Starting 9 Episode 17: Curt Schilling

Traveling for Thanksgiving sucks, but the Starting 9 crew has all you baseball fans covered with a loaded podcast this week. Lots of shit happening in the world of baseball despite no games being played. I took a little vacation to Florida over the weekend and got to tour Marlins Park and see some Jose Fernandez monuments down in Miami, so we talk a little about Jose to open the show. The Atlanta Braves got the boom dropped on them by the league for international shenanigans, so we break down exactly what happened and what the repercussions will be for the organization.

The 2018 Hall of Fame ballot was released, so we dive into the first-timers on the list and dive even deeper into that Hall of Fame discussion with our guest, Curt Schilling. Don’t worry — we stuck to baseball and enforced a strict no-politics ban. Joe Morgan wrote a letter to Hall of Fame voters, urging them not to vote for PED users. Would this letter impact your vote? MLB wants to implement a 20-second pitch clock — do we like this? Is this good for baseball?

The Marlins have discussed a trade with the Giants involving Giancarlo Stanton and Dee Gordon. Is this where Stanton ultimately ends up and for who? Ian Kinsler’s name is swirling around trade rumors with the Mets and Angels. Could the Blue Jays be in on JD Martinez? Are the Brewers a legit suitor for Jake Arrieta? One playoff team that will regress in 2018 and one non-playoff team that has the best chance of being a playoff team in 2018. All that and a LOT more. Happy Thanksgiving to the Grounds Crew!