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Fair Territory - AL MVP debate: Judge or Raleigh? HUGE AL West series · Foul Territory

0:01
Speaker 1: Hello, everyone, Happy Thursday. Welcome to the Thursday edition of
0:04
Speaker 1: Fair Territory. I'm Ken Rosenthal here with my friend Alana Rizzo.
0:08
Speaker 2: A lot.
0:08
Speaker 1: We've got a ton to get to, as always, a
0:11
Speaker 1: potpourri of baseball things. But I want to start off,
0:15
Speaker 1: and I know you want to talk about this too.
0:17
Speaker 1: The best story in baseball right now from an individual perspective,
0:21
Speaker 1: not team, and that's the AL MVP race. It is
0:24
Speaker 1: fascinating and I will say it off the top and
0:26
Speaker 1: I'll say it again throughout the show. I do not
0:28
Speaker 1: believe there is a wrong choice.
0:31
Speaker 3: It is not a clear cut answer, Ken, but it
0:34
Speaker 3: is a conversation that we continue to have for good reason.
0:37
Speaker 3: Cal Raley Aaron Judge both monumental seasons. But which one
0:42
Speaker 3: is the MVP in the AL.
0:45
Speaker 1: That's the question, and that's something that the voters will decide.
0:49
Speaker 1: Jason Stark wrote a piece this week about Raleigh and
0:52
Speaker 1: just what he means to the Mariners and quoting a
0:55
Speaker 1: lot of people involved with the Mariners about what he means.
0:57
Speaker 1: And the key question here for me when we look
1:00
Speaker 1: at this race is how much do you value the
1:04
Speaker 1: difference in ops? And it's one hundred and eighty four points. Today,
1:08
Speaker 1: Judge is one hundred and eighty four points higher than
1:10
Speaker 1: Raleigh versus what Raleigh offers and contributes on the defensive side,
1:16
Speaker 1: much of which cannot be measured. And that's the difficulty
1:20
Speaker 1: when a catcher is in this race. If you read
1:23
Speaker 1: Jason's stories, one of the story one of the things
1:26
Speaker 1: that stood out to me, jumped out at me, was
1:28
Speaker 1: the idea that Raleigh has to deal not just with
1:32
Speaker 1: an zero for four if that's what happens on a
1:34
Speaker 1: particular night. Offensively, he's catching one hundred and fifty pitches
1:38
Speaker 1: a night, right, So if the Mariners lose, for example,
1:42
Speaker 1: and let's say three or four pitches he wishes he
1:45
Speaker 1: could have back, well, then you're having to deal with
1:48
Speaker 1: that side of it emotionally as well as the offensive
1:51
Speaker 1: side of it emotionally, as well as just dealing with pictures,
1:55
Speaker 1: comforting pictures, consoling pictures, advising pictures, working through game plans,
2:00
Speaker 1: all of the different things that a catcher does. The
2:03
Speaker 1: way a catcher handles the staff, it's not something we
2:06
Speaker 1: can measure. You can say, yes, well, the era is
2:08
Speaker 1: this with this catcher, but there's much more to it
2:10
Speaker 1: than that. There's a psychological element. So all of these
2:13
Speaker 1: things make Cal Raley a fascinating MVP candidate more so
2:19
Speaker 1: than most position players, any other position player, a catcher
2:23
Speaker 1: is different. Now, the other thing here that jumps out
2:27
Speaker 1: at me is the fact that Raley is having a
2:31
Speaker 1: season that kind of breaks the scales for a catcher.
2:34
Speaker 1: It's a historic season for a catcher, fifty six home runs,
2:37
Speaker 1: which also is a record for a switch hitter. It
2:41
Speaker 1: beat Mickey Mantle's record for a switch hitter. So these elements,
2:47
Speaker 1: these records setting, parts of this equation play into it.
2:51
Speaker 1: And if you go back to twenty twenty two, Aaron
2:54
Speaker 1: Judge sixty two home runs, brilliant season. The reason he
2:58
Speaker 1: was MVP over hey O Tani in the American League
3:02
Speaker 1: was largely that he did something historic. Now, the problem
3:06
Speaker 1: with making this case for Raleigh is that Judge also
3:10
Speaker 1: is doing something historic, and his season is quite comparable
3:14
Speaker 1: to his seasons in twenty twenty two and twenty four.
3:17
Speaker 1: We can show that to you strictly in terms of ops.
3:19
Speaker 1: It's not the same number of home runs, and it's
3:22
Speaker 1: a little bit different because he hasn't been in the
3:24
Speaker 1: field quite as much. Raley is also DHD at times.
3:27
Speaker 1: But here's Judge, look at the ops's they're all comparable.
3:31
Speaker 1: And his OPS plus, which is about a one hundred
3:35
Speaker 1: percent above the league average in each case, that's all
3:38
Speaker 1: amazing as well. So we have two great candidates here
3:42
Speaker 1: and Alana. It's going to be a heck of a
3:44
Speaker 1: thing down the stretch as we see how this plays
3:47
Speaker 1: out just in the final two weeks or so of
3:50
Speaker 1: the season.
3:51
Speaker 3: Kenny, it's funny because I'm looking at our chat here
3:53
Speaker 3: in videos two oh seven brings up a good point.
3:56
Speaker 3: I am okay with saying Call is the MVP this season.
3:59
Speaker 3: He has earned It is no slide on, Judge. To
4:01
Speaker 3: your point, you can't make a wrong decision. But let
4:05
Speaker 3: me ask you, this is there such a thing Ken
4:07
Speaker 3: Rosenthal as judge fatigue. Are we tired of how good
4:10
Speaker 3: this guy is on a yearly basis?
4:13
Speaker 1: I hope not, And we should never get tired of
4:16
Speaker 1: a SuperStar's performance. It's what we live for, it's what
4:20
Speaker 1: we watch the games for. My goodness, Michael Jordan won
4:23
Speaker 1: all those MVPs. We were okay with that. And I
4:25
Speaker 1: wrote about this phenomenon a couple of weeks ago because
4:27
Speaker 1: It also applies to Shoheo Tani. People might think, let's
4:31
Speaker 1: just have somebody else win this award. These guys have
4:34
Speaker 1: won or a few times each, now let's just try
4:37
Speaker 1: the other guy. Raleigh might benefit a little bit from that.
4:41
Speaker 1: He shouldn't. This should be decided strictly on the merits.
4:44
Speaker 1: And if you wonder about, well, is there a New
4:48
Speaker 1: York bias in the voting? Now, you can make the
4:50
Speaker 1: case certainly because Judge plays are the largest media market
4:54
Speaker 1: in the country that it gets more attention than Raleigh. Okay,
4:57
Speaker 1: But the way the voting is done each of the
5:00
Speaker 1: BBWAA awards, it's two voters in each city, so there's
5:04
Speaker 1: no New York bias. New York has the same weight
5:06
Speaker 1: as Seattle in the al MVP balloting. The question is,
5:11
Speaker 1: in this day and age, is that even a thing?
5:13
Speaker 1: And I don't believe it is because we know we
5:17
Speaker 1: see so much more than we used to. I know,
5:20
Speaker 1: Cal Raley plays in Seattle on the West coast, and
5:22
Speaker 1: people in the East Coast don't always see his games,
5:24
Speaker 1: but the statistical information is so much deeper. We can
5:28
Speaker 1: certainly watch highlights, and you can certainly go back and
5:30
Speaker 1: watch games. You can see this guy any number of ways,
5:34
Speaker 1: and the voting members of the BBWA, the people who
5:37
Speaker 1: will decide this, they're paying attention. It's not going to
5:40
Speaker 1: be a New York bias type thing. I don't have
5:43
Speaker 1: a vote this year for that category. I am voting
5:45
Speaker 1: for another one. But it's going to be again, really
5:49
Speaker 1: interesting because what Raley is doing. I was not really
5:53
Speaker 1: on board with Raleigh until he got the switch hitting record.
5:58
Speaker 1: When he tied it, tied Mantle and then beat it.
6:02
Speaker 1: Then I started thinking, Man, it's hard to deny this.
6:05
Speaker 1: This is historic for that position, and that is the
6:08
Speaker 1: most valuable position arguably on the field. Now, if Kyle
6:12
Speaker 1: Raley gets to sixty, which he could do, he's a
6:15
Speaker 1: fifty six, that could change the equation. If the Mariners
6:18
Speaker 1: rore into the playoffs behind cal Raley, that could vote
6:21
Speaker 1: or that could affect voter perceptions and the same. But
6:24
Speaker 1: the Yankees, they're kind of set in where they are
6:26
Speaker 1: right now, top wildcard, not going to win the division
6:29
Speaker 1: most likely. But if Judge has a big finish to
6:32
Speaker 1: his season, sure that could make a difference too.
6:35
Speaker 3: Let me ask you this, Ken Rosenthal. I know you're
6:37
Speaker 3: not voting on this particular category. This year you do
6:39
Speaker 3: have a vote in a different category. But is there
6:42
Speaker 3: pressure this season on the BBWAA because it's not cut
6:47
Speaker 3: and dry. And I take us back to the two
6:48
Speaker 3: thousand and two al Cy Young Award. It was Barry
6:51
Speaker 3: Zito that won it in terms of first place. Pedro
6:55
Speaker 3: Martinez came in second. Now it's a different era. I
6:57
Speaker 3: can understand that it's one wildcard, ninety three win Red
7:00
Speaker 3: Sox didn't make the playoffs. Zito didn't have a historic year,
7:03
Speaker 3: but Pedro Martinez the Cy Young Ward of course in
7:06
Speaker 3: ninety seven, ninety nine to two thousand, arguably had a
7:09
Speaker 3: better statistical year, yet he still lost. Is there pressure
7:14
Speaker 3: on the writers to get this right, especially in a
7:17
Speaker 3: season in which cal Rawly is having a historic season
7:20
Speaker 3: as a catcher.
7:23
Speaker 1: Well, it wouldn't be the first time we got one
7:25
Speaker 1: wrong if we get it wrong. And I don't know
7:27
Speaker 1: that there is a wrong choice. As I said at
7:29
Speaker 1: the top, here in that situation you just described Alon
7:32
Speaker 1: going back to two thousand and two, and I know
7:34
Speaker 1: it's a long time ago, but the relevance here is
7:36
Speaker 1: Pedro had already won the Sy Young three times. Zito
7:40
Speaker 1: was not a new face exactly, but a fresh face
7:43
Speaker 1: in this balloting. Now, Zeno did pitch thirty more innings
7:47
Speaker 1: that year. He had twenty three wins. I think it
7:49
Speaker 1: was three more than Pedro, and that was a time
7:51
Speaker 1: when wins were still considered very heavily in the cy
7:54
Speaker 1: Young race. So I don't know that we blew that one.
7:57
Speaker 1: But that issue of voter fatigue, We've talked about it,
8:00
Speaker 1: and I've written about it. It's a real thing. And
8:03
Speaker 1: I just would hate to see anyone pick Raleigh because
8:06
Speaker 1: he's tired of picking Judge or she's tired of picking Judge.
8:09
Speaker 1: That's not a reason you have to decide this thing.
8:12
Speaker 1: On the merits and the other part of this. With Judge,
8:15
Speaker 1: let's look at where he is in the three triple
8:18
Speaker 1: slash categories, because he's amazing in leading all of them
8:22
Speaker 1: in the major leagues batting average, on base percentage, slugging percentage.
8:27
Speaker 1: Here he is. He's first in all of them. He's
8:29
Speaker 1: first by a good margin in all of them. So
8:32
Speaker 1: we cannot ignore the historic significance of what he is accomplishing.
8:37
Speaker 1: And while it's not maybe as gaudy as Raleigh and
8:40
Speaker 1: as dramatic, as Raleigh, it's still an incredible campaign. It's
8:45
Speaker 1: still Aaron Judge at his apex, and if not for
8:50
Speaker 1: cal Raley, this would be around just as last season.
8:53
Speaker 1: If not for Aaron Judge, Bobby Witt might have won.
8:56
Speaker 1: It's always that way in these kinds of races when
8:58
Speaker 1: they're close. So there are two worthy contenders here and
9:02
Speaker 1: that's the bottom line. I know people are going to
9:05
Speaker 1: have their opinions and should that's what the awards are
9:07
Speaker 1: all about. But whoever wins, I don't know that there's
9:11
Speaker 1: going to be a loser, let's put it that way.
9:13
Speaker 3: It's a fascinating conversation. Ken, what if these two were
9:16
Speaker 3: on the same team. I think our heads would just
9:18
Speaker 3: blow off of our next if cal Ralely and Aaron
9:21
Speaker 3: were pretty good. As we pivot to the next conversation
9:26
Speaker 3: from the AL East and AL West, staying in the
9:28
Speaker 3: AL West when it comes to the Houston Astros, Ken
9:31
Speaker 3: and the Seattle Manners, Mariners and Astros, it's getting good.
9:35
Speaker 3: I tell you what. I'm not certain what's happening as
9:38
Speaker 3: far as that AO West spot is concerned. But Jordan Alvarez,
9:41
Speaker 3: the ankle injury, the Mariners, the Astros. It's a toss
9:44
Speaker 3: up right now, what's your take on this whole thing.
9:48
Speaker 1: The Astros are coming off a series that, frankly was
9:50
Speaker 1: really impressive against Texas. It was a series that they
9:53
Speaker 1: sort of had to win to vanquish Texas and put
9:56
Speaker 1: them out of the race, which they largely did. And
9:59
Speaker 1: it was a sa in which they faced Texas's three
10:01
Speaker 1: best pitchers and got only one ending out of Rodan
10:04
Speaker 1: Alvarez before he suffered that spring left ankle, and they
10:07
Speaker 1: scored seventeen runs combined in the three games off Jack Lider,
10:11
Speaker 1: Merrill Kelly, and Jacob de Grom, seventeen off the starters.
10:15
Speaker 1: Not all of them were earned, but most of them were,
10:17
Speaker 1: so that was really impressive to do that. Without Alvarez,
10:21
Speaker 1: they could get ezac Parades back, and if they get
10:23
Speaker 1: him back, there's your replacement for Alvarez if he does
10:26
Speaker 1: not come back from that ankle injury. So the Astros
10:30
Speaker 1: to me are still the team to beat. They continue
10:33
Speaker 1: to impress with just their utter resilience. It's just impressive
10:37
Speaker 1: what they do withstanding all of the injuries that take
10:41
Speaker 1: place and have taken place for them throughout the year. Now,
10:44
Speaker 1: the Mariners have one more game in their series against
10:46
Speaker 1: the Royals in Kansas City today and after that they
10:50
Speaker 1: will either be tied again for the AL West lead
10:53
Speaker 1: or one game back or a half game out. As
10:55
Speaker 1: of right now, that ten game winning streak ended yesterday.
10:59
Speaker 1: We're going to see this weekend a tremendous series between
11:02
Speaker 1: these two teams. Hunter, Brown and Valdez will pitch for
11:06
Speaker 1: the Astros as well as Alexander, and for the Mariners,
11:09
Speaker 1: they're going to pitch their three best Wu and Kirby
11:11
Speaker 1: and Gilbert. So it's going to be really something, and
11:14
Speaker 1: it's in Houston. It's going to be huge tests for
11:17
Speaker 1: the Mariners. And then after that we'll see in the
11:19
Speaker 1: final two series or four series how this all plays out.
11:23
Speaker 3: Yeah, you mentioned it's in Houston, and I know that
11:25
Speaker 3: you just play the schedule that you're given Ken, everybody
11:28
Speaker 3: has to do it. But the remaining games for these
11:30
Speaker 3: two clubs I would imagine play a factor at this
11:33
Speaker 3: very moment of the season.
11:34
Speaker 1: They certainly do, and let's take a look at it
11:36
Speaker 1: because it's kind of interesting to see what they have
11:39
Speaker 1: in front of them. So with the Astros, I'm sorry,
11:41
Speaker 1: it is two series remaining after this one, there's the
11:45
Speaker 1: road trip to Sacramento and the Los Angeles Angels. Now,
11:49
Speaker 1: Sacramento is not an easy place to play. There's some teams.
11:51
Speaker 1: The Tigers in particular have gotten beaten up there because
11:55
Speaker 1: the A's offense is really good. So that's six games
11:57
Speaker 1: on the road. The Mariners after the huge series, come
12:00
Speaker 1: home where they are so good. Three against the Rockies
12:04
Speaker 1: that should be easy, then three against the Dodgers. And
12:07
Speaker 1: it's unclear exactly at this point where the Dodgers will
12:10
Speaker 1: be at that point of the season. Will they have
12:12
Speaker 1: clinched the NL West, will they still be fighting for
12:15
Speaker 1: the NL West title. So it's all in front of
12:18
Speaker 1: both these teams and we'll see how it plays out.
12:21
Speaker 1: But this series this weekend, that's going to be important. Now,
12:26
Speaker 1: if the Astros have the league going into the series,
12:29
Speaker 1: if they lead by a game, the Mariners lose today,
12:32
Speaker 1: obviously that's a little bit of a cushion, but it's
12:34
Speaker 1: not much of a cushion.
12:36
Speaker 3: Yeah, a lot of day games going on on this Thursday,
12:39
Speaker 3: September eighteenth. All right, coming up, make sure you get
12:41
Speaker 3: those questions in for Grill and Ken. We want to
12:44
Speaker 3: hear from you. Your opportunity to ask Ken Rosenthal a question.
12:47
Speaker 3: We will be back right after this.
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Speaker 3: All right time. How to get those questions in for
13:58
Speaker 3: Grill and Ken. We'll start actually, Ken with the game
14:00
Speaker 3: that you have right now. You are in Baltimore, a
14:03
Speaker 3: Yankees at Baltimore. I understand the oh's a bit of
14:07
Speaker 3: a disappointment if you will already eliminated from postseason contention,
14:10
Speaker 3: but the Yankee still a ton to play for. What
14:13
Speaker 3: are your expectations for this game and what do the
14:15
Speaker 3: Yankees need to do to continue to solidify that postseason spot.
14:19
Speaker 1: It's Max Freed versus Kid Povich tonight too lanky left handers.
14:23
Speaker 1: And the thing to me that is most important for
14:26
Speaker 1: the Yankees right now is getting their bullpen in order. Now.
14:29
Speaker 1: The last two nights they had Schlitler and they had
14:32
Speaker 1: He'll kind of struggle and the bullpen was not as
14:35
Speaker 1: much of a factor in those games. Perhaps the Yardborough
14:38
Speaker 1: allowed for I think that was maybe in the first game,
14:40
Speaker 1: I don't remember. But they need to get straight there.
14:44
Speaker 1: And it seems that the Yankees, they'll have a couple
14:47
Speaker 1: of relievers going well and then a couple will sputter,
14:50
Speaker 1: and that's the issue. They've got the potential to be
14:53
Speaker 1: a really good bullpen. When you look at the back
14:56
Speaker 1: four going from the ninth inning back Bednor, Williams and Cruise.
15:01
Speaker 1: It's outstanding. Mark Leighter, Junior and Doval are in a
15:04
Speaker 1: little bit different roles, lower leverage, certainly in Daval's case,
15:07
Speaker 1: and even lighter, and perhaps there's been an adjustment for
15:11
Speaker 1: them getting used to lesser roles in a sense. But
15:15
Speaker 1: it just seems that they cannot get all these guys
15:18
Speaker 1: going at once, and that's going to be huge for
15:20
Speaker 1: them because right now they've got Freedom Rodn lined up
15:23
Speaker 1: for Games one and two, and they will be in
15:25
Speaker 1: a wild card series almost certainly at this point, and
15:28
Speaker 1: then they don't even know who the third starter will be,
15:31
Speaker 1: someone between will Warren, camp Schlitzler and Louis Heel. And
15:35
Speaker 1: then the bullpen, you know, is going to be in
15:37
Speaker 1: play for probably all three of those games. No one's
15:40
Speaker 1: pitching a complete game in the playoffs, So that is
15:44
Speaker 1: the thing to watch here for the Yankees. They've got
15:46
Speaker 1: the best offense in the majors. They hit the most
15:48
Speaker 1: home runs in the majors. They are a potent group,
15:51
Speaker 1: and I like where they are offensively, but their pitching
15:54
Speaker 1: still is something of a question. And of course how
15:57
Speaker 1: well they play, how crisply they play, that's going to
16:00
Speaker 1: be a defining element of their postseason as well.
16:03
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, just look at last season as far as
16:05
Speaker 3: that is concerned, that fundamental baseball and those mistakes. I
16:09
Speaker 3: know everybody thinks that Rob Manfred has the easiest job
16:11
Speaker 3: in the world. I don't, But Foul Territory asks you this, Ken,
16:15
Speaker 3: what would you change if you were Rob Manfred for
16:18
Speaker 3: the day, if you were the commissioner of this great
16:20
Speaker 3: game of ours? What would you change?
16:24
Speaker 1: The biggest thing I would like to see happen in
16:25
Speaker 1: this game is better labor relations. Now, if I were
16:29
Speaker 1: a commissioner of the day or for a day, I
16:31
Speaker 1: could not necessarily fix that in one day, and maybe
16:35
Speaker 1: I couldn't fix it at all. But that is kind
16:39
Speaker 1: of this game's achilles heel labor relations. And it's true
16:43
Speaker 1: there has not been a game missed due to a
16:45
Speaker 1: work stoppage in a long time, since ninety four to
16:47
Speaker 1: ninety five. But there is always fighting, and there is
16:51
Speaker 1: quite frankly an imbalance in this sport financially from the
16:55
Speaker 1: team's perspectives. Some teams have big resources and some teams don't,
17:00
Speaker 1: and this sport cannot seem to find the better balance.
17:04
Speaker 1: I'm not ever going to say it's going to be
17:05
Speaker 1: completely balanced in a system that does not include a
17:08
Speaker 1: salary cap. But that's the one thing I'd like to
17:12
Speaker 1: see better labor relations. I'd like to see them start
17:14
Speaker 1: negotiating the new CBA right now, even though it doesn't
17:17
Speaker 1: expire until after next season. Let's get this thing going.
17:21
Speaker 1: The sport isn't a really good place. It needs to
17:24
Speaker 1: continue that without the usual bickering and moaning and whining
17:28
Speaker 1: and all the things that go on when labor talks
17:31
Speaker 1: are happening.
17:32
Speaker 3: Honestly, especially with the stoppages recently as we've had it,
17:35
Speaker 3: it's just a black eye on the sport. There's a
17:38
Speaker 3: lot of things I'm sure that folks would like to change.
17:40
Speaker 3: For me personally, I would make number twenty one retired,
17:44
Speaker 3: just like number forty two is. I would retire number
17:46
Speaker 3: twenty one in all Major League ballparks, and on Roberto
17:49
Speaker 3: Clemente Day, which we just had on September fifteenth, everybody
17:52
Speaker 3: would wear number twenty one, just as everybody wears number
17:55
Speaker 3: forty two on April fifteenth. All right, next question here,
18:00
Speaker 3: Gorilla and Ken is in regards to Nick Kurtz Maney,
18:03
Speaker 3: think of course, Ken, he's going to be the American
18:05
Speaker 3: League Rookie of the Year, one of the bright spots
18:07
Speaker 3: of course for the athletic here's your question, videos two
18:10
Speaker 3: o seven. Which team is going to try to trade
18:12
Speaker 3: for Nick Kurtz in the offseason? All of them? Ken,
18:16
Speaker 3: what say you?
18:17
Speaker 1: I'm sure teams will ask. But the A's, at least
18:20
Speaker 1: in theory, are building towards something. The opening of their
18:24
Speaker 1: new ballpark in Las Vegas in twenty twenty eight. That's
18:27
Speaker 1: the date right now that is scheduled. And yes, they
18:31
Speaker 1: did trade Mason Miller, and Mason Miller was a player
18:34
Speaker 1: who had some years of control left, but he was
18:35
Speaker 1: also a reliever. They're not trading Nick Kurtz, who might
18:38
Speaker 1: be one of the most valuable hitters in the sport
18:41
Speaker 1: already in his first full season, not even a full season.
18:44
Speaker 1: So yes, teams will want him. Teams probably will ask
18:48
Speaker 1: about him. You can ask about whoever you want. But
18:50
Speaker 1: the A's are not trading Nick Kurtz.
18:53
Speaker 3: I'm glad to hear that. I hope they are building something.
18:55
Speaker 3: I was surprised when they let Mason Miller go, but
18:57
Speaker 3: I do hope that they build as they move forward.
18:59
Speaker 3: To bad that new ball park. Okay, much more to
19:02
Speaker 3: come here on Fair Territory with Ken Rosenthal. We're going
19:05
Speaker 3: to take a quick break and then we're going to
19:07
Speaker 3: have our Dude and Dork of the Week right after this.
19:10
Speaker 4: Hey, if you're a card collector or you're looking to collect, buy, sell, trade,
19:15
Speaker 4: Arena clubs the spot, and I'm going to tell you why.
19:17
Speaker 4: Because the old process AJA was very clunky. Buy a box,
19:21
Speaker 4: rip the pack, tons of comments, send it in for grading,
19:24
Speaker 4: and then finally you get everything back. This is weeks
19:27
Speaker 4: and weeks and you can start to try and sell
19:30
Speaker 4: the card. We have eliminated that with Arena club or
19:32
Speaker 4: they have. I act like I'm part of it, but
19:34
Speaker 4: in really one step.
19:36
Speaker 2: Arena's your one stop shop for everything. You get a card,
19:38
Speaker 2: you open a slap pack, the card is there, it's graded,
19:42
Speaker 2: It spins around coolly shows you three D the front,
19:45
Speaker 2: the back, you can look at the corners, you can
19:46
Speaker 2: look at everything, and then you get a decision. Do
19:49
Speaker 2: I want to keep it? Do I want to sell it?
19:50
Speaker 2: Do I want to trade?
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Speaker 1: It?
19:52
Speaker 2: Gives you an instant offer. You can buy it back
19:53
Speaker 2: and re rip another slap pack and try for someone else,
19:56
Speaker 2: or you can keep it and hope the value goes
19:58
Speaker 2: up and sell it a later day. It is true.
20:00
Speaker 2: The best spot to get.
20:01
Speaker 4: Cards twenty percent off your first lab pack or card
20:04
Speaker 4: purchase can be had right now at Arena club dot com.
20:07
Speaker 4: Slash frul and use code foul.
20:11
Speaker 3: Dude, dude, dude, can you have the honors? Who's your dude?
20:22
Speaker 1: I was tempted to go with Justin Verlander, who has
20:24
Speaker 1: had a remarkable end to his season and plans to
20:27
Speaker 1: pitch again next season, but I'm going to give it
20:30
Speaker 1: to the Cleveland Guardians. It's a team we don't talk
20:32
Speaker 1: about a lot, but right now they've won six straight,
20:35
Speaker 1: they're nine games over five hundred, they are four and
20:39
Speaker 1: a half games back in the division, just two and
20:41
Speaker 1: a half games back in the wild card, and they're
20:43
Speaker 1: doing this all without Remember Luis Ortiz and Emmanuel classa
20:48
Speaker 1: starting pitcher and one of the top relievers in the game.
20:51
Speaker 1: Those two are under investigation for gambling activities. So hats
20:55
Speaker 1: off to the Guardians because number one, this season didn't
20:58
Speaker 1: crumble after those players were put on leave, and number
21:03
Speaker 1: two they just have kept going and do I expect
21:06
Speaker 1: them to make the playoffs. No, the odds are still
21:09
Speaker 1: great against it because of the deficits that they face.
21:11
Speaker 1: But they've had a really good run here to tribute
21:14
Speaker 1: to Stephen Vote, a tribute to Jose Ramirez and of
21:16
Speaker 1: course the rest of their coaching staff and players. That's
21:20
Speaker 1: an organization that has it together and we see it
21:23
Speaker 1: year after year. There is no reason to believe they
21:26
Speaker 1: should have been this good, and yet here.
21:27
Speaker 3: They are, no doubt about it. I enjoy the Guardians.
21:31
Speaker 3: They're a hard team to dislike in terms of that
21:33
Speaker 3: they're very non polarizing, if you will. I was going
21:36
Speaker 3: to give my dude to Trey Yasavage, obviously, the top
21:39
Speaker 3: pitching prospect for the Toronto Blue Jays, had a tremendous
21:42
Speaker 3: debut against the Tampa Bay Rays. Great job, Trey, but
21:45
Speaker 3: I'm actually going to give it to Blake Snell. And
21:47
Speaker 3: the reason being Ken is because he's doing something now
21:49
Speaker 3: that he's not like pictures in this day and age
21:51
Speaker 3: are not allowed to do. Right, he actually got through
21:53
Speaker 3: the third time, the order through the third time, and
21:56
Speaker 3: he was actually allowed to stay out there and complete
21:59
Speaker 3: seven innings. Now, Dave Roberts came out to get it
22:01
Speaker 3: and Alex Vessia was already halfway to the mound out
22:05
Speaker 3: of the bullpen, and Blake Snell looked at Dave and said,
22:07
Speaker 3: I got it. I got it.
22:09
Speaker 1: So I give it to.
22:10
Speaker 3: Blake Snell for having that fire in his system, that
22:13
Speaker 3: fire in his veins. And I also give credit to
22:15
Speaker 3: Dave Roberts for allowing him to stay out there trusting
22:18
Speaker 3: in his player and the emotion that both displayed when
22:22
Speaker 3: Blake Snell was able to get that final strikeout in
22:24
Speaker 3: the seventh inning, and then you can turn it over
22:26
Speaker 3: to the bullpen after that. So Blake Snell, Dave Roberts,
22:29
Speaker 3: you are my Dudes of the week. Time. Now for
22:32
Speaker 3: Dork of the Week.
22:43
Speaker 1: I'm going to give it to a team and not
22:44
Speaker 1: a player. The team's the New York Mets, and the
22:48
Speaker 1: New York Mets, while they still look like they're going
22:51
Speaker 1: to get the final National League wildcard, they created a
22:55
Speaker 1: race when there is none. As I wrote the other day,
22:57
Speaker 1: this is the National League Wildcard Race, or the race
22:59
Speaker 1: for the third wild Card, brought to you by the
23:01
Speaker 1: New York Mets forty five and twenty four on June twelfth.
23:05
Speaker 1: We all know the numbers best in the majors at
23:06
Speaker 1: that time, and since then they have been well under
23:09
Speaker 1: five hundred. They've allowed the Reds and the Giants and
23:13
Speaker 1: the Diamondbacks to hang around. And do I expect any
23:16
Speaker 1: of those teams to go grab it. They're all at
23:18
Speaker 1: five hundred or one game above.
23:20
Speaker 5: No.
23:21
Speaker 1: But the fact that the Mets are seventy eight and
23:23
Speaker 1: seventy four with a three hundred and forty million dollar payroll. Nah,
23:28
Speaker 1: Folks of the week.
23:29
Speaker 3: Yeah, they created this mess themselves. They have nobody to
23:32
Speaker 3: blame but themselves. Ken Rosenthal, my dork of the week
23:36
Speaker 3: is actually the Brewers, and the reason being is because
23:39
Speaker 3: of the whole Bob Yucker letter after the Brewers clinched
23:43
Speaker 3: the celebration. I believe the intent was beautiful. I believe
23:46
Speaker 3: the intent was good. I believe the execution of the
23:49
Speaker 3: letter was a little peculiar. It seemed like it was
23:52
Speaker 3: a letter supposedly from the late great Bob Yucker to
23:56
Speaker 3: the Milwaukee Brewers that he wrote obviously before his passing
24:00
Speaker 3: to congratulate the team because he knew that they were
24:02
Speaker 3: going to get into the postseason. But it was a
24:04
Speaker 3: little bit more of commentary from perhaps Pat Murphy himself.
24:09
Speaker 3: The Brewers social media team kind of let it get
24:11
Speaker 3: out there and led us to believe that it was
24:13
Speaker 3: actually from mister Yucker. But I don't believe it actually
24:16
Speaker 3: was written by Bob Yucker himself. So the whole thing
24:20
Speaker 3: was a little crazy. Again. Idea, phenomenal, execution, a little
24:26
Speaker 3: bit questionable, and obviously he means so much to that organization,
24:31
Speaker 3: so it was just a little bit, a little bit hokey,
24:33
Speaker 3: you know.
24:33
Speaker 1: What, a lot of I understand what you're saying. I
24:36
Speaker 1: liked the idea, but in this day and age, and
24:39
Speaker 1: we know this too at the Athletic, it kind of
24:42
Speaker 1: have to make everything very clear. So it's not true.
24:46
Speaker 1: If the Brewers had said this is an imaginary letter
24:49
Speaker 1: from Bob Yucker and this is what we're going to
24:51
Speaker 1: do to celebrate and reading that, which was kind of
24:54
Speaker 1: in his voice, they would have probably saved themselves a
24:57
Speaker 1: lot of trouble. I was not confused by this, understood it,
25:00
Speaker 1: but at the same time, I knew why people did
25:03
Speaker 1: get confused once it started getting out and people are like, WHOA,
25:06
Speaker 1: what's this? So it was a good idea, and it
25:09
Speaker 1: just seemed to me the Brewers needed to be a
25:11
Speaker 1: little clearer on what exactly it was.
25:14
Speaker 3: Yeah, no doubt about it, because again we all ran
25:16
Speaker 3: with it, ourselves included. We are just as much at
25:18
Speaker 3: fault as the other media outlets. But again, congratulations to
25:21
Speaker 3: Pat Murphy, Mark Antonasio. The Brewers. Clinching the NL Central
25:25
Speaker 3: is no small feat. We are proud of you. It's
25:27
Speaker 3: just a little bit odd, all right. Well that's going
25:28
Speaker 3: to do it here for Fair Territory with Ken Rosenthal.
25:30
Speaker 3: Don't forget. Ken has a brand new episode on Monday.
25:34
Speaker 3: Watch him tonight on Fox. The New York Yankees at
25:36
Speaker 3: the Baltimore Orioles. Coming up next, it is Foul Territory
25:39
Speaker 3: myself a JA, here's instant Eric Kratz. We're going to
25:42
Speaker 3: be joined by Buck show Walker and Cubbs shortstop van
25:45
Speaker 3: Zba's Pants and Foul Territory one pm Eastern. We'll see
25:49
Speaker 3: you then. Take care, Ken, have a good weekend, you too.
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