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13-1 Blowout: A's Get Steamrolled While Tigers' Youth Shine · The House Always Wins Media Network | A’s Baseball Podcasts

0:00
light outage situation and just sticking it out with
0:03
the core Bleacher guys. What a great memory.
0:06
I have a video of the last out there and Nick is just right in
0:10
front of me just pumping his pitch. Yeah, man, it was— dude, that was one
0:13
for the ages for sure. And Mike Fire is not a great person, but I'm
0:17
a nostalgic guy. There's nothing better than baseball and sex. Bull Durham,
0:21
1-1, Crash Davis, nuclear loose,
0:24
dude. Just what are we gonna get, Millie and for their wedding gift.
0:27
That mound visit is one of the best scenes in all of baseball movie history,
0:32
and I love both of them. I can rewatch that movie over and
0:36
over and over and still always— I'm gonna do it. Moneyball. Just, I mean,
0:39
just the nostalgia with it for just being A's fans and everything between.
0:43
It just shows a lot of, of our, you know, how we grew up
0:47
and just the callie and Scotty had a bird. I think I quote
0:51
Moneyball twice. I go with the Bad News Bears. With, yep,
0:55
with, uh, Mr. Thornton. That was my— no, so the new one, the Billy Bob
0:58
Thornton one? Yeah, the new one. Okay, I like this. But you get, you get
1:01
all bears. You get all the Bad News Bears. There's a couple of bad—
1:06
like when they go to Japan, that one sucks. Yeah, no, I ain't talking about
1:08
that one. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. The one with Billy Bob Thornton,
1:11
I think Billy Bob Thornton's a perfect place, like perfect to be a community,
1:15
to talk about all your feelings, to talk about the excitement of the team.
1:19
And that's where the Faithful Few podcast can lend a helping
1:23
hand. So I wish you luck through this. It's not easy when you lose a
1:25
team, something that's near and dear to your heart. There's conflicting
1:29
thoughts and feelings and emotions. There's ups, there's downs.
1:33
Do we root for them? Do we feel good? Do we want
1:36
them to suck? Wherever you are, you're allowed to be.
1:39
And that's why podcasts work.
1:42
Go see my friends at the Faithful Few Podcast, hang out with them.
1:47
And I will tell you this about the A's: they're a fun team to watch.
1:50
They just need Guys,
2:07
let's not waste any time trying
2:11
to put lipstick on
2:15
this one because there really isn't enough lipstick
2:20
in Northern California to cover up what we just watched.
2:25
The A's got absolutely steamrolled by the Tigers,
2:29
13-1. And if you turn the game off after the 7th inning,
2:32
congratulations, you made a great life decision.
2:37
Detroit just didn't beat the A's, they exposed them again.
2:41
They look like a young team on
2:44
the rise. While the A's look like a team still
2:48
searching for answers after another night where
2:52
just about everything that could go wrong did.
2:57
For a while, it wasn't completely hopeless. Springs wasn't
3:01
great, but the game was still hanging around long enough
3:06
that you thought, well, maybe if the offense wakes up—
3:10
well, it never did. Once again, the bats disappeared
3:15
when they were needed most. The lineup couldn't build any momentum,
3:18
and every inning seemed to end with another missed opportunity.
3:23
At some point, you stop— you stop calling it
3:27
one of those nights and start admitting it's
3:31
become a pattern all year long. Then came the 8th,
3:35
and good grief, the 7 runs. 7.
3:39
It felt like every hard-hit ball found grass,
3:42
every mistake got punished, and by the time Dylan
3:46
Digler launched the grand slam, the only mystery left
3:49
was whether the scoreboard was going to need a mercy rule.
3:54
Meanwhile, Max Clark made his major league debut,
3:57
looked like he'd been in the big leagues for years instead
4:02
of making his debut That's what stood out
4:06
more about anything. Detroit's young players looked fearless.
4:10
The A's looked like they were just trying to survive the night. And that's
4:14
where this conversation has to go. This isn't about one bad game.
4:18
Every team gets blown out once in a while.
4:20
It's about a bigger picture. The Tigers
4:24
are watching their young core arrive and make
4:27
an impact right now. The A's are still trying to figure out who they are.
4:32
Where's the consistency? Where's it going to come from?
4:36
And how many more nights like this fans are expected
4:39
to sit through? The score was 13-1, but the gap felt
4:43
even bigger than that. Let's talk about it. What went
4:47
wrong besides everything?
4:51
It's— I mean, I can't say this is just another ugly night. I mean,
4:55
it's It
4:59
seems to be just the way it is, man. I mean,
5:03
are we even at a point where it's a rebuild?
5:07
Maybe we should call another meeting. Maybe you call another meeting.
5:11
Maybe the old Law Dog will call another meeting for us
5:15
and tell everybody about
5:20
the meeting he did call. Because when you call a team
5:23
meeting, you're supposed to let everybody know about it. I don't know if you guys
5:26
do that or not. What do you guys got, man? Hey,
5:29
Dad Pool, how are you, man? Thanks for cruising through. It's late.
5:33
13-1 blowout.
5:37
Good evening. What's up, Bobby, from a humid Missouri?
5:42
Mr. Booney, A's guru. I don't know about that, pal.
5:45
I don't know if I'm much of anything right now, but I appreciate it.
5:48
We have Perkins tomorrow. And jump on Sunday. We also have a
5:52
chance Skubal and Mai's getting traded will make the Motor City kitties depressed.
5:56
Hey man, good for you, Bobby. After a night like this,
6:01
for you to say that— hey, I salute you,
6:04
brother. I really do. That is big time of you, man. Thanks for
6:08
cruising by, Bobby, as always. Athletic Rants, man, you're on the East Coast. Isn't it
6:11
like freaking 2:40 in the morning? What are you doing up, bud?
6:15
And 95.5 wins, yes, it's still in play, but What's
6:20
up with Katse always leaving pitchers out to dry and giving up? Yeah, I mean,
6:23
you're talking about Morales. I,
6:26
I don't know what Morales is doing up.
6:30
If he had some sort of success in Vegas or in AAA at
6:34
any time, I'm all for bringing him up.
6:38
He hasn't had any success down there. None. He's gotten hit
6:42
hard literally since spring training.
6:46
And you constantly bring him up and put him in, in these situations.
6:50
2 innings, 6 hits, 8 runs, 8 earned.
6:58
I don't like it, but maybe people have a different
7:01
take on that. I don't know. I don't know.
7:04
Disappointed. What's up, Sin City Brent?
7:07
I was about to get ready to shit all over our offense, but nope,
7:10
our bullpen outdid themselves. I mean, offense was bad.
7:13
It was— listen, you're talking about a 2-1 game going
7:17
into the 8th inning. I mean, what else do you want?
7:21
The A's had what, 3 hits all night?
7:25
Uh, Jacob Wilson with a little blooper down the right field line,
7:28
Heim with an early double, and, um,
7:33
Bolte with a base hit. That is it.
7:36
Literally it.
7:40
Tommy White continues to struggle. Another defensive error by White,
7:44
a big one. You know what's
7:48
interesting? I had Jesse Goldberg-Strassler on, I think last year I talked
7:52
to him, and I asked Tommy— I asked Jesse about Tommy's
7:56
defense. And for those that don't know, Jesse Goldberg-Strassler's the
8:00
play-by-play announcer for the Lansing Lugnuts, the High-A team.
8:04
For the— in the A's organization, and Tommy White played for him.
8:08
I asked him about Tommy White's defense. He's all, hey, he can
8:11
play third base. The issue with Tommy is everything
8:17
is led by his offense. If his offense is struggling, his defense
8:22
is struggling. If his offense is good, his defense is good.
8:25
And that seems like what it's been. His offense has struggled the last couple days.
8:29
His And he's been awful in the field
8:34
as well. Our offense is still terrible,
8:38
can't score a goddamn run to save our lives. No, you're wrong,
8:42
Sin. We scored one run, uh, Jonah Heim double in the first.
8:47
We scored a run. Come on. We will
8:50
lose 100, 103 games, which means 500 losses in 5 years.
8:55
Yeah, Bill. Um,
8:58
we're right now 45-65,
9:09
52 games left.
9:13
Shit, man, 17-35.
9:16
Yeah, 17-35.
9:22
Is probably favored right now. If you were to put
9:26
odds on it, I want to say it's favored.
9:29
17-35. I mean, they've been playing
9:33
that bad as of late.
9:41
It's a team that's not even really competing either, is it?
9:46
I don't know if I really for
9:50
this year, see a light at the end of the tunnel. To me, it looks
9:53
like they've kind of checked out. And, and I've
9:57
talked about the culture issues all year long. I've talked about for the
10:01
last 2 years. Jonah Heim with the pass ball
10:06
doesn't even literally hustle, uh, for that ball.
10:09
Kind of just walks backwards and gets it.
10:16
I've been ranting about Lawrence Butler. I'm probably going to continue to rant about number
10:20
4. I got you, Sin City.
10:25
Dad, pull location, location, location. When you throw it right over the
10:29
plate, you give up 8 runs.
10:32
We need to call it a season. Well, we can't. We have 52
10:36
games left, DGS, sort of. But I appreciate you stopping
10:40
by and Um, you're not wrong.
10:44
You're not wrong, Bill. Well, I guess Butler's speech really
10:48
made a difference.
10:53
The second issue I have with the team meeting is
10:57
that Butler tells Townie
11:02
they had a team meeting. He tells
11:06
Townie Hey, look out, watch how we play.
11:10
Almost as if to say they're going to start playing well,
11:14
and the reason they're going to start playing well is because the meeting
11:18
he called.
11:23
I would have loved it if he called a team meeting. I'm not against the
11:26
team meeting, you just don't announce it.
11:30
Hey, every— we had a team meeting. That's supposed to be your guys' thing.
11:34
That's supposed to be your deal. First thing you do, you go on AceCast
11:38
and you tell Townie about the team meeting. Uh, do you want to tell
11:42
people that, hey, I'm a leader?
11:45
Guys, let me tell you something. Leaders don't say they're leaders.
11:50
People either follow them or they don't. They don't announce
11:54
that they're a leader. And I know I've been tough on Lawrence Butler,
11:58
and I've been hard on him, and it may sound like, hey, I don't like
12:01
him, or I have something— absolutely not. The kid's 24 years
12:05
old, 25 years old. I blame those
12:08
around him that haven't held him accountable and
12:11
haven't told him to, hey, to wake up, to toughen up,
12:15
to stay off social media.
12:21
Butler's a kid at the end of the day. He needs to grow up.
12:24
Listen, we all probably needed to grow up at,
12:27
at 20, 25 years old, whatever it may be.
12:30
I still need to grow up.
12:34
It's— I don't blame Lawrence Butler. He doesn't know any better.
12:38
I blame those around him. Best thing Kotze ever did for Lawrence Butler was
12:43
send him down in 2024.
12:46
I thought he figured it out.
12:54
I'm rooting for Lawrence Butler, and I, I root for every freaking kid playing baseball.
12:58
It's nothing to do with him,
13:02
but people need to stop kissing his ass, and somebody needs to
13:06
tell Lawrence Butler he needs to toughen the fuck up,
13:09
uh, and he needs to wake up for his own good. I'm rooting for
13:13
him. I hope he does well. I hope he figures it out. And he's not
13:15
the only one. He's not the only one,
13:19
but he does make himself to be an easy target.
13:25
I hope he figures it out. I really do.
13:29
I hate to see them go through this. Wish would they do something about the
13:32
cable contract and play at the Aviators. Hey Bob, I mean,
13:36
you're talking about a hitter's ballpark, but just to kind of get out of that
13:39
Sacramento type of environment and that— yeah,
13:42
I know what you mean. Um, I, you know,
13:46
it just— it, it does— if atmosphere stinks,
13:50
doesn't it? I'm with you as far as that. I don't care what that
13:53
sea level's at or, um,
13:56
all that stuff. It just— it would be a cleaner environment.
14:00
I'm with you. I'm with you.
14:05
We've been laughingstock of baseball the last— yeah, Bill.
14:10
'22, '23, '24,
14:15
'25. 26. 21, we didn't make
14:19
the playoffs, but hey, 86 wins. We're right down— we're right there
14:23
down the stretch in 20— in '21. That was a good team.
14:30
What was '22? Uh, 100, and then no,
14:33
110 in '22, then 100, then 93.
14:42
Than last year. What was it, 87, 88?
14:46
This year might be 100.
14:50
Springs went wrong. Morelos is still being terrible.
15:01
If Springs didn't freak— I didn't think Springs was bad tonight. He walked 5
15:05
guys. 4 innings pitched, 4 hits, 2 runs, 2 earned.
15:08
He He walked 5 guys. He gave up the solo
15:12
bomb to, to McGonigal,
15:19
and then a sac fly off walks.
15:24
I thought he was better.
15:31
I feel bad for Morales. You could look at
15:35
him out there He's going through it.
15:39
Sucks.
15:42
Chains only meeting.
15:46
Finally able to stay up since it's
15:51
2:40 here in New York. You're New York, huh? Time is relevant watching these games.
15:56
God bless you for watching, Deadpool. Billy, I don't know
16:00
what Steve Sacks has been smoking, but he He said the A's could win 76
16:03
games this year. Yeah,
16:07
um, you're telling me they're gonna go 31
16:13
and 21?
16:22
Damn.
16:26
I didn't rush home this time. Morales hasn't changed now.
16:30
George, there's my man GW.
16:33
G-Dub. Pony, thanks for showing up night after night.
16:37
I'm not sure how you do it. Hey, it's because the guys like you,
16:40
brother. That's how I do it. It's you guys. I genuinely get
16:45
excited, uh, to talk to you guys and hang out and talk A's
16:48
baseball with you guys. Swear, that's, that's how I do it. If it wasn't
16:52
for you guys, I wouldn't be here, man. I don't God bless
16:56
you guys. Thank you, man. Uh, and thanks for that, dude. I really appreciate
17:00
it, all you guys. This game was really too
17:03
good to be true after Heim double.
17:08
Heim double felt good about it, right?
17:16
Wilson works a walk finally. Kurt strikes out to lead off
17:20
the game. He looks frustrated out there.
17:24
Heim, boom, double.
17:29
Soderstrom, disappointing day, 0 for 4.
17:32
He looks disinterested. Bobby, when a guy
17:36
plays good, you never send them down. When a guy plays bad, you don't send
17:39
him up. Old school. Wish the A's would relearn this.
17:44
I've always had a little bit of a question on what
17:49
they've been doing. Uh, they got this Bob, or, uh, Jonathan Oronelis.
17:54
I've been following him. I believe you made the call on him, man. Uh,
17:57
they picked up on waivers. He was tearing it up in Vegas, batted over .400.
18:01
I think he's the real deal. Um, he got an at-bat tonight,
18:06
he popped out. Uh, looking forward to see when he starts getting
18:09
regular at-bats. I like him a lot,
18:12
what I saw of him in Vegas. Now Take that
18:16
as a grain of salt. When the ownership— when
18:21
the ownership tells us, look, I called A's
18:24
Cast last week and says Shea and Kurt doesn't want to be here,
18:28
and they just laughed at— they don't want to be here, man. Uh, they don't
18:31
want to be here. I don't know how they're— how they laugh at that
18:35
one. Hey, you know, even if you disagree with it, I think it's a legitimate
18:39
comment. I don't I,
18:43
I don't know how you— when you look at this team and
18:48
how they play, you don't see that there's an issue. Listen,
18:51
I'm not doubting there's injuries.
18:57
Injuries, it's kind of a Band-Aid for a bigger picture, right?
19:02
Pitching's bad and And
19:06
I can't— I, I talked about yesterday, a couple nights ago, about Kotze
19:11
making the right decisions. And Sam actually had an interesting point on his postgame
19:16
yesterday. He's like, hey, there is no right button to press. I said,
19:19
hey, every button he's pressing is wrong. I'm not gonna
19:23
sit here and blame Kotze.
19:28
I think the issue runs deeper. Is he part of
19:32
it? Well, absolutely. He's, he's the guy at the front of it, right? There's no
19:36
question about it. But I also think the front office and everybody else is,
19:40
is part of it too. And you even saw David Force the other day on
19:44
A's Cast. He was frustrated. He's like, hey, we need to start winning.
19:52
You gotta also remember, guys, and I'm not defending anybody,
19:55
believe me, culture is managed by the
20:00
front office and the managers on the field.
20:04
What they're doing and how they're establishing this, um,
20:08
roster and what they're spending is based on the ownership.
20:15
You gotta— you got— you have to at some point point a fix—
20:19
uh, you have to point a finger at Fisher as well.
20:22
There's no question about it. You have to. Well,
20:26
you have to. The constraints forced is probably being under
20:30
in order to get players. Must be extremely hard. I'm not giving
20:33
any of them a pass, okay? The culture stinks.
20:37
Um, you can tell no one wants to be there, and that's directly
20:41
on Forrest. That's on, on Katse. If, if you're
20:44
not seeing it, I don't know what to tell you. Correct,
20:48
roster is not the best. But it's more
20:52
to it than just roster. They're not playing hard.
20:56
They're not playing hard.
20:59
They're not— there's no effort there. You see
21:03
it night in and night out. Hyatt today with the pass ball,
21:07
like, huh?
21:11
Mental lapses by Butler constantly in the field. Soderstrom doesn't
21:15
look like he's into it. For the first time in
21:19
his— since I've seen him in an A's uniform,
21:23
Kurtz looks frustrated mentally at what's going on. I think
21:27
he's going to be— as far as his hitting-wise, there's no issue. He'll be there.
21:31
He's going to be the guy. He looks frustrated though.
21:35
Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm looking into it, uh, too deeply.
21:38
I'm so sick of Katse gaslighting
21:41
us during postgame.
21:46
I'm still dead set on him being fired Monday
21:50
if they get destroyed. They're not going to though, Dadpool, right?
21:54
And you got to think of it also like, okay, listen, this is what the
21:57
organization is. They're paying what, Katsé, $7.5 million a
22:02
year? A's right now for next year as
22:05
far as signing free agents. Have a budget of probably
22:10
$25 million-ish, give or take,
22:13
depending if he wants to go in that, um, bank a little bit more.
22:18
Katse is staying,
22:22
and if, if that means having $25
22:25
million versus $17 million to spend on free agents,
22:29
I'm fine with Katse staying. Now, I don't know if he's going to be around
22:31
in 2028, but he's staying next year.
22:38
He just is.
22:42
Dadpool, you make good points. It's the way they're
22:45
playing and the effort. There's every reason, every right to fire him. But at the
22:49
same time, I mean, you put somebody else
22:53
new, is it really going to change anything?
22:59
Someone mentioned the other day, I forget where, maybe it was on X,
23:03
They— the A's need to do what the White Sox did, just the complete restructure
23:08
of everybody— management, front office,
23:11
etc. Clean house, start fresh with
23:15
that. It's worked out for them pretty well, hasn't it? I think that
23:19
says a lot when a team like the White Sox does that.
23:25
Haven't won a series since the Vegas series. They might as well move next season
23:28
and rip the Band-Aid off.
23:36
Kotzebue needs to have the players watch his show, watch this show, to have them
23:40
pissed off. Jason, firing Kotzebue would be a forced decision.
23:44
Fisher is the kind of owner that lets people— I— it— no,
23:47
it won't, Jason. It's $7.5 million.
23:51
It's $7.5 million. Still a guaranteed contract.
23:54
So In essence, yeah,
23:58
you're right, it would be a forced decision,
24:01
but it will be a decision. And, and Fisher has
24:05
been consistent with this over the years. It will be a decision
24:08
where, okay, David, you want to fire Mark,
24:13
fine. You got $17 million to spend here next year,
24:17
okay, on free agents, not a dollar over. You want
24:20
to keep Mark Okay, now you have $25 million to spend next
24:25
year. You make the decision. So in that sense, yes,
24:28
Jason, but that's what he's going to be left with. Fisher has
24:32
been a bottom line when you look at payroll over the years and
24:37
what they have spent year to year, what's come off the books
24:41
and what's gone on.
24:45
It's followed the same type of deal, a little different the last few
24:49
years since the Severino signing in with the revenue sharing,
24:53
right? But you could still do the math and figure it out. And I think,
24:57
Jason, you were on it the other day,
25:00
um, $17 million I believe coming off the book,
25:03
$16 million, something like that, if they don't pick up the Springs,
25:07
um, option, which I don't think they will.
25:10
And then probably another $10 on top of that, which is consistent in
25:14
what they've been doing the last couple of years. So I thought you were on
25:18
that as well. You're right in a sense. It is a—
25:21
it is a, uh, a forced decision,
25:25
but it's not that simple either. It's not gonna be like, do what you want
25:28
and then spend how you want to. It's going to come down to
25:33
that. And I don't think— and I wouldn't either.
25:36
I wouldn't either. I'm not going to sit here and say, hey, I want
25:40
$17 million to spend and get rid of Katsé
25:44
versus $25 million and keep Katse.
25:51
Bill, leave my Sacks alone. I love that guy. He's always
25:55
the happiest guy in the room and office, the most entertaining as well.
25:58
Well, of course he's not an A's guy, he's a Dodger.
26:03
That's the kind of the— to begin with, uh, the start of
26:06
this deal. Well, and I heard Hobbs on Habit Hunter. I agree with you,
26:10
Hobbs. He was talking about a certain player on
26:14
the Red Sox, you know who I'm talking about, and calling him by his nickname,
26:18
right? Which player was it? I forget.
26:22
And you think about that, you're like, would you ever hear a
26:26
Red Sox announcer saying, hey, Law Dog or
26:30
Sody? I agree with you on that one,
26:33
Hobbs. Anthony Katse
26:37
needs to be fired. He has lost this team.
26:42
I'm not disagreeing with any of you guys in the firing.
26:46
I hate how he gaslights the press conferences. I hate
26:51
how he's not up front. I hate how he kind of— but
26:55
you also gotta blame— I don't know if I— yeah,
27:00
Mark, guys like Martin Gallegos who cover the A's,
27:03
who's throwing the softball questions. But I think he's instructed to do
27:10
Thanks, Aaron, appreciate you, man.
27:13
I'll talk, Booney. I've been a big fan of yours
27:16
since Locked On A's. I used to listen on Spotify, uh,
27:20
but I'm on that YouTube Premium now, so I'm always tuning in. But hey,
27:23
man, Sin City Brent, thank you, brother. Uh, I appreciate
27:27
you, dude. This, this is why we do it, man. This is what makes this
27:31
fun. Uh,
27:35
even through the bad times, it will get better. It will get better.
27:38
I do believe it. I am excited about the future. The future
27:42
is just, I think, further along than we think.
27:47
And, um, I think more I'm
27:50
frustrated is just kind of the lack of fight. They don't compete.
27:54
It's been a frustrating year. That's what's made it frustrating.
27:58
And kind of like Yeah,
28:06
we're so bad. Good job, Bill. It's clear they're delusional and
28:10
they don't care. Kobe, uh, how you doing, bud?
28:13
We just don't have the arms. No, we don't have the arms. And right now
28:16
Kobe doesn't feel like we have the bats either, bud. Uh, the guys
28:20
in the clubhouse know it and they have no confidence. No meeting manager will
28:24
change or anything will change that.
28:28
Yeah, the crazy
28:32
part is the arm's been pitching okay lately. You know, the Red Sox series,
28:36
the starting pitching had an ERA at around 2.5.
28:41
Springs wasn't terrible tonight.
28:45
Bullpen, sure, bullpen's been what the bullpen is, but I
28:50
think it's too late as far as that too. For me, it just looks like
28:53
there's not a whole lot of fight there. You know, I think once the,
28:57
once the All-Star break turned, you could
29:01
still see it was, hey, it's an exciting team to watch. They were fighting,
29:04
they were competing, even in the losses. Even in like,
29:07
you know, uh, even in the series against Minnesota, you're like, okay,
29:11
hey, they're playing hard. Um, in Arizona,
29:15
the one you were at, it was exciting. They competed except
29:19
for that last game, but Boston tonight,
29:23
it just— yeah,
29:29
why does everyone hit like it's a Little League park? But, uh, oh,
29:32
that's so
29:38
funny. You know what was funny? It's so crazy. Rob from All Along Green was
29:42
saying the same shit. He's like, hey, how come everybody fucking hits
29:46
it in that right field, uh, bullpen but us.
29:50
And every defender robs a home run in that right
29:54
field bullpen but us.
30:01
Totally, man. I don't know.
30:05
Uh, Bob, Oronelis is as good of a waiver wire pickup as you could
30:08
pretty much get, like when we first got— yes.
30:12
Meanwhile, we're 20 under. Maybe we can get a couple free Dodger arms
30:16
this way. I like him. Listen, I like— in
30:20
Vegas, after you said it, I looked him up.
30:24
I mean, this guy was it, a high school kid. He hasn't been that guy,
30:28
but now he's in the prime of his career, 26 years old. And when I
30:31
saw him in Vegas on TV,
30:35
he looked the part. Stealing bases,
30:38
gap-to-gap power. You got to take
30:42
it with a grain of salt. I didn't mind his at-bat today.
30:46
2 Jewels, my man. Thank you, Deadpool.
30:50
We're down on Butler like we're— no, it's different.
30:54
It's different. It's different.
30:58
Um,
31:03
Gelof was hurt and
31:08
you wondered if Gelof was ever going to get back to that old form.
31:11
It's been a couple years for Gelof. You rooted
31:14
for Gelof. And I'm not saying I
31:18
don't root for Butler. Of course he's an A. I want him to do well.
31:21
With Butler, it's more— with Butler,
31:25
it's different than Gelof. You rooted hard for
31:28
Gelof because you saw that energy in him. You knew
31:31
he was a team guy.
31:36
I tell you, Joe, I would— G-Dub, I was turned off with that meeting.
31:39
I wasn't turned off with the team meeting. If he called that team meeting,
31:43
good for him. But when you have— when you call a
31:47
team meeting, that's between you and your teammates.
31:51
You don't go on AceCast telling them that you called
31:55
a team meeting and that things are going to get better.
32:00
You don't try to anoint yourself as a leader.
32:05
Leaders don't call themselves leaders.
32:11
I— that's what I was really turned off on.
32:15
And it has— it kind of, for me,
32:19
it's been something that's been brewing in
32:22
2025. You can go back to the
32:27
comments he made about being an all-star in Atlanta.
32:31
You could talk about the comments he made about Nick Kurtz
32:35
playing his first game in a minor league park. You could talk about the
32:39
body language he's had for the last couple years. You could talk about the mental
32:43
lapses he's had.
32:48
This goes back to 2024,
32:53
and for me, when I look at a guy like— he hasn't changed.
32:56
He's still the same guy that
33:01
smiles and is all team, team, team when
33:05
he's doing well,
33:08
but the minute adversity hits,
33:13
it's bullshit. It's pow. It's that face.
33:18
It's the mental lapses. And, and that's what it's been for me
33:22
for Lawrence Butler since, since the
33:25
beginning of '24 when he got sent down and he came back up.
33:29
I thought he figured it out. No one was a bigger Lawrence Butler guy than
33:33
me going into '25. I said he would get MVP votes. I was all
33:37
for the extension. I thought he figured
33:41
it out. Even this year, them not sending—
33:45
starting him in Vegas or on the IL to
33:48
begin the season, I felt Butler
33:52
had his hand in that decision. I'm speculating,
33:58
but that's what it's been like. I think Gelof and Butler's
34:02
two different things. I don't question Butler's talent, nor I question
34:06
Gelof's, but for me with Gelof, it was, can he stay
34:10
healthy and can he be that Zach Gelof
34:14
that we saw in 2023?
34:18
He stayed when he was healthy. He was good.
34:22
So that's kind of the difference for me between the two.
34:26
And if you missed the open, I've been
34:30
hard on, get on Butler. And listen, I'm sure he's a great kid,
34:34
but that's exactly what he is, is a kid. He got drafted
34:38
out of high school. He signed the big extension.
34:44
I blame the people around him. No one's held him accountable.
34:48
No one's told him— and listen, I'm leaving off the tweeting or
34:52
the social media during games. I mean,
34:56
how is that right in any environment? So this
35:00
isn't a shit on Lawrence Butler. It's like, listen, he needs
35:04
to get better. He needs to grow up. And that goes for a lot of
35:06
A's players. But he's the one that's kind of been a little bit more
35:10
visible with his stuff, and he's brought that on himself.
35:16
So I hope the best for him. I hope those around him hold him accountable
35:19
and tell him the truth. If they want to do him any type of favor,
35:23
that's what they need to do. Any news on
35:27
Gelof?
35:31
I haven't heard anything, Bob. I haven't heard it. I haven't looked
35:35
either. That's on me. You know, at this end
35:39
of the season, what, we're 110? Maybe he
35:42
comes back in early September.
35:48
I've seen other fans call out Soderstrom indirectly talking about that,
35:52
uh, Contreras tag up from third, saying it looked like the left fielder
35:56
wasn't even making an effort to throw. Um,
36:02
I thought Duran was way off on that, if that's
36:06
what you're talking about. I mean, I thought, I thought Soderstrom made a hell of
36:08
a throw on that one. You could tell
36:12
by the body language on Soderstrom why
36:16
he could turn some people off.
36:20
That may be just who he is, and I'm not
36:24
trying to make excuses saying, hey, oh, you're saying it's okay
36:27
for Soderstrom and not okay for Butler. That's not what I'm saying.
36:31
Um, yeah, I get it, he's still injured.
36:36
Maybe Katse will resign. No, Bob, he won't. Why was
36:40
Wilson DH the last 2 games? If he's hurt, put him on the 60-day
36:43
IL.
36:48
I don't know. Uh, thoughts on, um,
36:53
Basso was looking elite for a while. You know, I think Brady Basso is
36:57
who he is, right?
37:00
Um, 2 innings, 4 hits, 3 runs, 2 earned. I mean, I wouldn't
37:04
say he's been looking elite for a while. He's had a couple good outings.
37:07
He had the good, um, he had that piggyback outing where
37:11
it started, where he started in Minnesota and
37:17
Barnett came in after him. And then he had a couple decent, you know,
37:21
he had another outing that was decent after that.
37:24
And then tonight he wasn't great. 2 innings, 4 hits,
37:28
uh, 3 runs, 2 earned.
37:32
Bosso's always been a starter, so he
37:35
hasn't been good in Vegas either. I think he kind
37:39
of is who he is. I, I don't think Brady Bosso is a guy you
37:43
have on your— is not a guy
37:46
that belongs on a, um, a contending playoff
37:51
team. I think Baszal is a journeyman. Uh, he is who he is.
37:55
Um, I like him,
38:01
you know, but he's not a guy that's gonna— if
38:05
he's on your roster and you're not thinking you're contending,
38:12
if Katse saw this show, he would go into hiding
38:16
and live perpetual— I don't
38:19
think they're watching this show. Uh,
38:23
Sogard, his nephew.
38:27
Yes, that's his nephew, right? Still, I know,
38:30
right? You with the comments about that. Listen,
38:34
awesome. Still,
38:40
Sacks now playing for the Red Sox. Nick Sogard.
38:43
Sogard is Sacks's nephew.
38:46
Okay, still, still,
38:52
if you are a free agent, why would you sign here in 2027? You have
38:55
to walk, uh, 400 feet to the clubhouse.
38:59
Yeah, you know, I said the
39:04
other night that I think the 2 signings the A's will get,
39:09
I think it's going to be a David Bednar which they'll
39:13
overpay, like a 1-year, $15 million for a David Bednar.
39:18
And a— what pitcher did I say?
39:22
I said a starting pitcher the other night too, kind of like you're
39:27
a step up above a, like an Aaron Civalli, like maybe like a,
39:31
uh, you know, a Tyler Mele, um, from the Giants,
39:36
that type of guy.
39:40
Something like that.
39:44
Bill, I guarantee you Goff will be traded. I hope
39:48
not. I've been trying to root for Butler so
39:51
hard all season, but he really does make it hard. Him and everyone else
39:56
has checked out, so maybe his meeting was more of a talking down to the
40:00
team. Who knows? I, I have no problem with the meeting.
40:04
If he called a meeting, whoever else called a meeting, good for them.
40:08
I have a problem that we know about it.
40:12
I have a problem that we know about it.
40:15
I have a problem that it was announced the way it was.
40:21
I was— a problem that he said they had a team meeting on TV.
40:27
Come on.
40:31
He's been like that all year, but you're right, when he's doing well, he's happy-go-lucky,
40:34
but every other game, he's a downer. It just bums me out.
40:41
You hear about his personality being electric, um,
40:45
and I'm, I'm in on that.
40:48
I see it.
40:52
I want to see you root for your teammates when adversity hits.
40:59
And listen, I, I'm gonna say this again. This is— we don't know what's going
41:02
on behind closed doors. We're talking as
41:06
far as what we observe on TV, but it's been
41:10
pretty damn consistent. What's up, Brad? Red Sox fan here.
41:14
Beginning of the year, I thought the Red Sox would be what the A's are
41:17
this year. Crazy.
41:21
So much potential but less emotions.
41:25
I, I think he's still going to be that guy. The thing with Lawrence
41:29
is he's gained weight in the offseason. He's, he's not a— he's not
41:33
that athletic guy. What's his numbers, guys? Um, I haven't
41:37
even looked at his numbers this year.
41:43
The thing that concerns me about Lawrence Butler, when you're talking Lawrence Butler,
41:46
he's not stealing bases.
41:51
He's 6 of 9 this year in stolen bases.
41:54
He has 6 home runs. He's hitting .206,
41:58
an OPS of .630. His WAR is a -0.7.
42:13
He's striking out not too bad, 84 times,
42:17
277 at-bats. Better than he's been.
42:25
I thought Lawrence Butler— honestly, I'll be honest with you,
42:28
going into 2025, I thought he'd be a
42:32
30-30 guy, but I thought he'd easily be a
42:36
20-20 guy with, with, without even thinking. I mean,
42:39
right now he's a 6-6 guy. 6 stolen bases,
42:42
6 bombs. This isn't 102
42:45
games. He's played a lot of games, guys.
42:50
102 games last year. 21 bombs,
42:54
22 stolen bases. And if you remember, he got those
42:58
mostly down the stretch. Those numbers are a little
43:01
bit not as good as it seems.
43:06
I want us to become waiver wire fanatics while we suck this
43:10
bad after trade line. We might as well score some real freebies.
43:13
Probably Tuesday, Thursday. By then the Angels will be in 4th.
43:16
I put the Astros in 1st right now. Can you believe that the Astros
43:20
are in 1st? That's all you got to do in this division. When like 3,
43:23
4 in a row, you're in 1st. I live in the Detroit area. Chinese are
43:27
a funny team. Team much better road team. Well We're
43:32
a much better road team too. I did grow up in LA, enjoyed the A's
43:34
back in the '80s and early '90s.
43:39
Yeah, so here goes Ronis at third starting tomorrow.
43:43
I wouldn't mind that.
43:47
Uh, Bice was a real fishy pitcher. Yeah, but he's
43:51
not just a body language thing with Soderstrom. It literally affects the play when
43:54
he tries to act nonchalant, dropping balls, let a runner take the second.
43:59
Yeah,
44:03
yeah. Hey, Bonnie, gotta ask
44:07
you what you think of Scooble, uh, will bring. What are we looking at?
44:12
We beat Scooble last night. Let's— what
44:16
am I talking about last night? We didn't beat anybody last year. Uh,
44:19
we did okay. Scooble was dealing against us, uh, last year.
44:23
And we hit him for— in one inning we got the Tigers, I think.
44:27
Didn't we— we
44:31
take 2 of 3, or did we sweep the Tigers last year?
44:34
I forget what it was,
44:40
but tomorrow, uh, Valdez and Perkins,
44:44
it's gonna be a tough matchup. Valdez dealt
44:49
against us last year. Towards the end of the year. I think it was the
44:51
last game of the year too. Houston beat us pretty good.
44:55
Um, we're not going to run into Skubal,
44:59
I don't believe, this series.
45:04
We're looking at, um, Valdez and Montero.
45:09
Watching the Red Sox and Tigers TV broadcast, they made fun of the ball.
45:13
Of course they did. I have one
45:16
question about the Butler meeting. I want to know what Jeff McNeil was
45:19
doing while Butler was talking. What expression did you—
45:26
listen guys, I, I, like I said, I, I have no problem with the
45:30
meeting. I have a problem that he let— that
45:34
we know about the meeting.
45:38
I would have thought a lot if, if this meeting leaked, let's say a year
45:42
later, I'd have a lot more respect for it.
45:47
We shouldn't know about the fucking meeting. That's kind of my
45:51
point to the whole thing. Like, how do we know about the meeting?
45:55
He's the one that told everybody about the meeting.
45:58
Come on. Anyway, guys, appreciate you. Um, thanks for
46:03
cruising by. We'll see what happens tomorrow.
46:07
Am I worried about Kurtz as far as his play?
46:11
No. As far as him extending,
46:15
yes. But that's a long
46:18
time, right? We're gonna have, um,
46:22
his 3rd year pre-arb next year, and you got
46:26
28, 29, and 30. So he'll be a free agent
46:30
in 2031. Am I concerned about him
46:33
extending? Yeah, but he'll be fine. I'm not
46:37
worried about him. No. Take care,
46:40
guys. I appreciate you guys. At this
46:44
point, we need Dave Stewart to do a meeting. That would be a meeting.
46:47
Take it easy, guys. Appreciate you as always.