Latest / Foul Territory / Fair Territory: Mets place Robert Jr. on IL, Justin Steele setback, Marlins win in LA

Transcript

Fair Territory: Mets place Robert Jr. on IL, Justin Steele setback, Marlins win in LA · Foul Territory

0:02
Speaker 1: Welcome everyone to the Thursday edition of Fair Territory. I'm
0:05
Speaker 1: Ken Rosenthal here with my friend Alana Rizzo. And Alana
0:08
Speaker 1: we want to move on, we want to talk about
0:11
Speaker 1: something different, but this same struggling team keeps commanding our attention.
0:17
Speaker 2: Ken, always good to be with you on this Thursday. Yes,
0:20
Speaker 2: we want to stop talking about the Mets, at least
0:23
Speaker 2: in a negative light, but Ken, they're not giving us
0:26
Speaker 2: the opportunity to do so. They just got throttled by
0:29
Speaker 2: the Nationals.
0:31
Speaker 1: This is the homestand from you know what, and it
0:34
Speaker 1: was supposed to be much different. If you recall, this
0:37
Speaker 1: was a homestand where the Mets were thinking, well, maybe
0:40
Speaker 1: we'll get some momentum. It's Minnesota, it's Colorado, it's Washington.
0:44
Speaker 1: Three teams that are not at the top of anyone's
0:48
Speaker 1: wishless for the World Series or expectation, i should say,
0:51
Speaker 1: for the World Series. And we're the Mets on this
0:53
Speaker 1: homestand a home stand that a lot of us thought
0:56
Speaker 1: they had to go maybe sixtion three or seven and
0:58
Speaker 1: two on to kind of take the heat off. They're
1:01
Speaker 1: three and five right now and the injuries are mounting.
1:06
Speaker 1: Luis Robert Junior placed on the IL this morning with backtightans.
1:11
Speaker 1: I know, shocker that Luis Robert is hurt, Jorge Polanco's
1:14
Speaker 1: still on the IL, and of course Francisco Lindor is
1:17
Speaker 1: as well. And it's interesting, Alana. We had the two
1:21
Speaker 1: firings this week, Alex Cora and Boston Rob Thompson in Philadelphia,
1:26
Speaker 1: and the expectation of a lot of people was that
1:29
Speaker 1: Carlos Mendoza would be first. And yet I am starting
1:33
Speaker 1: to wonder whether the injuries now will maybe prevent the
1:38
Speaker 1: Mets from making that move, a move they clearly don't
1:40
Speaker 1: want to make because they haven't made it yet. But
1:43
Speaker 1: with all these players out, it's even more difficult to
1:47
Speaker 1: say it's Mendoza's fault than it was before, when really
1:50
Speaker 1: this was a situation created by the President of Baseball Operations,
1:55
Speaker 1: David Stearns.
1:56
Speaker 2: And not only that, Steve Cohen has said he continues
1:59
Speaker 2: to say that he has confidence in Mendoza, in Mendy
2:03
Speaker 2: and it's not just the injuries that are piling up
2:05
Speaker 2: for the Mets. Ken they have some serious pitching issues
2:08
Speaker 2: as well. What more can you tell us about.
2:10
Speaker 1: That they do? And we saw it on display last night,
2:13
Speaker 1: David Peterson goes back in the rotation, and what happens,
2:16
Speaker 1: he gets rocked again. They've got Peralta, they've got McLean,
2:21
Speaker 1: they've got Holmes beyond that in their rotation. It's quite
2:24
Speaker 1: the mess. And when you look at them, you look
2:28
Speaker 1: down the list. Well, Peterson had to go to the bullpen.
2:31
Speaker 1: Mania Sean Manaiah free agent signing big money a couple
2:35
Speaker 1: of years back, had to go to the bullpen. Codei Sanga,
2:39
Speaker 1: another big free agent signing several years back before Stearns.
2:43
Speaker 1: He is again on the injured list. They've got Christian
2:46
Speaker 1: Scott set to go tomorrow. He's coming off Tommy John surgery.
2:49
Speaker 1: He's a promising guy, was right before he got hurt.
2:53
Speaker 1: And they got also Jonah Toom remember him struggling a
2:57
Speaker 1: triple A. Brandon Sprote traded for Peralta. He's in Milwaukee.
3:02
Speaker 1: So this deep pitching group that they thought they had
3:07
Speaker 1: isn't there anymore. And again, what happens in a situation
3:11
Speaker 1: like this is it becomes difficult to see how they're
3:14
Speaker 1: going to come out of it. They've got players or
3:18
Speaker 1: hitters that they're counting on who are hurt. They've got
3:20
Speaker 1: pitchers that aren't performing, and again, where are they They
3:24
Speaker 1: are the last place team in the East. They've got
3:27
Speaker 1: the worst record in the league.
3:29
Speaker 2: I can't even believe that Ken the last place team
3:32
Speaker 2: in the East at ten and twenty ten games below
3:35
Speaker 2: five hundred are the New York meant a lot of
3:38
Speaker 2: problems in Queens. They're not the only ones Ken that
3:41
Speaker 2: are having some pitching issues in terms of injury. The
3:43
Speaker 2: Boston Red Sox, that whole situation is a mess, with
3:46
Speaker 2: the core situation and all of that. But now they're ace.
3:49
Speaker 2: Garrett Crochet is on the IL, a six to three
3:51
Speaker 2: tora and six starts. It just keeps getting worse In Boston.
3:56
Speaker 1: It does a lot, and they're hoping, obviously it's not serious,
4:00
Speaker 1: expect Sonny Gray to come off the IL relatively soon.
4:03
Speaker 1: Brian Bayo a horrible start last night. Again, he has
4:07
Speaker 1: been not what they envisioned him being. And it's interesting
4:11
Speaker 1: with the Red Sox. They built the team what on
4:13
Speaker 1: run prevention. The danger in doing that, and this is
4:17
Speaker 1: true really for every team, is that when you're relying
4:20
Speaker 1: on run prevention, you're relying on pitchers, and pitchers frequently
4:24
Speaker 1: get hurt it's a problem, and it's a problem because
4:27
Speaker 1: the Red Sox offense remains a rather stagnant outfit, and
4:31
Speaker 1: I don't know where they're going with this. We talked
4:33
Speaker 1: about Senga being injured, there are two others I want
4:36
Speaker 1: to mention as well, justin Steal with the Cubs, they
4:39
Speaker 1: were hoping he come off his major elbow surgery in
4:42
Speaker 1: late May or perhaps June, and it's clear now and
4:47
Speaker 1: he acknowledged this this week, as did the team, that
4:50
Speaker 1: he's going to be pushed back, probably to the second half.
4:53
Speaker 1: So that's a blow to the Cubs, who have had
4:56
Speaker 1: their own pitching injuries. And then finally, Trevor Rodgers the Orioles.
5:00
Speaker 1: Here's a guy who had a tremendous run last year
5:04
Speaker 1: and was really their best pitcher, looked like ace potential.
5:09
Speaker 1: He hasn't started this season as well. Perhaps some regression
5:12
Speaker 1: was inevitable with him. Now he is on the injured
5:14
Speaker 1: list with a horrible case of the flu, so you
5:18
Speaker 1: would assume he'll come back in relatively short time. But
5:22
Speaker 1: the question with the Orioles again this season was do
5:26
Speaker 1: they have enough at the top of their rotation. Rogers
5:29
Speaker 1: was a big part of the supposed answer, as was
5:33
Speaker 1: Kyle Bradish who was doing it okay first full season
5:35
Speaker 1: coming off Tommy John and they've got Shane Boss who
5:38
Speaker 1: has been a little up and down, but pretty good.
5:41
Speaker 1: So with the Orioles, it's still the same question with
5:44
Speaker 1: the rotation, and of course they have not hit the
5:46
Speaker 1: expectations either, So a lot of things going on in
5:49
Speaker 1: the game as always, and with some of these teams
5:53
Speaker 1: you expect them to play better where not even it
5:56
Speaker 1: may yet May starts tomorrow. But at the same time,
5:59
Speaker 1: with the Mets in particular and the Red Sox offense
6:02
Speaker 1: in particular, those are legitimate, real concerns.
6:06
Speaker 2: Can good on you for finding out what Trevor Rodgers
6:08
Speaker 2: the situation was with him, because when we were having
6:10
Speaker 2: our production meeting, going to the IL with an illness,
6:13
Speaker 2: that's not something that you hear often in our game.
6:16
Speaker 2: Obviously in the NHL, is just a lower body injury.
6:19
Speaker 2: They don't give you much but a severe case of
6:21
Speaker 2: the flu. Hopefully Trevor Rodgers is okay, And you mentioned
6:25
Speaker 2: Justin Steele. Of course with the Cubs, he was very
6:28
Speaker 2: evident Ken in terms of his frustration. He posted on
6:32
Speaker 2: x this is obviously frustrating on many levels. It's hard
6:34
Speaker 2: to put into words the emotions and mental state that
6:37
Speaker 2: something like this can leave you in. Nor do I
6:40
Speaker 2: want to really, I just know I have given one
6:42
Speaker 2: hundred percent and have done everything that's been asked of me.
6:44
Speaker 2: It's just frustrating for them. But how do you think
6:47
Speaker 2: that impacts the Cubs moreover, the fact that he's still
6:50
Speaker 2: going to be delayed.
6:52
Speaker 1: Well, the Cubs are an interesting team. I wrote about
6:55
Speaker 1: them today with regard to their offense. They don't have
6:58
Speaker 1: a dominant slugger now Steele. They don't have an ace.
7:02
Speaker 1: They got Matthew Boyd and m and Naga and ty Onne.
7:04
Speaker 1: They're okay, decent, but they could use a guy like Steel,
7:10
Speaker 1: and yes, Edward Cabrera has that potential. Certainly, he's also
7:14
Speaker 1: a health question, always a health question, And I wonder
7:17
Speaker 1: at the deadline if ultimately they're in the market for
7:21
Speaker 1: another starting pitcher as good a starting pitcher as they
7:24
Speaker 1: can get. Obviously, they've invested quite a lot in this
7:27
Speaker 1: team already. They've made some trades over the years to
7:31
Speaker 1: supplement themselves and do some big things. Cam Smith is
7:34
Speaker 1: in Houston. Ohen Casey is in Miami. That was the
7:37
Speaker 1: price for Cabrera, but with Steel so uncertain, and even
7:42
Speaker 1: when he comes back, you don't know what he's going
7:44
Speaker 1: to be. He probably won't be the version of Justin
7:47
Speaker 1: Steele he was before, at least not right away. So yes,
7:52
Speaker 1: they have some pitching questions and they're not going to
7:55
Speaker 1: be the only team in that position at the deadline either. Father.
8:00
Speaker 3: It's getting a little warm out. I mean, let's hit
8:03
Speaker 3: some concerts, let's hit some baseball games. And where am
8:06
Speaker 3: I going to go to find those tickets? And if
8:08
Speaker 3: you want to sing the answer, you can.
8:09
Speaker 4: We're going to see gee, hey, hey, listen. Ultimately, at
8:13
Speaker 4: the end of the day, it is getting warmer and
8:15
Speaker 4: people want to leave the house, and it's time to leave,
8:17
Speaker 4: go see a ball game. I guess where you can
8:19
Speaker 4: find the best tickets, best spots, best places to go seat.
8:23
Speaker 4: Geeks got it all, man, They got their red and
8:25
Speaker 4: they're green signs letting you know what's good in bed,
8:28
Speaker 4: all that good kind of stuff. They make it really
8:30
Speaker 4: simple for you at the end of the day. For
8:32
Speaker 4: a guy like me who's running around, I just need
8:34
Speaker 4: five minutes bing bang bom, I got my seat.
8:37
Speaker 3: Yeah, each ticket's rated on a scale of one to ten,
8:39
Speaker 3: so you know you're getting a good deal. And of
8:40
Speaker 3: course the code for you Territory one zero for ten
8:44
Speaker 3: percent off your next set of tickets at Sea Geek.
8:46
Speaker 3: That's ten percent off any tickets with promote code Territory tent.
8:50
Speaker 3: Make sure you click the link in the description to
8:51
Speaker 3: download the app and then have the code automatically added
8:54
Speaker 3: to your account so you can use it later. Thank
8:56
Speaker 3: you to seed Geek, MLB's official ticket marketplace.
9:00
Speaker 2: All right, we're moving on here in the Lead. The
9:01
Speaker 2: Lead is powered by game Changer. More on game Changer.
9:05
Speaker 2: In just a moment, Ken, you were on the Marlins,
9:07
Speaker 2: maybe not as a World Series team, but you more
9:10
Speaker 2: than most were on the Marlins in terms of a
9:12
Speaker 2: team that you saw some improvement and a team perhaps
9:16
Speaker 2: that was going in the right direction. They take two
9:18
Speaker 2: of three at Dodger Stadium, the first series win at
9:20
Speaker 2: Dodger Stadium since twenty eighteen. What is making the Marlins work.
9:27
Speaker 1: Well? They're pitching is pretty good, and their offense still
9:31
Speaker 1: kind of questionable. Their league average offense for the most
9:34
Speaker 1: part a little bit below right now. But they're ninth
9:37
Speaker 1: in the majors in er and that rotation is quite promising.
9:41
Speaker 1: It's Sandy Alcantra, of course, he is not promising. He
9:44
Speaker 1: is the real deal. Juri Perez, Max Meyer, Jansen Junk.
9:48
Speaker 1: They've gotten good work out of all four of those guys,
9:51
Speaker 1: and their bullpen has been a bit of a surprise.
9:54
Speaker 1: Now it's going to be tested because Fairbanks went on
9:57
Speaker 1: the injured list this week with an numbness issue that
10:00
Speaker 1: he's had before. That's a concern for them. But so far,
10:04
Speaker 1: so good. And what I like about them is just
10:08
Speaker 1: the way they play. They play kind of in a
10:10
Speaker 1: Brewer's style, sort of fundamentally sound, not always fundamentally sound,
10:15
Speaker 1: but they play hard and they try to do things
10:17
Speaker 1: to disrupt the other team. And I just kind of
10:20
Speaker 1: like what Clayton McCullough has done with them. Are they
10:23
Speaker 1: a playoff team? I don't know about that, but they
10:25
Speaker 1: won seventy nine games last year, and when you win
10:28
Speaker 1: seventy nine games, you're not far off from the playoff
10:31
Speaker 1: picture in a twelve team expanded field. So if they
10:36
Speaker 1: stay together, and what I mean by that is if
10:38
Speaker 1: they keep their team together, because of course al Contra
10:41
Speaker 1: will be a guy that they perhaps look the trade
10:43
Speaker 1: at the deadline regardless of where they are. But if
10:46
Speaker 1: they stay together and maybe add to their team, imagine
10:50
Speaker 1: that maybe they're a playoff type club, because of course
10:55
Speaker 1: the Phillies and Mets are down perhaps for the season
10:59
Speaker 1: as well as just the first month.
11:01
Speaker 2: Yeah, what a concept. The Miami Marlin's adding at the
11:04
Speaker 2: deadline versus getting rid of some of their guys. A
11:06
Speaker 2: very favorable upcoming schedule the next twelve games. The Lead
11:10
Speaker 2: is powered by Game Changer, the number one youth sports
11:13
Speaker 2: app that helps you coach smarter, connect live and replay
11:16
Speaker 2: the action. Learn more at GC dot com. Get those questions,
11:21
Speaker 2: and everybody for Ken Rosenthal. We will be back with
11:23
Speaker 2: Grill and Ken. I'll tell you what I'm digging this
11:32
Speaker 2: new look of fair territory with Ken Rosenthal, new graphic package,
11:36
Speaker 2: new things.
11:37
Speaker 1: I love it. All Right.
11:37
Speaker 2: We have a question, our first one here on Grill
11:40
Speaker 2: and Ken in regards to the Oakland Athletics. I love
11:43
Speaker 2: this because we don't get a lot of a's question,
11:45
Speaker 2: So here we go. As far as that question is
11:48
Speaker 2: concerned with the emergence of Carlos Cortes and other options,
11:52
Speaker 2: like is that Jeel, how do you say that Ken Geloff,
11:56
Speaker 2: Zach gilf at Gelop, Okay, Thomas and both. Is there
11:59
Speaker 2: a chance Nce Butler gets moved for pitching at some
12:03
Speaker 2: point this season? I made I mentioned Oakland Athletics. I
12:07
Speaker 2: apologize my bad.
12:11
Speaker 1: That's a good question. I don't see that happening. Lawrence
12:15
Speaker 1: Butler is a guy that they consider to be part
12:17
Speaker 1: of their future. But the A's are going to need pitching.
12:20
Speaker 1: What's interesting about them is they're at the top of
12:22
Speaker 1: the AL West and yet they really haven't hit yet
12:25
Speaker 1: twenty first in the league in runs scored, and that
12:29
Speaker 1: is not where we thought the A's would be. We thought,
12:32
Speaker 1: and this still could turn out this way, that they'd
12:35
Speaker 1: be one of the top offenses in the game, and
12:37
Speaker 1: that with league average pitching, they'd be Okay. So far,
12:42
Speaker 1: so good. On kind of the pitching front, they're doing okay.
12:46
Speaker 1: It's not great, sever A Rena was much better last night,
12:49
Speaker 1: but certainly at the deadline, if they are in this
12:53
Speaker 1: position where they feel their competitive it's going to be
12:56
Speaker 1: interesting to see how they go about getting pitching. And
13:00
Speaker 1: as is a fascinating emergence here. This guy was not
13:03
Speaker 1: anywhere anticipated to do what he is doing. But he
13:07
Speaker 1: has been an absolute revelation and it's real. At least
13:11
Speaker 1: according to the stackcast metrics. He is not getting lucky.
13:15
Speaker 1: He is actually hitting the ball hard and doing all
13:17
Speaker 1: the things you want in this day and age. So
13:20
Speaker 1: I don't know that leads to a trade of Lawrence Butler.
13:22
Speaker 1: I believe they signed him to an extension. He's one
13:24
Speaker 1: of the guys they signed to an extension. So I
13:27
Speaker 1: don't see that. But at some point, yes, do they
13:31
Speaker 1: use some of their offensive depth to maybe get some pitching? Sure,
13:34
Speaker 1: that's possible.
13:35
Speaker 2: All right, thank you for that question. Boom Must Die
13:37
Speaker 2: thirty four h six. The next question here on Grill
13:39
Speaker 2: and Ken is in regard to the Diamondbacks. The Dbacks
13:43
Speaker 2: have several top prospects raaking down in Triple A, most
13:45
Speaker 2: notably Ryan Waldschmidt. Do you see them calling him up soon?
13:48
Speaker 2: Look at the slash line there heading into today? That
13:51
Speaker 2: question from Wicked Better fifty four.
13:54
Speaker 1: Good question, and I wrote about this recently. He is
13:57
Speaker 1: knocking down the door now. They the defense of Alec
14:01
Speaker 1: Thomas in centerfield. Alec Thomas hasn't hit, and I don't
14:05
Speaker 1: know that he's going to hit, So at some point
14:07
Speaker 1: Walt Schmidt might be the answer there. Now, he wouldn't
14:10
Speaker 1: be the defender that Thomas is, and they do value
14:14
Speaker 1: defense greatly, but at the same time, he can't deny
14:18
Speaker 1: the offensive potential. And they've got Guriel back. They are
14:22
Speaker 1: still missing, of course, they're catcher Gabriel Moreno, and they
14:26
Speaker 1: have had some amazingly unexpected contributions from Jose Fernandez, from
14:31
Speaker 1: Idelmaro Vargas, who has a twenty two game hitting streak
14:35
Speaker 1: to start the season. These are guys that weren't considered
14:38
Speaker 1: to be part of their primary mix, if they're mixed
14:42
Speaker 1: at all, and yet here they go. So I kind
14:45
Speaker 1: of like where they are. And I don't know that
14:47
Speaker 1: they're going to push it with Walt Schmidt. There's no
14:49
Speaker 1: guarantee he comes up and tears it up. But at
14:52
Speaker 1: the same time, that question identifies something that definitely is
14:57
Speaker 1: an issue with them, or not an issue or concern,
15:00
Speaker 1: but something that we're going to be talking about and
15:02
Speaker 1: something that they're considering.
15:04
Speaker 2: I am sure right now, all right, from a gold
15:06
Speaker 2: Schmidt to perhaps a Waldschmidt to the Diamondbacks, all right,
15:10
Speaker 2: So be forty four to forty three wants to know
15:12
Speaker 2: Ken Well, the Rangers consider firing their hitting coach early
15:16
Speaker 2: this year with all the offensive struggles that they have
15:19
Speaker 2: with runners on.
15:21
Speaker 1: They keep saying that they feel they're going to hit,
15:24
Speaker 1: and granted why at Langford's been out, so that's a problem,
15:27
Speaker 1: and Seeger hasn't gotten hot, and all these things are happening.
15:32
Speaker 1: At some point, Yes, they do have to look at
15:34
Speaker 1: the hitting and what's going on and how it's all
15:38
Speaker 1: falling apart. This was something actually they were looking at
15:40
Speaker 1: last year and fretting over and not understanding. So I
15:44
Speaker 1: don't know if firing the hitting coach is the answer.
15:47
Speaker 1: Better performance from the hitters that would be the answer.
15:50
Speaker 1: And for all these talks of firings, somebody made the
15:54
Speaker 1: point to me this week, and it's worth reinforcing, not
15:56
Speaker 1: just with managers, but with hitting coaches, pitching coaches, anyone
16:00
Speaker 1: you want to talk about. Ultimately, this is the players.
16:03
Speaker 1: It's on the players. It's always on the players. And
16:07
Speaker 1: with the Phillies in particular, and I know I'm diverging here,
16:10
Speaker 1: but the Phillies got their manager fired by flying so poorly.
16:15
Speaker 1: And that's a manager they liked and respected. He's a
16:17
Speaker 1: good man and at some point, yeah, the fingers got
16:20
Speaker 1: to be pointed at them as well.
16:22
Speaker 2: Yeah, no question about that. It's interesting too, though the
16:26
Speaker 2: I'm interested in your opinion on this. I'm perhaps more
16:29
Speaker 2: of the drive line approach on certain things. And we'll
16:32
Speaker 2: get into this a little bit later too, but it
16:33
Speaker 2: seems like everyone's kind of going that way, Ken, I mean,
16:36
Speaker 2: look at Boston in terms of who they're bringing up
16:38
Speaker 2: and those types of things. Is that kind of more
16:41
Speaker 2: of the trend in the industry.
16:44
Speaker 1: It is with certain teams, and Craig Breslo, Red Sox
16:48
Speaker 1: chief Baseball Officers certainly is leaning in that direction, and
16:52
Speaker 1: teams have done this with mixed success. Some teams have
16:55
Speaker 1: succeeded with it, some teams not so much. But at
16:59
Speaker 1: the same time, drive line is great and has done
17:02
Speaker 1: a lot of great things to help make players better
17:04
Speaker 1: pitchers and hitters. Not always the answer in terms of
17:09
Speaker 1: purely numbers and purely going about it in that way.
17:13
Speaker 1: There's a feel element involved, and that is the criticism
17:16
Speaker 1: I've had of the Red Sox. They lack feel. And
17:18
Speaker 1: I'm not saying the drive Line coaches lack feel in particular.
17:21
Speaker 1: I'm talking about Breslo and John Henry in that group,
17:24
Speaker 1: and there has to be a combination of all the
17:29
Speaker 1: tools available, both the objective tools and the subjective tools
17:33
Speaker 1: scouting and the things that you do along those lines.
17:37
Speaker 1: Some teams have gotten away from that. A lot of
17:38
Speaker 1: teams have gotten away from that. A lot of teams
17:40
Speaker 1: are so reliant on their projections and their numbers that,
17:44
Speaker 1: in my opinion, it's a little counterproductive. There are other
17:48
Speaker 1: elements to consider. There are other ways to instruct to
17:52
Speaker 1: play the game that aren't necessarily related simply to projections
17:56
Speaker 1: and numbers.
17:57
Speaker 2: Yeah, not just one linear approach. Sometimes social side of it,
18:00
Speaker 2: the human side of it is just as important. Thank
18:03
Speaker 2: you all for your questions here on Grill and Ken.
18:05
Speaker 2: We're going to take a short break and we'll be
18:07
Speaker 2: back with Dude and Dork of the Week right after this.
18:10
Speaker 1: I'm the dude, so that's what you call me.
18:18
Speaker 2: The dude abides, Welcome back to Fair Territory with Ken Rosenthal.
18:22
Speaker 2: Time now for our Dude and Dork of the Week.
18:24
Speaker 2: We'll start with the dude and I will go first
18:26
Speaker 2: on this. I have always appreciated the work ethic and
18:30
Speaker 2: just the baseball mindset of Rob Thompson, and he was recently,
18:33
Speaker 2: of course, as we all know, fired let go of
18:35
Speaker 2: his duties by Dave Debrowski the Philadelphia Phillies because to
18:40
Speaker 2: your point, Ken, the Phillies weren't playing well and Rob
18:42
Speaker 2: Thompson was the one that took the fall for that.
18:45
Speaker 2: But he made himself the day after he was let go,
18:51
Speaker 2: he made him safe available to reporters, and that, to
18:53
Speaker 2: me is such a classy move by a man that
18:55
Speaker 2: certainly didn't need to do so. He did a twenty
18:57
Speaker 2: minute call with reporters. He said he could watch some
19:00
Speaker 2: hockey playoffs, probably not, he'll watch the Phillies, of course,
19:03
Speaker 2: he's a Canadian. Hockey is big there. Actually, I'm going
19:05
Speaker 2: to watch our game. So Rob Thompson, kudos to you,
19:08
Speaker 2: sir for taking the time to talk to reporters about
19:12
Speaker 2: the situation. He certainly didn't need to do that, Ken,
19:15
Speaker 2: And I just I just find that such a classy
19:17
Speaker 2: move in a world in which that doesn't that doesn't
19:20
Speaker 2: happen oftentimes, that does not happen.
19:23
Speaker 1: Yes, a lota. And he was asked why he was
19:25
Speaker 1: doing it, and he said, when you're a leader, you
19:28
Speaker 1: have to be accountable. That's it in a nutshell. And
19:31
Speaker 1: Rob Thompson one of the great class acts in the game.
19:34
Speaker 1: Even toward the end when it was becoming clear he
19:38
Speaker 1: was going to be fired, his quotes were so on
19:41
Speaker 1: point as far as just understanding the situation. Now, he
19:44
Speaker 1: worked twenty eight years for the New York Yankees, the
19:46
Speaker 1: majority of them under George Seinbrenner. He gets it. That said,
19:50
Speaker 1: it's still not easy to handle a situation like that,
19:53
Speaker 1: and he could not have handled it, really, in my opinion,
19:56
Speaker 1: any better. My dudes of the week, and it's plural,
20:00
Speaker 1: all the Toronto Blue Jays for the Circle of Gratitude
20:03
Speaker 1: that they've started, gratitude circle, however they want to phrase it.
20:07
Speaker 1: It started with Okamoto and he's something or he's someone
20:11
Speaker 1: that brought this over, but the Blue Jays have embraced it.
20:14
Speaker 1: And what they do you can see it right there.
20:16
Speaker 1: They share a moment before the game and they talk
20:20
Speaker 1: about something they're grateful for that day, and then they
20:22
Speaker 1: bow to each other after each guy issues his statement
20:28
Speaker 1: of gratitude. I guess you would call it, and it's
20:30
Speaker 1: just a team bonding thing. And really what it's done
20:33
Speaker 1: for the Blue Jays is make Okamoto feel more welcome,
20:37
Speaker 1: and that is something that is not always easy to
20:40
Speaker 1: do with foreign players, and it's not easy for the
20:42
Speaker 1: foreign players to adapt when it's a new culture and
20:46
Speaker 1: a new team and a new sport essentially, well, the
20:49
Speaker 1: same sport, but a new league. And it's just cool
20:52
Speaker 1: saying that the Blue Jays have done. They've always been
20:55
Speaker 1: a group that has embraced people and players from all over.
20:59
Speaker 1: Remember the hint, the the neighborhood, the jacket that they wore.
21:02
Speaker 1: I just think they have a cool vibe about them.
21:04
Speaker 1: And hey, they're playing much better too. They've won three
21:08
Speaker 1: straight series, seven of ten. You Savage is back, Springer
21:12
Speaker 1: is back. They're going to get Burrios back in short order.
21:15
Speaker 1: And they're still missing, of course Barger and Kirk and
21:18
Speaker 1: Nathan Lucas, but they are common and they in my estimation,
21:24
Speaker 1: by the time this thing gets going, this season gets going,
21:27
Speaker 1: they're going to be in a good place, provided that
21:30
Speaker 1: they don't suffer further injuries.
21:32
Speaker 2: Have they righted the ship since their early struggles? Do
21:36
Speaker 2: you think that they're riding that ship and moving in
21:39
Speaker 2: a good trajectory forward.
21:41
Speaker 1: They're getting there, and it's good to see the way
21:44
Speaker 1: that they're playing now, it's better. They're not where they
21:47
Speaker 1: want to be just yet. And of course Max Schurzer
21:49
Speaker 1: just went on the injured list. They've had all kinds
21:51
Speaker 1: of pitching issues the entire season, but so far, or
21:55
Speaker 1: at least lately, so good.
21:57
Speaker 2: All right, Well, it's good to see them going in
21:59
Speaker 2: that certainly. Of course, the reigning al champs, the Toronto
22:04
Speaker 2: Blue Jays, all right, coming back, we are having our
22:06
Speaker 2: dork of the week. Boo, that's the same old front end.
22:17
Speaker 2: We want a new dork of the week front end
22:19
Speaker 2: on fair territory. All right, Ken, who is your dork
22:22
Speaker 2: of the week? Sir?
22:24
Speaker 1: I don't know that there's any choice other than the rection.
22:27
Speaker 1: And they're chief baseball officer, Craig Reslo, their whole operation.
22:32
Speaker 1: And two things I want to mention here. We can
22:34
Speaker 1: talk endlessly about the Red Sox, and they're moved to
22:36
Speaker 1: fire Alex kra Okay, it wasn't just Cora. It was
22:41
Speaker 1: six coaches. Six coaches less than a month into the season.
22:46
Speaker 1: It's a disruption to your operation that we'll see how
22:49
Speaker 1: it goes. But I can't remember a team firing its
22:54
Speaker 1: manager and that many coaches. This early in the season.
22:57
Speaker 1: I don't know that that's happened. And again, when you
23:01
Speaker 1: fire a manager this early, you probably shouldn't have brought
23:04
Speaker 1: them back in the first place. And that's true of
23:05
Speaker 1: the Phillies and the Red Sox. It's an overreaction in
23:10
Speaker 1: many ways, and we'll see again how these teams respond
23:13
Speaker 1: to their new managers. But the Red Sox, not just
23:17
Speaker 1: the extent with what they did, but the way they
23:19
Speaker 1: went about it. I'm letting players speak in the meeting.
23:22
Speaker 1: I know Craig Greslow met with them individually afterward. But
23:26
Speaker 1: I've talked about this a lot lately, and maybe I'm
23:29
Speaker 1: banging the drum too hard, but feel you gotta show
23:33
Speaker 1: more feel, and I don't see the Red Sox doing that.
23:36
Speaker 2: Yeah, it doesn't seem like they have much feel, Ken,
23:38
Speaker 2: especially when it looks like they're just taking a very
23:41
Speaker 2: robotic approach in terms of how they are dealing with things.
23:44
Speaker 2: My Jork of the Week, same thing. It's an organization
23:47
Speaker 2: that I have a lot of faith, and I just
23:50
Speaker 2: don't like the way that they handled the firing of
23:52
Speaker 2: Rob Thompson. I'm talking about the Philadelphia Phillies. It's very interesting, Ken,
23:56
Speaker 2: because they actually extended Thompson just in December of last year.
24:01
Speaker 2: So to give him the extension showing you know, a
24:03
Speaker 2: bit of faith in him obviously, and then turning around
24:06
Speaker 2: and firing him less than thirty games into the season
24:09
Speaker 2: is crazy. And then kind of going about it in
24:11
Speaker 2: a strange way asking Alex Coorra if he wants to
24:14
Speaker 2: be the manager and then that doesn't work out. You're like, hey,
24:16
Speaker 2: Don Mattingley, are you doing anything? And I know that
24:18
Speaker 2: Preston Mattingly Don Sun is there, so it's the first,
24:21
Speaker 2: you know, GM manager father son duo. But it just
24:24
Speaker 2: kind of the approach of how they let Rob Thompson
24:27
Speaker 2: go and then Alex Corra said, you know what, I'm
24:29
Speaker 2: going to take the time and then Don Mattingley is
24:32
Speaker 2: kind of the interim for the remainder of the season.
24:34
Speaker 2: Just that whole thing, to me is just kind of
24:36
Speaker 2: a weird way to go about it.
24:39
Speaker 1: It's been a weird start for them, And I don't
24:41
Speaker 1: disagree with you, Alana. Here's a team and a manager
24:44
Speaker 1: coming off four STRAT playoff appearances, ninety five and ninety
24:47
Speaker 1: six wins the past two seasons, and now three weeks
24:52
Speaker 1: into it, a month into it. It's the manager's fault. Again.
24:56
Speaker 1: It seems to me in both cases there was an
24:59
Speaker 1: overreaction and you have to let these things play out.
25:02
Speaker 1: Usually in the past, managerial dismissals come about a quarter
25:07
Speaker 1: of the way into this season. At that point, okay,
25:10
Speaker 1: you've seen forty games. It's a little bit different. These teams,
25:14
Speaker 1: in my estimation, needed a chance to recover, and the
25:17
Speaker 1: Red Sox, I don't know that they are going to recover,
25:20
Speaker 1: and I don't know that they are good enough to recover.
25:22
Speaker 1: The Phillies certainly are, so you're right. It didn't sit
25:27
Speaker 1: well that they did that, but you could see it
25:29
Speaker 1: coming a mile away, and that's why it was. I
25:33
Speaker 1: don't know. The Monday before these firings, I wrote about
25:36
Speaker 1: it because already the rumblings were starting, and already the
25:40
Speaker 1: frustration and the noise was building. And Britgie Rolli wrote
25:45
Speaker 1: a great column in The Athletic the other day. I
25:47
Speaker 1: encourage people to read it, and she asked a key question,
25:49
Speaker 1: in my opinion, why do front offices ask for and
25:55
Speaker 1: need patience when they don't give that same kind of
26:00
Speaker 1: respect to the managers. Front offices are always saying, hey,
26:03
Speaker 1: trust the process, give us time. Managers don't get that
26:07
Speaker 1: same affordability, and it's it's not cool.
26:11
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely not, Rob Thompson. We'll have another job if
26:14
Speaker 2: he wants it. And I doubt, I don't doubt at
26:16
Speaker 2: all that Alex Korra will be the manager of the
26:18
Speaker 2: Phillies to come the twenty twenty seven season. Well, that's
26:21
Speaker 2: going to do it for us. Here on Fair Territory
26:24
Speaker 2: with Ken Rosenthal. Goth Territory is coming up at one
26:27
Speaker 2: pm Eastern Courtney Turner, Jim Bowden, Ricky Romero, stop by
26:31
Speaker 2: aj Prizinski and Eric Kratz host with me. Scott Ron
26:34
Speaker 2: is back on Friday. Ken is back on Monday. See
26:38
Speaker 2: you next time when it's gonna be may see you later, guys.
26:41
Speaker 2: I looking to take your MLB action to the next
26:45
Speaker 2: level this season. Boosted Odds are here to crank up
26:48
Speaker 2: every pitch, swing and home run bet MGM and hooking
26:52
Speaker 2: you up with your very own MLB Odds Boost token
26:55
Speaker 2: to get things started all season long. Just add any
26:58
Speaker 2: MLB bet to your bet slip, activate your Odds Boost
27:01
Speaker 2: token and lock it in. If your bet hit, you're
27:04
Speaker 2: catching out with an even bigger payout. Gambling problem, Call
27:08
Speaker 2: one eight hundred Gambler or one eight hundred my Reset