NFL Best Bets: Christmas Day, Thursday Night Football

SportsGrid

Watch NFL Best Bets: Christmas Day, Thursday Night Football - SportsGrid on Dailymotion

Transcript

00:00Welcome back into the early line here on the Sports Grid Network. I'm Dubs Anderson alongside

00:08Joe Ranieri. We're talking a little Week 17 in the National Football League. Eyes towards

00:13the quarterfinals in the College Football Playoffs and the Association getting set for

00:17a five-game slate on Christmas Day. That's coming up tomorrow. But plenty going on in

00:23the baseball world. I know it's the offseason, but really no days off. And we're now joined

00:27by our very own MLB insider, Craig Mish. Craig, happy holidays. Happy Tuesday. I need

00:33you to get me up to speed because what I've been reading this morning, this cannot be

00:38right. Walker Bueller of my Los Angeles Dodgers, a homegrown hero, wins a World Series, but

00:43now on the way to Boston. What do we know about the deal?

00:48Look at this point, I think it's fair to say that other teams must have had some injury

00:52concerns, Dubs, with Walker Bueller to only, you know, hand him that one-year deal. The

00:57other thing that I would say is maybe from Bueller's perspective, he's still very young,

01:02feeling like if the four or five-year deals like Blake Snell got weren't out there, maybe

01:07he felt like he needed to go prove himself again. Now, I know, Dubs, he was fantastic

01:11in the postseason, but remember, he's had a lot of injury issues over the last couple

01:15of years. So maybe this works out well for both sides. Bueller goes to Boston and does

01:20a really good job in that one-year contract that he ends up getting, and then maybe he

01:25goes back on the free agent market again. That would seem to be what is going on here

01:29because otherwise, he's the kind of pitcher that absolutely could get a multi-year deal.

01:34Proving himself is something that he wants to do very clearly, and I think teams want

01:37to see him a little bit more healthy. He definitely will be a one-to-watch player, I think, this

01:42season.

01:43So, Craig, I wanted to get your thoughts. The minute I heard this, I thought of you

01:49with Lozardo heading over to Philadelphia. What is he, 27, I think? He's still under,

01:56was under, I believe, control and will be for the Phillies, who add Zach Wheeler now,

02:03Aaron Nola, Ranger Suarez, now Lozardo. I like it for the Phillies, but what was this

02:09situation here with the Marlins, and what did they get back in return for?

02:16Yeah, well, Joe, look, at this point, we know where the Marlins are headed. It's probably

02:19more of a rebuild-type season. Lozardo's under team control for two more years, will get

02:24paid an arbitration, $6 million, $7 million this year. I think, Joe, most people who watch

02:29Lozardo think that there's a very high ceiling for him, meaning if you look at his season

02:33two years ago, where he started 30 games and he pitched for the Marlins in their first

02:38postseason game, that's the kind of guy that he can be, and I think the Phillies are hoping

02:42for that, but there's no guarantee of that. This is a pitcher that's had a lot of injury

02:46issues also over the last few years, and did not have a good year last year when he was

02:50healthy. So my guess is what the Marlins are doing right now is not necessarily, I don't

02:56think selling low, but sort of taking a preemptive measure here with some worry, maybe, that

03:02if he doesn't have a good season or if he's hurt again, they would get nothing for him.

03:06I don't think that this is the case of something is better than nothing. They really do like

03:09one of the players, Kaba, the infielder that they got back in return, far away from the

03:14major leagues. So a little bit surprising, I think, but with Lozardo's injury history,

03:19I think Phillies are in an all-in mode and they felt like the player that they gave up,

03:23especially in this deal, is blocked by other players in the organization as well.

03:27Craig, let's talk New York. The Mets continue to spend. Big left-hander there, Sean Manea

03:34gets $75 million for three years, puts pen to paper.

03:40Yeah, look, I mean, Manea just absolutely dubs, captivated everybody with his post-season and

03:45his late-season performance with the Mets. Did not have this one coming. Did not see Sean Manea

03:52getting this kind of deal over the course of his career. But it just goes to show you the

03:55lack of pitching in Major League Baseball and what Manea did for the Mets last season,

04:00earned him another go-round. A little bit rich for me with that three-year contract,

04:04just personally, because I just haven't seen him put three years together ever,

04:09but good for him to get paid.

04:13McCutcheon's still going at it, huh? And it looks like, what, he's going to finish his

04:17career as a pirate, probably one of the more better-known pirates that we've had in a while

04:23here. What is he, 38-39 here, but they're bringing him back on a $5 million deal.

04:29Probably an easy decision for the Pirates now.

04:32Yeah, look, I think you said it, Joe. Maybe it's one year, maybe it's another year after

04:36this year. He's a homegrown pirate. There's some debate whether he's a Hall of Famer. I think

04:40probably, to me, still fringe, I think. If you look at his numbers, close but not quite. Maybe

04:46another couple of years gets him in, adds some great clubhouse factor to what the Pirates are

04:51trying to do. They're going to be under some pressure, Joe, to win this year a little bit

04:55more than they have in the past. I don't think they're going to be able to get away with 75

04:58wins or anything like that. You've got Paul Skeens, you've got young players, you've got

05:01Reynolds. You've got to try and win a little bit, and I think that's where the Pirates are headed.

05:05And so he just adds to that mix. Doesn't really move the needle either way, but for his career,

05:10it's a really nice story. And, Craig, we're in the business of making money. Never too early

05:16to jump in and play the Futures. Opening day coming up on the 27th of March, but it really

05:21feels like it's fast approaching. So let's take a deep dive into the 2025 World Series odds,

05:26and the oddsmakers project it to be all about the Dodgers yet again at plus 320. It's been

05:33a nice-looking offseason, but outside of L.A., who's the standout for you? We've got the Braves

05:37and the Yankees sitting at plus 850, but who's going to benefit from some of the recent acquisitions?

05:44Yeah, well, look, I mean, the Dodgers are stacked. They're bringing back a lot of players. They're

05:48still going to be fantastic, but let's just not forget, in terms of talent, the Philadelphia

05:54Phillies are still right there. They've been a very disappointing team when they've gotten to

05:59the finish line two years ago, and then they didn't even get to the finish line last year.

06:02So to me, that's the team, if they could put it all together, Dubs, and knock out the Dodgers,

06:08then you would be talking about a team that would have some sort of clear path to the World Series.

06:12Yankees got there last year, but again, take a look. It's a lot of National League teams you're

06:16seeing there in the top five, and the reason why is four of those five teams, probably the most

06:21talented teams in baseball. So to me, it's the Phillies where I would drop in on the value there.

06:28You like what the Yankees did after losing Soto? You like the moves they made?

06:34I guess. I guess. I mean, Soto's a generational player, and I like Paul Goldschmidt and all the

06:41other names that they're adding, but it's not Juan Soto, man. I don't think anything could

06:48They can make some soup for Hanukkah and Christmas and just throw it all together in a pot

06:54and hope it comes out tasting like Soto, but I got news for you, it ain't gonna be.

07:01Before you lose you, Juan Soto, Mets, 15 years, $765 million deal.

07:07How many World Series does he get between now and then? Give us the future's outlook.

07:11Maybe one. That's tough to, that's tough to predict. It's like picking the horses, man.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended