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Baseball Isn’t Boring

We're Ranking The Best Offseasons, With Julian McWilliams

26 Jan 2026

Transcription

Chapter 1: What teams had the best offseasons according to Julian McWilliams?

0.031 - 14.974 Julian McWilliams

of Baseballs and Boring going, and that's Julian McWilliams of CBS Sports. Because there's nobody I'd rather talk to on the planet. I gave Adovito an opportunity for me to not say that, and he begged me to say it.

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14.994 - 21.003 Bradfo

Did he? Oh, I mean, it's part of the brand now. People know. People do. How does Rich Hill react to it?

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22.125 - 46.523 Julian McWilliams

He did a spit take the other day. He did a Dunkin' Donuts spit take. Nice. By the way, because I'm on a heater when it comes to this stuff, do you A, want to retire, or B, play in the WBC? Do you have an announcement to make on either one of those things?

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47.804 - 52.65 Bradfo

Well, in the words of Joe Kelly, who actually retires?

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52.934 - 64.057 Julian McWilliams

Well, so it's like when you moved on from the globe, you said, I'm not retiring from the globe. I'm just, I'm just, I'm not writing for them anymore.

64.077 - 65.42 Bradfo

I'm not writing for them anymore.

65.58 - 65.861 Julian McWilliams

Yeah.

66.041 - 71.112 Bradfo

I'm not, I'm not doing, uh, I'm not doing the, the, the globe show anymore.

72.273 - 82.517 Julian McWilliams

You just moved on. You moved on to other things. Yeah, I moved on. And you are not playing the WBC. You probably – is there a country you could play for?

Chapter 2: How do players decide between retirement and participating in the WBC?

110.448 - 117.175 Julian McWilliams

There we go. I think it would be good. You're going to WBC.

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117.235 - 122.828 Bradfo

Congratulations. Team Swaziland. Team Botswana.

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122.848 - 125.171 Julian McWilliams

Again, literally, I'm not responding to any of this.

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129.778 - 131.481 Bradfo

Why? Adivino's playing for Team Italy.

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131.761 - 136.809 Julian McWilliams

I know. Chapman's playing for Great Britain.

137.009 - 142.457 Bradfo

That's interesting. We do have, here's big news. Remember their jerseys last year? I mean, four years ago, Great Britain.

142.477 - 172.868 Julian McWilliams

Oh, Great Britain, like the letters are falling off? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, having talked to the people in charge of Great Britain, they're ready to go, much better prepared. I'm looking forward to that. By the way, big news. We are coming out for the WBC with Baseballs and Boring shirt, WBC shirts, which is basically going to be saying Baseballs and Boring in Spanish and Italian. Cool.

173.422 - 181.98 Julian McWilliams

What else is there? Well, we'll do another one with Japanese. Yeah. Is Portuguese, I guess, right, for Brazil? Correct?

182.36 - 190.878 Bradfo

Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, you know what? You could tap into the Portuguese market here, baby.

Chapter 3: What impact does team chemistry have on player performance?

216.208 - 217.21 Julian McWilliams

Congratulations.

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217.85 - 222.302 Bradfo

Have you been before? No, I have not. You were not allowed.

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222.882 - 227.067 Julian McWilliams

You had to do game and notes for spring training back in that last WBC.

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228.008 - 229.93 Bradfo

Yeah, yeah.

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230.691 - 234.695 Julian McWilliams

You had to make sure that Chad De La Guerra's hamstrings were intact.

235.736 - 239.681 Bradfo

Yeah. Right? Pivotal. Yeah. Pivotal news there.

239.701 - 246.308 Julian McWilliams

I do remember, though, when Puerto Rico came over and played. Remember that day?

247.132 - 275.297 Bradfo

Yeah, I do. I do. That was the day that Ian asked that jerk Kike Hernandez about... About, you know, it was a softball question. He asked him like, Oh, what would, what would it mean for you? Like, do you know, do you take anything by playing center field here and possibly, you know, maybe playing for the, for the, you know, being able to do it for the Red Sox as well.

275.398 - 285.749 Bradfo

And yet he's like, no, I'm shortstop for the Red Sox. He was like, well, no, I'm the shortstop for the Red Sox. Thank you very much. Then he went out to throw the ball in the shitter every time that season.

Chapter 4: How do the offseasons of the Orioles and Cubs compare?

414.802 - 424.572 Bradfo

And just seeing them play together on TV, it just looks really, really exciting. And to have that country behind you certainly means something. That's a team I definitely really want to see.

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424.592 - 429.737 Julian McWilliams

Well, they last time, they were supposed to be the best team or one of the best teams, and they had the center of the ball.

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429.757 - 430.398 Bradfo

That's a problem.

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430.978 - 447.698 Julian McWilliams

Yeah, they did not do well. And I went – so I went to Miami, and I actually didn't even go to the games. It was Dominican-Puerto Rico, and I just went outside the stadium and just walked around outside. What my takeaway was, yeah, just see the vibe, right?

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448.178 - 465.258 Julian McWilliams

It was cool for a while, but then what happens is that you want to eat somewhere, and what you realize is, oh, my goodness, around this spaceship of a stadium, there is zero places to eat. Zero. No sports bars, nothing. Nothing.

465.618 - 466.019 Bradfo

Really?

466.56 - 473.42 Julian McWilliams

Nothing. So when you go there, prepare accordingly. Yeah, nothing.

473.44 - 483.999 Bradfo

I might have to pull the old Julian and just order some Uber Eats and go outside like, hey, I'm at KD. I can't get over there. Yeah, no. Walk over here.

484.219 - 486.503 Julian McWilliams

No, I don't. No, no, no.

Chapter 5: What are the implications of winning the offseason for MLB teams?

988.199 - 991.603 Bradfo

I think he's going to be a good player, a good hitter, at least, at the very least.

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991.683 - 1001.936 Julian McWilliams

No, and they had a bunch of guys underperform, but you bring in Ward, you bring in – Alonzo, you're bringing these other guys. Our guy, Tyler O'Neal, you get him healthy. Boom, you're on your way.

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1001.956 - 1002.537 Bradfo

Get him healthy.

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1002.898 - 1004.901 Julian McWilliams

Here we go. All right, number four.

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1006.563 - 1036.872 Bradfo

Number four, I got the Cubs. Ooh! Yeah. Look, obviously, I think the Bregman thing has helped them this offseason. Them getting him, I think, really means a lot for that team in terms of where they're going, what they're trying to do. And obviously, you know, you have PCA there. I just think they're a really good all-around team.

1036.892 - 1054.316 Bradfo

They didn't get far last year, but again, this was a team that we talked about them not wanting to spend. They were kind of Red Sox-y for the last six, seven years, six years or so. But to see them get their hands dirty a little bit, I think is good for the game and good for Chicago as well.

1055.498 - 1061.606 Julian McWilliams

All right. I'm really anxious to see what your three through two, one is going to be because I know I'm not going to agree with one of them.

1063.108 - 1063.349 Bradfo

Yeah.

1063.749 - 1063.97 Julian McWilliams

All right.

Chapter 6: How does the American League East compare to other divisions?

1352.718 - 1378.945 Julian McWilliams

Cody Pond's fine. You don't know, but you lost Chris Bassett. They say you replace him with him. Which one do you rather have? And then even Dylan Cease, hey, good, man. You want to be aggressive. You want to get that guy. Great. But if you match up, we've done this exercise, as much as we want to say, Red Sox, what are you doing? If you match it up, it's not all that dissimilar.

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1380.287 - 1388.481 Bradfo

You're right, Daniel. Yeah, I might have to take them out of there. No, I'm sticking to my guns. You know what? Yeah. You know what?

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1388.501 - 1391.867 Julian McWilliams

Because you know what? The offseason isn't done yet.

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1391.948 - 1415.854 Bradfo

It's not done yet. And look, I think they should have re-signed Bichette, too. Remember, I've been on this podcast. How could you let him go? Obviously, reports have come back where he's in the front office running on the same page, but obviously money changes things if you just pay the guy. But They did a lot of that. They had a lot of their success without Bichette, too.

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1416.335 - 1437.838 Bradfo

I think that, especially down the stretch, they got through some dogfight series without him. Now, is that a guy you just let go? No. But I still think that they have, just based on the experience alone, I think that they're a better team. They're going to be a better team next year than they were this year.

1437.878 - 1451.05 Julian McWilliams

I think they're a better team because they have Cease. Yeah. But everyone thought they were going to get another late inning guy. They lost Sir Anthony, right?

1451.612 - 1451.893 Bradfo

Yeah.

1453.597 - 1456.345 Julian McWilliams

So you're agreeing with me too much.

1457.648 - 1473.572 Bradfo

No, look. Look, they lost Serenity, but he also wasn't that good for them. I mean, he blew a lot of stuff in the last year as well. And, you know, he's kind of the... Look, I just think they're going to be a good team. I think they're going to win the division.

Chapter 7: What factors contribute to a team's success in the offseason?

1653.277 - 1657.285 Julian McWilliams

But also, remember, they got... Also, people forget they got Edwin Diaz, too.

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1658.187 - 1684.969 Bradfo

They did. They got Edwin Diaz. Look, I... I was once saying, no, no, no, they don't need to do anything about it. Now, they're getting ridiculous with these deferrals, right? Like, if you're going to be the guy, just take the penalty, right? So now I wasn't pro, you know, like, oh, well, at least the guys are signing to take the deferrals. The Dodgers aren't making them take deferrals.

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1685.27 - 1690.555 Bradfo

But come on, guys. Let's get a little out of hand.

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1690.575 - 1692.156 Julian McWilliams

You know what? This is interesting. You can use this.

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1692.176 - 1697.761 Bradfo

A billion dollars in deferrals? Yeah, I know. A billion? Over a billion dollars? Hey.

1697.801 - 1729.157 Julian McWilliams

What are we doing? Well, I'll say this. The Dodgers, if it wasn't good for business, they wouldn't do it. It is good for business. It's good for business. You know what's good for business? Winning. Reinvesting. Reinvesting. the winning profits, and then spending more. Anyway, you can use this one on your next CBS Sports hit. Jose Ramirez's extension, right?

1730.119 - 1732.844 Bradfo

Yeah, man. He got the suite. He got the additional suite.

1732.865 - 1734.548 Julian McWilliams

He got the two rooms.

1735.237 - 1747.412 Bradfo

Gotta get the two rooms. Gotta get the other room. Gotta get the other room. What does that do? A private jet just one time around the... For what?

Chapter 8: What predictions are made for the upcoming MLB season?

1908.723 - 1930.337 Bradfo

We got Jim Stevenson on. Jim, I'm putting you on the spot. He's coming on this week. Okay, well. Let's go. I hope so. Let's go. Let's text him right now. Jim, podcast. This week, question mark. And then I'm going to pull you. I'm going to pull you. And if you don't respond, just put a question mark again.

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1930.998 - 1936.289 Julian McWilliams

And then put, by the way, your brand has never been hotter.

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1937.331 - 1942.161 Bradfo

Yeah. There you go. Never been. All right. Bye.

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