Rumors are swirling around the Boston Red Sox early in the offseason. Joey Copponi and Scott Neville discuss the rumors that the Red Sox are in on the Juan Soto sweepstakes, that they could make a trade for Garrett Crochet, and that ownership is reportedly willing to finally spend. Joey and Scott pour through these rumors, rank them in terms of believability, discuss the weird Gerrit Cole situation, and the Red Sox' decision to extend a Qualifying Offer to Nick Pivetta, but not Tyler O'Neill. All that, and much more!
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SportsTranscript
00:00Welcome to the ITM podcast.
00:20This is episode 251 of the ITM podcast, the official Boston Red Sox podcast of the CLNS
00:24Media Network brought to you by PrizePix, the exclusive daily fantasy partner of the
00:29CLNS Media Network.
00:30Game by game, time tickets to the best places to buy tickets online, sports concerts, all
00:33your favorite events, the Boston Red Sox are kind of in the news.
00:36My name is Joey Caponnet, that's Scott Neville.
00:38Scott, how are you doing?
00:39Dude, I just saw a post that the Rays joined growing list of Juan Soto suitors.
00:47Bro, that's an awesome place to start because I was going to bring this up at some point
00:52in the show.
00:53I have no structure for when we're going to talk about these things.
00:55I just have like four things to talk about.
00:57This is a slow week, but oddly enough, there are things that we have to address, but this
01:01is one of them that's like Red Sox adjacent in that all of the free agent and trade rumors
01:09that are coming out this year more than any other, there are five teams, maybe six, period.
01:19It is the Dodgers, Yankees, Red Sox, Mets, Cubs.
01:28It's a mystery suitors.
01:30And then, yeah.
01:31And then a couple of small teams is how they've been wrinkled.
01:33Yeah.
01:34Yeah.
01:35Some Phillies news.
01:36Some Phillies do, but it's weird.
01:37It's like they're selling.
01:38It's like, I don't know.
01:39It's not selling, but selling for Dombrowski standards.
01:44But it really feels like this year more than ever.
01:47And obviously it's fucking November six.
01:49There's a lot of time for things to change, but it feels so much right now.
01:53Like there are six, maybe call it eight teams that are legitimate contenders for not even
02:01just free agents, but trade acquisitions too.
02:04Then there's like 15 maybe teams that you're like, oh, it wouldn't be insane if Cleveland
02:14was in on one of these guys.
02:17And then there is just eight, like it's not even, it would be a joke.
02:22It would be a joke.
02:23And the Rays are a perfect example of one of those 15 middle teams where you're like,
02:27yeah, right.
02:28I forgot they did make a push for judge and like they, yeah, I guess they do kind of acquire
02:33guys every now and again, or at least pretend like they're making a push.
02:37It's just a weird structure for how, how baseball is, you know, the, the, the lack of cap kind
02:42of does that, but very prevalent right now is what I'm saying.
02:45I think it would be very funny for you tomorrow to do something like Rays somehow reportedly
02:53in mix for Juan Soto sweepstakes.
02:58I think that would be a very funny way to do that.
03:00And I wouldn't mind if you did that on your new, your new gig.
03:03Oh, is that your segue in for me to, well, it wasn't a segue, I just, I kind of, I thought
03:08of that and I was like, you know, honestly, we haven't, we just haven't talked about it,
03:11which makes sense.
03:12Cause you weren't doing it last right now, right before on the Eve, right on the Eve.
03:18Yeah.
03:19Yeah.
03:20We, the last time we recorded was the day before the Newsweek gig kicked in and you
03:27can go on over Newsweek.
03:28It's the same Newsweek, you know, a couple of my friends needed to see the logo.
03:36That was like kind of a, a consistent thing that was weird.
03:39They were like Newsweek.
03:40They definitely know that.
03:41And then they saw the logo.
03:42They're like, Oh yeah, Newsweek.
03:44You've heard of it.
03:45And if right now you're like, do I know news?
03:46Yes you do.
03:47Yes you do.
03:48I don't really know their sports because they really haven't done sports.
03:50Now they do.
03:51And right in baseball stuff over there.
03:54So go check that out for sure.
03:59But yeah, I mean the, the Rays, the Rays are like the Rays are good for a headline that
04:07says, believe it or not, the Rays are actually apparently in, but that's, that's it.
04:14They're not, it's a 0.0% chance that they do it.
04:18Correct.
04:19And that he would come there because you're not going to take, first of all, they're not
04:23giving top dollar, but if you have comparable offers to not play in the drop for the Rays,
04:27you're going to, you're not going to do that.
04:29You're not even playing in the drop.
04:30They don't know where they're playing.
04:33My apologies.
04:34They don't have a ballpark.
04:36They're going to have one Soto and no ballpark.
04:40They're saying it's not worth them a couple of million dollars to fix their home stadium.
04:44They're saying we might just go with AIU for a year cause we don't really feel like buying
04:50that.
04:51But 81 games there and it would cost them 10 million bucks and they're like, abso-fucking-lutely
04:57not.
04:58How much?
04:59Dollars?
05:00No.
05:01We'll play in Alabama.
05:03I don't know.
05:04Who cares?
05:05It doesn't matter.
05:06And they're going to drop 700 million dollars on one Soto?
05:11I don't think the Rays ever give out a contract bigger than Wonder Franco ever again.
05:15Remember him?
05:16We haven't talked about him in a while.
05:17Not we, just the world hasn't talked about him in a while.
05:19Yeah, he doesn't come up very much.
05:23Is he busy?
05:25I think he's going to have a lot of time on his hands.
05:30Really?
05:31Yeah.
05:32He's got to focus up, you know, find God, work out.
05:37Still got a big chain.
05:41Nevermind, I'm not going to get into the inner workings of a prison, but it is kind of funny
05:49that every single guy does the exact same thing and it's like, found God, worked out,
05:54that's about it.
05:55Now I'm good to go.
05:56Stabbed a couple people, but they don't know it was me.
06:00And that's just kind of it.
06:01The Rays are not genuinely in the Juan Soto sweepstakes.
06:05That does kind of lead to the Red Sox rumor though, because apparently the Red Sox are
06:15among the four or five teams that are being thrown around a lot.
06:20The Dodgers, the Mets, the Sox, and I'm seeing people say the Yankees are out.
06:28I don't know what to believe there.
06:30Are they in the top three?
06:36I think there's, in my opinion, I think there's the New York teams, and then I think there's
06:43a tier.
06:45I would put the Yankees and Mets on each side of the Yankees.
06:48There has been a lot of talk about what will the Yankees do if they don't retain Soto.
06:52I saw one, they could pair Christian Walker with Bregman, which I actually think would
06:58make a lot of sense, because then they would have two gold glovers in the infield and fix
07:02all the problems they had there.
07:06But, and then you move Jazz a second, whatever.
07:11I think it's probably those two.
07:14And then three, yeah, honestly, maybe, because I'm going through the list in my head.
07:20The Dodgers, of course, they'll be involved.
07:24I don't know that they actually do this.
07:27I think it's more of like a Willie Adamas, and they have some pitching needs to fill.
07:30I don't think they really go for them.
07:32The only thing is, do you expect, I don't know, I feel like the Red Sox, they're kind
07:37of a weird fit team.
07:38It's one of those things, it's a super, super star, it's a Hall of Famer already.
07:45You don't say, I mean, we already got pretty set in outfield over here.
07:55You don't say, hey, I mean, we got Sedan and we got Wilier.
07:59You make room for Juan Soto, sure, yeah.
08:02It is weird to say, but it's a strange fit, as you're not looking for outfielders and
08:08you're looking for right-handed bats to acquire a superstar.
08:11I was going to say, you sure as hell don't want a left-hander right now.
08:14You can be like, adding a left-handed, middle-of-the-order bat so that you're stocked with-
08:20Outfielder, too.
08:21It's a lot of things they don't need, but I'm not going to sit here and complain and
08:26be like, well, he doesn't fit.
08:28You make fucking room.
08:29You make room.
08:30Yeah, but dude, Devers, Kassas, and Soto, as that locked in 2-3-4, you can't really
08:37move them around.
08:38And Duran.
08:39Duran's going to lead off.
08:40Dude, you can't.
08:41It's just, they're going to be thrown, there's going to be so many lefties.
08:44So what?
08:45Yeah, Kassas hitting 7th?
08:46That's what I'm saying, is you're locked into that.
08:50What you would probably do would be 1-3-5-7, Devers, Duran, Devers, Soto.
08:58I'll tell you what, right-handed pitchers would be in for a doozy, and that's going
09:04to be the most of them.
09:05When you do have a left-handed lineup, maybe they do, I mean, a left-handed pitcher, maybe
09:10they do something like that.
09:11But in the playoffs, it's like that lefty specialist is coming into that same slot every
09:15single night, if we're talking about playoffs, which if we have Juan Soto, I think we are
09:21We can't be sitting here being like, there's lineup trouble if Juan Soto is here.
09:26I can't be doing that.
09:27I know, it's weird.
09:28I'm just saying you want a $700 million acquisition to fit perfectly.
09:33Yeah, well, you change the team.
09:36You move the team around.
09:37Yeah, but you don't change any of those players I just mentioned.
09:41Duran would probably be in top contention for a guy who's not here.
09:45I think you keep him.
09:48Will you?
09:49Listen, I would vote keep Duran.
09:50I don't know who you do move out of the outfield, because even Juan Soto aside, you got to move
09:54somebody out of that outfield.
09:55I don't want to move any of them.
09:56I wouldn't move.
09:57I love them.
09:58But if you get Juan Soto, refs are not as safe.
10:04Yeah, I'm saying Soto aside, you've got to get rid of one of these guys, probably.
10:11In a world where even with O'Neal gone, you're still going to have five outfielders and Roman
10:21Anthony coming up.
10:23I wouldn't have hated the more I'm thinking about it.
10:25I think stats basically said this take already, but I don't really want a T. Oscar now.
10:31Just buying at full price when he could have been cheap last year, and he's probably not
10:36going to do what he just did.
10:39His defensive issues are present.
10:42It almost makes more sense to try and get O'Neal back.
10:44It would have made sense on the qualifying offer.
10:46A one-year deal, if you could get a one-year deal for O'Neal, I'd be for it.
10:50I don't want to sign O'Neal.
10:51There was a perfect one-year deal right there for him in what's called a qualifying offer.
10:56Right now, I don't think you can get a one-year deal done with him.
11:00I don't want more than one year because of the injuries.
11:04He's a Roman Anthony stopgap, basically.
11:07In case you guys missed it, Red Sox extended a qualifying offer.
11:13This year, it is $21.05 million.
11:21They extended it to a one Mr. Nick Pavetta, who is Canadian.
11:26They did not extend it to Tyler O'Neal, who, oddly enough, also Canadian.
11:31Right.
11:32Yeah.
11:33They had two Hebs on the docket.
11:40Strange decision.
11:41Strange decision.
11:42Yes.
11:43Whereas, you'd need both, just in terms of their positioning.
11:48You need starting pitching.
11:49You need a right-handed bat.
11:53Weird to do neither or to not do neither or both.
11:59To pick one and to pick that one, very weird.
12:03If they were going to do just one, I would imagine that it would have been Tyler O'Neal.
12:06Because, well, Nick Pavetta is not really worth $20 million, in my humble opinion.
12:12Tyler O'Neal, I think, is.
12:13He was just your home run leader.
12:15You're like, ah, nah, not you.
12:17Our three-starter, we'll give it to him.
12:22Three starters, generous.
12:23You know what's hilarious about this?
12:26We're not even close because I would imagine he accepts, but I would have imagined he wouldn't
12:31have gotten offered.
12:32I don't think I know anything.
12:33I saw a $63 million projection the other day for Pavetta.
12:37I think it was three years, 63 million.
12:40I don't remember who said that.
12:41I think that's blasphemous.
12:43But my point is, we're not even ... I mean, he could accept the second, but we could potentially
12:49not even be close to figuring out if he's going to stay.
12:54When does he have until to decide?
12:57He's till November 19th.
12:59Oh, he has two weeks?
13:02We should be way into plans by then.
13:06It's so weird, the deadlines that are set, because the whole Garrett Cole thing happens,
13:11and Garrett Cole opts out of his deal, and the Yankees have 24 hours to decide if they
13:16want to exercise their club option.
13:20Insane.
13:21Insane.
13:22It makes no sense.
13:24The deadlines are so arbitrary.
13:28I do feel like it would be very easy to make that ... That's something you can do before,
13:35in terms of there's only two outcomes.
13:37It's not like they're giving you a, hey, we got to figure out a pitch to make them an
13:42offer, or whatever.
13:43It's just either yes or no.
13:44You basically have the whole ... Pretty much the whole year, I feel like most of the year,
13:48you'd be like, what do we do in this situation?
13:51I would imagine you have those meetings, probably, as the leaders of baseball operations.
13:56I think it took so long, because the Yankees had their mind made up, and they were like,
14:02no thank you.
14:04Go have a good one.
14:05Maybe we can renegotiate once you're a free agent, and we can get you for what you're
14:07actually worth, instead of more than you're already making.
14:14The one thing they didn't plan on was, after they said, no thank you, have a good one,
14:20is that Garrett Cole would go, no, no, no, no, no, never mind, never mind, never mind,
14:23never mind, never mind.
14:24Yeah.
14:25I want to stay, please.
14:26I want to stay.
14:27I didn't mean it.
14:28Then, I think they legitimately have to check with the league, and be like, I know he opted
14:32out.
14:33Can he just opt back in, and say, never mind, I was joking?
14:36Can he do that?
14:38I think they actually had to check, and be like, what do the rules say about this?
14:43Because I've never heard of that happening before.
14:46I think that was hilarious, and I think, weirdly, that made me less fearful of him on the mound,
14:52because that was as soft of a move as possible.
14:56I'll tell you, Roger Clemens, Pedro Martinez, they're not doing some soft shit like that,
15:02I'll tell you that much.
15:03That made me just be like, yep, that's Garrett Cole.
15:07I think it's also Boris, just being Boris.
15:10The new edition of Scott Boris is a guy who's like, we're going to get you fucking every
15:15penny you're worth, and teams are like, Scott, fuck you, stop doing that.
15:20It's not going to work anymore.
15:21And him going, all right, fine, and having to turn sheepishly back to Cole, and be like,
15:27yeah, I don't think you're going to get the extra year, I would just stay with the deal
15:30that you had.
15:31You don't want to be a free agent.
15:34Trust me, I screwed this up so many times last year, you do not want to put me in this
15:37position.
15:38I do not want to be your agent.
15:42Trust me, you do not want me to do this.
15:44I know when I signed you, I was good at this.
15:47Do not put me back in this position.
15:50The fall off of Scott Boris is crazy.
15:51This is a really interesting offseason for him, for that, for all that.
15:55Yeah, if he bundles again, he's just not a good agent.
15:58I think this is like a make or break, Scott Boris is on the hot seat offseason, because
16:04if it's anything like last year, his reputation is forever tarnished.
16:08He's no longer the top dog.
16:09And I don't know who takes that spot over him, but he at least permanently loses the
16:15prestige that he has.
16:16He'll also lose the names too.
16:19People look back at his list a year from now, and they'll be like, oh, wow, he doesn't
16:24have any of these guys anymore.
16:26Big offseason for the first name, he could really do a number on us.
16:32Yeah, I know, I was going to ask you, what's your opinion, just because I know that you
16:37care a lot about the Scots representing, the Highland games are this weekend, so I know
16:42you care about the Scots representing over there.
16:46My thing is, I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt because of the name, and I believe
16:51in my boys, my fellas.
16:53And I think he's going to turn some heads this offseason.
16:58Hey, if you at home are listening, and you're like, you know what that just reminded me
17:03of?
17:04Is that I have some boys that I really believe in, and I love to pick higher or lower on
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19:06So we talked about the Soto to the Sox rumor a little bit, right?
19:12Sounds crazy, but Heyman seems really adamant that he believes that, I don't know, for whatever
19:18reason I trusted John Heyman when I saw that clip of him because, I mean, we know he's
19:22a Boris mouthpiece.
19:23That's kind of been his whole thing, his whole career.
19:26But the way that he was speaking in that one, I think it was a Bleacher report live.
19:30Yep.
19:31Bleacher.
19:32PR walk-off thing.
19:33Yeah.
19:34It was just believable that he was like, I guess Red Sox fans were mad at me the last
19:38time I projected them to sign somebody because they're not spending money, but I'm just telling
19:41you what I'm hearing.
19:42Sorry.
19:43And it genuinely, if he's acting, give him an Oscar.
19:46I believed it.
19:47That's the Soto rumor.
19:48Yeah.
19:49Well, I don't know.
19:50Oh yeah.
19:51Yeah.
19:52Yeah.
19:53Put a bow on it.
19:54Put a bow on it.
19:56Yeah.
19:57It's just general optimism, which I think we're, I'm assuming that's where you're transitioning
19:59to.
20:00So you go ahead.
20:03Another big rumor, Scott, that the Sox and the Mets are top two contenders in Buster
20:11Olney's eyes to trade for Garrett Crochet.
20:15Yeah.
20:16And Jeff Pattinson, kind of, I guess he didn't disagree.
20:20I went and listened because it was on the ESPN baseball, the baseball, the night podcast,
20:26which is confusing because that is already a thing, different thing.
20:31It's an entirely different thing.
20:32You can't just like have like the sports center podcast and have it be actually a sports center
20:37podcast would do actually really well, probably do better than the TV ratings right now.
20:40That's actually a great idea.
20:41Cut that, cut that out.
20:42Don't, don't let them hear that.
20:43I want to sell them that.
20:45But Pattinson didn't, didn't object.
20:52So I would, I would go ahead and say that two of the top MLB insiders believe that the
20:57Boston Red Sox and the New York Mets are the prevailing contenders to trade for Garrett
21:02Crochet.
21:04I am surprisingly going to say, please don't do that.
21:09Whoa.
21:10Okay.
21:11All right.
21:12Talk me through it.
21:13So it has nothing to do with, I think Crochet is great.
21:16I has nothing to do with his ability, but even if he is an ace, like, like we're guaranteed,
21:21like he's going to work out, he's not going to get hurt, whatever.
21:25I, there is a reason why people are saying that the Red Sox are capable of trading for
21:30literally anyone and that we have the, we have young major league pieces that are expendable,
21:38but really good.
21:40And then we have four legit elite prospects.
21:45I want to keep like, I, it's, I know people, you know, Bobby Dahlberg's volume is high.
21:49We let that go.
21:50This is different.
21:51These are like blue chip, legit prospects.
21:55And I don't need all of them to work out if they're so, so sure that, you know, Kyle Teal
22:02or something is about to bust because they have different information than we do.
22:07And they want to do the Dabrowski, which is like, we're not going to trade Devers under
22:11any circumstances, but we think we can move these guys because they're not that good and
22:16they still have their value.
22:17Okay.
22:18But I, I want to just see all the talent we've been waiting for come up.
22:24I know there's the argument that there's too many, too many middle infielders, there's
22:28too many catchers.
22:29Like, what do you do?
22:30But obviously the outfield is jammed, but I just, I want there to just be an overload
22:36of talent.
22:37Like the Dodgers feel like they have every year.
22:39And then we'll, we'll sign a guy that it doesn't have to be Garrett crochet.
22:44Like if they're going to spend on, you know, I'd rather them get a Jack Flaherty and keep
22:49what they have and then get a Garrett crochet and trade away Roman Anthony and, you know,
22:54Kyle Teal.
22:55I mean, I, I mean, I think any, any trade that includes two of the top of like the big
23:02four, I think it would be, would be crazy.
23:04I don't think it would take that.
23:06I think that would be, that would be bananas.
23:08I mean, that to me is like a Tatis trade, like a guy who has a lot of years ahead of
23:12them and it's like a superstar and maybe not just those two, but that and some other pieces,
23:18but a trade that includes Willier, Teal, and some prospect that's never going to make it
23:26out of Salem or the white Sox equivalent, I do that 10 times out of 10 because a pass
23:36and also added in that thing that crochet is operating with the understanding that wherever
23:42he is traded, he is extending that he wants to put down roots.
23:47He doesn't want to be a free agent in two years.
23:48I guess he just wants to be traded, sign an extension.
23:51That's kind of part of the deal.
23:52He's a pitcher though.
23:53You're going to lose him for two years.
23:55Yeah.
23:56Yeah.
23:57That's the market knows.
23:58Yeah.
23:59I'm not saying paying 40 for 12 years, but I'd rather keep, no, I'm not worried about
24:05the extension.
24:06I'm just saying, you're going to trade away to, you know, Willier, a rookie of the year
24:09candidate and a potential, you know, like elite player in those top four for a guy that
24:21is incredibly injury prone over his career.
24:24And he's a pitcher.
24:25So it's built in, even if he's not, Lucas Gilito was an injury prone, even a little
24:29till the day you signed with the Boston Red Sox.
24:32It's like, that doesn't like, and I don't know.
24:34I just, I don't like it.
24:35I don't like it.
24:36I would much rather keep everybody and sign.
24:40I mean, this is the thing that pissed me off.
24:42We can just sign Corbin Burns.
24:43We're just going to pretend like we don't have to give up Roman Anthony to get ACE.
24:47We get an ACE and have Roman Anthony.
24:49No problem.
24:50Yeah.
24:51Yeah.
24:52Yeah.
24:53I guess.
24:54Yeah.
24:55Well, I mean, do you believe they're going to do that?
24:56I know.
24:57I think Red Sox fans, myself included, are just like excited to see us in rumors and
25:02be like, Oh, could we do that?
25:03Please, please, please.
25:05I'm like, no, it's not the smartest option, but I like it.
25:08I like being involved in the talks.
25:09I like the idea of acquiring a good player really, no matter how right now, which is
25:14a dumb, dumb time to do it because we've had patients forced upon us for the past four
25:20years to just like, wait and wait and wait and wait and wait.
25:23And they're right there.
25:24And I'm like, Oh God, just fucking give it to me now.
25:27I just, just trade them away and give me something, please.
25:30I just want, I just want to be excited.
25:32Scott, I just want like the pass and breaking tweet to make me go, Oh my God, the Sox got
25:37somewhat important.
25:40I agree, but I think we can do that without trading away any of the big four or Willier
25:45or Teal.
25:46If we're good, because my thing is, if we're going to make that trade where we trade away
25:49someone like Willier, you almost, you got to get the right handed bat.
25:55Like you almost feel like that's going to be kind of like, you know, when they traded
25:59essentially in two deals, but they essentially traded Verdugo for Tyler O'Neill and the sense
26:05of like, right, right.
26:06They just did made two deals to make that swap.
26:09And then there was talent moved around.
26:10But like, that's the deal.
26:11I feel like that's going to be most likely to be made versus the trading Willier for
26:17it.
26:18And if it's Willier for crochet, that's a different conversation that I'd be more open
26:22to having.
26:23But like you, like, I mean, I think it would be either two of the top four or a legit,
26:29what you said, like, was it Willier and what was the other deal is what I said?
26:33Yeah.
26:34Yeah.
26:35It feels like a ton to me.
26:36Yeah.
26:37Maybe that's wrong.
26:38No, but I don't think that is like, I think if it was much less than that, he wouldn't
26:42have made it through the deadline.
26:44I mean, if there are, if there are two prevailing landing spots and trade partners and not five,
26:58that says to me, like, I don't know if the trade market is going to be as insane as the
27:01free agent market is expected to be.
27:03Well, it's this time of year where, you know, people are going to check in because because
27:09of the same argument I just made, you can just get burns.
27:11You can get snail.
27:12You can get freed once those three are off the market.
27:16That's when Garrett crochet, if he hasn't been dealt yet.
27:19That's when we're going to start adding a lot more teams, because if the Dodgers do
27:22whiff on all of those players, then are they in the market for crochet?
27:27If the, you know, if the Mets do whiff on all those aces somehow, that probably heats
27:32up.
27:33You know, that's something where I think you've got to find out where everybody falls before
27:40they start.
27:41I mean, the White Sox last year dealt their, their previous guy, Dylan Cease, who was in
27:46the exact same situation where everyone thought he would go at the deadline.
27:50They didn't like what they were offered.
27:52They waited, they waited till literally the day before the plane to Korea, like before
27:58the season started, they will wait till the absolute last second and take the absolute
28:02best offer in the final waiting seconds.
28:05And I feel like they're going to do the exact same thing this year, unless they get blown
28:08away, which would be like a, you know, Teal and, you know, Campbell or something.
28:14And I don't want to do that.
28:16I just don't think you need to listen.
28:19That's just a great point.
28:21I would love to argue with you.
28:22That's just a great point.
28:24And like, where it's, I don't know, for them, it's danger within an exact same situation.
28:29They got a young ace that they can move and I don't know why they would operate much differently
28:34and why not just go get, why not, why not go get like that?
28:41I mean, you could get Burns, you should just do that.
28:44But if not, you know, I'd rather keep the talent we have and then add a decent, like
28:49a good number two, a Walker Bueller, even I would take instead of, you know, selling
28:54the farm for crochet and then you have all that elite talent.
28:58And then if you want to make that move for, you know, swapping out Willier for a right
29:03handed equivalent.
29:04Okay.
29:05Whatever.
29:06We can talk about that.
29:07But yeah, that's where I stand now.
29:08It's too early.
29:09I feel like to give up everything in a trade when you don't need to, there's so many free
29:13agents.
29:14Luckily we're going to just get all the free agents because of Pete Abe said so.
29:18Perfect.
29:19Segway.
29:20Perfect.
29:21You saw exactly where I was going.
29:23So we've talked about the Soto News one, the Soto rumor, the crochet rumor.
29:29The third piece of this rumor pie, Scott, is not only did Pete Abe of the fucking Boston
29:40newspaper.
29:42I love the Boston newspaper.
29:43I don't know if you read that, but I still get the physical mail.
29:48Yeah, I get it.
29:49My paper boy throws it onto my doorstep every morning.
29:53It's how I wake up and he goes, Boston newspaper, Boston newspaper.
29:59And then he, ring, ring, ring.
30:02It's a, it's a, I live in, well, a fantasy land.
30:05Not only did he say any, say that, but a one mister.
30:12You know him, you'll love him.
30:16We've already talked about him.
30:18John Heyman wrote an article about an hour ago where he said in regards to Red Sox ownership,
30:26quote, word is they are quietly laying the groundwork to begin spending and competing
30:32again after completely laying low for years.
30:35End quote.
30:36Boy, I like a lot.
30:40Did you even say the Pete Abe quote?
30:42Uh, no.
30:43His was like, or something like that.
30:49I feel like it was actually pretty intriguing, um, uh, high end talent.
30:55They wanted a high end talent.
30:57Yeah.
30:58Uh, yeah.
30:59Several agents, Boris among them have mentioned that the message from the Sox has been that
31:03ownership is committed to adding high end talent and the team plans to be active in
31:07the free agent market.
31:09So what I like about this is the biggest difference to me is last year ownership said
31:16they were going to spend, but every single other person was like, ah, I don't know that
31:22it's true.
31:23Cause what I'm hearing from, you know, the people that are negotiating with is quite
31:28the opposite.
31:29But this year it sounds like the outside noise, which is actually more important than what
31:35ownership is telling you is optimistic.
31:38So that's what I like about it so far.
31:41Scott, on this show, I have said, show me, don't tell me.
31:47Okay.
31:48Cause they've said a lot of things to me.
31:49They've said it to you too.
31:50They said it publicly.
31:51I just, I live in a Joe centric brain.
31:54So like I, when I hear it, I'm like, they said this to me, but they said it publicly
31:58to everyone.
31:59You can go look it up yourself.
32:00They said a lot of things made a lot of promises last year.
32:02There was a big one.
32:04Um, and, uh, nothing happened.
32:08So I came into this office season fully on the show me, don't tell me train, but it's
32:19not them.
32:20It's not them.
32:21That's different to me.
32:22This is bordering on showing me because people, people talking kind of says to me that they're
32:30showing other people and God damn it.
32:33If I'm not getting my hopes up, dude, I can't even lie.
32:36I'm, I'm kind of buying it.
32:38I'm kind of buying it.
32:40And especially the Hayman one, just that's twice I've given a lot of credit to Hayman
32:44on the show.
32:45I don't know what I'm doing, but it's the fact that there was a second one in the same
32:48day.
32:49Dude.
32:50Cause the PD one came out earlier today, maybe yesterday.
32:54No, it was, uh, yeah, it was today.
32:56It was eight hours ago.
32:57Come on.
32:59Why I think it matters is because like I just said, like it's, if they said it, I'd be like,
33:04you okay pal.
33:05That would be a show me.
33:06Don't tell me the indication based on this is that like, I would imagine they had initial
33:13conversations, you know, Boris and the other agents with Breslau and they probably, I would
33:20imagine after the last few years, including Breslau last year, you know, Breslau calls
33:26and say, I'm interested in burns.
33:28And that agent, in my opinion would say, are you serious?
33:32Because, uh, last five years, you guys have wasted time and you've offered half of what
33:37he's worth.
33:38So like, do you mean that?
33:39And then I think Breslau probably has to go around on an apology tour and say, Hey, no,
33:43no, we're actually like actually call me before you make a fine.
33:46Like, like if you get an offer, I want to be the last one to bid or whatever.
33:50Like, Hey, actually, like we're serious this time about, uh, actually getting, you know,
33:55X picture.
33:56I know I offered T Oscar $7 last year, but this time, this time we got, we got 20 smack
34:01of rooms for him.
34:02I was going to say it would be fucking insane if they're like, uh, no, we're ready to spend
34:11the big dollars.
34:12And then the same thing that happened with the Oshinobu Yamamoto happens where they're
34:15like, Corbin Burns is getting how much we're going to give them five years.
34:2160.
34:22Is that not going to do it?
34:23That's fucking shit.
34:24$200 million.
34:25American.
34:26Get out of here.
34:27Oh God.
34:28All right.
34:29We'll be back next year.
34:34And they're always just five years behind, but they all, they like to think like, Oh,
34:38I think you are going to like the offer that we send your way.
34:43Let's just say it's going to look a little different than last year.
34:47And it's just a 5% raise.
34:50Come on.
34:52There is a reality where that's the case.
34:54I am.
34:55I protecting myself by throwing that out there.
34:56Yeah.
34:57Is it possible?
34:58I think like completely possible.
35:01Yeah.
35:03This is different to me.
35:05Well, I got a big question for you about these rumors when, uh, you and I talk again, which
35:12is going to be in about a minute and 22 seconds after we talked to our good friends over at
35:16game time.
35:17There's nothing like seeing a game live.
35:18I mean, watching it on TV is great.
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35:21We have our phones.
35:22We have access to everything, but being there in person, it's definitely the way to go.
35:27Game time has a new feature called game time picks that makes getting tickets to see your
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35:54What time is it?
35:55It's game time.
35:56Scott.
35:57Joey.
35:58Do me a favor, dude.
36:01I just gave you three rumors over the course of this show.
36:05Yeah.
36:06Socks in the Soto sweepstakes in the crochet trade market and these reports that the Red
36:12Sox are apparently finally willing to spend.
36:17Rank them if you would.
36:21In terms of believability to you, your personal belief level, one to three, not a good idea
36:30level because I know how you feel about crochet or, you know, you're not, you're not in the
36:33crochet thing, just believability, which you think is the most legit top to bottom.
36:39I think crochet is one just because, you know, they have the ammo.
36:45They can make a phone call right this second and get it done.
36:49They don't even have to hear another offer.
36:51If their sole objective of the off season was we, we think crochet is the next, you
36:58know, elite, elite ace, like hall of fame level talent.
37:03We can go get him.
37:05No questions asked for one year of starting.
37:07Yeah.
37:08Right.
37:09But I mean, yeah, I'm just saying they have the, they have the capital.
37:12They can double overpay him.
37:14Most teams it's like, usually in these situations, it's like, I don't know, like who do you trade
37:20that would be enticing enough for it?
37:21Like most teams are like, who could we even package together that wouldn't be absurd?
37:26They can say, we'll pay four times what you're, what would be acceptable with the prospect
37:32capital they have and the young talent they have.
37:34So that's the most believable to me because you know how easy it would be to facilitate
37:37that trade and how easy it would be to outbid other teams.
37:41Two is the, the just general free agent optimism.
37:47One because it's kind of like a loose, like, what does that mean?
37:50You know, it's obviously if you're just taking play the field, we're going to have a good
37:54free agency versus will they sign X player?
37:57Obviously that's just, you're taking better odds.
38:01But I also, like I just said, I believe I'm starting to believe a little bit foolishly.
38:06And then three is the, I don't think we're getting Soto.
38:08I don't think we're going to be serious for Soto.
38:10And to be completely honest, I don't fully, fully blame them for that because to have
38:18that conversation, you then are like, you know, it kind of reminds me of the comeback
38:23where they're like, all right, we're going to get a rod, which means we're going to have
38:27to get rid of Manny and Lester.
38:30And then we're then going to have to trade Nomar obviously.
38:33And like, it's like, we're just, you know, this is a whole new team now.
38:37The things they would have to do to facilitate the Soto signing, you're now banking, like
38:41you're paying $50 million for 14 years or something.
38:45He has to be, he has to continue to be the greatest player alive or one of for a very,
38:52very long time.
38:54You're banking on putting so much money into the outfield.
38:57Now you're also talking about one of these lefties has to go.
39:00The Cossus rumors that were shut down.
39:03Maybe it does make sense.
39:04I don't know.
39:05You know, like the things that would then have to, you know, we'd be building a whole
39:10new roster.
39:11You'd be playing MLB, the show to get Juan Soto in here and to make everything fit together.
39:18We got the same list.
39:21Same order.
39:22Same order.
39:23Um, I, I, and I, but my reasoning for the crochet one is a little more just that it
39:35spells disbelief on my number two, our number two that are our number two.
39:40How funny is that?
39:41Uh, on both of our number twos, uh, because, uh, if there's a path to acquire a player
39:49that, uh, means spending less and a guy who's just willing to sign an extension upon coming,
39:58I think that that's enticing.
40:00I don't know where, and it never wants on this show.
40:11Have you dropped a pause?
40:12I don't think I've ever heard you said, uh, any who, anyhow, anyways, yeah, just, I believe,
40:23I believe they're genuinely going to make a push for crochet.
40:26And then a part of me just.
40:29I think it's just that I want to believe in the, the general off-season optimism.
40:37I think it's more want than fully believing, but the Soto sweepstakes to me, I would be
40:44floored.
40:46I would be floored.
40:47I mean, I know a couple of years ago, we, we joked around about judge, you know, signing
40:52with the socks last year, obviously there was the show.
40:55Hey thing.
40:56I think this would be the most stunning beyond those two, just because, I mean, the dollar
41:02figure is probably going to be closer to show.
41:04Hey, than it was to Aaron judge.
41:06And it's just, it's like you said, it's a crowded area.
41:10It's not an area of need.
41:12And they've just shown you for years that they're not willing to do that.
41:16You know, obviously the single exception.
41:19I would rank Otani is most likely of those just, just purely because you could convince
41:24that ownership that they're going to make more money than they spend with the whole
41:27international sponsorship endorsement and stuff.
41:30But, but yeah, I see your point.
41:32Like I, I think, uh, outside other than that, the other ones don't really, you know, Soto,
41:42it would just be, it would be a weird one for this to be the one that they, they go
41:46all in on all the, as weird as that sounds as great as he is.
41:51And it just doesn't, I don't know.
41:54Can I say something that I'm going to delete?
41:55If the socks sign Soto, okay, yeah, go ahead.
41:58I'm going to scrub this from the internet.
42:00If the red socks acquire Juan Soto, I wouldn't be like that stuff.
42:07I wouldn't be like, I wouldn't be like, Oh my God, like of all the greats, he doesn't
42:14rank among like my favorites.
42:17And I think part of that is that he was a Yankee last year.
42:20Like I have most recently watched him in pinstripes, but also it's like, I don't even, even Soto
42:26the Padre.
42:27If you told me we were trading for Soto, the Padre, I wouldn't be like, I don't know.
42:32There's just other guys that I, that I like more that are just easier to root for more.
42:38Like I made the Tatis thing early.
42:40I think Tatis coming here would be so sick.
42:41I know that he, you know, fans have mixed opinions.
42:44Players probably have mixed opinions, but I just certainly, I think that'd just be fun.
42:50Juan Soto doesn't reek of fun to me.
42:53And I just, I'm, this is so stupid.
42:54I'm just saying from a, from a rooting interest, buying jerseys, being a fan thing, I don't
43:01think that I would jump out of my seat and be like, Holy shit, we got Soto.
43:06I understand it makes the team a lot better and that would be fun.
43:08And I'm sure I would come to love them, but I'm not like, Oh my God, they gotta.
43:15I agree.
43:16I tell you what it doesn't.
43:17It's not 10% of the excitement I would have had for Otani.
43:22Not sure that that's a fair scale to put anyone else on, but he is in that price range wise.
43:28He's supposed to be like kind of close and uh, you know, some figures have been thrown
43:33around that I don't think I agree with, but I think, I think judge is like was relatively
43:42close to Otani.
43:43I think I would have flipped my shit if the Red Sox landed Aaron judge.
43:48Why?
43:49Because it's hilarious.
43:51That's most of it.
43:52Most of it is that because I will say great player, horrible contract.
44:00That is going to play out so bad.
44:02Yeah, dude.
44:03He's 45 years old already.
44:05People always forget that.
44:06I mean, he's about 33.
44:09He is, uh, I think he's 32.
44:13Let me, I'm taking a peek here.
44:17How is this taking you so long?
44:19Because of my 32.
44:20He's 30.
44:21No, I was, I wasn't just doing that, but 32, he signed through his age 39 season, a big
44:28dog like that getting paid 40 million a year.
44:32I hate to tell you as you, as I pull up his, uh, his, um, be ref led the majors in war
44:45home runs, RBI walks on base percentage, slugging OPS, OPS started yet.
44:53Didn't say it's a regression has started yet.
44:55That's not what I'm saying.
44:56I'm just saying he's a hell of a lot more than $45 million this year.
45:01That's all I'm saying.
45:02A hundred percent.
45:03I'm just saying $40 million at age 36, 37, 38, 39 for a six foot nine monster, uh, every
45:12contract ages though.
45:13I agree.
45:14I agree.
45:15And honestly, 40 million won't be crazy, crazy by that point.
45:19But I think you can sign Soto for a relatively similar price point at 25 years old and it
45:26would look a lot better.
45:28I'm saying, I'm not, again, I'm not saying that if we signed Aaron judge, I would have
45:34been like, how many years, you know, you look at the Bogart's contract and you go, I don't
45:42know if that was a good idea.
45:43I think everyone immediately was like, what I think judge got like exactly what, what
45:50they were expecting.
45:51What is it?
45:52Is yeah.
45:53Yeah.
45:54Nine years.
45:55Nine years or something like that.
45:56Yeah.
45:57Nine years.
45:58Three 60.
45:59Yeah.
46:00I think that's exactly what people expected.
46:02Just 40 mil nine years.
46:05That sounds exactly like what he should have got.
46:08But bogey, I mean that was immediately the primary reaction to the bogey contract was
46:13like, what the fuck are the Padres thinking?
46:16Yeah.
46:17And even for us who love bogey more than anything, we were kind of like, oh, that's,
46:23I get it.
46:24I get it, Craig.
46:26I don't know if I would have matched that.
46:29There was a lot of anger and you could have got them for five, one 50, two years ago,
46:33but yeah, that aside, we're not going to do that again, but yeah, they shouldn't have
46:37not a good contract.
46:38You know what I think about a lot is, uh, on this show we had on the kid who, uh, yeah,
46:48kind of broke the news because this kid was at a Phoenix suns game, saw bogey approached
46:55him and said, Hey man, are you coming back to the Red Sox?
46:59And bogey looked at him, smiled and went, no.
47:02And I think about that distraught.
47:04No, he was like, he was stoked.
47:07No, no, no, man.
47:09The club video, he was like, yeah, he didn't seem happy.
47:14I remember tweeting that night, like, like Xander Bogart has to text goodbye to Raphael
47:21Devers tonight because of you fuckers.
47:25Yeah, yeah, yeah.
47:28Still sad, still sad, but horrific contract.
47:31Everybody knows that, but I don't know.
47:34I don't think that there's really a reality where Soto gets a bad contract.
47:36I'm just saying, uh, I, I don't know.
47:39My excitement level wouldn't be what it would normally be for like the top dog free agent.
47:45I don't think the dollar amount and my happiness amount would be, uh, uh, whatever equal, uh,
47:56you got anything else?
47:57You got thoughts in your, your, uh, pretty little head of yours, dude.
48:01Um, you know, we talked a little, yeah.
48:04Sorry, but you got to do the thing.
48:06Yeah, I'm just asking, do you have them or not?
48:08I got one.
48:09I got one.
48:10Okay, go ahead.
48:11You want me to just do it right now?
48:16Um, yeah, go for it.
48:20All right.
48:21What do you got, dude?
48:49Uh, you know, we, we briefly mentioned the Newsweek deal acquisition, whatever.
48:56Uh, I think, uh, it was, I just had an observation today that it was kind of a funny thing to
49:04where, uh, everyone's worried about, you know, yesterday it's election day today, and we're
49:08finding out who the new president is.
49:10Newsweek is obviously a very political site and I just, I very much enjoyed, you know,
49:17poll updates next to, or like whatever, like to our college updates.
49:22And then it would just be like, it looks like Juan Soto could be between the two New York
49:27teams.
49:28And like, and then it would just be like, here's what JD Vance said about becoming the
49:33vice president.
49:34And then it would be like, could Corbin Burns end up on the Braves?
49:37And that was because of us.
49:38And I thought that was very funny that like, it was such a huge day for them and what they're
49:43built for hundreds of years or whatever, hundred years, whatever it's been.
49:47And it was just, they've just let us come in and just be like,
49:52These two teams could be the front runner for a top free agent.
49:56Full throttle.
49:57Could the Red Sox actually spend this off season?
50:02All swing states go red in shocking turn.
50:11That's, that's what it was.
50:12That's what it was yesterday and today and will be for the, as long as this thing is
50:17going, that's very funny to me.
50:18It always will be fun.
50:19That's awesome.
50:20That is awesome.
50:21Yeah.
50:22No, I didn't notice that too.
50:23And like, similarly, I was reading a Newsweek article, just, you know, a baseball article.
50:31Of course.
50:32And I was like, oh man, like was his ERA that high this year and just glanced over at the
50:38side and it was just like editorials on Trump winning.
50:43And I was like, yeah, there's, there's other stuff going on in the world.
50:47It's just a stark reminder for me.
50:50What's funny about it is the, everything gets when the, you know, the, the writer
50:56puts it in the drafts and then we go to the drafts and the drafts are not broken up.
51:01So like, I have to sort through the political articles to be like, there's
51:05Joey's take about the crochet trade.
51:07Let me get it.
51:08Like, it's just, it's so funny to me and I think it'll take me a long time to not
51:13like be amused by that.
51:15It's good.
51:16It's, it's undeniably good.
51:18A packed show.
51:22Oddly enough, a couple of rumors, a couple of things going on.
51:28The Garrett Cole thing.
51:29I'm glad that we remembered to talk about that because my goodness, is that the funniest
51:34thing?
51:35I'm sorry.
51:36I'm sorry.
51:37I'm still on this.
51:38Blue Jay's answer to trade calls for Boba Shett would be easy.
51:42No.
51:43As Donald Trump meets Joe Biden at the white house.
51:45Will Hunter get a pardon?
51:47Those are back to back in the queue.
51:51I want to read both.
51:52All right.
51:53Open Lincoln new tab.
51:54Prospect could be trade key trade ship to bringing a starter Wrigley in 2025.
51:59Absolutely shameful.
52:02Senate hospitals, call out payers, AI denials.
52:05I don't even know what that is.
52:08So, so much more serious.
52:10That's crazy.
52:11That's crazy.
52:12All right.
52:13You got anything else?
52:14I don't have anything else.
52:17Nope.
52:18All right.
52:19Well, thanks for listening, everybody.
52:22Follow along on the socials at itm underscore pod.
52:25You can follow me at Joey Capone.
52:26You can follow him at Scott Neville, 46, just like one Soto's AAV for the next 12 years.
52:33Ooh, wait, what's 1246?
52:3612 times 46, 552 million.
52:42That sounds like what I would have guessed before everybody started saying 700, which
52:47is you won't get that.
52:49I think it's a little crazy.
52:5146 million for 12 years is fucking fine.
52:54His number would be a lot closer to judges than Otani's.
52:58Do you think so?
52:59Yeah, that's my take.
53:00Wow.
53:01There's a take.
53:02All right, guys.
53:03We will see you next week.
53:05Slide in the DMs.
53:07Slide in the DMs next week.
53:09Slide in the meantime.
53:10If you're listening to this, slide in and be like, hey, made it to the end of the show.
53:13Had a great time listening.
53:14My oh my, what a fantastic program you guys have put together.
53:18Say that word for word.
53:19I'll send you 48 cents on Venmo for Scott Neville.
53:26I'm Joey Capone.
53:27Go Sox kid.
53:50Bye.
53:51Bye.
53:52Bye.
53:53Bye.
53:54Bye.
53:55Bye.
53:56Bye.
53:57Bye.
53:58Bye.
53:59Bye.
54:00Bye.
54:01Bye.
54:02Bye.
54:03Bye.
54:04Bye.
54:05Bye.
54:06Bye.
54:07Bye.
54:08Bye.
54:09Bye.
54:10Bye.
54:11Bye.
54:12Bye.
54:13Bye.
54:14Bye.
54:15Bye.
54:16Bye.
54:17Bye.