Dodgers Territory - Roster Cuts, Under the Radar Standouts; Sahadev Sharma Talks Cubs!

Episode Date: March 9, 2026

Alanna Rizzo, Katie Woo, and Clint Pasillas dive into the latest out of spring training for the Los Angeles Dodgers. And we continue our look at the biggest competition in the National League with a focus on the Cubs with guest Sahedev Sharma joining the show! The Dodgers made their next round of roster cuts for the spring. Were there any surprising moves (1:45)? Katie and Clint share their thoughts. Which under the radar player has stood out most during Cactus League play (5:17)? The hosts discuss a couple guys for positive reasons -- James Tibbs III and Jackson Ferris -- and one guy for the wrong reason -- Roki Sasaki (8:42). (13:46) Sahadev Sharma, host of Northside Territory, FT's Cubs show, talks about the state of the Cubs following a busy offseason. How did the NL Central contender get better with the swap of Kyle Tucker for Alex Bregman in the lineup? Plus, do the Cubbies have enough starting pitching? What was Kyle Tucker like behind the scenes in Chicago (22:15)? And did Pete Crow-Armstrong make a mistake with his comments about Dodgers fans? (33:18) The WBC is getting more and more exciting. The hosts talk about upcoming games in the tournament. Use our code TERRITORY10 for 10% off your next SeatGeek order* seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/TERRITORY10 Sponsored by SeatGeek. *Restrictions apply. Max $20 discount Start your 7-day free trial today at FOXOne.com Check out DT merch at https://dodgersterritoryshop.com Support Guidry's Guardian at https://guidrysguardian.org Find Clint on YouTube at https://youtube.com/@alldodgers Follow Katie's work at The Athletic https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/author/katie-woo/  Subscribe to Dodgers Territory on YouTubeRate and review our podcast on Apple and SpotifySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I'm Daniel Alarcon, and this is my friend. This is much more famous than I am. I wouldn't go that far, but I'm John Green, co-host at the podcast The Away End, with my old friend Daniel. On our podcast, The Away End, we'll share with you the magic of international football, all leading up to the 2026 World Cup. Together, we'll find out why, of all the unimportant things, football, soccer, is the most important. Listen to the Away End with Daniel Alarcon and John Green on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

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20 years. To hear this in more, listen to Keep It Posit, sweetie, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. None of these, again, none of these cuts really surprised me. It's just more or less like, did you see something exciting about for these prospects and for a vast majority? I did. Good afternoon, everybody, and welcome to a brand new episode of Dodgers Territory. I'm Alana Rizzo. That is Katie Wu. Also, Clint Paceas, of course, we are your three hosts for Dodgers Territory. We are psych that you guys are here. greatest five stars like and subscribe to dodgers territory our podcast on apple spotify wherever you get your pods of course you can subscribe on youtube as well as we try to make it to 20 000 subs that is our next

goal we're psyched to try to get there sahad of sharma of northside territory joining us minutes as we shift our nl competitive series to the cubs remember we talked about the fillies we talked about the met's and now we're going to talk about the cubs but first guys the big ticket Katie is there before she heads to the World Baseball Classic in a couple of days. Katie, you were there when Dodgers camp got a bit smaller on Sunday, 12 players being optioned or reassigned. At least you're covering the team. I know you're in L.A. right now.

But a little bit of a smaller roster, a little bit more room in the Dodgers Clubhouse. Any names stick out to you? First of all, I told you guys I looked like where's Waldo today. And why is that the first comment in the chat? You guys cannot let me live. God forbid I wear a clean shirt on the show. I hate all of you. We found Katie. We found Katie, guys.

Yeah, I'm here. I'm here, struggling, but I'm here. Let's talk about some of those Dodgers cuts. I think none of them are really surprising, and I'm in the camp of the only cuts that I really care about are the final ones. But the good part about spring, and especially this camp with so many players slow playing or going to the WBC, is we got to see a lot of prospect action. I know we'll get to some of these guys, but you think of like DePaula. That was someone that was someone that was I came in and not knowing a lot about the Daughters Farm system, that was someone that I wanted to see. And I think he showed a really exciting early part of camp. We have a couple of guys that we'll get

to, Clint. I know that you have a couple of things. But again, none of these cuts really surprised me. It's just more or less like, did you see something exciting about for these prospects and for a vast majority I did. Clint, you had mentioned when you and Katie and I were talking on our production meeting about Ryan Ward and how he kind of stood out to you over the course of Cactus League so far. not really in a good way. What do you mean? Yeah, I mean, it's tough for Wardo. Obviously, this was a good opportunity. He was kind of the darling of the internet people last year of us people that talk about

the Dodgers on the internet online, on Twitter and all that kind of stuff. But with all the struggles of Michael Conforto on left field, they're like, hey, here's this kid hitting 30, almost 40 bombs at AAA. Why aren't they giving him a shot? They added him to the 40-man roster over the winter. And Ryan Ward, yeah, I don't know. He kind of turtled a little bit with the. the opportunity.

Just couldn't get the bat going. And you would have assumed somebody on the 40-man roster might have got a longer look, a longer leash. Now, obviously, him being sent or optioned to AAA doesn't mean he can't still play in big league spring training games. But for him to be optioned this early, I think it sends a little bit of a message, perhaps, but hopefully it kind of wakes him back up because the dude has a bad. He's put a lot of work into his game to cut down strikeout, so on and so forth.

But yeah, just couldn't handle the kind of the spotlight of spring training, it feels like. We talked at length about Santiago Espinall, and it's pretty much a lock now, guys, right, that he's going to probably make the opening day roster, get some time at second base until Tommy Edmund comes back. But we also talked a little bit about Jose de Paula. And Katie, he's had a decent spring. I know you just mentioned that name a little bit ago. He's 20 years old. He went 9 for 24, a double 4 RBI, 15 games.

So, you know, not a ton of production, but I think enough. in 15 games, four walks, the 8Ks. Was there something in particular with DePaula that stood out to you? Or is this just too much of a log jam at where he would be playing? Yeah, that's exactly it. What stood out was the amount of playing time that he got. This is clearly someone that the Dodgers want to see a lot of. But there's a pretty significant ways to go in terms of outfield right now.

The Dodgers outfield's pretty locked up. We've talked a lot about those four prospects, the outfield prospects coming up in Dodgers land. like that's something to be excited about. It's a reason why Kyle Tucker, the Dodgers didn't want to do more than a three or four year deal. So the good news is, we might not see DePaula for a minute,

there's lots to be excited about. And this doesn't look like a Dodgers team where after this current dynasty window closes, they don't have anyone in the pipeline. They very much do. They have one of the best farm systems in baseball. After winning back-to-back World Series championships, this is all good.

This is all good things. It's good vibes. Guys, it's March 9th. We are in a great spot. We are in a great spot. And I don't doubt that he will have some sort of impact on the big league club this year. And as Katie mentioned, in future years to come, just because of this farm strong, this strong farm system. Clint, under the radar guy, someone that you're kind of paying attention to besides the guys that we've already talked about a fair bit.

Yeah, somebody I've really enjoyed putting eyes on this camp is a guy, a guy the Dodgers picked up at the trade deadline last year. James Tibbs, the third. I kind of feel like I love him a whole lot just because I love a good JT3 nickname, and that's where I hope he can make his big league debut with this team. But hitting 310 so far OPS over 1,013 games, but he is really making a nice impression playing some outfield, playing a little bit of first base so far this spring. But the bat, the swing, it looks really good. It looks repeatable. It looks like I've seen a couple of the homers. One of them stands out for me.

It kind of looks like James Outman. if James Outman knew what he was doing with a baseball bat. With all due respect, I love Jimmy Outman. Hopefully he finds something this year in Chicago. But even so, double, triple, a couple of homers. I like the swing. And the fact that this is a guy that was acquired for just Dustin May. I mean, Andrew Friedman, this front office, they strike again.

This is a guy who he's 23, pretty heralded as a draftee, making waves quickly in his professional career. And honestly, this is somebody we could see at Dodger Stadium this year in a pinch. I really like, if we're talking about under the radar guys, somebody that maybe a lot of people didn't know entering camp, James Tibbs III. That's a name. Watch as much as you can before, you know, opening day gets here because this kid is good. All right.

James Tibbs, the third, JT3, if you will. And Katie, there's something that stuck out to you as well in terms of maybe a guy that doesn't have a lot of pomp and circumstance coming into camp, but is certainly getting some attention. Who is it for you? Yeah, let's give Jackson Ferris some love. We didn't see too much of him, didn't allow a run in his two and two-third innings, Catast League innings. But when you look at what Jackson Ferris can do long term, we know the Dodgers have a ton of starting pitching depth, like half our shows have been about the starting pitching depth. But the thing about pitching depth is when you lose it, you lose it fast. And for the Dodgers to have someone of Jackson-Farris's caliber,

in the middle system of the minor leagues, that's a good sign. And when you think about Jackson Ferris, he's a first round pick in 2022, came in the Michael Bush trade. I have only seen like the Barry Bonds version of Michael Bush. Seriously, he has like a 440 average against the Cardinals. That is not an exaggeration. Look it up. So every time that I hear about the Michael Bush trade, I'm like, well, this return better

have been good since this guy's like basically God against the team that I used to cover. So between Jackson Paris and Zier Hope, the early returns look really, look really good on that trade. But this just goes back down to, no, he's not going to really jump off the page this spring. That wasn't his intention. The intention was just to get him as much experience as possible this spring and get him ready for when the Dodgers need him. There are no rush to call him up, which is a luxury.

You want to take time with your top pitching prospects. There's no reason to kind of like force him up through the system out of need. Get Jackson Ferris right. And we'll continue to be talking about how good the Dodgers starting pitching pipeline is. That's the beauty of this team is that they have. so many good big leaguers that you don't have to force guys to have a meteoric rise up to the big leagues when they're not quite ready to do so. Just a quick correction. James Outman is actually with the twins, not with the Cubs. It's fine. We all make those silly mistakes.

But my guy isn't somebody that we're not talking about. In fact, it's probably the opposite. So it's not an under the radar guy. It's where is he going to pan out? And I mean Roki Sasaki. And I'm a little bit different than Katie in terms of I'm not necessarily quite in the camp of that he's going to be okay. I believe that he will be, but what I mean by that is I need to see some more conviction in his approach. I need to see a little bit more grit. And right now, spring training numbers, I understand it doesn't matter when you're not trying to make the team, when you know that you probably have a good chance of making the big league roster. So in spring training, you're just trying to get through the process and work on things.

But right now, guys, 1 and 0, okay, whatever. but an 1890 ERA. And that kind of jumps off the page at you, right? It's only in two starts. I understand that. It's only three and a third innings. I get it five strikeouts. That's good.

Okay, a whip of three. But I need to see him feel a little bit more confident. His body language says a lot to me. And maybe I'm completely off. I've never had a one-on-one conversation with Rooki Sasaki. You know, I'm just thinking that perhaps if he has an outing where he goes out there and kind of shoves, and maybe he just comes out as an opener. pretend like you are or come out with a guy on base, you know, don't, don't have him start.

I don't know what this solution is, but I need to have him see a little bit more conviction, just to kind of see where is he going to pan out? Is he going to be in the starting rotation? Somebody in our chat, Clint, I think it was Lucy Chen, 3792, was talking about Robo. I mean, Justin Robleski looked good yesterday, right? Should he be ahead of Roki in that starting rotation? Clint, what say you about that? I mean, we like to be, the team likes to tell us this is about a meritocracy and it's about what you do on the field that will get you opportunities.

They don't always abide by that for sure. But if we're looking at numbers, if we're buying into spring training numbers for sure, Reblisky, a guy they have been steadfast in saying is going to be in the starting rotation. It's to be built up as a starter for this season, at least to open the season. he's pitched better in his appearances whether it's starting whether it's in relief he has pitched better than roki sasaki that said i mean there's so much hype there's so much um just behind roki sasaki the the prospect power the star power the potential uh you know we we talked i think an episode or two ago episode or two ago about uh not overreacting to some of sasaki's uh you know early woes um i i think he still deserves an opportunity to kind of prove him

himself, but I agree with you, Riz, the early returns have, so far this spring, again, have been a little suspect. Yeah, and that's okay. I mean, as, as Katie was pointing out, it's March 9th, right? Like, and he's going to have a couple of more starts. And we always forget that he's, you know, he's still a young man. He's still trying to get used to things here. But he did come with a lot of fanfare, right?

Like everybody when, when he was, you know, and he could have come over for a lot more money, but he wanted to come to the United States now and everybody was going for him. And the Dodgers, of course, were the ones that landed him because he wanted to be there for a variety of reasons. So still plenty of time, not overly concerned. I just, I want so desperately for him to kind of walk off the mound with a smile instead of like a panic to look on his face. Again, just the body language says a lot to me. But that's neither here nor there. We have much more time in spring training to figure out Roki Sasaki's plan.

But how about we talk a little bit about seat geek? You guys know I am heading out to spring training this week. Finally, for some fun. For some fun. This is not a business trip this time, not hanging out with Dave Roberts at Camelback Ranch. But I was looking to get tickets for Friday nights game. You got Dodgers against the Mariners in Peoria. So, of course, I hopped on the Seat Geek app.

And thanks to the little green dots you see on there that tell you it's a great deal, I got me and the boys a great deal for the game. With over 35 million downloads, Seatgeek is the number one rated ticketing app. The MLB regular season is just around the corner. The WBC is heating up. NBA season is in full swing. And right now you can even get World Cup tickets on Seatgeek. Sneakkeek has your back.

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That's 10% off any tickets. It's not just sports, it's anything, with promo code Territory 10. Make sure you click the link in the description to download the app and have the code automatically added to your account so you can use it later. Thank you for supporting the brands that support us here at Dodgers Territory. I'm John Green. You may know me as the author of The Fault in Our Stars, and now I guess also is the co-host of The Away End, a brand new world soccer podcast.

I'm Daniel Alarcon, a writer and journalist, and John and I have known each other since we were kids. My first World Cup was Mexico 86. I was nine years old. I watched every game, and I fell in love. On our new podcast, The Away End, we'll share with you the magic of international football, all leading up to the 2026 World Cup. For us, soccer, football, is a story we've shared for over 30 years since Daniel was the star

player on our high school soccer team. very debatable. And I was there most loyal and sometimes only fan. I love this game. I love its history, its hope, its heartbreak, and above all, its beauty. Together, we'll find out why, of all the unimportant things, football, soccer, is the most important. Listen to the away end with Daniel Auerkone and John Green on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And now let us welcome our friend, a co-host of the Northside Territory. Sahadav, we appreciate you being on.

Thank you so much. Sahadav Sharma, of course, of Northside Territory. And as we continue, there he is, as we continue our, you know, kind of look into the biggest competitors in the National League for the Los Angeles Dodgers. You guys, Sahadiv, are third on the list after the Phillies and the Mets. Now, this is just a list that Katie and I came up with. So who knows if we're even right, but you're right there smack dab in the middle. Salad of. Good to be with you. Let's talk about that. Just in the off season, many say that the Mets,

certainly after signing Bo Bichette, even though you lost Pete Alonzo, kind of won the off season. What is your impression of it? Yeah, I mean, I would say the Cubs are right there as far as doing what they wanted to do. They believe that they're in the top tier of the NL right there with the Dodgers. they think they can compete with them. And then the offseason that they had, they wanted Alex Bregman. They wanted them a year ago. They weren't able to pull that off. And they got it done this winter and spent big for the first time.

It feels like in a little while probably since the Dansby-Swanson contract, but really winning a bidding war, I guess, something that this team is not done and seemed like they weren't really going to do. And they did. They stepped up and got Alex Bregman. And then getting Edward Cabrera was huge for them. They've wanted him for a long time. They tried to trade for him two off seasons ago.

They tried to trade for him last trade deadline. And then they finally got it done. Maybe his value was dinged a little bit because of the injury history. And they were able to get him for just one top 100 prospect and a couple flyers. But they think assuming health with him, which is not something you can do. But assuming health with him, they think they got someone that can compete at the top of their rotation. And then they rebuilt their bullpen and they did it without spending big. And that's probably the one place where you can say, did they have a home run off season? It was pretty close.

But they didn't get a closer. This team doesn't go out and sign big name closers. They just don't do that. But they have, they probably have what it takes to go get one at the deadline if that's their last remaining need. So, I have let me make a correction. Obviously, Boba Schitt went to the meds. I'm talking Alex Bregman to the Cubs. Is this offense? Is this offense? enough with the addition of Bregman and the subtraction of Tucker. Is this enough? Yeah, I think that's probably the debate that Cubs fans have, but when they hear people like myself and Patrick on our podcast say the Cubs are legitimate World Series contenders, they say, how can you say that? They got worse on offense. I think you can make that argument that

they're slightly worse on offense. Maybe altogether it turns out to be a better season, but they, I want to say they were fifth or sixth in runs scored. A lot of metrics had them as like top five, top six offense in baseball. That may be hard to repeat. That first half last year was insane. They had two MVP candidates in Kyle Tucker and Feeker Armstrong. A lot of it is, I think you kind of know what you're going to get from certain players. I think Michael Bush has kind of entered this category where you feel like he's super

consistent in one of the better offensive first baseman in baseball. arguably one of the best all-round first baseman in baseball. Alex Breggman isn't Kyle Tucker offensively. You could probably make the argument that he's better all around because he impacts the team at a more important defensive position and he's got this value off the field that teammates just rave about. You just can't really measure that. I don't know how you put that into numbers.

You can't really do that. So I don't know how that translates. But then you have to look at someone like Peter Armstrong, who who is he is he the first half guy is he the second half guy or is he just a young player that's continuing to get better maybe it's as simple as that corner outfielders you feel pretty good about young guy at d h that can hit uh there's there's a lot of knowns and some unknowns i think this offense is going to be good i think matching a top five offense may be difficult but i don't think it's out of reach so yeah i understand the questions of is this a better offense i think it's a better

around team and that's what they were going for but i i think it's going to be hard to repeat last year's offense just getting top five again so hot-ev hey hey hey i miss you already we should run the back at a red lobster soon uh so back we're not invited next time we'll go next time yeah back the day we were nL central best I saw a lot of Cubs pitching, and I think the rotation had a lot of question marks last year. And to your credit, I agree with everything you said. The Cubs had a fantastic offseason. When you're looking at the depth chart of the rotation, there are a lot of names that stand out that could be helpful.

Kate Horan had a real breakout year last year. Matthew Boyd is back, Cabrera, like you mentioned. And of course, my bestie Shoda. And you'll get Justin Steeleback around middle of May, maybe late May, early June. Where does the rotation stack up in terms of where it was, last year and how much it's improved. And what's your concern level with it? Yeah, my concern level, it really hinges on help with Edward Cabrera. I think I'm high on him, as are the Cubs, as I explained. I think they're really high on him. There's a lot of people

in this front office on the coaching set that love him. But if he's healthy, I think this can be a great rotation because I love what Kate Horton did last year. I know some people will look at the strikeout numbers and think they're not great. They weren't overall. I feel like they got better as the season went along. He's a really cerebral guy. He seems to be very level-headed for a young player, understands that bad moments will happen, really learned from this awful start that he had in Houston

and kind of took off the rest of the season. I think missing him in the postseason really hurt them. Yes, getting Justin's feelback is huge, will be huge from May, June. He's on target. They're not going to rush him. They saw how someone like Sandy Alcantra kind of struggle, old maybe rushed back or just coming back just because he felt, you know, he could pitch.

Just be patient with them. They have five guys. And then they have a six guy in Colin Ray. That's a really valuable swing man, six starter. And then you have guys like Ben Brown. Jordan Wicks is hurt right now and had a little setback. But that's a veteran. Kyle Wright eventually will be back.

I think they're happy that they have him as a depth. He's not, you know, he's way behind with all those injuries that he's had in his career. But it's a deep group, guys that they trust that if someone gets hurt, someone can step up and give them innings. You don't want to lose anyone for a huge part of the season. Shoda, you mentioned his velocity's back. He's going to give up home runs. If they're not three run home runs, you're going to take it because this is a guy that in 2024 kind of took the league by storm. Last year, the injury, Velo dip, just wasn't right.

physically couldn't do the things he wanted to do when he came back. And I think he's healthy. The velocity being back is huge for him. And they have a lot of guys that you can say, yeah, I think he's a three or a four. And then with Kate Horton and Edward Cabrera, if they step up, you can, you kind of see potential ones, maybe twos. And then, of course, there's Matthew Boyd, who just quietly went about business last year. It was in the periphery of the Sy Young talk early on.

and kind of faded at the end, but had outside of that rough start against the Brewers, he was there in the playoffs looking pretty strong for them. There was one start where he came out on short rest and the defense that's really stout defense, which is a part of this starting pitching. The reason the Cubs kind of overperform their peripherals, they have elite defense, especially on the infield. Everyone is plus plus. Even their backup in Matt Shaw is a great defender.

So that is kind of how they build this rotation, knowing that they have at least defense behind them. I'm going to bring in a little bit more of the Dodger angle here. Obviously, Dodgers fans excited that we, I was a part of it, added Kyle Tucker in the offseason. But there was this kind of perception that followed him that maybe he didn't necessarily care or maybe didn't care as much as other guys in that clubhouse. What was kind of your view of Kyle Tucker in his lone season with the Cubs? and what do you think is accurate? What do you think is this kind of people just making up BS?

Yeah, I think some of this stuff gets twisted and gets, like, blown out of proportion. Is he like Nico Horner or Alex Bregman who, like, Nico Horner, I had to step away from him after the loss to the Brewers in the postseason because it was just like hard to be around someone so upset and sad. Like he was like contemplating life. And it was like a really difficult moment for him. And, you know, you just like these guys, some of these guys take it, handle it differently, treat the game differently, treat what they do in between games differently. Kyle Tucker puts in the work that needs to be done.

Is he this galvanizing force in the clubhouse? Is he a, you know, a game changer as far as talking strategy with the young players? That's not who he is. I've covered a lot of really great players that are just, that's not who they are. They go about their business. Their teammates are fine with them, but they're not, you know, going out to all the dinners and doing, you know, making sure that the team is always together hanging out in the, you know, batting cages and talking over the opposing pitcher. That's not really who he is. And nobody, I don't, I didn't hear anybody in that clubhouse saying, you're, this is a guy that's bringing us down is a negative force in the clubhouse.

but there also weren't people raving about him as like this guy is galvanizing the group and making sure we win. He's just, he goes out there and perform. When he's healthy, he is a great, great offensive force.

There was some grumbling about the calf injury. Yeah, sure. Like when it's a calf injury, people are like, where is this guy? It's the playoff push. But also, I think that's just like in the heat of the moment type stuff

where it's like we're trying to win games down the stretch and make sure we're, getting home games for the playoffs and all that stuff. So I understand that, but I don't think he's a negative force. And I also think he's not, like, from my perspective as a member of the media, he's not great for us. He's just not a good quote. So he shouldn't be the go-to guy in the clubhouse.

He doesn't, it's not like he dislikes us or was mean to any of us. It was just that he's not someone you go to. In L.A., he's going to fit it well because they have, you have other people to go to. And also there's all these stars in the lineup. He can just go, go to work, do his job, rate, and be a great player. And it works. I think it's a great fit in L.A. And I really believe that because I remember when Cody Bellinger got the call up and Corey

Seeger had already been there a couple of years. I remember Corey, when Cody was having his MVP year, Corey was so thankful that he didn't have all of the attention on him because Corey doesn't like interviews. Good kid. Good guy. Professional. always kind, but he's just not a guy like Jock Peterson hates interviews for different reasons than obviously Corey did, but he was so Cody.

Corey was so happy to see Cody, and I'm sure Kyle will be super happy to see Freddie and Muky and on and on and on. Let me ask you this, Zahadav, again, another personality question, and maybe it's unfair of us to judge, but PCA, of course, making those comments about Dodgers fans just kind of showing up, only there to take pictures, those types of things. California kid, maybe a different perspective on the Dodgers, but tell us a little bit more about him. Give us a better understanding of who you think being around him PCA is. I think he's a really good kid, really respectful to the media, really respectful to the game.

And I understand, look, he kind of leads into rivalries and he's not afraid to kind of speak his mind at times. I don't think he meant that in like a malicious way. I think he meant, you know, it's just something that was on his mind and he said it. He was being honest. Sometimes being honest with the media can get you in trouble. I think he's a, I think some people get it twisted because he, they see him really emotional on the field. And he does need to work on that. He's still young.

He needs to, he needs to pull it back a little bit where it's, if you're, if the team's up and you strike out or you ground out, can't slam your helmet because guess what the team's doing well if that comes in a big moment and that happens once every you know a couple of weeks sure that that's understandable uh but if you're you got you got to control your emotions better on the field and i think he's learning that he's a very emotional player you see it he wears it on his sleeve and that's the good and the bad that's him pumping up his teammates when he slides into third with a triple or something like that or rounding the bases after a home run. He is going to be flashy, and I think that's a big part of his game. But he's a hard worker, really respects veterans, like gloms onto them, was attached to Justin

Turner last year. Carlos Santana was around for a month, and I saw him after every game going up to him, kind of breaking things down, talking, getting advice, trying to learn. And he's doing the same with Alex Breggman. He is attached to him. Obviously, they're built at Team USA right now. And my guess is Pete is doing a lot of learning among those players in the Team USA. This is a great experience for him. I don't think, look, I think he's going to tick off the opposition a ton. I think that's the type of player he is.

He is flashy. He likes to make plays and he likes to talk a little bit. I think in the heat of the moment, that's fun, and that's all just part of the game. I think that's good for baseball. And I understand why Dodgers fans would be annoyed. I understand, you know, in the future, like Cardinals, Brewers, all the NL Central teams, they're going to be annoyed by him.

And I'm sure that's, you know, the Cubs fans feel similarly about other flashy players on other teams when their rivals are competing against you. So that's just part of baseball. I don't think he's a bad guy or has anything, any malicious intent. He can be a little immature and he's growing in that way. But I think he understands what it takes, what he needs to do to become really good. And he's got all the talent in the world. He's got to put in the work, and he does. So I respect that a lot, that it's not this guy that I'm talented.

I'm just going to come and do what I need to do. I'm a top prospect. I'm flashy. This is what I do. That's not really who he is. He's a hard worker, and his teammates respect him for that. There's little things he needs to work on and he's doing it. You know, I'm with you sort of as someone who loves the drama.

I get why Dodgers fans would not like those comments. But I think it's great for the game to have that kind of a moment. motion to have fans get riled up when the Cubs come to town now. Like more of that in baseball please. We have 162 games plus the postseason. Let's spice it up. Let's do something fun. Speaking of fun, the NL Central looks a little different this year coming in.

It looks between the Cardinals and the Brewers. And this is a division that the Brewers have pretty much had a hold on for the last five years. They won four of the last five titles. The St. Louis Cardinals are irrelevant this year. The Pirates are kind of on the right. they have good pitching. I like their off-season moves, but not enough for me to be all in. And the Reds are like the most 500 team ever. So when you're looking at the Cubs and the Brewers, do you feel like the Cubs had the off-season to make them the team to be in this division?

Or do you think this is a pretty even matchup between them and Milwaukee? Yeah. So I think on paper the Cubs should be the team to beat. I think they have the mentality of we got to take the division. Finally, we got to beat these pesky Brewers. The Brewers are, I just need to stop doubting them. I have stopped doubting them for a couple years now. It's been like six, seven years of saying, I don't understand why this team is going to be good. And then there's stars that just emerge out of nowhere or players that just,

you know, take a step forward. So I'm not going to doubt them. I know they lost a lot from last year that you could say that about going into last season. So I don't know exactly how they're going to do it, but they're going to be annoying and pesky. and probably compete for the division. I don't know.

I just can't say that the clubs are going to run away with this division because the brewers are just such a well-oiled machine when it comes to, they're really the envy of the league. Obviously, the Dodgers are great, but when it comes to not spending money and just building, you know, year and year out producing talent,

they're the envy of the league. And people, I've talked to scouts this spring that are just like, I was asking them, how do they do it? And they're like, that's the question. Everyone is asking. How do they do it? We try to figure out what are the brewers doing. And, you know, these things go in cycle.

Sometimes it's Cleveland. Sometimes it's Tampa Bay. But right now Milwaukee's that team that everyone's wondering, how is this small market club doing it? I wouldn't, I think the pirates and the reds are both going to be pesky. Those teams have such great pitching. I think they're going to be series where the Cubs go to Cincinnati and, well, I guess going to Cincinnati means you're going to score a lot.

But they go to Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh just shuts them down with Pittsburgh. pitching and Cubs fans are freaking out, pulling their hair out because how are they losing to the Pirates? Well, because you face, you know, Paul Skeens and Bubba Chandler or whoever's going that day, that they have deep pitching, both these staffs. And when that happens, if a couple guys just emerge on offense, I think one of those teams could pop. I don't, you know, I kind of lean reds just because of Terry Francona, but I'm not going to rule out either team. But yes, I agree it's between the Cubs and the Brewers and the Brewers just don't go away. So I don't know how they get it, what the path is to it, who this next great player is, or, you know, staff ace is.

But someone's going to pop. Someone's going to be like, yep, that's the guy. We should have seen it coming. This guy's great. And of course, all of those teams are battling to be runner up, runner up behind the Dodgers for that National League pennant. Sahadav, we appreciate you, man. One of the best to do it. Make sure you guys are watching as well.

Northside Territory part of the Fowl Territory Network. You got Sahadiv. You got him with Patrick Mooney, a couple of guys. There's your athletic takeover there, Katie. But they are live a few times per week on Northside Territory, part of the Fowd Territory Network. Again, we'll catch you during the season. Thanks for stopping by, man. Of course.

Thanks so much to you guys soon. Take care. See, Katie. Take care. I'm John Green. You may know me as the author of The Fault and Our Stars. And now, I guess, also is the co-host of the Away End, a brand new world soccer podcast. I'm Daniel Alarcon, a writer and journalist, and John and I have known each other since we were kids.

My first World Cup was Mexico 86. I was nine years old. I watched every game, and I fell in love. On our new podcast, The Away End, we'll share with you the magic of international football, all leading up to the 2026 World Cup. For us, soccer, football, is a story we've shared for over 30 years since Daniel was the star player on our high school soccer team. Very debatable. And I was there most loyal and sometimes. only fan. I love this game. I love its history, its hope, its heartbreak, and above all,

it's beauty. Together, we'll find out why, of all the unimportant things, football, soccer, is the most important. Listen to the away end with Daniel Alarcon and John Green on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, guys, we got some more stuff to talk about. We can't do a show during the WBC without talking about the WBC. So what do you think we talk about it here with Fox One? I love it. All of our World Baseball Classic coverage brought to you by our friends at Fox One,

which is live stream all your Fox favorites together in one place, including all WBC games over the next few weeks. And after that, the best Major League Baseball action all season long. Guys, a big game tonight. I'm excited about this one. I hope you two are as well. I think you will be. Obviously, Mexico and USA.

USA looks great, but so do the Mexicans, Clint Pesius' people, the Mexicans. They look great. I love it. Cuba are my people, Italy, Italy, my people, America, of course. But this is going to be a good game. Katie, what are you most looking forward to in this one? The Skeen's debut. This to me is like the first real test for Team USA, who has looked lights out. I love the entire WBC. You guys know this. But I love how much this tournament is impacting players. Like we know Scuble. We knew the plan for him all along was to make that one start against Great Britain, go back to Detroit,

ready for opening day, he pitches, and all of a sudden, he's like, wait a second, I don't know if I can leave. Like, we, I think the more we see the WBC and the more it's marketed, right, and the more exposure that we get, we see how much it means to these players. Mexico is such a proud, passionate baseball country. I've been locked into everything that their manager has been saying about this game. Like this, it's so fun to watch meaningful, powerful baseball in early March. So there's so many different storylines I can go with, But I guess I'll go with Skeens because if he has even half the reaction that Scoobled did to pitching for the first time, we are going to see an incredible display on the mound, and I'm looking forward to it.

I think that what you just, sorry, what Katie was just saying about skeins. And I love the fact that Scoobel's like now questioning whether he wants to go back. I think that's really cool. I think a lot of it, too, is going to be like getting him set up to pitch for opening day for the Tigers. It's got to be able to line up. so I'm sure AJ Hinch and his staff is trying to figure that out. But man, he's like, wait a minute, this means a lot. This means a lot more perhaps than he maybe he thought it did.

I mean, you saw what Chinese Taipei did when they beat Korea and they were no longer eliminated. Just how much this means to these guys, I think it's awesome. Yeah, the people in the stands, the fans, the players, you know, I saw there've been so many different memes of it, you know, in a regular baseball game, somebody hits a homer, you know, its head down, even though that's kind of inaccurate these days. there's a lot more pimp jobs and homers and doubles and Dodgers doing all of this kind of stuff. But I mean, everybody thinking that they just hit a walkoff homer for a single in this tournament, this means so much to everybody. And for what is this tournament number like five, six, six seven, I don't know which one it is. I had to get one in there.

It took me everything to not pause Sahadah, by the way, when he dropped a six, seven in there. But I am 40. Yeah, the people are having fun and this tournament keeps getting better. And for us to be seeing Team Mexico having its best club ever, guys like Scoob, like you mentioned, Katie, he really wants to be there. And he has his, you know, what's his name, LeBron James' announcement coming up, I think, in a couple of minutes or a couple of hours. But whether or not he is going to stay or go back to boring Detroit Tigers camp, it's a lot of fun. I'm enjoying watching this. And tonight is going to be a blast, USA versus Mexico.

I agree. It's super cool. By the way, foul territory will be live with the post game tomorrow, right? We're live tomorrow. Tonight and after the Wednesday. Fowel territory is live with the post with the post game tonight. And following Wednesday's Big Dominican Republic versus Venezuela game, we are going to be live tomorrow after the Dodgers game.

But guys, don't forget from the WBC through the World Series to the World Cup to NASCAR and Indy, car with Fox 1, you get it all live. Start your seven day free trial today offers are subject to change. Download Fox 1 today and stream the world baseball classic live now through the 17th. Go to Fox 1.com for complete terms and conditions. Fox 1 streaming now. All right, guys, I want to tell you a little bit about Peyton. This is a sweet girl that her owner had passed away so the owner's husband was going to dump her at a high kill shelter. That's incredibly cruel. She's a senior gal and she's been in foster care with us since July. Unfortunately, she was acting a little bit sick, and we found, we went and took her in for x-rays, and unfortunately, she has a tumor on her spleen.

So what we need to do is we're going to get her an ultrasound to see if we have a better determination of what we're dealing with here, but it's incredibly expensive. So we're asking for donations. Honestly, 50 cents makes a difference. So if you could donate to giddreysgarden.org, put Peyton on your donation. That would help us a lot. Try to get her the care. that she needs to kind of see what we're doing in the best course of action to, at the very least, make her comfortable if we can't have surgery and if it's going to be safe

for surgery to go that way. So please giddreysgardion.org and help Peyton out. All right, guys, baseball thoughts for the road. And Clint, this one also involves dogs. Yeah. If you guys don't follow Shohoy Yatani on his Instagram, do it because he posts

some just random absolute gems on there, including D.C. DeKoi, being a bad boy, it's true, he can be a bad boy. He has, he has assassinated. He has killed two of his teddy bears, which is just, I mean, look at that. Look at that poor teddy bear. If you guys are watching. That teddy bear had eyes and a nose at one point. What happened? Two of them. The other one had a whole snout removed, but. Wow. DeKoy looks so, like, so kind and I guess not. I mean, the good thing is, you know, show he makes enough money to replace those toys, but

Maybe, you know, maybe Decoy's upset that Daddy's out there trying to win the WBC for Team Japan. I mean, let's be honest. You could buy a bear and they buy actual bears. Buy bears if you. The Bears? Chicago. If you wanted to. Chicago Bears.

He could buy the Chicago Bears if you wanted to. But Katie, not only is Decoy taking the show on Shohay's Instagram, but you're a little concerned about perhaps how he's treating one of his teammates. Tell us more. Some bullying of Yamamoto. Big walk-all, a big celebration win, and Shohei Otani's Instagram story are two, not the most flattering photos of Yamamoto I've ever seen. But you know what?

I love their banter. I love their relationship. Just seen it from afar and now being able to see it from some limited time in the clubhouse. Real friends post ugly photos of you on Instagram. We know this because my friends do that all the time, and they are going to have a field day when they see the whereas Waldo comments

from the beginning of the show. So let's keep it up. We love the romance between Shohei and Yamamoto. It is so cute. Love it. More hilarious pictures, please. And decoy is still a good boy. Yes.

He's still a good boy either. It's never the dog's fault. It's always the owner's fault. I'm just throwing it out there. You guys, thanks so much for being with us. We went a little long today. But that's all right. Don't forget Falterritory is after the USA Mexico game tonight.

And then myself, Katie, and Clint will be back tomorrow for post-game after the Dodgers Cactus League. Don't forget to like, subscribe. to 20,000 subs. We appreciate you. We'll see you tomorrow. Buy our stuff too. Okay. Thanks. Oh, yeah. Buy our stuff. Hey, bye. Okay, thanks. Bye. I'm Daniel Alarcon. And this is my friend. This is much more famous than I am. I wouldn't go that far. But I'm John Green. Co-host of the podcast The Away End with my old

friend Daniel on our podcast The Away End. We'll share with you the magic of international football, all leading up to the 2026 World Cup. Together, we'll find out why, of all the unimportant things, football, soccer is the most important. Listen to the away end with Daniel Alarcon and John Green on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Then she says, have you seen a photo of my son? And I'm like, who is this person? Welcome to the Boys and Girls podcast.

Arranged Marriage is basically a reality show and you're auditioning for your soulmate. And who's judging? Only your entire family? I sacrificed myself to this ancient tradition. hoping to find love the right way. And instead, I found chaos, comedy, and a lot of cringe. Listen to boys and girls on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. This Women's History Month, the podcast Keep It Positive, Sweetie, celebrates the power of women choosing healing, purpose, and faith, even when life gets messy.

Love, it's not a destination. You have to work on it every day. Keep It Positive, Sweetie creates space for honest conversations on self-worth, love, growth, and navigate. Getting life with grace and grid led by women who uplift, inspire, and tell the truth out loud. I have several conversations with God, and I know why it took the 20 years. To hear this and more, listen to Keep It Posit Sweetie on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.