Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - MLB SQUAD SHOW: Whose start is legit and whose is not?

Episode Date: April 8, 2025

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It's been a very entertaining start to the MLB season. While some teams have torpedoed their way to the top of the standings, others have fizzled in the early going. So who's real and who's not? Find out today on Locked-on MLB Squad. Step up to the plate. It's the Locked-on MLB Squad show, sponsored by game time. From the Dodgers to the Astros, the Mets to the Rangers,

and everyone else in the league, with the experts of the Lockdown Podcast Network, bringing you the most comprehensive breakdown of all the action around the horn. We're coming to spikes up. No hurt feelings allowed. So swat up. Welcome into the show that covers the big news of the week with the experts from the Lockdown MLB channel.

I'm your host, J.D. Hapron from Lockton Cardinals, multiple hosts. Joining us here today from our Lockdown MLB Network here to give you the daily analysis of your favorite team from your favorite sport. We've got Justin from Cleveland. We've got Javi from the Pads. We got Jeff from the Dodgers. And then we've got Paul coming in from Colorado. The most popular team in all the land.

There you go. Today's episode brought to you by GameTime. Download the GameTime map, create an account. Use that code locked on MLB for $20 off your first purchase. Later on in this show, we will be talking the torpedo bats. What deals like the new one that Vladi Guerrero Jr. just signed what it means for the league moving forward. but we're going to begin today's show with what's real and what's not, very matrixy of me with the blue pill, red pill. What's real? What's not? Coming into Monday, the best record in Major League Baseball belonged to a team in the NOS.

But it was not the Dodgers. Shockingly, not the Dodgers. And Paul, I'm sorry, it's not the Rockies either. Javis, not the Padres either. The Giants, the Giants got off to an eight and one start to begin the week. They had won seven in a row. American League, you got the 20. 23 world champion Texas Rangers in the top spot, which may not be that surprising, but who's right behind them is the Los Angeles, Angels, six and three? And then you look at the bottom of the standings, who had the Braves coming out with a one and eight start? American League, teams like Baltimore, Cleveland, sorry, Seattle, Minnesota, all losing records. So which of these starts, good or bad, is real, and which ones are just an aberrero?

Who wants to start it off? I feel like the NL West is coming in hot tonight. Look, first of all, can I just say really rude of the angels to pretend to be good. I know it's just been like a week, but like I think it's rude. I think it's pretty insulting to the rest of us. Just get to the point where you're bad. And maybe this time you'll do baseball favorite tradeback try. I don't think they will, but I appreciate that.

And then can we just talk about Atlanta? Like, talk about Atlanta off to a miserable start. A lot of injuries. but, you know, a lot of teams are dealing with injuries. Is it an excuse to come out one and eight? I just, they had kind of the year from hell last year, and they're having it again already with not just the jerks of pro far suspension, but he ran out a Lopez injury,

and they still got Strider and Cooney out. Matt Olson doesn't take the ball all that well. None of their guys are hitting well. Marcel Lozuna looks lost. I don't, I'm a little bit confused how you could be this bad to start both years in a row. And actually, any team, major league history, started off 0 and 7 has never made the playoffs.

So like that's pretty wild. And I think this is, I'm pretty certain was the team projected to be next to the Dodgers have the most wins in Major League Baseball. So it's kind of like, congrats, Jeff, frankly, that you might not have to deal with that team. But in general, I just, I really, I never would have predicted this. Maybe a slow start, not a disastrous nuclear explosion type of thing. Yeah, it's easy to point at the injuries.

But the fact is, the guys they do have. who have been good in the past have been bad so far. And yeah, they played the Padres and then the Dodgers. That's a rough way to start the season. There's some good pitching there. But this isn't just the good pitching they face. I feel like maybe Marcella Zuna, age was bound to catch up with them at some point. Maybe, I mean, it looked like it caught up when he was like 24 or whatever he was on the Cardinals.

Yeah, it did. Everybody remembers him climbing the wall and then the ball falling. on. You mean the half- years ago? The happiest moment I liked that. Just a few years

ago he looked at. You know, but the Braves made good sense to not put him in left field anymore, but, you know, he's not hitting. Matt Olson,

like, the fact is, they just have some guys who've been good in the past who haven't been this year. And maybe that means that they're due to, to progress to the mean. Is that a thing?

To get better, just because these guys are bound to hit better. But also, you never know if maybe some of these guys are just, getting worse and I don't know I am glad to hear the hobby and I agree that the angels should trade

might track to the Dodgers though. This is how much they need to be safe, man. They need all of this. They need everybody before they feel like safe. But yeah, go ahead, Justin. They should trade anybody at this point. They just haven't done anything the last couple of years that made any sense. The only team that makes least sense in them is Paul's Rockies.

Like I can never understand what the angels are doing. Oh, you're a draft pick. Well, you don't need time in the minors. You can play in the major leagues right away. Why do you have to wait? Everybody should want to go there. But the only team that makes less sense than the Colorado Rockies, and, of course, had to come at Mike Ardian's expense over the weekend,

who just continued to be baffling as well. Harvey, I'm going to be a little bit bold here. I'm going to say the Braves are going to be that first team that does make the playoffs with that ugly start. I think they're going to turn things around. They are going to get Strider back. They are going to get a Cooney back. He's not going to run as much.

And I know that's not going to be quite as good, but he's going to stay healthy for a lot longer. And Alex Antopolis just has some weird genie magic going on over there. I figure it out. And the NL Central is not all that fantastic, Jady. I'm sure you can assess. Like, there's a lot of teams in the middle there. The Braves have a shot.

The ALA or not at least is a mess, but, or is a dog fight. But there's a lot of openings for them to get back into it, I think. And the good news for the Braves is pro far suspension is without pay and not paying their players is the Braves' favorite thing to do. Oh, my thing is like. That was a good thing. That was really good. That was great. I tested out on Twitter last week.

Oh, yeah? I thought I'd bust it out here, you know. It felt good here, too. I like that, my thing is, it's just how much do we buy into these good teams struggling at the beginning of the year? I think it is interesting to hear a stat of a team that starts 0 and 7 has never made the playoffs. But am I going to sit here and count the Braves out right now? There's just no possible way that I can count out an organization that has been so successful, like the Braves, in terms of getting to the playoffs, building successful teams and having the ability to maybe make moves of the deadline or get people back.

especially with how many teams make the playoffs these days. Exactly. I mean, I mean, when you're a team like the Rockies or something like that and you start going on these skids, you can kind of start seeing the season slip away a little bit early. But if I'm a Braves fan, I'm not hitting the panic mode yet, but these holes are hard to come out of. I mean, I think if, you know, for example, I'm looking at Arizona right now, the only team that's, you know, kind of a petering a little bit in the NL West that is a competitive team that isn't underperforming. And, you know, looking at it might not be a big thing now, but if they keep going down this

path and where the Giants, the Padres and the Dodgers are going to be able to separate themselves. I think that that will be harder in that division, but where the Braves, they'll have a little bit more flexibility. I think these teams in the NL. West, every game really does matter. The division games are going to be really important in the NL West. I think a lot of other teams and a lot of other divisions, the Braves included, have a lot more wiggle room there. There was, I forgot what year it was. I'm going to say it's 2012 that I love bringing up. It was this, it was like one of the rare days. when game 162

determines like multiple teams playoffs destinations I believe the raise Evan Longoria you know hit like that walk off home run that literally playoff. Yeah. Playoff 2011. I could see that with the NOS.

Dodgers excluded I think that they'll be fine barring genuine catastrophe. Like I could see a world in which it's like yeah, Padres, Giants, DeVax last like three games of the season they're generally designing things, which is dope for baseball. Frankly, I wish my team could just like

borrow the end. NL Central maybe this year, just like borrow it. Way and way and from other teams in the NLS complaining about being in the NLS. There's a team that hasn't even won the NLS. The team that's leading the NLS dominates them. They haven't even, the Rockies are about to go on the road and play the Dodgers and Padres here coming up soon. We're really about to see this. The violin that I'm playing for anyone else in the NLS complaining about the division being

too hard could only get smaller and smaller. I think I'm just hating on the NL Central. AL Central too. And maybe a little bit of the ALS. If it does come down to the end of the season, though, the Giants end with three against the Rockies. Yeah. Of course, right before that, they have, what is this,

7, 13 of their 16 games before that are against the Dodgers and the debacks. It's a rough end of the schedule. So it's going to. Just like spoiler, man. Yeah, then they get the Cardinals and then the Rockies to end it. So maybe an easy, easy last few games. I think that's a three playoff team, AL Central.

a year ago for you hobby okay three playoffs no i know i'm hating on not the records but the direction let me say of both centrals you know yeah like hey we literally made the alcs we will not try this offseason we're gonna actually trade guys away like that's what i'm hating on more so uh i think is that i like that the nl west tries i i would really like if other division hey the guardians added nolan jones that's a big deal right paul it was you know yes it was I'm never going to live that one. Justin, just to clue you in, last year before the season started on the NLS division preview,

I did remind folks that if you looked at the stats, that Nolan Jones had an argument to be the actual rookie of the year last year or that year, and he was performing with the best of them. And then he, of course, gets hurt and the Rockies plummet and now trade him for a utility infielder that they probably didn't need, but so is the Rockies. I just wanted to think, I think, you know, as much as I love poking fun at,

my favorite team. I think a team that actually has some big concerns to start this year because they haven't improved in a key area is the Seattle Mariners. This is a team that has literally a dream of a pitching rotation so deep there and have so many options, yet they still strike out. Yet the offense is still a problem. And their issues from last year, it reminds me a lot of watching the Rockies. It reminds me of watching kind of the same team, the same issues that plague you. You're never going to be no matter how good your pitching staff is. When you're striking out 10 plus times a game, you're not going to win ball games. And they can't afford to do that in a division that could come, that could be a tight one

as well in the AL West. Julio Rodriguez, is he a fraud? No, stop it. I was going to raise that actually with Michael Harris, who's like, we wish he could be Jackson Merrill as Michael Harris, not to get a little biased or whatever. But Seattle, it's the same, I just mentioned this about the AL Central. It's just they're basically begging every year, the past three years, they've been like, I hope Loua Rodriguez is a seven-win player, which he could be.

He's very, very good. He's super talented, one of the best players of baseball, but it kind of sucks that they're like that. Dare I say, the highlight of their season, the highlight of their season was the Victor Robles catch, which also resulted in him being injured. Like, I feel like that's the only, like, thing that was like, yeah. And then they lost one pitch later.

Yeah, and then they lost one pitch later. Like, it's just amazing, like, that that team refuses to add. Like, don't get me wrong, they have some good players. I love Cal Raleigh, that guy's beast. Julio's awesome. And after that, it gets really weird. And it's almost like, maybe that team should have been itched to Pete Alonzo. Maybe that team should have gotten a little bit more aggressive in free agency.

And instead, they're out here imposing a, not even imposing a self-imposed limit, like 15 million or whatever they said this past off season, which is really unfortunate. And I hate it because that rotation, Brian Wu, is crazy. George Kirby isn't even back my Cy Young pick every single year until he gets it. Like he's not even back yet. And that team just looks like, it's like the Mike Trout of pitching that's going on right now. You know what I mean? Like they're just completely wasting it. It sucks, man.

Well, Seattle is definitely a team that needed to go get some offense. And clearly they didn't do that. So struggling out of the gate, there have been some big offensive numbers from around the league. Torpedo bats, obviously something that people are talking about, juiced balls. Maybe it's just bad pitching. We're going to get what the group thinks about these different subjects coming up next on the locked-on MLB squad show. The NBA playoffs are almost here, and Fandul is giving new customers an incredible way to get in on the action. Because right now, when you join Fandul and place your first $5 bet, you're going to get $250 in bonus bets if your bet wins.

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I feel like it's something they use in slow pitch softball. MLB said the bats are legal. So get over it because they're not going anywhere. So what do we think, boys, torpedo bats, goose balls, bad pitching. what's going on with all of the big offensive numbers that we're seeing early on. Look, I mean, thankfully we don't have any Boston fans in here. I mean, frankly, I'd still say it, but I'll keep a look out for Gabby. She might be lurking as well, but I don't see here. We're good. Okay.

Look, you know it's bad when like Boston media personalities, someone that I won't name, frankly, like it's Voldemort, that they're creating this fake agenda thing because of one game in which the Yankees had a bunch of home runs. and only two of those nine home runs were from the torpedo bat. And by the way, Francisco Lador uses a torpedo bat. Horrid start to the year so far. Well, now he's better.

But at the time when this is going off, the twins have some torpedo bats. It's just, I'm really concerned. I'm going to try not to go to soapbox, but I'm really concerned with the expediency of which we just, like, a new narrative starts in this industry, right? For no reason. it's like can we wait three minutes? I don't know if anybody remembers when there was too many no hitters.

I'm going to say this is 2021. I believe. I could be wrong about that. This is the Joe Musgrove no hitter. So maybe I just accidentally roasted my own team. But it was the Joe Musgrove no hitter. It was, I believe, Wade Miley. It was someone else I think of the debacks.

I could be wrong. And then everyone was like, oh, no, the no hitters, it's too much. Guess what happened? Tone itself out. We're good. We're not just going to have no hitters every three minutes. I just think it's just. a classic case of everybody overreacting to something to a small degree. I remember when sticky

stuff was a little bit overblown. It was correct, but it's like, relax. I don't think this is the only reason Gary Cole's good now, right? Like, it's just everyone wants to have a reason. You know what I mean? Everyone wants to have a reason. It's something to complain about. And I just think this is one of the dumber ones we've had it a while, though. And I hate to agree with Javi, but every once in a while he's right. The wind was blown out at Yankee Stadium that day. Nestor freaking Cortez was pitching. Like there are so many reasons there were a bunch of home runs hit that game. And yeah, the bats maybe, you know, if you feel more comfortable with your bat,

you know, yeah, you can blame every home run on a bat. Every home run in baseball history has been hit by a guy who was comfortable with the bat he was holding in his hand, you know? And so with no bats, there would be no homers. Hot take. But yeah, it's. I'm going to write that one down. I absolutely think people were a little bit too quick to say, this is the torpedo bats.

And that's what caused this because, yeah, like Jovey said, Aaron Judge doesn't use it. He hit three homers that day. You know what? Aaron Judge turns out he's a pretty good hitter. And Yankee Stadium is a pretty fun place to hit home runs sometimes, especially when the wind's blowing out. You know, and so it's crazy. And the fact that a pitcher whined about it means we know just as little as we did before he whined about it than we did after. Yeah.

And he kind of went back on that and said, like, he's like, he's like, Like, look, you know, they're always going to be testing things and trying to come up with better ways. So can't really blame them for it. But it was like the initial reaction to him just kind of, wha, you got a bad bad. And it was just it came off really, really sour after that game. What about the thoughts about like juice balls? Anything there or that is it just the fact that, you know, these guys are bigger, better, stronger, and they're just better hitters these days?

I think we do have a pitching problem across baseball. Things are really diluted now. There's always injuries too. I mean, this won't surprise anybody, even Jeff, that a Dodgers pitcher has already hurt. Like, guys are going on the IL. Esther Cortez went on the IL right after that start with a bruised elbow or bruised ego. I'm not sure which.

But guys are getting hurt all across baseball. Tommy Johns happened most frequently during spring training and right after. There is a pitching problem in baseball. Guys can't go that long anymore. So I don't know if it's juice balls. I think it's a problem that we continue to have this narrative year after year that the baseballs aren't the same. and people keep continuing to wonder about the consistency of the baseballs.

Like, you don't see that in basketball. You don't see that in football. You don't see, you know, different size pucks and hockey. Baseball is the only sport where you keep seeing a very important piece of equipment. People talk year after year about, well, is the stitching different? Is this different? Is the core different? Like, baseball needs to fix that.

There needs to be some consistency there. And they, by the way, they bought the brand that they bought Rawlings, right? They own Rawlings who owns the factory to make those balls. Like, they got to get these a little more consistent. And here's a hot take. Bring sticky stuff back. This will keep guys not from getting injured last pitchers. Let them have some sort of substance.

Don't make them quick cold turkey. That's why you're having all these injuries. That's why you're having all these guys in effect of pitching in the offense is exploding. You guys want to hear my least popular baseball opinion? Absolutely, Jeff. Talk to me. I'm fine with pitcher injuries. I think that's part of the game.

Holy crap. The, look at your team. My team that had to throw four bullpen games with the posseys. the postseason last year. You want to talk to me about plenty of pitchers. Look at the Dodgers in the postseason last year. The opposite of plenty of pitchers.

Luckily, they were so good, they still won. But, no, I think the way we've seen too many guys throwing a thousand miles an hour, too many strikeout, the way that's going to counteract is some of these guys who throw a thousand miles an hour have Tommy John surgery. So that we have only of the body of people who can throw that hard only 14. percent of them are active at any given time. That's how the game's going to even out. That's how mother nature is, you know, healing itself when it comes to the pitchers advantage over the hitters. You know what? You're going to get hurt sometimes. And then when you come back,

maybe you'll only throw 96 and use more off speed stuff, whatever it is. And you're going to, you know, that's how baseball is going to adjust. I don't think we need to go crazy to protect pitchers' arms because that's how you get the imbalance with too good of pitching and not good enough hitting. And I think it's interesting, too. There's only how much protection can you really give these pitchers when it comes to that stuff? I mean, if they're going to go up and throw, do that stuff, the human body ain't supposed to be throwing baseballs the way that they're throwing baseballs. It's whether it's substance rules or whatever. I mean, we know that it's a problem that, I mean, with how much we care, we want people throwing and doing that stuff. But it's crazy.

It's talking about offense, juiced balls. I just watched a team that hasn't scored more than four runs until their most recent game on Sunday. So I think all this stuff is kind of our early season overblown stuff. Once the games and teams really have something going, we're not going talking about this type of stuff. This is early season baseball stuff. When playoff races start to form, when teams, you know, surprising teams start to rise up, I think that'll be the thing. But, you know, as a, as a fan of a team that's lived in a place where baseballs are modified and there's all sort of park factor and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And some of it just, you know, kind of goes down to hoopla because torpedo bats aren't going to save the Rocky's offense.

They're not going to make bad offenses strike out less. They're not going to do these things. Sure, it might help some stuff. But like, for example, you know, Chris Bryant's supposed to get a torpedo bat. Am I immediately going to think that Chris Brian is going to go back to being an MVP because he's swinging a torpedo? No, I'm definitely not. So this type of stuff, I think, and Justin, I think you bring up really interesting points because I think a lot of other leagues would have bigger problems if there were this many equipment-related weirdness things. Heck, football had a whole scandal about deflated footballs that we focused on and still talk about to this day.

Like, it is very interesting that baseball has so many kind of variances in the equipment. I just, go ahead, Jeff, but I just, deplate gate was the worst storyline. Like, in terms of on-field than in like the history of my life watching sports, it was the two weeks later another quarterback is like yeah I did it too nobody cared it was just the I wanted to like I remember that ruining my summer guys so don't you don't ever say to play game for me again it was worse than the Padres susing to the Dodgers that's how much that I'm talking about the faded balls we'll move on to how about some money I know Jeff you guys are into spending money over there Harvey you got some money over in San Diego the rest of us are

kind of poor but that's fine we've got to talk about it because after striking out on signing Shoah Otani and Roki Sasaki and Juan Soto, Toronto Blue Jays finally found someone to take their money. We'll discuss that new deal and who is next to actually strike it big in Major League Baseball when it comes to the contracts. That's coming up next on this locked-on MLB squad show. When it comes to fueling your body, quality matters. That's why Just Ingredients is changing the game with clean, high-quality products

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signs a massive extension to stay in Toronto. 14 years, $500 million. We've seen Juan Soto, get the bag with the meds. We saw Otani, get it from the Dodgers. Got Aaron Judge in New York. You got Trout in L.A. well, but for the, you know, worst team.

Mookie Betts, another one with the Dodgers. Your guys' thoughts on these massive deals and how putting these massive deals out there. And I kind of want to hear, you know, from Justin about this being, you know, you're one of the, you know, franchises like mine, Paul, you guys don't spend a whole lot of money in Colorado either. And when we do, we kind of blow it on the wrong people. But Justin, how do you feel about these contracts and how, like, you know, these kind of

deals are going to, you know, the bigger market teams outside. You know, San Diego has given out the money as well. Hasn't equaled out for a championship yet for them. But, you know, Justin, what do you think about these big, huge contracts getting doled out to players? Yeah, they're only going to go to the big markets. That's how it's going to go. The imbalance continues to get bigger across baseball. I think you're seeing it with the TV money, too, is the big deal.

The teams that are still hanging on to those big TV contracts because that bubble has popped. The Dodgers have a great team. contract. Toronto is still in a good TV situation. I think that's your major in balance right now. Major League Baseball has to find a way to figure out, to put everybody on an even level in terms of TV deals. You know, you're never going to get the same media deals. You're never going to get the same attendance. Cleveland, no matter what you do to balance things, I'm not someone who wants to fight for a salary cap. I don't like the idea of a salary cap. I'd love a salary floor, but you can't have one without the other there. But I do think it would be incumbent upon Rob Manfred to

figure out a way to sort of help everybody out in terms of TV deals. Because no matter what Cleveland does, no matter what other teams do, Colorado, they're never going to get the same media deals as the Blue Jays or as the Dodgers. So that's the biggest thing for me here. I have no problem with the deal is getting handed out. The Blue Jays had to sign some of it. It had to give someone that money. I don't blame for giving it to Vlad Guerrera.

I think it's a risky contract. But, you know, it was certainly, you know, there's been other ways too like you know in san diego you know giving the money to jackson merrill that's a different way to attack this situation before they get to the possibility of scoring a 14 500 million dollar contract you lock them up early right hobby that's that's the smart thing to do yeah uh i mean you've seen the braves uh jeff made the joke about them earlier but that's what they did too right where they locked in and i mean frankly some of those contracts were like borah and like i don't know where the m lbPA was because speaking of Jackson Barrow reportedly they were like hey we don't necessarily want you to take this deal you should be asking for more i'm like where were you with osi alpies inside for seven years 35 where were you with acunia like so that's a little bit odd to me don't get me wrong but i think all at all yeah i don't agree with this salary cap thing i think that there's this this idea that what the dodgers are doing is just so unprecedented it is of course and when it comes to show hey when it comes to soto yeah there's only a few teams that can have these players, which stinks, which is a reality of the sport, which is an advantage that I think, you know, some of the other leagues have is that any team might have a chance of some of these players technically. But with this, my thing is anyone can afford Michael Conforto.

He's awesome for the Dodgers right now. I've been banging the drum on him forever. Anyone can afford your Tiosker Hernandez types, right? Like there's all these players that the middle slash low, high contracts, if that makes sense that I think a lot of teams could absolutely afford. And man, I mean, as someone who follows, you know, the NBA, I know this is baseball, but like I feel like a David Sturred back in the day would be like, I'm getting rid of this Cubs owner one way or the other man. You cannot be going out on TV and talking about how you're barely breaking even when everybody literally has the numbers about how much money you are making this year. And you're like, oh, whatever. We don't need Tanner Scott. We'll just have

the worst bullpen in baseball. That's fine. 36.4% of the revenue is how much the Cubs spend on their payroll. There you go. Like that's a and and again, yes, the Dodgers frustrated, of course. Is it a frustrating league where like fan bases are like, well, sticks? I just have to approach every off season. It'd be like, I can't wait for this AAA prospect that might be good. Yeah, but that it's not just them, man, like this. They're just benefiting off of the fact that for years baseball has, and its upper management, the league office has kicked the can down the road on having ownership that does not care. The Oakland A's sabotaged a team with Ricky Henderson history, with a lot of winning history for 20-something years, and now they're playing in a ballpark that's a minor league stadium.

Could you imagine the other leagues doing that? It's a really multifaceted issue that I'm not really sure how you fix, especially at this point. I'm just wondering if teams are just going to be set in their ways. And I almost have a conspiracy that I'm like, were they just like letting the Dodgers and all these teams sign players because they're ready to use that as an excuse for bargaining before the next plus of bargaining. I'll jump in right here, Javi, that's absolutely what they're doing because Dick Montfort, the owner of the Colorado Rockies, said that Boris has more power than Rob Manfred. And he said it's too hard to compete in their division because it's not Boris in the money

and blah, blah, blah, but it's like, yo, you have, you claim you're a draft and developed team. Where's the development? And I mean, I think that Justin nails this. There is something here and I don't have the actual number. But I, in some of my bringing on some Rockies folks, I was curious to hear how much of an impact the Rockies were dealing with when they moved on from there, when their TV deal collapsed and they were adopted into MLB. They lost a ton of money. I mean, the Rockies TV deal wasn't that great.

But when, I mean, it's the difference. Why is Brendan Rogers no longer on the team? You could probably point to that TV deal. There's, there's some other things there for teams like the Rockies. I do wish there would be more of an incentive for some of these teams to go out and spend money. But I'm glad Toronto, a team like Toronto can lock down a homegrown star. That's great for their fan base. That's a good thing.

Other teams can do what these other teams are doing. The people with all the money just don't want to spend. They don't want to invest. And they don't always have to. I mean, again, this is the, we keep bringing them back up, but the Rockies keep being brought up for these reasons for a reason. Their ballpark is still going to be pretty full this year. They are, their revenue will be down TV. but like they won't deal with other the other issues and their owner is going to come up and complain and say it's too hard to compete when they had when they cut pay when they shed payroll this year when they haven't invested in it i think teams need to really say and be honest about what's most important if winning is most important to you go get your players because that's what the dodgers are doing that's what the yankees are going to that have done in the past these teams that have multiple championships that have long legacies of success they believe that

it's important to invest in the team and spend the money on the team and get good players. You want someone to come play in Colorado that's a superstar. Well, you might have to take a risk like Chris Bryant and it might not pan out, but you've got to be willing to do that type of stuff, but be smart about it too. And I just think there's a lot of owners that are to, that think that they're these baseball guru minds and think that they're the best business guys out there. And flat out they're not. You know, I just, that's what's the most frustrating thing to me because, like, yes, it is annoying to see big names go. to big markets, but like, they're willing to give them the money.

Like, why would, I would go to the place that wants to give me the most money and to go B six, why would I not want to go play for the Dodgers? Yeah. Why would I not? And what's, I think for me most frustrating also is the correlation between winning and spending 100% there. The correlation between spending the most is actually not there. We haven't had back-to-back champions in a while.

The stat is that I'll bring up is in the past 30 seasons, only three teams, that have been outside the top half of payroll have won the World Series. So to me, you know, it's a bigger problem. The Dodgers is the Milwaukee Brewers who have had a free ticket to the playoffs in the past 10 years and they don't spend anything. That, to me, is infinitely more of an issue than the Dodgers. They're still annoying and I'm really, really annoyed that Jeff is on this show tonight hearing me defend this stupid, annoying team.

But it's true. Those teams are so much more of an issue because it literally, it shows you, guess what? I picked the bets last year to win. I knew they were going to win. The breers don't spend anything. And if they did, you might have a conversation to be more competitive and frankly, just more fun. One of the reasons we have an issue in St. Louis is that RGM, he spends the money on the wrong people. You know, you got to be smart about where you're spending your money when they give you,

when the owner says, here, we're going to give you $175 million to work with. And then you screw it up by giving it to Miles Michaelis and stuff like that. That's a problem. So, you know, that's something the Dodgers don't get enough credit for. People say, oh, all that money, anybody can win with that much. money. Look at, you know, the Mets two years ago, look at, you know, there's so many teams over the years that spend a ton of money on the wrong players. Like, how many pitchers are the Mets paying to play for other teams this year? You know, and, you know, and then I guess the other

thing is when you have one of those superstar players, maybe don't pay the Cardinals 50 million to take them off your hands. Ooh. I just look, the Rockies fan base, as Paul mentioned, they go to the games. They've moved beyond, in my opinion, such primitive notions of win and loss. You know what I mean? There's clearly something else going on in Colorado for why they enjoy games. I'm going to leave it at that. On a beautiful day where you could sit and drink beer for cheap and have a cheap and enjoy the beauty of downtown Denver.

Stare at the sun. Bring all in the family too because it's a great place to visit because it's right smack dab in the city. Well, what we've learned here today, hopefully you'll take away with you after listening to this show and things that we've discussed. If you got any comment, suggestions on things you want us to discuss each and every week when we do this show, feel free to hit us up. Obviously, you've got all of our handles on X and all of our different shows available to you guys. Make sure you make your favorite teams Locked on Show and Locked on MLB part of your daily routine. We'll be bringing you daily content all season long, no matter how good or bad things get for our teams, Paul, me and you in the car. We're in rough spots, brother.

And look for the Lockdown MLB Squad show. It's going to be in your feed every week. Part of the lockdown podcast network, your team every day. Thanks, guys.