Negotiating Contracts and Trade Surprises

ike the sweat's like coming down like that I can see it beadating up a little bit on the side That's what. Okaykay guys, I see where this is going I said like, Dann, I said I'll save you fifty million dollars right now. right now This is your only chance, though. What is it, Jgie? What is it I said, I'll sign right now seven years one hundred million because if this year goes now I take it's going to go I'm going to be asking for one hundred and fifty million at the end of the year. So look, I just saved fifty million dollars This isn't the T League s again and M th of Brusselll Martin challenging You know, this is to get it done like It is late June. It is another episode of the G it Dun League. We thank all of you for making us One of North America's fastest growing podcasts because we have the MVP Josh Donaldson And we have the guy who brings the cash, Russell Martin is with us as always. And this is a true North Strong and free edition of Get a Dun League. All three of us are in Canada Boys we're up. Playing the Joe Carter classic. We're going to get into some of the other shenanigans later, but Before we get into it, guys Josh has an accusation about Rus on the golf course that I'm just going to let JD take it to open things up No, I mean, I just thought it was weird how they won Oh The Joe Carter class. We won. I left early. Yeah you No way That's what I heard. That's there was rumor on the street and Tony Woack told me that you guys Eagle to every part of five and this is not true. That's just what he toald me. I know So you're saying this' true. He said you guys eagled dble four five. Well, I didn't have the card. I wasn't the one doing the scoring I don't know. Yeah exactly I don't know I know whose butt is hur.om It's the guy talking right now No, I could carry less. I want all the skins money cash. I f. I got I got all the Canadian cash, all the monopoly money you want. I'm sitting here e all dress chips. Oh man. Yeah, I mean I'm feeling ultra Canadian right now. I've been in this country for eleven days now And u you know Don't you know E It's the g It's the getet it done Lague. You've both been here for a couple of weeks as JD mentioned. Let's talk about how it all started because this was one like, The three of us have done some cool things over the years This was a neat one. I'll give Donson all the credit in the world because this was his idea So You roll in We're both at the game on a Sunday come out of the ballpark wearing blue j jerseys. Josh has got a bag of Baseball pants, cleats, batting gloves, ball glove, you name it And we start you guys suit up and we start driving around Downtown Toronto surprising slow pitch league, Sunday beer leagues all over the city Russ, Jie just just You know? just pulls up and says, Hey, and someone getting be around here? My was so happy. hadad his arm sleeve on He had like he had his cles on walking on the sidewalk, cl clacking all over the place I mean, I wanted to I wanted to give them the real deal. I felt like that was like the You know that just took it to the next step of having the full uni on. I gave him the arm sleeve that back in the day. Somebody yelled at you. someomebody yelled at you from center field telling you to get off the field didn't know who C you wear your head That was a pretty good one. That was good Yeah, it was funny. Yeah, yeah, that was that was that was pretty great and you'll have to tune in to see what happens We're going to be dropping videos of what happened. Then the next day on the Monday Jadie, you were north of the city and did you play all nine innings with another beer Lague team Yeah, I did. I played nine innings andfortunately it didn't go into extas because the calf started tightening up. You played so hard you tweaked thealf, didn't you I was playing I dove. I dove in a slowlyf softball game. I was kind of embarrassed but I did do it So like I was watching people's faces as we pulled up And this look of just like incredulity, like what is even happening right now And it made me wonder for you guys like what was your as you guys were coming up? What was your welcome to the show Ment Not necessarily your debut or anything like that But when you kind of look around you're like, Oh man, like it's not the try hard league, it's the getet it D League. What was Josh for you whatser Welcome to the show moment Oh man. I mean, I think probably after I signed and I was u with the cubs I wasn't it wasn't like welcome to the big Lagues, but it was like, oh, okay, like I'm in big Lague campps I got Derekly that's like two lockers down from me I got Ryan Dempster. I got Cry Wood in the bullpin. Ted Lillily, like there's just a, you know, u D Rosso Yeah there'. And I remember looking at Derek Lee. I mean, this guy was like an adonis. I mean, he was like six foot five. his shoulders were this wide Wate was like this small he was just like five percent body fat I was just like That dude built different. I'm like I'm not built like that guy. I'm like that' that's impressive Oh man For me, for me, Russ. I don't know That's a good question But the one thing I do remember is after my first game It was Cenco de Mayo in L.A I remember walking through the parking lot with my agent to go back to his car And nobody nobody recognized me. And then I I think that was the last time that ever happened Be I had a pretty good game that night We ended up winning, I think it was four to two or four to one or something. Derek Le was on the mound I think ended up going like twoo for three or two for four with a couple RBI's And then my agent Like as we're walking towards the car in the park massive parking lot in LA too. so we're in L.A And he's like, Russ, you understand that you might not be able to make this walk ever again you without getting hassled a little bit And I looked at it and I was like I hope you're right. You know, I hope you're right. and Sure enough, like we I probably couldn't couldn't have done that ever again because I started started my career pretty hot over there in LA. Where's the craziest place to play Where's the craziest place where people are just all over you? O. I mean, there's there's there's a few. there's got to be a few but the ones I've played at are U LA for sure, Toronto Toronto they but the people the people are I feel like the Canadian fans are respectful they don't, they don't hound you You know, if if you're at if you're at dinner, They'll probably wait for you to get your check before coming over and then they'll politely ask, you know, can I get a picture or something U other places, they don't care. they just They just go and and with like without even asking like selfie time you know It can't be like that Eespecially if it's you know, later at night and And the crowds been wherever you're at When I was younger I used to kind of roam the towns a little bit And then they would't they wouldn't decide to to snap pictures and stuff How about you, Donlson I mean, not for me personally, but I mean I remember Oakland was really tough for visiting guys, you know, I remember Jeffer and Cora And a couple of the people they were paying off the right field Um bleacher creatures that were up there that that would just kill them the whole game in left field to. they were They They were tough especially post season. I mean, they got rowdy in Oakland. but I mean I mean, Toronto Also we didn't experience this, but from like talking to other guys, bullpins Um while they're throwing their bullpin Finway is another place that was probably really rough on people. I don't know. I I never really experienced like as a fan like or not a fan, but as a player, like it being brough because anyt timee fans started talking shit to me and I started talking shit back to them and and by the by by by by the end of it, they were I remember one game in Boston. There was this one guy. he was like trying to like give me the business or whatever And finally like he stepped out and I called him on it. And I think he was probably like tau a lot of people like to talk shit about my hair and I was like, yeah, well You know Babe right there probably doesn't doesn't think the same thing as you do. I think she probably likes it And everybody just kind of really just went crazy. And then I remember we were I was in Toronto beating the brakes off of them and I'm on deck And it's like the top of the ninth And there's two outs and they were cheering so hard for the guy in front of me to get on basic because they wanted me to get up. I had like four hits or something that game. They wanted me to get up and get another hit. He gets a hit. I get up and they're they're going Donald On the road All the road. I was like, this is crazy. D I'm like, I on the road. people are changing my name. It was pretty crazy You know, I talk to football guys and they say when their career is over They say it's like Yeah, you missed the locker room. You obviously missed a paycheck You know, you miss things, but they said the one thing that you'll never be able to replicate in real life is Coming out of that tunnel They announnce your name, the fireworks go off, sixty thousand people are channing, you know, channing for you or cheering for you, whatever. What's the baseball equivalent to that? Like what's the thing now that you're done They are like man That was the rush, that was the thing whether it was on the field, off the field, at the plate, whatever. I got an easy answer for me the equivalent a walk off hit or even better like a walk off home run There is just that feeling is unbelievable. You ended the game And then you're running the bases and everybody's at home plate just waiting for youa. You know, they got water flying, seas flying everywhere And then you know, you get the pose game interview and you're getting Crushed with some Gatorid. that That's stuff to beat right there saving it bad The shing cream pries Like so so Rust take us into that, man. Like when the moment when that happens Like what just goes jolting through your body at that point? How many? That's a good question First off, how many did you hit One I can think of two in New York. S T in L.A I don't think I had any in Toronto But I had a few I had a few like, you know, basic. I think I I have at least four walk off omers Yeah Thanks. You're impressed, aren't you? That's good. That's pretty good Baseball Almanac tells me Russell Martin had one as a dodger in zero six, one as a dodger in zero seven And had a Yankee in twenty twelve. I had two. I had one off do littleittle and I had another one's been So so is sh B rout Offer the big in the game time guy Get his name. What year What's your what's what's your equivalent JD I don't know. I mean just to like sideball I think I have eight wal offff Iember having I don't know if it's counting or anything like that. I think that's pretty good eight feel like that was pretty fun Yeah, I' mean I I don't know, bab what's the equivalent of being called out? I mean Oh the walk off or when you do or when you play so good pretty good. You have to like go and tick your cat from the dugout to the fans That. What do you call that? hur call Yeah I would say you get you get less hurtting calls than block offers probably in a career I feel like. I only had one of those I mean, but that's not something like you miss. L I feel like something like you free to miss it like you had of done it somewhat more often I don't know. I mean, I feel like I feel like when your team is running out to the field together and they're like you know, here's your Toronto Blue Jays or New York Yes or whoever. like hereere they come on the field like Stat feel with all the fans and everything get going and the music's bumping go crazy. likeike to me, like that's probably the equivalent to that. U'm Yeah, I mean, that's something that we all kind of miss getting those juices going. Well, there's something that happened a couple of weeks ago in Toronto that It basically never happens Okomoto H'its a homer against the Yankees into the five hundred level. became the tenth blue jade to ever do it Tementh. The last one to hit it into the upper deck M thirtieth, twenty seventeen Josh Donalds What What is that like to launch one to the moon into the five hundred level I was It was great because I mean, if you guys have been paying attention to the podcast before that You would have known that me and Troy Tulewitsky was taking naked batting practice before that in the clubhouse the night before. So to go there and then hit a Homer in the fifth deck, like to really hit the hips or you know, that was a good feeling. I remember If you go back to look at the video, I think my fly was down too. That's how hard I swg They should They should give like an extra run. You hit the ball F enough. If the ball if you ball like over four sixty They should like, Give you an extra run Yeah that's I agree with them. I love that role. I don't know That's my theory for basketball. if I'm in favor of any offensive rules Right. My basketball theory is if you launch from half quarter or behind half court, it's a four point shot. It's the get it Dun league. you know the MVP Josh Donaldson There's Russell Martin. I'm a rash Madanny. Again, we are one of North America's fastest growing podcast. thanks to you. Please like and subscribe We're available wherever you get your podcast, YouTube, Spotify, Apple, you name it Uh So fellows, we are we're into the teeth of the World Cup. I know that has rust fired up and it's always interesting to me like just being around other athletes like You go into a aj League clubbasterering the World Cup, Everybody's like it's on all the time and dudes have different jerseys on, whatever. Spring training March Madness pools are going like crazy around the locker room Late August, Labor Day, like the to me, the most fascinating thing about being around a big league baseball team that time of year. is how seriously everybody takes a fantasy football draft. Like it is Oh baby. Like, like how do how do you two even articulate How competitive that becomes Every fall Well, I think the initial part is extremely competitive and especially like when you're in season And like I mean, because' with guys all the time. you're always now it's like you're trying to k talk trades, you're trying to See who's trying to do what on the free agent market but I have my own les. So I've started my own league now, so it's fun. I love fantasy football And I love I love football in general. so it's u Yeah That's definitely a passion for me. Were us in your fantasy football league? I was. I got kicked out somehow Like I I no I it's, you know, if you guys know Russ, it's not abnormal to send him something and let him not get back to you. And so A rash is starting to get to know this a little bit more. So I sent him a message. I don't think he got back to me so What do I do? I turn the page. He'll get back into it this year though. so and We'll have to keep you guys in the loop and how bad it's going in our records.ere wereere you there The year that Gronkosski crashed You hand were there That was soair So hold up, Rob Gronkowski crash your fantasy football draft. Yeah and Chris Jones or Yeah, Chris Jones did he play the defensive end? John Bones Jones brother was there That's right. That's right Yeah we were in toge. Aw weere in Joan We were in Boston at the hotel And We Everybody has their laptop set up. Ebody has their notes Chandler Jones. Yes.. Chandler Jones. Okay, sorry Rus Yeah, I know, it's everybody has their laptops, everybody has their notes, everybody's, you know, thinking they're like the best GM in the game and fantasy And all of a sudden You know? Big big croout comes in and we're like, what And and he's like the coolest dude like he just is he's he's the best. He's a vibe So what happened He just showed up and hung out for a little bit and then he took off You know, but he just I think he he was bys with Callo and just kind of came in crashed. it was like, what's up? I was up to CC. And u Yeah, it was just kind of like everybody said what's up toem blah blah blah and he was off. you know too Yeah We still have work to do. So who is the best fantasy football player out there that you guys have And who took the most serious I was as far as what. I was pretty I was pretty new to it. So it definitely wasn't me Um I can't I don't know. I don't remember who the I mean, I don't know who won that league that year. Do you remember Actually I did because b I did because your boy hed away and never paid me. Mm Payay Yeah, he never paid He still owes you money still. Yeah, I'm coming. coming for that money go I her the boys they're gonna get her the goons. So I want to bring up one blueJ thing guys, because I thought it was really interesting You know, a couple of weeks ago, Alejandro Kurk Finally healthy comes off the injured list. and the decision had to be made. Now You guys know what this front office is about. They're all about years of control. They're all about who has options, et cetera. A lot of the decisions that they make has that to do with it Tyler Heyman out of options, Brandon Valezuela had a bunch But Valenzuela was performing and performing well. And this is one of the few times I can remember BlueJays made a decision of what's going to help us win today The rest of that stuff, whatever like Valezuela is the guy. He's the dude. He's raking. He's doing well behind the plate I, you know Russ, you played the position. What do you make the move? knownowing the way this front office operates and knowing that they're in win now mode I liked it. It was the right move to do You know, you It's the kind of situation where you would like to have both bats in the lineup And if that's the case And it's I think it was easier to easier decision than you know losing somebody even though another person has options. I think it's Who's gonna to help you win dayay to day And it's having Kurk and it's having Valenezuela. Like it's you know, they're they're they're both It took it took Venezuela, you know, a couple weeks to kind of get going But he's shown that he's more than capable You know,, he's hitting for power H his receivings is getting better U And then obviously, when you get Kirk back in, I think he's like the biggest difference maker on that team. He impacts the pitching. And then he's like that You know, that to ball skills, unbelievable. K kind of like that solidifies the middle of their order And probably is going y kind of get back into it too because they can't just pitch around them as much as they they were or they were doing earlier in the year Josh I think it just Brings a vbe of What's the name of this show And why did the name of this show happen Because when guys aren't getting it done They don't stick around The guys that start getting it done Guess what playing changes and Val' Will is getting it done right now And he's stick it in the big leagies because the name of the game is to win ball games and you have to put your best lineu upp up there that's going to give you the best opportunity to do that And obviously that's you know, Heynman had his run when he had a chance to get it done. And I think that kind of like went through, you know H finger. He let he let it get away from him And now another guy gets an opportunity Um Yeah. I think Kirk, I think the presence of Kirk like it's just more of like The guy doesn't even. I don't think I've ever seen the guy smile. I don't think he's never he's ever he's He's never. No His staff anything. he's just like this. He's a cool caster He's very cool. and u I think the team needs that right now because you have some some guys to I struggling a little bit and I'm sure there's some emotions that are kind of flying around. just to see him kind of go out there and do his thing. and I'm sure he'll be up breath from fresh air and that lineup. Yeah, like you can be a stabilizing force to a lineup. You could also be a stabilizing force for us to a clubhouse Just to the dynamic of a locker room, can't you I mean, absolutely. and I think that's exactly What he does? He just Everybody's happy when he's back, for sure. The pitchers are happy. The guys in the lineup are happy frront office is happy Fans are happy. so It's probably the only person that's not happy is Hyneman. the runumner that's on will Hen himan too Hyneman Yeah The runner that's behind him when they're on the bbass. That's probably the only guy who' love h. So I got to ask like, you know, often moves get made Some players are just like looking around being like, what the hell is going on here And you guys have been in situations with so many different teams that you know, management makes something you're like You kind of have to bite your tongue. publicly you know, start to kind of look over at the guy next to you in the locker is being like what's going on around here? Like O of my favorite things to do is get to the ballpark early sit in the dg outout or sit in foul territory and like wait for somebody to come up to me and say You want to know how screwed up this place is? I'm like, Yes, I do. Please please come here and tell me Like how do you manage that as a player where you you the combination of why to win not like be a company man, but also let management know. like where and how do you guys, especially as established players, established stars How do you balance that? Line if you will, Personally for me, I didn't really say much to the front office. I kind of It's I just That one's's out of my control. I tried to focus on things that I could do to you know, that were in my control, my preparation stuff. But on the other hand Josh wasn't afraid to kind of speak his mind and let him know And u And it's it's nice it's nice when you have a player that's that's kind of like saying what everybody thinks and they don't want to say And then you have a guy who was like, you know what? I'm just going to go ahead and say it And Josh was that guy. And there's not many there's not many players that that are willing to do that. So what would you say, JD? Like how would like, what was your approach? Oh my. Oh my God. I mean it just So I So many stories that I can say I I' What am my favorite stories this this This should be to do with the blue. Yeah, this is not This is almost say my favorite. It's up there though I was with D the As at the time. Yeah A lot of people talk about the buildy being, or I call it something else whatever. we'll talk about that another time, but this is 'Cause that's up there as well. I'm in Tampa it's twenty fourteen And, it's like a month and a half into the season and I'm banging at the point. I don' I'm hitting probably like three twenty was A decent amount of homers at the time. like I was like to like the lead Lague month and a half in, which at that time it iss not really that mini, but it's still That guy was off to a good start And we're in Tampa And I'm going I'm going past u Bob Melvin, our manager's office to go into the batting cage And I walk in there or I'm walking past and Bob call Hey Jie Timer So go in there I used to hang out with the coaches because I like to always picked their mind. I was always like trying to find a way like how can I get better? or Am I seeing the game the right way? I was just always kinding of to their brains And they take mine at the same time And And I remember that was the year Jason Kit this he had signed with his six year fifty two million doll deal at that time And Chiff Heel, who is our bench coach but askking him throughout the year. he's like, would you ever take Jason Kitus's deal? And I was like No I play third base and I feel like I do some things better, I think I don't think I would take that deal And so I'm sitting down and Bob Melvin goes talkal him back and forth for a minute And he looks at Dan Feinstein, who was like the third in charge at Oakland at the time Is I h d. Let's get Jie locked up to a deal Jy, what do you said I like yeah, I'm ready. Let's go And it's like,y, you only think like five years thirty five And I'm like onene plus years into the bigig leip this time like, I don't have a lot of time Notre do your gear free agency. And he goes, What do you think about F years thirty five I ten, Pop, go,er fiveive years, thirty five Heen, Jam Ts. over. E Tip Hills over there to goes Jie What about kitnesses deills? Six years, fifty two million? S if we talked about this, you know you know I'm not to take today that. I'm banging her. There's no way There's no way I'm taking this deal So I looked at Dan Flinide, He instead of we Jet I think like he's he's like the sweat's like coming down. like I can see it beating up a little bit on the side. I said, Okay guys, I see where this is going I said d, I said, I'll save you fifty million dollars right now. R now This is your only chance though What is it Jaby? What is it I said I'll sign No, seven years, one hundred million. I said because if this year goes now I take it's going to go I'm going be asking for one hundred fifty millionars at the end of the year. So look, I just saved you fifty million dollars Who got up and left He looked he looked heavy and now he's like now he's really sweating. He's sweating like Like he was in the sauna squed. And he list his day Dot, Jadie, gotot of here. I said, All right, you know where I' s You know, I say, donon't come to me Yes we don go gets.less you don't gets real, donon't come to me. Beause you know what where I'm at right now? And thenerally literally like a week later, Tyle Siea signed a seven year one hundred million dollars deal with Seattle. Wow. And I was like, spam am I? I there's been an age. Thereh been an age or a GM. or eachGM you new market value something. I knew something. I didn't really know, but I knew something Were you surprised Oakland traded you Yeah. Yeah yeah, it was surprisedly trade to me. I mean it was the I mean Sure, I' goodness Fth in ALMVP, my first year was I finished eighth my second year. and I still had four years to control. was like Oh wow. Yeah, of course ye, of course I was surprised And our team was good. like We lost to that crazy wild card game to the rooyals And We were losing Jed Lowry to free agents. say, if we just get a short stnt back in here Like our team can still a role. We just had seven all stars in twenty fourteen on our team we were we were good And Avy When you know Billy and you know kind of I've been around him a lot and I'm extremely grateful for Billy because he kind of kept giving me chances to come back when I wasn't successful early on B end of the daylight Billy can just wake up one day and not feel good about his team. I think that's what happened. he didn't like the team anymore. he's like, I gott get rid of it. I got to get rid of it And the first thing he told me after he tradeed me was like You' my biggest piece. You're the biggest piece. I've had to let you go and then to that. Everybody else got traded one by one after that except for the only else that didn't get traded was Sean Dubable at that time. Right. I mean, it sounds like they just knew that they they weren't going to signign you for the amount that you wanted. So before They lost leverage. far Anyways, it was I mean, if it was like two years later, the the thing that was confusing about is they went and signed Billy Butler to like a three year thirty five million dollar deal or something like that before they traded us all away. So it's kind of like what are we doing? A we just signed a DH and we trade Like I was going to make my first year of arbitration like three million dollars like theA is going to pay that easy. All I know is when you get a player in a trade and the next year he wins an MVP. It looks it looks good on the team that got you You know? F you Good trade. What about thea gave up? I love it. Well you don't want to talk about that You know what I'm talking about. W there Russ, you've been around a lot of good players and a lot of good teams. Was there a trade either incoming or outgoing that you're like What are they thinking? Like You know? The only other trade I can think of is when we we've somehow got many Ramireas in LA Out of Boston It was like a three team trade. I don't know exactly all the pieces That was Bing boost You know, that was that was a big bst. And then obviously in Toronto when we got Price and T Litky and revere it like that was some pretty big moves too Um It's yeah in Pittsburgh. I remember we got more no, we got Oh Bird And then we yeah. ye, I mean Nothing, nothing like the Many trade thousand insane Yeah, it's fununny how that goes about Bost's in LA, isn't it? Manny, one generation and then Mooooky the next generation Unbelievable. That's tr Well I mean, that I was kind of a part of that deal too With the The doiveers call it in on me for My free evening year after twenty nineteen They were offering, you know, they were offering me a three year deal. I wanted four At the time because I had two other teams I in up four years And the Ders was offer being a nice junk and change at that time. and because they couldn't get to the fourth year, I ended up was like If you guys sign to the fourth year, then were We're in business like some. Yeah. We're in business And they weren't they decided to pivot from that going into the fourth year today they offered me three And they're like, okay, they wouldn't made the better move anyhow. They They wouldn't got Mooky. And stole him from the Red Sox and then and they got Freeman they plucked Freeman from the Braves too. That was pre agent though. Yeah. That was pre aged. Yeah, still. But still still too Yeah, like razy you get I get I get O Tani. I've done a lot of things. They're done a lot of things right, but but adding Freddy to that mix has just been has been everything for them U feellas, another one in the books here Like we mentioned off the top, both you're in Canada. what's coming up with you guys over the next little bit What do you got? I got the pro tour I got the pro tour coming up this week in Minnesota and We be back Sing back in at the house Very nice. I'm in Montreal for a couple of months. So going to play golf with with some buddies, Try and make try and make I got qualifiers for like our our core or our membership You know, there's like, there's a lot of good golfers though. I got an outside chance of that We'll see we'll see how it goes. But a lot of golf, a lot of hanging out, hanging out with the kids and just You know, living. Levin Love it There's the MVP, Josh Johnson. there's Russell Martin up here north of the border Get it done Lague. Please like, subscribe, and thanks to all of you for making us onene of North America's fastest growing baseball podcasts. I'm your host, Sarashm Mud Daniy. We'll see you next week Co Canada, welcome. Let's get it. Get it done