New year, same Tipping Pitches. Alex and Bobby ring in 2024 by running through some REAL baseball news (the contents of Jeff Passan’s Twitter account) over the last few weeks, including a pair of moves from the Red Sox, even more rule changes, and Harrison Bader (that’s right). They also make some New Year’s resolutions, field some listener questions, and start planning out Alex Rodriguez’s presidential campaign.
Links:
Join the Tipping Pitches Patreon
Tipping Pitches merchandise
Songs featured in this episode:
Indigo Moiré — “Whole, Again” • Booker T & the M.G.’s — “Green Onions”
Transcript
Tell us a little bit about what you saw and be able to relay that message to Cora when you watch Kimbrel pitch and kind of help out so he wasn’t typical pitches. So tipping pitches we hear about it all the time. People are home on the stand what tipping pitches all about? That’s amazing. That’s remarkable.
BOBBY: Alex, you know, I had this whole intro planned. I was going to talk about how I woke up a little late. I’m here on the West Coast, here in Los Angeles, coming to you live/recorded from a hotel room, in a hotel that doesn’t have a gym, which is frustrating to me. Why make a whole hotel and not have a gym? And it— it’s one of those, like, trendy Instagram hotels. It just happens to be the one that Spotify likes people to stay at. Anyway, this is a tangent. We’re starting 2024 off right.
ALEX: We’re already—
BOBBY: I had this— I had this whole intro planned, where I was going to talk about how I hadn’t woke— woken up in time to go get my coffee, in time for it to start kicking in.
ALEX: Hmm.
BOBBY: But fortunately, I stubbed my toe right as I was about to log on to the Zoom, and that woke me up. And I actively was thinking, “Wow, I’m really awake now that I’ve stubbed my toe.” That was a lot of pain, but maybe worth it for the sake of the pod. And then 35 minutes past while your computer tried to turn on.
ALEX: Yeah.
BOBBY: And now I’m back down, so I need some more energy. So I need you to bring some heat.
ALEX: Stub the other toe?
BOBBY: Yes, it’s dan— it’s dangerous territory to suggest that the best pods come from me damaging my physical body. We don’t need that energy [1:43]
ALEX: That’s— that’s true artistry right there, you know?
BOBBY: I thought we would start this year off and this podcast off by thanking all of the people who sent us the Reddit thread about how the new horror film from Blumhouse Night Swim violates the collective bargaining agreement of Major League Baseball. Thank you to the several people who sent that to us. Alex, if you don’t know, I imagine you haven’t seen Night Swim, although maybe I’m wrong. I’m gonna give you some [2:10] here.
ALEX: I have not.
BOBBY: I haven’t seen it, either. I’m not usually a big horror movie person, but I’m familiar with the concept. It’s a— it’s a haunted pool. Spoiler alert, the pool kills some people. That’s really all you need to know about the movie Night Swim. Now, what— the important part here is that the main character of Night Swim is played by Wyatt Russell, who I’m sure you know from other things, right?
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: Wyatt Russell? He’s playing like sort of a Mike Moustakas type. He’s like a Brewers third baseman, power injuries, kind of derail— he— he derails his career a little bit. And he— then he gets MS. And he’s sort of living out his life post-playing career with this haunted pool in the backyard of the house that he just bought. And several people have sent us this Reddit thread because somebody astutely points out that they’re not using his MLBPA insurance, they’re using her insurance, implying that he didn’t get insurance—
ALEX: Right.
BOBBY: —from his time in the bigs, because I guess maybe it wouldn’t invest it for 10 years of service, but this Reddit detective, this person points out that that person— that— that the Wyatt Russell character should have gotten their service time. And I just want to say this is great energy. We need to strive for this energy in 2024, just applying Tipping Pitches brain to media. More baseball media needs to be created so that we can get more stuff like this. What do you say— what do you say?
ALEX: The— what I will say is this makes me want to see the movie now. Now, I have to see it for myself. He even says, like— like down in the post that we see the MLBPA’s logo on the video board at one point in the movie, which only raises more questions.
BOBBY: What I will say about the movie Night Swim is that I don’t think the movie is particularly interested in this topic here. I think that [3:58]
ALEX: I don’t think so, either.
BOBBY: —Reddit sleuth was doing some between the lines reading. We have a fun episode planned for you guys today. We’re going to— we’re going to run through all of the news items of the last three plus weeks since we recorded.
ALEX: Every single one.
BOBBY: And I mean, every single news item in the— in the entire world. There’s gonna be a lot of Biden reelection talk coming up.
ALEX: Yeah.
BOBBY: And we’re gonna do some listener questions and topics from— from the call for submissions that I put out earlier this week. And then we’re going to close the pod with some New Year’s resolutions because this is the first episode we’ve recorded in the new year. Thank you to everybody for allowing us to have New Year’s week off, and I hope for folks who listened to The Sandlot watch-along, I hope you enjoyed it. I hope maybe it compelled you to check out the Tipping Pitches Patreon. But before we do all that fun stuff, I am Bobby Wagner.
ALEX: I am Alex Bazeley.
BOBBY: And you are listening to Tipping Pitches.
[theme]
BOBBY: Okay. Speaking of the Patreon, thank you to this week’s new patrons. Jake, Daniel and Matthew. Alex, new year, new segment. I’m— I’m tentatively calling this segment The Alex-ometer, which is a play off the word, barometer.
ALEX: It’s a good play too, I’ll say.
BOBBY: Wow, thank you. Tend— you tend to not like my puns, really. You tend to be like, “Okay.” So for you to complement this one, is— is this maybe one of your New— New Year’s resolutions? All Bobby ideas are good ideas.
ALEX: Does it— does it make it worse that— that it was said with a tinge of sarcasm?
BOBBY: See, this is what I mean. You just— you—
ALEX: Sorry, I wasn’t trying to let the air out of your balloon. I should have just given that to you.
BOBBY: You have to support me. I need support. Maybe listeners can come up with a better suggestion because you’re much— much less likely to dunk on the listeners and their ideas than you are to take the air out of my balloon.
ALEX: Your and yours—
BOBBY: Yeah, exactly. So for now, we’re calling this the Alex-ometer. I’m gonna list out— I’m going to read out a list of topics of Normie baseball news from the last three weeks. Really, just a lot of transaction heavy stuff. You know, we’re on the waiver wires. We’re in the MLB trade rumors. Actually, what we are doing is I’m just going to read you all of the stuff that Jeff Passan has tweeted about since December 18th, which is when we recorded last. And you’re going to tell me, this is interesting enough for Alex Bazeley to care about or not. We’re— we’re— we’re painting a picture here, you know? We’re really solidifying what rises to the— the level of breaking through the weird Tipping Pitches bubble, which as— as— as listeners probably know, since we started with a— a bit about the CBA in a horror movie, like in a mid-tier horror movie, is a different kind of bubble than most baseball fans.
ALEX: It is, but— but I— I think we speak for the silent majority, if we’re being honest.
BOBBY: I’ve always said I podcast for the silent majority. Thanks for— thanks for literalizing that. Thanks for pointing that out.
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: Okay, first piece of news, ready? Unless you— unless there’s anything you want to say, now that 2024 is here, before we get started. I just like to announce— I know you submitted your name to multiple primaries for the Republican ballot this year.
ALEX: That’s— yeah.
BOBBY: If you want to use this spot to do any campaigning.
ALEX: Well, I hear there’s an opening in Colorado.
BOBBY: Actually, it wouldn’t be really funny if you did a bit where you were— what’s the name of the guy whose primarying Biden, but it’s like only on half of the ballots? But he is on the Iowa ballot. ALEX: Not RFK?
BOBBY: No, I think he dropped out of the [8:07]
ALEX: Yes, he’s—
BOBBY: —because they were too woke.
ALEX: Yeah, he’s independent. Yeah.
BOBBY: No, there’s another guy. It’s— it’s a good thing that we can’t name this guy. It would be a really funny bit if you just went back to tweeting from your personal account. You’re secretly back on Twitter, but you’re really mostly saving all of your tweets for the Tipping Pitches account.
ALEX: Yeah.
BOBBY: But if you went back to tweeting from your personal, but you— you leaned into an elaborate bit that you were actually primarying Biden from the left, and that that was what your personal brand was becoming— changed your whole bio and everything. I think that’s a good idea for you in 2024.
ALEX: I’m gonna put like the blue wave emoji in my—
BOBBY: Right.
ALEX: —in my bio. Am I— am I primary him like— like literally from like his— his left, like further left than him or am I just— just picking an alternate vision for liberalism?
BOBBY: I think that’s for you to decide.
ALEX: That’s a fair— that’s a fair counter. Now, I’m— now, I want to— now, I want to know who my guy is, though.
BOBBY: It really is—
ALEX: I mean, it’s not— it’s not— it’s Mary Ann? Is it—
BOBBY: No, it’s— it’s not.
ALEX: Who’s— who’s— who’s Phillips? Does Phillips ring— ring a bell?
BOBBY: I think it might be that guy.
ALEX: This is like an amazing segment about the state of democracy [9:26]
BOBBY: Dean, yup. That’s it, that’s it. Dean Phillips.
ALEX: Oh, Dean— Dean Phillips.
BOBBY: Yeah, Dean was the name that was sticking with me. I was like, “Dean? Really? We can’t have a president named Dean.” All my Gilmore Girls heads out there, no. We can’t be voting for someone named Dean. Yeah, look into that. See— see, you could be a better Dean Phillips than Dean Phillips. This is all I’m trying to say. You’re leaving money on the table. Not literally, campaign finance reformed people. Figuratively, Alex is leaving money on the table.
ALEX: He’s— he’s one of the wealthiest members of Congress, I’ll have you know. He used to own Talenti. Like, what are we— now, he’s just—
BOBBY: Talenti, the ice cream?
ALEX: So, like, Talenti, the ice cream.
BOBBY: Wow, he should be— he should be putting that forward more. I mean, much more likely I’d vote for him if I knew that.
ALEX: Right.
BOBBY: That’s something that’s made an active impact in my life unlike Joseph R. Biden. I have a question.
ALEX: I have an answer.
BOBBY: I just— well, I just realized that I told people that we would talk about the A-Rod interview on South Beach Sessions with Dan Le Batard, but I didn’t put that in my rundown. So I’m going to use this as an opportunity. We— we’ve already completely buried and derailed the Alex-ometer, which we were a mere seconds away from starting and then we were [10:39]
ALEX: We were— we were so close. We were so close.
BOBBY: Well, we tried, we tried. We didn’t actually try. Did you listen— did you listen to the A-Rod interview?
ALEX: I— I actually regrettably did not get a chance to see this.
BOBBY: Come on. See, this is what I meant.
ALEX: I know.
BOBBY: Like you— you just— what are you doing? What are you doing? Spending time with family? You’re being present?
ALEX: Barely. No, I’m researching Dean Phillips.
BOBBY: Stop— stop all of that. Yeah, exactly. You’re uncovering that he used to own Talenti. Like it’s some big secret. Like you didn’t just read that on Wikipedia.
ALEX: On this first paragraph.
BOBBY: Is that how he made his money? Or is he just like some ambient businessman who, like, happens to acquire—
ALEX: I think he’s just like an ambient businessman who just, like, has owned— like owns a coffee company and, like— like he— and, like, own his distillery.
BOBBY: That’s what I’m saying. Like [11:23]
ALEX: You know? And I’m like, okay.
BOBBY: A diversified portfolio, great. We get it. Now, I need guys who are, like, really myopically interested in one thing. That’s way more interesting.
ALEX: Right.
BOBBY: Like if he was just, like, from a young age, I always wanted to bring Italian branded ice cream to the people. I’d be, like, way more interested in that than the fact that he probably owns, like, three golf courses and a distribution company, whatever that means. I don’t know what— everybody’s always distributing things.
ALEX: Yeah.
BOBBY: Everybody’s always logistically shipping things like [11:55] so back to A-Rod— great soundboard clip for us right there. So back to A-Rod.
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: If he was going to run for president, which party would he associate with? Like, how
would he do it? Give me the five bullet points of the A-Rod presidential campaign.
ALEX: This is a great question. Since I—
BOBBY: Thank you. Is it so great that maybe we should save it for its own Patreon episode?
ALEX: No, I think we’re here.
BOBBY: Okay. Maybe we flesh it out more in a future Patreon episode.
ALEX: Yeah, exactly. [12:30]
BOBBY: One where you actually listen to the interview that I had sent to you to listen to for this podcast, because it’s really good and really, actually, kind of revealing. I’m— I just want you to hear it, like from a friend to friend perspective.
ALEX: I mean, I think he runs in the Republican Party. I think that feels relatively obvious as like a bring some common sense back to the people. That would— that would be my understanding. He has publicly supported Republican candidates before in— in Florida specifically.
BOBBY: It’s a great place to be supporting Republicans these days.
ALEX: It really is.
BOBBY: Just like you know what the state needs more of, DeSantis.
ALEX: Law and order.
BOBBY: He never really— see, that’s the thing, though. I don’t— I just don’t buy it that he cares about all of the, like, Republican culture war talking points. I just— I don’t buy it.
ALEX: No, I don’t buy it either.
BOBBY: He’s like an— he’s like a— a numbers and spreadsheets Republican. He’s like a Paul Ryan Republican.
ALEX: Right. He’s like a— he’s like a taxes guy.
BOBBY: The more I think about it—
ALEX: He’s likes— he’s like the I want to— I want to stimulate investment in the economy guy.
BOBBY: The more I think about it, A-Rod, Paul Ryan ticket 2028, who says no? Who says no?
ALEX: 330 million Americans, most likely.
BOBBY: Is that— that’s— that’s the number that’s in my head for how many Americans that are, but there’s— there’s gonna be like 400 million right now, right? There’s like—
ALEX: Exactly. It’s— there’s gotta be more, right?
BOBBY: How many— do you think that they could buy themselves, like, 5 million votes? Paul Ryan was on a presidential ticket. Come on. They got two right here. You’re telling me you wouldn’t vote for A-Rod for the bid. I would vote for A-Rod for the bid.
ALEX: I would, but will our votes count?
BOBBY: It gives me a great excuse—
ALEX: Come on.
BOBBY: —to not to have to for Biden.
ALEX: Right, exactly. I—
BOBBY: Or whatever— whatever the democratic party cooks up after Biden, which is even more horrifying.
ALEX: It’s— which is really terrifying. Yeah. Where’s Gretchen Whitmer when you need her?
BOBBY: Do you think Bernie has a chance in 2028?
ALEX: I don’t—his party could [14:44] in 2028?
BOBBY: That’s— that’s the joke. That was the joke. Dead Bernie are dead Biden, who was the better democratic party candidate? Posthumous, Bernie or Biden?
ALEX: Right. Well, it’s like the Dianne Feinstein question, right? Like, how much do you trust the staffers around her?
BOBBY: Not the Dianne Feinstein question that comes to mind. Anyway, A— so A-Rod Republican, he would run for the Republican Party. So you think he would be out there on the stage—
ALEX: I mean, do you— do you— do you think he would—
BOBBY: —being like, “Ron DeSantis, thanks, but no, thanks.”
ALEX: Yeah, I think so. I think he would— he would be the kind of guy who’s like, “Look, I’m— you know, I don’t consider myself left or right.” He’s like a— you know, he’s like a Yang Republican, right?
BOBBY: No, he’s not online enough.
ALEX: I mean, maybe not in that regard, but he’s like— you know, “I’m not left, I’m not right. I’m like, forward, you know? The Unity, we need to— we need to— we need to all come together in— in these trying times and rebuild what— what once made us great. And that was, you know, the hard working American people that are the backbone of this country.”
BOBBY: He would be talking so much about how to be a complete hitter. You have to be able to hit a fastball that’s up, down left, middle, or right, you know?
ALEX: You know it. Absolutely. You got to be able to read the situation, you know? Look, I’m— you— the reason I don’t say policies is because you got to stay on your toes a little bit. You got to be able to— to maneuver to the left or right.
BOBBY: You got to be able to go the other way. That— this is actually good—
ALEX: [16:20]
BOBBY: This is actually, ironically, kind of good political messaging that we’re coming up with right here.
ALEX: Right. Yeah.
BOBBY: If he went up there on a stage of Republicans or Democrats, doesn’t really matter, independence, if him and RFK were up there, it doesn’t even matter to me. If he just challenge every single person, like pitcher versus hitter, you won’t come out there and challenge me. I think that it would be a compelling argument to many Americans. See me on the field of flay. [16:47]
ALEX: A-Rod said, “Let’s go to the batting cages right now.”
BOBBY: He— in the interview, I’m not going to spoil the whole thing for you, but I just— I’m trying to decide whether or not I want to tell you this. He talked about how much he reveres Warren Buffett, and the loving portrayal of— of how he works well into his 90s is really going to hit home for you, I think, because I think it’s going to remind you how much you want to be someone who’s working 10 plus hours a day at the age of 94.
ALEX: Yeah.
BOBBY: And that’s— from the day that I met you, you’ve always said that to me. You’re like, “Hi, my name is Alex. Let’s start a company together so that I can work late into my 90s.”
ALEX: I want to— I want to— I want to be working the day I die, you know? We’re— we’re recording a podcast when we’re on our deathbeds, like, I swear to God.
BOBBY: That’s just the content. That’s just the content.
ALEX: You know, this is— this is it.
BOBBY: Imagine— imagine that pod. You know, some listeners might say it feels like that pod every week.
ALEX: Okay. Wasn’t there— wasn’t there a segment in here somewhere?
BOBBY: Yeah, the— the Alex-ometer. Listen to the— listen to the interview.
ALEX: All right, I got it.
BOBBY: Because if you’re not ready to talk about it the next time we record—
ALEX: How about that— I’m going to take one of these earbuds out, put the interview in, and then just kind of like—
BOBBY: Like a live commentary of the A-Rod interview, like we did with Sandlot?
ALEX: Right, exactly. Wait, wait, wait.
BOBBY: [18:15] pause.
ALEX: Hold on a second, Bobby. I’m— I’m getting something right now.
BOBBY: Okay, Alex-ometer, ready? For— first thing that Jeff Passan tweeted about. I left out some really— really small transactions, like Minor League contracts. I— I used my—
ALEX: What I— that’s what I wanted to talk about.
BOBBY: Then you should have brought it to the table when I asked you if there were any topics.
ALEX: All right.
BOBBY: I used my discretion. I feel as though I’ve earned—I’ve earned the right to discretion, 300 whatever episodes in. “Japanese star Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the Los Angeles Dodgers are in agreement on a 12-year $325 million contract, sources familiar with the deal tell ESPN.” Once again, these are all Jeff Passan tweets.
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
Bobbby: My New Year’s resolution in 2024 is to read every Jeff Passan tweet in the podcast. Okay, we’re off to a great start. We have not talked about this on the podcast.
ALEX: That’s true.
BOBBY: Believe it or not.
ALEX: I mean, it literally— this literally feels like it happened like last year or something, like that’s how long ago it feels like.
BOBBY: Boo. I’m just gonna leave some space for the listeners at home to boo you.
ALEX: Okay. Uh-hmm. No, bring it on. Yup, a little more.
BOBBY: Yup. Keep it coming. This is like how Bryce Harper would step out of the box at Citi Field and then people boo him [19:32]
ALEX: Exactly.
BOBBY: Do you want to talk about Yamamoto to the Dodgers? Like, has it already been talked out? Are you interested in that? Where’s that fall on the Alex-ometer?
ALEX: I mean, like I— I don’t know that I have much to say about it here on this podcast. I think it’s interesting. I think the Dodgers, as a force, are really interesting this year. Yamamoto is good, man.
BOBBY: Here’s a question.
ALEX: I don’t know.
BOBBY: Have you— have you ever watched a Yamamoto game?
ALEX: Start to finish? No. Have you?
BOBBY: No. I’ve watched a lot of YouTube clips of him pitching.
ALEX: Yeah.
BOBBY: Like a lot, like more than I wanted. Also, if you plotted it on like a chart of, like, hours of the day, an embarrassing amount of them would be between the hours of 1:00 and 3:00 AM.
ALEX: Of course. What else are you— what else would you be doing at that point?
BOBBY: You know, I just finished— I finished my second film of the night and I’m like, “It’s time for the third film, some Yamamoto highlights.” All right. So— so the answer is no. We need to talk about this more.
ALEX: No, I— the— the— the answer is pass.
BOBBY: Next. Need some sound effects. “From MLBPA executive director Tony Clark: The players on the competition committee voted no on the rules changes implemented today. Because MLB has a majority of seats on the committee, the league’s preferences with rule changes will go through.” Alex, would you like to talk about rule changes? This is no longer a banned topic, so—
ALEX: It’s no longer a banned topic.
BOBBY: Some might say 2024, it could be the year of the rule change on the Tipping Pitches Podcast. A really funny bit would be for us to just—
ALEX: I’m— I’m— I’m [21:05] again.
BOBBY: [21:05] one year late. Like really [21:09] of pitch clock. It’d be like— of the shift rules.
ALEX: Okay. So— so how much did the bigger bases make a difference in your viewing experience. Bobby? I need to know.
BOBBY: I just— I mean, once again, I— I’ve been consistent on this. I’m not gonna back down now. Make them bigger, even bigger. If you want them to be bigger, make it absurdly, cartoonishly big.
ALEX: I agree.
BOBBY: Do you want to talk about the rule changes?
ALEX: I mean—
BOBBY: I guess first and foremost, do you know what the rule changes are?
ALEX: Well, they’re shortening the pitch clock again, right? That was kind of the— the highlight and it’s like a certain situations thing, right? Like this is— it’s with runners on. But refresh— refresh my— refresh my memory.
BOBBY: I think they’re shortening about, like, two seconds. Yes.
ALEX: Right. Why are they doing that?
BOBBY: I don’t—
ALEX: Is kind of my question.
BOBBY: You know, I want to slightly amend a tweet that I made. You know what they say, is that when you make a tweet and you weren’t, you know, fully accurate, what you should do as amend it on a podcast three weeks later.
ALEX: Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
BOBBY: That’s what they always tell you to do, so that the maximum amount of people will hear it. But basically, I tweeted and I was like, because the MLBPA put out the statement and the players in the competition committee voted no. I tweeted how silly it was always going to feel that that we will get a statement like this every time that there’s a rule change. And the players will vote no, and the owners will vote yes. And it’ll be this bureaucratic process. And I tweeted how it’s always going to feel a little bit, like, crazy making, that the players are just constantly voicing that they don’t want this to happen, and the owners are just constantly ignoring it. And that failed to provide the context, which is that prior to this, they could just unilaterally implement these changes without even the input of the— the players committee. And we talked about this when the CBA got finalized in our CBA Deep Dive. We talked a lot about the changes to the rules committee, and how that was such a priority for the ownership side, to keep the ability to change the rules, even if the players made some progress in creating this— creating this competition committee to begin with. So I— I want to slightly amend that and say it’s not like any other North American sports league has the ability for players to veto rule changes, like all leagues can change the rules if they want to. The— the thing that is frustrating to me is that we knew— we kind of knew the pitch clock was coming. We knew what some of the rule changes that Manfred and the rest of MLB was really interested in implementing. And we know that the players objection to it is over— seemingly over health and safety, that if you shorten the pitch clock, that that might have long-term damage on— on pitchers’ arms, not being able to fully rest between— between pitches. And that this is sort of unexplored, and that they’d like a little bit more time between these rule changes to allow— to see for studying what happens. And what— what frustrating to me is that it’s— and I don’t think this is necessarily a fault of the MLBPA because, clearly, the membership wanted to continue on with the contract. But you remember when we got the CBA and the executive committee that negotiated it all unanimously voted no for it, and all of the team representatives unanimously voted yes for it. It’s— it’s stuff like this in here that there is some, like, internal friction going on over what the players on the executive committee in negotiating the contract thought they could get into it, or thought they needed to get into it, or thought they wanted to get into it, versus what the, like, rank and file was willing to, like, settle for. And then the manifestations of it later on, where it’s like, “Hey, they’re just gonna keep changing the pitch clock, and like we have no mechanism to say no to that.” But we could have. While we were locked out, like we were in a moment of— we were in like a labor conflagration moment where we could have stood even firmer and got this. And I don’t think that that’s like particularly a fault of the people who negotiated the contract. They voted no for it. You know, they— the did not recommend it, but the— but the players wanted it, the rest of the players wanted it. I just think that it’s like— to me, like, stuff like this feels sacred, and not to, like, overstate it. And this is the reason that we banned the rule changes last year, because it’s like— it seems ridiculous to say stuff like that. But for Rob Manfred, someone who just, like, clearly wants to keep making changes, the— the tinkerer, it’s a little bit— it makes me feel uneasy that he just has the ability to keep— to keep doing this while players are like, “No, no, no. This actually might harm the game. This might harm the players that make— that constitute the game.” And he’s just like, “That’s cool. Thanks for putting out that statement. Three more— three more seconds off the pitch clock.”
ALEX: And I think it’s bad that every time the— a new baseball season rolls around, fans, including lifelong fans, have to be like, “Can you give me a refresher on what the rules of this game are?”
BOBBY: Yeah.
ALEX: “You know, this game that I have watched since I can’t even remember.” Are now like, “Hang on, can we go— wait, what was the deal with the— they widened the— the runners lane, you know? Or now— now, the pitcher can’t walk around the edge of the mound to keep the pitch clock from starting, you know? It’s like— I— I will note that, like, maybe throughout the season, a majority of these things you’re not going to notice and you’re not going to pay attention to. But when you’re running all these changes and— and— and treating— treating the— the sport like it’s a sort of lab environment, right, that you’re trying to perpetually improve on, you need to give yourself, like, some breathing room, like have a control year, you know? Have a year where you’re like, “All right. No changes. Let’s just rock with it and see how it goes. And just gather data and see what’s going on before we do, like, anything else.”
BOBBY: It was such an overwhelming success.
ALEX: Right. Right, exactly. Rob Manfred has been, like, lauded for the changes, right? For the shortening of Major League Baseball games. It’s like he is— you know, the— he’s like the Sports Business Journal Executive of the Year, you know, for— for what he did. And so I’m like, “Why are you messing with that?” That— this— this could actually be your legacy right here. You say, “Hey, look, I made baseball games shorter. That’s it. [27:46] done with it.
BOBBY: [27:47] definitely his legacy.
ALEX: No, I know, but—
BOBBY: Like, 50 years from now. But this is a great podcast idea, actually. I’m just gonna say this out loud now so that when I’m editing this podcast later today, I remember to write it down. The what will Manfred’s legacy be in 50 years when he gets inducted into the Hall of Fame is a great episode.
ALEX: Yeah.
BOBBY: Something that you said made me think that we should— the Sports Business Journal Executive of the Year, we should hand out our Executive of the Year.
ALEX: We should, exactly.
BOBBY: The Tipping Pitches Executive of the Year. Well, you know, the Sports Business Journal, what gives them the right to hand out an Executive of the Year? They’re not any more plugged into executives than we are. Why, because they talk to them? No, we observe every single move that they do and we actually—
ALEX: Exactly. We’ll touch between the lines.
BOBBY: We actually touch grass, you know? We actually care about the games, too.
ALEX: We have our pulse on the common man,
BOBBY: Crazy Sports Business Journal stray. It’s okay. Thank you to everybody listening from the Sports Business Journal. I know this is a hugely— a hugely loved podcast over there at that outlet. I thought—
ALEX: Yeah.
BOBBY: —Dan— Dan Haren responded to Jeff Passon’s tweet, “Any word on if they are shortening the two-and-a-half minute commercial breaks in between innings? Doubt it.” Perfectly succinct response. Thank you, Dan Haren.
ALEX: Still throwing heat in retirement. Thanks, Dan.
BOBBY: Never really threw that much heat, but you know—
ALEX: I know.
BOBBY: —his Twitter name being ithrow88 is so funny.
ALEX: I know.
BOBBY: It’s so funny. Okay, next— next topic. “Left hand— left-handed reliever Yuki Matsui and the San Diego Padres are in agreement on a five-year 28 million— $28 million contract.” 10 minutes on this.
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: Breaking. We got a Jeff Passan—
ALEX: We got a breaking—
BOBBY: —breaking. “Catcher Mitch Garver and the Seattle Mariners are in agreement a two-year, $24 million contract.” Pending physical, though, sources tell ESPN. Merry Christmas and happy holidays to him, Mariners fans who get to celebrate an unexpected gift and everyone else.” This was on Christmas Eve.
ALEX: Wait, so this was on Christmas Eve, right?
BOBBY: At 7:00 P.M. Eastern.
ALEX: Goddammit, Jerry.
BOBBY: Do you want— do you want to talk about Mitch Garver—
ALEX: Let [29:52] go home.
BOBBY: Do you want to talk about Mitch Garver to the Mariners? Do you want to use that as an excuse to talk about what the Mariners are doing?
ALEX: I don’t know. I— I mean, I feel like we— we spent so much time, like right before the break, talking about like their finances and stuff. And man, I don’t know [30:10]
BOBBY: Still one of our best— like, still one of our—
ALEX: I— I agree.
BOBBY: We just absolutely crushed that segment.
ALEX: Now, it seems like their payroll is not— is— after all that bluster about how Jerry’s like, “Yeah, we’re at least gonna like— you know, we’re gonna build off where we were last year.” Now, he’s like, “Ah. It’s actually going to come in just below where our payroll was, if that’s kosher with all of y’all.” I just— I don’t know. I like Mitch Garver. It’s a good— it’s a good signing.
BOBBY: Yeah, great. The best baseball tweet ever is Craig Goldstein— Craig Goldstein’s—
ALEX: I already know.
BOBBY: —tweet about the Scherzer’s contract. For everybody listening at home, we’ll put— we’ll put a link to that in the description. It— it— it truly is literature to me at this point.
ALEX: Uh-hmm. Sacred texts.
BOBBY: It’s how I formulate a lot of my opinions about the game. Next topic, right-hander Lucas, breaking, breaking. Another breaking, “Right-hander, Lucas Giolito and the Boston Red Sox are in agreement on a two-year, $38.5 million contract that includes an opt-out after the first season.” I’m just gonna lump the next one right in here with it too, because it’s the same team. Breaking: “The Atlanta Braves are acquiring seven-time all-star Chris Sale in a trade with the Boston Red Sox.” This trade is crazy in 20— 2017. “Sources tell ESPN. Well-regarded infield prospect Vaughn Grissom is the return to Boston, which will send money with Sale who waived his no-trade clause to join Atlanta.” I gotta say it’s really funny that Jeff Passan put “well-regarded infield prospect Vaughn Grissom” as if the fact that the Braves are giving up on him one year into his Major League career and trading him for a pitcher who hasn’t been healthy since 2018, does not mean that he is inherently not that well-regarded.
ALEX: Right.
BOBBY: Do you want to talk about either of these moves from the Boston Red Sox?
ALEX: I’m a little curious what the Red Sox are how do you say, doing?
BOBBY: Hmm. You’re not curious what the Braves are doing?
ALEX: I— yeah, but I’m perpetually curious about what the— what the Braves are gonna— like, I mean, this— if we really want to talk about it, like this trade is fine. That’s— that’s a— that’s a fine trade for both sides. The Braves are not high—
BOBBY: Just so everybody knows—
ALEX: —on Grissom and—
BOBBY: Really quickly, just so everybody knows. Chris Sale did sign an extension and he is donating—
ALEX: Yes.
BOBBY: —1% of his contract to the Braves foundation. Just— just so everybody’s clear, everything’s fine. You can all breathe easy now. We— we know another player did sign an extension and is donating 1% of that extension to the Braves foundation. It’s all— it’s okay. You can all rest easy now. You can go to bed. Shut your eyes under the— the cover of safety knowing that 1% of that money is going to the Braves foundation. Sorry, I know you were talking about the Red Sox and what they’re [32:55]
ALEX: No, it’s okay. I was just checking in on the Brave— on the Braves stock, you know. A bit of a slump to start the year, but I think that’s par for the course for the market.
BOBBY: Yeah. Well, they’re not playing baseball, so how could the stock be doing well? I don’t understand how there is stock. It just doesn’t make sense to me.
ALEX: It’s not [33:10]
BOBBY: How there is stock— but yet, I still can’t see their detailed financials.
ALEX: Yeah. That’s—
BOBBY: We— we live in the— we live in the dumbest society ever built.
ALEX: Well, we— we do need to have Rob Mains back on who I know is going to be doing a regular— who I know is going to be doing a regular series over at Baseball Prospectus, looking through their, like, quarterly reports.
BOBBY: I love it when real journalists do real work. That’s really useful to us here on
this podcast.
ALEX: Yup. And then we can just bring them on and say, “Hey, look, we read that, too.”
BOBBY: Meanwhile, we’re building Alex Rodriguez’s presidential campaign in five steps.
ALEX: That’s right.
BOBBY: That’s real work, too. You know, that’s labor.
ALEX: I’m— I’m— I don’t know. Do you have thought— do you have extensive thoughts on this?
BOBBY: Is Lucas Giolito good anymore?
ALEX: I don’t know, man.
BOBBY: I— I want him to be good. I— I hope he is good. The Red Sox are such a funny organization to me. Just generally, they’re funny. I don’t understand what they’re doing.
ALEX: No.
BOBBY: It’s just a lot of like—
ALEX: Do you know his middle name is— is Frost? Lucas Frost Giolito.
BOBBY: I did not know that. That’s useful information, though. Good. I’m glad, since he’s moving to— to Massachusetts. It’s pretty cold there.
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: Well, how do you think he got that name? Is this like a Frost/Nixon situation?
ALEX: First Frost that comes to mind.
BOBBY: I mean, is there another? I guess Robert Frost, the poet? I thought— I— I mean—
ALEX: Frost/Nixon is like the name of a movie, right? Like it’s referencing to other people named Frost, as I understand it.
BOBBY: Yeah. Right. British journalist David Frost. I hope it’s—
ALEX: Do you think that Lucas Giolito was— was named after David Frost?
BOBBY: Maybe was born— no, Frost/Nixon came out in 2008. I was gonna say maybe he was born when that was the biggest movie in theaters. Maybe he was. Maybe Lucas Giolito’s parents were just like, “David Frost was really holding his feet to the fire.”
ALEX: Or like the
BOBBY: Lucas Giolito is one of baseball’s foremost liberals.
ALEX: That is actually accurate.
BOBBY: I use just that term, liberal, like not lefty liberal.
ALEX: Yes.
BOBBY: Dude, you’re not gonna believe this, though. Lucas Giolito went to high school with Jack Flaherty and Max Fried. That was just a little—
ALEX: How—
BOBBY: —just like a little fun fact that I dug up [35:39]
ALEX: How— wait, how is that possible?
BOBBY: Because I was like, “Well, Lucas Giolito, like, what’s he up to?” You know, like, it’s been a weird career sort of, and I— I was on his Wikipedia page, and I was like, “Whoa. He—”
ALEX: Wait, wait. At this— is this Harvard-Westlake place?
BOBBY: Yeah, yeah. Which is in California.
ALEX: What?
BOBBY: Max Fried—
ALEX: Wait, all of— wait, all of them were, like, all at the, like— the same school together?
BOBBY: They were on the same team, at the same time.
ALEX: They were on the— what?
BOBBY: Can you imagine playing that team?
ALEX: How have we not talked about this?
BOBBY: Like, imagine you’re just like Alex Bazeley average second baseman from other Southern California school. And here comes Lucas Giolito—
ALEX: Lucas Giolito—
BOBBY: —Jack Flaherty—
ALEX: —Jack Flaherty—
BOBBY: —and Max Fried. And you’re like, “I can’t win here. Harvard-Westlake—”
ALEX: Boy, they got— those— those players have some stories to tell.
BOBBY: Do you know Harvard Westlake is where the movie Booksmart is based on?
ALEX: I actually didn’t know that, but it’s in retrospect, not all that surprising.
BOBBY: Not surprising at all. Okay. Next— next news item. Unless you’re— do you think Chris Sale is good anymore? I was talking to Jordan Schusterman about this. Not to expose Jordan Schusterman thoughts on the trade as he’s away on his honeymoon. Spoiler, if you don’t want to hear Jordan Schusterman’s thoughts on the Chris Sale trade, skip ahead 30 seconds. He was like, “Why are they doing this? Why are the Braves doing this?” They’re kind of just in their like fuck it, we ball era. Alex Anthopoulos is like, “Every move I’ve ever made is good. Let’s see how far we can stretch that.”
ALEX: Yeah, they’re like— the Braves are, I think, generally regarded as, I don’t know, depending on your perspective, one of the two best teams in baseball right now. It’s like it might— might be Braves or Dodgers, depending on the day.
BOBBY: And my— hold on.
ALEX: Heard of them?
BOBBY: What kind of Phillies fan are you that you would say that those two teams are the best teams in baseball given that the Phillies, your Phillies owned the Braves and they will—
ALEX: That’s true.
BOBBY: They will win 89 games and eliminate the Braves, the 100-04 win Braves again.
ALEX: I mean, I think the Phillies are going all the way. I think this is the year, to be very clear.
BOBBY: We’ll see about that. We’ll see about that. Not if Harrison Bader—
ALEX: But my—
BOBBY: —has anything to say about it.
ALEX: My question is, is the Braves rotation any good at all? Like Strider aside, I’ll— I—
BOBBY: Should we sign Spencer Strider?
ALEX: Goddammit. Like, Strider is winning his Cy Young this year, so that— that I [38:08]
BOBBY: No, he is not winning the Cy Young.
ALEX: He’s not—
BOBBY: Bro, he is the best— ugh! Patrons will know. If you listen— top-tier patrons will know that an argument about Spencer Strider took place on the expanded Overrated, Underrated episode with our friends, Cespedes Family BBQ. Just a good old—
ALEX: And Bobby was adamant that Spencer Strider would— would never win the Cy Young.
BOBBY: He’s not going to win the Cy Young. He’s not.
ALEX: I just— I don’t understand—
BOBBY: He’s not.
ALEX: —how you think that.
BOBBY: Because David Peterson is going to win the Cy Young this year.
ALEX: Oh, that’s right.
BOBBY: David Peterson who’s out until, like, July.
ALEX: Remember when— when we were— we were like, “Okay, who’s gonna have a better career, David Peterson or John Means?” And then both of them just kind of, like, went poof.
BOBBY: Dude, remember when we were like that— yeah. I remember I said that on Baseball BBQ and got roundly ridiculed. And then John Means threw a no-hitter and then hasn’t been heard from again. I just want to say—
ALEX: I mean, what David— what David Peterson was up to?
BOBBY: Changed his delivery last year, had a lot of really good outcomes, you know? What— I don’t know what to tell you.
ALEX: Oh. Oh. Oh. I love that.
BOBBY: I love a lot of really good outcomes. A lot of really good out—
ALEX: That’s a very diplomatic way of saying it.
BOBBY: No, he— he actually did have, like, 10 good starts at the end of last year and then he got hurt. Not that anybody should care because the Mets won, like, 79 games. How many games did the Mets win last year? Let’s play a little game. I actually don’t know.
ALEX: Wow.
BOBBY: 7—74, 75.
ALEX: Oh.
BOBBY: But, you know, 43-38 at home that Citi Field, that Queens advantage, can’t beat them.
ALEX: That’s right, baby. That’s right.
BOBBY: Can’t beat them in Queens. How do you not know my feelings on Spencer Strider? He’s not going to win the Cy Young in—
ALEX: I do know your feelings on Spencer Strider.
BOBBY: Congratulations.
ALEX: I didn’t [39:58]
BOBBY: Gotta hand it over are the four other relievers now.
ALEX: They keep you up at night? Literally, what are you talking about?
BOBBY: What am I talking about? Pitch into the eighth inning, Spencer Strider.
ALEX: He threw 186 innings last year. Like, how is that not just an average starting pitcher these days?
BOBBY: I would rather have Zack Wheeler.
ALEX: I— I— I mean, okay.
BOBBY: I would rather have one of the best three pitchers in baseball. Listeners just got a little taste of what I’m calling my reactionary anti-analytics pivot in 2024.
ALEX: Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: Just know that anything I say that sounds completely ridiculous and, like, it should be on MLB Network or WFAN. It’s all a bit. It’s all a bit. Spencer Strider is phenomenal, phenomenal. Very likely that he will win a Cy Young, but I’m just going to come out and put my foot down because I hate the Braves. If he was on the Mets, I would be having T-shirts printed that—
ALEX: Oh, my God. Yeah.
BOBBY: —he should have several Cy Youngs already.
ALEX: Uh-hmm. Start giving Cy Youngs to Minor leaguers.
BOBBY: We should retroactively give him Cy Youngs for seasons that he was in at Clemson.
ALEX: Yeah. Okay. I— I— I think that this is the year the Braves’ rotation is actually exposed for being frauds. Like, really, you’re relying on Charlie Morton and Chris Sale in the year of 2024?
BOBBY: I think I agree. Although, I don’t know, I guess their farm system is kind of— it’s kind of dunzo, you know? They’ve already made all their moves. There’s not really a lot of depth—
ALEX: Right.
BOBBY: —to trade from. But the Braves, like, pull off this shit all the time, where you’re like, “What— how could— how do they keep getting away with this?”
ALEX: I know.
BOBBY: Like, is Dylan Cease gonna be on the Braves by June? Maybe, maybe. Not gonna love that. Watching Dylan Cease and Spencer Strider just eat Pete Alonso’s lunch.
ALEX: [41:48]
BOBBY: And then fucking David Stearns is going to trade them. I got— I got something for you on David Stearns coming up in resolutions. You better believe it. Speaking of New York Mets—
ALEX: I’m so ready.
BOBBY: “—Center fielder Harrison Bader and the New York Mets are in agreement on a one-year, $10.5 million contract, the source tells ESPN.” Just so you know, An— Andy Martino was there first. Jeff Passan made sure.
ALEX: He always is.
BOBBY: So let’s talk about Harrison Bader. This is clearly the Alex-ometer.
ALEX: God. It really like almost does because—
BOBBY: Really?
ALEX: —I really liked Harrison Bader, but like we’ve— no. I— I can’t actually justify spending time talking about that.
BOBBY: That’s native New Yorker Harrison Bader to you.
ALEX: That’s right. That’s— that’s fit god [42:30] Harrison Bader to you.
BOBBY: As we’ve been saying, bring Harrison home. You know, we’ve all been saying it, bring Harrison home back where he belongs.
ALEX: Right.
BOBBY: Harrison Bader— that’s— this is actually a really good signing.
ALEX: I know.
BOBBY: One of the— just one of the most underrated positions in baseball is the defense first center fielder. The Mets were ironically on this, like, seven years ago when they were just, like, continuing to play Juan Lagares and every fan was like—
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: “—I will personally drive Juan Lagares to the airport—”
ALEX: Right.
BOBBY: “—if you trade him.” But they were right. And now we have our new Juan Lagares, a right-handed hitting defense— defense for a center fielder who is going to infuriate everybody at the plate and make about 38, less than 15% likelihood Statcast catches this year.
ALEX: Yes.
BOBBY: That’s my analysis on Harrison Bader. Next, probably my favorite move in months. My favorite move in months, “Breaking: The San Francisco Giants and Seattle Mariners are in— are in agreement on a trade that will send former Cy Young winner Robbie Ray—” remember when Robbie Ray won the Cy Young? “To the Giants for outfielder Mitch Haniger and right-hander Anthony DeSclafani.” Hey, hey, the Mariners are getting DeSclafani. “Sources familiar with the deal tell ESPN.” Do you want to hear why this is one of my favorite moves?
ALEX: I— I— I’m waiting with bated breath.
BOBBY: This is like the definition of third place teams trading their wares, you know? It’s like, “Well, if we can’t get the actually good players, let’s just exchange our pretty good, fine, okay.” It’s just a real shuffling of the deck to finish in third.
ALEX: Yes.
BOBBY: It’s like, “We can’t—”
ALEX: I kind of— yeah.
BOBBY: “We can’t or we don’t want to play with the big dogs. And so we’re going to trade Robbie Ray, the guy who for some reason won a Cy Young and jot— got a gigantic contract, but is so deeply, deeply uninteresting to watch as a pitcher and maybe not actually that good.” The one time we signed a big guy—
ALEX: That’s how I feel about Blake Snell.
BOBBY: —we— we— we are now— well, him and Blake Snell are very closely linked in my mind.
ALEX: Yeah.
BOBBY: The one time we actually shelled out for a big contract for a top tier-free agent. It’s like, “Nah, we’re going to trade that guy for Mitch Haniger in a couple years.” It’s just so funny. It’s so funny. Also like Mitch Haniger was already on the Mariners, and they let him go. They let him go to the Giants. Because Anthony—
ALEX: But I always wonder what that’s like— what those conversations are like, right? In the front office, when you’re like, “Look, we let this guy walk. We clearly”— I mean, I guess it all comes down to just like, value, how you’re valuing guys in the present moment versus how you’re— who— how you’re valuing the— the— the other teams offer.
BOBBY: I mean, this is like— this is a salary dump. Like, there’s no world in which you think Haniger and DeSclafani are worth, like, the good actual Cy Young winning version of Robbie Ray. You either just don’t think he can get back there, or you don’t want to pay for the risk of him not getting back there. You know, he makes a decent amount of money and the— from the Giants perspective, they’re like, “Eh. These are two guys who aren’t very good. Let’s take a flyer on Robbie Ray since nobody wants to come play here.” Robbie Ray doesn’t have the opportunity to say no, because of San Francisco’s violent crime, if we just trade for him.
ALEX: Ray who also missed the entire 2023 season effectively [46:12]
BOBBY: And he’s gonna miss half of 2024, yeah.
ALEX: Right. So, like, it’s a real question mark on, I think, all fronts, which once again, is what makes these trades so enjoyable.
BOBBY: Do you think Robbie Ray will ever post another season with an ERA under 3.5.
ALEX: [46:29] point to know. I mean, he’s only 32.
BOBBY: For context, in his career, which is 10 years, 10 years in the bigs, Alex. He has two seasons with an ERA under 3.5.
ALEX: Yeah, I don’t know. As someone who’s— who has historically struggled with command, I know that that’s one of the things that can take a hot sec to come back after Tommy John surgery. I don’t know if this is his first or second. I guess I would assume it’s his second, because that’s the case with most guys these days.
BOBBY: Yeah, I don’t know. I don’t know much about Robbie Ray’s Minor League career. It appears this is his first Tommy John.
ALEX: Do you have other thoughts on Robbie Ray?
BOBBY: How did he win the Cy Young?
ALEX: It was not a great year that he won in.
BOBBY: Yeah, you’re right. Should have went to Lance Lynn.
ALEX: Like, really?
BOBBY: I just love Lance Lynn. Actually, it should have gone to Carlos Rodon.
ALEX: That’s a crazy take, in 132 innings.
BOBBY: Wow, that was like one of the worst pitching years ever.
ALEX: It was really tough.
BOBBY: I guess he did deserve it. Okay. We’re nearing the end.
ALEX: What was— what was crazy was Zack Wheeler not— not winning that year. That’s— I’ll put out there [47:52]
BOBBY: That was incredibly fucked up. This is what I— see, this is one talking about. With the Spencer— I’m all worked up. I’m all worked up on Spencer Strider. Speaking of lefties who struggle with command, the last Alex-ometer topic that I have here is New York Post reporting, “The Mets are sending left-handed pitcher Sean Manaea to a two-year, $28 million dollar deal.” That’s your guy.
ALEX: That’s my dude right there. I love—
BOBBY: You— are you ready to come— are you ready to come home? Are you ready to come back to Queens?
ALEX: I am. I’m— I’m ready to come home.
BOBBY: Stop fucking around with the Phillies.
ALEX: Yeah.
BOBBY: When are we going to finally reveal— on the podcast, like when are you going to finally put your foot down and be like, “The Phillies thing, it was a good effort, but it’s time to go back to the Mets.”
ALEX: I know. That’s a— that’s a good question, because like I kind of enjoy—
BOBBY: It’s okay [48:43]
ALEX: I give you one of my hand in a few different like pots, you know?
BOBBY: Right, right. It’s okay. You went off to college, you know? You said you told your hometown girlfriend, it’s like, “Let’s a couple years apart. Let’s explore. Let’s— let’s— let’s live our lives a little bit, you know?” You flirted with the Phillies.
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: You know, like Xfinity Live! was a fun time. You know, Xfinity Live! Alex.
ALEX: Yeah.
BOBBY: Crazy boy.
ALEX: Crazy boy.
BOBBY: But now it’s time to stop dicking around. It’s time to come on home to the Mets, stable, long-term—
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: —relationship that is the New York Mets.
ALEX: Right, exactly. The partner who has always been there for me.
BOBBY: And always will. You know, consistency is key with the Mets. You know what to expect. With— the— the Phillies in five years, like they’re not going to be fun anymore. They’re— they’re sexy now, right? But in five years when—
ALEX: So— so you think I should be thinking about how my partner is aging, take that into— into account. She’s not gonna be sexy anymore.
BOBBY: I just— I just mean like— I don’t mean sexy physically. I’m just talking about like, “It’s— it’s the intriguing pic right now. They’re fun and young, [49:42] and having fun with the Phillies, but come on, let’s be real here.
ALEX: Right.
BOBBY: Let’s be real.
ALEX: Can I really settle down with her?
BOBBY: Can you really expect the Garrett Stubbs energy to still be there in five years? And no. The answer is no. The answer is just no.
ALEX: No.
BOBBY: It’ll be an ongoing —an ongoing process.
ALEX: Uncle Stevie not going anywhere.
BOBBY: I hope not.
ALEX: I mean, the A— if we’re being honest, the A’s might not go anywhere, too. It’s like 50/50 they go to Las Vegas at this point. So—
BOBBY: I— I have a question— that— that is really funny, actually. I have a question, does Steve Cohen have a son? Like, if Steve Cohen croaks it, what happens to the Mets?
ALEX: He has a daughter, right?
BOBBY: Yeah, but owners don’t pass it on to their daughter, do they?
ALEX: It’s— it’s like— It’s like royalty, right? Where you— like you—
BOBBY: Wait, hold on. I’m on Steve Cohen’s Wikipedia page.
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: It’s wildly disrespectful, wildly disrespectful. I’m looking to see if he has kids. Personal life, Cohen has been married twice. In 1979, he married Patricia Finke, a New York native from a working class background who grew up in the Washington— in the Washington Heights, Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. They have two children together. They divorced in 1990. It doesn’t say who— the children gender of their children.
ALEX: Yeah.
BOBBY: I’m kidding. I mean, if he— I didn’t— just didn’t know whether he had any kids at all. In 1991, Cohen met Alexan— Alexandria— Alex Garcia, who is very around the Mets and very involved in the New York Mets organization. A single mother of Puerto Rican descent. Garcia grew up in Washington Heights, moving there from her original home in the projects of Harlem. They met through a dating service and was described according to an acquaintance as someone who had quote, “always wanted to marry a millionaire.” Crazy, crazy editorializing in the Wikipedia pages of Steve Cohen about his wife Alex. She’s the president of The Amazin’ Mets Foundation, the team’s associated charity.
ALEX: So I feel like she would be the logical successor.
BOBBY: Right. Yeah, yeah. I’m just making sure. You know I’m making sure we’re in okay hands.
ALEX: Right. Do you have inside knowledge about Steve Cohen’s health?
BOBBY: I don’t, I don’t. And people with that much money tend to live to be very old. Do you think he’s doing any of those like weird billionaire blood transfusion things? Just gut feeling, yes or No?
ALEX: He doesn’t strike me as that kind of guy.
BOBBY: I don’t, either. Yeah, I don’t think so. either. He seems like the kind of billionaire who’s like, “I will have steak.”
ALEX: Right. And then I’ll just pay for the best doctor to just treat me if something happens.
BOBBY: Right, exactly. I’ll skip the line for the organ donation.
ALEX: Right, exactly. Also, just like what a weird picture of him on his Wikipedia.
BOBBY: So weird, so weird.
ALEX: It’s like— it’s like super zoomed in, like poor quality. Almost looks like airbrushed a little— a little bit. He’s got like the Newt Gingrich holiday card airbrush going on.
BOBBY: Do you think if both Newt Gingrich and Alex Rodriguez were on the Republican ticket that Alex Rodriguez could get— could pull better than Newt?
ALEX: Oh, if— if they were, like, running separately?
BOBBY: Yeah. Yeah.
ALEX: I think so, yes.
BOBBY: We all know it’s Alex Rodriguez and Paul Ryan are in the tickets.
ALEX: Right, right. Yes.
BOBBY: We know this, we know this.
ALEX: Yes.
BOBBY: Funded by a close friend of Alex Rodriguez and Warren Buffett.
ALEX: Naturally.
BOBBY: That’s a winning campaign. I’m just telling you, like this is real— real. Alex Rodriguez could be President of the United States one day.
ALEX: That’s a— like actually, genuinely horrifying thought.
BOBBY: Disagree. Respectfully, of course, but disagree. Worse things could happen. He doesn’t have that killer instinct, you know? He’s not going to end society. He likes it too much. He’s a [53:45] guy.
ALEX: It’s— it’s true, he profits too much from it, but—
BOBBY: He’s not that different from Joe Biden.
ALEX: Say more.
BOBBY: Everything you say, you’re kind of just like, “You’re not really saying anything.”
ALEX: Right. You’re just kind of talking in circles, but like [53:59] resonates.
BOBBY: You have no idea what [53:59] no clue what the person stands for. Just not really sure what the values are.
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: Every once in a while is really funny, like really funny. Like so funny, you’re— you’re not even sure if it was on purpose.
ALEX: Yeah.
BOBBY: They can have a similar build, you know? Pretty tall, chesty.
ALEX: Uh-hmm. Have enough Botox to, like, tranquilize an elephant.
BOBBY: Been around— been around the block, had a lot of “It’s so over, we’re so back” cycles to their careers.
ALEX: Uh-hmm. True. True.
BOBBY: I mean, come on. Come on. You’re talking to me.
ALEX: [54:38] it now.
BOBBY: Of course, I am. Of course, I am. I can make any comparison between national politicians and professional baseball players make sense. That is my superpower. That’s what I’m put on this Earth to do. Okay. Let’s move on. Alex-ometer, what would you rate it? I’d say it’s like a B.
ALEX: I think we can do better but, you know, I think we’re bounded by what the topics actually are, right?
BOBBY: It’s not our fault. We’re just— we’re just servants of the content, you know?
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: I put out a tweet asking people to share what are some things they’d like us to talk about or things that they think we’ve missed as we head into this year to— to set a tone. We got some good responses, Alex. I’m gonna run through a couple of those responses right now, and then we’ll do our New Year’s resolutions to close out the pod. The first topic is the disappearance of Jed Hoyer. The man is missing and nobody seems to care. This topic comes to us from Nick D. You actually are on the ground— boots on the ground in Chicago right now. You are pounding the pavement out. You’re looking for Jed.
ALEX: Yeah. No, I’m—
BOBBY: I’m not gonna give your—
ALEX: I’ve been at the— I’ve been at the stadium every day.
BOBBY: I’m not gonna give your real-time assassination coordinates right now.
ALEX: Thank you.
BOBBY: But you’re on the hunt. You are in the— what’s the area code of Chicago? I don’t know. You know, like the 215 or the 510, or—
ALEX: 6— 6031.
BOBBY: Got it. You’re just giving the codes now. I meant like telephone.
ALEX: Oh, the telephone. 630, there we go.
BOBBY: Okay, great. You’re in the 630 looking for Jed. I thought this was a funny topic because the Cubs are something of a hobby horse for me, personally, because I find— speaking of It’s over, we’re so back cycles, I find them to be one of the more on the Tipping Pitches Podcast, like in— in the— graded on the Tipping Pitches rubric. I find them to be one of the more It’s so over, we’re so back organizations that we’ve had in our time here together. Or just— I guess in our time knowing each other since— because we didn’t start the podcast ’til 2017, but we very much were sitting around, chatting about baseball, the two of us, like right at the end of their crazy tank job. And it was really fun. The rise was really fun. We were not doing pods yet, of course. The fall was really funny to talk about, how they bungled it and mismanaged it. And it was really fun to dunk on the Ricketts. And it remain— they remain one of the more, like, callously business-oriented franchises, just in the way that they like weaponize a deeply devoted and historical fan base and community, and ballpark into just pure money to, like, fund right-wing Republicans in state houses all across America. So they’re really a fascinating hobbyhorse of ours here on the podcast. But then they’ve kind of like— and of course, you— you— you drop a little Theo spice onto all of it, and it—
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: —makes the conversation even more interesting, one of our favorite guys to talk about. And his retirement and him stepping away from the team, like just when shit was about to really get bad for them. And then Jed succeeding— succeeding Theo in Theo mold, and I— I really feel like he’s done a pretty good job of, like, pulling them out of it and actually making competitive moves and wanting to build a good team. And so they’re at this weird, interesting inflection point where they’ve done a very good job rebuilding from when they just fire sold the team that won them the World Series as recently as 2016. And it was like a young, sustainable core. They didn’t build around any of those guys. And weirdly enough, it’s gone like about as well as it could, given how intentional— intentionally they dismantled the team. It’s going okay since then. But now they’re at a weird spot where, like, they kind of are trying to be big market Cubs and get all these free agents, and they’re having a really tough time. And I think, I think that’s why we received this question in this terminology from Nick, because they always have their hat in the ring for guys like Ohtani, Yamamoto, other top-tier free agents like— like Bellinger or— I know that they had Bellinger on their team, which is why they’re in the ring for him still. But, like, it doesn’t seem like they can quite win those races against the Dodgers, and the Yankees, and the Mets, and the Phillies of the world, and so they’re in like an awkward Limbo period. So all of that to say, what do you think of the Cubs and what Jed Hoyer is doing? Are you high on the Cubs? I weirdly feel like you might be sneaky higher on the Cubs than other people are.
ALEX: I don’t know about high on the cards. I mean, like they got to start doing something for a— I’m pretty sure they just— they just made their first, like, Major League acquisition this offseason, like two days ago. And it was like— it was like a waiver claim. I don’t know. Ha— has it gone okay for them? Has Jed Hoyer done a good job? Like I feel like sure they’re not in a nosedive, like he pulled them out of the nosedive. But it’s more just kind of been like, “All right. Steady she goes. We have to shed all of these stars because we don’t want to pay them, right? And so let’s re—retool with what we got, right? Like we’re going to retool, we’re not going to rebuild. We got lines in the water.” All these like, you know, pithy little catchphrases that you throw out there and, like, signal the people that you’re— that you’re in. But I— I have yet to see any indication that they’re like gearing up for another round of competitiveness. I— I— it feels like they’re more waiting on other teams in the central to kind of see where it shakes out.
BOBBY: The reason I say that is because all things considered, most of those players did not turn out to be very good. Like most of the players that they were like, “We got to get rid of all these guys,” like not to be like Theo was right or Jed was right, but like, what is— what is Javy Baez doing right now? Would $300 million—
ALEX: Yeah.
BOBBY: —deal for Javy Baez have worked out?
ALEX: No.
BOBBY: Would— would keeping Kris Bryant around have been— like Kris Bryant is the one and Rizzo, I guess, but like he— he’s older. Kris Bryant is the one where it would have been like, “Okay, if he was part of your future plans, but not the only sort of, like, cornerstone piece.” That would have been fine. Because Kris Bryant is still, you know, a good defender, a solid hitter. He’s just kind of like wasting away, and maybe not trying that hard in Colorado.
ALEX: Yeah.
BOBBY: But that’s like— that’s a different conversation. He could have been a part of the future of the Cubs, but the rest of that team, I know that it felt really young at the time— and, you know, I also kind of forgot about Schwarber, but that was, like, happening kind of like slightly before the DH came to the NL where they had to make a decision on Schwarber. And he was like one of the pieces that was— that was actually going to fetch them something back. So, like, each individual move was sort of justifiable. If I was gonna pick a bone with any of that, it would have been probably— I— I might have just like— for the sake of the fandom, for the sake of keeping some— some tangential relationship to the 2016 team that broke a literally 100 plus year curse, I might have kept around maybe one of those two guys. But having said that, I don’t think any of those guys were like, “Well, they should have given him $250 million necessarily.”
ALEX: Right. Sure.
BOBBY: And now they have the top farm system in baseball, according to FanGraphs. So, like, I— I know that, you know, it’s— it’s stupid to rely on that as like a— as like a metric of future success, but they are in a good spot, you know? They’re in a pretty decent spot, but they’re not a bad team. They flopped in the second half of last year, but they also just got the best manager in baseball. So like, all in all, B plus, I guess. Whereas like I would have given them like a C, three years ago. I do think that they— they will— in the 2020s, will win the NL Central more than any other team.
ALEX: That’s my take. Like, taking into account what has already happened?
BOBBY: Yeah.
ALEX: I see that. I mean, the Brewers are kind of on their way out. The Cardinals are probably going to be good again this year, because that’s usually how that shit goes. But I agree that like there’s— there’s not— as with both central divisions, basically every year, there’s not a huge path of resistance to success there. So I don’t know. I just— I haven’t seen a clear, like, direction that they’ve pushed themselves in. I do think they have a fine enough foundation.
BOBBY: By the way, the tally right now is Brewers two, Cardinals one, Cubs one. So as we head into 2024 —
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: —they are one behind the Brewers and tied with the Cardinals in terms of NL Central titles. I think at the end of this decade when we’re doing podcast episode number 1,200 or whatever, I think the Cubs will have the most titles in the NL Central, which is like— I mean, you know, we dump on a lot of teams and whatnot, but like to say that I think that they will be most likely to have the most sustained success in their division for a whole decade is like a pretty big compliment, you know? I think that also about the Dodgers. I think that about the Yankees. I think that— I don’t— I don’t think that about the Mets. I think that about the Braves, You know? Like, I think that about— I’m actually not sure if I think that about anybody in the Astro— or in the NL West— or AL West. I guess the defending champion Rangers probably deserve that, but who knows? I don’t know. I’m— I know it must be frustrating for Cubs fans because like they do have a lot of money. They have stuff to throw around, but it doesn’t seem like they’ve connected the dots in terms of how to pitch that to free agents and build a team around. Also the young core and supplementing it with higher priced free agents to build what looks like an actually like 95 plus win team.
ALEX: Yeah. It seems like they’re still figuring out that identity a little bit, which is fine. I— if you’re coming off a World Series when— which was seven years ago at this point, I know it’s— sometimes it can take a moment to like re-find your identity once you’ve let some of those guys walk. But it does feel like we’re— we’re at the point now where it is worth it for them to actually make a plunge.
BOBBY: I agree. Another topic that we— that was listener submitted, this comes from Huambo, [1:05:19] the future of baseball media as the gap widens between affiliated and unaffiliated outlets.” I’m just going to make an executive decision here and say that we don’t have enough time to delve into this topic with the nuance and care that it deserves here at the end of this podcast, and within this, the— the fine segment of stuff that we’ve missed over the last couple of weeks or whatever. But I really appreciate the thoughtfulness of this topic and framing it in the context of what is something that we should be paying attention to heading into 2024 and heading into this next year. Because as this listener supposes, like this is really important, and also, that gap is widening a lot, especially when you factor in partnerships over rights, partnerships over sports betting, which is really, really wrapped its tentacles around media at large. I think this is something we should be checking in with regularly, maybe with like other— other reporters, like media people. But this is also something that like, I think, even next week when we do the State of Labor in Baseball is relevant, you know? Like the State of Labor in Baseball is refracted through the media to fans. And if the media is more affiliated with the teams in— in the league from a business perspective than it’s ever been, then like that state can feel better than it actually is. And so it’s something that I want to keep in mind. It’s something I want to talk about, and I appreciate the submission, because it’s obviously a very Tipping Pitches topic.
ALEX: Yeah. I mean, I know that like ESPN and Disney were talking with all the major sports leagues about like equity partnerships, right? And— and intertwining their businesses even more, which, sure, whatever. It just is— it all feels very weird when you start to think that everything is happening under one umbrella. I was thinking this last night as I was, like, reading some articles on mlb.com. You know, and the mlb.com employs some wonderful reporters, but it is really interesting to think about how it’s one part of a company that is reporting on just another part of a company. It’s all to contain the ecosystem.
BOBBY: You know, for full— for full disclosure, we should also say that we’ve been talking with Major League Baseball about equity partnerships. We’ve been—
ALEX: Yes. Yeah, yeah.
BOBBY: —we’ve been considering live broadcasts of MLB games on the Tipping Pitches Patreon, because we know that there’s just like— there’s not enough places to get MLB games, you know? There’s not enough different places that you need to pay for it to be able to watch your team. And so we were like, “Maybe we should have another outlet?” You know? So we were thinking like the Diamondbacks and the Rays. And we’re in talks with the Pirates, but we’re not sure yet. But those will be exclusively broadcast on the Tipping Pitches Patreon in 2024. Most likely.
ALEX: Right. Yeah.
BOBBY: So make sure you sign up. Do you want to close do— do some new year’s resolutions?
ALEX: I only have one.
BOBBY: Sure. Okay. Did you come up with one? Actually, before—
ALEX: It’s—
BOBBY: —before we do my baseball-related one, do you have like a regular real life New Year’s resolution?
ALEX: No, I gave up on those.
BOBBY: Self-improvement is out. Did— did you come up with a baseball—
ALEX: I have to become a better person for what? For what? For who?
BOBBY: Could not agree more. Do you have a baseball-related one?
ALEX: I’m— I’m workshopping a little bit, but why don’t— why don’t you kick us off? Let me hear yours.
BOBBY: Okay. I would like—
ALEX: And I’ll be chomping at the bit.
BOBBY: —in the year 2024 to limit myself to 3, 3, 1, 2, 3 rants about how David Stearns’ philosophy applies to the New York Mets because I already feel one [1:09:09] and I don’t want to— and I don’t want to burn it this early in the year, like it’s January 7th.
ALEX: Right. And then after— after—
BOBBY: So after this episode—
ALEX: We’re recording a day late, I should say. We wanted to record on the anniversary, but—
BOBBY: Well, we were busy.
ALEX: Celebrating.
BOBBY: We were in Bass Pro Shops. Just checking out the water. Seeing if it was warm enough to swim.
ALEX: Nice. Nice reference.
BOBBY: Thank you. After this episode, I promised only three meltdowns about David Stearns and his philosophy towards team building. Okay? But right now, I just have to say, here’s why it is, here’s why it is, this is my resolution.
ALEX: Here it is. Here it is.
BOBBY: I— the phrase “play stupid games, win stupid prizes” is— is too harsh for what David Stearns is doing and what this offseason is for the New York Mets. But let’s review the last two years compared to this year, when the Mets were run by literally Billy Eppler, one of the most incompetent GMs of baseball history. Just a bunch of big free agents, you know, just a lot of really big-time signing, splashing around, doing all this stuff that’s really sexy and fun for fans. This year, Harrison Bader, Sean Manaea, a couple bullpen arms. Adrian Houser.
ALEX: Severino.
BOBBY: I’m— I’m not saying that this— Severino. Yeah, a flyer, on a pitcher who used to be really good, but it’s definitely just gonna be hurt all year. I’m not saying that these are bad moves. Actually, all of these are really good moves. I like [1:10:41]
ALEX: [1:10:41] with one of these moves.
BOBBY: Of course, but this is the David Stearns’ shit, though.
ALEX: Yeah.
BOBBY: This is it. This is what he does. Can he do the big thing too? Because they’re not going to win the World Series with these moves. They’re not going to win the NL East with these moves. They’re not even going to make the playoffs with these moves, most likely, okay? If— if this all pays off, and in two years, the Mets have a bunch of young guys who are coming up to, and they hold on to Luisangel Acuña and he turns into Ronald Acuña part two, fucking awesome, great. We’ll love it. But if this is it, like if this is the whole Stearns experience, and he’s just tinkering and tweaking and doing little— cute, little $8 million moves here and there, it’s just like, “Why are we the Mets, then? You know, why do we have Steve Cohen?” Of course, they are holding on to a lot of money to make up for past mistakes, and this is very much with the early days of the Dodgers, building the sustainable beast that they have built felt like. But Andrew Friedman just gave $700 million to Shohei Ohkan— Shohei Otani, and then went out three days later, and gave $325 million to Yamamoto. And I know the Mets are trying to do that stuff too, but like, how hard, you know? I don’t know that stuff. My— my only critique is I just hope the Mets don’t get— don’t get caught— too caught up in being too cute, because a lot of big market teams have convinced themselves that that’s the way to win, is you just— you have all this money and you can be cute. And then they— they just don’t focus on having the money part. You know, they— they focus on hiring Chaim Blum to trade Mookie Betts to stand with the luxury tax. I just— I have some— I have a couple reservations about David Stearns, and I realized that he is— he is actually very smart, and he’s like one of the best teams in— in the league. I just think sometimes— and I know I did this rant already when they first hired him, we cut off our nose to spite our face because that is the— that’s like— that’s the general managerial philosophy now of Major League Baseball, and I think that he’s the best at it, but might not be smart. You know?
ALEX: I mean, I feel like this is also where having a guy like Steve Cohen as your owner kind of becomes important. Like, having a guy who’s like—
BOBBY: Right.
ALEX: —who’s like very publicly vocally, like, “Yes, I want this team to win. And yes, I have a high net worth, and yes, I’m willing to use that to those ends.” And so that’s where you almost want— like want the meddling owner to be like, “Dude, come on. I’m— I’m begging you to spend $200 million right now on this free agent.” You know?
BOBBY: Yeah. It just feels—
ALEX: Like it’s kind of the best of both worlds, but—
BOBBY: It’s like that— he’s so thirsty, though, that is almost it’s like [1:13:21]
ALEX: I know, I know.
BOBBY: Right? I don’t know. I thought it was nice that he flew to Japan and tried to court Yamamoto. That was sweet.
ALEX: Yeah.
BOBBY: He was always gonna be a Dodger, I think.
ALEX: Yeah, yeah.
BOBBY: Wouldn’t you? Never mind the— never mind the let’s find Alex a new team to be a fan of. Let’s— let’s find Alex a team to play for. All right. What’s your baseball related-resolution? Then we can close out. Since you have to go to the airport.
ALEX: I do have— I do have to go to the airport.
BOBBY: That’s the— that’s the headspace that you’ve been in. You’re flying to Iowa for the Democratic, shake some hands with the Iowa caucuses.
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: See if you can sneak in there and beat Dean Phillips.
ALEX: Dean Phillips, that’s right.
BOBBY: The name of a guy you definitely remembered from the beginning of this podcast.
ALEX: Yup. No, I’m recording him actually for when he does drop out to join A-Rod’s campaign.
BOBBY: Oh, switch— switch sides of the aisle. Like Arlen Specter.
ALEX: Uh-huh. What are my resolutions? I don’t know. I— my resolution is to write a newsletter more consistently this year for our— for our patrons. I think that’d be a nice gift. It’s your turn, by the way.
BOBBY: I know, but it’s once a month, right? And my turn for [1:14:37]
ALEX: Just once a month. Yeah.
BOBBY: And you had yours in December, so yeah, it— it’s January 7th—
ALEX: Yeah. No, it’s— hey, oh, I’m— hey, I’m not— I’m not giving you shit, you know? It’s just— we hadn’t— hadn’t discussed it.
BOBBY: My New Year’s resolution is to write a newsletter less frequently. How about that?
ALEX: Yeah. That’s great. Well, we balance each other out perfectly.
BOBBY: Alex is gonna write a newsletter every hour.
ALEX: Uh-huh.
BOBBY: That’s nice. That’s a good one. More watch-alongs.
ALEX: We should— well, we should do more watch-alongs. Yeah, I really want to branch out on ballpark food, honestly, I’m kind of—
BOBBY: Oh.
ALEX: I’m kind of—
BOBBY: Love this.
ALEX: —feeling a little— a little— a little stale with the— with the, like, sausage and peppers. I mean, I love— I love just a good ballpark, like, sausage and peppers. But— but I don’t know. Some— something tells me it’s time to switch it up a little bit.
BOBBY: I have a take.
ALEX: Okay.
BOBBY: Sausage and peppers at the ballpark is mediocre.
ALEX: Oh, I mean, I— everything in the ballpark is pretty mediocre.
BOBBY: Usually— this is no shade to the people who prepare the sausage and peppers. They’re just— they’re not set up to succeed. Okay? This— the role is usually stale. The sausage is fine.
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: It’s dry, definitely. Dry. And the— the peppers and onions are not cooked enough. They’re usually just, like, lightly sauteed, but still tastes pretty raw.
ALEX: Yeah.
BOBBY: And this is a function of the fact that like they don’t have enough grills going, and enough demand that they can just, like, keep it cooking. ahead of time.
ALEX: Right. It’s a bit of a niche order, I feel like.
BOBBY: Kinda, yeah. And there’s usually only like one or two spots to get it, and that means that they have to cook it fast, otherwise, there— there’s a big line that’s starting up. And that’s not the type of thing that you need to cook fast. You need to cook it slower, so that it doesn’t dry out. And so that those vegetables can really get to their proper softness. You know, the proper sauté, caramelizing of the onion, the wilting of the pepper. And there’s nothing worse than a raw green pepper. Like, that’s horrible. It’s just horrible. It’s just awful.
ALEX: Yeah, I think there are some worse things.
BOBBY: No, there’s not. There’s not.
ALEX: On a sausage, it’s— on— on— when you’re expecting something that, like, kind of melts in your mouth.
BOBBY: Oh, that’s upsetting.
ALEX: It’s— it’s— it is very upsetting.
BOBBY: It’s given me the ick, as the kids say.
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: So, I’m— I’m— I’m with you, branch out. But the thing is, like, branching out of the ballpark— maybe you need to branch in.
ALEX: I know. I know.
BOBBY: Maybe you need to branch in. Maybe you just need to be hotdog only. I— because, like, then you’re going— you’re getting like lobster, mac and cheese at the ballpark and you’re just like—
ALEX: Right.
BOBBY: “—Oh, man, I stood— stood in line for 28 minutes in Rob Manfred’s MLB. I missed four innings—”
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: :—and I paid $27 for mac and cheese. “
ALEX: And I just remembered I’m allergic to shellfish, so why the fuck did I stand in line for 28 minutes?
BOBBY: I always forget that about you. This is why I never see you even bother with shellfish. That’s like why you’re—
ALEX: Right. So you’re like, “Oh, he— he probably can if he wants to.”
BOBBY: And— and ballpark food is getting too— they’re doing too much.
ALEX: I know, they are doing a lot.
BOBBY: It’s like— let’s keep it simple. I might be— here’s— here’s a— here’s a resolution for you.
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: 2024, frugal. Okay? Let’s get— let’s get frugal with it. Let’s bring our own food to the ballpark.
ALEX: Yes.
BOBBY: No ballpark purchased food, because you can bring in anything you want to the ballpark that’s not liquid.
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: And we could—
ALEX: You can even— you— you can bring in your own water bottles now as well.
BOBBY: Hmm.
ALEX: And you can—
BOBBY: We can make our own sausages and peppers. And we could go open it up next to all those people who are buying the shitty ones and you’re gonna be like, “Here, I’ll sell you this for half the price.”
ALEX: You think that’d be allowed to be, like, selling—
BOBBY: [1:18:27]
ALEX: [1:18:27] see your—
BOBBY: No.
ALEX: —where, like, your food vendor’s license?
BOBBY: Like, we can—
ALEX: Oh, fuck. I knew I forgot something.
BOBBY: But this is a move, actually. This is a move, I think. We bring in like a little soft bag, a little soft insulated Trader Joe’s bag.
ALEX: Bro, we’re so leaning into dad energy, you know? We’re like bringing our own sun— or spray sunscreen when we go to the ballpark. We’re—
BOBBY: No, spray sunscreen is a scam. You waste half of it.
ALEX: I mean, yeah, I know.
BOBBY: Rub that sunscreen on. Don’t be afraid. Come on, I’ll help you out. That’s Tipping Pitches Patreon content right there.
ALEX: “Can you get my back? I will not take my shirt off—”
BOBBY: I was making sure— I was making—
ALEX: —but Bobby, can you just— can you put some sunscreen on my back?
BOBBY: I was making sure that all the sunscreen is rubbed in around our face, you know? Come on.
ALEX: Uh-huh.
BOBBY: That’s good stuff right there. That’s— that’s a good one. That’s my second resolution, bring my own food to the ballpark in 2024. I’m tired of spending this money. Gotta save it, you know? Gotta save it for important stuff, like going to London.
ALEX: I— well, that’s actually true. I’m not— or I— I’m not bringing my own food, sorry.
BOBBY: That’s fine.
ALEX: My little sandwich would get soggy in my backpack. No.
BOBBY: No, no, no. You bring the ingredients, make the sandwich in the stands. You’re gonna see. You’re gonna— I’m gonna do it one time and you’re gonna see my vision.
ALEX: Okay. All right, all right.
BOBBY: You’re gonna appreciate it. Okay? I’m gonna be like on— so I follow a lot of mildly to— to moderately problematic Italian meme pages, like Italian-American—
ALEX: Yeah.
BOBBY: —meme pages. Just an incredibly problematic community telling Americans— I know many people know this already, but I follow them because I think— I think it’s pretty funny to make fun of myself. And I’m going to be like Tommy DeVito level, the Giants quarterback, who is the North Jersey Italian guy. I’m going to be that level of, like, prepared in the stands with like— I’m going to pull out, you know, like the cold cuts and slice the bread. We’re sticking a knife in, in this case, too.
ALEX: This is— all right.
BOBBY: And we’re just like—
ALEX: Here’s the thing is— where my— my concurring resolution is to make this go viral on TikTok. To make a Tipping Pitches TikTok and to make this go viral. Because if you were like, “We’re making our own Italian beefs at Citi Field today.” Come on, let’s go. That’s shit is 200,000 views easily.
BOBBY: Easily, easily. I will do that. Not Italian beef, though, because that would actually— that’s actually good. But I’m gonna have— you know, I’m gonna pre— pre-sliced the bread so we don’t have to bring it in. You know, we’re— I got something to [1:20:56]
ALEX: Can you bring kni— can you bring knives? “Sir. It’s just a bread knife.
BOBBY: “You cannot do any damage with this, sir.” This is a good— this is a good idea. This is a good idea.
ALEX: Okay. I—
BOBBY: Make a TikTok account.
ALEX: New Year’s resolution, we’re— we’re preparing at least one meal inside Citi Field this year.
BOBBY: Oh, I thought you’re gonna say one meal per game.
ALEX: If you want.
BOBBY: All right, here we go. I’m gonna plan it out. Don’t worry.
ALEX: Have our little go-bag.
BOBBY: Yeah, it’s gonna be great. It’s gonna be great. Okay. That does it. Make the TikTok account next week when we do the State of Labor in Baseball with Michael Baumann. In the cold open of that podcast, I will ask you, did you make the TikTok account? And if you haven’t—
ALEX: Okay.
BOBBY: —you are— I’m trying to think. I was gonna say you’re banned from the State of Labor in Baseball pod, but I don’t really think that’s like much of a— it’s not really a punishment necessarily. You’d just be like, “Okay, I just— I’m gonna go watch a TV show.”
ALEX: I’m gonna get my Sunday— Sunday back, or my Thursday back, or whenever we’re recording it.
BOBBY: If you haven’t created the TikTok account yet, I’m leaving, and you’re recording the State of Labor in Baseball with just Baumann.
ALEX: Okay. All right. There we go. That would be a wild one. I’m into it, though. We can talk about— we can talk airports with him. I know he’s got some takes.
BOBBY: Oh, my God, he’s so ready. He’s so— he’s prepped this year. I’m really excited for everybody to hear his rants.
ALEX: Yeah.
BOBBY: Thank you everybody, for listening. I did a lot of promoting and plugging over the Patreon at the end of last year, and I did that because we revamped the Patreon, so if this is your first episode that you’re listening to in a while, you now get a bonus episode. If you sign up at the top tier of our Patreon, there’s way more info about that at patreon.com/tippingpitches. So go check that out, please. I’m not going to do another full spiel. Alex, you got to go to the airport, and I gotta go eat at In-N-Out.
ALEX: That’s right, brother. That’s right, brother.
BOBBY: Animal fries, animal burger.
ALEX: We’re doing it. Yeah, we’re making our own animal fries at [1:23:05]
BOBBY: In— in the stands of Citi Field.
ALEX: Inside the park.
BOBBY: We’re going to become an attraction the likes of which the Mets have not created since Cowbell Man. I’m just telling you. I’m telling you right now.
ALEX: This is what they need. Like— like this is what David Stearns has been missing. Fuck that [1:23:21] $300 million free agent.
BOBBY: No, he needs that Italian-American energy in the stands.
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: All right. Thanks, everyone, for listening. We’ll be back next week with the State of Labor in Baseball.
SPEAKER 3: I am stoned, I am cold. Can’t you hear how I raised my tone? Missed the boat, lost the gold. Reminisce every face I’ve known. Oh, I know that it’s wrong—
ALEX RODRIGUEZ: Hello, everybody. I’m Alex Rodriguez. Tipping Pitches. Tipping Pitches. This is the one that I love the most. Tipping Pitches. So, we’ll see you next week. See ya!
Tipping Pitches 
Leave a comment