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J Hay Day Preview + Mailbag Trade Targets · Bucco Territory: A Pittsburgh Pirates Podcast

• 0:10
  Speaker 1: What's up, everybody.
• 0:11
  Speaker 2: Welcome back to another episode of Bucco Territory, presented to
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: you bye the Foul Territory Network. I'm Noahile's joining me
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: as always are my co host Platinum Key, Ak Mark
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: and Josh Harrison, who will be the subject of discussion
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: as we start this show.
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: So to peel back the curtain a little bit.
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: On Sunday after we recorded, Josh tells us Hey, I'm
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: gonna be in Pittsburgh August seventh and eighth. They're doing
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: something for me. It was very vague and I didn't
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: I mean, maybe he thought he explained it. I didn't
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: have that great of an idea. Mark probably knew a
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: little bit more than me. And I'm sitting on my
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: couch on Monday and I see a tweet and it
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: says Josh Harrison. I get an email press release from
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: the Pirate saying Josh Harrison to be honored by the Pirates.
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: They're having him retire as a Pittsburgh Pirate. He's throwing
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: out a first pitch. There's Josh Harrison.
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: T shirt all all on the weekend of August seventh
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: and eighth.
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: I believe the first pitch is the seventh, right, Josh,
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: And then the eighth is the T shirt.
• 1:20
  Speaker 3: The first pitch is the eighth. Yeah, press conference, yep.
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: Press conference is the seventh.
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: First pitch is the eighth, and the T shirt is
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: the eighth. There's the shirt there that.
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: Mark just showed. Super super cool, Josh. I'll just give
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: you a moment.
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: I know you had some quotes in the story that
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: ran on the Pirates website.
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: Really really cool to see this for you.
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: But I mean take take us through it, man, Like
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: what was this process like and what does it mean
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: to you? Oh?
• 1:43
  Speaker 4: Man, it was cool.
• 1:45
  Speaker 5: I just remember when I was there, you know in
• 1:48
  Speaker 5: June where you know we did the little podcast together,
• 1:53
  Speaker 5: you know, around the stadium. You know, I'm in and
• 1:55
  Speaker 5: out and at one point I was underneath the tunnel
• 1:57
  Speaker 5: and rant and the Bob nutting and we had a
• 1:58
  Speaker 5: good conversation and you know, James tra Dinnis Jimmy T
• 2:02
  Speaker 5: was right there and in that moment, you know, we
• 2:05
  Speaker 5: had a good conversation and he.
• 2:06
  Speaker 4: Was like, man, you know, we want to bring you
• 2:08
  Speaker 4: back to honor you.
• 2:09
  Speaker 5: And uh, you know you're here right now, obviously in
• 2:11
  Speaker 5: a different space, you know, doing something different, but He's like, man,
• 2:14
  Speaker 5: we want to bring you back to where the family
• 2:15
  Speaker 5: can come back and just honor you and you know,
• 2:18
  Speaker 5: retire you as a pirate.
• 2:19
  Speaker 4: And I was like, oh wow, man.
• 2:21
  Speaker 5: You know, I as I said in the you know,
• 2:23
  Speaker 5: the article, it wasn't anything that I was like, oh,
• 2:25
  Speaker 5: I want to retire a pirate, because you know, I
• 2:27
  Speaker 5: wanted if something like that was to happen, I would
• 2:29
  Speaker 5: want it to be you know, natural and organic. And
• 2:32
  Speaker 5: it wasn't like a plan meeting underneath the tunnel with Bob.
• 2:35
  Speaker 5: It was just I happened to be under the tunnel
• 2:37
  Speaker 5: right before the game, and the conversation just happened, and uh,
• 2:40
  Speaker 5: Mark was actually right there, but Mark wasn't like eavesdrop
• 2:44
  Speaker 5: and he couldn't hear. And I think I kind of
• 2:47
  Speaker 5: explained it a little bit, just kind of their idea
• 2:49
  Speaker 5: because they were like, we're gonna we're gonna get some
• 2:51
  Speaker 5: dates together and figure out, you know, which weekend might
• 2:54
  Speaker 5: be the best.
• 2:55
  Speaker 4: And uh that's when I kind.
• 2:56
  Speaker 5: Of told Mark like, yeah, man, they want to bring
• 2:58
  Speaker 5: me back and you know, like honor me as a pirate,
• 3:00
  Speaker 5: you know, the family and explaining that I thought I
• 3:03
  Speaker 5: explained as well enough to where Sunday wouldn't have been
• 3:05
  Speaker 5: a surprise. But you know, just like all women say,
• 3:08
  Speaker 5: when it comes to relationships, even friendships, communication helps. But
• 3:14
  Speaker 5: you know, definitely an honor man. As I said, you know,
• 3:17
  Speaker 5: Pittsburgh was a second home for me and my family.
• 3:19
  Speaker 5: They embraced me, embrace my family, and you show love
• 3:23
  Speaker 5: to my family. You got a special place in my heart.
• 3:26
  Speaker 3: It's so awesome to see the fan reception Josh has
• 3:29
  Speaker 3: been awesome. So many quotes like can we get this
• 3:33
  Speaker 3: guy back on this team already? Like we need like
• 3:35
  Speaker 3: five Josh Harrison's on this team right now. So many
• 3:38
  Speaker 3: people just saying like this is my favorite player ever. Yeah,
• 3:42
  Speaker 3: so it was just very special. And talk about feeling
• 3:46
  Speaker 3: like you don't belong in a conversation, Josh, when you
• 3:49
  Speaker 3: and Bob Nutting ran into each other in the back
• 3:53
  Speaker 3: hallway and I'm following you around with a camera, I'm
• 3:55
  Speaker 3: just like, I'm gonna drift away slowly because this is
• 3:58
  Speaker 3: not a conversation I belong in. But that was pretty
• 4:01
  Speaker 3: awesome to see. And yeah, I'm really looking forward to
• 4:05
  Speaker 3: August seventh and eighth here.
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and if I could just say a few things,
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: I mean one, I grew up in the Josh Harrison era.
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: That was my teen years, that was in high school.
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: I wore number five when I played high school. Base
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: wasn't because I wore five my whole life. But I've
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: you know, like I related to the like a scrappy,
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: way way worse baseball player.
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: But I was five foot eight.
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: I played wherever they and yeah, I tried to steal
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: bases and hustle, and that was That was a guy
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: that this town resonated with.
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: Was someone who wasn't in the.
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: Top one hundred prospect magazines. He was an underdog and
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: he did whatever he could to help the team win.
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: And when he saw glimpses of him in eleven and
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: twelve and thirteen, you just felt like, why didn't they
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: play this guy more like he comes in and he
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: helps out? And then twenty fourteen you got your shot
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: and you became a part of that era of Pirates
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: baseball who for many people like my age who grew
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: up watching this team.
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: Lose year after year after year.
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: And obviously, I think I don't think I'm miss speaking
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: when I think what I say, that era of Pirates
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: baseball probably didn't go as well as the players hoped
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: it would. You guys probably hope you achieved more, but
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: it still meant so much to baseball fans in this area,
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: to people who just loved the pirates, who love baseball,
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: that we finally had a team that we could support
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: and cheer for, and Josh, you were a massive part
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: of that. And as the guys who were part of
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: that first wave, the Neil Walkers, the Pedro, alvarezz the
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: Andrew mccutcheins, as they went away, you were still here.
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: You were one of the last men standing, really, you
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: and Jordie.
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: And it was very cool.
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: For me selfishly to watch a guy who I grew
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: up rooting for in high school was at his first
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: walk off home run and then my first day in
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: a big league clubhouse, he's standing there five feet away
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: from me. And I think you were the third professional
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: baseball player.
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: I ever interviewed.
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: And I told you this, like when we started the show,
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: you were like the first guy that like kind of
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: made me feel comfortable there, and I knew I could
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: depend on you for that, because when you're a young
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: kid and you're finding your way around the clubhouse, you
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: ask the older reporters, Hey, who are the jerks and
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: who are the cool guys? And they said, hey, number
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: five will he will not bullshit you. He might not
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: always say what he wants to say, but he will.
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: He will be there at his locker to give you
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: a quote. He will do you right. And the legacy
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: that you left on and off the field here, I
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: think deserves to be remembered, deserves to be honored. And
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: it is so cool as someone who got to cheer
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: for you when he was younger, got to cover you
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: at your tail end in Pittsburgh, and now gets to
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: work with you. I am super, super super happy for
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: you and proud of you and just couldn't be more
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: thrilled that this is happening for you. Josh, congratulations.
• 6:54
  Speaker 4: Man appreciated man, As I said, it's exciting.
• 6:59
  Speaker 5: And you know, my kids were a little younger, so
• 7:01
  Speaker 5: now to be a little cooler now at the twelfth
• 7:03
  Speaker 5: and eighth, they'll they'll get to see they'll they'll really
• 7:06
  Speaker 5: get to experience the love that the city has for
• 7:08
  Speaker 5: not only me, but just like our family because you know,
• 7:11
  Speaker 5: obviously they see pictures of them as babies and.
• 7:13
  Speaker 4: Stuff, and like, oh yeah, I kind of remember the stadium.
• 7:16
  Speaker 5: But like, you know, it's just funny because even when
• 7:19
  Speaker 5: I was, everybody's like, man, I see pictures of the
• 7:21
  Speaker 5: girls because you know, my wife Brittany post them all
• 7:23
  Speaker 5: the time. They're like, man, they're getting so big, and uh,
• 7:26
  Speaker 5: it'll be funny because when we get there, as you
• 7:28
  Speaker 5: talk about, undersize, no, my oldest will make us feel
• 7:31
  Speaker 5: kind of short.
• 7:32
  Speaker 4: She's almost as tall as us.
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: That's awesome. That's awesome, man, Yeah, and it's that's that's
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: just cool. That's cool that. I mean, you deserve to
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: be a pirate, like you know, I know you were.
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: You have a whole bunch of jerseys behind you. But
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: Josh Harrison is a Pittsburgh pirate. That's that's how it is.
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: That's I mean, he went into the Hall of pretty
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: good as a friend's right as he as he you know,
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: officially wraps it up that that that that's the book
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: end of your chapter, of the chapter of your life.
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: So congratulations again, Josh. We'll wrap it up there. We'll
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: obviously talk more about it whenever it happens at PNC
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: Park soon, so August seventh and eighth, make sure you're there.
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: It's going to be a special day at the Ballyard.
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: We're gonna take a quick break.
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: When we come back, we get into our trade mail bag,
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: which we do every Wednesday. We've got two candidates for
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: the second segment and one more for the third here
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: on Buffet's territory.
• 8:27
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• 8:29
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• 9:30
  Speaker 2: All right, So this is our trade deadline show that
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: we do every you know, every Wednesday, we get some requests.
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: Something happened Tuesday night that might have changed the way
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: the Pirates approach the trade deadline. Obviously, bullpen help is
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: still the top priority. We're going to talk about bullpen
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: help in the final segment. But as Merlin Valdez as
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: of right now is the time of a recording, we
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: do not know how injured he is. He got hit
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: in the wrist with a pitch, left the game, and
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: if he is out for I mean literally anytime, even
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: if you put him on like anything longer than a week,
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: you really need to consider adding a right handed bat
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: to this roster. It was something we talked about on
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: the last show. Anyway, I believe it was just you know,
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: where where do you put a guy?
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: Right? Well, now you kind of have that.
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: Answer, and even if Valdez is only going to miss
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: a couple of weeks you come back.
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: There's still a spot for him. It's Azuna spot.
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: So I guess right now the clear spot is outfield.
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: So we have two targets that we looked at, Mark,
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: you can go ahead and start it off with the
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: one that you picked.
• 10:45
  Speaker 4: Yeah, So yeah.
• 10:46
  Speaker 3: The first suggestion that we got from our listeners was
• 10:49
  Speaker 3: Joe Adele, and he's had quite the interesting MLB career.
• 10:53
  Speaker 3: He got off to a pretty slow start after being
• 10:56
  Speaker 3: a highly ranked prospect, and then really started to figure
• 10:59
  Speaker 3: things out out finally in twenty twenty five. Last year,
• 11:02
  Speaker 3: he hit thirty seven home runs, had an ops of
• 11:06
  Speaker 3: seven seventy eight, and looked like he was really starting
• 11:09
  Speaker 3: to figure things out. However, in twenty twenty six, it's
• 11:14
  Speaker 3: kind of been a slight regression back. So not exactly
• 11:19
  Speaker 3: the prettiest statcast page that we have pulled up here,
• 11:22
  Speaker 3: but if you look into his splits, that's where he
• 11:26
  Speaker 3: becomes intriguing for the pirates. Here he has a nine
• 11:29
  Speaker 3: to fifty one OPS against left handed pitching this year.
• 11:33
  Speaker 3: We were just talking last episode. We need that right
• 11:36
  Speaker 3: handed back basically just for left handed pitching. So adding, yeah,
• 11:41
  Speaker 3: Joe Delin might not look great when he's playing every
• 11:43
  Speaker 3: day against right yes, right now, but if you use
• 11:45
  Speaker 3: him the right way, he could be pretty effective for
• 11:47
  Speaker 3: this team. He's currently making five point two million this year.
• 11:51
  Speaker 3: He's about to enter his last year of arbitration next year,
• 11:56
  Speaker 3: so it would be a U. You get one more
• 11:58
  Speaker 3: year out of him, add some out field depth. It
• 12:01
  Speaker 3: is kind of expensive for the Pirates' standards, I'd say,
• 12:05
  Speaker 3: you don't think.
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: So, no, I okay, yeah as much? Yeah, yeah, And
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: obviously the Blue Jay's eights some of his deal.
• 12:13
  Speaker 3: But right right, yeah, and I guess you're only paying
• 12:15
  Speaker 3: for the second half, right, so so yeah, I mean
• 12:19
  Speaker 3: there's a lot to like about Joe Adell. I wouldn't
• 12:21
  Speaker 3: necessarily be going like paying crazy price. I think he's
• 12:26
  Speaker 3: he would be relatively affordable, and the Angels aren't in
• 12:30
  Speaker 3: a place where they want to hang on to him,
• 12:33
  Speaker 3: so it's an option. Uh, But I wouldn't be like
• 12:38
  Speaker 3: running to make this trade this afternoon before we get
• 12:42
  Speaker 3: an injury Updates on Valdez. But it's certainly an option
• 12:48
  Speaker 3: or you thought, or yeah, go.
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: Ahead, no, go ahead.
• 12:51
  Speaker 5: Josh, I was gonna say, just kind of hitting on
• 12:55
  Speaker 5: as you said, you don't want to rush to want
• 12:58
  Speaker 5: to make a move. Let's wait to see what you know,
• 13:00
  Speaker 5: what's going on without theirs, but you obviously want to have,
• 13:03
  Speaker 5: you know, some ideas in mind. And Joe, as you said,
• 13:08
  Speaker 5: just showing his information. Left handed pitching is something that
• 13:11
  Speaker 5: they need help with. And we know s Merlin was
• 13:14
  Speaker 5: it is mashing, you know, lefties, so and.
• 13:18
  Speaker 4: About one of the only people that is.
• 13:19
  Speaker 5: So if you are going to get somebody, you need
• 13:22
  Speaker 5: somebody that has shown that they're going to hit left
• 13:24
  Speaker 5: handed pitching. But at the same time, you still want
• 13:29
  Speaker 5: to be weary about just jumping in and grab something
• 13:33
  Speaker 5: because at the end of the day, he's.
• 13:35
  Speaker 4: Got one year left arbitration.
• 13:37
  Speaker 5: Who knows, I mean, angels aren't really in it. But
• 13:39
  Speaker 5: I mean at the same time, market for the outfield,
• 13:42
  Speaker 5: who really know, I mean, we really don't know what.
• 13:45
  Speaker 4: It is right now.
• 13:45
  Speaker 5: Obviously we had Washington and Boston trade with early in
• 13:49
  Speaker 5: counter need, but that was a need, you know, need
• 13:51
  Speaker 5: based trade. But I mean most trades are, but it's
• 13:55
  Speaker 5: just a matter of how high they're going to go
• 13:57
  Speaker 5: or or you know, they're really gonna hold on to
• 13:59
  Speaker 5: them doing that. The outfield, you know, situation is kind
• 14:02
  Speaker 5: of you know, I don't want to say bizarre, but
• 14:04
  Speaker 5: can be kind of slim. So I wouldn't want to
• 14:07
  Speaker 5: rush to give up too much for somebody that you
• 14:10
  Speaker 5: might only view as you know what.
• 14:12
  Speaker 4: I mean, somebody that's not really in your future plans.
• 14:14
  Speaker 5: But he would address the initial need if s Marlin
• 14:19
  Speaker 5: was to miss you know, some substantial time, so keep
• 14:22
  Speaker 5: them in your back pocket. But I wouldn't rush. There
• 14:26
  Speaker 5: may be some better options that may make sense. I'm
• 14:29
  Speaker 5: not really sure. I haven't really looked into it. But
• 14:32
  Speaker 5: at the same time, he's a twenty seven year old
• 14:34
  Speaker 5: that you know, you mentioned his first couple years of
• 14:36
  Speaker 5: struggle with twenty seven.
• 14:37
  Speaker 4: You know, when I was playing, was considered your prime.
• 14:39
  Speaker 4: Maybe he's just starting to figure some things out, so
• 14:41
  Speaker 4: you never know.
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: See, that's where I will disagree. I just I don't
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: think Joe Adell's that good. I think he is a
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: good platoon player if you look, I mean, you know,
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: if he was evaluated in nineteen seventy, he would have
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: been very, very very well valued.
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: But his defensive metrics.
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: And it's funny because a lot of people when they
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: hear Joe Adell, they think of that game he had
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: this year where he wrapped Yeah. Yeah, he's a really
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: bad defender, Like if you look, oh.
• 15:10
  Speaker 4: No, he's Yeah. He's had his struggles in the outfield
• 15:13
  Speaker 4: for sure.
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, And I would argue, I mean he's regressed,
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: like he had thirty seven home runs last last year
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: he had an ops of like seven seventy or something
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: like that.
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: He's not going to do that much. I mean, Joe Joe. Yeah.
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: Well that's my thing is Joe Adell might be better
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: on this team. He has more like and you can
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: platoon him. I think Jo Adell is a really good
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: platoon player. And it's just the kind of question, is
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: that year, that additional year ConTroll?
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: Do you need him next year? Like because this.
• 15:48
  Speaker 4: Whole that's where I was, That's where I was going
• 15:51
  Speaker 4: with it.
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: Yeah, no, I agree, that's if he played another position,
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: like if you could play first base or third base
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: and outfield, maybe that extra year control because they're just
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: like they already have platoon guys for the outfield as is,
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: and they're all going to be back next year, every
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: single one of them. So so I'll flip over to
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: mine now, and it's Taylor Ward. And that's why I
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: think Taylor Ward's a little bit more attractive of an
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: option one.
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: He's just I mean, he's really good against.
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: Lefties as well. He is an eight sixty four ohps
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: against left handed pitching.
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: He's a true rental. He's a present or I just.
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: Said Fresno State because I see that on the page there.
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: He's a free agent at the end of this year,
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: and he's a guy the Pirates have looked into before,
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: like he was one of their trade targets in twenty
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: twenty four. I don't know if they gave him a
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: serious look this offseason. He got traded pretty early, uh
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: in the offseason. It was one of like the first
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: big moves made. But I mean, that's a better looking
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: savant page. And Taylor Ward also has a little bit
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: more positional flexibility.
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: He has played third base in the past.
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: And I mean, I don't know how great of a
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: third baseman. Yeah, But at the same time, they've got
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: a second right now, all right, So it's like if
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: you're looking at if the Valdez thing isn't like season ending,
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: I think Ward makes a lot more sense because he
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: theoretically does come with the second place you can play.
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: You can play both corner outfield positions. I'm where Adell
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: is just right field and you're not stuck with him.
• 17:22
  Speaker 2: And I mean his salary this year is like twelve million,
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: but I mean it's not going to be that much
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: because it's at the end of the year.
• 17:30
  Speaker 4: I don't know.
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: I like Ward a lot more. What about you guys?
• 17:33
  Speaker 3: Go ahead, Josh.
• 17:35
  Speaker 5: I'm just said he's more attractive to me on on
• 17:39
  Speaker 5: paper just giving his body a work, you know, just
• 17:44
  Speaker 5: from LA to Baltimore. He's a guy that you know
• 17:46
  Speaker 5: is gonna have good at bats. He's a patient hitter.
• 17:48
  Speaker 5: I think he would make this line up better. And obviously,
• 17:52
  Speaker 5: if you're you're missing Valdez, you want somebody that is
• 17:56
  Speaker 5: going to be established.
• 17:59
  Speaker 4: You know, not that s Merlin is established, but you.
• 18:02
  Speaker 5: Know he's on a run to where like you want
• 18:04
  Speaker 5: to replace with replace him with somebody if he's hurt
• 18:07
  Speaker 5: that you know has a body of work that you
• 18:10
  Speaker 5: can you know, kind of trust and get behind. And
• 18:13
  Speaker 5: it's one of the reasons why between the two that
• 18:15
  Speaker 5: we're talking about, you know, Joe has been kind of
• 18:18
  Speaker 5: you know here and not that Taylor Ward's numbers are like, oh,
• 18:21
  Speaker 5: he's the greatest player. But you know what you're getting
• 18:23
  Speaker 5: with him a guy as a patient hitter. He can
• 18:25
  Speaker 5: drive the ball out the park when he's a he's
• 18:27
  Speaker 5: a good ball player, and it's one of those things
• 18:32
  Speaker 5: where you know, he's a free agent athe in the season.
• 18:34
  Speaker 5: The twelve million is pretty much halfway through, So I
• 18:37
  Speaker 5: don't think it's anything, as you mentioned, too much of
• 18:41
  Speaker 5: an obstacle. I just think the obstacle that you run
• 18:43
  Speaker 5: into is what I mentioned with Joe Odell is the
• 18:45
  Speaker 5: outfield market is going to be the biggest issue. But
• 18:50
  Speaker 5: I don't think that's too big of a hurdle to overcome.
• 18:53
  Speaker 5: If you know, if s Marlin, they'll they'll be able
• 18:56
  Speaker 5: to find a way to get it done. Because if
• 18:59
  Speaker 5: you need to win and you want to win, I mean,
• 19:00
  Speaker 5: it's not like they're going to get rid of you know,
• 19:02
  Speaker 5: Hernandez or Florentino, but you know, but they just may have.
• 19:08
  Speaker 4: To No, no, where you're gonna No.
• 19:11
  Speaker 5: I was just saying, no, I was just saying, honestly,
• 19:20
  Speaker 5: you're just gonna have to wait to see how severely
• 19:24
  Speaker 5: injured s Marlin is, because if he is, I would
• 19:28
  Speaker 5: have no issue with them being aggressive with Taylor.
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 19:31
  Speaker 5: Now Joe, on the other hand, I would say, don't
• 19:34
  Speaker 5: be as aggressive just because, as I said, you want
• 19:36
  Speaker 5: you want to know what you're getting into.
• 19:38
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think you go ahead.
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: I was just gonna say, Joe, real quick, Joe Adell
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: to me kind of gives me Brian day La Cruz.
• 19:45
  Speaker 3: Vibes yep, or even kind of like.
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: Where Yeah, Azuna is just more like past this prime. Yeah,
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: it's just like you're you're mesmerized by literally one thing
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: you see on the back of that baseball card, and
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: it's just a home run to like, if you look
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: at the player as a whole, it's it's just not
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: it's a totally different story.
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: Whereas Taylor Ward, I agree.
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: With what Josh said and what I was just gonna
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: add real quick, and then I'll let Mark wrap it
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: up for this segment. Taylor Ward is going to be
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: one of the most attractive platoon bats available because he
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: is a clear rental and even if Baltimore.
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: Like makes a push or whatever, like they can play.
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: Without Taylor Ward, Like he's not a huge part of it,
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: so he's gonna get moved. And like every team wants
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: like a lefty platoon or a guy to hit left
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: handed pitching, like it's probably the second most sought after
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: thing behind pitching. Is just that like that right handed
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: bat off the bench that you could hope for some pop,
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: hope for some platoon at bats, and everyone's looking to
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: add that, and Taylor Ward is like the perfect guy
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: for that.
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: So Mark, what do you have to add before we
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: wrap up?
• 20:55
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I just think the flexibility. You gotta go after
• 20:58
  Speaker 3: Ward first again, and if Valdez is hurt, and then
• 21:02
  Speaker 3: if the asking price on Ward is too high, then
• 21:05
  Speaker 3: I would pivot and look at a Joe Adell. But
• 21:08
  Speaker 3: Ward is just going to bring so much more both
• 21:11
  Speaker 3: offensively defensively then uh you know, God, that's just going
• 21:15
  Speaker 3: to hit for power against lefties. So if but if
• 21:19
  Speaker 3: the price is a little too high, I wouldn't exactly
• 21:24
  Speaker 3: like spend crazy to get Ward. I'd rather see the bullpen.
• 21:27
  Speaker 3: But if you can acquire him this this team could
• 21:31
  Speaker 3: absolutely use his help.
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it all comes back to Valdez.
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: If if Valdez is out for a couple of weeks,
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: then you know, you probably don't even need to go
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: that aggressive, right names, But it couldn't hurt. So all right,
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: we're gonna take another quick break then when we come back,
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: talking some bullpen options that they could look at the
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: deadline here in Bucko Territory.
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: But it's always a hope with this guy. It's always
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: a hope. Oh we hope he stays healthy. Oh we
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: hope he's good.
• 22:07
  Speaker 6: Jason Miller to the San Diego Padres.
• 22:12
  Speaker 7: Trade.
• 22:12
  Speaker 6: Let's get to Shane Bieber, he is a Toronto Blue Jay.
• 22:15
  Speaker 6: Let's hit the inside scoop at TEPTI Senior insider Ken
• 22:18
  Speaker 6: rosenkaalf the Astros got Carlos Correa back to Houston, just like.
• 22:22
  Speaker 7: A Jay Brewler said, you ain't in the big leagues.
• 22:25
  Speaker 6: You know I got a big one.
• 22:31
  Speaker 8: Under a minute, under a minute, all right, be sure
• 22:38
  Speaker 8: to check out our Foul Territory trade line or trade
• 22:41
  Speaker 8: deadline coverage.
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: A lot of good stuff there, as always from the guys,
• 22:45
  Speaker 2: so bullpen options. We had one name submitted, Josh, break
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: it down, who is it and what's the situation with him?
• 22:54
  Speaker 5: A lot of guys, are a lot of people out
• 22:55
  Speaker 5: there spoke on Steven Okert or Okert I hope I
• 22:59
  Speaker 5: pronounced that right, Yeah, Okay, lefty bullpen arm, and we
• 23:05
  Speaker 5: obviously have said time and time again, maybe not a
• 23:09
  Speaker 5: left handed arm, but it's hard to argue with you know,
• 23:13
  Speaker 5: his numbers there, lefty, righty. If you're getting outs, yeah,
• 23:16
  Speaker 5: and you're you're, you're, you're, you're doing it. I don't
• 23:20
  Speaker 5: think anybody's gonna have an issue with it, whether it's
• 23:22
  Speaker 5: lefty or righty. You look look at his metrics. Everything's
• 23:27
  Speaker 5: red and you look at the velo where that is,
• 23:31
  Speaker 5: and that could be a lot of his success. It's
• 23:34
  Speaker 5: you know, what they would consider under hitting speed, not
• 23:37
  Speaker 5: as hard as most people are are are throwing and
• 23:42
  Speaker 5: might not be getting it. Doesn't even look like he's
• 23:44
  Speaker 5: getting very many ground balls. He's missing barrels. It looks
• 23:46
  Speaker 5: like and this is in Houston, and I mean, twenty
• 23:52
  Speaker 5: four wasn't the greatest year for him, but you see
• 23:54
  Speaker 5: twenty five maybe figured out a little something. Twenty six
• 23:57
  Speaker 5: looks like he's still kind of, you know, can continue
• 24:00
  Speaker 5: on that trend. And for a guy that doesn't throw
• 24:03
  Speaker 5: hard and it's not a groundball pitcher, especially in Houston.
• 24:06
  Speaker 5: I think he would be that much better, even in
• 24:08
  Speaker 5: Pittsburgh that is considered a pitcher friendly park. The only
• 24:14
  Speaker 5: issue is he's got one. I think he's a free
• 24:16
  Speaker 5: agent in twenty seven. It would just be curious how
• 24:21
  Speaker 5: would they be willing to let him go because I
• 24:23
  Speaker 5: know Dana Brown went on you know, air, saying that
• 24:27
  Speaker 5: you know they're going to be aggressive, They're going to
• 24:28
  Speaker 5: be buyers.
• 24:30
  Speaker 4: Is this guy a part of their plans?
• 24:31
  Speaker 5: You know, because they view the West as being open
• 24:33
  Speaker 5: and Sherrington is also doubled down to say that they're
• 24:36
  Speaker 5: going to be aggressive. But this is a guy that
• 24:40
  Speaker 5: I see. It doesn't matter. He's getting outs and it
• 24:44
  Speaker 5: hasn't just been this year. Last year is also another
• 24:47
  Speaker 5: thing that I looked at too, you know, not just
• 24:48
  Speaker 5: a one year thing. I think he's figured something out
• 24:52
  Speaker 5: and might not be the bad guy to look into,
• 24:53
  Speaker 5: especially in a bullpen that struggling lefty righty.
• 24:56
  Speaker 4: At this point, to me, does not matter.
• 24:58
  Speaker 5: If you're able to get out and you're proven that
• 25:00
  Speaker 5: you can do it, I say, looking to.
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: It, Yeah, it's that simple. I mean, yeah, I feel
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: like we're at a point now. Too, where it doesn't
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: matter if it's a leftdr righty. You just need relief
• 25:13
  Speaker 2: pitchers man like they just because I mean with six
• 25:16
  Speaker 2: sisk hurt and Soto hasn't. I mean, Soda has been
• 25:19
  Speaker 2: fine since the All Star break, but like overall, Man
• 25:21
  Speaker 2: Soto's I think good by comparison, I wouldn't say he's
• 25:25
  Speaker 2: had like an amazing season this year. So you just
• 25:28
  Speaker 2: need relief pitching man at this point, like you just
• 25:31
  Speaker 2: got you gotta get guys who can just get you out.
• 25:34
  Speaker 2: I don't care if they're lefty, righty, young old, I
• 25:36
  Speaker 2: don't care what they're throwing. Just get someone who can
• 25:39
  Speaker 2: finish the damn game.
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: And he can do that. He can do that, he
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: can get you to the ninth.
• 25:45
  Speaker 2: He can get you in the ninth, he can you
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: can pitch him earlier. Who cares. You just need people
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: who are better than what you have now. This is
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: one of them. You will probably be better than whatever
• 25:56
  Speaker 2: you're looking at to use next year as well for
• 25:58
  Speaker 2: the most part, So I I like it. As an addition,
• 26:01
  Speaker 2: I think it makes a lot of sense. Mark.
• 26:03
  Speaker 3: Yeah, Oker's really been looking good since Josh nailed it,
• 26:08
  Speaker 3: since he went to Houston twenty twenty five, really turned
• 26:12
  Speaker 3: his career around throwing mostly slider now like over seventy
• 26:17
  Speaker 3: percent of the time. To think like a like Darry
• 26:19
  Speaker 3: Moritta type of usage almost with like that slider where
• 26:22
  Speaker 3: it just Pepper's that and then throws a little Forcene
• 26:25
  Speaker 3: to change it up on the speed. But he would
• 26:28
  Speaker 3: bring a different look to this bullpen. You know, we
• 26:30
  Speaker 3: saw like the fastball velocity isn't there. Maybe he changes
• 26:34
  Speaker 3: up speeds for guys, gets him off balance and before
• 26:37
  Speaker 3: we bring in Mason Montgomery or someone to really blow
• 26:40
  Speaker 3: the doors off. So yeah, he's having the best season
• 26:44
  Speaker 3: of his career at thirty five, and yeah, seems like
• 26:48
  Speaker 3: he would be a great addition of this bullpen. He's
• 26:50
  Speaker 3: only he's thrown fifty one innings already this year, so
• 26:54
  Speaker 3: a little high his career highs like seventy one last year.
• 26:59
  Speaker 3: So we're I mean, but how many times is it
• 27:02
  Speaker 3: going to be used in the second half here? So
• 27:05
  Speaker 3: I think that that's enough tread on the tires for
• 27:07
  Speaker 3: a thirty five year old relief pitcher. And yeah, this
• 27:10
  Speaker 3: would be a big improvement for this bullpen. So I
• 27:14
  Speaker 3: would I would love it.
• 27:17
  Speaker 2: You know, what we would all love is if you
• 27:18
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• 27:19
  Speaker 3: If you haven't, all I can scroll up right.
• 27:21
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• 27:24
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• 27:27
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• 27:47
  Speaker 2: So that's all I got, guys. Any final thoughts before we.
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: Wrap it up.
• 27:53
  Speaker 3: Just impressed with how mich Keller looked even though he
• 27:55
  Speaker 3: gave up the two runs. And then what a performance
• 27:58
  Speaker 3: from the Bullpen Monday night where oh zooming I know,
• 28:02
  Speaker 3: uh four point two or four and two thirds scoreless
• 28:05
  Speaker 3: scenes for the Pirates Bullpen really really great stuff on Monday.
• 28:10
  Speaker 3: Like to see that, Josh.
• 28:11
  Speaker 4: Any final thoughts, I'm gonna just piggyback you said, Mitch,
• 28:16
  Speaker 4: look well Bullpen did it.
• 28:18
  Speaker 5: But uh, one thing I was gonna say is to
• 28:20
  Speaker 5: and on the Wolf game, Yeah.
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: Game, I have a controversial stat actually because one hundred
• 28:29
  Speaker 2: statistically speaking, one hundred percent of the losers of the
• 28:33
  Speaker 2: Wolf Game win the World Series Dodgers, So congratulations to
• 28:37
  Speaker 2: the Arizona Diamondbacks on the twenty six World Series. But no,
• 28:43
  Speaker 2: that was a huge win, massive extra innings to grind
• 28:47
  Speaker 2: that out, come back down to nothing.
• 28:50
  Speaker 5: I think that was a big series on a foul territory.
• 28:53
  Speaker 5: Yesterday when I host, they said, what steers so big
• 28:57
  Speaker 5: win because they were one game.
• 28:58
  Speaker 3: Right yep.
• 28:59
  Speaker 2: Yeah, as of the time, we're recording there. So depending
• 29:03
  Speaker 2: on what happens Tuesday, so well, and we'll be here
• 29:07
  Speaker 2: to talk about it later in the week. Whatever does happen,
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: Tirts will head to Cincinnati after this one and it'll
• 29:12
  Speaker 2: be a big one that we'll cover. He's Platinum Key
• 29:15
  Speaker 2: aka Mark, He's Josh Harrison, I'm no Ohio, signing off
• 29:17
  Speaker 2: saying thanks for tuning in to another episode of Bucko Territory.
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: Here on about Territory Network