The List: ESPN's Top-100 MLB Players Drops; Top Player Draft; MLB Official on ABS Challenge System

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This is the Baseball Tonight podcast for Friday, March 6, 2010. And today will be better than yesterday. I'm buster only working from my hotel down in Miami. Taylor Schwink is back in ESPN. And Taylor, how you doing? Buster, I'm well. I'm off camera right now because we've got we've got new friends here on the show. We've got a big uh piece to discuss. It's rattling the baseball world. I'm very excited.

That would be the unveiling of the top one hundred players as we start the top of the first. Their number one topic today. Uh ESPN on Wednesday published its list of top one hundred players in baseball. And and to discuss that I have joining me Jesse Rogers, who of course co uh covers baseball for ESPN. Jesse, how you doing?

Good buster. I have a lot of thoughts on our own piece. I have my own critique of our own piece, so it's coming. I'm ready to go. Okay, we're we're gonna get to that. We're also joined by Liz Finney. who I I think Liz uh you're the maestro of the top one hundred our editor who compiled this list, correct? Yes, yes, that is me. Thank you guys for having me. I'm so excited. Yeah. Okay. So as we get started, I want you to explain sort of how we put this list together.

So this year it was a little bit different. We ended up having about two dozen people send in their own individualized top 100. Um, and we averaged that together. We used point systems. So, you know, if you ranked Shohe Otani first, he was a hundred points. and so on. Um, and then added up those point totals to get our final overall list. Um, it was awesome. We worked with a ton of different departments to get some really cool graphics. Like people have seen baseball card gifts.

That is how I say it. I don't say gifts um that rotate. And it was an awesome project. We had a bunch of you guys do write ups. for each player and give predictions. So it it turned out really nicely, but it is not without controversy, definitely. Okay. What are the points of the main points of controversy that you see in the list this year? So one of the things we actually talked about too kind of as an editor group was Mike Trout not making the list. It blew some people away.

Um, he ended up coming in at 107, so just barely missed it. And he's probably the biggest faller from last year to this year's list. Last year he was number 33. Um, this year he missed it at 107. So fell down quite a ways. And that was even with. some of our colleagues ranking him as high as sixty seven and still didn't make that list. Yeah, I remember last year, last couple of years when when I've taken that list around to players and asked for their audit.

He was always the player that got the most reaction because I and I don't think he uh like he wasn't in the top ten the last couple of years, if I remember correctly. Um and they would go, What are you doing? It's Mike Trout. Like he's an inner circle Hall of Famer. You guys are crazy. You know, how could you possibly have them down that low? Um, I was really curious about, you know, at the top of the list, how quickly we'd get to the pitchers.

Uh you know, Tarek Schubel and Paul Skins in particular, Gare Crochet, some of the top guys. Jesse, when you saw the list, what did you think? Well, I can't believe Garrett Crochet's the eighth best player in baseball. I'm just not there quite yet. So there were some interesting things about that list that that was number one on my mind. But the other one, bigger picture.

is how we in in incorporate injury to this whole thing. If a guy was injured last season, how long was he injured? If he's had consecutive injury prone year. So I don't quite know if Rano de Cunha Jr. should be so high, and I don't know if Jordan Alvarez should be so low. So those are sort of the things that went through my mind. Very difficult. I had to predict uh Bryce Harper season when he was coming back from his elbow injury.

And um he did not like my prediction. But who knew how many games who knew how many games he was going to play? You know, it's so hard to judge a a guy coming off injury. You know, uh Kyle Tucker's had two years where he's been injured. Um healthy he might have a nine more season. banged up might be more like a four war season. So

Um that's a difficult proposition. But I I I don't understand how Crochet's eight and Yamamoto's seventeen if we want to get back to the questions that I had about this list. Okay, I gotta follow up on what you said though. Bryce Harper didn't like What you y the prediction form that place.

Well, I mean I don't wanna go too deep into the nerdy stuff but I I was looking at past players that had um missed time and I remember Joe Madden saying this about Kyle Schwarber in twenty sixteen, famously when he came back after a knee injury to to make it to the World Series.

He said we might get a burst out of him, but if he was back for a full month we'd see a drop off, whether it be adrenaline wearing off or or whatever the case may be. And I thought that about Bryce that maybe we'd see a burst of home runs. But his batting average might plummet. The only problem was I made that prediction when he was supposed to come back in like August. He was back in May and so his timing was not off.

And um Bryce chose the playoffs to remind me of that prediction, if you wanna be honest. If we wanna be honest. So yeah, players read this stuff. And uh he was right, I was wrong, but I didn't know he was coming back so quickly, testing it to to him and his uh recovery abilities. Yeah, they hang on to that for sure. Players can hang on to that and they'll remind you. I did something like that last year, Kike Hernandez. was not happy about something that I had said during the year. So that

That is interesting. Uh Jesse, give me a player who you felt like was too low.'Cause it was a player I can tell you. I I was like, Are you kidding me? He's that low? But you can start. Yeah. Yeah, you're talking in a negative way, right? Like he should have been higher on the list. Should have been higher, yeah. Um yeah, yeah, no doubt. Um now I'm a little uh maybe Chicago biased, but Michael Bush.

is better than number eighty six based on what he's done. And I'll give you just one reason for it. He's one of six left handers in the history of the Cubs. Now he only hit thirteen at home and twenty one on the road, but Doesn't matter. It still counts. Left handers at Wrigley have a lot of trouble slugging. The the the wind, as particularly in the last couple years.

has blown in off the lake, in towards home plate. It messes with your head. It can mess with your head when you go on the road. But Michael Bush fought through all of that, hit thirty four home runs. Um and played really good defense. Now he didn't play against all left handed pitching, so maybe his numbers are skewed a little bit. He wasn't facing them all, but he is this year. Um in any case I think he's better than the eighty-sixth player on that list.

The guy who I was just like, Wow. And Liz, you know this because you were working on these top ten rankings at different positions with me, Geraldo Perdomo. being the 32nd best player, but more specifically, ranked seventh among shortstops. And we uh when I did my list, I had him based on the feedback I got at second. And so to have him behind a lot of the other guys

Including Ellie de la Cruz, that kind of blew my mind because Geraldo Perdomo w has gotten results. Like we're all excited about Ellie de la Cruz and his potential Jesse, but how in the world does he rank ahead of Geraldo Perdomo? Liz? No no no. I'm not putting that question to you, Jesse. Yeah, I mean I it it's possible that other players on that team It it's almost like the the Michael Bush factor. There's other players that have a little bit more notoriety on that team and

when you're putting together a list like can we really have that many diamondbacks or that many cubs in the top twenty, top thirty, top forty. So the guy that's lesser known falls a little bit, I think that's probably the answer to that question. Yeah.

All right, so we're gonna have some fun here. We're gonna do a draft, our own draft with the three of us. Uh and we'll go through I don't know, you we'll see, three to five rounds, we'll see how quickly this goes. Uh and just see how much that mirrors what we actually did in the top one hundred. Okay. So Liz, since you're our guest here today. We decided that you get the number one overall pick. Who you got?

Um, I have Shohei Otani at number one. I don't know how you can not have a two-way generation generational talent like him at number one. Um, and most of us felt that way, actually. All but five people had him number one. the five people who didn't have him at number one. Do you guys care to guess who was number one? Well, what I I can't believe no one some people didn't actually have him at number one. That's a shock to me. I don't know how you feel, Jesse.

Yeah, I I'd be shocked. He's getting value on both sides. Yeah. So we had to do it. And it's a full season of pitching now, rather than him starting in what was it, mid June last year? And still ended up with a sub three year old. Yes. Other five were judges. Okay. That's really interesting. All right, Jesse, you got the second pick in this draft. Who would you get?

Well, I'm gonna throw a Clayton Kershaw curve ball. I knew you would do this. I told Liz yesterday you would throw a curveball here. Yeah. Yeah, I'm not gonna I'm not gonna take judge. I'm gonna take Scoobyl. I want my old school pitcher on the mound. Every five days going seven, eight, nine innings, I'm going pitcher over hitter. I'm going Terek Scuble, the two time Cy Young winner. You know, you're a Chicago guy, but I'm feeling a little bit like I'm the Bulls.

Okay. You just took Sam Bowie with the number two pick, with all due respect to Tarek. And I'm taking Aaron Judge as the number three pick. I I I don't know how you pass on him. So Judge goes three. Liz, you're up, number four. Number four, so I think this might be not what people would pick, but I would go Cal Raleigh at number four. Wow. Um, no disrespect to Bobby Witt Jr., but

sixty home run season for McKetcher last year. He played a hundred fifty nine games. He plays anywhere close to that again. and is playing at the level that he did last year. I just it's incredible to me to to hit that many home runs at that position. He is number seven on our top one hundred list. And it's interesting, I actually had a friend ask me today when he looked at the USA lineup.

Uh, how in the world is Cal Raleigh hitting sixth coming off last year? It speaks the depth of that team. All right, Jesse, you got the fifth overall pick. Well, I won't go with another curveball and take skeins to to have my party No, and I won't I won't do that. It i it it's a tough call between Bobby Witt Junior and and Juan Soto. I mean I love left handers like even more than right handers in a sense because they're they're they're just have

So much more ability to slug because there's so many more r so much more right handed pitching. Um Soto and Tucker the two hitters that have as many walks as strikeouts with a five hundred slug. Um wit is is is enticing though. But I'm gonna I'm gonna go with Juan Soto as my as my first hitter on the board. Yeah. Maybe I'm gonna go with Juan Soto. I'm feeling like another one dropped into my lap. Bobby Witt on our top one hundred was number three.

Judge was number two. I got the number two and the number three. Thank you, Jesse. That is awesome! I appreciate it. Yeah. I told you Liz. I told you he was gonna do this. You did. You did. And I'm not going to go against the grain here. And what are we at? Number seven? Yes. I'm gonna go number seven Paul Skins. Yeah, I figured as much. You just twenty three year old, look at him go, you know? Two seasons below two ERA. Insane. Absolutely dominant. All right, Jesse, who you got next?

I'm gonna maybe throw another curve ball. I'm I'm taking Jose Ramirez. Yeah. I think he's a little bit too low yeah, I think he's a little bit too low on our list. The the incredible consistency And and now put him in my lineup with the guys around him instead of the guardians' lineup, his numbers are gonna jump even more. I'm uh taking um Jose Romero's switch hitter. So I like see, I like

I I took a lefty, I took a switch hitter. I kinda like this. I like this balance that I'm creating early on here. All right, so here are the now the players left on our top one hundred board. Number eight, Garrett Crochet, number nine, Julio Rodriguez, number ten, Ronald Acuna Junior.

Uh I think Liz knows who's I'm I'm going with though'cause I've been talking about him with her for a while. And that would be number one. Yeah. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who last year at during the postseason went from being a to be in a superstar inner circle, uh great player. Thank you again. Guys, you guys are being so nice to me, despite the fact I'm picking in a number three spot. Okay, Liz, who you got with your fourth pick? I think I'm gonna go J Rod, Julio Rodriguez.

I think that we haven't seen the best from him yet. He was much better in the second half last year, and I'm hoping that he continues that and really kind of finds his own this year. So he would be my pick. I think that's a good one. Uh and I agree with you. He was uh on our position rankings, number one center fielder in baseball. Jesse, your fourth and last pick in this exercise. Um

Okay, so I'm gonna take a second pitcher and again a guy I thought should have been I I think Crochet and Yamamoto should be flipped, to be honest, after what he did in the World Series. I I can't believe people voted Yamamoto post World Series and he ends up at seventeen. Like that's a vote a year ago maybe. So I'm taking Yamamoto um as my second pitcher in in this uh in this draft. Okay. Um, I agree with you. I think Yamamoto should be ahead of crochet on our list.

But I also think Crochet is amazing. You know, leading the major leagues in strikeouts last year with 255, leading the American League in innings, and this is someone who I think I think he, you know, he's gonna continue to grow uh and he is a beast. And we saw it last year. It felt like there were times when he was carrying the Red Sox. So Well this was super fun. Sorry you guys lost and I won. I actually agree with him. All right, Liz. Thanks for joining us. It was uh fun doing this.

Yeah, thank you guys for having me. This was so much fun. Great job on the list. Thank you, thank you. You too. Du plattade alltså håret, utan värmeskydd. What's wrong with you, woman? Uppi 25% Hoslico, your beauty playground. Väng firar 70 år av resor som är svåra att släppa taget om. Och det gör vi med massor av erbjudanden som är omöjliga att motstå. Boka redan nu på ving.se. De bästa resorna försvinner först. Ving- semester. Det vill hem från.

Jesse, I wanna ask you about a couple of injuries uh that have popped up in the last couple days and see how big of a deal these are. The Houston Astros sent All-Star Shortstop Jeremy Payne to see a hand specialist. after his right ring finger kind of got dinged when he was fielding the ground ball the other day. Uh and right hander Hunter Green left the Reds camp due to right elbow stiffness. Scale of one to ten, how much concern do you have with each of those injuries?

Yeah, Hunter Green much higher, seven or eight. You you hear MRI on the elbow on a on a all star pitcher like that. I mean, that could tank the Reds hopes. I mean they're they're precarious. team in in general. I mean, we saw them barely make the postseason last year. They added Suarez back. Their their whole team is based on that starting staff and a guy like Hunter Green

Uh maybe they could survive it, but that that would be a huge blow. Much higher concern there. Talk about a fractured finger, it's gonna force Pena out of the WBC. That's a five to me. You know, he did get hurt last year, hit by a pitch, so it's You don't wanna see a guy piling up the injuries, right? Best uh

um productivity is availability, right? Um but I don't I wouldn't worry too much about paying you with a month to go until the regular season. Different story with Hunter Rain. Yeah, it feels like uh y you know, in a such a competitive national league, uh you're right. I think that the

If Hunter Green is out for an extended period of time, then it's gonna really hurt their chances. And we you know, they had to scrape their way into the postseason last year and it'd become even more difficult without Hunter Green. Uh wanted to get your pick for the WBC, who you got winning it? Yeah, I mean I was around Team USA, so uh I don't have to pitch against them, but somebody will have to. They scored twenty nine runs in the two exhibition games I was at.

But the Dominican Republic can match them bat for bat. So Buster Uh you know, i we we don't talk about the r the relief cores enough. Like the relievers make the difference in this tournament because the starters are so limited. They're only gonna starters only go three to four innings. Yeah, quarter finals and semifinals.

Um it it could be determined by by a random reliever. I do like the mix um they put together um on Team USA. Mason Miller's gonna have a huge task. He's gonna be given the biggest, most important out. I uh I say it's I mean, I I can't choose between the Dominican and Team USA. Uh it's splitting hairs, but I'll I'll pick United States in a really close match between those two.

Okay, you're around the USA team and I've been making this point that, you know, at the beginning and I talked to Jed Hoyer the other day and I asked him about, you know, the comfort level that teams have with the WBC now compared to the way that it used to be. Um, I I think it's clear that the teams are more comfortable and the players with USA are much more invested they were, you know, ten, twelve, fourteen, fifteen years ago.

It's also a perfect storm this particular year coming off the Olympics. That has made a big difference. Everybody, um, just sort of coincidentally they were able to do this because the game was at 8 a.m., you know this. Teams are all at their clubhouses at 8 a.m. during spring training. They all watched the men's gold medal game and a source of pride emerged. And I'm I'm hearing more and more, uh especially with the world events about

Uh wearing that jersey does represent the military and people uh service people. And we know that Griffin Jacks and Paul Skins were at at at the Air Force Academy, there's a lot of meaning to wearing USA across their jersey. And I just think the tournament's been more accepted throughout. um uh you know throughout baseball over the last few years and finally we've seen other sports do this.

separate teams based on national country and it's created incredible momentum. The Four Nations. The NBA just did it at the All-Star Game. We've got the Olympics coming up in baseball with with potentially baseball players in it. There's just this national pride that goes on. It's always been there, but I think you're right. It's kind of emerged. Even more so. And the final thought is we really haven't seen the major injury. I mean, Edward Diaz blew out his knee celebrating.

We have not really seen the big injury or or or two or three or four. based on the play on the field. They've done well with pitchers and usually position players, unless they get nailed with a pitch, are are gonna come out of it fine. So I think all of that combined has led to uh players wanting to play in it even more.

Yeah, when I talked to Jed the other day, I just r recalled the early days of the WBC when you literally had teams saying, We can't get a return phone call from the pitching coach of whatever team they were trying to contact with their guys.

it unnerved them and they have fixed that and that's incredibly important. Last one, sixty seconds. Our colleague at Wardo Perez suggests uh in the aftermath of the ProFar suspension. He he thinks that Uh that once you get nailed, the guaranteed part of your contract should go away. In other words, and and and I modified that. I said, Warta, what about?

You know, you you get busted once. If you get busted a second time as ProFar has, that that's when the guaranteed language goes away. Like I understand why teams are worried about the one false positive. I mean, excuse me, the player associations worried about the one false positive. You get nailed twice. I don't think you should have a guaranteed contract. What do you think?

A union will fight that because you are already serving, you know, you're pe you're not getting paid during the suspen suspension. You're already serving that penalty and even if it's a second time, you know, he's not making a salary for for this season, right? So I I

I don't understand why he should not make his salary next year if he if he checks all the boxes. It's not ideal. He may not be the same player after missing a year. Right. But I could see the union I could see the union fighting it. He is serving his time. He's paying the price.

Um you can't d you can't uh void the contract like that. Maybe maybe it'll come up in the in the new C B A, but I I would I would see the union pushing back on that in a big, big way. And by the way, Buster, I hear whispers about Roids more and more in the last couple years. Like you don't think that technology, if that's the right word, or medicine has advanced.

where, you know, for everyone that gets popped, are there a few that are getting away with it? You'd have to imagine so. Something to keep an eye on Um and certainly as a reporter to keep your ears open on it. Yeah, last two decades uh one of the refrains I've always heard is the the cheating is ahead of the testing.

Right? They're always pushing the boundaries. So we'll uh we'll see if we see other instances of this. All right, Jesse, thanks for doing this. Boster, always great to see you. Be well.

Joe Martinez is the vice president of Onfield Strategy for Major League Baseball, and he's joining us to talk about the ABS system. Joe, how are you doing? Hey, Boster, I'm doing well. How are you? I'm doing great. Uh it's been fun seeing uh the first days of the ABS challenge system, uh talking to players about it, talking to with umpires about it. What's your early perception of how it's going so far?

Yeah, I think it's going well. Um, you know, it's hard sometimes for me to separate like this major league spring training from, you know, the other uses. We've obviously been testing this for a long time. Um, in the minor leagues, right in spring training last year, but Um, the players are doing a great job. I think the umpires are are handling the change really well and the fans seem to like it. So um, you know, it's it's we're very happy and and hopefully the fans and the players are too.

So last year when this first uh the conversation really began to to gain traction that this would be in place. Uh I talked to a lot of players, you know, on background uh staffers and they were worried about what might happen if they offend umpires. And then just watching this play out. Um, I think this is gonna become such an ingrained part of the game that it it'll be uh as uh as nebulous as asking for an appeal on a check swing.

Like I don't I don't I don't think the that some of the worries that uh some of the players had is are ever gonna manifest. I think the everyone's gonna sort of move seamlessly into this, almost the way we did the pitch clock.

Yeah, I you know, I think Checked Swing's a good example. Replay is probably another good one. Um, umpires are pros, right? Um, they don't get to this level without being really good, first of all, um, without um understanding how to work uh and want and wanting to get all the calls right.

Um, which every umpire, you know, i is that's their first goal. So um I'm with you. I think it's going to very much just become part of the game. Um, I don't think umpires are gonna take offense when someone challenges.

Um, and I don't you know, th I think that again, they just wanna get everything right and they're so good that, you know, I think uh you're gonna see they're they're probably gonna be right more than they're overturned. Uh so that'll be kind of an interesting thing to see how that plays out as well.

So I'm not gonna put you in a position to advocate for one particular strategy or another, but this is the conversations you know going on in all these uh clubhouses. What's the best way to use once the regular season begins to u the use the ABS challenge system? What are some of the ways that you saw teams do this as you were testing this in the minor leagues and some of the rules that sort of emerge?

Yeah, I think a lot of the teams focused on trying to kind of get the most value out of their challenges. Obviously they're limited, right? If you get any wrong, uh you lose them and and you only have two to start the game anyway. So um, you know, they wanna make sure that when they do use them, particularly if they're not extremely confident that they're correct.

Um, it has to be in situations where it's an at bat deciding pitch or maybe one that might meet a run um or late in the game. Obviously they're a little bit more common. So I think, you know, we saw a lot of that in triple A and and

No listen, major league teams have so many really smart people working for them, much you know, much smarter than me that I'm sure they're all gonna figure out how to how to best employ these. Um I will say a lot of teams don't allow pitchers to challenge in the minor leagues. We'll see if they if that continues in in the big leagues as well. And, you know, as a former pitcher I can say, uh, I probably should not have been allowed to challenge'cause I thought everything was a strike. So

Um, I don't know. I'm kind of fascinating to see how how major league teams are gonna use this and if that's gonna differ from what we've seen so far in testing and in triple A. So um, you know, like I said, tons of smart people are gonna f or find a way to use these the best that they you know, best way they can. So the other day after Tarek Scobold pitched, I was in a group of reporters talking with him. He said, I'm not I'm not gonna challenge. He said unless it's like right down the middle.

Um he didn't say this, but maybe when an umpire blinks and and he knows it's a strike, he said, I w I i besides unless it's egregious, I will never challenge. He said he wants to leave it to his catchers. Chris Sale uh saying similar things. Uh our colleague uh Paul Ambiquitis sent me this. I thought this was a great question. How did you guys land on the parameters of the strike zone, which twenty seven percent to 53.5% of a player's height. Yeah.

So some of it was from testing, right? We tested different strike zone dimensions to see kind of what worked best. We also tested different ways of setting the strike zone, not just based on uh percentage of height. through that testing, we kind of arrived at something um that plays kind of as you would expect it to play, right? Um I'll give you an example. So at one point we we set the strike stone at the front of the plate, um, say with similar dimensions. And what we saw was

Uh, there were there were some pitches that didn't kind of look right, right, that were called strikes. And an example of that would be like a big slow twelve six curve ball would just catch the bottom of the zone at the front of the plate. the catcher would catch it pretty low, but it would still be a strike.

Right. And that just kinda looked w odd. So, you know, we moved it back to the middle of the plate, which is where it's set now. And that worked much better. So I think, you know, through this testing, um, through feedback we've received from players, from staff, Um and through other kind of analysis we we've kind of settled on the on the current definition and and it seems it seems to work really well. Um and something that's good for the players, right, is it's consistent. So

If you're Juan Soto, right, you're gonna have the same strike zone for every pitch for every at bat th this season. Um, and he's already really good at judging, you know, strikes and balls. Um, he might get even better at it, which is which is gonna be fun.

Yeah, the way you described that, it's like it takes me back to days of playing wiffle ball. I'm sure you did too, when you have the lawn chair to find the strike zone and you like you nick the edge of it, it never actually seems to cross over a sc into a strike zone.

So, you know, that uh that was one of the questions I was gonna ask you is why the middle of the plate and not the front of the plate, but uh you got it there. From a feedback perspective, what were the biggest surprises players have encountered in learning the zone? I'm uh you know, well uh maybe i expand on that a little bit. I'm I'm curious. What do you mean by um in other words, uh the feedback you're getting from players about how this zone plays. Uh as you guys are doing your testing.

Yeah. I think you know, what's been interesting and and it might it might just kind of be logical, but is depending on how you stand kind of impacts your perception of the zone a little bit, right? So Um, like you said, right, the the top and bottom are calculated based on how tall you are. And it's not it doesn't change based on how you stance, right? How you stand. So you know, guys who squat down a little bit more.

might feel like the top is a little bit higher than they're used to and the and the bottom's a little higher than they're used to, right? But those guys who stand more upright might feel kind of like those boundaries are a little lower than they're used to. Right. So It's um I think there there's gonna be a bit of an adjustment. They're probably going through some of it now, right? You've seen some some really good players that have

create strike zone awareness, get a couple of challenges, you know, confirmed, right? They they thought it was a ball when it was actually a strike. Um, but those those guys I think are going to adjust um, you know, as they get more reps, as they get more used to more used to their zones. Um and as they they they understand kind of how it relates to their specific stance.

Um we learned as spring training began that with the ABS challenge system that we won't see the strike zone that we're used to seeing as viewers watching games. Can you just sort of explain the thinking behind that? Yeah, it actually gives us an opportunity to make sure everything's the same, right? Um, where um based on math essentially, right? A percentage of height at top and bottom. It's the you know, the sides of the width of the plate.

Um, the strike zone that you're gonna see uh on T V is is gonna be the same as as what's used in the game and and the you know, in the challenges. It's gonna be the same that's on, you know, MLB game day, um, you know, and all that. So

You know, I think it's an opportunity to to make sure all of those things match and the experience is consistent kind of through anywhere you're watching a baseball game. So I was in the Yankees dugout yesterday during our exhibition broadcast and one of their players came up and said, Do you think we should go full ABS? Um and I I you know, I have my perspective for now, where does Major League Baseball stand on that and and why the challenge system rather than full ABS?

Yeah, we we generally or not generally, we you know, we use fan fan feedback um to guide us in in a lot of the decisions that we make. Um, you know, I'd include player feedback, coach feedback, right? On field folks. So um Everywhere we've asked. Everyone see everyone prefers challenge to fully BS. Right. Um, it just seems to be better for entertainment. I think there's a strategic element that people really enjoy.

Um, and baseball fans, right, they're they they're kind of all a little traditional at heart, I think. Um, they seem to like that human part of the game. Um, the role of the umpire being still, you know, th the significant in the way that it is. Um while still providing players with this tool now to kind of correct uh, you know, misses in really big spots, right? Which which is I think how it's gonna be used most of all. So um, you know, fans tell us this is kind of the best version of this.

Um, players tell us this is the best version of this and and and the way we should move forward and and we're just kind of focused on that and making sure we give kind of everybody more of what they're asking for. So with all due respect to a former pitcher like yourself, through my years of covering baseball, my favorite conversations have generally been with catchers.

And as you guys have gone through this process, I've worried on behalf of catchers like, man, that would really uh affect if you went full ABS. uh that would affect uh these skills that have been crafted through years by catchers. What's your what's your feeling about that?

Yeah, catchers are my favorite people to talk to also. Um usually'cause when they're catcher for me, they're trying to make me feel good. But yeah, I agree, right? That that it that would be an impact of of full ABS, right? Is framing becomes something that not a not a skill anymore, right? Because the system's calling, you know, balls and strikes. So Um the challenge system still, you know

keeps that as something that's important for catchers. You know, uh guys like, you know, Patrick Bailey, um, Austin Hedges, guys who are really good at framing are still gonna have a lot of value in being able to do that. Um, and that's important to the game, right? I think there is like an artistic element to baseball that goes beyond you know, what technology can do, um, right in that human kind of element and

As much as we can maintain that and accentuate it in addition to, you know, just getting better and more accurate and things like that. Um, I think if we can do both of those things, we're we're kind of heading in the right direction. All right, Joe. Thanks for doing this. I appreciate your time. Yeah, thank you so much for having me.

Cody Buster Gleecher Tweets for a Friday. We've got Rick in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He He wants to know he's a Mets fan, but he wants to know how you think the Rays will handle handle Junior Camanero. Will they sell him high the Rays way or will they sign him long term? What do you think?

With new ownership there uh for the Rays, I think there's gonna be a lot of pressure on the team to sign him, especially at a time that they're trying to convince uh somebody in that area, one of the two cities, St. Peter, Tampa, to give them a new ballpark. I think he's gonna wind up stand and he looks like he's a guy who could challenge records as we go forward for home runs. I mean, I don't know if you've seen Taylor.

A lot of the data coming out of the, you know, the exhibition games of the WBC is hitting the ball like a hundred, a hundred and ten miles per hour every time he's up. Oh wow. That's uh yeah, good good sign for the Rays there. I mean, if you're a Rays fan, you're definitely definitely wanna you wanna see that long-term contract. That would be nice. Uh Greg writes in, I love the new YouTube format. Uh

question. He he's asking about Austin Wells here. So he's he's wants an Austin Wells bounce back after the WBC. Yeah. He's hoping that working with Albert Poolholz and uh different hitting coaches outside of the Yankee organization might Turn that around. What do you think about his theory here? Uh uh look, first off, I think he's gonna bounce back. I think he was a better hitter than what he showed last year. He hit for power, but of course his batting average was in the low two hundreds.

Um, you know, I know the Yankees uh really believe that he's got more talent as a hitter than what he showed last year. And hi it's interesting. All it takes is one word, one phrase, one thought from a hitting coach. And a player will glom onto that, right? Or any coach. last year's uh about a role as Chapman, right? Where he has the Yes uh right in the Red Sox dugout. Like he thinks about it inside fastball and all of a sudden like it just changed the way that his brain thought.

Maybe that happens with Austin Wells this year, Taylor. Yeah, that's a that's a great comp and a a great callback to uh to for the podcast listeners here. Yep. Uh let's go to Eli in Chicago. He writes, Over the weekend I was feeding my one-year-old and looking for something to put on in the background. I remembered you were on YouTube and immediately watched the entirety of your episode with Aaron Boone. Good stuff, Eli. Yeah, don't forget you could throw us on your TV. Good stuff. He writes.

Uh last year he emailed in a futures bet about Pete Crow Armstrong leading the league in stolen bases. He was a little off with that one, but he wants to know who you think could potentially lead the league in stolen bases this year.

So Ellie De La Cruz was sort of everyone's favorite last year. I would go back to that if he's better offensively. Um yeah, did you agree with me by the way when I was uh talking with Jesse that I can't believe Perdomo is ranked behind Ellie de la Cruz, given what De La Cruz did offensively last season? Yeah, y that's definitely like a he like a name guy versus a guy who's really done it.

Uh does that what does that say about our votership at ESPN? I'm sure I'm guilty of lots of things like that. So We love shiny objects. Sure do. Right? I mean all those young guys and and you can go through our top one hundred lists. There definitely are players already like Really?

That that young player who really hasn't done that much is ahead of that guy. Um, you know, I think Chris Sale was what something like number fifty one. Like and I'm thinking of the pitchers that he's uh he's behind in the our top one hundred, and it it was surprising to me. Liz Finney told me I had Yoshinobu Yamamoto ranked the highest out of anyone who turned in their list of players.

So during the winter I did a uh I did a a hot stove event and I talked about the conversations that we've been having about Paul Skeens versus Terry Scoble, best pitcher on the planet. And as I was doing that, you know, uh, Galen Carr, who is the director of player personnel for the Dodgers, w he went to the same high school that I did and he was on the Zoom. And I think after a while he was tired of hearing me talk about it and then he was like, Hey

What about Yamamoto? Like what about Yoshinobu? Like he's really good. And then when I ranked the starting pitchers, like that was resonating in my head, I talked to some other people too. I wound up putting Yamamoto third, just ahead of crochet. So that that should make you feel good.

Yeah, for sure. But actually Liz was joking. She was like, Oh, Buster's really rubbing off on you. You guys both had uh Yamamoto up high. So uh we are definitely uh one brain over here. Last one, Coach Sorensen, our guy, he writes in What does Buster miss about being a fan at the ballpark? He says you got a great job, you're great at it, but there's gotta be something that you miss.

Being a fan at the ballpark, uh, you know, when you when you go in for a game. Well, I I am jealous of my son. I think I've talked to you about this. Uh, that I mean when the Tit he Tennessee Titans play in the fall, like that is his day. Like he's so excited right now, and you know this, this is not a front runner bandwagon type situation. No. Huge fan of the Charlotte Hornets. And guess what? They're going crazy right now. And every day now he's so excited.

about the Hornets. Like, Dad, are you watching? They're on at seven thirty on on the on uh Wednesday night against the Celtics and they have a big win. I love that type of passion and I had it uh, you know, growing up as a Dodger fan. I don't have it in baseball anymore. I don't think I'll get that back as a baseball fan. until I'm done. And then my the way my brain is working, I'm gonna pick a team and watch that team every day. And I don't know who it's gonna be, but I'm gonna pick a team.

Your last your last podcast ever. We'll decide on the team and you'll you'll ride off in the sunset. All right. That's it for for Bleacher Tweets. Great show today, Buster. Glad we got some new blood in the mix. I love talking uh top one hundred. We'll be back on Monday.

Yeah, and today my thanks to uh to Joe Martinez and to Liz Finney, Jesse Rogers and to Taylor does a great job of this podcast. Thanks for listening. Stay safe and remember hate and inequality based on skin color is something we need to fight against every single day.