Latest / Sports Avenue Twisted Podcast / Episode 45 Part II feat. Jeb Maize - 2nd half for the Braves and rest of the NL

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Episode 45 Part II feat. Jeb Maize - 2nd half for the Braves and rest of the NL · Sports Avenue Twisted Podcast

• 0:01
  Let's get to the next question here.
• 0:04
  Besides the Braves, let's talk about the rest of the NLA little
• 0:07
  bit. Besides the Braves, who do you
• 0:11
  think are some most disappointing and surprising
• 0:14
  teams in the NL? They're going right now.
• 0:20
  The Cubs, I didn't have them being as good as they were
• 0:24
  because of the rotation, especially when steel went down.
• 0:28
  I know they traded for Tucker and and PCA has been on another
• 0:32
  planet, but I didn't expect him to be like that and I didn't
• 0:36
  expect them to be as good as they have been.
• 0:39
  The Cardinals, what is going on? I, I expected them to be sellers
• 0:48
  the the NL West and the beast itself.
• 0:54
  I mean, you've got the Dodgers, the Giants and the Padres and
• 0:59
  even the Diamondbacks are still over 500.
• 1:03
  A team that has been really good recently that I've liked and I
• 1:06
  think has drawn a lot of energy as the Reds.
• 1:11
  I've been really high on them since 22 when they called Ellie
• 1:15
  up. They've just got so many
• 1:18
  position players and so many, you know, good pitchers that
• 1:22
  they just need a couple of of pieces to really take off,
• 1:27
  especially in that division, I think.
• 1:32
  But that that that's pretty much it for me.
• 1:34
  I mean, I didn't expect the Nationals to be as bad as they
• 1:37
  have been, especially with how Gore's been, with how James Wood
• 1:41
  has been. Yeah.
• 1:44
  So the giants kind of surprised me this year.
• 1:48
  So given the fact that I thought that they would probably be a
• 1:54
  fourth place team, I I knew that Arizona had some expectations
• 1:58
  with Corbin Burns, but I didn't expect them to drop off this
• 2:01
  bad, right? And I mean, now it's like you
• 2:05
  look at the opportunity that they could take advantage of
• 2:07
  this trade deadline. I think them and Baltimore could
• 2:09
  take a major advantage and coop as much assets as they possibly
• 2:14
  can. Milwaukee still hanging around,
• 2:17
  which surprises me a little bit. But like you said, Saint Louis,
• 2:21
  nobody expects Saint Louis to do what they're doing.
• 2:23
  I mean, besides Sonny Gray, I mean, what's the household name
• 2:27
  in that rotation is I believe Michaelis is like like.
• 2:31
  Yeah. Like, he's not that.
• 2:34
  He's not that great. I mean, he's decent.
• 2:36
  I guess he's OK, right? So I mean, it's crazy to think
• 2:42
  like Steven Matz is having a bounce right here.
• 2:44
  I think he's a free agent after it's here.
• 2:46
  And then now you look at like you said, I I mean, it's such a
• 2:54
  unusual year of baseball. I think Brick Baldwin hit a home
• 2:58
  run, I'm assuming, right. So yeah, there you go.
• 3:01
  I I just saw some notifications. But so, so you look at you look
• 3:08
  at the teams, I think the Mets are gonna fall off a Cliff
• 3:13
  rapidly quick if they because they don't have their their
• 3:18
  bullpen. There's a couple names that are
• 3:20
  decent like Jose Bhutto and Reed.
• 3:24
  Reed Garrett I think is another one.
• 3:26
  I think Brooks really it's about to come back, but they need a
• 3:28
  starting pitcher badly. Brandon Sprout hasn't been
• 3:31
  Brandon Sprout for them. Like they might have to force
• 3:34
  Jonah Tong. But knowing David Stearns, he's
• 3:36
  not going to rush his prospects up to the majors just like that.
• 3:40
  I'm curious to see how this is ends because the Cubs also have
• 3:44
  fallen off a bit too recently and Milwaukee and Saint Louis
• 3:48
  has closed the gap in the division.
• 3:50
  So this is going to be a fascinating ride.
• 3:53
  I think that's why I think with Alex saying that he he's not
• 3:57
  going to sell and he's standing by it.
• 3:59
  We'll see how this goes. But I mean, for now, we'll see
• 4:02
  because there's so much baseball to be played too.
• 4:04
  So much can happen over these next two to three weeks.
• 4:07
  And we could see unusual, unusual sellers as well, like
• 4:12
  Washington. There was rumor about Washington
• 4:15
  going after a long term starting pitcher.
• 4:17
  I don't even know if that's OK. They they might have to wait
• 4:19
  till the offseason. I mean, there's a lot of
• 4:20
  starting pitchers are available this offseason, so we shall see.
• 4:25
  And they could draft the The guy from LSU just pitched the
• 4:29
  complete game in the World Series.
• 4:30
  Kate. Kate.
• 4:32
  Anderson Yeah, yeah. And he, I mean, he could be an
• 4:34
  impact guy too fairly quickly. But I want to get your opinion
• 4:39
  because for me, I usually watch a lot of West Coast games
• 4:44
  because usually the Braves games on and then after that I'll just
• 4:47
  throw the West Coast games on to fall asleep to.
• 4:50
  But with the Cardinals, you know, if they do somehow
• 4:56
  continue to get into the Wild Card 1, is it smart for them to
• 5:01
  add because Heimbloom is taking over next year?
• 5:07
  And two, if they do add, what is that Intel for next year after
• 5:13
  he takes over? Because they've got a lot of
• 5:15
  interesting pieces that they could sell that are
• 5:18
  controllable, large new bar, Nolan Gorman, Burleson, Arenado,
• 5:28
  and even some of the, I mean, if you could pay down some of the
• 5:32
  salaries like a Michaelis or a Fetty, like I'm sure teams would
• 5:36
  be interested. Yeah, Matt's like, I'm sure
• 5:39
  teams would be interested in that if they're going for a
• 5:41
  playoff push and just need innings.
• 5:44
  Yeah, they've, I agree with that.
• 5:48
  They've the Cardinals have, have really been like they're eight
• 5:53
  and two in their last 10 games. They've started to kind of heat
• 5:57
  up a little bit again. So, you know, they kind of went
• 6:01
  through a cut like a two week, three-week stretch where they
• 6:04
  were kind of playing mediocre again after a hot start.
• 6:08
  But they look to be taken, taken off again.
• 6:11
  The Cubs are kind of like Rocky said, They're kind of falling
• 6:15
  back to earth a little bit. You look at surprise to me
• 6:20
  surprised, like I I'm surprised that the Diamondbacks a little
• 6:25
  bit or this bad. Like I thought that they would
• 6:28
  have been a little bit better. And I get their pitching with
• 6:31
  Zach Gallon has just not been good, you know, And if he gets
• 6:37
  traded, it's going to be a team that's going to be looking to
• 6:40
  try and fix whatever's going on with him in his head this year.
• 6:44
  I don't know if it's mental or or there's something's going on
• 6:47
  there, but he just hasn't been Zach Gallon this year.
• 6:51
  And that's kind of, it was kind of surprising to me because I
• 6:55
  think if Zach Gallon pitches better, I think they're in a
• 6:57
  better spot right now. Yeah.
• 7:00
  But I go, I get there in a tough division, you know, like, I
• 7:03
  mean, the Giants have been, you know, fantastic this year.
• 7:07
  You know, they're only four and a half games behind the Dodgers.
• 7:10
  And then they had Rafael Devers. Like, I mean, you know, that
• 7:14
  that signals to their team. Like, I think this trade
• 7:17
  deadline's gonna be interesting to watch what what San Francisco
• 7:21
  does, I think, because I think they're gonna go all in.
• 7:26
  Yeah, I'm curious to see you here how that NL Central plays
• 7:31
  out, like you said, because there's also rumors about
• 7:34
  Peralta. Could be good, could get dealt
• 7:36
  at this trade. Devlin, because he has one year
• 7:38
  left on his contract after he's here and they cannot work a
• 7:41
  deal. And knowing Milwaukee, they have
• 7:44
  guys, pitchers, they're a factory when it comes to
• 7:48
  fighting guys like that. That's a norm.
• 7:51
  Cincinnati intrigues me a lot because this is Francona's first
• 7:55
  year of his three-year deal. They just DFA Candelario with
• 8:01
  that contract and they're not wasting time.
• 8:03
  They just they just called up parents.
• 8:06
  So which is which is aggressive because he.
• 8:11
  I picked him up in fantasy. I I did too, man.
• 8:15
  Rob stole my pick. I stole one.
• 8:17
  From Rocky. But but but but I did.
• 8:20
  I did pick up, I did pick up Mesoroski, who's been liked out
• 8:25
  for them. So it's it's it's it's.
• 8:28
  They're only 4 1/2 games. Out man, that's what I'm saying.
• 8:32
  That division is far from being done.
• 8:34
  With that being said. Besides.
• 8:37
  If somehow, well, I mean the pirates are the.
• 8:40
  Pirates. They're just the pirates, yeah.
• 8:42
  So with that being said, so man, I feel like the Cubs have to be
• 8:49
  aggressive because Jed Hoyer's job is on the line, right?
• 8:54
  So for them to try to contend and Kyle Tucker that that's
• 8:58
  going to be a fascinating conversation where that goes
• 9:01
  with its extensions, right? So that's going to be something
• 9:05
  there's a lot of headlines in that division.
• 9:07
  I'm I'm curious to see how that goes because I know the Braves
• 9:11
  checked in on Sonny, but Sonny doesn't want to get traded.
• 9:14
  The eyes of no trade clause, right?
• 9:16
  So I mean, The thing is like, it's just, it's just going to be
• 9:22
  interesting to see where this this season goes with those
• 9:26
  guys, right? But we could get to the next
• 9:29
  question here. So the next question is, oh, the
• 9:33
  Braves. So let's look at 2 scenarios
• 9:37
  over here. So how would you look in one
• 9:40
  portion as a buyer and one portion as a seller?
• 9:44
  So how do you look at in two scenarios?
• 9:46
  If they were to be buyers, who would they have to go after?
• 9:49
  If they were have to be sellers, who would they have to sell?
• 9:55
  If you're going to be a buyer, you've got to probably get
• 10:01
  somebody with a back of a baseball card to play left
• 10:05
  field, and you're going to need bullpen help.
• 10:12
  Contrary to popular belief, there's nobody in this bullpen
• 10:17
  that I trust besides Dylan Lee. You're going to have to get
• 10:21
  somebody for the bullpen, and it wouldn't hurt to get another
• 10:27
  starter. I mean, I don't think Alex is
• 10:29
  going to fast track a Hackingburg or call up a wall
• 10:33
  drip just to eat innings. I think if he was going to do
• 10:36
  something, he would go after a Charlie Morton.
• 10:41
  You know, I don't know how much he has left on his deal, but
• 10:45
  like, and I know it probably doesn't entice or excite
• 10:52
  anybody, but like a Herman Marquez or a Kyle Freeland, like
• 10:57
  just somebody to just go out there and eat innings, really.
• 11:04
  So it's interesting because knowing Alex, the fact that you
• 11:11
  look at him when it comes to term, he likes to get guys who
• 11:14
  are under control. There was worried about Pablo
• 11:17
  Lopez being traded, knowing that he he's not going to give up
• 11:24
  assets unless he knows that he's going to go get that guy.
• 11:29
  I wonder where Seattle stand in this.
• 11:32
  I feel like there's there could be trade partners between both
• 11:35
  both teams because one I wonder if an ultra Nacho Alvarez gets
• 11:41
  traded or or if you guys go get like a Logan Evans or I know
• 11:46
  that they've been trying to trade away Casteel for years and
• 11:49
  nobody wants to pay that contract, right.
• 11:51
  So and that's going to be under consideration the fact that Alex
• 11:58
  is looking at long term, right? Let me ask you this.
• 12:01
  Let me ask you, this is Nick Allen, the shorts up of this
• 12:04
  team for the foreseeable future. So if this lineup is doing what
• 12:09
  this lineup is supposed to do, yes, the way he is just
• 12:13
  absolutely took over that position from Orlando Garcia and
• 12:17
  has been one the second best defender according to I believe
• 12:22
  it's DRS. Defensive run.
• 12:25
  Yeah, yeah. He he should at least be here
• 12:30
  until he is out of ARB because he's not going to require a lot.
• 12:37
  You can still have him play third and 2nd if you do find a
• 12:40
  shortstop and have him be that utility infielder, the, you
• 12:44
  know, late inning defensive specialist because, I mean,
• 12:49
  Ozzy's OK defensively. But if you could have a, you
• 12:53
  know, a pretty good shortstop and a Nick Allen takeover at
• 12:58
  second the late innings, yeah, I like my chances.
• 13:03
  So I think he will be here for a pretty good while.
• 13:06
  But it it just depends on how the offense goes, man.
• 13:10
  It that's pretty much what it's up to.
• 13:13
  Right. So on a seller's standpoint, so
• 13:16
  we talked about Marcelo Zuna earlier this year.
• 13:19
  I mean this episode, sorry, and he has a 10/5 rights, meaning he
• 13:25
  has he has control where what team he wants to end up going.
• 13:29
  So he's a he's a free agent after this year, I believe,
• 13:32
  right. So there's no option to that's
• 13:34
  already been maximized. So if there's a team you would
• 13:40
  think would go after Ozuna, let's just say just as sellers,
• 13:44
  because obviously probably him and Iglesias would be the two
• 13:47
  guys that come in mind. Where do you think would be the
• 13:50
  option? I mean, Boston just lost the DH.
• 13:57
  Yeah. Maybe Boston, depending on how
• 14:02
  they look. I don't know man.
• 14:07
  Depending on how the Giants are looking, if they moved Evers to
• 14:12
  1st, you know, and they want to make a push for it, I guess
• 14:17
  Seattle, you could throw them in there depending on the the deal
• 14:20
  that they would have to give up. I don't know.
• 14:27
  It's a really tough market for him in my opinion because he he
• 14:33
  he literally cannot play defense like Devers.
• 14:36
  You can at least stick out there and he can stand somewhere like
• 14:41
  Ozuna cannot physically play defense.
• 14:44
  What What about Seattle? I mean, yeah.
• 14:49
  I mean, him going back with Kevin Seitzer I think would be
• 14:52
  really good. I just don't know what what the
• 14:57
  package would be. I don't know what Seattle would
• 14:58
  be willing to give up. I know that there's been recent
• 15:04
  talk and and in recent years just rumors of like Logan
• 15:08
  Gilbert or whatever, you know, and the Braves, you know,
• 15:11
  they've there's been those two links together.
• 15:15
  Maybe they can get something done with package of prospects.
• 15:18
  Izuma what what not, but I I don't know how desperate they
• 15:22
  are to move. I'm starting, but there's been
• 15:24
  there's been talk of Luis Castillo getting possibly
• 15:27
  getting traded too. So I don't know which which guy
• 15:30
  it would be that they would want to part with to add offense,
• 15:35
  because aside from Cal rally, I believe like they need more,
• 15:38
  they need more offense, you know, on that team.
• 15:42
  So and and you know, Julio wakes up in the second-half for
• 15:45
  whatever reason, he's usually not that first half guy.
• 15:50
  But but I do think that you guys will be in the market for
• 15:54
  starting pitching and I and, you know, it'll be obviously years
• 15:59
  of somebody with some control like Zach Galen, you know, makes
• 16:03
  a lot of sense, you know, try, you know, try and get him back
• 16:08
  on track because he's he's a phenomenal pitcher when he's
• 16:11
  right. So I, I, I think that there's
• 16:15
  something there for for that. But if you were to trade, yeah,
• 16:19
  it it would most likely be AI think like would they move Sean
• 16:25
  Murphy because of because the emergence of Drake Baldwin?
• 16:32
  Maybe to get the contract off the books, probably, yeah.
• 16:36
  I know they like his game calling.
• 16:38
  I know they like his defense, but I don't know, it's one of
• 16:43
  those things where you have two really, really good catchers and
• 16:47
  you have X amount of holes. You know, I, I, I don't know, I
• 16:55
  really don't. It's, it's been a very, it's
• 16:57
  been a very weird season for MLB entire entirely.
• 17:02
  It's it's just been a very weird season, but it's been a very
• 17:05
  weird season for Atlanta, too. It's so funny you brought up
• 17:10
  Sean Murphy. It's because that contract is a
• 17:13
  cheap contract the way baseball is going too, right?
• 17:15
  Like that's that's another thing to consider.
• 17:17
  See, The thing is that Drake Baldwin is the long term
• 17:22
  solution of this team without a doubt, right?
• 17:25
  Like I don't know, like I remember the 90s Braves and they
• 17:30
  had two really good catchers and Javi Lopez and Eddie Perez.
• 17:35
  Perez could have been a starter anywhere else because of the way
• 17:38
  he calls the game, the way pitcher, I mean, you had Hall of
• 17:41
  Fame pitchers. I get all that right back then,
• 17:44
  but if you look at the way like you said, they're like, I don't
• 17:50
  know if it's a better situation than what the Braves situations
• 17:53
  are like. Murphy number one catcher,
• 17:55
  Baldwin number one catcher. So it's going to it's going to
• 17:59
  come down to where teams are going to ask for like for
• 18:04
  example, the Red Sox. Let's just say I'm not saying
• 18:07
  it's going to happen. I'm sure if David and that's
• 18:10
  been rumored about Red Sox and Sean Murphy because they traded
• 18:15
  away their top catcher in Kaltiel, which I think is a
• 18:18
  mistake. Justice me and now you have to
• 18:21
  fill a need. Omar Novaez has been, I mean,
• 18:24
  formidable for him. He's been good for him.
• 18:25
  But I don't think he's Sean Murphy level.
• 18:28
  But if you're going to go get a guy like Sean Murphy, then
• 18:31
  you're going to have another opportunity to do like, I mean,
• 18:35
  you're going to have to give up something to get something.
• 18:37
  I mean, I feel like the Red Sox missed a grand opportunity of
• 18:40
  what they're doing right now, right?
• 18:42
  So, I mean, I think, I think the Braves can ride with both of
• 18:46
  them. Could you put Sean Murphy in ADH
• 18:50
  watch with Kirk or any other opportunity where things stand
• 18:54
  or no? See that's.
• 18:56
  Long, long, long, long term. I'm talking about of course,
• 18:59
  right? So.
• 19:00
  That's The thing is a lot of people are speculating that
• 19:03
  they're going to platoon DH them next year, which depending
• 19:07
  Murphy hasn't really been, which I fall under the category where
• 19:13
  I'm kind of underwhelmed because of how well he wasn't 23.
• 19:18
  And you know, you hit, you know, 260 with 20 bombs, you know, 700
• 19:23
  plus OPS. And we just haven't seen that.
• 19:26
  I mean, I know the OPS is still high, but the average is not
• 19:29
  there and the homers are they're not there.
• 19:32
  And you know, call it what you want, you know, juice balls,
• 19:35
  whatever, But I want to get your opinion on, I've said this on
• 19:40
  the on our podcast before, but I think Sean Murphy to Cincinnati
• 19:44
  makes too much sense. Wow.
• 19:49
  Oh, you know, you know, wow, you.
• 19:54
  You get John Murphy with with that pitching staff in that
• 20:00
  ballpark. I like the fit.
• 20:05
  The fit makes sense. I mean, Robert Stevenson's not a
• 20:09
  top catcher in this sport. Yeah, Tobrino, the backup, I
• 20:12
  mean he's been OK for them. Yeah, interesting concept.
• 20:16
  Let me give you another team. And I don't know if they'll do
• 20:19
  it within the division is the Phillies is the reason why is
• 20:23
  because Romero is a free agent. He's not getting any younger.
• 20:27
  And if you're going to trade within a division, you get a
• 20:30
  premium in return. And I can't see it, but I'm just
• 20:35
  saying it's a food of I don't see that.
• 20:38
  John Murphy kicking your ass for the next. 10 years.
• 20:42
  Let me give you. Let me give you one more team.
• 20:44
  It just came on my mind. Right now, the Padres Ethan
• 20:48
  Salas is too far away. So I've heard that as well.
• 20:53
  OK, so it's so funny, this is an interesting conversation, but
• 20:57
  it's like a round table here. So if you look at San Diego,
• 21:01
  Maldonado and Diaz are not the long term solution.
• 21:05
  Ethan Salas is still ways from being anything but.
• 21:11
  How long can you wait for Ethan Salas?
• 21:13
  Because I think Leo Devries is the most untouchable prospect of
• 21:17
  their system, in my opinion. Yep.
• 21:19
  So what would you have to do to to trade for for Murphy?
• 21:25
  Like you would have to give up multiple relievers, maybe some
• 21:27
  future assets, maybe a cash Mayfield, like somewhere along
• 21:32
  the lines like AJ Pryor is looking for that big shark,
• 21:37
  right? And I feel like he's going to do
• 21:40
  it at this trade delay. And you know how creative he
• 21:42
  gets. Like you saw what he did last
• 21:43
  trade deadline gave up like so much.
• 21:45
  You go get Jason Adams and Tanner Star.
• 21:49
  Yeah. So so that that could be
• 21:52
  something that both sides can work on the deal, right.
• 21:55
  So is there any other teams you would think that I was thinking
• 21:59
  Minnesota because I heard in the offseason that they checked in
• 22:04
  on boxing and Korea and Pablo Lopez.
• 22:08
  So. Yep, Yep.
• 22:12
  That's something Alex like to do, right?
• 22:14
  Like getting guys under control, right?
• 22:16
  So all right. I like the Padres.
• 22:21
  I just, the Padres are really, really, really, really good at
• 22:25
  recognizing talent. I don't know if it's the
• 22:28
  scouting or player development. I don't know what it is.
• 22:32
  And I've floated the idea where I would not be mad if the Padres
• 22:37
  offloaded everybody and just started over with just the way
• 22:40
  they can develop guys. I mean, you look at a Jackson,
• 22:44
  Merrill, Fernando. I mean, Fernando was a.
• 22:48
  Throw in basically. For James, she was.
• 22:51
  I mean. Yeah, Devries Solace.
• 22:54
  I mean, you've you've had guys too like CJ Abrams, Mackenzie
• 22:58
  Gore and James Wood and was Robert, Robert Hassle, I believe
• 23:03
  was was there too like they're. Just unbelievable.
• 23:09
  Yeah, they're just unbelievable with recognizing talent.
• 23:13
  So I would trust trading with the Padres.
• 23:17
  There's one more guy. That who?
• 23:20
  Who did I miss? You know, and Suzanne is the
• 23:25
  other one, the pitcher he throws 100 mph.
• 23:30
  That got another guy, too. Yeah, but.
• 23:33
  Yeah, they they would have to get at least an infield
• 23:37
  prospect. And I don't know if you can like
• 23:43
  not a lottery ticket in field prospect like a pretty surefire
• 23:46
  prospect and maybe like it, maybe like an atom.
• 23:51
  And I, I don't even know. I don't even know what a Murphy
• 23:56
  package looks like. The only one that I've really
• 23:59
  floated myself was McClain for Murphy, straight up.
• 24:05
  Fool Matt McClain is interesting.
• 24:09
  Yeah, because. That's.
• 24:11
  The Reds have a lot of infielders.
• 24:14
  They get rid of India and then, you know, potentially get rid of
• 24:17
  McClain. They get a catcher to go with
• 24:20
  that. Pitching staff.
• 24:22
  I don't know. Yeah, they do have Sell Stewart,
• 24:26
  Cam Cooley and Edwin Arroyo all coming in the system.
• 24:30
  So you might be up to something with that.
• 24:31
  That's interesting. That's really interesting on
• 24:34
  that. Rob, you have anything else to
• 24:37
  add before the next question? No, Nope, I'm good.
• 24:41
  But let's get to the next question though, about the NL
• 24:45
  awards. And, and there have been so many
• 24:48
  good players this season. I feel like it's like it's more
• 24:52
  open for for the for the awards conversation in the NL that is
• 24:58
  in the AO. So who are some guys that you
• 25:02
  that you feel are, are at the, you know, at the top of the list
• 25:05
  right now for, for being contenders for, you know, Cy
• 25:09
  Young, batting title, MVP, etcetera.
• 25:16
  Well, one, one name I'm going to tell you all to watch, which I'm
• 25:21
  sure you are, is James Wood. I don't know if he's eligible
• 25:26
  for rookie of the Year, but if he is, he should win it.
• 25:29
  I mean, he is unbelievable. Oh, MVPI mean, I guess you could
• 25:39
  say Otani again, I mean. Yeah, I know.
• 25:43
  That's I don't, I don't know if he wouldn't been, if he wouldn't
• 25:49
  have been injured twice. I would say Jackson Merrill
• 25:52
  would be a guy that I would keep eyes on.
• 25:55
  He I love watching him play, you know, Soto's turning it around,
• 26:03
  Acuna, obviously Schwellenbach. I bet on Hollenbach for the end
• 26:14
  they'll. Say yeah.
• 26:18
  Yeah, if, if Hunter Green wouldn't have gotten injured, he
• 26:22
  was another guy was really watching Chase Petty.
• 26:25
  Yeah, yeah, it's like I said earlier, it's so weird that it I
• 26:33
  don't even really. Rocky.
• 26:41
  Jacob Mazeroski has opened up eyes for a lot of people.
• 26:45
  Yeah, when he got called up, he's going to be in that Rookie
• 26:48
  of the Year conversation. I think Drake Baldwin will be in
• 26:51
  that conversation, too. If he can play more games, you
• 26:54
  need to find a way to get him to play more.
• 26:57
  He is. Yeah, and that's that's the
• 27:00
  thing. If he can push the envelope,
• 27:01
  it's a good opportunity. I think they could come down to
• 27:03
  those two. I don't know if James Wood is
• 27:05
  eligible, but man, I kind of predicted that James Wood was
• 27:10
  going to be that guy, right? So so let me.
• 27:16
  Let me tell you something right here.
• 27:18
  I'm going to give you a prediction.
• 27:20
  Go ahead. Is the his contract won't start
• 27:24
  anything lower than a six? Woo, you know, you know what?
• 27:29
  So fun, you know you know what? So funny about that?
• 27:34
  He's represented by Scott Boris. Yep, he is.
• 27:37
  So so the fact that you say that and you know, this doesn't come
• 27:45
  as a surprise for me because a lot of people didn't see James
• 27:49
  Wood coming like this. I followed him in the minors in
• 27:52
  the Padre because the Padres draft so well, like they're one
• 27:56
  team that could trade all these assets and replenish it within
• 28:03
  within a quick span. Like it's like it's like him,
• 28:06
  Alex could do that as well. He did that with Toronto.
• 28:09
  He's done that with the Braves. So, but like I said, Alex loves
• 28:12
  term, but but yeah, like James Wood has some MVP in him in the
• 28:17
  future. That guy is A5 tool player.
• 28:21
  He not too many people can do what James Wood is doing right
• 28:25
  now. And you know, and the thing it's
• 28:28
  like guys like him, it's hard to find.
• 28:30
  And can I make a bold prediction if he keeps up like this, he's
• 28:34
  he could be a top five player in baseball.
• 28:36
  What's all said and done? Can I make a bold prediction and
• 28:39
  say that if he keeps this up and gets even better that he might
• 28:42
  be better than Bryce Harper? Yes, you know what the thing
• 28:46
  about right I. I agree with that man.
• 28:49
  I I'm with that I'm all in on him.
• 28:51
  Yeah, he's he is like he's star. He's superstar man, superstar
• 28:57
  potential and every aspect of the word like and he's he's only
• 29:02
  getting better. He's just scratching the surface
• 29:04
  too of what this guy is going to be man.
• 29:07
  Like it's he is, he is MVPS. He might have multiple MVPS when
• 29:12
  it's all said and done. Yeah, I took him.
• 29:16
  I think I took him 79th overall in my in my fantasy trap.
• 29:20
  Which, yeah, everybody was sleeping on him.
• 29:22
  Yeah. Yeah, Rocky, you got him in like
• 29:26
  what, 3 leagues or something like that?
• 29:29
  Well, when I had Jay Jackson and Trayvon Robinson in our
• 29:32
  previews, right? And I Ted that James Wood has
• 29:38
  generational talent written all over because like I said, like I
• 29:41
  watched a lot of minor leagues too, and people don't see
• 29:44
  things. And you know, Drake Baldwin was
• 29:46
  another guy play AFL. He played so well.
• 29:49
  Like, like there's so much young talent in today's baseball that
• 29:53
  people need to understand. Like if you're not following the
• 29:55
  minors, you have to follow the minors, in my opinion, Like
• 30:00
  because that's the future. That's where baseball's at.
• 30:03
  That's why with a team like Washington, I think I think
• 30:08
  they're going to be ready to spend this offseason.
• 30:11
  You know, and like you said, I think James Wood is has, has MVP
• 30:17
  written all over him. Let me ask you this.
• 30:20
  And now we were talking about awards and stuff, and I was
• 30:23
  talking to some people and I was talking to Rob about this.
• 30:26
  So let's just say that the Washington Nationals do draft
• 30:33
  Ethan holiday #1 does that make CJ Abrams expendable down the
• 30:38
  road? Maybe it depends on if they fast
• 30:45
  track him like they did Jackson, but from what I heard they were
• 30:50
  trying to get a deal done with him.
• 30:52
  And correct me if I'm wrong, I don't think they really have
• 30:56
  anybody worth note or at least worth note for the future a
• 31:00
  second. So you could potentially see one
• 31:02
  of the two moved a second. So I would say no for now.
• 31:09
  But he's still pretty young and you know, he's been in the bigs
• 31:14
  for a, a decent bit. But yeah, I I would say no for
• 31:21
  now. Yeah.
• 31:25
  OK. So other MVPS you would say are
• 31:29
  awards relief pitcher of the Year.
• 31:31
  Who would you say is relief pitcher of the year so far?
• 31:40
  I don't even know. There's been a lot of really
• 31:48
  good. Yeah, there's been a lot of
• 31:50
  really good ones. And there's been a lot of
• 31:52
  sleeper guys too, who have been really, really good.
• 31:55
  I mean, not really. Robert Torres, Yeah.
• 32:00
  Yeah, he would have to be one guy, I believe it was.
• 32:06
  Is it Griffin Jax who's been kind of not really that good
• 32:09
  this year? Yeah, I mean, he's in, he's in
• 32:14
  Minnesota. He's he's been up and down.
• 32:16
  Juwan Duran's been up and down too this year too.
• 32:18
  But I think there is value in him.
• 32:20
  But it's just, and, and, and if you look at the markets, like
• 32:26
  we'll get to the bold predictions near the end, but
• 32:28
  like you look at the options of how, how the market's going to
• 32:36
  dictate with these relief pitchers.
• 32:37
  It's such a volatile position, right?
• 32:40
  For, for baseball, like, because one year they can be great, next
• 32:43
  year they could fall off. And there's a lot of
• 32:45
  inconsistency to that, right? So that's one thing.
• 32:49
  Look at Iglesias, for example. He he was having a great what,
• 32:53
  two years? And this year, I don't know
• 32:56
  what's gone into him, but it's just surprising that he hasn't
• 33:01
  been the pitcher he should have been.
• 33:02
  I mean, he's I mean, he's he has a lot of mileage in him.
• 33:06
  I mean, he's been pitching for a significantly amount of time and
• 33:10
  the Dodgers, the Dodgers overpaid for a guy like Tanner
• 33:13
  Scott. Like how long that's going to
• 33:14
  last, right? It's only going to last for so
• 33:16
  much too, right. So I mean, you could only you
• 33:20
  could only depend on these guys so much, right?
• 33:21
  There's no like, pull up, rotate bullpen right now, especially
• 33:25
  the way baseball's going, right? So yeah, what do you what?
• 33:32
  Yeah. What are your thoughts?
• 33:35
  I'm looking at, I'm looking at the relievers, the reliever of
• 33:39
  the year and there aren't too many guys with sub three eras,
• 33:45
  sub two eras as relievers. Yeah, it's, you know, it's been
• 33:50
  weird. It's been, it's been a weird
• 33:52
  season all around. It's been weird season, like
• 33:56
  Emilio Pagan's a guy who's been pretty good for the Reds.
• 34:00
  Tanner Scott obviously with with with the Dodgers, but even his
• 34:05
  ERA is like 3.65, you know, You know, Edwin Diaz has, you know,
• 34:12
  let's see what he's got here. 2 point O eight.
• 34:15
  Yeah, he's 3 and O2 point O 8.96 WIP.
• 34:19
  I mean, he'll be in the running, of course.
• 34:22
  Camila Duvall's been actually pretty good with the 2.6 ERA 1.9
• 34:28
  WIP. Suarez leads and saves, but it's
• 34:32
  his ER as 3.51, which is, you know, kind of surprising.
• 34:37
  So I I, it's I, I agree with you.
• 34:40
  It's wide open, like it's, it's tough to say.
• 34:43
  It might be at the end of the season who has the most saves or
• 34:47
  or whatnot who you know and has a decent ERA because there's
• 34:51
  nobody with that, you know, stellar 1.1 ERA or whatever.
• 34:57
  You know, it's it's tough, man, It's tough.
• 35:00
  Even Kyle Finnegan's pretty good too, 18 saves, you know, 2.89
• 35:07
  ERA, 1.21 WHIP. So, I mean, it's tough.
• 35:15
  So give me a bold prediction of what's going to happen to this
• 35:19
  trade deadline. Like, I mean, I expect the
• 35:21
  endeavours to be traded, but never this this to right.
• 35:25
  So, yeah, what would you, what would be your bold prediction
• 35:30
  for this trade deadline? So like a trade I'm guessing?
• 35:36
  Yes, or any, any prediction like yeah, you could, you could have
• 35:40
  more than one prediction if you want.
• 35:42
  A trade bold prediction. I would say I don't know.
• 35:55
  I mean, I don't want to say it's like like not known, but I, I
• 36:03
  guess don't be surprised if the Diamondbacks move on from Gallon
• 36:08
  and Guriel, I guess. I mean, I know we kind of hit on
• 36:13
  that earlier, but they're the ones who make the most sense.
• 36:17
  You know, it's so funny you say that because I predicted on
• 36:20
  Toby's in the last episode that that Guriel Guriel could make,
• 36:29
  could make sense because it opens doors for other guys on
• 36:31
  the roster. Like Jake McCarthy is just
• 36:34
  sitting down doing nothing. Like they got Drew Jones coming
• 36:37
  in the system, Like they got to give other guys opportunities.
• 36:41
  And and like I said it, it eases their financial flexibility.
• 36:46
  You know, that sports is probably going to be gone, too.
• 36:48
  And, you know, a team like the New York Yankees are going to be
• 36:51
  all over. And I mean, they're one of the
• 36:53
  most desperate teams for third base and some offense, right as
• 36:56
  advertised. So I was saying the Twins, I
• 37:03
  Twins maybe, yeah. What do you what do you think
• 37:07
  about the twins? Could you see, could you see a
• 37:10
  Byron Buxton getting traded? Because I know they've been
• 37:13
  trying to get rid of his contract for so quite up that
• 37:16
  they've been trying to get rid of Correa's contract.
• 37:18
  They're trying to they're trying to eat some money off their off
• 37:22
  their payroll, right. That's been also rumored out
• 37:26
  there due to the fact of their their whole depth and their
• 37:31
  ownership issues, right. So.
• 37:36
  I don't know about boxing. I don't know depending on
• 37:40
  playoff spot and records. I don't know about Korea either.
• 37:46
  One that I am intrigued is Royce Lewis.
• 37:50
  Maybe a change of scenery kind of guy.
• 37:54
  It's been injured a lot. I know the big bats there, but
• 38:00
  that's that's another guy in your lineup that you can't count
• 38:04
  on. Maybe Royce Lewis gets moved.
• 38:09
  I could see that. I think I'm going to say, I'm
• 38:14
  going to say David Bednar gets moved straight line.
• 38:19
  I think he's fine. You know, every year it seems
• 38:22
  like his name is in the mix, but he never gets moved.
• 38:25
  So and he finally looks like he's becoming that dominant guy
• 38:29
  again. So I think he's, I think him and
• 38:33
  Mitch Keller get moved that that's my bold prediction.
• 38:37
  Yeah, I'm gonna go on a on a limb, too and say that.
• 38:46
  I'm gonna say, I'm gonna say that the Brewers will get
• 38:51
  leapfrogged by the Cardinals and Reds.
• 38:58
  Wow, that's. Interesting, I can see it.
• 39:01
  I, I kind of I, you know, and I said this, we talked about this
• 39:05
  a while ago just with, with, with some friends of ours.
• 39:10
  I think that, you know, and somebody asked me who do you
• 39:14
  feel like is legit between Minnesota and, and, and the
• 39:19
  Cardinals? And this was back when Minnesota
• 39:21
  was playing well. And I'm like, no, I don't buy, I
• 39:25
  don't buy Minnesota what they're doing, but I kind of do believe
• 39:29
  in the Cardinals a little bit. Like I'm not.
• 39:33
  I don't think that they're a bad like I I think last year was a
• 39:38
  bad year. I think that they're they were
• 39:40
  better than last year. They're showing it this year.
• 39:42
  I don't know how much, how good they are, but I I could see
• 39:46
  that. I could totally see that.
• 39:52
  We know what the Reds can do. We know what the Reds can do.
• 39:56
  Yeah, I think I'll give, I'll give you a team that's going to
• 40:00
  be as aggressive as any team is. The Phillies, I think they're
• 40:03
  going to try to get 2 for one. I could see Felix, Batista, Ryan
• 40:08
  O'hern get traded in a package deal.
• 40:10
  It would. It would be.
• 40:12
  Pretty pricey, but I mean that's a type of situation where the
• 40:18
  the Philadelphia Phillies are going all in this trade
• 40:20
  deadline. I know the Giants are looking
• 40:23
  for a starting pitcher now, right?
• 40:27
  So now they've that they traded away Kyle Harrison.
• 40:33
  I feel like Seattle's going to do something in this trade
• 40:35
  deadline there. There's something that that's
• 40:38
  got to give. So you would have to think the
• 40:41
  the relief pitcher market is going to be very, very
• 40:45
  competitive because you need pitching, especially if if you
• 40:48
  try to compete for the playoffs. I think I think Betnar is going
• 40:53
  to get traded, like you said, Rob, and it could get to the
• 40:57
  point where there's some teams that we're not talking about.
• 41:01
  It's going to get traded. I really do.
• 41:04
  Like, do you see, do you see a team like the White Sox trade
• 41:11
  away Louise Roberts? This might be the year they
• 41:15
  finally do it, right? Yeah, Yeah, I know.
• 41:21
  That's the one thing about him is that you just can't stay
• 41:25
  healthy. Like he he seemed like he was
• 41:27
  starting to figure it out. I think he's been starting to
• 41:29
  hit home runs again, Right. So Ben attendees interesting
• 41:35
  guy, but he's still under control till 27.
• 41:38
  So that's a that's a tough contract to take two, right?
• 41:41
  So just overall, you got to look at it this way.
• 41:46
  I do think we're going to see some bold moves.
• 41:50
  I do think the trade Twins will end up sell.
• 41:52
  Do you think the Red Sox will end up selling and trade Duran?
• 41:57
  So I was just going to say an interesting one that I am kind
• 42:02
  of looking out for since you brought them up is Duran and
• 42:05
  Chapman to the Phillies. That would that would that'd be
• 42:14
  interesting. Make sense?
• 42:19
  Yeah, that does make sense. It makes a total ton of sense.
• 42:22
  I mean, Dombrowski's about left-handed center fielders with
• 42:27
  the lead speed, and he's been having that from quite some
• 42:31
  time, I mean, dating back to his time running running team
• 42:36
  forever and ever, right. So I could totally see that.
• 42:40
  But yeah, I mean, is there is there a point where Mullins gets
• 42:45
  traded? I mean, Mullins is an
• 42:47
  interesting guy, too, right. So center fielder, Yeah, yeah,
• 42:53
  that's another guy you could you see the Braves go after a guy
• 42:56
  like Mullins? I mean, he would play any
• 42:58
  position on the field, right? So.
• 43:03
  Yeah, I don't know if they would go after Mullins.
• 43:05
  Yeah, I know he's a free Asian after this year, but I think
• 43:09
  Baltimore would kind of want a premium for him with the beer
• 43:12
  he's been having. I, I, I still think that the,
• 43:20
  the San Francisco Giants are going to do something big.
• 43:23
  I think Buster Posey and Zach Minassi and they're going to,
• 43:26
  they're going to collaborate their minds and they're going
• 43:29
  to, they're going to go all in. And especially if they, they can
• 43:34
  close the gap a little bit between the dodges.
• 43:37
  I mean, it's only 4 1/2, but they can close a little bit more
• 43:40
  and they get that, you know, they smell that blood in the
• 43:43
  water. I think that they're going to
• 43:45
  go, they're going to go boss the wall, then then go all in.
• 43:51
  I'm just trying to think. I'm just, I'm just trying to
• 43:54
  think. One more thing, one more team is
• 43:58
  the Marlins, and we know that Sandy's going to get traded and
• 44:02
  he's been talked about a lot. If he had to pick a team to end
• 44:07
  this off here, where would Sandy Alcantro end up going?
• 44:12
  Chicago Cubs. I'm with you.
• 44:16
  I think he goes. I do think I do think so, but I,
• 44:21
  I don't think the Dodgers will pony up to get to to what the
• 44:25
  Cubs are. The Cubs have the assets to do
• 44:28
  it. But Jeff Mays, we we appreciate
• 44:33
  you, man. We had a good time.
• 44:35
  We had a great time. Absolutely.
• 44:37
  Fun conversation. We would like to have you back,
• 44:40
  man. Absolutely.
• 44:44
  Where can we find you in social media and everywhere else and
• 44:47
  and talk a bit about your podcast where they can find you?
• 44:51
  So obviously Tomahawk Talk podcast, we are on YouTube, we
• 44:56
  are on Apple, we are on Spotify and Sub Stack for all the people
• 45:02
  that listen on there. You can find me on X just Jeb
• 45:05
  May 17 and yeah, I mean Tomahawk Talk podcast.
• 45:11
  Like I said earlier, weird, a Braves fan driven podcast.
• 45:15
  So. Hey, man, do good work.
• 45:20
  We're excited. We were glad to have you today
• 45:22
  and thanks for joining us, taking time out of your night to
• 45:26
  come on the podcast and hopefully we can get you back in
• 45:29
  the future. Absolutely, boys, I appreciate
• 45:32
  it. We will place the description
• 45:36
  below where you can find Jeb Maze and the Tomahawk Talk
• 45:39
  Podcast. But till next time, take care,
• 45:42
  be kind to each other. Signing off the Sports Ave.
• 45:44
  Twisted podcast on Wednesday, June 25th, 2025.