Speaker 1: Hey, we're talking to Susan Slesser right now, San Francisco
Speaker 1: Chronicle and a regular guest on splash It Territory with
Speaker 1: Jeremy Affelt and Scott Ostler. Those two new to the
Speaker 1: party on that show. Really excited about it. Please make
Speaker 1: sure that you check it out. Susan, great to see you.
Speaker 1: Let's start with the big stuff. What did you think
Speaker 1: of what the giants did here?
Speaker 2: Well, Tony I Fraiitella kind of put it perfectly yesterday
Speaker 2: called it pure chaos. It was his first trade deadline
Speaker 2: and wow, you're a manager and suddenly you lose six
Speaker 2: guys off your roster.
Speaker 3: That's pretty crazy.
Speaker 2: I thought Buster Posey got very good value, which he
Speaker 2: did last year at the trade deadline. I think he
Speaker 2: has a knack for this. It's not just him, of course,
Speaker 2: it's Zach Manazi and Paul me and Jeremy Shelley, like
Speaker 2: the whole group. They seem to know exactly what they're
Speaker 2: going for every trade deadline. It's a shame there in
Speaker 2: that position, right, but they're not doing anything.
Speaker 3: This year.
Speaker 2: They did the practical and right thing, and the surprise
Speaker 2: was trading three guys with service time left starting with
Speaker 2: Elliott Ramos, and you mentioned Eric Miller just a moment ago.
Speaker 2: You know, that's a very interesting deal with Marcel and
Speaker 2: Meyer coming back and Caleb Gillian going in their Rise deal,
Speaker 2: so all of those are a little bit surprising. But
Speaker 2: they clearly are targeting young starting pitching, pitching in general,
Speaker 2: and that's what they need.
Speaker 4: Susan. The fact that they had six guys that other
Speaker 4: teams wanted is pretty amazing for as bad as they've
Speaker 4: been this year, So there's something there, right, But they
Speaker 4: obviously had to trade other than a Rise, a lot
Speaker 4: of guys that had service time, and that's what teams
Speaker 4: are looking for. And I give Buster a lot of credit.
Speaker 4: He had pieces that other teams wanted, and he said,
Speaker 4: you know what, I'll get rid of them even if
Speaker 4: they do have service time left over, because I can
Speaker 4: get more players back that we can evaluate and we
Speaker 4: can try to develop. This was absolutely the right way
Speaker 4: for the Giants to go about this.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And they were trading, of course from positions where
Speaker 2: you know, first of all, the two relievers with service
Speaker 2: time left, that's an area where they really have to
Speaker 2: rebuild that bullpen in the off season. They're going to
Speaker 2: have to go after a lot of free agents there
Speaker 2: to really make that a solid bullpen.
Speaker 3: They know that.
Speaker 2: And then with the outfield, they've got a lot of
Speaker 2: good young outfielders, so I think they feel pretty good
Speaker 2: about about where they are with that second base. You
Speaker 2: trade Luis Arise, who was just I mean, he was
Speaker 2: the best part of their season, the best story. Wonderful.
Speaker 2: But if you're bringing in somebody like Marcella Meyer Meyer
Speaker 2: he is going to benefit just as much as a
Speaker 2: Rise did from working with Ron Washington. So that's something
Speaker 2: to consider too. This all of this was done with
Speaker 2: the plan in place. You can see it, and to me,
Speaker 2: what's really interesting is we now get to see Tony
Speaker 2: Vaitello work with young players. Right now, the Giants have
Speaker 2: seven rookies on the team. They've got five guys with
Speaker 2: under two years of experience. This is sort of supposed
Speaker 2: to be his wheelhouse.
Speaker 3: They're not.
Speaker 2: You know, wins and losses aren't really gonna matter this
Speaker 2: final two months. But do these guys improve, do they
Speaker 2: play fundamental fundamentally well, do they make the right decisions?
Speaker 2: These are the sort of things that I think the
Speaker 2: Giants are going to want to see and this is
Speaker 2: how we finally judge Tony Vittello, who was not really
Speaker 2: in a position to succeed with that roster and was
Speaker 2: in a steep learning curve himself.
Speaker 1: What about anyone you were surprised didn't move, even if
Speaker 1: it was not just talking about yesterday. I'll bring up
Speaker 1: one guy who I'm just surprised doesn't have more league
Speaker 1: interest if the Giants eats some money. The perception of
Speaker 1: Willia Damas, who still has pop and you know, is
Speaker 1: a whatever four win player or something close to that,
Speaker 1: and I think would play better outside of San Francisco
Speaker 1: in terms of the bat. And it's not like the
Speaker 1: bat hasn't had pop in San Francisco, which is very
Speaker 1: difficult to do him and anyone else that You're like, hmm,
Speaker 1: I wonder why the league isn't interested in that player.
Speaker 2: Well, you know, Willy and Matt Chapman both have no
Speaker 2: trade clauses. That complicates things. And of course the biggest
Speaker 2: complication for Chapman Dever's a Damas is those huge contracts.
Speaker 2: The Giants I think would have paid down a little,
Speaker 2: but they weren't looking like, look, these guys are for
Speaker 2: more valuable even with these big salaries and long deals.
Speaker 2: Then you know you're not going to throw thirty million
Speaker 2: at a team just to get rid of a guy,
Speaker 2: even if the return is okay, which it probably wouldn't
Speaker 2: be if you're asking a team to take on one
Speaker 2: hundred million plus. So I think it just from again,
Speaker 2: from a practical hill standpoint, I think Willia Domas, Matt Chapman,
Speaker 2: Rob Hildevers are probably worth more. Even on those big contracts.
Speaker 2: You know what you're going to get. Domicis down year,
Speaker 2: no doubt about it, but he has not been healthy.
Speaker 2: That is something that is going kind of very overlooked
Speaker 2: right now. Chapman's on the il. Of course, Endeavors is
Speaker 2: going to have another thirty plus home run season, even
Speaker 2: playing at Oracle Park. So none of that's really surprised me.
Speaker 2: I think that there were some teams that kicked the
Speaker 2: tires on all of them. I think they got calls
Speaker 2: on all of them. But I don't think that there
Speaker 2: was any chance that teams were going to pick up
Speaker 2: the entire deal, which probably you know, was what it
Speaker 2: was really going to take.
Speaker 4: Well, we know why no one's interested in the Damas.
Speaker 4: Let's be honest, he doesn't work very hard according to
Speaker 4: everyone out there, Susan, you wrote it. You wrote it,
Speaker 4: You're trying to bury another player. I know how your
Speaker 4: dastardly deeds are, Susan out there in San Francisco, So.
Speaker 1: You gotta get context.
Speaker 4: Can you clear this up for us? Why Willia Damas
Speaker 4: and Tony Vtello had to come out and say, well,
Speaker 4: he works just as hard as he's supposed to. What
Speaker 4: are we talking about here?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Absolutely, you know. I asked Willy about this about two
Speaker 2: weeks before the Friday Apple TV broadcasts, which is where
Speaker 2: it was brought up that Ron Washington had said he's
Speaker 2: not available to work with me every day. I'd like
Speaker 2: to work with him every day. Ron Washington said the
Speaker 2: same thing to me. He said the same thing I
Speaker 2: think to numerous people. He would like to get Williadamas
Speaker 2: out there. Willy is not having a good season. Defensively,
Speaker 2: Willy knows that. There is a reason I talked. I
Speaker 2: talked to Willie. He's play not a secret. He has
Speaker 2: a bad back, but he has to maintain aj you know,
Speaker 2: especially in the modern day, players are really careful and
Speaker 2: the training staffs are very careful with the whole idea
Speaker 2: of if you're limited in some way but you're playable,
Speaker 2: you're going to cut back in other areas, and in
Speaker 2: this case, it's on field work when you've got a
Speaker 2: bad back. That kind of makes sense. Tony Vitella's point was,
Speaker 2: Ron Washington is really here to work with the guys
Speaker 2: who needed the help. Luis arrives number one, and look
Speaker 2: what he did with him number two. Rafield Diver's playing
Speaker 2: a new position, Bryce Eldridge playing a new position. You
Speaker 2: look at the left side and it's Chapman and Adamis.
Speaker 2: These are guys who have played these positions their entire lives.
Speaker 2: They do know what they're doing there, and Adamis's back
Speaker 2: injury is something that they have to be concerned with.
Speaker 2: So I think that's really kind of where maybe where
Speaker 2: the disconnect was. I know Ron Washington knows that Willie's
Speaker 2: dealing with the bad back. And another thing that I
Speaker 2: think completely goes under the radar when it comes to
Speaker 2: Adamas in the work he's doing. He does work with
Speaker 2: Wrong Washington several times a week. I mean, we're out
Speaker 2: there in the dugout.
Speaker 3: We see it.
Speaker 2: It's not like he's just ignoring it. He's out there
Speaker 2: doing that work. It's just not every day the way
Speaker 2: a Rise was doing, the way Bryce Eldridge is doing,
Speaker 2: and that's for a different reason. They're new to those spots,
Speaker 2: or in a Rise case, really trying to change his reputation,
Speaker 2: which he did and then some.
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Speaker 4: Okay, next question, And I love Ron Washington. I played
Speaker 4: round with for Ron Washington. Why did he say this
Speaker 4: if he's out there? Did he just mean did he
Speaker 4: just mean that he washed? He was out there seven
Speaker 4: days a week, and that was what he meant by
Speaker 4: and he got a little bit taken out of the
Speaker 4: way he meant it.
Speaker 2: I think that Ron Washington sees a guy who's having
Speaker 2: a subpar year defensively a lot of that because the
Speaker 2: back end his natural inclination is to think I can
Speaker 2: fix him, and he probably could I And I think
Speaker 2: that's probably frustrating for him. I'm sure it's frustrating for
Speaker 2: Will in fact really said I would love to work
Speaker 2: with him. I think they're on the same page there.
Speaker 2: I think Wash just kind of wishes it and maybe
Speaker 2: says it a little bit too much to to maybe
Speaker 2: people they don't have the context about what's what's going
Speaker 2: on there? I think it's all coming from a great place,
Speaker 2: I really do. Everybody wants the same thing.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I agree, I totally agree. I love Wash, So
Speaker 4: I don't want anyone to think that I'm taking a
Speaker 4: shot at Wash. By the way, was there any talk
Speaker 4: with Buster Posey and the Phillies when they traded Luisa
Speaker 4: Rise that Ron Washington had to go with him to
Speaker 4: Philly or was that possibly a throw in and maybe
Speaker 4: they could have got another prospect back?
Speaker 2: You know what, I think Ron Washington leaves Luisa Rise
Speaker 2: like in the absolute, but like he's graduated. You know,
Speaker 2: he knows exactly how to follow the Ron Washington method.
Speaker 2: He's good, he's good to go.
Speaker 1: He is fixed.
Speaker 2: I think the next the next guy is Marcella Meyer.
Speaker 2: So and you know, continuing with Bryce Eldridge, who's still
Speaker 2: a work in progress at at first base, and plenty
Speaker 2: of of other young guys. So I'm sure we will
Speaker 2: see popping in and out here and there. Wash is
Speaker 2: always going to stay busy. I think he said he
Speaker 2: had five guys on the field the other day, like
Speaker 2: one after another. It was a very hot day too
Speaker 2: in San Diego, and Wash was just tripped with sweat.
Speaker 2: He's seventy four. We worry a little bit, but that
Speaker 2: talk about work ethic, that guy's got it.
Speaker 1: Hey, we haven't talked to you since the Harrison Vader
Speaker 1: scooter incident, so I wanted to get your thoughts on
Speaker 1: what's going on there. And I know he was already out,
Speaker 1: but then they're not going to pay him until he
Speaker 1: is able to play baseball again, So what do you know.
Speaker 2: It's also complicated, and you know, we would really probably
Speaker 2: have to have a look at the actual contract and know,
Speaker 2: you know, have a very legal background in things like
Speaker 2: contracts and the CBA and all of that to determine
Speaker 2: Harrison Bader's future. My guess is at this point, probably
Speaker 2: both parties would like to just move on from it somehow.
Speaker 2: Clearly the Giants are not happy with Harrison, and he
Speaker 2: is understandable. He re injured and already injured foot and
Speaker 2: kind of made a consult that was supposed to determine
Speaker 2: the direction of his treatment and hope to getting him
Speaker 2: back this year. That ruined that essentially, that consult, So
Speaker 2: the you know, the specifics I think are kind of known.
Speaker 2: We would like to know a little bit further. The
Speaker 2: Giants say they're still investigating. Certainly it was a very
Speaker 2: late at night incident in front of the Balboa Cafe,
Speaker 2: which is very popular bar in the Marina, very lively.
Speaker 2: You know the reports of eyewitnesses saying he drove into
Speaker 2: the back of a fire truck. This is all kind
Speaker 2: of not great, So the Giants suspending and without pay.
Speaker 2: There is language in most contracts and Aja you would
Speaker 2: know this about you know, things that you're not supposed
Speaker 2: to do. But one of those things I'm told pretty
Speaker 2: standard is not driving a motorized vehicle while impaired. And
Speaker 2: of course there's language about personal responsibility, especially for not
Speaker 2: being injured away from the job.
Speaker 4: Susan last thing. First of all, you should never drive
Speaker 4: a vehicle impaired, whether you're a baseball player, anything in life,
Speaker 4: So let's get that out there. And second of all,
Speaker 4: as a former Giant great as you know, and as
Speaker 4: a former person that's been to the Barrier plenty of times,
Speaker 4: we've all been to the Balboa Cafe. Okay, we've all
Speaker 4: had a good time at the Balboa Cafe. So that's
Speaker 4: not knock Earrison Beta for being hurt being at the
Speaker 4: Balboa cafe. We could get mad at him for taking
Speaker 4: the scooter, but we've all been to the Balboa Cafe
Speaker 4: and had a nice time there.
Speaker 2: It's true.
Speaker 1: I'm not.
Speaker 2: I mean, yes, you click, but you know what if
Speaker 2: you've got a foot injury Andrew going out for a
Speaker 2: fun evening, there's so many options now, Yeah, take an uber,
Speaker 2: get a driver. You know, he's at an income level
Speaker 2: where getting a driver seems like a great I would
Speaker 2: totally do that, So there are responsible ways to do that.
Speaker 1: True, Well, hopefully it's back on the field.
Speaker 4: Not his first swater accident either. By the way he
Speaker 4: got into one college which also he would think he
Speaker 4: would know not to be on a scooter.
Speaker 1: Well as long time ago, but now he's definitely he's
Speaker 1: probably done. I feel about He's a he's a great
Speaker 1: dude too. He's just awesome to cover. He's fun to watch,
Speaker 1: like it's just fun.
Speaker 2: And you know what, guys, there were teams that did
Speaker 2: have some interest in him if there was any chance
Speaker 2: that he was going to be healthy down the stretch.
Speaker 2: People know what he did with the Phillies last year,
Speaker 2: so it's an extra level. But like for both the
Speaker 2: Giants and for Bader, he could have been helping a
Speaker 2: contender down the stretch if he actually had a console
Speaker 2: that led to him being able to play maybe the
Speaker 2: last six weeks or so.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that fasciitis ain't no joke, Susan, I've got it.
Speaker 4: It sucks. And I don't know if I could ride
Speaker 4: a scooter with fasciotis. And although I also got mine
Speaker 4: in San Francisco, so maybe there's something about the streets.
Speaker 1: I don't call it. Yeah, you think they they started
Speaker 1: off they're fascis. Okay, we'll tune into the nex conspiracy
Speaker 1: theory with favor. He's a kid. Yeah, Susan, thank you.
Speaker 4: So I'm not kidding about getting flash fest shal I
Speaker 4: know you.
Speaker 1: Got fassyis in Kansas, No, San Francisca. Yes, very well aware.
Speaker 1: We know AJ's life. That's a weird one.
Speaker 4: That is weird when you walk thirty thousand steps, when
Speaker 4: you walk from up the hills, you walk from the
Speaker 4: four Seasons to the wharf to the what's the place
Speaker 4: where the invented Irish coffee, and then you decide to
Speaker 4: walk back to the wharf, and then you walk back
Speaker 4: Vista In or whatever, and then you walk back to
Speaker 4: the Yeah, but then you go all through the it
Speaker 4: was I ended up with like thirty thousand steps and
Speaker 4: I got back to my room and I was like, out,
Speaker 4: what's wrong with my foot?
Speaker 2: And then I'm like, oh, it seems like a driver's situation.
Speaker 4: Exercise, Susan, I'd rather be outside carbon footprint the whole
Speaker 4: thing drop.
Speaker 2: You know what, There is a there's a happy medium,
Speaker 2: ah between exercise and thirty thousand steps.
Speaker 4: Oh truth.
Speaker 1: Yeah, fifteen thousand season. Thank you appreciate it, and we'll
Speaker 1: catch you on some splash Hit episodes.
Speaker 2: All right, thanks guys.
Speaker 1: Thank you that Susan slash. Jeremy affelts on there as
Speaker 1: a regular with Scott Ostler and Susan making frequent guest
Speaker 1: appearances on there, as well as a special contributor part
Speaker 1: of the Ft Network Splashit. It's great for parents looking
Speaker 1: for a new path to help your child succeed this year.
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Speaker 1: million students and counting. A little tweet from Chris Catillo,
Speaker 1: Mass Live covers the Red Sox said. Marcella Meyer is
Speaker 1: said to be enthused by the trade and changing scenery
Speaker 1: out west. He's excited about the new opportunity instead of
Speaker 1: being bitter about a lack of a long leash in Boston.
Speaker 4: You know, sometimes you need that, Okay, Yeah, of course,
Speaker 4: he's excited. He's going to go and he's gonna get
Speaker 4: the opportunity to play every day. But wasn't he kind
Speaker 4: of getting that in Boston or No.
Speaker 1: They were bouncing him around a little bit. I think
Speaker 1: this is going to work out well where Buster Posey's
Speaker 1: just gonna say here you go, have fun, go take off. No,
Speaker 1: I agree, but still every day, same spot. You know
Speaker 1: they were bouncing them around. There's just there's These are
Speaker 1: two very different front offices. Boston's gonna get a lot
Speaker 1: more cute and San Francisco is going to be a
Speaker 1: lot more traditional. With the way that Posey looks at things.
Speaker 4: That's their I don't know. Listen, of course he's enthused.
Speaker 4: He got out of Boston where he wasn't you know?
Speaker 4: Now he's going. Here's the thing about this, as a
Speaker 4: young player, unless you're a star right off the bat,
Speaker 4: I might trout someone like that, you're honestly a better
Speaker 4: equipped as a player to go to a bad team
Speaker 4: to come up. Now, the Brewers, they do, but Brewers
Speaker 4: are probably the one team where they play their young
Speaker 4: guys a lot. But a young guy with the Dodgers,
Speaker 4: where's he going to play? Dalton rushing. Perfect example, Will
Speaker 4: Smith didn't get hurt. He doesn't get to play no
Speaker 4: name another position where they play a young guy.
Speaker 1: At some point, Pajes broke through. But it's really.
Speaker 4: Pie went through some ups and downs. Oh ups, and
Speaker 4: they were like, we hate this guy. Remember last year,
Speaker 4: we hate this guy.
Speaker 1: Vargas went through that for a short period.
Speaker 4: Of got shifted to Chicago, and now he's thriving because
Speaker 4: he got to go and play every dingy.
Speaker 1: It's a great point.
Speaker 4: I mean, honestly, when you're a young kid, it's hard. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, let's get into the Braves. His is kind of
Speaker 1: joining us right now from the athletic covering this team Hazers.
Speaker 1: Good to see you. And I know Braves Country is
Speaker 1: livid right now. They feel like they were totally ripped
Speaker 1: off from what should have happened at the trade deadline.
Speaker 1: I'm sure you're seeing the comments and all of that too.
Speaker 1: So let's get into this. What happened? What did they
Speaker 1: try for? What did Alexanthopolis tell you after the deadline?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think to say Braves Country were upset might
Speaker 3: be an understatement. I mean to see the reaction all
Speaker 3: throughout a social media people calling it to the radio
Speaker 3: stations and just a general reaction. It was clearly disappointment.
Speaker 3: And you know, it's not just you know us who
Speaker 3: said it. There's been multiple outlets that have you know,
Speaker 3: the Braves as the losers of the trade deadline, and
Speaker 3: that's a that's unfortunate because you look at this team
Speaker 3: and the starting lineup passed stars everywhere, right from Akunya
Speaker 3: to Olsen to Drake Ballwin to Ozzie Alby's to Michael Harris,
Speaker 3: every single we're in that line that that's one of
Speaker 3: the toughest lineups that you're going to face you out
Speaker 3: all of baseball. The issue has been while the starting
Speaker 3: pitching as of late has been pretty well so far,
Speaker 3: the reason they went into that June swoon, I think
Speaker 3: also had to do with the fact that the starting
Speaker 3: pitching was not getting deep into the games. The hulpen
Speaker 3: was getting over tax and as a result too, I
Speaker 3: feel like when the starting pitching starts to not necessarily
Speaker 3: perform with the results that you want to be able
Speaker 3: to do, it creates this ripple effect within the rest
Speaker 3: of the team. And you know, I think that's a
Speaker 3: fair assessment to make. Now, what could have they done
Speaker 3: at the trade deadline. They could have added pitching, and
Speaker 3: they did. They added Tyler Molly, which didn't cost him much.
Speaker 3: It cost him a reliever who was probably going to
Speaker 3: get designated for assignment in the coming days. To make move.
Speaker 3: It was a good addition for them to do. But
Speaker 3: that was it. That was it. There was no Casey Mize,
Speaker 3: there was no Freddy Perol, there was no anybody else
Speaker 3: that was at it. They are going out with a rotation.
Speaker 3: And I put it this tweet yesterday. If the playoffs
Speaker 3: started tomorrow, it would be Chris Sale fantastic, absolutely, then
Speaker 3: Bryce Elder, then Tyler Molly in this case, and then
Speaker 3: one of Martine Perez or Grant Holmes. And you look
Speaker 3: at what the Dodgers have going on right now, objectively speaking,
Speaker 3: can that pitching staff go toe to toe with them
Speaker 3: at the end of the year when it comes to
Speaker 3: a playoff push or when it comes to matching the playoffs?
Speaker 3: Objectively speaking, A lot of people would agree that that's
Speaker 3: not the case. And Anthopolos was pretty clear in the
Speaker 3: postgame interview that they had a goal in mind, that
Speaker 3: they had a goal in mind, and it was just
Speaker 3: simply to make the team better, and to his point,
Speaker 3: the team did get better, but does it move the needle?
Speaker 3: The needle I think a lot of people are seeing
Speaker 3: that it's not.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and has we have that sound? So let's play that,
Speaker 1: and then I want to get your reactions since you
Speaker 1: were part.
Speaker 3: Of that, Hey, I mean, considering the strength of the
Speaker 3: Braves farm system, how do you evaluate the decision to just,
Speaker 3: you know, add Tyler Molly when you know you see
Speaker 3: other teams like the Padres who have significantly less than
Speaker 3: you guys acquire much more.
Speaker 6: I don't understand that question. It just the way you
Speaker 6: worded that just doesn't make any sense. So we'll see
Speaker 6: how Tyler Molly does. And you can have your thoughts
Speaker 6: and your opinions. And that's great. And obviously, like I
Speaker 6: said the other day, when you'd ask me, we're gonna
Speaker 6: find out obviously in a month or two or whatever.
Speaker 6: It is our farm system. Yeah, it's strong. I totally
Speaker 6: agree with you. That's one thing I do agree with
Speaker 6: you on. It is strong. People asked about a lot
Speaker 6: of our top players, and there's a bunch that we
Speaker 6: made available for certain players that we felt were impact
Speaker 6: difference making guys. And then there were other times that
Speaker 6: we were asked for some of those guys that we said, no,
Speaker 6: you know, so what any one club us does not
Speaker 6: impact us, right, So you put you pointed out one
Speaker 6: specific team, have all the respect in the world for
Speaker 6: that team. You know, we have teams in our division.
Speaker 6: We're trying to win the division, obviously make the postseason.
Speaker 6: We've never reacted to what teams do around us. We
Speaker 6: have to do what's right for us, you know. And uh,
Speaker 6: we've always operated that way. We're aware of it, no doubt.
Speaker 6: We're aware of what everyone's doing. We respect what everyone's doing.
Speaker 6: But I don't think in any sports job you can
Speaker 6: say this team did X, so we better go do X.
Speaker 6: It's just there's so many examples. Stuff like that doesn't work.
Speaker 6: You have to worry about yourself.
Speaker 4: Okay, was that you that asked that question? Hey, Susan,
Speaker 4: you're so so confusing with that question. I don't understand
Speaker 4: the question. Here's my thing. It doesn't It doesn't impact
Speaker 4: you if you have to play that team and they
Speaker 4: beat you with the players that they got, and then
Speaker 4: I don't understand, Well, you get Robbie Ray and Casey
Speaker 4: Mize and versus Tyler Molly. Listen, Robbie Ray has been
Speaker 4: with the pitcher in baseball for about the last month.
Speaker 4: Tyler Molly has been.
Speaker 1: Her by plus Era a lot of homers, pitching in
Speaker 1: San Francisco.
Speaker 4: Pitching in Atlanta.
Speaker 1: But that's he's That's why.
Speaker 4: I mean, I understand your question, and I just that
Speaker 4: was GM speak one oh one with the court. He
Speaker 4: had the quarter zip on with the polo underneath, so
Speaker 4: he had it nailed.
Speaker 1: Kind of gave him a shot.
Speaker 4: And I liked Alex a lot. I think Alex was
Speaker 4: really good at his job. But your question, Tasus was
Speaker 4: right on the money, and I think it kind of
Speaker 4: puts into perspective what most Braise fans are thinking. I
Speaker 4: know Braise fans that I know, and I've talked to
Speaker 4: you in the last twenty four hours or all texting
Speaker 4: me like what the heck are we doing. I don't
Speaker 4: have an answer for him, So maybe you can clear
Speaker 4: up what Alex was trying to say, because there was
Speaker 4: a lot of gibberish in there too.
Speaker 3: Yeah, first and foremost, I pride myself in being a
Speaker 3: report that asked the questions that fans want to know.
Speaker 3: And I think that question that I made what's very fair.
Speaker 3: I do acknowledge that maybe he could have been worded
Speaker 3: differently and maybe not necessarily mentioned the padres in order
Speaker 3: for it not to kind of get lost in the shuffle.
Speaker 3: But at the same time, I do want to put
Speaker 3: this out there. I have a lot of respect for
Speaker 3: Alex Santoppolos. I respect his journey. I know we me
Speaker 3: and him are in both different positions in baseball, but
Speaker 3: would share a similar journey in the way he started
Speaker 3: in baseball to the way I started in journalism and
Speaker 3: obviously became the Atlanta Braids, the reporter for the Athletic,
Speaker 3: which is owned by the New York Times. By the way,
Speaker 3: so I totally understand, you know, the response, because it's
Speaker 3: we don't know what conversation happened right before re write.
Speaker 3: It was fresh off the trade deadline. There's a lot
Speaker 3: of emotions going through and quite frankly, it wasn't the
Speaker 3: return that probably a lot of fans wanted to receive.
Speaker 4: And I think.
Speaker 3: Basically he believes in Tyler Molly. He's not gonna say
Speaker 3: that he doesn't believe in Tyler Melee. He wouldn't have
Speaker 3: made that acquisition if he didn't believe in Tyler Melee,
Speaker 3: and I think that Melee is a good addition to
Speaker 3: this rotation. It really is, I think, compared to what
Speaker 3: it was. It gives you a guy who's gonna go
Speaker 3: deep into innings, go deep into games, give you as
Speaker 3: much quality starts as you possibly can without having to
Speaker 3: really give up much prospect capital. But I think, I
Speaker 3: think it's really fair to say that there was so
Speaker 3: much more on the market and the padres out of
Speaker 3: all teams went out and we get it.
Speaker 4: I get it.
Speaker 3: Every year they're always buying, no matter what type of
Speaker 3: farm system they have, and that's a J Preller's mindset.
Speaker 3: A lot of you know, general managers probably don't agree
Speaker 3: with that mindset. They rubbed some of them off the
Speaker 3: wrong way, and that's totally fine. But he goes out
Speaker 3: there day in and day out, every single deadline, is
Speaker 3: able to acquire players because of that. Does it end
Speaker 3: up helping them down the road? No, because the team
Speaker 3: doesn't hasn't won a World Series in its franchise history,
Speaker 3: and that's just facts, right, so I think. But I
Speaker 3: think the question that I wanted ray is in the
Speaker 3: argument that a lot of braves fans are doing is
Speaker 3: if they were able to give up you know, the
Speaker 3: prospects they did for both Robbie Ray and Casey Maes
Speaker 3: and the Atlanta Braves who have a stronger farm system,
Speaker 3: you know, Cam Kaminitti, Eric Harkman, John Heal and sure,
Speaker 3: if you don't want to go away and give those guys,
Speaker 3: that's fine. There's plenty of other guys like Luke Sinnar,
Speaker 3: Lucas Broun who they ended up trading right, Diego Tornez
Speaker 3: down in the Florida Complex has so much potential hasn't
Speaker 3: panned out. Davis Polo is a guy that keeps on
Speaker 3: rising and there was plenty of prospect capital to be
Speaker 3: able to do it, but they chose not to do so.
Speaker 3: He said that there was offers made that you know,
Speaker 3: they just had to say no to because they feel
Speaker 3: like it's what's best for the team. And that's totally fine.
Speaker 3: But I do think from the France perspective, there is
Speaker 3: that case in point to make that if if guys
Speaker 3: like the Padres are reeling in for them, why weren't
Speaker 3: the Braves able to do that? And that's what was
Speaker 3: the point that it made that question and he chose
Speaker 3: to respond the way he wanted to. He's totally valid
Speaker 3: in the way that he responded to just in the
Speaker 3: same way that I'm totally valid about asking the question.
Speaker 3: But I think for spin foremost, it's not about me,
Speaker 3: it's not about him. I think it's a direction about
Speaker 3: the team, and I think the fans deserve to hear that,
Speaker 3: And that's why I went about asking that question.
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Speaker 5: Yep.
Speaker 1: And that's your job, and you nailed it right, because
Speaker 1: if fans are upset, and also they just want to
Speaker 1: know the real answers as to what went down, and
Speaker 1: you get some of that from the front office, you
Speaker 1: get some of that from someone like your colleague Ken
Speaker 1: Rosenthal last night put out an article on how the
Speaker 1: Braves asked about Jacob de Gram, and the way I
Speaker 1: read it was that they would have made this happen
Speaker 1: if de Gram was into it. Degram gave a pretty
Speaker 1: hard not so tell us about that. And if you
Speaker 1: think the Braves potentially put too many chips in that basket,
Speaker 1: we went from Braves might get Jacob de Gram to
Speaker 1: Braves not getting anybody else that day because Molly was
Speaker 1: what from the day before. So there's what I kept saying.
Speaker 1: The number like twelve starters, there were a number of
Speaker 1: starters that Braves fans probably would have been very happy with.
Speaker 1: You mentioned a few of them just now. I'm just curious,
Speaker 1: like what happened with de Graham and had we go
Speaker 1: from there to nothing?
Speaker 3: Well, Ken Rosenthal obviously my colleague and that apps taught
Speaker 3: me so much about the business. What reporting stands is
Speaker 3: there if he's been out so you can see it
Speaker 3: on the screen right.
Speaker 4: There, right.
Speaker 3: Alex was asked about this, right and he chose not
Speaker 3: to go into details about that because he feels like
Speaker 3: it's not appropriate to talk about deals that never happened,
Speaker 3: which is his philosophy. That's fine. I know he talked
Speaker 3: about I think the Kyle Schwarber deal, and I'm sure with
Speaker 3: who that deal that it didn't happen. That's fine, he
Speaker 3: can do that, right. But I think maybe they did
Speaker 3: have older chips lined they are ready to go too.
Speaker 3: Maybe they did, maybe they didn't. I don't like to
Speaker 3: confirm information that I don't have a whole one hundred
Speaker 3: percent off and going slowly on based on Ken's reporting
Speaker 3: one hundred percent, I think there is a strong possibility,
Speaker 3: if it's what stands true, that that was going to
Speaker 3: be there, that that was going to be the move
Speaker 3: that they were making, and it just didn't happen. But
Speaker 3: I feel like in any profession you go to and
Speaker 3: anything you do in life, there has to be a
Speaker 3: plan B. And who knows, maybe Casey Misle's plan B
Speaker 3: and a J Preller at the end had that Kawhi
Speaker 3: Leonard as game the twenty nineteen playoffs shot to be
Speaker 3: able to reel them in and made the patters much better.
Speaker 3: You know, I'm not going to be a guy that's
Speaker 3: going to just fuel based on assumption outside of the
Speaker 3: reporting that Ken did. That's kind of all the information
Speaker 3: that I have right now, and I think the bottom
Speaker 3: line is this is it's great to have pri Sale,
Speaker 3: It's great to add Tyler. It's also in regards to
Speaker 3: talking also about Bruns, suitor Brent Suda adds a very
Speaker 3: important need to the team because they love to be
Speaker 3: aggressive with their bullpen, which is a great philosophy to have,
Speaker 3: but that also causes the rest of the bullpen, especially
Speaker 3: your high leverage guys, to be taxed the next day
Speaker 3: and not be available. Suitor comes in and fixes that
Speaker 3: problem right there. Lane Thomas's addition is a good right
Speaker 3: handed bat that hits lefties really well. So it's important
Speaker 3: to mention this team did get better. It did get better.
Speaker 3: Objectively speaking, it did get better. But it leads into
Speaker 3: the level that a lot of fans are satisfied with
Speaker 3: because come October, right, it's a whole different ballgame.
Speaker 5: Right.
Speaker 3: We see how deep the Dodgers, and I know everybody
Speaker 3: is probably like, why does he keep bringing them the Dodgers. Well,
Speaker 3: they've went back to back World Series for a reason,
Speaker 3: regardless of the way that they have done it and
Speaker 3: all that stuff, right, But they have deep pitching, they
Speaker 3: have a deep lineup, and it's why they've been able
Speaker 3: to put themselves in that position to win and do
Speaker 3: the Atlanta prayers have that they got a little bit better,
Speaker 3: But I don't think it's to the level a lot
Speaker 3: of fans who this is a passionate fan base. It's
Speaker 3: drought all the self and drought all the United States
Speaker 3: as a TBS. They're not satisfied with it, and I
Speaker 3: think it's fair to understand the reasoning.
Speaker 4: Hey, su as Jim Jarvis is a playoff caliber shortstop.
Speaker 3: For him, it sees the every day shortstop. It seems
Speaker 3: like going forward with the way they've been playing so far.
Speaker 3: I'll tell you this, I think it's much better to
Speaker 3: have Jim Jarvis as the starting short stop going forward
Speaker 3: right now than has Song Kim given his track record
Speaker 3: of what happened this season. But it's always important to
Speaker 3: remember the type of player has On Kim was before,
Speaker 3: right and he didn't get a spring training, he had
Speaker 3: the injury. He had this stint on the injured list
Speaker 3: that gave him a full rehab assignment to be able
Speaker 3: to work on things. Who knows, maybe he comes back
Speaker 3: into that clubhouse today, he gets on the field and
Speaker 3: is the player that everyone's expected to be and he
Speaker 3: wins that position. And Tooppolos made it clear yesterday that
Speaker 3: he is not the starting shortstop. He was the starting
Speaker 3: short stop when he got signed, but because of performance
Speaker 3: that's not the case. But pointed out that he's a
Speaker 3: guy that can play second, can play third. So it
Speaker 3: seems like he's going to be for the time being
Speaker 3: in the utility role that Jorge Matteo was in before
Speaker 3: who got designated for assignment recently, I mean yesterday with
Speaker 3: the return of Kim coming back, so that's the way
Speaker 3: they're going forward. I think my bigger question. I mean, obviously,
Speaker 3: whatever way the lineup was constructed and stuff like that
Speaker 3: is up to the Braves. But it's interesting to see
Speaker 3: that Mauricio Dubon was not named the starting short stuff
Speaker 3: and it seems like he's going to continue to be
Speaker 3: in that utility role he was at the beginning of
Speaker 3: the season before he settled in the outfield and Ronald
Speaker 3: of Kuna took over.
Speaker 4: Okay, last one before we let you go. I've always
Speaker 4: wanted to ask somebody that went to Fresno State this question. Which,
Speaker 4: by the way, if you've never been to Fresno State,
Speaker 4: it might be the hottest freaking place on Earth. Which
Speaker 4: and I played at the old Fresno State Baseball Stadium
Speaker 4: when the Giants were in Fresno. It was the worst
Speaker 4: Triple A stadium in the world. And locker room was awful,
Speaker 4: the hottest plays in the world. Also, they played blackjack,
Speaker 4: where if you bust and you get lower than the
Speaker 4: dealers boss, you still win. So there's a lot of
Speaker 4: crazy things that happened in Fresno. The biggest craziest thing
Speaker 4: I want to know is behind you there is a
Speaker 4: flag and it has the bulldog on it. And it
Speaker 4: has the F on the sleeve. Why do they have
Speaker 4: a V on the collar? Is his name like Vallejo
Speaker 4: or something.
Speaker 3: And Bilt bala coo. Well, so let me explain to this.
Speaker 3: So that's actually a really good question. I've always wanted
Speaker 3: somebody to ask me this on camera. So the V
Speaker 3: was made by at coach Pat Hill, who was there
Speaker 3: for so long. He integrated the V into the collar
Speaker 3: of Victory Bulldog to represent the Central Valley right which
Speaker 3: Presno is located in the middle of the Central Valley.
Speaker 3: It's agriculture country. It infects and I know this summer
Speaker 3: for a fact, as I did a project on it
Speaker 3: in college. Feeds about sixty percent of the country based
Speaker 3: off its produce, whether it's lettuce, walnuts, whatever it is.
Speaker 3: And that's important representation to the fan base or just
Speaker 3: to the people who live there in general, because a
Speaker 3: lot of people there they work in agriculture. A lot
Speaker 3: of the students who go to Presno State are these
Speaker 3: sons of immigrants who are working in the field. It's
Speaker 3: putting in that work and chasing an education. Some of
Speaker 3: the people that attend President State, their parents are the
Speaker 3: owners of the farms that have this economic cycle of
Speaker 3: agriculture going. And it's just a way to pay homage
Speaker 3: to the to the area of Fresno in the Central
Speaker 3: Valley as a whole. And I take I'm not from Presno.
Speaker 3: I grew up in the Bay Area in California, but
Speaker 3: I take a lot of pride of being able to
Speaker 3: be part of that for two years because it's shaped
Speaker 3: me into who I am today and differently helped me
Speaker 3: see the world from a different perspective.
Speaker 4: That's awesome. Hopefully that incident that led us to Taco.
Speaker 1: Bell no recall lettuce, just regular lettuce. You know what's funny?
Speaker 1: He said that.
Speaker 4: I swear that was the first thing I popped in
Speaker 4: my head.
Speaker 1: In our lives.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So everyone was talking about salad and then I said,
Speaker 1: you know, a good butter lettuce and en dive makes
Speaker 1: me feel alive. And then everyone's going like back and
Speaker 1: forth about lettuce, and then he brought that out.
Speaker 4: Weird anyway, All right, well that explains it. So now
Speaker 4: I know, thank you first playing that. And by the way,
Speaker 4: Fresno's the hot Okay, well, why don't they play blackjack
Speaker 4: to twenty two? And if you bust it's called California Blackjacks.
Speaker 4: If you get twenty four and the dealer gets twenty six,
Speaker 4: you still win.
Speaker 1: Save that answer for you.
Speaker 4: It's like the ragious and then you play against the
Speaker 4: people at the table. It was one of the worst things.
Speaker 3: I'll talk to some sources and see what I can dig.
Speaker 1: Up exactly next time you're on. You were great. Thank you, Hazus,
Speaker 1: great to talk to you. Appreciate the time. We'll catch
Speaker 1: us soon. Okay, thanks so much.
Speaker 3: You guys appreciate it.
Speaker 1: And of course Jesus has been on this show Hammer Territory.
Speaker 1: I listened to the full hour late last night. Brad
Speaker 1: and Scott were bringing it, educating us on what's going
Speaker 1: on in Atlanta, also on how much money they saved
Speaker 1: with the profile deal, and obviously they didn't end up
Speaker 1: really spending a lot of that. So if you want
Speaker 1: to check it out, if you're an angry Braves fan
Speaker 1: they don't win the World Series, they're gonna hear it
Speaker 1: for not having that other starter fear back