High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - THE DIDI GREGORIUS EMERGENCY PODCAST

Episode Date: December 11, 2019

The Phillies signed a new shortstop today and James Seltzer and Jack Fritz are here to talk about it. 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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See app for details. This is the High Hopes Podcast. High Hopes. It's a bunch of baseball nerds talking about the Philadelphia Phillies on Radio.com and Sports Radio 94 WIP. Yo! It is Another edition of the

High Hopes Podcast and no Jack Fritz My voice has not Gotten any better I'm still fighting this thing But the Phillies are actually Making moves in December This time we have to talk about them Sir Didi

Is here Sir Didi is here. Sir Didi. I like that. I'm so – well, he's actually knighted. Like, Didi Gregorius is actually a knight if we want to be serious about this. I mean, it's not every day that Phillies can go out and sign a guy that is both very good at baseball and also a knight. He's really a knight? Yeah, he's really knighted.

Where? Wow. It's actually a knight? Yeah, he's really knighted. Where? Wow. It's actually Sir Didi Gregorius. I'm not lying. Okay. You would never lie to the High Hopes listeners. I have never lied to the High Hopes listeners, and I don't plan on starting now.

Certainly not about something so ridiculous and so easily look-up-able. Yes. Now, ever since he's been signed by the Phillies, which is now a couple hours old, I've had the same. So you remember my weird brand-new Pavetta thing? Of course. So I have a new one.

Who could ever forget such a strange thing? So i have a new one who could ever forget such a strange thing so i have a new one and i don't know if we have ever discussed this on the high hopes podcast but are you a biggie or tupac guy biggie yes yeah i don't really like it does I like both of them I know I do too no I really do I think I think they were both absolutely unbelievable I I just I'm a biggie guy but I agree with you I think Tupac's great too so you know the one biggie song that starts off like where it's like notorious you know that one yeah no no notorious yeah yeah so so for and jill's sitting right next to me um yeah i can see where this is going with that grow grow gorgorius yeah so i've just been walking around downtown ardmore just being like gregorius gregorius

how does bill deal with you uh i don't know. Jill's holding up. But we were standing at a red light and I did it for like, I don't know, at least the hundredth time of the night. And she snapped. And, you know, she's not gotten over the Gregorius.

But it's okay. Tough times don't last. Tough people do. And I'm very excited that DD is here. I love that he turned down Gabe and the Giants. And I love that he turned down Ben Harris and the Brewers. And I love that he turned down the Reds because the Reds are pointless. And I'm just excited to watch that dude play baseball

and like all my yankees fan friends say the same thing like didi's the best you're gonna love him and i'm just excited to learn to love didi gregorius yeah i was gonna make the yankee fan 2.2 all my yankee fan buddies just love the guy. Like, I actually got a text back when I was just like, what do you think of Didi? And the text back was actually, I love him. Like, literally. Like, they are big Didi fans. He had some big postseason runs for them too, which I love.

And, look, he's a really good baseball player. And he'll be the best shortstop they've had defensively since who, Jack? Since him? J-Roll. I was going to say. I know. Ready, ready. But he's a really, you know, whatever the phrase gold glove caliber means, like he's that, you know, he's a really good defensive shortstop.

You know, he's not Andrelton Simmons, so he's not going to win a gold glove in the American League or anything like that. But he's a really good defensive shortstop and also a really good hitting shortstop. He's not Andrelton Simmons, so he's not going to win a gold glove in the American League or anything like that, but he's a really good defensive shortstop and also a really good hitting shortstop. I mean, he's got a lot of pop. He had, what, 26 homers, 25 homers in 17, 27, and 18. Hit 16 homers in 82 games last year after coming back from the Tommy John. He's got some pop. He's a solid hitter. The strikeout rate went up a little bit last year. Walk rate went down, but usually pretty consistent in those areas throughout the rest of his career. He's just a really good baseball player.

He is a really good baseball player. And I think that something that's going to make Phillies fans very, very excited. And this is from Alex Fast on Twitter. So, Didi Gregorius is 110 career homers. 92% of those home runs have been pulled home runs. Citizens Bank Park allowed the eighth most home runs to lefties in 2019, which is the third most in NL ballparks. So that's huge, huge for Didi.

And I think Citizens Bank Park, it ranks as the, I think it's the eighth most front. Okay. So this is from Alex Bass as well. For those curious as to where Yankee Stadium ranked for pulled fly balls to lefties so it ranked 11th in baseball and pulled fly balls for lefties huh i would have guessed it was way higher with that short porch right but citizens bank park was seventh so um for lefty

hitters citizens bank park was actually better those fly balls. I'm actually genuinely surprised by that. So am I. So am I. But he had multiple 25-plus home run seasons with the Yankees. Obviously, Yankee Stadium is kind of its own animal. I mean, some balls get out of there that are ridiculous. But it's not like Citizens Bank Park balls don't go out of. They legitimately added a 25 home run threat a really

really good defensive shortstop and a just phenomenal clubhouse guy today and they're they really are building a a clubhouse that i think people are going to want to be around for 162 games a year you know i mean i think that's the big thing that they learned from 2018 was how clubhouse culture matters. And sure, Carlos Santana is a good clubhouse guy. Some of those teams or some of those guys that came in the deadline just did not mesh well with the rest of the guys in that clubhouse. They kind of figured it out last year when they brought in McCutcheon. Obviously, Bryce Harper is a good clubhouse guy. In adding Didi Gregorius, you're just adding another fantastic clubhouse guy. So they're building a team that is, I just think it's going to be so likable on the field, but just as likable off the field, especially if McCutcheon

comes back from that injury. I think that injury was definitely a fluke injury. You just don't see torn ACLs in baseball that often. They're building a team that I think Philadelphia is going to really enjoy watching every night. I think that's what Didi's going to bring. I think Didi's going to bring really, really strong play from the shortstop position. I think he's going to get the balls. He's going to make some plays that are just like, man man that's just crazy from a defensive perspective from a shortstop and i don't know man i don't know i've watched a lot of dd highlights last couple days i've been getting ready for this i'm

i i'm i'm surprised it's only one year but as you've said many times, James, there's no such thing as a bad one-year deal. You're damn right. It may only be one year, but that's fine. It's good for him. He gets to hopefully rebuild. If he can come in here for one year, rebuild his value, turn into a stud again here, that's a win for the Phillillies and they can decide if they want to keep him or whatnot and guess what if they let him walk after this one year they're

gonna get a good comp pick for him like you think they'd be at least be able to at least get a good comp pick for him he you know offer him a qualifying offer or whatnot so it's really just a win-win all around it moves the gore off thestop, gets him to play second base, where I just think that's where he kind of profiles at this point in his career. You know, last year he made 20 errors at shortstop. He's not really an everyday shortstop anymore. Let him go to second base. You're basically adding a 300 hitter at second base, which I think is huge.

If you can get 25-plus home runs for shortstop and then Kingery at third base. Well, we'll get there. We'll get there. Let's stick on Didi for a second. Let's stick on Didi. I know. Come on. You're getting through the whole lineup.

We'll get there. I was going to ask you about that next. There's so much I need to get into. I know, but hold on. Let me respond to your clubhouse point. You're making like 10,000 points. I haven't had a chance to respond to any of them. Listen.

Can I be honest, though? Can I be honest? Yes, yes. I didn't take a breath during that entire time. I know. Feeling a little lightheaded. I know. I think that I want to just hammer home the clubhouse point

because I think that's really important. And especially a guy like Didi who can come in and be Girardi's guy in that clubhouse. I think that's really important for a new manager, a new staff, when they come in to just have their guys and guys who know how they like to go about things, who can maybe relay messages to other players in ways that that manager wants things done or whatever that is just, I just think that that's an added bonus

to having a guy like Didi, who is already, like you said, a culture clubhouse guy, who, but like also knows Joe Girardi, who's in a new spot and we've talked about the respect that Girardi's going to command in the locker room I think having a guy like Didi choose the Phillies over other teams to come play with Girardi I think that only enhances that as well so I just think I'm with you I think it's a win-win from every perspective and like you said it is a one-year prove-it deal which I think there's no such thing as a bad one-year deal. And a one-year prove-it deal is the better type of deal. And $14 million is a really fair price for Didi.

So now, Jack, let's move on to what it means for the rest of kind of the situation. So you seem pretty – I came in thinking this definitely means Kingery at third and Segura at second. I just don't think Segura has the arm or really defensive prowess to stick at third. And I just think Kingery is better there. Do you think it's a lock that kind of plays out that way? We'll get into some of the other rumors. But if they don't add a big name, which we'll get into,

do you think it plays out that way with the guys they have now? Yeah. name, which we'll get into. Do you think it plays out that way with the guys they have now? Yeah, I just think that they wanted to move Segura off the shortstop, get him to second base, and then Kingery can play third. And then if Boehm looks like he's just hitting the cover of the ball down in AAA, he seems like he can maybe hold down third base. They bring him up, can maybe hold down third base they bring him up and then it turns into a rotation of kingery hazely boom and just kind of play it out whether kingery's in center field carries at third base hazely takes another step forward like there's there's a lot of interesting ways where this where this could play out and like i'm just i'm just excited to see i just excited to see this all kind of work. Like, it didn't really make too much sense to me, you know,

without adding Adidi into the fold. Like, it felt like they were missing something. But now that you add in Adidi, you let Segura play second base, you let Kingery play third base, like, that's a pretty play third base, that's a pretty strong infield. That's a pretty strong infield. That's something that you can win with. It's a strong offensive infield too. I mean, that's some bats.

Certainly, I know Kingery may be a lighter hitting third baseman comparatively, but a good bat. But a middle infield of Segura and Didi from an offensive perspective is pretty high end. Right, and I think Segura is only going to – I think his defense is only going to go up in value as he moves to second base. I don't think he – like he's not a disaster of a shortstop. He's just like he can't get to the same kind of balls.

And I just think if he has less responsibility at second base, like you're going from a guy who can who can definitely play shortstop uh in in gene segura to putting him at second base and replacing a guy like cesar hernandez who i mean we saw last year he had he had the mental lapses in the field um and his offense took a hit and you're you're replacing that with gene segura who was an all-star a year ago. And I know he's an all-star as a shortstop a year ago. So I know that, uh,

we are down ish on Segura and I think they would, if they could move him, I think they would. I said, I'm not sure he's going to, uh, uh, agree to it.

Yeah. But like going from Cesar Hernandez to, to Jean Segura is a, is a pretty significant upgrade. And then going from Segura to Didi Gregorio is also an upgrade. And then going from Michael Franco to anybody, a living, breathing baseball player is an upgrade.

So they really, they really upgrade all around on the infield uh and for for only one year of dd i mean you have no idea like maybe maybe even it would be a really really fast track for for bryson stott to be available next year at opening day um but he is obviously a college guy he he hit right away when he came to williamsport so you never know i mean you never know if bryson stotts is able to go next year or dd just plays out of his mind and and he loves playing for joe gerardi and they just keep him around and and let him continue to kind of grow um with this core it's again there's there's no such thing as a as a bad one-year deal and it's uh

it's a it's an exciting day it's and it's really for me it's cool that guys want to play for joe gerardi like it's cool that yeah i think that's super cool like the guys in new york love playing for him so much that they want to come play for him in a brand new city. And it certainly seems like a guy like Dylan Batances could be next. Didi is kind just to start. And listen, listen, I think the most important thing, James, is that maybe now we're becoming the Philadelphia Yankees rather than the Philadelphia Orioles. Yeah, that's true.

And Middleton is becoming Steinbrenner just not in the way we thought. He's just getting Steinbrenner players, you know, like the other Steinbrenners. Yeah, we're getting away from the Dan Duquettes, and we are going more towards the Yankees model. You've got Brian Barber in here. I'll take that. I would say, would you say that Didi is the third most important former Yankee that has joined the Phillies this offseason?

Number one being Brian Barber. Number two being Joe Girardi. Number three being Didi Gregorius. Number three being the guy actually playing in the 162 games. Yes. Is it also fair to say that Didi Gregorius has been the most clutch Yankee shortstop in the last 25 years? Oh, I don't know how you couldn't say it, Jack.

I mean, who else is there even to have a discussion, right? I mean, no other clutch guys I can think of. Maybe 15 years from now, there will be a Hall of Fame vote where people are only voting for Didi Gregorius. Look, I'm with you. I think you kind of nailed on pretty much everything from the D perspective. He makes them better, and he makes them better on and off the field and in both phases of the game and at a position where they really need it.

Again, I think Phillies fans, and I think it's part of the reason, we know it's part of the reason they loved Freddie Galvis so much, but it really is a, it means a lot when you watch a team 162 games in a year, night after night after night, to have a good defensive shortstop. You can't overrate it enough to just know that that part of the field is taken care of because it's so massively important. I think that's going to really be nice to have that back, Jack. All right, let's get to the other potential infield heavyweight type of things that could happen. And you know where I come down on the likelihood of this first one. But like right after we finished recording last time, it came out, Matt Gelb, a really good article in a report basically saying there was an internal directive to not go over the luxury tax. And you text me, you're like, crap, you're right. Yeah. You know? And then like the next day,

our old pal, Bobby Nightingale comes out with the Scott Boris special and, uh, and, uh, says that, uh, the Phillies and John Middleton luxury tax be damned or in on Anthony

Rendon. What do you make of this? What's the real story? What do you believe? Well, I mean, if you call him Anthony Rendon. What do you make of this? What's the real story? What do you believe? Well, I mean, if you call him Anthony Rendon again... Rendone. I don't think we can do this podcast anymore. I'm sick.

Give me a pass. It came out. No, no. I don't think it did. I don't know. The way that all went down in my head was like John Middleton saw the quotes from Matt Gelb. And he saw the quotes. He saw the conversations on Twitter the next day he saw the um the the you listen to wip the whole next

day with people melting down about the luxury tax and i kind of envisioned you know andy mcphail sitting there blabbering on and on to john about oh we can't do this we can't do that and then i kind of just envisioned john middleton like you know like taking a pen like slamming against the wall and then getting really mad at andy mcphail and like causing andy mcphail to go into like a journal position than being afraid to to ever speak to john again um this is a very involved vision you've had i thought about a lot i'm actually a little worried about you i envision like annie mcphail was just talking on and on for a couple hours about you know we can't go over the luxury tax we can't do this we can't do that and then john just being like no like we're gonna do it like we're just gonna go after it we're gonna you're gonna go all in um my whole thing on

luxury tax and it kind of did change a little bit with the DD signing, is that I thought they were going to go over the luxury tax for the right guy. I thought they'd go over it for a guy like Anthony Rendon, Strasburg before he signed that contract, Garrett Cole if his market kind of fell that way. I thought they would go in on him. I think he would pay the luxury tax for the right player like i think he would pay the luxury tax for the right player i think he would pay the luxury tax for um a guy though that would kind of push this team closer to a world championship but after the dd signing like it's one year 14 million they're only a couple million away from the luxury tax they don't really have a choice but to go over

at this point and if you're john middleton like you're gonna go over it anyway why not go more over it you know what i mean like cool because you get taxed for but sure no no but you only get taxed for it up to 240 million like it doesn't really change you know until you hit the and look either way the tax is is a drop of the bucket for of john middleton's money so to an extent but like but like if you're to no extent what's the tag ends up being like three million six million ten million max like i mean like that's nothing for john middleton he's a billionaire jack and plus and plus if you go over this year uh we've talked about this a lot but now even when you add in dd like there's more money that's going to come off the books after next

season so they could easily reset it if they do go and try to sign one of the big fish if they if they go after rendon or even donaldson like would i would i be surprised if they still continue to pursue josh donaldson and try to get him on a two or three year deal. I wouldn't because I think when I think if John's looking at the team right now and he's like, all right, we just signed Zach Wheeler. Mack Lentak said that they're as good of a one, two punches. There isn't the NL. It's like Matt. I mean, like I know I know a lot of people like like, what are you expecting to say?

Not that is the point. Like, just don't say that. Just say, hey, we've got a great one-two punch. I mean, really, here's the big problem. When there are two one-two punches in your own division, which obviously a lot of people point out that are better, I mean, just rein it in a touch, Matthewthew come on i feel he just can't help himself oh it's uh it's brutal man he did the same thing he did the same thing last year when i was like

we had an objectively excellent offseason yep he can't help you're right you're right he can't help he's got he's got a self-promote he gets so confident in himself, which is fine, but relax, Matt. I will say, if you take out the NL East, it is a good one-two punch. It's a very good one-two punch, but you look like a fool when you say it in your own division. I think if Jon Melts is looking at having the best one-two punch in the history of baseball at the top of the rotation like I think you can kind of put away the 2010-2011 Phillies

um they don't even compare with the front two in this rotation so I think if he looks at those two I hope it was a Freudian slip because they're gonna sign Garrett Cole and he was thinking about Cole and Nola and that's what he was actually talking about right right um and he sees that he says sees Didi being brought in like I don't know how I don't know how you as a competitor and when I watch John Middleton I see his actions like you can kind of see the competitive fire in his eyes and I don't know how you can be a competitor and see that your team is already... If Didi and Zach Wheeler both have good seasons, they're realistically adding two...

They're adding about seven wins by adding both Wheeler and Didi. I legitimately think they're adding about seven wins. I mean, Didi's been a four-win player back in 2017 and 2018. Each of those two years, he was a four-win player. And Zach Wheeler was a four-win player last season. He was even more than that in 2018. You're adding two four-win players. They're legitimately, at a minimum, they're seven wins better than they were last year. I don't know how you can get to that point and just not try to take it over the top. And I know it's money. I know luxury tax.

I know that. But the penalty in the Phillies going over the luxury tax this offseason would be about the equivalent of signing a crappy middle reliever. Like, just go over it. Just go over it and just get you a step closer. Like, Klintzak's job's on the line and kind of I would I do want to give some credit to Matt Klintzak so far this offseason in that he hasn't you know jeopardized the future for his own personal gain like this could realistically be Matt Klintzak's last offseason he's not going so hell-bent to where it's like he's clearly

just a desperate GM trying to make the playoffs next season. He's been pretty tactical in his decisions. So far. So far. But the Wheeler contract looked like a lot at the moment. It looks better after the Strasburg contract.

The Strasburg contract is just insane, man. It's crazy. It's crazy. $7,245? Yeah, I think I'd rather pay Wheeler a $5. I never thought. We said before I think I'd rather have Strasburg no matter what.

I might. I don't know for sure that I'd definitely rather have Wheeler in his contract, but I think I would. I'm just excited for the post. Like when the scherzer contract runs out the wheel or the uh strasburg the corbin like what is that like what is that team gonna be well and it's the reason they can't sign rendon you know i mean that and um but yeah it's really it's it look they won a world series so i think and that guy was the hero. So I think that has to – you know, did factor in and whatnot.

But I think ultimately the back end of that contract is not going to be great, Jack. No, especially – it was like one – it was one real year where he was going to win. Yeah, one year and a magical run. One real year where he was going to win the Pest. Yeah, one year and then a magical run. But, you know, I'm less of a cockeyed optimist when it comes to John Middleton and the belief that he's going to go all in. But I do, I think what you're saying makes logical sense.

Like the idea that they're only a couple million below, a few million below, wherever they're at right now, and they just still have holes to fill. I mean, are they not going to get another starter? Are they not going to get any relief pitchers? I know that there are still potential trades to make, and maybe they can get creative, but they don't have any salary to, like, unload.

You know, they don't have any of those contracts where it's like, oh, we'll give you this guy. And, like, we've talked about them trading Reese Hoskins. Like, he's one of the cheapest guys on the team. So I agree with you logically. I still need to see it happen, especially after all the local beats are talking about that they're going to keep it below. But look, Scott Boris is out there at the winter meetings right now saying, middleton's gonna spend trust me uh so you know who knows i i hope you're right

i'm less optimistic just because i need to see it happen but right now i am i don't believe it's gonna happen until it does i think it's more likely that if he does go over he's just gonna go over with the signings they have to make and that they're not going to go crazy but man i hope i'm wrong i want anthony rendon so bad i don't believe that they are the mystery team and the garrett cole thing is the mystery team pops up i personally i think the mystery team i think the mystery team is sc Boris, but, you know. The Phillies are always the mystery team. Yeah, sure.

That one time they were. They always are the mystery team. Can you imagine if they were? That would be crazy. But there is one other kind of big name that's come up, and it's in a trade, and it's something we've talked about in the past, but an interesting name because it does present an interesting, you know, if you're not getting an Anthony Rendon, this isn't the worst consolation prize type of guy.

Chris Bryant, thoughts? Listen, man, I have not stopped watching Chris Bryant highlights for the last two days. How do you have time to watch all that? Do you know how busy I am? I barely have time to record. I have not stopped watching Chris Bryan highlights for the last two days. Like I, how do you have time to watch all? Do you know how busy I am? I barely have time to record. When we record this podcast,

I'm always like, Oh, we got to keep it shorter. We never do. Cause you know, whatever. But I, I don't have time for anything. How do you time?

Do you sit and watch all these highlights all the time? Because it's all I care about. I know. I know. It's all I care about. No, it's all i care about i know i know it's all i care about no it's like it's like it's so weird because so last night um i'm doing the the eagles post game show and i don't know if you know this but um apparently we still have a football team this time yes and quarterback is clutch jack just like d like Didi. Yeah. I would say that if we're ranking clutch athletes in Philadelphia right now, I would say one is Didi Gregorius. I would say two is Carson Wentz.

I think that's a fair one, too. Agree. So last night I'm doing the Eagles postgame show, and we're talking about some game this football team won. They came back in the fourth quarter. And you're just thinking about Chris Bryant, aren't you? To be the 2-9 Giants team, it's really exciting stuff. And I'm just sitting there watching Chris Bryant highlights in the middle of the postgame show.

And one of the producers, Mike gets in my, Angelina gets in my ear. And he's like, what are you watching? And I was like, I'm just watching Chris Bryant. You are something else, man. And he was like, what, have you never seen him play before? And I was like, listen, man. I just like seeing the guy play baseball and then dream as to what he would do to baseballs in Philadelphia

in Citizens Bank Park. And I think the Chris Bryant stuff is real. I think that if you're John Middleton and you don't want to shell out the money to Anthony Rendon, but you want to add in another blue-chip offensive piece. My main goal this offseason, this whole time, has been adding another blue-chipper to this core. And I think Zach Wheeler is a really, really good pitcher.

I think that D.D. is an awesome baseball player. But they are still lacking the one other blue chipper that you can pair with JT Real Medo, you can pair with Bryce Harper. And Chris Bryant would just be that guy. And it feels like it's heading for a divorce out there in Chicago. You know, he's still mad about the service time thing. And obviously he has that service time grievance thing to where he could be a

free agent in one year. And that's drastically going to change how much the, I think it's highly unlikely he wins his grievance. High, highly unlikely, but yes, Scott. No.

And I think so too. And I just think that with, with how much John Middleton and how much Scott Boris seem to love each other, how much Scott Boris, I truly believe Scott Boris wants Bryce Harper to win, and how much this team has kind of catered to Bryce Harper in a way. They got JT Real Muto, and even though I think in their head they were like, we're getting the best catcher in baseball,

I think a large part of the JT Real Muto trade was to bring in a guy to entice Bryce Harper to sign there. And if you get a chance to add in Chris Bryant, who's this guy who is Bryce Harper's childhood best friend, you're just making your franchise star player that much more happy, and you're also adding in a per your franchise star player that much more happy and you're also adding in a perennial mvp that i think has just been kind of sad in chicago the last couple years like i there is another level of chris bryant that i don't think we've seen because

i don't think he's happy in his situation out here out in chicago and i would just love to get Chris Bryant like Chris Bryant would be awesome Harper real Muto Bryant Hoskins DeeDee Segura McCutcheon Paisley yeah like okay yeah it's like what are we doing here buddy like can I start burning the World Series now? Can I start doing it? Can I start doing it? Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Oh, too late.

That lineup would, I mean, I'm with you 100%. I mean, it would be amazing. It would be amazing. I think it would be great in this ballpark. I think the points about Harper and just having a team of guys who like each other even more is awesome. And I also think that of the big name players we've heard in trade rumors, you know, the Lindor types, the Mookie Betts types, and might not get traded at this point, Betts and Lindor. It might not be this offseason, might be next offseason, which, you know, the DD one-year contract.

That's another potential thing, you potential thing to keep it opening for. But I think of all the kind of star players and granted Lindor and Betts both better than Bryant, but I think Bryant would have the cheapest cost comparatively. I think he could be the best value trade of those guys because of all the things you said. I think he's really unhappy in Chicago. I think he's made it very clear. I think he doesn't like that organization. He doesn't like what they did to him. He doesn't like the way it's being run.

And I think that it could be a situation where that plays to his advantage in terms of getting traded out of town for maybe less of a package than they would normally accept for that type of player. So with that in mind, what do you think it would – like, again, this is a total stab in the dark, but what kind of package – because I know you always think about these things. What kind of package do you have in your head for what it might cost the Phillies to get Chris Bryant? Well, let me just get this out there. I would put Baum in a Bryant deal, no doubt about it.

I would too. I mean, Baum would have to be in the deal. I mean, you're hoping that Baum becomes Bryant. I mean. Right. You are hoping Alec Baum. And he'll never be him defensively ever. No, he won't be.

So you're hoping that Alec Baum can be Chris Bryant one day. And if you're the Cubs, you're the Cubs. Like, sure, you're giving up Chris Bryant. But if you're getting a kind of offensive bat that Chris Bryant was, like, that's not the worst tradeoff in the world. Like, you look at Chris Bryant's suitors, you know, it's like us, the Braves, the Nationals, if they don't sign Donaldson and Rendon goes elsewhere. The Reds, they can never get enough third baseman.

No. Well, yeah. Maybe Brian can play shortstop for them. They just love putting third baseman where they aren't supposed to be. I think it could cost like Baum, Medina, and another piece. I don't think it would cost as much as Boehm and Howard. I don't think that would be the cost to get Chris Bryant. I think it would be Boehm, a tier below Spencer Howard,

and then another guy kind of thrown in there to bring in Chris Bryant. I don't think it's going to cost as much as people think it might cost on the surface to bring in Chris Bryant. I don't think it's going to cost as much as people think it might cost on the surface to bring in Chris Bryant. And of all the moves left on the table, I kind of feel like Chris Bryant is the most likely of the moves left. I think Rendon's going to the Rangers. I think Cole's going to the Yankees. I think Lindor's staying put.

I think Mookie's staying put. You're talking about, like, the big, big moves. Because I think the most likely moves are some middle relievers and another lower-tier pitcher or whatever. But you're talking if the Phillies are going to make a big move, of those ones, Chris Bryant is the most likely. And I think it just makes the most sense for this team. And the Boris connection again, too.

Right. And the one thing you brought up earlier in the week that was off the podcast but that keeps coming back in my head is like the Phillies jumped in the Rendon sweepstakes fakely to jump up the price and help out Scott Boris. Maybe they're being this fake mystery team to help Scott Boris get more money out of the other teams. Now it's time for Scott Boris to return the favor.

I like that. That was my theory. The idea that the Phillies are saying yeah, you can throw us in the Rendon thing. Use us. We're not going to pay it eventually, but use us. Bounce stuff off us. Whatever. That's a good point. You said to me, what are the Phillies going to have it?

And I'm like, well, you know, you just want to be tight with Boris, you know, whatever that guy wants, I can have it. But I think it's a good point. You know, I think, and, and, and Scott Boris is the absolute person who will get Chris Bryan out of Chicago. You know, it won't be the GMs. It'll be Scott Boris.

Yeah. And you would think that paying Jake Gary at a $25 million a year, It won't be the GMs It'll be Scott Boris Yeah And you would think that paying Jake Gary out of $25 million a year That's another one Would be enough to To entice Scott But apparently we gotta do a little bit more And listen man

If that little bit more is Chris Bryan I don't care I don't care I just want Chris Bryan here I is Chris Bryan. I don't care. I don't care. I just want Chris Bryan here. I need Chris Bryan here. It would be the perfect cap to a perfect offseason. Pitching be damned. This would be a better rotation than the 08 rotation.

They can win this way. Just go out and mash teams. Dude, we always talk about how that would be fun. We thought that was going to be last year, and then... Yeah, well, it looked good for a month. It did. It looked good for about a month. Yeah, it looked certainly good for opening weekend.

All right, Fritzy, what else you got in the note bag before the final thoughts, if anything? Well, since this might be our... Should I act as if this is our last podcast of the week? Yeah, I mean, unless something else happens. But, you know, look, who knows? If the Phillies make a move, we'll obviously be back, you know, unless it's like, you know, they signed some guy no one's ever heard of.

But if they don't do anything, yeah, we probably won't do another pod. Okay. So I'll get – you know you know i'll just get it out of the way now um go for it buddy my my first um my first note bag thing is trade for chris bryant i need chris bryant here it would be amazing and i'm so your first note bag thing is that we just did it yeah yeah yeah but you're doubling down i just want to do the i want to do the the emergency podcast for the chris bryant trade um my real first note bag point is that over the weekend i had a dream and the phillies were in the playoffs and the rally titles are going and it

was amazing and i was just so happy watching watching the Phillies in the postseason. And then me and you got in a fight about recording after the playoff games, and you didn't want to record after the playoff games. So I would just like for you to apologize to me for in my dreams saying that you were not going to record. I almost feel like you should be apologizing to me for in my dream saying that you were i almost i almost feel like you should be apologizing to me for your subconscious in your dream creating a me who would say that he wouldn't record after a playoff game because i would obviously record after a playoff game so i actually think you owe me an apology if we're gonna be real about this well judging by your

actions before this podcast, I don't know if all that can be trusted. Are we recording right now? Are we talking? Is this happening? I don't know. I don't know, man. Is this in your imagination right now or what?

I don't know, man. In my dream, you were like, oh, Zoe, I'm sick. I am sick. Zoe. All right. What's your second note bag item? I don't even know if you really had this dream or if you're just messing with me.

No, I really did have this dream. I really did. I woke up the next morning like, ah, the Phillies were in the playoffs. And then I was like, damn,

that was a dream. But then they signed Didi Gregorius and I was like, we're getting closer. Closer. It's, it's, gregorius and i was like we're getting closer closer it's it's real it's real we're getting closer um so this is gonna be my my final thought um along with my final note bag point so i watched two wheeler starts over the weekend and i am i'm really excited for zach wheeler um i'm excited to see what Brian Price will do with him. But I realize why he hasn't been as dominant as he should be, given his stuff, and it really comes down to his fastball location.

You know, for a guy with as simple and smooth and as great of mechanics as Zach Wheeler has, like his fastball location, he'll try to hit an outside corner against a right-handed hitter. He'll try to go glove side. And instead of going glove side, he'll just end up running in on a right-handed batter's hands. And sure, when you throw 97, 98, oftentimes you get away with that.

But it is still you're able to make contact on it and just in watching a lot of wheeler over the weekend it's like it's like man if you could figure out your your your fastball location there's a whole nother level of zach wheeler then that we haven't really seen yet so um fastball location is kind of hard to teach it's kind of like either you have fastball location is kind of hard to teach. It's kind of like either you have fastball location or you don't. But that's why I was so, I guess, concerned was about the strikeout numbers. Like, this guy should be striking out 200-plus guys a year. He should be able to just roll out of bed and strike out 200-plus guys a year. And he really wasn't doing that. And in watching him this weekend, it kind of made sense. It was

like, oh, well, his fastball location's off. So if his fastball location's off, then he can't set up his other pitches because everything kind of works off his fastball. So hopefully the Phillies can work with him and get him to be able to locate his fastball more consistently. But at the moment, the reason why Zach Wheeler is not as dominant as he should be is not a splitter, not using a slider more. It is, in fact, poor fastball location. And I hope they can get it out of him. It doesn't sound super out.

It almost feels like it'd be much better if it were just needs another pitch type of thing yeah well like fastball location is kind of hard to teach it's just kind of hard to teach but like even without fastball location being as awesome as it could be he throws 97 every pitch yeah right like he's still a really, really good pitcher. And I think there I have fully convinced myself that he's going to completely break out here. I'm shocked. I mean, you really you're never optimistic like that. I've already started picturing him in playoff games. And once once I start once I start picturing you in playoff games, it's just about all over. Oh, man. All right. Rate and review the podcast for stuff like that,

for the dreams, all of it, and it makes Jack happy. My final thought, Ted Simmons, congratulations for getting the Hall of Fame, but my final thought is about Marvin Miller and the fact that finally, a shame after the man has passed away, but Marvin Miller finally getting elected to the Hall of Fame. I don't even know why they had a hall of fame. Marvin Miller's not going to be in it. Head of the players union, mid sixties, early eighties. I think basically the reason I,

what you always hear me say like, Oh, players union, one of the strongest unions in the country. That's cousin Marvin Miller. Like that's the guy who made the players union. One of the strongest unions in the country, the collective first collective bargaining agreement.

That was that dude, free agency, that guy, Marvin Miller is so responsible for baseball as we know it today. And the fact that he was not in the Hall of Fame was really, I think I saw, I can't remember what I saw. I want to say maybe Jeff passed and someone phrased it as the Hall's biggest travesty. And like, I couldn't argue with it. Even as someone who you've heard me rant like crazy about the fact that Barry Bonds not being an Hall of Fame delegitimizes the whole thing to me. Marvin Miller was probably worse. Like that dude deserved to be in it even more. So even though it's a shame it took so long and, um, you know, it's a shame that he passed away before it could happen. Um,

it is, uh, the right thing to do to put Marvin Miller in the hall of fame. So, and going off of, uh, Marvin, Marvin Miller being in the hall of fame,

let me just say like Scott Boris should be in the hall of fame. Yeah. I agree. A hundred percent. No question. So kind of opens the door for him in a way. Yeah. And we'll all be saying that when he brings Boris Adelphia a championship

the next few years. You're darn right. It is very nice that this hot stove actually seems hot. Yeah. How about just for this year? I mean, we were waiting to do an emergency podcast for six months, it felt like. I mean, this year it's like stuff's happening.

It's fun. Yeah, now we're doing it. The winter meetings are like a thing now. It's good. We're doing DD emergency podcasts. Yes. You know, it's great. It's great.

It's really, really great. All right. It's been fun. I'm going to bed. Until next time, be spread some salt self. We'll talk to you later. All-star closer, Kenley Jansen, we have a question.

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