Dodgers Territory - Will Bregman Signing Kickstart the Offseason? Do Recent Dodgers Signings Affect Kiké Reunion?

Episode Date: January 12, 2026

Clint Pasillas and Katie Woo dive into the latest MLB news and all things involving the Los Angeles Dodgers! (1:13) The Cubs have landed Alex Bregman on a big free agent deal. Will it kickstart the offseason? Could the Cubs now be open to moving one of their infielders like Matt Shaw or Nico Hoerner? Katie shares the latest. (5:02) Could Bo Bichette or Kyle Tucker be the next big domino to fall? The Dodgers have reportedly met with Tucker and his market is rumored to be down to three. The hosts discuss. (14:29) The Dodgers added two infielders in journeyman Ryan Fitzgerald and veteran Andy Ibanez. What's the plan for them and do they affect Kiké Hernandez's potential return to LA (21:43)? Get 10 free meals and a FREE Zwilling Knife (a $144.99 value) on your third box at HelloFresh.com/FT10FM. Offer valid while supplies last. Free meals applied as a discount on first box, new subscribers only, varies by plan. Check out DT merch at https://dodgersterritoryshop.comSupport Guidry's Guardian at https://guidrysguardian.orgFind Clint on YouTube at https://youtube.com/@alldodgers Subscribe to Dodgers Territory on YouTubeRate and review our podcast on Apple and SpotifySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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or wherever you get your podcasts. The Cubs being good again is not just good for the NL Central. It's good for the National League and it gives the Dodgers some competition. What is going on, party people? When I'm hosting the show, you know I say party people for some weird reason. I am Clint Pesias. That is Katie Wu. Alana is out today.

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Katie, we had the first big domino fall in baseball. feels like the biggest domino yet with Alex Bregman, the off season, maybe starting to heat up. What do you say we talk about it in the big ticket? Here we go. Dealing with the hotel Wi-Fi guys and rough audio, give us some grace. We're going to get this locked in. It's only Katie's second show on Dodgers territory. But yeah, Katie, Bregman to the Cubs, five years, 175.

Initial reactions of that. Well, I think the Chicago Cubs are in. great shape. I think what was surprising about this is that for so long we haven't heard anything about anyone's market, Bregman included. And it seemed like the Red Sox were kind of, I don't want to say the frontrunners, because a lot was kind of undecided. But I was really kind of when I would expect the Bregman tweet to break, I just thought we'd see Red Sox. I did not think we were going to see the Cubs at all. And the more that things came out with the contract terms, five years 175, the Red Sox reportedly offering five years 165, the deferrals.

It's a great move for the Chicago Cubs who are finally operating like a big market team. Look, it's Chicago. It's an NL Central team that outside or NL Central Division that outside of Milwaukee is not going to be very competitive. Again, you can go ahead and win 85 games in the NL Central and punt your ticket to the postseason. Now the Cubs are on their way to having, I think, their best offseason in a decade. They swung their trade to get Edward Cabrera, and then they land Bellinger. I'm sorry, and then they add Bregman, and all of a sudden, you're like, okay, now the Cubs are a true frontrunner in the National League. So I love this.

If I'm a Red Sox fan, I hate it. But for baseball, I thought this was a great deal. Yeah, really, really good for the Cubs. We'll talk more about the competition in the National League much, much later in the show, because I think the Cubs getting better. Spoiler, the Cubs getting better is good for the Dodgers as well. You mentioned, you know, imagine Red Sox fans, Red Sox Nation right now. This feels like an all-time fumble. if we're here and the figures are just $10 million difference.

That is tough. You gave him $40 million for one year, cost yourself a draft pick, and now you don't have Alex Bregman, and the Cubs get a lot better. Now maybe Chicago has a couple of expendable pieces, and last night on my All Dodger show, we were talking about one of those names, and I'm looking at the numbers along the way,

Nico Horner on baseball reference, and I'm like, oh, come to Daddy, Nico Horner. I know the Cubs say, maybe they're not open into training trading some of their pieces, whether it's Horner, whether it's Matt Shaw, even maybe in Ian Hap,

even though he plays the outfield. Are there more Cubs moves coming? That could affect the Dodgers. It could. The Dodgers are always in place. We've got to localize the show. When you're looking at where the Cubs roster is currently constructed,

you can make the argument that one of Matt Shaw or Niko Horner goes on the trade block. Ian Hap, I don't see as likely. He's too integral of a part for that Cubs. team. I actually thought our pal saw of Sharma of Northside Territory slash the athletic, wrote a really good story on why the Cubs should actually keep Nico Horner. And it goes back to what we were talking about. They're finally acting like a big market team. So let's not penny pinch over the luxury tax. But I do think this makes Matt Shaw at least a little bit

expendable. It opens the door for a conversation of potentially trading him or the Cubs keep him and kind of turn him into that super utility role that teams like the Dodgers, teams that win games really take advantage of. But this completely changes the National League for me. I don't really think it has anything to do with the Dodgers. I think it's more competitive for them, and we'll get to that, Clint. But right now, I still think it's like the Dodgers, the clear tier one. And all of a sudden you have the Cubs who I think were maybe like top of tier three.

Now they're solidly in the mix of tier two in terms of competitive teams in the league. And when you see how this offseason shakes out, they could be right up there in terms and teams that we're talking about real powerhouses in the National League. Yeah, Cubs can help the Dodgers continue to get better by just sending Nico Horner our way. I'm going to try to manifest. That's what I'm doing, Nico Horner, to the Dodgers. I love the growth that that dude has one more year left on his contract. And I think the Cubs owe the Dodgers for giving them Michael Bush,

even though we got some good talent back on the other side. All right, let's get into the important stuff. Maybe this doesn't directly affect the Dodgers, but it does directly affect the market, as we know. Kyle Tucker, Bobaichette, still out there. Now we have an idea of what they could be signing for. It's 35 million AAV for Alex Bregman. Do the Red Sox now turn their attention to Bichette?

What's going on with, let's start with Bichet. What's going on there? Well, the Red Sox are certainly in a, okay, we got to do something mode here. Recent reports out of all the media in Boston saying that the Red Sox were quite surprised that Bregman did not resign with them. And while the Red Sox have had a very active and in solid offseason just in terms of, with trades. They've gotten both sunny grain rules and contraris from the Cardinals. They've got Johan Oviedo to bolster that rotation in the back end. They have spent zero dollars in free agency.

And that's where fans are like, what happened to this team spending money. And I'm not here to debate, you know, the money that they're taking on in trades, actually counting a spending money. I think it's clear this fan base would like the Red Sox to step up and you look at what the ALEs looks like. And I think they have a very valid argument. So do the Red Sox pivot to Bo Bauda Chet? They could. But as we see, the Boba Chet market is heating up. He's reportedly meeting with the Philadelphia Phillies today through video. We saw that from Matt Gelb on the athletic, and we'll see how his market is. But all of a sudden, the Red Sox now need to be much more competitive on the rest of the

free agent market than maybe they originally planned to with Breggman because it seemed like, and our good pal, A.J. Prisinski, broke this down very well on foul territory today, that they just kind of thought the market there for Bregman was theirs. And Bregman doesn't owe the Red Sox anything, by the way. He doesn't owe them anything. when he took the better deal for more money and, you know, the same amount of years, but more money, like, who wouldn't do that? I think for the Red Sox, you look at Boba Shet, but this is no cakewalk for any of them in terms

of what free agent they sign. And I wouldn't expect them to be in the, you know, they'll be in conversations. But for me to go out and say they're a frontrunner for any of these guys, I don't think that's true right now. Yeah, as the Bobeshet market, as this offseason has kind of matured, I've looked at, I don't know maybe. I don't know anything, of course. Everybody knows this about me. I don't know anything, but it's looked like Phillies and Dodgers are the front runners because of how Toronto has sort treated Bo. They're saying, you know, kind of keeping them at arms distance. Oh, maybe if we trade

some money and we can clutch our pearls, maybe we'll bring you back, but also we're in play on Kyle Tucker. It's felt a little weird. We know Ken Rosenthal over the weekend after the, the Breggman deal did say the Dodgers are still in the mix on Bo Bichette. We'll see. We have haven't heard anything. Maybe that feels like a good thing, as a lot of Dodger fans know, the quieter the Dodgers organization is, the more likely something is cooking, and there's always cooking with something cooking with Andrew Friedman, even when he has enough time to go to the Golden Globes or whatever happened last night. You see him in the background hanging out with rubbing elbows with celebrities there. He's big time. Andrew Friedman works in silence.

Let's talk about the other name. We got Kyle Tucker, apparently now. The destinations are down to three Dodgers in the mix as well. This coming from former MLBGM, Jim Duquette mentioning Toronto, Dodgers. New York Mets have all met with Kyle Tucker and his representation. And they appear to be the three main teams waiting for John Heyman tweet or something about. There's a mystery team involved. There's always a mystery team. But yeah, Dodgers apparently have met with Kyle Tucker and his reps.

What do you know? So nothing's really changed from the Dodgers end on this. We also know that Andrew Friedman does work in silence, which makes my job really easy. So does Kyle Tucker's representatives at Excel sports management. Like this is the fact that there's not a lot known about Kyle Tucker is not necessarily surprising throughout the industry. Because especially on the Dodgers side, you're dealing with a very quiet organization. There are not a lot of leaks here. Hopefully, you know, we can change that here at the athletic, but we'll try our best.

Now I think going forward, again, nothing's changed on the Dodgers prerogative for Kyle Tucker. They continue to be interested in a shorter term, higher AABD. When you're the Dodgers, you can do a high AAB. They don't care. They're like, yeah, oh, more money, cool. But I think that it's a smart play and a logical play to not want to extend these mega contracts where you're looking at six, seven, eight years just based on the type of commitment that would, you know, require. When you're looking at the shorter term deals, it makes much more sense for the way the team is currently constructed.

The last thing you want to do is sign one of these mega contracts when you don't have to. What's changing is Kyle Tucker's market. And maybe he's not going to get the length of deal that he expected or coveted. Maybe the only thing left in his market are these shorter-term deals, or there's a team that wasn't really on the radar at first that was willing to go maybe four or five. All that we know on the Dodger side, and that's ultimately all that matters from their side, because the player is obviously going to choose what works best for him is what they're willing to offer.

And as far as we know, they have not budged off the short-term higher AAB deal. The only thing that's going to change this scenario is if Kyle Tucker budges from that, Here's a point, though, Quinn. I'm interested to see how you think about this. I don't know Kyle Tucker, obviously. Never met him in my life. But I know that there is some, I don't want to say concern, because I don't think this is concern.

It's just the player personality. Kyle Tucker's more of a like from people that have known him and have covered him, more of a like back in the shadows kind of guy doesn't want to be the main superstar. Well, you know a really good team for that when you don't want to be the guy, the main face? That would be the Dodgers because there's about 35 superstars on that team in counting. So I do wonder if that plays in from. a player's personal preference where he can go over to LA and be like the five or six most

recognizable name on that roster and still be a star in baseball. I wonder from a personality standpoint that also fits and maybe that's something to keep in mind as negotiations continue. Yeah, I mean, that's absolutely got to be a factor. Even some of the superstars, you can look at somebody like Mooky Betts. He does not like to be front and center very often. Of course, he is one of the faces of the franchise. So he needs to be put out there occasionally, PR so he can give his state of the address or state of the union state of the Dodgers and all that kind of stuff but that is absolutely a great point Dodgers are 100% an organization that can get away or sorry an organization where a player can get away with kind of getting paid a butt ton of money but not it's not necessarily an accountability thing but not need to always be the man Corey Seeger did it for most of his career as a Dodger not needing to be the man answer all the tough questions all that kind of stuff he could just be like look and I'm here to play ball listen I don't here to play ball and I'm here to go home afterwards and live my life, be with my family, all that kind of stuff.

A little bit on that thread before we shift gears because there actually was some Dodgers news since we were last on and we had two players signing, which I have some thoughts about. But there's been kind of this swirling rumor idea that somebody, some people are trying to construe that whole Tucker not wanting to be at the forefront as kind of like a bad. clubhouse guy. You said you don't really know him. Obviously, I would know him even less. But is that just seen, have you heard anything that seems a little off, seems a little fishy about the dude in the clubhouse? Or is that just a load of BS? I've never heard anything like that from

Kyle Tucker. I think that it's just important to know that some players just prefer a little more introverted. And again, maybe I'm totally wrong about this. But going from people that have worked with him and have covered him, you know, you say you cover athletes, but you don't really know who they are, really you know who they are at work. If people who I knew who I was outside of work knew me, they'd be like, oh my gosh, why does she have a job? So I can understand why maybe there's like a little bit of a disconnect there. I don't think this is a bad clubhouse guy. I think this is just player preference where he prefers to be a little more introverted, a little more quiet. Some guys, even as superstar athletes making tens of millions, hundreds of millions of dollars,

still don't like to be in the limelight. They like to play baseball, but they certainly don't like to make interviews about themselves. I don't think that makes the guy of bad club House guy, as long as he's willing to do it every now and then. I certainly don't think that's anything any team has to worry about when it comes to Kyle Tucker. So that closes the book on that. He's not a bad dude. He just doesn't want to talk to you guys. That's what it is.

He wants to show up, do his job, and go home. Don't we all want to do that? Guys, more Dodgers territory coming up. But first, a word from our friends at foul territory. Hey, make good eats at home part of your 2026 New Year's resolution. Hello, Fresh is what we're talking about here. Steaks, seafood, whatever options you want. They have stone fruit.

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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. We're talking a whole bunch about Breggman and not the Dodgers, but there were actual Dodgers player signings, or at least there's one reported signing, one waiver acquisition.

We'll throw it to the great Katie Wu in the tweet here. Andy Ibanez, infielder signed to the Dodgers. That is still a report. It's not official yet. And then the waiver claim, Ryan Fitzgerald. People who watch me on Saturday, no, I'm not a fan of these. Not a fan of these acquisitions. They are dudes that are on the 40-man roster.

They don't have a lot of space on the 40-man roster. One more spot that still needs to be open for Abanez. to become official more on that later. But Katie, what is the plan with these dudes? Why do they need these guys? Clint, I'm here to talk your off a ledge. All right. All this is, it's just insurance moves and the increasingly likely chance,

at least this is what these moves suggest, that Tommy Edmund is not ready for opening day. We know he's going to be delayed to start spring training coming off that off season, right ankle surgery. And again, I covered Tommy Edmund for years in St. Louis. He's a gamer. We know how I feel. I think Dodgers fans know how they feel about him.

He's an absolute key part to this club, but he might not be ready come opening day. And what this does is it just gives the Dodgers some security, some depth, other options to look around in the chance that Edmund isn't ready to go. What I like about these is not necessarily the fact that they're splashy names because, I mean, I'm just going to call myself out. My original tweet, I said Ryan Fitzpatrick. Now, I would like to make it very clear. I was watching football at the time, okay? So I fixed it. My bat.

But other than that... To be fair, to be fair, I also had written in... For my notes, I put Tyler Fitzgerald, so listen. Okay, look. Can it be a more memorable player? With all due respect to the Fitzgerald family. So when you look at these, these are not like going to change the trajectory of the season signings, right? They're not blockbuster signings.

They're not supposed to be. Guys, this is what normal baseball teams to. They add depth in the off season. That's all this is. Now, it does give the Dodgers some flexibility. to do a little bit more. You're looking at guys like Out Springland. You're looking at guys like Ms. Young Kim

on what their roles could be going forward. The Dodgers don't have to know that right now. The only thing they have to know is their corresponding move to activate Andy Yavanias. And that's it. None of these are guaranteed names to be on the opening day roster. It just gives the front office and Dave Roberts a little more flexibility and gives them some insurance for the maybe two to three weeks where Tommy Edmund is not ready to go in the end of March and early April. And if you're the Dodgers, well, as much as you want Tommy Edmund,

you don't need him in early April. You need him in September. So these are just stopholder insurance, secondhand depth options to make sure their bases are covered in the off chance, or I would say 50-50 chance at this point that Tommy Edmund is not ready for opening day. Yeah, I think the thing that has just ruffled my feathers the most is that shockingly, you know, it's a major league signing and the other one with Fitzgerald needs to be on the Major League roster. And that 40, man, like spots are at a premium. I do want to ask about a potential how this affects the Kike Hernandez reunion. But you mentioned the roster there.

Yeah, who goes? They need to open a roster spot. Is it a trade? Is it a DFA? You look at some of the names on there. Do you DFA Fitzgerald to add Ibanez? Banya's. There's Michael Siani, an outfielder they acquired off of waivers.

earlier. Landenac, Bobby Miller is a name that people have thrown out there at times. Paul Jervase, another pitcher. They have a lot of pitchers on that 40-man roster. And another name I've mentioned, and this is not an indictment on the dude. He was great for the team last year. He's been great the last two years. But you look at somebody like Anthony Bonda as a potential trade candidate because he is one of like six left-handed pitchers, left-handed relievers they have on the roster. At some point, you have a little bit too much redundancy with him, Vesia, Jack Tanner Scott, the other guy whose name escapes me. You also add Ronan cop to the 40-man roster this winter to protect him from the Rule 5 draft.

He doesn't have options. Anthony Bond is a name that could be, you know, a part of a bigger package of a deal. You have any idea who could be kind of the odd man out, or is that not something you really want to speculate on? I mean, all this would be speculation right now, just based on looking at these names. but I think when you're looking at someone like Bobby Miller, that is someone with extreme value who maybe might not have the same value with his current organization right now.

I mean, Bobby Miller is a reclamation project that teams are going to be jumping all over and he might not have a long, he probably doesn't have a long-term place in this organization. But he's someone the Dodgers can move and still get value from because other teams are going to value him differently than this current organization does.

And this front office knows that. They're very smart. They don't need me to tell them that. We all know it. But Bobby Miller is someone to watch because they have to figure it out. They can keep him for AAA depth. You can never have enough depth, as everyone in baseball knows. But there are other guys available.

You're looking at Emmett Sheehan who can step in, Land and Nack, like River Ryan. All these guys, to me, are above Bobby Miller on the organization depth sheet. So you make the argument, why hold on to him when another organization could value him higher than the Dodgers can just based on the need for starting pitching? And if you're a rebuilding team, you take on a Bobby Miller, what are you really losing here? because you're not winning games if you're rebuilding. We know that. So that's a new name to watch. I like the waiver claim of Michael Siani.

Just because he's covered him in St. Louis for a year, just a standout defensive superstar. You're not going to get much with the bat and that's all right. But if you're looking for a 4A guy, like you can come in, be your fourth outfielder, be your defensive replacement to win games. Like that's just kind of, you think of what a Justin Dean did last year.

That's exactly the role that Michael Siani would play. So I'm not sure the corresponding move here. I think we're more looking at what this means for Kim, what this means for Freeland, and how the Dodgers can balance. They do have an abundance of right-handed hitters right now. You talk about the redundancy on the position playing side. I wouldn't expect, and this goes to show how much I know right now, a huge roster change with this, when they activate Avanias and make that official. But I do know that they're going to have to create some sort of flexibility for the rest of their roster because of these two signings. Yeah, absolutely.

And if they are going to add anybody else over the course of the offseason, you need to then open another sort of roster spot. And that could come via trade. Maybe you move a couple of, I'm going to call them redundancies and you give them opportunities. Bobby Miller, I've said this for the last couple of years. You know, they just barely moved him to the bullpen at AAA last year, give him a full-time opportunity to bullpen, but somebody else's bullpen. And maybe he does have a chance to, you know, lock in, hone in that 100-mile-an-hour fastball and just focus on one. breaking ball and you could be a decent option as a middle reliever. I mentioned the Kike Hernandez thing.

It's obviously in the title of this video and of this episode of the show. So I'm certain people are upset about bearing that lead. Does this, do those two signings, affect a Kike Hernandez eventual reunion? I don't think so at all. I think both the Dodgers and Kike Hernandez have that mutual respect where when they get later on into the off season, yeah, they're locked in. If this is a first choice for the player and a first choice for the organization, they're just kind of seeing how this recovery goes from Kike's off-season surgery.

We know he's going to miss the WBC, which is unfortunate for team Puerto Rico. We don't know how this is going to impact his opening day timeline. But if you're the Dodgers, and this is just kind of the smart play, there's no reason to sign Kiki right now because he's going to take one of those very valuable 40-man spots that he talks about, Clint, when he could potentially start the year on the IL. Well, the 60 day IL is not an option right now for teams. That won't open up until around pitchers and catchers. So if you're the Dodgers, you just kind of wait it out.

You stay in contact with your guy. And then when you have a better understanding of what Kiki's return timeline looks like, then you pick up those negotiations and then you use the 60 day IL, if possible, to store him. I can see the Dodgers doing that. That makes the most sense. So I would not freak out about this. I still think Kike Hernandez is coming back to the Dodgers. We've just got to be a little bit more patient here.

Yeah, I will maintain that I, you know, I believe. leave they definitely have a wink in a handshake agreement that there he's coming back home um i just wonder about the playing time and how everything shakes out but good stuff there guys we do have more d t coming up we're going to talk a lot more baseball for a little bit but i wanted to remind you guys about about the dodgers territory shop get yourself some swag support the show support myself alon arizzo katie woo in style get yourself a beanie it's still beanie season Get yourself a bag, a mug, a cup, a shirt, all that kind of stuff. Whatever you get, it supports us directly.

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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, it's 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

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of Frankenstein. It's darker, smarter, sexier, a full reimagining of what happens when the monster gets a voice of her own. What I was more interested in was the monstrousness inside of each of us. You can spend your life running from those things, or you can turn around and shake hands with them. If I'm honest about that, and I tell my story about monsters really dealing in something truthful, and I do it in a way that's pop, that's hot, that's like getting on a roller coaster, will people respond? Listen to Bookmarked. The Reese's bookmarked. The Rees's book Club podcast on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Folks, wanted to quickly remind you about Havana, Unana.

This is a dog-o. She needs a home. She needs an adopter. I forget all the things about her. I just know that if you're watching, you see that she is an adorable pup. You can help support a dog in need, which is always a good thing for the new year, as long as you are a responsible pet owner who could actually take care of a dog in your home and with your family.

you can also just generally support Alana and Gidreysguardian at gidreysgarden.orgia. They're always taking donations, whether it's financial, whether it's, you know, food, dog food, animal food, toys, all that kind of stuff. We'd appreciate it if you would give Havana a chance, give a bunch of other dogs a chance there that Alana and her foundation are caring for. So go check out Gidreysgarden.org for more information. Now, Katie, to wrap things up, our baseball thought for the road. We talked a little bit about it at the top of the show. Why the Cubs getting better is good for the Dodgers. Last off season, we had Dodgers third base coach, Dino Ebel, on the show.

And he talked about how important it was for that team, a 2024 World Series team, having the competition they had with the Padres in particular. I think the Padres have taken a pretty big step back. you look at the Giants being kind of mid-Mets in transition, maybe the Phillies sort of in there. The Dodgers need more help. They need better teams, good teams, living teams in the National League to challenge them. This is huge. This is absolutely big for them.

This is a great point because I was thinking about this the other day. The NLS, what is going on? Did the division just give up because the Dodgers are just like going to concede the division title every year? I've been disappointed by what the Giants have been doing. I know my family has been disappointed from what the Giants have been doing. The debats are kind of still a mystery team because I don't think they're done. And the pardries, yeah, it's been a very weird off season for AJ Preller and company. So that's why it furthers your point, Clint.

The Cubs being good again is not just good for the NL Central. It's good for the National League and it gives the Dodgers some competition. Look, I've watched five years of the NL Central. I have seen some very mediocre baseball. And when you're a team that's powerhouse like the Dodgers are going to be, And you're continuously beating up on teams that you should beat up. You don't learn anything about your team. You go out and you steamroll the Reds or the Pirates or the Rockies.

What are you really learning about your organization? And those kinds of things show up when the games matter in September and October. So having some competition throughout the season is good for the Dodgers because it allows them to potentially get punched in the mouth and see how they respond. I mean, it's all easygoing when you're out coasting, right? But the second that you come into some adversity, that's when you really figure out what your team is about, what your players are about, and how you respond. So I'm not sure as currently constructed the Dodgers are going to get a lot of that in their division,

which means getting the rest of that throughout the National League. Also very important. And it's just, again, it's just good for baseball that a big market team is acting like it. Cubs fans have been begging for this for years. Maybe they saw the Cardinals heading for a downturn for the next couple years. And Jed Hoyer thought, let's step up. This is our time to shine. But this is really good for baseball, not just for competition.

I'm excited to see what the Cubs do in the NL Central. Two things I want to piggyback off of there. The punching in the teeth and the adversity. The Dodgers adversity last year was all self-realized. It was injuries. It was guys not really playing up to their potential. Mookie bets having a down year, stuff like that. They kind of, you know, they moonwalk.

They cruise to 94 wins or whatever it was last year. Kind of cruised to the World Series. And they face that Toronto team. and they were ready to go. They were ready to throw that first punch. I think they kind of got knocked on their ass a little bit. Thankfully, one of the things Alana and I talked a whole bunch about, experience is going to eventually outweigh, I guess, an up-and-coming team or whatever,

Toronto's first time being in the World Series in quite some time. And that's how you saw the Dodgers eventually persevere with a little bit of luck and a little bit of love and a couple of big homers late from guys like Max Muncie, Kiki, N, and not Kiki, N, and sorry, Miguel Rojas, and of course, Will Smith with the game winner. But to get punched in the teeth earlier in the season, earlier in the postseason, I think that is huge for this Dodgers team. So we don't have to have a collective heart attack as Dodgers fans. And as fun as Game 7 was with the hindsight of knowing the Dodgers win it,

I don't really want to experience that again for a little while. My heart can't take it. It already has enough to work through. Yeah, I thought, Game 7. was incredible from a professional aspect. I think Dodgers fans would consider it insanely less fun if the outcome was different. So I do hear you there, Quinn. But hopefully, you know, we're back in that same place next year.

And based on how the NL currently looks, again, lots of free agents still available, the NL West no longer looks nearly as competitive as I thought it would be. Yeah, NL West. We really need to have a deeper conversation about that coming up here before spring training, which thankfully, super clear. guys. We appreciate you all hanging out with us. Sorry we couldn't get to the chat as much, but hopefully you enjoyed the free flow of conversation here. Guys, make sure you give Katie a follow. That's Katie J. Wu on the Twitter where she's breaking things down, breaking news,

all that kind of stuff. Give me a follow, Real FRG. We never really put out the social handles. So I'm doing it now. Hit that subscribe button. Rate and review the podcast, all that kind of stuff. Check out Dodgers Territory Shop.com. We'll be back with Alana at 12 o'clock Pacific 3.5. P.m. Eastern on Thursday unless something breaks, then we'll be here as live as, as live as we can, whatever that means. But I think I'm ahead. I'm bored. I'm bored. I want to do things. So let's manifest it. We're going to manifest. Dodgers are going to sign somebody soon. That's it. All right. We'll see you on the next one, guys. Bye. I'm Daniel Alarcon. And this is my friend. He's much more famous than I am. I wouldn't go that far. But I'm John Green, co-hosted

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. It's the new me, and it's the old them. This woman's history month, the podcast, if you knew better with Amber Grimes, spotlights women who turn missteps into momentum and lessons.

into power. My like tunnel vision of like I gotta achieve this was off the strengths of like I want to make a better life for us. If You Knew Better brings real talk from women who've lived it, unpacking career pivots, relationship lessons and the mindset shifts that changed everything. Listen to If You Knew Better with Amber Grimes on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, it's Alec Baldwin. This season on my podcast, here's the thing. I talk to composer Mark Shaman. It's about the hang. It's the pleasure of hanging out with the people that you're with. You know, Rob and I was always a great hang. And journalist Chris Whipple.

Every White House staffer, they work in a bubble called the West Wing. And it's exponentially more so in the Trump White House. Listen to the new season of Here's the Thing on the IHeart Radio app or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Danielle Robe, host of Bookmarked, the podcast by Reese's Book Club. And this week on Bookmarked, we're basically host. the Ultimate Girls' Night. Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Garner, Judy Greer, Rita Wilson,

and Gauri Rice, and author Laura Dave. These are the women behind season two of the Apple TV series, The Last Thing He Told Me. We're talking about turning a book into a hit show and what it really takes to bring a story to life.

The most important metric for me is do I want to share this book with somebody? That's what creates community and that's the main thesis of our book club and why we started it was just to connect people, Listen to the bookmarked by Rees's Book Club podcast on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.