 He is John flower. Do you all know him? So here he is. Thank you. How are you John? Everything's great. Yeah. Yeah So our boon said, you know the other day at the months and dinner this team is pretty much the team that we're gonna have and barring any Unforeseen acquisition and we think that this could challenge for championship. Do you think it's that good? I agree? Yeah, I mean if you think about what Brian Caseman did this winter bringing impacts thin and bringing back hap The rotation is in good shape the bullpen's unbelievable with Britain coming back and out of you know And then you look at the lineup, you know, there's gonna be some question marks in there Gary Sanchez behind the plate who's gonna play first base? But I think all in all this team is ready to go up against the Red Sox and you got to find a way to beat them And how is year two for Stanton different than year one or does it just kind of stay the same? Well, I mean obviously he's gonna be more comfortable, but I don't I think he did a great job handling himself in New York for the First year I always pay attention after games how he handles the media how he handles questions And I thought he was a rock star that way. I mean the performance on the field may be up and down But played through injuries I think he's gonna come in the spring training feeling a lot more comfortable knowing what it's all about playing in New York You expect him to be a little bit better than he was last year Who's the one player who you think a change in play could make a major impact to the team this season a change in play Meaning meaning their improvement this season would change the whole team You know what I always look at behind the plate Peter and you know Gary Sanchez is the guy for me And I kind of feel like this season for him is it's time to go do it and kind of be that all-star on both sides of the Baseball stay healthy Run down the line every day, you know when he when he's in there and kind of take it to the next level last year Was such a disappointment. I expect him to get a lot better But when I go to spring training he's gonna be the first guy I'm paying attention to every day How does DJ LeMay you fit in? Where does he play? I was shocked with that signing? I don't know how you felt about it. Yeah, and you know everybody that I talked to at the winter meetings They felt like they want to keep the labor at second on a consistent basis And then you signed LeMay you so how is that going to work? And the Yankees also talk about playing third base playing first base like it's gonna be that easy for him I don't see that being that easy to be a utility guy who's gonna find four bats every night all around the infield So Aaron Boone's gonna have a lot of decisions to make not only with his infield But with some of the outfield guys in the rotation because I guess the analytics Michael, right? They don't want you to play 162, right? So if there's gonna be 25 days off for the entire infield that still doesn't give you 500 of bats right now I guess the big question is when is DD coming back the organization believes it's gonna be sooner than later But you do hear rumors Tommy John surgery that this could be long as sexted in Los Angeles ended up being a long time So you have any idea when we might be able to see DD. No, I mean, I'm hearing July 1st I think that's optimistic very optimistic So I would plan if I was the front office sometime in August and now that gets back to to Lewitski What's he going to be even if he goes to spring training and he plays maybe four or five days a week and Stays healthy can he continue that for four months into the season if he can then what a great signing? That's gonna be if he can't then all of a sudden Glaber is gonna be moving all over the place And I think that's when things get a little confusing a little later on in the show I don't be at the dinner tonight. We're gonna have Luis Severino on and in the first half of the season He was about as good as any pitcher in baseball including Chris sale Anybody you want to mention and the second half of the season It was a mystery to me and then we find out he might have been tipping pitches Do you think it was about tipping pitches or to the lead figure amount? No, I definitely think the tipping pitches was a big deal I also think what was downplayed was him throwing over 200 innings the year before and then coming back and all of a sudden His trouble started happening right around the middle of the season and you wonder if fatigue Maybe it was a problem and then you couple that with tipping pitches now all of a sudden You're going out there hoping for the best and and you can throw 98 miles an hour You know this Michael at the big league level if you don't locate if you don't hit your spots If you're tipping you're gonna get beat up and I did an event with Luis this winter and he was very open about it And that's something that they've addressed something that he's gonna have to work on and continue to work on Because it's so easy for pitchers to fall back into some bad habits with tipping pitches Yeah, and I think the game where it really came to a head for me was that met game on that Sunday night where the Mets were Laying off that slider. I mean it's a filthy slider, but if you know what's coming You just don't swing at it because it's rarely ever a strike What are some of the things you think batters pick up on to see that that's coming well We did a we did a hot stove show this winter Don on and really detailing what he was doing And he would actually look towards third base when he was throwing a fastball or a slider I don't remember which one it was but it was so blatant when you saw it on video when you and you were looking for it That you could see it clear as day He was also doing something with his glove high or low Which was always something when I was playing Kirk Gibson was a master at picking up pitchers who were tipping It would always be fanning the glove or going high and low depending on coming out of the stretcher the wind up Louise was doing multiple things So you couple that with that getting around the league and then you get to the playoffs where we saw the Boston Red Sox bench Actually calling out pitches before they were delivered. There's a lot going on So it's as simple as just sort of a weird habit that you happen to naturally develop with each pitch Yes, it becomes something that's habitual where they they'll look in it'll get a sign And maybe it's a change up and they start fanning their glove and they don't even think about it And there are hitters who won't even look for it But if somebody picks it up it starts spreading around the league and it's something you have to figure out And all the times that you play John, who's the best guy teammate or coach that was a science dealer from the bench It was Kirk Gibson and Mickey Tettleton in Detroit and they would tell me and I was a young kid at 26 years old first time playing every day and they would say by the third inning We were gonna have every pitch this guy is throwing and they would do it for everybody They would do it for everybody and they would be locked in from the first And they made a living as an older player where they might get beat with a fastball But when they know it's coming they can cheat a little bit take care of it and Kirk Gibson would also set up Left-handed relief pitchers when he would know when that breaking ball was coming would swing wildly at the first one Baiting him into throwing it again, and then he would set him up and drill it How did you have did you have pitchers that tipped and you had to try to work them through it? We did and but my problem is I'm thinking about game plan I'm thinking about runners on base, so I can't really pay attention to who's tipping and trying to pick something up on it Wade Boggs in Tampa Bay would go to the bullpen when pitchers would throw their side session and would be locking in trying to Pick something up on it now with all the video you would expect that this would be something that would be easy to pick up Now not to play pop psychologists, but I would just think because it's just like having a tick like in human nature We all do some things that you know whether it's like you with the pen right, but so if you took the pen away I would think I'd replace it with something else Maybe I would tap my foot maybe I'd use my finger so is there a feeling that alright He stops fanning with the glove or he stops looking at third, but he'll replace it with something else Of course, that's something that you'd have to pay attention to you have to scout yourself I think the organization has to scout these guys actually yeah I would say that you know Tim nearing was an ex teammate of mine with Boston very good at tipping pitches So I would think that there would be video that would be sent around the organization We think something's going on here watch this see if you can find something so we can take care of it with our player Talking with John Flaherty of the yes network here on the Michael K show You play baseball for a long time. You've been an announcer for a long time the fact that it's February 8th and Bryce Harper And Manny Machado are unsigned does that stun you? I'm shocked of course. Yeah, and I think back to My days as a player if you weren't signed by Christmas and New Year's you start panicking And you start panicking you have a family to think about where are my kids going to be You know, where do I set up shop and it becomes a full-blown panic? I couldn't even imagine getting into February and you know these two players are going to get nice deals They're going to end up in a good spot But it's got to be stressful for those other guys out on the market who are 31 32 years old and you're looking at the reality that you might not have a job In a couple of weeks and your career could be over. I was talking to a guy the other day I was talking on agent and he said There's no collusion. He said they finally just figured it out. He said if you look at war Historically, he said war has a precipitous drop after the age of 32. He said they finally figured it out How do you legislate against smart? I totally agree and and the one year that I could have been a free agent Well was after after this contra I was 31 years old, right? Right and I think back now if I was a free agent at this time 31 I'd have trouble finding a job and I ended up signing a three-year deal on my past performance the year before They never do the which they are not doing anymore and they they've smartened up and I also think there's some things with the The cba maybe that the union didn't do such a great job in signing this agreement That is keeping some of the spending down So there's a combination there that these free agents are in a tough spot And I'm just wondering not that any of the fans are going to feel bad for them But is scott boris becoming a dinosaur is he almost obsolete? Remember he was the one that would send organizations Like spiral notebooks full of information that they already have now So I'm just wondering are all those types of agents now becoming obsolete. Yeah He would sell his player to an organization. This is why you need my guy and you're right don I think those days are over and I think it's getting to the point And it probably has to get to this point that that meet middle of the road free agent Better take a job to get service time and pension time More than the millions of dollars that he was hoping for to try to get to that 10 year being a free a full-time pension player I gotta tell you john. I've known you a long time. That's one of the most beautiful shirts really nice It's gorgeous. It was a a great christmas gift that I broke out just for the show. It's really it's tremendous Really, you know, I'm I can't even talk right now. Everybody's laughing. No, it's it's a great show It's it's not a joke. I never get these compliments when we're in the booth together in mid august either way Nice shirt is a nice another way of saying nice body too. Oh, because that makes it work. I'm gonna start blushing now Now you should feel awkward John good to see us eat the dinner. All right. Yeah, look forward to it. That's john flowerty everybody