High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Our Perfect Offseason and the Archie Bradley Emergency Pod

Episode Date: January 15, 2021

James Seltzer and Jack Fritz give their perfect offseason for the Phillies, breaking down exactly what they'd like to see Dombrowski do to build the team. The guys also react to the Archie Bradley signing, discuss the other moves the Phillies have made since their last pod, and much more. 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

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Hot Cloud Storage on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. This is the high hopes podcast. It's a bunch of baseball nerds talking about the Phillies on radio.com and sports radio, 94 W Y P. Another edition of the High Hopes Podcast. It is our perfect off-season edition, the edition that we look forward to the most. And Jack, Dave Dombrowski scooped me. He couldn't wait an hour, an hour and a half to sign Archie Bradley so that I had my perfect off-season out there. And I said, sign Archie Bradley. And then everyone's like, oh, wow, they looked, they signed

your guy. Thanks, Dave. Well, I think what it does confirm is that you and Dave Dombrowski are friends. Did you leak your perfect offseason to Dave this afternoon? Yeah, I did. Dave's just going point by point. So get ready. And I'm sure he's upset with us that we did not record this earlier so we can give him a nice little blueprint. I mean, I know because, I mean, for the last, what, year and a half? He's been on the Nashville thing,

so he hasn't really been paying attention to the sport. He was probably waiting. He's probably been waiting with bated breath for this podcast, and honestly, we were late to it. It's our fault. To be fair, we wanted to do it last week and then you know the world exploded and then you know the week before something else happened doug peterson got fired like yeah and i don't get to break with this and i don't want to say that um you know i don't want to i don't want to go too inside inside our our podcast here but we knew. I mean, here's in our defense.

This is where we'll go in our defense. If Doug Peterson did not get fired on Monday, then we would have had the perfect offseason for Dave to write down in his notes by then. So, if so facto, Archie Bradley is in official high hopes position of a signing. Yeah, I think so, too. I mean, this was done prior. We were recording. We were really recording last week,

and then we were definitely 100% recording Monday night to the point where inside baseball, one of my favorite things that Jack does is he'll tweet out that the pot is coming out that night as a way to lock us in, as a way to be like, all right, no messing around. I don't care what you say like this is happening tonight it's a little move that i appreciate i like it it's good but even then on third on monday jack tweeted out perfect off season coming tonight

and then doug peterson got fired so it's not our fault blame the eagles blame jeffrey laurie yeah this is 100 laurie's fault um and yeah him yeah, him firing Doug Peterson put the brakes on an Archie Bradley signing. We had to wait until Thursday. But, James, like we always said, good things happen on Thursdays. Always. Always. And let's be real. Like, how many times have we said on this podcast,

I was going to say it again today and now I don't need to luckily, but how many times have we talked about getting Archie Bradley here? I mean, 15, 20 times, at least his name has come up on this podcast. I'm going to go get, we even went to the extent of saying the extent of,

we just recorded, we just got done recording the Archie Bradley's never coming here. Podcast. Same, same level as Bryce. And recording the Archie Bradley's Never Coming Here podcast. So same level as Bryce. And, yeah, Archie Bradley's here. I would say he's been – you're right. He's been one of our guys. We've been saying, hey, he's a dude.

And guess what? Big old Dave brought him here because Dave recognizes talent. Hey, you know what he's doing? You know what he's doing, James? He's living up to what he said in his press conference about wanting power arms. He wants power arms, and he brought us a power arm today. I am

so fired up. I know it's a one-year deal, and I get it, but dude, if I told you I've loved Archie Bradley since he got drafted, would I be a lying man? No. In fact, I would be shocked if you did not know Archie Bradley

when he got drafted. Oh, dude. He was the classic big high school righty from Texas that was going to be the next Josh Beckett. Was a bit of a bust. I think I definitely – As a starter yeah yeah i i definitely owned him as a uh as in fantasy as a starter and a guy that i traded for and believed in starter i was very excited about my archie bradley shares also also low-key rakes i mean the guy can hit so if they i'm sure i'll get a ton of it bad well with the possible

new dh rule you never know yeah it's a good point it is and look you know my my line he's a human being he's a human being he is a human being yes we know your line yeah no you're right that's a separate line about separate things but first of all this is a great deal no matter what but even if it weren't there's no such thing as a bad one-year deal like you can never go wrong with a one-year deal archie bradley for one year six million is it's a steal like i i'm so excited about this move talking about an actual guy like we got a guy jack we got a dude in our bullpen he's only 28 too for some reason i feel like he's 35 by this point he's only 28 i'm so excited about it it's it's sad that that i know and we'll get into it it's sad that you know mets fans get

to be excited about trading for francisco lindor and we get to be excited about signing archie bradley but damn it i'm excited about signing archie bradley well and let me be the first to say this archie bradley francisco l Lindor stopper, you know, it's, you got, you got, you got to factor that stuff in this, in these, in these kinds of equations.

But yeah, honestly, like it's just, I'm just excited to have an actual, an actual guy back there. He, he, he had a weird,

I want to say 2019 where he kind of took a step back and kind of started off slow this year. And there's a lot of talk. I remember, around Arizona that he was going to kind of get taken out of the closers role and whatnot. But I've just always been a believer in that arm. And here's why he's here. And I'll tell you exactly why he's here. He's here because of Caleb Gotham. The Reds are shedding money.

They don't want to spend money this year. They're shopping like Moustakis and Eugenio Suarez. So he wasn't going back to the Reds. But the next best thing for Archie Bradley would be going to a guy who helped fix him in Cincinnati, and that would be Caleb Cotham. And that's just why I think he's here. I mean, dude, are you ready, James? Are you ready for this?

I was waiting. I mean, dude, all right. Are you ready, James? Are you ready for this? I was waiting. I've been ready. In seven and two-thirds innings with the Reds, he had a 1.17 ERA with a 143 opponents batting average. They clearly unlocked something there, and Caleb Cotham being here is a massive reason as to why Archie Bradley's here. And that's the kind of stuff

that gets me excited yeah um and again like just to think of that and for what it's worth i just looked it up archie bradley has never faced francisco lindor so that means he is absolutely gonna own him like we don't need the stats to know i'm happy it was he's never faced him because we know we don't need stats to tell us we We know that he's going to own Francisco Lindor. But just have a gut, like an actual, real, high-level Major League bullpen pitcher. I mean, what a ridiculous thought, Jack. What a ridiculous thought. Like a real guy, a dude in your bullpen.

Like what a thought. What a crazy thought. He allowed one earned run one earned run with the reds last year one earned run it was on a home run too so like doesn't even count home runs don't count one bad pitch one bad one bad young one pitch young one pitch um yeah it's also also like as you said like had some struggles a little bit in 2019 but really for the most part has been a dominant relievers in 2016, like dominant.

Yeah. And, and I, and I, James, I know this city does not like the harp on athletes performances in 2017. Uh, that's not what the city is known for.

As we say goodbye to Doug. And, and, and possibly the quarterback, but, um, Archie Bradley, he was,

possibly the quarterback. But Archie Bradley's 2017 was a 173 ERA feed me. A 273 ERA plus? Come to home, Archie! Archie! I love the name Archie, too. It's a great baseball name. I think we're, honestly, we're probably a little too excited about Archie Bradley. I think we're honestly probably a little too excited about Archie Bradley, but I'm here for it.

The problem is we don't have anything else to be excited about. Again, the Mets are trading for Francisco Lindor, my favorite player in the league. That's got to hurt, buddy. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Look at the chunk, man. What a likable guy, too.

It's more than anything. He's like the most likable dude in the sport. It's such a bummer. His nickname's Mr. Smile. That's his freaking nickname. And he's far and away the most talented shortstop that ever set foot in New York City. He's – what am I going to say in baseball? Yeah, sure.

Look, he's about 1,000 times the defender that Derek Jeter was. Yeah, he wasn't a about a thousand times the defender that Derek Jeter was. Yeah, yeah. He wasn't a fraud. He got more power than Derek Jeter. Facts, even though he's like half his size. You know, he's clearly better than Jeter, right? It's not even a it's not even a debate. It's really not. Now, are you rooting now? Is this going to cause you to root against uh francisco lindor i mean it has to like right he's a met man like it is what it is i hate them deep in my soul so yeah on some level it will but i can't hate francisco lindor i'm not gonna have that that you know good old-fashioned sports hate i can't do that yeah he's one guy that you could it's it's gonna

be impossible not to love him so tough at least at least he won't be here for the next 13 years or 12 years oh god yeah oh dude at least we don't have to deal with dude you know what sucks is that we gotta deal with him alonzo i might be a little bit of a fraud but we gotta deal with alonzo uh lindor freeman okuna soto trey turner like it's just dudes all over the place and it's just Alonso, Lindor, Freeman, Okuna, Soto, Trey Turner. Like, it's just dudes all over the place. And it's just, you know, I don't want to think about it. But at least we have Archie Bradley here to shut them down late innings

to pair with Jose Alvarado. All right, so let's get there. And we'll get to our perfect offseason if you even know. You know, we already have kind of done it a little bit because Archie Bradley was on my perfect offseason. And I did not forget that Archie Bradley existed and did not. I totally had him on my perfect offseason. Yeah, we'll go with that. He was on your.

We'll go with that. Yes. Did you know his name is actually Archie, too? It's like straight up Archie. Not Archibald or any of that stuff. Archie. Archie is a strong name. I like that. I think it's bad. I mean, if he was not Archibald or any of that stuff. Archie. Yeah, Archie's a strong name. I like that.

I think it's bad. I mean, if he was an Archibald, I would. Yeah. A little concerned. He was Archibald as a starter and as a relief pitcher, he's Archie. Look at you. Yeah. Are you too young for Archie?

I know they have the Riverdale thing now, but you don't remember like the Archie comics, right? Like Jughead. Literally, literally never heard of it in my life. Okay. Yes, I would say I'm too young for it. thing now but you don't remember like the archie comics right like jump head and literally literally never heard of it in my life so okay yes i would say i'm too young for it okay whenever i hear the name archie that's what i think about and i guarantee you at least some of our listeners feel the same way all right before we get to our our perfect off season let's you mentioned it uh alberato i want to talk about some of the moves there are the couple moves affiliates made prior

to bradley and then some some rumors and then we'll get into the perfect offseason but what do you think about the look that was um it's been a while since we spoke and that was kind of not kind of it was the first official move of the dave debrowski era um trading away essentially a three-team deal but trading garrett clevenger essentially for alvarado uh where do you come down on him where do you come down the move and and you're feeling on it all um so it's it's really for me it was a it was an all upside no real downside trade i mean clevenger i think could be good um you kind of hope he's as good as jose alvarado um and also jose alvarado is a year younger than him which is nuts because i is nuts. Wow, that is surprising.

He's been around for a couple of years. But my concern, obviously, is the health. I mean, I don't know how healthy he is shoulder-wise. It seems like it might be heading towards a blow-up. But you get 99 turbo sinkers to give to Caleb Gotham to work with. It's a no-brainer deal. It's a no-brainer deal it's a no-brainer deal and everyone's freaking out about like the rays giving up on them and that you don't never make

a trade with the rays well ultimately the rays uh they they're not gonna they don't want to pay the guy and they're such a factory down there anyway they don't need him right they don't need him i mean they just pump those guys out that's the i'm a little tease for the perfect offseason i was trying to go through and look at like trades for relievers because spoiler alert relievers will as rt bradley was one of them will have her will be a big part of my offseason you know kind of need to be um but like i was looking for trades and i looked at that raised bullpen it's like i want to trade for everyone in it yeah like fairbanks and anderson it's just like guy after guy after guy they're all studs right exactly and they they're so loaded that they don't even need uh jose alvarado that's the

point they don't need him they really don't like like they it's wild man yeah so so for me it's just a total win-win um if he's great great if he's not like you're paying him a million dollars and you you trade away a guy that is is older than him and not even and barely even sniff the majors at this point but on the upside side like you're getting a 99 turbo sinker with a pretty good slide piece all that stuff i mean his stuff is legitimately wiped out i mean he's striking out. He averages a 10.9 strikeouts per nine. Like, that's elite stuff in the back of the bullpen.

And you're just, they're just slowly making this thing better, and they're finally going after power arms. I mean, how long are we sitting here as, like, the Phillies are just bringing in, like, Nick Vinson, who I know is, like, whatever, out of pretty good year, but throws, like, 89 miles an hour. Can we just stop messing around with this bull and get some guys who throw Chet in here? Can we just get guys who throw Chet?

Literally, just Google Jose Alvarado pitching ninja. Oh, awesome. It's just like there's some pitches in there where you're like, he has one pitch, and it's the one where the – I can't even describe it. It's the one where it kind of just falls off the table against the lefty inside and the sicker just disappears and kind of almost hits him in the back leg and it starts out right over the plate and the guy's swinging over the plate where it's like i honestly i've never seen a pitch move like that in my life like it's it's it's

please if you do not know what was alvarado is jose alvarado pitching ninja that's all you need to put in and you'll be like okay like we got something there's something here you know how they work it out what cotton does with all that like the shoulder issue but like this is something right so yeah again it was a it was a high upside low risk move and it was a good start to the dave dombrowski era yeah i agree with you i thought it was a nice little move his next move yeah less less in on not bummed not bummed like okay so we'll stick to the baseball stuff well we as a human being this guy seems like a total date like like just the worst guy. But we'll stick to the baseball stuff. That's a separate issue.

Not a fan of the dude. Not a fan of Coonrod. I can't even remember his first name. Same. Really good. I wrote down Coonrod. I was like, oh! All right.

Trading Ragsdale for him, who uh if i'm not mistaken you once called the next dylan patantis i'm guessing you're not a huge fan no no carson in my in my in my mind carson ragsdale is the best carson in the city and yeah i'm you know what no he might he might be. I'm pretty upset about it. I think Carson Ragsdale is going to be really, really good. He was a perfect guy to give to the player development guys. I bet they could have got him up to 100 miles an hour on his fastball. It's very hard for me to separate what I saw against the Florida Gators last year

where he struck out 10 Gators in four innings. And the Gators at that point were undefeated in the best team in the country. So for him from a little South Florida to go in and do that against the Florida Gators was impressive to me. And I just think – I don't really see the upside to it. I think Coonrod has some stuff. I think he could be decent. He throws hard, which is nice.

He throws hard. Yeah. He throws very, which is nice. He throws hard. Yeah. He throws very, very hard. Right. And believe me, me and you both love power arms. Yeah. I'm not going to get mad about power arms. I'm just not.

But why did you have to trade him? I know. You could have traded Gunnar Mayer or whatever. He sucked last year. You would have thought you could have gotten this guy for less. This is the kind of guy who gets traded for a player renamed later, who ends up being nothing. You know what I mean?

It's not like you gave up a dude. It's your fourth-round pick. It feels like they gave up way more than they needed to for this specific guy. Yeah, and trading with Farhan scares me. I know I just got off talking about the Rays and how they trade know straight with them you shouldn't be that afraid because the alvarado trade but it's different in this sense um just to clarify you should be afraid of trading with the rays this was just a specific situation where the rays had way too many bullpen guys and had a surplus and thus it was trading with the rays because they're smart and they're saying all

right we have a surplus let's use this and get someone for down the road when we need another guy or whatever. But regardless, they had a surplus. It's not like you're psyched to trade with the Rays. No, definitely not. Carson Ragsdale, I just think he's the kind of arm that I want to keep around and develop and I think he's

going to develop into a good... The Giants are going to try to train him as a starter. I don't know if he's a starter um i don't i don't know if he's a starter i think he more could be an elite bullpen weapon but um yeah i i don't really see the upside to it the upside is probably that the power arm you can figure it out and um may throw a slider a little bit more his problem is like his problem is is that he throws 96 right 96 97 can get it up to 98 99 but. But then his change-up's like 89 miles an hour. So even if they're a little bit

out in front, like you saw it on the it was the Trent Grisham home run to end the Phillies season from the Padres. He threw an 89 mile an hour change-up and the guy was able to keep his barrel on it and get through and not be too fooled by it. If he can get that down to like 86, I mean you have a real 10 mile an hour difference, which is what

you want on your change-up. I don't know. He has stuff. I i get it you want to buy into the stuff i just don't like the idea of trading carson ragsdale yeah that's where i come down to like again i think it was one of the hardest stories in baseball if i'm not mistaken last year like like coonrod clearly there is something there and it's the kind of thing where i i do believe that that guy what he has put with the right pitching coach and in the right situation can be a quality major league reliever but it just feels like you could have gotten a better guy for carson ragsdale is the point you know the asset that ragsdale is you could have gotten a better guy and certainly

a better guy in both fronts yeah i'm guy off the field and on the field. So you could have done better. Coonrod had like a 90-yard rate last year. He was horrible last year. It should not have cost an asset. Yeah, it's the kind of guy you think gets waived. It shouldn't have cost an asset.

I think that's the perfect way to put it. All right, quickly before we get to the perfect dog season. No other Phillies moves, so to speak, but they've been connected to some people. Free agent-wise, Anibal Sanchez has been mentioned. I think we can both say, we don't curse on this podcast, but bleep that is my general feeling on that.

Dude, he pitched for hard pass. He pitched for Dom browski in like like 2010 he's back with those like verlander and and scherzer was like oh and annabelle he's the other guys i know he used to be he used to be nasty no hitter i mean he was a great pitcher i always felt like ryan howard owned him when he's on the marlins i always felt like if it weren't for injuries annabelle sanchez would have been a multiple-time All-Star. He was a really good player who had some injuries and it kind of didn't work out, but he's 37.

What are we doing here? I'm pretty sure he... I don't know if he can even hit 90 anymore, but... I sure can! It is funny. It is funny because I think the last... My last memory of... Well, last real memory outside of him like throwing a shutout against the phillies last year which was infuriating but

uh remember he had like a no hitter into like the seventh and like the nlcs in 2019 like just so and he did he did throw a no hitter with the marlins i don't know he's come close a few times he's one of those guys who's like you know decent average bad depending on the year but always seems to have days where he has no hit stuff yeah like moyer like late like late career moyer well like like arietta is a kind of example like we're not at the very end but like i don't know that pittsburgh start we've talked about so many times that pittsburgh start in his first year it was, oh, he could throw a no-hitter today. His stuff is that nasty, and then you never see it again.

No. But it seemed like Sanchez had that kind of thing. I did not see much no-hit stuff from Jakey. No, not the – just that first year. And I was talking about more like in Chicago and private. Before he got really good, you could still see the flashes and all that. My favorite era of... Not my favorite era of Phillies baseball,

but I love the random start where Moyer would flirt with a no-hitter for six innings, and he'd be throwing 82 miles an hour. It was awesome. I miss those days. Me too. Sure, he'll take down a thousand innings and he won't get hurt.

It's just like, what the f*** is the point excuse me you've got your editing i can't help the curses i can't fly back what is the point of it like it's just it's such a waste like all right so like and we're going to a perfect off season where we kind of lay this out more but like is annabelle sanchez in your perfect off season no and that's the point i think we feel very good about Nola, Wheeler, Eflin, Howard. Those guys are in my rotation for 2021. And obviously Velasquez is back and whatever you want to do. But I think we both, and I'm sure we were both in our perfect dog season, add a fist starter.

Add a guy who we think is that perfect guy to kind of fit in there and be a three or four however we decide to check it out. Anibal Sanchez is not that guy out yeah animal sanchez is not that guy paul sanchez is not that guy yeah no he's not that guy he's he's definitively he reminds me it reminds me a lot of like when they they signed aaron harangue remember that sure of course i do awful just an awful period of philly's. Just horrible. Definitively no interest in it. Give me one last. Give me a guy with upside.

That's what we always say. Exactly. Exactly. At least where there's a timeline that I can see where that guy overchooses. Because there's no timeline where Anibal Sanchez overchooses. All right. The other two names that have been connected, one through a free agency and one through trade,

and then we'll dive into our perfect offseason. Andrew Benatende, over the last week, really last couple days, there's been some interesting connections to the Phillies. Obviously, Dabrowski was in Boston with him. And then Marcus Simeon, as a free agent, has been connected to the Phillies. What are your thoughts on both of those guys and both of those potential moves? Uh,

wait, hold on. What's the second move? Uh, Marcus Semyon. Oh, right, right,

right. Sorry. Um, why you, you, I mean, you're, you're missing the latest news there,

buddy. If we're talking about free and shortstops, I mean, they're linked to Freddie. Wow. I, I, so I saw the Scott Lover piece.

I love Scott. He does a great job. Uh, I purposefully refuse to mention Freddie on that. Freddie! Come on, man. He's a gold glover. What else is in the piece?

Cole Hamels and Jay Happ? Let's go. Sounds awesome. Freddie! All he does is win, even though he never even came close to winning here. And Pete McKinnon batting him in the two-hole. Awful. Freddie Galvis.

Get out of here. But he actually wouldn't be the worst stopgap shortstop. And Pete McKinnon batting him in the two hole. Awful. Freddie Galvis. Get out of here. But he actually wouldn't be the worst stopgap shortstop. Anyway, so Benintendi. Here's my thing on Benintendi. I have long, like when he got drafted, I loved Benintendi. Like he was my guy. And if you remember, James, you brought me on before we did this podcast. I think it's when I started at WIP after the Haisley draft.

And I said my comp for Adam Haisley was Andrew Benintendi. Yes! Yes, I actually remember this. Right. That's how this whole chemistry thing started between you and I. And I just, I know he's overrated. And let me just fully say this, that I know he's overrated. And let me just fully say this, that I know he's overrated. I know he's not as good as a lot of people think he is or as good as his pedigree is.

But I love Andrew Benintendi. I have always loved Andrew Benintendi. I will always believe in that bat. I will always think that he is a 300 hitter with 20 plus homers. That's what I think Andrew Benintendi is. And he's only 26 years old. I would, the rumor deal,

I would 1000% do it. Like I listen, Moniac's my guy. I like Mickey Moniac a lot, but you hope he's Andrew Benintendi. Yeah. And, and,

and I, I just love the player. I love the bats. The AAA arm is not worrying me at all. It's a little concerning that he'd only be – Yeah, we had Breeze Hoskins playing left field. We're cool. Right.

It's a little concerning he'd only be traded for that much. I was actually shocked. Those rumors, like, Moniak and a AAA arm is like, what? Yeah, and I had heard – That's nothing. That is giving him away especially with kai him at the helm it feels yeah you know maybe he doesn't know what i'm like what's going is andrew benatende like is secretly a piece of crap like what it's going on here i don't know

yeah i mean it's a it's definitely weird and it seems like since they leaked that out the the the interest has kind of gone up on him a little bit so i'll be surprised that they can get him for that kind of deal anyway but um listen i i love the player i love the bats i think the bat can come back i know he had a bad year last year and he he hasn't totally lived up to that hype but i'm willing to take a chance on ben attendee bouncing back here especially with the short porch and right field um and and ultimately like i don't think kutch can play left field every day and i think we need to start getting that in our heads like kutch is not an everyday left fielder anymore um he's coming off the acl didn't fully recover you hope he can get back out there but i'm not

banking i'm getting i'm banking on him getting back out there so if you can have if you can have kutch be the dh on some days some days play left ben intendi play center when he's not playing left i know he's a bad center fielder i I get it. But he is pretty good in left field. So I will have that. And then next year, you know, left field can kind of be Ben Attendee's. I think it's a pure upside move. And ultimately, this is one of those ones where you've got to kind of trust Dombrowski that he knows the player. That he knows the guy.

Right. And he was his first draft pick, I'm pretty sure. Yep, he was. He was drafted in 16? No, he was drafted in 15, so he was not there. Actually, no, it would have been his first draft. Yeah, I think it would have been his first draft, right? I think so. Either way, he knows the player

better than we know him. Knows that he won a World Series with him in Boston. His catch against the Astros is still one of the coolest baseball moments of the last 10 years. I just love the player, and I would 100 do that deal would bring me andrew benintendi yeah i and and not even that like i love you mentioned it but i love the compensation i mean getting a major league baseball player an average and benintendi

has the chance to be more like getting an average major league baseball player for moniak and triple a arm is is a win i mean i like moniak too but let's be real i mean the odds are he's not going to be a a average to good major league baseball player like odds are you know we hope but odds are and benatendi is that and he's a guy who's won a world series this guy who i think moving to the national league i think that's a benefit for him. I just – I don't know. I'm with you. I think – I'm not a huge Andrew Benetende fan. Like you said, he's one of those guys who's always kind of just been slightly overrated, and at first he was way overrated.

When he came up, people thought he was like a star, and he's clearly not that. But he's always just kind of had a slight overration to him, and I feel like that's kind of almost gone so far the other way where people are like, oh, he's overrated. He's overrated. He's overrated. He's not the guy that people thought he was going to be. But he's actually kind of underrated now. He's a solid baseball player.

So overrated that he's now underrated. Wow. And honestly, I think what people are listening to right now, and tell me if you agree with me. people are listening to right now and let me tell you let me tell me if you agree with me what people are listening to right now is two people that have bought into him in fantasy in those in those breakout years that were supposed to happen oh this guy's gonna be amazing yeah yeah was not yeah thank you right thank you right that was yeah i bought into the ben and denny hype a couple times yes well he was supposed to be that but he's a good baseball player he's a good baseball player a nice lefty bat like i i like the idea of it and and forgetting the that like if you're just giving up moniak and and said triple a arm which we know the phillies there aren't any triple a arms you

feel like that worried about giving up no i feel i feel really good about it like if if the morassian pull this off that would be a real... And again, to your point, maybe the most key point of all, nobody knows him better in terms of people who will be trading for him than Dave Dombrowski. That guy knows him. So I do think there's real value in that. It makes a lot of sense. Is it time?

Any quick thoughts on the Lindor trade outside of it being devastating? We talked about the Lindor trade. I just had one on my list. Before the Simeon thing, Lindor trade outside of it being devastating? We talked about Lindor trade. We're good. Before the Simeon thing. Simeon, yes. Thank you. If Simeon takes a one-year deal, sure.

I don't like the idea of multi-years for Marcus Simeon. I think he's a good player, not a great player. Ultimately, here's my whole philosophy. One-year deal, great great i'll take them anything more than that i don't want to miss out on next year's shortstop class and i don't want to miss out next year's shortstop class with bryson stott ready to come up and probably be the shortstop if

he's not moved so i i i don't want to i don't want to i just want to stop get there and that's why freddie makes a lot of sense that's why andrew on why Freddie makes a lot of sense. That's why Andrew Allen Simmons makes a lot of sense. If Simeon wants to take a one-year deal, I'm in. But my priority is simply a stopgap shortstop. Yeah, and Simeon's not taking a one-year deal, most likely. Most likely not, yes. But I'm with you. I think Simeon's one of those guys who's a very good player,

but not quite as good as the market thinks he will be kind of thing um he's a nice player like a really nice player and i think he's been in a good spot out in oakland they've gotten the most out of him i've just never been blown away by marcus having him like i like him he's a nice player but i'm kind of with you there i i think he's gonna get more money than and look who knows this offseason is weird a lot of these deals have at least we haven't really we haven't seen any of the the big time guys sign yet so we don't really know what that market is um we all thought coming into the offseason that it was going to be a depressed market it certainly feels like from what people are talking about it's going to be a

slightly depressed market and it could be more than that um so you know with that in mind it makes it a little harder to kind of judge those signings and the value and stuff and see kind of what a guy's – I think Marcus Simeon will probably get less than what he expected to, but it's still going to be more than what I would want to get, if you know what I mean. Yes, yes. I am in total agreement with you, and I think it's time.

It's time. All right, let's see it, Perkis. Perfect, perfect offseason. We've been waiting a long time. We've talked about this pod for over a month now, and very excited. I mean, Jack, to the point where he tweeted out the picture of his computer with the My Perfect Offseason. I love it.

All right, so just go. Oh, I did. So for those who've never listened to us, do you remember the offseason? Jack is way more creative, way more inventive with his offseason. Trades, this, that. Mine is much more down the middle. Classic James, not having a strong take either way.

I got you. I got you, man. I'm the one who had R.G. Bradley on his list. All right, big dog? I'm one for one so far. You can't prove that I did not have Archie Bradley on my perfect offseason. Now, I will say, and this is me and you. We never lie to High Ops listeners.

We both kind of toned down our perfect offseason, given the circumstances with our baseball team. We wanted it to be a perfect realistic yeah it's like this is our perfect 2020 offseason right i mean of course like sign jt and sign george springer and sign trevor bauer like yeah that's a perfect offseason but you know come on like we know that's not gonna happen we're trying to be real here right exactly so so from that standpoint, here is my perfect golf season. Dave, write this down.

Hold on. You got a pen. I know you're not a computer guy. You're an eye test guy. Get your pen ready. You got a piece of paper. I just want to make sure he's ready. You ready? We're good? Jack, the floor is yours. My first move, James. tell me if you like it. Tell me if you don't like it.

I'm signing JT to a five-year, $110 million deal. Yep. And guess what? Same first move. It's the only move. It's the move of the offseason. We talked about it all last season. Literally, it was a thing the entire season. It's been a thing since.

Sign JT. Okay? Just sign the guy. Yes. That is the official position. And sign JT and then build around him rather than sign a bunch of stopgaps in hopes for next year being better. At least that's my official position. My next move is I'm signing Andrew Alton Simmons to a one year,

one year, $10 million deal. Oh man. Didi Gregorius just crying. Again, I think I thought Jack loved me and spoke so lonely of me this year, my one year of belly, but I guess not.

And Didi, if you're listening, love you. I hope you get multi-years elsewhere. I'm only interested in one year. And, DeeDee, I will say this. If you want to sign a one-year deal, come on back. Maybe. I'll be signing a one-year deal my perfect offseason. Ah, okay.

Good tease there. Here's my first eye opener okay i am trading adam hazley to the pirates for chad cool wow when you said pirates i was expecting another name and i love chad cool i'm not not ripping the name but i was expecting a name that you brought up on this podcast i don't know like 8 000 times over the last couple months i know i know and i i was trying to concoct in my head the joe musker of trade and i just didn't know how to work it because i love francisco morales i don't want to give him up um i don't want to trade bryson stott for him um so i took the next best thing

and got chad sliders cool. Just nasty stuff. Also went to Delaware. And I just think it's funny. And this is just me, whatever. But, like, Chad Cole pitched at Delaware. And the amount of times I've pitched at Delaware and the amount of times that I've had when I was being recruited, like, semi-interested in me.

Obviously not enough to offer me. But just in thinking that Chad Kuhl and I could have been on the same team, I don't know. There's something special about that for me. So I want to bring Chad Kuhl here because I just think he is freaking nasty, man. And I would love to get him out of Pittsburgh. I would love to get him with Caleb Coffin because I think you could get a legitimate stud there. And guess what?

If he's not a starter, I think you'd be a stud in the bullpen. And Adam Haseley, fine. It's whatever. But it makes up for this next move because I'm trading Moniak and David Parkinson for Andrew Benintendi. Bring him here. Because ultimately, I hope Haseley and Moniak turn into Benintendi. So why not get the guy here right yeah i'm in i i said i was in on the move i'm in all right so we'll keep going

here's my other eye opener and this is this is strictly for the baseball nerds and i'm not even sure you know him um oh i love a good i'm not even sure you know i'm trading adonis medina and jaylen ortiz for taylor widener who is on the arizona diamondbacks are you aware of the work of taylor widener i am not okay deep cut you real quick though medina and ortiz's value that low well it's not that low i think that's what it would have to take to get him. He was a top five prospect for the Diamondbacks before they brought him up last year. And honestly, just looking at his stuff,

if I was the Diamondbacks, I wouldn't trade him. The reason why I love Widener is it's a 97-mile-an-hour fastball with a legitimate rise to it. It has some giddy-up, and I just think he's nasty. And I think he's, like, a year away from being in the conversation amongst the best relievers in the sport. They were starting him a good amount last year. I think he eventually becomes a bullpen guy. But if you go look, if you type in Twitter, like Taylor Weiner video or whatever,

the fastball, it looks like it rises like two inches on a 97-mile-an-hour fastball. Hard to square up. Absolutely love him, and yes, it'd be a heavy prospect price to get him, but I think you're looking at a multi-inning weapon for the Phillies for, I mean, he's five, three or four more years

until he hits free agency, so it'll cost a good amount to get him, And just love him. Just love him. He'll be here. What are you doing? That volume was me trying to watch Taylor Widener clips. Yeah. And I was trying to fast forward and I hit the thing and it unmuted it.

Well, what do you think? Pretty nasty so far. Yeah, it's stupid, right? Yeah, it's pretty good. Yeah, so I think it would cost a good amount of prospects to get him prime way for that value. Okay, I like it. I think you might be able to get him cheaper, but I don't know.

Again, I don't know. That's my deep cut trade for the disease ones out there. I'm signing Brett Gardner to a one-year $3 million deal. Oh, you're getting Girardi as boy? Oh, I'm bringing Brett herener to a one-year $3 million deal. Oh, you're getting Girardi as boy? Oh, I'm bringing Brett here. Be a fan. Oh, Brett and Girardi, let's go! And then had this one locked in from day one, Archie Bradley, one-year $6 million.

Glad to see that one work out. I'm signing Corey Kluber to a one. No, actually, I lied. Corey Kluber or James Paxton to a one-year $10 million deal. I think Kluber, that's possible. I think Paxton gets more than that. Really? Yeah, I think so.

I think there's still enough people who are in on James Paxton. We're a year removed from him being a legit guy you know did Zoe in the background just look up Taylor Widener videos is that what is that what I heard she didn't need to she's been watching Widener videos for a while I know that's right

so so Kluber just from what I've heard apparently looks awesome apparently looks really good yeah so I take a chance on Kluber, just from what I've heard, looks really good. Apparently he looks awesome. Yeah. Like, apparently he looks really good. Yeah, so I'd take a chance on Kluber. Listen, honestly, I'm signing one of these guys to be my fifth starter,

and if it's Klubot or James Paxton, I'll take it. Now, you say about Paxton not getting – or getting maybe multi-years. To be fair, his Emily Trade Rumors thing where they dish out who they think signs and for what money was one year, 10 million. Um, really, I would do that in a,

a millisecond. Yeah, I had it. Yeah. I I'll get to my, but I, if, if James Paxson is really going for that type of deal,

then he's, I, I'm adjusting my list. He is my top target to be the fit. Like, you know, he'd be the four starter, third star,

whatever it ends up being, but like in a second, yes please a billion times out of a billion that is an ultimate no-brainer in the national league too let's go yeah yeah so fd starter right i really really like it so um and archie bradley just tweeted out the Rocky GIF, so I might be all in on Archie. All right, so my final move here is I am trading Mariso Oliveira to Boston for Nick Pavetta, bringing him home. I'm just kidding. Everyone relax. Chill out. I'm just kidding everyone relax so that gives my opening day 25 man roster JT at catcher

Boehm at first base because I don't think Hoskins is going to be totally ready yet Kingery at second Andrew Alton Simmons at shortstop G-score at third Cutch in left, Benintendi in center, Harper in right, starting staff of Nola, Wheeler, Eflin, Howard, Paxton slash Kluber,

bullpen of Kuhl, Alvarado, Kunrad, Neris, Widener, Brogdon, Romero, Vinny V, and Archie Bradley with a bench of Andrew Knapp, Roman Quinn, Ronald Torres, and Brett Gardner.

So, for my team, Andrew Knapp, Roman Quinn, Ronald Torres, and Brett Gardner. Okay. So for my team, there's a very clear theme that I'm really trying to fix the Phillies' biggest problem. We all know what that is. But I'll start with the other stuff, and then we'll get to the pen, as I'm completely remaking the book. But I, too, had JT Romito return to the Phillies. I didn't put a number to it, but if they could do 5 for 110, that's a steal. I think it's going to depend on what this market is, obviously, how this all plays out.

If they get 5 for 110, that's a heroic signing by Dave Dombrowski. I'd go up to 5, 130 range or whatever. But either way, I'm bringing romito back and i think a five-year deal feels like the right look if i can get him let's put it this way i'd rather give him four for 110 than five for 130 type of thing if i can um but if you can get five for 110 or four for 100 or something like that i'm doing that in a second all right shortstop dd gregorius on a one-year deal and look like you said that might not be possible but when you look at the shortstop market particularly simeon who

is who is just garnering more support or more interest than gregorius um i think even if it's a two-year deal like i'm all right i agree with the concept a big theme of my offseason is one year deals because i am so with you on this. And the way this team is structured right now, it's kind of a year-by-year proposition. But I think one or two years for Didi. If I give Didi two years, $28 million, something like that, I'm okay with that. I'm good with that. I think that's a fair price.

Maybe a little – maybe one year for 18 or two years for 28. You get a bit of a discount on that if you give them an extra year. Either way, I don't think the market is shaking out in a way that Didi is going to get a three- or four-year deal. So I feel pretty good at the ability to get Didi back for one or two years. And I prefer Didi to Angleton Simmons. I love Angleton Simmons, the best defensive shortstop since Ozzie, in my legitimate opinion. So when are you going to tell me it's not your legitimate opinion?

I said a legitimate one. Yeah, it felt like in my I'm James MF and Seltzer. You better trust my opinion. I know, but it felt like you better trust my opinion. I know. I know, but it felt like you were qualifying that. And I wanted to, I wanted to know why.

All right. I'm going to qualify here and there. Jack wanted to make sure I wanted to make sure the boys, I love DD. And I, I really, I thought he really brought something to this team and he's a really good player outside of that.

But just as a, I want him here i i enjoyed having dds at philly and look i don't i'll be we never lie to that i hope sisters right like we never lie that's our thing it's our credo it's our oath like when i and and towards the end once i got into it i i just had fun it was i enjoyed putting this together but like the first like hour or so of working on my perfect off season, like I was actually more depressed than excited because I'm thinking about the Mets and what they're doing.

I'm thinking about this and that. I'm like, the Phillies just aren't going to do what I want them to do. And I'm bummed that they're not going to be at the same level as the other teams. And then I got into it and I started getting exciting. And the point being that if this team is not going to win the world series and you never know but if if the world series is not

the world series is not the a real attainable goal this year then you know what screw it like i really like watching didi gregorius i watch his team every night like i want to watch that dude play baseball so that's kind of where i'm coming from from that yes all right it's fair right all right um so i had signing jackie bradley jr for centerfield as my move i had a three-year 40 million dollar deal i don't know if that'd be enough to get him it might not it might but i would much rather have ben attendee if we're talking about if it's a one or the other type of thing i i love your idea of trading for benetende when especially if it's moniak and a triple a arm i would do that but on my offseason i did have jbj there i think and we talked about it when it was rumored but i think just putting someone in center field and locking that position down shutting it down from a defensive perspective i think

really could make a big difference for this team and he's been good enough offensively streaky and has had some really bad years been good enough offensively, streaky, and has had some really bad years, but good enough where I think the bump you get from coming to the National League could maybe make him enough of a viable option offensively that I would be willing to give him a solid deal. I worry about multiple years. He's 31.

You know, you're not a kid. But I think he's so good defensively that I think there's value there. So I would sign JBJ to a not over the top, but a solid, you know, like I said, 340. I don't know if that's enough. I don't know if it's enough. But I think there's a chance it could be. It feels like to me that Dombrowski is going to get one of these guys. Exactly.

He's going to get one of those guys. One of his guys, so to speak. All right. So now that's all I'm doing offensively. I'm done with the offense. A couple guys I like for if you maybe can find a potential Gene Segura trade. You know, once Hoskins is ready and moving Bone back to third, Tommy LaStella may be a cheap deal.

I love Tommy. I do too. And he can play second and third. He can play first free in a pinch. He can move around the field. He can play outfield if you need it. Only made $3.5 million last year, so I'm looking at guys who are not super expensive.

So I like the idea of Tommy LaStella as an all-around-the-diamond kind of guy. I know we have Kingery, but know we'll see what's the year it better be it better be all right pitching staff um so i think we both agree they really need one starter i mean in reality you could argue for more but they really need one. I have two routes of going for the starter. I'm giving you two options here. If I'm signing a guy, I'm signing Jake Odorizzi. My worry, and look, if I can get Paxton one year 10, one year 12, I would choose that over Odorizzi, because I do think Odorizzi will get a couple year deal. But I think Odorizzi is still undervalued.

I know what the projections have been. I don't think he's going to get what SpotTrack and all those people are saying. They said three for 39. I don't think he's getting that. I think it's going to be less than that. I think it's going to be less than both years and money. And he's just a solid guy. I think coming to the National League, he's spent his whole career in the American League. Coming to the National League, I think Jake Odorizzi's a really nice pitcher.

He's a guy who can give the ball. He's only 31. Give the ball to him every fifth day and say, all right, that guy's going to stay healthy. He's going to go out and he's going to get me innings. I like the idea that if I can get Paxton for a similar deal, like I said, I would do Paxton first. I actually really liked that idea. I expected him to go for more money. But I like the idea of Jake Odorizzi. I think he's a good pitcher. He's solid. He's an easy kind of fill-in in that rotation. If I were going to take a flyer, two names that I am, if I know you, Jack Fritz, I'm going to say you're in on both of these names as a potential flyer for a starter.

If they don't want to spend Odorizzi or Paxton money, a guy who I'd rather have take the ball every fifth day than Vincent Vel velasquez but is absolutely a question mark absolutely unsure but if you want to give garrett richards a taiwan walker a one-year deal i'm i'm very in on that oh yeah baby yeah we're talking richards has not stayed healthy for for more than two months don't care it seems but exactly don't care like i think you can get them cheap like particularly richards i think think Richards will come cheaper than Walker. I would give either of those guys a shot. Those guys have stock.

You put them with Kopp, and see what can happen. I like the idea that if you're not going to sign an Oterizzi or Paxton. All right, now the real crux of my offseason. Oh, and one other guy that I think – I'm sorry, I lied. If you want to trade for a starter, I have three names. Lance Lynn is obviously the top market, top trade.

He already got traded to the White Sox. Oh, duh. I'm an idiot. I don't know why. Underneath, I had a bad job by me. What are we doing? Horrible job here. Sonny Gray was the other one. Please, give me.

Gotham Connection Two years 20 million left on his deal They're looking to kind of reshape their roster They've already made some moves I'm not expecting I'm just throwing the name in there I would also take a flyer on trading for John Gray In Colorado if I can get a good deal on him

I think that dude has stuff And his stock in Gotham has never worked Would you trade would you trade, would you trade Stott, Medina and Haisley? They're going to be so good. I forgot they got land. God,

geez. Anyway, would you, would you trade Stott, Medina and Haisley for Sonny Gray? Stott, Medina, Haisley,

Sonny Gray. No. Yeah. I don't want to get, I don't want to give up Scott I don't either that's the key to it But that's probably the type of deal Two years 20 million is very affordable I don't think you get these guys I'm just throwing that If you are going to trade and the other one look A guy they were in on

A year and a half ago when he was awesome And has been among the worst pitchers In baseball get the ball every fifth day since then matthew boyd is still out there and i still like this stuff uh maybe like a package you'll get him and joe jimenez something like that i mean it was awful last year it was good the year before a bullpen arm but just throwing some names out there but but ultimately if it's me my off season i'm signing odor easy if i can get him if i can't i'm taking a flyer on richards or walker all right the crux of my offseason is the bullpen it look we said it a

million times and even though we know this team is in a world series team most likely anything can happen whatever but like we're focusing on i want i want to make the playoffs man like enough enough we're a decade now like enough of this like let's make the playoffs let's compete let's put out a team to compete every night and the team they had last year as disappointing as it was was a bullpen away from being a playoff team factually like they were that close yeah so my whole offseason is about building the bullpen i had archie bradley i didn't have one year six million i i said archie bradley one year is what I have written down. So one for one. And then, look, if it's my choice, I'm going to sign Brad Hand.

I think of the guys out there, he's the one I trust the most. Lefty arm. They only have a ton of lefties in the bullpen. But more than anything, I'm very disappointed that they did not have a general manager when you could have gotten him for a one-year, $10 million deal. Like, done. Over. You're just going to claim him.

Disappointed that they were not firing on all cylinders thanks a lot john middleton for that but i'm still signing brad hand uh he's my top target but there's a lot of guys that like uh when you look at the free agent market at every position it's it's somewhat light except a relief pitcher like there are guys out there. So, I'm going for Brad Hand. I was going for Archie Bradley. I got him. And then I'm going for one other of these guys. I'm either going for Joaquin Soria.

Kirby Yates scares me a little bit in terms of how much I think he could get. I know he was horrible last year, but the year before was the best closer in baseball. Well, now MLB trade rumors had him at one year five million. All right, done. All right, give me Kirby Yates. So there you go. Give me Brad Hand. Give me Archie Bradley.

Give me Kirby Yates. And my Boltman's a different thing. It's a different thing. Other names that are out there, Tyler Klippert, he's 36, but a great year last year. It was really good. Shannon Green's a name I would be interested in. I hate Tyler Klippert. It's fine, but he gets out. No, no, it's not that he's not good.

I'm just talking about guys who are in their price range, who can come in and make a difference immediately. Like, for this specific team, I would take a guy like Klippard. But ultimately, as I said, give me Hand, give me Yates, give me Bradley. And then there are some flyer guys. Like, Ken Giles is going to be super cheap, man. Like, that guy's not going to cost anything right now. I'd take a flyer on Ken Giles. I know he sucked this year, but I'd take a flyer on Ken Giles. My point is I'm getting, Bradley was one of them.

It's already happened, but I'm getting two more guys in that bullpen who I can freaking trust on, man. A Brad Hand, a Soria, a Yates, whatever it is. I'm getting two more guys in that pen where I have Bradley and two other guys that I feel super confident in, in addition to Hector Neris, in addition to Jojo Romero, whatever. And then maybe a flyer on a Giles, a flyer on whatever. But my main goal this offseason, after signing JT and getting my lineup set, is I'm rebuilding this bullpen and I'm getting guys who have pitched big innings in major league baseball and guy, I know the reliever market is volatile, but you know what? Yoakum Sori has been doing it for a damn long time. Every freaking

year that guy's awesome. You know, like get some guys you can count on. And I know injuries happen. Robertson is that type of guy. Like the Robertson idea was the right idea. He just got hurt. You can't, I can't let that dissuade you from doing the right thing again. Go get some guys who can pitch in the bullpen. That's my house. I mean, I like it. I'm a little disappointed that you did not trade for Taylor Widener.

Outside of that, I liked it a lot. I don't know how it all works. There's a lot of names and it's a lot of money, but they have it. I think they have like $44 million to stay under the tax after the Archie Bradley signing. So there you go. So $44 million.

So you give 25 to JT. Oh, yeah. So $25 to JT, then if I'm giving $14 to Didi, I'm pretty much screwed already. You know what, John? Just go over the tax. No. We did a very reasonable stuff.

We're not talking about signing George Springer or whatever, and we still can't stay under. Yeah. Yeah, so they have... Yeah, so right now they're at 156 million dollars that's before signing um jt so they have 40 they'd have 48 million dollars to spend if they want to stay under the tax and we're not they want to stay at uh 200 under the payroll of last year which is 204 million so yeah i mean i don't know i don't know i I'm excited. At least the Archie signing shows that they're willing to spend some money

to get better next year. Yeah, and it shows that they're actually going to sign guys for the bullpen. Well, and they've been linked to some names. So, I mean, I don't know. I don't know. Ben Intendi, Simeon, you know, Didi. They've been having talks with Didi and JT. This thing's starting to heat up a little bit over here, James.

I'm ready, man. I'm ready. I miss baseball. Oh, dude. I miss it so much. I miss it so much. It's the thing I want most. I'm watching stupid NBA games, stupid NHL games. I don't care. Just give me baseball. Yes.

Yeah. I just can't wait. I can't. I Like just give me baseball. Yes. Yeah. I, I just, I just can't wait. I can't, I just, I need, I, if I could, I mean,

February 17th, my first workout. So I mean, it's only a month and a half away or a month and three days away. Getting there, buddy. Getting there. Almost there.

All right. Um, so I just want to be good. So bad, Jack. I'm so tired. We're getting closer. We're getting closer we're getting closer all right what's in the take bag final thought bag whatever you got so i have two that i'm adding

to it right off the jump the other aspect of the archie signing that i'm excited for and i know this is very cynical but i'm excited for the possibility if they are out of it to be able to trade him for an asset at the deadline i mean a one year a one year six million dollar deal should be you should be able to trade that deadline for something especially if he's good oh absolutely yeah no question you could so you see you see what closers go for so um and also is he your closer as there is your closer uh as of right now i would make archie my closer but again i'm hoping to sign brad hand or someone i i feel even more sure is my closer or kirby yates but look just they brought in a guy who's closed games in major league baseball he was 18 and 19 i think if

i'm not mistaken when he's done max closer he got the job done so i'd be very happy with that all right um baseball america mock draft this week let's get excited like everyone's talking about the sixth pick you know it was davante smith gonna fall who cares the phillies pick 13th the phillies pick 13th i don't know why people's priorities are completely out of line so just just to show you speaking of priorities and and where they pick right my very first when i first sat down and did the perfect off season again back to the initial statement i said where i was like super bummed and i was like oh and that's got lindor and that's when we started talking about it you know doing and stuff um

that i almost sat down and said jack my perfect off season is being so bad that whoever you want for the number one pick in 2022 is the guy we get. Like, that was almost what I said. I was almost like, bottom out. Tell me who I should be looking for in the 2022 draft. Luckily, we're past that. Yeah, honestly, like, you bring up the Lindor trade and I get it. I don't know.

I just have such tunnel vision that I only care about the Phillies that I don't even, like, focus on what the other teams are doing. I'm trying to figure out ways to make my baseball team better. I love it. So the Baseball America mock draft had the Phillies taking Andrew Painter at 13. It seems like he's been linked to them a lot. Maybe that's kind of the word around

the industry. Another high school high upside kind of arm like McAble. I think McAble's better, but those guys are about the same caliber. That would be exciting. I'd be in on Andrew Painter so I have this thought when you watched the Saints game over the weekend

versus the Bears, did you watch it on Nickelodeon or did you watch it on CBS? I watched some of it on Nickelodeon baseball needs to figure out how to get some baseball games on Nickelodeon please dude, be fun. And especially, you know, and they're explaining the game, and they're doing this guy's favorite cartoon and whatnot.

It's just such an easy way to explain to the next generation. And ultimately, the only way baseball survives, and it's going to survive because it's the best sport ever, but is if it gets passed down generation to generation. And there were so many parents that were talking about how their kids loved watching the game on Nickelodeon. And ultimately, it can attract eyeballs

to the sport that it needs to attract eyeballs to. So I hope the MLB execs were paying attention to the conversation around the game on Nickelodeon. Yeah, I'm so with you, man. It's a great point. It's exactly the kind of thing baseball needs. You're so right. Whatever baseball can do to find ways to appeal to younger viewers is what it must do. sound like a future commissioner of baseball.

We need to find a way to get more action in the game, get the ball and play more often, allow players to show their athleticism some more, and give the fans more of what they want. Does that sound like a general manager to you, James? You're talking about a commissioner? A commissioner, yes. Is it Theo?

It is Theo, who is hiring. Yeah, buddy! He's so going to be the next commissioner of baseball. Logging in. Logging in. Loves the sport. He's perfect. He's the next commissioner of baseball. Lock it in. Lock it in. Loves the sport. He's perfect. He's the perfect guy for it. He really is.

Perfect guy for it. But respected on both sides of the aisle. Smart, young enough where he can have some longevity in the role. It is the all-time no-brainer, especially when we consider that Rob Manfred is the worst commissioner in the history of the sport. Like, get that guy out of here. I generally am not a guy who cares too much about commissioners in sports. Rob Manfred is a disaster.

Like, this guy has to go yesterday. I'm so out on Rob Manfred. So Theo is like a dream. I'll take most people over Rob Manfred. Yeah, but a dream. I'll take most people over on him. Yeah, but Theo is obviously will be a great choice, and I think he's aiming towards that. I'm looking forward to Theo overseeing baseball.

Two other general baseball things before the other one, but again, baseball is talking about a freaking neutral sight world series, and I just couldn't hate it more. I hate the idea of a new, you're not creating the Super Bowl.

The Super Bowl is a Super Bowl. I want to see if players can handle the pressure of the world series in an opposing ballpark. That is all I want. That's my favorite part of baseball is seeing if guys can crumble under the pressure. And the idea of a

neutral site world series is just disgusting and i need them to stop with this idea because i just cannot hate it more i just hate it i agree with you and i thought this this year in particular was like it's supposed to be a bubble for the World Series and then you let fans in. So I was like, well, that was stupid. You may as well just plate it wherever. I'm very with you. Not a fan. It's just, it's not the sport that we grew up watching.

I mean, legendary World Series moments happen in ballparks all over the country. And it's just something that is special to baseball. And I just And to try to maximize profits again and have opposing fan bases fly to one area, it's just awful. I hate it.

I hate it. I hate the idea of a neutral site World Series. But either way, the other thing that baseball is talking about doing is having a universal DH for all 30 teams. But when the starting pitcher is removed, teams lose the DH for the rest of the game. And James, as a long anti-DH guy, I love this rule. Yes! We did it! We found the thing that works. And as a long-time DH guy, the opposite side of you, I love this too.

and as a longtime DH guy, the opposite side of you, I love this too. All I ever wanted, to be fair, and I preferred the DH, but ultimately I just wanted both leagues to be the same. That was my biggest thing. I thought it was ridiculous that a sport could have two leagues where you have different rules. But I think this is absolutely the best outcome. I think it solves all the problems, right? It fixes my problem not wanting to watch pitchers bat

and the stupidity of all that and stuff like that. And it fixes your problem of wanting the strategy and the fun aspect that that brings to the game. It really solves all the problems. And another underrated aspect of it is that it could help let starters go deeper into ballgames. Oh, for sure. If it becomes such a disadvantage, whatever, take guys out.

Maybe train your starters to go deeper into games, and we have more starter showdowns. It's the kind of thing that could change baseball. That's why I didn't like the outrage of the three-batter minimum rules, because I wanted to create and develop more relievers that can do both rather than just specialists. I'm with you. I loved it.

I think that would be an aspect. And, again, late inning strategy of figuring out what to do, it's fun to me. It's fun to me when I'm filling out a card and all that stuff. So it was part of me that was taken away last year. filling out a card and all that stuff. So it was part of me that was taken away last year. I thought it was a nice addition in extra innings for what they did with the extra innings rule. It added an element of strategy to the game,

and ultimately it needs more strategy. It needs to be more thinking. The NL has always been thinking man's league. The morons in the AL, anyone could manage in the American League. So, yeah, I like like this role i like having starters hopefully go deeper into ball games and it could i think would help speed up the game too so um all in on this idea and i hope baseball does it i love it i do too i'm very very very in on it you got anything else uh i do not happy archie brad Day. Yes! Good things happen on Thursday.

Yes, good things happen on Thursday. And I already can't wait to see what their next move is. Me too, man. I'm excited. It feels like things are finally starting to happen. I mean, they should be. It's January. We're getting there.

Training is around the corner. But I'm with you. I'm with you. You got any final thoughts, Fritzy? I do I'm with you you got any final thoughts Fritzy? I do not, I do not have any final thoughts baseball's getting closer I missed this podcast and we won't do it again we'll be back next week

is what he's trying to say we won't take a three week hiatus yeah, we earned it there's a lot going on. It's been a crazy, crazy couple weeks. Things that I never thought in my life would ever happen have happened in the last week. So I'm going to give us a pass, Jack. Yeah.

Give us a pass. Yeah. All right. We will be back absolutely soon. In three weeks. Until then, he's for themselves. We'll talk to you later.