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00:00Jones and Keefe, W-E-E-I, Would You Rather Wednesday.
00:03We got some Would You Rathers on the way at 11.30, as we do each and every Wednesday.
00:09Hashtag Dork Minute, 11.45, pure hoops with Terp.
00:13Oh, he's riding high right now.
00:15Coming up at high noon.
00:17NBA Cup is underway, Keefe.
00:18It's a big time of year.
00:19Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:19But there were some sad hoops earlier in the season when the Celtics weren't doing very well.
00:22This is going to be pretty happy hoops.
00:24Well, either way, it's pure hoops either way, but happy hoops.
00:28Pure, uncut hoops.
00:31Get in there.
00:32So that comes your way at noon.
00:34So no reason to go anywhere here while you're locked into Jones and Keefe.
00:37But here's another reason to stick around.
00:38Rob Bradford, live from the winter meetings in Orlando.
00:41He's brought to you by McFarlane Energy, the heating, cooling, and bioheat delivery pros
00:45that Easter Mass and all of Cape Cod depend on at McFarlaneEnergy.com.
00:49Rob Bradford, how we doing?
00:51Oh, so good.
00:52It's nothing like seeing little kids running around going to Disney World,
00:56me being able to brighten their day with a baseballs and boring sticker while yelling McFarlane
01:00at them.
01:01It's what a joy.
01:03Hey, little kid.
01:04Hey, little kid.
01:05Here's the baseballs and boring sticker.
01:06You're going to get put on a list or something, Rob.
01:08You might want to cool it with that.
01:09You can make mouse ears out of those.
01:12Well, I really, what I want to know about is this breakfast with Alex Cora, where I'm
01:20seeing reports that you and Chris Cotillo were 40 feet away at a long table and heard
01:26nothing.
01:27Yeah, I wanted, I asked Dean Brown for a transcript of whatever Cora said.
01:31That's good.
01:32Money well spent.
01:33How was the breakfast, though?
01:34Did you get some eggs?
01:35Oh, I didn't get some eggs.
01:37They're so cheesy.
01:38Huevos Rancheros?
01:39What'd you get there?
01:40Nice.
01:40No, no, this is a standard, you know, get the standard, you're having the wave.
01:46It's kind of a surreal scene because you have all these American National League managers
01:50lining up for scrambled eggs right there for you, and it's 8 o'clock in the morning, and
01:54then Cotillo and I are relegated to the end of this banquet table and just talking about
02:00his new shoes, and, you know, that's what it is.
02:04That's where we're at, but that's okay.
02:06I work in the shadows.
02:08I don't need to be front and center at a breakfast table.
02:11How many two-minute grills did you record during the line at the buffet?
02:19It's all about making the most of your opportunities.
02:22Absolutely.
02:23I'm looking forward to the Brent Snedeker one.
02:25Why isn't baseball boring?
02:27Why?
02:28Tell me now with this camera in your face at 8 o'clock in the morning over these cheesy
02:31eggs.
02:32Okay, now I need the updated clock on this, the updated countdown, but our colleague,
02:38Will Fleming, last night tweeted out at about 4.22, so yesterday afternoon, I believe the
02:44next 72 hours, so whatever that is, are going to make a lot of Red Sox fans smile.
02:50Huawei, I think he meant Huawei, too much chatter and info from people I respect.
02:55So I don't know.
02:56Are we expecting something big in the next day or two out of the Red Sox?
02:58Well, let's do the math on this.
03:00How much time do we have left?
03:0253 hours, something like that.
03:04Friday, late afternoon.
03:06Okay.
03:07I think we still have that NFL draft countdown clock somewhere in the building there.
03:11Staring at it.
03:12It's paused.
03:14It's a countdown to the 2025 NFL draft, yes.
03:17If we could cue this up and then have, but I would just say this, have the sound effect
03:22of the sad trombone ready to go for about 50 hours.
03:25No!
03:26No!
03:26No!
03:27What the hell?
03:28So you're just pouring water all over this Fleming Molotov cocktail of a report?
03:34Come on!
03:35I know.
03:35I mean, who knows?
03:36Maybe.
03:37I mean, maybe it'll happen, but when we got here, the buzz was that the position players,
03:42Schwarber might sign, which happened, but the position players were going to drag out a little
03:48bit longer.
03:50And if you want to make a trade, that's fine.
03:52But even all the trade talk, you know, could tell Marte, that has been wildly overstated
03:58as well.
03:59So things can change in a hurry.
04:01I mean, we look at it.
04:03I'll give you two examples of how things can change.
04:06Number one, this last day of the winter meetings is when the crochet deal went down.
04:10So the timeline adds up for stuff getting done on this day.
04:13And the other thing is that the crochet deal, Chris Getz of the White Sox said this.
04:18He's like, the night before that deal was done, I didn't think the Red Sox were going
04:22to be...
04:22I had erased them off our list, and they came in.
04:26So while I'll say, you know, in the last couple of days, I've been told that, you know, the
04:30Red Sox weren't at the top of the list in terms of the Martes of the world, that can change
04:35in a hurry.
04:35So I'm not going to say, never say never, but, you know, all I can do is what I have
04:40right now, and that's what I have right now.
04:42Is there anything standing in the way of them signing Pete Alonzo?
04:47Yeah, Pete Alonzo trying to get his best deal from all the teams that were in on Kyle
04:52Schwarber and didn't get Kyle Schwarber.
04:53But so, should they give the Kyle Schwarber contract to Pete Alonzo?
04:58Would that be fair for everybody?
05:01No, I wouldn't give Pete Alonzo.
05:02I don't think so.
05:04I mean, I don't think so.
05:06Now, I will say this.
05:08Should the Red Sox, it's not my money, and I think the Red Sox have to be more aggressive
05:12than they have been.
05:13I mean, this is one of the things that if you talk through baseball, the Red Sox approach
05:17to things, it's sort of like, okay, they're playing the field.
05:22They're sort of trying to ride this out to see where the market lands, much like they
05:28did with Bregman.
05:28Now, every player is different, so you can't do that with every player.
05:32But if you want a Pete Alonzo and somebody like the Orioles or someone comes in, like,
05:38you have to be aggressive.
05:39Are they willing to do that?
05:41Well, you know, you can't finish in second place.
05:43I mean, you just can't.
05:44We saw this.
05:45We give them a bet for the doubt from last year because they had a really, really good
05:49offseason.
05:50They played the market right.
05:51They played the timeline of the market right.
05:54But when it comes to Pete Alonzo, who I think we can all agree is a really, really good fit,
06:00your hand might be forced a little bit more than you anticipated.
06:04I just feel like if it's not him, I feel like he's very much in the catbird seat.
06:10And even if it doesn't take the Schwarber deal, I mean, Schwarber's two years older than
06:14Alonzo.
06:15And I know Schwarber's coming off a, you know, runner-up MVP season and he was incredible.
06:18But, I mean, he has consistently 40 home runs for Alonzo.
06:23He had a bunch of doubles last year.
06:24They need a first baseman.
06:26What if you did four years 120?
06:29I feel like that would be as competitive as anybody.
06:31Yeah, I mean, you hear the what, all you hear in terms of what Pete Alonzo is being
06:37offered is what the Mets aren't willing to offer him.
06:40And it's, you know, it's not above three years.
06:43And, but that doesn't mean that there's not going to be another team that wants a
06:47more in it to go back to sort of the Schwarber market.
06:50Okay, which teams were in on Schwarber that didn't get him?
06:53And, you know, there were teams like the Reds.
06:55They aren't going to be in on Alonzo because they just wanted Schwarber for the ticket
06:58sales.
06:59And, but you do have the Orioles.
07:01If the Orioles were there, you know, they're willing to pay the price.
07:05There's other teams that are willing to pay the price.
07:07I just think that the Red Sox, the way that they do things, and it's worked, like I said,
07:13it worked out last year, is that they sort of just ride it out and they see, you know,
07:18they try to play the market a lot.
07:21It wears, this isn't Dave Dombrowski.
07:23This isn't Dave Dombrowski that I want to get the guy.
07:26Here's the money.
07:27Get the guy.
07:28What's it going to take?
07:29That's it.
07:30That's not really how the Red Sox are doing business right now.
07:33And that's why, you know, you hear all this stuff going on.
07:36But we can't, we can't say, we can't say that the Red Sox are favorites in trades or free
07:42agents because that's not how they're approaching it right now.
07:44I guess I agree and disagree.
07:45Keith, what was the date for Bregman last year?
07:47March.
07:49Bregman was March?
07:49Oh, I thought so.
07:50No.
07:50End of February.
07:52Oh, is it end of February?
07:53Sorry.
07:53Oh, no.
07:53It was the crochet deal that went down in December.
07:56I'm sorry.
07:56So the crochet deal went down about now.
07:58And you had a comment yesterday.
08:00February 15th for Bregman.
08:01For those curious.
08:02You had a tweet yesterday relaying a comment from Craig Breslow.
08:07And he used Garrett Crochet as an example.
08:08Teams are holding on, quote unquote, to their desirable players.
08:11You poured water on Corey Seager.
08:13You said the Red Sox are drawing back on their pursuit of Joe Ryan.
08:19So I just.
08:19Sorry.
08:20Sorry.
08:20I apologize.
08:21I just.
08:21I find that to be very discouraging that Breslow is like, geez, I don't know.
08:25All these, all these teams are just holding on to their good players because a year ago
08:28at this time they were striking on a big deal.
08:31I think that it's two different, two different approaches.
08:33Like you look at the crochet, everybody knew, including the White Sox, that this, they were
08:38going to deal crochet.
08:39Right.
08:40The closest you might come to that is Marte.
08:42I think that the Marte is a guy who the Arizona's fielding calls on.
08:48They'll say.
08:48And but they're they're saying, oh, yeah, if you want to give us your best offer, fine.
08:52But I do think they're probably going to deal him.
08:55But when it comes to these other things, it's no, it's just I don't I don't think that I
09:01think that what Breslow said was true, which I think that more and more teams are saying
09:06if you want to trade for the guy, sure, we'll listen.
09:09But we don't have to trade for him.
09:10The Joe Ryan thing was they came out.
09:14Minnesota came out and basically said, we're holding on to these guys.
09:17Now, if they get blown away, that can change.
09:20But the Red Sox aren't going to blow them away.
09:22And that's why I said they're not forget about Joe Ryan.
09:25That's just not happening anymore.
09:27Now, a few weeks ago on our show, you famously said 51 percent chance Alex Bregman signs
09:35somewhere else other than the Red Sox.
09:37Oh, yeah.
09:37Oh, yes.
09:38Yes.
09:38Correct.
09:3951 percent.
09:40No, no.
09:40I remember the quote.
09:41I wrote it down and everything.
09:41I said 49 percent the other way.
09:44Math would suggest you are correct.
09:45Yeah.
09:45I do.
09:46Simple, simple math on this one.
09:48Do you feel do you feel the same way?
09:50Has that number remained the same or is it more likely, less likely for Bregman's return?
09:57All right.
09:57I'm going to say it's 51 percent, but 51 percent, the opposite of what he said.
10:02In other words, I'm bumping it up 2 percent to go from 49 percent that he was going to
10:09sign to 51 percent that he's going to sign.
10:11So you're now more likely he's back.
10:13Yes.
10:14I think it's more likely he's back.
10:15I don't think the market, if you take the Phillies out of the market, potentially, I think
10:21the market is shaping up in the Red Sox favor.
10:23I know that the Red Sox really, really want him back, but I also do believe that they're
10:28still going to play the market a little bit when it comes like they did last year.
10:31Okay.
10:31So Bregman is more likely back than likely gone, which has changed since the last time we talked
10:38to you.
10:38Okay.
10:38Let's play a quick game here.
10:40Are they done?
10:41Are they done with their starting pitching?
10:43Like, in other words, should we expect the Red Sox going into the year in terms of significant
10:47moves to go Crochet, Bayo, Gray, Oviedo, pick your number five starter?
10:53Are they done there, or do you think we have more significant moves with starting pitching?
10:57And then I have a follow-up.
10:59My guess is that they will not get the top of the rotation guy that a lot of people thought
11:05they would.
11:06Which Breslow said they would.
11:09Not just that a lot of people expected.
11:10Breslow said they weren't going to get three through ten.
11:12They were going to get a guy who could pitch next to Crochet.
11:15Okay.
11:15So that's what you think there.
11:16How about in the...
11:17And then, by the way, they think, in right or wrong, they think Sonny Gray is that guy.
11:23Okay.
11:24That's not what they were pledging.
11:26That is not what they were pledging weeks ago.
11:28So that, to me, feels like maybe retroactively trying to fit that round peg into a square
11:34hole.
11:35Meanwhile, with the lineup, what's the best guess?
11:37You said Bregman's more likely coming back, so I guess that's one.
11:40Who's another addition?
11:42If you had to see them making another addition, if there even is one, who's most likely beyond
11:46Bregman?
11:46Yeah.
11:49I mean, I know that they're saying that there's a possibility that they could get Bregman,
11:53Alonzo, which obviously would be the way to go.
11:57And yay, yay, Red Sox.
11:58You won the offseason if you did that.
12:00But I find it hard to believe that they're going to get both those guys.
12:04So I think that it's probably Bregman and another complimentary guy.
12:09I mean, I couldn't tell you who that is.
12:10I think it's some guy that we haven't even mentioned yet.
12:13But I think you take Marte out of the equation.
12:16But yeah, I mean, I think that, I think, put it this way, I think right now as we sit
12:21here, I think that it's probably going to be either Bregman or Alonzo.
12:26And I know that they aren't, as Julie McWilliams reported, you know, they aren't pushing hard
12:33on Bichette.
12:34But if you get to the middle of January and that you haven't signed one of these guys,
12:39then maybe that's resurfaced as well.
12:41Now, do you still think either Jaron Duran or Willier Abreu gets traded?
12:46And if so, are they looking more for a player that can help the major league roster in a
12:51move like that?
12:52Or would it be just, you know, for prospects and freeing up an outfield spot?
12:56I think that, yes, I think that number one, I think that 51% that one of those guys gets
13:03traded.
13:04And that might be where, if you talk about a pitcher, yeah, that might be a pitcher coming
13:10back.
13:10That might be another position player.
13:12That might be a high-level prospect, whatever it is.
13:15But those guys have value.
13:16They have a surplus.
13:18And that's when I say, well, Bregman and somebody else, I'm not really sure.
13:22Because here's the other thing, is that in this offseason where everyone's trying their
13:26best to throw all this stuff against the wall, think about all the moves that have been
13:30they made, the trades, the acquisitions, there hasn't been a lead-in much at all in terms
13:35of reporting to any of it.
13:37You know, look at the Red Sox trade.
13:38Those came out of nowhere.
13:40So I think that baseball, or the Red Sox anyway, have done a pretty good job of not tipping
13:45their hands.
13:46So a lot of this stuff is we're trying to guess, we're trying to piece stuff together
13:50and to find that player that they're going to get and back for one of the trades you're
13:55mentioning, that's really, really difficult right now.
13:58What was your favorite Vaughn Grissom moment?
14:00No, I'm just kidding.
14:00My real question is...
14:02The Wasabi Challenge.
14:03Too many Grills.
14:04Yeah, there you go.
14:05Yeah, yeah, yeah.
14:05For sure one of the best.
14:07What's the scuttlebutt on Tarek Scoople down there?
14:11What do you think the chances of him starting the season with the Tigers is versus not?
14:17I'm kind of getting the feeling that he's not going to.
14:20And I know that, you know, a few weeks ago, it didn't seem that way.
14:24But it's, man, this Dodgers smoke.
14:29Man, if Scoople goes to the Dodgers, I don't want to...
14:33I know that their over-under win total last year was 104.
14:36Yeah, 161 and a half.
14:39If Scoople goes to the Dodgers, it's going to be like 108.
14:40Like, it's almost...
14:44Like, there's not a lot of players that you could say, well, this guy is going to go there
14:47and that's basically giving them the World Series right now.
14:50But if Scoople goes there, it kind of feels that way.
14:53Yeah.
14:53And by the way...
14:54A bit.
14:54By the way, he could.
14:56He could.
14:56Of course he could.
14:57Why wouldn't he?
14:59He has to be...
14:59It makes sense.
15:01And, you know, Detroit...
15:03And everyone can say, well, why would Detroit do that?
15:06They're giving the Dodgers...
15:07Because the Dodgers can do it.
15:09The Dodgers can make them an offer that they're like, you know what?
15:13We really don't want to do this.
15:14The answer's obvious.
15:15But we kind of have to.
15:16The answer's obvious.
15:16Detroit knows they're going to lose him in a year, so you might as well get something for him.
15:19I mean, it's the same logic in trading bets.
15:22It's just, you know, those usually don't go very well when you trade them, but you try
15:24to get something before you lose them.
15:26The Angels should have traded Otani.
15:27They didn't.
15:28And now they get nothing for him.
15:31Right.
15:31And the fact is that the Dodgers don't care.
15:34Like, the Dodgers aren't prospect-hugging.
15:37So...
15:37And they have...
15:39Whereas, if a lot of teams had the prospects the Dodgers had, they'd be prospect-hugging all
15:44over the place.
15:44But the Dodgers don't care.
15:46Like, they know they're going to have a good team for a long time.
15:49Think about this.
15:50This is crazy.
15:51That the Dodgers went out last offseason, got the best closer on the free agent market,
15:58and then you went out and got one of the other good closers on the free agent market.
16:03You got two closers in free agency.
16:06And, by the way, now we're going to go out and get another closer this off.
16:10And nobody cares.
16:11Like, nobody bats an eye about it.
16:13It's nuts.
16:14Okay.
16:14He's Rob Bradford.
16:15Check him out at Bradfoe on Twitter.
16:19You can give him a follow there.
16:20You can also read his stuff at weei.com.
16:22And, of course, Baseball Isn't Boring, the podcast.
16:24Bradfoe, we appreciate the time.
16:26Thanks so much.
16:27All right, guys.
16:27Thanks, man.
16:29Rob Bradford, really pouring water all over everything.
16:32Yeah, that's taking a big dump all over the whole first hour of the show.
16:36I'm happy we didn't talk to him at 10.
16:37We'd have nothing else.
16:39I know.
16:39At least we got an hour out of that before Bradford took a steaming crap all over it.
16:43Really?
16:44Did not care for the Will Fleming tweet.
16:45Look, I have a theory.
16:48Oh, a theory.
16:49Let me try to spin this positive.
16:50Keith, you did a good job spinning the Red Sox not an offer to Schwarber positive earlier.
16:54What do you have?
16:54Maybe Bradfoe isn't hearing anything because he was all the way at the end of the breakfast table.
16:58And he just literally couldn't hear anything because him and Cotillo were mowing down.
17:04Cora's like, we're getting Alonzo.
17:05And he's sitting there, you know, cutting up his French toast.
17:07So that's about the best I got.
17:08I hope you're hungry.
17:10For nothing.
17:12That's about the best I got.
17:13So we have dueling reports.
17:15We have Will Fleming saying something's happening.
17:17This is like Nightingale passing.
17:18Bradford, what did he say?
17:19Get the sad trombone ready?
17:20Sad trombone.
17:21I don't know, Nick, if you want to get that ready or not.
17:23I hate this EEI on EEI crime going on.
17:26I do hate that.
17:28But somebody's got to be right and somebody's got to be wrong.
17:30So basically, Bradford said they're not getting anybody.
17:32Sonny Gray, they think, is awesome.
17:34And this is the team.
17:35And better chance now they get Bregman than not.
17:41That was poorly timed for Bregman.
17:43But overall, I agree with that.
17:44Yeah.
17:44Is it, though?
17:45Yeah.
17:46Nick doesn't want Bregman.
17:47It sounds like.
17:48Who does Nick want?
17:49Great question.
17:50It's Seager.
17:51Who do you want?
17:51What's your dream over there?
17:53Pete Alonzo.
17:53Oh, Pete Alonzo.
17:54Polar Bear.
17:55We all agree on that.
17:56Good.
17:57Polar Bear at Polar Park.
17:59You know, if he needs like a tune-up game or something, we can be there for him.
18:03I didn't expect.
18:04I didn't expect that to go like that with Bradford.
18:05No, Bradford's going to come in with like some excitement.
18:08Yeah, yeah, yeah.
18:08He's like, keep an eye on trades.
18:10Keep an eye on free agents.
18:11Crushing dreams.
18:11He's like, no, guys.
18:12Seager, they're out.
18:13Ryan, they're out.
18:14Sonny Gray is the two.
18:15They probably will get Bregman, but it's not a slam dunk.
18:17And they're probably not getting anybody else.
18:19And they'll trade one of their off-fielders for like nobody you've ever heard of.
18:21Yeah.
18:21So like, look, if that happens, I can't stand by my guy Breslau.
18:25I can't do that.
18:25Are you going to bail on Breslau?
18:27Yeah, I might have to.
18:28The Breslau.
18:29That's sobering is what that is.
18:31It is not great.
18:32I'm hoping he was just at it earshot for all the rumors from Alex Cora.
18:35It's possible.
18:36You know Alex Cora lets the media know what's going on with the Red Sox.
18:39It is possible.
18:39He'll give you an unvarnished, off-the-record opinion on what's going on with former GMs and current GMs and players and things like this.
18:45It's Eric Scuble on the Dodgers, though.
18:48Scuble, Yamamoto, Otani, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow.
18:52If he goes there, I'd kind of get the Red Sox approach in free agency.
18:55I'd be like, what's the point?
18:56Punt.
18:56What are those guys done?
18:58If that happens, there's no baseball in 2027.
19:00Yeah.
19:01Oh, that's also true.
19:02There's not going to be anyway.
19:03This is the last year of baseball for a while, right?
19:05I would put...
19:05What am I saying?
19:06Yeah, if he goes there.
19:07No, no, no.
19:08No, maybe anyway, but I'd say that's the nail in the coffin.
19:11I'd put their over-under at 161.5 if they get Scuble.
19:14They should run the table.
19:15That's where I'd put it.
19:16Where's...
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