Latest / The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon / MLB Veterans holding on too long, Iowa State football concerns & hopes, Dane Mizutani from Target Field on the Twins & Vikings

Transcript

MLB Veterans holding on too long, Iowa State football concerns & hopes, Dane Mizutani from Target Field on the Twins & Vikings · The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon

0:08
Hi, good afternoon. Welcome Miller and Condon on a
0:11
Thursday the Iowa Sports Radio Network.
0:15
We welcome you back to Iowa based programming for the next
0:18
block of six hours. We'll start things off couple
0:20
hours with Trent Condon and myself.
0:22
Ken Miller off the bench comes up following us at 2 that Sean
0:26
Roberts, Lucas strain And then the final hour, the five O clock
0:30
hour. We'll have overtime Iowa snippet
0:33
from the morning show step, but from our show and the afternoon
0:36
show and that'll take you up until 6:00.
0:39
Here's what's coming up with us on our show today.
0:42
At the bottom of the hour, we're going to head north to the Twin
0:45
Cities. Dane Mazatani will actually be
0:47
in the press box at Target Field like a duck watching the Cubs
0:51
and the Twins as they will do battle in the finale of that
0:54
series that's already been won that series by the Twins.
0:57
Cubs trying to salvage 1. Mizutani will be there.
1:00
He covers the Vikings. That is his primary beat.
1:03
So a couple of a couple of topics for Dane Mizutani coming
1:06
up at the bottom of the hour and then hour number two.
1:09
We'll start things off with our only guest in that hour, Chris
1:12
Level. He is the radio analyst for
1:16
football. He is the rate he's aircraft is
1:18
what he is and he also is the publisher of the on three site
1:23
for the redraiders.com a part of on three media.
1:26
So I, I know Texas Tech is not on Iowa State schedule this
1:30
year, but as we said, we're going to do a couple of weeks
1:32
ago, we're going to get other voices that cover Big 10 teams,
1:36
Big 12 teams and get their perspective on the respective
1:39
conferences. And today we'll do that with
1:41
Chris Level, who covers the Big 12 in a particular Texas Tech
1:46
and then we'll just BS before we get to your plays of the day.
1:49
Nice pick on Washington yesterday, the natties that was,
1:52
that was somewhat of a layup. At least it was when I, it was
1:55
late in the game. They were up by 7 I think.
1:57
So I I assumed they won. They did, yeah.
1:59
Yeah, 8/2. 82 So it did change a little bit.
2:01
I think it was 7 one last I saw. But so let's start with baseball
2:05
since we are there. And how about those Minnesota
2:08
Twins? They took down the Cubs yet
2:10
again. Kate Horton pitched OK in the
2:14
baseball game, but the Twin starter, well, he pitched
2:17
better. What do we know about?
2:19
How do we say his name? Fesky.
2:20
David Festa Festa yes, Festa he he was one of the better
2:24
prospects came up last year when injuries started to hit them and
2:27
of course that devastating August and September when they.
2:30
In particular, September. Yes, as everything fell apart at
2:33
that point so he was up promise guy you saw the velocity that's
2:37
definitely it's it's a command thing and it's developing those
2:40
secondary pitches. I mean that's what it for
2:42
professor. He'll have you know every 3-4
2:44
starts to start like that, but then there's also the blow UPS
2:46
that are still there. It's.
2:47
Just like Kid Horton. Yeah, absolutely.
2:49
It's going through that young pitcher and that's what it is.
2:52
But I was texting with a Cubs buddy last night as the game was
2:56
finishing up and he said, I just can't figure out the Twins and
2:59
the bats need to wake up. And I, I said, you know the one
3:01
thing about this Twins team, as flawed as they are, and this is
3:04
still a very flawed team, certainly offensive.
3:06
Not the bullpen. That's what it is, right?
3:08
That bullpen is elite. They're unbelievable.
3:10
I mean the not just what you have on the back end and and.
3:14
The Cubs The Cubs offense is next to none in baseball.
3:18
An upper echelon I I'm not sure where they ranked, but I'm
3:21
guessing they're in the top five watching them every night.
3:23
The Twins have shut them down at back-to-back night.
3:26
Cologne is a veteran left-hander that is good.
3:29
Yep, he is just he's good at his job.
3:32
Brock Stewarts battled injury. But when he's right.
3:34
And he was yesterday. He is an elite level setup guy.
3:38
That's what you have. You have two guys in the back
3:40
end with Jackson Duran that is as good as an 8-9 punch as
3:43
you're going to find and they mix and match with those guys.
3:45
It's usually Duran, but they'll go with Jax too.
3:47
Louis Varlin. He was unhinnerable yesterday.
3:49
And Louis Varlin, it didn't work as well.
3:52
Most almost all these relievers, I guess we can talk about didn't
3:54
work as a starter and there's a reason they're in the bullpen.
3:56
But what he made the move full time here to the bullpen.
3:59
He's been outstanding. And and that's not all.
4:01
I mean, they got two or three other pieces there.
4:03
That is, this is an elite level bullpen and that was the hope
4:07
before Pablo went down. As if you can get into the
4:10
playoffs with a solid rotation, an elite bullpen, find enough
4:16
offense and a wide open American League.
4:18
I just think they've dug themselves so deep.
4:20
Can they get the 500 before the All Star break?
4:23
That'd be the realistic goal, right?
4:24
Sure, that'd be the goal if you can do that.
4:26
Which means 4. Games left.
4:28
You got to go 3 and one. Yeah.
4:31
It starts getaway day today and then they wrap up as they have
4:35
Pittsburgh coming in. OK.
4:37
Schemes on Friday murders row and on top.
4:40
They do get schemes. On tomorrow night they get
4:42
schemes, but you got Joe Ryan. I mean, you have your ace going
4:45
up, All Star, Joe Ryan going up against him and no schemes.
4:49
The Raptors four and seven, even with an ERA.
4:51
Zero run support. South of two, what was the year?
4:55
Randy Johnson, Didn't he have a ridiculous year?
4:57
I remember the first year that finally it felt like we moved
5:01
past old Stodgy, this is how you vote for Cy Young was when Felix
5:05
Hernandez won it. He was like 10 to 911 to 9,
5:08
something like that, and won the Cy Young that year.
5:11
But there was another year where Randy Johnson, I remember the
5:13
number like over half of his starts, he got two or less.
5:16
In Seattle at the time, do you remember?
5:19
I wanted maybe it was Arizona, regardless it sticking in my
5:22
head. But yeah, there was a season
5:23
like that where over half of his starts, he got 2 or a run.
5:26
And that's Paul Skeens. Because there's times that the
5:28
pirate just never when he's out there.
5:30
It's unreal, right? Is it a mental thing?
5:33
I don't know that, you know, we, we all we need to do is put up
5:36
two because our guy's going to shut him down.
5:38
Well, you got to put up two. I mean, yeah, O'Neill Cruz.
5:43
I mean, he's some big bombs, but not when skeins his pitching
5:46
boy. He's Did you see the throw he
5:47
made from center? Field I did that was Oh my God,
5:50
my, that's not fair. My favorite highlight from last
5:53
night was during the as I watched a little bit more
5:56
Cardinals Nationals last night than I normally would.
5:59
Oh, you bet the game. Is James Wood.
6:02
He's on rail, Trent. That dude.
6:04
Did he get did he get named to the All Star team or is he on it
6:07
I. He's in the Home Run Derby.
6:10
And I think that's the extent. OK, still not in there.
6:14
This dude though, Still only 22. Just crazy he.
6:18
Is nuts the whole trade? Where did he?
6:21
Come from What trade was he a part of?
6:23
That's a great. Question.
6:24
He was a part of a big trade. Yes, he was.
6:26
For a I'm going to look it. Up and he was the crown jewel,
6:30
if memory serves, in that trade, but they got a couple other
6:32
pieces James Wood trade because yeah, that's a good one.
6:35
That was a huge. I had him on Baseball Reference.
6:38
I'm beating you. Padres for the Soto trade.
6:42
Oh, that's what it was. Along with CJ Abrams, Mackenzie
6:47
Gore, Mackenzie Gore How about? That.
6:49
That is a haul. Yeah, that's a major haul.
6:53
Mackenzie Gore, who was unbelievable again yesterday.
6:56
Yeah, you did. Well, I mean, this is what you
6:59
get when you're willing to just go.
7:00
You know, it goes back to our conversation about the Royals,
7:03
you know, with Bobby Whit. Would he be pissed if you're
7:04
selling? You know what, you got to do it.
7:07
It's a price of getting better. I mean, the Nationals still
7:10
aren't any better. But you know, the obviously the
7:13
thought process is that that will elevate your squad.
7:16
So we'll see here. Let's stay on baseball because,
7:18
you know, we, we see periodically athletes that were
7:23
on the top of their game. You know, for the last decade,
7:26
this was one of the best pitchers or best quarterbacks or
7:30
best fill in the blank, whatever sport you love that just sticks
7:33
around too long. And you, you want to you want to
7:36
go out, you know, with people still, at least I think that
7:39
they would, you know, thinking about you with the absolute
7:42
pinnacle of your sport. And that brings me to Justin
7:47
Verlander, who is about to hit the All Star break without a
7:52
win. He does not have a win this
7:55
year. And he it's not like he's he's
7:57
going up against the Dodgers every night or the who's who of
8:01
baseball, the Mets or the Phillies.
8:03
He's had a start against the White Sox.
8:04
He's had a start against the Rockies.
8:06
Some of the drags of baseball He's been he's been asked to
8:10
start for the Giants for and and at 42 years old, what did he
8:15
have left to prove? You know what I mean?
8:18
He's got all the money in the world.
8:19
His wife is a supermodel who I'm guessing it there were years
8:24
that she's probably out earning him because that's how it works,
8:28
unfortunately. Good for them but but why, why
8:32
would you put yours? Why would you do this?
8:35
And I mean, does he have to have, does somebody have to have
8:38
that conversation with him at the All Star break?
8:40
I don't think so because then you look at the old even look
8:43
last night he only gave up two earned runs and six innings.
8:45
He had 7 strikeouts. The.
8:46
Strikeouts were there yesterday, I'll give you that.
8:48
But but what? What?
8:49
Look deeper than, but look deeper than the Owen 7 record.
8:52
No. OK, so let's let's go.
8:53
Let's take a look at how many, how many innings pitch.
8:56
Does he his last? I don't know, give me his last
8:58
five games. Last five all.
9:00
Right here they are. I've got him, got the game on
9:02
OK, Six innings yesterday, 3 the day, three the game before that
9:06
654.2. Are you going to put them on
9:09
your on your playoff roster? Probably not, but you need to
9:13
get there and they're going to be a playoff team.
9:16
Who would you rather have play the musical chairs of a #5
9:18
Starter and guys up and down from AAA or Justin Verlander?
9:22
The guys in AAA, you would, I think I would at this point.
9:25
These, I don't think your guys at AAA are not getting you an
9:28
ERA South of five when you're mixing A matching like that,
9:31
you're hoping for to get 3 and three and a third.
9:34
I think he's cooked, Trent. I think he's cooked.
9:36
This is not the Justin Verlander.
9:38
Well, no. Nowhere close to being just but
9:40
even if you're, I mean, he's got to know deep because he's there
9:43
was a quote out there from him a couple of that he's trying
9:46
everything that why we tried this in the past and it would
9:48
fix it. Now he says basically throwing
9:51
stuff against the wall and it's just not there.
9:54
It's just, I think we're going to remember Justin Verlander is
9:57
one of those guys stuck around too long, a a year or two, a
10:01
year longer than he should have. What do you think of Willie
10:04
Mays? Do you think of the Mets years?
10:08
Well, he was before my time. I mean, I'm old, yes, but I was
10:11
really When was he with the Mets?
10:13
70? That was his last year.
10:16
Joe Montana with the Chiefs. That was good.
10:19
Yeah, he did. Tony Dorsett with the Broncos.
10:22
I don't even remember that one right.
10:23
Yeah. Yeah, I don't remember that
10:25
because I remember. That Johnny Unitus was a Where
10:28
did he go after the Colts or the Niners?
10:31
Oh, I think you're right, yeah. You know, some of these I'm glad
10:34
Elway didn't try and play another year with whomever.
10:38
And it's not that, you know, Verlander had left the Tigers
10:40
already. He'd been that arm for hire.
10:43
But man, it just seems to me like, you know what?
10:46
It's over. Justin, Kate, get to him.
10:49
I mean, how many millions? How many millions do you think
10:51
he's made? I've got this in front of me.
10:53
Let me let me look at this. Let me Scroll down.
10:55
Give me a guesstimate how much his career earnings are. $330
11:01
million. You're low $419 million.
11:08
His high watermark came at the ages of 40 and 41 prior to this
11:15
year, where he's making 15,000,000.
11:18
He made 43,333,000 a year with the Astros.
11:23
It's good work if you can get it. 43 Now how is this?
11:28
Some of that salary was paid by the Mets.
11:32
For what? 'Cause he was a Met in 20.
11:36
No, he wasn't. Yeah, was he 2023?
11:38
Was he? Yeah.
11:40
For how long was he there? The whole year?
11:44
I don't remember that. Before he went to the Astros, I
11:47
believe. Was that a trade deadline thing
11:49
for him? Yeah, yeah.
11:51
Mets and Astros last year before the Giants this season.
11:54
Traded to the Mets on August 1st, trade deadline day.
11:57
You're right for Ryan Clifford and Drew Gilbert.
12:02
Didn't get the best end of that deal.
12:04
No unreal anyways, so we'll see. We kind of disagree.
12:09
We agree to disagree on that one.
12:11
I just wish these guys that you don't want to remember them, you
12:14
know, struggling at the end and clearly I think he is.
12:16
Trent sees it differently. The area is there.
12:19
Brett Mcmurphy came out with the Big 12 coaches poll pursuant to
12:25
how they see the Big 12 playing out this year.
12:28
You definitely guess how that went.
12:31
Who? The coaches in the Big 12?
12:33
They were asked to vote for a champion and a runner up.
12:37
I'm going to guess that it was kind of chalky what we've seen
12:40
everywhere that it's K state, Arizona State. 1st and 3rd, 1st
12:45
and 3rd. Who split them first and who
12:47
split them without getting a vote to win the championship?
12:50
Texas Tech Texas Tech got 3. Three there was only I guess
12:56
they all voted. 5 people voted. Texas Tech got 5 votes. 3 to win
13:00
it, 2 to finish second. OK.
13:03
K State, yeah, there were eight people that voted for K State, 6
13:07
to win it, two of them to get beat.
13:10
Right. The team that they that finished
13:12
second in this poll, no one picked to win.
13:15
Seven coaches picked them to finish second.
13:18
Not. Texas Tech No.
13:21
There you have Arizona State, K State out of there, Baylor.
13:24
Baylor did very poorly. 1 champion, 1 runner up.
13:28
Iowa State, you know, wow, lot of respect for coach game I.
13:31
There, that's for sure. I mean, you heard TCU, Kansas
13:37
and K State head coaches all mention Matt Campbell when they
13:41
were on the podium and the respect they have for them
13:43
yesterday. So that backs up your your point
13:46
on the respect that they have. I was told yesterday I'm
13:48
completely nuts when it comes to Iowa State. 7:00 and 5:00, not
13:51
making the not going over the total.
13:53
Yeah, that you're that I'm short changing them that they love
13:57
Townsend. OK.
13:59
OK, 167 catches. I just can't get past that, and
14:04
I think Bramer's gonna have an unbelievable.
14:06
Year, he's a selfie. I believe this is his last year
14:09
in AIM, said so yesterday. I'll be shocked if he's not
14:11
drafted, I'll be shocked if he comes back for another year.
14:14
He's got the injury history unfortunately behind him, so
14:19
it's part of him, but I just can't get past that.
14:23
Trent. Do you like the running back
14:24
spot? No, I love.
14:28
I love Hanson. I love Carson Hanson, the way he
14:32
plays. I don't see him making it
14:35
through 12 games. Too much physicality.
14:37
Too much physical. He's one of those guys who would
14:39
rather run through you. Yes, right where Abu Sama would
14:42
rather go run past you, right. And we saw that the snow game
14:45
two years ago against real estate, he was.
14:47
Ridiculous. Yes, it was.
14:48
But it's about getting him more north-south as opposed to east
14:51
West. Well, it's.
14:52
A good thing Hufford was on the offensive line last year because
14:54
he had to point him in the right direction.
14:56
That goes to the offensive line. They have to.
14:59
You're like, I like the group. I hate what we've seen in
15:03
September year after year. Good news, Game One's in August.
15:07
That's how you're going to. Spin.
15:09
So maybe good news. That's the elixir that they see
15:12
Mr. Positivity over here today. That offensive line I think has
15:16
a chance though to hit the ground.
15:18
But I've said this before and it I don't know why it bothers me
15:22
every single year that that's offensive line almost every year
15:26
under Matt Campbell. It's not just they're bad early
15:31
in the season. And we are usually sold a bill
15:33
of goods that they've taken major steps forward this year.
15:36
Maybe I just bought those bill of goods, but I think they're
15:38
going to be ready to go the way that they augmented they have
15:41
depth there they. Brought a rave about Ryan
15:43
Clinton, yes. Rave.
15:45
Yes, and talking to people before he made Iowa State up at
15:48
you and I, they had nothing but great things to say.
15:50
He's a rising star in the profession.
15:52
And the way that they built that offensive line and he saw the
15:55
way certainly in the last two years.
15:56
Remember, you're #1 two years ago, going back to that one and
16:00
lost to Ohio and that offensive line was dreadful.
16:03
They were good at the end of the year.
16:04
They're really good, better certainly.
16:05
Including that snow game as we talk.
16:07
About that was so much fun watching that game.
16:09
And you saw it again last year the, the way that they built up
16:12
throughout the course of the year.
16:14
If they do that than this, I believe they will be better than
16:18
seven to five that they'll go over that wing total if the
16:20
offensive line is playing at a high level right away to begin
16:23
this. There are people that cover the
16:25
team, there are people that root for the team that, you know, I
16:28
don't want to call them insiders, but have connections
16:31
to the team that say that this Dylan Lee might be, might have
16:35
more carries than Abu Sama does this year.
16:37
Wow. They they love them.
16:39
They love them. He did he red shirt last year.
16:42
I thought he played a little bit.
16:44
But still stayed under the 14 maybe.
16:45
Yeah, That's that's the kid from Arizona.
16:47
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're right. I think he did.
16:49
I think he did stay under the the threshold because he's
16:52
listed as a red shirt freshman, so he must be Xavier Townsend.
16:57
Chase Seoul. You got so much pressure on you
16:59
guys. They really do.
17:00
At minimum one of them has to pop it a big way yes, like
17:03
become a star number one and. Apparently the guy's Townsend.
17:06
OK. And if look, we saw it last year
17:09
with what Eli Green, who was the other transfer wide receiver,
17:13
they didn't. Hit.
17:14
Are they good from army? Yeah, yeah.
17:15
And we saw Carson Brown out there.
17:17
We saw. Eskelton, yeah.
17:19
Eskelton, Daniel Jackson's also back and he's got another year.
17:24
He's a good, solid receiver, you know, and if he's here #3 feel
17:27
like you're in good shape, a healthy Daniel Jackson.
17:30
Assuming Sol and Townsend are a reasonable facsimile of the two
17:36
NFL players. Well, and you, you brought up
17:38
Bramer. He's a he's unbelievable.
17:40
Burkle's a good player, too. I like him.
17:42
He was one of the I thought he was one of the stories of Iowa
17:45
State football last year. Who heard of this kid before
17:47
last year? Absolutely.
17:48
So you're feeling good, back to the offensive line offensively,
17:53
if they can find, if one of those two transfer receivers
17:55
becomes a true #1 OK. I go to defense and it's the
17:59
same thing. We asked last year.
18:00
They brought in the kid from Louisiana.
18:01
Monroe you. Know they off the canard line?
18:04
Yep, didn't work. Nope.
18:06
What if this Malone kid doesn't work?
18:08
You know Now what? Where is the pass rush coming
18:11
from? Well, Campbell, that's not John
18:15
Morgan. He's just no, no space.
18:16
He's gonna eat up guy. Yeah, he's gonna eat up space.
18:19
Campbell raves about as a Wagyu raves about him.
18:23
Has to take a big step, obviously.
18:26
I mean, somebody does. He had one sack last.
18:29
Year. Yeah, we love the linebackers.
18:33
They had a lot of them. They.
18:33
Had a lot of them. I, I think the secondary is
18:37
good. Good.
18:39
Even though Porter's gone, Williams and Cooper terrific.
18:45
I I think Patton's got another level in his game.
18:48
I'm anxious to see that this year.
18:51
What's the kids name? He was hurt all year last year.
18:53
Really quick guy long here. Oh my God, I'm trying.
19:01
No, he played. He played late.
19:03
He might have been a Co captain. Oh, really?
19:08
I can't think of his name. Anyways, there's more.
19:10
There's more bodies at that position.
19:13
Well, you got Nagoya now that moved over.
19:14
Nagoya's moved over. After the Darien Porter
19:16
experience and talk about sound like an idiot down the air, I
19:20
thought this was the dumbest thing I've ever heard.
19:21
You're moving A64 receiver over to quarterback. 64 guys don't
19:24
who? Can run.
19:26
He's in the NFL. He's in the NFL.
19:28
He's in the NFL. He's A63 quarterback going to a
19:33
place and a coach and Pete Carroll that took another too
19:36
tall to play quarterback guy and turn him into a Hall of Famer.
19:39
And Richard Sherman. It's a pretty good leading spot
19:41
there for a young Porter. Well, you better be ready
19:43
because he gets twice a year he gets Justin Herbert, Patrick
19:46
Mahomes and Bo Nicks. He'll get opportunities.
19:49
You will, because there'll be balls flying his way.
19:53
God, what's that kids name? It's driving me nuts, Sergis.
19:56
I like also for that. OK, yeah, I'd like him as a
19:58
depth. True Sergis.
19:59
Yes. They have depth there.
20:02
They have depth at linebacker. It's up front for me and a
20:06
getting to the quarterback. Dom Orange is a absolute monster
20:10
of a man. He makes plays even as the run I
20:14
was. Surprised he came back.
20:15
I was too I was really surprised by that that that might be the
20:18
biggest recruiting win that they had is getting him back for
20:21
another season. But who else there you know the
20:25
the Hawk kid, Zamir Hawk. Have you seen anything say OK,
20:29
he's that's the concern I haven't got there.
20:31
Yet it's the defensive line. Yeah, it's the defensive line.
20:36
Going up against and going up against Kansas State and Iowa in
20:39
your first three games, two teams are going to be physical.
20:43
Now, Kansas State's interesting because they went to the portal
20:47
in order to fix their offensive. Line they did.
20:48
They got a kid from Ohio State, spent big money on them.
20:51
What? Three of their anticipated
20:53
starters, I think are transfers that in August.
20:55
You know, that's a fairpoint, but you're going up against Iowa
20:58
State in game one. Will they be able to press you
21:00
get any pressure on the court? Love the linebackers, love the
21:02
secondary. That's a big question.
21:05
And I think Conradi is that's not above average.
21:09
We'll put it there. But again, maybe I'm being
21:11
unfair because this was his first year.
21:12
Last year, yeah, really getting that opportunity.
21:14
Maybe he's got other levels in him.
21:16
He certainly made one of the bigger kicks that will always be
21:18
remembered by clone fans. Well, and I go to freshman
21:21
kickers and what pops to my mind his Nate, Katie, another in
21:25
state guy he was. Bad as him, he was.
21:27
He was. He won the Lucros Award his
21:30
junior year and should have won it as AC.
21:31
Yup, and then went on to have a lucrative NFL career.
21:34
And when you have that kind of leg that we saw, Conradi
21:37
obviously has all right, fix a couple of things.
21:41
They now have a dedicated special teams coach.
21:44
Maybe that's enough to help because.
21:46
There's so over 7 and five you're you're buying.
21:49
I'm leaning more over than you are.
21:51
When you said that, it kind of. But I did have the right to
21:54
change. My mind, you didn't.
21:55
Have the odds out there, my mind was.
21:58
Is not locked and loaded. No, we're not in August yet.
22:00
Nope. Subject to change.
22:03
By the way, next week we haven't even dug into your notebook at
22:06
all. I want to see how bad we were on
22:08
Major League Baseball because I and I don't know, but I have an
22:12
idea based on my I went back by the, the, my open wagers on my
22:18
Bette Rivers Draftking and Circa counts.
22:20
I've got more Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks and neither
22:24
one of those teams. I mean, maybe the Rangers will
22:27
get in, but if if my picks were as bad as my future's betting
22:32
when it comes to some of these baseball markets, I think we
22:34
probably stink cursory. Glance, it's not not looking
22:37
very. Good.
22:38
No, no, not at all. I'm guessing that's the case.
22:41
We'll take a time out. We're going to come back and
22:42
talk to Dame Mazzutani. He's in the press box at Target
22:46
Field where they are underway. Do we have an updated score?
22:50
There's zero. There's no score there through
22:52
one at Target Field. So we'll get to Dane Mazatani
22:55
next. We'll get you right now an
22:57
opportunity to win $1000 at the KX and o.com.
23:01
You can enter this nationwide contest.
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The keyword is check. Check at KX and o.com.
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23:11
Mazatani is next. Miller and Condon on the Iowa
23:15
Sports Radio Network. Memory cons is just past 1230.
23:33
The Iowa Sports Radio network Johnny and ICE was a charger.
23:36
Charger not enough. The West Coast, right?
23:38
I had the sand right? I'm going to give myself no
23:41
point. 2/3 credit will round up. I like it.
23:44
Let's get to a Target Field where Dane Mazatani is
23:47
sequestered in the press box as we move to the we're in the top
23:50
of the second, two outs. The Cubs struck first as Nico
23:54
Horner has driven in Dansby Swanson.
23:56
Dane joins us. Dane, how are you, Sir?
23:59
As the Twins look to sweep the Cubbies on take and move another
24:03
step closer to that wild card. How are you, Dane?
24:06
I'm good, I'm good. Trying to stay busy.
24:08
We got training camp for the Vikings coming up in a couple of
24:11
weeks, so just kind of trying to fill my time.
24:14
Figured why not go watch the Cubs at Target Field.
24:19
I'm doing pretty good with the Cubs.
24:20
Cubs fans really showed out for this man.
24:22
It feels like Wrigley Field here.
24:23
Does it really? Today I've been impressed by the
24:25
crowd, late arriving crowds the 1st 2:00, but it's filled in
24:28
nicely. I thought anyway, so that what's
24:31
the one strength that I've seen watching both of these games and
24:35
Trent and I talk about it throughout the season, but the
24:37
bullpen of the Twins, that has to be a strength.
24:40
My God the the the Cubs in any offensive category have to be
24:45
near the top and they have completely shut down that potent
24:49
Cubs offense. Yeah, pitching.
24:51
The series so far has been pretty good and Chris Paddock
24:54
just got out of it. I don't want to call it a jam,
24:56
but struck out to get out of the second inning.
24:59
But I think you're the bolt and you're right.
25:01
And I think it was emblematic of kind of the conversation
25:05
happening in Game 1 of this series.
25:07
On Tuesday, Simeon Woods Richardson was rolling and only
25:11
throwing 61 pitches, but if he was up for his third time in the
25:14
order, and it's one of those conversations, well, if you pull
25:18
a picture too early, of course the manager is going to get
25:21
Flack for it. But the reason Rocco Baldelli
25:24
did it is because you put so much trust in this bullpen.
25:28
And you're right, they haven't allowed a run so far in this
25:31
series. And they've certainly been
25:32
tested not only by opponent Cubs offense, but by just sheer
25:38
volume, having to eat a lot of innings for the Twins here.
25:41
So that is the strength for them.
25:43
It's been the strength all year. We'd like to see that starting
25:46
pitching stats get a little more healthy and see what these guys
25:48
can do. But they're flirting with 500
25:50
all of a sudden and going for this week today.
25:53
So Monday night they had the All Analysts broadcast, which was
25:56
fun, different, and Pablo Lopez was also up there.
26:00
What's the latest on Pablo getting back?
26:02
I know August was kind of a time period that was put out there
26:05
initially. What's the latest on Pablo Lopez
26:07
and getting him back? Because his return to the
26:10
rotation certainly changes the way things look for the twins.
26:13
Yeah, I think the latest update is just progressing, but nothing
26:17
beyond that. I don't think he started
26:19
throwing yet. So it's still going to be a
26:22
while for him, I think. But like you said, the timeline
26:26
originally was August. We're still here in early July.
26:29
I don't even think we'd consider it mid-july yet.
26:32
So it's got to be patient. It's something you don't.
26:36
You certainly don't want to rush our shoulders.
26:39
They can. They can be a little finicky if
26:40
you do. So.
26:42
They're just going to have to be patient and luckily for the
26:45
Twins, every five days they get to hand the ball to Joe Ryan.
26:48
He's been one of the best pitchers in baseball this
26:50
season. So when you lose your ace, it
26:53
helps that another guy has stepped up and kind of turned
26:56
himself into an ace as well. Now they seem to maybe have lost
26:59
their best player for a while again.
27:01
Buxton on an O2 pitch yesterday hit on the top of the hand where
27:05
he had a pad on. I stayed in the game, actually
27:08
scored the first run of the ball game.
27:09
Not playing today. Any update on Buxton?
27:12
Dexton, Dane. No update other than I think it
27:16
was yesterday it was the X-rays are negative imaging came back
27:21
all right. So the update last night was I
27:23
think they he avoided anything serious this morning talked to
27:28
Rocco Baldelli. He said nothing really new to
27:30
add he's still sore today, but I don't think the twins feel it is
27:35
anything serious. What I would, you know, kind of
27:39
look at is, well, he's supposed to participate in the Home Run
27:42
Derby here on Monday and the All Star game here on Tuesday.
27:46
And I know he's really looking forward to doing that coming in
27:49
his home state, you know, two hours from where he grew up in
27:53
the outskirts of Atlanta. So I saw him in the clubhouse
27:57
today. He seemed to be in good speeds.
27:58
He did a live TV hit on MLB Network, all things that would
28:02
indicate, you know, if it was a serious injury.
28:05
And I don't think he'd be doing those things.
28:07
I don't think we would have seen him today.
28:09
I don't think he'd be talking on on television pregame.
28:12
So not in the starting lineup. But I think cautiously
28:17
optimistic that he avoided something too serious.
28:20
We've seen the last two years, the twins were certainly in much
28:22
better shape than they appear that they're going to become the
28:24
trade deadline. You have the ownership situation
28:27
as the poll lads continue to look for a buyer and you have a
28:30
front office that if the team is sold, might not be there next
28:33
year. When you look at this trade
28:35
deadline, how different is it the most years not knowing what
28:38
they're going to look like in 21 days, but what this is going to
28:40
be because of the ownership potential lame duck and just the
28:44
future of this organization. How do you look forward to that
28:46
deadline? Yeah, I think there's a lot up
28:49
in the air and there's certainly a lot of Gray area heading into
28:52
the next few weeks here. But I think it's kind of like
28:56
any sport covering the wild. I I dealt with this every
29:00
deadline. It was the players kind of
29:02
taking an ownership and saying like, let's make sure to make
29:06
this isn't easy and in the positive way.
29:09
You know, I remember coming in the wild.
29:11
Is this around trade deadline? Let's win so they don't sell.
29:15
And I think the Twins probably feel similarly here.
29:19
I think the players understand how they put together a good
29:23
stretch of baseball here and they certainly have for the past
29:25
week or so. But that continues up until the
29:29
All Star break. And out of the All Star break,
29:30
well, it's going to be pretty hard for the front office to
29:34
justify selling the farm. So I think there is a ton of
29:40
Gray area up in the air with ownership and what's going to
29:44
happen with that. But I think the players are
29:46
pretty laser focused on just what they can control and, and,
29:50
and that's the kind of focus for them right now.
29:53
Want to get your primary beat of the Vikings in a second?
29:55
Just I guess I want to follow up on Bell Deli.
29:58
What? Was the rush.
29:58
To give him the vote of confidence as early as they did,
30:02
letting everybody know that that he's coming back, the staff's
30:05
coming back, no changes what what was the rush to do that do
30:08
you think? Dank.
30:10
I think probably just to show stability, you know, I guess if
30:15
you're a buyer looking at this team and you see stability at
30:20
the manager position, maybe that kind of helps tip the scales.
30:25
I, I don't know for sure the answer to that question.
30:28
But I do think when you look at kind of an asset and you look at
30:32
the scene just from that kind of lens, if it, if you're firing
30:37
the manager, you have a lame duck manager, you know, there's
30:40
some dysfunction there and you know, or some perceived
30:43
dysfunction. So I think this was kind of just
30:46
a way to say what here's here's our product if you want it here,
30:51
if you don't want it, let's move on.
30:53
We'll see. I'm I'm excited for these
30:54
ownership questions to kind of go away and I'm sure, I'm sure
30:58
everybody is as well. So.
31:00
One more kind of on that front then we'll stop with those kind
31:03
of questions with you. If things go South, what kind of
31:06
sellers could you they potentially be again with the
31:09
ownership state influx, could could we see a fire sale come
31:12
July 31st say they really struggle here in these final
31:15
three weeks? Could we see not just a change,
31:18
a tweak, a guy, a veteran that moves on, but some wholesale
31:21
changes that are traded away? I don't know.
31:24
I don't get the sense that they're in a rush to trade, you
31:28
know, a Byron Buxton or a Yonder on.
31:32
But we'll see. I mean, if look, like I said,
31:35
the Twins are kind of in control of their own destiny here.
31:39
If they go in the tank over the next few weeks, then maybe it
31:43
would be justifiable to kind of shake things up and say this
31:48
core is probably not going to be the one to get it done.
31:52
But on the flip side of that coin, if they continue to play
31:55
good baseball and are within spinning distance in the wild
31:58
card, they're probably not facing the tigers down in the
32:00
central. But if you give yourself a fan,
32:04
I, I, I don't think I could see them, you know, front from the
32:08
front office perspective, just kind of punting on the rest of
32:11
this season, especially when you want to have an asset that is
32:18
able to sell. And if if you're straighting
32:21
away all your best players, I don't know if that's the best
32:23
way to go about it. Dane was the town of Saint Paul
32:25
Pioneer Press twincities.com for Dane to your primary beat the
32:29
Vikings two weeks away from training camp opening and Dane,
32:32
we've had this conversation before with you and and I'm
32:35
still dumbfounded by it. And that's the division overall
32:38
and the fact that I I think Minnesota is they won all those
32:42
games last year. They're picked to win what 8 and
32:44
a half 9 1/2 somewhere there this year, but a significant
32:48
drop off. I look at the offensive line for
32:50
the lions that Ragnar retirement came out of nowhere.
32:54
That has to hurt both their coordinators.
32:56
I think the bears are their arrow was pointing up.
32:59
I'm not sure they're ready for this just yet.
33:01
They're going to be better. I believe that.
33:04
And then the Packers to me are kind of spinning their wheels.
33:07
I I'm just, I'm blown away that the Vikings, aren't they
33:10
overwhelming favorite to win this division, at least how I
33:14
see it. Yeah, I mean, I, I think I would
33:18
probably still give the nod to the Lions just because I think
33:20
their roster is so talented. But on that same accord, so is
33:25
the Vikings. Like, the Vikings have built a
33:28
an outstanding team top to bottom.
33:31
I just think I lean lions because Derek Goff is a proven
33:33
commodity and JJ McCarthy is every bit of an unproven
33:37
commodity. So if JJ McCarthy plays at the
33:41
level that the Vikings brass believes he can play at, yeah,
33:46
they're going to be right there near the top of the NFC North.
33:49
I mean, and I think the 8 1/2 wins or the what what Vegas is
33:53
projecting that over under is simply just a bet on JJ
33:56
McCarthy. Vegas is betting that he's going
34:00
to struggle and if you want to hammer the 8 1/2 the over on
34:03
that, like I think everybody should, I think you're betting
34:06
on JJ McCarthy hitting the ground running and being pretty
34:09
good. Everything I've seen from the
34:11
kid gave him dating back to last summer, but certainly this
34:15
spring and excited to see him in a couple of weeks here, is that
34:19
he's ready, he's up for the challenge.
34:21
He's taking an ownership of the offense.
34:23
He's kind of coming into his own as a leader on this team.
34:26
So I have I hope for the Vikings this year.
34:29
I think they're going to outperform that over under win
34:33
loss total by by quite a bit. But again, it is it really just
34:38
comes down to the guy on the center and Major McCarthy is
34:41
going to have to answer a lot of questions this year.
34:43
I have faith in O'Connell. That that's a good place to have
34:46
your faith. I'd rather have my faith in him
34:47
than McCarthy, but that's that side.
34:49
One final thing for me on the Vikings front, and that is I'm
34:53
looking for a name, undrafted free agent, a camp guy.
34:57
Is there a name maybe that's been some buzz, you know, coming
35:00
out of rookie camp, those kind of things.
35:02
Is there a name that we should know before they get things
35:04
started? Up there with preseason camp?
35:08
I'll give you a deep cut. Samaya Vaughn, he's an undrafted
35:12
rookie cornerback out of Utah. Just a mammoth guy on the
35:17
outside. Really fits the mold of a
35:19
cornerback that Brian Flores likes to deploy.
35:23
Big, physical, undrafted, so obviously raw of things to work
35:29
on. But if you remember last year at
35:32
this time, Dwight Mclothern was a guy who started to kind of
35:36
pique people's interest because of those same character traits
35:39
and qualities about him. Long athletic ball hawk.
35:43
All those things can kind of be said about the Maya Vaughn.
35:47
He popped a few times in the spring just with a few flash
35:51
plays here and there and didn't get a ton of reps.
35:55
So he made the most of his reps by by being able to stand out by
36:00
being pretty low on the depth chart.
36:02
So I, I, I like him. I mean, look, it could be 3
36:06
weeks from now and the guy still buried on the deaf chart and I
36:09
look like fool, but he, he was someone who definitely stood out
36:14
to me. And I think even more than just
36:17
him and his qualities, that room as a whole is looking for, I
36:22
think, another player to step up.
36:24
It's probably the one area on the team that I would consider a
36:28
weakness. And that's no disrespect to
36:31
Byron Murphy Junior, who I think the world of, and guys like
36:35
Makai Blackman and Isaiah Rogers.
36:38
But I think they're looking for another guy, another blue
36:40
chipper to step up. And maybe he's about to be that
36:43
guy. 63190 The tangibles there are the measurables rather.
36:49
Dane, great stuff as as always. Thanks for doing this.
36:51
I saw the the Twins got out of a little bit of jam runners on 1st
36:55
and 2nd, nobody up, but they wriggled off the hook.
36:58
So we go to the third inning. Dane, thanks for popping on.
37:00
Appreciate it. We'll talk to you down the road.
37:02
Thanks. We appreciate the relationship,
37:04
Dane. Thank you very much.
37:06
Yep. Anytime guys.
37:07
Yep, good to. Talk to you Dame Mazatani, St.
37:09
Paul, Pioneer Press, twincities.com, Zermaya von #34
37:13
For those of you watching in the third and fourth quarter of the
37:16
first couple of preseason games, watch for 34 in the secondary.
37:20
You're going to file that one away.
37:21
I like that. You know what?
37:22
That's the second time you've asked that question this week.
37:24
I like it. I like that question.
37:26
That's kind of where my mind's going.
37:27
We're digging a little bit deeper, getting past surface
37:30
level. And as we talk a ton about the
37:32
Vikings there, we do regional teams air here.
37:34
Yes, absolutely. Based on KX&O, not on the
37:37
statewide, I'm not sure what the other stations do, but as far as
37:40
they're, if they even have an NFL team, but we do.
37:42
Here, KXIC and Iowa City, at least when I was over there,
37:45
they had the Bears. Did they?
37:46
They did. That's a good guess, not.
37:49
Sure, that was a long time ago. Was it?
37:51
Yeah. Was she?
37:52
Yeah. I think back trying to do the
37:54
the math in my head. It was.
37:56
We'll take the time out, come back, finish up our #1A long,
37:59
deep look at the Big 12 with Chris Level, who covers Texas
38:02
Tech. We're going to pick his brain
38:04
out on Texas. Well, some, but certainly we're
38:06
going to expand our horizons, do the whole conference with Chris
38:09
Level to kick off our number 2, Miller and Condon, it's the Iowa
38:12
Sports Radio Network. Mary Condon, welcome back.
38:27
I was sports radio net. I like this song.
38:29
What I didn't do? What is this song?
38:31
Panic at the Disco is the group. I like it.
38:33
High hopes I you were yawning over there.
38:36
I was yawning over there. I'm like, we need something a
38:38
little more upbeat. God the shows putting me to
38:40
sleep. Ohh no, the audience.
38:43
You don't got a light on in there.
38:44
Why don't you like? Light I hate.
38:45
The lights I hate. Do you sit in the dark in your
38:47
basement? Yes, I sit in the dark
38:49
everywhere. Everywhere dark.
38:51
Dark. Like, yeah, but TV on.
38:54
But we know that, right? But you know.
38:55
I don't like light. I don't know why.
38:57
Had weird a lot of ways. Oh yeah?
38:59
Well, no. I told I told this story to
39:01
Lucas and Sean about your sleeping habits yesterday.
39:05
They hadn't heard that one. My dinner my my dinner habit.
39:08
I eat 10:00 10/15. Sleep by the wrong end of the
39:11
bed, yes. No, that's the right end of the
39:14
bed. Were your feet?
39:16
Well, no. Most people's feet.
39:18
It's called a headboard because your head's supposed to be up
39:20
there. Hour 2 coming up next Big 12
39:22
conversation starts at Chris level on three media joins
39:27
Trenton I that's next Iowa sports Radio network.