Hey, hey, hey, how's it going guys? This is future Gabe coming at you this January 2nd now that I'm recording this little tidbit
First of all, I just wanted to say happy new year to everybody and second of all really just thank you for all your support
It's been a really fun last year doing these shows
The plan is to be more consistent with these uploads and more consistent with the content going forward
But it has just been an awesome learning experience and really fun to get to do this with my best friends for a living
So just wanted to put out that little tidbit before we get into the episode just me and Kenji this week
But hopefully some really insightful content from you guys. I don't really have a clue what they're talking about. So without further ado
Here's the episode. Thank you
Ladies and gentlemen, the stove right now is it's lukewarm
But it has been hot and it's about time your favorite baseball analysts have jumped on this the ones that don't really have a clue
What they're talking about, but they're gonna try to attempt to show the day of a clue to talk about I got Kenji with me today
We're talking baseball. We're talking all the Japanese signings. We're talking the new free agents a lot of stuff to talk about
Let's jump into it
Once again, it's good to hear that intro music has been a long time since we talked ball on this channel
It's been since the O's were a little were swept by the Rangers in the division series that we've done a show on this
podcast so
Long time that was for a good reason, you know, Joe did not want to do an episode
he wasn't very proactive about you know doing another episode after the Rangers kind of did their run and
thankfully
That was the case because if he had he wanted to do an episode
I might have been in trouble because I would had to sit there and take it from him all day long. So
first and foremost Kenji
Welcome back to talking baseball. I guess I
Know you're not usually be talking baseball guy at least the end of last year
He weren't but a lot of things to talk about especially the favorite player
So how you doing?
From a baseball standpoint, I think it's great. I think life is great. You know, I get to a
Watch my favorite player again this year
Yeah, and he's also gonna be on a team that actually wins now
So it's not gonna be as stressful or depressing to be a fan of Otani and I get to watch probably the greatest pitcher to ever live
I'm also playing the same team
Yeah, so I guess you never put of all time
And it's a great picture
Kershaw glad
Is it glass now glass knows the other guy? Yeah, and you're gonna be the greatest pitchers of all time now that they're okay
All right. Well, I guess this is a good segue
So the reason we wanted to hop on here where unfortunately can't get Brady and Joe on here at the same time bringing everybody in
Especially when it's offseason is tougher than you might think so well, we've got Kenji here
We want to talk a lot about these Japanese free agents because it has been kind of an offseason of I guess hype for these guys
So I got a lot of questions, baby
I got a lot of questions and I got a lot of things I want to talk about
Because there's a lot to discuss with these guys
They're getting contracts that are bigger than any American player and they've never thrown a pitch in you know, professional baseball in America
And so I think there's a lot to discuss here
And it's a good segue to go right into it. So
I guess oh, I'll tie up salute some loose ends from last season. I bought Joe a Texas Rangers
Postseason hat after they swept the O's in the division around they went on to win the World Series
Joe is was as happy as can be
And I'm sure we'll get him on here as the season gets a little bit closer and he'll will give him like his own
Soapbox and he can talk about it and give his whole experience. So Brady's Phillies lost in the championship series
They lost game six and seven at home to the Arizona Diamondbacks. He was staunchly
Saying that there's no way that Phillies lose two at home and they did so that was kind of funny
But uh, yep, so Brady's doing okay
And Kenji, of course kind of checked out after about you know, late August September last year when
Otani was kind of checking out with the TJ and the Angels were well out of the postseason picture
So but he's back into it. So it's kind of exciting
We'll just we'll hop right into it. So the biggest headline of the offseason, of course is
Otani's 10-year
700 million dollar contract that he signed with the Dodgers back in was it early November or late mid November something like that
reporting this
so
But that was a massive signing and then of course the news afterwards was the deferred contract
So he gets paid two million a year for the next ten years and then 68 million a year
For the next decade after that, so they save a crap ton of money and competitive balance tax
They save a bunch and how much they're actually gonna have to pay him year over year because only pay him two years
Two million a year for the next decade
So they could spend it on whoever and you saw with the Yamamoto signing which we'll talk about in a bit
So Kenji, first of all, give me your thoughts on Otani to the Dodgers for 700 million dollars
And what do you think it means for I guess?
Baseball as a whole Japanese baseball Otani LA. Let's hear it
Well, there's a lot that comes with when you talk about Otani
It's kind of hard because there's a side of you. That's like a fan and oh my gosh, this is insane
You know, that's if that's hard to use like how's this even possible and
Then you like like see comments you see the analysts talking about it
And everyone's like all he's probably gonna get up to six hundred five hundred million
Maybe seven hundred million dollars and then as soon as you know, you get signed everyone's like all how can you pay a DH?
700 million dollars and it's like, you know, everyone's just
annoying about it
I
Think if you were the most talented baseball player of all time, I don't think the price really matters
You're willing to pay whatever to get him and Dodger showed that
It's kind of crazy that you can defer money
But if you can do it why not do it it's one of those things it's like if the league allows you to do it
Why would you not do it? Like you're an idiot for not?
Doing what the leak?
It's like with taxes right everybody that finds ways avoid taxes
Like yeah, you can say that yeah, that's a terrible thing to do
But it's in the books right like if you don't do it, you're an idiot. I'm the guy several of a baseball
How can they do that?
I'm like, yes
It's like kind of like the Deshaun Watson contract almost where they just gave him five hundred guaranteed or no
I'm not fine. Was it was it fully guaranteed and like all the GMs are like no like we're never gonna do that
Like that's terrible for the sport. Yeah, it's almost kind of like this situation
But this time he's not a criminal and he's not bad
And so I think it's worth it not a criminal not a rapist
Yeah, you won't be scared when he comes to your massage salon, you know
You're gonna be happy with if over time he comes to yours Deshaun Watson right?
right
But overall, um, I am a little sad. He went to the Dodgers. I gotta be honest. I would hope he goes somewhere else
But honestly, it wasn't it was yeah, go ahead
I was just gonna see the places I wanted him to go
I really wanted him to go to Seattle like I really wanted to see him in Seattle
I thought he would be a really good fit on that young team
Yeah, I don't know how much they could have paid him because Seattle's been pretty disappointed this offseason
But that was like my hope and dream. I would have cried if he went to the Blue Jays
Because who cares about the Blue Jays that was a big rumor was that he was gonna go to Toronto
And there was like there was so much like Twitter drama about like who's on a plane and where's old tiny going?
There's a press conference all this stuff
And then of course the next day he just is like, yep side with the Dodgers
Sorry, and it was like in the most basic Instagram post. He probably could have come up with it was just like bam
It's who he is. He's a simple guy, but he knows it
And like to me in the end what it shows that he just wants to win
He doesn't care. He just wants to win in the sports because right he's one
Every award championship possible in Japan. He won the WBC
he was
Not only was he a clear-cut MVP of the WBC because honestly Yoshida kind of carried that entire team
The entire thing but like he played both ways and that last hit by him was probably the most clutches
Most heartwarming besides each rose hit in the 2009 WBC. I don't know if you want to talking about
I know I did only get watching Oh nine, but you clearly did so well
Yes, I've seen I've seen like highlights of like 30
500,000 times after it. Yeah, it's like a night pitch at bat against Korea
You know, it's an extra innings run around second and third
He's a line drive up the middle after battling off like four four four four pitches
And then because that they go up and they win the game and it's just the greatest moment of my life and watching the great honey
For Japanese sports amazing news, so I just keep ranting
But I think it's not that big of a deal people need to take a show pill because obviously he's insane
And if you're even doubting it one bit that he's not worth the money. You're an idiot in my right
So this is I wanted to touch on the money and the numbers a little bit here. I'm a numbers guy
I'm a finance guy. So I think it's it was super fascinating how it kind of broke down. So
Otani already
Like you can go look at the numbers and there were reports that he made like 50 million dollars last year loan from endorsements
Not even including his contract with the angels
How much was he getting paid with the angels?
Uh, not a whole lot. I know he sacrificed money to come over here in the first place and the points to wait, right?
I think that's what it was that angels gave him a little bit less money
Or not something like that, but he made a he made 50 million in endorsements, which is crazy money alone
And then you go and do the math and you're like, okay, I'm gonna go with the angels
You go and do the math and you're like, okay
Well, if he gets paid two million by the dodgers and he can make 50 million at least so this is at least he
He was in anaheim before now. He's in the dodgers
He's the one of the biggest teams in the sport in the country really the los angeles dodgers are huge brand
So he's going to get more brand deals and he's gonna be more opportunity to make money on top of that 50 million dollars already
Uh, and then so that two million just becomes chump change and then by the time he's done playing, you know
He's in his 40s. He's getting paid 68 million dollars a year by the dodgers because of what he did when he was there
It's worth noting most players don't do the deferred money because they don't have 50 million dollars in endorsements coming in
Um as we'll touch on yamamoto signed 12 years 325. I think is what it was
Uh, but he had no deferrals and a lot of players like soto when soto signs
he won't have any deferrals things like that because they just can't afford it and
finance finance bro, uh
Uh gabe is talking net present value just basically means money today is worth more than money tomorrow
So the 68 million otani is getting years down the line is not worth more. It's not worth as much as he if he got it today
um
But because you make 50 million a year in endorsements and he'll probably that'll take up to 60 70 probably
Uh, whereas tenure with the dodgers he's gonna be totally fine
And he's just he'll be a billionaire by the time he this contract with the dodgers is up, which is crazy
Yeah, uh, I think it's great for the sport
I think you know if you look at the stats alone and you're right, you know designated hitter
And he'll be a pitcher from he'll be a starting pitcher for maybe what like half that contract and then i'll just
Maybe be a relief pitcher or a hitter after that. I think it'd be good if he went became a closer in the end
Yeah, I think I think that's probably good for his longevity. Um
And you know you look at you think about that and you're like, okay for 700. That's crazy
but then you think about the pr that they're getting now like
Every japanese fan that's watched american baseball and is a huge fan of otani and now yamamoto, too
They're all dodger fans. They're all buying dodger stuff. It's a business thing and you know the dodgers have made
Otani set a record for jersey sales right after he got signed. That was wild crazy record and the jerseys are sweet
I'm not buying a jersey. Kenji's gonna buy a jersey
Um, the jerseys are sweet
Uh, and you know, i'm sure that they made their fair share of tv deals and commercials and sponsorships right after they announced that they signed him too
Uh, like the dodgers are the dodgers. They keep getting better. They the the brand gets bigger every japanese fan for the next decade
Is going to be a dodger fan
That's you just bought a country you bought a country. I mean how that's crazy
Um, and I think it's well worth 700 million dollars
I think there's a reason why
Oh 100 like it's more than just getting a great player. Like you said, it's it's the marketing
The marketing is insane. Yeah, everyone in japan is a diehard otani fan, right?
Just like they were diehard ichiro fan just like they were diehard darvish fan
Maeda tanaka, right all these bitches that come over these players the great players that come over japan loves them because
They're good characters. They're always respectful. They play the sport the right way
and they're really good, right and they
They love their country usually
Um, and so all the japanese fans love them and they support them wherever they go
Like it doesn't matter which team they go to they support them
so
Pretty much. Yeah, you have all of japan on your side now. Um, I think any future japanese player that comes out will have to
Consider coming to the dodgers. I mean, I don't know how much they can afford but a lot more are going to come
I think in the next five six years, there's not a crazy amount of good players that could come
um
Yeah, there are great players in japan don't get me wrong. There's a reason why we won the wbc just saying but
um
They don't really fit the major league. I don't think they're good players in japan
Yeah, I mean listen, I want to defend. I want to defend my country here briefly about this wbc thing lance lynn
Started a winner-take-all
Against jet against japan when you guys had yamamoto sasaki and otani being able to put your lance lynn started
I understand. I understand pitching was horrific
Lance lynn and meryl kelly started that game to win it for my country. I'm sorry. Wayne Wright was pitching. I'm sorry that
Yeah, the lineup was great. Don't get me wrong. Okay, so like let's say like let's say because in
We'll spend five minutes on this five minutes on five minutes. Here we go in four years
We're gonna have an xwbc
Everybody in the major league is gonna play because mike trout said this is the funnest baseball movie
But it's the best baseball ever played in my life
I hope so everybody's gonna play and there's no way any major league team has any way of stopping their players from playing because
They'd freak out because like no we want to represent our country and play which yeah
I love because I want to see the best of the best play right? I do I do too
So if you have four starting pitchers, who are you taking who are american?
Not because you have a lot of people from different countries
But who are the the four american pitchers that you're going to be taking in four years to start? Oh in four years, that's tough
uh, right
Degrom
Is he gonna be in the league still? Yeah, I take degrom. I take george curvy
um skeins
poskeins, uh
I've been here
Kirby's gonna be elite in four years. He's already elite. Um, even gilbert's gonna be great. Can they coal?
I mean, there's so many guys
I mean
This is my thing is if you took if it was an all-star team on both ends, right?
And the japan team was largely an all-star team from from npv, right?
Yamamoto sasaki and otani who when sasaki gets posted whether it's next year or whenever he's eligible to be posted after that
He's gonna get a massive bag too because sasaki's insane
Um, he's arguably better than yamamoto, right? Am I understanding it correctly?
Uh, I wouldn't say that. Oh, okay. Sorry. My japanese baseball is that's why we have you right?
um
But uh, I would argue
That if if if the if mlb's best pitchers join that team
Um, then it would be a true fair matchup. I mean when japan won last year
I was like that's no surprise like they wanted it more than the u.s
Did they had better pitchers in the u.s?
Did they played as a team better than the u.s. Did like it was just clear that they were the better squad
uh, but i'd be curious to see what would happen if you get like the
mlb's best
American pitchers against japan's best pitchers, you know, I would say the mlb team would be more talented
Okay, I don't think because I I don't think japanese players are the most talented players in the world, but they're they've they've got grit
They got great technique and they play the game right, right? That's what I've like i've always stressed about japanese players
They play the game right
It's the details right and that to me is what makes them so special. They're not crazy good athletes, right?
Like they're all mediocre like if you look at that japanese team like there's a couple great stars and the rest of them are just complete
role players, right
Right, like our shortstop
Exactly, they do their job, right? They play the small ball. They'll bunt when they need to though
They play defense perfectly, right? And so I think from a talent wise. I don't think you can beat the mlb
like because
Like if you had your pole on that team last year, you guys would have been fantastic
I know b is the pinnacle of baseball. That's why japanese players are coming here
um, but I think I I don't mean to discredit like the quality of japanese baseball at all because you guys
You see it the dodgers just shelled out over a billion dollars for your two best players
They just they did it
And they're going to continue to pump out players because this it's only growing in popularity in over the world
But especially in japan
So you're going to continue to get the best players that keep coming over and they're going to perform at a really high level in america
And they're going to be competing with the best american-born players the best dominican-born players the best cuban-born players for
The best spots in the country or in the world, excuse me
Um, and I think it's great for the sport of baseball
I'm fascinated to see what the wbc rosters look like in a few years time. I'm so excited
Um, because I think it would be I think it's gonna be a lot of fun
I mean there you could get the likes of adley being on that team you could get
Um, I think that will be him right it will be him in four years
This who else is it going to be because it should be him dude. I gotta say I think mike trout has saved baseball
My
Using to play wbc and like having american players because america took wbc as a joke in the past. It's true
They did like 2009 jeter played but like
They were trash like they they were not recruited people. Yeah, right exactly those guys
I think trout saved baseball for the world, right?
Because remember like when mexico's coach came out and said like whether japan wins or mexico wins tonight
like doesn't matter it's like baseball won tonight or baseball will win tonight and like that's so true because
For the first time the whole world actually cares about the sport of baseball together, right?
And they want to watch the best of the best
And now last year happened because it was so good and that that final battle between otani and trout was such a
like a perfect um
Yeah, but like it's it's a fairy tale ending right?
Yeah, everybody's like
I gotta be a part of this. I gotta watch this again. This is the next big thing
And so and everyone's like agree because if you think about it, that is the world champion, right? Like
I'm not gonna guess has a mixture but like that's like literally the you against the world. It's like
The world it's a patriotic thing but also like it's exciting because you're playing with all these all sorts of other teams
It's I think it's so good for the sport of baseball. I'm like, I'm excited and i'm excited for um,
What 2026?
I don't know when it is but something like yeah, but I think next time i'm so excited
I'm so happy for the sport that you know, it's becoming more international and that's so many talented japanese-born players are coming over
And they're having a lot of success. And of course, there's the ichiro's that you know came over and he was a international superstar
Because he's one of the best players of all time. He's one of the best hitters of all time
Like one of the best true hitters of all time
Uh, and now you just see even more players that are that talented coming over otani will go down as the best
Or most not maybe not like best
Best and most talented baseball player ever. He's better than baby. He's better than anybody you've ever seen otani is otani
He throws 100 miles an hour and he can hit 45 bombs
um, I saw this thing with like, um people kind of like
Saying that we all need to chill out on bay ruth like
Bay ruth played in an age where curve balls that exist and they run through like 80 miles an hour and there's right
You think bay ruth is better than like no he's my trout or something and i'm like, you know, actually that's a great point like
Yes in his age. It's like the generation thing like he was the greatest in his generation
But if he played in our league this year, like he would suck
Maybe there's no way he's gonna 100 miles an hour. Yeah, but but like they're playing against like t-ball players, right?
When it comes to the pitching he would like they didn't weight lift really they like they just weren't
They weren't that good the players he played against otani is you know better than ruth better than anybody that we've ever seen so
In his generation though he was the goat like i'm not gonna doubt that so i'm gonna pivot now kench
Yes, you tell me you answer me this question
Um, we're gonna stick it we're gonna stay here with these japanese-born players
What is you paid you pay otani 700 million dollars?
What does he have to do for that contract to be worth one world series two?
Um, and then we'll add a yamamoto on top of that right afterwards
So like what is what does otani have to do to make for the dodgers to say 700 million well spent?
I mean
I would say I don't know. It's kind of hard to limit yourself with because it's it's so much more than just him, right?
Yes, if you look at last year
It was because of muki bets and like almost muki bets his fault because he just couldn't get a hit right like
He's a he's a big part of that offense. Yes. There are other contributors
But when you're a leader and you're that important of a player on that team and you can't show up
That's gonna be on your shoulders, right?
But it wasn't just his fault
It was a lot of the other things like the pitching was terrible like they scored like what six runs against them
They did not play like there's a lot of problems that happen
And so I know everyone's gonna freak out. They're gonna say unless he wins this many world championships. This is a waste of money
I don't think there really is a fair way to put that because I don't think world championships
define everything because no I
Agree with that. I but I would argue but he does have to wait some words
You spend a billion dollars. You have to figure like okay
Couple mvps at least one world series title and you compete for a bunch of others, you know
I think you're in the playoffs every year like right. Yeah. Yeah, I guarantee you
They'll be in the world series at least three times in the next 10 years. Okay. I think you'll win mvp at least once or twice
Probably in the next five years and then after that, we'll see what happens
I don't know how his body's gonna work. But if he's like Lebron and you might keep winning him, but
Honestly, um as long as the team route is going good, right the city still on his back
Players still want to come to la they can't win
They still want to come to la they still want to perform and they like who he is
Okay, and they're just they're just winning games, right if they're winning games
They're they're trying they're making playoff pushes. Yeah, but the things that I control so much in playoffs
Yeah, the thing with the Dodgers is that they just that's what they've been doing
So they signed Freeman and that's and even before they are playing
They won a crap ton of regular season games and then they would kind of crumble in the playoffs every time
When you play in Kershaw one of the best pitchers i've ever seen in my life
He will be remembered by dodger fans for struggling in the postseason. That's true
Um, one of the best pitchers i've ever seen in my like watching him, you know, 2010s
Mid-2010s best pitcher on the planet
Uh, but he will be remembered by fans forever as being a choker in the playoffs
That's it when you think of him in the play like in the biggest ones he crumbles
Um, and so that's where I think dodger fans are like, okay. Well, we paid you all this money
But now you gotta go win it like you you like you gotta go win
Like we're not talking just getting past the division series. We're not talking, you know
Championship series we're saying like world series championships
Um, because I think anything less of at least one in the next decade is a huge bust
And the longer that goes on that they don't get it
I think the pressure mounts that was the first thing I thought when I saw that, you know, of course they signed otani 700 million
But when they gave yamamoto 325 for 12, I was like the pressure is on
because
The padres say what you will about them losing soto
They added pretty decent pitching depth to their team with the soto trade and the diamondbacks just signed rodriguez and they just made a world series push
Uh, and I mean the giants are always competitive with the dodgers
So I look at it and i'm like those teams are licking their chops. They're going we get to be the ones that get to slay
Those guys the ones that just paid a billion dollars for two guys and they already have freeman and betts and an all-star squad will smith
We forget about he's a fantastic catcher
Um, they just they got to last now
They glass now yamamoto bueler comes back. They might resign kershaw. They got a bunch of good rookies
uh
I look at it, please trevor bauer, please go to the dodgers, please
Please
They I don't know if he will go anywhere. I don't know where it'll go
That's a that's a different discussion for another time. Um, I was a bauer fan before he uh came out that he was a pretty violent lover
Um, but hey what he does in the bedroom is his own is his own thing, man
All right, everyone's got their thing, but you can't just making up stories about it, you know
Hey, man, whatever you say, whatever you say
Uh, but so in my mind I look at it and i'm like at least one world series maybe two
And you're happy with spending this much money, you know three I think would be you'd be ecstatic if you got three in the next decade
But we haven't had a repeat champion
in professional base and major league baseball since I believe was the 2000 to 2001 yankees or like the 99 2000 yankees
Uh, we haven't had a repeat champ in 23 years
Uh, it's because it's just so hard right because like it's so whoever gets hot the diamondbacks were not the best team
No, not whatsoever, but they got hot right?
that's the thing is
It's it's just timing based right? It just depends on a lot of it is rolls a lot of it is and so I think you know
I'm really curious to see what happens and I think the pressure will be on especially when it comes to the playoffs
There will be there'll be a juggernaut. They're gonna go win 100 510 games. They will
But when it comes to the playoffs and then maybe they have to go on a road on the road in the division series
And they split one one or whatever it may be
That's when I think the pressure mounts because you're like we got paid a little we paid them a lot of money. They gotta win
So that's that's how I feel about it. I got one more thing
I'll say about it and then we can like move on. I think
um
Otani's leadership will make a big difference
Because I think if if like freeman's very quiet muki, I don't know how like vocal he is
I was talking about a very vocal guy, but there's something about Otani that people just want to follow right?
His character is awesome. He picks up trash
Even though he's worth a kajillion dollars like he right right
He does not care about his worth or what he is
He he's just generally a great person who loves baseball that just wants to win and he loves his team
Everybody raves about him, right?
There's something about him like he has that it factor completely
And I think if you watch that jet like the japan team
Yeah, like a I want to see him
Screaming from second base again during baseball. I never I saw that once this year when he hit a homerun against the yankees, right?
Where he actually extreme like like he was really passionate
He doesn't show emotion a lot like I want to see that because that that that got going
I was like holy cow. My heart is about to explode watching him scream
but I think
Because shohei brings that I think that's what will get them over the hunch
Is I think I think you're just watching
Like no frick yeah, we can do this. We have freaking out tani like muki's gonna be like yeah, we can do this
Freeman, you're gonna play better. I think even muncie will play better everybody everyone else
I think we'll just play so much better when it matters because of someone like otani
Okay, I can get by that's all I'm saying. I'm I'm fascinated to watch it play out
I mean i'll be watching most dodger games. I know you and I'll be watching
I'll be watching every single game
Yeah, because I think especially like when yamamoto starts and otani's batting clean up, you know, like that that's going to be so fun to watch
Uh, i'm fascinated to see how they do they have glass now in that rotation. Bueller will be back. Maybe they reassigned kershaw
uh
It's gonna be awesome
um
As we transition here a little bit
We have a couple more free agents that uh are coming over they've been posted and reassigned
Who was the guy that went to the padres the other day kenji the closer do you know?
Um, his name is matzahy
That's not good. What's the what's the deal with him? They lost hater. What's the so he's uh
He was very
Like when he came out of high school, he was like
The pitcher that came out like he was always rated really high like I remember
like I would play with him a lot like in my games because
He's just a small little lefty those
I think he throws like 92 is what I read. Is he crafty then is he like crafty kind of pinpoint or what is he?
Okay, so I think he has a big slider
Or slitter one of those two. I always get the splitter splitter when I read things wrong
I don't know too much about him. Like I don't like he's not he's not he's not insane or anything, right?
Him and iman laga are not are they're not like insane pitchers. They're nowhere close to the yama lago
Yeah, but they were good
In japan like especially my he succeeded for the first time
He succeeded for 10 years, right? Like he was a closer for 10 years. He did his job really well
I think he had like at least like 30 saves almost every year or 20 saves every year
And he's he's doing stuff up there. And so
um
I don't know how well of a closer he will be
I don't know if they'll make him a closer
I like whether they might use him depending if he's a lefty or a righty because they have like two closers now that they like
but
um
Of course his expectations are nowhere near as yama
Motos because the money's not even close and right well when you pay yama moto yama moto was guaranteed 3.25
Which makes him the richest pitcher in terms of garrison all guaranteed in major league baseball
Well, most most mlb contracts are fully guaranteed anyway
Um, okay, but so it he's more expensive than garrett cole
uh, which
That that's crazy. Um, like I i i'm all for him being really talented. I want to see him succeed
uh, but at the same time
It's crazy to me that a guy who's never thrown a pitch
in american baseball
Just got paid the most money in the history of american baseball
um, so I think I think he's got a lot to prove like I said, I I
I wonder if the lights will be a little bright at first
Um, I think so or if it'll take a little while. I mean because the dodgers he grew up watching the dodgers
He said at his press conference there was a little there was a slim chance
He would go anywhere else but la even if otani signed elsewhere
uh
So I think it's
I'm really curious to see how they both do. I think the pressure's on both of them
I think otani's got to come out and perform right away and he will tani's otani, but uh, I think
A little bit gone like we saw with bryce because of that time and john. Yeah, but he's still an above 300 hitter
He still hits the ball anywhere you want it to him because still still bases. So I think he's gonna be fine
Yeah, yeah, I think otani will be fine. Uh, but I think yamamoto
I I hope not but I think you could end up in a spot where we get to you know
The trade deadline or even the first couple months of the season we say was did they give him too much?
I think what people gotta remember is like you gotta give him at least like a I would say
I don't think the best of him will come out till year two. I agree
I'm just saying the la media when you pay anybody that kind of money, they're gonna be impatient
Uh, it's like we talk about it in the nfl when owners are giving coaches
Massive contracts to come and lead their team and you know year one year two. You can't really perform
They're gonna be impatient right away. So I think if yamamoto has you know, say we get to
the
All-star breaks in july if we get to july and he hasn't really like
Shown a crap a whole bunch of promise
Um, then I think you'll get to the point where maybe not even a whole bunch of promise
But where he's not been shown that he's on a caliber of coal and degram
Um, then I think they'll be like three maybe give him a lot
Uh, because you got him for 12 months. You gotta treat him like a rookie. He's 25, right? Yeah, he's a young guy
I mean, he's using a new ball for a whole entire season
the way he goes about pitching like he has to he has to
Like there's film right film goes into pitching too. You gotta know what the weaknesses of people you have to scatter
Yeah, it's a whole big process. So to me
Like you said, everyone's gonna freak out
but if you
If you have a brain you'll wait till I say year two or the end of the season if you watch kodai senga
He was kind of iffy at first but second half he was fantastic saying it was elite
Yeah, he actually like if you compare the first and half second half stats so different like he he was so good in the second half
He was an everybody up just like that. It just takes time. You know, even when you darvish first came over
He had a hard time with the ball, right? He was very open about it. It happens
Of course you darvish, you know has been up and down in the major league, but he's always a great picture
He's still a good pitcher though, right? He's still a great pitcher. I people just needed a
Chalup, I think it's I think since he mentioned he's gonna be amazing for a long time. Yeah, I agree
I think Yamamoto will be fine, but I think people need to be patient with them
Um, I just wanted to point out that I think the media will get impatient if he does struggle early or you know during stretches during his career
um, I think
Uh since you mentioned darvish, I wanted to point this out. There was a report that came out yesterday
You might know more about it than I do about darvish signing with the podgeries and saying to aj preller
Who's their gm that he?
As part of him signing there. He wanted preller to go out and get these japanese free agents
He wanted them to go after otani wanted to go after yamamoto
And now they've kind of failed to do that
What do you think that means for darvish and the podgeries and japanese free agents as a whole?
Um
It's kind of weird
That nothing happened like that. Matsui was the best that they could do right? It was even an offer for yamamoto
Maybe they'll go after sasaki. I'm I think it'll go ahead and so lucky. Yeah, right. I just can't afford it
I mean, it's kind of cool that darvish wanted to do that. And I mean, I don't blame him because their pitching is great
like
Like the best the best of japanese pitching was shown in the world series in the wbc, right? Yeah it was
Like who who shelled japan? Nobody
Yes, homerun's couple here and there mexico came close
Mexico almost closed giant. No, they didn't they didn't show it. Yeah, like nobody like nobody like just
Run us like bring us up, right? So it's like
The best of the best from japan is worth paying
And so, um, I think that's what you darvish saw as well
But it's kind of strange that nothing happened
Especially because if that's what does like one of the things if if the gm said yeah, we're gonna do that
And the best they can do is matsui. It's a little strange
But maybe next year they'll go after more when they have a little bit more freedom
Yeah, I wonder if you know matsui
I'm sure they probably had their eye on him for a while
But I almost wonder if otani and namamoto going to la made them give matsui more money
More money than maybe they had originally thought because they're like crap
We
You know, we said this to darvish and we want to make a splash here in the international market
um
What are we what's the focus here, you know, um
You know what i'm saying when it comes to the positive they say they they say they go after
Uh when yamamoto and otani get signed to la
And I think the pressure kind of gets back on them. They're like crap. We lost out on two guys
We had our eyes on then they have to go right out of almost desperation go after matsui a little bit more than maybe they
Wanted to just to have a sliver of a chance to get other free agents in the future
That's a good it's a good thought I wonder because I don't even know what to do is coming out
That's the thing is I don't even know he was gonna come out
And so he got signed almost like oh like a week before he was about to get signed
Yeah, like that was just imanaga yamamoto and otani was the main guys that were coming
And then matsui came out of nowhere. I was like wait what?
Yeah, so i'm curious to see how they all perform. I think it's going to be fascinating to watch
I think they all have a lot of promise and talent
uh, it sounds like um
Matsui will be kind of a rogue guy in san diego. I know that they've had here the last couple years haters
Not going to get to resign there. Um
So it'll be interesting to see, you know, I hope he goes to the rangers
hater
I hope he does. Yeah
You know, yeah, so while we have we're just gonna we'll wrap up here in just a couple minutes
But I did want to touch on something. We have some breaking news live during the show
Uh, I wanted to wait on so
I guess two different signings. Uh, the reds just signed frankie montas
Who was a yankee for a brief a brief part of his career. He was a he was in oakland a for a while
um, and then I think he was good for
And then a yankee for a year and a half, but he was injured all of last season
Uh, he just went to the reds for one year 16 million
Uh, and then the big one from jeff passon
Uh, the atlanta braves acquire chris sale from the red sox
For von grisham and a couple other players
Von grisham is a highly touted prospect
And chris sale just can't seem to really stay healthy, but it's an interesting pickup for the braves
they had a bit of a log jam with
Um infield talent and depth and that's why I think they they shipped off grisham, but uh
They got sale now so sale can stay healthy. He's always good
Um, I still don't think the braves can win because they're pitching this little trash
You think so
Yeah, I don't know
It's just so
Nothing. I think they need they need max fried or whatever his name is like he's good, right?
Yeah
I don't know. I think they still need one more guy. That's
I think I think they need one more guy. I don't think sale sale doesn't really move the needle for me
I mean, I had an alpha right?
Right. I had him in fantasy a couple different times last year and he would he can give you a couple good starts in a row
He can get you some case
Uh, but he's not really the kind of guy you want to rely on for a full season
I don't remember the last time he pitched an entire year
When he's on he can be good, but he's getting older
as bodies wearing down on him, he's had a lot of different injuries that have kind of piled up so I
I
Don't know how I feel about that for the braves red sox get their big prospect and they can ship away a massive contract. So hey
definitely
And they signed Gio Lido yesterday who stinks it was garbage
Yeah, Gio Lido really not that guy. Well, they'll figure it out. All right. All right, so
We're gonna have to wrap it up soon. But yeah, go ahead catch
We can we can talk about there's a couple other things that we could have talked about today
You know, like I would have loved to talk more about the os but no we'll have a we'll have a time where we talk
Specifically about it's the offseason. Yeah, we got time man. We got time
But uh, I want to talk about the team that you've been most disappointed in uh during this offseason
Blue jays cubs
Okay, why?
Why cubs spent a ridiculous amount of money just to fire david ross and hire cred council from their division rival
um, they gave him the most money a manager's ever gotten in major league baseball and they
oh
Let me I don't even know about this stuff really i'm not a big gm news guy
Um, let me look. Oh wait, is it the guy that used to play for the brewers?
I'm not sure he used to play them, but he their cubs are paying him eight million a season
Which is the most the manager's ever gotten?
Uh in pro baseball so and they did that and then they just haven't done anything
Um, they were rumored to be in on otani at first and then they were ruled out same thing with the blue jays
Do they have a big market?
The cubs? Yeah, massive market cubs are a huge brand
They they have money if they want to go and why aren't they spending it because I think they're just I don't know what they're waiting on
I'm not sure
But they're not spending it on bellinger. They're not spending it on schroen like these great players they had that helped them be
better than they should have been last year
Yeah, i'm with you. I'm with you. I think the blue jays and the cubs are my two most disappointing
I'm an osu! fan. So I'd love to see the blue jays not do anything
Uh, but for years they've talked about how they've how they have money and they want to spend it, but they've just not spent it
Um, they just like they have these young guys. They have bo they have flad. I mean and they've got some
And they've got some guys in the outfield, but they just don't spend the money bar show had a bad year last year
Until they traded away moreno. Um, he actually good
Was varsha okay? I mean like he showed signs
Yeah, that's why they traded for him. Um, let me look up if I can pull up his uh,
Because I I could not understand why everybody was so hyped up about this guy who was hitting like 220 all year
Yeah, he hit 220 homers
161 rubies
674 ops like below average in every category bar show
Um, so that's why like he wasn't that good
the blue jays
And cubs, I think in my opinion would be the two best fits for bellinger
But the blue jays just went out last week and signed uh, kevin keir meyer
They resigned him back to their team. And so their outfield is kind of full
Um, so I don't really know where bellinger fits. I think bellinger could go back to chicago
I don't really know where he's gonna go bellinger period. That's a whole nother topic
Uh, because he's a hard one
Yeah, he had a fluke not I don't want to say a fluke year
But he had a couple of really horrid seasons and then he had a resurgence this last year
So I think he figured out that like he yes, he has power but he can play better when he hits for contact, right?
Yeah, that's what I look at. He was he was smarter with this hitting. He wasn't just trying to yak one over the fence
Right
And that's why everyone's like oh his um, well exit velocity is so low
I'm like it's because he hit for average like he did a good job like he
He saved that cup scene. Honestly, he did he still had 26 bombs last year. I'm looking at
Right. Yes, it was so he stole a match
Yeah, it was insane how good he was so if he can do that, he'll get paid good money if he can do that elsewhere
Uh, I just don't know where teams kind of stand on because it seems like one of those things where
This guy struggled mightily for a couple years and the cubs take a one-year flyer on him and he does great
So it's like okay
Why did he do that?
all of a sudden, you know, but
I don't I I keep I
Keep hoping that he goes to the giants like I want the giants to sign more people like I want the guys
I don't want giants to sign
As many people as they can like I want him to sign bellinger. They should sign stroman
They should sign everybody else. That's good on the rest of the market because they need it like because they have jung ho lee
Nobody
Jung ho lee is not really they paid him 116 million
Um, i'm no expert but the kbo is not quite to the quality of major league baseball
Um, so I think he's you're not going to get the same stats out of him as he was putting up in the kbo
He might get he's a contact guy and he has some good speed and he can play good defense. He's not a power guy
Um, so if you think he can be at the top of your lineup for a while then sure maybe 116 is justifiable
Uh for a guy that money like they're not paying anybody
That's the thing about the giants that they have money because nobody is costing any money because you have
There's nobody to sell tickets in new in san francisco, right?
Yeah, it's such a great organization like quinn, right my friend
Yes, that's like he loved diehard giants fan
He's like I would love all these players, but nobody wants to come to san franc because it's a terrible hitting park
Right. Yeah, and so
You know what? He just wants to come like there's no reason to come to san francisco
Like there's no there's no signs that they're going to win the world series in time
So I know I I think they're in an interesting spot. I think the padres and the diamondbacks are definitely in better positions than the giants right now
Uh, the nls as a whole. I think it's just a race for second. I think the dodgers will run away with that one
Um, I think it's just a race for who can be second place
But I mean as we saw the diamondbacks any team can you know get to the world series?
No matter what spot you're in in the playoffs rangers did it too
um, so
Just one of those things but we are at time
We probably a little bit scuffed of an episode, you know, we had my rumba start in like the six-minute mark
Uh, and then we had kenji's mom barge in there a little bit later
um, yeah, you know, so
Um, but that's what you've come to love and expect about this show
Um, it's gonna be raw it's gonna be real and it's gonna be fun and hopefully a little bit enjoyable
At least a little bit enjoyable if you've gotten to this point very often at least is authentic. Yeah, that's a good word
Uh, but yeah, so same thing goes with the football show. We're gonna try to do this on a more regular basis
Hopefully we can get brady and joe on and we can talk get their opinions on what their teams have done this off season
Joe wants to get on the soapbox about the rangers. And of course, I need to do my
Update and talk about the offseason
Um, your resolution is to do podcasts once a week. So there you go. That's our new year's resolution
But we'll see how new his resolutions pan out
but
Uh, yeah, we appreciate you guys for listening. Um, and then with that being said look at you guys next week
Kenji, you want to sign us off anything you want to say?
Oh, man
Go dodgers
Go dodgers, you heard of course
Go otani yamamoto
Yeah, all right. Thanks everybody
You