Latest / The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views / Fixing the Phillies: What Must Change This Offseason?
Transcript
- 0:29Speaker 1: Welcome to Table Talk here at the Philadelphia Sports Table
- 0:31Speaker 1: Podcast Show, the longest running weekly Philly sports podcast show
- 0:34Speaker 1: in the world. Over 13 and a half years strong.
- 0:37Speaker 1: We got a great discussion coming your way this week
- 0:39Speaker 1: on Table Talk as we talk about what is going
- 0:41Speaker 1: to be happening during this upcoming Philadelphia Phillies offseason. Lots
- 0:46Speaker 1: of changes. Hopefully lots of changes will be made. Yes,
- 0:50Speaker 1: this team went to the postseason five straight years in
- 0:54Speaker 1: a row. Wasn't good enough at the end of the day,
- 0:57Speaker 1: and we're going to dive into what changes are going
- 0:59Speaker 1: to need to be made. Joining us from baseball prospectus,
- 1:02Speaker 1: you can also hear him on the Hit and Season
- 1:04Speaker 1: podcast over at WHYY. We've got our good friend, Justin Clu.
- 1:08Speaker 1: Always love having you on, buddy. Thanks so much for
- 1:10Speaker 1: taking the time, man.
- 1:12Speaker 2: Thank you that's you shredding on guitar in the intro.
- 1:15Speaker 1: Right yeah a little a little.
- 1:17Speaker 3: Bit a little bit yeah that's awesome it's the weakest
- 1:22Speaker 3: intro ever it really is let's quick put something together
- 1:26Speaker 3: as we're doing video content now.
- 1:30Speaker 2: It gets the people going there you go it's great
- 1:33Speaker 2: for energy i'm i'm hyped up yeah let's talk about
- 1:35Speaker 2: the phillies oh let's.
- 1:37Speaker 1: Yeah let's.
- 1:39Speaker 4: Oh, the hype is here.
- 1:41Speaker 1: We've got it for you folks. As I said, and
- 1:44Speaker 1: mentioned changes, obviously Justin are going to need to be
- 1:48Speaker 1: coming to this team. Let's first start off with the management.
- 1:52Speaker 1: We'll even go to the front office first here. Of course,
- 1:54Speaker 1: everybody talking about Dave Dombrowski.
- 1:57Speaker 4: Should he stay? Should he go?
- 1:59Speaker 1: I mean, that really is, I think, one of the
- 2:01Speaker 1: ultimate questions going into this offseason and what this Phillies
- 2:04Speaker 1: ownership may do or not do with Dave Dombrowski.
- 2:07Speaker 4: What are your thoughts here? Should he stay? Should he go?
- 2:09Speaker 4: Why or why not?
- 2:11Speaker 2: Well, it's a, it's a fun way to phrase it
- 2:13Speaker 2: because I mean, the answer I truly think at the
- 2:15Speaker 2: end of the day is that he's not going anywhere
- 2:18Speaker 2: and he won't be until he chooses to. He's Dave Dombrowski.
- 2:22Speaker 2: And even sitting here with the thoughts I have in
- 2:25Speaker 2: my head, there's still like a little bit of hesitancy
- 2:28Speaker 2: to be like, you get out of here. When it's
- 2:30Speaker 2: Dave Dombrowski, who is like, you know, executive royalty, that
- 2:34Speaker 2: felt disgusting. That phrase coming out of my mouth, regardless, uh,
- 2:38Speaker 2: All that aside, I mean, we're all aware of what
- 2:40Speaker 2: his reputation has and the pedigree he has and everything,
- 2:42Speaker 2: but that's the thing. All that puts together the picture
- 2:45Speaker 2: of what he is as an executive and, more importantly,
- 2:48Speaker 2: as a roster builder. And that is, you know, Dave
- 2:52Speaker 2: Dombrowski comes to town and his special skill is convincing
- 2:57Speaker 2: your owner, hey, let's spend this money and bring these
- 3:00Speaker 2: really good baseball players in.
- 3:02Speaker 1: Yeah.
- 3:03Speaker 2: That's the job. He makes it look really easy. It's incredible.
- 3:07Speaker 2: And he's going to go to the Hall of Fame
- 3:08Speaker 2: because he's so good. He's like the Grieva Wormtongue of executives,
- 3:13Speaker 2: but in a good way. So that aspect has been great.
- 3:19Speaker 2: Everybody will complain about Trey Turner, myself included, but signing
- 3:22Speaker 2: him was a very exciting thing that basically everyone supported.
- 3:28Speaker 2: Signing some of these other trades he's made that have
- 3:30Speaker 2: been deft trades deftly made trades like with the Jesus Lizardo.
- 3:34Speaker 2: I still give him credit for Brandon Marsh because as
- 3:36Speaker 2: flawed as Brandon Marsh is, he did play a key
- 3:38Speaker 2: role at different moments in this team's run of postseason appearances.
- 3:43Speaker 2: And John Duran was a great acquisition. And he also,
- 3:48Speaker 2: in addition to the free agent stuff and spending money,
- 3:50Speaker 2: he's also made some really good trades that have helped
- 3:53Speaker 2: this team a lot. And the Lizardo thing especially, I
- 3:57Speaker 2: really always give him credit for not only because it
- 3:59Speaker 2: was a great trade, but also because he looked at
- 4:02Speaker 2: the market at that time, what the Phillies actually needed
- 4:04Speaker 2: wasn't there. And he was like, all right, fine. Let's
- 4:07Speaker 2: just add to a strength. And it really, it was
- 4:10Speaker 2: very helpful. You know, it's, it was a good move
- 4:11Speaker 2: to make. So credit where credit's due. And certainly Dave
- 4:14Speaker 2: Dombrowski has a lot of credit due to them. That
- 4:17Speaker 2: being said, this are the Phillies still in the position
- 4:20Speaker 2: where Dave Dombrowski come into town. is what you want.
- 4:24Speaker 2: They're not, I would imagine, doing a full-on rebuild. They're
- 4:27Speaker 2: kind of incapable of that based on the contracts they have.
- 4:31Speaker 2: We'll get to that in a bit. But is he
- 4:34Speaker 2: the guy that fixes your team and restocks your farm
- 4:38Speaker 2: system and makes the smaller, more medium moves that can
- 4:44Speaker 2: get your team to win? I mean, sometimes, but I
- 4:46Speaker 2: wouldn't call all of those things his specialty.
- 4:49Speaker 4: He's, what, 70 years old?
- 4:53Speaker 2: He doesn't want to leave Philadelphia without a ring, but
- 4:55Speaker 2: we're kind of like reaching the end of this current cycle,
- 4:58Speaker 2: and they don't have one. So he's going to be
- 5:00Speaker 2: more determined than ever to Dave Dombrowski's way to a title,
- 5:05Speaker 2: but how's that going to happen? I just don't think–
- 5:07Speaker 2: he's not the guy that comes to town when your
- 5:09Speaker 2: team is in the state the Phillies are currently in.
- 5:11Speaker 2: He's the guy that comes when he did and adds
- 5:15Speaker 2: to your talented– medium-talented roster with high-priced free agents who
- 5:22Speaker 2: can come in and turn it into a blockbuster organization.
- 5:26Speaker 2: But I don't know if they're the kind of team
- 5:28Speaker 2: that Dave Dombrowski... Think of it this way. If you're
- 5:31Speaker 2: Dave Dombrowski and you're working on the Nashville project or
- 5:34Speaker 2: whatever he was working on when the Phillies came calling,
- 5:37Speaker 2: and it's now instead of a couple years ago, is
- 5:41Speaker 2: this an appealing team for, for Dave Dombrowski to come to?
- 5:44Speaker 2: Cause it's not even like there's a Bryce Harper, Manny
- 5:46Speaker 2: Machado blockbuster free agent season coming either. So like, I
- 5:52Speaker 2: don't know if this team would be appealing to him
- 5:54Speaker 2: in its current state anyway, if he wasn't already here.
- 5:56Speaker 2: So I think the answer to the question is like,
- 5:59Speaker 2: should he be here as far as a fit goes?
- 6:02Speaker 2: Probably not. But like, should he be here as far
- 6:04Speaker 2: as this is kind of his team and he wants
- 6:06Speaker 2: to clean it up? I mean, maybe that's closer to
- 6:08Speaker 2: yes than the other way.
- 6:10Speaker 1: In terms of cleaning it up, and actually before we
- 6:12Speaker 1: get to in terms of cleaning it up and starting
- 6:15Speaker 1: that particular discussion, what you were saying, we're going to
- 6:18Speaker 1: hit on right at the end of our discussion, and
- 6:20Speaker 1: I want to let listeners know, we're going to be
- 6:22Speaker 1: talking about that in terms of what Dombrowski may need
- 6:25Speaker 1: to do if and when he is still trying to
- 6:29Speaker 1: put some puzzle pieces together for this team during this offseason.
- 6:33Speaker 1: But in terms of possible changes coming down the road,
- 6:36Speaker 1: let's talk about the next manager of this team because
- 6:38Speaker 1: our– Thoughts are that there is going to be a
- 6:42Speaker 1: new manager for the Philadelphia Phillies at this point. Don Mattingly,
- 6:48Speaker 1: we saw some good. We saw a lot of bad,
- 6:50Speaker 1: especially in terms of bullpen decision-making during this 2026 year.
- 6:56Speaker 4: Your thoughts, Justin, on who we may see or who
- 6:59Speaker 4: we should.
- 7:00Speaker 1: See as potentially the new manager of this Philadelphia Phillies
- 7:03Speaker 1: team in 2027.
- 7:06Speaker 2: We could run down a list of current managerial candidates.
- 7:09Speaker 2: We could. David Ross wants to manage again. Brad Ausmus
- 7:13Speaker 2: is out there. Ramon Santiago. There's names you can throw
- 7:18Speaker 2: out there.
- 7:19Speaker 4: Is it really going to be Alex Cora?
- 7:21Speaker 2: Nationals guy, Dave Martinez.
- 7:23Speaker 4: Dave Martinez.
- 7:24Speaker 2: But that's the thing. You've heard so much definitively from, yes,
- 7:29Speaker 2: the Bob Nightingales of the world, but still, that Alex
- 7:33Speaker 2: Cora not only is the Phillies' top choice— is their choice.
- 7:38Speaker 2: And they already offered him the job before they even
- 7:41Speaker 2: fired Rob Thompson. They offered him the job. So it's
- 7:44Speaker 2: kind of tough to imagine anybody other than him coming
- 7:47Speaker 2: here with the obvious connection being that Dombrowski and Cora
- 7:51Speaker 2: won a World Series together in Boston. So until that
- 7:55Speaker 2: evaporates or you see even one crack in that being
- 7:59Speaker 2: the case, I'm kind of just not even considering anyone
- 8:02Speaker 2: else is going to be the manager. Now, does that
- 8:04Speaker 2: mean I'm excited about Alex Cora?
- 8:07Speaker 4: I'm not, I'm not, dude. I'm not.
- 8:11Speaker 2: I need, I feel like I looked into it and
- 8:13Speaker 2: then forgot everything, but like, I'm more interested in what
- 8:15Speaker 2: is Alex core's pedigree as a manager.
- 8:18Speaker 3: Right.
- 8:19Speaker 2: And then you start thinking, well, what manager would be
- 8:21Speaker 2: good for this team? And somebody who holds players accountable,
- 8:24Speaker 2: somebody who's not afraid to like offend them by moving
- 8:27Speaker 2: them up and down in the batting order, you know,
- 8:29Speaker 2: not somebody that's getting in their face and screaming at them,
- 8:31Speaker 2: Dallas green style or, um, Who's the guy? The White
- 8:35Speaker 2: Sox guy. It doesn't matter. The point is, a guy
- 8:39Speaker 2: who's not aggressive like that, that's not going to work.
- 8:43Speaker 2: And these managers who are like players' managers, who kind
- 8:45Speaker 2: of just let the– I told Liz Rocher the other day,
- 8:48Speaker 2: it's kind of like the seniors are running the school,
- 8:49Speaker 2: it feels like, in that clubhouse. And the principal is
- 8:52Speaker 2: just kind of like– it's like saved by the bell.
- 8:53Speaker 2: in the Phillies where the principal is just like, yeah,
- 8:56Speaker 2: cool guys. And whatever happens, cause you're good. You got it. Yeah.
- 9:01Speaker 4: Were you talking about Will Venable?
- 9:03Speaker 2: No, not the current one. The guy would always curse
- 9:07Speaker 2: and be horrible. He said he admired Castro at one
- 9:11Speaker 2: point and got in a lot of trouble. I cannot
- 9:13Speaker 2: remember his name. That doesn't matter. The point is, I
- 9:17Speaker 2: think it's a, it's a, it's a narrow bullseye. to
- 9:21Speaker 2: be the right manager for the Phillies right now. Don
- 9:23Speaker 2: Mattingly is not that manager. You got to be a manager.
- 9:26Speaker 2: Who's like good at managing baseball, which, you know, kind
- 9:30Speaker 2: of gets forgotten when you're focusing more on the superstar
- 9:32Speaker 2: management aspect of being a manager.
- 9:34Speaker 4: Yeah.
- 9:35Speaker 2: But you know, all that, all that being said, I'm just,
- 9:39Speaker 2: don't you kind of think, you know, with Alex Cora
- 9:42Speaker 2: being the guy we sort of assume is coming to town,
- 9:45Speaker 2: Isn't there like even a little bit of part of
- 9:47Speaker 2: you that's like, we've seen the Phillies these past few
- 9:49Speaker 2: playoff runs be a bunch of different teams. They're this
- 9:52Speaker 2: offensive smash the bell team. They're this pitching first four aces.
- 9:56Speaker 2: It's almost exactly what the 2008 Golden Arrow went.
- 9:58Speaker 1: Right.
- 10:00Speaker 2: Went from offense to pitching. You a little curious what
- 10:04Speaker 2: maybe a little cheating scheme would do for these guys?
- 10:07Speaker 2: Maybe that's what puts them over the top? Maybe that's
- 10:10Speaker 2: a missing piece?
- 10:11Speaker 1: I don't know.
- 10:12Speaker 2: I'm not saying I'm advocating for it or that I'd
- 10:14Speaker 2: even be happy about it. But if we're inevitably getting
- 10:17Speaker 2: Alex Cora... you know what he's known for at this point.
- 10:21Speaker 2: And it's not like he was just there. He's in
- 10:24Speaker 2: the book listed as the architect of the Astros cheating scandal.
- 10:28Speaker 2: So if that's what he's good at, I mean, obviously
- 10:32Speaker 2: I'm kidding.
- 10:33Speaker 4: Bring him on board. Bring him on board.
- 10:35Speaker 2: I can't say that I would want that or that
- 10:37Speaker 2: I'd want, or that I'm cheering for the, or defending
- 10:40Speaker 2: the Phillies for like if a cheating scandal got, but
- 10:43Speaker 2: it's more just like, what what's the thing that's going
- 10:45Speaker 2: to put them over the top? Can it be something
- 10:47Speaker 2: a new manager brings? And if that manager is Alex Cora,
- 10:50Speaker 2: I mean, cheating might be the level of thing, the
- 10:55Speaker 2: level of nuance that we need for this team.
- 10:57Speaker 4: You know what I mean?
- 10:58Speaker 2: Not cheating specifically, but you know, that little extra spice
- 11:03Speaker 2: that puts a team that's supposed to be better where
- 11:05Speaker 2: it's supposed to be.
- 11:06Speaker 1: There are certain managers though, that have certain identities and certain, and, and, and,
- 11:12Speaker 1: identify a certain way, not just as a team, but
- 11:14Speaker 1: they are a brand in and of themselves. And sometimes
- 11:18Speaker 1: I don't necessarily think that's a good thing in terms
- 11:21Speaker 1: of baseball. And especially with this Phillies team that has
- 11:24Speaker 1: a lot of branding-based issues going on with players and
- 11:29Speaker 1: the personnel that's on the field or on the mound,
- 11:33Speaker 1: I don't necessarily think it's great to bring a manager
- 11:35Speaker 1: in that has an identity as a certain brand. I
- 11:39Speaker 1: actually don't believe that's actually a good idea.
- 11:42Speaker 2: Yeah, like Joe Madden where he's going off the– yeah,
- 11:46Speaker 2: I think that's totally fair. I mean, what would you–
- 11:50Speaker 2: what possible good could come from a manager coming in
- 11:53Speaker 2: who's like, I've got all my own stuff and we're
- 11:55Speaker 2: going to follow my plan. I mean, Gabe Kapler was
- 11:57Speaker 2: a system first manager and that got ugly. And Rob
- 12:01Speaker 2: Thompson was a player first manager and they stopped looking
- 12:03Speaker 2: motivated for long stretches of time. So, again, tried it
- 12:07Speaker 2: a couple of different ways here. And part of it's
- 12:09Speaker 2: just– You get a bite at the apple and you
- 12:12Speaker 2: just miss because that's baseball. But also, I think the
- 12:17Speaker 2: Phillies are kind of pretty singular at this point for
- 12:19Speaker 2: the amount of consecutive postseason appearances without a World Series title.
- 12:25Speaker 2: It was them and maybe two, three other teams, with
- 12:28Speaker 2: Dave Dabrowski's Tigers being one of them at one point,
- 12:31Speaker 2: who were like four postseason appearances without a title. And
- 12:35Speaker 2: now it's five. So they might be all alone at
- 12:37Speaker 2: this point.
- 12:38Speaker 1: I don't know.
- 12:38Speaker 2: So it's a unique spot. Perhaps a manager can make
- 12:42Speaker 2: that difference. I have my doubts anymore about managers, man.
- 12:46Speaker 2: I have my doubts.
- 12:47Speaker 1: That's kind of where I thought this conversation may actually
- 12:50Speaker 1: go in terms of the manager position. But folks, we
- 12:53Speaker 1: are going to take a break here. And when we
- 12:55Speaker 1: get back, we got a lot more Phillies talk coming
- 12:58Speaker 1: to you. What's going to be happening with this upcoming
- 13:00Speaker 1: offseason with our buddy, Justin Clue.
- 13:02Speaker 4: Stick with us. We'll be right back.
- 13:06Speaker 1: All right, we're back with our buddy Justin Clue from
- 13:08Speaker 1: the Hit and Season podcast, Baseball Perspectives. And I forget if, honestly,
- 13:13Speaker 1: I forget if you're out there on the interwebs. I
- 13:15Speaker 1: know social media hasn't necessarily 100% been your thing, buddy,
- 13:18Speaker 1: out there.
- 13:19Speaker 2: Yeah, it's kind of tough when you're like, promote your book.
- 13:22Speaker 2: And you're like, ah.
- 13:23Speaker 4: Exactly. That's right, the book. I feel like an idiot.
- 13:26Speaker 4: That's right, you have your book. Promote it out there.
- 13:29Speaker 4: Let people know about the book.
- 13:31Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- 13:32Speaker 1: Hang on. Yeah, let's get the book. Folks, we know
- 13:35Speaker 1: what type of writer Justin is. And right here.
- 13:38Speaker 4: Oh, look at this. Look at this. Summer of the
- 13:41Speaker 4: Cheap Wieners, folks, by Justin Clu. There you go.
- 13:45Speaker 1: Order it.
- 13:46Speaker 2: I don't know. I don't know if you're seeing it
- 13:48Speaker 2: backwards in reverse the way that I'm not. No, it
- 13:50Speaker 2: looks great. Okay. Great.
- 13:51Speaker 4: It looks great.
- 13:51Speaker 2: I was going to say, imagine it the other way.
- 13:53Speaker 2: That's the way you should read it.
- 13:54Speaker 4: It looks great. It looks great. You know what?
- 13:56Speaker 1: I got to remember to put a link. You can
- 13:58Speaker 1: get it on probably Amazon. Is there a specific place
- 14:00Speaker 1: you would like for people to buy it? Yeah.
- 14:02Speaker 2: I always send people to the publisher on the Brookline
- 14:05Speaker 2: books website, just because that makes me feel better than
- 14:08Speaker 2: giving Amazon money. So, but it is on Amazon as well.
- 14:12Speaker 4: Folks link below. Get it done if you're watching on YouTube.
- 14:16Speaker 2: All right.
- 14:17Speaker 1: So let's dive into this Philadelphia Phillies team more with
- 14:20Speaker 1: this offseason may look like. Let's get into some players
- 14:24Speaker 1: with long term contracts that we have some questions about.
- 14:28Speaker 1: Bryce Harper, Trey Turner, Aaron Nola, Justin, all three of
- 14:32Speaker 1: these guys have a significant amount of time left on
- 14:35Speaker 1: their deals. Significant amount of years, I should say. And
- 14:39Speaker 1: let's kind of get into some of these guys right here,
- 14:41Speaker 1: what the front office may or may not do with them.
- 14:43Speaker 1: at some point in the future. I mean, let's start
- 14:45Speaker 1: off with Bryce Harper here. Um, honestly, I do love
- 14:49Speaker 1: the guy. Um, I think certain expectations within the fan base, um,
- 14:54Speaker 1: are not being met. I, I, I, I just, I've
- 14:58Speaker 1: always loved the guy to be honest. And him coming here,
- 15:00Speaker 1: I can't believe how long he's actually been on this
- 15:02Speaker 1: team for. And the fact that he's still got several
- 15:06Speaker 1: more years on this team, uh, He's just a staple
- 15:10Speaker 1: here within Philly's nation. Where do you think he goes?
- 15:13Speaker 1: Does he play out this contract? Is there any possible
- 15:16Speaker 1: movement maybe with him? What are your thoughts here?
- 15:20Speaker 2: Well, the thing to remember, which I keep forgetting, is
- 15:23Speaker 2: that all these guys with the long-term contracts and even
- 15:28Speaker 2: JT Real Muto, they're only getting traded if they agree
- 15:31Speaker 2: to be traded.
- 15:32Speaker 4: Very true.
- 15:32Speaker 2: And Bryce Harper is kind of at a point They're
- 15:38Speaker 2: all sort of at this point where every slump makes
- 15:40Speaker 2: you go like, oh, is it a slump or is
- 15:42Speaker 2: it a forever decline at this point? And everybody should
- 15:48Speaker 2: have known that when you sign people to this long
- 15:52Speaker 2: a deal, one day it's going to happen. One day
- 15:54Speaker 2: they're just not going to be the player that they
- 15:57Speaker 2: were before. You're playing like you want to do it
- 16:01Speaker 2: forever until one day you're just trying to play it
- 16:03Speaker 2: one more time. And nobody's at that point yet. That
- 16:06Speaker 2: was very sad.
- 16:06Speaker 1: Sorry.
- 16:07Speaker 2: That was very bleak. I apologize.
- 16:10Speaker 4: Bleak yet true.
- 16:12Speaker 2: But the thing is, yeah, at this point, we went
- 16:16Speaker 2: through it last year with the elite commentary. And I
- 16:18Speaker 2: think all we learned from that was that Harper's very sensitive.
- 16:22Speaker 2: Harper's very sensitive to commentary about him, about, about, you know,
- 16:26Speaker 2: things saying like what he wants, like acting like it's
- 16:30Speaker 2: in his head, that like rumor about him getting traded.
- 16:33Speaker 2: He took great offense to that. He's like, I came
- 16:35Speaker 2: here to get away from that stuff in Washington. And
- 16:37Speaker 2: you're like, Oh my God, did you think you were
- 16:39Speaker 2: getting away from trade? You're still a baseball player. Like that's,
- 16:43Speaker 2: I know your deal is your deal, but like, you know, every,
- 16:46Speaker 2: every it's, it's like baseball language when somebody is mad
- 16:49Speaker 2: at a player to just be like, trade him, even
- 16:51Speaker 2: though you're not thinking about any of the logistics of
- 16:53Speaker 2: what that actually means. So, um, I guess with Harper,
- 16:57Speaker 2: I can't imagine he, at this point in time, I
- 17:00Speaker 2: can't imagine he doesn't play out this contract. I think
- 17:03Speaker 2: he wants to. I think what it would take is
- 17:07Speaker 2: what my friend John Stonis said the other night. The
- 17:09Speaker 2: Phillies coming to him and saying, hey, look, we're doing
- 17:12Speaker 2: a full rebuild. It's all coming out. And you can
- 17:15Speaker 2: be here if you want, but you know what kind
- 17:17Speaker 2: of team you're going to be playing for at that point.
- 17:19Speaker 2: And at that point, he would want out to go
- 17:21Speaker 2: try and, if he doesn't have a ring at that point,
- 17:23Speaker 2: go win a ring somewhere else. And that's what makes–
- 17:26Speaker 2: that's like the weight of all this is that he
- 17:29Speaker 2: doesn't even have one to point at. And the Phillies
- 17:32Speaker 2: don't even have one with him to point at and
- 17:35Speaker 2: be like, you know, we're staking this era to at
- 17:37Speaker 2: least this title that we got. They have one National
- 17:40Speaker 2: League pennant and that's it. If you count division championships
- 17:45Speaker 2: as a thing, okay. But like that's– I think generally
- 17:48Speaker 2: he's going to stay here. I think– but I think
- 17:51Speaker 2: you've just seen like little pieces of– Displeasure pop up.
- 17:56Speaker 2: He doesn't have that extension that he wanted. The players
- 17:58Speaker 2: didn't give it to him. He's seen other players kind
- 18:00Speaker 2: of get extensions and he didn't get his. Dave Dombrowski stuff.
- 18:05Speaker 2: I don't think those two really got along. Even months later,
- 18:08Speaker 2: I think it was a Matt Gelb story where they
- 18:09Speaker 2: were like, yeah, relationship's still pretty icy, I think was
- 18:13Speaker 2: the term.
- 18:13Speaker 1: Yeah.
- 18:14Speaker 2: You know, I think he's in a weird place. Everybody
- 18:17Speaker 2: else is in a weird place. And it's because we
- 18:19Speaker 2: sort of branched off and entered a timeline that nobody
- 18:21Speaker 2: thought they'd be in. Absolutely. Everybody. The Phillies and their
- 18:24Speaker 2: fans thought they would have his title.
- 18:26Speaker 1: Right. Trey Turner's in a weird place, too. Just like
- 18:28Speaker 1: what you were saying, very, very similar to Bryce Harper
- 18:31Speaker 1: in terms of, all right, well, what do you do here?
- 18:34Speaker 4: What do you do here?
- 18:34Speaker 3: Right.
- 18:36Speaker 1: It's almost similar to Bryce Harper in terms of Trey Turner.
- 18:39Speaker 1: Only difference with him in terms of position is does
- 18:42Speaker 1: he stay at.
- 18:42Speaker 4: The shortstop position? That's a theme, of course. I mean,
- 18:45Speaker 4: does he possibly move to the outfield?
- 18:47Speaker 1: I cannot imagine him playing shortstop again this coming season,
- 18:51Speaker 1: costing this team games. Your shortstop costing your team games
- 18:56Speaker 1: a number of times throughout the season. I think it's
- 18:59Speaker 1: kind of the same theme with Bryce Harper here. Are
- 19:01Speaker 1: you thinking the same thing?
- 19:03Speaker 2: It is the same theme. I think Turner's is a
- 19:06Speaker 2: way worse position for the reasons you just said, that
- 19:08Speaker 2: he's playing shortstop. And it's like a combination of, well,
- 19:14Speaker 2: he's getting older. And we saw all the complaints about
- 19:17Speaker 2: him screwing up and everything. And then he did get
- 19:19Speaker 2: better and had a better defensive year. And then we
- 19:21Speaker 2: came back this year and things got pretty ugly there
- 19:24Speaker 2: for a little while. On top of the fact that
- 19:26Speaker 2: you really can't... I'm remembering maybe one two-week period this
- 19:30Speaker 2: year where he was hitting... Pretty okay. Like, like, well,
- 19:35Speaker 2: you can't really point to a patch of, this was
- 19:37Speaker 2: a season long slump he was in, which I think
- 19:41Speaker 2: to my previous point kind of leans into, oh, is
- 19:44Speaker 2: this a slump or is this just forever? It feels
- 19:46Speaker 2: more like forever with him. And that's why it feels
- 19:48Speaker 2: a little more. confusing i guess with turner because he's
- 19:53Speaker 2: not going anywhere yeah like him not agreeing to be
- 19:56Speaker 2: traded i don't know but like who's gonna want to
- 20:00Speaker 2: trade turner exactly the amount of money that he's owed
- 20:03Speaker 2: so I think where he goes is look at what
- 20:06Speaker 2: the Phillies' shopping list or needs are for this winter.
- 20:11Speaker 2: Three-quarters of their infield, they kind of need somebody if
- 20:13Speaker 2: you truly believe, like, oh, he can't play shortstop anymore,
- 20:16Speaker 2: which I think you can upgrade for sure. Then one
- 20:20Speaker 2: of the two outfield spots you also need to fill–
- 20:22Speaker 2: kind of by default belongs to him. So start taking batting,
- 20:27Speaker 2: like start shagging fly balls of batting practice, Trey. Cause
- 20:30Speaker 2: I don't know how seriously you can take the team
- 20:33Speaker 2: that puts him at shortstop and doesn't improve pretty significantly
- 20:38Speaker 2: on defense elsewhere. Yeah. I just, but I will throw
- 20:41Speaker 2: out there what I said on hidden season the other night,
- 20:43Speaker 2: which is that it's really easy to get mad at
- 20:45Speaker 2: players who are letting you down. And I'm certainly going
- 20:49Speaker 2: to have done and will continue to do that. But yeah,
- 20:52Speaker 2: Insiders will tell you that Trey Turner takes this stuff
- 20:55Speaker 2: very seriously, very hard on himself, screws up, goes right
- 21:00Speaker 2: into the cage for hours to hit. He is just
- 21:03Speaker 2: as disgusted as you are at what is happening. That's
- 21:06Speaker 2: not going to make them win a World Series. It
- 21:09Speaker 2: probably isn't going to make you feel better watching him
- 21:11Speaker 2: screw up an easy play, but he feels it too.
- 21:14Speaker 2: So that's just worth putting out there.
- 21:16Speaker 4: Well, we were disgusted with the bullpen this year.
- 21:18Speaker 1: Almost consecutively game after game after game, of course. And
- 21:23Speaker 1: Johan Duran. And I think Alex McFarlane probably are the
- 21:27Speaker 1: only two members of the bullpen that should be coming
- 21:30Speaker 1: back this coming season.
- 21:33Speaker 4: They need a complete overhaul, right? At this point, they
- 21:35Speaker 4: need a complete overhaul.
- 21:36Speaker 1: Will we see about six new faces at, at, at
- 21:41Speaker 1: this point with this particular aspect of this team and
- 21:43Speaker 1: the bullpen, this off season here, are we going to
- 21:46Speaker 1: see like six new faces?
- 21:48Speaker 2: This is like any typical bullpen. There's two to four
- 21:52Speaker 2: guys who are just like any guy, who could have
- 21:56Speaker 2: been any guy. It could have been this guy, could
- 21:58Speaker 2: have been that guy, and you would have gotten pretty
- 21:59Speaker 2: much the same thing. Maybe you catch a guy who's
- 22:01Speaker 2: never been a guy, and then suddenly he's a capital
- 22:03Speaker 2: G guy for you that one year. I don't know
- 22:06Speaker 2: if you'd call it luck with Matt Strom, but I
- 22:08Speaker 2: think he got a better Matt Strom than you ever
- 22:10Speaker 2: got from anywhere else he pitched. He came to Philly,
- 22:13Speaker 2: and that was his peak. So, you know, you want to,
- 22:16Speaker 2: you want to find your way to that. But as
- 22:17Speaker 2: far as bullpen priorities go, I think you need a
- 22:21Speaker 2: left-hander who can pitch in high leverage situations, you know,
- 22:24Speaker 2: maybe not a tit for tat, John Duran analog, but left-handed,
- 22:29Speaker 2: but like somebody who can come in with confidence in
- 22:32Speaker 2: that moment, you need another left-handed guy to just be left-handed.
- 22:36Speaker 2: And then you kind of need like inning eater guy,
- 22:39Speaker 2: which again is one of those guys who could be anybody,
- 22:40Speaker 2: but like, I don't want to see chase shoe guard again,
- 22:43Speaker 2: like nothing personal against chase shoe guard. But like the
- 22:46Speaker 2: amount of times you're seeing him, he kind of became
- 22:48Speaker 2: the guy that would come into a game and you're like, well,
- 22:49Speaker 2: some things have gone wrong. If he's coming into the game,
- 22:52Speaker 2: then the game is bad. So yeah, to your point,
- 22:55Speaker 2: I think complete overhaul essentially. And that's not even that
- 22:59Speaker 2: dramatic when it's the bullpen, like do, do like, I'm
- 23:03Speaker 2: not going to tell the Phillies to do some homework.
- 23:05Speaker 2: That's absolutely ridiculous and condescending.
- 23:08Speaker 4: But you know what I mean?
- 23:09Speaker 2: Like every good bullpen we've had the past few years
- 23:12Speaker 2: has felt kind of like a gift because I've seen
- 23:14Speaker 2: so many terrible Phillies bullpens in my life. I've never
- 23:17Speaker 2: seen one as bad as 2020. This year, things started
- 23:20Speaker 2: getting close.
- 23:20Speaker 4: Yes.
- 23:20Speaker 2: And that was really devastating. You can do better than that,
- 23:24Speaker 2: even just by pure luck. And I think it's capable,
- 23:28Speaker 2: even if the kind of people the Phillies have to
- 23:30Speaker 2: trade could get you the sort of relievers that they want.
- 23:33Speaker 2: You're probably not getting like a starting all-star position player
- 23:37Speaker 2: unless things get really crazy. But as far as like
- 23:40Speaker 2: trading Brandon Marsh, if that's what you want to do,
- 23:44Speaker 2: or trading Bryson Stott, which, you know, if that's what
- 23:46Speaker 2: you want to do. You can probably get high-end reliever help,
- 23:50Speaker 2: which comes with its own risks. But those are the
- 23:53Speaker 2: changes I want to see. A big-time lefty who you
- 23:56Speaker 2: can actually rely on and not bite through a desk
- 23:59Speaker 2: watching Jose Alvarado try to pitch his way out of
- 24:01Speaker 2: a jam. Right, exactly.
- 24:04Speaker 4: Folks, we're going to take a break here.
- 24:06Speaker 1: Great talk so far about this Phillies upcoming offseason here. Again,
- 24:09Speaker 1: our buddy Justin Clue from Baseball Perspectives, the Hit and
- 24:13Speaker 1: Season podcast. And also, if you're watching on YouTube, check
- 24:18Speaker 1: out the description below where you can order Summer of
- 24:21Speaker 1: the Cheap Wieners.
- 24:23Speaker 4: Great book. I got to read a great book.
- 24:26Speaker 2: Talk about a lousy bullpen. Go ahead and give that
- 24:29Speaker 2: a read.
- 24:29Speaker 4: There you go. All right, folks, we're going to take
- 24:31Speaker 4: a break. When we get back more Phillies off season
- 24:34Speaker 4: talk coming your way. All right.
- 24:37Speaker 1: We're back to talk about this Philadelphia Phillies off season
- 24:40Speaker 1: with our buddy, Justin clue. And so we're concluding the
- 24:44Speaker 1: discussion could just a couple more topics here.
- 24:47Speaker 4: I mean, even though this.
- 24:49Speaker 1: Team and organization has been to the post season for
- 24:52Speaker 1: the fifth year in a row, uh, Part of me
- 24:54Speaker 1: thinks there's something to be said for that in this
- 24:57Speaker 1: day and age of Major League Baseball play. The Philadelphia Phillies,
- 25:02Speaker 1: they had a terrible offense this season. I mean, one
- 25:05Speaker 1: of the worst in the league. And it begs the
- 25:08Speaker 1: question whether or not they're actually going to need a
- 25:10Speaker 1: new hitting coach. And if so, will we see a
- 25:13Speaker 1: new hitting coach? Will this individual potentially make a difference
- 25:17Speaker 1: at the end of the day? As I always say
- 25:19Speaker 1: when I ask these questions, we don't have a crystal
- 25:20Speaker 1: ball by any stretch, but Are they going to be
- 25:23Speaker 1: getting a new hitting coach, do you think? Is it needed,
- 25:26Speaker 1: and do you think it could spark something with the
- 25:29Speaker 1: offense perhaps in 2027? Because I don't know if you
- 25:32Speaker 1: can fall out of a basement window at this point
- 25:35Speaker 1: when it comes to this offense.
- 25:37Speaker 2: Well, just to go back to the manager conversation for
- 25:40Speaker 2: one second, you can talk all day about how much
- 25:44Speaker 2: impact a manager actually has, but I think what it
- 25:46Speaker 2: comes down to is A manager can have a huge impact.
- 25:50Speaker 2: They might have no impact, but they might make a
- 25:53Speaker 2: huge impact. And a hitting coach is the same way.
- 25:55Speaker 2: A hitting coach might have no impact. Firing one and
- 25:59Speaker 2: bringing in another might not do absolutely anything to your offense.
- 26:03Speaker 2: But it might change. He might be the guy who
- 26:05Speaker 2: comes in and says the right thing to the right guy,
- 26:07Speaker 2: and suddenly you've got a new hitter on your hands.
- 26:11Speaker 2: How that works is kind of like up to the
- 26:13Speaker 2: individual team. We all know what Kevin Long's relationship is
- 26:17Speaker 2: with the Phillies and several individual Phillies, like Kyle Schwarber, obviously.
- 26:21Speaker 2: I think he's very responsible for the success you have
- 26:23Speaker 2: seen from Brandon Marsh. I guess that also makes him
- 26:26Speaker 2: responsible for the success you have not seen from Brandon Marsh.
- 26:30Speaker 2: So I don't want people to think, because I feel
- 26:34Speaker 2: like it's out there, but people shouldn't think that a
- 26:36Speaker 2: hitting coach is like, whispering in the batter's ear every
- 26:40Speaker 2: time before he goes up the secret word. And then
- 26:43Speaker 2: if he doesn't say the right word, the hitter is out.
- 26:45Speaker 2: Like that's obviously not how it works. It's more about
- 26:47Speaker 2: his influence. They talked, they talked about, we learned a
- 26:50Speaker 2: little bit about the Phillies having hitters meetings. They talked
- 26:53Speaker 2: like that one that their plate approach got really healthy
- 26:56Speaker 2: for a couple of weeks because they had this meeting
- 26:58Speaker 2: and And Kevin Long and his coaches were there like
- 27:00Speaker 2: running that and talking about hitting and what the Phillies
- 27:02Speaker 2: could do. There's been times when the Phillies were like,
- 27:05Speaker 2: this is some people were thinking about acquiring. And Kevin
- 27:08Speaker 2: Long's like, I'm watching tape on this guy. I can
- 27:11Speaker 2: tell you, I know how to, what to do here.
- 27:13Speaker 2: So bring him in here and he's going to become
- 27:14Speaker 2: a better hitter. And that has happened. Of course, we've all,
- 27:17Speaker 2: as you just said, we've all watched the team this year.
- 27:19Speaker 2: We also are very aware of the inconsistency of this offense. Yes.
- 27:24Speaker 2: I don't know how fixable that is from a hitting
- 27:26Speaker 2: coach perspective, but, I don't know how open to listening
- 27:30Speaker 2: players get when they're 30, 33, 34 years old and
- 27:34Speaker 2: they're very set in their ways or they're more fluid
- 27:37Speaker 2: and they're open to commentary and they're open to change.
- 27:40Speaker 2: I don't know. You hear varying degrees of stubbornness from
- 27:44Speaker 2: various parties. It really does come down to the individual.
- 27:47Speaker 2: All that being said, If you want to fire Kevin
- 27:49Speaker 2: Long tomorrow, go ahead. I'm not going to stand here
- 27:51Speaker 2: and be like, oh, my God, they fired Kevin Long.
- 27:53Speaker 2: Like at this point, enough time has passed for anybody
- 27:56Speaker 2: who's been here the entire time to feel like their
- 27:58Speaker 2: job isn't safe, to feel like, oh, we're making a
- 28:01Speaker 2: change like with the manager. Sometimes Rob Thompson gets fired,
- 28:04Speaker 2: even if it's not totally his fault or not. majority
- 28:07Speaker 2: his fault that the team is struggling because that's just
- 28:10Speaker 2: like a thing that can happen like throwing a firework
- 28:13Speaker 2: into the clubhouse and it just makes everybody go oh
- 28:15Speaker 2: my god it almost it also brings closure and it's
- 28:18Speaker 2: like oh that was the time when we were struggling
- 28:20Speaker 2: and then rob got fired and now there's like a
- 28:22Speaker 2: before and after right big moment for the team and
- 28:25Speaker 2: that's like okay well now we're in a totally different
- 28:27Speaker 2: zone i feel kind of like refreshed and we start
- 28:29Speaker 2: hitting just because mentally it's it's just you're in a
- 28:32Speaker 2: different space so As far as the hitting coach influence, again,
- 28:35Speaker 2: I think it comes down to the coach. It comes
- 28:37Speaker 2: down to the players. Kevin Long may not be the
- 28:40Speaker 2: guy anymore. And if this team's interested in making a
- 28:42Speaker 2: bunch of changes, that's one you know you can make
- 28:44Speaker 2: because he's not on a 13-year deal. You don't have
- 28:48Speaker 2: to worry about how the market values him. This isn't
- 28:50Speaker 2: like a Rick Cranett situation where the Phillies hemmed and
- 28:53Speaker 2: hawed and the Braves saw their excellent pitching coach. This
- 28:56Speaker 2: is something they could do, and I don't consider myself
- 29:00Speaker 2: a Kevin Long defender. I'm more just like, hey, look,
- 29:02Speaker 2: he has a good relationship with some of these guys,
- 29:04Speaker 2: and a hitting coach's job is not what a lot
- 29:06Speaker 2: of people think it is. But at the end of
- 29:07Speaker 2: the day, change is necessary, and that's one you can
- 29:10Speaker 2: make and perhaps make a very positive impact.
- 29:13Speaker 4: Change is going to be happening with this team. For sure.
- 29:16Speaker 1: And certainly we've been talking about it, but I think Justin,
- 29:19Speaker 1: if we can conclude the conversation, going back to the
- 29:23Speaker 1: initial part of our discussion about, you know, what type
- 29:28Speaker 1: of potential investments could be made by the front office,
- 29:31Speaker 1: by Dave Dombrowski, if he is still here, likely going
- 29:33Speaker 1: to be here for the 2027 season, likely making moves
- 29:37Speaker 1: during this off season because I still see, and we
- 29:42Speaker 1: still see, Philly being that top five team in attendance
- 29:47Speaker 1: in the sport of Major League Baseball. And I think
- 29:49Speaker 1: if they want to keep it that way, they're going
- 29:52Speaker 1: to need to make some more investments, business-like investments in
- 29:57Speaker 1: talent to bring to this team. We talked about a
- 30:00Speaker 1: number of areas of weakness where they need to address,
- 30:03Speaker 1: whether it's in the bullpen, whether it is batting. They're
- 30:07Speaker 1: going to have to spend more money, I'm assuming, correct?
- 30:11Speaker 1: And I guess how aggressive do you think this front
- 30:13Speaker 1: office is going to be at the end of the
- 30:14Speaker 1: day based on what this.
- 30:16Speaker 4: Team really needs to still compete in 2027?
- 30:19Speaker 2: You start out saying, all right, let's be aggressive. Let's
- 30:24Speaker 2: do it. Let's be aggressive. And then you look at
- 30:26Speaker 2: the list and you just think, okay, realistically, or not realistically,
- 30:33Speaker 2: likely that Harper, Turner, Schwarber, don't leave because of the
- 30:39Speaker 2: reasons we all know why it is more, it is
- 30:41Speaker 2: at least, there was at least like three obstacles in
- 30:44Speaker 2: the way of, of trading those guys, then perhaps a
- 30:48Speaker 2: Brandon Marsh or a Bryson stuff. My point just being,
- 30:51Speaker 2: you go down the list pretty quick and to realize
- 30:53Speaker 2: once again, you're, you're kind of limited unless you decide
- 30:58Speaker 2: that you're not, unless you decide, you know what, we're
- 31:01Speaker 2: going to try to trade Bryce Harper. You know what,
- 31:03Speaker 2: we're going to try to trade Kyle Schwarber. Ken Rosenthal
- 31:06Speaker 2: wrote a whole freaking column about it right after the
- 31:08Speaker 2: Phillies got eliminated that they should consider specifically trading those
- 31:12Speaker 2: two guys. Yeah. Again, the possibility of that, who knows,
- 31:17Speaker 2: who knows what the interest would be in that? Because
- 31:19Speaker 2: remember the Phillies are trading those guys in this scenario
- 31:22Speaker 2: because it hasn't gone great. And yeah, they aren't like
- 31:25Speaker 2: the guys who, especially Schwarber, they aren't the guys who
- 31:28Speaker 2: are the most to blame, but you know, clearly Harper
- 31:30Speaker 2: has struggled and isn't the hitter he once was. So again,
- 31:34Speaker 2: How much can you get for them? What does a
- 31:35Speaker 2: deal like that even look like? So I guess to
- 31:37Speaker 2: not make this answer as yammering and long-winded as the
- 31:40Speaker 2: others have been. That's my favorite.
- 31:43Speaker 1: It's my favorite.
- 31:46Speaker 2: The obvious ones are like Marsh, Stott, though Stott has
- 31:49Speaker 2: a lot of value to you. If you're trying to
- 31:51Speaker 2: fill out an infield and he's a guy who can
- 31:53Speaker 2: play three positions pretty well with gold glove defense, that's
- 31:56Speaker 2: something to consider. But that's also something to consider as
- 31:58Speaker 2: far as what value he'd have to another team and
- 32:00Speaker 2: what they'd be willing to give up for him. But
- 32:03Speaker 2: then you move on and my mind has drifted towards
- 32:07Speaker 2: Joanne Durant. Being one year from free agency and what
- 32:11Speaker 2: good is an elite level closer if the rest of
- 32:13Speaker 2: your bullpen sucks? Yeah. If you're not able to protect
- 32:16Speaker 2: one run leads until then, that lead is gone by
- 32:19Speaker 2: the ninth inning anyway. Like, what use does that guy have?
- 32:22Speaker 4: Yeah.
- 32:23Speaker 2: And every team is always, every contending team is always
- 32:26Speaker 2: looking for a lights out closer like that. And then
- 32:29Speaker 2: your mind kind of goes to, if we're talking about
- 32:31Speaker 2: one year left, guys, Zach Wheeler, who also needs to
- 32:35Speaker 2: approve the trade as well. But even so, and I
- 32:38Speaker 2: don't want to be done with Zach Wheeler. But again,
- 32:41Speaker 2: if you're trying to be aggressive, then you're dealing from
- 32:44Speaker 2: a strength there. And he's a guy who's going to
- 32:47Speaker 2: get you some guys. So, yeah. you know do you
- 32:50Speaker 2: want to make like medium range trades do you want
- 32:52Speaker 2: to like rip somebody out at the studs and see
- 32:55Speaker 2: what you can get for them and go through the
- 32:57Speaker 2: difficulty of convincing them like okay well you know we're
- 32:59Speaker 2: trying to trade you because we have this in mind
- 33:01Speaker 2: blah blah what does a dramatic thing look like for
- 33:03Speaker 2: a team that that has all these players put in
- 33:06Speaker 2: a position where they control whether they're traded or not
- 33:09Speaker 2: they're making a ton of money that other teams may
- 33:11Speaker 2: not want to pay you may not want to keep
- 33:12Speaker 2: paying them like picking up part of the bill even
- 33:15Speaker 2: if they do go to another team You know, and
- 33:18Speaker 2: a lot of teams like you want to go hunting
- 33:20Speaker 2: for a young catcher. Like, I don't think that's a
- 33:22Speaker 2: super big priority for them right now. I think it
- 33:24Speaker 2: should be, you know, you got to start looking for
- 33:26Speaker 2: that guy, not for next year, but like somebody who's
- 33:29Speaker 2: double a triple a level catcher who's, who's coming up
- 33:32Speaker 2: and there are teams that have them, but do they
- 33:34Speaker 2: want to give them up because there's a shortage of
- 33:36Speaker 2: catchers right now.
- 33:37Speaker 4: So exactly.
- 33:38Speaker 2: Yeah. Change is, I think, I think the end of
- 33:41Speaker 2: the day, the conclusion is we're all calling for change
- 33:43Speaker 2: last year. And the Phillies tried to make a change
- 33:45Speaker 2: last year with Bo Bichette. They tried that. And it's
- 33:48Speaker 2: not like they pulled back at the last second. The
- 33:51Speaker 2: Mets just pantsed them and they had a deal that
- 33:53Speaker 2: they thought was going through. So they did try to
- 33:56Speaker 2: make a change and that change would have included, they said,
- 33:59Speaker 2: probably not having a real Muto back after that, which
- 34:02Speaker 2: means they would have had to figure something out at
- 34:03Speaker 2: catcher pretty quick. So that would have already been a change.
- 34:07Speaker 2: We didn't get that. And mostly, it's totally fair to
- 34:10Speaker 2: say they ran it back. This year, I think it is,
- 34:13Speaker 2: we're calling for change again. The Phillies are aware they
- 34:16Speaker 2: need to change again. I think it's much more likely
- 34:19Speaker 2: that the kind of changes we're talking about occur. I
- 34:21Speaker 2: think that there are some drastically new looks to the
- 34:27Speaker 2: lineup by next year. And even if it's just like
- 34:29Speaker 2: two or three new guys who aren't just like this
- 34:32Speaker 2: year's Adolis Garcia. There's a lot of talk about randy
- 34:35Speaker 2: a rosa rain out there being a good fit for
- 34:37Speaker 2: this team say a suzuki being a good fit for
- 34:40Speaker 2: this team like these are kind of guys that you're
- 34:43Speaker 2: talking about being difference makers for your lineup so i
- 34:47Speaker 2: think it's at the end of the day specific changes
- 34:49Speaker 2: will come down to just how crazy this team wants
- 34:51Speaker 2: to get yeah i think it's more likely they get
- 34:55Speaker 2: crazier than last year this year Well.
- 34:58Speaker 1: It's going to be interesting, and we're going to continue
- 35:00Speaker 1: talking about this Phillies team on the Philadelphia Sports Table
- 35:03Speaker 1: podcast show. Again, folks, he is Justin Clue from the
- 35:06Speaker 1: Hit and Season podcast, also baseball prospectus and the writer
- 35:12Speaker 1: of the Summer of the Cheap Wieners book.
- 35:16Speaker 4: Uh, check out everything that, Oh, there it is.
- 35:19Speaker 2: There it is.
- 35:20Speaker 4: Boy, what a dramatic entrance of the book.
- 35:23Speaker 1: Wow. Wow.
- 35:25Speaker 2: I got to keep this thing close at hand. I
- 35:26Speaker 2: don't know why it's on a shelf.
- 35:27Speaker 4: You don't even need CGI, no AI.
- 35:30Speaker 1: I mean, just a dramatic entrance there as we are
- 35:35Speaker 1: finishing up here again, folks. He's Justin clue, my friend.
- 35:38Speaker 1: Thank you so much for taking the time. Always great
- 35:40Speaker 1: talking to you. And, uh, let's talk some more Phillies
- 35:42Speaker 1: talk in the future.
- 35:43Speaker 4: If you'd like.
- 35:44Speaker 2: Absolutely. You're welcome for making that last answer, you know,
- 35:47Speaker 2: less long winded.
- 35:48Speaker 4: Yes.
- 35:50Speaker 1: That's going to do it for us here on Table
- 35:51Speaker 1: Talk this week. Please share our podcast with your friends
- 35:55Speaker 1: and family members who are Philly sports fans or sports
- 35:58Speaker 1: fans in general. We thank you, our listeners, for being
- 36:02Speaker 1: part of this online community with us and within this space.
- 36:06Speaker 1: please make sure to check out our website, Philadelphia sports table.com
- 36:10Speaker 1: for all of our podcasts and follow us on our
- 36:12Speaker 1: social sites over on Twitter at Philadelphia, PST threads at
- 36:17Speaker 1: Philadelphia sports table and over on Instagram as well.
- 36:21Speaker 4: Take care. And we'll catch you next time.