Welcome to the Baseball Insiders. I am Adam Weiner, joined by fancied MLB insider Robert
Murray back. Glad to have him. Feels good. And guess what else is back? Live baseball. Anybody
wake up at 6 a.m. Eastern, 5 a.m. central, 30 a.m. Pacific this morning or yesterday to watch
Roki Sasaki and Yoshi Nobuy Yamamoto, and no surprise, the Dodgers rolled twice despite.
somewhat abbreviated start. Uh, we'll react to that a bit. What we saw obviously hard to draw
a large conclusions from 3 games, but, or, and even harder to do it from 2 games, which is
actually what we got. But hey, on the home front, some player movement, which is, uh, what
Robert and I love to talk about. Craig Kimbrel comes home, the Rangers make a somewhat odd
choice to supplement their pitching depth. One outfielder claims he hasn't. Received a major
league deal offer all offseason and the Pirates' rotation. Are they thinking about
making a surprise addition, we'll get to your all-star questions and the like, but before we
do all that, Robert Murray, welcome back to the show. It feels good to be here. For those
of you who do not know, I was very much under the weather. I'm still kind of feeling it, so
if I start coughing during the show, that's my apologies. Uh, but we're here to provide you
some content today because you guys were missed greatly, but we have lots of stuff to
talk about with baseball. We have actual baseball, real life baseball finally being
played, and we had the meltdown of all meltdowns from Hunter in the Discord today. So
that was, that was a fun way to start my day. But it's good to be here, Adam. I'm excited to
be back. How are we doing? good afternoon or good morning. Good morning, good morning. Good
afternoon by you. Yeah, a little column A, little column B. It's a good afternoon. Here,
it's a good morning by you. We want to thank everyone for joining the Discord. If you
haven't, if you're not a member, then come find us. Uh, subscribe to the channel first,
then join, then head to the Discord where you can either be in the rumor mill tier. There
will be a Private Robert Q&A there tomorrow, or the All-Star tier where you get priority in
this chat for questions on this show. Uh, people want to ask about the Pirates rotation.
We're going to deliver. People want to ask specifically if the Cubs are frauds. We're
going to weigh in. Are we going to deliver there? I don't know, but, uh, Cubs fraud watch,
Cubs pack, we smoking it. 2 games, who knows? Uh, we'd love to see you there. Provide us some
questions if you got them, and then obviously come to the comments, we'd love to see you here.
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So check that out. We've got a big opening day package, collaborative effort between
Fancied.com and the staff writer team coming next week. So lots of good stuff. I would
recommend you read that channel. Let's start with, uh, before we get into the player
movement, Cubs fraud watch, Cubs crash out. Uh , two games in LA. I don't think we got the, we
definitely didn't get controversy free baseball. The show he Otany home run today. Um,
there are screenshots. People are going to be, you know, there's video, people are going to be
circulating that. Um, today ended up getting a little tighter at the horn in the 9th inning,
but still relatively comfortable Dodgers win in game one.Roki Sasaki struggles with command,
taken out after 3 innings in game 2, but the Dodgers do win both. Um, the Cubs' offense did
not come to play, as always. Tough to judge when you're flying people to Tokyo, tough to
judge when you're facing Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki in an endless bullpen full of guys who
throw 97 plus. But early thoughts on two teams , I think many expect both of these teams to
potentially be division champions by the end of the summer, although one of them has a
clearer path and that team flexed. Oh, they absolutely did, like the Dodgers, they flex
their muscles, they showed exactly. Um, how dangerous they are, because even with Roki
Sasaki not necessarily performing at his best, they were able to overcome that. Oh, he, I
think he had what, 5 walks and 3 innings pitched, and they still won comfortably today,
and their offense, even without Freddie Freeman, even without Mookie Betts, still was
able to put up runs on the board. Um, they're just a very dangerous team overall, and
obviously like it's very early in the season, so I'm not trying to overreact to two games. Um,
so like the Dodgers obviously they look great, and I firmly expect that to continue, but for
as bad as the Cubs looked, um, I don't expect that to continue, like, um, like the, the Kyle
Tucker slander for two games, um, is just really just kind of confusing to me. I mean,
obviously it's not like the greatest start that he could have had. Um, but he's still one
of the best players in baseball, and he will be fine. He will bounce back. It'll all be OK.
Um, the Matt Shaw slander as well. Um, I've been pretty adamant on this podcast that he's
gonna end up being one of the better young players in the game, and we even saw it, um,
with Jackson Holliday when he ended up debuting for the Orioles, that it doesn't
necessarily happen right away, like struggles can happen early on. Um, so like, again, do not
overreact. Hunter, I'm looking squarely at you . Um, it will all be OK. It says the Cubs, they
will be fine. Uh, I just, they're facing the most talented team in Major League history and
like this is, it should be expected to happen because, um, yeah, just none of these teams are
are perfect quite yet and the Cubs will be fine. I think the Cubs will be fine as well. I
think there's no tougher assignment in history than, uh, best, most complete roster we've ever
seen constructed on a, in a road stadium in Tokyo, Japan, where neither team plays their
typical home games. Uh, although wild how strong the Dodgers looked without bets and
without Freeman. Let's not lose that in the shuffle. Uh, two of the three NBA. GPs atop the
order did not participate and they still pretty comfortably got to the finish line here.
Uh, let's talk about the rest of baseball. We've got about, uh, uh, opening day in 8 days.
Uh, real, uh, waking up at a normal time, pomp and circumstance. Opening day is Thursday,
March 27th. No game before 3 p.m. Eastern time . Uh, Rob Manfred, what are you doing?
But there will be plenty of baseball on that day, um, and in prep for that day, a lot of
last-minute shuffling and a couple of people who've, uh, been on the free agent market all
offseason finally finding homes again. I want to start with Craig Kimbrel because this took
me by surprise. It's a nice story. It's a cute . Union also, it's, I, I don't know why. I, I
thought Kimbrel might never come back. I don't think I saw this coming. Minor league deal with
Atlanta yesterday. The goal is to build him up and get him ready. 2 million if he's in the big
leagues. He's gonna start at Gwinnett. Nobody expects him to be on the big league roster
right away, but they've also, they have not signed him to be AAA fodder. The thought is
that he will join. the Braves' bullpen when he is built up. Um, have you heard much about
Kimbrel this offseason? Do you get any sense from GMs or teams around the league how they
perceive him these days, or is this really just sort of a flyer for the Braves, someone
they're familiar with, though it's been a while. It's not like Kimbrel and this Atlanta
regime intersected much. No, they obviously like Kimbrel started his career in Atlanta and
I know there's a lot of people who are kind of poking fun at this deal, but there's no such
thing as a bad minor league contract. And if he doesn't show anything while he's being
ramped up, they can let go of him at virtually no cost. And if he does perform or if he does
get to the major league level and performs, then you got a guy with a really strong track
record signing for super cheap. So I have absolutely no issue whatsoever with this
contract. I think it was a smart move by Alex Anthopoulos. It's also him. Like understanding
like, you had to deal with some restrictions this offseason. I think it's pretty clear with
how little they spent. Obviously they went and signed Eric and profar, but. Additionally,
after that, they didn't really do much and you gotta imagine they had a tight book. So, um, he
was trying to find a value at the margins. He ended up doing it here with Craig Kimbrel.
Again, there's no, no issue with this kind of a deal whatsoever. Um, they obviously made
another move, which we'll talk about here in a little bit. Um, but as far as Kimbrel goes, I
expect him to be at the major league level. I expect him to perform. He's not going to be
that all-star like dominant closer, um, that he once was, but you're getting a, a, honestly,
you're probably getting a future Hall of Fame player, um, on a minor league deal, and that's
never a bad thing. I think it's a pretty good thing and like you said, uh, no bad one year
deals, no bad minor league deals, or minor league deal is a, a shot in the dark, a flyer,
um, probably the, again, the impact is Craig Kimbrel's here now, let's see how he progresses.
Potentially the more impactful Braves flyer is James McCann, because, uh, Sean Murphy down for
an extended period of time. We've talked extensively on the Prospect show about the door
being open for Drake Baldwin. My expectation would still be that Drake Baldwin is your
opening day starting catcher for the Atlanta Braves. This is good insurance though, and a
quality experienced backup. Chadwick Trump versus James McCann, who do you prefer? I mean,
you're giving yourself options. Much the same way, like, accrue assets, right? The Yankees
are probably gonna run with Carlos Carrasco on the opening day roster because they don't want
to lose him. So, I mean, you know, the more veterans you can add to the mix, the better.
But I wonder, does this McCann edition and the fact that the Braves were sniffing around the
catcher market say anything to you about their faith in Baldwin, or is this just being wise
with asset management? This is being very wise , um, and, and getting ahead of any potential
struggles here for Baldwin, and Baldwin looked good in spring training, and he really
impressed his teammates. He really impressed team officials with his performance this spring,
and they think he's ready for a bigger workload and And that was part of their
confidence too in letting Travis Dar know who they absolutely love internally depart for the
or for the Angels. Um, they, they believe Baldwin is ready and he's going to take on a
bigger role. But if he struggles initially, you're gonna have a guy in James McCann who is
a veteran guy who is really good in the clubhouse, really good working with pitchers.
He's not going to provide you much offensively . I think last year he hit around 2:30, um. He's
not the player that he once was, but he's extremely well respected in league circles, and
he'll provide a veteran stopgap for them in case he needs a day off or Baldwin struggles.
And, and even then too, like this is a smart opportunity for McCann because if you look at
it, Sean Murphy, he was scheduled once the injury came out about his rib, he was scheduled
to miss about 4 to 6 weeks, and this is going to be a probably a temporary home for him. Um,
once Murphy ends up returning, he'll probably, or once Murphy ends up returning, we're
probably looking at McCann getting DFA, but he can use this as a launch pad to try to get a
gig elsewhere. And he drew interest from a bunch of other places this offseason, all on
minor league deals. I know the Padres were poking around there at one point, um, this
offseason, so like he should have options. Um, but I thought it was a really smart move for
Atlanta. And again, it's a minor league deal. There's no risk there whatsoever, and you're
getting a veteran guy who's going to be good for that clubhouse. Yeah, and you know, you
know, at some point, Yasmani Grandal is still out there. There were rumors the Braves were
maybe weighing him. This is much less of a commitment and a potentially sturdier option,
even though Grandal was Paul Skene's personal catcher last year. We know he can handle that,
but McCann. Uh, yeah, you're right in the lineup card, you know exactly what you're
getting. You might not be getting thump, but you're gonna get somebody who can handle, uh,
you know, who, who knows his role and is certainly not seeking anything more at this
point. And if he establishes himself, everybody comes back healthy, he will go
elsewhere. Um, which leads me to the Texas Rangers, who are down a few to start the year
in the rotation. Cody Brown. Bradford, John Gray, you knew the Rangers, who everyone sort
of agrees might be one of the best rosters in the American League, but then you look at the
rotation and you're like, sure about that? You're gonna need to see some names and some
breakouts and, and maybe some Jack Leer and Kumar Rocker to get there. They go ahead and
grab Patrick Corbin, who is one of the most familiar names still available, no longer
available, and he's not going to do a spring training. Uh, we, we sounded the warning bell
about a lot of pitchers who were hanging out, um, you know, varying degrees of ready, Lance
Lynn and Kyle Gibson and whatnot, but Patrick Corbin's wife is pregnant, she's giving birth.
He is not going to Arizona. He is going to the Rangers. He's headed to Arlington, and he'll be
ready when he's ready. Um, now that's what's confusing to me because They don't really need
a high upside arm or a moderate upside arm to come back in May or late April. They need
someone to cover innings right now. So, I don't know what Patrick Corbin does for them
specifically. We just said, hey, get more arms . What's the worst that could happen? But at the
same time they specifically need someone healthy to step in. At this moment in time, I
don't know why you grab Corbin instead of like you said with the Yankees waiting out opt-out
market and NRIs and people who been built up this spring and haven't made a roster. That
makes more sense than this weird slapdash solution to me. Yeah, I agree with you. I, I
was on a call, well, not kind of a call yesterday and um the news broke.
And I was really kind of surprised by that. I'm like, that seems just like a really odd fit
for the Rangers here because as you said, they need immediate help. And Corbin has not had any
spring training, and we've seen guys in the past, um, who have not pitched at all in spring,
and then they've immediately tried to come into the major league level and they struggled
mightily. I think Blake Snell is probably the prime example of that, like, no matter how
talented you are. You need that time to build up. So I'm really curious to see exactly how
effective Corbin can be for the Rangers and like there's there's obviously other options
available too like. I think you could have made a stronger argument here, um, even for a
guy like Kyle Gibson. Um, I mean, obviously like similar situation, but like you have like
more upside there. Like I think you're going to get better performance from a guy like
Gibson rather than rather than Corbin or just waiting out those, those opt-outs or making a
small trade at the margins um before opening day here. So I thought maybe the Rangers could
have ended up waiting out the market and done something a little bit more. Impactful, um,
short and long term, but also too, if you look at it from a guy like Corbin here, in his last
four seasons, he's thrown 31, 31, 32, and 33 starts. So he's, he's dependable. He, he will
get you innings, he will make starts, and he's proven durable, which is like that's important,
um, but I just question the short-term effectiveness that he's gonna end up having. I
questioned it too, and Kyle Gibson, it's not like there's no familiarity there. He was an
All-Star for the Texas Rangers in 2021. Uh, so he's, he's been in Texas. He has had arguably
his best recent season in Texas. Um, either, yeah, maybe a little too proactive. I'm
confused and you're gonna need to build up Corbin while you're trying to fill two
immediate vacancies. So we'll see how that works out, but I'm as confused as you were, and
meanwhile, potentially the I don't know, I struggle to say any of these people who are
still around are the most prominent free agents still on the market, but Alex Verdugo,
who we talked about a lot on this show, we've connected to the Pirates in the past. We've
talked about his supposed ask. There was an article this week in the Athletic that went
around the Yankees clubhouse. People very surprised that he's not on a team. And there
was a report from Brendan Cuddy that he has no formal MLB offers this offseason. He has yet to
receive one. Now, formal is doing a lot of Heavy lifting there, uh, you know, heavier
perhaps than even Verdugo's, uh, bat. A lot of heavy lifting. But, uh, that hints to me there
have been parameters of discussions and asking prices didn't line up, and nobody really, an
offer was never presented, but people got the sense of where each party was landing. Um, do
you think he receives a formal Major League offer this season, or are we getting to minor
league deal time? Or were we there already? I kind of think we were there already, and that
is really surprising to me because Verdugo, he's like, he's not like the greatest player in
the entire world, but he's still an impactful Major League player, and the fact that he's not
gotten any sort of major league offer, at least reportedly, um, is really surprising to
me. And we even saw their surprise in that article from from Brendan Cuddy with players,
even Aaron Boone expressed his surprise there too. Um, and whoever ends up signing him is
going to get a major value. And my guess is we're probably looking at a minor league deal
just so we can end up getting some bats in the minor league level before going into the major
league level. I think it would be smart for him to build up, to not try to hit Major League
pitching right away because going from doing whatever he's doing now to prepare to going to
Major League pitching, that just seems like a recipe for disaster, so. Um, my guess is we're
probably looking at a minor league deal here for Verdugo and whether it's the Padres,
whether it's, uh, the Pirates, whether it's whoever else that could go out and get him, um,
this is a chance for a major, major value, and the fact that he's still out there is just kind
of crazy to me. Yeah, and look, he got his fair share of flack last year during the
regular season, a lot of rollovers to second base, but Yankees, World Series, AL champs,
starting left fielder during the entire playoff run. And he made some great defensive
plays, sturdy. The upside might not be what people thought it once was, but we're not
talking about Anthony Rizzo mulling retirement here. We're talking about a player in his
theoretical, you know, you know, he, he was in his walk here last. Last year, I think he did
enough to get a one year offer at the very least, and I'm very surprised that he has not
settled anywhere. And Jazz Chisholm hinted in that piece, uh, I got to pull up the exact Jazz
Chisholm quote cause it was kind of weird and it did make me go, OK, why say 60% of that? Oh,
it was Marcus Stroman. Sorry. Like, why say 60% of that without saying the rest of it? They
asked Marcus Stroman if he was surprised. Stroman said, Yes, I am. That's all I'm gonna
say on it. But a lot of things surprise in this game nowadays. Just keep it at that. So, I
mean, we will keep it at that, I guess cause we stop talking, but it really feels, I would
have loved to have one more sentence there. Oh my gosh, yeah, dude, it's freaking, I don't
even, I don't even know how to end up describing it, but baseball is just a very
strange game overall and Stroman, he's also a strange cat too, to say the least. Well, we'll
we'll wait it out and maybe the minor league deal is where we ultimately land. But I, I will,
I will say this too, um. Uh, the fact that Verdugo is, is unsigned though
is kind of just. I don't know, it just doesn't sit right with me. I don't know why, but a
player of that caliber, he's also younger. Um, I get like he hasn't lived up to the
expectations of when he was traded for Mookie Betts by any means, but still like. The fact
that a guy like that can't get a major league deal is crazy to me. I don't get it. Verdugo
and David Robertson, and I know Robertson's on the older side of things, but both of them just
make me go. I mean, look at Robertson's numbers last year. Just that's, uh, it screams
Major League deal. It screams almost as appealing as Kirby Yates to me. So, uh, maybe
it screams the Dodgers just stepping in and doing one more and going middle finger to
everybody, but who knows, uh, we'll, we'll hopefully see in the coming weeks. We're
getting awfully close. And one more question before. We head to a few, uh, from the viewers
and from the Discord. Uh, you've mentioned, you know, the Rangers not waiting out the, the
market to see if any NRI guys opt out or if there's any last-minute shuffling. Are there
any names specifically that you're keeping your eyes on who it feels like are not going to
make their current Major League roster, but have shown enough to be appealing to a team
that's looking for depth? Are there any players you're keeping your eyes on in that
market, or are we just, in the coming days, we're going to get plenty when it's really, you
know, roster crunch time. Yeah, there's, there's a bunch that are currently on the fence.
Uh, the one that I was keeping my eyes on for sure, um, was Carlos Carrasco with the Yankees.
And with all their injuries, like, I know he's got an opt-out decision coming up, um, but that
was one that I was really keeping my eyes on. And my guess is he probably ends up making a
major league roster, especially. Like that was my thought coming in today. Uh, but once Jack
Curry kind of teased it, that's kind of like, OK, that seems like the, the direction that the
Yankees are gonna indeed go in. But, uh, we're gonna be seeing a lot of these come, come down
to the wire here. Uh, the team that I still think could make a lot of sense here looking
for those kind of arms, um, or options that opt out would be the Reds cause as I mentioned
on previous podcasts, they have looked, um, they've looked at some different arms there for
sure. Um. But yeah, no, overall I think there's going to be plenty of different guys
that come down to the wire here and they're currently deciding that right now. Yeah, I
agree on Carrasco and I also think at this point you have to give him the opening day
roster spot rather than lose him. And then also another one too is looking at the
Milwaukee Brewers. They got some really tough decisions here to make, and Mark Canna is one
of them, and there's a couple of other guys who are on minor league deals. They're going to
decide whether or not they're making the major league roster. Um, I know from talking to
people around that team that is gonna come down to the wire, and those are gonna be some
really, really difficult conversations there in Milwaukee. Sheesh, uh, well, stay tuned. I'm
excited to cover the roster crunch heading into next week and heading towards opening day,
where I'll obviously do a big, uh, standings preview as we always do on the Wednesday before
opening day. We'll cover a lot of these late breaking news bits as well. Very exciting. It's,
uh, it's a good time, it's a good time of year . It's getting warmer, March Madness. Uh, one
team happened to beat another team by 30 points last night after I was told it was a
miscarriage of justice that they got in. So, uh, that's it. Interesting, somewhat
eye-opening for me. Uh, OK, couple of viewer questions. Um, the all-star chat overwhelmingly
wants to know about the Pirates rotation, and I get it because Jared Jones elbow soreness
reported today, uh, that has all sorts of opening day roster ramifications, if not more
than that. Bailey Falter also, we've talked about in recent podcast, seems to be a little
bit behind. He's been scratched, uh, you know, and so there's a, if in case it wasn't already
clear why they went and grabbed Andrew Heaney. Uh, it is now. Uh, they have demoted Bubba
Chandler already, but Thomas Harrington has sort of been lingering at big league camp. It
felt mysterious until we found out about the Jones injury. Now it feels a little bit less
mysterious. Maybe the floor is higher on Harrington, uh, then Chandler, even though the
ceiling is higher on Chandler. So thoughts on the Pirates rotation and, and maybe anything
you've picked up on the Jones injury and Harrington lingering on the roster specifically.
I, as soon as I saw the elbow, what was it, discomfort or tightness or whatever it was.
Comfort is what I saw. That is a huge concern for me, and I don't know, I don't have any
inside information there. I've been trying to figure that out today. It's just been kind of
radio silence, um, so take that for for whatever it's worth. Um, but anything related
to the elbow for a pitcher is a huge concern, and um. Between him, between Bailey Falter and
what's going on with him, like, this is why the Pirates did not trade from their depth of
their starting pitchers, and I know there's a lot of fans who were eager to trade one of
their arms for a bat. Like I was of that thinking too, like that's something that they
should consider, but they held on to them. And this is why you end up doing that. And maybe a
guy like Harrington ends up making the Major league roster coming out of spring. Like he
ended up making 8 starts or 8 appearances last year, um, in AAA. So he's got experience at the
top level in the matter. So it wouldn't necessarily be like the biggest adjustment for
him, um, but that any sort of injury for Jones would be a huge blow, but If you look at it
too, like the Pirates, like they're better set up for a big pitching injury than most teams
cause you have Paul Skenes, you have Mitch Keller. I mean, obviously you have Jones, you
have Falter, you have, um, Bubba Chandler, who has got an extremely high ceiling there in the
minors as well. You have Harrington, you have all sorts of these different arms where you can
end up eating innings, um, but losing Jones for any amount of time would hurt, and I think
they're kind of holding their breath there to see what. What ends up coming there or what
that injury turns out to be or that discomfort turns out to be because we don't know if an
injury quite yet. Yeah, and hey, a lot of aches and pains going on early in spring. You
never know, but obviously concern is high. I'd be interested in Harrington moving forward and
the Pirates know they have a lot of rotation depth and a lot of high upside rotation depth.
They're probably going to use it because everybody ends up using it. Um, question in the
comments. I have found curious this week and, uh, not gonna crash out on stream. But Red Sox
18 asking if we can clarify the IL rule for healthy players. Uh, because Masataka Yoshida
is gonna start the season on the IL for the Red Sox. He had labrum surgery in the offseason.
He can't throw. So he can't play the outfield, uh, but he can DH. He has 28 DH at-bats this
spring. He homered yesterday. He had 100. 5 mile an hour ball, uh, on March 16th, the other
day. So he's a hitter, he hits. He's a DH, he was a DH last year. He can do that. Rafael
Devers is behind, it would seem, he's not going to Mexico. He's not playing third base.
Cora said today he's not getting any, he doesn't see a reason to give him third base
reps before the season starts. Bregman obviously healthy and crushing it. So the Red
Sox don't want Devers in the field. Dever seems like he's a little slow and, and he's
behind with shoulder issues. Uh, Yoshida seems like he's up to speed hitting and he can hit
right now. So Bregman at 3rd, Christian Campbell at 2nd, Devers to the IL Yoshita and
the DH spot seems fine to me, but the Red Sox want to start the season with Devers, healthy,
because he's their best hitter, even if he's not healthy. So, I don't understand why it's OK.
For the Red Sox to put a guy who could DH but can't play the outfield on the injured list to
start the season in Yoshida. Like, is this not manipulation? Is this just totally hunky dory?
And it's weird that MLB is helping them out essentially by turning a blind eye and helping
them clear up their logjam by putting a guy who can hit right now on the injured list and
running out a guy who seems to be a similar level of injured in Ray Devs at DH on opening
day. I don't know. Uh, I can't clarify because I'm right with you. Like that seems like it's
clear manipulation of it, and that's what Billy Eler ended up getting like suspended for,
um, when he was with the Mets as a GM early. It was, it happened when he was a GM in the
Mets, and then he got suspended when he was gone from the Met. I believe that's how it
played out. Um, but it seems like clear manipulation. Obviously, teams all do it. Like
we even saw Bruce Bochy kind of admit that when he was on foul territory with AJ
Brzezinski the other week. Um, so it's like a clear thing that teams do, but the fact that
MLB is turning a blind eye to it when they just suspended Billy Upper for doing that seems
kind of just overall kind of bizarre, but what a, what a strange camp here for the Boston Red
Sox between the Denver stuff, and now this and everything else in between, um. Yeah, kind of
very bizarre overall. Yeah, clearly battling, you know, had surgery to address something in
the offseason, can't field. Deavors, they don't want him to field, but both seem to be in
the same boat, but they're going to carry one because obviously they want to carry the better
hitter and they don't want a DFA Yoshida. So here's a get out of jail free card. Here's the
IL. It stinks to me, but I get it. And like you said, not the first time people have
manipulated the injured list, but Seem to be that, and it does seem like they punished
people for that one year ago. And then Rob Manfred going, yeah, that was a nice little
brief crackdown we had. I think we're good on the crackdowns now. Like it's just an odd
little different standard. No, it's a very weird standard. It's a double standard and I
mean if if you're implementing a rule, be consistent with it because I mean, everyone in
baseball does it like it's the biggest open secret because it's not even an open secret
because like everyone does it. um, but I don't know, it's It's strange, but if MLB, yeah,
MLB just needs to be consistent with it. I think that's my official comment on that. Yeah,
that's my take. and and weird camp for the Red Sox and also I think they're the best team in
the American League. So strange camp, a lot of bad things happen and also I think they're
super good. So we'll see how that unfolds. And plays out the regular season just 8 days away.
The final roster steps still to be completed, but we're getting pretty close, uh, to
everybody matching the Dodgers and Cubs' energy. But for now, for a full 8 days, the
Cubs are in last place alone in Major League Baseball. So it's going to be a tough 8 days
for some people that we know. Oh, it's gonna be some very, very tough, tough hate days for
some people that we know. Hunter looking at you, the Cubs news is that the Cubs are in last.
Um, so that's, yeah, they have the worst record in baseball. So that's, that's the Cubs
news that we got. Um, also, I'm gonna, I'm going to leave you with this one too, Adam,
because we haven't asked to empty out the notebook quite yet, but I'm gonna do it right
now, and this is just my own little personal thought, um. But the Padres, they have, I,
I'd say you can, they have some questions there at the catcher spot. I wonder if they can
end up looking at a guy like Omare Grundal as a potential option there to, to try to fill up
that void. So just a thought by me, we'll see if it happens, but just a thought. It's a good
thought and one that we will keep tabs on when we see you again on Friday afternoon. gonna be
a little bit earlier on Friday. Uh, come back and join us again at 10 p.m. Eastern time on
Friday afternoon. Then I will head to Providence for some March Madness. Um, yeah,
March Madness fans in the house, hopefully. I'm gonna be at the Saturday, uh, I guess
they're technically 3 round games. I don't know what the play counts as, but, uh.
Hopefully Saint John's wins. Hopefully you get a little Rick Pitino action against maybe John
Calipari, maybe Kansas. I think that would be fun, uh, to watch personally while enjoying
beer. Uh, but until next show, uh, I'm Adam Weiner. Uh, you can find us right here, turn on
your subscribe bell, uh, to know when exactly we're going live. Find us in the disco. Or join
us there fansite.com backslash baseball-ins insiders for the written content and subscribe
to the moonshot audio platforms too. If you are not following us on podcast platforms,
highly recommend it, a good way to digest the show if you are not here for the live stream.
Robert Murray, uh, good to be back with you, man, and good to be getting into the. You know,
regular season baseball action that fuels this podcast. No, I'm very excited for it. I'm very
excited to to have some actual baseball being played while we're all awake rather than having
to wake up super early to do that. So I'm very excited overall just for what the season is
going to provide. Uh, but Adam, I appreciate you. I appreciate you, Joanne, and everyone in
the comments here, uh, for putting up with me while I was sick, uh, because that was very
nice of you guys. You guys carried the carry the load here. Eric Cole as well. I want to
give him a shout out as well. Uh, we'll be back here on Friday. It's going to be a
different time though, isn't that right, Adam? I believe it is gonna be a different time. One
o'clock Eastern. Stay vigilant. We will see you here um until that show. Take care
everybody, and we'll catch you live again on Friday afternoon. That we will, thank you,
everybody.