00:00We know the CBA is going to be a lot of talk as we get late in the Major League
00:03Baseball season.
00:03The strongest union in professional sports, it's Major League Baseball.
00:08We'll see if the owners dig in how long this might be.
00:10I hope we don't miss any time we start spring training on time, and that's fine.
00:13But with these signings, Craig, because sometimes you hear whispers like,
00:17ooh, get this guy wrapped up because if we do have a salary cap,
00:20the teams that have already signed these players could be grandfathered in.
00:23Is there any traction to that, or this is just business right now going on?
00:26Yeah, I think it would be, Donnie, if this was going on all offseason and all spring.
00:33But notice, Donnie, when did these deals get done?
00:37When did Nico Horner's deal get done?
00:39When did Baz's deals get done?
00:41When did Christopher Sanchez get signed, right?
00:44It's opening day.
00:46It's goodwill.
00:47It's come to the park.
00:48Look at our investment.
00:50And the other thing, Donnie, too, is yes, they come to an agreement within reason.
00:54These things are talked about for a while.
00:57They're probably agreed upon days before.
01:00Pete Crow Armstrong, too.
01:01So I really don't put much more into this.
01:04There's a reason why it's all about timing.
01:07The clubs want to go into the season, which is as much goodwill as possible.
01:12They want to sell their tickets.
01:13And if they have a plan to extend a player, they want to do it right before opening day.
01:18And so that is the reason why.
01:20Now, of all these extensions that we're alluding to, is it possible that the ownership groups
01:25of these teams are saying to themselves, we have a lockout, let's get something done?
01:30Yes, probably.
01:31But you think about if there is a lockout or if there is a new CBA and it does include
01:36a cap and a floor.
01:38Remember, Donnie, there is a floor.
01:39There's a floor.
01:40So they're going to have to spend a certain amount of money anyway.
01:44So I don't put that narrative into play here.
01:48I just think, simply put, teams like to, if they're going to spend the money anyway and
01:52they're going to extend the kid anyway, let's get this done and get it done right before
01:57opening day.
01:58And that's why you saw so many this past week.
02:00How about Nico Horner?
02:01Six years, 141, the fourth largest contract for a second baseman in Major League Baseball
02:06history.
02:06And Craig, I love the Cubs on paper.
02:08I love that lineup.
02:09We'll see how it does the rest of the year.
02:10But Horner really got paid and deservedly so.
02:12That's a fun team, one through nine there in Chicago, Craig.
02:16Oh, yeah.
02:17Yeah.
02:17I mean, signing Alex Bregman and then giving this money to Nico Horner and then paying
02:22Pete Crow Armstrong, too.
02:26Look, when the Cubs won that World Series and that long 100-year losing streak came to
02:32an end with Joe Maddon, Anthony Rizzo, Hayward, Chris Bryant, and that bunch, you kind of felt
02:39like that bunch, Donnie, if you remember back to it.
02:41It was going to be like the Dodgers.
02:44Like, we thought that with Arrieta and all that pitching that they had, that they were
02:48going to run through.
02:50What did you think, Donnie?
02:51Two, three years maybe of a lot of winning, maybe multiple World Series?
02:55And they did nothing.
02:57So it was kind of sad when you think about it with all the talent that they had.
03:01They were unable to win multiple where they barely even won that World Series when you
03:04think about it against Cleveland.
03:06So this is the best they've been since then.
03:08OK, this is it.
03:09This is the very best offensively pitching it's been since then.
03:14It makes sense for the Cubs to just say, hey, look, it's go time.
03:17Let's lock it in.
03:19Offensively pitching.
03:20They do have it all.
03:21Brewers seemingly always find a way to beat them and to get ahead of them.
03:25But I would be stunned if the Cubs didn't make the postseason this year.
03:29Winning a division is kind of hard to predict, but I'd be stunned if they missed the postseason.
03:34Yeah, I like them.
03:35I was hiring them to start the season.
03:36We'll see how they continue early here.
03:38And also, Shane Baz, Baltimore Orioles, he wraps up a five-year, $68 million contract extension
03:43here with the Orioles.
03:44Keeps them in town for some time here, looking to stay healthy and see if he could be that
03:48dominant ace that they wanted.
03:50Yeah, and the reason for this, Donnie, is it has to have that had to happen.
03:54Okay, so a very deep machination type deal, which we could sit here for a half hour talking
03:59about three-way deal.
04:00Tampa Bay's involved.
04:01Anytime Tampa Bay's involved, you got to wonder what they're doing because you don't trade
04:06a guy like Shane Baz, right?
04:07You don't do that.
04:08But Tampa Bay obviously loved the return that they got in this trade, but the Orioles gave
04:13up so much to get this kid, and I suppose they must have scouted him or found something
04:18that they really loved him.
04:19You can't even think about this not working out.
04:22This is the kind of deal, Donnie, that costs people jobs if it doesn't work out.
04:26So not a surprise at all for me.
04:29He's got a chance to be a really special player.
04:31I thought he was going to be a real special player in Tampa Bay, but the way that the
04:34Rays look at players, Donnie, is not like any other team, really, in baseball.
04:39They just look at it, buy low, sell high.
04:42If we can make a deal, we don't care what the name of the back of the jersey is.
04:46And they did that, and the Orioles had to have a long-term starter.
04:49So they're hoping Baz is the guy.
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