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Brewers-Rays World Series Preview and Predictions with Gene Watson · The Craig Way Show

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: It is time to preview the world series. And to
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: do that, we're glad to have him with us. And
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: hopefully we've been able to extricate him from the depths
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: of depression of that, uh, heartbreaking loss for the fighting
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: Irish and Notre Dame. Uh, Gene Watson joins us now. Hey, listen, cowboy,
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: I'm with you. Uh, a, uh, There should have been
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: a penalty call. B, even without that, they should have
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: one second left on the clock. I'm going there with
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: you on that. Not to rekindle anything painful for you there.
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: Maybe one of the worst Saturdays I've had in my life,
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: relatively speaking.
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: Because you were at the Texas... I was at.
• 0:46
  Speaker 3: The Texas, yeah. And then went in to watch that game.
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: But you know what? If they have the team, both
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: of them, if they have the character... They're going to
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: find a way to pull themselves out of this, and
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: they'll be playing in December in the playoff. And so
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: sometimes these losses can move you to greater depths and
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: turn you into the team that you were supposed to
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: be in the first place. So I don't get too
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: worked up about it.
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and I would say this, too. Notre Dame's two
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: most difficult remaining games are both in South Bend. Miami,
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: which you're planning to be at next week, if I remember.
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: And then the other one is SMU, who's pretty good.
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: But both those games are in South Bend. They're handling
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: their business on that. Like you said, it's going to
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: take care of themselves. They're going to be in the playoff. Anyway,
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: Longhorns have a steeper hill to climb, but are not
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: by any means out of the race yet. They've just got,
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: as Spike Dykes would say, they've got some doing to do.
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: Well, the last five losses that Notre Dame has had
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: have just been gut-wrenching. And the last two, the game
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: in Provo Saturday night and then the game against Texas
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: A & M on what should have been a hold call. But,
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: you know, my problem with all of this, and I
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: know we're here to talk baseball, is like, you're saying
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: don't leave it in the hands of the ref at
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: the end of the game is like saying that the
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: 112th play of the game means less than the first
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: play of the game. And they all, it's all encompassing.
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: It doesn't matter when it happens, it happens. And sometimes
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: it's not right. But again, your team's character will always
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: come out in the end. So we'll see where it goes.
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: Well, and to weave that into baseball, the same corollary applies.
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: And Gino, if the tying run is at third with
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: two outs and, uh, and I'm not going to say
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: a pitch is called a ball on strike because we
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: have the ABS to, to, to settle that. But if
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: it's a check swing, if the umpire calls it a
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: strike cause says he went around when he didn't, uh,
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: or in the minds of the offensive team, didn't like
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: you say, it's leaving it in the hands of the
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: umpire at that point, isn't it?
• 2:46
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: And I mean, man, if you could go back over
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: the course of history and I'll, I'll go back to
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: 2014 game five when, um, We had a pitch call
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: up here. If you have ABS, now Lorenzo Cain is
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: up with the bases loaded. Who knows where that goes?
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: But thank gosh we have it now. The technology has
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: been incredible. I was pretty critical of it early on.
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: I think everything that they've done to make the game better,
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: when you're talking about a $ 13 billion industry, I think
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: everything they've done has been magnificent.
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: Let me ask you this. There's been some talk about it,
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: and I think some experimentation. You can clarify this for me.
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: There's been some experimentation in a similar fashion fashion with
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: check swings. Do you see any future in that, or
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: is it too nebulous?
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: Really?
• 3:32
  Speaker 3: 100%.
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: They're already doing it in the Fall League. They did
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: it in the Fall League last year, and it really is.
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: I mean, anybody that's ever umpired, and I've umpired at
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: the high school level. I did a couple of DSL
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: games in the Winter League last year with our kids,
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: and man, it's a tough job.
• 3:48
  Speaker 3: It is not easy, and God bless.
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: the people that have to do it in our youth
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: world right now with the parents and the way they are.
• 3:56
  Speaker 3: But it's not an easy job.
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: But again, if you have the technology to get the
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: calls right with today's game and everything that's on the line,
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: even with one second left on a pass interference call
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: on the last play of the game, you get the
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: call right.
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: Did you really put on the gear down in the Dominican?
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: No, not the gear down the line, first baseline. And
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: I'll tell you a story. One ball went right over
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: my head, and that was the ball game for me.
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: I had about 109 miles an hour off the bat.
• 4:28
  Speaker 3: You had enough. That was it. These are 17-year-olds.
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: Yeah, no doubt. Gene Watson's with us here. All right,
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: let's talk about these two teams. We're going to have,
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: for the first time— Since our pal Keith Moreland was
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: playing for the Phillies in 1980 and went to the
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: plate as a pinch hitter against the Royals. I think
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: it was game three. I think he told me he's
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: either game three or game four. We've got two teams
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: who have never won a World Series who are going
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: to face each other. in the World Series. And I've
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: kind of joked with you about this, that some folks
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: had referred to Tampa Bay as Milwaukee Light, which to
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: me sounds like a beer, but saying that they were
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: a lot like the Brewers. Just how closely resemblant are
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: these two teams to one another, the Brewers and the Jays?
• 5:19
  Speaker 3: It's incredible.
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: And Matt Arnold, the president of the Milwaukee Brewers, went
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: to Milwaukee from Tampa. Matt and I actually did the
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: James Shields and Wade Davis deal in 2012 at the
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: winter meetings. And I'm so incredibly happy for him and
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: Eric Neander, the president. And what I'll say about both organizations,
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: and I was asked this question last night, who are
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: you pulling for? I'm happy for both these organizations because
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: their leadership, number one, they care about people and they
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: treat their people well. Number two, they're very, very high
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: volume scouting and analytics. And so they understand even in
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: smaller markets, the value of both. They have created great
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: cultures and they have both of them have great managers,
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: Pat Murphy and Kevin Cash. I saw Kevin Cash playing
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: a ball for the Dunedin Blue Jays. And I still
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: give Pat Murphy a hard time every year in 1988
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: when his Notre Dame Irish came into St. Edwards and
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: we knocked him off. And every time I see him,
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: he says, it's the worst loss of my career. And
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: so just, you know, when you're watching these teams and
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: it is competition, there's a lot of teams you don't
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: pull for. These are certainly two of the classiest organizations.
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: They've done it right. They're very good to their people
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: to have great leadership. And, and I'm just so excited
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: for this series. This is going to be one where
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: you'll watch every pitch because it's going to be baseball
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: and you have two very good rotations, two very good
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: defensive clubs. Runs are going to be at a premium and, uh,
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: it's going to be must watch TV for at.
• 6:51
  Speaker 3: Least six games, I believe.
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: And, and, um, You know, I tell people, a lot
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: of people say, well, aren't you, who are you rooting for?
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: Aren't you brokenhearted that the Dodgers didn't get in? And
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: I said, no, I was a little disappointed. It's been
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: a great run. I mean, I went 32 years as
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: a fan between championships. I count myself lucky. There have
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: been three in the last six years. And I think
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: they'll be back depending on what happens with the game future-wise.
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: But I said, I have no beef. with either of
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: these ball clubs. And I think that's the way a
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: lot of fans feel. They have no beef with the
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: Brewers who haven't been in a World Series in 44 years.
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: And they have no real beef with Tampa Bay. The
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: only beef some folks could have with it is that
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: both World Series at both sides are going to be
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: playing indoors unless the weather's really nice in Wisconsin and
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: they open it up. But other than that, we're going
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: to have good baseball, right?
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: Really good baseball in two very loud stadiums, two really
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: passionate fan bases. And again, they're just It's going to
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: be clean baseball. And, you know, I lean Milwaukee in
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: six games because of their bullpen, because they can manufacture
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: runs a little bit easier. Where Tampa bunts a lot,
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: they've got very low contact rates. They're one of the
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: lowest contact rate teams in all of baseball. They're kind
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: of a little bit more reliant on the long ball
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: with Junior Caminero and Yandy Diaz. And so with the
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: frontline pitching that the Brewers have and the depth of
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: their bullpen, I think it's going to be a little
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: bit harder to manufacture that home run. And one of
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: the best stories is Jake Bowers. This is a guy
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: that was retiring from the game of baseball. His wife
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: found out he was pregnant. He decided he'd go back
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: and play because he needed health insurance. And and to
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: do what he's done, and there's a lot to be
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: said about just the freedom and coming back and playing
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: for the right reasons and taking the pressure off, and
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: I think that's what you've seen, but it's going to
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: be a very colorful series. I think runs are going
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: to be at a premium. I think you're going to
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: see both teams put the game in motion a lot.
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: I don't think Tampa, I don't think they've been thrown
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: out at all in the playoffs, and if Milwaukee's been
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: thrown out, it hasn't been that much, so William Contreras
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: and Liam Hicks are going to have a tough battle
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: of controlling the running game. But anytime the opportunity exists
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: to move runovers, to hit runners over, I.
• 9:13
  Speaker 3: Think you're going to see that happen in this series.
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: Talking baseball with Gene Watson as we preview the World
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: Series here on 1300. I know it doesn't boil down
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: to this, but this is one of those fun little
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: numbers that I looked at and wanted to get your
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: thoughts on this. The top five hitters in the game
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: this season are with the, and I don't mean batting average,
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: the highest average bat speed, okay? Number five, O'Neal Cruz
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: of the Pirates. Number four, Cam Smith. Number three, Nick Kurtz.
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: Number two, Jordan Walker. And number one at 79.4 miles
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: per hour is Junior Caminero. In baseball, we know who
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: has the highest fastball velocity. I'll just say there's a
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: tie at fourth between Jared Jones and Uri Perez. There's
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: a tie at second between Bubba Chandler and Hunter Green.
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: But number one, and it's not even close, is Jacob
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: Mizorowski at 100.6 average speed. Fastball variety. So, you know,
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: we like to talk about football about unstoppable force and
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: immovable logic. And I know the old saw is great
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: pitching beats great inning. But it is kind of fun
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: to think about the guy with the highest bat speed
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: against the guy with the highest average fastball, isn't it?
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: Well, and for all the changes you've noticed in the game,
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: the old timers will tell you that to win in October,
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: you got to have two things. You got to have
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: power arms and you got to have power bats. And
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: it's going to be a super matchup. And both of
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: them take a lot of pride in their game. So
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: they know what's on the line. And I think it's
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: going to be, you know, a small town kid from,
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: you know, Missouri and a kid from a small town,
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: the Dominican Republic.
• 10:57
  Speaker 3: It's going to be, you know, it's going to be
• 10:59
  Speaker 3: a great matchup to watch.
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: And we're going to get to see a few of
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: them And it's just great for the game globally. It
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: just it speaks to, you know, the innocence of the game.
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: And it's going to be really, really.
• 11:10
  Speaker 3: Fun to watch.
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: Gino, let's let's get your thoughts on the teams that
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: have the edges in individual categories. First of all, starting
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: pitching edge to which side?
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: Oh, you know, Drew Rasmussen, Peralta, and Nick Martinez are,
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: you know, arguably three of the best arms you could
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: ever hope for. You know, Robert Gasser, the University of
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: Houston product in the three-hole, you know, it's not power stuff,
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: but it's a double-plus changeup. I would probably give the
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: advantage to Tampa Bay with Rasmussen, Peralta, and Martinez. But
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: here's the other entity, and you know how I feel
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: about this. Milwaukee's been sitting for eight days, and that's
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: a lot. Tampa's coming out of a six-game series with
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: a three-day rest. And you never really lose your edge.
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: And we've talked about it 100 times on this show
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: about what the layoff can do. The fact that both
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: teams are going to have to manufacture runs because of
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: the starting pitching, where Tampa could really catch a break
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: is if they jumped on Mizorowski early and got an
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: early lead. But Milwaukee's been one of the better teams
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: at coming back when they fall behind in baseball this year.
• 12:20
  Speaker 3: But I would lead Tampa Bay when it comes to
• 12:22
  Speaker 3: the rotations.
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: Better closer, Brian Baker for Tampa Bay, Trevor McGill for Milwaukee.
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: Interesting, because when you think about it, they're not your
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: prototypical lockdown, lights out, Mariano Rivera, Trevor Hoffman.
• 12:37
  Speaker 3: They're not those type of closers.
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: These guys have kind of all both evolved into that
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: role and have just been high performers. And so I
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: really think this is kind of a draw when you
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: talk about those two.
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: And I know you feel it's kind of a draw
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: offensively in the way that they create runs. Tampa Bay
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: has more power, but Milwaukee does such a fabulous job. And,
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: you know, again... Yeah, I wanted my team to win,
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: but they didn't. I had a smile on my face
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: watching former Longhorn David Hamilton do his stuff for them.
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: And the way that Milwaukee moves runners and advances runners,
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: old school, Augie Garrido style baseball, and gets those guys in.
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: Tampa Bay does it as well, but like you said,
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: they got a little more power and then a little
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: more advancement coming from the Brewers, isn't it?
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: And the Brewers' bullpen as a whole, when you talk
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: about Aaron Ashby, the Kansas City product who could be
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: a starter for a lot of teams, D.L. Hall, a
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: light south setup man, Abner Uribe, who's one of the
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: better power arms in the game, JoJo Romero, one of
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: the more elite left-handers. The guy I want you to watch, Craig,
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: this World Series, and I've believed in this kid since
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: I saw him in the minor leagues. He's one of
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: the most balanced players in all the game of baseball.
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: I thought that he had a chance to win a
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: batting title and a gold glove.
• 13:53
  Speaker 3: Watch Bryce Terang. This guy, if.
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: He breaks out, it is going to be a huge,
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: huge lift for the Milwaukee Brewers. And this has always
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: kind of been a below-the-radar, star-power-type player, and this is
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: his chance today.
• 14:06
  Speaker 3: On a big stage to show that.
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: You know, every time either Turing or Bauer came to
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: the plate, I looked at Linden and said, here comes
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: a Dodger killer. And they were in both cases. And
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: Hamilton was a big part of it as well in
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: the last game. Final analysis, like you said, two great
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: managers as well. So what turns this series one way
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: or the other?
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: Man, I think if you watch– if Milwaukee's bullpen starts
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: to take dominance, I think that it's going to be really,
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: really hard for Tampa. They are a great team, and
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: they're actually the more experienced team. They've been down this
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: road a couple of times.
• 14:46
  Speaker 3: Milwaukee, it's just been such.
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: A gradual build with all their great matchups versus the Dodgers.
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: But if Tampa Bay wants to have a chance to
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: win this series, they've got to go into Milwaukee and
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: get one. and try to win one of the two
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: games and come back to Tampa with some momentum because
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: that rotation that they have is really, really tough. And
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: if they can get to Mizorowski and Logan Henderson and
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: get one of those games, they're going to have a chance.
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: But all in all, I think this is the Brewers
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: in six games overall.
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: Okay, final thing here, and it doesn't have to do
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: with the series. I'm reading a lot of stuff that
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: says that despite the fact that the final three teams
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: left standing, Cleveland, Tampa Bay, and Milwaukee, are not big
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: market teams, despite all of that, and despite the fact
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: that whoever wins is not going to be a big
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: market team. That, the lockout, the shutdown, is inevitable. I've
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: heard and read that, and I want to get your
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: thoughts on whether you think it might be inevitable. And two,
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: here's the other thing I'm reading, that there is going
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: to be like this massive crush on, of teams trying
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: to get the roster stocked with free agents before the
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: shutdown happens? A, do you see, are the storm clouds
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: looking like we're headed for the shutdown? And B, will
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: we see teams racing to try to get free agents
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: signed or make deals before the shutdown happens?
• 16:17
  Speaker 3: I think there is going to be a lockout.
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: I think the reason there's going to be a lockout
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: is the number one hangup is the salary cap and
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: until teams start until both sides start to begin that they're.
• 16:31
  Speaker 3: Going to lose money.
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: I don't think that it even, it moves off the
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: salary cap. I think that we are going to see
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: a lot of movement early. It's not a great free
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: agent class at all.
• 16:44
  Speaker 3: Some of the free agents are a little bit older
• 16:46
  Speaker 3: in years.
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: You know, you had a situation last time where the
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: union voted against the executive committee. which is the first
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: time that's ever happened. Well, the game has gotten a
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: little bit older. And when you talk about a lockout,
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: you're talking about it truly affecting like the top 2%
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: of the players. And so I think that there's a
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: situation where the ownership side knows that the union is soft.
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: I think the union is gonna really have to come
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: together because it is getting older.
• 17:15
  Speaker 3: And again, voting against.
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: The executive committee last time, I do think you're gonna
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: see a flurry of teams trying to get deals done
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: because none of these players know what the economic system
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: is going to look like when you come out of
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: it from free agency in years to arbitration in years.
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: I do think that there's a chance that there's going
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: to be a floor as well as a cap, and
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: that's going to impact a lot of financial contracts. So
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: it's going to be really, really interesting. I think we're
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: going to have an incredible World Series with two great teams,
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: And when you think about, you know, everybody says, well,
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: two of the three lowest payrolls. Well, that's kind of
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: the problem is these two teams would not be able
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: to keep these players for very long because they're going
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: to start making more money and long contracts and lots
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: of years. And that's where the problem lies. It's not that,
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: you know, the two world championships I've been a part
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: of were very small market, low payroll clubs, but we
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: were unable to keep those teams together. And I think
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: that's where the problem lies overall. And so- I think
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: we're going to have a great World Series. I think
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: we're going to have a mad dash on December 1st.
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: And then hopefully cooler heads can prevail and we'll get
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: something worked out for at least a spring training or
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: shorter spring training and have a tremendous 2027 season.
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: That's great. Gino, I appreciate the time.
• 18:35
  Speaker 3: Thank you.
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: Enjoy the Fall Classic. Enjoy South Bend. And we'll visit
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: again next week and see where we are with this thing,
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: if it's still rolling and the climactic end of the
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: regular season and the postseason for baseball. Appreciate the time.
• 18:49
  Speaker 3: All right, Craig. Thanks so much. Thank you. You bet.
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: That's Gene Watson, our MLB insider. Coming up, we're going
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: to hear more from Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkeesian when
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: we continue on 13 Under the Zone.