Latest / Foul Territory / Fair Territory: Ohtani vs Skenes vs The Miz, Cal Raleigh hits IL, Mickey Moniak's epic moment

Transcript

Fair Territory: Ohtani vs Skenes vs The Miz, Cal Raleigh hits IL, Mickey Moniak's epic moment · Foul Territory

0:02
Speaker 1: Welcome everyone to the Thursday edition of Fair Territory. As
0:06
Speaker 1: as you can see, we have a different host this week.
0:09
Speaker 1: His name is Scott Braun. You might recognize him from
0:12
Speaker 1: Foul Territory. He is the emperor of all things fair
0:17
Speaker 1: and Foul Territory. So Scott, welcome, and we have some
0:20
Speaker 1: news this morning.
0:21
Speaker 2: Let's start with cal Raley. First time in his career
0:24
Speaker 2: ken that he's hitting the shelf right. He's got the
0:27
Speaker 2: right oblique issue that we saw clearly an issue in
0:30
Speaker 2: last night's game as he was removed from that game.
0:32
Speaker 2: He's missed some time before that, a few days, and
0:35
Speaker 2: this could be one of the reasons why he's off
0:37
Speaker 2: to such a slow start after an MVP caliber season
0:40
Speaker 2: last year.
0:41
Speaker 1: I would think it is Scott, and we never know
0:44
Speaker 1: exactly what's going on with the player, how much a
0:46
Speaker 1: physical issue might be affecting a player. But this injury
0:50
Speaker 1: has been classified as a right oblique strain, which means
0:52
Speaker 1: it's probably not going to be a quick return for
0:55
Speaker 1: Cayle Rally. He played one hundred and fifty nine games
0:58
Speaker 1: last year. He's been one of the more durable players
1:01
Speaker 1: in the sport, certainly one of the most durable catchers,
1:04
Speaker 1: and this season we've seen struggles that are actually shocking
1:08
Speaker 1: coming off the sixty homer campaign, the oh for thirty
1:11
Speaker 1: six slump, the one to sixty one batting average, the
1:14
Speaker 1: five to sixty ops, all of these things not cal
1:17
Speaker 1: Riley like. And I suspect that that right side issue,
1:20
Speaker 1: which as you mentioned, cost him some time earlier, is
1:24
Speaker 1: a big reason for his struggles.
1:27
Speaker 3: Yeah, and for the Mariners.
1:29
Speaker 2: I mean you could look at this as a glass
1:31
Speaker 2: half full situation. Ken, he gets a little bit of
1:33
Speaker 2: time to get himself right and then try and be
1:36
Speaker 2: a version of what we saw last year, which would
1:39
Speaker 2: make a huge difference in the lineup for Seattle. Remember,
1:41
Speaker 2: in the offseason we looked at this team coming into
1:43
Speaker 2: the season as hopefully better.
1:46
Speaker 1: Yes, and the reason for that was the addition of
1:48
Speaker 1: Brandon Donovan and also Cole Young at second base and
1:51
Speaker 1: a number of different things, the addition of Jose Ferrara
1:54
Speaker 1: for the bullpen. They should be better, but as we know,
1:58
Speaker 1: the games are not played on paper. You have to
2:01
Speaker 1: factor in injuries and later trades and see how it
2:04
Speaker 1: all plays out. And certainly this is a big blow
2:06
Speaker 1: for the Mariners. The good news for them is that
2:09
Speaker 1: their pitching is healthy and has been healthy. Bryce Miller
2:12
Speaker 1: coming off the il, and assuming that Raleigh isn't lost
2:17
Speaker 1: for I don't know, four to six weeks, they should
2:21
Speaker 1: be okay. No one's running away with that division. The
2:23
Speaker 1: A's have been the best team in the division, and
2:26
Speaker 1: even the A's are flawed. We know that. So in
2:29
Speaker 1: a year in which the Astros are going significantly backwards,
2:33
Speaker 1: the Rangers are still struggling to hit, and the Angels
2:36
Speaker 1: or the Angels, I don't know that any one injury
2:39
Speaker 1: is going to mean that much negatively to the Mariners,
2:42
Speaker 1: but certainly cal Raley is cal Raley. He is the heartbeat,
2:46
Speaker 1: not just of their offense, but of course of their
2:48
Speaker 1: run prevention as well, because he is so skilled behind
2:51
Speaker 1: the plate.
2:53
Speaker 2: Now, let's flip it to another team dealing with so
2:55
Speaker 2: many injuries, and more have popped up. It seems like
2:58
Speaker 2: they've avoided a scare with Juan Soto from yesterday, as
3:02
Speaker 2: he's already back in the lineup for today ken so
3:04
Speaker 2: I don't think we need to spend much time on him.
3:07
Speaker 3: But let's get to the Mets in general.
3:08
Speaker 2: This is big Francisco Alvarez have been one of the
3:10
Speaker 2: brighter spots in the lineup for a team that can't
3:13
Speaker 2: score runs consistently, and now he's going to probably miss
3:16
Speaker 2: two months.
3:17
Speaker 1: Yes, and that's a huge blow on top of several
3:21
Speaker 1: other huge blows that they've suffered this season. Of course,
3:24
Speaker 1: Francisco Lindor being the big one, Jorge Polanco and Luis
3:27
Speaker 1: Robert Junior on top of Alvarez. Now that's four regulars.
3:32
Speaker 1: Just see the names right there on the left that
3:34
Speaker 1: they are missing, and three replacements. These are just on
3:37
Speaker 1: the position player side, Ronnie Mauricio who was Lindor's replacement,
3:42
Speaker 1: Mike Takman and Jared Young who also could have been
3:45
Speaker 1: outfield supplements. But at the same time, the Mets got
3:49
Speaker 1: a good situation last night, or a good development, I
3:52
Speaker 1: should say, with of course Carson Benches walk off scoring
3:56
Speaker 1: aj Ewing. If not for the injuries to talk when
3:59
Speaker 1: in young prohas, those guys would not have gotten the opportunity.
4:02
Speaker 1: You could still argue it's too soon, but at the
4:05
Speaker 1: same time, the Mets are where they are in somewhat
4:08
Speaker 1: of a desperate position, so they're going to play their kids,
4:11
Speaker 1: and with Alvarez out, Louis Terrenz will get more playing time.
4:15
Speaker 1: It's not ideal, but I will say this, the Mets
4:18
Speaker 1: are not the only team dealing with a number of injuries.
4:22
Speaker 1: Look at Houston, Look at Toronto, look at Baltimore. Those
4:25
Speaker 1: are just three teams that have had big time injury
4:28
Speaker 1: problems as well. And when I talked with Carlos Mendoza
4:32
Speaker 1: last week about this, when the Mets were in Arizona,
4:35
Speaker 1: we had them on Fox, he basically said, Hey, there's
4:37
Speaker 1: no excuses, you gotta go play. And that is the
4:41
Speaker 1: unfortunate reality of a team in their situation.
4:45
Speaker 2: Ken the Mets have been hammered for some of the
4:47
Speaker 2: roster construction and how it has played out so far
4:50
Speaker 2: this year. One underrated component is the best ability being
4:54
Speaker 2: availability and how that's factored into decision making. And Francisco
4:59
Speaker 2: Lindoor has been a very durable player over the course
5:01
Speaker 2: of his career. But when it comes to Polanco and Robert,
5:04
Speaker 2: both of them have not been able to stay on
5:06
Speaker 2: the field.
5:06
Speaker 3: Over the past few years.
5:08
Speaker 2: So just to use the Polanco example, right, I know
5:10
Speaker 2: they weren't going to pay Pee Alnzo like that, but
5:12
Speaker 2: Pete's there. I mean, he plays every day Polanco's hurt
5:15
Speaker 2: right now, So I know that some of it can
5:18
Speaker 2: be looked at as unlucky, but I don't think Luis
5:20
Speaker 2: Robert and Jorge Polanco situations are looked at that way.
5:23
Speaker 2: While I know Nimo's missed a few games here and there,
5:26
Speaker 2: but also another super durable player.
5:28
Speaker 3: They get rid of those two.
5:29
Speaker 2: It's not just what they do on the field, it's
5:31
Speaker 2: that they also stay on the field.
5:33
Speaker 1: Scott absolutely, And the one point that their president of
5:36
Speaker 1: baseball Operations, David Stearns conceded this week was that they
5:41
Speaker 1: might not have evaluated the injury risks of several of
5:44
Speaker 1: the players they acquired appropriately. Of course he's talking about
5:48
Speaker 1: Polanco and he's talking about Louise Robert junior. Now, Polanco
5:52
Speaker 1: last year actually was healthy and was pretty durable, but
5:57
Speaker 1: you're right, he has a history of this. And this
5:59
Speaker 1: was my concent with this team. One of them coming
6:02
Speaker 1: into the season, Boba Jed has missed some time also
6:05
Speaker 1: in recent years, and though so far, so good with him,
6:08
Speaker 1: but they had some injury risk that they took on.
6:11
Speaker 1: And when you have someone who is as durable as Alonzo,
6:16
Speaker 1: as durable as Nimo, in my view, teams often take
6:20
Speaker 1: that kind of thing for granted. The Braves don't. Actually
6:22
Speaker 1: the Braves value that in their players, they play them
6:25
Speaker 1: every day. But it seems to me the Mets undervalued
6:28
Speaker 1: it when it came to those two players, and that
6:32
Speaker 1: might have been a miscalculation on their part.
6:35
Speaker 3: Yeah, obsession over rate stats.
6:37
Speaker 2: You got to factor in the counting stats for players
6:39
Speaker 2: over the course of a season and who could be
6:41
Speaker 2: replacing them.
6:42
Speaker 3: One more stay in New York City.
6:44
Speaker 2: Max Freed leaving after a few innings from yesterday start,
6:47
Speaker 2: and for a Yankee fan, can I think they should
6:50
Speaker 2: just be hoping that there's no long term concerns even
6:52
Speaker 2: if Freed has to miss some time. This is actually
6:55
Speaker 2: a squad that's got some starting pitching depth.
6:57
Speaker 1: That's absolutely right, Scott and Max Freed was optimistic yesterday.
7:02
Speaker 1: Max Freed's an honest guy. I love him. But at
7:05
Speaker 1: the same time, I never trust the players medical evaluation
7:08
Speaker 1: of themselves in the heat of the moment because they
7:11
Speaker 1: often are wrong. And we'll see he'll have some imaging
7:14
Speaker 1: done today, we'll see what it is. But of all
7:17
Speaker 1: the teams in Major League Baseball, the Yankees are perhaps
7:20
Speaker 1: the best position to withstand. As you said, a temporary
7:24
Speaker 1: loss of Max Freed. Gary Cole is close to coming
7:27
Speaker 1: off the il. Rodin has come off the il. They
7:31
Speaker 1: have right now in their rotation Schlitler, Will Warren, Weathers
7:37
Speaker 1: and Rodin, and you're gonna have the possibility of Luis
7:41
Speaker 1: Hill at some point coming back. He's in the miners
7:43
Speaker 1: right now. And Elmo Rodriguez, who made a pretty impressive
7:46
Speaker 1: debut when he was up with the Yankees earlier. So
7:49
Speaker 1: they have all these pieces. Obviously, you want Max Freed,
7:53
Speaker 1: and you want Max Freed healthy in October, but if
7:56
Speaker 1: he is lost for some length of time, they're gonna
7:59
Speaker 1: be in a better position than most clubs.
8:02
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a talented set of arms. Most of those arms,
8:05
Speaker 2: when they're going right, can pitch playoff games for you.
8:07
Speaker 2: That's how good it looks right now for the Yankees
8:09
Speaker 2: if it all comes together at the right time.
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9:13
Speaker 2: Okay, let's get away from the injuries here. Let's get
9:15
Speaker 2: to some positivity and what I think is going to
9:17
Speaker 2: be a fun segment here, Let's hit the lead. It's
9:19
Speaker 2: powered by a game changer and more on how game
9:22
Speaker 2: changer is great coming up in a bit. But let's
9:24
Speaker 2: start with a scenario for you. All Star Game is Tuesday.
9:30
Speaker 2: Let's just say it is, right, Ken, who are you
9:32
Speaker 2: selecting to start for the National League on the mound?
9:36
Speaker 2: Is it as easy as sho Heo Tani sub one
9:39
Speaker 2: er or perhaps are there some other entertaining options that
9:43
Speaker 2: need to be considered.
9:45
Speaker 1: There are some other options that do need to be considered,
9:47
Speaker 1: and granted, Scott, the game is two months away. We're
9:50
Speaker 1: not there yet, but it is amazing what we're seeing
9:54
Speaker 1: in the National League. In particular, those three guys are
9:56
Speaker 1: the guys to focus on. Otani seven scoreless last night
10:00
Speaker 1: against the Giants, absolutely brilliant, lowers his era to zero
10:05
Speaker 1: point eight two. That leads the majors. Now here's a
10:09
Speaker 1: guy who is obviously focused on potentially winning a cy
10:12
Speaker 1: young He wants to do that something he hasn't done yet,
10:16
Speaker 1: and it certainly seems within his reach. But also last
10:20
Speaker 1: night we saw the Miz doing his thing. And the
10:23
Speaker 1: Miz extends his scoreless streak to eighteen and a third innings.
10:27
Speaker 1: He threw forty pitches last night, one hundred miles an
10:30
Speaker 1: hour or above. Ended the seventh with the strikeout of
10:33
Speaker 1: Nick Castillo's at one oh three point two, and he
10:37
Speaker 1: leads the majors in strikeout rate. It's up to nearly
10:40
Speaker 1: forty percent. Now he's seventh in the league in era.
10:43
Speaker 1: But my gosh, he would be an electric starter for
10:47
Speaker 1: the All Star Game as well. And then there's that
10:49
Speaker 1: Skeens guy in Pittsburgh. Now you remember Opening Day he
10:53
Speaker 1: had that misfortune at City Field. He allowed five runs
10:57
Speaker 1: in two thirds of an innings, gets removed and you wonder, Okay,
11:01
Speaker 1: is this just a fluke? Yeah, it was just a fluke.
11:04
Speaker 1: Since then, Paul Skian's THERA is one point nine. He's
11:09
Speaker 1: allowed just six runs, just one more than he did
11:11
Speaker 1: opening Day in forty nine and a third inning. So
11:15
Speaker 1: what we have here are three guys pitching at an
11:18
Speaker 1: elite level. And I'm not even talking about some of
11:20
Speaker 1: the others in the top ten in the National League
11:23
Speaker 1: in the ra Bryce Elder among them. Chase Burns is
11:26
Speaker 1: another one. It's really cool to see the pitching that
11:29
Speaker 1: we're seeing at the same time. And I want to
11:32
Speaker 1: say this with Miz we all gush over his miles
11:36
Speaker 1: per hour, his velocity. I just fear injury, and you
11:41
Speaker 1: have to fear injury when someone is throwing that hard. Now,
11:43
Speaker 1: maybe he's the rare specimen that could actually physically do this,
11:48
Speaker 1: and so far, so good. But every time he pitches Scott,
11:52
Speaker 1: he crosses my mind, Man, how long is this gonna last?
11:56
Speaker 2: No, I understand at that level, you're like, nobody else
12:00
Speaker 2: is doing this, nobody else really has done this. Where
12:02
Speaker 2: you're chucking one to oh three to start the game
12:04
Speaker 2: and to end the outing. You know, seventh inning, last
12:07
Speaker 2: strikeout there against Castianos was just ridiculous.
12:10
Speaker 3: So here's the follow up I have for you. Ken.
12:12
Speaker 2: Let's assume that all three starters make their starts throughout
12:14
Speaker 2: the year their scheduled starts, keeping in mind that Otani
12:17
Speaker 2: will probably notch a few less, they'll give him extra rest.
12:20
Speaker 2: They're all healthy. We get to the end of the season,
12:22
Speaker 2: we have three different profiles here. I would venture a
12:25
Speaker 2: guess that Otani's going to finish with Let's say, I
12:28
Speaker 2: don't know, five to six starts less than those two,
12:30
Speaker 2: if he stays on track the way the Dodgers have him.
12:33
Speaker 2: But Skeens and Misowski are in a very similar spot.
12:37
Speaker 2: Innings wise, can look at the Miz and the strikeouts,
12:40
Speaker 2: and that's a big deal for voters too, Right, there's
12:42
Speaker 2: not even contact there. Skeens, I think can do what
12:45
Speaker 2: Miz is doing, but he wants to go deeper into
12:47
Speaker 2: his outings. So I just think you have three different profiles,
12:50
Speaker 2: and I'm just curious to get your take on if
12:52
Speaker 2: this quarter pole plays out to a full season, how
12:55
Speaker 2: you think voters will evaluate it.
12:58
Speaker 1: It's a really good question, Scott, and it's a really
13:00
Speaker 1: good question because voters have different views of this. Now,
13:04
Speaker 1: I'm a guy who values bulk. In my opinion, if
13:08
Speaker 1: a starter pitches, say two hundred and ten innings, he
13:11
Speaker 1: had a more difficult path than a starter who pitches
13:13
Speaker 1: one seventy one point eighty. And yet in recent years
13:17
Speaker 1: we've seen that kind of logic flipped. Voters have preferred
13:22
Speaker 1: the elite performance over one eighty per se over a
13:27
Speaker 1: guy to ten who might be a little bit less.
13:30
Speaker 1: Snell over Verlander was one example of it. Actually, both
13:32
Speaker 1: of Snell's cy Young's were examples of it. So I
13:36
Speaker 1: don't know which way the voters would go, and clearly
13:39
Speaker 1: we have to see how this plays out, but it's
13:41
Speaker 1: a fascinating question. Because to me, I know, the rate
13:45
Speaker 1: stats like you mentioned, and the strikeouts per nine and
13:49
Speaker 1: all that and strikeout percentage all really important of course,
13:53
Speaker 1: but when you're throwing thirty or forty more innings than
13:56
Speaker 1: the next guy, you're doing something for your team team
14:00
Speaker 1: that can't necessarily be measured in the individual statistics, and
14:04
Speaker 1: that should be taken into account. Most vhotos, from what
14:08
Speaker 1: I can see these days, see it the other way.
14:12
Speaker 3: Yeah.
14:12
Speaker 2: I think about Corbyn Burns twenty twenty one n L right,
14:15
Speaker 2: one hundred and sixty seven innings. That was forty six
14:18
Speaker 2: and a third less than Zach Wheeler's two thirteen and
14:22
Speaker 2: a third. But Corbyn Burns had, you know, some better
14:25
Speaker 2: rate stats, strikeout numbers, stuff like that. So I love
14:28
Speaker 2: that when we start to go over, you know what's
14:30
Speaker 2: important to people on a quality basis. So we'll wait,
14:32
Speaker 2: we'll give it a little more time or only a
14:34
Speaker 2: quarter into the season. But props a game changer for
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Speaker 3: Learn more at GC dot com. Be right back with
14:57
Speaker 3: Dude and Dork of the Week. The dude, so that's
15:01
Speaker 3: what you call me.
15:08
Speaker 2: Let's do this due to the week? Ken, you're up first,
15:11
Speaker 2: all right.
15:11
Speaker 1: If you're a regular viewer of our show, you know
15:13
Speaker 1: I'm partial to guys who were kind of down and
15:17
Speaker 1: out and then rebuilt their careers. So by due to
15:20
Speaker 1: the Week? Is Mickey Moniac of the Colorado Rockies, the
15:23
Speaker 1: number one overall choice in the twenty sixteen draft. He's
15:27
Speaker 1: had a hard road. Remember he was traded by the
15:30
Speaker 1: Phillies to the Angels in a Noah Cindergaard trade. He
15:33
Speaker 1: ultimately was released by the Angels, and then he latched
15:36
Speaker 1: on with the Rockies last season and right now and
15:39
Speaker 1: it might not last, but right now he leads the
15:42
Speaker 1: major leagues in slugging percentage. So Mickey Moniac, to me,
15:45
Speaker 1: that's what we love about this game, to see guys
15:48
Speaker 1: who are up and down, then up again, and just
15:51
Speaker 1: keep persevering due to the week.
15:53
Speaker 2: Sometimes you gotta let that stick really marinate. Yeah, ten
15:56
Speaker 2: years after he's drafted. I'll be quick on my dude.
15:58
Speaker 2: I just wanted to read this out for you because
16:00
Speaker 2: I think you'd find this fascinating. Some fans will like
16:02
Speaker 2: to say, oh, the Phillies they blew it on that
16:05
Speaker 2: one to one pick back in twenty sixteen with Matt
16:07
Speaker 2: Klintech running the front office back then. Ken, I'll just
16:10
Speaker 2: read you some of the names after that number two Reds,
16:12
Speaker 2: Nick Senzel, three Braves, Ian Anderson, who did help them
16:15
Speaker 2: win a World Series, but you know has not panned
16:17
Speaker 2: out since then. Riley Pints for the Rockies than Corey
16:20
Speaker 2: Ray for the Brewers. I mean, we're really struggling here.
16:22
Speaker 2: I'm going down the line the notable picks like Gavin
16:26
Speaker 2: Lux at twenty, Will Smith was thirty two. Now we're
16:29
Speaker 2: getting into the comp round, Corbyn Burns fourth round, Pete
16:32
Speaker 2: Alonzo second round. But my point is the teams generally
16:36
Speaker 2: have the same top twenty twenty five whatever, there was
16:39
Speaker 2: not much there. It just happened to be one of
16:40
Speaker 2: those drafts in twenty sixteen where we didn't get star talent.
16:44
Speaker 1: That's right, Scott, And I'm actually working on a note
16:46
Speaker 1: about this for tomorrow, Alonzo. Of the players you mentioned,
16:49
Speaker 1: of the players in that draft, is the one with
16:52
Speaker 1: the highest career war at least Baseball Reference version of War,
16:56
Speaker 1: and I believe he went sixty seventh overall. It was
16:59
Speaker 1: one of those that just wasn't, as you said, very
17:02
Speaker 1: deep in talent. And that happens once in a while.
17:05
Speaker 1: It's cyclical.
17:07
Speaker 2: Yeah, And I'm talking about again for people to know
17:09
Speaker 2: the top of the draft there, right, Like if you
17:11
Speaker 2: look at the first twenty picks or so, you're like,
17:14
Speaker 2: I can't really point to a guy where I think
17:15
Speaker 2: the Phillies really blew it. Okay, I'll get to mind
17:18
Speaker 2: nice and simple here, Buster posey. Why just one reason, Ken,
17:23
Speaker 2: Let's make May trades a thing. It's back to back years.
17:26
Speaker 2: He makes the early trade for Devers. Now he makes
17:28
Speaker 2: the trade here with Patrick Bailey, which is not as
17:30
Speaker 2: big of a deal as Devers, but it did provide
17:32
Speaker 2: some really interesting content for us to cover this week
17:35
Speaker 2: because of how debated he is as a player in
17:38
Speaker 2: terms of his framing and his defense versus the rest
17:41
Speaker 2: of his game. So I just want to give props
17:43
Speaker 2: to Buster Posey for saying I don't care what the
17:45
Speaker 2: industry says about leverage and waiting closer to the trade deadline.
17:48
Speaker 3: If I want to do something, I'm going to do
17:49
Speaker 3: it now.
17:50
Speaker 1: I like that too. And the one thing about Buster Posey,
17:53
Speaker 1: and I wrote a column earlier this week that was
17:55
Speaker 1: in some ways critical and in some ways recognizing his
17:58
Speaker 1: decisiveness and boldness. This is the thing that so far
18:02
Speaker 1: has defined him, and in this day and age in
18:05
Speaker 1: our game, that kind of decisiveness is a separator. We
18:09
Speaker 1: don't see it from very many heads of baseball operations,
18:12
Speaker 1: AJ Preller, Jerry Depoto, a few others, but Buster Posey
18:17
Speaker 1: has done it repeatedly. We'll see if it's for better
18:20
Speaker 1: or for worse, but yes, he has been very decisive.
18:23
Speaker 3: I'm a fan. Trades are fun. I like it. Let's
18:25
Speaker 3: get to dorks. What do you have for us?
18:34
Speaker 1: All right, Scott? Now, I'm all for celebrations. I was
18:37
Speaker 1: never one who thought that was out of line or
18:39
Speaker 1: anything like that. I love it, love bath flips, love
18:42
Speaker 1: all of that. But the Giants outfielders this week, what
18:46
Speaker 1: they did, I can't even say it because it's kind
18:49
Speaker 1: of X rated. What they did was a little bit
18:52
Speaker 1: out of line. They didn't do it again, and I
18:55
Speaker 1: think we all got to laugh out of it. But
18:57
Speaker 1: they're the Dorgs of the week. You can't do that, guys.
18:59
Speaker 1: You can't I ate sex on the baseball field.
19:03
Speaker 2: Arik Kratz called it hula hooping. I thought that was
19:05
Speaker 2: a PG way to put it for our crowd, but
19:07
Speaker 2: it was yeah, Yeah, it was intense ken and I'm
19:12
Speaker 2: sure there'll be a story at some points. Someone definitely
19:15
Speaker 2: said something to them like, hey, guys, you can't do
19:18
Speaker 2: whatever you want. There are kids watching, and I'm with
19:20
Speaker 2: you too, like I want to see it all you
19:22
Speaker 2: guys want to do eight high fives, jump around, do
19:24
Speaker 2: whatever you want.
19:25
Speaker 3: Like cool?
19:26
Speaker 2: But to me, even I'm trying to think, I don't
19:29
Speaker 2: have kids yet, but I'm like, would I want my
19:30
Speaker 2: kid to see what I just saw there?
19:32
Speaker 1: You know?
19:32
Speaker 2: Did I find it hilarious for one time? Yes, But
19:35
Speaker 2: I'm with you on that one. And then for me,
19:38
Speaker 2: I'm going to refer to Mike Felger who's on ninety
19:41
Speaker 2: eighty five the Sports Hub in Boston, and I'm all
19:44
Speaker 2: for good content.
19:45
Speaker 3: Have a good time.
19:46
Speaker 2: We talked about Mike Trout trade scenarios for years on
19:50
Speaker 2: FT as well, but he was throwing out, you know,
19:53
Speaker 2: a suggestion from a friend that oh, the Red Sox
19:55
Speaker 2: really want Trout and they're going to go after him
19:57
Speaker 2: and all of that, and I'm like, hold up, Yeah.
20:00
Speaker 2: You can see Crats with his thumbs down in our
20:02
Speaker 2: reaction when we went over it on FT yesterday. Ken,
20:04
Speaker 2: here's the big part for me. The Red Sox can
20:06
Speaker 2: want them all they want, right, Mike Trout has a
20:08
Speaker 2: no trade class. It's important to note that, and for
20:11
Speaker 2: anyone that's covered Mike Trout and I have a lot
20:13
Speaker 2: and spoken to him quite often. Super nice guy. That's
20:17
Speaker 2: not a team he's going to approve. I can say
20:19
Speaker 2: that pretty strongly, and people can come after me for that.
20:22
Speaker 2: I don't care. I will say this strongly. Mike Trout
20:26
Speaker 2: is not going to approve a trade to Boston. I
20:28
Speaker 2: think he would approve a number of other spots because
20:30
Speaker 2: eventually he does want to try and get to a
20:32
Speaker 2: Playoff appearance again. But for me, Ken, maybe maybe you
20:36
Speaker 2: feel differently, but knowing Trout, that is not the environment
20:39
Speaker 2: that he wants and I'm not just talking about Boston pressure.
20:41
Speaker 2: I'm also even just talking about the turnover within the
20:43
Speaker 2: front office lately and the Dever situation, Korra, etc.
20:46
Speaker 3: Like. Trout wants none of that. That's not his game, Scott.
20:50
Speaker 1: He has given no indication he wants anything with regard
20:53
Speaker 1: to a trade. He has never indicated that at all.
20:57
Speaker 1: In fact, it's been just the opposite. I want to
21:00
Speaker 1: win with the Angels and that's that. So the first
21:03
Speaker 1: step here, if it ever comes to pass, is Mike
21:07
Speaker 1: Trout agreeing that okay, I would like to go to
21:10
Speaker 1: a winner and a team that would be more competitive
21:13
Speaker 1: than the Angels. He has not said he wants to
21:15
Speaker 1: do that. He says repeatedly, I want to do it here.
21:19
Speaker 1: So we can talk all we want, and we will.
21:22
Speaker 1: But this is a dead issue for now.
21:25
Speaker 3: Yeah it is. I I mean, it's his career.
21:28
Speaker 2: But I do think at some point he might regret
21:31
Speaker 2: not saying okay. And also we don't know if Ardy
21:33
Speaker 2: Marino and the Angels would ever even entertain it again.
21:36
Speaker 2: But if there is ever a time and Trout's healthy
21:38
Speaker 2: at the trade deadline, you gotta consider it. I just
21:40
Speaker 2: think it's a fun topic. So just wanted to bring
21:42
Speaker 2: it up. Ken, good stuff.
21:43
Speaker 3: It was fun. Always enjoy it.
21:45
Speaker 1: Scott. Thanks for joining us, and we'll be back right
21:47
Speaker 1: after this with the Grilling Ken segment. All right, time
21:57
Speaker 1: now for Grilling Ken, the part of the show where
21:59
Speaker 1: you guys get to ask me questions. Let's get right
22:01
Speaker 1: to it. First question comes from Lance Johnson five to
22:05
Speaker 1: h four, who asks, will Chris gets in the White
22:09
Speaker 1: Sox become buyers since the Ales Central is so forgiving.
22:15
Speaker 1: I am glad you asked this question because we need
22:17
Speaker 1: to talk about the White Sox As of this moment.
22:20
Speaker 1: The White Sox are five hundred first time in a
22:23
Speaker 1: long time. Not only are they five hundred in the
22:26
Speaker 1: forgiving American League, just not the American League Central, it's
22:30
Speaker 1: the entire league is forgiving. They currently hold the White
22:33
Speaker 1: Sox due the second wild cards, so if they are
22:38
Speaker 1: in contention at the deadline, if this holds, will they add?
22:41
Speaker 1: And that's the question, Lance Johnson, there is asking. I
22:44
Speaker 1: would say the answer is probably yes, but in a
22:47
Speaker 1: limited way. So you're not gonna see the White Sox
22:49
Speaker 1: or any team in their position like the Cardinals, for example.
22:53
Speaker 1: They be a similar type club rebuilding They're not going
22:56
Speaker 1: to abandon their plan, their plan to grow with young
23:00
Speaker 1: talent simply to chase one wild card. But at the
23:04
Speaker 1: same time, those teams, I am quite certain, will recognize
23:09
Speaker 1: that these opportunities are precious. You don't know if next
23:12
Speaker 1: year will be as good as this year. So if
23:14
Speaker 1: you have a chance to make the playoffs this year,
23:17
Speaker 1: you owe it to your players, you owe it to
23:19
Speaker 1: your fans to at least do something to upgrade your roster.
23:23
Speaker 1: Good question, I like it. Next one comes from Tyler Maxsmith,
23:27
Speaker 1: who asked, do you think Bryce Elder is legit or
23:30
Speaker 1: is this just an average pitcher having a hot streak.
23:33
Speaker 1: He is legit, and he's legit because he's changed his mix.
23:37
Speaker 1: He's done some things differently, added some things here and there,
23:40
Speaker 1: and he's a guy that, yes, had some struggles last
23:44
Speaker 1: year as recently is then, but at the same time
23:47
Speaker 1: has done this now for seven or eight nine starts,
23:50
Speaker 1: and he looks like a pitcher. He's never going to
23:53
Speaker 1: be a big stuff guy, so he can simply get
23:56
Speaker 1: away with ninety eight ninety eight big slider all that
24:00
Speaker 1: he has to pitch. And while obviously those guys are
24:04
Speaker 1: subject to more contact battered ball luck. In my opinion,
24:07
Speaker 1: Bryce Elder has turned a corner and yes he is legit.
24:12
Speaker 1: Next question, this one comes from Jim Jim Huerta, who asks,
24:17
Speaker 1: what's going on with Jazz? His year seems so mad? True,
24:21
Speaker 1: his year is mad. And remember at the start of
24:24
Speaker 1: the season, actually in spring training, Jazz was talking about
24:27
Speaker 1: the possibility of going fifty to fifty, fifty home runs,
24:31
Speaker 1: fifty stolen bases. He was thirty thirty, I believe, last year.
24:35
Speaker 1: And obviously that's a lofty goal to set for yourself.
24:38
Speaker 1: And so far this season, in his free agent year,
24:41
Speaker 1: it's not happening for him. You see his statistics right there.
24:45
Speaker 1: It's not Jazz like and the ops in particular is
24:48
Speaker 1: rather low. I don't know that anything in particular is
24:51
Speaker 1: going on. Sometimes players do struggle when they know the
24:55
Speaker 1: big money is coming. But Jazz Chisholm Junior is in
24:58
Speaker 1: a great position, particularly after Nico Horner signs his extension
25:02
Speaker 1: with the Cubs. Among all position player free agents, he's
25:06
Speaker 1: going to be right near the top of the list.
25:08
Speaker 1: So if that's bothering him, and I don't know that
25:11
Speaker 1: it is, he simply has to relax and go back
25:14
Speaker 1: to being the player he is, and I expect that
25:17
Speaker 1: that's going to happen at some point this season. Next
25:20
Speaker 1: question comes from Elvis Santoyo, who asks can greater chance
25:26
Speaker 1: of happening the Mets recovering and making the playoffs? We
25:29
Speaker 1: were comment hitting four forty home runs by the All
25:31
Speaker 1: Star break or you joining Tim Kirkton in running the
25:35
Speaker 1: sausage race. Wow. The best chance of that happening, I
25:38
Speaker 1: would say, is the Mets recovering, and I enjoy the
25:42
Speaker 1: humor in that question Tim and I. If we ran
25:45
Speaker 1: in the sausage race, Tim would win. Tim is the
25:47
Speaker 1: better athlete. When we were in Baltimore together many decades ago,
25:52
Speaker 1: he would crush me. Not only in the newspaper, yes
25:55
Speaker 1: we had newspapers back then and newspapers in print. He
25:58
Speaker 1: would crush me as well on the basketball courts. So
26:01
Speaker 1: Tim would win that more. Kami's not hitting forty by
26:04
Speaker 1: the break. He might hit forty for the season. The
26:06
Speaker 1: Mets do stand some chance of coming back this season,
26:10
Speaker 1: though it doesn't look all that good for them right now.
26:13
Speaker 1: So that is it for us. Foul Territory is coming
26:17
Speaker 1: up next. Our guest will be Robert Murray jesus Cano
26:21
Speaker 1: new to the Athletic and Fair territory with Me and
26:24
Speaker 1: Me Alone is back on Monday. Thanks everyone for watching,
26:27
Speaker 1: Thanks everyone for listening, and have a great weekend.
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