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Speaker 1: It is time now for front office unfielded.

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Speaker 2: We are always privileged and pleased to be joined by

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Speaker 2: our GM, our resident GM, Jim Bowden. Of course you

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Speaker 2: can follow him on x at Jim Bowden GM, MLB

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Speaker 2: Analyst and Insider CBS Sports. Of course the Athletic MLB

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Speaker 2: Network radio series Exam. The man is all over the place,

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Speaker 2: and now he is on foul territory. Jim, What are

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Speaker 2: the Mets doing? I tell you what, this has just

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Speaker 2: been such a wild wild ride. What say you, my friends?

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Speaker 3: Well, I think they're really happy that Arizona traded away

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Speaker 3: Merrill Kelly and Josh Naylor and you Henneo Sprez at

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Speaker 3: the trade deadline, because that's the only reason today they

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Speaker 3: stand in third place for that last wild card spot.

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Speaker 4: Look, it's going to be a fund race to the end.

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Speaker 3: I mean, who would have thought the New York Mets

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Speaker 3: would be standing here with Senga being optioned out, Manaia

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Speaker 3: going to the bullpen, three rookies in the rotation. The

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Speaker 3: ace of the staff is Nolan McClain, who will pitch

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Speaker 3: Game one if they get in. I mean, I love

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Speaker 3: this Mama drama. It's great.

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Speaker 4: And by the way, Arizona.

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Speaker 3: Even with losing those three guys, they're not gonna go away.

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Speaker 3: This team has plays with a lot of energy, a

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Speaker 3: lot of enthusiasm. They're playing loose and free. They've got

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Speaker 3: nothing to lose, and it's fun to watch. So I'm

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Speaker 3: glad at least in the National League we have one

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Speaker 3: final race that we can kind of encapture over the

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Speaker 3: next couple of weeks.

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Speaker 5: I don't know if you agree with me, but I

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Speaker 5: would cringe when guys would say, it can't get much

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Speaker 5: worse like we're doing it. Can it get worse? For

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Speaker 5: the Mets. I know they've won recently, but I feel

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Speaker 5: like they're getting a lot out of guys they had

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Speaker 5: no expectation of getting out of and the guys that

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Speaker 5: they're expecting haven't played well.

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Speaker 3: Well, except of course One Soda has played extremely well,

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Speaker 3: as you know here over the.

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Speaker 4: Last couple of months. But to your point, you're absolutely right.

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Speaker 3: I mean to sit there and do what they're doing

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Speaker 3: with the rotation the way it is has been interesting

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Speaker 3: for sure, and the offenses, as you mentioned, been really inconsistent.

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Speaker 3: You haven't gotten a lot from Nimo or McNeil in

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Speaker 3: the bottom of that lineup. But I think at the

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Speaker 3: end of the day, as we head down to crunch time,

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Speaker 3: I think Lydnore, who hit that home run after his

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Speaker 3: wife at a tremendous job on the national anthem. I

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Speaker 3: think lilydn No will get hot. He's been really cold

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Speaker 3: for a month.

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Speaker 4: That's not going to stay.

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Speaker 3: So lid Nore and Soto and Alonzo, even Viento's and

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Speaker 3: the biggest moments here down the end, I think they'll

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Speaker 3: get enough runs. I think it all comes down to

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Speaker 3: their starting pitching and can the rookie pitchers do the job.

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Speaker 3: I mean, McLean and Sprott have been their two best starters,

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Speaker 3: believe it or not. Can Clay Holmes get that sinker

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Speaker 3: working again to get the ground ball outs. Can David

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Speaker 3: Peterson pitch like he did in the first half. That's

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Speaker 3: going to be the key hit the Mets get to October.

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Speaker 5: All right, Since we're talking about the races right now,

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Speaker 5: what is the most dominant trait if you had to

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Speaker 5: pick one, what is the most dominant trait of a

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Speaker 5: winning a team that wins in the postseason? Is an

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Speaker 5: offense for hitting home run or not striking out? Is

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Speaker 5: it starting pitching? Is it bullpen is it strikeouts for pitchers.

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Speaker 3: I'll go with bullpen and defense at the end of

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Speaker 3: the day. But I mean each team could win in

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Speaker 3: a different way, right, I mean, you look at the Dodgers,

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Speaker 3: they finally got their starting pitching healthy. If they're matched

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Speaker 3: up against the Padres, you know they get a lead

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Speaker 3: early on, and then what are the Dodgers going to

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Speaker 3: do with their rotation? Are they going to put two

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Speaker 3: of those guys in the back end of the bullpen

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Speaker 3: to fix that problem at the end. So I think

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Speaker 3: it's all matchups. I think in theory though, watching October

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Speaker 3: the last couple of years being on the field, I mean,

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Speaker 3: I think bullpen and defense is key. Bullpen depth, especially

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Speaker 3: in those series, I think is the most important.

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Speaker 4: But you need every element you got to pitch.

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Speaker 3: You gotta be able to score runs, you gotta be

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Speaker 3: able to catch the ball, you gotta be able to

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Speaker 3: run the bases. It's everything. I could never narrow it

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Speaker 3: down to one thing. But when all the teams are

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Speaker 3: matched up and we're getting the game seven and most

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Speaker 3: of these series, I look at the bullpen in the defense.

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Speaker 5: Jim, the Mets are going to get in there.

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Speaker 6: I know that it's two games in the loss, it's

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Speaker 6: three games because they have the tiebreaker. The Mets are

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Speaker 6: gonna get in. As nice as of a story as

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Speaker 6: everyone is in full panic mode up there in Queens.

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Speaker 6: The Mets are in. Okay, they're gonna get in. There's

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Speaker 6: ten games left, eleven games left for some teams. They're

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Speaker 6: gonna get in. They're not gonna blow a three game

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Speaker 6: lead with ten or eleven to go. I'm calling it now, Sorry, guys,

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Speaker 6: but now I want to talk about those is the

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Speaker 6: American League, okay, Because the American League, the team seem

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Speaker 6: to be set the Yankees Astros, But now the Astros

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Speaker 6: have jumped the Red Sox in the standings, and that

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Speaker 6: I think is a bigger deal than people give it

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Speaker 6: credit for. Because if I'm the Red Sox, I'd much

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Speaker 6: rather go to New York and play the Yankees than

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Speaker 6: have to travel cross country and possibly play the Mariners.

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Speaker 3: I would agree with that, although I think, and first

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Speaker 3: of all, the Mets have a game and a half

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Speaker 3: lead over Arizona, and I think the Mets are gonna

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Speaker 3: get in two.

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Speaker 4: But I think it'll be a race to the end.

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Speaker 3: And in this league, look, I think it's gonna be

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Speaker 3: Yankees one, Red Sox two, Houston three. I think Alvarez

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Speaker 3: his injury is huge. I'm really worried about the offense.

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Speaker 3: And I was talking to GM Dana Brown the other

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Speaker 3: day because my initial concern was the rotation after Hunter

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Speaker 3: and Brown, but because Javier and Alexander have pitched so well,

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Speaker 3: that kind of issue went away. And as Dana told

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Speaker 3: me on Sunday, he said, no, we just don't score

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Speaker 3: enough runs.

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Speaker 4: That's my concern.

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Speaker 3: That's before Alvarez sprained his ankle, and I don't think

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Speaker 3: we're gonna see him again this year, not even in

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Speaker 3: the postseason. That's a pretty bad high ankle spring. But

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Speaker 3: are they going to score enough fronts Now? It looks

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Speaker 3: like eastak Paradis is going to be back for the

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Speaker 3: Seattle series, so that could be huge. And I don't

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Speaker 3: know if Zach Cole is real. I don't know if

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Speaker 3: they're gonna find holes or not, but he sure has

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Speaker 3: given them a big lift. This is a very right

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Speaker 3: handed hitting lineup that concerns me, you know, down the

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Speaker 3: stretch that could be a problem. Even Paradis is right handed,

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Speaker 3: so Zach Cole, Haesu Sanchez become very important left handed

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Speaker 3: bats in that lineup for Houston. I think Houston's gonna

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Speaker 3: get in, but I think the Red Sox will end

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Speaker 3: up as the second wildcard team. But I agree with

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Speaker 3: you Aj in terms of who I'd rather play up

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Speaker 3: on Boston.

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Speaker 2: Jim, You're talking about the Houston Astros a little bit.

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Speaker 2: And I know, obviously with your Don Alvarez in the

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Speaker 2: ankle issue, estock parades perhaps is being rushed up there,

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Speaker 2: but coming off of a hammy injury and not doing

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Speaker 2: any sort of like rehab appearance. I mean, what type

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Speaker 2: of savior are they looking for in terms of ESOC

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Speaker 2: parades and how I know it seems obvious, But how

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Speaker 2: big of an issue is this your Don Alvarez sing

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Speaker 2: for the Astros moving forward?

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean it's huge. Obviously.

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Speaker 3: If Paradis is down there in the minor leagues taking swings,

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Speaker 3: he looks really good. According to Dana Brown, the general manager,

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Speaker 3: he's going to come up the DH only that they're

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Speaker 3: not expecting to play in the field. That doesn't mean

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Speaker 3: if they make the playoffs, that may be a time

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Speaker 3: that Paradis ends up at second base without two ve

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Speaker 3: going to left field. But as of now, they're thinking

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Speaker 3: is that he can DH and they think his legs

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Speaker 3: are going to be good enough to do it, and

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Speaker 3: they think he can provide the power that they need

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Speaker 3: to extend this lineup a little bit. But again, as

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Speaker 3: you know, the top of the lineup, all four of

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Speaker 3: the hitters are all writing it hitters and the big

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Speaker 3: boys have to get it done. It's updal A, Tuba

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Speaker 3: and Korea and Christian Walker to do the damage. But

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Speaker 3: they will miss Alvarez, there is no doubt about it.

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Speaker 3: There's nothing you can do. So it's next man up.

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Speaker 3: So let's have a story, right I love stories at

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Speaker 3: the end of the year.

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Speaker 4: Let Zach Cole be a story.

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Speaker 3: I mean the first pitch he saw on the big

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Speaker 3: leaguesy homeward to right field. They'd made a nice play

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Speaker 3: against the wall. He's very athletic.

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Speaker 4: I like the swing.

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Speaker 3: I'm not sure if he can keep it up. But

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Speaker 3: I love these late season unexpected stories and it makes

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Speaker 3: the Pennant race is a lot more fun.

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Speaker 7: I think, Krats, I'm gonna still line right from the

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Speaker 7: top here about me undies a cut for every butt.

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Speaker 7: I took a line that I feel like you would

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Speaker 7: enjoy it, but then you stole my thunder with show

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Speaker 7: and tell.

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Speaker 4: What do you have.

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Speaker 5: There besides a huge Baduka dunk. This is my pair

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Speaker 5: of Miundies that I got. I'm not going to show

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Speaker 5: you the other pair right now because I got them on,

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Speaker 5: but it doesn't even feel like you have them on,

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Speaker 5: super soft, flexible and yet holding everything together.

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Speaker 7: I love the twenty different styles, one hundred different colors

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Speaker 7: and prints, and the micro modal fabric is what you're

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Speaker 7: talking about. Breathable, stretchy, unbelievably cozy and right now, as

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Speaker 7: a listener of FT, you can get cozy and spooky

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Speaker 7: for less with deals up to fifty percent off at

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Speaker 7: me undies dot com slash foul and enter promo code foul.

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Speaker 7: That's Meundi's dot com slash foul promo code foul for

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Speaker 7: up to fifty percent off me Undie's comfort.

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Speaker 4: That's made for fall all right.

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Speaker 5: A non story is Otani winning the MVP, so we

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Speaker 5: have to go to the American League. Since you like stories,

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Speaker 5: should the MVP in the American League be a story?

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Speaker 5: Because there's a lot of conversation and everybody's vitual hate

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Speaker 5: on either side comes out. What do you say about it?

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Speaker 3: Though, Yeah, I think I think the conversation's great. I

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Speaker 3: think the discussion is phenomenal. I mean, you're asking my

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Speaker 3: opinion today. I think Garret Judge is the MVP of

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Speaker 3: the league. But what cal Rally has done is ridiculous.

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Speaker 3: I mean, passing Mickey Mannel, Are you kidding me? For

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Speaker 3: switch hitters. He may end up getting to sixty home runs.

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Speaker 3: Who knows, he might get past Roger Merris. This has

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Speaker 3: been phenomenal. And then I think when you look at

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Speaker 3: what he has done behind the plate, calling a game,

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Speaker 3: framing pitches, blocking balls, shutting down the running game. I mean,

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Speaker 3: to be able to do both of these things to

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Speaker 3: the catcher, I mean, arguably, this is, without a doubt,

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Speaker 3: the best season we've ever seen a catcher in the

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Speaker 3: history of Major League Baseball. What we're seeing is phenomenal,

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Speaker 3: and I think what you're going to find is a

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Speaker 3: lot of the writers are going to look past the metrics,

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Speaker 3: look past the algorithms, and they're going to say, hey,

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Speaker 3: you did all that offensively, and you caught and you

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Speaker 3: at sixty home runs. I think Rally's got a really

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Speaker 3: good chance of getting the votes because it's votes right,

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Speaker 3: the writers vote for this, so it's not going to

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Speaker 3: be formula. So I think he's got a legitimate chance.

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Speaker 3: If I were to give it today, i'd give it

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Speaker 3: the judge just because the numbers he's putting up are

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Speaker 3: just ridiculous.

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Speaker 5: They are. But cal Rawley's the MVP. Sorry, Jim, I know, no,

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Speaker 5: I know, I look it.

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Speaker 3: I don't think there's a catcher that ever caught in

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Speaker 3: the history of life that isn't thinking. Rally's the MVP,

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Speaker 3: and I get it makes sense, I get it, all right.

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Speaker 6: Okay, that's fine. We all have our opinions. Some people

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Speaker 6: are wrong, some people are right. We'll find out again

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Speaker 6: when the writers vote. I'm gonna have to slip some

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Speaker 6: of these guys a nickel when I see him, just

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Speaker 6: to try to help me out here. Okay, we all know.

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Speaker 6: But all right, So I wanted to talk about this

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Speaker 6: the Twins. I played for the Twins a long time ago.

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Speaker 6: I was drafted by the Twins. Side of the Twins,

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Speaker 6: they've gotten rid of all their scouts. How can they

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Speaker 6: do drafts and proke scouting and all this stuff if

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Speaker 6: you don't have any scouts out there actually watching players.

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Speaker 6: I know the video is good now, and you can

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Speaker 6: put metrics on everything and this and that, but don't you,

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Speaker 6: at the end of the day want to see a

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Speaker 6: guy how they perform under pressure, how how their mom

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Speaker 6: and dad are, how you know their girlfriend breaks up

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Speaker 6: of them? Can they still play things like that that

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Speaker 6: a videotape can't measure.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, they did not give up all of their scouts.

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Speaker 3: They did not touch their amateur scouting department. All the

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Speaker 3: amateur scouts are still employed. What they did was, like

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Speaker 3: a lot of teams, they decided to eliminate their pro scouts,

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Speaker 3: which consisted of four people. And the four people didn't

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Speaker 3: go to games. They weren't at the ballpark meeting players,

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Speaker 3: talking to players, talking to families. They weren't doing any

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Speaker 3: makeup or character or heart. They were just sitting at

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Speaker 3: home watching games on TV and giving opinions. And you

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Speaker 3: know that you don't need that anymore. Right, there's enough

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Speaker 3: good minds that are watching every single game. The analytic

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Speaker 3: departments are breaking all that down. The video guys all

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Speaker 3: have that taking care of. You don't need four people

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Speaker 3: to tell you something you already know. What is the

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Speaker 3: most important is exactly what you said. AJ These aren't robots.

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Speaker 3: These are human beings. And you win with people. You

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Speaker 3: win with who do you want to play with? Game

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Speaker 3: on the line, Who's that guy you want? That's character,

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Speaker 3: that's intestinal fortitude, And the only way you get that

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Speaker 3: is to know the people. And so we are never

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Speaker 3: going to lose the value of scouts, and the value

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Speaker 3: of scouts. You know, it's not as important to measure,

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Speaker 3: you know, the five tools of a player anymore. We

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Speaker 3: can measure all of that. We don't need to dissect

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Speaker 3: the swing in person. We can do that on video now.

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Speaker 3: But the human element is how you decide, right. I mean,

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Speaker 3: if you want to look at Kyle Schwarber as an example,

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Speaker 3: it's not just the fifty to sixty homers he hits.

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Speaker 3: It's his makeup, his character, his leadership, the kind of

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Speaker 3: teammate he is, how he makes everyone around him better.

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Speaker 3: There's no one that's going to catch all that on video.

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Speaker 4: You have to be there.

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Speaker 3: You have to hear him, see him, talk to his teammates,

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Speaker 3: talk to his manager, talk to everybody that's around him

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Speaker 3: to get that. So to your point, just to be clear,

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Speaker 3: the Twins did fire four professional scouts, but they did

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Speaker 3: not fire the amateur scouts, But you are.

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Speaker 5: A gm at at middle and small markets. Isn't that

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Speaker 5: the case where those teams should be having more people

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Speaker 5: so they can get more value around the edges in

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Speaker 5: those cases where they're able to talk to people and

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Speaker 5: have people boots on the ground at a pro game

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Speaker 5: to see how somebody's moving in the field to be

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Speaker 5: able to get that little extra advantage.

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Speaker 3: Absolutely, the amateur scouts are doing that. The amateur scouts

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Speaker 3: aren't just doing the June Draft. They're also scouting the

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Speaker 3: Midwest League, the Carolina League, the Florida State League.

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Speaker 4: They have boots on the ground.

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Speaker 3: They're not just doing this from an office and watching

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Speaker 3: video those games. They are there. The four guys that

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Speaker 3: were fired, which they called the pro Scouting Department literally

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Speaker 3: was just watching major league games on video and nowadays

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Speaker 3: you just don't need that.

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Speaker 2: Jim, let me ask you this about the American League

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Speaker 2: East and particularly the Toronto Blue Jays. Are the Blue

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Speaker 2: Jays for real? If they are, how far can they go?

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Speaker 2: And in your opinion, why won't Schneider win Manager of

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Speaker 2: the Year.

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Speaker 3: Okay, so, yes, Toronto can go all the way. You

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Speaker 3: look at their starting pitching and you look at how

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Speaker 3: they're pitching now. Kevin Gosman's last five starts, it's a

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Speaker 3: one adra, Shane Bieber's last five starts three seven ERA,

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Speaker 3: Bass's last five starts two three ERA. And they bring

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Speaker 3: up Trey Savage, who looks nasty, nasty, nasty. I didn't

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Speaker 3: even mentioned that.

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Speaker 4: Suers Jose Barrios.

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Speaker 3: George Springer is going. Is the player we covered when

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Speaker 3: he won World championships with Houston. Laddie Daddy is playing

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Speaker 3: like he's completely worth the five hundred million they gave him.

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Speaker 3: And look, this team is one of the elite defensive

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Speaker 3: teams in baseball. They have the best defensive outfield in

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Speaker 3: the sport. They have plus defenders all over the field.

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Speaker 3: I think Bobaschet, the shortstop, was the only below average

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Speaker 3: defender on the field.

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Speaker 4: That's huge.

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Speaker 3: Hoffmann, relatively speaking, has done the job as the closer

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Speaker 3: for them, so they mix and match well. They do

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Speaker 3: a good job of platooning their players with left rights.

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Speaker 3: So yeah, they I think they're missing Baschet's bat, right,

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Speaker 3: I mean, he's one of their best hitters. But there's

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Speaker 3: a good chance that he is back for the postseason,

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Speaker 3: So you know, I look at the American League, I

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Speaker 3: don't think there's a great team, and in fact, I

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Speaker 3: would take probably four National League teams over all the

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Speaker 3: teams in the American League. But when I look at

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Speaker 3: Toronto Yankees, Red Sox, Mariners, Astros, Tigers, I don't look

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Speaker 3: at any of them and say, oh, this is the

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Speaker 3: best team. They're going to the World Series. So my

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Speaker 3: answer to that is yes. My second answer on Schneider is,

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Speaker 3: you know, I wrote an article predicting awards in The

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Speaker 3: Athletic and I had Schneider finishing second, So I had

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Speaker 3: great respect for what he's done. I'm all the managers.

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Speaker 3: I had him second out of fifteen this year, I

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Speaker 3: had aj Hinch winning Manager of the Year. And the

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Speaker 3: reason I had him slightly over Schneider, and I means slightly,

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Speaker 3: is I just think the job he has done with

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Speaker 3: a bullpen has been ridiculous. He's just so good at matchups.

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Speaker 3: He's the best, one of the best in the game

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Speaker 3: at doing that. And then to watch the platooning that

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Speaker 3: he did with that Tiger team, the way he uses

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Speaker 3: guys like Kerry Carpenter, I mean, he just has a

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Speaker 3: great feel for that, even pinch hitting I mean, no

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Speaker 3: one's had more success pinch hitting this year than the

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Speaker 3: Detroit Tigers. AJ just has that great sense. I don't

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Speaker 3: think AJ has as good a team as Schnyder has

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Speaker 3: with Toronto, but I think I think he's been more

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Speaker 3: important to the Tigers than Schneider has been to Toronto

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Speaker 3: by a little bit. Again, I had Schneider's second, so

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Speaker 3: I respect what he's done, and he's done a great job.

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Speaker 5: What's the process of trying to figure out if you're

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Speaker 5: the GM of the Blue Jays, if Trey you Savage

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Speaker 5: is going to be on your playoff roster because he

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Speaker 5: didn't just come up to the big leagues and go, oh,

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Speaker 5: I'm thrown from this ridiculous arm angle downhill plane splitter.

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Speaker 5: He looked nasty in his minor league starts, So how

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Speaker 5: do you make that? Do you make that decision saying, Okay,

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Speaker 5: he's probably not fitting in into our rotation because our

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Speaker 5: rotation is already pretty nasty, But how can he not

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Speaker 5: get us outs in the playoffs?

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Speaker 4: Yeah?

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Speaker 3: He pitches Game four for me. I didn't see the

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Speaker 3: delivery with that kind of angle. Since Diego Sagie with

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Speaker 3: the Red Sox way back in the day. Look gosmind

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Speaker 3: Bieber Bassett and you Savage is what I want. I

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Speaker 3: want to see if Mighty Max will go to the

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Speaker 3: back end of the bullpen with me. I'll let Barrios

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Speaker 3: kind of be a guy that can go long if

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Speaker 3: one of the starters start to falter, because we know

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Speaker 3: Schneider's gonna have a quick hook because he always does.

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Speaker 3: But you, Savage, from what I saw, it's like McClain

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Speaker 3: of the Mets.

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Speaker 4: Why not.

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Speaker 3: I don't care that they haven't been to the Big

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Speaker 3: League is a long time. I just want outs. Who's

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Speaker 3: gonna give me the best chance to get outs? And

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Speaker 3: you Savage to me, he's one of the top four

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Speaker 3: guys for Toronto. Love what I've seen. So if I

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Speaker 3: were a GM and I was talking to John Schneider,

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Speaker 3: that would be my thoughts in my recommendation.

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Speaker 1: Jimal, I want to know is where to you get that?

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Speaker 5: At?

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Speaker 1: Which LV outlet? Did you get that snazzy jacket? And

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Speaker 1: can I borrow it?

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Speaker 3: You definitely can borrow it without a doubt.

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Speaker 4: It'll be way too big for you, but yes, you

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Speaker 4: can borrow any time you want.

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Speaker 3: And present from my wife at the holidays last year very.

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Speaker 1: Nice, Louis Vaton. I'm digging it.

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Speaker 2: Jim Bowden, we appreciate you very much as always, Front

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Speaker 2: Office Unfiltered. Much more to come on Foul Territory guys.

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Speaker 2: Jim Bowden just talked about it for a hot second there.

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Speaker 2: It doesn't look like Boba Shitt will be back for

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Speaker 2: the regular season. We knew that, but he could very

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Speaker 2: much be back for the postseason. This from Mitch Bannon.

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Speaker 2: His second opinion didn't show anything new confirm the spring

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Speaker 2: to PCL Blue Jays hope he can start ramping up

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Speaker 2: later this week to be back as soon as possible.

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Speaker 2: AJ what void does this create?

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Speaker 6: A big void? Offensively? It's a big offensive void. I

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Speaker 6: think defensively with the min as they can cover it.

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Speaker 6: But I think I think offensively in the presence he

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Speaker 6: brings hitting in the middle of that lineup, getting on base,

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Speaker 6: getting big hits, and just Oba shit. I mean, he

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Speaker 6: just has a he has a thing about him. So

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Speaker 6: hopefully can get back for the postseason. We'll see, but

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Speaker 6: you better get some the bats before then because he

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Speaker 6: needs to be ready to go once they jump into that.

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Speaker 2: Alds Kratz, is this team this year better prepared to

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Speaker 2: cover this type of void this season versus in seasons past.

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Speaker 5: Do you think, I mean just because they went out

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Speaker 5: and spent a lot of money in a trade on

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Speaker 5: Andre Semenez, I mean they covered Miles Miles Straw's contract

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Speaker 5: from the Guardians, and they're paying andres Semennez a lot

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Speaker 5: of money because he didn't play shortstop at a big

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Speaker 5: league level and he hasn't played for a while, but

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Speaker 5: that's what he came up as. So yes, they can

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Speaker 5: cover