The Voice of the Turtle, Episode 13: Speculation overdrive

After what might be the most painful week of the baseball offseason -- January is Netflix and chill month, if we're being honest -- Rob and HookSlide are back to discuss and debate all of the Hot Stove action that took place!

Unfortunately, there wasn't much.

There were a few rumors, though, including the potential return of 2015 Tigers closer Joakim Soria, and a longshot reunion with 2006 draft pick Andrew Miller. Will those moves happen? We don't know, but our fearless co-hosts did their best to predict the future with a free agent draft.

Better yet, you get to play along! The winner of our free agent prediction contest -- remember, pick eight players and three potential destinations for each free agent -- will win a grab bag of prizes.

There was a bit of actual news to discuss as well. The Tigers hired new analytics expert Jay Sartori to bolster the front office, but lost reliever Guido Knudson and prospect JaCoby Jones to waivers and a suspension, respectively. Plus, Rob and HookSlide answer your listener questions, including the one must-have free agent on the market this offseason.

Topics in this week's episode include:

• The worst parts of the baseball offseason
• Why in the world the Tigers are interested in Andrew Miller
• A showdown between Darren O'Day and Joakim Soria
• Awful pirate jokes, and where Guido Knudson fits in
• Whether Jay Sartori was responsible for the iPhone 6s
• Which free agents are not worth a draft pick
• The Twins and Indians, and why anyone cares about them
• The harsh reality of minor league suspensions
• Al Avila's master plan
• Listener questions!
• Which bullpen pitchers are actually worth holding onto
• The free agent draft game!

Contents:

• 3:20 - Rounding the Bases: the Tigers are interested in too many relief pitchers
• 27:35 - Warming in the Pen: the Twins and Indians are making headlines for very different reasons
• 46:53 - High and Tight: minor league infractions, major league penalties
• 1:06:06 - Into the Mob Scene at Home: the Tigers may be talking out of both sides of their mouth
• 1:25:07 - The 7th Inning Kvetch: let’s play the free agent draft game

Click below to listen to the podcast. Click here to download the podcast as an .mp3 file.

If you're interested in following along with Rob and HookSlide's free agent predictions, here are the final draft results.

HookSlide

Chris Davis: Red Sox, Twins, Brewers
Zack Greinke: Dodgers, Yankees, Tigers
Yoenis Cespedes: Rangers, Nationals, Cubs
Alex Avila: Mariners, Padres, Nationals
Johnny Cueto: White Sox, Cubs, Phillies
Rajai Davis: Tigers, Indians, Marlins
Asdrubal Cabrera: White Sox, Cardinals, Dodgers
Brayan Pena: Reds, Tigers, Braves

Rob

Jason Heyward: Cardinals, Cubs, Giants
David Price: Dodgers, Tigers, Red Sox
Alex Gordon: Tigers, Royals, Angels
Jeff Samardzija: White Sox, Cubs, Tigers
Jordan Zimmermann: Brewers, Yankees, Red Sox
Hisashi Iwakuma: Mariners, Dodgers, Giants
Ian Desmond: Mets, Nationals, Yankees
Matt Wieters: Orioles, Braves, Rangers

Be sure to send us your thoughts, suggestions, and questions for next week's show. We're on Twitter at @blessyouboys, @BYBRob, and @HookSlideBYB, on Facebook at BYB.Tigers, and can also be reached at bybtigers@gmail.com!