This Could Have Been *HORRIBLE* For The Blue Jays…. | Blue Jays Rumours & Breakdown

0:00It's the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Looking back at this past offseason and how massive it was for the 2026 Toronto Blue Jays, it gets me thinking about how crazy this could have been if Vladimir Guerrero Jr. didn't sign his massive $14-year $500 million contract. You are Lockdown Blue Jays, your daily Toronto Blue Jays podcast. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome back to Lockdown Blue Jays, we're part of Lockdown Podcast Network. Now the number one sports podcast network, your team every day. Today's episode brought to you by MLB The Show 26. Visit MLB The.Show slash Lockdown and use code Lockdown to unlock a pack for use and diamond dynasty.

1:01Available now on PlayStation 5, Xbox and Nintendo Switch rated E for everyone. As always, I'm Brad Newosco, he's Carter first, you can find us on Twitter, Braden 5, Newosco. Carter first to his well in our main Twitter account at Lockdown Jays. Hit that subscribe button if you haven't already. You guys keep coming back soon, might as well just subscribe. We love to see it and leave your comments, thoughts, feelings on everything we talk about today down below in the comments, Carter. Again, you know, as we're watching this spring training and this off season all play out and who becomes a Toronto Blue Jays, gets me thinking about what this could have looked like, right? You have Boba Shatt, leave the Blue Jays. But we could have been in a situation where the Blue Jays don't sign Vladimir Guerrero Jr. They're early on, he goes to the off season, he goes somewhere else, and then what are we looking at? We'll touch on all of that. Plus, how can the world baseball classic get even better? And what does it mean to the guys and what things need to be fixed for the next one? Also, we'll touch a little bit on spring training as well. Obviously, no game yesterday, so there you guys go.

2:01But Carter, Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. and his importance to this team cannot be understated, the captain of this ball club. But what could have been, right? And looking now to the future of 14 years. Just, I guess, take yourself back to when he signed the $500 million deal. And we were all on a panic thinking, was it going to happen? Were we going to have to wait until for agency? What were your feelings around then, and then when he signed the contract? It's crazy. The difference a year can make with a baseball organization last year at this time. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was still on side. The plan was to go into the season. Unfortunately, we had the fake deadline passed. I guess kind of made up. Again, you're never really going to have deadlines in the sport. But deadlines do make things get done faster. So if Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at this point last year was not signed, signed into April. But just thinking about it now in retrospect. Just seeing how good he did in the World Baseball Classic, albeit that wouldn't have mattered for his contract. But still nice to think about in retro's path.

3:02Thinking about what he could be this season. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Just being with the Toronto Blue Jays for 14 more seasons. What he did in the 2025 playoffs. Imagine you don't have that contract signed. Then Vladimir does that in the playoffs. That probably would have drove his price up about $100 million. Just what that playoff performance did for him. And how much agency bias does carry for these contracts. And I don't want to preface the agency bias really. But a lot of emphasis on that because Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has been a phenomenal player really throughout the entirety of his career. So we're looking at $500 million. And that is still the third highest contract in MLB history. But you lost Boba Shea. In theory, you lost Kyle Tucker. At that point, you have a different priority. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Is that priority of the offseason? If he would have went on-side. But if he did all this and had that playoff run. And it made all these moments and had all these memories within the Toronto Blue Jays fan base. And then you go out and have to reassign that guy for what could look like now. What would have been maybe a $700 million contract. It's pretty fun to see and very reassuring as well.

4:05Knowing that if Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is on the team. They're going to find a way to be competitive. You're not going to have Vladie in his pry right now. At least for the next five or six years. And you're not just going to waste those years. The Toronto Blue Jays are going to try to surround Vladimir Guerrero Jr. with talent. But all of the uncertainty that's going around with Major League Baseball right now. In terms of the lockout. In terms of just where baseball is at in totality with salary cap with the salary floor. At least we know that we have Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to watch. Whether there is baseball on or not. At least if there is baseball on. We know he has to play baseball for the Toronto Blue Jays for the next 14 years. Yeah, Carter. And you brought up the big playoff run and recency bias and whatnot. Imagine if he goes into the World Baseball Classic with the stats he did have after that World Series run. Right. It's it's a think he may be be on a different team right now. And if that contract were to wait until after this World Baseball Classic somehow. Yeah. He's not signed like a week before the season starts. And then he has a stretch where he goes 10 at bats with just over a hundred miles an hour of exit loss. He's in every single at bat.

5:06If somehow you know in the perfect world for bloody I guess in this scenario where he's not signed. Maybe that would have bumped it up you know a couple million dollars as well. Well and just to think that you like obviously he would have been signed it with whatever else. But what how the Blue Jays would have looked back on all of that if they didn't end up resigning him. At for this next season right. It's a think that you've seen what this guy could do. The big question was what can Vlad do when the lights get the brightest. That question has been answered. Oh Vlad is a slow starter. He can't get it going. He goes into the World Baseball Classic and immediately gets it started. It's like he's answering the questions that have been posed to him his entire career. And he's he's answering it in pretty explosive fashion. So it's getting me so so excited for what he can be in 2026. And honestly the Blue Jays need him to be that good. He needs to be the superstar player because you can't you know I think there will be guys that outperform expectations, especially with the talk of regression. But George can you bank on George spring or hitting 30 plus home runs again.

6:06I don't know. So Vlad is going to have to up his game every single year and you're not going to get playoff. You know for stretches for a huge stretch of baseball. But that's just impossible anyway. I mean that was insane. You want something similar if you get like 80% of what Vladimir Kroger was in the playoffs throughout the entirety of the regular season. That is something you are definitely going to take. And the craziest thing with Vlad is this do just turn 27 on Monday. Like this birthday was literally March 16 on Monday. 14 more years of Vlad. I get like money's 40 years old and maybe that's not the flag that we're going to be wanting to watch. But hopefully by that point we have even more memories from Vladimir Kroger. Hopefully a little bit of hardware as well to go along with it. Maybe some personal hardware to Vladimir Kroger. But obviously the bigger team trophy is what Vlad. He would be the first one to say he's after and obviously as a fan of the Toronto Blue Jays is what we all want to see at the end of the day. We want to see our favorite baseball club take home a world series because that has not happened in our lifetime.

7:06Mine and Brains lifetime hopefully you guys might have been lucky enough to know witness maybe the 93 in all of those world series championships. But we're still looking for one and having Vladimir Kroger to steer the ship right at the forefront. Arguably not even in his primary. I think you can argue right now that Vlad is probably about to enter his prime with what he's done in playoffs, what he did with the Dominican Republic. It's so exciting to see Vladimir Kroger. We talked about some of the regression that this office is going to have. I think Vladimir Kroger is a very obvious candidate to have some positive regression with everything that we've seen over the last few months. Carter, I didn't prep you on this. But what I want to do is I want to go over Vladimir Kroger's statistics from last season. I'm going to give you a few. You tell me over under or right around the same. It doesn't have to be exact. I'll go over on this. I'll give you the full concise answer. Perfect. I like that. I like that. I think Vladimir Kroger with games played 156 for Vlad last season. He's been around that mark is pretty much his entire career. Do you see him playing more or less or about the same? It's probably going to be about the same.

8:07But I said I will pick an over and under. I'll pick an over just barely. I think it's not going to get to the 160. But you have the ability to DH Vladimir Kroger. I think they'll use George Bringer a little bit more than we anticipate in the field. Just to give those guys those off days at their primary position. So I'll say over, but it's not going to be 162. It's probably going to be just under 160. Yeah, I don't mind that at all. And I think let's go to the big category next home runs Vladimir Kroger with 23 last year. And I'll throw in home runs and RBI's in this as well. RBI is coming at 84 last season. Because probably if you hit more than 23 on runs, you'll have more RBI's you hit last. You'll probably have less. So there you go. With 23, you have to hit over. If it's not over, I'm going to be very disappointed. I'm not going to lie with what Vladimir Kroger has done in 2026. 84 RBI's in theory. Now, like, why it's a tough scenario to win with bobe and gone. Like, do you think Vladie might be the more of a focal point with driving in runs? Now the bobe shed has gone. I think that's an argument you can make. But now bobe shed was kind of that guy being in that number four spot to be that run producer.

9:11So with Vladie with the RBI's, like as you said, if he hits the home runs, which I'm hoping could be around 30 is what the goal is. I don't think he's going to be that 40 home run guy. But if he can be around 30, that's a good spot for Vladimir Kroger and you're in my opinion for RBI's. I probably want him around 90, 95, especially with those home runs. 100 is a very good mark for hitters to get at with this offense. I think that is a spot that Vladie could get to, but I'll put it at under 100. But it has to be better than 84 and 23 from what it was last year, especially with, you know, some of the regression and bobe shed obviously not being there. I think this is a pretty easy bet, though. I'll put a lot of money on the overs on this one. Yeah, you know what? And I would say mine, but I'm saving them for our big hot takes episode. Because I think a lot of blue jays fans are going to be weary of my hot take, but hopeful in the same sense. Carter, two more for you. It's his batting average, 292 and his OPS at 848. I want your over under on both of those as well. I'm going to go under with the average. I'm hoping that Vladie can sacrifice a little bit of that average for a little bit more of that power.

10:12Vladie is an average hitter. I expected to be right around that 290 mark again, but not be surprised if it goes over. But I'm hoping that it is a little bit of that sacrifice for a little bit more of that power. And then in retrospect, when you do sacrifice the average for the power of the OPS, hopefully we'll go up for Vladie beer grow junior be around that 920 mark would be a good spot for me with Vladie. Anything more than that is absolutely amazing. But we're looking for a little bit more power from Vladie beer grow junior. And we were seeing it in the Dominican Republic. We were seeing it in the playoffs. Obviously in 2025, eight home runs in 18 games. Let's see the whole runs. I want to see like maybe a bringer of rain 2.0. I know you're going to like that comparison there. So we need a big season from Vladie. So hopefully he can deliver for the people. Yeah, I hope so too. And I think a lot of Blue Jays fans have Vladie touted as a, you know, to bust all of his stats from last year. And I fully believe that's going to happen as well. But I'm just excited for baseball to be back, Carter. A lot of fun conversation. I'm sorry to interrupt, but just where do you draft this guy in fantasy?

11:12We're talking about fantasy drafts coming up. And you've had these discussions off camera. We've had some debates. It's again, we're not trying to show our hands too much here. But I mean with everyone that is participating in this fantasy draft. Assume that they are Blue Jays fans. There is a little bit of inherent blue Jays bias that goes into these drafts. But we're very high on Vladimir grow junior. We're confident in the season that he's going to have. But I'm interested to see in terms of that as well. Is where people are going to be drafting Vladimir grow junior. I know for the people I don't like fantasy, you probably don't really care about this. I won't stay on it for too long. But I'm interested to see if he's above the wrong lacunias. Maybe the Tautisis, the Oranalvarez. Where people have him slotted in their fantasy drafts. Yeah, Carter, and we'll be able to tell everybody we have one fantasy draft happening tonight Wednesday night. And so we'll tell you where he lands there. So maybe it gives you guys a little bit of an inkling of where to grab Vladie in your drafts coming up. But we'll do that for the Thursday episode for you guys or the Friday episode. One of the two, depending where we get it. And last thing that I want and not this segment off with is that I we didn't really give out just contract values or contract estimates that what would have been.

12:15Say they don't get this contract signed and Vladie hits the open market of free agency. Has that playoff run? He has all the stats that surround it. What's the final contract for Vladimir grow junior? All things considered. Yeah, so realistically if Vladie's contract would have gone to free agency, he probably would have gotten more anyway. He probably would have got that $550 worth considering Kyle Tucker 244 years. Boba Shad, I mean 126 over three. You got to assume that Vladie's going to be with in terms of AAB right around there. Even more than that. Yeah, so and then if you have to think after the playoff run, you're probably looking at this guy being somewhere in the $600 million range. If not slightly more than that, which is insane to say, but again, precedent has been set. Obviously we've seen that with Tucker. We've seen that with both guys want to get their guys teams want to get their guys. And they're willing to pay big money for it. Now, would it have been the 14 years? So it may change in estimates like that. I don't know if somebody another team would have given him 14. You're probably looking at more of a 12 or an 11 year, maybe even a 10.

13:16But I'm sure the AAB would have been a whole heck of a lot more. I think it's somewhere around the 12 years, 600 million. I really like the 600 million dollar figure. So we could honestly say we're the pretty good estimate. They're all sacking signing Vladimir. Junior last season, probably saved this organization around $100 million. If you wanted to have Vladimir grow junior return, crazy figures that were throwing out there. Maybe that's why there's all these talks about salary floor salary cap. And I'll have all that goes into it. But we'll have these conversations down the road. If the salary cap benefits the Toronto Blue Jays, if it doesn't, I mean, not a lot of teams can hand out the contract that the Toronto Blue Jays did with Vladimir. And I just talked about how reassuring it was with Flattie having him as the face of your franchise. If you have a salary cap and salary floor, there's a lot more semantics. I go into this now. It's not just who can throw the bag at these players. It's you have to have a good management team, which I think the Toronto Blue Jays do. But obviously it is a lot different having a salary cap system compared to not having that salary cap system. And how does life contract get implemented within a salary cap? So there's so much to talk about in regards to that.

14:17But at least we do know that Vladimir grow junior will be playing for the Toronto Blue Jays this year, the following year. And then a lot more after that as well. So unbelievable stuff to see from one of the best players in the sport. So we are absolutely blessed as Toronto Blue Jays fans to watch Vladimir grow junior player. That definitely cares out there. Some of the slides you're seeing and again, Dominican Republic games. You see it in the playoffs as well. You see it in regular season games. It wouldn't be surprised you're starting to spring training game as well from Flattie. But we'll move on from the Flattie glazing where you have a whole season. A whole 14 years to talk about Vladimir grow junior and what you can do with the Toronto Blue Jays. I think it's fair to say that meme brain and both think that he will be the best player on the Toronto Blue Jays in 2026. And that is definitely not a hot take. But there's a bunch more that we want to go into the world baseball classic. The final and Britain has a little bit of we'll call it around. We'll see how it ends up being. But he has a bone to pick with the world baseball classic and how it set up. A bunch more that we want to dive into. We'll jump into it after this break. Today's episode brought to you by Fandall college basketball is nonstop big games tight spreads momentum swings every single night from early tip off to late night west coast shootouts.

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16:29So if your hiring spend less time searching and more time actually interviewing those candidates who check all of your boxes with indeed sponsored jobs. There's less time, less stress and you get more results. When you need the right person to cut through that chaos, this is the job for indeed sponsor jobs. And listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsored job credit to help you get your job. The premium status it deserves at indeed dot com slash podcast. Just go to indeed dot com slash podcast right now in support our show by saying that you heard about indeed on this podcast. Indeed dot com slash podcast. Terms and conditions apply need to hire. This is the job for indeed sponsor jobs. So Carter, we got to get talking a little bit about the world baseball classic because I have a few points to make here. Not only has this been a complete and utter success for baseball worldwide. It has been unbelievable and they knocked this out of the park. So huge hat tips to the world baseball classic. The organization that that puts this all together all of that. It has been unbelievable. This is the most fun I've had watching baseball or international baseball in a very, very long time.

17:32But I've got a few points that I think need to be ironed out. And I think we will be ironed out for the next time this rolls around. Number one, I think we all know it's going to happen. And if that strike call in the Dominican United States. Happened as it is more than just one to like that whole game was like. Yeah, I mean, there's the one against one sodo as well. But the big fact is they do try to follow a lot of what the MLB does. And what the MLB is doing is bringing in ABS. I think if they can bring in the exact same system, the two challenge system. If you continue to get them right, you continue to get your challenges. That's what you want to do. Number two, Carter, the insurance stuff. It has to be figured out we want to see best on best. We can't have insurance be the problem. And what is going to have to happen is that these players will have to be rented out. And in renting these players out to the world baseball classic, they become world baseball classic players. And they technically now own these players. And so they have to put up the insurance money and the insurance for these players.

18:35If they want to keep growing baseball and they want to keep growing the game, the world baseball classic is the perfect way to do that. And it shows that it works. People have been talking about it a lot more than ever. They've heard talking about world baseball classic because of the fun that these teams are having. The competitive baseball. So in doing so, you want to have the best players there. And there can't be these insurance issues moving forward. So two major things that I want changed. I think the insurance thing tops anything else. If they don't bring in the ABS system, it's not the end of the world for me. But they most likely will. The insurance thing, Carter, it's to me. It has to be fixed. This is this is a flawed system. It, you know, to have Paul Skins or Tyreeks Google on innings limits is ridiculous. This is supposed to be one of the biggest tournaments players have come out and said that some players value with the world baseball classic more than a world series, which is insane to me. But in the same breath, I understand it. And if they want this to continue to grow. You got to put all of your sort of eggs in one basket here.

19:35There's a bunch of things to address there. I'll start with the ABS stuff. I think that's the shortest point of this. And I think you're right. I think this is something that is just so new that they didn't want to, you know, stick their necks out and implement something that they haven't necessarily seen in a big sample size. So I think the next world baseball classic, if they do it the exact same way, the MLB hasn't implemented. As you said, with the two challenges, not having it, you know, on limited where you could challenge every single picture. It feels like you're in like a robot game where every single time they're just panning to the jumbo tron. So I think the MLB, even before the season started, has really hit the nail on the head with this. You don't have to see obviously with the trial and error that comes from this. But with the ABS, I do anticipate that the world baseball classic will adopt that because they just think it benefits everybody involved. Other than maybe the umpires makes the umpires look a little bit bad. But if you don't want to look bad, make the right calls. I know it's easier said been done. But there were a few in that DRN United States game that definitely could have went the other way, not just against the Dominican Republic or against the United States. It was bad for both teams, but it is a little bit unfortunate, especially with one of the best games of the tournament ending with the ball.

20:36That is clearly not a strike in terms of the insurance. It's a lot more of a complicated issue. And it always it just comes down to the same thing. It's the same thing, the salary cap, the salary for all of it is money, unfortunately. And you're right. It's awesome. Like looking at the hockey with the Olympics, having best on best makes it so much more fun to watch. The only issue is with a lot of these players. For example, it's tired scuba when you have a contract. You're going to contract here and you want to make you're like he might get like a half a billion contract at this point. So with scuba with the World Baseball Classic, like there are specific scenarios where scuba kind of didn't think it was worth the risk. But in terms of like Francisco and door in terms of Carl's career kind of what happened with Puerto Rico. They're just not able to get their insurance approved with the indoor. Maybe there was the hand thing. I'm not exactly sure what the injury concerned was behind that. But having so much issues with this insurance is just sucks as a baseball fan because you do want to see that best on best. But it's a risk to loan these players out for the organizations that Lindor went to the World Baseball class and got injured.

21:36I mean, God forbid, Otoni gets hurt playing for team Japan. And then now the Dodgers are liable. It's it's a tough scenario. So yeah, the thing would be to rent out these players, but then the World Baseball Classic is liable. So there's a lot more semantics that go into it. The easy fix for baseball fans just to say, hey, just make sure these players are insured. We want to see the best on best, but obviously it's not as easy as that. And then in terms of like just growing the game, the atmosphere at all of these games, especially with like Puerto Rico with Venezuela, with Dominican Republic. Like even it could be a single in the third inning and you see almost the entire bench clearing, which I know some people might not like before growing the game of baseball and having it on this massive stage, the world stage. And having people watch that and seeing the excitement that goes into baseball is something that is going to benefit the sports so much. We saw it with the candidate. We saw how much that Canadians game has taken strides. We're seeing it on the world stage as well. So having the best players available is just going to bring more attention to the game and having the best players playing in the World Baseball Classic is only going to be beneficial for everybody.

22:37You just got to find a way to hopefully limit the injuries, but there's really no way to do that in the game of baseball. So freak accidents happen. So it's the goal is to get all these players insured, but it's a lot easier said and done. Unfortunately, well, yeah, you've run a French school indoor and a ham eight bone and we've heard so much about that over this past year. It seems like it this sort of came out of nowhere and then a ton of players having problems with it. But you know, again, maybe this is needs to be instead of the MLB and the World Baseball Classic organization be two completely different things. Maybe there needs to be some sort of combination sort of like the four nations face off in the NHL, right? There needs to be some cohesion with these two organizations so that it does make it easier because I, you know, with the amount of money that the MLB makes plus the amount of money that I'm guessing the World Baseball Classic made. You think they would put these funds together and make sure that this is the same issue with the owners though. I mean, like the my own is owner makes money, right? Like he has the ability to spend again when you have money.

23:41Sometimes you don't necessarily want to spend that money and some people are a little bit cheaper than others. So like there is reasons like I understand why you wouldn't want to send some of your best players to the World Baseball Classic again with the injury concerns. Like that doesn't necessarily do a lot for the organization. And flydy goes against hurt for the DR. What does that do for Toronto? Like it's nice that you saw him on the World Baseball Classic stage. But then that pretty much ruined your entire season not having Vladimir Kuro Jr. So I get it from both sides, but it's one of those things that you just want to see the best brand of baseball. Like fans want to see it. The only one that's really benefiting from not sending Francisco indoor is the owner and the match organization not risking that injury. Other than that, like the benefit is just really being lost with the fan base and the true enjoyers of baseball. Yeah, and that goes to it too, right? The bigger these guys names on the World stage, the more they're going to bring in for your organization. So it does help the organization as well to send these guys, but you're right, is the payoff worth the risk. And to me as a fan and as an enjoyer of baseball and a person that wants to try to grow this game and wants to see this game grow to me, it does outweigh it.

24:48But again, I'm out the one pouring out the millions of millions of dollars. So what do I know? It's also funny when you ask the players, it's which one they value more. The World Series or the World Baseball Classic and how the players actually feel about an event like this. Because you saw it in the foreign nations, the foreign nations felt like, again, we're a lot of hockey references. Believe it or not, Canadian podcast, we're talking about hockey, but the foreign nations, like that was an electric tournament. There was literally four teams in that tournament. So the World Baseball Classic, like we've seen it with some of these players already. Auto Lopez came out and said that he wished the World Baseball Classic happened every single year. You look at Julio Rodriguez, I got a quote from him, which stirred up a little bit of debate here, which I see why and I understand it. But like players are able to have their own opinion on a lot of these things. And Julio Rodriguez pretty much just said, I'm the point of the quote here. He said, being honest, I love the Mariners. They know that I give my best for them every single time that I step on the field, but winning a World Baseball Classic would be on top of my list. This is for my country, this is for my town, this is for my people, my neighborhood, everybody in the Dominican Republic.

25:51So I would say that winning the World Baseball Classic would be the number one. A lot of people didn't love that. I completely understand it. Like we were looking at the Olympics, how you want to embrace your country, you want to get behind your country, the World Baseball Classic. And I was cheering for Team Canada and just seeing how well our country did in terms of how they have done previously. It's definitely something that I could be proud of. But then a lot of you grow junior had a comment on this as well. And he said, I'm not going to say that the World Series or the World Baseball Classic is better for me, but for me it is different. So obviously this means a lot to these players. I mean, you're seeing it in the atmosphere at these games. Like there's a reason that they're getting so fired up for a single in the second inning is that they're prideful. They love representing their country and they pretty much would, it seems like they would die for the players in their doghouse. It's just absolutely awesome to see you love seeing how close that these club houses are, especially that Dominican Republic Republic clubhouse. Kind of reminding you of the Toronto Blue Jays. Maybe that's why I'm gravitating towards them. But World Baseball Classic in total, I just an unbelievable event. Whether you think that the World Baseball Classic is better than the World Series, I'm not really willing to debate that.

26:54I don't think it really matters because two of the best baseball showcases that you're going to see on the world. Yeah, I'll debate it. I don't think that that is a realistic thing to say. The league that pays you millions and millions of dollars to play baseball and giving all of these players opportunity. The World Baseball Classic doesn't do that because it comes out. I totally get the nationalism part of all of this. Obviously, big team Canada. I wrap the Canadian flag and all wear the jerseys and the hats and cheer for my guys. But at the end of the day, it's the major leagues and it is something that has given way more opportunity to a lot of people than the World Baseball Classic. So for me, I don't love agreeing with that. Yes, it's great to represent your people and everything like that. But isn't that what you're doing at the main at the biggest level you can? Whatever, I'm okay with it. I'm not super angry about it. I think the way that Vlad answered that is actually sort of perfect.

27:57It's not that one is bigger than the other. It's that there are two different things. One, you're playing for your country and your people and that's great. The other one, you're playing also in Vlad's case for one of your countries and the team that pays you a ton of money to be able to do this and to give you a lifestyle that you may not have had otherwise. So well, maybe Vlad would still, but not to this extent anyway. Yeah, there's like, there's arguments to be made from both sides. The World Baseball Classic, as you said, isn't something that comes around every single year. So having the opportunity to participate in it and then win it as well. Like you maybe have what four or five opportunities to compete in a World Baseball Classic in theory. If you're a good major league baseball player, you have 15 issues. If you're really good, obviously, and you have a 10 year that is as long. So you're going to have more opportunities to win a World Series compared to a World Baseball Classic. And then a lot of it, as we said, just comes down to pride having your country. The national is like your country's flag on your Jersey compared to know just a team that is paying you a lot of money and is giving you your livelihood.

29:00But definitely different scenarios and not saying that Julio Rodriguez is because he said he likes the World Baseball Classic doesn't mean that he doesn't like the Seattle Mariners and he doesn't want to win a World Series. They are just very different. I can completely understand both sides of the fence with people saying that they would rather participate in the World Baseball Classic or rather participate in the World Series. As a fan, if you have to twist my arm, like I'm taking the World Series just because there's more baseball, like you have 162, then you have playoffs. There's just the more that goes into it. And it's more of the long haul. Whereas the World Baseball Classic, it's over too quickly, I think. It's nice to, you know, get watch these teams play and you'll kind of get immersed in the dugout. And, you know, almost feel like you're there at some points with the atmosphere that was going on. But if I had to pick, I guess it is the World Series. But you'll have to see both of these events going on no matter which way, no matter what's on at the end of the day. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, more baseball is more baseball. Exactly. You know, we don't got to suffer through spring training sometimes, which is always super nice. But Carter, we got to take a break. We're going to come back. Grab a few more conversations just in regards to spring training, the Toronto Blue Jays.

30:00How many games they got left? What's on the docket? We'll do all that right after this short break. Today's episode is also sponsored by Game Time. I'm going to be opening day is almost here and you can feel it. The fresh starts, the big expectations and that first crack of the bat, whether it's a breakout rookie or a division race that goes down to the wire. There's nothing like being in the ballpark for it. The only problem getting tickets can feel like a grind. There are long cues, surprise fees and the prices jump at the checkout. And that's why I have Game Time. Game Time, the Game Time app gives fans the advantage with consistent innovation. It's how you unlock amazing tickets and experiences in just a few taps. We use this all the time, whether it is for those late night deals. Or if we want to see exactly where we're sitting, the Game Time app has the ability to have a panoramic view from exactly where your seats are going to be at that event, the concert, the game that you are at. So a very good opportunity, especially if you're going to a new stadium, a new event, a new place for the first time and you don't really know what it looks like in there.

31:00Game Time gives you the opportunity to figure out exactly what you're buying. So you can take the guesswork out of buying MLB tickets, concerts, concert tickets, NHL tickets, any tickets that you need with Game Time. You can download the Game Time app, create an account, use code locked on $420 off your first purchase, term supply. Again, create an account and your team code, LO, CK, ED, OM, $420 off down the Game Time app today. Today's episode brought to you by MLB, the show 26. We just had an absolute blast of this last night. We were rolling road to the show and it's the greatest game in baseball. And it's back with its newest installment. Baseball fans are going to have a hard time pulling themselves away from this one. Trust me, I think we got on fairly late. We recorded the podcast yesterday. And then we were like, oh, let's go play for a little bit. You know, boot the game up. And I don't think I got off to about 3 a.m. We were just having a blast. Me, Carter, my brother is a great time. As it always is playing MLB the show.

32:00If you're a gamer, a baseball fan or just want to enjoy America's favorite pastime in a new, exciting way, you're going to love MLB the show 26. Play as your favorite team and franchise players and see if you have what it takes to win your own world series. Visit MLB the.show slash locked on and use code locked on to unlock a pack for use and diamond dynasty. Internet connection required. Available now on PlayStation 5 Xbox Series X. Xbox Xbox Series X. And then Dendo switch rated E for everyone. So Carter, one more thing we got to hop into in that is how many games of the Toronto blue jays have left in spring training. You know, we always talk about how long spring training feels, but then we get to this point with five games remaining. And you're like, oh, I guess we're almost an opening day. Isn't that crazy? But they do have technically four to five days, four days off. I believe it is in between spring training and an opening day for them. See, and we think it's bad now. It's going to be bad when we reach, you know, the 24th.

33:01And then there's three days until opening day. We don't have any blue jays baseball on. And then I'm like, what do I do with my only couple days until you have baseball at almost every single day for about six months in a row? But again, like, what am I going to do with myself for those three days? Five spray training games, absolutely insane. I think it's been a lot easier to get through the spray training considering that the world baseball classic was on. And I think all in the same fence is auto Lopez saying that I would love to have this every single year because it would make it a lot easier to get to opening day. Opening day last year felt like, oh, again, a little bit of a different scenario where the expectations were a little bit different. But opening day and spring training it felt a little bit longer just because all we weren't exactly sure what kind of team we're going to be watching in 2025. Not having meaningful baseball on felt like spring training lasted about four months last year compared to that a month and a little bit that it actually is. So only having five games left now. It's getting the crunch time. We're seeing it with the roster moves. We're seeing it with, you know, don't cease making a minor league start compared to playing with the spring training team. You're starting to see the starting rotation be formulated and structured in a way where they're going to roll it out for opening day.

34:04So I think with some of our starting pictures, we've probably already seen the last start of their spring training. So that's how you know we're getting very close and getting super excited to see what the Toronto Blue Gs have in store for us here in 2026. Yeah, dude, I can't wait for opening day and we get to see Kevin Gosman take the mound for the first time in his Toronto Blue Gs 10 year. I am, I am over the moon excited. I am ready for spring training to be done. And you know what I said, oh, I'll miss baseball in those three days, four days as well. But that's also why I have MLB. The show downloaded and will not leave my bed probably. So it'll be a ton of fun anyway. Still, you know, as of this world baseball classic is wrapped up. You get you're like, okay, now we can go watch a little bit of whatever's left the spring training. And then you get into the grind of 160 to the fun of baseball season. Plus, you know, summers are right around the corner. And you just have a way better feeling than when it's, you know, minus 25 outside. And you know, you can't step outside without the wind cutting through you. So it's just going to be a whole lot better. Yeah, you can leave your house and not absolutely hate your entire life, which is pretty cool to see.

35:06I mean, we're big golfers as well. We'd like to call ourselves athletes. I don't know if you know that's actually the case here, but we do like to play a lot of sports in the summer. So being outside and just having the sun out as a Canadian, of course, if you guys were watching the podcast, at least a lot of you guys are probably Canadians as well. So you know exactly where we are coming from. One more thing that I just wanted to bring up. Venezuela, United States, they are playing in the world baseball classic final. Just give me a score prediction. And then just overall who you think is going to win. I think there is a clear favorite here. Depends if you want to go with the David versus Goliath. Maybe you're on the hood and carries the team. But who do you have winning the world baseball classic? Yeah, so I mean, obviously you guys will know listening to this. So you can tell me if I'm an idiot or not. But that's fine. Carter, I mean, it's not a hard answer. I mean, I would love to go with the date though. You have Eduardo Rodriguez and no one McLean, which is not exactly what I thought you're going to see in the finals. No, but you know what? It's sort of what I expected again with some guys having to go back. Some guys being used in the quarters and semi-finals. You knew that it wasn't going to be the Paul schemes.

36:07The Tyrex school. Yeah, it's their fifth option tactically. That's right. That's right. So, but no, I still got the United States. Their offense has just got too many, too many weapons. I think they're going to take this score. I'll say eight three US. Yeah, I had 72 US. I'm hoping I'm wrong. And I'm hoping we can see Venezuela, especially with the vibes. Like imagine like you have this big upset. And you saw that as well. And the little comeback they had against Italy. They could have a big game against the United States. I mean, it's going to be like gave seven all over again, except the Toronto Blue Chase. Arted it. I don't have nearly as much. But I guess Ernie Clemente. It's the Ernie Clemente. I guess Andre Samedez. Who's the better middle of the field here? I guess we'll have to see. Even though both of them probably won't have a big of an impact on the game, unfortunately. But I just just did want to say thank you guys for watching. Like's comment support. Everything recently has been much appreciated. But I did want to take this opportunity to bring up the everyday club before we do head out. Three promo code march that you can use. You have the ability to check out exactly what the everyday club is about with no risk whatsoever. And there's a link in our description to find out more information

37:10to take advantage of a lot of opportunities. That we'll cover about throughout the season. But praying is there anything else that you want to add before we take off in this one? No, I'll be back with you guys tomorrow. Thanks. It's always like Carter said for listening, tuning in, subscribing, liking, commenting, the whole order deal. And we'll be back with you guys tomorrow. What's up everybody? This is Ross Jackson, one of the hosts of the Lockdown podcast network. And if you haven't heard yet, we started a club and we would love for you to join. It's called the Everydayer Club. And one of the things that you get as a member is an ad-free version of the podcast that you're listening to right now. It works with whatever podcast app you already use. Same episodes every day, just no ads. There's also a member's only group chat for fans of your team, plus a lot more. You can check it out by tapping the Everydayer Club link in the show notes.