Latest / Foul Territory / Ken Rosenthal covers the latest manager & front office deals, Rays edge + Chicago’s LIT this October

Transcript

Ken Rosenthal covers the latest manager & front office deals, Rays edge + Chicago’s LIT this October · Foul Territory

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: It's the Inside Scoop presented by Fox 1 FT Senior Insider.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Ken Rosenthal with us. Ken, a lot of news this week. Apparently,
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: if you have an interim manager tag, it can turn
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: into just a straight manager tag and a three-year contract.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: What do you think of both of these deals over
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: the last 48 hours for the Mets and Red Sox?
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: The Chad Tracy one was certainly expected.
• 0:24
  Speaker 3: And if anything, people were wondering why it took so
• 0:27
  Speaker 3: long to remove his interim tag.
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: Not that it was a big deal one way or
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: the other.
• 0:31
  Speaker 3: Everyone sort of knew what was coming here. Andy Green
• 0:34
  Speaker 3: was different. Andy Green had expressed reluctance to continue managing
• 0:40
  Speaker 3: because he has two twin daughters who are going to
• 0:42
  Speaker 3: be seniors in high school or are seniors in high
• 0:44
  Speaker 3: school this year. He wanted to be present for them.
• 0:47
  Speaker 3: He said that to Will Salmon and I on the record.
• 0:50
  Speaker 3: We wrote about it. And he kind of kept that
• 0:54
  Speaker 3: same perspective all the way through. But as he explained yesterday,
• 0:58
  Speaker 3: things changed in early September and When his family came
• 1:01
  Speaker 3: to visit him in New York, and basically they had
• 1:03
  Speaker 3: a big powwow and decided, you know what? It's okay, Dad,
• 1:07
  Speaker 3: if you want to be the manager. It's okay as
• 1:09
  Speaker 3: a husband if you want to be the manager. And
• 1:11
  Speaker 3: Andy Green took it from there. And for the Mets,
• 1:14
  Speaker 3: this is clearly, for right now, the correct choice. He
• 1:20
  Speaker 3: is connected with not only the young players he knew
• 1:23
  Speaker 3: from before as farm director, but also with the veteran players.
• 1:27
  Speaker 3: And everyone seems to like him and respect him. And
• 1:30
  Speaker 3: I thought it was interesting yesterday when he explained in
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: the news conference how he is a different manager now
• 1:35
  Speaker 3: than he was in San Diego. San Diego, a little
• 1:39
  Speaker 3: bit less patient maybe, and now he has a different
• 1:42
  Speaker 3: view of things. And we talk about guys who lose
• 1:46
  Speaker 3: their first jobs as manager needing a second chance all
• 1:49
  Speaker 3: the time. Well, he's a good example of how a
• 1:53
  Speaker 3: manager can grow once he gets another shot at it
• 1:56
  Speaker 3: and As we begin the hiring cycle with managers, that's
• 2:01
  Speaker 3: something that's worth keeping in mind.
• 2:04
  Speaker 4: Ken, we talked about this with Craig Stamm. Hey, Kratzy,
• 2:07
  Speaker 4: you don't look like Ken. You look a little different.
• 2:10
  Speaker 4: That's good for Ken. That's good for Ken.
• 2:12
  Speaker 5: True.
• 2:14
  Speaker 4: We talk about this with Craig Stamm all the time,
• 2:16
  Speaker 4: and it's– how he already kind of had the knowledge, right?
• 2:20
  Speaker 5: He had the insider knowledge. He knew what to say.
• 2:22
  Speaker 4: He already had the answers to the test for the job.
• 2:24
  Speaker 5: Interview, right? With Andy Green, is that the same thing?
• 2:27
  Speaker 4: And even a little bit with Chad Tracy, because Chad
• 2:29
  Speaker 4: Tracy kind of knew what Breslau wanted. Breslau wasn't hired,
• 2:33
  Speaker 4: or AC, Alex Cora wasn't hired by Breslau, so Chad
• 2:36
  Speaker 4: Tracy kind of already had the answers to the test.
• 2:39
  Speaker 4: Is that a thing? Even the guy, I just blanked
• 2:42
  Speaker 4: on the Colorado guy.
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: Warren Schaefer.
• 2:46
  Speaker 5: Warren Schaefer, yes.
• 2:48
  Speaker 4: You know, they kind of were already in the organization,
• 2:50
  Speaker 4: so they kind of already knew the right things to
• 2:52
  Speaker 4: say when talking to the GM and the president of
• 2:53
  Speaker 4: baseball ops.
• 2:54
  Speaker 5: Is that kind of a new way to get a
• 2:56
  Speaker 5: job like this?
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: It certainly doesn't hurt.
• 2:59
  Speaker 3: But in the cases of Tracy and Andy Green in particular,
• 3:06
  Speaker 3: their job performance is what got them the job. Now,
• 3:09
  Speaker 3: if Chad Tracy and the Red Sox had continued to
• 3:12
  Speaker 3: stumble the way they had under Alex.
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: Cora, he wouldn't be in this position.
• 3:16
  Speaker 3: If Andy Green hadn't shown something since replacing.
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: Carlos Mendoza, he would not be in this position.
• 3:22
  Speaker 3: So even if Green, as the former farm director, has
• 3:26
  Speaker 3: a really good insight into what David Stearns is thinking
• 3:29
  Speaker 3: and into what you said, AJ, the answers he might want,
• 3:32
  Speaker 3: it doesn't matter if the team fails to perform. That
• 3:35
  Speaker 3: team did perform and has performed for him. It's not
• 3:39
  Speaker 3: world beater. We know that.
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: It's a flawed roster. But they certainly have played better.
• 3:44
  Speaker 3: And actually, some things that have happened recently over the
• 3:47
  Speaker 3: last month or two, have been rather encouraging.
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: The ascent of their younger players, which has been really.
• 3:52
  Speaker 3: Going on all season, and even seeing now Bichette, Soto,
• 3:57
  Speaker 3: and Lindor on the field all at once, that's something
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: that they didn't have all year. So you can see
• 4:04
  Speaker 3: some light there with the Mets. I'm not saying it's
• 4:06
  Speaker 3: going to be great next year. Depends on their offseason.
• 4:09
  Speaker 3: But ultimately, they're in a better place than we might
• 4:12
  Speaker 3: have thought two, three months ago.
• 4:15
  Speaker 4: Right before the show, Will Salmon tweeted out that the
• 4:18
  Speaker 4: Mets have hired Derek Falvey to be some role. I'm
• 4:23
  Speaker 4: not 100% sure what the role is under David Stearns,
• 4:26
  Speaker 4: but is he the type of personality, since he was
• 4:29
  Speaker 4: a GM before, the type of personality that will get
• 4:34
  Speaker 4: or fill in for the cracks that maybe David Stearns,
• 4:36
  Speaker 4: as a president of baseball operations, hasn't been able to
• 4:40
  Speaker 4: fill to do what you said, help this flawed roster?
• 4:45
  Speaker 3: I don't know that Derek Falvey alone could fill in
• 4:48
  Speaker 3: the cracks, as you said, Eric, because he comes from Cleveland,
• 4:52
  Speaker 3: much like David Stearns came from Cleveland.
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: They worked together there.
• 4:56
  Speaker 3: And I don't know that they're all that dissimilar in
• 5:00
  Speaker 3: the way they think about things. Now, obviously, they have
• 5:02
  Speaker 3: different personalities. And sure, it's a different person to enter
• 5:06
  Speaker 3: into the mix. But I would expect, I do expect,
• 5:10
  Speaker 3: that the Mets are also going to hire some others
• 5:12
  Speaker 3: as well in similar kinds of roles. Not necessarily GM,
• 5:16
  Speaker 3: but maybe special assistant, senior advisor, whatever you want to
• 5:20
  Speaker 3: call it, to provide a variety of perspectives. And Falvey,
• 5:25
  Speaker 3: of course, will have a slightly different perspective on Stearns
• 5:28
  Speaker 3: than on some things and maybe a dramatically different perspective
• 5:32
  Speaker 3: on others. But in my view, they are kind of
• 5:35
  Speaker 3: cut from the same cloth as executives. So I would
• 5:38
  Speaker 3: expect the Mets to look for some other voices as well.
• 5:43
  Speaker 3: Having Andy Green as manager kind of fills that in
• 5:47
  Speaker 3: some degree because Andy.
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: Green, of course, was a former player, a former coach.
• 5:52
  Speaker 3: He has that view from down in the field. He's
• 5:56
  Speaker 3: been experienced at that. So that helps, but I still
• 6:00
  Speaker 3: believe they're going to do more.
• 6:02
  Speaker 6: Does it feel like they have to do more in
• 6:04
  Speaker 6: the sense of what you said? This is another GM
• 6:08
  Speaker 6: cut from the same cloth from a Small market, Minnesota, Cleveland,
• 6:13
  Speaker 6: and they kind of have that same. Is it like
• 6:15
  Speaker 6: a last ditch effort to say small market can do
• 6:18
  Speaker 6: well in a big market or is it not that complex?
• 6:24
  Speaker 3: They definitely want to round out the front office with
• 6:26
  Speaker 3: some different voices. And yes, David Stearns brought small market
• 6:31
  Speaker 3: principles to the Mets in some regard. And Derek Falvey
• 6:35
  Speaker 3: will have his own perspective from his time with the
• 6:38
  Speaker 3: Minnesota Twins. I'm not saying, Eric, they need to bring
• 6:41
  Speaker 3: in a big market guy. It seems to me they
• 6:45
  Speaker 3: need someone with more experience on the field, perhaps, or
• 6:49
  Speaker 3: at least with players, just a different view. And it's
• 6:54
  Speaker 3: not that David Stearns, in my view, is a bad executive.
• 6:57
  Speaker 3: I know he had a bad year. I still believe,
• 7:00
  Speaker 3: as do a lot of people in baseball. I was
• 7:01
  Speaker 3: speaking with a colleague of his this morning, not with
• 7:04
  Speaker 3: his team, with another team. They think he's going to
• 7:07
  Speaker 3: figure it out.
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: He's going to be just fine. Now, it's been disappointing.
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: No question so far.
• 7:11
  Speaker 3: But the guy in Milwaukee, he didn't suddenly turn into
• 7:16
  Speaker 3: an idiot. So, yes, he's acknowledging, Steve Cohen as owner
• 7:20
  Speaker 3: is acknowledging that they need some help.
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: That will benefit them.
• 7:24
  Speaker 3: But I do expect good things are going to happen
• 7:27
  Speaker 3: there eventually.
• 7:30
  Speaker 5: Ken, all this hiring and firing is great.
• 7:33
  Speaker 3: Is there....
• 7:35
  Speaker 5: Besides Joe Espada, is there another manager?
• 7:37
  Speaker 4: Because a lot of these managers have happened in the
• 7:39
  Speaker 4: regular season that, you know, Alex Gore, obviously.
• 7:42
  Speaker 5: Joe Espada is obviously the one that.
• 7:44
  Speaker 4: All the lights are on right now with Dana Brown
• 7:46
  Speaker 4: being fired. Is there another manager that you can think
• 7:49
  Speaker 4: of that possibly is on the hot seat? Would it
• 7:51
  Speaker 4: be a Mark Kotze? Dan Wilson's been rumored to be gone, right?
• 7:55
  Speaker 4: Is there a Mark Kotze? Kurt Suzuki's contract is up
• 7:58
  Speaker 4: with a new owner and possibly new front office. I mean,
• 8:01
  Speaker 4: are we looking at a record number of turnover in
• 8:04
  Speaker 4: this season?
• 8:05
  Speaker 5: Offseason, and if you count the season and the offseason?
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: I wouldn't say a.
• 8:09
  Speaker 3: Record, AJ. We've had some years where there were seven
• 8:12
  Speaker 3: or eight different managers hired.
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: I don't know that it's.
• 8:14
  Speaker 3: Going to get to that, though it could. And you
• 8:17
  Speaker 3: mentioned Wilson. You mentioned Suzuki.
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: They are obvious.
• 8:20
  Speaker 3: Joe Espada, obvious. These guys are all on the hot
• 8:23
  Speaker 3: seat in one form or another. Tori Lavello in Arizona
• 8:27
  Speaker 3: is interesting because they're not out of it yet. You
• 8:30
  Speaker 3: could argue that Torrey Lovello actually has done a rather
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: good job with that team considering all the injuries they've had,
• 8:36
  Speaker 3: the underperformance from their best three hitters. And yet maybe
• 8:41
  Speaker 3: they feel the Diamondbacks, maybe they ultimately will determine that
• 8:44
  Speaker 3: it's time. It's been 10, 11 years and that's enough.
• 8:48
  Speaker 3: I don't know that that's going to happen. I know
• 8:49
  Speaker 3: Torrey was quoted as saying, was on a radio show
• 8:52
  Speaker 3: and said, if they don't make the playoffs, he believes
• 8:54
  Speaker 3: he probably will be fired. I don't know that he
• 8:56
  Speaker 3: has any particular insight on that. Maybe it's just the
• 8:59
  Speaker 3: sense he has. But that is one to watch for sure.
• 9:02
  Speaker 3: It's going to be interesting. And I will say this also, AJ.
• 9:06
  Speaker 3: Every year, it seems, well, maybe not every year, but
• 9:10
  Speaker 3: a lot of times, we get a surprise or two
• 9:13
  Speaker 3: in the managerial firings or even the general manager firings.
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: Ones that come out of nowhere.
• 9:19
  Speaker 3: Mike Schilt, a couple of years ago, when he resigned,
• 9:21
  Speaker 3: that was very surprising.
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: Actually, that was last year.
• 9:24
  Speaker 3: So I wouldn't be surprised to see something along those
• 9:28
  Speaker 3: lines happen because... Things do change and things are going
• 9:32
  Speaker 3: on behind.
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: The scenes that we don't necessarily know about.
• 9:37
  Speaker 6: Something that's not a surprise is you wrote an article
• 9:39
  Speaker 6: about Rays pitching because Rays seem to always find pitching.
• 9:44
  Speaker 6: As they just won the American League East last night,
• 9:49
  Speaker 6: how is their pitching shaping up for the playoffs, which
• 9:52
  Speaker 6: they're going to get a bye, so they're going to
• 9:54
  Speaker 6: set whatever pitching you tell me they have to a
• 9:57
  Speaker 6: tee to win the first series?
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: It shapes up great, Eric.
• 10:02
  Speaker 3: And beyond that, the schedule really plays into their hands
• 10:06
  Speaker 3: as well. In the American League wildcard, or I'm sorry,
• 10:10
  Speaker 3: the American League division series, the two division series that
• 10:12
  Speaker 3: will take place, there are two off days. So basically,
• 10:16
  Speaker 3: you can use your top two starters Twice, four out
• 10:19
  Speaker 3: of four games. They have two starters who are among
• 10:23
  Speaker 3: the top six in ERA in the American League, and
• 10:25
  Speaker 3: I'm talking about Drew Rasmussen, who was brilliant again last night,
• 10:29
  Speaker 3: and Nick Martinez. The third guy very well could be
• 10:34
  Speaker 3: Freddy Peralta. And as I wrote, I know this might
• 10:36
  Speaker 3: shock Mets fans who watched him struggle to a 4.99
• 10:39
  Speaker 3: ERA in.
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: A Mets uniform, but last five starts with Tampa Bay,
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: 0.94 ERA.
• 10:44
  Speaker 7: His last start, His average four-seam fastball velocity was 96.8,
• 10:52
  Speaker 7: third highest of his career, highest since 2019.
• 10:56
  Speaker 3: So, as so many pitchers often do with the Rays,
• 11:00
  Speaker 3: he seems to have found something. Now, if for some
• 11:03
  Speaker 3: reason they don't want to go with Peralta in Game 3,
• 11:05
  Speaker 3: maybe it's Griffin Jacks, who has performed well since moving
• 11:08
  Speaker 3: to the rotation. They also have Ian Seymour. Probably he's
• 11:11
  Speaker 3: the fifth guy. You only need three in the Division Series.
• 11:15
  Speaker 3: You would need four in the LCS.
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: Jax can re-enter the picture.
• 11:18
  Speaker 3: There if they advance. But yeah, they're in great shape.
• 11:21
  Speaker 3: And they've got also some injured relievers. Tyler Wells and
• 11:26
  Speaker 3: Garrett Clevenger and Manny Rodriguez seemingly working their way back
• 11:31
  Speaker 3: into the mix coming off the IL. Not yet for
• 11:34
  Speaker 3: all of them, but they're getting there. They've got all
• 11:37
  Speaker 3: that too. So they've got some interesting choices to make
• 11:40
  Speaker 3: before the DS starts. And.
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: They're going to be picking from a good place, put
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: it that way.
• 11:45
  Speaker 4: Okay, we all know. We all know the Rays figure
• 11:49
  Speaker 4: out pitching. They all figure out pitching. But what I
• 11:51
  Speaker 4: want to know is you mentioned the DS. Before we
• 11:55
  Speaker 4: get to the DS, there's a wild card round. Who's
• 11:57
  Speaker 4: going to be the AL West winner? And will they
• 11:59
  Speaker 4: be under 500? And also, this is a three-part question.
• 12:02
  Speaker 5: Who's going to win? Who are they going to play? Should,
• 12:08
  Speaker 5: if they ended up under 500, make the postseason?
• 12:12
  Speaker 3: Well. The way the standings work and the way the
• 12:15
  Speaker 3: postseason works, if you finish under 500 and you win
• 12:18
  Speaker 3: your division, you make the postseason. I don't think that's
• 12:20
  Speaker 3: going to happen where we're going to have a sub-500
• 12:22
  Speaker 3: team because you look at the records right there. Yes,
• 12:26
  Speaker 3: the Astros and Rangers are below 500, but to win
• 12:28
  Speaker 3: the division, you would think one of those teams is
• 12:32
  Speaker 3: going to get over 500. That's kind of how it
• 12:35
  Speaker 3: could go. Now, it also could go that they lose
• 12:38
  Speaker 3: out the rest of the way, and yes, we have
• 12:39
  Speaker 3: one sub-500 team, team that goes into the playoffs as
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: a division champion, that wouldn't be a great look. It
• 12:46
  Speaker 3: certainly looks like the AL Central winner is going to
• 12:49
  Speaker 3: be the number two seed, could get a bye, would
• 12:51
  Speaker 3: be the Guardians or, of course, the White Sox. So
• 12:56
  Speaker 3: if I had to predict in the AL West, I
• 12:58
  Speaker 3: would go with the Astros simply.
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: Because they've been there so often and they have that
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: way about them.
• 13:03
  Speaker 3: Are they a good team? I don't know that anyone
• 13:05
  Speaker 3: would suggest that they're a good team. And the same
• 13:07
  Speaker 3: would be said for the Rangers. The Rangers losing Jock
• 13:09
  Speaker 3: doesn't help. Certainly.
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: And I don't know.
• 13:13
  Speaker 3: They've been very inconsistent all year. They've also shown some resilience.
• 13:16
  Speaker 3: So I don't want to count them out in any respect.
• 13:18
  Speaker 3: But I still would go with Houston kind of grudgingly
• 13:22
  Speaker 3: because I don't really want to pick either one of.
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: These teams to win the division when they can't even
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: get over 500.
• 13:28
  Speaker 6: Ken doesn't want the under 500 teams. I hear it.
• 13:30
  Speaker 6: I hear it. You didn't want to say it. I
• 13:32
  Speaker 6: hear it. You're going by the rules. It's totally fine.
• 13:35
  Speaker 6: Tampa Bay playing Philly. Tampa Bay, it's going to be
• 13:39
  Speaker 6: one of our games on Fox coming up here. Is
• 13:43
  Speaker 6: this kind of a worst-case scenario for Major League Baseball
• 13:46
  Speaker 6: in the sense that you never know how it's going
• 13:48
  Speaker 6: to end, but the Rays are solidified in their spot,
• 13:51
  Speaker 6: if I'm not mistaken. They're not going to be able
• 13:55
  Speaker 6: to be caught for the number one seed in the
• 13:58
  Speaker 6: American League. The Phillies need these games, and they need
• 14:02
  Speaker 6: to win, so... How is this series going to play out?
• 14:07
  Speaker 6: Is it a Tampa Bay line everybody up, or do
• 14:11
  Speaker 6: they push all the way through since they have those
• 14:14
  Speaker 6: off days that we just talked about?
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: There's no reason for Tampa Bay to push through.
• 14:19
  Speaker 3: They can simply line up how they want with their pitchers,
• 14:22
  Speaker 3: rest position players who might need a rest. They're not
• 14:24
  Speaker 3: going to play this as if they're playing for a
• 14:27
  Speaker 3: first round bye. They already have that. They already have
• 14:30
  Speaker 3: clinched the best record of the American League. So They
• 14:33
  Speaker 3: don't look at this or won't look at this the
• 14:35
  Speaker 3: same way the Phillies will, because the Phillies likely will
• 14:39
  Speaker 3: be playing not necessarily for a postseason spot, but for
• 14:43
  Speaker 3: exceeding and ultimately home field.
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: Advantage in the first round.
• 14:48
  Speaker 3: So, yes, it's not ideal when this happens, but I
• 14:53
  Speaker 3: wouldn't call it a worst case scenario for MLB. We
• 14:55
  Speaker 3: seemingly go through these things every year, and that's the
• 14:57
  Speaker 3: way it plays out. Over 162, you might have a team.
• 15:00
  Speaker 3: That clinches before the end, facing a team that is
• 15:03
  Speaker 3: still in the mix in some fashion for a postseason
• 15:07
  Speaker 3: seeding or a postseason berth altogether. So it's not a
• 15:11
  Speaker 3: worst case scenario.
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: It's just the simple reality of where the standings are
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: and how the schedule falls.
• 15:18
  Speaker 5: Man, am I not glad I'm not working this weekend.
• 15:21
  Speaker 5: I don't have to worry about any of these scenarios.
• 15:23
  Speaker 5: Who's playing? Who's not playing? Who can? Sucks that you
• 15:26
  Speaker 5: have to work this weekend. I am super excited. Thank you.
• 15:29
  Speaker 5: Fox for giving me this weekend off. One other question
• 15:33
  Speaker 5: for you.
• 15:33
  Speaker 4: The Cubs-Red Sox, they're supposed to be really bad weather
• 15:37
  Speaker 4: in Boston this weekend.
• 15:39
  Speaker 5: Is there any contingency plan?
• 15:41
  Speaker 4: Because these games, now for the Red Sox, they're locked
• 15:43
  Speaker 4: into the two seed pretty much in the American League wildcard,
• 15:47
  Speaker 4: but the Cubs are not locked into a seed. So
• 15:49
  Speaker 4: is there any contingency plan that you've heard in case
• 15:51
  Speaker 4: the weather just turns to complete crap?
• 15:55
  Speaker 3: Yes, there is a contingency plan, and they're already talking
• 15:58
  Speaker 3: about potentially a Friday doubleheader and a Saturday game because
• 16:02
  Speaker 3: apparently the worst of the rain is expected Saturday night.
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: Now, weather is unpredictable.
• 16:08
  Speaker 3: New England weather, like Chicago weather, is particularly unpredictable, but.
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: They're going to figure out how to get these games in.
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: They have to.
• 16:15
  Speaker 3: They're too important for the Cubs, much like we were
• 16:17
  Speaker 3: just discussing with the Phillies. So it's going to work
• 16:21
  Speaker 3: out that way. And the Red Sox, by the way, AJ,
• 16:23
  Speaker 3: they're going to be the 5C. They'll be the second
• 16:25
  Speaker 3: wild card, but they'll be the 5C playing the 4C,
• 16:28
  Speaker 3: the Yankees in that wildcard round.
• 16:31
  Speaker 5: Not unless they get caught by one of the central teams, Ken.
• 16:33
  Speaker 5: It can happen. It can happen.
• 16:35
  Speaker 3: It can happen.
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: There is a scenario in which that happens. That's correct.
• 16:38
  Speaker 6: Who's in charge of that decision? Is it Major League Baseball,
• 16:41
  Speaker 6: or do the players also get votes with that, like
• 16:44
  Speaker 6: a rainout? No, it's all Major League Baseball.
• 16:47
  Speaker 3: Yes, and it has to be in this case. They
• 16:50
  Speaker 3: have to figure out how to get the games in.
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: It's too important.
• 16:53
  Speaker 3: Nobody wants to go into Monday and then have a
• 16:56
  Speaker 3: situation where you're playing a final regular season game on
• 16:59
  Speaker 3: Monday and then the first game of the wildcard series
• 17:02
  Speaker 3: on Tuesday. Not ideal, and let's hope it doesn't happen.
• 17:07
  Speaker 8: Wait, we can't bury the lead on the way out here.
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: AJ was making fun of you, mocking you for working
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: on Saturday and having to deal with scenarios, and then
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: five seconds later, he was bringing up a scenario.
• 17:22
  Speaker 3: Scott, first of all, I don't know why you'd be
• 17:24
  Speaker 3: mocking me for working.
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: I like to work.
• 17:27
  Speaker 5: I like to work too.
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: I don't know what the situation is.
• 17:31
  Speaker 3: And scenarios like this, we all can handle. It's kind
• 17:34
  Speaker 3: of part of the job to talk about playoff scenarios
• 17:36
  Speaker 3: at this time of year.
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: So if A.J.
• 17:39
  Speaker 3: Happened to be working, he would be, I'm sure, quite
• 17:43
  Speaker 3: diligent in figuring out how all the tiebreakers and playoff
• 17:48
  Speaker 3: seedings work.
• 17:49
  Speaker 5: That's why we have a B.A.
• 17:50
  Speaker 4: And A.D., A stat guy, another stat guy, because they tell,
• 17:55
  Speaker 4: in my ear, they go, boop, boop, boop.
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: Boop, boop.
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: AJ, don't give away the secrets, man.
• 18:00
  Speaker 8: Yeah, come on. I'm sure.
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: Everyone thinks, yeah, everyone thinks you press the buttons, like
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: you're directing the show. You tell the camera dudes and
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: the photogs and women what to do, right?
• 18:12
  Speaker 8: Go to 82, go to 82. Right, you do that.
• 18:15
  Speaker 8: You set up the whole rundown for every show. So anyway, Ken,
• 18:18
  Speaker 8: thank you.
• 18:19
  Speaker 5: Let's not go to Ken. We'll see you on FAIR.
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: That's his primary instruction. Don't go to Ken.
• 18:27
  Speaker 8: It's the button. Don't go to Ken. All right. Thank you, Ken.
• 18:30
  Speaker 8: We'll see you this weekend on Fox.
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: And also you'll see Ken on Thursday on fair, but
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: as far as Fox and Fox one, we talked about
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: the scheduling there. So some games that you can watch
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: exclusively either TV wise on FS one, like Cincinnati and
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: Atlanta or on the Fox one app, of course, you
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: know it and Tampa Bay Philly or Baltimore and the
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: Yanks on Saturday, again, Fox and the Fox one app.
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: And then, Playoff mode coming up for the Fox One
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: app includes the 2026 World Series. You can find it there.
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: Three-day free trial at foxone.com to get started.
• 19:03
  Speaker 5: With all these teams, Cratch, clinching postseason bursts. Geez, a
• 19:07
  Speaker 5: lot of teams have already clinched.
• 19:08
  Speaker 6: You know what that means? SeatGeek.
• 19:09
  Speaker 4: You can plan ahead and start buying your postseason tickets
• 19:13
  Speaker 4: on SeatGeek.
• 19:15
  Speaker 6: Just because you're not a fan of those teams, though,
• 19:17
  Speaker 6: doesn't mean that these last... Games of the season aren't
• 19:21
  Speaker 6: going to be electric. It doesn't matter who you're playing.
• 19:23
  Speaker 6: You're playing the worst team, your game matters. You're playing
• 19:26
  Speaker 6: the best team, the game matters. You've got to get
• 19:28
  Speaker 6: on SeatGeek and look ahead for when your team's in
• 19:31
  Speaker 6: the home. Find the seat you want. If it's green,
• 19:33
  Speaker 6: it means a good deal. If it's red, eh, not
• 19:35
  Speaker 6: so much. But you might love the seat and you
• 19:37
  Speaker 6: might love the angle and you might get a foul ball.
• 19:39
  Speaker 6: So go on SeatGeek, find the game you want, find
• 19:41
  Speaker 6: the matchup you want, and go watch the game because
• 19:43
  Speaker 6: it's Major League Baseball and it matters down the stretch.
• 19:46
  Speaker 4: Pennant Fever is on. You can use the code TERRITORY10.
• 19:49
  Speaker 4: For 10% off, your next set of MLB tickets at SeatGeek.
• 19:52
  Speaker 4: That's 10% off MLB tickets with promo code TERRITORY10. Make
• 19:57
  Speaker 4: sure you click the link in the description to download
• 19:59
  Speaker 4: the app and have the code automatically added to your
• 20:01
  Speaker 4: account so you can.
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: Use it later.
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: Hey, John Greenberg is back on the show, senior columnist
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: for The Athletic. Yeah, you know we're talking Chicago baseball
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: to start. Later, we'll talk about the owner article you
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: had there too, John. But where are we at with
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: the Cubs and the White Sox right now and the
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: pulse of the city?
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: Well, yeah. I mean, they could both clinch today. I mean, technically.
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: I mean, I don't think it will both happen today,
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: but they can both clinch today. They're both going to clinch.
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: They're both making the playoffs. Cubs are– or just have
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: to win one more game, basically, or someone lose one
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: more game. The White Sox are going to do it.
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: Two more against the Royals, three more against the Rockies.
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: There's only been three times ever that both teams have
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: made the playoffs in the same year. We talk a
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: lot about the Crosstown World Series, and that's always kind
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: of a running narrative of how great.
• 20:53
  Speaker 5: It would be.
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: It would have only really been great if A.J. was
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: still playing because that would have been amazing. But one
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: of the three times they've done it before, A.J. was
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: you know, with the white socks when 2008 and we
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: both thought, you know, both teams had a chance at
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: one point and then they both got, they both lost in.
• 21:12
  Speaker 4: The first round. So it didn't quite, didn't quite work out. John,
• 21:15
  Speaker 4: first of all, people in the city are happy. John,
• 21:18
  Speaker 4: first of all, we made it longer than the Cubs did.
• 21:20
  Speaker 4: They got swept out here. I think that was the year.
• 21:22
  Speaker 4: I think that was your Ted Lilly threw his glove.
• 21:24
  Speaker 4: They played Arizona. Was that the year before where he
• 21:26
  Speaker 4: gave us, he.
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: Spiked it the year before. Oh, that was 2007. This
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: was the year they lost to the Dodgers, and they
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: got swept. Dodgers got one. Do you remember late in
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: the season? You guys got one. And if Carlos Quinton
• 21:40
  Speaker 2: doesn't break his hand, who knows what happens.
• 21:44
  Speaker 5: Carlos Quinton doesn't break his hand.
• 21:45
  Speaker 4: He wins the MVP that year, and we might actually
• 21:47
  Speaker 4: make it very, very far that year. You were talking
• 21:52
  Speaker 4: about them both being able to clinch. Do you think
• 21:54
  Speaker 4: the White Sox will celebrate if they clinch a postseason spot?
• 21:58
  Speaker 4: Because they want to win the division. Let's say they
• 22:00
  Speaker 4: win and they get in and they're guaranteed a postseason spot.
• 22:03
  Speaker 5: And then, but the Guardians win too.
• 22:05
  Speaker 4: Do you think the White Sox will celebrate or will
• 22:07
  Speaker 4: they wait to find out if they're the wild card
• 22:09
  Speaker 4: or the division winner?
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's really interesting. At first glance, I would say, yeah,
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: of course they're going to celebrate, right? No one expected this.
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: You know, it's a young, fun team, bunch of goofballs.
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: But you make a really good point because like after
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: you clinch and celebrate, then usually the next day guys
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: get days off, right? they can't afford that because they're
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: one game back of Cleveland and they've got the tiebreaker.
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: So what do you guys think? I mean, would you,
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: you know, on one hand you have the idea of, yeah,
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: you should celebrate it. And on the other hand, you
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: can't really afford any slippage.
• 22:42
  Speaker 5: Yeah. I don't know.
• 22:43
  Speaker 4: It's, it's a, it's a slippery slope because ask rats, uh,
• 22:47
  Speaker 4: the Cubs, the one year was a 2018. Where they
• 22:51
  Speaker 4: didn't get to celebrate. They made the postseason and they
• 22:54
  Speaker 4: lost to the Brewers and they lost to the Rockies.
• 22:55
  Speaker 4: And they were like, well, wait, that was quick.
• 22:57
  Speaker 5: We're out.
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: I remember that.
• 22:58
  Speaker 5: I mean, it made my day. It made my year.
• 23:00
  Speaker 5: But I mean, for the Cubs fans and the Cubs players,
• 23:02
  Speaker 5: it didn't get to celebrate. It probably sucked.
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a great point. You know, and I covered
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: that team and I forgot about that, that they didn't celebrate.
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: And they had those three. They all lost all those
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: at home. And I just remember John Lester talking to
• 23:14
  Speaker 2: him before one of the games and saying he actually
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: used Adam Dunn as like a reference point. They were
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: feeling sorry for themselves, but he's like, Adam Dunn got
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: to the playoffs once with the A's in that wildcard
• 23:24
  Speaker 2: game and he didn't play. So he was kind of like,
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: let's feel at least happy that we're in the mix
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: kind of thing. But yeah, that was a bad ending.
• 23:33
  Speaker 6: Yeah, I asked Joe Maddon about it too. He comes
• 23:35
  Speaker 6: on the show and he was like, kind of slipped
• 23:37
  Speaker 6: our mind.
• 23:39
  Speaker 4: As the being on the other side with the Brewers,
• 23:43
  Speaker 4: I don't feel like it slipped their mind. I feel
• 23:44
  Speaker 4: like they had a goal of winning this, winning the division. Joe,
• 23:48
  Speaker 4: nothing ever slips Joe's mind. So I disagreed with that,
• 23:52
  Speaker 4: but cause he was very calculated, you know, you, you, yeah.
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: Oh yeah.
• 23:56
  Speaker 6: You wrote about it.
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: Martinez had that, like, you know, they had that schedule.
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: They had fun scheduled.
• 24:02
  Speaker 6: Yes, exactly. Scheduled fun. That doesn't sound like fun to me.
• 24:08
  Speaker 6: Who owns this? Who owns the city right now? The upstart.
• 24:13
  Speaker 6: White Sox or the better, more good-looking Cubs?
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: You know, it's such a good question because it's been
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: back and forth, I feel like, all season. I think
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: for a lot of this, you know, the beginning of
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: the season, the really beginning, it was the Cubs, right?
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: Because they had two 10-game win streaks in April, basically.
• 24:32
  Speaker 2: Then they had a 10-game losing streak. And that's when
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: the White Sox took off. And then, like, you know,
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: the White Sox won the first round of the City Series.
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: Looked like they had the series done. And Pete Crowe's
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: Armstrong takes off. You know, Murakami gets hurt. White Sox
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: starts slipping. I feel like it's almost really even. And
• 24:50
  Speaker 2: the story I did kind of, you know, I talked
• 24:52
  Speaker 2: to fans about how great this season is. But every
• 24:54
  Speaker 2: time I talked to groups of fans, they also talked
• 24:56
  Speaker 2: about how worried they were and how nervous they were. And,
• 24:59
  Speaker 2: you know, like Cubs fans basically said, like as White
• 25:01
  Speaker 2: Sox fans could say, you know, I've just had so
• 25:04
  Speaker 2: much fun this season because I care again. But Cubs
• 25:07
  Speaker 2: fans are kind of past that. You know, they didn't
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: have the 121 loss season. They didn't reach the bottom.
• 25:14
  Speaker 2: So they were kind of holding themselves to a different standard.
• 25:18
  Speaker 2: I think this case, it's whoever advances farther in the postseason,
• 25:22
  Speaker 2: but the White Sox are the best story in the city,
• 25:26
  Speaker 2: and there's no question. I mean, PCA is the best
• 25:28
  Speaker 2: individual story by far, but from a team story, it's
• 25:31
  Speaker 2: the White Sox.
• 25:33
  Speaker 5: Yes, you're right, John.
• 25:34
  Speaker 4: But it would be a disappointment if they didn't make
• 25:36
  Speaker 4: the postseason, which they're going to, and it would be
• 25:38
  Speaker 4: a disappointment if they didn't make a deep run, which...
• 25:40
  Speaker 4: We'll see how that goes. Should the Cubs fans thank
• 25:43
  Speaker 4: the White Sox fans at the end of the year?
• 25:45
  Speaker 4: Should they thank them for what that one lady did
• 25:47
  Speaker 4: to PCA? She saved not only his season, but maybe
• 25:50
  Speaker 4: his career. I mean, that one lady telling him he
• 25:54
  Speaker 4: sucked and he was PC AAA turned his whole season.
• 25:57
  Speaker 5: And maybe his career around.
• 25:59
  Speaker 4: So I feel like Cub fans owe us White Sox
• 26:01
  Speaker 4: fans a huge apology. I know they owe me about $ 1, 000,
• 26:03
  Speaker 4: but let's start with that one. She didn't cash.
• 26:06
  Speaker 2: In at all. Like she should have cashed in and
• 26:12
  Speaker 2: like a white, you know, been at Cork and Carrie,
• 26:14
  Speaker 2: like at least toast for the bar event, you know, something.
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: She didn't cash in at all. Yeah.
• 26:20
  Speaker 7: Right.
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: She, she should have like done something more and she
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: kind of just got, I think kept it quiet, but
• 26:25
  Speaker 2: I agree with you. I mean, that was like, that
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: was like the low point.
• 26:28
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 26:28
  Speaker 2: Cause remember the week after that, he had like a
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: couple defensive miscues, which seemed crazy when he misses, you know,
• 26:33
  Speaker 2: screws up defensively. And then all of a sudden he
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: just took off about a week late, you know, about
• 26:38
  Speaker 2: a week after that happened. and became the best player
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: in baseball. And he is an amazing story. You know,
• 26:44
  Speaker 2: I had a really good conversation with his dad last
• 26:46
  Speaker 2: week for a story I'm working on. And just, you know,
• 26:49
  Speaker 2: his dad raised him to be a Cubs fan. And like,
• 26:52
  Speaker 2: it just like, what a, what a life. And I
• 26:55
  Speaker 2: had a good talk with Pete a week or so
• 26:56
  Speaker 2: ago about it. Just like an incredible season. He's absolutely,
• 27:01
  Speaker 2: you know, with Caleb Hurd, he's the top guy in
• 27:02
  Speaker 2: Chicago for sure. But, you know, his story has been fantastic.
• 27:06
  Speaker 5: Had to go there. You had to go there. Sorry, Kratz.
• 27:09
  Speaker 4: I know you're going to ask a cup question, but
• 27:12
  Speaker 4: Caleb Williams is now the man of memes.
• 27:14
  Speaker 5: Was that the craziest? Like I'm dead. I've been shot.
• 27:18
  Speaker 4: I'm never going to walk again to he, he might
• 27:20
  Speaker 4: play this week. Like, is that the crazy? And then he,
• 27:23
  Speaker 4: and then he comes out and says, they don't make
• 27:25
  Speaker 4: memes about losers or whatever his quote was.
• 27:27
  Speaker 5: They don't like, no, no.
• 27:29
  Speaker 3: Sorry.
• 27:29
  Speaker 7: I know.
• 27:29
  Speaker 8: What?
• 27:30
  Speaker 5: Okay. So he is hurt.
• 27:32
  Speaker 2: Like they, they said they're not ruling him out, but
• 27:37
  Speaker 2: he's not playing this week and he's not going to
• 27:39
  Speaker 2: play next week either. I don't think, I think he's
• 27:40
  Speaker 2: out for a couple of weeks, you know, right. Right.
• 27:45
  Speaker 6: Oh, the Eagles.
• 27:46
  Speaker 7: Yeah.
• 27:46
  Speaker 2: I would, I would put the Eagles on your little
• 27:48
  Speaker 2: best bet segment. You guys did. I don't think he's
• 27:52
  Speaker 2: playing for a couple of weeks. You guys of course
• 27:53
  Speaker 2: know how tricky hamstrings can be for athletes. But yeah, like, listen,
• 27:57
  Speaker 2: I wrote a column on that today and it's just
• 27:59
  Speaker 2: kind of like, I never liked to rip on athletes for,
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: for injury stuff.
• 28:03
  Speaker 8: Right.
• 28:03
  Speaker 2: Or like I now, obviously me, this likes, schlubby 47
• 28:07
  Speaker 2: year old guy. I'm not going to tell a guy
• 28:08
  Speaker 2: he's not tough that plays professional sports, but like, yeah,
• 28:12
  Speaker 2: I mean the, the, the memes that were coming out
• 28:13
  Speaker 2: were mostly pretty funny. Like of just like the idea
• 28:16
  Speaker 2: of conquering small obstacles in your life and kind of
• 28:19
  Speaker 2: pumping your fists with tears in your eyes is like
• 28:21
  Speaker 2: funny and relatable to everyone. But Caleb didn't miss it.
• 28:25
  Speaker 2: Caleb didn't miss a start for two seasons, including his,
• 28:28
  Speaker 2: his rookie year. He got sacked 68 times, which was like,
• 28:31
  Speaker 2: he was just getting bludgeoned. So, I give the guy
• 28:33
  Speaker 2: a lot of credit for his toughness. Pretty cool guy.
• 28:37
  Speaker 2: We'll see when he comes back and see if they
• 28:38
  Speaker 2: can survive like him being out. It will be interesting.
• 28:41
  Speaker 6: All right. That's enough football talk because Scott's on the show.
• 28:45
  Speaker 6: Scott doesn't like football, but he knows the game inside
• 28:49
  Speaker 6: and out. But my question to you is, I get it.
• 28:54
  Speaker 6: You can change metrics. You can manipulate things around. How
• 28:58
  Speaker 6: on earth, when I look at the defensive runs saved,
• 29:01
  Speaker 6: are the Cubs the best, by far, defensive team in
• 29:06
  Speaker 6: the game, and one of the worst, if not the worst,
• 29:09
  Speaker 6: pitching teams? Because when you go down defensive runs saved,
• 29:12
  Speaker 6: and I'm just going to go the first few teams,
• 29:14
  Speaker 6: it's the Cubs, and then you go Rays. Great pitching staff.
• 29:17
  Speaker 6: Red Sox, great pitching staff.
• 29:19
  Speaker 5: Brewers.
• 29:20
  Speaker 6: Braves are the next four teams, all with great pitching staff,
• 29:24
  Speaker 6: bullpen and starting rotation. And the Cubs are the exact opposite.
• 29:29
  Speaker 6: How is that possible? Does that show how bad this
• 29:32
  Speaker 6: pitching staff really is?
• 29:33
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think absolutely. I mean, that's the big take
• 29:36
  Speaker 2: when they were assembling the pitching staff is they were
• 29:38
  Speaker 2: looking they knew they had a good defense so they
• 29:41
  Speaker 2: were looking for guys maybe who fit that gonna be
• 29:43
  Speaker 2: ground ball pitchers things like that guys that would would
• 29:46
  Speaker 2: benefit that's what we heard is guys like edward cabrera
• 29:48
  Speaker 2: were going to benefit from this cubs defense edward cabrera
• 29:52
  Speaker 2: is now like unpitchable you know they threw him again
• 29:55
  Speaker 2: last night and he's awful i can't imagine like you
• 29:57
  Speaker 2: can't pitch him in the playoffs And he was their
• 30:00
  Speaker 2: big offseason pitching addition. So, yeah, it does show how
• 30:04
  Speaker 2: bad the pitching staff has been. And listen, let's not
• 30:07
  Speaker 2: forget that they were really injury riddled, especially early in
• 30:10
  Speaker 2: the season. There was times where you had no idea
• 30:11
  Speaker 2: who was going to be starting. But the fact that
• 30:13
  Speaker 2: they got rid of Tyon, Cabrera can't pitch, you know,
• 30:17
  Speaker 2: it's just been a really bad run for their pitching department. And,
• 30:22
  Speaker 2: you know, we thought that Jed made these great moves
• 30:24
  Speaker 2: at the deadline. And I would say Gossman and Holmes
• 30:27
  Speaker 2: have been, you know, pluses for them. I think those
• 30:29
  Speaker 2: are good pitchers guys are going to see in the playoffs.
• 30:32
  Speaker 2: But Zephyr John, you know, hasn't pitched like people thought
• 30:35
  Speaker 2: he would. I think they thought he was going to
• 30:36
  Speaker 2: be like kind of a star relief guy where you
• 30:39
  Speaker 2: can put him anywhere. And it just hasn't been that.
• 30:42
  Speaker 2: So Braxton Garrett, you haven't seen him really. It's yeah,
• 30:46
  Speaker 2: it's just it's a bad pitching staff with a great
• 30:48
  Speaker 2: defense and a great offense. Very weird, very strange because
• 30:51
  Speaker 2: they should be like a World Series contender.
• 30:55
  Speaker 4: John, when you mentioned guys that can't pitch, one of
• 30:58
  Speaker 4: the big White Sox moves was Luis Castillo.
• 31:00
  Speaker 5: They can't pitch him.
• 31:02
  Speaker 4: They pitched him last night with a seven-run lead, and
• 31:04
  Speaker 4: he gave up the grand slam to Vinny.
• 31:06
  Speaker 5: And then you're like, oh, and then all of a
• 31:07
  Speaker 5: sudden they have to get.
• 31:08
  Speaker 4: Grant Taylor up because they're like, oh, my gosh, this
• 31:11
  Speaker 4: is really going to happen, right?
• 31:13
  Speaker 5: And then they owe him $ 23 million for next year.
• 31:17
  Speaker 5: can the White Sox survive?
• 31:18
  Speaker 4: I know they didn't give up a ton for him,
• 31:20
  Speaker 4: but still like how big of a move is that,
• 31:22
  Speaker 4: that a guy they were counting into kind of come
• 31:24
  Speaker 4: in and solidify the staff is borderline unpitchable.
• 31:27
  Speaker 2: And apparently they.
• 31:29
  Speaker 5: Tried to put him on the IL and he wouldn't
• 31:30
  Speaker 5: do it or something. I don't know.
• 31:31
  Speaker 4: There's some crazy rumor out there that they tried to
• 31:33
  Speaker 4: put him on the IL and he wouldn't go on
• 31:34
  Speaker 4: the IL.
• 31:36
  Speaker 2: I wouldn't be surprised. Guys probably do that all the times,
• 31:38
  Speaker 2: but he, yeah, it's been just a disastrous move. I mean,
• 31:41
  Speaker 2: and gets, you know, gets nailed most of his off
• 31:44
  Speaker 2: season moves, right? The one he didn't was Sir Anthony Dominguez.
• 31:48
  Speaker 2: And then to get rid of Sir Anthony Dominguez, they
• 31:50
  Speaker 2: trade him for Castillo. And so it's like they're spending
• 31:54
  Speaker 2: an extra $ 10 million next year for Castillo. Now, maybe
• 31:58
  Speaker 2: he'll be fine next year, but this year is what matters.
• 32:01
  Speaker 2: And they trade him for him for this year, and
• 32:03
  Speaker 2: he's been an absolute disaster. And they did not have
• 32:06
  Speaker 2: that margin for error. I mean, they should have clinched
• 32:08
  Speaker 2: the division already with the way they were playing. And
• 32:12
  Speaker 2: then Murakami and Montgomery go into slumps. This guy can't pitch.
• 32:16
  Speaker 2: It's just been awful. And you're right, AJ. They can't
• 32:18
  Speaker 2: pitch him again. He's got to be done.
• 32:22
  Speaker 6: So you were saying the offseason moves like picking up
• 32:25
  Speaker 6: switch hitting Luis Angel Acuna. That was a great Chris
• 32:29
  Speaker 6: Getz move.
• 32:30
  Speaker 2: That one was bad, too. That one was bad, too.
• 32:32
  Speaker 2: The switch hitter. The switch hitter. The switch hitter. You know,
• 32:36
  Speaker 2: I had a great talk. I was making fun of
• 32:38
  Speaker 2: Getz a lot for that, obviously, as you should. And
• 32:42
  Speaker 2: the fact that he kept misusing overstated and understated, he
• 32:45
  Speaker 2: kept saying, he kept saying you can't understate something when
• 32:49
  Speaker 2: you meant overstate. So finally, when the Acuna thing happened,
• 32:52
  Speaker 2: I texted him and he wrote, I may have overstated
• 32:54
  Speaker 2: his hitting ability.
• 32:57
  Speaker 6: That's good. See, I feel like I can make fun
• 32:58
  Speaker 6: of him because I played with him. Like I can
• 33:00
  Speaker 6: make fun of, I can make fun of ex-teammates that way.
• 33:03
  Speaker 6: And I think it may play, but maybe now that
• 33:05
  Speaker 6: I'm on a show, maybe not. My last question, because
• 33:08
  Speaker 6: AJ doesn't ask Cubs questions. He just has all Cubs answers.
• 33:12
  Speaker 6: Justin Steele coming back. We talked all about the pitching.
• 33:16
  Speaker 6: Justin Steele returning for what type of role is it
• 33:21
  Speaker 6: possible if he returns for the postseason?
• 33:26
  Speaker 2: I mean, it would just have I'm really surprised, actually,
• 33:29
  Speaker 2: because when we were talking to people kind of on background,
• 33:31
  Speaker 2: they didn't think they were going to activate Steele because
• 33:34
  Speaker 2: they didn't find it. I think it was going to
• 33:35
  Speaker 2: be fair after missing, you know, two seasons. to throw
• 33:39
  Speaker 2: them into this kind of mix. Now it seems like
• 33:41
  Speaker 2: they're pretty desperate, so they're doing it. I guess it
• 33:44
  Speaker 2: would just, as Craig Council likes to say, he doesn't
• 33:47
  Speaker 2: have roles. He has out-getter roles. So he'll be an
• 33:50
  Speaker 2: out-getter somewhere. I don't know if they're going to use
• 33:52
  Speaker 2: him early in the game, if they're going to use
• 33:54
  Speaker 2: him late in the game. I would assume early first,
• 33:55
  Speaker 2: wouldn't you guys think? Just to see what he has
• 33:57
  Speaker 2: in this environment. And they're going to test it out
• 34:00
  Speaker 2: this weekend. Apparently they're playing in Boston during a Nor'easter.
• 34:04
  Speaker 2: So we'll see what happens. But yeah, I was a
• 34:07
  Speaker 2: little surprised because I thought after we talked to Steele
• 34:10
  Speaker 2: when he would come back and I was like, okay,
• 34:12
  Speaker 2: this guy's going to pitch again. And then we were
• 34:14
  Speaker 2: kind of told to hold back a little bit on
• 34:16
  Speaker 2: that optimism, but you know, they're desperate times call for
• 34:20
  Speaker 2: desperate measures.
• 34:22
  Speaker 4: All right, John, before we let you go, I'd be remiss.
• 34:25
  Speaker 4: It's kind of a sad note. I know we joke
• 34:27
  Speaker 4: around a lot. Every time I see you, we've had
• 34:29
  Speaker 4: some great conversations.
• 34:30
  Speaker 6: We've laughed.
• 34:30
  Speaker 4: I think you were the one who made fun of
• 34:32
  Speaker 4: Ed Farmer at one point and he got all pissed
• 34:33
  Speaker 4: at you and yelled at you in the clubhouse, which... No, no,
• 34:36
  Speaker 4: that was Teddy Greenstein. That was Teddy Greenstein. Nah, Greenberg, Greenstein.
• 34:40
  Speaker 4: I mean, geez, how do you tell the difference? I mean,
• 34:43
  Speaker 4: but today is a sad day in the White Sox family.
• 34:46
  Speaker 4: I don't even know if you've heard this yet, but
• 34:49
  Speaker 4: apparently Don Cooper, our pitching coach in 2005, passed away
• 34:52
  Speaker 4: last night.
• 34:54
  Speaker 5: So I don't know.
• 34:54
  Speaker 4: Did you ever have any Coop stories through your travels
• 34:58
  Speaker 4: around him and just being.
• 35:01
  Speaker 5: I mean, he was in the White Sox organization forever.
• 35:03
  Speaker 2: Oh, of course. Yeah. I mean, interviewing Coop was like,
• 35:07
  Speaker 2: was an experience. I mean, talk about when you talk
• 35:10
  Speaker 2: to a guy, I mean, he would just, you know,
• 35:12
  Speaker 2: and remember the early days of the athletic, we printed F-bombs.
• 35:15
  Speaker 2: So we would have these Don Cooper interviews because he
• 35:17
  Speaker 2: was there for the first few years of the athletic,
• 35:20
  Speaker 2: you know, it was just F-bomb this, F-bomb that. I
• 35:23
  Speaker 2: love talking to Don Cooper, even when I was like
• 35:24
  Speaker 2: a freelancer, when I first started out in like 04
• 35:26
  Speaker 2: and 05, because he would give you like real insight
• 35:30
  Speaker 2: into the game. Now, I mean, yes, he's stubborn and whatever,
• 35:33
  Speaker 2: but I mean, Don Cooper deserved a ton of credit.
• 35:36
  Speaker 2: And I was sad. I know he had some issues
• 35:39
  Speaker 2: with how he was let go from the organization. I
• 35:41
  Speaker 2: was sad he wasn't there in 2025, wasn't there last
• 35:44
  Speaker 2: year for the reunion because who had like a bigger impact?
• 35:48
  Speaker 2: I mean, think about what, you know, AJ, you and
• 35:50
  Speaker 2: I have talked a million times about the fact four
• 35:52
  Speaker 2: guys going, you know, throwing complete games in the ALCS
• 35:55
  Speaker 2: never happened again, obviously. I mean, he built these pitching
• 35:59
  Speaker 2: staffs with the White Sox and he had these guys
• 36:02
  Speaker 2: competing maybe when they shouldn't have been. rebuilt careers, strengthened careers.
• 36:07
  Speaker 2: And it was a true, listen, you see a little off,
• 36:09
  Speaker 2: a little off towards the end. Yeah, but like a
• 36:11
  Speaker 2: true character. And I know, AJ, I think we've talked
• 36:14
  Speaker 2: about this. I know Kinerico has too. The list of
• 36:17
  Speaker 2: White Sox characters towards your time, like it was tremendous.
• 36:22
  Speaker 2: I think there was a saying, right, that if you
• 36:25
  Speaker 2: ranked the traveling party by egos, it would, you would
• 36:28
  Speaker 2: be in like double digits before you got to a player.
• 36:31
  Speaker 5: Isn't that right?
• 36:32
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 36:32
  Speaker 7: Yes.
• 36:33
  Speaker 4: That is a, that is a thing that we used
• 36:35
  Speaker 4: to joke around about. If you, by the time you got,
• 36:38
  Speaker 4: if you went ego to ego, by.
• 36:39
  Speaker 5: The time you got to a player, you were like
• 36:40
  Speaker 5: at 15. So it was pretty, it was pretty awesome.
• 36:44
  Speaker 5: That's true.
• 36:45
  Speaker 6: That's true.
• 36:45
  Speaker 4: We had, we actually, you know, what's funny is when
• 36:47
  Speaker 4: we did the Aussie retirement thing, Canerco and I were
• 36:51
  Speaker 4: sitting next to each other on the, on the, whatever
• 36:55
  Speaker 4: the dais or whatever you call it up there, the stage.
• 36:58
  Speaker 4: And we were, we were making inside jokes back. You'd
• 37:00
  Speaker 4: see us cover our mouth. Because we'd look, you know,
• 37:04
  Speaker 4: we're like, Oh, who won? We're like, he's number seven.
• 37:06
  Speaker 4: He's number eight.
• 37:07
  Speaker 5: He's number two. He's four. He's not here. You know,
• 37:10
  Speaker 5: Ed farmers passed away. God rest his soul. It was like, Oh,
• 37:12
  Speaker 5: you know?
• 37:13
  Speaker 4: So yes, that was a running joke, but my favorite
• 37:15
  Speaker 4: coop story, John, this is my, this is my favorite
• 37:18
  Speaker 4: coop story. He was doing a radio interview. I don't
• 37:20
  Speaker 4: know if it was with the score with the ESPN 1000.
• 37:23
  Speaker 4: He's driving home from the game and he goes, hold
• 37:26
  Speaker 4: on guys.
• 37:26
  Speaker 5: I'm going to pull over.
• 37:27
  Speaker 4: I don't want to spill my beer as he was
• 37:30
  Speaker 4: driving home from on the air. He says it's one
• 37:34
  Speaker 4: of the all time. That didn't sum up Don Cooper.
• 37:36
  Speaker 4: That was nothing else. He was like, hold on, guys,
• 37:39
  Speaker 4: I got to finish my beer. I don't want to
• 37:41
  Speaker 4: spill it while I'm on the interstate. So let me
• 37:43
  Speaker 4: pull over.
• 37:44
  Speaker 2: He was he would do these interviews in the morning
• 37:46
  Speaker 2: on the score and it would just be him like
• 37:50
  Speaker 2: yelling at Mike Mulligan and Brian Hanley. Like they would
• 37:53
  Speaker 2: ask him something. Cooper just start like yelling at them
• 37:55
  Speaker 2: for how stupid they are. they were like, he was
• 37:58
  Speaker 2: a one of a kind, he was one of a
• 37:59
  Speaker 2: kind guy. So, I mean, I hope, you know, I
• 38:02
  Speaker 2: haven't heard this. You actually broke it to me. So,
• 38:03
  Speaker 2: you know, I just hope that, you know, they honor
• 38:06
  Speaker 2: him in some way.
• 38:08
  Speaker 6: Me too. They have to. Me too.
• 38:11
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 38:11
  Speaker 4: Sad, sad day in the White Sox family. We're starting
• 38:13
  Speaker 4: to lose people and it's sad. So, you know, rest
• 38:17
  Speaker 4: in peace, Coop. And, you know, got to keep going.
• 38:22
  Speaker 5: Never know.
• 38:23
  Speaker 8: Yeah. Yeah.
• 38:24
  Speaker 2: Tom, thanks for your, your family, the White Sox family.
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: Yeah, thanks for sharing, AJ, and sorry for your loss
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: to everyone in.
• 38:31
  Speaker 8: The new coop. Yeah.
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: Well, John, thanks for joining us, man. Always enjoy catching
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: up with you. Appreciate the time. And hopefully we'll talk
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: a little bit more down the road if one of
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: these Chicago teams can hang around in October.
• 38:44
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, AJ, we're calling it Merctober. as we
• 38:47
  Speaker 2: always call it when the White Sox make the playoffs
• 38:49
  Speaker 2: for Scott Merkin.
• 38:50
  Speaker 4: Oh, no, let's not call it that. Merk will have
• 38:53
  Speaker 4: the same shirt on for every game. Watch, it'll be
• 38:55
  Speaker 4: that black button that he wears like four times a week,
• 38:58
  Speaker 4: five times a week.
• 39:00
  Speaker 8: We might have to get him an FT shirt. Oh, gosh.
• 39:04
  Speaker 8: Some fun FT shirt. John, appreciate you, man. Talk soon.
• 39:07
  Speaker 2: All right, thanks, guys.