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Talking Baseball with Kevin Wheeler
18 Plays9 days ago
Kevin Wheeler one of the Hosts of the Gashouse Gang come on to talk Baseball and the St Louis Cardinals.
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Transcript
Introduction to the Show
00:00:00
Speaker
This is the Fuel Sports Network. The rumors are true.
00:00:13
Speaker
the rumors are true
00:00:31
Speaker
This is Talking Sports on the Bleachers with John Glenn. A confident young man. A superb athlete. A look at the sports issues of the day. Holy cow!
00:00:47
Speaker
Grab a seat, pop a cold one. Gee, that sounds kind of interesting. And let's talk some sports.
00:00:55
Speaker
You've got to get it done!
Iconic Sports Moments Recap
00:01:00
Speaker
Cujols with the widespread stance, arms out over the plate. Bickford from the stretch. The 1-1 pitch. A swing and there it goes! Left field, way back!
00:01:12
Speaker
That's home run number 700!
00:01:21
Speaker
Dodger Stadium on September Pacific time. twenty twenty two
00:01:28
Speaker
three bm pacific
00:01:48
Speaker
Badgers have no timeouts. They can't stop it. McCourt for the win. In the air.
00:02:03
Speaker
Yes! Good! Let's go! Let's go, baby! Upset in Champaign! The Illini win it 24-23!
00:02:21
Speaker
You don't
00:02:47
Speaker
Are you crying? There's no crying! There's
00:03:01
Speaker
Playoffs? Don't talk about Playoffs? You kidding me? Playoffs?
Meet the Hosts and Guest
00:03:37
Speaker
Hey, Dad? You want to have a catch? I'd like that.
00:03:54
Speaker
All right, well, welcome folks. This is Talking Sports on the Bleachers. I am Don Glenn, your host. And tonight I've got with me... Kevin Wheeler from KMOX, the Mighty Mox, host of the Gas House Gang and numerous other shows.
00:04:12
Speaker
Yeah, I'm pretty much everywhere, right? youre pretty You can't turn on CanWix without finding you there. That's all I know. So you got the you got Gas House Gang at noon, um and then the Dave Glover show from 1 to 5, and then they re-air Gas House Gang later on at 8 o'clock at night.
00:04:28
Speaker
um And then occasionally I jump on with my buddy Matt Pawley on Sports Open Line. So, yeah, I'm okay with the whole talking thing, man. I like it. Well, that's good. That's good. Hey, ah yeah, I wanted to bring you on today. We'll get some talk, some baseball, because there really hasn't been a lot of offseason fanfare,
Baseball Offseason and Innovations
00:04:46
Speaker
if you will. I mean, early with the Soto thing. And then I know from the Cardinal perspective, the whole ah drama around. Will they trade Aeronado? Will they not?
00:04:58
Speaker
um And then there was all the rule changes that came in that just kind of seemed nobody seemed to notice. but Yeah. Yeah. ah Let's start with let's go and start with the rule. What have you have you heard anything on the how the robot umpire is faring in the spring training?
00:05:16
Speaker
Well, I mean, it seems so far like this. And again, this is right now only for spring training. Right. um It's not going to be in the regular season, but I think it's going to probably be there by next year in some form.
00:05:28
Speaker
And the form that we have now is just a challenge system. Right. So they're the they they use the automated balls and strikes. They call it ABS. So the ABS system um is essentially a better version of that little box you see on TV. Right. Right.
00:05:41
Speaker
okay you see that box on TV. That's not accurate. that's not um That's not being run via computer. It's not using the measurements that are taken um by Major League Baseball that the ABS does. So for this spring, what they've done is they've gone around and they measure every player, the top of their strike zone, the bottom of their strike zone. So Jose Altuve's strike zone is different than Aaron Judge's, and both of theirs are different than Nolan Aranato's. It's a unique strike zone to you.
00:06:05
Speaker
um And so what they're doing is just a challenge system. So you have the umpire on the field doing what he normally does, calling balls and strikes. That's there. At the same time, the ABS system is judging each pitch, ball, or strike.
00:06:18
Speaker
So if the pitcher or the hitter or the teams involved, it obviously could be a couple of different people, but if they want to challenge a call they think is wrong, they can challenge it. And as soon as they do, the umpire just kind of waves to the press box, the press box, somebody will just look at it. The play's already been called. So this isn't like a replay.
00:06:36
Speaker
right This isn't like, okay, we got to rewind the tape and go back and look and slow it down. and The call's already been made. They just have to look at the computer, and the computer has already said it's a ball or a strike. So you relay that down to the umpire, and play moves on. And it's been pretty seamless. i you know They've been doing this in the minor leagues. um They did it last year, and I think at AA and AAA, but at AAA, I think it added something like 19 or 20 seconds to the length of a game.
00:07:01
Speaker
So...
00:07:05
Speaker
to take a lot of time. ah And the beauty of it is it's limited too, right? Each team has two challenges. okay If get it right, you keep it.
00:07:16
Speaker
Basically, you got two fails, right? You get wrong twice, you have no challenges. Okay. ah um Let's see. out they also looks i say From what I hear, they they are messing again with the shift rule or the anti-shift rule, if you will.
00:07:33
Speaker
ah Has that made any noticeable difference in the way the way the teams are lining up anything different yet I mean it's early so but as of now I haven't seen anything that would that would catch my attention and okay it's uh what us there was another is a rule change there was another rule change I thought was it the pitch clock did they adjust the pitch clock again
00:08:05
Speaker
oops We're having a technical difficulty.
00:08:10
Speaker
I don't know why, but I'm losing my audio again. Yeah, you're kind of in the background now. Yeah, how's it now? There we go. There we go. I don't know why it's doing this because it normally doesn't, and I wonder if it's the Zoom problem. It could be. got to find him i gotta find a better thing than Zoom.
00:08:29
Speaker
No, it's fine. I mean, look, it it works most of the time. We use it all the time. for anything like i i We do our sportscast, Matt, Paulie, and I, we do it that way every day. yeah so It shouldn't be a problem. um I don't know Maybe it's my mic. So if it happens again, um maybe I'll just switch off of my mic and I'll just go off the computer and we'll just not worry about it. That's fine.
00:08:48
Speaker
Yeah. Like said, was there... Maybe this thing. Was there anything on the... I thought there was... I heard something. They were going to try to do something with the pitch clock again this year.
00:08:59
Speaker
Yeah, they were talking about shortening it again, um but I don't know that they did it. and Okay. um i didn't At least I haven't seen that they finalized that they did it. But I know they were talking about making it even shorter because um they they felt like it was plenty of time, and then they got some pushback on that. I think that's something that that the commissioner's office has to get agreement on by the players. I don't think they can just do that.
00:09:23
Speaker
Do that, yeah. Yeah. um So now going the same with kind of rule changes for just a quick
Impact of Rule Changes on Baseball
00:09:28
Speaker
second. how How did you view what rule changes they put in last year? Did they affect how you watch the game or how you your perception of the game in it at all?
00:09:41
Speaker
Not really. i mean, it it i think the things that they're trying to do have accomplished what they thought, which is cramming the same amount of action into a little bit less time.
00:09:52
Speaker
Right. So it hasn't really I mean, it's created more stolen bases. you know, i mean, it's it's definitely you've seen an uptick. Teams are running more. um The stolen base is more of a weapon in the game now than it has been maybe since um the early 90s. Going back to the 80s, obviously, the stolen base the deal. right oh yeah All anybody want to do is run, run, run in the 80s from Whitey Ball to Ricky Henderson to Tim Raines.
00:10:14
Speaker
We're not quite back at that. right But, you know, we're back to a point where teams are running more. So you've gotten a little bit more stolen base action. I don't think that the shift restrictions changed much, and I never thought they would to begin with, but it also didn't cause a disruption either.
00:10:29
Speaker
Right. It wasn't like a massive change. And most people didn't like the shift anyway. So that part of the game just looks a little bit more like it did 20 years ago, 25 years ago.
00:10:40
Speaker
I don't think it changes the outcome over the course of six months of very many plays, because either way, some balls that are that would have been hits are not. And some balls that would have been outs are not either way. So it it kind of balances out in that regard.
00:10:55
Speaker
But that worked OK. Pitch clock, I was not a huge fan of when the idea was presented, but it was fine. didn't cause any problems. Uh, the one thing I'd really love to see go away is the three banner minimum.
00:11:06
Speaker
Um, I'm not a big, I understand it. I understand you don't want like three pitching changes in an inning or two pitching changes an inning. I get it. Um, but I also don't like being trapped with a pitcher when you pop them out there and you can see that he's just not close, right? You know, like he's throwing five or six straight balls and he's not close and you just got to leave him out there to load the bases or look terrible.
00:11:27
Speaker
Um, not a big fan of that. I understand why it's there. I don't think it really, um damages the game too much. it is My preference would be to get rid of it. So I think most of the stuff they did had nothing had either ah had either a neutral impact or a positive one. I don't really see anything that that harmed the game because the games have been shorter and we didn't lose anything. We didn't lose offense.
00:11:50
Speaker
We didn't lose action. We didn't have more strikeouts. We didn't have fewer hits or doubles or triples or home runs than we had before. so you're just basically packing the same amount of action on the field into, um you know, instead of three hours, it's 240. You know, it's the same amount action a little bit less time.
00:12:08
Speaker
Yeah. don that I agree with you on the but on the on the three pi three batter minimum. I'd also like to see the ghost runner go away, the commissioner's runner in the X-Men games.
00:12:20
Speaker
Or at least wait until like the 12th thing before you go to that extreme. you know Yeah, that would be my modification. I would still do it eventually because, again, nobody, and I mean...
00:12:31
Speaker
from from By nobody, I really mean just you know like the front offices, based Major League Commissioner's office and players. Nobody likes 15, 16, 17, 18 inning games um because of the travel, because of what it does to your pitching staff.
00:12:44
Speaker
Nobody loves those, and I'm okay with that kind of going the way of the dinosaur. um But, yeah, I'd probably at least give it inning. Yeah. You know, like I I'm umm either way, 10th, 11th, 12th. I'd be fine with any of that. Right. ah But I'm so I'm a little weird, though, because I'm used to it.
00:13:02
Speaker
i coach I coach youth baseball, man. The ghost runner for a long time when you get to extra innings because you're playing on a two hour time limit. You got to finish games. Yeah, well, I helped coach a lot of my daughter's softball team. Yeah, i yeah that that that. you And like said, it's it's not it's not a huge change because that you really when you look at it, there's not that many extra inning games that you really have to worry about. small percentage of games. You're a percentage of games.
Offseason Trades and Team Dynamics
00:13:28
Speaker
ah So let's talk a little bit about the offseason now. um And like last year. that You had the big thing with the one player. Last year it was um ah Otani.
00:13:42
Speaker
This year it was Soto. After that, I mean, the biggest thing people really heard of was, I think, ah Bregman made – there was a lot of talk on Bregman. Yeah, yeah. um And, of course, the Cardinals declaring they were going to trade Arenado, and that you know hasn't happened as of yet.
00:14:03
Speaker
um But, you know, and and there were some moves that were made that just didn't seem to get the fanfare that you would have thought they would have. Yeah, I think you know the Soto thing drowned out everything else early.
00:14:14
Speaker
Right. um you know And that that was the big one. like that was one you know That one, thankfully, wasn't super late in the process because that was like early December. So that one didn't hold a lot of things up.
00:14:27
Speaker
But the Bregman kind thing did kind of hold up the third base market, and it it probably played a role in why the Cardinals weren't able to move Nolan Aranato. Now, not the only role, just role.
00:14:38
Speaker
Right. Because, you know, He only had a list of five teams. Not all those teams were interested in him. So, you know, it's, there's, there are more, there's more than that that plays into it. Um, but you know, Pete Alonzo's dragged out a little bit, although that one, I don't think really held anybody else back.
00:14:54
Speaker
yeah Um, That wasn't one that a lot of teams ran out. Everybody kind of thought he was going to the Mets anyway. Willie Adamas signed really early, you know right around the same time as Juan Soto. So that didn't really... that's not but see again it really the problem i wouldn't say the problem, but the the interesting part here is there were only a couple of really big names. It was...
00:15:16
Speaker
it was it was Juan Soto, and it was Willie Adamas, Corbin Burns, who signed in December with Arizona, Blake Snell, who signed in November. So, yeah, I mean, there there were only a handful of big, big, big free agents, a handful of might even be generous. And then there were a bunch of others that were kind of B-level, like Tyler O'Neal and Gleyber Torres and and Christian Walker. Christian Walker ah signed pretty early on with Houston, too. So it wasn't a super deep class, and it was really about those top few guys.
00:15:47
Speaker
Right, right. ah So who, I mean, ah I've looked at a couple of different sites and a lot of a few of them saying Mets were like ah top one of the top two teams that won the offseason. Would you, I mean, and all they really did was sign Soto.
00:16:06
Speaker
I mean, they did more than that, but that's the big one, right? yeah Right. Yeah, you you know, because they got Soto, they I think it's probably fair to characterize them as one of the big winners of the offseason, but I still think they're wildly overrated.
00:16:19
Speaker
um You know, first of all, they they have two starters already hurt that aren't going to be ready for the start of the season. Sean Minaya's got an oblique thing, and it's not like a long-term injury, but...
00:16:30
Speaker
right You have to shut that down for a month and then start all over. So he's not going to be ready at the start of the year. um They brought in Frankie Montas in free agency. He's out at least two months.
00:16:42
Speaker
um So, you know, their their rotation is, in my opinion, pretty thin. um They're counting on Kodai Senga to be their ace. He barely pitched last year because he was hurt all last year. right So I think their starting rotation and is very questionable.
00:16:55
Speaker
um The top of their lineup's really good. You know, when you're going Lindor, Soto, Alonzo, that's a pretty good one, two, three. Yeah. And after that, it's just guys. It's just it's nothing it's nothing to to get all freaked out about. Their bullpen's pretty good, but it's not...
00:17:09
Speaker
It's not dominant outside of Edwin Nunez, if Edwin Nunez is right. So, yeah, I think they won the offseason because they got the best player, right? They got the best guy out there, and he's a franchise player. He's a first ballot Hall of Famer.
00:17:22
Speaker
But I still think, as of today, I think they're the third best team in the East. Okay, that's fair. That's fair. i think the Phillies are the best team in the East. I think the Phillies are the best team not based in Los Angeles in the National League. in the man there you go And I think the Braves are are somewhere between the Phillies and the Mets.
00:17:42
Speaker
ah The Braves have their own questions. I mean, you know, Acuna is not going to be healthy right away. might take a month to get him out there. And even then, he probably isn't right coming off an ACL. And then Spencer Strider is coming off Tommy John. And he'll be back. It's just a matter of at what capacity in his first year back from Tommy, Tommy John.
00:17:58
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, they you know they ah they didn't really do themselves any favors. and the other they the The only real signings were De La Cruz and Jurekson Profar. So they really didn't do much. No. Profar was a great ad. Oh, it's a good ad. oh No doubt.
00:18:18
Speaker
um But, yeah, they know they they didn't do anything really of note on the pitching side. You know, they lost Max Freed. Right. So, you know, he lost Max Freed. Now, again, they're getting Strider back at some point, but probably not, probably not until June, maybe maybe even a little later than that.
00:18:35
Speaker
And you're banking on Chris Sale, who's 36. Yeah. yeah And you're banking on Reynaldo Lopez, who's only done it as a starter one time. Now, they've got some good young guys. Spencer Schwellenbach's really talented. He's a big, hard-throwing right-hander.
00:18:47
Speaker
ah But they've got a ah reliever being converted to the rotation in Grant Holmes. um So they're kind of hoping that's going to be their new Reynaldo Lopez. And then Ian Anderson's back, who who was...
00:18:58
Speaker
Pretty good a couple years ago. He was really big in their last postseason run as guy that stepped up as like a 21-year-old and really did well.
Financial Aspects of Baseball
00:19:04
Speaker
And he and he's fine. Like, they've they've got some guys, but they also have questions. I mean, right you know, i mentioned you mentioned Acuna already. Their lineup's still pretty good, man. When you can still run out Profar, Austin Riley, Matt Olson, Marcelo Zuna, Michael Harris II, and Ozzie Albee. So it's a pretty good start.
00:19:20
Speaker
And when your catcher, Sean Murphy, is hitting seventh, and that's a guy that hits 20 bombs and draws a lot of walks, that's a pretty good one through seven. Right. No doubt about that. I mean, the now the the Dodgers do what the Dodgers do. They, you know, signed everybody they could.
00:19:36
Speaker
Yeah. You know. ah are we at Are we at a point where there's a a dynasty now that we can call in L.A.?
00:19:48
Speaker
I guess it depends on how you define dynasty. Okay. I mean, they've won two titles ah in the last four years, five years, right? 2020 and then 2024. So they won two out of five.
00:20:00
Speaker
ah Now they make the playoffs every year. They win their division every year. So I don't know. They're kind of like what the Braves were in the nineties at this point. That was the Braves, right? They won every year for like 11, 12 straight years, but only won one world series.
00:20:11
Speaker
Right. oh um As of now, you only have the two world series. So, I mean, it's loosely a dynasty loosely, but yeah, baseball's been loaded with dynasties since a hundred years ago.
00:20:22
Speaker
Well, true. And the Yankees were a dynasty in the teens, in the twenties, in the thirties, in the forties, right? I mean, like it was a 50 year dynasty for the Yankees in the early part of the century. Yeah. And the Cardinals had little mini dynasties in there. Yeah. um You know,
00:20:38
Speaker
i i so I struggle with this because dynasties are celebrated in other sports, but in baseball, it's a sign that the sport is dying. And I don't understand. i don't, i I think it's fair to question whether or not this system is fair that a team can bully everybody else with their pocketbook.
00:20:58
Speaker
i don't know why I said that. Like I'm a hundred years old with their checkbook ah and nobody even uses that anymore. Can be bully with their, with their online bank account. Um,
00:21:08
Speaker
I think there are really good questions about that and something that to me is an issue that owners need to solve amongst owners. Right. Because to me, that's the problem with the baseball system is twofold.
00:21:20
Speaker
The teams at the top don't care about the penalties that exist for spending what they want. The Dodgers, the Yankees, the Red Sox, these teams, they don't care.
00:21:31
Speaker
The Mets, they don't care if they're over the luxury tax. But keeping in mind that every dollar they go over that, they're giving money back to the bottom end teams. Right. So the Dodgers going to spend something like a hundred and forty million dollars on revenue sharing this year.
00:21:47
Speaker
Not not counting normal revenue sharing. That's just their luxury tax bill. They're going to spend over a hundred million dollars on their luxury tax bill. That goes to the Pirates and the A's and the Brewers and teams like that.
00:21:58
Speaker
um So I don't know that the top end by itself is that big of a problem. But you also have the bottom end. where some teams refuse to spend that money.
00:22:09
Speaker
They're getting money. They're getting 70, 80, 90, $100 million dollars in revenue sharing, and they don't spend it. They don't spend it on their team. So I think there's two problems in this, right?
00:22:20
Speaker
There's the problem at the top. And the problem at the top is the big markets don't want to share more with the smaller markets. Right. And at the bottom, they're just happy to take home the money and put it in their pocket and not spend it to put a better product on the field for their fans.
00:22:36
Speaker
And then you basically have 20 to 23, 24 teams. Let's call it 20 teams. 20 teams in the middle. twenty teams in the middle That are doing the best that they can. They're spending money. They're trying to put a good team out there, but they can't go to the level of the big boys.
00:22:52
Speaker
Right. um So, you know, I think that's a problem that owners need to solve. I don't think that has anything to do with the players. that Forget a salary cap. A salary cap doesn't change this dynamic. No. What are you going to set the salary cap at?
00:23:05
Speaker
Right. Right. If you set it at 250, the Pirates can't come close to that. The Pirates are going to be $150 million dollars below that. Is that going to create competitive balance?
00:23:17
Speaker
Of course not. and you And you can't, and you can't really do it by there because the Dodgers and the Yankees and those teams, they're not going to let you set it and have to cut a hundred million dollars off their payroll. You think the Dodgers are going to be getting rid of those players?
00:23:30
Speaker
Well, and and you look at the other, some people have said you can't have the cap without having a minimum. Well, right right there there again is another problem. What do you set the minimum at? Exactly. Exactly. now Because because the pi the the the Pirates, the Reds, um Tampa Bay are teams that generally don't spend a lot.
00:23:51
Speaker
They don't have a lot. And, you know, so what do you say? You set that 150. Now they've you know, you know come up with and sign players just to sign players at that point. Well, that's a you see that's a that's a great point. And that that's exactly why this is there's so many issues. By the way, do you know how many teams in baseball last year had a payroll above $150
00:24:15
Speaker
18, I believe. 15. Okay, I was close. Half. Half. So I don't think we're setting it there. Although, if you do, that means Oakland, wit or Oakland, Sacramento now, they would have had to add $90 million dollars to their payroll last year.
00:24:30
Speaker
Yeah. You know, the Marlins would have had to add $60 million dollars to their payroll for last year to do that. And then you've got the Mets and the Yankees and the Dodgers. Those teams are 300-plus million.
00:24:41
Speaker
So even if it's 150, they still spend twice what the bottom end is going to spend. and And I want to, you know, I say this to everybody, so I apologize if I'm repeating to you what I say nonstop all the time.
00:24:52
Speaker
Not a problem. Our recaps do not create competitive balance. They never have. They never will. They have not done it it in the NFL. They have not done it in the NBA. They have not done it in the NHL. The and NBA and the NFL have more dynasties than baseball, period, the end, and it's been going on for the entire salary cap era.
00:25:08
Speaker
We haven't had a dynasty in baseball, if the Dodgers are one. right We haven't had one since before them since the nineteen ninety s It's been 30 years, and that was the Yankees that ran into the early 2000s. So generously, I'll say it's been 25 years since we had a dynasty.
00:25:26
Speaker
We've had nonstop dynasties in the NFL, from the 49ers to the Cowboys to the Packers to the Patriots to the Chiefs.
00:25:36
Speaker
It's been nonstop one after the other in the National Football League. um In the NBA, it's the same thing. You know, I mean, Lakers and Celtics and all. and and And obviously there it ends up becoming about where all the star players want to go. Right. And they all gang up and then they become of their own. Golden State was a dynasty. Was that bad for the NBA?
00:25:56
Speaker
And if it wasn't, then why are the Dodgers bad for Major League Baseball? I don't understand it. And I don't understand why people can't do the basic math. math That salary caps have done nothing to create competitive balance. Salary caps do one thing.
00:26:10
Speaker
They guarantee a certain amount of profit for owners. That's it. And they do guarantee a certain amount of revenue for players. They get a very specific percentage of the revenue. um And that's all it does. It does nothing else. I don't know why anybody would want that in baseball because it's not accomplishing anything when it comes to competitive balance in football or in any other sport.
00:26:31
Speaker
I got you. I got you. Can you tell I get heated about that one? Oh, is that? Can you tell I get heated about that one? Oh, just maybe a little. People get it. They believe this myth that there's competitive balance in football and basketball, and there just isn't.
00:26:45
Speaker
um No, and I mean, there really isn't. All you got to do is just look at some of the teams that are on the field at the time. mean look at the Bears in this season. yeah man I'm a Detroit Lions fan.
00:26:56
Speaker
Yeah. They're good now. It took my entire life for them to be this good. right They've been terrible since the 1950s. And, you know, obviously these last couple of years, it's been nice and they're finally a good team.
00:27:08
Speaker
But don't tell me about competitive balance or parody because I watched my team suck my entire life. 53 Yeah.
00:27:17
Speaker
I've only got you by a few years, but I can remember i can remember some lean years. in like I'm a Packers fan, and I can remember some lean years there you know after Star 11 until they found Favre. Yeah, was to say, since Favre, it's been nothing but a quarterback farm.
00:27:31
Speaker
Yeah, no kidding. Well, only three of them, really. Right. I'm saying they cover that whole time. They cover like 30 years. 30 years there. ah we're gonna I want to get to some your thoughts on the Cardinals here. We're going to take a quick little break here for a commercial message, and then we shall return.
00:27:50
Speaker
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00:28:03
Speaker
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00:28:14
Speaker
These symptoms increase as your dehydration increases. If you lose 15% of your body's water, that's enough to put you in the hospital. And I've been there. That's not a really fun way to do it.
00:28:25
Speaker
So hydration is a serious issue. And water alone sometimes just isn't enough. And I coupled that with the fact that most people only drink 50% of the recommended amount of water they need per day for proper hydration and good health.
00:28:39
Speaker
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00:28:52
Speaker
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00:29:57
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00:31:28
Speaker
Hey, we are back with Kevin Wheeler. This is Talking Sports on the Bleachers, and I am Don Glenn, your host. And we've talked a little bit about baseball. We've talked about the rules and the offseason.
00:31:40
Speaker
And we'll talk to a team we'll talk about a team now that's kind of close to Kevin and mine's heart, and that's the St. Louis Cardinals. ah We kind of mentioned a little bit. The the big thing that Moselec wanted to do was we're going to trade Aaron out on the offseason. We're not going to resign Goldschmidt. We're going to try and see if some of these like Gray and Contreras and Michaelis want to leave.
00:32:04
Speaker
And the only person that's left so far has been Goldschmidt. but Well, and and and Gibson and Lynn, but yeah. Well, Gibson and Lynn, but believe they were going to be just expiring contracts.
00:32:14
Speaker
Yeah, they were coming back anyway, so. Right. Fascinating, isn't it? Yeah. Because normally the Cardinals, that I mean, they I've been covering the Cardinals since 2006, and this is the first time in the offseason the message has ever been, ah we're really not trying to add.
00:32:30
Speaker
Yeah. Right? I mean, like and and I understand what they're doing. I don't really have a problem with what they're doing because they've been caught in between now for too many years. Caught in between really going in and having a contending team versus just putting Band-Aids on things.
00:32:44
Speaker
Right. um And I'm not a fan of... of a tank job. This team doesn't need to tear it down to the studs and just get rid of everybody. I think that would be a big mistake. They're not that far away from being good.
00:32:57
Speaker
um But this made sense to me because again, what have we seen the last three years when you're just kind of putting patches on everything? It doesn't, doesn't get you where you need to go. um It got them into the playoffs. They won the division three years ago, but you were just a quick, easy out in the post season.
00:33:14
Speaker
um And I think it's time to kind of reset. We know that you know they're they're spending a lot of money now on player development updates and upgrades. Right. They're upgrading equipment.
00:33:25
Speaker
They're hiring more staff. um You know, after covid, you know, during covid, they let a lot of people go. You know, guys that were advisors to the general manager and the president of baseball operations, guys like Chris Carpenter, as an example. Right.
00:33:38
Speaker
ah During COVID, they let him go, and then they just never brought him back. um They were running low on staff. they didn't they They weren't up to date with modern training techniques, with technology.
00:33:48
Speaker
So that's all the stuff that they're spending their money on this offseason. Now, that's not the same as spending in free agency. It's not the equivalent. um But it still needed to be done. And I just don't see a point of spending at the major league level unless it's going to lead to real success.
00:34:06
Speaker
You've got to sort through what you have. And I know that's why they wanted to trade Arenado, right? it would They wanted to save some of that money, keeping in mind, too, that we should all remember that part of this is they lost a significant amount of revenue um with the regional TV sports network going bankrupt, right? Diamond Sports went bankrupt.
00:34:22
Speaker
um That's now what FanDuel Sports Midwest is. but But that deal does not pay the Cardinals now what it did before. it's It was like a 20, 25% decrease in tv revenue So when that's happening, and it's fine with me in a short term, if you're going to say, right, we're not making the money we were.
00:34:42
Speaker
We're not really gaining any ground in the standings. We've got a lot. We've been stuck in this middle ground, and we need to reset our player development. We need to figure out what we have. And the most important thing, Don, is you got to clear the decks for the new guy coming on board.
00:34:57
Speaker
Right. Because this is John Mosaylock's last year, and the next year, Heim Bloom takes over. The last thing you want is to bring a new guy in and make him do the dirty work. Right? You want Mo to take the bullets now.
00:35:09
Speaker
And Mo's taking the bullets. I'll give him credit, man. he i but I have been impressed with the way he's handled all the – um anti-criticism, if you will, because it hasn't really been criticism. because Like you said, a lot of people, I think, have seen that this was the way that they were going to have to go because trying to spend the money for patchwork just wasn't going to get it done.
00:35:31
Speaker
And you've got a lot of young kids that have shown their worth, at least at certain times. so So why not you know play the game and see what happens? You cannot come out of 2025. without answers to a bunch of questions. you What is Jordan Walker?
00:35:47
Speaker
What is Nolan Gorman? What is Lars Newtbar? What can Victor Scott II bring to the table? How long is it going to be before we see J.J. Weatherholt? yeah what What is Contreras like? how How can he be as a first baseman when he can play more and not miss as many games like he would when you're a catcher?
00:36:05
Speaker
um what is what is What is Michael McGreevy? What do we have in the start? what's What's Quinn Matthews going to be when he arrives? they They need to know about a bunch of these players and know what they can offer so that when they come into next year with Haim Bloom, he can just get the ball rolling downhill. He'll say, right, we know what these guys are.
00:36:24
Speaker
We like this guy. We don't need this guy. This guy's not going to cut it. We're going to trade him. We're going to go sign somebody, or maybe a young guy is going to take that job. We need to find out a bit about Thomas the JC, who's another one that is facing a tough, an uphill battle right now. There's no at bats for him.
00:36:38
Speaker
Uh, while Aronado is in town, there just aren't enough at bat. So it's going to be tough, but like you have to find all of that out. And then as you go through the year, if you're not on a playoff track,
00:36:51
Speaker
then you can trade Ryan Helsley and you can trade Eric Betty and maybe even other guys to get even more young talent in. But by by then, at least you found out more. And the biggest mistakes they've made, in my opinion, Don, and I'll use Walker as the example, is that you know when when your mindset is we have to win the division or we have to be a playoff team, that's what we are.
00:37:16
Speaker
And you get off to a slow start like they have the last two years. And you get a guy like Walker who's off to a slow start. Well, you have to take him out of the lineup. You have to send him down. Now, you don't have to.
00:37:27
Speaker
But by that mindset, you do. Because you're trying to win games and not develop the player. Right. That player needs to play. And if he he can't hear, he's not going to get better as a major league hitter playing at AAA.
00:37:39
Speaker
He's got to face major league pitching and he's got to get through the struggles and, and play his 140 games and get his 600 plate appearances to get through it. And look at Milwaukee last year.
00:37:50
Speaker
um They're, they have a phenomenal young right fielder, Jackson Chorio through the
Young Talent Development in MLB
00:37:56
Speaker
end of May. So two months last year, he was terrible. His offensive numbers look like Jordan Walker's offensive numbers when Walker was struggling.
00:38:05
Speaker
They never pulled him out of the lineup. They never sent him down to AAA. They didn't have to because they were in first place. Right. Right. The rest of the team was performing so they could wear it. They could bat him ninth and not worry about it.
00:38:17
Speaker
And then from June 1st on, he played like an all-star for four months and played like an all-star in the playoffs because he had the time to work through and figure out at the major league level what it takes to compete.
00:38:29
Speaker
Right. They need to do that with Jordan Walker without overly being overly concerned about where they are in the standings. um Yeah, you want to win games, man. Everybody wants to win games. You want to leave the hope open that you could catch um lightning in a bottle and Sonny Gray has a big year and Eric Fetty has a good year and your bullpen's good and and Gorman goes back to what he was in 2023 when he hit 27 home runs.
00:38:51
Speaker
You could do all that still and maybe make the run and win 86, 88 games and get in because that might get you in. That might win this division. i'm not This division's not that great. Yeah.
00:39:01
Speaker
But that can't be the priority when you're trying to develop a guy that could be a star. You've got to let him play. And that's kind of the mentality that needs to change. And they've they've admitted that.
00:39:12
Speaker
And they that's what they're that's what they're saying. So hopefully they'll follow through on that once the games start. Once the regular season starts. Well, and, excuse me, and, you know, like you said, with Walker, you know that when they brought him up in his rookie season, you know, it's like, okay, I'm you're coming north with the team from day one.
00:39:31
Speaker
Yeah. And then what was it? A month in he's not, he was hitting actually pretty decent, but then wasn't getting the fly balls. Okay. Let's send them down so we can get the fly balls.
00:39:43
Speaker
Well, like you said, that's fly balls against triple a pitching, not against major league pitching. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, you know he had that 10-game hitting streak to start, right? you know yeah he He was really good. And then he didn't hit for like two and a half, three weeks. like He just hit nothing.
00:39:59
Speaker
Right. Um, and i think what, and I mentioned this at the time, uh, but it was kind of more of a, Hey, let's be cautious. Cause this guy's never even played at triple yet.
00:40:10
Speaker
You know, this might be a little too early, but he had a great spring, at least a great start to the spring. He did tail off toward the end. Right. Um, and I didn't have a problem with them sending him down that year because he not had not played at triple a and you could see that there were holes and he needed to work on them, but we're two years past that.
00:40:28
Speaker
Right. We're two years past that. like The hole should be filled by now. Right. I mean, that this is, you know, here you go, buddy. Let's see. Let's see. Are you ready? He's only 22, though. Let's keep that in mind. Like when Aaron Judge was 22, Aaron Judge was in the minor leagues.
00:40:42
Speaker
You know, last year at the age that Walker was, Aaron Judge was still at still in college. Yeah, he was still in college at the same age. ah So, you know, there's a lot left to learn about Jordan Walker. And if you look at his total major league numbers, all right, so his total career, he's had 584 at bats, which is about a major league season.
00:41:06
Speaker
Right. Right. For an everyday player about an every about a major league season for an everyday player. 255, 21 home runs, 740 OPS, which is above league average. there nothing wrong with that.
00:41:18
Speaker
I would take that. Yeah. And if he does that this year, he's going to play every day. Now, his upside is way more than that. yeah. way more than that but i you know you're not gonna know it until you play i made the comment back when he was still and they were still in the in the minors so we were talking there was big the big talk was about will they trade him to get something you know is he and the group i was with i were we were talking and i said i made the comment i said well i'll put it this way i said i think if if i'll after everything said and done
00:41:50
Speaker
And I will stick i will stick to this statement for now. I'll probably end up with egg on my face, but I'll stick to this statement for now. That after everything's said and done, Jordan Walker will probably have as good a career as Juan Soto.
00:42:04
Speaker
Whoa, I can't go with you on that, man. I know. A lot of people don't. ah But i looked at i but and I look at it, and i i said it for one reason, is that i think Whereas Soto may, it may actually be, and he is the better, the better power hitter, uh, the better run producer.
00:42:24
Speaker
I think when you're looking at a total game, I think Walker's total game is going to be above what Soto's is. It could be if you – because Soto is not a very good defender, and right now Walker isn't either.
00:42:35
Speaker
No, no, but I think that's a lot of changing positions from third base to outfield. Yeah, that that was – to me, that's on the team because he should have moved to the outfield the day after the draft.
00:42:46
Speaker
The day after he was drafted, he should have been moved to right field. I mean, he he's a plus runner. He ranks in the top quarter of base runners and charge in terms of sprint speed in Major League Baseball. He's got one of the strongest arms of any position player in baseball. He's in the top 3%.
00:43:00
Speaker
um of arm strength in major league. He's a right fielder. He's 6'6", 260, man. like you know like Scott Rowland was a big third baseman. He was 6'5", maybe 230.
00:43:11
Speaker
right you know like the Walker's just too big and too much of a body to play the infield. and They had just gotten Arenado. They had Nolan Gorman. like There was no reason to leave him at third as long as they did.
00:43:26
Speaker
and That was a mistake, and it set back his defense. um But like the thing that he has, he you know when you look when you look at his skill set, he hits the ball as hard as anybody in baseball.
00:43:38
Speaker
Oh, yeah. His bat speed is top of the chain. like He is top of the food chain. His bat speed is the top 10% of major league hitters. um Now, his problem is the swing and miss, and a lot of that is what he swings at. He chases too many pitches out of the zone.
00:43:53
Speaker
He chases that slider down and away too much, and everybody knows it. So if he can lay off that stuff, and and swing at strikes, swing at pitches in the zone more, then that bat speed turns into production.
00:44:06
Speaker
He's already got the raw ingredients, man. He's he's got the ability to hit 480-foot home runs, but you can't hit it out of the ballpark unless you hit it. Well, that's true. can't hit it out of the ballpark on the ground either.
00:44:17
Speaker
But when you think about the ground ball weight, some of that is swinging at pitches down in the zone. Well, and like I said, and that was the issue that I was talking about the first year when he when he did start to tail off.
00:44:29
Speaker
He was still hitting the ball. I mean, what was it? 99, 100 miles an hour off the in his average exit was but eighty nine or so that's about big but see here's the problem the problem with that is um A lot of that is because he's swinging at pitches that he can't hit hard.
00:44:49
Speaker
Right. Right. When you're swinging at low breaking balls, low and away, you can't hit those hard. So it's not. and But when you look at the bat speed, the bat speed was in the top 10, 15 percent.
00:45:00
Speaker
So when you see soft contact with someone that who who has ah elite bat speed, know it's it's very clearly pitch selection. You're just swinging at the wrong stuff. You're swinging at pitches. You can't hit hard.
00:45:11
Speaker
And that's all that needs to change. I mean, he's got mechanical issues. Don, I'm not... There's no question. he sits He's got a dead back leg. He sits back and leans. um you know He's going to have a hard time with some fastballs in, in my opinion.
00:45:23
Speaker
But they're not things you can't adjust to. They're not things you can't game plan around by just laying off the things you can't handle. Right, right. ah Now, let's go to another young player, which we've got a ton of them. Nolan Gorman.
00:45:41
Speaker
Yeah. you know Like you said, after 23, when you had that that really, really good year yeah you know for and for a rookie and came up, and you know the strikeouts weren't a big issue. But now, ah when you're doing looking at close to a 50% strikeout rate this this past season, I mean, what happened?
00:46:03
Speaker
Well, same thing. If you look at 2023 and 2024, now the strikeout rate was just was 37 and a half percent. Right. But it was 50 percent in the month before he got sent down.
00:46:15
Speaker
Right. So at that point, he was literally striking out every.
00:46:20
Speaker
OK, you just froze on me.
00:46:23
Speaker
or But when you look at 2023, Jordan, Jordan Walker, I'm sorry, sorry, Walker, Nolan Gorman. Walked at an elite clip.
00:46:34
Speaker
Oh, yeah. He walked 11% of the time. That ranked in the top 15%, 16%, 17% in all of baseball. And his chase rate was above the average, which means he wasn't chasing pitches that he couldn't handle.
00:46:48
Speaker
And you're going to notice a theme here.
00:46:52
Speaker
rate dropped. It went from being in the top half of Major League Baseball to being in the bottom third. And that meant the walk rate went from being elite to basically average. average And that led to the swings and misses going up the strikeouts going up and it's not his bat speed didn't change he's still the same dude he's got really good bat speed he does a great job of barreling up the baseball think about this last year the percentage of balls that he put in play that were barreled so that's the combination of high exit velocity and getting the ball off the ground right the combination that he was in the top two percent in baseball last year oh wow when he hit the ball well yeah he had to hit the ball first The problem is he wasn't hitting it enough. And the problem was he's chasing too many pitches. So he was getting beat on fastballs above his hands and he was getting beat with the soft stuff low and away.
00:47:47
Speaker
He to get back to 2023, he just has to get back to laying off things he can't handle. And it's, you know, it's easier said than done, but it's the same theme for both of those guys.
00:48:00
Speaker
Right. A couple other guys that I'm interested in seeing this year, um how they, how they, they handle themselves. ah One is Pedro Paz. um I mean, he kind of came out of nowhere on a lot of people.
00:48:17
Speaker
And now this year, he's not, he's, he's kind of got the, I don't know if he's got actually solidified, but he is the backup or the co, the co catch. He's one of the two. Yep. Yep. You know, I, I, I,
00:48:31
Speaker
I think that's got to do something for his confidence level coming into this season. Yeah. I mean, he's going to be here. There's no question about that. um if I had my pick, uh, he would be the clear number two. Um, Herrera can hit man. Oh yeah. I mean like really legitimately hit.
00:48:47
Speaker
Um, and Alpaz is a better defender and, and he gets better reviews. Um, from what I understand, pitchers really like the way he calls a game. He's a little bit more advanced at that than Ivan Herrera is.
00:49:00
Speaker
Uh, But which is the more unique skill set for a catcher, a guy that could go out there and be a plus hitter um or a glove first guy? And I like the combo of them because on a given day, you can go with what you need.
00:49:11
Speaker
Right. If your lineup's going great and Aronado's hitting and Gorman and Walker hitting, well, you could play the defensive guy. yeah um And if you need offense, you can play the offensive guy. I'm really curious to see how the tandem works, because.
00:49:24
Speaker
You know, I think i you know no catcher plays every day. Right. in the I shouldn't say none, but very few. There's maybe five guys that play 100. hundred
00:49:38
Speaker
um I'll be really interested to see how they – You kind of froze up there for a second. atli is When they choose defense. Yeah, you kind of froze up there for a second when you said catchers that play every day. But I give it to me. Yeah, there's very few that are going to play yeah behind plate 150 games a year. It's just, yeah you know, those guys are long, very few and far between, and most them are long gone from the game.
00:50:03
Speaker
But I'm interested, like said, interested with Pahez because I want to see how he handles knowing that he's going to be the backup instead of having to worry about when he's going to get sent back down again. That's a good point.
00:50:13
Speaker
Yeah, that's a really good point. I think it's a good point for both him and Herrera, right? Oh, yeah, both of them. They're going to be here. Yeah, they're going to be Another guy um is Mason Wynn. mean, he had phenomenal rookie season.
00:50:26
Speaker
Phenomenal. ah How does he follow that up? I think he's going better. I think there' he's got much more offense in his tank. um he's not you know he he He's one of those guys that probably swings at too many things, but he also puts the bat on the ball.
00:50:44
Speaker
right So he's got a high chase rate. But he doesn't swing and miss very much. So he makes more soft contact than he should. and if And again, notice the theme. If he gets to be the point where he's going to stop swinging at pitches, he can't hit hard. You're going to see a lot of damage from him.
00:51:00
Speaker
He's going to be a 20 homer guy for me probably this year. I love Mason Wynn. I think this is a phenomenal young player. He's already an elite defender. I think his offense, while he may never be a big ah like a big walks guy you know a guy that that has a huge on base percentage right i think he's got doubles triples and home run power he's an electric player and think about man what we saw from him last year was age 21 he's still only 22 years old yeah yeah actually yeah that's not true that's like you said that's the whole theme of 23 this year yeah that's gonna be the whole theme of the cardinals i mean look at it i don't know that many players
00:51:36
Speaker
outside the pitching staff, maybe that are over 25, 27. I mean, yeah mean obviously Arenado Contreras, Arenado Contreras, Donovan are around that age, but they're kind of like right at that line you're talking about.
00:51:51
Speaker
So it's a mix, but yeah, they're way more younger guys than not. Right. Cause if Victor Scott's going to be there, victor Scott comes up there, those guys are young. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, it's it's this kind of the way they have to figure it out because, um you know, when you look at what there what you know they are as a team, the Cardinals are going to be best as a strong program moving forward if they're developing impact players and then you're signing them to long-term deals early, ah like what the Braves do, right? You saw what the Braves did with Acuna and Albies and Austin Riley and all that.
00:52:23
Speaker
This team is not going to be able to go out there in free agency and sign Juan Soto. They're not going to get him. They're not going to be able to go out there and spend $500 million dollars on Vlad Guerrero next year. rob They're just not going to do that.
00:52:35
Speaker
It ties up too much of their payroll. And it wasn't what they did when they were great. I mean, yeah, they traded for Scott Rowland and then they signed him. And they traded for Jim Edmonds and they signed him And they traded for Maguire and they signed him. And they traded for Goldie and they signed him. right like They do it that way, but then they also had their best players were Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina.
00:52:56
Speaker
Coming out of the farm system. but but Right, because you developed two rock stars, and then you signed them up long term. um And then by the time it was time for Albert to hit free agency, he was in his 30s. um And you had gotten the best 11 years of his career. yeah No doubt.
00:53:11
Speaker
And finding those guys is hard, man. Those are Hall of Famers. You don't get those all Right. you know You got to hope that Mason Wynn is an impact player. You got to hope that Jordan Walker can be that.
00:53:23
Speaker
um I think J.J. Weatherholt could be that. I'm a huge fan. um He is a phenomenal hitter. I think your worst case scenario on Weatherholt is like an average major leaguer. And your best case is maybe he's Chase Utley or Alex Bregman. and Oh, wow. Oh, he's like that. He's just a phenomenal hitter.
00:53:41
Speaker
Hmm. and Okay. ah but so you need But you're going to need that. And look at this year. You got the number five pick in the draft. You're going to get another shot at a star to add to this system in the draft.
00:53:53
Speaker
Yeah, that's true, too. One final thing before we go, ah we haven't talked yet about it, is how much of an impact are the young pitchers going to have on this team? And particularly the start and particularly night the starting rotation.
00:54:09
Speaker
Man, that's the question we've been asking, right? Because you look at the rotation, um there are no kids in there. I mean, Palante is the young guy but you know Sonny's a veteran, Fetty's a veteran, Matz is a veteran, Michaelis is old.
00:54:21
Speaker
um So yeah i think it'll be a crime if you get to the end of this year. and you don't get 20 starts for Michael McGreevy, at least, if you don't find 10, 15 starts at least for Quinn Matthews, because i don't think Quinn Matthews is going to struggle struggle at AAA.
00:54:37
Speaker
think he's going to put up big numbers at AAA, and at some point you're going to have to find out what he's capable of doing. um They might move Graceffo to the bullpen, so we'll see about that, but I think as far as young arms go, the two that we need to see a lot are Quinn Matthews and and Michael McGreevy, and then hopefully later in the year, Tink Hentz.
00:54:57
Speaker
um Tink is super talented. He's a top 100 prospect by every third-party evaluator, whether it's Keith Law or Baseball America or MLB.com or Baseball Perspectives. like They all have him as a top 100 guy. He's super talented, but he's never even thrown 100 innings in a year yet.
00:55:14
Speaker
um So what we don't know is what the workload is he's going to be able to handle, but the talent's there. um So we'll see later on how he does, but he could be another one too. But at least...
00:55:26
Speaker
at least McGreevy and Matthews need to get big tastes of the rotation because you need to know if they can be in your rotation next year because Sonny Gray is going to be there next year. He's going to be your veteran. to be the last year of his contract, but Feddy's a free agent at the end of the year.
00:55:41
Speaker
Matz is a free agent at the end of the year. Michaelis is a free agent at the end of the year. You need to know what you need. What you've got coming in. you So if you know that McGreevy and Matthews can start, if you know that they're good enough to fit somewhere 3-4-5 with Palante,
00:55:57
Speaker
then you only need one starter and you can go get a good one. Yeah. You go spend on somebody good, right? Somebody maybe that you'll get a five or six year deal on that can be your guy at the top with Sonny and then be the guy at the top when Sonny is. When Sonny leaves.
00:56:11
Speaker
And ends up leaving. If he does, who knows? maybe they'll keep him around. But, you know, that that idea. But if you find out that we don't know, well, you might need a couple guys. wow unless you're going to continue the reset in 2026, which, you know, I wouldn't anticipate because this team relies a lot on ticket sales and I don't see them going that path two years in a row.
00:56:32
Speaker
No, no. Well, Kevin, it's been fun. Um, and, uh, let everybody know where they can find you,
Kevin Wheeler's Media Presence
00:56:38
Speaker
buddy. Well, you find me on Twitter at Kevin Wheeler 94. And then you'll find everything we do there. So the Gas House Gang broadcasts every weekday at noon um on all of the KMOX social media channels. So YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, um it's podcast everywhere you get podcast. Once it's done, it airs live at eight o'clock at night. So you'll find me on all of that. And then on the Dave Glover show um from one to five on KMOX every single weekday.
00:57:03
Speaker
So who who's with you on that, on the Gas Eye Gang? a Bernie Miklas? Yeah, so there's four of us. there's the We got the big dog, Bernie Miklas, the legend. um Tom Ackerman, who is a legend in his own right. He's been at Camel X, I think, for like 114
00:57:19
Speaker
He's been literally been at KMOX since he was a college kid. yeah um And then Matt Pawley, who does the Cardinals pre and post game and occasional play by play. So you got the four of us. ah We all do it together on Mondays.
00:57:30
Speaker
And then the rest of the week we rotate. So it could be two or three of us at any given day. right. Well, again, thank you for coming on. I really appreciate it. And we'll talk to you again sometime after in when the season gets going. We'll see how everything's working. And maybe we got more complaints. Maybe we got a lot of praise. We'll see what happens.
00:57:47
Speaker
All right. Let's play some ball, man. All right, buddy. Thank you. All right, and my thanks again to Kevin Wheeler from the Mighty Mox KMOX in St. Louis. He had some really good things to say. And and if you ever have you haven't listened to that Gas House Gang show or podcast, I urge you to check it out. It's fun listening. I can tell you that right now.
00:58:08
Speaker
Anyway, like I said, he had some very interesting things to say. I liked his ah his thought on Walker and Gorman. And i have to say, I think this could be the make or break year for Nolan Gorman.
00:58:22
Speaker
um You know, he's been around three years now. It's the potential. the the There's so much made about people say, oh, he's got so much potential.
00:58:33
Speaker
I think that time is now past Nolan Gorman. ah The potential time is gone. Now it's time to show. And so we'll see how that works for him. a couple of the guys I didn't get a chance to talk to to Kevin about was Alec Burleson and Brendan Donovan.
00:58:49
Speaker
um I think and you know this is something that Nolan Gorman's performance could have an impact on. And you can also throw Thomas Segacy in there, too, in that if Gorman has an issue and they can't trust him at the plate or they can't trust him wherever and they need to make a move.
00:59:10
Speaker
Well, your immediate move is going to be Donovan going into second base and Burleson going into the outfield. Unless, of course, you bring up Thomas Segacy. So I think there's a lot of little dynamic going to be rolling around in that in that respect there.
00:59:26
Speaker
And of course, that also depends on the outfield situation, which you end up with. Because if if Scott makes the team, if Siani makes the team, you've already got Newt Barr, you've already got Walker. So there's four outfielders right there.
00:59:38
Speaker
um Donovan becomes your utility guy. Burleson probably becomes your DH. um You know, there's there's so many different factors how this all can play out for this season. And it's going to be very interesting to see how it all comes out.
00:59:52
Speaker
um A couple of things I liked about what he was talking about was, ah you know, this whole talk. And he's right. Everybody talks about salary cap and how to equalize baseball and all that.
01:00:06
Speaker
And, you know, Again, you can't do a salary cap without a floor. But how many teams, where do you set the floor and how many teams can make that floor? you know, we already know, like you said, the Yankees, the Dodgers, the Mets, Padres, they can go to that top, the top end of that payroll scale without blinking an eyelash.
01:00:26
Speaker
But can the Pirates, Orioles, Rays, can they spend consistently at that $150 million level? Let's say it's $125. Can they consistently spend at $125? mean, we know teams like the Cardinals, the Cubs.
01:00:41
Speaker
can they consistently spend to that hundred and twenty five um mean we know that we know teams like the cardinals the cobbs Detroit, KC, you know, they're all in that, you know, a between the the Mets and the Orioles type of thing.
01:01:01
Speaker
You some are higher, some are lower. I mean, the Cardinals have always been normally a top 10 payroll team. But, you know, you look at Pittsburgh, you look at Oakland, you look at Seattle, you look at ah Tampa Bay, and they just don't have or and don't consistently have, I should say, the revenue stream or revenue situation that they can compete at that $125 million hundred and twenty five me dollar our level.
01:01:29
Speaker
you know i mean Now, granted, they put out competitive teams, but they're only competitive for a couple years, and then they hit the then they hit their little downslide, and then they come back up. they're They're a constant yo-yo, where you see teams like the Astros, the Cardinals, Padres, Cubs, Brewers.
01:01:47
Speaker
They don't maybe spend at that $200 million dollar level. They're in that $140 $180 range most of the time, and they do quite well um So we'll see. I mean, I don't know whatever what what's going to be the answer in that respect.
01:02:05
Speaker
um But, you know, we'll just have to see. And and as Kevin says, it's it's it's baseball. That's what that's what it does. Well, um ah you know, that's going to do it
Future Sports Coverage Plans
01:02:14
Speaker
for me tonight. And again, I want to thank Kevin Wheeler from KMOX Radio. he is We're going to definitely have to have him on again for sure.
01:02:21
Speaker
A couple things. I'm looking at ah probably coming up in the next couple, three weeks, we'll be doing some looks at NCAA basketball. um And some other things in that nature.
01:02:35
Speaker
um I'm looking at a couple more guests to bring on to talk to that. We'll probably talk also some oh USFL, of maybe our UFL, I should say not USFL, UFL.
01:02:49
Speaker
I may try and get reach out to Arlington and see if he was to come on for some football talk. But you know just keep tuned to it. And you can find me on Twitter, T-S-O-T-B-G-C-S.
01:03:02
Speaker
Or excuse me, at T-S-O-T-B-G-C-S. Or you can look up the show's Facebook page, Talking Sports on the Bleachers Podcast. And you can also find us at thefuelsportsnetwork.com where you can find a host of other podcasts.
01:03:16
Speaker
The Two for Three with the Mighty Moose Michaels. The Team of Rivals with Ron, Pete, and Elliott. Ron also hosts At the Park, all about city soccer. And you have the A-Train, as I mentioned, the Arlington Lane and his A-Train show.
01:03:33
Speaker
Then there's my other podcast that I do with my broadcast partner, Russ Robinson, the NCAA Report. And of course... The Derek King Show with the one only Derek King.
01:03:44
Speaker
You can also find articles. I just put another one out. I got one coming out this week. So take a look at those. Tell us what you think. And until we meet again, have fun.
01:03:56
Speaker
Stay safe. We'll talk to you next time when we're talking sports on the bleachers. Good night, everybody.