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Fair Territory: Aaron Judge Injury Confusion, MLB Playoff Races · Foul Territory

0:07
Speaker 1: Welcome, everyone, to the Thursday edition of Fair Territory. I'm
0:10
Speaker 1: Ken Rosenthal here with my friend Alana Rizzo. And Alana,
0:13
Speaker 1: we've talked about this. It's sort of our favorite time
0:16
Speaker 1: of the year when things are coming to a head,
0:18
Speaker 1: the six-month march. is finally nearly complete. We have one
0:23
Speaker 1: weekend to go. We've got a lot in play, but
0:26
Speaker 1: we've also got a little bit of, I don't know
0:28
Speaker 1: what you'd call it, tension in New York.
0:31
Speaker 2: There is a little bit of tension in the Bronx, Ken.
0:34
Speaker 1: Good to be with you.
0:35
Speaker 2: It seems like it's Aaron versus Aaron. Make sense of this.
0:39
Speaker 1: I don't know that I can make sense of it.
0:41
Speaker 1: And the story from last night was Aaron Judge continuing
0:44
Speaker 1: to say he wants to play, his plan is to play.
0:48
Speaker 1: And he pushed back, if somewhat mildly, but he still
0:51
Speaker 1: pushed back. The words matter here. I don't care how
0:53
Speaker 1: much he was smiling when he said it. He said, hey,
0:56
Speaker 1: my goal is to come back as soon as I can.
0:58
Speaker 1: That's what we're doing right now. If Boone says I'm
1:00
Speaker 1: not going to be ready, I've got no control over that.
1:02
Speaker 1: I've got control over what I can do to try
1:05
Speaker 1: to get back. Now, he also had seemingly a problem
1:10
Speaker 1: with Boone saying that the strain was moderate. Judge said, well,
1:15
Speaker 1: A moderate strain for one person is not the same
1:17
Speaker 1: as it is for another person. Okay, what's going on here?
1:21
Speaker 1: Because with the Yankees, you rarely see this kind of
1:24
Speaker 1: thing go public. They're pretty buttoned up usually. You don't
1:27
Speaker 1: see much. I don't know if the word is conflict here, tension.
1:31
Speaker 1: I don't know what the word is, but you don't
1:32
Speaker 1: see much of this. And I'm kind of curious myself
1:37
Speaker 1: what is playing out here. In some ways, this is
1:41
Speaker 1: perhaps normal. Not any more complicated than a great player,
1:46
Speaker 1: prideful player, just wanting to play and keeping that mindset
1:50
Speaker 1: because that's what these guys have to do when they're hurt.
1:52
Speaker 1: They obviously have to intend to come back no matter
1:56
Speaker 1: what the situation is. That could be all this is,
1:59
Speaker 1: but who knows what might be going on here. It
2:01
Speaker 1: certainly doesn't seem like Judge has a problem with Boone
2:04
Speaker 1: per se. He might have had a problem with Boone
2:06
Speaker 1: characterizing the strain, whatever. I don't know if Judge is
2:09
Speaker 1: sending some kind of message to the front office, but
2:12
Speaker 1: Judge was the guy who fought a rehab assignment that
2:16
Speaker 1: I believe the front office would have preferred him to
2:18
Speaker 1: take and got hurt. So I don't see that as
2:22
Speaker 1: being a logical argument on his behalf. And again, we'll
2:27
Speaker 1: see what happens here. Boone has basically said Judge is
2:31
Speaker 1: not going to be ready for the wildcard series. We're
2:33
Speaker 1: not planning on it. Now, plans can change. Maybe Aaron
2:37
Speaker 1: Judge gets well suddenly, but calf injuries are notoriously tricky.
2:41
Speaker 1: They're difficult. So I don't know how this resolves, but
2:46
Speaker 1: it's unusual to see the Yankees having this level of,
2:50
Speaker 1: I don't know, disagreement. Now, one thing here, and this
2:53
Speaker 1: is the overriding thing. The Yankees have not been upfront
2:57
Speaker 1: about this from the very beginning. To get Boone to
3:00
Speaker 1: say it was a moderate strain the other day seemed
3:03
Speaker 1: like it was a major triumph from a reporting standpoint.
3:07
Speaker 1: So that could be Judge saying, I don't want this
3:09
Speaker 1: stuff out there. Very well could be that. It also
3:12
Speaker 1: could be the Yankees not wanting to put it out there.
3:14
Speaker 1: But that is what has led to some of the
3:17
Speaker 1: questions that have arisen here.
3:19
Speaker 2: And it's amazing to me, and I'd like your opinion
3:22
Speaker 2: on it. It's amazing to me the Yankees are as
3:24
Speaker 2: successful as they have been without Aaron Judge in the lineup.
3:28
Speaker 2: I mean, they are in a great position in that
3:30
Speaker 2: wildcard spot, and he hasn't played the majority of the games.
3:34
Speaker 1: It's true, Alana, and that's actually a testament to what
3:37
Speaker 1: the Yankees have done this season. It's one of Boone's
3:40
Speaker 1: best jobs, quite frankly, because not only were they missing Judge,
3:44
Speaker 1: but they were missing Cole for a length of time,
3:46
Speaker 1: Rodon for a length of time. They've had a number
3:48
Speaker 1: of things to overcome in that sense. Now, the question is,
3:52
Speaker 1: can they beat Boston, a left-handed heavy pitching staff, without Judge,
3:57
Speaker 1: their right-handed slugger? Now, it's possible Giancarlo Stanton will be
4:01
Speaker 1: activated for this series. I'll believe it when I see it.
4:04
Speaker 1: But at the same time, the Yankees are going to
4:07
Speaker 1: have a severe challenge here significant challenge even though they'll
4:11
Speaker 1: be at home because the red sox while they haven't
4:14
Speaker 1: hit this month they are a team that can neutralize
4:18
Speaker 1: the yankees with their pitching and.
4:20
Speaker 2: They certainly have done that so far this season a
4:22
Speaker 2: sweep of the yankees the red sox did at fenway
4:25
Speaker 2: a couple of months ago all right the final weekend
4:27
Speaker 2: of the regular season you talked about it ken it's
4:29
Speaker 2: upon us there are still a few things that need
4:31
Speaker 2: to be decided for the postseason let's start with the
4:34
Speaker 2: al west does anybody want to win that division ken.
4:38
Speaker 1: It's pretty pathetic what is going on in the AL West.
4:41
Speaker 1: And I watched both games last night. The Rangers got
4:43
Speaker 1: crushed by the Mets. The Astros losing in extras to
4:46
Speaker 1: the Mariners. Both teams are 78-80. Since the start of
4:51
Speaker 1: divisional play in 1969, we have never had a sub-500
4:56
Speaker 1: team win a division. We've had sub-500 teams reach the postseason,
5:00
Speaker 1: but only in shortened seasons, with expanded playoffs, things like that.
5:04
Speaker 1: And the worst record to win a division... was the
5:07
Speaker 1: San Diego Padres, 2005. They were 82-80. To get to 82-80,
5:12
Speaker 1: these teams are going to have to win out. So
5:14
Speaker 1: we could have the worst record ever for a division
5:17
Speaker 1: winner as we go into the final weekend. And I
5:21
Speaker 1: don't know what to make of this, other than these
5:23
Speaker 1: two teams have been fairly disappointing, and they are continuing
5:27
Speaker 1: to disappoint until the end.
5:29
Speaker 2: And do you think it's fair that a team that
5:31
Speaker 2: has a losing record, a below 500 record, should get
5:34
Speaker 2: into the postseason? If I was commissioner for a day,
5:36
Speaker 2: I would say if you have a losing record, you
5:38
Speaker 2: cannot get in. So then you'd move over to the
5:40
Speaker 2: teams that have a winning record, kind of the next
5:43
Speaker 2: man up mentality. What's your opinion on that?
5:45
Speaker 1: We do value division champions, Alana, and we still have
5:49
Speaker 1: that in the game. It's not a completely balanced schedule,
5:52
Speaker 1: so winning the division does mean something. Now, that said,
5:57
Speaker 1: What we have in the American League, and a lot
5:59
Speaker 1: of people have talked about this, and this is something
6:01
Speaker 1: that the league really should take a look at. Once
6:04
Speaker 1: the playoffs begin and the seedings are set, you should
6:07
Speaker 1: re-seed after the first round because what we're going to
6:10
Speaker 1: have here are the three best teams by record, Tampa Bay,
6:15
Speaker 1: the Yankees, and Red Sox, all in the same bracket.
6:17
Speaker 1: The Yankees will play the Red Sox in the wild card.
6:19
Speaker 1: The winner will play Tampa Bay. And then the loser's
6:22
Speaker 1: bracket is going to continue to go with Houston– the
6:26
Speaker 1: central winner, and likely the central wildcard. I'm not excusing
6:29
Speaker 1: the AL West winner. So those three teams are not
6:32
Speaker 1: as strong as the other three. I shouldn't call them
6:34
Speaker 1: the losers bracket. That's unfair. But you know what I'm
6:37
Speaker 1: saying here, that it's the inferior bracket, at least it appears.
6:42
Speaker 1: One of those teams, of course, could upset one of
6:44
Speaker 1: the East teams. That is entirely possible, but it doesn't
6:48
Speaker 1: seem right. And that's the adjustment that needs to be
6:51
Speaker 1: made going forward.
6:52
Speaker 2: All right, taking a look at the AL Central. Can
6:54
Speaker 2: loser most likely the third wild card in your mind?
6:57
Speaker 1: Yes, it looks like that because Texas is now, and
7:00
Speaker 1: Houston is now, three games back of the two Central teams.
7:06
Speaker 1: Anything is possible. Crazy things happen. But if you look
7:10
Speaker 1: at the standings right there, you see where Texas stands. Now,
7:13
Speaker 1: Texas is technically the second-place team because Houston holds the tiebreaker,
7:17
Speaker 1: but they have the same record. So it's a three-game
7:19
Speaker 1: cushion between the White Sox, who are currently the wildcard
7:24
Speaker 1: team in the Central, and Texas. Three games back with
7:27
Speaker 1: four to play. It's not impossible, but I would be
7:30
Speaker 1: surprised if that gets erased. So we're likely going to
7:33
Speaker 1: see both the Guardians and White Sox in the postseason.
7:36
Speaker 2: All right, talking about a game that Ken is going
7:39
Speaker 2: to be working on this weekend with On Deck, presented
7:42
Speaker 2: by Fox One. All right, again, Ken is the most
7:50
Speaker 2: hardworking man in the game on The Athletic, of course,
7:53
Speaker 2: on our show, and he will be on Fox coming
7:55
Speaker 2: up with Tampa Bay and Philadelphia. Ken, let's talk about
7:59
Speaker 2: the seeding. Three wildcard teams. What do you like?
8:03
Speaker 1: Great question, Alana. I think I like the Padres. And
8:06
Speaker 1: the Padres right now have a one-game lead over the
8:09
Speaker 1: Phillies and Cubs, both of whom lost last night. The
8:12
Speaker 1: Padres beat the Dodgers. And while those teams hold the
8:15
Speaker 1: tiebreaker if they finish tied, it's a one-game lead. And
8:19
Speaker 1: if the Padres hold on here, they get home field
8:22
Speaker 1: advantage in the wildcard round against one of those teams,
8:25
Speaker 1: the one that prevails for the fifth seed. And... That
8:29
Speaker 1: is significant because the Padres are so good at home.
8:32
Speaker 1: You see their record right there, 49-29 at home at
8:36
Speaker 1: Petco Park. So I like them. They have the best
8:39
Speaker 1: bullpen of these three teams. The Phillies are a team
8:43
Speaker 1: that not only is struggling with its bullpen, but also
8:47
Speaker 1: struggling with the offense. Their guys are not hitting. They've
8:52
Speaker 1: had a poor September offensively. So They're going to face
8:56
Speaker 1: Tampa Bay this weekend. Tampa Bay has very little at stake. Yes,
8:59
Speaker 1: they can play for overall home field advantage in the postseason,
9:02
Speaker 1: but they're going to rest when appropriate their players. That's
9:07
Speaker 1: the one series that will shape this race besides Padres Diamondbacks,
9:12
Speaker 1: which is the conclusion of the NL West schedule for
9:14
Speaker 1: those teams, and that's in San Diego. And then there
9:18
Speaker 1: is the Cubs playing seemingly at a disadvantage because of
9:22
Speaker 1: the weather situation in Boston. Doubleheader on Friday. No team
9:25
Speaker 1: wants to play a doubleheader at this time of year,
9:28
Speaker 1: particularly a team as thin with their pitching as the
9:31
Speaker 1: Cubs are right now. So Boston doesn't have much to
9:34
Speaker 1: play for here. They too can line up their pitching.
9:37
Speaker 1: They don't really have anything at stake. But the schedule
9:40
Speaker 1: itself is a challenge for the Cubs. So because of
9:43
Speaker 1: the way the Phillies are playing and who they're playing,
9:45
Speaker 1: it's still Tampa Bay. And because of the challenges the
9:48
Speaker 1: Cubs face, it seems to me San Diego is is
9:52
Speaker 1: in a great spot here. Granted, they have to play
9:54
Speaker 1: the Dodgers again today on Thursday, and then they have
9:57
Speaker 1: the Diamondbacks at home, and the Diamondbacks are still not eliminated,
10:01
Speaker 1: but I like the Padres here. They're the hottest team
10:04
Speaker 1: as well.
10:05
Speaker 2: Yeah, Philly's trying to leapfrog the Cubs and maybe the
10:07
Speaker 2: Padres for that top wildcard position. You mentioned it, Ken. Diamondbacks,
10:11
Speaker 2: they're not totally dead yet. What needs to happen?
10:15
Speaker 1: They need to win out, for starters. And... They have
10:18
Speaker 1: one game left in Colorado today and then three in
10:22
Speaker 1: San Diego. Now, for so long, they've been chasing San
10:26
Speaker 1: Diego for that third wildcard spot, but now San Diego
10:29
Speaker 1: has pushed into the top wildcard spot, so they're three
10:31
Speaker 1: back of the Cubs and Phillies. It's conceivable. Diamondbacks went out.
10:37
Speaker 1: Cubs or Phillies both do not do well this weekend,
10:41
Speaker 1: and the Diamondbacks are a factor. Their goal, Arizona's goal,
10:46
Speaker 1: has been to make that final series in San Diego meaningful.
10:50
Speaker 1: Seems to me they're on the verge of accomplishing that.
10:53
Speaker 1: They will especially accomplish it based on the results today,
10:56
Speaker 1: but it has to start with them winning and continuing
10:59
Speaker 1: to win. They have no more margin for error.
11:02
Speaker 2: Yeah, they need a lot of help as well. MLB
11:04
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11:08
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11:10
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11:26
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11:29
Speaker 2: at fox1. com. It is time now for the Inside Dish,
11:40
Speaker 2: and we are going to dive deep into what is
11:42
Speaker 2: going on with the Cincinnati Reds. Ken Yu and C.
11:46
Speaker 2: Trent Rosecrans had a great segment, great article rather, in
11:50
Speaker 2: The Athletic about what is the biggest woe for the Reds.
11:54
Speaker 2: And honestly, it seems to me after reading the article
11:57
Speaker 2: that a lot has to do with the ownership group
12:00
Speaker 2: kind of asking, why aren't we the Brewers? What's going
12:03
Speaker 2: on here?
12:04
Speaker 1: Right. Well, the gist of this article, you see the
12:05
Speaker 1: headline there, is just that. why aren't the Reds, a
12:09
Speaker 1: team that plays in a very similar market as the Brewers,
12:13
Speaker 1: in the same division as the Brewers, why is one
12:16
Speaker 1: team up here and the other team down here? And
12:19
Speaker 1: that's the Reds. The Reds did make the playoffs last year,
12:22
Speaker 1: but with a very modest record and with a lot
12:26
Speaker 1: of help from the collapsing Mets. The Reds have had
12:29
Speaker 1: a great history, but not recently. And It's been a
12:33
Speaker 1: while since they have made the playoffs in a full season.
12:36
Speaker 1: It's been a while since they've won a playoff game.
12:39
Speaker 1: And yet Milwaukee heading to the playoffs for the eighth
12:42
Speaker 1: time in the last nine years. So that's where we
12:45
Speaker 1: started here. And the article begins with a meeting that
12:49
Speaker 1: took place with top Reds officials before the deadline. I'm
12:54
Speaker 1: not exactly sure when, sometime before the deadline. And the owner,
12:57
Speaker 1: Bob Castellini, asked his top baseball people, President of Baseball
13:02
Speaker 1: Operations Nick Kroll, General Manager Brad Mader. Hey, why aren't
13:06
Speaker 1: we the Brewers? And apparently this is a question, not apparently, reportedly,
13:10
Speaker 1: we reported, is he's asked this question of previous administrations.
13:14
Speaker 1: When it was Dick Williams' group, it was, why aren't
13:17
Speaker 1: we the Rays? So this has happened before, and Castellini
13:21
Speaker 1: asked these questions, and the answer he got from Kroll
13:25
Speaker 1: in this meeting was, hey, we could have done this, this, this,
13:29
Speaker 1: and this trade-wise, But you don't want us doing those things.
13:33
Speaker 1: You won't allow us to do those things, the kinds
13:35
Speaker 1: of things that have made the Brewers so successful. The
13:39
Speaker 1: Brewers take a lot of heat every time they trade
13:41
Speaker 1: a big name. Well, it's Burns or Hader or Freddy Peralta,
13:45
Speaker 1: and yet they keep regenerating. They keep reinventing themselves. They
13:49
Speaker 1: also have done a terrific job in the international market
13:53
Speaker 1: and in player development and in the amateur draft, all
13:55
Speaker 1: three of those. Reds have done well in the draft.
13:59
Speaker 1: but not so well in development and internationally not that
14:03
Speaker 1: well either. So there's a vast difference between them. And, yeah,
14:07
Speaker 1: it starts with ownership. Nick Kroll, who has been under
14:09
Speaker 1: fire from Reds fans really for a while now, he's
14:13
Speaker 1: had some missteps. We detailed them in the article as well.
14:16
Speaker 1: But Castellini and his son, Phil Castellini, those are the
14:20
Speaker 1: two guys running the team, they said in a statement
14:23
Speaker 1: to us that Nick Kroll and Brad Meador will be back.
14:26
Speaker 1: So that is the expectation, certainly. And I don't know
14:31
Speaker 1: where they go from here because this hinges, their future hinges,
14:36
Speaker 1: on a cap and whether a cap is negotiated in
14:40
Speaker 1: the CBA because at that point, Phil Castellini and Bob
14:45
Speaker 1: Castellini likely would sell and get the franchise value that
14:48
Speaker 1: they want. It also hinges, of course, on how– This
14:54
Speaker 1: team evolves once Bob Castellini no longer is the dominant
14:58
Speaker 1: force behind the franchise. He turned 85 yesterday. He's not
15:01
Speaker 1: going to be here forever. So there's a lot going
15:03
Speaker 1: on here. There's a lot going on in the article.
15:05
Speaker 1: I know it's long, but it's long because we had
15:08
Speaker 1: to go deeper on this. And it's something where you
15:13
Speaker 1: see these franchises flounder and you always wonder, well, why
15:17
Speaker 1: is this happening? What's going on? And that was the
15:20
Speaker 1: genesis of this when Trent and I decided to go
15:23
Speaker 1: after it.
15:24
Speaker 2: Ken, this is an ownership group that we front-facing see
15:29
Speaker 2: the Castellinis in terms of Bob and his son Phil,
15:31
Speaker 2: but they're not the majority ownership stake in terms of
15:34
Speaker 2: the Reds. There are several other people involved in this.
15:38
Speaker 2: At what point do perhaps those other folks convince the
15:42
Speaker 2: Castellinis to sell their portion or sell the team? I mean,
15:45
Speaker 2: there's a valuation of this team of $ 1. 6 billion. I
15:49
Speaker 2: think it's 500 times what they bought it for many
15:52
Speaker 2: moons ago, about 20 years ago. I mean, is the
15:54
Speaker 2: sale of this team on the table?
15:57
Speaker 1: It is not, Alana. And we quoted a Reds source
16:00
Speaker 1: saying that in this story, that there are no plans
16:03
Speaker 1: to sell right now. But you ask a really good question,
16:05
Speaker 1: because the Castellanis are the controlling owners. Phil is now
16:09
Speaker 1: the control person for the Reds. He took that about
16:12
Speaker 1: a year ago, I think, from Bob. They just had
16:15
Speaker 1: a little transfer of power there. But there are a
16:18
Speaker 1: number of minority owners. Now, They can't force the Castellanians
16:23
Speaker 1: to give up their control. But once this evolves, whether
16:28
Speaker 1: we get a cap or we don't get a cap,
16:31
Speaker 1: however Bob stays in control, however long he stays in control,
16:35
Speaker 1: as this evolves, I should say, then yes, the minority owners,
16:40
Speaker 1: the other owners might want more of a say in
16:43
Speaker 1: the future of this team. They might want a transfer,
16:47
Speaker 1: a transfer of ownership to another group. And some of
16:51
Speaker 1: those guys might want to stay as part of a
16:53
Speaker 1: new ownership group. Some of them might want to go.
16:56
Speaker 1: And these are all questions that need to be answered.
16:59
Speaker 1: It's why we say in the article, this is a
17:02
Speaker 1: franchise in limbo.
17:05
Speaker 2: I come back to the Angels and Artie Moreno perhaps
17:08
Speaker 2: feeling some pressure, kind of being bullied by the fans,
17:12
Speaker 2: if you will, because the fans, rightly so, expressed their
17:15
Speaker 2: disappointment in the direction that the team was going. And
17:18
Speaker 2: I wonder if that's kind of the way that this
17:19
Speaker 2: may turn as well for the Reds. You look at
17:22
Speaker 2: a couple of misspoken times or missteps by Phil Castellini
17:25
Speaker 2: saying to the fan base, well, where else are they
17:27
Speaker 2: going to go? those types of things. But then you
17:30
Speaker 2: also have Barry Larkin and making some comments on the
17:34
Speaker 2: Reds broadcast about Cincinnati deserves better. And then you have
17:39
Speaker 2: beloved Cincinnati Red, Joey Votto, kind of liking the comments
17:43
Speaker 2: and saying Cincinnati deserves better. Is there that outside pressure
17:47
Speaker 2: from two Reds greats and from the fan base that
17:50
Speaker 2: may force them to do what the Angels did?
17:53
Speaker 1: A lot of we've talked about this to some extent, right,
17:55
Speaker 1: with regard to the Angels. Yes, there was a ton
17:58
Speaker 1: of fan pressure on Artie Moreno. And I was told
18:01
Speaker 1: at one point that played a role. But what played
18:03
Speaker 1: the bigger role was him getting $ 4 billion. And that
18:06
Speaker 1: was the driving force here. If you get your price, yeah,
18:10
Speaker 1: you'll sell. It's, I guess, like anything else, right? So
18:14
Speaker 1: I would expect that if the Castellanis were offered some
18:16
Speaker 1: great sum today, it wouldn't be $ 4 billion. It would
18:19
Speaker 1: be more like $ 2 billion, maybe. Then, yeah, maybe they'd
18:22
Speaker 1: consider it. But that does not seem to be their
18:24
Speaker 1: intention right now. And The Angels case and even the
18:28
Speaker 1: Padres case, they were unusual in that they happened before
18:32
Speaker 1: the CBA resolves. If I were interested in buying a club,
18:37
Speaker 1: I sure would want to know if there's going to
18:39
Speaker 1: be a cap or if there is going to be
18:41
Speaker 1: some other form of economic system, what the landscape is
18:45
Speaker 1: going to be. So maybe they have no intention to
18:48
Speaker 1: sell because right now is not a great time to sell,
18:50
Speaker 1: especially a team like that. Two California teams are a
18:53
Speaker 1: little bit different. I don't know. But- There is pressure.
18:58
Speaker 1: There are a lot of people in Cincinnati frustrated. I
19:01
Speaker 1: hear from them, some of them from time to time.
19:04
Speaker 1: I just don't know that that's going to drive the
19:06
Speaker 1: Castellanis here. What will drive them would be the best
19:09
Speaker 1: possible price.
19:11
Speaker 2: Yeah. So you're saying there's a price. There seems to
19:13
Speaker 2: always be a price. Why do you think there's such hesitancy, Ken,
19:17
Speaker 2: of them kind of cycling through? You mentioned the Rays.
19:20
Speaker 2: I mean, the Rays, give up some pretty big names
19:23
Speaker 2: as well. Maybe not Evan Longoria, but they've traded away
19:26
Speaker 2: some key names. Same thing, obviously, with the Brewers. You
19:29
Speaker 2: mentioned Burns. You mentioned Peralta. You mentioned Hayter. Why is
19:33
Speaker 2: there such reluctancy, seemingly, for the Reds to do the same?
19:37
Speaker 1: It actually comes from a good place, Alana. Bob Castellini
19:41
Speaker 1: wants to win, and he wants to compete every single year.
19:45
Speaker 1: But as a friend of mine and an old baseball writer,
19:49
Speaker 1: John Lowe, once said, to me, you try to win
19:52
Speaker 1: every year. And in many cases, you don't win any year.
19:55
Speaker 1: And that's not always true. Of course, the Dodgers are
19:58
Speaker 1: an exception. The Braves way back when were the Yankees,
20:00
Speaker 1: of course. But the Reds are in a position where,
20:04
Speaker 1: like other small market teams, they have to retool on
20:08
Speaker 1: the fly. And they don't want to do that. And
20:12
Speaker 1: so they kind of each year try to patch it
20:16
Speaker 1: together and try to contend as best they can. It's
20:18
Speaker 1: kind of what the Angels were doing with Moreno. It
20:21
Speaker 1: doesn't work. You have to, at times, make painful decisions.
20:26
Speaker 1: They made one with Luis Castillo a few years back.
20:28
Speaker 1: A trade hasn't worked out the way they wanted, even
20:30
Speaker 1: though it looked good at the time. They're going to
20:33
Speaker 1: face these decisions again with Eli De La Cruz, who
20:35
Speaker 1: has not signed long term. They're going to face it
20:37
Speaker 1: with Andrew Abbott. Nicola Dolo, all of these players, the
20:41
Speaker 1: ones who evolve as they get older and, of course,
20:45
Speaker 1: earn more money. Sal Stewart will be another one at
20:48
Speaker 1: some point. To this point, they've been unwilling to be
20:52
Speaker 1: proactive with those guys. They signed Chase Burns. Good. But
20:56
Speaker 1: at the same time, if you're not going to be
20:58
Speaker 1: able to sign these players long term and as they
21:00
Speaker 1: grow more expensive, you have to flip them and make
21:03
Speaker 1: the painful decisions. That's what the Brewers do. I've ripped
21:07
Speaker 1: the Brewers for some of their trades, not lately because
21:09
Speaker 1: they've proven quite successful, but they have taken heat. The
21:14
Speaker 1: Reds have not been willing to take heat like that.
21:16
Speaker 1: They have seemed to feel under the Castellanis that we've
21:20
Speaker 1: got to trot every year. We've got to go for it.
21:22
Speaker 1: And they can only go for it so far because
21:25
Speaker 1: their resources are more limited than other clubs.
21:28
Speaker 2: It also seems like there is a hesitancy to move
21:31
Speaker 2: outside of the organization or look outside of the organization
21:35
Speaker 2: for things, perhaps loyalty to a fault, which I think
21:37
Speaker 2: the Colorado Rockies kind of have the same situation, too,
21:40
Speaker 2: where they don't tend to look from outside the organization.
21:43
Speaker 2: And it's a lot of the same perspective. You think
21:45
Speaker 2: about Dusty Baker, obviously, with the Reds. You think about
21:48
Speaker 2: Terry Francona, Tito with the Reds. So those were big
21:51
Speaker 2: moves that the Reds decided to make in terms of
21:54
Speaker 2: managerial style. But why do you think or do you
21:57
Speaker 2: think that there is a little bit too much of
21:59
Speaker 2: promoting from within and not having any sort of outside perspective?
22:03
Speaker 1: Alana, the Rockies analogy is apt here because, yes, they
22:08
Speaker 1: are not a team that has gone outside under Castellanee.
22:12
Speaker 1: His first move was to hire Walt Jockety. Walt Jockety
22:15
Speaker 1: was a guy who was a friend of his from
22:17
Speaker 1: their days together in St. Louis. Castellini was a minority owner.
22:21
Speaker 1: Then Dick Williams. Dick Williams was and is the son
22:25
Speaker 1: of two members of the ownership group. And then Nick Kroll,
22:27
Speaker 1: who was essentially Dick Williams' assistant. So in researching this
22:32
Speaker 1: or putting it together and reporting, one person said to me,
22:35
Speaker 1: I didn't include this in the article, but it was
22:37
Speaker 1: a good point. When was the last time they conducted
22:39
Speaker 1: a national search? for a big job. Now, you could
22:43
Speaker 1: say they did it with Francona and Baker, but really,
22:45
Speaker 1: those guys were targeted. So even in those cases, and
22:48
Speaker 1: both were great hires, of course, they didn't go and
22:52
Speaker 1: have this kind of wide-ranging effort to find the best
22:57
Speaker 1: possible person. It would be helpful, I would think, for
23:00
Speaker 1: them to do that. You look at the Mets right now.
23:03
Speaker 1: The Mets have determined that just David Stern's vision is
23:06
Speaker 1: not enough. They need some other perspectives as well. They're
23:09
Speaker 1: about to hire Derek Falvey, who is similar to Stearns,
23:11
Speaker 1: but I expect they're going to hire some others as
23:13
Speaker 1: well to just have a more well-rounded view of the
23:18
Speaker 1: baseball universe. And it's not to say that Stearns is
23:22
Speaker 1: someone lacking in intelligence. You just need other voices. And
23:26
Speaker 1: they have not brought in another voice for a long time.
23:28
Speaker 1: The Rockies did it, finally, by hiring Paul DePodesta and
23:32
Speaker 1: Josh Burns. At some point, the Reds are going to
23:34
Speaker 1: have to look along those same lines.
23:36
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I like the fact that Walker Monfort of
23:38
Speaker 2: the Colorado Rockies, albeit still obviously Dick's son, but a
23:43
Speaker 2: younger perspective, a different perspective perhaps for that franchise in Colorado.
23:48
Speaker 2: Great article by Ken and, of course, C. Trent Rosecrans.
23:51
Speaker 2: You can check it out. It is unlocked and free
23:53
Speaker 2: right now on The Athletic. Much more to come here
23:56
Speaker 2: on Fair Territory with Ken Rosenthal. We'll get to dudes
23:59
Speaker 2: and dorks of the week right after this.
24:02
Speaker 1: I'm the dude, so that's what you call me.
24:08
Speaker 2: It is time for Dude of the Week. I'll go first.
24:12
Speaker 2: I'll go quickly. The Boston Red Sox. Congratulations to that organization.
24:15
Speaker 2: I know that you gave Craig Breslow his props and
24:19
Speaker 2: mea culpa on Monday's show, but the Red Sox, my goodness,
24:22
Speaker 2: from worst team in the league to a nice hold
24:24
Speaker 2: there in the wild card. You just got to get in, Ken,
24:27
Speaker 2: and they're going to get in and good for them.
24:29
Speaker 2: Let's see what can happen for the rest of their season.
24:32
Speaker 2: They're my dudes. What about you?
24:33
Speaker 1: Dude of the Week, Chris Sale. Ninth 200 strikeout season.
24:38
Speaker 1: He accomplished that last night. Only the second left-hander in
24:41
Speaker 1: Major League history to do that. And to top it off,
24:44
Speaker 1: he gave a nice tribute to the late pitching coach
24:47
Speaker 1: of the White Sox, Don Cooper, who just passed away.
24:50
Speaker 1: Don Cooper was a great pitching coach, a great soul,
24:53
Speaker 1: someone who was one of the better personalities in the game.
24:57
Speaker 1: And Sale acknowledged, I wouldn't be here without him. Chris Sale,
25:00
Speaker 1: due to the week. Absolutely.
25:01
Speaker 2: A complete game for Chris Sale earlier this year. His
25:04
Speaker 2: son was super psyched when dad was able to come
25:06
Speaker 2: back out and complete that game. All right. Time now
25:08
Speaker 2: for our dorks of the week. Ken, my dork of
25:19
Speaker 2: the week is a fellow colleague, a guy obviously that
25:21
Speaker 2: we have a tremendous amount of respect for, Jason Bonetti.
25:24
Speaker 2: But he's actually not the dork of the week, Ken.
25:26
Speaker 2: He is the geek of the week. So, so funny
25:29
Speaker 2: because Rob Friedman, of course, of Pitching Ninja, said that
25:32
Speaker 2: he absolutely got roasted by his own production crew. So
25:35
Speaker 2: one of... The cameraman on the broadcast that Bonetti was
25:40
Speaker 2: working on, of course, Bonetti, very, very brilliant, brilliant guy,
25:44
Speaker 2: was talking about the Austro-Turkish War. Of course, don't we
25:47
Speaker 2: all know about the Austro-Turkish War? And the cameraman went
25:51
Speaker 2: ahead and panned over to geek as he was talking
25:54
Speaker 2: about Jason Bonetti and Jason Bonetti's, you know, reference there
25:58
Speaker 2: in terms of that war. So we kid, we love him.
26:01
Speaker 2: Jason Bonetti is my geek dork of the week. Ken,
26:03
Speaker 2: what about you?
26:04
Speaker 1: Jason's not too upset. He just got a new long-term
26:06
Speaker 1: deal from the Tigers. My dorks of the week, it's
26:09
Speaker 1: a lot of people, actually. Blue Jays and the Mariners. Now, technically,
26:13
Speaker 1: the Mariners are not out of this thing yet. If
26:15
Speaker 1: they win out and the Rangers and Astros lose out,
26:18
Speaker 1: the Mariners are still in this mix somehow. Don't ask
26:20
Speaker 1: me how, but you see it right there. For the
26:23
Speaker 1: first time since 1987, both ALCS participants from the previous
26:27
Speaker 1: year will finish with a losing record. That's rather astonishing.
26:31
Speaker 1: And Reasons in both cases, of course. We don't have
26:34
Speaker 1: time to get into it, but you guys, you stumbled.
26:37
Speaker 1: You're the dorks of the week.
26:39
Speaker 2: All right. A lot more to come on Monday. Get
26:41
Speaker 2: those questions in for Ken. Hopefully he'll answer them on Monday,
26:44
Speaker 2: but we got to get over to a fair tear
26:47
Speaker 2: foul territory. Rather. They are next. Eric Kratz, AJ Pruszynski,
26:51
Speaker 2: Scott Braun, Kevin Pillar, Cody Allen will be on the show.
26:54
Speaker 2: And of course, fair territory with Ken returns on Monday.
26:57
Speaker 2: Have a great weekend, everybody. Looking to take your MLB
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