The Shrewdness crew discusses all the action that got us to the Sweet 16 and offers their predictions on the upcoming MLB season!
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Hey, good evening Shrewdness fans.
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Welcome to another great edition of the Shrewdness podcast.
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We have a full crew tonight. Shrews is back from his spring
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break. Spring break travels and Dex's
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Internet is working for now, that's.
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Right. Come on hamsters, get to work.
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So we're going to roll out some new content tonight, mainly
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talking about the upcoming baseball season.
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We'll hit first, I think on NCAA and March Madness tournament
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that's going on now and we're down to 16 teams left a few
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surprises, mostly not We'll we'll hit on that a bit.
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And then we're going to share, like I mentioned, more baseball
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news and our predictions for the upcoming MLB season because
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we're always. Accurate on these if you
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remember our football. Yeah, we just, we're, we're kind
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of gluttons, gluttons for punishment.
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We like to see how terrible we were at the end of the year and
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make fun of ourselves as much as you guys make fun of us online,
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so. That's right, it works to win,
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win. So we'll talk about our.
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Time we're right every time. That's right.
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We'll talk a little bit about teams and division winners, but
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also we're going to go to some individual award predictions for
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the Rookie of the Year, Cy Young MVP for each of the leagues.
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So, Jizz, tell us a little bit about NCAA.
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How's your bracket looking? Let's talk March Madness, baby.
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Best time of the year for college basketball.
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This is usually about the time when we have the Cinderella
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emerge, the Sweet 16. You know, we've got the 1st 2
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rounds. You got a bunch of little
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schools playing big schools, schools that kind of
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underperformed and are finally finding their way.
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All that kind of mix, guys that are gelling at the right time,
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you see. The VCU.
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Right. High point.
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They're always 316. That's what's awesome about
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this. That's what you get in the 316,
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the high points like, and I got to say I was pretty excited the
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first round because you did have a few glimpses.
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Yeah, the high point come through, which is a lot of fun
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to watch if you guys got to see them play at all.
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They had a a guard who was just unconscious just throw on threes
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up from every angle as soon as he touched the ball.
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Shameless plug for Prue that picked that game last.
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That's. Right.
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Prue did. Prue did Prouster Damas actually
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had that one correct. Then they ran up against
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Arkansas. They still did all right.
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But you know, they only lost by 6:00.
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But they but they lost and. I predicted that one too.
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Yes, it's a whole different, different ball game.
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Then we had, you know, we had a a couple guys that that looked
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like they could potentially do something.
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You know, TCU upset Ohio State, even though they're not like
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tiny school, they're not that great.
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Then they got beat down by Duke. We had, you know, but VCU beat
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North Carolina and got got their head coach fired as of today.
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He got dismissed, but he did. But then they lost to Illinois
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by like 20 something and around Lewis was.
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Fun villa, kids. Saint Louis.
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Robbie. Avila, Robbie.
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Avila, Larry. Nerd.
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Great white hope. He was incredible in the first
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game. In the second game, yeah, that's
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fine. That's Michigan, though, and.
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That's the problem. About being an 8 or 9 seed is
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you have to play the one seed. Next, you got to play the one
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seed and the one seeds are really sticky good this year.
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And so the question that I will present to the panel at large
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meaning decks and Prue Elvis, do we do?
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We have a. Cinderella this year.
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Well, I'll, I'll take that pinata and beat on it a little
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bit. We don't have a true Cinderella,
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but we do have a numbers Cinderella.
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So Texas was a first 4IN team. So the 65 to 68, they had to
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play their way in and they did. So they won.
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And by all accounts, Texas is an 11 seed sitting in the Sweet 16
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and they beat Gonzaga. So that's a that's a real team.
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BYU wasn't bad. So first round BYU, Gonzaga is
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the one. I didn't think they'd actually
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beat Gonzaga. I still think it's the better
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team. Texas wins.
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So you have an 11 seed in the Sweet 16.
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So if you're looking traditionally at tournament
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seating, you have a double digit guy hanging out in the Sweet 16.
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So our Cinderella by default is the Texas Longhorns.
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What? Not very Cinderella.
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Shut your pie hole. Shut your pie hole in this one.
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I mean Texas. Seriously.
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Saying Texas is Cinderella is like saying that the Dodgers are
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the Cinderella because they made the wild card because they
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played so bad during the regular season that they can only be the
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wild card. I mean, Texas has the largest
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athletic budget of anybody, maybe outside of Ohio State of
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anybody. They've got huge NIL.
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They play like poop all year despite all that money, they
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squeak in as an 11 and they actually perform for a couple
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games. I refuse to call them.
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I refuse to call them Cinderella.
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But you're right, technically they're wearing the.
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Slipper. It just might look like a Nike.
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That's. That's exactly what it might
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have a swoosh on it, but it's still a slipper.
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And it might be sponsored by Nike.
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A couple of money from Nike. So.
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That's the only issue I have. I mean, I really hate to think
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of. I just can't.
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I can't. So here's my secondary one.
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See if you if you oh, I want proof.
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Give me your take on this one first before I go to my my
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honourable mention Cinderella. Yeah, I I was going to go to the
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honourable mention, I think Cinderella, but no, it's a it's
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a good story. They they played sound
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basketball. They beat it like you said, a
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good team. Gonzaga's no joke.
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I had them picked to go a lot further, meaning Gonzaga.
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So I I did really good the first round my bracket, but kind of
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down to average now as far as what I can still score the rest
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of them. Who's your Honor?
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You. Mentioned Cinderella.
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We'll see if we're on the same page.
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I think a lot of people probably picked Florida to win.
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Yeah. And Iowa stepped in, took him
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down on a last second shot. It was a great ending to a game.
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It was, it was a good game. Made it with like 4 seconds left
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or something like that to take a one point lead.
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They held on over #1 Florida. So that was a a big upset.
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And I agree, that was phenomenal.
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I even though they're still Big 10 and it still feels weird
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calling Cinderella. Yeah.
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Yeah, it. Does.
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I think they're the closest thing we're going to get to
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Cinderella in this tournament because they aren't expected to
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be that good. They don't have as much money as
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everybody else in the bigger conferences.
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It's. Just a small school from a small
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conference. That's right.
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Little Iowa, little little Iowa Hawkeyes.
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That's. Right.
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They're playing little old Nebraska, who the same way, you
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know, they had a last second. I don't know if you guys saw the
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end of that game, but Vanderbilt had a shot that like, I don't
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know, didn't go in. It was insane.
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It like went. Halfway down and.
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Actually it was like 3/4 of the way down and the net.
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Like said Nope and popped it back out.
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I was like, how did that happen? Yeah, it was amazing ending.
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So both of those teams are coming off of incredible
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endings. So that'll be a fun game because
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it is like a good old fashioned upper Midwest corn fed, you
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know. The Big 10 is heading to the
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Elite 8. That's right, Guaranteed.
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That's right. Last week Dex and I talked about
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the chalkiness of this year's tournament and and really last
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year's and we pointed out most of the one seeds or all the one
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seeds made it last year. Yep.
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So in my mind, this, you know, Iowa taking down a number one
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seed no matter what their seed is, yeah, is a Cinderella like.
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Yeah. It's a it was like we mentioned
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last week, it's a very like top heavy chalky tournament.
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I wonder what could be causing this.
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I just, I can't. What?
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I just. I've been trying to put my
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finger on it. Like why is everything so
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lopsided and chalky all of a sudden?
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Where did Cinderella go? Hmm.
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If only we had an idea or a theory on this.
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Anyone see? You'll have a data point for you
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as you're thinking about it. Dex.
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OK, this is the. There's only been two years in
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the history of the tournament where the Sweet 16 was made-up
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of all major conference teams. This year 80 something maybe.
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And last year, God, that's weird.
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Really, huh? We got no little guys in the in
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the dance, in the Sweet 16, man. It's almost like something's
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been happening. What are you thinking is could
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it be something the climate? Change almost.
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Yes, that's what I was thinking. Climate change, in a way.
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In a sort of twisted way, that's true in a.
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Sort of twisted way is either either that or maybe in IL, I
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don't know, maybe paying all the players used to happen.
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As we know, what used to happen is these guys who would get
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overlooked in high school and like not get recruited by the
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big teams and they would go to like some school in the Missouri
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Valley or the Sunbelt or you know.
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High point. Conference USA or the big S
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like, yeah, a guard from High Point, for instance, and and
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then he would just go off and and then you'd have him for four
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years and then he'd play with other guys for four years.
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And the team looked really good and they began to look like a
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real team and they could beat a lot of more athletic, more
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talented teams because they're. Profile teams, yeah, but.
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Now what's happening is as soon as a guy emerges at one of these
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small schools, a big school comes with a checkbook and says
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hey. That guy's really good.
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We'll take him. Yeah, absolutely.
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Yeah, right. You're too, and they're at a
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high point. You need to come to Texas.
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That's right. Yeah.
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So that's the sad part. I really hope they fix this.
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I know that we've talked about it before, the Genies out of the
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bottle, and it's probably going to take a while if they can't
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ever fix it. But it does kind of suck that
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you don't see these like smaller conference schools like a Saint
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Louis, you know? Yeah, like a Hofstra, those kind
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of schools that could make deeper runs because they had
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guys that's played together for years and just look like an
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awesome Hoosiers like team. And just may we may be past that
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now, which a little bit sad, but let's talk about who is here in
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the Sweet 16. I'll go through the real quick
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here. We'll talk about who we think is
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coming out of these regions. So the East, we've got Duke
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versus upstart St. John's who upset Dex's Jayhawks.
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Kansas made a valiant comeback, called it, could not pull it
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off. Drew actually called that St.
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John's victory. So we've got St.
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John's, Duke 2 seconds on this game.
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What do you guys think? Is there any chance St.
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John's pulls this off Dex Brew? I think there is a chance,
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that's why they play him, but I think Duke's the better team.
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What do you think through? Yeah, I think there's almost no
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chance. I think he's Duke Cold Serve.
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I agree with you. The only chance I give them is
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coach Pitino has has coached some incredible teams and he's
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taken people really deep. So the only chance I give them
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is the Pitino pulls the rabbit out of the hat.
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But they definitely don't have the talent.
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So I think we all are in agreement that Duke is probably
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going through there because they just have a lot of good players.
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That other match up is a two and three, UConn, Michigan State and
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that is a really interesting match up because you got Hurley
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coach versus Izzo coach. Two really good coaches, two
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really good teams crew. What's your leaning there?
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Yeah, so to my point I made last week, a lot of these veteran
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coaches you can count on to be totally, you know, well
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represented during the tournament.
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This is going to be a great game.
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Both teams have kind of blown out their opponents the first
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two games. Yeah, they have.
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So they're, they're going to be high-powered offenses.
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Wouldn't shock me to see a 85 to 82 type score or something in
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that one. Absolutely, I agree.
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I I picked UConn early. Yeah.
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I'm going to stick with UConn as my favorite in that game.
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I I think that's a great pick. I'm going to go the opposite
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just to be contrarian though, because I like Izzo.
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Hurley's a great coach too. But I want to go Izzo in the
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experience and Izzo to the Elite 8.
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So I think it's going to be Michigan State, Duke.
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I think we would, regardless who comes out of there.
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I think we all still probably are on the Duke train for the
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Final Four. Yes, Yeah, we got the most
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talent and I think we're all in the game there.
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OK, so. We need a, we need a tiebreaker,
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you know, on UConn or Michigan. For the tiebreaker, OK, UConn,
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they've got some talent and they've got a good coach and
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they know how to win. You do.
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It's just it's a very solid, deep team with some seniors,
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actually, yeah. They're they're really good.
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I mean, I, I have no issues with UConn.
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You guys picking them. I just think Izzo pulls a rabbit
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out of the hat. That's what we're going to go
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with. Now let's go to the West.
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We've got pretty much chalk here except Texas.
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So the only seed that didn't make it of the top 4 is Gonzaga.
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Texas beat them. First match up is really
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interesting to me. Arizona, Arkansas.
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Arizona is a freaking freight train.
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Yeah, they look really talented, but Arkansas is maybe the best
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player of the tournament with Acuff.
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He is just on fire. What do you guys think?
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Any snowballs chance of Arkansas pulling this off?
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I mean, they've, they've pulled off 90 something points the
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first two games. Yeah, they can put up some
00:14:55
points. Maybe they, I mean, maybe they
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squeak out a a slugfest 88 to 85 or something.
00:15:03
Yeah, I think this is the game of the bracket.
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I think the winner of this will be going to the final four out
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of this this particular quadrants.
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I think Arkansas has got more talent than people think.
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He probably didn't hear enough about him during the season.
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They got better and better and better then won the SEC
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championship. They're a good team and Arizona
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has been there all year. You've heard about Arizona all
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season long. They're really good.
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But I think Arizona takes it. But I think it's going to be a
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very close game. I think they just.
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Coaches 2 here. You got Arkansas coach Cal.
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It's another, another interesting super experienced
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coach you got in that place. So we got Pruitt.
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You talked about it last week. The experienced coaches, you see
00:15:43
them all over the place right now.
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All of these, all of these veteran coaches are Pitino,
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Izzo, coach Cal. I mean, they're all kind of like
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raising their heads here. The next match up in that region
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is Texas, Purdue the. Texas Cinderella.
00:16:03
Texas. You said to identify who would
00:16:05
have to be. There are no Cinderella.
00:16:07
Cinderella's dead. That's true as far as we go.
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Purdue. Yeah.
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Purdue's gonna pound this. Texas.
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Purdue is like Purdue is I think, I think I read the other
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day they have the most assists of any team.
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Like they just they play great fundamental past the past the
00:16:25
rock ball. I agree.
00:16:27
I don't see any way Texas gets this one.
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I'll be honest, I don't think. It's going to be close.
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I think they come back down to earth, Prue.
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Yeah, No, I'm with you. I.
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Think they kind of play like they've been playing all year,
00:16:38
which is underperforming. When they get it, they get from
00:16:43
no discipline team. Yeah, they had their run and
00:16:46
beating Gonzaga was it. That was their, that was that's
00:16:49
right, this. The second weekend for that team
00:16:52
was impressive. Now it's time for the real teams
00:16:54
to play. Especially given their their
00:16:57
regular season. I think Matt Painter has his
00:16:59
team ready. He's a great coach, which would
00:17:02
say we ought. We would say either we've got an
00:17:04
Arizona Purdue or an Arkansas Purdue match up coming out of
00:17:08
that Dex, you would say the winner of Arizona Arkansas goes
00:17:11
to the Final Four pro. Well, I had Gonzaga, believe it
00:17:15
or not, so that that. Hurts.
00:17:19
I'll I'll take, I'll take Arizona.
00:17:24
Yeah, I think they hold off Arkansas and.
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They're just good and they they're really good.
00:17:29
It's. Hard for me to it's hard for me
00:17:31
to pick against Arizona. I could see Purdue potentially
00:17:34
sneaking one out just because they're they play really good
00:17:36
team ball. But gun to head, I'm saying
00:17:39
Arizona there too. So we got those.
00:17:41
We got 21 seeds in that top half the bracket.
00:17:43
Let's go to the South, the Cinderella ish matchup that we
00:17:48
have. The closest thing we've got is a
00:17:50
nine and a four matchup. Iowa, Nebraska, both these
00:17:53
teams, if we're being honest, both these teams are pretty
00:17:57
stinking happy to still be playing 16.
00:18:00
One of them is going to make the Elite 8.
00:18:02
I don't remember the last time you had an Iowa or Nebraska
00:18:04
Elite 8 so. In a minute.
00:18:07
Who do you guys think comes out of this matchup?
00:18:11
I think Nebraska is the better team and I think they've been
00:18:14
better all season. And if they're kind of equally
00:18:17
matched really, I think, but I think Nebraska, I don't know, I
00:18:22
just the way they played the first weekend, me beating
00:18:24
Vanderbilt, Vanderbilt's a good team.
00:18:26
That's a that's a good five seed.
00:18:28
And I understand I would just beat Florida, the defending
00:18:30
champs. I know that's really good.
00:18:32
But I think they got more lucky that Florida played not their
00:18:35
best game. And I would have played a really
00:18:37
good game, But I think Nebraska is just, they're solid.
00:18:41
So I just think Nebraska is more consistent.
00:18:43
And when you get to this stage of the game, fewer mistakes
00:18:45
equal a better chance at going to the next round.
00:18:47
Yeah, I like it, Prue, Any magic left in Iowa?
00:18:52
Maybe to me it's a coin flip there's it's hard to say if a
00:18:55
team can stay hot after coming off a huge win like that against
00:18:59
the number one seed. There's definitely some momentum
00:19:02
that carries over, I think. But you used all your energy to
00:19:05
beat Florida. Maybe you have just a a bit less
00:19:09
to take on Nebraska, so. They had a dog fight against
00:19:11
Clemson, too, Really. So yeah, they've they've had two
00:19:15
kind of. I'll I'll take them just to be
00:19:18
contrarian, just to provide a, a different, you know,
00:19:22
perspective. But Chism gets.
00:19:23
To be a tiebreaker. Let's I'm gonna I'm gonna tie
00:19:26
break go with Nebraska as well. But here I'll tell you my
00:19:29
favorite bed of this round, the under on the first half points
00:19:33
in Iowa, Nebraska. Both these teams are coming off
00:19:35
adrenaline filled wins. I think it's going to be Clank
00:19:38
fest in the first half. Everybody's going to be like, Oh
00:19:42
my God, like coming off the high, not not feeling great,
00:19:47
little bit stiff, little bit feeling each other out.
00:19:50
I love the under in the first half of that game, but I'm going
00:19:53
to go to Nebraska and the next one.
00:19:56
The other game in that region is this is a matchup right here.
00:19:59
This is good. Illinois.
00:20:00
Houston. Yeah.
00:20:02
How do we feel about this? This is Peru's Illinois pick.
00:20:05
Yeah. Peru's Illinois pick against
00:20:08
Houston, the number two seed Peru, are you sticking with
00:20:12
Illinois? That's who's written on my
00:20:14
bracket too if I'm staying with them.
00:20:17
Well, they've crushed everybody they've played so far.
00:20:20
So they destroyed Penn and then they beat VCU by 20 and I
00:20:23
thought VCU would give him a decent game.
00:20:26
They they absolutely annihilated him.
00:20:28
Yeah, they're a dangerous team. I like him to continue hot
00:20:31
scoring and and take it to Houston.
00:20:34
Yeah, Houston has outscored their opponents by 52 points in
00:20:37
the first two rounds. Their defense is suffocating.
00:20:40
The most points they've allowed is 57 to Texas AM last week.
00:20:44
That's crazy. They.
00:20:45
Are good I mean is it I picked them to go the final four beat
00:20:48
Florida anyway so I think they're gonna I think Illinois
00:20:52
while being a very solid team Houston again there's a
00:20:55
different beast out there and when you get to some of these
00:20:58
teams and Houston's one of those they're a two seed but they
00:21:01
could have been a one seed and they're really really good.
00:21:04
So I think I think they probably win by ten man.
00:21:07
I think Houston's going to win it pretty easily.
00:21:09
I think they're going to go, so that's who I got.
00:21:11
That's a that's a bold prediction.
00:21:13
Houston by 10. Yeah, double digits.
00:21:16
So I'm going to go with you on this two decks.
00:21:18
I like Houston. Is anybody think the Iowa,
00:21:24
Nebraska winner beats the winner of this game?
00:21:26
No, I don't. It's Houston.
00:21:29
Yeah, or Illinois. Or Illinois for Pruitt.
00:21:32
Illinois goes on on to the Final Four, so that's what we've got
00:21:36
coming out of that region. The final region we're looking
00:21:39
at the Midwest. This is a stacked region as
00:21:42
well. The Friday night game is
00:21:45
Michigan, Alabama one versus 4. You guys think there's could
00:21:51
there be an upset brewing here? Is Alabama got enough in the
00:21:54
tank to pull this off? I don't think so.
00:21:58
Again, sometimes you don't get too much talent, and I think
00:22:01
Michigan's too much talent. They're humongous dudes
00:22:04
underneath. They're they just kill people.
00:22:07
They're really good. And they Saint Louis was on a
00:22:10
roll and they beat them by 23 points.
00:22:13
Yeah, Saint Louis isn't that bad.
00:22:15
I mean, you're like, oh, what the heck.
00:22:17
Saint Louis beat Georgia by 30, almost 25 points in their first.
00:22:21
Round. And George is not a floozy team.
00:22:24
They beat him. So the to return the favor to
00:22:28
them shows you just how good Michigan is.
00:22:31
Michigan is tough. And we were just talking about
00:22:33
how tough Illinois is. 1 of Pruitt's final four picks,
00:22:36
Michigan beat them by I think a dozen, maybe 15 points I think a
00:22:41
couple weeks ago. So this is a tough team is
00:22:44
playing well. At the end, I like Michigan.
00:22:47
I don't think it's going to be that close either, to be honest.
00:22:50
I think it'll be a fun game. I think it'll be competitive.
00:22:52
I think at the end Michigan pulls away.
00:22:55
Prue. Yeah, I agree.
00:22:58
They are like to this point they're huge, a lot of a lot of
00:23:01
height inside which is shuts down a lot of teams if that's
00:23:06
what they rely on. So I think they come away
00:23:08
easily. I agree too.
00:23:11
I think I'll say that as a Notre Dame guy, I am, I'm obliged to
00:23:19
absolutely hate everything Michigan, but I cannot recognize
00:23:24
facts. I I cannot pick against them in
00:23:26
this game. I've watched Alabama play a lot
00:23:28
this season. They're just super inconsistent
00:23:30
and I think like they'll look really great one game and then
00:23:34
just not good the next game in like Michigan looks very good
00:23:38
every game. So I think they're going to come
00:23:40
through on this one too. The other one I'm really
00:23:43
intrigued by. The other match up down there is
00:23:45
a six seed Tennessee who's kind of snuck in.
00:23:48
I don't know, you could call him Cinderella either because Rick
00:23:52
Barnes, coach, they've had a lot of talent, SEC team going
00:23:56
against Iowa State who's just been a solid team all year.
00:23:59
But Iowa State is kind of, you know, they had a big injury
00:24:02
where they lost one of their superstars and everybody thought
00:24:05
that might really hurt him against Kentucky.
00:24:07
They dispatched Kentucky by 19. They're obviously a really good
00:24:12
team. After they were behind 18 to 6
00:24:16
to start that game, yes. And I thought they were in
00:24:19
trouble. Yeah.
00:24:20
And they just clawed their way back and.
00:24:22
And then just they. Did not panic and.
00:24:25
I. Saw an interview with their
00:24:26
coach, their interview with coach, he was like, our defense
00:24:30
is really good over over 40 minutes.
00:24:32
So we're not worried. Like and I'm like, OK.
00:24:35
And they they shouldn't because they absolutely shut them down
00:24:38
from that point forward. Yeah.
00:24:40
Do you guys any upset thoughts here?
00:24:44
Tennessee, Iowa State. Not for me.
00:24:46
I think it's going to be Michigan, Iowa State, and I
00:24:49
think it's going to be. That'll be a good game.
00:24:52
That one will be a tough game, yeah.
00:24:54
I don't see. Think we're aligned.
00:24:56
Everybody here is Michigan, Iowa State coming out of there.
00:25:01
What do you think? Your final. 4 So I have Michigan
00:25:05
because I have them going all the way in the championship
00:25:07
game. So yeah, Michigan is who is
00:25:10
meeting Duke in my bracket. So I still think they're I think
00:25:15
they're just really good. They're hard to beat.
00:25:17
Not so fast my friends. I have a state pulls it off
00:25:22
upset to get to the final four. I'm going to go my final 4 is
00:25:28
going to be Duke, Arizona, 21 seeds and two 2 seeds, Houston
00:25:34
and Iowa State. That's my final four.
00:25:37
There we go next. Who do you got of the remaining
00:25:40
teams? Arizona, Michigan and Houston.
00:25:43
OK, Prue, your final four of the remaining teams.
00:25:48
Duke and Illinois? Yeah.
00:25:52
Arizona and Michigan. Michigan, Yeah, OK.
00:25:56
So there you have. It 1 seeds.
00:25:58
Final Final Four teams on record that.
00:26:01
Accordingly, the only thing you can absolutely be sure of is you
00:26:04
need to put money down on Alabama because all three of us
00:26:06
picked Michigan. Other than that, we've got some.
00:26:10
I know we all picked these. 2 so.
00:26:14
And they want to Purdue, so put it all on Texas.
00:26:16
They have one more game left. Play a little.
00:26:18
Cheddar on St. John's, Texas and Alabama.
00:26:25
What are the odds of a St. John's, Texas final?
00:26:31
Just for kicks, Cinderella there.
00:26:33
I'm going to lay down a parlay, three leg parlay on Alabama, St.
00:26:38
John's, Texas. OK, I'm going to put a dollar on
00:26:41
that one, let you guys know how it happened.
00:26:43
But it'll be it'll be it should be fun.
00:26:46
I mean, it's great basketball. The good thing about what you've
00:26:49
got right now is when you don't have Cinderella's, you do have
00:26:52
really good teams for sure. And so.
00:26:54
Exciting games. These are heavyweight bouts that
00:26:57
we're going to see for the next weekend.
00:26:59
This is one of the most fun basketball weekends of the of
00:27:02
the year. So I mean.
00:27:02
They're all 31 teams. It's just.
00:27:04
Yeah. That play lockdown defense,
00:27:07
They're super. They're mini NBA teams, man,
00:27:10
Yeah. So that's.
00:27:11
Right. Fundamentally sound.
00:27:13
Yeah. Yeah.
00:27:13
So the Cinderella's are exciting, it's kind of cool and
00:27:17
all that, but this is really good basketball when it's just
00:27:21
the the best of the best. That's exactly.
00:27:23
Right. And the the downside of
00:27:24
Cinderella is usually in the Sweet 16, you get a bad game
00:27:27
because Cinderella goes back down to earth and it's like they
00:27:30
get squashed like a bug and it's like, oh, that was not that fun.
00:27:34
80 to 47 or something. Totally.
00:27:37
I don't think we'll have any 80 to 47 games in the slate.
00:27:40
So I think it'll be it. It should be really, really good
00:27:43
basketball. All right, well, cool.
00:27:45
March Madness is always fun. We're now we're going to pivot
00:27:47
because what we got now I'm going to pass over to good our
00:27:50
good friend John Dex Dexter. In a second.
00:27:54
But we're going to, we're going to talk about a love from
00:27:59
childhood of all of us at the Shrewdness baseball.
00:28:03
For those of you who don't know, we grew up playing baseball
00:28:06
together. We grew up playing Wiffle ball
00:28:08
before that, and we loved playing a game called
00:28:11
Stratomatic. We loved, which was a dice game
00:28:15
where you learned all about stats and odds and all kinds of
00:28:18
stuff, which if you love baseball, you love all that
00:28:20
stuff. And then of course, we played
00:28:24
all kinds of baseball games on on video.
00:28:27
Baseball Stars Baseball star It was the best.
00:28:33
What was the one on your computer decks?
00:28:34
I loved Earl. Weaver Baseball.
00:28:36
Weaver baseball I love. I have a baseball R.
00:28:42
BIRBI baseball with the big. RBI Baseball.
00:28:45
Chubby. Little round, round headed guys
00:28:48
that would get up there. The only one that looked
00:28:50
accurate to real life was Tony Gwynn.
00:28:53
But everybody, everybody else was a little off.
00:28:56
So we're huge baseball fans and baseball season starts tomorrow.
00:29:01
Tomorrow. So maybe a day or two after this
00:29:04
gets. Yeah, we'll say Wednesday for
00:29:06
those folks who might be listening to this on Thursday.
00:29:07
Yes, Wednesday. Started give you.
00:29:10
Guys, our predictions for who's going to win the divisions,
00:29:13
maybe talk about a couple of players, We'll talk about awards
00:29:17
predictions so you can make lots of money.
00:29:19
If you pay attention for the next 30 minutes or so, you're
00:29:22
probably going to get rich. So without further ado, I will
00:29:25
pass it over to lead the discussion to Dexter.
00:29:30
Oh my gosh, I was waiting. It might be someone else was
00:29:32
like, all right, that was I was surprised you were.
00:29:35
Come on, this was killing me. Yeah.
00:29:37
I was like, I was ready to come on down.
00:29:41
All right. So I think it's kind of fun to
00:29:44
talk about who we think's going to take some divisions.
00:29:47
So last year we we did a full blown diving ahead.
00:29:51
First we almost all got divorced and lost our jobs.
00:29:54
It's a little too much. So we held it back and now we're
00:29:58
just going to cut to the chase. You know it's going to cut to
00:30:01
the chase and tell you who's going to win the division and
00:30:04
give you kind of an honorable mention of who else could be
00:30:07
involved towards the end. Then I'm going to tell you the
00:30:10
players, they're going to make that happen.
00:30:11
So we'll give you the individual award winners with the MVP, Cy
00:30:15
Young, Rookie of the Year, but we're not going to make it too
00:30:19
chalky. We just talked all the chalk in
00:30:21
the NCAA tournament because we're going to go to real life
00:30:24
Major League Baseball where there is no guarantees.
00:30:27
So we're going to take the main guys off the board.
00:30:30
So we do these. You're like, Oh my God, what?
00:30:32
You didn't pick Aaron Judge for the fourth time in a row?
00:30:35
Yeah, we're not doing Judge and Scooble.
00:30:38
We're not doing Otani and Skeens.
00:30:41
They are the runaway favorites to win the awards.
00:30:44
Again. It's just not even fun.
00:30:45
So obviously those guys are really, really good, good
00:30:49
winning. We starting out with division
00:30:50
winners decks. So we are going to go through
00:30:52
division winners. So let's start in the AL East
00:30:56
cuz as they like to think they're the center of the world.
00:30:59
We know they're not, but let's just go ahead and start there.
00:31:03
Let's kick it over to Pruitt. Who is your pick to win the AL
00:31:08
East this year? Well, I had the luxury of having
00:31:13
a FanDuel on my phone, so I saw who Las Vegas thinks is going to
00:31:18
win the AL East. And I, I can't really disagree.
00:31:23
They, they have the Yankees winning.
00:31:27
They're a perennial team. As everybody who's ever watched
00:31:30
baseball knows. They always feel they're pretty
00:31:33
competitive team. So I think they've got as good a
00:31:36
shot as anybody right now at taking the East.
00:31:41
Yeah, no, it's it is the favorite pick.
00:31:44
It's it's good. It's good.
00:31:46
It's the Yankees. It's always the getting Yankees.
00:31:48
All right, Chism, what do you got?
00:31:50
I mean, I'll tell you, I was really wanting to pick and my
00:31:54
first leading was to pick the Blue Jays, yes, because I mean,
00:31:57
they've been so. Close last year.
00:32:00
They had, but I, I think that that was crushing and I, I don't
00:32:05
know that they're going to recover from that.
00:32:08
That's not what the 2015 Kansas City Royals said.
00:32:10
I know, but. As they watch the time runs sit
00:32:13
at 90 feet away in 2014 in Massimo pitched 14 games in the
00:32:17
seven game series and then they came back and won it all the
00:32:20
next year so Toronto's looking at your shirt saying bro what
00:32:25
you think we can't do what your team did a decade ago they.
00:32:28
Could they Could. But I I better like a little
00:32:32
more unconventional pick here. I'm feeling, I'm feeling the Red
00:32:37
Sox this year. And the reason I'm feeling them
00:32:40
is I love their starting rotation.
00:32:44
Garrett Crochet, Ranger Suarez, Sonny Gray.
00:32:48
I even love Aroldis Chapman as a closer.
00:32:52
I mean, I feel like I know his, He's lost a few MPHS on that
00:32:57
arm, but I love the fact that he's an old, crafty veteran and
00:33:01
he can still bring it. He knows what's up.
00:33:04
So. Crafty lefty throwing 98 instead
00:33:07
of 102. I know.
00:33:09
Crafty lefty throwing 98. He's not throwing one O 2
00:33:11
anymore, but he's still clocking in the mid 90s and I like the
00:33:15
experience that he has. So I have the Yankees 2nd and I
00:33:19
have the Red Sox first. So Dex, what do you think about
00:33:25
these then? So I am on the same page, which
00:33:29
is weird because we're not always on the same page, but
00:33:32
Boston is my pick as well. I think Garrett Crochet is a one
00:33:37
of the favorites to win. Cy Young, Ranger Suarez, Sonny
00:33:40
Gray is a nice three. He's been a number one his
00:33:43
entire career and he's a third pitcher for Boston.
00:33:47
And Bellow is a good four. So I think they just have a a
00:33:51
solid starting rotation. And then when he started at the
00:33:53
top with Roman Anthony, he'll probably be in the leadoff spot
00:33:56
for them. Jaron Duran that we talked about
00:33:58
during the World Baseball Classic, Wilson Contreras, they
00:34:01
got from Saint Louis to be kind of their DH and 1st baseman.
00:34:05
That's going to be good on the Green Monster.
00:34:06
He's going to be plugging stuff off that all the time.
00:34:09
I think it's going to be a very good fit.
00:34:11
They got a long lineup. It's deep.
00:34:12
I think they're going to, I think they beat the Yankees this
00:34:15
year. And frankly, my runner up team
00:34:17
is Toronto. So I think Toronto will not die.
00:34:20
I think they do make the playoffs again and it could be
00:34:23
the Yankees as the third team. So they might take all the
00:34:25
playoff slots in the AL East. And for the Orioles, fans like
00:34:31
you don't even have me in the fourth, third spot.
00:34:34
The Orioles two years ago was a beautiful run and then they
00:34:38
collapsed last year, as you guys know.
00:34:41
And I just don't see it, man. They've already lost Jackson
00:34:43
Holiday to a Hammett Bones. He'll be out for the first
00:34:46
month. That's not a good start and it
00:34:49
doesn't really get much better that the pitching's just not
00:34:52
what it was and they jettisoned off their some of their best
00:34:57
pitchers. Now Trevor Rogers, who we made
00:34:58
fun of a couple years ago, he is good.
00:35:02
He's a legitimate. He had a great season last year,
00:35:04
but he also didn't make it through the season last year.
00:35:07
He's your number one. And then you have Shane Vaz is
00:35:11
kind of a reclamation project from the Tampa Bay.
00:35:15
He wasn't doing real well. They're going to hopefully
00:35:17
reclaim. Chris Bassett is kind of just a
00:35:19
a Charlie Harris guy in the four hole.
00:35:23
So I don't know. I don't see enough pitching for
00:35:25
the Orioles to make it. But I do like Boston, and I
00:35:29
think that's going to be my only.
00:35:30
Thing I think I'm certain of, though, in the division is the
00:35:32
Tampa Bay's going to be last, that's pretty much.
00:35:34
So I'm 100% sure of. So they're probably going to
00:35:38
win. It Yeah.
00:35:40
I felt that way about several of the divisions.
00:35:42
I was like, I don't know who's going to win, but I know who's
00:35:45
not going to win. I know for sure, so I'm
00:35:47
shorting. That's exactly right.
00:35:50
That should be the 5th so. Let's jump to the central.
00:35:53
Yeah, perfect. So, Central jizz, go ahead,
00:35:56
start us off with who you think is going to win the Central.
00:35:59
Yes, I'm a Homer. I am wearing a Royals jersey.
00:36:03
Yes, I'm thinking Kansas City to win the Central, but it let me
00:36:06
give you my rationale. So there is there is some
00:36:09
rationale for this. I feel like if you look at their
00:36:14
one through 5-6 hitters, like it's a really good lineup.
00:36:21
It's a really good lineup. They had Crew and I were talking
00:36:24
on Patreon, they had like 5-6 guys out on the World Baseball
00:36:29
Classic stage. So all spring training they've
00:36:31
been playing AAA guys so that I don't think Jack Haglione is
00:36:36
going to crap out like he did. He had one of the biggest
00:36:40
disparities between what he was projected to do and what he did
00:36:43
do based on his hard hit rate, based on all kinds of things
00:36:48
that come into effect. Babab.
00:36:50
So his batting average and balls in play was like 220 or
00:36:53
something atrocious. Same.
00:36:55
And but his exit velocity was like 95.
00:36:58
It's it's it's ridiculous. So I think that doesn't that
00:37:01
does not happen again. So he's going to have a much
00:37:04
better year. I think pass Patino's better wit
00:37:07
is obviously phenomenal. Garcia is really coming into his
00:37:11
own. I love the lineup and they have
00:37:14
a ton of pitching depth. So they've got 5 starters that
00:37:18
are really good and they've got three guys, four guys now that
00:37:23
on most teams would be fighting for the 4-5 spots.
00:37:26
They're going to be in the AAA club.
00:37:28
So I am a Homer, I admit it. But I I think that they have
00:37:32
enough to pull it out this year and I will put second Detroit.
00:37:37
And the only reason I'm putting Detroit second is I think they
00:37:40
are. So they're a good team, They're
00:37:44
a really good team and they've shown it.
00:37:45
But I think they're so reliant on Scubal and I just, I can't
00:37:50
see him just being as good as he's been the last year.
00:37:54
Like it's just ridiculous how good he's consistently been.
00:37:57
And I think he's cursed because he wouldn't pitch in the
00:37:59
baseball world. Baseball Classic.
00:38:01
I missed out last year, last week's episode.
00:38:03
I didn't get to bash him. I think the baseball gods are
00:38:06
putting a hex on him. They're cursing him.
00:38:08
He's going to have a below average season.
00:38:14
It's not, hey, sorry, your choice man, your choice.
00:38:17
There is true consequences. What I tell my kids, choices
00:38:20
have consequences. So I think Tariq is.
00:38:24
Getting next is one of them by the.
00:38:27
Baseball. Baseball guys themselves are
00:38:30
striking you down, Terrence Google.
00:38:32
Sorry bud. So that's a.
00:38:35
Poor decision. I think we all bad choice.
00:38:38
I think we all know that, yeah. That's aggressive, but here we
00:38:43
are. So brew, how about you?
00:38:44
What do you think? I can't disagree with anything
00:38:48
you said. I I love the Royals lineup this
00:38:50
year. I think Carter Jensen, Jack
00:38:54
Caglione, a nice young couple of guys coming in, Bobby Witt
00:38:58
obviously one of the favourites for MVP the last several years
00:39:03
and probably the next several probably.
00:39:06
Should have won a couple years ago.
00:39:07
Probably should have. So, yeah, I love their lineup.
00:39:10
If the pitching holds up and Reagan's can stay healthy and so
00:39:14
forth, that is a big if Reagan's healthy is yeah, that would be a
00:39:19
big boost for them for sure. But yeah, I, I also picked them
00:39:24
and I, I do think Detroit's maybe it could flip.
00:39:28
Maybe Detroit wins and Casey's, you know, squeaks in a playoff
00:39:32
or a wild card spot. But but I like the Royals to
00:39:37
potentially win that division. Yeah.
00:39:39
All right, I am going to make it.
00:39:41
God, now I shouldn't because when we all do it, it never
00:39:43
works. We're screwed when you look at
00:39:45
everything. I'm on the Royals as well and
00:39:48
here's the reason as you alluded to Pruitt, Bobby Whitt junior is
00:39:52
a talked about MVP favorite. Cole Reagan's is a potential
00:39:56
Sion favorite. Carter Jensen's a potential
00:39:59
rookie of the year. So you have a deeper lineup in
00:40:02
what has helped, and we mocked this last year, is our outfield
00:40:06
produced. Nothing.
00:40:09
Nothing. Last year.
00:40:10
Now this year again, how much did it really get better?
00:40:15
Lane Thomas is not a godsend. I know it.
00:40:19
He's better. And Starling Marte, he is on the
00:40:22
end of that rope. He's he went past sunset.
00:40:25
He's staring at the backside of the sun.
00:40:27
But when he's healthy, he's still pretty good.
00:40:30
So Starling Marte is an improvement.
00:40:32
Isaac Collins, he could be good man.
00:40:35
I guess he was, what, second or third in Rookie of the Year
00:40:37
voting last year. I didn't realize he was that
00:40:39
high. Then they trade him in the
00:40:40
offseason. Sounds good.
00:40:43
It's an improvement. And so we have Caglione's going
00:40:46
to be there. Like, I agree with Chism
00:40:48
wholeheartedly. He's going to have a better
00:40:49
season. Salvador Perez maybe there's one
00:40:52
more year in the tank, maybe, But the leadership's there in
00:40:55
spades. So I think we have the right
00:40:57
leaders at the right time. A deep pitching staff and that
00:41:00
the additions that they made are additions.
00:41:03
So I think it's going to be a very decent outfield as opposed
00:41:07
to a net 40 like -40 they were just horrible last year.
00:41:13
So this outfield is better and it'll actually give you above 0.
00:41:16
So hopefully we have a replacement players in the
00:41:19
outfield this year. So I think that's where they go.
00:41:22
And again, I like the rotation. I think we have a deep staff.
00:41:24
We even have potential six seventh, eighth guys that can do
00:41:27
OK if we need to. So I'm with the Royals.
00:41:30
My backup is Cleveland. I just think they have a
00:41:32
tremendous staff. I think they are also have a
00:41:35
good long lineup. Jose Ramirez has gone 3030 like
00:41:39
18 years in a row. He's just ridiculous and wins
00:41:42
cold gloves over there and no one talks about him because he's
00:41:44
in Cleveland, but Jose Ramirez has.
00:41:46
No, he's no. Cluesy, I like Cleveland's
00:41:49
second. This is one night differ on you
00:41:51
though. I think Cleveland is going to be
00:41:53
ass. I think they are going to be at
00:41:56
the that's a maybe, maybe not at the bottom.
00:42:00
They might be the bottom, though.
00:42:01
I think the only thing keeping from the bottom is the fact that
00:42:03
the White Sox are still in the AL Central.
00:42:05
But if you take, I really think, I really think there's going to
00:42:11
be a steep fall off, but I could be wrong.
00:42:12
I think that'll be an interesting thing for us to play
00:42:14
out as the season goes on. Yeah, I just think their
00:42:17
pitchers are better than you think and some of the young guys
00:42:19
coming up. So Chase the Lauder, he's going
00:42:21
to be starting right field from the get go.
00:42:25
He's a guy he needs to stay vertical, so he's an injury
00:42:27
risk. But if Cleveland keeps that guy
00:42:29
vertical, they've got a pretty deep line up.
00:42:31
So they lost Josh Naylor from last year, but they still have
00:42:34
his brother Beau. It's going to be a pretty decent
00:42:36
team. But let's move on to the West
00:42:39
where I think we have another that might have a trifecta on
00:42:41
this one too. Don't we start us off here.
00:42:44
I think it's just kind of because it's pretty obvious who
00:42:48
is the best team. How?
00:42:50
Could you not? Seattle's I think all of our
00:42:55
pick as the yes probable winner of this division.
00:42:58
So we'll just. Share the reasons why.
00:43:00
Tell us why Seattle's gonna win it, cuz we all agree with the
00:43:02
reasons. I mean, I think it starts with
00:43:05
Logan Gilbert. Yeah, rotation.
00:43:09
Extremely gifted pitcher who can anchor any rotation, but they
00:43:14
have a very deep rotation, solid bullpen.
00:43:17
They're gonna they're gonna put up numbers offensively as well.
00:43:21
Kyle Raleigh obviously just came off a historical season for a
00:43:24
big dumper. Yeah, big dumper knocking in 60
00:43:29
homeowners last year as a switch hitting.
00:43:31
Catcher. He should have won the MVP last
00:43:34
year, but only because Judge had an equally awesome season, damn
00:43:38
near winning a Triple Crown. He came up second with 60 homers
00:43:41
of switch hitting catcher. He caught like 150 games or
00:43:48
something. Ridiculous.
00:43:49
I mean, he's he's incredible. I also I agree, Gilbert Wu,
00:43:54
Kirby, that alone right there. Those three, I'm like, wow, top
00:43:57
three scary, scary. I honestly think and then I
00:44:01
think Julio Rodriguez is going to have a huge year.
00:44:03
It's like that's foreshadowing. That's foreshadowing,
00:44:05
foreshadowing. But I will say that I actually
00:44:08
think this is the best team in the American League.
00:44:10
I think this is a representative for the AL in the World Series
00:44:15
this year. I think they're that good.
00:44:17
Yeah, when you have pitching like that in their lineup, so
00:44:20
they they put filled some holes too.
00:44:21
So they got from the Cardinals Brendan Donovan, which he was
00:44:24
like, who's that? He's a really good player is
00:44:27
what he is. He's a great hitter.
00:44:28
He's versatile and play all over the field.
00:44:31
He's got a good glove. He's good in the clubhouse.
00:44:33
So that's a humongous edition. Josh Naylor, who they got in a
00:44:36
trade deadline from Arizona last year, huge back.
00:44:40
First base now has a 35100 guy and that's right there.
00:44:43
Randy Rosarina had a great resurgence year last year.
00:44:47
So and then what they did that's smart is you got to just commit
00:44:50
to the platoon, right. Seattle has committed to the
00:44:53
platoon for DH and right field. They've got guys that kill
00:44:57
righties and guys that kill lefties and there's no
00:44:59
switching. They've got can zone platoon
00:45:03
with ref Snyder at DH. And then yet Luke Raley and
00:45:06
Victor Robles, they're platooning.
00:45:08
That's what they do. And so it's kind of fun.
00:45:10
They got rid of all the controversy and just picked up
00:45:13
extra bats. And then the problem is kind of
00:45:16
the bottom lineup, but the bottom of the lineup for one.
00:45:19
They have a couple rookies that could step up, but Cole Young
00:45:21
won the second base job. And then JP Crawford's been
00:45:24
around forever. Like JP Crawford still plays.
00:45:26
Yes, and he's actually as a nine hitter, he's pretty decent and
00:45:30
plays good defense. So there's nothing wrong with
00:45:32
them. So they have a long lineup.
00:45:34
I totally agree with Chism. I think this is going to be the
00:45:36
AL representative in the World Series this year.
00:45:39
They are tough. And if they're not, it's going
00:45:41
to go to seven games, probably in the Championship Series to
00:45:44
knock them out. So that's, that's, I think we're
00:45:46
all on the same page and they got closers.
00:45:49
Anybody in the race per second? What do you guys have?
00:45:52
I have Texas second. I think it's a distant second
00:45:55
though. Yeah, I mean, I have just for
00:46:00
fun. I think the A's are going to be
00:46:02
better than people think. I think so, yes.
00:46:05
That was exactly my reason. Dex.
00:46:06
I was like this is nice wish list item on my on my chart.
00:46:12
I think they could surprise some people.
00:46:13
It's got more talent than people think, and the division's not
00:46:17
really that good. Actually, the division's bad
00:46:20
outside of Seattle. It is, yeah.
00:46:22
Yeah. Because Houston's not the same
00:46:23
Houston you're thinking of. They got rid of everybody.
00:46:25
But let's talk about the Athletics real quick.
00:46:27
So Kurtz is a guy who stepped up last year, was ridiculous as
00:46:32
first baseman. So he's a big power hitter.
00:46:33
Nick Kurtz, Awesome. Tyler Soderstrom, if you haven't
00:46:37
heard his name. And you have a fantasy draft.
00:46:38
Probably haven't. He I know, judging by the
00:46:42
attendance, you haven't. So Tyler Soderstrom, Brent
00:46:45
Rooker, awesome. Jacob Wilson damn near won the
00:46:48
batting title last year and right behind Judge, yes, as a
00:46:52
rookie. So he came out, He plays Gold
00:46:54
Glove caliber defense. I don't think he won it last
00:46:57
year, but he's right there. And then just some of their
00:46:59
backfill guys you're like, and from the age you're used to,
00:47:03
you'll actually know these names.
00:47:04
Max Muncie, I know that guy. He's to be pretty.
00:47:07
Decent. Yeah, that's right, Dodger.
00:47:09
Jeff O'Neill. I know that guy for that name.
00:47:13
So he still plays? Yes, yes, he does it.
00:47:16
Makes their lineup full of professional at bats because
00:47:19
what those guys do, they're professional hitters, man.
00:47:22
I know they all are ducks. That's the stupidest thing you
00:47:24
ever said, but you know what I mean.
00:47:25
They go up there and they take pitches.
00:47:27
They work counts. They hit to the right side, they
00:47:29
hit to the left side when it needs to like these are good.
00:47:32
And then the lone kind of young guy they have left that's kind
00:47:36
of new to the show because everyone else was there last
00:47:38
year is Denzel Clark and he was on the in the world Baseball
00:47:42
Classic as well. I'm blinking on which team he's
00:47:45
at. Doesn't really matter, but he's
00:47:48
ridiculous outfield. He's kind of like Willie Mays
00:47:50
Hazer. He can't steal first.
00:47:52
He's got a lot of swinging miss in the in the game, but he's
00:47:56
he's pretty. Incredible incredible highlights
00:47:58
last year. Couple massive home run steals
00:48:03
on catches you can go to you go on the YouTube.
00:48:06
That's right, the. Youtubes if you want and look at
00:48:08
that, but he's had some really great plays in in the outfit.
00:48:13
That's right. And the rotation's better than
00:48:14
you think, too. So Luis Severino, Jeffrey
00:48:16
Springs, Aaron Savali, these guys are good.
00:48:21
They're Major League pitchers. And so I think they've got a
00:48:23
staff that's better than you think and a lineup that's longer
00:48:25
and deeper than you think. I think this team's going to
00:48:27
surprise people. You're going to roll in to, I
00:48:29
don't even know what stadium they're playing in anymore.
00:48:32
They're going to play some. Stupid.
00:48:33
Sacramento Stadium, still Sacramento.
00:48:36
They're not in Vegas yet, but they will be on the Strip soon.
00:48:39
That will be fun. We're going to go out and watch
00:48:41
some Royals games out there. We're definitely going.
00:48:44
For the record, we're picking Seattle.
00:48:46
Oh yeah, yes. But yeah, Oakland's going to be,
00:48:49
well, not Oakland. Sacramento A's are going to be
00:48:51
fun to watch. Wherever they play are going to
00:48:54
be exciting this. Year The Vagabond A's will be
00:48:57
the second team. Always on the road.
00:49:00
That's right, 162 roads. All.
00:49:03
Right, let's jump to the NL E just start us off.
00:49:06
Yeah, NL East. So this is a tough one because I
00:49:10
feel like Philly, you know, has been really good for a long time
00:49:14
and they still have a great team.
00:49:17
You still got Schwarber there. You still got Bryce Harper
00:49:19
there. I think this could be a Philly
00:49:22
year, but I think it's kind of be at the end of their run.
00:49:24
And I'm going to go ahead and call it prematurely and say that
00:49:28
the Mets actually sneak up and take it from them this year.
00:49:33
Actually think Soto's going to have a huge year.
00:49:37
I like, I like him having a really strong year.
00:49:39
I love the fact that Bob Boschett's there now.
00:49:41
I love, I actually like Louise Roberts, Louise Robert in center
00:49:46
field there. Yeah, kind of a reclamation
00:49:49
product project from the White Sox where he he had a couple.
00:49:52
Of the talent in the world. Really showed and then just like
00:49:56
fell off a Cliff. And so I think he he could have
00:49:59
a a really good year. And I mean, they've got Kodai
00:50:02
Singh as their as their 5th starter.
00:50:04
So they have a lot of really good pitching too.
00:50:08
So although I think it will be a close race and I think this
00:50:12
division could could go to a lot of ways.
00:50:15
Between a lot. OF teams go, with the Mets and
00:50:17
the Phillies coming in as a close second.
00:50:21
I like it. How about you?
00:50:22
Prue. I also like the Mets to win this
00:50:28
division. I I agree, I think they've kind
00:50:31
of been snake bit I think their lineup is better than what
00:50:33
they've actually produced the last couple years.
00:50:37
So if, if things go a little more normal for them, I think
00:50:41
they got a good shot at at putting out some serious offense
00:50:45
this year. Philly I I feel like might be on
00:50:49
the downhill run here, kind of like landing the plane on fumes.
00:50:57
Like like you can see that the writing's kind of on the wall
00:51:01
for Bryce Harper. He's getting maybe a couple more
00:51:05
years that he can play effectively, but but he's on the
00:51:09
tail end of his career. I believe Schwarber kind of the
00:51:14
same thing. I think they still have a solid
00:51:16
team. They still have a chance of
00:51:17
winning and I've got them, you know, as my alternate for
00:51:21
winning the division. But I think it's the Mets year.
00:51:26
So how about you, Dex? Are we going for a sweep?
00:51:28
No, this time we're not so Philly, their window was last
00:51:33
year. I think it it it slammed shut
00:51:35
when they couldn't get through and that's kind of what we
00:51:37
talked about the preview last year.
00:51:38
I thought this was this team was built to win a championship and
00:51:42
it was and they didn't get there.
00:51:44
They're not better being a year older.
00:51:46
This. Is the.
00:51:47
Fact. I don't know if they'll stay
00:51:49
away from the injury bug. I mean, they're the pitchers.
00:51:53
I mean that was a terrible year for Aaron Nola, the worst in his
00:51:56
career, an over 6 ERA that even our Royals 5.
00:52:01
Star laughed at. And it's just one of those like,
00:52:03
woof. And.
00:52:05
I mean, that wasn't. I don't think he's gonna be that
00:52:07
bad again, don't get me wrong, But Wheeler is not going to be
00:52:11
the same. Painter is their rookie that
00:52:14
they've been wanting to call up for four years now, and he
00:52:17
finally going to be in the rotation, but he's been getting
00:52:20
hammered like his stuff just doesn't move like it used to.
00:52:23
And I don't know, we'll see what happens, but I'm I'm not going
00:52:27
to Philly. Let's just do that.
00:52:28
So I'm going with the Braves, my renaissance team, yeah.
00:52:34
Back in the 1990s. It is, but in here's the Here's
00:52:38
my caveat with an asterisk. They need to survive long enough
00:52:42
to get Spencer, Strider, Schwellen back and Waldrop back.
00:52:46
If they get their top three starters back, we'll be all
00:52:49
right. But well, here's who's holding
00:52:50
down the Fort is Chris Sale. So Cy Young, perennial favorite
00:52:54
Chris Sale and they're not bad. So they got Lopez, Grant Holmes,
00:52:58
Elder kind of rounding out. But when you bring these other
00:53:01
guys back, explos, they're still on where you want to be.
00:53:05
Ronald Lacuna is at the top of the lineup, A 4070 guy just two
00:53:09
years ago, 4070, Drake Baldwin was not rookie of the year.
00:53:13
He was second last year. Matt Olson, Austin Riley, Ozzy
00:53:16
Albies, that top five hammer the ball and score a ton of runs and
00:53:22
play great defense. So I like the Braves to bounce
00:53:25
back after a horribly disappointing year last year.
00:53:29
And then my runner up in this division is still not Philly.
00:53:31
Again, I think that windows going to slam shut and they
00:53:33
don't even they might get third, they might get 4th.
00:53:35
I think the Marlins might beat them too.
00:53:37
But anyway, I got the Mets as the second team in this
00:53:39
division. And for all the reasons you guys
00:53:42
listed, I think Soto is a great chance to win MVP this year.
00:53:47
I think there's they're starting rotations deep.
00:53:50
We saw Nolan McLean in the World Baseball Classic.
00:53:52
There's a reason Team USA put him in the championship game
00:53:55
because Terry Scuba wouldn't pitch, but also because he's
00:53:57
pretty good. So that's kind of how we got
00:53:59
there. So the Mets is going to have a
00:54:01
good lineup. Lewis, Robert can have a great
00:54:03
year. I think he could have a 3030
00:54:05
resurgence because, man, if he doesn't do it now, just this
00:54:10
time, if he cannot stay healthy enough and if he can't find the
00:54:14
magic there, I don't know where you're going to find it.
00:54:17
The thing is with them, Francisco Lindor is going to be
00:54:19
out for the first few weeks, and so losing that hurts.
00:54:23
But. I know what a Hamlet bone was
00:54:25
until this year, and I feel like a Hamlet bone has been, Yeah,
00:54:30
most common injury in baseball all of a sudden.
00:54:32
Keep getting smoked in the hand. Yeah, At least this one.
00:54:38
You come back fairly quick. I mean, in the grand scheme of
00:54:41
things, you're not out till July.
00:54:43
Yeah, that's right. I don't know.
00:54:43
It's only a few weeks, so yeah, be that impactful.
00:54:47
Exactly. But I think the addition of Boba
00:54:49
Shet 2 is huge, so it will minimize the loss of Lindor by
00:54:52
having Boba Shet over there. So anyway, so that's where I got
00:54:55
there. Let's go to the in El Central.
00:54:58
Brew it, Start us off. Well, I think we're all over the
00:55:01
place on this one. I well, look, this has been,
00:55:05
this has been a perennial, yeah, kinda this has been like the the
00:55:11
Brewers division to lose for the last several years.
00:55:15
The the Cubs did have a pretty good team last year and I think
00:55:20
I think Chicago gets back on top this year.
00:55:24
Their their lineup is too good. Their pitching staff is super
00:55:28
solid. Their outfield was one of the
00:55:32
best, if not the best in the league last year.
00:55:35
It was. The best, Yeah, yeah, they lost
00:55:39
Tucker and then they also have an injury to Suzuki and left.
00:55:43
PCA is still a stud. He's he's just signed.
00:55:46
Into a huge deal, yeah. Hey, so Chaos is going to roam
00:55:51
out there in center field again and he's becoming an All Star
00:55:55
name as a one of the best baseball players.
00:55:58
As long as he's playing his right-handed pitchers.
00:56:02
Yeah, it's left. He's a little better, but he
00:56:05
does. He's a terror on the base pass.
00:56:07
He's plays awesome center field and.
00:56:09
When your nickname's chaos, you're doing something right.
00:56:12
So anyway, I like the, I like Chicago to go back as the
00:56:17
division winners in the Central and Milwaukee be my my backup
00:56:23
pick just by default. I don't think anybody else is
00:56:26
capable of winning that division personally.
00:56:28
But yeah. Well.
00:56:31
How about you, jizz? I have AI have a difference of
00:56:33
opinion brew. Maybe it's because maybe it's
00:56:37
because I spent three years there and I eat too much Skyline
00:56:40
chili. But there's this, there's this
00:56:44
rumbling in my tummy that feels like something special is
00:56:48
brewing still Cincinnati from that Skyline chili it is.
00:56:55
It may be the Skyline Chili, but I think it's because they're put
00:56:59
together a pretty good little team over there in Cincinnati.
00:57:02
And I think the Reds, for the first time in ages, are going to
00:57:07
win the Central. I really like what they've put
00:57:12
together from a pitching standpoint.
00:57:14
I know Hunter Green's out and that's a big blow for them, but
00:57:19
I really like Andrew Abbott a lot.
00:57:22
I think he's going to have a a big year there.
00:57:25
I think Ellie De La Cruz is going to have a career year.
00:57:29
The guy has immense talent and he's one of the guys, the few
00:57:32
guys in baseball that like when he's up, I'm watching something
00:57:36
amazing could happen. He just.
00:57:38
He kills the ball. Such an athlete.
00:57:41
Yeah, I mean, just incredibly gifted athlete, fun to watch
00:57:45
across the board. So I.
00:57:47
Think that's a very, as we discussed wide open division and
00:57:52
as a result I think we're going to have something special happen
00:57:56
and it's not going to be the Cardinals.
00:57:58
That's the only thing I can say is I think we're all in
00:58:02
agreement. Unfortunately, the Cardinals are
00:58:04
really bad baseball team. Sorry, Saint Louis Vans, I know
00:58:07
you're out there listening to us, but we don't think they're
00:58:08
going to be great. I do think Cincinnati will be
00:58:12
good. I actually have the Cubs, to
00:58:13
your point, pro as the runner up.
00:58:16
I think if Cincinnati doesn't pull off the magic the Cubs do,
00:58:19
and for all the reasons you said, they're they're a very
00:58:21
solid team. I think Milwaukee is probably
00:58:25
looking at third. They're not to your point,
00:58:30
they've had the division to lose forever.
00:58:32
They just can't breakthrough. And so it's like, you know,
00:58:36
cycles happen and at at the end of the day, I think it might be
00:58:39
time for the cycle to be over. For Milwaukee, similar to Dex's
00:58:43
point on on Phil, Philadelphia being a year older, I feel like
00:58:47
Milwaukee's just a year older, not a whole lot of movement or
00:58:50
like strong additions that are going to put them over the top
00:58:53
this year. No, that's exactly right.
00:58:55
And I, I do have a soft spot for the brood crew.
00:58:59
This whole division is one of those that generally is like
00:59:02
hasn't had like dominant runs for a long time.
00:59:05
But I, I, I think it's going to be super interesting this year.
00:59:11
Now Dex has a really interesting pick for us.
00:59:16
Matter of fact, he's got a team that none of us have even
00:59:20
mentioned yet as someone that he sees winning the division.
00:59:24
So Dex, who do you have? Well, this one's obvious if you
00:59:28
know what you're talking about. I'm just, I'm taking a fun one.
00:59:31
I'm taking a phone one here. The Pittsburgh Pirates are
00:59:35
coming. Back.
00:59:36
They're coming back, they're going to ride the coattails of
00:59:39
their young pitching staff who hopefully get some people in and
00:59:44
do well. Paul Skins, it starts and ends
00:59:47
right there, right? Paul Skins should be able.
00:59:49
To win. He's going to win his 20 games,
00:59:52
so there's 20. Mitch Keller's not that bad.
00:59:55
Bubba Chandler is going to be pretty good.
00:59:58
Braxton Ashcraft, If you haven't heard this guy's name, look him
01:00:01
up. He's got filthy, nasty,
01:00:02
disgusting stuff. And then here's the main reason,
01:00:06
Number one overall prospect, Connor Griffin.
01:00:08
He should have been on the opening day roster.
01:00:10
They kind of screwed him. So he's going down to triple.
01:00:14
Play. Yeah, it's just because he
01:00:17
didn't sign a deal and because he didn't sign the deal is, I
01:00:21
mean, that's, I don't know if that's the reason.
01:00:23
All I know is that he was going to make it as a 19 year old.
01:00:25
It's going to be the first time in a long time.
01:00:28
So I think Juan Soto that they've had a 19 year old make
01:00:31
an opening day roster. He's good enough to be there.
01:00:33
Instead, Nick Gonzalez is going to be starting on the opening
01:00:36
day roster. But let's let's say two weeks
01:00:39
from now when Connor Griffin's back up your lineup, they added
01:00:43
some key parts. So Marcelo Zuna is a legitimate
01:00:45
Major League Baseball player that is now their cleanup
01:00:48
hitter. Last year, we couldn't even, we
01:00:50
didn't even recognize who was hitting cleanup for them.
01:00:52
Ryan O dot Hearn so of old former Royals guy who then went
01:00:56
to foot Baltimore, Baltimore and then had a resurgence.
01:01:02
Yeah. And so he's pretty decent.
01:01:04
If he's truly faced himself, that helps.
01:01:06
Brandon Lowe, So the guy you might remember being a 2020 guy
01:01:09
or 3030 guy for Tampa a few years back, he's now there.
01:01:13
So they've added three legitimate bats to go with
01:01:16
O'Neill Cruz again, soon to be Connor Griffin.
01:01:20
And then the guy we talked about last year in a Pittsburgh
01:01:22
preview, Spencer Horwitz, he came over from Toronto last
01:01:25
year. He had a wrist injury.
01:01:27
So he kind of just sucked last year.
01:01:29
It's kind of a wasted year, but he's healthy and hitting well
01:01:32
this spring. So the Pittsburgh lineup is
01:01:34
actually pretty good. And that was the problem last
01:01:36
year's he couldn't score any runs.
01:01:38
So Pittsburgh, if they actually score runs, the pitching staff
01:01:41
can win the games. That's what the other thing that
01:01:44
you know is nice about them and what I, I could see driving them
01:01:48
is, you know, you got bonds, Bonilla, Van Slyke, Pena behind
01:01:53
the plate. Oh wait, wait, I.
01:01:56
Think about the last time paperwork was actually relevant
01:02:00
and actually had a chance to win anything.
01:02:02
They still have Bob walk in their rotation.
01:02:06
So Bob walk guy that was a great one.
01:02:09
So they should and if they don't, they should get old
01:02:13
school Kent to Colby back there. I think he is with both Billy
01:02:16
and the Pirates back in the day. But Pittsburgh again going to be
01:02:20
sneaky. How do I really think they can
01:02:22
win it? I I could just say the Cubs too.
01:02:24
I think the Cubs will be really good.
01:02:25
I want to have a fun one. My fun one is Pittsburgh.
01:02:27
I think it's a little fun. I like it.
01:02:30
And I think that Cincinnati losing Hunter Green is going to
01:02:33
cost them the Cardinals. I don't know the last time
01:02:36
they've been in a rebuild because holy crap, they suck
01:02:40
when you look at that lineup last year.
01:02:43
Don't. You have to start building to be
01:02:46
in a rebuild. Yeah, well, last year they they
01:02:49
kept, they couldn't get rid of all the guys they wanted to,
01:02:51
right. So they were trying to trade
01:02:52
them all and couldn't trade any of them.
01:02:54
Well, they're finally all gone. So Helsley's gone, Arenado's
01:02:57
gone. They got rid of Brendan Donovan,
01:03:00
who they many people in Saint Louis area did not want to get
01:03:03
rid of. Like not that one.
01:03:04
We like Donovan. He's he's the one to build
01:03:07
around. Exactly.
01:03:08
But with that, they got some extra picks.
01:03:10
So they they do have some talent coming, but they really, really
01:03:14
the Cardinals, Jordan Walker. Was a flop.
01:03:16
Nolan Gorman has been a flop, so they've just got floppery skis
01:03:20
everywhere. But here's the only fun thing.
01:03:22
So turn on a Cardinals game to watch JJ weather hold.
01:03:25
So it's a rookie who made the opening day roster.
01:03:27
He's a hitter. This dude can flat out hit.
01:03:30
He's got a chance to compete for a batting title rookie year.
01:03:33
I mean, he's one of those guys like Jacob Wilson last year.
01:03:36
So he's got a hit tool that's off the chart.
01:03:38
So that's the only fun thing Cardinals fans have to look
01:03:40
forward to this year. But.
01:03:42
Enjoy Busch Stadium and the beer.
01:03:45
Correct, Correct. So that's what we got.
01:03:47
So that's my Pittsburgh team. Is there is there any reason to
01:03:51
talk about the NL West? It's so disgusting in this.
01:03:56
Season so other than the Dodgers, we don't need to talk
01:03:58
about the Dodgers so they went the.
01:04:00
Dodgers are going to win. Here's the Dodgers are going.
01:04:02
To beat everybody by a million and they're going to win 130
01:04:05
games, OK. There we go, that was fun.
01:04:07
Good job in our West. So I'll start with this one just
01:04:10
because I I think this team will be fun to watch.
01:04:12
I wanted the D backs, but having Corbin Carroll be out for the
01:04:15
first chunk of games, it's hard to get.
01:04:18
It hurts. God, man, you don't want to lose
01:04:20
in April. It's hard to catch up the rest
01:04:22
of the season so I like them, but I'm going to go with San
01:04:26
Francisco Giants. So the San Francisco Giants I
01:04:29
think could compete. They added three time batting
01:04:32
champ Luis Arise and he is going to be playing second base for
01:04:36
him, so he's going back to his. Why does nobody want Luis Arise?
01:04:39
I love this guy. He just, he like, he's like the
01:04:42
modern day Tony Gwynn. He just.
01:04:43
Doesn't hit home runs. But here's the thing, you say no
01:04:46
one wants him, but everybody wants him.
01:04:47
That's why they keep trading for him.
01:04:48
Like, I want a batting champ that plays decent defense and is
01:04:51
good in the clubhouse. So it's one of those things.
01:04:54
I think they just he's he's light hitting.
01:04:56
I mean, he's not going to knock in 30 home runs and 90 RBIs.
01:05:01
That's what everybody wants. But he's on base all the time.
01:05:04
He makes contact. He never strikes out.
01:05:05
He's like classic rock Tony Gwynn.
01:05:08
But I think Willie Adamas, Chapman, Devers, Ramos, that is
01:05:12
a good lineup. Harrison Bader they just added.
01:05:15
So that's a nice piece for defense and for, again, giving
01:05:18
you a professional at bat in your lineup.
01:05:20
And then you look at the starting rotation, Logan Webb,
01:05:22
Robbie Ray, Tyler Meili, that's a nice starting rotation.
01:05:26
I always like it when you do three guys like those are all
01:05:29
pretty good. So I like San Francisco to
01:05:31
compete for the second spot in that division, kind of tangling
01:05:35
around with the San Diego's and the Diamondbacks, but it's going
01:05:39
to be playing for second in that division.
01:05:41
How about you? What do you got for this one?
01:05:43
So what do you think prove from a second place team?
01:05:48
I know we're we're playing for second here in the West,
01:05:50
unfortunately, since since someone spent $5 billion on
01:05:54
their roster. Yeah, it's hard to compete with
01:05:57
that. I do think that San Diego can
01:06:02
compete. I like them as a potential near
01:06:07
2nd place. I like their lineup.
01:06:09
Jackson Merrill is an interesting player.
01:06:12
There's in center field for them.
01:06:14
They've got the veterans, Machado and I guess Tatis, you
01:06:18
could probably call a veteran at this point.
01:06:20
Yeah, we've been around a while. I really like Nick Castillanos.
01:06:24
That's come over from Detroit. Totally.
01:06:27
He's he's a better hitter than I think people give him credit
01:06:30
for. He was a royal killer last year.
01:06:33
Totally. And, and I like their even their
01:06:37
projected #9 hitter is Mr. Freddy Fermine, who we are.
01:06:40
I like Freddy Fermine man. We know and love from our from
01:06:45
his affiliation with the Royals last few years.
01:06:49
Love that guy. I'm glad he's getting a chance
01:06:51
to start for a team because he's he's a great catcher, great
01:06:55
defensive catcher and he's got a bat too.
01:06:57
So really like the really like the Padres as a potential second
01:07:01
place finish. With you excellent.
01:07:03
He's an excellent pitch framer. I think for mean is super
01:07:07
underrated and he gives you dude doesn't give in on any at bats.
01:07:11
A lot of times in an MLB team the catcher is seen as an auto
01:07:16
out and so they don't really demand much of them.
01:07:18
He does not see himself that way.
01:07:19
He's not going to hit thirty home runs, but he is going to
01:07:22
hit for a much better average than most catchers and he's
01:07:24
great defensively, so I love him.
01:07:27
I think he's underrated. I think that the Padres are a
01:07:29
little bit underrated. Are they as good as the Dodgers?
01:07:32
Pretty hard to do unless you have oil chic money.
01:07:35
But I do think that they do have a bunch of guys that are going
01:07:39
to put together a tough line up to go through.
01:07:43
I'm I'm most worried by the pitching just because there's
01:07:47
some injuries. Joe Musgrove is is is hurting at
01:07:50
the beginning, like Michael King, Nick Pavetta's decent.
01:07:53
They don't have a great starting rotation, but they they don't
01:07:57
they have, they don't have like a massive hole when, when German
01:08:01
Marquez is your last guy coming out of the 55 slide.
01:08:06
That's not a horrible guy to have coming out.
01:08:09
There Walker Buehler's an ex Dodger and he's he hasn't
01:08:13
pitched great the last few years, but he when he first came
01:08:16
up he was like lights out. Clayton Kershaw, junior.
01:08:20
Is their opening day starter and you got Mason Miller.
01:08:25
I mean, you know the. End of the night is over.
01:08:28
This is a, this is a, this is a good team.
01:08:30
They're just playing in a bad division.
01:08:34
So it's it's not. It's not a lot of fun with.
01:08:37
Them, I mean, they're maybe their best shot is to win a wild
01:08:40
card spot. Yeah, right.
01:08:42
And go and we'll see what happens.
01:08:44
I mean, Yamamoto can't pitch every game, can he?
01:08:48
I could see the wild card coming from this division for sure,
01:08:52
either Dex's Giants or the Padres.
01:08:55
I I could see being a wild card coming out of this division
01:08:59
because probably probably not going to get it coming out of
01:09:02
the central could get someone out of the East.
01:09:05
But you know, I, I think the West is a good bet for that.
01:09:09
For sure. All right, so we got everybody
01:09:11
covered in this division. We do.
01:09:14
So let's go to our individual awards to wrap this episode up.
01:09:18
Let's go lose all power. Lightning round.
01:09:22
Lightning Round MVP. American League Chism go and we
01:09:27
can't do judge. So no.
01:09:29
Judge, I'm going Julio Rodriguez has his best season ever in
01:09:34
leading the Mariners to the World Series.
01:09:37
Julio Rodriguez, ALMVP Proof. Bobby Witt Junior, no surprise,
01:09:45
finally gets it. Well deserved.
01:09:48
Another solid year from our loved Royal shortstop.
01:09:52
Yeah, all. Right.
01:09:52
I'm going Bobby Witt junior as well.
01:09:54
Who's going to win the batting title this year as he's already
01:09:57
led the major leagues in hits the last two years.
01:10:00
I think he finally puts that to a batting title and he's going
01:10:04
to lead the Royals to the division championship.
01:10:07
So that's going to be what we got for the ALMVPNLMVP.
01:10:11
Brew it back to you N. LMVPI really like Juan Soto.
01:10:17
I think Chisholm made the point earlier.
01:10:19
Mets have a kind of resurgent year.
01:10:22
I think Soto's a big reason why. I think he leads that team to
01:10:27
the top of the NL East and I think he earns NLMVP honors.
01:10:35
There we go, Chisholm. Hey, I told you about my
01:10:38
Cincinnati story again. It may be the Skyline Chili,
01:10:41
maybe the Graters ice cream, I'm not sure, but that feelings in
01:10:44
my stomach, it's going to be special.
01:10:47
Ellie De La Cruz, he's incredible talent and he puts it
01:10:51
all together this year. He's consistent.
01:10:54
He lives up to all the incredible potential that he has
01:10:57
and he earns the NLMVP while leading the Reds to the division
01:11:02
title. Ellie De La Cruz Dex.
01:11:04
I like it. So that was who I had it between
01:11:06
because again, we're doing no Otani in this one.
01:11:09
So I've got Juan Soto because he learned how to run bases last
01:11:12
year. So I think he could honestly
01:11:14
gotta go 4040 for the Mets. And I think with the pieces that
01:11:17
they added, that Mets team with adding Boba Shet and adding
01:11:20
Louise Robert Junior, he's gonna have more people to knock in and
01:11:23
be knocked in, frankly. So I think Juan Soto wins it.
01:11:26
But I think runner up is Ellie De la Cruz for all the reasons
01:11:29
you mentioned. He was hurt last year playing
01:11:31
the injuries last year, but this dude is electric.
01:11:34
So I would not be surprised whatsoever if he has the year
01:11:38
that we think he could have with 4040 as again, it's a switch
01:11:41
hitting shortstop for the Cincinnati Reds.
01:11:43
All right, let's go Cy Young in the NL and we'll flip it back to
01:11:46
you, Chisholm. Well, I think this year this is
01:11:50
a super surprise for you. He's not on your list.
01:11:53
He's going to be hard to find from an odd standpoint, but
01:11:56
because I'm picking the Reds and the Renaissance here, I'm going
01:11:59
with Andrew Abbott because Hunter Green's out.
01:12:02
Andrew Abbott's going to step up and he's going to keep stepping
01:12:06
up the rest of the year and he's going to earn an NL Sai Young
01:12:10
for the Reds. I'm not the last time that
01:12:12
happened. Cincinnati Reds have an Sai.
01:12:14
Young anyone? Casteel anyone?
01:12:18
Maybe it's been a long time It's.
01:12:20
Been a long time. But I'm going to go.
01:12:22
I bet it was Cueto. Did Johnny Cueto win?
01:12:24
Oh, I bet it was I. Bet.
01:12:26
Cueto got it, I bet that's right.
01:12:29
I think he's got young talent, got a lot of ability.
01:12:32
I think he wins a Cy Young Dex. What do you think on NL Cy
01:12:36
Young? I'm going to Yamamoto.
01:12:38
He has looked dominant. He's been so good for the
01:12:42
Dodgers and I don't see anything stopping him now.
01:12:46
He's just as ridiculous. So I think he's going to be the
01:12:48
head of a the serpent for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
01:12:51
And he's going to win a lot of games just because.
01:12:54
But he's also super good and he won't even need that many runs
01:12:57
when he pitches. He's just exceptional.
01:12:59
So Yamamoto in El Sayon Pruitt. I'm going to go over to San
01:13:05
Francisco. I really like Logan Webb,
01:13:08
represented Team USA obviously as their first starter alongside
01:13:14
Paul Skins and Tariq School. Logan Webb has been super
01:13:19
durable the last several years, so I think he has a full season,
01:13:24
which is the number one qualifier.
01:13:26
For. Winning a Cy Young is like
01:13:28
contributing for the whole season, so I think he's got a
01:13:33
great shot at it. He's got good stuff and playing
01:13:36
for a team that Jax likes as as you know, pretty competitive in
01:13:40
the in LW for sure. Yeah, I agree.
01:13:43
And we weren't allowed to pick Skeens in that one.
01:13:46
So that is the the hook for there.
01:13:49
So now we'll go to the AL Cy Young and Pruitt.
01:13:57
Let's continue. What do you think from an AL Cy
01:14:00
Young standpoint, who's got the best shot this year?
01:14:04
So I really like Logan Gilbert from Seattle.
01:14:08
He's got incredible stuff. That is a a great staff,
01:14:14
pitching staff, those top three starters like we mentioned.
01:14:17
Earlier chances for wins, right with that batting line up.
01:14:21
Yeah, with their line up in place and then this, you know,
01:14:25
the team does not have to rely on only him to win games.
01:14:28
They've got three solid starters, so I think he'll he'll
01:14:32
go out and be a little less, feel a little less pressured to,
01:14:37
you know, throw perfect games every time he's got, he'll have
01:14:40
run support and that kind of thing.
01:14:42
It wouldn't surprise me at all if he ends up winning 18 to 20
01:14:47
games this year. I agree.
01:14:48
I think he's a solid, solid pick.
01:14:51
We weren't allowed to pick scuba in this category either.
01:14:54
So that side note, Logan Gilbert, Pruitt picks, I am
01:14:59
going to go. I mentioned I thought the Red
01:15:02
Sox were going to be really good this year and I think that's
01:15:04
because of Garrett Crochet. I think he he's a guy that I
01:15:08
really hate facing. When the Royals face him, I'm
01:15:12
like, blah, this is going to be a sucky offensive day because
01:15:16
he's just so talented. He battles every at bat.
01:15:23
I think he's going to have a lot of good run support as well.
01:15:26
I think that team's going to be good and I think they've done a
01:15:30
really good job. Like you said, the same way with
01:15:33
Logan Gilbert, you know, he doesn't have to win because I
01:15:35
think they've got a good staff behind him.
01:15:37
So you don't have the pressure of like, I got to win every
01:15:39
start. And I think they he's going to
01:15:43
pitch a lot more free and easy and that's going to translate
01:15:45
really well for him. So I really like Garrett Crochet
01:15:51
and Dexter has a combination of what we both said.
01:15:55
So he likes Logan Gilbert to win as well and he had his runner up
01:16:00
as Garrett Crochet. So we're all kind of of the same
01:16:03
mind. When you get to reach scuba out
01:16:05
of the out of the equation. There's three really interesting
01:16:09
guys there. And I would like to point out
01:16:11
that none of us went with the Homer pick of Cole Reagan's.
01:16:16
Yeah, I did. I did briefly consider that me.
01:16:19
Too. I don't like his injury history
01:16:23
and my to my earlier point, I think a pitcher has to perform
01:16:26
all year to be considered for that award.
01:16:29
You just, you can't put up the numbers if you're only pitching
01:16:32
15 starts or something like that.
01:16:34
So. Ability is availability, right?
01:16:36
Yeah. And that's I, I am the same way.
01:16:38
I would like to pick Reagan's and he's got this decay ratio to
01:16:43
definitely be considered, but I'm just worried he's going to
01:16:46
have one of those stents for a month where he's like I need to
01:16:50
shut it down. Be out for six or eight weeks.
01:16:53
And right. And it's like, that just kills
01:16:56
your ability to win those awards.
01:16:57
I do have one other outside pick I'll throw out there my my maybe
01:17:02
third runner or second runner up.
01:17:04
Dylan Sees. I really like him.
01:17:07
I think he's another guy. He's been around for a few years
01:17:09
now and he always seems to be, you know, pretty solid.
01:17:14
If he if he manages to put a year together, career year for
01:17:18
him, yeah, I think could be he could be capable of taking that
01:17:23
away. He does a good job of.
01:17:24
Ceasing the opposing bats. He does ceasefires.
01:17:30
If you will. So, so Dex, we covered your pick
01:17:33
in the AL Cy Young. So now we're going to go on to
01:17:37
the AL Rookie of the Year. Dex, who do you have and pick
01:17:42
for the rookie of the? Year, so this one's going to be
01:17:45
an exciting player to watch as well.
01:17:47
Even if you're not a Detroit Tigers fan, you're going to love
01:17:50
Kevin Mcgonagall. So one of the top prospects in
01:17:54
baseball is starting opening day 21 year old for the Tigers.
01:17:58
Over the last couple years in the minors he has hit three O
01:18:03
825 homers, 40 steals, 919 OPS. He was last year's Arizona Fall
01:18:08
League MVP, he is a stud, and he also plays incredible shortstop
01:18:15
defense up top and he's a 70 hit tool, so this guy is going to be
01:18:18
hard to beat. My honorable mention who's going
01:18:21
to help the Royals win the Pennant this year is Carter
01:18:24
Jensen. So he's going to be the heir
01:18:27
apparent to Salvi. He's going to be playing some DH
01:18:30
and some catcher. Carter Jensen is the real deal.
01:18:33
He hits a ton. I think that's going to be the
01:18:35
runner up this year too. So, 2 exciting young players to
01:18:38
watch in this year's AL over to you.
01:18:41
Yeah, so actually Carter Jensen is who I picked as my Rookie of
01:18:45
the Year. My only concern about him is
01:18:48
will he get enough action? I think you will, because I
01:18:53
think we're going to see a lot less of Salvi catching this year
01:18:56
and a lot more of him DH ING and playing first base here and
01:19:00
there. So I do think we're going to see
01:19:02
a lot of Carter Jensen. And if Carter Jensen does
01:19:06
anything like he did at the end of last year, where he hit 300
01:19:12
for that final stretch of games when he was up for 20 some odd
01:19:16
games and what he's done in in in Arizona this this year, I'm
01:19:22
really excited about what he has to offer.
01:19:23
So I, I I've got him as AL rookie of the year, even though
01:19:26
he's got some long odds. Pruitt, who do you like?
01:19:29
Yeah, and actually like both of those guys a lot.
01:19:34
Mcgonigal, just because of his youth is super exciting that
01:19:38
that can backfire. I think we saw a little bit of
01:19:41
that with Jack Jaglione last year.
01:19:44
Yeah. The Royals goes and, you know,
01:19:46
tears it up at AAA and then maybe is a little bit
01:19:49
overwhelmed when he gets to the majors.
01:19:52
So if Mcgonagall can avoid that, I think he's got all the right
01:19:57
tools to to take that award. Absolutely.
01:20:00
All right. NL Rookie of the Year Chisholm
01:20:03
Go. Final category here, NL Rookie
01:20:07
of the Year. I'm going to got a little soft
01:20:10
spot for him because the man stepped up in the World Baseball
01:20:13
Classic. We're going to go with Nolan
01:20:15
McLean, the young guy, he went up against all the high pressure
01:20:21
situation, the tough bats in the in the World Baseball Classic
01:20:26
and he did a really good job. And I think that kind of like
01:20:30
prep heading into a Major League season is pretty great for a
01:20:34
rookie. Like, not a lot of rookies are
01:20:36
going to have been able to go through that scenario.
01:20:38
In. Pitching a championship game
01:20:40
yeah, he's got a great he's got a already got some great
01:20:44
experience Major League starts not going to seem like that big
01:20:47
of a deal to him now. So I don't think he's going to
01:20:50
have some of that those jitters that you have in a typical first
01:20:53
few weeks of starts. So and he's obviously a great
01:20:55
talent. So I love Nolan McLean to win,
01:20:58
you know, Rookie of the Year, prove what do you?
01:21:00
Think I really like I don't want to steal your Thunder decks, so
01:21:06
I'll I'll let you talk about your guy guy.
01:21:09
All right, deck. I really like some binge from on
01:21:15
the Mets. He is gonna step in opening day.
01:21:19
He's their number 2 prospect, I believe, behind.
01:21:22
McClain. Mike Tauchman has a knee injury.
01:21:25
Yep. OK.
01:21:26
And so he's gonna get the Opening Day start for the Mets.
01:21:31
He's gonna be stepping into an incredible lineup like we talked
01:21:34
about earlier. And I think he could step into a
01:21:40
situation where he's got, he's surrounded by a bunch of veteran
01:21:42
players that that bring him up quickly.
01:21:45
He's I think the number of five overall prospect, if I, if I
01:21:49
remember correctly. So he's he's got tons of talent
01:21:54
and he's getting a shot, which is is a key thing for rookie of
01:21:58
the year is just having opportunities, I think.
01:22:00
So he's outside, outside, maybe a front runner.
01:22:04
Yeah, like NL rookie he's. He's gonna have a lot of
01:22:06
protection in that lineup. So that's that's that's a good
01:22:10
spot to be. So Dex, who do you like for
01:22:12
Rookie of the Year and then L? So the one bright spot for the
01:22:16
Saint Louis Cardinals this year will be JJ Weatherholt winning
01:22:20
the Rookie of the Year. And frankly, he's gonna be the
01:22:23
only bat in that lineup probably.
01:22:24
So it'll be a fun thing to watch.
01:22:26
He's their top prospect. He was a first round pick two
01:22:29
seasons ago. He is really good.
01:22:32
He can hit. So it's a kind of off the
01:22:36
marker. He's the guy that's going to be
01:22:37
ahead. And I'll talk about who a lot of
01:22:40
people think is going to win is Pittsburgh's Connor Griffin, the
01:22:43
overall top prospect in baseball, who again, should have
01:22:46
made the starting opening day roster, was good enough, was
01:22:49
hitting well enough, but they're putting some scab up there
01:22:51
instead. Connor Griffin's be really good.
01:22:54
But JJ Weatherholt, Saint Louis Cardinals rookie of the year,
01:22:56
baby, let's do it. So that's going to wrap up all
01:23:00
of our folks. I'm sure he covered everything
01:23:03
else as well. So I think we're probably pretty
01:23:05
good. Let's wrap up this technical
01:23:08
difficulty wrap episode and this technical difficult tournament,
01:23:13
NCAA tournament. And hopefully the MLB season
01:23:16
goes off without a hitch. But thank you all out there
01:23:19
shrewdness for listening and staying with us through this.
01:23:22
And we're looking forward to a great season and we're also
01:23:24
looking forward to a great finish to this NCAA tournament.
01:23:27
Hope you get to circle more of your your our teams going to the
01:23:29
final four this weekend. Enjoy opening day baseball.
01:23:33
It's one of the best days ever. That's right, until next week,
01:23:36
stay. Shrew Stay.
01:23:37
Shrew to everybody.