00:00Talk to me quickly about this.
00:01When we have the CBA coming up next year, which we're going to vote on, can we please
00:05waive this?
00:06Is this always going to be something where he's ready, but we're not ready to pay him
00:10just yet?
00:11Yeah, look, I think your point is fair, Donnie, but here's where I would go the other way
00:17with this is that the last collective bargaining agreement changed.
00:20And if you win, if you have a player that wins the rookie of the year, you get a late
00:25first round pick in Major League Baseball.
00:27So I think that what you're seeing now is while there are still some players that are
00:34being held back, the ones that are are like the superstar potential guys out of all.
00:40The majority are coming up now because they think, hey, you know something?
00:44If Kevin McGonigal ends up winning rookie of the year, we're going to get a first round
00:47pick.
00:47And so, Donnie, what is a first round pick in baseball?
00:49It's not basketball and it's not the NFL, but what it is, let me just call it what it
00:54is, it's cost-controlled labor with a player for six years.
00:59So while you may lose some service time with a guy like McGonigal, you're getting another
01:04player back that could be a $30 million, $50 million guy for free just for calling your
01:08guy up.
01:09So I think you can pump a little bit on that.
01:13I think it's changed.
01:14I don't know how much more that will change in the new CBA.
01:17Even if you don't win rookie of the year, Donnie, if you finish second, you still get a
01:20pick, you get a second round pick.
01:21So it's changed.
01:23And what has changed significantly this year, as you just mentioned, is the first week of
01:29the season, I've never seen this from rookies before, as long as I've been watching.
01:32I've never seen guys come up and have the sort of success that they're having, very specifically
01:37Chase DeLauder with a start that is rivaling Trevor Story when Story first came up with the
01:44Colorado Rockies, and he is just fantastic out of the gate.
01:49I remember when Story did this in 2016, what he did, Donnie, was do this in spring training
01:55of 2016, and then just took it right into the regular season.
01:59I remember people saying, ah, he can't do it.
02:01And then he was fantastic for the Rockies.
02:04DeLauder is the name right now.
02:06All of a sudden, all the books are adjusting, going plus five to one, eight home run, plus
02:11four to one, eight home run.
02:12And what's it going to be, two to one for this guy to hit a home run soon?
02:15Great start for him.
02:17The best start for any rookie thus far this year.
02:20Yeah, looking at DeLauder, too, because coming into the Major League Baseball season, the
02:23projection in that lineup was like, well, we don't expect a ton out of Cleveland this
02:27year, so why not just let this kid hit three, fourth, or fifth in the lineup, stack up some
02:30RBIs and get some good looks here?
02:32And nobody expected he would come out of the gates this fast at this point right now.
02:36So it is fun to watch you play out with some of these rookies as they go.
02:39But also, if we do just put an encapsulate on what actually happened, the top prospects
02:43in Major League Baseball, number two overall was McGonagall, four for five there opening
02:47day, two doubles, two runs, two RBI, Weatherholt, Benj, and Justin Crawford.
02:51And as you said, it's fun.
02:53It can eject into your fan base, even if you start on opening day, Craig.
02:57And it's like, you know what?
02:57Our expectations, sure, we want to make the playoffs, we want to compete, but maybe it's
03:01just let some of these young guys play.
03:02Your entire fan bases can buy in and rally around some of these rookie players that are certainly
03:07doing that on opening day, Craig.
03:09Yeah.
03:09And we'll go to McGonagall here for a minute, too.
03:12Like, if there was ever a team that needed an offensive boost with a player coming up,
03:17it's the Tigers, right, Tommy?
03:18Like, this was the team that could pitch, but needed a couple of more bats with Riley
03:22Green and some of the other hitters.
03:24So great start for McGonagall as well.
03:28And naturally, look, it's still very early.
03:30You don't know what could happen.
03:31But if it was just McGonagall or just DeLauder, I would say maybe this is not a trend, but
03:37we keep going.
03:38And J.J.
03:39Weatherholt of the St.
03:40Louis Cardinals also had a great opening day and then followed it up with a walk-off
03:45winner, too.
03:46And Weatherholt is one of, and Donnie, he may be, sadly enough, the only player in the
03:51Cardinals lineup right now that you look at and say, that guy is part of the future.
03:55I don't know that they have anyone else in that lineup that you can definitively say that
03:58as they go through this sort of rebuild here.
04:01So those players are off to a good start.
04:03Of course, you know, you talk about Benj with the Mets.
04:07He's off to a good start as well.
04:10So the rookie of the year, I don't know how to handicap things when guys are just so hot
04:15at the start.
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