Bart's Baseball Bonanza

Good evening, everybody. I'm Bart Winkler.

Welcome into the WinklerVerse, as we've got a couple of different things on this episode as we drop one on a Friday news dump. I am recording this, 753 p.m. Friday, April 4th, for exact specifics. I'm about one hour away from going on the air for the Infinity Sports Network, and the Brewers are currently up one nothing. So that's where we're at against the Reds. I don't have a postgame kind of breakdown for that Brewer game because I'm going to do my show, and then I'm going to go home and pass out unless Timmy wants to meet up at camp. But I am pretty tired.

I'm pretty tired. I had Bart's baseball bonanza this week. Got some, I guess, lowlights from that, and then a voicemail or two, and then a Bart-O-Meter that I want to share.

Bart-O-Meter is a segment I do on the Infinity Sports Network, a fun one about quarterbacks that maybe you will like or maybe you will not listen to because it comes after a commercial. This was a great week. It was a long week. It was a tiring week. It was the week where the Brewers had their first seven games here with more games coming up this weekend. Also, the Cubs had a home opener, and typically I would not care about that, but I did go. That's what I have returned from before the Friday night show.

I did go to that. Carlos Ortiz, my producer in New York, and I have never face-to-face met in real life, IRL. I mean, we've done plenty of FaceTime and plenty of talking down the line and texting, but he was coming to Chicago and I said, I'll come meet you, which is something I do all the time.

Somebody says something, I say, I'll do it, and then I never do. I always back out, but I thought I can't do that. I can't do that to KO, so I went down there, met him, got to hang out, had a fun time, went to the game. Cubs games, when they're not playing the Brewers, it's not the worst thing in the world. I don't like that they won. I did root against them and I was live betting against them, which I did not win, because you can bet in Illinois and pretty much everywhere besides Wisconsin.

I've run out of apps, though. I did ESPN Bet today. I did Bet365 when I went down there a couple of weekends ago, because you get all those free promos. I did my $10 on ESPN and then I made a bunch of bets and then I cashed out $20.

I made $10 today, which I'm pretty jazzed about, for sure. It was a fun week and it was a busy week. Five shows at night, three baseball games on three different days. I have always said that my dream summer would be to follow the Brewers for a summer. 62 games. When they're in Milwaukee, I'm home too.

That would be great. Otherwise, I traveled with them on the road, stayed in hotels, experienced other cities. Going to baseball games is exhausting. It's tough work. One thing that I definitely need to take back is they did cut out a lot of time from baseball games, which at first I was like, no, you go to the park, you want to be there. Well, Wrigley Field is cold as shit. When it's cold, it's cold. It was like 47 degrees to start the game. By the end, it felt like it was 33. I couldn't feel my fingers.

I got very, very cold very fast. I'm glad that they got rid of the nonsense. Otherwise, it would have been another 30 minutes of guys throwing over the first, guys stepping out of the box. That was something that I did not think I would like. I didn't feel the need to shorten it. It's not like they went from nine innings to seven.

They just cut out the shit that's not real shit. It was good. It was good. It was good. I enjoyed it.

It was fun. It's still weird that Craig Council is there. Don't like that. He did change his number because Kyle Tucker's wearing 30. That took me off guard when I first saw Kyle Tucker at the plate. Wrigley's, man, Wrigley's really different.

The area's around it different. There's two things that I wish we could adapt about the Cubs experience. I wish we could adapt. I propose, since we already have a song, it's really cool when they're all singing, Go Cubs Go. In Packer games, after we win, we'll go, Go Pack Go, Go Pack Go, but they've got a song. It'd be great if we could play G-Force after games, but none of you like that. What if we didn't do roll out the barrel in the seventh inning stretch? What if we did that after wins? Roll, I don't know, or something because it's really cool that when you win, you have a song better than, This is going to be the best day of my life, that the Brewers played for a while. I didn't catch what it was the other day. That's cool. Also, this is a big one, Wrigleyville itself.

Wrigleyville itself. Now, you're not going to emulate the neighborhood aspect, but I don't know. You could. You could. You could. You could have the stadium a little closer to all those bars on Blue Mountain, Wisconsin. That'd be fun. Or, or, or you could build stuff by it, like a little district.

That'd be cool too, but no. Parking lots galore. Which, did you notice they changed? Ride shares are in the Molitor lot. They murdered half of the Molitor lot. The best lot to tailgate in is the Molitor lot. That is the best lot, and there's somebody that has been on my ass since we had our tailgate, and we did it in the Euchre lot, I believe, because that's where group tailgates are assigned.

But I said, no, I'm a Molitor lot guy, and he said, you're a lying piece of shit. But half of the Molitor lot is dead now. Gone, because that's where the ride shares go.

It used to go back, I don't know, in that little keen, just off a keen by canal. But the Molitor lot is ride shares now. I don't like that. As we go into the weekend, Brewers, I was pessimistic with Grant and Paul earlier in the week about how they would do.

I'm still, because I said it four days ago and I don't want to get swayed by three wins, although I did get swayed by four losses, I'm still going to predict they miss the playoffs, but we'll see what another week of games looks like and it's way too early to be doing any of this, honestly. But much better vibes at least coming into the weekend than on Monday when it felt very funeral-like, as many tributes were being handed towards Bob Euchre, which was great and should have been done, but then also the Brewers gave up a lead right away and I don't know if they just weren't feeling it that day. So I shot a few videos, about a minute each, just from each game. Monday I went, Wednesday I went, both as press and then Friday I went in the stands with Carlos.

I'll share those with you. We've got a voicemail, we've got Bart-O-Meter, some other thoughts. So a little weekend edition of Into the Winklaverse. This is the week that was Bart's baseball bonanza. It's day one of Bart's baseball bonanza and the Brewers starting pitching is doing just what's asked of them and that's to keep the team in ball games. An 0-3 start, they come back to Milwaukee for opening day, home opener.

Vibes are okay. You lose a series on the road, you get swept. It's a long season.

It is just three of 162. The first pitch is about two hours from recording of this and we're looking forward to a nice season. The Euchre tributes do loom large.

Video signage up in the 400s. There's a whole section tapered off to them and of course all the other tributes and on-field autograph as well. So the baseball week starts today and it ends in Chicago and we'll see how I do. Baseball bonanza on a Wednesday. The Brewers lost opening day.

It was really sad in here and they went on Tuesday and went on Wednesday. Freddy Peralta, eight innings. Gave up just two hits. Brewers had the bases loaded a couple of times. Finally got it done in the 11th with a Bryce Terang. Took off buns and then they pitched it through the 1st which was weird. Next stop, Cubs game. Friday, rain in the forecast.

That's going to be fucking shitty. So Cubs game report. I'm a Brewers fan. Carlos is a Cubs fan.

Diehard, that's how this happened. Go Cubs go. Came in from New York to check it out. As a Brewers fan, I will say that going to a Cubs game, not against the Brewers, is a hell of a lot better of an experience.

I don't think I've ever done that since I was maybe five, but it's way better. I did enjoy, it got a little tight there in the 9th. I did enjoy the nervous energy of all of Wrigley and obviously I don't like go Cubs go, but that's a nice cool thing and Wrigleyville's a cool thing and I wish I didn't have to hate this team because it was a really nice time today, Carlos.

Yeah, it's a great experience. I can understand if you're not a Cubs fan how things can get obnoxious. Like Ryan Presley not throwing strikes is obnoxious to me, but this is totally like a, you can come in as a neutral baseball fan and just enjoy a game. No one's going to bother you.

A lot of fun gimmicks to get into. I mean, you being a Brewers fan, nobody bothered you whatsoever, but you also did the right thing and not wear any team paraphernalia. Yeah, I paid some good respect.

I'm wearing just a rain jacket, my West Ham Hammers hat. I did not dress up as a Brewers fan to be obnoxious. I was a considerate sports fan. Did I cheer for the Cubs at all? I did. I did applaud. Imanaka had a nice outing.

Quality starts seven and a third. You wanted a high five at some point, so I gave you that. But other than that, was I a good hang at least? Yeah, I don't think it was awkward at all. I think we got right into like the friendship portion of the day where it's just like, all right, let's have a couple of non-alcoholic drinks, talk some baseball, talk some non-sports stuff.

I think this was a very seamless day of transaction at all. And I was on my phone a lot less than normal, so I paid you proper attention. My wife would be jealous. Which is amazing because I also restrained from being on the phone.

I would have been on the phone every time. Well, I hate the Cubs, but this was a good time. Good to see you, buddy. Into the WinklerVerse is brought to you by Happy Place Hemp, HappyPlaceHemp.com. The promo code is BART. 25% off each and every order. You know what?

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And no matter how many times you order it, you will get it. Got a voicemail from HotTakeJake. Tim, post. Carl's Place voicemail line.

Check them out. Carl's Place. 402915BART. So first of all, Jake, thanks for remembering the number. It is 4029152278. Every radio station I stop at, we change the number. No need to change. No need to change this one. I got my own phone number.

It's the Omaha area code. So call it. But Jake leaves a message recapping some of the things that we've talked about and the state of our teams.

And also, some... Jake wants... Jake's okay with trades. But it's got to be for the big kahuna. Good morning. Good evening. Afternoon. Whatever time you're hearing this. This is your boy HotTakeJake. And just calling to check in. It's been too long.

Yeah, first things first, I want to give my review for the last... Of course, as always, Paul just killed it. I mean, that guy, he should be the commissioner of everything. I want to get to my local teams here. Let's start with the Bucks.

They got me a little bit depressed. It sucks knowing that the window is officially shut. It's done. I've gotten to the point where I think I love Giannis as much, if not more than I love the Bucks. So I'm kind of hoping he asks out. But I will say if he does ask out, it starts with Cooper Flag. That's the starting point for the trade.

I have to have that piece or it's not happening. For the Packers, I want to get in on the Malik Willis discussion. Look, I'm not trading him for anything short of a one. And I'm not saying that that's his value as a first round pick. I'm saying in a year where you have Super Bowl aspirations, having a guy that can carry your team as if the starting quarterback never went down, that's so valuable.

It's going to give you a lot more value than a third round pick is going to give. And then finally, I just want to get to the Brewers. And I know it was a really rough start to the year, but it looks like that they've kind of evened things out now. And I don't know, even though it may not be pretty, with some key members of the Brewers pitching staff on the DL, the new starters are doing what's asked of them.

And that's to help keep the Brewers in ball games. Anyways, that's all I got. Love you guys. Love you, Bart.

Hope we can chat soon. And I don't know, what do you think? Maybe a Winklivers get together at the draft? Just saying. Peace. See ya. The new Brewers starters are just doing what's asked of them.

And that's keeping the team in ball games, ball games, ball games, ball games. I am scheduled to be at the draft broadcasting on the Infinity Sports Network. I am eager to be there. I am eager to be there in a media capacity. If there's ever been an event that I want to be at, but I don't want to be in the crowd, this would be it. If there's ever been an event where I want to have access to better parking and don't have to stand around all day, will I regret not being able to have three or four Miller Lights and get bombed at the draft?

No. I won't. I want to see it. I want to enjoy the spectacle. And I want to work it. And I want a credential that says NFL Draft. You know, I save all those. I like those.

I go through them sometimes. All the way back to covering state high school football championships in Minnesota at the Metrodome 20 years ago. So I would like to cover the NFL Draft, but if anybody is there pending my lock-in 100% being there, then I'm sure we can meet up in some capacity. Detroit had 700,000 for their draft. Is that possible?

Can we do that? Because if you're in Detroit, you could have Cleveland, Buffalo, Toronto. There's a lot of different metros that are pretty close. For Green Bay, I guess you've got Appleton, Shawano, Escanaba. I'm sure a lot of people from Milwaukee, Madison, you know, all throughout the state will come. But I don't think we rival the 700,000, which is going to give Detroit a reason to shit on us. We've got more to draft than you.

Like, whatever. 700,000 is a lot of people. And it may have factored in. You count three times if you go every day. But still, I'd be shocked if we reached that number.

What kind of number would we reach? A lot of people that I've talked to that want to go to the draft in Green Bay, I mean, it's going to be a shit show, but I've got to see it. I've got to see it. And I've got to see it, too. So I want to go.

But I don't want to pay for anything, and I want to park easy. Unlike my experience at the Cubs game. So again, I should be there with the Infinity Sports Network. That will be in two Thursdays?

Three. Three weeks away from the NFL draft. Thursday is typically a night where I do the Bart-O-Meter, and I want to hashtag tack it on.

I will use something from my show to hashtag pad the time of this episode. But Thursday night, I did a Bart-O-Meter of the best free agent acquisitions, best draft acquisitions, best trade acquisitions, best anything acquisitions of quarterbacks in the NFL since 2020. So best quarterbacks that were drafted or traded for or signed as free agents since 2020. Jordan Love would be somebody that would fall into that timeframe being drafted in 2020.

Does he make the list? We leave you with the Bart-O-Meter. There are debates. There are hot takes. There are strong opinions.

But in the quest for the truth, there is only one way to get the final say. It's time to fire up the Bart-O-Meter. It is time for the Bart-O-Meter, and tonight we look at quarterbacks that have been acquired by teams since January 1st, 2020.

I saw a nice piece from Tom Blair at NFL.com where he laid out what some of the acquisitions have been, but with not a ranking. We love rankings here in this business. I created Bartificial Intelligence specifically to rank things. So what a perfect topic to throw into my machine, which again is about yay tall, yay wide, weighs oh so many pounds, runs on solar gas, my blood, the tears of my enemies, and more.

Found a peanut, threw it in there, found a peanut last night. And so the Bart-O-Meter is going to tell us of all the quarterbacks that have been acquired no matter how they've been acquired since 2020, which have been the best. So we start with number eight.

Number eight, I feel like is the most interesting and could be the most controversial when we find out who got left off the list. But number eight is the Vikings' acquisition of Sam Darnold in March of 2024, that one-year $10 million contract. Not only did they do well with him, they picked up a guy they had no expectation for and won 14 games.

That's a pretty big deal. Now, it did all come crashing down at the end like it typically does for the Vikings, but he has left them in a pretty good spot. They've got JJ McCarthy who was hurt, so that was great insurance to have him, otherwise God knows what they would be. And you've built a good enough team around them that JJ McCarthy should be able to step in.

And do we think like we saw Bo Nix, we saw Jayden Daniels, we saw some of these guys last year, even Drake May. Do we think that JJ McCarthy can't step in and I don't want to say play as well as Sam Darnold, there were weeks where we thought he could be the MVP, but be in a pretty good ecosystem where he can thrive and win double-digit games and get to the playoffs, I think the Vikings have to be very ecstatic about the level that Darnold got them to and also the situation that he left them in. Furthermore, his leaving is most likely going to net the Vikings a third round pick as a compensatory pick in next year's draft. So Sam Darnold going to the Vikings as a free agent does get on this list at number eight.

At number seven. Number seven is the Washington commanders drafting of Jayden Daniels second overall in the 2024 NFL draft. Now, they didn't have the first choice. Who would they have taken with the first choice? Would they have taken Daniels? Would they have taken Caleb Williams? Caleb Williams seemed to be the preeminent number one, but they did have a decision to make a bunch of other guys went. And their taking of Jayden Daniels not only propelled them to an NFC championship game, so better than some of these other guys left off the list, propelled them to an NFC championship game, but has put them in a good position where now the commanders are a team people want to play for. And they're one of the few teams that I think after the playoffs could come out of it if they didn't win the Super Bowl. Philadelphia, of course, feeling good about what track they are on. Jayden Daniels was there at two.

They took him at two. They got to an NFC championship game. And what the commanders want to do over the next few years is build a team that will probably any reiteration, any iteration of this commander's team is going to be better than the one that got to the NFC championship game. Will they get that far again?

We'll have to see, but the team will continue to improve. And another thing is it actually provided some definition to what the commander's franchise is. Remember, this was the Washington football team. This was their other name. And there was still some discussion about maybe moving off the commanders even, but he has solidified an identity.

They are the commanders. They have a bright future going forward. I will tell you with Jayden Daniels at seven and Sam Darnold at eight, here are some of the quarterbacks that will not be on this list.

The Bartle Meter wants you to know now. It does not want you to be in anticipation if Drake May is going to be on the list or not. Geno Smith to Seattle, or I guess Las Vegas, not on this list. Baker Mayfield to Tampa, not on this list. Russell Wilson, the new three teams he's been on since 2020, not on this list. Certainly no Aaron Rodgers. And Jayden Daniels and Sam Darnold get in ahead of CJ Stroud.

At number two, Jayden got farther and I think there's a brighter future. Jordan Love, Justin Herbert, Bo Nix, Caleb Williams, Drake May. None of those guys are going to fall in the top six of best quarterback acquisitions since 2020. Darnold at eight, Daniels at seven and Sam Darnold at number six. At number six is going to be Jared Goff to the Detroit Lions. Got to an NFC Championship game. He was acquired for Matt Stafford.

He'll probably be on this list along with a bunch of picks. So the picks themselves, the trade themselves, there's a lot of guys, Jamison Williams, other guys they were able to select with those picks, but Jared Goff has been good. Jared Goff has been a productive and valuable quarterback, a probable quarterback. He has, what, he threw 4,500 yards, 34 touchdowns, eight interceptions. His ability to play so well under Ben Johnson's system made Ben Johnson a superstar coordinator. Jared Goff, is he a top five quarterback?

No. Is he a top 10? Depends on how far from Ford Field you might live, but he's certainly one of the better quarterback acquisitions helping, not alone, but helping usher in this new era of Giants football. Number five, best quarterback acquisition since 2020. Number five is going to be Joe Burrow, the number one overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. A lot of other ways that the Bengals could win. That was a very good draft.

Herbert and Tua, also not on this list. Jordan Love, Jalen Hurts in the second round, but Burrow took this team that was the Bengals and has now transformed them into a should be perennial contender. They got to the Super Bowl in 2021, AFC Championship in 2022. He got hurt in 23, comeback player of the year in 24 with a really shaky defense to keep them out of the playoffs. But he has revitalized that team and really the thinking of the team to be a team that is going to pay their stars. Jamar Chase, T Higgins under different Bengals eras and different ownership and different people in charge.

Administration's the word I'm looking for. Burrow, I mean maybe Burrow's not even locked up. So what happened with Carson Palmer? But keeping Higgins, keeping Chase, you would think that they want to keep Trey Hendrickson some negotiating going on publicly there. But Joe Burrow, number one draft pick, maybe a layup.

But again, you've got to make that pick. He gets in at number five best quarterback acquisitions since 2020. Number four. This man is 20, 20 or 23 and 13 as a starter in the regular season.

He's four and two as a starter in the postseason. And he actually got his team to a Super Bowl and should have been primed to win before Kyle Shanahan gave it away. It is pick number 262 in the 2022 NFL draft. It is Mr.

Irrelevant. It is Brock Purdy. Purdy has come in, played good football, even when the pieces around him start to get sold off because now he's got to get paid. He was the last quarterback taken in a draft that wasn't very good on quarterbacks. In fact, every quarterback taken before him, none of them are on their original teams. None of the 2020 Brock Purdy is the only quarterback drafted in 2022 that is still with his original team as the end of the rookie contract comes to its completion.

Every team had a chance to take Brock Purdy multiple times, but the Niners did it with the last pick. Those quarterbacks, by the way, taken in that draft, Kenny Pickett is now on his third team. Desmond Ritter, no longer with Atlanta. Malik Willis, no longer with Tennessee. Matt Corral, I believe is in the NFL.

Bailey Zappi is a chief, maybe? Sam Howell traded. Chris Oledukin, also with the chief. Skylar Thompson, I believe in Pittsburgh, was drafted not by Pittsburgh.

Dolphins, maybe? But Brock Purdy, Mr. Irrelevant, the lone guy still on his team, got his team to a Super Bowl. Number three, best quarterback acquisition since 2020. Number three is Matthew Stafford. So the other part of the Jared Goff trade, Matthew Stafford comes to the Rams and in his first season with the Rams, throws for 4,800 yards, 41 touchdowns, 17 interceptions and wins a Super Bowl. Now there's been some injury setbacks, 22 and 23, better 24. Now they're paying him some more money to stick around. So maybe like Goff fantasy value wise, if you've been doing a dynasty, you might've got better luck out of him the last few years, but Stafford got these guys to a Super Bowl, which was much needed after this team moved to Los Angeles and trying to rebuild that fan base from all those years ago.

Matthew Stafford to the Rams continuing to be there, a blockbuster trade helping out both teams, but this is the team that won the Super Bowl. At number two, no, the Bart-O-Meter. The Bart-O-Meter he's tempted right now to change the ranking here and put this guy at number one. There's many years yet for this guy to play. He could get to number one, but right now he comes in at two and it's Jalen Hurts drafted in the second round by the Philadelphia Eagles in 2020, leading the Eagles to a Super Bowl in 2022, in which he should have been the MVP in a losing effort.

Winning a Super Bowl in 2024, executing and running a play to such perfection in the tush push, i.e brotherly shove that it may get banned from the league. Jalen Hurts. Again, he was drafted after Jordan Love, after Herbert, after Tua, after Burrow.

He's the guy that's gotten to multiple Super Bowls and won one. Jalen Hurts, there's many years he could play there, but right now he comes in at number two. Best quarterback acquisitions since 2020. To recap, number eight, Sam Darnold, Minnesota, just the one year. Number seven, Jaden Daniels, drafted by the Commander, six, Jared Goff, via the trade to the Lions in 2021. Joe Burrow drafted to the Bengals is number five. Number four is Brock Purdy's selection in the 2022 NFL Draft. Matthew Stafford to complete the golf trade at number three.

Jalen Hurts at two. And number one, folks, say it with me, the GOAT! Tom Brady being signed from the Patriots to the Buccaneers in 2020. Played three years there, led them to a Super Bowl victory in 2020 at 4,600 yards, 40 touchdowns that year. 2021 he threw for a league leading 5,300 yards. So one Super Bowl. Alright, Jalen Hurts has been to a couple. Brady with just the one with Tampa. But one, it is Tom Brady. Two, not only did it elevate Tampa to a Super Bowl that year, and Tampa's had a weird 25 years where they got that Super Bowl and then so many years of bad and now they're back, but they are back. They are back. They are not what they were with those, you know, Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks, Rhonda Barber defenses, but they got a Super Bowl and they've been good ever since.

They're a playoff team ever since. Baker Mayfield nearly cracking this list did a really good job of, you know, at least not inheriting something and then burning it to the ground. How terrible would it be if you had something that was being executed very well and then you come in and just trash it? Oh, it'd be terrible.

There'd be riots on the streets, presumably. But that's a big wink. Tom Brady elevating the Buccaneers and then keeping them post Tom Brady. They've been able to keep that relevancy. So again, yes, Darnold Jaden, Goff, Burrow, Purdy, Stafford, Hertz, Brady.

Those are the best acquisitions in any way, shape or form from quarterbacks dating back to 2020. Bartle Meter, you have done your service. You may sleep. Rest easy, my dear companion. Remember Bartle Meter, starting in just a little bit here, you're going to be on Tuesdays now instead of Thursdays. So you've got to remember that. September 2, some five months away. Thank you, Bartle Meter.