Latest / Halo Territory: A Los Angeles Angels Podcast / HOT SEAT: Amid so many moving parts, could Halos MGR Kurt Suzuki stay put?

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HOT SEAT: Amid so many moving parts, could Halos MGR Kurt Suzuki stay put? · Halo Territory: A Los Angeles Angels Podcast

0:07
Speaker 1: Hey, Angel fans, and welcome to Halo Territory. I am
0:11
Speaker 1: Mike DiGiovanna, former LA Times baseball writer and host of
0:14
Speaker 1: the show, joined by my regular co-host, Mark Trumbull, the
0:17
Speaker 1: former Angel Slugger, and our regular HT contributor, guest, Angels extraordinaire,
0:25
Speaker 1: Sam Blum of The Athletic. Welcome back, you guys. Good
0:28
Speaker 1: to have you on the show. We're going to get
0:30
Speaker 1: into the question of whether or not Kurt Suzuki is
0:35
Speaker 1: should return as manager next year, has deserved the right
0:38
Speaker 1: to return, or the Angels should make a change in
0:41
Speaker 1: the manager's seat.
0:42
Speaker 2: But we didn't want to let the.
0:44
Speaker 1: Weekend series sweep at the hands of the Washington Nationals
0:47
Speaker 1: go by without some comment from our panel here. Really
0:53
Speaker 1: rough weekend again. Angels had leads, late leads in each game.
0:57
Speaker 1: They lost by one run each game. There are mistakes
1:01
Speaker 1: on the bases, a ton of strikeouts on defense. Mark,
1:06
Speaker 1: is just the team just kind of playing out the
1:09
Speaker 1: string here, or is it just a bad team at
1:13
Speaker 1: this point?
1:15
Speaker 3: This series was a tough one. I think that we
1:19
Speaker 3: might have heard that phrase all three postgame shows, and
1:22
Speaker 3: it's true. They got four hits per game. I think
1:26
Speaker 3: they struck out. You might have said this. 34 times,
1:30
Speaker 3: 13 strikeouts in Sunday's game, and... A couple of players,
1:36
Speaker 3: Jose Siri, one of them really no sense of urgency
1:39
Speaker 3: in the field. A couple of plays led to extra
1:41
Speaker 3: base hits. And you can chalk that up to the
1:44
Speaker 3: Nationals hustling. But I also looked at his first step,
1:49
Speaker 3: his interest level one down the left field line. He
1:50
Speaker 3: just kind of looked at it as a job for
1:53
Speaker 3: a double. And I was like, all right, man. Anyway, yeah,
1:58
Speaker 3: just unable to hold the leads at the end and
2:01
Speaker 3: all three games to a team that has had a
2:05
Speaker 3: dreadful bullpen them. So I think that they secured their
2:08
Speaker 3: first and second come-from-behind wins this year, or walk-off wins.
2:13
Speaker 3: So they've had a rough go in some ways too,
2:15
Speaker 3: but they have some talent on their ball club as well.
2:18
Speaker 3: I'm interested in what Sam thought.
2:21
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, how many Septembers do you need to
2:24
Speaker 4: watch with the Angels? This is every year. I mean,
2:27
Speaker 4: I look back to the 2024 Angels when they were
2:30
Speaker 4: just one of the more awful, you know, stretches that
2:36
Speaker 4: I can remember towards the end of the season, they
2:37
Speaker 4: got swept in Chicago by that White Sox team that
2:40
Speaker 4: ended up losing 121 games. And this year, this weekend
2:43
Speaker 4: kind of felt similar in the sense of like, you know,
2:45
Speaker 4: just like a team that just really would find a
2:48
Speaker 4: way to lose.
2:50
Speaker 5: You know, and listen, it doesn't really matter. No, not necessarily.
2:54
Speaker 4: But I think you want to get to a point
2:55
Speaker 4: as an organization where, you know, when you are rebuilding,
2:58
Speaker 4: you want these games that don't feel like they actually matter.
3:01
Speaker 4: You still want to be in them. You still want
3:02
Speaker 4: to be competing. I mean, I think the angels are
3:04
Speaker 4: now very clearly or almost very clearly going to finish
3:08
Speaker 4: worst in the American league. You know, unless they're above
3:11
Speaker 4: 500 the rest of the year, they're going to have
3:12
Speaker 4: their first ever.
3:13
Speaker 5: A hundred lost season.
3:15
Speaker 4: And it's just kind of on the back of, you know,
3:17
Speaker 4: falling apart at the end of the season once again.
3:19
Speaker 5: And that is, that's been the calling card.
3:21
Speaker 4: This team is not, and it's every single season under,
3:23
Speaker 4: and I still count this as kind of a Perry
3:25
Speaker 4: Manassian team.
3:26
Speaker 5: And, We've seen it, right? Every single year, they are
3:28
Speaker 5: not built for 162.
3:30
Speaker 2: Not even close.
3:31
Speaker 4: And it happens every time. And they're not built for
3:34
Speaker 4: 162 this year either. Maybe they'll lose 100 games.
3:38
Speaker 5: Maybe they won't. But either way, that point stands.
3:41
Speaker 1: The physical errors are one thing. But to me, what
3:44
Speaker 1: strikes me are the mental lapses. Were there two times
3:48
Speaker 1: in this series where... uh nationals players stole third base
3:52
Speaker 1: putting the i was.
3:53
Speaker 2: A tying and go ahead run uh at.
3:55
Speaker 1: Third with less than two outs uh i don't know
3:58
Speaker 1: if that's a picture not paying close enough attention you're
4:01
Speaker 1: not holding runners on but that to me is a
4:03
Speaker 1: mental mistake and yeah some of the we've mentioned it
4:07
Speaker 1: on the show before i'm not sure what to make
4:09
Speaker 1: a jose siri uh i've never seen it I can't
4:14
Speaker 1: recall a guy who has gone from one extreme to another,
4:16
Speaker 1: and he will occasionally make some spectacular plays, and then
4:20
Speaker 1: he will just make a series of plays, no pun intended,
4:24
Speaker 1: that just leave you scratching your head. You know, was
4:27
Speaker 1: it in Fenway the other night, that route he took
4:30
Speaker 1: on the ball at right field? I don't even think
4:33
Speaker 1: he was within eight feet of that ball when he
4:35
Speaker 1: kind of dove for it. Mistakes in judgment. just some
4:42
Speaker 1: weird routes, some weird at-bats, non-competitive at-bats. It makes me wonder,
4:48
Speaker 1: why is this guy even still here, Sam? There's got
4:51
Speaker 1: to be better options, or at least a player, maybe Nelson,
4:56
Speaker 1: whether it's Nelson Rotter or somebody else in your system,
4:58
Speaker 1: that you could use these last two weeks to get
5:00
Speaker 1: a look at, because Jose Siri is not part of
5:03
Speaker 1: my future plans, if I'm the Angels.
5:05
Speaker 4: I mean, I think the Angels have made enough mistakes
5:09
Speaker 4: in calling guys up early, adding them to 40-man rosters
5:11
Speaker 4: before they need to, things like that. Now, Jose Siri,
5:14
Speaker 4: I think if you're the Angels, you mentioned the ups
5:17
Speaker 4: and the downs. I think you're looking at those ups
5:19
Speaker 4: and you're saying this is a guy that, if he
5:21
Speaker 4: focuses a little bit and stops having these errors, just
5:25
Speaker 4: a couple of years ago, he was really a top-flight player,
5:28
Speaker 4: I believe, with the Rays. Listen, I don't think he's
5:33
Speaker 4: really a part of the future. I don't think it's
5:34
Speaker 4: that consequential either. But, you know, I don't see any, like,
5:39
Speaker 4: I wouldn't see a benefit necessarily in calling up, like,
5:41
Speaker 4: a Nelson Rada right now or some other guy who,
5:44
Speaker 4: you know, just means you now have on your 40-man roster.
5:48
Speaker 4: And then, you know, you have to consider the fact
5:49
Speaker 4: that if you put someone on your 40-man roster, they
5:51
Speaker 4: might not be playing next year when they could be
5:53
Speaker 4: playing minor league games and developing and things like that
5:56
Speaker 4: because of the lockout. So there's a lot of factors
5:58
Speaker 4: at play, and I'm not sure what his status is
5:59
Speaker 4: in terms of, like, Rule 5, but it could be
6:02
Speaker 4: relevant as well.
6:03
Speaker 2: Yeah. Mark, any other thoughts on the weekend before we...
6:06
Speaker 2: Trudge ahead?
6:09
Speaker 3: One of them is, so if you don't play Siri,
6:11
Speaker 3: who are you going to play? And they have some options.
6:13
Speaker 3: But Kyron Parris, unfortunately, doesn't look very polished in the outfield.
6:18
Speaker 3: His routes have been awkward. I don't think he's got
6:22
Speaker 3: a great grasp of some of the fundamental elements, especially
6:26
Speaker 3: on going back towards the wall, when to slide, when
6:30
Speaker 3: to dive. And he's newer to these positions. First time
6:34
Speaker 3: I think ever at any level playing in right field
6:37
Speaker 3: the other night and stung them on a play where
6:41
Speaker 3: he had to go to his left. And that's one
6:44
Speaker 3: of those things as a manager, you put it in
6:46
Speaker 3: the player in a position to succeed first time in
6:49
Speaker 3: his entire career, starting in a new position at the
6:53
Speaker 3: big league level, the ball will find you. That is
6:56
Speaker 3: a saying that gets used, but, That's what it looks like.
6:59
Speaker 3: And the game at the big league level, things get,
7:01
Speaker 3: you know, they speed up, they move very fast and
7:04
Speaker 3: trying to learn at this level, as we've talked about,
7:07
Speaker 3: that is not a winning formula in my opinion. I
7:10
Speaker 3: guess we're going to get Shannon back soon. He thinks
7:13
Speaker 3: he's going on a rehab assignment and maybe him and
7:17
Speaker 3: the wedding crasher will split playing time at first base.
7:19
Speaker 3: But I think that it's, it's just kind of, Throwing
7:25
Speaker 3: guys out there, if guys played for their previous club
7:28
Speaker 3: and they're playing against them, we've seen, you know, Frazier
7:31
Speaker 3: getting starts against his old club and no real rhyme
7:34
Speaker 3: or reason. I don't really understand it.
7:36
Speaker 2: Maybe you do, Mike. I don't know. I don't understand it.
7:39
Speaker 1: And, again, we saw that with Christian Moore in left
7:41
Speaker 1: field earlier this year. He had never played the outfield
7:44
Speaker 1: or left field, and he's out there in a big
7:46
Speaker 1: league game. What was it, the second ball of the
7:49
Speaker 1: game hit by Nick Kurtz? Deep into the corner, he's
7:52
Speaker 1: got no chance. That was another lost cause that night.
7:55
Speaker 1: But yeah, a lot of this stuff we'll get back to.
7:59
Speaker 1: You know, some of it, I think, does reflect on
8:01
Speaker 1: the manager of this team and some of the decisions.
8:04
Speaker 1: I have to suspect these decisions are not all made
8:07
Speaker 1: by him. And certainly while Perry was GM, I have
8:10
Speaker 1: a hunch that the GM was a lot more involved
8:13
Speaker 1: in some of the day-to-day line decisions, the bullpen decisions.
8:16
Speaker 1: And I think Mike Maddox, the former pitching coach, was
8:19
Speaker 1: very involved in the pitching decisions for the first few
8:22
Speaker 1: months of the season. But we'll get into all that
8:25
Speaker 1: when we come back from this break. For a word
8:27
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9:33
Speaker 1: And welcome back to Halo Territory with Sam Blum, Mark Trumbo,
9:36
Speaker 1: and Mike DiGiovanna. Well, the thrust of our show today
9:40
Speaker 1: is inspired by a headline of a story that ran
9:43
Speaker 1: on the Athletic website on Friday. It was written by
9:46
Speaker 1: Ken Rosenthal and Sam Blum. And the headline, Could Angels
9:51
Speaker 1: Bring Back Manager Kurt Suzuki? It might not be as
9:54
Speaker 1: far-fetched as it seems. And I have to say, this
9:57
Speaker 1: one caught me a little bit by surprise, Sammy. Uh,
10:00
Speaker 1: I thought, no way Kurt's back as manager. You just
10:03
Speaker 1: look at a team that's very likely going to lose
10:05
Speaker 1: 100 games, a guy in a one-year contract who seemed
10:09
Speaker 1: at least going into the season and at the halfway
10:12
Speaker 1: point to be very much tied to general manager Perry Manassian,
10:16
Speaker 1: who was fired. And now you have a new GM
10:19
Speaker 1: and a new owner coming in. And I just thought
10:21
Speaker 1: there was no way. But, you know, let's hear what
10:25
Speaker 1: Ken Rosenthal said about how this story evolved. And then
10:29
Speaker 1: we'll get some input from the co-author, Sam Blum.
10:34
Speaker 7: Can you kind of lead us to the path that
10:37
Speaker 7: you wrote in your article about how he possibly could
10:40
Speaker 7: be brought back for another season, which we didn't think
10:43
Speaker 7: was possible when he put his pen to paper?
10:46
Speaker 8: Yes. And I wrote this today with Sam Bloom and
10:50
Speaker 8: it's an interesting situation. So a couple of things just
10:53
Speaker 8: to give you the context. One, the expectation is that
10:58
Speaker 8: the new ownership will not take control until early 2027.
11:01
Speaker 8: Now it might happen sooner. And if it happens, say
11:05
Speaker 8: in November, okay, then the new ownership does what it wants.
11:08
Speaker 8: It makes a decision on John Mazaloc. It makes a
11:11
Speaker 8: decision on Kurt Suzuki. It's kind of clean, but given that,
11:15
Speaker 8: The ownership is not expected to take full control until
11:19
Speaker 8: January at the very earliest. And given that we have
11:22
Speaker 8: a lockout beginning December 1st, there are decisions that are
11:25
Speaker 8: going to have to be made by the controlling owner
11:29
Speaker 8: right now, who is Artie Moreno, who will remain a
11:32
Speaker 8: minority owner. And Suzuki's contract is up. Mosaic's contract extends
11:37
Speaker 8: through the end of the year. You got to figure
11:39
Speaker 8: out what you're doing. Maybe it's Stan Kroenke, the new owner, saying,
11:44
Speaker 8: you know what? Let's just stay status quo for now
11:48
Speaker 8: until I get full control and until I see these
11:50
Speaker 8: guys performing their jobs. And Mozelek has spoken highly in
11:54
Speaker 8: our story, spoke really highly of Suzuki. So maybe that's
11:58
Speaker 8: how this ends. And maybe Suzuki does get a reprieve
12:02
Speaker 8: of sorts simply because of this transition taking place and
12:06
Speaker 8: all of the uncertainty with the lockout and the ownership
12:10
Speaker 8: changing hands. It's hard to know. And we just kind
12:14
Speaker 8: of were... given the landscape of where this stands right now.
12:18
Speaker 8: But I would expect that Moreno and Kroenke will be
12:21
Speaker 8: kind of working hand-in-hand on this and will reach some
12:26
Speaker 8: sort of decision together, even though Kroenke won't have full
12:30
Speaker 8: control necessarily right away.
12:34
Speaker 1: Sam, can you elaborate a little on how this story
12:37
Speaker 1: came about and what some of these indications you and
12:40
Speaker 1: Ken were receiving that Kurt could actually return as manager?
12:45
Speaker 4: I mean, I think the main thing here is timing.
12:47
Speaker 4: And I think Ken laid it out really well. The
12:49
Speaker 4: big thing, you know, in a normal offseason, in a
12:52
Speaker 4: normal situation, Kurt Suzuki, I don't think, has done anything
12:56
Speaker 4: to really deserve to come back as manager. I mean,
12:59
Speaker 4: you talk about all these close losses. You talk about,
13:02
Speaker 4: you know, just what appears to be kind of being
13:06
Speaker 4: outmanaged on a nightly basis. The really poor communication, from
13:10
Speaker 4: my perspective, when it comes to, like, just, you know,
13:13
Speaker 4: detailing the reasons why he does things. the decisions he makes,
13:17
Speaker 4: who's really the one making every decision, what's going on
13:20
Speaker 4: with injuries, everything. It's been a real struggle, in my opinion,
13:23
Speaker 4: not gone particularly well. But the timing changes everything here.
13:26
Speaker 4: The fact that there is the lockout coming, the fact
13:28
Speaker 4: that this ownership is not due to be completed, this
13:32
Speaker 4: ownership change is not due to be completed until next year,
13:35
Speaker 4: forced some decision to be made at the end of
13:39
Speaker 4: this season. really in the next two to three weeks.
13:41
Speaker 4: I mean, uh, you know, the, you know, ultimately you'll
13:44
Speaker 4: decide on Kurt Suzuki probably after this year ends. And, um, what,
13:49
Speaker 4: you know, how can you make a long-term decision, a
13:50
Speaker 4: big picture decision without knowing, you know, exactly what the
13:55
Speaker 4: new ownership wants. And so I think that's really the
13:57
Speaker 4: main thing. The question isn't really, does he deserve.
13:59
Speaker 5: To come back?
13:59
Speaker 4: It's more, he is somewhat stabilizing in the sense that
14:03
Speaker 4: I think be quite popular with players. I think he's
14:06
Speaker 4: popular with his boss, uh, John Moselak, who speaks nothing
14:10
Speaker 4: but positively about him. And I think when you take
14:12
Speaker 4: those two things together, he kind of makes some sense,
14:15
Speaker 4: at least, as a bridge to the next era of
14:19
Speaker 4: Angels baseball, which I think everyone's looking forward to a
14:21
Speaker 4: lot more than the current one. And I'm not saying
14:23
Speaker 4: this definitely means he'll come back. It's more, like Ken said,
14:25
Speaker 4: just laying out the landscape, I think, a little bit.
14:28
Speaker 4: And the landscape right now is not as cut and
14:29
Speaker 4: dry as it maybe would otherwise be in any normal situation.
14:33
Speaker 4: I think, like I said, if you were to ask me,
14:35
Speaker 4: does he deserve to come back, the answer is no.
14:37
Speaker 4: I don't think he's done a particularly good job, but,
14:40
Speaker 4: you know, that might not be the most important factor
14:44
Speaker 4: in all this when it's all said and done.
14:46
Speaker 2: Where do you think the biggest wrench is?
14:48
Speaker 1: Because say there was no lockout in an ownership change situation,
14:53
Speaker 1: you know, Stan Kroenke could appoint a point person to
14:57
Speaker 1: sort of run the Angels in a transitionary phase. And then,
15:01
Speaker 1: you know, at the end of the year, hey, John Moselec,
15:04
Speaker 1: you need to fire the manager. We got this guy
15:06
Speaker 1: in mind, whatever. But then you have the lockout on
15:09
Speaker 1: December 1st, and then the full ownership change won't be
15:12
Speaker 1: until the early part of next year. Is there any
15:15
Speaker 1: one of those things? And Moselec's an interim GM. We
15:20
Speaker 1: don't even know if he's going to be here full time.
15:22
Speaker 1: Is there any one of those wrenches, for lack of
15:24
Speaker 1: a better term, that could muddle this picture more than
15:27
Speaker 1: the others?
15:29
Speaker 4: I mean, in theory, the Angels could just go without
15:30
Speaker 4: a front office replacement That's true. And coaching staff during
15:35
Speaker 4: the lockout, if they want, I would not recommend that.
15:36
Speaker 4: I mean, there are things that happen during the lockout.
15:39
Speaker 4: I mean, you know, you're going to have, like I said,
15:41
Speaker 4: minor league baseball, you're going to have like a minor
15:44
Speaker 4: league rule five, you're going to have, you know, players
15:47
Speaker 4: reporting to spring training. And, you know, I mean, all
15:49
Speaker 4: these things are going to be happening. So you don't
15:51
Speaker 4: want to.
15:52
Speaker 5: Have no infrastructure in place.
15:53
Speaker 4: And I would be shocked if that's the path they
15:55
Speaker 4: go down. But that's why that that's why this timing
15:57
Speaker 4: element is so interesting, because, there's going to decisions are
16:00
Speaker 4: going to need significant decisions are going to need to
16:02
Speaker 4: be made before the December 1st, in my opinion.
16:07
Speaker 5: And, and probably a lot sooner than that.
16:10
Speaker 4: And so the, the question is then what, what, what
16:13
Speaker 4: do the angels do and who's going to be the
16:14
Speaker 4: one making that decision? Could, as Ken kind of alluded
16:17
Speaker 4: to there be, could there be like a, someone of
16:19
Speaker 4: a partnership with Kroenke and Moreno could, as you just suggested,
16:22
Speaker 4: maybe there'd be someone who's somewhat of a point person,
16:25
Speaker 4: a liaison. I don't really, think anybody knows exactly. I
16:28
Speaker 4: don't think even the stakeholders really know exactly what that'll
16:30
Speaker 4: look like. But, um, you know, again, just everything being equal,
16:35
Speaker 4: there's a lot of, uh, uncertainty with how these decisions
16:37
Speaker 4: are going to be made. And that's why I think
16:39
Speaker 4: Kurt Suzuki is, you know, not necessarily the, uh, the
16:43
Speaker 4: odd man out that he kind of presents himself as, uh,
16:46
Speaker 4: to begin with.
16:48
Speaker 2: Yeah.
16:49
Speaker 1: Uh, can, can you mention the, uh, the quote in
16:52
Speaker 1: the story about John Mozealek being very fond of Suzuki?
16:57
Speaker 2: And here is a quote.
16:58
Speaker 1: Obviously, we're going to have to address that at some point,
17:00
Speaker 1: Moselok told The Athletic. I need some guidance on expectations,
17:04
Speaker 1: but I will say this. I've really enjoyed working with him.
17:07
Speaker 1: I find him very impressive. It's always hard to judge managers,
17:11
Speaker 1: especially when your team is struggling. But there's a lot
17:14
Speaker 1: going on down there. And I think overall, he's making.
17:17
Speaker 2: The best of it. Well, Mark....
17:22
Speaker 1: How has Kurt managed to charm John Moselock so quickly?
17:25
Speaker 1: I mean, it's only been, what, a little less than
17:28
Speaker 1: two months. And there doesn't appear to be any vast
17:31
Speaker 1: improvement outside of the pitching end.
17:33
Speaker 2: Let's be honest. Be fair.
17:35
Speaker 1: The pitching improvement has been significant under the new pitching coaches.
17:39
Speaker 1: That is definitely a factor. But why do you think
17:43
Speaker 1: Kurt has impressed the new GM so much?
17:48
Speaker 3: I'm not at the field.
17:49
Speaker 2: You are. What have you seen?
17:50
Speaker 6: Yeah.
17:52
Speaker 1: That quote surprised me, honestly.
17:54
Speaker 2: Sam, I don't know. He does seem a little more... Well,
18:00
Speaker 2: the whole thing is interesting.
18:02
Speaker 1: We got on Kurt a lot about not coming down
18:07
Speaker 1: harder on some of his players for his lack of hustle.
18:10
Speaker 1: And we've named names, Soler, Mankata, Neto at times.
18:15
Speaker 2: We've used the word pouting.
18:17
Speaker 1: He definitely was out of sorts for a long time.
18:20
Speaker 1: And then it seemed to take An interim GM, John Moselog,
18:24
Speaker 1: going down to the clubhouse, sitting in Zach Netto's locker,
18:27
Speaker 1: and I don't know if he chewed him out, but
18:29
Speaker 1: he obviously had some words with him telling him, hey,
18:31
Speaker 1: after not hustling down to first base on a play,
18:34
Speaker 1: that's not how we do things here. That's the manager's
18:37
Speaker 1: job in my mind. I don't know why it took
18:40
Speaker 1: an interim GM, a guy coming over from basically St. Louis,
18:44
Speaker 1: to get into the head of Zach Netto and to
18:47
Speaker 1: turn that kid around. So I don't know what Kurt's done. Honestly,
18:51
Speaker 1: I don't see any great uptick in game management. The
18:55
Speaker 1: team hasn't performed very well. It's a mystery to me,
18:58
Speaker 1: but you know, Sam, you guys wrote the story that maybe,
19:01
Speaker 1: maybe you can provide a little more insight.
19:02
Speaker 4: I think, I mean, I think the big thing, I
19:04
Speaker 4: think the one thing Kurt Suzuki does really well, if
19:06
Speaker 4: I had to kind of make an assessment here is
19:08
Speaker 4: he's very good at, you know, never putting his boss
19:13
Speaker 4: in a bad position. And I think in this situation,
19:15
Speaker 4: era of managing that is quite valuable, right? GMs want,
19:19
Speaker 4: I mean, we, I think there's a lot of talk about,
19:21
Speaker 4: about Albert Pujols potentially coming in and, and, uh, you know,
19:26
Speaker 4: you know, Albert Pujols, I think we'll have a hard
19:27
Speaker 4: time maybe getting a managerial job because I think for
19:30
Speaker 4: that same reason, when it comes, you know, he is
19:31
Speaker 4: a larger than life figure.
19:33
Speaker 5: And I think.
19:34
Speaker 4: GMs tend to want someone who's not larger than them often.
19:38
Speaker 4: And that I think Kurt is quite effective at is
19:41
Speaker 4: just kind of doing what.
19:43
Speaker 3: His boss wants.
19:44
Speaker 4: Uh, and, Yeah, you know, what for whatever that's worth
19:47
Speaker 4: i'm sure he's you know i mean mozillak has kind
19:49
Speaker 4: of said he likes the fact that that kurt can
19:51
Speaker 4: you know be you know has handled these really tough
19:55
Speaker 4: moments throughout the season well that can kind of adjust
19:58
Speaker 4: and uh you know just be a positive force i
20:01
Speaker 4: guess positive presence maybe which is you know, what does
20:04
Speaker 4: that mean when you're about to lose a hundred games?
20:06
Speaker 4: You know, you some reasonable people could debate that, but
20:10
Speaker 4: I'm guessing like if I had to kind of assess
20:12
Speaker 4: why I feel like he's, you know, Mosaic likes him,
20:14
Speaker 4: it's because, you know, he's basically come in and been
20:18
Speaker 4: willing to do what John Mosaic wants and is open
20:22
Speaker 4: to kind of operating in the way that, you know,
20:24
Speaker 4: he can be molded into the manager Mosaic feels this
20:28
Speaker 4: team needs. And so, There's a value in that, whether
20:30
Speaker 4: or not fans like it, whether or not people like
20:32
Speaker 4: us agree with it. I think that is probably where
20:36
Speaker 4: that sentiment is coming from.
20:37
Speaker 1: We're going to take one more break for a word
20:40
Speaker 1: from our sponsors. When we come back, we're going to
20:41
Speaker 1: break down Kurt's job performance and whether he deserves to
20:46
Speaker 1: come back, based on merit or not.
20:49
Speaker 2: We'll be right back on more Halo Territory.
20:52
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20:55
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21:53
Speaker 1: And welcome back to Halo Territory with Sam Lum, Mark Trumbo,
21:57
Speaker 1: and Mike DiGiovanna. Well, let's try to take all these,
22:00
Speaker 1: you know, the ownership change, the lockout, out of the equation,
22:05
Speaker 1: and just look at merit. Mark, has Kurt Suzuki earned
22:10
Speaker 1: the right to manage this team next year?
22:11
Speaker 3: I think he's earned the right to interview for the position.
22:16
Speaker 3: I think that may be a little counterintuitive, as he
22:20
Speaker 3: already has the position, but I think competition is a
22:23
Speaker 3: good thing, and I know that there's a lot of
22:24
Speaker 3: people that are very interested in this job, a lot
22:28
Speaker 3: more than probably were before, as this team has not
22:31
Speaker 3: had a good reputation. A lot of managers, especially ones
22:34
Speaker 3: that have had success, might be a little timid to
22:36
Speaker 3: come here. You talk about, I don't know what we're
22:40
Speaker 3: going to call it, but keeping your mouth shut so
22:44
Speaker 3: your boss saves his hide. How did Ron Washington do
22:49
Speaker 3: in that regard, Sam?
22:52
Speaker 4: I mean, you know, he's not here anymore.
22:57
Speaker 3: Well, it's part of what I'm saying, but I appreciate it.
22:59
Speaker 3: Ron telling it like it is, as I always do,
23:01
Speaker 3: as I strive to do on the show. Part of
23:03
Speaker 3: why it's hard to listen to the games or watch
23:05
Speaker 3: the games. And I think that that is X player.
23:10
Speaker 3: And there's a number of reasons why. But sometimes it
23:12
Speaker 3: doesn't things that I'm hearing, things I'm hearing from Kurt.
23:15
Speaker 3: They don't line up with what my eyes are telling me.
23:17
Speaker 3: They don't line up with what I assume is the
23:20
Speaker 3: perception of most informed fans. I think he's done an
23:23
Speaker 3: excellent job of never throwing his players under the bus.
23:26
Speaker 3: Most recently, I think this series was probably the sternest
23:29
Speaker 3: or harshest critiques he's had for Firmino and Peralta allowing
23:34
Speaker 3: runners to steal third base. I think that if that
23:37
Speaker 3: represents the epitome of his criticism of a player who
23:43
Speaker 3: and he didn't even name the names, then it's an area.
23:45
Speaker 3: And you don't, there's no upside in going and naming
23:49
Speaker 3: a guy in the way that, you know, maybe you
23:52
Speaker 3: think I'm insinuating saying this guy, you know, name the
23:56
Speaker 3: guy's name and what a terrible effort that was. What
23:59
Speaker 3: was that? You know, it's not how it's done, but
24:01
Speaker 3: you need to acknowledge what's going on at the same time.
24:06
Speaker 3: And I think that most of the time, the tougher
24:08
Speaker 3: questions he's gotten, there haven't been a lot, but he's
24:11
Speaker 3: found a way to kind of defer them or, like
24:13
Speaker 3: his old boss probably taught him deflect, ignore, pretend that
24:20
Speaker 3: it didn't happen until you actually have to face the
24:22
Speaker 3: fact that it did. Still wondering what happened to Jordan Romano.
24:25
Speaker 3: Never got an answer on that, but he's done quite
24:28
Speaker 3: well for the Rockies. Tough place to pitch and his
24:30
Speaker 3: numbers are vastly improved. And I have no idea why
24:33
Speaker 3: he was let go so early.
24:36
Speaker 4: I did ask him that by the way, when he
24:38
Speaker 4: came back to LA and it was, it was, didn't
24:40
Speaker 4: really seem to have an answer either, to be honest
24:42
Speaker 4: with you. I think, I think it was a bit
24:44
Speaker 4: of a surprise, and I think it seemed to be
24:47
Speaker 4: a parents-driven decision. I think.
24:52
Speaker 5: When it comes to, does he deserve to come back?
24:55
Speaker 5: That was your question?
24:56
Speaker 3: No.
24:57
Speaker 5: My opinion, right?
24:59
Speaker 4: I've said this on this podcast many times. I think
25:03
Speaker 4: he was put in a really tough position. First-year manager,
25:06
Speaker 4: one-year contract. managing guys who he's played with. And I
25:10
Speaker 4: don't really think he's, you know, he's not the temperament
25:13
Speaker 4: necessarily of a guy who's going to call you out.
25:15
Speaker 5: He's like, he's very relaxing. He likes to be very positive.
25:18
Speaker 4: I think that clashes on a team that calls for
25:23
Speaker 4: some accountability that calls for some, I don't like using
25:25
Speaker 4: the word negativity, but it's like, you know, acknowledging the
25:28
Speaker 4: reality in front of you. And I felt like so
25:30
Speaker 4: often that was not the case here. So, yeah, I mean,
25:33
Speaker 4: I agree with Mark in the sense of like, yeah, like,
25:35
Speaker 4: you know, he's earned the right to, I think, throw
25:37
Speaker 4: his hat in the ring for this job. I do
25:40
Speaker 4: think that over, you know, if you were to put
25:41
Speaker 4: him in a better position, I think if you were
25:42
Speaker 4: to give him more years, I think you would see
25:45
Speaker 4: an improvement in the role. Like anybody would improve over
25:48
Speaker 4: time in a job. But this hasn't been like a really,
25:54
Speaker 4: you know, sparkling, there hasn't been like a pleasant surprise
25:56
Speaker 4: to the season. I would say, you know it's if anything,
26:00
Speaker 4: I think the pleasant surprise maybe has been that the
26:02
Speaker 4: team has had some competitive you know elevation players like
26:07
Speaker 4: that you know especially on the starting pitching side their
26:10
Speaker 4: run differential is like akin to the mariners who i
26:12
Speaker 4: believe are like four games out of first place right
26:14
Speaker 4: now uh they're having a bad year but you know
26:16
Speaker 4: i think my point is more that like you know
26:19
Speaker 4: run differential kind of is reflective of where a manager
26:23
Speaker 4: stands not fully it's not you know i would kind
26:26
Speaker 4: of equate it with like batting average it tells you
26:28
Speaker 4: something but not everything And, you know, there's been a
26:31
Speaker 4: lot of blown late leads. There have been a lot
26:32
Speaker 4: of decisions you can kind of point to. Like, even
26:34
Speaker 4: just the other day, like, trying to bunt with Wade
26:37
Speaker 4: Meckler and, like, you know, runner at first, nobody out,
26:40
Speaker 4: trying to tie a game. I'm like, that's just, especially
26:43
Speaker 4: with two strikes, those are the kind of decisions you really,
26:45
Speaker 4: really have to, like, wonder where they're coming from. But, no,
26:49
Speaker 4: I don't, I mean, does he deserve another chance? Maybe
26:54
Speaker 4: because of the situation he was put in, but, like,
26:56
Speaker 4: not from the performance he was playing. he's put together
26:59
Speaker 4: this year. I don't think based on that, there's not
27:01
Speaker 4: a merits-based situation that would require it, but there is
27:03
Speaker 4: maybe a, you look at the context of everything and say, okay,
27:07
Speaker 4: if you were to give him another year, maybe he
27:09
Speaker 4: gets better at it.
27:10
Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree with Sam.
27:12
Speaker 1: There are so many individual managerial moves that just didn't
27:17
Speaker 1: make a lot of sense to me. But to me,
27:19
Speaker 1: two things really stand out. This is a guy who
27:21
Speaker 1: played 19 years, I believe, in the big leagues as
27:24
Speaker 1: a catcher, World Series winning catcher. You know, on the
27:28
Speaker 1: Nats in 0-19, pretty respected guy, known for his game calling.
27:34
Speaker 1: I mean, just a really good all-around catcher. How does
27:37
Speaker 1: a guy like that not have any positive impact on
27:40
Speaker 1: Logan Ohapi, especially from a defensive standpoint? That really surprised me.
27:46
Speaker 3: I don't fault Kurt for that.
27:48
Speaker 2: Really? Why is that?
27:50
Speaker 3: Well, why do you think? I don't think anyone– Logan
27:53
Speaker 3: was optioned to AAA. I think Logan is going to
27:55
Speaker 3: have to– do a lot of work on his own
27:58
Speaker 3: to figure it out. I mean, how many different coaches
28:01
Speaker 3: were brought in to try and help the guy? And
28:04
Speaker 3: if none of them worked, you can say it's over coaching,
28:07
Speaker 3: but I think that that one, I will not place
28:10
Speaker 3: on Kurt. And I think that's why the angels moved
28:12
Speaker 3: on from the player and your other point. Sorry to
28:15
Speaker 3: cut you off. I just, I'm not going to hang
28:18
Speaker 3: on Kurt's head.
28:20
Speaker 1: Yeah, the other thing, and I mentioned it before, just
28:22
Speaker 1: I don't think he had a firm enough hand on
28:24
Speaker 1: this team early on. You mentioned maybe he should interview
28:28
Speaker 1: for the job. That's an interesting concept. Say he goes
28:32
Speaker 1: in for his year-end evaluation.
28:33
Speaker 2: Hey, you did this good. You did this good. This
28:35
Speaker 2: is an area where you need improvement.
28:37
Speaker 1: In that area, Mark, If they were to retain Kurt
28:41
Speaker 1: and tell him, you know, you need to come down,
28:42
Speaker 1: you need to be, you know, stricter, whatever the word is,
28:46
Speaker 1: you need to be more of a disciplinarian, you can't
28:48
Speaker 1: accept some of the things we saw early last year.
28:50
Speaker 1: From a player's perspective, can he just change his personality
28:56
Speaker 1: or has he sort of made his bed in that
28:58
Speaker 1: area as the former teammate, the laid back, you know,
29:03
Speaker 1: not going to jump in anybody's face kind of guy?
29:07
Speaker 3: I don't think you can change that quickly. One thing
29:10
Speaker 3: I was going to ask you, I mean, it is
29:11
Speaker 3: what it is at this point. If you start yelling
29:14
Speaker 3: at guys, it looks weird and it looks like something is,
29:17
Speaker 3: is just what's up with this guy because you really,
29:21
Speaker 3: you want to establish that on day one. And I
29:24
Speaker 3: was thinking about as we're going, who are the examples
29:27
Speaker 3: of the best managers in the game? And if my
29:29
Speaker 3: feed looks like, uh, the on-field play, um, Hopefully the
29:36
Speaker 3: audio is retained, but I'm about ready to throw something. Hey,
29:41
Speaker 3: Dick Roberts, Mike, you've covered, I'll get out of the way,
29:44
Speaker 3: but Dave Roberts, how does Kurt back up to Dave?
29:46
Speaker 3: Dave played a long time. He's not a yeller and
29:49
Speaker 3: a screamer. How do they compare and differ maybe a
29:52
Speaker 3: little because Dave is doing a very nice job for
29:55
Speaker 3: that club.
29:56
Speaker 2: Well, I mean, the years and years of winning.
29:59
Speaker 1: And let's not forget, Dave Roberts almost got fired after
30:02
Speaker 1: that national series in 2019 when he brought Kershaw in
30:06
Speaker 1: as a reliever and he gave up the two home
30:08
Speaker 1: runs to tie the game and they lose game five.
30:12
Speaker 2: So he had to earn it.
30:13
Speaker 1: You know, they made the playoffs every year and eventually
30:15
Speaker 1: he got better as a manager.
30:17
Speaker 2: But I think.
30:18
Speaker 1: Dave's primary strength, and this was a strength even when
30:22
Speaker 1: they were, you know, losing to the Diamondbacks and losing
30:25
Speaker 1: to the Padres in those division series a couple of
30:28
Speaker 1: years ago is that he's a people person. He knows
30:31
Speaker 1: how to handle the different personalities in a clubhouse. I
30:35
Speaker 1: know it's a cliche, but he knows when to give
30:37
Speaker 1: a guy a pat on the back, when to kick
30:39
Speaker 1: a guy in the butt, when to do this, when
30:41
Speaker 1: to do that. And that comes with experience though. And
30:44
Speaker 1: he's been doing it for, you know, he's not, it
30:47
Speaker 1: was 10, 11, 12 years now and he's gotten really
30:50
Speaker 1: good at it. And I think he became a better
30:53
Speaker 1: game manager.
30:54
Speaker 2: And of course he becomes a, I mean, look at, 2024.
30:57
Speaker 1: They won a World Series with, what, two and a
31:00
Speaker 1: half starting pitchers, and they had a great bullpen. He
31:03
Speaker 1: massaged that pitching staff as well as any manager I've
31:06
Speaker 1: ever seen. Last year, they had great starting pitching and
31:10
Speaker 1: absolutely no bullpen, and they did the same thing. And
31:13
Speaker 1: a lot of this comes from an organizational standpoint. Andrew Friedman,
31:19
Speaker 1: Brandon Gomes, they're all involved in these decisions. They move
31:21
Speaker 1: Sasaki to the bullpen. He ends up being a great reliever.
31:25
Speaker 1: They win game seven pitching– what do they pitch? Four
31:28
Speaker 1: starting pitchers.
31:29
Speaker 2: In that game, I believe. I mean, they just– I
31:33
Speaker 2: don't know if it's even.
31:34
Speaker 1: Fair to compare Kurt with a guy like Dave Roberts
31:37
Speaker 1: at this point.
31:38
Speaker 2: But, yeah, I agree with you. I don't think a
31:39
Speaker 2: manager can change the strikes.
31:40
Speaker 3: I was thinking maybe their early tenure with Dave and
31:44
Speaker 3: just the personalities because a guy like Pat Murphy, who
31:47
Speaker 3: from what I've heard is extremely– I mean, he is
31:50
Speaker 3: highly regarded.
31:51
Speaker 2: We know this extremely so.
31:52
Speaker 3: But even within the game, I'm hearing guys that, you know,
31:56
Speaker 3: opposing teams in division and heaping praise.
31:58
Speaker 2: On a guy.
31:59
Speaker 3: And your ears perk up when you see personnel on
32:03
Speaker 3: other teams saying that about a manager of another. It
32:05
Speaker 3: just running circles around the rest of the league. There
32:08
Speaker 3: are other good managers. I'm not saying that, but I
32:11
Speaker 3: don't think Kurt and Pat have a lot in common.
32:14
Speaker 3: So I'm just wondering if there are some other guys that,
32:17
Speaker 3: because you have to copy somebody and maybe Sam has,
32:20
Speaker 3: somebody else in mind that Kurt's personality is similar-ish to
32:23
Speaker 3: that has had success. The Nationals manager is 34 years
32:27
Speaker 3: old or younger.
32:28
Speaker 1: How about Steven Vogt with the Guardians? Similar trajectory. Former player,
32:36
Speaker 1: not very far removed from his playing days. Former catcher,
32:40
Speaker 1: managing in the big leagues.
32:41
Speaker 2: I don't know.
32:42
Speaker 1: Maybe he just had a better grasp of the situation
32:45
Speaker 1: when he walked into that.
32:46
Speaker 3: He's got a better team too.
32:48
Speaker 2: That helps. That helps.
32:50
Speaker 5: He's also, I mean, Steven Vogt has a certain aura
32:52
Speaker 5: to him.
32:52
Speaker 4: I feel like that is, you know, and he's had
32:55
Speaker 4: his whole career and has really translated to that job
32:57
Speaker 4: like extremely well.
32:59
Speaker 5: I mean, that's a team. The Guardians are not, you know,
33:01
Speaker 5: obscenely talented. They're better than the Angels, but they find
33:04
Speaker 5: ways to win.
33:05
Speaker 4: You know, one of the guys who I would be
33:07
Speaker 4: interested to see if the Angels try to, I know
33:08
Speaker 4: that he just signed a contract with the Rangers, but
33:10
Speaker 4: Skip Schumacher has got like a lot of ties to
33:12
Speaker 4: Southern California. I think he's an excellent manager. I think
33:15
Speaker 4: he's kept a very poor Rangers team in the mix
33:18
Speaker 4: this year. They're only a game out of first place
33:20
Speaker 4: as of today. So I'll be curious to see how
33:21
Speaker 4: that plays out. You know, he seems like someone the
33:24
Speaker 4: Angels could go after now and, you know, might have
33:27
Speaker 4: a shot at. There's a, you know, I wouldn't put
33:30
Speaker 4: him on the same level. Like he's not the same
33:32
Speaker 4: personality as Kurt Suzuki, but I don't, you know, it's interesting. Again,
33:37
Speaker 4: I just feel like Kurt Suzuki's kind of been a
33:39
Speaker 4: little bit out of his depth. I think, like you said,
33:42
Speaker 4: it didn't start on day one. I don't feel like
33:45
Speaker 4: he really came down hard and just became a tough
33:47
Speaker 4: thing to enforce later in the season. And, you know,
33:53
Speaker 4: it's a tough spot to put a guy in. You
33:54
Speaker 4: give him a one-year deal, he'd say, you know, here's
33:57
Speaker 4: a bad team. Go out and try and pull off
33:59
Speaker 4: a miracle.
33:59
Speaker 5: What do you think is going to happen? I just
34:02
Speaker 5: want to say.
34:02
Speaker 4: A little separate, and maybe you guys will hate me
34:04
Speaker 4: for saying this. Having done this show now for a
34:07
Speaker 4: year every once in a while, I guess, with Mark,
34:10
Speaker 4: I think you'd be excellent at doing this job.
34:14
Speaker 5: Not what I'm doing right now.
34:15
Speaker 2: Managing somewhere.
34:19
Speaker 4: I feel like, you know, just the accountability element, the
34:21
Speaker 4: understanding of the game, the, just the, the attention to detail.
34:25
Speaker 4: I feel like it'd be excellent in any capacity when
34:27
Speaker 4: it comes to managing, whether it be in the big
34:29
Speaker 4: leagues or the minors or college or wherever.
34:31
Speaker 5: So something to consider. That's just my personal.
34:33
Speaker 3: Thank you. I appreciate it. I do appreciate it. I
34:36
Speaker 3: have a lot of respect for the position too, by
34:38
Speaker 3: no means, Do I think someone with a total lack
34:41
Speaker 3: of experience should hit the ground running or would hit
34:44
Speaker 3: the ground running? And I think so much of Kurt,
34:47
Speaker 3: I try and bake in everything that goes into it.
34:50
Speaker 3: His former boss, who I have, I don't have many
34:54
Speaker 3: good things to say about him. A couple of decent
34:56
Speaker 3: draft picks, maybe beyond that. He put Kurt in a very,
35:00
Speaker 3: very difficult position. I think even more so with a
35:02
Speaker 3: pitching coach that was, had wielded an enormous sword, did
35:06
Speaker 3: whatever he wanted to, didn't embrace the technology, made probably
35:12
Speaker 3: most of those bullpen moves that were blamed on Kurt,
35:14
Speaker 3: might have been, should have been blamed on Mike Maddox.
35:17
Speaker 3: Mike Maddox had a very fine career too. Excellent resume,
35:21
Speaker 3: but I think his time and his approach and outlook
35:25
Speaker 3: to the game, I think the game has advanced a
35:27
Speaker 3: little bit and he hasn't. And it, you know, these
35:32
Speaker 3: Angels pitchers have done a lot better without him. So
35:35
Speaker 3: I think Kurt, Man, I don't know. It's very hard
35:37
Speaker 3: to evaluate him. I'll agree with John Moe about that.
35:42
Speaker 3: But I would have liked to see, in particular, just
35:47
Speaker 3: demanding that his players play hard. And that is very simple.
35:50
Speaker 3: And I think in that regard, he did not.
35:52
Speaker 2: Do a good job.
35:53
Speaker 1: All right, let's close the show with this question. And
35:56
Speaker 1: I want to say, in Kurt's defense, he has dealt
35:59
Speaker 1: with a lot of upheaval that most managers don't have
36:02
Speaker 1: to deal with. John Carpino, I remember, resigned on the
36:04
Speaker 1: eve of the season. Menezian is fired in June. A
36:08
Speaker 1: flurry of trade deadline deals that changes the entire, you know,
36:12
Speaker 1: look at your team. Pitching coaches, it's a good thing,
36:15
Speaker 1: but the pitching coach, you know, entire pitching staff coaches
36:19
Speaker 1: dismissed in August. And then the team is sold on
36:23
Speaker 1: September 1st to Stan Kroenke. Now here's what bench coach
36:26
Speaker 1: John Gibbons told The Athletic. I swear this is the
36:29
Speaker 1: first quote I think I've read from him this year.
36:31
Speaker 1: Good job, Sam. Quote, I think he's done a great job.
36:35
Speaker 3: That was all Ken, by the way.
36:40
Speaker 2: I really do.
36:41
Speaker 1: He added that Kurt has, quote, held it together. He
36:44
Speaker 1: knows the game inside and out. We've got a lot
36:46
Speaker 1: of young players, but nobody quit on him. Does Kurt
36:51
Speaker 1: deserve some credit for this? I mean, they're still going
36:53
Speaker 1: to probably lose 100 games. I don't know when to
36:58
Speaker 1: determine that a team has quit on a manager.
37:01
Speaker 2: I have seen it.
37:03
Speaker 1: Back in the 90s with the Angels and Terry Collins,
37:07
Speaker 1: that team in 1999 quit on its manager and quit
37:10
Speaker 1: on a lot of things.
37:12
Speaker 2: I don't know that I've seen it since.
37:14
Speaker 1: Mark, does Kurt deserve at least some credit for, I guess,
37:18
Speaker 1: for lack of a better term, as John Gibbons said,
37:20
Speaker 1: holding this team together?
37:23
Speaker 2: Absolutely.
37:24
Speaker 3: Why not? How do you actually gauge that? I don't know.
37:28
Speaker 2: I know.
37:30
Speaker 3: I saw, you know... Solaire, for example, I guess he
37:33
Speaker 3: didn't quit. They quit on him. Uh, it's just tough.
37:37
Speaker 3: I mean, too many guys like that. And, and how
37:40
Speaker 3: many can you have on a roster? And one last thing, uh,
37:44
Speaker 3: somewhat along, you know, you know, I thought did an
37:46
Speaker 3: excellent job and I know Saber metrics and analytics are
37:49
Speaker 3: not for everybody. And he got crushed for suggesting a
37:52
Speaker 3: guy like jazz on this. Um, yeah, the, the social
37:56
Speaker 3: media of, as usual, you know, the, the, No followers,
38:00
Speaker 3: throwaway burner nobodies out there that get their rocks off.
38:05
Speaker 3: But you know what? The reason why he said something
38:07
Speaker 3: about Jazz was because Jazz, despite having a big personality
38:11
Speaker 3: and everything else, he is statistically the type of player
38:16
Speaker 3: the Angels are going to need just by the metrics
38:20
Speaker 3: to start getting to where they want to be. If
38:22
Speaker 3: you're going to keep running guys out there that produce
38:25
Speaker 3: no positive value, even if you're not into this stuff,
38:28
Speaker 3: The numbers will shake out. You see OPS is 660, 670.
38:33
Speaker 3: Those guys are not the ones that are filling up
38:35
Speaker 3: these winning roster teams. Where do the Angels rank in
38:38
Speaker 3: OPS and slugging percentage currently, Sam?
38:42
Speaker 2: Pop quiz.
38:43
Speaker 5: OPS and slugging percentage?
38:45
Speaker 4: I mean, I know early this season they were all about.
38:47
Speaker 2: It's got to be 29 or 30. I believe it's
38:48
Speaker 2: dead last in both. There you go.
38:55
Speaker 3: I mean, this team, I believe the general manager earlier
38:58
Speaker 3: in the year was proud of that OPS. Where is
39:00
Speaker 3: it going?
39:00
Speaker 2: All right, Sam.
39:03
Speaker 1: Final thought from Sam. Does Kurt deserve some credit for,
39:07
Speaker 1: in John Gimmons' words, holding this team together?
39:11
Speaker 4: I mean, I do agree with you that I don't
39:14
Speaker 4: think this is– this doesn't look like a team that's
39:17
Speaker 4: quit on its manager. That doesn't mean they win games
39:19
Speaker 4: or they're good or, you know, every play looks like.
39:22
Speaker 4: It has a ton of effort. But I think you
39:23
Speaker 4: know when a team's quit, you can see it. And
39:26
Speaker 4: I've seen that with the Angels. I allude back to
39:28
Speaker 4: that 2024 team. I feel like that just wasn't equipped
39:31
Speaker 4: to win and didn't look like they had much interest
39:32
Speaker 4: in it in the last month of the season. But
39:35
Speaker 4: this isn't that, in my opinion. Does he deserve credit
39:37
Speaker 4: for it?
39:39
Speaker 5: I mean, I don't know. Does that really warrant... I feel.
39:44
Speaker 4: Like that's the bare minimum is having your team not
39:48
Speaker 4: These guys are all getting paid. They're all fighting for jobs.
39:51
Speaker 4: They're all fighting for their careers. If those guys were
39:53
Speaker 4: to start quitting on you, I think that would be
39:55
Speaker 4: a serious, serious problem. I don't necessarily want to heap
40:00
Speaker 4: a ton of praise on a guy for avoiding that.
40:03
Speaker 5: Like I said, it's not a very good team and.
40:10
Speaker 4: They're playing a team like that. So how much do
40:12
Speaker 4: you blame Kurt for that is really the question, in
40:14
Speaker 4: my opinion.
40:15
Speaker 5: Does he really deserve the blame for this?
40:17
Speaker 4: And is there a serious pathway for him to improve
40:19
Speaker 4: on some of those areas that we've kind of seen
40:20
Speaker 4: as deficiencies? But even that, I think the best-case scenario
40:26
Speaker 4: for him is a one-year contract extension. And even then,
40:30
Speaker 4: does that really provide the runway? Does that really provide
40:33
Speaker 4: the path to seeing... uh, this get a lot better?
40:38
Speaker 4: I would probably say no. I think what you need
40:40
Speaker 4: is somebody who's kind of established in that role. And
40:42
Speaker 4: I hope that, you know, the angels, if they think
40:44
Speaker 4: that's Kurt, then go for it. But I think they
40:46
Speaker 4: should really look at, you know, there's like, like Mark
40:48
Speaker 4: alluded to, there's going to be a ton of people
40:50
Speaker 4: that want this job.
40:50
Speaker 5: Now they're going to view this as a prime, prime position.
40:53
Speaker 4: And I think the angel should like leverage that, uh,
40:56
Speaker 4: you know, the, that desire to locking in a really
41:00
Speaker 4: strong coaching staff that, can maybe be here for more
41:02
Speaker 4: than like one season and like actually develop a rapport
41:05
Speaker 4: with players and not, you know, keep throwing them to
41:07
Speaker 4: all these different directions. You should probably keep the pitching
41:09
Speaker 4: coach staff, by the way, those guys have done pretty good.
41:11
Speaker 2: Yeah.
41:12
Speaker 3: One last thing. I think Kurt, whether he gets the
41:17
Speaker 3: job to manage or not, he could be an excellent
41:18
Speaker 3: bench coach. I think that when you're talking about like
41:21
Speaker 3: what personalities are suited for, I think he'd be an
41:24
Speaker 3: unbelievable bench coach and he has a ton to offer
41:26
Speaker 3: and that's never been, you know, up, up for grabs.
41:29
Speaker 3: He played a long time. He knows the game. And
41:32
Speaker 3: I think he has imparted a ton of wisdom. It's
41:34
Speaker 3: the communication. I do think if his speaking and public speaking,
41:38
Speaker 3: which is tough, it's very tough. And, uh, you know, we, I,
41:42
Speaker 3: I've done a decent job. I think, uh, I look
41:45
Speaker 3: at it critically. I think, you know, if there's one
41:47
Speaker 3: area I think he could improve upon, it would be,
41:49
Speaker 3: you know, his post game speeches and his, his talking
41:52
Speaker 3: with the media, his interactions, uh, I should say. Um,
41:56
Speaker 3: Because I think if he refined that a little bit,
41:58
Speaker 3: the fans would get a much clearer idea of what
42:01
Speaker 3: his vision is for the ball club.
42:03
Speaker 4: And I'll just add that I like the guy a lot.
42:05
Speaker 4: And I know we keep going in circles.
42:06
Speaker 2: We all do.
42:07
Speaker 3: Nothing against him.
42:09
Speaker 2: Oh, yeah. Liked him as a player. Always have.
42:11
Speaker 4: He's nothing but, like, you know, gracious, courteous, like all
42:15
Speaker 4: those things. It's just a matter of what puts the
42:18
Speaker 4: best team.
42:19
Speaker 5: You know, on the field and who has the best
42:21
Speaker 5: chance to, you know, get them wins.
42:24
Speaker 4: And I just, right now that hasn't been him.
42:26
Speaker 5: And so we'll see, we'll see how that plays out.
42:28
Speaker 2: All right.
42:28
Speaker 1: We'll close the show with that. Sam Blum, Mark Trumbo.
42:31
Speaker 1: Thanks for joining us as always. Please like, and subscribe.
42:35
Speaker 1: We appreciate you tuning in, listening in, and we'll see
42:37
Speaker 1: you next time on Halo Territory.