Latest / Foul Territory / White Sox up 2-0 heading to Chicago, Yankees Trop troubles & is Aaron Boone on the hot seat?
Transcript
- 0:05Speaker 1: All right, we welcome to the show the host of
- 0:09Speaker 1: Sox Machine, Josh Nelson. Josh, good to be with you.
- 0:12Speaker 1: Thank you for being here as part of Foul Territory
- 0:15Speaker 1: on a playoff series that everybody's excited about because the
- 0:19Speaker 1: White Sox just look like they're having a great time.
- 0:21Speaker 1: And we brought up the question is maybe they're fun
- 0:24Speaker 1: to watch, but are they good? Answer that question for us, sir.
- 0:28Speaker 2: Well, I think what we are watching this postseason is
- 0:31Speaker 2: that they are 4-0 on the road.
- 0:35Speaker 3: Good is so subjective.
- 0:37Speaker 2: What the White Sox have done an excellent job is
- 0:39Speaker 2: on the run prevention side, which is going to surprise
- 0:42Speaker 2: a lot of people who do follow this White Sox
- 0:44Speaker 2: team or casually been following them. It's four playoff games
- 0:48Speaker 2: on the road, and the White Sox have only allowed
- 0:50Speaker 2: nine runs total against the Houston Astros and the Cleveland Guardians.
- 0:54Speaker 2: This bullpen has been really rejuvenated since the end of
- 0:58Speaker 2: the regular season. And now that they have this extra
- 1:01Speaker 2: energy and they're getting these days off and they got
- 1:04Speaker 2: the adrenaline behind them, They're pitching excellent. You know, Grant
- 1:07Speaker 2: Taylor got tagged a couple of times, and yeah, that
- 1:10Speaker 2: was a bit of a scary ninth inning yesterday. But man,
- 1:13Speaker 2: I was texting Len Casper, who's the radio voice of
- 1:15Speaker 2: Chicago White Sox. Jordan Hicks is throwing 102 in the
- 1:19Speaker 2: strike zone.
- 1:20Speaker 3: That's a game changer.
- 1:22Speaker 2: And Sean Newcomb, yeah, he screwed up in the first inning,
- 1:25Speaker 2: but he shut down Cleveland in the second. And the
- 1:28Speaker 2: way that Sean Burke has pitched yesterday and Hagan Smith,
- 1:31Speaker 2: the rookie has been excellent for the white Sox. The
- 1:34Speaker 2: pitching staff has really stepped up their game and they
- 1:37Speaker 2: buy time for this offense in which this offense has
- 1:40Speaker 2: potential to burn you for big innings. So the formula
- 1:44Speaker 2: that has worked all season long for the white Sox,
- 1:46Speaker 2: we are seeing it in this post season. And it's
- 1:49Speaker 2: just remarkable that they are four and oh, and finally
- 1:52Speaker 2: they are playing a home playoff game in this post season. Josh.
- 1:57Speaker 4: Listen, Will Venable and the pitching staff deserve a ton
- 2:00Speaker 4: of credit with the openers and all that. But, you know,
- 2:03Speaker 4: they haven't exactly played the 27 Yankees here.
- 2:05Speaker 5: The Astros.
- 2:06Speaker 6: Sure.
- 2:07Speaker 5: And the Guardian. We all know the Guardians. They didn't
- 2:09Speaker 5: have a 20 home run guy. They didn't have a 70. Listen,
- 2:12Speaker 5: they still have to finish them off. I understand that.
- 2:14Speaker 4: And, yes, I'm not going to say they don't deserve
- 2:15Speaker 4: a ton of credit because I watch every game and
- 2:18Speaker 4: I watch what.
- 2:18Speaker 5: They do and they've done an unbelievable job.
- 2:21Speaker 4: My question is once they get past this, if they
- 2:24Speaker 4: get past– if I should say if because– White Sox fans.
- 2:27Speaker 5: Are like, oh, you're jinxing them, whatever.
- 2:29Speaker 7: I know.
- 2:30Speaker 4: If they get past the Guardians, which they should, okay,
- 2:33Speaker 4: and then they have to play the Rays or the Yankees.
- 2:35Speaker 5: It's a step up in competition.
- 2:38Speaker 4: I'm not saying they can't win that series at all
- 2:40Speaker 4: because they've had success against the Rays in the past.
- 2:43Speaker 4: They've been okay against the Yankees. Do they do the
- 2:45Speaker 4: same thing if they get past them? Do they do
- 2:47Speaker 4: the opener with Kay or are they going to have
- 2:50Speaker 4: to rely a little heavier on starters like Burke and Davis, Martin,
- 2:53Speaker 4: and Anthony King?
- 2:55Speaker 3: I think they're going to play the T-top game, AJ.
- 2:58Speaker 2: I think right now everybody keeps asking how many starting
- 3:00Speaker 2: pitchers the White Sox have. One is Sean Burke and
- 3:03Speaker 2: 11 relievers. Everybody else is coming out of the bullpen.
- 3:06Speaker 2: The White Sox are playing the matchup game, and they
- 3:09Speaker 2: really want to limit the amount of times your hitters
- 3:12Speaker 2: see our pitchers. So the only one that's really confident
- 3:15Speaker 2: right now to go through the lineup multiple times is
- 3:18Speaker 2: Sean Burke.
- 3:19Speaker 3: And you raised a good point, AJ.
- 3:20Speaker 2: What happens to this pitching strategy when you move away
- 3:23Speaker 2: from from a three game or five game series. And
- 3:26Speaker 2: you get to the American league championship series. And that's
- 3:28Speaker 2: a seven game series. Does this strategy work? And the
- 3:32Speaker 2: teams that rely too much on the bullpen, I have
- 3:35Speaker 2: found that they start running out of gas in the
- 3:37Speaker 2: championship series. And if the offense picks them up, you
- 3:39Speaker 2: start seeing them run out of gas in the world series.
- 3:42Speaker 2: So this is kind of where I'm focusing some of
- 3:45Speaker 2: my attention. If to your point, AJ, if the white
- 3:49Speaker 2: socks get the job done and they go to the
- 3:51Speaker 2: American league championship series, does this pitching plan still work
- 3:55Speaker 2: against a team like the Rays or Yankees, or are
- 3:58Speaker 2: they going to see your relievers too many times and
- 4:00Speaker 2: you run out of gas? I think that's a question
- 4:03Speaker 2: for next week, but right now against the guardians up to, Oh,
- 4:08Speaker 2: continue with the strategy because Cleveland right now, offensively, and
- 4:12Speaker 2: you can hear it from all the way in Ohio.
- 4:14Speaker 2: They don't know why they're not hitting it again in
- 4:16Speaker 2: the post season. This just seems like deja vu for
- 4:18Speaker 2: the guardians.
- 4:20Speaker 8: I mean, I completely forgot my, because I don't know
- 4:24Speaker 8: why they're not hitting in Ohio. Them dogs never hit.
- 4:27Speaker 8: They have nobody with over 75 RBIs. They have nobody
- 4:31Speaker 8: with over 20 home runs. I'm not saying the White
- 4:33Speaker 8: Sox aren't good. This team, like the Guardians-Tigers series last year,
- 4:39Speaker 8: we don't even want to see if those teams would
- 4:42Speaker 8: have matched up in the playoffs. Like, oh, wait, no offense.
- 4:46Speaker 8: I get that. My question to you is, Does Will Venable,
- 4:50Speaker 8: because everything he's doing right now, he takes a lineup
- 4:53Speaker 8: card and he takes Mike Vassell's magic wand and sorcerer's
- 4:56Speaker 8: hat and he just throws that lineup out there. There's
- 5:01Speaker 8: going to be a spot in this postseason, whether it's
- 5:04Speaker 8: game five of this series, game one of the next series,
- 5:08Speaker 8: is Will Venable going to be able to change this
- 5:11Speaker 8: lineup up to be able to make the adjustments that
- 5:13Speaker 8: the other teams are going to make? And I'm not
- 5:15Speaker 8: saying it's the Guardians, but can Will Venable do that
- 5:18Speaker 8: Or is he like rolling it out there? Let's go
- 5:22Speaker 8: double sevens every night.
- 5:26Speaker 2: I think there's a strategy in place when he brings
- 5:28Speaker 2: the lineup together, Eric. But I think a great question is,
- 5:32Speaker 2: can this team stop striking out? And the strikeouts are
- 5:36Speaker 2: piling up for the White Sox. And it can be
- 5:38Speaker 2: a little bit of a frustrating watch when you got
- 5:41Speaker 2: runners in scoring position. And here comes Colson Montgomery. More
- 5:45Speaker 2: times than not, Colson, especially the second half this year,
- 5:48Speaker 2: has struck out. Now, Colson's been having a really good postseason.
- 5:51Speaker 2: And I draw attention to the sixth inning where, yeah,
- 5:54Speaker 2: the first five innings are not fun. Gavin Williams is
- 5:57Speaker 2: absolutely mowing down the White Sox lineup. But in the
- 6:00Speaker 2: sixth inning, when the White Sox focus on zone hitting
- 6:03Speaker 2: and they get runners on second and third, that was
- 6:06Speaker 2: a phenomenal at bat by Brady Montgomery. Montgomery, who has
- 6:10Speaker 2: been really struggling this year as a rookie to hit
- 6:13Speaker 2: left-handed pitching because he's a switch hitter, was trying to
- 6:16Speaker 2: identify a pitch on the outside corner. He got that
- 6:18Speaker 2: backdoor slider, backdoor cutter, and hit a line drive to
- 6:22Speaker 2: right field. That's what he was looking for, guys, because
- 6:25Speaker 2: if he hits a single to right field, the White
- 6:26Speaker 2: Sox have the lead. He ends up hitting a double,
- 6:29Speaker 2: and then Hunter Gattis comes in. We know how dangerous
- 6:31Speaker 2: Gattis is for Cleveland against right-handed batters with his slider.
- 6:35Speaker 2: Absolutely lethal. What is Chase Midroth looking for? A slider
- 6:38Speaker 2: in the outside corner. And when you watch that replay,
- 6:41Speaker 2: Midroth is like in mid celebration when he makes contact
- 6:45Speaker 2: with the baseball because that was the pitch that he
- 6:47Speaker 2: was looking for in the zone that he was looking
- 6:50Speaker 2: for because he knew that he could poke a single
- 6:52Speaker 2: to right field and get that extra cushion that the
- 6:55Speaker 2: White Sox really needed to hold on to victory. When
- 6:58Speaker 2: this White Sox lineup focuses in these big situations, that's
- 7:02Speaker 2: why they are dangerous. because they have the ability to
- 7:05Speaker 2: put up a crooked number on you fast and opposing
- 7:08Speaker 2: teams just shake their head and be like, what just happened?
- 7:11Speaker 2: How did the White Sox just score three runs on
- 7:13Speaker 2: us when we were dominating them for the first five innings?
- 7:16Speaker 2: That's why this White Sox team, again, frustrating, but can
- 7:19Speaker 2: be fun because for fans, seeing those big crooked numbers
- 7:23Speaker 2: is a blast to watch.
- 7:26Speaker 8: Football season is finally back and Fabletics just teamed up
- 7:29Speaker 8: with NFL's number one wide receiver Jamar Chase on a
- 7:33Speaker 8: new collection. It's got tees, it's got hoodies, it's got
- 7:36Speaker 8: baggy cargoes, and performance gear that fits right into everything
- 7:40Speaker 8: this season brings. From workouts and travel to game day
- 7:43Speaker 8: and everyday life, it's definitely worth checking it out. It's fall,
- 7:47Speaker 8: we're watching playoff baseball, but I'm doing it in comfort.
- 7:51Speaker 8: You know why? Because I'm wearing this exact sweatshirt when
- 7:54Speaker 8: it's a little warm outside, but it's crisp and breezy.
- 7:58Speaker 8: Nobody take my sweatshirt. That includes everybody in my house.
- 8:03Speaker 8: Shop now at fabletics.com slash foul to get 70 to 80%
- 8:08Speaker 8: off everything when you sign up as a new VIP.
- 8:10Speaker 8: And yes, that includes the new Jamar Chase collection. Take
- 8:14Speaker 8: a quick style quiz and be sure to select foul
- 8:16Speaker 8: when prompted to unlock this offer. This is a limited
- 8:20Speaker 8: time offer, so don't wait. And again, fabletics.com slash foul
- 8:24Speaker 8: for 70 to 80% off everything as a new VIP.
- 8:28Speaker 4: Josh, when you mentioned you text Len Casper, were you
- 8:30Speaker 4: like White Sox Dave as texting players during games, allegedly
- 8:34Speaker 4: telling him that the Guardians are stealing.
- 8:36Speaker 5: Signs and do like what? What? I love White Sox Dave.
- 8:41Speaker 5: I love Dave. But like, what are we talking about
- 8:43Speaker 5: right here? And then the fact that he's like, yeah,
- 8:44Speaker 5: Sean Burke responded, right? Like, dude, what?
- 8:47Speaker 8: Like, what?
- 8:48Speaker 5: Like, those are the stories. I don't know that you're
- 8:50Speaker 5: supposed to tell people.
- 8:52Speaker 2: Texting White Sox Dave, eating ice cream cones in the clubhouse.
- 8:56Speaker 3: Yeah, this White Sox team is a college baseball team, really.
- 8:59Speaker 2: No, with Len, it's just after the game, I'll congratulate
- 9:02Speaker 2: him on a great call.
- 9:03Speaker 3: And we just text each other, this team, all season long.
- 9:06Speaker 2: Because it's just been such a fun ride, especially ever
- 9:08Speaker 2: since Edgar Caro hit his walk-off home run against the
- 9:11Speaker 2: Chicago Cubs. That was really a turning point for this
- 9:14Speaker 2: White Sox season. Since last time I joined AJ, we
- 9:16Speaker 2: were kind of freaking out. Are the White Sox going
- 9:18Speaker 2: to make the postseason? And since then, the White Sox,
- 9:21Speaker 2: I think, are 11 and three. They're playing some of
- 9:23Speaker 2: their best baseball of the season. And to do this
- 9:27Speaker 2: on the road. Did you see Josh?
- 9:30Speaker 3: Did I see what?
- 9:32Speaker 4: Now you know why I wanted to make the playoffs
- 9:34Speaker 4: so bad? Because you see the two teams they got
- 9:35Speaker 4: to play?
- 9:36Speaker 8: Yeah.
- 9:36Speaker 5: And what a path they had to the LCS.
- 9:38Speaker 4: Now you know why I was like, it'd be a
- 9:40Speaker 4: huge disappointment if they don't make the post season because
- 9:42Speaker 4: you see who they get to play and we're talking
- 9:44Speaker 4: about who they get to play.
- 9:47Speaker 8: Sure. Yeah.
- 9:48Speaker 2: And I get it like from a, you know, the
- 9:49Speaker 2: Cubs fans are kind of raising a stink.
- 9:51Speaker 3: It's like, well, the White Sox, they swap places.
- 9:53Speaker 6: With the Cubs.
- 9:54Speaker 5: Who cares, Josh? Who cares?
- 9:55Speaker 9: But you got to be the person in front of you.
- 9:58Speaker 5: Exactly.
- 9:58Speaker 3: Exactly. So it's been such a fun ride.
- 10:02Speaker 2: And you guys are mentioning the SeatGeek promo. If you
- 10:05Speaker 2: go to our friends at SeatGeek, the cheapest ticket right
- 10:08Speaker 2: now for Wednesday's game is $ 409. So definitely use the
- 10:13Speaker 2: foul territory code when you are checking out if you
- 10:15Speaker 2: need tickets, because you will need that discount code. And
- 10:20Speaker 2: everyone is so excited. People have been texting me all morning.
- 10:24Speaker 2: Where can I park? Where are the best bars to
- 10:26Speaker 2: go to? Are you having your watch party?
- 10:30Speaker 3: Yes, yes.
- 10:30Speaker 2: And here are the spots in the neighborhood that you
- 10:32Speaker 2: can park where it's not going to cost you $ 100.
- 10:35Speaker 2: This side of Chicago is so excited. That's why Cleveland,
- 10:39Speaker 2: you are in hot water. Because the one thing, AJ,
- 10:42Speaker 2: that we've seen this season, this team steps up their play.
- 10:46Speaker 2: They amplify their effort at home. And they just feed
- 10:51Speaker 2: off this energy from right field. And this is going
- 10:55Speaker 2: to be the most excited that White Sox fans have
- 10:58Speaker 2: been all season long. And I just feel like they're
- 11:00Speaker 2: going to really feed off that energy and have a
- 11:02Speaker 2: big game on Wednesday against the Guardians.
- 11:04Speaker 3: Cleveland, they're already frustrated. It's going to be a really
- 11:08Speaker 3: tough test for them on Wednesday.
- 11:10Speaker 1: Josh, it's remarkable, too, considering they're one win away from
- 11:14Speaker 1: the ALCS after so many recent game losses in recent memory,
- 11:21Speaker 1: the last three years or whatever it's been for the
- 11:23Speaker 1: White Sox. Because of those facts, how much more remarkable
- 11:27Speaker 1: is this run right now for this young team?
- 11:31Speaker 2: Well, I don't want to call out Chris Katz, but...
- 11:34Speaker 2: At Sox Machine, we cover this team daily.
- 11:37Speaker 3: Don't do that, Josh.
- 11:38Speaker 5: You'll get in trouble for sure.
- 11:40Speaker 8: I know.
- 11:40Speaker 5: Don't say anything. Chris Ketz is the best. I love
- 11:43Speaker 5: Chris Ketz. He never makes a mistake. He's the man.
- 11:47Speaker 3: Chris, ignore AJ for a second.
- 11:49Speaker 2: All I'm saying is I think Chris Ketz was hedging
- 11:52Speaker 2: his bets until 4th of July. And I think then
- 11:57Speaker 2: he was sold that, you know what? We actually have
- 11:59Speaker 2: a great chance of winning the American League Central. We
- 12:01Speaker 2: have a great chance of making the postseason. I just
- 12:03Speaker 2: think he was buying his time with the MLB draft
- 12:07Speaker 2: coming up. Like, yeah, we could be interesting at the
- 12:10Speaker 2: trade deadline, but let's see where we are. Again, we're
- 12:12Speaker 2: focusing on this year in the year of development, but
- 12:15Speaker 2: ever since August 3rd and the moves that the White
- 12:17Speaker 2: Sox have been making and trying to be more aggressive,
- 12:21Speaker 2: everyone's plans for what this season was to be for
- 12:24Speaker 2: the White Sox changed in the middle of the season,
- 12:26Speaker 2: even for us at Sox Machine. Covering the White Sox,
- 12:29Speaker 2: we thought that drafting Rock Chalowski would be the top story.
- 12:32Speaker 2: It's not even in the top 10 storylines of this season,
- 12:35Speaker 2: which is just remarkable and fantastic. And yeah, to your point,
- 12:40Speaker 2: three straight 100-loss seasons just adds to how wonderful this
- 12:44Speaker 2: season has been. We're talking about an 84-win team, like
- 12:48Speaker 2: their 110-win team. But to go from 41 wins to
- 12:54Speaker 2: 60 wins to 84, this has been leaps and bounds
- 12:56Speaker 2: of improvement. That even Jerry Reinsdorf after the Houston Astros
- 13:00Speaker 2: series win, he wasn't expecting this team to compete this year.
- 13:04Speaker 3: He was hoping next year. But next year is here now. Josh,
- 13:08Speaker 3: he spoke.
- 13:10Speaker 5: He spoke.
- 13:10Speaker 8: Man, it's weird.
- 13:11Speaker 5: He came out after they'd won.
- 13:12Speaker 8: He spoke.
- 13:13Speaker 5: He hadn't spoken three years. And then all of a sudden, ha,
- 13:15Speaker 5: we won a playoff. I love this team. Let's go.
- 13:17Speaker 3: That's a smart man.
- 13:21Speaker 8: Right?
- 13:21Speaker 5: He knows how to do it. He knows his time.
- 13:23Speaker 5: He knows what's right.
- 13:25Speaker 3: He knows how to play the Chicago Gideon game.
- 13:27Speaker 5: Exactly.
- 13:29Speaker 8: Josh, I got a question for you. Well, actually, I
- 13:31Speaker 8: have a comment first. It's Rock Chalewski. Okay, don't try
- 13:34Speaker 8: to question Rob Manfred. Secondly, Chris Goetz did a great
- 13:40Speaker 8: job of bringing in the switch hitting, Luis Angel Acuna.
- 13:49Speaker 8: And thirdly, this team, I said it before, looks like
- 13:54Speaker 8: the 2014 Royals. where they just never stopped winning. We
- 14:00Speaker 8: never stopped winning. We went all the way to Game
- 14:02Speaker 8: 7 of the World Series. Is this team's success even
- 14:08Speaker 8: more of a... I don't want to say, not vindication,
- 14:12Speaker 8: I'm not sure what the word is, but a showing
- 14:15Speaker 8: you that Pedro Gafal really did harm this organization more than,
- 14:20Speaker 8: and how one hiring can... Because how much different is
- 14:25Speaker 8: this core team. It's more of just what you said.
- 14:29Speaker 8: They're a college team. They're eating ice cream. It's an
- 14:32Speaker 8: environment that has caused this team to do well.
- 14:38Speaker 2: I think Chris gets has done a fantastic job and
- 14:41Speaker 2: did the job where Rick Conn and Kenny Williams failed.
- 14:44Speaker 2: If I'm going to put the onus of the team
- 14:46Speaker 2: losing a hundred more games in three straight years, that's
- 14:49Speaker 2: on Rick Conn and Kenny Williams. And for the dysfunction
- 14:52Speaker 2: that they had in the white socks front office on
- 14:54Speaker 2: every single level, it's taken some time for Chris gets,
- 14:58Speaker 2: but I also give Jerry Reinstorf credit for allowing gets
- 15:01Speaker 2: to do the job and bring in so many voices
- 15:04Speaker 2: outside of the organization to start a new, and that's
- 15:08Speaker 2: the type of personalities that you have in the clubhouse.
- 15:10Speaker 3: Is very different.
- 15:12Speaker 2: You know, AJ will tell you, Kenny was all about veterans.
- 15:15Speaker 2: So Tommy fam would have definitely been a Kenny Williams
- 15:18Speaker 2: guy to add into the clubhouse. The white socks still
- 15:21Speaker 2: make those types of moves. Randall grid check has been
- 15:23Speaker 2: a great addition for the white socks, but, This season.
- 15:26Speaker 3: Was all about let's see what the kids can do.
- 15:29Speaker 2: And that's what I'm taking away from this season for
- 15:32Speaker 2: any MLB team, all the fan bases, even like the Rockies.
- 15:36Speaker 3: You never know.
- 15:38Speaker 2: And we pretend that we know before the season, but
- 15:41Speaker 2: you never know what's going to be that moment and
- 15:43Speaker 2: that collection of guys in the clubhouse. As you mentioned, Eric,
- 15:47Speaker 2: with the 2014 Royals, nobody saw that. Nobody saw that
- 15:50Speaker 2: Royals team coming. And it all clicked for them. And
- 15:53Speaker 2: they had that terrific run and winning the World Series
- 15:56Speaker 2: in 2015. Hopefully, that is what we are seeing on
- 16:00Speaker 2: the south side of Chicago. But we never know until
- 16:03Speaker 2: it happens. And when it unfolds the way that it has,
- 16:06Speaker 2: it just brings a ton of energy and excitement to
- 16:09Speaker 2: an organization and fan base that the possibilities are now
- 16:12Speaker 2: wide open. Yeah.
- 16:14Speaker 1: The L the AL has been so wacky to watch
- 16:16Speaker 1: this season. Josh, the white socks have been so much fun.
- 16:19Speaker 1: I am visibly challenged. So who is behind you in
- 16:22Speaker 1: that socks picture? I can't see the numbers.
- 16:24Speaker 8: Is that.
- 16:24Speaker 5: Oh, I'm teasing.
- 16:29Speaker 8: Sorry.
- 16:29Speaker 2: That's Mark Burley behind me is a, Frank Thomas, somebody
- 16:33Speaker 2: else that's also in trouble with the White Sox organization.
- 16:35Speaker 3: And then the foul territory.
- 16:39Speaker 5: I'll say this.
- 16:40Speaker 4: He's a little bit deeper than I am. I'll say
- 16:43Speaker 4: that for the record. Let's just say that for the record.
- 16:46Speaker 4: He's a little deeper than I am, I think.
- 16:48Speaker 2: Chris, if you are watching this, please disregard what AJ
- 16:53Speaker 2: and Eric said.
- 16:54Speaker 3: What do you mean? Don't pull me to the.
- 16:56Speaker 5: Side next time. I said he was great. I didn't
- 16:58Speaker 5: say nothing. I said he's the best.
- 17:01Speaker 8: Josh, I was going to say everybody needs to watch
- 17:05Speaker 8: Sox Machine because you're doing your stuff in your theater,
- 17:09Speaker 8: and then you say something like that about me? That
- 17:11Speaker 8: sounds like Alana. You've been watching Alana way too much.
- 17:16Speaker 8: Say one bad thing about the Dodgers, and she's all
- 17:18Speaker 8: over you.
- 17:19Speaker 1: That is not true. I have nothing against Josh, nor
- 17:21Speaker 1: the White Sox, nor Chris Goetz, and I knew that
- 17:23Speaker 1: was Mark Burley. I was just trying to be funny
- 17:25Speaker 1: because I think AJ and Josh have some sort of
- 17:28Speaker 1: branches on the same family tree.
- 17:30Speaker 3: They look similar. But tell us about the watch parties.
- 17:32Speaker 3: How have those been going?
- 17:35Speaker 2: Amazing. So game one, there was like 25 people for
- 17:38Speaker 2: the Astros series and 50 people showed up at game two.
- 17:40Speaker 3: Then it was over like 150 for the first game.
- 17:42Speaker 3: And they had 600 RSVPs yesterday. And the theater could
- 17:45Speaker 3: fit 1,200 people. And they are expecting....
- 17:53Speaker 2: More than 500. So, again, if you're a White Sox
- 17:56Speaker 2: fan watching this and you don't have tickets and you
- 17:59Speaker 2: want to be in Bridgeport and feel the excitement, it's
- 18:01Speaker 2: a free event. Remova Theater is going to be playing
- 18:04Speaker 2: the game on the main stage on the big screen.
- 18:07Speaker 2: Come on down. They're going to have the beer garden open.
- 18:10Speaker 2: All the bars in Bridgeport, Turtles, Cork and Kerry, Redwood,
- 18:14Speaker 2: Electric Funeral, all these places are going to be open.
- 18:17Speaker 7: Snicks.
- 18:17Speaker 5: I forgot Snicks.
- 18:20Speaker 2: Oh, Shinix.
- 18:21Speaker 5: Yes.
- 18:22Speaker 3: So good point.
- 18:23Speaker 5: I call it Schnicks.
- 18:25Speaker 7: Schnicks.
- 18:27Speaker 5: All these places are going.
- 18:28Speaker 6: To be open.
- 18:29Speaker 2: It's going to be a huge party in Bridgeport. The
- 18:32Speaker 2: parking lot's open at 11 a.m. If you're going to tailgate,
- 18:34Speaker 2: gates will open at 1 p.m. Come on down to Bridgeport.
- 18:38Speaker 2: Even if you're a Cubs fan, feel the excitement that's
- 18:41Speaker 2: going on in the South Side.
- 18:42Speaker 1: Yeah, it seems like AJ has frequented.
- 18:46Speaker 5: All of those. Come on down. Come on down, Cup fans.
- 18:50Speaker 5: Come on down to the dark side.
- 18:52Speaker 8: South side, stand up.
- 18:55Speaker 4: Cup fans don't even know how to get to the
- 18:56Speaker 4: south side because they stop at the river. There's no
- 18:58Speaker 4: Louis Vuitton. There's no Chanel down past the river, so
- 19:03Speaker 4: we have to turn around.
- 19:05Speaker 3: Wow, fighting words.
- 19:06Speaker 1: Fighting words from the southsiders to the northsiders.
- 19:09Speaker 5: Josh, you know I'm right. You know I'm right, Josh.
- 19:12Speaker 8: It's okay.
- 19:15Speaker 2: Well, I was going to say, if they make it
- 19:16Speaker 2: to the American League Championship Series, are we going to
- 19:19Speaker 2: have a foul territory remote, AJ?
- 19:21Speaker 3: Are you going to be doing a show in Bridgeport?
- 19:24Speaker 4: I would love to do that. I also hopefully will
- 19:26Speaker 4: be doing one in Tampa Bay. That would be even better.
- 19:28Speaker 4: I could do both.
- 19:31Speaker 3: Well, how about this?
- 19:32Speaker 2: If that happens, Rays versus White Sox, I'll invite you.
- 19:35Speaker 2: You can join us at Sox Machine for the pregame show.
- 19:37Speaker 2: We have a big party at the Remova Theater.
- 19:39Speaker 4: Let's do it. Let's do it. But I'm expensive, Josh,
- 19:42Speaker 4: so you're going to have to. I was going to say,
- 19:43Speaker 4: you can't afford them, Josh. You're going to have to
- 19:46Speaker 4: get that free, Mike. That free might go to not free.
- 19:49Speaker 3: So if you're watching this SeatGeek, if you can pay
- 19:52Speaker 3: for AJ. Trying to get him a sponsor. Josh, thank you.
- 19:58Speaker 5: Check out more of his work.
- 19:59Speaker 1: You guys at Sox Machine, of course, on YouTube and
- 20:02Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcast. Always appreciate the insight from him.
- 20:06Speaker 3: We'll be right back.
- 20:09Speaker 6: This is the call of the Australian rubber bird.
- 20:12Speaker 8: Snap!
- 20:13Speaker 2: Snap!
- 20:14Speaker 3: This is the call of the Alaskan chili bird.
- 20:16Speaker 1: Kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki-kiki- It is time now to welcome in Brandon Cuddy,
- 20:46Speaker 1: who does a great job, of course. Brendan Cuddy, who
- 20:48Speaker 1: does a great job with The Athletic, covering the New
- 20:51Speaker 1: York Yankees. Tampa Bay Rays 5, New York Yankees 2. Brendan,
- 20:56Speaker 1: what's going on with the Yanks? How do they right
- 20:58Speaker 1: this ship if they still have time?
- 21:03Speaker 6: Cliché, but it's one game at a time, right?
- 21:05Speaker 9: It's going to be all hands on deck on Wednesday
- 21:07Speaker 9: when Max Fried takes the mound. The Rays really struggle
- 21:11Speaker 9: with left-handed pitching. Max Fried and Carlos Rodon, the Game
- 21:14Speaker 9: 4 starters, are lefty pitchers. The Yankees are built to
- 21:18Speaker 9: win at Yankee Stadium. They're definitely not built to win
- 21:21Speaker 9: at Tropicana Field, where the Rays have.
- 21:23Speaker 6: Tied for the league's best home record. It's going to
- 21:27Speaker 6: be an uphill climb.
- 21:29Speaker 9: Only 11% of teams who have fallen back 0-2 in
- 21:33Speaker 9: best-of-five sets in Major League history have come back and
- 21:37Speaker 9: actually made it happen.
- 21:39Speaker 6: Will the Yankees be one of them? This is tough.
- 21:44Speaker 8: You said it's all hands on deck. Does that mean
- 21:46Speaker 8: they're going to run out the exact same lineup again?
- 21:48Speaker 8: Because I listened to the postgame press conference, and I
- 21:52Speaker 8: think you were there, based on your Twitter, I never
- 21:55Speaker 8: heard one person ask, and maybe I missed it, hey,
- 21:59Speaker 8: are you going to change your lineup? It was like, well,
- 22:01Speaker 8: what kind of conversation do you have with these guys?
- 22:03Speaker 8: Because they ran out of lineup that I think is
- 22:05Speaker 8: hitting under 100 in these first two games.
- 22:10Speaker 5: Right.
- 22:11Speaker 9: Boone didn't change the lineup the first time. Is he
- 22:15Speaker 9: going to change the lineup the third time? Who knows?
- 22:18Speaker 6: And, yeah, he wasn't asked.
- 22:19Speaker 5: You're right.
- 22:20Speaker 6: He wasn't asked.
- 22:21Speaker 9: But in that moment, Boone still got a whole day
- 22:23Speaker 9: to think on it, to figure it out, to convene
- 22:26Speaker 9: with the Yankees front office. Look, it's another righty hitter,
- 22:30Speaker 9: a pitcher in– who's going? Martinez on game three.
- 22:36Speaker 8: Yeah, Nick Martinez.
- 22:38Speaker 6: Yeah, Nick Martinez on game three. Will the Yankees roll
- 22:40Speaker 6: out the same lineup?
- 22:42Speaker 9: I mean, you'd think you're crazy to do it, but
- 22:44Speaker 9: the Yankees also are super process-oriented, right? They're going to
- 22:48Speaker 9: say that this is what got us here, and we're
- 22:50Speaker 9: going to go down with this ship. Does that mean
- 22:54Speaker 9: Ryan McMahon back at third base again? Does that mean
- 22:57Speaker 9: Anthony Volpe gets a shot at third base? Do you
- 23:00Speaker 9: want Anthony Volpe getting his first real action at third
- 23:03Speaker 9: base in a.
- 23:05Speaker 6: Do-or-die playoff game?
- 23:07Speaker 9: Uh you gotta you kind of got to stick with
- 23:09Speaker 9: jazz chisholm uh at second base and there's not a
- 23:12Speaker 9: whole lot of maneuvering to do i i wonder what
- 23:15Speaker 9: the maneuvering would be in in the lineup.
- 23:19Speaker 5: Why do you have to stick oh sorry go.
- 23:21Speaker 1: Along no that's all right i apologize go ahead but
- 23:24Speaker 1: why do.
- 23:25Speaker 4: You have to stick with jazz i don't understand you
- 23:26Speaker 4: can put volpe out there martinez's best pitch is a
- 23:29Speaker 4: changeup why not volpe's been good at second base why
- 23:31Speaker 4: not Why do you have to stick with jazz? I
- 23:33Speaker 4: don't understand what the thing is. I mean, he hasn't
- 23:36Speaker 4: been good offensively or defensively. And then, I mean, there's
- 23:39Speaker 4: no way to fix the defense overnight.
- 23:41Speaker 8: I'm sorry.
- 23:41Speaker 4: This has been a problem for years. Like we've already
- 23:43Speaker 4: talked about and it hasn't changed. So it's not going
- 23:46Speaker 4: to change overnight by, you know, taking McMahon out. He's
- 23:48Speaker 4: one of your better defenders.
- 23:51Speaker 5: Sure.
- 23:51Speaker 9: You don't, you don't have to keep jazz in there,
- 23:54Speaker 9: but you know, one, is that a panic move in,
- 23:58Speaker 9: in going with pulpy who hasn't, played since the wild card.
- 24:06Speaker 9: With Jazz, you're going to need him at some point,
- 24:07Speaker 9: but by sitting him against a righty in maybe his
- 24:11Speaker 9: last game in pinstripes.
- 24:13Speaker 6: I don't know. That's a tough look for him.
- 24:16Speaker 9: And yeah, he hasn't gotten it done yet, but I mean, just...
- 24:22Speaker 9: The Yankees bench isn't filled with all-stars, right? You're damned
- 24:27Speaker 9: if you do, damned if you don't, to some extent.
- 24:30Speaker 9: So you could go with Anthony Volpe, but Anthony Volpe
- 24:33Speaker 9: goes 0 for 4, and you're saying that was a
- 24:36Speaker 9: panic move and you should have stuck with Jazz.
- 24:38Speaker 6: You could do it. You could totally do it.
- 24:42Speaker 1: Brennan, let me ask you this. When we talk about
- 24:43Speaker 1: the Los Angeles Dodgers as a collective, everybody says they're
- 24:46Speaker 1: always built for the postseason in terms of the way
- 24:49Speaker 1: that they go about their business. So I ask you
- 24:51Speaker 1: this with the Yankees, are they built for the regular
- 24:53Speaker 1: season and not the postseason?
- 24:58Speaker 9: Look, the Yankees gave themselves 15 position players.
- 25:02Speaker 6: There's plenty of optionality up and down the lineup.
- 25:05Speaker 9: You could argue that The Yankees should have used some
- 25:07Speaker 9: of that last night, especially against the left-hander. With the
- 25:11Speaker 9: right-handers on the bench, get Elliot Ramos in at bat
- 25:15Speaker 9: or Paul Goldschmidt in at bat. I think there are
- 25:18Speaker 9: plenty built to win in the postseason. But when we
- 25:22Speaker 9: talk about what works in the postseason, it's clean baseball.
- 25:26Speaker 9: And towards like the second half of September into the playoffs,
- 25:30Speaker 9: the Yankees haven't played clean baseball just like they didn't
- 25:33Speaker 9: last season.
- 25:33Speaker 6: And look, I mentioned it in my report for this morning.
- 25:38Speaker 6: A scout texted me.
- 25:39Speaker 8: Like, hey, there it is.
- 25:40Speaker 9: When McMahon makes that error on the first ball and
- 25:43Speaker 9: then Jazz throws away the ball in the first inning,
- 25:46Speaker 9: teams are kind of just waiting for the Yankees to
- 25:48Speaker 9: beat themselves. And we saw it happen last night. We
- 25:52Speaker 9: saw it when Wells made that base running mistake. uh
- 25:55Speaker 9: in game one and you know we saw it a
- 25:58Speaker 9: little bit in arizona at the end of the year
- 26:01Speaker 9: when you know cam schliller couldn't uh get all the
- 26:04Speaker 9: way down for for a bunt and when just there's
- 26:07Speaker 9: some things looked a little haywire so yeah the teams
- 26:10Speaker 9: are waiting for the yankees to beat themselves and are
- 26:12Speaker 9: you built for the playoffs when teams are waiting for
- 26:14Speaker 9: you to beat yourself probably.
- 26:15Speaker 4: Not well brendan you by the way you mentioned you
- 26:18Speaker 4: said this it's time it's not time to panic when
- 26:20Speaker 4: is it time to panic the season's on the line
- 26:22Speaker 4: And why is it panicking if you're making moves? And
- 26:24Speaker 4: when do they start caring about feelings? Because you said, oh, well,
- 26:27Speaker 4: it's not a great look for Jad Chisholm. He doesn't
- 26:29Speaker 4: play in his last game. Like Jad, remember he said,
- 26:32Speaker 4: if I get benched, I'm going to be upset. All
- 26:34Speaker 4: you got to do, you're trying to win. If you're
- 26:36Speaker 4: Aaron Boone and Brian Cashman and Brad Ausmus and the
- 26:38Speaker 4: whole coaching staff of the Yankees, you're trying to win
- 26:41Speaker 4: the game. So stop panic. If you go out and
- 26:43Speaker 4: win the game. Then you'll be like, see, it worked.
- 26:45Speaker 4: Now if you go out and lose, you're.
- 26:47Speaker 5: Trying to do something because you have to win the game.
- 26:49Speaker 5: There is no tomorrow. You have to win the game.
- 26:52Speaker 5: So there's no such thing as panic.
- 26:53Speaker 4: You put the best nine out there that you think
- 26:55Speaker 4: can continue your season for one more day.
- 26:59Speaker 9: Yeah, no, completely agree. Then why wasn't Anthony Volpe starting
- 27:02Speaker 9: at second base in game two?
- 27:03Speaker 3: I don't know.
- 27:03Speaker 6: Why wasn't he starting in game one? That's what I'm saying.
- 27:06Speaker 6: I don't know.
- 27:07Speaker 9: So if they're going to go into just making wholesale
- 27:11Speaker 9: changes at the last moment– I mean, that would be
- 27:15Speaker 9: the sign, I would think, of a team that doesn't
- 27:17Speaker 9: know what it's doing, that's completely freaking out.
- 27:20Speaker 6: I don't know if that sounds good to you.
- 27:26Speaker 5: I don't know about that. I mean, they're just in
- 27:27Speaker 5: a do-or-die situation, and they have to win. Sure, sure.
- 27:30Speaker 4: I mean, listen, if they thought their matchup in game
- 27:33Speaker 4: two was better for Volpe, listen, they all have these numbers. Listen,
- 27:36Speaker 4: McMahon's there because he's supposed to play defense, right?
- 27:38Speaker 5: He made a mistake. Okay, it happens. Everyone's made an error.
- 27:40Speaker 5: I've made errors in the playoffs. I've made errors in
- 27:42Speaker 5: the regular season. It happens. That's nothing, right?
- 27:44Speaker 4: But, you know, to say if your only option is
- 27:48Speaker 4: Anthony Volpe and he's a better option, the Yankees think that,
- 27:50Speaker 4: then play him. But if not, if you think Jazz
- 27:52Speaker 4: and McMahon and Lombard and all these guys are the
- 27:54Speaker 4: better option, then you play them.
- 27:56Speaker 5: It's not a panic thing.
- 27:56Speaker 4: You just have to play who you think is the
- 27:58Speaker 4: best option. There are no time for feelings right now.
- 28:01Speaker 4: The only time you have for it is to win
- 28:02Speaker 4: the game. Completely agree with you.
- 28:05Speaker 9: And I think that if the Yankees thought Anthony Volpe
- 28:07Speaker 9: was the better option, they would have played him.
- 28:08Speaker 6: Game one and game two.
- 28:11Speaker 1: Brendan, let me ask you this. You guys are the Yankees,
- 28:13Speaker 1: I should say, not you guys, but the Yankees are
- 28:15Speaker 1: in a good position in terms of their starting rotation,
- 28:17Speaker 1: still having Max Fried and Carlos Rodon to go in
- 28:20Speaker 1: the remainder of this series if they need a Rodon.
- 28:23Speaker 1: If Max Fried's girlfriend does go into labor, obviously not
- 28:25Speaker 1: an option tonight. You just move Rodon up. I mean,
- 28:29Speaker 1: what does that look like?
- 28:32Speaker 9: Yeah, I mean, look, I would think that Rodon is
- 28:35Speaker 9: ready to go game three if that were to happen.
- 28:39Speaker 6: I haven't spoken with Max about what his plans are.
- 28:41Speaker 6: If he'd just like.
- 28:43Speaker 9: Go dip to the hospital, kiss the wife and the
- 28:45Speaker 9: baby on the forehead and run back to the stadium.
- 28:47Speaker 9: Or if he'd hang there, like I have no idea
- 28:50Speaker 9: how that would work, but Carlos Rodon is ready to go.
- 28:53Speaker 9: And you know, Max Fried is slated to pitch tomorrow.
- 28:57Speaker 9: So I would think the Yankees, you can't predict birth, right?
- 29:01Speaker 9: But you try to, you try to, I don't know.
- 29:04Speaker 9: Maybe they think that he's going to be okay for tomorrow.
- 29:09Speaker 7: The 2026 MLB playoffs are here. And guess what? Seat
- 29:14Speaker 7: Geek has you covered. Let's go. If you're looking to
- 29:17Speaker 7: go to a playoff game, which I know everybody is,
- 29:20Speaker 7: your favorite team, if they're around, go find Seat Geek.
- 29:23Speaker 7: They're going to find your best seat that you can get.
- 29:26Speaker 7: If that green light is on, that means it's the
- 29:28Speaker 7: seat to go. If it's red, that means no.
- 29:30Speaker 5: Guess what?
- 29:30Speaker 7: There's some big teams going. Kratzy, tell us about it.
- 29:34Speaker 8: I'm definitely going to a Brewers game. There's no bad
- 29:36Speaker 8: seats in Milwaukee. Because the stadium is right on top
- 29:40Speaker 8: of the field. It feels like you're in the grass.
- 29:43Speaker 8: And you know what? If your team lost this year,
- 29:45Speaker 8: go get yourself some concert tickets.
- 29:48Speaker 7: They have it all. And of course, we have a
- 29:50Speaker 7: code for you. You can use code TERRITORY10 for 10%
- 29:54Speaker 7: off your next set of tickets at SeatGeek. That's 10%
- 29:57Speaker 7: off any tickets with promo code TERRITORY10. Make sure you
- 30:01Speaker 7: click the link in the description to download the app
- 30:03Speaker 7: and have the code automatically added to your account so
- 30:06Speaker 7: you can use it later.
- 30:08Speaker 5: Go to SeatGeek.
- 30:10Speaker 8: Yeah, everybody's just got to be ready, right? I mean,
- 30:12Speaker 8: if Max Free gets into trouble in the second inning,
- 30:14Speaker 8: Rodon might come out of the pen. Like, I know
- 30:16Speaker 8: they talked about Cole and everybody coming out of the pen.
- 30:18Speaker 8: I don't see that happening. My question to you is
- 30:21Speaker 8: about Ben Rice. Is Ben Rice going to get pitched
- 30:25Speaker 8: around now that he's done what he's done so far
- 30:28Speaker 8: this postseason because the other guys haven't stepped up? Or
- 30:32Speaker 8: is he still somehow some sleeping giant?
- 30:37Speaker 6: No, I mean, why not pitch around him?
- 30:40Speaker 9: Because the Yankees haven't had success against this raised pitching
- 30:43Speaker 9: staff in games one and game two.
- 30:45Speaker 6: Look, Luis Garcia Jr. did pop one.
- 30:50Speaker 9: Against the Red Sox in the wild card at Yankee stadium.
- 30:52Speaker 6: So you do worry about those.
- 30:54Speaker 9: Other lefty bats around Ben Rice at Yankee stadium with
- 30:58Speaker 9: that short porch Cody Bellinger. He parked one in the,
- 31:01Speaker 9: in the wild card series. He almost went deep to
- 31:04Speaker 9: center field last night. You probably do try to pitch
- 31:08Speaker 9: around Ben Rice, and it looked like the Rays were
- 31:11Speaker 9: being very careful with Ben at certain points this series. So, yeah,
- 31:15Speaker 9: I think they're going to try to pitch around him.
- 31:16Speaker 9: And look, the other night in the wild card, didn't
- 31:20Speaker 9: the Red Sox walk Ben to get to Cody?
- 31:23Speaker 6: That's probably going to happen.
- 31:25Speaker 8: Are the Rays this much better than the Yankees? Are
- 31:28Speaker 8: we making a mountain out of a molehill because they
- 31:31Speaker 8: made all these errors? Are the Rays' fundamentals... make them
- 31:36Speaker 8: this much better of a team? Or do Yankees fans
- 31:39Speaker 8: feel like, okay, this is 2017 when we came back
- 31:42Speaker 8: on the Indians and ended up pushing it to a
- 31:45Speaker 8: game five and beating them in Cleveland?
- 31:48Speaker 6: No, Yankees fans are apocalyptic right now.
- 31:51Speaker 9: They think this is last year's team that played sloppy defense.
- 31:57Speaker 9: and got trounced by the Blue Jays in the ALDS.
- 32:01Speaker 9: They went down 0-2 in that one as well. They
- 32:03Speaker 9: ended up losing in four games. A lot of the
- 32:06Speaker 9: same players from last year's team. And no, I don't
- 32:10Speaker 9: see Yankees fans ready to rally the troops. I think
- 32:14Speaker 9: they're kind of expecting a letdown. And will that happen?
- 32:18Speaker 9: There's reason to believe it won't happen. Going back to
- 32:21Speaker 9: Yankee Stadium is an advantage for the Yankees, but the
- 32:24Speaker 9: Rays have been a cleaner team. The Rays do play
- 32:28Speaker 9: a tighter brand of baseball, and they push the action.
- 32:30Speaker 6: Where the Yankees don't. So that's a whole bunch of
- 32:34Speaker 6: things not going in the Yankees' favor.
- 32:37Speaker 1: Brendan, you had talked about yesterday in your column and
- 32:40Speaker 1: obviously in your postgame coverage about the postgame message, if
- 32:44Speaker 1: you will. Ryan McMahon said there hadn't been one yet.
- 32:46Speaker 8: We'll see.
- 32:47Speaker 1: We'll regroup and respect the loss. Everybody here is a
- 32:49Speaker 1: little pissed off. This is your quote from McMahon. a
- 32:51Speaker 1: little upset, but we're where we're at and there's still
- 32:53Speaker 1: some games left. If there is someone to do some
- 32:56Speaker 1: sort of post-game message or moratorium moving forward, could that
- 33:01Speaker 1: be Aaron Judge, even though he's not on the DS roster?
- 33:04Speaker 1: Who needs to step up and perhaps have this conversation
- 33:07Speaker 1: if it is a necessity?
- 33:10Speaker 9: Well, if the conversation didn't happen in the clubhouse last night,
- 33:13Speaker 9: and look, we're not in there, so we don't know
- 33:15Speaker 9: exactly what happened immediately post-game.
- 33:18Speaker 6: It also happens on the flight.
- 33:20Speaker 9: I think Aaron Boone occasionally will address the team on the,
- 33:25Speaker 9: on the charter heading back home in some way, shape
- 33:29Speaker 9: or form.
- 33:30Speaker 6: So, but yeah, it could be Aaron judge. What would
- 33:33Speaker 6: he do it? I mean, he's not on the roster
- 33:35Speaker 6: right now. He's not playing right now.
- 33:38Speaker 9: And, and does it, does it come off a little
- 33:41Speaker 9: different when you're, when you're not in the game? That's
- 33:44Speaker 9: hard to say, but I would think that the Yankees
- 33:48Speaker 9: would need to beat the drums in going into game
- 33:51Speaker 9: three to make sure everyone's heads aren't on straight.
- 33:54Speaker 8: Not with Aaron Judge. He holds so much cachet. He's hurt.
- 33:57Speaker 8: He's hurt all season, or he's the MVP. When he talks,
- 34:00Speaker 8: everybody listens. So I think if he says something, not
- 34:03Speaker 8: that he has to, my question is on Aaron Judge.
- 34:07Speaker 8: Do these two games go differently? Saying he's healthy and
- 34:10Speaker 8: he's the one DH-ing, if his presence is just in
- 34:13Speaker 8: the lineup, and also when we go back to Yankee Stadium,
- 34:17Speaker 8: Is he going to get announced this series or not?
- 34:20Speaker 8: Is that not going to be a thing?
- 34:21Speaker 9: I have no idea. I don't know what happened with that.
- 34:25Speaker 9: The Yankees say that Judge wasn't announced because he was
- 34:29Speaker 9: getting treatment. My understanding is that their trainers were on
- 34:33Speaker 9: the first baseline being announced with everybody else.
- 34:36Speaker 6: So I don't know. I don't know what went on there.
- 34:39Speaker 6: Very odd. But....
- 34:43Speaker 9: Yeah, it probably does go a little different because you
- 34:45Speaker 9: have to respect Aaron Judge. You saw how Baker pitched
- 34:49Speaker 9: Stanton the other night in his first at-bat in, like,
- 34:53Speaker 9: 100 months.
- 34:54Speaker 6: You know, he was.
- 34:55Speaker 9: A little careful with him. It was a good at-bat
- 34:56Speaker 9: for Stanton, but he didn't just lay fastball to open plate. And, yeah,
- 35:00Speaker 9: you wonder what things would look like.
- 35:02Speaker 6: But here's the thing.
- 35:03Speaker 9: Then you got to put Ben Reitz at first base.
- 35:05Speaker 9: Then you take Luis Garcia Jr. out of the lineup,
- 35:07Speaker 9: who is a lefty, and you thought he was going
- 35:09Speaker 9: to hit the righties, right? I'm not saying that these
- 35:11Speaker 9: guys are better than Aaron Judge, but.
- 35:13Speaker 6: Of course. But, you know, things do look different if
- 35:18Speaker 6: he's in there at DH.
- 35:20Speaker 9: And when he was back, you know, for that 10-game stretch,
- 35:25Speaker 9: I think he struck out 13 times in 24 at-bats.
- 35:28Speaker 6: Like, he was not Aaron Judge. You know, he was
- 35:31Speaker 6: still knocking off rust.
- 35:33Speaker 8: Yeah, no doubt. I mean, that's not, yeah. You don't
- 35:36Speaker 8: know what you're going to get. Just the presence of him.
- 35:39Speaker 8: I liked your answer. how soon, cause you said the
- 35:42Speaker 8: Yankees are apocalyptic right now or an apocalyptic mode. I'm
- 35:45Speaker 8: not sure what words you exactly use, but how soon
- 35:50Speaker 8: if they go down, will the Yankee fans turn on
- 35:54Speaker 8: the team?
- 35:58Speaker 9: I mean, I think for the most part they already have, like,
- 36:00Speaker 9: I don't, I don't know a lot of Yankee fans who, uh,
- 36:04Speaker 9: feel great about the standing of, of the club. Uh, they,
- 36:08Speaker 9: they don't have Aaron judge, um, That's one kind of,
- 36:11Speaker 9: I'm not going to say built-in excuse, but not having
- 36:14Speaker 9: Aaron Judge is a tough thing to overcome when you've
- 36:17Speaker 9: built your team around Aaron Judge. I think that there's
- 36:21Speaker 9: probably also some resignation from the Yankees fan base from
- 36:24Speaker 9: what I can tell. I grew up in North Jersey.
- 36:27Speaker 9: My best friends are Yankees fans. I'm in a group
- 36:30Speaker 9: text with them every day, and they're just kind of like, ah,
- 36:32Speaker 9: here we go again. Another playoff loss, another playoff embarrassment.
- 36:37Speaker 9: While they're apocalyptic and while they're having a tough time
- 36:39Speaker 9: with this, I think there's also a sense of resignation
- 36:42Speaker 9: that's like, this is who we are now.
- 36:45Speaker 6: This is what Yankees fans, from what I'm seeing.
- 36:51Speaker 1: I'll ask you, Brendan. A lot of folks in terms
- 36:54Speaker 1: of Yankees lore on social media, those types of things
- 37:00Speaker 1: are already expecting the second the season ends, if it
- 37:04Speaker 1: ends prematurely, that they will be calling for Aaron Boone's
- 37:09Speaker 1: job to go that type of thing. Brian Cashman, kind
- 37:11Speaker 1: of the same old, same old year in and year out. Uh,
- 37:14Speaker 1: does Aaron Boone survive this season if they get bounced
- 37:17Speaker 1: in the division series?
- 37:20Speaker 6: I think so.
- 37:22Speaker 9: I mean, he's survived nine seasons. He's got one more
- 37:25Speaker 9: year left on his contract. Uh, Brian Cashman is up
- 37:30Speaker 9: at the end of this year, but I can't see
- 37:32Speaker 9: Hal Steinbrenner making a move there. He's very comfortable with Cashman.
- 37:37Speaker 9: They feel Cashman has done a really good job. And
- 37:41Speaker 9: going into a new CBA, I'd be very surprised to
- 37:44Speaker 9: see Hal Steinbrenner want to change the direction and the
- 37:48Speaker 9: leadership of his front office under a potentially turbulent time.
- 37:54Speaker 6: We could be looking at a salary cap. Who knows?
- 37:56Speaker 6: So I don't think so.
- 37:57Speaker 9: I think Aaron Boone and Brian Cashman's jobs would be safe.
- 38:02Speaker 6: Would some of the coaching staff get axed?
- 38:04Speaker 9: I do believe there are jobs or contracts expiring on
- 38:09Speaker 9: the coaching staff. Matt Blake, one of them, but the
- 38:12Speaker 9: Yankees are going to do everything they can to retain him, right?
- 38:15Speaker 6: Best team ERA in the league, I believe it was.
- 38:19Speaker 9: So yeah, there could be changes, but I wouldn't think
- 38:21Speaker 9: the changes are at the top.
- 38:23Speaker 8: All right.
- 38:23Speaker 1: We appreciate it. As always, Brendan, you can make sure
- 38:26Speaker 1: and check out all of his work on The Athletic.
- 38:29Speaker 3: We appreciate it.
- 38:30Speaker 1: Good luck the rest of the way.