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What are exit meetings like as a player for the Pirates? · Bucco Territory: A Pittsburgh Pirates Podcast

• 0:10
  Speaker 1: What's up, everybody? Welcome back to another episode of Bucko
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: Territory presented to you by the Fowl Territory Network. I'm
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: Noah Hiles. Joining me on today's show is my guy,
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: Josh Harrison, a.k.a. Jay Hay. Platinum Key is around. He's
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: running the ones and twos. He's a little under the weather.
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: So just know he is with us. Just you don't
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: you don't get to see.
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: Oh, yeah.
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: There you hear it. Right. All right.
• 0:32
  Speaker 3: So.
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: It's the end of your show. We're not going to
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: do our final show, our season analysis show. I think
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: we'll save that for next week. But this is the
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: final show we will be recording, I believe, before the
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: Pirates regular season concludes. So it's just Josh and myself.
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: So we're going to go inside the mind of a
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: former Major League Baseball player here to kind of contextualize
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: what goes on in the final week of a regular season,
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: especially in the final week of a regular season for
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: a team that does not make the playoffs. And something
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: I always found interesting when I was on the Pirates
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: beat was learning about the exit meetings, the exit interviews.
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: They exist in every sport. They do it at the
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: collegiate level, especially like in football and basketball. And then
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: in professional sports, normally you meet with a position coach
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: or sometimes the head coach and just kind of do
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: your year end review. Like a lot of you watching
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: and listening probably go through at the end of a
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: work year. So Josh, tell us about those meetings. What
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: do you remember about your meetings at the end of
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: the season with the pirates? I know you've shared, you know,
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: away from the show and I don't know how much
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: you want to share on here about some of the
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: meetings that happened earlier in your career. Um, but tell
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: us about, you know, what is discussed in those meetings,
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: who talks with who and what the end goal really is.
• 1:54
  Speaker 3: Oh man.
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 1:55
  Speaker 3: Those entrance and exit meetings.
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: Um, everybody around the clubhouse knows when they're happening. Cause
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: you'll see the bench coach walking around, pulling in respective
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: people and, you know, they disappear for, you know, 10,
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: 15 minutes at a time.
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: And you know.
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: They're going, um, But they kind of knock them out,
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: you know, whether it's pitchers and then, you know, they'll
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: go to catchers and then infielders, outfielders, however they do it.
• 2:17
  Speaker 3: They try to do it.
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: To where, you know, it's kind of grouped because, as
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: you mentioned, you'll have your respective coaches in there. So
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: if starting pitcher, they'll have the starting pitcher, maybe the
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: bullpen coach, you know, GM being their manager. And you
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: kind of go over your whole season and, you know,
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: things you did well, things that you could have been
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: better at, things that you improved at. um kind of
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: what your future looks like and i can remember my
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: very first exit meeting was 2011 um i didn't have
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: an entrance meeting because i wasn't in big league camp
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: and i made my debut in may and that exit
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: meeting for me was kind of like man i don't
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: really know what to expect i've played a little bit
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: here and there i felt like i played well you
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: know my first time being up got optioned a little
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: bit and uh you know clint and you know neil
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: huntington and nick laver cuz um And I believe Greg
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: Ritchie was our hitting coach at the time. They go,
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: you did really well. And Clint was like, be ready
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: to come back next spring. You opened some eyes and
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: you played well. And be ready to come back next
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: year and fight for position to help this team next year,
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: whether that be out of spring, whether that be coming
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: in the middle of the season. And I end up
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: making the team out of camp. But you don't know
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: what to expect because you you might see your season.
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: You're going to see your season completely different than how
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: they see it. Cause I fast forward a year forward
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: in 2012, I was up all year and I got
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: like maybe 200 at bats and that's not a lot
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: over six months. And, you know, being 23 and a half,
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: 24 at the time, you know, my whole life I've
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: played even through the minor leagues coming up, I played,
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: you know, to go times where I'm not playing and
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: then I'm pinch hitting a role that I wasn't used to,
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: you know, that, that, that exit meeting went a little
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: different because we were talking, how can, you know, your
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: numbers against lefties or off the bench were this and that.
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: Do you need to go to winter ball? I'm like, no,
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: I don't think I need to go to winter ball.
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: It was just a case of, I, you know, face
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: these guys after, you know, not playing for 10 days
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: and not that that's an excuse, but that does bring
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: some validity to it. When you go from playing every
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: day to not playing, that's a new role for a young,
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: And that was an exit meeting where we were putting
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: our heads together. How can I get better at this?
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: Or how can I be ready in a role that
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: I wasn't, you know, I've never had to do before.
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: So me, and then you fast forward two years after 2014,
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: my first all-star year, you know, it goes, Hey, can't
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: wait to see you next spring. Come back ready to be,
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: you know, another one of the guys and continue to
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: make another push for the playoffs. And, you know, I've,
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: I've had various teammates who come out of those exit
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: meetings with different feelings of, You know, I don't know
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: where I'm going to be this offseason. I'm not sure
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: if I'm going to be tendered a contract. I'm not
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: sure if I'm going to be traded. And it could
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: be a lot of mixed emotions because, you know, not
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: everybody's coming out with that. A, be ready to be
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: a part of the team next year because you know
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: certain things. But, you know, it is one of those
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: things that it allows you to take a step back
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: and really look at your season at this point to say, OK,
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: this was good. This was not as good. This might
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: need improvement. Let's focus on this. What did you guys see?
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: This is what I felt. Where did we miss this?
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: And you just try to, you know, do whatever you
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: can to make yourself better, to help the team better,
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: but also that communication piece between y'all. That way there's
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: no disconnect on what you think I need to work
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: on and you guys think I need to work on. Yeah.
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: I mean, you hit on a lot of stuff that
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: I think makes sense, right? I mean, a lot of
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: the meetings are focused on the individual, um, Something that
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: stood out to me about the exit meetings from last year, though,
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: was there was player input on the team's trajectory. Obviously,
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: the player input from last year's exit meetings led to
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: a significant decision in the firing of pitching coach Oscar Marine.
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: And we've talked about that decision and how it played
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: out this year a ton on this show. It's also
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: been well documented that feedback from Skeens and Reynolds just
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: about what the team needs in free agency and just
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: the direction and what the culture needs moving forward was
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: really taken into account. And I think that had those
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: meetings not taken place, I don't know what last offseason
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: would have looked like, for better or for worse. Josh,
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: I wanted to ask you, I mean, were you ever
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: kind of given that type of questioning that, I guess that,
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: that Liberty to kind of weigh in on saying, Hey,
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: this is what I think we need to do to
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: get better. Or was it just always just about your
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: individual performance?
• 6:59
  Speaker 3: No.
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: So I start laughing because times have certainly changed.
• 7:03
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: They certainly can voice. I don't even want to say
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: voice their opinions more because it's not a matter of
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: them probably voicing their opinions more. They just, some of
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: their opinions get met a little easier with less pushback.
• 7:17
  Speaker 3: It's, It's a different culture. It's a different day and age.
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: But not to say that, you know, one thing that
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: I give Clint Hurdle credit for, his way that he
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: stayed engaged to where he tried to give us full
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: reign in the clubhouse was he had a leadership council,
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: which that leadership council consisted of, you know, a respective
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: leader from each position. So the starting pitchers had somebody
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: that spoke on their behalf, catchers, infielders, outfielders, bullpen.
• 7:44
  Speaker 3: And we met like once a month.
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: And, you know, what kind of voice our opinions or
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: frustrations or things we liked or didn't like. And that
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: could be from travel. That could be from how practice,
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: you know, how pregame is run or how scouting is run.
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: So I will say it wasn't just like, oh, this
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: is what we're doing. And that's what it sounds like.
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: They're going to listen to some of the guys that
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: hold some weight in that clubhouse. And that's one way that,
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: you know, Clint was, kind of able to facilitate how
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: things ran in the clubhouse was, you know, Clint didn't
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: have to come in because you know what, Kutch was
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: going to go in, AJ Burnett was going to go in,
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: you know, at the time, you know, Russ Martin was
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: going to go in. So when it came time for
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: me to be that guy that led the infield and,
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: you know, Marte or whoever was in the outfield, it
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: was already established that, you know, this is how we
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: want our culture to be. This is what we like.
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: This is what we don't like. And that's what it
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: seems like it's kind of leading to. Um, You know,
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: because ultimately the players have to go out there and perform.
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: But there's got to be some kind of common ground because,
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: you know, the staff has a job to do too. But,
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: you know, at the same time, they got to give
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: the players that trust to know that, all right, if
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: I'm giving you the ball in your court, then y'all
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: got to deliver on going out there and do what
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: you're supposed to.
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: Yeah. The leadership council thing is interesting to me. And
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: I don't know if that exists with this current Pirates
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: team or not. And I want to be clear, like,
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: when I bring up, like, the feedback that was asked
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: for at the end of last season, I think a
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: lot of that made the pirates better. Like I think
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: that they acknowledge that they needed certain types of presences
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: in the clubhouse. I think in just hearing certain things
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: from certain players saying like, Hey, we need this type
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: of guy here for the lineup, for the clubhouse. This,
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: this is how we're going to get better. I think that's,
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: that's good. But I, I've, I agree with what you said, Josh,
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: like it just needs to echo the sentiment of the
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: whole team and everyone needs to deliver on their end.
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: The players, the coaches, front office, all of it. But
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: communication is a big part of that. And that's why,
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: you know, like I said, last year's exit meetings as
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: a net hole probably made the pirates a better team
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: in 2026. I don't know if they made everyone better,
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: but I think that the pirates got better through that
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: communication that kind of set the tone of like, this
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: is what really needs to happen this off season. We
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: cannot allow 2025 to happen again because, And while it
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: might seem like that that's an obvious, duh, takeaway after
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: what happened last year, that communication kind of sets the
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: tone to make sure everyone's on the same page that
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: was here. And they need to have that happen again.
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: They need to basically have a top-to-bottom review internally and
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: figure out where everyone's at and what they need to
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: do heading into a very complicated offseason. And that's why
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: we're discussing it on the show. It's a big thing
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: that's happening this week. We're going to take a quick break.
• 10:56
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: We're going to take a quick break. When we come back,
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: our weekly segment, Jay Hay Now, here on Bucko Territory. So, Jay,
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: do you ever find yourself crashing in the afternoon, needing
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• 11:12
  Speaker 3: Oh, yeah, definitely.
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: I found myself on the golf course a lot lately. And, uh, sometimes,
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: you know, it can be long days out there. So
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: I reach in my golf bag. I keep the ultra
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: focus pouch right here with me, keep it in my
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• 11:26
  Speaker 2: as I said.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: Uh, definitely, you know, gives me a little bit of focus, uh,
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: that little bit of energy that I'm looking for. And, uh, Obviously,
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• 12:01
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• 12:05
  Speaker 3: What a play, J.M.E. All right, here we are.
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: This week's Jay Hay Now segment. As we are recording this,
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: it is Thursday. Currently, Pirates are playing at 1235 today.
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: And I just want to highlight, we talked about a
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: little bit, I think, last week or the week before.
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: They're not making the playoffs, but they're one win away
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: from having a winning season. And haven't had a winning
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: season since 2018. So given everything that they've been through
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: this year, being one win away from a winning season
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: is something to kind of be a little bit excited about.
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: Just even if you're not making the playoffs, it's been
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: eight years. So they're one game away from having a
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: winning season. I just want to say, you know, our
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: last segment with it, telling the boys to keep fighting
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: and go out there, you know, do everything that you
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: can to keep, you know, winning ball games. Cause you know,
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: you want to finish strong. You're playing for, you know,
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: you're playing for a lot right now. You know, a
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: lot of guys got a lot of things on the mind,
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: you know, in front of them, as we just talked
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: about exit meetings, you know what I mean? So there's
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: a lot in front of these guys for these last
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: couple of games, but more importantly, as I said, like
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: one went away from, clinching a winning season. And while
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: it's not the playoffs, it is something to, you know,
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: say the season hasn't been a complete bust because it's
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: been eight years.
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: Yeah. And to build off that, Josh, what real quick,
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: they're at 80 wins as we're recording this on Thursday afternoon.
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: So when we'll get them to 500, two wins for
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: the season, nonetheless, nonetheless, if they do that, I mean,
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: even if they finish 500, that would be This is
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: still already the fifth best season the Pirates have had
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: since 1992. So, or since 1990, they've had, or, or,
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: you know, no, excuse me, 1992. Yeah. Since that 20
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: year streak started, they had three playoff appearances, 2018, you
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: guys went 82 and 79 and then this. So, uh, organizationally, yeah, it's, it's,
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: it's a better year. I'll ask you this though. Can
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: a good second half, and I don't even know if
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: this was a good second half, but a good finish,
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: we'll say, and an overall improvement year to year, even
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: if it's not what you hope to achieve, can that
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: momentum carry over into a new year? And before you
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: answer that, also take into context what next year might
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: look like. Like, who knows when the season's going to start?
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: Who knows what spring training's going to look like? Who
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: knows how many regular season games will be played? assuming
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: whatever happens this off season happens, can the momentum from
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: an 80 to 82 win season sustain into opening day
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: next year?
• 15:12
  Speaker 3: You would like to say, yeah.
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: And as you look at this team, even given, you know,
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: the uncertainty of next season, you look at 2018, the last,
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: you know, winning season, that was kind of the reverse
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: of this team, you know, pretty much everybody was on
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: the way out that had been a part of something special.
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: To where this team is on the flip side to
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: where they're building towards something and they're building a core
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: to where a lot of our core was already dismantled
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: and went elsewhere. Given the hardship of this season, but
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: still looking at the positives, I think it is something
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: they can build off of. Even with the uncertainty of
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: next season, whatever happens with that. It's all the more
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: reason to You know, put pedal to the metal, not
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: saying go off, you know, put your money all out
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: in front and go sign every single body. But you
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: have to build off of this because even coming with
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: uncertainty next year, you don't want to come back from
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: that and go right back.
• 16:08
  Speaker 3: To the previous status quo.
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: So you in my eyes, yes, you build off of
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: the winning momentum that you built. Know that you had
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: a little bit of hardship injuries here. There's some bad luck.
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: You see the promise of when you got your quarterback
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: up the middle, Connor Griffin, O'Neal Cruz. um, you have
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: to compliment those guys. Cause obviously Ryan O'Hearn is still
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: here one more year. You don't know what you, you know,
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: what second base is going to be. But, um, even
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: with the uncertainty, I think that's all the more reason
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: as to why this is the time more than ever
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: for them to create a new culture, new identity and
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: start fresh.
• 16:43
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: I originally like on, on a face value, I would
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: probably be more inclined to, to say no, it like it's,
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: it's just a new year. Right. But, I think context
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: matters here. And I remember having conversations with players on
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: last year's team at the end of last year. And
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: despite all the disappointment that that group endured, the general
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: consensus around that clubhouse was like, hey, we're two established
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: bats away from being a competitive team. And they went
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: out and they got those bats. They got O'Hearn. They
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: got Lau. Not to mention Mangum. Not to mention, you know,
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: calling up Esmeralda Valdez and Connor Griffin and And they improved.
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: And so I think, yeah, you definitely can build upon
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: this momentum. But the key word in that last sentence
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: I just said is build. If everyone comes back as
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: is without Brandon Lau, and even if they bring back
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: this exact same team. I don't think that that's good enough.
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: You've got to keep pushing forward. If you find a
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: way to get Lau back, that's great, but you've still
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: got to address other holes in the roster. You prove
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: that this team, while talented, yes, has some durability concerns
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: with pitchers being able to last... throughout the duration of
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: an entire season with guys being able to stay healthy,
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: your depth was tested. And maybe it's as simple as
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: just adding additional depth at certain positions. Maybe it's finding
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: another superstar. Maybe it's just adding another guy like O'Hearn,
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: who's not a superstar, but another solid player. Like you've
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: got to keep building. And I think, If you have
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: the season that you had where you say, wow, if
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: we could have just stayed healthy, we'd be a playoff team.
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: Because that's what the players in that clubhouse.
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: Believe right now.
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: And if you go from that to even if you
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: lose your best player, you got to assume Connor Griffin's
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: going to be a lot better next year. And if
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: you just go and you make moves that ensure that
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: when your shortstop goes down or center fielder, that you
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: have a little bit more to offer, that you have
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: a little bit more support for your rotation. just sure
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: up the weaknesses that candidly are a lot easier to
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: address this winter than the ones that they successfully addressed
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: last winter. If you keep building, then yeah, I do
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: think that this is momentum that can be carried over.
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: But if you do what they did after 2024, where
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: they showed signs of life, they were a team that
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: at the trade deadline was on the cusp of the
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: post-season that bought at the deadline, but then fell apart.
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: And if you go into this offseason the same way
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: they went into the 2025 offseason, which was, oh, we
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: were really close. Everyone's just going to get a little
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: bit better. And that same team will get better. I
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: don't think that momentum transfers over. You've got to keep
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: building around this thing. You have Connor Griffin on a very, very,
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: very cheap deal as far as what he's making next year.
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: His big money doesn't kick in until later. And I
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: understand that Mitch's money is going to go up. I
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: understand that Reynolds' money is going to go up. But
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: you're getting Laos cash off the books. You're getting Soto's
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: cash off the books. And, candidly, you should still be
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: spending more money. Payroll should continue to go up. This
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: team was better. I would assume more fans showed up.
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: I don't have the attendance numbers in front of me.
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: Even if they didn't, This group deserves further investment. You
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: didn't make that investment at the trade deadline. You should
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: do it in the offseason. Even if it's not bringing
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: back Brandon Lau, you've got to figure out a way
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: to keep building and let these guys know that, yes,
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: you are better. Yes, you should believe in who's here.
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: And yes, you have earned the right to get additional reinforcements.
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: If you do that, yes, then this September will have
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: been worth something. But if they just roll out the
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: same team minus Brandon Lau next year, I don't know
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: if that's going to have the same impact and that
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: might just be a talent thing. But I also think
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: that that plays into the heads of players too, by
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: saying like, okay, like this is just all the help
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: we're ever going to get then. Yeah. So we want
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: you all to help us by hitting that subscribe button.
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: We're on a mission to 3000. Can't get there without
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: your help. Also want to remind you all to check
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: out the Bucko territory team store. Josh, any final thoughts?
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: Um, No, just looking forward to see what they do
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: at the last home game and want to send well
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: wishes to our boy Platinum Key.
• 21:13
  Speaker 3: Yes, same.
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: Get well, Mark. Appreciate you guys. Yeah, we appreciate you too.
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: For Platinum Key and Josh Harrison, I'm Noah Heil signing off,
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: saying thanks for tuning in to another episode of Bucko
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: Territory presented to you by the Foul Territory Network.
• 21:27
  Speaker 3: Take care.