Wake N Jake · iHeartPodcasts

Jeff McNeil and Willson Contreras Trade REACTIONS (with Jomboy)

December 22, 2025·1 hr 2 min·4 clips

Wilson Contreras is now a Red Sox first baseman in a surprising trade from the Cardinals.

Holiday show, baseball brain fully on. The host starts on December 22 promising sports, then admits the board is basically baseball transactions. Compliment intended. Wilson Contreras, Murakami, Shane Boz, Brandon Lau, and Jake Mangum all get tossed into the rush. The Rays part hurts the most. Boz leaves for the Orioles, Lau goes to the Pirates, and Mangum gets the late mention because, yes, he stole a bunch of bags. Then the numbers take over. Boz comes off as talented and messy: 31 starts, 166 innings, 176 strikeouts, with more strikeouts than innings pitched. The home-road split looks bad, and the host keeps coming back to the stadium context. The Rays' home park was a high-A ballpark, which may have made the damage look bigger. Wait, correction, home was the issue. Boz had a 5.9 ERA there and gave up 18 of his 26 home runs at home. Hard to shrug that off. The pitch mix gets picked apart too. His cutter and slider got hit, while the curveball gives Baltimore something clean to lean on. Development is the hangup. The host is not handing Baltimore a top pitching-development badge yet, though the simple fix is sitting there: throw the good curveball more. The bigger concern is third time through the order, where Boz apparently gets thumped. No grand answer by the end. The show drifts out in holiday chaos with possible tomorrow moves, kids, nephews, Is It Cake, and an apartment errand waiting off-mic.

As heard by us

A holiday Wake and Jake edition that turns a pile of baseball moves into fast, easy-to-follow talk.

The Wake and Jake holiday edition keeps its focus on baseball and moves at a brisk, conversational pace. It runs through the December 22nd burst of B transactions, from Wilson Contreras and Murakami to Shane Boz, Brandon Lau, and the rough 24 hours that left Rays fans taking…

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

For when the trade wire is buzzing and you want the baseball pulse fast.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Wake N Jake