Latest / Foul Territory / Cal Raleigh’s candid assessment of 2026 Mariners fail + The Padres are headed BACK to the postseason!
Transcript
- 0:06Speaker 1: Cal Raleigh spoke. The Mariners are officially eliminated. They've been
- 0:09Speaker 1: out for, what, a couple weeks now? Just an atrocious
- 0:14Speaker 1: season for this team. So Cal last year was whatever,
- 0:19Speaker 1: runner-up in AL MVP. Todd decided that it had to
- 0:23Speaker 1: go to Aaron Judge. But Cal had a ridiculous season.
- 0:26Speaker 1: He had 60 home runs. I'm messing with you. He
- 0:29Speaker 1: had 60 home runs. Cal was incredible, right? And then
- 0:33Speaker 1: this year, Cal had a humongous drop-off. But so did
- 0:36Speaker 1: many of his teammates. So here's Cal after officially being
- 0:41Speaker 1: eliminated on a little post-mortem eulogy on the Mariners.
- 0:46Speaker 2: Yeah, I just think the, you know, I think there's
- 0:51Speaker 2: a lot of areas you can point to. I think ultimately,
- 0:57Speaker 2: I think it was a lack of focus, a lack
- 0:59Speaker 2: of execution, a lack of, you know, say, energy at times, say,
- 1:09Speaker 2: and then you could kind of pull that in with,
- 1:11Speaker 2: you know, defense was not good all year, controlling the
- 1:15Speaker 2: running game was not good all year, playing bad on
- 1:18Speaker 2: the road all year, you know, hitting and runs the
- 1:27Speaker 2: scoring position, hitting with runners the scoring position was definitely
- 1:31Speaker 2: not good, you know, I'd say those were kind.
- 1:37Speaker 3: Of some key points that I kind of look at.
- 1:40Speaker 3: Did that surprise you that so many things went wrong
- 1:43Speaker 3: this year?
- 1:46Speaker 4: Yeah.
- 1:46Speaker 2: I mean, obviously we were kind of riding high off
- 1:49Speaker 2: of last year and somewhere along the way, things just
- 1:54Speaker 2: didn't click, didn't come together and we were never able
- 1:58Speaker 2: to right the ship. And that's the frustrating part. I
- 2:03Speaker 2: thought we would be able to get there and, Um,
- 2:07Speaker 2: we just never did.
- 2:07Speaker 3: We never got better. We never, um, you know, turned
- 2:10Speaker 3: it around and that's, uh, that's frustrating.
- 2:13Speaker 2: And, but it's, uh, it's a, it's a learning point
- 2:17Speaker 2: that we're all going to have to take accountability for and,
- 2:21Speaker 2: and understand. And, um, you know, you know, if it happens,
- 2:27Speaker 2: you know, once that's once in many times, and if
- 2:30Speaker 2: it happens again, it becomes a habit.
- 2:31Speaker 3: So it's just about changing that and, and, you know,
- 2:34Speaker 3: making sure you're, No. Turn it around.
- 2:39Speaker 1: Todd, very few saw the Mariners not even being in
- 2:43Speaker 1: the conversation really the last couple weeks of the season
- 2:46Speaker 1: for a playoff spot. And Cal's feeling it there. I mean,
- 2:50Speaker 1: he's pissed. And this isn't the first time he's spoken
- 2:53Speaker 1: about this, but there is going to have to be
- 2:56Speaker 1: a massive change in the offseason. I don't know what
- 2:58Speaker 1: it's going to look like. It sounds like Scott Service
- 3:00Speaker 1: is not going to return as manager, but that's not
- 3:03Speaker 1: where it should stop.
- 3:04Speaker 5: Dan Wilson.
- 3:05Speaker 1: Who did I just say?
- 3:07Speaker 5: Scott Service. You're one manager behind.
- 3:09Speaker 6: Oops.
- 3:10Speaker 1: My bad, Scott. That's the wrong stray to throw his way.
- 3:14Speaker 5: Scott fired Scott Service twice.
- 3:18Speaker 1: Might be, Scott.
- 3:19Speaker 6: Might be.
- 3:20Speaker 1: Yeah, we've moved on. But Dan Wilson. Todd, did you
- 3:23Speaker 1: see this?
- 3:24Speaker 6: Yeah.
- 3:25Speaker 7: I mean, listen, you talk about a big haul they
- 3:28Speaker 7: got to do. I don't know what else they can
- 3:31Speaker 7: do without getting rid of one of their big guns
- 3:34Speaker 7: is starting pitchers because it's.
- 3:37Speaker 6: A mindset first and foremost. I don't know.
- 3:40Speaker 7: It's very appalling. This team was talked about a couple
- 3:44Speaker 7: years ago. I was talking with Sims, the radio guy
- 3:48Speaker 7: for the Yankees. He said if they could hit above 230,
- 3:50Speaker 7: they'd be in a World Series.
- 3:52Speaker 6: Couldn't hit.
- 3:53Speaker 7: But they could pitch and now it's like vice versa
- 3:56Speaker 7: a little bit and now nothing's going together and now
- 4:00Speaker 7: the Second place in MVP didn't do anything either. So
- 4:03Speaker 7: I think it's a mindset for one.
- 4:06Speaker 6: Jerry DiPoto has got to figure some things out. I
- 4:10Speaker 6: don't know what it is.
- 4:11Speaker 7: I don't think it's a whole revamp because I do
- 4:15Speaker 7: think they have a lot of really good players.
- 4:16Speaker 6: I think maybe they're too comfortable.
- 4:18Speaker 5: I don't know.
- 4:19Speaker 7: I'm trying to figure out why this team is not
- 4:23Speaker 7: plugging away and winning games. winning a division to like
- 4:27Speaker 7: this team should be up there and winning divisions with
- 4:29Speaker 7: who they have in the arsenal. But what can you
- 4:34Speaker 7: do if you do a revamp? I mean, you got
- 4:38Speaker 7: the key pitchers. You can get rid of them and
- 4:40Speaker 7: do it. But this is this is a hard one here.
- 4:43Speaker 7: I don't know how the culture is in the clubhouse either.
- 4:46Speaker 7: So there's a lot that goes into thinking what went wrong.
- 4:49Speaker 7: I just don't have the full answer.
- 4:51Speaker 5: All right. Well, Todd.
- 4:53Speaker 6: Yeah, you're right.
- 4:54Speaker 5: It should have been Cal Raleigh as the MVP because
- 4:56Speaker 5: if Cal Raleigh doesn't play good last year, then Mariners
- 5:01Speaker 5: don't make it as far. This year proved that Cal
- 5:04Speaker 5: carried that team and was the most valuable player. But
- 5:08Speaker 5: I take out of what Cal said is it's a
- 5:11Speaker 5: lack of focus. It's not a lack of talent. There's
- 5:14Speaker 5: no way you're going to say, you know what we
- 5:16Speaker 5: need to do? We need to get rid of Julio.
- 5:19Speaker 5: We need to get rid of George Kirby. We need
- 5:21Speaker 5: to get rid of you know, Logan Gilbert, Cal's going
- 5:25Speaker 5: to move to front. No, it's not a big revamp,
- 5:27Speaker 5: like you were saying. It's a, you have the pieces here.
- 5:32Speaker 5: And Cal was very honest. He said, to me, he
- 5:35Speaker 5: said the same thing two or three times, just different ways.
- 5:40Speaker 5: You got to focus. You got to hit better with
- 5:43Speaker 5: runners in scoring position. You got to focus. You got
- 5:47Speaker 5: to hold runners. You got to focus. You got to
- 5:50Speaker 5: do a better job of bringing energy. Like, those are
- 5:52Speaker 5: all things, just the focus. It sounded like Cal was like,
- 5:56Speaker 5: I was disappointed with the level of focus. Does that
- 5:59Speaker 5: come from a manager? To me, I think a manager
- 6:03Speaker 5: nips it in the bud before... as Cal said, oh,
- 6:06Speaker 5: we hope we turned it around. You don't hope you
- 6:08Speaker 5: turn around focused. You either do or you don't. And
- 6:12Speaker 5: everybody that watches the Mariners is probably going to pick
- 6:15Speaker 5: apart little plays. Oh, look at this play. This is
- 6:17Speaker 5: why we lost. This is the type of thing. Yes,
- 6:20Speaker 5: all those things show that maybe there was some lack
- 6:23Speaker 5: of focus. And when Cal says this, he's the captain, bro.
- 6:26Speaker 5: He doesn't have the C on his jersey. He's the captain.
- 6:29Speaker 5: So I think every one of those dudes goes into
- 6:31Speaker 5: the offseason, says we are going to change everything. the
- 6:34Speaker 5: way things have gone here the last few years, especially
- 6:38Speaker 5: this past year, and we're going to come back hungry,
- 6:41Speaker 5: and I would choose the Mariners again. If I was Cal,
- 6:45Speaker 5: I'd be in Julio's ear. Julio, how can we get
- 6:49Speaker 5: you to hit in April and May? What is it?
- 6:52Speaker 5: What can we do?
- 6:53Speaker 6: You did.
- 6:53Speaker 5: You want to come and live with me?
- 6:54Speaker 1: He hit a little better this year in April and May.
- 7:01Speaker 1: His plate discipline is on base, all that. It's going down. Sorry.
- 7:04Speaker 1: stopped your cooking, but this, that was always the conversation. Oh,
- 7:09Speaker 1: how do we get them hitting earlier? He hit a
- 7:10Speaker 1: little bit earlier this year. Just overall, the year was
- 7:13Speaker 1: just me.
- 7:15Speaker 5: I'm not, I'm not, I'm not blaming it.
- 7:16Speaker 1: Numbers are going down. No, I'm, I'm saying he should
- 7:19Speaker 1: get blamed. I, a fan grabs war. He's not even
- 7:22Speaker 1: a three win player this year.
- 7:23Speaker 6: A little under three.
- 7:25Speaker 1: That's not good enough for what he's getting paid. He's,
- 7:27Speaker 1: he's supposed to be a superstar and he's had other
- 7:29Speaker 1: years where he's put up close to superstar numbers. Overall,
- 7:33Speaker 1: with his overall game. This year was not one of them, Kratz.
- 7:35Speaker 1: That's my only point is by far, do you know
- 7:38Speaker 1: who by far, like double anyone else's position player were
- 7:42Speaker 1: almost Randy Rosarena. And he's the guy who's gone. He's
- 7:46Speaker 1: not coming back. They're not going to pay him. So
- 7:49Speaker 1: they're losing their best, their best player this year, right? Cal,
- 7:53Speaker 1: you would think is their best player. Julio should be
- 7:55Speaker 1: top three on that team.
- 7:55Speaker 6: Whatever.
- 7:56Speaker 1: Randy Rosarena was by far their best player this year.
- 7:59Speaker 1: And I think gives them a little edge. Sometimes he gone.
- 8:02Speaker 1: He's not coming back.
- 8:04Speaker 5: And that's fine. You have to be able to fill
- 8:06Speaker 5: in for those guys. But, like, to me, I think
- 8:08Speaker 5: Cal was calling out everybody to just do a little
- 8:11Speaker 5: bit more. Just a little bit more. Not, you got
- 8:15Speaker 5: to get stronger, faster, bigger. Like, all that stuff, no.
- 8:17Speaker 5: He was calling them out to be. I think this
- 8:20Speaker 5: is why I was really, I really loved the Mariners.
- 8:24Speaker 5: The signing of Josh Naylor. Josh Naylor ended up having
- 8:27Speaker 5: 29 stolen bases. He might get 30 stolen bases. He's
- 8:32Speaker 5: barely an above-average player. His OPS is below average, and
- 8:38Speaker 5: if he's playing first for you, you need him to
- 8:40Speaker 5: step up. So I think it's a combination of everything.
- 8:43Speaker 5: It's not just Julio. It's not just Cal has to improve.
- 8:47Speaker 5: They all have to improve, but Cal saying it, he's
- 8:49Speaker 5: lived it every single day. We've got to focus a
- 8:52Speaker 5: little bit more.
- 8:55Speaker 6: Yep.
- 8:56Speaker 1: Good talk. We'll have a lot of time to talk
- 8:58Speaker 1: about the Mariners in the off season. And we're basically
- 9:01Speaker 1: done talking about them for a while, unless something crazy happens.
- 9:07Speaker 1: We are back with the great Marty Caswell joining us
- 9:09Speaker 1: right now. Oh, in the shades.
- 9:10Speaker 6: This is good. This is good.
- 9:11Speaker 1: This looks like someone who is fresh off of a
- 9:15Speaker 1: champagne celebration coverage. That was awesome. And there was a
- 9:18Speaker 1: viral moment in there too. So I can't wait to
- 9:20Speaker 1: get your take on how the Tatis Preller exchange went down,
- 9:24Speaker 1: but Marty, how was it for the Padres and how
- 9:27Speaker 1: happy were they to clinch the postseason for a third
- 9:29Speaker 1: consecutive year?
- 9:31Speaker 4: Good morning or good afternoon, fellas. First of all, to
- 9:33Speaker 4: the great crew at Foul Territory, I would like you
- 9:35Speaker 4: and your FoulTerritoryShop.com Please go ahead and design some goggles
- 9:41Speaker 4: for post-game celebrations, because right now my eyes are burning
- 9:45Speaker 4: after that over-the-top celebration. It's been three straight years now
- 9:48Speaker 4: for the Padres in the playoffs, the first time in
- 9:51Speaker 4: franchise history, five straight winning seasons. And the remarkable thing
- 9:56Speaker 4: about this playoff run is that it's been with a
- 9:58Speaker 4: different manager every single time. You know, I mean, well,
- 10:01Speaker 4: Mike Schilt back to back, but the Padres have now
- 10:04Speaker 4: been to the playoffs four times in seven years, all
- 10:08Speaker 4: with a different manager. Yesterday felt like it was maybe
- 10:12Speaker 4: the biggest celebration yet. Perhaps it's because how up and
- 10:15Speaker 4: down This Padres season has been. This is a team
- 10:18Speaker 4: that went into it with high expectations. This is a
- 10:21Speaker 4: team that really contemplated selling at the deadline rather than
- 10:26Speaker 4: adding pieces. Robbie Ray and Casey Mize. And a good
- 10:30Speaker 4: thing they didn't because the Padres look like a very
- 10:33Speaker 4: dangerous team heading into the playoffs. The celebration was phenomenal.
- 10:37Speaker 4: My shoes are soaked with champagne and beer and tequila.
- 10:40Speaker 4: My microphone, I may never get the stench out. Fellas,
- 10:43Speaker 4: there's nothing, it never gets old watching a celebration, but
- 10:46Speaker 4: there's literally nothing worse than taking a shower at 4
- 10:48Speaker 4: o'clock in the morning after a long drive from L.A.
- 10:50Speaker 5: I mean, you drove in your champagne-soaked clothes and shoes.
- 10:56Speaker 5: Your car is cooked now, too.
- 10:57Speaker 4: It is, it is. My vehicle is, everything is cooked. Everything, backpacks, gear,
- 11:02Speaker 4: my cell phone, just a disaster. But it's worth it.
- 11:06Speaker 4: It was a lot of fun.
- 11:07Speaker 5: You said over-the-top celebration. Did you mean over the top
- 11:10Speaker 5: in the fact that it was well needed or was
- 11:13Speaker 5: it over the top in the sense that you were like, wow,
- 11:15Speaker 5: I didn't think these guys were going to go like this,
- 11:17Speaker 5: but you kind of alluded to the fact that you
- 11:20Speaker 5: were like, oh yeah, like this, we didn't know where
- 11:23Speaker 5: this season was going to go.
- 11:24Speaker 4: It's a little bit of that. It's a little bit
- 11:27Speaker 4: of that because, you know, Eric, the conversation leading up
- 11:30Speaker 4: to the deadline with these guys was we know what's
- 11:32Speaker 4: at stake. We know we need to go ahead and
- 11:34Speaker 4: convince the ownership group. We need to convince A.J. Preller
- 11:37Speaker 4: that we can turn it around. And I don't know
- 11:39Speaker 4: that people did because the offense was so inconsistent. This
- 11:43Speaker 4: is a team that was waiting or hoping that Joe
- 11:45Speaker 4: Musgrove would come back, and he's not going to come
- 11:47Speaker 4: back this regular season. This is a team that was
- 11:50Speaker 4: hoping maybe Nick Pavetta was going to come back, but
- 11:52Speaker 4: I don't know. I don't know how realistic that was,
- 11:54Speaker 4: but this is an offense that somehow figured it out
- 11:58Speaker 4: in the second half. Jackson Merrill and Fernando Tatis have
- 12:01Speaker 4: been absolute difference makers really in the second half since
- 12:04Speaker 4: the All-Star break. What a nice spark, by the way,
- 12:06Speaker 4: by 20-year-old Ethan Salas, which I'm sure we'll get to.
- 12:09Speaker 4: But there was a lot of doubt with this team
- 12:12Speaker 4: about what this team was going to be, if they
- 12:14Speaker 4: could go ahead and turn it around. They said all
- 12:17Speaker 4: the right things, but how they played down the stretch,
- 12:20Speaker 4: especially in September, fellas, That to me was, was a difference.
- 12:23Speaker 4: That's why people are really buying into this Padres team
- 12:26Speaker 4: and how dangerous they can become post-season time.
- 12:30Speaker 7: You're, you're spot on because they're always a dangerous team.
- 12:33Speaker 7: They're always a team to.
- 12:34Speaker 6: All of us. Oh, you got to play the Padres.
- 12:35Speaker 7: And now it's looking like they might have to come
- 12:38Speaker 7: to them out West in the opening series. And nobody
- 12:40Speaker 7: wants to go out there, especially if you're from the
- 12:44Speaker 7: East coast, anywhere, unless, unless.
- 12:46Speaker 6: You're out in the West, it's a great atmosphere. Talk
- 12:48Speaker 6: to me about this rotation.
- 12:50Speaker 7: Um, How's it going to look like as they're moving
- 12:52Speaker 7: forward here, getting into this wildcard spot?
- 12:55Speaker 4: Well, Michael King made it pretty clear yesterday that he
- 12:58Speaker 4: does not want to pitch on Sunday. If the Padres
- 13:01Speaker 4: had a chance to go ahead and secure the top
- 13:03Speaker 4: wildcard seed, he does not want to pitch in that.
- 13:06Speaker 4: He does not want to pitch in that game. I mean,
- 13:07Speaker 4: they clinch a spot right now. Michael King is going
- 13:10Speaker 4: to be your game one starter. I would imagine barring
- 13:12Speaker 4: something crazy. And then Nick Pavetta looked great. He has
- 13:16Speaker 4: been a huge boost today. for the Padres since he
- 13:19Speaker 4: returned from his injury. So right now, perhaps you're going
- 13:23Speaker 4: to go, your three reliable starting pitchers, Michael King, Nick Pavetta,
- 13:29Speaker 4: Walker Buehler, who was a huge acquisition for the Padres.
- 13:35Speaker 4: And perhaps you go to one of your biggest strains
- 13:38Speaker 4: of the season, guys, and that would be your bullpen game,
- 13:41Speaker 4: pitching chaos, which really sustained the Padres for a majority
- 13:45Speaker 4: of the season when they were waiting to get somebody back,
- 13:48Speaker 4: get some guys back healthy. And of course they added
- 13:50Speaker 4: Casey Mize and Robbie Ray. But I think right now
- 13:53Speaker 4: come playoff time, you're going Michael King, Pavetta, a combination
- 13:57Speaker 4: of Walker Bueller and your, and your bullpen game and
- 13:59Speaker 4: go from there.
- 13:59Speaker 1: Okay.
- 14:01Speaker 5: I have to be careful how I word this question
- 14:04Speaker 5: because I get some visceral Padres hate. And I really
- 14:08Speaker 5: actually like the Padres as a team.
- 14:10Speaker 4: Okay.
- 14:12Speaker 5: But my question to you, if I give you four names,
- 14:16Speaker 5: who has had, the biggest turnaround that was the biggest
- 14:20Speaker 5: surprise of these hitters. Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis, Jackson Merrill,
- 14:29Speaker 5: or Ty France.
- 14:32Speaker 4: Biggest turnaround. Are you talking based on expectations? I mean,
- 14:35Speaker 4: Ty France was a guy who had to earn his
- 14:37Speaker 4: job out of spring training. He was a minor league
- 14:41Speaker 4: free agent signing. This is a guy, I mean, I
- 14:44Speaker 4: really thought that maybe Nick Castellanos was going to go
- 14:47Speaker 4: ahead and push him from some plankton. Nick Castellanos, who's
- 14:49Speaker 4: no longer with the Padres, he's had the best season
- 14:52Speaker 4: of his career. By the way, congratulations, Ty France, new
- 14:55Speaker 4: father of twins. I don't know where the Padres would
- 14:57Speaker 4: be without Ty France, who has taken over that job
- 15:00Speaker 4: at first base. even bigger with the injury to Gavin Sheets,
- 15:04Speaker 4: who could be activated this weekend. Ty France, I will
- 15:08Speaker 4: put at the bottom because I don't know that people
- 15:11Speaker 4: were expecting that. Even Craig Stammen said last week that
- 15:15Speaker 4: this is a guy, they underestimated him, and he was
- 15:19Speaker 4: a guy that had to prove himself to the Padres
- 15:21Speaker 4: coming out of spring training, and he did. And now
- 15:24Speaker 4: if you're the Padres, man, you've got a couple of
- 15:27Speaker 4: notable free agents there. I'm putting Ty France right at
- 15:30Speaker 4: the top of that list. He has been a huge bat,
- 15:34Speaker 4: batting cleanup for the Padres, and he's played a gold
- 15:37Speaker 4: glove caliber first base. You can look at Tatis, and
- 15:41Speaker 4: I know you guys had this conversation here on Foul Territory,
- 15:44Speaker 4: 55 games without a home run. And we were wondering,
- 15:49Speaker 4: where did the slug go? There was a lot of
- 15:51Speaker 4: second guessing. What happened to Fernando Tatis? Is he damaged goods?
- 15:56Speaker 4: He has been... an absolute superstar for the Padres. He's
- 16:00Speaker 4: helped carry this team into the postseason. So I'm going
- 16:04Speaker 4: to put Tatis at the top of that list as
- 16:07Speaker 4: to biggest turnaround. With Manny Machado, we always find out
- 16:12Speaker 4: after the season, he is dealing with a ton of injuries.
- 16:14Speaker 4: He got up to, this is going to, when all
- 16:16Speaker 4: is said and done, this is going to be maybe
- 16:17Speaker 4: the worst of his Hall of Fame career, but a
- 16:21Speaker 4: lot of those numbers that you want from Manny Machado
- 16:24Speaker 4: are there, and he continues to post. He plays every
- 16:27Speaker 4: day despite the different injuries that he is dealing with.
- 16:31Speaker 4: Did I answer your question, Krauts? I'm going to go
- 16:33Speaker 4: with Tatis at the top.
- 16:37Speaker 2: Yes.
- 16:38Speaker 5: Merrill. Merrill second?
- 16:42Speaker 4: Yeah, Merrill second.
- 16:43Speaker 5: Yeah. I thought you would have said Ty France, but
- 16:47Speaker 5: that's good.
- 16:47Speaker 6: He's been huge. I like that.
- 16:49Speaker 5: That's been the biggest surprise, I think, obviously.
- 16:51Speaker 4: Yeah, I think so, too.
- 16:51Speaker 5: You highlighted that.
- 16:53Speaker 4: I think so, too. I think two of the Padres'
- 16:54Speaker 4: biggest surprises from this offseason would be Walker Buehler in
- 16:58Speaker 4: the rotation, how much he's helped solidify the rotation, and
- 17:01Speaker 4: I'll go with Ty France. He's been just– he's their
- 17:04Speaker 4: cleanup hitter, for Pete's sake.
- 17:07Speaker 6: Yep. Love that. Love that. Couple status, more status updates.
- 17:11Speaker 7: Talk a little bit about Gavin Sheets and Miguel Andujar.
- 17:14Speaker 6: Where are they? What's going on? Talk to me a
- 17:17Speaker 6: little bit about them.
- 17:18Speaker 4: Okay, well, Gavin Sheets actually sauntered through the clubhouse yesterday.
- 17:23Speaker 4: And if you know Gavin Sheets, he does not saunter,
- 17:25Speaker 4: but he was excited to go ahead. and rejoin this
- 17:28Speaker 4: team and be part of the Padres' celebration. He actually
- 17:31Speaker 4: took batting practice at Dodger Stadium yesterday. He says he
- 17:33Speaker 4: feels terrific dealing with the plantar fasciitis, which of course
- 17:37Speaker 4: causes a lot of pain, but he says he can
- 17:38Speaker 4: play through it right now. When he is activated, and
- 17:41Speaker 4: I expect he would be activated this weekend, get him
- 17:44Speaker 4: some regular at-bats before the postseason starts, you'll be seeing
- 17:48Speaker 4: him at DH. I don't know that he's comfortable running.
- 17:52Speaker 4: I'm not sure the Padres are going to depend on
- 17:54Speaker 4: him to run too much. Did not see Miguel Andujar
- 17:57Speaker 4: at Dodger Stadium, so I don't know. He's been hitting
- 18:00Speaker 4: as well. He was playing in rehab games. I don't
- 18:03Speaker 4: know how soon we're going to see Andujar, but Gavin
- 18:06Speaker 4: Sheets should be back very soon for the Padres, if
- 18:09Speaker 4: not tonight. I'm looking forward to, I always look forward
- 18:13Speaker 4: to the first lineup after a clinching celebration.
- 18:19Speaker 5: You think not everybody's going to be able to make
- 18:21Speaker 5: it out there because your eyes are still burning with champagne.
- 18:24Speaker 5: I think something else is burning for, from the champagne
- 18:27Speaker 5: for those guys, huh?
- 18:28Speaker 1: Oh yeah.
- 18:28Speaker 6: Yeah.
- 18:29Speaker 4: I bet it was. They were, they were going pretty
- 18:31Speaker 4: hard yesterday. They were into the, into the wee hours,
- 18:33Speaker 4: but as you guys know, they are still playing for
- 18:35Speaker 4: that top wildcard seed at Petco park where they are
- 18:38Speaker 4: 20 games over 500. That's a nice care to have.
- 18:42Speaker 4: to not have to fly back to Chicago where they
- 18:44Speaker 4: got swept last season or wherever else they may go.
- 18:47Speaker 4: But perhaps we'll see what happens depending, because by the
- 18:49Speaker 4: time the Padres get to Petco park, and I think
- 18:53Speaker 4: it's still TBD for today's rotation. I think it was
- 18:55Speaker 4: scheduled to be Casey Myers when we spoke with him yesterday,
- 18:58Speaker 4: he was planning to start today, but perhaps if you're
- 19:00Speaker 4: Craig Stam and the Padres, you might have a better
- 19:02Speaker 4: idea of the wild card, the top seed picture based
- 19:06Speaker 4: on what happens with Cubs and Red Sox.
- 19:09Speaker 5: Marty, tell me about this viral moment of a, uh, A.J.
- 19:13Speaker 5: Preller interviewed during that champagne time. A lot of it
- 19:16Speaker 5: comes down to our player development staff, our scouting staff.
- 19:19Speaker 5: They go in.
- 19:20Speaker 4: Oh, yeah. You need him.
- 19:22Speaker 5: We need all of us together.
- 19:46Speaker 4: In case you couldn't tell, that was Adrian Morojo's agent.
- 19:50Speaker 4: Fernando Tatis Jr., making the case to AJ Preller that
- 19:53Speaker 4: he can't leave him. He's been with the Padres since
- 19:55Speaker 4: he was signed when he was 16 years old. As
- 19:58Speaker 4: you guys know, he is a set-up man. He's been
- 20:00Speaker 4: phenomenal for the Padres to Mason Miller, and he is
- 20:03Speaker 4: a pending free agent. Tatis is making the case. He
- 20:07Speaker 4: can't leave me. You need to sign this guy. So
- 20:10Speaker 4: if you watch more of this video, you see Morajon
- 20:12Speaker 4: making the money sign to Chris Kemp, the Padre scout
- 20:16Speaker 4: who helped sign him when he was 16 years old.
- 20:18Speaker 4: So listen, come this offseason, man, Adrian Prothero is going
- 20:21Speaker 4: to have some interesting free agents, starting with Adrian Morajon,
- 20:25Speaker 4: Michael King, and the guy we just spoke about, Ty France.
- 20:28Speaker 4: So there is future agent Fernando Tatis Jr. making the
- 20:31Speaker 4: case for Adrian Morajon to stay. And Padres fans would
- 20:35Speaker 4: like that too.
- 20:36Speaker 5: The ironic part of that is in 2019, one of
- 20:40Speaker 5: my buddies was on the Padres and they went in
- 20:43Speaker 5: and fought for Fernando Tatis to join the opening day
- 20:47Speaker 5: roster of that team. Now look where Fernando is fighting
- 20:52Speaker 5: for somebody else. And you hear him say, it's your,
- 20:55Speaker 5: it's our team. Manny wants him. Everybody wants, it's our team.
- 21:00Speaker 5: The part that I loved about that whole thing, How
- 21:03Speaker 5: many people were speaking English in that entire video? AJ
- 21:06Speaker 5: Preller knows how to connect and he was speaking his
- 21:10Speaker 5: Spanish to those guys. And I think that is really cool.
- 21:13Speaker 5: And I think that's part of why they have the
- 21:16Speaker 5: success that they have. And that Preller has been there
- 21:18Speaker 5: through all his 16 different managers.
- 21:21Speaker 4: That's a great point. And 16 different managers. He really
- 21:24Speaker 4: connects with his players. He really does connect with his players.
- 21:27Speaker 4: And I don't know how common that is among other teams.
- 21:29Speaker 4: He does it with the Spanish players, Latin players. He
- 21:31Speaker 4: does that with American players, English-speaking players, and he does
- 21:35Speaker 4: that with the Japanese players. AJ probably was sneaky, man.
- 21:38Speaker 4: He's picked up a ton of different languages. I'm not
- 21:40Speaker 4: sure how much time he's spending on Duolingo, but he connects.
- 21:43Speaker 4: He has a bond with these guys, and it's pretty apparent. Prats,
- 21:47Speaker 4: was your buddy Eric Hosmer, is that who you were
- 21:49Speaker 4: talking about that helped, who marched into Andy Green's office
- 21:53Speaker 4: and said, this 19-year-old kid, we need him on this team.
- 21:57Speaker 4: He's ready right now. Haas?
- 22:00Speaker 5: Yeah. I mean, it wasn't just Haas, but it was
- 22:03Speaker 5: all those guys hanging out with Tatis during spring training.
- 22:06Speaker 5: They saw something that they were like, we want this.
- 22:10Speaker 5: Haas didn't go there just for the money. He went
- 22:13Speaker 5: there to go and win. Manny was there. That was
- 22:16Speaker 5: a squad, and he ended up making the team during
- 22:18Speaker 5: a time when baseball was like, hold him down for
- 22:22Speaker 5: 22 days, and then you can have an extra year
- 22:25Speaker 5: for an end to Tatis. So I think it's something
- 22:27Speaker 5: that that move while people are going to bang on Hosmer,
- 22:32Speaker 5: you know, not having the best Padres career.
- 22:34Speaker 1: Right.
- 22:35Speaker 5: It sets a tone, like good dudes in the clubhouse
- 22:38Speaker 5: set a tone for the years ahead.
- 22:41Speaker 4: No, that's a great point. And Hosmer was a foundation piece.
- 22:45Speaker 4: When you think about when the narrative changed on the
- 22:48Speaker 4: San Diego Padres, which then was owned by the late,
- 22:50Speaker 4: great Peter Seidler. I remember how shocking the Eric Hosmer
- 22:54Speaker 4: signing was. I think $ 150 million, the guaranteed money there.
- 22:58Speaker 4: But it went from Hosmer to Manny Machado to what
- 23:02Speaker 4: we see right now in the most successful era in
- 23:05Speaker 4: the history of the San Diego Padres. Listen, fine, if
- 23:08Speaker 4: you're a Dodgers fan, you want to go ahead and
- 23:09Speaker 4: sneer at, you know, three straight appearances for the Padres
- 23:12Speaker 4: in the playoffs when they're chasing, you know, three consecutive
- 23:15Speaker 4: World Series. This is a big deal for a franchise
- 23:18Speaker 4: that used to trade their stars at the deadline. And
- 23:21Speaker 4: you're seeing it yesterday with Tatis making the case for Morajon.
- 23:24Speaker 4: But also another guy that he gave a message to
- 23:27Speaker 4: in the clubhouse, and that's going to be the 20-year-old
- 23:29Speaker 4: rookie catcher, Ethan Salas. Like the Padres, they know he belongs.
- 23:33Speaker 4: Like you talk about players, they know when a player
- 23:36Speaker 4: has it. And you're talking about Hosmer and Manny walking
- 23:40Speaker 4: into Andy Green's office and AJ Prowler's office and saying,
- 23:42Speaker 4: we need this guy. He's ready right now. That's kind
- 23:45Speaker 4: of how it is now with Ethan Salas. It was
- 23:47Speaker 4: kind of an interesting full circle moment. It used to
- 23:50Speaker 4: be Tatis, the El Nino. He was the kid. And
- 23:53Speaker 4: now he's saying to this rookie, Ethan Salas, we need you.
- 23:57Speaker 4: You're ready. Your time is right now. Start a back-to-back games.
- 24:02Speaker 6: All right.
- 24:03Speaker 5: Ethan Salas, let's go into the catching position. How does
- 24:06Speaker 5: this shape up for the playoffs between Camposano, Ethan Salas,
- 24:14Speaker 5: and Freddie Fermin, who started every one of the playoff
- 24:18Speaker 5: games last year? How does this shape up?
- 24:20Speaker 4: Okay, your best defensive catcher right now is Ethan Salas.
- 24:24Speaker 4: And for me, he's probably second. Camposano has a bat.
- 24:27Speaker 4: But here's the thing. If you're starting Michael King in
- 24:29Speaker 4: game one, his personal catcher to this point has been
- 24:33Speaker 4: Luis Camposano. And they've got a great thing, a great relationship,
- 24:37Speaker 4: working relationship. So I would imagine that you're going Luis
- 24:40Speaker 4: Camposano and Nick Pavetta's personal catcher has been Salas. And
- 24:46Speaker 4: then he caught Robbie Ray for the first time in
- 24:49Speaker 4: the second game of Dodger Stadium. So I imagine right now,
- 24:51Speaker 4: behind the plate, you're going a combination of Camposano and Salas.
- 24:57Speaker 4: But I think the Padres did not just bring up
- 24:59Speaker 4: even Salas guys to go ahead and get his feet
- 25:02Speaker 4: wet and see what it's like. They brought him in
- 25:04Speaker 4: to play. And he caught back-to-back games at Dodger Stadium,
- 25:09Speaker 4: including the playoff clinching game. So it's clear they have
- 25:14Speaker 4: the utmost confidence, and that he's checked every box they've
- 25:17Speaker 4: wanted defensively and offensively. So I would imagine that the
- 25:22Speaker 4: bulk of the playing time will go to Ethan Salas
- 25:25Speaker 4: in the playoffs.
- 25:26Speaker 5: And he keeps getting big hits.
- 25:27Speaker 4: 20 years old.
- 25:28Speaker 5: He keeps getting big hits and it's a.
- 25:31Speaker 4: Challenges.
- 25:33Speaker 5: Oh, the challenges too? I didn't know he was good
- 25:35Speaker 5: at challenges. My last question for you.
- 25:37Speaker 4: Yes.
- 25:38Speaker 5: You keep saying Michael King starting game one. You even said...
- 25:42Speaker 5: Michael King even said he doesn't want to pitch on Sunday.
- 25:45Speaker 6: Yeah.
- 25:46Speaker 5: But what if they need that game for the home
- 25:51Speaker 5: field advantage? You said all this. You said how good
- 25:54Speaker 5: they are at home. They want to play at home.
- 25:56Speaker 5: They don't want to go to Wrigley. But do you
- 26:00Speaker 5: think that door is still open or are they just
- 26:02Speaker 5: going to go, all right, bullpen guys, we've been riding
- 26:05Speaker 5: you all season. We're going to ride you in the
- 26:07Speaker 5: last game of the season and save Michael King for
- 26:09Speaker 5: a game one start in Wrigley possibly?
- 26:14Speaker 4: Nothing will shock me with this team, but I think
- 26:17Speaker 4: they've been consistent that they want their ace starting in
- 26:22Speaker 4: the postseason. I asked Craig Stamman again, are you sure
- 26:25Speaker 4: about this? If you have a chance, he said, you
- 26:29Speaker 4: can lose a series at home just as well. They
- 26:34Speaker 4: want their best pitcher. I don't know the second guessing
- 26:37Speaker 4: that's going to happen if the Padres did not start
- 26:40Speaker 4: their ace in game one, wherever it may be. I'm
- 26:44Speaker 4: going to say King, Pecco Park on Tuesday.
- 26:49Speaker 6: And who knows?
- 26:50Speaker 1: Maybe that helps the Diamondbacks snakes alive a little bit
- 26:54Speaker 1: over the weekend. Avoiding it.
- 26:56Speaker 4: Pretty hot too. They're making a case too.
- 26:58Speaker 5: Yeah, it is.
- 26:59Speaker 1: That could be fun. Fun little storyline within the storyline
- 27:02Speaker 1: that doesn't matter as much to the Padres, but it
- 27:04Speaker 1: sure matters in Philadelphia right now too, as they're suddenly
- 27:08Speaker 1: scoreboard watching a little bit, but Marty, good stuff. Yeah,
- 27:12Speaker 1: they are. Thanks for, Dropping all the great coverage last
- 27:16Speaker 1: night in the post-game celebration. It looked like beyond fun
- 27:20Speaker 1: to be a part of. So appreciate the time and
- 27:23Speaker 1: we'll be talking soon.
- 27:25Speaker 4: I look forward to it.
- 27:26Speaker 6: Thanks, fellas.
- 27:26Speaker 4: Like that t-shirt.
- 27:28Speaker 1: Thank you.
- 27:28Speaker 6: Yes.
- 27:29Speaker 1: Wore my Friar Territory today. Go get it. FriarTerritoryShop.com. Also,
- 27:34Speaker 1: Friar Territory is the show to check out with all
- 27:37Speaker 1: the energy from Marty and from Darren. QR code right
- 27:40Speaker 1: side of your screen. Podcast Platforms. YouTube, the whole deal.
- 27:44Speaker 1: I know many Dodger fans watch this show too. So
- 27:46Speaker 1: if you want to hate watch, you're invited. You can
- 27:48Speaker 1: send questions. They'll answer them. Do your thing.