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00:00The only question I would ask is, do the Yankees ever establish a deadline to Bellinger and say, look, we we are willing to spend 30 on you.
00:10But if we don't spend 30 on you, we budgeted like 15 to do something else.
00:15Like, I think that Bellinger is the only thing that they're going to blow significantly by the top luxury tax number.
00:23Hello and welcome to the Pinstripe Post and Happy New Year.
00:27It is year three of this show.
00:29I'm Ryan Sampson, your host.
00:30He's the star of the show, Joel Sherman.
00:32Today is Tuesday, January 20th.
00:34We are about to embark on another season here.
00:36Joel Sherman for the New York Yankees.
00:37The offseason is still going before we get to spring training here.
00:41I'm happy to be back here with you talking Yankees baseball as always.
00:45And before we get to anything, man, how has the offseason been treating you?
00:48How are you doing so far?
00:51Yeah, good.
00:52I'm sitting here at MLB Network as we're taping this.
00:55We're a few hours away from the announcement for the Hall.
00:57Who's going in the Hall of Fame this year?
00:59I'll be part of the programming a little later today.
01:02And, you know, feeling good and refreshed.
01:05Just did a week long.
01:06I do an annual road trip with my kids.
01:09They still like to be with their dad on the road.
01:12We put away computers and stuff.
01:14We go town to town.
01:15And we had a great time.
01:17But it's time to get back to work.
01:19I already have my spring training assignments lined up.
01:24So I got to get that hat back on.
01:26Yeah, exactly.
01:28Look, it's always nice to get away for a little bit and spend some time with the family.
01:32But I'm anxious, man.
01:34Especially with this team and where this season's going.
01:38And I think back, Joel, before we get into the Cody Bellinger stuff, I really think back to the comments you made from the season-ending presser from Cashman and Boone.
01:47And it was, look, Yankees fans, if you were expecting something different, it looks like they're going to be running it back the same crew.
01:52And that's essentially what it's been this offseason.
01:55Running it back with a lot of the same players that we saw on last year's roster.
01:58But the big name is Cody Bellinger.
02:02And he has still not been signed yet to a team.
02:06We've seen the rumors of negotiations between them and the Yankees in the five-year deal.
02:11If it's 160, no deferrals.
02:14What is your take on the sense of where Cody Bellinger stands and the Yankees stand ultimately for this offseason?
02:22Yeah, Ryan, there's a lot there.
02:23So why don't we just focus on Bellinger?
02:26And if you'd like, we could branch out afterwards.
02:29The comparison I've used, I think I used it on shows previous, I know I've written it a bunch, is DJ LeMayu.
02:36He was a Yankee in 19 and 20.
02:40He almost won the MVP both of those years.
02:42He was terrific.
02:43He definitely wanted to come back.
02:45The Yankees wanted him to come back.
02:46And they haggled and they haggled about how to shape it, how to form it.
02:50And ultimately, they got to a six-year, $90 million contract on January 27th.
02:54We're not to January 27th.
02:56And by the way, January 27th is not a deadline.
03:00But this idea of when are they going to do it?
03:03You know, the Mets signed Pete Alonso on like February 12th last year.
03:08I know fans hate the waiting.
03:11And quite frankly, it would probably be better for all of us if like the NBA and the NFL free agency went in about 48 hours.
03:19It doesn't.
03:21Both sides think they get great leverage by pushing this further and further.
03:26I would think that the Yankees have an inside track on re-signing Bellinger.
03:33Like it's clear that if somebody were going to do something else significant, that probably would have happened and he would have left.
03:41So to me, that hasn't happened yet.
03:43Could it happen?
03:44Sure.
03:45You know, what we've learned over the last few years is when George Steinbrenner owned the Yankees, the Yankees ran unopposed pretty much for the free agents they wanted.
03:54Well, the Dodgers have changed that.
03:57And then the Steve Cohen Mets have changed that.
03:59And finally, the Blue Jays are remembered.
04:01They're owned by Rodgers, which makes them perhaps the biggest financial behemoth in the sport.
04:08And they've changed it.
04:09And so the Yankees don't run unimpeded.
04:11So if you told me one of those teams or another team jumped in here and said to Bellinger, hey, we'll give you three at 110, 120, but we want to do it shorter, that would go against what we've kind of heard through reporting that Bellinger wants length.
04:30He's done a couple of these opt-out contracts.
04:33Not long ago, he was a player who was non-tendered.
04:37It seems he wants length.
04:39And the Yankees are willing to do at least five.
04:41Is anybody else willing to do five?
04:44He's a very good baseball player.
04:46But I could tell you that there are teams that have hesitancy.
04:49His numbers are much better at Yankee Stadium than they were on the road last year.
04:54You know, last offseason, he was a player who didn't even risk going out in the free agent market again.
04:59Not long ago, he was non-tendered.
05:01Now, anybody who's listened to this show knows that when he was a Chicago Cub and last season ended, I said the Yankees should go get Cody Bellinger.
05:08That should be their number one thing.
05:10I love this player.
05:12And quite frankly, I can make a case why he fits the Mets at least as well as the Yankees, if not better.
05:18And if they did this, I would say that was a very strong move by the Mets.
05:22I like the player, but the fact that it has yet to happen to me says to some degree, are we close to the goal line?
05:32And now it's just about the final haggles.
05:35Can he can Bellinger get it to six years or can he get a sweeter signing bonus or whatever?
05:42I would think the money is on the Yankees, but I would have said, I mean, everyone in the industry thought, including the Phillies, thought Bo Bichette was going to the Phillies.
05:54Like there was, from what I understood, pretty much a, hey, if you guys are willing to do this, Bo will come.
06:02I think the Phillies indicated, yes, we'll do that.
06:05And then Steve Cohn and David Stern, after the Tucker failure, pivoted quick and said, let's do Bichette and we're willing to do a big, short contract.
06:18Could one of these kind of financial behemoths undo the Yankees and do that?
06:23Sure. Like there's never say never anymore with any of this, but, but I would say that this has reminded me a lot of LeMayu all off season.
06:34And ultimately on January 27th, 2021, LeMayu signed with the Yankees.
06:42So, and by the way, I think the Yankees regret how they structured that contract, which was,
06:49which was to try to skirt some salary cap stuff.
06:53So instead of say, maybe giving him four for 80 or four for 90, they made it, they stretched it out to six at 90.
07:01And now 15 million is on the payroll for next year.
07:04So like, maybe they're sitting and going, you know, we didn't follow our instinct on LeMayu.
07:08We learned something.
07:09We're going to hold tight on Bellinger.
07:11We think he's a five-year offer and that's all it's going to be.
07:15And that has clearly left the door open for somebody to sneak in.
07:18I still think if you ask, and I clearly, every time I talk to an agent or a executive around the sport,
07:28what, whatever else I'm asking about, I go, Hey, you're hearing anything on Bellinger.
07:32What do you think?
07:33And the majority think, and again, for whatever this is worth, they're not in the negotiation,
07:38but they're veteran people who think he'll end up a Yankee.
07:42Yeah.
07:42You get that sense that the Yankees and you tell me, Joel, it sounds like they're negotiating against themselves right now.
07:49We never know that.
07:50We never know it.
07:51But, but, but that's like most of the noise that we see from Bellinger's and the negotiation is it's the Yankees giving him this offer.
07:59And, and we don't hear much about, Hey, the Mets have made a huge offer to Bellinger or you and John saying, Hey, the Dodgers just swooped in and gave a big offer to Bellinger.
08:07Like we're not seeing as much of that noise, I guess.
08:10And that's why Yankees fans ourselves are thinking like you are right now.
08:13It's like, are we really just to this point where Bellinger is just trying to squeeze as many years as possible?
08:18This is a guy who's going to be 31 years old in July.
08:21And, and I get the same thoughts.
08:23And I told you this before when we ended last year, I was like, I don't know if Bellinger's worth six plus years of investment just because of the age factor.
08:32It's guy who's dealt with a back injury this last year.
08:35And not to mention the fact that I, he has great production with the Yankees, but like you said, this is a guy who had opt-outs in his previous deals, a short-term deal.
08:45And he was traded for Cody Petit.
08:47Like it wasn't like it was a massive deal to get Cody Bellinger.
08:50Yeah.
08:51You know, things change very, very quickly in the marketplace last year, Pete Alonso couldn't find a long offer.
08:58And this off season he did.
08:59Uh, and I think that probably caught the bats a little by surprise, uh, that somebody were, was willing to do five years at the kind of money they did with him.
09:08Um, you know, Ryan, these things, I, I'm, I, I remember the, the Tigers were not on Prince Fielder at all.
09:18And Victor Martinez had an accident on a treadmill and was lost for a season.
09:22I think he like tore his knee and the next day the Tigers were pushing hard when they were, you know, uh, uh, a championship caliber team and they signed Prince Fielder for over 200 million.
09:34That's like almost 20 years ago.
09:35It feels like now, but like, like this is the risk you run as these things go on.
09:40You don't know what's going on in the 29 other shops, especially in maybe like the 10 competitive teams with some money, like all of a sudden somebody hears like, like, for example, the Braves heard the other day that, uh, their shortstop Kim got hurt in the off season and they turned around.
09:58It was only a million, but they re they signed Jorge Mateo.
10:02I'm sure they had no intentions of signing Jorge Mateo, but they need somebody to play shortstop who knows what's going on out there in the world.
10:09If like the Dodgers were to lose somebody to have like an injury or the Philly or the Mets or like that, we don't know about it opens all kinds of doors.
10:18Uh, having said that, that's the unlikely occurrence.
10:23And right now the Yankees are clearly on board.
10:26The question is the only question I would ask is do the Yankees ever establish a deadline to Bellinger and say, look, we, we are willing to spend 30 on you, but if we don't spend 30 on you, we budgeted like 15 to do something else.
10:43Like, I think that Bellinger is the only thing that they're going to blow significantly by the top luxury tax number.
10:49Right. But like, are they holding off on, we can trade for player X who makes six and there's another free agent starter.
10:57We like who makes nine and a relief for who makes three, something like that, because we're willing to spend 10 to 15 more or eight more or whatever.
11:06So the only question, because those guys will go away, maybe a couple of those guys, let's just, and I don't know anything.
11:13Like, for example, Harrison Bader hasn't signed yet, right? Austin Hayes hasn't signed yet.
11:20Those are righty hitting guys where suddenly you didn't have Bellinger and you're thinking, okay, Dominguez is probably the opening day left fielder.
11:27Who's the righty compliment to him?
11:29If they sign Bellinger, I doubt they also spend money on big money on a fourth, fifth outfielder type.
11:38Makes sense.
11:38No Bellinger. Like, and it's possible guys like Bader and Hayes are holding on and saying, but they've told them, Hey, we've got to know where we're going to.
11:48We're holding off to other teams because we prefer the Yankees perhaps, but like, uh, until Bellinger signs.
11:56So maybe they've said, Hey, January 25th, you got to tell us like, and so what we never know has have the Yankees told Bellinger, this is on the table.
12:05But like, like, if you really don't have another offer and we pull this, we're not coming back.
12:11Like, cause we're, this is how Steinbrenner, he ain't going to let us spend 15 and then 30, right?
12:17He's going to let us spend 30 and then maybe we could spend a million here and a million there to kind of fill some other stuff.
12:23So like, I suspect that this is, and by the way, the other thing we don't know is do the Yankees, if they re-sign Bellinger, do they have a trade set up for Jazz Chisholm?
12:35Do they have a trade set up for Ryan McMahon?
12:37You never know what the other dominoes are.
12:41The Yankees like most really good front offices.
12:44And I think that's almost everyone now.
12:45Like, they don't have just plan A or plan B.
12:49They have to plan Delta, you know, like they got to go into another alphabet.
12:53And so I'm sure they're, they're running all kinds of stuff, but there's, at some point, all the players will sign.
13:00And you, you know, you don't want them to run out.
13:03No, you're, you're a hundred percent right.
13:04And we're what, three, three and a half weeks away, four weeks from pitchers and catchers?
13:08Uh, you know, I'm flying down the day of the Superbowl because that's open the next day and I'll be in Met camp.
13:15And, uh, you know, that's, I mean, we're getting close, right?
13:19Conference championships are this weekend, so it's two plus weeks until then.
13:24Yeah.
13:25And look, uh, it, the real question to Joel is, is Bellinger worth waiting for?
13:30Like you said, is he worth going the full distance for, I know you have an affinity for the player and his style and the effort that he plays with.
13:39But for the Yankees, in terms of where they're trying to go next year, and like you said, and I think it was a good point by you, look at what the Red Sox, the, the, the Toronto Blue Jays, the Orioles signing Alonzo, all the other teams in the AL East have made big moves this off season.
13:56This is the move for the Yankees if you want to count as a big move.
14:00So do they kind of have to get this right with Bellinger in order to make sure that this off season has been a good enough off season to position yourself for the 2026 season?
14:10Well, clearly they think it's an important thing because they have a, uh, you know, whether Cody Bellinger thinks it's a great offer or not, it is a lot of money.
14:18It's $160 million on the table right now.
14:21None of it's deferred.
14:21So it's a pure 160 for, you know, a guy who's had some trouble getting money in some of the previous, uh, off seasons.
14:29And I am a big fan of this player.
14:31He is a Swiss army knife problem solver.
14:34He plays a lot.
14:35And I actually think we haven't even seen him do the thing.
14:38Anybody who saw Cody Bellinger play first base regularly in the minor leagues will tell you that he would have been a gold glove easy at first base.
14:48When he was doing that, he moved to the outfield out of kind of neat athleticism, but people were people who saw him in the minors describe him as brilliant at the position.
14:57So like, I actually think within the cost of a five-year contract, there is a fallback position for him.
15:02Even now, of course you usually want your first baseman to provide power and maybe at Yankee stadium, he'd still continue to do that even in his mid thirties.
15:10But, but I think that, so I think he's a problem solver.
15:13He's not the greatest center fielder, but he could play center field well enough.
15:17And he is a difference maker in left field at Yankee stadium, which you have to be the first one they've really had since Brett Gardner.
15:24You can really play that position.
15:25So I think he's really good there.
15:28He's a lefty who could hit lefties.
15:30He's a terrific base runner who can steal a base if you need it.
15:35And his baseball IQ is great.
15:38And his fearlessness is great.
15:41It's not like, oh my God, New York.
15:42You're just like, that's one of the things you take off the table.
15:45It's why you push a little more in for the Yankees or the Mets on this player.
15:49Of course he has already answered a question that like other guys, like I assume Bo Bichette can play in New York.
15:56I assume Jorge Polanco can play in New York, but I know Cody Bellinger cat, right?
16:02So a good clubhouse guy, well-liked.
16:06And so, yes, having said that, I do want to, I know Yankee fans, and I hate to use like a monolith.
16:14I know that this doesn't represent everyone.
16:17Everyone are going around and are miserable about this offseason.
16:21Yes, I think that's just the template of the bases now is to be miserable, right?
16:26I'm sure 12 months ago, Eagles fans going into the Super Bowl said, if my team wins the Super Bowl, I'll never complain about this team again.
16:33And by November, they were being boot off the field and they were boot off the field to end the season.
16:37So I know that no one's ever satisfied.
16:39But the Yankees at almost every betting house have the second largest over-under win total right now to the Dodgers.
16:48It's the largest in the American League.
16:50It's more than the Blue Jays.
16:52It's more than the Mariners.
16:54It's more than the Red Sox and the Orioles.
16:56So I know the Yankees are a public team and I'm not a gambler.
17:00So I might have this wrong.
17:02But my sense of things is you might have to deflate like World Series odds on the Yankees because they're a public team and not make a big number because a lot of Yankee fans will bet on them.
17:14But an over-under number, you got to make sure the Sharps don't go – like if it was obvious the Yankees were going to lose – win fewer than 93 games this year, the Sharps would be in Hungary now and going.
17:27And the people who build the big casinos have them at 93 and a half.
17:31Well, they won 94 last year.
17:34So either they believe they've already baked in a Cody Bellinger or another –
17:38Right.
17:39Garrett Cole coming back.
17:40But like neutral people who are not on the – they're only bringing back their guys.
17:47Well, let's get back to that in a second.
17:49But the neutral people like this team, right?
17:53They see them as – they build the big casinos because they generally get this right.
17:57Now, they could be wrong also.
17:59The Mets had a nice big number last year and didn't hit it.
18:02The Pooja had a nice low number and went way over it.
18:05Way over.
18:05But their job is to make sure that the people who know what they're doing as gamblers don't kill them.
18:11And if the gamblers clearly saw the Yankees as 93 or less, they would all be in there betting that number.
18:18And the other thing I do is with teams I have good relationships with, I'll say, what is your internal model have on the Yankees and the Mets?
18:26And everyone's internal model has the Yankees as either the first, second, or third best team in the American League.
18:32You know, the Blue Jays are in there.
18:34The Mariners are in there.
18:35Like it's a scramble and they're all about the same number.
18:38But the outside – so again, other teams that have to figure out, hey, we're competing with the Yankees.
18:43Where do we have them in our model?
18:45They think the Yankees are going to be good.
18:47Right, they think they're going to be good.
18:48But I guess my question and follow-up to that, Joel, real quick is like so much of that hinges on the Aaron Judge factor, right?
18:55Like he is –
18:56But that would be true even if Cody Bellinger resigns, right?
19:00100%.
19:00Like if Aaron Judge plays 70 games, the Yankees will have a lot of trouble.
19:05Like if he plays 150 games, it will probably be hard for them not to win more than 90.
19:09But Bellinger provides some protection in that lineup for Judge if he returns.
19:13Does he – I mean, Judge set the American League record for intentional walks last year.
19:19He intentionally walked by himself more than every other team was intentionally walked last year.
19:25Okay, so not protection, but Bellinger gave you a ton of production in that spot though behind Judge.
19:29No doubt.
19:30Look, if you're asking me the question, are the Yankees better with Cody Bellinger or not, this is an obvious answer.
19:35I think Cody Bellinger is a superb baseball player.
19:39I actually think the front office industry undervalues him.
19:45I think to – if you watch him play baseball every day, last year one of the reasons I was very, very confident about saying the Yankees should go hard after him was I called a lot of people who coach, manage, play, executive in the NL Central.
20:04And those people kept telling me, this guy is a terrific player, a terrific baseball player.
20:12And that was my perception watching him.
20:14And it was re-fortified by people I respect who I would call to ask the question, hey, man, what do you think of this guy?
20:22And they're like, terrific baseball.
20:24Like, but you got to watch it, you know, because he's like a tough at bat, doesn't strike out, left on left, multiple positions, run the bases well.
20:34He's a baseball player.
20:35So I have a real affinity for guys who play baseball well, and he plays – you know, it's like one of the things is, like, the Dodgers win for a lot of reasons.
20:47Like, you know, you watch Mookie Betts or Freddie Freeman play baseball.
20:50They're just great.
20:50I mean, they're a Hall of Fame talent.
20:52Yeah.
20:53They're great at baseball.
20:55Like, they're just great at it.
20:56Like, the base running, the defense, the heads up, the smart, the whole thing.
21:00Like, over 162 games in October, that really plays.
21:05Yeah, and the Yankees need those players.
21:06Like, this roster desperately needs that.
21:09So that's why it is that big question of, is he worth waiting for?
21:12Clearly, he is for the Yankees.
21:14As you see, they're waiting to see what happens ultimately with him.
21:16With the proviso of, like, have the Yankees establish a beachhead or not, where they've said, hey, man, like, you know, do what you got to.
21:24But on January whatever, February 1st, whatever that thing is, we're not going to be caught empty-handed without spending the last 10 that Hal has allowed us to spend if it's not you.
21:36Look, that's one part of it, Joel, with the Bellinger.
21:38It's the big part.
21:39It's the big lever we're waiting to see if the Yankees do ultimately pull that.
21:43Then the other thing is, is going into what you said, bringing back most of the same players.
21:48We saw them make the trade for Ryan Weathers.
21:50I think the bigger question, too, is, is let's say in this hypothetical scenario, before we get back to the bringing back the other players, let's say if the Yankees do bring back Bellinger, is there still a move to trade for a starting pitcher?
22:03Because Ryan Weathers factors into that where is that the move for the rotation depth and strength for the start of the year?
22:10Or could we see the Freddy Peralta trade potentially happen here for the Yankees if they sign Cody Bellinger still?
22:16Yeah, I think the Yankees are, again, and it's not just the Yankees.
22:21There's a lot of, the Mets are like this.
22:23We saw the Mets, you know, I keep comparing that David Stearns went to the line of scrimmage and had a running play and saw nine guys in the box.
22:33And suddenly, you know, when Kyle Tucker goes away, he has to audible to something else quickly.
22:37It was a pass.
22:38It was Bo Bichette.
22:39Like, good organizations have lots of ways they could go.
22:45And, and, and I know New York fans, like, I hear them talk, half my friends are Mets fans, half my friends are Yankee fans.
22:53They treat the executives who run these teams like they are guys who just showed up and don't even know who's on the team.
22:59And there it is.
23:00David Stearns and Brian Cashman are both excellent executives.
23:02Like, not infallible, but by the way, it's like, like now when people talk about Andrew Friedman, Andrew Friedman came from a small market in Tampa.
23:14And for five years, the Dodgers didn't win.
23:17And all he heard is all the same stuff David Stearns is hearing now.
23:21You think you're so smart.
23:22You're bringing in all these guys who you think one plus one equal two instead of just going to get the guy who's two and like your stuff doesn't work in the postseason.
23:30Even after they went in 20, because it was the COVID year, they win.
23:35Then the next two years, they're bounced very early in the playoffs.
23:38So maybe even there's a, oh, they got lucky in the COVID year.
23:41He doesn't know what he's doing.
23:42And now he's going to Cooperstown, right?
23:44Like, like Frank Cashman and Stearns are among the guys who do this very well.
23:49The Yankees always put a high level contender on the team, on the field.
23:54And so I think that there is a, what do we do if we get Bellinger?
24:03And what do we do if we don't get Bellinger bucket?
24:06And I think that they're probably even in those two shoots have then five or 10 different like variables, right?
24:14Like, like, like, for example, I heard Bader was asking for like, like multiple years a lot, like good, who knows where he is now, but this was early in the offseason.
24:24The Yankees maybe have him ahead of Austin Hayes because he can play a little center.
24:28They know he's a New Yorker who can play in New York.
24:30But like, if Bellinger doesn't come, like, it's like, okay, we could do Bader for this and a better reliever or pitcher, or we could do a worse reliever or pitcher, or we could do a haze at this and get a better reliever or pitcher.
24:46Like, and they'll just keep doing it because there will be a budget for them in the way that I think there isn't for the Mets or Dodgers.
24:55Uh, in that, you know, I think that David Stearns, I, I, I know, I know Brian Cashman does the same thing with Hal, which is his job is he presents Hal, this is what's possible.
25:08This is what it's cost.
25:09This is my recommendation.
25:10And then Hal gives that yay or nay.
25:14And, but Cone does the same thing, but his likelihood to yay it at a high number is to me greater than the Yankees now.
25:24Same for the Dodgers.
25:25So I think that there's offshoots.
25:26I would be surprised if the Yankees don't at minimum, the rest of the season, off season, add an outfielder that's Bellinger or the next thing.
25:39And no matter which of those, at a price point, also add one more arm, whether it's a reliever, a hybrid who could like starter relieve, a little like say Blackburn or Yarborough kind of thing.
25:54Or a pure starter.
25:56Uh, and I think they would probably like to find a righty hitting catcher, uh, and use a scara in either a trade or as triple a depth, uh, kind of thing.
26:08So I think that there's multiple moves between now and the beginning of February.
26:13And even to the beginning of the season, Yankees are a team that has made a lot of trades on the dawn of the season.
26:19You know, remember a few years ago, they did a pretty complicated three way trade.
26:24It wasn't for big guys.
26:25They ended up with John birdie.
26:26Yep.
26:27Like, like the Yankees will stay.
26:30And again, these are all good teams.
26:32We'll do this.
26:32This isn't just, but there's a Yankee webcast, right?
26:34So I'm talking about the Yankees here.
26:35They'll stay flexible.
26:37And I think that the fans, I know it patients isn't in large order here.
26:42I think that they'll do that.
26:44There'll be multiple moves, you know, like, cause here, here's something to consider.
26:47Say the Yankees get to spring training and whatever reports they've gotten either verbally or eyeball.
26:58I'm sure they've had people go look at Garrett Cole, go look at Carlos Rodon, go look at Clark
27:03Schmidt.
27:04Like they get to spring training and all of a sudden Rodon says, well, you know, I'm a little
27:07cranky.
27:08Well, now it's not May 1st.
27:10Now it's June 1st or June 15th or July.
27:12Like your need on March 10th might be different than today.
27:17So part of like a good organization is they, they keep some powder in prospects and money
27:24just in case they run into a problem.
27:26Now the Yankees are trying to build some depth, like, and as all teams are, uh, you better
27:34know who's your six to 10 starters are because you're going to use those numbers six to 10.
27:40The good news for the Yankees, if it works perfect, part of six to 10 is Rodon, Cole,
27:45and ultimately maybe Clark Schmidt, which is going to be much better six to 10 than most
27:50if they actually get there, will they get there?
27:54It's complicated.
27:55You know, the Yankees might end up with the best rotation in the major leagues and they
27:59may, might end up missing the playoffs because their rotation was never healthy, never healthy,
28:03or it took too long for them to come out.
28:04So that's why it's like the importance of this off season was like the, how hungry are
28:10you to really address something that look may not, I think that they would say they've
28:15added three starting pitchers this off season.
28:17And I know, I know again, like I find it interesting when fan bases say, oh, you just brought back
28:23the other guys.
28:24Well, those other guys are free agents.
28:27Right.
28:28Like, like it isn't like, oh, we're bringing back Anthony Volpe.
28:31Like Anthony Volpe has no other choice.
28:33If he wants to play major league baseball next year, he's got to do it for the Yankees.
28:37The guys like, you know, Grisham had a choice.
28:40He didn't go out in the market.
28:42He took the qualifying offer.
28:44Blackburn, Rosario, Yarborough, that those guys could have played anywhere.
28:48It's not like, I know you're running it back, but also the team they're running back was
28:54tied for the American league lead and wins.
28:56Yeah.
28:56It was one win away from winning the division.
28:58Yeah.
28:59You know, without Cole, without like, I'll tell you one on this.
29:03And I, I don't think this is popular with fans.
29:07I hated the Ryan McMahon trade when it was made.
29:11I didn't hide it on the show.
29:14From a distance.
29:15I was like, what Colorado Rocky player strikes out too much.
29:19Like I see him at Citi field.
29:21Like it's not that impressive.
29:23And then I watched him play every day and he's a minimum two war player because his defense
29:28is so good.
29:29So, and if you're going to have Max freed and Carlos Rodan throwing ground balls to
29:33the right side, you better not butcher that position.
29:36Your third baseman better be good.
29:38And he is superb there.
29:40I think he'll hit 20 homers at Yankee stadium.
29:43I'm sure they gave him something this off season to try to make better contact.
29:49Willie, I would doubt it.
29:50He's a veteran player already, but if you're a 20 homer, the problem with Ryan McMahon is
29:57that his offensive profile is so much like Austin Wells is in Volpe.
30:01And so it's not Ryan McMahon is the problem.
30:04It's that the bottom of the Yankee lineup is all going to hit 207 with 25 to 30% strikeouts.
30:11Unless I still think there's a good hitter in Austin Wells.
30:14I don't know what happened to that guy.
30:16I think there's probably a better average hitter in Volpe than he has shown, but it's three years
30:23now and he hasn't consistently done it enough, a major surgery too.
30:27Yeah.
30:28And so I, I think the problem with McMahon, isn't it a McMahon problem?
30:32You can have one of him or two, the Yankees are going to have like three of him sitting
30:37at the bottom of the lineup.
30:38The good news is, is like, he really is a good baseball player.
30:42Who's terrific on defense.
30:44Yeah.
30:44I don't think, I don't think like after watching him last year, like he really embraced New
30:50York also, which I thought was, was, was important and, and everything like, I think he's a good
30:54baseball player.
30:56And if the shortstop, like, like if the Yankees, I'll always believe, and I have very little
31:03evidence, you know, I'm not going to say it because it will go viral.
31:06I think the Yankees, I think that there was probably a moment to see off season where the
31:10Yankees might've wanted to do better at shortstop.
31:12And if that player were playing shortstop, uh, the fact that Ryan McMahon is at third
31:19base would be a non-issue.
31:20Right.
31:20And I, I completely agree with you, Joel.
31:22I think there's always, there's always room for a guy like Ryan McMahon who plays incredible
31:27defense.
31:28And like you said, seems like a good guy on, on the field and, and, and the bulk and the
31:33ball, you know, like just having him on your roster, like, yeah, that's fine.
31:39But like you said, when you have a bunch of question marks at short third center field,
31:44you don't know really what Grisham is going to be next year.
31:46But they are starting from the platform.
31:48I know it's easy to forget it.
31:49They did lead the major leagues in runs.
31:51They did.
31:52You know, most of it was Aaron judge though.
31:54Right.
31:54Like, so we've all Aaron judge.
31:56Right.
31:57Yeah.
31:58To some degree.
31:59I mean, yes, he's the, he's the best hitter in the world.
32:01Right.
32:01No, no.
32:01A hundred percent.
32:02Like that, that's where like we get frustrated.
32:04I think.
32:05And, and just, just real quick, Joel, like us as, as fans, we get frustrated.
32:08Cause it's like, Holy crap.
32:10We got Aaron judge, the best player in the world are the Yankees surrounding him with
32:14enough talent to really propel them forward.
32:17But like you've highlighted brilliantly here again, is that look how Steinbrenner, the reality
32:22is he's going to operate on a budget.
32:23Unlike the Dodgers and the Mets and the blue Jays right now, where they know they have these
32:27star players and Vlad and Mookie bets and show you, Ohtani, they can put a lot of great
32:32players around them because they have the financial means to do that.
32:36The Yankees we have seen.
32:38And, but the team that has won the world, the American league championship now would be
32:42different this year.
32:42Maybe has always been a team that spends less money than the Yankees.
32:46Like you could do it on the amount of money.
32:48The Yankees are doing it.
32:49You know, the Rangers won the world series three years ago.
32:52Uh, like, like, and, and then there's always that question is, are you okay?
32:56Would you be okay?
32:57Being the Rangers?
32:58Like, is it, you know, goes back to that Eagles thing.
33:01I was saying, Hey, if they just won the world series, I'd be okay.
33:04No, you wouldn't.
33:05No, you would.
33:06Come on.
33:07No.
33:07Yeah.
33:07Like, like, like they'd win the world series and they begin the next season, 2030.
33:11And you'd be like, ah, see, they won.
33:12And now how got complacent.
33:14And Brian Cashman doesn't know what he's doing.
33:15And it was whatever Yankees are highly competitive every year.
33:19And I think that's a lot tougher than they're given credit for, uh, to be for 35 straight
33:27years, highly competitive is something.
33:30And again, I talked to executives from almost every team consistently, and they would say,
33:38these guys are really good at this.
33:40Like, like when they, and they're dispassionate, they're not fans.
33:43Like they have no vested interest.
33:44They, they've certainly told me when the Yankees have a bad something, whether it's a bad manager
33:50or a bad third baseman or a bad third base coach or a bad farm director or whatever, like
33:56it isn't like they're in the Yankee.
33:57Let's talk to Joel and tell them great things about the Yankees or tell them great things
34:01about the Mets.
34:02Like, I'd like to believe my relationship with 50 to a hundred people in the game is this
34:08like very, Hey, what are you seeing?
34:10Cause I want to get it right when I talk about it or write about it.
34:13And, uh, those people, when I say, Hey, like what, like, for example, Ryan Weathers probably
34:21means to the average Yankee fan, but like, I talked to a lot of teams and the sense I
34:29got was like eight to 10 teams.
34:32We're trying to get Ryan Weathers that Ryan weather.
34:34So, so this is my comparison.
34:37I'm going to make a comparison and this didn't work in New York, but it ultimately worked to
34:41me.
34:43Ryan Weathers is a little bit like when the Yankees traded for Nathan Navaldy, like with
34:48the Marlins, same age had had injury problems.
34:51The stuff was overt, like it is with Weathers and he, between injury and maybe not being
34:59ready.
34:59It never worked with the Yankees, but the second he left the Yankees, Nathan Valdy's
35:05had one of those careers I would love to have because people talk about Nate.
35:09First of all, he's won championships and he's won championships in part because he's been
35:13great at that time of year.
35:15Like I couldn't live with never having that moment.
35:19So he's been good in those situations.
35:21Talk to people about him in the clubhouse, including guys who played with him in the
35:24Yankees, Red Sox, wherever he's been Rangers.
35:28I mean, this is a beloved teammate, right?
35:31So like a valid, you just exploded out of here and had great success.
35:36And his people are going to look back on a non hall of fame career and say, man, what
35:40a career that guy had like, so that, and he's made plenty of money doing it also.
35:44So will it work for, it might not be like that, but there it's almost the exact same
35:50age.
35:50It's the same exact organization treating them, the player here and the profile, the
35:55one was lefty and a Valdy is righty.
35:57The profile is God, they have stuff that's untapped.
36:01And I have talked to people who have worked with weathers and they're like, it is so
36:06untapped and he's coming now.
36:08Will it come here?
36:10Will it ever come anywhere?
36:11I don't know.
36:12But this guy was a top 10 draft choice, right?
36:17Like, it's not like whatever.
36:20There is a not 0% chance that this guy starts a playoff game.
36:25Wow.
36:25So like, I, I know you could look at the ERA, et cetera.
36:31What I would say are the number of what I would call the smart organizations who I checked
36:38in with and they were like, yeah, we were trying to get them like was not, not a low
36:44number.
36:44And it wasn't nothing that the Yankees gave up.
36:46It was three prospects.
36:47I mean, that's, that's a lot of, a lot of prospect pool to give up.
36:50We'll see what it turns into, uh, along the way, you know, again, like the day the Yankees
36:57traded with the, uh, Marlins and got Domingo Herman and Michael King in the same trade.
37:03Nobody like who was the fan said, wow, this is really going to make a difference.
37:07And like, things went wrong with her mom, but he did pitch.
37:10Well, he pitched the perfect game, right?
37:12Like, like, and had other good moments.
37:14And Michael King obviously was very good.
37:16So, so it's not, it's not sexy, but I, the, the off season is a strange beast is a strange
37:28beach.
37:29Last year, the only free agent of any significance, the only addition of any significance the Mariners
37:35made was Jorge Polanco.
37:36And they went further than they've ever gone.
37:39Meanwhile, the Blue Jays did a ton of stuff.
37:41It almost all went wrong.
37:43Anthony Santander, Andres Jimenez, Hoffman, uh, Yimmy Garcia trading for mile straw to get
37:51extra money for Roki Sasaki, and then not getting Sasaki and being stuck with straw.
37:55Like it all went wrong.
37:57And they got the closest you could get to winning a world series without actually winning the
38:01world series.
38:01By the way, you know, who had a shit off season last year, the Dodgers.
38:06The Dodgers had terrible Tanner Scott, Kirby Yates, Michael Conforto.
38:11Like they, they had a terrible off season.
38:16Sasaki wasn't what they thought they were hitting.
38:18Like none of it really worked and they won the world series.
38:22And so I know we layer on stuff.
38:26And part of our job is like, Hey man, go do it.
38:28Let's see something famous names, et cetera.
38:31Uh, you could be surprised by, Hey man, that team won the off season.
38:37How many times does the team that won the off season actually won the season?
38:40It's not, it's not regular.
38:43It was true the year before the Dodgers got Otani and Yamamoto, right?
38:47But it's, it's not always that way.
38:52Nope.
38:52And it does look like the Dodgers are going there again with the Tucker and Edwin Diaz
38:56and whatnot.
38:57But look, Joel, I, the starting rotation, I think, and weathers, it's a huge factor here
39:02real quick on weathers.
39:03Do you think he will be the star?
39:05Like he'll be in the rotation opening day.
39:08Like he'll be one of the stars.
39:09Yeah.
39:09I think if healthy, uh, you know, like I think Blackburn and Yarborough are here to
39:14be swing men, uh, like, and, and, and, and place fillers until, and if Rodon and, and
39:23Cole get healthy.
39:25Right.
39:25And, you know, like, I think they know they need extra because how much are they going
39:30to get out of Schlittler in year two?
39:32How much are they going to get out of Warren after pitching him so much last year?
39:36You know, Freed went beyond where he's ever pitched before and Louise Hill has heard a
39:40lot.
39:40So like the idea of having, so you got those four guys plus Weathers plus Blackburn and
39:49uh, Yarborough is that seven or eight?
39:52I'm losing count.
39:53Whatever.
39:53That's seven right there.
39:54That's seven.
39:55I think again, these things get corrupted as you go along.
39:59I think if you put the Yankees on truth serum today, they'd say Rodon may 1st call June
40:061st, uh, Schmidt August 1st.
40:10Like that would be like the hope they believe, uh, uh, uh, Elmer Cruz will put in the majors
40:20this year, like, and, and be a guy and they, and, and Lagrange is a guy who, if you hit the
40:29right, um, analytics guy, scouting guy from another team, uh, somebody who high level talent
40:37evaluator, one guy will tell you, Hey man, if it worked out perfect, he's going to pitch
40:42the eighth or ninth inning.
40:43And then there's other guys who say, if it works out perfect, he's probably starting to
40:46game two of the playoffs.
40:48So like, and, and by the way, there'll be people who are like, I hate that profile.
40:53He's going to be nothing.
40:54So like, he is a wild card in all of this wide variance right there.
40:59You just laid out.
40:59But, but, but, but, but that, that's, that's the prospect world.
41:04Like, you would have asked the Phillies two years ago about Andrew Painter.
41:09They would have said, well, he's probably going to start opening day in 2026.
41:13And now there's a lot of doubt.
41:15There's still waiting on him to come out though.
41:17Right.
41:17Like it'd be Grayson Rodriguez.
41:19This is off season Taylor Ward.
41:22Like two years ago, if I would have told you, that's a trade that was going to be made.
41:26So like, they're all just suspects until we actually see them do anything.
41:30But, but you know what, if as suspects go, I would roll my, the dice that Schlittler is
41:35a, like answered some of the questions and look like he can be somebody.
41:40Will he be, you know, see, this is his first trying to build some depth just in case.
41:45No.
41:45Yeah.
41:46Look, and, and I hear you like the Yankees are, that's how they would pencil it in right
41:51now, but you can only pencil it in so much.
41:54And we've seen how these guys go when they're recovering from injuries, especially major
41:58surgeries like this.
41:59I just, I think you're playing a really dicey game here and you're gambling a lot on those
42:05guys coming back on those marks that you've said, you know, something, Ryan, I'm sorry.
42:09I cut you off there.
42:09But, um, um, last year I kept expecting the Yankees to collapse because they were always
42:18one starting injury, pitching injury away from Alan Winans.
42:22Yeah.
42:23And then what else?
42:24Like, like they, and somehow they kept it together long enough as guys came back and
42:28whatever.
42:29I actually think they go in with more potential this year, high end potential this year than
42:36last year.
42:37And I don't think it's close.
42:38And there is, you know, you do have to, the likelihood that you'll ever have all your
42:45starters healthy at one time is not great.
42:48Yeah.
42:49Problem is if you do, you know, like, it isn't like they're going to get a commissioner's
42:54dispensation to be like, Oh, you could carry 16 pictures this year.
42:58Like, so like you can't overstuff the burrito to the point where you can't have them all
43:03on your roster.
43:05Stuff the burrito.
43:06That's a good one.
43:06You know what I mean?
43:07Is like, like, like there they'll get a 40 man roster spot right away by putting Schmidt
43:14on the 40, on the 60 day IL on, I think it's the second day of spring training.
43:19Wouldn't Cole go on 60 day IL as well?
43:21So the question is, if Cole goes on, you'll know that it's June 1st.
43:26Yeah.
43:26Right.
43:27Like, but I'm sure Cole is maybe saying, I mean, his mindset, but of course he want, he's
43:33a bulldog.
43:34Yeah.
43:34And, and when I've talked to Yankee people in recent weeks and I've said, Hey, would you
43:39follow a plan a little bit like the Otani plan last year, which was look, the Dodgers
43:46considered using Otani out of the bullpen in 2024 in the post season.
43:53Okay.
43:53So when spring training 2025 came and I watched him throw a bullpen, I was like, that guy
43:58could start a game.
43:59Right.
44:00And they held him for what?
44:02Until about June also, right.
44:04Mid-May, June, whatever, because they were like, we're going to make the playoffs and we
44:09have to factor in 20 post-season innings for him.
44:12And so I said, would you do the same with Cole?
44:14If you said, Hey, coming back from Tommy John, we feel comfortable at 130 innings or
44:19140 innings.
44:21Would you say then, well, what we really mean is 120 and 20.
44:25And they said, when Cole is ready to pitch in the major leagues, he will pitch.
44:30So in other words, they're not there.
44:32That's what they insist to me now underneath.
44:34Are they doing something else?
44:36I don't know.
44:37But when I've asked and I've asked that, that's what they, they say.
44:42I think the Yankees have a chance to have very, very good starting pitching.
44:49But the variance for them might be the greatest variance because two of their, or even if you
44:58want to include Schmidt, who I think is pretty good, like a good mid-rotation guy, three of
45:03their guys could combine to be really good or give them zero innings.
45:08Zero innings.
45:09Yeah.
45:09Or innings, but not as good as you think based on the names, because they, it's going to
45:14be a year until Cole is Cole again.
45:17And if it's ever going to be Cole.
45:18So I get it, but you have just as, as your resources are your resources, as far as how
45:26much money and farm systems you have to do anything.
45:29And I think the Yankees are, for better or worse, close to where they're not going to
45:36spend a lot of money anymore this off season, unless it's Bellinger.
45:40And I think that they feel blown away that they did as much as they did last July and
45:50got Ryan Weathers.
45:51And they still haven't touched what I think they would say are their top eight prospects.
45:55And I'm not sure that they will, uh, like they, they want to, they want to, right.
46:02Right.
46:03And, and, and look, one of the other things to consider is the Yankees did make trades
46:08last July that impact the season.
46:12Sure.
46:13Like it wasn't just, usually we think of the July trade as the rentals as a rental, but
46:18like Bednar is going to be their closer.
46:20Duvall is going to pitch in the last nine outs of the game.
46:23Jose Caballero is your starting shortstop or Oswaldo Cabrera.
46:26You know, one of those guys, Ryan McMahon is that you found out clearly Ahmad Rosario,
46:32who you did bring back is a guy who you like on your team.
46:35So you found out about that and you did it again.
46:38And look, I, my suspicion is this guy's going to turn out to be Scott Efros too.
46:43But like Jake bird is a guy, the Yankees think that they're going to resuscitate and get
46:50something out of that.
46:51He had been highly used in Colorado, wasn't ready for the speed of New York and a pennant
46:57race.
46:57And they're going to kind of slow play them into this season.
47:00Again, like I, you, you know, me well enough now, I always play the game.
47:03Like if we were making odds, what would be the odds on that?
47:07Like, or the percentage, like, do you think that that's a 90% chance, a 10% chance?
47:13I would say one in three that Jake bird turns out to be good, really good.
47:18Like it's not nothing.
47:20It's not nothing.
47:21I wouldn't want to hear.
47:22I have a one to three chance of being shot when I walk outside this room.
47:25Like, you know, it's not nothing, but I would say the odds are against it, but, but he's
47:30still on their roster on the roster.
47:32And, and the, the one thing is we'd have to give the Yankees credit right over the years
47:37is they have done well with relief pitching, finding guys, building guys up, et cetera.
47:42On the other hand, they've also traded for Scott Afros or Mark Glider, and maybe they
47:48shouldn't trade for cub relievers.
47:50And, and it didn't work out great.
47:52It didn't.
47:53Uh, real quick, Freddie Peralta, he's still out there.
47:56We've heard the rumors.
47:57Do you think that's a guy worth going after despite everything we've just outlined with
48:01this starting rotation?
48:03Yeah.
48:03Freddie Peralta is very talented.
48:06Um, I, I suspect that there are teams that will move more prospect collateral into the
48:15middle of the pot than the Yankees.
48:17I don't know that for sure.
48:18I'm, I'm, I, this is kind of like educated speculation.
48:21I have a sense of that.
48:24There might be teams that are more heated to get him.
48:29Um, the one thing about him is he's a guy who might be very willing to do an extension
48:37before getting back out into free agency next, next off season after 26, he's got 8 million
48:45left.
48:46Then he's a free agent.
48:47So like part of the thing you might bake into this is, and you know, like one of the things
48:53that I don't even mean this consciously, you know, you do always have to worry.
48:58Is this like Freddie Peralta has been a gamer.
49:01I expect he's going to be a gamer now, but when you're in your walk year, do you get a
49:07player who, when you don't know the player, are you getting a player who might protect
49:10himself a little to get out into the marketplace?
49:13Like the thing he pitched through traditionally, he's not going to pitch through this year.
49:17Cause he's got a, Hey, better to take three weeks off in May and be healthy at the end
49:23and get my money next off season.
49:24So, you know, a lot of stuff gets baked into a trade or a free agent signing, uh, beyond
49:31just the talent.
49:32Now it's something you would think about.
49:33Is he a guy you would extend?
49:34Is it a guy you'd worry about in his walk year or will the walk year be, do you know enough
49:39about him to feel like, no, no, this is the kind of guy, the walk year is going to be
49:42motivating.
49:43Like there are some, like the fact that Tarek Scooble in his walk year is going to play
49:48for the WBC.
49:50It's a data point, right?
49:51Like he's not protecting himself in that moment.
49:54He's going to do something.
49:55He's clearly him.
49:57A Paul schemes of the USA gets there are pitching the championship game, right?
50:02Like they're not going to do that half-ass.
50:04I mean, Joel judge is playing in it.
50:06I mean, like you got Yankees fans are going to be praying he's okay too.
50:09Yeah.
50:09Like, look, they've gotten every, the U S is going to have very few excuses.
50:14And I know it's single elimination baseball at some point where like anything could happen,
50:19but this is going to be the best U S team there's ever been.
50:22They've gotten everybody.
50:24They were waiting.
50:26They, they kept the spot open for Bregman.
50:28Cause you can't get insurance until the player signs with the team.
50:31So like they left the spot open Bregman sign.
50:34Now Bregman is on the team and like, they're too deep everywhere for this.
50:41So, but, but like, it's a data point or is it an anti data point, which is like, I'm a
50:47team thinking about trading for Tarek Skubal right now.
50:50And I'm like, well, he's going to throw two games full speed in March.
50:55Do I want that?
50:57Now I would trade for Tarek Skubal.
50:59I think he's the best pitcher in the world, but like, if you were the executive in charge
51:03and you're just about to give up four or five of your best prospects, plus think about like,
51:09am I giving this guy $400 million or like even 32 this year, if he wins his arbitration,
51:15I do have to think about those two games in March.
51:17Like, Hey, Tarek, like, doesn't your calf just hurt a little and you don't want to really
51:22pitch in those games.
51:24Like, cause I'm selfish, right?
51:26Like, like selfish Trump Trump's patriotism, like oftentimes in this situation, it's like
51:32every, every executive will say, we've got to grow the game.
51:35And then you're like, are you letting your player play in the WBC?
51:38No, well, like it's NIMBY, right?
51:42Not in my backyard.
51:43We need another up.
51:44We need another place to, you know, for, for like your career.
51:47Listen, it's your career on the line.
51:49When your player, your star player is playing in this tournament, if he's out, it's like,
51:52you got to answer to the public about, you know, you guys, you guys were okay with him
51:56playing out there and now you're going to respond if he's out for a little while or a
52:00long time.
52:00So it's, it's, I'm looking forward to the WBC cause I think it's going to be fun.
52:05Like you said, the team USA stacked.
52:06And I think I'm going to be a team team USA is like doing a, all its big press availabilities
52:12like March 2nd and 3rd in Arizona.
52:14I'm going to be out there for that.
52:15Love that.
52:16Then I'm pretty sure at minimum, we're going to like double step the, the semifinals and
52:21finals.
52:21Well, you know, John, my, my podcast partner, John Heyman's going to be part of it.
52:25And if it's really big, I'm going to, I'm going to be in the state and I'll just drive
52:28down to Miami for it.
52:30Like, but you know, let's see if we kind of get to a U S Dominican or U S Japan, something
52:34that is huge.
52:36That lineup for team DR is insane too.
52:39I was looking at that the other day.
52:41Joel for Joel's notebook, like you said, at the start of this show, you're you're getting
52:44ready for the hall of fame announcement later today.
52:47Beltran's a name I hear a lot.
52:49Is that, is he getting in?
52:50What's your sense of this hall of fame class getting announced?
52:53Well, I assume this might not even get released until afterwards.
52:56So I'm going to look like the worst predictor in the world.
52:58I would assume he was so on the borderline last year.
53:02He'll get in.
53:02This is his fourth year on the ballot.
53:04I voted for him all four years.
53:07I think he's, so if I were just doing Carlos Beltran here, here's my thing is if you have
53:12a problem with Beltran, it's about year 20.
53:14And year 20 is 2017.
53:17He's clearly one of the masterminds behind the garbage can, uh, banging, uh, pitch, uh,
53:24sign stealing scandal that helped the Astros win a world series.
53:27Like it, but you know, Carlos Beltran was terrible that year.
53:32He had like an 80 OPS.
53:34He had a negative war.
53:35So it isn't like his hall of fame candidacy was helped.
53:39If he retired, he'd already be in the hall of fame.
53:41He would have had a better career, not just reputation wise, but performance wise.
53:48His OPS plus went down two points by playing for the Astros that year and went from one
53:5221 to one 19 for his career.
53:54I think he is, you know, it's a ton of homers, a ton of steals, a ton of gold gloves.
54:01And then he has two things.
54:03If you think he's borderline and I think he's better than borderline, but if you think he's
54:07borderline, he is, uh, there's well over 200 players now who've batted 150 times in the
54:13post season.
54:13Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and George Brett are the only ones with better OPS than Carlos
54:19Beltran.
54:20And in baseball history for anyone who has stolen at least 200 bases, the name Roger Bresnahan
54:25might not mean a lot to you.
54:27His career started in the 1800s.
54:29He's the only one with a better stolen base percentage than Beltran, which shows his non
54:34trash can savvy, how good he was.
54:36Cause he was fast, but he wasn't the fastest.
54:38But if he still tried to steal a base, he was safe because he knew how to read pictures
54:42and when he should go, et cetera.
54:44He was an incredibly smart baseball player.
54:46And to me, he was, he's been an easy yes for four years.
54:50And I would assume, I hope I don't look like a fool when, when this is out, I would assume
54:55he is a, um, an easy one.
54:59Yeah.
54:59It makes sense.
55:00His career numbers are, like you said, they're right there.
55:02Uh, and, and I think 2017 aside, he's still a hell of a hell of a baseball player.
55:07And I do wonder, and this just real quick, do you think he'll ever be a manager despite
55:11the 2017 scandal?
55:14I think if he wants to be a manager, he's got a shot at it.
55:20I mean, ultimately the two other people who were involved, who paid a price for that were
55:26Alex Cora and AJ Hinch.
55:28Yeah.
55:28And they're both managers again.
55:29Now they had the advantage of, they were recognized as outstanding managers before their
55:35penalties.
55:36And so they then came back and, and people want to magic him also, you know, like to
55:42deal with Alex Cora and AJ Hinch is to deal with great, like talkers of the game.
55:46Like I love dealing with those guys.
55:47So like, uh, easy, easier, uh, thing.
55:51Uh, I wonder if Beltran who's in the Met front office has a bunch of different pathways to
55:58go, but you know, he'll also probably likely be able to tell anybody in his candidacy in
56:05about, uh, from this moment in about four and a half hours that he's also a hall of
56:10famer.
56:11Certainly something nice to, it's certainly something nice to put on your resume, Joel
56:16Sherman.
56:17This is great, man.
56:18I love catching up with you.
56:19Uh, we're looking forward to seeing your coverage for the hall of fame and also what happens
56:23with Cody Bellinger.
56:24I'm sure when we get that news drop, we'll hear from you about that and your take on that
56:27contract.
56:27If it was at the Yankees or someone else, but as always, Joel Sherman, we appreciate you
56:31hopping on here.
56:32I'm looking forward to another year with you and, uh, yeah, man, I hope you enjoy the
56:35rest of your day and let's get the season started already, man.
56:39We're close.
56:40Thanks.
56:40We're close.
56:41Thanks, Joel.
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