Wiggy thinks the Juan Soto sweepstakes will come down to these two teams. Could the Red Sox be one of the finalists? Where will he sign?
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00I got a question. Why does everybody want Juan Soto?
00:04What is he worth $625 million for?
00:07What has he done?
00:08Shohei pitches and hits.
00:10And he's won MVPs and won Cy Youngs.
00:13Well, I think in the World Series and this playoffs,
00:16he had like an OPS of over 1,000 or something like that, Juan Soto.
00:21So he was really good in the postseason, granted.
00:25They didn't beat the Dodgers.
00:27So I think he's only, what, 26?
00:30Is he 25 or 26 years old?
00:32So he's one of the top hitters in baseball.
00:34I mean, that doesn't excite you, James.
00:37He does excite me.
00:40I'm a diehard Red Sox fan, and God knows he needs a talent.
00:43But you could get two players for that much money and solidify other things.
00:50He's one of the best players in baseball.
00:52That's a lot of money for a guy who hasn't done anything.
00:56Remind me, is this the argument that baseball,
00:58Brett was making on this show a few weeks ago,
01:00is that it's too much, it's all your eggs in one basket?
01:04It's just nonsense.
01:06Not that Brett's nonsensical.
01:08It's just they have plenty of money.
01:10I'd rather them invest in Juan Soto than the NBA team in Vegas.
01:13Well, the Dodgers do it.
01:15So, I mean, if the Dodgers—
01:17The Dodgers are still in on Juan Soto.
01:19We talked about this earlier.
01:21They have a billion dollars.
01:22They hit the billion-dollar mark when it comes to deferred money,
01:25and they're in on Juan Soto.
01:27And the other thing I was whispered to over Thanksgiving
01:30with the family friend who's bloated
01:33was that they print cash with all the non-baseball events at Fenway Park.
01:41None of that money is shared to the players,
01:43to other major league clubs.
01:45They use the park, and that is a cash cow.
01:49They will never sell Fenway for that very reason alone,
01:52that it is a destination for artists,
01:54it's a unique venue to see, whether it's Springsteen or—
01:58Who is the guy that—Courtney's wearing a sweatshirt today.
02:00Post Malone?
02:01Post Malone.
02:02Any one of those guys.
02:03Do you think the Dodgers will have trouble selling that franchise
02:07with a billion dollars deferred?
02:10I mean, they'll sell it for more than they bought it.
02:12I mean, it goes up.
02:14But it has to be—whoever's assuming that—
02:16Right.
02:17It is a billion bucks up until 2045 or whatever.
02:20Right.
02:21Couldn't you make the same argument for the Celtics?
02:23Yes.
02:24I mean, right?
02:25Maybe that's why it hasn't been sold is that there's all that—
02:27Well, and that's why they're talking—like, the whispering on that
02:30is that they're not—the offers are not anywhere near the $6 billion
02:35that they want for it.
02:36Really?
02:37Yes.
02:38Because I would think, like, even with the Dodgers, right,
02:40and even with the Celtics, if somebody bought that franchise
02:44and held on to it for 20, 25 years,
02:48I feel like if you paid $10 billion for it,
02:52in 20 years, how much do you think the Dodgers would be worth?
02:56I feel like it would almost—look at these teams,
02:59and they're, you know—forget about doubling.
03:02The Celtics were sold for, initially, $200 and—
03:06$200 and something million.
03:08$225 or whatever.
03:09And they're worth, now, let's call it $5 billion.
03:12$4.5 billion.
03:13For a 20-year period, what's that percentage number?
03:17It's a giant increase.
03:18Right.
03:19So, I mean, what other business has that type of increase?
03:23Yeah, you're not going to lose money.
03:24I just—it changes the scenario when they push all this money out.
03:29It just changes the financial scenario and whether, you know,
03:34whether you're going to make money or not in those years.
03:36And, Greg, I think you were somewhat onto something with baseball
03:39because, right now, of all the major sports,
03:42it's in the most precarious position because all—
03:45Not if they bring the Golden Bat in.
03:47Oh, your lips to God's ears.
03:49I love the Golden Bats.
03:51I can just picture the 80-year-old already on hold saying,
03:53they're ruining the game.
03:55But, in general, I think a third of the 30 baseball teams
03:59are owned and operated by Major League Baseball
04:02when it comes to their local TV deal
04:05because Valley and another national distributor of sports went under.
04:10Yes.
04:11So, like, teams like—it's really the haves and the have-nots.
04:14The Red Sox, Dodgers, Mets, Yankees, Cubs, Braves
04:17are really on an island.
04:19And that's going to reach sort of a breaking point
04:22because you can't have that.
04:23But, clearly, the luxury tax cap system or whatever they call it,
04:28what do they call it?
04:29Collective bargaining tax.
04:31Right, CBT? Know what it is?
04:34It has no effect whatsoever when it comes to a team like the Dodgers
04:37because they're in on Juan Soto.
04:39Like, that payroll is going to be astronomical.
04:42Ridiculous.
04:43Competitive—sorry, competitive balance tax.
04:45Yeah.
04:46I think they were in on him, but then they realized—
04:48No, they're still in on him.
04:49I see.
04:50I don't know if they—I mean, I know those are the reports out there.
04:54They might be in, but I think it's more of like
04:56how people would say about the Red Sox.
04:58Like, they're feeling around,
05:00but they know they're not going to be in on it when it comes to,
05:04all right, we need to now put a bid in.
05:07Well, if you want to win and you're him and the offer is competitive,
05:11why wouldn't you take that offer?
05:13Because they probably want him to sign there and get this money deferred.
05:17I wonder if baseball will make some sort of a rule
05:20that bans future deals from being that way.
05:22I would assume they would because it's not—
05:24It feels like a loophole.
05:25It is.
05:26And I guess if the players are okay with it, like, I guess,
05:29then maybe there won't be, but—
05:30Yeah, if you're Blake Snell and you don't mind being paid, you know,
05:33your final paycheck in 20 years,
05:38I mean, there's some risk there, I would think.
05:40You know, when it comes—it's like the lottery.
05:42Do you take the payout or take the lump sum?
05:46I guess maybe the risk might be minimal because he might be looking at it
05:50or he has the ability to pass it on to his wife
05:53or if he has any kids, like, that way.
05:57Where I don't know—I'm not sure if you can do that with the lottery.
06:00So maybe he might look at it and go,
06:02I got a giant piece of money coming.
06:05I've already made a bunch of money.
06:06And now when I'm done playing, I never—
06:08I'm set up forever.
06:09I never have to worry about it.
06:10Yep.
06:11This is Paul from East Boston, from Eastie.
06:15And apparently, Paul was your Little League coach, Wiggy,
06:19for the White Sox?
06:20Well, I didn't coach him actually, literally his team,
06:25but I coached two All-Star teams that he was on.
06:29And saw Jermaine grow.
06:32I grew up right around the corner from where I grew up.
06:35And it's such a pleasure to see Jermaine give back
06:41the way that he does to his community.
06:43And I don't think anybody—any kids that are in need.
06:45I don't know if you've seen him recently.
06:47He's still growing outward.
06:49But yes.
06:52And proud of it.
06:54I am.
06:55Wiggy, catcher?
06:56Catcher.
06:57I was the same.
06:59I either hit home runs or struck out.
07:03No, Jermaine was quite an athlete as a kid growing up.
07:06And we've talked recently.
07:09He's going to help us out with a fundraising that we're doing.
07:11And he does so much for the Solutions Boys Club.
07:14Yep.
07:15It was always the fat kid who was a catcher.
07:17That's the way it always goes in Little League.
07:19Be honest, Paul.
07:20Can't confirm.
07:21Paul, how long were Wiggy's mound visits?
07:25Well, I wasn't—I wasn't doing it because I wasn't his coach on his team.
07:31But with All-Star Games, he was pretty impressive for us.
07:35We never got to the finish.
07:37Keith Kachuk.
07:38Now, not to diminish Jermaine, we just didn't have that great a team completely.
07:42But I had Keith Kachuk on the team that we almost won the state championship with.
07:46Another East Boston kid.
07:48Yeah.
07:49Another East Boston kid.
07:51So, you know, I just want to—I want to say that, you know, when guys like Jermaine come back and give back—
07:57and I didn't call for that, but it's my first time calling the show.
08:01I had a comment about the Celtics.
08:02But, you know, it's really heartwarming to know that we—you know, we cultivated kids like that for East Boston.
08:09And he's always given back.
08:11And we're very grateful for that.
08:13But I called to talk about the Celtics.
08:16I was blown away the other night with these bench guys.
08:20You know, it's what you build.
08:22It's what you work to build to get the confidence of these guys on the bench.
08:26You know, they're all in.
08:28And to see them come out with these four guys from the bench playing so well and pound the Hawks the way they did,
08:34like that—to me, that was like the best part of the last couple of years for the Celtics.
08:39You know, it was really heartwarming to see that.
08:41We were talking about it yesterday.
08:43Peyton Pritchard, legit six-man when it comes to the NBA.
08:46Oh, yeah.
08:47He's got more threes than Steph Curry does, I think.
08:49He's a walking bucket.
08:50He's on fire.
08:51I love the way his attitude is because, like, he's proven—trying to prove to everybody.
08:55Trash talk.
08:56Well, I deserve to be here.
08:57You know what I mean?
08:58I deserve to be playing in the NBA.