High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Shortstop Review

Episode Date: November 28, 2017

James Seltzer, Jon Marks, and Jack Fritz review shortstop performance from 2017 and preview the position for 2018 – aka Freddy vs. JP. The guys also discuss potential candidates for Gabe Kapler’s Bench Coach, the Shohei Otani sweepstakes, and much more. See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information. 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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Reserve your Uber ride up to 90 days in advance. Uber Reserve. See Uber app for details. Yo, it is the fifth episode of the High Hopes podcast. I'm James Seltzer. With me, Mr. John Marks. Afternoon show of the John Marks and Ike Reese show. Mr. Marks, what's going on, buddy? Yeah, I feel high right now for High Hopes.

Were we getting high and no one told me? I wasn't. No, I just feel high. now as for for high hopes were we getting high and no one told me i wasn't no i wasn't i just feel high i wasn't getting high but no like it's it's the monday we're recording the monday after thanksgiving and boy like wednesday i started getting like the cough by thursday i had the cough by friday i had everything and the cough by saturday you know what i mean and then today it was it finished off in my stomach but i feel like you know when you get over the flu? Oh, yeah.

And you feel like great to not have the flu again? That's how I'm starting to feel. It's like, wow, I feel normal again. That's a beautiful thing. So I'm starting to feel normal again. And by the way, if I would have had to take another bowel movement, you would have had to hold my hand in the bathroom, Jack Fritz. That's how bad my stomach was hurting.

I just couldn't physically do it. It would have been so painful. I'm really happy that that didn't happen. No, if it did have to happen, that's what producers are for, Mr. Jack Fritz would be in charge of holding your hand. I didn't say you, James. I respect for you as the leader and the co-host of this show. Thank you, sir.

Mr. Fritz, what's up, buddy? I was watching high school tape today for Prospects, so I'm ready for this podcast, to say the least. We will be talking practically no high school pitching. for prospects. So I'm ready for this podcast, to say the least. We will be talking practically no high school pitching. Please don't. Fritz, we'll give you a little chance to toss a name or two. If you need me, I'm here. No, but we will as we approach.

Rule 5 is coming up, so that's the next big thing that's coming up because the Phillies do have some players that they can lose that overall to their system they have such great depth that they're going to lose players that are probably major league players in the future. But we'll see. One player they're not losing, Mark Appel. Back with the Phillies! Who's excited? Mark Appel round two, baby!

Here's the thing. He'll one day make the majors. Former number one pick was involved in the Kenny Giles trade. You're looking at more of the number one pick than anything what he did in the minors. And then he came here and he actually had a good start, but it was really smoke and mirrors.

He doesn't have great stuff. He doesn't have the velocity. He doesn't have great stuff. And if you hear that beeping happening during the show, I'm diabetic. I have a diabetes pump and the damn thing's beeping and I don't have during the show. I'm diabetic. I have a diabetes pump, and the damn thing's beeping,

and I don't have the receiver. I left it at Chickie and Pete's, and someone's bringing it back here to me. So I'm just going to have to rip it off my arm. But when you rip it off your arm, it won't stop just a solid beep. So I have to go bury it in a trash can or something. See, and this beeping normally a good thing, but in this case, you know, not an issue.

So, so far, I've totally destroyed the show where we're trying to talk about baseball, talking about bowel movements, my diabetes pump. Well, Jack did talk about high school players, so that's worse.

That's what we like to do. Yeah, that is worse. That is worse. I'll take bowel movements over high school players I'm not going to be able to deal with this thing beeping, so I'm just going to have

to rip it off my arm right now. Uh-oh. Uh-oh. This is happening live on the podcast. If only we had video for this. Go for it. Oh, look at that it is

coming off folks this is real in real time by the time they listen to this though jack everyone you should have seen jack's face oh my god jack's face it was like jack was just looking at that like you literally were were taking a piece of and like oh i can't can i say that we gotta remember to bleep that taking a piece of you know-know-what and shoving it in his face. Like he's never seen anything that disgusting in his life. I don't know what it looked like. No, it has insulin in it, but that little thing right there goes in my arm. It's a catheter.

Is that the prick thing? Yeah, so that's just when I activate it, it goes, and then it doesn't come off until I take it off three days later or until I rip it off by accident, which happens quite a bit as well. So, diabetes, bowel movements, more diabetes. The flu, you see what a mess my freaking life is?

Alright, I'm ready to go. Alright, let's talk some serious base. Let's talk about war. We're going to really have to talk about a lot of war to make up for the open of this one, aren't we? Alright, so yeah, Mark andel, pretty amazing. The Astros take Appel and Brady Agin with the number one overall pick. Obviously got a pick back for the whole Agin thing, but pretty amazing.

And they win anyway. They win anyway. To reconfirm the process works. How crazy is that? Yeah, like, look, I guess Appel was their Jaleel Okafor. Yes. Oh! Oh!

All right. All right. So, coming up in a bit we'll talk about a uh potential new bench coach for the phillies interesting name out there and uh look around the league the winter meeting is coming up december 10th a lot of action there including the japanese babe ruth we'll get to that in just a bit but let's start it is our short stop preview we've already previewed first and second base going around the diamond there. I know some sticklers out there will say, oh, but third base is five and shortstop is six. We're going around the diamond here, all right?

You should have. Yeah, exactly. Thank you. All right, so let's jump in. I think when we do the shortstop preview, I think it pretty much clearly comes down to one kind of thing here. Freddie Galvis versus J.P. Crawford. I think from all of us talking, we're all on the J.P. Crawford long-term bandwagon. But, John, starting off now, where this team is at,

kind of heading into this offseason and then heading into next season, do you think their approach will be to kind of keep Crawford at third base and moving around and use Freddie at short for another year? Or do you think they're just going to say, you know, cut ties one way or another with Freddie as the shortstop or Freddie altogether and move J.P. in? Knowing what the analytics and the type of player that this administration is looking for, J.P. Crawford is the shortstop that they want for the future.

It's not about batting 240 with great defense and high strikeouts and some pop like Freddie Galvis has. He batted 255 last year. But with that being said, I think you're a better team with Freddie Galvis at shortstop and J.P. Crawford at third base than with J.P. Crawford at shortstop and with Franco at third base. So unless they're wowed or they feel like that they're getting real value in an offseason trade for Freddie Galvis, they'll explore it and they should.

I'm okay with him being the starter next year as long as JP is allowed to continue to do the second base shortstop, third base carousel to where he's getting at bats. I don't want to see him back in AAA for another year. And if he's going to be up here, he needs to be getting at least semi-regular at bats, which means he's playing four times a week. So I'm okay with Freddie Galvis. I like Freddie

Galvis as a player. If they extend him for a year or something, J.P. Crawford's not your long-term answer at third base. You need power from that position, so he's a good short-term fix. But I'd be shocked if this administration didn't want JP Crawford as the shortstop starting next year all else being equal yeah that's the way I feel too

and like you were saying there I think you know when you kind of go through and you talk it out you kind of realize that I think it's more likely than not that they'll start the season with JP at shortstop and just clean cut start him there and move forward I do think that going a step, that would be my guess. And look, I don't, this is this, I could absolutely see him starting with Freddie and moving JP over. But one way or the other, I think you kind of hit on something there. JP Crawford has to play every day, like not four days a week, not five days a week. He has to be in the lineup every single day and play as many games as possible.

We've talked a lot about it. In the majors? Yes, in the majors. He has to get those major league reps. He has to get that development. Look, here's the thing. If he comes to spring training and goes 0 for 30 or something like that, then it's the kind of thing where you have to maybe reevaluate

just because he's that ice cold. But I think that the plan coming in will likely be, hopefully, for JP. And look, I think we've seen enough from him in terms of at least getting on base a .356 clip last season in 23 games in the majors, a career.367 OBP in the minors. He's shown consistently the ability to control a strike zone, to have an approach at the plate. You know, Freddie Gabbas had a.309 OBP last year, despite the.255 batting average. And that's good for him.

That's great for him. It's the best of his career. And also, the whole pop thing, you know, he only hit 12 home runs last year, and he played 162 games. Kind of carried away a little bit. He had the.120 home run season, but that was the outlier. I think that was the outlier. And, you know, who knows?

Whenever these guys have monster run seasons. So hold on a second. You said you'd be shocked if JP wasn't the starting shortstop. Does that mean Freddie's still on the team, him being the super utility guy or a tradesman? Because I'd be surprised if they started the season. If Freddie's there, I think he's the starter. Well, that's kind of the conundrum, right, that you run into.

It's that Freddie feels like he should be the starter. I'm sure if he's here, there's a question, at least within the, you don't have a ton of veterans in the locker room, but I'm sure there are veterans who say, oh, Freddie's our shortstop or whatever. That type of stuff can happen. Baseball, less so than in other sports. But I think that this organization,

the way they've geared this team up heading into next season, is that they want to move this process forward a little bit. Process being the buzzword there. They want to move this process forward a little bit. Process being the buzzword there. They want to move this process forward a little bit here, and I think they want to get these kids out there and really see what they have and move forward. They know that Freddie Galvis is not a part of this long-term plan, at least certainly not a part of any sort of championship hopes that they have.

And he's not—I hear a lot of people say this to me. Well, why can't he be your utility guy? Well, because Freddie Galvis is a starting shortstop in this league, and he's not going to stick around. Well, no, he's a starting shortstop any way you slice it in this league. Defensively. Well, you say defensively, but look around at other shortstops. Freddie Galvis isn't going to—Jack isn't going to—

Right. I think Jack's point is valid in the sense that freddie is not a good hitting shortstop even for a shortstop based on the lack of on base percentage the lack of real you know ability to run the bases at a high level it's not like he's stealing a ton of bases or causing chaos out there but i think your point is valid john in the sense that he's a good enough defender that he's a starting shortstop in the major leagues i don't know if the rest of your team around him exactly is what you need from him is hey listen you're gonna hit that 250 right yeah exactly 50 hit some home runs play good defense be an important guy and by the way the one thing we don't talk about that i do think that and you can't measure this with any freaking metric or

anything is that he is a positive guy in the clubhouse. He's a guy that hates losing. He's a guy that's miffed when he walks in there. During that losing streak, you could see on his face. Well, he called the team out. He was the only guy who called out and said, you know, the people aren't playing hard enough. He's got a heartbeat.

Yeah, and look, he is, like, as far as that stuff goes, he is probably the leader of the team as it's currently comprised. They had the third worst record in baseball. Right. I'm not saying. Like, who cares? Like, who cares? I agree with John in the sense that, and I think we're seeing it bear out with this Eagles team right now, that I do think there is something to the culture chemistry thing.

I don't think it is the single defining characteristic of every great team or anything. But here's the thing. Like, you're saying that it doesn't matter because they were a bad team, that he was a positive influence in the clubhouse. What it shows you is they didn't have talent to win, and that's why they didn't win. And he tried to keep the team together. Now, if you put a good team around him, can he win?

Yeah, he can win. Because as long as you're not asking him to do too much, having an influence like that in the clubhouse in particular from a Latino player, depending on what the balance of that clubhouse is, can really help. But, you know, listen, we all agree that he's not the shortstop of the future for this team. And if I could make a trade for him in the offseason, I would in the second. Well, and I think that's going to be the biggest thing.

If Klintak can find someone who wants Freddy Galvis, I think you'll see Freddie Galvis traded. He has more value to them as a piece than he does as a piece of the future, as it were. What's he worth, though? That's a great question. I don't think a lot, to be blatantly honest. And I wonder if Klintak dishes him. You're talking about a

C-level prospect, a B-level prospect? Is it worth it? Are you getting a Major League bullpen arm? Are you getting a major league bullpen arm? Are you getting maybe a fourth outfielder and then a prospect too? It all depends. I'm also not going to give him away because one other thing that you could do, James, is that you could hold him a little bit and maybe try to flip him for the trade deadline because there's going to be a team out there that's going to have a sucky shortstop or

whatever that may want to give up a B-level prospect. You know, it's a lot of work to just try to get a little bit better for a player, but Klintak's shown that he wants to do that. Yeah, I agree. I think that if you see Freddie get traded for what is at least perceived to be a light return, I think it's just that they wanted to clear the way for J.P. Crawford and said, you're our shortstop, there's no distractions here, whatever. And that's the way I would go.

It's just like, if you know, and you're not giving him away, and by the way, while Freddie, I'm sure, would love to stay here, he also wants to be a starter in this league. And if he knows he's not going to be the starter, then send him to a good spot where he can start and he can play baseball. And I think he can start. I disagree with Jack there. He's not a good shortstop, per se, offensively, obviously,

but I think he's good enough to be one of the 32 guys to start at that position based on the rest of the talent. Fritz is raising his hand, freaking out, wanting to talk here. I think he's a starting caliber shortstop, but I think if you're trading him, I think it's going to take an injury to get rid of him.

Like a Teddy Bridgewater kind of situation where that's where you're going to get a better prospect. In the offseason, your shortstops are pretty much set around the league. I can't really think of a playoff contending team that needs a shortstop right now. Oh, I agree. I think in season, I think that's a fair point. You're looking for an injury. Yeah, in season, you're certainly looking for an injury.

And I think, you know, offseason teams are still setting their rosters. I think you could find potentially, if there is someone who's interested, a trade in the offseason for him. I don't think anybody's going to be going out there and— Banging the doors down for free. Right, and when he does become a free agent after 2018, I guess now, I don't think there's going to be people lined up to give a multi-year, $40 million contract.

But I do think he has some value out there. And like I said, if I was the Phillies and you can find a partner, just move on with him so JP can start the season. He should be in the majors this year. I know that he struggled a little bit last year in the minors, but he really came around. And it shows me a lot about him because that's one of those years people are paying attention to what he's doing. He's one of the top prospects in baseball. He starts terribly, and he's able to turn it around and then get up to the majors in August and September, and he's actually playing well.

Yeah, and he hit 15 homers in AAA last year, I think 12 in a month or whatever. He hasn't had any power in the minors. But he's also going to be 23 in January. He's still really young, can still fill out that body. We've talked about this before, 23 in January, he's still really young, can still fill out that body. We've talked about this before, but most players don't hit their physical athletic peak until 27, 28 years old. You always hear, at least in fantasy baseball, the age 27 breakout.

That's one of those things that's a thing. And let me say this about him, about his defense. I spent doing the Phillies pregame show this year. I was at most of the, well, during the week at least, I was at a lot of the Phillies home games. So being at the games, you talk to everybody that's there every night, you get to know the guys a little bit. I'm not going to mention any names, but a familiar face that I

would see down there, actually there was a couple of them, one in particular, that became what I call J.P. Crawford haters. Oh, yeah. And all of a sudden I heard that this guy who was known for being a good defensive player and not Ozzie Smith, but being a good defensive player. And what I saw with my own eyes when I saw him play in the minors was a guy that had great feet, great footwork, good arm, everything that you want out of a shortstop.

Athletic. He's athletic. He's smooth. He's natural to the position. And I think you saw that when he played the other positions, that he didn't need to be out there playing a bunch of games to know how to play it. But I heard from a lot of these people that, well, I've talked to scouts that said that he's not an everyday Major League shortstop defensively.

And I was just like, where were these scouts last year when they were saying how great he is defensively? Number three prospect in baseball or No. 2 prospect in baseball. What happens with Gold Glove? You know how Gold Glove winners, like, who is it that does it? Bobby Abreu won the Gold Glove the one year. Raphael Barmero, when he played 27 games in the field. Based on your offense, right? I mean, come on.

And based on the fact that he had won it before and then he's older and becomes a DH. And they're like, oh, Raffy, he's a great first baseman, let's give it to him. These guys don't watch all the games. I mean, we barely watch. I mean, like most people don't watch all the games. Offense is good. Yeah, Bobby Abreu, yeah, he's got a big arm. So I think the same thing happened to J.P. Crawford,

where a couple people with their agenda got going, where he wasn't hitting, and then it became, well, his defense isn't that good either. Because it countered Freddie Galvis. Freddie Galvis is really good. Jack, I had people for half a season telling me that I was crazy, and I said I was steadfast in it. I said, JP Crawford's my starting shortstop next year. I don't know

what to tell you guys. I don't care what Freddie Galvis is doing this year. Because these people get quotes from Freddie Galvis, and they're in the locker room every day. They see all the things he does. All the things he brings to the team. And they like him. And it's just like, they don't understand the upside. Well, and it's all the old school, like you were talking about before, John,

that he's a big part of this locker room, and the guys look to him and all that type of stuff. I mean, and again, not naming names, but there were takes that were thrown around out there, and Fritz knows exactly where I'm going, that Freddie Galvis was a better defensive shortstop than Angleton Simmons, which is as bad a take.

It's like saying that— He was better than Omar Vizquel. It's like saying Freddie Galvis is the next Barry Bonds. It's that ridiculous in terms of how absurd it is, how much better Angleton Simmons. We're talking about potentially, other than Ozzie Smith, maybe better than Ozzie Smith. That talented. The best defensive shortstop in the history of the game in Angleton Simmons. We're talking about potentially, other than Ozzie Smith, maybe better than Ozzie Smith. That talented. The best defensive shortstop in the history of the game in Angleton Simmons. Well, he's not as good as Jimmy Rollins. How about that? He's not. He's not as

good as Jimmy Rollins. I agree with you. I agree with you. How about that? Especially the arm, too. I mean, Freddie has a lot of mobility. He's really good, and he's got a good arm. He's a plus fielder. He's a plus fielder. That's exactly the perfect way to put it, and that's why he is an asset. And I do think that while he is a more valuable asset at shortstop, I also think there could be a contending team where he's just a valuable asset

because he's a guy who can play three spots in the diamond. He can play the outfielder, as we've seen, in a pinch. And as someone who theoretically could go up and knock one out of the park in a pinch hit situation, that I think is where he can have some real value to a contender. American League team. Yeah. Could DH if they really needed it.

Not the ideal DH. But, yeah, can probably play any position on the diamond. I would guess he could play. Other than pitching and catching, he could probably be any position on the diamond if needed. Yeah, he could play outfield. He could go over and play first base. He obviously could play second base, shortstop, and third. But, yeah, so I think the real question and the big question,

because I don't know how many Galvis truthers by the end of the year were still sitting there saying, because even this one in particular by September was like, oh, yeah, JP is pretty good. So now these scouts aren't available. But I guess the real question is what happens and what does Matt Klintak do? Because you have two infielders that need to be moved because you have young, hot prospects behind them, and you don't know if they're going to want to move them.

Because everybody else knows that they need to move them too. There's not a lot of value in those cases when leverage is all on one side. But yeah, it's certainly an interesting comparison, especially even kind of more so heading into this season with the Tommy Joseph-Reese Hoskins thing from last season and how long that kind of drained out. It's a little different. You can't bring up Reese Hoskins with Tommy Joseph.

Tommy Joseph's in the way. That guy's a great player. God, you know what it is? We just know baseball. The three of us right here. Yes, I know. The High Hopes podcast just knows baseball. The three of us right here. The High Hopes podcast just knows baseball. That's exactly right.

There was trade JP and keep Freddy's a long term shortstop. There's at least two takes I remember from people who cover the team. I heard trade JP and get something now while you can. And I'm like, hold on! He's 22 in AAA! That's very, very young. He's a player in AAA.

It's like, come on, man. It's people that don't follow baseball is who's saying that. Yeah, and I think that we also had this thing with the Mike Trout, Bryce Harper thing. With those two guys and the ages they came up and how good they were, it kind of changed the perception of what people expect top prospects to be. Those are two in a billion. Like, those are two generational all-time prospects. Most guys don't come up at that age and be that dominant.

That never, ever, ever happens. And yet, we have those two together at the same time, and people are like, oh, well, he's the top prospect in baseball. He stinks. You know what I mean? It really has slanted the view of it. And the whole, who's the next Harper, the next Trout? No one.

No one is the next Harper, the next Trout. I actually think what happened with J.P. Crawford last year is a really good indication, and it kind of sets, it sets real standards for what he's probably going to be in the majors. Because the people that thought he was going to be this game-changing player, he was never going to be this game-changing player. He doesn't have enough power. He's not gifted on the bases. He's not Jimmy Rollins.

You know, like Jimmy Rollins had a higher ceiling than J.P. Crawford does, but he can be a really important player on a championship-level team, and he can be an all-star-type player, but he's also not going to be that type of Jimmy Rollins type player I would say it's more of a kind of a tier below that and he's also not going to suck the fact that he turned that season around like he did and he was able to come up to the majors at the end of the season and really show fans and the team his kids for real so I it's amazing and such it's such an up and down season with him maybe it kind of set people straight to what this guy really can and should be.

The fact that he didn't commit one error at shortstop was important to me. And the.356 on base percentage. That's the thing for me. That's the thing that made the most sense. Because that's what we all saw coming up through the minor leagues. The fact that he was able to do it in the major leagues, I thought was really important. Yeah.

A lot of errors at AAA. I heard, oh, look at all the errors he had at AAA. And I'm like, okay, I'm not even going to do it, but go back and Google how many errors Freddie Galvis had when he was in the minors and Derek Jeter had and Jimmy Rollins had because you're supposed to have errors when you're in the minors and you're learning to be a professional. And there's so many other things that go into that.

You have to cover more ground, potentially. Minor league scorekeepers. Who the hell knows? And players get bored. Reese Hoskins got bored in AAA this year. And it went through like a slump. I'm like, are we sure we should bring him up? And then he had the most insane run streak ever.

Starting the history of baseball. People get bored. Yeah, no, I'm with you there. And I think you guys hit on the OBP for me. At that age, at the levels he's been at to consistently being, you know, close to the same walks to strikeouts and to get on base the level he gets at, that makes me believe that, like you said, John, he's got a very high floor as far as that is concerned.

We've already seen him play defense. He's not going to be a zero at the plate. And I think simply because he can get on base um i think that ultimately long term and the upside is much higher obviously i agree with you i don't think he's going to be you know with that tier of young guys right now i don't think he's francisco lindor or cory seager or carlos correa or those guys but i think he has a chance to be that next group down like that next level of of high level shortstop and that is worthy of being that high a prospect like if he's a guy like gene segura or something that's an amazing piece that high a prospect. If he's a guy like Gene Segura or something, that's an

amazing piece to have for your long-term future. You're not going to win a World Series with him, but you can win a World Series with him and some Reese Hoskins. Exactly, which is what you need in baseball. You're never going to win a World Series with just one guy. Exactly right, man. Before we move on,

last word on the shortstop preview. If you had to guess, do you think J.P. Crawford is the starting shortstop come opening day 2018? No. Jack? No. I'll be the shining yes in the wilderness. I think it's going to be Freddie Galvis. I think he's starting at third.

I think Freddie Galvis is the smart call. I just got a feeling that they want to start out with J.P. Then the debate becomes, do you keep him at the major league level? I just got a feeling that they want to start out with JP. Then the debate becomes, do you keep him at the major league level? And we're going to do our third base preview next week. But in this scenario here, we're basically just shoving Mikel Franco out the door, which I understand. But still, what, 25, 26 years old? 24.

24 with a ton of raw ability. Like you said, next week we'll really, man, I'm going to bring my jeans that roll up easy because we're going to need a bunch of bleep. I'm going to bring Adrian Beltre's third season in the major leagues, and then we'll go from there. Ooh, look at that. He's making an Adrian Beltre, one of the great third basemen of all time. All right, that means it is absolutely time to move on.

Before we get to the around-the-league type stuff, really quickly, interesting name pops up in the Phillies' bench coach search. As the Phillies on Wednesday, again, it's Monday night as we're recording this, on Wednesday we'll interview Rob Thompson, who has been with the Yankees, the bench coach for the Yankees with Joe Girardi. He's been with the Yankees for the past 28 years, 10 as a big league coach, and also one of five candidates being interviewed for the Yankees' managerial position.

All right, you ready? Interesting name here, John. He's not getting the Yankee job, and it makes sense for him, and he knows he's not getting the Yankee job. That's why he's interviewing for the Yankee job and it makes sense for him and he knows he's not getting the Yankee job. That's why he's interviewing for the bench coach job. You know, I sure. Why not?

Sure. You want a guy that has experience. You know a guy that's been around the league. You knew that that was going to be a guy that they went for. So that's fine. I'm telling you it's going to be really fascinating to see Kapler develop in front of us because I have no idea what to expect from him. I have no idea how he's going to be really fascinating to see Kapler develop in front of us because I have no idea what to expect from him. I have no idea how he's going to be.

Everything that we knew and we talked about before, but it's going to be really interesting to see exactly how that whole process plays itself out. Well, it's kind of, and hopefully much better results, but Chip Kelly-ish in terms of the intrigue surrounding him coming in, the different way of going about his business, very interesting. I am high on Kapler, so I obviously do not think it will play out Chip Kelly style. But I'm with you.

And I think Thompson also coming from the Yankees, working with Girardi, that would be working with a manager who is heavily analytically inclined. I think that's a good fit here, someone who has experience in that type of world, which is going to be important. Fritz, any thoughts on Rob Thompson? He's a name. I don't know, but we didn't do the podcast last week when the Utley stuff came out. Oh, yeah, we forgot to mention the Utley stuff.

That came up afterwards? Yes. Good point, Chad. The Utley stuff. Utley thrown in as a potential bench coach candidate as well. It's so Philly it hurts. It's so Philly-er.

My guess is it doesn't happen right away. I think long term, maybe Chase is, I think Chase will be a manager or something in that realm in this league if he wants to be. You know, he's so intense. He loves the sport, all that type of stuff. You know, hard worker, all the cliches. I think it would be horrible for Kapler. I think it would be a terrible idea.

Terrible for Kapler. Makes no sense. Every single person that sees it will be like, I want Chase to be the manager. Listen, in my sports radio career over the last year, I've taken probably 50 phone calls for Chase Utley as the next Phillies manager and 100 phone calls for Brian Dawkins to be the Eagles' next head coach. And it's like, okay, so he's just going to be the head coach. That's not the way it works. In baseball, though, it's shown, especially now, that organizations are very willing to

bring in guys that don't necessarily have the quote-unquote managerial experience. The Astros took a guy straight out of the booth years ago. So would it make sense for Chase Utley? Yes. Does it make sense for this team now with Gabe Kapler? No. Couldn't agree more. I think that's, and look, I love Chase.

I would love to see Chase. You would need Charlie Manuel in his prime. Exactly. You need a manager who has their own cachet, who has their own, you know, kind of resume walking in there where no one is going to be saying, oh, the first sign of struggle for Kapler, let's just make Chase a manager. You know, it's just a bad spot. I agree with you. That's why I don't think it's going to happen. Let's just make Chase a manager. It's just a bad spot. I agree with you.

That's why I don't think it's going to happen. Actually, that's a good idea. I'd do that because I would love to get those calls. Fire Kapler, Chase Utley. It would certainly bring some excitement to Philadelphia. But speaking of which. And by the way, a manager is supposed to be the master communicator with his players, right? Is Chase Utley a communicator?

I'm not sure. He might be more of a locker room communicator. I think it's one of those things where for all of us, nobody has any idea that he has any personality, this and that, but all the guys on the team are like, oh, Chase is the best, man. Seager talks about how great of a guy Utley is. He is a great guy. He did this, he did that.

I think he's changed since he was in Philadelphia. I don't think he was any different. I just don't know if we really, like, being a manager is a lot different than just, than being a, than being a leader in the clubhouse. I mean. Very much so. I don't know. I don't know.

But yeah, we'll see what happens. Yeah. I think long term, if Chase is interested in that, he'll have his avenues, his opportunities to do that. And I think for now, John, I think the biggest thing is, if you're bringing Kaepler in here, you want to give this guy a fair shake from the start. And I think if you have Chase Utley sitting next to him in that dugout, he's never going to get a fair shake.

It's a bad idea. Yep. I agree. All right. Speaking of things that could create some intrigue, the Phillies have been in and out on Giancarlo Stanton. Most recent rumors looking like they're out again. Looks like the Dodgers, the new frontrunners, apparently tops on Stanton's list.

Like, Stanton's in charge of the whole thing. He is, in a way. In a way, but not really. Ultimately, whoever's willing to take on that contract or figure out some sort of deal with the Marlins, take on a big portion of that contract, is going to be in charge. If the Dodgers aren't willing to do that, it doesn't matter where the hell Stanton wants to go. But

Giants, Cardinals also involved. Any chance the Phillies, I mean, I do not expect the Phillies to be involved ultimately long term in this. I don't think Stanton comes here. Are you feeling this at all? I don't know. There was talk of a mystery team in that same article

you got that from. The Phillies are always a mystery team in my eyes. Well, that's true. Well, they were Cliff Lee. I do think that the mystery team, like if you just line up the team A, team B, mystery team, I feel like the mystery team ends up with the player a disproportionate amount of the time. Well, listen.

The Nationals or Jason Wirth were the mystery team? Would it make sense if, from Middleton's perspective or standpoint, that he needs something to sell seats, and if you bring Stanton in here, 59 home runs, 280. MVP. He's a

monster. He plays a great outfield. People don't talk about that as well. For his size. Yeah, yeah. Absolutely. He plays right field. You would expect him to be lumbering out there and left to play right field a lot. The contract is an issue and trading anything that the Marlins would feel like is equal value for them

just isn't going to happen. So they're going to have to eventually cave and take less than they want because of the contract. They're not going to want to eat any of the money. The Phillies are deep in their outfield, at least with their younger players. I don't think it makes a whole lot of sense. And I also know this about the Phillies. If you don't win, people don't come out. So you can get Giancarlo Stanton to come out and hit home runs.

If you're not winning games, you're going to have 15,000 people there in September and April. So if Stanton or no Stanton, it's not really going to help you at the box office. Yeah, and I agree with, I think that Middleton, for what it's worth, I mean, all owners want to make money. It's a business, let's be real. It does seem like Middleton wants to win, and it doesn't seem like he's, you know, at least the process or whatever you want to

call it. He's a wild card. Yeah, he's a wild card. And it seems like he's certainly been very supportive so far of them not pushing all their chips in immediately and kind of doing a little slow burn here. So I can appreciate that. As far as the Stanton thing goes, it's interesting because it's kind of a similar situation talking about leverage where you really feel like Miami

doesn't have a ton of leverage here in this situation. I know Stanton's really good and he just won the MVP, but with that contract and the fact that this new ownership group coming in and being like, cut salary, this, that. They're coming out and saying that they have to do it. Exactly. How does that help trade dogs? What you need is you need a couple teams that are interested in them.

Exactly. That's what you need. And that's the only way it's going to work. I don't know if that's going to happen. I don't either. I don't either. I think they're very motivated to get rid of him. But ultimately, you can only sell getting rid of the MVP to your fan base

or any fan base or any media or whatever if you get some sort of return back. It can't just be like, whoa, we got money off the books. And the Marlins are doing it again. It's like, hey, let's trade the franchise and get prospects. Rinse and repeat, man. At least they got rid of Jeffrey Luria. I mean, I don't know how good the Derek Jeter group will be as far as ownership goes, but it does not get much worse than Jeffrey Luria,

which is amazing because that dude won two championships and still found a way to be the worst owner in the history of the sport, or at least one of them. And he netted like $2 billion on top of it. What an a-hole that guy is. All right, I think the most interesting move is the winter meetings again coming up December 10th. So we are creeping closer to the winter meetings here. We'll obviously cover it in the episodes to come as well.

But I think the biggest news, and it won't happen at the winter meetings, though some news might leak out. and it won't happen at the winter meetings, though some news might leak out. But December 21st, officially the first day that Shohei Otani, is that correct? I think I nailed that there. The Japanese Babe Ruth. I know the Otani part is right. Pitches, hits, as Jack Fritz will tell us, better pitcher than a hitter. But really interesting name here, and interesting, we'll get into in a sec, how the money works.

But it's not your classic, whoever pays the most money is going to get this guy. So tell everybody how it works. So in this case, because he is under the age of 25, he's 23 years old, he is subject to the international pool of money is under that guideline. So teams only have a certain amount of international pool dollars. We've talked a lot about Klintak going out and trading for international pool dollars for next season, which we're excited about. And this is the type of situation where having more money can help. So if you want to see the top teams, of course, the Rangers top $3.53 million to spend,

followed by, of course, the Yankees at $3.5 million. They are the favorite to land him out there. The Twins at 3 million. The Pirates at 2.2 million. A big jump there when you think about the percentages here. Giants at 1.8. Mariners, Royals, Marlins, Cardinals, and the Braves at 1.2 million. So, you know, this is not a classic.

Who can pay him the most money? You know, the money is kind of marginal. And you only have to pay the team in Japan $20 million. Exactly. Or they're renegotiating that or something. They totally are changing the structure that they used to have. It used to be the whole thing where it's all the posting fee and all. Now it is $20 million.

The team that gets him, that wins the rights that he decides to go to. That's the maximum $20 million. The beauty is that in this case for him, he will at least get to choose his destination. Where before, the team could kind of say nah they're not paying us us enough money we're not letting you go there and it could limit the teams that they could actually go to here theoretically a little more open choice yeah yeah no doubt and his representatives asked that the team's interested in him submit a proposal to him both in english and in japanese to why their why their destination would be the best one to go to.

You're wondering if the Phillies are in on that. I don't think that they are. He scares me a little bit because as talented as he is, he's also had some of the injury bug. And guys that early, especially like Jack Say, he likes him as a pitcher. He does both, and he wants to go to a team where he can play both. So it really doesn't make sense for him to go to an NL team if he wants to play the outfield him as a pitcher. He does both, and he wants to go to a team where he can play both. So it really doesn't make sense for him to go to an NL team if he wants to play the outfield and be a pitcher.

James, I don't know what you think, but I would love to get a big splash and get a Japanese player, a star young Japanese player. I don't know if it's the wisest move to make. I don't know. Yeah, I think, look, obviously if the money is not insane based on this kind of structure, you know, sure, take a shot. I think that any sort of talent you can get in here, I'm good with.

But I think when you're thinking about, you know, a long-term type of deal here, if they, you know, pay this fee and then ultimately sign him to a long-term deal, I'm with you. Like, I generally, I want to see it from the Japanese and foreign guys a little bit more. I've never watched him pitch or play. I'm not going to front like I have. I don't get to watch a ton of Japanese baseball, sadly. You're not watching it like Jack is on YouTube or something?

I'm freaking out at 2 in the morning on some weird site checking out Japanese baseball games. Little League, no less. It's very weird. But, no But I think look, it's an interesting thing. I think I don't get carried away in the whole Japanese Babe Ruth and all that BS stuff. I think like Jack points out, and Jack

I'll let you in a second tell people kind of why you feel this way, but pick one, dude. I'm sorry. I love the concept and I do think that baseball is heading towards more less specialization and people who can do more different things. We're starting to see it with, like, you know, catchers who can pitch the dude on San Diego.

I'm forgetting his name. Bettencourt. Thank you, Bettencourt. Like, stuff like that, I think that is interesting, and I think the game is somewhat heading that way. But ultimately, like, there's just too much that goes into being a pitcher in Major League Baseball for this guy to be taking reps in the outfield and all that stuff. Yeah, I really hope he does because it's a cool concept.

You even see it in the draft this year. Brandon McKay was a top four pick, and he can go both ways. Hunter Green is supposed to be the next A-Rod at shortstop. He's also a pitcher as well, which isn't true. He's a good pitcher. He's not a good hitter. It seems like the same thing is going on with Otani. Otani had a 30% K rate in Japan, which is just not good. It's not good.

The power is sometimes there. He's a little skinny for me. I don't think he has the bat speed to really catch up. The pitching is legit. I mean, the guy hits 100, and he's basically Darvish on steroids. Wow. He looks exactly like Darvish pitches, except way better. Yeah.

He looks like a real deal pitcher-wise. See, and I'm in on that. I can dig on that. If you want to go out and get me a pitcher who's Darvish but throws harder, I can definitely dig that. It'd be so cool to see a two-way player. It would be. A legit two-way player.

It'd be awesome. It'd be really cool. It'd be good for baseball, if we're talking about it. Yeah, a left-handed catcher, a left-handed throwing catcher. Well, I was really rooting for Pat Vendit. I love the switch pitcher idea. It's awesome. I think it's awesome.

How cool is that? Anything that can kind of modernize and rejuvenate or kind of freshen up with something like that would be really cool. When was the last two-way player? I mean, like a legitimate one? I think obviously Rick Ankele has gone from being a hitter to a pitcher and stuff like a legitimate one. I don't even remember. Rick Ankele has gone from being a hitter to a pitcher and stuff like that's happened. But I don't remember the last time there was a legitimate guy who would pitch and then go play outfield for four days.

Darren Dreifurt, when he came out of college, was equally a good hitter and pitcher. Darren Dreifurt was a beast. He didn't work out. Didn't work out. Dodgers, number two pick. Yeah, I mean, he was really talented. Is that the Darren Erstad year? Was that the same draft where Erstad went on? I don't work out. Dodgers, number two pick. Yeah, I mean, he was really talented. Was that the Darren Erstat year?

Was that the same draft where Erstat went on? I don't remember that. And there was a Phillies player, actually, that was a hitter and a pitcher. Did he try to be a hitter after being a pitcher? Who was that? So first on traffic, Joe Savory. Joe Savory, yep. Because he was a good hitter, too. Yeah, well, I mean, look, Ankeel did it.

I mean, it didn't ultimately work out. Yeah, Ankeel, I guess. But he did it. I mean, it didn't ultimately work out long term. Yeah, Ankeel, I guess, is... But he did it. You know, I mean, I think it is doable. It's just it's hard to do them both at the same time. I mean, there's so much that goes into it from a preparation perspective, from a daily work perspective. If you're a starting pitcher, you can't be playing the outfield the other days.

You can't be messing around playing the outfield, especially because your arm is like you need to rest your arm. Even at DH. Maybe an outfielder that was a reliever would work. Yes, see, that's a different story. Then that's like, all of a sudden, that's a huge advantage. You could stay rest your arm. Even at DH. Maybe an outfielder that was a reliever. Yes. See, that's a different story. Then that's like all of a sudden that's a huge advantage. You could stay in the game. Exactly. That would be cool.

That's what I'm talking about. You bring in a right fielder who's thrown 100 and he pitches the eighth or ninth inning. And then he's just batting in the pitchers. I mean, think about that. Like, that's legit. So I think that if we could see specialization go that way, it could be pretty interesting. Market inefficiencies. Dude, you know that's my thing.

Well, I guess it's Billy Beans' thing, but I'm jumping on board. Never too late to jump on board. All right, real quick. So no on Otani. You think it's unlikely the Phillies really end up being in this thing? Unless they're just being really quiet and stealth about it it doesn't seem like it's something who knows but it doesn't seem like that they're they're prepared to do that right now jack are the phillies the mystery team in the otani sweepstakes ultimately no i really don't

think so because like they're not going to let them play the outfield or play first base because of hoskins unless he's a pitcher only which i'm perfectly fine with yeah i agree and i think ultimately you know what in these situations where they could choose, most of the Japanese guys end up going Yankees, Dodgers, Mariners with those, you know, coastal big cities that have high Asian populations. That just seems, look, it doesn't always happen, but it does seem like more often than not, those end up being the teams that get these big guys. guys. Alright, lastly, before we get out of here, we gotta mention, because it's awesome, at least for us here in Philadelphia, the last time, it was literally almost right off the air last time doing this podcast, the Braves

penalties come down, and the Atlanta Braves get whacked, man! I mean, these are some serious penalties, obviously, really punitive type stuff. They lose 12 players, including Kevin Maiton, who's one of the top prospects in baseball,

a number of other legitimate, legitimate, legitimate prospects. Their system was insane. Yeah, well, the best system in the sport, a lot of people thought. Here's why. It's a big hit. In addition to this, they are also limited in making international free agent signings of $10,000 or less, which, you know, we've talked about that. That's the Jose Altuve type moves there.

They do matter. Until in the 2019-2020 period, they've also been knocked down to $0 for that period, essentially. They've also had their pool for 2021 period halved. They've lost a third round pick in 2018. I mean, these are, this is the strongest penalties we have seen come down. I mean, the freaking Astros hacked into the Cardinals system and didn't get as many penalties as the Braves did. I mean, this is a big deal.

And the one guy got banned from baseball. Yeah, and Capella got banned from baseball. I mean, John, obviously the damages themselves, but for the Phillies, we talked a lot last year about these kind of dueling rebuilds or whatever you want to call them. And the Braves, at least in terms of assets, did seem to be out in front of the Phillies. No more. No, and my friend Kevin McAlpin covers the Braves for their radio down there.

And I texted him, and I was like, dude. And he's like, yeah, I know. It's pretty crazy, and the organization is getting hammered. So, you know, the Braves haven't been good in a long time. I mean, they really haven't been good in a long time. And they have the farm system to do it, but you wonder, with a couple different GMs they've had down there over the course of since sure holtz really left um you know they got some work to do but yeah they they thought pertola cologne was going to

be an answer there down last year and not so much but yeah it's just i've never seen anything like that i mean we know pete rose got banned from baseball i didn't realize they banned gms for doing all this all this other crap crazy as look crazy. Look, as we end the podcast, we get John's diabetes monitor here. Tom Kelly, you're the man. Thank you. How about that? TK saved me. See, that's bringing it home.

Look at that. How about that? So what happens to the Braves prospects? They just go back and become free agents. And the Phillies are definitely interested, I'm sure, in some of these prospects. They should have to give up Ronald Asuna for us. Yeah, well, I mean, some legit names on the list.

Sucre on there. I mean, like legitimate prospects. And obviously, Maiton, the top one there. Fritz, any thoughts on the Braves' damages before we get out of here? They should have to give Ronald Asuna to us. That's it. That's all that matters. They should have to stop doing the tomahawk chop for the rest of baseball.

That should have been for baseball. Yeah, for many reasons, let's say that. All right, that's going to do it for High Hopes, Episode 5 and a little shortstop preview. Yo, High Hopes! Third base preview next week. We'll be back then. All-star closer, Kenley Jansen.

We have a question. What's the best podcast of all time? Baseball isn't boring, baby. I'm Rob Bradford, Kenley Jansen, we have a question. What's the best podcast of all time? Baseball isn't boring, baby. I'm Rob Bradford, and every single day I'm sitting down with the biggest names to show you this great game is the greatest game. It's my podcast. It's my passion. It's a cause I started more than two years ago and is now the most prolific national daily baseball pod there is.

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