Latest / Foul Territory / Jim Bowden’s Front Office Unfiltered: Dan Wilson's exit, Torey Lovullo's future, Brewers WS favs?

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Jim Bowden’s Front Office Unfiltered: Dan Wilson's exit, Torey Lovullo's future, Brewers WS favs? · Foul Territory

0:09
Speaker 1: Front office unfiltered. Resident GM Jim Bowden joining us right now.
0:12
Speaker 1: It's the one day between the regular season and the playoffs,
0:15
Speaker 1: and that means we could hear about some more firings.
0:17
Speaker 1: But let's start with what we know. JB, Dan Wilson
0:20
Speaker 1: out with the Mariners as their manager. Obvious one we've
0:23
Speaker 1: known probably for at least a couple weeks at this point.
0:26
Speaker 1: Your thoughts on what happened and then what the Mariners
0:29
Speaker 1: do going forward. This will be, I believe, their third
0:31
Speaker 1: manager hire in the last four years.
0:34
Speaker 2: Yeah, the team was just dead.
0:36
Speaker 3: I saw him in a couple of series near the
0:38
Speaker 3: end of the season, and there's just no energy. I
0:42
Speaker 3: kind of felt like Jerry DiPoto probably should have made
0:44
Speaker 3: a managerial change at the end of August, because I
0:47
Speaker 3: thought at that point they still had a chance of
0:49
Speaker 3: trying to pull this thing off, but they just weren't
0:51
Speaker 3: going to do it.
0:53
Speaker 2: And so, yeah, I think that change had to be made.
0:56
Speaker 3: I'm glad that they offered him another job in the organization,
0:59
Speaker 3: but I think they need someone in there that can
1:02
Speaker 3: be respected, that's won before, that can bring positive communication
1:06
Speaker 3: skills and energy and build a really good culture and
1:10
Speaker 3: get that team together. So I think making the change
1:12
Speaker 3: was kind of obvious that it needed to be done.
1:15
Speaker 3: And this would be the third managerial change that Jerry
1:17
Speaker 3: DiPoto has made since he has gotten over there. Now,
1:20
Speaker 3: in terms of replacing him, two names came to my
1:23
Speaker 3: head right away. Alex Cora was number one. Tori Lavello
1:27
Speaker 3: was number two, starting with Alex Cora. unlikely that he
1:32
Speaker 3: would take the job in Seattle for geographical reasons.
1:35
Speaker 2: He has a young family. He likes to be close
1:38
Speaker 2: to Puerto Rico.
1:39
Speaker 3: I think his preference, if he comes back to manage,
1:41
Speaker 3: would be with the Phillies under Dave Dombrowski, who he
1:44
Speaker 3: won a world championship with in Boston. He's also booked
1:47
Speaker 3: an African safari next summer, planning to take his kids there.
1:51
Speaker 3: I'm not sure he even wants to manage next year.
1:53
Speaker 3: That's a decision he has to make. But I think
1:55
Speaker 3: he'd be the perfect fit in Seattle. I think that
1:57
Speaker 3: kind of leadership and communication skills would work great for
2:01
Speaker 3: that team. And then Torrey Lovello is the name that
2:06
Speaker 3: everyone keeps buzzing around in Seattle. And the reason for
2:09
Speaker 3: that is dated back to 2015. If you remember after
2:13
Speaker 3: Jerry DePoto was fired as the head of the Los
2:17
Speaker 3: Angeles Angels, he took a... consulting role with the Red
2:20
Speaker 3: Sox in 2015 for a short period of time. And
2:24
Speaker 3: that was the time where John Farrell had lymphoma and
2:27
Speaker 3: a medical issue, had to take a leave of absence.
2:30
Speaker 3: And Tori Lovello came in and managed the end of
2:33
Speaker 3: that season. So Jerry and Tori kind of overlapped at
2:36
Speaker 3: that point. They built a good friendship. There's mutual respect
2:40
Speaker 3: between the two. And Lovello you know, took the Diamondbacks
2:44
Speaker 3: to the World Series, great communication skills, has done a
2:47
Speaker 3: really good job in a very tough division in his
2:50
Speaker 3: 10 years in Arizona. And the fact that they haven't
2:53
Speaker 3: extended him, it leaves the possibility that, you know, he
2:56
Speaker 3: could be a free agent soon. And if that's the case,
2:58
Speaker 3: I think he'd be a perfect fit in Seattle.
3:01
Speaker 4: Okay. Before we get to some of your options, and
3:04
Speaker 4: by the way, an African Safari, I'll call AC and
3:06
Speaker 4: tell him it's better to go in the winter than
3:07
Speaker 4: it is in the summer, the winter here. But anyways,
3:10
Speaker 4: we can have that conversation. Dan Wilson, he's kind of
3:14
Speaker 4: a legend in the organization. Like, let's say you had
3:16
Speaker 4: Barry Larkin managing the Reds when you were the GM
3:20
Speaker 4: at the Reds. Would it have been easier or harder
3:22
Speaker 4: to fire him? And then how do you go about that?
3:24
Speaker 4: Because it just puts everybody in such a weird situation.
3:29
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I experienced it, not with Barry Larkin,
3:31
Speaker 3: but I experienced it with Tony Perez, you know, Hall
3:33
Speaker 3: of Famer, beloved in Cincinnati, part of the Big Red machine,
3:37
Speaker 3: an RBI machine, beloved by everybody and should be. And,
3:41
Speaker 3: you know, he was hired and then I fired him.
3:44
Speaker 3: 44 games into the season. And so what was the repercussions?
3:49
Speaker 3: I mean, death threats, planes flying over the ballpark, fire
3:54
Speaker 3: a boat in the next day. I mean, yeah, it's
3:57
Speaker 3: an impossible job to do. And the only way you
3:59
Speaker 3: can survive that is you got to win and finish
4:02
Speaker 3: in first, which I did the next two years.
4:04
Speaker 2: Which saved my job.
4:05
Speaker 5: Otherwise.
4:06
Speaker 3: I never would have been hired again. It would have
4:08
Speaker 3: been like the the Dallas Mavericks GM who made the
4:11
Speaker 3: Donchik trade. And then we'll never get another job in
4:14
Speaker 3: the NBA. But that's what would have happened had we
4:16
Speaker 3: not won after that. So, yeah, it's almost impossible. It's
4:19
Speaker 3: really hard to do it. And now all of the
4:22
Speaker 3: focus is going to go on Jerry DePoto. That's why
4:24
Speaker 3: this next hire is so important to him, because now
4:27
Speaker 3: he's got to win.
4:28
Speaker 2: He's got to win next year.
4:29
Speaker 3: If he wants to keep his job, he won't survive 2027.
4:33
Speaker 2: If the Seattle Mariners don't win the AL West.
4:36
Speaker 3: So yeah, the pressure completely shifts when you make a
4:39
Speaker 3: decision like this. And yes, AJ, it is a lot
4:42
Speaker 3: harder to have to fire a legend in an organization.
4:47
Speaker 3: It's very, very difficult to do, but at the same time,
4:49
Speaker 3: you're paid to make those hard decisions.
4:52
Speaker 5: It didn't make or break year. Like you said, Jerry
4:54
Speaker 5: DePoto has as a GM and, stick to the status quo?
4:58
Speaker 5: Do you just say, I got to trust my process
5:00
Speaker 5: and continue in the route? Or will we see something
5:04
Speaker 5: different from Jerry DiPoto? I get it, he doesn't get
5:06
Speaker 5: all the money in the world to spend, but do
5:09
Speaker 5: we see something different in his style this offseason and
5:13
Speaker 5: rolling into next year?
5:15
Speaker 2: Yeah, he has to. He has to break this team up, right?
5:17
Speaker 3: I mean, you still have a core, don't get me wrong, right?
5:19
Speaker 2: I mean, you still got Raleigh, Naylor, J-Rod.
5:23
Speaker 3: You're still going to keep three of those five, four
5:26
Speaker 3: of those five starters, whatever the case may be.
5:29
Speaker 2: But yeah, you're going to move on. You're going to
5:31
Speaker 2: move on.
5:32
Speaker 3: You're going to have to trade one of the starters.
5:34
Speaker 3: You're going to have to mix up this clubhouse a
5:36
Speaker 3: little bit. Like all the blame is not on Dan Wilson.
5:39
Speaker 3: He's just the one that's going to take the fall.
5:41
Speaker 3: That's not the only problem that this team had. This team,
5:44
Speaker 3: you know, underachieved, I think kind of dramatically.
5:48
Speaker 2: Some of the young players didn't develop as expected.
5:51
Speaker 3: They've got big decisions to make with Randy Rosarena and
5:54
Speaker 3: and Crawford, both of whom could depart here. So, yeah,
5:57
Speaker 3: there's going to be a little bit of a different look.
5:59
Speaker 3: He can't just go status quo. He can't just hire
6:02
Speaker 3: a new manager and.
6:03
Speaker 2: Say, okay, now we're going to win.
6:04
Speaker 3: So, yeah, I think you'll see him finally trade one
6:07
Speaker 3: of those young starters he doesn't want to trade and
6:10
Speaker 3: try to mix up, you know, this clubhouse a little bit.
6:17
Speaker 4: Crouchy, just because the website says the tickets are sold
6:19
Speaker 4: out doesn't mean you can't go see the Brewers in Milwaukee,
6:22
Speaker 4: see the Dodgers in L.A., see the Rays in Tampa Bay.
6:25
Speaker 4: You can go to SeatGeek and find the best seat available.
6:28
Speaker 4: Pick wherever you want to sit and buy one.
6:31
Speaker 5: There's no bad seats in Milwaukee because the stadium is
6:35
Speaker 5: right on top of the field. It feels like you're
6:37
Speaker 5: in the grass. L.A., just don't get a seat near
6:41
Speaker 5: the speakers. But you can find out where the best
6:43
Speaker 5: seats in each stadium are on SeatGeek. And of course
6:46
Speaker 5: I have a code for you guys. You can use
6:48
Speaker 5: code TERRITORY10 for 10% off your next set of tickets
6:52
Speaker 5: at SeatGeek. That's 10% off any tickets with promo code TERRITORY10.
6:58
Speaker 4: Make sure you click the link in the description to
7:00
Speaker 4: download the app and have the code automatically added to
7:03
Speaker 4: your account so you can use it later.
7:05
Speaker 5: And you know what? If your team's not in the playoffs,
7:07
Speaker 5: it's no big deal. Because SeatGeek's got you for tickets
7:10
Speaker 5: for NFL, for concerts, anything that you want.
7:15
Speaker 4: Jim, one of the names you mentioned was Tori Lavello
7:19
Speaker 4: because of his relationship. I mean, is he going to
7:20
Speaker 4: be fired? Because I think he does a pretty good job.
7:23
Speaker 4: And let's not forget, him and Mike Hazen, I mean,
7:25
Speaker 4: when we talk about people being friends, you mentioned Jerry
7:27
Speaker 4: DiPoto and him. But him and Mike Hazen are super, like, family, like,
7:32
Speaker 4: almost family close with everything. And if you don't know
7:34
Speaker 4: the story, there's some wife stuff there, Mike Hazen and Tori.
7:38
Speaker 4: So you just have to understand that they're like brothers.
7:42
Speaker 4: I mean, they're that close. I mean, how hard would
7:44
Speaker 4: that be for Mike Hazen? And then before we get
7:46
Speaker 4: into that, I'm sure you saw this yesterday when the– sorry,
7:51
Speaker 4: Arizona found out that they were eliminated from the postseason
7:54
Speaker 4: and Torrey Lovello came out and had to console his
7:55
Speaker 4: players and then you could tell Marte's standing there and
7:58
Speaker 4: you're like, dude, wasn't he– didn't you just not want
8:00
Speaker 4: to play for like three weeks? If you just could
8:02
Speaker 4: have played, we could have won a couple more games maybe. Again,
8:05
Speaker 4: I don't know. How hard would it be for Mike
8:07
Speaker 4: Hazen to get rid of Torrey Lovello?
8:10
Speaker 3: Well, my biggest question isn't that. My biggest question is
8:13
Speaker 3: why isn't he signed? I don't get it after 10 years.
8:16
Speaker 3: You know what you're getting. Why was he put out
8:20
Speaker 3: there without a contract after this year? He's been there
8:23
Speaker 3: a decade, and he's done a really good job with
8:25
Speaker 3: that team. He's in a really tough division with the Dodgers. Financially,
8:30
Speaker 3: they don't compete with L.A. He's in a very tough
8:32
Speaker 3: division with the Padres, who always overspend. And, you know,
8:36
Speaker 3: they dealt with a lot of pitching injuries the last
8:38
Speaker 3: two years that have been significant.
8:40
Speaker 5: Right.
8:40
Speaker 3: When when they went out and spent the money for
8:41
Speaker 3: Corbin Burns, they didn't get anything to show for it.
8:43
Speaker 3: When they spent the money for Jordan Montgomery, they had
8:46
Speaker 3: nothing to show for it.
8:47
Speaker 2: Not their fault. Pitchers get hurt. We get it.
8:50
Speaker 3: But I mean, he's been through a lot. You know,
8:52
Speaker 3: Zach Galland, you know, fell off the truck. I mean,
8:54
Speaker 3: and didn't live up to what we had seen, you know,
8:56
Speaker 3: three years ago. And so he went through all that
9:00
Speaker 3: and still is in a race in the last week
9:02
Speaker 3: and his teams are always fighting. In fact, the president
9:04
Speaker 3: of the team, Derek Hall, what did he say? He
9:06
Speaker 3: said this was the best year he's seen him manage.
9:10
Speaker 3: That's what Derek Hall just said last week. So my
9:13
Speaker 3: question is, why isn't he signing? And what bothered me
9:15
Speaker 3: is Torrey Lovello said yesterday, I just want to be wanted. Well,
9:20
Speaker 3: I mean, it makes you feel like, does the owner
9:22
Speaker 3: not want him? I mean, is that the issue here?
9:24
Speaker 3: I don't think it's a Mike Hazen decision. So it
9:26
Speaker 3: has to be an ownership decision. It's not Derek Hall
9:29
Speaker 3: decision because he just said he thinks it's the best
9:31
Speaker 3: year he's ever managed. So I just don't understand it.
9:34
Speaker 3: But that being said, when he says I want to
9:37
Speaker 3: be wanted, if I'm Jerry DiPoto, I'm going to make
9:40
Speaker 3: sure he knows that he's wanted, not just with words,
9:43
Speaker 3: but with a long-term contract that makes him one of
9:46
Speaker 3: the highest paid managers in baseball. I have a lot
9:49
Speaker 3: of confidence that Torrey Lovello can win. He's done it
9:52
Speaker 3: in Arizona. I think he's very good at strategy. I
9:55
Speaker 3: think he's very good at communication. I think he's very
9:58
Speaker 3: good working with the front office. I think he's very
10:00
Speaker 3: good with the media. You know, I think he's seriously
10:02
Speaker 3: one of the top seven managers in Major League Baseball.
10:05
Speaker 3: So why he hasn't already been signed, I don't know.
10:08
Speaker 3: He did say he prefers to stay in Arizona. So
10:11
Speaker 3: hopefully they'll do the right thing and announce in the
10:13
Speaker 3: next couple of days they've signed to a long-term deal.
10:16
Speaker 3: But if not, if they choose to move on after
10:18
Speaker 3: 10 years, and again, there's some executives like Theo Epstein
10:22
Speaker 3: that believes managers and executives should have an expiration date
10:26
Speaker 3: and it's under 10 years. And perhaps that's what they're thinking,
10:29
Speaker 3: that they just want to you know, change for the
10:32
Speaker 3: sake of changing, which is fine. But if it happens,
10:34
Speaker 3: I will be shocked that Tori Lovello doesn't have a
10:36
Speaker 3: job 24 hours later.
10:39
Speaker 5: Does he, as a GM, do you have a tough
10:42
Speaker 5: time tempering an owner's unrealistic expectation? Because if the owner
10:47
Speaker 5: says at the beginning of the year, we're not extending
10:49
Speaker 5: Tori Lovello, essentially what they said by not giving him
10:52
Speaker 5: a contract, then it's... Well, OK, you got to win
10:57
Speaker 5: or he's gone. Even through a year like this, does
11:00
Speaker 5: a GM have the ear of the owner to be like,
11:03
Speaker 5: that was unrealistic this year with all the things that
11:05
Speaker 5: you just said? Or is that something that ownership usually
11:08
Speaker 5: puts a mandate down and they don't want to alleviate
11:11
Speaker 5: from that?
11:12
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, all owners are different, so I can't
11:14
Speaker 3: put them all in a group. Every owner I dealt
11:18
Speaker 3: with is completely different. the thing that I always tried
11:21
Speaker 3: to do with a GM and with an owner is
11:23
Speaker 3: be realistic on what kind of team we have and,
11:26
Speaker 3: and not, and not sugarcoat anything ever. You know, if,
11:30
Speaker 3: if I have a team that I think is an
11:32
Speaker 3: 85 to 87 win team out of spring training, I
11:34
Speaker 3: tell them that we get to the trade deadline. I'll
11:37
Speaker 3: be honest with what we have and what we need
11:39
Speaker 3: to do to get to the playoffs. Like I think
11:41
Speaker 3: the most important thing is the communication from the POBO
11:43
Speaker 3: or the GM to the owner of this is what
11:46
Speaker 3: we have. And these are the expectations. I think Arizona
11:49
Speaker 3: lived up to their expectations. I don't think their team
11:51
Speaker 3: was any better than the one loss record that they
11:54
Speaker 3: finished with, the 86 wins.
11:55
Speaker 2: I think that's what they were.
11:57
Speaker 3: Could they have won a couple more if Cattell Marte
11:59
Speaker 3: was there at AJ's point?
12:00
Speaker 2: Absolutely.
12:01
Speaker 3: That could have happened. And if that happened, I think
12:04
Speaker 3: it probably would have been overachieving. I think they won
12:06
Speaker 3: the games that they were supposed to win. There are owners, though,
12:09
Speaker 3: that are irrational, that really don't understand. You know, I'm
12:13
Speaker 3: not going to point out Jim Crane in Houston, but,
12:16
Speaker 3: you know, you sit there and you tell your GM
12:17
Speaker 3: you can't spend money on pitching.
12:19
Speaker 2: We can't keep Bregman. We can't keep Tucker. So do
12:22
Speaker 2: your job.
12:23
Speaker 3: So he goes and gets Paredes and Walker. They combine
12:25
Speaker 3: for 50 home runs, which is difficult to do. And
12:28
Speaker 3: then Cam Smith adds another 20. Those are the three
12:31
Speaker 3: guys that kind of replace Bregman and Tucker. And he
12:34
Speaker 3: actually did it for a lot less money and a
12:36
Speaker 3: lot more difficult moving pieces.
12:38
Speaker 2: And then he gets fired when August begins.
12:40
Speaker 3: It doesn't even get to pop champagne and celebrate when
12:43
Speaker 3: they win the division with the team that he built.
12:45
Speaker 3: So can you rationalize with Jim Crane, who fires James
12:48
Speaker 3: Click after they won the world championship because he, as owner,
12:51
Speaker 3: wasn't getting enough credit? Like, I don't know what you
12:53
Speaker 3: do with those kind of people, except as a GM,
12:55
Speaker 3: you don't work for them.
12:56
Speaker 2: That's the best thing to do.
12:58
Speaker 3: But, you know, in terms of other owners, most are
13:00
Speaker 3: reasonable and they're really smart.
13:02
Speaker 2: That's why they own teams.
13:04
Speaker 3: They made a lot of money in their life. That's
13:06
Speaker 3: why they have the right to own the team. And
13:08
Speaker 3: if you sit there and explain to them in detail,
13:10
Speaker 3: most of them are rational and understand. There does become
13:13
Speaker 3: a time, though, where managers, GMs get overexposed with owners
13:19
Speaker 3: and people get tired of people's weaknesses, which every human has.
13:24
Speaker 3: And sometimes they want to change for the sake of changing.
13:27
Speaker 3: They want new blood. They want a new start. And
13:30
Speaker 3: sometimes we see change just because of that. And maybe
13:33
Speaker 3: that's the case in Arizona. I just hope not, because
13:35
Speaker 3: I think that Mike Hayes and Tory Lovello, combination is
13:39
Speaker 3: solid and gives them a chance every year to compete every,
13:42
Speaker 3: every year, a chance to make the playoffs.
13:45
Speaker 4: John, now that we've kind of hit the, the, the
13:49
Speaker 4: managers that we would think, I mean, Joe Espada obviously
13:51
Speaker 4: is one of the list. Kurt Suzuki is one of
13:53
Speaker 4: the list. Is there any other GM slash managers that
13:57
Speaker 4: we should be on the lookout for losing their job?
13:59
Speaker 4: Cause we've kind of, I mean, we've kind of already
14:01
Speaker 4: gotten to most of them, right? Some of them were
14:03
Speaker 4: fired during the year. Some of them now right after
14:05
Speaker 4: the year, is there anyone else that you have your
14:06
Speaker 4: eye on that say, okay this is could be next
14:08
Speaker 4: on the hit list yeah i really.
14:10
Speaker 3: Don't you know i normally by now today is black
14:14
Speaker 3: monday today is normally the day that baseball doesn't like
14:17
Speaker 3: announcements when the playoffs start so normally if there's changes
14:20
Speaker 3: it's announced today so you know if there were going
14:23
Speaker 3: to be any changes i think we would have heard
14:25
Speaker 3: it uh by now is my opinion so you know
14:28
Speaker 3: i think we pretty much know uh the changes i'm
14:30
Speaker 3: not expecting anymore.
14:32
Speaker 4: Joe i have one more question on this uh Kurt
14:35
Speaker 4: Suzuki had signed a one-year deal. His contract's up, right?
14:38
Speaker 4: So do they have to announce that they're bringing him back,
14:40
Speaker 4: or can they just not say anything, and then next
14:41
Speaker 4: thing you know, John Moselak hires me?
14:44
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think the key is the new owner coming in, right?
14:47
Speaker 3: I mean, we haven't had the transfer of ownership. I
14:49
Speaker 3: don't know where Stan Kroenke feels. He knows John Moselak
14:53
Speaker 3: from the St.
14:53
Speaker 2: Louis days.
14:54
Speaker 3: So there is at least, you know, a relationship between
14:57
Speaker 3: the two. You know, I don't know if Mo is
14:59
Speaker 3: going to stay. I don't know what the structure is
15:01
Speaker 3: going to be. I don't know if Mo is going
15:03
Speaker 3: to get to make the call. I mean, under Artie Moreno,
15:05
Speaker 3: he was going to. But with a new owner coming in,
15:08
Speaker 3: you certainly aren't going to hamstring the new owner. You're
15:12
Speaker 3: going to want him to be involved in whatever decisions
15:14
Speaker 3: are made with Mo, the next GM, the manager, et cetera.
15:18
Speaker 3: So I think he announced nothing. until that ownership situation
15:21
Speaker 3: is clear. I don't know if Artie Moreno is going
15:24
Speaker 3: to allow the new owner to be able to get
15:26
Speaker 3: involved prior to the closing. I really don't know how
15:29
Speaker 3: that's going to play out, but I'm not expecting any
15:32
Speaker 3: big decisions coming out of there until the ownership transfer
15:35
Speaker 3: is official.
15:35
Speaker 5: All right, let's get to your rankings, Jim. And I
15:39
Speaker 5: love that you didn't have the Dodgers first because AJ
15:42
Speaker 5: says every power rankings needs to start with the Dodgers
15:45
Speaker 5: first until they lose. But I just want to talk
15:47
Speaker 5: specifically about the Brewers and the Yankees, and how contrasting
15:51
Speaker 5: those two number one power rankings in each league are.
15:56
Speaker 3: Yeah, so I think whoever represents the National League is
15:59
Speaker 3: going to win the World Series. I think the elite
16:01
Speaker 3: teams in the National League are better than the elite
16:03
Speaker 3: teams in the American League.
16:05
Speaker 2: I think the Brewers are the best team in baseball.
16:07
Speaker 3: I don't think they're the best team in baseball just
16:09
Speaker 3: because they had the best regular season record for the
16:11
Speaker 3: last two years.
16:13
Speaker 2: I just think that they are incredibly... thorough, it's a
16:19
Speaker 2: complete team.
16:21
Speaker 3: Like it's pretty amazing that they're top five in almost
16:24
Speaker 3: every offensive, defensive, and pitching category.
16:28
Speaker 2: That's really hard to do.
16:30
Speaker 3: And when you look at weaknesses, which is always easy
16:32
Speaker 3: to look at teams and weaknesses, they really only have
16:34
Speaker 3: two weaknesses for me, right? Lack of home run power,
16:38
Speaker 3: which historically has been a problem in the last 10 years.
16:41
Speaker 3: It's been a problem in October. You're supposed to hit
16:43
Speaker 3: the home runs in October. So that is a weakness
16:45
Speaker 3: that we can't ignore. And then the second one is
16:48
Speaker 3: your game three and game four starters or pitching plan
16:52
Speaker 3: for games three and four. That would be the two
16:55
Speaker 3: weaknesses I see with this team. But you got the
16:57
Speaker 3: best pitcher in baseball in Jacob Mizorowski. You got Logan Henderson,
17:00
Speaker 3: who's a beast pitching game two. You've got an elite
17:04
Speaker 3: bullpen and a deep bullpen, not just elite. And I
17:08
Speaker 3: love their offense.
17:09
Speaker 2: They're athletic. They can hit. They move the chains. They
17:12
Speaker 2: put the ball in play.
17:14
Speaker 3: They're as good as anyone in baseball going first to
17:16
Speaker 3: third or first to home.
17:17
Speaker 2: They're well managed by Pat Murphy.
17:19
Speaker 3: I love the fact that he benches star players so
17:22
Speaker 3: they don't run a ball out. I love the fact
17:24
Speaker 3: that he'll call timeout and talk to a young kid
17:26
Speaker 3: like Louis Lara just before in a bat and he'll
17:29
Speaker 3: hit a double on a left field line to win
17:30
Speaker 3: a game. Like they're just a complete team. And I
17:33
Speaker 3: just kind of feel like the experience they had last
17:36
Speaker 3: year when they lost to the Dodgers in the playoffs
17:39
Speaker 3: is going to benefit them this year. And I think,
17:41
Speaker 3: you know, the Dodgers have a little bit more questions
17:43
Speaker 3: this year than they have the last two years. And
17:46
Speaker 3: so even though I know Vegas, I think still has
17:48
Speaker 3: them as the favorites to win. I think this is
17:51
Speaker 3: the year that Milwaukee has a legit shot of getting
17:54
Speaker 3: not only getting the.
17:55
Speaker 2: World Series, but winning the World Series. The last time
17:57
Speaker 2: they were in the World Series, I was there. It
17:59
Speaker 2: was 1982.
17:59
Speaker 3: They were an American League team, and they lost to
18:02
Speaker 3: the Cardinals in seven games.
18:05
Speaker 2: And I'll never.
18:06
Speaker 3: Forget that World Series. So it was very exciting as
18:08
Speaker 3: a young kid. So I'm pretty excited to see if
18:11
Speaker 3: they can get all the way back there. But I
18:12
Speaker 3: think they're the best team in baseball.
18:14
Speaker 4: Harvey's Wallbangers. Harvey's Wallbangers was with Molitor and Yount and
18:18
Speaker 4: that whole team, Cecil Cooper, that whole team. But, hey,
18:21
Speaker 4: by the way, before we let you go, I'd be remiss.
18:22
Speaker 4: You talked about taking players out after they do stupid things.
18:25
Speaker 4: Has your son had a couple days to reminisce over
18:27
Speaker 4: what happened this past weekend? Or is it too soon
18:30
Speaker 4: to talk about that?
18:31
Speaker 3: Yeah, they're having a tough time. Obviously, it's kind of
18:34
Speaker 3: like my NFL team, the Cowboys. Like, great offense and
18:37
Speaker 3: just keep stopping even defensively. It keeps, you know, I
18:42
Speaker 3: called him and I said, do you remember as a
18:44
Speaker 3: kid growing up when your dad didn't have any starting pitching?
18:47
Speaker 3: I said, do you remember what it felt like? He goes, yeah, Dad,
18:50
Speaker 3: and I hated it. I hated losing as a kid.
18:52
Speaker 3: I hated it.
18:53
Speaker 2: I said, I know. And that's what you're going through
18:55
Speaker 2: right now.
18:56
Speaker 3: And I said, what you got to do is you
18:57
Speaker 3: just got to fix it.
18:58
Speaker 2: You just got to find a way to fix it.
19:00
Speaker 3: And whether that's the players or whether that's the coaching
19:03
Speaker 3: or whether that's the scheme, you just got to figure
19:06
Speaker 3: out a way. But defense in the NFL is the
19:08
Speaker 3: same thing as starting pitching in Major League Baseball. If
19:11
Speaker 3: you don't have it, you're not going anywhere. I don't
19:13
Speaker 3: care how good your offense is. Doesn't matter if you
19:15
Speaker 3: can't pitch.
19:16
Speaker 1: I actually really love that. If that was the dad
19:21
Speaker 1: advice transcription on the phone, That would get me fired
19:24
Speaker 1: up to go back into work the next morning. So
19:26
Speaker 1: that's good stuff, JB.
19:28
Speaker 4: The question is, will Lincoln Riley ever be able to
19:30
Speaker 4: win the big game? That's the question. Because it's year
19:32
Speaker 4: over year over year. This is their chance.
19:35
Speaker 3: Yeah, you've got to put everything into defense.
19:39
Speaker 2: Look, Lincoln Riley.
19:40
Speaker 4: Buy some more players, Jim. Spend some of that money
19:43
Speaker 4: on some players.
19:44
Speaker 2: Well, look at Luke Wafle. I mean, look at Dantes.
19:47
Speaker 2: I mean, the best players are fresh. and they're all playing.
19:50
Speaker 3: That was Chad's first class is this freshman class, and
19:53
Speaker 3: they're all playing. Where's the sophomore, juniors, and seniors? I mean,
19:57
Speaker 3: the freshmen are beating them all out, and that's the problem.
20:00
Speaker 3: They had that– They've had that five-year run where they
20:04
Speaker 3: didn't concentrate on defense until last year's class where they
20:06
Speaker 3: were ranked number one. You've got to put– look, Lincoln
20:09
Speaker 3: Riley is always going to have elite offense. He's an
20:11
Speaker 3: elite offensive mind. He's always going to have the quarterbacks,
20:15
Speaker 3: the receivers, and the running backs. They're always going to
20:17
Speaker 3: score points. All those guys want to go to USC.
20:20
Speaker 3: You've got to put all your money into defense, and
20:22
Speaker 3: you've got to figure it out because if they ever
20:23
Speaker 3: get a defense, it's like the Dallas Cowboys.
20:26
Speaker 2: Get a defense, and the Cowboys will win a Super Bowl.
20:33
Speaker 6: That was good.
20:33
Speaker 1: I don't have anything to add there. I'm not the
20:35
Speaker 1: college football aficionado, but I'd be fired up after hearing that. JB,
20:39
Speaker 1: good stuff. Thank you. We'll talk to you maybe later
20:41
Speaker 1: this week. Appreciate you. Thank you.
20:44
Speaker 3: That's JB.
20:44
Speaker 1: Also, his other son, Trey, is fantastic on GM territory.
20:48
Speaker 1: So listen to Trey and JB. They did a fresh
20:50
Speaker 1: episode last night giving you a preview of the wild
20:53
Speaker 1: card series. We're going to do some of that coming
20:55
Speaker 1: up over the next hour on FT2. Hey, Out of
20:58
Speaker 1: the Park Baseball 27 presents their 2026 postseason game. predictions
21:03
Speaker 1: based on 1,000 simulations. They've gotten the Dodgers right the
21:05
Speaker 1: last two years. They got the full World Series right
21:08
Speaker 1: a couple of years ago with Dodgers and Yankees. And
21:10
Speaker 1: if you look at their track record of history, it's
21:12
Speaker 1: been really, really good. If you followed them more often
21:14
Speaker 1: than not, you've been right way more than the average person.
21:18
Speaker 1: So because of that, we will allow them to tell
21:21
Speaker 1: us what they think is going to happen round by round.
21:23
Speaker 1: So let's do it. I'll follow the boards as we go.
21:27
Speaker 1: And I'll give you any more information that you need
21:28
Speaker 1: to know because They'll show us the percentage too, which
21:31
Speaker 1: I can tell you about. Like they think the closest
21:34
Speaker 1: series is Cubs and Padres in terms of what to decide.
21:37
Speaker 1: And they have the Cubs just narrowly over the Padres
21:40
Speaker 1: to piss off a lot of San Diego fans. 50.2%
21:42
Speaker 1: is the number there, right?
21:45
Speaker 6: Bottom right.
21:46
Speaker 1: They have the Yankees beating Boston at a 56.2% clip.
21:49
Speaker 1: Atlanta over Philly, that's the big one, 63.1%. And sorry, AJ,
21:54
Speaker 1: they have the Astros taking down the White Sox, 61.9%
21:57
Speaker 1: of simulations.
22:00
Speaker 4: Haters.
22:02
Speaker 1: Well, yes, Josh Hader. Yes, haters on the Astros. Haters.
22:06
Speaker 1: Next up, the division series. The Yankees over the Rays, 59.6%,
22:13
Speaker 1: pretty high number. They have the Brewers beating the Cubs, 63.4%.
22:17
Speaker 1: Dodgers over Atlanta is at 66.3%. And then the guardians
22:21
Speaker 1: to take down the Astros at 57.4%. Take us right
22:25
Speaker 1: to the championship series from here, where it's the Yankees
22:28
Speaker 1: and the guardians and the Dodgers and the brewers. And
22:31
Speaker 1: guess what? They have another Yankees Dodgers rematch from a
22:34
Speaker 1: couple of years ago in the world series, 65.6% for
22:37
Speaker 1: the Yankees to beat the guardians. And they have it
22:39
Speaker 1: a little closer with the Dodgers and brewers this time, 56.6% chance.
22:42
Speaker 1: Dodgers really just dusted the brewers last year. It should
22:45
Speaker 1: be tougher for them this year. World Series, Dodgers, three-peat, 61.5%
22:50
Speaker 1: chance according to 1,000 simulations.
22:54
Speaker 4: Rob Manfred on out-of-the-park baseball?
22:59
Speaker 1: That's his dream World Series matchup.
23:01
Speaker 4: I mean, jeez.
23:03
Speaker 5: It really is.
23:03
Speaker 4: I mean, Fox would also not mind that one.
23:08
Speaker 5: Either. AJ's employer would be very pleased.
23:11
Speaker 4: Very happy with that one. I mean, Dodgers, Red Sox
23:14
Speaker 4: a few years ago, but, you know. Dodgers-Yankees a couple
23:17
Speaker 4: years ago, too, was very nice. So they wouldn't be
23:20
Speaker 4: too upset about that. But, I mean, I can't argue
23:23
Speaker 4: with all this. They have all the numbers. Just like
23:25
Speaker 4: I couldn't argue when my team beat Todd's best team.
23:27
Speaker 4: I mean, you know, walk off. Sorry about it. An
23:30
Speaker 4: out-of-the-park baseball sim. But, I mean, all these sims, they
23:34
Speaker 4: did a thousand simulations. This is just you know, things,
23:36
Speaker 4: but there's things you can't account. And like last time
23:38
Speaker 4: a number 12 played for the White Sox and played
23:40
Speaker 4: the Astros in the playoffs, we swept them. So they
23:43
Speaker 4: didn't account for that, you know, 12 factor in Dyken Park. Yep.
23:47
Speaker 5: All right.
23:49
Speaker 1: Well, with all that, agree, disagree, or if you'd like
23:52
Speaker 1: to see some other predictions, AJ and Kratz made them
23:55
Speaker 1: at the top of the show, but that's it for
23:57
Speaker 1: now from out of the park baseball. They'll give us
23:59
Speaker 1: a little preview of what they do in their game
24:02
Speaker 1: on our way out.
24:05
Speaker 6: Legends live in Out of the Park Baseball 27. The
24:09
Speaker 6: brand new edition of the renowned baseball strategy game enjoyed
24:13
Speaker 6: by fans around the world is here. The newest and
24:17
Speaker 6: biggest version of Out of the Park Baseball is packed
24:20
Speaker 6: with loads of features and improvements, including all new advanced
24:25
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Speaker 6: baseball classic out of the park baseball 27 is here
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