00:00I told you that I had an idea what the next domino would be to fall
00:05at the winter meetings next week in Orlando.
00:07And I just have this hunch that it's going to be the starting pitching market.
00:11Like the starting pitching market is really going to get going.
00:14I feel like we've already set the standard.
00:17The bar has already been set with CISCO into Toronto for $200 million.
00:22So it's not like Frambois Valdez would be waiting for something
00:26or Ranger would be waiting for something.
00:28But it's also not like they're looking at that and saying,
00:31well, I need $200 million from another team.
00:33I think this is the opportunity for teams to approach a Ranger Suarez
00:39or a Frambois Valdez or a Michael King or a Tesuya Imai and say,
00:43listen, top dog just got $210 million.
00:47We're not going to give you that.
00:49So here's what we're going to give you.
00:51And this is where the offer will be presented.
00:53At least I feel like that is the case.
00:55I don't know if offers are already being presented to these guys,
00:59but I just feel like there's going to be a sense of urgency as it pertains to the starting pitchers
01:03at next week's winter meetings.
01:05Do you feel like there's another place that those could go?
01:08Or do you feel like the starting pitching market is going to be the one to kind of materialize?
01:12I'm with you.
01:13I think it's the starting pitching market because the way we see markets materialize in free agency
01:19is a top-end guy signs, and then those players who are currently afraid and say,
01:26all right, that's what his value is.
01:29This is now what I'm at.
01:31There's something to calibrate off of.
01:33It's more solidified.
01:34Where in the hitters market, it's going to be hard for Cody Bellinger to sign before Kyle Tucker signs.
01:42It's going to be hard for, you know, where does Bregman go before Bichette, right?
01:47So all of these guys, I feel like the winter meetings are to kind of figure out what a market could look like for those bats,
01:55while we kind of already know what the market looks like for starting pitchers.
02:00And another report that we just got that I think is fascinating and certainly screws with the starting pitching market is,
02:06this comes to us from Andrew Baggerly of The Athletic, who covers the Giants.
02:12He said,
02:13The San Francisco Giants don't anticipate making the nine-figure investment to sign Tatsuya Imai
02:19or any of the other top starting pitchers on the market, according to club sources.
02:24Their current preference is to limit their spending to short-term deals.
02:29Now, I wonder if that is based on this current flock of free agents
02:34or if it is a sign that the Giants just generally want to limit their spending.
02:42I think it's the first one.
02:44I think they're basing it off of this current crop with Fromber and Ranger and Michael King and Zach Gallen and all of the rest.
02:52And I understand why.
02:54There are a lot of things with all of these guys where you point and say,
02:58All right, we have an impending lockout in 2027.
03:02Do I want to give that guy five years $140 million because Dylan Cease just got $210 million?
03:08Right.
03:08I'm sure there was a lot of GMs who agreed with your tweet, Jack.
03:12$210 million?
03:12But that's the market we live in.
03:15So I'm sure some of these teams are getting scared off a little bit while also knowing if I have assets to go trade,
03:22Freddie Peralta is available.
03:23Joe Ryan's available.
03:25Mackenzie Gore is available.
03:26I think they might operate in that market.
03:28The last thing that I feel like Buster Posey and plenty of other executives around Major League Baseball want to be doing in 2027 is sitting on their butts saying,
03:39I regret giving that guy seven years because there's a sweeping change happening with the contract structure in Major League Baseball.
03:47That's literally the last thing that I feel like a lot of execs want to do.
03:51Why would they burn cash for the sake of burning cash when they could save that and deploy it when they have closure?
03:58That's the biggest problem to me about this cycle is that there's no closure.
04:04You have no idea what's going to come from this possible lockout or at least the next negotiation between Major League Baseball and the Players Association.
04:13You've got no clue.
04:14Would you sign up for, you know, a mortgage when you have no idea what the housing market is going to look like in a year?
04:22If it's a surprise, okay, I understand, but it's not a surprise.
04:25Like there's this thundercloud hanging over everybody's head.
04:29So I don't blame San Francisco one bit.
04:31And I'm also not going to get on them because they've shown willingness to spend.
04:35They tried signing Carlos Correa.
04:38They tried signing Aaron Judge.
04:40They made a push for Shohei Otani.
04:42They gave Willie Adamas $180 million.
04:45That was probably $30 million more than anybody else wanted to give him.
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