The current MLB Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) negotiations between owners and the players' union involve a fundamental debate over implementing a salary cap for the first time in 30 years. The owners propose a $250 million salary cap (currently the luxury tax threshold) with a $170 million floor, arguing this would create more parity across teams. However, the players' union opposes this, preferring to double the minimum salary, raise the luxury tax threshold to $300 million, and implement a $150 million spending floor. The podcast hosts argue that the parity argument is flawed, noting that 16 different franchises have won the World Series since 2001, and teams with lower payrolls like the Brewers (22nd highest) and Mariners (15th highest) have been competitive. The hosts express concern that a salary cap would primarily benefit elite players while hurting middle-class players who sign three-year $45 million contracts, as teams would spend big on stars while meeting minimums on others.
Shohei Ohtani Frustrated? Salary Cap Coming to MLB? Andy Pages RisingAdded:
What's up everybody and happy National Hamburger Day to you Dodgers fans.
Dodgers on an absolute heater right now with a big series against the Phillies coming up. Some injury news, a surprising call up some funny comments from Show Otani. All that and more right now on the All Dodgers podcast.
What's up everybody? Welcome into the All Dodgers podcast presented by FanDuel, part of the Believe Podcast Network. My name is Jeff Spiegel and happy Thursday. Happy happy off day to all of you. Today I am celebrating for the second show in a row with my good friend Kevin Skinner here to talk about the Los Angeles Dodgers. He apparently is a little bit tired for those joining on YouTube. We're It's an hourong show, Kevin. We're already yawning. This is off to a roaring start. It's good to see you, my friend. I know it's an off day.
There's no game to kind of get the juices flowing. So, you're just you're just sleepwalking through the day, huh?
>> Yeah, just a little eie. It's also 9:00 where I am, you know, getting winding down bedtime hours and yeah, no nothing to scream or yell at to keep me awake through the the wee hours of the evening.
>> It's true. And to be fair to Kevin, he he's a fill in. Pop pop pop was going to be with us tonight. Had some things come up and wasn't able to. So Kevin is uh is valiantly stepping into the gap for us tonight. And uh we got a bunch of stuff to get to. So I'm very excited. Shout out to all the people joining us live on YouTube, those watching after the fact or listening to the podcast after the fact. It's an off day, but there's a bunch of interesting storylines um going on. We're going to get to some show Otani comments as I mentioned. Um we are going to talk about the CBA. We've had the opening round of negotiations sort of happening and uh it's pretty much as bad as you would think. Ryan Ward gets called up. I want to have an Andy Pahes conversation. He's like really good at baseball apparently. And uh I want to talk about that as well as um maybe most importantly to almost nobody except for me. It is National Hamburger Day and therefore I said Kevin, we need to draft the best burgers that exist in like fast foodish places. And uh so we're going to do that. Our friend Clint might hop in with us. Stay tuned on that front. Um, I told him the Baconator might go undrafted in this draft and so I I think he might be participating on principal alone. But let's just talk big picture, Kevin, about the Dodgers. Uh, they are good. They're on an absolute heater.
They've won 12 of their last 14. They now have a 4 and a halfame lead over both the Diamondbacks and the Padres's in the National League West. They have the second best record in baseball.
They're about a game and a half back of Atlanta. Does this feel to you like we're watching the team that everybody expected them to be 56 games ago?
>> Yeah, I think so. They they're doing you can't control who's on the schedule, you know, as Pop Pop loves to say, but it's true. And they are doing what you should they should do against uh quote unquote major league caliber teams. Um, and no, I in all honesty, they're doing what they should be doing against, you know, bottom tier teams, the Angels, the Rockies, this is they should just be beating up on these guys.
Um, and then sandwiched in there, you had the two of three in in Milwaukee, which can't go um, understated because I think that's a big series for a team like Los Angeles who, you know, in the middle of two softer series, they could have either looked ahead to Milwaukee and lost some in Anaheim or they could have done the opposite and gotten, you know, kind of buttered up in Anaheim and then gotten the brakes beaten off of them in Milwaukee. hockey and they didn't let either of those things happen. They played game to game. Um they've played to their talent level, I think is kind of where you land that and um yeah, I I think that the guys that we expect to be going well are going well outside of a couple mostly Mookie and Will Smith. But um other than that, I like Yeah, this is the team we thought they would be. Bullpin's great, starting pitching is great, and the offense is doing, you know, you build an offense like this to try and not have everyone slump at one time. Yeah. What's hilarious is I was looking this up and I was like, man, the only team hotter than the Dodgers right now are the Arizona Diamondbacks. Uh they've won 10 of their last 11. Then I looked at their schedule. They have played 13 consecutive games against either the Giants or the Rockies. So like I know those are major league teams. The Dodgers haven't exactly always handled their business against the worst teams in the league, but 13 consecutive games against the Giants and Rockies is absolutely a hilarious scheduling quirk.
I I I Okay, so I love it because in my opinion, I think these the divisional games, divisional opponents should be stacked together. I know there's five teams in each division, so that makes it difficult to do, but I do think they should be stacked together, but yeah, to have like the two two of the worst teams in baseball, just, you know, cuz not a lot of people love the whole play seven games against one team in 10 days. I'm not a big fan of it either, but it is kind of funny when it's like, you know, you complain about that when it's like you have to play like teams like the Dodgers or Atlanta, but when you have to play teams like the the Giants or the Rockies, you go, "Eh, that's funny."
>> Yeah, exactly. So, congrats to them.
They've won 10 of the last 11. Again, all 11 of those have either been against the Rockies or the Giants. So, um, kudos to them. I mentioned the Diamondbacks and Padres's are both four and a half games back. The rest of the division is like a million games back. There's a chance the Rockies and Giants have been eliminated from divisional the divisional race. I can't confirm that entirely, but um we'll see. We'll see about that.
>> I can't believe the first time manager up in San Francisco hasn't worked out like they all thought it would >> or or or Buster Posey, the the GM has been an absolute dumpster fire as well.
It's things you hate to see.
I was going to I I was giving Posie a little more grace uh than Vital, but yeah, it is it is not um they want Farhehand back.
>> Yeah, lifetime contracts for both of those guys as far as I'm concerned. So, um we do have a super chat here from the Enigma says, "The Blue Jays have a wild card spot and are a game under 500. That the Rangers are three games out of a playoff spot at 25 and 30. The idea that baseball doesn't have enough parody is laughable." Um, we're going to get to the parody conversation uh a little bit later. Kevin has some thoughts. I think that's that's what he needs to get his juices flowing. I think he's just saving all of his energy for salary cap conversation. So, stay tuned for that, Enigma. We appreciate the super chat uh right there as well. And by the way, if you are new around here, there are a few different ways you can support the show.
A super chat is one. The biggest way you could support the show is by visiting our Patreon. patreon.comrealfrg or you can click the join button right here on YouTube. $5 a month gets you to into that. All of that money comes straight to the show and then on top of that you get to be a part of the All Dodgers uh Discord as well. Hop in there with a bunch of fans, people you hang out with uh six nights a week basically right here on the All Dodgers podcast.
So um go ahead and check out the Patreon. A great way to support us and uh we would greatly appreciate it. Um, see, speaking of supporting us, Kevin, uh, we're going to talk about the series the Dodgers have coming up against the Philadelphia Phillies. And one way we can start that conversation is with our friends over at FanDuel. Dodgers versus Philly, Zack Wheeler versus Justin Robleski. Um, the matchup tomorrow night. Give me your thoughts uh, as you look at at the game lines here.
Yeah, I these the the Phillies are hot right now as far as at least as far as um they could be. Um I know they struggled early on, fired their manager, brought in Don Mattingley or elevated him to be manager and have really taken off since then. So, you know, good for them to kind of basically being who we thought they would be. Kyle Schwarber, let's let's start it now. Every time he gets to the plate, just hold up fours.
Don't we don't need him hitting any more balls out of the park. Thank you very much. Um, but this is an exciting one. I the these teams are evenly matched on paper, especially when you look at the pitching matchups tomorrow. Zack Wheeler against Repleski. Zach Wheeler started he's he's recently come back um from injury has only started six games. Um he does have a 167 RA. He looks like Zack Wheeler. So, um, that it's going to be a tough challenge for the contact oriented Robleski again against these Phils who hit a lot of dingers. Trey Turner had himself a good series in San Diego. So, like might be might be a situation of catching them at the wrong time, but yeah, minus 118. This this might be the best value you ever get betting on the Dodgers money line. Um, there are not many situations where the Dodgers are only minus 118 on the year. Yeah, with with the odds as quickly as they are.
And again, I'm not I got to check my settings because apologies to FanDuel that a bunch of stuff fell off the screen there. Um, where are you at on Robleski? Cuz really that's a conversation about Zack Wheeler who's been very very good versus Robleski who many people kind of expected at some point the regression would come. It has come. Um, which is why I mean the Dodgers are still favorites, but it's close. Where where are you at on expectations for Robleski tomorrow night?
Um, we're at a point where I need him to flash a third pitch. He's got he's got to be something more than just fastball slider. It's, you know, for being flat fast ball slider heavy, it's good that he's going against going up against a fairly lefty heavy lineup in the Phillies, but still, I mean, Schwarber doesn't really care what hand you throw with. And, you know, I doubt Bryce Harper does either. Um, but I need Robleski to flash at third pitch. And we're we're, you know, we can't have seven innings of six run ball again. It needs to start looking like major league, you know, talent, you know, major league pitching at this point. Um, the regression monster came for him like we all thought it would. Now it's now he needs to show he can adjust.
>> Yeah, >> this is the this is the time. This, you know, this is a great test for him. Um, I'm sure he's looking forward to it going up against a very good team, but he's got to go, you know, if he only grits out five, that's fine. give me a gritty five of two earned runs. Like let's keep the damage low, but let's let's show some growth here. I think that's where I um kind of land on Robleski.
>> Yeah. I mean, you mentioned he's 51% fastball, 33% slider right now. So 84% of the time you're getting one of those two pitches. And we all like Robleski, believe in Robleski. But like that's a relief pitcher profile that we just described. That's not a starting pitcher profile. He's throwing 6% curveball, 5% uh sinker, 3% change, um and then a 1% of a couple other pitches, uh allegedly.
But I'm with you. You know, those pitches, the fast ball and slider for the most part have been effective, but if you want to be able to get through a lineup effectively more than one time, more than even two times potentially, it's you've got to show more because to the best hitters, to Kyle Schwarber, you can't face Kyle Schwarber twice with two pitches. Maybe once you can get get him, but if he sees those pitches, which he'll see both of them in the first at bat, he's going to be prepar be prepared to do some damage if you can't keep him off his off balance in that third at bat or second at bat, excuse me.
>> Yeah, I that guy scares me. Like I said, just throw up the fours. I don't care if he's leading off. Just put him on first.
Yeah. Um because it's it's a scary matchup when you have a guy as good as Schwber where whenever he makes contact he just does damage against a pitcher who's really recently just trying to pitch to contact. So um it's not to say if they pitch around Schwarber they're going to win but it's certainly an effective way I think um to keep the Dodgers at least within striking distance or hopefully ahead um in this first matchup.
>> Yeah absolutely. uh the rest of the line uh matchup there. Geez Louise, got a typo that doesn't want to save. Uh Roki Sasaki pitching in game two. Yoshi Nou Yamamoto in game three. Andrew Painter and Lazardo the opponents. Both those guys have not been good. Painter, 23-year-old, one of the best pitching prospects in baseball over the last few years. 5 and a half RA, one and a half whip. Lazardo, who was really good against the Dodgers in the postseason last year, 4.38 RA, 1.28 whip. So, you would expect Kevin that the Dodgers will be much heavier favorites in both of those games. Even Even I would guess the Saturday game with Roki Sasaki. No.
>> Yeah. Yeah. Andrew Painter, he's this is his first action I think since Tommy John surgery and I know there's been a big deal made about he's he's lost some ticks on his fastball has or doesn't have as much life as it used to. So, he he's also kind of been a two two and a half pitch pitcher at this point.
Dodgers need to capitalize on that. Um because I don't really care what Jesus Lazardo's numbers are. That dude just shows up on the big stage and I expect him to pitch well against the Dodgers.
>> So I you know that that Saturday game I'm circling like Roki cannot have a blowup start on Saturday. He's got to you know keep it in check um if the Dodgers really want any chance um in this series. I'm not saying it's not doom and gloom. The Dodgers are underdogs, but if you want to be realistic, and it is baseball, anything can happen on any any given day against a good team. You know, you've got to find games that you can circle and go, "Yes, these are wins. Saturday kind of needs to be the win." Um, just because I think Jesus Lazardo is a good pitcher and also, you know, bless that we don't have to face Christopher Sanchez. Thank God. Yeah, seriously. Uh, by the way, I I I missed I buried the lead here. Um, thank you for your service, Philadelphia Phillies, who just came off a sweep of the San Diego Padres's. So, um, we can we can go back to being a bad baseball team now, Philadelphia, please. But, um, thank you for your service in in sweeping the Padres's. Um, we do have another super chat here from Devin. Uh, says, uh, $10, by the way.
>> Oh, and I'm apologies to the Enigma who also added $10 super chat. There was no air horn for you. That's on me. I'm going to do better next time. Uh he said, "Sad Teao is out, but happy that we get more Alex call in the mix." Um this is going to be one of the topics that we were going to have, so we can jump to it now. Um Ryan Ward gets the call in light of of uh Tay Oscar Hernandez's hamstring issue. So much like Kik Hernandez, not entirely sure exactly how far we're going to be out here, but hamstring issue, not great.
Oblique injury, not great. Those are the types of injuries that linger. Um, but Ryan Ward gets the call, not James Tibs, not Jack Sinsky. Uh, do you expect, to Devin's point, this to be a primarily an Alex call playing not just in a platoon anymore, but kind of like almost an everyday role? Do you think it's a platoon with Ryan Ward? How do you see this playing out?
>> I think it's going to end up being a platoon with Ryan Ward. Um, I I you know, I like Alex Call. I I liked him better, I think, than quite a few people did when we traded for him. You know, we we joked in a couple shows ago how like it's like one of the ugliest at bats you'll see, but he somehow gets on base.
I like that out of Alex Call, he did that last year. The number he wasn't flashy, but he had to go to on base with the Dodgers last year. And I think, you know, part of the reason the Dodgers or Alex Calls had success is because the Dodgers have put him in positions to have success. So, like as good as he's been, I don't know if he could sustain that at in an everyday role. And, you know, the Dodgers are in a position with the glut of outfield prospects to kind of see who can do what.
>> Um, I believe Alex Call I I don't believe he I believe he's a free agent after this year. So, this would be a good time to see if Ryan Ward is capable of taking over um as a util or not a utility, but a bench bat role. This would be a good spot, but we need to see him get played appearances to do that.
Unfortunately for him, it has not been pretty by Ryan Ward standards um at AAA.
He's sporting a 797 OPS in a league where when you're batting 850, people shake their head and go, "Yeah, well, it's it's that league." So, um, and he can't really play defense. I It like in so many words, it's an uphill battle for Ryan Ward. I am happy he's going to get the opportunity, though. I think, you know, can only sit in Triple A for so long.
>> So, I I do believe to your point or to your question, I do believe it'll be a platoon because I think the Dodgers do want to see what they have in Ryan Ward.
>> Yeah. And real quick, not to not to openly correct you here, but the good news is Alex Call not a free agent at the end of this year. He's arbitration eligible for the first time. Okay. This year. So, he's a free agent. Not he's not a free agent till after the 2029 season. So, um >> Oh, cool. Okay. That's what it was.
Yeah. He's he's arel eligible, but which means he's going to be around if the Dodgers don't choose.
>> Well, and you mentioned, I think, the important thing, which is Ryan Ward's profile is theoretically all bat, no glove. At AAA, as you pointed out, he has a sub 800 OPS in 177 at bats. That, by the way, is getting worse by the day.
in the month of May, he's hitting 195 with a 256 slugging percentage. And this is for a guy that the defense isn't there. And normally, I get everyone's going to tell me, hey, he's on the 40man roster, all this kind of thing. And again, I'm not anti-Ryan Ward getting called up because he's clearly earned some sort of opportunity over the last couple years. I don't think just cuz he's been batting 177 at bats this year, it's like the end all be all. However, there's a couple guys down at AAA that are doing the things that you should be doing down at AAA, which is absolutely mashing the ball. The first of them is James Tibs III. Um, has cooled off a little bit in the month of May. Only an OPS of 823, which again is higher than Ryan Wards for the entire season. Still, just one home run in the month of May and 82 at bats, but an OPS of like a thousand. So, he's been awesome. And the guy that I'll just keep mentioning and inserting into inserting into this conversation is I love Jack Swinsky. I I don't know why it's fairly irrational, but dreadful start to the season for him. In the month of May, Sinsky is slashing 300, 400, 575. And this is a guy, Kevin, that we've seen hit at the major league level. He had 45 home runs in 250 games his first two years up. And he's not a total zero defensively like Brian Ward is either. So, I get Ward on some fronts, like he's earned it over the past few years. It's easy transactionally cuz he's already on the 40man, but it's hard to justify that Ryan Ward deserves this more than Tibs and Sinsky. If all things were equal from a roster perspective, I just cannot imagine that Ward would have been the guy getting the call for the Dodgers right now.
>> No, I mean, absolutely not. Uh, like I always like to say, if it was a true meritocracy, certain things wouldn't be happening. Ryan Ward would not be getting the call if it was a true meritocracy. Um, yeah, 40man roster spots are they're arguably one of the most valuable commodities this organization has. Um, I also don't know if they want to start the the clock on somebody like James Tibs if this was later in the year. I think they would because then you could do a little roster manipulation and not have him use up potentially an entire year's worth of eligibility or, you know, however that works. um or it might not matter depending on the CVA moving forward. Who knows? But per traditional rules, um they might not want to start the the you know the clock on James Tibs. To the Jack Sinsky of it all, I I mean, yeah, the Pirates are bad, but he he had an OPS of 588 2024, 534 in 2025.
um over a you know 178 played appearances, 277 played appearances in reverse order. Um so he's had opportunities and he's just been bad at the major league level. He could just be a quad A guy. Um and just like some real depth or depth, excuse me. Um is he on the 40man roster? I can't remember who's that. Tibs >> Sinsky.
>> No, neither of them. Ne both were >> Neither were Sinsky is a minor league deal.
>> Yeah. So, I I don't know. Like, I'm I'm glad Sinsk's doing better at the minor league level, but I his track record of being very bad at the major league level, he's at the plate probably means he needs a little more seasoning just to really see if whatever changes he has made stick.
>> Yeah.
>> Because I I presume he's not succeeding with the same exact swing profile and approach as he had in Pittsburgh.
>> Um, two notes that I'll clean up on myself. The first, as the chat pointed out to me, uh James Tibs, right after I said only one home run in the month of May and 82 at bats, he had two home runs tonight, including one off of Josh her who was there on a rehab assignment. So, we've got that going on. Also, I'm scrolling through the playlist here to like I see the playbyplay of that game cuz I'm like, "Okay, let me just make sure this tip stuff is correct." And I see something. I'm like, "That can't be true." I go to Alex Freed uh Freriedman, OKC's playbyplay guy/PR, and he confirms this is true. This is his tweet. A unique start to tonight's game in Sugarland. Starting pitchers Christian Romero of OKC and Jason Alexander of Sugarland were having a standoff following the national anthem. Both refused to leave as the game was about to start. Both were ejected. That's how the game started. So neither guy was expected to start today, but they refused to leave. It was who's going to be the last guy standing. They both got ejected. So, uh, fun stuff down in Sugarland, I guess. Um, >> I love it. I love a good standoff.
They're fun.
>> Yeah. and mostly as long as you're not the the uh not the home team pitching.
>> One other note from that game, uh River Ryan, six innings, four hits, no earned runs, no walks, eight strikeouts. So, um >> I think I think he's ready.
>> We'll hope so. I It sucked that he came up and then he went back down with a hamstring injury. Um it looks like his hamstring's okay, though. Uh that's a great slash line. You know, Eric Lowour, your days are numbered. Hopefully, >> that would or is it possible if a guy like Robleski struggles again >> like do you see a world where River Ryan comes up to take a spot in the rotation from somebody who's not pitching well? I don't think it'd be Sasaki and Sheen seems to have kind of rided the ship a little bit, but >> I don't know.
Yeah, maybe because usually I'm more of a fan of guys getting time at the major league level to to to you know like improve because I don't know necessarily that going down to the minor leagues like facing minor league hitting you know we made a people made a big deal about him striking out the world Sasaki that is um in uh spring training with using nothing but splitters it's like yeah minor league guys can't hit that splitter like that's just a thing but in Roblesk's case where he needs to kind develop another pitch. I don't hate the idea of him going down to TripleA, working on mechanics and working on a third pitch. Get that get confident in that pitch and then bring it back to the major league level. I don't I actually don't hate that idea.
>> Yeah, there you go. Uh we've got another super chat here from DN Nation Life. Uh with all of the outfield depth, why not move on from Ward, Kik or Teo? Allah, Michael Bush. I love all those guys. It just seems like such a waste. Um, I mean, Ward, I'm not positive how much interest there would be uh around the league. He's kind of a classic quad A guy. Kik call. I think these are role players. Uh, other than Taskar Hernandez who was on a heater prior to um getting injured, but I I think more of the waste, Kevin, is when you go like one in beneath the surface on this Dodgers farm system when it comes to the outfield. I tweeted this out. Uh Keith Law just put out his new top 50 prospect rankings and Zire Hope ranks 28th on that list which is of note because that's good to be the 28th best prospect in all of Major League Baseball. It also makes him the fifth highest ranked Dodgers outfielder on that list. Uh he's law went for it and had James Tibs in the top 25. So he had Cano, Depala, Serotaa, Tibs and then Zire Hope with Riveran also mixed in. So six of the top 28 prospects. Uh Chuck Davalon, by the way, would be in the back half of the top 100 had he released it. So if you want to talk about all this outfield depth, how about six outfielders in the top 100 for the Dodgers according to Keith Law.
>> Yeah. And honestly, uh no time better than now to need it with, you know, Kyle Tucker likely only on a two-year deal. T Oscar's only got, I believe, one year of contractual control after this year. So the outfielders will be needed. To your point, guys like Kik, those are role players. You need role players. Not everyone is going to be a show Otani, Amuki Bets, or Freddy Freeman. You do need guys, you need six men off the bench. You need three and D guys. You need guys to fill in the gaps. Um, and also, you know, not to, you know, these are not the same situations. Michael Bush was we, we knew the bat would play.
It's just he's blocked by Freddy Freeman, who was on the team at that point for four more years. And then with guys like Kik and Call and Teao, we know they can do it at the major league level. You know, as great as James Tibs has been at the minor league level, we haven't seen them at the major league level. Like these are still at the end of the day prospects. So known commodities, you know, quality commodities like call and kik are still better than unknown potential in guys like James Tibs and the, you know, the other slew of Dodgers outfield prospects, which >> the way they acquired some of these prospects are hilarious considering now they're in the top 30 of all of minor league baseball.
>> Yeah, my Red Sox buddy did not love seeing James Tibs named that high on the list. Um, so >> I can't imagine. Yeah, I mean, River Ryan came over in exchange for Matt Batty, >> you know. Um, you go up and down, Zire Hope was of course part of that Michael Bush trade, which I think everybody is.
>> I mean, the Cubs are very happy, let's say. Like, and and Jackson Ferris has kind of dipped. So, you could say the Cubs probably won that trade as good as Zer Hope has been. We'll see if he pans out, but I think the Cubs feel great about how that has played out for them.
Um, oh yeah, >> but Serotaa came over in the Gavin Lux trade. I mean, these are all >> these are all the guys in the top 28.
So, um, if you could trade Dustin May >> Gavin Lux is not Gavin Lux is not in Tampa Bay anymore.
>> So, like that did not pan out.
>> Yeah. Gavin Lux, Matt Batty, and Dustin May all turned into top 25 prospects in Major League Baseball and then some in some of those trades, which is absolutely nuts.
>> Build that robed man a statue.
>> Yep. Exactly. Exactly. Um, all right.
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>> Thank you to IQ Bar. Thank you to our buddy Clint who again may or may not be hopping on to join us for a uh food draft here at the end of this one. But let's get to a few more odds and ends here, Kevin. Let's start with Show Otani. Um I loved Katie Woo at the Athletic who's fantastic. Um had a headline that Otani was frustrated. And I just laughed because Shi Otani was was not fully satisfied with his performance tomorrow and or yesterday, excuse me.
And if you don't know what he did, let me just give you like a brief summary of the performance that apparently was frustrating for him. Um he pitched in the top of the first inning, struck out the first batter he faced. Then he came up in the bottom of the first inning and homerred on the third pitch that he saw.
And then he went on to throw a total of six no hit innings. You heard that correctly. Zero hits allowed in six innings with four walks, a hit by pitch, seven strikeouts, and one earned run.
His erra moved up to 0.82. Kevin, uh, and he was frustrated by six no hit innings with a home run. Can Can you help me here? Cuz this this doesn't compute in my brain.
>> I know. I texted the group chat after uh he was it was confirmed he would not go out for the seventh. Like where does six innings of no hit ball rank on the Otani's worst outings as a pitcher for the Dodgers this year? Because we I think we're just so our expectations of him as a p as a pitcher are so high at this point because he's been like you pointed out a point eight something RA.
Our expectations are so high that he pitches six innings of no hit ball and his RA goes up.
>> Yep. Like that's that's where we're at with him. And it's incredible. What he's doing is incredible. He guts he you know he walks a guy, he hits a batter. He guts it out. He he you know he doesn't have his sweeper until he does when he like needs it most at in the sixth inning. Like he threw a sweeper that ended in the right-handed batters box and then he throws it for a strike two pitches later. It's like the things this guy does is are amazing. Um I don't know. Like I I can see how he's frustrated. It wasn't pretty. He walked he walked a bunch of batters. He hit somebody. Um it was not an efficient in outing by any means, but in a game where results are kind of all that matter.
>> Yeah.
>> I don't The results say he had a great outing.
>> Yeah. And again, I understand what he's saying. The four walks, the hit by pitch, he allows a run without allowing hit. Those are all things that in isolation are are are frustrating.
But but how can you hit a home run in a Major League Baseball game and throw six innings with I repeat zero hits allowed and and be frustrated like hey he was frustrated by being the greatest player ever in the game like guys don't do this he did it and he's like not good enough needs to be better again I understand the essence of what he's saying and yet my brain is like there are wires that I think are missing somewhere in between my ears in order to make logic ical sense of this at the same time.
>> Yeah. And honestly, I I meant this to kudos to the umpire was his zone was pretty dang good last night where there were some really I mean will challenged one that was less than 0.1 in below the zone according to ABS. So like the umpire was on his game too because I think if the umpire was even slightly off his game that that outing turns into something entirely different um >> just because you know he show was getting squeezed it felt like. So it's incredible. You know you mentioned how does how do you get frustrated? I would love I I don't have them in front of me.
We should we should go look up like what were Clayton Kershaw's comments after uh the opening day in 2012 where he hits a home run and pitches eight scoreless or eight shutout innings. Wonder if he was frustrated at all for not finishing the game.
>> Unlikely.
>> Yeah.
>> By the way, Laz Diaz behind the plate last night. Not a name that's normally associated >> that was Laz. I would not have not I would have not have known that was Laz.
No way. Wow.
>> 96 96 96% accuracy. 91% uh consistency. So um yeah, there you go.
>> For last by last standards, that's really good.
>> Unbelievable. Yeah, good for him. Good for him. Um yeah, so show Otani the unicorn. Um six no hit innings and a home run. Not good enough for him. So he will look to improve on that somehow, I suppose, next time he's out there.
>> Two home runs.
>> Um >> seven innings. I don't know.
>> Speaking of improvement, which that's that's a professional segue right there in case anyone was watching. Uh Andy Pahes. The ascent continues for Andy Pahes. I I was just scrolling today on on Fan Graphs and I was like, you know, I wonder Andy Pah is having a He's a little bit of a heater lately. I wonder how he's doing in the old Fan Graphs war department. You don't have to scroll very far down, Kevin, to find his name.
He's third among all non-pitchers in Major League Baseball. Wins above replacement overall value. Whether you love war, hate it, think it's not perfect, whatever, he's third. It's Bobby Wit one, it's Yordon Alvarez 2, it's Andy Pi's three, it's Corbin Carroll 4, and it's Ellie de la Cruz 5.
Like, the guy is playing elite defense at a premium position. He's top 5% in every defensive metric that you could possibly find. We're 56 games into the year, Kevin, and none of this is fake.
No. And it wasn't fake because of this.
He's carrying this really over from last year. Um postseason not included, but he was great towards the end of last season too. Um we were talking about his growth defensively. He's among um center fielders according to fan graphs. He's second behind only Pete Crow Armstrong in a lot of categories defensively. Outs above average, defensive run safe, uh fielding value, stuff like that. Um also shout out to Corbin Carroll. Did not know he was playing that well. Um good for him. And then offensively for Byron or for Andy Paw has a little Freudian slip there.
He's second in WRC plus behind only Byron Buckton. Also a surprise. I guess that's what you get for being healthy.
Byron Buckton also having a great year on the middling twins. But yeah, he's Andy Paw is second >> and again at a premium position. And this isn't like second offensively with a 120 WRC, but he's in like the 140 range. He's absolutely crushing the baseball and he's playing a premium position, playing it very well, you know, to the point where at what at one point a year, a year and a half ago to half a year or a year ago, people wanted to send him into the sun cuz he just taking bad routes, kind of being a little lax days ago, balls bouncing off his glove all over the place. Now he's making highlight throws, highlight catches, highlight throws. I I can't remember if it was you or the other Jeff had mentioned his like uh the catch he had in center field had like a 5% catch probability because he was shaded to left center and the ball got stroked into right center and he ran it down because he took one a great first step which he never had like that suddenly developed and he ran a perfect route to the ball like this is something that >> I'm just really hoping this is basically the new norm for him because I he's only 25 he's young there's no reason why he can't keep this up so It's been really fun. Especially as somebody, you know, who was on the I will buy Andy ticket.
Andy Paw has a ticket to the Sun last year. I was first in line.
>> Yeah. No, it's crazy. I mean, you mentioned does not turn 26 until December. So, after this season, he's under team control um until after the 2030 season. So, there's there's going to be a lot of Andy Pah in your life.
But I I cannot emphasize enough what you just said, which is we have to acknowledge the improvement of Andy Pahes because anyone who does not remember the beginning of the year when it was not just the base running blunders which were like frequent and obvious to everybody but he was just not a good defensive center fielder. He was a right fielder that they were trying to convert into a center fielder because they thought his athleticism he could handle it but his reads were terrible.
He was a mess. And it it's a reminder of why center field is a premium position because it's hard to play there. You fast forward, he's like one of the best defensive center fielders in all of Major League Baseball now, which is the insane part about this, the improvement.
And then you've got the offense. He was good last year. Should have been an all-star. Wasn't in the first half. Then you get to the playoffs. Absolute train wreck. One of the worst offensive performances ever. And for a young guy who's, you know, turns 25 after the postseason, you're like, what are you going to do now? like you've had one year at the major league level where you kind of figured it out and then on the biggest stage you absolutely lay an egg.
What are you going to do? And what he has done has been awesome. And I mentioned the underlying stuff is legit.
All of his expected numbers are top 15% in Major League Baseball. Strikeout rate down 2%. Walk rate up 2%. Hardhead rate up 10%. Like it's real. Like what we're watching with Andy Pies is not a mirage. This isn't like, oh, nobody ever expected it from him and it's just smok and mirrors like Harrison Bader's numbers were last year.
Like, this is the the the contact quality underneath the surface says that the offensive performance of Bah is legit. The defensive metrics say the eye test what the eye test is telling you about his defense is legit. And it's insane. Like, he's one of the most valuable players in all of Major League Baseball now.
>> Yeah. It's it's actually crazy because I remember back in 21 or 22 um after we moved on, the Dodgers moved on from AJ Pollock. Um yes, he was on the team at one point. Um, and they needed a corner outfielder and PZ was it uh high A and I wasn't, you know, asking him to be elevated from high A to the major league level, but I, you know, I was keeping his name was on my radar and I was like, okay, he's a, his profile at the time was he is a stocky corner outfielder.
Yeah.
>> Who can tear the cover off the baseball basically there his comp was, I think, Yordon Alvarez at the time. come 2022 goes to double A tears his labum in the like the first game or two and so he's out for 2022 and I'm like well there goes that idea that like you know I was hoping Pahz have you know prove something at double A and then maybe we'll see you know in September at the major league level that doesn't happen from the stocky corner outfielder tearing the cover off the baseball to >> a like legitimate center fielder like that that kind of >> transformation does not happen very If he was league average in center field, it would be incredibly impressive, incredibly value. Well, and awesome, but but he's he's way more than that.
>> Exactly. And and so we, you know, this is to, you know, to circle back to the, you know, all the outfield prospects the Dodgers do have the, you know, the question with almost all of them, I think outside of Eduardo Cano is, can any of these guys stick in center field?
Most are most have already basically moved into the corners already. they've already decided, "No, you're not playing center field." Andy Baj did the opposite. He went from, "Yeah, he's a corner guy to, yeah, we're going to move him to center and we're just going to hope this works." And they, it worked.
Like, this is not a normal trajectory.
And not only has he like excelled in that spot, he's, you know, really taken hold of like and become one of the best at a very premium position. It's like it doesn't get talked about enough how un or like how improbable his path to being a allstar caliber all MLB center fielder is.
>> Yeah, it's nuts. It's one of the most insane transformations that I've ever seen on the defensive side of things because you make the great point. I don't mean to just keep repeating it.
Guys don't move from right field to center field. Like typically if you can play center field, they figure that out and they will do everything in their power to keep you there as long as possible. As you said, Cano seems like he can play center field. I think they're still holding out hope that maybe Serotaa can play center field, but it seems like the rest of those guys, Pope, Depala, and Tibs have all been kicked to the sides, you know, and so to see a guy again go from a a good right fielder to a great center fielder just doesn't happen. So the fact and the fact that he's hitting on top of it, he could he could be a 105 weighted runs created plus player. If you're playing the defense he's playing in center field, you take it.
>> He's like one of a top 15% in all Major League Baseball hitter on top of it, which is why he's so valuable when it comes to wins above replacement. So it's it's it's bonkers. And again, you keep looking at all these outfielders, center field's taken through the 2030 season, it appears. So may maybe these guys need to just start practicing in left field and right field because even if they're two years away, guess what?
Pays is still going to be here for a few years beyond that. And and again and the Dodgers aren't going to let this guy, you know, these are the type of guys that the Dodgers will will plan on keeping around, I would imagine, as well. So cuz again, oh >> yeah, definitely. And that, you know, it'll tie into CBA talks notwithstanding. But if if this current CBA was to, you know, if we just moved the CBA and pushed it back five more years, I would imagine the Dodgers would, you know, work in the offseason to lock him up, buy out his arbitration and extend it a couple years um with some good money to just guarantee him some, you know, he's only making 700 thou. By the way, he's making $770,000, which I know is life-changing money for a lot of people. For an all world center fielder, that is not a lot of money.
>> No. No. Yeah. And who knows with with the CBA stuff we're going to get into.
Maybe the Dodgers try and hammer out an extension between now and December 1st just to say, "Hey, for all parties involved, let's just let's just get ourselves some guarantees um while we're at it." So, some crazy stuff. Uh we do have some super chats. Let's catch up on those. Uh we'll go in reverse order just because the last two have to do with Pahi. Richie, hang with us. Uh, Raul says, "Pah seems motivated not to repeat the 2025 postseason struggles." Again, what he went through, you go one of two directions, right? You either are never the same. It's the Nick Anderson game in in basketball where the guy misses the free throw and it just like career ender basically. Ben Simmons, maybe a more recent example on the NBA side of things. Um instead Andy Pahes has taken that and and to to me Kevin the eye test like it's not just free swinging and he happens to be making contact. The approach is improved from Andy Pah which I think is is the difference maker.
>> Yeah you mentioned his lower strikeout rate increased walk rate not things he was doing last year or was striking out too much not walking enough last year.
So again those are those are m signs of maturity in a batter. You know he's not so free swinging. He's being choosy.
He's doing damage. Like it's it's been really fun to watch.
>> Yeah. Uh the Enigma, another super chat as well. Pah's being a star mitigates the effect of bets underperforming thus far this season on the team. The mantle has been passed. He is a star. Um I I think you need to do it for a little longer than we've seen with Pahes. I mean, I I've I've referenced like is he a star? Like what's the word that we use? I think star >> give me a full season of this at least and then we then we can talk. But um I'm he's carrying the load. Like him and Maxy were the guys that were carrying this offense while everybody else was kind of figuring things out. And so I still believe Mookie is going to figure it out on my own channel Bleeder who I had a show today and I talked about all the underlying metrics on Mookie stuff and and the quality of contact is there.
It's the same drum I beat on Conforto all of last year which I will point out may we were just too we were just too early on.
>> Never wrong just early.
>> Never wrong just early. I I was texting with my guy Stephen Nelson and I believe that was his exact line was not wrong just early and I'm like let's go.
>> You know what I did? He did mention he mentioned that uh or he mentioned that or he used that phrase on the broadcast I believe on yesterday's game. Not wrong just early. I love it.
>> It's great. And oh by the way for all the mookie haters he's also playing a really good shorts stop still which again you don't go from right field to shortstop. That doesn't happen ever. So let's just let's cool it on him. Let's cool it on 50.
>> Yeah. And again, it's like pahes. I I know with Mookie Bets, it's a lot harder because you've got to like get it out of your mind. Um but the like what Mookie Bets is doing defensively at shortstop.
If he can just be and he's not to be clear, but if he can be a slightly above average offensive player, that's a really valuable thing. Now you're going to see 50 and if he's batting second, I understand all those things. It's going to be hard to compute, but a I believe in Mookie Bets. I think he's going to figure it out. It's he's just due. Um and if he even gets to last year with an 800 ops over the last like month of the season, he got to a 104 way to run credit plus. I expect more than that from Mookie Bets, but even if he got there playing gold glove, caliber defense at shortstop, that's a really valuable player. So, um >> yeah, >> we'll see. Uh and we do have a super chat here from our guy Richie. Uh he says, "Normally, I would have left a voicemail, but I've been dropped like third period French. This is a great opportunity for Alex Call going back to the um Teao injury and Hessen Kim needs to hit. So yeah, Kim interesting nugget on on that Kim may have been headed out of town if not for the Kik injury. So um but then again he Freeland shows back up and Kim starts hitting again. So maybe it's he just needs Alex Freeland around.
>> That's you know I was toying with that idea. It's like okay do you just go get a different outfielder or do you just accept that you that Kim and Freeland are a package deal? Like you just have to have them both up at the same time.
You get two homegrown guys, but you have to have them both or neither one can succeed without the other one there.
>> Yeah. Uh Matty man in the chat pointing out that Mookie Bets made his first error of the season. Um I believe it was was it last night or two nights ago and it wasn't even it was like a dribbler up the middle and I >> it it wasn't like a routine play. So um >> he still knocked it down. Yeah. And I think he still knocked it down so it didn't get down. So >> um there you go. Uh, all right. Let's get to um I think it's worth talking about the collective bargaining agreement. Negotiations sort of are underway. Uh, the current CBA deal expires on December 1st. And I'll just say this, what Kevin and I are going to attempt to do in the next 10ish minutes, maybe less, five minutes, is give like a CBA negotiations for dummies. We're not going to get into the nitty-gritty here on every clause, but we want to give people just an update. If you're a baseball fan, you should know where things stand on labor negotiations because this current agreement expires on December 1st. And right now, it doesn't look awesome if you're hoping to see baseball in 2027. So, the MLBPA yesterday, I believe, started things off by releasing their first proposal to the owners. And I'll give you the highlights. No salary cap first and foremost. Uh they want to double the minimum salary. They want to raise luxury tax threshold. So, you wouldn't even get taxed until 300 million.
Currently, it's at like 250. And they also want to penalize teams who don't spend enough. The floor would be $150 million that teams have to spend. 11 teams currently are under that number.
They also proposed earlier free agency for older players. So, I believe it's if you're over the age of 30, you would hit free agency in 5 years. Um, as quickly as 5 years, they would eliminate the qualifying offer. And as a bone back to the owners, they would basically they would guarantee small market clubs a minimum of $240 million in revenue sharing every single year. So that was the players association proposal. Now if you know anything about negotiating, you know that the first proposal on both sides is the most extreme version and then you hope and you cross your fingers and you pray that both sides choose to work towards the middle. So then the owners today come out with their own proposal which just for fun by the way was proposal that would excuse me last seven years. Normally it's five. The owners are like we're going to actually create a proposal that goes seven. To be honest I'm cool with the longer deal.
Let's just make it longer until there's potentially a strike. But they propose the headline here a salary cap for the first time in 30 years. 30 years is a long time ago. Which means you might not remember the last time they proposed a salary cap. We lost a season in Major League Baseball. The World Series was canceled. It did not happen.
>> Years born 94.
>> There you go.
>> Uh the the owners proposing that the salary cap would be where the luxury tax currently is. So the luxury tax is at 250 million. That's where they want the cap to be. To clarify, the players want the tax to go up 50 million. The owners want to make a tax a cap. They also want to put a floor at $170 $1.2 million.
that is there are 12 teams currently below it. So a ceiling and a floor situation. They also want to do 5050 revenue sharing. An interesting note on this as I believe it was Evan Dritch at the athletic pointed out that if the revenue owed to the players was less than the total salaries that are being paid out to players. Players contracts would essentially no longer be guaranteed. They would have to give some of their money back if the 50% revenue share doesn't cover everyone's salary.
So, this sort of agreement actually makes contracts no longer technically guaranteed. Fun fact, um, uh, all local television revenue would be pulled according to the owners. And here's kind of the headline statement from Glenn Kaplan, league spokesperson.
Quote, ultimately the game is about hope and competition, and too many fans in too many markets have too little hope that their team has a fair chance to win. fans overwhelmingly support a salary cap and floor like in the other leagues. Uh, >> we do. I don't know what fans they're talking about.
>> Kevin Kevin texted the group saying we should not text about the CBA because he might get too mad. And my response was, "Sounds like something we should definitely talk about." So, um, the owners want a salary cap. The players do not. Your thoughts, Kevin?
>> Um, okay. To give context to my thoughts, I will never ever ever be on the side of the billionaire owners.
That's just not you're I'm not >> It's a tough spot to be.
>> Yeah. Oh, no. Poor them. Um so they they're proposing a cap because it's for parody. And yet if with their proposed cap, I believe of the six teams that would need to go under the cap, two of them currently aren't in playoff contention already. And of like the 11 teams that would need to go above their floor, which most of the teams need to like double their salary that are below it. So like they need to go from spending 80 million to 175 million, which okay, I didn't know they could do that. Their owners seem to think they could pay 175 million. Anyway, >> um of the 11 teams that would need to go above it or 12. Um I think six of them are in playoff positions and multiple of them are current divisional leaders. So I don't really know where where the whole parody thing stands. Um I I the I I should have pulled up the NFL PA response, but it was basically like the owners aren't doing this in good faith.
>> Yeah, >> they're pretty much not. They're trying to cap a league that doesn't need a cap at all. It needs a floor. It needs, you know, like um they uh I think Alden Gonzalez had a a a graph and they and he basically just highlighted how many times the Dodgers got used as a reference point. And one of them was like the the wage discrepancy between the Dodgers and like six other teams.
And the teams are like the Pirates, the White Socks, the Rays, the A's, >> and I think the Cardinals maybe or the Marlins. Yeah. All of those teams if they spent a little bit of money like the White Socks are currently doing very well, as are the Pirates also doing very well. Like there are teams, the A's, they have a good offense. They just need to put some you spend some money, get some um Oh, and the Guardians were on the list too, you know, get some pitching. The Guardians and the Rays are considered a pitching factory. They do nothing but develop pitchers. Like, go spend some money, invest in the product for to supplement your roster. If you're really good at developing pitchers, hey, go go go get some free agent hitters.
Why not help your pitching staff out?
Stuff like that. And to anyone who thinks a capp league is going to lower ticket prices, that's a hogwash. Um, that that's those ticket prices aren't going anywhere. Sorry guys. Dodger stadium parking lot money is still going to go up every year. Your Dodger dogs are going to get more expensive every year. It does not matter if they lower the salary cap. It just doesn't.
>> Yeah. Or if they have cap in general.
>> Here's what blows my mind about parody.
There were a bunch of numbers that I have here and I'm going to start with the one that I think is the most compelling. Since 2001, so I believe that's 25 years.
>> 25 years.
>> 25 years.
16 different franchises have won the World Series.
Like, think about the fact that half of Major League Baseball has gotten to see their team win a World Series in the last 25 years. And and for context, the NBA, that number is 12. In the NFL, that number is 13. So, if par is defined by how many franchises have an opportunity to win the championship, MLB has more parody than either of the other two.
Some other numbers that jump out to me, um, prior to 2024, from 2018 to 2023, six different teams won the World Series.
Every single year it was a new World Series champion. Nine different teams won it in the 11 years prior to the Dodgers going back to back. Um, if you want to look at even last year, the 15th highest payroll were the Mariners. They were a game away from the World Series last year. The Brewers had the 22nd highest payroll. They had the best record in Major League Baseball and made it to the NLCS. The second highest payroll Mets didn't make the playoffs.
Third and fourth highest payrolls won a combined two games in the divisional series. The number 16 payroll advanced to the divisional series. Numbers 21 and 25 both made the playoffs last year.
That that's literally the definition of parody. Now, the only reason we're having this conversation is because the Dodgers won back-to-back World Series.
Do we need to remind people how how tenuous the 2025 World Series was? They were down three games to two headed on the road. If the Blue Jays win the World Series last year, are we having this conversation? Like MLB spike, by the way, >> totally spike. The owners are so thrilled that the Dodgers won the World Series last year because in bad faith they are going to make an argument they know isn't true, which is that nobody has a chance to win the World Series because of the big bad Dodgers, which for every year between 1988 and 2020, the Dodgers never won anything. And then even if they had a high payroll in 21 and 22 and 23 and 24, guess what? They didn't win anything. So, it's just fortunate timing for the owners. But I'm with you. The parody argument is absolute nonsense. And my hope is that fans are going to be intelligent enough to realize that because there are some people who are not intelligent enough to realize that and the owners are betting on those people having loud voices.
>> Absolutely. And the other thing too is this is what's so dumb is baseball. It doesn't matter if the Dodgers are a bad guy. That's fine. If the Dodgers are a bad guy, that's great. Enemies are good for sports. People like having something to universally hate.
Baseball has never had more momentum ever right now. Yeah, >> there we're people are currently talking about this rookie class being one of the best rookie classes ever.
>> You have, you know, you have um Sal Stewart, Connor or um the the kid in um Detroit. Um you have, you know, just a I bling on all their names, but yes, they're they're talking about this being some of the best rookie talent we've seen in a long long long time.
>> McGonagal, did you name him?
>> McGonagal, thank That is who I was thinking of. Um, to have a lockout would be insane to halt that momentum, which by the way, the momentum only helps the owners, >> right?
>> The momentum doesn't pay the players more. What it does is puts butts in seats. It gets people on the MLB app more subscribers. That lines the owners pockets. Y >> the Angels were already handing out $300 million contracts 10 years ago to Mike Trout and Anthony Ren. these contracts already existed. There's just now more there's a bigger microscope on the game because there's so much momentum around it and the owners because they just want more money are totally fine halting it in the hopes that oh maybe they save a few extra bucks this way. It's ridiculous. It's like I if they actually like and I consider baseball and sport in general as a privilege. if you know I don't get to watch a sport that sucks but it's not like a god-given right but like I don't want to have like this halted momentum I don't want to just like blow through a CBA just for momentum sake just so that billionaire owners can make more money that seems ridiculous to me >> well and even the 50/50 revenue split seems so reasonable and seems so fair until you remember that then the owner gets to turn around and sell their franchise for $5 billion and the players get none of it >> Yep. Oh yeah, the Padres's just sold 13.
By the way, the the cap I'm sure if the cap if they needed a cap and revenue is so far down, the low the the small market Padres's definitely wouldn't have just sold for 4.5 or 4 whatever billion dollars.
>> Crazy. It's crazy. So, it's a mess. And I mean, right now, as I sit here today, if I gave you like 5050 odds on strike or no strike, like do we miss games in 2027? Where would you be?
>> It's like 8020. there's going to be a strike. I like and and I'm being optimistic if I'm being completely honest. The last time the owners proposed a seller cap like you mentioned, they stopped the players went on strike mid-season.
>> Yeah.
>> So like like there's precedence that the players could do it again, which would suck because again baseball like yes it sucks as a Dodgers fan as a baseball fan like because the Dodgers have a chance to repeat. It would suck to take that away from them. It would suck to take it away from baseball because I just like watching and listening to baseball. But it would just suck to halt all this momentum because they want a salary cap.
It would just it would be awful. But there's precedent there. So like 8020 and I'm being optimistic that there's a strike. Yeah, I'm with you. I I don't know if I'd go full 8020, but we all kind of Nothing surprising happened today as far as the owners proposing a salary cap because this is sort of what was expected. And yet when you actually read that this is like an official proposal, this is where they're going to start negotiations, um, it's crazy. It's crazy. And, and to your point, like hopefully the players response to this isn't like, okay, watch this, you know, like all that momentum, all that we're we're >> I also don't want them to cave in any way either. Like they cuz salary caps like the other part of salary caps and salary floors is the guys at the top end are going to make their money. The Mookie bets, the mic trouts, the show, they're going to get their money. Where a lot of this comes down to is the middle the middle class of players. What happens to the guy that you know signs a three-year $45 million contract. Salary caps don't really allow for that because owners will spend big on their big time players. they'll meet the minimum on others and then they don't the middle class of players kind of get left left out to dry. Like that's who and that's who the NF or the not the NFL, the MLBPA is fighting for. They're, you know, they recognize that their elite talent gets their money. They want to make sure and take care of, you know, the rookies, the guys that are just coming up, you know, fighting for salary floors because they just they want to make sure that their players are taken care of. You know, it wasn't until the last CBA that they mandated that all the minor leaguers get housed properly, which is something the Dodgers did before that before that CBA.
Nobody likes to mention that or and feed their minor leaguers. Again, that was something that the CBA finally put forward. They finally agreed upon something the Dodgers were doing. So, it's that we they want to make sure that they take care of everybody. And I don't want the players union to cave to the billionaire owners, even though it would just really suck for baseball in this moment.
Totally agree. Totally agree. So, we'll see how this plays out, but neither of us optimistic. And I'm curious to hear from people in the comments. How confident are you that the 2027 season is going to happen? Because um I don't know. This isn't the place that you want this conversation to be starting. That's >> You know what? We should The Dodgers should repeat three repeat, have a strike, play another 60 game season, go four in a row in the 60 game season.
Let's just the Let the Mickey Mouse stuff come back out. It's just ridiculous. Oh my god. I hate labor negotiations. So dumb.
>> Just pay your players. You're billionaires, >> right? Pay your players.
>> It's like you always have to win. It's like everybody's happy right now.
Everybody's making tons of money.
Franchise valuations are going up. The sport is growing. like and and that's my hope, right? Is that the owners start with the salary cap because they know they're never going to get it and they're going to try and get every little margin otherwise. You know, they're going to keep free agency a million years away from when you join.
They're going to keep the qualifying offer. They're going to keep player salaries, minimum salaries at $700,000 or whatever it is. Like the best case scenario for us as fans is that is they basically get everything that they want that doesn't involve an actual salary cap. Um that that's the realistic version of this. Like I would love a salary floor. This tells me that the salary floor is not going to happen because the owners are just going to die on the hill of if if the Marlins want to spend 80 million. And that's where it gets interesting because most of the league is pissed that the Marlins are only spending $80 million. But are you really going to vote against the rest of these owners? They need what 23 of the 30 owners or something like that have to vote to uh to approve any any CBA. So um >> Yep.
>> It's a mess. Finally, finally on your point about the, you know, like team controls and stuff like that. I tweeted it out earlier. You know, we were, and this ties into the Andy Pahes conversation we were having and how good he's been. You know, I didn't just know that he was making $770,000 this year. I looked it up and he's not going to hit free agency until he's 29 years old.
He's one of the best players in the sport. Like yes, the Dodgers if if the CBA continued would probably buy out his arbitration, give him some guaranteed money and throw in a little bit extra, but then he doesn't hit free agent till he's 32. If you look at the NFL, guys are looking for their third contract by the time they're 32. I know the lifespan in the NFL is a lot shorter, but they're getting their third swing. They're getting their third bite at the apple.
>> Yeah.
>> By the time they're 32, Andy Paw might get one. like like the teams have so the owners have so much control over these players lives for so long and they still want to pinch pennies and like over you know salary floors and veteran minimums and they it's just >> pay your damn players just invest in the product. It's never been better. Strike while the iron is hot like basketball is fading. they have a golden opportunity to really establish themselves as like a force in this country as a sport again and we're do might BE A LOCKOUT. AH yeah looking back on that 94 lockout like it's insane. This is basically how it started and then what happened is um I believe in June the MLB owners withheld like $8 million that they were required to pay into the salary and p the pension and benefits plans and that got upheld legally somehow. And so then the players association end of July said, "Hey, we're going to strike on August 12th unless this is re reached and nothing was reached and so they walked out and then the rest of the season wasn't played." So let's cross our fingers that that's not the world that we're walking into as Dodgers fans here on May 28th.
But you know, the last time that a salary cap was proposed in Major League Baseball, that's how things played out.
So crazy stuff, right? Uh, all right.
Let's get to We do have another super chat here from our friend the Enigma $4.99. He said, "Ask any NBA fan how messy caps are. It absolutely destroys team building and that's fewer players.
I don't want baseball to turn into it."
I mean, NBA keeps messing with their rules. They've got like this new agreement and the aprons and can or can't trade players. And to some degree, like you can argue that it is helping spread out players and changing the team building model, but again like the the idea that a cap is going to create parody. Is there a single NBA fan right now that thinks like the Spurs and or Thunder aren't going to be playing for the in the finals every single year for the next 10 years? Like under the system that currently exists, which is a salary cap, the Spurs have three basically borderline star superstars who are 22 and under. The Thunder have like the most draft pick capital of any team in the entire league and the two-time MVP and like five other dudes who would be the best player on their team. Like the salary cap creating parody is just nonsense. And the NBA's proof of it.
>> Yeah. And to the fans that are like, "Oh, well, because the Dodgers can spend more money than anyone, so they're they're going to get guys like TKO and Paul Ske or whatever." Don't be mad at the Dodgers. Be mad at the Tigers and the Pirates for not signing those guys.
Like like, you know, maybe if maybe the owners needed more of an incentive to give their super their homegrown superstars like, you know, they needed an incentive to play them, so they gave them a comp pick in round one. if you have like the AL or NL rookie of the year, maybe they need to do that for giving their superstars contracts. I don't know. It's ridiculous. It's just like like I am happy there is no um salary cap obviously, but just the but what people choose to focus on in lie of the salary cap is just infuriating to me.
>> It's crazy. It's crazy. So there you go.
We appreciate the super chats. Again, if you are new here, please like, subscribe, ring the notification bell here on the All Dodgers podcast. We would greatly appreciate that. Uh, we are going to shift at the hour and seven minute mark to be clear away from some baseball conversation. We are going to honor a holiday that that deserves to be recognized, Kevin, and that is National Hamburger Day today. Um, I have friends in my life who sent me like every burger place that was doing deals today. And, uh, there were quite a few of them, so shout out to them. Re does have a super chat here. So, we're going to get to this and then we'll get back to our burger draft. Re says, "Uh, if a lockout again happens again, let Otani take peeds, break a 100 home runs in a season to save baseball like Meguire and Sosa did in 1998." Uh, Raul once the enhanced game baseball edition. Were you paying attention at all to the enhanced games, Kevin?
>> Didn't I heard they didn't break like any records?
>> They broke one one swimmer one swimmer broke a world record. Uh, if you don't know what the enhanced games are, it was basically we're going to let all these track athletes and swimmers take as many steroids as they want to and see how many world records they break. I think it was like they would get $2.5 million if they broke a world record. And again, in all of the events, like one guy, I think it was a guy, one swimmer, 50 meter freestyle I believe was the only world record that was broken. Um, obviously it didn't count. So, um, but yeah, I to R's point, like baseball only got saved by guys cheating and hitting a million home runs. And to be honest, it was awesome. But, um, you know, >> it was great. I wasn't I like even even though I was like barely a human being at that point. I remember the race. It was It was fun to watch these guys that like were just like gorillas with little sticks in their hands.
>> So big. Bonds was massive. Ross, incredible comment here. Uh, Fernando Tatis Jr. would like the steroid era to come back. So, love that. 10 out of 10.
>> Yeah, you would.
>> No notes. Um, okay. It's time for maybe my most important contribution to all Dodgers yet in in the time that I have been here, which is the burger draft in honor of National Hamburger Day. Um, I have texted Clint who said he might come. So far, he has not come and we will see if if that changes. If he calls in in the next few minutes, we have a we have the ability to change our setup and get our guy Clint in here. So Clint, if you're watching, you're invited. We would love to have you. But we are going to draft our favorite burgers and and we had to set some guidelines. So these are the guidelines that I gave.
It has to be fast food or fast food adjacent. Aka, you're not sitting at a table and a waiter or a waitress is coming to take your order. That's number one. It needs to be something that is multilocation slashrecognizable to Southern California residents. So, it's not like, oh, there's this one place down the street and it's a food cart that nobody's ever heard of. It's got to be known and it's got to be multilocation. Not necessarily national, but like multilocation. Um, and the last piece here, and I think this is what's going to make this most interesting, is that each restaurant can only be chosen one time. So, if hypothetically Clint were here and he were to take the Baconator with his first pick, which would be a mistake, I want to be clear.
But if he were to take the Baconater, that would mean that for Kevin and I, every other Wendy's burger was off the board. Only one burger per restaurant can be taken. There are no rules about which burger it has to be. You can choose whichever one you want. So, um, because I'm a nice person and I'm willing to jeopardize losing this just right off the get right off the jump.
going to lose it right off the get.
>> I am. I'm aware. How did you Do you have a list, by the way? I have a list.
>> I have a list.
>> How many Do you like How many do you have? I have 10 on my list.
>> I have five. I I had enough. So, basically, we could do three people and pick three and I'm going to get three.
So, I picked like my five.
>> But you only have five. You're You're that confident that you've got items that nobody else is going to touch?
Like, we could Whatever. We'll do two rounds of three. Three rounds of two.
Excuse me. Um, and I'm gonna I'm gonna let you go first, which seems unfair to me, but I'm willing to be the underdog in this. And I'm hoping beyond all hope, Kevin, that you do not screw this pick up. Your first pick in the burger draft is it's it's the double double. Thank goodness. It's just off off the bat.
It's the It's the burger. I mean, there's a good reason why at 1:00 in the morning at any In-N-Out drive-thru, the lot the car lot is full and the whole drive-through line is packed. That's not a mistake.
>> It's just It is the go-to burger. I understand that people have their doubts and their gripes with it. Call it overrated or what have you. Bang for buck, pound for bound, poundforpound, it is the best burger, fast food burger you could get.
>> Yeah, it's unbelievable. It's incredible. So, Double Double, unsurprisingly, number one on my list as well. Um, I will pick second. This is like the rule of multilocation, well-known. This is the only one where I'm going to push that a little bit, but I'm going to go to Tommy's for my first choice. And I want the Tommy's Chili Cheeseburger is what I want. I love it.
It's delicious. There are multiple of them. It's well known in Southern California. So, because I created the rules, I made sure Tommy's counts. My first choice is going to be the Tommy's chili cheeseburger. Are you a Tommy's guy, Kevin?
>> Oh, yeah. Absolutely. Okay. Dad and I used to go after Dodger games all the time. Chili. Yeah. Chili cheese fry. I would get a burger and chili cheese fries just cuz eating the chili cheeseburger was so messy. So, like I like to like >> fork what? You know, chili cheese.
>> I get it. I get it. So, okay. We're not going to do a snake draft. We're just going to alternate. So, you get the third pick.
>> In and out. Tommy's both off the board.
>> Okay. So, I I'm going to go I'm going to zag a little bit. I like this is why I was pretty confident in like my five.
>> I like this.
>> Um >> depending on where you are, it is either one name or another.
>> It is the I know exact I know exactly what burger we're going to. Carl's Junior and >> Western Cheese Bacon Western Cheeseburger. That thing slaps. I The number of road trips I've gone on and just like gotten hungry. I'm like I'm just looking for like a Carl's Jr.
That's what I'm That's what I want. It is my favorite. Uh, like I think I would call it like true fast food. Yeah.
>> Burger.
>> I I agree with you.
>> It is not the highest ranked true fast food burger on my list, but the Western Bacon Cheeseburger is was on my list. It was going to be chosen. It's fantastic.
So, I'm proud of you. I'm impressed with your food opinion so far, Kevin. I want you to know that. Um, I am going to >> I'm going to go with a a cheeseburger from Five Guys as my next option.
>> I love Five Guys. Uh, if it were up to me, I'm a grilled onions, grilled mushrooms, lettuce, tomato, just massive double. And I know it costs way more than an In-N-Out double double, which is why In-N-Out is both better and more affordable, but price is not an option in this fast food and fast food adjacent draft. So, give me Five Guys.
Cheeseburger next up. So, Tommy's is off the board, In-N-Out is off the board, Five Guys is off the board, Carl's Jr./Hardies also off the board. Uh, your third pick here, Kevin. The uh the last one I would not have known until I came to Chicago. Um but it is a national brand, so this does count and it's Culver's. Culver's actually has Yeah, they actually have a pretty decent burger. And I will maintain it's not necessarily the burger itself. It is the burger and everything you can get with the burger, whether it be cheese curds or like um a frosty, whatever they call it, a custard, like what what you can get along with the Culver's burger, really I think elevates the dish itself.
Um but yeah, I've been a really big fan of Culver's. Also, um they have like this crazy thing called the Scoopy Token where if you get like a meal, they give you a Scoopy token. If you like you just turn in a Scooby token, you get a free custard whenever you want. My wife's family has like a hundred of them. So, we just like if we go to her parents house, we just grab a couple and go to Culver's and grab ice cream. It's great.
>> I love it. Uh I have been to Culver's.
They have one near the spring training facility of the Dodgers. And I'm going to be honest, underwhelming for me. Not I've got 10 on here. Culver's did not crack my top 10. So, that was a safe bet by you. That was >> safe bet. And I knew I only picked three, but I also just wanted to highlight a little bit it is the other things that like maybe on the burger itself it doesn't on its own merits wouldn't make the list, but I think everything else Culver's has to offer really, you know, >> together.
>> So So how many do you still have on your list just out of here? Are two of the You still have two on your list?
>> I still have two. Yeah.
>> Okay. We'll we'll just keep this draft going until you run out of things.
>> I'm going to zag for my next one. This is probably my hottest take, but I stand by it. It's a restaurant that most people would say belongs nowhere near this draft, but I'm going to highlight a particular burger at a particular place.
I freaking love the sourdough jack from Jack in the Box. It's so good.
>> It's so good. And I know most of the stuff at Jack in the Box does not fall into the category of good, but man, I love a sourdough jack. Uh so we're we're we're going there. So apologies to anybody else that had a different burger at Jack in the Box, but uh sourdough Jack, my third choice. So, I've got Tommy's, Five Guys, and a Sourdough Jack. You have got In-N-Out, a Western Bacon Cheeseburger, and Culver's. Um, you've still got two left, I believe.
Right. I'm assuming Jack in the Box was not fourth or fifth on your list.
>> No, it was it was not. If we were having a fast food taco draft, Jack in the Box might have made it on the list.
>> I like it. I like it. Okay. Uh, let's just keep this thing going. Pick number four for Kevin Skinner is what?
>> The Habit. I think it's just like a Southern California classic. Um, this this is like my one of my more traditional picks. I like it. It's just it's solid. I'm never disappointed by it. It's not my absolute favorite. Yeah.
>> But it's solid.
>> Not on my list.
>> It actually be because of the pick you just had. I now have another one that I'm pretty sure you're definitely not taking. So, I have two more again.
>> I love it. Well, we'll just keep going.
The Habit not on my list. Shout out to my buddy Payton. Loves that place. Uh, not my favorite. It's fine. They're just not memorable to me. Um, most people would be appalled at the the sandwiches that I have on here that are ranked ahead of The Habit. Um, fourth for me, this is a newer addition to the list for me. It's another place that's incredibly expensive. I understand that. Uh, they're usually running promotions, which is the way that I can afford it.
But I I've come to really like Shake Shack. Just the classic Shack burger from Shake Shack. I know it's like $18 just for a cheeseburger with nothing else with it, but um yeah, give me give me a sh a Shack burger from Shake Shack as my fourth pick. So >> that was all yours, Kevin.
>> That was low on my that that was going to be like my last one if nobody picked Shake Shack because it one it kind of bends the rules of fast food because it can take a while.
>> It's pretty dang expensive.
>> Um this one I'm pretty sure no one's going to take, so I'm going to go for it. it. Not not what you would think of for fast food burgers, but if you doubt me, give it a try. Or at least give it a try after some drinks at 1:30 in the morning. Um, the Dell Burger from Del.
>> Okay. I I have people in my life who swear by the Dell Ber. Now, they claim that it has gotten worse. They claim that something happened in the last like 3 to 5 years and things changed, but OG Dellberger, I've heard incredible reviews of.
>> Yes. my one of my best friends and I would frequent our local Del Taco and get Dell burgers because they are delicious. Um it just it didn't come across my mind when I thought of fast food burgers because obviously Del Taco, but um yeah, Dell burgers are incredible. Um especially if you're really hungry at 1:00 in the morning.
>> I love that. Um by the way, there is no collusion happening about Clint's Baconator being nowhere to be found and Wendy's still on the board. I love Wendy's.
But if I told people what my favorite burger was at Wendy's and I I just I'll say I eat multiple of them rather than one big burger. Um I might get in trouble on this website. So we'll just set that aside for now. Um so I believe you're through five. My fifth pick. Um this is going to be a ZAG.
>> Okay.
>> I tried the Big Arch from McDonald's and I I kind of really liked it. I kind of really liked it. Never. I've never had a Whopper and I've never had a Big Mac.
So, like those were like clean off my list. I've never had >> I Yeah, I've never really been They've always just looked really gross.
>> Big Mac nostalgic. Like the Big Macs I remember were 500% better from when I was like 9 years old. I do like a Whopper as well. Um, but I'm going to I'm going to zag and go uh yeah, big arch here, which I tried one time and uh like I said, it was it tasted like a real hamburger. So, shout out to McDonald's and and their goofy CEO. So, um did you do you still have a sixth one on your list or did was Shake Shack your sixth? You got one more. Great. We'll go round six.
>> One more.
>> Yeah. Um this one again pushing the limits of fast food. It is also just in like inferior Five Guys. It's Smashburger.
>> Okay. Some people love it.
>> I I enjoyed it um in college, especially when, you know, funds were a little tighter. Like like me like me a smashburger. It's It is perfectly It It's a chromulent burger. Um again, never been disappointed, but I've never gone there and like this is like exactly what I needed today. But it it's pretty good.
>> Okay. Um I'm going to go last here. I I still have a few on my list, but I I'm just going to take my Wendy's burger here and I'm just gonna eat all of the the crap that comes my way. It's small.
I want to reiterate that I'm eating like multiple of these, but the Junior Bacon Cheeseburger at Wendy's is just like it's such a perfect combination of tastes in my opinion. The mayo, the lettuce, the tomato, the bacon. Like just give me three JBC's and I'm a happy guy. The nuggets at Wendy's elite fries very good. Frosties. If you're talking chicken sandwiches, yeah, >> Wendy's is up there for sure. I did >> have a Baconator. I did text it out to the group chat. I was like, "This is an It was my That was the first Baconator I had in a while. Better than I remember."
Um the butt was actually surprisingly a lot better than I remember it being.
Yeah. Um it wasn't like mashed in like this like piece of cardboard. But yeah, it it just didn't didn't quite cut it. I think if I'm going to Wendy's, I'm never >> getting a burger. I'm always just getting like spicy nugs or something.
>> You got to get the biggie bag. Junior bacon cheeseburger and some nugs. It's a great deal. Um, honorable mentions on my list. We we referenced it briefly. I really like the Whopper. You've never had one from Burger King, so that would have been out there. And you mentioned Smashburger. Sonic's Smashburger is actually pretty good. I kind of don't like Sonic on principle, but they have one in my town and my daughters love it.
So, we go there and I've had the Smashburger and it actually is like very good. So, shout out to Sonic.
>> I It's so hard for me to get Sonic because I have to get over that I'm at Sonic. Like, if you just if you unwrapped the burger and gave it to me and just like didn't tell me where you got it from, be like, "Oh, this is like nice. I like this." But like, it's like sitting in a Sonic parking lot like trying to pick some up. I'm like, "Yeah, I'm in a Sonic parking lot." Like, yeah, totally.
>> I don't want to be here.
>> It's amazing. Um, shout out to my buddy Jake, by the way, who just texted me saying his whole family is happy that I mentioned the Junior Bacon Cheeseburger.
So, at least the first feedback I'm getting on that one is going to be positive. When Clint watches the stream back, I think uh I think it's going to be less positive, but um yeah.
>> Well, cuz Junior Bacon Cheeseburgers were also on like Wendy's Value Meal.
So, I think they were like at a point they were like $2. So, you could get like a junior bacon cheeseburger for two bucks. Like a four piece nug for a dollar and a frosting and it's like five bucks and you've got like a whole meal of >> Well, that's what the biggie Have you do? I mean, it sounds like like have you ever gotten a biggie bag at Wendy's? Mm- >> So, I mean, it's changed briefly, but like six months ago, the Biggie Bag was $5 for a junior bacon cheeseburger, four piece nuggets, fries, and a drink. You could get that all for five bucks.
>> Now, they've got like different versions of it where it's like I think it's a junior bacon cheeseburger and four nuggets is $4 or something. But yeah, shout out to Wendy's. It's the best. So, to recap, I've got Tommy's Chili Cheeseburger, a Five Guys Cheeseburger, the Sourdough Jack, the Shack Burger, the Big Arch, and the Junior Bacon Cheeseburger. Those were my six. You've got the In-N-Out Double Double, which is not fair. The Western Bacon Cheeseburger. You went Culver's third.
You're going to have to help me out.
Where the Dell Burger was somewhere in there.
>> Dber. So, Culver's. Um, I had uh Habit.
>> The Habit. That's right.
>> Habit, then Culver's. And then um >> then the Delberger, right?
>> Then the Delber and Yeah. And then uh Smashburger.
>> Smashburger. There you go. We're going to we're going to create some sort of graphic poll and you can tell us who won. And I just want everybody to acknowledge that I didn't have first pick and whoever got the double double was like picking Otani in a draft.
>> The only way we only weren't gonna only way In and Out wasn't one-1 was with if Clint was here and he got first pick.
>> Then it would have been Baconator. I honestly wish Clint was here just so he could have taken the I would have given him the first pick just so he could have taken the Baconator.
>> Um but we'll just all have to pretend that that's what happened because we know that's exactly what would have happened. So there you go. The >> Somebody in here mentioned the hat. The hat is really good. It just kind of doesn't qualify outside of like Tommy's we kind of made an exception to. The hat is a little kind of like Tommy's adjacent. So >> I don't think burgers when I think of the hat.
>> I think pastrami. Yeah. You know, like I mean I'm sure there's a burger in there somewhere, but it's like >> Yeah, >> if it's not the first thing you think of. Well, I guess I mean Del Taco, that's not the first thing you think of.
>> Not the first thing, but like >> those are incredible.
>> I've never had a burger from the hat cuz if I'm going to the hat, I'm just getting pastrami. So, uh, there you go.
>> You put on the burger.
>> Good.
>> Yeah. Again, the rules could not be a place with a weight staff. That was it.
doesn't have to be officially fast food, but it just can't have somewhere like if Red Robin, the Royal Red Robin would have been in my top five. If that was an option, throw a fried egg on it. But wait, that you know, >> only only been there once and I think I was like eight. I can't I just like none of those restaurants would have made it on. Applebee's, Red Robin. None of them.
I've never gone.
>> Okay, first of all, can we not put Applebees in the same sentence as Red Robin? I just want to say that because I love Red Robin and I don't love Rapbe's.
Applebee's burgers are like food poisoning waiting to happen. Second of all, bottomless fries at Red Robin. It's fantastic. I have children. It's their favorite spot. But 10 bucks for a burger and as many bus buckets of fries as you can eat is a pretty freaking good deal.
So, shout out to the Dirty Bird and the Royal Red Robin, which is like a $19 burger. Bacon cheeseburger with a fried egg on top. Delicious. Kevin, are you an egg on a burger guy?
>> Not really. Like I I'll eat it. It's just It's not my favorite. I'm I like a fairly simple burger because I like highlighting like the bun and the meat more than anything. If there's an aioli, cool. I'm here for it. It helps it out.
Um and really all I want is just like lettuce, onion, and maybe some tomatoes.
Like also I could go without tomatoes, too. I don't need it.
>> But yeah, I don't I don't like throwing a bunch of stuff on a burger because I want to I I like tasting the burger.
>> Fair enough. Uh, one note that we news item back to baseball. Santiago Espanol cleared waiverss and was outrighted to Oklahoma City. Last I checked, I'm not sure if he accepted that. I I haven't seen any news to the contrary. Um, so if I don't know I I mean, if that's the case, see Ryan Ward. Welcome back, Santiago Espanol, I imagine.
>> And and off off the 40man roster, um, Espanol would be. So, he's back in the same spot as Tibs and all those other guys where if the 40man roster is the issue, then he's kind of organizational depth in case of emergency. So, there you go. Uh, on that note, nearing the hour and a half mark, we appreciate everybody who's joining us who's hopping in here. Over 300 people on an off day and the hour and a half mark. We love to see that. So, thank you to everybody. We know there's a ton of people that watch this after the fact via YouTube, listen to it via podcast. Thank you as well.
This has been the All Dodgers podcast.
Jeez Louise, I need a glass of water.
This is the All Dodgers podcast, part of the Believe Podcast Network, presented by FanDuel. That is Kevin Skinner. My name is Jeff Spiegel. Enjoy the rest of your night everyone. As always, go Dodgers. And yes, still champs.
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