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Fair Territory: Vintage Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani’s dominant pitching, MLB rookies are on fire! · Foul Territory

0:01
Speaker 1: Welcome everyone to the Thursday edition of Fair Territory. I'm
0:03
Speaker 1: Ken Rosenthal here with my friend and cohort Alana Rizzo Alana.
0:07
Speaker 1: As always in the world of baseball, we have a
0:11
Speaker 1: lot to get to, but let's start with the resurgence
0:15
Speaker 1: of one of the great players in the game. It's
0:17
Speaker 1: been taking place all week at Yankee Stadium and it
0:20
Speaker 1: continues in about an hour from now.
0:23
Speaker 2: Ken, two of the best players in the game right now.
0:25
Speaker 2: Always great to be with you guys on Fair Territory.
0:29
Speaker 2: The lead powered by Game Changer. More on Game Changer
0:32
Speaker 2: in a moment, But Ken, Mike Trout turning back the
0:35
Speaker 2: clock in the Bronx.
0:37
Speaker 1: He is four home runs in his last three games,
0:39
Speaker 1: and there's only one other player who has hit home
0:42
Speaker 1: runs in three consecutive games at Yankee Stadium. That would
0:45
Speaker 1: be Miguel Cabrera. Miguel Cabrera used to like this stage.
0:48
Speaker 1: We've seen Vladimir Guerrero Junior like this stage in the past,
0:52
Speaker 1: both in the regular season and the playoffs. And of
0:55
Speaker 1: course Trout has tremendous career numbers at Yankee Stadium. The
1:00
Speaker 1: native of Millville, New Jersey, about I don't know two
1:02
Speaker 1: hours south. Had some family and friends there last night.
1:06
Speaker 1: He always does, actually, and it's just cool to see
1:09
Speaker 1: this happening because here's a guy who has had years
1:13
Speaker 1: of injuries and disappointment. Last year he did play one
1:16
Speaker 1: hundred and thirty games, had more of a Mike Trout
1:19
Speaker 1: type season. But this is the guy we remember. It's
1:23
Speaker 1: the guy we remember, and he turns thirty five in August.
1:26
Speaker 1: Here's hoping he stays healthy. I think that's what everyone
1:29
Speaker 1: in the sport is thinking right now because this has
1:31
Speaker 1: been Mike Trout at his best.
1:34
Speaker 2: No, it's been so much fun to see. It's almost
1:36
Speaker 2: like he's Benjamin Button, as I mentioned, kind of turning
1:38
Speaker 2: back the clock and sometimes ken the big stage is
1:41
Speaker 2: really cool. What was cool about it? It was kind
1:44
Speaker 2: of mono amano, if you know, with not only Mike
1:48
Speaker 2: Trout but also Aaron Judge kind of getting in the
1:50
Speaker 2: mix too.
1:51
Speaker 1: Absolutely judges up the seven home runs now he's got
1:54
Speaker 1: a few in the last couple of games as well.
1:56
Speaker 1: That was a tremendous game last night and ended on
1:58
Speaker 1: kind of a bad play with the fly ball, the
2:01
Speaker 1: pop fly dropping between Zach Netto and the third baseman.
2:05
Speaker 1: But at the same time, it was a cool night.
2:07
Speaker 1: It's been a cool series, and the Angels under their
2:10
Speaker 1: new manager, Kurt Suzuki, they have at least been competitive.
2:14
Speaker 1: They've got some good players. They've got now a rotation
2:18
Speaker 1: of Soriano Detmers and the guy who pitched last night,
2:21
Speaker 1: And I don't want to pronounce his name wrong, so
2:22
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna try. It's Kojantowitch. I believe. I think
2:25
Speaker 1: that's wrong. But anyway, they have the makings of a
2:28
Speaker 1: team now, and we'll see if it continues, and we'll
2:31
Speaker 1: see if Mike Trout, who was a perennial top five
2:35
Speaker 1: MVP guy, usually a top two MVP guy, can get
2:38
Speaker 1: back into that conversation again.
2:41
Speaker 2: Vladimir Guerrero Junior once said ken that he would never
2:44
Speaker 2: play for the New York Yankees. Se he kind of
2:46
Speaker 2: went back on that a little bit. Obviously, a long
2:48
Speaker 2: time deal with the Toronto Blue Jays probably finished this
2:52
Speaker 2: his career, though, But seventeen home runs and ops of
2:54
Speaker 2: above one thousand and fifty career games at Yankee Stadium,
2:58
Speaker 2: what do you think I'm gonna ask you to predict here,
3:00
Speaker 2: what do you think Mike Trout's career would be like
3:03
Speaker 2: if let's say, in fact, he ended you know, at
3:06
Speaker 2: one point he decided to leave Anaheim, agreed to leave Anaheim,
3:09
Speaker 2: and ended up in the Bronx full time.
3:11
Speaker 1: Well, this is a question a lot of fans ask,
3:13
Speaker 1: and why hasn't he left Anaheim? What would his career
3:17
Speaker 1: be like? All of these things. It's all hypothetical, of course, Alana,
3:21
Speaker 1: because he has said repeatedly he wants to stay with
3:24
Speaker 1: the Angels, That's where he started his career. They've given
3:27
Speaker 1: him two big contracts. He feels an obligation to finish
3:31
Speaker 1: what he started and lead this team back at some
3:35
Speaker 1: point to respectability. Now that is largely out of his control.
3:39
Speaker 1: It has to do with ownership and some other things,
3:41
Speaker 1: but that has been his position. What would his career
3:44
Speaker 1: have been like somewhere else, We probably would have seen
3:46
Speaker 1: him in October a hell of a lot more, But
3:48
Speaker 1: that's not the way it turned out. So right now,
3:51
Speaker 1: all we can do is enjoy what he is doing
3:54
Speaker 1: and kind of marvel at this guy's stick toitiveness because
3:59
Speaker 1: obviously he has burned to be elite again, and now
4:03
Speaker 1: we're seeing all that he still can be.
4:05
Speaker 2: Even if you're not an Angels fan, Ken, I don't
4:07
Speaker 2: know anybody on the planet that is not a Mike
4:10
Speaker 2: Trout fan. And when Mike Trout is healthy, the game
4:13
Speaker 2: is better because of it. The lead is powered by
4:15
Speaker 2: Game Changer, the number one youth sports app that helps
4:18
Speaker 2: you coach smarter, connect, live and replay the action. Learn
4:22
Speaker 2: more at GC dot com. Well, Mike Trout isn't a
4:25
Speaker 2: kid anymore, Kenn. He's been in the league a very
4:27
Speaker 2: long time. But it's the kids that are kind of
4:29
Speaker 2: stealing the headlines. Kevin McGonagall of the Detroit Tigers gets
4:33
Speaker 2: an assignment bonus in an eight year, one hundred and
4:37
Speaker 2: fifty million dollars deal. Another kid getting a long term contract, Ken.
4:43
Speaker 1: Yes, the McGonagall so far has proven to be everything
4:46
Speaker 1: that he was bill to be. And yes, eight eight years,
4:49
Speaker 1: one hundred and fifty million. The assignment bonus you referred
4:52
Speaker 1: to is five million. Every time he's traded, he gets
4:54
Speaker 1: five million from the acquiring team. It's effectively a no
4:58
Speaker 1: trade claws. He's not getting traded, and that was just
5:00
Speaker 1: something that they put in there. The Tigers do not
5:03
Speaker 1: have any players with full no trade clauses. But what
5:06
Speaker 1: we're seeing in the game is again an influx of
5:10
Speaker 1: young talent, and of course it's not just Kevin McGonagall,
5:13
Speaker 1: who has not just proven it with the bat, but
5:15
Speaker 1: also moving over to shortstop where necessary and has played
5:18
Speaker 1: well there at third base. This guy looks like he's
5:21
Speaker 1: going to be a star for a long time. Connor Griffin,
5:24
Speaker 1: I wrote about him a little bit in my Notes
5:25
Speaker 1: Calm today. Not putting up numbers yet, but at the
5:29
Speaker 1: same time he's doing things to help the Pirates win games. Defensively.
5:34
Speaker 1: He drew a walk the other day, caused such havoc
5:36
Speaker 1: just by being on first base that the Nationals pitcher
5:39
Speaker 1: k Cavalley kind of fell apart, led to a four
5:42
Speaker 1: run inning. Other things as well that Griffin is contributing.
5:46
Speaker 1: And I talked to Don Kelly, their manager, and he said, no,
5:49
Speaker 1: we're not sending him down. He is here pretty much
5:52
Speaker 1: to stay. Also, Sal Stewart two home runs last night
5:55
Speaker 1: Cincinnati reads for the Saint Louis Cardinals. The night befo
6:00
Speaker 1: JJ Weatherhole, he hit two home runs. I wrote about
6:03
Speaker 1: him earlier this week. It seems all I do is
6:04
Speaker 1: write about these young guys, but there's a reason for that.
6:07
Speaker 1: They are making an impact and then making an impact
6:10
Speaker 1: in a big way. Now you might ask, what about
6:13
Speaker 1: extensions for Stuart and Weatherhole, Well, we have not seen
6:16
Speaker 1: them yet. And with Weatherhole, my understanding is they've talked,
6:21
Speaker 1: but they have yet to come to any sort of agreement.
6:23
Speaker 1: There's really been no progress. Stuart, I'm not sure, but
6:27
Speaker 1: he has been the one offensive bright spot for the
6:29
Speaker 1: Reds who have not hit at all. There have been
6:32
Speaker 1: a number of teams we've seen not hitting. You see
6:35
Speaker 1: the inside edge note on Stuart right there. Obviously it's
6:39
Speaker 1: the start of the season, it's the weather in certain cases.
6:42
Speaker 1: But the Reds the Royals another team that has to hit.
6:46
Speaker 1: The Mets, of course, we'll get to them, and we're
6:48
Speaker 1: seeing that in the game as well.
6:50
Speaker 2: Yeah. Sal Stewart with the three run home run his
6:53
Speaker 2: seventh home run of the year six RBI for the
6:56
Speaker 2: Reds rookie on Sunday Ken. As far as the Reds
6:59
Speaker 2: and the Saint Louis Cardinals are concerned, what does history
7:02
Speaker 2: tell you about them giving long term deals to young players?
7:05
Speaker 2: Is that something that they've done historically or as this
7:07
Speaker 2: would be kind of unprecedented.
7:10
Speaker 1: For them, I don't know that they've done it often, Alana,
7:13
Speaker 1: and I'd have to kind of think about this a
7:14
Speaker 1: little bit. I'm sure it's happened. The Cardinals did it
7:18
Speaker 1: with Pools way back when, but in recent years they
7:21
Speaker 1: haven't had players kind of worthy of that type of deal.
7:25
Speaker 1: The Reds do have some pitchers, actually, Hunter Green. They
7:28
Speaker 1: did that with Hunter Green, that was one, so they're
7:30
Speaker 1: certainly open to it. The Cardinals obviously are open to it.
7:33
Speaker 1: They've negotiated with Weatherholt. So I don't know that we're
7:37
Speaker 1: going to see it or not. Not every one of
7:38
Speaker 1: these guys signs one of these deals. Some players prefer
7:42
Speaker 1: to go year to year position players, especially because potentially
7:46
Speaker 1: they can make more going year to year in arbitration
7:49
Speaker 1: and then becoming a free agent at a young age.
7:51
Speaker 1: The interesting thing about the McGonagall and Griffin deals is
7:55
Speaker 1: that they still become free agents relatively young even with
7:58
Speaker 1: the eight and nine years deals. So these guys are
8:02
Speaker 1: going to be here for a long time. And the
8:03
Speaker 1: good news is they've signed with teams that are not
8:07
Speaker 1: necessarily considered the game's biggest spenders. The Pirates certainly not,
8:11
Speaker 1: and even the Tigers, while they've spent at times, this
8:14
Speaker 1: is not a team that we've seen at the top
8:15
Speaker 1: ten payroll category for quite some time.
8:18
Speaker 2: Well, it's great to see some of these other teams
8:20
Speaker 2: spend some money and at least lock up some of
8:22
Speaker 2: their young court crats.
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9:24
Speaker 2: Let's talk about the Los Angeles Dodgers, specifically show hey
9:28
Speaker 2: Otani ken against the New York Mets, two teams going
9:30
Speaker 2: in very opposite directions early on in the season. Now,
9:33
Speaker 2: Otani yesterday did not hit, He was not a position player,
9:37
Speaker 2: not serving as the DH only pitched, had a great
9:40
Speaker 2: outing on the hill. But he got hit in the
9:42
Speaker 2: right shoulder the night before. Does that make the most
9:45
Speaker 2: sense as to why they got him off his feet?
9:47
Speaker 2: Kind of peculiar there.
9:49
Speaker 1: We've seen the Dodgers over the last i don't know,
9:52
Speaker 1: three four or five years take every precaution possible when
9:56
Speaker 1: it comes to health, not just with Otani but with
9:59
Speaker 1: everyone of their players. They slow play guys coming off
10:02
Speaker 1: injuries like no other team, and they can do it
10:05
Speaker 1: because they have such depth. So with Otani, maybe it
10:10
Speaker 1: was that they didn't want to take a chance. Obviously
10:12
Speaker 1: he did get hit on the shoulder, and maybe it
10:14
Speaker 1: was simply, you know what, let's just let him pitch
10:16
Speaker 1: to I give him a little bit of a break.
10:18
Speaker 1: It's a showy Otani type break. It's not a normal
10:21
Speaker 1: type break. And what's interesting about him is that there's
10:24
Speaker 1: always been this debate what if he just hit? What
10:27
Speaker 1: if he just pitched? And John Smoltz, my colleague at Fox,
10:31
Speaker 1: has always said, and I once wrote an article about this,
10:34
Speaker 1: that if Otani just pitched, he'd be Jacob Ducrom in
10:38
Speaker 1: his prime. Certainly looked that way last night, And obviously
10:43
Speaker 1: that's something we can think about in debate. But the
10:45
Speaker 1: beauty of Otani, the magic of Otani, is that he
10:49
Speaker 1: does both, and I never want to see him stop
10:51
Speaker 1: doing both. It's the coolest thing in the game today,
10:54
Speaker 1: or at least one of them.
10:55
Speaker 2: No doubt about that. The line six innings, two hits,
10:58
Speaker 2: one earned run for Otani repasses ten K's, though ninety
11:02
Speaker 2: five strikes sixty three of those can or ninety five
11:05
Speaker 2: pitches rather sixty three of them four strikes. Let's talk
11:09
Speaker 2: about the New York Mets. What is going on with
11:11
Speaker 2: that team? Can specifically veteran Francisco Lindor, which it certainly
11:15
Speaker 2: doesn't not all fall on the Mets shortstop, but it
11:18
Speaker 2: doesn't seem like he's playing the ball the game. Rather,
11:21
Speaker 2: excuse me, mentally sound. What's going on.
11:24
Speaker 1: He's not a lot of it. And there was another
11:26
Speaker 1: play last night where he laid back on a ball
11:28
Speaker 1: Teoscar Hernandez beat out a single in the ninth inning.
11:32
Speaker 1: I believe it was the Dodgers rally for a few
11:34
Speaker 1: runs there. And it's just not Lindor like to see
11:37
Speaker 1: him make this many mental mistakes. He's a guy who
11:40
Speaker 1: was kind of always buttoned up in one of the
11:43
Speaker 1: elite thinkers in the game on the field, one of
11:46
Speaker 1: the elite at baseball IQ. And for whatever reason, it's
11:51
Speaker 1: not happening right now. Maybe it's this mental slump, maybe
11:54
Speaker 1: there's something else going on. You never know. But at
11:57
Speaker 1: the same time, they need him to be better, and
12:00
Speaker 1: you ask, what is going on with the Mets? Why
12:01
Speaker 1: have they lost h straight Certainly being without Juan Soto
12:06
Speaker 1: is a huge part of this, and without him their
12:09
Speaker 1: offense has kind of fallen apart. I'm sorry it was
12:11
Speaker 1: the eighth inning last night with the Lindor play and
12:14
Speaker 1: also with the Mets. As I've said before, I said
12:17
Speaker 1: this on my Monday show, they've got a ton of
12:20
Speaker 1: new coaches, they've got a ton of new players, and
12:23
Speaker 1: it's going to take time, perhaps for them to jel
12:26
Speaker 1: perhaps it never happens. They've also had rotation questions from
12:29
Speaker 1: the start of spring training even before that. So this
12:33
Speaker 1: was never a perfect team by any stretch of the imagination.
12:37
Speaker 1: It's a different team. It is still a very talented team.
12:41
Speaker 1: I do expect them to play better. I think they
12:43
Speaker 1: need Soto back and obviously they need to get going.
12:46
Speaker 1: And I want to refer as well to what Will
12:48
Speaker 1: Salmon wrote yesterday about Carlos Mendoza and his status. It's
12:53
Speaker 1: already a topic of discussion in New York and coming
12:56
Speaker 1: off this season that they did, it's somewhat understandable because
13:00
Speaker 1: they fired a lot of his coaches or changed a
13:02
Speaker 1: lot of his coaches, and when that happens, the manager
13:05
Speaker 1: generally is next. That said, this isn't on Mendoza, as
13:10
Speaker 1: Will wrote, it's only what seventeen eighteen games into the season,
13:15
Speaker 1: and you have to see how this team settles in.
13:18
Speaker 1: If at the end of May they're still kind of
13:22
Speaker 1: playing in this funk that they've been in and they
13:24
Speaker 1: haven't ignited, then maybe you look at the manager and
13:28
Speaker 1: you think, Okay, maybe we just need a new energy.
13:30
Speaker 1: But Carlos Mendoza is a guy that David Sterns handpicked,
13:34
Speaker 1: a guy that David Sterns liked, a guy that drew
13:37
Speaker 1: all kinds of praise in his first season when the
13:39
Speaker 1: Mets had a slow start and then got back into
13:42
Speaker 1: the NLCS for the first time, and what almost a
13:45
Speaker 1: decade so for fans to turn on him, for anyone
13:48
Speaker 1: to turn on him at this point, it's just too early.
13:52
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's only April sixteenth, April fifteenth, when all of
13:55
Speaker 2: this stuff was coming on. I encourage you to read
13:57
Speaker 2: Will Salmon's article in the Athletic. I know armand who
14:01
Speaker 2: is a very very good listener and viewers going to
14:04
Speaker 2: have questions for you, Ken and Grill and Ken, So guys,
14:06
Speaker 2: get those questions in. Grill and Ken is right after this.
14:15
Speaker 2: All right, guys, welcome back to Fair Territory with Ken Rosenthal.
14:19
Speaker 2: Get those questions in. It is time for our Grill
14:21
Speaker 2: and Ken segment. The first one is in regards to
14:24
Speaker 2: the Pittsburgh Pirates. Daniel Doctor nineteen nineteen wants to know
14:27
Speaker 2: five dollars super chat. We appreciate you, Daniel. If everyone
14:30
Speaker 2: stays healthy, why wouldn't the Pirates consider a six man
14:33
Speaker 2: rotation ken when Jared Jones returns. Given all their young arms,
14:37
Speaker 2: what's your take?
14:39
Speaker 1: Certainly a good point, and their rotation is one of
14:42
Speaker 1: the more impressive things in the game right now. It's
14:45
Speaker 1: pretty much all homegrown. Actually, it is all homegrown, and
14:48
Speaker 1: there are, as the questioner points out, Daniel points out,
14:52
Speaker 1: some younger pitchers in there. Bubba Chandler Ashcraft is relatively
14:56
Speaker 1: young in terms of his career. And yes, Jared Jones
14:59
Speaker 1: would fit into that mold as well. A six man
15:02
Speaker 1: motation would work, but I believe you would want to
15:06
Speaker 1: keep Skeens going every fifth day or every turn on
15:11
Speaker 1: the five man, so I don't know that they would
15:14
Speaker 1: want to do it. It obviously would help get everyone rest,
15:16
Speaker 1: and even Skeens, you might want to give a breather
15:19
Speaker 1: here and there. But at the same time, Skeens is
15:22
Speaker 1: in his third full season. You want him pitching as
15:25
Speaker 1: often as possible. So I don't know what they we'll do.
15:28
Speaker 1: I haven't asked the question yet, but it's a good question.
15:31
Speaker 1: But also, as the questioner points out, Daniel, hey, let's
15:36
Speaker 1: see if everyone is healthy when this becomes an issue
15:38
Speaker 1: with Jared Jones.
15:40
Speaker 2: Yeah, it seems like right now, they have a too
15:42
Speaker 2: many pitcher problem. That's never a problem. So we'll see
15:45
Speaker 2: what happens when Jared Jones re enters the picture. Elisheva
15:48
Speaker 2: Jones has a great question, and I want to give
15:50
Speaker 2: you credit to Ken because you said pay attention to
15:52
Speaker 2: the Marlins. You were probably the only one that said that.
15:55
Speaker 2: She wants to know is this real? Is this sustainable?
15:58
Speaker 2: Because the fish are looking good.
16:00
Speaker 1: Well, they're coming off a tough trip in Detroit and Atlanta.
16:04
Speaker 1: I believe it was one in five, so okay, they
16:06
Speaker 1: started really well. Now they've faded a bit. It's a
16:10
Speaker 1: long season. We know that. What I like about them
16:13
Speaker 1: is their young talent, and they've been missing Stours. He
16:15
Speaker 1: has not played this point or to this point this season,
16:18
Speaker 1: so he'll be back soon eventually and he will add
16:21
Speaker 1: to their mix. They just lost Griffin Conine. Not great.
16:25
Speaker 1: That's the ebbs and flows of the season with regards
16:27
Speaker 1: to injuries. I like their pitching with Al Contrede at
16:31
Speaker 1: the top, with Yuri Perez, with Max Meyer, with all
16:34
Speaker 1: that they're doing from that standpoint, and I like their
16:38
Speaker 1: young outfield Marc and Owen Casey Stowers. If he's an
16:43
Speaker 1: outfield or first baseman, we'll see. I like Otto Lopez.
16:46
Speaker 1: There's a lot there. They play the game in a
16:49
Speaker 1: fundamentally sound way. They're kind of the Brewers Southeast. Not
16:53
Speaker 1: quite that good at it, but they have that kind
16:56
Speaker 1: of energy about them, and I like their manager, Clayton mccullis.
16:59
Speaker 1: So there is a lot there. Are they ready to
17:02
Speaker 1: compete for a division title? No? Probably not yet. But
17:06
Speaker 1: are they possibly a wild card contender that I could
17:10
Speaker 1: see happening. It's going to take a lot of things
17:13
Speaker 1: going right, but this is a team that is certainly
17:16
Speaker 1: not without talent.
17:18
Speaker 2: Here's a funny connection. I'm sure you knew this, but
17:20
Speaker 2: many folks didn't. I certainly did not. Mark Bowman, who
17:23
Speaker 2: does a great job with MLB dot com that covers
17:26
Speaker 2: the Atlanta Braves, had an article that Walt Weiss, the
17:30
Speaker 2: Braves manager, Ken, used to babysit Clayton McCullough, the Marlins manager.
17:35
Speaker 2: So there's an interesting connection perhaps that you didn't know
17:38
Speaker 2: between those two teams. Okay, another question here for you
17:41
Speaker 2: on Grill and Ken. This is in regards to the
17:44
Speaker 2: Reds video game Nation twenty six. Are the Reds still
17:47
Speaker 2: willing to negotiate with Elie Dela Cruz on a contract extension.
17:51
Speaker 2: From what you have heard or seen.
17:54
Speaker 1: I've not heard much about this. I am sure they
17:57
Speaker 1: are willing to negotiate a contract extension with him. I
17:59
Speaker 1: am I'm sure he is willing to Listen, every time
18:01
Speaker 1: I see a headline this player open to an extension. Yeah, no, kidding.
18:06
Speaker 1: Every player is open to an extension. But of course
18:09
Speaker 1: you have to get the right terms. You have to
18:12
Speaker 1: reach an agreement. Now with Dela Cruz, if I were him,
18:16
Speaker 1: I'd want to put together a complete season offensively, defensively.
18:21
Speaker 1: I'm not talking about health. I'm just talking about rounding
18:23
Speaker 1: out his game, and he's certainly capable of doing that.
18:26
Speaker 1: At the same time, Obviously, players entertain extensions for all
18:31
Speaker 1: kinds of reasons. Sometimes they come from poorer backgrounds, sometimes
18:35
Speaker 1: they just want the security. They're all factors or all
18:38
Speaker 1: kinds of factors that go into it. So I'm not
18:41
Speaker 1: sure where his mind is not sure where the reds
18:44
Speaker 1: are either, But with either side or both sides entertain it,
18:47
Speaker 1: of course they would all right.
18:49
Speaker 2: From our control room, we have a question for you
18:51
Speaker 2: here on Grill and Ken. What is the latest on
18:54
Speaker 2: Nick Paveta, what's going on with him.
18:57
Speaker 1: We don't know exactly what's going on with him. Manager
19:00
Speaker 1: Craig Stamon said yesterday he'll be out weeks, if not months,
19:03
Speaker 1: something along those lines, not quoting him exactly. So it's
19:07
Speaker 1: certainly a concern for the Padres, who have been red hot.
19:10
Speaker 1: They've won seven straight, another dramatic victory last night, and
19:14
Speaker 1: they did it on a night when Randy Vasquez, their
19:17
Speaker 1: now number two starter, wasn't all that great. Obviously, they've
19:21
Speaker 1: had rotation concerns from the start of the season. Joe
19:24
Speaker 1: Musgrove's been out, he's coming back. Paveta now out. I
19:28
Speaker 1: don't know exactly how this is going to turn out
19:30
Speaker 1: for them. They've got Walker Buehler, They've got her Mom Marquez,
19:33
Speaker 1: They've got a bunch of guys who were kind of
19:35
Speaker 1: trying to just hang on a little bit or revive
19:37
Speaker 1: their careers. Could they use Lucas Giolita, Yes they could.
19:41
Speaker 1: Could the Cubs use Lucas Giolito, as we wrote earlier
19:44
Speaker 1: this week, yes they could. Do they have the money
19:47
Speaker 1: to do that? The Padres, I don't know, because right
19:50
Speaker 1: now their sale process is nearing completion and before they
19:54
Speaker 1: make any kind of financial decision, they might want resolution
19:58
Speaker 1: there and to know perhaps who their new owner would be.
20:01
Speaker 2: Yeah, I still can't believe Lucas Giulido doesn't have a job,
20:04
Speaker 2: And now the Cubs have a bullpen issue too, ken
20:07
Speaker 2: with Porter Hodge being out with UCL surgery. One word
20:10
Speaker 2: answer from you, who makes the postseason? Paul Skins?
20:16
Speaker 1: I love that question. I will say neither, but if
20:21
Speaker 1: I had to bet on one of them, I would
20:22
Speaker 1: bet on Skeens. Pirates have something. The Pirates do have
20:26
Speaker 1: something going, and I just talked about how I like
20:29
Speaker 1: the Marlins. The Pirates aren't as complete, and they've gotten
20:33
Speaker 1: hot starts from Brandon Lowe, from Ryan O'Hearn. They've gotten
20:37
Speaker 1: some things happening or had some things happening that probably
20:41
Speaker 1: are beyond where they're going to be over the course
20:44
Speaker 1: of the season. Not that low and o'haron aren't good players,
20:47
Speaker 1: they're really good players, but them and O'Neil Cruz, they've
20:51
Speaker 1: been really hot. Okay, but let's say they're in it,
20:55
Speaker 1: and let's say they have this pitching surplus we've talked
20:57
Speaker 1: about at the deadline, maybe they do something and to
21:00
Speaker 1: kind of bring in yet another bat or a bullpen piece,
21:03
Speaker 1: whatever they might need. We have not seen the Pirates
21:06
Speaker 1: in this mode for a while, so it's hard to
21:08
Speaker 1: know how aggressive they would be at the deadline if
21:12
Speaker 1: if they were in contention. But the way they operated
21:16
Speaker 1: this offseason aggressively, you would expect that to continue into
21:19
Speaker 1: this season. They have shown urgency and they've got the pitching,
21:22
Speaker 1: yes to make a wild card run.
21:24
Speaker 2: All right, it's going to be fun to see if
21:26
Speaker 2: either one of those teams gets into the postseason. We're
21:29
Speaker 2: going to be back with Dude and Dork of the
21:31
Speaker 2: Week right after this. Dude, dude, dude, dude. All right,
21:41
Speaker 2: welcome back to fair Territory with Ken Rosenthal. Time now
21:44
Speaker 2: for our dude and Dork of the Week. I will
21:46
Speaker 2: go first on my dude. It is Alex and Kayla Vessia.
21:50
Speaker 2: The reason being is that, of course, unfortunately in the postseason,
21:53
Speaker 2: which is why Alex was not able to pitch in
21:55
Speaker 2: the World Series, they lost their newborn daughter, and they
22:00
Speaker 2: brought every single nurse and medical professional that helped get
22:04
Speaker 2: them through that very difficult time to Dodger Stadium last night.
22:08
Speaker 2: They had a suite for them and they honored them,
22:10
Speaker 2: and both Alex and Kayla said, what an amazing job
22:15
Speaker 2: these people did to help get them through one of
22:17
Speaker 2: the hardest times of their life. He also ended up
22:20
Speaker 2: getting I believe he retired the side on this evening
22:24
Speaker 2: as well. He pointed to this crowd after the second
22:27
Speaker 2: save of his season in his interview with Kirsten Watson. So,
22:31
Speaker 2: congratulations to Alex Vesia and obviously, in something that we
22:35
Speaker 2: never wish he had to go through, finding the silver
22:38
Speaker 2: lining in all of that, Ken, who is your due
22:40
Speaker 2: of the week?
22:42
Speaker 1: It's easy. Jordan Walker major league leader in home runs.
22:45
Speaker 1: We talked about some of those young players before Weatherholt,
22:48
Speaker 1: one of his teammates. Jordan Walker is twenty three himself.
22:52
Speaker 1: He's not much older than jj Weatherhold and he had
22:55
Speaker 1: a couple of tough years and now he's establishing himself.
22:58
Speaker 1: He's got a great personality. He's worked hard at this.
23:01
Speaker 1: Due to the week eight home runs, congratulations Jordan Walker.
23:05
Speaker 2: And how about Jordan Walker? Ken, They wanted to keep
23:07
Speaker 2: sending him down. He was on that up and down
23:09
Speaker 2: elevator a million different times, and look at him now
23:12
Speaker 2: leading the league in home runs all right. Time. Now
23:15
Speaker 2: for our dork of the week. I know you can
23:25
Speaker 2: appreciate this, having been in this industry as long as
23:27
Speaker 2: you have, and having been in the camera well and
23:30
Speaker 2: the dugout for many, many games. Anybody thinks that they
23:35
Speaker 2: have the right to take a picture or say whatever
23:38
Speaker 2: the heck they want. And somebody just took a video
23:40
Speaker 2: of longtime broadcaster, longtime color analyst Angie Mintek, who is
23:45
Speaker 2: tremendous at what she does. Cole Smith, Oh for, I
23:48
Speaker 2: don't know who this person is. I don't know if
23:50
Speaker 2: this person is credentialed or just a fan in the
23:53
Speaker 2: stands Angie Mintik, do you know of any good questions
23:55
Speaker 2: to ask after a tough loss? Asking for our friends?
23:58
Speaker 2: So he is recording Angie on her phone while she
24:01
Speaker 2: was in the camera well after this really brutal come
24:05
Speaker 2: from behind when for the San Diego Padres that beat
24:08
Speaker 2: Angie's team, the Seattle Mariners, And you can see there
24:11
Speaker 2: it said good questions after a tough loss in baseball?
24:15
Speaker 2: And that's obviously probably a an AI question that she's asking.
24:19
Speaker 2: Angie Mintek has been in this game for decades, ken,
24:23
Speaker 2: and she knows the game very well. She knows ball,
24:26
Speaker 2: as they say, and you know what. I'm upset about
24:31
Speaker 2: this person doing this to her because they don't Maybe
24:33
Speaker 2: they do know who Angie Mintik is, but if you
24:35
Speaker 2: had taken half a second to find out who she was,
24:39
Speaker 2: you'd know that she knows baseball. And to your point
24:41
Speaker 2: when we were talking about this, she's doing so what
24:44
Speaker 2: she's doing some research, maybe getting another idea or maybe
24:47
Speaker 2: finding a way to phrase a question differently or that
24:49
Speaker 2: type of thing. Not to mention, Angie just had a
24:52
Speaker 2: stroke not that long ago. So it's bothering me because
24:56
Speaker 2: this of course went viral. Barstool picked it up and
24:59
Speaker 2: it is all all over the place now. And if
25:01
Speaker 2: you don't know who Angie Mentek is, it's it's it's
25:06
Speaker 2: disingenuous to what she brings to the game and who
25:09
Speaker 2: she is as a reporter and as an analyst.
25:12
Speaker 1: A lot of this is ridiculous. She's sitting in the camera, Well,
25:15
Speaker 1: she is entitled to do whatever she wants and they're
25:18
Speaker 1: trying to do her job as well as possible. And
25:21
Speaker 1: you know what, people get on us all the time
25:24
Speaker 1: for not asking good questions. Sometimes you want another different perspective,
25:27
Speaker 1: and if that's where you're getting your perspective. Fine, what
25:30
Speaker 1: she should be judged on is what she does on camera,
25:34
Speaker 1: not what she does sitting in a camera well, getting
25:37
Speaker 1: ready to do a postgame interview. And fans have a
25:40
Speaker 1: lot of fun and games doing things like this, and
25:43
Speaker 1: we've all seen it, and it gets to the point
25:45
Speaker 1: where it's a bit ridiculous that she gets judged on this.
25:48
Speaker 1: What she should be judged on is her job performance,
25:51
Speaker 1: not how she's getting ready to ask a question. Dork
25:55
Speaker 1: of the week for sure for this and this stuff
25:58
Speaker 1: kind of needs to stop, not kind of needs to.
26:00
Speaker 2: Stop absolutely, And you have another dork of the week yourself, Ken,
26:04
Speaker 2: Who is it?
26:06
Speaker 1: This is a complicated one. It's the Texas Rangers. And
26:09
Speaker 1: it's complicated because you have to read Sam Blum's story
26:12
Speaker 1: yesterday in The Athletic to get the full context of
26:15
Speaker 1: what this is about. What it's about is a statue
26:19
Speaker 1: that was basically taken down in the Dallas love Field
26:23
Speaker 1: Airport because it was of a Texas Ranger and it
26:27
Speaker 1: was reminiscent of a guy who enforced segregation, and that
26:33
Speaker 1: was who the model was for the statue. His name
26:35
Speaker 1: was Jaybanks. There was some dispute whether he actually was
26:38
Speaker 1: the model, but it was taken out of love Field
26:40
Speaker 1: Airport for that reason. There was controversy over it, and
26:43
Speaker 1: the Rangers basically put it up and said we're fine
26:46
Speaker 1: with it. And it upset a lot of people, as
26:49
Speaker 1: it should, and there's no reason for the statue to
26:52
Speaker 1: be there, and frankly, there's no reason for the Texas
26:55
Speaker 1: Rangers not to offer any explanation if they want to
26:58
Speaker 1: honor the Texas Ranger. There's the organization, the Texas Rangers,
27:02
Speaker 1: the law enforcement organization. Okay, and while there's a history
27:06
Speaker 1: of racial discrimination with that group, they've done a lot
27:09
Speaker 1: of great things as well. That's fine. But to do
27:12
Speaker 1: it in this fashion and then not explain it. And
27:15
Speaker 1: I'm not talking about all the people who decline comment
27:18
Speaker 1: to Sam, the general manager Chris Young, and the manager
27:20
Speaker 1: Skips Schumaker. It's not them, it's not their problem. It's
27:23
Speaker 1: ownership that needs to explain this, and frankly, that's that
27:27
Speaker 1: you never should have been erected. But I encourage everyone
27:30
Speaker 1: to read Sam's story to get the full context and
27:33
Speaker 1: the full picture. It's hard to explain in just a minute,
27:36
Speaker 1: but that's what we're talking about here. Texas Rangers dorks
27:41
Speaker 1: of the week.
27:41
Speaker 2: Yeah, ownership group needs to say something about this. Well,
27:44
Speaker 2: you have a good game coming up this weekend and
27:46
Speaker 2: AJ Pierzynski is on it as well. Can you have
27:49
Speaker 2: Braves at Phillies? It is Sale versus Sanchez? What are
27:52
Speaker 2: you looking for?
27:53
Speaker 1: Really excited about this and often a Lona It seems
27:56
Speaker 1: to be we don't get the sexy pitching matchups on
27:59
Speaker 1: the Saturday game. It's random and it's probably my perception
28:03
Speaker 1: and not even true. I'm sure we get enough good matchups,
28:06
Speaker 1: but this one is really special. Chris Sale won the
28:09
Speaker 1: Cy Young Award in the National League in twenty twenty four.
28:12
Speaker 1: Christopher Sanchez was second last year to of course, Paul Skeens.
28:18
Speaker 1: So to see these guys go at it on Saturday
28:20
Speaker 1: night with Aj Persinski and Adam Wainwright in the booth
28:23
Speaker 1: along with Joe Davis, It's going to be a special
28:26
Speaker 1: atmosphere and the Phillies are trying to find their footing here.
28:29
Speaker 1: The Braves have been surprisingly good. They've defied all the critics,
28:34
Speaker 1: including this one who said they didn't do enough to
28:37
Speaker 1: boost their rotation. Their rotation has been one of the
28:39
Speaker 1: strengths of the team. So I'm really looking forward to
28:42
Speaker 1: this one. Flying to Philly today and we'll see Saturday
28:45
Speaker 1: on Fox.
28:46
Speaker 2: All right, we'll have a cheese steak for me. We
28:48
Speaker 2: appreciate it very much, everybody. We appreciate you being here
28:51
Speaker 2: on Fair Territory with Ken Rosenthal. Do not forget. Ken
28:55
Speaker 2: is back on Monday. That's it for us for today,
28:57
Speaker 2: Foul Territory. It's next. Lance Lyne, Jim Neukat joins a
29:01
Speaker 2: Jakers and Ski, Scott Braun and Eric Kratz. Dodgers Territory
29:06
Speaker 2: will follow and again can seize on Monday. Thank there,
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