Hello, and welcome to Waken Jake. It's time. It's tearless season. It's the season of the sticks. Jolly Olive is with us. We're starting off with a bang with the shortstop position. As we will go through all thirty players or teams. Is there might be thirty one or thirty two. If you were here for Tearless Season last year, welcome back and welcome home. Becoming awaken Jake Staple thanks to the rhythmic stylings of Jolly Olive. Jolly, how are you?
I'm good, Jake, I'm excited. We chatted yesterday and I said, Hey, wouldn't you want to start? And you said tomorrow. I said okay, And here we are and we're starting off with a doozy. I'm kind of glad we're starting off with the shortstop tearless because it's hard, pous, and I think it's a great way to kick off the season.
I hate that you're becoming a confident adult before my eyes. Okay, don't make wiener jokes on the show without me starting.
How do you make your bread? What do you mean?
We when we originally dreamed this up last year, we said let's save shortstops for last, because we were like, hey, shortstop position, that's you know, there's something to that in baseball, like in a way, your best player still kind of ends up there, Like how many how many of these guys could you point out and say they're the best player on their team? Like arguably? Yeah, Like it's it's
a wild thing, and it's also a joke. As people go over their prospect lists, you know, you got a lot of shortstop prospects, and then well, left field's open, see you over there, kiddo, and the shortstop position is stacked, especially because there's a couple fresh names at the top of the list that you guys probably know off the top of your head if you're listening to Awaken Jake's Shortstop teer list, But maybe you're not, by the way, maybe you're just please subscribe and we through the next
upcoming couple weeks, a couple of weeks leading up to the baseball season. That's just it's kind of not true.
Well, like everyone has the day where pictures and cashers report we're like, yeah, we're back, and then no one cares about.
A little bit not you know, I'm up for that Tokyo game. As we get into these shortstops. I want to do a little bit of you have to know where you're from to know where you're going. Last year, I'm gonna cut myself off. Tearless crack me up. Still. It's like the closest thing that makes me like an actual YouTuber. Otherwise I'm just an old Italian man who talks sports. I have a couple old things. We'll save that for the end. But the tearless are really fun.
I think it's just a fun way if you have no idea, it's a fun way to lump and rank together the shortstops. Also keeping a positive beat, not really trying to bury anyone or be mean. Baseball is a really hard sport and accept kind of like hobby by as. We'll talk about that in a little bit, probably soon as we get to the categories. And the other thing that I think drives some of the kids nuts is that this is supposed to be like s tier. We don't play that game here. We make our own tiers.
Last year at the shortstop position and BBD's got it up on the screen for the YouTube. The top tier was three hundred million dollars well spent. Mookie Seeger Lindor Trey Turner. The second column bookmark this and I don't know if you're someone that wants to know where baseball's going. Our second row was future MVP winners. It was Bobby and Gunner. Hmm interesting. The third comm gonna want to circle this one was wooden leather with bobas Shit and Dansby.
That was the third tier.
Baseball happens fast.
That's the top eight.
Where's gold? Which there was a glimmer in BBD's I looking at this one because it was Ha Song Kim, Carlos Correa, JP Crawford, and Willia Damas and I think this was lumped together on gold gloves if you wear gold chains well, and I think Hassan Kim the padres gold was hist Me in the middle even though he should probably have a gold I think he might have one.
Also an interesting guy on this list just because well in the upcoming one below that and this is interesting cruising it was Ellie de la Cruz and O'Neil Cruz. One not on the list anymore.
Centerfield cruise.
You'll have to tune into that. And Ellie should be climbing pretty good, hope was c J. Abrams, Volpi zeke Tova our Jeremy Panny is zach Netto Perdomo and I think that's say cob A Yarrow on the end. Wow, he was in the Hope column. Uh, don't look at this line please. Was below that Trevor Story, Orlando Arcia and Tim Anderson unknown rookies. Mason went and we had uh Gabriel arias we believe from Cleveland who turned into
Brian Rocchio. But his gabriel Arius also would have landed in the same category, would have been in the same box. That's kind of Cleveland Guardians baseball.
I think Mason Winn might be our highest climber. Okay, so I.
Think by tears and that bottom deer. Kenny Pickett shout out to the former Steelers quarterback going for the Super Bowl. Yeah, might have a ring super Bowl quarterback. Kenny Pickett. Also, I just at it. I'm really proud of this this morning because it's can he pick it? Can he play defense? At shorts? Oh?
A year later, I just got that.
Yeah, I thought, I think you could be dumb and be like that's kind of a lazy thing. I think that's fantastic. That's the guy's real name can you take? And it was Hobby Bias, Brandon Crawford, Nick Ahmed, and Nick allen Or formerly Oakland Athletics, and a lot of those guys are no longer on the list. Hobby still is kind of let's get into this year's and if you're along for the ride with us, you know, we start off with our categories, and we adapt as we go if we need to add a category, if we
need to remove a category. And I think we might have even gone too deep with our current categories because we do have as we probably should have started. We might have to count ourselves to six or seven next time and go from there if we need to. The top is Aaron Bleepin' Judge. The second category is MVP Dash two. The third category is three Legged Horse fourth team's best Player. And we think that's okay? Question mark? Next column, Ha Song Kim, And that's okay. Question mark,
Ha Song Kim, And that's not okay. Question mark, wife swap. My favorite canny picket is back, and I don't think I'll ever remove it because I'm really proud of that.
And if you're upset about that comment.
The bottom bottom row is Hobby bias, so could be anybody. Let's throw Hobby on there to start. Oh, and I just that's how we're starting. I just want to get it out of the way, band Aid because go look at the SAT page, which, like I, this is a guy that's made a ton of money. This is a guy that in Chicago is still a hero. This is a guy that has an awesome baseball resume to a certain date, and it's just been horribly tough for Tiger fans to watch. And I wonder what's going on in
Hobby's head. But we're not actually starting there. I think we should do the top I think that's not normally how it works, but with where Shortstop has landed, I think there's two top guns, y'all.
Yeah, we were trying to come up with a name for this, and I thought you nailed it. You are You're a YouTuber at your core. We all know it. Aaron Bleepin' Judge is reserved for two men, and you could probably do who they are just by the name. It's Gunnar Henderson and Bobby Wood Junior. Because either one of these guys would have been a shoein from MVP last year had Aaron Judge not had the regular season that he did have.
It actually would have been a wild conversation if he judged.
Would have been fun.
I think Soto finishes above Gunner in voting, but I think if Judge isn't there, I think it's the two shortstops at the top, just because they played the most difficult position on the field and their stats were so close. I said it to you before we started. I said that Gunner won the first half. Remember at the end of May, we were talking like Gunner versus Judge, who's gonna get it? Bobby won the year. He had a
really nice end to his year. Yeah, and really made that contract look like an underpay, which you know, Gunner, Wow, I wouldn't take that extension off or man, I'd hit fraid to say if I are you, these two belong at the top. They are some of the younger shortstops here, and they're already the most talented from the looks of it. You can cite small sample size as a counter argument. I get that, but they are ranked above a lot of great shortstops here because they've already done things that
certain elite shortstops on this list have not. Done in longer careers, and I think that makes it all the more impressive. They also play in the same league, and they probably will both end up with MVP hardware at some point. So I never asked me which one I think is better right now, because I don't know. They're kind of you can pick either one and start your franchise with them, but they definitely both belong at the top.
Yeah, we it's Gunner and Bobby. I'm proud of us that last year's category was future MVPs and they were a tier before below guys that are now probably be a tier below them. But yeah, it's Bobby and Gunner side by side. You from last season. Judging on last season, you cannot pick Gunner. It's rail thin, the stolen bases, the defense, the war, the the Homer's Gunner has them. Bobby had a just slightly better year, like a five
game better season, minimally two. That being said, if you're a Kansas City fan who is taking your laps on the internet saying Bobby's the best shortstop, sure, I tell you what. Baseball is a sixth sport that if this season Bobby hits a couple line drives that land in a player's glove and Gunner, instead of turning on a foul ball, straightens one out. It could easily be Gunners better this year. But nine war seasons don't happen.
They just don't.
And these two both did.
At ages what twenty three, same draft class, which I love. Bobby was second overall, Gunner was the first pick of the second round. That's how far he fell.
Gunner's younger, Gunner's younger.
How old is Gunner?
He turns twenty four in June? Bobby turns twenty five in June. Look at that.
I'm doing a quick little staththead.
Get yourself a stat head, give.
Me, give me some stalling time here, good reference to the ould commercials. Yeah, they belong at the top, no question in my mind. Just for reference, shortstops in the last thirty years to have a nine war season Alex Rodriguez, Good Gunner, Henderson, Bobby wit Junior.
End of list, kind of the end of the list. Although there's one person who I think could have an interesting discussion on this list, but unfortunately he could have an interesting discussion on any list.
Yeahs, five different lists. Do you want to stay high? Do you want to just go next tier and do you want to go somewhere in the middle.
I you know, I like to bop around. I do think the next the next real conversation starts with MVP two. But I think there's something we can get out of the way quick. I want to jump to a very unique wake in Jay category that is labeled wife swap. That's what I thought, just because I think I'd be intrigued if I was watching to know what's going on down there. Uh. We have a situation with a couple ballplayers who I think could have very good contributing twenty
twenty five. I think they could take a step back and we could all be like, Yo, they're a pair of Red Sox short stop A lums and one's current Trevor Story who Trevor Story's last full good season.
Is twenty one.
Twenty one with the Colorado Rockies, right before he hit free agency. His ninety four games with Boston his first season are solid. Four pace, yeah, two and a half wour like kind of what they thought they were signing up with Trevor Story to a degree in the past two years, forty three games, twenty six games, a guy that had some no he didn't have injury concerns coming in.
No, No, it was kind of the opposite.
He was viewed as kind.
Of sor that wanted him on the Yanks.
I was with you. It was like him, Swanson, a couple other guys.
And hey, knock on Wood. He's coming in with the Red Sox this year healthy and I'm sure we're gonna get some spring training isms around him a lot. And they are depending on him pretty significantly in this Red Sox team this year. Let me take that a step back. It would be massive for them if Trevor Story is a guy for them. If not, they do have audibles, like they've planned on Trevor Story not being part of
the plan if they need it. Trevor Story and Xander Bogart's and the white swap just came from the thought of I don't know if these two off the record could be like, hey, Xander, you're staying in Boston. They're going to retire your number. You still get a pretty good payday, Your offensive numbers might still be there a little better because that Green monster tends to help them, right hitters. Trevor Story, I don't know, San Diego's nice. You don't have to deal with Boston people just screaming
at you. You stayed in the NL West. San Diego's in Colorado hole. Then I think, you know, if these two could, I think they'd be open to a conversation. And that's how it starts. And those are the only two I had in that category for now. I'll be interested if we find another. You think we'd need two others to join that category, Maybe you only need one thought, so we will see. Uh. But those are the two that jump to mind that didn't deserve to be on the bottom of this tier list. Because I could see
Xander Bogart's having a nice season. It's a little tougher to picture Story, I'll be honest, he can though it's Fenway Park. Tyler O'Neill just went nuts there. Like Trevor Story could have a nine hundred ops and baseball it'd be a little surprising, it wouldn't be shocking.
Yeah, I think the thing with both of them, besides the Boston thing, they're both going to be thirty two years old this year. They're both getting paid well above twenty MILLI a year to play their position. It's just a very similar situation and I think he nailed it before with like I think the Red Sox fell into pitfalls in prior years because they didn't plan for Story to be unavailable. Because it's the front half of this right, six.
Year contract part they're supposed to.
Get the good years in the front half. Now we're in the back half. So if you get anything from Trevor Story, it's considered a bonus. And for Bogarts, he has been playing and his first year was pretty good in San Diego. Is a Ford War player, but he took a real big step back last year. And the thing with him is that his contract is more expensive and it's way longer than Story, So that's why I think he falls into this tier. His is more financial,
Story is more injury risk, that kind of thing. But they both kind of represent the same thing of our team could take a mat like our team could finish second instead of third, or first instead of second in our division if these players played to what we know that capable of. But I think everyone kind of doesn't feel like that's a possibility unless they, you know, see two good months out of these guys to start the season.
Yeah, the next the next step is unknown for a lot of these players, thanks Jake, But Sander Bogarts, if we didn't see last year, you know it was a one to seventeen ops plus on a new team, like it wasn't and like.
Everyone's first year the contract is always kind of weird, you.
Know, first years of contracts, especially when you change leagues divisions.
Yeah.
Oh, he wasn't even listed last year because he wasn't.
He's moving back the base, yeah, yeah, which is can be a big part of why last year Land where did with the shoulder injury.
Yeah. Yeah, I believe in Sander Bogarts.
I guess I have slight concerns that there's gonna be people above Xander Bogarts that I'm if I'm being honest with myself, for the twenty twenty five season, I'd rather have Xander Bogarts, but I'm.
Interested to see I'm in consideration of just moving the tier up one. Ah, okay, splitting the Hassan Kimtams, let's see. Yeah, we don't have to do it now, but that's.
Let's see, I might be interested in that. Okay, So that was wife swap. That was Xander Bogart's and Trevor story wife swap. Which sometimes you hear it again and you're like, I don't know, I don't know players tune into stuff. Let's go back to the top, because this is where there is immense talent. There's household names for baseball. Jolly, I'll let you kick off MVP two because I don't know, there's a couple things that I need massaging on.
Sure, we named it this tier because the guys we had in mind have had a runner up MVP finish in the last two years, which is a pretty tight window, pretty exclusive club. I'll start with, not the guy that
a lot of people might be thinking. I want to start with Corey Seeker because Seeger was someone I went into this nick and Okay, I could probably put him third tier just because of like the injury thing, Like we don't really got to worry about it, because you know, if he plays a full season, he might be the best. But he hasn't done that in a while. And then I went back and checked and I just looked at
his numbers. Twenty twenty three, he plays one hundred and twenty games, which is three quarters of a season, and he's a seven war player, which is that nine war pace that we were just talking about with Gunner Henderson and Bobby with Junior last year, he plays roughly the same amount of games. He's still a five war shorts stop. He had thirty home runs in both those seasons ops plus north of one forty five in both those seasons.
And by the way, he was like the leader on a World Series team and had their biggest moments and all that stuff. So Cory Seger definitely still deserves to be at the top and I think if he plays a full season, he has an argument to be in that top tier. And he kind of fits it too because he's in the American League. Judge will probably prevent him from winning an MVP if he plays a full season, so he would fit there if he can stay healthy. I really think that's the only thing that holds Corey
secret back from being the absolute top tier. I think the Rangers are getting well worth their money for the contract that they signed for him. Yes, yeah, keep rowing, I'll keep going. All right, now, I'll talk about my guy. I'll talk about Francisco Lindor. Last year. I did feel a little funny putting him in the top tier last year because he was a great player in twenty twenty three, but a lot of that was after the Mets were
out of it, you know, second half. That's when he really charged down thirty thirty and had his best season as a Met, And I think a lot of people were still like, let's see him do it when it matters, And he had that terrible start to the year last year, and then when the team needed him, he was the guy and played with that back injury and showed up in the playoffs. And I think he fits right next to Corey Seger. They signed similar contracts at around the
same time. They've now helped their teams get deeper into the playoffs. Obviously secret won a World Series. It's a very different scenario, but they both kind of feel like the de facto leaders of their team. Like I think every Mets fan would say, who's the face of your franchise right now, they would say Francisco Lindoor. Rangers fans would say Corey Seeger. Injuries aside, performance aside, Like those
are the symbolic faces of those teams. And Lindor is coming off not only his best years a Met, but by War one of the best seasons of his career, only out done by twenty eighteen Cleveland, So at age thirty one, we might still be getting some of the better years of Lindor's career. Same logic can be applied to Seger. So I think they belong.
Together, man, I think they sure do if I'm reading this correctly, and this doesn't matter for the exercise, but if you're trying to play a different exercise at home. I think they both have seven years left on their contract.
Yeah, it's pretty similar.
Lindor gets paid a little more, which I think, I don't know defense and healthy contracts or contract and I think team dependent. It's literally whatever you want. Because I think Seger's upside is higher. Yeah, for sure, sigers upside is higher. He can hit. He has an argument when he's healthy to be the best hitter, one of the best hitters in baseball, like especially if you do the pure hitter game, which is kind of just like, hey,
let's not talk about Judge for a second. If I'm being honest, and I think there's some honesty to that, Like I what Judge does is maybe the most impressive thing, but it's also if there's a pitcher who's locked in, Judge can be gotten out. He can be gotten out there where Sodo Seeger Freddie Freeman, they kind of have a different contact hitter gear they can turn on that. It's one of those fun bar conversations or podcast conversations that you could do anytime any day if you really want,
what about Luis or Rice? What about them? Path anyways? That I think it would be funny even if you did contracts and stuff which were not and you went around the league and you did, hey Seeger Lindor. I think if you're one of the teams that's kind of locked into the playoffs, I think they'd say Seeger, just because you're like, hey, I can have that in the playoffs.
That's no brainer. If you're a team that is not and needs to grind it out and you need the one hundred and fifty two games he played last year, which it was the back at the end of the year. Yeah, one hundred and sixty the year before, one sixty one, the year before that, you'd say, gimme Lindor. He's gonna switch it. He's top of the lineup, play great defense every day. Like it's it's a no brainer that those two one thousand percent should be lumped together.
Yeah, I think before the back he had played every game right, and then his his back gave out in the last two weeks of the season, and then he played through it at the end.
So who else is in there? Joll So.
Dodgers fans are gonna get mad at this. When we were doing the tier list, I saw one guy's PNG this picture, and I got mad because I'm like, why is he here? Right, there's like twelve different teerless He can be on he can be in second base, he can be in right field, he can be in center field. And the fact that he's also here and also good drives me nuts. And our last member of MVP is Mookie Bets. He was the runner up in MVP voting in twenty twenty three. Just like Corey Seger, the dude's
been bouncing around last year. His numbers landed in a pretty good place if you look at the first half. He was like the clear cut front runner to win MVP before he got hurt. And I just think he belongs. Like when you think of the athleticism, when you think of the pure hitting talent of this tier, when you think of the leadership of this tier. Kind of like we talked about before the symbolism of the teams and how successful all three of these teams have been in
the last two years. You attribute that success to their shortstops, and Bets, I think fully belongs. He's also another big contract guy, three hundred million whatever whatever the number is with him, and I think all three of these guys, maybe Bets and Seger a little bit more, are capable of scratching into that top tier if they play to their utmost potential.
Waking Jake listeners, I think heard me get in a weird spot with Mooki because I was like, this breaks everything in baseball, a thirty one year old playing short stuff for the first time. And then I he kind of broke me back. Yeah, Scottish, Scottish guy talking about me and MOOKI back, Mooky Bets hooking up. He broke me back. He played sixty sixty five games at short the advance numbers, which don't work in small sample size and defense. Actually didn't hate him, and I liked him.
That I got broken, and I was like, well, if someone's gonna do it, make it Mooky and I kind of went the other way. I was like, wait, let's let's make MOOKI the inner Circle Hall of Famer like util has become such a thing that if you're drawing up your dream MLB lineup, like your top nine all time, maybe Mookie should just be in there in some way, or maybe it's with a DH hand of util like that, Mookie should be mentioned with all timers. And maybe he's
still heading that way. He's still it was sixty one starts at shortstop last year. Yeah, you know, again of Dodger problems. I mean whatever, I'm not even doing that right now, but what does he look like at shortstop for a full season? Will he be at shortstop for the full season? Again? Is I think another probably not Dodger question.
And they have Timmy Edmond on the team right, and I everyone can play.
Get his picture right? No, don't. I guess the thing that you know? When I see Mookie bets on any list, I assume he should be top of the tier list. But it's interesting with the young guys and Mookie, who is a season removed from an eight point three war season in twenty twenty three, and when it was on pace for higher last year. I guess the only thing the twenty twenty three amongst recent seasons is a bit
of an outlier. You know, Mooki is more around a one forty ish ops plus that was a one sixty five, and I just think again, it goes back to those young breakout stars, top prospects that have broken out, that are entering their prime, that put up nine more seasons that I kind of wish I could make an argument for Mooki to move up. I don't know. Moki could do an air and bleep and judge if he wanted to, but I really don't think you can.
There's one asterisk for all of these guys that prevents them from top tier Muki is the sample size at short is too small. We haven't seen a full season at short, so I feel like you can't be at the top of the shortstop list. I feel like that's fair. Seagert's the health. He hasn't played more than one hundred and twenty five games since twenty twenty two, two years ago. And then Lindor. I just don't think he matches the
same offensive prowess as the other two guys. And maybe he could, but I think his value comes more from playing every day, playing platinum glove defense, and you know, he gets his war number up that way. So if any of those three overcome that hurdle, then yeah, you can definitely argue top tier. The thing is just Gunner and Bobby look like complete packages. And they're also younger, like way younger. So that's why I think they belong up there.
Anyone else an MVP two.
For now?
No, Okay, and that's kind of shocking. Yeah, I'm I'm interested to see. Like you said, I think there's there's one there's one other name on our mind that doesn't have an MVP two. But maybe the gig could be like he's he's lined up for MVP two this year.
Spot weird.
We will see, but maybe the truth of it is and I think we should move with slightly more pace for a couple of these guys because I think I think people know the story a little bit. The next column that you name Jolly and I don't give a lot of people that power is three legse and why don't you give me the names you currently have in that category?
Yeah, three leged Horse is kind of like a little bit what we were just talking about, Like they're kind of one tool away from moving up. But I think these these missing tools are a little bit more significant that hold them back. The guy that I was having trouble with because I wanted to put him with those other three, and I'll we'll talk about him first. It's Ellie day La Cruz. He is kind of the opposite
of Seger in my mind. Where I think of Segar, I'm like, well, his numbers aren't that good, and then I look and he's amazing. Cruise. I was like, he is already amazing, and then I look and I'm like, oh, okay, but he's also twenty two years old, like he has so much room for improvement. The thing with me is that he got caught stealing the most in baseball last year. His stolen base ratio is a little bit deceiving. The counting SAT's good, the ratio itself not as good. The
biggest thing is to strikeouts. He struck out two hundred and eighteen times as a shortstop. I believe that's the most all time by an everyday shortstop. He let MLB by a wide margin. We also have another shortstop that struck a lot that we'll talk about later. And you know, the potential with Ellie Dyla Cruz, you feel like he's the Red's best player. You know that there's there's more
pop in that bat that remains to be discovered. He played the full season last year, which is big for me because that kind of lankier body type I feel like always kind of gives me injury concerned. But he
was out there every day playing shortstop. The thing with him is that the play discipline has to improve, like the on base was there, but I think that Ellie can unlock something more and get even better if he's able to just cut down on strikeouts, stay within the zone and become a more disciplined hitter at which he can definitely do because he's gonna be twenty three right this year, you know, Ellie.
Ellie is interesting man, because everyone's every stat got better last year. Everything obviously passes the eye test, the stolen bases, the home runs. If things tick up, we were talking about a third homer seventy five steel.
Player at shorts up.
It's It's why he's probably gonna be a popular MVP bet going into this season because the stats he can potentially wrack up playing at that baseball stadium, which is a factor in it. I mean that those homers could jump to if something else clicks for him, it could just be an unreal season. I guess the fear is, like you mentioned the strikeouts.
I just checked it as the most all time for shorts up.
It's a lot, and hey, maybe it's a new era of baseball. And if that is how Ellie Da La Cruz gets out and that's it, that's fine. We adjust. Aaron Judge strikes out a lot, we adjust. That's okay. The batting average got better, the on base got better, the slugging, but still the ops landed at eight o nine, which is great, which is great. Where Wit and Gunner and Seeger and Mookie have landed at different times is a high nine.
Yeah, Like if Gunner and Bobby didn't exist, right, we're way more excited for Ellie because he's their age and he's already really good.
Right, Like he might be in the bar. He would probably just be in his own column below those older heads being like please catch me or future MVP. That's kind of what we did.
With That would have been him, probably by himself. Honestly.
Yeah, I don't I think, if you're being fair about it, I don't think you can put Ellie up and I think the reason you said three legged horse, and I think Ellie is kind of that now that he needs to either cut down on the dragouts or show that everything else can be so good that he can rise above right.
I think that's an important part too, Like, yeah, he can still be this high strikeout guy, like we've seen plenty of players succeed in that. It's just unconventional for shortstop, like you don't you think shortstop, you think contact that and Ellie is a power hitting, you know, not afraid to whiff kind of shortstop, and he can still make that work in being a lead player, but it'd be like, just imagine what he can accomplish if that's not a part of his game as much.
And the strikeout rate from twenty three to twenty four, it did come down, did trend the right directions? Good, I didn't know that two and a half percent off the strike thirty one, still well over thirty. But do the same cut in your thirty.
So yeah, second highest strikeout rate in baseball, only behind Zach Geloff.
Well tough wait for him that I think this is all fair. Willia Domas, do we say Willy Domas yet we haven't said, William spoilers.
Oops.
Let the rest of the row in the three legged horses, Carlos Correa, Williadamas, and Trey Turner.
Yeah, that's what I got. Where do you want to start?
I want to do Correa tidy, because if I talk too long, I'm probably gonna land in a weird spot. Carlos Kareba crawled out when he was on the field last year. He's still a defensive weapon, which you can't say that about a lot of players literally using him different on relay throws because he's a defensive weapon. He had a nine oh five OPS last year in eighty six games, three point seven war. There is an injury factor here. It's the reason he's not on your team
or Willie's new team. Right, So that's already gonna make me feel better. And I mean he played out of his dome like he played one hundred and thirty five games the year before and he had a ninety four OPS plus. So I can't fully believe in what he did last year. I would guess that Willy A. Damas would excuse me, Carlos Correa would play to his baseball card and be the eight twenty six OPS guy, but
with his defensive prowess, that's an amazing baseball player. But I think three legged horse is fair.
Yeah, he's a six and a half war player when he plays one hundred and sixty two games, Which is that, Lindor, Yeah, that's see your territory, but it is the injury concern eighty six games. But Seger's a nine more player exactly. There's there's levels, and with Korea it's just he's gonna be thirty with there was the whole circus with the ankle thing. It's it's scary because it's half a season, you know, like it's you can't your team can't win when they have that much money invested in a player
that only plays half a season. So things can change with Korea. And you can also argue it the other way of like this might be as good as it gets for a little bit, Like maybe this is gonna be gonna go the other way. But I don't think that's fair to him. So I feel like he kind of just he's an awkward fit. Just in general, I feel like he's an awkward fit. But I think he fits this the best.
If he can put another full one together, it'd be very interesting to see. He says seven war? Is that eight war?
He's thirty seven mel this year.
Did seven and twenty twenty one? What are the twins up to? Is he gonna be like a rumored trade guy like it was kind of fake rumors.
That's hard money to move.
Hard money to what's his contract actually look like?
So his contract is structured in the most team friendly way of anything. Maybe it's like big deals.
Maybe it's more of if he has a good year, his remaining contract would be three for ninety five essentially right now it's all vesting and then it's all team right.
Now it's guaranteed four for one thirty. So if he makes it through this year, it gets a lot better. Yeah.
Interesting, And the twins are in weird TV contract? Hell that let's see what that is? Uh, Willie Domas and Trey I think I'll take really quick. Willy put up a massive well, he put up a massive contract here. I got scared off by the war for a second. Counting numbers are really good, thirty two homers, which go look at all the home runs hit last year. That puts Willy in an oddly high spot for a sport that we're like, oh, it's more Homers or bus Now.
Willie Adamas is thirty two, ranks higher than you probably think in your head amongst the league, nevermind shortstop twenty one stolen bases, which I think that's a career high. And I don't think he's gonna do that again. But when you're in a contract year, you show you can do things. And yet I it's gonna be interesting leaving Milwaukee going to San Francisco. I'm interested to see that transition. And maybe we're a little high on him, and maybe
there's some recency biases. I'm looking at the company he's keeping four point three War three War three War when we talk about some of these young guns, I don't know. Maybe we'll have to circle back on Willie. But the counting stats were incredible last year, and sometimes I don't want war to scare me. And then Trey Turner's here, who ironically had a three war season in what felt like a down year. Man two thirty eight eight oh seven ops. Offense was down around the league. That's a
one twenty four ops plus. This season's a little more Trey Turner than I expected the stats to look like Tray's interesting.
We had Trey top tier last year. Yeah, that was three hundred million dollars well spent. Everyone from that tier stayed together except Trey, who moves down one. And it's kind of a combination of everyone else in this tier. That's how I view it. Like Trey's defense is ticking in a scary direction, right. I don't think he's long to be the Philly shortstop. They have a good answer
in Bryson Stott, who is in elite second basement. I think he could be a great shortstop, but it creates a predicament for Philly because Trey's going to be there I think eight more years, maybe more. And you would have hoped that he was. Yeah, so he's gonna be there three, six, nine more years. At twenty seven million dollars a year, you would have hoped he's the shortstop for at least the front half of the deal. I
don't know that's gonna happen. Like there by this time next year, Trade might not even be in this tierlest he might be in a different position tier list. The bad is still very much there at you know, he was pacing ahead of Lindor at the beginning of the season before he got hurt. He's still a three war player in one hundred and twenty games. Like it's kind of that Seeger argument a little bit. But yeah, you wonder what direction Trey goes in, whereas I feel like
with Willy, we kind of know who Willy is. Like it was what you mentioned. He's been very consistent warwise. He had the counting stats last year. Curious to see where it lands with San Francisco. How much does playing at Oracle affect him? Does it affect him at all? All four of these guys had some sort of question mark around them. I think Trey has a little bit more question marks than maybe the rest of them, But I think they all fit to together for that reason.
Willie domas sixteenth overall in baseball with thirty two homers. It's really good, you know, Like that's plus the twenty steels. There's only like guys that have that combo above him are Lindor Gunner, Jay Ram and Show.
Hey.
Yeah, so if you like to have fun with stats, you can do that. I will be interested to circle back a little bit.
Trey one of these guys that's moving up next year. Yeah, I can confidently say that my pick is Cruise, but I think it could be any of them.
Yeah, I think you can. You could probably say two of these guys, like I'm not if I get a Korea Trey Turner good DraftKings line on both of them combined, I would take that punch that someone putting a five war season out of those two. I think I would take that. We're starting to hit the interesting part.
I think we try and tackle our Hasan Kim tears wow, because there's a lot of bodies that go, yeah.
Yeah, they're kind of meant to be done in conjunction.
And then can we move up wife swap? Did that happen to split up the Hasong Kim category?
Personally, I would split them.
Yeah, let's do that for now.
There might be one guy that I put in that's not okay, it's a little offended.
And maybe these people end up in wife saw Ha Song Kim and that's okay. I think there's an easy one. I think it's Hassong Kim, although his free agency has entered the weird area. I think people are scared about the shoulder, and he's probably asking for legitimate shortstop money. And when we're doing all this talk about war and what's your best season? Has Song Kim? Uh, he can do a dance with a lot of guys that if Hassong Kim is your shortstop heading into the season, you're
kind of not worried about your shortstop position. That's an interesting way to look at this. Give me, give me the names of who else you'd put in that category real quick.
Hassan Kim already the fourth most valuable player from Korea in baseball stream Yeah, yep, it's pretty crazy has On Kim, And that's okay. These guys can play some good d they can hit league average and that's all you need from me.
They can be good at contributing for a shortstop position, and you're like, I'm our shortstop, isn't the problem?
Yes? And a guy that I have pretty much the same as Haa Song Kim in terms of things that they do for their team is Jeremy Panye. Jeremy Pannia plays a terrific shortop position. He has been league average for all three years of his career. He's already put together uh thirteen more in three seasons, which is way more than I would have guessed if you asked me before we shot today, I would have said maybe eight or seven. Uh, he's exactly what that team needs to
shore up their infield defense. Uh. And you know what, he's clutched in the playoffs and that's pretty valuable too. So Jeremy Panye, I think definitely belongs in that tier. I wouldn't put him any higher because.
I'd your, yeah, plus plus defense and league average hitter like you can like.
You're comfortable with them in the moment.
Like I like to play that. What would he get paid right now if he was a free agent game? Jeremy Penne is a really interesting one, Like what would do you get? I don't know. Maybe it would be big money, you know.
I mean it's always interesting with the age part of it. Yeah, you know, I don't. I guess where do you have Dansby? Because isn't that the convo?
So I have Dansby and that's not okay, and I'm interesting. I'm willing to be talked out of it. The reason so Dansby did not have a bad year last year, he was a former player. It was a good season. The reason I haven't and that's not okay, is because of the contract the Cubs are paying him twenty eight million dollars a year. Uh, And Dansby has shown that he can be an above league average bat, but he hasn't really done that in Chicago yet. He's a first half,
second half player. And I just feel like it's kind of that conversation of the Cubs could take such a massive step if Dansby had his highest potential year, which he just hasn't yet, but then he's like a little low on this list.
Yeah, I'm throwing a little bit of a challenge flag. I mean if if Dansby, Dansby had a weird year last year, and like Cubs fans would have much loved, much loved if Dansby had his second half in his first half, because then their whole season outlook probably would have felt different. But Dansby his war the past three seasons for war four point eight, five point five. Yeah, now it is declining every year and you could point
at that. And he switched teams, and I think Atlanta Stadium is a little friendlier to hit then Wrigly, So maybe there's something there for.
Anything with first half. Wrigley guys is always like it's cold, it's windy.
Right, And I guess Dansby who's been streaking in his career and he's out there for he is these guys. Yeah, like I know it. It sounds probably a little crazy to people. And I defended Dansby last year, but he's going to be in contention for the Gold Glove at true stop. Yeah, you know what you're getting, and you're looking for a league average hitter. I just I think fans, Cubs fans would probably like if he could just be league average all year and that's the Dansby Swanson they're getting.
But that's what they signed up for. And I don't I don't know. I'm not gonna contract shame. Like, yeah, it's not like they're looking. Cubs people and every run around Baseball aren't expecting Dansby to have a one to twenty ops Like. His best case is probably a one ten, one fifteen ops plus And if you get that, nice, that's kind of the best Dansby you're gonna get. I think if you told Cubs fans, hey, he's gonna have
a one hundred ops plus on the nose. He's gonna be out there every day, which you should expect, and he's gonna play his level of defense that's what you've signed up for. Yeah, I think it's ha Soong Kim and Jeremy Payana. He just got paid.
That's my thing. It's like, I guess it's more so with the name of the tier, which I don't really want to change because I think it's accurate. It's just like I would never give Hawsong Kim that much money. I would never give Jeremy Payna that kind of contract, and the Cubs did because that's what they're racist.
Flags out there.
Flag I'm done talking? Is also here?
Really?
Yeah? I haven't there.
Okay, I'm gonna have to circle back on that another time.
I think when we get to the and that's not okay, Crew Dansby is.
Well above I think, yes, that's where solid.
Yeah, Wade Miley to the reds.
Okay, we won't talk about that retiring. I'm putting I'm putting Dansby up there.
I think he's let us know if you're okay with how Dansby has been as a cup serious.
M hmm, okay, who else is haus On Kim? And that's okay?
I have Joey. Joey was an older rookie. He played mostly third last year. But I think everyone kind of knows that he can handle shortstop and he's kind of he's a league average bat. Yeah, he must defender.
He bawled. He's young, all right, It's gonna be interesting, Like we could very much look back at this and laugh. I think in either direction, probably not too hot. I guess what scares me is I don't know how high Joey Orties can go. Yeah, and having done these things here, Joey Ortiz could end up.
But are the Brewers not okay with him being Hawes on Kim because I think they're perfect.
I think they are. I mean, yes, if they get that out of Joey or ti'es. And do I think he could be very solid defensively in league average hitter, Yes, And I think there could be variables in either direction that Yeah, I'm I'm fine with Joey Orties being there.
I get what you're saying, though it is weird seeing him on the same tier as guys that have been doing it for a while.
Because there are people that go to play shorts up at the MLB level and that ends quick and we're talking about Joey Ortiz could play two months at shortsop and the Brewers are like, Okay, back to third and that's fine.
I know this might be a nightmare. Sure do we want another tier that's like Hassan Kim and they could be better or something like for the kind of unknowns that we can put below the more known guys. Because I also have like C. J. Abrams lingering around here. I have Bo's got to fall somewhere in here.
Like Bo's an absolutely wild one.
Oh, I have no idea what to do with I. Maybe Bo's wife swap.
Bo might be white swap, Oh might be wife swap. I think for a change, I can't believe last year to play at Fenway? Would he love to play in San Diego?
What's Bo's numbers at those stadiums? Let's find out.
I think I'm gonna put Bo at wife swap for now, because dude the bow. I can't believe we're at this part of where we're talking about Boba Schett. But Bobaschett, man, if you erased last season, he.
Is a great player.
He flies up this list. He's probably a three legged horse.
Bo nine to seventy career ops at Fenway, three oh eight career hitter at Peco it's a lock. He's in white swap you would.
Love to get in there. I wonder if we could throw someone else to make everyone a little more comfortable swapping with I guess JP. I think JP Crawford is hass On Kim and that's.
Yeah, I think so too. I also don't think anyone wants to swap with him JP craft, you know what I mean, no one see, no one wants to swap JP through that.
After that Mariners Ballpark article.
I think if if JP repeated last year, he'd fall. So that's not okay.
JP was really good in twenty twenty three, Like how quickly you I mean, he had a series drop off, but he led the league in walks one thirty three oh ps plus as a shortstop, got MVP.
Votes and in his one oh five games he racked up two. He had a tough year offensively in one hundred five games. He's hurt. And yeah, he's a career two forty five, three thirty.
Eight on base sneaky, one of the best contracts in baseball. He's getting eleven mil. Yeah, that's like for what he can do, it's really good, yes, you know.
And his prime years. Okay, So let's put JP JP's and has on kim and that's okay. Hey, can we get ugly names off the board, because I can't even look at this right now? Thin it out?
Who's rip off? Kenny Pickett?
Who's this white Sox guy?
Can you pick it? I don't know. Let's find out.
Doesn't he have the same initials or something? I'm blanking on his head holding Kowser but.
Not Brendon Shoemaker. This is Brooks Baldwin close kind of you could have said, guy is Jacob something?
Jacob Wilson is a well regarded We're gonna find out. Kenny Pickett.
I put the A's logo up there too, is Brian Rocchio? Kenny Pickett because he can pick it?
I have this. I have this series more like a question like, yeah, Kenny, I think.
Because I don't know if he can he can pick it. Yeah, I just don't know if he has any offensive profile, and I don't think the guards care. Yeah that I'm interested to see what that looks like.
Yeah, like I if trace, when you just plays solid shortstop, he's already more valuable than Hobby, right, Yeah, which is so sad, But go.
Look at Hobby's offensive stats. Okay, I want to jump up to team's best player, and we think that's okay because I think there's a couple of layups. I think Mason Win. Yeah, what he did last year, I think there's potential he could climb up this list. I think there's potentially he could climb down this list. I know, you know you and.
Foolish got into that nasty fight on Wake and Jacobs.
I was pro Mason Win, right, yeah, yeah, what's up?
What's it Foolish? But that could come back, that could come back, and like he could be a guy that could be next year's has On Kim And that's not okay because the Cardinals are going to ask a lot of him. I love Mason Win. The way he plays is awesome, and I think he could climb up, potentially climb up this list. You wonder how high, but he Mason Wynn deserves to be a tier above a couple
of Joey or Tea's Jeremy Paina. I think from what even just that little bit more from what he showed last year, if there's more in there, how do you spell that with a?
Both names are kind of not how you'd have.
Guessed he was their most valuable player by a lot last year five War season. Yeah, like he was a he was twenty two years old. Yeah, like he You're right that he could take a step in either direction, like we've seen plenty of sophomore slumps. It could go the other way, Like he could take a step forward
and get even better. That I think that, Uh, he fits kind of perfectly in this tier of like if he is great, right, the Cardinals now have a you know, Willia Domas potentially even higher caliber shortstop for so cheap because he's young puss. He's got that absolute cannon of an arm, which I think is a tool that no other player has in baseball like him. That his upside
is tremendous. Like I feel like the Cardinals can honestly try and start to build around him if they see a step forward in twenty Like he can realistically be the face of that franchise if he.
Takes a slight step up. He's a six War short stop.
Yeah, the three there's not Like I know, we're in kind of a shortstop golden age, which makes this tierless so difficult. But he is in the conversation of being in like that top five tier if he takes another step forward next year.
Another guy that I think goes here easily, and I wish we would talk more about him. Zach Netto. Where his final stats landed last year are insane, really, And I mean there's obviously an angel's caveat here, but it's very similar to Mason Win, five war, twenty three homers, thirty steals, like that's it's an incredible season.
Yeah.
If Zach zach Netto did that offensive season on the New York Yankees.
Everyone be talking about like most underrated player in baseball type conversations.
Like crazy stuff, Yeah, crazy stuff. And he did it with his Halos. Who do they have a team that? Again, it's very similar to the Mason Win conversation. Hey, two great guys, here's your snaps. We probably spent too much time on the big boy.
I mean, it's just the thing that's messing me up is like they're all so young, Like how are they all so good already? It doesn't make any sense in my brain.
Well, the sick part is, unfortunately baseball happens to some guys, whether it's injury or you've got one hole in your swing or something happens, does Zeke Tovar deserve to be with them?
So Zeke is interesting because Zeke struck out two hundred times last year, which is he's one of only three short stops ever to do that, the other one being Ellie the other Cruise. Last year he also did it. Zeke had a little bit of a plate discipline thing. He's also in a similar scenery to uh zach Neto where he plays for a pretty poor team. So he's the best player far and away, especially with Nolan Jones and guys like that. Well on the gold Glove and
kind of know that, like definitely deserved the nomination. I wasn't sure if he was gonna win. But he's really nice a short stop. The thing with me is a two ninety five on base is right, not good? Like that is not major league level. If one part of your game falls off, things can get really bad really quickly.
So maybe he is hasan Kim and that's okay. But also he's another guy that I kind of just believe in, Like he's he was twenty two last year, Mason win was twenty two last year, Zach was twenty three last year. Like there's still a realistic path forward for all three of those guys.
He's trending up.
The trap up he took from age twenty one to twenty two led the league in doubles.
Yeah, home road splits aren't that bad, which is wild. He was actually no, he was slightly better at home. But the core is effect and I can get rambly on that sometime, but like it can hurt you more than it can help you. Yeah, the fact is splits are like, this is pretty wild that he deserves. I think we're rocking him a little bit. I think he deserves to be up there. Yeah.
I think with a lot of Rockies players sometimes you see the ops plus and you're like, whoa. But I feel like that's kind of unfair sometimes because.
Yeah, that is getting dragged down by just he played in course.
Right, like I would more so like if I saw guy's trip a stats and they're crazy, that would make me more like eh, rather than a guy who's in the Major league's doing it and just has the cores effect latched onto him. I think he belongs here because I do think he's the best player on the Rockies.
Don't really know about availability yet, but this guy's first two full seasons one hundred and fifty three hundred and fifty seven.
That matters to me.
Twenty six Homers led the NL in doubles with forty five, and he won the goal Glove at age twenty two. So yes, he deserves to be team's best player. And that's another And there's also like a like lation.
He was technically less than Brenton Doyle, which I'm excited to see where Brenton Doyle falls in the center field list when we get there. But they were kind of the same guy for ward player around league average, bat, really good defensively.
It's and that's okay. Question mark.
Why are the Rockies really good at developing players and they just can't get any external talent?
The pitching thing is crazy, it's crazy. A couple of their transactions are crazy. They're more focused on being a business than a baseball team.
A couple of their position players are good.
The other part that gets me mad is like, I think there's gonna be a Rockies article in five years or twenty five years that's very similar to the Mariners one that came that. The problem is the Rockies have known their stadium is an issue for twenty years and they've never tried anything.
Yeah, like Arizona.
They tried one thing. There was one season when they like weren't going to use starting pitchers, Like there was a weird Bud Black season.
I forget what it was said night. Was it one of their playoff hears. No, they tried some weird pitchingn't work.
But I'm not doing the course.
Yeah, you're gonna get lost.
It gets me hot. I'm ready for that. Advisor, give those three.
Feel like a teer.
I would make a pitch for CJ. Abrams and I know there's a fear factor. And last season ended weird. If I wanted to, I could spin that in a positive way. We are maybe too familiar with CJ. Abrams. It feels like he's been a big leaguer for a while now. He's still twenty four twenty homers last year, thirty one steals, eighteen homers, forty seven steals the year before that, you know, one ten o ps plus last year.
It obviously landed in a weird place. There are questions about his defense that could have him on a third base list. Yeah, probably sooner and later or something like that.
My take for this is I think he ends the year not the shortstop of the Nationals. It got pretty bad defensively last year. I watched a lot of Nationals baseball rats fan and like the bat was really there in the first half, like best player in the lineup for sure. You were when he came up in the order, you knew, like, okay, this is the at bat. We got to be careful around. They have a lot of talented young players, like I think James would if you want to do a fun NL MVP sprinkle this year
for high odds. He's a guy I would pick with Abrams. I just think he's so defensively limited that I can't I can't imagine that by war he'd be the Nationals best player. This season he was first percentile that's about average, negative seventeen, like bottom of the league by far.
So where would you put him?
That's the thing, because he's not Hassan Kim hass On Kim is. His whole thing is that he's going to give you four war and be good defensively. So Cee Jabis is a really weird one. I don't think he needs to change the scenery. I think he's fine being a National.
I don't think he's both life swap.
We'll see what happens.
So maybe he is in that tier, just kind of like as an asterisk, because I don't really think he fits in there.
Man, Like what what would be more surprising to you? Like cj Abrams ends up in a bad spot on any list, or we're talking about cj Abrams like the five war player this year, Like if cj Abrams ends up in a pit, I don't know, man, that that guy has all the tools. Hopefully he got a life lesson at the end of last season, Like what if what if cj Abrams took a lot of stuff to heart and he comes in incredible this year.
Like, yeah, it depends on his response to adversity.
If I had to bet on cj Abrams having a one and a half war season or a five war season, I would bet five War.
I can be okay with it because he's, you know, he matches the young Factor two prize prospect twenty three years old last year, so that's the same as a netto. I'm okay with it.
But I do think I understand the fears.
It's honestly, I don't know why the Nationals haven't swapped him in Louis Garcia, because Louis Garcia is a really good glove at second base and Abrams was originally a second baseman. If I if my memory serves me right.
I think I think history is going to look pretty good on your commentary, we'll say, but I want to see.
I think bad is real. That's very real. He's a good hitter.
Ce Jabs could be thirty whatever it is, seems like it's it is okay, Yeah, where exactly a team's going to use him, we'll find we'll figure it out.
But really quick, hang on, what's that? What do you do in September? Because I remember just the numbers were not yeah, I know, yeah. So he had a one dot one two seven ops in June that month alone. He was like, that's good, best hurt in baseball type thing. Then he was below six hundred the next two months, right, So he was just streaky, like his numbers could have ended in a way.
Too insane month.
So I think, yeah, because if he just stays consistent, he will be His bat will carry him to the same values.
Here the three guys, yeah, and I guess again baseball we talked about, how how are there so many young guys on this list. And it's consistency, it's work ethic, it's health, it's it's all the stuff that of talent and like potential. I think of this crew, I still think CJ. Abrams might have the most talent and potential.
Just like things he can do.
It a little tricky with defense, and like, I guess what do you think is easier to improve?
That's that's the question you ask yourself with that.
I I think of all these guys as a hitter, I can bake on Abrams the most. Zach Netto might have an argument and in baseball hitting talks, but it might talk at a different position.
Oh boy, So that leaves one one tier here ha song Kim And that's not okay, you want to take it away?
Scratches? Is he? Here are the names? Here are the names remaining. And I there's probably a lot of Yankee fans that are listening to this that are like, hey, Jakester, and I'd say, don't call me that, you can call me Jakester. Where's Anthony Volpi? I heard a lot of young talented shortstops get talked about. Yeah, and I didn't hear Anthony Volpi well, I think he's currently has On Kim and that's not okay. The expectation for him has
been a lot higher. The Yankees have passed on a lot of these other players above him on the list in free agency or trades for his opportunity. There's a lot of ways you can chop up his numbers that are not very pretty offensively, closer to the worst, if not the worst, than mediocre. In the past couple years, he showed a little bit in the postseason that speaks to Yankee fans.
A couple of good stretches in regular seasons that.
You've seen the spark if you're a Yankee fan.
I think I think most Yankee fans have seen the vision.
On him and it could happen. But he has not earned to be with the team's best player. And we think that's okay.
All those guys took a big step up offensively.
He could make a fight for Hasan Kim and that's okay, but he's currently not. I mean, what's the career ops plus at eighty three?
My thing with Fulpy because I do think on a lot of teams, if you add to Anthony Vulpi, the team gets better. I think that you can say that safely he's a three war shortstop. A lot of teams could benefit from that. The thing with that is that when you see, oh, well, you know, he's only twenty
three last year. So is zach Nato. So was Zeke Tovar, so was c. J. Abrams, so was you know, the guys at the very top of the list, although they're kind of an alien scenario, so was early to There are so many shorts ups in the game that are that young, that have already demonstrated that they can hit at an above leau garage at the major league level
and also play the position well. Plus you add the magnification of playing on the Yankees, the magnification of being a first round pick, like you said, passing another dudes to get this guy his spot. That, yeah, I think that this tier's kind of built for him. Of like, that's not okay, Like we need you to be more than just a guy that can play the position.
We need production well in the artistry where sometimes things work out too well. You said Volpi as an eighty three ops plus in his career. Yeah, so does Isaiah Kiner Filefa, the man who kept the seat worn for him. Yeah, as Corey Seeger hit free agency, Ikf bald out Toronto last year. I'll give him credit. He got traded to Pittsburgh and he did the opposite of that, and they're now handing him the keys to the shortstop position to start the year, which I hope things work out for IKF.
There's been a lot of confusion in this office and I think sometimes around baseball how IKF is viewed. He's hass On Kim and that's not okay. But he's not hass On Kim. That's the whole deal. That's the whole thing with this category. Yeah, like you're basically wearing a Hassan Kim Halloween costume. Yeah, Like I can be that, but you're not.
Like the Pirates are so much better if they have Hassan Kim, but they also have IKF sloughed as their lead off hitter right now, their lead off shortstop. I think they need they need him to be more than what he is for them to succeed. Also because they just didn't do anything this offseason beside Spencer Horowitz. So it's a little unfair to IKF because I feel like
we all kind of know what kind of player. He is like, if you play him at second or third and you have him at the bottom lineup, that's a really nice piece. He was good for the Blue Jays us. But if you have him leading off and playing shortstop and you want him to be Hasan Kim, you might be disappointed.
It's just so wild to me that that Blue Jit his time with the Blue Jays is what the Yankees dreamt of. It's what the Pirates have dreamt of. It's what I think Texas briefly dreamt of. For I KF he did have three point two war in eighty three games, damn, but it fell off the cliff. And that's if you look at his page, that's the clearest outlier of anything that I don't know. Uh, you don't question his work ethic. The guy answered every interview question he was asked. He
was well beloved by the Yankees players. I don't know to look at his baseball card in modern day baseball and say that's going to be our everyday leadoff hitter, that's slight malpractice. Yeah, from the Pirates, who are drawing a lot of ire from their fan base and people outside of baseball, not outside of baseball, outside of the Pirates and those two being paired together.
Just feels right.
Yeah. Also in this category, I guess these are just my shortstops. Geraldo Perdomo for the Snakes. This year a pivot year for him for whatever reason. He feels like a weakness on the Diamondbacks.
Yeah, he's He's an interesting one for me because he makes that team better outside of play. He's like a big vibes guy geese like Dalton. I think said he would be if they had to pick a captain of the team, it would be him, which shocked me. But then I thought about it and I was like, yeah, I guess it would be him. But he kind of is has On Kim.
No, he's moving up.
I think he's up. I think.
The platoon split.
I think that he's hass On Kim and that's okay because he's like their eight hitter.
Is there someone he wants to wife swap with? Is he wife swapping bow? What is this?
I think he's hass On Kim and that's okay. I think you're right because his free agency could get real interesting, real fast.
He's twenty five. He just turned twenty five. He had a one oh one ops plus in the games he played. He had three point five war last year in ninety eight games, So.
You're telling me he's league average and he had.
A There's something that feels weird and off about it, and I don't know what it is, but I think you're right. He's hass on Kim and that's okay.
You know it's off. It's the low power.
It's very low power. And if you go month by month with him from last year, I think there's one ops in the eights. Everything is a low six. So that's one of like, what are you getting on an everyday basis?
You'd rather be consistent for.
An everyday basis, you're getting. Oh, and he pick it.
He was three and a half war in ninety eight games. Yeah, I didn't see that before. I thought it was a full season.
He's haws on Kim in that's okay, even though.
It's a higher average, mid to high sixes ops in those other months. And he went nuts in August and.
In August that's funny.
It's weird.
And eight of his twenty doubles or whatever that number is.
I don't know why he gets judged on a slightly different scale, but he does not deserve to be with Volpi. It does not deserve to be with I k F.
I mean he cleaned up the platoon thing year.
I had an old pimple scabbed over and I just picked it and I or maybe blood. Yeah Perdomo, Yeah, the last two years he's at a ninety eight ops plus and the glove plays and yeah, yeah, I don't know why he was.
In the best lineup in baseball. He doesn't need to be better than what he was.
Yeah, it's just interesting that I guess he's viewed as the weak link.
Yeah.
Wow, Okay, so big day for Perdomo. He's hass On Kim And that's okay, at least for this season. And that's gonna be an interesting thing we're gonna find out this year because they've got Jordan Lawler coming up. They've got some interesting ways to look at their upcoming future infield. Yeah. If he can keep doing that, I mean he's on a five war pace last year higher. Yeah, so and he's twenty five, Like what if he gets better? Yeah, that's the other great baseball game that sometimes happens the
two remaining players. If you've made it to this point of the episode, my god, Orlando Arcia.
Can he picket?
I think so much. Oh, I was leaning hass on Kim and not. Okay, where does numbers land last year?
I don't The numbers are really bad.
I don't think they need him to be anything more than a guy that can play short.
I think he plays short stops still at a at a high level, that he's above Kenny Pickett and above these guys. But that also, the Braves have felt like they've had two obvious holes the last two years, and I think outfielders.
That's above average. The Braves lineup bangs, he hits.
Like nineteen, he's braved us a little bit, but that fell off really quickly, and then last year it fell off the whole time. That dude, if he has a bad first month and.
A half, he might be out.
I don't know if he's the Brave shortstop anymore.
He's also it's getting paid two milliar. All they need him to do is just play short. If he hits great, I think he's can you pick it?
I think he gets a little too much Braves credit from that good first half of Yeah twenty twenty three.
He hasn't been had he was point five Yeah, he hasn't been above two or since twenty seventeen, since the birth of this company, since the Brewers. Yeah, so I think he's f PS plus. I also does he have your Edwards there?
I think you're right.
More is a question, yeah, because I thought we did that a while ago.
I just have like he needs to get better defensively, but like he could well.
If Xavier Edwards had a one twenty eight WRC plus two point two war These are f first time I'm looking at fangrafts. If he did this on your team.
I might have found it with him, with him the the A's guy and the White Sox guy, slaptics no fop down.
The Blake Snell thing is an all time clip. Yeah, I got him in Kenny Pickett. Fucking no, I don't care.
Put together a nice little sample last year.
Seventy games. That's just you don't know who he is yet? Is that it?
That's it?
Seventy five minutes on the clock.
Geez crazy.
This is a beefy one, man. I don't think the other ones will be as long or difficult.
It's tricky because you don't want to get caught up on the big guys. But there's there's good conversations with the big guys, where like Aaron Judge, you probably don't have to have that conversation.
It was two of the top five best players in baseball, like you gotta have a lengthy discussion, all.
Right, Well, you've already commented what you've loved and you hate. I think Xavier Edwards is the only one I'm not satisfied with, and that's why we ended there, because he has an argument for something.
Seventy games I need more.
Let us know what we did poorly. We've got one of these coming like every week ishes that.
Generally the non Monday episode both basically every week, so everyone, thank jolly, thank BBD. Let us know which one should be the next one. Oh and thank uncle Dan Wild's production of Dan Patrick Productions, John Boy Media and Workhouse Media.