The Yankees’ Winter Plan Revealed? | Offseason Updates

The Yankees’ Winter Plan Revealed? | Offseason Updates

What is up everyone? This is Fireside Yankees and we’re back for another podcast episode. The Yankees have just signed Ryan Yarro to a one-year $2.5 million contract. They’re going to need to set their 40man rosters by tomorrow. Will also get a response from Trent Gisham on whether he will accept or reject the qualifying offer. a new star free agent could get moved or not free agent, excuse me, a new star outfielder could get moved this off seasonason to become an option for the Yankees and they’re one of their top options on the free agent market in Tatuya and my will be posted on Wednesday. We’re going to talk about all of that and more right here on Fireside Yankees. I’m joined by the amazing, the one, the only Chris Drew and and that’s baseball itself. I should have probably done and That’s Baseball first and not have the double and um but I have two incredible baseball minds to the left of me. This is going to be a really fun show. We’ll start with and that baseball real quick. How you doing, man? I’m doing well. The stove is piping lukewarm right now. The uh as we all know the the mid November baseball hot stove tends to be a little bit slower. Probably a little bit after Thanksgiving we’ll start to see some real movement. But we’ve still got some interesting stuff to talk about today. Hey Chris, how we doing my man? Really good, man. You know, just catching up and uh and excited to talk some baseball. Yeah, new look background. Uh Chris is in the middle of uh getting some stuff set up. Little bit little bit of a long day. I would say it’s been good. Yeah, dude. You know, it’s it’s funny cuz like you know, when do you get time to do something like this? And then it’s always like you make a bigger mess and then you got to clean up the mess afterwards. So right now like the whole setup’s a mess, but I’m trying to keep it presentable and then like over there is my whole mess. Hey man, you know you’re not the only one who’s been busy today because Brian Cashman, one of the few GMs not sleeping right now, he woke up from his nap and he has signed Ryan Yarro to a one-year $2.5 million contract. Very important to note, he’s got $250,000 in incentives in that deal. Now, he’s going to return as a undefined role kind of guy. Uh on Fan Graphs, he’s going to be a fifth starter for the Yankees, but with the rosters not being complete, there’s no way to know what that role will look like. also injuries, spring training, all of that and more. I want to kind of get your guys’ immediate reactions when you saw that Ryan Yarbor return with the Yankees. Chris, we’ll start with you. Thoughts on the Yarby being back? I like it, man. I’m a Yarby guy, you know, funky lefty, a little bit tricky, you know, not a high strikeout guy, but, you know, ate some innings and and at a pivotal time last year for the Yankees, you know, gave some really valuable innings and then had kind of his Yarby moment of the year against the Dodgers. So, um, there was a weird stretch where he was really, really hot. Um, but obviously things kind of, you know, things happened and you know, he had the injury. We kind of forgot about him, but you know, I think it’s good because like this year to start the year, you’re going to need guys that eat innings and I feel like he’s really steady. I like Yarby a lot. So, I’m I’m thumbs up. You know, doesn’t really move the needle too much, but like and I Okay, good. Like that’s done. Good. Yeah, I agree. I think it’s like the just the depth signing. Someone you know can give you some innings. And the funky lefty thing like who knows if we make the playoffs and he’s on that roster facing Otani. That’s the type of guy that gets Otani out. So, he he he does have a little bit of a niche usage in terms of actually getting big outs, but yeah, we’re not paying him that much and he’s going to need some innings early in the year. I don’t see any really downside to this. I’d have to agree. And in the conversation of funky lefties, Ryan Yarro had five pitches he used at least 11% of the time. Lefties actually outperformed righties this past season. And there have been conversations not only about the year of the mix, but also the fact that left-handed pitchers had been outperforming their right-handed counterparts by a lot larger margins over the last year and a half. So, I do think having a guy like Yarro on the roster as depth is important. Now, the question I want to kind of give you guys about uh Yarro, and I think this is a important litmus test for how we feel about this roster and how we feel about how active they’ll be this winter. Do you believe Ryan Yarro will make more appearances in 2026 as a starting pitcher or relief pitcher? Not innings pitched, just appearances to kind of keep this simpleish. Uh, and that’s baseball. We’ll start with you. God willing, it’ll be as a reliever. Uh, if he’s making more appearances as a starter, I think that’s probably an issue. Uh, means more injuries or guys coming back from injuries slower than we would have hoped. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in a starting role early on in the year. And even if we do sign someone like Inai, uh Emayi will be coming from Japan and he hasn’t really thrown much on normal rest. So I wouldn’t be surprised if they have Yarborough get some spot starts now and then just to extend him a little bit. But yeah, if hopefully he gets a few starts in April, May, and then we don’t really need him out of the rotation as much later in the year. But who knows with pitching injuries. I’m kind of in the same boat. I I mean, look, I don’t really disagree. I think he’s going to end up making more relief appearances. I think that’s the hope. I would also like to add with Ryan Yarro, I view him as a get me through 162 guy, a floor raiser. Um, the Yankees needed nine different guys to make at least six starts this past year. They had 11 total pitchers get the starting nod through the 162 season. And I’ll be honest, I think given how injured they were to start the year in spring training, you find out no Cole for the year. Schmidt is set back, heels out for essentially half the year. Ended up being more than half the year. I think you you got more than what you needed volumewise from your rotation, but you need a lot of starting pitching in this league. The Dodgers, I mean, I said this uh kind of uh off record, but if the Dodgers had signed Ryan Yarro, everyone would be going, “Oh my gosh, the Dodgers, they just keep adding guys. I mean, oh my, they’re they just don’t care. They’re they’re so good with depth.” You need at least, in my opinion, 10 guys who can make a start for you throughout the year. Not saying 10 guys off rip, but 10 guys throughout the year are going to need to make starts for you. So, I do think it’s important to have depth. I think Yarro, I liked Yarro. He’s fun. He’s cool. How many sub 90 mile per hour pitchers do we have in this league? Um, but real quick, it didn’t always feel like a punt start too when he pitched and I really can appreciate that cuz like when Strowman went out there, when Cookie went out there, it’s like ah, like this feels like a punt. Okay, I’ll see you guys tomorrow. But there were times where like Yarby made starts like okay, like I I kind of feel good about this. Little funky, little quirky. And then there were also times where he came in and saved Will Warren and like kind of salvaged some games that kind of went south as a long man. So I I’m I’m I I like Yarby a lot. I just wanted to add that note because it when he started it just didn’t feel like a punt this the same way it did when other guys started. Yeah, that game against Tampa where Warren just didn’t have it. He really did save his bacon that day. And yeah, I’m looking at the Yankees roster resource and like Allan Winens, I’d rather have Yarro start in the game than him. Like there’s there’s a few there’s a few depth guys who you could do worse than Yarbor. Yarro was in the 59th percentile whiff rate. The fact that he can miss a bat is so vital in this. I’m not saying he’s a bat misser, but the fact that he can do it on occasion is a big separating factor from him and let’s say Marcus Strowman, Carlos Carrasco. The depth in Arsenal, he can actually throw multiple pitches reliably, effectively. Three different fast ball shapes, a breaking ball, a change up. I think that’s really all you need in your repertoire. Again, the Yankees are not asking him to take the ball in game two of the postseason. They’re asking him to take the ball as as it was mentioned that by that and that’s baseball. If signed, you need somebody to skip a start for him. Um if you need him to be just a guy you throw in there because there’s an injury. And honest to God, guys, we’re one injury away still from Allen Winnins being in the rotation to open the year. This is not a diss against Allen Winn. I’m sure he’s a great guy, but I don’t want to be one injury away from Allen Winn. I don’t I just don’t want to be in that scenario. Before we signed Yarro, we were one injury away from Elmer Rodriguez Cruz versus Brendan Beck fighting for a rotation spot. And no, just no. I’m not for that right now, guys. I’m just not. Yeah. I mean, I couldn’t agree more. I think that that’s a good little segue you’ve created for us into the ERC debate. So, if you want to hop right in with that, you can go ahead. I have to mention one thing though. Elmer Rodriguez Cruz is actually not Elmer Rodriguez Cruz anymore. MLB has him listed as Elmer Rodriguez now. So yeah, I know Chris, I know. I can see your eyes. I I don’t I actually think it’s an oral loss. I think he lost. Yeah, I don’t think I like that. Is that I don’t He He was good as a threeame guy. Yeah, the three the three names feel different in sports, man. Now it’s just Elmer Rodriguez, but he is eligible to be placed on the 40man roster. I guess this is technically bigger news than the name change, but I disagree. Um, the Yankees are going to have a list of rule five guys, and unlike, I’d say, 15 to 20 other organizations in baseball. They have to very carefully select who they put on it because they usually have more guys than they can fit on their 40man. Whether that means we’ll see a trade tomorrow, a trade uh tonight, I don’t know. But I think Spencer Jones and Elmer Rodriguez Cruz are going to be there. Are there any underrated guys that you guys have seen that are rule five eligible that you would say should be on the 40man roster? Chris, we’ll switch it up and start with you. I mean, maybe not saying he should be, but I am curious kind of what the outlook is on Chase Ham. Hampton, excuse me. He’s a guy that I thought his stuff was nasty. I mean, he he I think a fantastic pitcher, but the issue is like the injuries add so much volatility. I wonder if they will try to create room for him or if any team will touch him or, you know, if they just like will we’ll take the risk on the rule five side. He’s just someone that kind of I made videos on previously that I really enjoyed watching. Kind of had stuff that I liked and has, you know, enough of a pitch mix and enough overpowering stuff that I’m kind of hopeful for. I thought that last year if he didn’t get hurt, he was a guy that we could have seen late like kind of like on that Cam Slater timeline. Obviously, that kind of changed. So, I’m just keeping an eye on him. But, but other than that, nothing really. I mean, the two big ones that matter the most to me that are going to be on the 40man are ERC and Spencer Jones. So, yeah. I mean, you have like a a TJ Rumfield who might get drafted and enough. So, like I don’t think we’re going to need to put him on I don’t think we need to protect him really. If someone picks them, so be it. I don’t really see him as a as a legitimate MLB full-time player. So, if someone wants to take him and put him on their bench, maybe it’s going to happen. But, I don’t think he fits on our 40man right now. For me, the guy who I think gets put on as the third is Harrison Cohen, just because they need you just you just always need arms and he was pretty successful in Triple A. Higher walk rate than you’d like, but a lot of swing and miss. Um, I do think Jones and Cruz are locks though. Those are the two guys that I would bet any sum of money I could possibly own on them being on the 40man roster. Uh, I do think Rumfield is more of a I think he gets traded guy. In the case of Hampton, I think there’s an interesting case for him to be left off of it just because a team would have to put him on their MLB roster once they activate him from the IL. And I don’t think any team would do that right now. But I do think next year that’ll be a big big conversation because not a lot of time to pitch, not a lot of time to recover from TJS and you’ve got to show that you’re ready to be a big leager and you’ve got to be but you’ve also can’t be good enough that teams would view as a big leager. But it’s a weird it’s a weird window. Kind of Brendan Beck’s in this window, too, where um he’s good enough to get picked in the rule five draft, but he’s not good enough to make the Yankees 26-man roster. So, he’s probably going to get picked in the rule five draft. So, I do wonder where things go from there. But, with Jones and Cruz officially, or not yet, but probably officially being put on this roster in the next 24 hours, if you were to bet on one of these two guys coming up first, who would you bet on and why? And that’s baseball. We’ll start with you. I think this is an interesting question because I could see it going either way. It’ll probably depend on the guys that we end up signing this year. Uh, but if I had to guess, I’d probably say Elmer Rodriguez ends up on the big league roster first and that’s just because pitching injuries happen. I’m sure like we’re going into the year with three pitch three starters on the IIL and then you you could always anticipate one or two more in spring training. So, I could see a universe where he breaks camp with the team. Obviously, that wouldn’t be optimal, but I think that’s more likely to happen than Spencer Jones breaking camp with the team because I do think we’re going to bring in uh at least Ballinger and then maybe one other platoon outfielder. And if we go into the season with four or five outfield options, I I think it’s less likely that one of them’s going to go down early in the season. And I think uh ERC, they’re both kind of equally ready. I think they’re probably they probably each need uh a season or half a season more to prove themselves. But if push comes to shove, they’ll both be available to come up this year. That that surprised me. I thought I thought we were both going to go on the Spencer Jones side of things. So, um I think Elmo Rodriguez Cruz needs like a significant amount of time in TripleA. Like I would just like to see it. I I think that like obviously Spencer Jones is closer to being ready. So, I think we’ll see him first, but um I think that ERC longterm will probably be a better pro than Spencer will. And so, I wouldn’t be mad at either, but I I thought, you know, for me, I just in my head it’s a no-brainer. especially Jones is going to break camp with the team. I just think that he’s kind of on that path for me. I think with Jones, so the two arguments in my head are for Cruz, I trust him more to be a good big leager. I trust him more to be a good big leager. That’s why I pick him one. But for Jones, there is a much more like the the role of left-handed outfielder exists on the Yankee roster already, and they’re going to build their roster around left fielder who’s left-handed, center fielder who’s likely left-handed. So, they’re probably gonna have a fourth outfielder who’s a right-handed hitter. Bellinger, if he returns, playing him in left field is probably optimal for his defensive output and his total values and contributions to the roster. I just I guess it comes down to spring training, right? We’re going to see if Cruz uh makes any additions to his repertoire. We’ll see if Jones does anything to stand out in camp. I will always bet on a pitcher over position player when it comes to Yankee prospects. That’s just kind of how I view things. I think they’re better at getting pitchers to translate to the MLB level uh versus hitters. But uh that’s just again my my assumption. So I’ll I’ll sorry that’s a very long way of saying I will roll with Cruz. I’ll or sorry Elmer Rodriguez. Oh man, Elmer Rodriguez. I can’t that’s going to be tough to get used to for me. ERC is a good nickname and now it’s ER and ER is kind of an ominous nickname I feel like but I would roll with him but it’s not Jones is very close for me on on above him for MLB readiness just cuz well more time in TripleA that matters a lot to me. I think I agree with both of you like I think we all agree that Elmer Rodriguez will be a better pro. I just get the sense that the Yankees want Spencer Jones up first and I don’t know if they want El Rodriguez up right now. I think I understand your point. I think if we were to go into the season with the number five starting uh starting pitching job open and the center field job open, I think Jones more likely to win it. But I also think we’re going to fill in those position. All of those positions are going to be filled in going into the year. So I think it’s more likely if we’re talking about one game. I think Cruz or Rodriguez probably shows us a spot start or two before Jones can come up because they usually don’t promote the pro the pitch the the position player prospects until they have a full-time role for them on the roster. So even if we have like I don’t know if we have a situation where Jason Dominguez is on paternity leave like they’re not going to probably call up Jones as the next guy up. They’ll probably do something else with the position players. But yeah, I don’t know. I think it’s interesting though because this off season’s a good litmus test for how the Yankees view Spencer Jones. If they go into 2026 and it’s almost interesting I I think if they were to use him as a player that comes up when a guy has paternity leave that tells you what they think of the player in a negative light because if you look at the the top rated guys they’ve done that to Yorbit Vivas Oswald PZA is probably the most notable guy on a top 100 list who came up without a full-time job ready for him in 2022. Um, that’s not a good sign. So, I think they did that with Floral, too, back when everyone was hyping him up. Yeah, Florial only came up in 2020 as a double header guy, I believe, against the Mets. So, it’s not an it’s an ominous sign. In 21, he came up as well, and it was only for about 10 days, I think, when there were some COVID things going on with the Yankee roster. So, um I I would say that for Jones, yeah, I think you’ve got to be sold on the on Rodriguez coming up first because if they were to call up Jones and pitcher injuries are different. You’re never out for like five days. You’re out for two weeks usually at minimum and it’s like a two week shutdown, two week buildup. Take it slow, take it careful. Oh, this guy’s going to be back in August, he’s back early September, something of that nature. I also don’t think it’s a Yankee specific thing. Blake Snell was minorly injured and then didn’t pitch for like more than half the year. So, I think that’s just a pitcher thing. If you’re a pitcher, you’re just going to be hurt for way longer or on the shelf for longer than people think. Now, one other note with the 40man roster is that they may have to create room or if they want to add guys uh beyond what their 40man roster would let them do without subtracting guys, that could create some interesting situations here. Is there anyone on the roster that you would be I wouldn’t want to use the word certain, but would expect to see them cut tomorrow or think they could get cut tomorrow from the roster? And I’ll start with Chris on this one. No one comes to mind for me, but I’d love in that space to help me out on this one. Uh, I don’t know about tomorrow, but I could see within the next few months or before this next season someone like Ian Hamilton or Scott Efrost uh being either traded or cut off this roster just because I don’t know, I feel like they they’ve kind of run their course with this organization kind of like I feel like Ian Hamilton right now, unless he comes in this spring and he’s like figures out his command that he hasn’t had in years. I feel like he’s really much in the he’s very much in the Ron Marinio camp from a couple years ago where it looked good for a little bit, but he just hasn’t put it all together to solidify his role with this team. And I could see him uh I could see this past year being his uh most his last year with the Yankees. I think the option guys are safe. Javian Sandridge, Scott Efrost, they’re safe. They have options for next year, so I think they’re good. But I do think Ian Hamilton’s on cutwatch. Zero options left. Uh, and that options for a contender are so much more important than people think. If you think Ian Hamilton is marginally better than Scott Erost and I do I would I think I’d rather have Ian Hamilton on my roster than Scott Efrost. Doesn’t matter if you don’t have options. You’re just you’re just a lame duck waiting for your spot to get let up. I would put Brandon Shoemake in this. No options left. Yorbit Vivos, no AR options left. Vivos, I think, has a better chance to stay for now. But I would I think Shoemaker is the guy I’m looking at for tomorrow and saying I don’t know if he’s going to still be a Yankee after tomorrow. But that’s depressing. I don’t like talking about guys who are gone. So I I wanted to keep that one the brief and segue and get the hell out of here of that topic. Um qualifying offer deadline is also tomorrow. It’s actually earlier than the 40man. So the 40man must be set by 6 p.m. The qualifying offer it’s 400 p.m. All of this Eastern time. The Yankees will know from Trent Gisham whether he will accept or reject the offer. ATB get me started here. or Trent Gisham accepting or rejecting the qualifying offer. I’m going to say rejecting. I’ve said rejecting the entire time. Uh the early reports are saying that he’s likely to reject and I don’t really I I think it’s too much of a gamble for him to accept it and then hopefully has another this past year is is a career year. So, if he’s confident he can have a repeat of this year and then hit the market with no draft pick compensation, then who knows? Maybe he does accept. But I think from his point of view, it makes more sense to hit the market right now. He’s the third best available outfielder on the free agent market behind Bellinger and Tucker. So, and there’s going to be a lot of teams bidding on those two top uh top options. So, when there’s when those two guys are gone off the board and there’s four or five teams looking for an outfielder, they’re going to be bidding on Trent Gisham. So, he’s going to have a chance to make some life-changing money long term this off season. I mean, what do you think he’s going to get like three years, four years? probably. Mhm. Yeah. Youth is going to help him for that a lot. Yeah. I mean, I think I honestly like I never thought he was going to accept it. I mean, this whole time I felt like the Yankees had to have good feel and know that he would reject it and they would get that draft pick and kind of, you know, be able to go their separate ways because again, like 30 home runs, like chances are very slim that he does that next year. And I don’t think the Yankees, if they felt like he was going to accept the offer, would even, you know, mess around with this kind of thing. So, they got a pretty good feel on it. I think I think he rejects the offer. Um and and and like in a baseball shed like you know top three top four outfielder um in terms of value on the market. I mean do you think he’s more violent than likely Harrison Bader on the market? Yes. I think yeah I think he’s a better player injury the injury risk also I mean you’re talking about a guy who can’t stay healthy for his life in Harrison Bader. And the other thing with Harrison Bader that matters here is house. I think Trent Gisham has a higher chance is going to be closer to his 2025 ops than Harrison Bader will. I think teams would bet on that as well, just based on the underlying metrics. Maybe I’m not privy to information that teams have uh access to, but just kind of, you know, eyeballing it from the expected OPS, the spray angles, the spray chart, I I’ll trust Christian. Yeah, I I’ll just say it. I’ll just say it. I think Harrison Bader is a fake good player and he’s tricked us before and I don’t want to be tricked again by him. I I I want him to stay as far away from us as possible. No, no, I wasn’t even I wasn’t even talking for as from a standpoint. Like I, you know, it’s funny. I live in in the Akan Cleveland area and I hear a lot of Cleveland people like clamoring for either Trent or Harrison Bader and that’s kind of one of the one of the fun things they got going on. They’re getting neither, but it’s just one of those. Yeah. I mean, if I need an outfielder, I definitely prefer Gisham. Yeah. If you’re going to date, you date Harrison Bader, you don’t marry Harrison. You get him at the deadline because he’s got half a year left of of control and you re you don’t have to make a long-term commitment to him. That’s what you do with Harrison Bader. You don’t give him three or four years and hope that that works out for you. That’s the way I view it. Um, in the regard of Gisham or in the case of Gisham as well, uh, with the qualifying offer, the Yankees are stingy with qualifying offers. They don’t hand that out like candy. They hand that out like, “Oh man, we really don’t want to be stuck with this guy for next year qualifying offer.” I mean, Glaver didn’t even get it last year, which was a little bit surprising to me. Jameson Tyion didn’t get one and then signed a what, fouryear, $80 million contract. That was probably a misread by us, not going to lie. But they they were probably so worried about him taking the contract. Yeah. And and that they’re they’re they they’re very careful with this. So once they handed it to him, I was like, “Yeah, he’s rejecting it.” And there’s no reason for him to again take a one-year gamble to try and reset your market. I don’t think his his market doesn’t even have to be that strong for it to make no sense for him. For a Matt Chapman, for an Alex Bregman, we’re talking about, “Oh, I want hundreds of millions of dollars.” Okay, it’s a little bit different. Gisham’s not getting hundred million in any universe. There’s not a world where he gets $100 million. He could he’d have to hit 40 home runs next year for that to be the case, I think, because he’s not a center fielder anymore to a lot of teams, at least long term. He’s a corner outfielder. Those guys don’t get paid uh to the degree that premium position guys do. Yeah. I I was thinking to your point uh about the Yankees extending him the offer, I think it shows that even if he even if he were to accept it, I think the Yankees consider that a okay enough value to be for it to be worth it for them to risk it. So, I think that shows how they value him as a player overall. That’s probably indicative of how the market values him, which is probably indicative of him being valuable. So, I don’t think he’s going to accept it. And I will be gladly taking that fourth round pick. Uh because there’s a world where the Yankees don’t actually give up any draft picks in free agency, which if they don’t sign Kyle Tucker, that’s what I want. If they don’t sign Kyle Tucker, I don’t want a single draft pick given up in this free agent class. There’s not a single player I’m doing that for. Uh Michael King, I’m not giving up draft picks for. I’m absolutely not giving up draft picks for Fran Valdez. I’m not doing that for anybody on this market. Sorry. We signed Zack Gallon. I will be the angriest I’ve ever been about adding a player to the roster. Oh, I’m a gallon hater as well. It’s not even that I’m a hater. Just once the qualifying offer was offered, it’s like no, absolutely not. Absolutely not even a chance. I I I was like sour grapes on him. Kind of like I was on Goldman entering the year uh where I didn’t really want to sign him, but when he signed it was like all right, whatever. Uh Gallon would be if there was no qualifying offer ah who cares. And I I was going to ask you guys which players who would sign despite the qualifying offer. My answer was like absolutely no. I don’t know if there’s anybody you guys were like, you know what, Kyle Tucker. Yeah, they I was supposed to know without Kyle Tucker because I would sign Kyle Tucker, but I would not sign anybody else. No one with a 10-ft pole. I kind of hate this for agent class rush. Really? I have an interesting one for you guys. I have an interesting two. Go ahead. Uh two starting pitchers, Dylan CE and Framber Valdez. I think both of those are in the iffy category for the Yankees. Framber is a hard no for me. I do not want to pay Framber Valdez. Cease is a give you the scenario. If it’s his market is like, oh, I’m going to sign the Bregman deal. I’m going to do an opt out year. Yes, I will burn draft picks for that because I’m essentially paying draft picks to not have to lock you up long term. That’s good with me. Uh but that’s like the only scenario where I’d do it for Zeiss. I wouldn’t give C five or six years. That’s me personally. So you’re you’re like uh if we’re getting towards the end of the the off seasonason, some of these guys are still available and their markets are down like kind of like what Paveta signed last year with the Padres’s and you’d be more interested. Yeah, I think I’m in the same boat. For S CFC, circumstantial for cease. There we go. I I could get talked into the cease thing, but initially no. Yeah, I’m just not a fan of I think Framber is just I think he’s such a a headache. Like in New York it would he’s an [ __ ] dude. In New York every pitch he would throw would be magnified. The Houston Astros don’t like not liking Framber thing or Framber being a nuisance or a head case is not new. It’s not new. Every Astro fan is like, “Yeah, this has been a thing for for years. He’s been a punk for years.” There was like an incident where I think it was a they they like said he complains about like the ball he uses too much, whatever it may be. He’s just a whiner. That’s like We had the Trent Gisham thing, didn’t we? Yeah. Right. But that’s what that’s what exposed everybody to it in New York. That like he would not be under the under the radar doing that. Oh yeah. You’d have a million WFAN segments the next day after that. Dude, he would I I genuinely think like he couldn’t I I don’t believe in this usually, but I don’t think he can do New York. He just can’t not not just the Yankees, not the Mets. Can’t be the Mets or the Yankees. He can’t do New York. All right. So, my next question would be, let’s say no one’s signing him. It’s February. How low would his contract offers have to be? Like, how what was the what would be the max contract you’d give him knowing that you have to give up draft pick compensation? Like, is there a world where you do the cease like pillow type deal with him or no? Are you completely out on him? I don’t see him. I I guess I’ve never really considered it because I never thought he’d be a candidate for that because like the age and he’s like 32. So I’m just my head and like he’s going to cash out. A one plus one. I I don’t It’s just for me it’s it’s so tough for me to like get my hand get get around that. Get like get my head around it. Get me to believe he can do it for a year. Yeah. Um and I think the toughest thing for me is I don’t know man. Like I at that point dude trade for a guy. Do whatever you can. Like I wouldn’t if all your options are off the table. Frambert or no starting pitcher. Yes, I’ll take Framber. It’s no he’ll be he’d be awful in New York four years. What you’re saying like you think it’d be so bad so quickly that it’s not worth it. No. I mean if it’s him or nobody, I’m taking Framber. Like I don’t like I’m I’m never a believer in I will do nothing over making my team obviously better. Fra’s a yes, your team obviously gets better guy. I just don’t I’m very much against what that personality type would be like here. And I’m also pretty against committing long-term money to him. And I’m also iffy about I’m very selective about any money we give in the rotation at this point. We are one year away from school’s free agency. We have good pitchers in our rotation. We have a pipeline of MLB to MLB talent that has become pretty effective for us. In the last 5 years, we produced starting pitchers that are either a have had number one caliber seasons. Michael King, guys who have flashed the ability to be number two, number three starters in Schmidt and I would say Schlitler’s in that. And in Warren’s in Warren’s case, it’s an unfinished story, but he’s already an MLB starter. So, and Luis Heal also showed the flashes of being a two or three. I just don’t think he’s that anymore. So, um, that’s in the last five years. I don’t know if I’m missing anybody, but I I like that pipeline of talent given again these guys trade everyone. They don’t have good draft picks ever. We always we we lose draft picks for breathing. like it’s it’s it’s a pretty awful system to try and accumulate draft talent or prospect talent, whatever it may be. So, that’s why I’m hesitant with any money I hand out and that’s why I’m hesitant with uh Mr. Framber Valdez here. Yeah, I think I agree overall. Yeah, I’m a I I I can’t believe I’m this much of a hater because two years ago I was a huge fan guy. He’s Dominican. Uh that’s like the list of it. He’s Dominican. Uh son, he’s good at baseball. Is he pitching for the WBC team this year? See, if he doesn’t, I’m I’m stamped. Like, no, not even a one plus one could get me to want him, but if he pitches for the WBC team, I’mma wait and see because that would number be for you in that space. I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about it much, but let’s see. His projection right now, the crowd source projection is five years 140. It’s like Jesus Christ. Not even close to that. Like it’d have to be like a two or three like $60 million at most. Probably like a like a 20 million AAV shorter term. He’s just he’s he’s he’s just not someone you can if this if we were uh fireside Cubs. This is different. If we are fireside, I don’t know, Brewer. I think Blue Jays are a good fit for for Framber. they’ve brought like he’s he’s not exactly a Kevin Gosman but he’s he’s a ground ball guy and he’s already in his 30s they’ve given out this type of contract before he’s better than Gman and Yavage I think for 26 if I were to project I think he’s better and I also think the Toronto media is just way less harsh on the these kinds of things the Toronto how do I describe this and I don’t mean this insultingly I’m not passing judgment I’m just saying it for what it is Toronto broadcast the Toronto press box will have people che people people cheering when the Blue Jays score. That’s not the case in New York. You get what I’m saying? Yes. And I’m not again I’m not saying that’s this is this is a New York thing, not a Toronto thing. Yeah. But I’m not passing judgment. I’m just saying that’s how it is. Like if you are a good pitcher for the Blue Jays, the guy who is asking you questions in your press conferences is going to be like, “Oh, I like you. You’re good. I like you. I’m a fan of this team. I like you, man.” not in New York where it’s I might have grown up a Yankees fan but I’m a Yankees fan so you know we’re just kind of miserable you know whats all the time even though we’re the Yankees fan like I it’s it’s kind of an interesting concept but anyh who um I just think that’s a different environment and I think that’s why show was considering going there. I think that’s why Sasaki kept them in it. Um I don’t think it was because oh yeah I just I I just happen to like the Colts. No, I think the media plays a huge role in that for sure. But um with that being said, is there any other like is there anyone else to QL? I I thought of King for like a second, but I think that’s just nostalgia for me. I don’t even think that’s I can know when I’m being a nostalgia guy. I don’t think I’m a King guy on Q. I’m pretty sure King is going to accept the Q. I would if I was him cuz he’s like coming off the injury. I feel like that’s a good that’s a perfect You’re going to be making $22 million just to prove it. I think that’s good because then regardless of what happens, he’s going to get rid of the QO option next year. So, he’ll be able to hit the market without draft pick compensation. It makes a lot of these guys like Gallon’s probably going to accept it. I don’t know about Ianaga. Depends on his market, but he’s not a good fit for us either way. But, yeah, some of these guys who are the starters that are looking at shorter term deals will probably accept it anyway. Yeah, absolutely. Again, it’s and for King, you also know you’re getting reps. The Padres’s rotation is not good. I think the leash for reps is important here, too. If you’re signing a one-year deal, you need to be somewhere where you’re going to get from April to September, you’re going to get the ball every fifth day. Not a guarantee if you’re king and you go to the Yankees or you go to the Mets or you go to the Red Sox where those teams might be able to pull the plug on you in June or July and that’s where you kind of even if you’re getting pushed to the bullpen like that’s not good because half a year we we I think we can say confidently half a year sometimes your second half is just so good you or so bad you forget about the first half. Uh numbers change a lot in the span of two or three months, but moving looking at somebody who could change teams, you know, I I I that’s a I tried to force a segue there. Yeah, that wasn’t very good. That wasn’t very good. Okay, I got I got a better one. I got a better one. I got a better one. Okay. Um No, I don’t have a better one, actually. Michael King. We’re going to go from Michael King to uh the King of Minnesota. Yeah, I was going to say King Bucks, but I was like, no, it’s King Tuck. That doesn’t that just doesn’t work. But I do think that works. Byron Buckston could be made available for trade. Now, let me kind of specify what the situation would be here. According to The Athletic, this was Dan Hayes of The Athletic. If the Twins tear it down, Byron Buckston could consider waving his no trade clause. So, it’s not that he’s demanding a trade, it’s that he could consider waving his no trade clause. We don’t know the teams in his no trade clause. My understanding of the situation is there are specific teams he’d want to go to. I don’t know if the Yankees are one of them or a team he’s firmly against going to. But with that being said, I’m gonna start with and that’s Facebook because I know this is your guy, Byron Buckton. Sell the Yankee fan on why the Yankees should be in on him. I mean, this dude can play. I’ve been a Byron Buckton fan for so long. And it like it took him his reputation early in the early in his career. He was the first overall pick. Uh it took him years and years and years before he finally put it all together uh around 2021, but even then he was just hurt all the time. 21 21 and 22 his rate stats are like next level. He like 21 if he played an entire 162 games, he was easily the MVP. He was putting up like better rate stats than like Mike Trout had ever put up and in center field. Elite center field defender, great power. He’ll strike out a lot, but not to the point where it’s crazy. And his strikeouts are down from where they were at it at his highest. Uh, just like pull up his baseball savant page and just take a look. And then also think about he just had his season with his most played appearances ever. So, he’s finally found a way to manage that his body in terms of when to play, when to DH, when to take his foot off the gas on the bases. So, I think he has more he’s more in tune with that than he’s ever been. And while the rate stats aren’t quite as insane as they were, like coming right off of COVID, he’s still he put up five war this year. Five war in 126 games, that’s a superstar player and we would benefit from that in center field, especially since we need a righty outfielder. I’m glad you brought up the 21 year. That’s one of the most ridiculous years for a center fielder maybe ever. I mean, we talked about like he just came off a five season this last year. It’s we put that superstar territory. Who was it? 21. It was 4.9 more in 61 games. That’s ridiculous. That’s like he he’s the Eric Davis of this generation. Mhm. Like all like like you said, alltime talent. Um if you can get him in New York, awesome. That’d be incredible. I don’t think he would wave his no trade clause to go to New York. I hope, you know, I hope I’m wrong, but I would I mean I’d be willing to to give up a pretty significant amount to land Byron Bucks. And again, least you pointed out last year um kind of did a lot more of the responsible center fielding last year. um a lot more of the responsible base running last year to kind of save himself. Now, do you get like the same like supernova level player? No, but like the B+ version of Aon Bucks is still better than every other center fielder, so it doesn’t really matter. Uh but again, like like yeah, like absolutely like that that’s that’s a fit. It works. It lines up with judges prime. I mean, it all of a sudden would give you Judge and Buckton in center. That’d be absolutely absurd. Um and if and if you obviously resign Bellinger, you’re talking about likely the best outfield in the sport. So, um yeah. No, like yeah, like I’m sold. I’m in. Thanks. And baseball. I’m in. Let’s go. The other thing with Buckton that is important to note is that even if you want to say, well, he’s going to miss X amount of games. He still puts up. These are not pro-rated four war seasons. These are No, he had a four war season. Yeah. Four wins above replacement is four wins above replacement. That is what you would reason. I wouldn’t know if the word is reasonable, but like realistic but optimistic way of of viewing Cody Ballinger in 2026. I think a four-war season is slightly behind what you would expect from Tucker in 2026 as well. Bucks on a per rate basis is better than any of those players. If healthy in the postseason, I would want Byron Buckton over Kyle Tucker or Cody Bellinger for that environment. Not because of previous postseason production because I think he’s a better player on a game-to-ame basis. The other thing that’s important to know is the contract. Even if you reset it with the AEV, which you have to do when you trade the player, it’s a $15.1 or2 million luxury tax hit. That is ridiculous. The big knock on acquiring Luis Roberts that it cost you $20 million for that year. It’s It’s a steal, dude. It’s a steal. You could put this guy in center and have Bellinger and left resigned and it would probably total up to a little bit more than what Kyle Tucker is going to get on his own per year. So, if this guy’s available, I I I think that’s the best way to go in the outfield. Obviously, it’s going to depend if he wants to play in New York. This he’s an Atlanta guy, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he only if he says it’s Atlanta or bus for me. But, if he’s willing to play in New York, we have to be the New York team that goes out and gets him because this guy is so that’s a Hall of Fame talent in a body that cannot handle how good he is. I will also say with Buckton, it kind of works with the already existing talent on the roster. Jones and Dominguez are both guys who project to be better against right-handed pitching than left-handed pitching. Not saying that you’re platooning Bucks in or whatever, but you’re going to need to give him the stay in treatment. Every four or five days, you’re not playing that day. Regardless of whether we have an off day or not, if it’s and the more likely outcomes you’re facing a righty, I mean, over half the pitchers in the league are right-handed pitchers. can work this out during the week and say, “All right, we’re facing a righty on Friday. We’ll have Bucks in play Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. Put Jones out or put Dominguez out there on Friday.” Or we give Stanton a day and Dominguez is playing twice a week in that in that four or five game stretch and guys are going to get hurt. That’s the other thing. Stan’s going to miss time. Buckton’s going to miss time. You don’t have to end Jason Dominguez’s time as a Yankee to add Buckton. That’s a really important part of that puzzle for me where I don’t have to trade Dominguez. just could if the right trade opens itself up to me. Um, that’s my only push back with even my own pushing of this two outfield narrative of I don’t want the Yankees to be no leverage on a Jason Dominguez trade, you’re going to get you’re just going to have to trade him and get nothing back. So, I guess I would ask this and I’m going to start with with Chris on this. If you were to make a trade proposal to the Twins, the Byron Bucks says, “I will play for the Yankees.” The Twins say, “All right, you’re still going to have to make us an offer that we like.” Yeah. What are you What are you offering? It’s funny cuz you you brought Dominguez like I wouldn’t he be included in this deal. Like maybe if you get Byron Bucks like my my thought process is oh we’re sending Dominguez out is kind of where where I would start. And so like anything centered around Jason Dominguez like I I mean I think you go he’s got the upside he’s got the athleticism. I mean obviously still young only 22 years old. Like I think that like like starting with him as the star prospect or you know young piece to kind of ship out. I think I I mean I don’t I don’t see a world where you’re able to to to land Bucks without at least sending him or Spencer Jones out. Yeah, I think I agree with that. I think it would be one of those two would be the centerpiece on the position the position player side of things. And then you probably need to add another really good arm like a Ben Hes maybe or a Cunningham, whoever they like in our system. And then maybe even like a Luis Heel, someone who’s in the big leagues and they can get they can pick up now and then maybe if he plays well they can flip him for more value in a year or two. So, I think it would take a serious package and I definitely do think it would take at least one of our top two outfield prospects or outfield young outfielders. So, uh, what do you think, Ryan? I think the big selling point for me too in this is if the Twins are like, “Hey, we traded everybody. Buxon doesn’t want to be here. He only wants to be a Yankee.” You don’t have to You’re not bidding with other teams. Mhm. Right. It’s kind of like True. It’s like when you the old posting system where you just have to bid to then get exclusive negotiating rights with the player. When you meet their demands, it’s not like you’re getting sized up with other demands. When you meet their demands, they’re yours. So, I do think that’s part of this for me. And I think yes, it’ll have to be one of your, you know, top three, fourish pitching prospects, one of your major league ready or major league outfielders. Um, it depends on what the Twins like. It depends on what they want. Um, but I do think if if they’re like if Buckston comes up to him and says, “You’ve traded Pablo Lopez. You traded Joe Bryant. I don’t want to be here. I don’t I want to go. I didn’t know it was going to be this bad with the tear down. I’d like to go.” And you know, please do right by me. Send me to the Yankees. I Yeah. You know, there’s there’s not a lot of field. You’re a twin. It’s also like one for one. I don’t could you imagine how cold it would be to like like I I just want to like There are a few things that could get me truly hype and and I not saying that in like a negative way. just say in the sense of I usually have the view that the Yankees are going to make additions in the offseason. If I woke up to a tweet at like 9:30 in the morning from Dan Hayes MLB breaking Byron Buckon has requested to the Minnesota Twins to be traded to the Yankees, I’d be like, “Oh my god. Oh my.” I’d go crazy. I’d go nuts. I think the closest thing to this uh hypothetical that we’re making in our heads right now is when Stanton rejected the trade, I think it was to St. Louis or something. He was like, “I only want to go to the Dodgers or the Yankees.” and I was like, “Oh [ __ ] it’s real now.” So hopefully we get a scenario. I think if Buck’s willing to come to us, he’d probably be willing to go to LA and Atlanta as well. So we probably would be bidding with a few other teams at least, a few other good teams with farm systems. But hopefully hopefully there’s he just loves the New York so much that he has to come here and and live here for a couple years. So who knows? I do think while the there are there are downsides, I don’t think people like playing with the New York media. I really don’t. I I I’ve never I’ve never heard like a oh, I genuinely enjoy when, you know, so and so on unnamed radio station insert here uh insults me personally and says I’m a loser because I made one bad play in the middle of June. That that is probably exhausting, but I do think Aaron Judge is a big draw. I do think people want to play with Aaron Judge. I I I just I’m sorry. I don’t see how you wouldn’t as a position player go, man, if I played X Aaron Judge, what are my numbers looking like? What is my life looking like? You know, I I think there’s a there’s an appeal to that and people want to win. And whether people like to hear this or not, like I saw this with the Paul Keen stuff, which obviously Paul Ke is going to be a Yankee where it’s like, well, it’s not different. The Yankees haven’t won in 15 years, like you’re you’re a [ __ ] You’re a [ __ ] If you think going to the Yankees isn’t one of the five best places you could go right now to win a championship if you’re a star player, you’re an idiot. You’re an idiot. You’re just stupid. There’s no saving you. There is no saving you. There is no there. I can’t educate you on that. If you’re gonna start rattling, Ryan, by the way, this is my favorite version. Like I No, I mean like that that I’m sorry that like I don’t know why that like randomly became a thing that I I I got upset when I saw it and I just don’t care to say anything cuz I’m not going to convince, you know, dumb person. Their mind’s made up. There’s no point in arguing. But this right here is my favorite version. Like if you honestly like we can’t help you. You’re an idiot. I got you. No, like you can’t but you can’t if someone’s going to go I’d rather well the Red Sox won a World Series in 2018 therefore you should rather go there than be a Yankee. It’s like who’s even there from that team? The Nationals won 2019 let’s everyone’s chomping at the bid to go to DC now. Yeah, dude. I mean they have a more recent World Series title than the Mets. I guess you’d want to be a national more than you’d want to be a Met. Why play with Juan Sto and Francisco? You could play with Keeper Ruiz and I is Riley Adams even there? I I don’t that that’s a weird name pull to drop considering they have Dylan Cruz and and and Abrams and I just know Adams because he was Blue Jay for a bit. I think back to your point about the the New York media, if Bucks comes to the Yankees, he’s probably like fourth or fifth in the pecking order in terms of who the blame falls on when we lose. So like having a judge there to be the captain and basically shield everyone is definitely a big thing. Uh and then like like I like we’ve already said, we’ve been glazing this guy for 20 minutes now. He’s the superstar level player, but he doesn’t need to be the guy that we rely on every single day to get the job done. So, I think it’s a perfect fit as long as he’s willing to come to the city. And I will open welcome with open arms and I will be pushing I will I will be on the media thinks they’ll be on the offensive against Buckton. No, no, no. I’ll be on the offensive against the media that’s against Buckton. There’s there’s there’s the play there. I I can go on the offensive now for these kinds of things. I I will say though, Buxon seems like a great dude. That’s like part of this for me. He seems like an awesome guy. Uh and putting him on like a legitimate contender. I feel I’m not saying he’s going to get better and magically start being healthy. That’s hogwash. That’s bologn. Um I just it would be cool for him, you know? I want him as a baseball fan to go to a contender. Not just the Yankees, just a contender. Preferably not the Blue Jays or Red Sox, but you can go anywhere else. You know, you want to go be a a Padre, go right ahead. Please. Please. to be a you know the Dodgers. I don’t know if I like hate them so I don’t I don’t care. I think if he goes to the Dodger I’ll be upset but like I hate Miguel Rohouse. Yeah, I agree. I’ll say it. And I hated him before the Jazz stuff came out. I always hate him. I thought he was a a PR gimmick. I Oh, don’t get me started on Miguel Roas. And then he has the magic moment. Oh, great. I do I don’t forgive him but I hate he’s not like number one on my nonofffield related stuff like reasons why I don’t like a player. He’s not number one because of the home run that that home run pushed him to like seven or eight on the list. No, that the reason I don’t like that is because I’ve been tweeting about him all year about how he’s only on the roster for PR reasons and then he actually has a big moment. I’m like [ __ ] that was like my thought was how is he hitting here? Why is he hitting here? and then he hits a home run. I’m glad I didn’t tweet it out. I I thought it fully and I think I said it in like numer to numerous people. Um but any final thoughts on Byron Buckton before we move on before we this becomes the Miguel Rohas hate show and I dropped the whiffle ball. I apologize for that. Um any final thoughts on Bucks though? Bring him here. All right. So the final thing that is relevant, not the most relevant but semi-relevant is Tatsuya Imi will be posted on November 19th. That’s this Wednesday. Now, this is coming out on Tuesday, even though we’re recording on Monday. So, kind of getting your timelines all put together if you’re listening to this. Tatsuya MI being posted means that he will have 45 days to sign with an MLB team. I’m pretty confident in saying he’s the most linked to guy for the Yankees outside of Cody Ballinger. And the Cody Ballinger stuff is more I think it makes sense for him to come back. Not even I know for a fact he’s coming back. Uh we don’t really even know what his market’s going to look like yet. But in the case of MI, I want you guys to give me out of 10 what your odds of the Yankees signing him on. Actually, let’s just do 0 to 100%. That’s just way simpler. Um zero to 100% odds he ends up a Yankee. We’ll start with Chris. Chris, give me your uh number here. Um 80%. 80% and I have it at seven for 160. Okay. I think both those numbers are pretty fair. Uh, I’d say probably maybe 65%. I don’t know about 80. 80 is pretty high. Uh, because we have no way of knowing whether or not he wants to be on the West Coast or what have you. But I think the contract numbers also pretty fair. Like somewhere in the mid 100s, somewhere around 150, 160. That’s that’s kind of similar to Tanaka’s deal, right? Wasn’t Tanaka 7 years 140? I think it was around that range. Yeah, I think it was 150 maybe. Um, but that’s a number I’d give him. I’d actually try and give him the seventh year to just stretch out the AE. I want that AE to stay down. I’m using his youth for AEV luxury tax purposes. You know, I’m a big fan of dodging the luxury tax and dodging taxes in general, uh, for baseball purposes, uh, and trying to help with your luxury tax situation, not get into that Coen threshold before you make other additions for your bullpen, whatever it may be. Uh, for Emi, I will give you I I want to say I want to say a higher number than Chris, but I can’t. I was going to go with around 60% as well. Um, I think the Yankees are very motivated to get him. I think the West Coast, East Coast thing. So, from my understanding, and I and I know Yankee source said this in an article as well, he’s very tapped in on international free agent stuff. Um, he mentioned that the East Coast, West Coast thing wasn’t really going to be an issue. I tried and checked to check in, see kind of what that deal was, and that’s pretty much in line with what I’ve been hearing of like, oh yeah, East Coast not really an issue for him. I also don’t think his west coast suitors are going to be that plentiful. Uh it seems like it’s really the Padres’s. Uh and they have financial issues. So I don’t know if they’re if we get out bid by the Padres’s I’m going to be a little bit stunned. Uh the threat I look at and go are the Blue Jays just cuz they’re on our coast. If Mai is someone who just doesn’t like the New York media, I mean that’s a variable. um if he wants to be in a an international star for three countries, that’s a thing that could appeal to him. I don’t know. That’s just me speculating. But I just think the Yankees are so motivated for one. Like I think the Yankees aren’t going to be in on Famber Valdez. The Blue Jays might be. Yankees aren’t going to be in on Dylan CE most likely. The Blue Jays might be. I think so many teams are going to have pivot points and players they’re willing to go after. I think the Yankees are just laser focused pitching wise on MI. I don’t like Sandy was a guy they were linked to at the deadline, but I don’t think the logistics for the Marlins make much sense. And for the Yankees, maybe it makes sense, but I don’t know. Uh, but for the Marlins, I mean, they have to be willing to trade the player. It just feels like Amaya is the guy they’re going to get. And it feels like that’s the guy they want. And it feels like they’re just upset they don’t have they’re upset they don’t have a Japanese star. Like I I think they’re I think people don’t give I think people rail on them too much for their pursuits of Japanese stars. I think they’ve really tried. and it just hasn’t worked their way, which happens. The Dodgers happen, you know. Yeah, I think this this definitely reminds me of the Tanaka sweep stakes from about was it 10 11 years ago now? Jesus Christ, we’re getting old. But uh yeah, I I think I’m 21. We is a lot of people. I’m good. No, I’m um But no, I actually I don’t I don’t remember like the specifics. I just remember the day he signed. That’s my brain memory of it. Um wow. Wow. I was I think I was nine for that. My god. Yeah, I was in uh I remember I made I made an Instagram post for him. I was like the Yankees signed a Japanese picture. I don’t remember what I I I remember I think I I don’t have I didn’t have social media until I was in high school. It just my personal Instagram. I like got Instagram like a month before. So I was posting like every day. Gotcha. So I was like the Yankee sign Masahiro Tanaka. He went 24 and0 in in for the for the Racketin Golden Eagles. And all my 20 followers were like, “Oh, wow. Those 20 followers got great content.” I will say what Tatsuya, it’s he’s not an ace. I think we’re all He’s not If he’s your number one starter, good luck. Uh went wrong. If you’re Yeah, something went wrong. But I if the Yankees like him, I’m predisposed to believe there’s something like I I’m I’m going to believe there’s something there. Um the questions are real about his repertoire, about his future, but we’ll see there. I think. Oh, okay. Fun question related to this because I’ve been pondering this. If you had to pick the Yankees sign Cody Bellinger, they have Cody Bellinger and it’s between Buckton and Ei. Who are you? Who’s your like Brian Cash like I’m only getting one of them. I’m not getting the other. If I get one, I’m not getting the other. Give me Buckton. Yeah. All day. It’s not even close for me either. It’s not even close. I’m sorry. I’m taking Bon all day. And see you later. We We’ll get the next Japanese star. [ __ ] We’ll get SC We’ll get Scooble next year. I don’t need a Mai. Give me Buck. You’re telling me. You’re telling me I could get What? You said if we signed Belly, it’d be Belly Buckton Judge. Oh, what a lineup, dude. What a lineup that would be. I am willing I’m willing to like buzz all my hair off for for Buckton. I’m going bald for Buckton. Bald for Bon. I’m not I’m not doing that [ __ ] We get him. No. Yo, dude. I I Okay, you know what? I’ll swear to look Ryan Ryan me and you were in. I don’t know if and that’s baseball is in because he’s going I’m not going bald for Bucks. You got to understand you got you got to understand my genetics. If I shave this off it might not come back. I don’t know if mine are coming back. But I will say you do have like my hair is not in a state where I can sit here and say like I need it badly. Like my hair is not great. Dude, I cannot I can’t grow a beard. So if I go shaved head I I’d be like I’d be cooked. I think I’m the oldest out of all of us though. So I’d probably run the risk of it not coming back. I I’ll take the bullet for us. I’m the youngest. I just I’ll take the bullet. That’s fair. Bald for Buckton. I’m saying it now. If Byron Bucks is a New York, I will shave my head. Ryan, I’m sorry. And as baseball is cooked, your hair is good, dog. It’s I won’t even take my hat off for a show. So, you’re good, dude. Dude, I I don’t know, man. I I I I don’t I’m not forcing anybody to do anything. I’m I’m I’m willing to do it, though. I’ll do it with you. I’ll do it with you. We’ll leave in that space and we’ll make fun of him for not um not have going Yeah. at you with your good head of hair and your very well put together curls like loser. Like could you imagine that podcast episode’s like like people like tuned who’ve never watched before. Why are two of these people bald? I’ll say this. If I get a serious paycheck from this podcast, I’ll [ __ ] do that [ __ ] We we want the eyebrows off first in that baseball eyebrows. That might be eyebrows going. Keep the hair. Give us the eyebrows. Dude, I cut off my eyebrows accidentally shaving because I I could grow a uni unibrow. I’m trying I’m not trying to have that. And somebody said I had the bat signal on my eyebrows because of the way it was cut. Um that was that was a rough day for me to go to middle school. Uh but uh instead of I I know that we’ve we’ve sideways we’ve gone sidetracking from Amai to Buckton to whether I will shave my head or not and who will be shaving their heads if we got Byron Buckton. Um bald for Buckton’s a thing. I think that’s a thing. I think it works. Uh but anywh who we appreciate you guys tuning in. And if you guys enjoyed this podcast, make sure you like, subscribe, turn on that notification bell, and check out Fireside Yankees on all of your favorite social media platforms, whether that’s Instagram, Tik Tok, Twitter, Facebook, or of course this YouTube page. This will be available for download on Spotify and Apple Podcast as well. For those who enjoy to take their who prefer to take their podcast on the go, listen to it on audio, not watch the video, that’s cool with me. Um, and you can check out uh the personal work we all do. I have a YouTube channel that I’ll I’m not really sure I’m going to link it. I it’s just my name so like I I feel like that just works. Um and that’s baseball. We’ll link his channel below and we’re going to link Chris’s stuff as well. Both what he does at Menace Sports and his personal page as well. We appreciate you guys continued support. We’ll see you guys in the next one. Peace out everybody. [Music] [Applause] Perfect. Perfect. Perfect.

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Intro: (00:00)
Ryan Yarbrough Returns (01:41)
40-Man Decisions (08:01)
Qualifying Offers (18:14)
Byron Buxton (32:32)
Tatsuya Imai Posting (46:50)
Outro: (54:40)