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OPPOSITION TERRITORY: Miami Marlins · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

• 0:25
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Opposition Territory here at the Philadelphia Sports Table
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: podcast show. The longest running weekly Philly sports podcast show
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: in the world.
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: Over 13 and a half years strong.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: We got a great Opposition Territory show coming your way
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: this week. We have great Opposition Territory shows all the time.
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: And this gentleman has been on recently, but I wanted
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: to bring him back again because of what the team
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: that he covers is currently doing. in the NL East
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: and whether or not they can really make a push
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: for the postseason. We've got our good friend Eli Sussman.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: My friend, how you doing? Thanks for joining us.
• 0:59
  Speaker 3: I'm doing great, Jeff. I love being on the show.
• 1:01
  Speaker 4: And in honor of coming on a Philly show, I
• 1:04
  Speaker 4: used This is my Donnie baseball shirt from six years
• 1:07
  Speaker 4: ago when he was the National League Manager of the Year.
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  Speaker 4: You know, maybe an outside candidate to win it this year.
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  Speaker 4: Now on the other side of that.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly. I love the shirt.
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: If you're watching or I should say, if you're listening
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: on an audio podcast platform, head on over to YouTube
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: and you can check out Eli's shirt in all of
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: its glory right now. But buddy, before we actually get
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: started and dive into the Miami Marlins, the team that
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: you are covering tonight, Let everybody know where they can
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: find you out there on the interwebs if they want
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: to connect with you.
• 1:35
  Speaker 3: No, I run Fish on First.
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  Speaker 4: Everywhere that you find us, you'll find me pulling the
• 1:40
  Speaker 4: strings and covering the Marlins on a daily basis. Our
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  Speaker 4: website is fishonfirst.com. We're podcasting at least three times a
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  Speaker 4: week about this team.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, man.
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  Speaker 4: And covering it in all sorts of ways. Still have
• 1:53
  Speaker 4: boots on the ground coverage for almost every home game.
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  Speaker 4: Still a couple road trips left to make. And yeah,
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  Speaker 4: just we feel like we cover the team more comprehensively
• 2:01
  Speaker 4: than everybody, anybody else. And we appreciate everybody that hops along,
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  Speaker 4: even if they're just dropping by to check in on
• 2:07
  Speaker 4: the team. But especially, of course, if anybody out there
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  Speaker 4: that is a Marlins fan and are looking to stay
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  Speaker 4: connected to the team and informed as much as possible,
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  Speaker 4: my guys at Fish on First do it. So, yeah,
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  Speaker 4: find us any social media channel, Fish on First and
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  Speaker 4: at Fish on First dot com.
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  Speaker 2: You guys do it so well, of course.
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  Speaker 1: And I said the last time that you were on, Eli,
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  Speaker 1: The Marlins are a pretty fascinating team this season.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, they're certainly not blowing the.
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  Speaker 1: Doors off Major League Baseball by any stretch, but I
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  Speaker 1: think they're an interesting team because of how Their season
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: has been thus far here in 2026. They're not a
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: bad team, of course. They're not a great team. They've
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  Speaker 1: played this season, I think, with some real grit with
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: the games that I have been able to watch. So
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: I'm wondering, to get the discussion started here, what's one
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: word that you would use to describe this 2026 Marlins
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: team and the season, actually? I would say the season
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: itself at this point in time as we're at the
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: beginning of September, and why?
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  Speaker 3: Hmm. It's an incomplete team.
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  Speaker 4: That's kind of what comes to mind where, which at
• 3:13
  Speaker 4: various points of the year, they just haven't been firing
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  Speaker 4: on all cylinders at any particular point all year long.
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  Speaker 4: They've really been missing this, having a true juggernaut in
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  Speaker 4: the middle of their lineup. They haven't had that in
• 3:25
  Speaker 4: many years, but this year in particular, it's like when
• 3:27
  Speaker 4: they're really missing it, that feels like they could take
• 3:29
  Speaker 4: their offense to the next level.
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  Speaker 3: They haven't had it.
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  Speaker 4: It feels like they've been missing a shutdown reliever, a
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  Speaker 4: true guy that you can trust unconditionally that they've had,
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  Speaker 4: fits and spurts of guys that have stepped up but
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  Speaker 4: then cooled off and gotten injured, et cetera, et cetera.
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  Speaker 4: It feels like in the dugout from the manager side,
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  Speaker 4: second-year manager Clayton McCullough, that he is still missing a
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  Speaker 4: certain feel for the game that is costing them games
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  Speaker 4: and a lot of close games that they don't have
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  Speaker 4: that feels like they could be performing a little bit
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  Speaker 4: better than they currently are. As you said, they're not
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  Speaker 4: a bad team. I would say that I believe they
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  Speaker 4: are a more talented team than they were a year
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  Speaker 4: ago when they– or technically still alive in the playoff
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  Speaker 4: race until the final week of the season. And yet
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  Speaker 4: the record is almost identical to where it was a
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  Speaker 4: year ago, just because of these various places where they're
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  Speaker 4: missing something. So whether things that maybe could be solved
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  Speaker 4: more easily by having a bigger payroll, things that could
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  Speaker 4: be solved more easily by having better player development or
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  Speaker 4: just a more experienced coaching staff in general, not just McCullough,
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  Speaker 4: but their coaching staff as a whole is relatively inexperienced.
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  Speaker 3: That's an aspect to it as well.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, it's one that I feel like Ultimately, that's what
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  Speaker 4: holds them back from being a contender is that there's
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  Speaker 4: still these little areas that the true contending teams from
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  Speaker 4: the Phillies on up in both leagues have that. I
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  Speaker 4: think the Marlins are still just a tier below them
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  Speaker 4: because of that.
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  Speaker 1: Well, it's interesting you mentioned the fact that they might
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  Speaker 1: be missing something. And I want to refer to an
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  Speaker 1: article and piece that you recently wrote over at Fish
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: on First.
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  Speaker 2: Again, folks, fishonfirst.com.
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  Speaker 1: About whether the Marlins really regret passing on acquiring a
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  Speaker 1: pitcher at the trade deadline. Look, the starting rotation depth
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  Speaker 1: has certainly been a weakness that probably should have been
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  Speaker 1: addressed at the trade deadline.
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  Speaker 2: And if there were any chance.
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  Speaker 1: Of this team possibly making the postseason and one of
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  Speaker 1: the wildcard spots, I mean, that potential... for bringing a
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: new pitcher in before the trade deadline. I mean, it
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  Speaker 1: really does seem like a missed opportunity. I mean, they've
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: been relying on their bullpen a lot, as you wrote
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: in the piece. What are your thoughts on this narrative
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: and how this may play out, actually, within the coming
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: weeks within Marlins Nation here?
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  Speaker 4: It's been an issue, like, literally all year long with
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  Speaker 4: this rotation depth, where they knew who they had at
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  Speaker 4: the very top was Sandy Alcantara, and they felt confident
• 5:47
  Speaker 4: in Yuri Perez rising up having an improved year, which
• 5:50
  Speaker 4: he has. And Max Meyer was kind of a pleasant
• 5:53
  Speaker 4: surprise where he was actually their all-star representative on the
• 5:55
  Speaker 4: pitching side in Philly this year. But then it's been
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  Speaker 4: a series of injuries, including to Meyer himself, who's unlikely
• 6:02
  Speaker 4: to return this season. And even when they've had success
• 6:06
  Speaker 4: during the middle portion of the year, they had one
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  Speaker 4: of their best months in franchise history in June.
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  Speaker 3: And they did that with essentially two and a half
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  Speaker 3: starting pitchers.
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  Speaker 4: They were cobbling things together with bullpen games, with other
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  Speaker 4: guys that were on very short leashes.
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  Speaker 3: And that has continued.
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  Speaker 4: So they had this massive losing streak coming out of
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  Speaker 4: the Ulster break. They lost a franchise record 12 games
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  Speaker 4: in a row that wrapped around both sides of the break.
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  Speaker 4: That turned them into what we thought were going to
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  Speaker 4: be pretty straightforward buyers into being a team that kind
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  Speaker 4: of was straddling the fence.
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  Speaker 3: And so they.
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  Speaker 4: Didn't end up the one area we thought they would
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  Speaker 4: address if they did anything to make a push this
• 6:39
  Speaker 4: year was add some sort of starting pitcher. Um, even,
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  Speaker 4: even an inexpensive one, even one that wasn't having a
• 6:44
  Speaker 4: particular good year, that at least had a track record.
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  Speaker 4: And just because it wasn't only an issue on the
• 6:49
  Speaker 4: active roster, but even the level below the very top
• 6:51
  Speaker 4: pitching prospects are heard as well. Uh, like there was
• 6:54
  Speaker 4: no guy charging, really knocking on the door that you
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  Speaker 4: could have counted on in that situation. What, what the
• 7:00
  Speaker 4: hell were they going to do if one of these
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  Speaker 4: guys got injured and, um, What's been odd is that
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  Speaker 4: their starting rotation has been great.
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  Speaker 3: Since the deadline.
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  Speaker 4: They have the third-best rotation ERA in all of baseball.
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  Speaker 3: It's a sub-three ERA as a whole since the deadline.
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  Speaker 4: The problem is that most of the guys doing that,
• 7:19
  Speaker 4: you could say the back end of their rotation, but
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  Speaker 4: it's really three through five, are guys that are just
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  Speaker 4: not going deep into games.
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  Speaker 3: The team doesn't trust them.
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  Speaker 4: They throw up zeros for four or five innings, and
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  Speaker 4: then they get a very quick hook, and they go
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  Speaker 4: to the bullpen, and the ripple effect is that straining
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  Speaker 4: the bullpen They had, I think, last night's loss.
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  Speaker 3: We're speaking on Tuesday.
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  Speaker 4: On Monday, that loss was most clearly illustrating the issue
• 7:41
  Speaker 4: where they were up 3-0 in the fifth inning. Ryan
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  Speaker 4: Gusto gets removed despite pitching a scoreless game, despite being
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  Speaker 4: in a good spot pitch count-wise. And then their bullpen,
• 7:52
  Speaker 4: two rookie relievers who I like long-term, but they have
• 7:56
  Speaker 4: rookie relievers in these high-leverage spots.
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  Speaker 3: They ended up allowing six unanswered runs.
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  Speaker 4: The Marlins lose a series against the Nationals that they
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  Speaker 4: absolutely could not have afforded to lose.
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  Speaker 2: Exactly. Yeah.
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  Speaker 4: And so that combined with a couple injuries to their
• 8:07
  Speaker 4: bullpen at this moment, that's where it's really weighing down.
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  Speaker 4: And so the flip side of it is if they'd
• 8:12
  Speaker 4: acquired a starter, if they pushed one of these other
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  Speaker 4: current starters to the bullpen, then the bullpen would be deeper.
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  Speaker 4: And it felt like for a very nominal cost that
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  Speaker 4: they could have been in a much better spot.
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  Speaker 3: Than they are now.
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  Speaker 4: And just looking ahead, best case scenario, they make the playoffs.
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  Speaker 3: They sneak in like they did in 2023.
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  Speaker 4: It would be a similar story, I think, to where
• 8:32
  Speaker 4: they were three years ago, where they got swept out
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  Speaker 4: of the wildcard series by the Phillies because their rotation
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  Speaker 4: was worn down that year as well. It feels like
• 8:39
  Speaker 4: it'd be a repeat of that, too, where they just
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  Speaker 4: don't have any depth. I don't know who would start
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  Speaker 4: like a potential game three of a wildcard series for
• 8:45
  Speaker 4: them when they've really two bona fide starters as a
• 8:49
  Speaker 4: whole that are that are.
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  Speaker 3: Healthy right now.
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  Speaker 4: It's just that's that's the thing is they didn't give
• 8:53
  Speaker 4: themselves an opportunity for upside, even if they sneak into
• 8:56
  Speaker 4: the playoffs. This is a team that obviously has not
• 8:58
  Speaker 4: made a deep run in the playoffs since they won
• 9:00
  Speaker 4: a world series in 2003, 23 years ago. And this
• 9:04
  Speaker 4: is feels like another team that has that limited ceiling
• 9:07
  Speaker 4: where there's still time for them potentially to make a run.
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  Speaker 4: But even if they get in, they're going to be
• 9:12
  Speaker 4: very vulnerable against whoever they face in the postseason.
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: They could have spent the money.
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: They could have done it, Eli, and gotten that pitching
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: depth that they absolutely, I think, needed. And I think
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: what I think is really interesting about this team is
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: and I think I'm correct about this as well.
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: I could be wrong. You may have to correct me.
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  Speaker 1: Marlins are 42 and 27 at home as of us
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: recording this and then 27 and 42 on the road.
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: And the schedule after September 9th.
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: I mean, it's not a cakewalk that pitching depth could
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: have been used as they are looking at playing the
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: likes of the Dodgers, the Braves, the Padres, the Cubs, and, and,
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: I guess first I'm wondering, is there something tangible about
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: the way that this team has playing at home because
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: of this record? And also how concerning is it that
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: nine of the final 15 games are away? They're away
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: games from Miami and just how the schedule is looking
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: at the rest of the rest of this month here.
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: What are your thoughts here?
• 10:19
  Speaker 4: The splits are all about, again, on the pitching side,
• 10:21
  Speaker 4: because I dug it up. Same number of home games
• 10:23
  Speaker 4: as road games on at home for the season. They've
• 10:26
  Speaker 4: scored two hundred and ninety nine runs on the road.
• 10:28
  Speaker 4: They scored two hundred and ninety eight runs. It couldn't
• 10:31
  Speaker 4: be much more exact in terms of it's the same
• 10:33
  Speaker 4: offense where they they run the bases like mad. They've
• 10:37
  Speaker 4: they put the ball in play a lot and they
• 10:38
  Speaker 4: get a couple occasional homers from their left handed hitters.
• 10:42
  Speaker 4: They have some power from that side. It's an OK
• 10:45
  Speaker 4: offense home road. It travels perfectly fine. It's on the
• 10:47
  Speaker 4: pitching side where they've allowed 85 more runs on the
• 10:51
  Speaker 4: road than at home, more than an extra run per game.
• 10:54
  Speaker 4: And a lot of that comes down to specifically home runs.
• 10:56
  Speaker 4: They're allowing home runs about 50% more often on the
• 11:00
  Speaker 4: road than at home. So that's specifically the biggest difference.
• 11:04
  Speaker 4: They're still throwing strikes. It's just that when they throw strikes,
• 11:06
  Speaker 4: they're really paying for it on the road. So some
• 11:09
  Speaker 4: of that is about Lone Depot Park. It's funny that
• 11:11
  Speaker 4: they keep shrinking it. It used to have huge dimensions
• 11:14
  Speaker 4: when they opened it in 2012. And every few years,
• 11:17
  Speaker 4: they reduce the dimensions to try to make him play
• 11:19
  Speaker 4: more hitter-friendly. But even now, it plays close to neutral overall,
• 11:23
  Speaker 4: but it is still relatively hard to hit homers. So
• 11:26
  Speaker 4: the ballpark has something to do with that, just the
• 11:28
  Speaker 4: dimensions of it. But there's something intangible that I can't
• 11:31
  Speaker 4: quite put my finger on in terms of why it
• 11:33
  Speaker 4: is that they're getting shelled on the road more than
• 11:36
  Speaker 4: at home. And I think you've got to circle those
• 11:39
  Speaker 4: same sort of depth pitchers, where I don't think it's
• 11:42
  Speaker 4: so much of an issue at the very top end
• 11:44
  Speaker 4: with their very best guys. It's more so Deeper, the
• 11:47
  Speaker 4: guys that are further down that depth chart that just don't.
• 11:50
  Speaker 3: Play as well on the road.
• 11:51
  Speaker 4: Yeah, it is an interesting conundrum because this is one
• 11:55
  Speaker 4: of the better seasons they've ever had at home. And
• 11:58
  Speaker 4: the fact that it is being totally negated by their
• 12:00
  Speaker 4: struggles on the road. As you mentioned, they have a
• 12:03
  Speaker 4: huge road trip ahead of them at the end of
• 12:05
  Speaker 4: the season, a three-city road trip against all competitive teams.
• 12:09
  Speaker 4: And what I want to dive into there with the
• 12:12
  Speaker 4: schedule is, you know, my personal opinion is that sometimes
• 12:14
  Speaker 4: that gets overrated when we talk about strength of schedule
• 12:16
  Speaker 4: down the stretch. I agree.
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree.
• 12:17
  Speaker 4: For example, we're talking right now the Marlins are about
• 12:20
  Speaker 4: to play the Royals. The Royals are a last-place team.
• 12:23
  Speaker 4: They're totally out of it. But they've gone 11-2 in
• 12:25
  Speaker 4: their last 13 games.
• 12:26
  Speaker 3: Exactly.
• 12:27
  Speaker 4: They have the best record in the league over the
• 12:28
  Speaker 4: last two weeks. So what do you do with that?
• 12:30
  Speaker 4: Are they actually a tough team or are they what
• 12:33
  Speaker 4: their overall record says they are?
• 12:34
  Speaker 3: I really have no idea. You don't know exactly who's
• 12:37
  Speaker 3: going to be resting.
• 12:38
  Speaker 4: There's some luck in terms of which starting pitchers, opposing
• 12:40
  Speaker 4: starting pitchers you get lined up against.
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: So I wouldn't be too intimidated by the schedule as
• 12:45
  Speaker 3: a whole.
• 12:46
  Speaker 4: I think it just goes back to the fact that
• 12:47
  Speaker 4: they are At this moment, four games back of a
• 12:50
  Speaker 4: wildcard spot, it's hard to close four games in less
• 12:52
  Speaker 4: than four weeks when the teams ahead of you are
• 12:55
  Speaker 4: more talented and more.
• 12:56
  Speaker 3: Experienced than you are.
• 12:58
  Speaker 4: So, yeah, I'm not overreacting to the schedule in particular,
• 13:00
  Speaker 4: but the fact that they have to make up grounds,
• 13:03
  Speaker 4: that they have to be one of the best teams
• 13:05
  Speaker 4: in baseball these last few weeks in order to realistically.
• 13:07
  Speaker 3: Catch the Padres and the Diamondbacks. And that is a
• 13:10
  Speaker 3: pretty tall task for them.
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: Baseball's weird.
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: That's my analysis, folks.
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: That's our analysis here. Baseball is weird. But with that
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: being said, we are going to take a break again.
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: We're talking to Eli Sussman, our friend from fishonfirst.com.
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: Great site.
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: Check out everything they are doing over there. We're going
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: to take that break. We're going to be back in
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: just a bit. More Marlins talk coming your way. All right,
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: we're back with our good buddy Eli Sussman from FishOnFirst.com
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: covering this Marlins team. And all right, let's shift some
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: gears here. We're talking about pitching before the break, Eli.
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: And I want to get into what the offense is
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: looking like, some of the bats as well, and really where...
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: consistency and even players that might get hot, you know,
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: are going to be needed for this team. If they
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: really are going to make a push to potentially get
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: to the post season, you mentioned before the break, it's
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: going to be very difficult to do it, but I
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: am wondering who is the one player that's absolutely going
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: to need to get hot in September. If the Marlins
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: want to make a real push for, you know, perhaps
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: the wild card, what are your thoughts here?
• 14:19
  Speaker 4: The name that's top of mind for me would be
• 14:20
  Speaker 4: Augustine Ramirez and He's the Marlins player that I think
• 14:23
  Speaker 4: I was most wrong about this year, entering this year.
• 14:26
  Speaker 4: I thought he had a good chance to emerge as
• 14:27
  Speaker 4: the very best hitter, that he was going to fill
• 14:29
  Speaker 4: that void they've been missing for having just a run
• 14:33
  Speaker 4: producer in all situations, that he showed a lot of
• 14:35
  Speaker 4: underlying things that I loved. Last year as a rookie,
• 14:39
  Speaker 4: hit 20-plus homers, even though his overall numbers faded down
• 14:41
  Speaker 4: the stretch. The way that the loud contact that he
• 14:44
  Speaker 4: made and just the very mature attitude and disciplined and
• 14:50
  Speaker 4: very intimidating presence that he had at the plate. I
• 14:52
  Speaker 4: thought it all would culminate in him having a big
• 14:55
  Speaker 4: step forward this year, especially with him transitioning into more
• 14:58
  Speaker 4: of a DH.
• 14:59
  Speaker 3: They used him as a catcher.
• 15:00
  Speaker 4: That was kind of a big drag on his overall value.
• 15:01
  Speaker 4: He's a terrible catcher. So that part I was right about,
• 15:04
  Speaker 4: and the team has moved him off that position. And
• 15:06
  Speaker 4: I thought the bat was going to thrive, but long
• 15:09
  Speaker 4: story short, he spent most of this year in AAA.
• 15:11
  Speaker 4: He got demoted in early May because he was struggling
• 15:13
  Speaker 4: on both sides of the ball. This guy that has
• 15:15
  Speaker 4: such immense power, He has two home runs at the
• 15:18
  Speaker 4: major league level this season. He hasn't homered in 30
• 15:21
  Speaker 4: plus games. And that was dating back all the way
• 15:24
  Speaker 4: to May. Even when he was in the minors during
• 15:26
  Speaker 4: that demotion, he did not hit especially well. They need
• 15:29
  Speaker 4: him to turn it on because the main issue with
• 15:31
  Speaker 4: him is that he's still making loud contact. It's just
• 15:34
  Speaker 4: going straight into the ground. It's a ground ball rate
• 15:37
  Speaker 4: since he came back over 60 percent. It's one of
• 15:39
  Speaker 4: the very highest in baseball ever. You don't want to
• 15:41
  Speaker 4: be hitting the ball on the ground unless you're an
• 15:43
  Speaker 4: amazing runner, unless you're a Justin Crawford or somebody like
• 15:46
  Speaker 4: that can beat out those balls for infield hits. And
• 15:49
  Speaker 4: Augustine Ramirez is not that type. He's going to, for
• 15:52
  Speaker 4: him to produce, he's got to hit it in the air.
• 15:54
  Speaker 4: And for whatever reason, mechanically, he's still in.
• 15:56
  Speaker 3: A weird spot.
• 15:57
  Speaker 4: So he's not playing every single day, but he's playing,
• 16:00
  Speaker 4: he's automatically in there against any left-handed pitcher. And he's,
• 16:03
  Speaker 4: when he's not in there, he's coming off the bench
• 16:05
  Speaker 4: almost every single game because the Marlins love platooning. There's
• 16:07
  Speaker 4: a lot of left-handed hitters they have that they don't trust.
• 16:10
  Speaker 4: against lefty relievers. So that is where Gus, as we
• 16:13
  Speaker 4: call him, he's just going to be pinch hitting in
• 16:15
  Speaker 4: a lot of those situations.
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 16:18
  Speaker 4: They just needs to elevate the ball more. Uh, there are,
• 16:20
  Speaker 4: he's still making good contact. There's still things to like there.
• 16:24
  Speaker 4: And it just feels like mechanically, he's still a half
• 16:26
  Speaker 4: step away from breaking out and, uh, potentially being a
• 16:29
  Speaker 4: guy that makes a difference. So he's top of mind,
• 16:31
  Speaker 4: I guess, a lesser name. Well, not necessarily a lesser name,
• 16:34
  Speaker 4: but another name that is in the similar category would
• 16:37
  Speaker 4: be Owen Casey, who has had a very up-and-down year,
• 16:41
  Speaker 4: made a great first impression on the Marlins at the
• 16:43
  Speaker 4: start of the year, then slumped in April, then was
• 16:45
  Speaker 4: quietly very good in June and July. He had a
• 16:47
  Speaker 4: minor injury right around the All-Star break, and since coming
• 16:49
  Speaker 4: back from that, he's been slumping pretty severely. So it's
• 16:52
  Speaker 4: almost a platoon between them where Casey plays... always when
• 16:55
  Speaker 4: they're facing right-handed pitching, but he just strikes out so much.
• 17:00
  Speaker 4: His power is on a similar level to Augustine's, and
• 17:03
  Speaker 4: he's actually been able to show it in games in
• 17:06
  Speaker 4: various points this year, but the strikeouts are pretty alarming.
• 17:09
  Speaker 4: So between those two, they're in the lineup every day,
• 17:13
  Speaker 4: and if both of them break out, Casey is technically
• 17:18
  Speaker 4: still a rookie, Gus is in his second season, like
• 17:20
  Speaker 4: if something just clicks for them this final month of
• 17:22
  Speaker 4: the year, then that's the offense that they really need.
• 17:26
  Speaker 4: That's the power in particular that they've been lacking for
• 17:29
  Speaker 4: long stretches of the season.
• 17:31
  Speaker 3: Both of those guys can provide some of that.
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: We're living in a baseball world where power is so
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: incredibly important. And I know that may sound obvious, but look,
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: there are some major league baseball clubs right now that
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: are playing some small ball and it's working out for them.
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: And I think when we look at who needs to
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: get hot in September, Eli? At the end of the day,
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: baseball is so much about consistency. So I'm wondering which
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: players from this Marlins team really need to create and
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: maintain that consistency if this team is going to see
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: any sort of success in the latter part of the season.
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: I'm wondering, are there any guys that are top of
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: mind to you here?
• 18:09
  Speaker 4: Well, the main one is Otto Lopez because he was Mr.
• 18:13
  Speaker 4: Consistency the entire first half of the year. He was
• 18:16
  Speaker 4: Leading all the majors in batting average, entering the All-Star break.
• 18:20
  Speaker 4: One of my favorite stats was that he had at
• 18:21
  Speaker 4: least one hit in every single series that entire first
• 18:25
  Speaker 4: half of the year. A streak that was only broken
• 18:27
  Speaker 4: after coming out of the All-Star. I think right before
• 18:30
  Speaker 4: the All-Star break. So it wasn't like 25. No, it
• 18:33
  Speaker 4: must have been more than that. It must have been
• 18:35
  Speaker 4: 30 straight series where he got at least one hit.
• 18:37
  Speaker 4: He just never went more than a couple of days
• 18:38
  Speaker 4: without contributing in some way. And he did that while
• 18:41
  Speaker 4: playing every day at shortstop, while being a very impactful
• 18:44
  Speaker 4: base runner as well. He's almost up to 30 stolen
• 18:46
  Speaker 4: bases and he's still been on the field just about
• 18:48
  Speaker 4: every day for this team. He's actually been playing through
• 18:51
  Speaker 4: a minor finger injury that I think not a coincidence.
• 18:54
  Speaker 4: His numbers have tailed off a bit the second half
• 18:56
  Speaker 4: of the season while he's playing through some discomfort in
• 18:58
  Speaker 4: one of his fingers. But he's, he's coming off of
• 19:01
  Speaker 4: one of his better series in a while where he,
• 19:03
  Speaker 4: he broke a long Homer list route himself. That made
• 19:06
  Speaker 4: a big difference. He's a guy that you're not leaning
• 19:09
  Speaker 4: too much on for power, but you want him to,
• 19:12
  Speaker 4: of course, recapture the consistency with which he was racking
• 19:16
  Speaker 4: up hits for the entire first half of the season.
• 19:18
  Speaker 4: And also because they just they do not have a
• 19:20
  Speaker 4: backup plan, really, at shortstop. If he slumps down the stretch,
• 19:23
  Speaker 4: if he misses any time whatsoever, that's been a big,
• 19:26
  Speaker 4: a lot of pressure on him this entire year, just
• 19:29
  Speaker 4: knowing that there's not really a fallback plan. And for
• 19:31
  Speaker 4: the most part, it's he's been incredible. Like if you
• 19:33
  Speaker 4: looked at you zoom out and see his numbers now
• 19:36
  Speaker 4: and what the expectations were entering the year, it's been
• 19:38
  Speaker 4: an unmitigated success for him, even though the first half
• 19:41
  Speaker 4: was stronger than the second half.
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 19:42
  Speaker 3: So they need him to stabilize things.
• 19:45
  Speaker 4: And on the pitching side, of course, it's Sandy Alcantara
• 19:47
  Speaker 4: where um, given that the bullpen question marks they have,
• 19:51
  Speaker 4: the lack of depth they have there, they need them
• 19:53
  Speaker 4: to continue to not only pitch well, but continue pitching
• 19:56
  Speaker 4: deep into games. That's always been his biggest value to
• 19:58
  Speaker 4: this team is eating innings. He's going to lead the
• 20:00
  Speaker 4: majors in innings pitch yet again this season. And they
• 20:03
  Speaker 4: just need him to keep it up throughout the rest
• 20:05
  Speaker 4: of the year. It shouldn't be taken for granted that, uh,
• 20:07
  Speaker 4: He's just so good. He's gotten increasingly efficient and being
• 20:12
  Speaker 4: able to work deep into games when really nobody else
• 20:15
  Speaker 4: on the staff kind of has that long leash to
• 20:17
  Speaker 4: do so.
• 20:18
  Speaker 3: Yeah, they they need him. Absolutely. They can't afford a
• 20:20
  Speaker 3: single bad start from Sandy the rest.
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: Of the season.
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, look, before I let you go, my friend,
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: as of us recording this, the Marlins, as you mentioned earlier,
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: four games out of the number three wildcard spot.
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: And a lot of things need to happen for this team.
• 20:35
  Speaker 2: to make it to the postseason.
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: Some of those things are certainly within their control, some
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: things beyond their control. What are the chances that this
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: Marlins team makes the postseason, in your opinion?
• 20:47
  Speaker 3: Well, mathematically, they're tiny, tiny.
• 20:50
  Speaker 4: Any projection system will tell you they're between 1% and
• 20:53
  Speaker 4: 5% odds of making it at this point, chasing both
• 20:56
  Speaker 4: the Padres.
• 20:57
  Speaker 3: And the Diamondbacks. The way that you worded it is important.
• 20:59
  Speaker 4: There are some things within their control because they do
• 21:02
  Speaker 4: have series remaining against both of those teams that they're
• 21:04
  Speaker 4: chasing against.
• 21:05
  Speaker 3: Both the Padres and the Diamondbacks.
• 21:07
  Speaker 4: Unfortunately, both of those series are on the road as
• 21:10
  Speaker 4: we covered, which is an issue for them.
• 21:11
  Speaker 3: They did not play well on the road.
• 21:13
  Speaker 4: And so they need to win both of those series.
• 21:16
  Speaker 4: They probably need to sweep at least one of them.
• 21:18
  Speaker 4: The Padres I'm most worried about. The Padres are probably
• 21:20
  Speaker 4: going to own a tiebreaker over them as well. So
• 21:23
  Speaker 4: that's just essentially an additional game. They have to make up,
• 21:26
  Speaker 4: they'll probably have to finish ahead of the Padres to
• 21:28
  Speaker 4: make it in over them. I think they'll have to
• 21:30
  Speaker 4: sweep them in San Diego at a time when they've
• 21:32
  Speaker 4: been playing great ball for an extended period of time.
• 21:35
  Speaker 4: And they have players that have been there and done
• 21:37
  Speaker 4: that before. Whereas the Marlins have very few guys in
• 21:41
  Speaker 4: that category. So they'll need to get some of these
• 21:43
  Speaker 4: relievers back from injury. Pete Fairbanks has been out for
• 21:47
  Speaker 4: about a week, but there's a chance he's available to
• 21:49
  Speaker 4: return once he's eligible. They've been missing Anthony Bender for months.
• 21:53
  Speaker 4: And he was arguably their best reliever overall for a
• 21:56
  Speaker 4: lot of the year. There's a chance that he's back
• 21:58
  Speaker 4: around the same time. So they need some relievers back.
• 22:01
  Speaker 4: They need those hitters I mentioned to step up. And
• 22:03
  Speaker 4: they need more power in the heart of their lineup
• 22:05
  Speaker 4: than they've had lately. And yeah, even so, it's going
• 22:10
  Speaker 4: to be tough. I downplayed it before, the strength of
• 22:14
  Speaker 4: schedule they have. But those are good teams. There are
• 22:17
  Speaker 4: a lot of just talented players that have stuff to
• 22:20
  Speaker 4: play for on their side.
• 22:21
  Speaker 3: As, as well.
• 22:22
  Speaker 4: So it's, it's not impossible, but this is going back
• 22:26
  Speaker 4: to the last time they made the playoffs in 2023.
• 22:27
  Speaker 4: This is a much different situation in 23. They were
• 22:31
  Speaker 4: basically in playoff position for so much of the year.
• 22:34
  Speaker 4: Like teams were chasing them and they were able to
• 22:36
  Speaker 4: hold them off at the very ends. And this time
• 22:38
  Speaker 4: they have to come from behind and they do it again,
• 22:41
  Speaker 4: going back to the, this coaching staff that is kind
• 22:43
  Speaker 4: of untested here that played 2025 with zero expectations overachieved,
• 22:48
  Speaker 4: but man, weren't really a serious threat to make it in.
• 22:51
  Speaker 4: This is kind of uncharted territory for them to be
• 22:55
  Speaker 4: in a playoff chase at this time of year, and
• 22:57
  Speaker 4: they'll have to improve. They'll have to make better in-game
• 23:00
  Speaker 4: decisions than we've seen this year in order to maximize
• 23:02
  Speaker 4: the talent they have available. So if I was to
• 23:04
  Speaker 4: personally put a number on it, I think it's a
• 23:06
  Speaker 4: little higher than the formulas would tell you, but still
• 23:10
  Speaker 4: maybe 10%. I'd be very, very pleasantly surprised if they
• 23:15
  Speaker 4: sneak in.
• 23:16
  Speaker 3: Baseball is baseball. Yeah, simply sneaking in. I think would
• 23:20
  Speaker 3: constitute a successful season for them.
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: Weird things happen in baseball.
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: I would not count any team out that even has
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: a small percentage of a chance to make it to
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: the postseason because you never know what is going to
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: happen in Major League Baseball. Folks, he is Eli Sussman
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: from fishonfirst.com. My friend, always great talking to you. Thanks
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: so much for taking the time to jump on the
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: PST Podcast show here on our Opposition Territory pod. Let's
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: do this again at some point down the road, especially
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: if the Marlins get to the postseason.
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: I'd love to have you back on, but regardless... Even
• 23:52
  Speaker 2: if they don't, let's talk at some point in the future,
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: my friend.
• 23:56
  Speaker 3: Absolutely. Thanks a lot, Jeff.
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: That's going to do it for us here on Opposition
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: Territory this week. Please share our podcast with your friends
• 24:04
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• 24:06
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• 24:10
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• 24:14
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• 24:18
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• 24:21
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• 24:28
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• 24:31
  Speaker 2: Take care. We will catch you next time.