Latest / Halo Territory: A Los Angeles Angels Podcast / Angels Mailbag: Are Halos capable of winning with owner Arte Moreno?

Transcript

Angels Mailbag: Are Halos capable of winning with owner Arte Moreno? · Halo Territory: A Los Angeles Angels Podcast

0:08
Speaker 1: Well, hey Angel fans, and welcome back to Halo Territory.
0:12
Speaker 2: I am Mike D.
0:12
Speaker 1: Giovanna, former La Times Baseball writer and host of the show,
0:17
Speaker 1: and I'm joined by our regular co host Mark Trumbo,
0:19
Speaker 1: the former Angel slugger. Mark.
0:21
Speaker 2: How you doing today, Mike, I'm doing well.
0:24
Speaker 3: I'm as delusional as ever, and we have some fan
0:29
Speaker 3: questions today, so I'm gonna do my best to lead
0:32
Speaker 3: our viewers astray. Actually the opposite, But there's some good
0:36
Speaker 3: stuff here. Why don't we just jump right into it.
0:39
Speaker 3: You got a question, Yeah, we do.
0:42
Speaker 1: I just want to say also, we do appreciate all
0:44
Speaker 1: your input in questions from the fans, appreciate the response
0:47
Speaker 1: to you're what makes the mailbag go, So we'll get
0:50
Speaker 1: right into it. Here from Steve Carrasco in Rancho Kucamonga.
0:54
Speaker 1: Do you think the Angels are capable of winning under
0:58
Speaker 1: Ardie Morino's ownership? But what would a mailbag be without
1:01
Speaker 1: a question about Arti Marinos? So might as well jump
1:05
Speaker 1: right in. I mean the simple answer is yes. I mean,
1:08
Speaker 1: for the first twelve years of Arti Marino's ownership, the
1:12
Speaker 1: Angels won six American League West titles. So you know,
1:16
Speaker 1: the ability to spend money has obviously been there, not
1:19
Speaker 1: so much in recent years. The commitment to winning, you know,
1:24
Speaker 1: having the right front office teams in place, having the
1:28
Speaker 1: right manager in place. And I think that's where the
1:31
Speaker 1: Angels are just failing right now. In the last nine years,
1:36
Speaker 1: the Angels have had seven managers. They've had a little
1:40
Speaker 1: more continuity in their GM's chair after Jerry Depoto left
1:43
Speaker 1: in twenty fifteen, Billy Eppler was there for five years
1:46
Speaker 1: and now Perrimanesium has been there for five years. But
1:51
Speaker 1: the manager chair and just that the tone the manager
1:55
Speaker 1: sets from the top through player development, through the minor
1:58
Speaker 1: league development system has just been lacking. And you know,
2:01
Speaker 1: say what you want about Mike Soshia. Maybe toward the
2:04
Speaker 1: end his message got stale. Maybe he didn't embrace analytics
2:09
Speaker 1: as warmly as he could have or should have in
2:12
Speaker 1: the beginning or the beginning of the analytics revolution. But
2:16
Speaker 1: the guy had a winning formula that it worked in Anaheim,
2:20
Speaker 1: it worked with the Angels. He stressed aggressiveness without recklessness,
2:25
Speaker 1: especially on the base pass, a real commitment to fundamental baseball,
2:31
Speaker 1: a fearlessness. He instilled this edge in players that you
2:36
Speaker 1: could just sort of sense and feel as seasons went along,
2:39
Speaker 1: and that's really what they've been lacking. I think, you know,
2:43
Speaker 1: maybe one of these last six managers was the guy,
2:47
Speaker 1: and they just didn't give him long enough. Maybe Kurt
2:49
Speaker 1: Suzuki's going to be that guy, but they just need
2:53
Speaker 1: a leadership, a voice at the top of the organization
2:56
Speaker 1: that they've just been lacking. I don't know, Mark, maybe
2:59
Speaker 1: you you know, having them up in the minor leagues
3:01
Speaker 1: with Sooshia at the helm, I assume there was a
3:04
Speaker 1: little different feeling among players, you know, when they got
3:07
Speaker 1: to the big leagues and how they were sort of
3:09
Speaker 1: developed in the minor leagues.
3:12
Speaker 3: There was I think that it was a different time,
3:16
Speaker 3: no analytics or virtually none, so that part wasn't as relatable.
3:23
Speaker 3: I guess I did see a little bit at the
3:24
Speaker 3: tail end of my career in Baltimore, but it wasn't
3:28
Speaker 3: exposed to everything that's available now with the hitting labs,
3:31
Speaker 3: the pitching labs, running labs, throwing labs. Probably many. I
3:37
Speaker 3: do know that our minor league director did a tremendous job,
3:39
Speaker 3: and I was there. Bruce Hines, known as Jeter, ran
3:43
Speaker 3: a very tight ship. He would let you know if
3:47
Speaker 3: you were not doing what you were supposed to in
3:50
Speaker 3: very direct terms, but very outside the box thinker too.
3:54
Speaker 3: He came up with a lot of drills to help
3:57
Speaker 3: guys in all facets of the game because he would,
4:00
Speaker 3: you know, weigh in on just about everything, probably not pitching,
4:02
Speaker 3: but it was a huge help to me, especially early
4:06
Speaker 3: on as a young player who had a long ways
4:08
Speaker 3: to go. But he set the tone and that was
4:12
Speaker 3: what you know, from the first day of spring training
4:16
Speaker 3: carried over through the season and instructional league, and we
4:21
Speaker 3: knew what to expect. We were prepared at the top.
4:23
Speaker 3: There was no learning at the big league level. Maybe
4:27
Speaker 3: some rare instances some of that, but really that was
4:29
Speaker 3: not a thing. So you came prepared. You knew the signs.
4:33
Speaker 3: You always ran hard, and we played aggressive baseball. That
4:36
Speaker 3: was the brand of baseball that they played. I think
4:39
Speaker 3: so far in spring I've seen more of that from
4:42
Speaker 3: the current team. Guys are getting after it. And to
4:47
Speaker 3: answer the question maybe this is the year winning, well,
4:51
Speaker 3: well what do we what do we are We can
4:53
Speaker 3: they win? Yes, they will win some games this year,
4:56
Speaker 3: so yes, there is yes.
4:58
Speaker 1: I guess The real question is as already Marinos still
5:01
Speaker 1: have that commitment to winning that he showed in that
5:03
Speaker 1: first decade of ownership, And unfortunately, I think the answer
5:06
Speaker 1: to that right now is no. You know, we know
5:08
Speaker 1: about the issues with the TV deal and the revenue
5:12
Speaker 1: from that contract falling apart. We have not seen the
5:16
Speaker 1: spending that we saw the levels that we saw in
5:21
Speaker 1: previous years. And you know, he's eighty years old this year.
5:25
Speaker 1: We've talked about it before. Unless he's willing to really
5:30
Speaker 1: recommit to winning in the next year or two, I
5:33
Speaker 1: just don't see the point of him continuing to own
5:35
Speaker 1: this team. Next question, actually two questions are sort of similar,
5:40
Speaker 1: so we thought we'd sort of combine them.
5:42
Speaker 2: From Derek A.
5:42
Speaker 1: Bowie, in your opinion, do you believe in throwing prospects
5:46
Speaker 1: in the fire and seeing if they thrive or do
5:48
Speaker 1: you lean on the side of them needing extended development
5:51
Speaker 1: in the minors, especially considering the Angels aren't exactly a
5:55
Speaker 1: contending team at the moment. And from Ronnie Woller, the
5:59
Speaker 1: Angels are not making the playoffs this season, so why
6:02
Speaker 1: are why are all the young guys not getting the
6:04
Speaker 1: reps they need in the majors? Now, I did a
6:08
Speaker 1: little research on this this morning, and boy, I did
6:14
Speaker 1: not look how many played appearances. Mark Trumpell got in
6:16
Speaker 1: the minor leagues, but I'm sure it was pretty substantial.
6:19
Speaker 1: But Tim Salmon, who was the nineteen ninety three Rookie
6:23
Speaker 1: of the Year one five hundred and seventy three Minor
6:27
Speaker 1: league played appearances in four years before he got to
6:30
Speaker 1: the big leagues. Garrett Anderson cleanup batter on a World
6:34
Speaker 1: Series winning team, another Rookie of the Year finalists. I
6:37
Speaker 1: believe in ninety five two two hundred and forty two
6:41
Speaker 1: Minor league played appearances in five years before getting to
6:44
Speaker 1: the big leagues. Nolan Shanwell, current first baseman, one hundred
6:49
Speaker 1: and five Minor league played appearances. Zach Netto, current shortstop
6:54
Speaker 1: two hundred and seventeen Minor league played appearances. So I mean,
7:00
Speaker 1: I think we can all look at zach Netto and
7:02
Speaker 1: agree that, hey, this kid handled it. He could handle
7:07
Speaker 1: that jump to the big leagues when he did. Nolan Shanwell,
7:12
Speaker 1: maybe you can make the same argument. But how much
7:15
Speaker 1: more would these guys have benefited from a little more
7:17
Speaker 1: season in the minor leagues? And I guess to answer
7:21
Speaker 1: the questions, I'm more in favor of guys spending more
7:24
Speaker 1: time in the minors because there's just so many things
7:27
Speaker 1: you learned from in the minor leagues. I'll definitely have them.
7:30
Speaker 1: Alton address this more because he played in the minor
7:33
Speaker 1: leagues in the big leagues for ten years. Mark, what
7:36
Speaker 1: are the benefits a little extended play in the minor
7:40
Speaker 1: leagues that some of these kids are just not getting
7:42
Speaker 1: right now?
7:45
Speaker 3: It's a case by case basis. I needed it, no
7:49
Speaker 3: two ways around it. I wasn't ready after a few
7:54
Speaker 3: hundred of pets, for sure, but I was also a
7:56
Speaker 3: high school player and totally different. And there have been
7:59
Speaker 3: guys that have gotten there a lot quicker, so before
8:02
Speaker 3: people jumped to flame some of those responses. Jared Weaver
8:06
Speaker 3: got there very quick, I believe. I think Joe Saunder's
8:09
Speaker 3: probably got there rather quickly. Darren our Stead was a
8:13
Speaker 3: first overall pick, I think you can confirm that, but
8:17
Speaker 3: he also advanced quickly, so there are exceptions. I think
8:21
Speaker 3: the term thrown into the fire has a very negative
8:24
Speaker 3: connotation and usually means that you are not sure whatsoever
8:28
Speaker 3: if a guy is going to be able to hold
8:30
Speaker 3: his own In the case of Netto and Nolan. I
8:34
Speaker 3: think these are guys they chose on purpose. They felt
8:37
Speaker 3: like these guys were close to a finished product, very
8:41
Speaker 3: close to major league ready out of the draft, and
8:44
Speaker 3: they both had very good numbers in limited plate appearances
8:47
Speaker 3: in the minor leagues. So I don't necessarily think that
8:51
Speaker 3: they were thrown into the fire to fail. There have
8:58
Speaker 3: been some learning curves, I think with Nolan I have
9:02
Speaker 3: if somebody misconstrued my message about him hitting for power.
9:05
Speaker 3: I think one person in particular thought I wanted him
9:08
Speaker 3: to hit like I did, which there's no truth in
9:11
Speaker 3: that whatsoever. I think he needs to be himself. He's
9:15
Speaker 3: a line drive hitter. If he were a little faster,
9:17
Speaker 3: he'd probably be a corner outfielder and the leadoff hitter.
9:21
Speaker 3: But he plays first base, so doubles machine is what
9:25
Speaker 3: I think would be great. I think he'd like that too.
9:27
Speaker 3: Netto's an outstanding player. Nothing needs to be said about him.
9:30
Speaker 3: I think Joe adele who there's a question coming up
9:33
Speaker 3: later that he's going to be my answer to. But
9:36
Speaker 3: he struggled in the beginning. There's no doubt about it.
9:39
Speaker 3: He was not ready, and credit to him for keeping
9:42
Speaker 3: a great attitude because there were some ugly moments along
9:46
Speaker 3: the way, but he seems to have a plus makeup.
9:49
Speaker 3: He's always got a smile on his face and that
9:52
Speaker 3: really helps her out the course of a season. He
9:54
Speaker 3: seems primed for a huge year. So it's you got
9:58
Speaker 3: to know who you're dealing with. I think that's why
10:00
Speaker 3: they do a lot of homework on the player's makeup
10:03
Speaker 3: to see and Christian Moore is an interesting one. He
10:07
Speaker 3: is going to start the year in the minor league,
10:08
Speaker 3: so I think he's better for it. I think he
10:10
Speaker 3: needs to find his own swing, his own approach.
10:13
Speaker 2: I don't know.
10:15
Speaker 3: Again, I haven't seen a lot of them this spring,
10:17
Speaker 3: but you know, the numbers weren't that great. So hopefully
10:20
Speaker 3: he dials it in in Salt Lake and comes up
10:23
Speaker 3: and contributes.
10:25
Speaker 1: All right, we're going to take a little break and
10:26
Speaker 1: hear a word from our sponsors, and when we come back,
10:29
Speaker 1: will address the fifth spot and the rotation of the question.
10:34
Speaker 2: This one's for the dudes looking for peak bedroom performance.
10:38
Speaker 4: Blue Choo is the number one chewable ed brand and
10:41
Speaker 4: they just dropped their newest innovation. It is called the
10:44
Speaker 4: Blue Choo Gold.
10:46
Speaker 3: Blue Choo Gold dissolves under your tongue and works in
10:48
Speaker 3: as little as fifteen minutes. Peak passion and peak performance
10:52
Speaker 3: in a single tablet.
10:54
Speaker 4: That's right, two ingredients for blood flow mixed with appamorphine
10:58
Speaker 4: and oxytocin to turn up the rosal and connection in
11:01
Speaker 4: your brain and body. This is the future of performance. Faster, smarter,
11:06
Speaker 4: and precision engineered for results. See why millions of men
11:10
Speaker 4: trust blue Chew Now with a gold standard upgrade that's
11:13
Speaker 4: changing the game for good. Make life easier and discover
11:16
Speaker 4: your options at blue cheo dot com. And we've got
11:19
Speaker 4: a special deal for our FT listeners. Get ten percent
11:21
Speaker 4: off your first month of blue Choo Gold with quotea foul.
11:25
Speaker 4: That's promo code foul. Visit blue chew dot com for
11:29
Speaker 4: more details and important safety information, and we thank blue
11:32
Speaker 4: Cheo for sponsoring the podcast.
11:37
Speaker 1: Well thanks for that foul territory guys. Here's a question
11:41
Speaker 1: from Jeremy Blair. What's the latest on the battle for
11:44
Speaker 1: the fifth starter spot? Mike, has manoah pished his way
11:48
Speaker 1: out of the spot or is it too soon to
11:50
Speaker 1: push the panic button? Certainly there's no panic button here.
11:54
Speaker 1: For the matter of fact, that Alec Manoah still has
11:57
Speaker 1: an option, so they can start them out in the
11:59
Speaker 1: minor leagues if they want, and hopefully he'll work out
12:03
Speaker 1: some of these issues. But the answer to that first
12:05
Speaker 1: part of the question, yeah, I think he has pitched
12:07
Speaker 1: his way out of that fifth rotation spot. I think
12:10
Speaker 1: he had a pretty good start to open spring and
12:13
Speaker 1: in his last ten out of third innings, he's given
12:15
Speaker 1: up sixteen runs with eleven walks and twelve strikeouts. Not
12:21
Speaker 1: great numbers, and we've said it before, you know, we
12:24
Speaker 1: don't put too much emphasis on numbers in spring training,
12:27
Speaker 1: but I think they show a trend that he's not improving.
12:31
Speaker 1: The more important numbers to me are the fact that
12:33
Speaker 1: his fastballs down to eighty.
12:35
Speaker 2: Nine ninety right now.
12:37
Speaker 1: And even you know, before he had the arm problems,
12:40
Speaker 1: he was you know, he's never been a ninety seven
12:42
Speaker 1: to ninety eight guy, but he was averaging ninety three
12:45
Speaker 1: to ninety four with his fastball in twenty twenty one,
12:47
Speaker 1: twenty twenty two, and twenty three. So I don't think
12:51
Speaker 1: he can pitch at eighty nine and with that kind
12:53
Speaker 1: of command, he's not going to have much success. So
12:55
Speaker 1: I think the play with Alec right now is to
12:59
Speaker 1: start him out into mind leagues. You know, hopefully we'll
13:02
Speaker 1: find some kind of mechanical thing or something that helps
13:06
Speaker 1: things click for him, but it's not right now. And
13:09
Speaker 1: that has definitely opened the door for Jack Honowitz and
13:12
Speaker 1: Ryan Johnson, who are both pitching very well. Especially Ryan.
13:18
Speaker 1: I think he's got a new change up that's been
13:20
Speaker 1: pretty effective. And you know, speaking of guy's coming up
13:24
Speaker 1: a little too soon, I think he was definitely thrown
13:27
Speaker 1: another fire last year without spending any times in the
13:30
Speaker 1: minor league, anytime in the minor leagues, that probably was
13:32
Speaker 1: a mistake. But I think the fistbot is going to
13:35
Speaker 1: come down to one of one of those two guys
13:38
Speaker 1: as of right now. What do you think Mark.
13:41
Speaker 3: Most likely? I don't know what they're thinking. I think
13:46
Speaker 3: Kurtzuzuki mentioned or said nice things about both of the
13:51
Speaker 3: younger guys.
13:54
Speaker 2: I don't know. Myn knowa is how much better is
13:59
Speaker 2: he going to get in the minor leagues?
14:02
Speaker 3: If there is something, I unfortunately your dead horse here
14:06
Speaker 3: we go, but I.
14:06
Speaker 2: Haven't seen him.
14:07
Speaker 3: Saw a couple of clips of you know, the long
14:10
Speaker 3: balls from the other day centerfield camera, you know, kind
14:14
Speaker 3: of grainy, so not much, do you know. I'm not
14:16
Speaker 3: a pitching expert, but I don't know if it's still
14:22
Speaker 3: just you know, the velocity is intriguing. Most guys do
14:25
Speaker 3: rebound better than what we've seen so far. Eighty nine
14:30
Speaker 3: is very light for a guy, you know, big guy
14:33
Speaker 3: like that. I was thinking more ninety three, ninety four
14:37
Speaker 3: and maybe a little harder. So it could be some
14:40
Speaker 3: lingering issues there. I don't want to speculate, you know,
14:43
Speaker 3: hoping that he gets it together. He's I guess depth
14:47
Speaker 3: at this point where depth is I don't know, but
14:51
Speaker 3: I don't know. If you had to pick between Kohanowitz
14:54
Speaker 3: or Johnson, which one has the higher upside to you.
14:58
Speaker 1: To me, Johnson has the higher up So I just
15:00
Speaker 1: I think he's got a deeper repertoire. You know, when
15:05
Speaker 1: we saw Jack for a solid three to four months
15:08
Speaker 1: last year and he was good for a little while
15:10
Speaker 1: until he wasn't. I think he's got a little more
15:13
Speaker 1: velocity on his sinker. I'm not sure there's enough, you know,
15:17
Speaker 1: his sinker and four seamer. I'm not sure the variation.
15:20
Speaker 1: I haven't looked at all the analytics on it, in
15:22
Speaker 1: the shape and all that stuff, but it's pretty tight battle.
15:27
Speaker 1: I just think Ryan has more of an upside right now.
15:29
Speaker 1: Jack's been you know, obviously has a little more experience
15:32
Speaker 1: at the big league level. So to me, it's kind
15:34
Speaker 1: of a coin flip there. I don't think they're going
15:37
Speaker 1: to make a wrong decision going with either one of
15:39
Speaker 1: those two to start the season, and you know, maybe
15:43
Speaker 1: the other guy sticks in the bullpen as a long man.
15:46
Speaker 1: That's kind of tough, especially with a guy like Johnson
15:48
Speaker 1: who's still considered a pretty high end prospect. You know,
15:51
Speaker 1: you don't want him sort of languishing in the bullpen
15:53
Speaker 1: pitching once every week. You'd probably rather him, you know,
15:56
Speaker 1: stretch out in the minor league so he's ready for
15:58
Speaker 1: when the next guy gets hurt. But, as Kurt Suzuki
16:02
Speaker 1: said in today's story, is good problem to have for
16:06
Speaker 1: a change. Question from Jordan's sergeant. Who are some of
16:10
Speaker 1: the most fun guys you've ever played with? Like great
16:13
Speaker 1: locker room guys who just have great energy. I'll let
16:16
Speaker 1: you take this on, Mark, I was gonna let you
16:20
Speaker 1: take it. I can take it.
16:21
Speaker 2: I can take it.
16:23
Speaker 3: Yeah, Well, I mean if we're okay, off the top
16:27
Speaker 3: of my head, let's go you know, I had a
16:29
Speaker 3: lot of fun in Salt Lake and tripa A. We
16:32
Speaker 3: had some real characters on the team and it made
16:35
Speaker 3: for a lot of fun for us because it was
16:38
Speaker 3: young guys like Peter Borges, Hang Konger, Chris Pettitt, Natesa,
16:43
Speaker 3: I know, and then mixed with you know, thirty plus
16:47
Speaker 3: year old veterans no offense. But Corey Aldridge was just
16:53
Speaker 3: a big presence. He helped us a lot. He had
16:55
Speaker 3: been there, he had gotten up with the big leagues
16:56
Speaker 3: at a young age, and it's still helping hitters, uh
17:01
Speaker 3: become better.
17:02
Speaker 2: And you know he helped.
17:03
Speaker 3: Us, you know, off the field too, and just some
17:06
Speaker 3: life advice. I remember Paul McNalty chowf uh Long Beach
17:13
Speaker 3: State with with weave. If I'm not mistaken, he but
17:17
Speaker 3: you know, that guy could hit. He had a you know,
17:20
Speaker 3: interesting personality, but a lot of positive energy, always super positive.
17:24
Speaker 2: So those guys come to mind.
17:26
Speaker 3: I'm sure I'll miss a ton with the Angels, Eyebar Cayaspou.
17:30
Speaker 3: They were always messing with Dino. I don't know if
17:33
Speaker 3: Dino loved it, but you know, they they kept it loose.
17:36
Speaker 3: They had a really good time, uh, Tory Hunter obviously
17:39
Speaker 3: as well. There were plenty but good guys and then uh,
17:46
Speaker 3: the Orioles had a very tight knit group. Another question
17:50
Speaker 3: I think from one of our regular coming up, but
17:55
Speaker 3: Adam Jones probably seen it. Huge personality but a great
17:59
Speaker 3: team mate, and JJ Hardy, Chris Davis, Darren O'Day x Angel,
18:05
Speaker 3: Jonathan Scope, Manny Flaerty. Obviously I'm naming a lot of
18:09
Speaker 3: people that I think people you can get the idea
18:12
Speaker 3: that it was. They were also very good at welcoming
18:16
Speaker 3: a new player to the fold. I think they understood
18:18
Speaker 3: that's very important and that wasn't the case everywhere, so
18:22
Speaker 3: I did appreciate that all right.
18:25
Speaker 1: Well for me, Jordan, it was Ed Vascobi, my high
18:27
Speaker 1: school teammate back in Eastline, Connecticut. One of the funniest
18:30
Speaker 1: guys I've ever known, and he's probably I think he's
18:33
Speaker 1: the only guy's still keep in touch with. I get
18:35
Speaker 1: him World Series tickets every year. We still we got
18:38
Speaker 1: together last summer. We still crack up at all the
18:40
Speaker 1: Shenanigans we used to pull, and to this day, forty
18:43
Speaker 1: six years after we graduated from high school, we still
18:45
Speaker 1: referred to he was the third baseman I was a
18:47
Speaker 1: shortstop on our team. We still refer to each other
18:50
Speaker 1: by our nicknames Eddie Z five and I am E six,
18:54
Speaker 1: So I've been wearing that for a long time with Pride,
19:00
Speaker 1: b rod ginge Afard. How hard is it getting all
19:04
Speaker 1: these great guests? Has anyone turned you down? Well, that's
19:08
Speaker 1: an interesting question. I don't know that anyone's flat out
19:12
Speaker 1: turned us down, but we've had a lot of non
19:14
Speaker 1: responses from certain people who I think maybe don't want
19:17
Speaker 1: to come on the show. In terms of getting these
19:20
Speaker 1: great guests, well, I appreciate the fact that you think
19:23
Speaker 1: they're great. We loved having guys like Joe Madden and
19:26
Speaker 1: Jared Weaver on. One benefit of covering baseball for more
19:30
Speaker 1: than thirty years is to have a pretty deep rolodex.
19:33
Speaker 1: And if you're under forty and you know, ask your
19:35
Speaker 1: parents what a rolodex is. I guess the equivalent today
19:39
Speaker 1: was to be a very deep contact list on my iPhone.
19:41
Speaker 1: And you know, we still have some other guests lined
19:44
Speaker 1: up that just haven't been able to come on the show.
19:46
Speaker 1: Guys like Tim Salmon, Troy Percival, Gary DiSarcina, you know,
19:51
Speaker 1: guys going back into the nineties, so, and of course
19:53
Speaker 1: Mark has a deep roster of guys he's played with.
19:57
Speaker 1: So that's the one thing we were trying to do
19:59
Speaker 1: on the No.
20:00
Speaker 2: Mark.
20:00
Speaker 1: One thing we are going to try to do with
20:02
Speaker 1: this show as we move forward is sort of mix
20:05
Speaker 1: in some of the past with some of the present,
20:08
Speaker 1: and especially you know, the team has struggled in recent years.
20:11
Speaker 1: We don't want to just keep banging on them, even
20:14
Speaker 1: though a lot of people probably want us to keep
20:16
Speaker 1: banging on them. But there's a pretty deep, you know,
20:19
Speaker 1: rich history of this franchise, especially in the first twenty
20:23
Speaker 1: five years of this century and going back to the
20:26
Speaker 1: nineties or some you know, pretty interesting years, let's just
20:29
Speaker 1: say that, And definitely some interesting characters.
20:31
Speaker 2: You know.
20:31
Speaker 1: We love to get Chuck Finley on. Maybe we'll get
20:34
Speaker 1: Jim Abbott on one of these days. The guys have
20:35
Speaker 1: great stories, have had great careers, So Mark, you have
20:40
Speaker 1: you had some guys turn you down so far, any
20:44
Speaker 1: struggle getting certain guys that come on the show.
20:48
Speaker 3: I could take the hint when I know when I
20:51
Speaker 3: say it, but I try and this isn't my favorite
20:55
Speaker 3: thing in the world, to be honest with you.
20:57
Speaker 2: Not a good salesman or at least I don't think
21:00
Speaker 2: I am.
21:03
Speaker 3: When we do try and get people, I always say, hey,
21:05
Speaker 3: it's not a big deal. If you're not into it
21:07
Speaker 3: at all, try and treat it how I would want
21:11
Speaker 3: to be approached. And if they're not into it, you know,
21:13
Speaker 3: it's always appreciated if you know, at least something back
21:17
Speaker 3: would be nice. Sometimes you don't, and that's the real world.
21:22
Speaker 3: But it's not for lack of trying. I think that
21:25
Speaker 3: that's kind of part of our niche is the ability
21:28
Speaker 3: to get people on and yeah, some of the time
21:32
Speaker 3: it's been fairly straightforward, very easy, and sometimes it's been
21:36
Speaker 3: the opposite, and it'll probably continue to be that way.
21:39
Speaker 3: What was that gentleman's name? He asked the question. Interesting name,
21:42
Speaker 3: So like a wizard or something, bay Rod Gangafarn Yeah,
21:45
Speaker 3: maybe Harry Pie's question.
21:48
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I don't know. A question.
21:50
Speaker 1: Here's one from a fellow Paison, Anthony Fiorilla. With college
21:55
Speaker 1: baseball now well underway. Who are some of the guys
21:57
Speaker 1: you think the Angels should target, specific at the college level.
22:02
Speaker 2: I'm gonna let.
22:02
Speaker 1: Mark take this one and preface it by saying the
22:05
Speaker 1: Angel pick twelveth in the draft. This year, right, so
22:09
Speaker 1: kind of like in that spot where they've made a
22:11
Speaker 1: lot of their recent picks, you know, ten to twenty
22:14
Speaker 1: in that first round mark you've done some research on
22:17
Speaker 1: some of these guys.
22:18
Speaker 2: Who are you liking right now? No, here's the deal.
22:26
Speaker 3: They pick at twelve, and this is a spot where
22:29
Speaker 3: I think that you're not going to sign someone for
22:33
Speaker 3: underslot money, so you're going to get the best player
22:35
Speaker 3: available and you're going to sign them for the full
22:38
Speaker 3: amount because there's really not a lot of not the
22:42
Speaker 3: same leeway as the previous year. So I have three players,
22:47
Speaker 3: this is very early. Things change rapidly, and who knows,
22:51
Speaker 3: probably none of these three, but maybe one of them.
22:53
Speaker 3: How about Von Lackey catcher at Georgia Tech. He's and
22:57
Speaker 3: absolutely looks like he mashes. Big, physical guy, very athletic,
23:02
Speaker 3: above average speed. He's got a cannon for an arm
23:05
Speaker 3: I watched, well they're highlights, but you know that's what
23:08
Speaker 3: you see. He really advanced hit tool. The downside they
23:13
Speaker 3: said he hits a few too many ground balls, but
23:14
Speaker 3: I don't really care about that as much. And he
23:17
Speaker 3: looks like a natural leader. He's got a you know,
23:20
Speaker 3: very enigmatic presence, seems like guys rally around him. He's
23:26
Speaker 3: well spoken, you know, and seems like he'd be a
23:30
Speaker 3: great fit if he's available, but I think he'll probably
23:33
Speaker 3: go prior to this. He's ranked twelfth currently, but you know,
23:37
Speaker 3: he's really lucky to have a guy like that. The
23:40
Speaker 3: next one Jackson Flora, starting pitcher from you see Santa Barbara.
23:48
Speaker 3: This is a six foot five inch tall, lanky, huge
23:52
Speaker 3: stuff guy. He sits about ninety seven with his fastball,
23:56
Speaker 3: routinely touches one hundred plus. He's got he's very animated
24:01
Speaker 3: out there. If you were to pull up some clips
24:03
Speaker 3: you'll see what I mean. But he's got a very nice,
24:07
Speaker 3: sweeping breaking ball that he uses that seems like it
24:10
Speaker 3: is not a work in progress. It's a pitch that
24:14
Speaker 3: is reliable, and he's working on a kick change. Was
24:18
Speaker 3: about to look up what kick change meant, but let's
24:20
Speaker 3: call it a change up for now. New names a
24:23
Speaker 3: lot for pitches, So Jackson Florida or Jackson Flora. You
24:28
Speaker 3: see Santa Barbara. Tyler Bremner, you see Santa Barbara. The
24:33
Speaker 3: third player a J. Grascia who's an outfielder at Virginia.
24:37
Speaker 3: He's left handed, throws left, bats left, very pure hitter.
24:42
Speaker 3: I really like his swing, very little swing and miss
24:47
Speaker 3: in his game. It looks like he's got easy power.
24:51
Speaker 3: It should be a twenty home run plus guy. No
24:54
Speaker 3: problem with enough major league at bats, decent speed, decent arms,
24:58
Speaker 3: so they're not outstanding. But apparently he's got excellent instincts
25:03
Speaker 3: and takes great routes in the outfield, so he could
25:06
Speaker 3: probably stick in center field. He's a guy that looks
25:09
Speaker 3: very polished. He looks like a guy of the Angels
25:11
Speaker 3: would really feel comfortable taking. And I don't see beyond
25:18
Speaker 3: you know, not having plus speed. The tools are all there,
25:20
Speaker 3: so there's three guys to chew on plenty of others.
25:23
Speaker 2: But if you know I wanted an answer, there you go.
25:28
Speaker 1: All right, Thank you Mark for that from beer, Tolo, Cologne, coloone,
25:35
Speaker 1: and Kay kudos for that ex handle.
25:37
Speaker 2: That's a good one.
25:37
Speaker 1: Bartolo is a joy to cover and what a fun guy.
25:41
Speaker 1: Are the Halos going to have any All Stars this year?
25:44
Speaker 1: I'm going to go out and on a limb and
25:45
Speaker 1: say yes, because every team has to be representing the
25:49
Speaker 1: All Star Game. Okay, that's a cop out. Normally I
25:53
Speaker 1: would say Zach Netto should or could be an All Star,
25:56
Speaker 1: but man, he's at a position that is just so
25:58
Speaker 1: loaded by Bobby Whitten, Gunnar Henderson. I mean, I don't
26:05
Speaker 1: know how you make it as a short stuff, but
26:07
Speaker 1: he's gonna have some tough competition there. But I'm gonna
26:11
Speaker 1: I think Joe Adell if he continues to somebody's shaking
26:16
Speaker 1: their head again. I just think, ye, I previewed it earlier.
26:20
Speaker 1: You know where I was going with at Yeah, I'll
26:24
Speaker 1: let you pick it up from there. Mark, because we
26:26
Speaker 1: saw what he did last year, we hope he can
26:29
Speaker 1: continue to do what he did last year. This year
26:32
Speaker 1: was some improvements in certain areas. I just think you
26:35
Speaker 1: put together two really good years like that back, you know,
26:39
Speaker 1: back to back, people notice, and I think that gets
26:42
Speaker 1: rewarded with things like All Star picks.
26:45
Speaker 2: I agree with you.
26:46
Speaker 3: I think we Netto is a guy that should and
26:53
Speaker 3: I don't see any reason why he's not going to
26:54
Speaker 3: have a very big season. But like you said, that
26:56
Speaker 3: position is stacked, and sometimes that's just the way things go.
27:01
Speaker 3: So Joe Adell stands out to me. And I think
27:04
Speaker 3: Mike Trout is always a fan favorite, So if he
27:09
Speaker 3: is even remotely like the Mike Trout of maybe not
27:13
Speaker 3: last seasons, but you know, he seems healthy. He's running well.
27:18
Speaker 3: Jeff Fletcher talked about that sprint speed, and you know
27:22
Speaker 3: he's the last few games in spring he's starting to
27:25
Speaker 3: put some bats together, the ex velocities and some line drives.
27:30
Speaker 3: So Trout and Adele are my are my picks. How
27:35
Speaker 3: about Sam Bachman as a as a flyer too? With
27:38
Speaker 3: a point six two e r A in the bullpen.
27:45
Speaker 3: You know we're having fun. So there there's a there's
27:48
Speaker 3: a flyer.
27:49
Speaker 2: All right. From Steven C. Smith.
27:51
Speaker 1: This question is from Mark. You played for four organizations.
27:54
Speaker 1: Did each have a unique culture or are they all
27:57
Speaker 1: pretty much the same?
27:59
Speaker 2: They're all any they kind of have to be.
28:03
Speaker 3: I don't know how to keep this answer super brief,
28:07
Speaker 3: so I'll try to just say the Angels were intense,
28:11
Speaker 3: very focused.
28:13
Speaker 2: We're all about winning.
28:14
Speaker 3: Spring training was more fun, and I think sometimes guys
28:18
Speaker 3: were a little caught off guard with transitioning from spring
28:21
Speaker 3: training to the season. It got very serious very quickly.
28:24
Speaker 3: There were still fun times, but you knew what you
28:28
Speaker 3: were there for. Went to the Diamondbacks, played for Kurt Gibson.
28:32
Speaker 3: Now Alan Trammel was the bench coach. It was interesting time.
28:37
Speaker 3: We weren't good, we were the opposite of good, and
28:41
Speaker 3: it made for a long season. Dodgers dragged us around
28:45
Speaker 3: drug drag, which one is it close enough being dragged
28:49
Speaker 3: you're the professional?
28:50
Speaker 2: Uh?
28:51
Speaker 3: And it?
28:53
Speaker 2: You know, we did what we could.
28:54
Speaker 3: I remember I alluded to Tony LaRussa became involved, and
28:58
Speaker 3: that was when we had the first meeting after the
29:01
Speaker 3: last game of the season that I ever experienced, and
29:03
Speaker 3: he said that we are aiming to be a five hundred.
29:06
Speaker 2: Team next year.
29:07
Speaker 3: And I think that that was caught me off guard
29:10
Speaker 3: and I still remember it, and I think it was
29:11
Speaker 3: actually very very good because that was a realistic goal.
29:15
Speaker 3: And I think I've said it this Angel team right now,
29:17
Speaker 3: five hundred would be an excellent goal to get to.
29:20
Speaker 3: It may not sound so great compared to what some
29:24
Speaker 3: other teams are doing, but you got to you got
29:25
Speaker 3: to start somewhere.
29:27
Speaker 2: The Mariners were we had a pretty good team. It's
29:31
Speaker 2: a lot of big name players.
29:35
Speaker 3: I was only there for half a season, very slow start,
29:38
Speaker 3: but did contribute as it progressed, and team chemistry was
29:44
Speaker 3: kind of mixed, I'll say, but you know, I didn't
29:48
Speaker 3: get an extended look. They hired Jerry Depoto, and my
29:52
Speaker 3: bags were packed. So in Baltimore, as I alluded to,
29:56
Speaker 3: Buck so Walter put a really good group of great
30:00
Speaker 3: group of guys together. That was the only team I
30:02
Speaker 3: was on that sniffed the playoffs wild card appearance. So
30:08
Speaker 3: credit to them. A great group of veteran guys had
30:11
Speaker 3: a clear idea of what they wanted. That also, unfortunately
30:17
Speaker 3: what seventeen big selloff team kind of you know, wasn't
30:21
Speaker 3: getting it done on the field. A lot of losses,
30:24
Speaker 3: and then I did experience a stone cold rebuild at
30:27
Speaker 3: the end. So for all the people that want to
30:30
Speaker 3: know what a rebuild looks and feels like, it's basically
30:35
Speaker 3: expecting to lose, and that's very ugly until it's not.
30:39
Speaker 1: So usually involves one hundred lost seasons, some in succession.
30:44
Speaker 3: Yeah, so yeah, good question, Thank you, Steven. All Right,
30:48
Speaker 3: this question is for me from biff ball. Where have
30:51
Speaker 3: all the old school well, where has all the old
30:54
Speaker 3: school baseball coverage gone? All the news I see out
30:58
Speaker 3: of spring training makes it look like we are we
31:01
Speaker 3: being the Angels are as good as the team in
31:03
Speaker 3: blue up the five freeway wells.
31:08
Speaker 1: As Tory Hunter always used to like to say, when
31:11
Speaker 1: I ask a question that I knew would be controversial,
31:13
Speaker 1: that's a hot Tamali. I'll infer by the second part
31:18
Speaker 1: of your question that biff Ball doesn't think baseball writing
31:22
Speaker 1: is as hard hitting as it used to be or
31:23
Speaker 1: as it should be. And one of my my first
31:27
Speaker 1: answer is where has where have all the baseball writers gone?
31:31
Speaker 1: Is the first problem? I mean, the New York Times
31:33
Speaker 1: eliminated the sports section a couple of years ago. The
31:36
Speaker 1: Washington Post just disbanded pretty much eliminated their sports section.
31:41
Speaker 1: The LA Times stopped covering the Angels as a beat
31:46
Speaker 1: at lea. It's been two years ago now, still one
31:48
Speaker 1: of the dumbest decisions that paper's ever made. So and
31:52
Speaker 1: there are a lot of teams right now that have
31:55
Speaker 1: like maybe one or two guys traveling with them, and
31:58
Speaker 1: usually one of those guys works for MLB dot Com. Now,
32:03
Speaker 1: I've known a lot of these MLB dot com writers
32:05
Speaker 1: over the years. They're all great people. They do a good,
32:08
Speaker 1: really good job, but they work for MLB. And there's
32:12
Speaker 1: a huge difference between what MLB dot Com does and
32:15
Speaker 1: what an independent newspaper or a website like The Athletic
32:19
Speaker 1: or ESPN does MLB dot com writers. I was covering
32:25
Speaker 1: the Dodgers when Trevor Bauer got arrested. They couldn't even
32:27
Speaker 1: cover that story. So there's a certain things that aren't
32:30
Speaker 1: allowed to be covered on MLB dot com. So then
32:34
Speaker 1: you have, like in our situation with Anaheim, you have
32:37
Speaker 1: the MLB dot com writer and Jeff Fletcher. Those are
32:39
Speaker 1: the only two writers who are basically covering this team
32:41
Speaker 1: right now. And I think personally, and not to be
32:45
Speaker 1: judgmental at all, but when you don't have as much
32:48
Speaker 1: competition on the beat, I think it doesn't bring out
32:52
Speaker 1: the best in you. When I first started, we had
32:54
Speaker 1: four or five traveling beat writers on the Angels. Back
32:57
Speaker 1: in the eighties, there as many as seven writers traveling
33:01
Speaker 1: with the Angels. And then the Alden Capital bought up
33:04
Speaker 1: all the local papers and you know, the Daily Breeze,
33:08
Speaker 1: the Long Beach Pressed Telegram, the Orange County Register of
33:10
Speaker 1: the Daily News, and now they have one Angels writer
33:12
Speaker 1: for all those papers. So there's just not enough baseball
33:16
Speaker 1: writers doing it. I do think there is are still
33:19
Speaker 1: plenty of them still doing it the right way. My
33:22
Speaker 1: philosophy was always to tell it like it is. To
33:25
Speaker 1: quote Howard Cosell. When the team sucked, I wrote that
33:27
Speaker 1: when the team was great, I wrote that I tried
33:30
Speaker 1: not to stick the knife. Well, when I was younger,
33:32
Speaker 1: I probably stuck the knife in a little too hard,
33:35
Speaker 1: but I tried to be fair in my criticisms and
33:37
Speaker 1: not too overly rosy and flowery in my praise. So
33:42
Speaker 1: that's the way I approached it. And a lot of
33:45
Speaker 1: these guys who approached it that way are no longer
33:47
Speaker 1: covering baseball, and that's that's a loss for the business.
33:51
Speaker 2: Mark any any thoughts on that question?
33:54
Speaker 3: Great question from biff Ball. He seems like he's looking
33:57
Speaker 3: for the late T. J. Simers coverage that I guess
34:04
Speaker 3: he's sounds like he what he sees or what he's
34:08
Speaker 3: reading and and what his eyes you know, have seen,
34:12
Speaker 3: may may not be lining up. And I think that
34:15
Speaker 3: you know you are the one to cover this. It
34:17
Speaker 3: sounds like the industry as a whole is evolving, but
34:21
Speaker 3: not for the better for those that know what they like.
34:25
Speaker 3: And I think that unfortunately, covering certain clubs accurately is
34:32
Speaker 3: a tough deal currently. It's you know, I don't know
34:36
Speaker 3: if people are more sensitive or it just is, you know,
34:40
Speaker 3: here no evil, but it's part of the deal. I
34:44
Speaker 3: got more than my fair share of criticism, still get
34:48
Speaker 3: it comments and otherwise it's part of the deal. So
34:51
Speaker 3: I never, you know, held any grudge against a writer
34:55
Speaker 3: that wrote something unflattering. Still have great relationships with virtually
34:58
Speaker 3: all of them, and I know it was part of
35:01
Speaker 3: the deal. If I was struggling, it was fair game.
35:03
Speaker 2: You know. Why.
35:05
Speaker 3: You can't be so sensitive that, you know, you get
35:10
Speaker 3: all pissed off about it. It's just the reality of
35:13
Speaker 3: being a highly paid athlete. And I think that i'd
35:17
Speaker 3: like to see more of it. Two writers is that's
35:20
Speaker 3: not much, you know, there's no competition for stories. I
35:22
Speaker 3: would assume that's you know, how can you make it
35:27
Speaker 3: interesting when you're just kind of you know, I don't know,
35:30
Speaker 3: I don't.
35:30
Speaker 2: Know, we'll see.
35:31
Speaker 1: Another part of that evolution has been the invergence over
35:35
Speaker 1: the last ten years or so of teams having their
35:40
Speaker 1: own network televised. You know, they package all the television,
35:44
Speaker 1: all the announcers, they have their own angels, have their
35:47
Speaker 1: own radio network. And these are all people that essentially
35:51
Speaker 1: are employed by the club now, whether you know, like
35:54
Speaker 1: them or dislike them. And once again, I think all
35:57
Speaker 1: these guys do a great job, but they work for
36:00
Speaker 1: the club. So you'll be in in a scrum after
36:03
Speaker 1: a game and you know the line of questioning maybe
36:06
Speaker 1: after a tough loss or you know, some controversial play
36:10
Speaker 1: or some really you know, mental gaff. It won't be
36:14
Speaker 1: as tough as as some and you know, sometimes a
36:18
Speaker 1: TV reporter will ask a question and then you know,
36:21
Speaker 1: I'll chime in with a more hard hitting question and
36:24
Speaker 1: the player will sometimes be taken aback because I just
36:27
Speaker 1: think they're not used to it, and I don't think
36:29
Speaker 1: they I don't know. Maybe you can speak to this mark,
36:31
Speaker 1: but as a player, I think these guys all sort
36:34
Speaker 1: of look at the group as the media, and sometimes
36:38
Speaker 1: they don't differentiate between. Okay, I mean they know who
36:41
Speaker 1: the TV reporter is. Maybe they probably know who the
36:45
Speaker 1: radio reporters, but they don't know who all the web website.
36:48
Speaker 2: Newspaper reporters are.
36:50
Speaker 1: So it's a different The way a good newspaper guy
36:55
Speaker 1: covers a baseball team is a lot different.
36:57
Speaker 2: Than the way a you know, radio you know.
37:00
Speaker 1: Team affiliated radio or TV station covers a team, and
37:04
Speaker 1: once again, I think that's a loss for journalism From
37:08
Speaker 1: j R. Sarroyan, will they have a beat reporter from
37:11
Speaker 1: the Athletic this year since Sam Bloom has gone that
37:15
Speaker 1: kind of you know, dovetails on that last question. From
37:20
Speaker 1: what I hear, they are not going to hire for
37:22
Speaker 1: that position. But knowing Sam as I do, I you know,
37:26
Speaker 1: he still lives in the southern California area. He's going
37:29
Speaker 1: to be out at the Angel Stadium quite a bit,
37:33
Speaker 1: and he's still gonna, you know, pursue and report the
37:37
Speaker 1: kind of impactful stories that I think this beat needs.
37:44
Speaker 1: So they're not going to travel with the Angels. From
37:47
Speaker 1: what I hear, they're not going to cover them on
37:48
Speaker 1: a daily basis. But you know, there's a lot of
37:51
Speaker 1: good stories come out of the camp and Sam has
37:53
Speaker 1: unearthed a lot of them over the last few years,
37:55
Speaker 1: so I have no doubt.
37:57
Speaker 2: He will continue to do what he does there.
38:00
Speaker 1: And our last question from David elbows Up Comstock, can
38:04
Speaker 1: we look forward to hearing from some current players on
38:07
Speaker 1: the show already? Boy, this guy sounds like he's almost
38:11
Speaker 1: as frustrated as us.
38:12
Speaker 2: Mark. What do you think did you say? Elbows Up?
38:18
Speaker 1: That's his quote. Is that his nickname David quote comstock.
38:24
Speaker 1: I love that. Yeah, either one of the two. Thanks
38:31
Speaker 1: for the question.
38:32
Speaker 2: Uh.
38:34
Speaker 3: Might be something that many have noticed. We haven't had
38:38
Speaker 3: well any participation from current players, and I don't know
38:42
Speaker 3: if that will change. If I'm being completely honest, I
38:46
Speaker 3: think that, Uh, it's just a predicament that we've been
38:51
Speaker 3: put in. I don't I can speculate why, but I'd
38:57
Speaker 3: like it to change, is what I'll say. I think
39:00
Speaker 3: that our show has aimed to be fair. There's been
39:05
Speaker 3: some moments where we have been critical, and that kind
39:08
Speaker 3: of piggybacks what we were just talking about with the
39:10
Speaker 3: coverage of I think this is kind of what we know,
39:14
Speaker 3: especially you. That's the world you grew up in, and
39:19
Speaker 3: it's for me also, So I don't identify at all
39:22
Speaker 3: with you know, I would give an interview to anybody
39:26
Speaker 3: who asked for one if I had the time, and
39:29
Speaker 3: it seemed like it wasn't some total goofball.
39:32
Speaker 2: You know, I was not.
39:34
Speaker 3: As into some of the you know, slapstick, fart joke
39:38
Speaker 3: type stuff, but I did try and be amenable to
39:43
Speaker 3: various media outlets I didn't know. You know, sometimes it
39:45
Speaker 3: was Latin American, you know, played winter Ball. Do that
39:50
Speaker 3: Japanese media when when you know I had a couple
39:53
Speaker 3: of teammates and all types of stuff. You know, if
39:56
Speaker 3: you wanted an interview, I'd give you one. But as
39:59
Speaker 3: it's been for us, slim pickens.
40:02
Speaker 2: You keep trying.
40:03
Speaker 3: But you know, if the team is not into facilitating that,
40:07
Speaker 3: then there's there's not a whole lot that we can
40:10
Speaker 3: do about that. But you know, I guess they're the
40:14
Speaker 3: team is I think planning to do some of their
40:16
Speaker 3: own coverage. They did put out the Mike Maddox video.
40:19
Speaker 3: Maybe it'll be a lot more of that behind the
40:20
Speaker 3: scenes stuff and that can help to bridge the gap
40:24
Speaker 3: with getting to know these guys a little bit.
40:26
Speaker 2: Yeah, we'll add that.
40:28
Speaker 1: You know, if Halo Territory came into existence ten fifteen
40:32
Speaker 1: years ago, when I was still an Angels beat rider
40:34
Speaker 1: and I was able to do this show, I would
40:36
Speaker 1: be at spring training all month like I was for
40:39
Speaker 1: twenty five you know, twenty twenty five years. I would
40:43
Speaker 1: have access to these players, I would have relationships with
40:45
Speaker 1: these players, and once the regular season starts, I'll still
40:48
Speaker 1: be covering the team on a freelance basis for certain outlets,
40:52
Speaker 1: and I will be able to hopefully access some of
40:54
Speaker 1: these players we'll have We're planned to tape some pregame
40:58
Speaker 1: and postgame content that we'll plan on the show. But
41:02
Speaker 1: it is tough, you know. I no longer work for
41:05
Speaker 1: a daily newspaper. It's the first time in thirty two
41:07
Speaker 1: years I haven't been to spring training. I can't say
41:10
Speaker 1: I'm experiencing major withdrawals, but it definitely is different. And
41:14
Speaker 1: to start this show in the spring where I'm not
41:17
Speaker 1: out there is definitely created some access problems. But we
41:22
Speaker 1: do think it'll get better during the regular season, and
41:25
Speaker 1: we look forward to the regular season, especially because we
41:28
Speaker 1: get to see this team in person and on television.
41:32
Speaker 1: And with that, we're going to close the show. Thanks
41:35
Speaker 1: again all you fans with your great questions. We really
41:38
Speaker 1: appreciate it. Please like and subscribe, and we'll see you
41:41
Speaker 1: next week on fellow Halo Territory. We're probably gonna do
41:45
Speaker 1: an American League West preview, and we'll have the regular
41:47
Speaker 1: seasons starting late next week, so we'll have plenty.
41:51
Speaker 2: Of to talk about.
41:51
Speaker 1: Then join us in thank you for watching. See you
41:56
Speaker 1: next time on Halo Territory.