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Jim Bowden's Front Office Unfiltered + Blue Jays talk w/Ricky Romero · Foul Territory

0:09
Speaker 1: Welcome to Front Office, Unfiltered Everybody, MLB analyst and insider
0:13
Speaker 1: for CBS Sports, The Athletic MLB Radio, Sirius XM, and
0:17
Speaker 1: on and on and on GM and foul Territory. Jim
0:21
Speaker 1: Bowden joining us now. Jim, good to be with you.
0:23
Speaker 1: Thanks for coming on. Appreciate it very much. You had
0:26
Speaker 1: just recently wrote or or sent us a message. It's
0:29
Speaker 1: probably too old news for you guys, but I don't
0:30
Speaker 1: think it's too old because we're talking about the two
0:32
Speaker 1: firings from a former GM perspective. Tell us more about that.
0:36
Speaker 1: I'm interested in your perspective, Jim, because my goodness, we're
0:39
Speaker 1: not even thirty or at the time, they weren't even
0:42
Speaker 1: thirty games into the season, and Rob Thompson had just
0:45
Speaker 1: gotten an extension in December of last year.
0:49
Speaker 2: Yeah, I know. I think the problem is the Phillies
0:51
Speaker 2: were playing so poorly and you've got so many players underachieving.
0:57
Speaker 2: The only two guys that were hitting were Kyle Schwarbur
0:59
Speaker 2: and Bryce Harper on that team, right yet, Alec Bohm,
1:02
Speaker 2: who's dealing with the things at home as well as
1:04
Speaker 2: just not hitting at all, You're not getting much production
1:07
Speaker 2: on the corner outfield spots. You're not getting much production
1:10
Speaker 2: offensively behind the plate. I mean, there's just no offense.
1:13
Speaker 2: And you know, we talked about this team in the
1:15
Speaker 2: offseason in terms of, you know, is this team been
1:19
Speaker 2: together too long without mixing it up? Is there a
1:22
Speaker 2: sense of urgency and the other part of this team.
1:24
Speaker 2: You know, as we watched it in the first month
1:26
Speaker 2: of the season, they weren't playing well defensively, they weren't
1:28
Speaker 2: running the base as well. That didn't seem to be
1:31
Speaker 2: the focus that we were used to when this team
1:33
Speaker 2: was winning ninety games every single year. And you know,
1:37
Speaker 2: Rob Thompson's a great manager and he had a lot
1:39
Speaker 2: of success. He took the team to the World Series,
1:41
Speaker 2: he won ninety games multiple times. But the team wasn't
1:45
Speaker 2: doing anything. So if you're sitting there and you're Dave Dombrowski,
1:48
Speaker 2: what are your choices? I mean, you can't fire twenty
1:50
Speaker 2: six players, right, I mean, you can fire Taiwan Walker,
1:53
Speaker 2: that's one, but you're not going to fire the rest.
1:56
Speaker 2: It's too early in the season to make blockbuster trades.
1:59
Speaker 2: That something you had to do in the offseason. So
2:02
Speaker 2: is there anything you can do to put a charge
2:04
Speaker 2: in this team. Is there anything you can do to
2:06
Speaker 2: give them a wake up call? And when you take
2:09
Speaker 2: someone like Rob Thompson, who is beloved by everybody and
2:12
Speaker 2: you fire him, if you're sitting there as a player,
2:15
Speaker 2: you know it's next. You're next, You're next. It's almost over.
2:19
Speaker 2: So if you think you're comfortable and you think everything's
2:22
Speaker 2: gonna be just fine, this was your wake up call
2:25
Speaker 2: because you're next. And I think that's all this was here.
2:28
Speaker 2: And look, I know it's unpopular when you fire a
2:32
Speaker 2: manager like this, and the next manager coming in is
2:34
Speaker 2: gonna have a similar style. And I'm not sure that
2:37
Speaker 2: don Nley's gonna do anything different for this team to
2:40
Speaker 2: win more games, to be honest, but perhaps the players
2:43
Speaker 2: will understand you're gonna have to step up and you're
2:46
Speaker 2: gonna have to produce. So sometimes you do have to
2:49
Speaker 2: make a change, I think as a GM, even though
2:54
Speaker 2: it's not necessary the manager's fault, it's really the fault
2:57
Speaker 2: of a lot of different people. But I think sometimes
2:59
Speaker 2: change is good for a team.
3:02
Speaker 3: Jim, you mentioned a changing this or getting rid of
3:07
Speaker 3: Rob Thompson might light a fire under these players. Bryce Harper,
3:10
Speaker 3: Kyle Schwarber, Bryce and Stott, j t Rio, Muto, Alec Bohm,
3:14
Speaker 3: Brandon Marsh. These guys aren't young kids. It's not like
3:17
Speaker 3: they're like they wake up. They're like, man, I'm gonna
3:19
Speaker 3: try harder. So does firing a manager really do anything
3:22
Speaker 3: other than just say, hey, I did something as a GM.
3:25
Speaker 3: And also you mentioned how they were missing this outfield
3:28
Speaker 3: and they were missing this, and this guy wasn't doing this.
3:31
Speaker 3: Isn't some of the blame on Dobrowski for putting this
3:33
Speaker 3: team together and keeping it the same.
3:36
Speaker 2: Absolutely, but he's not going to fire himself.
3:40
Speaker 4: Why not, Jim, You're fired.
3:43
Speaker 2: I mean, look at Dave. Debreski's going to the Hall
3:45
Speaker 2: of Fame. I mean, we've seen him win World Series,
3:48
Speaker 2: uh in multiple places. We've seen him take three teams
3:50
Speaker 2: of the World Series. Dave knows how to build a
3:53
Speaker 2: team to win. There's no doubt about that. He tried
3:56
Speaker 2: to keep this team together because this team went to
3:58
Speaker 2: the World Series a few years ago, so he tried
4:00
Speaker 2: to do this, but it just, you know, obviously isn't working.
4:04
Speaker 2: So you know, you could talk about veteran players and
4:08
Speaker 2: you expect that I was watching them like you were.
4:11
Speaker 2: I didn't think outside literally outside of Harper and Schwarber. Literally,
4:17
Speaker 2: I did not think this team was playing up to
4:19
Speaker 2: their potential. I really didn't. And look, I know a
4:23
Speaker 2: lot of the issue here is they've had some average
4:27
Speaker 2: major league players like marsh Stott Boom that in the
4:31
Speaker 2: past they got by with because they had three guys
4:35
Speaker 2: that played at MVP caliber levels Harper, Schwarber and Turner.
4:39
Speaker 2: And now all of a sudden, you know, you've got
4:42
Speaker 2: some of those MVP players playing more like All Stars
4:44
Speaker 2: and MVPs, and now, all of a sudden, when you're
4:46
Speaker 2: an average major league player, that's not enough to win.
4:49
Speaker 2: So that is part of it. But again, they're not performing,
4:53
Speaker 2: and sometimes change has to be made, you know. And
4:55
Speaker 2: then I'll look on the flip side in Boston and
4:58
Speaker 2: to me that that firing made absolutely no sense. I
5:03
Speaker 2: looked at that completely different than the Philadelphia situation because
5:06
Speaker 2: over in Boston they were ten and seventeen. You're sitting
5:10
Speaker 2: there on April the twenty fifth, ten and seventeen. Garrett
5:14
Speaker 2: Crochet's ra was six, Sunny Gray was on the injured
5:17
Speaker 2: list with a hamstring injury injury, BeOS Era was eight.
5:23
Speaker 2: They had no production at third base, where Alex Bregnant
5:26
Speaker 2: was a year ago. They had no production at second base,
5:28
Speaker 2: but the team still had really good pitching, five really
5:32
Speaker 2: good outfielders. They were still solid at first base and
5:35
Speaker 2: shortstopping behind the plate. And this is the team that
5:38
Speaker 2: was going to turn it around. This is a team
5:40
Speaker 2: that was going to get the five hundred, regardless of managing.
5:42
Speaker 2: And to fire one of the top five managers in
5:45
Speaker 2: baseball at that time, that makes no sense to me.
5:48
Speaker 2: If you were going to do it, you should have
5:49
Speaker 2: done it in the offseason. And let Cora interview in
5:52
Speaker 2: San Diego and San Francisco because this was different. Because
5:56
Speaker 2: they say it wasn't a power struggle, this was clearly
5:58
Speaker 2: a power struggle. Alex Cora did not see eye to
6:01
Speaker 2: eye with Craig Breslow in roster structuring, in player evaluation,
6:07
Speaker 2: in signing certain players to long term contracts. They weren't
6:10
Speaker 2: on the same page. And Alex Coorra won a World
6:12
Speaker 2: championship in Boston with Dave Dombrowski. He knows what it
6:16
Speaker 2: takes as a player and as a coach and as
6:19
Speaker 2: a manager because he did all of it. He knows
6:21
Speaker 2: what it takes to put a World Series team on
6:23
Speaker 2: the field, and his input wasn't heard nor was it respected,
6:27
Speaker 2: and so someone had to go, and the owner, John
6:30
Speaker 2: Henry decided that he was going to be on Craig
6:32
Speaker 2: Breslow's side on this one, who's in his third year
6:35
Speaker 2: with the Red Sox. Now keep in mind theo Epstein
6:38
Speaker 2: is behind the scenes and he was he had strong
6:42
Speaker 2: input in the hiring of Breslow. Theo Epstein has a
6:45
Speaker 2: strong voice with John Henry. And remember theo Epstein is
6:48
Speaker 2: one that believes in what former NFL legend Bill Walsh
6:52
Speaker 2: always said, you could stay in a place too long
6:55
Speaker 2: and then a change is probably better for everybody. Bill
6:58
Speaker 2: Walsh used to say ten years. In this case it
7:00
Speaker 2: was eight years, but that's what they kind of thought.
7:03
Speaker 2: And if you remember, it was theo Epstein who fired
7:06
Speaker 2: Terry Francona after two World championships. It was theo Epstein
7:09
Speaker 2: who fired Joe Madden after a World championship because of
7:13
Speaker 2: that philosophy of being in a place too long. So
7:15
Speaker 2: that was the reasoning behind Craig Breslo doing it. But
7:19
Speaker 2: in my opinion, when you have a manager the level
7:22
Speaker 2: of Alex Cora, that is not a manager, you fire,
7:25
Speaker 2: you figure out everything around him. He is special and
7:28
Speaker 2: I wasn't surprised that he and Dave Dombrowski talked on
7:32
Speaker 2: Sunday and he was already offered a job the day
7:34
Speaker 2: after he was fired. That didn't surprise me. There'll be
7:37
Speaker 2: a lot of teams that'll be coming after Alex.
7:39
Speaker 4: Thanks on what you're saying. It sounds like they were
7:41
Speaker 4: butting heads. Breslo and Cora were butting heads. What's the
7:45
Speaker 4: biggest argument you had with your manager or somebody that
7:50
Speaker 4: you were in charge of as a general manager, Because
7:54
Speaker 4: clearly something came to a head. It wasn't just like, ah,
7:57
Speaker 4: you know what, I think we're done here. Clearly there
7:59
Speaker 4: was a bashing of heads that had happened for a
8:03
Speaker 4: long time, and so as a GM, like, what could
8:07
Speaker 4: make you so mad that you're like, you're gone.
8:13
Speaker 5: Yeah.
8:13
Speaker 2: I don't think there's any one individual situation that would
8:16
Speaker 2: make me say, hey, you're gone. I mean, in terms
8:18
Speaker 2: of banging heads with a manager, I would say that's
8:21
Speaker 2: a regular event. When I was a GM, I mean
8:26
Speaker 2: there's always difference of opinions, but most of the managers
8:30
Speaker 2: that I worked with, like Davy Johnson and Jack McKeon,
8:33
Speaker 2: and Bob Boone and Frank Robinson most most of these guys,
8:37
Speaker 2: it was always give and take. It was always each
8:40
Speaker 2: of us listening to each other, having our arguments and debates,
8:44
Speaker 2: and at the end of the day respecting whatever the
8:46
Speaker 2: final decision was, whether it's what I thought was best
8:49
Speaker 2: or what the manager thought was best. But it was
8:52
Speaker 2: always a collaborative approach because that's the only way it works,
8:55
Speaker 2: you know. I always felt like it's a huge advantage
8:59
Speaker 2: when you have a strong GM and manager that on
9:02
Speaker 2: the same page. Andrew Friedman and Dave Roberts, or back
9:06
Speaker 2: in the day John Schucholtz and Bobby Cox, or when
9:09
Speaker 2: Dave Dombrowski, you know, was with Jim Leland. You know,
9:13
Speaker 2: those kind of relationships and great baseball minds that work
9:18
Speaker 2: together and utilize all the people around them. Those are
9:21
Speaker 2: the organizations that are successful. So it's sad to me
9:24
Speaker 2: when I see a situation like Boston, just because I
9:26
Speaker 2: know how good Alex Corey is in that job, and
9:29
Speaker 2: there's no in my opinion, there was no reason for
9:32
Speaker 2: him to be fired twenty seven games into the season.
9:37
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9:40
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9:43
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9:47
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9:50
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9:52
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9:54
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9:56
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10:05
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10:07
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10:09
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10:14
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10:38
Speaker 4: Does this bring a World Series to the Red Sox.
10:40
Speaker 4: I'm not saying this year, but in Craig Breslow's tenure,
10:44
Speaker 4: does it bring a World Series?
10:45
Speaker 2: I would bet more against Craig Breslo not surviving the
10:49
Speaker 2: twenty seventh season than I would it bringing a championship.
10:53
Speaker 2: I'm not sure that style of GMing works. I'll be
10:58
Speaker 2: fascinating to see. Look, I think he's done a good
11:00
Speaker 2: job on the pitching side and pitching in defense to
11:04
Speaker 2: me says they're gonna be in the hunt every year there,
11:06
Speaker 2: But I'm not sure yet from what I've seen that
11:09
Speaker 2: he is going to be able to make that move
11:12
Speaker 2: that wins a World Series. You know, that move is
11:15
Speaker 2: giving Alex Bregman that no trade. That move is understanding
11:19
Speaker 2: what Alex Bregman meant to Roman Anthony and Marcelo Meyer
11:23
Speaker 2: and Will You're a bray you it's what he meant
11:26
Speaker 2: to that team. And also that bat in the middle
11:29
Speaker 2: of a lineup. You know, that Dev's bat or that
11:32
Speaker 2: Bregman bat, or that guy that can carry you when
11:35
Speaker 2: your team is in a slump, which they don't have
11:37
Speaker 2: right now. I don't know. I haven't seen him on
11:40
Speaker 2: that part of it. And it also seems like, you know,
11:42
Speaker 2: he's got his group, which is fine as long as
11:45
Speaker 2: that group is gonna win. And from what I've seen
11:47
Speaker 2: so far, they've got some work to do. You know,
11:50
Speaker 2: in spring training I had Yankees won Blue Jays two
11:53
Speaker 2: and then a conversation after that, And that's kind of
11:57
Speaker 2: how I see Boston right now. And look, this is
11:59
Speaker 2: the third year Brezels been there. And keep in mind,
12:01
Speaker 2: the last three gms that John Henry has had in Boston,
12:05
Speaker 2: none of them have lasted past the fourth year, none
12:08
Speaker 2: of them. And Breslo's on year three now.
12:10
Speaker 1: So yeah, Craig Brezil a bit robotics so far. Jim
12:13
Speaker 1: and his approach with the Boston Red Sox. Let's turn
12:16
Speaker 1: our attention to the New York Mets. What is going
12:18
Speaker 1: on with them?
12:19
Speaker 3: Jim?
12:19
Speaker 1: And is Mendy next?
12:22
Speaker 2: He shouldn't be. I mean, the team's a total mess.
12:25
Speaker 2: They should take the tea out of Mets and replace
12:28
Speaker 2: it with an S. So this is really hard to fix,
12:32
Speaker 2: right I'm kind of looking at it this way. You're
12:35
Speaker 2: getting no production in right field. Or left field, although
12:37
Speaker 2: Carson benj is hitting better lately and maybe the runway
12:40
Speaker 2: they've given him he can turn things around. Lewis Roberts
12:43
Speaker 2: on the injured list with the bat now, so you
12:45
Speaker 2: really don't have enough offensive production on the outfield. Your
12:49
Speaker 2: second basement is thirty five years old, an agent declining
12:53
Speaker 2: we saw last year got to him. It's offensively, it's
12:56
Speaker 2: not going to get better. He can pick the ball.
12:57
Speaker 2: Bobachett should be playing second and not five. Francisco Lindner's
13:01
Speaker 2: on his second injury. Pete Alonso is in Baltimore. They
13:04
Speaker 2: really don't have a first baseman. Polanco's hitting under two hundred.
13:08
Speaker 2: He's on the IL and dhing because he doesn't look
13:11
Speaker 2: like he can play first base. Two fists of your
13:14
Speaker 2: rotation in the back can't do You got three stars,
13:16
Speaker 2: but the two in the back can't do anything. Your
13:18
Speaker 2: bullpends a nightmare because you didn't watch Yankee games last
13:21
Speaker 2: year to understand that Devin Williams has a hard time
13:23
Speaker 2: pitching in New York. You just scouted them the last
13:26
Speaker 2: two months of the season. I don't know how you
13:28
Speaker 2: sit there with that farm system and fix it. I
13:30
Speaker 2: mean early in the season when things went bad, he
13:32
Speaker 2: brought up thirty eight year old tomby fam to watch
13:34
Speaker 2: him go oh for thirteen before he released them. So look,
13:38
Speaker 2: I just they have so many problems. I could see
13:42
Speaker 2: a pathway where the Phillies can get back in it
13:45
Speaker 2: if Wheeler and Nola can pitch up to their capability
13:48
Speaker 2: and Painter can be a rookie of the year, you know,
13:51
Speaker 2: can it and they start to hit a little bit,
13:53
Speaker 2: I could see the Red Sox getting back in the
13:55
Speaker 2: race a little bit. I have a hard time with
13:57
Speaker 2: the New York Mets finding a way to get there.
13:59
Speaker 2: I think it's a man And why are you going
14:01
Speaker 2: to fire Carlos Mendoza? I mean, are you going to
14:03
Speaker 2: bring in Carlos Beltron and think he's gonna win more
14:05
Speaker 2: games than he is? I just I think the problems
14:08
Speaker 2: in the front office, not not in the dugout.
14:11
Speaker 3: Okay, Jim, Well, then let's go to that. First of all,
14:13
Speaker 3: Luis Robert on the ile biggest shock of the year,
14:15
Speaker 3: not because he's hurt every year. By the way, apparently
14:18
Speaker 3: all the fans that showed up for the first time
14:20
Speaker 3: in his career couldn't keep him off the aisle that worst,
14:23
Speaker 3: one of the worst coats I've ever seen. So uh
14:25
Speaker 3: and I don't know if you saw that one or not,
14:26
Speaker 3: where Louise Robert said, Oh, it's gonna be nice to
14:28
Speaker 3: play in front of some fans in New or because
14:29
Speaker 3: in Chicago they didn't come out. No, because you didn't
14:31
Speaker 3: play well and also you were always hurt. Well check
14:33
Speaker 3: on the always hurt and check on the you ain't
14:35
Speaker 3: playing well. So guess what, Louie, You're back right where
14:38
Speaker 3: you started. I'm sorry. It drove me crazy, now, isn't
14:41
Speaker 3: this We just mentioned it with the Phillies and you
14:45
Speaker 3: kind of a little bit to the Red Sox with
14:46
Speaker 3: the team, the way the team has made up. David
14:48
Speaker 3: Stearns has all the money in the world. He was
14:50
Speaker 3: handed the open check book, right. He came from Milwaukee
14:53
Speaker 3: with all the success, and now you're mentioned they're a mess.
14:56
Speaker 3: Is this more on David Stearns not knowing how to
14:59
Speaker 3: spend money, spending it on the wrong guys, choosing the
15:01
Speaker 3: wrong guys to bring in. They wanted to get rid
15:03
Speaker 3: of the Nemo contract, so they brought in Marcus Simeon.
15:06
Speaker 3: Demo is having a nice start to the year, right,
15:08
Speaker 3: Jef McNeil's doing okay, Alonzo's getting better. Like there's all
15:11
Speaker 3: these little things that when you have this open check book,
15:14
Speaker 3: you're supposed to be able to do, and check books
15:16
Speaker 3: make everything perfect. Well, the Phillies and the Mets are
15:19
Speaker 3: both bad and they have huge payrolls.
15:23
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean that criticism's fair, right, I mean you're
15:26
Speaker 2: looking at the team. We just went through it, and
15:28
Speaker 2: so you know, his moves haven't worked, and you know,
15:32
Speaker 2: even the Baschett move. I like the Baschett move when
15:34
Speaker 2: he made it. He hasn't hit yet. I think he will,
15:36
Speaker 2: but I think he's out of position at third base.
15:39
Speaker 2: I think if you're going to sign them and put
15:40
Speaker 2: him at second base, I think that that is the
15:42
Speaker 2: spot for him. It does worry me a little bit
15:45
Speaker 2: that the metrics are showing that he's lost a step
15:47
Speaker 2: or two in the last couple of years. I hope
15:48
Speaker 2: that's not from his previous physical situations, but that's something
15:52
Speaker 2: to monitor. But I mean, just in defense a little
15:55
Speaker 2: bit of the Mets, just because I want to defend
15:57
Speaker 2: a little bit. Juan Soto's been hurt, right, only got
16:00
Speaker 2: a couple home runs on the year, spent a lot
16:03
Speaker 2: of time in the IL Francisco. Lindnoor has been on
16:05
Speaker 2: the IL Bobachhett hasn't hit. I mean, those are your
16:07
Speaker 2: three best hitters that haven't performed. Polanka was supposed to
16:10
Speaker 2: be your fourth best that he hasn't hit. But I mean,
16:12
Speaker 2: it's just watching them. It's just not a good team.
16:15
Speaker 2: I think they were hoping Senga was going to have
16:17
Speaker 2: a comeback kind of year and he just can't get
16:19
Speaker 2: anybody out. And David Peterson got off to a really
16:21
Speaker 2: bad start as well, and they were supposed to be
16:24
Speaker 2: solid guys in the back of the rotation. But just
16:26
Speaker 2: looking at this team offensively, defensively, the bullpen, the back
16:31
Speaker 2: of the rotation, there's just so many issues or problems
16:34
Speaker 2: that this is front office responsibility here, and the job
16:39
Speaker 2: between now and August is to try to fix it.
16:41
Speaker 2: But it's not going to be easy. I don't think
16:43
Speaker 2: he's on the hot seat. But I think if I
16:45
Speaker 2: were Steve Cohen and I had a decision to make
16:47
Speaker 2: like John Henry made, I wouldn't blame the people in
16:51
Speaker 2: the dugout. I'd blame the people that are making the
16:53
Speaker 2: moves in the front office.
16:56
Speaker 4: We had a little exercise before he came on, just
16:58
Speaker 4: kind of recapping the money of April. I want to
17:01
Speaker 4: hear your biggest surprise, biggest disappointment, best moment, Player of
17:06
Speaker 4: the month, pitcher of the month, and Rookie of the
17:08
Speaker 4: month for the month of April in all of Major
17:10
Speaker 4: League Baseball.
17:12
Speaker 2: All right, Eric, I mean the biggest surprise to me
17:14
Speaker 2: was Alex Cory getting fired. Like I don't really get
17:16
Speaker 2: surprised in baseball very often. That one just completely stunned
17:21
Speaker 2: and shot me.
17:21
Speaker 5: I couldn't.
17:22
Speaker 2: It's one of those things. When I heard the news
17:24
Speaker 2: on Saturday, I just didn't believe it. I mean I
17:27
Speaker 2: needed a text back from Alex to understand that it
17:30
Speaker 2: was true. Like I still can't. I twenty seven games
17:34
Speaker 2: in that made no sense. My biggest disappointment has to
17:38
Speaker 2: be the big four teams, you know, I think to me, Phillies,
17:44
Speaker 2: Red Sox, Mets, Astros. I mean I didn't see those
17:48
Speaker 2: four teams, all of them, and I feel bad, mostly
17:51
Speaker 2: bad for the Astros because that had more to do
17:53
Speaker 2: with your top three starters all go down with a
17:56
Speaker 2: shoulder problem to start the season. I mean that's really
17:59
Speaker 2: hard to overcome. But still that was my biggest disappointment.
18:02
Speaker 2: My favorite moment, I mean, honestly, and you guys will
18:05
Speaker 2: appreciate this is Joe Adele's that the third home run robbery,
18:10
Speaker 2: Like the first two were amazing. I had never seen
18:14
Speaker 2: an outfielder rob three in a game, and the particular
18:17
Speaker 2: third one going into the stands, the way he did
18:21
Speaker 2: to catch that third one was just It was a moment, honestly,
18:25
Speaker 2: that I'll never forget. So that was my favorite moment
18:27
Speaker 2: of the year. Second was pretty cool that Torquosen hit
18:32
Speaker 2: five straight home runs, so that was cool too, But
18:35
Speaker 2: Adele for me that the third one, and then well,
18:38
Speaker 2: the players ORed on Alvaiz and I'm so happy for
18:40
Speaker 2: him with all the injuries he had last year, but
18:42
Speaker 2: on base at a four to sixty three clip a
18:44
Speaker 2: two thirty oh ps plus with eleven homers and twenty
18:47
Speaker 2: six RBIs He's the player of the month for me
18:50
Speaker 2: just because of the damage he did. We all know
18:52
Speaker 2: he's that good and impactful. But glad to see him
18:54
Speaker 2: healthy and glad to see him doing or done stuff.
18:59
Speaker 2: Pitcher Jose Soriano and Ace was born. I mean loss
19:03
Speaker 2: of the White Sox.
19:04
Speaker 1: I picked Soriano is only loss of the white sock.
19:08
Speaker 2: You're hilarious, Oh eight forty are right right, He's been tremendous.
19:12
Speaker 2: But I'm gonna also want to mention Mason Miller because
19:15
Speaker 2: I always think we need to separate starters and relievers.
19:17
Speaker 2: But what he did ten out of ten save you know, conversions,
19:22
Speaker 2: twenty nine strikeouts and fifteen to third innings only three
19:25
Speaker 2: walks is sick. So those are the two pitchers of
19:27
Speaker 2: the month for me. My rookie of the Year is
19:30
Speaker 2: the same guy I picked to win the AL Rookie
19:32
Speaker 2: of the Year, and that's Kevin McGonagall. Thirteen game hitting
19:35
Speaker 2: streak right now, he's been on base forty two percent
19:39
Speaker 2: of the time. His ops plus is one eighty. He
19:43
Speaker 2: reminds me a little of Utly, a little of Bogs,
19:45
Speaker 2: little of Gwynn. I love this player so much. His
19:47
Speaker 2: hit tool is just ridiculous. He's gonna win batting titles
19:50
Speaker 2: in his career. And I want to mention in the
19:53
Speaker 2: other league, Sal Stuart just because the three seventy seven
19:56
Speaker 2: on base but nine homers, twenty nine RBIs seven steals.
20:00
Speaker 2: Those are the two best rookies I don't count more
20:02
Speaker 2: to Tako Murakami. If you're going to have all that
20:04
Speaker 2: service time in Japan, you shouldn't count as a rookie.
20:07
Speaker 2: So I'm not considering him in that role.
20:16
Speaker 1: The three of us picked Munataka Murakami, so we disagree
20:21
Speaker 1: with you there your spot on though. With Joe Adell,
20:23
Speaker 1: I had forgotten about that. How I forgot about that
20:25
Speaker 1: defensive performance is beyond me, but that that is a
20:28
Speaker 1: good one there for Joe Adell as far as best moment.
20:31
Speaker 1: Let me ask you this, with the disappointment that you had,
20:33
Speaker 1: of course, of the four big teams, Jim, does that
20:35
Speaker 1: mean that the smaller market teams now is as good
20:38
Speaker 1: of a chime as any to win and get in
20:41
Speaker 1: with the playoff format?
20:42
Speaker 2: You know, I know it's only been a month, Alana,
20:45
Speaker 2: but I think the parody that we're seeing in the game,
20:48
Speaker 2: with the success that Tampa and Pittsburgh and Miami and
20:54
Speaker 2: these small markets are having, they're totally taking away any
20:58
Speaker 2: arguments the owners can have for salary cap. I think
21:01
Speaker 2: this is going to really help not have a work stoppage.
21:05
Speaker 2: The game has never been in a better place, it
21:08
Speaker 2: just hasn't been. The ABS has been a huge success,
21:11
Speaker 2: So I think that's really been a positive thing. But
21:14
Speaker 2: I think the other thing that I've kind of noticing,
21:16
Speaker 2: you know, when I was a GM that our people
21:18
Speaker 2: ran the algorithms, the prime years were always twenty five
21:21
Speaker 2: to thirty years old, right for the average player. When
21:24
Speaker 2: you put all the numbers in, right, that number is
21:26
Speaker 2: starting to get younger and younger. And one of the
21:29
Speaker 2: things that I really found out walking to the camps
21:32
Speaker 2: and spring training and talking to people and watching the
21:35
Speaker 2: early season success is all these traitchech machines and hit
21:39
Speaker 2: trackers and all the technology these guys have. These young
21:43
Speaker 2: hitters when they're in high school and college are hitting
21:46
Speaker 2: off Paul Skeins and schoobl off these machines. They get
21:50
Speaker 2: to the minor leagues and they're doing it. You saw
21:51
Speaker 2: Andy Pajas of the Dodgers this offseason hitting off schemes
21:55
Speaker 2: right in the off season. So you have all these
21:57
Speaker 2: players that are now facing one hundred miles an hour
22:01
Speaker 2: with all these shapes and sizes off major league pitching
22:04
Speaker 2: before they get to the big leagues, which means when
22:06
Speaker 2: they get there, these young hitters have a better chance
22:09
Speaker 2: of having early success than five years ago or ten
22:13
Speaker 2: years ago you know, it used to be it took
22:15
Speaker 2: about three years before players could adjust to major league pitching,
22:18
Speaker 2: and then they take off. They'd be arbitration eligible, they'd
22:20
Speaker 2: all get paid, and then by the time they really
22:23
Speaker 2: got in their prime, they get to the free agents.
22:25
Speaker 2: They signed with the Dodgers, Yankees, Red Sox, and Phillies
22:28
Speaker 2: for millions, and then the small market teams can't win.
22:31
Speaker 3: Well.
22:31
Speaker 2: Now, all of a sudden, a couple things have happened.
22:33
Speaker 2: These young players are now performing young, giving these these
22:38
Speaker 2: small market teams a better chance to win early. The
22:40
Speaker 2: small market teams are now signing players for eight or
22:43
Speaker 2: nine years, telling the Yankees and Dodgers, no, you're not
22:45
Speaker 2: getting it in seven years like you used to. We're
22:48
Speaker 2: holding on to them now. So with all these elements happening,
22:51
Speaker 2: it's not going to be a huge advantage anymore. I
22:54
Speaker 2: think having way more money than everyone else now, obviously
22:57
Speaker 2: it's going to allow you to get the otawni's and
22:59
Speaker 2: the so photos that the small markets can't get. But
23:02
Speaker 2: in terms of being able to develop young players to
23:05
Speaker 2: be ready at the major league level, and based on
23:07
Speaker 2: the draft system and international system we have, my feeling
23:12
Speaker 2: is that We're gonna have a lot more parody going
23:14
Speaker 2: forward because of that, more so than anything.
23:17
Speaker 3: Else, Jim. But there needs to be a salary cap, Jim.
23:23
Speaker 3: There has to be a salary cap so these low market,
23:26
Speaker 3: small market teams compete. Now, we're not gonna clip this
23:29
Speaker 3: and put it out there just because we don't want
23:30
Speaker 3: people to call you.
23:31
Speaker 2: Okay, Well, I mean, look, I'm still for a floor
23:36
Speaker 2: in a cap myself. I do like it, but I
23:39
Speaker 2: don't think it's gonna be worth fighting for a workstoppage.
23:43
Speaker 2: That is my That's my main point here. I'm I'm
23:45
Speaker 2: still a fan of it. I don't really want to
23:48
Speaker 2: see one team with one hundred million dollar payroll on
23:50
Speaker 2: the other with a five hundred million dollar payroll.
23:52
Speaker 5: I just don't.
23:53
Speaker 2: I don't think that's good for any business or any sport,
23:56
Speaker 2: to be honest with you. That's more of a monopoly
23:58
Speaker 2: for me. But so I still fight for it. But
24:01
Speaker 2: I love what I'm seeing right now in baseball, and
24:04
Speaker 2: I think that's one of the great things of what
24:06
Speaker 2: happened in April of this year.
24:08
Speaker 1: All Right, Jim, we always appreciate it very much, great stuff.
24:11
Speaker 1: As always, we will talk to you soon, and guys,
24:13
Speaker 1: don't forget you can check out GM Territory with Jim
24:17
Speaker 1: and his son Trey on YouTube and all of the
24:19
Speaker 1: podcast platforms. Great stuff there with those two. We'll be
24:23
Speaker 1: right back.
24:24
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24:26
Speaker 4: our house.
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25:24
Speaker 1: Time nad and welcome on Ricky Romero, former Blue Jay
25:27
Speaker 1: of course and one of the hosts of Bluebird Territory.
25:31
Speaker 1: Ricky Rowe great to be with you, Glad to see you, Trey,
25:34
Speaker 1: you savages back. How big is that for this club?
25:38
Speaker 5: Oh, it's huge. I mean just having him back, his presence,
25:41
Speaker 5: his mound presence is unbelievable. Every time you get to
25:45
Speaker 5: watch him pitch. I mean, dating back to the World
25:47
Speaker 5: Series last season, it just seems like he has no pulse,
25:50
Speaker 5: there's no heartbeat there. It's just everything steady Eddy and
25:53
Speaker 5: just you know, for the rotation, I think early on
25:56
Speaker 5: in the season for the Toronto Blue Jays, we spoke
25:58
Speaker 5: a lot about how they were going to have depth
26:00
Speaker 5: and then that kind of went out the window with
26:02
Speaker 5: all the injuries and now having him back, you have
26:05
Speaker 5: Jose Burrios waiting in the wings, and then eventually it's
26:07
Speaker 5: gonna be Shane Bieber too, So he's coming at the
26:10
Speaker 5: right time. This team, you know, has done everything to
26:13
Speaker 5: stay afloat and hopefully they they continue to play well.
26:17
Speaker 5: I mean they're winning winners of three series in a
26:19
Speaker 5: row right now. They have it going. And the fact
26:23
Speaker 5: that he's back, I mean just watching him watching that
26:27
Speaker 5: ar mangle again, it's so it's so deadly u and
26:30
Speaker 5: fun to watch. So yeah, I feel like it was
26:33
Speaker 5: a good start for him. He fought his secondary stuff
26:36
Speaker 5: a little bit. I feel like he was a little
26:38
Speaker 5: bit too overly excited maybe at times with that front side.
26:41
Speaker 5: But aside from that, I mean it was it was
26:43
Speaker 5: great and great for this team to have him back.
26:47
Speaker 3: Ricky. What changed in this team the last couple weeks?
26:50
Speaker 3: They just they're playing much better. The offense has started
26:53
Speaker 3: to click a little. Aakamoto's got some big hits. Vladson
26:56
Speaker 3: like three sixty on the year. What's changed for this
27:00
Speaker 3: team after the start they got off. Has it just
27:01
Speaker 3: come down to pure health?
27:04
Speaker 5: Yeah? I think so. I think it's guys are getting
27:06
Speaker 5: healthy again slowly and honestly. This team is at his
27:10
Speaker 5: best when it's next man up and when there were
27:13
Speaker 5: when one gets base hit, next one gets a base hit,
27:15
Speaker 5: next one gets the big hit, you know, And I
27:17
Speaker 5: think we saw a lot of that last season with
27:19
Speaker 5: the Toronto Blue Jays. They weren't a team that struck
27:22
Speaker 5: out a lot. They knew how to pass the baton
27:25
Speaker 5: and I feel like the last three series that's what
27:27
Speaker 5: it's been about. It's like nobody's looking for the big
27:29
Speaker 5: home run or anything like that. It's like, all right,
27:32
Speaker 5: let's get on base, let's get on base, and then boom,
27:34
Speaker 5: here comes Laddie with you know, RBI single or Okamoto
27:38
Speaker 5: as you mentioned. I mean, he's been on fire lately.
27:40
Speaker 5: He had a good home stand. But it it's just
27:43
Speaker 5: you know, as you guys know, Kratzy and AJ, I mean,
27:46
Speaker 5: it's it's sometimes it's when when teams have high expectations,
27:50
Speaker 5: they're they're trying to do too much, or they're you know,
27:52
Speaker 5: they're they're trying to live up to the expectations. And
27:54
Speaker 5: right now I feel like the Toronto Bluejs are letting
27:56
Speaker 5: the game come to them and not really you know,
27:59
Speaker 5: hitting the panic button right away. And early in the season,
28:01
Speaker 5: I felt like, you know, with all the injuries and
28:03
Speaker 5: guys coming in and out of that clubhouse, there was
28:06
Speaker 5: just everyone trying to do too much. And right now
28:08
Speaker 5: I feel like everything's been pretty steady and guys are
28:12
Speaker 5: just getting the job done. I mean, you know, and
28:14
Speaker 5: and the energy is there too, Ernie Clement leading the
28:17
Speaker 5: way and Hesu Sanchez has been a nice addition for
28:20
Speaker 5: this team. So it's just, yeah, passing the baton one
28:24
Speaker 5: guy to the next one. And when you're able to
28:26
Speaker 5: do that, especially one through nine, it makes it tough
28:28
Speaker 5: on the opposing pitcher.
28:30
Speaker 4: Ricky was one of my roommates for like three days
28:33
Speaker 4: back in Double A, so I've seen I haven't I
28:36
Speaker 4: haven't actually talked to Ricky because then he was an
28:38
Speaker 4: All Star and then he was done pitching and he
28:41
Speaker 4: didn't return calls. But anyway, my question about the Blue
28:44
Speaker 4: Jays is everybody's going to compare this season to last season.
28:49
Speaker 4: And last season, Ernie Clement wasn't even in the starting
28:54
Speaker 4: lineup opening day. Nathan Lucas wasn't even in the big leagues,
28:57
Speaker 4: I think, or maybe I switched it, but either way,
28:59
Speaker 4: you said, it's the next man up type of mentality.
29:02
Speaker 4: Who's going to be that guy for this year? Who's
29:04
Speaker 4: going to be those guys that step up out of
29:07
Speaker 4: nowhere that non Blue Jay fans are going to watch
29:11
Speaker 4: and go, Man, how did the Blue Jays find an
29:13
Speaker 4: Ernie Clement, How did they find the Nathan Lucas, how
29:15
Speaker 4: did they find you know, I didn't even know about
29:17
Speaker 4: Addison Varger. But who's that guy or guys for this
29:21
Speaker 4: organization this year when they have more injuries because every
29:24
Speaker 4: team has them.
29:26
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think right now you're seeing one of the guys, Pinango.
29:28
Speaker 5: I think they really liked him. I mean, obviously they
29:30
Speaker 5: de fate Eloy him Andez, and he was a guy
29:32
Speaker 5: that I was rooting for just because of everything he's
29:35
Speaker 5: dealt with, I mean, obviously being a top prospect and
29:37
Speaker 5: then and then kind of falling off and making his
29:41
Speaker 5: way back up to the big leagues. I was really
29:42
Speaker 5: rooting for him, and he gets the fade. But they're
29:45
Speaker 5: they're really high on this Panango kid. And you watched
29:48
Speaker 5: them yesterday and he took some two great at bats,
29:51
Speaker 5: got a nice little RBI single. So I think, right now, yeah,
29:56
Speaker 5: if they don't deal with injuries, which you I think
29:58
Speaker 5: at this point you hope they don't with any more.
30:01
Speaker 5: You know, the lineup seems pretty pretty good with Clement,
30:05
Speaker 5: and obviously they're going to get Adison Barger back soon.
30:07
Speaker 5: Nathan Lucas went down, but he's going to be back.
30:10
Speaker 5: So you know, I think you mentioned a guy. I
30:13
Speaker 5: mean Heslu Sanchez for me, I mean a guy that
30:15
Speaker 5: kind of was written off top prospect too with the
30:18
Speaker 5: Miami Marlins and then went to Houston, and it just
30:20
Speaker 5: seems like they've unlocked something there and I think a
30:23
Speaker 5: lot of people are really excited about him. He's hit
30:25
Speaker 5: in front of Laddie, hit behind Laddie, So you know,
30:29
Speaker 5: I think I feel like this team's trying to look
30:31
Speaker 5: for that protection for Vlatimer Gerro Junior to be able
30:33
Speaker 5: to hit comfortably at that three spot. And and you know,
30:38
Speaker 5: obviously we're seeing a high batting average, and I think
30:41
Speaker 5: a lot of fans are complaining about him not hitting
30:43
Speaker 5: home runs, but the fact that he's just sprang the
30:45
Speaker 5: ball everywhere, uh, just tells you he's in a good place.
30:48
Speaker 5: And I feel like the power is going to be
30:49
Speaker 5: there at some point, but right now for me, it's
30:52
Speaker 5: like Pinango obviously, and Hesu Sanchez has been a little
30:56
Speaker 5: bit of a hitting gym. Obviously, he's been a big
30:57
Speaker 5: leader before. He's not like Ernie Clement or Nathan Luke
31:00
Speaker 5: or anything like that, but you know, he's been a
31:01
Speaker 5: nice addition to the squad.
31:03
Speaker 4: All right, we talked about the offense. I want to
31:05
Speaker 4: go to the pitching. And when I look at the
31:07
Speaker 4: Blue Jays with their injuries. Obviously we don't know any
31:10
Speaker 4: kind of injuries, but I feel like they're gonna be
31:13
Speaker 4: short on innings. I say this because Dylan Ce strikes
31:16
Speaker 4: out twelve dudes and goes five. Trey Savage may not
31:19
Speaker 4: ever be allowed to go past five just because of
31:21
Speaker 4: the organizations fearful because they don't know what they have,
31:24
Speaker 4: and he didn't throw a lot of innings last year,
31:27
Speaker 4: and Gosman's gonna give you some length, and then Jeff
31:31
Speaker 4: Hoffman's trying to figure it out in a bullpen. It
31:33
Speaker 4: feels like they're gonna get short on innings. Who are
31:36
Speaker 4: the guys besides the Louis Varlin that is gonna step
31:40
Speaker 4: up and give them enough innings because they build a
31:43
Speaker 4: good bullpen with Rogers and Varlin and Hoffman those pieces.
31:48
Speaker 4: But do you feel do you have the same fear
31:51
Speaker 4: when you watch this team day in and day out
31:53
Speaker 4: that by July they might get a little tired.
31:58
Speaker 5: I feel like that's always a huge question mark. Right
32:01
Speaker 5: when you're coming in, you're hoping that you get a
32:02
Speaker 5: lot of length out of your starters, and right now,
32:06
Speaker 5: you know you obviously you mentioned Kevin Gosman. He's the
32:08
Speaker 5: guy that's gone deeper into games. We talk a lot
32:12
Speaker 5: about this in on the Bluebear Territory podcast about Dylan
32:15
Speaker 5: sees he has to be able to go out there
32:17
Speaker 5: and give this team length. I mean, you know, we
32:19
Speaker 5: know he can strike out the house and and he can.
32:22
Speaker 5: He's got electric stuff. And he's been outspoken about it too,
32:25
Speaker 5: to the media, saying, hey, I want to get deeper
32:27
Speaker 5: in games. I want to be able to give this
32:29
Speaker 5: team some length. And so it's in the back of
32:31
Speaker 5: his mind, and a lot of it comes to, you know,
32:33
Speaker 5: mentality and and also making those adjustments within the game.
32:37
Speaker 5: I think sometimes if you guys have watched some of
32:39
Speaker 5: his starts, I've watched a few, and and it's almost
32:42
Speaker 5: like he's he wants to throw a nasty pitch rather
32:45
Speaker 5: than here you go, hit it. I'm going to use
32:47
Speaker 5: my defense, a tremendous defense that he's got behind him.
32:50
Speaker 5: And then obviously you know you got pose it. Burial
32:54
Speaker 5: is another guy that's obviously going to come back, and
32:57
Speaker 5: he's he's he's a machine. La Machine as they call him,
33:00
Speaker 5: So you hope that they're able to get some length.
33:03
Speaker 5: Kevin Gosman, as I mentioned, and you know what you're
33:05
Speaker 5: gonna get out of him. Dylan SE's has to kind
33:07
Speaker 5: of jump on that same boat. And Patrick Corbin at
33:10
Speaker 5: this point, I mean, you're just hoping you're right, Cratzy.
33:13
Speaker 5: I mean, he's a guy that's probably gonna give you
33:15
Speaker 5: four to five innings max, and then they're going to
33:17
Speaker 5: go right to the bullpen, So you hope they don't
33:19
Speaker 5: run out of pitching. Branden Fisher in the back end
33:22
Speaker 5: has been really really nice. Uh, Tommy Nance too, you know,
33:26
Speaker 5: and and Miles has been really good as well. So
33:29
Speaker 5: you just hope that uh, you know, somebody like Tyler
33:32
Speaker 5: Rodgers can go out to him pitch every day. As
33:35
Speaker 5: he's mentioned, I mean, he wants to break the record
33:37
Speaker 5: for most appearances, so you hope that they can rely
33:39
Speaker 5: on that arm, especially late in the season. And it
33:43
Speaker 5: was very encouraging to see Jeff Hoffman yesterday come out
33:45
Speaker 5: and and pitch so well. His stuff looked really electric,
33:49
Speaker 5: So it's just getting him right in the right space
33:52
Speaker 5: frame of mind. As you know, Kratzy and aj I mean,
33:55
Speaker 5: when when when those guys are going through ruts like that,
33:57
Speaker 5: you just hope they get on their good side. And
33:59
Speaker 5: right now it just seems like he's on the right pace.
34:00
Speaker 5: Louis Varlin has been unbelievable the back end, and I
34:03
Speaker 5: feel like he's not going to let go of that
34:05
Speaker 5: job anytime soon. So you hope that the starters do
34:08
Speaker 5: create length and we're not using that bulpen a little
34:11
Speaker 5: bit too much so that they're ready and fresh by
34:14
Speaker 5: September October.
34:15
Speaker 1: You're talking about hoping that the starters go and give
34:18
Speaker 1: you some more length.
34:19
Speaker 8: Ricky.
34:20
Speaker 1: You mentioned La Machina could be in that starting rotation
34:23
Speaker 1: as of Monday, coming back with Betti Jos. What would
34:25
Speaker 1: that What would that mean for you guys? And how
34:28
Speaker 1: how much will he be on some sort of pitch count?
34:32
Speaker 1: What can you realistically expect from Marios?
34:35
Speaker 5: I feel like I expect him to just go out
34:37
Speaker 5: there and and and and be him and there's no limits.
34:41
Speaker 5: I mean, he's a veteran guy. He understands his body,
34:43
Speaker 5: he knows what it takes to pitch in the big leagues,
34:45
Speaker 5: and he's been so durable for his whole career that
34:48
Speaker 5: it's almost weird to see him making all these rehab
34:51
Speaker 5: assignments because he's never done them and he's going to
34:54
Speaker 5: be a huge boost and I feel like he's probably
34:56
Speaker 5: got a little bit of a chip on his shoulder. Obviously,
34:58
Speaker 5: things didn't end for him the way he wanted to,
35:00
Speaker 5: and all that stuff happened in the World Series where
35:02
Speaker 5: he wasn't in the dugout. He went home, and there's
35:04
Speaker 5: a little bit of controversy there, but it seemed like
35:07
Speaker 5: everything got cleaned up in spring training. So I feel like,
35:09
Speaker 5: if anything, you're gonna see Jose of Burials with a
35:12
Speaker 5: chip on his shoulder ready to come out and put
35:14
Speaker 5: a staple on his rotation spot here. I mean, the
35:17
Speaker 5: door's wide open with all the injuries that they've dealt with,
35:20
Speaker 5: and I expect him to be the workhorse that he's
35:22
Speaker 5: been his whole career. Obviously, stuff wise might not be
35:26
Speaker 5: as good as he once was, but you know, I
35:28
Speaker 5: think right now his stuff will play, and you just
35:31
Speaker 5: hope again that we get six seven innings out of
35:33
Speaker 5: him and get hand that ball to that deadly bullpen
35:37
Speaker 5: that they have going right now.
35:39
Speaker 4: What about the Burials situation as a player, as a pitcher,
35:43
Speaker 4: as somebody who grinds through an entire season, makes all
35:47
Speaker 4: your starts. And then obviously it didn't go well in
35:50
Speaker 4: the sense that he was pissed about how they used him.
35:53
Speaker 4: How do you view him as a teammate when that happens.
35:57
Speaker 4: Essentially he kind of bailed on the news.
36:02
Speaker 6: Yeah.
36:02
Speaker 5: Man, I mean I sat there and thought the same
36:05
Speaker 5: thing when it happened, and when I didn't see him
36:07
Speaker 5: in the dugout and I was like, man, what's going on?
36:09
Speaker 5: Something must have happened. But I feel like we talk
36:13
Speaker 5: a lot about the clubhouse culture that the Toronto Blue
36:15
Speaker 5: Jays have built, and I think jose Barios had a
36:17
Speaker 5: chance to clear the air with all of them, and
36:20
Speaker 5: I think there was a story about it that he
36:22
Speaker 5: talked to everyone and he apologized and this and that,
36:24
Speaker 5: and obviously Cratzy, you know, you're an old school guy,
36:28
Speaker 5: so is AJ and that might not sit well with
36:30
Speaker 5: us or anything like that. But the fact that I'm
36:32
Speaker 5: sure the team hurt his side of it, I think
36:36
Speaker 5: they obviously are going to welcome him with open arms.
36:38
Speaker 5: And I'm sure it's tough. I never played in a
36:41
Speaker 5: World Series or the playoffs or anything like that, but
36:44
Speaker 5: I'm sure for the him being part of this organization,
36:47
Speaker 5: signing here as a free agent, are getting traded and
36:50
Speaker 5: then signing a long term deal, and him not being
36:53
Speaker 5: part of probably the most exciting World series ever. I'm
36:57
Speaker 5: sure it hurt, and obviously I don't know. I mean,
37:00
Speaker 5: I'm sure he took it hard, and you just hope
37:02
Speaker 5: that he comes back with a clean slate and just
37:05
Speaker 5: ready to roll.
37:05
Speaker 3: Man.
37:06
Speaker 5: I mean, I think this team needs it. Uh, this
37:08
Speaker 5: rotation needs a guy like him, So you hope that
37:11
Speaker 5: when he's back, he's clicking on all cylinders.
37:17
Speaker 4: Ricky.
37:18
Speaker 3: By the way, I just want to say thank you
37:19
Speaker 3: for coming on after that time you hit me on
37:21
Speaker 3: purpose and the toe. My toe still hurts, and I
37:25
Speaker 3: know it.
37:26
Speaker 5: I hit you. It never hit my time.
37:29
Speaker 3: I think at the time you might have had a
37:30
Speaker 3: perfect game going, but I rooined that for you because
37:32
Speaker 3: I think then alex Rio said a homer like the
37:34
Speaker 3: next bitch flustered. So you know, my toes still hurts
37:38
Speaker 3: from that. My toe still hurts from that. So thank
37:40
Speaker 3: you for coming on, even even though that you hit
37:43
Speaker 3: me in the toe that time.
37:44
Speaker 5: We need it, Uh, we need it. Replay man, No,
37:47
Speaker 5: it hit me what do you mean hit it almost?
37:50
Speaker 3: I think it hit it almost.
37:51
Speaker 4: I felt it hit me.
37:53
Speaker 3: I don't know if it hit me or no. But
37:54
Speaker 3: I just want to say thank you for coming on.
37:56
Speaker 3: And I'm sorry because I just was a good actor.
38:00
Speaker 5: You were you were you were. I knew it. I
38:03
Speaker 5: knew it. I was like, man, I'm sure AJ is
38:05
Speaker 5: gonna bring this story up. But it was pretty funny
38:08
Speaker 5: looking back at it. I see the highlights all the time.
38:10
Speaker 5: I'm like, damn that damn pitch didn't hit AJ it
38:12
Speaker 5: did it? And then it kind of threw me off.
38:13
Speaker 5: And then Alex Rioz comes up and hits a two
38:15
Speaker 5: run home run, So there was that, did you like?
38:19
Speaker 4: I wasn't.
38:21
Speaker 5: Like, you know what, yes, but I love I love
38:26
Speaker 5: striking AJ out because he used to piss him off
38:29
Speaker 5: so much, so much. And then I think one time
38:31
Speaker 5: I hit him in the ribs and he threw his
38:34
Speaker 5: bat down and he was I mean, I'll.
38:35
Speaker 3: Be sorry because I just homered off you the bat before.
38:38
Speaker 5: So that's that's what's what I forgot about that one.
38:43
Speaker 3: Completely forgot about that part of the story.
38:48
Speaker 1: Selective memory. Ricky Romero selective memory. Well, the Blue Jays
38:52
Speaker 1: are playing well. We appreciate you taking the time to
38:54
Speaker 1: be with us. Don't forget everybody. You can catch Ricky
38:57
Speaker 1: on blue Bird Territory on the Foul Territory netw. Why
39:00
Speaker 1: not go grab some Miller Lite today because game time
39:03
Speaker 1: is Miller time must be legal drinking age. Celebrate responsibly.
39:07
Speaker 1: We will be right back.