Spring Swing Stories with Bryan Mcwilliam

It's Brian McWilliams from the school. brian, how you doing? I'm good, Nii. How are you? I'm excited that baseball's back and looking forward to this discussion. What have you seen in this offseason

So a lot of excitement this offseason.

So you never know what's gonna happen once you get to the postseason. it's setting yourself up to make the postseason and be deep enough and healthy enough to do well but you never know what's gonna happen over a 162 game season. That is one of the, For some people a struggle, but for some people, the excitement of a baseball season is can a team stay healthy for 162 games? How deep is your organization?

Will you be able to sustain health and success over such a long period it's rare to see a team stay in first place from beginning to end. And you'll see a lot of teams collapse because of injuries or because of improvements of other teams after the trade deadline. it's a long season. a grind, but exciting from beginning to end.

Shawn Minaya resurrected his career last year after dropping his arm slot. But hey, it's a new season. maybe teams have. Watched more video on him maybe he'll fall back to what he used to be There's no way to predict that but the Mets have a strong team they went to the championship series last year I'm a little mystified about them not bringing back Jose Iglesias because From what I heard, he was like, he was the, he turned everything around from them from a cultural standpoint.

He made the team fun with his single OMG, Oh My God. they vibed with him around and He signed a minor league deal, it was interesting to see them not bring him back because I feel like that was one of those missing pieces that they had, One of those pieces they were missing last year until he was brought up. then everything started to click. It'll be interesting culturally to see, how they do. they'll be fine, But they're in a tough division.

the Braves with Strider and Acuna are gonna be tough to beat. And then the Phillies, even though it's an aging roster, that's a very good team. And they added some pieces with Kepler and Luzardo, it'll be interesting. The NL East is going to be a fun, fun watch this year. And don't forget about the Nationals. They have a lot of young stars That's one of the teams I'm most excited to watch this year.

The National League is, A very deep league, which should make the All Star game interesting you saw a lot of transition from players going from the American League to the National League. it just looks like a deeper league this year.

something's up, something changes and they go into slumps. whether it's the extra effort, travel, not getting that break to spend time with their families, you notice a difference in some players, not all but some.

as long as the players go have fun, and make the event exciting, it's good for the fans and it's good for the players and a lot of players choose not to go Whether it's to rest their bodies or they need that time with their families or whatever it is or just a break in general because like I said 162 game season is a grind as long as the players walk out feeling alright about It doesn't really take a toll on their game too much and the fans are happy I'm happy with the format

entering a season with your franchise player unsigned for beyond this season. when he's entering free agency, he'll be 26 when he enters free agency and 29 other teams now available to chat with them. Your chances are slimmer that you're going to be able to resign him. Whereas they could have, they had opportunities to extend him and just reading, like the tea leaves, reading the writing on the wall here, it just seemed like they weren't valuing him properly.

They reportedly made him an offer earlier in the offseason of 340 million and Guerrero said that wasn't close to what he was looking for. Now, he's probably looking for more than, many expect because of the Juan Soto deal. But you're talking about a 5 plus win player who's, drives in a lot of runs, hits a lot of home runs, and has won a gold glove. he's entering free agency as a 26 year old. And you're gonna see teams like the Yankees, Paul Goldschmidt's on a one year deal.

Pete Alonso with the Mets, can opt out. Who knows what's gonna happen with his contract. There's a lot of interest in Vladimir Grigoro Jr. not being able to lock him up is putting them in a bit of a tricky situation. Because They missed on Ohtani, Juan Soto, Corbin Burns, and now you're not signing your franchise player. it's not giving the fan base a lot of hope in the front office and in the future of the franchise. Now they did get some nice pieces.

Anthony Santander, Max Scherzer, Andres Jimenez, Jeff Hoffman. But Are these players franchise players? Max Scherzer was when he was younger, but he's not. Andres Jimenez, he's an elite defender, but hasn't hit well in a couple seasons. Anthony Santander is a slugger, but aging and one dimensional. Santander and Jimenez signed through 2029, with options for 2030. And then the rotation Gossman, Bassett, Scherzer, you're not going to have those guys in a few years.

So I'm not sure the direction It looks like they're putting all their eggs in one basket for a run this season and then trying to figure it out, past this season. So it'll be interesting come July to see where the Blue Jays are because if they're not in playoff contention, I suspect Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Bo Bichette will be traded. We might see other pieces like Chris Bassett traded. And if they are in contention, will your is making it to the playoffs good enough for Vladi to stick around?

For Bo to stick around? they haven't been able to win in the playoffs. So precarious not being able to sign Vladimir Grot Jr. Is a big miss they still have a chance obviously to sign him, but they're going to have a lot of competition.

I don't think the Canadian connection, per se, is going to be enough to keep him around when his value is not being met, the way that he sees.

I understood the change in approach, they valued players like Dalton Varsho, tremendously, someone who is an elite defender, who's gonna help with run prevention, that's, they're gonna have an elite pitching staff, but they didn't, they, they stuck to that. There were other essential elements that were needed. That weren't really working out. You can't win baseball games if you don't score runs.

They weren't scoring enough to Benefit from having the best defense and one of the top starting rotations. The bullpen was a mess they did a better job addressing the bullpen this season But they let Jordan Romano Leave, over a small amount of money and ended up signing Jeff Hoffman who has a bit of an injury history. So there's just some strange maneuvering that's been made following the change in philosophy. But I will, I have to give credit to the organization.

They have stuck to the philosophy. They're like, they're valuing defense and run prevention, which is why they traded for Andrés Jiménez. And that's why they tried to improve the bullpen. That's why they got Max Scherzer to join the rotation. So they're sticking to it and hoping that Vlad, Vladdy and Bo and Anthony Santander and George Springer and all of these guys do what they're capable of doing at the plate.

And if they do what they're capable of doing at the plate, combine that with the defensive approach, the good pitching, good health, and an improved bullpen, they have a shot. They have a shot at that division and at the postseason, but it's there's a lot of challenges. The Yankees are better. The Orioles are very good. The Red Sox are better. The Rays are, if they can stay healthy, they have, their pitching is very good. So it's a tough division.

And there are a lot of teams contending for playoff spots, even if you get there, can you win? I just don't know if the approach that they've taken is an approach that wins in the postseason.

looks more like, in my opinion, more of a utility player, like a strong utility player rather than your starting, opening day third baseman. But is Nolan Arenado, for instance, an upgrade? Not so sure. He had a really down year last year. But he's still a three win player and an elite defender. I think this is the team you're going to see going into opening day. I just don't see any real strong moves out there for them to make that's really going to advance. What they have, presently.

So yeah, I think this is a team that you're going to see on opening day. Maybe there'll be some depth additions, but nothing significant.

They haven't been able to find anybody to take him. They did, they found, the Astros were willing. To, accept a trade and eat, actually, a lot of Nolan Aranato's salary, but Aranato had a full no trade and nixed the deal. Houston pivoted traded Kyle Tucker, and got Isak Paredes, after Bregman walked, there's a lot of maneuvering in Houston. I just don't see Aranato moving. the Padres have some ownership, changes after Peter Seidler passed away.

There, there are kind of payrolls in a little bit of a weird spot. And there's been rumors that they might trade Dylan Cease or Louisa Rise. to be honest, I just don't see them moving. the Padres have been active lately. They've been, they haven't done anything super significant with the exception of signing Nick Pivetta. But that's a really backloaded deal. I think he's only making a million dollars this year.

I don't see them trading two stars, especially, a batting champion and a Cy Young contender. This early on, maybe it's a trade deadline if they're not in contention. I don't see those two moving. And the only other person coming to mind is Sandy Alcantara with the Marlins he's a very good pitcher, but he's coming off major surgery. But the Marlins, they're definitely trying to trade anything they can.

It's been their M. O. the past couple of years and they did trade, Luis Araiz, I think it was like May. And, for prospects, just so they could get a bigger return. If Alcantara shows he's healthy in spring, and, starts strong, I could see him being dealt prior to the trade deadline. Even a month or two before. But yeah, currently I don't see any big trades or free agents signing. Fair enough.

my concern is pitchers are blowing out their ligaments because of max effort, They're trying to throw high velocity, Spin the ball as hard as they can using max effort deliveries, This is being taught in major league organizations in college organizations all the way down to youth baseball Players athletes are being asked to throw and spin as hard as you possibly can and get I don't want to say get out of your delivery, but Let's shape your delivery so that we can get the most out of each pitch.

And that's putting a large toll on ligaments. But, pitchers seem okay with it. Tyler Glasnow from the Dodgers, who, has a history of arm problems has said it. He's said it full, like he said on foul territory, that he is prioritizing velocity. over everything. And he prioritizes velocity because he ultimately knows that he's going to get paid better throwing harder and spinning the ball and going max effort for five innings than pitching, nine innings of soft toss.

he says it's worth the risk of injury because there's no guarantee that you're going to get injured.

the likelihood of you getting injured and having You know, Tommy John surgery are now an internal brace procedure are higher if you're going max effort So he is full on said That he prioritized the velocity to improve his performance so that he'll ultimately get paid better and it's worth the risk of injury and so and You I don't blame him if I was a professional athlete And I thought, okay, I'm going to get paid 50 million dollars if I have these stat lines where I go max effort and I end up

wearing the scar on my elbow for the rest of my life, or I get paid 20 million dollars and I soft toss and I don't end up with this scar on my arm and teams, don't value me as much because my canine isn't as high or my whiff rate isn't as high, et cetera. I'm 50 million dollar path too. I don't think a lot of, I think pitchers athletes teams and fans have adapted to the pitch clock. my concern about, elbow ligaments and surgeries is going max effort and max spin.

That's where I think the damage is being done.

No, Will he make the most money in baseball? No. in baseball, you need to strike people out. You need to get people to chase. You need to get people to whiff. this is what organizations are looking for. high strikeouts. They don't even care about low walk rates that much anymore. Especially from a bullpen perspective. It's like, how hard can you throw? How hard can you spin? Can you strike people out? you're gonna get a chance, and you're gonna get paid

It's a low ERA, depending on what the categories are in your league, like a low whip. So I'm interesting to see where he goes because he is still only entering his second full season you never know if you want to use a first round pick on a pitcher because you tend to shy away from that. But Paul Skeens has the tools and could be the best pitcher available. First round, I could see it happening, I think Bobby Wood Jr. is a sure thing. I have a bias towards him as a player and fantasy player.

But I feel like he's a sure bet. He's got all the tools. In fantasy, he puts up numbers in every major 5x5, standard league. if you're looking for a first round pick, And he's available. He's probably going to go in the top one through three in most leagues. I'm interested to see where Eli De La Cruz goes he could go as high as, four But there's risk There's a lot of strikeouts. You're not getting much of a batting average. If your league has OBP, you're not getting much of an OBP.

But you're getting a lot of power. home runs, RBIs, and I expect him to steal 60 to 70 bases. there's a lot of potential But if Ellie struggles strikes out a lot, can't get on base, then he might not end up being in the major leagues. Because he's still young, maybe they'll send him down. you never really know with a player like that, But I expect him to go in first rounds.

So it's not Mike Trout when he came up in his rookie season and didn't do much and then turned into a star, you're seeing these people becoming difference makers almost immediately at 20, 21, 22 years old. And it's terrific because they're exciting. the prime of a baseball player is no longer 27 You're seeing 22 year old like young men coming up and making huge difference differences on ball clubs and turning them into contenders almost immediately.

Bobby Witt turned the Kansas City Royals into a playoff team last year. Yes, Salvador Perez had a good year. The pitching was better with Seth Lugo and Michael Waka and Cole Reagan's. But Bobby Witt Jr. transform that franchise from a hundred loss team into a playoff contender. It's insane that someone can do that almost single handedly. So it's super exciting.

I've always been a fan of young players coming up through systems, watching them develop from, either international players or college players into young, like prospects into star players and the majors. And so seeing all this young talent establish itself and change the game is terrific for baseball. Super entertaining.