00:00Tom, yesterday, as we did, again, watching this game and also going over some Major League Baseball,
00:04we spent a lot of time talking about the American League, which the New York Yankees right now
00:08are the favorites here to win the pennant at a plus 470 price,
00:11followed closely by the Seattle Mariners, then the Blue Jays, Red Sox, and the Orioles.
00:15A-L-E is certainly heavy, but I know a lot of times we were talking about like,
00:19hey, is there any other teams, Tom, that could be involved?
00:21Give me some other teams that you're looking for to win the pennant,
00:24as opposed to, let's just say, the Yankees, the Mariners, or the Blue Jays.
00:27You know, we talked about this yesterday.
00:29Ray, the top of the odds board for the A-L pennant is terrible.
00:33I hate it. I really do.
00:34And it really comes down to Detroit.
00:36How do we have the Yankees, the Blue Jays, the Red Sox, and the Orioles,
00:41four teams from the A-L East with better A-L pennant odds compared to the Tigers,
00:46who are the favorite to win their own division?
00:48The Orioles have the fourth-best odds to win the A-L East,
00:51yet they have the fifth-best odds to win the A-L pennant.
00:54Some of the amount of that just doesn't make sense.
00:56Again, I believe that the Yankees and the Blue Jays and the Mariners
01:00essentially should be in their own tier.
01:01If you told me that they're all co-favorites to win the A-L, sure,
01:04there shouldn't be too much of a separation.
01:06Then you want to mix in the Red Sox.
01:08Then you want to mix in the Tigers.
01:09That's where it should be.
01:10It should be Tigers, Red Sox, actually.
01:11So I don't like looking to any of those top teams, especially not the Orioles.
01:15And the Orioles, a team, as we talked about yesterday, Donny,
01:17who have a 10-win jump from their win total last year to this year,
01:21and now we're putting them as higher favorites compared to the Tigers.
01:25I just don't like the A-L odds board.
01:28Well, who is it in the National League, Don, that we should keep an eye on
01:33that will jump what they were a year ago?
01:36Like you had mentioned, I mean, a 10-win difference between a year ago
01:39and this year could be huge.
01:41I know a lot of people think San Francisco is all of a sudden now going to be
01:46the second-best team in the National League West here.
01:49Who is that team that's going to make a big jump from a year ago?
01:54So I do like the Giants.
01:56I like them going over their win total of 81.5.
01:58I think they've had a large improvement in talent.
02:00But going from non-playoff team to all of a sudden some amazing team,
02:05I think that's a step much.
02:06I think they'll be better than last year, but they're not taking this massive team.
02:09To me, the answer, based on the odds, I still think it's going to be the Braves.
02:13And the Braves, I would say, had a really bad run at things last year
02:16when it comes to injuries.
02:17Strider starts off the year hurt.
02:19He comes back.
02:20He's having catch in the outfield when they're visiting Toronto Blue Jays.
02:23He gets hurt again.
02:23He's out again.
02:24Acuna, we know this.
02:26We know that they're not going to be starting off the year with Schwellenbach.
02:28He missed parts of last year.
02:29Smith-Schauver missed parts of last year.
02:31Riley Green, not the Tigers.
02:34Austin Riley, their third baseman, had a down year.
02:37Like, they just didn't have all their pieces together at the same time.
02:40But when you look at the talent that they have,
02:43that so much of it's locked up long-term,
02:45they are still one of the best talent-based teams when it comes to the NL.
02:49Putting the pieces together and actually being healthy is a different story,
02:52but I'm always going to like the Braves.
02:54Quick little rapid fire for you, Tom.
02:56American League NL MVPs here.
02:58Who would you rather take, Aaron Judge or Shohei Ohtani?
03:01Who has the better chance, non-odds here?
03:04I would say Judge.
03:06I really do.
03:07I think just the home runs.
03:08I'm not sure if there's many players to compete for.
03:10In the NL, if Ohtani even has a little bit of a down year,
03:13and again, if Acuna does what he did back in 2022-2023 with a 40-80,
03:18that could win an MVP.
03:20Major League Baseball coming to you soon.
03:22Already played in the great group lead in the Cactus League.
03:24Before you know it, it will be March.
03:27Thanks, Tom, for joining us this morning.
03:30Let's brighten your day.
03:31You might be watching from the North to the East right now,
03:33absolutely buried under snow just like I am,
03:35or you could be watching from South Florida
03:38and enjoying yourself like Joe Ranieri is down there.
03:40You might get the best of both worlds.
03:42It's what we give you each and every morning right here on the early line,
03:45Donnie Wrightside and Joe Ranieri.
03:46But it is time for the Grapefruit Lead and the Cactus League here
03:50to take control and take us right into the World Baseball Classic
03:53and then eventually into opening day.
03:55But now, Joe, here's the issue.
03:57We're going to enjoy this Major League Baseball season.
03:59We're going to handicap.
04:00We're going to bet we're going to do a ton of shows and enjoy ourselves.
04:03December 1, 2026, that's when the CBA expires in Major League Baseball
04:07and the labor deal will be up in the air.
04:10But the new interim leader here of the Major League Baseball Players Association
04:14has been named.
04:15It's Bruce Meyer.
04:16And he reiterates, Joe, his position.
04:19Yeah, there will be no salary cap.
04:21What do you think about that?
04:22Shot fired.
04:24I mean, listen, and from what we hear, he was really the guy, you know,
04:30pulling all the strings behind the scenes anyway.
04:32So I doubt very much that now that he is in charge, even on an interim basis,
04:37that anything is going to change.
04:39Their stance is still going to be there, Donnie.
04:42And we're still heading towards a lockout.
04:45I mean, you opened that can of worms for how many years?
04:48And I just don't see how you're putting that back in the bottle.
04:51I really don't.
04:52That genie's out, Donnie.
04:54Look, when you say, like, we have to come to a compromise, like, the owners aren't going
04:57to be like, the players would go like, yeah, no salary cap, but we would like a floor in
05:02Major League Baseball of $150 million.
05:04The owners go, so we spend more both ways on both ends and burn the candle that way?
05:08That's the problem that we're going to have.
05:10And starting on time, good luck.
05:11There's no way, shape, or form.
05:13Like, you look at the Calci Polymarket Index this year, Joe.
05:15Like, okay, well, we have a lockout.
05:17There's no way they come to a deal before December.
05:19They're not even going to get to the table before we get to spring training, it feels
05:24like.
05:24So I don't know, Joe, if they're stupid enough to wipe out a season.
05:27They're going to both posture on both sides.
05:29No salary cap, $75 million word chest on the other side.
05:33But I'm going to tell you one thing.
05:35We are going to have a season, Joe, that I feel that starts, like, around the 4th of July,
05:39and it's a two-month sprint, and 20 teams are in the playoffs to try to make back their
05:43money in the regular season with some extra gates here.
05:45There is no way.
05:46I just can't see it.
05:47Tom and I go back and forth on pro baseball today.
05:49He thinks there'll be a full Major League Baseball season.
05:51I say, absolutely, Joe, zero chance that that happened.
05:56No, I think they're going to be so worlds apart, Donnie.
06:01And, you know, listen, I'll be an optimist.
06:04I hope that they, listen, we've known this is coming for a while now.
06:08So I'm hoping there are some back channels open or something is going on behind the scenes
06:13where, you know, this won't all be everyone digging in right off the bat.
06:18You know what I mean?
06:18I'm hoping they can come up with something.
06:20But I just have this feeling, Donnie, they are just going to be so far apart, and it's
06:26not going to matter one way or the other.
06:28And you're going to see this, too.
06:29You see it a little bit in the NFL whenever they have, like, labor-type issues.
06:32It's the smaller market teams that will band together and grab enough votes that no matter
06:36what happens, they can't ratify, like, a new CBA unless they get their way.
06:40They are going to be dug in here.
06:41And the people that are going to play, it's not the pro players.
06:44They're going to have plenty of money, and they'll probably have their own war chest and
06:46the, you know, Major League Baseball owners.
06:47It's us.
06:48It's us, the fans that are going to get cheap out of a season next year when you know
06:51that's going to happen.
06:52By the way, the Minnesota Twins, who basically sold their whole team last year, it felt like,
06:55hey, Buxton's coming back, and that's all fine and good.
06:57They already lost Pablo Lopez, and now, all-star right-hander Joe Ryan, inflammation in his
07:02lower back.
07:03Lower back inflammation just getting started on the season.
07:06Good luck with that, Joe Ryan.
07:08Yeah, not good.
07:09It was also an issue for him a little bit last year, too.
07:12So, you know, guys coming in to spring training and already experiencing some of that, that's
07:19not a good sign for the Minnesota Twins or Joe Ryan.
07:23Hey, coming to see you today for Chicago Cubs, Michael Conforto.
07:26He used to be a superstar at the New York Mets.
07:28I can't even count the teams that he's been on since then, Joe.
07:32Yeah, yeah.
07:32I mean, the ultimate guy, right?
07:34He'll probably have, like, nine uniforms when it's all said and done that he's worn in Major
07:38League Baseball.
07:39But, you know, listen, he keeps getting signed, right?
07:42Bottom line, he serves his purpose, but he's, you know, he's not going to be a guy that's
07:46going to move the needle one way or the other, but he is a guy that will absolutely create
07:51some depth for some teams.
07:52You want to move the needle here for the New York Yankees.
07:55They didn't have Garrett Cole last year, but Garrett Cole feels great from yesterday
07:58after facing hitters for the first time.
08:00Topping out at 97, getting back into the groove, Garrett Cole.
08:04Yeah, all reports out of Yankees camp that it's, yeah, he looks really, really good.
08:10No discomfort, no nothing.
08:12That is a great sign.
08:14Now it's just a matter of, all right, how long, you know, can we stretch him out?
08:18Because pitch limits are coming for a lot of these guys here.
08:21We won't be seeing him for five, six, seven innings anytime soon.
08:26By the way, Bryce Harper was advocating for a reunion to the Philadelphia Phillies for
08:29Reese Hoskins, and Dave Dombrasky told him to pound sand.
08:32Not a good look here in Philadelphia, but again, I don't know where Reese Hoskins was going
08:35to go, but he does go to the Guardians.
08:38How about that?
08:39Yeah, there you go.
08:40I wonder if he bet on that.
08:42Oh, is this too soon?
08:44That's true.
08:44Yeah, that's just, that's brutal.
08:46Absolutely.
08:47I'll tell you what's not going to do near our number two coming up next, right here
08:50on the group.
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