Talkin' Baseball (MLB Podcast) - Mets Sign Justin Verlander INSTANT REACTION | 579

Episode Date: December 5, 2022

Use code TALKIN for $20 off your first SeatGeek order. https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/TALKIN  Get 20% off your first order at https://ro.co/talkin  Timestamps: 0:00 Verlander to the Mets 8:30 Carlos Rodon's Market 20:15 Trevor Plouffe's Thoughts 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 coming to you live from the winter meetings in San Diego where we had our first official news break, Verlander, to the Mets. To pitch for them, Jake. Maybe. I think that's small. Hello and welcome to talking baseball presented to you by seat geek. Use code talking to get $20 off tickets at Seat Geek. You can go to the app, find the tickets you like.

They'll let you know if they're good tickets or bad tickets, then you get $20 off when you use code. Road talking. Verlander gets $20 off for his wife, Kate, now, when she goes to the games. Jake, are you excited about this one? It's a good snag. Do you think the lobby's a buzz right now? I think the lobby's buzzing. I let out a shriek when it happened.

We were a little away from the people, but it's a big one. It's JV, which, you know, he's been in Houston for a long time now. Like, you know, we kind of, originally he was this Houston vagabond, gun for hire. They, like, saved his career. been there since 2017 now. Just won his second title with them.

And he won the Cy Young coming off Tommy John. And now he's going to the Mets, which is so... If he didn't opt out with the Astros, what would he have gotten? 25 mil? 25.

Yeah. And what's the contract? Do you have the details in front of you that he just got with the Mats? Two for 86, so that's 43 per. Two for 86. Now I really...

Holy Spree. I never let that sit in. Two for 86. Yeah. 42 a year? 43 even. No, come on now. Not to be a math guy, but...

That's so rude to be such a stickler like that. Yeah. And there's a third year vesting option. We don't know the vesting option yet. I'm sure it's 150 plus innings times two or something like that. Top five side young vote. If he gets along with the staff, well... Total innings across two years.

Let's do the cool part. DeGrom leaves. They plug and play with Verlander. I like the Mets better now than if DeGrom was here. If they got DeGrom for 286, I wouldn't like it as much as... I like Verlinder more than DeGrom. I don't know if that's the controversial take, because when DeGrom's healthy, he's the best pitcher ever,

and I fully support that. Like, DeGrom at his best is better than Verlander at his best right now. But Verlander, when he pitches, you know, pitches. Right. 28 starts last year, 175 innings. At 36-year-old, he led the league in games started and innings pitched. At 35 years old, he led a league in game started. How many years has he started 30-plus games?

A lot. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve. Thirteen years he started 30-plus games. He's a horse. He's the old-school horse pitcher that I would want the other people on the staff to watch work. Same with Scherzer. and ultimate competitor. Yeah.

And going to be like, fuck you, I'm going to win, and has done it in the postseason. No, we didn't win a World Series game, but he's pitching the postseason performed. So if I'm a Mets fan, I know there's a lot of heartstrings with DeGrom. Right. At homegrowness, that stings.

But as far as regular season and postseason, I like Verlander better. I mean, you buy into it. You know, I want to see what DeGrom is, but that's the whole conversation, right? Like Verlander, you kind of know what you're going to get. Unless the injury is huge, he'll pitch through it, and he'll be fine.

Yeah. And that's going to be the whole thing for the Mets. Let's see where the rest of their free agency goes, because they still need another starting pitcher, I think. But, hey, out with DeGrom, in with Verlander, like you're saying, I mean, either wherever you land on the side of the coin, I think DeGrom is more talented at this point, but get out and be good.

And Justin Verlander just won the Sion. He had a better season than Jacob de Grom. So, no, if you're the Mets, I just, The only thing that's making me kind of do a is that their same questions that they had all of last year. Like those horses, we talked all throughout the season, are they going to stay healthy and be right? It's going to be unfair to Verlander

because outside of the Tommy John, he's been absolutely a horse. But he's getting old. Scher's getting old. He was worn out by the playoffs last year, and he kind of got knocked around towards the end. So load manage him. The regular season means shit. Look at the Phillies.

Right. But they, you know, the Mets just need to make sure they're in that position again. The next thing they need to do is they need to bring back Phil Regan. Remember when they had that old, really old pitching coach who's like 83 years old. If I Google him. Yeah. Is it going to be, like, are you going to feel bad for bringing him up? No, I'm looking at him right now.

He's 85. He's a badass motherfucker. You'll remember this. Because he was old, man. I thought he was 90. You bring him back. Him, Buck, JV. and Scherzer, that's all the pitching knowledge.

I mean, that whole locker room smells like. Tyler McGill... It's Bengay in the locker room. It's going to be so smelly and old in that locker room. I mean, this is a tough break for, like, the swaggy guys. Like Francisco Alvarez, who's, like, 21 years old and, like, triple cat scratch. Like, him, Verlander, Scherzer, Buck. That's tough.

That's tough, man. That's like meeting your girlfriend's dad. How many white tidies are in that clubhouse? It's a lot of tight underwear. They might be leading the league. It's a tight underwear. Phil Regan. Imagine him in briefs. Can't do it.

He can't do it. He's never done it. He's never done it. The Mets are awesome. Hey. 85-year-old pitching coach. And that's the other win. Even if this does go awry,

if Scher gets hurt or Verlander falls off or whatever it is, I think the bigger thing for Mets fans is, your promise of your new owner, Steve Cohen, being that guy, continues. I mean, you lost out on DeGrom, which was a big boy contract. Like, if Texas wanted Jacob deGrom, they kind of had to pay a Texas tack because their team has been bad. The Mets get to go. The Mets get to go. So I wonder what's next.

Is it just bringing back Nimo and then, you know, you probably need another arm? So the vesting says it's for 35 mil. I don't know if we knew that. I don't know. We just don't know what makes it vest. Yeah. Okay. So the third year for Verlinder is $35 million.

It says 140 innings in 2024, but this is... Where are you seeing that? Rastor resource updating as quick as possible. So I don't know if that's out yet. Maybe Verlander uploading, updating it. Maybe Verlander's updating his own stuff, you think. I'll give some scrolls. Yeah.

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Rodon market begins. And man, Right? Yes, for those that, you know, when Verlander signed, it was literally like the name that came out of everyone's mouth. And supposedly there's some Rodon Yankees rumors. There's Rodon. Any team that needs pitching, I think there's been Rodon Mets rumor.

I think I saw like eight teams very much in on Rodon. And by the way, his past two years. And I think baseball's kind of. like, hey, you know, if you do your thing, we can't hold injury history over your head anymore, like Grom, nobody cared. And I think Rodon, it was the big year going into 2021. He has an awesome year. And then he goes and he does it again.

237 and 24 starts at 288 and 31 starts. And those guys are old, right? Rodon is 29. Well, he turns 30 December 10th. So expect a birthday signing? No, he wants to sign before then, because then. you can celebrate properly. Maybe.

Yeah. He wants years, though, right? And that's... And he should get them. Yeah. If you're giving DeGrom that many years... What was his FIP last year? Like, Rodon...

Because he had the worst... You want his FIP last year. Well, because the... What if I told you was the best in baseball, two, two-five? And what was his ERA? 288. Because the Giants were rude to their pitchers. They stopped playing defense.

They were like, eh. It's tired. It's kind of windy. Yeah. So he needs to go to a good infield defense team. If he's looking past the money. If everyone gives him the same money, it's like how good he's...

So they're saying the Yankees earn on him, but Hayman says that. Right. I need a Hayman camp at Winter Meetings. Yeah. He's... He just lurks. You turn every corner and Hayman's there.

You think we could get it. I was trying to tell that to Foolish Bailey. I think he thought I was joking. And then I was like, no. Go downstairs and lobby right now, turn the corner. I thought that was going to be. John Hayman's there. Should we have one of the, like, job seekers?

Just follow him? No. Like, not a joke. He was on, like, one side. That's Al-Cam when he was cool, you know? It's like, I don't know. He was on, like, one side of the room last night downstairs. I've gotten, like, a conversation with somebody.

I turned, and he's on the other side of the room. He's just slinking. Like, you walk slow, and he's just slinking back and forth down the lobby. What's four times? Four times? Four times. Five times 40. I mean, Carlos Rodon is going to get over 150 million?

Well, what did DeGrom get per year? 37? Sure, yes. So if they want to go like a six-year deal for a Rodon, it's probably going to be 35 a year. Right. I mean, that's, you know, maybe 33 with some funky at the end.

He's got to get at least five, right? What I'm interested in right now because I thought the Dodgers were going to try and get Verlander because they love these short 40 million two-year deals. But after Verlander, you have Rodan, you have Bassett, you have Tyone. I don't think any of those are interested in the Dodger-type deal, which is one year for 20, like Keeney or they got 18,

like Keeney and Anderson, or two years for 40. But I think all those three pitchers, Rodon, Bassett, and Tyone want to earn. They want to go get a five-year deal, a six-year deal, and make all their money? I think the only one that could be an outlier would be Bassett. I think someone, I think a team, like you're saying, like the Dodgers would almost give him a one-for-30 instead of like a two-for-40.

And if you're Bassett, it's almost like, well, all right, I'll just be Chris Bassett again. But no, I mean, Rodon has been through the shit. and he did the Do you do the qualifying offer? No, he didn't get the qualifying offer, right? I think he didn't get it. Rodon got it. And he got it this year.

We thought he was going to get it the year before. Yeah, no, he got it. Evaldi, Bassett. Yeah, I mean, and I guess the other thing is, and it's kind of rude to Chris Bassett, and it's why I'm trying to elevate him a little bit. Rodon can be a game changer. If he's the dude he's been for the past two years,

he's a guy you can give the ball to in game one, game two. There's a lot of pitchers that are free agents. Okay, so Dylan Bundy's going to go to the Dodgers. Stop. On like a one-year, $12 million contract, and he's going to be lights out. No, he's not. He's going to go to the Rockies, and it's going to be... No, that's...

Don't do that to him. You miss some good sound effects there. Jake's talking to our live audience. I think... Rodon... Okay, so... Cluber's out there. He'll go to the Dodgers.

Five for 185. Where are the Dodgers going to get for one year 15 mil? Stripling, he's back, they liked him. They felt bad about trading him and then winning a World Series. What's five for 150 come out to, math-wise? 30. 30 a year? Would Rodon sign that?

Five for 150, 30 a year for five years. Yeah. Who's his agent? Tim. Tim Flaxel. No. Then no. Uh...

Yeah. Yeah. I think so. Yeah. I mean, Texas is supposedly in on them because they're in everyone. His agent is Boris, so no. So no. His agent is Boris.

So what? So no, he's not signing that. So you think bigger? Yes. Okay. 160. Yes, lock it in. Yeah.

Damn. Scuttled out on Twitter's. He's working towards getting a sixth year. Seems like enough teams are in that someone will do it. I mean, if you're giving to Grom an option for, six. Rodon in five years will be Jacob de Grom's age. Rodon in ten years will be Verlianner's age.

I mean, you can't, you obviously can't compare things like that. Can't compare people to those people. You know, I mean, Rodon's even four years younger than Bassett. Like, he's going to break the bank and it's going to be, it's probably going to be one of the more debated signings as free agency. 135 is what the crowd source results have. Yeah, the crowd source results have. source results have been low now every year.

So they need to up. Like, they had Verlanner low. They had DeGrom, super low. Well, they had DeGrom getting 40 mil a year. So that's high. Well, but they had them at three years. Yeah. So that's a huge mess.

It's around there. You're off by. They have Tyone getting three years, 12 mil. So he'll get five years, 15 mil. I mean, Jameson Tyone is one of the sexiest free agents right now. which couldn't be happier for the dude. But it's because of the age and can you be a little better equation, and he has that kind of over Taiwan Walker, of all the, that, yeah, I think James and Tyone's

probably going to stumble into a four-year. Taiwan Walker, we haven't mentioned him. What's four times 15? B and A. 16. Yeah? Yeah. Doesn't that feel like for James and Tyone at this point, for the other numbers we're talking about,

that almost feels low. Four for what, 50? Yeah, four for 60. No. It would be 15 a year for four. No, his numbers aren't like crazy. Not world beating. Did you see they said that?

They said in his interview, he's winning teams over in his interview. So what's time on, he's making him coffee. He makes them coffee because he has his own barista. He is his own barista. And he's got the, he has the pedigree, the top draft pick. He's come off double Tommy John. What are the Mets need now? So let's spin it back to the Mets.

Mets, it's got to be Nimo. Mets fans love Nimo. There's a lot of teams that kind of want Nimo, but it's kind of got to be them. Yeah. Their rotations, Verlandershersherser, Kooky. They're going to sign one more starting picture. They should go get like Bassett or bring back Thor.

That'd be fun. I'd sign up for that so then everyone can undo that like Mets picture where they're all holding the ball. Yeah. Because everyone's been like, oh, with the ground. I'm gone, and with Cinderguard back, that's perfect. Yeah, you have some fun, like... What happened there?

I'm just picturing it, blurring it, unblurring it, like his old Civil War doc. Or, like, a movie where, like, the ghosts come back to life in the horn of the house and stuff, and Cindergards, like, faded, but then he's back, and then you face-swapped the other guys. With Jacob gone. Everyone was dead. And then Cindergards face... Flickers. Lightning strikes, because he's...

And then they all... Jerry Blevins back to the Metta. I've heard. No, you didn't hear that. You didn't hear that. It's a rumor. I've heard. All you have to do right now is walk through the lobby and then tweet out something

you've heard. Yeah. Oh, there was a good one. I was going to send it to. The Yankees Reynolds one is blowing my mind. Yeah. It's literally scuttle butt. The degree of run it's getting.

It got a lot of action because it was the first thing. Next year, next year, we need to get the first scuttle butt. Yeah. Because it gets a lot of action before people realize, oh, wait, hold on. Right. This guy just heard something. said in the lobby. That's not real.

That was like somebody from another team being like, oh, and the Yankees, of course. I tried to start with, you know. You know they're. Who else signs today? One of the, so I was talking to a guy yesterday, and this is,

he has no information. Doesn't matter. But we were just talking about how some teams prefer not to get, like, so the pool of shortstops, or the pool of pitchers. They are like, they want their decision made four. them in a way and the market set because then they're like not

going to blow it. Right. So now that the top two are gone you take a look at like not the next three, Rodan, Tyone, Bassett, I think those and maybe even Walker are still fighting and like Scratchering Klon, but now I think this secondary market of like a team that

fully believes in the Heaney buy in or the Cindergarde buying because they got traded for they had better seasons. Haney should go to the Orioles. They go get those guys right now. So one of those guys goes on like a two-year, you know, 20 million or 25 million deal. I'm, what? I'm reporting Hini to the Orioles. I am going to shout that in the lobby. Sindegar's crazy because he had 20 mil from the Angels last year for one year. It's a great snaggack. So what's he going to get this year? Because they're predicting

Sindigard to get two for 14 per a year. That's less money he made. It's a downgrade. That's a downgrade from what he made annually last year because the Angels signs But it'll go to Texas, no state income tax. Most bizarre contract. More total money. I think, yeah, I think we have one of these other starters sign today. I don't know about Rodan. I feel like he's now in an awesome spot.

I think the White Sox. Where they just set the bar for him is incredible. Yeah. Doesn't it feel like the White Sox have probably like a grab bag of Kintana, Quato, Klober, Granky? and at some point they're just going to grab one of those names and just give them a one year for 15 and be like, you're our fifth.

Sean Mania. No, no, he's better than those. I'm talking about old guys. White Sox's just like having like an old guy in the wings. Keikle comes back. Jack Curry, hot. Jack Curry looks good. All right, that's the episode.

Thanks for tuning in. We didn't call Trev. I think he's on a plane. Oh. He texted he liked that the Mets responded to the Grom leaving and quickly. Nice. Born in my flight now. Time stamp on YouTube.

Trev's thoughts. Triv's thoughts. Anything else happening.