Latest / Foul Territory / Fair Territory: MLB Manager Hot Seats, Aaron Judge & Blake Snell Injuries, NL Wild Card Race

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Fair Territory: MLB Manager Hot Seats, Aaron Judge & Blake Snell Injuries, NL Wild Card Race · Foul Territory

• 0:06
  Speaker 1: And down the stretch we come. A lot going on
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: in baseball as the pennant races come to a conclusion,
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: come to a head. And we had two significant injuries yesterday,
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: or at least the potential for significant injuries. Aaron Judge
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: with lower right leg stiffness removed from the Yankees game.
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: And Blake Snell, left groin tightness removed from the Dodgers
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: game after one inning. Now, we don't know more about
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: these injuries. We don't know their statuses, but certainly that
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: is something we will be paying attention to in the
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: coming days. Another big development yesterday, before I introduce my
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: friend Alana Rizzo, the Guardians moving into first place in
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: the AL Central and not just moving into first place,
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: but also taking control of the number two seed. Great series.
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: They won two of three from the White Sox. But Alana,
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: we're going to get into some other stuff as well.
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: Good to be with you.
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: Good to be with you as well, Ken. Thank you
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: very much.
• 1:04
  Speaker 3: You are working tonight, so let's get into your game
• 1:06
  Speaker 3: with On Deck, presented by Fox One.
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: Ken, I love this game for you.
• 1:15
  Speaker 3: I love this matchup, not necessarily because of what the
• 1:18
  Speaker 3: Mets have done this season, but I do enjoy the
• 1:21
  Speaker 3: pitching matchup. It is Nola versus McClain. They're still very
• 1:25
  Speaker 3: much in terms of the Phillies. Are they going to
• 1:27
  Speaker 3: win the division? Are they going to go via the
• 1:29
  Speaker 3: wild card? What are you looking forward to when it
• 1:31
  Speaker 3: comes to Phillies-Mets tonight?
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: Nola. And the reason I want to see Aaron Nola
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: is because he has enjoyed, at age 33... when it
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: looked like his season was crumbling, when it looked like
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: that contract he signed might be a total albatross, he
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: has revived himself. And revived himself at a perfect time
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: because now the Phillies are looking at the potential loss
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: of Jesus Lizardo for the postseason. We don't know how
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: he's going to be. He's on the injured list. They
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: think it's minor. We always hear that. It's precautionary. It's minor.
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: It's nothing until it is not precautionary enough. minor or nothing.
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: I'm not saying that he's hurt badly, but we don't
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: know how he's going to come out of this with
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: his shoulders. So Nola now assumes a very prominent role
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: in the Phillies, Alana. It's really interesting what's going on
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: in the NL wildcard race because for so long, we've
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: assumed it was going to be Phillies-Cubs, Cubs-Phillies. Didn't know
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: where home field advantage would lie, but certainly it looked
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: like one of those two in one particular order. Now
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: you see the standings there, and the Padres are only
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: a game behind the Phillies. One game. And granted, the
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: Phillies hold the tiebreaker, but they're only a game behind.
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: They're only a game and a half behind the Cubs.
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: So it is possible, certainly with the Padres playing as
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: well as they are, and with the easier schedule down
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: the stretch, that they could surpass one or even both
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: of these teams in the final week and a half.
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: And that's something we're going to be watching closely.
• 3:01
  Speaker 3: Ken, how much do you enjoy this time of year?
• 3:03
  Speaker 3: I only ask that because obviously I know what you
• 3:05
  Speaker 3: do for a living. But as a fan, I absolutely
• 3:08
  Speaker 3: love it.
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: Actually, Ilana, I'm glad you asked that question. This is
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: my favorite time of year. And people will say, ah,
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: the postseason. And that is great, of course. But the
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: climax of the 162 games, that to me is the ultimate.
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: It is the end of all of these individual stories
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: with teams. The 30 teams. Not all of them are
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: still in it, but it's all coming to a conclusion,
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: a climactic conclusion, and we're seeing jockeying back and forth.
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: I just mentioned at the top, Cleveland taking over the
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: AL Central and the number two seed, Texas versus Houston
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: in the AL West. Suddenly, Texas is in the mix.
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: You see San Diego coming on now, Arizona fading. All
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: of these things are really cool, and every night is
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: so consequential, and that is why I love this time
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: of year.
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: A hundred percent could not agree more right now. The
• 4:02
  Speaker 3: Atlanta Braves with a four and a half game advantage
• 4:04
  Speaker 3: over the Phillies, but the Phillies just a one game
• 4:07
  Speaker 3: or just a one game advantage as far as the
• 4:09
  Speaker 3: wild card is concerned.
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: MLB on Fox is streaming on Fox one, the race October.
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: It starts now.
• 4:15
  Speaker 3: We just talked about it and we have your front
• 4:17
  Speaker 3: row seat to the wildest walk-offs. Lights out pitching and
• 4:21
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• 4:24
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• 4:37
  Speaker 3: Com.
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: It is time now for the inside dish.
• 4:48
  Speaker 3: Of course, checking out Ken's column earlier today, managers on
• 4:53
  Speaker 3: the hot seat. And it seems, Ken, like there are
• 4:56
  Speaker 3: more this year at this time of year, being that
• 4:58
  Speaker 3: it's September 17th, than there have been in the past.
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: Take me through it.
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: I'm not sure I agree with that. It always seems
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: like every year I'm writing this column and there are
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: a lot of names. Sorry. I'm not sure that this
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: year is any more volatile than any other year, but
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: it's certainly one of those years where a lot of
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: things are in play. And the central premise, at least
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: at the start of this column, was about the prominent
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: names that are in play. Hall of Famer, Carlos Beltran,
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: future Hall of Famer, Albert Pujols, some former managers starting
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: with Alex Cora, but also including guys like David Ross
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: and Brandon Hyde. Rocco Baldelli, even Dave Martinez. Are these guys,
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: one or more of them, going to get hired, or
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: are teams going to continue a trend? And it's not
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: a complete trend, but it happens in a lot of
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: places where the executives, the heads of baseball operations, prefer
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: first-time managers who they can collaborate with. Now, I say
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: that kind of sarcastically because the collaboration often can be
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: interpreted as controlled. Are you going to control Albert Pujols
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: or Carlos Beltran the way you would, say, a first-time
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: rookie manager? No, you're not. They're going to have strong opinions.
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: Same goes for guys who have managed before. So it's
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: going to be really interesting to me to see just
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: how many of these jobs are filled by first-timers and
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: how many are filled by more veteran types. Last year,
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: you mentioned... The number of changes. Last year, there were
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: nine new managers hired, including Warren Schaefer of Colorado, who
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: had his interim tag removed. And six of the nine,
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: six of the nine last year were first timers. That
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: was telling.
• 6:46
  Speaker 3: Yeah, there's a lot of names out there right now, though, Ken,
• 6:48
  Speaker 3: as you mentioned with previous experience, who are.
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: Looking for new jobs.
• 6:52
  Speaker 3: And let's talk about the Hall of Famers that you mentioned,
• 6:54
  Speaker 3: Albert Pujols, Carlos Beltran. Now, the New York Mets job
• 6:58
  Speaker 3: might have the most eyes on it. Do you think
• 7:01
  Speaker 3: that Carlos Beltran is the answer?
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: I'm not sure. And I say I'm not sure, Alana,
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: because he is or would be a first-time manager. and
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: he's never managed or coached at any level. Pujols has.
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: He's managed in the Dominican. He's also managed in the WVC,
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: the Dominican Republic team. Beltran, from that perspective, would be
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: a risk. Three of the last four managers the Mets
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: have hired were also first-timers, and it didn't end well
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: for any of them. Buck Showalter was the exception in between.
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: So are the Mets willing to go to a first-timer again,
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: especially one who is... as inexperienced as Beltran is in
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: this role. He obviously has experience, great playing experience, but
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: this is different. The positive for Beltran is he's a
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: unique presence and he would be an automatic presence in
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: that clubhouse and would command respect in that clubhouse. And
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: he also is already part of the Mets organization. He's
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: a special assistant. So he knows everybody. And the Mets, remember,
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: turned over virtually their entire coaching staff entering this season.
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: With Beltran, I imagine they wouldn't have to do as
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: many changes as they would say if they hired David Ross.
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: So that could be part of the appeal. It's not
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: a reason to hire him, but I expect he'll be
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: in the mix there, and we'll see how that goes.
• 8:22
  Speaker 3: More on the Hall of Famers that you're talking about, Ken.
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: Albert Pujols, Carlos Beltran.
• 8:26
  Speaker 3: What kind of challenge do you think exists For historically
• 8:29
  Speaker 3: great players to relate to the journeyman guy or the rookie,
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: I mean, obviously, because you are a Hall of Fame player,
• 8:35
  Speaker 3: it doesn't necessarily make you a good managerial fit.
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: What type of challenges come with that?
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: The challenges are really interesting, Alana, and I covered someone
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: in Baltimore who fit this description that you just mentioned.
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: It was Frank Robinson. Frank Robinson had his moments as
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: a manager, but The problem he encountered, and the problem
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: Ted Williams encountered way back when, and that other great
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: players sometimes encounter, is that the expectations they had for
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: themselves as players cannot be the same expectations they have
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: for their players on their team. It's just not the same.
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: They don't have the same talent as these guys did.
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: So that can be a challenge. Now, if you look
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: at Joe Torre, who had a near Hall of Fame
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: career as a player... He certainly succeeded as a manager.
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: So there are examples both ways, but it would be
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: a challenge for both Beltran and Pujols in that regard. Now,
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: I will say this about both guys. I don't see
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: them as having the kinds of egos that would preclude
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: them from connecting with today's players. I was impressed by
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: Pujols when he managed the Dominican Republic in the WBC.
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: He had a really good way about him. And obviously,
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: the WBC is not the major leagues. It's a much
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: different situation. But you're managing major league players, a good
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: number of them. Beltran, too, he always had great leadership. qualities.
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: And I understand that he's quieter. And I understand also
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: that he was part of the sign-stealing scandal. And that's
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: why he didn't get the Mets job the first time.
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: He resigned from it. But time has passed. He is
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: a member in good standing of major league baseball. And
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: I don't believe that would preclude the Mets from going
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: down that path.
• 10:18
  Speaker 3: Ken, we had heard that unless Don Mattingly took the
• 10:22
  Speaker 3: Philadelphia Phillies to a World Series championship, that he probably
• 10:26
  Speaker 3: was not going to be the manager moving forward. So
• 10:29
  Speaker 3: I ask you this, as the Phillies' recent slide obviously
• 10:32
  Speaker 3: comes at a bad time in this postseason push, does
• 10:35
  Speaker 3: that change his status at all? What about Jesus Lozardo's
• 10:38
  Speaker 3: availability also in October?
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: So a two-part question there.
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: Okay, first, Mattingly, he.
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: Or his future depends on what the Phillies do. And
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: it might not matter even if the Phillies win the
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: World Series, though I expect that would make him the
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: manager next year. We know, it was reported by Matt
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: Gelb and others, Matt and the Athletic, that the Phillies
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: offered Rob Thompson's job to Alex Cora before they offered
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: it to Don Mattingly. So, With that in mind, we
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: know the connection between Phillies president of baseball operations Dave
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: Dombrowski and Alex Cora. They led the Red Sox to
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: the 2018 World Series title. And we can certainly expect
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: that if the Phillies somehow flame out in the postseason,
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: I still expect them to make it. If they have
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: another early exit, that would be all the justification that
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: Dombrowski would need to install Cora. Now, as for Lizardo,
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: I don't know, we don't know, what his status is
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: going to be for the postseason just yet. And in
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: doing my research for this game, I came up with
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: an interesting number. In his last nine starts before he
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: was injured, he threw more pitches during that time frame
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: than anyone in the majors. Now, it's not anything he
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: couldn't handle, though it was the most in his career,
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: or theoretically, it was not anything he could handle. Most
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: in his career, over a nine-start span. But It led
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: to this shoulder issue. Now, here's a guy that the Cubs,
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: before the Phillies acquired him, backed out of a deal
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: on Lozardo because they were afraid of his medicals. They
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: reviewed them and didn't like what they saw. They were
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: more concerned with his back and elbow. The shoulder wasn't
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: an issue. He's had some injury history with those two things,
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: the back and the elbow. This now comes about. Should
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: the Phillies have been more careful? I can't say that's
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: the case. He was healthy. He pitched a career-high number
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: of innings last season. He was on his way to
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: another career high this season. But he had been worked
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: maybe harder than he usually has. So we're going to
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: see how this plays out. Again, they don't believe it's
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: terribly serious and that they don't believe he will be
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: out for the postseason. But certainly their prospect of dominating
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: the postseason, perhaps with their rotation, is less of a
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: situation than it was earlier. Right now, you're probably looking
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: at Nola as the number three and not Lizardo. And
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: Sanchez hasn't been as good down the stretch. So it's
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: a much greater concern for the Phillies than it was earlier.
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: All right.
• 13:13
  Speaker 3: Let me ask you this in terms of having the
• 13:15
  Speaker 3: manager in place before this free agency frenzy, because everybody
• 13:20
  Speaker 3: seems to think there's going to be a lockout, at
• 13:22
  Speaker 3: least to begin the 2027 season. How much importance is there, Ken,
• 13:27
  Speaker 3: on having the manager in place before that pre-lockout frenzy begins?
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: Good point, Alana. And once the lockout begins, people should
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: know this. A manager can't talk to his players. Front
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: office can't talk to the players. They're locked out. That
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: is contact that is forbidden. So, yeah, I guess you
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: would want your manager in place talking to the players
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: before the lockout would begin. I don't know that it's
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: absolutely necessary. You can certainly hire your manager, let's say,
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: December 20th with the lockout expected to begin December 1st.
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: He couldn't talk to the players, but he could get
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: certainly incorporated into the organization, deal with the front office,
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: deal with his coaches, hire coaches. I don't know that
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: it's a huge thing, but it's certainly a consideration, Alana,
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: as you mentioned there. And the other thing is, will
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: certain teams try to save money by just waiting until
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: the lockout is over before making their moves. And as
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: I mentioned in the story, that is problematic because, one,
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: you could lose your preferred choice. And two, once the
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: lockout is over, and let's hope it ends at a
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: reasonable time so we can have all or part or
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: the bulk of the 2027 season. Remember last time, it
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: ended in early March. Spring training began late March. It
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: was a scramble. Scramble to make trades, sign free agents.
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: You don't want to be hiring your manager in the
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: middle of all that. So it's a dangerous thing to do.
• 14:51
  Speaker 3: Yeah, in terms of that carousel, let's start with the
• 14:54
  Speaker 3: manager and then work our way down from there. Now,
• 14:56
  Speaker 3: the Mariners let go of their former hitting coach in July.
• 14:59
  Speaker 3: Do you think firing Dan Wilson because of their offensive
• 15:03
  Speaker 3: struggles would be more of the same? Remember, they fired
• 15:05
  Speaker 3: Scott Service because they weren't producing. Is Dan Wilson next?
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: Well, that hitting coach situation, that was their third hitting coach,
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: the number three guy. They fired him. It didn't really work,
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: did it? Kind of a scapegoat situation, wasn't it? So
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: with Wilson, certainly their performance has been outside of the
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: Mets and maybe even beyond the Mets disappointing. And no
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: one expected this at the start of the year. They
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: were projected to be really the second best team in
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: the American League behind the Yankees. They've had all kinds
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: of regression offensively. Cal Raleigh is the most well-known of those.
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: But if you look at their position players, it's really
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: only a Rosarena and Dominic Canzone who have met expectations.
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: So Dan Wilson, I'm almost certain, will be held accountable
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: for that. It certainly looks like it's going that direction.
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: But the real question is, Alana, where are the Mariners
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: going with all this? And this was supposed to be
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: a better year. They came within one win of the
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: World Series last year, and then they just collapsed. So
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: does Jerry DiPoto, as president of baseball operations, come under
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: greater scrutiny here? Do they look to do some things?
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: And their front office, I'm sorry, their ownership has generally
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: been hands-off. So I don't know that DiPoto is in trouble,
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: but if you're the Mariners, you've got to be taking
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: a hard look at kind of everything just to see
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: what went wrong.
• 16:28
  Speaker 3: All right, staying in that same division, the AL West,
• 16:31
  Speaker 3: let's talk about the Houston Astros for a second. It seems, Ken,
• 16:35
  Speaker 3: like the writing has been on the wall for Joe Espada,
• 16:38
  Speaker 3: the manager. Do you think, though, that winning the AL West,
• 16:41
  Speaker 3: which has been a very wacky division all season long,
• 16:44
  Speaker 3: at least for the top three teams, would that offer
• 16:46
  Speaker 3: a reprieve in the eyes of owner Jim Crane?
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: I would doubt it. And the reason I say that
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: is Crane has already fired the general manager who hired Espada.
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: That was Dana Brown. And Espada is in the last
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: year of his contract, as Dana Brown was. A new
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: general manager will be coming in, and usually you want
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: your new general manager to pick his own manager or
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: her own manager. So it's going to be an uphill
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: climb for Espada, but what I'm kind of hoping happens,
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: because I think he's good, is that they go on
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: a run. And they go on a run, and they
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: make Jim Crane squirm a little bit. Because Jim Crane...
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: if that happens, is going to face more of a
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: difficult choice. Now remember, Crane is the owner who gave
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: James Click a one-year offer after winning the World Series.
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: Click said, see you later. So he effectively ran off
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: the GM who just won him the World Series. I
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: am fully certain that even if the Astros made it
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: to the World Series and if Crane wanted to change GMs,
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: he would do that. So I don't know that Espada
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: can be saved, but the more the Astros win... the
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: thornier it gets for Crane to obviously make a decision
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: like that.
• 18:01
  Speaker 3: All right, to reprieve or not to reprieve, Ken, that
• 18:04
  Speaker 3: is the question. What does it say to you about
• 18:07
  Speaker 3: the industry in general that some managers like David Ross,
• 18:10
  Speaker 3: Rocco Baldelli, Brandon Hyde, Davey Martinez never got a second
• 18:14
  Speaker 3: chance to correct the mistakes from their first jobs?
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: I don't like it. And it seems to me that
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: There's always been a stigma on retread managers, which I understand.
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: At some point, if a guy doesn't succeed in numerous places,
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: it doesn't work. But Joe Torre was the ultimate retread
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: before he got to the Yankees. I believe he had
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: three other jobs before then, and look at what he did.
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: So it's a disservice to some of those guys not
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: to get another chance because you learn so much in
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: your first job, and you take that with you to
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: your second job. You're more experienced. You've been through it.
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: You understand... what worked and what didn't. With the time off,
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: you have that additional perspective. So I would like to
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: see some of these guys get second chances because they
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: deserve it. Derek Shelton got one this year in Minnesota.
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: Did a pretty good job with a depleted team. Skip Schumacher,
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: different situation. He kind of left Miami on his own,
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: but he is succeeding with Texas. And you see that
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: happen from time to time with second chances. And I
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: believe that rather than just hire the next great thing
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: coming out of wherever he's coming out of, these guys
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: deserve a better look. Brandon Hyatt is another one.
• 19:31
  Speaker 3: Yep, Texas could win the division as we sit here
• 19:34
  Speaker 3: on September 17th. Check out Ken's article, all of this
• 19:37
  Speaker 3: information and much more. It's in The Athletic, the analysis.
• 19:41
  Speaker 3: It is unlocked and free to read. All right, time
• 19:43
  Speaker 3: now for Grill and Ken.
• 19:46
  Speaker 4: Hey, today's episode is presented by the ASPCA Pet Hospital.
• 19:50
  Speaker 4: Health Insurance Program. Krath, we love our pups.
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: Yes, I love my mini golden doodle, Bella.
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  Speaker 2: But you can't miss this opportunity. Just like Bella misses
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  Speaker 4: That's ASPCAPetInsurance.com slash FAL. Again, ASPCAPetInsurance.com slash FAL. This is
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  Speaker 4: Insurance Company or United States Fire Insurance Company and produced
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  Speaker 4: by PTZ Insurance Agency Limited. The ASPCA is not an
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• 20:48
  Speaker 3: Looking to take your MLB action to the next level
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  Speaker 3: bigger payout. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or 1-800-MY-RESET. All right,
• 21:24
  Speaker 3: welcome to Grill and Ken. The first question is from Thomas.
• 21:26
  Speaker 3: He wants to know about the Cardinals. Were the Cardinals
• 21:29
  Speaker 3: wrong to hold on to Riley O'Brien at the trade deadline?
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: Thomas, I was a little surprised that they did not
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: move him. Now, saying that, I don't know what they
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: were offered, and that always is the unknown here. You
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: can say, well, they should have traded him, but if
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: you're not getting offered what you perceive as fair value,
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: then you're not going to do it. But Riley O'Brien
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: obviously has faded, and that's not a great shock. This
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: is his first year doing this job in a full-time way, closing. So,
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: In retrospect, yes, they should have traded him. But at
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: the same time, again, we don't know what they were
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: offered and what they could have gotten.
• 22:07
  Speaker 3: All right. Next question is a little interesting. Is a
• 22:11
  Speaker 3: meat thermometer acceptable to grill a steak? This one from
• 22:14
  Speaker 3: Mark Kerrig.
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: Mark Kerrig.
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: Oh, Kerrig.
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: Kerrig.
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: I apologize.
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: Mark Kerrig. Don't worry about mispronouncing his name because this
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: is a plant. He is my editor at The Athletic.
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: He runs the baseball vertical, we call it, the baseball
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: section of The Athletic. And he was being a bit
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: of a wise guy there. And I'm not going to
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: answer his question and give him the satisfaction of disrupting
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: our show.
• 22:40
  Speaker 3: All right, Mark Rigg. You can put those questions in any,
• 22:43
  Speaker 3: any time. All right, thank you for your questions, guys.
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: It is time.
• 22:47
  Speaker 3: Actually, we're going to do one more question on Yachty
• 22:49
  Speaker 3: or Molina. So let's pull this up here as far
• 22:51
  Speaker 3: as Yachty is concerned. Armand is amazing, our resident Met fan.
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: I want Yachty Molina as Met's manager. I love Beltran
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: so much that I don't want him.
• 23:00
  Speaker 3: To fall and fail, rather, and get fired in the future.
• 23:03
  Speaker 3: It took the fan base long enough to embrace him.
• 23:05
  Speaker 3: So he's protecting Beltran in this sense.
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: Bring on Yachty.
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: Yeah, but he's... But he's exposing Yachty. I guess Armand
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: doesn't like Yachty as much. You know, I didn't mention
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: Yachty or Molina in the column, mostly because Beltran is
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: clearly a candidate for the Mets and Pujols has been
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: out there as a manager. Now, Yachty has managed in
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: Puerto Rico and he's managed their WBC team, I believe. So, yes,
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: he wants to do it and he's going to be
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: a candidate. Always seemed to me that St. Louis would
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: be the obvious spot for him. But Ali Marmol has
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: succeeded there. So maybe I should have included Yachty in
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: the column, quite frankly, probably should have. And at some point,
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: he's going to be a factor here.
• 23:45
  Speaker 3: Yeah, Yachty or Molina, I could absolutely see him managing
• 23:49
  Speaker 3: at some point in the big league level. All right,
• 23:51
  Speaker 3: thank you guys for your questions. Even you, Mark, thank
• 23:53
  Speaker 3: you for your questions. Up next is our dude and
• 23:56
  Speaker 3: dork of the week.
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: I'm the dude, so that's what you call me. All right.
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: My dude of the week belongs to Peyton Tolley.
• 24:08
  Speaker 3: Sometimes we forget this guy is a rookie, but he's
• 24:11
  Speaker 3: absolutely a pleasure to watch. He's an absolute pleasure to
• 24:14
  Speaker 3: talk to off the field as well. An immaculate inning
• 24:18
  Speaker 3: in the first inning of his last outing, obviously nine pitches,
• 24:21
  Speaker 3: three strikeouts. He is my dude of the week. He's
• 24:24
  Speaker 3: a great guy.
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: Ken, who is yours?
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: It was going to be Pete Alonzo for his return
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: to Citi Field, his 300th homer, getting the crowd on
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: his side. It was an amazing couple of days for
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: a visiting player to be celebrated like that. But I'm
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: going to go with Junior Caminero. And I'm going to
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: go with him, of course, for the two walk-offs recently.
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: And also because I kind of dismissed him as an
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: MVP candidate. Alvarez has a 100-point or so lead in OPS,
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: and it seems to me that that is kind of prohibitive.
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: But yes, Alvarez is mostly a DH. Not entirely, but mostly.
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: But Caminero is doing this for a first place team.
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: He has been consistent offensively all year long. He is
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: a force. Now, is he the greatest defensive third baseman? No.
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: But if we're talking about a DH on the other side,
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: I'm not sure that should be prohibitive. So we'll see
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: how the final 10 days go. I still lean toward Alvarez,
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: but he's had a down two months here. So Maybe
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: Cameron Arrow is going to steal this thing. He is
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: the MVP of the team with the best record in
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: the American League. That should count for something, and it will.
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: I'm sure he's a top three guy, maybe top two,
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: but I'm just not sure yet who I prefer for
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: the absolute award.
• 25:44
  Speaker 3: Yeah, this is a guy that has pretty much carried
• 25:46
  Speaker 3: his first place Tampa Bay Rays all season long. They've
• 25:49
  Speaker 3: pretty much led that division, Ken, wire to wire, in
• 25:52
  Speaker 3: large part to what Junior Caminero has done. Okay, it
• 25:55
  Speaker 3: is time now for the dork of the week. Ken,
• 26:03
  Speaker 3: you and I are kind of on the same page
• 26:05
  Speaker 3: here in terms of dork of the week. Mine is
• 26:07
  Speaker 3: a collective group of people, but you and I are
• 26:10
  Speaker 3: talking about the exact same team.
• 26:12
  Speaker 2: Mine is the absolute mess that is the.
• 26:15
  Speaker 3: Mets outfield in what happened yesterday with the Baltimore Orioles.
• 26:19
  Speaker 3: Talk about New York mechs. mess rather top of the 11th.
• 26:23
  Speaker 3: It was a four to four in the game. Nobody
• 26:26
  Speaker 3: in the outfield could seem to catch the ball.
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: They threw it in.
• 26:28
  Speaker 3: I mean, and then there was another situation in terms
• 26:31
  Speaker 3: of the pop-up to a, to a short left field
• 26:33
  Speaker 3: where three different defenders kind of collided and dropped a
• 26:37
  Speaker 3: pop-up as well. So the Mets infield, the Mets outfield,
• 26:41
  Speaker 3: you guys have been crowned my dorks of the week
• 26:44
  Speaker 3: for the New York mess.
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: All right, I'm going to go with the guy that
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: Mets fans were chanting to get fired. It's David Stearns,
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: their president of baseball operations. And for Stearns, this could
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: not have been worse, having Pete Alonso come back, be
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: celebrated the way he was. But I will say this
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: about Mets fans. So it was in January when I
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: was writing about their offseason and the loss of Alonso
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: and all the things that they did. We don't need
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: to go chapter and verse through it right now. And
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: a lot of their fans in the comments section, and
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: they know who they are, They said, Ken, you're out
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: of control here. You're wrong. These guys didn't win for us.
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: Trust David Stern. Trust the process. Well, those are the
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: same people now chanting for Stern's removal. Now, obviously, this
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: decision did not work out. I didn't like it from
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: the start. Alonzo is a guy who has proven himself
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: in New York, and he's been durable. I just didn't
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: understand why you wouldn't want him as a franchise guy.
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: And Greg Amsterdam on MLB Network the other day had
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: a top 10 list of his greatest moments as a Met.
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: They were 10 legitimate moments for Alonso. That stuff needs
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: to be acknowledged when teams look at players. So Stearns, yes,
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: talk of the week. Hopefully now it will get better
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: for him because it could not have been worse for
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: him with what was going on at Citi Field the
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: last couple of nights.
• 28:04
  Speaker 3: I mean, honestly, poetic justice for Pete Alonzo to hit
• 28:07
  Speaker 3: home run number 300 against the Mets, the team that
• 28:11
  Speaker 3: should have kept him. Well, that's going to do it
• 28:13
  Speaker 3: for us here on Fair Territory. Foul Territory is coming
• 28:17
  Speaker 3: up next. Eric Kratz, A.J. Pierzynski, Scott Braun, great guests today.
• 28:21
  Speaker 3: Pedro Martinez, Jim Bowden.
• 28:22
  Speaker 2: Have a great weekend.