Effectively Wild Episode 2440: Season Preview Series: Orioles and Padres

Summary

Effectively Wild Episode 2440: Season Preview Series – Orioles and Padres
February 13, 2026 | Hosted by Meg Rowley & Ben Lindbergh with guests Chris Mitchell, Andy Kostka (Baltimore Banner), and AJ Cassavel (mlb.com)

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Episode Overview

In this episode, the hosts continue their annual team-by-team MLB season preview series with in-depth discussions of the Baltimore Orioles and the San Diego Padres. They dig into spring training storylines—focusing on injuries and quirky player/manager behavior—before being joined by beat writers Andy Kostka and AJ Cassavel for comprehensive breakdowns of each club’s offseason moves, roster questions, and 2026 outlook. The episode is filled with baseball statistical analysis, plenty of signature Effectively Wild banter, and memorable tangents.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

Opening Banter: Spring Training Injuries & Baseball Weirdness

[00:32–17:47]

• Injury Deluge at Spring's Start

  • The hosts joke about the prevalence of “little bird bones” and in particular the impact of hamate injuries, referencing several recent cases (Francisco Lindor, Jackson Holliday, Corbin Burns, Corbin Carroll).
  • “Every single Corbin who plays for the Diamondbacks is, you know, a ghost at this point.” – Meg Rowley [02:43]
  • Noted that early spring tends to reveal a "backlog" of injuries, but this year felt unusually "dismaying" and concerning for key young players’ development.

• Hand-Wringing Over the Lasting Impact of Hamate Injuries

  • Meg: “There definitely are guys where it seems like there is a persistent power sapping quality to that particular injury…” [04:49]
  • Ben references research from Jason Collette and Jeff Zimmerman concerning hitters’ time to recover and power loss realities.

• Weird Spring Training Stories

  • Amusing detour into Phillies “weirdness hierarchy”—from raw milk to Bryce Harper’s publicized “booby milk” incident to Zach Wheeler’s removed rib.
  • “I don't understand keeping baby teeth… That's medical waste. Okay, that's—you're not asking me if I want to take the dirty gauze home.” – Meg Rowley [11:54]
  • More oddball reports: Craig Kimbrel listing favorite music as “AI” [15:55], Luis Angel Acuña “switch-hitter” controversy and White Sox GM Chris Getz’s notable gaffe correcting himself publicly.

• Labor Discourse Already Looming: Salary Cap Talk

  • Frustration with the early and persistent media push around CBA/salary cap before any genuine negotiations begin.
  • “Do we have to be talking about this salary cap 24/7 for a full year?... There's nothing new, really.” – Chris Mitchell [30:11]
  • Meg and Ben discuss the way coverage shapes fan expectations and league narratives, but note it may have little effect on eventual bargaining outcomes.

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Baltimore Orioles 2026 Season Preview

[38:57–86:48]
Guest: Andy Kostka, Baltimore Banner

Offseason Summary

• Aggressive, but Missing the Big Fish:

  • Orioles were second to only Blue Jays & Dodgers in new player spending (notably, $155M for Pete Alonso).
  • Yet, “hard to give an A to Baltimore’s offseason when the stated goal...was to sign a frontline starter. And then...they did not do that.” – Andy Kostka [40:23]
  • Chris Bassitt’s 1-year deal seen as solid but not the ace they needed.

• Rationale on Not Landing a Top Starting Pitcher:

  • Club not constrained financially, per new owner David Rubenstein; likely more a function of persuading talent to sign.
  • “The more of the issue probably was convincing players to come to Baltimore.” – Andy [44:06]

Rotation & Bullpen Uncertainties

• Rotation anchored by Kyle Bradish, Trevor Rogers:

  • Rogers: 2025 sub-2 ERA “unlikely to be repeated” but skills growth is real; worked on pitching from stretch and developing his sweeper.
  • Zac Eflin’s 2025 struggles attributed to back injury; “I think last year was more of an outlier due to injury, is the short answer.” – Andy [51:12]

• Grayson Rodriguez Trade:

  • Sent to Angels for Taylor Ward, reflecting lack of confidence in sustained health and performance.
  • “They did not believe that he was going to turn into the kind of pitcher they needed to win now.” – Andy [52:05]

• Bullpen Structure:

  • Closer Ryan Helsley added to stabilize the back end in Felix Bautista’s projected absence (shoulder surgery likely to sideline him all year).
  • Lefty reliever depth seen as a concern, with reliance on swingmen or converted starters possible.

Lineup & Defense

• Big Bats & Leadership:

  • Addition of Pete Alonso provides “veteran anchor” and vocal leadership to a young, talented but previously leaderless team.
  • “Baltimore wanted a lineup addition...I think they might have needed a pillar, that veteran that they can lean on in difficult, trying times.” – Andy [75:48]

• Key Players Under Microscope:

  • Adley Rutschman: Two straight down years, with injuries and changes in hitting coaches, but “I generally am an Adley Rutschman believer. I don't think that talent goes away overnight.” – Andy [61:11]
  • Samuel Basallo: “Way too much swing and miss and chase...” Needs to cut down on chasing out of the zone to take next step.
  • Jackson Holliday: Flashes power but needs improvement on backhand plays and striking out too much (“149 games, 140 strikeouts”).
  • Gunnar Henderson & Colton Cowser: Gunnar played through shoulder impingement; “I would actually put my belief [that] he could be a 30/30 guy…” — Andy [71:21]; Cowser’s offensive struggles partially blamed on rib injuries.

• Bench & Platooning:

  • “A very fascinating camp battle for the last couple spots…” — Orioles have unusually deep and flexible roster, many with options, including Mountcastle, Mayo, Beavers, Tyler O’Neill, Leody Tavares, Blaze Alexander.

Managerial Change

• Craig Albernaz Step Up:
  • Emphasis on player development, sarcasm, and “being himself.” Seen as positive presence with catching background useful for handling Rutschman/Basallo. Yet “we’re really going to know [about him] in August…” — Andy [84:42]

Measuring Success

• “They need to…win a playoff series. Even if…it’s the ALDS because you won the Wild Card, get that monkey off your back, that’s the first thing they need to do for success.” – Andy [85:17]

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San Diego Padres 2026 Season Preview

[87:28–135:31]
Guest: AJ Cassavel, mlb.com

Franchise Ownership Uncertainty

• Team exploring a sale following Peter Seidler’s passing; robust interest, but timing, process, and ultimate direction uncertain.
• “If the new ownership were to come in and reverse that course, I just…I don’t see that happening.” – AJ [93:09]

Offseason Restraint & Roster Management

• Notably, A.J. Preller has (so far) made zero trades this winter—an uncharacteristic lull possibly tied to a thinned farm system.
  • “There are still some intriguing guys in that system. But…it’s hard to pull from the guys that they have…” – AJ [97:27]
• Prospect depth remains an issue at the AAA/AA levels due to multiple prior years of aggressive trade activity.

Player Development & Lineup Questions

• Jackson Merrill: Dealt with injuries, not a true sophomore slump, but optimism for another leap.
  • “He has the potential to be a star...He was very new at it [CF] and he’s gotten better defensively.” – AJ [102:42]
• Power Shortfall: Padres finished 28th in HRs in 2025; team hopes for more from Tatis, newcomers like Miguel Andújar, and philosophy shift under new hitting coach Steven Souza Jr.
  • "With an offense that has Jackson Merrill, Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado, you should be able to tap into that power." – AJ [104:23]
• Ramon Laureano: Key right-handed bat, especially against lefties, after a resurgent 2025.
• Sung Mun Song: Korean signing brings versatility all over the diamond; team planning to ease him into action.

Rotation & Bullpen Structure

• Starting Pitchers:

  • Michael King: Signed a trampoline deal; has front-line potential but health track record is short and surgery-recovery recent.
    • “Michael King...gets his chance to do that [prove he’s an ace] and then we’ll see what happens next season.” – AJ [113:04]
  • Joe Musgrove: “Most important Padre” for 2026; complete recovery hoped-for, with possible managed workload.
  • Nick Pivetta: Remarkable improvement in 2025; credited to eliminating erraticness and maximizing his fastball/curveball combo.
  • Yu Darvish: Status uncertain, with reports of possible retirement or at least contract voiding.

• Bullpen:

  • The team's greatest strength; addition of Mason Miller to an already elite group (Adrian Morejon, Jason Adam, Jeremiah Estrada).
  • “That's why I think the Padres had some interesting decisions to make this offseason...they basically decided our bullpen is awesome and we want to make sure it's still awesome.” – AJ [122:39]
  • Concern over innings protection: "You do have to hand a lead to the bullpen in order for that lead to be protected." – Ben [124:29]

• The Miller/DeVries Trade:

  • Padres parted with top prospect Leo De Vries to Oakland for Mason Miller.
    • “If Leo De Vries is the next Jose Ramirez, it’s a terrible trade. But…I commend the Padres for being willing to make those moves.” – AJ [126:32]

Manager & Coaching Staff Changes

• Craig Stammen as New Manager:
  • High clubhouse respect, but totally inexperienced in managing. Quick rise from bullpen to front office to manager’s chair.
    • “He’s a bright guy who relates really well with these players...There is no learning curve with the organization.” – AJ [127:25]
• Mike Shildt’s Departure: Cited as burnout/need for time away; rumors of behind-the-scenes issues exist but not confirmed as main driver.

Padres’ Success Metrics and Preller’s Tenure

• Goal is to host playoff games; making the playoffs for a third straight year would be a franchise first.
  • “If the Padres have [home playoff games] at the end of the season, that probably means they've had a solid year.” – AJ [132:07]
• Preller: Final season under contract; extension possible, but if they fall short, could be end of his wild run as GM.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments with Timestamps

• "I want the tiny bird bones to take a hike." – Meg Rowley on ballplayer injuries [00:35]
• "He's at least returning from his injury and surgery." – Ben Lindbergh on Corbin Carroll [02:43]
• "Our hamates are doing just fine, as are our shoulders and our elbows...Lower stakes for us." – Ben Lindbergh [06:48]
• "The hierarchy. It's—the raw milk. That's on top. And everything else." – Chris Mitchell on Phillies weirdness [09:06]
• "Communicating in public about players is like a really sizable part of Chris Getz’s job. So it's not a good mistake to make." – Meg Rowley [19:40]
• "Do we have to be talking about this salary cap 24/7 for a full year? ...there's nothing new, really." – Chris Mitchell [30:11]
• "It's a little hard to make the case [Henderson’s season was disappointing]." – Meg Riley [69:49]
• "He just elevates a lineup so much...He's pretty much a pure hitter." – Andy Kostka on Pete Alonso [75:22]
• "Jackson Merrill is...kind of my pick to like, he's already broken out, but...I think he could have a really solid season." – AJ Cassavel [102:20]
• "...if they're losing a game, 4–2 in the seventh inning, they can go to one of those high-leverage guys...who could be closers on other teams." – AJ Cassavel [123:04]
• "He’s a bright guy who relates really well with these players." – AJ Cassavel on Craig Stammen [127:25]

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Timestamps of Major Segments

• 00:00–17:47 – Spring injuries, player weirdness, CBA salary cap gripe session
• 38:57–86:48 – Orioles preview with Andy Kostka
• 87:28–135:31 – Padres preview with AJ Cassavel

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Episode Tone and Style

• The hosts’ signature blend of irreverence and baseball nerd analysis is on full display—oscillating between statistics, deep roster dives, and extended, often hilarious tangents (medical waste, Phillies club culture, botched GM statements).
• Thoughtful, well-sourced insight from local beat writers is paired with host context, historical callbacks, and playful meta-commentary.
• Frequent use of inside jokes, pop culture references, and a conversational debate style make the dense analysis accessible and fun.

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Summary for Non-Listeners

If you missed this episode, you’d want to know that it provides a thorough, stat-informed forecast of two American League contenders—one building on a youth movement with big new spending (Orioles); the other navigating uncertainty and transition, but still aiming to win now (Padres). Both teams’ seasons will turn on health, the performance of select young stars, and the success or failure of their bullpens and rookie managers. The episode is studded with fan-friendly banter about baseball’s oddities, injuries, labor politics, and the perennial unpredictability of the game.

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(Advertisements, intro/outro, and non-content sections omitted.)

Transcript

[Meg Riley]

Foreign. Hello, and welcome to episode 2440 of Effectively Wild, a Fangraph Spaceball podcast, brought to you by our Patreon supporters. I'm Meg Riley of fangraphs, and I am joined by Ben Limberg of the Ringer. Ben. Ben, how are you?

[Ben Lindbergh]

I'm okay. How are your hamate bones doing?

[Meg Riley]

Dude, we gotta ban all these little bird bones, you know, like, can we do some sort of, like, fast evolution machine to like, get us past that? I imagine this is in X Men somewhere, right? Where you just, like, rapidly mutate everybody so that they don't have. Do you want them to be more pliable or less? I don't know. I'll leave that to the scientists. But at this juncture, I can't say I'm a fan of the tiny bird bones. I want the tiny bird bones to take a hike.

[Chris Mitchell]

Yeah, we could just evolve past the need for them.

[Ben Lindbergh]

They could be like our past prehensile tails. They could be like our coccyx or something. There's. There's still a remnant. An appendix maybe. An appendix does something.

[Chris Mitchell]

But mostly you forget about the appendix until something goes wrong with it, which.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Much the same with Hamates.

[Chris Mitchell]

It is kind of a dismaying note.

[Ben Lindbergh]

To start the spring on. I know that I talked about how everyone gets hurt during spring training and you just hope that your team will be largely unscathed, but I don't really remember the deluge of injuries just on the first day of camp.

[Chris Mitchell]

You know, these aren't even injuries that have happened since camp started necessarily. It's just a backlog of, hey, let's catch you up on everyone who got hurt recently that you didn't even know about.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Some of them, it's. It's initial drills, but some of them, it was just while guys were ramping.

[Chris Mitchell]

Up and preparing for spring training. So you prepare yourself for injuries to.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Be suffered in spring training just in the course of. Of business.

[Chris Mitchell]

But I don't remember such a bombardment of bad baseball injury news just at the start. I know that's when the beat writers are all there and they catch up. And here's what we missed and everything. So it makes sense that some stuff would trickle out on those days, but.

[Ben Lindbergh]

It feels like more than the usual number of. And not even just hammate injuries for Francisco Lindor and Jackson Holiday and Corbin.

[Chris Mitchell]

Burns, but also some Corbin Carroll.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Oh, yeah, sorry.

[Andy Kostka]

All.

[Meg Riley]

All D backs. Corbin are hurt.

[Ben Lindbergh]

To be clear.

[Meg Riley]

Like, every single Corbin who plays for the Diamondbacks is, you know, a ghost at this point.

[Ben Lindbergh]

He's at least returning from his injury in surgery.

[Chris Mitchell]

But it's not even just the, the.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Minor ones that might keep someone out.

[Chris Mitchell]

Until opening day or until not long after opening day. It' season ending, season threatening stuff here. The Blue Jays hit with a trio of injuries and then, gosh, we just did our Rangers preview last time. We talked about Sebastian Walcott, their promising top 10 rated teenage prospect. Elbow surgery out for maybe the whole season or at least most of it. And not that he was expected to.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Play a prominent part on the major league club this year, but that's a season of lost development.

[Chris Mitchell]

Yeah, just a lot of setbacks. You know, just let me enjoy the low stakes spectacle of pitchers and catchers reporting and then nothing happening that affects.

[Ben Lindbergh]

The outlook for your team for a while. That's. That's all I ask.

[Chris Mitchell]

Just boring mundanity of spring training, not.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Just a litany of injury announcements.

[Meg Riley]

It's had a little bit of a weird vibe so far at the start of camp. You know, we've, we've had all these injuries. We got a strange contentious end to the Phillies Nick Castellano saga. Spent a little bit of a time. The studies and sort of conventional wisdom on the lingering effects of handmade injuries are. I think the results are kind of mixed. You know, there definitely are guys where it seems like there is a persistent power sapping quality to that particular injury, although that doesn't seem to be true of everyone. So you just don't know. But those are important dudes to their respective clubs. And like, you know, in Holiday's case, sure he's been up for, you know, a year and change, but like still very much developing to do for him. Right. So like missed time seems bad and you need all the, you just need all the healthy diamondbacks you can get your hands on at this point. You know, you just need all of these guys. And they're talking about, you know, put the Lawler and the Outfield, Craig wants them to sign Nick Castellanos and I would prefer to not have to watch as much of that, at least in an outfield role.

[Chris Mitchell]

Yeah, and there is a cost to.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Missing all of spring training. Maybe it's a less of a cost than it once would have been. You can train in other ways and you can get on the traject machine or whatever else, but there's not no cost to that. And I'll link to some research that Jason Colette and Jeff Zimmerman were sharing online about how long it takes hitters to get back up to speed.

[Chris Mitchell]

And the idea of the power loss after handmade injuries. And whether that's true or whether it's sort of a lingering myth. But yeah, to miss that time and.

[Ben Lindbergh]

To suffer that setback so soon after the start.

[Chris Mitchell]

At least Ronald Acuna has announced that he's not just healthy, he's 200% well.

[Meg Riley]

He got to hang out with Bad Bunny. He's doing great.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Yeah. Like gave him a bonus, a boost.

[Meg Riley]

The afterglow of that has to last for at least a couple of weeks, right?

[AJ Cassavel]

Yes.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Yeah. Well, Jeff Sullivan and I covered every possible increment of more than 100% status that players have ever deployed, but another entry for that genre. Anyway, we're doing okay. We don't really do anything that could hamper our hamates too much and.

[Chris Mitchell]

And if we did, we might not even know. I've.

[Ben Lindbergh]

I've only been taking dry swings so far, so I'm doing just fine. I guess you could maybe hurt your hamate on a dry swing too. Actually, that reminds me that Tristan Casas there was a whole controversy a couple years ago cuz he said he was taking dry swings, but then he clarified that he wasn't swinging at all because sometimes a dry swing is when you're just swinging the bat but not at a ball.

[Meg Riley]

Right.

[Ben Lindbergh]

And then Casas said he was taking dry swings, but then said he hadn't.

[Chris Mitchell]

Actually been swinging, he was just psychologically swinging. He was just envisioning swings in his mind's eye, more or less. He's an interesting character.

[Ben Lindbergh]

But yes, yes, our Hamates are doing just fine, as are our shoulders and our elbows. And yeah, we're not on the IL yet as podcasters, but lower stakes for us.

[Chris Mitchell]

But yes, it has been strange.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Just a strange assortment of stories. Nick Castellanos finally released by the Phillies and then puts on Instagram a photo.

[Chris Mitchell]

Of a handwritten farewell letter on four pages on lined paper with crossouts and stuff where he he explained the whole Miami incident that led to and labeled it the Miami.

[Ben Lindbergh]

The Miami incident. Yes, it sounds so sinister in, in his telling at least he brought a beer to the bench when he gave Rob Thompson a piece of his mind after being benched. And this has been lingering and, and it's contributed to tension between them. And there were comments about his comments and how he had said something unspeakable or at least it hadn't been spoken, but something that offended everyone. And so now he is telling his side of the story in advance of.

[Chris Mitchell]

Some other story coming out about that.

[Ben Lindbergh]

It's like someone you know Matt Gel's been working on this for years and.

[Chris Mitchell]

He just tweeted it out or he just Instagrammed it out, but.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Yeah, we'll see. I'm looking forward to the Phillies preview, I gotta say. Oh, yeah, we have a lot to talk.

[Chris Mitchell]

Like, they didn't. They didn't even do that much this offseason. And yet it's.

[Ben Lindbergh]

There's so much to talk about with the Phillies. Zach Wheeler kept. The rib was removed.

[Chris Mitchell]

I don't actually think that's that weird in the. The hierarchy of Phillies weirdness.

[Ben Lindbergh]

I don't think that's that weird. I. I know people who keep parts of their bodies that were removed after surgery. A rib is a little large maybe, but.

[Meg Riley]

Okay, so. Okay, okay, wait. So I want to. I want to. I want to be clear because I have been known to give various Phillies the business and request that they be less weird and more normal. And I don't think that what Zach Wheeler described is in the same category of strange that the various milks are.

[Chris Mitchell]

Yeah, the hierarchy. It's. It's the raw milk.

[Meg Riley]

Right.

[Chris Mitchell]

That's on top.

[Ben Lindbergh]

And everything else.

[Meg Riley]

And everything else. Bryce just.

[Chris Mitchell]

Bryce Harper is.

[Meg Riley]

Yeah.

[Chris Mitchell]

Number one.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Number one.

[Chris Mitchell]

Yeah. And then.

[Meg Riley]

And then, you know, you have to say booby milk. If you're going to. You have to say it. You have to say it.

[Chris Mitchell]

The booby milk, I think is the fact that it was posted on social media was a little.

[Meg Riley]

You just never have to post. You never have to.

[Chris Mitchell]

It's not bad for you. I mean, there is a whole sort of alternative health where people think it's better for you than it is. And so I imagine this might have been part of it if it was just like a bonding exercise.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Fine. Like, no one's getting hurt here.

[Meg Riley]

Guess what? I don't need to know about that. Okay.

[Chris Mitchell]

I still don't need to know about it.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Let's not as concerning to me.

[AJ Cassavel]

I don't.

[Meg Riley]

I don't need to know about the particulars of any bonding fluid exchange between the stops. Okay?

[AJ Cassavel]

I just don't.

[Meg Riley]

That's none of my business. And then making it my business feels inappropriate.

[Chris Mitchell]

But so now learning that that Wheeler.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Literally has his skeleton in his closet.

[Meg Riley]

I understand that this is a thing that normal people do. I understand that this is something that people who like, believe in germ theory do. I don't understand it though. And I wish that we wouldn't do it, you know, And I. I may the extreme end of this spectrum. Cuz, like, I don't understand keeping baby teeth. Okay. When I had my wisdom teeth out. Let me rephrase. When I had two of my wisdom teeth out, I had another one grow in that I'm going to have to have out this spring as soon as positional power rankings are done. That's a different conversation. The hygienist. I don't know if you call the person who assists an oral surgeon a hygienist, they might have a different term. And so if. If you are one of those folks, and I. I'm not meaning to be disrespectful of your profession, but I just don't know if there's a different word for that. Okay. Okay. The hygienist said, oh, do you want to see them? And I was like, no, that was in my head, and now it's out of my head. And I heard you make it be not in my head anymore. I could. I heard that sound in a way that you shouldn't hear sounds, you know, with an intimacy and a familiarity and a closeness that you shouldn't hear sounds when it is a part of your body leaving your body. Okay, So I don't. I don't want to see it. She's like, oh, so you don't want to take them home? And I was like, no, that's medical waste. Okay, That's. You're not asking me if I want to take the dirty gauze home.

[Ben Lindbergh]

That's.

[Meg Riley]

That would be disgusting.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Right?

[Meg Riley]

So. So wait, I'm not done. I'm almost done, but I'm not quite done. So I just think that we should normalize leaving that in the hospital. That's where it belongs. It belongs in a bin with a Mr. Ick sticker on the front of it. It belongs away. Also, I think the Zach Wheeler needs to make sure the Bryce Harper doesn't break into his house and steal that bone, because I would put it. You know, he's like, what. I mean, what. What better bone broth could there be? Yeah, but the bone broth of Zach Wheeler's bone, you know, it's a. It's a real concern, Ben. I mean, it's not a real concern, but it might be a real concern.

[Chris Mitchell]

And the doctor who removed it because.

[Ben Lindbergh]

He had thoracic outlet syndrome surgery. So you. You remove. Take a rib to. Yeah. Decompression, and the doctor gifted the rib to Wheeler in a bag, and it's.

[Chris Mitchell]

Just preserved and sitting in a closet.

[Meg Riley]

Like, in a plastic bag.

[Chris Mitchell]

I don't know the specifics, but, yeah, there are a lot of things where even if you want to keep.

[Ben Lindbergh]

They won't let you keep it because it's medical waste.

[Meg Riley]

But it's medical waste.

[Chris Mitchell]

But yes, sometimes if it's maybe a little less gooey, if it's just a bone.

[AJ Cassavel]

Right.

[Chris Mitchell]

You can. You can treat it, you know, but.

[Meg Riley]

They had to like, remove stuff from the bone to make it not gooey. Right. Because stuff. Bones.

[AJ Cassavel]

Yeah.

[Meg Riley]

Inside your body.

[Ben Lindbergh]

There's still some meat on that bone.

[Meg Riley]

Yeah, right, exactly. They had to remove. I'm sure they did a process, you know, like. I'm sure they weren't just like, eh. Like not on it.

[Chris Mitchell]

Yes. So Wheeler said you have to do a bunch of stuff to it so it doesn't decay.

[Meg Riley]

I'm gonna tell another story, Ben. Okay. When I was very little, my family would make fun of me because I was a kid that was like very. I didn't really have much of a sweet tooth, but I would eat like, you could put like an entire adult steak in front of me as a five year old, and I would eat the entire thing. And I, like, really loved vegetables. They were like, you're a weird kid. And my grandpa would always save, like, if he had like a T bone steak, he would, like, save the bone so that I could not like it like an animal, you know, or like his precious granddaughter.

[Chris Mitchell]

Well, that's what we are.

[Ben Lindbergh]

We're animals, aren't we? Yeah.

[Chris Mitchell]

And my. My mom got her gallbladder removed, and I'm trying to remember whether she kept it. She kept something.

[Meg Riley]

They let her keep her gallbladder?

[Chris Mitchell]

No, no, I had no interest in seeing whatever it was, so I don't recall whether it was her gall or her gallstones that she kept, but either. I know she saw them after the surgery and she enjoyed seeing them.

[Meg Riley]

And I had.

[Ben Lindbergh]

I had no interest in seeing whatever it was. I forget what exactly what she kept.

[Meg Riley]

I'm sorry to keep talking over you, but no, there's no way they let her keep her extracted gallbladder bed.

[Chris Mitchell]

Maybe not maybe. I don't know. I don't.

[Meg Riley]

There's no way.

[Chris Mitchell]

I don't want to slim.

[Meg Riley]

Surgeons sound off in the comments because if you tell me that you guys let.

[Chris Mitchell]

Yeah.

[Meg Riley]

Maybe take their gallbladders home. I don't know, man. I. I'm gonna need to write a letter.

[Chris Mitchell]

It was gallstones. Maybe it was just that there was a little show and tell after the surgery, and then they parted. Because. Because she wants to. She wants to, like, leave with the same part she came in with.

[Meg Riley]

And so the whole point of getting surgery Sometimes is to leave with fewer parts than you came in with. That's the whole point of the surgery. Re they were like, those are bad parts. We should take them out so the rest of the good parts can continue to thrive.

[Chris Mitchell]

And in conclusion, we have a lot.

[Ben Lindbergh]

To ask Matt Gelb.

[Meg Riley]

Oh, my God, poor Matt.

[Chris Mitchell]

If he even shows up, if he's.

[AJ Cassavel]

Heard any of our.

[Meg Riley]

To get it out now, you know, so that we can have, like, a professional conversation with Matt as like, a fellow member of the bwaa, what's happening with the Phillies. But I gotta tell you that if we find out that they let you take your gallbladder home after you leave the hospital, I might not be able to podcast for at least another month. Like, it's going to take me a beat to get over that news.

[Chris Mitchell]

Okay, well, other weirdness that we have.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Seen there was Craig Kimbrell announcing that his favorite music is AI Just on the little boards that the Mets hold up about.

[Chris Mitchell]

I don't know, maybe he was. Maybe he was trolling. Maybe, as some people speculated, have.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Maybe he wants people to be pissed. Maybe he is a fan of. Of like the Japanese American singer AI.

[Chris Mitchell]

I. I doubt that, but I don't know.

[Meg Riley]

That would be great.

[Chris Mitchell]

Maybe he was just trying to get a rise out of people. Or maybe he actually likes listening to AI generated music.

[Ben Lindbergh]

But regardless, it would not be the biggest meltdown that Craig Kimbrell has had in recent years.

[Chris Mitchell]

But that was small beans, I think, compared to, did you see the Luis Angel Acuna switch hitter controversy?

[Meg Riley]

So, yeah, I want to get to that in just like a hot. In a hot minute here. But I will say that of the, of the Mets, the Mets are really leaning into, like, cute photo stuff.

[Chris Mitchell]

They're like, yeah, I kind of like it. Yeah. There was one Jonah Tongue looking like it was his first day of school or something.

[Meg Riley]

He looks like a middle schooler. He looks like. Like such a tiny baby boy. It was. If I were Jonah Tong and I had seen the photo, I've been like, I don't want you to post out of me. Like, I need people to. To respect me as a professional. I got to stare down, like, you know, Bryce Harper at some point. I mean, maybe not. Who knows if Bryce makes it to opening day once he gets a hold of Zach Wheeler's bones. But not starting a rumor. I'm just expressing a concern. But I like, they get the little boards, they're hanging out with puppies. It seems like a good time and not a grimace to be found. So A. Okay. I'm of two minds about the switch hitter controversy.

[Ben Lindbergh]

On the one hand, which was, by the way, that.

[Chris Mitchell]

That Chris Goetz has repeatedly referred to.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Luis Angel Acuna as a switch hitter. Yes. Part of the return in the Louise Robert Jr. Trade from the Mets as a switch hitter. And he is not one.

[Meg Riley]

He's not.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Yeah.

[Meg Riley]

He didn't refer to him as a switch hitter when initially discussing the trade is my understanding. And that leads me to believe that he. I don't think that he's like, confused, actually, about what side Acuna bats from. I saw our good friend Sam Miller talking about this on Blue sky, which is that he has a certain amount of like, hitter blindness in terms of, like, remembering.

[Chris Mitchell]

Yeah, me too.

[Meg Riley]

The side. And so I have some sympathy for that. And I don't think that there's. I don't think that, like the thing that White Sox fans were expressing. Well, first they were like, oh boy. And then they were like, haha. And then I think there were a couple of people who maybe had a concern that there was like a misapprehension about his handedness that may have played a role in his inclusion in the trade. Right. Like that part of why he was a guy who was targeted as. As return for Luis Robert Jr. Was that he was a switch hitter. And I don't think that that's what happened. So, like, we say so many things on this podcast, Ben. I think a lot of, you know, we, we strive to be accurate and when we make mistakes, I think we try to correct the record. And, you know, we. We try to, but everybody makes mistakes. And it doesn't help that, like, I don't remember the podcast after we're done recording it. So I have some amount of sympathy for this. On the other hand, like, communicating in public about players is like a really sizable part of Chris gets his job. So it's not a good mistake to make. It suggests a lack of attention to detail that, again, I don't think is actually there in a way that, like, is altering the acquisition patterns of the White Sox front office, but isn't reassuring to fans, particularly when part of your job, when you are the head decision maker overseeing what you hope to be a transition to a new, more competitive era of baseball is engendering trust with your fans so that they look at the deals that you make and say, okay, this is part of some vision. That vision is going to help win baseball games. It was arrived at by good process. We're in steady hands. You know, not the kinds of Hands that might lead a surgeon to, say, give you your gallbladder back at the end of a surgery. Steady hands, reasonable hands. And so it's a minor gaffe in the grand scheme, but like a gaffe nonetheless. And I also think that, like, if you're a new player to an organization, I'm sure Acuna is excited for the big league opportunity that's in front of him. He has a much clearer path to playing time with the White Sox than he would have had with the Mets. Like, hopefully he can be a spark for this team, what have you. But you kind of want to know that the guys know you, you know. Yeah. So like, that part's less good. And then you add in the fact that they like misspelled Murakami's name on his name plate in the locker and it's just like, I guess I don't want to make too big of a thing of it. But I do also want to say, hey, guys, tighten up a little bit over there, you know?

[Chris Mitchell]

Yeah, Yeah. I doubt it. I doubt it's.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Oh, I.

[Chris Mitchell]

We meant to trade for Ronnie Mauricio.

[Meg Riley]

What do you mean?

[Chris Mitchell]

We got Luisan, but. But, you know, they're just too many, too many layers, too many filters for that to happen, probably. But it does suggest not the greatest familiarity with the player, perhaps, or at least no one kind of correcting you when you misspeak. If it, if it was just a misspeak, which happens now, there was enough.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Of an uproar about this that the team put out a statement or put.

[Chris Mitchell]

Out a gets quote about this, which was. So I probably have been getting carried.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Away describing his versatility.

[Chris Mitchell]

He can play every position on the field. Why does it have to stop there?

[Meg Riley]

Yeah.

[Chris Mitchell]

I called Luis angel and told him that even though he's just right handed, we still love him. Which is kind of funny. I guess that's a good way to make light of yourself. It doesn't actually clarify whether he did.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Think he was the switch hitter or not.

[Chris Mitchell]

So he wasn't like, of course I knew.

[Ben Lindbergh]

And I just. It was an absent minded gaffe.

[Chris Mitchell]

So there is some possibility that he actually thought he was a switch hitter. But, you know, does that actually matter? I don't, you know, does that even change your evaluation of the player? Not necessarily. I mean, I'm with Sam. Sometimes I forget about handedness.

[Ben Lindbergh]

There's less at stake for me. I'm not running a baseball team. I wouldn't want to forget in that case. But also, like, would it make you.

[Chris Mitchell]

Feel worse about Him. Would you have gotten him if you thought he was a switch hitter and not gotten him otherwise? I don't, I don't. You know, he hasn't been that great as a, as a hitting from one. One side.

[Ben Lindbergh]

So I don't know whether that really changes his, you or the overall stats.

[Meg Riley]

So it's just so funny because it suggests a very different. And this isn't maybe surprising given the givens, but, you know, we sometimes end up backtracking within an episode because it occurs to us how what we say might be misinterpreted and we want to head off emails. Like when I had to remind people that I did know, like, what side of the plate. Addison Barger. Bart Barger.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Barger, yes.

[Meg Riley]

Lee Bath, lefty, right. And so. But you, you, you have an internal track that is sort of like doing tape review while you're recording and then you immediately throw that tape in the garbage because as I said, I don't remember the show after we're done with it. But, you know, you're like, oh, I, I can appreciate how I express that in a way that is inelegant and likely to inspire someone to very helpfully, helpfully, only ever helpfully, never annoyingly email and say, don't you know that that is a murder.

[Chris Mitchell]

That's your impression of someone being helpful?

[Meg Riley]

Yeah, only helpful. But yeah, it's like, I am curious to know, you know, he has talked about this a couple of times. Was there ever a point where a White Sox staffer was like, wait, what did he say about Acuna? Because, because sometimes, you know, sometimes what will happen is a guy will come into the league and he's a switch hitter. You know, like almost, not almost every, but a lot of the guys who sign as international amateurs come in batting switch. And then at some point in the minors, they end up committing to a side of the plate, right? They like a dominant hand emerg and they. And they bat from that side, one side or the other. And so sometimes, like when we have prospect reports, we will have their handedness from when they signed and it indicates they bat switch. And then I look at their player page and it's like, no, they're only batting from the left side now. And so you're like, oh, at some point you have to like update your. Your priors. But like, if you're in a room and you're hearing your boss say, oh, switch hitter. And they're like, but he's been in the mangers for a while, I feel like we'd know that, you know, so it's just a funny.

[Chris Mitchell]

Anyway, he could try it. Maybe he could go the other way. Maybe he'd hit righties better if he did try to hit as a lefty. So it would be something to consider. Maybe their secret plan is to have him try. Maybe that's why he gave this away.

[Meg Riley]

Right. Getz is revealing trade secrets is actually what's going on. It would be very funny. I would find it very funny if in their first spring training game, Acuna came up and in his first at bat just stood in the left handed batter's box.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Just to mess with quizquets.

[Andy Kostka]

Yeah.

[Meg Riley]

Or to mess with the assembled meat. I mean it's like, hey Acuna, you want to, you want to get on every like real that day. That's the way to do it. It's a little tip for me to you.

[Chris Mitchell]

Ronald Acuna says he's 200%.

[Ben Lindbergh]

So maybe they could both be 200%. If he starts hitting from twice as many spots, maybe that would be a hundred percent.

[Meg Riley]

Anyway, it's not twice as many, it's a hundred. Well, because he already bats from the one side. He doesn't not bat.

[Ben Lindbergh]

No. But if he's batting from one side.

[Chris Mitchell]

He could bat from two. It'd be twice as many. Yeah.

[Meg Riley]

Yeah.

[Chris Mitchell]

Sort of.

[Meg Riley]

I guess that's right.

[Chris Mitchell]

All right. That I wanted to mention.

[Meg Riley]

Yeah.

[Chris Mitchell]

Is that. Well, Rob Manfred has been speaking as well. We will cover one of his comments.

[Ben Lindbergh]

In our Padres preview which is coming up.

[Chris Mitchell]

But he's also been making some comments.

[Ben Lindbergh]

About how MLB is exploring a partnership with prediction markets.

[Chris Mitchell]

Who would have ever predicted that if you had had on Kalshi or Polymarket or whatever, will MLB partner with us at some point?

[Ben Lindbergh]

The probability would have been pretty high.

[Meg Riley]

Would they have taken that as a bet? Is that what it's called? Placing a bet when it's a prediction?

[Ben Lindbergh]

No, they would never call it that.

[Meg Riley]

What do, what do they call it?

[Chris Mitchell]

Like a market, I guess, you know, prediction market.

[Ben Lindbergh]

But everything is so stupid now. Yes, of course he is pitching it.

[Chris Mitchell]

As for security and integrity and monitoring.

[Ben Lindbergh]

And everything and you know, know I'm sure they won't ask for any money or anything as part of the process, but more to come on that I'm sure. And he was also asked about Emmanuel Classe and why he wasn't caught sooner and why that wasn't flagged.

[Chris Mitchell]

And Manfred said sometimes it takes time for those patterns to become clear.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Oh, well, that's. That doesn't inspire much confidence.

[Chris Mitchell]

Rob, if we're talking about many, many games over a period of multiple years anyway. But that was my takeaway from when that story came out. Wait, I thought this would get caught quickly.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Evidently not.

[Chris Mitchell]

I guess it just takes some time. Sure, take your time. But also, I have come almost to sort of resent the amount of salary cap coverage that we are reckoning with already.

[Ben Lindbergh]

You know, there was like a big.

[Chris Mitchell]

Piece from Passin and a big piece from Evangelic that dropped on the same day. I don't know why in particular it was. It was Thursday.

[Ben Lindbergh]

I know that MLB owners meetings have been happening.

[Meg Riley]

It was an owner's meeting.

[Ben Lindbergh]

That could be why.

[Chris Mitchell]

And I'm not suggesting don't cover it. It's obviously important. It's going to be a big defining.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Issue of the CBA negotiations, which haven't really started in any real way and won't really get down to serious business.

[Chris Mitchell]

Until the winter, until after the season.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Until the lockout is almost certainly in place.

[Chris Mitchell]

And by all means, cover it if that's your beat, if the business of.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Baseball is your beat, or all baseball is your beat, you gotta, you gotta wrestle with it at some point. But I just don't know why so much. I mean, you know, maybe because people will read it, but I, I just.

[Chris Mitchell]

Who does this serve also, like, this sort of messaging? I'm, you know, I'm not suggesting that.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Past nandrelic are like ownership mouthpieces or anything.

[Chris Mitchell]

And you read the pieces and they're pretty balanced and you know, they present.

[Ben Lindbergh]

The player side of things and all the caveats and this might not happen and why it has been expressed before and everything.

[Chris Mitchell]

But, but they've both written multiple, like.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Big salary cap pieces this off season.

[Chris Mitchell]

And I'm just saying, you know, we, we've got time, right? I, I guess maybe it's just. Well, spring training is starting. People are paying attention to baseball again. This is something that is looming over the sport this year, but we're probably.

[Ben Lindbergh]

What, a year away from getting any.

[Chris Mitchell]

Resolution to that one way or another, because, you know, the lockout's going to.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Drag out for, for some period of.

[Chris Mitchell]

Time, so we're not going to know anything. There's nothing new, really.

[Ben Lindbergh]

There are new quotes and anonymous sources and speculation, but no actual developments because no negotiations are really happening.

[Chris Mitchell]

So I guess as, as a consumer, as opposed to a producer of baseball.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Coverage, I'm thinking like, do we have.

[Chris Mitchell]

To be talking about this hour cap 247 for a full year? Is there not a period of just sort of easing into the season, spring training, you know, it's just instant salary cap. We might lose next season. And also everyone's hurts and prediction markets and ribs in closets. I don't know. I'm not trying to minimize the importance of the issue. It's pretty important, obviously. I'm just saying, like, there's nothing new.

[Ben Lindbergh]

And yet I keep reading and rereading and rereading pieces about it and just kind of rehashing the same stuff. And also just like, having it out.

[Chris Mitchell]

There at all seems like something that probably the owners would be pushing more so than the players. Like, the players get their rebuttal in.

[Ben Lindbergh]

The arguments, but just circulating the idea, kind of normalizing the idea of the.

[Chris Mitchell]

Salary cap, pitching it as everyone's pissed about the Dodgers, you know, kind of catering to fans who understandably are upset about that. I just.

[Ben Lindbergh]

I don't know if we need the full court press for the sour cap at this stage, but I guess it's inevitable that we will have it and it will never stop for the next year or so.

[Meg Riley]

Yeah. I mean, I guess I'd rather hear about it from. From Jeff and Evan than other sources because It's. Yeah. On mlb.com too. And it has a particular cast there, as you might imagine. So the inevitability of it or the. The feeling of inevitability as it pertains to a lockout, I think is weirdly inviting people to just skip right to that discourse. Right. Like, oh, we assume that this is gonna happen and it's casting a Paul and it's, you know, the. The story of camp. I find it kind of perplexing, too, because ultimately I do. I don't know how much the discourse piece of it matters, and I don't mean that as a criticism of Jeff and Evan for writing about it, because it's a big story within the sport right now, and I think the owner's meeting is as reasonable a time as any to sort of check in on what is the expectation as it pertains to a lockout and what the owners are going to push for. But I don't know how much it's gonna fully matter in terms of, like, moving negotiations at the table when the two sides actually come together.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Yeah.

[Meg Riley]

Now, clearly the league sees some value in trying to seed this notion of a cap being necessary for competitive balance. We've seen that in some of their. Their own sponsored media. We've seen that in these fan councils. Obviously, the way that Manfred talks about it is meant to appeal to a sense of aggrievement on the part of fans who aren't fans of the Dodgers or the Blue Jays or what have you. So I don't want to dismiss it. And the union's going to assert its own narrative and understanding of the stakes of the negotiation, but this is a long winded way of me saying, I kind of agree with you because we have so much time that we're going to have to talk about this when there's no baby baseball. And it might end up being much ado about nothing. Not that we won't have a lockout, not that we might not have a protracted stoppage, not that we might not lose games. But, you know, I just don't know that, like, what your average fan thinks of the. The notion of a cap or a floor is going to end up swaying, you know, the union to take a particular deal or the owners to really dig their heels in and insist on that in order to get a deal done. So.

[Ben Lindbergh]

But I do think it creates even more of a doom and gloom sense.

[Chris Mitchell]

That, yeah, the lockout's going to happen.

[Ben Lindbergh]

But whether we lose a season.

[Meg Riley]

Right.

[Ben Lindbergh]

I, I don't want to be overly optimistic about it, but, you know, Passing himself, when he was on this podcast not long ago, seemed to think that odds are they'll probably work it out.

[Chris Mitchell]

Just because they all have so much.

[Ben Lindbergh]

At stake in not losing a season. And so I think a lot of people come away from these pieces thinking, oh no, we're destined for. To lose a season. Here we go again. And I'm not sure that that's the.

[Chris Mitchell]

Case or even the consensus of people covering these things.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Anything could happen. Who knows? Also, it's the framing, I guess.

[Chris Mitchell]

Writers typically don't write their own headlines.

[Ben Lindbergh]

You can always tell a Michael Dauman headline, of course, but in many cases they don't. And the headline and Passen's piece is what Kyle Tucker's Dodgers contract means for MLB labor piece.

[Chris Mitchell]

And it's like, you know, the piece presents all sides and it's in depth and everything, but it's, it's very much.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Framed through like red meat to Dodgers haters, kind of.

[Chris Mitchell]

And, and that's not even new that.

[Ben Lindbergh]

That just people already wrote their round of Dodgers and Kyle Tucker and salary cap. So I don't know why it really leads with that exactly. But I'm sure that wasn't Passon's choice. Anyway, anyway, buckle up because we're going to get much more of this and we probably will not actually learn anything.

[Chris Mitchell]

About it for many many months.

[Ben Lindbergh]

So I guess that's mainly my objection.

[Chris Mitchell]

To it, where there's a lot of posturing and bluster and both sides sort of trying to frame the debate. Even if ultimately public opinion is is not of paramount importance, people are still trying to sort of shape that conversation.

[Ben Lindbergh]

And they don't know what's going to happen and we don't know what's going to happen. And players have opposed this for decades.

[Chris Mitchell]

And owners have promoted this for decades.

[Ben Lindbergh]

And I would assume that most likely.

[Chris Mitchell]

The status quo will persist. But we don't know.

[Ben Lindbergh]

But we won't know for a long time, and we don't know when we read articles like this.

[Chris Mitchell]

You know, it could give you a.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Good sense of the lay of the.

[Chris Mitchell]

Land if you haven't been following anything.

[Ben Lindbergh]

But if you have been following it as we do. And granted we cover this stuff, we're not representative of the average reader. Right. So you do kind of need the occasional big picture piece to bring people up to speed. But I'm expressing my own personal frustration, I guess, about being bombarded with salary cap coverage that I wouldn't consider very illuminating.

[Chris Mitchell]

Just because by its nature it can't.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Be really at this stage, there's no real way to illuminate it or to forecast with any great degree of accuracy what will happen today.

[Chris Mitchell]

Okay, yeah, let us proceed to our previews. And as is always the case, stuff happens with teams after we talk about them. So whether it's Walcott's injury or the brewers just signed Gary Sanchez, the Rangers just signed Jordan Montgomery. So there are always stray moves that.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Are made after we preview. That just goes with the territory.

[Chris Mitchell]

And we're going to talk about two teams today who may have more moves to make. The Baltimore Orioles will be up first. We'll be talking to Andy Kostka from the Baltimore Banner, and we will then.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Talk to AJ Casavel about the Padres.

[Chris Mitchell]

And just one premise to this Orioles preview, because this came out after we.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Finished talking to Andy, immediately after you know how I said that there didn't appear to be any MLB owners in the Epstein files?

[Meg Riley]

Oh no.

[Chris Mitchell]

Yeah, evidently David Rubenstein is in the Epstein files. Orioles owner who will be mentioned. It could be worse, but he is named in there. He's not accused of any wrongdoing.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Unless you think it was wrong to.

[Chris Mitchell]

Meet with with Epstein at all after a lot of stuff was already out there about him, which by one standard is maybe wrong. But evidently, according to the emails, he met with Epstein for dinner in November.

[Ben Lindbergh]

2012 and they intended to Meet again.

[Chris Mitchell]

For another dinner that month.

[Ben Lindbergh]

And maybe the second meeting didn't actually take place, but this was reported on by a local Baltimore outlet and I just saw it. So a caveat to my previous. You have to hand it to them for not being in the Epstein files at all.

[Chris Mitchell]

Maybe they're in there a lot. There's a lot of emails, a lot of files. So we're still, still scouring them, evidently.

[Meg Riley]

Yeah, we haven't seen them all.

[Chris Mitchell]

All right, we'll be back in just a second to talk about other Orioles matters.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Effective Moral sauvage. Effective moral sauvage.

[Chris Mitchell]

Andy Koska covers the Oriole so for the Baltimore Banner and for the first time is joining us to talk about the O's.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Welcome Andy.

[Andy Kostka]

Thanks for having me.

[Chris Mitchell]

We have a lot to discuss. It was a pretty eventful off season for the Orioles in contrast to some previous ones. So I think the Orioles has committed more money to players than any team other than the Blue Jays and the Dodgers this year. And obviously the Kyle Tucker contract weighing.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Heavily into that Dodgers figure.

[Chris Mitchell]

So they obviously approached this off season.

[Ben Lindbergh]

With the desire, the need to do some things and they did them for once.

[Chris Mitchell]

So tell us a little bit about the pressure on the Orioles to be active and aggressive this off season, how.

[Ben Lindbergh]

They evaluated their biggest needs and how they went about filling them.

[Andy Kostka]

Yeah, I think the, you know, the front office kind of realized that they needed to change the decision making process a little bit on player acquisition. You know, there was obviously the big one was five years, 155 million for Pete Alonso. And that is something that it's the highest AAV deal, you know, Baltimore has ever handed out. It is a long term contract which we haven't seen in Baltimore in quite some time kind of since, you know, the Chris Davis extension, you know, really, it's kind of the last one.

[Chris Mitchell]

Yeah, I guess you could maybe imagine why that was the last one for a while.

[Andy Kostka (continued)]

Yes. And so you have this situation where.

[Andy Kostka]

That was the major move.

[Andy Kostka (continued)]

But they did, did add a lot.

[Andy Kostka]

Of, you know, other pieces that maybe were not as notable. And before I, you know, continue and talk about some of the other pieces, I, I will say that it's hard to give an A to Baltimore's off season when the stated goal from the very beginning was to sign a front line starter. And then, you know, here we are in mid February, pitchers and catchers are here and they did not do that.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Are you suggesting that Chris Bassett doesn't count?

[Andy Kostka (continued)]

I, I am.

[Andy Kostka]

And with all due respect to Chris Basset, it makes this rotation much better, you know, and that's, that's, it's a totally understandable signing at this point of the off season. However, it's, it's not a Dylan Cease. It's not a Fromberg Valdez or Ranger Suarez or Michael King or Tatsui Imai. You know, like these are, you know, those were kind of front end guys that you feel like you could plug into that number one, number two, right along with Kyle Bradish and Trevor Rogers. Instead, you have an innings eater, a very good one at that. And Chris Bassett, who will be a very solid floor raiser. Shane Boz obviously is, has the potential to be very good, but we haven't necessarily seen it yet in a full season. So that's, it's a little bit of an if. So there, there are many ifs, you know, around this entire team. Of course, the bullpen is another if. However, they went and got Andrew Kittridge back, which is a helpful veteran in the back end of that bullpen. And then the, the majority addition was Ryan Helsley, the closer. So that is the quick. And then obviously the one that I forgot, of course, is outfielder Taylor Ward. The trade there, that was maybe a little bit of a surprise, getting rid of Grayson Rodriguez for that, but they believe that much in Taylor Ward. So that is the quick summation of an aggressive off season. It absolutely was. It did show that this front office knew that they had to do something to change their modus operandi because this was in 2025. It went very wrong and something had to be done. Was everything done? We will find out if Kyle Bradish pitches a full season and is as good as he can be. If Trevor Rodgers repeats what he did in 2025, then maybe it's totally fine that they did not go and sign that ace.

[Meg Riley]

I want to get to some of those individual players and some of the returning guys too. But I mean, I have another question on this, which is, is your sense that they were simply outbid for some of those guys? How. I guess, you know, if you're an Orioles fan, I know that, like having tried and failed is not necessarily the comfort you want when you're staring down an uncertain group in the rotation. But do you think that this was, you know, a matter of them having the flexibility to go and really try to attract one of those top line guys and them just having interest elsewhere? Or, or were they more constrained and sort of forced to operate in this tier of the market?

[Andy Kostka]

I do not believe they were necessarily Constrained. David Rubenstein, the primary owner of this club has often said, maybe more frequently than Michaelias would like him to say, that there is no financial limit. And that is not an issue at all. Which is always, you know, it's, it's funny to, to hear that and then you know, look at Baltimore's payroll and I acknowledge, you know, market size of everything like that. But it's a, you know, middle 50% in payroll. It is a higher payroll than it than it was last year. Now with the Chris Bassett signing, which is still pending, a physical hasn't actually been officially announced as we are talking at this exact moment, but that will most likely occur.

[Chris Mitchell]

Can always count on, on those Orioles players passing physicals though.

[Andy Kostka]

Yeah, I just had a colleague, you know, remind me of a Casey close statement at some point. But it is interesting because I do feel like they had the financial wherewithal where they, where they had really good offers on the market. The really the more of the issue probably was convincing players to come to Baltimore. In the same vein, there's a little bit of when Baltimore goes and signs a 1 year 18.5 million deal with Chris Bassett, just using him as an example here, a one year deal, you know, it's not very overhead if it really goes, you know, poorly, you're not beholden to that contract for years and years and years. Maybe and this is conjecture on this part but like maybe if Zach Allen wanted additional years and if Baltimore had any doubts about Zach Allen's ability to bounce back, there could have been a little bit of hesitation in offering those years. When you feel like, okay, Chris Bassett is a, is a fairly reliable starting pitcher. We have seen him, you know, for five years now pitch 150 or more innings. He has had a sub four ERA seven of his last eight seasons. You know, he's a reliable pitcher. A one year deal in that sense maybe more palatable and gives you flexibility moving forward.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Well, you mentioned Bradish and Rogers and we should talk about those too. I guess Bradish's performance was less surprising just because he had been good before he got hurt and then was good again after he came back. So it's just kind of a question of whether he can be on the mound. Rogers though, that was really something.

[Chris Mitchell]

So tell us a little bit about how that happened, whether it can keep happening. Obviously the Shiny era is doing a lot of the work there and it.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Was even shinier before his final start.

[Chris Mitchell]

Of the season when he gave up six runs in three innings. But it still ends up sub two you look at some of the other peripherals and defense, independent stats and he.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Was good but not quite so sterling or, or ace like. So is that maybe the more realistic.

[Chris Mitchell]

Expectation for how he settles in?

[Andy Kostka]

I would be surprised if he had another one something era after 165innings just purely because that many innings is different. You're going to have a blunder somewhere in there, just like he had his final game of the season. He did only pitch 109 innings last year, which I realize is a substantial enough number. But you know, he was injured at the very beginning of the season. Pitchers, you know, they adapt to hitters, hitters adapt to pitchers. So now every hitter in the league will have a full off season of this is what Trevor Rodgers is. How do you combat him? What he is is a lefty with some power. He has pretty good off speeds. But I do like the fact that he can play. I mean his fastball looked a lot better last year and I think that's a major reason why he had success, was he was kind of able to place as a lefty a mid-90s every once in a while. Upper-90s fastball kind of wherever he wanted, especially up either above the zone or right at the top of the zone. That's a great setup. I do think Trevor Rodgers can repeat his success. And when I say repeat his success, I don't mean necessarily a sub two era, probably something, you know, in the low threes or even below 3 is just more realistic to imagine if he can pitch a full season. But I do think he really turned a corner last year and the base values that he was really good at are things that he can carry over this season. I mean, I asked him on day one of camp, like do you basically do the exact same off season schedule as you did ahead of 2025, just run it back, everything you ate, everything you lifted, everything, just run it completely back to replicate it. And he actually said no because he knows he wants to be a more complete pitcher. And this is part of the interesting side of him is he was saying that he worked a lot this winter on pitching out of the stretch because he felt that he wasn't as comfortable pitching out of the stretch. He worked a lot on his, on the spin of his sweeper because he wants his sweeper to be a better pitch this year. So those are two areas immediately that he, yeah, he had a, he realizes he had a fantastic season, yet he in the same breath realizes that you can't just, you know, repeat exactly what you did. It's a constant effort to get better, and I think he understands that and he's going about it the right way.

[Meg Riley]

I feel like we've seen multiple versions of Zac Eflin throughout his career. Orioles fans have seen multiple versions of Zac Eflin, and one of those guys was incredibly effective in the back half of 2024, and one of them had a season from hell in 2025. I'm curious, sort of what you attribute that to, if there's anything beyond injury, which obviously played a huge role in, in his season last year and sort of where he's at in his preparedness for this season and what he is kind of taking into the year as developmental goals.

[Andy Kostka (continued)]

Yeah, this is.

[Andy Kostka]

It's going to sound like a complete aside here, but bear with me. I had a baseball coach, a summer ball coach in Legion ball in high school, and he didn't really know anything about. He didn't know anything about anything, but he did not know anything about pitching especially. But the only thing he knew to shout, and it wasn't even ridging really even makes sense, he would just yell, bend your back to the pitcher. So, like, if anybody was wild, he just would yell, bend your back. And it just became like this running joke with everyone on my team. With anyone, like ever walked anybody, we just would start screaming, like, bench your back. I say that because Zach Eflin couldn't really bend his back last year. Like, his back really hurt. Like, it was.

[Andy Kostka (continued)]

It was a problem.

[Andy Kostka]

Like, if I yelled at him like, bend your back. He would have been like, I can't.

[Andy Kostka (continued)]

Because he was hurt.

[Andy Kostka]

The back surgery, I mean, I was.

[Andy Kostka (continued)]

Just talking to him today, the back.

[Andy Kostka]

Surgery, I mean, he says he can get on the floor and play with his kids now. I mean, that shouldn't be overstated. He was in a tough spot last year. I do think a lot of it was injury related, which is why he struggled as much as he did. He feels healthy. He's full go right now entering camp, which is maybe ahead of schedule compared to what I initially thought it was going to be. But. But to him, that's the schedule that he always wanted to be on was kind of at this juncture, it's a little bit interesting because if everyone stays healthy in this rotation, which is unlikely just in the realistic nature of how rotations are in pitching, it'll be interesting to see where does he exactly fit in the rotation. Maybe they go with a six man, I don't know. But I generally think you can never have too many starters because somebody will get hurt. But back to Effley for a second.

[Chris Mitchell]

It's he.

[Andy Kostka (continued)]

He.

[Andy Kostka]

I think last year was more of an outlier due to injury, is the short answer.

[Ben Lindbergh]

It's funny you've you mentioned that. Yeah, you do kind of expect to.

[Chris Mitchell]

Have more than one pitcher hurt at once. I will always remember the Michael Lias.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Quote from last April where he said having Grayson and Eflin on the shelf simultaneously at this point in the season, at no point were we forecasting that. I mean wasn't wasn't the most out.

[Chris Mitchell]

Of the question to occur ever to have two starters with lengthy injury histories being hurt at the same time that that happens. But maybe we should talk about Grayson while we're on the subject because he's, he's no longer on the Orioles. So tell us a little bit about.

[Ben Lindbergh]

The rationale there and whether it was mostly just about wanting Ward or, or whether the Orioles had lost confidence in Rodriguez. Whether you have any idea what he will turn into with the Angels.

[Andy Kostka]

Yeah, my sense is that it was more with with Grayson. It was more of an idea that they really liked Taylor Ward and they did not necessarily believe that Grayson was after missing, you know, a full season and in missing, you know, previous, you know, previous time before that in the minors and the majors, they did not believe that he was going to turn into the the kind of pitcher they needed to win. Now. They didn't necessarily want to bet the house on Grayson being as good as people generally think he can be, which I am one of those believers. I've seen him at his best where he has this power fastball and is just, you know, one of those old fashioned pitchers that can blow a bio, you know, as a starter and just seems like a workhorse. I've seen him at his best and I've seen him struggle. I sincerely hope he gets healthy because he can be incredibly exciting to watch. At the same time, though, when that trade happened, in the conversations about the rationale and everything that came next, it did seem that it was difficult for Baltimore to kind of project Grayson as a reliable starter in their rotation just based on the history.

[Ben Lindbergh]

I'm actually quoting Michaelias from a post that you sent on Blue Sky. I had neglected to note that that.

[Chris Mitchell]

Quote was to you.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Maybe not exclusively to you, but that.

[Chris Mitchell]

Was probably where I heard about it. Tell us a little bit about the bullpen, which was not the strongest unit last year. Now Felix Bautista had shoulder surgery in August.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Will he play any part here? Helsley Obviously they're hoping for A big bounce back from him. So what's the outlook there?

[Andy Kostka]

Yeah, the bullpen is a major question mark. I think this team will have a pretty good bullpen if Jenny or Cano looks more like the all star version and not like the last year version. So that's a big important character in this, in this bullpen. Housley, I think, is a good closer option at this exact juncture because Felix Bautista, while he is everything is on track. There have been no setbacks. It is unlikely that he plays much of a role this season, if at all. Really kind of the blanket statement, you know, from Oros front office management has been that Felix will miss most, if not all of the season. And they did not want to find themselves in a situation where they were banking on Felix coming back and that was going to fix their bullpen in August, you know, before a stretch run to the postseason, and then not have him ready. So they, they went out and that's part of the reason they got, got Hosley bringing back Kittridge, you know, makes sense. But there's a lot of questions, question marks around, you know, the rest of this reliever group and, you know, is a massive one. How do some of the younger players step up? Thinking about like Guerrero, Geraldo, who had a cup of coffee last year in, in the bigs, can he turn into a, you know, reliable enough middle reliever? Can they get lefties out? That's like a major one. I mean, we're looking at, you know, a lefty relief core of Keegan Aiken, Dietrich Enz and Grant Wolfram right now, which Keegan Aiken is a relatively valuable reliever just in terms of what he has been able to do and his ability to cover two innings. And I think he is maybe undervalued a little bit. He is a good lefty to have, but they don't necessarily have a lefty specialist, which is there's a little bit less of a focus, right, with the three batter minimum, but still you need somebody to be able to come in and combat a really difficult lefty. In that same vein, you almost feel like, could Cade Povich move from a starting role to a relief option? When you have as much starting pitching depth as teams have now, if everyone stays healthy, you benefit by having some guys, you know, trickle over. I mean, you saw what the World Series looked like, right, with starting pitchers coming out of the bullpen, Chris Bassett among them. That's always an option. Tyler Wells has long been floated as an option as a reliever, although he has, he's had good numbers as a starter as well. Generally six innings, two runs seems to be like his favorite scoreline, you know. So I do think the, the bullpen will benefit from it, from some of the starters, you know, kind of falling into that category of, you know, depth rotation but helping out in the bullpen. The real issue happens if, you know, if there's an injury here or there, which again always seems possible, that depth gets eaten into some of those guys like Tyler Wells or Kate Povich or Brian Young will be thrown into the rotation which has carryover effect into what the bullpen might look like.

[Meg Riley]

I want to go back to the rotation briefly because of that injury question and also one that I find fascinating because the Rays are famously very good at developing pitching. I think the Orioles have a strong reputation for developing pitching, although they've had injuries sort of derail some of their success stories. They are quite familiar with Shane Boz given that he was in division. So what do they think they can help him do better? Because obviously a very highly regarded prospect. He's had stretches in the majors where he's been quite effective. He was a two win player last year. He also carried a NERA in the high fours and the FIP wasn't that much better. And you imagine some of that's the ballpark he was playing his home games in, but probably wasn't all that. So what do they want to help Boz do better? To be sort of the guy they need.

[Andy Kostka]

I wish I had a great answer for you. I asked, I asked Shane Boz, you know how like this is so classic where first day of camp, second day of camp, you know, you're this the boilerplate, like well what you work on this off season. And he said that the pitching coaches like immediately after the trade, Baltimore's pitching coaches, which are carryovers from the last regime. So there, there's. They were already in place and ready to go. They brought him a bunch of things to look at and work on and he's really excited about that. So the natural follow up of course is well what are some of those things? And he very quickly was like, oh, I'm not going to tip my hand. I'm going to keep that close to the vest. So at this exact point I've only.

[Andy Kostka (continued)]

Seen him throw one live bp.

[Andy Kostka]

I don't necessarily know the big fixes that he is working on. The general assumption is, I mean this is a fastball that has a heck of a lot of velo that matters of course, but his breaking stuff did not perform that great last season. So that's going to be pretty much a major role he did not have. I mean if you just think about like his slider, he basically completely abandoned it last season. So how does that look? Does he keep the cutter which was the, the mid season fix that Tampa Bay had for him and didn't really perform that well. Can he get his cutter, can he get his slider back? Does he go with a bit of, you know, bit two of them. I did hear from Pete Alonso who gave me more insight on Shane Boz than Shane Boz did that Shane Boss now has two sliders. So I think what that really means is that he's keeping the cutter and the slider. Most likely that's what it's going to look like. But two sliders is always a fun storyline. So you know we will keep, we'll keep an eye on that. But all of that is the say I don't really know. We will find out and as soon as I know I will post on Blue sky about it.

[Chris Mitchell]

Well, if the riddle that is Shane.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Baz, if that confounded you for a second there, then I think I can raise the bar here and, and ask you about the riddle of the guy who will be catching Shane Baz a lot of the time. Granted the Orioles had seven catchers last.

[Chris Mitchell]

Season which led the majors, but the primary one was Adley Richman and there was a time when Adley Richman, there were no questions about him whatsoever.

[Ben Lindbergh]

He was just the answer. Other players were question marks. But Adley is really a riddle right now and I was fully banking on the bounce back last year and I.

[Chris Mitchell]

Thought oh, let's trace the slump to the day when there was this injury and it had to be that even though they were denying it and he'll be healthy and he'll be back to.

[Ben Lindbergh]

His old self and he was not. Except for a few stretches here and there. It was to the point where people were really cherry picking.

[Chris Mitchell]

Oh look at this 12 game stretch where he kind of looked good. So what has happened? Why has he gone backward? I've seen some optimistic pieces saying that he hopes and the team hopes and thinks that he can get back to being his excellent self. But rarely is there any diagnosis of what went wrong.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Exactly. And so if it's not a health.

[Chris Mitchell]

Thing, if there's not a specific mechanical fix, tell us what, what hope can.

[Ben Lindbergh]

People kind of hang their hat on here with Atlee?

[Andy Kostka]

First off, injuries do have played a role. You knew the the hand was often rumored and Never confirmed. I did confirm it at one point, but I forget when I posted that he actually dealt before the 20th 25 season with some back soreness. I believe in the winter as well, which, which may have limited his practice time a bit in the winter. I'm not sure if it carried over at all into spring. I don't think it did. So that is another injury then. He had two oblique injuries. That's the first time the obliques were the first time he had landed on the injured list. So this was not a injury prone guy necessarily. But I just rattled off some nagging things that have been bugging him the past two years. It is hard to pinpoint exactly what happened with Ali Rushman. I will say that I generally am an Adley Rushman believer. I don't think that talent goes away overnight. I think it is in there and sometimes people lose cues or confidence or their swing plane isn't where I want. They want it because their oblique hurts. You know, know there are multiple, you know, factors into all this that, that can impact a player's performance. I don't think it has just dried up talent. I, I do believe he can get it back. With all that being said, when I think about what Adle has looked like, there was a lot of, you know, more pop ups in his game. I thought he maybe got away from, you know, approach wise a little bit aiming for home runs rather than, or aiming for power, you know, lifting the ball rather than kind of accepting, you know, the opposite field flick that I thought he did so well. He had Oppo in his game and perhaps a little bit more pole side focus in recent years is part of the problem. But again, I mean this is, this is going to be his third hitting coach in what, three seasons that he's.

[Andy Kostka (continued)]

Going to be working with for the Orioles.

[Andy Kostka]

You know, last year, you know, they had Cody Ashy as the hitting coach. The year before that was Ryan Fuller and Matt Borg Schulte. And now this year it's going to be Dustin Lind and Brady north. You know, so it's going to be another set of eyes looking at what is going on and trying to diagnose it. And I, I truly think it's one of the most important things Baltimore can have is if Adlee looks like himself. When he came up in 2022, it was a completely different baseball team all of a sudden. When he was going well in 2023, it was a team that seemed destined to win a lot and they won 101 games, games in 2024 and 20, 25. When he was not at his best, it was felt up and down the lineup that it seemed like it trickled into everybody else.

[Meg Riley]

And obviously how he does doesn't just have implications for him and his future with the team, but also for Samuel Basayo, who I don't think anyone has any doubts about how productive his bat can be. I think the sort of picture behind the plate is a little more clouded. He didn't hit particularly well in 31 games last year, but I think we'll give him a pass on 118 plate appearances. So how do you see the two of them working in tandem from a catching position and then sort of, what are the developmental milestones for Bossallo as a hitter?

[Andy Kostka]

You know, frankly speaking, there was way too much swing and miss and chase in Samuel Passallo's game. We saw that in AAA as well. Looking at prospects Font, you know, he had pretty high chase numbers. If you have, if you have a tendency to swing outside the strike zone in aaa, it's probably going to be even higher in the major leagues because of the stuff, how deceptive they can be at the highest level. So that is the number one priority probably for Samuel is figure out to keep it in the zone. He has so much power. We've seen that, but it's really just kind of not getting himself out. And that's, that's my biggest worry is like, don't get yourself out. You know, swing it. Swing at pitches that are in your, you know, sweet spot zone, whatever you want to. Want to call it, and, and drive the ball all over the ballpark, because he's, he's going to be great if he, if he can limit the chase. But I do think there is an avenue for playing time for both, maybe less than there was initially, because I thought Basayo might play. Play quite a bit of first base. Actually. He's a fairly good first baseman. The interesting thing, of course, going to get Pete Alonso is that Pete's probably going to be at first base most games, and if not, if not Pete, he's going to be in the DH spot. So there's a little bit of. It's going to be a little trickier than it necessarily was. But one of the things that Craig Albernaz has made abundantly clear is that his lineup decisions will be based on. On, you know, performance and how are guys swinging it right now. If Pasio is going really hot, you know, they will find a way to get him in the lineup. If it's that first catcher, dh, whatever it's going to be. I will say that the, the better defensive catcher by probably a long shot is Adley Rushman. Yeah, But Sam is 21 years old and is still figuring it out and he really didn't catch actually that many games in the minors. If you think about it just the overall number of games. He was DH quite a bit, played a little first. So while I do think, you know, he has room to grow defensively and will grow defensively, defensive first mentality would probably be with, with Adley back there. So it does make a bit of a conundrum. But people will find a way to, to get a bat like Posayo into the lineup, especially in, in that DH spot you could fit him in in Jackson.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Holliday is now 22 years old, but is also figuring it out after his.

[Chris Mitchell]

Initial exposure to the majors went just about as badly as Bio's, but in.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Roughly twice the playing time.

[Chris Mitchell]

So he made strides in his first full season.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Obviously bit of a setback with the Hamate now in camp, but tell us what he still has left to learn because he has not quite come close to fulfilling the prospect potential as of yet.

[Andy Kostka (continued)]

Yeah, I was kind of surprised.

[Andy Kostka]

You know, it was 17 home runs last year. The, the funny, the funny thing about that of course is that I believe it was 17 home runs and his OPS was still below.700. A bit of a boomer bust in in terms of how he went about it. He is a difficult watch sometimes going backhand at second base. That is a major area that he needs to improve. He was well aware of it. I, you know, mentioned it to him at the end of last season. He said that was going to be a major focus of his. This winner was practicing those, you know, behind second base, running to his right away from first base, those picks. But yeah, I, I do think that he, I mean he's 22 and I, I do think he can evolve into a better version of what we have seen thus far. 149 games, 140 strikeouts. That's probably somewhat of an issue. Just like last year in 2024, in his first stint of major league life, you know, he had more strikeouts than games played, which is generally never a fun thing to have. So there, there has been swing and miss in the game. His efforts left on left, which is obviously an incredibly tough matchup overall. He has not performed well left on left, so has room to grow in that, in that area. But these are all things that are not exactly unusual for a 22 year old. I think the thing that has always maybe been a difficult factor when you think about Jackson is that just the expectations, the name power and you know they, they, they do you know, sneak into how we evaluate players sometimes is oh, we expect him to live up to this massive hype. You know, how is he doing? He hasn't necessarily done that yet, but I don't think it's a bad thing that what he's done so far. I think he can still grow.

[Meg Riley]

I don't want to call Gunnar Henderson's season disappointing because he was basically a five win player. So it's a little hard to make the case. But he did exhibit much less power than he had shown in prior campaigns. His WRC plus dipped. He did steal a fair number of bases and was a very good base runner by our metrics. But I'm sort of curious what you attrib the swoon too. I know that he had the early IL stent with the intercostal strain but how, how do we make sense of his not vanishing but diminished thump in year four?

[Andy Kostka]

Yeah, it was interesting, right? You have an.800 OPS and or about thereabout and you can say his ops dropped by 100 percentage points. Like that is a pretty massive drop. But he still is a All Star caliber player even last year didn't make the All Star game but was of that caliber as the season progress. Stole a lot of bases. He's working on getting even faster this year. Wants to be a threat on the bases all, all the time.

[Andy Kostka (continued)]

A lot of the power issues were.

[Andy Kostka]

He had a shoulder impingement and so his swing plane was not always where he wanted it to be. So he wasn't able to drive the ball in the air as well as he wanted to because of the shoulder impingement that he played through really for most of the season and we didn't really find out about that until last month which is the, the nature of.

[Andy Kostka (continued)]

A lot of.

[Andy Kostka]

A lot of guys like to keep.

[Andy Kostka (continued)]

Hush hush but I, I think that.

[Andy Kostka]

Plays a a pretty big role in why the power numbers reduced for Gunner.

[Andy Kostka (continued)]

And I do not imagine that it will be that case going forward. And I would actually put my belief is he could be a 3030 club guy with, with how much power we know he has and then the speed that he showed at the end of last year.

[Chris Mitchell]

Not a surplus of center field candidates in this organization which would bode well for Colton Kauser.

[Ben Lindbergh]

What does not bode well is his numbers from last year.

[Chris Mitchell]

Some power, some swipes but also pretty.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Ugly slash line thanks to that sub.200 batting average. Almost a 36% strikeout rate.269 on base is not what you want to see.

[Chris Mitchell]

So what are the prospects for him to hit more like he did in 2024?

[Andy Kostka (continued)]

He's an interesting character because the strikeouts were a major issue. You know, his strikeout rate was, was very elevated. I think I can pretty much say this about every single player that played.

[Andy Kostka]

For the Orioles last year.

[Andy Kostka (continued)]

He did, he was injured. I will, I will give him that. So I'll give him that. Add he played through two rib fractures for most of the second half, ran into the wall and fractured ribs. So I feel like that's not nothing. You know, it's definitely, maybe it's not everything and doesn't necessarily explain the, the whiff. The whiff rate being as elevated as it was. But you know, it definitely doesn't help. I, I do think it's going to be a bit of a challenge getting into. I'm just looking at his whiff rate right now, you know. Bottom second percentile, 34.6% strikeout rate, bottom one percentile at 35.6% last year, which obviously is not what he had intended. And that's going to be a major, a major thing to watch this year is, is how he can improve in that territory. For center field. He's a, I would say above average left fielder. And what we've seen thus far is that he's probably a league average center fielder with, with potentially room to grow. I mean he played plenty of center field at Sam Houston State when he.

[Andy Kostka]

Was there, has played it in the.

[Andy Kostka (continued)]

Minors, played it pretty well last year. I mean he finished looks like 0 ounce above average, but can't. He can run a little bit and he didn't make any big gaps out there. That being said, it's part of the reason I think Baltimore signed Leoti Tavares as a really defensive first center field option. Maybe he's a late game replacement. That could be a benefit to have somebody that's a more natural center fielder in center field in a late game, tight game situation. Blaze Alexander is another option who could slot in center field. Is a utility guy, recently acquired, really more of an infielder, but has played pretty much every position except catcher. Not a great center fielder I would say from very limited data on him. I think he's only played like six innings or you know, whatever it was out there, but he's another option. So there, there is limited center field depth but it looks like it's Kauser's job at this, at this very moment with a couple guys filling in every.

[Andy Kostka]

Once in a while.

[Meg Riley]

Okay. We've talked about guys who were hurt. We've talked about guys who saw their power diminish. We talked about guys who missed significant time. So let's give Orioles fans a calm in the storm. Talk about a guy who played 162 games last year who said yes to the Orioles money in the off season. I don't think that I had Baltimore pegged as the destination for Pete Alonso. He would not have been a guy I thought they were super interested in, but they sure did give him $155 million. So tell me about what they saw as the roster fit with Alonzo. I mean, I think we know what he brings to a team at this point, but given some of the other guys on, on the club, what, what about Alonzo made him the $155 million man for Baltimore.

[Andy Kostka (continued)]

He just elevates a lineup so, so much. He's pretty much a pure hitter.

[Andy Kostka]

He's not just a power hitter, although.

[Andy Kostka (continued)]

The power numbers are, are what they are. But he can, he can send it all over the yard. You know, it's not a, he's not going to be limited. And, and I, I do think he, you know, he's a fair, fairly decent first baseman. I wouldn't say he's going to win any, you know, big awards at first base for his work defensively, but it's not like you're losing that much.

[Andy Kostka]

Although Brian Malcastle is undoubtedly the better.

[Andy Kostka (continued)]

Fielder in that equation. I mean, Baltimore was in on Kyle Schwaber too. You know, they, they were pursuing him heavily. Baltimore really wanted an upgrade at some position, efficient, to say, okay, our lineup is going to have an anchor. They saw how poorly the lineup did the year before, how much pressure was on Gunnar Henderson. You think about it, part of Gunner's fall off potentially might have been he was trying to do so much and he wanted to hit, you know, five run home runs all the time. And that's not the best way to go about things. So, yeah, Baltimore wanted a lineup edition. I think another area. I just, I actually just filed a story about this. But Pete is going to be a vocal leader. And I remember in August I talked to Jordan Westberg about the leadership void that was felt in Baltimore's clubhouse. A lot of young guys, a lot of guys that are not necessarily vocal leaders, they lead in their own ways. They're, they're leaders, but they have more of a leadership leader by example archetype. And I remember Jordan Westberg and I'll actually read his quote, if you don't mind me, part of the quote. He says that the important part is bringing in somebody who had that personality. What he means by that is like a more vocal personality. And we're not forcing them to, hey, you need to be loud because then it's just adding pressure on top of what they already have. But right now we have a leadership void and he says it would be good to have a veteran void voice. So I think that the general gist of when I remember that conversation with Jordan Westberg and that article is I think the front office recognized that there are a lot of centerpiece players that they want to build around, but I think they might have needed a pillar, that veteran that they can lean on in difficult trying times. And Pete Alonso, I think so far, I mean we're mid February, but he's looked the part of that in early campaign camp and we will see as it develops over the next five years. But I think he can be that guy where he is a very stable presence and helps a lot of young guys feel like the world is not falling. Which last year it did feel like.

[Andy Kostka]

After losses it felt like a real spiral.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Well, as Meg alluded to, he is not known for taking days off. So we talked a little bit about the DH situation and Adley and Besayo.

[Chris Mitchell]

But how does the rest of the platooning and the bench construction shape out? Because when they signed Alonso it seemed.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Like that might spell the end for Mount Castle or Kobe Mayo, but they're both still around. There's Dylan Beavers, another prospect on the way. Frankly, I forgot that Tyler o' Neal.

[Chris Mitchell]

Was still on this team. I guess he had a forgettable first year with them, but he's still here. You mentioned Tavares, Blaze, Alexander. We covered in our Diamondbacks preview. The Orioles just traded for him. So this is a lot of moving parts and pieces.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Would you expect them all to be on the roster somehow or in the.

[Chris Mitchell]

Organization on opening day? Are there more moves to be made here?

[Andy Kostka (continued)]

I expect them pretty much all to be in the organization.

[Chris Mitchell]

I didn't even mention Heston Kirstad.

[Andy Kostka (continued)]

So there's yes. One thing that Michael Eyes love is the roster flexibility. Players with options, keeping them in the minors and they're one call away if something happens. Mayo has another option here, Heston Curse that can be optioned. I actually, I really think that with the injury to Jackson Holiday and the oblique TWEAK that Jordan Westberg is dealing with that could open a spot for Kobe Mayo to play third base at the beginning of this season which would be kind of an interesting, you know, experiment because they moved him to first because they didn't think defensively was the right fit at third and they had had room for another first baseman. He did fairly okay at first base, you know, was a league average by the end of the season. He is probably less highly rated as a third baseman but in a pinch definitely could do it. And at the end of the day, I mean Koimeiyo's back that if he's anything, if he can find a, you know, the form that he had in September 2025, he was fantastic that month. He had five homers, had a.900 OPS, a.301 average in September. All those things looked great. And if you know, if he is able to replicate anything close to that, not even, you know exactly that he'll find a way in the lineup no matter what. So all that is to say I think there's a lot riding on spring training for how everything shakes out but it is a difficult bench situation because there's not that much space and you probably need Blaze Alexander because of his utility defensive role, his ability to back up pretty much any player on the on the diamond. Maybe you could cut ways with Leoti Tavares but you probably feel better with the natural center fielder on the bench just in case who can also play in the corners. Jeremiah Jackson is a name that I don't believe you mentioned. Maybe you did but he is another option. You can play corner outfield and second base and third base. Although his defensive numbers were not great. But he did hit well in his his cameo at the end of last season. So he's sort of in that mix as well. All of the us to say it is going to be a very fascinating camp battle for the last couple spots on this team because I do see Beavers making the team. So right now I, I, I kind of imagine outfield of five players. Tyler o', Neal, if healthy and is performing well enough will probably be in the mix. He's a real wild card. You know he when he's going well, it's going really well. Dylan Beaver showed enough last year that it probably deserves that opportunity but you never know. Colton Cowser, Taylor Ward and Leoti Tavares probably would be the five. Perhaps you'd feel okay without Tavares. If you have confidence in Blades Alexander to play center field, perhaps you option Dylan Beavers although that would be a tough, tougher one to stomach because of how well he hit in his one month up here. All of that is going to be found out in March and it's not going to be an easy decision. That is the one thing for sure.

[Chris Mitchell]

And the last real topic we have.

[Ben Lindbergh]

To touch on is the man who will be playing a part in those decisions and ultimately making out the lineup cards.

[Chris Mitchell]

Craig Albernaz, new Baltimore Orioles manager Tell us how he became the guy, what the Orioles brain trust liked about him.

[Ben Lindbergh]

And what you've seen and heard from him so far.

[Andy Kostka (continued)]

Yeah, Craig Alberna has done a good job at being himself, which is a Bostonian who believes in player development and sarcasm. And I think, you know, he, he's really a major reason why Pete Alonso picked Baltimore. I mean, Scott Boris was talking about it at the introductory press conference. You know, that, you know, when, when they met each other and they just kind of instantly click clicked. That showed a lot of, you know, who Craig Alvaren as is and just let him be himself and gets guys to rally around it. I think that's what Baltimore is banking on. It helps that, you know, he has a catching background and potentially could help, you know, mold Samo Basayo, who you just handed an extension to get Adley back on track. You know, those are important, you know, positions, you know, players in that position group that, you know, know could be, you know, have a benefit of a manager that knows a lot about their, their position and exactly what it, you know, is required of that position. All of that, you know, is just early, you know, takes on this guy. I think he's, he's interesting, he is light hearted, he's fun. But we're really going to know about him in August when Baltimore loses five straight games and they haven't slept in their own bed in a week week. And his kids are going back to school and so they're going back to Pennsylvania and he's maybe in a grumpy mood. That's when we're really going to know what's this guy like? That remains to be seen. But so far, players have enjoyed what he's brought to the table and the front office was really impressed with the way he can hold people to account but also keep things very loose. And I think that's a, it's a tricky balance. Right? Like, how do you, you, you know, fit the needle, you know, in that small hole of. All right, let's, let's hold people accountable and keep it loose. I mean. Right. But I Think so far, he's, he's doing a good job of, of trying, trying to navigate that. And just, he's really just doing it by being himself, which is, again, he loves a joke, he loves sarcasm, and he expects to. To have it thrown right back at him.

[Chris Mitchell]

Well, to sum and wrap it all up, our closing question.

[Ben Lindbergh]

What would constitute success for this team this season? We know it's not what happened to this team last season, but other than.

[Chris Mitchell]

Saying the opposite of that, what would.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Be the goal and the target for this team?

[Andy Kostka (continued)]

Yeah, this team wants to be competitive in the American League East. What does that look like? I don't think they necessarily pin all success on winning the pennant. It. But definitely winning the American League east would be the easiest mark of success before, you know, anything happens in the postseason. The bigger mark of success and why. I think it doesn't necessarily matter as much about winning the East. This is a team that. They haven't won a postseason game in over a decade. Just think about that for a second. This has been a long drought. They've been in the postseason. They haven't won a game in longer than a decade. So they need to, you, I really think, need to exercise those demons and win a playoff series. Even if you know it's okay, you get to the AODs because you won the wild card, get that monkey offer back, that's the first thing they need to do for success. And a lot of, a lot of people in this clubhouse, you know, talk about wanting a long playoff run. They don't necessarily say World Series, but that's obviously what's on everyone's mind. And one team wins. So it is a difficult thing to pin on anybody, but that's probably a measure of success. How, you know, can they win a playoff series? And then how deeply can they go?

[Ben Lindbergh]

And we will find out whether the.

[Chris Mitchell]

Orioles accomplish those goals in part by following the coverage of the team that.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Andy Kaska provides at Baltimore Banner. Excellent coverage. Thank you, Andy. Very good to have you.

[Andy Kostka (continued)]

Thank you, guys.

[Ben Lindbergh]

And we'll be back after a quick.

[Chris Mitchell]

Break to talk about another team with a new manager and some need for a starting pitcher, albeit still with a top 10 payroll.

[Ben Lindbergh]

The San Diego Padres.

[Chris Mitchell]

How do you calculate?

[Ben Lindbergh]

Does it come from the heart?

[AJ Cassavel]

Should we use defensive run saved or.

[Andy Kostka]

Follow the OAA way.

[Meg Riley]

Who's gone away with their quips and opinions?

[Andy Kostka (continued)]

It's effectively wild.

[Chris Mitchell]

Okay, it is time to talk Padres. And we are once again joined by AJ Cassavel, who has covered the Padres for many a [e-mail].

[Ben Lindbergh]

Welcome back, A.J.

[AJ Cassavel]

Thank you for having me.

[Chris Mitchell]

And welcome back to social media, I.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Suppose I should say, because I must.

[Chris Mitchell]

Commend you because a lot of people say, oh yeah, I resolved to be on social media less. I'm going to post less, I'm going to tweet less. Whatever it is, you did it. You just, you had an actual off season.

[Ben Lindbergh]

I mean, you were working, it was wonderful.

[Chris Mitchell]

Yeah, but, but you were, you were not posting, you were writing, you were reporting, but you were not posting. So October 3rd, you tweet, hey, thanks for reading and watching and following along this season. It was a fun ride, et cetera, et cetera. And then radio silence, social Media silence until February 10th when you tweet hello with a picture of a cactus from the Padres spring training facility. And that's it. You did it. You stayed off Twitter successfully for four full months.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Well done, AJ but not just Twitter.

[AJ Cassavel]

It was all social media for the last two of those months. It was wonderful. I lived my off season. I was a dad and not scrolling while I was a dad. But now I'm back. Now I'm back to scrolling and I don't know. It was nice to take a break. I think there are parts of, of that aspect of doing this that are useful, but I think those, that time is probably better spent from November, December, January, doing other things to get ready for, for the season.

[Chris Mitchell]

So you're in the best shape of.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Your life, at least psychologically, mentally, because.

[AJ Cassavel]

I don't know if I would say that. But yes, definitely better. Definitely better shape as a result of the last three months that I've had. It was a wonderful offseason season.

[Chris Mitchell]

Yeah. I wonder how long the benefits last. Just the first time the replies come rolling in about why don't the Padres do this or that. Suddenly it's like all of the, the.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Mental health gains made over the previous four months erased in one tweet. But I hope not. I hope that there's a lingering effect for you.

[AJ Cassavel]

I did find myself scrolling absent mindedly, like right away. It was amazing how quickly that came back to me. It's like, yeah, it was a little too bad, but no, it is nice to be back and have baseball back and I. And to get the information out to the people who care deeply about the Padres.

[Chris Mitchell]

One thing people who care deeply about.

[Ben Lindbergh]

The Padres care about is probably who owns the Padres. I guess we could get that out.

[Chris Mitchell]

Of the way before we actually talk about the team and the players. So this has been a subject of some buzz over the last week or so was reported last week that the Padres are maybe moving closer to a sale. Initial bids expected around the end of February. Per the Athletic. There was also reporting about the lawsuits that Peter Seidler's widow Shield had filed against two of her brothers in law.

[Ben Lindbergh]

And they have dismissed or she has dismissed most of the claims there and they've reached some sort of agreement which appeared to have removed a hurdle in the sale process which has been building for a while.

[Chris Mitchell]

And shortly before we talk to you.

[Ben Lindbergh]

I'm seeing a tweet by Evan Drelic.

[Chris Mitchell]

Rob Manfred on San Diego Padres sale process the best I can tell you.

[Ben Lindbergh]

On the Padres is there is robust interest on what is viewed as a really appealing asset.

[Chris Mitchell]

So straight from the commish, what's the.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Best you can tell us AJ about a process that's obviously shrouded in some secrecy?

[AJ Cassavel]

I, I guess the best I can say is basically kind of what Rob Manfred said. Like I, I'm, I guess there is, it does sound like there is robust interest. But but that being said, I think like it, it must be a lot of these things, like you said, happen in secrecy, happen behind closed doors. These things tend to happen fast when there is movement and when it is close to a sale. But I think like for now it's we're kind of at the place where John Seidler is the chairman and a lot of shields claims have kind of been resolved and it does seem to be, I guess this started in November. I mean it really started a decent time ago, but it started November when the Padres announced that they would be exploring options for a potential sale. And so I don't know. You guys know this has happened with lots of other teams around the league. Sometimes things move fast, sometimes things move slow. Sometimes things don't happen at all. I guess as much as I can, as much as I can interpret it, because a lot of these things are happening quietly and secretly and behind closed doors is that there is interest in the Padres. And I kind of understand like why that would pretty obviously be. I mean it's a franchise that sells out every single game during the season. It's the only real big time show in town. And yeah, I guess we'll this will be resolved whenever it gets resolved, but the developments recently would lead me to believe that it is trending toward in that direction.

[Chris Mitchell]

Yeah.

[Ben Lindbergh]

And of course as you alluded to.

[Chris Mitchell]

Sometimes teams are for sale and then they're not and then it's psych. Second thoughts. Or actually we're going to keep the team for now.

[Ben Lindbergh]

It's nice to own a team.

[Chris Mitchell]

Presumably, I have not experienced it myself.

[Ben Lindbergh]

So what are the stakes, though, for the franchise? Because obviously Peter Sidler's ownership of the Padres was so transformative in terms of the investments that he made into this team and its payroll and that paid dividends both competitively and obviously in terms of attendance. And then after his passing, there were questions about whether they would be able to keep up that level of spending. And obviously there have been some cutbacks.

[Chris Mitchell]

And some downsizing payroll wise. So I guess there's a lot riding.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Here on, you know, I don't know if you can hope to have another owner like Seidler who really does just genuinely seem to put competitive interests first. And maybe that's not something that all.

[Chris Mitchell]

The other Seidlers were equally willing to do.

[Ben Lindbergh]

So I don't know.

[Chris Mitchell]

Is this kind of a hold your breath moment for Padres fans?

[AJ Cassavel]

I guess it is.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Anytime your franchise that you root for is up for sale, but particularly here, I guess given the ups and downs.

[AJ Cassavel]

Payroll wise lately, I think the stakes, like you kind of alluded to, are high. And like you said, I don't know if they're. I don't think there will ever be another owner like Peter Seidler. Just, just generally speaking, kind of the way he invested in the community and the people and did some of the things he did in San Diego and then also spent and spent and spent and did his due diligence to try and bring a championship to San Diego. I think it would be hard for the incoming owner kind of not to build on this success. So in some way, maybe the stakes aren't like ultra massive high. Like this is, this is a, this is a team that brings in a ton of fans every year and that kind of commands the attention of the entire city. Like, people in San Diego care deeply about the San Diego podcast Padres based on what they've accomplished the last five or six seasons. It's, you can make the argument it's the most successful era of Padres baseball in history. If, if the new ownership kind of were to come in and reverse that course, I just, I just kind of don't see that happening whatever the situation is. Then again, like, there are serious questions, I think with the Padres that I'm sure we'll get into roster wise and front office wise going forward. And so the question for the ownership now, the ownership that would be coming in would be how do you kind of sustain what has been here for the last six or seven years? What has been built by, in many ways, Peter Seidler and the Seidler ownership group.

[Meg Riley]

Let's see if I can do a sort of tricky transition here. The team has not yet changed hands and shockingly for a Padres off season, neither did any other players. I thought there had to be a glitch in our off season transaction tracker because as of this moment, I don't think that AJ has made any trick grades this winter. And that is.

[AJ Cassavel]

That. That is correct.

[Ben Lindbergh]

And that would be okay.

[Meg Riley]

Yeah, I was gonna say like we've done a wellness check on ayyjayy and you know, guys are reporting. So presumably eyes have been on Preller in the last couple of days. But I'm curious, you know, they've been busy in other ways and we'll get to some of the, the moves that they've made. But how do you account for this particular lull in his trade activity? Is it just that the, the, the farm system is in that strong of an A deer or how can we make sense of this?

[AJ Cassavel]

Yeah, I saw AJ this morning. He seems to be doing just fine. I will also say that last year at the trade deadline, I think at like 7:30am on the morning of the trade deadline, we were all like, wow, AJ Preller hasn't made any trades. And then I remember that made, I think it was like five trades, 21 players involved, maybe 22.

[Ben Lindbergh]

There's still time, you're saying.

[AJ Cassavel]

So there, there is still time. And when, and what I noticed covering Preller is that when he makes one move, they're usually tied to another move. So like these things can happen in multiples and so I'm often on the lookout after that first move for whatever the next thing is to complement it. But that being said, I think the Padres have been aggressive in looking into some possible trades and looking into kind of some shakeups trade wise. But I also think it's tricky based on the roster that they have and the prospects that they have and, and the fact that they've traded so much from their farm system, so much depth of talent. I think there are still some intriguing guys in that system. But like, it's clearly not what it was when the Padres, they were at the top of the league in farm system and they traded everyone away and then they got back to a very respectable place like maybe in the top third of the league and then they traded everyone away again. It's, it's hard to kind of pull from the guys that they have and it's to some extent you kind of want to, to keep some of those guys that you're interested in and see what they pan out to be. So there's, I think there's just a lot of factors. It wouldn't surprise me if AJ Preller were to make a trade or two in spring training. Like he's done that in re. He did it with Dylan Cease and Sean Maniah very deep into spring training. I want to say both of those were on the final day of camp. Maybe Maniah was second to last day. So, like it's always possible and the Padres do need another starting pitcher future. But I think there are some limiting factors in terms of what the farm system is and in terms of kind of how, I don't want to say complete the roster is because it's not like they, they could use some, they, they could use some guys in some areas, but maybe what it would mean if you trade this guy and what it would mean kind of payroll wise if you're trading like guys who are making a certain amount of money. It's just for a lot of reasons, there has not been a trade yet. And I emphasize the yet.

[Chris Mitchell]

Yeah, I know that some sources, Kylie.

[Ben Lindbergh]

McDaniel at ESPN Baseball Prospectus among them, have the pad dead last this spring in their organizational rankings, their farm system quality.

[Chris Mitchell]

And it does seem as if people have been sort of predicting the demise.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Of the system for years because Preller does go through prospects at such an incredible pace. And yet to his credit, I suppose he keeps making more somehow and, and.

[Chris Mitchell]

Then suddenly has more to trade, even though you think that the well is dry. But is it finally dry now? Is. Has that magic trick is are there no more rabbits in the hats or, or do you think that he can.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Somehow keep that pipeline flowing?

[AJ Cassavel]

I mean, I don't know if it's dry. I think it's probably dry at the upper levels. It's dry like when you're looking for those Double A, Triple A pitchers that could come into the big leagues this season and make an impact at the back of the rotation when a guy inevitably gets hurt, like that's what they're lacking. They don't really have that Double A, Triple A depth because they've traded so many guys in the last two years. But I don't know. They have some interesting recent drafts picks and recent, recent signings and they still have Ethan Salas. And so I, I would say that's maybe AJ Pro's biggest accomplishment or greatest accomplishment, especially in the last few years, is being able to acquire the Guys he's acquired and then still have guys in his farm system to acquire more. And part of that has been when he's made some of these trades. And granted, like, some of them are the Juan Soto trade, where you're giving up all the best players that you have because it's Juan Soto. But when he's made some of these other trades, he's hung on to guys that ended up being very good and could be traded for more or could become part of the team. He hung on to Jackson Merrill even, even throughout all of that. Now Jackson Merrill is a contributor. And so I don't think the wells dry because I think the Padres do a pretty good job of, of finding prospects and young talent to add to the system. But I think the well is in a place where it makes it very difficult to make a, a trade for like an impact arm at this point. Point.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Yeah, I remember a Baseball America roundup of all the moves made. I just found it. Kyle Glazer did this.

[Chris Mitchell]

All 66 prospects and recent prospect graduates.

[Ben Lindbergh]

The Padres have traded in 33 months.

[Chris Mitchell]

This was in August 2022. And somehow they've kept the assembly line moving in the three and a half.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Or so years since then.

[Chris Mitchell]

Do you know, have you talked to any Padres prospects about that? Because I always wonder about the effect.

[Ben Lindbergh]

People used to say this about, say, players in the Yankees system in the first Steinbrenner era, when you kind of knew that you just probably weren't ever going to really crack the roster and you would just be trade bait at best. And you look at the Padres major league roster and there are not a.

[Chris Mitchell]

Lot of homegrown guys there. Of course there are some.

[Ben Lindbergh]

There's Jackson Merrill and there's, well, Luis.

[Chris Mitchell]

Capisano, I guess, and then there's some international signees. Adrian Morihone.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Yeah. Bradley Rodriguez. Just.

[Chris Mitchell]

I'm run out of names. So given that.

[AJ Cassavel]

Yeah.

[Ben Lindbergh]

That they've seen so many of their fellow players in that system be dealt elsewhere, I wonder what that does.

[Chris Mitchell]

Not that it's necessarily a bad thing, but you kind of. You can't really look at the big league roster and say, I'm following in.

[Ben Lindbergh]

The footsteps of, of this player or that player. It's probably more, well, when am I going to move more so than if.

[AJ Cassavel]

Yeah, I, I have. And for the most part, we just kind of get like a. They're very excited to be Padres and I don't know, I think there's, there's, there's some excitement to being in the organization given like the Padre Pro has also promoted guys very quickly to the big leagues if they kind of show it. If not like you could be traded somewhere else in a, in a blockbuster deal. I don't know. I think for the most part when you talk to prospects, they're just kind of very excited to be playing professional baseball and, and haven't maybe thought through the ramifications of the team they're on and whether that means they could be traded. And most guys before their trade traded don't really think about what it's like to get traded because how can you know? So I'm sure there must be some level of that, but not the, the few prospects that, that I have talked to in the past.

[Meg Riley]

All right, well, we've spent I think enough time talking about the guys who are no longer Padres, so let's talk about some of the guys who are. And I actually want to start with Jackson Merrill who you mentioned a bit ago, because I don't know that it's totally fair to say that he fell prey to the, the league wide Jackson, sophomore swoop. It seemed like he mostly dealt with injury more than anything else. He wasn't quite as good when he was healthy as he had been in his rookie campaign. So I'm just curious, what are his sort of developmental goals for, for this third season and what are you expecting to see out of him?

[AJ Cassavel]

Yeah, they asked us to pick a bounce back candidate for every team and I kind of wrestled with the Padres one and wrestled like because the answer, my answer was clearly Jackson Merrill. But then I was wondering, wondering, like, can you really bounce back from a season where your OPS is like, I don't know what his OPS was. It was probably, I was above 750. It was close to closer to 800, I think.

[Meg Riley]

Yeah.

[AJ Cassavel]

And like he was really good defensively and when he was out there he was fine. But I still chose him because I don't think it was a season that like, I think he has a lot more in him and he's kind of my pick to like, he's already broken out, but for him to, and, and I, I, I, he's obviously not a breakout candidate. I know that that's a thing that has been discussed here.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Careful, careful.

[AJ Cassavel]

But I, I, I, I think he could have a really solid season like a, like a, I, I'm very hesitant to call it a bounceback season, but better than what he did last year. And he has the potential to be a star. He has the potential to be on the level he was competing with Paul SK for Rookie of the Year. And I know a lot of people kind of viewed that as like Paul SK Award to lose, but I think it's. If you look at the numbers, it was closer than, than you think. And he did it every day. He played outstanding center field. He was very new at it and he's gotten better defensively in center field. And some of the injuries that he dealt with last year were just kind of fluke injuries. Like he got tagged really hard in the head and had a concussion that he dealt with. And that was I think his biggest, biggest slump of the year followed that. He twisted his ankle coming out of the box at Dodger Stadium right when he was kind of getting going. And then you look at what he did in September and you of kind, kind of started to see who Jackson Merrill was. I think he was. It was a small sample size obviously, but he was probably their most dangerous hitter in that playoff series against Chicago. I guess when you're starting and one of the big questions with this Padres team is like, where do they tap into more power? How do they, how do they access more from a roster that's loaded with guys that should be able to hit for power? He's one of the guys that can kind of drive that. He's one of the guys that I think can, can, can make a difference offensively if he's isn't just back to what he was in 2024. But I think he can be better than that. Yeah.

[Ben Lindbergh]

It surprised me when I saw where.

[Chris Mitchell]

The Padres stood on the home runs.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Leaderboard, which is 28th ahead of only.

[Chris Mitchell]

The, the Cardinals and the Pirates last year.

[Ben Lindbergh]

And if you look at isolated power.

[Chris Mitchell]

Also 28th and yeah, park effects asides, that's, that's not great and it's surprising given some of the names, as you said. So where else might the power rebound come from?

[AJ Cassavel]

From I, I know Fernando Tatis Jr. Hit at north of 25 home runs. I think he can hit more. I think the guys they have on their roster, things like letting Luis arise, walk and, and I don't know, they haven't necessarily added. I think they're still looking for a bat. But Miguel and Duhar brings a little bit more of that power. They have a new hitting coach in, in Steven Sousa Jr. Who's never held the role before. It's his first coaching gig. He spent time in the Rays front office. I think they're, there may be more of an emphasis on a slug type approach. The Padres the last couple years were very kind of contact Oriented a lot of pet. What they called Petco park hitting, which was kind of understanding that the power would be suppressed and leaning into that a little bit. I wonder if they skew away from that. We don't, we haven't really seen that yet. We've talked to Steven Sousa Jr. And he, he kind of said, we want to make sure we have all the clubs in our bag so you can punish mistakes and do some damage. So part of it is, is there some sort of philosophical switch that could lead the Padres to tap into some of that power? But when you have an offense that has Jackson Merrill, Fernando Tatis Jr. Manny Machado, you should be able to tap into that power. Gavin Sheets gets a full season. I just think it's there. I don't know if the Padres, given where they play, are ever going to be like a top five team in home runs, but if this, if they're 15th in the league in home runs at the end of the season while playing home run games at Petco park with some of the other things that they do pretty well offensively, I think that would be a successful season.

[Meg Riley]

I'm fascinated by what we ought to expect from Ramon Loriano this year because his 2025 was so impressive relative to his prior two campaigns. He was a little worse once he was traded to San Diego, but was still a very productive hitter when he was available. And I'm curious, sort of if you had a chance to talk to him about what changed for him from an approach perspective because obviously, you know, he didn't play a full slate in 2024. But going from a 108 WRC plus to a 138 suggests some, some pretty meaningful changes. And you know, he walked more, he struck out less. I know that he had the, the finger issue at the end of the year, but he was a very obvious like club option to exercise. So what are you expecting from him this year?

[AJ Cassavel]

Yeah, I don't know if it's fair to expect what he did last season considering how surprising that was and just how good it was. But I think the Pottery Padres are suspect are expecting that version of him, that guy that, that hits the ball hard, that doesn't swing his miss as much as he had before. And I think there might be reason to believe that now. He just got into camp today, so I think we'll be kind of breaking things down with him. He was a really big loss going into the postseason because I think they were playing kind of. I don't know if it was a Meaningless game or it was just for home field advantage toward the end of the season. And he got, he took a fastball off his finger and then finished the at bat. And then I think it was the eighth inning and we had no idea that he was even hurt until we learned at the very end of the press conference after the game that he had fractured his finger because he finished the at bat. The Padres really missed him because they had some struggles against left handed pitching last year and he was kind of one of the guys they brought over at the trade deadline to address that. And he helped address that even though he wasn't as good as he was in Baltimore. Yeah, I guess there's, there's, there's just a lot to like in terms of the power he brings and the approach that he brings and the fact that he can play left field and maybe back up some center field if that's necessary. It's just a really, really good fit for this roster. And I know that when the Padres made that trade last year, this applies to a few of the trades Preller made last year. They did so also knowing that they had 2026 in mind, knowing that he would be a part of the offense and on a team that, that I don't think it skews too lefty heavy. But some of the righties don't particularly hit lefties all that well. Like they needed Ramon Loriano and so even if he's the guy he was in San Diego last season, which isn't as good as he was in Baltimore, eight above 800 ops, I think he was on track to set the Padres record for home runs by a guy who came over mid season until that injury. Yeah, he could be a very important piece on the Padres and if they, if those changes that he made hold up, he'll, he'll find himself right in the middle of that lineup.

[Chris Mitchell]

Tell us about one of the few new faces and one of the few free agent additions, Sung Moon Song. If I'm saying that right, if I'm not, please correct me.

[AJ Cassavel]

I believe it's Sung Munsong, but I'm not even entirely sure yet. So I usually wait till the game start, listen to Jesse Agler on the radio and whoever he pronounces it is the way I go with it. So games haven't started yet. We'll find out soon enough in terms of like, what to expect from him. The Padres are really intrigued with his versatility and like, that's super useful as a left handed bat. He played third base primarily in Korea. But obviously the Padres are pretty well set at third base. But if he can, if he plays there once a week and Manny Machado dhs, and Manny Machado is healthy and strong down the stretch, that's a useful thing. He can play some second base too. And playing second base may allow Jake Cron Hornworth to move to shortstop. He can play first base, which is a position the Padres don't really have a guy. It looks like Gavin Sheets might be the guy, but he can also DH and they're going to experiment with him in the outfield a little bit too. And so if he can kind of COVID all those, it gives the Padres kind of a complete offense against right handed pitching where you can give whoever you want a day off at any time or just a DH day at any time. And he can, he can move around around and Cronenworth can move around and his numbers in the KBO are obviously really good. And do those translate? Obviously the Padres had a that have experience with the with the KBO star coming over and Hasan Kim struggled a little bit at first and I think it's fair to expect there to be an acclimation period. But that being said, the Padres have I think an opportunity to ease him into action like if he's playing three or four times a week in the right kind of matchups as a left handed hitter against right handed pitching and he seems very open to playing kind of wherever needed. He seems kind of excited by the challenge. That's just a fun, useful signing and I guess it's kind of wait and see because you never know what the transition will be like. But I know the Padres are bullish about it.

[Meg Riley]

Sandra Bogart's had I guess a bit of a bounce back at the plate relative to what he managed in 2024. But I still think hasn't quite been been the guy that they have maybe hoped he would be when they signed him in 2023. Although that that first year went better. I'm I'm curious sort of where things have settled for him in terms of the club's expectations and does he have anything that he's working on, you know, as he enters his age 33 season to to try to look more like the guy who played in Boston.

[AJ Cassavel]

Yeah, I think one of the the biggest things for Bogarts with the Padres has been how well he like he was second baseman for a year while while Hassan Kim played sh short and the Padres weren't sure how long he would be able to stick at shortstop. He was really solid defensively last year at shortstop like some of his, one of his best defensive seasons because he wasn't always kind of known for his glove in Boston and so just him being able to play shortstop regularly really helps with the flexibility of the roster. Who knows how much longer he'll be able to do that. But I know they anticipate that what he did last season will carry over into this season and he's their shortstop this year.

[Andy Kostka]

Year.

[AJ Cassavel]

There's, there's probably the Padres hope maybe a little bit more. We mentioned guys that, that could help the Padres tap into some of that power and get them above where they were in the league. And slugging. I, I think he's one of those guys. He's not like a, I don't know if he's a 25 homer guy, but he, he's hit 11 in the last couple of seasons. If he gets that to like 18 or so and, and hits for extra bases a little bit more, I think that's probably what the Padres would looking for. Getting Xander Bogarts to tap into some of that slugging. He's been, he's been a useful player. He was I think in 2024, hit hard with a few injuries. But yeah, there the Padres need more from him at the plate and probably need him to get off to a better start because he started slowly a couple times. I don't know if there's anything specific that'll help that. Maybe playing in the World Baseball Classic will help with that. But yeah, him being the starting shortstop, as deep into that contract as he has been, has helped in a major way for him. It's probably just a matter of finding a little bit more of that power which I, I think is there. I mean he hit 30 plus home runs in Boston one, one of those seasons. So I don't think that's there, but I think there's, there's more than what he's shown.

[Chris Mitchell]

The Padres did lose Dylan Cease, who departed via free agency, joined the Blue Jays, but they managed to retain the services of fellow free agent Michael King, who signed what we have taken to.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Calling a trampoline contract following the lead of Zack Kreiser. It's a three year, $75 million deal, but opt out Zephyr after the first two seasons.

[Chris Mitchell]

And that seemed like a case of, well, if he is healthy and pitches the way he has when he's healthy.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Then, well, I was going to say it's a bargain, but probably he just opts out.

[Chris Mitchell]

But, but why did he end up signing that kind of contract. So what were the doubts about his.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Health and the state of his arm, etc.

[Chris Mitchell]

Like?

[Ben Lindbergh]

And what's the Padres confidence that he can be out there for for them?

[Chris Mitchell]

Because as you noted, there's already a.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Need for a starter. So if something were to befall King, then the Padres would be in pretty dire straits rotation wise.

[AJ Cassavel]

I think part of the reason for that contract, that specific contract, is the fact that King was a reliever for so long in New York and hasn't like he hasn't been a starting pitcher to prove himself as such very long. He had one excellent season in 2024 as a full time starter and then in 2025 he dealt with a nerve issue which affected the strength of his shoulder which kept him out for, for three months. It wasn't a shoulder injury, it was something nerve wise and I guess that got completely figured out. But upon his return he basically kind of ramped up too fast and dealt with a knee issue toward the end of the season. And so basically he was an excellent starter for almost two months of the season and then was hurt and either wasn't pitching or struggled. And so I think Michael King and his camp believe firmly that he's a really good starting pitcher and that he can, he is the, the guy who I think finished seventh in Cy Young voting in 2024. I know I had him fifth on my ballot. They think he's that kind of guy. And he may not have the track record to show it yet, but if he can show it in this season with the podcast Padres, well then the Padres get an ace caliber starting pitcher for a reasonable number and Michael King gets his chance to do that and then we'll see what happens next season. But I also know the fact that like Michael King really likes pitching in San Diego. He really likes, he has spoken a lot about the pitching group and the work with Ruben Diebla and the staff that he's on. And so it was a priority of his to return and he kind of, I guarantee you he enters the season with something to prove and that being that he is, he can be that kind of frontline guy.

[Meg Riley]

Ben alluded to the the needs in the rotation and part of that is the, the absence of you Darvish and there's been conflicting reporting about you Darvish's desire to continue to play baseball. So where do things stand with you?

[AJ Cassavel]

With me? I'm sorry there's too many of those puns, but it's too early in spring training. I wasn't ready for that Yeah. I think the parties involved expect that, like you, Darvish might end up voiding his contract. That doesn't mean he won't be around the team. That doesn't mean he won't be with the team. That means they would have to kind of negotiate whatever the settlement would be. He has three years remaining on that contract. He's owed $16 million this year. He is coming off an injury that required flexor tendon surgery. And so from my perspective, he's fully owed what's coming to him because he got hurt at work, he got hurt pitching. But he also is considering retirement because he's 39 years old, and so it's still TBD. Every time we've talked to Darvish, which has been a couple times since the season ended, he wants to see how his arm feels as he gets closer to the part of the recovery where he's moving it around and where he's throwing a baseball. And I think it, it's probably trending in a direction where Darvish is with the Padres, but not under that contract. And is, is that contract is voided in a way that, that he makes some of that money back but doesn't. Isn't kind of committed long term, but is still with the organization, if that makes sense. But we don't really know that because that's kind of Hugh Darvish's prerogative. The Padres have given him the space to make that decision on his own. They're just kind of, kind of waiting for the answer. I know he will be around spring training at some point and, and we may get further clarity on that because he hasn't spoken aside from through social media since a charity event in December. But it'll, it's, it's a lot, in a lot of ways, it's just kind.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Of up to you.

[AJ Cassavel]

Darvish.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Well, the real linchpin of that rotation then is someone else who had elbow surgery but is returning from it, and that's Joe Musgrove, San Diego's own. So he's well removed from his surgery. He's something like, what, 18 months because.

[Chris Mitchell]

Of the timing of when he had it.

[Ben Lindbergh]

So in theory, he's good to go.

[Chris Mitchell]

Is that the hope and the realistic.

[AJ Cassavel]

Expectation that that is the hope? That is his hope. That is the expectation. Maybe with the caveat that they slow play him a few times during the season just to make sure everything's fine. Like maybe his start is skipped or maybe a start is pushed back here or there. But he was, he was really last season eyeing a Potential return turn in a. In a bullpen spot. I think he pushed hard during that recovery because it was October 2024 during the playoffs that he underwent that surgery. Honestly, if. If that injury doesn't happen and the Padres have him available for one of those last two games against the Dodgers in which they had a 21 series lead, who knows? But I digress. Joe Musgrove is like, when he's been healthy, he's been really, really good for the Padres. Unfortunately, with the rotation, like, that's kind of the way things are looking right now. It's like, when they're healthy, this could be a pretty good rotation. But there are some question marks there. But he's. I think I'm right in saying this, that he's the most important Padre in terms of, like, what effect his various outcomes could have under the season. Like, if he comes back and is Joe Musgrove the type of guy that. That gets Cy Young votes? Like, a real leader in the clubhouse, a real guy that, like, the fans rally around or the city rallies around? That's. That's huge for the Padres, a team that is relatively thin on starting pitching, and if injuries crop up or if he struggles kind of to return and he is 33 years old, like, then the Padres might be in some trouble because they don't have that pitching depth. And so they're approaching it, I think, maybe a little cautiously in spring training, but once the season starts, they expect him. In the opening day rotation, they expect him. I don't know. Maybe they're not eyeing 33 starts, but. But if he gets 28 starts and is Joe Musgrove from the past few seasons in San Diego, they'd be very happy.

[Meg Riley]

Well, I feel like we might have an argument for another guy to be the most important starter, if only because he managed to throw 181innings last year, which, my goodness, what a welcome development for San Diego. I'm sure that was. And that's Nick Pavetta, who took a real step forward last year. His ERA was better. His FIP was better. He struck out fewer guys. That was interesting. But a lot of fewer home runs. What changed for him last year and kind of. What. Where do you see him slotting into all of this for them this year?

[AJ Cassavel]

Yeah, I think what changed for him last year is he just kind of eliminated some of the erraticness. I think he had some. He had showed some really good signs in Philly and in Boston and just kind of never was able to put it all together. He was never able to, to establish consistency throughout the season in San Diego. He did that like his fastball is excellent. It plays at the top of the zone really well. His curveball and slider pair really well with it. Like he has all the tools to be a front of the rotation guy. And I think he finally realized that in San Diego last season working with the pitching group here. He did a really good job limiting hard contact. He did, he did a really good job of working efficiently and he worked deep into a lot of games. I mean, I don't disagree. I think he is, he's probably the opening day starter and the guy I would expect of the three to rely on the most because of what he showed last season. But yeah, he just kind of developed into just a really consistent performer, which he had never been throughout his career. He had, he had shown flashes of being really good and then had an outing here or there where he walked four or five guys and it spiraled. And that just didn't happen last season. I think partly maybe because he was just in a good headspace in a good place and he pitched really well in San Diego. That was a signing they made at, on the first day of full squad workouts last year. And I think it exceeded just about everyone's expectations except, who knows, maybe Nick Pavetta's.

[Chris Mitchell]

Well, the silver lining of the pitching.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Staff is that despite some of the.

[Chris Mitchell]

Flaws, the uncertainties in the rotation looks like a heck of a bullpen. And only the Dodgers have a superior projection. And it's by a tenth of a win.

[Ben Lindbergh]

And of course that's banking on a number of guys bouncing back.

[Chris Mitchell]

The Padres had the best bullpen in.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Baseball last year by fan graphs were, especially after the upgrades at the deadline and bringing in Mason Miller. So you'd, you'd hope that you'd have a good pen paying a pretty penny.

[Chris Mitchell]

In prospects for Mason Miller. So walk us through this group and what the late inning hierarchy is looking.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Like and just how much of a boon they think it'll be to, to have a bunch of lights out guys back there.

[AJ Cassavel]

Yeah, I think it'll be really good. And I, I wrestle with like what, what kind of expectations to put on this bullpen because I know how volatile bullpens are and I know how volatile relievers are, but there, there's so much, there's a lot of depth too. And then like the front end talent, it's kind of hard to doubt what Mason Miller does. And then behind him it's, it's maybe a little easier but still very Hard to doubt guys like Adrian Morihone, Jason Adam, Jeremiah Estrada, who are all, all could be closers in, in on other teams. And that's why I think the Padres had some interesting decisions to make this offseason because they had vacancies in their starting rotation and because they have Mason Miller and Adrian Morijone and David Morgan was someone they also discussed internally about potentially as a starting pitcher and making that transition. And they basically decided our bullpen is awesome and we want to make sure it's still awesome.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Awesome.

[AJ Cassavel]

Doing that means keeping the guys that are awesome in the bullpen and we'll figure out the rotation. And in a lot of ways like that bullpen is what carried them last season. Their offense wasn't. I mean, it didn't slug as much as it should and it had some injuries and before the trade deadline it was kind of poor toward the bottom and, and just like just real inconsistence, inconsistency and just some question marks as to what they were going to get every night. But if they had a lead after five innings, they were probably going to win the game. And so even just having that allows you to maybe play a little more situationally offensively and to, to, to maximize what you can, what you can do. And I think the one thing that's like that this bullpen has, that not many bullpens in baseball have, is that there are so many high leverage guys that if they're losing a game, 4, 2 in the seventh inning, they can go to one of those high leverage guys. They can go to Jason Adam or Jeremiah Strike or Adrian Morijone who are all star caliber relievers and hold the game in check and then kind of count on their offense to, to bring them back. It was the strength of the Padres last year. It's the reason they got to the postseason, because of some of the question marks they had offensively and were able to withstand that. And then they added Mason Miller at the trade deadline. And I know they lost Robert Suarez, but they have some other intriguing arms in Bradley Rodriguez and as I mentioned, David Morgan, who could really see some, some important innings this year. And so I, I guess I really understand that bullpens have a tendency to regress, but I would still think this will be, if not the best bullpen in baseball, one of the best bullpens and one of the most reliable.

[Chris Mitchell]

Yeah.

[Ben Lindbergh]

And yeah, I never know how much stock to put into the bullpen projections, but I think I buy this one. Then again, we might have said the same about the Dodgers last year and things went south.

[Chris Mitchell]

But yeah, I. We talked about that during the playoffs, I recall.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Because the pitfall, I guess, of your bullpen being your strength is that you do have to hand a lead to.

[Chris Mitchell]

The bullpen in order for that lead to be protected.

[Ben Lindbergh]

And that's something the Padres were struggling with at times last year.

[Chris Mitchell]

And it's not new. But since we didn't talk to you about this last year, I wonder what the rationale for the Miller DeVries trade.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Was, because that's a big guy to give up. He's, you know, in many sources, a top five prospect prospect this spring, part.

[Chris Mitchell]

Of the exodus of prospects that we were talking about earlier. Maybe that system would rank a little.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Bit higher if he were headlining it.

[Chris Mitchell]

So was that just a yolo? We're in our competitive window. I know there was some suggestion that, oh, maybe they'll make Mason Miller into a starter, but that's not happening. So were they lower on Leo DeVries than anyone else, do you think? Or was it just we really like Mason Miller and we want to build a Super bowl pin?

[AJ Cassavel]

I don't know if I don't think they were lower on De Vries. I do think that they had some options to have traded him before and then didn't trade him until Mason Miller. I think Garrett Crochet was the guy two trade deadlines ago, and I don't know if De Vries was untouchable, but the Padres are certainly very hesitant in trading him then. So I legitimately have no idea if anything changed. But I also think that the Padres are just extremely high on Mason Miller, and the fact that he's under control through 2029, I wouldn't rule out out the possibility of him potentially being a starting pitcher at some point in the future. And maybe that was part of the Padres reasoning for trading for him. I think the real reasoning is that they just think he's awesome and can can pitch. Like even if he's not a starting pitcher, he can be an unbelievably impactful relief pitcher because of the fact that he can go multiple innings and because of how dominant he is. And striking out 45 of 83 hitters that you faced and then eight of nine in the postseason is just patently ridiculous. I understand the hesitancy to trade a prospect like DeVries. I think he's going to be awesome. I think the Padres think he's going to be awesome. To some extent. I commend the Padres for being willing to make those moves because, and this is maybe A little bit of a tangent, but I think a lot of, a lot of general managers get judged on the trades that they make. And A.J. preller is certainly a general manager that gets better made, that gets judged on the trades that he has made and rightly so with Preller because he makes those trades and a lot of other teams, we don't know what trades they aren't making to acquire guys that, that could be really impactful. So adding a guy like Mason Miller is a sure thing for your bullpen. If Leo Devries is the next Jose Ramirez, it's a terrible trade. But I do think there's plenty to be extracted from Mason Miller, whether that's in a multi inning relief role, just, just a weapon in the postseason, the kind of guy that can win you playoff series or if down the road it's as a starter.

[Meg Riley]

Well, the guy who's going to decide when he comes in and when all of these high leverage arms get deployed is himself a former Padres reliever. Tell us about the decision to elevate Craig Stammon to manager.

[AJ Cassavel]

Yeah, that was a really interesting one because no one, no one saw it coming. And yet I think a lot of the people who covered Stamen and who worked with Stamen, if you had told us that he would be a future major league manager, everyone would be like, oh yeah, that makes plenty of sense. Just two years after he retired though and hadn't coached at any other previous level, I think. And the fact that he wasn't mentioned as a candidate, he wasn't even on the initial list of candidates. I think the Padres were maybe interested in potentially adding him to that list, but he wanted to kind of check with his family and see if that was the right thing to do. And so that's part of the reason why the other finalists for the job were the finalists who were talked about, Nick Hundley, Albert Pujols and Ruben Niebla. We didn't know that Craig Stammen was a finalist, but we knew that there was presumably a mystery finalist or two and it was him. He's a bright guy who relates really well with these players and even though he's obviously a first time manager, there will be a learning curve there. There is no learning curve with the organization. He's spent the last two years in the front office. He spent the previous seven seasons in the bullpen. He knows a bunch of these players as teammates first and in the last couple of years he was still very much around the team. His communication style is one that is, is really Respected by a lot of the players in the clubhouse. I think it's probably pretty difficult for a middle reliever who's. I mean, let's, let's be honest. He's not like he's not a great middle reliever, just kind of generic, generic setup type to be a clubhouse leader. And that's what he was for some of those Padres teams. So I think he has some things you would like to see in a managerial hire. I just have no idea how he'll handle some of the things that managers have to handle in game decisions. We haven't seen it yet. I suspect he's a bright enough guy that he'll learn from his mistakes and be able to handle a lot that comes his way, but the experience is going to come to him on the fly.

[Chris Mitchell]

Yeah, it could have been the most sensational managerial hiring in the NL west this off season, but then the Giants.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Sort of stole the Padres thunder in that respect, I suppose.

[Chris Mitchell]

But it was still somewhat unconventional.

[Ben Lindbergh]

And as you said, Steven Sousa doing the job for the first time as hitting coach. Well, so is his, his boss, the leader of the coaching staff.

[Chris Mitchell]

Now, can you tell us exactly what the consensus is on why Mike Schilt walked away? Because he made it sound. He just needed a break.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Basically it was just burnout work, life balance. He'd had enough. Obviously it's not common for a manager.

[Chris Mitchell]

Who had been pretty successful coming off.

[Ben Lindbergh]

A playoff season to walk away of his own accord.

[Chris Mitchell]

I know there was subsequently some reporting about maybe everything wasn't really rosy behind the scenes.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Obviously there have been issues reported between Preller and his many managers in the past, but what's your understanding of why Schilt decided to call it quits as.

[Chris Mitchell]

A manager, at least for now. And, and he has joined the other.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Team that we talked about today, the Orioles, as an instructor.

[AJ Cassavel]

Yeah, I don't think everything was rosy behind the scenes and the extent of how unrosy it was kind of varies depending on who you talk to. Like every team has. Has some kind of struggles behind closed doors and, and contentiousness. I don't think it was a ton of that there with, with Preller and Shilt. I don't know what exactly. Like Mike Schill had two very successful years as manager of the Padres and probably got The Padres, the 2024 Padres, one of the best teams in Padres history, maybe the second best behind the 1998 team and I think a serious candidate to win the World Series until they lost those two games to the Dodgers. He did a lot of really good things. And he pushed a lot of people really hard and he might have pushed some of. He pushed a lot of the right buttons and some of the wrong buttons and, and I think it got to a point where it was his decision, but he was just, it had just been, I guess, enough. Like it was a lot for Mike Shield. He took the job very seriously. He took his job as the guy in charge and the guy leading coaching staff and players very seriously. And I don't know, I kind of, I wish him well going forward and that, that maybe the burden and some of the stresses of the managerial job aren't falling on him like they did in San Diego, apparently, even if he didn't necessarily let that on. But I, I think it was one of those things where it was his call, but maybe it didn't surprise as many people internally as it did externally.

[Chris Mitchell]

Okay, well, what would constitute a successful season for the Padres in 2026?

[AJ Cassavel]

Yeah, I think it's making the playoffs in this sense. Just that that the Padres have never made the playoffs in three straight seasons in franchise history. That would be a notable achievement. There are three season stretches in the past where they would have made the playoffs if there were six teams in each league reaching the playoffs. So I don't know necessarily how notable, but it's still, it's still a step for the franchise. But I think I'll take it a step further than that. Like you look at the 2024 season and the 2025 season and they're similar in that the podcast Padres lost the winner take all game on the road and kind of left with a bitter taste in their mouth. But I just look at those two seasons very differently because I think the 2024 team realized its potential and just didn't put it together in that final game that that mattered the most. And I don't know that the 2025 team ever did. And so I think it's probably, let's just say hosting playoff games, whether that's being the. It's going to be tough to compete with the Dodgers. That's the kind of the specter hanging over this whole conversation. I think winning the division is going to be very difficult. I have thought that the last two seasons, though, and they pushed the Dodgers in both of those seasons, so I suppose it is possible. But the Dodgers are rightly the favorites. So I think having home playoff games and then if they get in a series with the Dodgers, I don't think many fans in San Diego would consider it much of a success if they were to bow out to the Dodgers, so beating them. But I realize that that's a lofty bar and so I think I would put home playoff games. If the Padres have those at the end of the season, that that probably means they've had a solid year.

[Chris Mitchell]

And if they fall short of that goal, could this be the end of the Preller tenure? There's part of me that, that hopes.

[Ben Lindbergh]

The answer is no, just because he.

[Chris Mitchell]

Certainly has been maybe the most entertaining GM or president baseball operations over the past several years. You just never know what you're going.

[Ben Lindbergh]

To get from him. And I, I did a little stat blast earlier where I looked up the managers or PO bows who have had.

[Chris Mitchell]

The most managers during their tenure with one team. And he's not at the top of the list, but he's climbing. He's getting there. So how long is the leash do.

[Ben Lindbergh]

You think, with pro these days?

[AJ Cassavel]

Well, that's kind of the interesting discussion at this point in camp because he's entering his final season under contract and both him and the Padres have kind of expressed optimism that there could be, could be some sort of extension coming beforehand. So he doesn't enter what would essentially amount to a lame duck season. But it hasn't happened yet. And so until I see pen on paper, I will assume that like this season is a. Who knows whatever direction this season goes. But it could be, it could be A.J. prowler's last. That being said, I think there's a lot to say for what he's done in San Diego and how what he's built and I think I believe both sides, when they said say that that's what they're shooting for, is some sort of contract extension that keeps him around for a while. And you know what, it keeps things interesting. Like he is. I, I can't imagine what covering. He's the only general manager I've ever covered. I started on the beat in 2016 and he, his first full season was 2015. I can't imagine what covering a normal general manager would be like, but I don't know. I don't know. I don't know if I'll get to find out because I think he's, he's done a, he's done a very solid job leading what I, I think I started the podcast by saying this has been the most successful era of baseball in Padres history. There wasn't a ton of that really before this decade, a ton of success. But he's, he's done a good job building the roster and certainly keeping everything interesting.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Yes, always interesting times for prolers Padres and A.J.

[Chris Mitchell]

Castell has chronicled them all and will.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Continue [e-mail] thank you as always AJ.

[AJ Cassavel]

Thank you for having me.

[Chris Mitchell]

Okay, that will do it for today and for this week. Thanks as always for listening. Chris Bassett signed just in time to.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Covered in that Orioles preview.

[Chris Mitchell]

And hey, we're a third of the way through the season preview series already. Though I think we'll take a break from previewing next time to talk prospects. Also, two questions with stat headable answers I've been meaning to address.

[Ben Lindbergh]

I mentioned that the Orioles used seven catchers last year. I also mentioned that on our AL.

[Chris Mitchell]

Stories we missed episode at the end of the year. Well, Patreon supporter Michael wrote in to say this reminded me of a fact that I think everyone effectively wild included missed following the 2021 season, which is that the Cubs that year used nine catchers. If I recall correctly, Wilson Contreras backups just kept getting hurt and a clubhouse.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Covid outbreak at seasons had necessitated the final couple of call ups.

[Chris Mitchell]

I've always wondered is that the all time record for catchers used in a single season? If not, I expect it must be close. Well, Michael Mountain pointed out that yes you can stat head this and nine is the integration era record. No AL or NL team has used more than nine catchers in a single season season since the 1884 Philadelphia club.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Later called the Phillies used 13 in a 113 game season with no one getting more than 183 point appearances for the club. There was some instability in professional baseball at that time.

[Chris Mitchell]

So yes, nine catchers for the Cubs.

[Ben Lindbergh]

In 2021 was indeed extraordinary. But those were extraordinary times.

[Chris Mitchell]

And also Patreon supporter Eli asked this week is 2010 Nate McLouth's negative 2.7 baseball reference were the worst player of all time on a playoff team. Nate McLouth, former Oriole Though he was.

[Ben Lindbergh]

With Atlanta in 2010, he was also on my fantasy team at some point.

[Chris Mitchell]

Long enough ago that I was still playing fantasy. As for the question, that is the worst baseball reference WAR ever for a player on a playoff team, beating out George Bell at minus 2.5 for the 1993 White Sox among hitters only. But if you count pitchers, it's only the second worst because Dave Danforth, Dauntless.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Dave as he was known, amassed -2.9.

[Chris Mitchell]

Baseball reference war for for the 1919.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Chicago White Sox, better known as the Black Sox.

[Chris Mitchell]

Not that Dave Danforth was one of the Black Sox, though he certainly did.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Contribute to some losses for that team.

[Chris Mitchell]

And with a near eight ERA that.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Season, he had to be dauntless to keep going out there.

[Chris Mitchell]

Though he was a more than serviceable.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Pitcher both before and after that season.

[Chris Mitchell]

Thanks for the questions and thanks to.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Stathead for the answers.

[Chris Mitchell]

And the most effusive thanks of all.

[Ben Lindbergh]

To our Patreon supporters.

[Chris Mitchell]

The people who make it possible for us to podcast by going to patreon.com effectivelywild and signing up to pledge some monthly or yearly amount to help keep.

[Ben Lindbergh]

The podcast going, help us stay ad free and get themselves access to some.

[Chris Mitchell]

Perks, as have the following five listeners Carter Rogers, Nate Bell, Kate Shrike, Laura and Eric Kinney. Thanks to all of you, Patreon perks include access to the Effectively Wild Discord group for patrons only, monthly bonus episodes, playoff live streams, prioritized email answers, personalized messages, shout outs at the end of episodes, potential podcast appearances, discounts on merch and ad free Fangrast members memberships, and so much more. Check out all the [e-mail] effectivelywild if you are a Patreon supporter, you can message us through the Patreon site. If not, you can contact us via email. Send your questions, comments, intro and outro themes to podcastangraphts.com youm can rate, review and subscribe to Effectively Wild on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Music and other podcast platforms.

[Ben Lindbergh]

You can join our facebook [e-mail] group effectively wild.

[Chris Mitchell]

You can find the Effectively Wild subreddit at R Effectively and you can check the show notes in the podcast, posted fan graphs or the episode description in.

[Ben Lindbergh]

Your podcast app for links to the stories and stats we cited today.

[Chris Mitchell]

Thanks to Shane McKeon for his editing and production assistance. We hope you have a wonderful weekend and we will be back to talk.

[Ben Lindbergh]

To you next week.

[Andy Kostka]

The wacky hypotheticals are perfectively styled and.

[AJ Cassavel]

The stat blast queries are detectable.

[Andy Kostka]

Compiled a Nonagerian baseball legend selectively dialed.

[AJ Cassavel]

But their spiciest takes are still respectfully Mild. More than 2,000 episodes retrospectively filed, and.

[Andy Kostka]

At each new one we still collectively smiled.

[AJ Cassavel]

That's effectively wild.

[Andy Kostka]

That's effectively Wild.