Major League Baseball free agency began. I believe the Dodgers re-upped with Clayton Kershaw, although I think they could have done it anyway. I know the Mets have already agreed with Edwin Diaz, the closer, so Timmy Trumpets can still play at Citi Field in New York.
Five years, I believe it's just over 100 million. It's a lot for a closer, but maybe it's not a lot for a closer. He became the best closer in baseball this year. Not that it did the Mets a lot of good, but... That's one thing, but there's a lot of really good free agents from Aaron Judge to Trey Turner to Carlos Correa to Jacob DeGrom to Carlos Rodon. Two NC State guys in there.
Elliot Johnson, my friend, big leaguer. Two NC State guys gonna make a lot of bucks. They've earned those bucks too, Adam.
They absolutely have earned those bucks. From that group of five, where would you like to start? Is the DeGrom one the most interesting because he's older than the others, and he's fragile because of all the time that he's missed, especially in the last two years, and because he is the best that there is?
Is that the most interesting to you? You're claiming he's the best. I think there's an argument to be had that he isn't the best, because the best ability you have is availability.
If you're never available, then... He's the best player in the world, potentially, when he's healthy, but he's hardly ever healthy. Is he worth the investment? That's why we're having this debate, because if he was healthy, shoot, he would have already been locked up. They would have given him 50 million a year.
He would have been worth it, right? But he's not, so you gotta run the table. If you're a GM, you're like, look, we love you, we just want you to hit these performance bonuses if you're healthy, but he's going to say no to that. He's going to want guaranteed money because he knows he's always hurt.
So it's probably going to be a combination of the two. I don't know if he's going to end up going first. I think Trey Turner is probably the most sought after person right now. I think he is probably going to kick things off unless Aaron Judge news starts coming out beforehand. But to me, it's kind of Aaron, it's Judge, it's Trey Turner, maybe DeGrom 3. So who would you rather have, Trey Turner or Carlos Correa? Turner. Why Turner? Turner's one year older. Correa's probably got more, not probably, I think he has more power. But Turner is maybe a more dynamic player because of his speed as well.
That's exactly the word I would use. So Correa, I think his defensive metrics, especially in the first half in Minnesota, weren't as good as he kind of had the reputation of doing when he was in Houston. So if there's third base potential risk in his near future, that kind of limits his value long term. And he's, you know, and he's looking to sign an eight to 10 year deal, right?
So that scares people away. Trey is still just explosive. You know, he hits, he runs, he plays defense, he really covers a ton of ground. He's, you know, he's not a very problematic guy in the clubhouse. Would love to have Trey on a team, you know, in any way, shape or form. Not only that, if he's willing to play center field, think of how much better he is. He's a super U player that hits like an everyday player.
So he's kind of a freak in nature. I really, I think he's probably the guy that needs to go first because once he goes, the domino effect will be, you know, does he go to Seattle? Does he go to Philly? I think Philly has a really good chance of grabbing him.
If I was Philly, I'd love to have him. And then kind of everybody kind of falls in place after that. So if you're the Dodgers, you chose Trey Turner over Corey Seeger, and now you're not going to have Trey Turner also? Well, but there's also the, the, the payroll ramifications there too, because see, things getting paid really well in Texas right now.
So Turner, Turner wasn't nearly as expensive for the past couple of years here. And so that was all part of it. They also, I'm sure they were trying to lock him up. And so one of the things that you have to think about too, is when you, when you have his rights, when he's on the team, you have exclusive rights to negotiate with him. So they'll, they'll sit there and offer you deals all over the place.
Doesn't mean you have to accept them. So you can guarantee that, that Friedman and company have offered him many deals and he ultimately chose to bet on himself and go to auction. And here we are. So will, will he stay in California? The other thing to remember for everyone is California's got that 13% state income tax. And so his money's not going to go as far in California. So, you know, everybody that has a team in California, including the Giants, who are going to be bidding on him, going to be bidding on Judge, supposedly, and Rodon, they have to come to the table a whole lot stronger, 13% stronger than a Texas team, a Washington team, a Florida team. They might not have to come stronger for Aaron Judge, if that's where he wants to be, right? If, if he wants to be at home, because he's from Northern California.
He grew up, you know, I don't know that he grew up a Giants fan, but he grew up about an hour or so west, rather east of San Francisco. So I guess I'm assuming he might have been an A's fan for all I know, if there are A's fans out there, but he might not have to, you know, make as much if home is where he wants to be. Yeah, that's a good point. I mean, we'll see what he wants to do. If that's his, that's certainly his prerogative and what he gets to do.
I mean, that's why Vida Blue fought for this. He'd get to choose where he wants to play. And if it's not just about money, he's not with Boris. So, you know, it's not like he's just going to be out there searching to break the bank. So, I mean, he is looking to get respect, but he's also looking for other things as well.
And he's a unique kind of guy. So wherever he ends up, he certainly earned it and we're happy for him. But, you know, one of the things to talk about as well is your boy Conforto played for, he was on the shelf for free this year instead of taking the qualifying offer and being hurt for 18 million last year. So that's a huge out.
Yeah. Look, the qualifying offer has been good for some players and it has been bad for others. It has been bad for teams, too. I've never, the qualifying offer is a bad thing.
They have to figure out a way around, they have to figure out a new system, I believe, with that. Do you? Peloton, let's go. This holiday with the right music and the right motivation from world-class instructors. We're going to pick it up a notch.
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The Home Depot, how doers get more done. If Aaron Judge wanted to stay with the Yankees, wouldn't they have figured something out already? No. I mean, think about that. Think about how bad Cashman just absolutely dropped the ball in spring training. Remember they ran first to the podium and held a press conference to tell everyone how much money they offered him, right? Oh, I remember how it was reported. It was reported that he turned down this record contract. I'm like, you people are nuts. See? And then he went and hit 62 home runs.
I'm so happy for him. But he never countered. He never countered. He never said, he never gave them another offer. We don't know that.
We don't know that. That's the way it's reported. Well, of course, because the people that are reporting are the ones that want that information out there because they're trying to tell their fan bases, look, we gave, we offered him so much money.
We backed up a truck and tried to give it to him, even though it was a fraction of what he's worth. So they're trying to craft this message that they are just the best stewards of the Yankees money to try and make that team as competitive as possible. But in reality, they should have been a whole lot more respectful to the man and paid him a lot closer to what he was worth.
And now they're now they're going to have to really pony up because it's going to be a lot more than what they initially claimed was their final and best offer. The they should have offered him the Mike Trout contract. Now, he's going to be 31 early in next season. He's 30 at the start of it. I think he's 31 early in the season. So you can't give him 12 years. I mean, they're not they're not silly, but you know, you could give him eight at 40 at 40 a year if you want, if you were the Yankees, because you have it. I mean, I'm not like the ESPN has his average at 36. I think that's silly. I mean, the Yankees were offered him like 31.
Yeah, yeah, I think you're right. I'm still sticking to it and it wouldn't surprise me if he gets more, but eight for 320 things appropriate. I think he's earned it.
If they give it to him, you know, maybe he gets a little bit more, but I think that's a pretty good start. Oh, that that would be yeah, that if I'm the Yankees, I would offer him that yesterday because I mean, he's not. He's also a good outfielder, but he's he's a good all around player. He played center field pretty well for them at times this year. I mean, if he can do that early in his career, you know, early in history, he's already in his 30s, but if he could do that for the first few years, you don't have to have a dynamic center fielder right away.
Right. Well, and also he's a great teammate. You know, I think he's it's been fun to watch him do what he does.
You know, he doesn't pimp anything. He's true to himself. I respect the heck out of it, you know, and you know, and it's a wonderful story.
It's easy to like the guy. I love to listen to his background and it's fascinating to see where, you know, from where he started and where he's ended up, but it's a perfect epitomization of the American dream of coming from where he came from and being one of the best players in the world. Carlos Redon, how good, what do you think his number is going to end at?
That's a great question. I think he needs to, you know, his AAV is going to be in the three. He's earned that for sure.
You know, whether it's going to be five, six, seven years, I don't know, you know, again, more, you know, his track record was spotty. Remember, I think the qualifying offer guy with the White Sox and the White Sox ended up looking like geniuses. And then the Giants looked even more genius. Like, so, you know, the risk that you're running there is you pay them all that money and you pay them all that money to sit on your shelf. So that's a that's a unique story where if you're ready to win right now, you go get them. No good fit for a lot of those teams where their window is now not as much a a fit for teams that are not close to competing right now. So, you know, you can think about, you know, even the Mariners being a team that's better involved there. But, you know, the Angels are out, you know, there's so many other teams that are obviously out. The Reds are out, the Cubs are out, so on and so forth. But, you know, the Marlins, of course, are always out and the Rays are always out. But, you know, the teams that are willing to spend money, maybe the Rangers, you know, of course, the Yankees should be there. The Red Sox should definitely be there. You know why they're never involved in these big take guys is beyond me and giving up Mookie Betts for a rather paltry return has been really disappointing for all the Red Sox fans. It's unbelievable that Boston fans have not revolted based on some of the decisions.
I mean, Mookie Betts wanted to stay. I know. So disappointing.
Very disappointing. Look, my wife's a Red Sox fan. I like the Red Sox. I'm a Mets fan. It's something that the Mets would do, too. Look, I don't know if the Mets are going to re-sign DeGrom. I don't know how big an effort they're going to make to re-sign DeGrom. I think they're really going to go hard after Brandon Nimmo, but I think Carlos Redon would be a wonderful consolation prize for me.
All right. One other thing I wanted to talk to you about, Elliot Johnson, before we have to say goodbye, is that there is a Contemporary Era Hall of Fame ballot. They don't do this every year. I think they do it every other year. So coming up for, I guess it's January, the Contemporary Era Hall of Fame ballot. And there are, I believe, 16 people on it. Still have to get the 75 percent threshold, so you need 12 votes. So, I mean, I'm just going to run down the names.
And at the end, you tell me who's in, who's out if you were voting. Albert Bell, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Don Mattingly, Fred McGriff, Dale Murphy, Rafael Palmeiro, Kurt Schilling. All right. I don't I don't want to debate the steroids stuff. So let's pass on that if we can, because I mean, that gets so, you know, you're you're you know, it's hard to find people that are in the middle on that.
You're passionate against or passionate, you know, not really passionate for, but accepting of. Well, so I don't really want to necessarily talk about that because, you know, to me, the people with their head in the sand think that the Hall of Fame doesn't have any guys that have done steroids. And I don't believe that whatsoever.
I think anybody that believes that is ignorant. I agree with you. To me, the polarizing one, for sure. Let's talk about him first to rile up the listeners. Kurt Schilling should be in. I know he's he's a jerk and I know he's very awful. You know, he should never be on the radio, right? I mean, you know, the arrogance is just profound, but he was good at baseball. And it's not the the Miss Congeniality Award of baseball. This is the Hall of Fame. You know, Ty Cobb is in there for a reason. OK, so I think Kurt Schilling is in.
And that's as much as I'll say about that. The other one I think deserves to be in is the crime dog. The crime dog absolutely deserves to be in. You know, he was such a great player for such a long time. Ninety four really hurt him because of that five hundred number. I feel like he had five hundred instead of, I think, four ninety seven. I think he's in or four ninety three, whatever it is.
But I think crime dog definitely deserves to be in, you know, the steroid cloud around the other guys. I think Dale Murphy's an interesting one. You know, he was he he was a great ballplayer. He's my grandparents favorite ballplayer. And I got to hear about him a lot. I got to meet him. His hands are so big.
They make you feel like a toddler when you shake his hand. And so he was a great player. Is the Hall of Fame worthy? Obviously, he's on this list for a reason, because he's kind of in the middle there, if you will. So, you know, I think I think he's somebody that's definitely worth talking about. Is he deserving to be in?
You know, I think it's six and one half dozen the other. Albert Bell is kind of interesting. I did. Well, the thing I think about Albert Bell, Adam, is what a great teammate. And I don't remember who it was that when he was getting when he was getting investigated for the court that he had a teammate climb into there through the air duct and change the bat. Now, I think he didn't get the right color, but I really appreciate what a great teammate that guy was to try and do that for. And Albert wasn't exactly known as like the most likable guy. So I really respect the heck out of that. That's the guy that had his eye on a World Series share.
That's for sure. So I don't know if he if he's got the merit to be in or not. He was a good ballplayer. But is the Hall of Fame worthy? You know, I'll let I'll let the writers debate that one. But I think crime dog and Curt Schilling should be in out of this list.
And then, you know, let the steroid debate happen another day. All right. Here's here. Here's my answer to that. The only two guys on this list that don't belong in the Hall of Fame to me are Albert Bell and Fred McGriff.
No way. Yeah, of the crime. I know that's not about whether or not I love the crime dog. I love Fred McGriff. If for only one or one reason, the Tom Amansky videos, the commercials that that that had Fred McGriff, he's he's the star of that of those commercials. Bonds and Clemens are two of the greatest that have ever done it. They belong in Schilling.
I agree. Dale Murphy was the best player in Major League Baseball for like seven years. He's the best player. I don't see how that guy's not. I don't I don't understand how that guy's not in Hall of Fame because his career didn't have like a gradual wind down. So he doesn't have the gaudy numbers, but he was the best player in the sport for six or seven years. He belongs in.
That's that's me. Now, does your opinion change of crime dog had seven more home runs? No. What about what about 32 more home run?
I don't know. I hadn't I hadn't put it in those terms. I didn't I didn't see McGriff. I didn't see McGriff as the like in his era. I didn't see him as, you know, the best first baseman or the best DH or, you know, he was a very consistent player for a long time, which puts him in the same category to me as Rafael Palmeiro, who has goofy numbers, but isn't a Hall of Famer. But crime dog, he he was like for, you know, I think he had a bunch of, you know, a bunch of hundred RBI seasons.
You know, may or may not love that, but it shows he was productive. He was a very good player for a very long time. Support man's Eddie Murphy, Eddie Murray. Eddie Murray is a great ball player. Yeah.
Eddie Murray's Hall of Famer three hit three hundred three thousand hits and five hundred home runs. I mean, but you see why I point to the numbers, because, you know, you're you're you're, you know, short of like having steroid suspicion, three, three hundred or five hundred home runs and three thousand hits. You're you're about all assured to get it right now. Agreeing. That's a fairly good litmus. Unless you're Sammy Sosa, who's not even on this ballot, who should be on this ballot. But man, that hurts. They said it should be. I did, too.
Sammy Sosa should be on this ballot. Elliot Johnson, I appreciate your time. You are the best man. I'll talk to you soon. All right. Take it easy. You got it. Dan, so glad we're able to meet today.
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Whisper: medium.en / 2022-11-18 00:53:01 / 2022-11-18 01:02:08 / 9
