Latest / Foul Territory / Ken Rosenthal's reaction to Mets firing Mendy, AJ meets Pope Leo XIV + Jays trade ideas + Reds checkup

Transcript

Ken Rosenthal's reaction to Mets firing Mendy, AJ meets Pope Leo XIV + Jays trade ideas + Reds checkup · Foul Territory

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: It's the inside scoop of FT senior insider Ken Rosenthal,
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: who just dropped a column I'm told on the Mets
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: firing Carlos Mendoza. So, Ken, enlighten us, what do you
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: think of this news and how it affects things for
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: this team going forward?
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: I was not surprised because after the nightcap on Wednesday,
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: the sixth ERA game, that was a game that essentially
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: screamed fire the manager and the Mets waited today.
• 0:29
  Speaker 3: But it was coming. We kind of knew it was coming.
• 0:32
  Speaker 3: But as you see there, what I wrote was the
• 0:34
  Speaker 3: greater culprit is the president of Baseball Operations, David Stearns.
• 0:39
  Speaker 3: Not exactly a secret, that opinion, and not exactly shared
• 0:43
  Speaker 3: only by me, because basically the entire industry understands that
• 0:47
  Speaker 3: this team is flawed. The roster construction was flawed. It's
• 0:51
  Speaker 3: not that Mendoza was blameless. And when a team plays
• 0:53
  Speaker 3: like it did on Wednesday night again, it screams fire
• 0:57
  Speaker 3: the manager. But the real question here going far it
• 1:00
  Speaker 3: is going to be has owner Steve Cohen lost some
• 1:05
  Speaker 3: confidence in Sterns, the guy he hired after basically waiting
• 1:10
  Speaker 3: two years before the twenty twenty four season, Remember Scott,
• 1:14
  Speaker 3: That season was Stearns's first and Mendoza's first, and it
• 1:18
  Speaker 3: went great. The Mets had a surprising run to the NLCS.
• 1:22
  Speaker 3: But after starting last season forty five and twenty four
• 1:26
  Speaker 3: best record in the majors, since then, they've got the
• 1:29
  Speaker 3: fourth worst record in the majors. So clearly a lot
• 1:33
  Speaker 3: has gone wrong.
• 1:35
  Speaker 4: All right, Well, they were hot starting the year last year.
• 1:38
  Speaker 4: Do you feel like Sterns overreacted to the collapse at
• 1:43
  Speaker 4: the end of the year in the sense of he
• 1:46
  Speaker 4: changed not only the roster and got rid of some
• 1:49
  Speaker 4: stalwarts on the team that he had to resign, but
• 1:51
  Speaker 4: also the coaching staff that also had some of that
• 1:55
  Speaker 4: success during that time before the collapse of the second half.
• 2:00
  Speaker 3: Well, I'm not sure Stern's acted alone with regard to
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: the coaches. Cohen might have had some input there. In fact,
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: I would have guessed he did have some input there,
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: and that is his prerogative as owner. He wanted some changes.
• 2:11
  Speaker 3: It was an epic collapse. They got beaten out by
• 2:13
  Speaker 3: a small market team with eighty three wins for the
• 2:16
  Speaker 3: final playoff spot, the Cincinnati Reds, So you could understand
• 2:20
  Speaker 3: their frustration and I even understood the time their desire
• 2:25
  Speaker 3: to do something different. Their fans kept saying this, we
• 2:28
  Speaker 3: haven't won this with this group of players, which was true.
• 2:31
  Speaker 3: But it's not like they had flopped other than that
• 2:34
  Speaker 3: end of last season. So the one mistake, in my opinion,
• 2:38
  Speaker 3: that will haunt them perhaps is Alonzo. Alonzo, as I
• 2:42
  Speaker 3: wrote in this column, was a homegown guy. He was
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: a guy who approved he could succeed in New York
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: and the perfect right handed compliment to Juan Soto. He
• 2:51
  Speaker 3: was also durable, and the players they brought in were
• 2:55
  Speaker 3: not all durable. Polonco of course, Robert j even more so,
• 3:01
  Speaker 3: and now Simeon's on the IL as well. Bashet He's
• 3:04
  Speaker 3: been healthy this year, but he's got a history of
• 3:06
  Speaker 3: lower body issues as well. So that to me was
• 3:10
  Speaker 3: the question. And from at talent standpoint, when you put
• 3:14
  Speaker 3: the names on paper and you added up all their
• 3:17
  Speaker 3: collective wars, the projections for this team were quite good,
• 3:21
  Speaker 3: if I don't if I'm not mistaken, they were projected
• 3:24
  Speaker 3: to be third in war in all of baseball just
• 3:28
  Speaker 3: because of the names on their roster. But that's assuming
• 3:31
  Speaker 3: those guys would be healthy. Many of them weren't, and
• 3:34
  Speaker 3: many of them you could not have expected to be
• 3:36
  Speaker 3: healthy because they had injury histories. So again, there is
• 3:42
  Speaker 3: a lot that has happened with this team, and now
• 3:44
  Speaker 3: it's sterns his job to clean it up. And I
• 3:47
  Speaker 3: don't expect them to fire him before the draft and
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: the trade deadline. He's gonna get through the deadline at
• 3:53
  Speaker 3: the end of it. At the end of this season,
• 3:55
  Speaker 3: maybe then Cohen at least takes look at it. But
• 3:58
  Speaker 3: as I said yesterday my own show, there's a value
• 4:02
  Speaker 3: to continuity. There's also an issue in the game where Okay,
• 4:06
  Speaker 3: you want to fire someone, and the Mets are having
• 4:08
  Speaker 3: this issue with the manager right now. Who is the replacement?
• 4:12
  Speaker 5: Now?
• 4:12
  Speaker 3: Andy Green is going to be the Mets interim manager,
• 4:14
  Speaker 3: but do we know who they're full time guy going forward?
• 4:17
  Speaker 3: The exact perfect candidate would be I would suggest we
• 4:21
  Speaker 3: don't know that, and the same would hold true for
• 4:24
  Speaker 3: a president of baseball operations position.
• 4:27
  Speaker 4: Ken do you watch football much? Do you know who
• 4:29
  Speaker 4: Jerry Jones is?
• 4:31
  Speaker 3: I know who Jerry Jones is, but I don't watch
• 4:32
  Speaker 3: football much. I did cover football one time, covered the
• 4:35
  Speaker 3: Cowboys in a Super Bowl.
• 4:37
  Speaker 4: Okay, so do we have the Baseball's version right now
• 4:41
  Speaker 4: with Stevie Cohen in New York. Like, I don't want
• 4:44
  Speaker 4: to have that much part of to do with it,
• 4:46
  Speaker 4: but I would definitely love this best player and this
• 4:48
  Speaker 4: best player.
• 4:52
  Speaker 3: I wouldn't go as far as that, Eric, And certainly
• 4:55
  Speaker 3: they've spent a ton of money, second highest payroll in
• 4:58
  Speaker 3: the game. It's crazy what they've spent in the last
• 5:01
  Speaker 3: few years without much results under Steve Cohen. But Jerry
• 5:06
  Speaker 3: Jones to me, from what I understand, and I'm sure
• 5:09
  Speaker 3: football fans out there will correct me if I'm wrong,
• 5:11
  Speaker 3: he is more kind of guy who interferes and I
• 5:16
  Speaker 3: don't know that Cohen does that very often. Yes, I
• 5:18
  Speaker 3: do believe he wanted some changes at the end of
• 5:21
  Speaker 3: last season, but I don't see him as intrusive as
• 5:24
  Speaker 3: Jerry Jones. But if you're talking about a guy who
• 5:28
  Speaker 3: spends a lot of money who hasn't had success, yes
• 5:30
  Speaker 3: there is a parallel. And remember Steve Cohen when he
• 5:33
  Speaker 3: took over, said he wanted a World Series title within
• 5:36
  Speaker 3: five years. It's now year six and they're still waiting
• 5:40
  Speaker 3: and they're not close.
• 5:42
  Speaker 4: One of the things you said on Fair Territory was
• 5:44
  Speaker 4: the game's not teaming with GM types kind of what
• 5:47
  Speaker 4: you just said before. My last question is that because
• 5:52
  Speaker 4: being a GM is hard? Is that because GM? Being
• 5:56
  Speaker 4: a GM is a long term thing, And if he
• 6:00
  Speaker 4: goes and fire Sterns, you essentially just cut the own
• 6:04
  Speaker 4: cord that you started setting up. And Stern's never had
• 6:07
  Speaker 4: a chance to make his five year six year plan.
• 6:11
  Speaker 3: Well, their plans have shifted repeatedly since Stern's and Cohen
• 6:17
  Speaker 3: came together, So I wouldn't say this is a situation
• 6:21
  Speaker 3: where like a rebuilding team, they're operating on a five
• 6:24
  Speaker 3: year plan. They had one plan, they changed, and they
• 6:27
  Speaker 3: started another plan this year. It hasn't worked. We'll see
• 6:30
  Speaker 3: plan number three or four, whatever is going to be
• 6:33
  Speaker 3: coming up next. Now, the question you ask Eric is
• 6:36
  Speaker 3: a very good one, And I know some people objected
• 6:39
  Speaker 3: in the game yesterday when I wrote that that the
• 6:40
  Speaker 3: game's not teaming with GM candidates. I'm sure if I
• 6:44
  Speaker 3: polled people in the game, they go, oh, this guy
• 6:46
  Speaker 3: would be good, that guy would be good. Guess what,
• 6:49
  Speaker 3: there is a lot of homogenity in this game right now,
• 6:52
  Speaker 3: and a lot of guys who kind of have the
• 6:55
  Speaker 3: same background, the same outlook, and you can understand that
• 6:58
  Speaker 3: because the game is changed, and certainly with the rise
• 7:02
  Speaker 3: of analytics, you need someone with a savviness to that,
• 7:06
  Speaker 3: with the ability not only to understand all that but
• 7:09
  Speaker 3: to lead an organization. And finding someone to do both
• 7:14
  Speaker 3: those things well is really hard to do. And let's
• 7:17
  Speaker 3: face it, we've seen a couple of former players now
• 7:20
  Speaker 3: become presidents of baseball operations. Chris Young had some real
• 7:23
  Speaker 3: success with the Texas Rangers, won the twenty twenty three
• 7:27
  Speaker 3: World Series Buster posey, and we saw it this week
• 7:30
  Speaker 3: when he had to deal with an issue that was
• 7:32
  Speaker 3: a little bit different than the norm, he wilted and
• 7:36
  Speaker 3: did not handle that well. So it's a big job,
• 7:41
  Speaker 3: you're right. And it's not a job that someone can
• 7:45
  Speaker 3: step into in New York City, of all places, and
• 7:49
  Speaker 3: succeed quite easily. It's difficult, and Sterens is finding that.
• 7:53
  Speaker 3: Sterns is a guy who had great success in Milwaukee,
• 7:56
  Speaker 3: had success in his first year with the Mets, and
• 7:59
  Speaker 3: he's a guy who from New York, has a feel
• 8:01
  Speaker 3: for the market, grew up a Mets fan. It's hard
• 8:04
  Speaker 3: for him and he seemed to be the guy who
• 8:06
  Speaker 3: had the perfect profile. And I made this point in
• 8:09
  Speaker 3: the column, as well the fact that they've gone through
• 8:12
  Speaker 3: a few people now in that role under Cohen for
• 8:15
  Speaker 3: a variety of reasons. It speaks to Brian Cashman's success
• 8:19
  Speaker 3: as Yankees GM, and I know their fans get crazy
• 8:22
  Speaker 3: with him all the time. Guess what, He's done it
• 8:24
  Speaker 3: for nearly three decades, and he's done it at a
• 8:27
  Speaker 3: pretty darn high level, and people should have a greater
• 8:30
  Speaker 3: appreciation for that after seeing all this that has happened
• 8:34
  Speaker 3: with the Mets.
• 8:35
  Speaker 4: I know there's a lot of things that will surround
• 8:37
  Speaker 4: this decision for the Mets, but their next manager, I'm
• 8:40
  Speaker 4: not going to lead you to your answer because we
• 8:42
  Speaker 4: already discussed this. What type of manager? What type of
• 8:46
  Speaker 4: experience do you feel like is the next best manager
• 8:51
  Speaker 4: for this roster for the Mets moving forward, whether it's
• 8:54
  Speaker 4: Andy Green or somebody else after the season's open.
• 8:57
  Speaker 3: Well, what usually happens in these circumstances, Eric, they go
• 9:00
  Speaker 3: with the opposite of what they had before. Carlos Mendoza
• 9:04
  Speaker 3: was a longtime coach in the Yankee system, Aaron Boone's
• 9:07
  Speaker 3: bench coach, but he was a first time manager, So
• 9:11
  Speaker 3: I would expect what Stearns would seek. Now is experience
• 9:15
  Speaker 3: not necessarily the case, but that would be my expectation.
• 9:19
  Speaker 3: Who are the experienced guys out there? Brandon Hyde is one,
• 9:22
  Speaker 3: David Ross is another, Alex Cora is a third, though
• 9:25
  Speaker 3: Alex Corra probably is ticketed for the Philadelphia Phillies if
• 9:28
  Speaker 3: he wants to manage next season, reuniting with Dave Dombrowski.
• 9:32
  Speaker 3: So I am sure Stearns will cast a wider net
• 9:36
  Speaker 3: and maybe Andy Green, who is a former major league
• 9:38
  Speaker 3: manager with the Padres, ultimately is his guy. But given
• 9:43
  Speaker 3: the nature of the job and the nature of that clubhouse,
• 9:47
  Speaker 3: they should bank on experience. And Mendoza was a guy
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: because he had worked for the Yankees and he had
• 9:53
  Speaker 3: seen how Aaron Boone handled any number of issues, some
• 9:58
  Speaker 3: of which were que to New York and many of
• 10:01
  Speaker 3: which weren't. He would have seen to be kind of
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: like Stern's a perfect choice and it didn't work out.
• 10:07
  Speaker 3: So you had seen, or it would seem to me
• 10:10
  Speaker 3: you would at least need more experience in that job.
• 10:14
  Speaker 3: But I can't predict what David Stearns is going to do.
• 10:19
  Speaker 5: Jan oh good, grat's good.
• 10:22
  Speaker 4: Oh no, no, no, no, We were just talking about
• 10:24
  Speaker 4: the manager. And I think it's something that if the
• 10:27
  Speaker 4: guys that are out there, the candidates that you were
• 10:29
  Speaker 4: talking about Kora, and you know we had talked about
• 10:32
  Speaker 4: pool hosts before. Is there a fear for successful manager
• 10:38
  Speaker 4: or not successful managers, experienced managers of coming to New
• 10:42
  Speaker 4: York and accepting this roster in And you know, the
• 10:46
  Speaker 4: easy answer is, well, there's only thirty of these positions
• 10:48
  Speaker 4: and if you want to get back into managing. But
• 10:50
  Speaker 4: is there a fear because now you're talking about guys
• 10:52
  Speaker 4: whose legacies, as good as managers could be, could be,
• 10:56
  Speaker 4: you know, adopting this flawed life, flawed roster.
• 11:01
  Speaker 3: If you're asking me if someone would turn it down
• 11:04
  Speaker 3: that they went after, I doubt it for that reason. Now,
• 11:08
  Speaker 3: one guy I didn't mention, by the way, is Rock Obaldelli,
• 11:10
  Speaker 3: former Twins manager East Coast guy from New England and
• 11:15
  Speaker 3: Albert Pooles because he managed the Dominican Republic in the
• 11:18
  Speaker 3: World Baseball Classic, has managed in Winter Ball. Is not
• 11:21
  Speaker 3: exactly an inexperienced guy, given his career in Major League
• 11:25
  Speaker 3: Baseball as well. So he's an interesting name. I don't
• 11:29
  Speaker 3: know that anyone from high to Ross to Baldeli to
• 11:33
  Speaker 3: Pooholes right down the line, would fear the Mets job.
• 11:37
  Speaker 3: If you're confident enough to be a major league manager,
• 11:40
  Speaker 3: you're confident you can succeed anywhere, and I would expect
• 11:44
  Speaker 3: all of those guys feel that way. And Ross has
• 11:46
  Speaker 3: managed in a big market, not New York, but Chicago
• 11:49
  Speaker 3: is not exactly a small place, so I don't see
• 11:53
  Speaker 3: that happening. I would imagine if you have a choice
• 11:57
  Speaker 3: and you're one of these guys, and maybe the other
• 11:59
  Speaker 3: choice is Philadelphia, like it would be for Cora, maybe
• 12:02
  Speaker 3: you prefer Philadelphia, but they've got an aging roster. It's
• 12:05
  Speaker 3: not perfect there either. So again, to answer the question
• 12:08
  Speaker 3: without being too long winded, I don't know that anyone
• 12:11
  Speaker 3: would turn it down.
• 12:14
  Speaker 5: Ken my last one on the Mets.
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: For most people to relate now, other baseball fans, they
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: just want to know if they can pry some of
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: their players away. Do we think that we're getting closer
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: to that point? I mean you look at it and
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: you're like, sure, they're hoping that they catch lightning, and
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: this is the next Don Mattingly situation. They went in
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: ten in a row, but it's unlikely. I would be
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: very surprised I'm sure you would be too, So you
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: know how much of a litmus test is coming up
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: for the next couple weeks with Andy Green and company
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: before they go, all right, we got a few pieces
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: to sell. Luke Weavers having a great year, let's deal them.
• 12:46
  Speaker 3: No doubt, that is where they are. And yes, they
• 12:50
  Speaker 3: traded David Peterson two nights ago to the Cubs, but
• 12:53
  Speaker 3: that was a deal that made sense for them at
• 12:55
  Speaker 3: this time and did not necessarily indicate a full blown sale. However,
• 13:01
  Speaker 3: if they don't play better, even if they play a
• 13:03
  Speaker 3: little bit better but it's still not good enough, they're
• 13:05
  Speaker 3: going to have to make some traits. The obvious guys
• 13:08
  Speaker 3: are Freddie peralta potential free agent, books rarely and Aj
• 13:12
  Speaker 3: Minter to left handed relievers, both potential free agents. If
• 13:16
  Speaker 3: you want to get aggressive with Luke Weaver, who has
• 13:18
  Speaker 3: another year left, you could do that. He's been great.
• 13:21
  Speaker 3: But I would think they intend to compete next year,
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: and you'd probably want Luke Weaver on your team next year.
• 13:26
  Speaker 3: So yes, Scott, it definitely appears to be heading that
• 13:31
  Speaker 3: way that they are going to be sellers. They don't
• 13:34
  Speaker 3: have a whole lot to sell to be perfectly honest.
• 13:35
  Speaker 3: I just listed the main guys. Perolta has been a
• 13:38
  Speaker 3: huge disappointment and lefty relievers. Yes, they're incredibly valuable at
• 13:41
  Speaker 3: the deadline, but they only bring so much.
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: Well, Ken, we did a lot of business, a lot
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: of firing talk. We're gonna finish fun on a Friday.
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: This feels weird. I sit next to AJA half the
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: year and he's not here Persinski. He's on a sign
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: on vacation whatever we want to call it. Right, we
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: know where he is because he just visited the Pope,
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: but he's not on our show because he's away. So
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: you did, I would say, like the Lord's work by
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: talking to AJ and letting everyone know what happened.
• 14:14
  Speaker 5: So what do you have for this?
• 14:16
  Speaker 3: Well, first of all, he let it out what happened,
• 14:19
  Speaker 3: and he was the one who posted on social media
• 14:22
  Speaker 3: that he had visited the Pope and given the Pope
• 14:25
  Speaker 3: the ball that was the final out of Game one
• 14:28
  Speaker 3: of the two thousand and five World Series, a game
• 14:30
  Speaker 3: the Pope attended was shown on Fox attending and AJ
• 14:34
  Speaker 3: knew that, and obviously he had a desire to visit
• 14:38
  Speaker 3: the Pope. He was raised Catholic, AJ was and it happened.
• 14:43
  Speaker 3: He had some friends who helped arrange it for him,
• 14:45
  Speaker 3: and it was an amazing thing. And I wrote about
• 14:47
  Speaker 3: the meeting. AJ was gracious enough to take my call
• 14:50
  Speaker 3: while in Italy, and well, frankly he had to take
• 14:54
  Speaker 3: my call right, But seriously, it kind of cracks me up.
• 14:57
  Speaker 3: The whole thing cracks me up in so many ways.
• 15:00
  Speaker 3: First of all, it's just cool to see a picture
• 15:01
  Speaker 3: a photo of AJ with the Pope, but the idea
• 15:05
  Speaker 3: that AJ is some goodwill ambassador spreading his good cheer
• 15:10
  Speaker 3: around the world, meeting the Pope, giving gifts to the Pope,
• 15:14
  Speaker 3: including a sign to AJ Prizinski Jersey. I don't know
• 15:18
  Speaker 3: what the people out there think, but I find it
• 15:20
  Speaker 3: rather tickling, to say the least.
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: Well, you guys work with him too, I mean, Kratz,
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: you're on with him almost every day of your life.
• 15:28
  Speaker 5: Are you tickled?
• 15:30
  Speaker 4: I definitely am tickled that AJ got to add to
• 15:33
  Speaker 4: his list somebody in a higher status than anybody else
• 15:38
  Speaker 4: that he's ever name dropped about meeting and talking.
• 15:42
  Speaker 5: With Can I'll leave you with this.
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: I felt like it was a cool moment because sure,
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: not many people get to meet the Pope, and that
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: part is awesome. And I was with AJ right before
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: he was about to leave because I'm in the studio
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: with him, and you know, he's in the office and
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: picks up one of the prized possessions there at the base.
• 15:59
  Speaker 5: But he's like, guys should give this to him.
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: You know, like we He didn't really like ask me,
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: but he didn't tell me, and I'm the only person there,
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: so I was like, yeah, I don't know what it's worth,
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: and I don't even care it's worth. It's almost like
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: giving it to a museum or Cooper's town or whatever.
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: So it was just a cool moment where like, what's
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: something really special that I possess that would mean more
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: to him?
• 16:21
  Speaker 5: So it was cool, Like for he was like, so cool.
• 16:26
  Speaker 3: It's also really cool, Scott. It has been from the
• 16:29
  Speaker 3: moment the Pope was elected, the fact that he's a
• 16:32
  Speaker 3: White Sox fan. It's cool. It's awesome. And obviously when
• 16:36
  Speaker 3: AJ introduced himself, the Pope said, I know who you are.
• 16:39
  Speaker 3: You don't have to introduce yourself, and he was really
• 16:42
  Speaker 3: touched that AJ gave him the ball. And the whole
• 16:45
  Speaker 3: story is just great. And with the White Sox being good,
• 16:48
  Speaker 3: that makes it all the better. And as I wrote,
• 16:50
  Speaker 3: when aj walked away he was kind of ending the meeting,
• 16:53
  Speaker 3: or leaving the meeting, I should say he wasn't ending it.
• 16:56
  Speaker 3: When he left the meeting, he said to the Pope, Hey,
• 17:00
  Speaker 3: the White Sox are in first place. And the Pope said,
• 17:02
  Speaker 3: I know, man, I'm following this great.
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a real fan here. This is really cool. Well,
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: thanks for putting the story together. Obviously, everyone can catch
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: it on line on the Athletic Ken. Have a good
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: weekend and talk to you next week.
• 17:15
  Speaker 5: Thanks.
• 17:16
  Speaker 4: Scott A. S.
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: Geek is MLB's official ticket marketplace, and in addition to
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: finding every single game on the MLB calendar, there are
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: big events coming up soon.
• 17:27
  Speaker 6: There's an All Star game. There's a home run Derby.
• 17:29
  Speaker 6: And if you think you're perfect and you can pick
• 17:31
  Speaker 6: the right seat at the home run Derby to get
• 17:33
  Speaker 6: the most home run balls, you can get the little
• 17:35
  Speaker 6: green dot and that might be your lucky seat. Don't
• 17:38
  Speaker 6: go red dot though, because you might not get any balls,
• 17:40
  Speaker 6: but go redgreen dot and get as many home run
• 17:43
  Speaker 6: balls as you think you can catch.
• 17:45
  Speaker 5: Yep, you click the seat, you check out what your
• 17:46
  Speaker 5: view is.
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: Each ticket's rated on a scale of one to ten,
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: so you know you're getting a good deal. And that's
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: what AJ's talking about.
• 17:52
  Speaker 5: Green good, Red bad.
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: With those dots and the code for you Territory one
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: zero for ten percent off your next set of tickets
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: at SEK. That's ten percent off any MLB tickets with
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: promo code Territory ten. Make sure you click the link
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: in the description of this episode that'll help you download
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: the app and get the code automatically added to your
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: account so that you can use it later.
• 18:14
  Speaker 5: Thank you to Zeekeek.
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: It is Miller time and it is time for light
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: takes with KP Kevin Plar running through. I'll call this
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: KP light Trades.
• 18:25
  Speaker 5: Now.
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: They might be impactful and we're going to focus on
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: the Toronto Blue Jays, but fans might not get the
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: big money Man Trek Scoogle coming through and you might say,
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: hold up, hold up, I have a few deals that
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: might add up to something very big for a Blue
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: Jays team that was ounces inches away from a world
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: series title.
• 18:43
  Speaker 5: What do you have for us?
• 18:45
  Speaker 7: Yeah, I mean, I'm gonna kind of take kind of
• 18:47
  Speaker 7: their playbook from last year and I'm looking They acquired
• 18:50
  Speaker 7: Shane Bieber, who hadn't even pitched in the major leagues yet,
• 18:52
  Speaker 7: he was still coming back from a rehab assignment. You know,
• 18:55
  Speaker 7: they went out and got Louis Varland, who was a
• 18:58
  Speaker 7: fairly unknown commodity in terms of, you know, pitching out
• 19:01
  Speaker 7: of the Minnesota bullpen, and it has become their closer.
• 19:04
  Speaker 7: In addition to ty France, you know, they made a
• 19:06
  Speaker 7: couple other moves too, you know, trading Will Warren or Wagner, sorry, wait,
• 19:11
  Speaker 7: Will Wagner for Brandon Valenzuaga, who's ended up really just
• 19:16
  Speaker 7: an absolute who's been absolute, just fine for them this year.
• 19:21
  Speaker 7: You talk about the backup catcher, the starting catcher. The
• 19:24
  Speaker 7: fact that Valenzuala has been able to kind of was
• 19:26
  Speaker 7: able to step up and be that catcher why Kirk
• 19:29
  Speaker 7: was out. Now he's kind of falling back into that,
• 19:32
  Speaker 7: you know, backup Brow and Kratzy. You talked about having
• 19:34
  Speaker 7: two guys that could cover one hundred and sixty two
• 19:36
  Speaker 7: games a year. The Blue Jays definitely have that. So
• 19:39
  Speaker 7: I'm gonna go with some under the radar moves a
• 19:41
  Speaker 7: little bit. Aj Minter. I know this year, he's he's
• 19:44
  Speaker 7: coming back from injury. He had a torn that last year,
• 19:47
  Speaker 7: but this guy's playoff tested, World Series tested. The Blue
• 19:50
  Speaker 7: Jays right now are only implementing one left handed arm
• 19:54
  Speaker 7: in the bullpen and Mason Fleu hardy and he leads
• 19:56
  Speaker 7: Major League Baseball in appearances this year. So adding a
• 20:00
  Speaker 7: a left handed, you know, high leverage reliever and aj
• 20:03
  Speaker 7: Minter is exactly what the Blue Jays would need. You know,
• 20:07
  Speaker 7: my cost would probably be you know, the blue Jays
• 20:10
  Speaker 7: top catching prospect now that they don't really need another catcher,
• 20:15
  Speaker 7: and it seems like the Mets could probably use another
• 20:17
  Speaker 7: catcher in their lineup, so it's gonna cost him. Edward Durant,
• 20:22
  Speaker 7: Lane Thomas. You know, the Blue Jays right now I
• 20:25
  Speaker 7: think are like third or fourth, have the fourth lowest
• 20:29
  Speaker 7: ops and batting average against left handed starters this year.
• 20:32
  Speaker 7: So getting a guy like Lane Thomas who can play
• 20:35
  Speaker 7: all three outfield positions, you know, most of the corners,
• 20:38
  Speaker 7: you know, you mix and match him in, you kind
• 20:40
  Speaker 7: of plat tune him with you know, a mile straw
• 20:43
  Speaker 7: and have a little bit more right handed hitting depth
• 20:45
  Speaker 7: off your bench. You know, a cost for a guy
• 20:49
  Speaker 7: like that on a team in Kansas City that's not
• 20:51
  Speaker 7: really going anywhere would just be you kind of a
• 20:54
  Speaker 7: mid tier outfield prospect. Clearly, the Blue Jays have a
• 20:57
  Speaker 7: ton of outfield depth. The reason you Pinango is no
• 21:01
  Speaker 7: longer in the big leagues is because they have an
• 21:03
  Speaker 7: abundance of depth in the outfield already. And then an
• 21:06
  Speaker 7: old friend Robbie Ray from you talk about fire sale
• 21:10
  Speaker 7: coming here soon with the Giants. Bring back an old
• 21:13
  Speaker 7: friend who had always been a really good pitcher with
• 21:16
  Speaker 7: a ton of upside. But then a guy who was
• 21:18
  Speaker 7: able to go out and win the Cy Young. Guess
• 21:19
  Speaker 7: it was the shortened season, whatever, he still won a
• 21:22
  Speaker 7: cy Young. You talk about the importance of a pitching coach,
• 21:26
  Speaker 7: and maybe the right pitching coach getting Robbie Ray back
• 21:29
  Speaker 7: with a guy like Pete Walker kind of regaining form,
• 21:33
  Speaker 7: and I was looking at his numbers. He has a
• 21:35
  Speaker 7: three seven now era right now, eighty strikeouts, and give
• 21:41
  Speaker 7: him kind of a lower mid tier left handed pitching prospect.
• 21:44
  Speaker 8: And Javit Coleman, I love it.
• 21:48
  Speaker 4: I love it because I think these trades. While I mean,
• 21:52
  Speaker 4: I think you may be overpaid for Lane Thomas with
• 21:54
  Speaker 4: a number fourteen prospect, I'm not going to argue that
• 21:58
  Speaker 4: it shows what the Blue Jays need. Blue Jays needs
• 22:01
  Speaker 4: are pretty much in house. This is the team. They
• 22:04
  Speaker 4: built this team to win, and it has to be
• 22:06
  Speaker 4: these guys. It has to be Gosman and Cease at
• 22:08
  Speaker 4: the top of the rotation. It has to be the
• 22:12
  Speaker 4: stars from this team stepping up and doing the best.
• 22:15
  Speaker 4: Kirk's back, Guerrero's back, so to me, I love these trades,
• 22:19
  Speaker 4: and it may be boring for Blue Jays fans, but
• 22:22
  Speaker 4: the answers are already on the roster.
• 22:26
  Speaker 7: Yeah, aside from maybe going out and getting a frontline
• 22:29
  Speaker 7: starter like a Terrek Schoobl, which in my opinion, is
• 22:32
  Speaker 7: not something that the Blue Jay's need.
• 22:34
  Speaker 8: I mean, I guess every team could use it, a
• 22:35
  Speaker 8: Tark Schoobl but at what cost.
• 22:38
  Speaker 7: When you think about a three game series or even
• 22:41
  Speaker 7: a five game series, if you can run out Kevin Gosman,
• 22:44
  Speaker 7: Dylan Cees, Trey you Savage, and then you pick who
• 22:46
  Speaker 7: your hottest pitcher is between let's say a Robbie Ray,
• 22:50
  Speaker 7: if you're able to acquire someone like that, or Patrick
• 22:52
  Speaker 7: Corban or a healthy Mac Sures or a Shane Bieber like,
• 22:55
  Speaker 7: they're in a good position adding kind of pieces around.
• 23:00
  Speaker 7: Like you mentioned, they have all the pieces in house.
• 23:02
  Speaker 7: Now you're just kind of adding supplemental pieces, a second,
• 23:05
  Speaker 7: proven left handed arm out of the bullpen. They do
• 23:08
  Speaker 7: have Adam Maco, who, in my opinion, pitched really well
• 23:11
  Speaker 7: when he.
• 23:11
  Speaker 8: Was up there. I believe he deserves to be there.
• 23:14
  Speaker 7: But when you have these roster constructions where you don't
• 23:17
  Speaker 7: have a ton of options, sometimes you become the odd
• 23:19
  Speaker 7: man out. If the playoff series was started today as
• 23:22
  Speaker 7: Adam Maco probably on the roster, probably because I don't
• 23:25
  Speaker 7: believe the Blue Jays can get by in a postseason
• 23:27
  Speaker 7: series having one left handed reliever in the bullpen. And
• 23:30
  Speaker 7: then you just talk about supplemental pieces. Lane Thomas being
• 23:34
  Speaker 7: able to just to add a little bit more depth,
• 23:36
  Speaker 7: whether it's pinch hitting off a left handed reliever in
• 23:39
  Speaker 7: the middle of a game or starting a game against
• 23:42
  Speaker 7: you know, one of these top tier left handed pitching.
• 23:45
  Speaker 7: It's exactly what the Blue Jays need to do. They
• 23:48
  Speaker 7: if history kind of repeats itself about they didn't go
• 23:50
  Speaker 7: out and make any really sexy moves last year. I mean,
• 23:53
  Speaker 7: Shane Bieber is a sexy name, but he's a guy
• 23:55
  Speaker 7: who coming off Tommy John hadn't even got back to
• 23:58
  Speaker 7: the big leagues. Yet you know, they did their homework.
• 24:00
  Speaker 7: They knew that he would eventually come back, and he
• 24:02
  Speaker 7: pitched really meaningful innings forum down the stretch last year. Yeah,
• 24:07
  Speaker 7: they didn't go out and acquire the sexy name. They
• 24:10
  Speaker 7: just did exactly what they needed to do. They knew
• 24:13
  Speaker 7: they had the pieces in house, they just needed to
• 24:15
  Speaker 7: kind of at supplemental pieces. And at this list right here,
• 24:18
  Speaker 7: I think would be an a plus you know, trade
• 24:22
  Speaker 7: deadline for them.
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: There's a lot to like here. So yeah, yeah, Mentor's
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: a nice piece. Let me start here on the bullpen,
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: just because if you're a Blue Jays fan, you do
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: want to dare to dream. I mean, any team could
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: use in eraald As Chapman or something like that. Did
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: you feel like last year at times you were looking
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: for that one extra high leverage guy. I mean, what
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: team can say they're not looking for something like that.
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: And I know Violen's been so nasty, but you know,
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: whether it's Chapman or someone else that realistically could be
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: available there to dream, we're gonna have to give up
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: a lot more than prospects that are in like the
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: ten to twenty something range on the board, right it's
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: going to be a top ten prospect to get some
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: one like Chapman.
• 25:01
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 25:01
  Speaker 7: I mean, who who wouldn't use in a role as
• 25:03
  Speaker 7: Chapman in their bullpen if there is a high leverage
• 25:06
  Speaker 7: reliever out there. Absolutely, But that is probably the biggest
• 25:10
  Speaker 7: commodity amongst teams that are trying to go for it
• 25:14
  Speaker 7: as they are looking for back end leverage guys in
• 25:16
  Speaker 7: the bullpen. And you know Chapman, you know, with everything
• 25:20
  Speaker 7: that kind of Boston's been going through this year as
• 25:22
  Speaker 7: a team, He's going to be a hot commodity. The
• 25:24
  Speaker 7: bidding war is going to be very high for him.
• 25:27
  Speaker 7: Is it something that the Blue Jays could Absolutely?
• 25:29
  Speaker 8: You sure?
• 25:30
  Speaker 7: Would it be more of a luxury in my opinion, yes,
• 25:32
  Speaker 7: because I do believe look at the stats right now,
• 25:35
  Speaker 7: it's Louis Varlin Mason Miller. You know, those two guys
• 25:39
  Speaker 7: have the best eras in baseball out of the bullpen
• 25:42
  Speaker 7: right now. I think they by making this kind of
• 25:45
  Speaker 7: mid tier move last year, what they didn't know is
• 25:47
  Speaker 7: that they were going to get their you know, closure
• 25:50
  Speaker 7: of the future in.
• 25:51
  Speaker 8: Which they did.
• 25:53
  Speaker 7: Adding a guy like aj Minter, you know, having a
• 25:56
  Speaker 7: guy like you know, Tyler Rodgers. You know, potentially Yimmy
• 26:00
  Speaker 7: r is going to come back at some point. I
• 26:01
  Speaker 7: know his kind of rehab is dragged on a little
• 26:04
  Speaker 7: bit too, but when healthy, that guy is also a
• 26:06
  Speaker 7: very high leverage arm out of the bullpen. Yeah, I'm
• 26:11
  Speaker 7: trying to think, you know, there's always going to be
• 26:14
  Speaker 7: some you know, teams down these next couple of weeks
• 26:17
  Speaker 7: before the trade deadline that are going to be sellers.
• 26:20
  Speaker 7: Could the Blue Jays go on and find a high
• 26:22
  Speaker 7: leverage arm that isn't at maybe the price point of
• 26:25
  Speaker 7: a e Roaldist Chapman, then sure, go ahead and find them.
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: My last point here on the trade back and forth,
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: I think the one that you might get picked at
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: the most, and I love the Robbie Ray addition, is
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: the return there where you're in. I don't know a
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: lot about Javin Coleman, but you know a guy who's
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: a number twenty nine rated prospect. But Robbie Ray's being
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: paid a lot of money. So if the Blue Jays
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: are willing to take on all of that money, that's
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: where you do have an advantage against some teams that
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: will try and push back and say, hey, San Francisco,
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: you take half the contract for the rest of the season.
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: Eat that, and I'll give you a prospect that's more
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: like top fifteen or something like that. But this is
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: where the Blue Jays can dance a little bit.
• 27:06
  Speaker 7: Yeah, let's be real honest. Scott Cratzy Claude texted me
• 27:10
  Speaker 7: about seven thirty this morning asking me to come up
• 27:13
  Speaker 7: with this list.
• 27:14
  Speaker 8: I'm not the.
• 27:15
  Speaker 7: Expert in the Blue Jay I'm I'm not the expert
• 27:18
  Speaker 7: in the Blue Jays minor league system. And how often
• 27:21
  Speaker 7: do you see one for one trades right here? I
• 27:23
  Speaker 7: just kind of looked at aj Minter on the Mets,
• 27:26
  Speaker 7: what kind of position need, what they kind of need
• 27:28
  Speaker 7: in return? I saw a catcher obviously when it comes
• 27:31
  Speaker 7: to Lane Thomas and Blaine maybe the fourteenth the rank
• 27:34
  Speaker 7: prospects a little bit high. But I also know kind
• 27:36
  Speaker 7: of the depth of the outfield that the Blue Jays have, especially,
• 27:41
  Speaker 7: and I know he's a switch hitting outfielder, but in
• 27:44
  Speaker 7: terms of left handed hitting outfielders, I mean, that's an
• 27:47
  Speaker 7: abundance of guys that they.
• 27:49
  Speaker 8: Do have right now. So it was like, okay, I
• 27:51
  Speaker 8: went there.
• 27:52
  Speaker 7: You know, he's somewhat close to the major leagues, but
• 27:54
  Speaker 7: not major league ready.
• 27:55
  Speaker 8: And then obviously, like you said, Robbie Ray's making a.
• 27:57
  Speaker 7: Ton of money giving up a top already prospect. But
• 28:01
  Speaker 7: it was just kind of a left handed picture, left
• 28:03
  Speaker 7: handed pitcher swap right there, So I get what you're saying.
• 28:07
  Speaker 7: I wouldn't hold me to the returns. Hardly ever in
• 28:11
  Speaker 7: this game do we see a one for one trade.
• 28:13
  Speaker 7: Typically it's a prospect package. There's money going international money.
• 28:19
  Speaker 7: The fact that I'm here in can Kun and then
• 28:20
  Speaker 7: I got up at seven thirty to come up with
• 28:22
  Speaker 7: this list.
• 28:24
  Speaker 8: This is the best I could do.
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: You're a star, You're truly a star. And also I
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: can't believe that they swiped Louis Island last year. I
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: still can't get over that deal. Great work from KP
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: and if you have comments, then drop them below please,
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: And that's your light. Takes some light trades that could
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: go real heavy in the postseason. Why not go grab
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: some Miller light today because game time is Miller time,
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: must be legal drinking age, celebrate responsibly. Hey, let's talk
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: red legs for a moment because we're about to chat
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: with c Trent Rosekrantz, one of the great hosts of
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: Riverfront Territory, and also follows the team for the athletic
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: anyone have a thought he's gonna join us in about
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: a minute. Anyone have a thought on the Reds to me, like,
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: this is about where I expected. If you told me
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: Elie de la Cruz missed several weeks, Hunter Green's not
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: pitching yet, I'd be like, Okay, this team's a hot
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: streak away from getting involved. Are they the best constructed
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: team out there? Crats No, I'd say the biggest disappointments
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: probably the bullpen, just because they focused so much on
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: arm talent and they haven't been able to figure out
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: the bullpen. Now again, you'd had the injury to Pecan
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: that hurts, but the bullpen not performing over the past
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: month and a half has probably been the most glaring.
• 29:38
  Speaker 5: Issue for me.
• 29:39
  Speaker 4: The depth of the bullpen. They just didn't They just
• 29:41
  Speaker 4: didn't add enough enough depth, in my opinion, And as
• 29:45
  Speaker 4: soon as Pegan goes down, everybody slides in the rolls
• 29:48
  Speaker 4: that they're maybe a little overmatched for.
• 29:52
  Speaker 9: Yeah, and then they just they take two out of
• 29:55
  Speaker 9: three from the Yankees, and then I just can't find
• 29:58
  Speaker 9: a way to get over the home against the So
• 30:01
  Speaker 9: it's a mishmash Man. It's tough, it's a hard year.
• 30:05
  Speaker 9: There's still long ways to go. But again, every team
• 30:07
  Speaker 9: has some sort of problem.
• 30:09
  Speaker 5: This one.
• 30:09
  Speaker 9: They need to get going here in a little bit
• 30:11
  Speaker 9: here to get rocking. But you know, just seems like
• 30:14
  Speaker 9: they're still trying to figure out pitching for sure. That's
• 30:17
  Speaker 9: that's the one thing in my opinion, Hunter Green's going
• 30:19
  Speaker 9: to return and give them half a season. Thirty seven
• 30:22
  Speaker 9: and forty two team in the Reds. I'm not saying
• 30:24
  Speaker 9: he's saving the season. I'm just saying that certainly doesn't hurt.
• 30:27
  Speaker 9: I love Chase Burns.
• 30:29
  Speaker 5: He's filthy. That's a fun watch. I love.
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: Well, let's talk to Sea Trent about it. He's ready
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: for us, So Sea Trent Rose Frants is here.
• 30:40
  Speaker 5: See Trent. Great to have you on.
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: Thank you for the time, and thank you for all
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: you do on Riverfront Territory.
• 30:45
  Speaker 5: Loving the show and your coverage in the Athletic.
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: So what are you writing about and talking about lately
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: with the Reds for I'm sure a fan base that's
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: disappointed in the current standings.
• 30:56
  Speaker 10: Yeah, and actually i'd talked with Nick Crawl about that
• 30:58
  Speaker 10: today or it published today. It's up on the athletic
• 31:02
  Speaker 10: right now. But I talk to him Wednesday and you
• 31:05
  Speaker 10: know he's disappointed too. This is a team that is
• 31:08
  Speaker 10: not living up to their expectations. Now, I think a
• 31:13
  Speaker 10: lot of the times when you're talking about these teams
• 31:15
  Speaker 10: that have the limited more limited resources are the front
• 31:19
  Speaker 10: office is given more limited resources from ownership, is maybe
• 31:23
  Speaker 10: the best way to put it. That is, it's the depth.
• 31:27
  Speaker 10: If you lose one guy, that's where it all starts
• 31:30
  Speaker 10: coming down. And they've lost important guys in both in
• 31:34
  Speaker 10: the lineup, the rotation and the bullpen, actually their top
• 31:38
  Speaker 10: guy in each of those. Right coming into the season,
• 31:42
  Speaker 10: you would still say Hunter Green was your top guy
• 31:43
  Speaker 10: out of the rotation, Elie de la Cruz your top
• 31:45
  Speaker 10: position player, Amelia Pagan is your closer, so he's your
• 31:48
  Speaker 10: top player there. So they didn't have any of those
• 31:52
  Speaker 10: three guys in June. They had one of them, and
• 31:55
  Speaker 10: they had two of them in April. In March and
• 31:58
  Speaker 10: April and they played really well well. They were missing
• 32:01
  Speaker 10: two in May. So when you it is always going
• 32:06
  Speaker 10: to be the lack of depth, right that is that
• 32:09
  Speaker 10: is the issue. And and like Cratzy was saying, it's like,
• 32:12
  Speaker 10: you know, Emilio Pagan goes that down. Everybody's got to
• 32:15
  Speaker 10: step up, and that's where you've seen Luis May and
• 32:18
  Speaker 10: Sack Maxwell, these guys who probably just quite aren't ready
• 32:22
  Speaker 10: having to take some big, big steps. Now, sometimes that
• 32:25
  Speaker 10: turns into a chase petty that you're like, whoa, this
• 32:28
  Speaker 10: guy coming out of the bullpen is pretty good. I
• 32:30
  Speaker 10: think we still want him as a starter long term,
• 32:32
  Speaker 10: but maybe he gets his feet wet and he helps
• 32:35
  Speaker 10: us along.
• 32:36
  Speaker 4: The line.
• 32:38
  Speaker 10: Here in the bullpen. So I you know, quite honestly,
• 32:43
  Speaker 10: like I listened to the preamble, and you guys are
• 32:45
  Speaker 10: all right. I guess that's because Aja isn't here. So
• 32:50
  Speaker 10: that helps because they are kind of getting these guys back.
• 32:57
  Speaker 10: And if you can get to the tournament. I don't
• 33:00
  Speaker 10: know that any team's gonna feel comfortable facing Chase Burns
• 33:03
  Speaker 10: and Hunter Green in the first two games of a series.
• 33:06
  Speaker 10: If it can line up that way, now, that's a
• 33:08
  Speaker 10: lot of ifs, and that's putting a lot of eggs
• 33:11
  Speaker 10: in the basket.
• 33:11
  Speaker 3: But I don't know.
• 33:14
  Speaker 10: They're at a crossroads, and I think by the Ulcar
• 33:17
  Speaker 10: break they should have a pretty good idea of where
• 33:19
  Speaker 10: they can stand.
• 33:21
  Speaker 9: I agree totally. There's a couple of names that I'm
• 33:24
  Speaker 9: thinking about here, Spencer Steer, Matty McClain. These two guys
• 33:28
  Speaker 9: supposed to be the dudes that are carrying this team
• 33:31
  Speaker 9: as they're moving forward. I know Eli Daily Cruz is injured,
• 33:34
  Speaker 9: Cabrian Hayes just to name a few guys.
• 33:36
  Speaker 5: But where have they been?
• 33:38
  Speaker 3: Man?
• 33:38
  Speaker 5: These guys.
• 33:39
  Speaker 9: I watch them against the Yankees and it's just like
• 33:41
  Speaker 9: they just seemed a little bit lost right now. Have
• 33:43
  Speaker 9: you talked to those guys? Have you talked to the
• 33:45
  Speaker 9: management about it? Like what's going on?
• 33:48
  Speaker 4: Yeah?
• 33:49
  Speaker 10: I think there's the problem is like, you know, those
• 33:52
  Speaker 10: are guys they believe in so much, but they aren't
• 33:56
  Speaker 10: getting it done and you're wondering where it is. They
• 33:59
  Speaker 10: bring up Edwin Arroyo and actually when Matt McLain, if
• 34:03
  Speaker 10: you look at what Matt McLain did while he's playing shortstop,
• 34:06
  Speaker 10: he was playing better. He was more on track the
• 34:10
  Speaker 10: Matt McLain that we thought that he was before the
• 34:14
  Speaker 10: shoulder injury. Spencer Steer is a guy that you it's
• 34:19
  Speaker 10: almost hard to see him look because he never really
• 34:22
  Speaker 10: looks bad. He just doesn't get the result. And when
• 34:25
  Speaker 10: he's getting results, it's kind of quiet, and when he's
• 34:27
  Speaker 10: not getting results, it's kind of quiet. But he should
• 34:31
  Speaker 10: be a complimentary player. And you were hoping that you
• 34:34
  Speaker 10: have that middle of the lineup, the Heyohaneo Squerez, Matt McClain,
• 34:40
  Speaker 10: Elie de la Cruz to carry you, and they haven't
• 34:43
  Speaker 10: been able to do that. South Stewart did it for
• 34:45
  Speaker 10: a month, JJ Bleda did it for a month, and
• 34:48
  Speaker 10: then they're searching again for someone to do that for
• 34:52
  Speaker 10: any period of time.
• 34:54
  Speaker 4: What's the identity of this team because they started to
• 34:57
  Speaker 4: be like this pitching pitching Mecca, pitching guru, and it
• 35:01
  Speaker 4: obviously hasn't gone well. And I don't think that's all
• 35:03
  Speaker 4: on Hunter Green not being around. There are some other
• 35:06
  Speaker 4: dudes that really did well. But what's this identity?
• 35:09
  Speaker 10: I think it is they hope it is pitching and
• 35:12
  Speaker 10: that if you get Hunter Green around, and you know,
• 35:14
  Speaker 10: you look at the parallelsocratzy between Chase Burns and Hunter Green.
• 35:20
  Speaker 10: These are guys who are known for their like just
• 35:23
  Speaker 10: triple digit fastballs, right, but both of them that slider
• 35:27
  Speaker 10: is probably their better pitch. And for Hunter Green, it
• 35:30
  Speaker 10: was finding that third pitch. And I think I think
• 35:34
  Speaker 10: Chase is getting there and it's not to that third
• 35:38
  Speaker 10: pitch isn't about dominating more. It's about getting from the
• 35:43
  Speaker 10: five innings to seven. And that's what Hunter's splitter was
• 35:47
  Speaker 10: able to do, and that's what the Chase Burns hopes
• 35:51
  Speaker 10: his changeup will be able to do. But if you
• 35:55
  Speaker 10: can get Chase Burns to take that same trajectory that
• 35:58
  Speaker 10: Hunter Green did at similar ages, I think your your
• 36:04
  Speaker 10: identity is those two guys and then some complimentary guys.
• 36:08
  Speaker 10: Liddolo was finally almost looking like Lodolo till he gets
• 36:12
  Speaker 10: hit in the arm and he's just not quite been
• 36:16
  Speaker 10: where they wanted to get, uh, and a Rabbit is
• 36:20
  Speaker 10: getting to be that steady guy. I mean, honestly, it
• 36:23
  Speaker 10: could be a point where they have to send Ret
• 36:25
  Speaker 10: Louder down and he's coming around and and I think
• 36:29
  Speaker 10: that is what they want their identity to be. But
• 36:33
  Speaker 10: a rotation is a fragile thing. You you take it,
• 36:38
  Speaker 10: it's a it's a circle, right, and if you take
• 36:40
  Speaker 10: one part of the circle out, then it's going to
• 36:43
  Speaker 10: be you know, it's not going to go around smoothly.
• 36:46
  Speaker 10: And I think that's kind of where they've been so
• 36:47
  Speaker 10: far this season. I want to hit the lineup one
• 36:51
  Speaker 10: more time. Here, the number that I saw runners in
• 36:56
  Speaker 10: scoring position ce trend are it is worse? Then they're
• 37:00
  Speaker 10: like they're batting average. I don't understand how that is possible.
• 37:04
  Speaker 10: What do you see on a night in a night
• 37:06
  Speaker 10: out basis? Do you see a change in or no
• 37:09
  Speaker 10: change in there? At bats when there's runs in their position?
• 37:12
  Speaker 10: Is the biggest point of the game. No, because they're
• 37:17
  Speaker 10: bad either way. It's by you know, the overall numbers
• 37:20
  Speaker 10: aren't that much different. The batting average is a little lower,
• 37:23
  Speaker 10: the on base percentage is higher, and the slugging is higher,
• 37:26
  Speaker 10: so you know, they're just they're not a good hitting team,
• 37:31
  Speaker 10: so it doesn't matter who's on base, and they're not
• 37:34
  Speaker 10: getting enough guys on base for it to matter. If
• 37:38
  Speaker 10: you don't hit very well, you better get a lot
• 37:40
  Speaker 10: of guys on base to score runs. And they're not
• 37:42
  Speaker 10: doing that either. So it's it's both not hitting when
• 37:47
  Speaker 10: scoring when players are in scoring position. It's really more
• 37:50
  Speaker 10: about not hitting overall. No matter what split you want
• 37:54
  Speaker 10: to put on it, if you want to put it
• 37:56
  Speaker 10: on rainy days or phases of the moon, they're all
• 37:59
  Speaker 10: going to turn out bad.
• 38:02
  Speaker 4: South Stewart's a rookie. Is this a great environment for
• 38:05
  Speaker 4: south Stewart?
• 38:06
  Speaker 9: Oh?
• 38:06
  Speaker 5: Wow, to restart a crafts We didn't hear you for
• 38:09
  Speaker 5: a second.
• 38:09
  Speaker 4: Oh, I was just gonna say, south Stewart's a rookie,
• 38:12
  Speaker 4: is there is Is this a good environment for him
• 38:15
  Speaker 4: to be learning in around a offense that is struggling.
• 38:19
  Speaker 4: I'm not saying you send him down. I'm saying, does
• 38:22
  Speaker 4: the struggles of the entire lineup stunt his growth a
• 38:26
  Speaker 4: little bit in the sense of him being the peak
• 38:29
  Speaker 4: player that they think he could be one day.
• 38:32
  Speaker 10: I mean, I think it is suboptimal for him to
• 38:36
  Speaker 10: be struggling and everybody else to be struggling, because you'd
• 38:39
  Speaker 10: prefer to have his struggles not highlighted, because that's who
• 38:44
  Speaker 10: you're counting on. And he he's learning as a rookie
• 38:48
  Speaker 10: does the league's learning him. He's making adjustments, and I
• 38:51
  Speaker 10: think he's a guy who knows how to make adjustments
• 38:54
  Speaker 10: even at this young age. And I'm not worried about
• 38:57
  Speaker 10: him and his development that way. I'd just think it's
• 39:01
  Speaker 10: more noticeable when otherwise everybody's talking about Ellie de la
• 39:06
  Speaker 10: Cruz good or bad, and their eyes have to go somewhere.
• 39:10
  Speaker 10: They weren't on Ellie de la Cruz. They weren't on
• 39:12
  Speaker 10: Aeohanio Suarez, who was brought in to be a little
• 39:16
  Speaker 10: more factor in the lineup than he has been. But
• 39:19
  Speaker 10: I think we all, you know, certainly here in Cincinnati,
• 39:22
  Speaker 10: we've seen Geno enough, and I think everybody knows Gino
• 39:25
  Speaker 10: knows that he can look really bad one day and
• 39:28
  Speaker 10: then he can go on two weeks where he is
• 39:30
  Speaker 10: the greatest player on the face of the earth. And
• 39:33
  Speaker 10: I think the Reds are just kind of waiting on
• 39:36
  Speaker 10: hoping that one of those comms, because when Gino gets hot,
• 39:40
  Speaker 10: he can get just like thermonuclear.
• 39:45
  Speaker 9: Yeah, that's one hundred percent true. My question to you now,
• 39:49
  Speaker 9: with the Treddy deadline looming, what do you see the
• 39:53
  Speaker 9: Reds doing? I mean, you see them going out and
• 39:55
  Speaker 9: getting a couple guys or do you see maybe letting
• 39:58
  Speaker 9: go of a.
• 39:59
  Speaker 5: Couple of guys.
• 40:00
  Speaker 3: I don't know.
• 40:00
  Speaker 9: I'm like in between here, I'm not sure what you
• 40:02
  Speaker 9: think they should be doing.
• 40:04
  Speaker 10: Well, I think you have to be closer to six
• 40:07
  Speaker 10: weeks from now to I think you got to take
• 40:09
  Speaker 10: this too kind of to fruition, And I think they're
• 40:14
  Speaker 10: actually in a decent space for that because with that,
• 40:18
  Speaker 10: what they can do is they don't have you know,
• 40:21
  Speaker 10: they're not gonna trade Alley Delocrates, right, that's the one
• 40:24
  Speaker 10: that's changing. They're not gonna Chase trade Chase Burns or
• 40:27
  Speaker 10: Hunter Green, those are just not gonna happen.
• 40:30
  Speaker 3: They don't.
• 40:31
  Speaker 10: Their trade pieces are more of those rentals. And that's
• 40:34
  Speaker 10: kind of good, honestly, going into the CBA where you
• 40:38
  Speaker 10: don't know exactly what's gonna happen. But also you can
• 40:43
  Speaker 10: straddle the line up until the end because everybody here
• 40:47
  Speaker 10: knows that at the deadline there are gonna be three
• 40:50
  Speaker 10: teams that are just saying, we have to improve our bullpen. Okay,
• 40:53
  Speaker 10: brock Park might be it. Okay, we didn't want to
• 40:56
  Speaker 10: give this up. Or we need just a fifth starter.
• 40:59
  Speaker 10: We need a guy who's gonna go out every five days. Okay, Okay, yep,
• 41:03
  Speaker 10: he's not there. We'll take Brady Singer. Or you can
• 41:06
  Speaker 10: hold onto those guys in their complementary and it doesn't
• 41:11
  Speaker 10: blow up your season if you don't have them. So
• 41:15
  Speaker 10: I think there's a lot of that. The only guy
• 41:16
  Speaker 10: that I would question that is maybe more of a
• 41:18
  Speaker 10: long term question mark would be jj bledah. And you've
• 41:22
  Speaker 10: got to really believe in your internal scouting of what
• 41:26
  Speaker 10: you see because this is the one guy who has control,
• 41:31
  Speaker 10: longer term control. He has the talent that he is,
• 41:38
  Speaker 10: He has the talent that.
• 41:41
  Speaker 5: That was there.
• 41:41
  Speaker 10: He's a number four pick. So if another team believes
• 41:45
  Speaker 10: that he can sustain what he has done so far
• 41:47
  Speaker 10: this year, maybe you look at it. But then this
• 41:50
  Speaker 10: is not a team that has really developed any outfielders
• 41:53
  Speaker 10: over the last couple of years. You have to say
• 41:55
  Speaker 10: we're going to need outfielders in the next couple of
• 41:57
  Speaker 10: years because you usually play with three.
• 42:01
  Speaker 5: Yeah, right, how many three? Three? Got it? Okay? Still three? Yes?
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: Well, they paid me the big bucks, that is, that's
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: why they paid the big bucks, didn't didn't We have
• 42:10
  Speaker 1: a few times where they did the shift and they put.
• 42:12
  Speaker 5: Four out there for who is it gallow.
• 42:15
  Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, I mean a couple of different guys Okay Bird, Yeah,
• 42:20
  Speaker 4: Jake Bird, not Jake Bird, Greg Bird. But you can't
• 42:23
  Speaker 4: do that anymore, can you know? You can't have four
• 42:26
  Speaker 4: gotta be out of the grass.
• 42:28
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I don't miss that. I'm good with that. See, Trent,
• 42:31
  Speaker 5: you're the man.
• 42:31
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much, great to talk to you, and
• 42:34
  Speaker 1: we will catch you down the road.
• 42:36
  Speaker 10: Sounds good fellas,