- 3 months ago
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00:00So Shota Imanaga opts out of his contract, according to ESPN Today.
00:05Where does he rank, Peter, as far as available free agents?
00:10He was not as good this year as he was last year,
00:14but I would still assume that he's going to command a serious payday for some team.
00:19Would he be a top five starting pitcher in free agency?
00:23No, no, no.
00:24I think the Cubs made the perfect decision to kind of let him walk.
00:30Basically, they're going to offer him the qualifying offer.
00:34So if he doesn't take it, they get a draft pick out of it.
00:38And if he does, they get one more season of Shota Imanaga at a reasonable salary.
00:43And if I'm a team, what I'm noticing is Shota Imanaga has made his money on that high fastball.
00:50If he's able to sit between 92 to 93 miles an hour with that induced vertical break.
00:55And he's always been a fly ball pitcher.
00:56He's always had difficulties with the home run.
00:59But this year, especially towards the end of the season,
01:02there was a reason that the Cubs rarely went to him in their biggest spots,
01:07even though their rookie phenom, Cade Horton, went down with an injury.
01:11The home run to fly ball rate was out of whack.
01:14You look at the underlying metrics of 4.86 FIP.
01:18Do you really want to be paying that guy into his mid-30s?
01:22A guy who seems like he's already trending in the wrong direction.
01:26So I understand where you're coming from.
01:28Shota Imanaga at his peak would most certainly be a top five free agent pitcher in this market.
01:34But right now, with the way he's throwing, I wouldn't want him for more than one year.
01:40So I think the Cubs did exactly what they should do.
01:42You either get Shota for one or you get the draft pick.
01:46Yeah, fair enough.
01:47And sometimes these guys from overseas, they come over.
01:49They're so dominant the first year.
01:50And then all of a sudden, as you said, things get figured out.
01:52High fastball.
01:53That's true.
01:54On the other side of town, on the south side, the Luis Robert talks.
01:59It's so funny to me, Peter, that they picked up his $20 million option.
02:03We've been doing the is Luis Robert trade going to happen for three years now, man.
02:08And we're just going to do it again.
02:10Are we going to do it this offseason?
02:11Are we going to do it next year?
02:13He just had an awful year, too.
02:14$220, $661 OPS.
02:16Who would even want that?
02:18He is.
02:20And I've unfortunately been buying into Luis Robert for too long.
02:24And it's never worked for me.
02:26Because you see the talent, right?
02:28He has the capability to hit 38 home runs like he did a few years ago.
02:31He has the ability to be one of the best defenders in center field.
02:34He can steal 20, 30 bases.
02:36But the swing and miss.
02:38I mean, he's chasing sliders at rates that you only see from Javier Baez when he's at his lowest points.
02:44This is a guy who seems sometimes unplayable.
02:46And sometimes he flashes that superstar potential.
02:49But it just doesn't come through enough.
02:52So I understand, I guess, why the White Sox would give him $20 million.
02:56You're just hoping that he can give you a $40 million type of year, which he's capable of.
03:01But he could also give you a $5 million type of year.
03:04So they're taking a gamble.
03:06I kind of understand why they're doing it.
03:07Because they don't really have another choice.
03:11So of all the free agents here, I know Kyle Tucker is going to command the most.
03:15I guess my favorite free agent is probably going to be Alex Bregman going into the offseason.
03:19Is there a player or two, Peter, that you'll be keeping a close eye on here?
03:24Yeah, Michael King, I think, is really, really interesting.
03:27Because he was emerging as one of the better pitchers in the National League with the San Diego Padres.
03:34But injuries kind of got the best of him.
03:36But when you look at his stuff profile, especially when he's on, he is as good of a pitcher as any.
03:43And he doesn't have a ton of innings on his arm either.
03:47But I wonder how teams are going to evaluate him.
03:51Because, again, it's not a long track record of success.
03:55But when he is good, he's fantastic.
03:57That's a guy who I could see getting a huge deal or maybe a one-year deal.
04:00But I want him on my team.
04:03Let's take a quick break.
04:04Peter's going to rejoin us here.
04:06Seven new managers in Major League Baseball over the last month named.
04:10We're going to run through them and get Peter's thoughts on if any are going to make a significant change for their ball clubs.
04:16You're watching Newswire on SportsGrid.
04:18Welcome back to Newswire.
04:19Just minutes away from just baseball recapping the World Series, which was such an epic showdown with the Dodgers and Blue Jays.
04:27Peter Apple will be hosting that show coming up.
04:29So make sure you stay here on SportsGrid and catch it.
04:31So, Peter, I think the managing cycle, we're coming kind of close to an end here, I think.
04:38Did the Rockies say what they're going to do?
04:40Does it even matter?
04:40I'm not sure.
04:41But here are the new managers in Major League Baseball.
04:45Skip Schumacher was hired right away, and he was part of the organization.
04:48So that made sense.
04:49Kurt Suzuki gets a magical one-year deal from the Angels.
04:52Go figure that one.
04:54Tony Vitello goes from college to pro.
04:56He'll manage the Giants.
04:57Craig Albernaz goes from Cleveland to Baltimore.
05:01Derek Shelton takes over in Minnesota after his tenure in Pittsburgh.
05:06Blake Butera, youngest manager in baseball, hired last week.
05:09And then Walt Weiss will follow Brian Snitker in Atlanta.
05:14A lot of compelling stories, I think, coming out of this.
05:16But compelling than Tony Vitello getting hired out of the University of Tennessee to take over the San Francisco Giants.
05:24This is one where there's no middle ground, Peter.
05:27It's either going to be a huge success or a massive failure.
05:30Buster Posey seemingly hitching his wagon to that.
05:34You know what?
05:35I'm going to trust Buster Posey, and I think that it goes well.
05:38I'm a big college baseball fan, and Tony Vitello has been the name in college baseball.
05:42He's really done such a good job with those Tennessee volunteers.
05:47So I'm going to go out on a limb, even though it's not often that a coach from college comes over to Major League Baseball.
05:55But I think it's a good move.
05:56I'm excited.
05:57And I think it's already funny that he's putting quotes out there that he's going to be Drew Gilbert's babysitter because that guy is a beautiful psycho.
06:05Yeah.
06:05No, it should be fun to see.
06:07And, you know, won national championships, of course, at Tennessee and was the SEC Coach of the Year.
06:12And you just don't usually see this.
06:14A lot of people allude to Pat Murphy, who was a coach at Arizona State, but for many years before he ended up going to the pros, too.
06:19So we'll see.
06:21What's the other managing story for you here?
06:25I mean, I could do all of them here.
06:28You know, I think I'll give you my – here, let me look at it here real quick.
06:31Here's my quick takeaways on all.
06:34Schumacher, easy, makes sense.
06:36Kurt Suzuki, what the bleep, one year.
06:39Al Bernaz, very well thought of, makes sense for Baltimore.
06:42Derek Shelton, twins must be in rebuild mode.
06:45I think that's probably what's going to go on here, unfortunately, for him.
06:48Butera, I know nothing about.
06:50And then Walt Weiss, they just kind of feel like they had an unlucky season, I'm going to guess, Peter.
06:54Last year, they think they'll just be better based on who they have.
06:57Fair?
06:58I think – I couldn't have said it better myself.
07:00The one I am really interested, though, is Butera, the youngest coach ever at 33 years old.
07:06You know, it's a really young team with the Nationals, not a ton of coaching experience outside of, you know, the minor leagues.
07:13And there was a lot of options around.
07:15You know, one that I'm surprised that hasn't been brought in yet is Mark DeRosa, right, who's going to manage Team USA.
07:22I've – you know, I actually thought that he might go to the Braves knowing that he used to play there, but they went with Walt Weiss.
07:28But my biggest takeaway from this, too, is that the Angels – I mean, a one-year deal for Kurt Suzuki is basically telling him that, you know,
07:36we don't want to pay for a manager because we might have an impending lockout, so they're giving a guy a one-year flyer.
07:42I mean, you know what it's like when it's a player and you get a one-year deal.
07:45This is a can-you-prove-it, and it's hard to prove it as a manager, especially when the Angels aren't expected to spend.
07:53So Butera being the youngest and the Angels doing just more Angels stuff, I guess, are the big headlines here outside of Tony Vantelov.
07:59Yeah, definitely so.
08:01Okay, so I missed one job here.
08:04The Padres, of course, they were caught off guard.
08:07Everyone says they were caught off guard by Mike Schilt retiring.
08:09There was no indication that this was going to happen, and so they've interviewed a lot of different skippers here.
08:15Albert Pujols' name has come up.
08:17You're seeing some of his ex-teammates mention that if Pujols gets the job as the manager,
08:23then Yadier Molina would be the bench coach, which is kind of crazy.
08:27So they would build that in San Diego, and I don't know that the Rockies really are relevant at all at this point.
08:32I saw my buddy Tim Healy say that Adam Adovino interviewed for the GM job.
08:36I don't know.
08:38Look, I hope the Rockies get it right.
08:40They should eventually, Peter, get it right.
08:41It's such a shame because they pack that house every night.
08:44They lose 100 games, and they get 25,000 fans for every single game in Denver.
08:49But I don't know.
08:50Let's focus on San Diego here for a minute.
08:52Would that be something, huh?
08:53Pujols and Molina, are there any other ex-Cardinals that could go join him there?
08:56I would absolutely.
08:58I love the idea of that, right?
09:01Albert Pujols, one of the greatest right-handed hitters ever, and Yadier Molina, one of the greatest catchers ever.
09:07You combine those two on the bench there in San Diego, it will feel a little bit weird that it's happening in San Diego and not in St. Louis.
09:15But I would love to see what that looks like.
09:19And for the Rockies, does it surprise?
09:21Look, I think Adam Adovino is a very sharp guy.
09:23I've interviewed him before, I think he would be very good in a front office.
09:27But, like, literally, like, has he just pitched, didn't he?
09:32Like, last year, the year before?
09:34Yeah, I mean, it's hard to speak on what he could do as a general manager.
09:38To your point, I think he is a smart guy.
09:40And to pitch that long in Major League Baseball without throwing 100 miles an hour, I think it's something, right?
09:46We've seen some pitching coaches who, you know, made their money in Major League Baseball by pitching around guys,
09:52locating, and Adam Adovino had that great slider.
09:55But maybe he could.
09:57I don't even know.
09:57I don't know what the Rockies are doing.
09:59Maybe Adam Adovino is good.
10:01We have no idea.
10:03All right.
10:03Let's end with this.
10:04I'm going to cover this coming up in a few minutes here, Peter.
10:06But one of the contemporary committees for the Hall of Fame is about to pop up here.
10:12And I know, certainly, you've seen a lot of these players play.
10:15But the biggest question is going to be whether or not Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens are voted in by their contemporaries.
10:22It's a small committee of media members and ex-media members that get in.
10:27My sense is they are not.
10:29My sense is not because they don't deserve it, Peter, but because I don't think that those people that are on that committee want to be the people that put them in the Hall of Fame and being known for that.
10:37That's unfortunate.
10:38But I kind of feel like that's the direction.
10:39I think Don Mattingly is going to get in.
10:41What do you think?
10:41I agree.
10:42And you took the words right out of my mouth.
10:44Because you don't want to be the person to skip by the precedent of no steroid users in the Hall of Fame.
10:52So if these guys, you know, a small group are going to come together and say, no, we believe they should, I think it would make a lot more noise than they want to.
11:00So I agree with you.
11:01I don't think Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens are getting in, even though, of course, they have all-time numbers.
11:05Yeah, and I think they should be.
11:07But I just don't see those people saying, yeah, we're the ones that put them in.
11:12I think it's the opposite.
11:13I think they let it go.
11:14All right, Peter, great stuff.
11:15We'll catch you on Just Baseball coming up here soon on Sports Grid.
11:18Thanks for coming on again.
11:20Thanks so much for having me, Craig.
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