Latest / Foul Territory / Fair Territory: PCA's MONSTER weekend, One-Way Shohei, Yankees beat Boston, Hot Orioles amp AL WC race

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Fair Territory: PCA's MONSTER weekend, One-Way Shohei, Yankees beat Boston, Hot Orioles amp AL WC race · Foul Territory

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Welcome everyone to the Monday edition of Fair Territory. It
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: is almost September. We are one day away from September.
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: The races are heating up, both the awards races and
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: the pennant races. Actually, they've both been hot for quite
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: some time now. The awards race, let's start with the
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: one that is seemingly tilting right now, and that's the
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: NL MVP. Much to my surprise, I would say much
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: to the surprise of a lot of people in baseball,
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: the Pete Crow Armstrong is seizing control of this race
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: from Shohei Otani. And we saw Pete over the weekend,
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: five home runs in two games. He now has 38
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: for the season. That is second in the National League
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: only to Kyle Schwarber. And if you look at the
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: offensive statistical comparison between Crow Armstrong and Otani, right now,
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: you can see it right there. Crow Armstrong has him.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: He's got him in home runs, 38-30. He's got him
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: in OPS, 954. He's first in the National League in
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: that category. Otani is third at 908. Stolen bases, of course.
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: Otani is not running the way he did a few
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: years back. Excuse me. But Pete Crow Armstrong, 32 stolen bases. Now,
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: what's the rest of it? The rest of it, of course,
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: is Pete Crow Armstrong's defense in center field, which is extraordinary.
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: He is second in defense. It outs above average only
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: to Bobby Witt Jr. And then you have Otani's run prevention,
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: which relates to what he does on the mound. Now,
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: when he was pitching, he was among the best pitchers
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: in baseball. 1.79 ERA in 85 and two-thirds innings. The
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: problem is he's no longer pitching, and it appears he
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: might not pitch the rest of the season. He didn't
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: feel 100% after a 20-pitch bullpen session over the weekend,
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: and Again, it's unclear. Now, my feeling always was here
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: that if Otani came back, pitched, pitched at a reasonable level,
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: then he again would be really the favorite here. And
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: it would take an immense season to separate Kerr Armstrong
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: from Otani. That immense season is happening. And if Otani
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: doesn't pitch again, it does certainly give Kerr Armstrong a
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: leg up here. And I'm not dismissing 85 and two-thirds innings,
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: but Pete Crow Armstrong plays every day in center field.
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: I would say that, and the defense he provides is
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: more valuable even than those 85 innings, and again, he
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: has the offensive edge. Dave Roberts over the weekend said,
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: I think that just in total, show has not come
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: out of it well, referring to coming out of that
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: bullpen session. The arm, the knee, both issues. If any
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: pitcher was feeling like this, we wouldn't let him go,
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: and of course, What is the Dodgers' main concern with Otani?
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: It's not pitching. They've got Scooble, they've got Snell, they've
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: got Glasnow, they've got, of course, Yamamoto and others. What
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: they need Otani to do is be the elite hitter that,
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: of course, when healthy, he, of course, is. So that
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: is the Dodgers' primary concern, and it is a growing concern.
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: Their offense has been a concern for some time now.
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: It's a group that has some age on it. It's
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: a group that looks like it, to some degree, is
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: getting older. Well, not getting older. We know it's getting older.
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: It's playing older. Freeman, not the same. Betts, not the same. Teo,
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: not the same. Now, you also have Will Smith coming back.
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: Pahez is out. So there are some offensive questions here.
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: That's the point. And they need, the Dodgers do, Shohei
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: Otani to be the best that he can be from
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: an offensive standpoint. They cannot risk him pitching. And if
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: it costs him MVP, it costs him MVP. He's got,
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: I don't know how many at this point. He's got
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: a lot. So that is the National League MVP race story.
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: There's a fascinating race in the National League Rookie of
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: the Year competition as well. I'm going to get into
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: that in print this week and then later on one
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: of our shows. That too is maybe even more fascinating
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: than what is happening in the MVP race.
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: Kratz, I think what people are seeing on the screen
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• 5:13
  Speaker 1: Elsewhere in baseball, what was the focus of the weekend? Well, Yankees,
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: Red Sox, of course, and the AL East in general. Now,
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: I'll start with the Yankees and Red Sox because this
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: was a series that carried a lot of weight, especially
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: for late August. It's a series that determined the outcome
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: of the season series, and the Yankees, by winning three
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: or four, clinched the season series. which of course has
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: tiebreaker implications. And the Yankees, in addition, by winning three
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: or four, took a four-game lead in the wildcard race,
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: effectively five because they now have the tiebreaker. And you
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: can see right there, they're in a commanding spot should
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: these teams meet again in the wildcard round, which it
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: certainly appears they will based on those standings right there.
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: So the Yankees are in a relatively commanding position. They're
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: still in the AL East race as well with Tampa Bay,
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: have a shot there. So the Yankees, by doing this,
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: by seizing control here in a series in which they
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: look to be at a disadvantage because they have struggled
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: against left-handed pitching without judging Stanton and with Rosario being
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: better against righties this year, they've faced a lot of
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: left-handed pitching against the Red Sox, and it was seemingly
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: going to be problematic. And yet, They won 3-4, the
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: last two by utter routs. And you saw the Sunday game.
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: That was the biggest game of the year, I would say,
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: for both teams. And the Red Sox, yes, they had
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: the Raffaella call go against them, but they also fell apart,
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: losing 16-1. So the Yankees here, as I wrote and
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: as I will get into in the inside dish, they're
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: in good shape. And the Yankees, with Judge coming back,
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: probably the next homestand. They go a six-game road trip now.
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: to San Diego and Los Angeles with the Angels, and
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: then they come back to replace the Rockies and the Mets.
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: Judge should be back, based on what we're hearing, by
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: that homestand. Maybe not the Colorado series. Maybe it's just
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: the Mets series, which begins on 9-11 in New York.
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: I don't know. No one seems to know. But Judge
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: is making progress. He's accompanying them on their West Coast trip.
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: And if they get him back, In any resemblance of
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: his old self, their offense is going to be in
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: good shape. Garcia has been a big addition for them,
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: Garcia Jr. And Ramos yesterday, finally, big three-run homer. So
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: the AL East, quite interesting. Of course, you've got Tampa
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: Bay at the top. Tampa Bay swept this weekend the Padres.
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: team that is in the playoff contention as well. And
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: the Blue Jays, with Max Scherzer yesterday pitching great, moving
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: into ninth all-time on the strikeout list. The Blue Jays
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: swept the Mariners, who are just utterly collapsing. The Mariners
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: are arguably, besides the Mets, the most disappointing team in
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: baseball this season. So here are the ALEs teams kind
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: of bunching together, and there's one more ALEs team I
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: want to talk about as well. All right, Thursday on Fox,
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: we've got Red Sox and Orioles. I'll actually be at
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: Brewers and Cubs, but the Orioles swept the A's this weekend.
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: And again, each of these three teams we just discussed, Rays,
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: Blue Jays, Orioles, sweep. And they are moving into particularly
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: good wildcard position. The Orioles and Blue Jays are no
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: team since this current format was instituted. I'm sorry, no
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: division since this current format was instituted has produced three
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: wildcard teams. There is a chance three come from the
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: AL East now with the Blue Jays and Orioles surging
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: and moving into serious contention right behind the Guardians. Orioles
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: are one game below. 500. Again, we're not talking about
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: juggernauts here. But they are playing better than they have. Now,
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: they've had an easier schedule of late, but Gunnar Henderson,
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: a big day yesterday. Pete Alonso hitting the head, but
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: he's okay, according to manager Craig Albinaz. They've gotten good
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: work out of Alex Hoppe, a reliever they acquired in
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: the Taylor Ward trade. Some good things are happening there,
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: and they have the possibility of Felix Bautista coming back.
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: So I don't rule out the Orioles for wildcard position
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: or wildcard berth by any stretch of the imagination. I
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: still like the Guardians. I like what the Guardians did
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: at the deadline. I've been consistent saying that. But this
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: is going to be a very interesting division. And with
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: the Red Sox coming to Baltimore on Thursday... That is
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: going to be quite obviously a big series, and it's
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: going to be on Fox. I believe AJ will be
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: at that one. AJ will be, I don't know, eating
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: the Camden Yard. press box out of house and home.
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: So there it is. That is the ALE summary, and
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: I want to get in deeper with one particular team,
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: the team I mentioned earlier, the New York Yankees. All right,
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: MLB on Fox is streaming on Fox One. The race
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: to October starts now, and we have your front row
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: seat to the wildest walk-offs. Lights out pitching and clutch
• 10:20
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• 10:24
  Speaker 1: live or on demand. Never miss a moment. Stream now.
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: Start your Fox One three-day free trial today at foxone.com.
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: And now we will get to the Yankees. All right,
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: inside dish time. This is the part of the show
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: where I talk about a story I've written, a trend
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: in the game, something that goes a little bit deeper.
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: And today I wrote about the Yankees and their failures
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: at the deadline to address two of their biggest needs,
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: the need for a right-handed hitting catcher and their need
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: for bullpen help. And they did, as I mentioned earlier,
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: acquire Luis Garcia Jr. and Elliot Ramos, two guys who
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: should and have, in Garcia's case, helped their offense a
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: great deal, and they had severe offensive needs at the
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: deadline as well, without Judge, without Stanton. But what was
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: so interesting in the aftermath of the deadline was that
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: the Yankees did not get a reliever when a bunch
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: of relievers moved. And while they were in the mix
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: for Adley Rutschman, they did not get him either. We'll
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: get into both. Now, with the relievers, what was seemingly
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: obvious a setup or a prelude to the Yankees going
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: out and getting a reliever was their trade of Camilo Duval,
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: and then really their trade of Jake Bird and Yovani
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: Cruz as well. Those guys went to the Nationals for
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: Luis Garcia Jr. So after those moves happened, you thought, oh,
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: for sure, they're going to supplement their bullpen, and they
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: need to. Blackburn and Hedrick, they've been great for the Yankees,
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: but this is both their first full seasons as relievers,
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: and you simply need depth. So you figured going into
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: the last day, yeah, they're going to address the bullpen.
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: Now they wanted to. And they were in on Miller.
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: They were in on Murray home. But the Padres didn't
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: trade either one of those guys. And while a ton
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: of relievers were traded, as they always are, you didn't
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: really see impact relievers traded. Tyler Wells went to the Rays.
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: He's done a great job for them. Eric Miller to
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: the Red Sox. Great job. Both those guys under control.
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: Luke Weaver, probably the best reliever traded. He went to Pittsburgh.
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: Yankees didn't get any of these guys. And the reason
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: that they didn't get any of these guys goes back
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: to what they've done in recent deadlines and off-seasons. MLB.com
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: cited this statistic before the season, saying that the Yankees
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: have traded 17 players off their top 30 lists since
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: the start of 2025 well add the Ramos and Garcia
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: trades that's 22 players they've traded off their top 30
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: lists since the start of 2025 that's the most in
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: baseball it's a crazy number it's AJ Preller-esque so their
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: system while still strong at the top is weaker in
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: the middle and At this deadline, they weren't going to
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: trade George Lombard Jr. They were adamant about that, and
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: for good reason. We've seen the impact he can make,
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: especially on the defensive end. They didn't want to trade
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: the pitching prospect, Elmer Rodriguez, because they're going to need
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: him in their minds for depth down the stretch. They've
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: got double headers. They had one this weekend. They've got
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: another one at Tampa Bay later in the season. So
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: these were considerations. They wanted to keep Rodriguez. And two
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: of their other better prospects, the shortstop Dax Kilby and
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: the reliever, or actually starting pitcher, turn reliever, Carlos Legrande,
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: they got injured. So the Yankees were not in a
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: great position to make any kind of big deal. And
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: they really weren't in great position to make mid-level deals
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: because their middle or the middle of their system is
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: thinned out right now. They've got guys at the bottom,
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: high-end guys and Every team has them. Players in A-ball
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: they think are going to be superstars. But most teams
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: that are acquiring at the deadline these days are not
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: as interested in lottery tickets as they are in players
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: closer to the majors. So this is why the Yankees
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: were in a little bit of a problematic position. And
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: then when it came to the Adley-Rutchman deal, remember, he
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: was the one catcher that did get traded. Hunter Goodman
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: did not. Ryan Jeffers did not. Rutschman was the one
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: guy that was out there and ultimately went to the
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: Red Sox. So why didn't the Yankees get him? Same
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: problem as I just described with the relievers. What you
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: had was an Orioles organization looking for help, obviously. They,
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: in the Red Sox deal, land three of the Red
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: Sox top five prospects and two other players, one of
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: whom is a major leaguer, Carlos Navarez. The Yankees couldn't
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: offer the same kind of package. They didn't have it
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: for the reasons I just described. So what did the
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: Orioles do? They asked for Major League help. And what
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: they wanted, from what I understand, were two starting pitchers
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: out of a group of three, Ryan Weathers, Will Warren,
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: Elmer Rodriguez, two of those three, plus a catcher, probably
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: Austin Wells, plus a high-end, lower-level prospect. Now, I don't
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: know those names for sure. I haven't confirmed them, but
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: that was the level of or the type of package
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: they were seeking, a much different package than the Orioles
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: ultimately acquired from the Red Sox, but the kind of
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: package that really they were justified to ask for, given
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: the Yankees were protecting the top of their system. It
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: didn't have a great middle of their system. So that's
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: where it went. The Yankees ultimately decided, nah, we don't
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: want to do that. It's too much. And Probably, at
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: least at this point, their restraint, as I wrote, proved shrewd,
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: proved wise. Rushman is only 9 for 53 since the trade.
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: He was on the IL at the time of the trade.
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: He has only one year of club control remaining. It's
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: the lockout year. The Red Sox took a big swing,
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: and you can understand it. But at the same time,
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: we'll see how it works out. The Yankees, meanwhile, had
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: they traded starting pitching, that would have been really a
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: problem for them. They've got some injuries to deal with
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: right now, and Weathers is one of them. They just
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: lost Fernando Cruz out of their bullpen. He was a
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: late-inning stalwart for them. And Max Fried, while he had
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: good results Saturday night, if you watched our broadcast, Adam
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: Wainwright questioned the way he was finishing his pitches. Adam Wainwright,
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: a former pitcher who had the same injury as Fried
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: during his career, bone bruise on his elbow, he was
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: not so sure that Fried looked as sound as he
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: should have. So that's something we'll have to watch. So
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: in the end, the Yankees don't get exactly what they
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: want at the deadline. They get the two hitters, and
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: that was good, and it's worked out okay. I know
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: Ramos hasn't hit yet, but he faced a slew of righties.
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: He's really a lefty masher, and that's what he's there for.
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: Garcia Jr. has been a revelation. So we're going to
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: see what happens here, and this is what I end
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: up writing or end up concluding. We don't know if
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: the Yankees pitching is going to hold together. And we
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: don't know if ultimately they will regret not somehow trading
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: for more pitching depth. They were also looking at Kevin
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: Gossman as a starter from the Blue Jays, but again,
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: didn't have the wherewithal to get it done. All that said,
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: they've got Judge coming back. They're in good shape overall.
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: And as I said, they are a team that with
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: all these consecutive winning seasons, 33, I think it will
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: be after this one, once it's a winning season assured.
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: They are a team that still is formidable and will
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: be formidable in October and very well could be the
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: American League representative in the World Series for the second
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: time in three years. We'll be back with Grill and
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: Ken right after this. All right, time now for Grill
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: and Ken, the part of the show where I answer
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: your questions. Let's get right to them. First question comes
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: from Margaret who asked, lots of Orioles starters passed or
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: about to hit their innings max that they've ever thrown.
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: How do you think they manage it down the stretch?
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: Feels like some guys are starting to run out of gas. Margaret,
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: I don't know how they're going to manage it down
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: the stretch, but I will tell you this. A lot
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: of other teams are facing the same kinds of questions.
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: Tampa Bay is facing the question with some of their pitchers.
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: The Yankees, well, they've got a couple of guys down,
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: and they have the same issues, perhaps, with some of
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: their guys. Right down the line, you can go throughout
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: Major League Baseball and the contenders. Now, certainly, Braddish and
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: Baz and maybe even Rodgers, they're at levels where you
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: might be at a little bit of, not risk, but
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: risk of falling off. But at the same time, It's just,
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: at this point, a matter of attrition and who can
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: stay healthiest and who can stay most effective. If they
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: get some of their relievers back, Bautista and Helsley, that,
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: I imagine, would help them shorten games. I don't know
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: that Helsley's going to make it back. Bautista certainly looks
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: like he has a chance to. He's on a rehab.
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: So that would help. But at the same time, this
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: is not a problem that is unique to the Orioles.
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: All right, next question. This one comes from Armand is Amazing.
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: Did Sal Stewart lock up the NL Rookie of the Year? Well, J.J.
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: Weatherholt of the Cardinals, his primary competition, just went on
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: the injured list with a wrist problem. So that certainly
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: could amount to a separator. Weatherholt is expected back this season,
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: but Sal Stewart, my goodness, look at it right there.
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: 31 homers, 105 RBIs. I talked about this a little
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: bit earlier. I'm going to write about this this week.
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: What Sal Stewart is doing, in my opinion, cannot be ignored.
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: And I know RBIs aren't in vogue, but, well, read
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: me later this week. I'll get into it. All right,
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: let's get to the next question. This one comes from
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: Napping Manager. I like that. What general manager or president
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: of baseball operations vacancy is the most attractive right now
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: Could you see any other general manager or president of
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: baseball operations jobs opening before the offseason? This is a
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: good question. Now, which is the most attractive right now? Well,
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: we've got the A's that is open, we've got the
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: Angels that is open, and we've got the Astros. I
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: would say the Astros probably most attractive simply because they've
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: been the most competitive. With the Angels, you have the
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: question of what Artie Moreno will let you do. John Mazaloc,
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: who has taken over as the interim, certainly seems to
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: be operating with more of a free hand than some
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: of his predecessors. And then the A's, well, what's John
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: Fisher going to do? What is that team going to
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: be like as they go into Las Vegas? Are they
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: going to actually spend money or is it going to
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: be more of the same? As for openings that could arise,
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: I expect Ben Sherrington will be okay in Pittsburgh. They've
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: shown some progress, not enough, but some. And there is
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: some question in Seattle what is going to happen there,
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: but I expect that the manager, Dan Wilson, is in
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: more trouble than the front office led by Jerry DiPoto. Always,
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: it seems, that at the end of a season we
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: have one or two surprises, whether it's a general manager
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: or a manager getting fired. I don't know who those
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: surprises are going to be yet. Maybe there won't be
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: any surprises, but generally speaking, there is something that happens
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: that not necessarily was anticipated going into the end of
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: the year. All right, let's keep going here. Some good
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: questions so far. Matthew Gomez asks, are you worried about
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: the Dodgers and their record against winning teams? I am
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: worried about the Dodgers, period. And yes, they have incredible
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: starting pitching and that starting pitching is rounding into form
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: as we get closer to the playoffs. But at the
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: same time, their offense, as I mentioned earlier, is a
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: legitimate concern and it's been a concern for quite some time.
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: Mookie Betts is simply not the same player. Freddie Freeman
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: has not hit for power of late. You can go
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: right down the line, pretty much. Teoscar Hernandez, not the
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: same player. Do they always seem to rise to the
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: occasion in October? Yeah, lately, the last two years, they
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: certainly have. Do I expect that is for sure going
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: to happen this year? No. And here's the thing. Granted,
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: last year, they got to the World Series and won
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: the World Series despite having to play the wildcard round.
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: This year? I would think that if they don't get
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: a bye, and they're neck and neck with the Braves
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: right now, they're going to be pressed from the start
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: of the playoffs. Because if they're not hitting, they're going
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: to be challenged right away. Now, do I expect them
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: to advance at least past that first wildcard round? Of course.
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: Do I likely expect them to win the division series? Yes.
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: But keep in mind, this supposedly invincible team was pretty
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: darn vulnerable in the postseason until the last two years.
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: got knocked out by the Diamondbacks, got knocked out by
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: the Padres, division series, lower revenue opponents, almost lost to
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: the Padres again in 24. So we're seeing now a
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: team that is, again, getting older and a team that,
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: at least from an offensive standpoint, and even with the bullpen,
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: is not in this place where they would want to
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: be right now. Okay, let's get to another question. From
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: Foul Territory Show, Ken, what should we expect from Quetel
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: Marte down the stretch? Well, first of all, Quetel Marte
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: expected to come back for the Diamondbacks today, expected to
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: apologize to his teammates, expected to meet with reporters, and
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: presumably issue some kind of public apology. I expect he's
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: going to play well, and I expect that the team
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: is going to welcome him back. Nick Pecorio of the
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: Arizona Republic had a story yesterday, I believe, saying that
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: that the players met with General Manager Mike Hazen and
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: Manager Torrey Lovello last week, a select group of players,
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: basically the most prominent veterans. And the message that they
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: sent to the front office was, yeah, we want him back.
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: We want him back, and we want him back because
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: he's an extremely talented guy who can help us get
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: to the postseason. So I assume it's going to be
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: okay in the clubhouse. The question is, yes, what can
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: he provide? How much was that knee an issue? We
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: don't know. So he's coming back. It's going to be
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: a big story today when he meets with reporters, when
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: he talks to his teammates, and we'll just have to
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: see how this affects the Diamondbacks positively or negatively down
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: the stretch. All right, I want to thank everyone for watching,
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: for listening. Foul Territory coming up at 1 p.m. Eastern.
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: The hosts, A.J. Pruszynski, Eric Kratz, Scott Braun. The guests
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: will be Dodgers beat writer for the California Post, Jack Harris.
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: Fair Territory returns Thursday at 1230. That will be myself
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: and Alana Rizzo. That's 1230 Eastern. We'll talk to you then.
• 25:30
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