Josh hater, I would say the number one free
agent available at the moment and he gets what could
be considered a record contract. A Bre Presley and
then hater that's very, very form. I think
it's the best bullpen in the American League might be
the best bullpen in baseball now, five years,
95 million according to Joel Sherman, it includes a
full no trade. This is a guy that pushing
30 that take a look at the details. Here
, there are no deferrals in this contract. So
his annual value of 19 million top the 18.64 that
the counts for luxury tax purposes. He was used
a lot early on to Milwaukee Brewers. He put
a stop to that and he can only, he
only wants to pitch three outs in one inning,
preferably the ninth inning. And usually when you win
the Rivera or Hoffman Award, it goes to the
top reliever. Who's the top closer Harold? Yeah
, that$1 million bonus is probably gonna be big
. It might play a part into it. We'll
see. II I think that Josh hater rules put
it were put in place, but I get the
million dollars. I still can see now he's got
paid and maybe he says, all right, I'll
throw the eight. No problem if we need to
win the game here. But how I see a
case, I gotta look at who's the big dog
out west right now? The world champ. Texas
Rangers. You're a left handed hitter. All of
a sudden, Seeger Lowe and Carter now have a
left handed weapon coming at them. That is a
move to neutralize the Rangers and win that division out
, right, adding the top closer on the market
where when you already have a pretty good closer,
an elite closer and Ryan Presley just takes their bullpen
to another level and the fact that they're paying him
so much money, I think it's clear he's going
to be the closer for the Astros next year and
you can move Presley. Now a guy who's got
more saves without a blown save than any pitcher in
the post season in history, you can move him
to the eighth inning and you have a dominant setup
man, like you said, and Brian Abreo,
I mean, this, this is a team that
, that should contend with the Rangers in the division
and in the American League, uh once again and
you're right, this could be like the last big
window opening for the Astros. Bregman is a free
agent after this year. Uh Tucker free agency is
coming up. Fram Valdez is a free agent after
this year. But it was just, I think
earlier this year or last year, Astros Man,
Astros owner Jim Crane said as long as he's the
owner of the window is always open and I think
Crane is always going to put a team on the
field that is built to contend and he doesn't hand
out big contracts like this very often. So this
was a real signal that he really thinks the Astros
will win the World Series this year. And I
think getting Josh Hater probably puts them in a group
of two or three teams that have to be considered
the favorites. Now we go to the bottom of
the ninth inning, Robert Stevenson out there the last
16 games. He's worked 14 total and he's given
up one earned run and that will take care of
Abreu Stevenson comes in and picks up the strikeout.
Reyes is out on strikes, two strikeouts, 15
strikeouts for Reyes pitching. Then that will do it
a swing and miss on that 3 to 2 delivery
, Stevenson strikes out the side. It's a five
nothing final. This is pretty cool, full circle
moment for Matt Carpenter after leaving the Cardinals went to
the Yankees, then the Padres. Well, now
he's back with the Saint Louis Cardinals, one of
the good dudes around major league baseball. So that
guy is thinking, what about some other reunions that
make a lot of sense? And both of you
have some good ones. You first cliff. Yeah
, I'm going with Evan Longoria. Look, I
, I didn't think it would be no chance.
He wouldn't go back to A Z. What he
did for that club. What if he does not
go back to A AZ? Uh, and play
for the D backs. The, the, the
temp Bay Rays are sitting there waiting for a long
ago to come back is where he started. Why
I had a chance to play with him in 081
win the World Series. He was a big piece
to our puzzle. Uh And I think they would
definitely welcome him with open arms. And, you
know, I'm a huge fan of Justin Turner and
he had a big year for the Red Sox last
year and he can still rake. And I thought
he's good for two teams that he used to play
for. He first came up with the Orioles 2010
and he could really help that club. That's a
real young club. And when you got Turner,
not only do you have a great hitter, have
almost a de facto coach on the field too,
helping guys learn how to hit. And also the
Mets, a team who last played on 2013.
He's just such a pro. You want those kind
of guys on your success? Now, I'm gonna
give you one. He didn't spend a lot of
time with this particular team. He was, I
believe he was a mid season acquisition but JD Martinez
back to the Arizona Diamondbacks 33 and 100 I'm missing
something. I don't know. I mean, that's
the numbers 33 Homers, 100 plus RBIs and he
ain't asked for a lot of see them all the
time and for a lot of death just as important
for the Yankees would be if they also acquire the
Carlos Rodon of 2022 the one that made them fall
in love with him to begin with and to sign
him to that uh lucrative long term deal. You
see what he did in 2023 it was in every
way, a forgettable debut year for Rodon. He
was not healthy when the season began and he was
playing catch up ever since. And this now is
very important because that, that detail from Brian Hoke's
report. A healthy Carlos Rodon is typically a very
effective Carlos Rodon. It's been the case throughout his
career in the major leagues when he's healthy. He
is one of the better pitchers in the American League
. And if the Yankees can find a way to
get a healthy Rodon, a healthy Nestor Cortez junior
as well, then of course, you've got the
reigning silent winner and Gary Cole, you've got Marcus
Stroman. There's a lot to like there with this
Yankees rotation in addition to having Juan Soto in the
outfield for more on these and other stories. Keep
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