Latest / Foul Territory / Ken Rosenthal takes us inside Mark Walter’s unusual Dodgers purchase & his unique financial advantage

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Ken Rosenthal takes us inside Mark Walter’s unusual Dodgers purchase & his unique financial advantage · Foul Territory

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: It's the Inside Scoop. It's FT, Senior Insider Ken Rosenthal.
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Ken just released a story with others at The Athletic
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: about the Dodgers. Ken, let's dive right in. So I
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: think one of the angles that was interesting to me
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: that helped me learn about Mark Walter, the owner of
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: the Dodgers, was how there was trepidation from other owners
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: and from the league when he first entered the mix
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: in Major League Baseball. Can you run through that for us?
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 0:29
  Speaker 3: And this story was written with Evan Drellick and Melody Gutierrez.
• 0:32
  Speaker 3: And It kind of stemmed from just what you're saying, Scott,
• 0:37
  Speaker 3: when we learned.
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: That there was some trepidation.
• 0:41
  Speaker 3: Among certain ownership circles when Mark Walter's group emerged as
• 0:45
  Speaker 3: a potential buyer before the sale. And the reason was
• 0:49
  Speaker 3: the insurance money that was funding the sale and just
• 0:54
  Speaker 3: the way that they were going to go about it.
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: And one thing we learned was, at least according to.
• 0:58
  Speaker 3: Two people, that if not for the bankruptcy proceeding, which
• 1:02
  Speaker 3: is how the Walter Group, the Guggenheim Group bought the Dodgers,
• 1:07
  Speaker 3: this might not have been approved.
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: It might not have passed muster.
• 1:10
  Speaker 3: But because this was guided by a bankruptcy court judge,
• 1:15
  Speaker 3: what they were looking for was the most money to
• 1:18
  Speaker 3: pay Frank McCourt's creditors, Frank McCourt being the previous owner,
• 1:22
  Speaker 3: and Guggenheim came up with the most money.
• 1:26
  Speaker 4: That scrutiny that the other owners were like, okay, I
• 1:29
  Speaker 4: don't know if this is all above board. You said
• 1:32
  Speaker 4: in the article that they brought a outside firm in
• 1:35
  Speaker 4: to check it, not just the bankruptcy firm.
• 1:37
  Speaker 5: Am I correct? Not just the bankruptcy court.
• 1:41
  Speaker 3: There were things that they were checking into, yes. But
• 1:45
  Speaker 3: at the same time, Eric, that wasn't like a primary
• 1:47
  Speaker 3: focus of the article. It What they were doing was,
• 1:52
  Speaker 3: at that point, we don't know exactly who objected and
• 1:55
  Speaker 3: who didn't object. And the key thing here is, okay,
• 1:58
  Speaker 3: there might have been some objections, but the price was
• 2:02
  Speaker 3: out of this world, $ 2. 15 billion. And therefore, the owners
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: ultimately said, this isn't such a bad deal for us
• 2:10
  Speaker 3: because guess what?
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: Our franchise values are going to rise.
• 2:13
  Speaker 3: And we all know that owners are very concerned, and
• 2:16
  Speaker 3: rightly so, about their franchise values rising. So this was
• 2:19
  Speaker 3: seen by many, many as a good thing. But as
• 2:24
  Speaker 3: we said, there were some concerns raised.
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: And yeah, there were some people that were just not
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: so sure about this.
• 2:34
  Speaker 6: So, Ken, what you just said right there is the
• 2:36
  Speaker 6: most important thing, I think, is that the other owners
• 2:38
  Speaker 6: that were questioning this saw dollar signs, right?
• 2:42
  Speaker 5: It's kind of like the CBA.
• 2:43
  Speaker 6: I hate to brag in the CBA, but it's all
• 2:45
  Speaker 6: about franchise values And they said, oh, Mark Walters is
• 2:48
  Speaker 6: willing to pay $ 12 billion for the Dodgers, or whatever
• 2:50
  Speaker 6: the number is.
• 2:51
  Speaker 5: That he paid for them.
• 2:52
  Speaker 6: And, oh, mate, that makes mine worth, instead of $ 1. 2,
• 2:55
  Speaker 6: it'll be worth $ 2. 2. And so did they maybe overlook
• 3:00
  Speaker 6: some stuff because of that?
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: Well, it was $ 2. 15 billion. So that was the price.
• 3:07
  Speaker 3: I don't know that they overlooked some stuff. One of
• 3:09
  Speaker 3: the things we brought out here was they didn't have
• 3:12
  Speaker 3: the owner's. the control that they normally would, nor did
• 3:15
  Speaker 3: Major League Baseball, because again, this was run by a
• 3:18
  Speaker 3: bankruptcy court. So while they rejected some groups, then the
• 3:24
  Speaker 3: bankruptcy court brought back another or one or two more.
• 3:28
  Speaker 3: And again, the control that they normally would have.
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: Team gets bought like the Padres just did, they vote.
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: That wasn't fully the case here.
• 3:38
  Speaker 3: And there were conflicting things, like I said, There was
• 3:43
  Speaker 3: the franchise values that they were concerned about and the
• 3:46
  Speaker 3: incredible price that they were getting for this team, a
• 3:49
  Speaker 3: price that Bud Seelig told.
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: Us shocked him when he heard about it. And what
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: was that price driven by? It was driven by the
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: potential of.
• 3:57
  Speaker 3: The TV deal that they were going to cut and
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: the ability to shield that deal under the special terms
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: of this process, shield some of that money, not all
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  Speaker 3: of it, some of it from revenue sharing.
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: Okay, so that's where things get really interesting. The TV
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: deal and the advantage that it has for the current
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: Dodgers in not having to share as much money as
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: agreed upon within the league, because this is outside of
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: the league. This is bankruptcy court. The other factor here
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: involved is Frank McCourt. And that's a name that we
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: used to hear all the time, Ken. And it was
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: cool to see a throwback. Obviously, there was a lot
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: going on between McCourt and the league. Can you get
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: into how that was a factor here with McCourt and
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: the league butting heads? Eventually, in my mind, leading to
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: McCourt kind of choosing his owner and maybe even choosing
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: this way to do a deal so that the price
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: would be higher for him to sell, right?
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: All right. It's complicated.
• 4:51
  Speaker 3: Now, the league, with the bankruptcy proceeding, entered into an
• 4:57
  Speaker 3: agreement with McCourt and the court to have these special terms,
• 5:04
  Speaker 3: these terms that ultimately would lead to this great TV
• 5:08
  Speaker 3: deal situation. that the Dodgers have continued to have throughout
• 5:13
  Speaker 3: this ownership of.
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: The Guggenheim Group. And what we just described was exactly.
• 5:18
  Speaker 3: That, the ability to shield some of that money from
• 5:22
  Speaker 3: revenue sharing. The league was a party to that agreement,
• 5:25
  Speaker 3: but again, it was all driven by this bankruptcy court.
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: So that's part of it. Now, one person quoted in
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: the article, an expert on this kind.
• 5:35
  Speaker 3: Of thing, basically said the mistake here by baseball was
• 5:40
  Speaker 3: forcing McCourt into bankruptcy, or at least pushing him toward that.
• 5:44
  Speaker 3: That was ultimately McCourt's choice.
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: Maybe they could have worked it out.
• 5:47
  Speaker 3: Some other way, but in defense of everyone involved here, baseball,
• 5:52
  Speaker 3: the owners.
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: Everyone, no one anticipated.
• 5:56
  Speaker 3: That the Dodgers would become what they have become. No
• 6:00
  Speaker 3: one anticipated that this would ever be a problem. So
• 6:04
  Speaker 3: here we are looking back and yes, Certainly looking back,
• 6:07
  Speaker 3: and the purpose of the article is to show that
• 6:09
  Speaker 3: there were some reservations here and to show also the
• 6:12
  Speaker 3: history of how the Dodgers behemoth came about.
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: At the same time, I'm not going.
• 6:18
  Speaker 3: To say that baseball was wrong in that particular case
• 6:23
  Speaker 3: to do what they did because they were acting in
• 6:26
  Speaker 3: a way that they thought was proper.
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: McCourt was a problem as owner. He was taking money
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: from the team.
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: He was running the team into the ground, all of
• 6:34
  Speaker 3: these things, and they wanted him out. And I guess
• 6:38
  Speaker 3: back then, forcing him into bankruptcy, that was a choice
• 6:41
  Speaker 3: he made.
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: But I don't know that they saw another option.
• 6:45
  Speaker 3: The league.
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: Do you remember growing up and seeing that something was
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: sold out and it was literally sold out and you
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: couldn't get a ticket?
• 6:54
  Speaker 5: Yes, I do remember that.
• 6:55
  Speaker 3: That's not a thing anymore.
• 6:56
  Speaker 5: Cried many times over that, Scott. But now we have SeatGeek.
• 6:59
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• 7:01
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• 7:02
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• 7:09
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• 7:11
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• 7:15
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• 7:18
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• 7:21
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• 7:22
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• 7:23
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• 7:25
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• 7:30
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• 7:32
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• 7:36
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• 7:47
  Speaker 6: All right, Ken, I'll say it. So the league is
• 7:51
  Speaker 6: the problem with the Dodgers. It's not the Dodgers' fault.
• 7:54
  Speaker 5: It's the league that... That caused all these problems.
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: No, I mean, it's the bankruptcy court.
• 7:59
  Speaker 5: Overseeing this whole thing. In a roundabout kind of way,
• 8:01
  Speaker 5: because they never thought.
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: The league does not.
• 8:03
  Speaker 5: They never thought.
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: It's not absolved of responsibility, okay? The league had some
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: role in this. There's no question.
• 8:08
  Speaker 3: But, again, this process was a different kind of process
• 8:13
  Speaker 3: that we've seen.
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: I remember in 1993, the Orioles were bought out of bankruptcy,
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: and that was a pure auction. It took place in
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: a courtroom. This was different than that. Bids were submitted
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: and all that.
• 8:25
  Speaker 5: But....
• 8:27
  Speaker 3: As much as we might want to blame the league here,
• 8:29
  Speaker 3: there's only so far you can go because of the
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: unusual situation that occurred here. Now, yes, the league did
• 8:37
  Speaker 3: have some responsibility, but I'm not sure the league could
• 8:39
  Speaker 3: have stopped this.
• 8:41
  Speaker 5: Okay, that's fair, Tim. But also, nobody saw the.
• 8:46
  Speaker 5: Fall of the regional sports networks, right, for other teams.
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: Nobody can see any of that.
• 8:50
  Speaker 3: No.
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: No, I know.
• 8:51
  Speaker 5: That's why it's kind of hard. I mean, is it
• 8:53
  Speaker 5: the league's fault? Yes.
• 8:54
  Speaker 6: But you can't really blame them. Frank McCord also, doesn't
• 8:56
  Speaker 6: he still own all the parking at Dodger Stadium?
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: I believe he does.
• 9:00
  Speaker 6: I mean, this guy signed the greatest deal. Frank McCord
• 9:03
  Speaker 6: is the greatest thing of all time. He declares bankruptcy,
• 9:05
  Speaker 6: gets $ 2 billion. Oh, yeah, and he gets all the
• 9:08
  Speaker 6: parking at Dodger. Frank McCord, man, you nailed it.
• 9:10
  Speaker 5: I'm sorry.
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: Wait, I didn't go that far, AJ, but I understand
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: what you're saying.
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: Bring me in for this. AJ is going to like
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: this even more. This is in Ken's article. And it
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: reminded me of how Frank even got into the industry. Ken,
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: can you enlighten us on how he was able to
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: buy the team? And it appeared as if he didn't
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: really have the money himself. The league was kind of
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: letting him do this with the understanding that eventually he
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: could have liquidity and he never gave them that liquidity.
• 9:39
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: He had all these different companies and different agreements, and
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: it was not the greatest financing ever.
• 9:46
  Speaker 3: No.
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: And it proved to be that case.
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: Got that, AJ?
• 9:52
  Speaker 5: I love this stuff, man. I love this stuff. Owners
• 9:55
  Speaker 5: fight with owners. Owners fight with owners, and then they
• 9:58
  Speaker 5: blame the players. But anyways, I do.
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: All right, so let's cap this, right, before we move
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: on to anything else. Where do we go from here?
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: What was learned, right?
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: What's next?
• 10:10
  Speaker 3: Well, what's next is, of course, the outcome of the
• 10:13
  Speaker 3: federal investigation of Walter and Guggenheim. That is what we
• 10:17
  Speaker 3: are all waiting for, and It could be that that
• 10:21
  Speaker 3: investigation leads nowhere. It could be he's found guilty of
• 10:24
  Speaker 3: certain things. And it also could be that he perhaps
• 10:28
  Speaker 3: sells other things in the process to raise the money
• 10:31
  Speaker 3: to pay off the loans that are still outstanding.
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: To correct all this. So I don't know how that's
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: going to turn out.
• 10:38
  Speaker 3: They've been very adamant, TWG, the owners of the Dodgers,
• 10:43
  Speaker 3: that they're not going to sell the Dodgers. And Walter
• 10:45
  Speaker 3: doesn't own all of the Dodgers he owns, I believe 27%.
• 10:48
  Speaker 3: So I don't know that that would be even really
• 10:52
  Speaker 3: a feasible thing here. But at the same time, until
• 10:56
  Speaker 3: we have this resolved, we don't know what's going to happen.
• 10:59
  Speaker 3: And we don't know what exactly or the steps he's
• 11:02
  Speaker 3: going to take to resolve the issues that he has.
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: That's a whole other story. It's really complicated. And we're
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: still waiting there. And people will say, well, man, the
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: Dodgers did dirty here.
• 11:16
  Speaker 3: Maybe. Maybe.
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: Maybe in some ways they did act in an improper way.
• 11:22
  Speaker 3: But right now they're insisting they did nothing untoward, that
• 11:26
  Speaker 3: no one's been hurt by any of the actions that
• 11:28
  Speaker 3: they have taken.
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: And again, we'll just have to see.
• 11:31
  Speaker 6: All right, Ken, I only want to know one thing.
• 11:34
  Speaker 6: Can you get me on White Oak, the golf course
• 11:36
  Speaker 6: that Mark Walter has, since you've been talking to him
• 11:38
  Speaker 6: so much?
• 11:38
  Speaker 5: That's all I want to know.
• 11:41
  Speaker 3: The Dodgers declined comment for this story, AJ.
• 11:44
  Speaker 5: Oh, darn it. Darn it, Ken. I thought you were
• 11:47
  Speaker 5: our senior insider. I thought you were my favorite.
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: That doesn't mean I'm talking to everybody.
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: I don't want to hit this one on a fun
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: note to end this part of the conversation. Ken, I
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: will say, you know, often we get comments of you
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: cover the Dodgers too much, not you like us, right?
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: Everybody then.
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: Yes, we all do.
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: They, there's a lot to talk about with them these days.
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: Then there's also the, hey, why aren't you covering this story?
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: We're covering this story. We've covered this story a lot.
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: We've had multiple guests on, including some of your colleagues
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: like Melody Gutierrez, who's done a great job covering this.
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: We just talked about it with you. You just released
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: a report. So what do you want? You want us
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: to talk about them? You don't want us to talk
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: about them? I'm just throwing that out there for all
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: the trolls.
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: Let me address this too, Scott. The story is really complicated.
• 12:29
  Speaker 3: And we chose here to focus on one thing, the
• 12:33
  Speaker 3: sale that led to some of what is going on now,
• 12:38
  Speaker 3: or at least was the starting point of all of this.
• 12:42
  Speaker 3: And people have said to me, why don't you comment
• 12:44
  Speaker 3: on this? Why don't you have an opinion on it?
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: Well, it's more important to.
• 12:48
  Speaker 3: Kind of get this right and to explain the context
• 12:53
  Speaker 3: of what's going on here. I hope this story does
• 12:54
  Speaker 3: that to some extent.
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: Now, obviously, if the Dodgers are in the wrong here,
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: if something is shown to be really dirty, yeah, we're
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: going to comment on it.
• 13:05
  Speaker 3: And We have talked and we talk in the story
• 13:08
  Speaker 3: about the advantages that they have gained. One of them
• 13:12
  Speaker 3: being the TV deal that they don't have to entirely
• 13:16
  Speaker 3: declare with revenue sharing.
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: That's part of the story.
• 13:19
  Speaker 3: And it's an important part of understanding where the Dodgers
• 13:22
  Speaker 3: are now. Now, that said, does that detract from all.
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: That they've accomplished?
• 13:28
  Speaker 3: Well, maybe somewhat because maybe they've done it on the
• 13:30
  Speaker 3: backs of insurance funds that they should not have been using,
• 13:34
  Speaker 3: whatever the case might be. But at the same time,
• 13:37
  Speaker 3: it doesn't detract from what they've done with their farm system, scouting,
• 13:41
  Speaker 3: player development, and even with the construction of their major
• 13:45
  Speaker 3: league team.
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: Now, they've had more money. There's no question about it.
• 13:47
  Speaker 3: And the TV deal has helped with more money, not
• 13:50
  Speaker 3: just in the nature of the deal, which is a record,
• 13:54
  Speaker 3: but also with the fact that they haven't had to
• 13:56
  Speaker 3: share all of it. But they've also done a good
• 13:59
  Speaker 3: job on the baseball end. And That can't be lost.
• 14:02
  Speaker 3: So it's a complicated thing. And obviously, we're going to
• 14:05
  Speaker 3: have to take it step by step and judge it
• 14:08
  Speaker 3: step by step. This story was merely one that we
• 14:12
  Speaker 3: wanted to get out there to hopefully help people gain
• 14:14
  Speaker 3: an understanding of how this whole thing just came about.
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: Kratz, I think what people are seeing on the screen
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: and what we'll explain to the podcast audio crowd right
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• 15:21
  Speaker 6: Ken, let's talk about something a little more fun. Thursday night.
• 15:25
  Speaker 6: I know it's too much to ask for you to
• 15:26
  Speaker 6: go to Baltimore. I know you have to go to
• 15:28
  Speaker 6: the Cubs-Brewers game while I'm going to Baltimore. But the
• 15:31
  Speaker 6: Orioles are back in this thing all of a sudden.
• 15:33
  Speaker 6: They're a 500. They got their right-handed bat, Luis Robert.
• 15:37
  Speaker 6: Are the Orioles really back in this thing? And obviously
• 15:40
  Speaker 6: it's on Fox 1 with you and I in separate places,
• 15:44
  Speaker 6: thank God.
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: The Orioles are a fascinating team.
• 15:49
  Speaker 3: And that game last night, if you haven't seen Colton
• 15:52
  Speaker 3: Couser's catch to end it, Basically, he saved a walk-off
• 15:57
  Speaker 3: two-run homer from occurring, and it was an amazing catch, spectacular.
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: So I advise people just to get on wherever you
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: watch your videos and just check that out. They are
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: at 500 right now.
• 16:09
  Speaker 3: Like the other teams in the race of the turtles
• 16:11
  Speaker 3: for the third wild card, they are highly flawed.
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: Luis Robert Jr.
• 16:17
  Speaker 3: Should help them because that's the right-handed bat in center
• 16:19
  Speaker 3: field that they've been seeking.
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: They've needed that. Whether he makes a difference, whether he
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: stays healthy, that remains to be seen, but they have
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: played better.
• 16:28
  Speaker 3: They're in an easy part of their schedule right now,
• 16:30
  Speaker 3: so that kind of always needs to be taken into consideration, but.
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: They have the ability to get that third spot.
• 16:39
  Speaker 3: The Blue Jays are coming too, and the Guardians, who
• 16:41
  Speaker 3: currently hold the third spot, are a formidable team, in
• 16:44
  Speaker 3: my opinion. So, not going to be easy for them, but.
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: They have taken steps towards salvaging their season. They're not
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: there yet.
• 16:53
  Speaker 4: All right, so you will be going to Chicago, which
• 16:56
  Speaker 4: is the actual good game of the week, and that's
• 16:58
  Speaker 4: why you're going and not AJ. Do you see what
• 17:02
  Speaker 4: the Cubs are doing as they kill? I think they
• 17:04
  Speaker 4: broke the record for the most home runs in the
• 17:06
  Speaker 4: month of August in the National League. Like, is this
• 17:10
  Speaker 4: a product of what they built, or is this a
• 17:12
  Speaker 4: product of this team getting healthy and everybody just clicking
• 17:16
  Speaker 4: at the same time?
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: It is what they've built.
• 17:20
  Speaker 3: They did build the offense to be a formidable one. Now,
• 17:23
  Speaker 3: I don't know if they expected a nine homer game
• 17:25
  Speaker 3: at any point in the season or to do what
• 17:27
  Speaker 3: they did in the month of August in terms of
• 17:29
  Speaker 3: that home run production. But they built a strong position
• 17:33
  Speaker 3: player club, both offensively and defensively.
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: The problem they've had is keeping pitching together, keeping it intact, healthy,
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: all of that. And it's still a problem. I just
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: read a story by Patrick Mooney.
• 17:46
  Speaker 3: In The Athletic this morning about Imanaga and how they're
• 17:48
  Speaker 3: sticking with him, but they're sticking with him in part because.
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: They don't have many other options.
• 17:53
  Speaker 3: So that's going to be the question that they face
• 17:55
  Speaker 3: down the stretch and into the postseason.
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: But Clay Holmes has been really good. Gossman, really good.
• 18:02
  Speaker 3: And they have, of course, David Peterson that came over
• 18:06
  Speaker 3: and has done a good job as well. In addition
• 18:08
  Speaker 3: to Matthew Boyd, they're okay, but they still have injuries
• 18:11
  Speaker 3: in their bullpen.
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: It's not ideal. And that's what they're going to have
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: to navigate the rest of the season.
• 18:18
  Speaker 5: Ken, Jed Hoyer came out and said they're not going
• 18:22
  Speaker 5: for it unless they can get a bye.
• 18:23
  Speaker 6: Now, a miracle would take, you know, they'd have to
• 18:25
  Speaker 6: sweep the Brewers basically in these next six games that
• 18:28
  Speaker 6: they have left with them just to get back into
• 18:30
  Speaker 6: this race, really, and have a chance of winning this division.
• 18:33
  Speaker 6: Why did he say that they're not going to go
• 18:35
  Speaker 6: for it unless they can get a bye? And then
• 18:37
  Speaker 6: he goes and gets Clay Holmes, goes and gets Kevin Gossman,
• 18:39
  Speaker 6: goes and makes some of these moves if, according to him,
• 18:42
  Speaker 6: they weren't going for it.
• 18:44
  Speaker 2: That's not how he exactly said it. He said that
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: you are.
• 18:48
  Speaker 3: Most inclined to go for it when you are in
• 18:51
  Speaker 3: position to land a buy. And actually at the deadline,
• 18:54
  Speaker 3: they had a chance of doing that. And he wasn't
• 18:57
  Speaker 3: going to give up on the season simply because at.
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: That point of the year, they did not have a
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: buy in hand. So listen, it's a.
• 19:07
  Speaker 3: Lot easier to do it with the buy, at least
• 19:10
  Speaker 3: in the eyes of a lot of people in the game.
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: But They have a really good team. They're confident in
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: their team, and that's why he went out and got
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: Gossman and Holmes and Zephyr John and Peterson.
• 19:20
  Speaker 3: Because they feel that even if they don't get the bye,
• 19:24
  Speaker 3: they're capable of making a deep run, and I would
• 19:26
  Speaker 3: agree with that. So while he said what he said,
• 19:29
  Speaker 3: he basically, I think, was talking more about Scooble at
• 19:33
  Speaker 3: that time.
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: Well, I didn't name him specifically or mention him by name.
• 19:38
  Speaker 3: He was saying you make that kind of move when
• 19:40
  Speaker 3: you really are in a strong position to with a
• 19:43
  Speaker 3: buy in hand or possible to go for it in
• 19:47
  Speaker 3: that kind of way. It didn't mean he was not
• 19:49
  Speaker 3: going to make any moves.
• 19:52
  Speaker 4: Obviously, we're reacting to last night's game where Kyle Harrison
• 19:55
  Speaker 4: was either tipping or he wasn't tipping. Is the Brewers
• 19:58
  Speaker 4: pitching situation slowly leaking into what it was last year? Obviously,
• 20:04
  Speaker 4: they didn't have the Miz as the Miz last year,
• 20:07
  Speaker 4: but Is this a concern going into September for Brewers fans?
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: It has to be.
• 20:13
  Speaker 3: And obviously, even the Miz is going to pitch more
• 20:17
  Speaker 3: innings than he ever has pitched. And keeping him on
• 20:21
  Speaker 3: track is going to be a challenge for them. Kyle
• 20:22
  Speaker 3: Harrison is in a similar kind of position.
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: Dustin May is a veteran. He should be OK. And
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: Drohan's another one. He hasn't pitched this deep into a season.
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: So they're a little bit.
• 20:35
  Speaker 3: They have to be a little bit concerned about this.
• 20:38
  Speaker 3: They knew about it, and it's one of the reasons
• 20:40
  Speaker 3: they got May and fortified their bullpen a bit at
• 20:42
  Speaker 3: the deadline.
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: But this is going to be the question. Are they
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: going to run dry?
• 20:48
  Speaker 3: That said, and I got asked about this on Fair
• 20:51
  Speaker 3: Territory yesterday regarding the Orioles, pretty much every team is
• 20:55
  Speaker 3: in this position where they're worried about their pitching down
• 20:58
  Speaker 3: the stretch for one reason or another. There are certain
• 21:00
  Speaker 3: exceptions to that, but in a number of cases... These
• 21:05
  Speaker 3: teams are pushing guys to points through no fault of
• 21:09
  Speaker 3: their own, just because of where they are, where maybe
• 21:12
  Speaker 3: they haven't been before. Now, the Yankees with guys like
• 21:15
  Speaker 3: Cole and Freed coming back, maybe they're.
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: A little bit immune from that. Rodon as well.
• 21:21
  Speaker 3: The Red Sox have a strong staff, but even some
• 21:23
  Speaker 3: of the Red Sox guys.
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: Sonny Gray had to get pushed back just this week.
• 21:27
  Speaker 3: So it's not just a Brewers problem. It's kind of
• 21:31
  Speaker 3: an industry problem. And We'll see how the Brewers manage it.
• 21:35
  Speaker 3: Because if you remember last year, what beat them in
• 21:38
  Speaker 3: the NLCS wasn't so much their pitching falling apart. It
• 21:42
  Speaker 3: was their lack of offense against an unbelievable Dodgers staff.
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: So we'll see how this goes.
• 21:49
  Speaker 6: Hmm.
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 21:50
  Speaker 6: Forgot somebody, Ken. Logan Henderson. You forgot him. That's who
• 21:53
  Speaker 6: they wouldn't give up for Tarek Skubal.
• 21:55
  Speaker 3: Well, Logan Henderson, he's really good. And there's a good
• 21:59
  Speaker 3: reason they didn't give him up. And I understood that.
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: So.
• 22:03
  Speaker 3: Hey, even with Scoble, he's coming off elbow surgery. You
• 22:06
  Speaker 3: don't know if he's going to be strong all the
• 22:09
  Speaker 3: way through.
• 22:09
  Speaker 2: You would think it. He's had some time off. He's fixed.
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: But these unknowns exist for a lot of different teams.
• 22:17
  Speaker 5: Quit trying to kiss up to Brewer fans, Ken.
• 22:21
  Speaker 3: He's feisty today.
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: Remember I say you're going to rip me, so it
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: doesn't matter.
• 22:24
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 22:25
  Speaker 5: I'm not going to rip you.
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you could say, you could read the best poem
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: of all time.
• 22:30
  Speaker 3: If I'm hard of the brewers, you could say, oh,
• 22:31
  Speaker 3: you're too hard of the brewers. If I'm soft of
• 22:33
  Speaker 3: the brewers, too soft of the brewers. I know how
• 22:35
  Speaker 3: this game works.
• 22:37
  Speaker 5: He's in one of those moods. Don't I sound like
• 22:38
  Speaker 5: a fan? Don't I sound like a typical fan?
• 22:41
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 22:42
  Speaker 5: Thank you.
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: Sounds like you're an AI Twitter bot.
• 22:46
  Speaker 5: Ken, we'll let you go.
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: Thank you. Thanks, guys.
• 22:49
  Speaker 4: Appreciate you.
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: Uh, the MLB on Fox streaming on Fox one games
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: that we were alluding to Boston, Baltimore and Milwaukee, Chicago,
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: both go down on Thursday. You can stream it on
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: the Fox one app at home on the go live
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: or on demand. Never miss a moment.
• 23:06
  Speaker 5: Stream.
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: Now start your Fox one three day free trial today
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: at Fox one.com. Also fair territory is a thing back
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: on Thursday, 1230, East Coast time, 930 West Coast time.
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: Ask your questions live during the show. It's Ken and
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: Alana on Thursdays, Mondays, Ken recapping the weekend.