Talkin' Baseball (MLB Podcast) - 1 Prediction For Each Team In 2025

Episode Date: January 6, 2025

Use code TALKIN2025 for 10% off your next SeatGeek order*: https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/TALKIN2025. Sponsored by SeatGeek. *Restrictions apply. Max $20 discountStart your free online visit today at https://Hims.com/talkin for your personalized ED treatment options.Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app and use promo code TALKIN Trev and Jake break down MLB.com’s 1 prediction for each team in the 2025 list including if the Dodgers can break the all-time regular season record, if Jacob deGrom can return to Cy Young form and who could win an MVP Mike Trout or Elly De La Cruz?  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello and welcome to Talking Baseball. Happy New Year. We got some predictions for every team and a couple signings. Charlie Morton's not a brave? He's song. Hey Song Kim. Let's talk ball. Charlie Morton Kerrball. Hey, son, Kim. I pray those a sweeper now too. Through the hole. Hello and welcome to talking baseball. Presenting you by Seat Geek. My name, Jake, Storeeally, at Talking Jake on X. That is Trevor Ploof. Rob. Sharako producing. Happy New Year. If you've just been,

a lot of people were saving the new year till today, basically. They were like those last, that Thursday, Friday in January. I'm not locking in yet. It's time to lock in, Pop. We are here. We've got less than three months

until there's real baseball games that count. I mean, we're going to start getting close to like, I mean, next week is probably a month till pitchers and catchers. holy smoke, Trev, there's still some big free agents out there some teams are set. Are you set? How are you, coach?

Well, it's good to see you. I miss yuck and ball with you three times a week. This has been a long layoff. I have been getting, I don't know if you want to call them the scarries or whatever they are, but we've had so much time off now that I started to think about TPPs and then straight into the season. And that's a grind. What we do is

it's a grind. It's fun. But I started to think about getting back into it. And I kind of got excited, to be honest with you. Like, I'm a dog. I'm a podcast rat. You used to be a baseball rat. Now I'm a podcast rat. So I don't know, man.

We have a fun episode today, I think. Because it's still, you know, there's still optimism. Yes. For most teams, there are some teams that are like, I'm out on 2025. But for the most part, there's optimism. And you know, I love to be positive. So I'm excited to talk about some of these teams. You are a positive cat.

I like that about you. Yeah, there's, again, there's no need for shots fired at the Rockies this early, but like there, and this was, we looked into, there is an MLB.com article that I believe they either reached out to all their beatwriters or it's an AI article, which we can't talk about that right now, because I know I'll lose you for the next 45 minutes.

But they did one prediction for every baseball team, and the Rockies one is youth takes over, which it's like, hey, I love my rocks. You know what? We're not going to... Do I ask AI how the Rocky season is going to go right now? You can do that because I know it'll make you entertained. And, you know, they're talking about Rocky's number 14 prospect,

Carson Palmquist and how he's going to be looking this year. We're going to not start there. You guys are welcome for that. But we wanted to, because it's tough to hit all 30 teams, we want to see which ones we could combine. And there's some fun ones out there. And it's, dude, it's stuff. Trev, you talk about your positive mindset.

It's the stuff that we haven't daydreamed yet. Like, what's Jacob de Grom's 2025 going to look like? I've daydream that a little bit. Do you know how many games Mike Trout played last year? Ooh, 36. 29 games. That's all we got from the guy that we argued was the greatest baseball player before he had a teammate come over and do everything better.

on him. Do you want to hear what AI has to say about the Rockies? Let's hear it. The Colorado Rockies performance in the 2025 season is anticipated to be at the lower end of the spectrum based on current analysis and projection. Agreed. Hard agree. Get ready for the TPP. Let's get into it and it's all brought to you by C. Geek. It's a new year and to celebrate another year of our amazing partnership with C.

We have a new code for you guys. Oh, and Trev, you're going to like this one and laugh in a second. Code talking 2025, baby, for 10% off your tickets on Seekek. Trev used this the other day. I'm sure he's going to end my little spiel talking about that. 70,000 events listed on Seekek, concerts, sports festivals, and more, I mean, football playoffs are coming. Baseball is coming around the corner.

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What? I just used it. You just used it. Okay, that's where you were going. Yeah, I'm going to the Rams playoff game Monday night against the Vikes. So me in Minnesota will be forreling that night. Oh, wow. A brother's fight, if you will.

Family feud. But yeah, I used it. Got my discount, got my ticks. It was easy. It really is easy. The ploof bull. I didn't even put that together. Yeah.

Sam Darnold was like, I predicted he was going to be a great quarterback coming out of S.C. Took a while. He's back. Glad you predicted that. I have a, I think I have a Sam Darnold comp coming up for my sporty guys and gals out there. But let's talk some ball. Because that's... That's where we get our bread buttered.

And Trev, I was debating, do we want to go division by division and go, okay, alien... Where are we dropping, Pop? Where are we dropping? Obesette. Orioles to make the postage. I wanted to combine some to kind of make pairings here. We've done sister cities on this show before. It's normally an end-a-season entertainment.

But, you know, again, some of these were aimed wide as an MLB.com article. Maybe we can link it in there if you guys want to click around. There was two teams that we've spoken a lot about And one of these teams was in the news Because of the Charlie Morton signing So we can hit upon that here as well But they had the Orioles To end their postseason winless drought

Which goes back to 2014 That's over a decade Without a dub of playoff baseball And On the other side, the National League, the Chicago Cubs win their first playoff game since 2017. So the Orioles have made the dance the past couple years, and they haven't gotten the dub.

The Cubs have missed the postseason for a couple years now. And I don't know. I just thought it was funny. These are two teams that have gotten us hot in offseason episodes. The Cubs have put in the chips a little more than we expected. They did do the Kyle Tucker trade. So when you look at the cubbies, maybe there's more reason to have juice there. The Orioles, it's a continuation of an interesting offseason where it's, you know,

we wanted burns or freed or we wanted, you know, one of these major pieces. And so far, we now have Charlie Morton, your guy Sugano coming over from overseas and Tyler O'Neill that, again, I don't think it's the offseason Orioles fans expected, but it's maybe more parts than they expected. So I guess why don't you start on the Orioles side of it and then we'll kind of see if we like the Orioles or Cubbies more right now. So the Orioles to me, they've done a decent job filling the holes that, you know, big shoes left, right?

Corbyn Burns, Anthony Santander. I like the Tyler O'Neill signing. I really do. I don't know if he's going to replicate exactly what Santander did, but I think that he's at least can be comparable. replacing Corbyn Burns very hard to do. But you get Shugano, you get Morton to come over, which I always talk about, hey, bring these veteran guys in

to help mold your young hitters. It's the same thing with pitchers. Like Charlie Moore's going to bring a wealth of knowledge over to the pitching room. They're going to talk. He's going to help Grayson Rodriguez. So the Orioles to me are a little bit different than the Cubbs because I really feel like their main focus or what they expect,

their improvement can come from. It's just like they're young guys, the guys that have been there. Jackson Holiday needs to be a guy. I pose that question to Chris Rose. I was like, is that enough if he just is like the man, like who he's supposed to be?

Is that enough to propel them, you know, to challenge the Yankees for the ALE's title to win this first playoff game? Is Adley Rushman coming back and kind of being the player that he's been? Is that enough? Some of these other guys like Kobe Mayo,

like, if they just take, the next step does that mean that the Orioles again like can make a run to a a lease can can win a playoff game like maybe like they have they have a they have a they have a deep roster of I'm not gonna they're not sure thing but they can be sure things I don't that makes sense if I'm just kind of talking you know like there there's talent there now you have to go do it at the major league level we have to prove that you can do it for a full 162 and into the playoffs and

all that stuff. The roster is good. So for me, the Orioles, they have a chance at this, but I think really they're just relying on those next, those, the next man up mentality, basically. Like, look, you've got a taste of the big leagues. Some, you know, it's for Jackson Holiday, didn't really go your way. But the pressure should be less coming into your second year. You understand what it takes. The, the mental aspect. You have a little bit more clarity there. and then yeah adly whatever was going on with him you know fix that so i'm i think the orals have done a better job filling the holes than people are going to give them credit for i'm i'm just interested to see on their end because you know a lot of times i i break things down

into like options to click in situations like this like they try they signed charlie morton and sagano and it's like okay is one of those guys probably going to have a pretty good 2025 yeah think so. And I wonder if they have something analytically driven that's like, hey, you know, we see these teams every year now. Like the Texas Rangers, when they won, they had a whole litany of injured pitchers. The Dodgers, they had a litany. Stop saying litany, dude. They had a big group of injured pitchers when they won the World Series that maybe the Orioles in however they're judging thing is like, hey, the depth is going to be more important. so we don't come down the stretch with one starting pitcher

where, okay, if we signed a freed or a burns, and then they get banged up going into the postseason or at the Allster Breaker whenever it is, that you have more options. And that's kind of what you were saying. I don't know if Tyler O'Neill is going to replicate last year or if Jackson Holiday will take a leap, but it feels like if you gave me the bet where one of them would,

I'd be like, yeah, absolutely. So it feels like they've taken that approach with their offseason and the truth with all these teams that we end up laughing about is it is where a lot of times it comes back to the youth. Is Adley going to get back to form? Is Jordan Westberg a dude? There is times when he was last year. Jackson Holiday.

Is Grayson Rodriguez going to take a leap? Like they traded for Trevor Rogers. That's another sneaky option for them that it's like, hey, if they found something with him and he's healthy for next year, that's a guy that's thrown good big league inning. So it's going to be weird to see Charlie Morton in Baltimore. You know, he's... Why?

He's just been a brave. He's been a brave man for a little while now. You call him Big Bird? You do or I do? We could. I want to do that. Speaking of Big Bird, Felix Batista. I think that's huge.

You know what I mean? So they have the pieces there. They are relying, you know, Grace Renriguez is another guy, in the same ilk of, Jackson Holiday. Obviously he's had more success than Jackson Holiday at the big level, but can he take that next step and be the guy? If you pair Jackson Holiday, an improved guy who they think he's going to be with Gunner Henderson up the middle, and again, Grayson takes that

next step. Charlie Morton says, whispers in his ear, I do this, do this, do this. And all of a sudden he's a guy. Like, that stuff happens. That's not like far-fetched. I think we've been harsh on the Orioles. But the more and more I think about how their season can go, like the potential, it's there. Well, it's an exercise we're probably going to do later this offseason, but, you know, the Orioles have spent $86 million, which ain't nothing, but it's, you know, three one-year guys and Morton-Sagano Sanchez, El-Gerry, and then that Tyler O'Neill, three-year 49 and a half-mill deal. So it's just going to be an interesting juxtaposition between, okay, if you were willing to spend this much money, could it have been

one or two more impactful pieces or maybe not? Or maybe Tyler O'Neill is that guy. So I guess, and by the way, we've got another Charlie Morton wanted to sign with a team that played near his Bradenton, Florida home. So the Orioles Complex in Sarasota. So,

I don't know. Guys just love being home now, brother. I just love you know. Crazy. So I guess if you had to to win one postseason game in 2025. If you had to say Orioles or Cubs, where do you lean? I mean,

both teams have to get to the postseason. I don't think that's, thank you. I don't think that's a foregone conclusion necessarily. If I was a betting man, I would say, do both teams make the play? Oh, man. For some reason, I want to say the Cubs are going to have more competition, just because the NL wild card is going to be better.

I don't think we're going to see three AL teams, ALE central teams, excuse me, in the playoffs again this year, but who knows? Roster to roster, I would take the cup, right? To win to play out. Really? Okay.

I would, yeah. I just think that there's more like been there, done that type of, there are more been there done that type of roster. And you're talking, and who's the one in Baltimore right now? Would you say it's Grayson? Would you say it's Eflin?

Would you say it's not Morton? If I was an Orioles fan, I think I'd want it to be Grayson Rodriguez. Like he's got the potential to find a little more. Like I think that's what I'd want. So, okay. So he's going up against Shoda or Justin Steele. Right. And I think the Cubs have the advantage there.

I like the, again, I just think there's a little bit more been there done that in the Cubs lineup. So I would take the Cubs, I had the bet to win one playoff game this year. I'd probably go with the Cuddies. Yeah, it's a good kind of count. That lineup looks, the lineup has always looked good. The roster for the Cubs has looked good.

It just hasn't like jelled yet. Like they need a little WD 40 on the squad to get it rolling, Jake. Yeah, it's interesting. The Cubs depth confuses me a little bit right now. Like right now their bench is currently listed as Carson Kelly, which we like. Gage Workman, who I'll be honest with you, people. I'm not super familiar with the 2020 drafty infielder.

Well, you got rule five from Detroit. Maybe. Yeah, we know. They traded for Vidal Bruhan. So, okay, they liked what they saw there. Kevin Cash used to love this guy, so what does that mean? I don't know. That I don't know.

I like the Orioles depth a little more. And I mean, they've gone dance. They just have had a couple tough playoff games where they haven't been able to get the big swing or the big run. And, you know, the Orioles, those Orioles, those Orioles lenses, they finish fourth in OPS runs, and they were fifth in starting pitching ERA. Like, they won 991 games.

I know they've lost a lot and I've been tough on them. I guess compared to the Cubbies, I would lean birds. But I think it's a fun combo. All right, coach. Let's jump to another fun one here. Because I was perusing the AL West. Some say it's your favorite division. And they had two pitchers for the Sye Young coming from very different angles.

They said they predict for the Texas Rangers. Jacob de Grom to bounce back and be in Siong. Well, actually, this is funny on three notes, because they open it up to the whole Mariners rotation. They were like, okay, well a Mariners starting pitcher win the Siam. For the Texas Rangers, they said, Jacob de Grom to potentially win what would be his third Sy Young, although he hasn't eclipsed 100 inning since

2019. And then from your Houston Astros, they threw out Hunter Brown to go and compete for the Cy Young, which I wasn't as familiar with his game last year because he got out to such a tough start. Oh and 4, a 978 ERN, his first six starts, but he bounced back in his final,

147 innings, a 251 ERA. So this is a little AL West pitchers hodgepodge that, I don't know, if you actually had to invest and get on the Draft King's app, like where do your eyes look? I love Jacob de Grom, and I know what he's done, and I've watched him and seen him, and it's fantastic. And I hope that he has an incredible bounce back year. I just don't think he's going to pitch enough to be in the, truly in the AL-Sah-Yung

consideration. And that's not, it doesn't mean he's going to be hurt again this year. I'm, I'm really, really praying that he gets to pitch a full year. I just think the Rangers will be pretty careful with how they use him to start out the year. And then maybe we'll see a full go Jacob de Grom, you know, come postseason runtime. I think that's best case scenario if you're a Rangers family. Okay, let's ease the guy into it, get him going. And then come August, September, like, let's see is he truly healthy? Can we get that guy back? That would be,

I think, in my mind, best case scenario. I mean, look, there's nothing we need to say or tell you about Jacob de Gras. He's absolutely filthy when he's on. There's no doubt about it. Someone would say he's the best pitcher in baseball when he's on. So if you're,

do I get to include the Mariners in this conversation? I mean, they're always involved a little bit, you know? I think I would take one of those guys to win Sye Young over both Jacob de Grom. I get five options, maybe six options. As a betty man, that makes sense to me. Hunter Brown, look, you're right.

I was going to say, was it five games, five bad games at the beginning of the year, but it ended up being six. He added the sinker, and that kind of just opened things up for him. And he was fantastic at the end of the year. You know, if we didn't include the Mariners, I would say, yes, I'm going to go Hunter Brown over Jacob de Grom for Siongoyang for Sye Young Boat. Just because I think he's in a pitch more. Right.

And I don't know, man. He's like young and hungry and got a taste of real success last year. And I think that, what's the saying, Jake? Success, baguette success? Is that even? Did I make that up in line? Was there a baguette in there? I think.

Success, baguette, dude. No way. I think I read it in some Tolkien novel. So I would, if you give me those three choices, I would say, look, we got a bunch of dogs up there in Seattle. I'll take that as a betting man. But between Hunter Brown and Jacob Grong, I would say Hunter Brown,

just because I think he's going to, I think he's going to pitch more. So that is a saying success, forget success, a.k.a. success can lead to more success. I mean, I'm on today. That's Trep. That's some Stanford stuff. That's, I'm five days, no drinks.

Over. Same? Yeah. The clarity is here. I'm going dry January. We'll see. Are you cool? I'm supposed to go to a baby shower, like January 19th.

What does that mean? Nothing, nothing. That means nothing. I think you're like, where are you, where do you land? Your logic is, your logic is right. Like Hunter Brown going into his age 26 season, he got better from 24 to 25, age wise and year wise. That, yeah, I think it's,

the safer bet. I mean, what I could throw at you is like, would we have said this same thing about Chris Sayle last year? So it's, it's, it's knowing that de Grom, when DeGrom's on the mound, you know what's coming. Like, it's, it's not like he's on the mound throwing 89 now. It's like, no, he's still coming at you with arguably the best stuff in baseball. It's, I like what you said, though. If you're the Texas Rangers, you don't even step on the throttle with him. And, you know, if he has one even question mark, like you played as safe as possible where, you know, I wouldn't be surprised if Hunter Brown's goal next year is to throw 200 innings and be one of those guys, which that's one of the new rare air things in baseball.

If I made it a two-pack and it was Hunter Brown and DeGrom first pick two mariners, I think I'd go DeGrom and Brown just for the sex appeal of it. Okay. Those Mariners, guys, they're just, they're so good. I can't, I can't Mariners right now, I don't know. So, DeGrom, he ended up pitching three games last year, 10 and 2 thirds, uh, you know what I like, pitchers that don't want people, 14Ks in those 10 and two thirds,

only one walk kick. That's, that's hot. Hot. I think, I don't know, I mean, dude, I, I guess, I guess, I haven't erased Jacob de Grom from my mind. Okay. But I haven't seen him. pitch, a full season since when.

Right. But that's where I'm at with that. I hope for the best for him. Dude, if he wins a Cyong this year, how freaking cool would that be? That guy, people don't realize how hard rehabilitation is. Lonely, it sucks.

You want to be helping your team. Is this guy making a ton of money? Yes. Does that make it easier? Yes. But it's, he's not being able to use his talents like he wants to. It's very depressing. It really, really is. I've talked about that many times. So I'm rooting for him just for that sake. Like, get your menthol's better, man. So what's my answer? Mariner.

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Subscription Required price vary based on product and subscription plan All right Trev it's time to press everyone's favorite button It's the Dodgers button And they are going to be obviously one of the most talked about teams The defending champions who continue to add an ad, including Hey Song Kim, we believe we're saying that right.

I did listen to some pronunciations this morning. One of the more intriguing international prospects, super utility guy, supposed to have the contact tool. People are worried about the pop. He's obviously, he crushed it over in the KBO the past few years. And yeah, there was a few teams on him,

but the Dodgers said, no, we want. that. There's a funny Dave Roberts quote after playing them last year that they were like, yeah, we like that second baseman. And now look, he's on the team. So, Trev, I want to get your thoughts on that, but they also, and, you know, again, maybe it's some article,

I don't want to say clickbait or more so fodder, but the Dodgers challenging the all-time wins record in the regular season of 116. Show Hay's coming back. They added Snell. They just keep adding. The roster, I could get Chris Rose on you,

and I'm going to ask you this question. I'm going to do it right now. Anyway, I have two things I want to say. First, let me get this off my chest. Do you think, you know, a lot of American players go over to Korea and play? Do you think the Korean baseball today is like this? Mark Rich Sipsky, how do you say it?

Come on. Come on. I bet they do. I think it's just funny. We do it. they do it. I don't know. Yeah. I crossed my mind.

Yeah. I was trying to think of like weird American names that would just be like, what the hell? Right. There's a lot of them. Like, Blake, even Blake Trinen is like, what? Right. Right. That's a great.

Anyway. Thank you for defending us. Yeah, I think that's what I was doing. Thank you, Trev. Thank you. Finally. We're just trying to get it right. Yes.

Second, Chris Rose. I was going to ask this question. I'll get to your yours. Like, is this, when's the last time a better roster was going to Like, is it the 2000 Yankees? Ooh. That is some Chris Rose. Do you know what I mean?

Like, I think that's a valid thought process. Like, when's the last time there was a better roster constructed than what the Dodgers have right now? Because go look at it. You mentioned, Haysan Kim's coming over. Teams were looking at him to be a starter on their team. The Dodgers are like, hey, we found a new Gerard Dyson. Right. Like, he's going to come off the bench and.

He's going to be sprinkled around the field and he can run the bases and all these things. Like their depth and everything is so damn good, Jake. Yeah. But I'm curious. Like when is the last time there was a better roster constructed? I know it's on paper. I know they got to play the games. Hey, newsflass has just won the World Series and got better, I think.

Um, what say you? Might have the best player ever on the roster. So that's, what say you? Jacob I don't like the way You're talking This New Year Success Spaghetti

Success Harry Potter Man I You probably have a pretty good argument Man Because I'm A

A lot of the salary cap And different rules That we've added That owners have obliged By The past 10, 20 years

Or whatever it is Imposed on themselves What you mean Yes Okay like coming off the World Series, having one of the best players ever, having inner circle Hall of Famers,

having depth that, and they're currently adding that you're right. I guess I would have to, the interesting thing in my head right now is trying to think of teams, like post-trade deadline, because I'm even thinking going back to Dodgers teams that didn't win, like,

Annie Machado was a Dodger for a little bit. So that would be... They're not better than this. team. They're not better than this. I think you're right, but I think... I think it's like that team with Posada, Cano, Tashara, Jeter, Arod. 09 Yanks. You know, like... 09. Yeah, I mean, there's... That's... Okay, why did I say 2000 then? Um, I mean, it was around then, but yeah, I...

It gets really tricky because, dude, everything's still on paper, man. Like, that's, it's the beauty of the offseason right now, but everything's still on paper that even... God, like, I thought that Braves team was really nasty when they won the World Series and Acuna came back, you know? So there's definitely an argument. I'd have to actually get in the weeds, and I think the easy answer is yes, and that's probably why I'm being so long. Because, dude, like, Snell is just, okay.

Like, what? Like, go look at his numbers after the All-Star break. If the light bulb's on for Dustin May, then yes. like stop. We don't need to play a lot of this season. The pitching depth is insane. We're obviously very, we're all L.A. fans here.

That's what everyone always says in the comments. This shows only about the Dodgers. It's like, hey, guys, they're the best team in baseball. We kind of have to talk about them. Kind of have to. They have, I mean, show hay's on their freaking team. I mean, I know I don't want to,

we want to spread the love around, but sometimes you've got to give a little bit more, you know, to the big dog. How about this? I would love if the Dodgers made this a team goal. I don't think they will. I don't think they care because we're all about World Series. But the conversation with regular season in sports right now,

and I think it's part of the reason the NBA has gone down the past couple years because their regular season is a disaster. Everyone gets in the playoffs. You don't know if the stars are playing. They had to, like, create a gimmick. They had to create rules to make their players play. which is pretty wild. Oh, and a tournament, in-season tournament.

It's like, hey, we have the playoffs in-season. Check this out. I kind of like it. You know, NFL's coming off a weird week where half the games didn't matter. Like, dude, if the Dodgers were chasing 116, that'd be sick for the sport, man, because we're trying to make regular season games matter more.

I just, I don't think any team puts this on the wall and cares. One six, so that's 117 games. They won 98 last year. I felt like they were just on cruise control the entire freaking year. I know the Padres, the Padres came and challenged them towards the end. Podgers are a very good team. It felt like the Dodgers didn't have starting pitchers

for most of the season. Yes. And when they had to nut up, use my language. Thank you. They did. Yes. Big time.

So what are you, okay, 116, 117 game. I would say no. I don't think they care. I would love if they did. And like, if it comes out in spring training that, you know,

every now and then we get a leak of a secret show hey goal. He's like, I want to win the WBC. I want to win the world. If he just starts aiming at records to break, I'm all in. All in. So that's where all coming.

I think show hay's offensive numbers will probably go down. I think. Don't bet on it, but your logic's right. You got to focus on some pitching. I know he was still rehabbing, still throwing and stuff, but the actual game day that he's going to have to go through, I think we'll,

the stolen bases will not be there, people. Hey, 50 stolen bags, whatever it was, and that being 54, that was awesome to see. You're not going to see that again. I don't think. I don't think you should. Like, if the Dodgers are smart, they're saying, like, hey, show, hey, you got the 50-50,

but I'll, like, pump the brakes a little bit. So 1-16 to me seems crazy I just never seen a team even come close to it What's the most games I think I've seen a team win was what The Dodgers won 101 And the Braves did that too Like not too long ago

Like that's the most I think I've seen No we I guess the counter would be Dude the San Francisco Giants That one year 1-107 I think No Oh and they beat the Dodgers that won 106 Yes dude that was wild

So like That's I'm fact checking that because I'm gosh, do they really? That wasn't that long ago. That whole, I mean, that season there was a lot that didn't make sense. No, 2021.

21. Getting there. 107. Holy schnikes. You're right. Gabe Kapler just working that magic. I do. God.

I vote no. Imagine, imagine the world where everything clicks and you're playing the dog. And Snell is Sanyahu Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Tyler Glassnow is everyone's, if he does it for a full year, he'll win one. Shohay, who that's probably next on his list of things to do. They just might.

Look at their five-starter. Pick. Just pick one. They just might. And yeah, I mean, he, Hesong Kim. If he signed with another team, I'd be like, I don't know. I'm kind of worried about the power, and there's not a lot of good just pure contact hitters in baseball.

He's with the right squad. Oh, he's not going to hit for any power. There's no need. He doesn't need to. I said he is there, Gerard dice. Yeah, I have a... A little bit more super util. I have a brewing theory that it's near impossible to be a truly contact hitter in today's MLB.

Like, even a rise is kind of taking a step back. Like, I don't know. Spray charts, that's why? Spray charts. But I saw him turn on some balls too. He can do it. Can I just give Gerard Dyson a little bit of love? I feel like I'm not mocking him, people.

I'm not like saying that in a bad way. Go remember what Gerard Dyson did for the Kansas City Royals back. Turn singles or walks into triple. What he did? He had room shaved into the side of his head, bro. You got to be fast to do that. You have to be able to fight. You have to be fast.

Not even fast. you have to swipe bad you can't be just fast to get thrown out all the freaking time, dude who's the other guy? Terrence Gore. Yeah. I mean,

parents. How many World Series does Terence Gore have? I don't know. Does he have two? I don't even know. I don't even know that. I'm sorry. Two-time World Series.

Yeah. There was a time where he would I think he has more playoff appearances than regular season appearances. which is pretty hilarious. God, what is his life? You just sit in AAA the entire year, and they're like, okay, let's bring him up.

2015, Royals, and then 2021 Braves. Golly. He has three? Interesting. He was on that team two regular season games. No postseason. So he's probably got the bling. I don't know.

Oh, yeah, you got the ring. He's got it. It's there. Yeah. Yeah. Baseball reference doesn't give it to him. We'll have to talk about that. Oh, I remember my, I mentioned there was a Sam Darnold com from before.

This is from earlier in the show. Charlie Morton, man. Dude, Charlie Morton, his first, from ages 24 to 31, he had a negative war. Yeah. And then he left Pittsburgh. his rookie year was with Atlanta too. But I don't know, man.

We've kind of seen this around baseball. Some of these players that have left... Pitchers leaving Pittsburgh and become an absolutely dominant. Yeah. I wasn't going to sing about Pittsburgh. I was going to say players... What does that mean for Paul Skeens? If Paul Skeens leaves Pittsburgh, what's he going to do?

I think... He'll never allow a run again. Oh, my God. He's already a Dodger. You know, people used to say that about the Yankees. Not anymore. Maybe one day. Maybe one day.

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It's stung. It might be a tailback in Seattle. Seattle that I don't know. I really like him and I just feel like if they gave him the ball more, they'd win more. Does his last name sound like a white wine? Havern. Yes, it does. Yes, it does. It's crazy. Over under with 60. You got 59 yards. Wild. I guess it sounds like a white wine and a red wine, doesn't it? A little bit. Whoa. Talk to our branding team. Rose. Trev, speaking of, I've got one Chris Rose question for you. And then we can hop around the board a little bit more.

You like that? You can use that on baseball today. I'm going to use that on it. Is baseball today the hottest show on the internet? You guys are. Holy cow. Chris Rose is so. Oh.

Trev, the one that keeps getting me, and I teased it earlier, Mike Trout, who it feels like, God, I know we did this at Fanatics Fest. He was the guy. He was baseball. He's our best player for a decade. So few games last year. So few games the last couple years.

This goes back to the Sy Young thing. I guess it would be an MVP thing, and I'm going so far on different angles of the spectrum. Mike Trout, the bounce-back year. He puts it all together. He's pissed at Shohei. Here comes his 50-50. Probably not the speed.

Mike Trout or Ellie de la Cruz from your Cincinnati Reds putting it all together in finding an MVP season. Okay. I feel like this is setting me up to hate on somebody, and I don't like that, dude. No, it's not. You can know both. Ellie is a hell of a baseball player.

A hell of a baseball player. Love watching him. He is electric. I think he has the potential to, I think he has a potential to, I think he has a potential to be an MVP. I guess I could say that. I don't think that's like super far. Okay.

Was he MVP votes last year? Let's see. Ellie de la Cruz, he landed. He landed eighth in the MVP last year. I know we got some votes last year. Second season. It's not far fed to see him just explode. Third season, he's probably got around.

He's turning 23. Probably got around 1,000 at bats by now in the big leagues. You know, you start to, maybe a little less than that. What is it? A thousand and six at bats. Okay. So now you're starting to understand what it means to be a big leaguer. you've seen everything.

There's nothing that a pitcher can throw you anymore that you haven't seen. Once you get those a bats in, it's just like, okay, now can I stay healthy? What are my adjustments like? What's my routine like? That's when you see guys start to take off. When you have the confidence to say

what can you throw me? I've literally, like, this is the big leagues. There's no better league. I've seen all the pitches. That's when you start to get up there and you start to say this is my plate. So at very, I mean, you got me thinking a little bit more about this. I'm more on the side

of Mike Trout being, I mean, how many times have we seen Mike Trout? Like, not only win the NEP, which is three times, but also finished, you know, runner up and I'd, I'd, I'd, gosh, actually you'd have me thinking about this now. You kind of saw me spinning.

At first, I was saying Mike Trout, for sure, because he's, he's just done it so many times and he's I think he still has plenty in the tank. At the beginning of last year, he was, before he got hurt, Jake, he was absolutely going off. So,

this is a little tougher than I thought. Trev, I was Trout, and you've convinced me on Ellie. I think so. I think I just convinced myself, too, to say Ellie. Dude, he's, he's turning 23. So, okay. He just had a five-war season last year. He led the league and stolen bases.

and like everything kind of took a natural jump last year. Like the batting average, the on-base percentage, the slugging OPS obviously combines those. He played 160 games. So, I mean, Ellie de la Cruz, man, do I see him taking another step to becoming a seven, eight-war player? Or do I believe in Mike Trout to be healthy? And I'll just be honest.

Like, I don't. Like, I feel like we've got to get a couple good more Trout seasons, even 145 games. But, man, it's been a minute. And I don't know. There's also just like, okay, if L.E. de la Cruz has an eight season and leads the Reds to the playoffs versus, okay, Mike Trout has a nine war season and the Angels finished 78 and I don't know. I don't think either these guys wins the MVP.

And that's okay because we have monsters right now. I mean, Shoah is going to be the MVP frontrunner and the NL for the next six years. Yeah. You know, maybe even longer than that. Aaron Judge is going to be doing Aaron Judge things in New York for a long time. So, you know, obviously you put those two guys at the forefront. I guess now the question should really be who's going to finish higher in the MVP in 2025. And I'm like kind of more deep diving into Ellie.

And I think I'm going to say Ellie is my answer, which is pretty crazy because, you know, we know who Mike Trout is. is and hopefully he is healthy and he can do that but all the underlying metrics like you said just crazy jump for him he's stealing bags he's playing elite defense um and now we're getting to the point where he's just being more confident at the plate the only thing that needs to come up for him is his his strikeouts like his chase and his whiff which what that's what happens as you age like it gets better. You see the ball better. You understand things. So he went from a 710 OPS in 23 to an 810 OPS in 2024. If he's in the

nines this year, playing elite defense, wiping bags, I think he might win MVP 2 this year. Okay. He's not going to win NAPA one unless showhead gets hurt. Right. But there's a and what's the number? Man, right now might need to sprinkle pop. It's just, It's really interesting. If everything takes another step, which it should,

I mean, his second full season, like 23, that, yeah, man, if 25 homers turns into 30, if 67 steals turns into, oh, God, I mean, 80? Are you talking 30, 80? And then, yeah, I mean, defensively, if he starts grading out just a little better over there because he has all the skill in the world, it could get interesting where Trout

I mean Trout's Trout and I hope he makes us regret this whole conversation but it's kind of like he's his last full year is 2019 at this point I believe I'm trying to look if there's odds out for MVP for 2025 and I don't think I see any

or maybe I guess 2022 Trout had a six war in a 119 game so that's pretty damn he can do that Aaron Judge plus 300 Bob Witt plus 450 Gunner plus 750 and then I got to find

the NL I don't know can't find it but when I do I'm going to sprinkle a little bit on Ellie okay yeah okay

I forgot that Juan Soto's also he's not going to win the MVP but he's going to be can you bet like second-wise. Could he? That's always Gisarpen those plus two thousand. Trev, that was fun.

We just flipped. We just flipped. I hope trout makes us eat our words. God, I hope this whole trout story and Angel fans, I think you're on, well, you're not fully on the same boat, but could you imagine, dude, if the pass-in tweet dropped and it's Mike Trout to the Phillies, like baseball would erupt, man.

Don't do that to me right now. I know. Your testosterone level's already a little juice just with the new year. Come on. Be healthy trout. Some of his walk strikeout stuff is interesting. Anyways, Trev, I'm going to open up the board to you because there's obviously a lot of teams we didn't mention.

And again, go check out this article if you're looking for every team or your team in particularly. But what were some that were speaking to you, big guy? So we've talked about this a little bit. One of the predictions was about the Blue Jays and it was not about Vladdy. It was about, and it wasn't about Will Wagner. Because, you know, they just love Sun. Yeah.

What's up with that? It's Boba Shett. Yeah. And the prediction was Bobesette bounces back to stardom. Now, he led the AL on hits in 2021 and 2022. 2024 just wasn't good for it. He was hurt, just never got things started. It just didn't, it didn't look healthy.

It didn't look like he was having fun. It didn't look like any of those things. So if you look back at the track record, this is really like the first year that he's done that. And we had him in the conversation of, I don't know about elite AL short stops because the defense is kind of squirrelly there, but one of the better offensive AL short stops for sure.

And you can envision, you know, I was thinking, man, you really can't improve your defense. I never really happened for him. I think he bounces back offensively in 2025. Because for a couple different reasons, hey, man, come in, have a healthy offseason, have a healthy spring training, and, you know, that obviously helps. But I think the biggest thing here, Jake, it's his walk year, man. like even a return to 70, 80% of like your past numbers will get you paid.

If you have another year, the injury plagued, you know, the peripherals aren't good, then people start to say, wow, is he like declining already. This is a young kid who should not be declining. So I think the focus will be there. And I think that might be an issue where I've said this about guys before. And I don't know this for a fact. I've been around him a little bit. There are times where you just get so comfortable, man.

He's been in that organization. He's just been in that city. He's played for the same team. A couple different managers, sure. But he's very, very comfortable with what he's doing. And sometimes when you get comfortable, you lack a little bit of motivation. Doesn't matter if like, oh, it's the big leagues. It becomes a little monotonous for you.

the motivation for Boba Chet this year is very clear. I want to enter free agency going in on a high note. I think the focus will be there. Hopefully the health will be there. And we should see him return to more of that 2022, 2022, 2022, 2023, 2021 type form. So I like this prediction. I don't know about what.

I guess he was a star. I guess he was a star. Like good looking guy. Like, you know, it has the legacy name. But him to have a bounce back year. like comeback player of the year, I don't think that's out of the realm for Bobbushet.

Shortstop, two-time All-Star. He's got MVP votes in three straight years until last year. I like it, Trev. I think you're right. Whether it's comfortable, and I feel like sometimes that can come off as a rude word, but it's, I don't know, I think we all get comfortable in our surroundings

that I don't know, you're right. Going into a contract year, it can go one of two ways, man. It can be the pressure. Like, it can be the, oh, if I ball, if I have a good year this year, I'm going to have 100 mil in my bank account, maybe like 200 mil, man. He's young.

Like, if he puts together a season, Boba Chet will get paid paid. If he doesn't, then you're on the, am I doing one year rehab year? Am I getting moved to second base? Am I, all that stuff comes up? player option. Right?

That I believe in Boba Chet. I think he's one of the most talented hitters in the game. And, Prev, this is going to be lame.com, but maybe you like this. They pan around at one of the last UFC fights. Boba Chet haircut. So he's coming off. It doesn't matter, people. I don't actually care.

He's coming off his worst. What I care about, he's coming off his worst season as a, a big leaguer. He's coming into a contract year like, you don't think Bobauchette's on that grind right now? Like, he absolutely is, and I think the hair's symbolic of that, right? Like, it doesn't matter. He, Boba Shack could play, if he's got a Mohawk and he's hitting 3.30, none of us care. But I think, hey, the difference from age 27 from age 23, that's a gap. Like, I bet he's taking life a lot more seriously right now. Not that he wasn't before, but it's different when you have these kind of stakes on them.

Dude, it's, it's everyone's experienced this. You get somewhere where, oh, there it is, okay? You get to a point where you get a little kick in the butt, you know, someone lights a little fire or you get beat down. Like, the motivation comes back. I'm all in on Bubba Shep. this year. I'll be interested to see if his his name comes up as part of this off-season.

We wondered, but... They got some big decisions up there in Toronto, man. They, um... Go look at that lineup right now on Fangraph. I'll be an anxious year. It's a weird freaking lineup, dude. Go get Santander. Go Bo, Santander, Vladie.

That can do enough. Yeah, yeah. They get... Look, you can play defense. You can stick Santander somewhere. We know you can play defense. That might have been my favorite one from you this year was the like,

you can have an outfielder who don't play great defense. Like a lot of teams have had that through the years. It's going to be okay. Littered through baseball through the years. Just some bad outfielders out there. Delman Young comes to mind for me. Your guy. Love me some down.

I haven't seen Delman in a long time. Any, uh, anything else you need to hit quick? I mean, we were laughing before, uh, Lucas Gialito and Christian Yelich, two of your friends listed as comeback player of the year. There's some rookie of the year stuff that I don't know. We would just be like, yeah, Jackson Job looks good, man. I don't think we hit any ALE Central, but that's tough on this show. We love the ALE Central.

Good. That's going to be a mess. I'm good. I don't have anything else unless you have one you want to, that you're dying to talk about, Bob. No, I guess a team that I just keep coming back to. this off season that I wonder if we're going to be talking about a lot or very little.

The San Diego Padres, like, what is going on? Man, like, we were they were like baseball's darling for a little bit and now there's just so many questions instead of answers that, yeah, I just, I want to see what happens there. I don't know how that story ends.

Don't trade Dillon C's. They'll be in the playoffs. And they're a terrifying. team. Nobody wants to face them. I fully agree. You just, what else is there to say? Like, I get, like, people want them to continue to make moves, but, like, the roster's pretty damn good already. There's still high-end talent. There are more holes. The pitching, the pitching depth, the lineup depth. So, like, even, you know, I think,

I think they'd be breathing a lot easier if they sign pro far and a depth pitcher. But I don't know they're going to do that at this point, you know? I don't mean this in a slight, but to expect ProFar to repeat what he did last year, I think is... I get it. Not realistic. I get it. You'd be nice to have that to hope on.

Maybe that's a nice message to get everyone through the week. Coach, we'll be talking to you Wednesday. Thank God. I missed you. Miss you so damn much. Let us know your guys. Your team's one prediction. Don't trade Dylan cease, Padres.

Why? Right? Why would you trade him? Don't do that. It's good. He already fleeced the Yankees. Hey, hey. Oh.

By the way, the past insane Luis Arise to the Yankees is like pretty close. He said that? Yeah.