00:00Well, Ozuna came here coming off a down season.
00:03I'm going back and reading some of the stories from when they signed him,
00:06in case you just joined us.
00:07Yeah, see, I think that's a good way to do it.
00:09Pirates have reportedly released Ozuna.
00:11And, Bob, the one I'm reading right now says,
00:14the day they signed him, one of the few places where Ozuna has struggled
00:18is PNC Park, his potential new home.
00:21He's a career .225 hitter with one home run in 36 games at PNC Park.
00:28So there you go.
00:29There were people in the media here who cautioned greatly against that signing,
00:33and they were proven to be correct as well.
00:35But didn't he have an almost MVP season the year before that?
00:38Two years before that.
00:39Two years before that.
00:40What's the worst free agent signing in Pirates history?
00:43I think we have to answer that one.
00:44Is this worse than Derrick Bell, Bob?
00:46Derrick Bell is still a tie on my list.
00:49This might be the newer version, 2.0, because it's happened.
00:54But Derrick Bell did not have the resume that Ozuna had coming in.
00:57So I don't know what my expectations were back then.
00:59It's just that he was such an annoying, antagonistic kind of guy to me.
01:04I just didn't like him.
01:07Ozuna, though, I expected so much more.
01:09I think Derrick Bell wins here because of Operation Shutdown.
01:14I mean, Ozuna didn't do much, but at least he was a great teammate by all accounts.
01:18Whereas the other guy, well, he quit and wound up living on a boat.
01:22Did he not, Bob?
01:23Yeah.
01:24Drinking, you know, Mai Tais on a boat on Pirates' expense.
01:30I love that.
01:32Now, Derrick Bell batted 173 in 46 games.
01:36So he kind of even outdid...
01:38What was Ozuna's final batting average here?
01:402.03.
01:41There you go.
01:41So, come on.
01:43Derrick Bell was 30 points lower.
01:47And I think he was...
01:50He hit 162 in AAA when they sent him down.
01:54He basically just quit, which he said he would do to his credit.
01:57He followed through on his word.
01:58He is the worst free agent signing in Pittsburgh sports history, all things considered.
02:03Derrick Bell.
02:04Pittsburgh sports history?
02:05Yes.
02:06Yes.
02:06Oh, boy.
02:07Now you're going back.
02:08Give me a worse one, because I'd love to hear it.
02:12Lonnie Chisendale.
02:14Chisholm Hall.
02:14Chisholm Hall, whatever the hell it is.
02:15Yeah, well, he never showed up.
02:17They paid him.
02:18I know.
02:19I know.
02:19That's a good one.
02:20He made almost $3 million and he never showed up.
02:22He has to be on any list.
02:23But he was hurt, I think.
02:25Was he not?
02:25Doesn't matter.
02:25Yeah, he was.
02:28Jeremy Burnitz is up there, Bob, or down there.
02:30Would you agree on that?
02:34He hit two feet.
02:35Yeah, I suppose.
02:36I've got to be reminded of some of these guys.
02:40Derrick Bell, though.
02:41How much was Derrick Bell going to get?
02:42It was more than just your normal one-year $3 million.
02:45Derrick Bell had signed something bigger than that.
02:48I can't remember off the top of my head what it is.
02:50Because it was a multiple-year deal.
02:52Derrick Bell?
02:52Yes.
02:53Yeah, he signed for two years $9.75 million.
02:57$10 million.
02:58Back in 2001.
02:59And back then, that's 25 years ago.
03:02That's $30 million now.
03:03That's far worse than this.
03:05Far worse.
03:06Far worse.
03:07Derrick Bell wins this by a landslide.
03:11Looking at some others.
03:12Raul Mondesi.
03:13That wasn't a good one.
03:14That wasn't a lot of money, though, if I recall.
03:16Right.
03:16It was one year, $1.1 million.
03:19Well, that's, you know.
03:20And then he quit.
03:23Everybody just comes here and quits limits when they sign free agent contracts?
03:27What are we doing?
03:28They don't get the prime free agent.
03:29The only one probably that was good on that list is Yvonne Nova, I guess.
03:33Because he got, he at least had some success.
03:35But everybody else, when you only sign, like, guys to one year, $3 million, $4 million in baseball, that normally
03:41means there is something to be cautious of.
03:42Mondesi then went to prison, Bob.
03:44Does that factor in?
03:45Or is that, does that not include that?
03:49He embezzled more than $6 million while mayor of San Cristobal.
03:52Do you know who he became a mayor?
03:54Mayor Mondesi?
03:56I did not know that, no.
03:57Mayor Mondesi.
03:58I don't know.
03:59Cristobal.
04:00But he.
04:01Is it named after Mario Cristobal?
04:03It might be.
04:06He was, at 2020, he was in the middle of an eight-year sentence for embezzling more than $6 million.
04:13He's the $6 million Mondesi, too.
04:16Bob, didn't he make enough in his playing career where he wouldn't have to embezzle money?
04:20You know, that never stops people.
04:22It's amazing to me how many people are going to do stuff, even for lesser amounts of money.
04:27You know, they have a whole bunch, but it's just, I want more, and I'm going to do it this
04:29way.
04:30And never thinking you're going to get caught, but you do get caught eventually, so.
04:33He left the Pirates after 26 games because of a civil suit back in the DR.
04:38And his quote was,
04:40I've played 20 straight years of baseball all year round.
04:44I deserve a rest.
04:47That is tremendous.
04:48I deserve a rest.
04:50And he didn't add, I deserve to be arrested.
04:52He had to be arrested.
04:55That's what happened here.
04:56I deserve to be arrested after all that.
05:00They all do, Bob, for stealing money from the Pirates is what, and that's what Ozuna did, too.
05:05And he seemed like a good guy, but this ain't the nice guy Olympics.
05:08It's Major League Baseball.
05:09Do you think a team will pick him up?
05:11Some team that needs a hitter down the road.
05:12Yeah, and he'll probably hit some big home runs for them.
05:15Wouldn't that, that would be just something.
05:17Yeah.
05:17If he goes to some place and he hits four critical home runs to win games, walk off.
05:21I mean, I will say this.
05:22You and I were here in maybe late June or July saying if you're going to quit on the guy,
05:28at least give him a runway.
05:29They said they were going to give him a runway, and I'm not sure he ever really got one on
05:32the way out.
05:33He never really.
05:34And it was that trip out west where they were playing teams that they really had no business, you know,
05:39not starting him,
05:39just to give him something so you can, and who knows, maybe that's what he needed and he never got,
05:44but I still blame him.
05:45He has to be the one who puts up the numbers when he gets chances.
05:48Of course.
05:48Bob, we have to go.
05:50Why do you blame me on this?
05:51It's 10, it's 1104.
05:52Well, I typically blame Joe every time, but, you know, typically Joe blames you, so I didn't want to make
05:57Joe feel bad.
05:57Oh my God, we have the general, Bob.
05:58We do have the general.
05:59We have the general.
05:59The general's been waiting for probably 10 minutes.
06:02How dare you make the general wait this long?
06:04Yeah, Bob.
06:04It's Starkey's Card of the Week from the Baseball Card Castle in Cranberry.
06:08Contests run every Wednesday through Friday at noon at the 937thefan.com contesting page.
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