Fantasy Baseball Today - Bonus ⚾️ Talk: Christmas Wish Lists plus Rachel Luba joins the show! (12/23 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: December 23, 2020

Danny Vietti and former Major Leaguer Will Middlebrooks are back and they're talking Christmas Wish Lists for MLB teams! First up, the New York Yankees (2:40). Will they re-sign DJ LeMahieu?... How about the Angels (7:00)? What do they need to do to get Mike Trout in the playoffs?... What can the Cubs do with all the reports of them trying to shed payroll (11:05)? Last but not least, the New York Mets (14:22). Who is Steve Cohen trying to bring in? ... Super agent Rachel Luba joins the show (20:50)! What happened with this Twitter bracket? ... Considering Luba represents Trevor Bauer and Yasiel Puig, can we get an update (26:40)!? When will Bauer sign?... Bauer and Puig are two of the more outspoken players in baseball. Why should a team want a player like that (32:45)? ... Luba is breaking ground as the first female to have her own agency (37:30). Why her? How did she get to this point? ... Email us at [e-mail]. Subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday 'Fantasy Baseball Today' is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Castbox and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Follow our FBT team on Twitter: @FBTPod, @AdamAizer, @CTowersCBS, @CBSScottWhite, @Roto_Frank Join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday For more fantasy baseball coverage from CBS Sports, visit https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/ To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the fantasy baseball today podcast from CBS Sports. I drive, center field, and son. This is magnificent. Got a fantasy question? Email fantasy baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your league. Well, fantasy becomes reality. Now here's Frank, Scott, Chris, and Adam.

Funny people, what's good? Welcome to the fantasy baseball today podcast. It's Wednesday, December 23rd. Merry Christmas. Happy holidays, everybody. World Series champ, Will Middlebrooks. Hold on. I'm not going to give you a good intro because where the hell is your holiday spirit. I got plenty of spirit. I got plenty of spirit. I just, you know, this looked good today. I need a lot to look good. I don't want to match you, Danny. You do your thing. I'll do mine. We're going to talk baseball and we're just going to leave it at that, okay? It looks like a morgue. That's rude. And this is coming from the guy that decorated for Christmas before Thanksgiving. Should be noted.

Well, like I said in our show, I have a two-year-old and a one-year-old. Gets a little crazy in the zoo of a household. So when they go nuts, we go, let's go look at the Christmas lights. Oh, Santa! And we run outside and everything's better. So one day, bud, you'll get it. I can't wait to see you in your Christmas PJs. We got a lot of Christmas here for you guys on today's show, though.

We're going to do Christmas wish lists. So we're going to go, we're going to pick out of this handy-dandy Santa Hat here. We're going to pick some teams. We've got 30 teams in this bunch here. We're going to see what we get. And we're going to give you a list of what their Christmas wish list might be. We also have Rachel Lubba blessing us with her presence on today's show. Of course, she represents the hottest ticket on the market with Trevor Bauer.

You know, where will the 2020? and El Sai Young Land. She'll give us an update. And she's also going to talk about what she's done for women in sports, which is going to be incredibly powerful. But first, Christmas isn't two days. Now, everybody should have already sent their Christmas wish list to Santa, except for Will because clearly he doesn't celebrate Christmas.

He doesn't celebrate the holidays. But Christmas wish list. Are we ready to pick out of our hat, Will Middlebrooks? Please, be my guest. Did you do your research, sir? I don't need to do research. It's all right here, bud. A little show and go.

I am research. Okay, Christmas wish list for our first one. What is on the Christmas wish list for, there you go, of course, New York Yankees. Wow, that was, that's real original, Danny. You're going to go with, you know, the New York, you know, okay. No, whatever. It's random. Here.

You want to know what's on their, you want to know what's on their list? everybody knows what's on their list. Sign DJ LaMayhew. That's on a lot of people's lists, actually. Go DJ. Go DJ. Exactly.

You want to sign him just because you know the amount of power they have up and down their lineup. They can hurt you one through nine, blah, blah, blah, Stan Judge, Merchella, we get it. They hit homers.

Well, this guy's a high contact guy. He's won a batting title on both leagues, which not many people could say they've done that. If not many people can even say they've won one. So yeah, exactly. So you need that contact guy. He gives you a little life.

He's on base. He's constantly putting the ball in play. Supposedly they're $25 million apart. You're the New York Yankees. All right. Get off your wallet. Pay the man. Don't go spend extra money on starting pitching.

You can probably get like a Jake Oteresee, I think cheaper than normally because he was out last year with the blister. get hit by a comebacker. He only made one or two stars, and only a couple starts. And had a really good 2019. My only worry with Orisi, though, you'll like this.

I know you like stats. 33% ground ball rate. That's low, all right, especially for a guy with his type stuff. You don't want, I've played in Yankee Stadium. You don't want the ball in the air. It flies, all right?

That's my only downfall. But I think he would be a good fit. He's coming off 2019, where he pitched really well, 27% strikeout rate, which is highest of his career, 15 wins. So I think he's going to be a good fit for them as well. So you're going with DJ and maybe a lower tier.

Back in starter, yeah, like a four. Yeah, I'm all on board with you with DJ. Most importantly, it is Christmas special, of course. So I have plenty of Christmas puns to throw your way. Oh, my gosh. Five golden doctors, because this team needs to stay healthy. I know. It didn't rhyme.

I was awful, but I, agree. I had to think of 30 puns for 30 teams. Give me a break here. Okay, five golden doctors. This team is the most lethal lineup in the league when healthy. They are the most talented team in the league when healthy. They're going to have Severino back, hopefully, coming off Tommy John. They need DJ, in my opinion, because when you look at Judge Giancarlo and DJ, if you're going to pick one of those three to sign, I'm picking DJ Lemayhew. And I know Giancarlo has has already obviously signed his long-term deal. And this isn't exactly an accurate hypothetical.

Well, he's on the field, right? He's healthy. He plays. Yes. Even, even, I'm just going on straight talent. I want a guy that's going to hit 335 with 20 homers. He's a gold glover too. Let's not forget he's a gold glover.

That's exactly where I'm getting to. So they were, they had a negative one, uh, defensive run saves last year, which was 17 in Major League Baseball. That was according to Fangrass. So they're not great defense.

They're not terrible, but they're not great either. And so for a guy like DJ LaMayhew, who is healthy, the majority of the time, he can play all over the diamond. That is as valuable as anything can be in baseball. Yeah, we saw him at first. We saw him at third. He can pick it at short. I mean, obviously he would like to be the second base, which he's the, I've had lunch with him. This guy is all of six, five.

Yeah. And he's a second baseman. So to see him move like he does. He's a unicorn. He's special. So they got to sign them. Get off your wallet. He is New York, too.

Like, he just has that mentality. Like, when you go to the ballpark, you want to see a guy like DJ Lemayu. All he cares about is baseball. That is all he cares. He doesn't care about Instagram, Twitter, social media. He's like a taller Dustin Prodoria. Yeah. I like that comp.

Grindr. Yeah, he's a grinder. I love it. Hashtag Grindr. Hashtag sign DJ. Just glad you didn't have a hashtag Christmas pun for that. I'm getting there. Let me get to my next team.

hashtag X-Miss hashtag blessed. Our next team. We're going out west, my friend. Los Angeles Angels. What is on? What is on the Christmas wish list? What? Listen, here's the thing with the angels.

Lethal. When healthy, lethal may be one of the highest ceiling offenses in the league. Yeah. When healthy, Otoni, if Poo-Hol's is swinging it, if Justin Upton picks it up and plays to his capability. And then you don't have a guy named Mike Trout. All right. We'll go down as the goat.

I truly believe that. From watching him as a fan now, playing against him, playing with him in the fall league when he was just a baby, this kid will go down as the best player of all time. According to Justin Upton, who said on our last podcast, he is not the most talented, though. Keep that in mind.

I understand where he came from, but we're still talking about the greatest baseball player of all time. he will go down as that. So they need to get him to the playoffs. All right. The best player in baseball doesn't need to be deer hunting during the World Series. All right? He doesn't.

He needs to be under the big light. So they got to get pitching. So they need to get Trevor Bauer. They got to get him. Period. They had over a five ERA with their team last year. They, uh, what, runs aloud five and a half,

5.3. Can't do that. No. Even with a really good offense, you've got to keep it around four and a half or under to give you a chance at winning ballgames. But with that offense, get that offense clicking, add Bauer, maybe one more arm. You never know what can happen. It's a weaker division right now. You got the A's.

I know the A's are good, but Rangers are down, right? Yeah. Houston wasn't themselves last year until the postseason. We don't really know about Oakland either. I know they have a lot of young studs, but if they lose Simeon, that's a hole in the middle of their infield, too. Very true. That's very true. So, I mean, this is a, they're not that far away from being a contender. They're not that far away from being able to win the division.

Houston's not the same. They're not going to have the pitching. We know that. I mean, they surprise me in the playoffs, but I don't think they're going to win the division next year. I think the angels, if they sign Bauer, they're a contender. Because not only is he going to pitch well for them, he teaches things to other pitchers in the rotation. He is there. Just having a presence like that of a superstar pushes you as a player to play better. So it's more than just his numbers that you're going to get when you sign a guy like that. They need Nace. I don't care if it's Bauer or who. So I have on here. The best pitcher was Dylan Bundy. Go back to last season. We'll know who their rotation was back in 2019. This is,

we've already talked about this season. Last season, their opening day started was Trevor Cahill. After that, it was Matt Harvey. It was RIP, Tyler Skaggs. No offense. those guys, it's just not going to get it done. Dylan Bundy was literally their best arm. Yeah, he was. He had a really solid season. As Jay up in last year, they actually had some good moments. Their starting rotation did. As a whole, they didn't.

But Major League Baseball, it doesn't matter what side of the ball. Defense, hitting, pitching, base running, consistency is what makes a good big leaguer. Anybody can do it once or twice. Trust me. The last pitcher that they had made in all-star team was Hector Santiago

in 2015. Before that, Jared Weaver in 2012. They had, and their bullpins a mess, too. They had the seventh most save opportunities in Major League Baseball. So their lineup and their starting pitching gave them a chance, but they blew 14 of those 26 save opportunities, most of Major League Baseball. So I have all I want for Christmas, this is a good one. All I want for Christmas is you, as in you, Darvish.

Ooh. You like that one. I know you. I do. I do. You got my attention because I was like, come on, man. I'm all for Bauer. If Bauer doesn't work out.

There are some trade options. I agree. That's a decent fallback, right? Yep. Going back to this handy-dandy hat, moving on here. Of course, we got Rachel Lubba coming up soon. Looking forward to that. Where is Trevor Bauer going to go? Speaking of Chicago, that was a good time to me.

Chicago Cubs. I just talked about Carbush. Yeah. I don't have a whole lot on the Cubs. I mean, I think they're on the list. I think Lamehu's a good fit there. I think they possibly could have some money to pay them. I think they could look at Paxton.

The only thing with Paxton is what I like about Paxton is his velocity is he's in the mid to uppers, 90s. So that's what you need to be successful right now. We've talked about launch angle and guys swinging up with the ball and getting on playing. The hole in those swings is going to be up in the zone 95 plus. So Paxton's got that. He's got that ride on his heater. I'm glad you brought up Launch Angle because you saw that video I shared

to Twitter. The difference between Point of contact. Point of contact. The difference between hitting a line drive and hitting a homer is literally just hitting out in front a little bit more. Correct.

If anybody hasn't seen that, check out my Twitter. There's a few more things to go into it, but that's for another podcast. Sure, sure. So for the Cubs, I think they have enough. I think they have enough as it is. I think they need an outfield or they lost Swarber or they're probably going to lose Swarber.

sure um i think maybe like a reddick because his market value is like 3.5 that's very doable and i think he's a low average though right yeah but he's gonna play decent he's gonna play decent defense i think maybe a fifth starter you know the sentimental pick there would be john lester but they're they're already paying them 10 million dollars to beat it just get out of here yeah he's not we're not picking up his option so he's probably not going to go back there because that'd be weird like hey, we're going to pay you, what, $5 million? On top of the 10, we gave you to not resign with us for $25 million. Like bringing your ex back, like moving.

Yeah, yeah, it's just like, we love you, but it's time to move on. Yeah. So I have jolly old St. Chris, not my best Christmas fund, because I just think you need a healthy and happy Chris Bryant. I think they have enough talent as is. I think they're slowly turning into the New York Mets. the way I don't think it's a culture thing

I think it's more so their players aren't playing up to their potential type of thing I agree I will say to that point David Ross old teammate of mine he will get the most out of his players

so I do think they pick it up I think they play better baseball and I do I think you know honestly another it just came to mind I think they could add a guy like cheaper on the cheaper side Archie Bradley yeah I like that

Because they were relying on... You got Kimbril. Yeah. You know, but he hasn't been as consistent. Just adding a late inning guy. I think people forget about the impact Brandon Maro would have had, had he been healthy. I played with Brandon as well. Nasty, elite stuff just can't keep his arm in one piece.

It's been that way his whole career. We got time for one more before we get to our interview here. We got one more. Let me get one more. Let me shake it up. Shake it up. Shake it up. Shake it.

Taylor Swift released her new album, don't know if you saw that. I did not. Sorry. We are like really good timing, by the way, because I just mentioned the Mets. How about the Mets? The Mets.

They weren't you just talking bad about the Mets? I was talking bad about the Cubs. I was saying the Cubs are turning into the Mets. A lot. A lot of people, a lot of networks are screaming. Mets want Bauer. Everybody wants Bauer.

Everybody wants. wants power. But the Mets don't need them, I don't think. Jacob de Grom, ever heard of them? Thor, who we got, Stroman, Mats, David Peterson, who was there last year and he was six and two with a three, four in ten games, lefty. Seth Lugo. I like Seth Lugo in the bullpen. That's fair. Because he's a Swiss Army knife. He can start and give you a seven. He can, if your starter is awful and gets crushed in two innings, he comes in and gives you five. He can close. He can set up. He can do anything you want. He can probably play shortstop at this point. He can do anything. I like him in the bullpen because that's an option that every team wishes they had. It's reliable. All right. So I think David Peterson, who showed us something as a South Paul last year, I think he can fit into that four or five slot mats at the end of that as well. So you get two lefties in a row. I like that. So with that said, they don't need Bauer. I think they need George Springer.

I think Brandon Nemo, great guy. Love the sprint the first base after you walk, but just kidding. I hate it. That's so college. But he was arguably one of the worst defensive center filters in the game. His on-base percentage, that clip, 404, 390 career. Yeah, you like these stats, don't you? You thought I couldn't do it because I'm just a dumb baseball player.

I got stats, bud. I never said you're a dead easy. George Springer, where were we at? George Springer was what, 360 career? on base okay you're not you're not going to get on base as much

I get it you're not going to steal the bags like Nemo but you're going to fill that void defensively and you're going to hit big time homers and big spots and you're going to bring a winning mentality over which that team needs to get through the second half of the season

I think he's going to be a good ad George Springer New York Mets get it done I'm a fan of sprinting the first by the way I think Nimmo sprinting the first is kind of cool So it's because you're a career college pitcher. Yeah, like pitchers like, yeah. You get drilled in the neck with 97.

You get up off the ground, knock the dirt off, and sprint, dive head first into first, blow your UCL out in your thumb. Yeah, that sounds great. Okay, that got really dark. Like your grim background with no holiday spirit just like came flooding out of you right there. So, sorry. This is a good one. I have a really good, this is my best Christmas pun in my opinion.

I'm really glad we got the mess. How about the trans? Siberian Lindorcas Treff. Francisco Lindor my friend. Ahmed Rosario has not shown the ability to play shortstop. He's an average to below average hitter

so far. He's gotten his opportunity in the big leagues. He has yet to really, I think he's a very average shortstop in Major League Baseball. I think he is potentially a trade piece.

But he has a negative 1.8 defense of war in his two plus seasons in the big leagues. That's not enough. And if you're the New York Mets and you're Steve Cohen, who just took over the team, they're looking to compete right now. You're not looking to

create a prospect. You're not looking to tweak Ahmed Rosario to where maybe he becomes a big league player. You want to win right now. They have the money to win right now. Do they have enough to trade to get Lindor? I've seen some other things out there. There's a few prospects involved and obviously they traded away, of course, their best one to sell. I know when they have the extra $24 million this year from Canoe getting banged on the PED. So they have some money to play with this year because Lindor has got what? One year left? He has one year left.

Yes. But I think he's a guy that would song long term with a big city like New York. You know what's crazy is this is this kind of stuck out to me. I was looking at the Mets. Obviously they finished fourth in the NLE's last year. They've been since their inception in 1962. They've been around for 59 seasons, pretty long time. Yeah.

They've made the playoffs nine times. They've missed the playoffs 50 out of the 59 years. That's surprised me. I knew the Mets were the Mets. But they have a World Series under their belt. So I was like, oh, they're mildly successful. They've only made the playoffs nine times. What do we say about the Mets?

The Mets. I hate that you do that. Stop it. They do it. They find a way to lose. All right, fair enough. Well, I really like, with that said, I love Cohen. I think he's really good on social media too

with getting fans involved which is great right now for baseball in general not just there's so many fans from every other team watching what he's doing on Twitter so that's been that's been fun to watch and I like this Mets team a lot yeah I like them a lot with Thor healthy

Stroman but I think Stroman has a good year I really I like this team I do Siberian Lendorkeestra make it stop I'm glad this is over. We got plenty more on tap, well, Middlebrook, don't you worry.

We got Rachel Lubba coming up next on the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast. We back with Rachel Lubba, founder and owner of Lubas Sports, the youngest certified female agent in all of baseball. She is paving an entire new road for females in sports. I mean, she's on an island of her own.

She's been incredible. 2020 has been, frankly, an absolute show. But it's been pretty welcoming and pretty good for a girl like Rachel Lubah. Thanks so much for joining us, Rach. Yeah, thanks for having me, guys. Appreciate it. I mean, we can start it off right now

and just because let's address the elephant in the room. And it's not Trevor Bauer. We'll get there. The elephant in the room is you losing in the second round of the 2020 best baseball Twitter poll that happened this last week. That was, of course, set up by myself. And not to mention my co-pilot here, Willa Middlebrooks.

Don't get in the first round. See you, smell you. That's a bad. No, no, no, that's a bad co-host. You put me up against the entire country of Great Britain. Both of you guys, both of you guys were so unappreciative. And secondly, both messaged me and said, why did you put me up against this person? Well, hold on.

Let me just, let me just say. So when I first saw that there was a bracket and I was a part of it, I was honored. I was like, wow, this is so cool. I didn't even know there was like, this was a thing. And Jess Kleinschman was telling me she was like, yeah, like, this is an annual, annual thing. So I just like started using Twitter a year ago. So I was like, I'd never heard of this thing. This is really cool in one year to be able to like make it on the bracket. So Jess was super bitter because you put her up against Cespita's family barbecue in the first round too. She was like,

how was that even fair? So my thought and I told her, I was like, honestly, they should have put me up against him. The first round, knock me out the first round. Because to be honest, when I first got on, I was like just honored that I made the bracket. But you let me get through the first round and then like the competitive, then the competitive Rachel comes out. I'm like, oh, well, I went the first round. Like, now I'm going to win the whole thing. Like, that's how I feel.

And then you put me up against John Boy, the second round. Like that was bullshit. You're going to just knock me out the first round. Let me be honored. I made the bracket. And then give me like, you know, a fighting chance next year. I'll think it's any wonder how she's gotten to the point where she is because she's obviously a tad competitive when it comes to just a touch just a touch little bit

but really better about the john boy thing so look i'm gonna leave it at this there were mistakes made when i made this poll there's no doubt about it i should have done better research however you take your and you have a merry christmas and happy holiday well can i just say first of all it's smart on your end and i was telling bower this i was like this is brilliant like you're how much did you're following grow just from doing the bracket. That's a good question. Yeah, so I started it last year. And at that time, I had about 1,000 followers.

After that, I had about 3,000. And then I've basically grown that account. I'm at 12.2 now. So basically, this is all just for you. It's for me. It's not for anybody else. I just wanted you to say it for everyone to hear. Yeah.

Yeah, I'm letting a cat out of the bag there. I've grown like by 2,000 followers in the last week. Yeah, that's, I think. So I actually, I'm pretty sure. somewhere in my phone. I screenshot your followers. I was like, I want to see how many followers. He grows just by this damn bracket. I think I lost some. I lost. First round. People were like, wow, he made the bracket and then just got crushed. I want to put this out of yes, it's great for my brand. At the same time, I think it's really cool because I get to learn about

different people. I get the best feedback you get is why didn't you include blank? Why didn't you include more blank. And then I go and look at their profiles and I'll say, damn, I should have included them. That's my fault. Can I ask, like, I don't know how much you can answer this, but how do you honestly do it? Like, my guess is I made the bracket because I was going to be on a podcast. I didn't know you were the co-host, but that was my thought. I was like, oh, yeah, it would be really awkward if they just like left me off of that. And then I was going to be on a podcast like a few days later. It's very, very vague and great. For me, it's all about the. test. For me, it's like what I see on a day-to-day basis across this last year. And again,

it's very gray. There's not really any perfect system to it. And again, mistakes were made. There was one specific individuals that probably shouldn't have made it. I'll admit. And then there was probably a handful more that should have made it. So who was the guy I went up against the first round? Got pulled up. I forget. You lost so early. I don't even remember. Hey, I didn't lose the first round like some of us. You notice I'm just staying out of this. I'm sitting in the background is letting you guys chat. You got the creator

and then someone who got out of the first round. Well, I already know you and Jess started talking smack on corked up podcast the other day. So the night before, I texted her super late at night and I was like,

I cannot lose to John Boy, so I need you to retweet that. And she was like, of course. And then retweets like the most half-assed, you know, like attempt at promoting like my poll

to vote for me. And then after I realized, I was like, oh, I forgot she's really bitter about losing. So I was like, that was not like the nicest thing for me to ask her to promote it. But yeah, she's more bitter than me. You lost to Ben Porter. Yeah, who is he? He is really, I don't know what he's all about, to be honest. I just know he went viral a couple times with a couple different Astros jokes early on in the year.

And then he is really good at finding kind of stuff in the weeds, some evergreen type stuff. All right. Well, I'm glad we could get that out of the way and now actually get to the... We addressed the elephant in the room. Yeah, we did. So obviously, let's talk about two people that you represent that are free agents in Bauer and Pueig. They're two super, super interesting human beings, just to put it that way. I mean, this is a super broad question to start it, but like, how just interesting is your everyday text message, phone calls with those guys? Pretty interesting. Keeps me on my toes. You know, I always say this, but like I go into, I try to have a game plan, okay, like, what do I got to do tomorrow? And then it's always just,

I'm always thrown a curveball by one of them. And so my day gets derailed, but in a good way, usually. Literally by Bauer, I've seen him throwing BP. When he broke, he broke his camera, was that? So I felt really bad. at first, I was like, oh my God, like, that sucks. I mean, he threw it and just the camera flew everywhere. And I bummed that my vlog camera didn't get, for where I set it up, I didn't even think of like getting his camera that was sitting on a suitcase in the middle between the mound and me. And I didn't even think of like getting that in, in the frame. So I missed like how it actually hit the camera. But then, and so I felt really bad. And I was like,

laughing, but I'm like, this is not that funny. He just, like, destroyed his, potentially, like, destroyed his camera. And then, you know, like a minute later, as he's walking, trying to pick up the pieces of his camera tells me, he was like, oh, yeah, I was trying to throw, like, a slider in and scare you. And I was like, okay, I don't even feel bad anymore. I was like, you deserve that. I mean, you deserve your entire camera to be just shattered to pieces.

Luckily, it was only, like, the mic. You can't be thrown front door breaking balls. So, yeah. So I'm going to record. That's just, that's messed up. Yeah, especially in the off season. That would have scared me. Yeah, thank you. I never hit a breaking ball anyways, but that's for another story. I'm not going to back you into a corner or anything, but we have to ask.

We have to do our jobs here. We work for CBS, of course. We need to ask the question. You're probably not going to break the news to us of where Trevor is going to sign, where YAS is going to sign. What can you tell us? What can you update us with, with, let's start with Bauer's. or what's his free agency been like? Are there any specific teams that he's talking to? What's he leaning towards right now? You know, the free agency process with him has been, it's been fun. It's been interesting.

He's really embraced it and taken it just kind of to a different level. I think I always ask him this. I'm like, do you think you're the media's best friend or like least favorite person during this? Because he is so vocal about a lot of stuff and very engaging. but at the same time, he's not letting them, you know, leak stories and things like that. So I think it's a mixed bag there, but it's been fun. He's enjoying, you know, getting fan bases engaged and just keeping people in general in the offseason engaged in baseball, which I think is a hard thing.

He's helping grow the game, which has been super vocal that an issue is with marketing baseball. So he's doing a good job of marketing baseball and getting fans involved, especially during a time of year where nobody's really talking about baseball. And there's no winter meetings. Right. So, yes, exactly. So,

I mean, last year, everyone was talking about baseball. That was because you had the Astro scandal. But aside from that, I mean, who cares about baseball in the offseason? Really nobody.

It's a slow moving process, usually with free agency. It's, you know, it's like watching paint dry. So he's trying to make this, you know, fun and keep fans engaged. So it's been really cool to kind of watch, watch that from behind the scenes. Are we getting closer? I mean, I would say, yes,

every day we are getting closer. That's generally how that works. So the whole, like the premise of like this pod, like this segment that we're doing today is called, is about a wish list for teams. So I think my question is, does, does Trevor have like a wish list, not as far as a certain team, but certain aspects and details he's looking for like a certain city or a certain kind of team? Like, does he want to go to a team that's already stacked and ready to win? Or is it like, I want to help build a team? Like, I don't know. Obviously, there's, I get it.

There's only so much you can tell us when it comes to this. But like, I'm just curious to like in his heart of hearts, like what he really wants to get out of the team he's I mean, I think one of the most important things, there's like two big things. He wants to be happy where he is and he wants to win. Those are big things for him. You know, I think as he's gotten older too, he's realized the importance of being happy where he is. So, you know, he's, look, he's a, he's a different cat. Like the things that are, the things that are important to him, the decisions he'll make ultimately. I think I'm sure there's going to be plenty of people that are critical of them, but at the end of the day, he's got a plan. He's a pretty smart dude.

Calculators for sure. Yeah. So he, I mean, he understands what's happening. And he understands the benefits, risks of everything. And ultimately, he'll make his decision. And I'm sure there'll be plenty of people offering their, you know, criticism and whatnot of it. But part of being in this spotlight, right? You can't make everybody happy. So focus on yourself, especially in free agency. Right. Let me ask you one more.

That we could get on a little bit more fun stuff, your background, how you guys met. I think people really want to hear that. When you're talking about a guy like Trevor and a guy like Yassiel, if I'm a team, why do I want to sign a guy that's so vocal? Because I think the game. of baseball is changing. If you want, and I think teams are seeing this. I mean, I talk about this a lot too, but think about a year ago in 2019 in the postseason, you have Bregman, carry his bat to first base, and he apologizes for it after the game, right? That was the state of baseball then.

You do something like that in the heat of the moment, and you apologize after, and you get on camera. Fast forward just a year. And think about all the controversies. all the, you know, just personality that we saw on the field. The game is changing. And this is the direction it's going in. And, you know, while there were, it's, I wouldn't say it's just one player who's been, you know, the start of all of this. I mean, if you look at Bauer and Yossiel together, they've been big personalities on the field and promoting the idea of like, this is what makes baseball exciting, right? I mean, just look at, look at how people talked about baseball and social media in this past year, too. That is what is exciting. And at the end of the day, I mean,

their personalities aside, I mean, they both, I mean, Bauer shoves on the mound, Yassiel breaks, like, why would you not want to bring them onto your team? Well, before you take over, I got one more follow up. Has there been any teams that have been, discouraged because of how boisterous they are? No. I think, you know, we're,

Yossiel's, momentum's working on, you know, helping people see the real side of Yossiel because I do think he was very misunderstood and, you know, he didn't play this last season. So he,

you know, his last season in the league was when, you know, the year before and having that kind of personality wasn't necessarily embraced by everybody. And so I think, you know, if he were, if he played last year, I think he would have seen a very different reaction in general. But I think as, you know, people just need to kind of understand, okay, like this is, that's how Yossiel plays. And Yossiel's loved.

I mean, by fans, what he brings to baseball. I think baseball is better with Yossiel in it. But ultimately, I think most, yeah, most teams are looking at Yossiel and they are, you know, the on-field performance speaks. for itself. Yeah, he's a, he's a freak athlete too. It's it's offensively, defensively, and then just brings excitement, you know, to, to a fan base. So who knows if we're going to have fans in the stands. We don't know what's in store for that next year. So I think going back to marketing in the game, we need exciting players like that. We need young, exciting, um, just guys like Pueeague. I mean, that's what we need. And we're, where we're losing a lot of fans is,

the younger generation. No doubt. Like the older generation that grew up listened to games on the radio and going to games with their with their dads. Like that that's those are the guys that are lifers and they're always going to be there regardless if they like the bat flips and the flare and all that. But the newer generation is so they can't I mean it's ADD all the time like their attention span is so short a three three hour baseball game is not on their list to do. So bringing some excitement is what is what we need for the younger generation. I agree. And I think especially in a time where we don't know like you were saying if there's going to be fans in the stands, I mean, so then how do you engage people on their phones? You know, how do you engage them?

Well, you bring exciting players who are going to have ridiculous, you know, highlights you can make of them, who are going to do think little antics on the field that, you know, will go viral. That's how you bring excitement to the game. And so that's why that's the value that these players bring. People get too stuck in the old way of thinking of baseball, but just being a sport, because now it's much more to sport. It's a business. It's entertainment. It's not just the sport like it used to be. There's so much more to baseball. And it's a show. It's a show. It's about talent and being the best in the world at what you do, but you've got to put on a show or no fans are going to be there. I totally agree. And that's why you see the NBA is having so much success. I mean,

why UFC took off the way it did, they're utilizing the entertainment value. Exactly. And a new generation and agency business too. You're the first, the only female with their own agency. Why you? What have you done differently than all the females before? Because we all, I don't personally know because I am not a female in the sports business. But I can say from a secondhand perspective, you're an uncharted territory.

I mean, you have climbed mountains. you have done the impossible as far as where I'm sitting. Why are you, why are you different than all those that came before you? Yeah, I mean, look, I think I got to give credit to all those that did come before me and, you know, the path that they did pave. But at the end of the day, I think I looked at it and saw just kind of the few women that really were in the sport in general. and, you know, I realize, like, even though they're there, they're in such a kind of behind the

scenes, you know, keep your head down, don't really, you know, we'll let you into this industry, but don't make a big splash, don't make a big noise, you know, kind of blend in with the guys. And the way I see it, like, the only way, maybe I could, maybe I would have been able to be, successful and, you know, just in a very under the radar, you know, kind of way. But there was, again, like there was a huge risk to doing what I'm doing, but there was a lot of upside too. And so, I mean, naturally, I tend to be a risk taker. And I viewed this as if I, you know, make myself very out there. Number one, I don't need to, the whole talk of like, you know, you, you're not going to fit into this boys club and you know you got to be buddy buddy with the media and all of that well

okay how do you solve that luckily i'm doing it in an era where we have social media so if i can't be one of the boys with the media and i won't be able to you know utilize the the power that they have to you know help sway things etc why don't i just build my own platform myself on social media and sure like no one really does that and people are insane critical of it. People don't like it. I get people will tell me that, you know, certain people in the industry will see me and just, I mean, they hate me. They hate what I'm doing. They think like I'm, you know, really dumb or just whatever it is. But at the end, but yeah, but at the end of the day, I mean, in a year, I've become the most, you know, followed agent, you know, baseball agent on

social media across all platforms. Like that sounds like a very trivial who cares thing, but it's powerful. I can put messages out there and, you know, like the front office is listening. I can, you know, I don't need to fit into this boys club. But I also look at it as like, okay, now younger girls when they look up and they think of, you know, what they want to do and if they're passionate about baseball, what opportunities are there in baseball. I was actually just talking to Jessica Mendoza about this.

And she was like, you know, people always tell me, oh, you can be a, or like, I want to be a broadcaster. And she's like, she's like, the more I thought about it, I realized, like, I think they just think it's the only thing that women could really do if they want to work in baseball because that's where they see all the women. And it was the same for me when I was, you know, wanting to break in. Everyone tried to kind of pigeonhole me. They're like, okay, well, if you want to work on this side of the industry, then Marry. marketing's great for you. And this is, you know, no, no hate on on marketing agents, but I was just like, well, why do I have to do that? Why can't I do the on-field contracts too? It didn't make sense. And so I think being out there, putting myself out there, allows me to have a platform to, you know,

show younger girls who want to work in baseball, here's another possible job for you. Like, you could be an agent. And, you know, I also try to just be transparent. and in general. I, you know, I try to explain things in the industry. I know a lot of times people don't ask. People kind of understand things but aren't 100% sure what certain things in the industry are. And that goes for guys, girls, you know, agents who have been in the industry for a really long time. Most of them don't understand a lot of it and the business behind it. I got to learn a lot of it while working at the union. That was super beneficial. But I think just being, you know, transparent, teaching people things, you know, trying to shed some light on this industry,

ultimately, you know, goes a long way in terms of gaining trust too for players, right? It's not some secret idea of like, what is my agent actually doing? Like, I mean, I vlog it. I'm telling you. You know, I think that's kind of, it was, all of this kind of came from, you know, being transparent to talking with players who didn't really understand, even though they had an agent, like, what's the region actually doing when they're not negotiating a contract? So, you know, I think just building a platform this way is ultimately, you know, going to help me be more hated, but hopefully more successful.

Well, you're definitely being successful and you're probably told this a lot, but you should be super, super proud of what you're doing. And we talked about this a little bit. And I have two little girls. I have a wife in the sports industry. So I see what you're doing through. different lens and from a different perspective now than I ever did before. So good for you and keep going. And we're just, we're super proud and sitting back watching what you're doing. This is really cool. Well, I appreciate that. And it's always nice to, nice to hear because it does oftentimes sound like, you know, the loudest people in the room are usually the haters. So it is good. I do get lots of messages and from, you know, younger girls, you know, fathers who have daughters,

who will, you know, tell me just thank you for making me, I think also making me feel like, you know, either myself or my daughters, you know, can be whoever they are and like still work in sports that they want, right? You know, I know I get a lot of criticism too just for being very, you know, feminine or whatever it is. I'm not, I don't play down my gender at all. And that was a conscious decision. And I think that was, you know, because I want, I want any type of girl, guy, whoever, to be able to feel like they don't have to fit some mold to work in baseball. And that's ultimately, like, the goal. Not that they all need to be feminine or they all need to be, you know, like just total bros, but you can be whoever you want. Just be yourself. No.

and know your stuff and you can be successful. That's ultimately all that matters. It's just know your stuff and do a good job. And then who you are as a person aside from that, you know, just in terms of like your appearance, all of that, it should matter. That's a good point. If you're getting the job done,

you're getting the job done. If you're not, you're not, that's it. And you and Kim Aang, a new general manager for the Marlins, you two are so overqualified. And there's, and you talked about the haters. There's so many people that are like,

oh, she got the job because she's a woman. She got the job, which is total bullshit. She should have had this job years ago. She started working in baseball before I was born. Yes. And her qualification. So people do the same thing with me, though. Someone told me once they were like, the law school that it doesn't make sense how she

has the caliber of players that she does as clients to begin with because of the law school she went to. It's not that good. And I was like, okay, first of all, you do know that the quality. to be an agent, by the way, I would say more than half barely just satisfied the basic requirement. And that's graduate high school. That's the basic requirement. I went to law school. Do you think you need to go to law school? No. Do you think like more than half of the agents are lawyers? No. So but you're going to sit here and judge the ranking of my law school. So I also like

retweeted to him. My law school ranking was, I think it's 47 in the nation, which like whatever. And then I retweeted and then I put, I think it's like McGeorge School of Law or something, which is, I put in parentheses, Boris's Law School. And it's ranked 148 in the nation. So you're going to sit here and judge like now like, you know, the ranking of my law school and whether I'm actually qualified or not. But everything, that's how everything for me is. So add to that, because you went to, it was Pepperdine. I got, I applied to Pepper. or down at high school. I got rejected and I was number two in my class. So just to give you an idea of how studious and how much Rachel knows her that should give you some education.

For sure. Well, I appreciate that. I pitched my law school based on I said, which ones compete in the Tulane salary arbitration competition? I literally, I wrote my personal statements about I'm going to be an agent. I literally like there's one competition in law school. that is it's a salary arbitration competition Tulane Law School puts it on. It's the only thing related directly to baseball. And I was like, I'm going to go to a law school that competes in that. And UCLA actually, where that's where I went to undergrad, they didn't like that. I also wanted, I mean, I applied there, but ultimately I was like, yeah, I can't, can't go there.

Like, they don't do the baseball competition. And so, I mean, look, I knew everything I've done up to this point was, trying to get myself to hear. But everyone, yeah, is always critical of how qualified I am, et cetera. Maybe one day, that'll be less of a thing. And to clear this up for everybody listening, not all agents are lawyers and not all lawyers are agents. So a lot of agencies have agents, like you said, only have to have high school education and then pass your agents. style of it, but most big agencies hire lawyers. Right.

Separately. Separately. So you're able to do both, which is amazing. Yeah, it's helpful. I mean, I don't generally take, you know, I'm not going to go. If a player has to go to trial for something, you know, obviously outsource that. But I'm a licensed lawyer and, you know, can do both. So hopefully that's, you know, a qualitative.

application enough for everyone. That's for sure. Again, I'm not a woman in a sports business. Just know, I know I speak for Will and myself. You've inspired both of us to reach for things beyond measure that you think is not beyond measure. So thank you for all you're doing, not just for women, but for sports in general, because we're growing in a lot of that reasons because of people like yourself.

Well, I appreciate it. And, you know, look, at the end of the day, like, I think most women in sports, look around and say, you know, like, thank you to a lot of these men in the industry who, you know, trusted us and realized and let us in because ultimately, you know, like you guys kind of were the gatekeepers. And so guys who have supported us, I know, I mean, it means a lot. I know my biggest, I mean, my biggest supporters have been players themselves. And it's really nice to have like, you know, allies and we know how much, you know, a lot of guys, I mean, I've done to help me get to where I am. So, really cool. Rachel Lubba, representative, she is, she has clients, Trevor Bauer, Yassiel Pug,

among other. She is taken the world by storm. Forbes 30 under 30 list just a couple weeks ago. She's on top of the world and she's joining us. She has joined us here on the Fantasy Baseball Day podcast. Thanks so much for joining us, Rach. Rachel Lubba, man, what she's doing for Baseball is, like I mentioned before, it's uncharted territory. And it's super inspiring for everyone involved. And someone like yourself, you mentioned you have two daughters, your wife obviously works in the sports media industry. It's incredible what she's doing.

And, you know, we talked about Trevor Bauer, of course. And she gave us a relatively good update with what's going on with. She said he is getting closer. She said it's saying he's getting closer. But let me ask you this. He's getting obviously interest from New York to Los Angeles. and everywhere in between. He can fit on 30 teams.

Let me ask you, you've been through the free agency process. You've been, you've had contracts on your table and you've had to choose which one is best for you and your family. How much does location play a part of that? Because you grew up in Texas. You were a big time Texas A&M fan, and you ended up getting drafted by Boston, of course. But then you had other offices.

You ended up going to San Diego. How much does location play a part in your free agency process, at least for you? Well, my free agent process was nothing like. Trevor Bauer. I was more, you know, I'm looking at depth charts and I'm saying, where's my best opportunity to spend the least amount of time in AAA

and the most time in the show? All right. So it was a little different for me, a lot different. Let's be honest. But with that being said, like, I like playing on the East Coast in the big leagues. Primetime games, big games, big rivalries. West Coast, I loved living out there.

I played in San Diego. Like you said, I loved living out there. I lived in Point Loma. There's beaches everywhere, beautiful weather. Best city in America if you ask. High taxes, if you're into that. You pay for the weather. That's fine.

I love it. But I mean, as far as like playing big games, primetime games, 7.05, you know, on the big lights on Sunday night, you're not getting that on the West Coast. If you're, you know, it starts at 10 on the east. So it's a little different. You don't have many people watching you. If you do want to play in that 7 o'clock,

primetime East Coast. game, you're going to start about 5 o'clock. And you're going to have shadows until about the fifth or six inning. And everybody in the United States gets to watch you swing and miss a slider by seven feet because you can't see the spin. So I'm going to East Coast. Bias to that because I spent time, a lot of time in Boston. Boston.

I think that's how they say that. So that plays a part in your decision process, though, that like this is a fact. Which, I mean, which part? The location. Okay, let me ask you this. Which is more important? A little bit more money or a little bit better location? For me or for Bauer?

Well, for you. Listen, for me, money. For Bauer, location. What's the difference between 27? Just like Rachel just told us, like he's finding out how much more it is, like, important it is to him to just be happy where he's at. So if he takes a little less money and he's happy living, in a certain place, like, like, let's say he signs a one-year deal.

What's the difference in 18 million and 21 million? He'll get more than that, probably, but I'm just throwing a number out there. Like, you're talking millions of dollars. Just go be happy. Unless it's in California, then I want to sign for more because of the taxes. But for him, location, for me, for someone that isn't making as much money, you want to get as much money as possible. Okay.

Before I let you go, did you do your Christmas shopping for your daughter? yet. That's been done, bud. We get hand-me-downs from the neighbors. Our neighbors are a little old kids are a little older than us. We don't buy a thing. We don't buy a thing. We wash it down, chlorox wipe it, wrap it up. Merry Christmas. Hey, Chiefske. You're like, have you ever seen bad moms too? No, no. I watch good movies. That is a good movie. And she gifts her son the same baseball club every single year. She just rewraps it and the kids kind of ditsy. She just rewraps and he's like, oh, new baseball glove mom new baseball club oh he's getting his glove out and that means it's it's time to go a special

thanks to rachel luba for joining in both will middle books and myself on the podcast we'll see you after the holiday merry christmas happy holidays everybody out there we'll see you next week next wednesday see you guys good christmas