The Barbecast (cespedes family barbecast)

Note: This interview was recorded on Wednesday, December 17th right before we both went on vacation. We had planned for it to be the guest on Barbecast 52, but the timing and the content of the interview didn't end up fitting with what we eventually did. So, we decided to release this interview as its own thing -- a half Barbecast. 

Welcome to Barbecast 52.5! This is an interview with MLB player agent Joshua Kusnick, who represents players such as Michael Brantley, Jeremy Jeffress, and Steve Clevenger. Kusnick has a pretty incredible background, which Joe Lemire profiled in a piece for The Cauldron last month, which you can find by clicking here. We talked to Josh about a number of topics, including...

  • How he became an agent for guys like Michael Brantley
  • What it's like going to the Winter Meetings as an agent
  • "Transaction Monkeys" and Kusnick's guidelines for teenage reporters
  • What separates him from other agents
  • Kusnick's experience in stand-up comedy and meeting some of the most famous comedians of the last few decades
  • ...and more!

We hope you enjoy!

Please rate and review us on iTunes! We would really appreciate it. 

IMPORTANT LINKS:

iTunes link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/cespedes-family-barbecue-cespedes/id683535357

Link to all previous podcasts: http://cespedesfamilybarbecue.com/the-barbecast-cfb-podcast/

Tweeterz: https://twitter.com/CespedesBBQ

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Click here to find us on Stitcher!

Direct download: Kushnick.mp3
Category:Cespedes Family Barbecast -- posted at: 10:07am EDT

Welcome to Barbecast 52! We know it's been a while, but the Barbecast is finally back and will hopefully be more consistent in the coming weeks. Our special guest this week (at 16:28) is Jorge Arangure, writer at VICE Sports. We talked about Cuban baseball, the impact of the recent changes in US-Cuba relations on baseball, and even some PREMIER LEAGUE CHAT about why Jake's an ass for being a Manchester City fan. After Jorge, we did our B-Ref Battle in which we asked a shocking number of questions about Catholicism. After B-Ref (at 1:36:25) we talked about basically everybody on the Hall of Fame ballot. We started from the bottom and now we're at Barry Bonds. We shared our ideal 10-man ballots and discussed the few players we disagreed on. Then (at 2:02:45) it was Lana Berry's turn to be on the podcast for the billionth podcast in a row! Tales from Logdog covered DEM COWBOYZ and some football stuff (including the Gronk erotica). We concluded with a brief Varsity Baseball Update and a brief Life Update as well. Thanks for listening <3

Please rate and review us on iTunes! 

Musical guest: Thin Lizzy (???)

Direct download: POD_52.mp3
Category:Cespedes Family Barbecast -- posted at: 11:09am EDT

Welcome to Barbecast 51! It's been a while since the spectacular celebration that was Barbecast 50, but we're back with another solid podcast. This week's special guest (at 20:25) is World Series champion Grant Brisbee, writer at SB Nation's Giants blog, McCovey Chronicles, and overall good guy. We talked to Grant about how the Giants did the whole Win The World Series thing for the third time in five years, how San Francisco treats Barry Bonds, Grant's ideal offseason, and some other fun stuff before Jake interrupted with whatever the hell this video is. After Grant (at 1:02:57), we did our customary B-Ref Battle which included an incredible story about a player named Pumpsie. The usual. After B-Ref (at 1:23:15), Tales from Logdog with Lana Berry covered TOO MANY COOKS because of course it did. We tried to comprehend what it all means and discussed our favorite characters. Gwydion is the only right answer. After Lana (at 1:31:14) we decided to actually talk about some baseball! We discussed who we would like our respective favorite teams to sign and more importantly, who we are desperately praying that they don't sign. After free agency (at 1:47:07) talk was THE RETURN OF CRAIG GOLDSTEIN for the second week in a row! We only brought Craig back to talk about his recent Twitter calamity in which he was destroyed by one Peter Gammons. We feel pretty bad for Craig, but we made him talk about it anyway. We concluded with a non-existent Varsity Baseball Update and a very brief discussion on former pitcher Kirk Saarloos. Thanks for listening <3

Musical guest: 2Many Cooks

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Direct download: Pod_512.mp3
Category:Cespedes Family Barbecast -- posted at: 4:33pm EDT

Welcome to Barbecast 50! While we did have an especially extravagant Episode 25, we think we've outdone it for this milestone Barbecast. We have two special guests, and one regular guest (Craig). Our first special guest (at 20:54) is Will Leitch! Will is a lot of things; among those things, Will is a senior writer at Sports On Earth and the founder of Deadspin. So that's pretty cool. We talked to Will about his time as a starving artist in NYC, the evolution of Deadspin, his Cardinals fandom, and of course, the tragic death of Oscar Taveras. Our second special guest (at 1:12:35) this week is former major league reliever Chris Resop! If you don't understand why that's amazing, you should probably click here. Chris is a real estate agent now, so we talked about that, and you know, the other stuff about Chris Resop. It was pretty awesome. After our two fantastic guests, we participated in yet another B-Ref Battle Bonanza with six more wonderful names from yesteryear. After B-Ref was yet another Tales from Logdog (at 1:46:53) with Lana Berry in which we discussed Halloween briefly and reminded ourselves that Lana picked the Royals to win the World Series in 7 games. She was wrong :( After Lana (at 1:52:35) was the return of our good friend Craig Goldstein. We love Craig. He had to be on Barbecast 50. We concluded with our new segment, Random Baseball Players From 2002-2007, as well as the weekly Varsity Baseball Update from Jake and some brief thanks to all you who listen. As always, thanks for listening <3

Musical guest: Barbecast 50 Cent

Direct download: POD_50.mp3
Category:Cespedes Family Barbecast -- posted at: 9:26pm EDT

Welcome to Barbecast 49! It's not quite Barbecast 50, but it's pretty damn close. We have THREE special guests this week. Although, to be fair, we've had all three of these guests on before. Our first guest (at 16:54) is Matt Clark, the official MAJOR leaguer of the Cespedes Family Barbecue. We talked to Matt about his long, complicated season that was topped off by his first call-up to the big leagues with the Brewers. Our second special guest (at 43:18) is Jake's Mom! We spent a solid 10 minutes debating whether it is safe for Jake to eat a baseball. Our third special guest (at 55:41) is the official MINOR leaguer of the Cespedes Family Barbecue, Kieran Lovegrove! Kieran just had Barry Bonds Hip Surgery, so he's rehabbing in Arizona, but he carved some time out of his busy schedule to recap his season with us. After our three guests, we did the customary B-Ref Battle in which we present three of our favorite. Tales from Logdog with Lana Berry recapped Jake's ridiculous trip to Kansas City to see the Orioles' season end...so that was kinda depressing. We concluded with A NEW SEGMENT featuring a discussion on Reggie Abercrombie and an uneventful Varsity Baseball Update. Thanks for listening <3

Musical Guest: HOVA

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You can e-mail us at cespedesfb@gmail.com

Direct download: Pod_49.mp3
Category:Cespedes Family Barbecast -- posted at: 10:47am EDT

Welcome to Barbecast 48! It's been a while, we know. Our special guest this week (at 21:40) is professional not-baseball player Geoff Schwartz! Easily the largest guest ever to appear on the Barbecast, Geoff is an offensive-lineman for the New York Football Giants. We talked to Geoff about how he was probably the biggest high school pitcher of all time, getting drafted in the 7th round, his San Francisco Giants fanhood/Barry Bonds, and being a professional Jewish athlete. We think it was pretty awesome, so we hope you enjoyed it. Our B-Ref battle included some surprisingly good names considering this is the 34th CONSECUTIVE WEEK we've done it, although I did SERIOUSLY screw up a really good Chappelle's Show reference and I apologize for that :( Tales of Logdog with Lana Berry was pretty bad, so sorry if it detracts from a mostly good podcast. Our e-mail segment was one of the best e-mail segments we've had for a long time, mostly because we spent 12 minutes talking about eating baseballs. We concluded with a moderately exciting Varsity Baseball Update and then we said goodbye. As always, thanks for listening <3

Please rate and review us on iTunes!

 

Direct download: Pod_48.mp3
Category:Cespedes Family Barbecast -- posted at: 11:43pm EDT

Welcome to Barbecast 47! We took a break for a bit because of a plus-plus amount of homework, but we're back. This week's special guest (at 26:15) is Sahadev Sharma, new associate editor over at Baseball Prospectus and noted Cubs enthusiast. We talked to Sahadev about...

  • His recently diminished fanhood
  • Jose Abreu's amazingness
  • His ideal Cubs 2016 Cubs lineup
  • Dan Vogelbach (duh)
  • His favorite Cubs pitching prospects
  • Zunes?
  • Other stuff!

It was great! You can and should follow Sahadev on Twitter @sahadevsharma. After Sahadev, we participated in YET ANOTHER B-Ref Battle of extraordinary baseball names and managed to include a Spongebob reference. Tales from Logdog with Lana Berry covered who Lana thinks should be the next NFL commissioner because Goodell is not lookin' so good. We concluded with the return of Jake's Varsity Baseball Update with exciting news that Jake is still on the team! Our crop of e-mails this week was especially strong, with a few discussions on the worst lineups we've ever seen, and of course, Papelbon's crotch grabbing extravaganza. Thanks for listening <3

Musical guest is Yelawolf. We're so sorry. 

Please rate and review us on iTunes! We'd really appreciate it!

Direct download: POD_47_True.mp3
Category:Cespedes Family Barbecast -- posted at: 12:48pm EDT

Barbecast 46 has arrived and it is chock full of questionable hip-hop opinions. For the second straight week we have TWO special guests for ze подкаст. Our first special guest (at 14:45) is the new lead prospect writer over at FanGraphs. His name is Kiley McDaniel, and he is on Twitter, just like us! We talked to Kiley about the 20-80 scale, how he gives tool grades to major leaguers, prospects similar to Dan Vogelbach, and more! Then we put Kiley on the spot by forcing him to give 20-80 grades to a myriad of random and not-so-random rappers. It was fun! After Kiley, we did our weekly B-Ref Battle in which we found a player truly near and dear to our hearts. Our second special guest (at 1:21:01) is Tyler Stafford, aka @JeffBlogwell on the Tweeterz. We talked to Tyler about what it's like being a miserable Astros fan and discussed the timely firing of Mr. Bo Porter. Tales from Logdog with Lana Berry celebrated the recent call-up of mutual friend Matt Clark to the big leagues and discussed what Lana is getting Jake for his birthday. We concluded with a brief update on how we're feeling about our two favorite teams heading into the final month of the season. Thanks for listening <3

Musical guest is some combination of The Game and The Backstreet Boys and 2Pac. Enjoy! 

Please rate and review us on iTunes! We want more people to listen to the show, and this is the best way to make that happen. 

Direct download: POD_46.mp3
Category:Cespedes Family Barbecast -- posted at: 12:27pm EDT

Hey! Welcome to Barbecast 45, the first podcast of our sophomore year of college. We have two special guest this week and they are somehow both currently based in the great state of Alabama. Our first guest this week (at 23:33) is one of our earliest minor league friends, Mike Recchia. Mike is a right-handed pitcher for the Birmingham Barons, the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. We talked to Mike about his unique path through the minor leagues and how different pro ball is in affiliated ball relative to independent ball. Mike was great. You can/should follow Mike on Twitter @Recchia1. Before our second guest, we did our weekly b-ref battle of ridiculously ridiculous old baseball names. Our second guest this week (at 1:12:00) is Nicole Collins. Nicole is the Director of Media Relations for the Huntsville Stars, the Double-A affiliate for the Milwaukee Brewers. We talked about why her job is much more complicated than just "media relations", what it's like working for a team that could be moving as soon as next year, and more! You can/should follow Nicole on Twitter @nicoley_collins. Tales from Logdog with Lana Berry was short and to the point, as always. We concluded with a brief discussion about the Little League World Series and then we said our goodbyes. Our musical guests this week are the Baja Men because WHY WOULDN'T THEY BE THE MUSICAL GUEST EVERY WEEK??? Thanks for listening <3

You can e-mail us at cespedesfb@gmail.com

Please rate and review us on iTunes! It helps other people find the show and we appreciate it!

 

Direct download: POD_45.mp3
Category:Cespedes Family Barbecast -- posted at: 12:04am EDT

Welcome to Barbecast 44, the One-Year Anniversary special. The actual one year anniversary of the Barbecast was back on August 2nd, but we didn't realize until this week, so we're celebrating now! We have three very special guests this week. One of them was on the first ever Barbecast, one of them has been on every Barbecast since Episode 8, and one of them is an entire professional baseball organization.

First up (at 23:10), it's the Seattle @Mariners! We talked to the @Mariners about what it's like being such a complex organism, how difficult it is to schedule things when you are an entire baseball team, and their favorite other @BaseballTeams. It was fun! 

Before our second guest, we did a very special B-Ref Battle segment in which we, in addition to our weekly names, read all 200 of the craziest baseball names we've found since Episode 14. It took a while, but it was well worth it. Ed Head!

Our second guest (at 1:16:20) is Craig Goldstein. Craig was on THE FIRST EVER BARBECAST. That was over a year ago He hasn't gotten any better, but we still love him. Thanks Craig! 

Our final guest (at 1:27:05), as always, is Lana Berry. We took some time for this Tales of Logdog to discuss Lana's favorite moments in Barbecast history, and took even less time to discuss why preseason football is remotely important. 

We conclude with some brief thanks to all the people that have enjoyed the first year of Barbecasts and look forward to the next year of maybe Barbecasts. As always, thanks for listening <3

Notes:

1. Sorry about the crickets. Jake was recording at night in his beach house which is basically just a porch.

2. We were supposed to have The Official Minor Leaguer of CFBBQ, Kieran Lovegrove, on for this special episode, but we couldn't quite make it work. If you wanna listen to Kieran be Kieran, listen to Episode 11.

Please rate and review us on iTunes! 

Direct download: POD_44.mp3
Category:Cespedes Family Barbecast -- posted at: 7:16pm EDT