Latest / Foul Territory / Fair Territory: Dodgers & Yankees sweeps, Zack Wheeler & Josh Hader shelved, Brew Crew baseball

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Fair Territory: Dodgers & Yankees sweeps, Zack Wheeler & Josh Hader shelved, Brew Crew baseball · Foul Territory

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Welcome everyone to the Monday edition of Fair Territory. I'm
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Ken Rosenthal, here with you for the next I don't know,
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: twenty five minutes or so. We have a lot to
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: talk about after an interesting weekend of baseball, with many
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: interesting weekends ahead. The first thing to talk about, of course,
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: is the Dodgers Padres series, a surprising outcome to many
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: of us, given the way the Padres were playing so
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: well going into that series, and given that the Dodgers
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: have not really reached a peak all season. Well, all
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: of that changed over the weekend at Dodgers Stadium. What happened.
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: The Dodgers swept the Padres, regained the lead in the
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: NL West, now lead by two games. And let's go
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: through the three games. A little bit before, I mentioned
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: some Padres concerns that kind of were amplified by this series. Okay,
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: Friday Night, Clayton Kershaw brilliant against the Padres and six innings,
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: one run. That was on a night when the Padres
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: had to throw a bullpen game with Michael King going
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: on the injured list. Saturday, Dylan Cees, who has had
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: an inconsistent season, was inconsistent again. Six walks in three
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: and a third innings. The Dodgers, for whatever reason, had ceases,
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: I don't know, ahead in a bad place, and they
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: did a really good job against him. Also in this
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: game Blake Snell six innings scoreless. It was the second
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: half Blake Snell that were accustomed to seeing, and Will
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: Smith the catcher for the Dodgers throughout three base runners,
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: three attempted steelers in the first two innings, and then
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: finally Sunday you saw that game. Darvius was just okay,
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: not even that for the Padres. Glass now was decent
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: five innings for the Dodgers, and Mookie Betts with the
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: go ahead homer in the eighth inning, and the Dodgers
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: bullpen bent but didn't break to complete the sweep. So
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: you have in this series, Manny Machado going one for twelve,
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: Xander Bogart's won for eleven, j Croninworth over seven Tatis
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: struck out in were times okay. The Padres offense has
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: been a question at various points this season, but one
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: question that has arisen with them with regard to their
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: offense is their surprising lack of power. It seems only
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: to be coming from Morole Loreano right now their new
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: trade deadline acquisition. That's an exaggeration, but Loreanno is the
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: one guy who went deep in this series for the Padres.
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: Actually they had a couple of other homers as well,
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: but they are not hitting home runs. And I want
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: to show you where they rank among the league leaders
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: in this regard, because this is a telling graphic that
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: we're about to show you home runs for the season.
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: The Yankees are number one, one hundred and ninety five,
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: Dodgers number two, one eighty five, The Padres are twenty
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: ninth at one five, twenty ninth, and that Pirates of
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: course next at eighty eight. They are last in the majors,
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: So the Pirates, I'm sorry. The Padres offense is a
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: concern and it has been a concern. And obviously the
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: Dodgers pitching is getting healthier. We're gonna see Tanner Scott
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: and Kirby Yates and Michael Kopek before the end of
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: the month most likely. So the Dodgers look like again
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: they've taken command. We'll see exactly how this fares out
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: next weekend in San Diego, but right now, the Dodgers
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: again have the lead, and there are two other things
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: with the Padres that kind of bothered me a little
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: bit just watching the games. Starting pitching now, it's been
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: an issue kind of at various points this season. They
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: traded two of their starters to Kansas City to make
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: room for Michael King coming back and to do some
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: other things of course, to get Freddy. For me, Nick
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: Paveda at the top, he's been really good. Cease should
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: be at the top. He's been inconsistent. As I mentioned
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: King's injury, this left knee inflammation not expected to keep
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: him out long. And then New Darvish really has not
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: been good for the most part at all. It's got
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: about a six ERA since coming off the injured list.
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: So that's a concern. And you might say ken doesn't
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: matter in the postseason because the Padres bullpen is so
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: good they're going to shortened games and they can just
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: get a couple of nings out of their starters and
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: go from there. Well, there's a concern there as well.
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: And the concern there is that the Padres bullpen has
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: three relievers in the top nine in appearances, Jason Adam,
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: Jeremiah Estrada, and Adrian Morejone. Those three guys again top
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: nine in appearances in the majors, and the concern obviously
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: would be that one or more of them wear down
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: by the postseason. Now they might say, well, Padres still
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: have Mason Miller and Roberts Suarez and others. Yes, true,
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: but the bullpen is their lynchpin. It's what they will
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: use to yes, shorten games and win games. If it's
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: not exactly right, after a starting rotation that is not
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: exactly right, then you have a problem. Tatis is another question.
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: No home runs in his last ninety seven played appearances.
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: That's the longest stretch of his career. But I would
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: expect that when the lights come on in the playoffs,
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: Tatis will be Tatis again, even though he has had
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: somewhat of a rocky season. So the Dodgers again look
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: in command of this division. They play again next weekend
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: in San Diego, much different environment. We'll see what happens then, Okay.
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: Manager Dave Roberts from the Dodgers joins Alana Rizzo and
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: Clint Pesius on Dodgers' Territory today at noon Pacific three Eastern.
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: Right after foul Territory, tune in, subscribe on YouTube and
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcast to the entire Foul Territory Network.
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: Also this weekend, a couple of disturbing injuries came to light.
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: The biggest one is Zach Wheeler, and this one is
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: a troubling one, not just from a baseball perspective, but
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: from a life perspective. A blood clot near his right shoulder.
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: We don't know more about that yet. They're going to
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: get more information as this week goes on. He's going
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: for more testing today. Obviously, a blood clot is always serious.
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: That's the biggest thing with Zach Wheeler. The question now
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: is one getting him healthy and of course two, what
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: does it mean for the Phillies going forward. It certainly
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: appears that Zach Wheeler will be out for the regular
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: season and possibly the postseason as well. We don't know
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: that for a fact yet. But the Phillies' rotation without him,
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: well it's simply not the same. It's really good. But
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: Zach Wheeler was a cy young candidate, was brilliant in
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: the first half, probably should have started the All Star Game,
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: but even then he was having some physical issues that
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: he was worried about, and that's one reason he bowed
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: out of the game. So let's look at that Phillies
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: rotation without Wheeler, because as I said, it's still good,
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: it's just not quite the same. Christopher Sanchez brilliant season.
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: He is at the top of this thing two point
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: four five ERA, Ranger Suarez at three point two eight,
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: Taiwan Walker who's having a resurgence three point three four,
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: his us Lozardo, and Aaron Nola, who came off the
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: injured list yesterday after about a three month absence. Wasn't
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: good against the Nationals. Wasn't good before he got hurt either.
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: You see the ERA there six point nine two. So
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: we're gonna have to see what kind of contribution Nola
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: can make, if any, to this team in the postseason.
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: And you saw also at the bottom of that graphic
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: Andrew Painter. He is a great Phillies pitching prospect. But
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: while he was expected to be a contributor in the
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: second half, as you saw five point one five ERA
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: at Triple A nine point four five in August. So
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: Painter still has some things to work out in the miners.
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: He is not yet ready for the majors. So that's
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: the Phillies. The other disturbing injury clearly Josh Hater left
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: shoulder capsule sprain, and that one will keep him out
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: at least three weeks. He's not going to throw. He
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: believes he will be out for the rest of the
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: regular season. Did not rule out the postseason, but I
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: would say the chances are slim that we're gonna see
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: him again this year if we do bonus for the Astros.
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: And what's interesting about the Astros besides what's happened to
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: their bullpen in which everyone has to move up a
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: rung right, Brian Abreu, Bennett Susso all of these guys
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: will now pitch in a later role. The depth is
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: not the same as it was with Hater, the most
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: dynamic reliever in the sport, or at least one of them.
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: The Astros aren't playing well. There's seven and eight since
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: the deadline when they acquired Carlos Korea. They're fourteen and
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: twenty since July sixth, and in this six game homestand
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: they just completed against the Red Sox and Orioles, they
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: were outscored forty four to seventeen, shut out twice by
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: the Orioles, nearly no hit on Friday night. If ever,
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: there was an opportunity for the Mariners to grab this thing.
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: It's right now now. Jordan Alvarez is on a realbilitation
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: assignment for the Astros. He's coming back. That's gonna be
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: a huge boost for Houston. But at the same time,
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: no Josh Hater. A team that has been decimated by
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: injuries all year, Houston I'm talking about, and a team
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: that again is wobblin. It's the time right now for
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: the Mariners to step forward and do something. All Right, Finally,
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: this weekend, I'm gonna talk about the Yankees. Six. I
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: was there Saturday for the Fox broadcast with Aj Prazenski.
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: He actually let me talk. Yes, it was great, Aj,
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: Adam Wainwright, Adam amein. That was a bit of a
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: wild game. Twelve eight, I believe is the final score.
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: The Yankees end up sweeping the Cardinals and the Guardians
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: have lost four or five. So if you look at
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: the American League wildcard standings, the panic that was perhaps
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: setting in for the Yankees and their fans about a
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: week ago has been, let's say diminished. The Yankees now
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: have again a three and a half game lead in
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: the wild card standings. It's pretty comfortable. You see it
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: right there, Yankees at sixty seven and fifty seven. Guardians
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: have lost four or five, they've fallen back. The Royals
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: are still there four games back. I don't expect you
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: through those teams to mount the serious challenge for a
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: couple of reasons. One is the Yankees' schedule. Now, we
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: saw in the last week they played five of six
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: games against the Twins, I'm sorry, six games against the
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: Twins and Cardinals and won five of them five and one.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: The Twins and Cardinals. The Twins a team that traded
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: ten players at the deadline, the Cardinals a team that
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: traded their top three relievers and spent the weekend playing
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: without two of their best position players, Brandon Donovan and
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: Wilson Contraras. Clearly this has an effect on the quality
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: of competition and the Yankees. Yes, they played better and
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: Anthony Volpi playing much better in the field, doing some
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: good things there. They still have a lot of questions.
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: Max Free does not look great, their bullpens still has
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: to be sorted out, and when will our and judge
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: play the field. All of these questions still are there
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: for the Yankees. But that schedule is going to be
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: their saving grace. It is the easiest remaining schedule in
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: the majors, according to Fangrafts. They go to Tampa Bay
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: next for a series that begins tonight, and then they
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: have Boston at home for four. I'll be there Thursday
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: night for Fox. That's going to be a big series
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: for the Yankees. But again, the rest of their schedule
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: not too bad. After the Red Sox series, they play
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: the White Sox. So the Yankees looking better, breathing again.
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: We'll see how the rest of the season plays out
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: for them, and we'll be back right after this with
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: the Inside Dish ft FAM.
• 11:12
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• 12:19
  Speaker 1: Time now for the inside Dish, the part of the
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: show where I go inside a story I've written a
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: trend in the game, or talk about something else entirely.
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: But today I want to talk about something that I
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: completely omitted in the first part of this program, and
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: I completely omitted it because I wanted to talk about
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: it in this segment. What am I referring to the Brewers.
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: Their fourteen game winning streak ended yesterday finally, but the
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: Brewers are still in position with the best record in
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: the Majors by six games. This team leads the Majors
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: by six games over the Toronto Blue Jays, who have
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: had a remarkably good season as well. The Brewers, with
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: the eighth lowest payroll in the game, are doing this,
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: leading the majors and run score, doing all kinds of things.
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: And as I wrote today in The Athletic, there's a
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: lesson there if anyone in baseball cares to heat it.
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: And the lesson you see it in every ball the
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: Brewers put in play, every runner they advance, every cutoff
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: man they hit, every extra base they take. And the
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: lesson is that here is a team that is at
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: least trying to play the game properly at a time
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: when too many organizations place too much emphasis on the
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: next big analytical thing and too little emphasis on sound
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: fundamental play. Now, as I wrote, and I want to
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: be very clear about this, because people get excited and upset,
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: I am not bashing analytics. Far from it. Analytics are
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: integral to the game. They've been an important part for
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: years now. They help players get better, they help teams evaluate,
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: they enhance everything about baseball. What I am saying here,
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: what my point is is that while organizations seem to
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: obsess over enhancing pitching velocity, hitters exit velocities Why can't
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: they do the same on the fundamental side. Why can't
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: they emphasize and stress running the bases properly, hitting the
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: cutoff man, all the little things, all the subtleties that
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: make baseball such a wonderful sport. We've talked a lot
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: about the Yankees' flaws in recent weeks, right, We've kind
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: of focused on them. It goes back to Game five
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: of last year's World Series. But it's not just the
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: Yankees who often stumble their way through games. We see
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: this with every team in every game every night. It
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: drives a lot of fans crazy, drives a lot of
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: old school baseball people, crazy, drives some media crazy. It's
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: not the game that we grew up watching. And I'm
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: not talking about going back twenty years. No analytics, no,
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: just play the game right. So, as I wrote today,
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: and I want to show you this passage. This is
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: one I'll quote from because it kind of sums up
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: the entire article. The Brewers are an outlier exploiting a
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: new market inefficiency knowing how to play baseball. They obsess
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: over little things, in part because they generally do not
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: pay for superstars who do big things. Most Brewers make
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: too little money and possess too little service time to
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: defy their detail oriented leader, manager Pat Murphy, and the
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: team's highest paid player leftfield of Christian Yelich, practices what
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: Murphy preaches, inspiring his teammates to do the same. Now,
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: the point about Murphy is important. It's important because he
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: can get away with doing things that other managers can.
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: He can bench South Frilick and Caleb Durban in the
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: middle of a game in April because they weren't doing
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: things properly from a fundamental standpoint. He can criticize and
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: bench Joey or Tiz in July for not taking the
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: right approach offensively, and in that sense he's actually add
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: an advantage because he has younger players, players with less
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: service time, as I mentioned, guys that aren't going to
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: stand up to him. Teams in small markets don't deal
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: with the noise as well that big market teams do,
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: and Brian Cashman made this point Friday in Saint Louis
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: when we were talking to him. I talked to him
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: about this as an aside. I asked about the Yankees
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: accountability and hey, what's going on there? And he said, listen,
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: in a big market. There is so much instant accountability
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: from fans, the media, so much going on that if anything, leaders, managers,
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: coaches have to take more of a supportive stance with players.
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: So you don't see Aaron Boone criticizing players. Now that's
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: a whole different issue. We can get into that, and
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: we have gotten into that. But what I'm talking about
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: here is Murphy has a freedom that maybe some other
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: teams don't. It's almost similar to the Tampa Bay Rays
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: and the way they operate. They can do things because
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: there's little media and fan scrutiny there that other teams
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: do not, So that is part of this. Another part
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: of this is, yes, the Brewers have had good fortune
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: during this incredible fifty three and seventeen run, a run
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: that has extended almost over half a season. Their batted
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: ball luck has been off the charts. Okay, batting average
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: on balls and play actual numbers exceeding expected numbers, all
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: of that, but you look at some of the other
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: numbers too. They're at the top in defense and in
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: base running. Their strikeout rates and contact rates are much
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: improved over last year. When they'm it's the same kind
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: of team essentially, and some of the base running numbers
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: also are better outside the bass down, extra base taken
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: percentage up. All of these things contribute to what is
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: an excellent offensive club. You see right there. They're offensive
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: numbers first in the majors and runs per game. They
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: also do a tremendous job on the pitching side, pitching program,
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: the development of pitchers, guys who come over there and improve,
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: it's pretty good and they do a good job with that,
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: better than a lot of clubs, and it's one reason
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: they are so successful. Quinn Priester is an example of that.
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: Trevor McGill is an example of that. There are other
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: examples up and down their staff as well. They didn't
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: do much at the deadline. We know that they didn't
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: do much in the off season. We know that. I've
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: been critical of that with them, especially during the off
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: season when I thought they had a chance to do
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: some things. They had just lost Devin Williams, they had
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: just lost Willia domas Hey, they needed some reinforcement. They
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: do it their way, and it's an awfully successful way.
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: And again it's a way that other teams should emulate,
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: not necessarily in the way they're constructed. They do what
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: they have to do under payroll restrictions. But in the
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: way they play the game, they scrap, they fight, they
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: beat teams in any number of ways, and as I wrote,
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: there's a lesson here, and it's high time other teams
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: took notice. All right, we will be back with grilling
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: ten right after.
• 19:08
  Speaker 3: This, Okay, Kratz. I opened up Arena Club, put my
• 19:13
  Speaker 3: own money in there, and I wasn't gonna go big.
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: I know.
• 19:16
  Speaker 3: We went over the Ruby pack a week ago. This
• 19:19
  Speaker 3: time I just went for the low level pack, where
• 19:21
  Speaker 3: it's an easy entry point twenty five bucks. You can
• 19:24
  Speaker 3: get yourself a big Boy card. The Grail has many
• 19:26
  Speaker 3: good options. I slice open the pack. We're looking at
• 19:29
  Speaker 3: it if you're watching us right now, and I pull
• 19:32
  Speaker 3: a card from the nineteen fifties, super cool. I enjoyed
• 19:36
  Speaker 3: the experience looking at it. It's Jim Gilliam. It's the
• 19:39
  Speaker 3: top set from the mid fifties. But I got an
• 19:42
  Speaker 3: offer for more than what the Slap pack costs, and
• 19:44
  Speaker 3: I sold it back. Tough times for the Dodgers right now,
• 19:47
  Speaker 3: don't at me, but I got twenty eight bucks instantly,
• 19:50
  Speaker 3: so I can buy another one of those packs and
• 19:52
  Speaker 3: try and get what I want.
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: Absolutely the excitement I heard Kip say before. The excitement's
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: in the chase you sold. Now you get to open
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: another one. I enjoy when you slide it across the
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: screen there and the pack opens.
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: Arenaclub dot com slash foul twenty percent off your first
• 20:08
  Speaker 3: lab packer card purchase. Get after It.
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: Time now for grilling. Can the part of the show
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: where I answer your questions? Let's get right to them.
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: First one comes from Corey, who asked, should the Pittsburgh
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: Pirates are for Connor Griffin, the game's number one prospect
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: a carving copy of the Jackson Churio contract, or do
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: you think it is too early? Maybe this off season.
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: It's an interesting question because Cheerio, as Corey remembers, signed
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: an eight year, eighty two million dollar deal with the
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: Brewers before playing a major league game. It's kind of
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: an unprecedented deal. Connor Griffin is not as far along
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: as Churio was. Churio was about to make the Milwaukee Brewers.
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: Connor Griffin just got promoted to double A. He's an
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: exciting prospect. We all know that. Say it's too soon
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: now if I'm the Pirates, though, I'm at least thinking
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: about it and trying to maybe start some conversations, because
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: let's face it, the Padres aren't exactly known for keeping
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: their homegrown prospects long term. They've done it a few times,
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: no question, Mitch Keller, Brian Reynolds, they acquired in a trade,
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: they signed these guys. But in general, let's face it,
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: the Pirates lose players, they don't keep them. Connor Griffin
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: is an incredibly talented player, a guy who's gonna hit
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: and do some things in the major leagues, no doubt.
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: But I would say, let's see what he does in
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: double A, maybe even Triple A. Let's see until he's
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: on the footstep of the majors before we anoint him
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: with millions and millions of dollars. All right. The next question,
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: this one comes from let's say, it doesn't come from anybody,
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: but it's a question. Oh yes, what are your thoughts
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: on the reaction to Rob Manfred's realignment comments. If you
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: watch Sunday Night Baseball last night, the Little League Classic,
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: the ESPN announcers interviewed Rob Manford during the game, and
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: he spoke about the potential for expansion and realignment and
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: what that would mean for the game. Now, this is
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: something that Manfred has talked about for years. I went
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: back after that interview and looked at something I wrote
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: in twenty eighteen, more than seven years ago, in which
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: he explained why realignment and why thirty two teams as
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: opposed to thirty is a magic number for baseball, realignment
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: would come. It was in this article after expansion and
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: with thirty two teams you would have eight four team divisions.
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: You could do it geographically, and as Manford explained in
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: this article, and as he explained last night, the advantage
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: to that is, well multiple advantages to it. Really. One
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: is just having teams closer together, bunched together in their divisions,
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: So that would reduce travel. Obviously, where and tear is
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: a concern. If you want to keep players as healthy
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: as possible, have them traveling as little as possible. That's
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: one thing. The other part, and this is something he
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: mentioned last night as well, the postseason in the division series. Now,
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: we could have say, I don't know, Red Sox versus Angels.
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: That was one example I believe he used, or maybe
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: it was in the article East Coast, West Coast. You
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: have games starting at ten o'clock on the East coast,
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: you have teams traveling across country. With geographic realignment, you
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: could set up your playoff system so at least in
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: the early rounds that wouldn't happen. You'd have the West
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: Coast teams playing in the West coast time slot ten o'clock,
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: whatever it might be, and the East Coast teams playing
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: in the East Coast slot. That too is an advantage.
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: So all of this is on the table. All this
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: is going to happen at some point. Manfred and the
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: baseball owners have been waiting for the Rays and the
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: A's stadium situations to resolve before moving forward with expansion,
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: the expansion that would lead to realignment. But again, it's
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: going to happen. And I was a little surprised that
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: people sounded like that we're hearing this for the first
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: time last night, but it was national television and it
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: was the commissioner talking. But this is something that again
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: has been under discussion for years. Okay, one final question
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: before we go, let's see what we have here. Why
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: do you hate the Dodgers? Says James Boshram. That's an
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: interesting question since Padre fans are always asking me why
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: do I hate the Padres. As I've always explained when
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: I get these questions, I hate all thirty teams. That's
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: how you guys see it. So that's what I'm going
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: to embrace. Actually, no, you play good, I write good
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: about you. It's pretty simple that way. You do things
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: that are dumb, I write that those things are dumb.
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: That's how it works. And Blue Jays fans think I
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: hate them, Yankee fans at times think I hate them,
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: Mets fans, on and on and on to nature of
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: my job. I get it. I'm comfortable with it. But
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: guess what, I'm gonna keep writing what I think, and
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: what I think is off of a reflection of what
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: I'm seeing on the field. All right, with that, we're
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: gonna close it out. We've got our Thursday show coming up,
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: of course, live with a lot of Rizzo's. Stay tuned
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: for that on Thursday. That will be at twelve thirty Eastern.
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: Have a great week, everyone, lots of good days ahead.
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