Meet the New Mets Roster, Beltrán & Jones Elected to the Hall of Fame and the Phillies Bring Back a Familiar Face

on this episode of baseball barbeque cast. The New York Mets are different now. Boba Shett, he's on the team. So too is Luis Robert Jr. We talk about both of those moves. Go over the Hall of Fame results, Carlos Beltran, Andrew Jones entering. And then we talk like way too much, mostly me, about Journeyman pitcher Cody Potete. So if that's your thing, you'll love this episode. I'm George Husterman and I'm Jake Mitz. And where's the baseball barbeque cast? You already know that. Now, Jordan and I cover the game of baseball, so we don't often have to get tickets to events, but we do have other interests, gasp, whether that's going to see a concert or notably the Buffalo Sabers game time makes that process incredibly easy. Jordan and I are meeting up at Buffalo to New York to watch our beloved saviors. And just flip it through the game time app, made that very, very simple. Yes, this is an app that makes ticket buying so easy. Feezer included what you see is what you pay. And we love the seat views. If you're looking to see where you're going to say, you know exactly what that experience is going to be like. So take the guesswork out of buying tickets for events with game time. Download the game time app, Create an Account, Use Code Barbecaz B-A-R-B-Cast for $20 off your first purchase terms apply, again, Create an Account, Redeem Code Barbecaz B-A-R-B-C-A-S-T for $20 off your first purchase. Download the game time app today. Hello and welcome to baseball, Barbecaz, only baseball podcast in the world who figures at this point, the Metz should just change their name too. I'm Jake Mints, that's Jordan Schusterman. And there are so many new players that they should just be the Queen's Metro's or something. Meet the Metz has never been so fitting. Who are these people? I don't know. Spring training is going to be something. We got a couple more new Metz to talk about. We have not podcasted since last Thursday evening. So much has happened. So let's not waste any more time. It's our opener. It's those metropolitan. Meet the Metz. Meet the Metz. Come on down and introduce yourself to all of your new teammates. Meet the Metz. Boba Shatt is a New York Met. Is this a pivot from Kyle Tucker? It certainly feels like it three years. $126 million for the former Toronto Blue Jays in fielder. There are opt-outs after each of those seasons. Last time we spoke. The Philadelphia Phillies were all but printing the Boba Shatt jerseys for their team store. And we'll get to that in a bit. A seven year offer on the table from the fills, but in the last minutes, as the Metz are spurned by Kyle Tucker, goes to the Dodgers, the Metz making 11th hour pivot. Splashing some of Steve Cohen's cash for Mr. Besht. We'll head to Queens and be there every day third basement. Yeah, so this is one of two moves. Metz moves to talk about that features them flexing their financial wealth in very different ways. We will talk about the Louise Robert trade that broke late last night in a little bit. But bow to New York is a stunner. It is-- it maybe it shouldn't be because, as we know, and as I essentially wrote, as I was processing this move, acting like their favorites in free agency is a silly exercise. You don't really know until a deal's agreed upon. You don't really know who's ahead for anybody. Because every time one of these guys comes off the board, and when you only have such a small number of teams that are competing, the state of play just changes so quickly. And clearly, after Kyle Tucker went to the Dodgers, just as when Breggman went to the Cubs for the Red Sox, the Red Sox was like, well, we have all this money, and we want to spend it on something. OK, Ranger Swars. We're like, whoa, OK, we're not expecting that. For the Metz, you can imagine if the goal was, we are still rebuilding our offense. We are running out of options to make our offense better than it was a year ago. While the defensive fit we can certainly talk about with bow is maybe not ideal if anything very interesting. He was available. They were ready to spend some money. They were ready to give out a short term deal with the high AV. And they said, you know what? Let's do it. Now, the reporting in the immediate aftermath as well, they had bow and their radar all along. They met with him a few times. They've discussed it, man. OK, sure. Yes, they were aware of Boba jet before they signed him. Yes, I'm sure they maybe even had a meeting with him. But this wasn't the reason he's on the Metz now is because they went well beyond from a financial standpoint what the Phillies were willing to do. And the Phillies' angle doesn't form the situation a lot because of how far down the line they felt like they were towards getting Bichette. But ultimately Steve Cohen dropped the hammer and 42 million a year for bow is a nice little chunk of change whether it's one year or two years whether it's three years. Well, that's the thing, right? Is that if this goes well from the Metz perspective and from Boba jet's perspective, he might not be a Met next year, right? Because if he ranks and does what he did this season, he probably hops out next year and hops back out of the market for another chance at a long-term deal. Now, you know, getting over the $40 million mark on a long-term deal, probably not happening for Boba jet. But that's why I like this move for the Metz is that I do think that there is-- they're not blocking an infield spot forever here, right? I do think that, again, now Boba jet could suck, you get hurt again and he could just be a contract, albatross, but guess what? If that happens, the Metz can just eat the money. The money doesn't exist. The money's not real for this team. Yeah, also, I think-- and this is going to be sort of relevant with Robert also, but I've talked about the dynamic of assessing the Metz offseason of which of this is David Stern's creation, which of this is Steve Cohen picking up the phone and saying, I want this cool baseball player. And especially knowing that David Stern's is trying to kind of reshape this roster, both in a short and long term, to allow for a much more sustainable run of success that feels like an optimistic projection for this team we're going forward. I'm sure David Stern's thinks Boba jet is really good. I'm also pretty sure David Stern's was part of the reason why he didn't want to give Boba jet five, six, seven, eight years. Yeah. And here you meet in the middle and you say, oh, we can get this awesome player right now. It is, as we can now talk about, a strange move in tandem with we want to get better at defense that now have our-- That's the old move. --have never played the positions that they're playing at. And Jorge Polanco and Boba Shedden, we can talk about that. But if we're just realizing that what is most encouraging about this, I think this is the big point that I'm really trying to get to. With the long term and the short term, which is that I, at the start of the off season, once they started tearing it down and letting all these maces go, I said, fine, if you want to totally shake this up, that's fine. You're still running a 300 now, 350-minute up here. This cannot be a transition season where we find out what we have. And no, especially after last year, the whole point of the Steve Cohen thing is that you should be competing for championships. If you want to completely blow up the roster and tri-sling new, that's fine. You have the flexibility to do that. But I like that they are now balancing. We're going to shake this up. We're going to change things. We are going to consider the future and not lock in with some pieces that we don't want anymore, whether it's NIMO, whether it's Lonso, and so on. But we're also going to put together a roster that is compelling, that is competitive. There are still huge questions on the mound that we can get to. But this is now two big steps towards that that I think has to be really encouraging for Mets fans. This lineup can win a world series. And there were points this winter where you looked at the lineup and you were like, that lineup cannot win a world series. Now, if I was in charge of the Mets, would I have done it exactly this way? No. Alonzo and Diaz knew the pieces that I really would have clung to. And I think that even with the moves they've made, you still-- I believe if you just had Pete instead of Jorge Polanco, it's a better team, right? And I think if you had Edmund Diaz instead of Devon Williams and or Luke Weaver, it's probably a better team. Or whatever reason, whether it was because they got to keep with the process or they just didn't think those players belonged on this new look edition of the Mets, they are not living in Queens or Queens adjacent anymore. Let's just talk about quickly how Bichette folds in positionally. So Lindor is obviously a short. Marcus Semyon, who they traded for a couple months ago, is going to be the everyday second baseman. 35 years old, the bat is fine at this point. But he is a very good defensive second baseman, even still, Bo is not going to supplant Semyon in a second. I pretty feel pretty good. that Semyon is there to play second base. I guess I can imagine Semyon moving to third and bow-plank second, but I don't think that's gonna happen. - I saw people speculating that, and I think that's reasonable, but all the reports from people that are talking to the Mets is he's gonna play third. And if we just pause there, like hand up, like I didn't see this coming, this part, forget the team fit. At the beginning of the off season, when we started to realize that Boba Shed probably wasn't gonna play shortstop anymore, if he was, especially if he was leaving Toronto, it was like, oh, he's willing to play third. And it's like, I don't, I just don't see it. Now you could say, - Like I'm willing to see you. - I'm willing to cover a football game. - Right, you know, I, to me, is like, no, again, when you're a shortstop, different shortstop's profile, when they move off shortstop, some profile to move to second base, and some profile to move to third, whether it's the arm, whether it's the actions, whether it's the quick twitch, whether it's whatever you wanna say. - How you bend. - Hands, how you bend, like there's a lot of things that you go into that. And maybe it was just lazy of me to assume that he was gonna be a second baseman, because that was the position he had experienced in the past, not just when he was limping around in the World Series, but in the minors, and just, I just viewed him as someone who could be a middle infield athlete at a less demanding position of second base with a little bit of a week around. That's just how I saw it. And I also looked around at the landscape, I was like, well, there's way more fits for him at second than at third. But here we go. He's gonna move to third base. And this is, I do not doubt Boba Shet's work ethic. I do not doubt the Metz assessment of him, which of course will now include new bench coach Kai Carrera, who knows a little something about infield. But this is still a big risk undeniably that this might not be great, and could force additional moves down the line. And how he transitioned, maybe he'll be awesome, 'cause Boba Shet's a hell of a baseball player. And we'll see. But when you again combine it with Ori Polanco, who's learning first base as well, it is quite the catch. Now balanced out by the Luis Robert acquisition, how good the defense could be up the middle, which of course we can talk about that in a second. But this is quite the bold decision, both for Boshet and for the Metz. I know the money is the factor here, and that's why he's on the team. Let's not lose sight of that. And maybe he was gonna play third for the Phillies. That's one thing that I don't think we got answered as we asked Dave Dombrausky, "Hey, what the hell happened?" I thought you were gonna sign Boshet, is whether he was gonna play second or third in Philadelphia, versus how it was gonna work out with Bowman's stuff. Maybe Bow views this as ideal for his future earnings. If he can prove he can play third, versus prove he can play second. I can see that, that's possible. But that is an element of this that I definitely do not see. Coming in and has ramifications for the roster beyond that because of Brett Bady, et cetera, et cetera. - So as a defensive fit, the arm, let's just be clear, the arm in and of itself is not disqualifying. If you go off arm speed, the arm strength itself is not disqualifying, Boshet was at 82.3. This past year, 82.3 miles an hour max, which is the exact same as Alex Bregton. Right? - Mm-hmm. - So it's like, the arm can play, is he gonna be able to make those quick twitch adjustments that you need to make a third base? We don't know. Like that's just, we'll see. It is certainly a role of the dice for a team that printed out, we want to be better at run prevention on a bunch of flyers and like, you know, pasted them up all over a story all winter. You know, asking both of your corner infielders to play positions that they've never really played in their lives. Like you said, that is putting a lot on the coaching staff to teach these guys and develop them as infielders. Like they could do it, you know, wilder things have been accomplished in the stupid sport, but it does not fit with the ethos that they kind of have claimed to be building their offseason around, at least in my opinion. Brett Bady, I wanna talk about Brett Bady now, because he was good. Like he was a good player in 2025. At the winner meetings, I remember Carlis Mendoza, the Metz manager saying, "Brett Bady is probably gonna be our everyday third base, man." Like he put him above Ronnie Mauricio, above Mark Vandos, above Luis San Helicuna, right? He'd earn that, right? I think there's a chance I tried Brett Bady and left. I think Brett Bady gets some played appearances at DH. I don't think that signing Boba Shet turns Brett Bady into a potato or a bench bat in the way that the Cubs signing Alex Bregman kind of does do that for Matt Shaw. Like I think Bady is still on the opening day, in the opening day lineup for the Metz, some way somehow. Now, before we pivot to Luis Robert, I would like to talk about Boba Shet in the context of the Blue Jays. That's okay. - Yes, I do think that that's also necessary. I would say, the last thing on Bady, I mean, again, could be traded, we just saw Cuny get traded. I agree that he still fits. He does have some experience in left field for those wondering, not since the minor leagues three or four years ago, but that's not a position he's never played before. Now again, if your corner outfield is our Brett Bady in Wandsoto, you're certainly asking a lot of Luis Robert, but just as you are, asking a lot of Lindoor and Marcus Cimian up the middle, if your corners are Bishet and Polanco, learning how to play defense for the first time. So we'll see how that shakes out. But back to your original point, this gets back to just like Bo, the character and player. - Let me take the fourth. - And the Blue Jays. - I want to, so Boba Shet is two Jeff Hoffman outs away from a statue, like from the second most important moment in the history of a franchise, right? And I am surprised now that his free agency has concluded. I am surprised how disinterested the Blue Jays were throughout the process. Given what he was for that team, given that he proved his personality, his profile worked within that roster, there are only so many people on the planet that have the sauce, the chutzpah, the aura, the skills to take Shoheotani deep in game seven of World Series in that moment, right? There are only so many breathing humanoids with such capabilities. Boba Shet, as we all witness, is undeniably one of those people. And he was doing all of this while playing through what was clearly a very effed up need. He was not healthy, okay? I am generally of the opinion that when a team with financial strength makes a concerted choice to pass on a big name free agent that they previously employed, right? Cubs Kyle Tucker, what we all seem to be Framberfall Des and the Astros, that says something to me about either the relationship between the team and the player or the player themselves, right? The Blue Jays, as they have operated this winter, clearly could have kept Boba Shet, right? They could have done it. This is not a small market team putting their hands into their wallet and not finding any money. The loonies and the tunies were there, right? And yet the Jays is an organization made a decision to not bring back Boba Shet. And I think that that is fascinating. I really think it's a mistake. Now maybe he just goes back next year when he opts out, right? I mean, like they miss life without him, that could happen. And we look at Boba Shet, the met like Carl's Karey of the twin, but even less so. I just, this is a very odd conclusion to this, right? It is, I do think, I agree with most of what you're saying. I think it is and we'll never know, but it does feel also like largely the product of the order of operations, the sequence of events, the money that they've already spent, the player and Kyle Tucker, who they clearly were prioritizing and the fact that that all ended up being all around the same time, in a world where Tucker ends up with the met. So there's a sequence that basically ends up with Bo, lingering on the free agent market a little bit longer, and they end up drawing back closer to each other because they realize it's still best that they figure out a short-term agreement. Now are they beating the met's offer? No, but again, this is in a world where they're the only team that's willing to arrange something like this. I could have seen it ended up that way. But I agree with you. It is interesting that they were that comfortable. Again, I think for most of the times, they were just so focused on alternatives that fit their roster better in the short-term and long-term. And I get that, but I do still think that his lack of fit on the roster was overblown. I made that point several times throughout the process with all due respect to fellow Sabers fan Ernie Clement. You know, like I still think there was room for boobishet on this team, for sure. And especially as you look at the Blue Jays roster now, and yes, with Godokamoto, and I know, obviously you made the pitching better, you could still say the same thing. They prioritize other things. They prioritize getting a Japanese player into the roster. and in Okamoto, they made a decision. They didn't see $200 million immediately. Right. But when we think about the Yankees, for instance, like their offseason to do list, Cody Belinger is number one. It's like figure out Cody Belinger and then everything else, as we've clearly seen. Boba Shatt, bring back Boba Shatt was not the top priority. It was not priority number two. It was not priority number 15, as we can see. And like, that's OK. I'm not saying that the Jay's leadership group is stupid for making this decision. I just think it is revealing. It is compelling. It is interesting. Do they know something we don't? Or they just kind of like, or was it just the way that the Domino's fell on the winter? Right. Yeah. Is it the way the Domino's fell? Was it respecting/? It was just a different number for them. We are not comfortable paying, Bo. $40 million a year. And this is the other thing we can bring the meths back into this because this is going to be very relevant for the Louise Robber conversation. Yes, the blue jays have spent over $300 million this offseason. Yes, they have pushed themselves up into that very, very small circle of spenders. However, once you're at that level, there are still, when you're talking about the luxury tax penalties, which we did not even come close to highlighting when we talked about Kyle Tucker, nearly enough. OK. Which is like, yeah, you think it's $60 million? It's double that. $1. $1. Exactly. And so the blue jays, if part of the calculation with Bo is, this is going to take easily 30 million a year if not more. That is just maybe not something that they're comfortable with after they've already pushed it up to a level that they were. But it's not as fun or interesting to just always focus on the financial elements. And I agree when you're talking about a player, as we close the book on the bow part of this conversation and move to Robert, what a run. In some ways, it is a strange ending, as you point out. In some ways, it is a tragic ending because of what that home run wasn't. But also, it's still an incredible memory that Blue Jays fans will have. It is still a highlight that we will watch and have great feelings of. It is still certainly one of the most incredible moments I've ever seen live. And the fact that they lost does not take that away for all the build up to him, even playing in the World Series, having missed the rest of the postseason. For what he meant to the organization for 10 years, all of that combined does not take away. But it's true. There are still what ifs with that that carry serious, serious, serious weight that is pretty difficult to ignore. But he moves on, at least for the short term. This is not a long term, OK, my next chapter with the Phillies. This is where I'm going to spend the rest of my career. He's not-- What happens next players tribune article? No. This is like, damn, the Metz just paid me a lot of money. And I'm going to go play third and do my best and hopefully re into the market because I'm Boba Shed. I'm still 28. Like, I'm still in my prime. Let's go make that happen. The Metz were not done, though. Because last night, they made a move that I think from a David Stern's baseball savvy. This is the Metz doing Metz things as they should operate. Was one of my favorite moves of the whole off season. Totally agree. They have acquired Luis Robert from the White Sox for an exchange for Luis San Helicunia and Truman Polly, a mind-like right-handed picture who they drafted in 12th round just last year. At a Harvard. This. At a Harvard. Second Harvard picture to be traded in the last week. Shout out Chris Clark. We'll get to him later. This is a tremendous bit of business by the New York Metz. When we talked about the Luis Robert's trade value has been one of the more challenging things to assess, not only because of his enigmatic production and availability on the field, which we can talk about. He's Mercurial. Mercurial, exactly. But this contract was so unique in how I think it was probably viewed by different teams. He is owed-- he has guaranteed $20 million in 2026. This year, he's making $20 million, which is a lot of money. But it's not prohibitive. Most teams have someone making $20 million on it. It also has a $20 million club option, which if you view as we have money, and if Luis Robert is good, that's a no-brainer, would be extremely attractive. However, if you're, for example, the Cincinnati Reds, or, for example, a team that doesn't believe or want to even take the risk of Luis Robert for $20 million for one year, you're viewing him as a rental. And so that just convoluted his trade value so much on top of the fact that clearly the White Sox were trying to figure out what they were really asking for for him, where they were willing to trade him at the deadline, where they were willing to-- whatever. And most importantly, as we bring back the finances, what were the White Sox's goals? Because as we see in this deal, if you're saying, well, wow, I thought they were holding out for a lot for Luis Robert. Why did they only get Luis on Helikuna and Truman Poly? Well, because the Mets very easily and comfortably-- and predictably-- were like, yeah, we'll pay Luis Robert $20 million. That's a no-brainer we will take on his whole contract. You do not have to pay any of it, and that is fine. And that is why it is such a good bit of business. Yeah, this is Steve Cohen putting the credit card down at a big dinner. Like this is how you move when you are Steve Cohen. Because I think most of the teams in baseball, when assessing Luis Robert Jr., were doing so on what he is as a player right now. Whereas the Mets can afford to be like, oh, Luis Robert, this is the player he could be, right? They're able to take that risk. They're able to take that on. And I think now it's worth just doing a very brief recap of who Luis Robert is. Like remember, he signs in a Cuba, and this is one of the most exciting Cuban prospects that we've seen in a long time. Enough talent to sink a fleet of ships. He is as good as it gets, right? Like as so much promise, so much potential. Yeah. 2020 to 2022, he's tantalizing. Doesn't put it together. It's Kenny Stay on the field. They're injuries. You're dreaming on something. And in 2023, it happens. 38 bombs, 130 OPS plus, 145 games. I think the year after that, one of my bold predictions was Luis Robert 10 wins season. And you're like, yo, yeah, I remember that. And we were like, dude, he was worth 5.3 B-war. And he was still swinging at every pitch that came at him. Next step is going to be nuts. Guess what? It wasn't because you took a step back. 24 and 25, he's heard in mediocre. 660 OPS over those two years with the 288 on base percentage. And so the meds are trading for something in between 23 and 25. And no other team was willing to take that risk. Because if you acquire Luis Robert for $20 million, he's a 666 OPS guy. He's hitting eighth for you, even if he's playing a good center field. For the meds, $20 million for a guy who's going to go get it in center and have a 95 OPS plus is worth having around and makes them definitively better. I also think again, when you think about the negotiations, and we have to talk about Akunia here, because there are definitely people listening to this being, what do you mean? Akunia. He's an Akunia. He's awesome. This is a great return for the White Sucks. I'll get to that in a second. But if you think about it from the White Sucks perspective, you hear, OK, well, they are asking for a lot. And whether the priority was, OK, we, oh, Robert, this money anyway. So if we're trying to get rid of him, and we want to get the best player possible, if you are trading into a team like the Reds, you're probably going to have to cover some of that contract, because the Reds are not just going to pay anybody $20 million. And so because of that, I think you have to imagine, if Chris Getz is talking to David Sterns, and he's like, we want a prospect better than Luis on Hell, Akunia. We'll chip in $5 million or $10 million. The meds are like, why? We don't need that. We'll just take it. We don't need-- and it doesn't matter. Not so be sure. I guess it would help in there. Again, the salary cap implications will luxury tax ramifications of adding any player at this point. But I just think that that just put the meds in such a strong position to be like, OK, we'll trade from death. We'll take on the whole contract, and we'll have a player that has significant upside. And is making us better even if he hits his 50th or 40th percent title outcome anyway. And if he does bounce back, now you have an awesome player for two years, let alone one. And that's what's so exciting about it. But he does have a lot to prove, obviously, his offense. Now also, you have to consider-- the dude's been playing on the worst team in the league for the last two years. He even his breakout in 23 was for a horrible team. the fact that he's still occasionally just like shows up one weekend and dominates for a series that even happened this past year You would still see it in spurts and the physical tools even amidst the injuries are still there a great note from from Sarah Langs Of course because that's what Sarah Langs does only three players in baseball 90th percentile in both sprint speed and bat speed Very crude, but kind of a nice way to just think about physical tools Louise Robert Bob, you'll cruise No, who are you? I don't think I don't think Bobby's at bat high of bat speed probably really close. I'm sure But that's what this guy has he's had he's has the kind of physical skill said that is just people have been freaking out about since you know he Originally signed and now he will get to do it on a much much larger stage so I just love this I think that this this was a trade match that I saw all off season long And the fact that they were only parting with with Akunia and Polly who you could find some some smart pitching people that really like true and Polly And and let's talk about Akunia before we take break I think that this is a player who the second time he's been traded already Right, I'm having originally come over from Texas For Shurser right was the one for one for match Shurser in 23 He is a very fun compelling electric player when it's working but the reality is this is not a player who I think you should really be counting on for above average offense certainly above average power It's just not it's never been a part of his game and you have to hope that the combination of defensive versatility and speed is enough to make him a plus regular option Because the power and the on base skills just simply have not been there for a long enough stretches to consider him someone that has to be in the lineup Obviously the white socks are going to give him that opportunity which is cool and I'm excited for him to do that But this is definitely a case where understandably the name Akunia is carrying a lot of weight here I know he's having a hell of a winner league in Venezuela and that's awesome but I just believe that I just I just I think that there's an incongruency between what he's actually produced and how he's talked about If his life if his name was Luis on Hill Schuster man and he didn't hit three homers in his first eight big league games when Francisco Lindor's back was hurting so bad he couldn't touch his toes at the end of the 2024 season He wouldn't have the same or he wouldn't have the same like we wouldn't consider in the same way and so like as far as I'm concerned he's got some interesting things useful on a good team useful big leader on a good team he's my best bench player right now maybe So for the mits whatever don't care for the white socks great again it's all about getting the money off the books it's easy to be like oh they trade it for the bad they trade it for Costco Akunia and an Ivy leaker who walks everybody like yeah but they also don't have to pay for but that's the thing get off the books for what to lower your payroll to wear it already is solo and that's that's what is the spirit about this and yes you paid Murakami and Anthony K and whatever and maybe you go sign some more free agents to fill out your roster but that's why it's like oh right you're just saving money during a rebuild that's what this is And in that sense I think it is a little disappointing because like a team would take on 10 million dollars of Luis Robert sure and give you a better prospect if you paid the other 10 right it just didn't find my partner or didn't want to know all right let's take a break Steve tone we'll talk about the fillies and the boba sh*t and the JT real moot aside of things a little bit later things are going really well in Philadelphia with the sports teams I'm sure everyone's really happy right now but let's take a break and when we get back we will do Hall of Fame chatter as Carlos Belchren and your Jones ahead of you back to baseball barbacast um Hall of Fame Hall of Fame we've been there we went the whole time we were there we sang the Hall of Fame so then all the fame that song we could be beekeepers what is it we could be astronauts zoologists teachers teachers to gentlemen who are going to be teachers I guess Carlos Belchren and Andrew Jones are the newest members of the baseball hall of fame Belchren receiving 84.2% of the vote Jones 78.4 from the baseball writers association over the 75% threshold before we continue I think it is worth noting Jordan and I are members do's paying members I sent my checkout today of the baseball writers association of America however in order to have a vote for the Hall of Fame you need to be a member for 10 years because we are both only eight years old we do not have votes so as we analyze this keep that in mind we did not vote for the Hall of Fame uh let's begin with Belchren I think yeah that's a good place to start yeah I mean two center fielders you know if you if you were ever watching Luis Robert on one of his hot streaks and you thought man you could just do this for 20 years well Carlos Belchren and Andrew Jones essentially did that and that is why they're both going to Cooperstown Carlos Belchren you wrote a good piece yesterday about this being the the conclusion of a March to Cooperstown that we knew was going to end this way we just didn't know exactly quite when because of one of the most infamous scandals in baseball history and of course in recent times which is Carlos Belchren's involvement if not just involvement key contributions to the Astros sign stealing sign stealing scandal at the very very very end of a career which was already Hall of Fame worthy and so Carlos Belchren did have to wait four years on the ballot before he received the requisite support from the electorate to go into Cooperstown his resume that he amassed before he told his teammates hey guys let's try this trash can we're more than good enough to warrant inclusion he is one of the greatest switch hitters of all time he is one of the great postseason performers of all time he is obviously one of the most important Puerto Rican players of all time which is also a part of the Andrew Jones conversation that's what we'll get to is the first player from Curacao inducted into the Hall of Fame but it is a it is a very complete comprehensive case if you play 20 years in the majors and you're that good for that long yeah that's what a Hall of Fame looks like not that complicated 100 seals 400 numbers Belchren bonds Rodriguez Andre Dawson really means like that's it that's like honestly you don't really need to say a whole lot else what sides that yeah like that I mean statistically as a as a switch hitting enthusiast I guys like Belchren just blow me away right 311 homers batten lefty 124 batting righty I love that his OPS was nearly identical from both sides of the plate which is over 20 years is an astonishing thing and so rare when you look at the best switch hitters in the game even the best ones usually tilt a little bit more towards one side than the other that is just so impressive to me and yeah it's statistically there's there's no doubt about it but the fact that we had to wait a little bit is is a little bit more interesting it is so Ali Carles but wrench he cheated like that is a fact right he banged the cans you stole the signs for the 2017 Houston Astros how many other teams were doing it what kind of impact it had this is not a time or a place to really to get the entirety of that saga what is for sure is that Belchren was a ring leader in the scheme that has been reported that is true right is that fact a a disqualifying characteristic that should have kept him out of the hall of fame forever the writers say no I would also say no I imagine you would say no it seems like the four years he was forced to wait have served as some sort of punishment unofficial punishment he was never officially reprimanded were suspended by the league as none of the players were he did loses job as the manager of the New York meds without ever managing a game that would probably be a form of punishment and so in the end he's forced to wait but I think it is just and reasonable that he gets in and look like as people who would vote for PD guys you and I both I think it is you could make you can say oh well he treated those guys treated Why are they different? Why is someone voting for Beltron and not voting for Barry Bonds? Well, the resume of Carlos Beltron is not tainted by the cheating he did when he was bad and 40 years old. His stats, when you look at them for whatever this means, they are pure, they're real, they're not used drugs to be a better player. That is obviously the case with guys like Mania Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez. I think that distinction is easy to make. I also think that his induction portends well for guys like Jose Altoe v. and Alex Braggman, right? I think Braggman, his statistical resume needs kind of a strong run in his 30s to get to that level. I think Altoe v. is in like 100% in. Well he has to wait a year. Yes, I know he didn't participate. In the end, I do think there was a path here where it's like Beltron has to wait four more years because the writers are mad about 2017 and then we're thinking about Altoe v. Canada to see a little differently. I don't think that's the case now. I feel very confident in Altoe v. in a way, maybe I didn't feel before this voting cycle with Beltron. Yeah. And I think that with Beltron, as you make that distinction that, right, this does not tarnish his resume. So what it does is tarnish another part of these Hall of Fame conversations, which is just like integrity, right? Character, sportsmanship, you know, when we talk about PDs, it's like, well, what are these numbers real? Because these drugs helped him be a better baseball player. That's now we're talking about with Beltron. It's like that was a really not cool thing. That was bad behavior, bad behavior. Now in this case, it's bad behavior in a in the baseball world, not illegal. Right. It was contained, okay, contained in the baseball space. But I do still think it's that is more of the conversation that you're having is how much of a dimaret is that from just a pure moral behavioral standpoint, not how much to this make him a better baseball player, which, you know, in a kind of strange transition, it can bring us to Andrew Jones. Because Andrew Jones, I think his case, as he gets in now in his ninth year on the ballot, a much longer wait for him was held back, I think, by two things. There was there was baseball reasons and there was non baseball reasons. And we don't know for sure. We have not pulled the voters. We don't know, right? But there are voters. There are voters who have said 100% that they did not vote for Andrew Jones based predominantly on him being charged with a domestic violence. You know, him receiving a domestic violence charge, I believe after his plane career, I should double check that. Yeah, I believe was after his majorly career, but majorly still when he got that as a fact, right? Right. There are people who did not vote for him because of that. And I think that's a completely reasonable thing to do. Now there are also voters who didn't vote for him because when he turned 30, he was really bad at baseball, right? Yep. And obviously when we do these conversations every year, there's so many things that go into this and what what changed, what evolves for a Hall of Fame. Candidacy. And in Jones's case, this is a historic election because this dude, when he joined the ballot for the first time, got 7% of the vote. And now here we are almost a decade later with him getting inducted with 78.4%. You can ask why, why does it work this way? Why does anyone get this many chances, whether that's a good thing or a bad thing, but I think if we are just going to, so yes, there's very real reasons off the field that you could say, no, I'm not, I'm not supporting someone who has this on a record that's totally reasonable. But if we're talking about why he's in, it's also not that complicated as with Beltrun. He is considered one of the greatest defensive centerfifters of all time and he hit over 400 home runs. That is a heck of a combination. And his, Andrew Jones in his 20s was one of the greatest players of all time. Andrew Jones in his 30s was irrelevant. And so we're going to talk about a couple other cases here. He was so bad. And we will talk about another very interesting case here in terms of other takeaways of the ballot and someone who of course means a lot more to me in Felix Hernandez. But the induction of Jones is an enormous win for the, let's just talk about the peak. Now Jones's peak was so good and long enough that the counting stats are pretty impressive. 25th most war ever in his 20s. Okay. Above Ripkin, above Yostrelian, it's, above George Brett, intercircle. So good. Above Mike Schmidt, the Maggio, you know, above, you know, Gabriel Areas, above Austin Hedges. Wow. Okay. A lot of way better than those guys. But then it was, it was nothing. He turned 30. He left the braves and he was bad and got out of shape and kind of stops trying. Yeah. And so, but as, you know, you can argue and there are other players who are already in the hall who aren't to have, who fell off the ballot the first time, who have gotten in on the veterans committee or had to wait on the veterans. We were having gotten in, you know, people are seeing different things. I think with Jones, the peak was so good and so long that this is not a surprising outcome. But when you started 7%, I mean, that's, that's still, it really does speak to the absurdity of this process and some respect. Some people think it's the beauty of this process. I think for us, it's a little bit more like really like this is so weird that this is how this works. But hey, he certainly passes the test of if you were watching this guy at his best, yeah, I can understand you thinking this guy's going to be in Coopers Town someday. Let's go down the rest of the ballot. So interesting results to pick out. I'm just going to fly through a couple Jordan and then we can return to any ones you want to spend more time on. Chase out Lee, Philly's second base been finishes third in the voting on his third year on the ballot with 59.1% of the vote. Anybody who gets that high that quickly almost always gets in feels like that's going to be the case for oddly Andy Pettit, who admitted to using PEDs only to get back on the field, which as I compared earlier before we recorded, I only stole the money because I needed it. I don't care how you use the PEDs, you use the PEDs, whatever. He gets 48.5% of the vote in his eighth year on the ballot, one of the biggest late eligibility jumps we've ever seen. It makes no sense to me. I think that he you can account for this jump based upon like voters rethinking the thresholds for pitching based upon how pitching has changed over time, but PED it kind of doesn't fit in that conversation because he retired like kind of before that all changed. And so I'm perplexed by Andy Pettit. Yeah, I mean, this is again eighth year on the ballot to jump up. He'd basically been hovering in the 10 to 20% range for years. And yeah, logically you can't really be comparing him to a handles or a Felix, but it's still natural that voters are just like, okay, who's in the hall of fame and who's not? Oh, wow. Now this guy looks way better if this guy's getting this amount of support or if this guy's about to get in, well, I should absolutely give PED. Now the workloads that those guys have massed suddenly looked that much more impressive, even if it was clearly a different era. I mean, the on field case for PED it is very simple. He was very good for very, very, very long and pitched the most postseason innings ever. And if you're not impressed by a 3a1 eRA in the postseason when he threw over 270 October ratings, I don't know what to tell you because that is an amazing achievement. Yes, of course, it was because he was all on all these great Yankees teams, but he made the most of those opportunities. And I think he deserves a serious credit for that. That said, I also understand being underwhelmed by the totality of the case. And do that the thing is that I don't. If he had it, two eight one in October, if he had a two eight one in October, I'd be like, I'd get it. So this is the thing. He was fine in the play. I mean, you can't come. You can't. He was the same but he had a 3, 5 in the regular season. Right. Also, era adjusted. I mean, the offense was, you know, but he didn't like take it to another level. And he wasn't just like, oh, here's playoff, pet it. He won a lot of games when he. I know I'm not going to discount the postage resume. My point is that I'm not discounting the quantity of the postage in resume. I'm just quant. I'm kind of, I want to just trip away that like he was not elite in October. He was good. I'll push back on that. I think I think being that good that I mean, if you could go through the game logs, like, yeah, of course, when you make that many starts, you're going to have some clunkers. But he was more, he was better than he was good more often than not. And if you're going to be pitching on that many good teams. But anyway, the point is is that the PD part of it is so strange because if you look at it in the larger scope of how PD voting usually goes, you got people who are like, yep, that guy clearly would be in and I don't care. Let's put him in. He's one of the best players of all time. They usually settle into a range of support and then they just are stuck there. That is what happened with bonds and clements who of course got the highest support amount of support because of what their resumes were even with the connections. But even more recently and still currently right now in the case of Alex Rodriguez and Manor Mirez who are a different categories, guys who were suspended later on after the rules were more enforced, but they have not made any progress whatsoever. They just get stuck in their 40% and that's no one is looking at it. It's not changing. Why Pettit suddenly got this enormous search this year is truly one of the strangest trends I have ever seen covering this and I am honestly looking forward to talking to people who understand this better, to understand why this suddenly happened because I'm perplexed beyond, beyond belief. And he has two more years on the ballot at 48.5%. Like once you get up to 50 or close, you got a good shot, but that is still a lot of grounds to make up. He will represent a very interesting veterans committee case one day as well. Felix Hernandez, Jake Mitz, it's happening. It's all hell yeah brother. Hell yeah brother. This is I was shocked that he did as well as he did in his first year last year. He got about 20% of the vote last year. And that alone I was like oh my god Felix is probably going to make the whole thing. This is great. You know he's obviously my favorite pitcher ever. Very important to me, but I was like okay well I'm not everyone's going to see it like I see it, understandably. And not only does he jump his jump up to 46.1% this year, according to Ryan Tippito, our fearless leader in Hall of Fame voting tracking is the largest year over year jump in percentage ever in one year to get that much of a job. And I guess I say about that I don't totally know why he was this big already, but I love to see it. And if we are go back to the bringing up Andrew Jones, it's the same thing. You basically are arguing he was so good in his 20s that I don't care what happened in his 30s. I don't care how ugly and abrupt the ending was. I don't care that and and in Felix's case, I think that he gets forgiven more for essentially flaming out because of how absurd the workload was on his arm at a young age, whereas you're not really giving Andrew Jones that it's like okay yeah, you played a lot of games. So now he got out of shape and started to suck like no it's much hard to say that for a hitter. Whereas for a pitcher, it's like yeah, the dude was throwing 200 innings a year starting at age 20, which again for the time was very rare. Kind of workload. He was shoulder in Seattle on terrible teams. The fact that he transcended being on the Mariners to become such an important figure and pitcher who is revered across the sport is why he's so special not just to me, but to many people and why it is amazing and cool that he will be elected Hall of Fame. And I guess I should probably like get my Cooperstown hotel for 2029 or whatever, right? I mean, that's that would be the one I would go to for sure. I would. So I don't know when that's going to happen, but we will we will we will see. So good for feeling going down the going down the list here. A rod and mani self-explanatory mani Ramirez last year on the ballot. We would probably vote for both of them. If you don't, that's fine. They don't get anywhere close. Then it's Bobby Abrayu who stat had people love this guy. To me, I would not vote for him. Then you just have the run of like Jimmy Rollins, Cole handles on his first year on the ballot only first year player who does not drop below the 5% threshold and therefore handles the only first year player that will be on future ballots. Rollins handles Petroea Burley, Omar Viscale, David Wright, Francisco Rodriguez, who I would vote for. Torrey Hunter. Those are the guys who will be on the ballot. Next year, first year players, Ryan Braun, Edwin and Karnasio and Shin Su-Chu, Matt Camp, Hunter Prince, Rick Porcelot, Alex Gordon, Nick Marquaykus, all get at least one vote. Whereas Geogonzales, Howie Kendrick, and Daniel Murphy go, "Oh, for what is it? 425? Tough show for the 2018 Washington Nationals who employed Geoghawi and Daniel Murphy." Anything else from Hall of Fame voting before we take a break? No, I think again, contrasting Hamill's Burley Pettit, I don't totally understand that. Not like doing that is interesting, but when you look at their voting trends, I'm just perplexed by that. I know our powerful wish baseball had a similar tweet. Then next year, the two most interesting newcomers will be Buster Posey, the Poe Posey himself, and John Lester will also join the fray as a modern pitcher with some interesting kind of counting stats, achievements, and where he kind of lumps in in comparison to the Hamils and Burley's Little World. It'll be interesting. He's definitely not just below that, but I think some people will consider him, but Felix, man, what a freaking thing. All right, we're going to take a break when we return. So, little fiefiliies are in a weird place, and we preview the Dominican Winter League championship series. We'll be right back. And welcome back to the end of baseball barbacast. Not forever, just this episode. Let's go around the league. Philadelphia Phillies believed that Boba Shett would be on their team. They made a very alluring competitive offer seven years between 190 and 200 million dollars. According to the Athletics, Matt Gellb, the Phillies were so confident in landing, Meshett, that they called JT Real Muto's agent and said, I think we're headed in a different direction. They were, but that direction was back to JT Real Muto, because after the New York mess, swooped in to steal Boba Shett from their fingertips. I believe Todd Zilecki of MLB.com described one front office member as, quote, "Livit. The Phillies brought back JT Real Muto on a three year 45 million dollar deal, quite a chunk of change for a catcher in his mid 30s. I want to read a quote from Dave Dombraowski, because rarely our teams so open about their frustration in missing out on a player, right? Usually we get the fake plan A. Every plan is plan A. And here we have the Phillies admitting that they did not pull off plan A. Quote. It's a gut punch," Dombraowski said. I mean, you feel it. That day, you're very upset. I guess is the way to say it, but you have to pick yourself up and shake it off because you can't wallow in what took place. So after a time period of feeling that way, you need to move forward. That's how you handle it. That time period and that moving forward happened like right away with Phillies agreeing to terms of Real Muto who wins the stare down in improbable fashion when I heard that Real Muto was looking for a three-year deal at 15 per. I was like, all right, brother, I'm looking for a three-year deal at 15 per. But the Phillies after missing out on a Bichette just went back to what they knew. It's not just that, you know, you mentioned the transparency and the honesty from Dombraowski, but that's him, right? I think it's not just that, you know, sometimes you'll say, "Oh no, this was all planned all along." Most GMs would just be like, "It's not productive to talk about things that haven't happened." You know, we're focused on who's here, whatever. That's most GMs are saying that. Even with how public all of the Bichette stuff was, the meeting, the expectations that they were close, whatever, most GMs in this situation are just, but Dombraowski doesn't care. As we know, he's not hesitant to just say what it's on his mind or tell you how he's feeling. He's not embarrassed. He'll just tell you. He's named Dombraowski. What does he have to lose? He's a couple of days. He's worried about what you think about, you know? He's just like, "Yeah, sucks. Don't be adam. Didn't, okay." But it does. That transparency does really make the whole Phillies off season just look very interesting. Yes, and no. It is. Yes, and no. And his transparency doesn't change the way that we think about it because I think if Dombraowski had not been Dombraowski and been like, you know, things happen. If you just said things happen or he didn't do media availability, I still think the conversation would be, well, that was not the plan. That's true. This was going to go this way. And so I think that, look, JT Real Muto being on the Phillies the next two years is a good thing for the Phillies. He is an important part of how they do run prevention. He is still like a league average, Hitter. Is he going to age well? Probably not. If I had to bet like any catcher to stay in good shape, I'd pick him because that dude is a tank like one of the most impressive athletes when you see him in person in a clubhouse. Always lifting after games like he is meticulous about his body, but catching is really hard. This is also related to comments from Rob Thompson, Philly's manager yesterday about how the Philly's are not simply running it back in 2026. And I think that that's fair. Their outfield will look different with the Dolos Garcia and Rokie Justin Crawford alongside Brandon Marsh with Nick Castiano's all but not on the team anymore. And some new guys in the bullpen and Ranger Swars isn't there. This is running it back. And you know what? I think that's okay. I think it's okay to run it back. You've been to the postseason four years in a row. You've just won the division. I think fans too often judge general managers for playoff results. And like in the Philly's case, it's a little bit different because they've had a similar problem of swinging and missing, of chasing, whatever. But I saw a poll online from some Philadelphia person that was like, what do you think of David and Browski's job in Philly? Great, good, bad. And like seven percent of people voted great. And I just, that's why I'm like, they're really good. Like they're a really good team because he's there. Now, are the 2026 Philly's more likely to win the World Series in the 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, Philly's? Probably not. It's put in a lot on Andrew Painter and Justin Crawford. And I do think that giving painter effectively giving him the keys to a rotation spot and giving Crawford the keys to an everyday spot in the lineup, that is not running it back. But it's not running it back in a way where like the fan base is fired up on January 21st. Yeah. And it's also just in contra or it's all part of a larger story of multiple off seasons in a row where you assume that how it ended would prompt more dramatic shakeups. I think that you can also reasonably argue that it's in like the Matt's who actually collapses and misses the postseason is a much more logical spot to really shake it up as we've seen that they've done. Then the fillings who continue to win a boatload of regular season games and put themselves in reasonable position to make running the postseason. It's not like they're letting guys leave the three biggest financial outlays the last couple of years were Aaronola, Zach Wheeler, Kyle Schwarber, and JT Real Muto. Guys that were already all on the team. And I do think that while that is frustrating to a certain extent, like going down with the ship, there's something kind of admirable about it. It is also how the last Phillies court completely fell apart. Sure. The two things I would just say about that. And then I'll say one more silly thing and then we'll move on is Lasardo. Credit for that. That was a year ago. And hello, who's your closer? He wasn't on the team a year ago. And deadline additions are part of the calculus. Again, the optics are different because you did not do a fancy press conference in the winter. But that's a pretty huge addition that was not there in spring training last year. And it's a big part of the calculus going into 2026. The last Phillies thing I just want to say is we as we enter spring, I know he's already been dealing with this, but it does keep the Alec Bome conversation in a strange place. And maybe you're just like, I used to it. He did this last year, but he thought he was going to get traded to the show. But it's just like, I guess they'll just keep on playing there. Or will they still try and find a way to trade them? Nothing says we believe in you like trying to find a replacement every single winter. Anyway, that dynamic is strange, but you obviously know better about that than me. All right, a couple other notes before we preview the Winter League championship. There was a trade, a three-way trade that happened essentially the exact same time as when Kyle Tucker signed. This was funny because I was at the dinner with Kyle Tucker signed and my brother texted me and he was like, do you have Jeff Pass and notifications on? And I was like, yeah, duh. What am I? Come on. But when I like scrolled down on my notifications, the only Jeff Pass and Tweet that I saw was trade news. Breds get Brock Burke. Rays get Gavin Lux. Angels get Josh Lowe. And I was like, like, I love my brother. I'm glad he texted me about like, this does not seem like the kind of trade that my brother would like check in about. And then I scrolled a little bit and I was like, oh, Kyle Tucker signed with the daughters. Okay, got it. But Jeff Tweeting this news literally mind-ishing like 30 seconds after breaking the Kyle Tucker signing was very funny. And all three-way trades are interesting. This is no exception. The Rays continue an active offseason of willing and dealing. Getting Gavin Lux who the Red seemed to be trying to get rid of for a while. I mean, he fits the roster a little bit better than Josh Lowe, but they've had similar levels of kind of underwhelming production over the last couple years after showing some more flashes earlier in their career. The Angels famously severely lacking left-handed hitters on their 40-man roster. Josh Lowe will help that give them some bounce back opportunities. Also go along with their 50 other bounce back opportunities that they've acquired, whether it's Manoa, whether it's Grayson Rodriguez, whether it's Von Grisland, whether it's Nick Madrigal, like this is just what the Angels are doing. They hope Josh Lowe Josh Lowe is a delight. By the way, one of my low-end locks to of our favorite people that we like to run into in the game. And then Brock Burke to the Reds, I actually love this because I think Brock Burke is sneaky really good. He was one of the few left-handers that threw 100 miles an hour last year and the Reds bullpen might be really good. I don't know how their going to score runs. Kind of worried about that, although that's related to our next topic. But I don't know, I kind of like this for Cincinnati. And as usual, I am looking at the Angels and I'm saying, okay, Angels sounds good. All right. I also. I confirmed my potete wedding memory. That is true. His wife was on the UCLA basketball team, UCLA baseball team. They got married on campus. Very cool. Very cool. On his wife's to the potete. Madeline to Toteep. Now runs Getaway Day car agency, which seems to be a company that ships cars for athletes. Getaway day. And the logo. The logo is great. It's like a baseball and like a, but like the scenes are like like a road with like the dotted line. Okay. The wow, the entrepreneurial spirit of, of Maddie potete. That is awesome. All right. Well, hope that's going well. Don't know if Cody potete is currently employed by a baseball team. We can, you can go ahead and check that as I transition us to one of the around the league topic, free agent. Okay. Which is, Ellie Dillacruz, some reporting from C Trent Rose Crenz of the athletic, although I believe Nick Crawl literally just said this at their fan fest. The red spobo. Basically saying that, because you know, when you have a small market team with star player, you just generally have to always ask like, Hey, you're trying to extend this guy, especially because we've seen a lot of these extensions happen. You know, this is not, this has become a common occurrence to go to a body which you need to go to a Corbin carol. To go to, you know, whether it's, I mean, I try to think of other examples that fit into like the smaller market version of this. I Jackson, Shoriel. There you go. Milwaukee. And you try to give him a bunch of money early so that you don't have to give him a really a bunch of money a lot later. And apparently the reds tried to do this with Ellie Dillacruz. A year ago coming off his awesome 2024, they apparently tried to offer him the largest contract in Red's history. So passing the 10 year, 225 million dollar extension that Joey Vottos signed a long time ago. So if this was really only like 240 million to 30 million, whatever, you know, with inflation, that's actually not more than what Joey Vottos contract was at the time. The point is, is that Ellie Dillacruz is represented by Scott Boris. He has been for a while. This is not a recent thing. He's been with Boris since the minor leagues. And this is once again going to be a contract extension turned down that we will likely look back and talk about what is important is for Ellie Dillacruz to get back on his superstar trajectory, which he did not continue on in 2025. He was very good. He played in all 162 games despite being injured for most of them with I think like a torn labor. But Ellie Dillacruz still has outrageous earning potential down the line if he can get back on that superstar track. And if this sounds up being the $440 million extension that wants to turn down from the nationals, I would not be surprised. But if Ellie continues to, you know, maybe, maybe be a little bit more inconsistent, maybe it is one where it's like them, guess he could have taken the money then. If anything, it is a scobo scobo, we will certainly return to in the future. anything on Ali before we turn our to the championship series in the Dominican Winter League? - No, I mean like he's not signing an extension. - Nope, not happening. - Which sucks. - Sorry, Reds. So I guess what they still have for, you know, four more years, three more years, five more years. - Maybe sucks the next two years, and then he signs an extension. - That's the problem, right? Either Ellie Dillock Cruz will be really good and not signing an extension, or he'll be bad. Any might. - Yeah, I, yeah, I don't think he's signing an extension. All right, let's go down to Santo Domingo and La Romana, the two sites of this year's Dominican Winter League Championship series. What a finals we have between the Fionist, Oscar Hito, Toros Del Estay. I am wearing my Escohito hat. That is the team we support. But we just support this wholly because it is a joy to watch and experience all winter long. And this best of seven championship series begins tonight. Any Romero for Toros, Travis Lakin's former Red Sox, and Orioles pitcher, and Escohito anchor atop the rotation this winter. - I'll take that towel. - Travis Lakin's senior, I believe. - Travis Lakin's senior love that for him. This is a remarkable finals for a number of reasons. We're going to rattle off a couple of names that you need to know. As for Escohito, what a turnaround. This is a team that is the defending champion. However, last year it was the junior Caminero show. He basically single-handedly carried them to victory. He is not playing this year for very obvious reasons. He has better stuff for the Congress. However, Escohito is back in the championship series looking to repeat. This season did not start off great. - Oh. - In fact, they started the season 16 and 24. - 540 games of the 50 game regular season. They fired their manager well before 16 and 24. - And then what happened? - 10 games in. - What happened then, Jordan? - What happened then? - We went to the Dominican, baby. We went to the Dominican and lit a fire after this team. - We went to enter a manager Ramón Santiago and we said, "Listen, buddy, you got to get these boys, get these boys going in the right direction. You got to be pulling the same rope here." And they've just been awesome since. They finished 23 and 27. But that was good enough to make the postseason, the Round Rob and playoffs, which four of the 16s qualify for. And then they just got a crazy hunt. And they've just been awesome. They are led by Dominican luminaries such as Junior Lake, Socrates Brito, Ryan Mel Topia, Hector Rodriguez Reds prospect, very exciting. He's the young guy to watch in this final series. He's been a contributor for them the last couple of years. He was there last year as well. And then on the mound, I mean, what 42-year-old Roda Miss Liz is still chucking it. Jose or Keide, he knows a little something about pitching in the postseason. Of course, not Dominican native, but he's pitching for Escohedo. So that's very exciting. And then the aforementioned traps like it. So Escohedo, of course, we're pulling for them to pull off the repeat. But they will have to take down Taurus. And Jake, this Taurus season, they feel more like the team of destiny. I gotta be honest. They are the team that has kind of captured the vibes, the momentum of the last few weeks. This is a team that in this six team league finished in last place each of the last four seasons. That is hard to do. That is really hard to do. You gotta be allowed things going wrong for you to be that consistently bad in this league. But they are going for their first title since the 2019-2020 season. That team was incredible. That was the year that you spent. That was the year you were down there. And we spent a few months covering the league. That was when Taurus was awesome since then. They've been horrible. But now they are managed by Victor Estevez, who was just hired by the Nationals to be their third base in Infield Coach, joining their all 40 and under coaching staff. He worked for the Brewers for a long time. He's worked for a bunch of different lead home teams, including managing Escohedo a couple years ago. And he's got this team absolutely cookin. A lot of familiar names on this roster. And Es is playing in lead home for the first time since 2019. First time playing for Taurus, who was traded for them. He was the first overall pick in the lead home rookie draft 10 years ago. And now he's been tremendous for Taurus. One of the best to do is in the league. Just sign him mind, lead deal. Re-sign him mind, lead deal with the Blue Jays. Sergio Alcantra, another long time lead home favorite. Who was an infielder with the Diamondbacks and other teams. He basically only played for Lee Say, but now he's playing for Taurus because in the Winter League, after if your team doesn't make the postseason, you can get redrafted by postseason teams. That is what happened. Taurus took Sergio Alcantra. He has been amazing. And then the funniest one to really round out our reds conversation is that Jamer Candelario, who is the reds highest paid player in 2026, despite being released during last season. He is a long time Taurus guy and a regular on this team. He has been honestly pretty terrible for them for most of the season. But he is Jamer Candelario. He has a lot of big league service times, so he gets to play every day. And he had the walkoff walk against Aguilas to clinch a spot in the finals. That is really dome championship series preview. We will if any if we have anything close to what happened with Junior Caminiaro last year, we would be so fortunate. But regardless, you can watch those games on MLB TV starting tonight. Jake Mitz, what a thrill to podcast with you on this Wednesday January 21st. Happy 86th birthday to my grandpa who watches these podcasts. Oh, grandpa norm. Shout out to norm. Grandpa norm. If you're watching on YouTube, norm. Love you. Do the best. Yeah. Love you. Love you. Love you. You're the best. Mom passed that along to him. Or dad. No, because it's your dad. And I know you're listening. Thank you, and your arts. And Ingrid Roses, we're producing as always. We will be back on Friday, email us, space war, or catch a GMO.com. So Friday. Bye-bye. Go Savers.