Latest / Foul Territory / Ruben Amaro Jr. on PCA deal talks, Phillies bullpen w/o Alvarado

Transcript

Ruben Amaro Jr. on PCA deal talks, Phillies bullpen w/o Alvarado · Foul Territory

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: I think they're playing the best of any team right now.
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: I like having veteran guys back there.
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: Who've been through the wars.
• 0:14
  Speaker 3: Hey, we've got Ruben and Marjor in your former GM,
• 0:16
  Speaker 3: and of course the star of the Phillies show. But
• 0:20
  Speaker 3: we'll get to the Phillies in a moment. Ruben, great
• 0:22
  Speaker 3: to see you. The Yeah there it is. Oh the
• 0:26
  Speaker 3: shirts look good. We'll get to that. Give me two
• 0:28
  Speaker 3: minutes on pe Crow Armstrong first. I don't know how
• 0:30
  Speaker 3: much you caught of our conversation, but what would you
• 0:33
  Speaker 3: do if you're running the Cubs right now and you're
• 0:36
  Speaker 3: having a conversation with him and you'd like to try
• 0:38
  Speaker 3: and get this done and not make it lingered because
• 0:40
  Speaker 3: you also don't want it to get in his head.
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: He's doing special things for you right now.
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: Well, I think the most important thing for me is
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: to try to get it done quietly.
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: I love doing deals quietly.
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: I don't like to have, you know, have the media,
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: or have the public have any say once whatsoever. I
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: try to keep it as private as possible. And I
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: also got to get in this guy's head a little bit.
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: I should know him, uh from if I I'm doing
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: my job properly.
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: I should know this kid. I should know his makeup.
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: Is he a winner? Is he a gamer?
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: Is he going to bring more to the table to
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: me than just being a really really good player. I
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: think when you're starting to commit these kind of years,
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: it's not the dollars as much as it is the years.
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: And it's probably gonna take somewhere between, you know.
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: Seven and ten years to lock some of these younger
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: guys up at a reasonable price. You have to know
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: the makeup of the player. Can he give me something
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: more than just being a great player? Can he at
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: some point be a great leader?
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: Can he?
• 1:44
  Speaker 4: Is he?
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: Is he a championship type player? There's so many different
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: factors that are associated with it. And if he is
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: that guy, then hey make him run at it. Try
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: to do it quietly, try to do it in a
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: professional manner and.
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: See where it goes.
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: But try not to let it linger too much, because
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: I think that's what's happened. What happened to you know,
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: guys like Mookie Betts with the Boston Red Sox, and
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: I know that you know they tried their their butts
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: off to try to get him done for many years.
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: It lingered, it didn't get done and it became an
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: issue later on and they ended up having to move them,
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: which was.
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: Not such a great idea in my opinion. I guess
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: it was necessary.
• 2:27
  Speaker 5: All right, two part question. I'll give you the first
• 2:29
  Speaker 5: part so you can answer it second and you can
• 2:31
  Speaker 5: think about it. I need an answer for I need
• 2:34
  Speaker 5: a number for what you think PA should get or
• 2:38
  Speaker 5: what you think is area would be. But also, before
• 2:42
  Speaker 5: you say that, how hard is it to actually keep
• 2:44
  Speaker 5: it quiet because some orgs they just can't shut up,
• 2:48
  Speaker 5: you hear everything.
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: Well, it's because you have to have the people around
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: you not trying to get jobs in other organizations. I mean,
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: I think what happens is some of the underlings, you know,
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: they they want to build relationships with the media and
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: they want to get love from them. And I think
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: the most important thing is that you have people that
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: are working around you, and you have your concentric circles
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: around you that that you can trust are not going
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: to open their mouths.
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: We you know, we were fortunate to be able to
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: do that.
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: With Cliff Lee the second time when we brought them back,
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: and we wouldn't have signed them otherwise because we wouldn't
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: have been able to compete with the New York Yankees
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: at that time as far as the dollars and cents
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: were concerned.
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: So we had a submarine and we did so.
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: We were fortunate to be able to get it done
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: because so few people knew about it and we trusted
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: the people to keep it quiet.
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: But as far as the numbers.
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: Are concerned, I mean, I mean, you're talking about well
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: over one hundred million dollars if you're going to try
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: to lock them up for a long period of time,
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: and you try to get you know, within those parameters,
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: you want to try to get some.
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: Flexibility for your organization. What do I mean? Can you
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: get a couple of club options out of the deal?
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: Guarantee him the big money, whether it's between one hundred
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: and fifty and two hundred million dollars, but also give
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: yourself a chance at the back end two or three
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: club options so that hey, if this guy's really good
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: and he is worth it, that you can pick up
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: those options, and if he's not, you can let him go.
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: And I think that that's you know, that is something
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: that is important if I am running the organization, to
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: be able to give yourself some flexibility. Yes, it gives
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: you some.
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: Cost certainty, especially for players who are really special, but
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: it also can give you a little bit of flexibility
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: when you're trying to make decisions later on.
• 4:51
  Speaker 6: Well, first of all, if your guys are talking, ribbon out,
• 4:54
  Speaker 6: they should be out. You shouldn't have to worry about
• 4:56
  Speaker 6: that as a GM or anybody. I'm sorry, but if
• 4:58
  Speaker 6: your people are talking and they're letting stuff get out,
• 5:00
  Speaker 6: I know that's how it works. But at the same time,
• 5:03
  Speaker 6: you know, if you can't keep it quiet, you shouldn't
• 5:04
  Speaker 6: be there. Now your Phillies, you have the Phillies show.
• 5:07
  Speaker 6: Are they the best team in baseball right now? I
• 5:09
  Speaker 6: mean they're beating the teams they should, and they are
• 5:11
  Speaker 6: pounding teams and they're playing really well. Are they the
• 5:14
  Speaker 6: best team going right now?
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: I think they're playing the best of any team right now.
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: They're playing well enough to be considered the best team.
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: I'm not sure if they're the best team, but they're
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: pretty damn close. There's no teams without flaws, it just
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: doesn't exist. Yes, is there a question about their bullpen
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: and how locked down it can be, But who really
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: has a lockdown bullpen?
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: Across the board.
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: There's not many teams who can can say, you know what,
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: if I get a lead in the sixth inning and
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: I have to cover three innings, I.
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: Can lock it down with a one run lead.
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: There's not very many teams in baseball that can do that,
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: and so they are not that team.
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: But they did it yesterday against the Atlanta Braves.
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: And I know the Brave aren't swinging the bats like
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: they typically have or have had done in the past,
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: but they did lock it down and so you've got
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: to give him some love for that. I think Bremando's
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: coming along. I think you're seeing Kirk Ring grow up
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: a little bit. And Matt Strom actually had the best
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: fastball I've seen him have since the beginning of the season.
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: That's huge for them, even though.
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: They've lost Alvarado, who's been outstanding and that was a
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: big blow for them. But I'm sure Dave Dombrowski's trying
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: to get as much depth as he possibly can in
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: that back end, and.
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: It's something to address.
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: But I think as far as the overall team is concerned, AJ,
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: I think the thing is, I love.
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: Their starting pitching. I love the depth of their starting pitching.
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: And you know, after Wheeler you have twos that are
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: almost interchangeable across the board, and that's that's something a
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: whole lot of teams don't have.
• 6:52
  Speaker 3: Tood Father and I are from Jersey, so we're used to, oh,
• 6:55
  Speaker 3: I got a guy, But sometimes that just means when
• 7:00
  Speaker 3: I'm looking for a car, I go to car Gurus.
• 7:03
  Speaker 7: Yeah, And I think, honestly, the best part about this
• 7:05
  Speaker 7: communication which we love here in Jersey where we're from,
• 7:08
  Speaker 7: and this is a place where you can get a car.
• 7:10
  Speaker 7: The price drops all the time, and they let you know,
• 7:13
  Speaker 7: They let you know when your car is ready and
• 7:15
  Speaker 7: when you can get it. The communication part is the
• 7:17
  Speaker 7: best thing for me.
• 7:18
  Speaker 8: Scott agreed in depth vehicle Reviews. Car Grews will connect
• 7:22
  Speaker 8: you with trusted dealerships when you're ready, insuring and transparent
• 7:25
  Speaker 8: and hassle free buying process. With over four million listings,
• 7:29
  Speaker 8: they have more car listings than any other major online
• 7:32
  Speaker 8: automotive marketplace in the US. So you can find the
• 7:35
  Speaker 8: best deal, buy or sell your next car today with
• 7:38
  Speaker 8: car Gurus at car gurus dot com. Go to car
• 7:41
  Speaker 8: grews dot com to make sure your big deal is
• 7:44
  Speaker 8: the best deal that's c r g u r us
• 7:48
  Speaker 8: dot com, car gurus dot com.
• 7:52
  Speaker 5: All right, we talked about the bullpen. I'm kind of
• 7:54
  Speaker 5: stilling AJ's thunder because he brought it up, but you
• 7:57
  Speaker 5: lost Jose Alvarado. Alvarado test positive for steroids is a
• 8:03
  Speaker 5: blow to not only this team, but what about like
• 8:06
  Speaker 5: the psyche of the team in the sense of, like
• 8:10
  Speaker 5: who steps up as a closer. Obviously some bullpen guys
• 8:12
  Speaker 5: will think they can step up as a closer. But
• 8:15
  Speaker 5: you know, as well as anybody a position player's front
• 8:17
  Speaker 5: office coaches are like, we don't have a.
• 8:20
  Speaker 4: Lot of We don't have just people down there to
• 8:22
  Speaker 4: step up as closers.
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, coaches don't fall out of trees. You
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: know that Cratzy as well as anybody. I mean, there's
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: not that many. There's no Mariano Riverez out there. There
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: are very few.
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: I mean, a couple of guys are having some great
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: years right now and closing some games. But can they
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: do it year after year after year? And can they
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: do it in the tight meaning can they do it
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: in September, October and into November if they have to?
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: And so that's the question. There aren't very many of
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: those guys. I do like the way Romano has bounced back.
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: He had a.
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: Terrible start to the season. But you know, I judge
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: players on how they respond, so the man has responded
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: extremely well.
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: He's bounced back. I think he may have been tipping
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: some pitches.
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: I don't think that he was feeling comfortable mentally and
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: emotionally being in this new space in Philadelphia.
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: But I think he's starting to feel that now. He's
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: starting to.
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: Snap off some pretty damn good breaking balls. Now that
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: slider's very good. He's trusting his stuff and he's gotten
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: much better. Right now, he's their closer. He's the guy
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: that's gonna have to lock it down in the ninth.
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: But there are some guys that they have in their system.
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: And Mickabel came up and pitched extraordinarily well. Maybe the
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: best pitch game I've seen from both sides in all
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: the whole year, and maybe one of the best I've
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: ever seen. When Schemes and Mick Abel hooked up about
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: a week ago or two weeks ago. That was one
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: of the best games I think I've ever seen pitching wise.
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: I was super impressed by the way Abel handled himself.
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: Does he slide into the bullpen at some point and
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: become a possible guy. I don't know. I like having
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: veteran guys back there who've been through the wars. But
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: when you have a arm like that, you never know.
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: It's creating depth for them. And they're starting rotation because
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: they now have He and maybe Painter later on, and
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: so you're talking about, you know, building.
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: Up quite a bit of depth once Nola comes.
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: Back, and you know, frankly, as far as the bullpen
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: is concerned, they may actually throw Taiwan Walker back there
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: into the back end of the bullpen and see what
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: he can do. He's been pitching better, and once he
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: comes once Nola comes back, I gotta believe the Taiwan's
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: gonna be sliding into that bullpen and Rob Thomas is
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: gonna give him a shot to pitch maybe in the seventh, eighth,
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: and ninth and see whether he can handle pitching in
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: more high leverage situations.
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: Who knows.
• 10:50
  Speaker 6: I mean, I feel like Strom's arm is gonna fall off.
• 10:52
  Speaker 6: I feel like he pitches every game for the Phillies.
• 10:54
  Speaker 6: I mean, they gotta find someone.
• 10:56
  Speaker 4: Every time I look up. I love Matt Strama.
• 10:58
  Speaker 6: I'm like man, he's pitching every game, every time they
• 11:00
  Speaker 6: have a lead, he's in there in the seventh and
• 11:02
  Speaker 6: the eighth.
• 11:03
  Speaker 4: I mean, god bust continues to do it.
• 11:04
  Speaker 6: Because we love Matt on the show, and I love
• 11:07
  Speaker 6: Matt personally, but I want to go back to Alvarado
• 11:09
  Speaker 6: when you were the GM, when you were at the Phillies,
• 11:11
  Speaker 6: did you ever have anybody get pap for for steroids?
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: Well, we ended up having j Sever Merrow after the
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: World Series.
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: We won them the World Series and he got h
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: I guess he got nailed for it. You just never know,
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: I mean, guys why they do it, or what the
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: purpose is or what have you. But you know the
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: reality of it is as a GM, you.
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: Can do nothing about it.
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: It's literally like having a guy on the IL and
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: you just got to move forward.
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: No one's gonna feel sorry for you, and you're just
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: gonna have to go and deal with it.
• 11:44
  Speaker 6: And but how do you deal with it? That's that's
• 11:46
  Speaker 6: my rubin. My question is how do you deal with it?
• 11:47
  Speaker 6: Because we had Jim Boden on I think it was
• 11:49
  Speaker 6: last week and right when this went down, and he's like,
• 11:51
  Speaker 6: I would not bring him back. I don't want him around.
• 11:54
  Speaker 6: He's you know, he can't pitch in the postseason. I
• 11:56
  Speaker 6: think he's a free agent at the end of the
• 11:58
  Speaker 6: don't know. I think he's a free agent. Better team option, right,
• 12:02
  Speaker 6: He's like, I would not pick up the team option.
• 12:04
  Speaker 6: I don't want him around.
• 12:05
  Speaker 4: He cheated.
• 12:06
  Speaker 6: He basically, you know, did what he did. You know,
• 12:09
  Speaker 6: and he gave the normal excuses. You know, I didn't
• 12:11
  Speaker 6: know what I was doing. Whatever the excuses are that
• 12:13
  Speaker 6: don't I do HM care, But what would you do
• 12:16
  Speaker 6: if you This is a different than Jay Listen. I
• 12:17
  Speaker 6: played with JAC, I played came up with JC. I
• 12:20
  Speaker 6: love jac Romero. You know, whatever he did, he did.
• 12:23
  Speaker 6: This is a different situation. This is a guy the
• 12:25
  Speaker 6: Phillies have counted on for years in big situations. If
• 12:28
  Speaker 6: you were the GM of the Philadelphia Phillies, if you're
• 12:30
  Speaker 6: Dave Dombrowski, Samfold and all the rest, do you bring
• 12:33
  Speaker 6: him back on that team option next year?
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: You guys have both been in the clubhouses Ajkratzy and
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: you know, you guys have lived it, and you've seen
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: what that does to a clubhouse.
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: And I think, honestly, each individual situation is different. This
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: is a player that is extremely popular. He's very well liked.
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: I don't know the reasons why he got I don't
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: know why he did it, but as a player, if
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: I got my player's hat on, I'm pissed because he
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: may have really hurt our chances to be a world champion.
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: But he's also a really great guy, and I think
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: that he is a guy that is a guy that
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: typically would bring the team together.
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: He brings the bullpen together as a as a as.
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: A part of the emotion of that team.
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: And so if this guy wasn't asked and he was
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: not a good guy and was not a character guy,
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: then I would have a different thought process about it.
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: But to me, and again, I'm not sitting in that
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: clubhouse every day, but from you know, five hundred feet
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: away and having known the.
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: Player and what he means to this team, I bring
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: the man back.
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: But I also sort of expect him to have some
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: sort of apology to my teammates, to my coaching staff,
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: to whomever. But that's just me and uh and I
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: guess Steve Dombrowski and and Preston Manningly and Sam Folder
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: are going to make their own.
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: Decision about that.
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: Rob Thompson I'm sure we'll be involved in that decision
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: as well.
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: But but this is a pretty popular guy in the clubhouse.
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: Probably not as popular right now, but but he's a
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: guy that for me, if I was making a decision
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: about it now, I would certainly bring him back.
• 14:34
  Speaker 4: Okay.
• 14:34
  Speaker 6: And then last thing on this, what's what's the I
• 14:38
  Speaker 6: don't know the incentive. It's not the incidentive. I don't
• 14:41
  Speaker 6: know what the word is. What what's the what's the
• 14:43
  Speaker 6: reason for guys not to do steroids in?
• 14:45
  Speaker 4: What's the reason?
• 14:45
  Speaker 6: Because if you're Rose Elvarado and you're like, Okay, so
• 14:48
  Speaker 6: I lost eighty games, I loves half a year, but
• 14:50
  Speaker 6: there and then I go be a free agent and
• 14:51
  Speaker 6: the Phillies will bring you back because quote I'm a
• 14:54
  Speaker 6: good guy.
• 14:55
  Speaker 4: Then what's the There's no reason to not do it.
• 14:58
  Speaker 6: If I'm a player, I'm like, well, hell if I
• 15:00
  Speaker 6: can sign for one hundred million and I lose half
• 15:03
  Speaker 6: a year and then they just bring me back and
• 15:05
  Speaker 6: welcome me with open arms because quote I'm a nice guy.
• 15:08
  Speaker 4: No, there's nothing hurting them. There's no reason not to
• 15:11
  Speaker 4: do it.
• 15:11
  Speaker 6: There we're actually telling guys like, hey, go do this
• 15:14
  Speaker 6: until you get caught.
• 15:15
  Speaker 4: You might lose eighty games.
• 15:17
  Speaker 6: You might if you're on a bad team, especially you
• 15:19
  Speaker 6: know you're not making the postseason.
• 15:21
  Speaker 4: But hey, I got my contract and I'm a good guy.
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: Well I don't know, I don't I guess I don't
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: see it that way.
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: When I say bring him back, I don't necessarily say
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: let's sign him back or pick up that club option.
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: I think that's a totally different discussion. I'm talking about
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: this year.
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: After eighty games, if this guy can still help us
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: pitch or help us win, then I want to bring
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: the guy back because I'm all about the win. Maybe,
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: and so if the guy can come back and help
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: me win, that's one thing. If he cannot, then that's
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: another thing entirely, And as far as the club option
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: is concerned, that's a decision. That's a totally different decision
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: that I think has to have.
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: You have to have a sort of a broader picture
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: about how to handle that.
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: But I was just, you know, when I was saying
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: bring him back, I'm talking about the you know, after
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: the eighty games, let this guy help me get to
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: the playoffs, and then I can do whatever I want.
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: When because it's a club option, and that's a decision
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: that's totally different than the decision and to bring him
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: back for me than to bring him back later on
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: this year when he's eligible, I think it's right around
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: August seventeenth or something like that.
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: Now, excuse me, not August, is that right? Yeah?
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: I think it's August seventeenth or eighteenth is when he's
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: eligible to come back.
• 16:37
  Speaker 5: All right, let's go to real Muto batting eighth, JT.
• 16:41
  Speaker 5: Real Muto batting eighth. Is this the way that jt
• 16:44
  Speaker 5: Ermuto is going to rehab against big league teams by
• 16:48
  Speaker 5: figuring out his leg kick, which, if I remember right,
• 16:53
  Speaker 5: he toyed with a leg kick for the first two
• 16:55
  Speaker 5: months of last season two and then he said ah
• 16:58
  Speaker 5: fooie and scrapped it and became the J. T Romuto
• 17:01
  Speaker 5: for the rest of the season. Is this the same
• 17:04
  Speaker 5: adjustment that he tried to make last year.
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: I have a feeling it is.
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: It's you know, JT is very prideful and in a
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: lot of ways, he's a guy that sticks to his principles.
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: He feels much more comfortable with the late kick right now.
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: The late kick is sort of out of think it's
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: making him early on the breaking stuff late on the
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: fastball and and he's sort of in between. And that's
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: sort of what happens to him when when he's not
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: timing it right. And I know a lot of guys
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: have lake kicked and they've had a lot of success
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: doing it. I'll do a little quick preview on a
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: interview that we did for a podcast with Reeze Hoskins.
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: You may have talked about this on the show. Reece
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: Hoskins used to have a leg kick.
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: He has made a.
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: Pretty significant adjustment and gotten away from it, got is
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: put down earlier and now over the last several weeks
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: has gotten really hot.
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: It was a difficult adjustment for him, especially.
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: When you're doing it in you know, in season and
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: you need to have like automatic results for that right
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: as a player. But it's worked for him and he
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: feels comfortable with it, and he'll discuss it on our show,
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: The Phillies Show podcast. We'll go to Eric I believe
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: on Friday and he'll discuss it, just so as a
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: little teaser. But it may be something that JT since
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: he's played with him, maybe they have the discussion. I mean,
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: I would love for those guys to get together and
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: talk about it and see and have Reese talk to
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: JT about the benefits of a little bit more abbreviated
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: leg kick, because it seems to be working for a
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: guy who used a leg kick for quite some time
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: with success and now has seen that the adjustment is
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: going to help him.
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: So who knows.
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: I know it's a tough thing to do because it's
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: hard to make those kind of adjustments in season. But
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: I think Rob Thompson is doing the right thing by
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: signing him back, and you know, lessening his overall need
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: as far as you know, the pressure to to to
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: uh to perform offensively. He's so important to that pitching staff,
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: handling the pitching staff that he's worth his weight in
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: goal doing that. You guys know how important you are
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: behind the plate. You now important that position is. And
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: he's as good as anybody in baseball over the last
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: several years of being able to do that. And so hey,
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: take some heat off him, slide him back into the
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: eight hole, don't let him worry about his offense all
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: that much, and let him just do his thing defensively
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: until he gets back into a rhythm.
• 19:54
  Speaker 6: Rubn last thing you talked, you talked about you know
• 19:57
  Speaker 6: this and that. But if you're you talked about Topper,
• 19:59
  Speaker 6: if if you're the GM of the Phillies, do you
• 20:01
  Speaker 6: walk up to Bryce Harper and hand him an elbow
• 20:03
  Speaker 6: guard and say, why the heck don't you.
• 20:04
  Speaker 4: Wear one of these? Dude? Like these they're everywhere.
• 20:06
  Speaker 6: I mean, so that way you don't have to get
• 20:09
  Speaker 6: hit in the elbow and it hurt as bad anymore.
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you know what, I think he's actually warned them
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: in the past. I think i've for some reason. I
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: know that everybody, a lot of people wear less body armor,
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: so much more body armor nowadays than ever.
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: I would assume that he'll use it. But you know,
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: if Bryce Sharper doesn't bruise and.
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: He doesn't swell, so I don't know I was gonna
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: come out of that the ninety five mile hour ninety
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: just six mile an hour heater that that smoked him,
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: I guess probably close to that funny bone. His body
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: probably went numb for a while. But I would assume
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: that he will probably wear one. He's been drilled like
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: two or three times in the last week or so,
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: and that's so that's not fun. I would assume they
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: will probably jump on, jump on the body armor at
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: least for a little while until that's it fully healed.
• 21:02
  Speaker 4: Okay, Ruben, appreciate you coming on.
• 21:04
  Speaker 5: And the only reason I turned my hat around was
• 21:06
  Speaker 5: to make sure you knew which team he traded me to.
• 21:09
  Speaker 5: But we do appreciate it, and I want you. I
• 21:14
  Speaker 5: want you to plug again the Phillies Show for us,
• 21:17
  Speaker 5: even though you're already previewed what the Friday Show is
• 21:20
  Speaker 5: gonna be on our way out here.
• 21:22
  Speaker 4: So we appreciate you coming on.
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: Rube, Yeah, thanks so much man the Philly Show. But
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: Todd's Alecki, Jim Salisbury and I we just have a
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: blast talking Phillies baseball.
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: I think it's a.
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: Great combination of historian in Jim Salisbury, someone who's had
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: many hats, and myself and then Todd's Alecky sort of
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: runs the show. It's the We nicknamed it the Todd Pod.
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: We love doing it. We have a lot of fun.
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: It's a great team to cover because it's fun to
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: watch these guys. They've been damn good for the last
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: several years and they're going to continue to contend as
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: long as Dave Nebrowski's there and Rob Thompson is doing
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: this thing. They've got some good players, some good people there,
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: So give it a.
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: Listen, give it a watch.
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: It's basically on everything you can possibly see on podcasts.
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: And we appreciate Foul Territory being our umbrella and being
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: our big partners in that.
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: So that's my plug.
• 22:17
  Speaker 5: Maybe we appreciate your room, and we'll get to the
• 22:21
  Speaker 5: weeds after this.