00:00Welcome back to Newswire, Just Baseball coming your way. As always here on this Tuesday, Peter Apple is here with
00:05us to preview the upcoming show and also discuss some world baseball classic news, which is a rare every four
00:11years event that we have a lot of fun and, you know, Peter's guys get to do a lot of
00:15content on that too. So it's from Just Baseball. It's great. Peter, thanks for coming on. Appreciate it. Let's go
00:20back to last night and then we'll go forward here a little bit. You know, when they released the odds
00:24on USA Mexico yesterday, it kind of made my eyebrow go up like the rock a little bit. It kind
00:28of told me, you know, this may
00:29be a close game here. If this is what the odds are, the DR is like seven and a half
00:35or 10 and a half on the run line. And it was like very close. And it turned out to
00:39be that way. Five, three final. I don't know if Mexico just has Team USA's number. I don't know if
00:44Team USA isn't as good as advertised. I think all things are kind of in play here. So that's why
00:50we have you to lean in on that. What do you make of the way that USA has played thus
00:54far?
00:54I actually think if we're looking at Mexico versus Team USA, I think it's a combination of what you just
01:00said. Team USA just hasn't been playing like the supreme juggernaut that they were priced at the beginning of the
01:08World Baseball Classic because we've seen how good the Dominican Republic has been. We've seen how good Japan looks. A
01:15couple other teams and the United States is odds are much different.
01:20And when you have much different odds, it's expected that you are destroying the competition. And while the scores look
01:27good, except for last night, I thought they've been playing a little bit sloppy. Four errors in three games.
01:34You also have a ton of runners left in scoring position. And the pitching has been pretty good. I mean,
01:42Tarek Skubal has given up a home run. Logan Webb has given up a home run. Michael Walker. I mean,
01:47Paul Skeen's last night was unbelievable. And I want to be clear.
01:50Do the United States have the best roster in the World Baseball Classic? Yes. Should they be the favorites? Yes.
01:57Are they blowing away their competition? Are they showing why they're so much better than everybody else? I don't think
02:04so.
02:05Yeah. I'm not, you know, obviously, you know, rooting against Team USA by any means. It just feels to me,
02:12and I hate to say it, that if there's any team that I feel like could get upset, you know,
02:18I'm sort of feeling like without Skeen's pitching, like maybe that is the team.
02:22But they are, as you said, the favorite. And Aaron Judge has carried them thus far. So he is plus
02:28550 right now to win the MVP of the World Baseball Classic. And so is Shohei Otani at plus 550.
02:34Japan has already punched their ticket. They have a few days off before playing in Miami. And then there's Bobby
02:39Witt Jr., Schwarber, Paul Skeen's. I mean, this is just an assumption, by the way, that Team USA wins the
02:46World Baseball Classic. But does it have to be one of those two guys, Judge and Otani? I feel like
02:50we could dig deeper here.
02:52I think we could dig deeper as well. There's a couple players on the Dominican Republic that certainly need some
02:58love. Junior Caminero has hit multiple home runs already. Juan Soto looks great. Julio Rodriguez looks great. O'Neal Cruz
03:04has two home runs. I think he has two home runs, a double and two walks, and that's it. And
03:09he hasn't even been a starter for the Dominican Republic.
03:12So when looking at these odds, I'm surprised not to see anybody on the Dominican Republic.
03:17But just looking at the current odds, at the beginning of the World Baseball Classic, I mentioned that Kyle Schwarber
03:23would be a great WBC MVP bet.
03:26And I think at the time it was 30-1, maybe 25-1. And those odds have crept down to
03:3117-1.
03:32And while Judge has probably been the best player, I think Kyle Schwarber has either been second or third best
03:38player.
03:39You could consider Skeens and Bobby Witt right there.
03:41But the reason I like Kyle Schwarber so much in the MVP market is not only has he been here
03:47before in the World Baseball Classic,
03:50who can get really hot and hit some big-time home runs to potentially give the United States a lead,
03:56kind of similar to what Aaron Judge can do. But in a format like this, Kyle Schwarber can replicate that
04:02production.
04:03And he already has through the first three games of the World Baseball Classic.
04:07So if I was looking at that market, Kyle Schwarber at plus 1,700 would be the way I'm leaning.
04:13One more thing on the WBC, then we'll get to the regular season.
04:16Tomorrow night, no matter what happens, the rest of the World Baseball Classic will be the most intense game of
04:21the World Baseball Classic,
04:22probably even more than the championship.
04:24It's just the nature of these two teams in these two countries, Peter.
04:27I've attended this one before. I'm going to skip this one tomorrow night.
04:31Between the Dominican Republic and Venezuela, both teams are going to advance to the next round,
04:37which really doesn't... The first game that means nothing, that doesn't take away anything from a game,
04:43because these teams want to beat each other so badly.
04:47Sandy Alcantara will start for the Dominican Republic.
04:50FanDuel and DraftKings are not posting odds, because we're not sure who's going to be on the other side.
04:54And we're not sure how Venezuela is going to approach this thing.
04:56Are they going to save guys?
04:57They're not as strong as the Dominican Republic.
05:01DR probably ends up being favorite.
05:03But do you think that that's the way that this goes tomorrow night?
05:06Any opinion, Ned?
05:07Again, no odds here yet on FanDuel.
05:10Not a big opinion yet.
05:12Right now, of course, just like you said, it's hard not to lean towards the Dominican Republic.
05:17Venezuela has a really good team.
05:19And Luisa Reyes has been great.
05:21Ronald Acuna Jr. just had an amazing game.
05:24You know, I think it was on Monday yesterday.
05:26But the DR, they're just too good.
05:29They're too scary.
05:30I would have to lean towards them.
05:32And if I'm Venezuela, maybe I'll rest, guys.
05:34Because even at their best, they're going to be in the DR.
05:37Yeah, no, it's a great point.
05:39It's a great point.
05:40I mean, how important is that next game that Venezuela plays for them to unload tomorrow night?
05:45Really doesn't make any sense, but emotions are going to be super high.
05:48Okay, so National League Cy Young, when this is all said and done,
05:51Paul Skeens will go back to the Pirates, and Christopher Sanchez will go back to the Phillies.
05:55Those are two of the favorites to win the NL Cy Young.
05:59The first four seem like they're up in the air.
06:01I'm very surprised to see Wheeler's odds at 18 to 1, not really knowing what he is going to be.
06:05Did you weigh in on this yet for the season?
06:08I haven't weighed in on it yet, and I haven't made a definitive choice yet.
06:11But I am leaning towards Christopher Sanchez at plus 650, because I look at this list and I say,
06:16Yamamoto, after throwing the most innings in his career, the Dodgers probably want to get him ready for October.
06:23So I don't think he goes beyond 160 to 170 innings.
06:27And then Chris Sale, you know, he's 36, 37 years old.
06:31Is he going to be able to throw 180 innings?
06:33And Wheeler's already down to probably 20 starts.
06:35So from that list, Christopher Sanchez would be my pick.
06:38Last thing, Jesus Lizardo, he's 30 to 1.
06:41He signed a contract extension yesterday with the Philadelphia Phillies.
06:44When you saw the years and you saw the numbers, what were your thoughts?
06:47Fair, unfair, good for the team, good for the player, a mix of both?
06:52I thought it was a mix of both.
06:53Win-win for both sides.
06:55Five years, $135 million.
06:56You're paying a guy a good chunk of change, around $27 million, to be the number two on the Phillies.
07:02And I think that's exactly what he is.
07:04Peter, great stuff.
07:05We'll see you on Just Baseball coming up in less than 20 minutes.
07:08Thanks again for coming on Newswire.
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