Players dish on favorite movies of offseason

LAS VEGAS -- Out on the baseball field, they're the directors, the producers, the actors and the screenwriters.
But when they're away from the stadiums during the offseason and not worrying about a game, they're often hanging out in plush theater seats munching on popcorn just like the rest of us.
It was time to talk movies at the second annual Major League Baseball Players Association Players Trust poker tournament at the MGM Grand Hotel on Wednesday night, and the big leaguers had big opinions -- first about their favorite films of the offseason, then about who they'd like to play them in the cinematic story of their lives.
• Bryant hosts Players Trust charity poker tournament
"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" was not surprisingly a popular choice. D-backs reliever Brad Ziegler saw it with his wife, who had never seen any of the previous six movies in the franchise (he had seen them all), but the gamble paid off.
"She really liked it," Ziegler said. "I was encouraged by that, because now I can watch the first six again and she'll be into watching them with me."
As for the leading man in "Sidearmer: The Brad Ziegler Story," Ziegler went with Matt Damon.
"He's a baseball fan," Ziegler said. "And he's good looking."

Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre just saw "Daddy's Home" on Monday, and he said the whole family got a kick out of the interplay between Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg. He had a hard time coming up with an actor worthy of putting on a No. 29 jersey and playing third base in the Beltre biopic.
"He has to be good looking," Beltre said. "Maybe Chris Tucker."
• Players value leisure, family time in offseason
Angels lefty Hector Santiago recently saw "Point Break" and enjoyed it, although he admitted it's not as good as the original.
"The sequel is never going to be better than the original," Santiago said, "but it was pretty good for being a sequel."
Santiago said the movie of his life story will feature an inexperienced actor in the lead role: his 15-year-old nephew, Xavier Oquendo.
• Players sound off on top broadcasters
"He knows everything about me," Santiago said. "He knows all my stats, what I've done and what I want to do with my life around baseball."
Outfielder Shane Victorino and Rays first baseman James Loney both picked Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as the actor to play them.
"I'm the Mini-Rock," Victorino said.
Rays outfielder Steven Souza Jr. said he'd go with Ryan Reynolds, who was also mentioned by Blue Jays first baseman Chris Colabello.
• Players overcome with Powerball fever
Colabello's favorite movie this offseason was "The Big Short," in part, he said, because he "was an econ guy in college."
Outfielder Dexter Fowler tackled both questions with one answer, citing "Creed" as his favorite film of the offseason and its star, Michael B. Jordan, as the best candidate for the Dexter Fowler story.
"It's an awesome movie," Fowler said. "It's a great inspiration."