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The Super Bowl is over so we can now focus our attention on where it belongs - Baseball!  Pitchers and catchers are officially reporting this week even though many have been in camp early and are already throwing, and catching. 

We recorded a west coast version of our podcast this week in sunny and warm Palm Springs!  Right now there's baseball being played in the California Winter League where  teams play a one month schedule for post-college and unsigned players to audition for a professional contract. But mainly we are avoiding having to endure the awful cold back home! 

Talking about cold, former Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase's problems just got worse.  

Paul Goldschmidt signed with the #Yankees for another season. Is he a HOFer? We talk about that a little as well as Tarik Skubal winning his arbitration case after the #Tigers signed Framber Valdez to a 3 year deal. 

Check out the other things we cover in this week's special episode!

Intro & Outro music this season courtesy of Mercury Maid! Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music!  

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you can give us 4 or 5 star rating that means a lot. And if you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at [email protected].  You can also follow us on X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  And please tell your friends!

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When we talked with Dan Brown about his HOF choices in episode 645 we noted that just before our prior podcast the Mets signed Bo Bichette. Right after the podcast with Dan, the #Mets traded for #Brewers #1 starter Freddy Peralta. What will happen this week after our podcast? Will Framber Valdez sign with the #Orioles as Gordon says in this podcast? Where else might he go? What about Tarik Skubal's arbitration case?  If the #Tigers lose and have to pay him $32M, are they more likely to trade him than if they win and only have to pay hin $19M? 

What about the AL East? It looks tough. Four of the five teams could claim the divisional title. We let you in on who we think will be the non-contender in the AL East.

Intro & Outro music this season courtesy of Mercury Maid! Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music!  

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you can give us 4 or 5 star rating that means a lot. And if you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at [email protected].  You can also follow us on X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  And please tell your friends!

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For the third straight year The Athletic's writer Daniel Brown who is also a BBWAA voter, discussed his and his fellow writer's votes for the Hall-of-Fame.  Center fielders Carlos Beltran and Andruw Jones both were elected with a few players making big strides in the their voting totals.  We talked about trends in voting, who's on the ballot next year and why the process might be changing. 

Dan is a terrific writer and you should look for his pieces in The Athletic.

Intro & Outro music this season courtesy of Mercury Maid! Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music!  

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you can give us 4 or 5 star rating that means a lot. And if you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at [email protected].  You can also follow us on X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  And please tell your friends!

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Happy MLK Day. A little late but hopefully worth the wait. When we recorded this episode the news that #Mets signed Bo Bichette for 3 years $120M had just dropped and Gordon wasn't aware until Mark told him!  Kyle Tucker's behemoth contract led to a discussion of a baseball salary caps which have always been a red line for the MLB Player's Association. Will a salary cap make MLB more competitive? That's not guaranteed. But a salary floor would bring up the salaries of the lowest paid MLB players - which is most of them since the stars get paid first and foremost. 

Kyle Tucker on the #Dodgers is just one of the players. He has Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman for cover not to mention virtually every player on the team.  New York ain't L.A. 

Check out this episode which was free-flowing and, we hope you'll agree, fun!

Intro & Outro music this season courtesy of Mercury Maid! Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music!  

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you can give us 4 or 5 star rating that means a lot. And if you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at [email protected].  You can also follow us on X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  And please tell your friends!

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While Bregman, Bellinger, Tucker, and Valdez wait for some team to pull the trigger and sign them, two more Japanese League players - Imai and Okamoto signed with the Astros and Blue Jays respectively.  Baseball WAR scores are not adjusted for when players played. But that does not acknowledge what really happened. Before baseball was integrated, and before international players became integral, the player pool was smaller and thus a replacement player was not as able. 

We talk about some of the weird records set in the 2025 season. And close the podcast talking about players that reached base 300 times or more in a single season. There are only 157 of them!  

Intro & Outro music this season courtesy of Mercury Maid! Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music!  

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you can give us 4 or 5 star rating that means a lot. And if you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at [email protected].  You can also follow us on X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  And please tell your friends!

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Free agent hitters Cody Bellinger, Alex Bregman, & Kyle Tucker have still not yet found a team for the 2026 season as the dog days of winter continue. Framber Valdez and Zac Gallen are also still out there as starting pitchers along with Chris Bassitt. But relief pitchers are off the board with Pete Fairbanks the last one to sign - he with the Marlins for 2 years. White Sox Sign Murakami and Pirates sign Ryan O'Hearn after trading for Brandon Lowe.  Mets move Jeff McNeil to the A's. 

WBC rosters are shaping up with the USA team having a deep and talented group of players who've already accepted. Hall-of-Fame voting has been being tabulated and we will have Daniel Brown from The Athletic join us in January after the HOF votes have been tabulated and announced on January 20th. 

Intro & Outro music this season courtesy of Mercury Maid! Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music!  

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you can give us 4 or 5 star rating that means a lot. And if you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at [email protected].  You can also follow us on X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  And please tell your friends!

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Dr. Stephen W. Dittmore has written a book that needed to be written about Jim "Junior" Gilliam. Gilliam followed HOFer Jackie Robinson through Montreal to Brooklyn and was signed by Branch Rickey. Not quite a HOFer himself, Gilliam was a member of four Dodger World Series winning teams - one in Brooklyn and three in Los Angeles. He played in three different stadiums for the Dodgers.  

Jim did not like being called "Junior" but the nickname stuck around for most of his career.  Dr. Dittmore tells us why as he interviewed many in this extremely well-researched biography.  The conversation flows easily so give us a listen! 

Merry Christmas and Happy Kwanzaa, (and belated Happy Hanukkah) to all our listeners! 

Intro & Outro music this season courtesy of Mercury Maid! Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music!  

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you can give us 4 or 5 star rating that means a lot. And if you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at [email protected].  You can also follow us on X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  And please tell your friends!

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Closer Robert Suarez goes to Braves who only need to figure out shortstop to be a juggernaut once again.  The Tigers signed future HOFer Kenley Jansen & re-signed Kyle Finnegan. Sure doesn't look like a team about to trade 2 time AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal. 

Pete Alonso leaves the Mets and goes to the Orioles!  Wow. Kyle Schwarber goes back where he belongs with the Phillies after toying with the Pirates and Reds. Edwin Diaz also left the Mets to be a Dodger. Oh and the Rangers signed Danny Jansen for 2 years and the Jays added another former Met Tyler Rogers. 

Mark went to his first QBC - Queens Baseball Convention which is a fan event for crazy Met fans. We talked about what it was like, the vibe and feeling in the room after an awful week for the Mets. 

Intro & Outro music this season courtesy of Mercury Maid! Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music!  

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you can give us 4 or 5 star rating that means a lot. And if you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at [email protected].  You can also follow us on X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  And please tell your friends!

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2nd baseman & one-time NL MVP Jeff Kent got into the Hall-of-Fame which few expected including us. Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens did not get 25% of the votes to return to the Contemporary Era ballot in 2028 and now will have to wait until 2031 for what could be their final chance.  Kent was great and has the most HRs for a 2B in MLB history. Every player who has the most homers at a position is in the HOF except for Albert Pujols at 1B and Barry Bonds in LF. 

The winter meetings are going on right now in Orlando but there were no Sunday night bombshell trades going into the meetings that started Monday the 8th. 

Intro & Outro music this season courtesy of Mercury Maid! Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music!  

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you can give us 4 or 5 star rating that means a lot. And if you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at [email protected].  You can also follow us on X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  And please tell your friends!

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We began by talking about the best HOFers that did not make the HOF. Not hitting as many home runs hurt the chances of Derek Jeter, Wade Boggs, and Tony Gwynn all of whom did not win an MVP. Manny Ramirez did hit a lot of HRs never won an MVP, but he's also not a HOFer. Mike Piazza never won an MVP finishing second twice. 

Dylan Cease got the big bucks for seven years while Sonny Gray got $41M for one year. Pitchers get paid in different ways but long term deals have been  harder to get for pitchers.  Now Framber Valdez is smiling. 

Nine managers were selected to replace ones not coming back. Warren Schaeffer the latest as he signed on with the #Rockies. Good luck.  We talked about the others who'd already taken the job. 

And then there's the #Mets. We go unit by unit although we did not talk about catcher Francisco Alvarez.  Is there a way for the team to compete for a pennant in 2026?  They have work to do. Will Francisco Lindor be named team captain? Juan Soto does not seem to want the job. Fortunately there is still time pre-season to continue to change the team after trading Brandon Nimmo for Gold Glove 2B Marcus Semien.  Then there's time until the trading deadline too!

Intro & Outro music this season courtesy of Mercury Maid! Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music!  

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you can give us 4 or 5 star rating that means a lot. And if you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at [email protected].  You can also follow us on X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  And please tell your friends!

www.almostcooperstown.com