uh Scooba 4, Juan Soto 5, Paul Skeen 6.

SPEAKER_01 29:19

Any any any qualms with that? No. It feels fair. It feels it feels fair with fair with that. Um you got Bobby Witt. Does everything like that? Oh, wait, that play last night.

SPEAKER_02 29:39

That play is short, insane. Speed, the the speed, power, all that. Um, he's just I don't know. Sometimes I wonder if he's just like robot or something. Like it just is you know what it is? He's the guy that understands his body and mechanics and what he's gotta do to get the barrel to the ball consistently all the time. He just it's like machine-like. Um and I think Soto, listen, anybody can say what they want about Soto, Mets, whoever. All I know is when the playoffs come and he was in that Yankee uniform, he stepped up and he delivered. And that's what he's getting paid for, to deliver in those big moments. And damn it, he knows how to do it. And you know, school ball is just think, I'm glad I'm home. I don't gotta face him. This is great. I'm sitting on there watching him. You know, I look at his arm slot, you know, little three-quarters coming down, like the ball's moving all over the place, you know, fast, you know, the the you know, the hard stuff's coming in and the sliders coming away. Like, god damn, that that that's so tough. But no, I got no problems with those first six. Those guys are are on point.

SPEAKER_00 30:55

All right, so let's go seven through ten here because I think this is where it gets interesting. I'm not sure. I don't know if you have a problem with Cal Raleigh at seven. I know everybody loves Cal. It's tough to find a catcher who can mash like that. But there's a lot of people who are, I don't say up in arms, but questioning at eight, Garrett Crochet. Garrett Crochet at eight ahead of Julio Rodriguez and Rodal Acuna Jr. at nine and ten. Do you think crochet is a little too high here? Because I feel like that's been kind of a common theme between people who saw this list.

SPEAKER_01 31:21

Wow.

unknown 31:22

Listen.

SPEAKER_00 31:23

I just don't know if I can put him above a cunha. I love crochet. I mean, he's a beast, don't be wrong. He's a huge, huge human being. I mean, we'll saw your bat off, but above a cunha is kind of crazy to me.

SPEAKER_02 31:33

Yeah, listen, that is, you know me, I'm I'm I'm I'm position player oriented, you know, because that's that's because we're going out there every day, and I think that needs to be understood too. But yeah, I mean, you know, Ronald Cunha Jr., when healthy, is one of the best players to to, you know, he could be in the top six. You know, if he if he's healthy. Um, yeah, you know, uh there could be some discussion there, but crochet is is is you know is is a great pitcher also, but there definitely could be some some discussion in that in that seven through ten.

SPEAKER_00 32:12

Um a guy who would here in Cleveland, people always say is way underrated is Jose Ramirez. And I feel like the last couple years he's he's starting to get the rating he deserves. They got him at 12 on this list. I feel that's like that's about right. I think, you know, people scream at here in Cleveland. Jose Ramirez is underrated. Jose Ramirez is underrated. But I'll tell you, Mo, I mean, like when we had Tito on and you guys had that conversation about Jose, that is, I feel like people are starting to give him his flowers, and he's he's right about where he belongs on this list.

SPEAKER_01 32:38

You know, I I I really like him. Um I think he comes to play every game. Switch hitter uh plays a great third base, timely, no excuse.

SPEAKER_02 32:56

He's right there. Listen, he's he's he's tapping on that top ten door right now. No doubt. He's tapping on it. Or he could be in it also. Um listen, there's so many great players out there. Like this list is this list can be can be can be peeled back in many, many different ways. But that guy right there is is he's he's he's every bit as good as anybody on the list.

SPEAKER_00 33:23

How about this stat? In the last 10 years, uh he's got a 54.9 war. And the only two guys who have a higher war than him is Mookie Betts and Aaron Judge. That's pretty that's a pretty crazy stat.

SPEAKER_02 33:36

That's who who's who's those those two guys. Look at those two names he's he's he's rocking with. That that that says it all. And I think listen to me, listen, a lot of this is is who you know the writers do this, you know who you like, who you and this is what's wrong. Like this is what's wrong with some of that stuff. And and and it's not everybody, but this is what's wrong with it. Like, um somehow, somehow, let the players vote it out. They know who's who's who, and you're gonna get a real reading on on what's what. But let me tell you something. I can I'll I'll take him on my team anytime because I know one thing. He's gonna he's gonna be there, and he's not gonna make excuse if things go wrong.

SPEAKER_00 34:21

So if the players are voting on this, I want to get your thoughts on young guys making a jump into quote unquote the best players in the league without even playing a full season, because they got, I mean, these are two very special young players. We would obviously expect huge things from. But PCA, uh Crow Armstrong at 22, and Roman Anthony at 33, neither guys played a full season yet. If the players, if it was just MLB players voting, do you think those young guys will get voted that high this quickly?

SPEAKER_01 34:46

I do not.

SPEAKER_02 34:47

And I and I think for them, it makes it tough on them because there's guys that are like, man, you gotta earn your stripes. And I and I believe that. Listen, you come up your rookie year, you have a great year. There's gonna be a book put on put out on you on what you can do and what you can't do. Then you've got to come back and prove it. And then you're gonna get to, you know, a couple, three years, you're gonna get to an arbitration year, and you're gonna have to prove that. And then, you know, you know, three, four, after that, three, four, five, you're gonna have to prove are you a real bona fide free agent. And that's the one thing that's different in in our game is it doesn't matter like who your dad is or what your lineage is, the numbers don't lie. You have to go out and play the game.

SPEAKER_01 35:30

I don't care about who you are and what you do, you have to go out and and and do it.

SPEAKER_02 35:38

And I think for me, I I love being able to project what somebody's gonna be, and you're like, man, this guy's got the ability, but it's just a projection. I think if I were in this in this situation, I'd want to see some more year game information and stats that show me that this is what you're doing. Not to say that they can't do it, but they would have to show me.

SPEAKER_00 36:03

Yeah, I tend to agree with you. I think if you talk to just MLB players, they'd say, hey, great young players, a lot of ability, love to have them on my squad. I don't know if they're 22 and 33 in the league right now. Some of these guys we've been doing for you know 10, 12 years, they should probably be in those spots. I think that's what players would say.

SPEAKER_02 36:18

Because what's mastered in that top slot is, is the mentality to never not falter when things go wrong. The reason why those guys are in that top 10, 12, 15 spot is because they've already proven that they know how to withstand, you know, adversity and get through it and still be great when it's time and put and be consistent. And that's what we don't know about anybody that's that's never played. And that needs to be found out about.

SPEAKER_00 36:49

Um, you brought up free agency. I thought one more interesting one that kind of jumped out at me was at 38, Bo Bachet, who just went through that really weird free agency for a guy with that bat, with that ability, we've seen him do it at the plate. It was it was a kind of a weird thing. He's got a chance now. I know he's found that deal. He's got a chance where it could end up being a one-year deal. If he absolutely mashes, you know, he could basically re-enter free agency at the end of this year. Bo Bachet at 38 felt a little low to me. Does that feel low to you or is that about right?

SPEAKER_02 37:15

It feels low to me too. Um, this guy's a great player. Now, listen, they're they're rating him low because of injury, I think. You know what I mean? They're they're well, we don't know, but that's not what we're what we're talking about. We're talking about what the guy has done. And Toronto's gonna damn Toronto's gonna miss his ass. I'll tell you that right now. And the Mets, he ain't gonna be afraid to go there and play. Like you, you ain't gonna have to worry about Bobach walking into the New York media and being disturbed. The dude's dad was great. He he he's been trained well. He's the he comes from baseball lineage again. He's gonna go out there and he's gonna go out there and play and play to his capabilities, and I think he's gonna be a great addition for the Mets.

SPEAKER_00 38:06

In your time in the league, is there a guy or maybe a couple guys that you played with that you thought were just like grossly undervalued, underrated? You're just like, man, this this guy's a dude, and he's just not getting, you know, his his his just deserved attention that from media, from fans, all that type of stuff. Is there anybody that jumps out of you?

SPEAKER_01 38:26

Man, I I I think about that sometimes. Uh Kenny Lofton was one that I thought was really great.

SPEAKER_02 38:40

And they always were bringing, you know, backing up with great players uh at the time. And they always thought that that was the reason. But damn it, that dude was on base to start all of these rallies and get things going and steal bases and make plays. And I think people forget that. Like, how could you forget that guy? That was, you know, I had to face that guy all the time, like playing in Boston, like playing in the central. I had to go in there when they were freaking beating that drum all the time. Like it was a hard place to play. But he was, you know, at the forefront of all that. And I think he just, I think everybody always looked at, you know, it was Viscal or it was Alomar or it was Bayerga or it was Sandy Alamar, or it was Albert Bell, or it was Eddie Murphy, or it was somebody else more than the leadoff guy that was always on base and they were doing everything. Dude, and he was climbing fences, he had gold chains, he had swag swag back then, too. Taking, like getting on base, causing havoc, and then taking stuff and keeping it in the ballpark. I was like, dude, you like you knew when you played him, you gotta hit the ball out of the ballpark center field, he's gonna catch it. Yeah, that's that's like that's like the worst. You know what I mean? Like, you got to hit the ball over the fence, or because if it's in the park, he's gonna catch it. I think he was he was one of the guys that I that that really never got his good got his doing. And maybe it was because, you know, Ricky, you know, no one could be Ricky Henderson, but damn it, there's still still a level that that he was, you know, and and and I just felt that he was that great.

SPEAKER_00 40:17

If you're new to the podcast, go back and listen to the episode with Kenny. It was great conversation. Him talking about being a multi-sport athlete too, and you know, how he could have played in other leagues. Yeah, his mom and uh, you know, uh uh was it grandma, was it mama or grandma whistling from the stands? Uh blinding. I mean, just unbelievable stuff. I thought that was honestly, I thought that was one of the best, and obviously I'm Cleveland guy, so a little biased, but I thought that was one of the best conversations you've had on this podcast.

SPEAKER_02 40:41

And then there's one more.

SPEAKER_01 40:43

And I think that he just got caught up in about bad realm with the Red Sox.

SPEAKER_02 40:51

Um and it was uh just a bad you know, Boston always does some crazy stuff, but there was nobody better in this heyday than No Mark Garcia Piara. No one. I'm talking about coming out, being aggressive, hitting the ball on a line, running, hitting, throwing, still on bases, triples, home runs. And I think everybody tries to blame things like he was the reason why they didn't when damn it, he was one of the best they ever had. So I always I think you know, no more Garcia PR is another one that just doesn't really get his due. And I know he got hurt, but in his heyday, no one could do the things that he could do with the bat, with his feet, with the glove, with the power. There was nobody like him.

SPEAKER_00 41:46

Another great conversation. Go check out that episode as well. He was that was a really, really good one. Um, before we get out of here, Mo, I got some a little fun thing. You know how I like to throw some curve behind the bottom.

SPEAKER_01 41:55

I know you got something.

SPEAKER_00 41:56

I got something. This is an easy one. I'm telling you, this is an easy one. I know you like to eat, I like to eat, I'm a food guy, and I want you to power rank these four ballpark classics, right? We're just going straight food here. You ready? Okay, you go one through four, rank these for me. Peanuts, hot dog, nachos, cracker jacks.

unknown 42:14

Damn.

SPEAKER_01 42:16

Peanuts, hot dogs, nachos, cracker, cracker jacks. Hot dog, cracker jacks, peanuts, nachos.

SPEAKER_00 42:28

I agree with you. I I agree with you. I love nachos. Don't get me wrong. A helmet full of nachos is great, but I'm I'm the other three, I'm taking 10 times out of 10 before nachos.

SPEAKER_02 42:38

Like, like you give me a nice dog, I could eat a whole bunch of dogs in a row, like, boom. And then if I want to, and if and and I I'm gonna be spilling, if I got the nachos, I'm gonna be spilling stuff on myself. I'm gonna come up with yellow stuff everywhere. And then, you know, you're always looking for those, you're always looking for those peanuts in the cracker jack. So, yeah, I yeah, peanut, you know, you know, yeah, hot dog, you know, yeah, yeah, hot dogs first.

SPEAKER_00 43:04

Yeah, 100%. And uh, so there's something about a hot dog at a ballpark. This hits different.

unknown 43:07

Nothing.

SPEAKER_00 43:08

Nothing like it. Nothing like it. All right, Mo, you got anything else? That's all I got on my list for today. That was good, that was easy, that was fast.

SPEAKER_02 43:14

Listen, everybody, catch this WBC. Feel, feel the nation. Feel that USA jersey. Guys out there, we're pulling for you. Keep it going. Um, you're gonna have to, you're gonna, you're gonna be in the battle of your life, but we are pulling for you at Beauty's Festival. Go USA.

SPEAKER_00 43:33

Go USA. There it is. Starter jacket back on the screen. Go subscribe to YouTube. You can see the starter jacket. Well, I'll talk to you next week, brother. Bye, bro.