Latest / The Craig Way Show / White Sox and Cubs Clinch, AL West Down to the Wire, Dodgers' De Paula Dilemma with Gene Watson

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White Sox and Cubs Clinch, AL West Down to the Wire, Dodgers' De Paula Dilemma with Gene Watson · The Craig Way Show

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: The key number to remember here is the number 224.
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: 224.
• 0:15
  Speaker 3: Why is that number significant?
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: 224.
• 0:27
  Speaker 4: Losses by the Chicago White Sox over the last two
• 0:30
  Speaker 4: seasons combined. 121 two years ago, 103 last year. They
• 0:35
  Speaker 4: have become the first team in baseball history to have
• 0:39
  Speaker 4: back-to-back 100-plus loss seasons and then make the playoffs the
• 0:44
  Speaker 4: next year. And with that, one of the reasons the
• 0:48
  Speaker 4: White Sox have had the turnaround is Gene Watson, our
• 0:53
  Speaker 4: Chicago player, White Sox front office man and MLB insider
• 0:57
  Speaker 4: joins us now from Sacramento.
• 1:00
  Speaker 3: And we'll get to that in a moment.
• 1:01
  Speaker 4: But first and foremost, Gino, congratulations. I know the folks
• 1:05
  Speaker 4: on the south side are pretty excited about this. Even
• 1:07
  Speaker 4: though you still have work at hand, you can go
• 1:10
  Speaker 4: from being the sixth seed to the two seed if
• 1:12
  Speaker 4: you win the central. But first and foremost, congratulations. What
• 1:15
  Speaker 4: a turnaround by the ball club and the organization.
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: Thank you so much, Greg.
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: I was literally dancing to the song in front of
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: the airport when you started playing that.
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: It's just, it's so unbelievable.
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: And, you know, I mean, I'm getting a little emotional
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: today because you take that task on and, you know,
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: you have a vision and you believe in the vision
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: and it takes so much. But to do it in
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: two years has just been, it's been absolutely remarkable. And
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: it begins with First of all, Jerry Reinsdorf, our owner,
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: and his commitment to winning and Chris Getz and his
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: vision for the organization and Will Venable and his staff
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: and what they've done. But this is and forever will
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: be a player's game. And our players, we got 26
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: guys that love to play with each other. They believe
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: in each other. And today they got it done. But
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: I don't know if you saw the postgame celebration, but
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: Very subdued because we have work to do over the
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: weekend and we still have our eye on the prize.
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: But a great season nonetheless.
• 2:14
  Speaker 3: All right.
• 2:14
  Speaker 4: I want to go back to two years ago when
• 2:16
  Speaker 4: you took the job and ask you two questions. Well,
• 2:18
  Speaker 4: I want to ask you one question and then remind
• 2:20
  Speaker 4: you of something you said. The first thing was when
• 2:23
  Speaker 4: you went from the Angels to the White Sox and
• 2:26
  Speaker 4: they're coming off 121 losses, did you have people say
• 2:31
  Speaker 4: to you, what in the hell are you doing? Did
• 2:33
  Speaker 4: you have anybody asking you and questioning your wisdom to
• 2:36
  Speaker 4: go to Chicago?
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: Not really, Craig, because it's what I've done my whole career.
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: I mean, when I started with the Padres in 97,
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: we were last place.
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: In 98, we were in the World Series.
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: And I was fortunate enough to be a part of
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: the end of the Atlanta Braves run and then going
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: to the Marlins and winning a World Series in 03.
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: And then the spine of my career was in Kansas City.
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: That was an organization that was worse than expansion the
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: day we got there. So When you know the blueprint
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: and you've got people that believe in the plan and
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: that are willing to pay the price for the plan,
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: it's just day-to-day, brick-by-brick, one player at a time, getting
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: the right types of players that you believe in, drafting well,
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: signing internationally well, making good trades, great waiver claims, which
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: is a complexion of our entire team right now. I
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: don't I don't I've just never wanted to be the
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: guy that worked for a 300 million dollar payroll. And
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: you're going to be away from your family 280 days
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: a year. I've always wanted to take those big projects on.
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: And this was another great one. And we're not done yet.
• 3:41
  Speaker 4: The other thing I wanted to remind folks of is
• 3:43
  Speaker 4: something you said to me when you took the job.
• 3:47
  Speaker 3: I had you on right afterwards.
• 3:48
  Speaker 4: And you said, this is a building thing. We're going
• 3:52
  Speaker 4: to build this. But I'll never forget what you said.
• 3:55
  Speaker 4: A lot of people don't say this. This situation is
• 3:59
  Speaker 4: actually in a much better spot than it was when
• 4:03
  Speaker 4: we were in Kansas City. And I was like, really?
• 4:05
  Speaker 4: We're talking about 121 long. You're like, trust me when
• 4:08
  Speaker 4: I tell you this. This is a better spot. If
• 4:10
  Speaker 4: we can get in, roll up our sleeves and get
• 4:12
  Speaker 4: the people we think we can get and do the
• 4:14
  Speaker 4: things we want to do, we'll get this thing turned around.
• 4:16
  Speaker 3: Did you think you'd get it turned around in two years?
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: Honestly, Craig, we thought the backside of next year was
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: going to be when you could really see the team coming.
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: I mean, you know, with, with all the CBA negotiations,
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: there's been.
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: A lot of talk about two halves taking place. And
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: we felt like, okay, if there's two halves in the
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: 27 season, maybe the backside of 27, we're competing for
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: a wild card, but, but I've said it a thousand
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: times on this show, the players decide, and we have
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: a tremendous coaching staff and these players, they're.
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: Young and they're dumb and they don't know any better.
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: And they've, They have all season long been knocked down
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: and put on the mat, and they constantly just keep
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: getting up, and that's what makes the team so much fun.
• 4:57
  Speaker 4: Talking with Gene Watson from the Chicago White Sox, who
• 4:59
  Speaker 4: will be in the playoffs, at the very least, the
• 5:02
  Speaker 4: third wild card.
• 5:03
  Speaker 3: But as you mentioned, there's work still to be.
• 5:05
  Speaker 4: Done, and I would imagine going home to play the Rockies,
• 5:09
  Speaker 4: who are getting clubbed, and they're going to be swept
• 5:11
  Speaker 4: by the Diamondbacks, and we'll get more to the National
• 5:13
  Speaker 4: League in a few minutes. you know, and I know
• 5:17
  Speaker 4: you take nothing for granted, but a chance to go home. Cleveland,
• 5:21
  Speaker 4: of course, finishes in Boston and then they have to
• 5:24
  Speaker 4: go to Kansas City. So this is kind of, it's
• 5:27
  Speaker 4: kind of interesting, isn't it? That what could be on
• 5:30
  Speaker 4: the table for your team, instead of having to be
• 5:33
  Speaker 4: the third wild card and on the road, either in
• 5:36
  Speaker 4: Houston or in Arlington to get a first first round
• 5:39
  Speaker 4: by and have home field in a division series against
• 5:44
  Speaker 4: the wild card versus the division, the third wild card
• 5:48
  Speaker 4: versus either the Rangers or the Astros. So, so obviously,
• 5:51
  Speaker 4: I mean, the, what will Venable and the rest of
• 5:53
  Speaker 4: the ball club that now the attention turns to finishing
• 5:56
  Speaker 4: the job and getting the division title, doesn't it?
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: Yeah. And, you know, and in playing Kansas city, I mean, they, they,
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: they're going to have Noah camera on the mound tomorrow,
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: arguably their best pitcher all season long. But it's baseball, Craig,
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: and anybody can beat anybody on any given night. And so,
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: you know, we're going to do the best we can. Fortunately,
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: we didn't have to use the bulk of our bullpen today,
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: our leverage relievers. But again, we're going to do everything
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: we can to try to close this thing out this weekend.
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: And hopefully we'll get some help from the Kansas City Royals.
• 6:25
  Speaker 3: Okay, all right.
• 6:27
  Speaker 4: Let me jump to the reason you're in Sacramento. The
• 6:29
  Speaker 4: Astros are playing in Sacramento this weekend. The Rangers just
• 6:33
  Speaker 4: won a little while ago, just a few minutes ago.
• 6:35
  Speaker 4: They finished off the Mets, so they salvaged the last
• 6:38
  Speaker 4: game there. They won 3-1. That and the inexplicable loss
• 6:43
  Speaker 4: for the Astros in Seattle last night where he got away,
• 6:45
  Speaker 4: where Hayter just was pitching his arm off there in
• 6:48
  Speaker 4: the 10th, and the Mariners came back to win. leaves
• 6:51
  Speaker 4: the Rangers at 79-80, the Astros at 78-80, pending the
• 6:56
  Speaker 4: first of their four games in Sacramento this evening against
• 6:59
  Speaker 4: the Athletics. I maintain, Gino, as I said at the
• 7:01
  Speaker 4: start of September, I think it's not inconceivable to think
• 7:05
  Speaker 4: we might have our first sub-500 division winner, although the
• 7:09
  Speaker 4: schedule would seem to set up where the division winner
• 7:12
  Speaker 4: could wind up above 500.
• 7:14
  Speaker 3: And if the.
• 7:14
  Speaker 4: Rangers are going to get in the playoffs, we know
• 7:16
  Speaker 4: now The White Sox win eliminated Baltimore. And we also
• 7:21
  Speaker 4: know that the Rangers win eliminated Seattle. So it's all
• 7:25
  Speaker 4: or nothing for the Rangers and Astros. They're either going
• 7:28
  Speaker 4: to win the West and get in the postseason or
• 7:31
  Speaker 4: they're going to go home.
• 7:32
  Speaker 3: How about your thoughts?
• 7:33
  Speaker 4: First of all, let me start with the Astros because
• 7:34
  Speaker 4: you're in Sacramento with what the Astros have in front
• 7:38
  Speaker 4: of them trying to do something against the A's to
• 7:40
  Speaker 4: wrap up the American League West.
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah, really an unfortunate loss last night.
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: When you have the lead like that and you have
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: your closer, arguably one of the best closers in the
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: game on the mound, you expect to win the game. But,
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: I mean, both teams right now are extremely exhausted, especially
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: on the mound.
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: And it's going to take some things to do.
• 7:59
  Speaker 3: Some guys are going to have to step up.
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: Guys that haven't stepped up all year long for both
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: organizations are going to have to this weekend. And, you know,
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: the key to the Astros is, you know, Sacramento is
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: a hitter's ballpark.
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: They have a very good lineup.
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: They can put some runs up in a hurry, so
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: the pitching is going to have to be on point,
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: but they're going to have to get some help from
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: somebody other than Isak Paredes and Jordan Alvarez. There's going
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: to have to be some other guys in the lineup
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: step up and have some production this weekend for them
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: to score runs. I expect the games to be very
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: high scoring, and it's going to tax your pitching. What
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: would go into a wild card situation are actually.
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: The bye next week.
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: You're going to have a chance to register pitching, but
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: it's going to be interesting to see how.
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: They manage the arms.
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: Both teams are extremely taxed when it comes to their
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: pitching right now.
• 8:49
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 8:51
  Speaker 4: Have you, by the way, and I know that obviously
• 8:54
  Speaker 4: you've been every major league ballpark many times over and
• 8:56
  Speaker 4: just about every minor league park. Have you been there
• 9:00
  Speaker 4: to Sacramento since the A's have been playing? I know
• 9:03
  Speaker 4: you were there a lot, you know, seeing the Rivercats play,
• 9:05
  Speaker 4: but have you been there since the A's have been
• 9:07
  Speaker 4: in there?
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: I haven't.
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: I was just with Brian McTaggart on our flight, and
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: I was asking him about it. How have the accommodations
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: been for the Major League stuff? And they seem to
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: think that it's been okay. But no, I have not
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: been there for a Major League game and looking forward
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: to it.
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: All right.
• 9:22
  Speaker 4: Visiting with Gene Watson here. Let me turn your attention
• 9:24
  Speaker 4: to the Rangers. They go to Minneapolis now. Like I said,
• 9:28
  Speaker 4: they dropped those first two games to the Mets, rallied back,
• 9:30
  Speaker 4: and got a home run from Corey Seager. They got
• 9:32
  Speaker 4: a home run from Josh Young, and that was enough
• 9:34
  Speaker 4: to back the pitching. They win 3-1. So now they
• 9:36
  Speaker 4: go to Minnesota. this weekend. How about your thoughts on,
• 9:40
  Speaker 4: on the Rangers knowing they have to finish in front
• 9:43
  Speaker 4: of Houston in order to make the playoffs? They can't
• 9:45
  Speaker 4: just be level with them. They got to finish ahead
• 9:47
  Speaker 4: of them.
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: Well, you know, Minnesota has been, you know, they're, they've
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: got some young talent on their team and, and they,
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: they would tell you that they've underachieved this season. I
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: think they had like the Kansas city Royals had some expectations.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: And Kansas City, they played us tough They're going to
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: play Cleveland tough And so that is going to be
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: The same situation for Minnesota They have some young players
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: that or have a lot of pride to play for.
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: And so, you know, they're going to have to, they're
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: going to be on point.
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: I know, I know the pitching, uh, for almost every
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: team right now is, is really exhausted and gassed. And
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: so again, your underbelly of your bullpen is going to
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: have to step and step up and have some performance, uh,
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: for them to be successful this weekend. Wow.
• 10:29
  Speaker 3: All right.
• 10:31
  Speaker 4: Let's jump to the National League, where there's got to
• 10:34
  Speaker 4: be a party going on on Rush Street right now,
• 10:36
  Speaker 4: because not only did the White Sox clinch a playoff spot,
• 10:38
  Speaker 4: the Cubs did.
• 10:39
  Speaker 3: Today as they beat the Marlins.
• 10:41
  Speaker 4: So both Chicago teams will be in the postseason. And
• 10:46
  Speaker 4: I think, I could be wrong about this, I think
• 10:48
  Speaker 4: it's the first time that both have been in the
• 10:50
  Speaker 4: playoffs since they faced each other 120 years ago in
• 10:52
  Speaker 4: the 1906 World Series. So the Cubs, who have a
• 10:58
  Speaker 4: chance to finish as the four seed, as the top
• 11:02
  Speaker 4: wild card, San Diego, of course, hopped right back into
• 11:05
  Speaker 4: that spot by beating the Dodgers last night.
• 11:07
  Speaker 3: And then you got the Phillies in there as well.
• 11:09
  Speaker 4: All three were deadlocked before the action of last night.
• 11:14
  Speaker 4: Let's talk about that National League wild card spot as
• 11:17
  Speaker 4: it sets up with the Cubs, the Phillies, and the Padres.
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: Well, you know how I feel about the team that
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: keeps playing and these, these teams that they have, they
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: have all been chasing the Dodgers from a roster standpoint.
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: And these teams are all super talented. I would tell
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: you that there's a pretty significant gap between the national
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: league and the American league right now. And so it's
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: going to be interesting. I, you know, being in Chicago
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: last week with the team, the city is actually on
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: fire for, for both teams. And, and the, you know,
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: even with no windy city matchup, the, the, the controversy
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: and the comparison continues, but, but it is a city
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: on fire right now for both their baseball teams.
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: And again, you know, I feel like in the national league, a.
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: Team in the wild card could have the advantage because
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: these are a little bit different teams when you talk
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: about the depth of their pitching. And so they're not
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: going to need the rest that the teams in the
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: American league need. And so for me, that team that
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: gets really hot and has to keep playing has a
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: chance to be super, super dangerous. And, There are four
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: really good teams in the National League, and it's going
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: to be really fun to watch.
• 12:23
  Speaker 4: You know what's also kind of interesting to see? You know,
• 12:29
  Speaker 4: the Diamondbacks are still mathematically alive. It's kind of almost
• 12:32
  Speaker 4: like that scene from The Princess Bride where he says,
• 12:34
  Speaker 4: good heavens, are you still trying to win? They're handling
• 12:38
  Speaker 4: their business by sweeping the Rockies. They're up 12-2 in
• 12:41
  Speaker 4: the seventh right now. The Padres' magic number, because of
• 12:45
  Speaker 4: their win over the Dodgers last night, is.
• 12:47
  Speaker 3: Reduced to one. However... And Tyler Glass now is on
• 12:50
  Speaker 3: the mound for Los Angeles tonight.
• 12:52
  Speaker 4: Nick Pavetta, who's had a lot of his season on
• 12:54
  Speaker 4: the injured list, he's going to count it for San Diego.
• 12:57
  Speaker 4: If the Dodgers win, and by the way, they still
• 12:59
  Speaker 4: have something to play for. They need to win to
• 13:01
  Speaker 4: lock up the number two seed or have a Braves loss.
• 13:04
  Speaker 3: To clinch it.
• 13:05
  Speaker 4: But if the Dodgers win, were to beat them and
• 13:10
  Speaker 4: the Diamondbacks going to win this game, yes, they'd be
• 13:14
  Speaker 4: three back with three to go, but they would at
• 13:16
  Speaker 4: least be staring their opponent across the field. They play,
• 13:20
  Speaker 4: they finish in San Diego head-to-head, the D-backs and the
• 13:24
  Speaker 4: Padres do tomorrow, which I think adds a little intrigue
• 13:27
  Speaker 4: if LA keeps San Diego from.
• 13:30
  Speaker 3: Clinching that final playoff spot tonight.
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: Well, what I would say is we've talked for weeks
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: about atlanta the phillies the dodgers and the brewers we
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: we they've been on our radar for weeks is arguably
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: the four best teams in the national league but you
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: cannot count the padres out right now they've played extremely
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: good baseball for the last month and uh as i've
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: said before this is a roster that has been together
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: for a while they've invested an incredible amount to continue
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: to build the roster up and they're They're playing as
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: well as anybody, and they're as dangerous as anybody. And
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: so you look at those five teams in the National League,
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: and I think it's safe to say that good baseball,
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: anybody could beat anybody.
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: And so it's going to.
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: Be a great couple of weeks to watch in the
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: National League, and I think that we would all agree
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: there's some pretty big gaps between who are the best
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: teams in the American League and who are the best
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: teams in the National League.
• 14:27
  Speaker 4: I want to ask you one other thing about organizational
• 14:29
  Speaker 4: development here because this is right into your wheelhouse. Yesterday,
• 14:35
  Speaker 4: when the Dodgers activated Shohei Otani, and he had a
• 14:39
  Speaker 4: hit last night in the walk of the game, but
• 14:40
  Speaker 4: you can tell he's still trying to get himself back
• 14:42
  Speaker 4: into a rhythm and a groove.
• 14:44
  Speaker 3: But when they did.
• 14:44
  Speaker 4: That to make room for him on the roster, they
• 14:48
  Speaker 4: optioned Josue DiPaola down the triple A. Now, DiPaola, of course,
• 14:54
  Speaker 4: was promoted, as you know, straight from double A to
• 14:56
  Speaker 4: the bigs. So ironically, this is his first time to
• 14:58
  Speaker 4: land in Oklahoma City in that championship series with Las
• 15:01
  Speaker 4: Vegas there in the PCL. So they send him down,
• 15:05
  Speaker 4: and a lot of folks scratch their head, including my wife,
• 15:07
  Speaker 4: who said, wait a minute, guys batting 321 since he's
• 15:10
  Speaker 4: come up to the big was what gives. But then
• 15:12
  Speaker 4: I heard Dave Roberts say, by going down Oklahoma City,
• 15:17
  Speaker 4: he might be able to get 10 more at-bats by
• 15:20
  Speaker 4: going down there before we bring him back up. So clearly,
• 15:23
  Speaker 4: it sounds like they're planning to bring him back up
• 15:25
  Speaker 4: and probably have him on the postseason roster.
• 15:27
  Speaker 3: How about your thoughts on that?
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: No, no question. You do not want your young players
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: like that sitting. We actually, I'm with.
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: Pat Listash advancing the Astros right now, 1992 American League
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: Rookie of the Year with the Brewers.
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: And we were talking about this last night. You do
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: not want your guys sitting.
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: You want them to get their at-bats. And for a
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: young player like that, this is a guy that could
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: come up if needed. And every team right now has
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: what's called a stay-ready camp. And so they've got players
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: in Arizona and players in Florida.
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: You know, the two kids last night with the Astros.
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: Had to come from West Palm Beach at the stay
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: ready camp and come all the way across country to
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: play in that game in Seattle last night. So the
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: luxury of them still being in the playoffs and playing
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: is enormous because of the quality pitching, the crowds, the
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: things that are going to be different that he doesn't
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: have to lose for the major leagues. But you don't
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: want a guy like this sitting on the bench because
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: he's a guy that could come up like Andrew Jones
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: in the early 2000s, come in like Miguel Cabrera in 2003,
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: and be that young guy that really electrifies your team.
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: So absolutely the best call to make for that organization
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: and for him.
• 16:39
  Speaker 4: Do you have a restaurant in Sacramento from your days
• 16:42
  Speaker 4: of being there to watch the Rivercats that you remember
• 16:44
  Speaker 4: that you'll frequent? Because I know you have restaurants in
• 16:46
  Speaker 4: every major league town. Do you have one you like
• 16:49
  Speaker 4: in Sacramento, or is that going to take some refreshing
• 16:51
  Speaker 4: from somebody?
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: We are actually going to Frank Fats, recommended by Steve
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: Sparks with the Astros, and it's a Chinese restaurant. So
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: that's what we're going to try to do at some point.
• 17:03
  Speaker 3: I will expect the full report.
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: And then there's always the squeeze in for hamburgers.
• 17:06
  Speaker 3: There you go.
• 17:07
  Speaker 2: There you go.
• 17:07
  Speaker 4: Hey, enjoy it. I appreciate it. Congratulations on that. And
• 17:10
  Speaker 4: we'll look forward to talking some playoffs next week since
• 17:14
  Speaker 4: the postseason.
• 17:14
  Speaker 3: Will be underway. Thank you, Gino.
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: All right, Craig.
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: Thanks so much.
• 17:17
  Speaker 3: Take care.
• 17:18
  Speaker 4: That's Gene Watson, our MLB insider from the playoff bound
• 17:23
  Speaker 4: Chicago White Sox.
• 17:26
  Speaker 3: Imagine that.
• 17:27
  Speaker 4: And they still have a shot to win the American
• 17:29
  Speaker 4: League Central and be the two seed and draw. Bye.
• 17:33
  Speaker 3: In the first round.
• 17:35
  Speaker 4: That's rather inconceivable to consider as well. All right, coming
• 17:39
  Speaker 4: up more, we'll hear from Longhorn's head coach, Steve Sarkeesian,
• 17:42
  Speaker 4: when we continue on 13 Under the Zone.