Latest / Foul Territory / Phillies & Twins trade plans

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Phillies & Twins trade plans · Foul Territory

0:03
Speaker 1: Tuck Phillies with Mac Elb from The Athletic Matt, great
0:06
Speaker 1: to have you on, Thanks for the time. Let's start
0:09
Speaker 1: with needs and trade chatter. What do you think is
0:12
Speaker 1: gonna happen here with Philly at the deadline? They have
0:15
Speaker 1: some work to do. According to one of their best players, I.
0:20
Speaker 2: Think they're gonna find some help. I don't think it's
0:24
Speaker 2: gonna come in one trade. I think they're looking at
0:26
Speaker 2: a lot of different things right now, and they have to.
0:27
Speaker 2: I mean, they have some holes on this roster. And
0:30
Speaker 2: I think my thing with the Phillies and I think
0:32
Speaker 2: this is how generally they are looking at it is
0:35
Speaker 2: they don't need to go get the best player. They
0:37
Speaker 2: need to get the biggest upgrades. And for them, there's
0:41
Speaker 2: pretty obvious spots. I mean they are They're gonna start
0:43
Speaker 2: Andrew Paynert tonight. They are five and twenty one right now.
0:47
Speaker 2: When someone not named Sanchez, Wheeler, Lozardo or Nola starts,
0:53
Speaker 2: and even if you were to get you know, like
0:56
Speaker 2: an average pitcher for that spot, that's a pretty week
1:00
Speaker 2: upgrade from you know, going five to twenty one. In
1:02
Speaker 2: those games in the outfield, they have holes, I mean,
1:06
Speaker 2: right now, you could argue they have one guy who
1:08
Speaker 2: they've decided is now an everyday outfielder, and he wasn't
1:11
Speaker 2: on the team ten days ago. He was in the
1:13
Speaker 2: minor leagues. It's Brian Dale La Cruz, and they're platooning
1:16
Speaker 2: Brandon Marshall, platooning Justin Crawford. There's there's holes out there,
1:21
Speaker 2: there's holes in the bullpen. I think the scattershot approach
1:25
Speaker 2: for them going to find what you might call quote
1:27
Speaker 2: unquote marginal upgrades is probably where they land, because those
1:32
Speaker 2: upgrades aren't necessarily marginal for them, even if the player
1:35
Speaker 2: is somewhat average. Those are big upgrades right now for
1:38
Speaker 2: the Phillies. Given how their roster is constructed, I.
1:41
Speaker 3: Think the most value you can find isn't that starting
1:44
Speaker 3: position role. Do they go after a guy obviously the
1:48
Speaker 3: farm system is weak for the Phillies, But do they
1:51
Speaker 3: go after that guy who possibly, if needed, barring an injury,
1:57
Speaker 3: could start a playoff game, or do go after a
2:00
Speaker 3: guy who's just going to be an upgrade over what
2:03
Speaker 3: they've been throwing out there so far?
2:06
Speaker 2: Yeah, Cratty, I think the sweet spot is finding somebody
2:08
Speaker 2: who could hypothetically start a postseason game for you, or
2:12
Speaker 2: go slot and pitch some important innings in the bullpen
2:15
Speaker 2: for you, like not just be a number five guy
2:18
Speaker 2: who then is a mop up man or long reliever
2:20
Speaker 2: in October if you're there.
2:22
Speaker 4: I think the sweet spot.
2:23
Speaker 2: Is getting someone that you feel really good about putting
2:26
Speaker 2: in a rotation for the last two months of the
2:28
Speaker 2: season and as someone who you feel like, hey, this
2:30
Speaker 2: guy could pitch a seventh inning for us or get
2:32
Speaker 2: some big outs for us come October. And the thing
2:34
Speaker 2: about this trade market right now is I think that's
2:36
Speaker 2: probably the strength of the market. I mean, there are
2:38
Speaker 2: several pitchers, especially those who are rentals, who I think
2:43
Speaker 2: fit that profile. And they have looked at every single
2:45
Speaker 2: one of these guys. They're interested in every one of
2:48
Speaker 2: the starting pitchers that is a rental. They are interested
2:51
Speaker 2: in some controllable guys. They've had a lot of scouts
2:55
Speaker 2: at different places in the last week to ten days,
2:58
Speaker 2: and that's how the Phillies are I think there They've
3:01
Speaker 2: pretty much watched and talked to every team that is
3:03
Speaker 2: interested in trading away a starting pitcher.
3:06
Speaker 4: And I think that's the way.
3:07
Speaker 2: I mean, they had in the past made trades for
3:09
Speaker 2: starting pitchers at the deadline with the idea of those
3:11
Speaker 2: guys being bullpen pieces in the playoffs, and it didn't.
3:14
Speaker 4: Really work that way.
3:16
Speaker 2: Michael Lorenzen is one that comes to mind, you NOAs indguard.
3:19
Speaker 2: They traded for four years ago and he made He
3:21
Speaker 2: did start in the World Series, if we remember that,
3:24
Speaker 2: but it was more kind of like an opener type
3:26
Speaker 2: and he never really had a bullpen role that October.
3:30
Speaker 2: I think there are guys out there that fit that
3:32
Speaker 2: sort of criteria right now, and I would be surprised
3:35
Speaker 2: if they did not land one of them.
3:38
Speaker 3: All right, the outfield, do you think there's going to
3:41
Speaker 3: be some not regression progression back to this year's norm
3:46
Speaker 3: at the beginning for Brandon Marsh, or is this platoon
3:49
Speaker 3: role going to be from here on out and they
3:52
Speaker 3: go and try to pick up that Taylor Ward who
3:55
Speaker 3: they're playing this weekend and could possibly just shift locker rooms.
4:01
Speaker 2: I think we've seen some regression in the performance, you know,
4:04
Speaker 2: and Marsh is really good right when he puts the
4:06
Speaker 2: bomb play, and for the last month or so, Marsh
4:09
Speaker 2: has not been putting the bomb play. There's a lot
4:10
Speaker 2: of strikeouts. I think teams are pitching him differently. He's
4:13
Speaker 2: seen a little more outside of the zone, maybe feeling
4:16
Speaker 2: a little more pressure, He's chasing a little more outside
4:18
Speaker 2: of his own and that's not really what Brandon marsh is.
4:21
Speaker 2: You know, you could argue that his last month is
4:24
Speaker 2: is not indicative what he is, and he could argue
4:26
Speaker 2: that his first three months or maybe a little over
4:28
Speaker 2: of what he is so somewhere in between. Still a
4:30
Speaker 2: really productive player for them, you know, hardly their problem,
4:34
Speaker 2: but in July, when they've needed, you know, some offense,
4:39
Speaker 2: it's been a struggle. I mean, they haven't had great
4:41
Speaker 2: month here from Bryce Harper, they haven't had a great
4:44
Speaker 2: month here from kyleege s Warber, they had not had
4:46
Speaker 2: a great month here from Brandon Marsh and those were
4:48
Speaker 2: their three all star hitters, and I think that's why
4:51
Speaker 2: you've seen them suffer. I mean, their offense as all
4:53
Speaker 2: has actually been okay in July, but they haven't gotten
4:56
Speaker 2: major contributions from those three guys and th those three
4:59
Speaker 2: guys were power this team for the first three months,
5:02
Speaker 2: and that's I think why you kind of see them
5:04
Speaker 2: struggling here in the three and nine since the break,
5:06
Speaker 2: they've lost seven o the last eight. I don't think
5:10
Speaker 2: it's April again for them. I think April was way
5:12
Speaker 2: worse than this. But they need to pick it up.
5:16
Speaker 5: Yeah, and I think you said it right. So picking
5:18
Speaker 5: it up? You saw Bryce Harper come out and say, hey, man,
5:22
Speaker 5: we need some help. Is there I mean, maybe it's
5:25
Speaker 5: a reacher, But is there any problems in the locker
5:27
Speaker 5: room that you've seen or is it just one of
5:28
Speaker 5: those things where Harper's like, you know what, I'm gonna
5:31
Speaker 5: say what I want to say and try and get
5:33
Speaker 5: this team back on track.
5:36
Speaker 2: I don't I don't sense any issues in the clubhouse
5:38
Speaker 2: what Bryce Harper said. And I know that maybe he
5:41
Speaker 2: wasn't the most professional way.
5:42
Speaker 4: To address it.
5:44
Speaker 2: I know that a lot of people have a lot
5:46
Speaker 2: of thoughts about this, and I won I think Bryce
5:50
Speaker 2: was being honest. He answered the question you know that
5:54
Speaker 2: I was asking honestly. I mean, he said, you know,
5:56
Speaker 2: we faced a lot of good pitching of it. He said, well,
5:57
Speaker 2: come October, you guys are I can be facing a
6:00
Speaker 2: lot of good pitching. Why do you think this team
6:02
Speaker 2: can hit it?
6:03
Speaker 4: Then?
6:03
Speaker 2: And he was an honest and I think Don Manning's
6:07
Speaker 2: response was also honest, And I think Dave Debraski, you know,
6:11
Speaker 2: ten months ago, when he was questioning whether Bryce Harper,
6:15
Speaker 2: you know, wondering whether Bryce Harper is so any elite player,
6:17
Speaker 2: he was being honest. I don't think anyone isn't necessarily
6:20
Speaker 2: the wrong here. I think you have a lot of
6:22
Speaker 2: big personalities, a lot.
6:23
Speaker 4: Of big egos, a lot of people who really.
6:25
Speaker 2: Want to win.
6:27
Speaker 4: Let's make that clear.
6:28
Speaker 2: I mean, these guys all have the same goal, you know,
6:31
Speaker 2: do they necessarily think that each one of them is
6:33
Speaker 2: doing the best job?
6:35
Speaker 4: Maybe not.
6:36
Speaker 2: You know, Dave NEBRASKI, I think was right to wonder
6:39
Speaker 2: if Bryce Harper was going to be elite again. And
6:42
Speaker 2: look at the numbers. You know, the first three months
6:44
Speaker 2: Harper was great, obviously an all star. If you look
6:47
Speaker 2: at the numbers this year compared to last year, they
6:49
Speaker 2: they look kind of similar right now, and that's after
6:51
Speaker 2: a cold July. So I think Harper is right to
6:55
Speaker 2: wonder about the construction of the roster, and maybe he
6:57
Speaker 2: shouldn't have done it allowed. But I think in our
6:59
Speaker 2: business we should appreciate honesty, and they're all being honest.
7:03
Speaker 2: You guys know, you don't always like your boss. But
7:07
Speaker 2: I think in this case, everybody has the same goal.
7:10
Speaker 2: You know, we'll see how it goes. I think it's uh,
7:14
Speaker 2: there's always drama around the Phillies, and I think that's
7:17
Speaker 2: partly because people aren't afraid to speak their minds, and honestly,
7:20
Speaker 2: in my job, I appreciate that.
7:23
Speaker 3: Yeah, Matt, I'm going to tell you something, honest. Bryce
7:25
Speaker 3: Harper got the commissioner's pick for the All Star Game,
7:28
Speaker 3: So let's let's just make sure we're not inflating his
7:32
Speaker 3: numbers too much here. So, but my question is going
7:35
Speaker 3: to be another comment that Bryce mentioned. He said he
7:39
Speaker 3: brought his outfielders glove on this road trip in case
7:42
Speaker 3: they make a move. Do you see the Phillies going
7:47
Speaker 3: in that direction? And does Bryce Harper play a game
7:50
Speaker 3: in the outfield after the trade deadline because of a
7:53
Speaker 3: move that they made.
7:55
Speaker 4: I don't cratzy. I just I just don't. I mean,
7:59
Speaker 4: I don't. I don't see them.
8:00
Speaker 2: Making big positional changes during the season. I don't see
8:03
Speaker 2: a first basement available of the caliber that would bump
8:06
Speaker 2: Bryce Harper to right field. I think theoretically it's a
8:11
Speaker 2: you know, it's an interesting idea. It makes sense, Like
8:14
Speaker 2: I understand why Bryce has been, you know, so upfront
8:18
Speaker 2: about his desire to want to move back there if
8:20
Speaker 2: it makes if he's you know, he says, if it
8:22
Speaker 2: makes the team better, if we can get a bopper
8:23
Speaker 2: at first base.
8:25
Speaker 4: I don't exactly see that guy available right now, and.
8:28
Speaker 2: I also don't think the Phillies are even looking for that.
8:31
Speaker 2: I mean, time and time again, Dave Dombrowski has said
8:33
Speaker 2: that they view Bryce Harper as the first baseman. And look,
8:36
Speaker 2: Bryce Harper right now has played in every single game
8:38
Speaker 2: this season for the Phillies. Why a lot of us
8:41
Speaker 2: because he's playing first base. I mean, he has been
8:42
Speaker 2: more durable since going to first base, and I do
8:45
Speaker 2: think that that has played a role in him being
8:47
Speaker 2: able to be available more for them. That's that's a
8:51
Speaker 2: big piece of this.
8:51
Speaker 4: I think.
8:53
Speaker 3: All right, Matt, I went to go back to October
8:55
Speaker 3: last year. Do you know that the Phillies were winning
8:58
Speaker 3: every single game in the seven against the vaunted, unbeatable
9:03
Speaker 3: Los Angeles Dodgers. And we haven't spent in the first
9:06
Speaker 3: ten minutes or whatever, we've talked anything about this bullpen.
9:11
Speaker 3: No way, Dave Dombrowski doesn't allows this team to lose
9:16
Speaker 3: in the bullpen again this year in the postseason. So
9:19
Speaker 3: what are the moves that he's gonna make.
9:22
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I think part of it could be
9:24
Speaker 2: that starting pitcher that they get as somebody who they
9:26
Speaker 2: use potentially in the bullpen come October. They probably need
9:30
Speaker 2: another left handed reliever. Jose Alvardo has struggled.
9:33
Speaker 4: He's been better of late.
9:35
Speaker 2: But behind him not a ton to May's has been
9:37
Speaker 2: a really nice fine as a middle reliever this year.
9:41
Speaker 2: Tanner Banks, who was a guy for them last year,
9:43
Speaker 2: has been hurt by our leagues ineffective. The Dave Dombrowskimo
9:50
Speaker 2: is at the deadline is to go for velocity. You know,
9:53
Speaker 2: he loves targeting velocity this time of year. So I
9:55
Speaker 2: wouldn't be surprised if they do have a pickup, even
9:57
Speaker 2: if it's not like a you know, a big name,
10:00
Speaker 2: you know, somebody who does throw hard, whether it's left
10:02
Speaker 2: or right side. That said, it's not the easiest thing
10:06
Speaker 2: to find this time of year either, And I think
10:07
Speaker 2: when they're acquiring relievers, the other thing that they like
10:09
Speaker 2: is they like experience, especially at this time of year,
10:12
Speaker 2: when you're getting someone, you're like, okay, if I'm getting
10:14
Speaker 2: you know, a hard thrower from a bad team.
10:17
Speaker 4: You know, how is this guy going.
10:18
Speaker 2: To react pitching in October in the bullpen for the
10:20
Speaker 2: Philadelphia Phillies. And that's a tough question to answer sometimes,
10:23
Speaker 2: so you tend to go with experience.
10:27
Speaker 4: There's some holes back there.
10:28
Speaker 2: I mean, John Doran has been unbelievable except for the
10:31
Speaker 2: other day against Some Orleans. You're trying to get him
10:34
Speaker 2: the ball. And you know, without Brad Keller now for
10:36
Speaker 2: the rest of the season and most of next year
10:38
Speaker 2: with his elbow surgery, there are some real questions there.
10:41
Speaker 2: So you ask Kratzy, I expect him to address it somehow.
10:45
Speaker 2: I mean, I think, I really do think that even
10:47
Speaker 2: though they have the last dead last on base percentage
10:49
Speaker 2: in baseball, they have all these holes in the off,
10:52
Speaker 2: on the outfield, they have questionable defense across the field.
10:55
Speaker 2: I think pitching is their priority right now, and that's
10:58
Speaker 2: maybe because of the market. Like hitting Mark hitting trade
11:01
Speaker 2: market is not robust. I think they'll get a hitter,
11:04
Speaker 2: but I think that pitching death just more pitching, whether
11:07
Speaker 2: it's a rotation or bullpen, is their priority right now.
11:12
Speaker 3: Does Dave don Browski or Ka Long, Kevin Long the
11:15
Speaker 3: hitting coach lose his job.
11:17
Speaker 4: First, I die. I don't know.
11:21
Speaker 2: They're both under contract through at least through next year.
11:25
Speaker 2: I think Kevin Long is on the first year of
11:28
Speaker 2: a three year deal. I don't see them. I don't
11:31
Speaker 2: see either of them losing their jobs. Quite honestly. I mean,
11:33
Speaker 2: I hat Dobrowski assigns there twenty twenty seven, and I
11:35
Speaker 2: think ownership is pretty steadfast in believing that he is
11:40
Speaker 2: the right guy to lead this thing. And I would
11:43
Speaker 2: not be surprised if he gets some kind of extension
11:47
Speaker 2: after the season. You know that make sure he's lined
11:49
Speaker 2: up with whoever the manager is going to be, whether
11:52
Speaker 2: it's Maddingly or somebody else. Moving forward. You know, Dobrowski
11:56
Speaker 2: just turned seventy. He's not going to do this forever.
11:59
Speaker 2: But I do think that as long as he wants
12:01
Speaker 2: to do it, the Phillies are going to have him.
12:03
Speaker 6: Running the show. M Matt Great shirty, gotta gotta represent Lansdale.
12:18
Speaker 4: State champs. We'll see it.
12:19
Speaker 3: We'll see August seventeenth, we'll be down there salute to
12:23
Speaker 3: the champions. You know, it's just it's boring life that
12:26
Speaker 3: I live.
12:26
Speaker 1: Matt, Matt High school. Were you around there?
12:33
Speaker 4: I grew up here.
12:34
Speaker 2: I went to I went to Center Bucks West, which
12:36
Speaker 2: is used to be a football powerhouse. And they open
12:39
Speaker 2: the third High school with Christopher Dock.
12:41
Speaker 4: Uh you know.
12:42
Speaker 2: Always when I was when I was a teenager, I
12:44
Speaker 2: was writing about Christopher Dock at the local paper, the
12:47
Speaker 2: Lansdale Reporter, which I don't even know if that still exists,
12:50
Speaker 2: but yeah it is.
12:51
Speaker 3: It's called the North Penn Reporter. Get it right, you're so,
12:54
Speaker 3: you're so big city now, Matt. Used to be a
12:56
Speaker 3: writer at the North Penn Reporter and now you're and
12:59
Speaker 3: it was used to be called the North Penn Distorter.
13:02
Speaker 3: And Cebe West football, let me tell you something like
13:05
Speaker 3: that was like the apex of Northeast football. Cebe West
13:09
Speaker 3: football was. I took us more of a noseguard, Matt.
13:12
Speaker 3: But hey, you know what, maybe you were a cornerback.
13:17
Speaker 4: No, no, nothing, No, I was nothing.
13:20
Speaker 1: I watched your reporter high corner reporter. I know that world, Matt.
13:26
Speaker 1: Good stuff, man, Thank you for joining us. Really appreciate it.
13:30
Speaker 1: And make sure you check out Math's work in the
13:32
Speaker 1: athletic the next few days, the Phillies will be active.
13:35
Speaker 1: Like he said, appreciate you, Matt. Hey, guys, if you're
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Speaker 1: see you. How surprising was this the Twins one of
14:58
Speaker 1: the first to strike with a by trade in aj
15:01
Speaker 1: Minta and taking on all.
15:02
Speaker 7: Of the cash too, Huh.
15:04
Speaker 8: I think that's the most surprising part. That's not something
15:07
Speaker 8: that the Twins have typically done, taking on the cash,
15:10
Speaker 8: and it's like it was something I wanted to get
15:12
Speaker 8: out there today because this is something that they've talked
15:15
Speaker 8: about for months and look at everybody, like basically ownership
15:20
Speaker 8: has said, we want to be aggressive, and we saw
15:22
Speaker 8: it in spring training. Remember they were like one of
15:25
Speaker 8: the fourth third or fourth team in the from ber
15:28
Speaker 8: Valdez sweepstakes and they did put a one hundred million
15:32
Speaker 8: dollar offer out there.
15:33
Speaker 7: I believe like they really threw their an effort in.
15:36
Speaker 8: I don't think that they came close, and but they've
15:39
Speaker 8: been trying to be aggressive for a little while and
15:42
Speaker 8: they said, you know Tom Poulad, we had a media
15:45
Speaker 8: breakfast with him earlier this month and he said, look,
15:48
Speaker 8: we're going to have to make some moves that were
15:50
Speaker 8: not typically doing if we want to get the players
15:52
Speaker 8: that we need. And it all sounded nice and fun,
15:57
Speaker 8: but it was all really dependent on the twins.
16:00
Speaker 7: Being here in this place, and they've done it.
16:02
Speaker 8: You know, it's I know they're five hundred, but in
16:04
Speaker 8: the American League, that's that's solid ground right now. And
16:09
Speaker 8: they've signaled it over and over, you know, with Byron
16:12
Speaker 8: Buckston when Byron said he was going to stay, and
16:14
Speaker 8: part of the reason he said he was going to
16:16
Speaker 8: stay was because unless he heard different from ownership from
16:20
Speaker 8: the front office. Tom Polad's been very hands on with
16:23
Speaker 8: this team. He's been in the clubhouse a lot, He's
16:24
Speaker 8: made some road trips, he's gone, you know, he went
16:27
Speaker 8: to see Byron in Georgia in the off season. He
16:29
Speaker 8: went to see Joe Ryan California in the offseason. Like
16:33
Speaker 8: he's done some outreach because he knows that over the
16:36
Speaker 8: last couple of years they'd made so many missteps on
16:38
Speaker 8: the ownership level that they needed to correct. And one
16:41
Speaker 8: of the things was, Hey, not only do we need
16:43
Speaker 8: to win our fans back, but we need to make
16:45
Speaker 8: our players trust us again. I you know, this week,
16:48
Speaker 8: talking to guys after Jeremy's old came out on Tuesday
16:51
Speaker 8: and said we're gonna buy it was like, yes, okay,
16:56
Speaker 8: that's great, but you know, do you remember just two
16:59
Speaker 8: years ago where you said you were good bye and
17:00
Speaker 8: then you didn't.
17:01
Speaker 7: I remember the disappointment in the clubhouse.
17:03
Speaker 8: The Twins were trying to make a second straight playoff
17:06
Speaker 8: appearance in twenty twenty four and added Trevor Richards only.
17:10
Speaker 7: So yeah, to see them strike early, it sets.
17:15
Speaker 8: You know, it's not shocking that they are doing this
17:19
Speaker 8: because they've said they wanted to do this, But I
17:21
Speaker 8: mean still like they took on three million dollars. They've
17:24
Speaker 8: never done that, and for them to be one of
17:25
Speaker 8: the first teams certainly does kind of put their intentions
17:29
Speaker 8: out there.
17:31
Speaker 5: All right, So we talk about this. You explained to
17:33
Speaker 5: us how they're that close, which is great. This is
17:36
Speaker 5: awesome for the al Central. What is next? What do
17:39
Speaker 5: you think this team will do next? If anything, or
17:43
Speaker 5: you know, what do you got in your mind or
17:45
Speaker 5: what have you been hearing?
17:46
Speaker 8: Yeah, I think they still want to add and they
17:49
Speaker 8: want to add another bullpen piece. Look, this was the
17:52
Speaker 8: first go out there and get it done. And I
17:54
Speaker 8: know that their own experience last year helped them with
17:57
Speaker 8: this trade because they knew the Mets were one of
17:59
Speaker 8: those high volume teams that was going to be doing
18:02
Speaker 8: a lot of dealing, and so they reached out and said,
18:04
Speaker 8: like tried to get the conversation going and say, hey,
18:07
Speaker 8: these are the guys that we should focus on if
18:10
Speaker 8: you guys are looking to make a trade. So they
18:13
Speaker 8: got one out of the way right now. I think, look,
18:15
Speaker 8: the great part about this bullpen after trading five guys
18:19
Speaker 8: last year, after trading Louis Varlin, All Star, Joan Duran,
18:23
Speaker 8: All Star, Griffin Jacks to Tampa, doing a pretty good
18:26
Speaker 8: job as a start. Now after trading all those guys,
18:28
Speaker 8: they've still done a good job developing in house. Two
18:31
Speaker 8: guys that weren't on their roster on opening day, Joandris Gomez,
18:35
Speaker 8: who's their closer now he's twelve for twelve and saves.
18:37
Speaker 7: He's got a one seventy.
18:38
Speaker 8: Two year a that was a acquired for cash on
18:43
Speaker 8: April twenty eighth from Tampa Bay.
18:45
Speaker 7: And then Andrew Morris has really grown up.
18:49
Speaker 8: You know, this is a guy that was probably projected
18:51
Speaker 8: to be a fourth or fifth starter if he stayed
18:53
Speaker 8: in that lane, and they moved him to kind of
18:55
Speaker 8: long relief.
18:56
Speaker 7: He came up April eleventh. He just barely pitched in in.
19:00
Speaker 8: High leverage early on, but was kind of forced into
19:03
Speaker 8: it and June twelfth. Since June twelfth, you know, he's
19:06
Speaker 8: had his lump. To me, a couple of them were
19:08
Speaker 8: early on it'd be that third inning of the long
19:10
Speaker 8: reliefs than we're he'd give up two or three runs.
19:12
Speaker 8: But since June Twelfthy is a zero four to one ERA,
19:15
Speaker 8: twenty two innings, twenty strikeouts. His fastball's got like a
19:18
Speaker 8: plus eleven run value. So because they have those two guys,
19:22
Speaker 8: I think they don't feel like they have to go
19:24
Speaker 8: out like and get a Mason Miller. Obviously we don't
19:27
Speaker 8: know if Mason Miller's could be available or not, but
19:29
Speaker 8: they don't have to go out and get that big
19:30
Speaker 8: flame through our attack. They just need to get steady
19:33
Speaker 8: arms to give Derek Shelton more options. The Twins bullpen
19:37
Speaker 8: in July eighty four innings three ERA, and that's a
19:40
Speaker 8: team with a four to ninety two ERA on the season.
19:42
Speaker 8: There's more stability. They acquired Tommy Nantz July tenth. He's
19:47
Speaker 8: given them a little bit more. They just want to
19:49
Speaker 8: give themselves options. So I think another bullpen arm is certain,
19:53
Speaker 8: But also, I mean, I don't know how this team
19:56
Speaker 8: doesn't try to get a starting pitcher just because Connor
19:59
Speaker 8: pre it's been really impressive as a rookie. But you know,
20:02
Speaker 8: last year was his career high eighty two and two
20:05
Speaker 8: thirds innings. Before that, he pitched like thirty innings between
20:09
Speaker 8: college and his first couple of years as a pro.
20:12
Speaker 8: Because he's had two Tommy John surgeries. So you're looking
20:16
Speaker 8: at him in between Triple A and the Majors. He's
20:18
Speaker 8: already around ninety innings this year, and they're clearly going
20:22
Speaker 8: to want to cap that. My guess is somewhere around
20:24
Speaker 8: the one twenty one thirty range. I don't really know,
20:28
Speaker 8: but they're closely monitoring him. Obviously, Joe Ryan struggled a
20:32
Speaker 8: little bit right now. You look at that Zebbi Matthews
20:35
Speaker 8: has been good at times, he's also struggled. So, like,
20:38
Speaker 8: would it make sense to add a starting pitcher, I
20:40
Speaker 8: think so. I don't know, you know, I think bullpen
20:43
Speaker 8: was the priority. But if they can be creative and
20:46
Speaker 8: ad that rotation is definitely a spot they'll be looking.
20:50
Speaker 3: If you didn't tell me that they traded for a
20:52
Speaker 3: bullpen piece, you would have come on here yesterday and said,
20:55
Speaker 3: this bullpen is looking really strong. I know they got
20:58
Speaker 3: young guys, but since Jill, what'd you say, they have
21:01
Speaker 3: like a three era? So do you feel like they
21:04
Speaker 3: made this move because you know what, everything else is
21:07
Speaker 3: gonna be too expensive? Or did they make this move
21:10
Speaker 3: because they're like, the one thing we know is bullpen,
21:13
Speaker 3: and we're just going to continue to stop pile and
21:16
Speaker 3: stop pile and build our strength that we already have.
21:20
Speaker 8: Yeah, I think I think that they looked at it
21:23
Speaker 8: as we got to build out the bullpen. Anthony Bonda
21:26
Speaker 8: went down with the lad injury on June twenty eighth
21:29
Speaker 8: and talked about found money. The Dodgers didn't have room
21:32
Speaker 8: for him on the forty man when they were making
21:33
Speaker 8: another player acquisition, and Bonda struggled a little bit early
21:37
Speaker 8: on with the velocity. Is probably just kind of World
21:39
Speaker 8: Series hangover from pitching two years in a row into
21:43
Speaker 8: late October early November. But he really found it and
21:47
Speaker 8: really took on a leadership role with these guys, and
21:50
Speaker 8: you know, it was kind of devastating when he went down.
21:53
Speaker 8: I mean you could tell, like guys wore it pretty hard.
21:56
Speaker 8: They've done a good job getting by for the last month,
21:59
Speaker 8: you know, Cody Funderberg's come in and pitch some beginnings.
22:02
Speaker 8: Taylor Rogers, We've seen the fastball hit ninety four a
22:05
Speaker 8: couple of times, but I they just know they need more. Look,
22:09
Speaker 8: Morris is a rookie, he's a converted relief pitcher, and
22:12
Speaker 8: those guys, I've seen it with Griffin Jacks, I've seen
22:15
Speaker 8: it with other young guys. They sort of hit a
22:17
Speaker 8: wall just because they don't. Louis Varland was hitting the
22:21
Speaker 8: wall a little bit last year. He was so excellent
22:23
Speaker 8: with the Twins early on, and you could see it
22:25
Speaker 8: right before he got traded. Stuff that was getting swing
22:27
Speaker 8: and miss starts to find bats a little more. You know,
22:30
Speaker 8: you've got to give yourself as many options as possible.
22:33
Speaker 8: And as good as Morris has been, there's got to
22:36
Speaker 8: be some regression in there. I mean, maybe there isn't
22:38
Speaker 8: they They've done a great job with his pitch mix.
22:41
Speaker 8: Beyond that that fastball, his cutter has been outstanding for him.
22:46
Speaker 5: Okay, I got a fan question here from Ryan. What
22:49
Speaker 5: he's asking about Joe. Ryan, do you think since they're
22:52
Speaker 5: gonna be buyers here, they're going to extend Joe Ryan
22:55
Speaker 5: give him a little nice contract or what do you
22:57
Speaker 5: what do you think is going to happen with Joe now?
23:00
Speaker 8: I think Joe Ryan, that's something you probably look at
23:02
Speaker 8: in the offseason of trading him. Joe Ryan's wance peak market.
23:07
Speaker 8: Joe Ryan's thirty right now. And look, when you're the Twins,
23:10
Speaker 8: I think you can extend somebody long term.
23:14
Speaker 7: If they're twenty six, twenty seven, twenty eight.
23:17
Speaker 8: But when you're looking at Joe Ryan's going on like
23:19
Speaker 8: a six year deal or a seven year deal something
23:21
Speaker 8: like that. We've talked to him about this many times.
23:25
Speaker 8: He knows his value, he knows he's a good pitcher,
23:27
Speaker 8: and he's a guy that stays healthy, and so that's
23:30
Speaker 8: going to extend into like a thirty five, thirty six,
23:32
Speaker 8: thirty seven year old seasons. It's exactly why the Twins
23:36
Speaker 8: didn't sign Sunny Gray and let him go to Saint
23:38
Speaker 8: Louis a couple of years ago. Was worried about that
23:41
Speaker 8: thirty six and thirty seven year old season. They know
23:44
Speaker 8: that's not the area that they can kind of take
23:46
Speaker 8: the risks in. So my guess is right now this
23:50
Speaker 8: is they're taking this shot with this team because they're
23:53
Speaker 8: right here, you know, on the cusp of the wild card. Still,
23:57
Speaker 8: the Al Central is there to to grab. Even though
24:00
Speaker 8: the White Sox have been really impressive and Cleveland is
24:03
Speaker 8: you know, always good for whatever reason.
24:05
Speaker 7: They're just always fine pitching.
24:09
Speaker 8: But you know they look at it and they're going,
24:11
Speaker 8: we should try and do this because we've put up
24:13
Speaker 8: the white flag two many times in the past and
24:15
Speaker 8: not pushed in. So ride with Joe Ryan for now.
24:19
Speaker 8: I wouldn't be shocked if he was on the market
24:21
Speaker 8: going into the offseason.
24:24
Speaker 7: Interesting.
24:25
Speaker 5: Louis Varlin been some talks there too. Any chance that
24:28
Speaker 5: he comes back to Minnesota.
24:31
Speaker 8: Oh, he comes back to Minnesota all the time. He
24:33
Speaker 8: still lives there, So I don't think he'll be coming
24:39
Speaker 8: back Toronto, I think. Look, I mean, would Jeff Hoffman
24:43
Speaker 8: be interesting for the Twins. He's been pretty good since
24:45
Speaker 8: June one. Throw a veteran in the mix, somebody that.
24:47
Speaker 7: Knows how to get outs.
24:49
Speaker 8: I honestly, this trade for Mintor throws off what I
24:54
Speaker 8: think we know about the Twins. They've always gone for
24:57
Speaker 8: cost control guys or i'm sorry, team controllable players. They've
25:01
Speaker 8: looked at that in the past. They've also been willing
25:04
Speaker 8: to pay more in prospects than with cash, and here
25:09
Speaker 8: they went the opposite way and paid a lesser prospect
25:12
Speaker 8: and took on the cash. So you know, this makes
25:15
Speaker 8: me think, I don't know if their history should matter here,
25:18
Speaker 8: like this is a team where Tom Pole had said
25:21
Speaker 8: it for months, we have to turn this around. And
25:24
Speaker 8: the way I liked the one thing I liked they
25:26
Speaker 8: said was because I asked specifically, look, your fan your
25:31
Speaker 8: attendance is down again, and if it continues to be
25:34
Speaker 8: down and your subscriptions to your MLB TV aren't very good,
25:39
Speaker 8: does that mean the plan will change? And he said, no,
25:41
Speaker 8: this is a build it and they will come kind
25:43
Speaker 8: of situation. So it feels like there's a recognition that
25:46
Speaker 8: they've done so much to upset the fan base over
25:48
Speaker 8: the years that they're going basically in the opposite direction
25:52
Speaker 8: of what they've done in the past. And so who
25:54
Speaker 8: knows what these couple of days look like. But unfortunately,
25:57
Speaker 8: as much as it would thrill the fan base, I
25:59
Speaker 8: don't see Louis Varlin coming back.
26:02
Speaker 1: So you don't get to press the Mulligan button. That's
26:04
Speaker 1: the real thing, damn it. No mull okay mentor is
26:08
Speaker 1: a good start, that's why Dan pops on here and
26:10
Speaker 1: gives us the goods. Dan, thank you, good to talk
26:12
Speaker 1: to you, Happy trade deadline season, See you Bud.
26:15
Speaker 7: All right, guys.
26:16
Speaker 4: Thanks