Talkin' Baseball (MLB Podcast) - Dodgers Sign Roki Sasaki! Is This Bad For Baseball?

Episode Date: January 18, 2025

Use code TALKIN2025 for 10% off your next SeatGeek order*: https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/TALKIN2025. Sponsored by SeatGeek. *Restrictions apply. Max $20 discountTrevor Plouffe and Talkin’ Jake break down if Roki Sasaki signing with the Dodgers is good for baseball, if the Dodgers roster is the best ever assembled and why Toronto is always the bridesmaid for free agents 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. Roki Sasaki is a Los Angeles Dodger. We are shocked. Let's talk about it. Let's talk Paul. Splitter, obviously. Tommy has been involved. Oh, what?

In practice? Hello and welcome to Talking Baseball. I present you by Seatheek. Code Talking 25, I believe. My name is Jake Story Ellie. That is Trevor Paluf, producer, Rob Sharrock. on a Saturday morning. We couldn't get the Friday night shift on.

I had a little date night going. Trev was coaching him up on the court, it looked like. Teddy ballgame getting his hoops up. As we found out what everyone kind of assumed, but it still had to happen. Roki Sasaki is a Dodger. And man, I can't wait to peel back a couple more layers because people are saying one of the best rotation

ever assembled. People are saying one of the best teams ever assembled. And man, it is Trev as an L.A. man. And I know people are questioned. Wait, does he like the Dodgers? Is he a Dodger hater? Dude,

cool for L.A. How are you doing, man? I'm doing great. I don't coach Teddy's basketball team. I just was in the stands watching it. But yeah, we tried to get a showout last night. The schedule didn't line up. So here we are on a Saturday morning. And yeah, it's all about

the Dodgers and Roki and maybe a little bit about the Blue Jays I guess I don't want to you know I don't mean to go there but I think we got to go there at some point during the episode right yeah but this is you know for a while I was thinking San Diego Padres and that was my prediction a lot of people are telling me well you were so wrong like yeah well I don't did I don't know Roki bro I'm sorry I was just guessing where I thought he'd want to go because I thought the Dodgers had too many pitchers and I thought Rokie would be like ah like let me go somewhere I can you know really help out a ball club obviously can help out any ball club but this is it's gluttoness if we're being honest dude like i i put it out there last uh yesterday uh on x i said you know best roster since it is i think if you're looking at this dodgers roster on paper it is in the discussion for one of the best rosters ever assembled in the game of baseball which is you either think that's really cool or you're don't think that's cool at all. But it is what it is. There's just no doubt about it. So maybe he was going to go there all along. I saw a lot of people saying, yeah, obviously he was going to go there.

And maybe that was the case. But the Dodgers, the rich get richer, I guess. It's, it really is astounding to look at what they're able to do with their starting rotation, with their lineup, with their depth. I mean, they are a complete team. And everyone's playing catch up. There's no doubt about it. Like, I get we got to play the games, 162. That probably doesn't matter for the Dodgers.

But playoffs of the short series, anything can happen. But as of right now, I mean, I got to. What are the Dodgers odds going to be for the World Series going in? Are they going to be a plus 100? Are they going to be a minus to win the World Series? It's crazy. They're obviously the favorite. Yeah.

They will be the favorite. It is interesting in this sport to what degree. You know, one of the prouder things baseball has to hang their hat on is we, there isn't a repeat champion since 2000. So the Dodgers are going to put that to the test. I was, what was that? Who was that? You know, I'm not a history guy.

I like to, I like, I'm a math guy who lives in the present. Yeah, the expectations are going to be very interesting. with that team in that city and I don't know are L.A. and Japan just like are we just going to make a bridge over there? Like what's? I want to, so I think the interesting thing is

was this a long play like not a long con like a long play by the Dodgers all along. Right. You know, starting from okay, look, Shohay chose the Angels, which was like going back, like thinking about that.

Like what was the real? reasoning. I'm not really sure. Is it the play with Mike Trout? The only time that comes up in conversations, and again, I'm not a history guy. I'm a math man. Um, but I do remember other teams talked about limiting show Hey, like there is. Yes, yes. There were teams. They didn't want them to do both. Right. That I think I don't know where everything landed, but the LA factor multiplied by, Hey, dude, you go out there and you can do whatever you want. Like there's teams that some teams I said it could hit at a high school level. So I think that was big for showhead.

I don't want to name names because there were some people out there that has a really bad takes. Anyways, maybe he likes Disneyland. Maybe that was it. Trout? I don't know. Anyways, I'm just saying, was this in Friedman's mind, in the rest of the front office's mind, like, hey, like, if we get show hay, we can create,

a sort of a pipeline. We've seen what the Japanese guys can do in the WBC, man. Like, this is not like, oh, yeah, this is cool. Like, you know, it's a novelty act. We're going to get some business in Japan. No, these guys are killers, bro. These guys are some of the best players in the world. And if you can create an atmosphere,

where all of a sudden you're the premier place to go, drawing from another, you know, pool of players that really like only a few other teams even have a chance to get them, let's do it. I mean, it's what they've created in LA is. It's so attractive right now to everyone. And it's, a lot of people are saying it's bad for baseball.

I don't, I don't think it is. I think it's keep up. Find a way to freaking keep up then. You know, like that's kind of the name of the game, man. I don't know what else there is to say, Jake. It's pretty wild, man. Yeah, no, it's on the baseball side and maybe people end up laughing that it, there isn't a ton to say.

Like Rob just sent the, the DK odds. Dodgers are plus 350 to win the world series, which again, as world series odds goes, that's pretty dang good because you, not only do you have to come out of your league and be one of the best 15 teams, then you have to face the best team in a seven game set. And baseball doesn't always work.

like that. And I will say this is getting way too ahead of the skis. The most dangerous thing in baseball right now are the five game sets, are the division series. That we might, we might not really find out what it means for this

Dodgers team until that. You know, they are going to be good. Let's see how injuries go out through the year. And you could say this for any team. But man, five games to decide your season, we, you know, going back to recent post seasons, going back to previous post seasons, those are going to be some real pressure pack games because the defending

champs are going to be back in the dance. They're going to win the West, Trev. Like how when, when can you say that in this sport? And I, I guess maybe I'm teeing myself up for regret or a bad clip or whatever because, you know, I was big on the Braves. Like, I thought they had a really good chance to run it back because they had such a good young court. Ronald Kunia wasn't a part of their world series that I was like, they've got new pieces coming in. Like they could really evolve here. Uh, it hasn't gone that way. And even, you know, last year was they, they didn't win the east.

So baseball can happen, but dude, this is different. They, they have layers. Bobby Miller, who became a, a talking baseball favorite, uh, mostly because of you is now an aftermath in the seventh paragraph of every article where it's like, yeah, they could use him. And it's like for a lot of teams, he can. be one of their top prospects. They have four of those guys, five of those guys in the same ilk as Bobby Miller,

Dustin May, Tony Gonslin, River Ryan, Stoner, Bobby. Like, it's crazy, dude. So let's, I guess let's talk about Sasaki individually a little bit, kind of like what he brings the tail. If people don't know, I feel like people have probably seen what he brings. But this guy is 23 years old and remind you, he got a whatever, was six, seven million dollar signing bonus. Was it eight?

I don't know. I think it landed at six and a half. They traded for a little extra money from the Reds and another team. So now he will be going through just a regular old process, three years of league minimum, three years of arbitration for a guy that throws over 100 miles an hour, who has a splitter that great,

grades out on the 2080 scale at like a 70 or an 80 and he also throws a slider which people are calling an average pitch it's a 92 mile an hour slider it's going to get better so watching this guy throw it's easy cheese it's got a little bit of run to it life to his fastball uh the splitter he can shape a couple different ways uh i think that's kind of that's obviously his pitch and especially because not a lot of them get thrown in the states, it's, it's devastating, man. When a guy has a good splitter with good arm action, it's just, it's a guessing game. Right. It's, you don't know exactly where the balls are going to go because it doesn't do the same thing

every single time. And he's able to manipulate it. Sometimes he gets more horizontal with it. Sometimes he gets more vertical with it. And then, I mean, that is just, what are you going to do? Some of the swings, I went back and watched some highlights from the WBC. some of the swings he was eliciting from team Mexico. Like there's a swing Verdugo took on a on a splitter that was just like,

what are you going to do? Right. So this guy's going to come over and it's not like, hey, we'll see how he's going to do. Like he's going to be a top of the line pitcher. Right. Like there's like almost no doubt about it. His stuff is that. It's not like, hey man, if he misses a spot, like you've got to really be precise. He doesn't because he has that power stuff. He's going to get better with the dollar. because we've seen pitchers to come and do that and they're getting him for the league minimum and then three years of arbitration. I guess my thought on all that too is can't the Dodgers

right now just be like hey man I mean they don't have to and it doesn't behoove them whatsoever but they could I think just say hey here's a hundred million dollars for the next I don't know eight years let's buy two years of free agency would he do that I don't know but they could do that yeah there doesn't make any actually doesn't make any sense because why would they do that there's definitely i've thought about that there there has to be some rules in the cba um because you know otherwise it would make all this international pool money irrelevant like okay so roki sasaki plays for two months and then you can extend like there'd be so many i don't know i don't know what what the deal is because couldn't that would be a negotiating tool if you were

trying to get him to come you would say hey we'll sign you to a long term deal right away right and then He'd like, okay. Again, it has to be a rule against that. There's something in the CBA because I was trying to think, because, you know, Fernando got extended really early. So I was trying to, you know, couldn't teams just do that? Couldn't teams be like, hey, we're going to sign it. They must be able to.

There has to be rules around it. We'll get in one of our rules. Like, I don't know, from the day you sign and it's the day you sign an international free agent, they need to be on your roster for three years before you extend them. I have no clue. I'm literally making up rules as I go. ain't that life. Yeah,

more Sasaki Dodgers. What you're saying about Sasaki is the variables are health and the variables are adapting to the league. And I think with the recent Japanese pitchers that have come over, adapting to the league ain't been a problem. It's been a problem for the hitters because you don't see them. You don't see a lot of splitters. You don't.

And I think the thing that should be horrifying, and I don't know if people want to go to draft kings and put down some bets on. things but Roki Sasaki stats and you know I think people are going to go the other way on this at first but he had a 210 ERA a 089 whip 5005 strikeouts and 88 walks and 394 innings in his last four years so that's four seasons he was a stunt like that's what that tells you here's the thing that should horrify people Sagano came over for the Orioles this year and you know know, and latter part of his career, he's coming over one year deal.

I think I looked at his stats last year, and I think over like a full 100, I should get the stats. But his strikeout numbers were very low. Like, you know, Sagano had, let's say he had 150 innings, he had 80 strikeouts. Because over there, they still value putting the ball in play and not striking out. And they were doing Sagano's projections for next year, and his strikeouts were supposed to take a hike. Like, they were supposed to go up.

So when people think about MLB and comparing to the other leagues, it used to be MLB is just in another class in a different world. In a way, it still is. The depth of Major League Baseball and the top end talent. Yeah. Absolutely. But as we've seen with the WBC and as we've seen these other leagues catch up around the world, those strikeout numbers probably go up in Major League Baseball

as teams value the home run and swinging big that, Roki's going to be an animal. He's going to be an animal. It's just to what degree. And it's with that, this rotation, which Yamamoto came over last year, and it felt like people were unamused with his 18 starts at a three flat ERA. The best player to ever play baseball is going back to the rotation. And I think that's one of the best perks for the Dodgers fans. Like they will, you can be as careful with Shohei as you need.

If you, they can do two show hey starts a month if they want. Like you be as careful with that man as you need to with him coming off of injury. The other thing that, Trev, this is Andrew Friedman when he came out, the Dodgers GM, for I forget if it was the NLCS championship or when they won the World Series. You know, he kind of had the the LA vibe going. He had the jeans were a little snug. He had a fit going. Andrew Friedman tasted himself a little bit, and he should.

He's got the keys to we're looking at a potential baseball dynasty. I know we love to use words like that. Snell, who they signed, which, oh, my God, people know how much I've raved about him. Glass now, our guy, and how gross he is, Passen says he's winning a Cy Young, his full healthy season. Drafted by the race when Andrew Friedman was there. So I'm just wondering, like,

I watched Moneyball over the weekend, and obviously Billy Bean became a star of baseball for different reasons and building a team differently. And yes. What's Friedman's angle of like, okay, I got Snell and, I got Snell and Glass now out of high school. I knew they were coming. And now I've got them.

on the Dodgers. I've got the three best pitchers in Japan and I've got a pitching factory coming. They're unstoppable, dude. It's pretty awesome. And I do want to speak on that a little bit, but I did find the answer to our question. So you're not allowed to have any sort of

talks about a long-term contract. Great. But as as soon as he signs with you, you can start. There's no like window. So, listen, there's a quote. from Jim Bowden, your guy. My guy. America's GM.

I think you're going to find that there is going to be multiple teams that are going to ask the commissioner's office to investigate this particular signing. There were several front offices that believe there was a pre-cut deal between the Dodgers and Roki Sasaki before this process started and before the window came when you're allowed to negotiate with the player. This was, of course, denied by his camp. I don't look. Yeah. You got to. The Dodgers, I think now, there's no reason for them to bend the rules or to break the rules. They are already so freaking good.

I don't think they'd risk doing that, although maybe this is worth the risk, getting a guy like this for that kind of money. But that's our answer. You cannot negotiate that extension or talk about it while he's making his decision. As soon as he signs with you, do whatever you want. He's your player. Again, it doesn't behoove the dog. to do anything right now. And we talk about his injuries a little bit.

120 innings, I think, is the max he's thrown in Japan. He had an oblique in 2023. He had some right arm discomfort in 2024. So they're going to be careful. Six-man rotation for sure. I think Show-Hae is not scheduled to be back until May, if I understand correctly, is on the mound. So they have depth.

They don't care about that. Friedman, yeah, I think that's one thing that people miss about. the Dodgers is this is not a team that was just bought. Like they've drafted and developed. They've traded and they've signed free agents, dude. And they've signed free agents from the U.S., and they signed free agents from the international side. So like they have done it all different ways.

It is not, do you want to blame someone, blame the Red Sox? Whoa. Sentencing Mukki over there, dude. Yeah. Transition. You never should have done that. But hey, why don't you guys go to Seekek? It's a new year and to celebrate another year of our amazing partnership with Seekek.

We have a new code for you guys. It's talking 2025 for 10% off tickets at Seekek. Go see. Go to L.A. You're going to see a lot of talent on any field or court out there. Treb's debate and if he's going to go see a big L.A. game this weekend. See Geek, concert, sports, festivals, and more. NFL, NBA. It's C-Geek, guys. You guys know their name by now, and you should know that they're giving

you 10% off with Code Talking 2025. Go see a game. I went to a show last night. Trev might be going to see the Rams. He doesn't know yet. Code Talking 2025, 10% off your next set of tickets at C-Keekeek. Thank you, C-Kee. All right. I do think, Trev, it's something you mentioned briefly, and I forget if it was Alden Gonzalez or one of the articles I was reading, I don't think it can be underestimated that, yes, the Dodgers are winning,

which I've been driving home that point as much as I can. Having a winning organization, I think Roki was interested in that, and I think every player is interested in that. I'm going to hit you with some vibes, Trev, going to Dave Roberts, going to that clubhouse, going to the energies there.

Players want to be there, And I'll send a little bit of a shot fired at my Yankees. You know, there's been some quotes over the past couple years that the Yankees are rigid. And remember there was that article, you know, an unnamed player was like, guys don't want to be here. Again, I don't know what that is. I don't know if that's the hustle bustle of New York City compared to us chill Cali Bros. But everything in the blender, this didn't. it come down to money, any team could have put together the same amount of money that Roki was

going to get. He wanted winning, he wanted an atmosphere, and the pitching development that a few teams do have, but the Dodgers also have, that you combine that with the West Coast, which, okay, I do see a plus appeal for being a Japanese player there. Hey, there are other teams on the West Coast. Shohei signed with the Angels. Seattle need pitching. But like, I don't know. It's where I want to give credit to the Dodgers, A, going out and doing everything, but B, having this environment that I do think at the end of the day it was a no-brainer for Rokey. Maybe, again, maybe that was his thought process all along.

Like, let's see if another team can woo me, but my preference is the Dodgers. And yeah, again, it speaks to what I was kind of talking about with how they've constructed this team. Like, they are doing everything the right way. do they have the resources more than other teams? I would say yes. You have an ownership group that is willing to spend money. They do have a nice TV deal, but they, you know, there are other teams that are in a similar position that can,

that could do things like this and they choose not to because there is a risk factor involved. But now they, they took the risk. They signed these players. They went and made trades. And now it's like this cog. bro that i don't see it slowing down anytime soon because because the team is good the guys are locked up they have from what i can tell and what guys have told me some of the best player

development in all of baseball they have a ton of coaches that want to be there they treat their coaches well in the minor league so it creates a great atmosphere there and then look people that don't live in los angeles you know a lot of times give l a l a get probably more shit than any city in the U.S. Like, oh, they're fake. They're all this. Dude, LA is awesome. Like, it's, you know, like, there's a lot of great places to live.

There is a lot of fun things to do. There's a lot of opportunity out here for off the field stuff. It's, the weather's good. Like, there's a lot of things to like about Los Angeles. So they, it's just, again, like, they got this thing rolling. And I don't know when it's going to stop. I don't know. It's...

Yeah, it's... Joe, his contract means a lot too. Right. It's always tricky with sports because whenever you say things like that, things... Something happens, something that we have to happen. But what would have to happen to stop this freaking team and this organization? It would have to be like three or four guys going down. And even then, what does that even mean?

They have so many reinforcements. I think they've done a good job I'm not prospect hugging for being honest like they've made trades dude right but I guess they counter that you know 25 other teams would want to say right now

is that they feel the way their organization is currently run that team has to hug a prospect like that that they need them to click because they can't they're not going to win Sasaki they're not going to

but you've got to find a way to be able to woo people dude like that great segue jake you're the best into toronto always the bridesmaid ever the bride i'll let you cook a little bit because i i tread carefully those toronto fans they're feeling the exact same way man they have they have from all i hear from them and shout out toronto i love toronto probably my favorite road city chicago and toronto i also love new york like toronto's awesome dude right it is such a fun city and the ballpark and the fans I freaking loved

playing in Toronto. It's very like it is a city that I think a lot of people should consider when if they're free agents. It's a ton of fun. From all I hear from their fans they got a ton of money. It's like who owns it again?

The whole country. I don't know. I don't know. There's be buying Canada. I'll be a company whatever like so I hear They have the resources. It's just finding a way to separate yourself from everybody else. And I think to your point, winning does that. And Toronto hasn't exactly, you know, they've had winning seasons.

They've made the playoffs, but they haven't, you know, gotten to that next level yet. And they're in a crux now. Like, I think they really, really want to compete this year. I think they're trying to sign Vladie to a long-term deal before it's free agency. We'll see if they can do that. But you got to find a way to separate yourself for these organizations and you have to get creative. And it's everyone's chasing the Dodgers right now. It's the, it's the truth, man.

Right. And I don't really know how they catch up. I don't really know. Like the net you're trying to. And they have, you know, an owner that's brazen and willing to spend. But even there, like, they don't have the same gravitational pool right. now that the Dodgers do. No, and I think the things we don't know about the Dodgers are where I say this,

the weep, bro, where does this end? Like this could be the start, you know, like this, this could just be the formation of them doing whatever they want. We could see them clean up at the trade deadline. We could see them next free agent. Like this, this, this might not be peak. This could, they signed Otani last year. They clearly had a plan to make that unique contract.

and go and get it. Think about the guys being mentioned that are on waiting in the wings to pitch. Do you know how valuable those guys? Right. Young controllable pitchers? No, it's one of my, no, it's one of my old favorite talking baseball games.

What's Tony Gonsland's career ERA? Oh, yeah. Isn't it like in the ones or something? So it was in the twos. With last year, he jumped into the three. Oh, darn it, Tony. He's,

he's a three. 38 career. So what are so yeah. I mean look, I would assume I would assume that we would we will see a couple of those guys get traded. But I wouldn't assume quickly like I think they're going to especially after the injuries that we've seen their pitching have that we've seen other teams pitching have in

previous years. No, Glass now, Sasaki all have injury histories. Haven't thrown over you know and obviously show hey coming off of not TJ but TJ. And Trev, they don't need to move guys. It's not like we're talking about their corner outfield spot like that. Could be a hole for them. It's like, no, they brought in Conforto for shits and giggles. So they don't need to.

And it goes back to and Trev, maybe this is you changing the game. But your little speech on like, hey, depth used to be a good thing. Not like, oh, we have depth. We had to trade. It was like, oh, we have depth and we like that. I think that's where the Dodgers are at. And I if if you're another NL team listening, if you're the Phillies, if you are the Mets, if you know, the brew crew, what dude, RIP, you. That was brutal, uh, to find out. I mean, what just a legend and I didn't, I didn't realize how much of a legend. Like I knew he was in major league, but like, dude, he was a regular on Carson. Like that's, that's, that's some. You want to go you. We can go yuk. We can go yuk right now. Let's let's end on you. But I, I want to make sure we, we, we didn't miss it. Um, but like, but like, The playoffs are going to happen.

They're short series. And it's, again, I don't know if it's a problem with baseball that now we have so many teams getting into the playoffs. But now if we have teams like the Dodgers forming, they're, you know, whoever the Dodgers have to play in five. What if the Dodgers and Phillies have to link up for a five game set, loser goes home? And I'm interested to see, is the rest of baseball going to turn on the Dodgers? Like the Trevor my I grew up being a Yankees fan I still get it dude out if I if there's a random dude at at the airport and I'm wearing a Yankees head or oh the Yankees bro and I get it like they they were in the bidding on Juan Soto lost by the way um but you know it was the Yankees they

bought the free agents and they won a lot oh yeahkees haven't been winning a lot uh the the tankies target has gotten smaller people care less Hey, Yankees front office, people care less. Yes. I'm interested to see if the Dodgers get a little of that, man. I think they will. I think they will. River Ryan, sorry, I just looked all this up.

River Ryan, free agent, 2031. Gavin Stone, 2030. Bobby Miller, 2030. Dustin May is a free agent next year. He could be someone they would move. Tony Gonson has two more years. So, like, Dustin May could also start the NL All-Star game.

So just want to both sides here. Are the Dodgers going to be going to start to be hated? Yeah. Yeah, a little bit. Yeah, for sure. I mean, that's what we do in a media landscape in America. We build motherfuckers up. Right.

And then we tear them down. That's just kind of how we go. I mean, dude, every single person that reaches like, hey, Kelsey Bros. I've been saying this for a while. Get, like, stop doing so much commercials, bro. Like, I think they're nice guys, whatever. But, like, people, like, too much success creates a little bit of envy. And I think people start to get sick of it.

Trev, I'm going to whisper this. This is just for the talking baseball people. No, nobody share this. Imagine if Travis and Taylor broke up. Don't say that. The Kelsey bros. These are going to The Swickies

Kelsey Bros would have to go to Guam or something. Like I don't know. If he did something bad, don't you dare. This didn't happen. This conversation didn't happen. And it's not going to happen. I love love.

They're great guys. Yes, the Dodgers will start to get much hate. Will it reach New York status, like evil empire? I don't think so because they're not as rigid of an organization. I think their players kind of have like

more fun it's not so business guys all mooky's one of the most beloved guys ever freddie like show hayes like they're all so love glass now dude let's if they let the personality shine the yankees didn't necessarily do that if you met glass now and he was your local barista you would text your buddies and be like i'm at this chill dude who's working i think you tell them the starting only fans that's what you would do you're so hot that route you everyone knows where we stand on snow um i mean get ready for bump days oh dude i got to talk to snob i've been playing fortnight lately yes oh he'll be so high Trevor plume like i think i'm not good enough yeah i'll just like duos me and him i like revive me revive me yeah you're

where are you i'm hiding um i i think we we should wrap this up with a little bit of a the ripple effect because Rob was telling us, Heymans got the Twitter fingers going. And this was the next shoe to drop. Like, Rokey was, I know, monetarily not as significant as a lot of other free agencies. You mentioned Toronto, who's getting a lot of the, always the brides made never the bride.

And it is very interesting to see how, how they need to sit down and have a conversation of how are we going to do this? Because if we're going to match offers or even be better, better than offers and get beat, then we need to change up our value proposition. Maybe I watched too much money ball the other night. But, but, um, for you.

Laddie's going to hit free agency. And I, I guess where I just jumped to is if Vladdy does have all things equal, I'm Toronto. I lock him up. I don't care if it's an extra year, an extra couple million. If he wants to be a foundational piece for my team, I need to do that because a lot of teams are going to be willing to do that. Um, that, yeah, I don't.

I wonder if they need more representation or something. Supposedly they're in on Santander now, which I've said from the start and I will start collecting receipts if that happens. There was a Pete Alonzo, which that could just be haman stirring the pot a little bit. That in the AL East right now, Toronto is looking like they have an argument for last. And I don't know. I just, again, Toronto fans, they had a big chip on their shoulders. like here we come we are the future and I shouldn't hold that against them because I'd

probably be hoping the same thing that now they've found themselves in a weird spot and I I don't know I feel bad for them and that's the Padres are the same story but a very different tune where they went out and were the bell of the ball for two years and now Roki it felt like he was going to save their whole offseason if it happened and now it's like what the hell are they going to do? we give people, an organization, excuse me, a little too much crap about not being able to sign these guys. It's not as easy as like offering just a little bit more or it's guys have to want to go there. So it's, it's, it takes two to tango and and sometimes you're just really

not even in the race and they're just feeling you out. Right. And even like in free agency, even in free agency. Some of these teams, if they offered much more money, it doesn't matter. So I think there are just, I again, I guess I don't know what Toronto has to do to, you know, kind of get people to to sign with them and not just have them be the runner up. They got to figure something out. I don't know what it would be. Okay. And, you know, a lot of people probably don't care. But you said you, you love visiting Toronto. Like I, okay, Trev, it's, it's your free agency. 2016 and Toronto comes knocking. If they had had a same offer as other teams,

would that have done anything for you? Your family has lived in America up into this point? See, that's the thing. My thought process on if I was a free agent what I want to go to Toronto, I was like, it just seems like it's out of the country. Like my family doesn't have to go through customs. And, you know, like doing that every single time you have to take a road trip.

And they make it really easy, you know, if you're on the team playing. You know, that will be something I would think about. And, you know, I preferred the West Coast. And like, sometimes it's just that. Look at the Corbyn Burns signing this year. He just wanted to play where his house was because he's got young kids, dude. I want to be home. You wanted to stay in spring training.

You don't want to move his family around. Like this, you can't. Sometimes you just have to, it just has to. to match up and just has to be like a natural fit. Is Toronto like a little less cool now that Drake got beat by Kendrick? Oh wow. I don't know. We always end up here.

I don't know about that. I think I think Drake brought Toronto up for a little bit. He did. He did a good job bringing Toronto up. Yeah, I guess that's where I don't know. If they brought us in, I wouldn't know where to start. I don't know if it's, hey, do you guys just need to find like, really talk to agents and be like, hey, will your guy sign extension in Toronto?

Like, do we just need to get ahead of things more? Because at the same time, they've brought in talent and they've won free agents, but they've usually had to go a little extra bit that maybe it's finding the guys that you don't. Like, Chris Bassett, he got kind of what the market expected when he signed that year. Like, do you just need to attack those guys more heavily if they don't care about it? Because like you said, you know, I would care about it. Like I'm living in Canada. I don't know.

You got to sell yourself. So, you know, I think what the Dodgers can do is say, hey, you come here and yeah, we're going to pay you. And yeah, we have a good team. But there's a ton of opportunity for you, for your brand. And that's important to people nowadays. I mean, it means something, especially if you're not one of these guys that's getting, you know, 30 or 40 million dollars a year.

like yeah i want to make some money off the field if you're toronto maybe you say hey you come here we got this set up man or maybe i don't know like here's a house on the lake or something i don't know like you got to do so that's what i said so that's what i said about the mets and the yankees on someone i said steve cohen can promise him the world and i don't know if the yankees can what i meant by that is i think steve cohen can open doors up for people that maybe i mean maybe maybe Maybe the Steinbrenners can. I feel like they can open a lot of doors there. But that's a separator for the Mets.

Like Steve Cohen, his connections and the people that he hangs out with, being able to be introduced to a circle like that is appealing to players. So I think that is something the Mets now have. And I think each organization needs to find what that is for them. For the twins, I don't know what it is. Now you got me thinking. I mean, they're in a flux now. Like they're possibly be selling their team.

they're looking to selling it. I don't know. I got to, let me get back to you on that. What I think the twins, I think that's an interesting, like a thought exercise. Like,

what could each organization bring to the table? That's not just money. That's not just, here's our roster. Like, how do you separate yourself? Because they have to figure that out. If you're an organization,

you have to figure something like that out. And, you know, I, again, like, I wonder about, oh,

someone just rang our doorbell, so noodle's going to go nuts. Noodle! We will talk about, about how to fix your organization another time. No, it's okay, pal. Go kill him. Go kill him. Let's give some time to you, I think, is where we should end up here. Okay. Start cooking. Yeah, I mean, so, you know, I think a lot of people know you from Major League. When I was growing up, that's all I knew him from was Major League. And then you realize, oh, that's not an actor. He's

actually a broadcaster. And then you're like, oh, wait, this guy's not just a broadcaster. He was a player and then like you said he was on the carson show i mean this guy lived a freaking life man and um so i think more it's just celebrating a guy that like man like he he did it dude in all walks of life and a great guy to boot i told see rosy this man like i made it the point to talk to him whenever we had whenever i had a chance you know twins played the brewers every single year as kind of our interleague rival if you will and um you know he didn't have to be nice to me i'm not like some freaking guy that he has to care about but he was always cool always had a joke you know just and doing it that long and still being able to have the enthusiasm i think is it's something special

obviously he had the aura the charisma um but i don't think it's it me obviously it's obviously it's sad that he's gone, but I think he got to celebrate what this guy brought to the game and the life that he lived because he lived, player. He really did. Yeah, man. And I think it's a, it's, it's, it's lucky baseball had him. Like, I, I think, you know, I don't know what the, the comps would be, but like if, let's say if young Bob Euker was happening again, I think NFL would be like, hey, get us that guy. Like, that guy's a star. NBA, like, again, if this was Milwaukee, the bucks and yonis, hey, we want you. like the fact that baseball had bob yuker uh is very lucky for baseball uh because he he won a world

series too bob yeah and he's like he was like a star like he was he was in tv shows he was in movies like carson again like i i don't even fully understand the general you know the gen zers in our office they have no clue like that was it like Like it was Carson or bust. Yeah. And he was a regular. So really sad and brutal, you know, brutal for Milwaukee. And yeah, it's going to be one of those.

It's just going to be, it's sad. It's very sad. Yeah, we lost a couple of legends over the last, you know, five or six years with Vinny and him. and I think you know, going back to Major League, it's one of the all-time characters in a movie, dude.

Right. Like you show clips of Bob Euker in Major League to anybody and they are going to laugh. It is funny. It is great. Very memorable. Probably the most memorable

part of that entire series is just a bit outside. Like that transcends like baseball. And it's like, it's an ever one's lexicon so it's um the the impact that he had on the game was almost as much as anybody that that's ever played ball eight um that's really good um yeah no if you if someone watched that movie

and they were like oh who was some of your favorite and they'd be like oh the actor that played the the broadcaster he was hilarious um and he was that and yeah there's it's always it's always wild with the legends like that the ones that get me is there's tweet that are like, you know, Bob Euker has called like 3% of all MLB games or something, and you're like, wait, time out. That math can't be right, but it kind of is. So, yeah, thoughts go out to Milwaukee. Thoughts go out to all the baseball people.

And like I was saying a little bit with the Toronto stuff, I think we are going to see a next step now. Like Toronto, if Roki Sasaki had signed with Toronto, I think they had a, very different game plan for whatever they're about to do. And they might go big bucks, man. Like they, like you said, they have the money. They've gotten free agents before. And right now that roster, uh, isn't complete.

And what could be Vlad's last year, they're going to put something out there. Um, and that goes with every other team trying to figure out Bregman, Alonzo, uh, your guy, Jack, there's a ton of bullpen options. There's a lot more. So, um, as we trickle, you know, feels like January 7th turned to January 18th really quickly. Like you're going to see a Feb one on the calendar soon that there's still a little bit of juice that's got to go down before spring training.

And then there's probably going to be one or two that leak into that is always an interesting plot twist on this season. So anything else you got, Coach? Twins go sign Pete Alondo to a one-year gap contract. I'm glad we can end with that. All right. Thank you, everyone. Enjoy your weekend. We're no Monday episode, holiday. So this will be rolling through.

Oh, shout out Dr. Martin Luther King. Shout out. And we will talk to you guys at some point next week.