Latest / Foul Territory / Fair Territory: NL Central trade thoughts, All-Star snubs, Yanks scuffling, Eury Pérez exits perfecto

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Fair Territory: NL Central trade thoughts, All-Star snubs, Yanks scuffling, Eury Pérez exits perfecto · Foul Territory

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Welcome everyone to the Monday edition of Fair Territory. I
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: hope everyone had a great July fourth weekend. I was
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: in rain delays and fog delays at Wrigley Field, but
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: it was a blast nonetheless. And we have as we
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: start the week, a very interesting series, one that I
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: wouldn't say could prove critical. But it's late enough now
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: where this series has some meaning. And I'm talking about
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: the Yankees visiting Tropicana Field and the Tampa Bay Rays. Now,
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: why is this series meaningful? It's meaningful because the Yankees
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: are reeling. They have lost nine of ten, thirteen of
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: seventeen since June eighteenth, and the standings essentially have flipped
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: in the Al East. The Yankees had one point, had
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: a lead of three and a half games on the Rays.
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: This was on June seventeenth. You can see it right there,
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: three and a half game lead on the Rays. Granted,
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: Aaron Judge was out and others were out at that
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: time too, but that's a nice little cushion. And then
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: today you see the records just a few weeks later,
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: Tampa Bay with the four game lead over the Yankees. Now, initially,
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: when the Yankees started sliding I thought, Okay, it's understandable.
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: Teams are going to go through this. Of course, the
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: Yankees seem to go through it every year. And when
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: they were missing Aaron Judge and Gian Carlos Stanton and
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: Trent Grisham and Ryan McMahon, you could get it, and
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: of course with Max Fried out as well, you could
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: understand what was happening. Grisham and McMahon since have returned
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: and the slide has continued. Now, what you've heard about,
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: what the Yankees have talked about is this seeming lack
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: of focus. And yes, that's part of it on the
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: defensive end in particular, and the vulpi issue is not
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: going away. But really it's the offense that is the
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: biggest problem. I know the starting pitching has not been
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: good either, but suddenly, and not so suddenly, it's come
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: on over the last couple of weeks, Ben Ryan and
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: Cody Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt, these guys are not hitting
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: the way they once did. Jash Chisholm Junior really hasn't
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: had the season that we all expected from him, that
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: he expected from himself. So here are the Yankees, as
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: I said, they are reeling and now they're going to
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: the trop where the Rays are thirty one and twelve.
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: Thirty one and twelve at Trop that's their, of course,
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: perennial home. It will be until they open the new ballpark,
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: and they are quite happy to be there, as I've
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: written about, after spending a couple of years at stein
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: Brenner Field, actually one year at stein Brenner Field. So
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: the Rays obviously have played much better of late. They
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: went through their own slide, and Junior Kamonero is hotter
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: than hot, eleven home runs in his last twelve games.
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: But this is going to be an interesting series, and
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: the Yankees are going to throw Schlitler and Cole in
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: the series. Adam Warren's I'm sorry, Will Warren's going to
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: be in this rotation as well. So they should be
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: throwing their better arms, and they should be in a
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: spot where they should be able to adjust their focus
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: if that is indeed a problem, and it is, and yes,
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: they have to play better defensively as well. But we
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: see now as this four series, four game series begins,
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: the possibility, I don't expect it to necessarily happen, but
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: the possibility of the Rays opening a gap they win
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: three or four. Here the lead is six games. It's
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: not inconsequential at this time of year. So here we
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: go with the Yankees and Rays at the drop four
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: games this week. Now, the big news on Sunday related
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: to the Miami Marlins and Uri Perez doing something at
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: Sutter Health Park that I don't know that many of
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: us ever expected to see seven perfect innings at that
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: hitter haven that exists in West Sacramento. Now he gets
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: pulled after ninety two pitches, and Euri Perez is a
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: guy who has had injury problems. The Marlins are thinking
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: long term. I know some people were offended that he
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: gets pulled with a perfect game after seven innings, and
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: I can understand why he's never thrown more than one
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: hundred and two pitches in his start. He was at
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: ninety two, and as I said, the Marlins are playing
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: for the long haul. The fans were brewing in West Sacramento.
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: That showed me something. And you see Trevor May's tweet
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: right there. Pulling a starter after seven perfect innings at
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: ninety two pitches is indefensible. But I still would say,
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: given Perez's injury history and his importance to the Marlins.
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: This guy's been red hot of late since coming off
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: the injured list. I could understand where they were coming from,
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: and I know what the Marlins do, some innovative, funky
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: kinds of things. But at this point of the season
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: with Perez, I really had no problem with it. And
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: it's funny about the Marlins where they stand now. They
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: are rolling. Since June first, they've been arguably the best
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: team in baseball, not even arguably. They've won twenty three
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: of thirty one, a team that does a lot of
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: things really well. And I know people say it's the Marlins,
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: come on, but right now they've got a pitching staff
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: led by Sandi al Contra of course, but also including
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: all star Max Meyer and Uri Perez. And at the
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: start of June they had just suffered a slew of
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: injuries on their pitching side, Jansen Junk and Perez and
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: Robbie Stelling, and Robbie Stelling was one of their top prospects.
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: Thomas White another top prospect that they expected to contribute.
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: He went down as well, and I thought at that
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: time the Marlins might collapse, but it didn't happen. And
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: it's a testament to what they've put together and to
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: what Clayton McCullough as their manager, has been able to
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: do holding them together and keeping this team going. Now,
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: this is not a team short of talent. Otto Lopez
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: the shortstop, one of the best players in baseball this
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: season so far, Liam Hicks has emerged breakout season for
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: him at catcher, Xavier Edwards at second base theoretically could
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: be an All Star. And of course they've got Myers
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: who is an All Star. And now Kyle Stowers is
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: coming on. So they have some really good things happening.
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: And I'll tell you a story from the start of
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: the season. I'm not going to name the team or
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: the people involved, but I was in a manager's office
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: talking with a manager and a GM of a team
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: and the Marlins were on television. This was in April,
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: and I said, as I've been saying since really even
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: spring training, I kind of like the Marlins. I like
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: where they're going. And the GM turned to me and said, well,
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: what do you like about them? Really kind of condescending,
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: but I said, just what I just said there. I
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: just like the way they go about it, I like
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: the way they play. They're kind of the Milwaukee Brewers
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: of the Southeast, spraying the ball around, doing some different
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: things offensively, and the GM said, naw, if farm systems
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: should be better, they should be better. I'm not sold. Well,
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: if I see that GM again, I might remind you
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: of that conversation. The Miami Marlin certainly have been this season.
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: I wouldn't say a surprise, but they've continued their progress
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: under McCullough and their President Baseball Operations, Peter Bendix. They
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: end the break where they enter the break with two
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: more series coming up at home against Seattle and Cleveland,
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: two good teams, so that will be another test of
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: the Marlins. But again, twenty three of their last thirty
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: one games they've won pretty impressive.
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: Look in summertime, it's cool in the morning, hot during
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: the day, cool again at night. Rarely am I sitting
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: there going, oh, I'm just gonna do one thing at
• 7:34
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• 8:26
  Speaker 1: Let's talk about the All Star snubs, which of course
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: are snubs only in a temporary fashion in most cases.
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: And I say this every year, everyone's going to get
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: a participation trophy. No one's going to get left behind.
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: What we're going to see over the next few days
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: are injury replacements, other forms of replacements, and players you
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: think should be All Stars added to the team. By
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: the time it's all over, we should have about ten
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: percent of all players represented as All Stars this season.
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: So the biggest snubs for me were Bryce and the Brewers.
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: And you could see this coming because the NL is
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: so deep at second base. I talked about this on
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: the broadcast Saturday. So you had Azzi Albi's as the
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: fans elected starter, you had Luis Arise as the players
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: electee at the position, and then you had a bunch
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: of guys including Terrang who did not make it but
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: certainly were All Star caliber players. JJ Weatherholt of the Cardinals,
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: Katel Marte of the Diamondbacks, Brandon Lau of the Pirates.
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: As I mentioned, Xavier Edwards as well. Two other snubs.
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: Two guys on the Red Sox that probably are going
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: to be added to the team Wilson Contreras, who can
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: replace Vladimir Guerrero junr who's already said he is not
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: going to play because he's had some back trouble that
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: he wants to address. And Sonny Gray, second in the
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: league in era. Sonny Gray probably will be added to
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: the team as well, especially with the news on Rangers
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: Suarez yesterday leaving the game with a left adductor strain.
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: Frankly Suarez Gray. Two editions by embattled Red Sox President
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: of Baseball Operations Craig Wreslow, along with Contreras. Another edition
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: by Breslow. These guys have all had All Star caliber seasons.
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: Others that I wanted to see in the game. Nick
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: Martinez of the Rays. Here's a guy who's never been
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: an All Star. He's been around a long time, beloved
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: as a teammate wherever he goes, and he's third in
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: the American League in era. I expect, or I hope
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: that he will be added at some point. And I've
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: got one more I want to talk about. This isn't
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: getting much attention. The White Sox only got one All Star. Now,
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: if Murakami was healthy, it would have been two, but
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: one Davis Martin certainly could have been an All Star
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: in Colson Montgomery. This dude has had twenty three home runs.
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: He is fifth in the American League in home runs,
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: and since the beginning of his career, in one hundred
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: and fifty six games, basically a full season, one hundred
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: and fifty six games, he has hit forty four home runs.
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: As a shortstop. He's not Adam Dunn or Rob Deer,
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: some slug who just hits home runs. This guy's playing
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: shortstop at a pretty high level. Coolson Montgomery should be
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: an All Star. And finally, before we go, I want
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: to mention one thing. I picked my teams last week,
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: thirty two players for each team, right, that's how you
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: do it, foul the rules, and then the All Stars
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: get announced and the National League has thirty three players
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: because they squeezed Bryce Harper in by making him a
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: Legends pick. Rob Bamford did that. That is his right
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: as a commissioner, and I get it, and it was
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: a good choice, great choice. Harper has to be in
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: the game. It's in Philadelphia, he's having an amazing year,
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: and he is a legitimate All Star. But if I
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: knew the National League was getting thirty three, I would
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: have picked thirty three of my own, and I wouldn't
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: have left Brandon marsh off my team, offending all of Philadelphia.
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: All Right, that's all I wanted to say. We'll be
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: right back with the Inside Dish. Time now for the
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: inside Ditch, the part of the show where I talk
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: about something I've written, a trend in the game, something
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: else entirely, or some combination of all of the above.
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: And today I kind of want to expand upon the
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: notes column that I published this morning in The Athletic,
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: in which I focused on a number of NL Central
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: teams with kind of a deadline angle to each of them.
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: Now I didn't include the Reds. The Reds are not
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: really in contention right now. We can talk about them
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: another time. But I'm going to go through kind of
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: highlights of my notes Calm. You can read all about
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: it in the notes, and I'll start with the Cardinals,
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: one of the teams I saw this weekend in my
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: work for Fox and the Cardinals are one of the
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: great surprises in Major League Baseball this season, and we've
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: all waited for them to start playing like we thought
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: or rebuilding team should. This is a team that remember
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: parted with Wilson Contreras, Sonny Gray, Noan Arnado, and Brendan
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: Donovan last off season. You would have thought, after all
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: that they would be strictly in a rebuilding type season,
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: and that has not happened. They've played way above themselves.
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: And as I explain in the notes column, one reason
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: is they've been remarkably healthy, like crazy healthy. They've had
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: only six injured list placements all season, placed only six
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: players on the injured list, one of them or not
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: one of them was a starting pitcher, and right now
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: they only have one player on the il it's their
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: infielder Ramon Urius. So that is something where you have
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: to say, Okay, they've been a bit lucky. And they've
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: also gotten breakouts from Jordan Walker, their all star JJ Weatherholt,
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: we mentioned him earlier as a potential All Star. Alec
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: Burson's had kind of his typical year, but Yvonne Herrera
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: also enjoying a breakout. So a lot of good things
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: have happened. And this is how you get a surprise season.
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: So if you're the president of baseball operations in your
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: first full year, Heim Bloom, what do you do well,
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: You've got to honor what the team has done, what
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: the players have performed with or how they performed, and
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: you've got to go forward and say, okay, let's see
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: what happens over the next month. If indeed the Cardinals
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: continue playing this well, holding a playoff position third wild card,
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: then you at least have to try to add you're
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: not going to blow up your farm system to go
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: for it this year. They're trying to build a perennial contender.
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: We all get it, but you have to honor your
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: players by going for it a little bit. You have
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: to honor your fans by saying we're trying to win.
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: This is what the whole sport is about. And if
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: you're the Cardinals, yes you will add, and you will
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: add in kind of a measured way. I'm interested to
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: see what they do. I'm interested to see if their
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: good health continues. But the Cardinals, they've been in a
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: great spot. And one thing that they have that other
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: teams want are a number of young catchers. A few
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: of them are in the big leagues, Jimmy Crooks, and
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: they've got also in their minor leagues. Two of their
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: top five prospects are catchers. So teams are going to
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: be reluctant, of course, in this position to necessarily trade catching,
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: because of course it's kind of fragile. But the Cardinals
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: are in position to do that. They've got too many
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: at the big leagues Crooks and Herrera Pedro Pahes and
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: then the miners, the two prospects that I mentioned. So
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: they're in a good spot, and I expect that they're
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: going to be reasonably aggressive if they stay at this level,
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: not overly aggressive, but I expect that they will do things. Now.
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: The Cubs are on the other side of the injury equation.
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: Remember I just said the Cardinals have had six aisle
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: placements all year. The Cubs have thirteen pitchers on the
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: injured list alone, Pictures basically an entire rotation and entire
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: bullpen and more so, we know what they're going to
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: be looking for at the deadline. It's obvious, and their
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: President Baseball Operations Jed Hoyer, has said, We've got to
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: be mindful of where we are in the standings as
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: we go forward here and as we determine how aggressive
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: we want to be. If the Cubs feel they can
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: win the division, possibly get a buy then okay, maybe
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: they go hard. If they don't, if they're essentially playing
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: only for a wild card, and of course the Brewers
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: have been so good all year long, then they will
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: be more restrained in their approach. They clearly need bullpen help.
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: They've been surviving on guys who I don't want to
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: call them cast offs, but a few of them are
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: waiver claims, a few of them are lesser additions. And
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: for the most part these pictures have performed fairly well,
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: but they're going to need better and also they're going
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: to need help, of course in their rotation and what
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: they're also going to need going forward is consistency out
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: of their offense. We've seen this team be wildly inconsistent
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: all year, and part of it's due to the injuries
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: that they've had in their pitching staff, and part of
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: it is due to an offense that goes up and
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: down and up and down. We saw it just this week.
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: They had this crazy series against the Padres, scored a
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: ton of runs, and then in the first two games
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: against the Cardinals scored only one. So the Cubs, obviously
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: their focus will be on pitching, and the question will be,
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: as I said, can they chase down the Brewers? Now?
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: The Brewers to me are perhaps the most fascinating team
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: at the deadline because we know that they're really good.
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: Everyone in baseball has seen that, and we know that
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: even though they're really good, they have needs. And those
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: needs become even more apparent now that we know Brandon
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: Woodruff is on the injured list again. The Brewers certainly
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: could use another starter to go with miss Rowski and
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: Kyle Harrison. Brendan Sprout has been less than consistent. They
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: have others as well. We know that Logan Henderson coming back,
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: but they could use one more starter for sure, especially
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: when miss Erowski and Harrison are guys that have not
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: pitched into October in their past and you don't know
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: how they're going to hold up over the long season.
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: So that's one need for the Brewers. Bullpen depth is
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: another need. They've gotten a great performance all season long
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: out of their bullpen the back end, Ashby and Uribe
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: and McGill and Grant Anderson. Now depth would be something
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: that they would be looking to do. And as I
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: mentioned in the notes column today, one other area the
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: left side of that infield. Now they've already made changes there.
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: They've brought Cooper Pratt up from the minor leagues to
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: play shortstop, going now with Joey Ortiz the display shortstop
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: and Joey Hamilton at third base, but their production at
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: those two spots remains bottom of the league. If they
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: could get a third base or a shortstop, someone who
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: is more productive and more veteran than those players. Obviously
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: Joey Ortiz has been there, but a guy who's been
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: there maybe and a guy who in the playoffs you
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: could count on, well, that would be something that would
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: behoove them to do. So I just listed multiple needs
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: for this team that's been one of the most dominant
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: in baseball. I don't know that they see it that way.
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: I don't know that they see any of these things
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: as being particularly urgent. But the Brewers have the farm system,
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: as I've written and as I've said, to do some things.
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: And we saw last year they had an amazing run
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: ninety seven wins I believe it was, and then in
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: the playoffs they ran into a Dodgers team that in
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: that particular series, played out of their minds. Brewers got swept.
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: It happens the playoffs, short series, things like this do happen.
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: But if the Brewers want to go further this year,
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: and they are fully capable of doing that, they're going
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: to need to be more aggressive. How aggressive Terrek's schoogle aggressive? No,
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: I don't expect that, but I do expect them to
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: do some things. They're not going to trade prospects for rental,
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: but they can do some things. They have the ability
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: to do that, and frankly, they have no excuse not to.
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: They owe it to themselves to give themselves the best
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: chance with this team that might be their best of
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: all in all these years that they've had this run.
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: Now it's going back to the late twenty tens. They've
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: been really good. So here we go with the Brewers. Now,
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: the Pirates, I've written about this as well, and I
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: want to conclude with them in this portion of the show.
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: They are looking for high end bullpen help. They've been
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: looking for that, and they've made a few moves in
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: that regard, lesser kinds of moves. They've been dangling, as
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: I've written, the number thirty four pick in the draft,
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: it's a competitive balance round pick. Those are the only picks,
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: of course, that a team can trade. The Pirates have
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: that pick. They've got prospects, they want to do things.
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: They consider this to be a year in which they
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: want to make make the playoffs, and they've done some
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: great things on the offensive end the additions they made
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: in the offseason Brandon Lau, Ryan O'Hearn, not so much
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: Marcela Zuna, but they've transformed their offense into a top five,
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: top ten offense. Great job. So now they're looking to
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: upgrade the bullpen. Actually, the rotation hasn't been that great
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: lately as well, But that number thirty four pick is
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: really interesting. We've seen teams trade these picks in the
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: last few years, and sometimes they have brought quality relievers
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: in return. And with the Pirates, they're always thinking about money,
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: of course, and that pick has a slot value of
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: almost three million dollars. You trade that pick, you saved
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: the three million. At least you save at least a
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: portion of it that's not going to the major league
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: you acquire in return, you save some money, and maybe
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: you put that money back into the major league team
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: as you try again to make the playoffs. I'm not
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: saying it's going to happen that way, but it seems
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: to me that the Pirates have is a diition motivation
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: for trading the pick because it might help them reinvest
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: in the major league club. Maybe they don't do that.
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: Their owner is Bob Nutting. We know that. We know
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: he's not necessarily inclined to spend. But they did spend
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: in the off season in their way, and they did
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: a good job of it. So the Pirates are going
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: to be a team to watch at the deadline as well.
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: And the ANL Central, in conclusion, remains arguably the most
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: fascinating division in baseball. We've seen the Pirates emerge, We've
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: seen the Cardinals emerge. The Reds. You see them at
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: the bottom of the standings right there. They're not emerging.
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: And Hunter Green came back over the weekend, a little
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: bit of a struggle for him to be expected. Maybe
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: they make a run here, they're certainly hoping to. I
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: don't think that's going to happen. They could be a
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: team that ends up maybe selling some of its pieces.
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: So we'll be watching this division the entire month of July,
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: watching to see how things shake out. Do the Cardinals
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: stay healthy, the Cubs get healthier with Jamison Tyn coming
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: back and eventually Edward Cabrera and Daniel Palencia and still
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: supplement themselves. Do the Brewers make the moves that maybe
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: could put them over the top in this particular season.
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: And do the Pirates act aggressively with their number thirty
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: four pick and others as well? Other players as well,
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: I should say, not picks and I trading any other picks.
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: So the Eno Central again will be an object of fascination,
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: and I'm looking forward to seeing how this all plays out.
• 23:32
  Speaker 3: Hey, for the families out there looking for a different
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  Speaker 4: They learn a lot. And this is an opportunity for
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  Speaker 4: families that are on the go too as well. They
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• 24:38
  Speaker 1: All Right, here we go with Grilling and Ken, the
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: part of the show where I try to answer your questions.
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: First question, comes from armand is amazing. Who asks Ken,
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: what type of return can the Mets get for Francisco Alvarez? Now,
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: let me give you the background here. Will Salmon of
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: The Athletic wrote this morning that the Mets are expecting
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: to receive interest in their catchers, Francisco Alvarez and Luis Torrance,
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: who they just signed to a two year deal. Now,
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: Alvarez is an interesting guy. He's interesting because he of
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: course has some club control remaining. He has immense talent.
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: He's been hurt a lot, but he also has remarkable
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: powers of recovery, and he's someone that you can see
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: at some point becoming a star. Now I'm sure the
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: Mets see him that way as well. But given the
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: demand for catching in the current game, it's possible, possible,
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: i would say, an outside chance at best, that the
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: Mets get an offer for Alvarez or get the kind
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: of interest in Alvarez that at least tempts them to
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: possibly move him. It wouldn't be easy for them, they
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: wouldn't necessarily want to do it, but it would depend
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: on what they are offered. So that's something to watch.
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: Whether the Mets kind of act on this. They don't
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: seem inclined to. They want to keep their guys with control,
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: it seems, but I would imagine that they are at
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: least going to field calls on him, and then they'll
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: have to decide, all right. Next question from Wicked Better
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: fifty four, which starting pitcher trade you see as more
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: likely Joe Ryan to the Braves, Freddy Peralta to the Cubs,
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: or read Debt Meers to the Diamondbacks. Good question. Now
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: here's the problem, though, I don't know that Joe Ryan
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: is getting traded. The Twins are in the thick of
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: the Ale Wildcard race, admittedly in a mediocre AL Wildcard race,
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: a mediocre Al in general. But they've got a new
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: control person, a new pole ad running the team. It's
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: Tom Pohlad, and he is motivated to win, wants to
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: do it for his players, wants to do it for
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: their fans. They know they've ticked off a lot of
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: people in recent years. So barring a collapse this month,
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: I don't expect them to necessarily trade Joe Ryan, Byron
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: Buxton or anyone else. Now I mentioned in my notes
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: Calm they could still trade Jeffers because they've got Victor
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: Carrattini and Alex Jackson. And if Jeffers brings bullpen help, hey,
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: that would help them continue to compete. So I don't
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: believe Joe Ryan's getting traded. I'm not sure Reed Debt
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: Meurs is getting traded either, But certainly under a new
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: President of Baseball Operations actually interim President Baseball Operations, interim GM,
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: whatever his title is, John MONZELOK, they're going to be
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: perhaps more open than they were under Perrimanas. Now the
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: final one and that was Freddy Peralta to the Cubs.
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: The Cubs certainly are going to trade for a starting pitcher.
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: They already have traded for one from the Mets, David Peterson.
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: One good start, one terrible start. I don't know that
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: Parolta is going to be their main target. Parolta has
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: not had a good year. So the Cubs are yes
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: going to do something, and I believe Parolta will be traded.
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: I just don't know that that's the guy for them.
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: Kind of depends again, I'll keep saying this, how these
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: things all play out all right? Time for our final question.
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: This one comes from Bubbs two nine to eight. Was
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: Lex Burlson a consideration for your first base NL all
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: star back backup. Excuse me, he's having a breakout season.
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: Alec Burlson certainly is having a strong season. I don't
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: know that I would call it a breakap because last
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: year was really good as well. But that NL first
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: base was tough to crack, and I didn't really give
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: him consideration because I had to go with Olson matt
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: Olsen of the Braves, I had to go with Freddy
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: Freeman of the Dodgers, and I had to go with
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: Bryce Harper of the Phillies. Now, if I knew I
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: had thirty three, like I was saying in my first segment,
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: maybe I would have given Burlson more consideration. But remember
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: I left off Brandon March, who I knew was getting
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: in by the fan Moode. So no, I didn't really
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: give him much consideration. But he's he worthy. Sure, he's
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: worthy of that consideration at the very least. All Right,
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: with that, I want to close it out. I want
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: to thank everyone for watching it, for listening. Foul Territory
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: coming up at one pm Eastern. Aj Persitski back from
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: visiting the Pope. He'll be joined by Eric Kratz and
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: Scott Brown. The Guests will include Rocky's All Star Catcher
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: Hunter Goodman and USA Today's Bob Nightingale. We're back Thursday,
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: twelve thirty Eastern. Alana Rizzo will join us tucked it in.
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: Have a great week everyone, looking.
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