It’s not our money and it made the baseball team better so there will be no complaining about Mike Elias taking the money of David Rubenstein and Michael Arougheti and investing in a legitimate attempt to win. The Baltimore Orioles got better with the signing of slugger Pete Alonso but they get $155 million better? Luke Jones and Nestor take a deep dive into the Birdland splash of MLB free agency.
Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discussed the Baltimore Orioles’ signing of Pete Alonso to a five-year, $155 million deal. Aparicio highlighted the significance of the move, noting the team’s recent history of not spending big on free agents. Jones praised Alonso’s consistent performance since 2019, including 34 home runs in 2025. They also discussed the impact on the team’s young players and the need for further pitching improvements. Jones emphasized the importance of Alonso’s leadership and the potential for the Orioles to become a more competitive team.
- [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Follow up with Alan McCallum to get his thoughts on the Alonso signing.
- [ ] Analyze the Orioles’ pitching staff and identify potential trade or free agent targets.
Orioles’ $155 Million Deal with Pete Alonso Announced
- Nestor Aparicio introduces the show, mentioning the Maryland crab cake tour and various events.
- Nestor shares his experience at Faidley’s Crab House when the Orioles agreed to a $155 million deal with Pete Alonso.
- Nestor and Luke Jones discuss the significance of the deal, with Nestor emphasizing it’s not his money.
- Nestor mentions receiving positive feedback from insiders like Alan McCallum about the deal.
Initial Reactions and Analysis of Pete Alonso’s Contract
- Luke Jones expresses his positive view on the deal, noting the inherent risks of nine-figure contracts.
- Luke references Andrew Friedman’s comment about rational free agent decisions and the importance of liking the player.
- Luke highlights Pete Alonso’s consistent performance since 2019, including his home run totals and on-base ability.
- Nestor and Luke discuss the challenges of being a Met in New York and Alonso’s durability over the years.
Comparison with Other Free Agents and Team Needs
- Luke Jones compares Alonso’s deal to the Orioles’ previous big signings like Chris Davis and Adam Jones.
- Nestor and Luke discuss the potential impact of Alonso on the Orioles’ lineup and the importance of adding a legitimate cleanup hitter.
- Luke mentions the Taylor Ward acquisition and how Alonso’s signing makes Ward’s role more flexible.
- Nestor and Luke speculate on the future of players like Koby Mayo and Ryan Mountcastle in light of the new signings.
Impact on Young Players and Team Dynamics
- Nestor and Luke discuss the potential positive impact of Alonso’s presence on young players like Gunnar Henderson and Jackson Holliday.
- Luke emphasizes the importance of having experienced players in the clubhouse to provide leadership and credibility.
- Nestor reflects on the historical lack of big-name signings in Baltimore and the significance of Alonso choosing the Orioles.
- Luke and Nestor discuss the potential for Alonso to become a DH as he ages, allowing younger players more playing time.
Potential Future Moves and Team Strategy
- Luke Jones speculates on the Orioles’ potential future moves, including trading Koby Mayo for a starting pitcher.
- Nestor and Luke discuss the importance of adding a legitimate number one or two starting pitcher to the rotation.
- Luke mentions the Orioles’ recent acquisitions like Andrew Kittredge and Ryan Helsley and how they fit into the team’s strategy.
- Nestor and Luke express cautious optimism about the Orioles’ offseason moves and the potential for a better team in 2026.
Historical Context and Team Ownership
- Nestor reflects on the historical context of the Orioles’ ownership and their approach to spending money on players.
- Luke and Nestor discuss the impact of new ownership on the team’s strategy and willingness to spend money.
- Nestor mentions the importance of having a plan for the team’s stakeholders, including season ticket holders.
- Luke and Nestor speculate on the potential for further signings and the importance of maintaining momentum in the offseason.
Media and Public Reaction
- Nestor and Luke discuss the media’s reaction to the signing and the potential impact on ticket sales and fan engagement.
- Luke mentions the importance of making the Orioles a more attractive destination for free agents.
- Nestor reflects on the historical challenges of attracting top talent to Baltimore and the potential for a cultural shift.
- Luke and Nestor speculate on the long-term impact of the signing on the Orioles’ reputation and future success.
Final Thoughts and Future Outlook
- Nestor and Luke express their final thoughts on the signing and the potential for the Orioles to become a more competitive team.
- Luke emphasizes the importance of winning games and the need for continued investment in both the lineup and the pitching staff.
- Nestor reflects on the significance of the signing for Baltimore sports fans and the potential for a resurgence of interest in the team.
- Luke and Nestor agree that while there are still questions, the Orioles are heading in the right direction and have made significant progress in the offseason.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Pete Alonso, Baltimore Orioles, $155 million, free agent, Taylor Ward, Taylor Teagarden, pitching, lineup, Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson, Jackson Holliday, Jordan Westburg, Kyle Schwarber, Andrew Friedman, Mike Elias.
SPEAKERS
Nestor Aparicio, Luke Jones
Nestor Aparicio 00:01
Welcome all. We are W, N, S, T am 1570 to Baltimore. We are Baltimore positive. We’ve been out doing the Maryland crab cake tour all week long. You’re going to hear it, you’re going to see it, you’re going to feel it. It’s going to ching, ching, Jing jingle and Ho, ho, ho, and might even have a leg nog, zip in it. It’s all brought to you by friends at the Maryland lottery. In conjunction with our friends at GBMC, I’m going to have the candy cane Scratchers next week. I’ve got Raven still this week. We’re going to be at honeys on Friday. We’re going to be at deep DiPasquale’s all morning on Thursday. We had a great time at fayley’s on Wednesday afternoon. And I got to be honest with you and I and look, I’m wearing my curio orange Baltimore baseball related shirt here on a 28 degree night, Luke, I was at faidley’s. You never forget where you were when the Orioles spend $155 million on a baseball player. And I was at faidley’s, and I had Matt Gallagher on for he Chief of Staff for Martin O’Malley, and he runs the gold secret. And we talked a lot of food and just food and politics and food and whatever. But he’s a big sports fan. He gets ready to leave, we get crab cakes. And I had a crab cake with Torben Green from St Francis, and, like, I didn’t see the text, like I’m in the middle of a segment talking about West Baltimore and food and homeless and people and shelters and community and what brings people together and like all that. And I looked down, I saw Baltimore positive text. I’m like, that’s probably some horrible lie about Lamar. And I looked down, I got it at was it 104? So I just gone into this segment. Orioles agreed a five year, $155 million deal with former Mets. I love how you put former because ain’t no met no more first baseman Pete Alonso per multiple outlets, coal, roofing and Gordian energy, they sponsor our wnsd tech service. So 7000 people got that at 104, and torment got a tow. He’s like, hey, yeah, wnsd text. I’m like, Yeah, I don’t, I don’t know that. I’m shocked, because I think, you know, these two guys that own the team, they want to splash, it ain’t my money, that’s my headline, Luke, it ain’t my money. That’s all I’m saying. It ain’t my money. So, yeah, if they want to make the team better, I think they made the team better. Is it a good investment? I don’t, is it ever I don’t know. I don’t, I don’t. And I honestly don’t know if you’re gonna praise it or Damn it, but I’ve had a lot of inside people like you. Alan McCallum, being one, right away, you sent me a text. I don’t know that I love this deal and and again, he’s thinking like it’s his money, and you’re about to do the same thing. So I’ll just throw it to you and let you go nuts with it, because I don’t have a strong opinion other than, yay, they spent money. And I guess, I guess,
Luke Jones 02:45
man, you’re making a lot of assumptions here. I really like it. You love
Nestor Aparicio 02:48
it. Okay, good. I like, um, look,
Luke Jones 02:52
when you’re talking about nine figure contracts, there’s not a safe investment. And yeah, there you can cite nine figure contracts.
Nestor Aparicio 03:03
That’s all we need to do here. We sure we’ve got the I’ve got the shakes from Glen Davis,
Luke Jones 03:07
yeah, but, but you can I go back, I go back to the Andrew Friedman comment that he made roughly a decade ago, and I’ll cite it again. If you’re always rational about every free agent, you’re going to finish third trying to sign every free agent. Yeah, you either like the player or you don’t, right? I mean, it comes down to this. Pete Alonso has been one of the best first baseman in baseball since he arrived on the scene in 2019 and hit 53 home runs and was NL Rookie of the Year. He’s been as consistent as you could reasonably expect. Not to say that he hasn’t had a couple years where he wasn’t as good.
Nestor Aparicio 03:44
And it’s tough being a met, by the way, I’m just gonna say in New York, you’re in the number two, in the number one, usually in the number three, getting dealt a bunch of number two and feeling like number one. Yeah, usually.
Luke Jones 03:58
But we’re talking about someone who I’m going to throw out the covid season. He has played 161 152 160 154 162 and 162 games. He’s hit 53 home runs, 37 home runs, 40 home runs, 46 home runs, 34 home runs, 38 home runs. He has walked, and he’s not a major walk guy. And we’ll get into, we can get into Kyle Schwarber, who the Orioles, and now I feel more about there’s more validity and sincerity to they were trying to sign him before he ultimately stayed with the Philadelphia Phillies. And reports indicate they made the same exact offer, which I was skeptical hearing that in isolation. But when you turn around and sign Pete Alonso the next day, I say, bravo. You’re the other people lied for 30 years here. So, like, I don’t, you know again, let me finish my thought. Yeah, so people hanging i Sure, Said walks, 7260 6765 7061, now he’s not like, that’s not like Monster walk numbers, but more on base ability than we’ve seen from a lot of this lineup. 70 walks. Leads his team, right? I mean, it’s up there. I mean, Adley rutsman’s kind of been in, has been in that territory when, you know, has been higher than that, when he’s been right, but, and, okay, yeah, he strikes out. But, you know what? He struck out less a little less last year, shortened his stroke a little bit and rebounded. You know, he didn’t have a great season in 2024 it’s one of the reasons why his venture into free agency, he kind of just, he stayed with the Mets, right? He signed a short term deal opt out, and then he re entered the market a year later. But, you know, he hit 240 he was able to raise that to 272 this year. Had a 347 on base. He had an 871 ops. I mean, this is a legitimate cleanup hitter. We’ve talked a lot about their offense. I’ve talked a lot about their offense the last year and a half, right for all the talk about the pitching, and we’ll get to that. They still have work to do on the pitching side. There’s no question about that. But you heard me from the first few weeks of April, and even going back to last season, but especially this past season, you heard me complaining about this offense and saying that this offense is underperforming these young guys, which Michaela has put all of his eggs in the young guy basket, other than signing Tyler O’Neill, which, by the way, I think, I think the day that you know these reports came out, you know that they’re signing Pete Alonso, I think it was A year to the day that they announced the Tyler O’Neill and Gary Sanchez agreements, which is just kind of funny.
Nestor Aparicio 06:26
Well, you could certainly do sugar plums that he, you know, he’s going to have a reawakening, and they’ve got 100 home runs that they’ve added to the lineup that we didn’t see at all this year, right? Or maybe more than on
Luke Jones 06:37
put Tyler O’Neill to the side. Now, I’m not going to sit here and ever say that I love the Grayson Rodriguez for Taylor Ward deal, but in terms of the player that they acquired, I like Taylor Ward as the second bat they acquired in an off season, right? The idea that they’ve now added a legit cleanup hitter, a legit first baseman who has hit 34 home runs or more in every non covid Season of his career. And by the way, he had 16 home runs in 57 games that year too. So it’s not like the power was down or anything. It was just a truncated season. So you add Peter Lonzo, and it makes me like the Taylor Ward edition that much more because the idea of the Taylor Ward edition. And again, what’s going to happen with Grayson Rodriguez? Who knows, right? But in terms of the player, I like the idea now that you’re not trying to sell me that Taylor Ward is the big middle of the order bat. Now it’s Taylor Ward could hit second, he could hit sixth. You know, whatever you want. As I
Nestor Aparicio 07:36
sit here on Rodriguez, just while you brought that up, you wouldn’t be able to sell me on anything about him right now, right? So you can sell me on war. Can have a down year and hit 24 home runs and maybe be injured for 1824, game whatever. But, but where it is at this point is it feels like that is a step forward, certainly spending $155 million on a plate. Better hope. That’s a hell of a step forward, right, for all the reasons that you’ve brought out and all the past performances on the race track and all of that, and the fact that I think this is going to be a better play for him, and I think there’s, there’s less spotlight on all of those names, starting with Henderson and holiday and Richmond and Westberg and Clark Houser and mayo, and we’re all the mites and might bes and guys that stub their toes and guys that have regressed, and guys that get off the slow starts, and guys that have been injured a lot, which I just identified all their guys, right? Like, literally, that’s, that is the collage of what I just that’s the profile of what those young guys are, was potential. These are guys that actually have done it and did it this year while Russia was struggling, Henderson had a down year. Holidays get young, and figuring out, like all of that, this starts to sound more like a symphony I can believe in. So I’m still for some pitching, but anybody tuning in here and thinking, I’m the hater, I’m the guy that’s been lied to for 30 years, locked out of the press box for 20 years, and by the way, while we’re in this segment, I just want to send my condolences and my strength to everybody that knew woody on the baseball side and the football I didn’t know him on the bay. I didn’t even know he was the Oriole guy. I literally did not know that. I haven’t been around the Orioles in 20 years, but he was certainly a guy very instrumental. I saw him every week. He always asked me for requests, and I was just floored when I read the story a couple of weeks ago, and then obviously floored at his passing. So I just want to throw that in while we’re talking about ball, because woody would have endorsed this Pete Alonso signing, I’m sure. But in the case of the credibility of them trying to say, hey, we’re real. We’re trying to your point. They can say all they want about Schwarber, and you and I can get into and the next thing is, Hey, would you have preferred them to have Schwarber? Would you prefer them to have a lot and we’re just going to be in two years, four years, five years. How’s it going to work out? All of that Schwarber clearly didn’t want to leave Philly, right? So you. There is a point in the same way that Corbin burns didn’t want to be here, and he spent 202 or $15 million on a guy that didn’t want to be here that then got hurt anyway, Alonzo wanted to be here, right? I mean, he looks at this and says, I go in there. Okay, well, that’s a that’s a good sign, you know, he doesn’t mind being in a division with Toronto and Boston in New York, because that’s where he came from. Well, you know, with the Mets, right? Yeah.
Luke Jones 10:25
I mean, when you’re in a division with the Phillies, and even though the Braves aren’t a big market, high payroll kind of team, they’ve certainly, you know, I mean, they’re moved four years removed from winning a World Series. I mean, so, yeah, I mean, I just And look, it’s a five year deal most the time when you’re talking about these deals, and look, he just turned 31 so he’s going to be playing his age 31 season in 2026 if you’re asking me right now, if years four and five of this deal are going to look great, I’m going to say probably not being realistic. But if he can give you good to great seasons in 2627
Nestor Aparicio 10:59
World Series in the first three years, nobody’s gonna care when it’s how this
Luke Jones 11:02
that’s how this works. I mean, this is how and this is and this is where I’ll empathize with Orioles fans, the fact that they’ve rarely been in this space with these kind of deals. Yeah, all you kind of have to go off of is Chris Davis and, you know, Adam Jones wasn’t nine figures, but it was linked. You know, it was a link, was a real contract when, I mean, yeah, I mean, kind of crazy. I mean, you think about this, I was, I was talking about this with a couple other, you know, because it’s funny that this, this, this news broke as the Ravens were getting ready to hit the practice field. So I’m kind of scrambling, sending out the tax, getting out to practice, seeing Lamar is not practicing again.
Nestor Aparicio 11:36
Well, I’m in the middle of doing a show, right? So, yeah, right, yeah.
Luke Jones 11:39
So, but, but we were, kind of we were those of us practicing
Nestor Aparicio 11:43
moves to second
11:46
Christmas time, you know, Cincinnati week. And you know what
Nestor Aparicio 11:49
that 150 $5 million it’s the bad page splash. It’s the lead story.
Luke Jones 11:54
That’s the other thing that’s really fun about this, Nestor, we’ve talked about this a lot. This has been a lousy year for Baltimore sports in terms of on field when you talk about the Orioles, when you talk about, like, even expand it to the region. I mean, what happened? I mean, the Terps, the excitement of sweet 16 and then Willard piecing out and how, just gross
Nestor Aparicio 12:11
that I forgot that even happened that, yeah, this year. So you have that three years ago.
Luke Jones 12:17
You know, Maryland football loses its last eight to close the season. I mean, the Ravens have been so disappointing. I mean, even if you’re not giving up entirely on the ravens, you can’t find anyone who feels good about them right now. So this was fun. This was much needed, and I can’t sit here with 100% conviction and say that it’s going to work out perfectly,
Nestor Aparicio 12:37
but it’s still good on opening day, but I like it, and
Luke Jones 12:41
it’s very clearly a need. I mean, you mentioned Kobe Mayo to me. Kobe Mayo now becomes one of your top trade chips if you’re going to make a move for a starting pitch, because he’s not going to play, right? Because, I mean, there’s no path for him. I mean, beside now becomes the primary DH, because Pete Alonso, he plays every day. It’s funny. I just heard a recent Buck Showalter interview buck. Showalter managed him in New York. Big fan of his talks about the fact that he posts every day. You trust him. You know he’s a guy who’s just consistent as I
Nestor Aparicio 13:14
find leadership in him. You think, I think
Luke Jones 13:17
that’s part of it. I mean, I don’t want to say, I don’t want to talk out of turn too much, and say that I’m intimately familiar with, you know, the the intangibles of a Pete Alonso. I’ve only watched them from afar like any other baseball I
Nestor Aparicio 13:28
think that locker room lacks leadership, and I think it got its manager fired because of that last year. And I think that they have looked like a rudderless ship from that angle, where it looked like rushman was going to be that guy, and you can’t be that when you can’t play, and he hasn’t been that guy. So I don’t know what and that gel looks like on a baseball team. We had Cal Ripken and Brooks Robinson around here. You know what I mean, Frank Robinson was that gel, though, for anybody that would talk about that era, they would talk and Eddie Murray would be all those guys would talk about Eddie Murray from 78 to 84 right, and beyond. So, you know, there is, there is a part of
Luke Jones 14:06
that credibility. There’s credibility. I mean, even, even if you’re not going to be giving rah rah speeches, and Eddie Murray wasn’t necessarily a rah rah guy. I mean, certainly to, you know, outsiders just watching him, he was a quieter guy, but, you know, and I don’t want to compare Pete Alonso to Hall of Famers, but this guy’s seven years into his career at a minimum, Hall very good, right? I mean, he’s been that kind of, he’s a five time all star, and he brings credibility in the same way, you know, not the same way, but some of what we’ve heard about Taylor Ward talked about the fact that he’s the kind of guy that commands attention in the room. You know, he’s not an all star like Pete Alonso has been multiple times, but it feels like there was some extra makeup consideration in addition to the fact that these guys are good baseball players. So again, I don’t, I can’t sit here and say. That I don’t take any pause whatsoever with any deal that you’re giving someone $155 million but when you look at it in terms of the consistency, the durability, what you’re going to get Now, he’s not a great defensive first baseman, I will concede that. So that’s that’s something that I still look at this line as much as I like this line up top to bottom much better with the two guys they have added to it. Now I still look at the defense and say I’d like that to be better. But has he a
Nestor Aparicio 15:32
million bucks from Mount castle?
Luke Jones 15:36
That’s still weird to me. I still, and I will also point out, because I can remember a guy about a decade ago that we talked about that they went, I guess, yeah, he was in arbitration at the time, I think, but they ended up getting rid of him at the end of the spring. Miguel Gonzalez, if you recall, they they DFA ed him, and got rid of him at the end of the spring. And I think I’m usually well versed on these kind of things. I’m a little foggy on it, but I think the percentages, like you owe like 20% of what the arbitration figure was supposed to be, or something like that. So whether it’s that, I still think mount Castle could be something that’s thrown into a potential trade, not as certainly not as a centerpiece or anything crazy, don’t get me wrong, but maybe if you’re trading for a pitcher, and let’s say, like a fourth outfielder type, someone that could be like your backup center fielder, or something like that, and maybe it’s a bad contract that another team has, but they have a need for a first baseman, and you say, All right, we’ll trade you our bad contract for that bad contract, and, you know, something like that, or he could just be let go at The end of or if they’re trading Kobe mayo, maybe Ryan mountcastle is just a bench player, right? Well, they’re
Nestor Aparicio 16:46
adding bodies now, and there’s not been massive subtraction. I mean, they don’t they the subtraction happened at the trading deadline when they had a fleecing, right? So, and I saw Elias do his turn at the winter meetings before they signed Alonso with Harold Reynolds wearing the Brooklyn Dodgers hat. And I the notion that they’re the payroll, you know, that he has a number or where they are, how active they would be. They just spend $30 million right? So I don’t know what else we expect. You expect pitching. There’s money into some of these other players, but they’ve, they’ve gone from who’s going to play where, and they didn’t have anybody that had a career year this year, anybody? They got a lot of guys coming back with potential. I’ll give you that. And Tyler O’Neill and, you know the question mark rushman, real question mark people, not necessarily Westburn or Anderson or holiday I’m not questioning those guys are too young for me to question. And I’m not going to call Westberg brittle or I like him too. I did. I I’m going to assume those cats are going to play and like all of that. But until you start adding the last two weeks, you make a deal, even though you dealt the picture we didn’t have innings into anyway. And you said, All right, we believe we’re gonna get 400 to 500 at bats in an outfield position. And then you and Alan, give me a right handed bat. Any more, any more bats and and I don’t, dude, I didn’t have it on our bingo card on Monday that we would have gotten together and they would have had this kind of signing, because, I think very skeptical, right? I mean, and I don’t want to tip my cap and say, Oh, good job guys, because this is what other teams have been doing for 30 years around here. So like, we’re going back to Miguel tahata here, and Chris Davis, and really not much else that this franchise has spent money on. I um, you used a word, dude, that is an old man, old time baseball word. Do you know what word that was? I don’t know. What did I use. You used a word that’s part of your vernacular. I am 42 now, so no, no, no, this would have been one of my dad’s words, because it was an old Scout term that you used in regard to Pete Alonso and you rattled off, in all your baseball idiom and verbiage that my AI would pick up on immediately, because my AI knows what a can of corn is, and you know what a Baltimore chop is, and also knows what a big leaguer is. You said makeup. Yeah, you said, you said makeup. And, like, that’s for the ladies out there. That’s not like mascara. We used to say that. And you know what’s funny. And I thought about this because I almost chuckled, because I’m listening to you, because I always listen to you, but you’re rambling on after you said that in the makeup makeup. And I’m like, we don’t talk about football players like that. We don’t talk about hockey players that way. We don’t talk about soccer it’s a baseball term, isn’t it? Makeup? You know, what’s his makeup? And, like, it’s an old fashioned term that there are probably young people that may not like what. Make up, make out, make up, make
Luke Jones 20:02
you know, like, yeah, it’s, it’s one of those things that it’s an intangible. I mean, when you talk about intangibles and makeup and I mean it’s funny, because we’re 25 years into Moneyball. I mean, 20 plus years into Moneyball becoming, you know, in vogue and all of that. And obviously analytics have been, are so prevalent in the game, prevalent in this, in this front office, quite frankly. But that’s never an acknowledgement that those things don’t exist. Just because you can’t easily quantify those things doesn’t mean that those things don’t exist. So, you know, I’m not gonna say, I mean, it’s not as though Pete Alonso won three World Series with the Mets, don’t get me wrong. But this team has nobody that’s won a playoff game. I mean it, you know, right? Literally. I mean they do now, yeah, you’re, I mean, when you’re talking about the young core, yes, of course. I mean, these guys are over four, right? And when it comes to playoff games, they were swept by Texas and they lost, or, Oh, for five. Sorry, I was, I was having a moment thinking it was the single game wild card again, when you know it’s the best of three. Now you know, and obviously they lost two to Kansas City, so yeah, but I think when you look at this, I mean, it’s exciting, it and I think it’s exciting not obviously, for the fans and it’s exciting for media. I mean, the fact that you and I are talking in these terms. I mean, even when they acquired Corbin burns two off seasons ago, it was February 1. It was a few days after the Ravens lost to the chiefs in the the AFC Championship game. I mean, we’re two weeks out from Christmas, and we’re talking about this, and I get it, yeah, they signed Tyler O’Neill and Gary Sanchez at almost a year to the day. But this is different. I mean, I said to you recently that I was waiting for the Orioles to make a move where I’m just like, boom, there it is. Look, that doesn’t mean that it’s ever risk free, right? I mean, every time any of us leave our homes and get in our cars to go to work or to go do something fun, there’s risk involved, right? I mean, that’s life, but I just this is exciting. And I, you know? I mean, I think there are a lot of Mets fans are ticked off right now. Now they lost Edwin Diaz the day before also, so that factors in. But I was just, you know, before you and I hopped on here and are talking in real time, I was just watching MLB Network, and it’s going through that how the Red Sox were trying to sign Pete Alonso, so they should have spent 156 Yeah, yeah, sure, sure. But that’s the way it works.
Nestor Aparicio 22:41
I mean, Angelos didn’t want to hear that 25 years I had Mark messin on this week, by the way, talking about the beginning of the end, and that was 25 years ago, was sort of the beginning of the end, where we’re losing our good players. It feels like anti Oriole to actually get other players, good players, because that doesn’t happen around here much.
Luke Jones 23:04
I mean, you mentioned, you made mention a tahada. I don’t think I finished my thought. So I apologize, but when you’re talking about long term, so not Nelson Cruz, which was an amazing signing, but it was a one year deal, right? I mean, incredible signing with so excluding short term deals like that, and one year contracts, and, you know, this is easily the biggest outside free agent they’ve signed since Tejada. I mean, think about, well,
Nestor Aparicio 23:32
right? Because Davis was an insider
Luke Jones 23:37
to go out, yeah, to go out and land a big fish
Nestor Aparicio 23:40
else, that’s what I’m saying. He signed up and thinks I can go and win there. He doesn’t. I mean, she likes to get paid and all, but dude’s already made $100 million right? Like, I mean, he’s not getting rich from this deal. It better be a good life experience for him. So, I mean, and I think that way for all, and I hate to be Jerry Maguire and blame and play that role. But these aren’t dumb asses. They’re 31 year old men with families, and they’ve got a lot of money in the bank. This is a life to say. This is the biggest decision they’ll ever make, like picking a college or something. And they’re getting, you know, they’re going to make a lot of money no matter where they go, which is why Corbin Burns was just as well to sign in Arizona if he just didn’t want to be here. Same thing with, you know, who was the Jackass that play? Aubrey Huff. You know what I mean, calling our city a dump and like all that, like this clown coming in here, taking a bow with the military. He should be under a he should be under a military tribunal in our town this week. But people to run the town down, not that say, Hey, I came into Baltimore. I like playing a Camden Yards. I like the hotel I stayed at. I like the crab cake I had when I was there as a met he came in here. He saw the city. He saw the empty seats. He saw the Mets fans. He sees the pub spread, you know, like he see, he knows where the left field wall is, he knows where the warehouse is, so, like he picked it. I mean, there. Dude, I don’t know, man, like you like the Orioles and I like the Orioles, but if dollars were dollars, and we could play for the Red Sox or play for the Orioles, I would get on a plane and fly to Boston, look around,
Luke Jones 25:09
I think I’d go somewhere warmer, personally. Well, I’m just saying it
Nestor Aparicio 25:13
wouldn’t even matter. It wouldn’t I’m not even talking about weather or crab cakes or girls or the beach or the San Diego or anything, I’m just saying, like all of these cats at this point, once you’re not drafted into it, you play in a place like New York that’s loud and like all of that. And you come and you think, Baltimore might be quaint. Oh, and by the way, Henderson’s going to be there, holidays going to be there. You know, they’re giving me more money than anybody else because they have to pay me more than it because I’m, I’m Pete Alonso, you know, like, so they got it. You’re not giving a hometown discount, but choosing Baltimore, I was at a party last week with Rod Woodson. When goose came here and Woodson came here, it really was Marvin recruiting them, right? I know this from the inside because I was eating with Marvin every week. He and I were sitting at Bertucci, and he was telling me. He told me guys they were going to sign that. He didn’t sign things that went haywire too, but he believed in all of those guys. But more than that, getting rod Woodson to come sign here and wear a purple Barney outfit after he’d been in San Francisco, you know, like real places where they had a chance to win, and the perception change and Shannon sharp coming, that’s how this happens. That’s how it happens. So whatever pitcher they could lure, or whatever, is way more impressed that, like, maybe not by his defense, to your point, but but impressed by the fact that, hey, I wouldn’t want to have to face that lineup. And I’ll take those cats into Yankee Stadium. Let’s go. I’ll take those guys up north of the border, check our we’ll go play Toronto. Let’s go. You know, I know they got a nice rotation. We’ll play them.
Luke Jones 26:53
You know, who else is impressed by it? Gunner, Henderson, Jordan, westburg, Jackson, holiday. Now who knows what’s going to happen, right? And they’re obviously not going to sign all those guys, even if they are able to sign one or two of them, right? But, but it motivates everyone, too. I mean, look, we were having this discussion last off season. We had this discussion throughout 2025 we had this discussion going back a couple years ago. I mean, the idea that, you know, heavy is the crown of expectations for these young guys when you’re one ones and your top 100 prospects, and the entire way that this team was marketed for multiple seasons was those guys, those draft picks, right? I mean, Adley rutsman being the face of the franchise, oh, we’ve been talking about for five years before even made his major league debut, right? So you add, we’ve talked about it, the idea of augmenting with some established, serious Major League talent, and they’ve done that. Look, I understand in 2029 Peter Lanza might not be very good anymore. 2030 he might not be very good anymore, but I feel really good about how he’s going to play in 2026 play in 2026 and, I mean, there’s at least nothing statistically, that’s like, this major red flag for at least the next couple years, and to the point that you just kind of made you gotta, you gotta pony the up, you know, like no one’s picking the Orioles over another team in terms of, like, a discount or, you know, that it’s, you know, and I don’t say this to be disparaging, but there are, from a climate standpoint and different other elements, you can consider, there are nicer places to live. Yeah? When I get a letter on, you’ll say, hey, could it sign with the Marlins? Yeah? So, you know, like, and I’m not saying that to be a jerk or anything. It’s just reality. Like you just said, if we were like, free agent, you know, 20 somethings who were
Nestor Aparicio 28:44
early 30s. This was the point with the Shara when he got beaten up for not coming and playing. Here, he was a Yankee fan all along. I’m like, whatever. But like, like, Messina, to this day, people are down on Mike. Messina is a Hall of Famer. Have his brother on. I mean, friendship for 30 years, like one of my favorite humans on Earth, I say that about him all I say it behind his back is April’s face, but like, I was in the kitchen when that was going on, you know, like I knew what was happening, and there was no angst for me. I remember I was nationally syndicated, sitting at Sporting News studios in Chicago, and all those guys were killing me. They’re all Cubs fans and whites, all dudes, you know. They’re like, as your guys wearing a Yankee hat. He’s sitting next to Tory. Look at that, you know, trader, you know, all of that stuff. And I’m like, dude, he wants to win these kid. People are clowns, you know? And I tell you, the Rubenstein arrogantly, people still might be clown I mean, I have no points in on Katie Griggs or any of these people, but on the are they spending money now? Do they look more invested on Christmas than they did on Thanksgiving? Yes, yes. Does that mean they’re getting my money? No, but does that mean that they’re getting somebody else’s Birdland membership? Up this weekend, or under the Christmas tree, or, you know, under the Kwanzaa, the Hanukkah, the New Year’s, the Valentine’s Day, the hey, let’s just go buy tickets, because we like baseball. And they Hey, they might be good, you know, like, Dude, I’ve talked to so many people that have given up somebody in our lunchbox. You and me, I’m not gonna out him, but you know him very well, and I know him very well. He gave his 13 game plan up behind behind home plate, upper deck. He’s had and and he went on and on with me. When we caught up about like that, he was kind of pissed off, and didn’t and didn’t dig it. And I’m thinking, I mean, now he’ll be happy to sign Pete Alonso, but I don’t think he’s running a breaking his credit card out. I card out. I think he’s going to follow the plan of seeking What’s the weather and let’s see how they play, and let’s pick the right pub at night and like all that. So I don’t know that this sells. You know the days of opening up the hot stove, phone line over W, b, a, l, and selling tickets because they signed Pete Alonso. I I hope Katie and the sales team didn’t bring in extra people to answer the phones here today. You know, I don’t know that that’s going to be the case, but I do think, from a credit, from the way you and I are going to talk about them professionally, about on the field and what they’ve done, they’re a better baseball team, and they look more invested, and they look invested in a way that the other creeps that had the team for 30 years never did.
Luke Jones 31:26
Well, it’s absolutely a, not just a step in the right direction. I think it’s a big step in the right direction. I mean, this is a legitimate multi year Big Boy contract they just gave out. Now, you know, it’s not, it’s not a 15 year deal, or anything like which, by the way, it’s very small number of appointments. I mean, Gunner Henderson might be one of those guys who gets the 13 year deal, whether it’s in Baltimore or wherever he winds up. But this is, this is real money. This is serious. This is a big time contract, and it’s exciting. How about the fact that he in this day and age. And I know you and I have talked about this at some point in time, we’ve lamented how very few good nicknames exist in baseball anymore. I mean, it’s all, you know, it started back in like, the early 2000s B Rob and all that. This guy’s the polar bear. Like, I mean, it’s just, like, it’s a good nickname. Like it’s fun it this is a fun signing, too. And again, to be so analytical, I
Nestor Aparicio 32:27
gotta come up with a Berman nickname for him. Oh, I gotta figure that out. Does he have one?
Luke Jones 32:31
I mean, he’s the polar bear. I mean, that’s, that’s his nickname. So, but, but to be so analytical about it, and just say, Oh, I don’t really love how it’s going to look in 2029 and 30. Okay, fine, I’ll concede that. But what’s it going to look like in 26 and 27 and 28 and what does that do for gunner Henderson and Jackson holiday and Jordan westburg? Right? I mean, you, you said it. I and even coming off of this disappointing 2025 season, and you and I spar about this, a lot about Mike Elias and the direction of this organization and all that, that despite having a bad year, there were still things to like, and there are still players to like in this organization, and that upside still exists. Now I don’t feel as confident in say like Adley rutschman, but that’s not to say Jackson holiday still can’t blossom into a top 15 player in baseball. That’s not to say gunner Henderson can’t look like a an MVP candidate like he did for a good chunk of 2024 that’s not to say that Jordan westburg can’t be an all star third baseman like he was in 23 or in 24 Excuse me. So there’s still a lot to like here. And what you like, though, is that it’s not all on them now. Now they’re pointing to Pete Alonso, especially Taylor Ward, to a degree, even though, you know, he’s not as much of a household name around baseball, but still, someone who’s been a good ball player. And you now look at the rest of that lineup, and, you know, Pete Alonso is the anchor of the heart of that order. And now it’s, it’s kind of fun to kind of look at that lineup and say, Well, how’s it going to like? Who is going to hit lead off? Who’s going to hit second? You know, does gunner Henderson hit ahead of Pete Alonso? And that’s your three four. I mean, looks darn good. You know, is Adley rutsman now more towards the bottom of the order. You know, Colton cows are, I think, probably hits ninth, as things stand right now. But you know, he’s hitting ninth. He’s not hitting fourth or fifth, right? I mean, if he can be a plus defensive center fielder and still hit for 20 hit 20 home runs, and you know, you’re not counting on him to be a middle of the order guy, necessarily. So you like how he profiles. It’s like I said, I instantly like the addition, not the trade, per se, but the addition of Taylor ward that much more, because you have Pete Alonso and now it’s you’ve added these two hitters, and one’s a completely legitimate. Cleanup hitter, and the other guy’s a guy who hit 30 plus home runs this past year that you’re going to slide in into, I don’t know he’s going to hit six. Is he going to hit second, right? I mean, however?
Nestor Aparicio 35:08
Well, it feels like what Santander in Mount Castle would have been two three years ago, on their best day in productivity wise, right? That’s fair, like they want a lot of ball games when those guys were in 2530
Luke Jones 35:19
home runs. And that’s, and that’s again, to go back to, there’s still only a couple years removed from winning 100 plus games, right? I mean, well, that’s why I
Nestor Aparicio 35:28
can’t call Elias the village idiot. Sure. I mean, and there was a thought, and I never believe this, that Elias had an ethos to be a cheapskate. Elias just work for cheap skates. They don’t want to be cheap skates. Every look. Everybody that has money values their money. I mean, even you know, Gene Simmons, who’s got all the money in the world, doesn’t throw it around. You know, people are always looking for some sort of value play. And I guess it’s fans. Hey, you’re charging us the same. Yankees are like, whatever counts of coupons. I love that stuff, right? But, but, but Mike Elias was perceived as being theoretically against and I know that that was to me, that was dumb fanboy talk, like, that’s not really the way this works. He got into this gig because it was available. He hung around because it was successful, and then he had to do what everybody else did, shine up the nose of the new ownership to try to hang around and prove that he belongs. After the team finished in last place, gutted a half a million people while he gutted the roster to pick up a bunch of people we’d never heard of on July 30 or whatever, and now he’s out bragging about we’ve got pitching moving through, you know, the lower to middle ranks that we think is going to be coming. So he’s gonna be pitching you on all that as well that there’s some guys we dealt for back in the summer that we believe by August, we might get a sniff of a big league player or two out of that group of players that might have innings in our bullpen that Luke and Nestor aren’t talking about at Christmas time, because the bright, shiny object is they spend a lot of money. And to your point, and I’m, I’m gonna wait on this, because I think Alan’s gonna come out have a crab cake next week as we get around. By the way, Luke is here. If you just tuned us in on the radio. It’s all brought to you by our friends at the Maryland lottery. GBMC. We’re going to be doing the Maryland crab cake tour everywhere. But I’m trying to get Alan out. I’m like, dude, let’s not do an Alonso thing. Let’s wait and see to the dust settles. And we’ll all sit down and we’ll talk about what the offseason looked like. I don’t know if the pitcher has to come in the next day or three or six or eight. They spend $150 million I don’t know what their plan is. You said you thought their plan was schwerber and this was plan B, right? So that’s kind of the way all this goes. You know, plan a might have been Dylan cease, and they woke up and said, How much? No, that he’s not playing Plan A anymore. We’re gonna go to, we’re gonna give that money to Alonso. You know, that’s how this happens. When the money starts to if Alonso decided he wanted to be a met. The Mets liked him, or he wanted to go to Boston. I mean, him picking Boston over the Orioles would have been, we wouldn’t have been news to us. It just would have been another ho hum the fact that somebody picked here. I go back to Woodson and goose and all that, how the tectonic plates change. Because ain’t nobody ever picked here. Because picking here was dumb, unless you’re Jay Peyton at the end of your career, or David Segui and you know, like, just whoever it would be, Baldo Jimenez. I mean, I don’t want to go through all the punch lines here, but this is a different kind of signal. It’s a dawning of a different day. And I don’t know if the only money they’re going to spend. It might be, it might be, dude, you get one bullet. We’ll see go get a star. You know, we don’t have that much money. We put it billion eight. John Angelos is down dancing around in Nashville with our money. We, you know, we don’t get a strike coming next year. Walk out, lock out, whatever. You’re going to call it, labor woes, whatever. Oh, I don’t know what these guys are thinking. And that’s part of not the fun. That’s part to their detriment, that they don’t have a plan for the stakeholders other than see what we did. We spent money. And again, I I’m 35 minutes into this, like 40 minutes in it ain’t my money. So and as and as long as he’s not as stiff, and you like the makeup and he wants to be here, come on, let’s go try to win. I mean, I like that. I mean, he’s a hell of a player. Let’s try to win. I’m not gonna argue with this
Luke Jones 39:32
couple things. I mean, you’ve got to make someone choose you. The Orioles haven’t been in this space to even have someone choose them. Now, they tried with Corbin burns last winter, and we talked about that. We talked about the idea that they tried to, you know, a shorter term deal that had a higher average annual value. I I even said it at the time when that all came out, and we heard more of the details of it, that I respected the attempt to do that. You know, it was announced. Inside the box kind of way of thinking. I It’s something that I think teams, frankly, have, should, should have tried to do more of over the years. I mean, you know, there’s giving a 13 year deal, and, yes, that’s security and all that for, you know, you talk about like the Manny machados of the world, the Bryce Harper’s of the world. You know, Juan Soto, last off season, thought to be generational players, right? But, but at the same time, I’ve also wondered if why we haven’t seen more teams try to just completely give a player an absurdly like stupid money would be the way that you would put it, in terms of, you know what? Instead of giving you this amount for 12 years. How about a seven year deal from us? And we’ll like double your average annual value, because the thought would be that you’re paying for that player’s absolute prime years. You’re going to give them so much more. The agent can brag and say, Well, I got this player more money per year than anyone ever. And like, you haven’t seen a whole lot of that. Now, I’m not saying that that would work with every player. Point is the Orioles tried something along those lines with Corbin burns last winter, it didn’t work out. Okay? So however, we’ve anyone who’s been paying attention to the winter meetings these last few days, the Oreos have been linked to a lot of players, and when you hear that, they’re kind of like, all right, how real is this? Are you just being used for leverage? Are you just kind of making it look like you’re trying, you know, kind of the false hustle kind of thing, knowing you’re not really going to get the guy. I mean, even the Kyle Schwarber deal on on Tuesday, where you hear that he resigns with the Phillies for five years, 150 million and reports have come out that the Orioles match that.
Nestor Aparicio 41:40
So I’m going to use your old man term. They would say. This is back in the 70s and 80s. They were in on him. They were in on him. And we heard, we heard that about the orals were in on to share, sure.
Luke Jones 41:54
So, so, so you look at that, but, but even with, even with Schwarber, I was skeptical when you, when you hear that and you say, All right, it’s great that you match the offer, but he was in Philly. He loved, he loves his time in Philly. And so if you match the offer, you’re not really matching the offer, because you’re not going to win a tiebreaker with the Phillies, right? I mean, you’re just not short of him being like, you know, born in Baltimore and desperate to play for his his boyhood favorite team. So even that, I was skeptical. But then when you turn around the next day and you make the same offer and just sweeten the pot, just to touch and get Pete Alonso, that adds credibility to the fact that you were trying to sign Kyle Schwarber. It adds credibility, in my mind, that they were trying to sign Corbin burns last year. It adds credibility to the reports that you’re still hearing, that they’re in on talking to Ranger Suarez and for Amber Valdes and the other various other names you’re hearing right now. When you do this, when you land a big fish, it opens up the possibilities, right? It allows you to dream a little bit bigger then I don’t know if they’re going to go out and sign up one of these pitchers. And by the way, you know what? One thing that’s interesting, I was talking about this with someone even earlier today, that the idea that Dylan C signed that deal with the Blue Jays, and yet, you haven’t seen the pitching market really pick up in response to that. That tells me that most the other teams and most of the industry really thought that was an outlier, overpay kind of deal. Now that doesn’t mean the Orioles are going to ultimately get one of these guys and look, they could still trade someone. I’ve only mentioned it in passing to me, Kobe Mayo becomes one of your top trade ships now because, you know, he’s doesn’t really have a place to play at this point in time. So, and that’s not to say that Kobe Mayo alone is going to get you a number one, number two, kind of starter that could be out there on the trade market, but he can certainly be a night, a nice portion of that, a big piece to go along with a and b, you know, whatever it could be to go land you that. So, you know, ultimately, I mean, there’s been some chatter about some of the Marlins pitchers, you know. I mean, that even goes back to last year with Alcantara and, you know, all the talk going back to, you know, even last winter. So we’ll see how that’s going to play out. I mean, they could trade for someone that has a year or two of control left, and that would be a little more of a cost controlled version of a number one, number two, number three, kind of starter to kind of match up with Bradish and Trevor Rogers, or because you’ve signed Pete Alonso, maybe you do sign Valdez, maybe you do sign Suarez, I don’t know. Or maybe, you know, you go down the list. I’m waiting for that W NST text, by the way, brought to you by car version. I mean, we’re gonna see, I mean, all, I don’t know that for sure, but at the same time, and this is where I’ll give them some credit, you look at their body of work, of what they’ve added to their club since the end of the season. You know, they brought back Andrew Kittredge, which, you know, I’m not, I’m not. I. Throwing a parade over that. But I think that was a savvy move, that they rented him to the Cubs for two months, and then they buy him back from the Cubs, you know, for cash considerations. They added they added Taylor Ward, who instantly makes their corner outfield position look better, and they have another right handed bat in the lineup. They signed Ryan Helsley, who isn’t Edwin Diaz, but if he didn’t have a bad month with the Mets last August, probably gets at least a three year, if not a four year deal on the open market. And well, they’re almost winning the off season right now. They’re right that, and that’s my point. And now, yeah, Pete Alonso, I mean, go, look at this. At the you know, if you’re going to rank teams that have improved themselves on paper since the end of the season, the Orioles are pretty high on that list at this point in time. Now that they still have work to do, absolutely work to do, they need to go land a legitimate, serious number one, number two, kind of a starting pitcher. And I still would feel way better about this rotation if they can add a number four type, you know, a number four, number five type, another. Dean Kramer, yeah, someone like that, right? Yeah. I mean, like, you know whether it’s someone better than Dean Kramer, someone has more of a track record, whatever, someone of that ilk that you feel better about. Just to give yourself a little more depth, because, because, then if you do something like that, you know what, then maybe you’re talking about Tyler wells moving into the bullpen, and now you’re not making him your closer, because you have Helsley, but maybe Tyler wells fits into that seventh or eighth inning profile because he’s got a good arm and and he’s shown an aptitude for doing that in the past. So when you give yourself more options. It just it makes everything feel like it makes everything else better. I mean, that’s that’s why what I feel about this lineup now, I love the idea of gunner Henderson not feeling the burden of having to carry this lineup anymore. Now, does that mean that gunner is going to get back to being exactly what he was the first three months of 2024 I don’t know, but I certainly like his chances more. So now I like that this takes pressure off a Jackson holiday or Jordan westburg. I mean, before Jordan Westberg and Tyler O’Neill were this team’s best hopes as far as right handed bats. Now you have Pete Alonso Taylor Ward and Jordan westburg fitting in you know, either second or third there
Nestor Aparicio 47:22
right a lot of the right hand bats, they went and, you know, they went through your checklist, our checklist, the industry checklist, and the last piece is, okay pitching. Are you okay with Rogers? I’m okay with Bradish, after the injuries and, like, all of that stuff. But like, as it stands right now, it’s pitching still. It’s more it’s more risky,
Luke Jones 47:44
more sure, yeah, and that’s fine, but, but when you make this move that signals to me and, and I’ll go back to something you said, because I’ll push back a little bit, you know, maybe Michaela has had some chats with ownership, and there’s an understanding that it’s gonna be a different offseason, you know, we need to be more aggressive, you know. And that’s not to say that they’re like, giving him this mandate, do this, or you’re do or else you’re fired, but maybe there’s a little more of an understanding of, like, you know, we’ve got to, we can’t let last year happen again. I mean, we just can’t. So very clearly, they’ve proceeded in a different manner. They’ve already given out. You know, even Helsley was a two year deal. You know, it’s not, not a long term commitment, per se, because it also has an opt out. But, you know, you do this with Alonzo. I mean, it’s a five year deal. I mean, you’ve married this guy for five years. I mean, that’s that, that’s, that’s big, that’s big for this organization. And I really hope it works out well, you know, I certainly, you know, I certainly one. I don’t expect it to be the Chris Davis deal. I mean, let’s, let’s face it, the Chris Davis deal. I mean, we had already seen he had the great year in 13, and then he had the horrendous year in 14, and then he had another great year. And then they, they give him all that money, and we saw how that went. I mean, that’s why I rattled off the numbers of Pete Alonso that I did. I mean, he’s been really consistent. That’s not to say he’s a perfect ball player, like I said, He’s the defense is not going to age well. And you know what? It might come down to this two years into this deal, they might have a conversation at that point, when Pete Alonso is 33 you know, going into the 2028 season, they might say, Pete, we love you. We want you to become more of a of our DH and because, beside is going to become the primary first baseman, we think this is going to make you that much more productive. And you know what, two years into it, if you have a trust with the player, and he likes it here. And you’re he’s happy. He might be perfectly happy to do that. And that might be the point making $35 million a year at that point, exactly. So, you know, there, there are different ways to view this. Is it risk free? No, none of these deals are risk free. When you’re talking about nine figure contracts, they’re just not. But what they needed. And in terms of. Of getting people excited, what they certainly needed in terms of their lineup and a middle of the order, a cleanup, bona fide cleanup hitter, someone who has some makeup and some pedigree and some credibility that he immediately brings you know, probably there can be some elements to this that he will probably be shocking to him, like, for example, the media attention and this the size of the media in Baltimore compared to New York, where they’re following every single move you’re taking. He’ll probably find that to be a breath of fresh air, quite frankly. But you know, this is, you know, the short left the shorter left field wall. I’ll make one prediction to you, the Orioles are done messing with the left field wall now that they, they have Pete Alonso swinging from the right side. You won’t see them move the wall back again that that’s gonna, you know that those dimensions will stay put. You know, certainly not going to go back any further. So, you know, I, I like this, you know what? Sure, like, you know, if it were like a blank check, could I, would I have said, Oh, go get Kyle Tucker. I mean, okay, sure, why not? But I like this understanding that there’s not going to be this perfect, you know, perfect storm where you’re going to sign someone and you don’t have any reservations whatsoever, you’re not going to take any pause. I’ll go back to that quote, you know, from Andrew Friedman a decade ago. If you’re always rational about every free agent, you’ll finish third on every free agent. And I look, did the Orioles offer more years than the Red Sox the way it sounds? Yeah, probably, you know, that sounds like the Red Sox weren’t in on five years. I mean, the Mets sounds like they didn’t even really try to keep them, which was kind of odd to me. I mean, I’m not, I’m not exactly sure what the Mets are doing right now, quite frankly, if I’m being honest. But I look at it and I say, if you give me three Good to Great years from, you know, let’s say two great years, a good year and then year fours and and year fives, kind of, they’re kind of ugly. I still look at this and say, you know, especially if you win. I mean, you got to win, right? But one player can’t do it by himself. I like what this does for the rest of their lineup. And now I’m hoping this is something that can propel some of these young guys to not feeling the pressure that they might have felt the last year or two, when it’s kind of all on them, and also all these young guys getting a year older and just being more mature, and this is where Craig Albernaz and the new coaching staff comes into play as well that you know, it’s kind of a clean slate, but hey, you’ve Got a couple more grown ups in that clubhouse, couple more grown ups in that lineup. You’re going to go out and get pitching still hopefully, you know, I mean, I certainly not going to let them off the hook. I mean, to echo your, you know, your sentiment as it pertains to that. But I don’t know how you can’t look at this and say that you feel better about where the Orioles are. You know, not that it’s perfect, not that there’s not other things that can be done, not that there aren’t going to be question marks, I mean, but I, I like this. They’re a better team. They’re better. Excited about this. $30 million should make you better team. You really should. So, yeah,
Nestor Aparicio 53:15
relief pitcher, outfielder, first baseman, and we’re waiting on the wnst text on the picture. Yep. All right, Luke Scott, you know Luke’s got a Santa Claus list for you. David Rubenstein and Michael, I say, hey, my money. That’s where I’d word start. That’s where it’s gonna end. He’s Luke. I’m Nestor. We’re W NST. We’re gonna get back to football right after this. I promise.
