Is the West Coast REALLY More Appealing to Japanese Players Than the New York Yankees?

Is the West Coast REALLY More Appealing to Japanese Players Than the New York Yankees?

Yeah, you’ll never see this publicly confirmed because agents love getting the Yankees involved in any type of negotiation imaginable. And credit to the Yankees, they’re always heavily involved in negotiations for Japanese players. They’ve never shy away from getting a Japanese player. You are Locked on Yankees, your daily New York Yankees podcast, part of the Locked On Network. Your team every day. Welcome to Locked on Yankees, which is part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. Thank you for making us your first listen every day. I’m Stacy Gotulius. He’s Brian McKon. We’re both lifelong Yankee fans. We’ve both been covering the Yankees for a long time. Between the two of us, it’s been about oo 15 years. So, it’s a long Yeah, it’s a long time. Today’s episode is brought to you by Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use code locked on MLB for $20 off your first purchase. So today’s show, we’re going to talk about the ALCS going to game seven, do or die in Toronto. That’s going to be interesting. We already know the results of the NLCS when we recorded on Friday. We didn’t know the results of the NLCS yet, but we kind of had an idea of what was going to happen. So, of course, we’ll talk about that, too. We’re going to talk about Jesus Montero. If you didn’t hear, he passed away in Venezuela. We’ll just talk about, you know, his time with the Yankees and his career and how it didn’t pan out like everyone thought it would. But first, thought this was an interesting topic to discuss because we’ve discussed it a a few times on the show already, but Joe Randazzo, who writes for Sports Illustrated on the website, and he’s also known as Yankee Librarian on social media, wrote a piece called Japanese Stars No Longer View Yankees as Destination. And I thought it was an interesting topic for us to discuss. Yeah, you’ll never see this publicly confirmed because agents love getting the Yankees involved in any type of negotiation imaginable. And credit to the Yankees, they’re always heavily involved in negotiations for Japanese players. They’ve never shied away from getting a Japanese player. Um, this narrative has gone on for a while and I’ve publicly uh stated that I don’t believe it. Like I I the narrative of them wanting Japanese players wanting to be on the West Coast because it’s closer to Japan, I don’t think is very like plausible. I don’t think it means much. I don’t um Mas Masataka Yoshida who was one of the top guys coming out signs in Boston a few years ago and we’ve seen this before like it’s not only the Yankees when it’s as an East Coast option, right? I don’t think it like these guys fly on private planes. these it they’re not they’re not sitting on, you know, they’re not sitting on Delta in in coach or whatever to be able or business class or whatever to get to Japan. That’s not how it works. Also, they’re not flying back and forth to Japan on like a Wednesday off day that they have, right? So, I don’t know how much it necessarily means to be 4 hours, 5 hours closer to Japan. They’re not going there on an off day anyway. So, I don’t I don’t understand. The only time they’re going to Japan is in the off season when the time doesn’t really make that much of a difference because on a private plane, but it does seem like it has some legs. The more and more I don’t believe the story, the more and more it seems like guys are just obsessing over playing on the West Coast and don’t want to do with the East Coast. Now, I will say this, I think the Yankees are a little bit of saved because of Tanaka and Matsui. I think it helps out a lot when it comes to that. Well, this is a recent but this is a recent it’s a recent problem and I really just think it’s show Otani chose the West Coast first with the Angels, then he went to the Dodgers, right? Then Yamamo Yamamoto’s coming. He chooses the Dodgers to play with Otani. And then Suzaki, same thing, chooses the Dodgers to play with Otani. I think the recent ones have more to do with Otani than not wanting to play for the Yankees. Yeah. And correct me if I’m wrong. Did any of them ever publicly say, “I chose them because it’s clo I chose the West Coast because it’s closer to Japan.” No. No one ever publicly said that. I think Yamamoto a lot of it has to do with a playing with Yotani, but B the Dodgers gave him 300 plus million dollars to go over there and pitch. Like I don’t that has a lot to do with it, too. I don’t I don’t know. It was never confirmed and I I find it very hard to believe that the Yankees were interested in handing out $300 million to a guy that wasn’t proven in the major leagues yet. I just think the Yankees weren’t interested in getting into those negotiations and Sasaki they would have loved but I think it was the Yankees at that moment had no Japanese players on their roster and the Dodgers had two of the best Japanese players in the world on their roster at that point. I think it’s a little more enticing to go over the Dodgers when you could play with two of the probably highest jersey sales in in Japan over the last five years. So, I do think there’s reason, but you Darvish went to Texas when he signed with what he signed in uh in uh America and and I don’t think Texas was one of the top destinations in baseball to go pitch in. And U Darvish was one of the top pitchers that everyone wanted and he went over to sign with Texas. I mean, you know, again, I think Tanaka helps a lot because you you did see the love that Masahiro Tanaka got and still gets. And Stacy, he didn’t win a World Series in New York, but just his playoff performances. Masahiro Tanaka is beloved in New York because of the grit that he showed and and the strength that he showed. People love him in New York. And a guy that’s even more loved, a Ducky Masui. I mean, he single-handedly in game six won them that game and, you know, won them that World Series for that reason. He’s beloved in New York, too. And by the way, let’s not forget his exit wasn’t so gracious on the way out of New York, too, because the Yankees won that World Series and said, “Thanks. See you later.” And let him walk. So, so, and yet he loves coming back. He’s there at every old-timer’s day. He’s around the team. He’s an adviser for the team. Charitable events. He’s there. And you better believe every meeting they have with international players that are coming from Japan, Matsui is in that room. And those players speak to Haki Matsui. speak to um Masahiro Tanaka about their experiences playing for the Yankees and no one has ever considered that they’ve had a a poor time playing here. They both speak very highly of the organization. So, and these Japanese players, trust me, as impressed as they are with meeting Otani and playing with Otani and everything like that, they’re even more impressed by playing with Deki Matsui, who is one of the most famous Japanese baseball players ever since definitely him and Otani at this point are the two most famous Japanese players. So I I still am going to stay on that stance. I don’t think it has anything to do with East Coast, West Coast. I really don’t. I think it’s just a circumstance of what has happened over the last five plus years of Japanese players stinging with the Los Angeles Dodgers. That’s really it in my opinion. Yeah. I I don’t think it has to do with the whole no one wants to play for the Yankees. They’re not the same anymore. It’s not that narrative because then Max Freed wouldn’t have taken the money from the Yankees and Rodon wouldn’t have taken the money from the Yankees and Cole wouldn’t have taken the money from the Yankees. The Yankees are still the Yankees no matter what people say about them and no matter how much people joke about how oh, you know, they can’t make it through the playoffs or they haven’t won a World Series in 16 years. It’s they’re still the Yankees. Yeah. And you’re still guaranteed to play in a playoff game every single year. By the way, Cam Schlitler is from the Boston area, grew up a Red Sox fan, and couldn’t care like that that meant nothing to him. I know he was drafted, but like that mean nothing to him. So, I don’t want to hear that narrative either. Uh people I’m sure there are some players that are um uh prickly enough and don’t like the Yankees enough to not want to sign there, but you never hear it publicly said because they want the Yankees involved in the negotiations. Unless you’re Vlad Junior and you say, Unless you’re Vlad Junior, but you know what? He was getting $500 million no matter what, so he really didn’t care. Um, I just I don’t believe this kind of stuff and I don’t think that anti Yankee narrative is out there in Japan either to be honest with you. I think I think the Yankees are in fact probably one of the more popular teams out in Japan just because of what Matsui did coming over winning a World Series. Apparently when you go over to Tokyo, you see Yankee hats all over the place. So I don’t think it has anything to do with that either to be honest with you. I had a friend from college who was an exchange student from Japan. Shirou, we still when was the last time we talked? We talked a few years ago. We still are in touch. He came back to the States after college in 2003. He was in the Philadelphia area. He wanted to come to Yankee Stadium for his first time because he had been to baseball games on the West Coast cuz he has family out there, but he hadn’t been to Yankee Stadium and he wanted to see Hideki Matsui badly. So, I took him to a Subway Series game in June of 2003. So, I got to see Shirou’s reaction to walking into old Yankee Stadium after seeing it on TV. That’s fantastic. That’s amazing. Where he was just like he looked like a little kid, you know, and we were what, 29 at the time. And, you know, like I saw it through his eyes and it was really exciting for me. And I told him before the game started, I said, “Jeff Weaver’s giving up three runs in the first inning. Matsui’s going to hit a home run for you and the Yankees are going to win the game. Jeff Weaver gives up three runs in the top of the first inning to the Mets. Jeromy Bernett’s Jeremy Bernett hit like a Okay. Okay. Wow. Right. Okay. Matsui hits a home run to put the Yankees ahead 4-3 and the Yankees ended up winning that game. So when the three runs happened, Shurro was like I said when Matsui hit the home run, he was like, “You are scary.” I said, “Thank you. I know. I just I recognize patterns. I know when things are going to happen.” But he had the best time. But he was so excited to see Hideki Matsui because in 2003 when Matsui came over, it was a very big deal for the Japanese people to watch him as a Yankee. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. I mean, so I don’t think that narrative exists. In fact, I think I think Matsui and Tanaka have helped out um when it comes to people liking playing on the East Coast. And again, the Otani again, Otani is not sitting on on a on a a coach airline at 6:00 in the morning to fly over to Japan. He’s flying private, right? And so did Tanaka and so do any of these guys. They’re flying private and they don’t go back to Japan in the middle of the season. Even in the All-Star break, they don’t go do that. They stay in the States. So, they’re going back in the offseason. Who cares how long the flight takes? I don’t think it has anything to do with it. I really don’t. Um, I just think it’s more of a a convenient narrative. But if the Yankees are paying you $200 million, you don’t care, right? Uhhuh. Who’s who’s paying you what, where you play, you’re just going to go and play for that team. So, I think Yankees are one of the more popular ones. You know, they put on a whole show for Yamamoto and he turned them down and people turned that into something bigger than it was. And that’s fine. He has the right to sign with whoever he wants to sign. But I think a lot of it has to do with like we again you’re talking about the phenom that Matsui was before he came over to the Yankees. Uh how about Show Otani? I mean he he is the biggest thing in the world in Japan right now. I mean one of the bigger athletes in the world Otani thing where he was like no I’m not playing on the on the East Coast so don’t even like we’re I’m not even going to bother. That wasn’t a shot at the Yankees. That was a shot at everyone. Yeah. East of the Mississippi. And he knew where he wanted to play. He loved that. He basically said, “I love LA. I want to be here.” He originally chose LA. He’s like, “I just want to play for a winner.” And believe you me, if the if the Angels were as successful as the Dodgers were at the time, he probably stays with the Angels. Yes. He wanted to be in Los Angeles. He chose Los Angeles originally, he wanted to stay in Los Angeles. He just wanted to go to a winner and he chose the Dodgers and they paid him a boatload of money and that’s where he went. That’s how it works. I don’t think it has anything to do with every he’s worth every penny that they gave him already. Borderline discount. Borderline discount already. Um there was one quick thing here. So the next big player that’s coming up from Japan is uh Mooney Taka Urakami. Hopefully I said that correctly. Yeah. So he’s the next big name. And I just want to say it right now. If he doesn’t pick the Yankees, it’s not because Japanese players hate the Yankees. I’m just saying they’re going to be involved and apparently they want him very badly and there are no significant words out that the Dodgers are be involved. Now I don’t think offseason news would come out like that right now while they’re playing in the World Series or going to be playing in the World Series. But sign everyone can because it seems like it. But can they if they fought that narrative? They’re doing their best to fight that narrative right now. So we’ll see. But yeah, um Yankees will be heavy after him and we’ll see if they can wind up getting him. I don’t think it’s gonna have to do with East Coast, West Coast to be honest with you. Right. All right. 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It’s fun. 14-day free trial. All right. Coming up, we’re going to go from, you know, an interesting conversation to a sad one. Former Yankee Jesus Montero has passed away. We will talk about his career with the Yankees and the Mariners next. There’s nothing like catching a baseball game live. The energy, the crowd, and the chance to see your favorite team in person. But actually getting tickets always seems to be the difficult part. That’s that’s the cues, the login screens, surprise fees. It takes all the fun out of even going. And that’s why I always use Game Time, the app that gives the advantage back to the fans. Game Time is fast, easy, and backed by the Game Time guarantee. You’ll always get 100% authentic tickets that are delivered on time and at the best price possible. Plus, all the fees are included, so the price you see is the price that you pay. The app is made super simple. I can even see the exact view from my seats before buying them. 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We’re going to open it up to comments, which should be interesting. comments about the show, comments about the Yankees, comments about baseball in general. We prefer questions, but if you can’t think of a question, you can leave a statement and we will talk about it on Fan Mail Friday. All available, all offseason. We’re looking forward to all the Fan mail Friday episodes coming up. Uh Stacy, some awfully sad news. Uh rest in peace to Jesus Montero, uh former uh Yankee top prospect. uh one of the more highly thought of players uh really ever coming up to the Yankees system and then part of it pretty significant trade um for the Yankees uh later on. Um in the best of words, it’s it’s just horrible to see someone go uh uh this young. Not the way his major league career I think wanted to necessarily go. Um but really just awful news that that broke early on Sunday. Yeah. So he was seriously injured in an accident back on October 5th. The story is he was riding a motorcycle and he was struck by a drunk driver. That’s the news that came out when it happened. And he was in a medically induced coma and he succumbed to his injuries early on Sunday, October 19th. So the news trickled out probably around noon 12:30 Eastern time. And it was shocking to everyone who saw the news because you didn’t really hear much after he was in the medically induced coma and you just were hoping for the best. And uh this is just really sad news. He’s only 35. He was about to turn 36 in December. So I mean that’s just too young for something like this to happen. Yeah. Horrible stuff. Um, you know, uh, we we come from a different generations of watching the Yankees and there are a lot of top tier prospects that come up through the system that you wind up hearing every every team has these guys that you hear of this player for years and years and years and it’s going to be the next great thing and then you it finally comes to fruition of what he is in the major leagues and what he’s able to become in the major leagues and all of those things that surround it. And for me, uh, I was born in 97. Jesus Montero was one of the first major Yankee prospects that I had attached to, oh, you know, they got all these prospects to trade, but you can’t move Monttero. You got away from Montero. He was supposed to be the next thing, the follow up from Pada, the the the big prospect that they can’t move him. uh you know, you put here in our in our rundown, which which I kind of don’t really remember to be honest with you. Uh just a player that the Yankees were seriously involved in trying to acquire that Monttero was it was turned down because Monttero could not be put in the trade, which is so crazy to think of. Just just let everyone know who this is because it’s it’s wild to even think of. Yeah, I I’m pretty sure that when Cliff Lee was being floated around in 2010 to be traded, Jesus Montero and I can’t think of the other guy’s name. Andrew Brackman possibly. I think those two guys were and the Yankees were like, “No.” Yeah. And and he goes to the Rangers. You wind up seeing what he does to to the Yankees in those series. Oh jeez. The ALCS. Yeah. That was And they couldn’t sign him. He signs with the Philadelphia Phillies. I mean, Cliff Lee for a good three or four year stretch there was the talk of baseball. He was so unbelievably dominant and then got the big deal from the Phillies and just was never the same at all. Really crazy stuff out of that. But Yankees wouldn’t move Jesus Monto. We’ve seen this with other uh prospects throughout the years where that they just they refuse to trade them for anybody. Anthony Vulpi was the recent one. You had the Clint Frasier and Miguel Anduhars where they were untouchable pieces and couldn’t be moved. And again, for me as a baseball fan, that was the first one that I really remember where I I got a little older because when you’re when you’re at a younger age and you’re, you know, seven or eight years old, you’re not focused on the prospects. You’re only focused on the Yankees. But then when you get into that mid- teens year, you start to be like, oh wait, minor league teams exist and there’s other way. And that was the first player that I really knew of that, you know, you’re thinking about him coming up and he’s going through the minor league system and he’s an untouchable player and you’re so much anticipating. It’s him and Shelley Duncan are the two players that I really anticipated making their debuts. And you know, Mont winds up getting called up September of 2011. Um, played 18 games and the Yankees were not in love with what they saw, but they traded him to Seattle for Michael Peneda, if you guys remember. And you know, we see what happened after that. You know, Michael Peneda did so well, they were like, “We need a pitcher. We might as well go for this because we didn’t get Cliff Lee.” Yeah. And and then Pana doesn’t really do anything. Injures himself. Doesn’t really come back till 2014. Just Yeah. It feels like that that cliff that Cliff Lee trade that never worked out has cursed the Yankees ever since. It was a big whiff because there’s a large debate they go to the World Series in 2010 or 11. Um if they have Cliff Lee on their probably both. Yeah, I would probably how dominant that team was and that you basically had the same roster as the09 roster minus Matsui who we talked about earlier. I mean, even 2012, cuz if you have Lee and CC Sabathia pitching in a fivegame series against Baltimore, it doesn’t go five games. That series is not going five games in 2012. Not with those two. Do you imagine if they had those two at the top? Plus, Bern I mean, Bernett’s number three. Well, not then because he was with the Pirates by then, but And I don’t I don’t know if they would have uh if they would have signed Well, they and they might whatever. It’s it’s in semantics at this point, but having Sebathia and and Lee at the top of that rotation would have been insane with what that pitching staff looked like, plus that bullpen. I mean, you’re talking going those two to Mariano in a playoff game. Yeah, pretty uh pretty hard to stop. But yeah, just awfully devastating news for uh Azus Montero here. Um he only played in Major League Baseball until 2015. Uh he played his last game in October of 2015 with the Mariners. Only played in 226 career games. uh not a prospect that really wound up uh fulfilling everything that people really thought of him to become. I mean, would he I don’t know if he ever reached the top prospect in all of baseball. He was definitely the top in the Yankee system. I don’t believe he did. I he was one he was definitely he was definitely in the top 10 if I’m not mistaken. I think he got as high as maybe six if I recall correctly from reading one of the articles earlier on Sunday when I was putting this together. But his best season was in 2012. He batted 260, 298, 386, which isn’t, you know, anything crazy with 15 home runs, 62 runs driven in and he played 134 games at catcher and DH for the Mariners in that season. Yeah, really unfortunate uh the way his career went ended and uh you know, rest in peace to Jesus Monto. All prayers out to him and his family. Just awful news that you didn’t want to really see on your Sunday morning. Yeah. All right. Well, coming up, we’re going to talk about the ALCS because it’s going to a game seven up in Canada and we’re going to discuss whether or not either of these teams have a shot in heck against the Dodgers in the World Series. So, we’ll talk about that all next. The NFL season is here and FanDuel has an offer that you’re not going to want to miss. Right now, new customers can bet just $5 and get $300 in bonus bets if you win. That’s right. Pick a bet, put down five bucks, and if it hits, you’ll unlock $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Now, I love how FanDuel gives me so many ways to play. I’ve built parlays. I’ve tried player props and even followed the live lines during all of the games. It makes watching football just so much more exciting when you got a little bit of juice riding on all the action every single Sunday. And I want to say what a Sunday we saw yesterday between the Giants and their comeback. But not so quick because the Broncos are able to win that game. 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I think they’re watching a dynasty. I do. And and I hate admitting that because the Yankees are the Atlanta the first team or whatever the last team to lose to them in the World Series. I think they’re that good. Yeah. And I don’t I don’t know where the weakness is. Maybe it’s in the bullpen, but they fixed that with putting Sasaki back there and having Shien coming out. I I I don’t see their weakness. Their lineup is stacked. The the the beautiful thing that the Blue Jays are able to do is that the the the VAR shows and the bargers of their lineup are able to come through at little the Dodgers do that too, right? Starting pitching staff is so much better than anybody that the Blue Jays or the Mariners are going to throw out there. Now, the Mariners have good starting pitching, but Woo hasn’t pitched till postseason. Logan Gilbert, I’m sorry. Every time he’s on the mound in a big spot this postseason, wets himself. Um, who do you trust on in the Blue Jay staff, they get through? It’s Gossman’s their their ace. He doesn’t sniff the top four in the Dodgers rotation. I just I don’t I don’t know how there’s any remote possibility the Dodgers lose this series. The only advantage they have is the home crowd is not as good in LA as it will be in Seattle or Toronto. That’s literally the only thing I see. And that was the case last year and the Yankees lost in five games. I I’m sorry. Like if you have a different opinion, please provide it to me. I just I don’t see how the Dodgers I think they’re going to be significant favorites and I think they’re gonna I think it’s over in five at the max, right? I think five is the max as well. I think so, too. I think they’re just too dominant. Um, so let’s talk about game seven. Sure. It’s in Toronto. Toronto’s riding high over the win in game six. Does that give them the upper hand? Um, that’s a good question. Uh, I think so. Um, I now I’ll say this. Uh, it’s George Kirby against Shane Bieber. Uh, two not so much world beaters. Uh but Kirby yeah uh there’s a redemption spot there for him too and Bieber wasn’t exactly excellent in his start either so there is that um I’ll be honest with you if you watch game six uh Seattle gave the game away in a lot of resp row third fourth and the fifth and crazy I want to ask you this baseball strategical uh perspective here in the third inning when when rally comes up with the bases loaded, swings at the first pitch, grounds out out of it. Do you like or hate rally swing at the first pitch there? You know me, I don’t like that. See, I didn’t hate it because I my my thought process was 22-year-old pitcher at home, loaded the bases, team has the lead, and he just walked the last guy. He’s thinking, I got to get one over here. Yes. And my thought is he just walked the last guy. So, yeah. And both perspectives are are are really like that’s the part of baseball right now that I love is the strategy that goes into that. I don’t any other hitter on that lineup. I would say no, you got to take a pitch and make him throw you a strike. Mhm. Cal Rally who’s got the home run capability. I think I like I if it was the Yankees, I would only let Judger Stanton swing there because they have a chance to jump on the first pitch and take it yard and change the entire outcome of the game, potentially the series. Yeah. Um, every time I think Toronto is just doesn’t have a chance in the game and just isn’t going to win a game, they come through and win, right? And their pitching has not been great. Their bullpen has has, even though their bullpen looked good in game six, has not been great. But Vlad has been great this postseason. I I hate to admit it. He’s been outstanding. Their their bottom, again, the VAR shows IKF had a big hit in game six. the bottom of their lineup just does just makes plays and and Stacy, this is very frustrating coming out of the Yankee fans mouth. They put the ball in play. They don’t strike out. They make you make plays. They We knew that going into the series Yankees. Yeah. No, I know. And and but but it’s it’s held true in the postseason. They don’t shoot themselves in the foot. They make every play they need to make. And that’s continued throughout the postseason. And it’s so hard to battle that if you’re an opposing team. It just is. Um, we’ll see if they The Dodgers Well, yeah, because the Dodgers do that, too, right? And I Here’s the thing, too. The only thing that’s different. The Dodgers can shoot themselves in the foot early in the game, right? They’re so talented. They can hit their way out of those mistakes, right? Like this game ended 6-2 in game six, and honestly, the final score is not indicative of what it looked like. The real final score in this game is like 10-2. The Blue Jays outplayed them and the Mariners couldn’t come through in moment in the clutch moments. That’s just how the game went. But the Dodgers could be down 6-2 in the eighth and won’t panic because they could easily put up a 10-runn inning. They’re that good. Their lineup is that ridiculous. I mean, I don’t see how the Dodgers are going to lose a World Series. I’m super excited to look forward to game seven and see how that one works out. But I honestly think either one that goes through. I don’t think there’s a chance the Dodgers lose this series. I really don’t. Yeah. Yeah. And if Seattle wins, the Dodgers get homefield advantage. If Toronto wins, Toronto has homefield advantage in the World Series, which I don’t think matters that much, but um either way, I think the American League team will have the advantage in a game seven 100%. Um I do want to ask this um jealousy from winning absolutely exists. Uh, I don’t know how you feel because this narrative is going around a lot that a lot of baseball fans just don’t like the Dodgers because of the way they operate that they sign everybody and have a great farm system. Am I jealous of the way they do things? 100%. But is that because I would love for the Yankees to do things that way? Yes. I don’t understand hating a team because they just operate their organization perfectly, right? It took And it took How long did it take the Dodgers to figure this out and do this? Decades. Exactly. Decades. But I don’t I this narrative going around now where I mean I everyone loves to hate the team that wins all the time, but they hate them because they win, right? This narrative going around that everyone just likes to hate the Dodgers because they’re successful is just kind of strange to me. But they they do everything the way that I wish the Yankees had a top farm system and also had a $500 million payroll and also still go after every free agent and also no one to cut ties with guys because it’s not worth like they do everything perfectly as an organization. I wish the Yankees operated this way honestly. So I I don’t I I guess I’m jealous of their winning, but I don’t hate them because they’re good. how instead of complaining about how the Dodgers do their work, how they work, how they copy it, emulate it, do the same. You can you have the money to do the same thing. You’re the New York Yankees. They’re the LA Dodgers. That’s how it’s supposed to be. No one stopping you but yourself, right? Thank you for making Locked on Yankees your first listen every day. Hey, for your second listen, find the allnew Locked on MLB Game Night every game, every night until a World Series champion is crowned, probably the Dodgers. Get local analysis on a national scale. Find MLB Game Night unlocked on MLB on YouTube or wherever you listen to your podcast. And you know, we didn’t even get into how disappointing Milwaukee was. But maybe we’ll do that on tomorrow’s show because sure, we have we have uh we don’t have a lot to talk about with the Yankees not playing. So maybe we could complain about we could complain about Milwaukee and how disappointing they were in the NLCS. Maybe. Maybe. So that’ll do it for this edition of Locked on Yankees. I’m Stacy Gotulius and I’m Brian McKe and we’ll catch you guys tomorrow.

Hosts Stacey Gotsulias and Brian McKeon analyze the tragic passing of Jesus Montero and debate whether or not Japanese players view the Yankees as a desirable destination. The ALCS Game 7 between Toronto and Seattle is previewed, with speculation on how either team would fare against the dominant Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series.

Joe Randazzo’s piece for SI: https://www.si.com/mlb/yankees/news/japanese-stars-longer-view-new-york-yankees-destination

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