Talkin' Baseball (MLB Podcast) - Will Fernando Tatis Jr. Prove the Doubters Wrong? | 596

Episode Date: January 30, 2023

Jake & Plouffe discuss the Mets extending Jeff McNeil, the Rays extending everyone, new Fernando Tatis Jr. quotes, Dick Monfort's goals for the Rockies, and Trevor's weekend in Minnesota at Twinsfest!Use code TALKIN for $20 off your first SeatGeek order. https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/TALKINGet 20% off your first order at https://ro.co/JOMBOYGambling Problem? Call 877-8-HOPENY/text HOPENY (467369) (NY),If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) (CO/IL/IN/LA/MD/MI/NJ/PA/TN/WV/WY), 1-800-NEXT STEP (AZ), 1-800-522-4700 (KS/NH), 888-789-7777/visit ccpg.org (CT), 1-800-BETS OFF (IA), visit OPGR.org (OR), or 1-888-532-3500 (VA).21+ (18+ NH/WY). Physically present in AZ/CO/CT/IL/IN/IA/KS/LA(select parishes)/MD/MI /NJ/ NY/PA/TN/VA/WV/WY only. VOID IN OH/ONT. Eligibility restrictions apply. Free bets: Valid 1 per new customer. Min. $5 deposit. Min $5 bet. $200 issued as free bets that expire 7 days (168 hours) after being awarded. See terms at sportsbook.draftkings.com/basketballlterms. No Sweat: Valid 1 per customer. NBA same game parlay bets only. Min 3-leg. First bet after opting-in must lose. Paid as one Free Bet Token based on amount of initial losing bet. Max. wagering limits apply. Free Bets expire 7 days (168 hours) after being awarded. Ends at the start of the final NBA game each day when offered prior to 2/16/23 @ 10PM ET. See terms at sportsbook.draftkings.com/basketballterms  +++Timestamps:0:00 Intro3:05 Rays Extensions for Springs, Fairbanks, & Yandy Diaz12:25 Jeff McNeil Mets Extension20:15 Fernando Tatis Jr. Speaks27:55 Rockies Owner Aiming for .500 Baseball32:40 Twinsfest 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 Talkin Baseball, the last episode in January. We got a ton of extensions. My Rocks made the news so to Tatis and Twins Fest. Players only. Hello and welcome to Talking Baseball, myself, Trevor Plouffe, Big Baby Davis on the ones, twos, and threes. James and Baby James, family vacate. It's been pushed off like two years from COVID. They got the whole O'Brien squad.

down there, some good content coming from that, as always. Trevor Plouf just got back from Twinsfest and Talking Baseball. Just got back with Seatkeek, the presenting sponsor of Talking Baseball, is back. Code Talking. Spring training games are happening this month. Let's go. Seat Geek, Code Talking. Go check them out.

Trevor, this month. How are you doing, Big Daddy? Twins, the king of Twinsfest You know, every time I head back to Minnesota, it just puts a little pep in my step. The people there are just, they're just different. Now, I love L.A. and I love the people around here. There's some good people out here, but per capita,

I don't think you'll find a more loving, like, charming, beautiful group of people than in Minneapolis. I promise you that. So I'm riding high a little bit. You know I had behind the scenes. Bill there with me. That made the trip interesting.

Yeah. But it was a good time. I can't, you know, we'll talk about it. You know, there was some things happened. Some things happened. I mean, I'm, you're doing big daddy. I'm excited to get the inside info.

I mean, I'm hoping, you know, you've kind of been selling us on the good people in Minnesota getting Joey Gallo back on track. I think I might, I think I might drink that Kool-Aid. He's confident. I'll say that.

right now. Talk to that dude. You enter a room with Joey Gallo. First of all, you know, Joey Gallo is in the room because he's six, eight. Yeah. Good looking dude. But, you know, talking to him, he definitely is feeling comfortable. And I am excited to see, like, how they use him, you know, what kind of year he's going to have. Everyone talks about the bad central divisions. I don't know if I buy that. But it's definitely a more comfortable place to play. And I think sometimes guys need a little love, man. I hear that every day. Davis looking good in his Chiefs Mahomes jersey found out Grammy, massive Mahomes fan. So now it's like a Mendelssohn family Patrick Mahomes house.

Love that. Now the Giants are out. She loves that Mahomes kid, you know? That's beautiful. Great game to end yesterday for the NFL fans. But there's only one of those games left, Trev. And then it's baseball season, man. It's here.

And we got some baseball news. We got a little Pope Perre. We got a ton of extensions. The Rays, which anytime the Rays do anything that opens my eyes because we know how they try to operate ahead of the game. We know how baseball extensions have worked for a little bit now that if you lock up the right guys early, it becomes a huge value. Go check out your Atlanta Braves. Jeffrey Springs, Fairbanks, Yandi Diaz for the raise,

they all get three years, four years for Jeffrey Springs, and we just went through his numbers, Trev. I guess let's start there because McNeil got an extension too. We're kind of in that time of year that you're going to see some extensions right before spring training. You'll see one or two pop up before the season gets started. I guess instant reaction out of you. I mean, this is what the race have to do, especially if they're signing wander to that deal.

You got to surround him with some talent. Now, you pick and choose the guys that you want to do it with. Usually it's, you know, guys that's in the middle of Arb or towards the end of Arb, you know, where you'll lock those two up, get them cost controlled, and then you might buy out, you know, a couple years of free agency. That seems like what the Reyes are trying to do here. But Yondi's a guy that they like. He's an on-base guy.

It can do damage when needed. and with Springs, I mean, look, you put him as a starter, he puts up the year he had. I think that you're looking at a pretty, if he can repeat anything close to that, you know, in the years of this contract, it's a steal for them. So a guy like him who's 30 years old now who really hasn't had a payday, I mean, this is when you go out. I mean, I don't want to sound like they're taking advantage of these guys. That's not the case. but, you know, if you want to offer someone, you know, less than market value, a guy that's 30 years old coming off a career year, you know, I think is the right time to do it. So they got him locked up. And like I said, right now, it's all about supplementing talents around Wander and making sure they're competitive for years to come. They're going to develop. But, you know, developing's always or sometimes not enough. You have to have the veterans around. Yondi's going to end up being that veteran there. Fairbanks has been there quite some time. He's a, you know,

a veteran. They like those voices in the clubhouse too. So I agree with you. When the rays make moves, you pay attention. They've been kind of silent throughout this offseason. Not a ton of noise there. But, you know, I'm looking at the Fangrass, the roster resource page right now. And you know they're going to be there. You know they're going to win 90 games. Right? I think so, man.

I'm, you know, not to go full into a raise TPP because we started recording them, Team profile projections they are coming. And the raise is going to be a funky one, man, because you obviously believe in that organization. The pitching staff, I mean, McClanahan Glass Now, there's a one-two punch that can kind of go with anyone. Go look at what Jeffrey Springs did last year. And Trev, you're talking about, you know,

you didn't want to come off as the race taking advantage of players. Jeffrey Springs was a guy that a couple of years. a couple years ago, things weren't looking so hot. He had a 542 ERA with Texas and Boston, back-to-back years with an ERA over 6-4, gets traded to the raise, which again, we talk about free agents, go to the Dodgers, go to the raise.

You know, he got traded for Sam Travis, a guy that, you know, 29 now hasn't played in the show in 2019 to Boston, not to be shots fired at Sam Travis. Hey, to cash in like this, you know, the odds were against Jeffrey Springs for a little bit. He goes to Tampa, taps into whatever they're cooking,

and he gets a real payday. So awesome for Jeffrey Springs, who, how's your 246 ERA last year? Over 135 innings. It's not like this guy got a couple starts to the end. He had 25 starts. He gets locked up. They've got a, man, Drew Rasmussen had a 284 for them.

And Pete Fairbanks, man, when he's dialed in, it's impressive. I mean, he clears 100 easily. He's been a popular fan of John Boy Media between one of our talking Yanks live streams where I was pringling him as a bit of a tradition. He replied on the internet and said, what the hell does Pringle Fairbanks mean? I told him. He loved it.

He's a dude. He was like, dude, we do a bunch of stuff like that in the Ray's bullpen during games to try to jinx hitters and stuff. So he was all about it. So happy for him. Yandi, like you mentioned, he's been a part of that team. And yeah, I guess if you're the raise, you know, you kind of have a three-year plan, right? Like Wander, like you said, is locked up. Yondi's going to be there.

There's kind of your left side of the infield. Yondi can flip over to first two if they need. Randy, Lowe, Harold Ramirez with that pitching staff. I don't know. I feel like this is the part of the year, especially you and me, Trev. I feel like we flip-flop the past couple years.

This part of the year is when you either start loving the raise or hating the raise. And I feel like I'm starting to kind of be into the raise this year. I'm always into the race. I know that some people might not like the way they run their franchise and you can call it like almost Oakland A's-ish, but they win. But they win and they develop.

I'm looking right now, Jake, I'm curious about this because the 2023 prospect list officially came out. The Rays don't have one in the top 100, according to this sheet. Could be totally wrong about that. I'm looking at Fangraphs right now. Is it wrong? I don't believe

the 2023 top prospect list. Did the Rays don't have somebody on there because even if they don't one of these dudes whether it's curtis me tosh bradley kyle monzardo carson williams whoever these someone's going to turn into a stud they can develop there that's what they do and so i i don't i haven't looked at all the lists yet because this just got updated i was very surprised to see uh not one person in the top 100 in their organization yeah i i mean for me the raise anything pitching wise they obviously get a little bit of a pass because look what just happened with Jeffrey Springs.

I mean, he was on the scrap heap, and now he's a lefty with an ERA and the twos last year. So pitching-wise, they just have to get graded on a different scale, and you have to believe in it. Offense. I don't know. I mean, it's one of those things like, you know, Wander Franco, not considered a top 100 prospect.

He graduated some guys, yeah. Yeah, he turns 22 in a little bit. So, you know, and top prospects and young talent. sometimes that needs to go hand in hand. And we'll see if anything else kind of jumps up because that's where they always pitch, so where their offense ends up landing kind of dictates, are they an 86 win team?

Are they a 96 win team? And I think we'll have to dive deeper into that. Okay. Okay. Treves calling time out. Time out on this. Because what's going on with Fangrass? Now I'm reading an article and it will be trade rumors.

and they said, says the club also has one of the top pitching prospects in the sport in Taj Bradley. So this thing is not right. Don't disregard everything I just said. That made sense. It doesn't make sense for them not to have anybody on that list. And now you come to find out they do. The MLB prospect top 100. Taj Bradley's number 20.

They have an infielder in the top 35. But they're not Fangrass update your site, please Because you're making me look foolish Hey, what's up with foolish? I don't think fan graphs likes him as much Foolish is Yeah, what's up?

He's like doesn't mess with me anymore What's, like I don't know what happened in our relationship Start beefing, that'll get people excited for the season. Oh, beef is foolish. Dude, I can't beef anymore. Like my beef was fuzzy, like he got mad at me And that was bad, even though I've never really beefed with him And foolish,

Maybe I will beef with that other. Twitter's, I know, I know Joms voiced some Twitter opinions recently. Dude, not to be this guy, but everyone having a blue check, it's like tough to sort through Twitter now. Like I, between all the kids doing Margot Robbie posts this weekend and stuff, like everything's just a mess. Trev, there is one other extension that's a big one, you know, all-star guy that kind of had a six war season last year.

The Mets, New York Mets, they place another bet on Jeff McNeil, little extension there. You should go place your bets at Draft Kings. Oh my God, they got an NBA read because it's primetime NBA, man. They know football's wrapping up. And you can get in on the hoops option, $5 and you'll win $200 and free bets. Instantly. Plus, check out their same game parlay. I got a couple buddies that they get like in the basketball numbers and they do really well.

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Trev, your guy. Jeff McNeil gets the extension. Four for 50. You know, like we talk about massive year last year, 326, 382 on base, an 836 OPS, a 140 OPS plus, 148 games. He still has, you know, a chunk of versatility. He played 47 games in the outfield, 106 at second base.

And Trev, I know you love this for the... If you're a baseball fan, anytime a good player gets an extension, you should love that. I know Mets fans, we talk about their window. This adds to that. And your first reaction,

not to give it away, but Uncle Stevie doesn't give a damn? No, because, you know, we're basically, he's basically getting taxed dollar for dollar now at this point because he's at, you know, that Steve Cohen threshold, which, you know, anytime he signs a deal now, whatever the number is,

just double it. that's the hit he's taken, but he doesn't care. Yeah. And I talked about that to people at Twin Spes, too. I was like, you know, what, is it crazy? Like, how do you guys feel about this? All the players obviously love it. And we started talking about, you know, the owner's room and is it going to change things?

How's the next CBA going to get? We're not going to get into all that, but like, it's causing a stir in baseball. Like, Steve Cohen is causing a stir. And I think he loves that. Like, obviously he wants to win. I think that's the number one thing is when you put that out there, that you're going to win a World Series in the first five years, you've got to try really hard.

But I think there's also a little bit of him that's just like, fuck yeah, dude. Like everyone's talking about me and I don't care. I don't care about the tax that you're putting on me. So back to McNeil, excellent deal for the Mets and for him. You know, yeah, you talked about his offensive numbers last year. One of the more tough guys to, one of the tougher guys to strike out in baseball, I think is really important.

And then he put together a really solid year defensive, like you said, moving all over the place too. That's how you get paid. Go put together an all around year like that, take home a silver slugger, be good defensively, and be versatile. And a team has to extend you, bro. Man, it feels like the sexy thing of this off season. And maybe next year and maybe going forward is contact is back

and McNeil gets paid, Araya's gets traded. The Marlins are going full that way. Interesting to see how it looks over the course of the year. And man, the other thing, and I tweeted this out because, you know, some fans don't care. Like, are you on my team? Are you good? Are you playing? Like, the contracts, the next level.

I just thought it was funny and obviously position eligibility. And just it's very hard to have a good long major league career. Zander Bogart's hits free agency this year, 30 years old, had a 5.8 war season. He signs with the San Diego Padres, what was it, $280 million, something like that? Yeah, 11-280. Jeff McNeil, 30 years old, doesn't play shortstop, but versatile, good, takes the four-year 50 extension because Zander Bogartz has been up, and he hits full-blown free agency when he's 30.

Jeff McNeil, you know, he's still, because he'd been up and down and got started later. I don't know. It was just funny in my head that we saw these, this offseason of crazy spending. I mean, the Mets are getting a deal. And if you're Jeff McNeil, also, you know, you got to make sure he wasn't going to be a free agent until after the 24 season, which, you know, if you're Jeff McNeil and you have a down 24 season, and now you're 32, 33 years old, guess what?

Your numbers start looking a lot different. So glad for him that he gets that amount of money locked up. And hey, Shea Station, Jerry and Jolly. It just adds to the Mets excitement for the season. And now I think the only guy that's there, they're kind of, what are we going to do is Big Pete Alonzo. I think he's two years. And if I'm Big Pete, I'm feeling pretty good, man.

Uncle Steve's. giving everyone the bag. My numbers are as consistent as you see from a baseball player. I wonder how much of a storyline that becomes. You think, like, these guys are, like, fighting to be friends with Steve. If you didn't get a contract extension yet, you're like, man, like, hey, like, hey, like, hey, like,

you didn't want to go to dinner? Like, you didn't want to babysit? Like, you're just really trying to get on this guy's good side because if you do, you might just flip you, you know, a couple hundred mill. Yeah. Just here you go. Hey, hang out.

I love you, Pete. Play first base for the next decade. Gale. Interesting. Yeah, the Mets are going to be great. Yeah, you mentioned it. Jeff McNeil, it's all about timing and free agency. You know, he just didn't get to the big leagues quick enough.

And you get to that age 30 season. You have a platform year like you just had. You can go into arbitration or you can take the guaranteed money. And it's hard to turn that down, dude. I mean, I know you're not saying he's underpaid, but he probably is a little bit underpaid. And it's all because of the timing. but you got to jump at a chance like that.

Yeah, I mean, another year. Teams know that too. If he had another year of service time, I wonder what that extension goes to. I wonder if it's four for 75 or is there another year? I don't know. I mean, that's the funny game you can play. Doesn't matter.

So he had two more years this year and next year. So that's, yeah. Yeah. That's why it is what it is. I mean, it's going to be a great deal for the Mets. A great deal for them. It's why we spend so much time talking about CBA when we do, because, I mean, it changes, it changes a lot of numbers.

He's a dirt bag? Yeah. Oh, I love them even more now. Yeah. All my Long Beach State boys. Okay. Okay. Okay.

So that was the extension front. I thought it was funny that all the raise happened at once. We always, we always kind of wonder what front offices are doing, Right. And when you see like the rays come out with three extensions, you're like, okay, they're working. I know what they've been up to. Trev, we got a couple other funky ones. And then I do want to deep dive into Twinsfest because I know. Please, yeah.

You and Correa are guys now, like you mentioned, with Big Joey. So let's check these off. Let's do two quotes. It's quote season. Let's do Tatease first, although I'd love to talk about my rocks and we'll get there. Tatees came out with some quotes. I feel like this is one of the years there's going to be more emotion and I'm definitely looking forward to it. I feel like a different story could have been if I was on the field.

I feel like it was a stab to the team. I was apart from them. It was the first time I ever felt that. I was really heartbroken. I've always been successful in this area. Now for the first time I really messed up. I really felt that. I know what people are going to talk about.

I guess we are people. And what people are going to be talking about on the field. It depends on me, how I'm going to approach it, how I'm going to take it. It's going to be up for me and I'm going to answer back. I guess kind of what this is the first time. I think this is the first time we've seen Tatis kind of fully swallow the pill and kind of eat it and, you know, be remorseful and sad and talking about last year. and kind of the impact that he hopes it has on this season.

You know, I guess, I don't know, Trev. I mean, this is kind of the quote. It has to be right. Like if Tatis kind of put up a shell and was like, you know, kind of got messy about last year. That'd be weird. This is the mindset he has to have, right? Yeah, I'm not reading too far into this quote.

What else is he going to say? Throw the double birds up and say, who cares? Yeah. He can't really do that. I mean, you know when he can't do that? If he comes back and balls out, then he'll probably will throw the double birds up and say, whatever, I told you it was for my fucking ringworm.

You know what I mean? Like, I've said this on the show before. Me and my boy, Anthony Swarzak, used to say this all the time. Performance trumps all. If he comes out and is a guy guy and San Diego's rolling, things are going to be a lot different. If he comes out and struggles,

and he's not a guy guy, guy. He's a little boy. it's going to be bad for him. Now, if you've ever watched this dude play, there ain't no chance in heck that he's going to come out and struggle. This guy is a ball player that all the tools in the world. Does he look silly sometimes on defense?

Yeah, but he also looks freaking great sometimes. We'll figure that side out of it. Go look at his offensive numbers. Yeah. I know he's taking some time off baseball. I know there's some allegations out there. But if he is telling the truth and it was a mistake, this guy's got all the talent in the world.

I don't think he's going to struggle, maybe for a week or so, maybe a month. But about those numbers in 2023, at the end of the year, going to be looking mighty fine, and that's how you get over something like this. Go out there, ball out,

be a good teammate, shut up and say stuff like this, and that's kind of how you have to approach it. But it's really, you know, you got to just go play and you've got to be good. It's the main part. The last time we saw him, 2021, 130 games.

He led the National League in Homers. 42. He also had 25 stolen bases. A 975 OPS was good for 166 OPS plus, which his career average, over 273 games now, he has a 965 OPS and a 160 OPS plus. That's, you know, that's up until age 22. That's what I'm saying. This guy is a ball player. Like we need to remember that.

You know, the recency bias is strong with this one. Don't forget about what kind of player he is when he's on the field. And you know what, too? Last year, like when they're playing the Phillies and they get beat, you can't tell me that wouldn't have been a different series with Fernando Tati Jr. in it. I tell you. That's got to be tough to swallow for him.

Eligible to return on BPD's 420. And the top of that lineup, Tatis Soto Machado Man that is We haven't even been able to dream on that yet And when we can It's gonna be beautiful Bogart's 4

He's in the mix, Croninworth My God, man Over under how many times We get three, like back to back to back To back. I'll put it at two and a half I bet you it happens Two and a half Yes, I bet you that happens

I think that's a good number like they're gonna hit homers and teams are gonna be like what just happened we're down three nothing it ain't one nothing John Jones or Brian Dozier it's like one two

don't try to segue us into twins like that if the line was one and a half I'd take the over the line is two and a half I kind of can't and so that means you got a good line I feel like the times we've looked at Padres this off season

because the roster resource you look at that, Tatis isn't in that lineup. It's been easy to kind of forget about that, and we've looked at them a lot this off season, and been surprised, underwhelmed is a tough way to phrase it, but it's felt like they're missing something, and talking about it now, it's like, oh, yeah, well, he's coming back, and he's not going to miss much of this season. Man, I wonder, is there any, their starting pitching is just slightly thin.

I wonder if there's a good veteran they could bring in that would make me, I guess nothing that would get me too hot and bothered, but even a Chad Kool or a Mike Minor or something like that. But, again, can't even dream upon that top three really yet. But, man, as when we do a TPP and when four, 420 gets here. That's going to be pretty exciting. The other one, a little Roman ready quote for you, Trev. My rocks.

They were roaming ready to maybe go 500. A, Valentine's Day, I'm going to be in the air. I'm flying to my wedding. There's a word for that. My mile high club. A term. Yeah. I, you know, I don't know.

Valentine's Day? I mean... We're not saying no. I think a lot of my family's going to be on the flight. But whatever you're doing this Valentine's Day, maybe Roman needs to be involved in your pitch mix. Because they cover a variety of sexual needs. I mean, they've got, you know,

if you're trying to get a stronger erection, they got that. If you're trying to last a little longer, they got the swipes, they got that. Low testosterone, they got that. Roman, I mean, if you're a man, who, and you're going online, this is where you need to go to be Roman ready.

R.O.c.O.C.O. slash Johnboy. Do it by February 8th. You're guaranteed shipping in time for Valentine's Day. And with that Johnboy, RO.co slash Johnboy, you will get 20% off your entire first order. If you're dealing with any of those things, fella. Let's go. Get in the mix with Roman.

Clean it up. If your tooth hurts, you go to the dentist. If you need a haircut, you get your haircut. If your wieners not work in the right way, there's things you can do. You might have a problem, and they've got answers. The answers for my rocks. Tough. What's up with this stuff?

Come on, guys. This is the what is you doing, baby, right? Like, yeah, we get a, we get a tough one that from my rocks. We did record this TPP already. We're excited. And, yeah, you get Rocky's owner, Dick Monfort, who is a big part of the CBA. In some good ways and some not, I heard interesting things. I think he's a well-respected owner.

and I think we got word from the players that he was he was very he was helpful in getting stuff done from the player's side, which a lot of the things we normally hear out of Rockies are kind of quotes like this, where he did an interview and he said, you know, he's hopeful the Rockies can play 500 ball this year, which is, you know, it's one of those things that, hey, guess what? When we did their TPP, not to give too much away. I don't think we talked about 500 ball too much, but when you're the owner of the team and you're the one in control and, you know, not a big free agency out of the rocks this year,

a team that has been messy on paper the last few years now coming out of the story Aeronado Blackman, kind of prime Rockies teams. It's a tough one, Trevin. It's something that the Internet's, going to run with and, you know, at its core, you kind of hate it. I'm going back and forth because if they played a 500 ball this year, we will be jumping for joy, baby.

You know what I mean? Yeah. So on that end, I'm like, you know what? He's giving them something to work for it. I bet you, like, realistically in all the dudes' heads, like, yeah, 500 would be sick. But let's shoot a little higher. If you're going to put unrealistic expectations on that. team like Rocky's being 500.

Let's go up a little bit, baby. Let's go, hey, I think we can compete for the wild card. That's what he should have said. Right. Because no one gives a shit about the regular season. It's like, are you going to make the playoffs or not? So just Dick, if I give you some advice, I would just aim a little higher because that's what the offseason is for, and spring training is for is optimism, baby.

Like, let's give yourself a little bit more of a push. Yeah. But, like, go the other way again, 500 will be just incredible for the Rockies this year. And if you put Kutuk on that team, you might get there. Ooh, there's your solution. Yeah, I mean, I'll just, you know, I'm going to remind Dick that my services are available for the Rockies front office. So we could start kind of changing. When you're ready to clean this up.

I have some of the answers, social media-wise, press. wise. Even some things I think we can try on the field. I'll throw them out there. Doesn't mean you have to doesn't mean you have to use every idea, but I got some good ones for you. So I'm open to one of those senior advisor roles with maybe some. Maybe, get you on the field. I think you'd be an excellent first base coach. You and John Jay will be freaking battling it out for first base coach of the year in the national league. I tell you what, there would be some really good clips of me as a first base coach just being horrified i mean a big lefty comes up Soto comes up i'm standing i'm in i'm in the well i'm in the camera well get me out of there you got to make that choice as a as a base coach are you

going to try to field the ground balls or you know let them go because that's yeah you got to have one or the mindset of yes i'm going to field it or no i'm not going to field any of them because if you're in between you end up looking silly i got something is there if you're a first base coach can you wear a glove? Why not? Maybe that could be my thing. Why not? Glove coach. I mean, that feels smart.

Okay. Well, we solved that. Sorry. Trying to envision CJ Crone, we're going to walk and hand to you as elbow guard. Oh, yeah. Yeah, seeing you with all the gear on, it would be incredible. A couple things, BBD. Since we're talking about the Rockies, we have to always talk about our girl, Kel's.

Do you have the awards? Can you play that? Ooh, yes. Yeah, you're right. That would be awards. Oh, man. That doesn't get you ready for spring training. She is.

The best. Shout out Kelsey. Go check out her bathroom renovation that she's documenting on her Instagram. Good content. It's good content. Trev, I think we're there. I think we're going to do a fun midweek episode. We got brewing a couple ideas.

For now, I can't be. Brewing. Can't be more excited to give you the floor. And give us the truth from Twinsfest. Again, look, I love the people of Minnesota. They've always been so good to me. So I guess I'll start with that. What's interesting with me is I'm not like a Twins legend.

I wasn't, my number's not going to get retired. I'm not going to go in the Twins Hall of Fame yet. Okay. They've already given it to a different Trevor once. So, you know, it's funny to me. When I walk around Minnesota, like Minneapolis, or I'm in the halls of Twinsfest, and people are just like excited to see me. And they're always calling my name out. And they're, you know, a lot of it has to do, obviously, with what we do on this show.

And, you know, that I'm out there presence on social media. But it's like crazy to me to think about that. I mean, I got a great reception. And again, so many people coming up to me telling me, we listen to this show every day. We love it. Jake sucks. Tell Jimmy I said hi. Is BBD here? Like it was it's really cool to see the community that we've built. And they kept saying, you know what? Thank you for sticking up for the twins all the time. Those other guys always bashing us. And I say, you know what? I'll do my best. I do my part. So that was cool. So thank you to people, the people of Minnesota for always treating me and my family so so kindly when I don't think you really have to. But I appreciate it nonetheless. My biggest takeaway from Twins Fest, and I said this. I gave the Twins my winner of the offseason.

I know it sounds kind of silly because they basically bring in the same team back. Made some trades, brought some people in. I know that. But the Carlos Correa signing to me was so massive. And what I said was, if they didn't sign him, where would they be as an organization? So them getting him for six years, they have to compete. They have to keep guys around him. It changes the outlook of that organization in the short term drastically.

And then when I got there and I talked to the players and I talked to the clubhouse guys and I talked to the front office, they shared my sentiment. And one thing that you have to have in your clubhouse is a leader. Now, the twins have some guys who you'd expect to be leaders, but there's just a certain. way that you kind of have to go about. Now, Byron Buckson is a leader on that team, but I equate him to kind of like a Joe Maurer's, Joe Maurer-esque leader where it's, it's a lead by example. He's in there. He's putting the work in. When he's on the field, he's one of the best players, and you can't take your eyes off him. And you want to be that way. And you want to be good for him because you know, like, he's almost got a higher purpose. Like, you want to play well. I wanted to make Joe Mauer happy. And I wanted to, you know, like, I wanted to, you know, like, I wanted to get him to the playoffs like everything we didn't do it but i had that mindset all the time but you need someone that's going to be like your talker your vocal leader and when carlos carea steps in the room boy he commands it and we've seen that and you know we've we've said a lot of things about the astros thing and his involvement in it but one thing i've always said about carlos is it's very

impressive to me that a young kid was the one at the forefront talking about what happened. He put himself out there and talked about Al Tuve and how Altuve didn't want the system. And you know what? That's very impressive for a young guy to do. Like, was he good early on? Sure, but you don't know how good you're going to be. Carlos knew how good he was going to be. And he took it upon himself to go out there.

And that's the kind of leader he is. When he walks into a room, he's going to command it. And everybody that I talk to is like, thank goodness he's back. We need that voice. It changes like the way they view their team. He's going to do stuff on the field. He's going to produce for them. The numbers are going to be there.

He's going to be a stalwart at shortstop. You know, shoot, maybe he moves to third base. I don't know. But for the short future, he'll be at short stuff. You need a guy like that. And he is, I don't know if he did this on purpose or not. but the first thing he said to me was the biggest compliment that I can get. He said, you look like you can still play.

So it's either one of two things. One, I'm working my ass off and I look good. Or two, Carlos knows that I'm going to be on here talking. Yeah. And he wants me behind him. And he planted that in my head. And to that, I say bravo, bro. because you got me.

You got me hooked now. So he tells me that I see how he is around the clubhouse and I talk to other dudes on the team. And to me, I'm so happy that he's back in Minnesota. Like he's changed everything there over the last couple years, which is tough to say. Not many people can go in there and make that impact out of an organization. Especially baseball.

I mean, to be one of 26, and have that kind of impact. And I, you know, obviously, I view everything from, you know, behind the laptop, behind the camera. But no, and we talked about a little bit when the signing was official, but it changed their outlook for the next five years. Like the twins are going to be players. They're going to make moves around it, him in Buxden locking them up.

This could have been a very different direction. So I'm glad you were there. I'm glad the people still Trevor Plouf has juice. Snell's words, not mine. What was the, I guess what was some of the fun stuff? Because now we're seeing a lot of these. You know, the Cubs had a big one. We saw a couple clips from the Braves.

Like every team is starting to do this. I think, Treve, you know probably the secret secret to it is. There's ways to make a little money off of it if you do it, right? But it's also fun exposure for the players. And it seems like it's loose and fun. And it's also, you know, that time of. optimism, you know, leading up into the season. Like, the Cubs, let's see where their season lands.

But guess what? Dan's be on stage talking to Happer and Tyones there. Like, that's hype. That's, you know, that's an awesome part of fandom. You get a couple good quotes. I guess what was going around Twins Fest? Was there a young guy that everyone kept mentioning like, hey, don't sleep on Kirillov this year.

Was it our rotations as good as it's been in a while? Was it our bullpen might be better than it's ever been? Like what was kind of the gossip or the fun, some of the fun stuff going around Twins Fest? You're right about the fan fest. Like I think if you're, if you're a fan of a team, you should go check your local teams fan fest out. Because you get, you know, exposure to the players in a way that you really never do. Guys are more willing to kind of be out there. And, you know, for instance, I was down.

They threw a party the first night. Whoops. And, you know, I'm down there, you know, shaking hands, taking pictures. I'm buying people these like raffle tickets like you don't get that very often and with these fan fest you do as far as like the buzz in Minnesota I think Duran

is a guy that a lot of people talk about and how dominant he's been there you know people were sad about a rise but I think they understand the kind of picture and the kind of difference Pablo Lopez can make I did get to see Trevor Larnark Kirolov these guys are already Royce Lewis

This is another one of these dudes that are like, man, he's a big dude. I can tell by looking at Royce Lewis that he's so fucking athletic. Like the quick-to-wich muscles, like you see him when he talks, when he walks around, bro. Like, I think this guy is going to be a stud.

So, like, everyone's really optimistic. Kyle Farmer going over there. I got to talk about him a little bit. We're Instagram friends now. Sure. He's like the new Dozier. He reminds me of Brian Dozier. much. Now is he going to give you 42 homers? Probably not.

Like shout out Dozier for that. But the attitude is the same. He's one of those southern dudes that's got a little bit of Hollywood in him. And sneaky, good looking dude. Brings me to my next point, Joe Ryan. Oh. Was I spot on about this dude being a hot boy? Or yes. Have you guys fully crossed the bridge? I remember when that was a thing. We did. We hung out. Really?

We were on the same flight back home. So at the airport, we sat down, had a glass of wine and shared a pizza. And we talked, man. And this guy's all in. Like, that's what I see, you know, I saw a lot about or saw a lot of this with the players. They just love ball and it's all they really care about. Like, sometimes you get guys and they don't even want to talk baseball. Like Joe Ryan, he just wanted to talk ball and, you know, about the season and what he's doing and how he's preparing and all this stuff.

And I thought it was really cool. And again, I'll reiterate, he deserves to be on a hot boy list. The attitude's right. Like, he's got this, the look. Big fan. Man, I love that for you. I know you being connected to Joe Ryan is important for you. The picture of you and Kent of Maeda on the flight made me happy.

I'm pretty sure. I swear. And this is probably the end of my Twinsfest talk. But I think he thought I was just like a fan. Yes. Yes. Even though I said, hey, I'm Trevor. And like, I don't think it registered for him.

Yeah. You know, we never played together. And I don't know if we ever faced each other. So like, why would he know me? But like I was, hey, man, like, let's take a picture. Like, I'll put it on IG. It's okay. He probably thought I was a fan.

Is it a cute pick? Dude, he's kind of like, he's a baller. He's got good style. Like, he also kind of command. hands of room a little bit. It's pretty cool. I never got to hang around to him much, so it's cool to see him. He's a dude. Man, I know Twins fans now. Royce Lewis. He had a little cup of coffee last year. I know he's got a tough rehab ahead of him, but man, that's, I wonder if he can be a part of their season at all. We'll save some of that for TPP Talk. I'm glad.

Trevor Plouffe never faced Kent to Maeda. I'm glad you had fun out there, Trev. I know our guy Dustin, he hook it up for you? He always does. We had some talks and I think if you like me and you're in Minnesota, you might be seeing more of me. A little teaser. Yeah. A little teaser. Trev, Davis, everyone. Thank you. Last episode of January, people.

February pitchers and catchers. TPPs? Jake sucks. We'll see you guys with the midweek. Yeah, what's what were those kids or those? I'm talking, I probably had like 20 or 30 people like Jake sucks. So I'm like, yeah, it was a lot. We're doing well out there.

People know. You know, low T. That shirt is so low T. I can't even stand it. Oh, come on.