Talkin' Baseball (MLB Podcast) - Underrated Signings and Extensions Around Baseball

Episode Date: February 2, 2026

Use our code for 10% off your next SeatGeek order*: https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/TALKIN2026. Sponsored by SeatGeek. *Restrictions apply. Max $20 discountThis episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Get 10% off their first month at https://betterhelp.com/TALKINBASEBALL and get on your way to being your best self.Book your next trip at https://www.bestwestern.comDownload the DraftKings Sportsbook app and use promo code JMBASEBALL Coach Trev and Talkin’ Jake break down what Eugenio Suarez can be for the Reds,how the Giants bringing in Luis Arraez can be a difference maker in their lineup and more! 0:00 Intro4:00 Eugenio Suarez signs with the Reds10:00 Why he only got $15-mil30:30 Luis Arraez signs with Giants35:40 Is this a Giants smokescreen?37:45 The defense really gets weird for SF47:20 Jacob Wilson A’s extension59:00 White Sox fans deserve this offseason 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. It's February, people. We are here. So is Eugenio. So is Louisa Rise. Little white socks talk at the end. We're talking ball. Fucking ball. Uh, uh, Emilio Pagan. Ben Revere. Safe. Infield signal. Because Gino was at third. Hello and welcome to talking baseball. I am Jake. Story Ellie, that is Trevor Pluth.

Rob Chiracco's producing, Dalton Feeley's producing stats and info and research for us. And this all started with me and my friend Jimmy, who really began, nobody cares, dude. Let's talk ball. Because there's ball to be talk. It's February 2nd, the shortest, longest month, is here.

A weird sports weekend, no football. There's only one game left. And baseball got involved a little bit. Jordan Hicks traded. White Sox kind of put together a little offseason on us. Get ready for team profiles and projections. Coach, some WBC stuff. We got a lot of ball to yuck today.

I like it. The baseball gods have given us some topics. Let me tell you this. You have a very tough time pronouncing months. Months. It's tough. The R in February does not need to be like enunciated. Oh, I thought you're talking about the word months.

I think February, I think you got to, I was just going to say, I thought you had to hit the R. I might pass on that one. Yeah, okay, that's fine. I can't be perfect. Can't be perfect. December and February have you in a chill cold. September. What, how you doing, Coach?

Little, you stepped away. You got any stories for the people? Yeah, I mean, yeah, people know, went to Cabo. I'm a little, I'm like red. I'm not really tan. hopefully this turns into something. We kept saying, we want to be cookie brown, baby.

Cookie Brown's where I want to be not there yet. More like Big Tam Red right now. Stories, I don't know, man. It was just being a bunch of NFL guys. Like, that's not like an easy spot to be in. Yeah, you were worried about being Alphabet a little bit. How'd you do? It's like I'm part, I'm one of the alphas.

That's what I've figured out, man. And, you know, like there's all these little challenges that you go through, whether it's a shuffleboard game or a ping pong game or like throwing the ice shot at the bell. It's a nice video. Trev sent me one video from his trip. I believe, correct me where I'm wrong, I believe you take a shot of something and then you throw a piece of ice at a bell

probably 10 yards away and you nailed it. It was proud. Yeah, so look, I fit in, which is it gives me a lot of confidence. Okay. I had a great time, though, man. It was me, Sean McVeigh. Yeah. Proud of you.

Yeah, I had a nice little Jakey concerts back in the game. A little Fred again, your guy. Insert YouTube comments. Jake, Fred again, who would have put that together? It's a good time. New venue. Fred again, you'd like him, Tref. Vibes 10 out of 10. He's just like...

You always have interesting music options for me. I need to get into that. So, you know, real talking baseball listeners, remember, you know, Jakey Rez. Res, I wouldn't say the vibes are 10 out of, it's just kind of cult. Get in where you fit in. Fred again's just everyone in. He's got a bunch of bangers. It was a good time.

It was a good time. So let's talk about. Look at us living, coach. I know. It's time to get our final living in because spring training. Pitchers and catchers report in a week. WBC? Like, we're back.

We're back in the game, and so is Eugenio Suarez, a man who hit 49 home runs last year. I have a lot of stats and information on that. We'll get to a rise, Jacob Wilson extension, kind of some final predictions maybe as we go forward with. There's still a starting five of a pitching rotation you could put together in free agency. But man, this Gino one has a lot of fun talking points on it because it wasn't. interesting for agency. He's, you know, 34 years old. He hit 49 home runs last year. 52, if you include the postseason, which I'm going to start doing. And the questions were, like what, okay, he strikes out a lot. The defensive numbers didn't like how we played third

base last year. We always laugh when we stumble on his page that he's had a very impressive career that we were wondering, hey, was this going to be two years in a ton of money? Was this going to be three years in a medium to a lot of money. Instead, it comes out one year, $15 million to the Cincinnati Reds, a little bit of a return for Gino. $16 million mutual option for 2027. Just a reminder, I don't think a mutual option has been picked up since 2014. So I wouldn't factor that in.

No, no trade clause, no real incentives or deferrals. This is it, Trev. He had a tale of two cities last year. Amazing first half, a lacklust or second half after he got traded. I don't know. There was a little shock from the general baseball fan. I guess where were you at with this? The first thought I think, you know, everybody had together was,

wow, my team could have done this deal. I know we say that a lot on the show, because it's true, a lot of teams should have been in on Genoa at this number. And maybe they were. There's rumblings of the Pirates actually offered him two years at this price, and he ended up wanting to go back to Cincinnati for one year. A lot of thoughts. So I think we are seeing a little bit of hesitation,

possibly from clubs and then also from agents about this collective bargaining agreement and saying like, hey, like once there is a new agreement intact, like teams are going to be more apt to go out there and kind of spend. So if Gino's thinking that way, hey, let me get my one year here, very comfortable playing in Cincinnati. It's a good hitters ballpark. If I have a similar season, we have a new CBA ratified and things can be better for me.

I think that's the thought process as far as turning down the Pirates 2 for 30 and taking this one for 15. So I do think the Pirates are actually like, can be for a guy like Gino could be a fun team to go to right now. I just think that's, he's thinking more about the CBA and whatnot. But yeah, like for the Reds, it makes all sorts of sense. and I know there's like a lot of hesitation between teams because, you know, he is, he's got like one superpower and then the rest of the power is like really aren't there. So he's a one dimensional type hitter. I think teams need to start really focusing on. This comes into play, but in my mind, it should matter more.

Like, does he fit on our team? If I look at his overall profiles, okay, like, you know, he's got a lot of swing and miss. The defense isn't really there. But like for the Reds, we need somebody in the middle of our line. that can hit homers. Like 21st in homers last year, I think the team leader had 17 and it was Ellie. I think you see a guy like Gino who you could put in that four spot,

bat him right behind Ellie. He makes your team better. And for a one year investment in it, I think it makes a lot of sense. We're going to talk about Luis Arise, and I'm probably going to say the exact same thing about him. Gino fits the Reds. He fit what they needed.

And I think the Reds did a good job, obviously identifying that and then bringing him back. So last thing I'll say before kicking it to you, the one year 15 seems light, but I do think the second half last year when he did get traded to the Mariners didn't perform. I know he had a couple hits in the postseason that changed the narrative a little bit. I think that cost them money.

If you flip-flop the halves, bad first half, a banger of a second half, for some reason I think he's looking at maybe more options there. Yeah, I guess, man, because it's, I think it's very easy, and this is also the stance that I land on, I think it's very easy to be like, what? Like, hey, oh, Henio should have got more money, 49 homers last year. That, you know, that's kind of the knee-jerk reaction. And I don't know, hey, have knee-jerk reactions.

Like, that's kind of, that's the beauty of Twitter and stuff like that. Like, we record Talking Yanks after each series, because we still. want to be hot. Like, you wake up the next morning and you're like, you're not as pissed about that relay throw, but when we record it that night after the Yankees lose a series, be pissed about it. That's kind of the beauty of fandom. So instant reaction, I was like, no way. That's, I know he's got swing and miss. I know the defensive metrics weren't there, but 49 home runs, that's a lot. And then at the same time, I'm the guy like a lot of other baseball fans were taught, oh, that Toronto approach last year. How cool was that? And,

Great, and I hope that does continue to, like, revolutionize and evolve baseball a little bit. A. Annie Suarez is a really good baseball player. Like, sometimes we just go too far, and we focus on the what can't you do. And then even if we zoom in on what can you do, like you mentioned he has one superpower. It's the superpower that every team craves. It's hitting home runs. 325 career home runs, 49 last season. But, like, if you go back to 2024, he was a 256 batting.

average. Like, 319 on base of 788 OPS. So, okay, it was only 30 homers for him the previous season. And like almost in a way, it feels like he would have got paid more if he did that than the 49 home run season, which is, it's a little bizarre. I get it. You have to do some mental gymnastics either way. I don't know, man. I know the pirates were in on this. And hey, again, Cincinnati probably did have a leg up. The fact that Gino used to. to play there. The fact he knows that franchise, the fact it is a known hitter's ballpark that if Gino is in a way betting on himself a little bit, that is a safer bet than going to PNC for one year. I think the interesting side to it, it seems like he's going to DH. Young Sal Stewart is

slotted in at first base, a big prospect for the Reds. At third, they traded for Key Brian Hayes, which obviously defensively, you're not going to find many people that do it better. Man, I just think we get... All of the front offices are, like, on the same page now. Like, all the front offices have a lot of the same analytical information. That's how they process and make decisions. Sure, some of them maybe think they have a little secret sauce here or a little secret sauce there. But a lot of these guys are connected.

A lot of these guys have the formula that, you know, Gino's contract offers all landed in the same space for how they project him for this year. And there's a lot of swing and miss. and that's one of the things that teams believe in consistently will be there. Well, Gino's had swing and miss his whole career. I get being a corner infielder and being 34, like as the age starts to get up there, that starts to become a slippery slope.

I don't know, man. If he runs it back what he did last year, it's an amazing contract. If he runs back, basically any of the past couple seasons he's done, it's an amazing contract. And I know Mariners fans don't like to hear this, but Seattle, where he got traded to are his like career worst numbers.

So, and that's still a 112 career OPS plus. So I don't know. I think all of the analytics being on the exact same page hurt Gino's free agency. I think he should have had more demand than this because I have some more like stats and information of my own on it. But Treve, end of the day, he's just a good ball player that you could plug in the middle of your lineup. maybe we don't need to go too much further than that.

No, not at all. And the only thing that he would have to do to change, like, his, you know, his stock in the eyes of these teams is like up his walk rate a little bit, down last year. And I think that is, that is something that can change from season to season. It can go up. It doesn't have to always just go down with age.

You made it a point. You said, where is he playing VH? Has he ever done that for a full year? No. So a guy at his age, it's going to help him. Like, it's going to help Gino. I know it could go both ways and some guys like it and some guys don't. For me, if a guy like Gino doesn't have to work up playing the field and can just kind of like get his body ready,

he's going to, I guarantee this. He's going to take more swings and work more in the cage this year than he ever has in his career. Because he's going to have more time, coach. He's not going to have to focus on his defense as much. So like do you think he's going to see the ball a little bit better? You're out of Seattle where nobody can see the ball and back in Cincinnati where you love hitting and you're taking more reps in the cage.

Like I almost guarantee the walk rate goes up this year. So I think this is a savvy move. I think it's a savvy move by the Reds. And it wouldn't surprise me. I don't know if like if he has a great year this year, does that mean like next year he goes out and like gets a three year deal? Probably not. I think he's.

probably going to be end up being a mercenary type guy until his playing days are over. I don't, I just don't see the market for long-term deals out there for him, even though you and I both agree like, you know, like he's, he's worthy of that at least, at least a second year where he has the option. But, yeah, it's, the DA's thing is going to be the difference for me this year. And again, he just fits with this roster. So love the move for the Reds. And also, I don't know.

I like Gino. I like him. Hey, you know, we're clubhouse guys. I think that's a guy you love to have in the clubhouse. And yeah, like you mentioned with the Reds, fit-wise. Ellie with 22, steer with 21. Those are the home run guys for the Reds last year. That was that they had 22 last year?

Yeah, Ellie had 22. So we're talking more than double. Like, that's more than those two combined. A little math for you. This show is sponsored by Better Help with Valentine's Day around the corner, whether Mary, dating, single, the truth is most of us are still figuring it out and finding our way, no matter where you are in your romantic journey. Therapy can help you find your way, help you determine what you want,

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I get pretty frustrated with the defense thing. I've seen Gino play defense. I realize it's not, I mean, especially Cabrion on his team and, you know, the elite third baseman right now. He's 34. It's hard to be elite at any defensive position in Major League Baseball at that age. Remember when the Reds played him at shortstop for a year? But, okay, if Gino hit free agency last year, he was a plus three OAA.

Now his OAA and his walk percentage has gone down each of the past few years that you start doing that with age. It's not what you want, but it is what it is. And I also just think, like, I don't know what the hitting coaches are telling Gino. I don't know if anybody's telling Gino anything, but he's trying to hit home runs and he's hitting him. Like, they're not telling him to have a two-strike approach. He's in the lineup to do one thing. I do think there's something to, he does have a lot of empty box. scores that if you're looking for day-in-day-out contributions,

there's going to be some hollow Gino days, but that kind of comes with the territory of what he's trying to do on the baseball field. I guess where I get frustrated, we talk about guys posting, whether it's position players or pitchers. Gino plays every day, 162, 158, 159 games, the last three seasons. He's missed seven games over the last three seasons at his age. that's very impressive. So you could put that in the DH argument if you want,

like keep Gino off his feet a little more, a little more well-rested. I do, I'll admit to the people, like I still very much have a, de-hing kind of is a different beast. It's just a weird lifestyle for players that not all of them adjust. If Gino does, watch out.

Sign me up for five more years of thick boy, Gino, just de-hing and knocking around. But like, I don't know. I get really frustrated. Our Trey Turner conversation from this, year when we brought in Shelfi and we're like, dude, Trey Turner's great now great this year. And Shelfi wasn't trying to shots fired at his guy.

He's like, no, he felt like Trey Turner. That sometimes with these defensive metrics, we still don't have it figured out. Like, that Gino being at third base for four weeks, Gino being at third base for half a season, Gino being at first base. Like, what if he learns that position a little bit? Like, he's not a perfect player, and that's okay.

Like, if I'm a Red Sox fan, I'm pretty not happy. If I'm the Pirates fans, I'm just still frustrated at how our franchise is viewed by free agents and other players. You just, okay, Gino in 2021. Okay. So that was four years ago, he was 29, 30 years old. He put up a negative 9. Oh, A. Okay.

The following year puts up a zero. two years removed from a negative 9, he put up a positive 11, was in the 97 percentile in OAA. Name me another staff that fluctuates like that. That's insane, dude. So, like, I have a lot of mixed emotions with it because I understand what we're trying to do. I love assigning value to defense. It's very important. It's a huge part of the game.

You can game the system. I've already told you. Done it. Did it myself. Game the system. Took away extra base hits, especially at third base. Pretty easy. Stay on the line.

Your defensive numbers will improve. Like, without a doubt, there just needs to be a better way where we're not having fluctuating seasons like that. Like, yeah, like, he's, he's probably not in a 97 percentile defender, also probably not in the bottom 10th percentile in defenders. And like, can we average that out? Do you just do like a rolling three-year OAA? Is that how you do it? I don't, I mean, it's, you're right.

You got me fired up now. Yeah. Hey man, each team uses their own metrics. Again, I'm not necessarily standing here defending Eugenio Suarez's third base defensively overseas in metrics. Because I do think some of the young bucks who aren't hitting 49 homers are, yes, probably playing a better level of defense. But yeah, a lot of OAA and a lot of the defensive metrics are positioning. That's how things can change for you. And, okay, like, let's see how things play out between first base,

which we've talked about for the Cincinnati Reds and, you know, young Sal Stewart trying to figure out the game. You know, could Gino adapt over there if they need him to? Or, hey, Hunter Greens on the bump. Might be a couple punch tickets that we might not need the best infield defense for the day. And you probably say that about Lodolo or Chase Burns as well. So, again, it's a lot of team composition, which I feel. like we've started to ignore as fans because we're just like, well, his war was this or this

was it. Yeah. I'll be honest. Like, Gino Suarez for maybe my Yankees, I already think they have too much swing and miss and too much guys that try to hit go for balls that I wouldn't have loved the fit. Don't get me wrong. If we record Talking Yanks right after he signed, I'd be excited as all hell because he hit 49 home runs last year.

And a little Jake and Dalton Littics coming at you people right now. because Dalt on the sheet had active players to have multiple 49 plus home run seasons. Aaron Judge with four, Shohei and Aeuhenio both have two. And I said, okay, that's great, Dalt, because I was on the same wavelength. But I went to the position, Trev, the position you played, third base. And I did, played half your season at least at third base and hit over 45 home runs. that's how I sorted it. A-Rod with 54 in 2007 leads the way.

And by the way, he had some off-the-field allegations. So do whatever you want with that. 1969, Harmon Killebrew hit 49 for your Minnesota Twins. And then Gino has two 49 homer seasons, one with Cincinnati, and then the Arizona-Seattle hybrid season, that if you went from 1970 and you said, you know, if I wanted to put an asterisk out there, maybe a steroid-type deal, I'm not saying I need to,

but Henio Suarez would be the only third baseman that's hit 49 home runs in a season, and he did it twice. So like, hey, I don't know how your defensive metrics are great out. I'm not slamming the table saying he needs to play third, but him playing third every day and having that kind of offensive production, I just think the strike, the walk rate, the defense, the getting older.

I think all of that, when that gets punched into the analytical, how much we're going to offer a free agent, I think that went too far with this guy. I believe in the talent. But I love it for Cincinnati, and I would have loved it for a lot of teams. Two quick things. Number one, 2012, I had 19 homers at the break, then Luke Hover busted my thumb up.

Could have gotten hot in the second half and hit 49? Yes. Maybe. Yes. Second thing, more important than that. Definitely. 100%. You can say pretty much anything,

and it would trump that, yeah. Gino. Just make better swing decisions, get the ball in the zone more, and that falls on the hitting coach. Hey, hitting coach, take it, like, be prideful in your work with Gino

and say, I'm going to make this, I have his best year of his career. You know who is hitting coach is. I have my fingerprints all over this. It's Mortal Kombat. It's me. It's Chris Valeka.

My old travel ball teammate is his hitting coach. I need to make a call. Chris, get him in the zone. Yeah, maybe it wasn't more important. Maybe we took a step backwards. I don't know. Chris Valika.

This is a guy. Let me go, coach. Let me go. Run. my dad great dad never pushed me to play like you just say you like it you like it whatever

taught me the game me my brother was always encouraging I don't remember anything that he ever said to me that was like encouraging I don't remember any of that the one thing I remember him saying to me was one day and again nice dad not a bad like he was always

really nice to me the one thing that I remember vividly was we were playing a game at Burroughs high school. It was like a some sort of like local all-star game. I make an air in like the fourth inning come up on a chopper goes under my glove. Whatever. Get in the car and the ride home. He goes, what happened on that ball in the fourth? He said, ah, dad just didn't get there in time. Like, thought I was there, went under my glove. And he goes, Chris Valakou had made that play. Oh. So Chris doesn't even know. Like he has been in my mind for the last 30 years.

Yeah, a similar story for the people. I made a diving catch in center field during the 12-year-old Middlebury Little League All-Star tournament. And one of the parents of the opposing team, and my mom was sitting out there too, said, wow, that chubby center fielder can really play. So I don't know. Not exactly Chris Valekha. But I think we landed in a good spot with that. that uh does this

Cincinnati have you have you like processed your thoughts where you are with this team because they frustrated me the past couple years I don't think they're a I still don't think they contend for the NL Central division um but obviously they could they be a wild car team they were last year without Gino so we know they have the identity they throw they throw the ball they can do that they got started pitching for days I think Gino helps a lot in the middle of that lineup. So the offense got better.

And they're going to be in the mix, coach. And I think they have like trade chips. Like I want to see what they do during the season. Right now they're still, I think, the third best team in that division. But they were a playoff team last year and they just added. So I mean, I'm in on the Reds. I want to see him do a smidge more. Because if you look at the lineup, you're still like, oh, we need some help there.

They definitely have, they definitely have a recipe, man. Like, okay, can Ellie take a little more? Like, we, that will be huge. Everyone thinks that. You know, between Noel V. Marte and Sal Stewart and Matt McLean, like guys that are real prospects, can they grow? And then you could say, dude, their whole rotation, like, their rotation has almost Seattle Mariners energy.

Like, you're looking at these guys. Like, they could, all of those guys could shove and have an all-star first half. but it's really hard for that to all happen, that it's what's going to happen. And I don't know, just my final thing, because we've got some connections throughout baseball now. One of the things that front offices, all of them believe in,

and obviously because there's some truth to it, the postseason home run stat, like when you out home are your opponent in the postseason teams are 92 and 17 or whatever, what's Gino do again? He bangs the ball out of the yard. So it's funny, when we talk about the postseason where he had three home runs this year,

like, okay. So then what do we care about? I don't hear people yelling about OAA in the postseason. I don't know. That being said, I really liked the last Cincinnati Reds, D.H, they signed. Third base, first baseman. Jammer Candelario, did not work out.

Did not work out. that's the beauty of this beautiful game. You also do have an affinity for Aahe, Hino-Swaras. Like, you do have a- Look at him. Yeah. Look at what the man wears. If he was at the Grammys last night,

he would have won like Best Fit. Not even trying. Not even trying. That's the other part that makes, okay, I guess I'm still getting hot. Oh, Rob had the Lord Farquod, a. Oh, Hennio Suarez's outfit this year. I watched the Grammys last night.

I caught the end. I don't know. I like an award show. Katzai came on and my daughter who's eight is like, oh, I know them. And then they performed. I'm like, you probably should have known them. Is that the K-pop band? I think there's a few.

I mean, there definitely are a few. There's a few K-pop people in there, but there's also just like non-Korean people. No, it's really funny. It's like the new spice girls. Oh, okay. I saw, you know, they had a song that was insane that they performed. Big fan of, but they could dance. Big fan of sportsish that a lot of people probably follow on social media.

And that's where I get a lot of my hybrid content. I think she had a post that was like, these are Destiny's Child's Children, Destiny's Children. It might have been them. I don't know. We could be really exposing ourselves. Yeah, we're getting these. for father time.

Let's talk a little Luis Arise, which is a similar conversation, but very different at the same time. And it's all brought to you by Seat Geek, people. MLB offseason is almost done. Spring training. A lot of the dudes are already down there. And the World Baseball Classic.

I think we're getting official rosters in a couple hours. Me and Coach Trevor are going to be at? A couple of those games. We've got to talk about that. Meanwhile, the NBA, NHL, World Cup is this summer. Olympics are coming? Hello. Seekek, they're the place you need to be, 35 million download.

Seekek is the number one rated ticket again. And with code, talk in 2026, save 10% off your next set of tickets at Seek. Talk in 2026 at Seek, download the code, use it when you're ready. Go see something. Trev Luis Arise. Man, I'm not throwing out the C word because these are very different. One year, $12 million. But it is just funny, these two, they're hitters.

They each have the opposite hit tool. Louisa Rise as all contact as you can get in the sport. Eugenio Suarez, all power as you can get in the sport. Luisza Rise signs with the San Francisco Giants, reportedly to play some second base. The man is a three-time batting title champion. The defensive position has never been there. He's been playing a lot of first base in his time in San Diego.

And yeah, man, the San Francisco Giants recipe gets a little... You look at the ingredients, you can get excited. You can also get freaked out when you look at the other teams in the division. what do you think about a rise coach what's the C word you were trying to avoid so collusion I guess yeah for people that tune in I don't know it's just funny that these signings happened around the same time yeah just a little bit not a lot a bit just a little bit I don't put I don't have the other C word correlation for that I don't I didn't find that but okay oh what was your K pop words was your K pop band I gotta look this up cat's eye with a K

Cat's Eye with a K. All right. Yeah, check them out. I mean, I don't know. There was some good performances and bad ones. I think their performance was good. Didn't love the song. Being honest.

Okay. Anyways, what do I think about Louisa Rise? You mentioned ingredients pop. And anybody that's been in the kitchen, cooking in the kitchen, whipping it up. You know, like, there are just times where it's like, all right, like, what is this missing? Olivia asked me out all the time. She's cooking.

What's this missing? I come in. I'm like, bam, I know what's missing. Dang. Same thing. I'm cooking. live. What do you think? More spice, whatever. Boom, nail it. Louisa Rise is and can be and is that type of ingredient where like last ingredient makes it. It makes it. Him and

Gino are very similar in that regard. Like, hey man, guess what the San Francisco Giants do? They strike out a lot. A lot of guys with swing and miss. A lot of guys with swing and miss. Not a team that hits for average, right? So insert the guy that hits for average and doesn't strike out a lot. Like he makes sense here to me. Right now, Fangrass has him like top of the lineup leading off. I kind of love it. Like put him in front of Devers. I know he doesn't run and that's like the one thing.

I wish he would just like run a little bit better. It was I think the conversation would be completely different when we're talking about Louisa Rice if he would like, if he could steal bags or like just be like a proficient base runner, which he hasn't been. But you put him at the top of the lineup. up you let him get a pitcher all frustrated with that first at bat he hopefully the on base comes back so i think that was what was missing last year as well um you know he's had a couple years ago it was a 390 on base guy if he can get kind of back up into that area high like 360 and above

i think that changes everything but putting him at the top letting him set the table getting a guy frustrated then all of a sudden then you have the big dogs so you have devours adams chapman and I think it makes sense for this team. Second base is interesting. I know we just had to talk about defensive metrics. I don't think he's the guy that necessarily passes the eye test either when we're talking about second base. So I will say that I talked about Chris Felica, welcoming a challenge.

Ron Washington is on board in San Francisco. Except that challenge, Ron, and get our boy playing some good defense. and that'll be another huge feather in the cap. But overall, my take is love it for the Giants. And I am rooting for the Giants wholeheartedly this season because they continue to like try and like do things and make big moves, big trades, sign free agents, go after guys.

I mean, a whole new coaching staff is here. Like they're going for it. And that makes me like I want to root for this team. I want them. them to be in the mix this year, Jake, and I hope they can be. Yes. I, uh, okay, comparing a rise in Aeohenio, just a little bit more like, both those guys bring their different hitting approaches and like offensively, it's, it's not really the concern with either of those guys. Like, you know, Aohenio

is going to strike out a lot. Rise isn't going to have a lot of power. But guys, guys to be in your lineup, you know, if a rise is your lead off hitter, you kind of feel good about it. that. If Gino's in the middle of the line, I'd be kind of feel good about that. Gino's defense at third for me is like acceptable. A rise's defense kind of isn't. And so I'll be honest, when I look at this, I'm wondering how much of a little bit of a smoke screen there is that right now the Giants have Bryce Eldridge kind of slotted in to be their DH.

21 years old, big prospect, got a taste of the show last year, didn't click. Let's see what happens. I mean, maybe it comes to camp. He looks amazing. I don't really like a young guy like that, deaching every day.

There's something that just feels wrong about it. If you're the Giants, you can get pretty big power production from shortstop, from third base, from first base, from left field, that if a rise ends up deaching for you a little bit,

I don't hate that. Like you just, you're kind of, in the grand scheme of baseball, you're looking to make up a couple homers if that's going to be in your DH spot. But if he can be the valuable leadoff hitter he can be, and that's kind of the great game here, right? Like last year's stats kind of aren't enough for who Luis Arise needs to be. But if you go back the year before that, if you go back two years before that, I mean, 2023, he's a 354, 393.

Like, what? The year before that, he's 314, 346. So I'm a bet on talent guy. He clearly has the talent. Like, he's still squaring up balls better than anyone in baseball. You'll wonder if there's any hitting coach or players that can get in his head to help out. Because the skill set, a skill set is clearly there. The hardest thing to do in sports, he can do that.

He can make contact with the baseball. It's just making it work enough that, I just think it's kind of what you said about the San Francisco Giants. In this world of baseball and numbers we live in right now, that half the front offices were stoked that the Red Sox got off Devers contract and we're sitting here like our fist is clenched for the world of baseball. How can you do that? That it's like, all right, man, arise.

He's a baseball player. He's really good at the hardest thing to do. Devers is an absolute baller. It feels like he hasn't even had his best season. and yet as a baseball player, and maybe that's where I'm wrong. For me, the defense just gets weird. Like, you're really going to look at the left side of your infield with Chapman and Willie Adomas, and then at the right side, you're going to have a rise endeavors.

Like, maybe Ron Washington's final masterpiece comes out this year, and I love that. I've signed me up for that. But I don't know, man. That doesn't pass my sniff test. So you're saying even though they promised him that he would play a second base Because it sounds like he turned down some multi-year deals because they wouldn't allow him the ability to play second base You're thinking Giants just said that and see the season comes around like actually bro You ain't playing second base we're still going to go after Brendan Donovan or give Casey Smith a shot here

I guess I'm looking at it more as a versus. That doesn't sound like Buster Posey to me. You're not wrong. And Vitello here is trying to set the tone and you've got a lot of well-respected ballplayers. I'm not saying it's exactly the Red Sox front office saying Bregman will play second base. But I have it in the area code.

Like I don't know, man. What's Logan Webb do? I mean, besides be, you know, top five pitcher in baseball every year pretty much. A lot of balls on the ground that I know you got those guys on one side of the infield, but it just... All right. I don't know. I don't know. I'm just putting it out there.

Maybe I'm wrong. I like the... I like San Francisco as a ballpark for a rise. Like, the homers may not be there at all, but he's got a lot of room to work with. And, dude, they just... have ball players. Like you said with our weird recipe equation, but Harrison Bader's out

there to ball, bro. Like Junghu Lee, arise, Devers, Adja. If this team was in the AL Central, I think we're picking them to win it. You say that, though, coach, and you look at what they've,

I feel the same way, and you just look at what they've done. We got it right here on the sheets. I knew they were 81 and 81 last year. That ain't going to cut it, right? Hey, good job, 500. Year before that, two games under, 80, 82, 79 and 83, and then in 2022, also 81 and 81. So 321 and 327 over the last four seasons, and they've been making moves. I don't know what's happened.

It's not just, hey, we're playing in the same division as the Dodgers. It's not that. Something has to change, man. And they're trying, so I'm rooting for them. Is Bader and Arise and Hauser and Malley, like the guys they've signed in this off season? Is that enough? We'll see. It kind of doesn't feel that way.

It kind of feels like we're doing the same thing. I know what you're saying. First season endeavors, I get it. I know. Again, I'm rooting for this team. It feels like they have a high floor and a low. ceiling. Like it's, it just feels like they're kind of what we're saying, that they've been around 500 every year. I guess the, I guess the counter to that would be, what was it in the NL last year?

83 games to make, to make the dance. Like, you know, we're talking about the giants. If they, you know, Devers came over and had a slow start. Like, if you can have something click in the rotation, if Bader plays like he did last year, that's a significant, right now Bader slotted in their seven hole. I realize, you know, fan graphs and there's still going to be a lot to sort out. But like, I guess the phrase you said before, they're trying. Like, you know, for the handful of teams we could go around the horn and be like, is your front office putting a dedicated effort into trying to improve and make this team better?

I think they are. I think if they made one more move, yeah, we'd be hot to trot. if they were the Framber team, like, yes, we would be, you know, they could enter winners of the offseason conversation. Not to that a lot of time works for teams. And again, that's a very impactful starting pitcher that would give them one of the best one, two, lefty, righties combos in the league. So that's just full speculation.

Part of my soul likes it, but at the same time, like, I'm not telling people it's going to work because we hadn't seen it work. Buster Posey in 2022 joins the ownership group, 30 people, joins the ownership group of the Giants. Two years later,

becomes the president of baseball operations. How, like, is this just Buster Posey's job forever? Or are we like saying like, well, it's, I mean,

for three more years of the 500 clip coach. Right. Like, what happened? He's like very entangled in this organization. That's got to impede like decision making as far as his future is concerned. I think it's fascinating, man. I just came.

I just saw our president of baseball ops get canned. Yeah. For the twins. And he and I thought they prior to the new Tom Poled taking over for Joe, like they were as they were as thickest thieves, man. And then this is all changed. I'm just thinking out loud. Yeah, I guess I would say Posey took over as president of baseball ops in September of 24.

So like last year was kind of his first season. So I think, you know, how long's Buster going to have a job? He's made some big moves. He has, he has. But like, we can't even grade him yet. I'm just saying, like, I'm just saying, coach. Right. We're four years down the road.

And we're just, we're looking at the Dodgers continuing to do what they do. Giants kind of just in the mix, but not really in the mix. I'm just curious. Right. But, you know, if the Giants pop this year and have 92 wins, I don't know, wouldn't be, I think they're a team that has that potentially. Like, you just need the baseball guys to go right. I also, this is just a weird jakeism,

and maybe I'll work this into our annual betting props before the season. I feel like they have a ton of streaky guys. If there's a Giants for longest win streak this year, I think Jimmy went for that one year and got it. Like, I could see that. Like, Adama's Devers, Bader, these are all like, when they go nuts, they go nuts in a hurry that, you know, if that happens in April, you know, Mets fans turn off your ears. But with the new playoff format, if you get off to a big start, you got to really miss it by the end of the series. The Mets didn't have any stars. Like, they literally ran out of starting pitching that if the Giants could fall into one of those,

then we're talking about Buster Posey as a San Francisco staple and icon. He's turned... He already is. I'm correct. And my apologies there. But, like, he adds to it that it's like, oh, you know, Posey could be the GM for 20 years. We love this guy. He's the next cashman.

He's like John Elway. He's like John Elway did. Some mixed reviews in Denver. He got the ring What a Super Bowl You got the ring That's all that matters I mean brought in Peyton

But part of the reason Payne came Was because of John L. That's your guy We're talking about that We're talking about that We're talking about that They just got it done Pretty crazy

Super Bowl week Tony I'm excited Tony of Cello Yes The new Gabe Capler I think there was Giants Fest this weekend

I think I saw Willie Adomas showing up and showing out I mean, I'm into it. They're going to be one of my teams that I watch more closely than others this year because they have a lot of fun storylines. A ton of fun story lines. Yeah.

Reds and Giants, man. And was that chopping it up with Matt Chapman this weekend? Yeah, of course. Yeah, you were. All right, let's move on to, we got some young A's Corps. We got Jordan Hicks and the White Sox coming up. It's all brought to you by our friends at the drag. The draft Kings sports book, Big Week.

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Jacob Wilson gets that extension. Seven years, $70 million, a club option for the eighth years. They locked in two of his free agent years, which if Jacob Wilson can be the player he was last year or billed upon that. My goodness. Second largest deal in athletics franchise history trailing only, Tyler Soderstrom, who signed one of these deals. recently. And now the A's sneakily, they've locked up a little bit of a core. Brent Rooker,

Lawrence Butler, Soderstrom, and Wilson, all under team control. Four of those guys through 2032, Rooker through 2030. And I don't know, man, that the A's had a really good, they were 35 and 29 after the All-Star break. And just who this organization has been, I know we unfortunately get sucked into all the off-field stuff, but because of the way they operate, normally the A's go missing for three to five years, and then they kind of get back in the scene for a three-to-four-year run, and it feels like we're sneaking up on that, Coach Treff. Yes, I agree with you.

I love the signings of all these guys. I love this offensive core. I love watching Jacob Wilson play. Like, what an enigma he is. again got to broadcast, you know, called these games. You got to see how close and personal, how he approaches the game, pregame,

and there's just nothing. You like watching Jacob Wilson play the game. First of all, you know action is coming. The guy swings at nearly every single pitch, and that's not an exaggeration. So I love the core. The core is great. And I agree with you.

It does feel like a very Oakland-A's thing to do is have this awesome core and then give it a run for like a year and then break it all up, which is sad. The difference here, man, is it's just, you can have the best offense in the world, but they need guys on the bump. They don't have that, man. So it's always going to feel a little bit empty until we see a massive improvement there. J.P. Sears is gone.

So you got Springs. You got my guy Jacob Lopez twirling the pill up there. But, like, they're just going to be hard pressed to, number one, find any free agent pitcher that wants to go there. I guess there's some guys still out there that will be desperate for a deal. Maybe you go after one of these guys, whatever it is. But it's difficult to say, hey, come, come pitching that ballpark, man, because it's not an easy place to pitch in whatsoever.

So I'm excited for Jacob Wilson. Another team, very, very fun to watch. But until we, until we see improvements on the pitching side, it's just like, you can't get excited about it. Yes, comma. I don't know. Again, unfortunately, this will be a bad comp for our athletic fans out there. But when Cincinnati started getting going a few years,

I got all hot to track because I like their lineup. Somehow everything flipped in the past couple years that now they're like a pitching team in the lineup makes us nervous. You need a certain amount of pitching, and can Severino Springs, Morales, Lopez, and Medina be that? Probably not, if we're being real. If you want to have athletics, aspirations, whatever those may be, it would be interesting to see, you know,

there's five or so starting pitchers that could really help a rotation still on the market. You wonder if the athletics can get involved on any of those guys because it would make us be able to dream just a little easier. I mean, the question for me would be like, can they, I guess can, where is the pitching? Because, dude, the young talent in the lineup is very impressive. Like, what Langalears did in the second half last year is nuts. What is Kurt's going to be over a full season?

Like, he's kind of the dude now that if he's that guy, Like, is he Yordon Alvarez? Because then that would change how you'd feel about the athletics whole rotation. I don't know. I feel every year we've, because it's easier to tinker with the pitchers and develop that, that, you know, could we be in the middle of May? And it's like, hey, these athletics can throw the ball a little bit. That can't happen.

That I guess that's where I think they have a little more upside than it currently feels like. two of the guys that are listed, you know, when they're talking about the A's team, pitchers they could come up, or a guy named Gage Jump and Jamie Arnold. Gage made it to double A last year. Great. They're all like these are top 100 prospects. Jamie Arnold was drafted last year. So he hasn't even thrown a professional pitch yet.

So like, is it on the way? I mean, they had another shortstop coming up on the way that they traded for. He's also, what, 19 years old. Yeah. it's I don't know the North Sacramento A's farm system maybe as well as I should

admittedly but there's going to be a lot of guys you need to make the jump to make that team truly competitive yeah and I guess hey I believe it's easier to have a jump on the throwing side of the ball still that I'm looking at their potential call-up guys

this year like you know JT. Jinn and Joe E. Estes are currently listed in AAA. Like, I've seen those guys throw major league pitches. Can they, in one good sesh, can they tap into something for a week a month? Remember when Estes, like, fought? What was his whole deal?

No, he got, he had like a bad, somebody happened off the field, and he got mad at somebody for missing a ball. He gave a stank face. It got blown out of proportion. Right, right. I remember circling back on it and everyone was like, oh, okay, like that's, I don't know.

Life can be hard. Yeah, I guess it'll be the athletics finished 76 and 86 last year. They were fifth and average, eighth and OPS, 12th and runs. I guess it's going to be interesting to just view it on the scope of like, what do you really think this offense can do with a full year of Kurtz with McNeil as an ad? You know. Oh my gosh, I forgot that you went there. You know, can they be?

They're going to be a top 10 offense in baseball. They were last year. I think for me, it's can they become like a top five? And that gets tough. That gets tough. You know, you're starting to enter the elite team category. And hey, man, their pitching was bottom five. And their defense was bottom five.

So if we could tighten the screws there to become like middle of the pack-ish, I don't know. The AL West has a little bit of Mariners fans hour in. The Mariners look really good. the Mariners look really good. Houston, I'm curious, the Rangers, I'm curious. They're like, could the A's get in the mix with those teams this year? It's not out of the realm.

Their pitching could also be like last in baseball. So that's just, that's the range we're talking about. You're so soft. You're afraid of Seattle fan. You're afraid of them. I am too a little bit. I took my foot off the break there. I took my foot off the break.

I put, I hammered my foot on the brake. I took my foot off the gas. I'd be interested when it's, that time of year to see odds on the A's to win the division. They're going to take a leap one of these years. I'll take your bet. They're going to take a leap one of these years. Like, the A's just do it.

I was looking at their franchise year by year. And literally, like, I mean, you can go back to the money ball A's. They end up missing the postseason for like five years. Then they go three straight. They miss for three years. They go three straight. They've missed for one, two, three, four, five years. I don't know.

Before those 20, what was it, the 2018 athletics with Chapman, Samian, Matt Olson, like, I don't know. If they have that part two, but like you mentioned, there's always an A's pitching caveat between Moneyball, between Bassett, Mania, and some of those guys that it does feel light there. It does feel like there. But if your guy Jacob Lopez makes the leap. I love me some Jacob Lopez. Everybody knows that. Everybody knows that.

Max Muncie, the other one, the young stud, he has a chance for a massive, like, I don't want to go to bounce back here, but he has potential to grow in the offense. Like this can be a top five offense. Yes. Why not? Why not?

Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Everybody about it's Jacob Wilson. His dad played. Dude, dad's awesome. Jack Wilson.

These guys were fucking rolling double plays in their backyard together, man. I love that. Like this is, I'm going to start crying right now, thinking about Teddy. Okay. Well, let's do it. It wants nothing to do with me in baseball. It's tough. Wow.

That's kind of, I don't want to say that's a win. But I don't know. Could get weird. I think there, I think, I've talked about this a little bit. but there's a little resentment. I can feel it. Yeah. Teddy resents that you were.

I think he likes it, but he doesn't like, that doesn't want that to like, he doesn't always want to hear that, you know? I get that. He's his own person. I'm fine with, dude. Yeah.

Become your own person. I love that kid. Yeah. He's your son. Do all dad love their sons? Oh, coming up in the next hour. We're going to check in.

We're going to call the dads we know. Treb, I think it's time. I tease it at the start. It's time for the best Western traveler check in. Because, my goodness, it's time for a little Chicago White Sox. Yuck, coach, because they signed Austin Hayes, one year five million, play a little corner outfield. Go look at his stats and how he contributes offensively and defensively

in a lot of his seasons. They trade Jordan Hicks and David Sandlin, who's a prospect that we heard about in previous Red Sox trade, trade rumors. And now the White Sox, who we don't give a lot of shine to. And to be honest to us, that's fair. They had a little bit of an offseason pass. Sir Anthony Dominguez to come close. Murakami to hit home runs. Anthony Kay, can he be the next, you know, KBO comeback guy?

Sean Newcomb, what he can do in the pen, Luis on Helicunia. The White Sox have had an offseason, which I feel like we haven't said that about a lot of recent White Sox off seasons. And can they be on a path basically to get exciting? Are you asking me that? Sure. Yeah, they're on a path. I do like all the moves that they've made. I do think the ALE Central is just like not a great division.

All those things point to, okay, can Chicago get in the mix? Like, what's Colson Montgomery? Like, give me that. Like, there needs to be a lot of young guys stepping up. A lot of guys who we haven't seen a ton on the diamonds stepping up. But at least this year as a White Sox fan, and I've, again, seen it over the last couple of years. I mean, there's been really a bad just energy around the franchise and nobody's showing up to the games, all that. I think there's enough here now and they did enough during the off season where they're going to give.

the preseason spring training hope bug. I don't think they've had that for a while. That's a good thing, man. You finally move on from Luis Robert. It feels a little bit different. You went and got a Japanese star to come play on your team. I think the optimism will be there for White Sox fans. Will there be some skepticism along with it?

Yes. But I think from what they've done, they deserve to feel that like spring training. Like, hey, why not us? type of hope. Right. You know, you're, you're looking around the horn and it's, um, you know, Kyle Teal, ball player, Colson Montgomery, what is Merakami? Can Vargas find a little? He's my draw. Your guy. Your guy guy. Um, you know I get excited about Edgar Carrow. Um, yeah, uh, for me, uh, trading for Jordan Hicks and, you know, he's, he's saying the right

things. I would, let's go back to the bullpen for me. Like, let's, You know, at every time that I feel like I see one of the historically bad teams, whether it is the White Sox, a couple A's recent teams, Wilts was historically bad. There's another, the Rockies. Those teams, the thing that stood out to me, obviously not the most talent on the field, but their bullpens were like horrific, horrific. That that feels like one of the things in baseball,

if you can control it a little better, and whether that's Sir Anthony Dominguez, like, what if Jordan Hicks could tap in back to his bullpenways? Like, hey, we tried the starter thing, man. Last year got really ugly on him. Let's just reset fresh start. That if we can make that, that when you have a lead in the fifth inning of a game, you start feeling like you're going to win instead of like who's going to blow the game,

that can feel different. And then if the boys have a day at the office, you can start playing some winning baseball. So you're right. It's not exactly the spring training, hope springs eternal, but it's like, we can play some ball. Like we can not get rolled every series. How about that? Indiana is so hot right now. Yeah.

College football champs, no doubt about it. Kyle Schwabre second in the MVP, Indiana guy. Colson Montgomery also from Indiana. I mean, the season he put up last year, 71 games. ends up hitting 21 homers driving in 55 over 162 coach right what would you say to a guy that has 48 homers and drives in 125 at 23 years old would you like that say the next gino swaras you know three three war last year in 71 games uh so like they they're feel have the hope have the hope i think i think it's warranted have the hope all right thank you thank you

you everybody. Welcome to February 2nd. Is that every bunny? It's almost time. We got a couple big free agents left. We might talk about that next episode. Framber, Gallin, Basset, Gialito, Verlanner, Scherzer. I can make a rotation out of that.

Hey, hey, hey, A's go get like four of those guys. Yeah, I would get real hyped about you. A little Bassett reunion would love that. That sucks. Take all the young guys under his shoulder. He's got a massive wingspan. You literally probably fit the whole rotation. A whole rotation, yeah, yeah.

Gialito, what are we doing? Might not be a good ballpark for Gialito. Yeah, you're not to fly balls. But Denzel Clark's out there. Love Denzel Clark. I love them. Love Denzel Clark.