Contract Extensions and Closing Thoughts

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No purchase necessary. BTW group VoIP or prohibited by law. CTs and C's 21 Plus. Sponsored by Chumba Cas ino. It's the amazing Rico Bronya Podcast with your host, Evan Roberts. Rico Brognia time. We continue our march, our slow march to opening day 2026, Thursday afternoon, City Field, Freddie Peralta, Paul Skeens, the New York Mets against the Pittsburgh Pirates. We are marching towards opening day with a Rico every single day. On today's Rico Brogno, we will touch on the official announcement that Carson Bench has made the New York Mets, but we will focus on our MLB predictions for 2026. I'm also doing this simultaneously, and I'm not going to bore you with the details, but I'm doing this simultaneously as I take part in the first ever Rico Bronia Fantasy Draft. That's right. Today is the big Rico Bronia fantasy draft. I will tell you, and if you're bored, well, whatever. It's my podcast. Uh, here's my team. This is what I did with I think the eighth overall pick. I got, oh, I'm on the clock. Hold on. No, I had a Julio Rodriguez, Francisco Lindor, so there's your Met, Rafael Devers, Jacob de Gram because I'm a show. Uh, Freddie Peralta, another Met, Shay Langaliers, my catcher, Jacob Mr.owski, Kazuma Akamoto, who I talked up a lot during the offseason for the New York Mets. Steven Kwan, Sandy Alcantra, and Brian Reynolds. I'll tell you as I'm about to pick, I feel like I need another Met, and I'm probably leaning towards either Jorge Polanco, Brett Beatty, or Luis Robert Jr. I have to decide between those three mets, which I will do right now because I'm on the clock. U h like Polanco is the safest, and I love his position eligibility, but I'm very excited about Brett Beatty. You know, Brett Beatty is a guy who I've been high on throughout, so I'll make that official. I'm drafting Brett Beatty. Anyhow, I won't bore you too much with the Rico Brilliant fantasy draft. But the first thing I do want to do before we get into 2026 MLB predictions, and I want to remind you: this is overall MLB predictions. We're gonna pick division winners, who's gonna win the World Series. So we will touch on Met predictions, but we're gonna go in more detail on Met predictions on the next Rico Brogna, episode six fifty-five, where Salicotta will join me and we'll do it together. Me, Hoffman, Sal. We'll go through a lot of variations on things we will predict about the upcoming Met season. But today we're mostly focusing on the bigger picture of Major League Baseball. I always like to hold myself accountable as well as everybody on our show. So I am briefly going to go through what I predicted last year at this time for 2025. I mean, there's just no way to to sugarcoat this. This was b ad. Like I'm looking at my predictions from last year, and I like there's a few things I'm proud of. There's a few things where I'll say, Hey, I got that one right, but a lot of things I got wrong. Uh, I was very high on Atlanta last year. I had them winning the National League East. I actually had the Braves, the Phillies, and the Mets all making the postseason. Atlanta with 94 wins. The Phillies with 92 wins. And I had the Mets at 89 wins. So obviously that wasn't very successful. I had the Chicago Cubs winning the National League Central, where they didn't do it, but they did make the playoffs. I had the Dodgers and the Padres also making the postseason. I had Zach Wheeler winning the Cy Young, got that one wrong. I did have Otani winning the MVP, big deal. I don't know if I deserve a reward for that. And in the National League Championship Series, I had the Braves, who didn't make the playoffs, defeating the Mets, who didn't make the playoffs. So it was not good in the national league. In the American League, the pick I was most proud of was actually Toronto. I didn't have them winning the division, but I had them winning eighty e gightames and making the playoffs. And if you remember a year ago, the Blue Jays were not a team people were high on. Uh we didn't have that much of a discussion here on the Rico, but I remember a lot of what if the Blue Jays fall out of it? Will they trade Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and I was the voice of pushback that hey, I think the Blue Jays have a chance to be really good. Why are we assuming that they're going to be bad and they're going to fall out of it? Especially in this day and age where it takes a lot to fall out of it. So I had them making the playoffs. I didn't have them winning the division and finishing with the best record in the American League. So I got that right, but the rest of it is just disastrous. I had the Yankees winning the AL East with 92 wins. So that wasn't far off. I had the Orioles making the playoffs with 90 wins. Kansas City winning the American League Central with Detroit winning 77 games. I was not high on the Tigers. I thought they were going to come back to earth. And then in the American League West, I got that all wrong too. I had Texas winning the division and the Astros making the playoffs. My World Series featured two teams that did not make the playoffs: the Atlanta Braves and the Texas Rangers. So, what does this prove? It proves that my predictions sucked last year. They don't always suck. Sometimes will be better years than others. And I'm certainly hoping that my 26 predictions will work a lot better than my 25 predictions. Before we get into details on all the division winners, let's start with the Met news from Monday. And that was led by them making it official that Carson Bench is going to make the team. I was never worried on the last Rico or when we talked about this on Evan and Tiki because it just felt too obvious. Like there was no way the Mets and David Stearns would have sp ent a big chunk of the offseason every time they were asked about it, saying, Hey, this guy's got a real chance to make the team. There was no way they were ever gonna like af ter a spring training like this, where he played so well and hit every benchmark you could ask for, there was never a way he wasn't going to make the team. And so I guess it was slightly odd that the Mets were playing this coy game of we're not going to tell you what we're doing here with Carson Bench. But when you look at the makeup of the roster, obviously the injury to Mike Tockman, I thought this was obvious. So I'm happy for Carson Bench. He earned it. I'm very excited as a Met fan because I think in this day and age it's rare that you go into the start of the season with a top prospect who's never played in the major leagues making their major league debut on opening day. It it feels like such a rare thing. And I was responding to a social media post on Monday with the question, and it's a good one, when was the last time a prospect as hyped up as Carson Benge was set to make his major league debut on opening day? And I didn't want to fully answer it because the only honest answer is the guy we're not supposed to talk about back in 2019 and it was one of those odd hey give the will ponds and brody van wagon in credit even, though they probably did it because they knew they were selling the team. And Brody Van Wagen figured, I'm not going to be running this team six years from now, so who cares? But they also gave that person, that first baseman, that young first baseman currently on the Orioles, who I did not draft in the Rico Brilliant Fantasy League, someone else did. They gave him a fair shot to win the first base j ob. And there was huge speculation that season that they were never really going to allow him to make the team because the thought was, especially with the Will Pons owning the team, and none of us thinking for a second that they would actually sell the team, the idea was they would manipulate service time. Like that was a common thing in baseball back then. And certainly being run by the Will Pons and Brody Van Wagen. It's just it never computed that the Mets would allow that man, PA, to make the team. He had a very good camp. He probably should have been called up late the previous season, the way Jeff McNeil was, and he made the team. And he obviously had just, you know, one of the great rookies seasons that you'll ever see . I mean, honestly, one of the great rookie seasons of all time, when you really think about it. Um, Bench comes in with he's a different player, so I can't say it's the same hype, but a lot of hype. I mean, the guy was drafted a year and a half ago. He is so new to this organization. He's a David Stearns draft pick, which you know, a lot of the young prospects the Mets have weren't David Stearns draft picks. They were guys that he inherited. Obviously Benji is projected to be a very different player than the guy we're talking about, you know, this all-time slugger. But he went out in this spring training for as much as we were able to watch him defensively and offensively. And more importantly, he looked like he belonged. I'd be very curious to see where Carlos Mendoza puts him in the lineup. I've been a big proponent of Luis Robert Jr. batting ninth, but Carson Bench also makes sense batting ninth. I I look at the ninth spot in the batting order as an important spot in the batting order, but also a spot in which in theory you're taking the pressure off of the player. You're giving them great protection because the guy on deck's the leadoff hitter in the Mets case, Francisco Lindor, who certainly appears ready for opening day since he's been out there playing spring training g ames. But in theory, you're taking pressure off of the player. And I think Robert Jr. and Benj both fit that. I also want guys that get on base. I look at on base percentage as a big factor when you're talking about the ninth place hitter because look who's on deck. Look who's coming up as the next few hitter s. Your best RBI hitters are coming up. So I don't want a guy with a 280 on base percentage. Like, no offense. I don't Francisco Alvarez batting ninth. I think it I don't think that makes sense at all. He's not a ninth place hitter. He's got pop potential, and I'm certainly not saying he should have cleanup, but not ninth. I think the guys you want hitting ninth are guys with a chance to get on base. Obviously, that fits Benge more than Robert Jr., but I'm just bringing up all the different factors I would look at in terms of the batting order. But congratulations to Carson Benge. I am pumped up to see him. And I hope that Met fans, not that I'm expecting anything else, but I certainly hope Met fans give him one of the largest ovations of anybody on opening day, which is shaping up to be a gorgeous day. You know, and it that's typical. Like we deserve this based on the way last season ended, based on the uncertainty of the offseason, and then just based on the fact that the winter stunk. It was an all-time bad winter. Here we are. We're all excited. We're going back to the ballpark. At least some of us are. Can you give us good weather? And it looks like we're getting good weather. One other thought before we jump into the predictions, and that's Craig Kimbrell's decision. That's cool. You know, it's surprising that Kimbrell isn't making the te am. But the fact that he's willing to stick around, the fact that I guess he believes in the organization enough to stick around, wait, not necessarily for an injury, but just wait for your typical Syracuse shuttle, continue to try to impress the Mets in extended spring training and possibly be on this team at some point in the next few weeks. I think it's cool that Craig Krim Craig Kimbrell was willing to stick around. I know the cynic would say he didn't have a choice. There wasn't going to be a robust market for Kimbrell, but I also think , and sometimes we're in our prism of negativity because this was a very roller coaster-like offseason. But the odds on the Mets this season, and not that that means everything, and usually it doesn't mean anything, but the Mets are considered a legitimate championship contender. Now, it isn't just me saying it, hosting the Rico Brunia. They are. You know, you go to the sportsbook apps, you go to Vegas. They are one of those teams. Look, the Dodgers are far and away the favorites. We all know that. They are one of those teams in the bucket right after LA. And I think that's a factor. Because if you're Craig Krimbr, it's a tongue twister. If you're Craig Kimbr ell and you want to give it one more go in your late thirties, you're probably thinking I want to be on a competitive team. I want to be on a team that has a chance to win. So bouncing around and maybe picking up a job in Pittsburgh or a job in Tampa Bay, no offense to the Rays because they always seem to be competitive. I think he thinks the Mets give me a great chance. So why not just stick around? And where Kimbrell's right, where he's smart , where he's being forward thinking, and not letting his ego get in the way, is that there's going to be injuries or there's going to be a DFA. Like if Dickie Lovelace or Brian Hudson is on this team. Do we honestly think they're lasting April? I don't know if they're lasting Mar ch. So it makes sense for Kimbrell to say, I'm gonna wa it. I'm gonna wait for an opportun ity. All right, let's jump into these MLB predictions. I the way I try to do it is I try not to overthink it too much. I try to go through, you know, what happened in the offseason, almost a reminder of who was added, who was lost from a lot of these teams. I've watched some spring training, not as much in the Cactus League, and just the feelings that you get: negative feelings, positive feelings, just the feelings that you get about baseball in 2026. So I'm going to start in the American League. We'll work our way to the main event, which is actually the National League East, of course. Let me start in the American League West. The I think the A's are going to be good. That's one thing that just jumps out at me. I I expect the A's to be good, and I'll tell you why. I think their lineup is really good. Now, my concern about them is do they have enough pitching? You know, Luis Severino is obviously going to be the horse of that rotation, but if you look at the A's line up, it is damn good. I mean, they got bats all over the place. You know, I I think that Jeff McNeil's a nice piece, but it's more than that. You know, it's Soderstrom who's become a star. It's Lawrence Butler in the outfield. It's Rooker. It's Kurtz. It's Langaliers behind the plate. Like this is a really good deep lineup. And so I'm going to start off by telling you that they are my big kind of surprise. Hold on, I have to make a draft pick in the Rico Fantasy League. Let me see. Should I go Homer? I've gone very homorific lately with some of my picks. Yeah, Jorge Polanco, fine. You're a member of the Ricos. March matchups are here. And now you can trade the tournament in all 50 states on Kelsey. Duke is currently trading at 19% to win it all. That means a hundred dollar trade pays out four hundred ninety-eight if they win the title. Arizona and Michigan are trading at twenty-one percent to cut down the nets. On CalShi, you're trading against Pierce in a live market. As the odds move, you can buy in and out of your position all tournament long. Download the Calci app and use code FAN to get $10 when you trade $10. K-A-L-S-H-I. Kelsi. Trade on anything . Hey, this is Richard Deitch, the host of the sports media podcast. If you're interested in what's happening with all the places where you consume sports, the sports media podcast has you covered. I've been turning down interviews all week. Hoda Copi, Reached Out, Oprah, George Stephanopoulos. So I said no. I was booked on the Deitch podcast before the Taylor Swift phenomenon. I must live up to my responsibility. Listen wherever you get your podcast s. Yo, yo, yo, I'm Jay Uso from WWE and I'm Jimmy Uso. Jackpot. I just got all the gold coins on Chomba Casino. Yeah. No way. How'd you do that? I just logged on to Chamba Casino. Use my daily bonus and play one of the hundreds of exciting online social casino style games. It's perfect for a quick break between training, preparing for our next tag match, and giving my voice a break between yeets. Sick, I'm gonna play my favorite. Stampede theory. You know how it is, O's. Exactly. With Chomba Casino, it's Chomba time anytime. Six letters, one word, chomba. Let's chomba. No purchase necessary. PGW group. Void for prohibited by law, CTs and C's, 21 Plus, sponsored by Chumba Cas ino. I I look, the problem with the A's obviously is do they have enough pitching after Severino? You know, Severino was better in the second half last year after he got off to that bad st art. Uh Aaron Savelli is like not bad. I mean, especially when you look at how consistent he is. Solid rotation on him. The rotation scares me, but I look at the rest of the American League West. Seattle should be good and they should be a playoff team. And I put them in as a playoff team. I pencil them in. Um I love the move for Brandon Donovan. I thought that was a hell of a move. I'm not overly concerned about the chemistry between Randy Arroz Arena and Cal Raleigh. And we all know how good the Mariners rotation is. But I think the A's make the playoff s. I think the Astros are not nearly as good. They have clearly fallen off over the last couple of years. I do expect that Jordan Alvarez is going to have a bounce back here. But when you look at the astero rotation and losing From Barvaldez in what is a my, you know, we were high on him during the offseason, but we have no idea what he is. Hunter Brown was great last year, but I'm kind of skeptical he's going to back it up with another big year. I think the Astros missed the playoffs. I think Texas is the other team that I could see jumping up, but there's just so much age in that rotation. I love Jake. Nate Valde was great last year until he got hurt. So I think Texas and Houston fall sh ort. I think the Angels are the Angels. I got two playoff teams coming out of the American League West. I'll say the Mariners win the division by winning 93 games, but I think the A's are the big surprise, probably in baseball overall. Like they're my big surprise. They're making the playoffs this seas on. Now, unfortunately, I would love to see the A's not only make the playoffs, but actually host playoff games so that Rob Manfred has to watch while there's baseball playoff games in a minor league stadium, you know, will they will they pivot? Will they ask them to play somewhere else? But unfortunately, my prediction has the A's as the third wildcard team. So unless they get out of that round, I don't see it happening. So I got two playoff teams in the American League West. I got the Seattle Mariners and I have the A's, whatever you want to call them, the Sacramento A's, the Las Vegas A's. Just don't call them Oakland. Let me go to the American League Cent ral. Sometimes you have to double down on predictions. And last year, if you heard, I at the beginning of this pod, I talked about how high I was on the Kansas City Royals. And a lot of things went wrong for the Royals last year. I mean, Cole Reagans was my American League Cy Young Award winner. And not only did Cole Reagan miss half the season, he wasn't very good. Well, I doubled down. Not that Reagans is going to win the American League Cy Young, but I think Reagans is going to have a really good season. You know, I think Seth Lugo has a better season this upcoming year than he had last year. I think their rotation is going to be really good. And then you look at the talent they have. I mean, obviously Bobby Witt Jr. is a star. Michael Garcia. Like, I think the Royals are going to kind of build up what they did from two years ago. You know, sometimes, and I make these predictions often. I didn't do it with Kansas City. I did it with Detroit, which is probably the mistake. Like I take some of these surprise teams, and the next year you figure they're gonna reg ress. I was wrong about Detroit. I was wrong about Kansas City. Well, let's do this season, then I'm gonna be right. I'm gonna take the Kansas City Royals to win the American League Central. I don't think it's gonna be an incredibly high number. The division, as always, this is not new, is incredibly mediocre. So I don't think it's going to take a huge number to win the division. I do think the White Sox are going to be considerably better. I do. The Twins, I think the Twins are going to end up being really bad. They obviously had the big hit with the Pablo Lopez injury. They decided not to sell the way I think we thought they were going to sell during the offseason, guys like Joe Ryan and Byron Buxton. I kind of have a feeling that if they struggle, which I expect them to do, they will eventually do the full sell. Detroit is the team that I think has a huge bus fac tor. And I'm not just saying that because I want to be right. Like I'm not just saying that because obviously we all have that hope that Detroit has a bad year and they trade Tarek Scuble. But from Burvaldez with a big contract and a big belly and an age that continues to move up slowly and a lot of innings on the arm, a lot of miles on the tread, or something like that. Can't you see From Barvaldez having a bad ye ar? I don't see Tarek Skoobel having a bad year. I don't see that. But I could see him not winning the Cy Young and having a really good year, but maybe not the same dominant year he had the last two, which I don't even think would impact his value in terms of free agency and how well he does. But Detroit, and and look, I appreciate what they did during the offseason because they went out and they added Kenley Jansen. So they really tried to enhance their bullpen, but I see regression with Detroit. And maybe I was just a year off on it. So I've got them not being bad necessarily, but not winning the division, finishing in the low to mid-80s when it comes to wins. So maybe they're too good to actually trade Tower Scuba. Like they're still in a race in the American League Central, but I've got them missing the playoffs. So I'm going to line it up this way. I think Kansas City wins the AL Central. I think they're the only team in that division to make the postseason. I think Detroit finishes second. Cleveland finishes third. I think the White Sox jump to four. And I think the Minnesota Twins are a last place team in the American League Central. The AL East. Uh I I've battled with this because I love so last year I not that I loved them, but I had the Blue Jays making the playoffs. That's my one, I guess, success that I had with a lot of these predictions last year was that I was higher on the Blue Jays than most. I fought with Met fans. Not as much here on the Rico, but certainly more so on WF and that stop fantasizing about Vlad. There's certainly no guarantee they're going to tra de him. And look what ended up happening. They they ended up winning the AL East, even if it was by a tiebreaker. They end up going to the World Series. They should have won it in the seventh game. I like them to regress to, but not completely. They did have an aggressive offseason. They do lose Bo Bachette to us. They add Dylan Sease. They add Akamoto. So I think they'll be good, but I don't think they're going to be a 94-win team. The Red Sox, they they improve their rotation. Their rotation looks awesome on paper. I've always been a bigger proponent of Sonny Gray than most. I think Garrett Crochet will be fine. I'll have another big year. Roman Anthony feels like a superstar. But I think losing Alex Bregman was a big de al. And there's a lot of kind of parts of that Red Sox lineup that just doesn't scare you. I mean, Roman Anthony, yes, he's on his way to superstar. I mean they've got a lot of good, decent players, but that lineup doesn't scare me. The team that's making the j ump. The team that's making the jump that I don't have the balls to say is going to win the division. I think they're going to be a playoff team is the Baltimore Orioles. I think that the young players that have just kind of come up small over the last couple of years, whether it's Adley Rutchman or Jackson Holiday, I think you add the veterans that they added. Plus, they got a big time catching prospect now, uh, instead of Adley Rutschman. You talk about what's this guy, Basalo, I think is his name. How do you pronounce his name? Samuel Basalo, 21-year-old catcher who has major promise. But obviously they add the guy we don't talk about in Pete. And I also think their pitching should be significantly better than it was last year. You've got Rodgers for a full season where he could be awesome. Kyle Bradish is pretty good. They add Shane Boss. They add Chris Bassett. Like their rotation was a problem last year. And while I don't think it's as good as the Yankees, I don't think it's as good as Toronto's. I don't think it's as good as Boston's. Like, I'm not telling you their rotation is better than all those teams in the AL East. I just think it's improved . I think Ryan Helsley's gonna end up having a big year in their bullpen, which should not alarm us. It just didn't work here. I think their lineup will mash. I think they make the playoff s. I think that the Yankees and the Orioles make the postseason. And I also think Toronto does. So I think you're talking about three playoff teams in the AL East. The Yankees will I I hate to say this because I know no one wants to hear this on the Rico, but I do think that the New York Yankees make the postseason and win the division . I think they are the most talented team in that division. I think once their rotation is healthy, it is excellent. So I got the Yankees winning the division, the Orioles and Blue Jays is two wild card teams. And so that sets up your playoff picture as this. The Yanke es and the Mariners get first round bu ys. Then you've got Kansas City taking on Toronto in the first round of the postseason, in which Toronto will beat Kansas City, because God knows AL Central teams don't exactly fare well. And then in the other postseason series, you've got the Orioles defeating the A's. And I think my math would get us somehow, someway. I'm trying to figure out how this adds up. I do think that we are looking at a Yankees Mariners American League Championship Series. And screw it. I'm picking the Mariners. Like they were so close last year. I think in the regular season they struggle and they don't feel as good as the year before, but they still win their division. They win over 90 games. And I think Seattle gets through the American League and for the first time in their history gets to the World Series. Sometimes you got to knock on the door, you got to pound on the door, you got to come up empty and then you bust right through the next season. Plus, I can't pick the Yankees to go to the World Series. Can I really do that? I don't want to do it. I mean, here's the thing about these pro predictions that are so challeng ing. The Yankees are the best team in the American League. Like if you ask me talent-wise, when you balance out the lineup, when you balance out the rotation, the Yankee bullpen actually scares me quite a bit. I like the Mariner Bullpen better, but whatever. I think the Yankees talent-wise are better than anybody. I think it's close, but I give them the edge. But the best team normally doesn't get there. And so I'm a big proponent of the best team won't get there. So I'm not picking the Yankees. Now, I've always said this uh a lot, not not around here, but on Evan and Tiki that when the Yankees get home field advantage, they do not lose. When they get home field advantage, they win. In fact, in the Aaron Boone era, they have never lost a postseason series with home field advantage. Look it up. When they don't have home field advantage. They have won a grand total. Are you ready for this? Of one postseason ser ies. And that postseason series was during the pand emic. So there was nobody in Cleveland when they lost the series, or I'm sorry, when they won the series against the Guardians in 2020. You could certainly argue that we should not count that. So the Yankees have always been like: give them home field, they move on. If they don't, they mostly don't. Uh which is funny because Brian Cashman always likes to say it's a crapshoot, which I agree with that it is a crapshoot, except where Brian gets it wrong is that it's not a crapshoot for the Yankees. Because it's pretty straightforward for the Yankees. If they're better than you, they will win. If they're not, they won't. So I think the Yankees are one of the best teams in the American League, the best team in the American League. I'm taking Seattle to represent the American League. I want to not pick Aaron Judge to win the MVP, but it's tough to not do it. So I'll go Bobby Witt Jr. Screw it. If I have the Royals making the playoffs, maybe there's voter fatigue and Judge doesn't win it, and Bobby Witt Jr. does. As far as the Cy Young is concern ed, thinking about that one, like who wins the American League, Cy Young? I can't go back to Cole Reagan's, though I guess I could. Uh, I'm not picking anybody on the Yanke es. I I could see could Garrett Crochet win it. Nah, I'm not picking anybody on the Red Sox. Do I go all in on the Orioles and say Trevor Rogers wins the American League Cy Young. That feels kind of gutsy, but nah, I don't think that's going to happen. Is there anybody in Toronto that's winning the Cy Young? Not really. So you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to go with Joe Ryan. Like, I think the twins are going to suck, but the one blessing is going to be Joe Ryan, who's going to be traded in the middle of the season. And clearly, he's going to have to be traded to an American League team. Because if he gets traded to a national league team, there goes my Cy Young pick. So out of the box, I'll give you Joe Ryan for the American League Cy Young, and I'll give you Bobby Witt Jr. for the American League MVP. All right, let's get to the league that we care about. The National League. Let's start off in the National League w. est And I mean, I'd love to pick against the LA Dodgers. Like I would love to. And you've got Roki Sasaki having this awful, awful spring tra ining, but I just can't do it because the thing about hold on, I've got a pick to make in the fantasy draft. I probably have to go with a relief pitcher. So I am going to tak e. Should I go Luke Weaver? I should see if Luke Weaver's available. That's the problem. I'm not paying attention now. I'm focused on this. Uh Luke Weav er. Let's see if I can get Luke Weaver, because we are doing holes in this league. I am. I got Luke Weaver. All right, let's get back to what matters. Tyler Reddick here from 2311 Racing. And Bubba Wallace. You know what's the worst part of a race? A rain delay. Sitting around, waiting for the track to dry is dull. But instead of waiting, we hang out with Chumba Casino. Social Casino slots, bingo, solitaire, plenty of fun to keep us entertained. So why let a rain delay slow you down? Play now at chumba Casino.com. Let's Chumba. Sponsored by Chumba Casino. No purchase necessary. BGW4 prohibited by law. 21 plus terms and conditions app ly. March matchups are here. And now you can trade the tournament in all 50 states on Kelsey. Duke is currently trading at 91% to win it all. That means a hundred dollar trade pays out $498 if they win the title. Arizona and Michigan are trading at 21% to cut down the nets. On Kalshi, you're trading against Pierce in a live market. As the odds move, you can buy in and out of Download the Kelsi app and use code FAN to get $10 when you trade $10. K-A-L-S-H-I-KALSHY. Trade on anything . Hey Sal. Hank? What's going on? We haven't worked a case in years. I just bought my car at Carvana and it was so easy. Too easy. Think something's up. Shoot, tell me. They got thousands of options. Mm-hmm. Found a great car, a great price. Mm-hmm. And it got delivered the next day. It sounds like Carvana just makes it easy to buy your car, Hank. Yeah, you're right. Case closed. Buy your car today. on Carvana. Delivery fees may app ly. The Dodgers are so de ep that even with issues such as hey, Roki Sasaki is struggling, or Blake Snell's probably going to end up on the IL, which happens every single season. They will overcome those injuries and they will win an absurd amount of games. The only question I'm having is how absurd does that number get? I mean, let's let's not forget the LA Dodgers, who didn't have the greatest regular season last year, but still won over 90 games, won their division. They did have to play in that wild card series, but they were fine. They added Edwin Diaz the best closer in baseball, and they added Kyle Tucker, the best position player available in free agen cy. Like that's what they did this offseason. So they're gonna win a massive amount of games. They're gonna win the NL West. We'll start with the most obvious thing. And unlike last year, they won't have to play in the wildcard ro und. I'm not gonna give them 114. Like, I'm gonna not go that nuts, but I'll go 104. And what's crazy is it wasn't that long ago where the Dodgers won that amount of games. In fact, I think they won I'll pull up the exact numbers, but a couple of years ago when, they were getting knocked out in the postseason and they weren't, you know, winning the World Series in back-to-back years, they were putting up absurd win totals and then proceeding to get knocked out, which is why I don't mind if they win an absurd amount of games. Yeah, so in 2021, they won 106 games and then lost in the NLCS. In 2022, this is unbelievable. They won 111 games and then got knocked out in the NLD S. 11 1. They followed that up with 100 and got swept in the NLDS. And then these last two seasons where they've won the World Series, the win totals are 98 and 93. Some of the lowest win totals. And if you want to include 2020 and use the winning percentage, some of the lowest winning percentages they've had in about seven ye ars. Which is a rem inder that for the Dodgers, for them, and really only them, it doesn't matter how many games they win. I mean, it doesn't mat ter. They go win ninety three games, they win the World Series. The wyin 111. They win one postseason game. So I'm gonna go on with 104. That'll be my sweet spot on how many games they w in. This will be the first team we get to see in 2026. But the team in the national league West that I'm most excited about, that I think will end up finishing second to the Los Angeles Dodgers, believe it or not, is the San Francisco Giants. And there's a couple of reasons why I feel that way. Logan Webb is the most reliable starter in baseball, or at least he's towards the top. I don't love Robbie Ray very much, but Adrian Hauser, as much as we hate to say it, was a pretty good addition and will be a good part of their rotation. And I think Rafael Devers now, full season in San Francisco. You don't have the adjustment of the position change and whatnot. I think he has a massive year. They were the winners of the Luisa Rise. Nobody wants them sweepstakes. I think Willie Adamas has a much better season than his first year in San Francisco. And Bryce Eldridge, while he's not going to start the year with the big club, I think eventually burst onto the scene and contributes to this team probably at first base slash DH, wherever they want to play. Rafael Devers. I like the Giants. I'm I'm unsure if I put them in the postseason, but I do like them in second place in that division. And yes, I will put them in the postseason. I guess that'll be my mild surprise, if you want to call it that, in the National League West . Fears San Diego and my issues with the Padres. I don't love their rot ation. Like they lose Dylan Seast, which is a big blow. You Darvish is gone. He's retired. Here's the Padre rot ation going into the start of this season. Nick Pavetta, who I know we were linked to via trade. Is Nick Pavetta backing up what he did last year? Are we confident about that at 33 years old off of the best season of his career? Michael King, who let's see him stay healthy, because obviously last year was kind of a lost year for him. Walker Bueller, Herman Marquez, Randy Vasquez. I don't love it. I mean, they're bullpen's loaded, and we certainly got a glimpse of that with Mason Miller and how well he pitched. I don't like the Padres. I think they're going to end up in the low 80s. Same thing with Arizona. I think Arizona actually finishes ahead of San Diego. I think they're in a race. They're probably kind of in the mid-80s. We know how dangerous their lineup can be. They were able to uh bring back some pieces in their rotation. Zach Allen. Didn Merrill Kelly go back there. Merrill Kelly went back there. This is the race to beat up on Colorado. I think the Rockies may lose 115 games. They are just god awful. So I like the Dodgers clearly to win the division and the Giants to make the postseason out of the National League West. In the Cent ral, how much of a step back does Milwaukee take? And I think they take a few steps back for a couple of reasons. You take away Freddie Peralta, we all know. Brandon Sproats made the rotation. Good for him. They traded away Caleb Durbin. Not that I think that's a big deal. But I think they were lucky a little bit last year anyway. I don't think they were as good as their final record indicated. So I think the Brewers are solid. I think they're in the mid 80s. I do not think they win the division. I think the Chicago Cubs win the division. Justin Steele could be on his way back, second half of the year, which would be a big addition. They obviously added Alex Bregman during the offseason. They smartly didn't trade Nico Horner. I don't think PCA has as good of a year as he had last year, but I think Chicago's in that low 90s range and they win the central. The rest of the division stinks. Cincinnati's taking a major step back. Hunter Green's going to be out for a while. I think Pittsburgh actually jumps to third place. I like the Cubs in first, the Brewers in second, the Pirates in third, the Reds in fourth, and then the Cardinals, who are oddly for us, because they're always so good. They're going through this rebuild. I like them finishing in last place. But I think the Pirates have a chance to be a surprise team, they got a chance to sneak up on us just a little bit with some of the additions they made. Obviously, top of the rotation is just killer, and we'll see that to begin the seas on. But I will go with Chicago as the lone postseason team from the NL Central. So do the math as we get to the NL East. I have three postseason teams, which means there are three available spots coming out of the National League East. So you could I guess that makes things obvious. Though I don't know if I should pick the Braves with all their freaking injuries, but I like Chicago to win the NL Central. Pete Hoffman, who is a lot of crap on the Carton show on Tuesday, not because he was banged up today. That's not the reason. You're you you dealt with health issues. Yes. It's the fact that you popped your head in on the Rico Bronian. I have to. That's where you're gonna get a lot of crap off. I ha I had to though, because you said something so ridiculous. What's that? The pirates are gonna finish top three in the NL Central? Yes. No, absolutely. Besides, their rotation is actually legitimate, bro. Paul Schien's what? And uh Keller? Mitch Keller, we're talking about. Boba Chandler is a top prospect. Top prospect. Where is that? I mean, but that's where it starts, bro. Bubba Chandler, Braxton, Ashcroft. They got a good Jared Jones if the guy ever comes back as nasty. Like top of the rotation is pretty good. And it has a chance to be overall pretty good. Yeah, but their offense has nobody. O'Neill O'Neal Cruz is supposed to be one of the best hit. I know he's what he hits the ball the hardest in baseball. Like that's all people talk about. But he is so something about him is completely off. Like he doesn't have the it factor. He just has power. He hasn't put it all together. But again, and I know it wasn't the sexiest. Marcelo Zuna, Ryan O'Hearn, Brandon Lau, like they added to this team. And you go along with Brian Reynolds, who I think has a bounce back here. Not that their lineup is great, but that's not a bet that that's a better team than the St. Louis Cardinals. That's a better team, I think, than Cincinnati, who had the luckiest season ever last year. No, I I I don't I don't blame you with the with the whole Cardinals thing. They're they're just down and out right now. But the Reds, even with Hunter Green being out for a little bit, I think that they have a better team offensively. I think they're more gifted. And I I think that their pitching rotation is better than we're giving them credit for. And and not for much not for nothing, but their bullpen I think is a much better bullpen as well, which is something that we have to do. We believe in Emilio Pagan. Now all of a sudden he's one of the best posters in baseball. That's right. And it's going to make us feel worse that we missed the playoffs because of them last season. Uh but I do want to say something because I did want to pop my head in. Uh I so far I've been in agreement. Uh I like the rules for for a bounce back. I think the Tigers are gonna take a nosedive. Um I like the A's. I I think you said the Astros are going to miss the playoffs because I do believe that's the case. Yes. I don't think the Blue Jays, I don't know what you said with the Blue Jays. I put them as three. I don't think that I think it's going to be Yankees, Orioles, Blue Jays, and the Red Sox. Okay, good. So we're on the same page so far. Warren Agreement. Give me your uh in total your playoff teams in the American League. I hear you say Yankees, Blue Jays, Orioles. Who wins the American League Central? Dude, the the Guardians. They always gonna lose me. Guardians, all right. I'd disagree with you on that. Who wins the AOS? Marin ers. All right, so you're short one playoff team. Who's your sixth playoff team in the American League? The Rangers. I I think the A's are gonna be better, but I don't think they I think they're gonna miss the playoffs. All right. Now let's get to the National League East. I uh for for whatever reason, it's probably like a syndrome. It's a syndrome of all our failures against Atlanta. I'm always, at least the last two years, very high on the Braves. I was last year at the beginning of this pot. I went through my predictions last year. I picked them to win the NL East. Actually, picked them to go to the World Series. Uh, their their injuries to start the year are deeply concerning. Like there are just so many of them. Uh, and they've had a lot of them since like even the offseason with the Kim injury. And now you have Spencer Strider, who I don't know if Spencer Stroderud ever' goings to be the same. I don't know how much one can trust Chris Hale. Like he just is every year he gets older, and you just wonder like when are the wheels gonna completely come off? But I still think at the end of the day that Matt Olson has a big bounce back year. Ronald Acuna Jr., I mean, I assume stays healthy. I guess there's no way to assume that. And I think the Braves will be good. It just may be rocky to begin with, especially with all these injuries. The one thing I'm not going to do is to pick them to win the division. Like I'm not, I'm not going that far with Atlanta, but I certainly will say they're a playoff team. I want to say we're going to win the division. Like, I really want to. I just can't. Like, there's way too many questions for me to get there. And I think that the Phillies are in this weird spot where they get killed by their fans because they've underachieved and they haven't been able to bust through since they had those magical runs. It really the magical run when they got to the World Series in 2022. Every year has been a step back. I mean, when you think about what's going on with that core. And I know a lot of Philly fans really begging for them to break up that core, which they ultimately didn't do. But the Phillies are still a really good team, especially when you look at that rotation. Zach Wheeler is on his way back. He's making rehab starts. Jesus Lazardo became the guy that we sort of feared he could become. Christopher Sanchez was the best pitcher in the national league, not named Paul Skeens. And you're still talking about a lineup that features Trey Turner and Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber, and they've got a lot of good young players that at least they're giving an opportunity to, much like we are with Carson Benge, Justin Crawford being one of them. Like , I still think they're better than us . I just think they are. I think that our rotation has a chance to be really good. Their rotation is really good. Uh, I hope Devin Williams goes back to being the closer he was two years ago. Johan Duran is one of those elite level closers. Um I just think the Phillies are better. I want to be wrong. This is one of those predictions I want to be dead wrong about. But I got him at about 94, 95 wins, kind of where they are every single year. I think sometimes when you when you're the Phillies, hold on. I have to make a a pick in our fantasy draft. Oh. Well, say say something, Mikey. All right, I got a closer. Robert Garcia. Anyhow. Oh, very nice. Thank you. Thank you. He was on my other team too. This is the thing. I'm usually not a multi-fantasy player guy, but we have the same guys on both teams. Well, the my first round pick in the Rico League was Julio Rodriguez, who Hoff will tell you has been a longtime keeper in my keeper league. So I brought him home essentially. And then my second round pick was Francisco Lindor, my homer pick. He was my first round pick in the keeper league. So, yes, there's a lot of symmetry between the leagues. But I think that when a team becomes boring in a way, right, the Yankees fall victim to this all the time, where their fans don't realize how good the team is because they're sick and tired of underachieving in the postseas on. That's the Phillies. Like they really are very similar. So I want to be wrong. I think they're the best team in the division. I will pick us ahead of Atlanta and the win total I'm at right now with the Mets, and we'll go into more detail on the next Rico Broni episode six five five. I told you Sal Locato will join us. I'm at eighty-nine wins, and I know that's the same total I had last year, but I it's kind of where I am. Like, I don't think they're gonna be bad. I don't think they're gonna be amazing. I don't think everything's gonna click. So I kind of have them in that middle range of eighty-nine wins, which should be good enough to make the postseason. So here are my playoff teams in the national league. I've got the Philadelphia Phillies and the Los Angeles Dodgers, the two teams that will end up uh with first-round buys. I've got Chicago winning the Central. I've got the Mets, the Braves, and the Giants as the last three wild card te ams. And then I I I can't pick the Dodgers. I think getting to a third straight World Series is really tough, as good as they are. So it's like, all right, well, what national league team am I going to pick to go up against Seattle? And I'm going to go crazy and pick the cubbies. You know, I think the cubbies are the team. I think the experience of last year, the disappointment of last year, getting annihilated by Milwaukee. I mentioned the X Factor that is Justin Steele coming back in the second half of the season. Uh, I'm gonna go with a Chicago Cub Seattle Mariner World Series, our final World Series until, you know, they shut down baseball for an entire year. And I got I got us losing in the divisional series. Uh that is something we've never done as a franchise, believe it or not. The Mets have never lost in the DS. So I think we get out of the wild card round and I think we get knocked out in the DS. And I think we're looking at a Cub Mariner World Series. What say you? Um I think that the Mets are gonna miss the playoffs again. I see them around 85 wins. I know that sucks, and I'm sorry. I just don't know where this team is at right now. It's such a weird flux. Um and I do think the Braves are gonna be better than they were last year? I think injuries killed them. I don't think the Phillies are gonna be a dominant team, but they're gonna be good enough to to take the division. I see the Phillies, the Braves, the Cubs, the Brewers, the Dodgers, the Padres going to the playoffs, and I unfortunately going chalk here. Dodgers Yanke es. With the Dodgers with the three Pete. I know it sucks, but I mean that's what it is. That's baseball. Dodges are so fucking good. Scar excuse my French, but they really are. It sucks. No, I think we all know they're good. And I I get it. I mean, that's the thing about predictions this time of year. Like, I don't want to be the chalk guy in the postseason 'cause so many crazy things happen. And the Dodgers making it these last two years are in a lot of ways surprising. They came very close to getting knocked off two years ago by San Diego when being when trailing two one. And I mentioned earlier how they had a 111 win season a few years ago and didn't win a playoff game. Like that's what that's the baseball I know. So I certainly can't yell at you for picking Yankees. Dodgers, they're the two best teams, I think, in their respective leagues. It's just that I still kind of believe that someone's going to get hot. It's going to be a team you least expect, and we'll get an odd world series like we got three years ago with Texas against Arizona. I still think we get that more times than not. I want to pick someone but Otani for the MVP. It's just impossible to do it because as long as he's productive and he throws on the mound, he's gonna win the award. Yeah. So I'd love for one soto to break the seal for the Mets. They've never had an MVP, but I can't say that . The Coung one, though, I'm gonna go, I'm going out of the box. I'm going Jacob Mr.owski of the Brewers. You know, he burst on the scene last year, was awesome. Then he struggled a little bit. Uh, this is now a full season for Mr.owski. I think we're about to witness the the new era of great pitchers. I think Skeens will have a great year. I just don't wanna pick him again. It's just almost too easy. Right. But if he has a career yarrander too, like is that really gonna happen again? Like, don't you think he's gonna have like a normal human season? And obviously his ERA is gonna get off to a tough start off because we're putting eight on his ass on those days. I'm I'm all about that. But what about Yamamoto? Where do you you don't think that he can take the the the trophy this year? I mean, he was dominant in the playoffs. I mean, he was so good. I could see him doing that all season long. Well, forget the playoffs. He was dominant during the regular season. Like he got Cy Young votes last year. He had a great year. I think he's in the conversation. I think Logan Webb is always the guy worthy of talking about. Christopher Sanchez obviously had a great year last year. The thing about Cy Young votes is, you know, you're throwing it. Who who the hell knows? Like, like this entire podcast. Who knows? I don't know. All I know is we're marching towards opening day, and I'm excited. And we will check to see how we did with these predictions when this season is over. Now on the next Rico Bronya, episode 655, you can consume it live Tuesday night on the WFN YouTube page. We will do extensive Mets predictions, whether it's who's gonna play the most innings at first base, whether it's over-under on home runs for Juan Soto and Francisco Lindore or Luis Robert Jr., and obviously how we think this season is going to play out. We will do that on the next Rico Brunia, me, Pete Hoffman, Sal Lakato, who a' greats Met fan. We'll go back and forth and we will discuss it on the next RICO. We'll also get to a lot of your emails on the eve of opening day. So send them in your questions and your big predictions for the twenty twenty five season. Twenty twenty five season.. Here you go 2026 season. You can email us thereicoB at gmail.com. ThereicoB at gmail.com. And we will do that as we get you set for opening day on Thursday. Is there a s uh like you know you just screwed up the the the year and you said twenty twenty five season it's not twenty twenty six season. But is there is there a bigger name we should put on this season because it feels like this season's gonna happen and then we're gonna be done with baseball for a while. So, like, do we have a bigger name for it? Do we put like a different spin on it? Like the final season? Like, what do you think the final season for the near future i don't know like do we we we we put a cap on this on this uh on this cba i i i don't want to be so overly negative that we're never gonna see baseball again. Like, I think we will. So I don't want to go into this season saying like this is it, but because I don't feel any differently to be honest with you. Like, we go into the start of the season, I'm as excited as any new season, and I don't think about what may or may not happen in 2027. I am certainly not viewing it that way. We do have baseball news, by the way. Go ahead. Um there is a big deal that just happened with a player, current player, former M et. All right. Um with the I'm just trying to see the deal here. But uh let's see, Jeff Passon somewhere has it. So far you've given us nothing. Pete Crow Armstrong and the Cubs have come to a long-term deal. Oh, there you go. Yeah, my nice. Yeah. How what what does it say? I don't see the numbers. Center fielder Pete Crow Armstrong and the Chicago Cubs are finalizing a long term contract extension. Doesn't have details. Oh, okay. Uh yeah, I like when teams do that. I'm thinking about like in our case, who would you do it with? Like Carson Bench. Like, do you want to announce an extension for Nolan McClain? Sure, that'd be nice. You know, a pitcher that hasn't turned 27 or 28, and uh you don't have to worry about his later years. Let's do it now. Let's buy him out of his uh, you know, all those arbitrations. I'm not opposed to it. I remember there were rumors two years ago about doing it with Francisco Alvarez. That wouldn't have worked out so far. But I guess that's the risk when you make deals like this. It could work out very well if the guy's not productive. I remember Jonathan Singleton, who was a big prospect with the Astros, signed the mega contract. It didn't work out. But then again, you lock up Ronald Decuna Jr. like the Braves, and it's a steal. So it's it's a risk. I would take it with young players though. I would like why not? Like being able to buy out free agent years, it's fantastic.