Latest / Foul Territory / Fair Territory: Brewers Up 2-0, Freddy P time, Top Manager Candidates

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Fair Territory: Brewers Up 2-0, Freddy P time, Top Manager Candidates · Foul Territory

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Welcome everyone to the Monday edition of Fair Territory World
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Series edition as the series shifts to Tampa Bay. I
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: shouldn't say Tampa because this ballpark is in St. Petersburg,
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: at least for now. They're moving in a few years,
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: but we've got the Brewers leading the race, two games
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: to none. Let's dive in. And yes, on deck presented
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: by the Fox One app. All right, Game 3 tonight
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: in the Trop as the series moves to the Trop,
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: where the Rays are a dominant team and have been
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: a dominant team this season. As they return to the Trop,
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: remember from Steinbrenner Field last year where they spent the
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: entire season playing in a minor league ballpark. Maybe that's
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: why they weren't so great last year. Yeah, I think
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: it was. Now, at the Trop, they're 59-27 total for
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: the season. 55-26 in the regular season that tied the
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: Brewers for the best record in baseball at home, and
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: then 4-1 in the postseason. And tonight in Game 3,
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: with the added advantage, it would seem, of Freddy Peralta
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: pitching at Tropicana Field. Why is that an added advantage?
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: Because in a still-air environment, Freddy Peralta's fastball plays up
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: even better than it does outdoors when you have other
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: wind and rain effects whatever the case might be so
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: Peralta has been really good of course for some time
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: now for the Rays and he comes into this start
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: with something that I just learned yesterday and really stunned
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: me to hear this achievement by him his four outings
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: in the playoffs including the relief outing which I guess
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: shouldn't count in this but let's just look at his
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: three starts Average fastball velocity in those starts, hardest of
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: his career. Freddie Peralta's pitched a good amount of time now.
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: So Peralta in the trop should be really good. He
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: gets a little bit extra ride because of the environmental aspect.
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: And again, he has been dominant. Now, we could have
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: said the same thing about Drew Rasmussen going into the
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: last game. We did say the same thing, actually. He
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: had pitched 27 innings in the postseason, allowed only three runs.
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: Drew Rasmussen, even with the extra day's rest, wasn't as good.
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: So for the Rays, this is it. They've got to
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: win tonight, obviously. They have to win four of five
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: to win the series with the next three potentially at home.
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: Not going to be easy against a team that has
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: been amazing in the postseason. We'll get to them. But really,
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: what the Rays have to do now is play better. Now,
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: you can say, Okay, they haven't played well, and they
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: had the tying run at third base when they made
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: the final out of both games, indicating how close these
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: games were. So you would think if they had played
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: a little bit better, a little less sloppy, those games
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: might have turned. And that's the way the Rays are
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: approaching this. They feel they were right there. They feel
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: they did not play their best in those two games
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: at American Family Field in Milwaukee. And they believe that
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: they can get right back in this series. Now, I'm
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: not as certain as they are. My biggest concern remains
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: the bullpen advantage that the Brewers have. Now, as the
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: series goes on, maybe that advantage is mitigated as they
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: see Uribe and Ashby and McGillmore. But we've been saying
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: that now. And what happened so far? The Brewers ran
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: through the Padres, they ran through the Dodgers, and this
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: never became a factor. So we'll see if it ever
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: becomes a factor. Ashby's performance, the 15 and two-thirds scoreless
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: innings in the postseason, it's very reminiscent of Andrew Miller
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: in 2016. Miller eventually, in the World Series, gave up
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: some runs against the Cubs, if you remember. He was
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: pitching for the Cleveland Indians at the time. They became
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: the Guardians later. So maybe Ashby... at some point will
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: be vulnerable, but I'm waiting to see it. And I'm
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: waiting to see it with Uribe. He had a rocky
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: moment in the NLCS, but in game two was really good,
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: or actually both games really good. So they are an
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: impressive bullpen right now, obviously. And I'll believe they're going
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: to get hit when I see them get hit. And
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: I know all about the overexposure. You see enough guys,
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: you see them enough times, you're going to be in
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: a better position. But again, no opponent in the postseason
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: has yet to break through really against the Brewers' bullpen,
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: and that will be the challenge for the Rays going forward. Now,
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: there's a question here I actually asked of Junior Caminero
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: the other night. Is what is happening here the result
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: of the Rays playing poorly or the Brewers putting so
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: much pressure on the opponent that it forces mistakes? And
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: it's certainly a fair question. And Common Arrow didn't really
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: have an answer. I don't know that there is an answer.
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: But clearly, playing the Brewers is difficult. Playing the Rays
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: is difficult. They do pressure you. They do force you
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: to do things that maybe are out of the ordinary.
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: But I would say this. Some of the Rays' mistakes
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: are self-induced. Some of the things on the bases, they've
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: tried to force it a little too much. That's on them. Now,
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: maybe they're doing that because it's so difficult to score. Okay.
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: But the Rays have to play cleaners. It's as simple
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: as that. And I wrote that column yesterday. It came
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: out off of Game 2. And the headline was something
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: along the lines of Rays Unraveling. And it's funny. Some
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: readers I saw took exception to that. And they took
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: exception to that because they felt, as I said earlier, hey,
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: they're right there, man. Time run at third. Game ends
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: in both situations, both days. There's the headline right there,
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: the Rays Unraveling. steady and composed all season, are unraveling
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: on the World Series stage. No disrespect to my glorious readers.
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: I love my readers, you know that. But no disrespect,
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: the Rays have felt they've been unraveling. You saw the
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: quotes from Common Arrow in the column. Kevin Cash said,
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: we haven't played our best. It's been their feeling that
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: they really haven't been anywhere close to where they should
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: be as far as Christmas of play. So we will
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: see how this all turns. Now, tonight, Robert Gasser for
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: the Brewers, left-hander. He is relatively unheralded compared to Mizorowski and,
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: of course, compared to Logan Henderson. But Robert Gasser, in
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: Game 3 of the NLCS at Dodger Stadium, five scoreless
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: innings against the mighty Dodgers. So he was unfazed on
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: the road in that situation. I don't expect him to
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: be fazed here. And the real question is, are the
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: Rays going to start getting the big hit? hasn't happened
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: so far. Runners in scoring position, 0 for 6 in
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: Game 1, 3 for 14 in Game 2. Two of
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: the three hits were in the first inning, and the
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: third hit was the one where Lee and Hicks got
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: thrown out of the plate. So it really hasn't been
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: a situation for the Rays where they have been too
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: clutch offensively. And I know these things run in cycles,
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: and I know there's luck involved. We all get that.
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: But It's the World Series. The sample is small and
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: you either produce or you don't. So with that, let's
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: go to Fox One and start your Fox One three-day
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: free trial today. MLB on Fox is streaming on Fox One.
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: Stream the 2026 World Series live on Fox One at
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: home or on the go, live or on demand. Never
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: miss a moment. Stream now. Start your Fox One three-day
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: free trial today at foxone.com. All right, time now for
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: the Inside Dish, the part of the show where I
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: talk about something I've written, trend in the game, something
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: else going on entirely. But today, at the suggestion of
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: my excellent producer, Jeremy Meyer, we're going to talk about
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: the Brewers' excellence so far in this postseason. And I
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: don't know that even as good as they've been and
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: even as much as we've talked about them, I don't
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: know that we have a full appreciation yet for what
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: they're doing. Now, of course, they have to complete the job.
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: But to this point, They are 9-1 in the postseason
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: with an astonishing seven come-from-behind wins. That's right. You've been
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: hearing about this. Seven comeback wins of their nine. It's incredible.
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: They're the fifth team with two comebacks from deficits of
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: four or more runs in the postseason. And, of course,
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: which games are we talking about? Game four of the
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: NLCS and game two of the World Series. And you
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: see the note from Sarah Langs there. It's only happened
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: four times. 2022 Phillies, 2005 White Sox, hat tip to AJ,
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: 2002 Angels, and of course the 1996 Yankees. So this
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: team is flying in some heady air right now. And
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: it seems to me, and I was talking with someone
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: in baseball last night, an executive with another team, it
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: seems to me if this series goes their way, that
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: this is simply their moment in time. And we see
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: this with teams, that they get hot and for that period,
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: They're the best team in their respective sports, whatever the
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: case might be. And the Brewers, I don't know if
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: this whole formula would work in 2027, 2028. I don't
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: know if Pat Murphy's style would work over a long
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: period of time. Eventually, maybe players get tired of him.
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: I don't know. But right now, he has that clubhouse
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: and he has that group of players playing in an
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: exquisite way, really. And when I say exquisite, what I
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: mean is they are at the highest level in every
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: phase of the game. It's not perfect. Nothing in baseball
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: is perfect. But they execute. They are clutch. They play
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: for each other, which is a big thing. One reason
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: they are so proficient... with the bunting and the sacrifices
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: is that they are willing to play for each other.
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: It's true with the Rays, too. You're willing to give
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: yourself up for the next guy. It's a team thing.
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: So right now, and really the whole season, what we've
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: seen for the Brewers is just this incredible performance, incredible dominance.
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: So 9-1. If they swept this series, if they finish
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: the postseason 11-1, wow, that would be something else. And
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: it would bring to their win total, it would bring
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: it up to 114 for the season. So I want
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: to show you some things here just to demonstrate where
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: this would rank in postseason history. And yes, of course,
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: we have to have the qualifier that there are more
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: rounds now. You can win more games than, say, the
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: 1927 Yankees did or even the 1950s Yankees did. All right,
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: best runs ever. In the wildcard era. That's this one.
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: That's with the expanded playoffs. 2005 White Sox. Had to
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: begin to AJ. 11-1. 99 Yankees.
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: Also 11-1.
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: 98 Yankees. 11-2. 2022 Astros. 11-2. 2018 Red Sox. 2008 Phillies.
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: 1995 Braves. All 11-3. And again, the Brewers stand a
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: chance of moving to the top of that list. If
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: they sweep, they would be 11-1. And even if they
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: don't sweep, They're going to be 11-2 or 11-3, and
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: they win the series. So it's really impressive to see
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: what they've done. And, again, what's interesting about the Brewers
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: is we've talked about this. They lost Council. They lost Stearns.
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: They traded Hayter. They traded Burns. They traded Peralta. They
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: lost Willie Adamas to free agency. And yet they have
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: kept this going. And it's a tribute to just the
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: way they are run. They're scouting. They're playing development. Everything
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: that they have going in that organization seems to be
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: operating on the highest of levels. And it's worth mentioning, too,
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: and this isn't an issue or something that matters for
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: the 2026 World Series, but they have one of the
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: top farm systems, if not the top farm system in
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: the game. Jesus Made, infielder, consensus top prospect in the game.
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: So this isn't going to end anytime soon, or at
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: least not. It's not like the talent is going to
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: run out anytime soon. They might never be this good again.
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: I don't know. And I remember writing, after the Cubs
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: won the 2016 World Series, they've got all this young talent.
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: They're going to be a dominant force for five years. Well,
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: that didn't really come true. And who knows if it
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: will come true for the Brewers. And you might say, well, Ken, hey,
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: they're a small market team. Unless the labor agreement changes,
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: they won't be able to keep their players. Well, Cheerio, Pratt,
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: and Lara... are all signed long-term. Mizorowski, of course, there's
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: a physical question there. How long can he hold up?
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: Or are they able to sign him? I would tend
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: to doubt it. Starting pitchers, maybe he takes an extension,
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: but more likely he would want to play it out
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: and go year by year. Who knows what the rules
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: might be. But they have those three core players under contract.
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: They've got more coming. And it's just going to be
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: a team that has been a force for a good
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: decade now. and should remain a force at some level.
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: I don't know if it's going to be at this level. Again,
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: this might be simply their moment in time, but my goodness,
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: it has been so impressive to see them all season long.
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: And I'll say the same for the Rays. They've had
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: a great season. They've had a great run. They feel
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: their group has a special closeness, and they've credited Nick
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: Martinez with a lot of that. You've heard about, I
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: talked about this the other night on the broadcast, how
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: he's organized team dinners on the road. in virtually every
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: road city, it's been something to see with them too.
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: And of course, when teams reach this level and when
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: they win like this, they're going to be close, generally speaking.
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: But these two clubs, they have been, yes, unusually close.
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: And what they've accomplished in an era when people are
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: saying it's hard to win when you don't have money, well,
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: It's all the more impressive. All right, so that's it
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: for the Inside Dish. Stay with us. Oh, I'm sorry.
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: After the game tonight, flip over to the Foul Territory
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: YouTube channel. The guys will discuss whether the Rays are
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: back in the series or if the Brewers are one
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: win away. It's going to be one or the other.
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: Foul Territory postgame show tonight, right after World Series Game 3.
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: We'll be right back after this.
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: Okay, Kratzy, here we are again, man. How many times
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: do we have to tell people to get the best
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: tickets in the house? Where do we got to go?
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: We got to go to SeatGeek. It's been worth it
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: so many times, so many years. The green light will
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: let you know when it is time to go and
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: the best seats available. The red will let you know
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: if it's not the best. Kratzy, tell them how easy
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: it is.
• 14:47
  Speaker 3: Todd, I know it's easy, but I'm looking for the
• 14:49
  Speaker 3: deals because that's what I do. Even so much, like
• 14:53
  Speaker 3: we're getting such a good deal. I want you to
• 14:55
  Speaker 3: come across the river. and we'll go to a Sixers
• 14:57
  Speaker 3: game together. I don't know where to sit in the stadium,
• 15:00
  Speaker 3: but it'll let me know that it's a perfect view
• 15:02
  Speaker 3: because I'm not a big NBA fan, but I gotta
• 15:05
  Speaker 3: go see the Sixers play with LeBron and the boys.
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: And of course I have a code for you all.
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: You can use code TERRITORY10 for 10% off your next
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: set of tickets at SeatGeek. That's 10% of all tickets
• 15:17
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• 15:20
  Speaker 2: in the description to download the app and have the
• 15:22
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• 15:25
  Speaker 2: it later.
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: All right, time now for Grilling Can, the part of
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: the show where I answer your questions. Let's get right
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: to them. First one comes from DuckInHalo's interesting moniker. With
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: three managerial openings, who do teams view as the best
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: managerial candidates in the industry? And actually, as an Angels fan,
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: which I imagine that person is, that's a relevant question.
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: They're looking for a manager. Now, I reported last night
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: that Rocco Baldelli has withdrawn from the managerial search of
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: the Mariners, the Seattle Mariners, citing family reasons, family considerations
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: at this moment in time. Doesn't mean he won't manage
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: at some other point, but right now he's just not ready.
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: So he obviously is someone who is highly thought of,
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: and I believe it was Adam Jude of the Seattle
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: Times last night after I reported that posted that he
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: might have been, Baldelli, the frontrunner for this position. So
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: Rocco Baldelli is certainly well thought of within the industry.
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: There's the tweet from Adam Jude. Baldelli was thought to
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: be a frontrunner, if not the frontrunner, but with three
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: young kids and roots in Florida, Seattle appeared to be
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: a stretch. Now, he says, not exactly sure where this
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: leads the Mariners, but they're hoping to have a manager
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: in place in the next seven to 10 days. Now,
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: we've reported the names of some of the candidates in
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: the athletic. Joe Espada, the former Houston Astros manager, is one.
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: Jason Kanzler, Chicago Cubs farm director, is another. We don't
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: know exactly who the other names on the list are.
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: My understanding is that the Mariners are cutting it down
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: to three, but I haven't answered your question yet. So
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: you're asking, who are the top managerial candidates? Who is
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: the hot person right now? Baldelli certainly is one. I
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: would suggest Brandon Hyde, who was fired by the Orioles
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: last year, deserves another look. Brandon Hyde has been working
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: with the Rays as a special assistant. He's actually been
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: at these games in uniform before the games. And he's
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: someone who I thought got a bit of a raw
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: deal in Baltimore. It wasn't his fault the way that
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: team was constructed back in 25 when he lost his job.
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: I believe it was in May. So Brandon Hyde is another.
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: David Ross at some point. These are the experienced names.
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: The managers who have recently been let go or in
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: the last couple of years. Alex Cora, of course, would
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: fit into that category as well. As for others, bench coaches,
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: all of those types, there are a number of people
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: who are seemingly in line as well, and there have
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: been over the past several years a number of teams
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: that have looked to non-traditional hires. Blake Butera is perhaps
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: the extreme example of this. Farm director for the Tampa
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: Bay Rays became the manager of the Nationals and the
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: youngest manager in the game. So it's difficult to predict that.
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: where teams might go, but there certainly are a number
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: of candidates out there who have worked in this job before,
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: and then there are a bunch of other candidates who
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: are qualified, maybe in bench coach roles. I'm not going
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: to go through all their names right now, but there
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: are plenty of people out there, put it that way.
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: All right, let's get to the next question. This one
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: comes from Action, who asks, in anticipation of the move
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: to Vegas, would it make sense for the A's to
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: start adding pitching this offseason? They can backload contracts until
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: they get to Nevada. Yes, that would make a lot
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: of sense. And, of course, the A's just hired their
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: new president of baseball operations, Taylor Smith. He comes from
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: the Red Sox, and previous to that, the Tampa Bay Rays.
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: And what is the flaw in the A's? What is
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: the problem that they've had the last couple of years? Pitching.
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: And part of that, obviously, is due to where they've
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: been playing in a very hitter-friendly environment in West Sacramento.
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: they have a core of offensive players in place. If
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: they have some difficulty keeping some of them healthy, okay,
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: that happens. But they clearly need to address the pitching. Now,
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: the question is, of course, will they be able to
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: persuade free agents to play in West Sacramento for one
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: more year? We don't know. And yeah, they could backload
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: the contracts and entice free agents with the idea of
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: playing in the new ballpark in Las Vegas, which should
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: be a great experience. But given what happened with Severino,
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: given what happens with their pitching in general in this ballpark,
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: it's going to be difficult for them to make that case.
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: And the other part of this is, outside of Tarek Skubal,
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: the free agent class of starting pitchers is okay. It's
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: not great. So they've got a challenge ahead of them,
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: and they're eventually going to need to develop better than
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: they have with their pitching. And that's got to be
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: a way for them to bolster that aspect of their club.
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: All right, next question. Ghost in your replies. Scary there,
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: Halloween approaching. Which one is harder to explain to people?
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: What is a balk or what is a check swing?
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: Ghost in your replies, that, my man or woman, is
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: an excellent question. I don't know that either is easy
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: to explain. It would seem to me that there's a
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: lot of difficulty understanding in both cases of What is
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: actually going on with both? Now, a check swing we've
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: seen in the World Series so far, some controversial calls.
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: The Brewers wanted one on Junior Cominero in Game 1,
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: and of course the game that just was played, Game 2,
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: ended on a Yandy Diaz check swing in which he
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: was as angry as I've ever seen him when that
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: was called on him as a strike three. I don't
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: know how you define that. They're trying in the minor
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: leagues with some kind of technology to better... gauge what
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: is a check swing. I don't know how you can
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: explain it to people when you say, this is a
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: check swing and this isn't. Same thing with a balk.
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: Is that a balk? Is this a balk? It's very
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: difficult sometimes to assess and ascertain. And I don't know,
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: it's something in both cases. I guess you can say
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: it's part of the beauty of the game that there's
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: this ambiguity, but we've been doing a good job in baseball,
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: the people who run baseball, of eliminating some of the ambiguity,
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: and this is the next step. Joe Davis mentioned it
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: on the broadcast the other night that the check swing
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: thing has to be resolved, and I would say the
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: balk thing as well. So I don't know how we're
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: doing with all that, but yeah, we need to get
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: a little bit better grasp on both rules. All right,
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: let's get going here. BaseballMind314 asks, who is your favorite
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: player throughout the playoffs? I'd have to say Aaron Ashby.
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: because of what he's accomplished, 15 and two-thirds innings, and
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: he's done it in a way that is very unusual,
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: at least for a modern-day reliever. Six straight appearances of
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: an inning and two-thirds or more. That is a postseason record.
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: And obviously, again, more rounds now, more games. Yes, we
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: all get that. But just to do that, that is astonishing.
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: And twice now, I believe, manager Pat Murphy has left
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: him in in situations where he might have gone to
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: Trevor McGill, And he just let Ashby finish because, well,
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: Ashby's the best choice. He has been the best choice.
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: Will Salmon had a story yesterday in The Athletic about
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: how perhaps next season the Brewers will use Ashby as
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: a starter, which is what he was earlier in his career.
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: But right now, he is the hottest reliever in the postseason,
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: and he has done an amazing job. I would say
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: he is my favorite player in the postseason. There's been
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: a lot of guys that obviously have been fun to watch.
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: I'm a Chandler Simpson fan. I wrote about him. In
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: his first major league camp, I love watching him play.
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: I love what he's accomplished. In an era when we
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: talk about power and exit velocity, here's a guy who
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: plays an entirely different game and has overcome the skepticism
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: that so many people in baseball had about whether this
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: kind of player could succeed. He is an unqualified success.
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: He also has improved tremendously defensively. So Chandler Simpson on
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: the position player side. All right, let's see if we
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: have time for one more. Do we? Yes, we do.
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: Could Ashby really win World Series MVP? I see no
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: reason why not. Now, he's been two games so far.
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: Will he be in all four? Well, they have the
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: off day yesterday. He can pitch tonight. He can pitch tomorrow.
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: And even if he pitches in just one, I can
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: see him being the series MVP. But we would have
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: to see how it all plays out offensively. I believe Mr.
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: William Contreras is going to have a strong case for
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: MVP as well. But again, we're two games in and
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: I don't want to give this to the Brewers just yet.
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: It's not over. And I know it's going to be
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: a challenge for the Rays. I know it's four or five.
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: They've got to win and all that. And we know
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: how good the Brewers have been all season. But as
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: I said at the top of the show, it's Peralta tonight.
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: Peralta has been magnificent. Peralta also at the trop should
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: be in his comfort zone. I didn't love the idea
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: of pitching him in Milwaukee because it would have been
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: an added emotional layer to that. But here he is
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: coming home, at least his new home, Tropicana Field. And
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: we'll see. Tonight is, in my view, the Rays' real
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: chance to get back into this thing. And if they do,
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: they're down 2-1 with two more games at home. The
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: entire perspective changes. All right, I want to thank everyone
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: for watching, for listening. Foul Territory coming up at 1 p.m. Eastern.
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: Host AJ Pruszynski of the 2005 White Sox, Eric Kratz,
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: and Scott Braun. Tom Ferducci, my colleague on Fox, will
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: be the guest, or among the guests. Reminder, postgame tonight
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: on the Foul Territory YouTube channel after World Series Game 3.
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: Fair returns Friday at 12.30 Eastern. See you then.
• 25:16
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