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TABLE TALK: Who's Built For October? · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

• 0:29
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Table Talk here at the Philadelphia Sports Table
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: podcast show, the longest running weekly Philly sports podcast show
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: in the world, over thirteen and a half years strong.
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: Got a great show coming away this week as we
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: dive into some MLB storylines. There's a lot going on
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: in the American League, a lot going on in the
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: National League. We're going to talk about some divisions, some
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: wildcard races as well, and to do that with us
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: this week, we got our good friend Chris Willis from
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: SB Nation.
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: My friend, it is great to see you. Thanks so
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: much for jumping on here.
• 0:59
  Speaker 3: Oh, I appreciate that you having me back. It's always
• 1:01
  Speaker 3: fun to talk some Bousebaul.
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: Absolutely always fun talking MLB storylines with you.
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: Chris.
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: We usually I usually have you on our Opposition Territory
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: show where we focus on the Atlanta Braves, but I
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: wanted to bring you on just because we're in this era,
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: or I should say, in this time of year in
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: August where we're looking to see who is actually built
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: for October here and I want to start with some
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: NL least talk where you're Atlanta Braves, my Philadelphia Phillies
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: kind of you know, gonna be perhaps duking it out
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: a little bit more in the future here, because look,
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: the Braves are only three games up on the Phillies
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: at this point. And then again, Philadelphia Phillies here, they've
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: had quite the up and down season. They've been on
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: hot streaks, have been on cold streaks. As a fan,
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: it really drives us crazy up here in Pennsylvania.
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: So I'm wondering, do.
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: You think the Braves are going to inevitably stay atop
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: the NL East?
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: Do you have any concerns? You know, what are your
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: thoughts here?
• 2:00
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I have a lot of concerns.
• 2:01
  Speaker 4: Okay, honestly, no, I mean it's I think it's gonna
• 2:06
  Speaker 4: be a battle all the way to the end.
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: You know, I think a lot of.
• 2:11
  Speaker 4: Braves fans were rightly critical at the trade deadline. I
• 2:15
  Speaker 4: think we felt like the Braves needed to add at
• 2:17
  Speaker 4: least one playoff caliber starter to the mix.
• 2:21
  Speaker 3: They didn't do that. But this the swoon.
• 2:24
  Speaker 4: I mean, they came out of the All Star Break
• 2:26
  Speaker 4: playing well, Phillies were struggling.
• 2:28
  Speaker 3: League got to nine and a half games.
• 2:30
  Speaker 4: Uh there, They've lost seven of ten, the leads down
• 2:34
  Speaker 4: to three. It's not really been the pitching though, It's
• 2:38
  Speaker 4: been they can't score runs, and the Phillies just don't lose.
• 2:41
  Speaker 4: And that's that's a that's the recipe to you know, see.
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: Your league about right now. They do, but not right now,
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: not right now?
• 2:48
  Speaker 4: Yeah, well, I mean yeah, I mean that's how the
• 2:51
  Speaker 4: league got to nine and a half. Anyways, Phillis came
• 2:54
  Speaker 4: out cold out after the break. So you know, the
• 2:58
  Speaker 4: crazy thing is, I mean, the Braids are five and
• 3:00
  Speaker 4: one against the Phillies, but they haven't seen them since April,
• 3:04
  Speaker 4: and the Phillies are a much different team now than
• 3:07
  Speaker 4: they were in April. So I mean, ironically, it's gonna
• 3:10
  Speaker 4: come down. I think they played each other seven more times,
• 3:13
  Speaker 4: four in Philadelphia and three in Atlanta. It's those are
• 3:16
  Speaker 4: going to be a huge series, you know, and I think,
• 3:21
  Speaker 4: I mean, I think something you said a minute ago
• 3:23
  Speaker 4: was about who is playoff tested, and I think this
• 3:26
  Speaker 4: is an opportunity for the Braves to show it because
• 3:30
  Speaker 4: you know, we've seen the you know, the Phillies have
• 3:33
  Speaker 4: had that had that first round success against Atlanta. The
• 3:37
  Speaker 4: last two times they've matched up and it's just felt
• 3:40
  Speaker 4: like they've been the tougher team. And I think, you know,
• 3:43
  Speaker 4: with the Braves here. I mean, I don't want to
• 3:45
  Speaker 4: get ahead of myself. I mean, the Braids have three
• 3:47
  Speaker 4: games coming up with the Dodgers. I mean, this league
• 3:49
  Speaker 4: could be this league could be non existent this time
• 3:53
  Speaker 4: next week.
• 3:54
  Speaker 3: But you feel like they're going to go into.
• 3:55
  Speaker 4: That series in Philadelphia on September fourth, and they probably
• 4:00
  Speaker 4: they probably have to go into that series and at
• 4:02
  Speaker 4: least split, And we know what kind of environment that's
• 4:06
  Speaker 4: gonna be.
• 4:06
  Speaker 3: They know what kind of environment that's gonna be.
• 4:09
  Speaker 4: And you know, I think it's about being playoff tough.
• 4:13
  Speaker 4: I have all the confidence in the world and Chris Sale,
• 4:17
  Speaker 4: but behind that, I don't know, you know, at this point,
• 4:21
  Speaker 4: and I think that's where a lot of our criticism
• 4:23
  Speaker 4: around the trade down Atlanta's trade deadline comes from.
• 4:26
  Speaker 3: You know, the Bats have got to get going.
• 4:28
  Speaker 4: Austin Riley swung the bat a little bit better and
• 4:31
  Speaker 4: in the second half, but you know, Matt Olsen carried
• 4:34
  Speaker 4: him out out of the All Star break. But you know,
• 4:38
  Speaker 4: it's been it's been a lot of inconsistency. I think
• 4:40
  Speaker 4: they need they need Ronald Coonu to get going.
• 4:43
  Speaker 3: Yeah. Uh, they just need to. They need to.
• 4:45
  Speaker 4: They need to find themselves for the stretch run, you know,
• 4:48
  Speaker 4: And I mean it's you know, it's August.
• 4:49
  Speaker 3: It's the it's the Doldrums, kind of.
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: The dog August.
• 4:53
  Speaker 4: Yeah, we're fixing to turn you know, we're fixing to
• 4:56
  Speaker 4: turn the page to the stretch run. It's gonna get
• 4:59
  Speaker 4: real real quick here. And you know, I don't have
• 5:03
  Speaker 4: a good feeling about it. I mean, I feel like
• 5:05
  Speaker 4: you go into a series against the Phillies and you
• 5:07
  Speaker 4: see Wheeler, Lozardo, Sanchez, that's a that's a that's a
• 5:13
  Speaker 4: tough Yeah, that's a tough out for anything.
• 5:15
  Speaker 3: Absolutely.
• 5:16
  Speaker 4: I know, I know they've had some bullpen issues and whatever,
• 5:19
  Speaker 4: but you know, if you can't score, you can't score.
• 5:22
  Speaker 3: And that's kind of where the Braves have been at
• 5:24
  Speaker 3: for the last week or two.
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: So there's similarities. There's similarities between these two teams. There
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: really are.
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: I mean, there have been so many stretches during this
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: season where the Phillies just haven't been able to score either.
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: And it's frustrating when you have Christopher Sanchez, Zach Wheeler,
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: Jesus Lozardo pitching lights out. It has happened a number
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: of times this year, and all of a sudden, the
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: bats just go cold and cannot score, and it's a
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: it's wasted pitching, it's wasted starting pitching, and we're getting
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: that from the Braves too. So it's just it's it's
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: an interesting storyline for us to follow for or over
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: the course of these next couple weeks here, next three weeks,
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: maybe even next the next month as well. But as
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: we're moving along here, Chris, I really wanted to dive
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: into a storyline that we have not gotten into very
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: much on this podcast platform, but I wanted to talk
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: about it with you because it deals with one of
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: the biggest deals that was made during the course of
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: the offseason, and that was Kyle Tucker and him heading
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: to the Los Angeles Dodgers. I mean, Kyle Tucker's had
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: a brutal, brutal season at this point. Just it seems
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: like just such a disaster of a signing for the Dodgers.
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: I mean, I hate asking that, asking it this way,
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: but I'm not sure how to ask it. I mean,
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: do you think he breaks out soon or this or
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: is there something really going on with him here? What
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: are your thoughts on what's happening with Kyle Tucker.
• 6:44
  Speaker 4: I mean, it's it's been I was not expecting this
• 6:47
  Speaker 4: top of season from him right in Los Angeles. I mean,
• 6:50
  Speaker 4: I think there was this little bit of a narrative
• 6:52
  Speaker 4: that he was disappointing last year with the Cubs, and
• 6:55
  Speaker 4: I think he did swoon down the stretch a little bit.
• 6:58
  Speaker 4: But you know, when you look at the total, I
• 7:00
  Speaker 4: mean one thirty six way to runs created plus four
• 7:03
  Speaker 4: and a half fangrafts war, I think the Dodgers would
• 7:06
  Speaker 4: love to have that right now in the middle of
• 7:09
  Speaker 4: the order. I think the thing that's the thing that
• 7:11
  Speaker 4: jumps out in me is it's a sixty way to
• 7:14
  Speaker 4: runs created plus at home, one twenty six way to
• 7:17
  Speaker 4: runs created plus on the road.
• 7:19
  Speaker 3: And it just feels like, and I know.
• 7:21
  Speaker 4: He's getting some booze now at home, the defense is struggling.
• 7:25
  Speaker 3: It looks like a player to me that's just pressing,
• 7:28
  Speaker 3: trying to live up to that contract he's in Zon
• 7:31
  Speaker 3: and I think.
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: It seems like he's in his own head.
• 7:33
  Speaker 3: Yeah, without a doubt.
• 7:34
  Speaker 4: And I mean, you know, when he went to the Dodgers,
• 7:37
  Speaker 4: I thought that was a good fit for him because
• 7:39
  Speaker 4: he didn't seem like that guy that wanted to be
• 7:41
  Speaker 4: out front. You know, and he could go to the
• 7:43
  Speaker 4: this Dodgers team and hit fifth or sixth and be
• 7:46
  Speaker 4: a kind of just put up solid numbers and nobody
• 7:49
  Speaker 4: would have probably written anything about him. But you know,
• 7:52
  Speaker 4: he's it's not worked out that way. And you know,
• 7:56
  Speaker 4: I think he's a big key to their offense. As
• 7:58
  Speaker 4: good as the Dodgers are. We were just talking about
• 8:01
  Speaker 4: offense struggles. I mean that offense looks old sometimes. Yeah,
• 8:04
  Speaker 4: sometimes it looks like a machine. So you know, what
• 8:07
  Speaker 4: are you gonna what are you gonna get as far
• 8:09
  Speaker 4: as that goes in, I mean, I think he could
• 8:11
  Speaker 4: swing a series, but man, you know, right now, it
• 8:15
  Speaker 4: just it.
• 8:16
  Speaker 3: Just doesn't look good and it doesn't And I.
• 8:18
  Speaker 4: Think the bigger thing is, you know, he's just having
• 8:21
  Speaker 4: as bad a defensive season as he's as he's had
• 8:25
  Speaker 4: in a long time.
• 8:26
  Speaker 3: So, you know, I don't really know. I wish I
• 8:29
  Speaker 3: could solve the cop.
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: No, I don't. We don't have a crystal ball here.
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: But its just I find it amazing that there are
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: times during the course of an offseason where a team
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: makes a decision, a huge financial decision, a huge contractual decision,
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: and when it doesn't work out, I can't necessarily remember
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: a time, Chris, when this massive of a contract was
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: given and the player and talent just absolutely fell off
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: a cliff like I I mean, it's been a while
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: since it's been this bad, and you got to say
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: to yourself, this is baseball at the end of the day,
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: this is baseball. This is what happens to players every
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: now and again.
• 9:07
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, and sometimes you just have a down year,
• 9:10
  Speaker 4: you know. I'm not I don't know that that's what
• 9:11
  Speaker 4: that's what he's doing. I mean, you look at his projections,
• 9:14
  Speaker 4: and I mean they you know, they still believe he's.
• 9:16
  Speaker 3: Gonna turn it and turn around.
• 9:18
  Speaker 4: I was shocked to see that big discrepancy in the
• 9:21
  Speaker 4: home road splits.
• 9:22
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think there is something. There is something to it.
• 9:25
  Speaker 4: I mean, I think he's trying to he's trying to
• 9:27
  Speaker 4: perform so hard.
• 9:28
  Speaker 3: He's he's just, uh, you know, I don't know how
• 9:30
  Speaker 3: you fix that either.
• 9:31
  Speaker 4: When you once instmentals part of of the game, you know,
• 9:35
  Speaker 4: I think that's the most difficult thing.
• 9:36
  Speaker 3: So, you know, But I mean when I was talking.
• 9:38
  Speaker 4: About pressure, I mean, they're nine games up, probably gonna
• 9:41
  Speaker 4: have the best one of the top ten records, and
• 9:44
  Speaker 4: in baseball. You know, what do you I mean, why
• 9:47
  Speaker 4: are you feeling so much pressure? You could be in
• 9:50
  Speaker 4: the NL East.
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: Right now, you know, really having to do it, having
• 9:54
  Speaker 3: to duke it out.
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: So it's gonna be interesting to watch.
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: I mean, it's gonna be interesting to watch and see
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: how they Saul turns out for Kyle Tucker. Like you said,
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: Dodgers are in a pretty good position. You know, they're
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: they're they're not shying or they don't. Their talent is
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: there sometimes again baseball you get cold every now and again.
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: But the Dodgers are darn good team. But there's another
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: team that I thought coming into this season was going
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: to be a really good team here and now I
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: have questions as to whether or not they're going to
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: make the postseason perhaps, and that's the Seattle Mariners. I mean,
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: the Mariners seem to be in a different situation kind
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: of than the Phillies have been in. Phillies been kind
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: of just winning some games, pulling these games out, and
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: the Mariners seem to be going in the opposite direction,
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: you know, losing some big blowout games recently. I'm wondering, Chris,
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: if they're still alive in this postseason race. But I
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: want to want to get your thoughts here on how
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: the Mariners season's going here and if they can actually
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: make the postseason in your opinion.
• 10:52
  Speaker 3: I mean I picked them to win the AO West. Yeah.
• 10:55
  Speaker 4: To me, they're the most disappointing team in baseball, you know,
• 10:59
  Speaker 4: from where we thought they were going to be in
• 11:00
  Speaker 4: posted and the in the preseason, you know, dead lasting
• 11:05
  Speaker 4: run scored. That tells you everything you needed to do
• 11:08
  Speaker 4: you need to know about this team. I mean, look
• 11:09
  Speaker 4: at cal rally unbelievable season last year, storybook season.
• 11:14
  Speaker 3: He's hitting one fifty.
• 11:15
  Speaker 4: Nine And I know we don't lean on bat and
• 11:17
  Speaker 4: average too much anymore, but you know, who would have
• 11:21
  Speaker 4: thought he would be hitting one fifty nine with a
• 11:23
  Speaker 4: seventy three way to runs created plus at this point.
• 11:25
  Speaker 4: I mean, that's the that's the you know, I mean,
• 11:28
  Speaker 4: that's them in a nutshell. Every time I get ready,
• 11:31
  Speaker 4: I know we're going to talk about the AL wild Card.
• 11:33
  Speaker 4: Every time I get ready to write them off. You
• 11:35
  Speaker 4: have to remember they're in the American League, so technically.
• 11:38
  Speaker 3: They're not out of it. But you know, I have
• 11:40
  Speaker 3: to question.
• 11:41
  Speaker 4: I've always I've thought that pitching staff's been had a
• 11:46
  Speaker 4: lot of a lot of good pictures in it.
• 11:48
  Speaker 3: But I mean you have to really question when you.
• 11:49
  Speaker 4: Start giving up eighteen runs twenty twenty what the Brewers
• 11:53
  Speaker 4: score twenty two runs? Yeah, at this point, you know,
• 11:57
  Speaker 4: I start to I start to think, you know, I mean,
• 12:00
  Speaker 4: I don't know how they can stay in it. But
• 12:03
  Speaker 4: you know, again it's the al so technically they're still
• 12:06
  Speaker 4: in it. But yeah, to me, they're the biggest disappointment.
• 12:08
  Speaker 4: I feel like that roster's got to change. You know,
• 12:11
  Speaker 4: after a season like this, you get into the offseason,
• 12:14
  Speaker 4: you've got to make some You've got to make some
• 12:16
  Speaker 4: drastic moves just to try to try to shake things up.
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: Absolutely again, folks, we're talking to our good friend Chris
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: Willis from SB Nation. Head on over to ESB nation
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: dot com. Tons of sports content all the time. Chris,
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: before we go to break, let everybody know where they
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: can find you on the interwebs out there if they
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: want to connect with you.
• 12:33
  Speaker 4: SB Nation Baseball. You know, we've got all our team
• 12:37
  Speaker 4: sites over there. We got great communities. I try to
• 12:39
  Speaker 4: bounce around as many of them as I can, and
• 12:42
  Speaker 4: I'm also on Blue Sky Chris, Chris wille K underscore.
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: Willis, all right, very good, folks, we're gonna take a break.
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: When we get back, we're going to dive into the
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: AL wildcard spots, NL wildcard spots, and we're going to
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: talk about what this upcoming collective bargaining agreement may look
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: like for the future of baseball in twenty twenty seven.
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: Stick with us, all right, We are back with our buddy,
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: Chris Willis from SB Nation. Head on overt esb nation
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: dot com. Check out all the baseball content, football content.
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: They got all types of sports content over at SB Nation.
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: And now, Chris, let's get into how the wildcard spots
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: are going to be looking as we're getting ready to
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: close out August here in a bit, we'll start with
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: the AL Look, the Yankees, the Red Sox, and the
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: Rangers at this particular point in time we're recording this
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: on August twenty fourth, are battling it out for the
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: ALE wildcard spots. And I'm wondering, do you think there
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: may be any sleeper teams that might be able to
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: overtake maybe the Rangers, even the Red Sox. As we're
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: moving forward here, what are your thoughts?
• 13:40
  Speaker 3: Man? I hate this third wild Card more this year
• 13:44
  Speaker 3: than ever.
• 13:47
  Speaker 4: I mean, I looked at that, you gave me this
• 13:48
  Speaker 4: question ahead of time, full disclosure, and I started looking.
• 13:51
  Speaker 4: I started looking for a sleeper team. And I don't
• 13:53
  Speaker 4: like any of these teams. The team I like the
• 13:56
  Speaker 4: best out of this group is the Tigers. Yeah, and
• 13:59
  Speaker 4: they're current playing the worst of any of them, yeah,
• 14:02
  Speaker 4: not named not named Mariners. So Seattle's probably probably right there.
• 14:06
  Speaker 3: But I don't know.
• 14:07
  Speaker 4: Yeah, Seattle's won six out of the six out of
• 14:09
  Speaker 4: their last ten. They just had some humiliating losses in there,
• 14:12
  Speaker 4: so I don't I don't, you know, I'm trying to
• 14:17
  Speaker 4: just squint here.
• 14:18
  Speaker 3: I think the Red Sots are safe.
• 14:19
  Speaker 4: I mean, unless the only way the pack catches the
• 14:22
  Speaker 4: Red Sox is if Red Sots come back to the pack.
• 14:25
  Speaker 4: It's kind of the way I look at it at
• 14:26
  Speaker 4: this point. So you know, if I had to pick somebody,
• 14:30
  Speaker 4: maybe the Blue Jays, you know, Dylan Cees, Jose Soreano
• 14:36
  Speaker 4: kind of like that pitching. If lag Lad's had a
• 14:39
  Speaker 4: terrible year, if he could get going, you might coun squint.
• 14:43
  Speaker 4: The Twins swept the Braves this past weekend. I watched
• 14:46
  Speaker 4: a lot of a lot of that, you know, I mean,
• 14:50
  Speaker 4: could they do it? I don't really see how they're
• 14:52
  Speaker 4: where they're at, but I mean, then again, you look
• 14:54
  Speaker 4: at it in their five games under five hundred, so
• 14:56
  Speaker 4: I get I kind of feel like they're right where
• 14:58
  Speaker 4: they should be.
• 14:59
  Speaker 3: They're just not.
• 15:00
  Speaker 4: There's just not a team really taken off. And this
• 15:02
  Speaker 4: is why I can't write the Mariners off, because I
• 15:04
  Speaker 4: feel like one one stretch of winning eight out of
• 15:08
  Speaker 4: ten or six out of eight, and all of a
• 15:11
  Speaker 4: sudden you go from three three back to probably two
• 15:15
  Speaker 4: up right with this crowd of a crowd of teams, now,
• 15:18
  Speaker 4: it's going to produce a lot of drama down the stretch.
• 15:22
  Speaker 3: I just wonder if we're gonna this is gonna be
• 15:23
  Speaker 3: the year.
• 15:24
  Speaker 4: We have a sub five hundred team math postseason, and
• 15:27
  Speaker 4: I don't know if that's what happened.
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it absolutely could happen for sure.
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: All Right, Well, as we're moving along here now onto
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: the NL wild Card race.
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: Here at this current time.
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: It's the Cubs, the Phillies, and the Padres currently in
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: those three spots. And you know, look, we talked about
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: the Phillies a little bit earlier. Are there any sleeper
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: teams that you're looking at here that might be able
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: to overpower the Padres or maybe even the Phillies. Again,
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: we know how streaky the Phillies have been. Yes, they're
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: winning games right now, but look, nothing is solidified here
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: towards the end of August.
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: You know, what are your thoughts are.
• 16:02
  Speaker 4: That there's still a lot of baseball to play, obviously,
• 16:05
  Speaker 4: but I mean, I feel good about the Phillies at
• 16:07
  Speaker 4: this point. You know, you worried a little bit out
• 16:10
  Speaker 4: coming out of the break, but I mean I feel like,
• 16:14
  Speaker 4: you know, I feel like they could win this division
• 16:16
  Speaker 4: really see, and the Braves could be in that spot.
• 16:18
  Speaker 4: So you know, we're just gonna see what happens there.
• 16:21
  Speaker 4: The Padres, I feel a little better about. They've played
• 16:24
  Speaker 4: pretty well down the stretch. I mean of the wild
• 16:27
  Speaker 4: card teams chasing them, maybe the Diamondbacks, but you know,
• 16:30
  Speaker 4: they got a lot of drama going on right now.
• 16:33
  Speaker 4: Keto Marte and haven't been playing. You know, that's not
• 16:36
  Speaker 4: that's not been a great situation. I don't really believe
• 16:39
  Speaker 4: in the Marlins, and I haven't really all year. You know,
• 16:42
  Speaker 4: great story whatever, but I mean I don't see them.
• 16:46
  Speaker 4: I can't see them out playing a Padres team that's
• 16:49
  Speaker 4: already eleven games over at this point. So yeah, you know,
• 16:54
  Speaker 4: I was pulling for the Cardinals. I thought the Cardinals
• 16:56
  Speaker 4: were a great story this year, but they sold at
• 16:57
  Speaker 4: the deadline. I think it's kind of hurting them a
• 16:59
  Speaker 4: little bit. I think you're starting to see that now.
• 17:02
  Speaker 4: So definitely not over. But and you know, Padres have
• 17:06
  Speaker 4: been streaky too. It feels like a lot of NL
• 17:08
  Speaker 4: teams have been streaked.
• 17:09
  Speaker 3: Absolutely.
• 17:11
  Speaker 4: I feel out the Padres are probably in the best
• 17:13
  Speaker 4: position to grab that last wild card.
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: All right, very good, very good, Well buddy, before I
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: let you go here in great conversation, as always, I
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: wanted to get your thoughts on how you see this
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: new collective bargaining agreement taking shape now. Look, of course
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: we don't have that crystal ball like we talked about earlier,
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: but you know, they're amazingly enough, rob Manfred said a
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: couple of days ago, or a few days ago, at
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: this point he anticipates baseball will be played next year,
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: And I find it to be kind of humorous in
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: a way. You know, when you take a look at
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: Major League Baseball, their front office, you know, even Rob
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: Manfred and how he's been running the league all these years.
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: You know, I wish that he would have set a
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: little bit more a few days ago to help us
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: baseball fans have some sort of confidence that something that
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: we love in our lives, the game of baseball, is
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: actually going to be played next year, and that, you know,
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: the Collective Bargaining Agreement is going to be something that
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: can be taken care of in a timely fashion. I'm
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: wondering how you think things will be going with this
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: CBA and whether or not there actually will be baseball
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: next year next year?
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: You know, what are your thoughts here, Chris?
• 18:23
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I liked it a lot better when we didn't
• 18:26
  Speaker 4: cover the CBA negotiations until the sea, until they there
• 18:30
  Speaker 4: was it was the season was actually over.
• 18:32
  Speaker 3: Because I feel like I feel like the Commissioner's.
• 18:35
  Speaker 4: Office has learned that they can they trying to get
• 18:38
  Speaker 4: in front of a lot of things. I mean, he's like, yeah,
• 18:40
  Speaker 4: we're planning to play the season next year. That way
• 18:43
  Speaker 4: they can blame it on the players. It's no season
• 18:45
  Speaker 4: if season is delayed.
• 18:47
  Speaker 3: You know.
• 18:47
  Speaker 4: So, I mean it's all posturing both sides. I don't
• 18:51
  Speaker 4: I try not to really pay it that much attention.
• 18:53
  Speaker 4: I know there's a lot of Taco brown a salary cap.
• 18:56
  Speaker 4: A lot of people out there, a lot of fans
• 18:58
  Speaker 4: out there think the salary cap is needed.
• 19:01
  Speaker 3: You know, we talked about the Dodgers. I don't. I'm
• 19:04
  Speaker 3: not personally pro cap.
• 19:05
  Speaker 4: I'm not, but I mean I could, I could get
• 19:08
  Speaker 4: behind it, but I don't think the players are ever
• 19:09
  Speaker 4: going to do it. I think the biggest problem we
• 19:12
  Speaker 4: have is not the team spending four hundred million dollars.
• 19:14
  Speaker 3: I think it's the ones that that won't spend.
• 19:17
  Speaker 4: And you know, I look at a team like Pittsburgh,
• 19:20
  Speaker 4: who has one of the nicest stadiums, yes in uh in,
• 19:23
  Speaker 4: in Major League Baseball. That is a rabid fan base.
• 19:26
  Speaker 4: You can go look at the steel any Steelers. You
• 19:29
  Speaker 4: can go look at the XP nation Steelers site. If
• 19:32
  Speaker 4: you want to see passion, you know, there there you go.
• 19:35
  Speaker 4: I mean, you spend a little money, put some if
• 19:38
  Speaker 4: you don't want to sign free agents, you know, spend
• 19:40
  Speaker 4: it on player development, make some homegrown, get some homegrown stars,
• 19:45
  Speaker 4: and I promise you that stadium will be full, everyone
• 19:48
  Speaker 4: out every night if you put a real, realistic team
• 19:52
  Speaker 4: out there with that has a chance. So you know
• 19:56
  Speaker 4: my prediction. I think it'll go down to the last
• 19:59
  Speaker 4: possible day, where one hundred and sixty two game season
• 20:01
  Speaker 4: as possible. I don't think it'll get solved early. Could
• 20:07
  Speaker 4: they miss games, Absolutely, I think it would be the
• 20:09
  Speaker 4: worst decision on for both sides because I feel like
• 20:12
  Speaker 4: the sports in better shape.
• 20:14
  Speaker 3: Right now than it has been in a long time.
• 20:17
  Speaker 4: And I think if they if they miss games, I
• 20:20
  Speaker 4: don't I don't know how long it's going to take
• 20:22
  Speaker 4: them to recover, if they do recover. I mean, to me,
• 20:26
  Speaker 4: I feel like the salary cap is not about competitive balance.
• 20:29
  Speaker 4: I mean, look at the Rays, Look at the Brewers.
• 20:32
  Speaker 4: Those are not top salary teams. Look at the Mets.
• 20:35
  Speaker 4: You know, spending money you can't spend you know. I
• 20:38
  Speaker 4: know people will throw the Dodgers up, but spending money
• 20:40
  Speaker 4: doesn't guarantee you anything. The pieces don't fit. You know,
• 20:46
  Speaker 4: it's been proven over and over.
• 20:48
  Speaker 3: And over the Mets.
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: Look at the Mets, for God's sake, did it in
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: terms of throwing money around the past couple of seasons
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: and look where they're.
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: At right now?
• 20:57
  Speaker 4: Exactly I mean, and I mean the Rays, the Brewer,
• 21:00
  Speaker 4: the Brewers invest. How many big name players have the
• 21:02
  Speaker 4: Brewers let walk, But they've invested, They've invested in their
• 21:07
  Speaker 4: pitching development. To me, that's as important in many cases
• 21:12
  Speaker 4: than handing out an eight year, three hundred million dollars contract.
• 21:15
  Speaker 4: You know, if you can, if you can replenish, you
• 21:18
  Speaker 4: can be smart about it. The Dodgers do both, and
• 21:21
  Speaker 4: you know, I wish the Braves did both.
• 21:23
  Speaker 3: I wish I'm sure you wish the Phillies would do that.
• 21:26
  Speaker 4: You know, I mean, it would feel good to go
• 21:28
  Speaker 4: into the offseason and say, hey, we got as good
• 21:30
  Speaker 4: a chance to sign the number the top guy as anybody.
• 21:33
  Speaker 3: Yeah, but you know, I don't think.
• 21:37
  Speaker 4: I think a salary cap doesn't have as much to
• 21:39
  Speaker 4: do with competitive balance as it as it does as.
• 21:42
  Speaker 3: Raising franchise values.
• 21:44
  Speaker 4: And I think that's what they They're never gonna say that,
• 21:46
  Speaker 4: but I think that's that's the core core thing about it.
• 21:50
  Speaker 3: Would a salary cap work, sure.
• 21:53
  Speaker 4: If you're going to raise the if you're gonna set
• 21:55
  Speaker 4: a floor high enough, and I don't think in good faith.
• 21:59
  Speaker 4: I don't think owners whatever ever set a floor us
• 22:04
  Speaker 4: to make the players agree to it.
• 22:06
  Speaker 3: So it's gonna be interesting you know, I just I
• 22:10
  Speaker 3: just try to.
• 22:10
  Speaker 4: Stay optimistic about it because I think there's too much
• 22:13
  Speaker 4: money at stake for both sides yep to miss games.
• 22:17
  Speaker 4: But you know, if we'll we'll just have to see.
• 22:20
  Speaker 4: I mean, if they want to push this cap, I
• 22:22
  Speaker 4: guess there's a chance. We'll just have to see how
• 22:25
  Speaker 4: things go on once a lockout gets here.
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: Absolutely, we're gonna have to wait and see. And it's
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: a storyline we're gonna be following here at the PSD
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: podcast show. It was great talking to you Chris again.
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: Folks.
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: Here is Chris Willis from ESB nation dot com. Always
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: love having you on my friend, come back join us again.
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: I would love to have you back on the show.
• 22:45
  Speaker 3: Yea, I appreciate it.
• 22:47
  Speaker 4: I have great time every time I come, So thank
• 22:50
  Speaker 4: you for having me.
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: That's gonna do it for us here on table Talk
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: this week. Please share our podcast with your friends and
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: family members who are Philly sports fans or sports fans
• 23:00
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• 23:03
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• 23:07
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• 23:11
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• 23:14
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• 23:18
  Speaker 1: at Philadelphia Sports Table, and over on Instagram as well.
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: Take care and we'll catch you next time.