Hour 2: The Franchise Worth Bubble

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This is The Michael Kay Show Podcast.

**Michael Kay** (0:33)
I gotta get more Kay.

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**Michael Kay** (0:41)
All right, so I have a question. I'm trying to gauge this because I'm not quite sure I'm not there. So the San Francisco Giants open a three game series against the Red Sox at Fenway Park tonight. Now, why do I bring that up? Well, because it's the return to Fenway Park of Rafael Devers. So I see people from Red Sox Nation going back and forth on Twitter about he's going to get booed, he's going to get cheered, the guy was an all star here. How could you not appreciate what he did? Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. All right, so if you appreciate what he did, then maybe you do give him a standing ovation. Now, remember when he left, okay? When he left, he left because he refused to play first base, when they needed him to play first base. He was ticked off when they got Bregman, which took him off a third, and he was a DH, and then the first baseman went down. They asked him to play first base. He said no. John Henry flew in, said, you know, asked him personally to play first base. He said no. And then they pulled off this deal, which, you know, when you look at it, and the Red Sox are in pretty good shape right now, they got rid of a big, big number contract.
Now, they didn't get anything significant back, but they got rid of a big number contract. That maybe they had regret about signing right away. I think they signed Devers to that big contract because they're getting such grief for letting all those players go, like Bogarts and Mookie and the like. So they signed Devers. So the owner goes and says, listen, we'd like to play first base. He says no to them. So then they trade him. And then he's playing first base in San Francisco. So there could be a segment of the Red Sox Nation that said, he's no hero here. He kind of wouldn't do what they told him to do. And we had to trade him in a bad deal. So why should we give him an ovation? We're going to boo him.
What do you think is the right thing to do? If it was your team, same exact circumstances, would you boo the guy or give him a standing ovation? I'm leaning toward they probably give him a warm hand. I'm not sure if it's a raucous standing ovation. I'd be stunned if it's a loud booze. Now as for Peter Lonzo, who we were talking about earlier, Peter Lonzo will return to Citi Field in September with the Orioles. Now I think Peter Lonzo is going to get a thunderous ovation. From Mets fans and rightfully so. Because I do believe he wanted to stay. The GM of the Mets or president of baseball operations, David Stearns did not want him, especially on a long-term contract and at that money, didn't think that he was a good enough first baseman. So that kind of forced Peter Lonzo, okay, I'll take the Oriole offer. And then the Mets, their solution for that was to bring in Jorge Polanco. And I think Jorge Polanco this year had two home runs and six ribbies, which essentially is two good games for Pete Lonzo. That's what Polanco did this season, couldn't stay healthy. And I've told you this yesterday as well, Pete Lonzo has the second longest consecutive game streak, active streak of active players in Major League Baseball behind Matt Olson. The guy answers the bell all the time. So, in short, I think Lonzo gets a sustained standing ovation. And there might be some booze or chants toward David Stearns. And I think it's going to be a little bit tepid tonight at Fenway Park for Rafael Devers. Now getting back to the the Timberwolves getting sold. So, last year, 14 months ago, the Bush family sold the Lakers to Mark Walter for $10 billion. Now, it's hard to like say how much money was made because when Jerry Bush bought the team, I mean, they traded buildings and stuff like that with Jack Kent Cooke. Let's say he bought him for a couple of million dollars. Well, now, 37 years later, it sold for $10 billion. Good investment, right? But here's where it gets even funkier. 14 months after that, Mark Walter sells the team, he obviously seems like he's in distress and needs the money, for $12.5 billion. So he essentially made 25% in 14 months, which is an unbelievable return. That's not even, Madoff couldn't do that for you with his Ponzi scheme.