Talkin' Baseball (MLB Podcast) - 255 | Blake Snell TRADED to the Padres!

Episode Date: December 28, 2020

The San Diego Padres have acquired Cy Young LHP Blake Snell from the Tampa Bay Rays for four prospects! Jomboy, Jake, & Plouffe break down the return package and how the trade impacts both teams, Trevor Bauer, and Kevin Kiermaier. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices 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. We got action. A little late Christmas present to baseball fans everywhere. Snell! Being traded. What's going on, everybody? Welcome to talking baseball. One more sneak attack episode of the 2020 calendar year, as we have a big trade to discuss.

Finally, some action. My name's Jimmy. I got Jake coming to you from Connecticut and Trev coming to you from California. Bug Bug Dude in the studio with. me in the Bronx. How was everybody's holiday, Christmas, and this weird week before New Year's. Trev, how are you? It's nice and early for you. 7.10 in the morning. It is. We were texting really like 5.30 in the morning, my time, but we got to get this episode out for the people. I had a great Christmas, great holiday week season, whatever you want to call it. But I'm feeling good. I'm excited

to talk some baseball. Young Jake. James, Trevor, big baby David in the corner. Doing well, happy Honda days to you guys. How about it? We're basically through it. You know, I'm itching for that Jan 4 number because that's when we're go mode. But how about go mode for the Padres, a little Sunday night dip. Enjoy your Green Bay snow game.

Don't care. Baseball's hot in the streets. And Snell is going San Diego, man. that's pretty nice. Yeah, so anyone that does not know about the trade at all yet, the Rays have traded Blake Snell, his three seasons and 39 million. I added up the individual years, so I don't know if they're saying 40, but like if you just do 10 and 10.5, 12.5, 16, it gets the 39 of my math.

Anyway, the Padres get Snell for three seasons, relatively cheap for who he can be. The raise in exchange got four prospects. Luis Patina. Patina? Patina? Patino. Petino. Luis Patino.

He's the main piece here. He's a top 20 pitching prospect. And he made his debut already. Be it a rush debut, we can talk about it later. But they get him for six years. He has no service time. They get Francisco, Machia, four years of control for him, a catcher that they can slide right into the backup role.

split time with or split time with Zanino and hope that he becomes something. They get Blake Hunt. He has another catcher that's still an A ball. Doesn't do much for me, but we can talk about him if you want. And they get Cole Wilcox, who is a college pitcher that was just drafted in the 2020 draft by the Padres. And they broke the, I'm interested on this. It's kind of a side, so I'll bring it up later as well.

That's the trade. It's four pieces for one piece. It's very much the Padres being win now with Clevenger being out for the season and they want to compete with the Dodgers. They feel like this is their window and they want to win now. And it's very much the raise, in my opinion, being the raise and refusing to ever be in win now mode and just always being prepped for that win in two and a half years mode. If you're a raise fan and they're, you know, with the, they already have, they've grown. Rays fans are coming and they're growing and they're active and they're feisty. I mean, I went to a lot of the places where I see where Rays fans talk and they're all just like,

well, what the fuck is this? Like Morton's gone, Snell's gone. We're supposed to just like the window's supposed to be wide open and we're like closing it ourselves because we're a little cold or something. It makes sense if the Rays are, they want to be two years away. This is a great trade. but the race should want to win now. So there's a lot of going around that like, no,

rays are bad for baseball again. And I saw it, I wanted to say it, but I saw it like all the reporters being like, this sucks. So I want your guys initial reaction to the trade, whatever direction you want to go. Jake, you were on this. You thought he was gone after the World Series. You didn't think there was any way he would return.

Simple math, man. Simple turkey math, right around the holidays, too. The rays are the. Patriots of baseball. The Patriots slogan for three years was, hey, trade a guy, trade a guy

one year early instead of one year late. And that's how they navigate now. And Snell, coming off an all-time high, he was nasty in the playoffs. The final moment is him getting pulled before the team lost the World Series. He starts making a real salary.

And it's easy raise math here. I mean, Petino is the prize again, got some show action this year, called up at 20. It's 21 now. You know, you hear the scout, the scout humpers rave about him, blah, blah, blah. He's kind of the piece. And then the other three are lottery tickets. And that's kind of prospects in any trade.

Does something pan out? The race clearly like these guys a little bit. You know, you mentioned the guy coming out of the draft, college pitcher, got some armed talent. I'm sure the race will find a way to tap in. The catcher, who knows, flip a coin. if they get to the big leagues. It's for Petino. And I think the other thing here, as a Padres fan, you got to be stoked.

You get Snell, you know, you're really building something. The depth on that team now is starting to get to the level of stupid that the Dodgers have and, you know, the other dominant teams in baseball. As a raise fan, it sucks, but this is how they operate. And I saw someone compare them to the, like, 2014 Royals the other day. The Royals that went to the World Series lost came back, built it up. up the next year and won. Well, the Royals have now stunk for five, how many more years are they going to be bad for?

They won the World Series. Right. The Rays want to stay in the mix. It's the whole new idea of playoff baseball where the teams, and you know this, the analytics department view getting to the playoffs as your lottery ticket and then it's a crap shoot from there. The Rays are building this up. What was already regarded as the top farm system in baseball, they have now stacked

that more and think about how else they're going to use the money. They got Michael Waka for one year three million. That Blake Snell 10 million, 12 million, 16 million. They can use that to go get three more pitchers. So it sucks. It's not the beauty of baseball that we want it to be, but this is how the race operate. For anyone first, this is their first time listening to our podcast. I mean, these are some all-time bad takes from you, Jay. You just compare the raise to the Patriots. The Patriots are a dynasty that wins championships year after year after year after year. The raise don't do that. Yeah, I miss that at all.

I don't understand that one. I guess you're saying they try to trade when the value's high. I guess that may be the comparison you're going for, but holy, that was something else. I will say, I don't think the rays are ever in rebuild mode. They're never in go-for-it mode. They're just in raise mode. They think they can win next year for sure. Yeah, well, they're always in wait for these prospects to land in two years mode.

But what the raise do is they think they are smarter than everyone. And maybe they are. And now they're going to say, we can get Snell, even though he's so, he's so cheap for a starting pitcher of his caliber. But they got rid of Snell, open up some money, yes. They think with Waka, with Patino, with some guys in their org stepping up, they can be the same team, maybe even better. So I think if you're a raised fan, this is just something you're used to.

I mean, you've seen, I mean, everybody leaves the race. Everybody eventually leaves the raise. They're essentially, I mean, Oakland gets that tag on them that they don't sign their players, but the raise are the exact same way. I think they still believe they're going to be extremely competitive. And now on the Padre side, this isn't a trade just for this year. I mean, they signed Clevenger to a two-year deal. He's coming off of T.J.

They got Snell for three years now. like their window is is open they got croninworth they got tautis a couple of grisham a couple of young guys they have machado and hosber in there for the long haul so they think their window is wide open so they go and get a controllable pitcher

that's a great move caliber i mean yeah so you're doing it it's a great move for the Padres the rays they're like the marlins but they didn't win the world series if they won the world series and they're like, all right, we got the ring. Let's do a little rebuild.

A little like, you know, rebuild is too tough of a word, but let's get rid of some people and revamp for the next wave. People would be like, fine, you got the ring. Marlins have done that twice. They didn't win. They didn't win. So the Royals comparison, I'd much rather be the Royals who doubled down and be like, hey, we were a couple games away.

Let's go get it next year. Makes sense to do that, even if the next five years for the Royals suck. like devaluing the World Series and we'd rather sustained playoff ability than winning is a terrible mindset, I think, and sucks for fan bases that what fan base celebrates. Oh, well, we made the playoffs every year. Like, no, the World Series is the goal. And like, I agree, Jake, that there are teams that think of it that way now. It seemed like you were advocating for it, which is where I disagree, because when the World Series. I was laying out for the people.

I agree with you guys. I was laying out the information for the people. Sorry for attacking you this morning. Yeah, no. I mean, Trevor Plouf heard there's new people listening, so he wanted to attack me off the rip. No, man, I mean, this is Tampa. None of us are surprised by this trade.

No, but it still sucks. It still sucks to not resign Morton, who has said, I want to be in Tampa. Like, he said, I only want to be in Florida. They should have had it. Did they even try it? We don't know. I don't know either way. But like, you know, did they even try to bring Morton back?

Did they even, they shopped Snell? They shopped him. Like, I don't think people were to come knocking. He's got three years left. Next season is only $10 million. Do you know how cheap that is for Snell? The Padre. Like, every review you're reading of this trade is like, well, the Padre has got a plus pitcher for three years and he's pretty cheap.

And the reason the raise traded him is, because he was too expensive for them. So, like, what are we doing? Like, why are the raise in the league? This sucks. Like, I know that the rules allow the raise to act like this, but I don't know how you fix the CBA to say, hey, this is bad for the sport and bringing in casual fans

and building loyal fan bases if this is, if teams are incentivized to do this. I mean, and that's where I'm a little surprised that you guys are coming in. so hot because there just should be no shock value here. This is the race. No one's shocked. It just sucks. And they're not, yes.

I mean, yes, full agree. But also, the rays are going to be set up really well. Like when we're talking about these other teams, whether it's the Royals, the Marlins, or whoever, the other small market teams that have done it throughout the years, like, they have the top prospect in baseball, Wander Franco coming. They add Petino, who's by some people, was a top 10 prospect in baseball. they have refilled it. And dude,

we've seen these other trade packages. What if Snell gets hurt next year? What if, uh, you know, what if he has a bad year? Then he's down to two years. Look at the Clevenger package that we were all hypercritical of.

The raise made their move. It sucks. I also don't think it's good for baseball. But the rays are going to raise. They just stacked a team that went to the world series with more and more depth that, no, no, no,

they didn't. No, no, they didn't. No, they didn't. They stacked them with minor league players. Petino is not. He got 17.

Well, I think Petino was starting the minors. He skipped AA and AAA, and he only got Major League innings last year because of COVID. I end with the service time situation and the Ray's wanting to capitalize on that. He hasn't even reached one year of service time. I'd be, I, my instincts would say the rays are going to start this kid in AAA. And get as much time in AAA so that he gets remains. six years of service time for 2020. Yeah, I mean, look, he's going to be good.

I have no doubt about it when you just think about his stuff. I mean, he should be good. There's definitely a chance that he doesn't amount to anything in the big leagues. I mean, I've said this before. Everybody's a slap dig until they prove they're not. That goes for the number one prospect in baseball all the way down. You got to do it at the show. You got to do it at that level.

You know, the guy, Mahia that they got, you know, he's two years service time, kind of just been a replacement player level player. He's young. So, you know, yeah, there's some catching depth there. But they didn't restock, like, the Major League depth. And the Padres did that. The Padres are really doing it. I do get what you're saying.

There shouldn't be a shock here with the raise. And if you follow the raise, there shouldn't be any shock. But it does suck, man. You called it as soon as you saw Snell get pulled in game six of the World Series. You said that might be the last time we ever see Blake Snell pitching in a raised uniform. And sure enough, it was. Think about this. He's making less money in the next three years.

He's one of Sall Young already. This guy, when he's right, and you saying he might get hurt next year, I don't even know where that come from. Do not put that out in the universe, Jake. But he's making 10.5, 12 and a half, 16. Kevin Gousman got 18 something this year, and the qualifying offer. Yeah, that's a free agent. years. If Snow is a free agent, I mean, it would not be this cheap.

So the fact that that's too expensive for the raise shows that that sucks. I'm shocked to the Dodgers. It sucks to have a team that cheap or everyone else is like, man, this is a great cheap deal for Blake Snell. But the raise, for them, it was an expensive deal that they needed to shed. Like other teams are gobbling it up because it's so cheap. And the rays are like, nah, no, we need to shed this. And that's like, well, what are we doing? I don't know if they were, I don't know if this is a shed trade.

I'm not too sure about that. They said it was money. I think they're just trying to capitalize. We'll see what their payroll ends up being this year. But I think they're, I think they thought this was a package they couldn't turn down. And I'm curious to see what other teams were involved. Like the Dodgers have a great farm system. Were the Dodgers involved?

I feel like this is a move the Dodgers would love to make. I'm also with Jake that the other three guys on this list. I dug in. I did like an hour of reading and watching. they're nothing. It's Petino. I mean, you know, a catcher. What's that? But he can be amazing. But like you're getting a lot of people saying like, what a haul.

I mean, it's not like the other guys don't stand out as much. He has got two years in the league and they're hoping that he can split time with Zanino, which is a little bit of a need for the race right now. But I mean, there's a zillion backup catchers out there ready to go. Yeah, exactly. Like he's pretty replaced. and nothing special. And then what's really interesting to me, and I don't know if Jake, you look like you want to say something before I move on. I was just going to say what we keep talking about

package. And this was when I was talking about moving Snell after next year, whatever it is. We just saw this happen. We saw the Clevenger package and we were all wildly unimpressed. They just got four bodies. Like go back to the Garrett Coltrade. The Ray's got who's a guy who's supposed to be a dude. And yes, you're a prospect until you figured out on this level. they got a dude and you just don't see that in in these kind of trades anymore you know this this isn't bartolo for grady sizmore in the gang like this is i don't know they they got their guy and it's it's the raise it sucks and it's the current state of baseball patino it like everyone he's a shortstop converted to pitcher so everyone all the scouting reports everyone

just says real athletic delivery real repeatable delivery because he kind of throws like a position player on the mound. I just watch a ton of videos. He does. It does look very fluid and nice and easy. And he sits high 90s. So that's nice. Good for him. He didn't get any work at AA or AAA, like I said. So I don't think he's a plug into the rotation for 2021 for the raise. So this seems like a move to me for the raise. This doesn't help the 2021 raise in my mind. They got significantly worse without Snell and more. And I don't, I think that's objectively fair to say they're still good and going to be competitive and they can work their magic. But I think it's fair to say they got worse from 2020 to 2020, which is just an odd thing

for a team who was two games away from the winning World Series to do. Yeah. I don't know, man. So I have something interesting for you, Treve, on this on this Cole Wilcox kid. He's a pitcher. He's a college pitcher. He was a top. Big boy.

Yeah, he's a top pick. and then he kind of dropped COVID and all that. He goes in the third round 80th overall. The Padres broke the third round signing bonus record with this kid. They gave him $3.3 million as a third rounder. So at first, when I saw this, I was like, well, the Padres probably don't even care about that. They got rid of their third round pick. You know, they wasn't really on their future draft board anyway.

He just came and maybe they didn't even get the magnet made with his name. on it yet. But then I was like, wait, but they spent $3 million on his bonus. Now, did they pay for him? And like, that $3 million is gone. If they knew that they were going to offer him in packages, couldn't they have just not, I don't know anything about this. So I'm genuine, like asking it. It seems weird to give a dude the biggest bonus the third rounders ever got. Then trade him and you eat the bonus. I do know this. If you were drafted last year, a lot of your bonus was delayed. Like they didn't get their full bonus right away. So I don't know the answer to your question,

but I do know that their bonuses were not paid out in full last year. So that could be something that maybe that got passed off to the raise. Knowing the raise, they probably were like, now you guys, you guys are going to pay that. Yeah. And maybe they chose him just to stick a needle in them because like that's so, if you know that you're going to offer this dude in packages, I doubt you break the bones.

bonus record. You just get whatever the smallest that he'll sign to become a Padre. Why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why was he a two-sport guy? Was he, I don't understand that. If you draft a guy, you just give him slot and that's it. I mean, you'd have to look into it. You, you know, normally in a situation like that, it's a guy who was a first rounder and said he was only going to sign with XYZ teams or something or, you know, baseball. You can't say that in baseball. That's like a football thing. If you have other options or, if you have, you know, you're a guy that could go back to college or do other things like that, you know, that is out there.

And I'll say it to you guys this way. You know, we're talking about the trade value. The Padres knew that if they could draft this guy in the third round, give him $3.3 million and you can flip them as part of a Snell trade. I'm sure they would have been fine with that. So, I mean, that's where your investment went. What's funny is here we are bashing the race. Mostly, Jake, you're pumping the raise up. No doubt.

No doubt. It's a smart move. It's just, it's bad for the sport of baseball. Like, I understand the logic in this move. I'm not here saying that the rays got fleeced or the rays are like dumb.

I just think the fact that this is a mindset of a major league team is bad for the sport. Yeah. I'm okay with it being one team. I think I've said that before. If there's like one or two teams doing it, I'm okay. But if that's a model that everyone is trying to do across league, I hate it.

But I will say this. We praise them so much. And we've constantly said, go try to trade. with the race, find out who they want, and then don't trade and then promote those guys. The Padres did not do that. The Padres went ahead and traded those guys.

We'll see how that works out. I'm excited to see Luis Petino. I think that, you know, I watched some highlights on him. Obviously, his numbers aren't good. He's 20 years old, though. They'll figure some stuff out with him. I'm sure he'll be at least, at least, a serviceable Major League pitcher that they have control over for six years, which is exactly what they want.

But just, you know, the whole, I think in the end, my final thought on all this is I'm happy for Blake Snow. He's to go to San Diego. I think he's going to have a lot of fun with that team. He'll fit in perfectly with the boys in Slam Diego. And now he's got, I mean, he's in the thick of it. It's them and the Dodgers, and that's it. And go out, try to win the division, if not get in the wild card.

The raise is a struggle every year there. They're competing. They're competing. And then, you know, everyone's, to pop up and have a big year like they did last year. I'm excited for him to go to San Diego and just be in the full thick of it. And like, for lack of a better term, you know, get onto a real major league baseball team. Yeah.

And again, it all goes back to value with trading or drafts or whatever it is. Snell, like think about how we got to this point. They pulled him twice through the lineup in the World Series, because that, That's what the raise do. So Snell has more value outside of this realm. So they made their move. They can use the cash elsewhere for this year in the coming years. And, hey, I think the other thing for this upcoming season that we're going to start talking about a lot is that you're going to need a lot of arms this year.

Even the veteran guys, you know, they didn't throw 150 innings last year. So Jim, even if Petino does start in AAA, this year you're going to need eight, nine starting pitcher types. So he's going to be a body for them. I don't know if it's at the start of the year or towards the end of the year, but we know the race are going to ride that bus. And, you know, he's going to be the guy you key in on to if he does have the six years that Snell does. Or excuse me, if he has four years that Snell kind of had and then they trade him for the next crop. Yeah.

The one thing I really don't get for the raise is this is the most wide open the AL East is going to be. Well, I think they just took themselves out of the face. I think they were the sure thing favorite. Yankees were, the Yankees are going to be tough again. The Red Sox are not going to be tough. The baby Blue Jays, okay, I could see them being, you know, up there for, you know, battling for a wild card spot. But the ALEC is down competitively from what we're used to.

And now all of a sudden, they're just like, you know what, screw it. It doesn't matter. Let's just trade away a Scion, Calvert pitcher. I don't know, man. Doesn't make sense to me. Yeah. It just sucks. fan bases. Fans.

Yeah, then they complain about, hey, nobody's in our stands anyway. Like, well, this is part of the reason why. Yeah, for the owner to come out and say no one goes up to our games like joking. And then, yeah, that's a good call, Trev. Like, well, yeah, why would you

become a loyal race fan right now? The Padre's rotation is awesome. Moving forward now. 2021, Snell, Lamet, Davies, Paddock. And then they got a whole crop of rookies and prospects that they can throw in there. Gore can get some work. Moro hon, Adrian, young dude.

Lechesey, I'm knowing if I'm saying that right. Do they say Lechesey? Is it Lechese? He's Lechesey. Lecessie. And then in 2022, you add Clevenger, maybe Gore, he's the big prospect. Maybe he becomes, you know, one more step in the right direction. and then, I mean, then they're probably going to be able to trade some pitching depth in 2020 next offseason if clubs back and healthy. Or they just hang on to all, but Padre's rotation looks pretty, pretty good. They got to compete with the Dodgers, and I like that they're doing this. We heard that the owner of the Padre said, if we're not competitive next year, forget what his threat was.

There was something funny. I thought he said like heads are going to roll. Yeah, yeah, if we're not competitive next year, heads are going to roll. roll. I think that's what he said. So, I mean, they got, they got a lot of players. They got fam and now Snell's with his boy, fam. They liked each other. You know, that that slap dick prospect came from when, uh, one over there.

What if they go sign Bauer now and then they have friends with Bauer? I think, I think this takes them out of the Bauer play. I don't think it does. I don't think it does. I think it might be more appealing to, to Bauer now. Just do they have the money to do it. And I've read some reports that they're, they do. They still have the final. financial flexibility to go and get Bauer.

But then does that hamstring him trying to sign Tautis to a deal? Well, what if... Should be trying to do that right now instead of waiting. What if they, you know, Bauer said forever one-year deals and then his camp really came back from that? And they were like, ah, we're probably... What if he still wants short deals? And now the Padres can really entice him for a two-year deal

and be like, look at our next two-year roster. I know. They came high two years and gave him a shit son of money jam. I think that is appealing. Like, he's off the one-year deal. He's got to be off the one-year deal thing. Two years at a high valuation or high money, I think he'd consider that because he'd still,

if you're talking two years, 75 million, like that's a big bag for him to get for two years. And then he could, you know, get back out into the free agent market when things are back, revenues back, all that good stuff. So I do think a two-year deal is still relevant for him. I think a one-year deal is probably out the window. He wants to get real, real, real financial independence. I'd guess he's not going to the Padres, but maybe the two-year deal thing is in Ticey.

I have no idea what the Padre's books look like right now, like where they're at total payroll. I don't think they have a ton left to spend. Jake, you think, where do you think this, how do you think this affects Bauer? Padres, send us your book. I think they're out on Bauer. I think you got Snell. He's your guy. And the pitching's there.

I mean, we ran through it a little bit. I mean, it's Snell. You know, Denilsson Lament was disgusting this year. 12 starts at 209 ERA. Zach Davies is just a, I was going to say he's a solid guy. Go look at his stats from last year. He was good. But if he's in your rotation, you're happy.

Chris Paddock might be their four starter now. This is before Gore gets here, who might be, you know, I think he's the top starting pitching prospect. in baseball. Morahone is 21 right now. They've got starting pitching. You know, Clev bounces back next year. It's going to be exciting to, you know, to see what it looks like next year. I mean, if they do, Bauer, awesome, and it's almost a super team of sorts with starting pitching. I think they're out, I'm with Trev. Like, if you're willing to go there, I would get in with this Tatee guy for a 10-year deal and start doing that. And, hey, you know, as much as we're crapping on the raise because it sucks that they

run their organization like that. The Padres deserve some love. We gave them some love during the season. Their owner, he does have the funny quotes, you know, heads will roll. They got a new front office. They got the GM and all of that. They retooled the whole system and they had a plan that we're going to retool the system. Then we're going to get good and we're going to start paying guys.

Look at their lineup, man. Grisham, Tatis, Machado, Hosmer, Fam, Will Myers, Croninworth, and Nola. I mean, that's one through eight right there. hey, get the DH back. But the Padres kind of did this the right way for what's supposedly a medium market team, if we're labeling them that way. So I don't know.

I do think they're out on Bauer. That just doesn't seem like the $25 million a year investment that they need to be spending at this point. But, man, go pods. Go pot. I'm talking that's a $30, that's a $35, $37 million thing. If they want to do it, They want to get them for two years.

And that's what it's going to call. For the Ray's 2021 rotation, as of now, you're looking at Glass Now as the number one, Yarbrough as the number two, Waka as the three. Just Gianni Trino's coming back in any time soon? So right now, right now they have a Glass, No, Yarbrough, Waka, Fleming, Richards. Trino's got T.J. Honeywell Jr., that's Trev's guy. We'll see if he can stay on the field. And then Brendan, two-way McKay, our dude.

So we'll see. Again, for me, it's, I hate that it is a shrug. But like, the rays are going to pitch. They're going to be able to get those first five innings from an assortment of different guys. And then they'll throw it to another group of freaks in the bullpen. So, you know, the rays are attacking this whole thing. differently and maybe they're going to break the game and maybe maybe they might be the biggest argument point of going across the new CBA

because they are living in a different and an unfun world. I'm very, very curious to see what they do with that extra money now in the payroll. Are they just going to hoard it and keep it? Are they going to go out and try to make some of these moves like with Waka? Are they going to go out and get some of these guys? They're going to wait, wait, wait, and then strike it. at the end of March, I feel like they're not done.

I feel like the rays are not done. They have some tricks up their sleeves. At least for me, I have been very mean to the raise on this episode, but I don't want to end the episode without saying they are very smart. They know what they're doing. You might hate it, but they don't care. And now I want to see what tricks are up their sleeve.

Like, who are they going to go out? after? Like, is it a bat, a big bat? Do they think they're going to go acquire some cheap pitching and then make some adjustments on a guy, make them throw his fastball at the top of the zone like every other damn team does now? I'm curious. I think they get a pitcher rehab guy. I think the raise are going to try to make that their thing. You know, the market's weird right now. Guys are probably getting these one-year offers. The raise will tell them, hey, you know, why don't you come here one year seven instead of one-year-nine? with another team, will fix you, go get paid next year. So I do think they're going to use some of that Snell money. I don't know how much. But the other thing is, man, you know, I give the raised lineup a lot of crap. If a Rosarena is even real, like, all-star level, not necessarily the best player to ever play baseball. But like, I think Austin Meadows is going to bounce back.

I think Brandon Lau, you know, is going to be solid, you know. And, hey, Wander Franco is waiting that I think, you know, We're all waiting. Let's go. Could they flip your guy, Trev? You know, what does Willie Adamas get them? A 25-year-old shortstop? Does that get them something back?

I'm with you. I know where they're signing. I think the Rays have more moves coming. I just figured it out. Jimmy got it. They're signing Hap. They're signing J. Hap. And they're going to, they're going to be like, we can fix your fastball.

One year, small deal. Hap lives in Tampa. spent all last winter in Tampa, Tampa. Razor just going to Razor going to try and just throw it in the Yankees' face and reinvent the guy that the Yankees parted ways with. And Hap's going to pitch with a vengeance against him. It's happening.

Just figured it out. Okay. I like that. I think I have another potential piece for them. Could be a reunion with our guy, Archer. It's a perfect candidate for them. if he's pumping it. Yeah, that is a good.

That's kind of what Jake's saying too. Like if they just give him like a get back into baseball honey deal. He says he's feeling good. He's had a bunch of teams watching him a throw. And so we'll see how that goes, man. But that would be interesting. I do think they're going to do that. They're going to get creative.

Like I said, they think they are smarter than every other organization in the big leagues. And they very may well be. And we're going to see. We're going to see how smart they are. Trev. You remember who blew our minds this year? Aaron Loop. Like, if they can get that dude doing what he was doing?

Like, who knows? I'm just, if I was a free agent starting pitcher, I'd be stoked. I mean, I, you know, not to, because at this point it's being half mean to guys, but I don't know. You know, I'm looking at, hey, Tyler Anderson, sure, what's in there? You know, the rays have whatever they're looking for. Wade LeBlanc, come to town. Let's see what they tap into, and I'm sure they'll end up driving us nuts as Yankee fans.

We'll see. Hey, um, Nightingale, our most untrustworthy reporter. I asked him. Did you do a sound bite? Yeah, I just did that. There's another piece of news, but do the Nightingale on first. Oh, well, no, I mean, Bob Ninetygo's not reporting anything.

He's just guessing. because anyone that looks at the raise payroll would then slide to the next biggest number and say maybe they're shopping him. It's Keirmeier. He's set to make $11 million this year. Kiermire makes $11 million and then $12 next year. So, I mean, I saw it not from Bob, just from speculation amongst, like, fans. Like, I bet they're going to shop Kiermire next because he's making too much money. Got anything on that?

That would be, I would be so pissed. that's the heart and soul of the team right there. You can't let that guy go. Man, it goes back to value for me. I don't think they'd really get too much back for Kiermeyer. I know we love him. I know he's a defensive beast, but the career offensive stats just aren't there.

So I, you know, what they would get. Get it, man. Oh, my God. You put him on a team that doesn't get his bat. He's very valuable. Go some Jackie Bradley. He's a free agent, and he's probably going to get what one year five when you're six i don't know i'm just guessing but you know you could go do that

instead of giving up anything for keermeyer who's going to be making more money are they are they similar offensively keermeyer's better now i think he is probably i don't think he's a he's a difference maker offensively and i do believe he's worth more to the raise than another team but um i just that would i'd be completely off the raise if they did that right now maybe I'm just biased. I love KK. I know what he brings. I've seen it firsthand.

But yeah, man, that would hurt. Similar offensive stats. I think Keirmeyer's got a higher career war because he's a little more special defensively. Yeah, I was trying to do just the last four years. Well, they're the same age. So if I go last four years, it's their 26 to 30 years, which I am guessing what people would be looking at. Kiermeier's war or, wow, Kiermire's defensive war. it's like double his.

But we talked about that. Jackie doesn't really get those numbers for some reason. And offensively... Center fielder in the baseball. Defensively. Last four years, JBJ's been better offensively. So yeah,

it doesn't matter. So that's what I'm saying. 11 mil. Well, if they do do that, Jake, then that's literally just shedding payroll. Not high value, not fixing another hole. If they do trade Kiramire,

that would just be them shedding payroll, which is really bad. Because with Snell, you have the, well, the highest value, blah, blah. But so I don't think they'll trade Kiermire because kind of what both you guys are saying. Like he's much more valuable to the raise for the next two years than he is anywhere else. If they do trade him, I think that's like, fuck. This is bad. Yeah.

What was the PASN sound? So Joel Sherman, he's not reported. a deal being done, but he said, I'll just read the tweet. Hearing Padres are front runners for Hassan Kim, who's the Korean shortstop coming over, deal not done from what I hear, likely fewer than six years, annual pay in the 7 to 8 million range, and he would go to 2nd, and Kronenworth would go to left field full-time. So including that part in the tweet made me think he's expecting it to happen, but it's not saying a deal's done, but Padres.

Hmm Why? Go pods, baby That seems like a confusing move I'm skeptical of anybody coming over from the Asian leagues Especially hitters

It's tough It's a different type of game over here And there's only been a few That have come over and really Been And stayed in the show He's 25 years old I don't know if that's

Way one way or the other that's just another fact I've got it doesn't i mean i hope he's good i mean i'm sure he's a good a good ball player but like that's not a move that's going to really get me excited and they got a guy that's really good at second base they do need more depth i mean i you know i keep going back to that work to the point that i don't like it anymore their pitching depth is almost there they're built uh i mean if you look at their bench right now you know it even for our hardcore MLB listeners it's deep cuts for a lot of people. Right now I list their benches. Campuzano, Tanalue, Greg Allen, Jorge Mateo, and Brian O'Grady. So, you know, just comparing

them to the Dodgers, who they're comparing themselves too, because they're in division and they just won the World Series, you know, the guys they had kind of on the bench, Chris Taylor, Kike, jock on certain nights. Like, they, uh, if that guy can be a good piece for them, sure. And I think this is Tommy Fams last year. So who knows? I was trying to look up the best Asian hitters. I mean, obviously you have, you kind of have the obvious ones, and then that's all. Yeah, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's tooy and each row. Yeah.

Then a lot of pitchers, and then Chu, Chu's got a really good career. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But like after those, after those three, there's not like a 50 in the middle area. It's kind of like, no, and I played with a few guys very, I mean, Okay, so Siyoshi Nishioka came from Japan. All-Star, one of the bigger players out there, one of the biggest players out there, came over and was just completely overmatched here.

The game's more physical, they throw harder. Everything about the game is just different here. And he expressed those feelings to me. It's not me saying it. He's told me that. And he was back over, he gave his money back and went back to Japan. Then I played with... No, thank you.

Yeah, Biong, going to park who I mean was the real deal had more pop than almost anybody I've ever seen play the game like the guy in batting practice could hit balls where other people couldn't hit balls it was very very impressive he said the exact same thing guys are bigger they throw harder he's like he goes when I hit batting practice here every single person can hit home runs every single person is strong he goes when in Korea he's one or two guys is hitting home runs he's like the game is just more physical here. And a lot of those guys, it just,

it's a mental thing to come over. Imagine if a guy that was playing in the States in the MNB, all of a sudden went to a league where the average fastball was 100. And everyone was 6-8, 6-9. Like, that's kind of what the difference is. You know, you play in the Asian leagues and guys don't throw as hard. They're not as physical. And then you come over here and it's like a super league.

It really is. that's why I never made it. Yeah, exactly. And Ichero, Matsui, and Chu, all hot. Those guys rake, Chu rakes, Matsui rakes, Etro rakes, obviously. But it's tough. It's really, it's tough. Matsui seems like left to a lucky thing.

Matsui near and dear to my heart, Jake. But one of the uglier. He's a beautiful man. He looked like a corpse holding a bat. in the batters box. You know who we forgot, though. Choi, Yankee killer Choi.

G-Man. Yeah. But hasn't he been over here forever, though? He didn't play in the Korean League, do you? No, he came over as a 19-year-old. Very, very interesting career path for G-Man, Choi. I think, I think, uh, um, Chu did the exact same thing, though.

He wasn't, he wasn't in the Korean league. I think he came over early as well. I don't think so Well no no you're right you're right you're right He came over when he was 22 Yeah you're right You're right at 18 The Mariners picked him up when he was 18 years old

So yeah you're right Cool All right well that's the end of this episode This was an impromptu episode because the trade happened I think we're going to be live tomorrow Because there's a lot of odds and ends That happened over the There's other moves that don't warrant

The Josh Bell trade didn't warrant a surprise episode But we surely got to talk about that And then there's some other... There's a few. I just updated the list this morning. Your favorite player, Josh Bell. That trade makes sense. We'll talk about that tomorrow.

This was just the Blake Snell episode. So I hope you all are enjoying this weird and wacky week. In between Christmas and New Year's. I hate this week. I hate it. Why? It's great. It's not the holidays,

but I can't work because no one else is working. So I'm just kind of like in this like, uh. He's got to be on or off. No, no gray. So yeah, so I'll be on. Jake says January 4th. For me, it was today.

Today is my starting next year. Terrible week. Living in the future. Yeah. How about that? I'm in 2021. That's awesome. That's great.

Snell got traded. Oh. See you guys. See you guys tomorrow. Goodbye. And the time's going to come.