High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - The Craig Kimbrel is a Phillie Pod

Episode Date: January 6, 2023

James Seltzer and Jack Fritz react to the Phillies signing Craig Kimbrel, discuss the video yearbook, and much more. Presented by Miller Lite. 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

This is the High Hopes Podcast. High Hopes! It's a bunch of baseball nerds talking about the Phillies. On Radio.com and Sports Radio 94 WIP. Yo! It is another edition of the High Hopes Podcast. Jack Fritz, James Seltzer. Been a little while.

Happy New Year, everybody. I hope everyone's doing well. We got a lot to get into tonight. You know, Philly's made some signings since we last talked. But let's start with the most important thing. And we're going to talk a lot about the Philly's yearbook here. Because for the first time in the history of the show, I actually watched one. So that's an exciting thing.

But I got to start at the top with the thing that's most on my mind right now. Super. Yes. An hour and 10 minutes. The Phillies yearbook. It was delightful. I enjoyed all of it.

I may have cried multiple times. Gotta say. Little disappointed we weren't in it. I'm just saying. I mean, leaders of the movement, it's not like we said that. Other people have said that. And, you know, so I don't know. That's how I come in tonight. A little muted yo, a little muted feel.

I'm excited. I'm excited to talk to you. I'm excited it's a new year and potentially a year we win the world series that's on the table a little disappointed tonight jack how you doing buddy well it's not even that it is it is the fact that it's the fact that a guy named elliot short parks who if you are not aware, some would say as a journalist, frankly, I don't.

I would say it's more of a personality, like an Eagles personality, more than anything. An entertainer, you might say. Yeah, I mean, sure. What is definitively true about Elliot Shore Parks is that he doesn't like baseball that much for years you know oh Phillies oh who cares blah blah blah they're like the eighth most popular

team in the city the union people like the union more than the Phillies and the second they go on a run and he opens his eyes to how great baseball is in the city of Philadelphia and how great it is when they're winning and how much it takes over the city. You know, he comes on with this thirsty take on, I guess it was go birds. I don't listen to that. Well, that's the annoying part is it's all your parks. All I get. I go totally. I'm the totally guy. It's like you couldn't say what I said, but we couldn't take to that show. Well, that's the annoying part is it's Alley Trip Parks. I go totally. I'm the totally guy.

It's like you couldn't say what I said, but we couldn't say my thing before. I'm with you. Go ahead. Well, they probably thought it was going to be like copyright infringement because they were like, I didn't know Charlie Day did an Eagles podcast. Yeah, it's going to be too difficult to clear this with Charlie Day's people. Let's just use the other guy. It's a good point. hear this with Charlie Day's people let's just use the other guy it's a good point so um but like you know I just the wrong guy got rewarded it's my main point like to boil this all down I don't need to I don't need to you know beat around the bush and get cute um the wrong guy was rewarded

the wrong guys were rewarded um this is a man who who no backbone when it comes to the baseball. And he has this thirsty take of that's the greatest single Philly sports sporting event of my entire life, which is like, relax. I mean, not really. I get that 0-1 game one, whatever. There's so many games in 0-7 through 11. There was the Sean Jackson punt return. Yeah, they won the freaking World Series in between that.

They won the Super Bowl. Yeah, and the Super Bowl. I mean, come on. You know, to see such a – Since Iverson? Come on. And listen, I know that people are going to listen to this, and Ellie is probably going to listen to it and say,

oh, you're just being salty. Yeah, I am. There's no doubt about it there's no freaking doubt about it i'm salty about it so now that was not in the phillies uh that was not the world series video yes dvd and and you know you and i are both big fans of neighbor dan um love neighbor it's our guy frankly uh we would have known about this if you didn't hadn't sent it along so good looking out and and and i will say i think it's important that we knew though don't you think like we don't want to go around being ignorant to the fact that other people are hearing this and thinking like oh wow wow we need to be able to respond to it like that i'm appreciative that this was alerted you us. Here's what I want to say.

I don't want the Phillies fan that might not listen to this podcast, which is absurd, to have heard what Elliott said and thought, that's my guy, because he's not your guy. Just being completely honest, he's not your guy like i just being completely honest he's not your guy he if you if you follow him on twitter you're not going to see one tweet about the phillies ever and i bet you a hundred dollars he couldn't name two of the teams that craig kimbrough's been a part of in his entire tenure before being a philly so um it was massively massively. Now, back to the Phillies yearbook.

First off, I want to give you a nice pat on the back. I am proud of you for finally watching. It was great. What a delight. But I will say, because I'm going to let you continue here, but I will say, give me the pat on the back, which I appreciate,

and I deserve, frankly. I will say that'd be nice on the back which i appreciate and i deserve i mean frankly um i will say that and i loved it i i it's i'm even more emboldened in my belief now that watching those for like 2017 and 2016 is like maniac behavior like psychopath i love you and i love neighbor dan and any other psycho you're a psychopath for what it was delightful because it was that year like what what a tragedy it would be to watch that like 2013 video yearbook like oh okay like i i can't there are 10 000 things i'd rather do so anyway continue i just want to i appreciate the praise but like you're a psycho that's my real takeaway from it for watching those other years wouldn't be the first time uh here's my position um they make you feel it 10 times more you gotta

see this is my whole thing this has been my take for a while championships aren't that fun uh for what it's worth this is actually a true jack fritz thing like this is something he believes like going through and being part of the build-up and the heartbreak and the torture and the and this is i don't why do i waste my time and like every September collapsing and all the hope that you would have heading into a season offered to be freaking collapsed. And then you finally break through. And that's why it felt so special. And I know there's a lot of people that jumped on the playoff bandwagon. I understand it.

Welcome aboard. Unlike Jack, I'm very happy to have you. I've come around you did you did you did after your gatekeeper thing you you you've softened your stance we'll say yeah i did um you literally were like i will be the gatekeeper watch it watch the 2018 video yearbook for me one time you know know where we've come from you know before you start it's really about the takes that like it's really the strong opinions from people who i noticed started watching last week you know that was more yeah that was more

my problem and and honestly i i believe this to my core. Of every human I know, there is no one who is bothered by that more. Like that is your number one, this drives me crazy type of thing. Is that fair to say? I would say so. It's just like, you know, it's why I don't like saying go birds. It's because these people from high school who i know couldn't name five eagles from 2000 on uh all the back to gatekeeping we're back to gatekeeping we've come right back to this yeah i know well just it's not gatekeeping it's just a minor annoyance

um but i like going through and reliving it so that honestly, so that I have a, a mental note in the back of my head of like, I've seen this before. I remember what happened here. I remember what happened here. Is this going to happen again? It's all about historical background on our favorite baseball team.

Look at you. So, um, yes, it's work. You're just preparing yourself to be the ultimate Phillies guy. Wow. I appreciate that.

And so this year's yearbook, it was awesome. I wish it was two hours. Yeah. I wish the first. I mean, the playoffs should have been an hour long. You should have played the games. I know. It was like 45.

It was less than half of it was the playoffs, and I know that proportionally it's way... But you could have shown way more. Way more of the playoffs. Well, and the one thing that I would have liked is... It's probably harder now. There's still COVID, liked is a is like a it's probably harder now like um with they're still like covid and um you know i think it's probably harder than it was like back in the day but like some behind the scenes stuff you know like in the in the clubhouse and a little more like

like there was a narrative but it was very choppy you know it's basically like all right we started okay and then it was kind of bad and then then we got good, and then Bryce got hurt. I mean, they didn't even show the Bryce injury, which I thought was a weird choice. They just kind of talked about it. They didn't play the Michael Bourne clip. They didn't play any of that stuff. That's what I mean.

There were so many spots where it felt like you could have stretched. And I understood they kind of jumped over the bad stuff. Like, fine, I get that. Some of us. Some of us. It was like World Series no hit hitter and then the next game was aaron chasman corbin made the catch it was like yeah okay um but like i get it but i'm so with you there were a lot of things that i thought really could have been fleshed out for and i

understand that you're you know it's on youtube like who cares people are they gonna watch it or they're not it's not you have to buy airtime or anything like that it's not like it's on freaking mbc sports fan you're like you have an hour to make this this is a time slot or it's on mbc or whatever like why not give us more why not blow it out especially this i understand if it's an hour an hour and 10 minutes when it's you know 2013 or 2017 or whatever but give us two hours give us two and a half it can't be enough as far as i'm concerned make it a motion picture have a have a day down the ballpark where everyone can come watch it i'm concerned make it a motion picture have a have a day down the ballpark where everyone can come watch it i mean i guess it was like 25 degrees when they

released it so probably not like the the best idea i will say this it is good um and it's important made the most important part of this whole thing james is that it's going to replace like all the bad or the overused rain delay theater. So I didn't think about that. That's a really a great point. Actually. Yeah. If I was the producer,

not that I am one that produces now, but if I am putting it as rain delay theater, I am fast forwarding through the first 45. Oh my God. That's my whole point. Like the first 45 minutes is until we get to like the game in houston i just don't care like you could also like the hater one was fun the veerling hit against toronto with the fourth game five a game like that was fun like there were moments i was like oh yeah that was cool but just give me the

playoff run just make it the playoff run that's all i need um that and like i could i don't know i thought game one in the cardinal series was pretty important and it kind of felt like it just happened well they all did they all did they showed like a highlight or two from those games and yes they were big ones and stuff but it was like there was so much more there was so much like it didn't feel like it was telling me the story as much as just giving me highlights and the highlights were awesome and there were so many great ones but it didn't feel as as narrative driven as much as just like this happened then this happened then this happened you know i mean um i it was funny though like when the the gene

hit went through and they were playing the franski calls and stuff i had this like you know producer brain in the back of my head where i heard the i could just hear the over modulation and it was well you know what's funny no one could fix it dude like it was so bad that even like professional video yearbook like mlb no one could fix how over modulated franski and la were for that moment. Cause they were so excited. And it's funny too. Cause they also cut it before. It's the one moment in the whole run.

It's cause it's the first one. I think it's cause he's so excited. He's back there. It's the one moment where Franski as he's making a big call has like, it's the most minor stoppage, but he has like almost when he's saying it's a three, a three run. Do you know what I mean if we've heard this

clip so many times but it's like the one moment where he kind of like stops for a second because he's so excited like he's so like I can't believe I'm back here and every other call is like perfect from then and they cut it before it was it was I was expecting but it was well producer break yeah um all this

talking is just really I need I want to go back. Well, I mean, I took notes. I did the whole thing. I know. I will say though, I will say not, you know, it's not all good vibes cause it was fun, but I really, honestly, as I was watching it, like I kept thinking of you, I kept thinking of you, the pod we did when they lost the world series.

And now we were both down, but you kept talking about, man, this was so special and it's so hard to have this kind of thing happen i was like as much as i loved and i was crying i was nearing it i did feel that like bleep man like we didn't win like this feels like it should be a world series winning yearbook right like as i'm watching i'm like this is all even the way they talked like we knew what our goal was we knew we had to get there we only had this way more like the whole time it's all about winning the world series then it's like oh we came up two games short and like they did and it is what it is but i felt it man like i felt that like we're right there we we we had it we had the freaking, like, I felt it again. And it was awesome to watch, but I also did feel that pain again, man. I felt the pain again.

Like, really felt it. Well, you weren't the only person that said that to me. You know, there was a lot of people that were like, we should have won. And I think the further and further that we get removed from it, I think we're going to start having that feeling more and more, where it's like, dude, they're up 2-1 in the World Series. They're up 2-1 in the World Series, and they should have won Game 5. You can't convince me otherwise.

They should have won Game 5. I rewatched it the other day. You want to talk about having a sickness? Wow, that's tough. I rewatched it. I could rewatch the game, but I think I would fast forward through the marsha bat the hoskins play and the and the jazz cat i was like oh time to fast forward nothing

happened here just keep going like i i don't think i'm ready for those and the and the hoskins are bad like i don't think i'm ready for those games yeah yeah well i'm proud of you that's tough yeah well it was when i was on vacation and there mlb network was like replaying all the games or whatnot um i did not watch game six i nope yeah no i don't care no no no no no no no no god i forgot i had forgotten and watching thing where schwarber i mean dude that guy hit so many big homers to start off like he just was like all right we need a homer to start this one got you guys no problem like it was dude it's pretty wild man the two homer game the two homer game in houston to yes to clench to clench it was the only two runs like we don't talk about that enough you're so right like and and there's a 45th and 46 or whatever stott had a homer right i think stott had a homer in that

was it three nothing in that one okay yeah either way i thought it was two they might have been stott too but either way like man he the dude just had so many settled out and i got this moment it was really that was one of my big takeaways from re-watching it was just kind of how much shortbird just kind of went out and really set this team on a path you know on a night's night but i it may honestly as someone who's been very staunch and like trey turner should be the lead off of it like i've i've been there it's kind of made me re watching the yearbook. It's kind of, I'm not kidding.

It's kind of made me go back and be like, I don't know, actually like when you start the game with a bomb, like there's something to that. There's something like that really gets it going for you. I, I probably should stop saying this, that until I like figure out what it is,

but I'm like, I love that. Pretty sure that I'm pretty sure that you win 70% of the ball games where you start up one nothing so like what gives you the best chance to go up one nothing that's great um first of bat yeah do it um yeah so you like teams are just trying to find the best way to go up one nothing whatever regardless um you know what moment i think i'm gonna keep going back to is like it's like an underrated unbelievable moment that like i just i'll never forget it um let me guess because i wrote one down because i have a similar moment is it during the season or a playoff moment it's

during the playoff run and okay so i have a season moment that we talked about a lot when i haven't said but i go but in the video yearbook i went back to and it just it really was a special moment go ahead you go first okay so like it's gonna be one of those moments where everyone's gonna talk about the schwarber homer in san diego everyone's gonna talk about the hoskins to homer game the Hoskins, that spike all the moments. Right. But the moment for me that honestly makes me the most happy is the stock double against the brakes where for, and, and why I think it, it matters so much to me is for years,

you and I, and, and our listeners, you know, we would tell people about the CBP roar and like, it just, it's just that little different, like extra level,

level of that. You just don't hear everywhere, you know? Um, and I've heard it at some, at some, like, I think Yankee stadium back in the day had that little extra loudness.

Um, Fenway in the early two thousands had it like there are spots, you know, spots. Like I think a couple of the correct I think the Correa walk-off, not against us, but obviously not because he wasn't there. But there's some moments where it's like, there it is. But the Stott double.

Yeah, it was the first one. It was the first game, first run. You know, 10 years since our last – 11. 11 years since our last home playoff game. The loudest moment probably since, like, what? The Howard Homer off Loesch? I don't know.

Yeah, probably. I mean, since game one against the Cardinals in some form or another, probably. But just the roar. And LA going, listen to this place. And, like, it was just – I'm always going to remember – And a great at bat, too. And a great at bat. And I was the Myers at bat. Yeah, I was the Myers at bat. No, it was just, I'm always going to, I'm always going to remember. And a great at bat too. And a great at bat. And I was the Mars at bat.

Yeah, it was the Mars at bat. No, it's a great one. I was thinking more going back to rewatching the Alec Boe moment and just how cool that was. The way they show with the, you know, him saying, Iep and hate this place. And then, you know, the, the comments after and owning it and then the cheer, like, it really was like a beautiful little, like, you know, a story in three parts or whatever, you know, when people tweet that crap or whatever, like it felt like, I felt like,

you know, I bleep and hate this place. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. I don't hate this place. Standing ovation. Like it was just a really, like it was like, man, like that was cool as hell, dude, because it was such a, and look,

I think the fans and the, they, they hype it up in the video. You know, they do that montage where they were, it's like the fans, the fans, the fans,

you were Dombrowski and Harper and all those guys. But like, it was just cause like the playoff stuff. And I want to get CBP. Cause it's the best part of the yearbook is CBP. I mean, there's just no question. It's unbelievable. It's just as amazing as it was,

but I thought that was a cool moment early in the year. That was just a symbol to everyone of the type of fans that Philly fans are and what we are and how we go about our business. And I thought it was just so perfectly encapsulated in that like one minute and three shots or whatever. I thought it was, I thought it was great. You know? Yeah. And it was great you know yeah and um you know it kind of takes you back and it makes you like alec bohm even more like even more dude even more i've never seen an athlete be that well i mean i'm sure i have but like he was so real you know he's real

he's authentic you can see it on his face you can as he's talking you like feel it like the nerves but also the like i'm owning this. It really was so real. It really was. It felt bad for the guy. Yeah. That's the thing. As I was watching him own it, I was reminded of how young he is. It felt like I'm looking at him like, man,

you're a kid. You're a kid who just got in it with Philadelphia. Philadelphia, you just got in it with Philadelphia. Philadelphia, you just got in it and you're owning it. You're nervous. I had a lot of feels during it. I really did.

I probably welled up 15 times. I was a mess. At one point, I was out and out bawling during it. That's a lot. I might have welled up. You might have welled up? It was like 10 times. Are you kidding me?

They were like... You did none of that? What are you, a robot? I don't know, man. I don't know. I might have to... I watched all the clips that I threw out after. I'll re-watch it.

Yeah, I was feeling it, dude. It was yeah i was feeling it dude it was a little late it was a little late at night when i got back yeah i was i was emotional i felt well you're an emotional guy that's true yeah if one of the two of us were more likely to cry during it it would be me that is without a doubt so well yeah um so overall overall yeah i miss it a lot um it made me it made me want baseball and how about the trey turner shot at the end to the nice little tease where they're like and we have an ownership that's willing to go out and they shot a trey turner's volume i was like man trey turner's affiliate how cool is that like it's nice little add-on at the end um a couple

other things and we'll move on to actual baseball talk um a couple other things from it that i thought stood out uh cbp again just to hammer home like especially having been there for so many of those to watch it and just see it on tv and the noise and the crowd and just how freaking cool it was like it really is special like that is something that that none of us will ever forget. And it was really, um, it was the best environment I've ever been. It was, it was so much like a weight from that standpoint.

It was even better. It was even better. I'm telling you, even better. I was at those games, dude, I wasn't a world series games, but I was at games.

And I was at games that whole run. Like maybe it's just cause it had been so long and I'm older and all that. It felt better to me, but in terms of just pure loudness pure roar I think it was louder in 2022 I really do well we did have a wait uh 11 years with pent up uh that's what I mean I think that was part of it yeah um and then my last thought oh two last thoughts um one being we don't talk enough about the rain before the harper homer and how that set the whole thing up series i forgot about it again and we talked about the time but like in hindsight thank god you know it set up the best moment of the whole run like

thank you for that it's awesome but we don't talk about enough how about how effed up that if we lose that game we go to san diego and lose like we're looking back at that as like Jabba Chamberlain with the Nats or whatever it was, like all these moments where you're like, you know, that ruined it. The rain delay in Indians, Cubs, like Guardians, Cubs now, but Indians at the time, all that. And then the last thing is just having, you know,

heard when they talked about, not talked about, when they played Harper when he was announcing, Bryce Harper could step into the announcing booth right now and be the best announcer in the sport. He's phenomenal. Dude, he runs circles around Alex Rodriguez. The one time he announced, he's that much better. His love of the game, his knowledge of the history of the game,

his ability to talk about the game in an approachable way. I know I thought it at the time when I heard it, but listening to that stuff, I was just Bryce Hart, and I'm sure he doesn't need to be. He's got 330 million reasons that he doesn't need to do that. He loves the game. You never know. He could do it right now. He could step in and be

the best in the sport right now. I believe that's my core. And people forget during that broadcast, Bryce said that Trey Turner is his favorite player in the league. And here we now. I believe that's my core. And people forget during that broadcast, Bryce said that Trey Turner is his favorite player in the league. And here we are. And Trey Turner is a Philly. So that's, everyone needs to be reminded every once in a while that Trey Turner is a Philly.

Yes. And you bring up the Harper Homer. I just still can't believe that you didn't bring in Josh Ader. Like, it's just – Unbelievable. It's got to be up there at the worst managerial decisions of all. And I know that Robert Suarez hadn't allowed a homer to a lefty all year, but it's just like that is insane. I think it's the – like, looking back at the whole run,

I think it's still the biggest, like, I can't believe it moment of the runner. Like, how did that happen? You know. Besides pulling Wheeler and Gabe's honestly, you're honestly, I actually, as I agree, that's close.

I actually think not putting hater in is more indefensible. I really do. Yeah, I really do. Like, like definitively more, you know? Well,

it's, it's that it's the, was it it uh aj hinch not bringing in gary cole it was that leaving leaving uh uh what's his name in helsley in uh to just flounder the car like there were so many of those well i haven't been pulling cantana i mean pulling cantana another one exactly yeah yeah i think marmal's bad. I think Oliver Marmo is a bad man. Well, listen, you know,

not all of us have the baseball experiences of, of Rob Thompson on our side. That's true. Oh, by the way, do two quick questions, uh, two last things about the yearbook,

but they both relate to you. They're both questions for you. One hearing topper said 8 trillion times in that thing. And then reiterating the, how many more topper or this many topper, you know, the whole thing. How many more JT, this may topper said eight trillion times in that thing and then reiterating the how many more topper or this many topper you know the whole thing i mean where jt this may topper like it's a pretty big l for you do you do you feel that as you listen every time you're like oh it should be topper but i lost i'm an idiot i i thought it was tom for it was topper i was i was wrong like is that is that hard to deal with on a day-to-day basis? So, I can't be more thrilled that you keep bringing this up.

I really, it's just, I love talking about this so much. I don't know how much more clear I have to make myself. Like, first off, didn't notice it. So, thanks for ruining the yearbook for me. You will next time you watch it. And second off, I don't know how many times I have to tell you. I understand that some of them call him Topper, but real baseball players would call him Tomper.

That's just how it is, man. Like you little media nerds who never played the game can call them topper media nerds us little us real baseball players know that it's topper so that's my official position um i didn't notice it you have run a yearbook for me and you know how much i love the yearbook and i don't appreciate it so congratulations you've ruined my holidays yeah well then i won't ask you the second one no no ask it ask it it's gonna be how jealous of you the bryson stott kid that he was in like three different scenes and got interviewed you couldn't get in it leader leader of a movement and they got this kid in there for like three

scenes the truth of the matter is the truth of the matter is is that the phils don't appreciate us i know and it's a shame because they are where they are i'm not gonna say totally because of us but at least partially because of so you know yeah we'll remember it when you're in your next world series run you know 10 years from now that's optimistic you think so trend Trend say it won't be that soon. I will say I was at a speaking engagement last night, and a lot of people asked me, like, oh, you think the Phillies are going to win the World Series this year? And it's like, I always say it's really freaking hard.

No, I don't. I mean, they're also not going to have Bryce Harper for the first three-month season. Who knows how long it takes him to get ready to roll that. Let me tell you something. Let me tell you something, pal. I'm just being completely honest with you. Off-season Jack has no idea that Bryce Harper has to.

It hasn't even crossed my mind that Bryce Harper won't be there for opening day. It's so not a thought of mine that I'm going to have to watch 80 games of baseball without Bryce Harper involved in them. I can't emphasize enough how much I just think he's playing opening day. So until he's not in the opening day lineup, I'm going to assume he's in the opening day lineup, if that's okay.

I'm good with it. You know who's going to be in the opening day lineup? that's okay i i'm good with it hey you know who's gonna be in the opening day lineup tray turner yeah uh all right uh baseball baseball um right around the half hour mark is is about when we get like right on brand here right on brand yeah the philly sign that i'm sure people will hear our thoughts on yeah oh you mean slider guy no we'll get to slider guy. Let's start with Craig Kimball. They signed Craig Kimball, Jack. Honestly, in the last

I don't know. I want to say like 10 years of Phillies. Has there been a more predictable signing in the history of the last decade of baseball than Craig Kimball eventually ending up on Dave Dabrowski's Phillies. It was,

we've been talking about it for years. It finally happened, Jack he's here. Oh, lock of the century. I mean, the lock of the entire world was that Craig Kimbrell becomes available. He's a free agent.

Um, and you know, I, I tweeted this, but I feel like it's better to explain on this podcast. Um, again, this is not

confirmed i don't know if it's true or not but i just envisioned dave dembrowski like walking to wherever the the the analytics people are like wherever annie and and and the the superstars are and he walks in and he's like please like can i just have one guys just let me let me get one of my guys just get throw me about throw me about yeah you know and and to their credit to their credit annie and the and the group over there the last couple years they gave him two you know so a couple years ago it's chase anderson and matt moore um last year was jerry's familiar bright hand um cory can able i'll give him a break on like i think Corey Knable, anyone would have signed. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

But, I mean, Familia and Hand were just masterclass. So this year they were like, we'll give you one. And then you know they were sitting there at their desk, and they were like, he's going to say Craig. He's going to say Craig. He's going to say Craig. He's going to say Craig. He's going to say Craig.

Just get him for less than like six. Okay, Dave? Dave, can you make it under six? Fine. I'll sign for ten. Fine. I gave him ten, guys. Fine.

Look at his post. He's in numbers. Oh, wait. He wasn't on the roster. Do you guys realize this is one of the best closers in the history of this sport? Okay? Ever? He's the modern saves leader.

Why don't you nerds? Why don't you nerds open up baseball? Six away from 400. Okay? Six away. History is going to happen. You can't get that kind of experience just lying around. You can't get that.

What are you going to do? Go get a guy with stuff and mold him into a closer? Oh, what a thought. What a thought. Let me get a guy that is routinely choked in big spots for a long time and that when I won a World Series wasn't even the freaking closer when he was actually at his prime. So make Chris sale, close games.

Like it's just like, you know, and, and honestly, it's been this way. You want to learn from that? He like literally live that James. It has been this way since the Phillies got

to him in 2011 at the end of the year where all he had to do was shut them out and that team is in the postseason. But no, he couldn't shut down the Phillies and then the Cardinals got in and ruined the 2011 Phillies. Craig Kimbrell has been blowing

big games forever. It's what he does. He's never been reliable in the postseason. Like, I mean, sure, he'll have some good years because he's nasty and he's had great stuff. But, like, he's never been a great postseason pitcher. He's just been... So he's a Philly.

And that's exciting. So I... a Philly. And that's exciting. So I, it's fine. You know, my, my, one of my core beliefs as a sports fan slash talker is that there's no such thing as a bad one year contract. What about Familia last year? Is that a bad one? I was just kidding. Yes, it was.

It turned out it was. This is testing my limits too. limits too look i think it's fine 10 million is a lot like if you would ask me independent of the phillies what do you think craig kimbrough was signed for what it said like six or seven i would have been like yeah you know like the familiar deal last year like sure you know i i think that's that seems fair 10 million for craigbrell? I think he's fine Look, I think he's fine It's fine to have Craig Kimbrell in your bullpen Don't let him close big games I mean, that's really what I was coming down to And if I had to bet, I'm assuming he's going to be like the de facto closer

I think they will do matchup stuff and all that But I think he's most likely to close, right? I need him not to close big games Like I need Topper to be down to go to Sir Anthony or whatever in those spots. It's a fine signing. There are a lot of other guys I would have rather had. It's the first move this offseason where I'm like,

okay, whatever. I'm really happy. I love Trey Turner. I love Taiwan. I'm happy with this time. Matt Stram, super psyched. Like, you know, it's okay. It Stram super psyched like you know it's okay it's not the worst move ever but it's a one-year deal like whatever I don't like that

his career era in the postseason is 4-1-3 um especially for how nasty he is like you think about how talented that guy is it's absurd that his era is that high um so here's my thing he is here's what i like about it okay what i like about it is you're getting a guy that does have you know his velocity is down a little bit um the slider is not as sharp as it was but you're getting a guy who still throws 95 to 97 ish um that still has white box slider um stuff like that you're getting him off of probably his worst year i mean he was left off a postseason roster like the the dodgers left him off the postseason roster so i think you're getting a motivated craig kimball which i think is important and he was great two years ago

like two years ago, he was really good, you know? So he's only one season removed from having a really nice season. And it seems like he goes good year, bad year, good year, bad year,

good year, bad year. So maybe he goes good year for us this year. It's a one year deal, whatever. It's fine. Gal brought a whole article about how like he, he doesn't think it's gonna be the closer

he thinks that you know they're gonna go you know uh whoever and and play match up seven eight nine and get through a game and while like i i i i see his point i i don't agree like i think kimbrough's the closer and I do too. I do too. Cause I think it's what they, it's essentially what they wanted out of Knievel. Um, I think he's replacing Knievel and they want to make him the closer. And I think they want to have Sir Anthony Alvarado be able to come in before that.

And then, you know, give the ninth to Kimbrough and maybe some nights it's like, okay, the heart of the order is, you know, batting in the ninth and we'll give it to Sir Anthony or whatever. But I just, I'm walking into the season expecting Craig Cromwell to be a closer.

Like I think he's going to be the closer. So that's worrisome. He was good in the first half of last year. Good. A couple of years ago at the Cubs was It was a disaster with the White Sox, and they tried to make him Liam Hendricks' setup guy. If your idea is that you want to go get a guy that is flexible 7-8-9, then get a guy that's done it.

Kimbrel's never done it, and done it well. I think 580 of his 700-some innings in baseball have been in the ninth inning. So I just would have preferred a flexible guy, and I just don't think he's that flexible. So again, it's okay. It's fine. I'm not super psyched about it.

I think there's a chance of the bounce back off of a down year. I think he's going to be the closer. I'm not buying the, no, they're going to keep rotating him in and out like i don't think that's gonna be the case so um we'll see we'll see i hope it works out um but i'm not like super psyched about it yeah we're in the exact same place about it like literally exactly the same so the bullpen as a whole um because i think we feel really good about the lineup and obviously when when Harper comes back, we feel unbelievable about the potential of that lineup. And I think the starting rotation, especially with the potential of Andrew Painter on the horizon, is exciting, though there's still little light in terms of the depth at that spot.

But I think you look at the pen and I think there are real questions. You know, Sir Anthony, I think we feel great about. Alvarado, we feel great about. But let's also remember it's literally just three months of elite production from him and other – you know, he's in the minors, as the video yearbook reminded me halfway through that season. So it's not something we can call a lock. You know, it's a lot of question marks in the bullpen.

And I think more than anything, not a ton of depth. I think, you know, we've talked about Griff McGarry as a potential salve for that. Like the kind of thing where, you know, if you, if you just commit to him being a reliever this year at a certain point in the season, he could be a impact guy there for you. But are you at all concerned that there's kind of a lack of depth and, and really a lack of, of high end guys at the back end that you can trust? Uh, on paper, yes.

Um, but at the same time, you know, I think Griff's going to be there, which is, I think, adding a power arm. And a guy who we haven't talked about enough and someone that I think is legitimately going to make a difference in this bullpen and kind of has a feel of 2018 Sir Anthony is Drew Baker. Drew Baker's this kid who throws 100. There's been a lot of buzz all offseason that, like,

he's the next big bullpen prospect to kind of, you know, get up here and make a difference. They haven't really had many of those guys. Yeah. I mean, Sir Anthony. I just think. And Connor. And Brogdon. I think we're going to have to.

I think we're going to have to come to terms with they're going to go the younger route. I definitely don't think they like signing relievers again. I mean, every offseason has been a disaster. I don't think they like trading for older relievers to the deadline. I mean, Robertson, by the way, speaking of which, real quick, I would rather have Kimbrell for $10 million than Robertson for $10 million. Oh, without a question. By miles. By miles. Real quick, I would rather have Kimbrell for $10 million than Robertson for $10 million. I just want to put that out there. Without a – by miles.

By miles. So – Like, it's not even – I mean, Kimbrell's ceiling is, like, way higher. It's not even close. So, yeah, I'm with you. So, I think it's going to be a lot of kids, and I think they're going to put a lot of people in positions. I think they have some good stuff. I'm okay with that.

I'm okay with that. I mean, you're making me feel better. You're making me feel better. That's how a lot of bullpens. I think they have some good stuff. I'm okay with that. You're making me feel better. That's how a lot of bullpens are put together these days. Agree. We just haven't had kids. You forget it's an option. That doesn't happen here, Jack. We think about, oh, we got to sign guys because they've not done this. They've been so bad

at bringing up these kids. They're going to be impact relievers. That's a positive sign. I hope Griff, I hope Baker, I hope these kids can make a difference. Cause I do, I do think it's something they're going to need. Well,

and then hopefully another year of Brockton getting more comfortable. Baladi. I forgot about the light. But I was good. I like, but I do. I like Connor and Baladi. I think they're,

they're dudes. I feel like I like Nick Nelson more than everyone, but I, I, I be ecstatic. Never see that guy throw another pitch. Oh, that's not nice. Couldn't be out more out

on Nick Nelson. Look, is your 13th guy in the pen? Sure. It's fine. We've watched a lot of bad 13th guys. I know. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. That's fine. I'll take it. I'll take it. All right. Do your thing.

Slider. We're 41 minutes into the pod. The next 25 minutes are yours on Slider Guy or whatever. Don't go to me. I'm not kidding. I'm kidding. Slider Guy. Go ahead.

I don't even know his name. I don't know his name. I know he's Slider Guy. Eric Ullman. Eric Ullman. Very excited. So I'm giving you this time. Go ahead.

So, okay. I promise you, like, I know in the past, I've gone over the top sometimes. I've been known to do that in the past. And I'm trying, I'm trying my best not to do that anymore. So,

trying to temper expectations. And that's probably fair because this kid's like, you know, whatever. He's a rookie last year that the four-year um but here's what i love is he had a 50 percent but he's the next ryan mattson yes not not a slider guy you know i mean like just come up with like but i think he's the next tre Hoffman and he's going to be the greatest reliever. We ever could be, it could be Mariana.

Um, no, but so he had like a 50% whiff rate on a slider last year and he threw it about 20% of the time. Meanwhile, his fastballs are, uh, got kind of lit up a little bit.

So the, uh, the Phillies being the team they are like, I'm sure they saw, you know, 50% whiff rate on a freaking slider. And they were like, okay, we'll increase that usage to 40 some percent. We'll mix in our patented Phillies cutter at this point,

which is what they do now is they just have guys throw cutters. But we did. And he throws, he throws 95 to 97. He struck out Nick Cassidy on us this year. So you're heading towards new Mo. That really is the endgame of this. No, no, no. I think he has the ability to work his way into high leverage innings.

Cool. I wasn't a Bilotti guy, you know, and the fact that he was taking out big innings for this team I thought was massive. So, like, I think we need to start putting him, like, I think starting the season, like, I think people are going to think he is in the 8 to 10 in the bullpen. I think he's going to end up top five. Yeah, I was going to say fifth.

Like, I think if I were to order my bullpen guys now, and obviously, you know, they might see it differently, but it's Sir Anthony Alvarado. Sir Anthony Alvarado won two without a doubt. And then, I mean, Kimbrel's going to be three in terms of where he'll be put. I don't know if he'd be there for me, but Kimbrel will be three. But then it's Pallotti and Brogdon for me. Those are my next two guys in some order.

Probably Brogdon and Pallotti, but they're right there. And Strom, we haven't seen, but I think he's right there too. Strom better be there. Those are your six, though, right? Those are, at least going into the season, I think those are your six dudes, right? Like those are at least going into the season. I think those are your six dudes that you count the most on, I think outside of young guys who have to prove. So, and just looking at his stuff, I think the slider is really good.

I think it's going to be tough to, to kind of, I think, I just think it's nasty. It's, it's, it's Pilates ish, you know, but the thing is with his, he throws the sinker, you know, because he has a traditional sinker arm slot. He looks like he should be able to develop more depth to it. So we'll see if they can work on it a little bit. They can get him in the pitching lab or whatever. But the thing that has me the most excited about it is it's such a raise and Dodgers move where you just like you steal a guy the guy was a rookie last year for the cubs he had a 280 ra and triple a the year before like he uh he the righties hit

i think two 200 again 210 against him um you know he's he's young and it just feels like an asset that he kind of just stole from the cubs and the cubs have you know they've been bad in the last couple years but i think they're they the one thing that they are doing well is developing some pitchers and guys that have some stuff so i don't know just screams like a thing that annie and and smart teams do so how many how great is it to have the phillies like do smart stuff like the last year and a half for the first time in the like six years we've done this podcast or five and whatever it is we've like we keep being like oh this seems like a seems like a thing smart teams do it just feels so foreign it's great dude it's so exciting well and you

talked about that the army guy uh what is his name no uh yeah no song like that that's the kind of stuff smart teams do like we're seeing so many of these things along the way where we're like wow like that's something the Rays would do that's something the Dodgers would do like it's it I want to like emphasize how freaking cool that feels because I feel like we've asked for it so many times like we're just I don't want it to be casual that we're just like that's the thing smart teams do and the Phillies are doing it it's pretty cool well even like Bilotti I mean Bilotti was signed as like a minor league free agent or whatever. They turned him into a legitimate option. And one guy I think that we're not talking about as a member of this –

like, here's my thing. I think after Strom, like Strom's going to be in the bullpen, Bilotti, Brogdon, Sir Anthony, Kimbrough, and Alvarado. Like, those are the six. I think everyone down from that point down it's going to be rotating um and i think this kid's going to be a part of it uh the luis ortiz kid they picked up off waivers from the giants i like a lot um i i actually do like i know you do trust me i know you do buddy i know you i can see on your face right now ah he's got something he's now. He's got something.

He's got something. He's got something. He's got a slider curveball combo that I think they can work with and make better. So he's got to look out for. But a guy that we don't bring up as really a member of this bullpen that I think has a chance to have a really, really good year is Coonrod. I mean, the guy two years ago was pretty good for this bullpen now um gets gets fully healthy coming off the injury like doesn't get talked about as being a key member because i think people don't totally trust them but there are stretches during 21 where

he's just like lights out um and people thought he could be the closer so you know maybe another year you know remove cutter working in there co know, remove Cutter working in there. Coonrod could work his way up there. So, yeah, it's a great point. Drew Baker, Coonrod, this kid, Luis Ortiz, Griff McGarry, Nick Nelson. It's good. And so you did Nick. It's good.

It's dudes. Get some dudes. Just get a bunch of dudes, especially in modern baseball. But we always talk about, right? We talk about these teams with depth. Like the Braves, just bring a guy up. He pitches 10 innings for them in a couple weeks, and then goes back down on this.

They just have guys, and it's starting to. You need starter guys too, but I think it's really important. All right, last thing I got baseball-wise, and then I'm guessing there's not much in the take bag. Don't doubt me. I mean, I hope there's not. We're 48 minutes in. Correa. There's not much in the take bag, but don't doubt me. I mean, I hope there's not. We're 48 minutes in Correa.

I mean, Carlos Correa, buddy. He is still not signed at this moment. We did a whole pod being like, oh, big balls going. He is credit. You know, try to do it. This is a wild situation. Like like i don't ever remember we talked about when it happened i don't ever remember um a situation like that where a team announced it it was this big thing and we've seen a few of those like frank gore with the eagles and what's

in the and aaron judge but that was like that night and it was it was john hayman saying it this is the team saying hey we're signing carlos correa this is happening like everyone in the world saying it then it's oh, it's not happening. And now for this to happen again, pretty wild, man. Pretty wild. I hope it doesn't work out with the Mets. End up getting him cheaper, and it ends up working out for the Mets, which is where I

feel like this is trending, so I don't love it, but pretty wild. Well, here's the thing, is that I think it's hilarious how Steve Cohen's like, oh, we're getting a difference maker here. He's the missing piece. And like, Correa's great. I mean, Correa's awesome.

But going from that to we have concerns about the medical, like there's got to be something really going on, like to go from. Yes. Or even them. So really, I think what's happening. Especially because Colm was like, I don't even care. We're good. Like, we trust it

like that he made public comments about it and for two teams to not sign this guy i mean that says something dude yeah i i think it ends up he signs like for four years for five years i agree i agree or there's something sort of a team opt out maybe it could be something like that where the team can opt out after there's gonna be be something. There's going to be something. And you know, if you're a Mets fan, there's a little part of you. Like,

I know if we signed him longterm, it's going to be a disaster. Like there's, there's gotta be a little part where you're like, Hey, he's great. Maybe for four years, you know?

So it's funny. I, I think he's going to be a Met though, regardless. I do too. And there'll be good. And they'll be good. Whatever. He's going to torch us.

Look, if anyone can get the most money out of the Mets in this situation, it's Scott Boras. So do your thing, Scott. Yeah, do your thing. Do your thing. All right. What do you got in the take bag? What do I have in the take bag?

Let's just... Slider guy. But we did that. Oh. Is Schwarber going to bat closer to 250 next year with no shift like this oh so we have not talked enough about that like i i i liked um like joey gallo like those type of players who are kind of like lost like those are the guys i would have thought about and that he didn't it's not a fit here right now but I think there are guys who have historically been kind of you know pushed to the side because of this who could have you know real like I don't know if it'll be I mean that would be what a a 30 or 40 point jump

in average that might be a little high but I think like a 20 point jump in average something I think it's gonna make a difference I really do well the one thing that was making me think about it is that if you're Kyle Schwarber I think I think for the last four years or whatever, he's kind of like, listen, I can't get through the shift anyway because I'm not fast enough. I'll just try to hit the ball over the fence. So I wonder if there's a part of Schwarber that's like the right side is kind of opened up now. He gets back to being like at Indiana and coming up like, yeah, he was always a a good hitter a good pure hitter so i wonder if he sacrifices a bit of the power for more base hits this year because like i think it's gonna be easier for him to to hit him rather than last couple years where there's like a freaking third

baseman playing it's a really good point it's a really interesting point man i dig it so um we'll see um you know gene's going to kill us, man. Like, you know, it was crushing. Like, I'm very happy with Trey Turner. There was a part of me that's like, oh, damn it. Like, I'm going to miss Gene, man. The players are going to miss him. And I think you saw that in the –

I think that was another thing in the yearbook that you saw, like the way those guys reacted, Gene, every time. You know, even early on in the season, they showed him in a Homer and everyone in the dugouts just getting so excited as he's looking in, like the dude was infectious. It was clear. And then you saw it in like the Instagram thing where all the players were doing the crying faces and I'll miss you. And I was like, it felt real.

It felt like the connection that, that Gene had in that locker room was, was a real thing and a meaningful thing so i'm with you i think they're gonna miss him if nothing else certainly behind the scenes and you know what i'm gonna miss having jimmy cigarettes on the team like that was a fun freaking nickname i love james cigarette jimmy sigs james cigarillos like i love having fun with it it's all gone it's a shit well i mean that was your nickname back in the day you know it was a good little throwback they called me jimmy cigarellos yep yep um but uh this is a this is a direct message to the entire fan base when gene returns give him a real standing uh big time

we will we will i don't think you need to do that i i feel very confident they will not like the uh not like the double or whatever the 200th oh well that was that was silly i think people really will though i think people appreciate it that was the silliest that was the funniest thing so funniest part of his whole tenure with that the funniest thing that happened the entire time he was here with anyone was that it was the best yeah I'm gonna miss Gene and like the thing I miss the most about Gene is remember like how mad he would get if someone walked in front of him like if they if they walk the guy in front of

him to get to him he was always walking it off like if I could if I could find a way to and that we saw in the playoffs too so good so good so gonna miss Gene and yeah I wish him the best except against us obviously in miami and then final thing here uh congratulations to or i mean uh congratulations i think to jim salisbury um who is the grander do we know is he going somewhere new well no i just

i mean he's i mean to think he's retiring. Whatever he's doing, what a run, man. I mean, the dean of Phillies baseball. The real ones remember me getting out alpha by Jim Salisbury my first time. I think we actually had someone in the chat.

I think it's the top. There we go. Shout out to Jersey. Yeah, Jersey Josh. Of course course i should have known uh jim sir jim salzer he needs to out alpha jack one more time yeah yeah who could forget i couldn't i'll tell you that yeah so um i'm gonna miss jim i love his coverage i love his tweets uh those articles those love love like the three times a year where he gets into it with yeah like nick aseanos we'll never forget that one buddy or gerardi and um down in uh dunedin with with gene a couple years ago um so i'm gonna miss i'm gonna miss uh jim and i hope that he's covering phil's baseball somewhere

if he wants or doing whatever he wants to do um i'm gonna miss jim uh there's nothing funnier like he would always just give me crap about stuff and it was just like yeah yeah like this is it's looking at it me you know it's like holy crap like that's jim salisbury you know so it's like it's a bit like this guy's messing with me you know that's funny but also like holy gosh it sounds great so yeah i'm gonna miss him hopefully he's covering phil's baseball and uh good luck and whatever whatever he's doing yeah and uh you know as both of us have interacted with jim have talked to him like couldn't be a nicer dude like he's an awesome guy he's always been willing to come on our shows and all that kind of stuff like

just a really really great guy and and again to the point made made before, no offense to anyone else who covers the Phillies. The Phillies have a great group of journalists. Jim was the dean. He was the number one dude. He is the king of the Phillies beat. So it's going to be really weird if he's not on it. Either way, if he's happy, I'm happy.

But hopefully he ends up somewhere else covering the Phillies beat because it certainly won't be the same without him. All right, you got any final thoughts, Fritzie? Final thoughts. It's a brassy talk today where it seems like all the major moves are kind of done, which is sad. It was a bummer. It was a bummer to hear.

Used to this time. Really, free agency just starting to ramp up. But that's all right. They've made none of their signings yet. Yeah, that's all right um but either way uh we'll we'll figure out stuff to talk about i think uh so yeah we'll figure out stuff and hopefully get back on our once a week schedule up until uh we haven't been bad we just did we're on vacation for one week one week one week sorry again tweets all right yo all right high hopes

history we've been amazing all right we've gone like weeks at a time in the off season before so you know you're welcome thank you very much yeah we're back yeah we're here weekly we took off for christmas sorry for taking off a week um we didn't even take off for christmas new year's whatever either way um i had a final thought and I lost it because I just got so frustrated right there, Jack. I was so frustrated that people would give us crap for that. It makes me upset, Jack. It kills my soul.

You're right. You're right. You know what? It probably wasn't anything that great anyway. Beer. Please spread some seltzer. See you later.