The Pomp And Joe Show
Pirates offered Schwarber $120 million, can Steelers win a playoff game?
09 Dec 2025
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Well, we wish it was the Pomp and Joe show today, but as the song says, Bob's not here. Where'd he go? He's over at the Tomlin News Conference, although his cardboard mannequin is certainly here. And I'm hot on a lot of topics today. Welcome aboard. City limits to my left, the man they call Austin Bechtold. I want to rip Notre Dame today. I'm really frothing over that one. I really do.
I really want to rip him, and I want to talk pirates and whether we believe that this Schwarber stuff is real or they're going to sign anybody or, you know, I compare it to an auction. Say I'm at an auction. There's a man named Mr. Smith Limits. He's very rich, Mr. Smith, okay? He's a very rich man, and I have it on very, very good authority.
That Mr. Smith is going to bid $10,000 on a framed Juan Thornhill photo. One of the greatest photos in history.
Good for him.
Yeah. One of the all-time great photos of Juan Thornhill. We didn't even plan that, but that worked out. So I go to the auction. I see Mr. Smith there. I'm positive. I know that he's going to bid $10,000 for the Juan Thornhill framed photo. Well, I'm going to get up to $9,000 for this limits. I'm going to get up to $9,000 knowing my bid can't win, but making myself look pretty good.
You know, Mr. Smith will start out at $7,000. I'll raise him to $7,500. He'll go to $8,000.
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Chapter 2: What did the Pirates offer Kyle Schwarber and what does it mean?
I'll go to $8,700. People in the auditorium or wherever we are, the auction house, will be wowed. They'll be saying, look at that guy. Look at that savvy old newshound going for the Juan Thornhill. And then I'll go up and then he'll go to 88 and then I 89. And then he goes to 9,000 and I stop at $9,100. A real player. Everybody's impressed.
And Ken Rosenthal is reporting that I offered 9,100 for the Juan Thornhill framed photo. And then what do you know? What do you know? Mr. Smith, Smitty, they call him, comes in at ninety four hundred. And just to be safe, I give up. But man, is everybody impressed that I took a big swing? Are we really going to indulge this as as something real that could happen? Should we?
That's my question here. Should we indulge this as something that could actually happen? My inclination is to say no, and again, I'm not impressed. Listen, I'll tell you this. If it's worth more than $100 million, whatever it was, was it four years, he said? Yes. Rosenthal?
Then if they spend that kind of money on somebody else, then I'll say, oh, wow, they really did have interest in Schwarber, and here they are throwing $100 million at this guy. Right. maybe $20 million at him, $30 million at him, and $20 million at him. So if this is real...
If what Rosenthal's reporting, Jason Mackey, I believe, confirmed that reporting, okay, then the Pirates have given away or somebody's given away how much they're willing to spend in free agency. Am I right or wrong, Limits? No, you're right. Then go spend $100 million on other players. Go get three at $30 million apiece. $40 million. Something. $20 million. Go get five at $20 million.
You know what I mean? If that's the case, if they were really willing to part with over $100 million of Bob Nutting's money for Kyle Schwarber, then that's my baseline for what they should spend in free agency. Am I looking at that correctly or incorrectly?
Rosenthal came out with an update today that the offer to Schwarber was in the $120 million range. Great.
Then they're going to spend $120 million on free agents, right? That's what makes sense, yeah. Or something thereabouts, right?
Right, you think?
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Chapter 3: How does the host feel about the credibility of the Pirates' spending plans?
I really did enjoy that. I think that was nice. I did. So by and large, I'm a quasi fan of the new airport. I mean, it is. Have you been there yet? Not yet.
No.
It's only opened like a month ago. It's radically different. Radically different. Are there any clicky clacky floors at all? I didn't notice that. Either way.
How did you not notice that? What do you mean clicky clacky floor? I don't even know what you mean. That was one of the best parts of the old airport.
Explain that to me.
You would wheel your suitcase on the ground. You hear the floor like click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click of your suitcase. People love that.
I love that. Honestly, I never knew of this and didn't notice. What? Another bad feature. Franco is like relegated practically to a closet. What are we doing here? Well, I knew there was a whole display for Franco. There is, but it's off to the side and it's in a little indentation in the wall. It's like, what are we doing?
Plus it says 0.00 on the clock, which is not accurate when he caught the ball.
Did they change the score from when they originally put 12-7, but the score did not line up and sync with the clock? It was 13-7 the final score.
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Chapter 4: What are the implications of the Pirates' rumored spending on free agency?
Maybe that was his Waterloo, so to speak. Is that Napoleon? I don't know who it was.
Texter, the new airport, especially the parking, is more confusing than Matt Canada's office.
I agree a thousand percent. Maybe I'm crazy, but I only saw one sign that had the word parking on it. And that was way before I got to where the parking is. Then all it said was rental car here, terminal lot there. So terminal lot equals parking, I guess. I guess it did because I followed that. I didn't know where the hell I was. I was in a place I've never been before at the airport.
So I just parked in 4A. But it turned out I was closer to the terminal limits. I was closer to the terminal, which made me happy. But the signage, come on, just put the word parking there. So idiots like me know where to park. Parking, P-A-R-K-I-N-G. And then you get inside and the signage to where the parking lot is, again, when you're coming back from your flight, It's very confusing.
Can we just have something that says parking lot? Go this way. Arrow. Parking. It doesn't say that. And they just put it in a new parking garage as well, too.
I don't want to park in a garage. I want to park in an open lot. I want to park as far away as possible so that it's the cheapest as possible.
I want to park as close and cheaply as possible. And I didn't have to walk this time. There were things I loved and there were things I did not love. Please text us at 412-928-9370 and please pull over before you do if you're listening at home or if you're watching on YouTube, even better. You can see Bob's cardboard cutout sitting across from me.
But the bottom line is, Limits, I was blown away by how different it is. And I had only been following that story very tangentially, if that's a word. And my wife was laughing at me. She said, you didn't know we had a new airport? I said, I've seen headlines like that things have changed. I couldn't find her. Limits. I was a traveling beat writer with the Penguins.
I used to take, you know, three flights, six flights really a week at times when you consider there and back. Yeah. And I entered the airport unwittingly in a place I've never entered it before. I had no idea where I was. Well, I'm sure a lot of other people felt the same way the first time they've gone and then they haven't gone yet. And then no idea where to go. It was incredible.
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Chapter 5: What are the hosts' thoughts on the new Pittsburgh airport?
Maybe they're right. Acting like this is a real thing. I'm not going to do that.
Well, I don't think we should entirely brush it off as entirely false and not talk about it.
I think it's definitely relevant. I don't think it's a false report. I explain my feelings on it. I think it's a situation where they know they're not getting him. So let's see if they spend that money elsewhere.
I do think that it's relevant enough that in all the discussions, it's the Pirates numbers that have come out on what their offer is. We haven't really seen that with Philadelphia. The Reds are very interested. We haven't seen any numbers. So maybe it is the Pirates trying to control the narrative a little bit and, hey, we're out there very actively trying.
I agree with Day on its agents putting it out there, trying to whip up as much of a bidding war as you can possibly get going. I could see both. That's what I believe. All right. You want to weigh in on that? I mean, there's plenty of other guys. Anybody else tickle your fancy?
Eugenio Suarez would be the guy that I would take immediately. How much? Three and 60. I think makes plenty of sense. 20 million a year.
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Chapter 6: What features of the new airport do the hosts like and dislike?
And then they'd still have 60 million left over, if you believe the report. Yes, they would.
Yes, they would. Wouldn't it make more sense to them? Like, if Kyle Schwarber is their guy, hypothetically, let's just say, and it is like a four and 120, maybe they go to a five and like 150 type of contract. Do they really believe, because that would be the only money that they'd spend, we'd have to assume. Do they really believe that they're just one bat away?
Like one bat and Connor Griffin away? After this trade that they made with the Red Sox? So it's this bat they got from Boston. Griffin comes up in about May, let's just say. And then Schwarber.
Two unproven bats at the Major League level, but go ahead.
Right, and that's all they need?
No, they need people who we know can hit. People already have track records hitting major league pitching.
We agree with that, but I wonder if they think otherwise, if it would be true that they sign Schwarber, and that would be it. They'd be done. If they thought just one bat.
412-928-9370. I saw the passing of a lot of people may not know who this guy is. Raul Mala, lead singer for a band called The Mavericks, my wife Susie's favorite band. That's why we went to Nashville. I bought these tickets back in August.
excuse me um just thinking it would be cool to go to nashville and see the mavericks between then and now uh he came down with cancer and just passed away at the age of 60 so rip raul mala rip it was still an incredible show because it was a tribute to him it was a bunch of like you know famous nashville singers yeah singing their songs with the rest of the band so it was real emotional that's cool
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Chapter 7: How do the hosts compare the new airport experience to the old one?
And then among the candidates you could face, Chargers, Bill. Right now it would be the Chargers with their win last night. Chargers, Bills, Texans, Jags seem like the four most likely candidates. Who would you most want to play of those teams, Limits? Limits is on the phone. I'd most likely play or most want to play the Jags. I go by quarterbacks and overall team, obviously, but quarterbacks.
I don't want to see Josh Allen. In a playoff game, I'm not sure I want to see Justin Herbert. Now, Trevor Lawrence is the next best quarterback on that list, probably. I think C.J. Stroud has really gotten a raw deal in Houston. I think he's really good, and he has no offensive line. He really doesn't have a run game. But bottom line is that offense is not good in Houston. The defense is great.
So my order would be Jags first. Probably Texans second. Chargers and then the Bills are the team I don't want to see because of that guy, Josh Allen. But can the Steelers win a playoff game? I mean, of course they can. Are you getting more of a feeling that they could win one? And my answer for me is yes. How about you? 412-928-9370. Is that a prediction? Absolutely not.
If you asked me to bet right now, I'd say no, they're not winning a playoff game. Am I getting more of a feeling that they could? Yes, I am for a couple of reasons. And we mentioned this a little bit yesterday, but really didn't dive in. You got to have a quarterback. And if the Rodgers that we saw Sunday is sustainable, they have a quarterback. We're getting pretty late in the year right now.
That was a great sign when he was showing signs of deterioration, if not falling off a cliff. He came back and played really well. His best game in a Steelers uniform, if you ask me. If you have that, and if the Steelers finally go into the playoffs with their playmakers healthy on defense, I give them a shot. I do. I don't think Hayward and Watt have been entirely healthy.
I don't think either was going into the playoffs last year. Highsmith feels like rarely at full health. I knew he was limping around the other day, but he was good enough to make the game-ending sack. You give me those three guys healthy and a quarterback, and I give them a better shot than I dreamed that they would have this season. I do. I think Cam Hayward's playing pretty darn well.
I don't know if the splash numbers show that. But every analytic I see, limits, tells me that Cam Hayward is actually playing good football this year. And I saw him at the end of the game the other day still having a strong rush. And I thought to myself, by the way, during that game, watching him, how does that body hold up?
Yeah. That guy's been doing it forever. He's not playing as well as he did last year, but he's still playing at a high level. Last year was an all-pro level. And the older he gets, the expectation of that continuing just... Shouldn't be there as much. I do agree with you that Jacksonville would be number one on that list. I would put the Chargers at two just because their tackles are banged up.
The team you most want to play. Yes. And you know how much I like Justin Herbert. But there are just some things with that offense that still concern me.
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