After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 4

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Get in the game and download the free Odyssey app today. Good morning to you. Good morning to you on a Thursday. We're getting so close to the weekend.

This is really indicative of my life this time of the year and honestly a good portion of the football season. A friend of mine, actually it's a group of friends of mine who are getting together on Tuesday next Tuesday for food and fellowship and just kind of hanging out post holidays to kind of catch up and see how everyone is doing. It's a group of people from my church and we routinely get together.

They routinely get together. Since they started doing it on Tuesdays I haven't made it much because I'm so worn out from the football weekend generally that I'm a vegetable on Tuesday. I'll be honest, all this energy and enthusiasm that I bring to the show every day, well it's real but at some point generally on Tuesdays after every NFL weekend I crash hard and I really am more of a vegetable in my sweatpants.

And the reason I get dressed is because I have to take the dog out for a walk but I generally am in my sweatpants in my chair with my laptop and my remote or a book and I'm just kind of staring into space. I'm not real functional on Tuesdays following an NFL weekend. So my friends, again they haven't gotten together since before the holidays. We had a holiday party in early December. That was the day where I showed up and promptly realized I had forgotten. This is what happens when you put stuff on Tuesdays. I had forgotten that we were supposed to be showing our Christmas spirit. And so I showed up and I was the only one who wasn't in red, wasn't in green, wasn't wearing an elf costume or a Santa hat or a jingle bell or reindeer antlers or some guy showed up in his Christmas pajama bottoms.

This group of people probably they need to disassociate with me but my social life boils down to they'd asked me to get together on Tuesday and my response was kind of like that. Can you please find me that meme or that it's a gif right on social and I don't know I just think you need to share it. You know what, people can put their own captions on it. It doesn't really need any caption but if you hear the story and you want to go check out our show Twitter After Hours CBS, this is a gif right Jay? It would be a gif. This is the gif that I'm thinking of. Steve Carell from The Office where he does the deep intake of breath through his teeth that he's bearing and his face is all scrunched up. Did you find it?

Of course. It's so easy and Jay loves The Office. In fact, I keep telling producer Jay that one of the best shows that he could find right now, whether it be TV or whether it be the web, is Jack Ryan season 3. It's on Amazon Prime and it's amazing and he tells me I can't because I can't ever see John Krasinski who's the starring role. I can't ever see John Krasinski in a different role outside of The Office, the geek in The Office. But I'm telling you, he is a badass in Jack Ryan.

I know but that's the issue that I have. I'm sure it's great and he's a great actor but it's just seeing him as this huge buff superhero killing people, saving the day. I'll say this. He is an analyst nerd. That's how he starts out and so he's kind of a slow burn into the badass but he starts out as just a guy who crunches numbers if that makes you feel any better. No because he's not smart. He is smart in The Office but he's a slacker in The Office. That's his role. But he drops the F bomb every 5 seconds which I know there are times where you would appreciate that. And he and Wendell Pierce who is his boss, a phenomenal actor.

They have the best chemistry. You would absolutely love it. No, I gotta check it out.

I've heard only phenomenal things. I'm telling you, he starts out as an office nerd so that should be something. Like half my family watches it too and they all love it. Everyone's obsessed. Okay well then I've got them on my side too. I still have 3 episodes to go in season 3. This is also me. I'm putting them off because I don't want the end to come. I've done that.

So back to Steve Carell and this GIF from The Office where he does the... I know you know exactly what I'm talking about. Anyway, my friend said to me, hey you wanna come over on Tuesday?

We're just gonna hang out for an hour. And that was my internal response because after Saturday afternoon and evening, after Sunday triple header, early afternoon, mid afternoon, also evening, after Monday evening, I don't think I will have much energy following this supersized wildcard weekend. But maybe that's how the NFL wants it. I tell you all the time, the NFL is a jealous lover. They do not want us looking anywhere else.

They don't want us to have eyes for anybody else. So they agreed to have no Monday Night Football week 18 and that's part of their plan anyway to have the games all finished on Sunday but they stepped aside for the national championship in college football on Monday, a day that normally is inhabited by the NFL out of the goodness of their hearts, the kindness of their hearts. They agreed to share Monday with college football but now that it's the NFL and only the NFL, I'm just saying, they want you to be completely exhausted with no mental energy left for anything else.

No eyes for anything else. So buckle up, supersized wildcard weekend is on tap. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio. Yeah, I have no social life. Thanks, NFL. That's on you. Or maybe I should just come to work and not really care. Would you still listen to my show if I didn't know what I was talking about? Jay just shook his head like that's not a good idea because not only will you be out of a job but I'll be out of a job so just admit that's what you were thinking. It might have crossed my mind. It might have crossed his mind that he's got his wagon hitched to my star such as it is.

I use the term talent loosely around here. Alright, so we'll do an extensive playoff prep on tonight's show. Thursday into Friday it'll be a football Thursday. Yeah, it'll be a tailgate Thursday. Boom.

How about that? Tailgate Thursday, although those sounds are not, that's not like classic alliteration but we could do that. Tailgate Thursday into a football Friday because see it's the NFL and we're allowed to tailgate. Not like a college football national championship.

No tailgating there. Do you think that people were injured and hurt for life because they couldn't tailgate at the college football national championship? It seemed to affect a lot of people.

It did. It seemed like the number one complaint leading up to it. It's a little bit like cheating. That phrase about cheating.

If you ain't cheating you ain't trying. Isn't that the adage? Well I feel like people applied that to tailgating. Well no, to complaining about tailgating. If you ain't complaining you ain't living.

That could be the motto of the world for the last decade or so. I'm talking deep dive on your super-sized wildcard weekend. Your six games coming up on Saturday and Sunday and Monday.

I hope you have another plan or maybe that's just me. But we have a bunch that we want to mix in here. In fact we've got baseball with David Sampson coming up in 12 minutes here on CBS Sports Radio to talk about Carlos Correa who was reintroduced to the Minnesota Twins and the Minnesota fans on Wednesday. And he wants them to know there's absolutely nothing wrong with him or his surgically repaired ankle. It has not kept him out of any games and they have nothing to worry about. One thing I learned throughout the whole process was that doctors have different self opinions. I had a lot of doctors tell me that I was fine.

I have some doctors that said it wasn't so fine. It was shocking to me because since I had the surgery I never missed a game. I never got in treatment in my ankle. My ankles never hurt. So when the news came it was a little shocking.

But I'm ready. I'm in my mind with the expertise of some doctors. Name doctors like Dr. Elitrash telling me that the ankle is great. It's in great shape. Dr. Kemp here telling me that I'm in outstanding shape. Even better than last year he told me so. So that mentally going to next season for the rest of my career I'm going to treat it like I've always treated. Just going to compete every single day. Give my everything out there on the field and help my organization win championships. So he ends up back in Minneapolis and he is now saying all the right things.

I appreciate that he understands there could be some qualms with Twins fans. Hey we were your last choice. You were going to go to San Francisco. Then you were going to go to New York. You only ended up back here because you had no other options. But he's promising that this is always this was always a possibility.

This is always a place that he had kept in his mind and that everything happens for a reason. I couldn't be more happier. My family is very happy. Daniel is excited.

Kylo is going to grow up to be Minnesota nice which I love. And yeah we're very excited. I get more Juicy Lucy's also. So we had to look up Juicy Lucy's. There is such a thing as a Juicy Lucy juice bar but that's not what he was talking about. In fact I think we had one fan who was listening in the area who sent us a link to Juicy Lucy.

But I looked it up. Juicy Lucy. Oh the photos are fantastic. A delicious hamburger stuffed. A stuffed hamburger you guys. Stuffed with molten bubbly water falling cheese.

That's it. It's a burger stuffed with cheese. Jay how often would you say that you eat burgers when you get home from work in the morning. Just be honest.

You know what happens if you lie on national radio. At least once a week at minimum. So I don't do that. I eat breakfast food in the morning but I'm not judging. Producer Jay kind of views it as his dinner. Every now and then he'll have an egg dish. But a lot of times it's Hot Pockets or it's burgers or whatever.

I mean sometimes you'll do. We have a few cheeseburgers together. You'll do leftover ham sandwiches. I mean you'll do all kinds of stuff that I would never touch in the morning. It just feels like ew to me. It's fair game. It's like dinners pretty much most of the time.

So there are times when he does burgers. So when I tell you what a Juicy Lucy is all about does it make your mouth water for a burger on this Thursday morning? I definitely could go for one. I think I might. I don't know how to make a Juicy Lucy though. Should I give it a shot?

Knowing your cooking skills and their limitations I would say no. Oh Jay come on. Just don't even.

Alright I won't even get into that one. What if you put the cheese in? How does it melt and not burn while the meat's cooked? I don't know.

It's an art. Maybe you make the patty and when you're making the patty you kind of put a piece of cheese in the middle and then form the patty around it. Or do you insert the cheese with say a knife? Like the burger's already cooking? You cut into it and shove the cheese in? I'm not sure. I've never tried it but we could.

It'd be fun. I don't know the right method. I feel like folding it and putting the cheese in there before you cook it would be the right way to do it. But I like your way of doing it. It's already kind of cooked and then you get a little base cook and then you put it in there.

Shock it with some cheese in there? Interesting. Juicy Lucy. Now I need to go to Minneapolis just to have a Juicy Lucy.

I'm not sure if they're a chain or not. I just know that sounds amazing. Is it cheese specific?

It doesn't say so. I bet you can pick your cheese. Which cheese would you pick? I would pick mozzarella. Because you're picking mozzarella I would pick provolone.

Or regatt would be really interesting in a burger. Any kind of cheese is delicious. I'm even a blue cheese lover. So when I have wings I have blue cheese. Ranch with wings is no. Thank you producer J. We finally agree on something that has to do with food. We don't agree on much about food but we do agree on that. Okay so Carlos Correa, thrilled to stay. This is always an option for me. This was not my last choice but what about the Mets and Giants and how hard or not so hard they tried to work it out with his physicals?

Very surprising. Especially because in 2022 I did three physicals. I did one full physical with Dr. Eletras before I did the physical with the Twins before I signed the deal. And then I did an exit physical with Dr. Kemp again and everything was fine. So going into that physical there was no concerns on my part. My body feels great. I played throughout the whole season.

Never felt better. So yeah it was surprising. Coming up we will ask longtime Marlins President David Sampson the perspective of the Mets and the Giants but also I'm going to put it to him. If you were still in a front office how would you have handled this situation? I kind of wonder why didn't the Mets or Giants just tailor their offers and cut them in half? The Twins ultimately gave them a six year deal for $200 million.

It was more average annual value. Or maybe Scott Boris wouldn't have taken that. Maybe once the offer was on the table he would have said no way.

You're not cutting the offer in half. I'm not sure. So I'm interested in David Sampson's insight that's coming up. Really quickly one more from the baseball world. Rafael Devers speaking to Red Sox fans on Instagram Live.

I'm here for a long time. Vamanos. Vamanos that's right I like it.

It's perfect for a Thursday morning. Vamanos get your ass out of bed. 11 years $331 million for Rafael Devers who's 26 years old just shy of three batting 300 with his average last year. 27 homers 88 RBI. But let's be fair the Red Sox could not they had to pay him whatever it cost because the Red Sox could not afford to lose him after Zander Bogarts is gone. And really it's been a mass exodus right. Some of their top players Mookie Betts Andrew Benintendi players that Red Sox fans loved and that were productive there.

A lot of them had the last names that started with B's and they just they all left and they got the money that they wanted. They got great situations elsewhere. I say the Mookie Betts still hurts and that would still hurt. He goes to the Dodgers and even before he plays a game that counts he signs a massive deal wins an MVP wins a World Series. I mean he's phenomenal but so is Bogarts and now so is Devers. And so Haim Bloom of the Red Sox said hey obviously this was a priority.

Every organization dreams of developing star players. Rafael Devers is a star. He's one of the most feared hitters in the game. He is. He has been. The guy that we want up in the biggest situations. The guy that when you play us you circle and you always know when his spot is coming up. He's not just a star.

He's our star. It's a wonderful thing to retain a homegrown player who loves Boston and Boston and Red Sox nation loves back. I agree. I agree. However does this appease Red Sox fans because all I've heard is grousing about the Red Sox allowing all of these players that they loved to walk over a few. Well I mean it's not my money but a few million dollars here or there and how the approach of the franchise in the front office has changed when it comes to players.

And I don't know if this works. I mean it's great that they keep Devers and I'm glad he's happy and he gets money and he's got a ginormous smile and a game to match. I just don't know how far this goes. And in the A.L. East I almost said AFC East because I'm so football mode in the A.L. East right.

Well will it be enough. So we'll find out. Those are questions we won't have answers to right away but we will pose them anyway to David Sampson when he joins us next. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. You are listening to the NFL playoffs live on Odyssey touch down as time expires. Unbelievable turn of events nonstop coverage from the biggest sports radio stations in the country. Podcasts dedicated to each NFL team and postseason games streaming live for free.

Looks right throws right. Your playoffs your Odyssey get in the game and download the free Odyssey app today. The NFL playoffs live on Odyssey touched down as time expires.

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The whole free AC process is a very complicated process as we know a lot of things happen along the way. But at the other day all that matters is that I'm here I'm going to represent this city I'm going to represent this organization. I'm going to do it the right way. I'm going to play hard every single day. I'm going to be out there on the community helping as much as I can. And all that matters what I do from this moment forward for this organization. I'm really focused on that I'm really focused on giving my all me and my family are going to be very dedicated to the city. And that's going to be for a long time. So we're very happy and excited. This is after hours with Amy Lawrence Carlos Correa back in Minneapolis. I just want to know whether or not he gave up his place of residence or if now he has to find a new place to live. What a month. Not sure anybody could have scripted that one but ultimately get six years two hundred million dollars a full no trade clause physicals pass to support from the franchise and more juicy Lucy's in his future.

It's after hours with Amy Lawrence. We are pleased to welcome longtime Marlins president baseball insider podcast host extraordinaire David P. Sampson to the show. And generally I jump in with a hard hitting question. But in order to kind of butter you up first David I will say Happy New Year. How are your holidays. How are you doing. Happy New Year. Everything was great. I thought we were past that. I mean when you get the double digits in January I think it's too much. But that said we haven't spoken.

So Happy New Year and healthy New Year to you and yours. All right. Well then gloves are off. OK let's go. Let's go toe to toe. David. So if you're in a front office well let's start.

I'm going to go each of the front offices that were involved with Korea. If you're in the twins front office how are you feeling right now about six years two hundred million and everything that just happened. Well I had the player last year and I was willing to give him two hundred eighty five million dollars for 10 years.

And now I'm giving him at most two hundred and seventy over 10 years and I control the last four years. So I feel pretty good about what deal I was able to do. I'm not so sure I'm happy that the player wanted to be here or I'm sure the player wanted to be here. But that said we've got him and he's going to be a centerpiece to us winning. So if I'm the twins I'm very happy.

All right. So a guaranteed six year deal and a lot of money in terms of average annual value but not the years that the Mets or Giants were willing to give. From the Mets perspective if you're in the Mets front office and you see what it took to get him or get him back to Minneapolis what's your reaction.

I'm a little surprised if I'm the front office because unless I was told the truth by Steve Cohen I'm not sure I understand why we didn't get our player. While we initially offered three hundred and fifteen million dollars we tried to renegotiate and it didn't happen. But then he only got two hundred million from the twins and we offered one hundred and fifty seven. Why did my owner just offer another forty four million dollars.

Go two hundred and three let's say more two hundred and two million dollars and he would have been in New York. So in the front office I would find it strange for Steve Cohen. He had a change of heart. Maybe he realized that the other owners were quite unhappy with what his payroll was going to be. Maybe he was told don't put your payroll in that area because the Dodgers Yankees and Marlins are all upset about it. So I think there was a lot going on from the Mets standpoint. So I'm not at all surprised that he's not on the Mets.

OK. So maybe this wasn't just about Correa David it was also about the astronomical figure the numbers for his payroll had they signed Correa to the original deal. I happen to believe that. And the silence coming out of the Mets organization their simple 13 word statement I think they put out that they didn't have an agreement with him and they wish him well in the future. I like it when teams say that because we used to say that too but we never meant it. We don't wish player well when they choose someone else and not us or when we don't get the player we want or when we have to release a player or fire. We always do that when we fired our manager.

We wish him and his family well and thank them for their service. That's not how we ever felt firing a manager. We were despondent that we didn't win and had to fire the guy.

So that made me laugh. But but I think that if I'm the Mets I'm trying to figure out whether or not you know Steve Cohen went too far. And from Steve Cohen standpoint he has to figure out where he's going to live in the ownership ecosystem because everyone knew that he was going to spend like a drunken sailor. But I don't think they realized that his payroll would be so far above everyone else's. See why we love David Sampson especially when he joins us live in the early morning hours. He's got no V chip. He just kind of puts it out there into the stratosphere and entertains us but also gives us good info.

All right. So then completing the trifecta the Giants they barely had him. It was a couple of days they started to balk and Cohen swoops in. So if you're the Giants watching this what's your reaction. So I know Giants fans are upset.

I did a radio show locally in San Francisco yesterday and the fan base was disappointed. And I would say this. No good decision is ever made by a front office based on emotion. And again I would know because I made so many decisions based on emotion and they were all wrong.

Remember what happened here. They didn't get Aaron Judge and they felt disappointed left at the altar. And all of a sudden they turned around and offered Korea this crazy deal of three hundred and fifty million dollars over 13 years. I feel like they dodged a bullet and they found a way they found God during the physical and realized wow. This sort of pivot that we did was really a knee jerk reaction to losing Judge to try to satisfy a fan base that was so excited and lathered up about getting Aaron Judge.

And I think they realized that they ought not do that. So I think that it's going to work out very well for the Giants not getting Korea. However good he is it's still going to work out for them. Because remember there's always another player and owners can forget that sometimes. But there's always another player. Maybe they'll bid for Otani next year. You never know. Yeah there is that possibility.

A lot of buzz about him already. So then David let's just put you back in a front office. So you've given us kind of the perspectives of these three teams that were involved.

If it's you how would you have handled this physicals at all? I think that when you sign a free agent. So here's how it works. If it's your own player you really know the player. You live with the player. When you're signing a player that you've never had.

You've just seen him in the opposing dugout. You do a physical. You do blood work and urine work and you have the orthopedic surgeon look at him. You put him in the MRI tube and take pictures of every part of his body.

And then you have to calculate sort of your risk assessment and what your risk tolerance is. And if I know that he had an injury in 2014 that had not cropped up again and the doctors had cautioned me that there's future arthritis as an example. I've heard that with players or there's some fraying of the elbow ligament that maybe he's got a 32 year old elbow. We've heard that a lot.

But the players only 26. So there could be danger going forward. My view always was I'm going to worry about tomorrow later. I'm going to worry about today now. But when you've got a long term deal like a 10 year deal or longer you do tend to be more concerned about what could happen or what the doctors are saying.

And I think the Giants just got got some cold feet and I think the Mets it was a different story. And I think the twins did a deal that sort of guaranteed that they're not going to get totally screwed if he ends up with some sort of injury that the doctors had that is possible. So I think everybody ends up where they should in this deal, including Korea, by the way, who still gets 200 million dollars guaranteed. And if the twins don't pick up the last four years of his deal, he'll be a free agent to get 34 and he can find another two or three year deal if he's been healthy the whole time. Well, good.

I'm glad you made that point because I said that on our last show. Hey, this is not necessarily a bad situation for him to be in if it continues to not be a problem. He's still only 34.

And if he's productive, he could sign another deal that would be guaranteed moving forward at that age. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio, longtime Marlins president and baseball analyst and podcast host. Nothing personal with David Sampson here on the show this morning. So we were just also letting fans hear from Rafael Devers.

I like him. He's a great ambassador for baseball, obviously homegrown for the Red Sox. But I was asking the question of whether or not this is enough to satisfy Sox fans who are kind of disgruntled over the number of players who've left. So the mass exodus almost of the stars. So your perspective, a kind of big picture with the Red Sox.

Is this enough? Well, big picture. When you sign your own player back, one of the things that fan bases get wrong, the Yankees are better this year than last year. They have the same Aaron Judge. They're just paying him more. They didn't add to their team.

They just took their same team in theory and paid more. And the question is, could Aaron Judge have a better season than he had last season? You look at Rafael Devers and you have to make choices when you run a team. Even the Red Sox do. They had Mookie Betts and they didn't sign him long term. They had Bogart. They didn't sign him long term.

They chose to get into bed with Devers. And what a great player he is. But I sort of worry about his long term. I worry about the projection of his body and how long he can stay in the infield and stay productive. Having the DH in all baseball is obviously helpful because I think that these players signing these deals at this age for this amount of time, they're all going to be DHs by the end at best. You know, just think about Albert Pujols as an example. Or Miguel Cabrera as an example.

It's very hard to be productive later in your career, late in your 30s. It just doesn't work that way in baseball much anymore. And from the Red Sox standpoint, if you're a fan, man, you've gotten four World Series. There's not a fan base out there since 2004. Maybe the Giants with three in 10, 12 and 14.

But who else do you want to be other than a Red Sox fan for the past almost 20 years? They've really done well. But as far as this team is concerned in this division, they've added, you know, some pitching. They brought in Justin Turner to replace J.D. Martinez. They lost Nathan Evaldi. They got a new closer, Kenley Jansen. What does it all add up to? My guess is at best a third place finish in the A.L. East.

Definitely is a competitive division. All right. Shifting quickly on you, just because I love to do that.

Try to get you off your game. But that rarely ever happens, actually. I don't know that it's ever happened.

Trevor Bauer was designated for assignment by the Dodgers, which means he would soon be available. If you're a GM or a president, do you touch him? Do you even think about bringing him on board? Well, I think about everything, but no. So here's the question that front offices have. What do you say during the press conference? So just think about that for one second. Let's talk about it.

You go you walk into the room, you're presenting a uniform or you just do it as a statement. But what are you saying to the press when you signed Trevor about you just saying, listen, he went through the process. He served his suspension and now we're giving him a second chance.

But there's zero tolerance. Don't forget, this is the same player who threw the ball into center field when Terry Francona, the most respected manager in baseball, went to take him out of the game. This is somebody who's always been on his own program, always been a selfish player, never been popular in the clubhouse, always been someone where the juice is not worth the squeeze, even when he's been as good as he's been later in his career. But he hasn't pitched in well over a year. So there's just so many negatives about signing him. The positive is that there's so much a lack of pitching around baseball that if you can get a good starter, you want it. But I just don't think any owner right now can come up with what to say to their fan base that would possibly be good enough to excuse getting him and what you would say to your existing players. So I do not think he will pitch in another inning in Major League Baseball. I got to hand it to you, David. I never did think about it from the jump with the opening press conference. But you're right, how awkward and uncomfortable would that be and the tone that it would set? Because there isn't anything you can say other than, hey, we're really hoping he's a good pitcher and can help us win baseball games, which rings hollow. All right, one more before I let you go.

Now I'll just leave it wide open for you. What is a storyline from this hot stove that we haven't talked about that floats your boat? Well, I think the number one story for me, and I'm definitely biased because I spent my whole career there in the National League yeast. Look at a team like the Braves, who took all their young players and locked them up into long term deals. They won a World Series. They exchanged Freddie Preeman for Matt Olson last year. Then they get the Mets who are all of a sudden acting like the Yankees or even the Yankees on steroids. And don't forget about the Phillies, a team that went to the World Series and brought in Trey Turner. And the way it works in baseball, only one of those teams is going to win a division.

Maybe they'll all get in the playoffs, but one of them is going to lose in the wildcard round. And so somebody is going to be really unhappy in only a matter of nine months from now. And so we're talking about the gestation of a human being.

And that goes fast for those of us who've had children. Somebody is going to be miserable come October in that division. And that's the thing about the off season. Winning the off season is not very helpful because I've done that, too. And it's led to a disastrous season in season. The key is winning in October. And by definition, somebody is going to be losing in October or maybe not even get to October.

And that's going to be the storyline of the season. Well, think about it. Court. One more, Amy. Yeah.

Sorry. Well, I have you while I'm awake. If you thought the Aaron Judge sweet steaks were exciting or you remember Carla Palooza from back in the day when he came to the Yankees as a free agent to show.

Hey, Otani, free agent. It is going to be outstanding. And maybe I'll take up permanent residence at five o'clock in the morning with you because they're going to be teams lathering themselves, trying to figure out how to find a guy who can be at the top of their rotation and in the middle of their lineup. Crazy. I was only going to say that there were two teams in the NL East that won one hundred and one games and neither one ended up in the World Series.

So, yeah, a very competitive division. But the show, hey, that is on the horizon. Oh, there's so many other things that I could ask you.

So we'll talk again before pitchers and catchers report. But find David on Twitter at David P. Sampson. S.A.M. S.O.N. He's got the nothing personal podcast, which is daily. You can see him on CBS Sports HQ, but really he brings his best stuff for us. A longtime Marlins president who is so awake at this hour.

I don't understand it, but it works for me. Thank you, David. Happy New Year, Amy. Happy New Year to you. You're a goof.

Go away. Oh, he makes me laugh, but also really good information and never once has balked at a question. I tried to turn up the heat with him and he's never balked at a question. So thank you to David. And that'll be part of our podcast coming up later on if you missed it. On Twitter, a law radio on Facebook, we're asking you the high for your NFL team this year, the low for your NFL team this year.

Some of you are scraping to come up with answers. The NFL playoffs live on Odyssey. Touchdown as time expires.

Unbelievable turn of events. Nonstop coverage from the biggest sports radio stations in the country. Podcasts dedicated to each NFL team and postseason games streaming live for free. Your playoffs, your Odyssey.

Get in the game and download the free Odyssey app today. I'm Larry Mullins, host of the podcast, Your Weirdest Fears, the show that explores the odd things that make your heart stop. I am so scared of the Grinch. He is bad vibes. We talk to everyone from therapists to exterminators to lizard man. I was 25 when I actually got my tongue split.

I have one tattoo that covers my entire body. Listen and subscribe on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts from. You are listening to the after hours podcast. Tua has not been cleared by doctors to resume football activities on the field with his teammates. So because of that and because of the time that he's missed, I can rule him out for Sunday.

This is after hours with Amy Lawrence. That is an unfortunate update on one of the starting quarterback positions as we look ahead to supersize wild card weekend. No Tua. And I don't think it's a huge surprise because we hadn't heard anything of him still. He's still in concussion protocol. And I can imagine the team. Well, it's not the team. It's the doctors.

It's the independent neurologist, a neurological specialist, neurologist. She said as she finishes up the final few minutes of her show, those those are the men and women right now who are in charge of his health. This is nothing to do with the team. And Mike McDaniel has said it repeatedly. He's just as much in the dark as anyone else. And he's waiting for updates like the rest of us.

So it's unfortunate. I hate it for Tua. And now you're starting to see the speculation about his career and moving forward and what happens. And I've even seen it entered intertwined or juxtaposed with conversations about the Dolphins at quarterback. And could they be looking for a veteran and could they be in on one of these guys like, say, a Jimmy Garoppolo or a Derek Carr or dare I say it, a Tom Brady? And Aaron Rodgers.

It's after hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio. The other starting quarterback that we've been waiting anxiously to hear positive news about. That's Lamar Jackson. He did not practice on Wednesday. He was off to the side working with trainers, which would seem to indicate that he's not going to be starting this weekend. According to John Harbaugh, Tyler Huntley is on schedule. Now, he did not throw when the media was present at practice on Wednesday. But the Ravens head coach has indicated he's on schedule.

So take that for what it's worth. We're going to do an extensive playoff preview wildcard preview coming up on tonight's show. It'll be a tailgate Thursday into a football Friday. We'll have polls.

We'll have all the audio to get you ready. But even before that, though, because it's bigger than football. Sean McDermott and Josh Allen reacting to the news that Damar Hamlin is home. He's not just back in Buffalo. He's actually home in his own residence with his family. Grateful first and foremost that he's home and with his parents and his brother, which is great. I'm sure it's felt like a long time since he's been able to be home naturally there. And I'm sure it's a great feeling. It's an awesome feeling. We're just hoping that he's getting his rest and his recovery.

As a team, we're extremely happy. Some guys were chomped at the bit to go see him. But against doctor's orders, just making sure that he's, like I said, getting his rest and recovery and taking it slow. And obviously just trying to get back to being himself. So we'll take all the time that we need. But I hope he knows the guys are ready to see him.

It's actually an interesting question, right? He's resting. He's home. It's a miraculous recovery. Credit to the medical teams, the doctors. We talked about the first responders. He received world-class care that saved his life. But when can he be around his teammates?

That, to me, feels like it could also be a healing salve. When can he return to the Bills facility in Orchard Park? We'll leave it up to him. His health is first and foremost on our mind as far as his situation goes.

And then when he feels ready, we welcome him back as he feels ready. So again, Sean McDermott, Josh Allen also talking about the football game. We'll hear that perspective and that focus as we get to our Thursday night show. And it's very close. We're there. We're nearly on it.

It's After Hours on our Facebook page, also on our show Twitter, After HoursCBS. Some of you reacting to our David Sampson conversation, which is great. He does tend to move the needles. That's an old radio term. But also some of you responding to, well, two food points that I made. So I want to share these because we're getting advice about how to make a Juicy Lucy, if you're interested, Producer J.

Very. David, and I don't know if he has a particular expertise when it comes to a Juicy Lucy or maybe he Googled it, not sure. But he tells us to make a Juicy Lucy, you take two thin burger patties, you fold a piece of cheese up and you place it on top of one and then the other patty on top. So essentially a sandwich with your two thin patties and the cheese in the middle.

Cook one side, flip it over, poke a small hole so the cheese does not explode and boom, you're done. Now, to piggyback on David's tweet, this is Matthew. And I wish I knew where he was.

I guess I could do a Google search, but not while I'm on the air. But he's actually in the business. He's a news anchor.

And so he's listening to us, presumably on his way to work. He says, if you're planning on trying a Juicy Lucy at some point, a word of advice. You must, in all caps, cut it in half before biting into it unless you want a large helping of bubbling liquid cheese all over your shirt and pants.

Trust me on this. So the cheese seems to be... The cheese is dangerous. It's gonna be like a volcano of cheese. The waterfall it was.

But isn't that what we heard? A Juicy Lucy description is a delicious hamburger stuffed with molten, that sounds like lava, flowing, bubbly, water-falling cheese. That's it. I'm doing this this weekend. Are you in?

Yeah, I'm so in. Okay, we're gonna do our own Juicy Lucy's with either Mott's or I think I have Colby Jack cheese at home right now. Can we try that? That works.

Okay. But I don't want to cut it before I bite into it. I want the molten, water-flowing cheese. I don't care if you get it all over your pants and your shirt as long as it doesn't go all over my kitchen floor.

I just want to do it right. Fine, but not all over my kitchen floor. Do you hear me?

Are we on the same page? I don't know if I can control that with all these descriptions. Oh, you're gonna wear a bib then. You're not getting it all over my kitchen floor. I'll just take it to the...

I just cleaned my kitchen floor! Okay, so a couple more things here. These are funny. We get this tweet in response to me saying it has to be blue cheese on wings.

Hurricane Hugo, that's his Twitter account. Today is the day I have to stop listening to ALaw radio because she eats blue cheese and not ranch on her wings. And then one more fad says, sorry Amy, but ranch with wings. Oh, you two, you guys are tame. That's not how they're intended to be eaten. Not at all.

No, to me that says that you're timid. I need you to be bold and have blue cheese on your wings. It's elementary. Yeah, ranch dressing is, it's bland. No, it's not.

It doesn't bring out the flavor of the blue cheese. And then a bunch of you responding to our question about the highs and lows for your team this season. And we can continue with that moving forward into our final show of the work week. Byron says the high point of the Ravens was signing Roquan Smith, which just happened. The low point losing Lamar for the second half of the season, that's for sure. Zeke says the commanders beating Philly Monday night to end their perfect season. The commanders losing to the Giants at home after coming off a bye. Hang with us tonight.

We'll talk then. It's after our CBS Sports Radio. Boom! The NFL playoffs live on Odyssey. Touchdown as time expires.

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