Which Team is Having the Best Offseason So Far?

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Dan Patrick Show – "Which Team is Having the Best Offseason So Far?"

Release Date: December 30, 2024

Introduction

In this episode of The Dan Patrick Show, hosted by the Dan Patrick Podcast Network and iHeartPodcasts, host John and co-host Enoch delve into the tumultuous MLB offseason, dissect the inaugural season of the SoFi Golf League, and provide insightful analyses of the ongoing College Football and NFL seasons. Skipping over the numerous advertisements, the conversation is rich with expert opinions, strategic evaluations, and passionate takes on various sports topics.

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MLB Offseason Moves

John and Enoch engage in an in-depth discussion about the major MLB offseason moves, highlighting team strategies, player signings, and the implications for the upcoming season.

• Philadelphia Phillies:

  • Signings: The Phillies made significant additions by acquiring Jordan Romano to bolster their bullpen and signing Max Kepler to enhance their lineup. John remarks, “Max Kepler's hit like he’s had the talent. Little change of scenery, surrounded by more talent, it could easily go the other direction” (07:30).
  • Pitching Staff: Reinforcement of the rotation with Wheeler, Sanchez, Nola, Suarez, and Lizardo positions the Phillies as contenders, although questions remain about their willingness to make blockbuster trades.

• Arizona Diamondbacks:

  • Corbin Burns Signing: Arguably the biggest move, the Diamondbacks secured Corbin Burns on a six-year, $210 million contract. John notes, “Corbin Burns has one of the best pitches in baseball” (10:33). Enoch adds, “There's a certain minimum that any team that's going to get him is going to have to reach” (11:46), highlighting the financial and strategic commitment involved.
  • Team Outlook: With Burns’ arrival, the Diamondbacks aim to solidify their rotation and capitalize on their World Series momentum from two years prior. John expresses optimism, stating, “They went to the World Series two years ago...It’s not like Corbin Burns is signing with, I don’t know, the Marlins or whoever insert team here” (21:15).

• New York Mets:

  • Sean Manaea: John discusses Manaea’s return, emphasizing his potential role in the Mets' rotation. “Sean Manaea comes back with the Mets...He was class and he clearly found something” (44:05).
  • Overall Strategy: The Mets are portrayed as building around a strong pitching core, with John observing, “They have enough depth pieces” (46:28).

• Other Notable Moves:

  • Texas Rangers: Potential trades and signings are speculated, with Enoch mentioning, “They have Jake Berger with his 29 homers last year slotted as their eighth hitter” (60:03).
  • San Francisco Giants & Cleveland Guardians: Both teams are noted for their active pursuit of pitching talent and strategic signings to enhance their rosters.

Notable Quotes:

• John: “This isn't your average Sunday pickup game.” (01:21)
• Enoch: “There’s a lot of times when we talk contracts and then we land at the, you know, whichever team gives them the best deal.” (11:46)

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College Football Playoffs

John and Enoch critique the inaugural College Football Playoff, examining its structure, team selections, and game outcomes.

• Playoff Structure Criticism:

  • John voices concerns about the fairness of the playoff seeding, particularly highlighting the prominence of Boise State as a three seed. “Boise State getting a buy in a three seed compared to the other teams that seemed a little ridiculous” (Unknown Timestamp).
  • They debate the impact of home-field advantage in playoff games, with John questioning, “College football home field advantage is worth like 10 points” (Unknown Timestamp).

• Game Analyses:

  • SMU vs. Penn State: John discusses the upset and the quarterback performance, stating, “He [Ashton Jinty] is loads of fun...he throws it into the end zone for an interception” (Unknown Timestamp).
  • Ohio State vs. Tennessee: The overwhelming success of Ohio State is noted, with heavy favorite status leading to predictable outcomes. “Ohio State was an eight seed and that gave Ohio State home field advantage” (Unknown Timestamp).
  • Notre Dame vs. Georgia: A tightly contested match is analyzed, focusing on quarterback performances and offensive strategies.

Notable Quotes:

• John: “Alabama should have been in. I think South Carolina was actually the team that got screwed the most in all this.” (Unknown Timestamp)
• Enoch: “Unless somebody's trying to get us in trouble for it. We've been going to states that are knowing.” (12:32)

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NFL Updates

The discussion shifts to the NFL, where John and Enoch recap recent games, evaluate player performances, and speculate on playoff implications.

• Recent Games Recap:

  • Chiefs vs. Bengals: Discussed as another high-stakes matchup with significant fantasy implications. John mentions, “They get it done against the Bengals” (24:31).
  • Raiders vs. Saints: Highlighted as a high-scoring, entertaining game where both teams showcased their offensive prowess.
  • Falcons vs. Commanders: Celebrated as a standout game featuring young quarterback Jaden Daniels’ impressive performance. John praises, “Jaden, man, he is unreal dude...every facet of his game I enjoy and love to watch” (96:28).

• Player Performances:

  • Jaden Daniels (Falcons): Lauded for his composure and ability to gain extra yards consistently.
  • Brock Bowers (Commanders): Recognized for setting rookie receiving records and contributing significantly to his team's offense.
  • Others: Mentions of standout performances by players like Trey McBride, Cooper Rush, and Sam Darnold, each bringing unique strengths to their respective teams.

Notable Quotes:

• John: “He keeps calling thicker people, big, big backs. And I was like, can I use that?” (26:39)
• Enoch: “Folks are saying Notre Dame might be better than them on the lines.” (41:08)

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Conclusion

As the episode wraps up, John and Enoch reflect on the dynamic nature of the sports landscape, emphasizing the continuous developments in MLB, the evolving structure of College Football playoffs, and the ever-exciting NFL season. They encourage listeners to stay engaged and anticipate further changes as teams finalize their strategies and rosters heading into the new year.

Final Thoughts:

• The conversation underscores the importance of strategic signings and the impact of high-profile trades in shaping team fortunes.
• The critique of the College Football Playoff system suggests a desire for more balanced and fair competition.
• NFL updates highlight the unpredictability and excitement that keeps fans invested in the season's progression.

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Timestamps:

• [01:02] - Start of content after initial ads
• [07:30] - Discussion on Max Kepler signing with Phillies
• [10:33] - Corbin Burns signing with Diamondbacks
• [11:46] - Enoch on minimum team requirements for Burns
• [21:15] - John on Diamondbacks' World Series momentum
• [44:05] - Sean Manaea’s role with the Mets
• [46:28] - Discussion on Mets' depth
• [60:03] - Texas Rangers' potential signings
• [93:45] - Conclusion of main content

Note: Timestamps refer to the points in the provided transcript where specific topics or quotes occur. They are approximations based on the transcript segments.

Transcript

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[John]

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[Jake]

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[John]

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[John]

Hello and welcome to Waking Jake. Merry Christmas. Happy Hanukkah. Feliz Navidad. It's Another way to say Merry Christmas. Was talking about that downstairs this morning. Anyways, let's talk sports instead of the languages on this beautiful December 30th. This will be the last waking Jake of the new year. Hey, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe Bregman science with the Yankees tonight. No, there's no rumors on that. We will talk about some of the remaining free agents because a lot of shoes have dropped since we last talked here. May have seen you on some other programming but the last live episode of Wake and Jake was Christian Walkers and Astronomy that we have seen a lot of transactions since then McCutch into the Pirates. No, we're not going to start there but a ton the first base market Carlos Santana to Cleveland Nathaniel Lowe Glabor Torres one year to the Detroit Tiger. Sean Beniah gets the big contract done with the Mets. Walker Bueller to the Red Sox dreading that one a little bit and the big one I mean Corbin Burns signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks which still a sentence when you say it out loud feels a little.

[Enoch]

It still doesn't really feel real family wanted it.

[John]

Were they who were they in the market? Did they call them? How'd that go down? I still want to know that one.

[Enoch]

Of the rare like zero rumor major signings, no rumors.

[John]

I'm. I'm taking half pats on the back because I said I didn't have a Corbin Burns team like the Mets was supposed to be the layup and the Orioles was the backup layup but the Orioles still haven't signed a big free agent and the Mets it feels like they're investing in pitching or hitting more so financially than the pitching where they're taking some chances on Moontas Clay Holmes although Mania returns and he was really strong for them but still like I. I don't know. I think we've hit a weird part where with Shamania where it's like hey I think Shamania kind of took off and had a big second half like I don't again I don't know what we should be penciling Sean Maniah in for but if I think he's currently the Mets 1B sanga maniah but I still have my theory that they're going old brewers pitching factory they will find pitching and they're paying for hitting because my God Lindor Sodo will Pete come back Mark Vientos Nimmo gets paid a lot people forget that and the rest of those kids Jose Siri forgot about that. Might have to make my way to Flushing this year. Siri and Sodo celebrations. Those will be good. So let's get into that. Our guy and future friend that we've talked about on the program, Kylie McDaniel came out with his best and worst free agency and trade move so far. That's always feel like the editors at ESPN told him. Like, hey, we need this one because it's tough.

[Enoch]

We have to be able to make this a title.

[John]

It's a great click. It's a great click title of this. But let's start recapping through it and then we'll get into some football a little bit because my college football playoff let me down a little bit to start. Give you some thoughts on that. And the NFL sneaks and ekes closer to the post season. So let's go through baseball and I forget if I said it on the way through because I kind of keep forgetting Jesus Lizardo. Yeah, traded to the Phillies. That one kind of got brushed under the rug. Like that guy was supposed to be one of the biggest trade prizes as of last year. And the Phillies make a strength of streak. So maybe let's start with them and that maybe that's just because our resident Philly fan Shelfie is in the office today and said hi to him. Phillies man. And I, I laughed. I, I hit Shelfie with a Lego. It's been quiet, huh? He's like, yeah, we're not doing nothing. They trade for Lizardo, which that's clearly something. Very talented starting pitcher added to one of the best pitching starting pitching staffs in baseball. They also signed Max Kepler, which like again, for how free agency moves go. It's not one of the biggest moves this year, but it's also could Max Kepler hit 30 for the Phillies next year and we'd be like that was nice.

[Enoch]

Oh, we let them just have him.

[John]

Definitely. Hitters ballpark. Max Kepler's felt like he's had the talent. Little change of scenery, surrounded by more talent, it could easily go the other direction. Welcome to free agency or baseball as a whole. And yeah, I guess it, it just has left the question mark. Are the Phillies done here? They reinforce their rotation with Wheeler, Sanchez, Nola, Suarez, Lizardo. Yo, they also got Jordan Romano. So the Phillies standard is, is being held to a crazy area that we're like, it's been kind of quiet for Philly. Might have added a closer. Lizardo is listed as their 5. He could easily be there 3. We'll see how the season plays. And Max Kepler's probably more or less an everyday outfielder for them. That along with all the Stars that we're very familiar with at this point. Philly's been in the mix. It's just. Are they going to make the big move? Because supposedly they keep wanting to be in on crazy moves. Yamamoto. They were getting in on the bidding on him last year. Was it Soto or was it someone else they were talking to this year that they were doing the same Phillies. Like we're in on them, but that doesn't mean we need it. We just think they're really good. I forget.

[Enoch]

And I think they ended up like not getting a Sodo meeting. But everyone kind of thought they could be a sneaky one for him. Everyone keeps trying to speak Bregman to their into existence.

[John]

That's. I mean that's honestly the final thing at this point. Because if you're looking for guys to play, it's the Alec Bohm rumors. Shelfie casually. So I don't want him to be held to this. But he was like, I think. I think they keep Bomer and they roll it out till mid season and see what it looks like. Who knows? I. Because right now, if you're looking to add a starting pitcher, who are you taking out of the rotation? Ranger Suarez. I mean they still have Taiwan Walker. They signed Joe Ross. Don't let that sneak by. You had an okay year last year. But yeah, I don't know if they were trading Alec Bohm and signing Bregman. They would have to. It would be another move we know nothing about. I guess Brandon. I don't know. We keep doing this like Brandon Marsh is listed as their center field. There is. He's good. He's good. It's not. It's not a weak spot.

[Enoch]

Good player.

[John]

So Phillies are in the mix, will be in the mix. And man, there's a lot of coastal elitist stuff going on. Cause a lot of the signings are A N L crazy crazy. All the talent that's leaving the ale and then B, it's a lot of the coastal teams. I mean even with my snakes getting involved there and I probably should have started with them because it's Corbin Burns o'clock. Is it six years? 210.

[Enoch]

Six years 210 after two.

[John]

Six years 210 opt out after two. Crazy that there was some weird burn stuff going on about, you know, his cutter had been declining a little bit and what. What did the next few years look like for Corn Burns finished last year 32 starts at 292. His cutter got better as the season went on and I the voice of God, Enoch Chimed in and was like, this is a good contract. Like, Corbin Burns has one of the best pitches in baseball. It got better as the year went on and there were some conversations about him and the Orioles working on different shapes for the cutter. So maybe they just tried some stuff and landed back where they did. And it's not like wasn't a disaster class. It's not like Corbin Burns had a 4, 5 and then they were like, hey, scrap it. 32 starts, 194 innings, a 292 ERA. And yeah, there's some funny business around it. There's a lot of times when we talk contracts and then we land at the, you know, whichever team gives them the best deal, which it feels like that's going, I don't want to say by the wayside, but it's opportunity, it's money.

[Enoch]

There's a certain minimum that any team that's going to get him is going to have to reach.

[John]

It's not exactly dollars and cents, but for Corbin Burns, we had the three letter word thrown out there. Tax. The Arizona taxes are better. It sounded like it was coming down to San Francisco and Toronto, which those teams have two of the worst taxes. So. Okay, I'm open to that being part of the conversation. It is a weird, interesting thing that doesn't get talked about with baseball a lot, that it's half your games.

[Enoch]

Yeah.

[John]

So, like, when they play in road cities, they get taxed that rate, which is just bizarre.

[Enoch]

Like, they like, need accountants too.

[John]

Nuts.

[Enoch]

And like, I get, like, I get that legally. And, you know, it happens in other jobs that move around.

[John]

We go on a business, we go to the All Star Game in Texas. It's not like for those three days, unless you're supposed to. And like now we go.

[Enoch]

Unless we're, Unless somebody's trying to get us in trouble for it. We've been going to states that are knowing. So we're. We're paying too much.

[John]

I don't know how it works. Seems a little ridiculous. I do know how it works, but. So that was part of the Corbin Burns decision, which. Okay, when you're talking that many dollars and you know, I think Arizona was something like 4% and you're talking San Francisco, I think is 13. And no one actually knows the Toronto number. Somebody definitely knows, but everyone says it's higher than that, so whatever. So half of his games he gets tax at a 4% clip instead of 13%. That's significant, depending where the numbers landed. Now, supposedly other teams had higher offers. So again, what was that gap and the other thing I'd be interested in were the years. Like we were. We were surprised when Max Freed's contract dropped and it was eight years. Like we were doing the thing in the office. It was six years. Great. Seven years. Okay. And then eight years happened and we were all like, also, okay. Also okay. We got Max Freed. Let's worry about that when we have to worry about that. Corn Burns reminder. Younger than Max Freed. Beard effect. Man effect. Six years and the money's in a similar place. So great for Corbin Burns, great for the Diamondbacks, which the whole thing. A people didn't know what they'd be doing this off season. Everyone thought the big Diamondbacks move would be dumping Jordan Montgomery, which hasn't happened yet. Currently listed in their rotation. We'll see their owner. I always have to look. Ken Kendrick, I believe. Oh, yeah, Ken. Ken.

[Enoch]

One of the better names.

[John]

Ken Ken came out in his Jordan Montgomery quotes were tough. What did he say? A horrible decision. That's tough. That's tough for Monty. That's tough for your gm. So we'll see what happens. But it felt like they were going to move Monty after the owner came out and said, it's a horrible decision. We'll see what happens there. I mean, that's 25.25.2. Something like that. That. Yeah. There was another one of the PHNX guys that I've mixed it up with them before due to my Snakes fandom. He was like, I think the tweet was, hey, if we sign Kirby Yates, is that a successful offseason for us? So the bar was low. No offense to Kirby 8, who was incredible last year. Go check out Kirby 8's stats. Any team could use Kirby Yates.

[Enoch]

I think they still want them.

[John]

Still might. Arizona, that had done nothing. I think they were one of the teams that really hadn't brought anyone in. They traded Josh Naylor for Slade Saccone, a competitive pick. I think they were in an interesting spot with Slade, and who knows what they knew about Corbin Burns at the time. They know that had momentum, that, you know, Slade, who might have been their seventh or eighth starter, made him more expendable to bring in Josh Naylor. I also, I got called out by Snakes fans, my people, because I've been saying that in my head, Josh Naylor is a Jock Peterson replacement because Josh Naylor doesn't grade out great defensively, that they've had two holes to replace. They've had to replace first base and DH Jock Peterson and Christian Walker. Pretty significant holes. Those guys Got contracts jock signed. Yeah, no one talked about that. Someone probably did. Is my look good today or bad? Do I look older? Ooh, is it something with this hair and jacket? I can't tell.

[Enoch]

Hair look zip.

[John]

If you're on the YouTube tell me there's something with this look. Is it Star Warsy? I don't know. And hey as you know we're doing year end stuff. Thank you guys. The wake and Jake YouTube up to 24k subs so if you listen on there regularly please subscribe. Even if you don't it all helps out.

[Enoch]

Listen on the podcast apps. We're on YouTube.

[John]

We're everywhere and yeah there's something this is unique for me. Maybe it's the marker with it certainly different interesting. Jim will know I've said Josh Naylor is a Jack Peterson replacement Lefty power Naylor had a breakout year last year and he doesn't grade out that great defensively. First base defense is a weird thing to measure but the other thing that's just been in my head this old noggin Christian Walker was the best. So when you think about organizations and philosophies and how the front office thinks and everyone in our office was reading the book the Yankee Way for a month there that okay the if you're the Yankees the second baseman has to have a strong arm because they have to do relay like organizations have little things that it's not always just put the best team on the field. It was hard for me to picture the dimebags going from Christian Walker who led every defensive leaderboard to Josh Naylor. I had some snakes fans reach out that said they very much believe I want to say it's their first base coach who's their infield defense guy. They said he's done good things so they're thinking maybe they they can coach Naylor up a little bit. I'm not fully bought in. I thought it was interesting to see a fan base do that because we rarely see the fan base give full compliments like that and it's like multiple.

[Enoch]

People saying something to you. Yeah Sean Larkin I have listed as third base coach slash infield coach on their site if we're if that's who.

[John]

Were told about yeah I forget if it was him or they have a roped up first base coach.

[Enoch]

Dave McKay is their first base.

[John]

Everyone loves Dave McKay. Dave McKay roped up 74 year old Canadian man running first base. Fake teeth. I like them 21 homers in the show. Born in 1950. Think about what that guy's seen what he was 20 during Woodstock. 19.

[Enoch]

Sorry about Jimmy Carter.

[John]

RIP Jimmy C. 100 wild. It's cool. Wilt numbers. I want to see the D backs next move, as anyone does. And there's different ways they could go about it. And hey, if they had 610 million for Corburn, which. The other thing that's a crazy note in this whole conversation is they're one of the RSN teams that their TV contract has ended in a weird spot. I believe they were selling their games by themselves last year. Like you could just stream them.

[Enoch]

Yeah. They were like the first team to kind of have to do a major pivot, I think.

[John]

Yes. So again, was that good for them financially? It was good enough that they were able to spend 210 million on dollars on Corbin Burns. Again, Corn Burns wanted to come there. I mentioned the tax reasons. Also his family lives there and he has three young kids now. I want to say there was a rumor about twins or something.

[Enoch]

I think I know he has at least the set of twins and I think there is a third. And spring training gets to be there too. And he's from there.

[John]

So the Arizona spring training thing is no joke. Depending wherever you are from. Think about it. Corn Burns is going to live in Arizona now. He has half his home games there where his family already lives and two months of spring training normally is away. Massive. That's massive. To get the contract he's looking for and erase the name Diamondbacks. The joke I made. That wasn't a joke. I was wearing the hat. I took it off. I put on this other team's hat like a fool. One of the Diamondbacks hats I have that they sent me. It's a cool one. It's got some of those cool, like Arizona artwork on the brim. Whatever. It's their 25th anniversary hat. They're a baby. They're a baby team. This is new. Or at least they're coming out of infancy.

[Enoch]

They. They are among, if not the newest team.

[John]

Right. They've gone. They went to the World Series two years ago. Or you're. However you'd measure that now. They won 89 games last year. They missed the playoffs just from that freaky Friday Mets, Braves thing that went on. Obviously they could have won other games during their season, but 89 wins and a World Series the year before. It's not like Corbin Burns is signing with, I don't know, the Marlins or whoever insert team here that if you took away the Dimebags, the name and that just kind of how you Know the franchise, like new, new Arizona team. I don't know. Maybe I'm too gung ho on it. Maybe I'm just. If you've got an owner that's willing to give out money like they have the past couple years, they signed Jordan Montgomery. Remember that? Signed us. I know the owner came back and said bad things. Corn Burns. That surprised us. This is a World Series team. They had the number one offense in baseball last year. They signed Erod, which that one was a surprise. Like the other thing that's just in my head is how much World Series money did they get? That's something we always talk about, whether it's selling tickets or people in the stands or whatever. Did the World Series type money and winning and packing the house, did that allow them to get Corbin Burns? Because the best way to bring people in and have people watch is have a winner. So maybe they realize that with some of the World Series money or my other like secret option that freaks me out that I, I tell dimebag fans, don't listen to this. The next move seems clear. It seems like they're going to trade Jordan Montgomery because the owner said it was a bad move. Jordan Montgomery still has some value. We've seen the pitcher contracts that have been given out and on a, on.

[Enoch]

A one year, one year you can be clean of them if it doesn't work.

[John]

This is a guy that's a year removed from. We thought he'd get a hundred, if not more. So there's value there. And like I said, there's either a first base or a DH spot open that, that seems to be the move. Jolly Olive tweeted out. Jordan Montgomery for Spencer Torkelson. Interesting. Some money shaking hands there. Spencer Torkelson, Arizona State. I don't know.

[Enoch]

That's like that one.

[John]

Yeah. It's a young player not making a lot of high upside for Arizona.

[Enoch]

Again, they're always looking for more pop.

[John]

So pop up. Have you know that have Dave McKay just kind of teach him the ropes.

[Enoch]

And they did for the, at the, by the end of the year. I know they got Josh Bell for different reasons, but they, they had him in the mix too. We played some amount of first base or even with having Christian Walker.

[John]

So that's true. Yeah.

[Enoch]

And I mean Naylor split some time.

[John]

There and dh, that's the other side. I, I poo pooed it for a second. But also, hey, sometimes you just do have to build the best team and maybe that's what they're looking for. So that would be the Obvious move. It's Monty out, bringing another first baseman. Or maybe there's something creative there, we don't know. Right now, Paven Smith is slotted in as a starting dh. Which year four of Diamondback fans being like, hey, I don't think we can bank on Paven Smith in the nicest way. He's got a couple splits out there over different parts of four years that have been nice. Otherwise it hasn't been reliable. Yeah, reliable.

[Enoch]

The one I've been thinking about for them is figuring out Monty for Yoshid. I think they'd want more pop, but just thinking of guys that I. That we think the team wants. A team wants to be rid of.

[John]

Socks, kind of getting off money there. They kind of like having a da. Yeah, no, that. We've. We've discussed that one. There's. There's so many ways they can go with it that I'm. I'm interested to see where they land. And hey, I mean, I don't know. What if. What if the D backs are entering their Padres moment and the Alonzo Price is attainable and they trade Monty? Like, is that just money out, money in? I'm. I'm not saying there's any smoke or fire there, but they rolled out 2:10 for Corbin Burns. I think it was like the. It's like the sixth biggest AAV for a pitcher ever. So just a reminder, when teams get frustrated, like when we get mad at the White Sox for never giving out big contracts, this is why. And I don't know, I. I guess I'm just gung ho on Phoenix, Scottsdale and Arizona. Well, going back to the famous state draft, John Boy Jake, tv. I don't know. Like, that city has blown up. The sports teams are wildly popular there. Like the Suns are crazy popular. Like, they brought in kd. That was a whole craziness. Like, the Cardinals have had their moments, the Larry Fitz Super Bowls and things like that. That, I don't know. I. I think it's a sports town. They host spring training. And this was part of my World Series rants with Arizona that, like, this should become a big baseball town. And they're making some strides that way. So let's see the next moves for them. I would love to see. Yeah. If they can. If they can make the Monty thing happen for another hitter. The dark thing for me, for Snakes fans, is Zach Allen's on the last year of his contract. Like, let's say this Corbin Burns thing all came together and Corbin Burns wanted to play there. We talked about the taxes we talked about his family that Corbin Burns was like, hey, if you get me to two bills, I'm in. Was that money they were planning on giving to Zach Allen? So the future money, does that make Zach Gallen disposable? I don't think so. This is all just yeah.

[Enoch]

And probably not before the season. But if they went similarly to a.

[John]

Year ago, I don't know. I. It's just, it's interesting to think about because Corbin Burns is one of those signings that isn't just hey, this is next year. Like this is clearly affects their next two years opt out and then I guess you could say a little more after that. But the Snakes, they play for rings in the desert and the Diamondbacks went from quiet off season to now kind of electric with more room to wiggle. The San Francisco Giants are doing things. The Padres won 93 games last year. What are they going to do? Is one of the wild questions. And the Dodgers, they resigned to Oscar.

[Jake]

Great from the Delta Sky Club. Welcome back Ms. Klein, to the JetBridge. Delta Air Lines relies on 5G solutions from T Mobile for business to power operations and serve customers faster. Together, we're putting 5G into the hands of ground staff so they can better assist on the go travelers with real time information throughout the airport. This is elevating customer experience. This is Delta Air Lines with Team T Mobile for business. Take your business further@t mobile.com now.

[John]

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[BBD]

The holidays are here, and so is the IKEA Winter Sale. Now's your chance to make the holidays a little more magical and less expensive. Save up to 50% off on select items inst and online now through January 7th. Plus IKEA loyalty members get an extra 10% off on sale items. Need help managing the clutter of decorations? IKEA Storage Solutions will keep your home tidy from toys and tinsel. Having extra guests over? Check out offers on select dining furniture to make more room for the people who matter most this time of year. Don't wait to finish your winter wish list. Shop the IKEA Winter Sale in store or online now until January 7th. Visit ikea-usa.com wintersale for more details. Terms applied offer valid dates may vary us only, while supplies last. Selection may vary by store and online. See [e-mail] wintersale for complete terms. Restrictions apply. Did you know that parents rank financial literacy as the number one most difficult life skill to teach? Meet Greenlight, the debit card and money app for families. With Greenlight, you can send money to kids instantly, set up chores automate allowance and keep an eye on your kids spending with real time notifications. Kids learn to earn, save and spend wisely. And parents can rest easy knowing their kids are learning about money with guardrails in place. Sign up for greenlight [e-mail] iheart.

[John]

It actually is great and putting away World Series envy there for my Diamondbacks and my Yanks. He loves that city. They love him. It everything fits. It's kind of how baseball is supposed to work. Like TE Oscar became beloved by that city and he fits the team and he was a free agent. So just pay him what he deserves and he'll stay. And that's kind of how it's supposed to work. The one that's just complete, pardon my French bullshit. They signed Michael Conforto just for like bonus pieces.

[Enoch]

Like slipped that in right before soda went down.

[John]

One for 17, I think 17 and a half. Like real money. Like this isn't. I don't know. This isn't. They brought in a platoon guy to kind of come out. This is, you know, Glaber Torres that we're going to talk about in a minute. Like that was a big move for the Tigers. Like the Tigers got a top of the lineup second baseman. Like labor's probably going to hit first or second for them. And he got one year 15. Conforto got more than that. And for the Dodgers it's an extra piece. They still have James Outman, Chris Taylor, Migi Row. Bobby Miller is currently listed as a Triple A pitcher for them. Ohtani is going to pitch next year. It's the embarrassment of riches that they are currently at. And I think the other thing that's interesting is if they try to trade a James Outman or Andy Pahes, who both guys had really strong rookie years.

[Enoch]

Is currently listed in aaa.

[John]

I mean the where things really get sick. Bbd. I know you've been dreaming of some Minnesota Twins trades for our Yankees Coach Trev mentioned this. You know relievers don't have the value we think they do. If it was a Duran for Andy Paes, Outman, I don't know like that. It just feels like that's going to be the next Dodgers move is going to be them bringing in either a high leverage reliever or another just asset because they can. Yeah, I don't know. The the NL west is insane. Like Rockies. Oh my God, you're out. No offense to Kyle Farmer wishing him luck there. The Giants are really investing in this team and I don't know who they're keeping up with at this point but like dude, Willie Adamus and Matt Chapman, those were both over a buck fifty. Juni was a hundy.

[Enoch]

They were in on this Corbin Burns deal at two something they added Robbie.

[John]

Ray who he gets paid money. They were in on Corbin Burns. They're probably gonna be on another starting pitcher looking at their roster. Although there's some other BBD trades that have been dreamt up there that we will see how that plays out. But I don't know man. The the NL West Dimebags won 89 games last year. Looks like they're making moves. The giants 80 and 82. They keep trying to make bigger moves to get in the mix. And Buster Posey's running the team now. Watch it. The Dodgers are as automatic as a team can possibly be. Yeah, they can't win less than 90 games. No, impossible.

[Enoch]

The depth and high End talent is too good.

[John]

Literally impossible. That's nuts. That's not how baseball's supposed to work.

[Enoch]

And they've done it together already.

[John]

Right.

[Enoch]

You might remember this past year, it's not one of those things with where like sometimes first year teams together it is a little sloppy.

[John]

I mean the other, the other joke that was making me laugh. Oh, Dave Roberts, good manager now. So they've got that great manager. He's a great manager. Hall of Fame manager. So that. Yeah, the NL west. Let's see what the Padres do because no one knows what they're doing with their money or their team. I mean they still, they still have a lot of high end talent. Arise Tatis, Meryl Machado, Cronenworth Bogarts. I even still have some Luis Campisano stock. But we'll get there. Cease King, Darvish, Vasquez, Waldron. So I don't know, their bullpen is still nasty. Remember that. Remember this was the team that was beating the Dodgers. So the NL west is just a beautifully stacked disaster that I don't really know. I don't know where we're going to land. And with the expanded playoffs and the Centrals both kind of need to pick it up. I know they don't want to hear that for me, but whatever. Let's see. Round off some of these other moves. I think one of my favorite moves from the off season is going to be Nathaniel Low to Texas. At first I. Or from Texas to the Nationals. Excuse me. At first I did not like it because I was like Nathaniel Low doesn't change the Nationals outlook for me. Nathaniel Lowe I think is really good. Nathaniel Lowe is the 6 hitter on one of these great teams in baseball. I'd be like, oh yes. There are some ways that you can butter knife his numbers that he has been as consistent and as good as a lot of hitters in baseball. If you do his last three seasons. 277. 360A. 798 OPS, 124 OPS+. Like that is a really good baseball player. And I know like the home run numbers don't jump. Like the. His biggest flaw is no individual number jumps off the map. Everything is a solid B.277 batting average, B.360 on base. It's probably closer to an A, but that's a B plus, 20 homers a year, B minus 27 doubles a year B. So it's just funny that like almost because he doesn't have a MLB superpower, I think he gets knocked down a little bit. But he's won a Gold Glove in this league. And yeah, he had a 120 OPS plus last year. Again, the stat line isn't as jumpy as, like, okay, what was Giancarlos. This will be a fun game. Giancarlo's OPS plus last year, 115. Now he had one of the weirder stat lines. You'll see.

[Enoch]

Yeah.

[John]

233, 298, 475 slug, 72 homers and 114 games. But it's just the concept to me that, like, Nathaniel Lowe has done this now, you know, since 2021, he has been Nathaniel Low. And I think, again, it almost there was a Nathaniel. Maybe that's part of the problem. The sex appeal wasn't as high as it was for other hitters that they. He got traded for a relief pitcher with a lot of control. And maybe he's good and maybe that'll be the whole thing. And if Nathaniel Low has a bad year, you kind of have to pay him real money. So that's part of the thought process. We don't get into as as front offices on our own, but for the Nationals, who are rumored to be in an Alonzo or Christian Walker or Carlos Santana, they were in the first base dance that it was like, ooh, do you bring in Santana to kind of guide these young players? Do you bring in Alonzo? You take him from the Mets and you kind of set the tone. But how's Alonzo going to age? They found a real safe spot here with Nathaniel Lowe. Set it and forget it at first base. The Nationals are going to be dictated by how their younger players develop. Does James Wood become one of the best players in baseball? That'll be a huge factor. Does Dylan Cruz become one of the best players? That'll be a factor. Where does C.J. abrams land in this whole thing? And they might be in the free agent mix still. He's one of the Bregman rumor teams. I don't. It would be a surprise, but right now we're entering Bregman surprise territory because it's starting to get late early.

[Enoch]

Kind of seems like it's gonna have.

[John]

To be a surprise.

[Enoch]

I don't know.

[John]

We'll see. I. I think there's enough teams that can fit Alex Bregman and that he's going to be okay. But. Yeah, I don't know. I. The other thing for the Nationals say it just doesn't click next year, which I just talked about. Your beautiful NL west, the NL East. What are your Mets expectations Going to be. They're going to be pretty high. They've put in a lot of work. What are your Braves expectations going to be? Pretty high. They're getting some dudes back and wouldn't be surprised if they get involved in some of this offseason dance. The Phillies, huh? So no matter what the Gnats really do this off season, they're coming in as the fourth team in the NL East. So even if you like the Nat, say you got your natitude up, you're into Jake Irvin. I think we all are. Mitchell Parker breakout continues. Yep. They signed Mike Soroka to a cheeky contract. He's got some numbers you'd like. He used to be really good. Like if it comes together for the Nats. And maybe it does. Who also brought in Josh Bell today. Sure. So maybe they are out on bre. Who knows? Are you gonna like the Nats more than the Mets, Braves or Phillies coming into the season? No. So let's say the Nats thing isn't fully clicking next year. Well, Nathaniel Lowe, if he's being Nathaniel Low, which for the past four years, he's only proved that he is Nathaniel Lowe, you also have a pretty nice asset there. So if they need to flip him and go get some other pieces, whether it's at this deadline, the end of next season, or even the next deadline, I really like that move for them. And again, it was just kind of changing my scope from in my head. Them signing Alonzo and Maybe him hitting 42 homers next year, that changed the Nats feel. And Low doesn't have that. But he also doesn't have the risk or the crazy contract that you're gonna have to sign Alonzo to. So I ended up really liking that move. Luis Garcia Jr. Good. Yeah, that's it.

[Enoch]

Good year for him.

[John]

It was a good year for him. 18 homers, 22 steals, 24 years old, more homers than Nathaniel Lowe. So let's see the other big moves that need to be checked off. Carlos Santana to Cleveland. Yeah. Yep. Nail her out. Santana in. He likes it there. They like him one year terms. Beautiful thing for Cleveland. That's how they operate. Mania. I guess I did that one quick, but Sean Mania. 3 for 75. Do I have that number right?

[Enoch]

I believe that's right.

[John]

Same as Nathan of Aldi. Nathan of Aldi. On our friend Kylie McDaniel's not favorite contracts. Oh, age, age, age. Mania comes back with the Mets. Like I talked about briefly, he'll be towards the top of that rotation with Sanga. I mean they're listing him as the 1.181.2 innings pitch last year, 184 strikeouts, a 3, 47 ERA. So he was class and he clearly found something and was tapping into something. So maybe there's more there it is a. You're playing a video game and the year is 2027 and you're like oh, we're playing the Mets. Who's in their rotation Mania, Sanga, Montas, Peterson, Clay Holmes. Like oh man, the video game really got weird. Video game really took off on us. Let's see what that looks like. They clearly think they can tap into something pitching wise and they only got 5.1 regular season innings out of Sanga last year. So they should get more than that. It's just a question of what can you fully bank on from these individual guys. But maybe three out of four fully.

[Enoch]

Click and I guess we really do forget just how good Senga was in the year he actually pitched third in the side young and like there is enough. You can. You can start the year with this even if you think they need another mania or better come the playoffs like you. You can get that during the season if. If another move doesn't come together before the season starts.

[John]

And they. They have. They have enough depth pieces. I mean they Paul Blackburn, McGill, Griffin Canning. Watch out. Watch change of scenery guy next Luke Weaver. Buy some Griffin Canning stock while you can. Trying to tell me Jose Budo can start. Let's see it that yeah he. He returns to the Mets. That's another one of those good free agent signings. Like yes, he wanted to be there. They wanted him.

[Enoch]

Everyone like that.

[John]

Let's figure this out. The only team that probably didn't San Francisco Giants. I think they are looking for maybe the Orioles and last body for the rotation. The Orioles don't even Heroes are starting to get me mad. And part of it is because the Red Sox sign Walker Bueller and I like Walker Bueller a lot and you saw why in the postseason the Boston Red Sox talking about all this talent moving around and a lot of it going to the National League. The Boston Red Sox I think can have a pretty good argument to be your second favorite team in the al. It's tough to propel them above the Yankees. And there is a Derek Jeter height chart behind me if you're watching on YouTube. So again, maybe there are some biases that I'm not seeing. If I am, feel free to chime in but man crochet yo. That was a big one, Walker Bueller, Tanner Hauk, who broke out last year. 312 from Tanner, Hauck, Brian Bayo, Cutter Crawford, both with different offerings of upside or consistency. That the Red Sox have their best rotation in a while. They may have their best bullpen in a while. Liam Hendricks or all this Chapman Slayton really broke out for them last year. And then they've got some lottery ticket guys. Mike Michael Fulmer with the nri. They signed Justin Wilson. I don't know. I don't know about that. My look is throwing me off. George Stepanopoulos, what is this? And that all goes with the Red Sox lineup that they've got a mix of it all, mostly lefties and mostly talented young baseball players. Then let's see if there's another move in there or let's see if there's. It feels like they're a righty move away. And maybe that's Bregman and oh my God, Red Sox fever will take off Bregman and Bueller. That's some Yankees nightmare fuel. Maybe it's a trade. Maybe it's more pitching. Who knows? The Red Sox could not be done yet. And they could still be arguably the number two in the al. And if you're the number two in the al, you got a damn shot. And maybe they're higher than that because may. Maybe the Yankees are going to miss Soto more than they thought or maybe the Yankees aren't going to round off their off season or maybe something's not going to click. And if you don't like Texas or Houston or Seattle or Central. Yeah, Baltimore's done Nothing. Sorry. Tyler O'Neal from the Red Sox. Tyler O'Neill was great last year, so I. I guess I should say that with a little less aggression. But I say that because they lost Anthony Santander, who hit 44 homers, and they lost Corbin Burns. They haven't lost on Tander. He's still a free agent. But they have lost Corbin Burns, who was their ace. And there's something to the stability of an ace and a rotation that like, I know Eflin came over was great, and I know the Gray Rod breakout was kind of happening while getting banged up. And I know they signed your guy Sugano and maybe he's the second coming. Maybe he's the Burns replacement. And kind of like I was saying, with the. The team across the interstate there, the Nationals, you know, they're going to need Adley Rushman to bounce back if they want to be good. They're going to need Colton Cowser Or Cedric Mullins to bounce back. Kouser another young guy to take a leap like that's how Jackson Holiday be that guy. Jordan Westberg. God, it takes a lot for me to not call him Jordan West Bug. Maybe we'll work on that. Maybe we'll meet him. Maybe he's a nice guy. Heston Kershad I don't know. Are they going to trade for Dylan Cease? Are they going to trade more capital for another one year free agent pitcher that's going to demand a ton of money. I don't know enough about the business model but I know like last year's brewers trade I was can you say it didn't pay off for them? I mean Corn Burns is really good but Joey Ortiz looks solid. DL hall we don't know. I don't know. I guess we don't know yet. I mean if Joey Ortiz is good which Joey Ortiz played really well last year.

[Enoch]

Seems currently looks like he's a guy.

[John]

Is he currently the Brewer starting shortstop?

[Enoch]

It's I believe he's currently there and I mean Orioles disappointing in the postseason and final result. Not Burns's fault but not Burns. You you had one year guaranteed of.

[John]

Him and Tyler O'Neill had a great year happy for him and hey there is more off season left. I I thought about doing you know some win or losers before about there's a lot of you can still titles coming. You can still have a full off season. You can still have a full happy off season. The Orioles could sign Santander they could sign they could trade for Dylan Cease and you'd be like wow okay that's good. So if your team hasn't been getting mentioned a lot there's still hope but we're running out of some opportunities. I mentioned Glaber but I'll mention again briefly happy for Glabe. You know the defense at second base was tough that I was wondering like how many teams would even allow Glaber to play second base and that's the only position he's played. And then the crazy part out of Tigers camp was they said they were going to trade Torkelson and move Colt Keith to first which Cole Keith if I remember not one of the biggest cats you've seen on a baseball field. Okay. Listed six two two eleven in my head I thought we were going to bring up a six flat here and do some yeah some cleats. So hey if they like him and they think that can work and they've got some other young talented infielders. Okay. And yeah for Glaber. I mean, just the way Glabor Torres hits and the way that team has been looking for hitting. Gleyber Torres will hit with that team. And weirdly enough, I know it's an expansive ballpark. But I have Glaber Torres hitting some of his longest home runs in Detroit. There's one I can picture very vividly that I think I tweeted out without looking. I was like, is that Glabor's longest home run this year? I think I got point, Dexter. I think there was one or two more that were further. But I've seen him hit in that park and he just feels like the joke I keep using is let that goatee grow. But it's a little symbolic of like, get away from the Yankees. Let's see, get in the ballpark like.

[Enoch]

That and you find a few more doubles.

[John]

Like America park, two games last year. 804 OPS. This guy's a stud.

[Enoch]

Best ever.

[John]

Let's see the career splits because yeah, if Glabor had landed in one of these small ballparks, we'd be talking about can he find his 30 homer potential again? I don't want Glaber to find that potential again. If I'm being completely honest, I don't think that's the best version of Glabor Torres. Career in Comerica.283.377A1 OPS, five homers in 15 games. Maybe it's the next Willie Adamus. Imagine if Glaber couldn't see at Yankee Stadium this whole time. He could. He could. He just got coached very lightly, did the start. And hey, for my central people, I'll tell you what you don't want to see. Top of the order, Riley Green, Gleyber Torres, Kerry Carpenter. Sure, that'll score some runs. And again, the Dodgers signed Michael Conforto for more than that as a bonus piece. So that was a little bit of a roundabout catch up of what has happened. I think I've still missed a thing or two. But upcoming. Alonzo Bregman. Those are two of the big ones. Pete and the Mets have been linked. Supposedly their last offer was around three for 90 and Pete wants a lot more than that. So let's see who else comes to contention. Although are a lot of the first base spots filled. Should the Blue Jays.

[Enoch]

They're the one team that I've been kind of really thinking about.

[John]

God, they're so righty. How did this happen again? Blue Jays.

[Enoch]

Hey, they got a menace.

[John]

Will Wagner. Wow. Let's see what goes on with Them Santander Profar is out there and that's going to be a unique free agent that no one's going to know what to do with that. But after that, your offensive weapons are really limited and pitching wise we're actually, you know, whatever team signs Nick Pivetta is going to talk themselves into some Nick Pavetta and I've got no qualms with that. Our guy Jack Flaherty is out there looking for some big boy money that he deserves. So there's still a few significant pieces out there. Like I can't the Jeff Hoffman's going to be a starting pitcher somewhere next next year. Let's see that story come out. Tanner Scott's going to get some real money. Otherwise we're starting to hit the point of free agency where it can be one or two guys that you're like, oh, I think they can help Quintana. Let's get some good starts out of him. Who else was I looking at? That was one of the Jesse Winkers.

[Enoch]

Oh yeah.

[John]

Hey, if we tap into some good Jesse Winker and he can play some corner and DH for us, hey, we might get a good ball player there for a year. But that's just a different scope than what we're talking about for a lot of these other free agents teams that really need to get going. One of my favorite segments to do Baltimore Orioles Gotta have it, gotta have something from you and I think something's coming. I'm just nervous about what it is and so are Orioles fans. Toronto. My goodness, what is going on in the Great Norte because I do not know they are in on every free agent it seems but this roster is pretty bizarre right now. There's some money in that pitching staff. Springer, Bashette, Vlad are still there. Is your is your best lefty hitter? Will Wagner, Nathan Lukes, Joey Lo Profito. I don't know again Santander to them had been my joke throughout the year. Maybe we'll see that come to fruition because they need some, some switch hitting help. But those teams have been oddly out of the mix. I should be giving Tyler O'Neill more credit. But still. Parts in, parts out, it's not there. Let's see. Athletics? No. White Sox? No. Cleveland? Kind of. No.

[Enoch]

They've done their their little bit in brewers territory. I blindly trust it to be good.

[John]

Detroit supposedly still in the mix with Bregman. That one's always been weird for me with the money to Baez, I just, I don't see it as a fit. But Detroit probably has some More work to do. The Royals are always looking to do something. Angels scaring themselves. Twins probably unloading stuff. Let's see what that looks like. Have the Mariners been oddly quiet? I think so, yes. And we know they have that pitching. They've got a couple spots in their lineup where they could use guys right now and they've got a couple okay spots and that's the frustration, man. Julio, Cal, Raleigh, Randy, go get Pete, man. Petal, hit it out of there. I swear, I swear it.

[Enoch]

Just give him his money.

[John]

They could use a lefty too. They have so much pitching. Houston feels like they have a couple nuclear moves. We walked everyone through that a couple episodes ago. They've got some outfield spots and they've got some good fits that could slot in there potentially. Although Jock was one of them and he's gone that again. Santander like that market has reopened up that I, you know, as it gets later in a free agency, I think the players get scared. But when there's limited, when there's still holes left and you're the last guy left, I think things are going to work out. That he would be a great fit in Houston. Our Texas Rangers man, Jock. Simeon Seeger, Wyatt Lankford, Jock Peterson, Adoles Garcia, Josh Young, Evan Carter, Jake Berger and Jonah Hein. They have Jake berger with his 29 homers last year slotted as their eight hitter. I'm not. This isn't an official Bruce Bochi lineup, but I think there is going to be some Tigers or some Texas stock being bought. Jock Peterson, man, He got the two year with an opt out 393 on base last year with 23 homers and 449 games. If there is a righty pitcher out there, throw Jock at him. Him and Bochi are going to be delightful. Texas is going to be in love with him. He's going to be beloved everywhere he goes. I mentioned Jonah Heim. They signed Higgy.

[Enoch]

Yeah.

[John]

Zeke Duran and Josh Smith on the bench. Two guys that have been UTIL all stars. Leoti Tavares is currently listed on their bench of Valdi deGrom, Gray, Molly Bradford. My guy. Dane Dunning, surviving. I wonder if they could be looking to add another starting pitcher and if. I wonder if they could kind of trade it from some of their depth or maybe they're one of these old school teams. Bruce Bochy. That depth is good. That's how depth used to be. So that's exciting. Let's see anything else out west? No, I'm good there. National League Snakes in the fight. Atlanta could go either way. Sneaky quiet Dylan Cease maybe Cubbies have had a bit of an off season without mentioning the Vidal Brujan trade that let's see again, it feels like they have another move to make. It's just where are they going to make it? But they've already put in some work. I I appreciate that my Cincinnati Reds are kind of in a funky spot that I don't remember that Brady Singer Jonathan India trade that was one of our first snacks of the off season. They could be done and we'd say okay and I'll come back to liking this team because they're kind of deep. Okay, get me off the Reds page. Colorado never Dodgers super team Miami never Milwaukee. Milwaukee Mets have Mets Phillies have sneakily Phillied while also still being in the mix for a nuclear move. Pittsburgh Ah what what is we doing baby?

[Enoch]

Get someone Cutch is back.

[John]

Padres similar boat but different Giants are in the mix for everyone. St. Louis is not in the gnats are teetering that that's kind of where it's at for December 30th into the off season. You're starting to get countdowns. I think it's less than three months till opening day so we get with those March starts now under the hundred day mark. Yeah, I think we're under 90 so that'll lead to spring training which will lead to everything else. Speaking of everything else, I mean we're late in there but I think it's a one up week so from the.

[Jake]

Delta Sky Club welcome back Ms. Klein to the JetBridge. Delta Airlines relies on 5G solutions from T Mobile for Business to power operations and serve customers faster. Together we're putting 5G into the hands of ground staff so they can better assist on the go travelers with real time time information throughout the airport. This is elevating customer experience. This is Delta Airlines with T Mobile for Business. Take your business further@t mobile.com now introducing signals, the next generation of platforms for investors designed to elevate your trading strategy by giving access to insights used by Wall street pros to dominate the market. Signals uses its proprietary data of $70 billion in consumer spend across North America to spot market trends before they make the headlines. We bring you the alternative data that drives decisions at top hedge funds, allowing you to carve your own edge in the stock market. Join the insider circle who are already transforming their investment strategies. Visit joinsignals.com to start your free 14 day trial. No hidden fees, no gimmicks, just pure actionable insights. End your reliance on outdated information with signals. Invest like a pro. Make informed decisions swiftly and stay ahead of the curve. Uncover tomorrow's market moves with today's real time data. Visit jointsignals.com today.

[BBD]

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[John]

Let'S just crank as we head towards the football and I want to give one of our John Boy Media friends a shout out here. Part of the inspiration today, our guy Courage, he messaged me and you know what, I'm gonna, I'll give the selfie to BBD to to get on the screen because I was feeling a very similar emotion of, you know, the holidays and everyone's podcast is on a different schedule. Courage sent me a selfie of himself thinking into the distance. Sending to Davis Wimbledon. He said out walking. No waking Jake, no talking Yanks, no talking baseball. Glaber gone. Recent Jake hair on pods getting a little long. Things are getting dark and I think we all kind of knew that holiday feeling. So I'm glad I could be back in the lab doing this. And I can't just skip football because we're at an hour. So let's talk about it a little bit. And I do need to throw my college football under the bus for a little bit because the first round of games were tough. The 12 team bracket that it was the first year they've rolled out and I've talked about some of the flaws. There's Courage just in the distance just wishing he could have headphones in hearing a voice talk about sports. I get that feeling. I know that feeling. So we're getting learnings. And it's also that weird thing that you need to preface this with. There's only one year of data so we need to see more data. And I do think that's true. But one thing that clearly felt off was the seating. Boise State getting a buy in a three seed compared to the other teams that seemed a little ridiculous. But college football, did the top, top qualified automatic qualifiers from their leagues get in? And it was interesting. I was listening to Joel Klatt talk about that and they said that was non negotiable because they want championship games to matter. And by matter they mean people pay money to go to the game. So that's where college football is at that Boise State and Arizona State should not have bias. It probably should just been top four teams. We're working on that. Something that I think is egregious and will be changed and maybe not. And this is where you need more data and all of that. But given college teams home field advantage in a playoff game, I don't know. I think I heard Matt Liner talk earlier this year, like just make all of these bowl games like at different sites and it gets a little tricky, right? Cause you're start doing teams and regions. But like NCAA basketball does that. Like they don't just rank them in order. It's like oh, the west region and BYU's a 12 seed. Well, why don't we make them that 12 seed even if it's not fair and everyone kinda gets over it. So we'd have to figure that out with making these all bowl games. And maybe we will, maybe we won't, or maybe they like that. But SMU at Penn State, Pony Express got grounded quickly. And part of that was because of their quarterback. He played one of the worst games you could possibly play. So that's not good. But part of that was they had an early fourth and one where he could have scrambled. He threw it into the end zone for an interception. Bad. But also that Penn State crowd got insane. Same thing with Ohio State. Ohio State hosted Tennessee and they thwomped him and they probably would have thomped him anywhere, neutral site in Tennessee even. But the fact that they had home field and then Notre Dame, Indiana, although that final score looks a lot closer than it was. And maybe these were the matchups this year and these teams never had a shot. And I talked about some of the quarterbacks and how the quarterbacks aren't where they need to be or you'd be surprised how they look this college football Playoff. But yeah, it was all home favorites and I think I'm talking the spread too, which is insane. But college football home field advantage is worth like 10 points. I know that's not exactly how the math works out, but we're also talking a playoff game. Penn State was nuts. Ohio State as well. So unfortunately the entertainment that those games potentially could have provided got overruled. And I'm not going to do the whole speech. Alabama should have been in. I think South Carolina was actually the team that got screwed the most in all this. But I don't think it would have mattered because they would have been on the road. Road playoff games, these places were nuts. Like Penn State, I think exams were over, so it was literally just drunk kids there. That kind of matters. That's why we have home field advantages. So something to look into. Again, maybe it's just one year and it's how everything laid out. But like okay, Tennessee was the ninth seed, Ohio State was the eighth seed and that gave Ohio State home field advantage. That's pretty significant. And maybe if that's as important and Maybe we want to roll on with that. Cool. But yeah, that, that part just felt a little off to me. But I'm also a unique college football fan, so I'll tell you this for tomorrow. Penn State, Boise State. If you haven't seen Ashton Jinty play yet, please watch. He is loads of fun. 29 rushing touchdowns this year. His unique stance in the backfield and it's everything. Like I was the couple. The few Boise State games I got to watch this year, which was actually more like. Again, it's probably three Boise State games. But like, what the hell am I doing anyways? He's complete. Like, it's not like, whoa, Boise State opens up a huge hole. He beats one guy and goes like it's every carry with him. If he gets a little bit of space, he's got you. If he's bigger than you, he'll be bigger than you. If he's smaller than you, he'll be faster than you. And every run it feels like he's falling forward or getting a couple yards. When it's. Even when it's not. The breakout runs I'm very interested to see. Everyone thinks Penn State is going to kill them. Penn State is an 11 point favorite because they're good in the line. So Penn State is one of the few teams that they've held up with Ohio State and Oregon and that's where the game is, right? That maybe they're just dominant down there and all that cool stuff about Genti doesn't matter. I will be interested to see. I the way everyone else who knows college football is talking about it that I respect is saying Penn State is going to give them the business in the way they talked about the home teams doing it last game. This isn't a home game. This is at a neutral start. The Vrbo Fiesta Ball. Watch out, 11 point Penn State. I don't know, I. I guess maybe I just want to believe in Jinty too much and maybe they're going to be outclassed and outskilled by Penn State across the field, but I don't know. A girl can dream for now. Oregon, Ohio State as I'll avenge myself from those first round matchups. I said right after the Oregon Ohio State game if they could somehow get these teams to play in the playoffs. And we got it. It's in the quarterfinals, which some people aren't happy about because some people are like this, this might be the championship game. They will run it back with Ohio State as favorites in the Rose bowl against undefeated Oregon who beat Them. Yo, you want to talk about a coach being able to scream at the boys you guys beat this team. We're going to a neutral site. And they're the favorites. Meanwhile Ohio State is playing with the vim and vigor of 10000 sons because this is the whole crew that they never beat Michigan four years Ryan Day supposed to be good as dead as a head coach and they came now and they played one of the best games of the season. So that is much must watch. I started with Boise because that's New Year's Eve 7:30pm Ohio State. Oregon is 5pm New Year's Day. Okay, talk myself into that before that is Texas, Arizona State, your Chick Fil A Peach Bowl. Texas is a 13 point favorite. This is what I'm talking about with the buys like parts of this system are still clearly a little broken and this is one of them. I don't know. Again I hope these games aren't living up to their spread billing because that would stink. But Arizona State with Scatter Boo. That'll be the word of the day on New Year's Day. The joke with him is you know how good is he going to look with Belichick in New England? That joke's about five years old now because he now coaches North Carolina. But white running back who plays just like an absolute dog. The receiving and the rushing are electric that let's see what he can do to the Texas defense and Texas's offense has left a lot of questions out there. But I mean this is the Texas Longhorns. Their their two losses are to Georgia where Arizona State this year it felt like they kind of came out of nowhere. Their losses to Texas Tech and Cincinnati. So you know that just feels a little different. Their head coach Arizona State I think younger than me. That's tough. Yeah, that hurts. Kenny Dillingham. Nice. There's a cool wiki read again. Why was I there? Why haven't I read a book this year? But I read Kenny Dillingham's Wikipedia. Let's finish off Notre Dame. Georgia. This is the last game of the day. This is the smallest line. Again two kind of traditional powers here. Georgia has a one and a half point favorite without Carson Beck who's declaring for the draft even though his season is over due to injury. I mean that is kind of the story that I'm. It depends what you believe in. Like Georgia without hey Carson back hadn't played great for them recently that now they're going to their backup quarterback. His name my apologies. Who is Stockton Gunner Stockton. That's right. Who's more of a run threat than a pass threat. That the Georgia offense was actually clicking decently because maybe they leaned into the run a little bit more and maybe that's a good thing for them. We'll see their Notre Dame. People are saying Notre Dame might be better than them on the lines. I always get scared with that with an SEC school. You know, when we're seeing some of Notre Dame's footage against recently like Army, Virginia, I don't know, maybe that's me being rude and obnoxious, but this is queued up to be one of the good ones. Personally, no clue. I. I love the way Notre Dame has been playing, the way they run the ball. It's just absolutely electric. I think Georgia can say the same thing, that it should be a fun one. And maybe it comes down to the quarterbacks and you got inexperienced gunner Stockton versus Riley Leonard, who's played a ton of college ball. Listen, a lot of people like Notre Dame in that game and not just because they're drunk Irish guys. So I'm hoping that the next couple days redeem the college football playoffs. And if that whole first weekend was kind of a bust, what if this weekend is great? What if the following week is great where there's two games and then there's still a championship after that? So it's a ton of college football. And it's so funny how far college football has come to get to this point because this is basically professional football. But hopefully we get some electric matchups in there. And then with my NFL Association, I think I can be somewhat high and tightish because the NFL just plays every day now during the holidays. So that's pretty wild. Like this week technically happened going back to Wednesday Christmas with the Chiefs playing Pittsburgh and Baltimore playing Houston. Both those games were a dud. I've got a few buddies in the group chat getting pretty hot that all of these short week games are kind of hot garbage. And I don't know, I think there's some data that would help. And one of those data points would be Baltimore, Houston 31 to 2. So did you get to watch NFL football on Netflix on Christmas? You did, and I loved it. I'm a sports junkie. The games were bad, so we just got to figure this out again. We're evolving. Let's just figure this out a little bit better.

[Enoch]

Still did a Thursday game.

[BBD]

I don't know.

[John]

Still did. And that was a great game because that was Seattle Chicago 6, 3 final. Hey, I don't Again, I don't know how many of you come for football stuff. I don't know how many. Just listen to it. Maybe some of you like it and I appreciate that. Caleb Williams Some of the numbers are in a historic area. Let's see, they're obviously a disaster. Their their head coach and some of the timeouts called in that game were disgusting. Know who was in the building though? Ian Hap. Chicago Pairs posted him on their Instagram story. So like that good to be the king that. Yeah, I don't know. The MVP conversation's fun. Go listen to the football guys talk about that because I don't know what's going to happen between Lamar, Josh Seyquan, Joe Burrow from the rafters there was Saturday football. Oh, so you're looking for the good game. Chargers New England 40 to 7. Some of the quarterbacks that are getting run out this weekend, by golly, again, like it kind of doesn't matter if you've made it to this part of the NFL season. And hey, there's some fantasy implications. You know, some championships are going down today, but you know, the teams that are out of it feel more out of it than they've ever been. That the one good game Saturday was my Denver Broncos versus Cincinnati Bengals goes to overtime. Joe Burr for 4:12 Bo Nicks let a couple eat. But the Bangles and T. Higgins three touchdowns. That'll go down as a fantasy legend in some circles. They get it done against the Horses in Cincinnati. Cincinnati has playoff hopes. They need my Broncos to lose. I want to say the other thing is they need the Dolphins to lose next week, so that might not happen. Oh, and they need they need the Broncos to lose the Chiefs. Who The Chiefs are probably resting their starters, but they also might not be resting their starters because they're going to get a buy. So if they don't play that game, I think their next game would be like 25 days. So if you're a rust person, which I don't know if the Chiefs are, you also can't get Mahomes hurt in a game that doesn't matter. So. So let's see how that sorts out. Rams beat the Cardinals 139 Again, another kind of slop fest. It ended with Kyler coming back down the field, plunks the receiver in the helmet, pops up interception to lose. It was cool to see Arizona's tight end Trey McBride get the touchdown after setting the record for most receptions to start a season without getting one. Pretty insane for a tight end. That's crazy Big weekend for the tight ends. Brock Bowers, he set a bunch of rookie receiving records this weekend. So tight ends, big back, some of them literally. What was that? Joe's McFly's gotten me with that one. He keeps calling. He keeps calling thicker people, big, big backs. And I was like, can I use that? Is that appropriate? And he's like, I think so. So I don't know if it's not. I'm. I'm okay with being canceled big backs. Speaking of more good football game, the jets, they got obliterated by the Bills 40 to 14 final it was uglier than that for a little bit. Jets had a zero on the scoreboard through three that team sauce gardeners replying to people on Instagram. A screenshot T. Higgins telling he's put on T. Higgins Instagram to not I I would tell him to not sign with the Jets. That's not good. It's another thing you didn't see Bellich Patriots doing on social media. Raiders and Saints new No, no, no. Pay that man. Tell him. They go tell. I will not be telling him that. That's so bad.

[Enoch]

I will not be telling him that.

[John]

Oh, bad. The Jets. Speaking of Raiders and Saints. Yep. The Gman 45 points. What a game against the Colts. Maybe it's ruined their draft position but for a day, the Giants were the kings of the Meadowlands. Their only home win. The kick return touchdown was just a movie by. Was that Amir Smith? Marcet. So yeah, they're currently after Shador was wearing Giants cleats. They're currently sitting at the 4 pick right out of position for a quarterback they like.

[Enoch]

And they've had of the teams in the mix, I think they've had the strongest schedule even get up to two. I think they need some favors and they play. The Eagles will probably be resting next week.

[John]

So it's.

[Enoch]

It's a good time. It's a good time.

[John]

Congrats, G man. Eagles roll on the Cowboys. Another shocker. Cooper Rush and Kenny Pickett and I do want to give a shout out to our guy Tanner McKee who came into this game and got two touchdown passes. So okay, Eagles Saquon. They are rolling in the Giants or excuse me, Cowboys are in a very sad place for the rest of this season. Let's see, what are the other games that need to be discussed? My computer just froze on me. Tough at this, at this point. Let's see. I talked about Joe Burr. Well, what was the nightcap game last night? Oh, Falcons. This was actually fun. Falcons Commanders couple couple of the Young hopefully stud QBs in this league. Jaden Daniels has obviously put enough out there that everyone is now on the Jaden wagon. Which reminder? Well, Poppy was there early. That was a really fun night shift with panics leading the boys some crazy throws late to get them in the mix. If you're a Falcons fan, you have to be excited what you saw there. But Jaden, man, he is unreal dude. When he it needs to get done, he gets it done. And he's maybe my favorite QB to watch now. I don't know. Everything he does is so composed and so gliding and so in control but yet he fights for other yards. It's not like like Kyler has hit a point now where he slides early and that's fine because he's he needs to do that to take care of him to give Arizona the best shot. Like that's just smart. Jaden. There are times when he glides and gets through tackles while still getting down gently where he's still picking up extra yards. Every facet of his game I enjoy and love to watch. The commanders are 11 and 5. They ended a 24 year postseason drought. 24. Football. Whoa, it's football. So he's the king of that town. That was a fun way to end it. The other electric game yesterday that I skipped over because my page froze. No, it's not. Dolphins, Browns 20 to 3. Some good QB play. No, it's not. Titans. Jaguars. No, it's not. Bucks, Panthers. They put up a big number five TDs for Baker, Packers, Vikes, the Vikings and Sam Darnold get the 27 to 25 victory. Packers started off slow and the Vikings really did not. Both of these teams are so good at spreading the ball around. Dobbs, Craft on Tavian Wicks, Melton, Reed, Musgrave, Heath with catches. Jefferson, Naylor, Addison, Hawkinson, Jones, Acres, Ham Muntaha for the Vikings. And Sam Darnold's playing great. And the the team celebration after the locker room. If you haven't seen it on social media, go look it up today because it's really cool to see how beloved that guy is and it's going to lead to some fun Minnesota off season stuff. Slash. They're just going to franchise them. Everyone's like, whoa, it's going to be this big crazy conversation. You got such an instant get out of jail free card. He's played amazing. We can pay him one year if he does this again. He's our quarterback. We'll trade the first rounder we took last year and if not decisions made Good fight by the packers they get back in this one, it's too little too late. Bikes complete the final first down on a cam acres whoa. These two teams are really good. The Minnesota Vikings are 14 and two good. Kevin O'Connell do I take credit for that tall handsome Vikings coach saw something I didn't see this and it's just a really interesting playoff picture because if the Lions win tonight, they're the 1 seed which means that drops the bikes to like the five seed. So we're going from number one seed home field through the playoffs to road playoff game to start like I the NFC in a wild place and mostly because of that NFC north and how good it's been this year that yeah, it was an ugly 1pm slate because they moved the other good games to weird prime time games this week and then those games weren't great because they were off schedule and athletes are creatures of habit. But it still ended up on a high note. I mean that Falcons Commanders OT game, that was that was worth the watch. We're seeing those young guys sling it. So ton of all the playoff scenarios for this weekend, here's the analytics. Watch some of the college football there should be a couple gems. Watch your fantasy weeks if you need them to play out. Although week 18 not for me. End your seasons in week 17 imo. But we will see what games matter. Can my Broncos survive the Chiefs Chiefs playing their backups? Probably. I think there's a couple other games that are going to be Vikings Lions ended kind of a playoff game Sunday night. How do you like that? So we talked a lot of sports. I'm glad I got to I'm glad you guys were here with it. Glad I could see King Biebs before ringing in the New Year's. So hope this got you guys through this weird part of the year. Drifting through into the New Year's. The cold weather, the gray and we will be back probably not Thursday Friday I think we're catching up on other stuff at there's something that we need to maybe otherwise we might see you next week and we'll know like the football playoffs. I don't know.

[Enoch]

Wow.

[John]

Crazy time of year. Tell them about Uncle Dan Wake and.

[Enoch]

Jake is a production of Dan Patrick Productions, John Boy Media and Workhouse Media.

[Jake]

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[BBD]

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