What reason do you have to believe they'll turn it around tonight in Game 3 and beyond, other than history, they are the Dodgers, they have mega stars? I mean, is that really the only argument, 'cause we haven't seen it six games deep?

No.

I mean, that's the argument you make.

You look at that roster and it looks like an all-star team.

And through two games, the Brewers have just totally silenced them.

And, uh, their starting pitching has not gone deep into games.

Uh, Jacob Mierzowski and both Logan He- Henderson did not make it past the fifth inning.

This is who the Brewers are, and they're sticking to it, and that's why they're winning.

Or Yam- maybe Yamamoto

YamamotoYeah, like either one of those.

Like he's gonna have to exceed th- those benchmarks.

Um, and obviously, like if you look at his, what he's done, like he absolutely deserves it, and if he's healthy, I would imagine he's pretty easily going to clear that mark.

So obviously the financial side's gotta make sense.

But then you have to figure out what team can make sense, and you listed a bunch of them.

Is, can he return to the Dodgers? And this could end up being a showcase for him to see what that organization is like, uh, both inside and outside, and like what it's like being a Dodger.

Could you see anybody else maybe being able to, uh, get moved in a year where, uh, it's just a little bit more possible?

You might break some news.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I'm, I'm waiting on the go on something, so that's always fun.

But it's something that's on the mind of every team, like, and especially their ownership here.

And we even saw Bob Nightengale say today that there's no owner that you see who isn't convinced that you're gonna end up having a, a lockout or the potential of missing games here.

Uh, but I- I'm not faulting the Dodgers, if I'm being totally honest.

What are the moves, what are you hearing that you think is going to happen in the next twenty-plus hours ahead of tomorrow evening's deadline in Major League Baseball?

[laughs]

My sense is, like, things are still, like, there's a lot of conversations that are happening across the league right now.

Um, but it seems like there's very little movement as far as, like, actually, like, wanting to get deals done.

It's still in the feeling out stage and the information gathering.

But I, I believe come Friday or Saturday is when we're really gonna start seeing the movement happen, and then the next d- or the last 48 to 72 hours are gonna be where it just becomes totally crazy.

And, and I, I was talking to somebody yesterday and, 'cause I had told him, I'm like, "Yeah, I could see this deadline being kind of quiet." And he's like, "No, bro, like, I could see this one being pretty hectic over, like, the last 72." So what exactly that could look like, I think is anybody's guess at this point.

But the domino that I think everyone's watching for right now is gonna be Terrance Schoop with the Detroit Tigers, and considering how they've fallen off, and it's made that decision to move on from, from Schoop easier for them.

Mm-hmm

Um, where do the Pirates look on the second part as far as bullpen help?

Yeah.

Uh, so I'll start with the Pirates aspect of this.

It seems like adding to the bullpen is a real priority for them in Pittsburgh, and I think they're gonna consider almost anybody.

Do they have the financial means to go out and get, like, a Luke Weaver type? That part I'm not necessarily so sure.

But I do expect them to be adding at least one or two guys to that bullpen.

I think that's something that, uh, watching their first half performance, it has to be a real priority for them in order to, to compete going forward or this year.

What do you think about Kevin Gausman? What, what are you hearing about, about Gaussy?

What can we expect on a return from Freddy Peralta? Are teams really scared off by what he's done so far this season?

No.

I still get the impression he's, he's desirable around the league.

And, like, obviously you, you mentioned the past five years when he was in Milwaukee.

He was super consistent.

He's also one of the best clubhouse guys in baseball.

Like, I was around him when I covered the Brewers, and everyone, whether it's players, coaches, front office, scouts, like, player development, like, whoever, they love Freddy Peralta.

Do you see possibly getting similar exorbitant prices, like even like a Shane Bieber going for like a fringe top bunch of prospect last year when he hadn't pitched in a year? Is it still very startling pitcher crazed and focused?

So why do you think this 2026 Brewers team might be a little different, if at all?

Yeah.

And last year, I'm pretty positive last year I even pushed for them to make a splash specifically on offense.

And they actually tried.

They tried for Gino Suarez and they didn't get him.

But I wouldn't be surprised if they finished number two or number three in those sweepstakes for Gino Suarez.

And this year you look at this team that you got and.

Are there any surprises you think in store for this deadline?

Um, but, um, I wanna get your thoughts on who has impressed you the most of this team, and was it someone that was kinda off your radar that, you know, surprised you? Or is it somebody that maybe you kinda thought would have a breakout season? Or, you know, what's your thoughts behind that?

Yeah.

Obviously Max Meyer's a guy that automatically stands out as a player, who just really is incredibly talented.

Uh, but I would also go with a guy who I think is underrated nationally, Liam Hicks.

He's been terrific this season for them.

Uh, I think he deserves a ton more credit, 'cause it's really hard to find a like definitive answer at catcher.

Like you look at the Yankees, you look at the Padres.

Uh, what do you, what do you got on them?

Do you think a little move like this starts to force GMs to start making moves before the deadline?

Gosh, I sure hope so, because, uh, everything that I've heard is that the market at this point is relatively quiet, but as far as the Brewers go, they've had to do something, and they got multiple somethings here, and they got pitching depth, which is exactly what they've needed because Jacob Mierzowski has been dealing with arm fatigue, and everyone you talk to around the situation in- including Mierzowski has said, uh, that he's not overly concerned about it, and Kyle Harrison's been dealing with something with his elbow.

But again, the concern there is low, but the Brewers know better than anybody that you need as many allocators as you can because injuries happen, and you're gonna end up having guys who are gonna need a breather.

And this is something where, uh, there, I, I would not be surprised if we see the Brewers try to limit Mierzowski's innings to keep him fresh for the postseason because he's already coming up on, um, on his career high of innings, and I think they're gonna wanna try to manage him, and adding a guy like Lance McCullers is a really, um, is a low-risk move.

You obviously add about $2.5 million in salary, which for the Brewers is not a small thing, but to me, this is gonna be the start for the Brewers, where you can add more pitching.

Maybe you can end up adding a bat.

I hope they do both because I think they could definitely use both.

RockiesWho is primed to take advantage of this market where, like you just said, "Hey, if you move early, you can get the guy that you want," but everyone's afraid of moving early except for these teams?

Just size up what you see going on there and how it can relate to the trade deadline.

Yeah, there's a, a bunch of different things that are going on in the AL East right now.

You have the Yankees, you have the Rays, and then everybody else is really just kinda hanging out there, uh, lurking in the weeds, I would say.

And specifically with the Rays, they're a team that are d- doing extremely well this season.

I could see them ended up trying to make a big move at the deadline.

Uh, they've tried in the past for Shohei Ohtani, as Ken Rosenthal ended up reporting.

They tried for Freddie Freeman.

Whatever it is, is the biggest move the fact that Perry Minasian's out and possibly a new GM and John Mozeliak is in that isn't afraid to make moves for and worry about what Artie Moreno thinks?

Plus also you have to look at the Red Sox and the Royals being two of the teams right now that make the most sense to commit to s- to being sellers as soon as possible.

No, totally.

And, and obviously the, the Braves and, and the Red Sox have a history of making trades together where, uh, they did the Chris Sale deal.

There's history there.

Um, but also, like, the fact that they're, these guys are controllable I think makes a ton of sense here.

And, and Sonny Gray's got the mutual option, and those are always declines, so, like, you gotta have that in the back of your mind there.

But I think if you look at the Royals, they would make a ton of sense as a potential trade partner here because Seth Lugo is still in my eyes one of the most underrated pitchers in, in ball.

Is that kind of the general, you know, uh, pulse that you're getting as far as the hitter market goes right now?

Yeah

... what's going on right now is not working.

And you have a super respected manager in Alex Cora who's gone, and Craig Breslow is, uh, I don't think he's the most popular guy.

Um, and I think you need to evaluate is he the best guy going forward, or if you end up parting ways with him, like, what kind of candidate can you attract? What exactly is his vision for the organization? Is it having assistant GMs? Is it having more pro scouts? Uh, like, who is his manager going to be? Like, you have to...

Like, or what's his vision for the ball club? Obviously, that's a pretty important aspect of all this.

Uh, but they need to be taking a very l- hard look in the mirror here and figuring out what this is because you have a storied franchise in the Boston Red Sox who should be contending year in and year out, and what's going on this season's just been totally unacceptable.

Um, they obviously took a big chance in trading Devers, and while last year that may not have looked like the best move, uh, this year it's looking a little bit better and just I bet you they wish they, they kept Harrison and, and also James Tibbs.

You know, what would you say right now is the approach that you're thinking the Red Sox might take when it comes to the deadline? W- Are you seeing kinda like that soft sell, like hybrid kind of approach, or are you thinking they're really just gonna, they're just gonna unload?

Every pitcher except for Aroldis Chapman is on the board.

Yeah, I would, like, the, obviously the first guy is gonna be Aroldis Chapman, but there's no way that's gonna happen.

I'd be, I'd be stunned.

Uh, but the name that I, that I keep coming back to as far as the trade market goes, what about Josh Hader? Uh, he's a guy who, he, he signed with Houston, big five-year for $95 million contract.

He's been injured.

Uh, when he is available, he's one of the best and most elite relievers in ball.

Um, the Astros are only four games out of their division, so it's not like we're talking about them being a definitive seller by any means here.

So what are your thoughts on the, the rest of the trade market?

Every pitcher except for Aroldis Chapman is on the board.

Yeah, obviously the first guy is going to be Aroldis Chapman, but there's no way that's going to happen.

I'd be stunned.

But the name that I keep coming back to as far as the trade market goes, what about Josh Hader? He's a guy who he signed with Houston, big five-year for $95 million contract.

He's been injured.

When he is available, he's one of the best and most elite relievers in ball.

The Astros are only four games out of their division, so it's not like we're talking about them being a definitive seller by any means here.

What are your thoughts on the rest of the trade market?

That's right

... um, but, but anyways, going back to the Cubs and White Sox here.

I, like, the Cubs, they were...

Like, in previous years, I've been skeptical, or skeptical about their chances in, in the NL Central.

I've always thought the Brewers were the team to beat, and they still seem like a pretty formidable opponent, for sure.

Uh, but the Cubs this year just really look like a team that's also capable of making some noise there.

And you look at that team, I thought Lucas Giolito was a perfect fit for them, uh, but they wanted to stick with their internal options, like, considering all their different injuries on the pitching side.

But anything you feel really good about as a name that's going to get talked about a ton in a month from now?

Sure.

I'll go with the, I'll go with the Mariners fan base, but also the players as well.

Um, because you s- from the player's perspective, you see the organization investing into this roster and also investing into the future as well, and that's gonna add nothing but excitement to the team, especially considering the season they had last season.

I mean, you have Cal Raleigh just absolutely break out and have one of the, actually the best season ever for a catcher, and you have other players who really stepped up last season, and you wanna build off of that as much as you can.

You end up adding Brendan Donovan, you, you resign Josh Naylor.

Those, those were the two priority guys, and then the other priority was, was extending Colt Emerson.

You do all three of those, you invest significant dollars into this roster.

[laughs]

What do you think of the extension and the lack of options in the extension?

Yeah.

Well, first of all, happy opening day, boys.

It's good to be here.

It was a long off-season, but we made it in one piece somehow.

But the Pete Carr Armstrong deal, uh, that did not catch me or I don't think anybody else around the league by surprise.

We saw a ton of buzz about it last year, and I didn't really get the indication that last year, like, it was a serious possibility.

Give us a name or two, and then we'll follow up.

[laughs]

I mean, there we go.

I would, it wouldn't be unfollowed territory if I wasn't getting some flak for some of the stuff I said about the Pirates.

So it's good, it's good to be back, boys.

Um, but anyways, I, I love what they've done.

They, this off season, they really wanted to go out and, and upgrade the offense, and they got Ryan O'Hearn.

Um, they've made some trades to upgrade the, the la- roster as well.

They wanted Kyle Harrison that badly?

What are you hearing about not just his market, but the Yankees' willingness to maybe change how they go at certain free agents?

Yeah, as far as Bellinger goes, the Yankees to me have been by far and away the best option for Bellinger.

Uh, they know exactly what he is.

He thrived in that lineup.

He loved playing in New York, and he's, he's played in New York, Chicago, and LA, and he's thrived in all three cities.

And you have him in your lineup along with Aaron Judge, that gives you a really strong foundation to build around.

And you...

Louis.

Is that where we've gotten to most likely?

Yeah, I, I don't know exactly where the current state of talks are, but I think you can make the case for both, is like we're obviously pretty deep into, into the off season here.

Uh, we're less than a month away from pitchers and catchers reporting.

But also too, like he still hasn't signed yet, and you have three teams.

You have the Mets, you have the Dodgers, and the Blue Jays all involved in this.

He has not signed yet.

So if you're a team and you wanna convince him to come to your city, come to your team, maybe you make a last-second move where all of a sudden it's like, "Okay, we really want you.

Mm.

Do you think any of them are close? Do you feel like we have any contenders that are on a shortlist at this point for any of the players I just mentioned?

Yeah.

First of all, good to be here with you boys.

I like that intro.

And Todd, I also totally agree with what you were saying, how we don't value, uh, what's inside for the players as much as we used to.

So I think that was a really good point by you.

Uh, but as far as the big names go here, I would not rule out s- one of these guys coming off the board here between now and the holiday.

... created lanes where they can still strike in a big way.

But when it comes to adding to this team, what stands out to you as being the biggest need? The, the, the most important hole to fill for this team this off-season for you to categorize it as a successful off-season for '26 and beyond?

Yeah.

It's, it's a great question, and that's something they gotta figure out.

And I mean, you can make your argument for it being shortstop.

You could make the argument for it being starting pitching because there's, there's some holes after you have, I mean, Strider and Sale.

Like, yeah, Ronaldo Lopez there, and he feels like a pretty safe bet to make the rotation.

But after that, like, what exactly are you gonna go out and do? Like, or who do you have necessarily? You have a few different question marks, with Bryce Elder being one of them.

You, yourself, what does the next week look like for you? Again, you are excellent when it comes to your consistency o- of providing great pr- reporting great insight, but this time of year, I'm sure it's fun, I'm sure you're passionate about it, I'm sure you may get maybe two hours of sleep a night, but what's the next week like for you with winter meetings and just going through all the stuff that you go through to stay on top of, of what's going on?

Like, what, what especially is the impact on those two guys? What happens if the Mets don't get any of those guys? So like, where, where would they go after that?

Yeah.

They...

I, I think Will Salmon of The Athletic put it really well, is it shows that even though these guys have been with the organization for so long, like David Stearns isn't afraid to move on for what he feels is best for the team, and I think that's a, a really good attribute by him.

Because we've seen GMs, both in baseball and, and other sports as well, get really attached to players that they've been around long term or that they drafted or like that they signed as free agents or just whatever, and it's, it's led to some issues.

And with Stearns, it...

Like, he wasn't afraid to move on from Nimmo, and if that's the case, he's definitely not gonna be afraid to move on from Edwin Diaz or Pete Alonso.

Does that bode well for Jonah Heim? Does that bode well for the fact that somebody could take him on a flyer, or do you feel like his value has been decreased enough that you know what? He's looking at like a James McCann type of contract, where it's a one year, we might get you 90 games type of contract?

Uh, what do you see from them? And then you got the Mets and Stevie Cohen over there is not afraid to pull off anything, you know? Not only with Schwarber, but do you see any of those two teams going after some high price guys to get them back to where they need to be? Well, the Mets back to where they need to be, not the Dodgers.

No, for sure.

And I, I feel like both of those teams should never be ruled out.

Like Steve Cohen, he spends unlike almost any owner in baseball.

And the Dodgers, they, their ability to stockpile talent and s- be competitive year in and year out is admirable.

And with the Dodgers, I'm not ruling it out, but for them, their priorities are clear.

Uh, they wanna add to the bullpen, and whether that's a Devin Williams type, which I believe Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reported that first, that he's interested or that they're interested in, in, in Devin Williams.

So are the Pirates really going to be spenders? And if so, why? And what level are we going to? Are they just doing this to, like, make sure Major League Baseball knows that, oh, it's so tough for these small market teams to even compete, so they have to make these piss poor offers?