You know, we have business talks here and there, and earlier today I was asked about, oh, well, what's the strategy of podres hottub and what are you trying to accomplish?

And my answer to them is the topic of this little ad at the top of the show.

It's that actually, our business model is to service our community, and that community is our patrons, and you can be one of them by going to patreon dot com slash padres hot tub and signing up.

It's still only five dollars a month to be a patron of podres hot Tub.

Every time I log into the Patreon website, it says, hey, you haven't raised this rate in one hundred something months.

You know, why don't you do that?

And I say, well, I don't know.

It's kind of becoming the costco hot dog for me a little bit.

It's like, I like having something that is a set number that is really affordable that everyone can afford, and we then endeavor to provide like three times the value of that back to you with the free shows that we do, like Banter the show, which is becoming extremely popular, especially in the off season, with all the postgame shows we do throughout the regular season access to our discord.

Someone was trying to sell me on a business model of a thing today and I said, well, I've got all those things you want, and it's called the padres Hot Discord.

It's the place I want to go online to find out things that aggregates the most interesting information about the podres but surrounds it with great talk and really good perspectives.

Smart perspectives.

People who disagree, but do so in a way that's not uncivil.

It's really great.

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Patreon dot com, slash padres Hota book, The padres Hots of Everybody Great.

Let's Dick Chris Reid Rafie canter here with you Monday, December fifteenth, Happy holidays to one and all, approaching our year end podcast, which will be quickly followed by our start of the next year podcast.

That's just how it goes around here, but continuing our winter watch of rumors, very very very small moves for the Padres and pretty decent moves for other teams in Major League Baseball.

Rafie, how you doing today?

I'm good and well.

It appears that the stove is boiling at sort of a low simmer, and I think for Padres fans that's probably just aoka because some of the rumors that have been swirling around, they make me a little nervy, So I, you know, I just want to enjoy the semi good times while they last and hope to be pleasantly surprised down the road.

Chris, how are you.

I'm doing well, very much in the same place as you, Ray Fee, trying not to get anxious about the future while appreciating the present.

And in the present, there's a lot of silly, silly trade speculation no matter where you look.

And I've put together a contest open to our Patreon subscribers who are in the discord.

If you are interested in these silly trades and you think you might know who's gonna get trade where nobody does, but maybe you do, come join our little contest.

It's over in the Fantasy Channel because it's basically a way to play fantasy Baseball when there is absolutely no baseball being played in the major leagues.

But you can draft the major league players you think are gonna get moved.

And we only need five more teams to get this thing launched.

So and at the end of that, the top two teams we'll coin it.

We'll pocket everybody else's entries fifteen dollars to enter.

Come guess some trades the players and where they're going.

The rules are in there.

But if you're one of the folks like me that loves putting together a fake trade at the flip of a coin, at the drop of a hat and getting onto that baseball reference and roster resource and seeing which team needs what, come have some fun with us in the off season in the Fantasy Channel.

Speaking of which, and wrapping housekeeping, let's offer congratulations to Chris Reid for being the latest winner of our Banter The Show Draft last week on Banter the Show's Draft, which is one of the things that randomly comes up on the topic wheel, which has been all offered by our patrons.

It was to have a draft and the draft was songs that share the same title as the movie they appear in, and Chris one Purple Rain and footloose at the top.

His top two picks kind of carried the day on that one.

A good draft for one and all, And if you want to check out more about that, you can find that on our companion show that's exclusive for patrons called Banter the Show.

Check it out.

If you're watching this on YouTube, thank you so much for being there.

We really appreciate the community that's growing online on video.

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We appreciate all of those things.

Thanks to one and all.

Okay, well, the Padres signed dicen Acostas Acosta Costa Dyson, so we got that going for us, which is nice.

Mission accomplish.

Our discord was quite furious and upset with us that we did not launch an emergency podcast when the Padres signed Da.

Dyson has never played in the major leagues.

So he has played in the Mets and the Nationals organizations since twenty sixteen.

That's when he signed as a rookie out of the Dominican with the Mets.

And you know, he had some some strong showings in the in the minors, but he's obviously hasn't cracked the major league roster as a twenty seven year old for a reason.

He I believe has been really quite wild in his minor leagues.

You know, he's got to posted some very high strike out numbers, especially when he got to the Nationals.

You know, last year he had a twelve point four to six k per nine rate.

In twenty twenty four, across all the minor leagues he had a twelve point five eight k per nine rate.

But you know, you move over to the next column on a statuet on fangrafts and that walk rate is well over for both seasons and both years as he got into triple A, the walk rate so above six.

So that is just completely untenable of shades of Jay Groom.

So a name that we have thought about in some time.

Uh So, Uh, I don't know what else do you want to say about Dice in Acosta.

Nothing I feel like we're losing.

I could feel the audience leaving like about this a minute six.

He has no pictures of fish on his social media, unlike Tayadcock, so I'm a little more higher on ad Cock right now.

He's got a picture of a splendid river trout on his Instagram, and if you've ever tried to catch river trout, I'm.

Just yeah, yeah, all right.

So the padres are doing nothing, and it leaves us with discussion of rumors.

We can do the coaching staff as well.

I mean, gosh, if we're gonna do all the boring shit, let's just do it right away.

So Bob Henley has arrived in a New York minute.

He'll be our third base coach.

Ryan Gowens, who I once cheered as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays twenty fifteen sixteen era teams, those really good teams that came close to the World Series but didn't.

He used to be a one in strat at second base.

I remember that too, So he's our infield coach.

We got a top one.

Ryan Gowens is the infield coach, and Kevin Plowecki, who was already in the organization as a roving catching instructor will be heading up to presumably help Luise Campusano, and he'll be named as the catching coach, which is shorthand for Luis Campusano Reclamation Project Engage.

So we've got Bob Henley, Ryan Gowens, and Kevin plow Any any thoughts.

I know Kevin Ploeki is pretty darn highly respected.

I've just seen his name brought up as a guy who players like and is one of you know, you always hear about the backup catcher and like maybe there's gonna be a manager someday and and for whatever reason.

The plaw Dog, as his baseball reference his nickname is, is.

One of those.

The thing I remember Kevin Ploaki for the most is being I can't remember.

I think it was twenty twenty two whatever year that we had Nola and Campusano I think and three Yeah, okay, okay, so then my year is wrong because it was definitely twenty twenty two where uh it was Austin Nola was like the worst catcher at throwing runners out except for Kevin Ploaki.

Yeah, and like if you go to Kevin PLOACKI stackast page like his framing's okay, his blocking's okay, but his throwing is just effing terrible.

So I you know, again, I have no Like we've said this about hitting coach.

I feel the same way about Ryan.

It's it's and it's goings.

It's not goins, it's goings.

Yeah, goings, it's going.

That's so I like, yeah, true, but I will like a G O W E N S for goings fair.

But anyway, like you kind of want the fortieth man on the roster to be your coach because he was the guy who had to be He didn't have the natural ability, so he needed to really be really good at fundamentals, So you kind of want that guy there.

I don't know if i'd say the same thing about Kevin Ploeki, given I'd much rather like Austin Hedges BRD catch your coach.

You know, he's still.

Million dollars a year to hit one eighty seven.

So I like that he finished his playing career in the padres Org and like, you know, liked what he saw enough to stick around and not fall back in the rollodex.

And who knows what it's going to mean.

But and I remember John Percota telling me that he went to High School with Kevin Plucki's wife.

Uh so that's like San Diego connection.

I guess I believe that this is a Steel Canyon High School situation.

So there's there's that, you know, yeah well she did.

Yeah, well, I don't want to spoil anything for rafee okay.

Uh So there's the coaching staff.

There's Dyson Acosta, who's never think we pray to God, doesn't pitch for the Padres at all this year, and is just El Paso's whatever.

We didn't pick anyone in rule five.

So that's encouraging kind of in terms of we're not we're not carrying a prospect project on the roster in twenty twenty six.

That's cool.

Moving on, you, Darvish appeared at a charitable event and within it chatted to Kevin Ace and Dennis Lynn, and the story that both of those guys generated out of it was you, Darvish may never pitch again, and right back to is he going to retire or is any the subject that we thought we put to bed when he announced his Tommy John surgery and his intent to be able to come back and throw the ball comfortably.

He kind of semi clarified that what he meant by that was like play catch with his college aged son who's going to be a UCSD, you know, and his other kids, and not necessarily thrown him ount.

However, he did not rule out coming back to throwing him ount and said that if that's kind of where his arm and his heart told him to go, that that's what he would do.

The only really newsworthy thing I thought in AC's piece, guys, was that there has been some at least peripheral discussion between team and agent or team and player about a buyout scenario where the Padres just, you know, give you a sum of money to stop and and the overall contract commitment and just turn it into a payment and so long, and if you decides to retire.

I think I think they'll probably get to that.

But for the Padre fans who read that today and then went Okay, cool, he was going to retire and we can use that money and we can go get a starter to replace him, that's not how I read it.

I read it as at least for a year, he's going to continue to enjoy the Padre's money while he rehabs.

Yeah, I saw the comments, and they were through an interpreter, But the demeanor of both mister Darvish and his interpreter was was it was fairly straightforward.

I wouldn't say somber, but like serious business, like like I'm And the gist of it is he needs to have a working arm and not a throwing arm like he is since his third arm surgery, and he doesn't want to not be able to use one of his very precious limbs.

So that's what he's focused on.

And pitching again sounded not a priority, would be an understatement.

Yeah, I didn't read too much out of this other than a guy who's realistic and is saying, you know, this is sort of like the opposite of what you would expect Joe Musgrove to say, for instance, of like I'm just gonna I'm gonna battle back, I'm gonna be a dog like whatever.

I think.

You know, we never I think still correct me if I'm wrong, But we have never had a confirmed story about you Darvish's prolonged personal absence a couple of seasons ago of what that was about, and I don't so, so obviously it's not worth speculating.

You can go back and listen to this podcasts if you want to hear any sort of speculation.

But what is evident to me is that this is a man who really values spending time with his family and knows the importance of that.

And so I don't think you know, Uh, it's funny.

I had never seen it in my life, but I was just doom scrolling the other day and I saw the video of Sandy Kofax when he retired and press conference.

Yeah, I thought of too, but the yeah, the reporter asked him, Uh, you know you're giving up a million and a half dollars.

Yeah, whatever it was.

Whatever it was like, what do you think about the loss of income?

And and Tindy Kofax said, uh, you know, I bet you if you could go to anyone who you know loses the use of one of their arms and say, you know, you give me all your money and I'll get let you get your arm back.

And he said, I bet you every single person gives them every dime that you have.

And he says like, I don't know if it's good for you to have Cortizon shot into your shoulder every other game.

I don't know if it's good for you to be Yeah, I mean he literally was like I was high from painkillers, he says in in the press conference, or Hi, some painkillers on the mound.

He's like, they cannot be good for you.

And Tindy Goobacks is still alive, you know, So good good on him for for you know, for knowing that.

And so I think if you Darvish, you know, he's going to do the rehab and he's going to see what his body can do.

But all I took the comments today as saying was that like, he's not going to just grit it out and you know, die some sort of warrior's death on the mound when his arm explodes potentially again, you know, if he doesn't feel good, that's going to be it.

And oh, by the way, and and Craig, I think you would called this out on a prior show that we had had any notion that Craig or that that that you Darvish is under any obligation to give up the money that he has signed for legally and binding is racially coded.

I just I fully one hundred percent believe that I do not think that a white player would be expected to give up that money or oh, that's going to free up things for us, like, that's just something that is put on you, Darvish because he's Japanese.

So well, the only thing I'd add to that is and because he gave up four million voluntarily last year, so people are like, oh, well, he gives up money voluntarily.

Now it's you're talking about you're talking about when he left the team, right, yeah, I can't.

Like, I went to the Padres reported payroll for that year and it doesn't show that reflected.

Doesn't mean it wasn't, but the reporting at the time was that he offered to for grow that money, and I'm I'm I'm not positive he did.

Okay.

I thought it was referenced again in the story today.

And that's the thing.

I didn't read that all the way.

Okay, hang on, let me see if I can find it real quick.

But yeah, I mean, whether that's a really interesting story.

If it were true that they actually paid him in full, that would be okay.

Right here from from Kevin Ericin in twenty twenty four, he voluntarily forfeited four million by going on the restricted list while attending to a personal matter.

He was on the injured list at the time and could have stayed there and been paid, and then the next sentences, sources of indicated there could be negotiations regarding a buy out of the money remaining of Darvish's deal.

So yeah, I mean, Kevin isn't dispelling anything there.

But if there's ever going to be a buyout, it's going to be a Strasburg Nationals situation.

It's not going to be a Ryan Sandberg.

I retire and I'm just leaving the money on the table.

That's that's not going to happen.

So unless it's unless it's a situation like Ryan Sandberg was facing with a divorce and everything else that was happening in his life.

But that's a totally separate subject for a different podcast.

Whatever the Cubs version of Padre Sata is, which will be next determined very soon spoiler alert for the end show.

Okay, so yeah, any other thoughts on you.

I mean, I think the way I look at it is this, I personally don't believe he is going to pitch for the Padres again.

I think he's going to rehabilitate, and then there's like a you know, one in five, one and six chance that at the end of that he's like, no, I've i have found it.

I have found the gear.

I'm gonna go.

The arm spot, so to speak.

Yeah, I think there's like, oh, you know, maybe it's a better chance than that, But I'll put it at one in five that he gets to the end of that and says it's age forty and I want to now try and do it all again and get it all started.

I think it's more likely that he gets to the end of that and says, I'm not sure I'm going to pitch again.

Would you prefer an Anthony Rendon situation where I show up for one day at training camp every year?

Or should we do a buyout?

And I would bet that, because he's had an incredible relationship with the current Podresed front office, that if this was negotiated before AJ leaves, that they would come to terms on a reasonable deal.

I have had probably the most golden hued crystal ball when it comes to my thinking on you and his extension, and it's it's never been lower Like my I'm very pessimistic he's going to pitch again, and it puts the extension in a in a really rough light.

Even though he was coming off of two hundred innings, you know, the year he signed it.

Since then, he's given them, you know, three hundred and three seasons and not not nearly enough of them were effective.

So it you know, congratulations to my haters.

It seems like a u Darbagh deal, signing a thirty six year old picture.

At the time, I think he.

Was to a six year contract.

Yeah, congrats to my haters.

Got that one.

Okay, well with that, let's keep it.

Let's keep the ball rolling straight into Rumorville.

Rumorville and other team's actions.

Uh, look, we didn't even put this on the menu, but it just goes without saying that.

The Dodgers got a lot better.

I think they The one move that they failed to make last year is the move they made.

They got Edwin Diaz, for god's sake, they got one of the top three closers in baseball.

So last year they got that year they got Tanner Scott and he sucked.

Yeah, but they didn't know that.

Yeah, but Tanner Scott was an Edwin Diaz like he wasn't among Yeah, he had an amazing two thousand and twenty four and finish out with the Padreans Like it's good for him, you know, getting that check much bigger.

But yeah, it wudn.

Diaz has a pedigree and.

He's a dog like he's a dog, he's legit.

He's one of the hardest pitchers to hit in the twenty twenties, you know, so him being on that team sucks.

He's three years younger than Robert Sporreez, which is wild, mind blowing.

Is wild.

And it just means that, you know, Susaki goes back to being a starter.

Their starters are starters again.

They're not going to be riding relievers through our starters as relievers through the postseason again.

And even if they did, it doesn't matter.

They're just a super team, so put them aside.

But they did the thing they had to do.

They got Edwin Diaz.

And that's just to me.

And we'll talk about this more momentarily or in a little bit.

Closers matter more the better you are, right, Like, when if you're an average team, your closer is incredible.

Yeah cool, that's every.

Time it's about Jeff Hoffman, who is quality, but.

Rightman, but it's still Jeff Hoffman.

Like, but if you have an incredible closer on a mediocre team, you're the padres for the last, you know, the previous twenty years before the twenty twenties.

If you are a good team that has a bad closer, oh my god, that's like the thing that costs you Jeff Hoffman, you know.

But when you're a great team and you add a great closer, it's so much more important.

So uh, with that, there were a week of rumors coming out of the Baseball Winter Meetings.

Nothing actually happened for the San Diego Padres, but everyone got to write about the Padres for a few days.

And of course the people who write about the Padres the most are New York baseball writers, because if you are a New York baseball writer, the San Diego Padres are to you a farm system for Major League Baseball.

They are a meaningless, pointless franchise as far away from the Big Apple as possible, that's never won anything, and the one time that you tried, the Yankees swept your ass.

So there.

New York baseball wriders think that whatever's cute stuff has been happening in San Diego the last couple of years, they are surely quickly going to resort to what's in their mind.

The resting state for the Padres franchise, which is sell off your good players to New York teams for what the Mets or the Yankees need.

And right now it's the Mets, and the Mets are in a bad way because Pee Alonso left and Diaz left right, people are leaving the Mets.

So they figured what better way than to say that the Padres are going to give up Nick Pavetta and Ramon Loreano and Mason Miller in exchange for McClain and tong and Sprout or maybe not McLean but sprong and toe, Sprout and Tong.

I made him sprong in Toad.

I think that's a teenage made Ninja Turtle.

Villain is Sprung and Toad right next to Bebop and rock Steady.

Uh yeah, yeah.

So a lot of New York generated fan content that we poor Padre fans had to filter through knowing that probably every inch of it was bollocks.

The yummy bit was lindor potentially, you know, having such a poisoned clubhouse with the of Juan Soto.

We got a recap of Juan Soto in the middle of the season saying, nah, our captain is Starling Marte, Like, definitely not the you know, beloved shortstop in the infield there, and you know, I thought that was that was kind of a savory smell.

That was kind of fun.

But yeah, I mean you said it like all the New York media be it Yankees, be it Mets all week long, Tattoose is coming, you know, or we're getting Jackson Merrill.

We're getting Jackson Merrill.

We're getting Mason Miller.

That's who we're getting for our guys who have thrown thirty innings of Major League Baseball starting pitching and none of it being that effective, you know, And that's fine the Padres because of the money they spent past five years and because the swings a j.

Preller has taken last big meanings.

They have been mana for journalists and sports writers like they have been absolute content machines.

And that's not going to go away anytime soon.

Even though I think the fans in the know in the San Diego market have lowered their expectations for the fireworks.

Yeah, you know, I think about this in the context of we're now two years on from the second one Souto trade, the one that sent them to New York, the Trent Grisham trade, the Trent Grisham trade.

And we are also, allegedly, according to reporting from the Boston Globe, of days away from hearing Michael King's definite destination, and Michael King allegedly is going to land in the Al East.

The three candidates are the Yankees, the Red Sox, and the Orioles.

So you know, we can kind of like start, just ever so slightly, you know, to look back at that trade.

You know, we we obviously don't know how the Randy Vasquez and the Johnny Brito of it all is going to shake out over the next four years, but I think we can probably safely say that they will not have the impact that any of the either that any of the other players traded had.

And I do think you have to say, I mean, we didn't prep this topic, so I don't want to do a full relitigation of that trade.

But you know, Michael King gave you one great year and one not good year, and sleep Train, thank you, sleep Train, and everyone else in the trade has been blah for the Padres, and Wan Soto gave the Yankees an unbelievable year, and Trent Grisham gave the Yankees a pretty good year last year, a better year than he ever had with the Padres.

Is that true?

Actually, I don't know if that's true, but probably yeah.

Definitely true.

No, absolutely, his best year was twenty twenty and it was.

So Yeah, that's right, that's right.

So and now he has resigned for with the qualifying offer for the Yankees.

And I would say that that trade outcome for the Padres, it's probably on the better side of how trading a superstar normally goes.

But you could probably still say that they quote unquote lost that trade.

The last year from King is brutal.

Yeah, it possibly swings it, but hey, don't leave out Kyle ha Goashioka hitting twenty home runs regular season in postseason.

Yeah, and that was a huge part of twenty twenty four's team.

Vasquez is going to continue to provide innings for the team.

Brito is probably the one that we'd never hear from again, or if we do, it's like, oh wow, Donnie Brito alert, here comes a dude that we haven't seen him forever, you know, more likely as we'll never see him.

But you did get enough to be a really, really good team in twenty twenty four, and given that you you gave up the one year twenty twenty four that you would have had won Soto because he was sure to leave.

I think you did okay.

I think you did okay.

In order to ever say that you want it, Randy Vasquez has to like get All Star votes or something, you know, he has to be like really really good for the Padres going forward.

But I thought it was you did as well as you could probably in that deal.

And Grisham, you know, going off is kind of one of those what are you gonna do?

I think you said that The Higgey year kind of balances that out because Hicky wasn't supposed to do what he'd did, Grisham wasn't supposed to do what he did, you know.

Yeah, and everyone else has kind of done what they were supposed to do, including Michael King getting hurt.

That was something that all the New York fans thought was going to happen.

Uh, and it did one year later.

So interesting.

I did love the moment, as you said, when it was Miller and Bogarts for Lindor and money, that was a deal.

I was ready to sign off on last thing.

I would just say about all of this personally, I think there is a one chance Mason Miller will be traded away from the San Diego Padres.

I don't know when, but I think the idea that he's going to finish his contract as a San Diego Padre h is pretty crazy.

He'd go nine but right there with you, man.

Yeah, he's going to be a tradable thing.

As long as he's not hurt, he's going to hold value every year.

And as such, I cannot be against a Mason Miller trade in theory, because look what the baseball world said about the A's side of the Mason Miller trade.

They thought that they came away gangbusters, right.

Everyone was like, the A's won that trade, and We're like, we don't care.

We've got Mason Miller.

Mason Miller is a dude.

Mason Miller is a dude.

He is maybe the most unhittable pitcher in baseball.

But if he's on a bad team, you've got to get rid of his ass.

You've got to So for me, it's about how long can Aj Preller keep this team relevant that you want and need Mason Miller as that finishing piece that takes you from okay to potentially dominant because that's what he does.

He takes your team from oh yeah, you're pretty good to oh my god.

If this team is the lead in the A eight in the playoffs, and this guy can come in and just throw one oh four with a slider that's ninety three, like you know, it's over.

And he's shown he can throw multiple innings and he can do that.

So he's the true luxury item for the Padres.

And if at any point they need to flip him for a more you know, a station wagon for the family as opposed to this hot rod, like they're gonna have to do that, and they will.

Yeah, and especially with Stamin coming out and saying there's no plans to make him into a starter.

It just the value, the the value, like it just makes more sense that he's gonna go when somebody gets desperate for what he's selling.

Yeah, it's sorry, I just like, I don't know if I have much more to say on this, Like we're we're just respectulating on on on useful spectation.

Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, here's speaking of useless speculation.

But I saw a post today about hey, Murakami's got one week.

Yeah it's it's December twenty second that his window closes, and it was here's the list of teams that are interested in the top team on the list was the Padres.

What does that mean?

Nothing necessarily mean a.

J Prowler went to Japan a bunch and saw him.

Would you be surprised if we signed somebody out of Japan this year?

I wouldn't know.

He'll be stunned if it.

Was it was Murakami.

Yes, why would you be stunned?

Just because his value, like his projective value is really high.

You know, he's he's likely going to get a nine figure contract that's not set in stone, but musta talk to Yoshida got that.

Saya Suzuki pretty close to that.

And I mean it's not like the Padres couldn't wiggle like Jake Cronenworths is twelve million dollars that they can move around if they signed him, because they're not positional analogues.

But you know, there's there's a lot of sameness going on there.

But yeah, I don't I don't think the Padres are gonna swim in those waters.

Wouldn't he play first base.

For the Padre?

I'm an encounter, Yes, I'm an encounter.

I'm going to say that he makes a lot of sense for the team.

And I would say that both Yoshida got a five year ninety million dollar deal and Suzuki got a five year, eighty five million dollar deal.

So what I'm wondering is, has the uh the Kazuma Okamoto market heated up a lot, And because you know, if you look at all the underlying staff, there are a lot of concerns about Murakami's strikeout rate, which was climbing a lot in Japan, and you know, I I think there are probably a lot of MLB teams who are scared of signing Morikami, and uh Okamoto is the is probably the more quote unquote surefire bet in terms of his bat skills translating to Major League Baseball.

But I would say, if that is the case, if that scenario is playing out, that Okamoto's market is heated up and Murakami's market has kind of started to simmer a little bit, that it's the kind of high risk, high upside move that makes a lot of sense for the Padres and Craig.

It's AJ's profile.

He'd be betting on the skill set and he'd love the gamble and.

Specifically, if it hits, it is massively important for the Padres.

It is huge.

What is the thing that this team?

For some like it feels like since Adrian Gonzalez they haven't had a actual franchise first basement, which the cornerstone of every good, good baseball team is that they have a cornerstone first basement.

Like look at the World Series teams this year.

They had Freddie Freeman and vlad Guerrero Junior and like that that's it.

And if more Cammy, you know again, we are two three years removed from this guy being like, oh my god, this is the second coming, people marking their calendars for twenty twenty six when he can post and join, and things have slowly gotten a little quieter.

I'm not saying I know that I like this move.

I'm not saying that it's great, But I'm just saying, if we're going from twenty five million a year to twenty or to eighteen, all of a sudden, it doesn't start to sound that crazy.

I think, for what we've heard from the Padres situation, we'll call it that does sound kind of crazy.

And like, I know, he had a bad year, but he's also coming off of an injury plagued year.

And it's not like he's thirty two years old.

I mean he's going to be saying in his age twenty sixth season.

And I mean during the WBC they were calling him, you know, Japan's a future Babe Ruth.

So like, I feel like the noise around his market is just that, and we we don't get to know because the Japanese media market is insane when it comes to baseball, and it's as tabloid ridden as our New York market.

So I'll be I think I'll be higher than all of you on it if it happens.

But I think I'm more pessimistic on you guys that it will.

I don't necessarily think it's going to happen.

I just don't think it's out of the rem of possibility.

Now, if you had if you told me behind the scenes and off the record that the reason the Podres were trying to make a trade was to move money so that they could put it toward Morikami, or that ownership had told them, you can go after Murakami, but you're going to have to move X amount of money off off of the payroll that AJ is crazy enough that that could be the genesis of these Paveta rumors and Crona Worth rumors that we heard during the winter meetings is that he was just trying to like, really like, Okay, how could I clear sixteen million off the payroll?

How can I clear a certain amount off the payroll?

Or could he hear from ownership, if you can get the guy, get the guy, will raise the payroll.

That's what he's always said.

He's always said, That's what ownership is said to him, that they've got a budget for a circumstance, but that a special player can change the budget.

Okay, Well, if that's the case, is Murakami that I think he would be a very exciting signing for the San Diego Padres.

I think he would bring a ton of publicity.

I think it would bring a ton of excitement.

I think he would boost ticket sales to any extent that you can boost him for where they are now, which is basically permanent sellout.

He certainly addresses one of the Padres core issues, but he does not address the Padres corp issue, which is starting pitching.

However, you can win with offense and bullpen.

You know, offense a good defense and bullpen and a really mediocre starting staff.

You can win baseball games and regular season especially baseball games that way, So I would not be against it.

I don't think it's crazy.

I also wouldn't think it'd be crazy if we didn't get him, or I'm gonna just mess up the name.

So the other great hitter you were mentioning, but we wound up getting the second or third starting pitcher, you know, out of Japan.

I could see that happening as well, so you know, keep an eye on it.

You know, he's exploring everything.

This is my weekly notice that aj Preller has not signed his contract extension.

Where's the contract extension?

Where's the contract extension?

Is there a contract extension sign it?

Is it there?

Did you actually negotiate back in?

No, in late October when we were told this, because that's when we were told this by Eric Krupner, was like the third week of October.

John Schiser's on it.

Yeah, well, what's going on?

When a contract extension discussion goes longer than X period of time, it's no longer a discussion.

It's a holdout, you know, it's it's not They're not like every day exchanging numbers is my point.

It's not like this, Hey, let's let's sit down and hammer this out again.

No, obviously one side says something in one side says no, and it's not happening, So let's get there.

WBC Fernando Tatist Manny Machado will be on the Dominican team.

Jackson Merrill not called for Team USA.

That start right, Yeah, that at least as a starter.

PCA will be starting in center field.

Yeah sure.

You know, if Jackson had a better year last year, maybe he would have pushed Pa out had a great He's so dynamic defensively, you know.

Yeah, kind of getting.

Yeah, like they were talking about putting him out there before that was the baseball barbercast.

Boys were like, just put him out there for the club and it's going to be huge.

They won't be the last of the padres who will play the WBC, and that list will be out and I want to say about three and a half weeks.

I think it's the middle of January, January towards the beginning of it that we see the actual announced teams.

I mean, obviously Bullguards will play, yeah, Uba, who else?

Who else could go?

Jake no, no, but the pitchers you never really know because it just oh, I mean Mason Miller would have to be on that.

I will go for Canada.

Canada for sure.

Well, I mean that's a thing, but he's entering a free agent year, Like that's a How seriously is Nick Paveata gonna take it?

So it's going to be interesting and like, how many guys do we want away from Chriig Stammon's first camp.

You know, probably not everybody.

It's probably not important for Manny Machado or Fernando Tattist junior.

But you know, Louis Campusano gets the call.

Louise Campusano isn't getting the call.

Call.

Maybe if there was a State's Baseball Classic, Georgia would would pick up the vote.

Now he's getting a call, the calls from Kevin Ploeki.

It's at like six point fifteen.

Hey, get outside, it's time for our run.

I've got this run.

All these fo drills.

We talked about, Edwin Diaz, Merril Kelly is back with the Diamondbacks.

Yeah, And I only bring this up because, uh, I thought his deal is interesting considering the Diamondbacks traded him at the deadline and in doing so, they made him ineligible for the qualifying offer and then immediately signed him without getting qualifying offer penalties, And like, I just want to file that little note away as something that can be done.

You know.

It's kind of like in Hamilton when the King ruminis is that I didn't know that the George Washington could just step down.

That's kind of weird, especially with Adrian morrolon going away.

You know, maybe maybe if the padres struggling, we can.

Flip and then resign him, bring bring him home, bring back our morolone.

Miss Kelly's thirty seven, that's why he's resigning in Arizona.

He's old, sure max free and then the house he's at the last several.

Years hitting that twenty MILLIAF.

I just thought it was an interesting deal and an interesting thing that teams can do, and like worth worth noting.

Fair any other Meryll Kelly, I mean MARYL.

Kelly makes the Diamondbacks a little bit better, but not significantly, seeing as we know what he is and what he's done, and he's been there for a long time, so it hasn't really changed the d Backs, and the.

D Backs are reportedly heavily shopping catl Marte.

So you know how serious are they?

Question Mark?

Question Mark is interesting.

I mean, the Diamondbacks and the Giants this year are just so fascinating to me.

The Giants in the same situation, right, like they're talking about spending money on the on the area around the ballpark, not the roster.

Well, and they have they have a new manager what's his face from Tennessee, which is yeah, Tony, Tony Vitello, right, yeah, and that's just a giant in question Mark if that experiment's going to be successful.

So, and I feel like of Padres, Diamondbacks, Giants, it's probably safe to say one of those teams will make the playoffs.

Yeah, I mean at least yeah, Yeah, I.

Think it's more likely than not that one of them makes it.

I think for all three to miss the playoffs, yeah, would mean that.

I mean that it's an NL East slugfest with one of the Brewers and Cubs taking the other wild card spot, which is possible.

Or the Dodgers winning one hundred and twenty three games and just depressing all the NLST win totals along the way.

I mean, the thing that we were all afraid of last year.

If they ever actually did do that and played top of range all year, they'd set the all time wins record and that could knock NLS teams out of the playoffs.

But short of that, definitely one of these teams is going to make it.

I would still like to think it could be San Diego.

I mean, you know, we're here in Padre Town and nothing's happening.

But you know, it almost sounds top radio wish to say.

But like when they show up Manny Machado, Fernando Tatist, Junior Jackson, Merrill, Xander boguards sheets for me and cronin Worth.

Like, you've got a Loreano, You've got a very almost complete lineup, You've got top two bullpen in Major League Baseball right off of the jump.

You've got a good team.

You just got to add a little bit to it.

You know, Joe Musgrove is going to be back, is going to be amazing.

He's probably not going to be worse than a lot of the numbers of the guys that left, you know, I mean, you darbish had an ERA over five, so Musgrove could come in and be significantly better than that.

Besquets at NIRA and are four last year.

You know, he why do we assume he's going to be cannon foddern next year?

He should be good, Like there's a chance he could even be better.

So, you know, and obviously, as long as Nick Pavetta is here, he's pitching for a contract.

He's pitching.

It's going to be the last big contract of his career.

You know, he needs to go all out for San Diego and cash in.

So I still think the Patters can be a very good team.

A couple of moves could make them a fascinating team.

Here's what we won't see Robert Swarez back.

Robert Swarez is reportedly gonna set up Ryce sel Iglesias in Atlanta, and he gets three years, forty five million dollars to head to a town where he can shake hands with Hassan Kim, who today got a one year, twenty million dollar deal to stay with his buddy Jerkson Profar and keep all of the good vibes rolling.

Kim gets the twenty million dollar bag.

So he made extra million, right, didn't he have nine?

Wasn't it a nineteen million dollar idea?

Made an extra four million?

Okay?

Good for him.

Yeah, it's a good deal for the Braves.

You know, they get a premium, potentially premium player for a year at a position that was really really bad for them past couple ever since Dance.

We left, they did they were relying on Francis Parker legend to Nick Allen to which respect to my alma mater and respect to Nick.

But you know, a little bit uneven with the rest of the team.

But yeah, I'm just I'm just pulling up Fangrafts depth charts for them right now, and they're They're always interesting.

You know, they've been interesting for twenty five years, for thirty years, I mean even longer than that.

So you know, I suspect that last year will be a real aberration for them.

But just you know, they still have all Ozzie Albi's playing second base, so him up the middle with Hasun Kim is really exciting.

You know.

They're they're really solid up the middle.

They have Michael Harris, they have Drake Baldwin catching for them.

They're you know, they're gonna be pesky to the Phillies and Mets for sure.

So I'm glad that our guys who we love are getting paid.

Yeah, and Sean Reynolds is getting paid by the Yokohama Giants.

That would be the Ymori Giants.

I believe Yokohama is the Bay Stars, Yokahama based stars.

Yo mean you're giants.

You're absolutely right?

Okay, Well, good for Sean Reynolds.

He found a job in Japan.

Hey, like you is going to be an absolute monster in that country.

Like people are gonna flee down the street like he is.

He gonna fit on a train.

They actually had a lot of light room on the shin consents.

Oh, I'm sure for six foot eight people, it's wonderful.

I'm six too, and I was really shocked.

So you are a normally sized person.

Now he's kind of tall, I'm I know, but Chris.

Is everybody everybody under six with five is normal.

Everybody over as a giant should be fleed.

From Sean Reynolds as kaiju.

We'll we'll find out if that happens or not.

I'm just just to put the button on what Rafie said, right.

Every good to see friends getting paid somewhere and getting cabbed somewhere.

And I also want to point out, like that's the like Sean Reynolds was poised to be a breakout last year.

Like the life of a major league reliever.

It's it's fickl so like being staked for these guys while they're pitching.

Well, all right, let's wrap up this episode with another edition of Padre's Hot Tub.

Who's Your Padre?

Last time, Chris Reid came up with the player.

This time, our host of the game is Rafie Canter.

Rafie has come up with a Podre, just somebody who was a padre at some point in Podre's history.

Chris and I have twenty questions to figure out who our Podre is.

The questions can only be answered yes or no by Rafie, so we need to ask obviously limiting questions and see if we can get it done.

Last time, we got it done right toward the ends, didn't didn't we, Rafie?

Rafie addicated, Yeah, I know it was all you.

It was all you, Craig.

Yeah, that one was Rob Dear.

That was really hard.

It's really really hard.

Yeah, maybe Rafe'll be nice.

You're going to be quite as hard as Rob Dear, But we'll see.

All right, So Chris, would you like to go first and ask the first question?

Rafie is this player a pitcher?

No, he's not, okay, not a pitcher this player.

Did this player play in the twenty first century for the Padres?

Yes, okay, twenty first century hitter.

Was this player drafted?

Can you be more specific?

Did this player?

Like, yes, this player was drafted.

Is that what you're asking?

That's what I'm asking, Like, we're like, were they a Major League Baseball rule for draft d Yes?

Okay, a drafted player.

So in other words, that already that eliminates to tease, that eliminates all international free agents.

Yeah, all international free agents.

Okay, that's three.

Is this player left handed?

Is its player left hand?

The hitter mt?

Good clarification, No he is.

He is a right handed hitter.

Okay.

Did this player spend the majority of their time in the outfield?

Let me just confirm yes, hm hm.

Was this player drafted by the Padres?

No?

Okay.

That's six questions?

Six questions?

Did this player play for the Padres in the playoffs?

No?

H okay, So that means seven questions.

Can't be oh five, can't be oh six, can't be twenty twenty or beyond.

Probably it has would be very specific to not be a non playoff player who played in the twenty twenties, so maybe that's where we limit again.

Did this player play for the Padres between two thousand and two thousand and nine?

Yes?

Okay, okay, So that means Chris, it's between either between two thousand and two thousand and four, right, yep, or two thousand and seven to nine, So we're down to those seven years.

I believe it's been eight questions.

Did this yeah, a player play for Spocci.

Yes, so we're talking pre two thousand and seven.

Which means two thousand and two thousand and four.

Weight, Yeah, Bochie left in oh seven.

Oh seven was blood Blacks first year?

Got it?

Yes?

Okay, okay, hang on, Okay.

So now we've got a right handed hitting outfielder who played for the Padres during the years that I'm most familiar with the team.

So this should be really good news.

Outfield majority right handed drafted, not SD twenty first century hitter.

Okay, okay, okay, is it your You just did one, so it's my trend.

You have questions, okay, okay, I have questioned ten?

Did this?

Oh that's too specific?

I don't know.

Do I want to be really like take a stab at a guy already not not the name, but like.

Yeah, yeah, you walk it in, Yeah yeah, yeah.

Sure.

Did this player play for the Braves in his career?

No, okay, so it's not Ron Gant.

That certainly was specific.

There are other Braves outfielders I know.

But okay, we're halfway home, Chris, halfway home?

Sorry, go ahead, Chris?

Is this player black?

No?

Uncle?

Interesting?

Okay, eliminates mind del white.

That's another one I was thinking about.

That was and then a couple other Fringer guys.

But yep, not drafted by the Padres.

Two thousand to two thousand and four.

Oh oh oh, but I don't know how to narrow it down for this dude.

Okay, all right, hang on, But it is Craig's turned.

Yes, yes, I thought I just did the oh no, you know, ask the racial question.

Yes, yes, okay, you asked it so much better last time, Rafe or.

Was it was?

Is he white?

Which somehow feels better?

Amazing?

You You were just you were sensitive about it.

I wasn't.

Did this player play in his career for the New York Yankees?

Yes, gotta be, gotta be, gotta.

Be all right, So hang on it's back to Chris.

Chris top the question thirteen did this.

Player accumulate more than twenty career war No?

Is this player Bubba Trammel?

Yes, job, Bubba Bubba travel Buba Bubba, who was an answer to.

One of the trivia questions.

And Chris, since Craig, you were ineligible.

But I'll give you a quick hack because I have the question in front of me in which he came up the top.

And I'm just curious if you can get any of these.

And then one the show, which is the topic is single season Wonder and the uestion is between the start of the two thousand season and the end of the twenty twenty season, five players had their only career twenty home run season with the Padres, and one of them is Bubba Trammel, who had twenty nine home runs in two thousand and one.

So I'm just curious that the Monty wanted three of the five named in trivia.

That's insane.

It was very hard.

It was a very hard trivia session.

I'm just curious if there are any guys that popped to mind, you.

Know, the the guy that I thought this was going to be.

And that's why I asked about the war question was it was Victorino, And I'm positive he's not.

Going to help me here.

Yeah, he's a switch hitter anyway.

Oh that's but sorry, I mean for our that doesn't matter for for Rafe's current question obviously.

And also, yeah, Reggie Sanders was in that window.

I'm pretty sure nineteen n Yeah hmm, but he also hit more home Rus elsewhere.

Correct.

I'm going to be bad at this.

I'm gonna be real bad.

Then don't worry about it, because this is a very hard question.

I was just saying, if there are any names, yeah, but I will I will give them to our listeners as a treat credit to Monty.

So the five names listed are where did the trivia go?

The trivia has switch windows on me?

Here we go.

Christian Vianueva with eighteen.

I had no idea.

The completely forgot Christian Vieneeva.

Ryan Schimph in twenty sixteen.

Oh, that should have been instant, but for some reasonenty.

That one will venable with twenty two twenty thirteen, Kevin kuzman Off with twenty six in two thousand and eight, Bubba Trammel twenty nine, two thousand and one.

Yep, for some reason, I was I was thinking of players who came into the organization as of course to uh, you know shimp and I know Kus wasn't drafted by the team, but they traded.

No, we traded for him.

Yeah.

Yeah, he made his debut as a padre, though.

He was part of two trivia questions that night, because he was also one of the ten.

In terms of we acquired him in a one player traded trade, trading Josh Barfield for Kevin Kuzman Off awful at that one too.

Well, don't worry the two of us.

You know, we carried the torch for padres at the game, although I did not win, came in second, came in second by two points.

I just remembered Yonder Alonso And there was one other on those ten.

Did you get Final Jeopardy again?

Like the year prior at the trivia where there was just a guy who really knew the game of Final Jeopardy, And I.

Mean kind of, I mean, but we gambled, we went, we doubled up, we went max and got it right, got Final Jeopardy right, but still lost by two.

So I think they did Final Jeopardy.

Yes, I think they bet exactly the right amount to win.

Jerks.

Anyways, that's that for that.

That's that for this episode of Padres hotub.

We'll always be back with an emergency episode of the Padres Actually Do Anything.

Otherwise, we'll talk to you next week and until then, for Rayfie and Chris, I'm Craig saying, go Padres do do

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