Latest / The Craig Way Show / White Sox and Red Sox Surging, MLB Trade Deadline Preview with Gene Watson

Transcript

White Sox and Red Sox Surging, MLB Trade Deadline Preview with Gene Watson · The Craig Way Show

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: It's the Craig Way Show with the voice of the
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Texas Longhorns and Hall of Fame broadcaster Craig.
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: We continue here on a Texan Tuesday. And there's no
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: better truer Texan native Texan I know than our weekly
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: friend guest panelist contributor MLB Insider Temple, Texas Bell County
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: native Gene Watson of the Chicago White Sox Front office journs.
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: When was the last time you were in Bell County?
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: It's been a minute's at least six months to a year.
• 0:44
  Speaker 3: Really, wow? Yeah, yeah, well, yeah, we don't get there much,
• 0:48
  Speaker 3: not many.
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: We are having a forty year reunion in September for
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: the eighty six Temple Wildcats, so that'll be a lot
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: of fun.
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: Okay, all right, that'll be cool. And when you played
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: football at Temple, you played one position.
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: I played center, guard and tackle. I sat on the
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: center of the bench, got the water bucket and.
• 1:07
  Speaker 3: Tackled databay t to it there.
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I go, well, I remember, I remember the first
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: time I ever heard the phrase. Uh, I think it
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: was Tom Penders who said it during a basketball seasoned
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: by guy said, yeah, he guards the gatorade when he
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: was talking about that.
• 1:21
  Speaker 3: Yeah, okay, all.
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: Right, I didn't have I did have an All State
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: Center in front of me, So that's my excuse.
• 1:27
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: Well, and hey, listen, you got to proudly where what
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: is it? It's it's blue front white back the jersey, correct,
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: the blue front white back.
• 1:35
  Speaker 3: Yeah magic, yeah, yeah, that is something else.
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: And and and we are getting closer to uh to
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: the start of football season.
• 1:44
  Speaker 3: I promise Geno a copy of Dave Campbell's Texas.
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: Football Magazine when when, whenever we can cross pass again
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: on this right now, however, I gotta ask you patch
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: your ball club.
• 1:55
  Speaker 3: Uh you know you.
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: You are now about to play your ball club. The
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: Chicago White Sox are about to play their one hundredth
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: game of the season, one hundredth game of this season.
• 2:11
  Speaker 3: And here they are.
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: Here are the White Sox at fifty three and forty six.
• 2:16
  Speaker 3: Here are the.
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: White Sox seven above the five hundred mark, and tonight
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: playing their one hundredth game of the season. And they
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: have one game lead on the Cleveland Guardians and five
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: on the Twins, and six and a half on the Tigers.
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: In the American League Central, we continue to talk about
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: how unexpected folks have found this to be. And I
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: understand all that you've been there from the building of
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: the start of it. What has impressed you the most
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: about your guys getting to this point where here you
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: are getting ready to play game number one hundred and
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: you're sitting in first place.
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: Well, Craig, I think I think most of it is.
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: You know, you hear a lot of dialogue in the game,
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: like people or to spring training, and every all thirty
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: locker rooms are saying the same thing.
• 3:04
  Speaker 3: You know, why not us?
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: You know we're going to shock the world. And it's
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: one thing to say those things. It's another to go
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: out and actually do it. And I think it begins
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: with the leadership with Will Venable and his coaching staff,
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: and the attitude and the belief that he's instilled in
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: the twenty six man roster, the style of play that
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: they bring to the ballpark every day. Because again, you
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: can say hard nineties, but you got to have a
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: group that buys into it, and our guys run every
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: ball out as hard as they can. You can say
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: we're going to play a style of play where we
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: put the ball in motion and put the game in motion,
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: and BoNT and steel and hit and run. But it's
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: another thing to get players to executed, and Will and
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: his staff have done all of those things. And when
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: you couple that with twenty six guys that don't know
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: any better, you get what we've gotten. And it's been
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: a lot of fun, and we're just enjoying every bit
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: of It's the most fun I've ever had in the
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: game for what the expectations were coming into the season
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: and what they've been, and it's certainly raised our sights
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: to what we hope to do the next couple of weeks.
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: I have I've never asked you this, but I am curious. Now,
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: can you describe Will Venables. I don't know if personality
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: is the right word, but he's demeanor and his day
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: to day and what he's like as a matter you know,
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: we have to the point where we know what some
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: manager's personalities are like. We know what Aaron Boone's personality
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: is like. We know what Terry Francona's personality is like.
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: Even Dave Roberts, we know that Pat Murphy. We've gotten
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: to know quite a bit more in some reachion tell
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: us about Will Venable, the person and the personality makeup
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: of this guy.
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: Well, you know the thing about that chair is sometimes
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: people will change to fit what they believe. The personality
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: of the chair needs to be. Tough, persona, almost angry
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: a lot. You know, they start, you know, yelling at
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: umpires and fighting with umpires so like like.
• 4:53
  Speaker 3: You're protecting your team.
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: And the one thing I will say about Will is
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: he is the same guy today as he was when
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: I saw him play in the brain and a ball
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: and just a super intelligent person first of all, but
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: played at Princeton basketball baseball star, very low key, I
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: think laid back California would be the best phrase you
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: could use. But just so thoughtful with people so thoughtful
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: away he presents and players have a great deal of
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: respect for him, you know, for what his playing career was.
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: He was an elite defender in center field that played
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: the game the right way. His father played in the
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: big leagues, Maxpenable, And so he's just been a tremendous,
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: tremendous leader for this organization in this twenty six man roster.
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: How much does you just mentioned his dad, Max Beena ball.
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: I remember when he played played with the Reds among
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: other teams. How much does being a legacy of a
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: former big league player or manager even get into this.
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: I think about Aaron Boone, and I think about Bob Boone,
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: and I think about even his dad before him as well,
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: the family tree there. How much does that make a
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: difference in how a guy ultimately can succeed or at
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: least exhibit what he can do as a big league manager.
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: I think it's incredible, not only as a as a
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: manager or coach, but as a player because the car
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: rides to and from the games.
• 6:20
  Speaker 3: Are just a little bit different.
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: The car rides to and from, you know, when you're
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: when your dad's a coach or manager and you're growing
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: up in the clubhouse are just a little bit different
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: than the than the common person. And so you know,
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: the rolodecks, the learning rolodex goes back so much further.
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: You know, our third base coach, Justin Jerseley's dad, Mike Jershley,
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: was our third base coach during the back to back
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: World Series in Kansas City, and Justin was a young
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: man uh in middle school and high school that you know,
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: he was on the plane rides, he was in the meetings,
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: he's shagging BP and so you just get that higher
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: education of the day to day and you're learning so
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: much more at a much rapid pace than if someone
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: that doesn't have that.
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: Talking Major League Baseball with Team Watson here on thirteen Unders,
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: and I'm going to keep it in the American League
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: Central and ask you about the Guardians, in part because
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: we have a diagnoble Guardians fan who routinely texts the
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: program and interested in your thoughts on them. They hit
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: seven home runs last night and their win of the twins.
• 7:16
  Speaker 3: They're one game back.
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: I know Tanner, Bobby hasn't had quite the season he's
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: won and he's four and nine right now, but it
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: got the win last night. But what's your makeup to
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: this point as they just crested the one hundred game
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: part of the season.
• 7:29
  Speaker 3: They're at fifty three and forty eight. Your thoughts on
• 7:31
  Speaker 3: the Guardians.
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: Just a special organization with the way they do things.
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: They they know who they are is or organization. They
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: they have a profile that they breach on the mound
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: with their pitchers and Carl Willis is arguably the best
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: pitching coach in all of baseball. You know, they have
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: a lot of undersized players that are super talented, super
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: tool about and just they just play game the right way.
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: They play so hard, and they're they're going to be
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: very difficult to shake the entire season because they've been
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: there before many times and we have it and so
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: it's going to be something that we have to overcome.
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: But they're gonna get Jay Ram back pretty soon, they're
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: gonna get some of their injured players back, and they're
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: going to be a force to reckon with. They've got
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: a very good minor league system. They can go out
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: and make the trades they need to make. They're very
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: creative in the front office, and they are truly one
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: of the model organizations that exist in baseball today.
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: Do you see the Twins even though they're three below
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: five hundred and the Tigers are six below five hundred,
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: But the Tigers have won seven of their last ten.
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: There's a lot of talk about Trek Skuball and whether
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: the Tigers would deal him at the deadline, And we'll
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: get to the deadline here in a few minutes. As
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: Saltbuster only last night reporting that apparently schoo Ball is
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: not to be traded. It's not gonna happen, but we'll
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: see what we'll see. Do you see the Twins and
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: Tigers being players in the Central as this thing cranks
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: up into August and on in the September, or is
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: that going to be squarely dependent on all what happens
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: at the deadline.
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think every you know, most of the teams
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: I've spoken to are we're going to see where we're
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: at the next seven to ten days before we make
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: a decision. I think that so many teams are looking
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: for the same thing. Teams are desperate for bullpen, teams
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: are desperate for starting pitching. There's many teams that are
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: looking for middle of the order, run producing bats. And
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: so I think there's going to be teams that are
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: willing to take on some risk in those areas. And
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: I think there's gonna be some teams that are willing
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: to take on some financial responsibility in those areas. And
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: so it's going to be interesting to see. The interesting
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: thing about the American League Central is it's kind of
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: like a slow play for twenty six, because everybody's going
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: to be equally talented in twenty seven and twenty eight,
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: and so do you make that one trade that gives
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: you two or three players of depth to help you
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: in twenty seven to twenty eight, or do you try
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: to hang in there this year and see what you
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: can do as far as the wild cards concerned. But
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: this is this is going to be a very difficult
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: division for years to come because a lot of these
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: teams have very good finalists.
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: Toward that end of what you just said about twenty
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: seven and twenty eight. And you know me, Geno, I'm
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: not a guy. I do not like to dwell on
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: the unpleasant, the foreboding the possibility of a workstoppage in
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: twenty seven.
• 10:14
  Speaker 3: But it does bring up one question.
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: Might teams and I can use the Guardians or the
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: twins of the Tigers as an example, might teams that
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: might not otherwise be as aggressive toward the deadline given
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: where they are in the standings, Might they be a
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: little more aggressive than normal given the uncertainty of twenty
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: twenty seven?
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: I think certainly in the American League you could see that.
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: I think when you look at the American League West
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: and the American League Central, they're clearly wide open divisions.
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: A little less in the American League East. I just
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: don't think it's going to be as push in in
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: that Division it is in the Central West, and then nationally,
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: I think it's very, very modest, only because everybody knows
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: the Dodgers are the defending back to back World champions
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: and they have a really good shot of winning a
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: third and so you know, what kind of investment are
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: you going to see that you think can push you
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: over the top. The one team that I would say
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: I expect to be super aggressive and take after the
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: Dodgers is the Atlanta Braids. They're healthy, they have a
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: very good team, They've got the pieces to make an
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: impactful trade for a major league pitcher, and so I
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: look for Atlanta to be fairly aggressive. But in the
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: American League, certainly, you know it's wide open and teams
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: can be as aggressive they want and have a good
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: chance of winning in October.
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: All right, the story of the year in the American League,
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: really in the Major is probably your ball club. The
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: other developing story is what's going on in Boston right now?
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: I mean, my goodness, this is fourteen in a row
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: the Red Sox have won. It's their second longest winning
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: streak ever. They surpassed the tie for second mark with
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: a forty eight ball club that tied for the American
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: League pennant with Cleveland and lost one game playoff back
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: of the forty eight.
• 12:01
  Speaker 3: What's your biggest takeaway on what the Red.
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: Sox are doing right now that is so markedly different
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: than when they were in last place and we were
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: playing the sound bite from the angry fan and all
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: that other kind of stuff when they were eleven below
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: five hundred and now they're three above five hundred because
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: they won fourteen in a row.
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: Well, I think the young talent has always been there,
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: just it's not hard. It's very, very difficult to develop at.
• 12:28
  Speaker 3: The major league level.
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: They've got a lot of very good young players, especially
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: on the mound. And I think that when you go
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: into the season like they did in twenty twenty six,
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: and the expectations are there and then the results aren't,
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: and then you fire an Alex Korra and then you've got,
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: you know, the shock of that, and not only Alex,
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: with the entire coaching staff, and you have those relationships
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: between the players and the coaches, and then as time
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: goes on, you know, the players have to look in
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: the mirror and say, you know what, you know, we
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: can sit around and sulk about the fact that people
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: lost their jobs or we can start playing up to
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: their ability. And I was with Chad Tracy in LA
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: with the Angels. He was our farm director again, son
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: of Jim Tracy, born and raised in the game. So
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: the education and the speed up as far as being
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: qualified to be a manager was much much greater.
• 13:20
  Speaker 3: But I think they got through.
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: The storm of the firing of Alex Korra and they've
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: come together. They're very, very young, they're very talented, and
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: they've gone on a run that I think a lot
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: of people would say they are where they thought they
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: would be at the beginning of the year.
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: Let me jump to the American League West, and you
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: got the Mariners a game above five hundred in first
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: place after the win of the Reds last night. The Rangers,
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: after they're losing to your ball club's only a half
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: game back. In fact, and this is mind boggling to consider.
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: Here are the Rangers at level five hundred after one
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: hundred ball games. They're fifty to fifty. They are actually
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: right behind the Red Sox. If the regular season in
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: the day, the Red Sox would be the third wildcar,
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: which is amazing enough to consider. But you have the
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: Rangers there. The Astros who won last night are three
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: and a half back. I heard somebody say last week
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: when they got to the one hundred game mark, because
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: right now they're that one o two, So I guess
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: it was a couple of days ago that it is
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: the first time I believe the Astros have been below
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: five hundred at the one hundred game mark since I
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: think twenty eighteen or something like that, seven eight years
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: something like that. And yet for all that three and
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: a half back in the division race. How about your
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: thoughts on the American League West.
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: Well, I think Seattle continues to be the favorite just
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: just because of their death in the rotation, and they've
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: got an opportunity to go get leverage, bullpen, go get
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: a back, go do the things they need to do
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: to improve the roster, because they have six starters, and
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: there's lots of speculation within the industry that they will
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: end up trading one of the six starters to improve
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: their major league team. So I think that's kind of
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: swinging the needle for them a little bit. Uh And
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: and when you look at the other teams, it's it's
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: how much are they going to be able to push
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: in with their systems to improve. You don't want to
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: subtract from your major league team right now. Houston's in
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: a series with the Marlins right now, who have not
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: been playing well, and and they've got you know, the
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: Angels and and other teams this next week that are very,
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: very competitive, and so I feel like Houston, with the
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: number of bullpen arms that they could potentially move, they're
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: they're going to have to measure things up to the
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: deadline and it'll be interesting what they decide. But certainly
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: Jordan Alvarez is going nowhere.
• 15:37
  Speaker 3: Opinions going nowhere.
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: I wouldn't expect Hunter Brown to be to be going anywhere.
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: But but there's teams that are going to have very
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: difficult decisions sitting three, four or five games out of
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: that wild card knowing we really have a shot this
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: year or time to peel off and rejuvenate our minor
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: league systems some and it's going to be interesting to
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: see how they decide.
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: I'm talking basic league baseball with Geam Watson in for
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: a few more minutes. Let me jump to the Name
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: League and the Brewers last night with the virtue their
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: win over the Mats and the Dodgers you know, running
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: up against you know, Sanchez and having the difficult time.
• 16:11
  Speaker 3: They end up losing ten seven that baggame.
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: So the Brewers now by one half game, actually have
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: the best record in all of baseball.
• 16:17
  Speaker 3: Uh, do you see Milwaukee as.
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: Being a team that can stand pat simply because of
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: what they have going for them right now that they
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: might not even need to look at making a deal
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: before the deadline one hundred percent.
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: And they've got enough young prospects in their system that
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: they can inject into the major league team and and
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: fill every need that they potentially have. And another organization
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: that just knows who they are. Pat Murphy arguably one
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: of the best managers in the game. Mis Roski's turned into,
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: you know, arguably the best pitcher in the National League.
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: And so, you know, there's just a well of machine
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: that are playing very well. They have an identity, they
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: do all the little things well on a baseball field,
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: and they've got a very good league system that they
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: don't necessarily need to trade away to inject into the
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: major league team. And this is a this is a
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: real World Series contender with the Dodgers, and and it
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: could also be a reason that that the Braves feel
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: like they need to push in a little bit more
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: with their roster.
• 17:16
  Speaker 2: Well, you brought up the Dodgers and the reason why
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: I'm interested in getting your thoughts like this, I'm now
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: starting to hear things following this team as I do
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: that while it would be great to get another front
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: line starting pitcher before the deadline in school Ball's name
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: had come up, but now but now they're saying, hey, look,
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: you know Blake Snell's making rehab starts.
• 17:36
  Speaker 3: Tyler Glass now is not that far away from that.
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: They've shuttowed Tony down for two maybe three weeks, but
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: they think they'll get him back and be fine with that.
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: Where their worry seems to be is catcher because they
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: don't know about Will Smith's.
• 17:49
  Speaker 3: Neck injury as well.
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: So he's and right now you have a young guy
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: obviously behind the behind the plate there and then almost
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: nothing back there. So now we're hearing that maybe the
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: Dodgers might be the market for a catcher at the deadline.
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: Is that also kind of the rumor rumblings that you're
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: hearing as well?
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: Of course, And and and I think Will is going
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: to be okay. I think you have to protect yourself
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: as you get closer to the deadline in the event
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: he's not, but you're not going to get the impact
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: of a Will Smith. They're just they're not out there,
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: especially with what the acquisition costs would be for premium
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: position player at that position. So you almost have to
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: look around the league and look at, you know, some
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: stopcap guys that can come in and be more complimentary
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: and protect yourself from an insurance standpoint if he comes
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: back before the deadline and it takes another injury. So
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: you want to create as much depth as you possibly
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: can at the premium positions, not just catcher, but but
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: I think that's going to be something that they look at.
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: But but going out and getting that impactful catcher, I mean,
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: know the Royals going to trade Salvador Perez? I wouldn't
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: think so, but who knows. But it'll be interesting see
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: know they to asure that position beyond August third.
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: Could you even see the Athletics thinking about partying with
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: the shee Langeliers.
• 19:09
  Speaker 3: I don't think so.
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: Going into a new ballpark in Vegas, I think that
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: they've got a really good core of young position players
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: that they're going to be able to market in Las Vegas.
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: I think they're going to have a situation where they
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: can throw some money at the team once they get
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: to Vegas, and they have a really good for as
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: much as everybody thought they would be better than they are,
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: they still really have a very good young core position
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: players that have fallen upon injury and that's been a
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: lot of their downfall this year.
• 19:34
  Speaker 3: Okay, all right.
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: The last thing I want to ask you about is
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: in this National League. If the regular season were to
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: end the day, the three wildcards in the nash League
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: would be the Cubs, the Phillies, and then take a shot.
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: Because the Cardinals, Marlins, and Pirates right now are all
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: tied for the last wildcard spot. The Diamondbacks are a
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: half game off of that pace Jake's Washington. The Nationals
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: are one game back off of that as well. How
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: crazy is this going to get all the way down
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: the stretch.
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: Well, pitching is the currency of the game, and the
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: Pirates have it. And so as you know it's already
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: hot or almost into August, as they get closer to
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: the fall, that pitching where other organizations are going to
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: wear down.
• 20:20
  Speaker 3: Lack of depth or the.
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: Team's taking on innings watch out for the Pittsburgh Pirates,
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: and I think they have a chance to make some
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: sneaky moves at the deadline. To me know, Makeley possibly
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: make a late push, and so to me, when you
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: have the arms on the mound, that gives you a
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: little bit of advantage over the other teams. The Marlins,
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: even though they're struggling right now, have played extremely well.
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: Clayton McCall has done an amazing job with that organization,
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: and so you know they they play very dynamic baseball
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: as a team. But that last wild card in the
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: National League has a chance to come down to the
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: final days of the season.
• 20:56
  Speaker 3: That's why they put it in there.
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: He's Gene Watson, and he's the reason why we talk
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: Major League Baseball in this program each week.
• 21:02
  Speaker 3: Gino, I appreciate the time.
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: Best of luck again to your ball club tonight up
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: in Arlington, and we'll do it again next week.
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: Hi, Greig, thanks so much, have a great day you too.
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: That's Gene Watson from the Chicago White Sox front office,
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: our MLB insider. We have more coming up here on
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: this Tuesday afternoon on Sports Radio AM thirteen hundred, The
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: Zone and on the iHeartRadio app,