Latest / Birdland Territory / Checking in on likely O's front office leadership for 2027

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Checking in on likely O's front office leadership for 2027 · Birdland Territory

• 0:07
  Speaker 1: It is the latest edition of Birdland Territory as we
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: tape on Thursday, the Orioles' off day after they swept
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: the Jays and now head to New York, final series
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: of the season. As we tape, they are mathematically alive,
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: about 100 feet to happen. We're saying there's still a chance,
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: even it's the faintest chance, as the Orioles won a
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: doubleheader against the Blue Jays and swept that series. But guys,
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: we start with the topic of the future. I mean,
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: this has come up. a lot since Saturday when Mike
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: Elias had a dugout press conference and said he assumes
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: he's coming back, which I think is a safe assumption.
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: If he said that much, I think we know he's
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: coming back in his position. And he also said manager
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: Craig Albert has his as well. So this is the
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: first time publicly heard that it's meeting with mixed reviews
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: in Birdland. I mean, no shock after a second straight
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: potential losing season here. What was your guys' reaction to
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: the timing of the news and the actual news?
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: Yeah, the timing is– I feel like it's kind of
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: weird having one week left in the season and maybe
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: not knowing how the season is going to end. To me,
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: you would think that that would be something that would
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: be addressed right away, maybe the first day after, the
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: first couple days after going into the offseason. But like
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: you said, Steve, it goes to show that he probably
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: is coming back and it seems like most of the
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: guys that he has– with him are coming back to
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: Craig Alvarez. We'll be back next year. It seems like also,
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  Speaker 2: so they must've liked what they've seen. Ownership must've given
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: the okay, but definitely it just seems a little bit
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  Speaker 2: weird that it's a week in advance. And then who knows,
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: maybe something happens this last weekend and things get shaken up.
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: But like you said, as, as of today, it seems
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: like they will be bringing everybody back.
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  Speaker 3: It was definitely odd timing.
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  Speaker 4: And Steve, I know a few weeks ago, you brought
• 1:59
  Speaker 4: up this possibility and I thought it was a really
• 2:02
  Speaker 4: great idea to, You know, I would have liked to
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  Speaker 4: have seen ownership address this, and maybe they still will
• 2:08
  Speaker 4: during the end-of-season press conference, and we can kind of
• 2:11
  Speaker 4: get their thoughts on what happened this year, what's happened
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  Speaker 4: the last couple of years, quite frankly, and what they're
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  Speaker 4: going to do to fix it.
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  Speaker 3: And I'm not surprised that Mike is.
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  Speaker 4: Going to be coming back, just because, I mean, you
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  Speaker 4: can go back to the Kyle Braddish presser. That was
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  Speaker 4: when David Rubenstein said at that time he couldn't be
• 2:32
  Speaker 4: more pleased. with Mike Elias, then kind of did an
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  Speaker 4: about face, did a 180 when he was promoting his book,
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  Speaker 4: saying he's very embarrassed about the situation.
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  Speaker 3: So then you're just wondering, well, which is it? I
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: will say this, guys.
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  Speaker 4: I really question how much is going to change. And
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  Speaker 4: I know it's very difficult talking about someone's job, but
• 2:58
  Speaker 4: it seems to be a lot. Eight years is a
• 3:00
  Speaker 4: long time. And, you know, last year, I remember when
• 3:04
  Speaker 4: Mike Elias met with media in Milwaukee and he was
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  Speaker 4: talking about so much introspection and there was going to
• 3:10
  Speaker 4: be a lot changed. And he was more aggressive this offseason.
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  Speaker 4: But guys, they have the eighth worst winning percentage in
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  Speaker 4: baseball since June 21st, 2024. I really firmly believe that
• 3:23
  Speaker 4: this organization needs a massive shakeup. And I just wonder
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  Speaker 4: how much that's going to happen if Mike Elias is back.
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  Speaker 1: Well, I don't speak for the fans, but I know
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: and I hear from a lot of them. And I
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: think their fears are that there might be new names
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: in the front office, but how they act won't change.
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: That's the fear. And that's my fear, too, because how
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: they've been acting isn't working. So you can change the
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: players every year. They've changed players. They've changed managers. They've
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: changed coaches. The one loss is about the same. So
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: other things... now have to change this left-right fascination, some
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: way they do things. I think we saw a radical
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: shift in how manager Craig Albernaz will do business. Instantly,
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: hours after he's told he's coming back publicly, he's calling
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: out players publicly. We haven't seen that this year. Some
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: fans loved it. Others fans said, oh, sure, fringe players,
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  Speaker 1: call them out. And the stars who do things wrong,
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: you don't call them out. So there's a whole lot
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: going on here with those comments. But Brad, how do
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: you think those comments play in the clubhouse?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a clubhouse is probably a lot of guys
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  Speaker 2: at the end of the year probably aren't paying as
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  Speaker 2: much attention to some of this stuff.
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  Speaker 1: I don't.
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  Speaker 2: It's really a player to player, you know, like. each
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  Speaker 2: guy might, might see it, but some guys might, some
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  Speaker 2: guys won't. Um, so it's, it's definitely going to be
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: a mixed review in the clubhouse. I think, uh, Going
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: into the offseason, honestly, I think this is a good
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  Speaker 2: opportunity that if guys have questions or if Craig has
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  Speaker 2: something to say, bring him in the office. Let's get
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: everything out on the table and let's go in the
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  Speaker 2: offseason unified as a group. We would like to see
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  Speaker 2: this improve. We like what you do here. Let's get everything,
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  Speaker 2: all the cards out on the table. Because like you said,
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  Speaker 2: I think before, when he's not sure he's coming back,
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  Speaker 2: it's probably trying to preserve his job and trying to
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  Speaker 2: keep good relations with the players. But I just feel
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  Speaker 2: like if you put everything out on the table, that's
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  Speaker 2: going to create better relationships among everybody, among the.
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  Speaker 5: Coaching staff, among the.
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  Speaker 2: Players, and the expectations of what the front office and
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  Speaker 2: what the coaches want will be out on the table.
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  Speaker 5: And I feel like that's a great place to go
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  Speaker 5: into the offseason.
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  Speaker 2: So maybe it is a good time of year to
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  Speaker 2: do it is to kind of, you know, talk about
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  Speaker 2: where guys fell short. And let's have an open conversation
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  Speaker 2: about that. And let's be honest about it because– when
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  Speaker 2: things aren't said, you go into the off season as
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  Speaker 2: a player, like, what do I need to improve? What
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  Speaker 2: do I need to, you know, what should I try
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  Speaker 2: to make my strengths? What weaknesses do I need to
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  Speaker 2: make better? And I just think that that could only
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  Speaker 2: help the team moving forward and maybe keeping everybody knowing
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  Speaker 2: that everybody's going to be back is going to be
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  Speaker 2: one of those things that helps this team kind of
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: move forward as we move into the off season.
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  Speaker 5: Yeah.
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  Speaker 4: I sort of feel the same way, Steve, as I
• 6:23
  Speaker 4: did a year ago at this time, When you have
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  Speaker 4: a season like the Orioles did where they really underachieved,
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  Speaker 4: Vegas had them favored to go back to the playoffs
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  Speaker 4: this year.
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  Speaker 3: I think their over-under win-loss total was 85.5.
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  Speaker 4: They're going to fall well short of that. This isn't
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  Speaker 4: just a Mike Elias thing. This isn't just a Craig
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  Speaker 4: Albernaz thing. This isn't just a players thing. This is
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  Speaker 4: an organizational thing. Pretty much every single person....
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  Speaker 3: In that organization, I think needs to look in the
• 6:55
  Speaker 3: mirror and what can I do differently? How can I
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  Speaker 3: get better? You know, how can we change our philosophy?
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  Speaker 4: Um, because what we're doing is not working and it
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  Speaker 4: hasn't worked over the last two and a half years.
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  Speaker 4: And looking forward, uh, guys, Michael, I said that he
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  Speaker 4: wanted to bring in outside voices. And I think something
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  Speaker 4: that concerns me in terms of the GM gig, because
• 7:22
  Speaker 4: he said that he does want to fill that role
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  Speaker 4: this offseason, where last year it was vacant. I just
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  Speaker 4: wonder what type of candidate they're able to get, because
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  Speaker 4: would a veteran guy want to come here when Mike
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  Speaker 4: is still going to be calling the shots? Would a
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  Speaker 4: young hotshot candidate want to come here, knowing that, let's
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  Speaker 4: be honest, if things go south again next year, it
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  Speaker 4: is a clean house situation. That person could be out
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  Speaker 4: of their job after just one year. So It's a
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  Speaker 4: very tenuous situation. It's a very weird situation.
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  Speaker 3: And then you throw in the offseason just being who
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  Speaker 3: the heck knows what that's going to look like. It's
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  Speaker 3: going to be a wild offseason in Baltimore.
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  Speaker 1: You made some great points there. They're selling point if
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  Speaker 1: you're the Orioles, I think, to bring someone in who
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  Speaker 1: is really good and wants to join you. is this
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: is a great fan base that's sort of forgiving compared
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  Speaker 1: to some others. They love their team. They just want
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: them to win. And there is the making of a
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  Speaker 1: good team here. The bullpen we've talked about. The rotation
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  Speaker 1: is somewhat set so far. Good start to next year's rotation. If,
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  Speaker 1: this is the biggest if, they get guys like Gunner
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  Speaker 1: and Kouser and Jackson Holiday going with Pete, now you've
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  Speaker 1: got something. So someone looking in from the outside could say,
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  Speaker 1: If I can join and be a voice that helps
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  Speaker 1: spark some of this change for the better, we could
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  Speaker 1: hit it big next year. And then we all look
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  Speaker 1: like heroes and we all get raises or better jobs
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  Speaker 1: or whatever and make this thing work.
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  Speaker 4: And Steve, I, you know, I definitely want to clear
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  Speaker 4: up hypothetically. And this is let's just say the GM job,
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  Speaker 4: you know, that they do clean house.
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  Speaker 3: It's a. I think this is a very attractive job.
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  Speaker 4: I think on the surface, if there was an opening
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  Speaker 4: and this is a new front office, this is a much, much,
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  Speaker 4: much different situation than what Mike Elias walked into eight
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  Speaker 4: years ago, where he tore it down to the studs.
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  Speaker 4: You're building up the analytic department.
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  Speaker 3: You're, reinvesting into international scouting. You were going through a rebuild.
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  Speaker 4: This is not that. There is a lot of talent
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  Speaker 4: on this baseball team right now.
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  Speaker 3: Do they need help? Absolutely they do. Do they need
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  Speaker 3: a philosophy change? Absolutely they do.
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  Speaker 4: I guess my point is if Mike is still calling
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  Speaker 4: the shots and maybe he is going to be more
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  Speaker 4: open to new ideas and doing things differently, I don't know.
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  Speaker 4: I think that's the huge barrier. If this job on
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  Speaker 4: the surface was open, you know, for a new president
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  Speaker 4: of baseball ops, GM, whatever, I think this is an.
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  Speaker 3: Extremely attractive job right now.
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  Speaker 4: I just think given the fact that, man, this is
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  Speaker 4: a scolding, scolding hot seat right now that this front
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  Speaker 4: office is on right now, it's, it's, it's a tricky
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  Speaker 4: situation to navigate, Brad.
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  Speaker 5: Yeah, definitely.
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  Speaker 2: And I think when you look at this roster and
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: you look at the team, you would say the bones
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: are great for this team. Like you want to come
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: into a team where pretty much you could say four
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: of the five, at least four of the five spots
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: in rotation are pretty much locked down for next year.
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: Every single guy's going to the off season healthy. I mean,
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  Speaker 2: what could you ask more from there? And you've had
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: so many guys in the bullpen step up that it's
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: not just like, okay, we have a closer, we have
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  Speaker 2: a setup guy. And then You know, the rest of
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  Speaker 2: the seven, eight positions that we have out there are
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: kind of iffy. I mean, you pretty much have found
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: your guys for this team and you found where they
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: have thrived. So when you look at the pitching side
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: of things and, you know, Ben McDonald made a great
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: point last night on the broadcast that nine of the
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: top 11 ERA teams in team pitching are going to
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: the playoffs. So when you look at baseball today. it's
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: really about pitching. And if you have good team pitching,
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: your offense doesn't have to do as much, but the
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: guys on the offense are there. It's just getting the
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: most out of them. And I think if you can
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: get that going, I just see this team as a winner.
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: And we've been saying it all year. It's just, there's
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: some kind of disconnect and they can, they can figure
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: out that disconnect on where is it going wrong. You
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: have a really good team. And I, we've talked about
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: that all year. This roster is ready to win. And
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: now you talk about the farm system with all these
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: arms coming up and that's one of their best positions
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: is arm. So it's, They have arms for days. The
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: offensive guys are there that you want to have on
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: the team. Now it's just about getting the results that
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: you're looking for.
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: And I think Mike Elias has to prove three things
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: to the fans of Baltimore. One, that he can build
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: a winner and win playoff games. They've won the division,
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: but they haven't won playoff games. And two, that he
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: will be open. to outside opinions. You can't just bring
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: in a good friend of yours who's going to sign
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: on everything you do and be the GM. He has
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: to be open to these outside opinions and then put,
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: implement them. And so I think if he shows the
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: willingness to do a couple of those things, winning at
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: the top, right, obviously winning cures all ills, then they
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: can get something done here. But I think fans are,
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: the message they send to me, and I hear from
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: a lot of them on social media is, They don't
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: believe he will change. So it's up to Elias to
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: prove he can and do some things differently. And I
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: think starting out with the platoon thing that I've been
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: harping on for weeks now would be a nice start.
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: I don't know, man. I still have doubts that the
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: Orioles will ever get away from that, but we're going
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: to see, guys. So it won't be dull around Birdland.
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: It looks like that end-of-season presser should come real soon
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: after the season ends. which is very likely to end
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: Sunday in New York. So we shall see. It's not
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: going to be dull around Birdland. And, of course, fans,
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: please subscribe and follow our channel as we're building our
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: subscriber base. We're excited about that. And we will be
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: here all calendar year, by the way. When the season ends,
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: we don't. In fact, we go to two shows a week.
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: We've been doing three in season. We'll have two shows.
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: which officially could be starting, of course, Monday for the Orioles.
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: So we'll be around a lot. So we're glad you
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: found Birdland Territory. Keep watching. Keep following what we're doing here.
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: Three games of the regular season. In the Bronx, Saturday
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: night's game will be televised live on Fox. And we
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: don't know the pitching matchup yet. We'll see. The Yankees
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: might be playing out the string. But whenever it's Orioles-Yankees,
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: there's interest. And even if the Orioles are eliminated, it'll
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: still be interesting. As Calvert has said, you still got
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: to win. And we're still going to see players who
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: can make impressions this weekend in the Bronx.
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah, the biggest thing for players is that it's 162
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: game season for a reason. And I know like just
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: from the reliever side and pitching side, one game can
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: kind of shape the way your season looks on paper.
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: You know, it's just kind of one of those things
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: where you can never let up. It's still the major leagues,
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: regardless if the games matter or not. You're there playing
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: at the highest level and you want to perform at
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: the highest level. So this weekend, you know, would be
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: a great kind of to maybe what we're going to
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: see next year. I know it's only three games left,
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: but I feel like they've been giving a lot more
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: guys chances and to kind of see who's going to
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: be on the roster next year for 2027.
• 14:52
  Speaker 5: So I just think it's an interesting thing.
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: And we kind of mentioned before the game, you know,
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: with Pete, he's got a chance to lead the American
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: League in home runs. He's leading in RBIs, I believe,
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: right now at the moment. So there's still a lot
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: of things to fight for. And it's a good last
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: weekend to leave an impression. And doing it against the
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: Yankees at Yankee Stadium is always a good way to
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: leave the season on a high note.
• 15:12
  Speaker 4: Yeah, you want to finish the season strong, and this
• 15:15
  Speaker 4: is still a very young team, so you want them
• 15:17
  Speaker 4: to go into the offseason with a lot of confidence.
• 15:20
  Speaker 3: And you finish strong in the Bronx, you can do that.
• 15:24
  Speaker 4: But yeah, Brad, you bring up Pete Alonso, and that's
• 15:26
  Speaker 4: the guy that I'm really going to be paying attention
• 15:29
  Speaker 4: to this weekend, where it looked like for so long,
• 15:32
  Speaker 4: Jordan Alvarez was going to win the Triple Crown, and
• 15:35
  Speaker 4: now Pete has a legitimate shot of getting two of them.
• 15:40
  Speaker 3: Where RBIs, that seems very safe for him.
• 15:42
  Speaker 4: He's up to 110, but he's in a four-way tie
• 15:46
  Speaker 4: right now at 41 home runs in the American League.
• 15:48
  Speaker 4: Pete Alonso, Jordan Alvarez, Junior Caminero, and Ben Rice hit
• 15:52
  Speaker 4: his 41st last night. So Pete has the opportunity to
• 15:56
  Speaker 4: lead the American League in home runs and RBIs in
• 16:00
  Speaker 4: his first season in Baltimore. And Most valuable player, unanimous,
• 16:05
  Speaker 4: first unanimous most valuable Oriole since Cedric Mullins in 2021
• 16:11
  Speaker 4: when he turned in the organization's only 33rd.
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: Season. So Pete can win the RBI title going as
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: of Thursday. He's leading by eight atop the American League
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: RBI lead. I didn't realize this stat, and I can't
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: really believe it. No player has ever led both leagues
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: at different times, of course, in runs batted in. And
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: Pete could do that. In fact, it looks like he's
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: going to do it, knocking on wood with an eight
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: RBI lead. That's just crazy. No one has ever led
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: both leagues in RBIs.
• 16:49
  Speaker 5: It's hard to believe.
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: I was texting somebody about that today. Baseball has been
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: around for how long now? And you still have firsts
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: that happen. And it's just one of those crazy stats
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: that that's hard to believe that that is not have,
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: has not happened before. So he has a chance to
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: put himself above a stat. That's, you know, we still
• 17:07
  Speaker 2: believe in RBIs on the show. Look, we've talked about
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: the last couple episodes. So, That's a, that's a huge
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: accomplishment to be the first one to ever do that
• 17:16
  Speaker 2: would be amazing. So, you know, he's definitely going to
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: this weekend and he's talked about, he loves playing in
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: New York, whether it's a Yankee stadium or back at
• 17:22
  Speaker 2: city field, he just enjoys being in the city. So
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: hopefully Pete can get it done and put the Oriole,
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: put an Orioles player on top of that list.
• 17:28
  Speaker 5: Cause that's a incredible stat.
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: To be a part of.
• 17:31
  Speaker 3: It was shocking. And Steve, you know how Twitter is nowadays.
• 17:35
  Speaker 3: You have to look, all right, is this a real account?
• 17:37
  Speaker 3: Is this BS? I'm checking multiple spots. I'm like, there
• 17:41
  Speaker 3: is no way he would be the first one, but
• 17:43
  Speaker 3: he would.
• 17:44
  Speaker 4: And a lot of Orioles fans, Steve, bring up, man,
• 17:48
  Speaker 4: Frank Robinson didn't do that.
• 17:49
  Speaker 3: And there's so many names that you could throw out there.
• 17:53
  Speaker 4: The fact that Pete has a really good shot at
• 17:56
  Speaker 4: being the first ever, it's crazy.
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: So check out the Orioles on Fox at Yankee Stadium
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: on Saturday night. MLB on Fox is streaming on Fox 1.
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: The race to October is underway, almost over. We have
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: your front row seat to the wildest walk-offs, lights out, pitching,
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: clutch plays all season long. Follow every can't-miss matchup as
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: teams battle for a spot in the postseason. And stream
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: the 2026 World Series live on Fox 1. At home
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: or on the go, live or on demand, never miss
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: a moment. Stream now. Start your Fox One three-day trial
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: today at foxone.com. Let's talk about what happened when the
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: game ended last night and the players poured on the
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: field to cheer on their fans. Pretty cool moment. Pete
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: led them on the field. Who else? And the Orioles
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: tipped their caps to their fans, which is really cool.
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: The last home game has always had some sadness if
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: a team is likely not going on to the postseason.
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: Everybody knows this is their last chance for months to
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: be here and see this team in person. And even
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: when it's disappointing, so many fans love being in that ballpark.
• 19:27
  Speaker 5: Yeah, absolutely.
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: I mean, Camden Yards is one of the best places
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: and it means summertime. When you get to play Camden Yards,
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: it's summer's here and there's nothing better than getting to
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: be an Oriole during the season. And I think Peaches,
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: just another great example that Peaches gets it. He gets
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: what it's about. He gets that it's about the fans.
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: And I think just seeing him lead the team out
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: there and just kind of give their appreciation.
• 19:50
  Speaker 5: To the fans. You know, it hasn't been the year that.
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: They wanted, but at the end of the day, those fans,
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: especially that were there last night, They love this team regardless.
• 19:58
  Speaker 5: They're there through the thick and the thin.
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: And I think just having him lead the team out
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: there and just give it a little bit of appreciation,
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: I hope went a long way.
• 20:05
  Speaker 5: With the fans because it shows that he really gets it.
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: And I just think it's going to be a great
• 20:09
  Speaker 2: next four years that Pete is here as an Oriole
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: and just really soak it in as a Oriole fan.
• 20:13
  Speaker 2: You get to see one of the players that just.
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: He just truly gets it. And I think he truly
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: appreciates everything that there is to.
• 20:20
  Speaker 5: Be about a major leaguer.
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: And I think he's just going to kind of let
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: the team know that this is what you do at
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: the end of the year. You should appreciate your fans
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: and show them some love because they've been doing it
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: through the entire season and through the entire summer.
• 20:33
  Speaker 3: He's just a pro's pro, man.
• 20:36
  Speaker 4: You know, we were saying that all last week when
• 20:38
  Speaker 4: the Orioles were in Citi Field, for him to get
• 20:41
  Speaker 4: that type of reaction from an opposing fan base, that
• 20:45
  Speaker 4: just tells you what type of player he is, that
• 20:48
  Speaker 4: tells you what type of person he is. But I
• 20:50
  Speaker 4: also think when you look at it team-wide, the fans
• 20:54
  Speaker 4: are so important in this game, in every sport. And
• 20:58
  Speaker 4: the Orioles' connection to Baltimore fans is always so strong.
• 21:03
  Speaker 4: So the fact that Pete went out and did that,
• 21:06
  Speaker 4: and Craig Albernaz telling the guys, hey, let's go back
• 21:09
  Speaker 4: out there, salute the fans, I think is big.
• 21:11
  Speaker 3: And It's funny, Brad. I saw on Twitter not that
• 21:15
  Speaker 3: long ago, it usually resurfaced all the time at the
• 21:18
  Speaker 3: end of the season. I remember you guys did, what
• 21:21
  Speaker 3: was it, those music videos?
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 21:24
  Speaker 3: Yeah, the lip-syncing music. Yeah, yeah. Those were just like
• 21:27
  Speaker 3: cool things, you know, just as like an homage to
• 21:30
  Speaker 3: the fans. And it might not seem that big, but
• 21:33
  Speaker 3: the fact that those type of videos resurfaced a decade later,
• 21:38
  Speaker 3: that just tells you the type of impact, you know,
• 21:40
  Speaker 3: that it made. on the fans. Yeah.
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: And I remember the, doing the one in 2014, it was,
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: I came over and Amanda Sarver was the one that
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: kind of took over those things.
• 21:51
  Speaker 5: And she was like, they really love it.
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: And you're doing these goofy things that like makes the
• 21:55
  Speaker 2: players out of our comfort zone, but it was kind
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: of like a nice little like reprieve right before the playoffs.
• 22:00
  Speaker 5: And it got real serious. But like you said, the
• 22:01
  Speaker 5: fans really took to it.
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: And I just think it's like that give and take
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: between the fans and the players and, I think the
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: fans enjoy seeing the softer side of guys and just
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: being able to have fun. We're very lucky as players
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: to get to play a kid's game for money in
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: front of the fans all the time. And I think
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: when the players are able to show that back to
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: the fans, it just gives a little bit more of
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: appreciation for each other. And I think Baltimore just does
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: a really good job of that.
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Was that the we're glad you came video? That
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: was one of them.
• 22:30
  Speaker 3: They did multiple of them.
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: That's an all-timer. That's the one that stands up to
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: this day. Yeah, totally. It fits the fans in this
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: town so well. Let's shift gears abruptly and talk about
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: Gunnar Henderson, as I had a chance to interview him
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: in depth yesterday and wrote about it on my Steve
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: on Baseball sub stack. He's defiant in that he can
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: be the player he was in 2024 again. Of course
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: he's going to say that, but I think he actually
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: believes it, and I think he's going to take steps
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: to make it happen. He told me not everybody's career
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: just continues to trend upward every single year. I'm going
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: to be better for it on the other side. He
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: also said when I asked him about criticism, people doubting
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: he can return to his 2024 level of play. He
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: said of anybody who believes that, just keep thinking that.
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: So I like that little defiant tone he took there.
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: And so I just see this kid rebounding. I'm just
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: not giving up on Gunnar being a great player again.
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: He's not either. But it has to happen because so
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: much hinges on that. It would change a lot if
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: he goes back to that level of play.
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I just I could imagine him and
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: Pete going together, you know, like playing at the same level,
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: which I think they're both capable of being at. And
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: this lineup would be tremendous. I mean, it would just
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: completely change the way you go about facing this lineup.
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: It makes it.
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: Deeper when Gunnar's going well. And I just think his
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: attitude is great. I think it's, you know, like kind
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: of having that little chip on the shoulder going into
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: this offseason is going to be a good thing. The
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: one thing I hope Gunner can do is just give
• 24:06
  Speaker 2: himself a little bit of a reprieve. Give yourself a
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: chance to be the player that we all know you
• 24:10
  Speaker 2: can be. You know, it's the fans are, you know,
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: they're going to be tough on you or you're not
• 24:14
  Speaker 2: going great, but we want to see you do great.
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: The fans want to see you do great in Baltimore.
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: They want to see you be the player that you
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: were in 24. And I think deep down, every single
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: fan of the Orioles knows Gunner can get back to
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: that level. And I just hope this off season, he's
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: able to take, take a month off and just give
• 24:29
  Speaker 2: yourself a mental break and go back into the off
• 24:31
  Speaker 2: season and get back to your fundamentals, and just come
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: in next year ready to go from the jump. And
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: we've seen Paul Skeens come out and say that the
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: WBC played a big role in his downturn of a year,
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: if you want to call it that, for Paul Skeens,
• 24:44
  Speaker 2: the level he's given himself. The fans in Pittsburgh and
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: across baseball are like, oh, Paul Skeens, look at his year.
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: And he pitched 166 innings and had 195 strikeouts and
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: has a 3-3 ERA. So some players are just put
• 24:56
  Speaker 2: on a different pedestal, and that's where Gunners put themselves.
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: And I think the WBC sometimes– He can just kind
• 25:01
  Speaker 2: of get you off in a little bit of a funk,
• 25:03
  Speaker 2: and it's.
• 25:03
  Speaker 5: Hard to get back on track from there.
• 25:05
  Speaker 3: Something that I can promise to everyone watching this, listening
• 25:09
  Speaker 3: to this, no one is harder on Gunnar Henderson than
• 25:11
  Speaker 3: Gunnar Henderson. And he wears his emotions on his sleeve.
• 25:15
  Speaker 4: So, look, I guarantee he's gutted with how this season went.
• 25:20
  Speaker 4: And even going back to 2025, guys, a lot of
• 25:24
  Speaker 4: people want to say that that was a down year
• 25:25
  Speaker 4: for him.
• 25:26
  Speaker 3: Gunner was great defensively. He stole a ton of bags.
• 25:30
  Speaker 4: There were still a lot of great aspects to that
• 25:32
  Speaker 4: 2025 season.
• 25:34
  Speaker 3: This year, maybe not as much.
• 25:36
  Speaker 4: And he was also fantastic with runners in scoring position
• 25:38
  Speaker 4: in 2025 as well.
• 25:40
  Speaker 3: But make no mistake about it, guys.
• 25:44
  Speaker 4: This 2027 is the biggest season of Gunner Henderson's life.
• 25:49
  Speaker 4: When he only has next year and 28. of club control.
• 25:55
  Speaker 4: And this is someone that, you know, not that long ago,
• 25:58
  Speaker 4: we were talking about, geez, like.
• 26:00
  Speaker 3: 300 billion, 400 million, 500 million.
• 26:03
  Speaker 4: Like he's got to bounce back in order to get
• 26:06
  Speaker 4: back to that level of contract, um, that, that he
• 26:09
  Speaker 4: could expect going his way. And I still believe in gunner.
• 26:13
  Speaker 4: Like the talent is overflowing with a gunner Henderson and
• 26:18
  Speaker 4: it didn't happen this year. And he would tell you
• 26:20
  Speaker 4: that it didn't happen this year, but He is going
• 26:23
  Speaker 4: to be so motivated this whole offseason to right this wrong.
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Like I said to him, wouldn't it be something?
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: Pete's rolling. You're rolling. The Orioles are rolling. That's the
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: train Birdland wants to take a seat on, and that
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: still could happen. You can check out my interview with
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: Gunner on my Steve on baseball sub stack. As the
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: season winds down, some pitching stats are impressive to look
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: at for the last week or two. We'll do that
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: in a moment.
• 26:53
  Speaker 3: So check out how the Orioles are coming down the
• 26:55
  Speaker 3: home stretch here. Team ERA 220 the last five. Rotation
• 26:59
  Speaker 3: ERA 253 the last seven.
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: Bullpen ERA, 139 the last nine. It's all been good.
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: That's how they beat the Blue Jays. They only scored
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: 12 runs. They swept the series because they only gave
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: up seven. And I was so excited to see young
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: Trey Gibson throw six and two-thirds scoreless last night. I
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: thought that was a BS challenge by the Blue Jays
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: that brought him back on the field. Crazy. Who cares?
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: At least he could put up a zero. 92 pitches, Brad,
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: and his final memory of the season in the major
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: leagues will not be eight runs he gave up in June.
• 27:49
  Speaker 2: Yeah. And that's a, that's a great stepping stone for
• 27:51
  Speaker 2: him going into the off season and just kind of,
• 27:54
  Speaker 2: he can look back and say he had a lot
• 27:56
  Speaker 2: of years of first, he made his first major league start.
• 27:58
  Speaker 5: He got on the roster.
• 27:59
  Speaker 2: He was in the rotation for a little bit and
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: kind of went sideways, but he was able to come
• 28:04
  Speaker 2: back last night and just put up a great performance performance. I,
• 28:07
  Speaker 2: to me watching him pitch last night, just kind of
• 28:09
  Speaker 2: seemed like a guy that a lot of that times
• 28:11
  Speaker 2: when he was in the rotation, it felt like he
• 28:13
  Speaker 2: was pitching for his, his rotation spot and like kind of,
• 28:17
  Speaker 2: when you get put in a spot like that at
• 28:18
  Speaker 2: the end of the season, knowing that this could probably
• 28:20
  Speaker 2: be your last one, you're not really pitching for your life.
• 28:22
  Speaker 2: It's just kind of going out there and doing what
• 28:24
  Speaker 2: you do. And we saw him kind of carefree when
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: he hit 98 on the fastball again there last night.
• 28:28
  Speaker 2: And then his breaking balls at the end of that
• 28:30
  Speaker 2: game were super, super sharp. So for me as an
• 28:33
  Speaker 2: Oriole fan, this is a guy that I could definitely
• 28:35
  Speaker 2: see if they're not able to resign Trevor Rogers, maybe
• 28:38
  Speaker 2: sliding into his slot in the rotation. And I would
• 28:41
  Speaker 2: be very happy with trade Gibson being my number five
• 28:43
  Speaker 2: into the rotation. And, just a great way for him
• 28:45
  Speaker 2: to end his rookie year and he can look back
• 28:47
  Speaker 2: and be proud of it. And, uh, just glad he
• 28:49
  Speaker 2: went out there and put up a good performance.
• 28:51
  Speaker 3: I kept thinking of you last night, Steve, as he
• 28:54
  Speaker 3: kept throwing up zeros, man, it was really impressive.
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: He was really, really impressive.
• 28:59
  Speaker 4: And Brad, you bringing up the fact that he hit 98,
• 29:01
  Speaker 4: you could tell he was pretty juiced up for this
• 29:04
  Speaker 4: final outing of the season, filled up the strike zone,
• 29:08
  Speaker 4: got strike one, on 75% of the batters that he
• 29:11
  Speaker 4: ended up facing.
• 29:12
  Speaker 3: I've always been impressed with Trey Gibson. And I think
• 29:15
  Speaker 3: he is not exactly been put in the easiest positions
• 29:19
  Speaker 3: to succeed. When, when you're making your debut at Yankee stadium,
• 29:23
  Speaker 3: when you're pitching in Dodger stadium, not that long after that,
• 29:27
  Speaker 3: I thought he's always shown himself well, but Brad, before
• 29:30
  Speaker 3: we go, I wanted to ask you Trey Gibson, and
• 29:33
  Speaker 3: you can even throw in Luis de Leon here, where
• 29:37
  Speaker 3: They made their major league debuts. Maybe they didn't get
• 29:39
  Speaker 3: the full. 162 per se, but the fact that they
• 29:43
  Speaker 3: made their debut heading into next year, how much does
• 29:47
  Speaker 3: that help a player?
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: It's huge.
• 29:49
  Speaker 2: I know looking back to my first year, I had
• 29:52
  Speaker 2: one month, the last month I was up in September.
• 29:55
  Speaker 2: And it just kind of gives you, you get over
• 29:57
  Speaker 2: that hump of, can I make it to the major league?
• 30:00
  Speaker 2: So that's gone. That's out of the way now. And
• 30:02
  Speaker 2: now it's just kind of, now what is it going
• 30:04
  Speaker 2: to take for me to be successful? And I think
• 30:06
  Speaker 2: a lot of times, like last night, you said throwing
• 30:08
  Speaker 2: strike one.
• 30:09
  Speaker 5: To me, that's true.
• 30:09
  Speaker 2: I know that's baseball pitching one-on-one, but for Trey Gibson, 75%
• 30:13
  Speaker 2: of first pitch strikes Last night it felt like he
• 30:16
  Speaker 2: had two strikes on 95% of the batters that he faced.
• 30:19
  Speaker 2: And to me, that's when he gets most effective. That's
• 30:22
  Speaker 2: when he's able to use his breaking balls to get ahead.
• 30:24
  Speaker 2: And Luis De Leon, you got put in a couple
• 30:26
  Speaker 2: of tough spots to start your career. Okay, you're over
• 30:28
  Speaker 2: that hump. He really started to settle in. I am
• 30:31
  Speaker 2: super impressed with Luis De Leon. And I think between him,
• 30:34
  Speaker 2: Trey Gibson, a few of the other arms we've seen
• 30:36
  Speaker 2: that we just kind of saw cups of coffee at
• 30:39
  Speaker 2: the end of this year, to me that is huge.
• 30:41
  Speaker 2: And I think for these guys going into the offseason,
• 30:43
  Speaker 2: you can kind of get that burden of, Am I
• 30:45
  Speaker 2: going to make it to the major leagues? Can I
• 30:47
  Speaker 2: have success? Both of these guys had success at the
• 30:50
  Speaker 2: big league level. Maybe it wasn't sustained for the full
• 30:52
  Speaker 2: time they were there, but we saw how good these
• 30:55
  Speaker 2: guys can be. And I think it's very exciting for
• 30:57
  Speaker 2: Orioles fans and for the Orioles team to see these
• 30:59
  Speaker 2: guys have success and know that they can help this
• 31:01
  Speaker 2: team moving forward.
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: Talk to someone pretty knowledgeable about the Orioles during this
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: last series who said, I got a crazy thought. And
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: I said, what? Opening season. Day rotation includes Anthony Ionson.
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: It happened that fast. Now, that's not coming from the team,
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: by the way. I think that is a crazy thought.
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: The problem is he's too fast, but he might be
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: good enough to do it. So we'll see. Last thought
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: for the show and last thought on Trey Gibson. Three
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: starts against the AL East as the RA is 2-12
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: this year. 2-12 in the division. So the kid is
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: not afraid of the moment. Second, this stat stuns me
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: when I looked it up. When he made his start
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: in Yankee Stadium May 3rd, he was in the top 100,
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: and he was the Orioles' number one ranked prospect. When
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: he took the mound last night, he was the Orioles'
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: number nine ranked pitcher. Eight pitchers have moved ahead of him.
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: Five from the organization, three they traded for. He's now
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: the number 17 prospect, not top 100. and the ninth-ranked
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: pitcher in the org, and he just shut out the
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: Blue Jays. I'm going to say seven innings. The box
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: score is going to say 6.2. Either way, it looks
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: good for Trey Gibson. So excited for him, and that's
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: a good note to end our show on. We will
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: be back at you guys, as I said, probably Sunday
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: night as we wrap up the season. So be looking
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: for that. And then we'll start coming at you fast
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: and furious with a couple shows in the offseason. if
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: Monday means we are at the offseason. Let's see what
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: happens over the next few days. Thanks for watching today.
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: We'll catch you next time with more on Birdland Territory.
• 32:51
  Speaker 5: If you made it this far, you'll love this next video.
• 32:53
  Speaker 5: Check it out right here.
• 32:55
  Speaker 2: And make sure you subscribe to Birdland Territory for more
• 32:57
  Speaker 2: Orioles coverage like this multiple times a week.