Latest / Foul Territory / Kyle Glaser on Jackson Merrill extension & undefeated Padres, Chef Ron on viral milkshakes

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Kyle Glaser on Jackson Merrill extension & undefeated Padres, Chef Ron on viral milkshakes · Foul Territory

0:00
Speaker 1: This is as impressive of a stretch I can remember,
0:02
Speaker 1: and I've been covering this team since twenty fifteen and
0:05
Speaker 1: watching this team since I was nine years old at
0:07
Speaker 1: nineteen ninety seven.
0:13
Speaker 2: Let's talk undefeated to Padres with Kyle Glazer, your superstar
0:17
Speaker 2: host of Friar Territory. Kyle, great to have you on
0:20
Speaker 2: and of course you're enjoying watching a little Padres ball
0:23
Speaker 2: right now. But before we get to the team on
0:25
Speaker 2: the field, let's get to the money moves. Jackson Merrill
0:28
Speaker 2: signs this big nine year contract extension could turn into ten.
0:33
Speaker 2: What did you think when you saw this?
0:35
Speaker 1: It wasn't a huge surprise. The Padres had approached Jackson
0:39
Speaker 1: Merrill about an extension even when he was still in
0:41
Speaker 1: the minor leagues, especially given the season he had last
0:44
Speaker 1: year as a rookie, the hot start he was off
0:46
Speaker 1: to this year. There was a sense that this was
0:49
Speaker 1: going to come sooner rather than later. It was just
0:51
Speaker 1: a matter of when. Nine years, one hundred and thirty
0:54
Speaker 1: five million dollars, As you mentioned, it can become ten
0:57
Speaker 1: years and up to two hundred and four million, depending
1:00
Speaker 1: on various options and escalators. All in all, this was
1:03
Speaker 1: a deal that made a lot of sense for both sides,
1:05
Speaker 1: And again it was really just a matter of when
1:08
Speaker 1: this had been in the works for some time.
1:10
Speaker 3: Is this showing us how much one hundred and thirty
1:12
Speaker 3: five million dollars is?
1:14
Speaker 4: I get it.
1:14
Speaker 3: Jackson Merrill could have been minus Paul Schemes, he could
1:17
Speaker 3: have been Rookie of the Year last year. But all
1:19
Speaker 3: we heard about the Padres was we got to cut guys.
1:22
Speaker 3: They're talking about possibly trading Dylan ceases ten million dollars, Like,
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Speaker 3: does this show us what one hundred and thirty five
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Speaker 3: million dollars over nine years really is to a team?
1:32
Speaker 1: Not necessarily, the Potters have a lot of money coming
1:35
Speaker 1: off the books after this season. Dylan Ceci will be
1:38
Speaker 1: a free agent, Michael King will be a free agent,
1:40
Speaker 1: Loose Rise will be a free agent. So for the
1:42
Speaker 1: Potter is a lot of their payroll concerns were related
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Speaker 1: to twenty twenty five. With the money they have coming
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Speaker 1: off the books in future years. Darvish's deal comes off
1:50
Speaker 1: the books in a few years as well. Muscroves in
1:52
Speaker 1: a few years as well. There is long term money
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Speaker 1: in the organization. It was more about finding short term
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Speaker 1: payroll room. But we saw even with the Nick Pivetta
1:59
Speaker 1: deal the way that was struck, He's not making a
2:00
Speaker 1: lot this year, just a one million dollar base salary,
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Speaker 1: but he, depending on if he ops out, will get
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Speaker 1: paid in future years. So same thing with the Jackson
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Speaker 1: Merrel extension. Most of the money pretty much all that's
2:10
Speaker 1: going to come in future years. So it was just
2:12
Speaker 1: about payroll for this year. They have plenty of money
2:14
Speaker 1: for future years.
2:16
Speaker 5: Kyle, was great seeing you on Saturday. I really really
2:18
Speaker 5: appreciate the insight you brought to me. Thank you so thanks.
2:21
Speaker 5: Before I did the game, appreciate it. And second of all,
2:23
Speaker 5: have you read all the books on the shelf behind you,
2:25
Speaker 5: because I just don't know how you keep up with
2:27
Speaker 5: all those books.
2:29
Speaker 1: This is actually I'm down San Diego, hanging out at
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Speaker 1: my parents' house. Just stopped by for a little bit
2:36
Speaker 1: and they're in the process of moving, so they've actually
2:38
Speaker 1: cleared everything out. So this is not my house. My house,
2:40
Speaker 1: as you guys have seen, there's plenty of books on
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Speaker 1: the shelves.
2:43
Speaker 5: Okay, all right, and then I'll and then let me
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Speaker 5: ask you this. Listen, Jackson Merrill deserves every since he
2:47
Speaker 5: got He also told me it was very nice to meet.
2:50
Speaker 5: He actually said he was honored to meet me on Saturday.
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Speaker 5: So listen, he should have got two hundred and fifty
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Speaker 5: million overs like years. I don't know, but when you
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Speaker 5: watch this team, this guy hits forth for the team. Okay,
3:01
Speaker 5: he's gotten I mean, how many big hits did he
3:03
Speaker 5: get for him last year? Whole walkoff homers. He's already
3:06
Speaker 5: done it this year for him. I think, to me,
3:09
Speaker 5: this was a no brainer. This was a we're gonna
3:11
Speaker 5: try and catch the Ronald acuna Azzi, Albi's brave extension
3:15
Speaker 5: and the Padres have done this with cronin Worth and
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Speaker 5: some other guys. I love this, Moe. I just don't
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Speaker 5: see a downside to this at all from either side exactly.
3:24
Speaker 1: When you look at the number of players who have
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Speaker 1: gone straight from Double A to the majors and have
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Speaker 1: the success Jackson Merril has, it's a very very short list.
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Speaker 1: It's Mike Trout, It's Juan Soto, It's Julio Rodriguez, it'z
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Speaker 1: Fernando Tatis Junior. The guys who have done what Jackson
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Speaker 1: Merril has done in terms of the top three Rookie
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Speaker 1: the Year finish jumping straight from Double A to the majors.
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Speaker 1: They're all superstars. It's a very very short list, and
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Speaker 1: you consider he did that while also playing an entirely
3:50
Speaker 1: new position, going from shortstop to center field, which he
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Speaker 1: had never played before. You mentioned the home runs. He
3:55
Speaker 1: had five go ahead or game tying home runs in
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Speaker 1: the eighth inning or later last year the t twenty
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Speaker 1: one year old. The only other players who've ever done
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Speaker 1: that are Frank Robinson, a Melot two Hall of famers.
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Speaker 1: The company Jackson Merril is in already with what he's
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Speaker 1: accomplished at a young age is pretty elite company. And
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Speaker 1: you mentioned the Acuna extension. That's actually a really good
4:13
Speaker 1: comparison for this one when you look at they were
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Speaker 1: both twenty one years old when they signed it. They
4:17
Speaker 1: both signed it after great rookie seasons, and funny enough,
4:20
Speaker 1: they both signed it on April second, acunyas was April second,
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Speaker 1: twenty nineteen. So just in terms of where they are
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Speaker 1: in their careers, the timing what they've accomplished, that's actually
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Speaker 1: the most direct comp and we've seen, even though Ronald
4:30
Speaker 1: Acunya has had two ACL tears and miss significant time,
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Speaker 1: the extension has still been more than worth it, even
4:37
Speaker 1: with some serious injuries. So from the Potters' perspective, like
4:40
Speaker 1: you said, there's really no downside here given what Meryl
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Speaker 1: has shown already, and from Meryl's perspective, it is generational
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Speaker 1: wealth for him and his family. And oh, by the way,
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Speaker 1: he could still be a free agent at thirty and
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Speaker 1: get a second payday.
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Speaker 3: What kind of projection do you see for Jackson Maryland
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Speaker 3: Because you see a twenty year old and you're like, okay,
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Speaker 3: he can do this, acunya did this and his second year,
5:01
Speaker 3: are we talking a guy that can do can get
5:04
Speaker 3: you forty bags? Or like where are those where are
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Speaker 3: those core numbers going to be for the Jackson Merrill
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Speaker 3: prime time?
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Speaker 1: Well, consider the fact that he already hit twenty four
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Speaker 1: home runs as a rookie last year, and let's not
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Speaker 1: forget he was fifth in the majors in the nationally
5:20
Speaker 1: and batting average last year and six and slugging percentage.
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Speaker 1: He was already one of the top six contact and
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Speaker 1: power hitters in the NL last year. This is a
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Speaker 1: kid who still has room to get bigger and stronger,
5:30
Speaker 1: still has room to improve against lefties. There's still growth
5:33
Speaker 1: for him, which is really really scary when he consider
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Speaker 1: he hit two ninety with twenty four bombs last year
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Speaker 1: and still has room for improvement. I mean, three hundred
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Speaker 1: with thirty homers a year and twenty steals a year
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Speaker 1: doesn't feel crazy. That would actually just be a pretty
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Speaker 1: modest improvement for him. He was an All Star last
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Speaker 1: year and right now he looks like a premnial All Star.
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Speaker 4: Again.
5:51
Speaker 1: It's still early. You don't want to go crazy over
5:53
Speaker 1: six games, but just the way he's come out swinging
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Speaker 1: the bat this year. He's balanced, he's on time, it's short, compact, twite,
6:00
Speaker 1: tight and pactful. It's everything you want to see. Frankly,
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Speaker 1: he's swinging. He looks like a batting champion of the
6:05
Speaker 1: way he's swinging right now. Yeah, I got three hundred
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Speaker 1: and thirty homers twenty steals. That would just be a
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Speaker 1: modest improvement over last year. And I think will very
6:13
Speaker 1: easily attain that. And I'm not going to put a
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Speaker 1: ceiling on this kid. He can do even more for sure.
6:20
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7:18
Speaker 4: FA foutou, Kyle.
7:22
Speaker 5: Who's gonna lose first? The Padres are the Dodgers.
7:27
Speaker 1: I gotta say, the way both teams are playing right now,
7:29
Speaker 1: it's hard to see either than losing. In all seriousness, Look,
7:32
Speaker 1: we know no one's going one hundred and sixty two
7:33
Speaker 1: to zero. The Padres head out on the road to
7:35
Speaker 1: Chicago after this home set. That'll be tough the same
7:38
Speaker 1: time you're traveling. The Cubs are a good team Brigleyfield.
7:40
Speaker 1: But the thing that's been really impressed about the Padres
7:43
Speaker 1: is they're just playing such complete baseball right now. It's
7:46
Speaker 1: all facets, hitting, pitching, defense, base running. Everything has been
7:50
Speaker 1: on point. They're coming up with the big hits home runs,
7:53
Speaker 1: but they're stealing bases, they're going first to third, they're
7:56
Speaker 1: laying down sack buns, they're making great reads of the dirt.
7:59
Speaker 1: They're playing mark aggressive, high quality baseball all the way around.
8:04
Speaker 1: This is as sharp of baseballs as really I can
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Speaker 1: remember the Potters playing. They were great last year in stretches,
8:09
Speaker 1: but just every facet of the game being on point.
8:12
Speaker 1: This is as impressive of a stretch I can remember.
8:14
Speaker 1: And I've been covering this team since twenty fifteen and
8:17
Speaker 1: watching this team since I was nine years old in
8:19
Speaker 1: nineteen ninety seven.
8:21
Speaker 5: Wow, I mean they're still in bases like crazy, which
8:23
Speaker 5: I don't think a lot of people thought they could do,
8:25
Speaker 5: which is awesome. That Michael King has been unbelievable. As
8:27
Speaker 5: last Star Seas was pretty good. I mean, Randy Vasquez
8:30
Speaker 5: went six shutty against the Braves. This team is bullpen
8:34
Speaker 5: has been unbelievable. The question is is with Michael King.
8:37
Speaker 5: I know they signed him to a one year deal
8:38
Speaker 5: with a mutual option. Why didn't if they were going
8:40
Speaker 5: to do this with Jackson Merrill, why didn't they go
8:42
Speaker 5: long term with Michael King?
8:43
Speaker 1: Also, I mean keep in mind, it takes two to tango, right,
8:47
Speaker 1: Michael King has a chance to be a free agent
8:49
Speaker 1: after this year, and a lot of players look forward
8:50
Speaker 1: to that. I mean you can speak to that. Aj
8:52
Speaker 1: Eric op to that. I mean, everyone's different. So I
8:55
Speaker 1: think for Michael King, this was let's get you locked
8:57
Speaker 1: up for this year. We obviously would love to have
9:00
Speaker 1: you back if it makes sense the year after again,
9:02
Speaker 1: everyone in San Diego wants Michael came back, and it's
9:05
Speaker 1: just gonna be up to him. The kind of year
9:06
Speaker 1: he has. We'll see. He was great last night. Five innings,
9:09
Speaker 1: two hits, no runs, eleven strikeouts. He looks every bit.
9:14
Speaker 1: You know, Opening days start didn't go great, but it's
9:16
Speaker 1: opening day, it's March.
9:17
Speaker 4: It happens.
9:18
Speaker 1: If he continues to pitch like he did last night,
9:21
Speaker 1: he's going to be able to opt out and get
9:22
Speaker 1: a massive, massive, massive payday. So it's just gonna be
9:25
Speaker 1: about what he wants.
9:26
Speaker 2: To do, all right, Kyle, Where in your mind are
9:33
Speaker 2: you most surprised right now? I mean we can double
9:36
Speaker 2: click more on the stolen basis or you know, what's
9:38
Speaker 2: one part of the team where you were like this
9:40
Speaker 2: might hold them back and right now you're like, nah,
9:42
Speaker 2: they're good.
9:44
Speaker 1: The bottom of the lineup, the bottom third of the lineup.
9:46
Speaker 1: You knew the top six was going to be great
9:48
Speaker 1: with Tatisa Rise, you know, Bachado, Bogart's Corona Worth, et cetera,
9:52
Speaker 1: but there were several questions the bottom third lineup instead.
9:55
Speaker 1: Gavin Sheets has come out and been absolutely on a tear.
9:58
Speaker 1: He's already become a fan favorite. On Monday Night, forty
10:01
Speaker 1: three thousand people in San Diego screaming, Holy Sheets. He's
10:04
Speaker 1: already got his own chant. He's beencome with big Homer's
10:07
Speaker 1: big doubles. He looks like the type of hitter most
10:10
Speaker 1: projected him to be coming out of Wake Forest a
10:12
Speaker 1: few years ago. We've seen Elias Diaz and Martin Maldonado
10:15
Speaker 1: get some big knocks out of the number nine spots.
10:17
Speaker 1: Catchers Bradon Lockridge has come up with some big hits.
10:20
Speaker 1: Juli Gariel had to pinch hit and go ahead. RBIs
10:22
Speaker 1: single the other day. So the big question for the
10:25
Speaker 1: Potters was what's the bottom third of this lineup going.
10:27
Speaker 4: To look like?
10:28
Speaker 1: Because look, you need to be able to hit one
10:31
Speaker 1: through nine if you want to contend against the Dodgers,
10:34
Speaker 1: the Braves, the Phillies.
10:35
Speaker 4: And the n L.
10:36
Speaker 1: And so far, so good. Again, it's only been six games.
10:38
Speaker 1: You don't want to go too crazy, but I think
10:40
Speaker 1: there's no question after seeing the quality about bats, seeing
10:42
Speaker 1: the quality of contact, seeing the production, you feel better
10:46
Speaker 1: about the bottom third of the Potterings lineup today than
10:48
Speaker 1: you did this time a week ago.
10:50
Speaker 5: Was sheets just a classic change of scenery.
10:53
Speaker 3: Guy?
10:53
Speaker 5: I know he was in Chicago, but I talked to
10:55
Speaker 5: him on Saturday and he said he made some mechanical
10:57
Speaker 5: adjustments with his swing and was it was minor, it
11:01
Speaker 5: would be it would be major to somebody that does
11:04
Speaker 5: that hadn't played baseball, you know, But to talk to him,
11:07
Speaker 5: I understand where he made some adjustments to is this
11:09
Speaker 5: something one he can keep going? Which I think he
11:11
Speaker 5: can because he's always had power, and he'll get the
11:14
Speaker 5: opportunity I think in San Diego. But was this just
11:17
Speaker 5: a case of a new set of eyes on him
11:18
Speaker 5: that's telling him something new.
11:20
Speaker 1: It's a little bit of that as well as the
11:22
Speaker 1: physical changes. So I've talked to Gavin a few times
11:24
Speaker 1: here over the home stand first and foremost, he's standing
11:26
Speaker 1: a little more upright in his stands, just getting into
11:28
Speaker 1: a better position to see the ball and also get
11:30
Speaker 1: his load, you know, where he wants it to be.
11:33
Speaker 1: The approach has improved as well. He's using the whole field,
11:35
Speaker 1: and that's what he should be. He's always been a big,
11:37
Speaker 1: strong guy who can go yard to any part of
11:39
Speaker 1: the park. So a little bit of an adjustment with
11:41
Speaker 1: his stands, a little bit of an adjustment his approach.
11:43
Speaker 1: But the other thing he talked about is he's having
11:45
Speaker 1: fun again. And I want to be clear, he's always
11:48
Speaker 1: spoken positive, positively about his time with the White Sox
11:51
Speaker 1: and the organization that drafted him at, the organization that
11:53
Speaker 1: made him a big leader, but he acknowledged there was
11:56
Speaker 1: a one or two year span there where he just
11:58
Speaker 1: kind of wasn't having fun anymore. And it's hard to
12:00
Speaker 1: have fun when you're going forty one and one twenty one,
12:03
Speaker 1: and we all know that the White Sox Clubhouse was
12:06
Speaker 1: was not a great place to be the last few years.
12:08
Speaker 1: So we've talked about come to San Diego. He's used
12:10
Speaker 1: the word refreshed a lot, refreshed, refreshing, He's used various
12:13
Speaker 1: forms of that word over and over and over again.
12:15
Speaker 1: So I think we're seeing now the Gavin Sheets we
12:18
Speaker 1: knew was always in there. I covered him at Wake Forest,
12:20
Speaker 1: I covered him the Miners, when I was at Baseball America,
12:23
Speaker 1: where you saw this was a big left handed power
12:25
Speaker 1: hitter with good strikes on discipline who had a chance
12:28
Speaker 1: to hit twenty homers a year. Now that he's made
12:30
Speaker 1: some physical adjustments, now that he's having fun again, it's
12:33
Speaker 1: just in a better headspace. The great heading coach in
12:35
Speaker 1: Victor Rodriguez, and a lot of support in the lineup
12:38
Speaker 1: around him, we're starting to see the best version of
12:40
Speaker 1: Gavin Sheets. I do believe he will have a good
12:43
Speaker 1: year two sixty twenty home runs or so. That looks
12:46
Speaker 1: very very possible the way he's swinging the bat right now.
12:49
Speaker 3: Let's go to Luis count Pusano. He counted prospect, came
12:54
Speaker 3: up young, three hundred hitter in the minor leagues. He's
12:57
Speaker 3: now back down in the minor leagues. Is this something
13:01
Speaker 3: that it's hey, you know what, go back down and
13:03
Speaker 3: hit three hundred again, especially since he's going to be
13:05
Speaker 3: in Al Paso and everybody hits three hundred there. Or
13:08
Speaker 3: is this something that his flame is kind of going
13:12
Speaker 3: out for the Padres.
13:15
Speaker 1: The biggest issue with Louise Campasano, dating back to when
13:18
Speaker 1: he was an a ball fort Wayne has been the
13:21
Speaker 1: leadership intangible aspects of the game. Eric and Aja, you
13:24
Speaker 1: guys can Bill speak to this, but how important it
13:26
Speaker 1: is as a catcher to have the trust of your pittures,
13:29
Speaker 1: to build those relationships, to do all the things, the
13:32
Speaker 1: work ethic behind the plate that is going to make pictures.
13:34
Speaker 1: Trust you. Louis Campasano has always hit. He's always been
13:37
Speaker 1: able to hit. He struggled last year, had some mechanical issues,
13:40
Speaker 1: but there's never been any question about his ability to hit.
13:43
Speaker 1: That's not what the potters are going to be looking
13:44
Speaker 1: for out of him at El Paso. It's going to
13:47
Speaker 1: be the defense he needs to improve. Really everything his
13:49
Speaker 1: framing is blocking his throwing. But also the intangibles, the leadership,
13:54
Speaker 1: the maturity. That is something that has always been lacking
13:57
Speaker 1: with him and something that has been a point of
14:00
Speaker 1: emphasis for seven years now and it's still not where Pottery.
14:04
Speaker 1: Multiple versions of Potter's coaching staffs have been comfortable putting
14:08
Speaker 1: him behind the plate. So that's really what the Potters
14:11
Speaker 1: want and need to see. Again, he's still in his
14:13
Speaker 1: mid twenties. He still has time to continue growing and
14:15
Speaker 1: mature as a player, so you don't want to completely
14:18
Speaker 1: bury him yet at a certain point you need to
14:21
Speaker 1: see those leaps in terms of leadership and maturity and
14:23
Speaker 1: the mental side of the game. He just hasn't happened.
14:28
Speaker 2: Kyle, let's finish with this. Tell everyone why they should
14:31
Speaker 2: be watching and listening to Friar Territory, whether they like
14:34
Speaker 2: the Friars or they're Padres haters and they just want
14:37
Speaker 2: to check in on their rivals.
14:40
Speaker 1: Absolutely, we've got a lot of great stuff. We have
14:42
Speaker 1: Mike Cameron and Heath Bell to former All Stars as
14:44
Speaker 1: co hosts. Brings some really great analysis and inside about
14:47
Speaker 1: their career. Is what happens you know in the clubhouse,
14:50
Speaker 1: behind the scenes, and we talk all things Major League baseball.
14:53
Speaker 1: Obviously it's a Pottery centric show, but we talk about
14:55
Speaker 1: all the big stories, what's going on, what opponents are
14:58
Speaker 1: looking like. So whether you're a Potter's fan or not,
15:01
Speaker 1: there's information there for you. And again, great insight from
15:04
Speaker 1: Mike and Heath. And it's a good time as always
15:06
Speaker 1: with those two as well, great personalities as well as
15:08
Speaker 1: great for baseball minds.
15:10
Speaker 2: It is really really good insight. And yeah, I mean
15:13
Speaker 2: Mike Cameron obviously, can you know, deliver with the best
15:17
Speaker 2: of them, really good monologues. I guess Heath fell too.
15:20
Speaker 2: I didn't know as much about Heath, but I mean
15:22
Speaker 2: he can bring it. He's got good takes and he's watching.
15:26
Speaker 2: He knows Padres.
15:27
Speaker 5: I'm gonna have to tune in since since according to
15:30
Speaker 5: people in the chat, I hate the Padres.
15:35
Speaker 2: Nah, that's just a roll with a bad screen name.
15:37
Speaker 2: All right, Kyle, this was awesome. Thank you, good talking
15:40
Speaker 2: you in. We'll catch you soon. Okay, sounds good.
15:43
Speaker 4: Thanks guys.
15:44
Speaker 2: So joining us on behalf of Levy, the hospitality partner
15:47
Speaker 2: of the Chicago Cubs is Levy Chef and Senior vice
15:50
Speaker 2: president of culinary Ron krivsk and Chef ron is what
15:54
Speaker 2: we can call him. He's gonna tell us about the
15:56
Speaker 2: baseball donuts, but also everything else that's happening over at
15:59
Speaker 2: Wrigley Feel so, Chef Ron, great to have you on
16:02
Speaker 2: the show. I'm excited to get into some food talk
16:04
Speaker 2: at the ballpark. How are you and how's the food
16:07
Speaker 2: life going for in this first week of the season.
16:10
Speaker 6: First week of the season, It's going great. We've had
16:13
Speaker 6: some great play. A little slow on the south side
16:16
Speaker 6: today with a little bit of rain, but north side
16:19
Speaker 6: we're going to have a little bit of weather, but
16:22
Speaker 6: it's it's gonna be chilly, but we'll get there.
16:27
Speaker 5: Chef cheff Ron, First of all, I mean Scott's talking
16:29
Speaker 5: about Wrigley. Can we can we talk about the other.
16:31
Speaker 4: Side of town?
16:31
Speaker 5: I mean, yeah, let's talk about the real, real Chicago
16:35
Speaker 5: ones hang out. Okay, I mean let's talk about the
16:37
Speaker 5: food you guys. You guys used to give us food
16:40
Speaker 5: in the clubhouse all the time, so I know all
16:42
Speaker 5: about your restaurant on what you guys do. What's the
16:44
Speaker 5: cool thing this year at White Sox Park. Forget the Cubs,
16:48
Speaker 5: someone cares.
16:49
Speaker 6: We went and we did the We we had such
16:52
Speaker 6: such luck with the s'mores milkshake, and the chef created
16:55
Speaker 6: a brand new celebration milkshake twenty years of your World
16:59
Speaker 6: series winning and it is fantastic.
17:02
Speaker 4: We've got a.
17:02
Speaker 6: Little pinwheel cookie for the for the scoreboard and it's
17:07
Speaker 6: with funfetti cake and funfetty ice cream. It's delicious. So
17:12
Speaker 6: and we're telling about four hundred a game, so that's great.
17:15
Speaker 5: All right, So what's the difference between the new milkshake
17:18
Speaker 5: and the doughnut? Because I got to get my hands.
17:20
Speaker 5: We've had Jackson Holiday talking donuts. Now he got Shodut
17:23
Speaker 5: talking donuts. I mean, yeah, we the White Sox got
17:26
Speaker 5: to talk donuts.
17:27
Speaker 4: Let's talk donuts.
17:28
Speaker 6: It's it's a great, just simple fried donut that we
17:32
Speaker 6: did here in Chicago, and you're able to inject it
17:35
Speaker 6: with either chocolate sauce or strawberry sauce you choose, and
17:40
Speaker 6: coated and vanilla frosting and then you know, the laces
17:43
Speaker 6: are are frosting as well, and you just kind of
17:46
Speaker 6: have at it and it's it's really delicious, and uh yeah,
17:49
Speaker 6: Shoda was great enough to do it before he went
17:52
Speaker 6: over to Japan for the opening series, and it was great.
17:56
Speaker 5: How do you come up with this stuff. The campfire
17:58
Speaker 5: milkshake obviously was a huge for the socks last year.
18:01
Speaker 5: The donut, I can't wait to get there and try one.
18:04
Speaker 5: So how do you guys come up with this stuff?
18:06
Speaker 4: Every year?
18:06
Speaker 5: You come up with new food items for all the ballparks.
18:09
Speaker 5: How do you guys do it?
18:10
Speaker 4: Yeah?
18:10
Speaker 6: We I mean we strategize. We talked to the chefs
18:13
Speaker 6: that are in property. We talked and we listened to
18:15
Speaker 6: the guests too. What are they looking for? You know,
18:18
Speaker 6: because you're always going to have the hot dogs, You're
18:20
Speaker 6: always going to have the pizza and the chicken tenders,
18:23
Speaker 6: and we want to do something unique. And like at Wrigley,
18:26
Speaker 6: we're rotating specials throughout every homestand so, uh, we'll start
18:31
Speaker 6: out with a heburito and then we're gonna go into
18:36
Speaker 6: a Labster roll and a Philly cheese steak, you know,
18:39
Speaker 6: just to get some excitement, you know for other food.
18:42
Speaker 6: Because everybody in Chicago knows Chicago food. So when they
18:46
Speaker 6: when the visiting team comes in, they can celebrate Chicago
18:50
Speaker 6: food and then we'll give them a little taste of
18:52
Speaker 6: what they're they're used to as well in their home ballparks.
18:56
Speaker 5: Chicago dogs. That's what they need. They don't need Chicago Dogs. Okay,
18:59
Speaker 5: But how do I get to be on the taste
19:01
Speaker 5: testing crew of all this new stuff? That's what I
19:03
Speaker 5: want to I could see her last name.
19:05
Speaker 4: I think you might.
19:05
Speaker 5: Are you Polish because you know Polish Slovak? Yeah, so yep, yeah,
19:10
Speaker 5: So I need to get on that taste testing career
19:13
Speaker 5: here and I was a fellow polar Yeah.
19:15
Speaker 6: And you know we'll start actually in right in in September,
19:20
Speaker 6: right right near the end of the season, and uh,
19:22
Speaker 6: we'll get rolling for next year or so. I'll keep
19:25
Speaker 6: you on speed dial and you know, have you come
19:27
Speaker 6: into Chicago and we can have you work on some
19:29
Speaker 6: stuff with us.
19:31
Speaker 2: Chef Ron, what's your favorite dish? I mean, if you
19:34
Speaker 2: want to run through like app and or you know
19:36
Speaker 2: more of your entree style than your dessert.
19:38
Speaker 1: Style, go for it.
19:40
Speaker 2: But whether whether it's now all time something you came
19:42
Speaker 2: up with, or it's something to just sell hot all
19:45
Speaker 2: the time at the ball.
19:45
Speaker 6: Play, yeah, I mean, you know with baseball, you know
19:48
Speaker 6: you want to keep it. You know, we try to
19:50
Speaker 6: keep it handheld so guests can go to their seat
19:53
Speaker 6: and enjoy it. We don't like to fork a knife
19:56
Speaker 6: too much. And you know, kind of being in Chicago
20:00
Speaker 6: and being with Levy for so long, you know, I
20:02
Speaker 6: kind of did an homage to where we began in
20:05
Speaker 6: seventy eight at a delicatessen, and we're serving some really
20:09
Speaker 6: phenomenal dB kaplan sandwiches throughout. You know, the area is
20:15
Speaker 6: definitely at Socks and over at Wrigley, we're gonna run
20:18
Speaker 6: some specials and it's just, you know, it just brings
20:22
Speaker 6: you home because who doesn't want.
20:24
Speaker 4: A great Ruben sandwich?
20:26
Speaker 6: You know, at a ballpark you can always get the
20:30
Speaker 6: Maxwell Street polish or the Chicago Dog. But to be
20:33
Speaker 6: able to do a Ruben and then you know, do
20:35
Speaker 6: a great turkey sandwich, and you know, the one that
20:38
Speaker 6: I'm excited about. We're doing short rib sandwiches at Wrigley
20:42
Speaker 6: that we're going to be able to you know, serve
20:45
Speaker 6: you know, with some sauteed braccolini, and it's it's just
20:50
Speaker 6: going to be, you know, fantastic.
20:53
Speaker 2: We're getting some fan questions too, So let's start with Billy.
20:56
Speaker 2: He said, what's the most challenging meal that you guys
20:59
Speaker 2: have put together? Maybe something that was in the works
21:02
Speaker 2: for a while. And if you can add to this,
21:04
Speaker 2: how long does it take to get from idea to
21:07
Speaker 2: actually implementing something new at the ballpark?
21:10
Speaker 6: We you know, there's there's things that we work on
21:12
Speaker 6: for a year, you know, for just to really fine
21:15
Speaker 6: tune it, because you have to make sure the quality
21:17
Speaker 6: is there for the guest, and some things will hold
21:21
Speaker 6: well and some things won't. And if you don't have
21:23
Speaker 6: the cooking capability to be able to cook right in
21:26
Speaker 6: front of the guest or ala minute, as we say,
21:28
Speaker 6: and it's tough. So we have to make sure that
21:31
Speaker 6: it holds well and it's going to carry over and
21:33
Speaker 6: the quality is going to be there for the guest.
21:37
Speaker 2: Okay, anything else new that that we should know about?
21:41
Speaker 2: I know it is getting hungry. We got fifteen minutes
21:43
Speaker 2: after the show. Anything else new that we should know about?
21:47
Speaker 2: Or I love the way that you threw out the
21:48
Speaker 2: numbers too. I mean I'd love to know more about that. Sometimes,
21:51
Speaker 2: whether it's from the past or or now you know
21:54
Speaker 2: you said, hey, we sold you know, four hundred milkshakes.
21:56
Speaker 2: I always like to know, you know, hey, we can
21:59
Speaker 2: look generally at the capacity of a ballpark and how
22:01
Speaker 2: many people are hitting up a certain night.
22:04
Speaker 6: Yeah, there's I mean, you know, we we know, we've
22:06
Speaker 6: got a whole analytics team, you know, just like you
22:09
Speaker 6: know the clubhouse that looks at you know, food sales,
22:12
Speaker 6: beverage sales, and you know how long it takes guests
22:16
Speaker 6: to get through lines. And you know, we we really
22:18
Speaker 6: like to look and celebrate. You know, it's America's pastime.
22:23
Speaker 6: And you know, to me, Opening Day has always been
22:27
Speaker 6: you know, the kids are getting ready to get out
22:28
Speaker 6: of school and you know, as we as we say,
22:32
Speaker 6: the kids can play, and you know, I just love baseball,
22:35
Speaker 6: and you know, we look at it to make sure
22:39
Speaker 6: that you know, we have enough food for everybody.
22:44
Speaker 4: Like we used to at Wrigley.
22:46
Speaker 6: Have gourmet hot dogs and they were different styles every
22:50
Speaker 6: every homestand and you know people kind of got tired
22:54
Speaker 6: of that and they kind of went away. But you know,
22:58
Speaker 6: we look at neighborhoods and we try to cook neighborhoods.
23:01
Speaker 6: The Heburito is a great one, and you know, looking
23:05
Speaker 6: at doing pills and tacos over at White Sox. I mean,
23:09
Speaker 6: just some great, great food that you know, the neighborhoods
23:12
Speaker 6: you know have and we just bring it to the
23:14
Speaker 6: ballpark because everyone's aware of it.
23:18
Speaker 5: Ron, what was your number one selling dish last year
23:21
Speaker 5: and why was it? The campfire milkshake?
23:24
Speaker 6: I think the campfire milkshake. I mean it was a
23:28
Speaker 6: media frenzy for sure. The chef that came up with it,
23:32
Speaker 6: he called me and he goes, hey, I'm thinking about
23:35
Speaker 6: doing a peanut butter chocolate or s'mores. And I said, well,
23:40
Speaker 6: I personally don't like peanut butter that much, ate enough
23:43
Speaker 6: of it as a kid.
23:44
Speaker 4: I'm like, let's do a s'mores.
23:46
Speaker 6: And you know, I sometimes it's just you know, throw
23:50
Speaker 6: throwing the dart at the wall and figuring it out.
23:52
Speaker 6: I mean, I never thought that we'd have you know,
23:55
Speaker 6: legs on that. And then even with this new one,
23:58
Speaker 6: we've got a great brand for the twenty five of
24:00
Speaker 6: how long the socks have been in the you know,
24:04
Speaker 6: the league, and you know again, you know, twenty years
24:07
Speaker 6: of the World Series. So I mean I think it's great.
24:11
Speaker 6: You know, you just never know, you just never know
24:14
Speaker 6: what it's what it's gonna be. And you know, for
24:16
Speaker 6: us to dip you know, five hundred milkshake lasses the
24:19
Speaker 6: night before a game, I mean, it's it takes time run.
24:24
Speaker 5: Do you have a rivalry because you're a Regley Do
24:25
Speaker 5: you have a rivalry with the guy at Kamiski at
24:29
Speaker 5: you know, on the south side. Is there like a
24:30
Speaker 5: north south rivalry or somewhere else, maybe like a cub
24:34
Speaker 5: cardinal rivalry among chefs, like who can make the better milkshake?
24:38
Speaker 6: Well, we do, we do. We're broken up. I'm lucky
24:41
Speaker 6: enough to work for both, so for both Socks and Cubs. So,
24:45
Speaker 6: but definitely the chefs that are that are in unit.
24:48
Speaker 6: You know, from you know, Wrigley to Socks to Dodgers
24:53
Speaker 6: to Nationals to the Oreos to Arizona Diamondbacks. There's competition
24:59
Speaker 6: all the time. Who comes up with the best ideas?
25:02
Speaker 6: And you know, so we we do that a lot.
25:08
Speaker 2: One more for me on this topic. Do you share
25:11
Speaker 2: info like is there a group chat with you and
25:14
Speaker 2: say the Dodgers chef and he's like, oh, this is
25:16
Speaker 2: selling like crazy, And then you text back, well, everything's
25:19
Speaker 2: selling like crazy. The Dodgers are selling out every game
25:21
Speaker 2: right now. Talking us back or sharing ideas.
25:24
Speaker 6: Yeah, no, we're always talking business because you know, it's
25:28
Speaker 6: what we do, and you know, we want to see
25:31
Speaker 6: if we could take something that that's great and modify
25:34
Speaker 6: it a little bit. That would work you know in
25:37
Speaker 6: you know the Midwest or you know out Nationals and Baltimore,
25:41
Speaker 6: you know, just to see last one.
25:43
Speaker 2: Actually, So just going back to the donut for a moment,
25:46
Speaker 2: you guys came up with the baseball donut. Are there
25:49
Speaker 2: any ideas to keep expanding on that. The early obviously
25:53
Speaker 2: returns seem like they've been high on fans that likes
25:56
Speaker 2: actually take a picture with it, right, we're in a
25:58
Speaker 2: new world like it tastes you at that part together.
26:02
Speaker 2: But then also I've seen it online. Someone's got you know,
26:05
Speaker 2: the donut the Instagram or whatever social app they're going for.
26:09
Speaker 2: TikTok gets that you first, it's a pretty nice little
26:12
Speaker 2: baseball donut. All the seams are tight. They take the
26:15
Speaker 2: photo and then they dive in. So how much of
26:18
Speaker 2: that goes into your thought process these days?
26:20
Speaker 6: Well, we team up with our marketing team as well,
26:23
Speaker 6: and you know, when we're throwing the spaghetti on the
26:25
Speaker 6: wall to try to figure out that that new wow idea,
26:28
Speaker 6: you know that, they come into play and they're like,
26:30
Speaker 6: you know, how can it work on social Because that's
26:32
Speaker 6: how we have to think now, you know. So it's
26:36
Speaker 6: definitely part of it.
26:39
Speaker 5: I'm excited to get to a park where I can
26:41
Speaker 5: get me one of these donuts. I'm gonna have to
26:42
Speaker 5: get like ten of them, just line them up and just.
26:47
Speaker 3: Right.
26:47
Speaker 5: But I gotta ask you this. And I don't know
26:49
Speaker 5: if you're in charge of this, but Ron, I gotta
26:50
Speaker 5: know this. So if you get a Chicago dog, yes,
26:53
Speaker 5: the hot dog fits in the bun, But then you
26:56
Speaker 5: go to La and you get a Dodger dog and
26:58
Speaker 5: there's like three inches of stick out of the bunk.
27:00
Speaker 5: Can we not get a Dodger dog that fits in
27:02
Speaker 5: the bonner?
27:02
Speaker 4: Can we get a bigger bun?
27:03
Speaker 5: I don't the bund of dog ratio is way off
27:06
Speaker 5: on a Dodger dog.
27:07
Speaker 6: Yeah, we we there's definitely something that we can do
27:11
Speaker 6: with that. The and the Dodger dog is you know,
27:14
Speaker 6: it's if you look at it, it's the thickness. They're
27:17
Speaker 6: a little thin where you know here in you know, Chicago,
27:20
Speaker 6: it's more of a you know, six to one, you know,
27:23
Speaker 6: so it's you know, a couple ounces, and that one's
27:25
Speaker 6: a little a little longer. We can always go with
27:28
Speaker 6: a foot long. We serve foot longs for a long time,
27:31
Speaker 6: and you know we we still serve a foot long
27:34
Speaker 6: Maxwell Street Polish at h on the South Side.
27:37
Speaker 2: So I've got it. I've got it because we're idy
27:41
Speaker 2: eating here. Torpedo dog.
27:43
Speaker 6: Yeah, well we could do that. That could be something
27:46
Speaker 6: that could be you know, in the middle, it could
27:48
Speaker 6: be really thick.
27:50
Speaker 2: Right, exactly right the weight distribution there. Yes, that's all
27:53
Speaker 2: the rage right now in the first week. Well, Chefron,
27:55
Speaker 2: this is awesome. Thank you for the insight. Really appreciate it.
27:58
Speaker 2: Thanks to Levy for helping us up this conversation, and
28:02
Speaker 2: have a great rest of the season.
28:04
Speaker 4: Yeah, thank you.
28:05
Speaker 2: M