- 16 hours ago
RJ Choppy opened up some Diamond Calves, breaking down the latest MLB win totals and lineup power rankings, with the Mariners being the favorite in the AL West. They also discussed the Rangers’ outlook, debated the evolving role of managers, highlighted breakout players, and more.
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00:00How can you not be romantic about being right next to the Pittsburgh Pirates?
00:06Oof.
00:07It is Diamond Cavs here on Sean and RJ at 105.
00:11Three of the fan, the Athletic, came out with their ranking of the lineups in Major League Baseball.
00:16And I was just, you know, I'd see for how far down they were going to go.
00:19And at 21 is the Pittsburgh Pirates.
00:21Just ahead of them is the Texas Rangers with the key additions of Nimmo and Jansen and Andrew McCutcheon.
00:27And the loss is obviously of Adolis and Marcus Simeon.
00:31Man.
00:32I know.
00:33I like, you know, I like the Andrew McCutcheon story.
00:37I do.
00:37Andrew McCutcheon had a really nice career.
00:40But if we're talking about Andrew McCutcheon as an offseason addition, you're in trouble.
00:45I'm sorry.
00:46You are.
00:47I'm not trying to poo-poo a nice story.
00:49Any other serious baseball market is not sitting here celebrating Andrew McCutcheon.
00:54I'm just being real.
00:56Come on now.
00:56All right, look.
00:57Is he 37?
00:59Yeah.
01:00Three years ago.
01:01He's 39.
01:03Come on, man.
01:05That's not cool, guys.
01:06Look, Andrew probably last had a really good year, I would say.
01:17I can't even say that.
01:182021?
01:19Yeah, 21.
01:21I mean, OPS.
01:22That was his highest OPS since.
01:25When he had 20 home runs in 2024.
01:27It's not his fault.
01:29No, he's getting older.
01:30Yeah.
01:31He's getting older.
01:31If you're sitting there and talking about it as a key addition or you're counting on
01:34something major from Andrew McCutcheon, you're in a lot of trouble.
01:37Yeah, it's, you know, since COVID, he's had, like you said, like 2021 was decent, 2024 was okay, but it
01:45also wasn't Prime McCutcheon.
01:47Prime Andrew McCutcheon is an MVP candidate or an MVP.
01:50Literally, he was an MVP, and he was top five in MVP for four straight years.
01:56Do you know how hard that is to do with the Pittsburgh Pirates, to be top five in the MVP
01:59for four straight years?
02:01Askeens.
02:01Yeah.
02:02So he was a guy that was like, okay, I could see him making the Hall of Fame at one
02:08point in his career.
02:08That's not who he is now.
02:10Now he's a clubhouse guy.
02:12Now he's a role guy.
02:13He'll get you one war.
02:16You know, if you get one war, one full war out of him, I think you're happy with that for
02:22the season.
02:23But that's the reality of where he is.
02:25But, you know, they talk about the offense being one of the biggest disappointments.
02:29Simeon and Garcia slumping.
02:31They move on.
02:32The free agent pickups did not work.
02:35Obviously, Seager and Lankford, they pick it up Nimmo and his 28 home runs.
02:38And they're hoping that a healthy Evan Carter can develop into an all-star caliber player.
02:44And the one thing, and I keep forgetting about this because he wasn't up with the big league club last
02:49year,
02:49but the Walcott Tommy John is going to keep him out basically all year.
02:54It is a setback for his development.
02:56And it would have been nice to see him maybe as a September call-up.
03:00Or maybe to see him really dominate in spring and force the team to keep him on the active roster,
03:07on the big league club as we get into the regular season, which starts this week, Thursday, right here on
03:15105.
03:16And we're going to have the coaches show.
03:18We're going to have Eric Nadel on weekly on the other shows.
03:22We're going to have Chris Young, G-Bag Nation.
03:24That's who you get for being the flagship, in case you did not know, for your favorite baseball team.
03:29And you hear the greatness of Nadel, Hicks, and Sandler for all 162 and hopefully more.
03:34But Vegas is saying you are not getting more.
03:37No.
03:37Because I got the updated win totals.
03:39All right, let's do it.
03:40What do you think it is?
03:42Pei-Pei, the Texas Rangers last year, I believe, had 81 victories.
03:48I'm going to go 79 and a half.
03:51Oh, wow.
03:52Oh.
03:53Four game drop.
03:55I think.
03:55Do you know what it is?
03:5683 and a half.
03:58Good job cheating.
04:00Because I know you have the Seattle win total or whatever.
04:03But, yeah, you're all right on the money.
04:04In January, it was 83 and a half.
04:07And today, it is 83 and a half.
04:10So, absolutely zero change in Vegas' opinion from January to today.
04:17Now, we go through the American League West.
04:20I have Seattle, this is from BetOnline, at 90 and a half wins.
04:25Okay.
04:26The Armpit at 85 and a half wins.
04:30The Rangers at 83 and a half.
04:33The Athletics at 75 and a half.
04:36So, a good distance away in fourth.
04:38And then the Angels at 70 and a half with the over-under of what you want to take.
04:43So, the Texas Rangers, two games better than last year and finishing in third again.
04:47All right.
04:47So, in Vegas also, the bettors do not believe in this team.
04:55They believe in the Seattle Mariners.
04:57This is the largest gap of any division.
05:01Oh.
05:0397.9% of the money has been bet on Seattle to win the West.
05:1397.9%.
05:14Wow.
05:16So, should Houston, with my Vegas standings, be farther away?
05:21If one's 90 and a half and the other's 85 and a half?
05:24Or no?
05:24Would you expect Seattle to have a higher win total?
05:27Or Houston to have a little bit less?
05:28Or no, that's fine being...
05:29Compared to what the amount of money is, it would make sense that Seattle would either have more or Houston
05:36would have less.
05:37The gap is bigger than five.
05:38Yeah, that would make sense.
05:40So, 97.9%.
05:42No other division.
05:43Like, for example, that's the money.
05:45The Dodgers, the two-time defending champion Dodgers, who also got better this offseason.
05:51Right?
05:51They got better this offseason.
05:53They're not even close.
05:55They're not even close.
05:56I have them at 103 and a half for the win total.
06:00For the win total.
06:00They only have 30% of the money bet on them to win the West.
06:04Wow.
06:0530%.
06:06Now, the Dodgers don't care about the division.
06:08They may not play their guys.
06:09Go home, Dodgers.
06:10They may not play their guys 150 games if they don't have to.
06:14With the most heavily bet division in the sport on one team is the Mariners, and it's not close.
06:20The next highest is the Mets with 70% and the Royals with 50.
06:24Nobody else, no other team has more than 50% of the money other than those three.
06:29And, by the way, outside the Dodgers, the Mariners are the only team in the sport that you have to
06:35have minus money to win.
06:36So, like, for example, minus 105 to win the division.
06:39Nobody else has that.
06:41The Rangers are 3.5 to 1, and 15% of the AL West bets are placed on them, but
06:47less than 1% of the money.
06:48So, Vegas and the bettors don't believe in them.
06:51Highest win total in the sport, Dodgers, 103.5.
06:55Mets and the Yankees, 90.5.
06:59Seattle throw them in there at 90.5.
07:01And then Philadelphia, who we will see on Thursday right here on this station, 89.5 wins.
07:07Teams with the biggest jumps from the 2026 opening win totals in January.
07:13The White Sox, the Dodgers, the Mets, and the Pirates expected to jump by four wins.
07:19Teams with the biggest drops.
07:21The Nats by five.
07:22Marlins, Blue Jays, Cardinals by four.
07:25Reds, Brewers, Yankees, Phillies minus three.
07:28CBS has their predictions to win the division.
07:32All five of their experts picked the Seattle Mariners.
07:35You agreeing with this, by the way?
07:36Any challenge from Houston?
07:38Any real challenge?
07:39I don't think so.
07:40Or a Rangers surprise?
07:41I think the surprise would come from Oakland or the Rangers.
07:45I think the Astros are on a downward trend, and I don't see that being fixed.
07:51I do think Seattle is clearly the favorite in the division.
07:55CBS has three of their five saying the A's are the second-best team.
07:58The other two say the Rangers.
08:00Nobody has the Astros finishing better than third.
08:02One of the things they say about the Rangers, they say, A,
08:05the best player liable to miss months with injuries.
08:09Another one saying, Maybe I'm giving the Rangers too much credit for keeping their guys healthy,
08:13but what if Wyatt Lankford is actually an absolute superstar?
08:18And the Rangers have a nicely balanced roster with upside,
08:21but there are heavy health-permitting caveats throughout.
08:25I don't know that it's a balanced roster.
08:27It's a heavily pitching-favored roster.
08:31Their power lies in the rotation.
08:34One guy says the Rangers are a fringe playoff contender.
08:38Margins are tiny for the American League wildcard.
08:41In fact, only two of the five picked the Rangers to actually make the wildcard at all.
08:48Did you say someone said that there was a site that said the Astros would finish no better than third?
08:55Yeah, CBS.
08:56Nobody had them finish in second.
08:58Who would they have finishing second?
08:59Either the Rangers or the A's.
09:01Wow.
09:02A lot of people are picking the A's.
09:04Now, their lineup is fantastic.
09:07People love their lineup.
09:09It's really a fun, young lineup.
09:13But it has to progress.
09:16They're banking on a progression.
09:18People are putting...
09:21I love watching these TikTok videos of these guys saying,
09:24you know, give me the future Hall of Famer on each team.
09:29And they get to Oakland and they said, Nick Kurtz.
09:33Okay, great.
09:34Nick Kurtz.
09:34Nick Kurtz played in, what, 100 games last year?
09:37It's not right.
09:38140?
09:39That's it?
09:40That was his first year?
09:41Now, granted, he had an awesome year.
09:45Right?
09:45I mean, he did things that you were like, oh my God, this is going to be so awesome.
09:48This guy's got 50 home run potential.
09:51Did you not put him in the Hall of Fame yet?
09:53Like, we don't...
09:53Just say they don't have one.
09:54Well, it's the drill.
09:55Yeah, just say they don't have one.
09:56Just say they don't have one.
09:57They don't have one yet.
09:58It's too soon to tell.
09:59Yeah.
10:00You can't call...
10:01You can't call the race that early.
10:04It's too soon to tell.
10:06So there you go.
10:06That's the Rangers finish in second or third in that one.
10:11I did love this.
10:13This is from SI.
10:17What is a manager's job?
10:20By the way, Brett Boone, tomorrow and all season long, the former Rangers hitting coach
10:26at 9 o'clock here on 105.3 The Fan.
10:29Why is he not back with the team?
10:31And give us all the stuff you could not say while working for the Rangers.
10:35Brett Boone, tomorrow at 9, and he'll be on The Fan Cam, YouTube, and Twitch.
10:40So what is a manager's job in baseball?
10:44Chris Young responded to this article.
10:47He was one of the people that they talked to.
10:48They talked to him, the Braves GM.
10:50And he said, and this is a quote,
10:54in-game decision-making constitutes only about 10% to 15% of a manager's job.
11:01And that number is on the decline.
11:04Universal DH, the Ghostrunner on second.
11:06I hate to call it a Ghostrunner, but it is.
11:07The limit on mound engagements reduced the number of choices that you have.
11:14It's more like, they even say it's more checkers than chess.
11:19Oh, yeah.
11:21Imagine that.
11:21I've never heard that saying put in reverse.
11:23The Braves GM says the least important part of a manager's job is from 7 to 10 p.m.
11:32Man.
11:33Imagine saying that in the NFL.
11:36Ooh.
11:37Could you imagine saying that Brian Schottenheimer, only 10 to 15% of his job, is Sunday at 3.30?
11:47Now, on the best teams, right, the all-time teams, they'll be like Phil Jackson with the Bulls or Jimmy.
11:52They're like, oh, the game was the easy part.
11:54Yeah.
11:55Sure.
11:55But we would still freak out, and they're still making really important decisions on game day.
12:00But, like, if you were just going on a general football team, what would you say the percentage of game
12:06is in terms of the importance of your job?
12:09Like, I would say maybe 60% is the preparation.
12:12That's what I was thinking.
12:1360% or, right, 60% you're prepared, you're well coached, and then 40% is the game.
12:18Maybe it's reversed.
12:19I don't know.
12:20Maybe it is reversed.
12:21And maybe I'm off base here, but that's where the sport is right now.
12:24Well, what do you think?
12:25What do you think are the important in-game decisions for a manager in today's game?
12:31Absolutely the bullpen.
12:32Bullpen.
12:32I don't think there's any question about it.
12:34It is the bullpen.
12:36Are we still getting the lineup handed to the manager from the GM like everyone accused JD of doing?
12:44Is that happening in L.A.?
12:47Oh, with the Dodgers?
12:49I would think so.
12:50I don't think they're getting handed it to him.
12:52I think it's now a group effort.
12:54Okay.
12:55I think they sit down at 3 o'clock, and the analytics team comes in, the GM comes in, they
13:00sit down, they have a convo, and they say, okay, this, this, and this.
13:03We're going to do this.
13:03Maybe it's not 3 o'clock.
13:06Now, I will say this.
13:07One thing, this is going to give you some PTSD from the Cowboys.
13:15Chris Young said that one of the things that he was told, one of the best pieces of advice that
13:21he got when he first took the job, and when he was embarking on a managerial search, this one, he
13:28said, find someone you like being around to be your manager.
13:33Doesn't that sound like Jerry?
13:35That's 1 billion percent Jerry.
13:37I hate that.
13:39Find a coach.
13:40I truly believe that he...
13:42Wade Campo.
13:43Yeah.
13:44He hated...
13:45Again.
13:47Hated.
13:47He didn't hate Bill.
13:49He didn't have fun.
13:50Yeah.
13:51He didn't have fun working with Bill.
13:53Too bad.
13:53Because Bill wasn't a fun guy.
13:55Bill was about football.
13:56All right?
13:57That's great.
13:57And Bill wasn't going to kiss his ass.
13:59He wasn't going to kiss his ass.
14:00You know, he wants somebody that he can put his arm around, have a beer with him.
14:02If Robert Kraft likes Bill Belichick, would he ever want to go have a glass of Caymus with Bill Belichick?
14:09Hell no.
14:09If he saw Bill at Orchids of Asia, he would walk out.
14:12I don't like hearing that about...
14:14See why I said that?
14:15Yeah.
14:15I don't like hearing that at all.
14:18Now, yeah, you want an enjoyable environment, but I assume that Bochy was cool.
14:23Yeah.
14:23And fine.
14:24Yeah, and he had a relationship with him.
14:25I don't know that they fought to keep Bochy here.
14:28I don't think they did.
14:29I think they're like, all right, Bruce is getting older.
14:31And maybe it wore out its welcome.
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