Speaker 1: Hello, Brett, A little different and a little different front
Speaker 1: end for you, the Sweet Life. Normally we would do
Speaker 1: now reporting or something like that for you, but since
Speaker 1: we figured since you wrote an article on Buster Posey
Speaker 1: making a move up to the suite as President of
Speaker 1: Baseball officer of the Giants, we introduced you with the
Speaker 1: Sweet Life, So welcome, Bridgeroli. Apparently from Michigan State University.
Speaker 1: Not go blue. I don't know what they say, but uh, hello, No, hi, guys.
Speaker 2: They say go green, go white.
Speaker 3: Yes, as we say, go blue is probably the worst
Speaker 3: thing you could say to someone from Michigan State.
Speaker 1: No. I don't know what they said, though, but I
Speaker 1: didn't know what they said in Michigan State because it's
Speaker 1: like all you ever hear is about Michigan and go blue.
Speaker 1: So I didn't know what the I would have said,
Speaker 1: go sparty, but I don't think that's right.
Speaker 2: You could say go Sparta. That would be totally fine too,
Speaker 2: but yeah, go blue is enough. Yes, I went to
Speaker 2: my chicken steak.
Speaker 4: Guys.
Speaker 2: I swam at Michigan State, so big, big Michigan State Athletics.
Speaker 1: Person, do you swim with the pool was frozen? How
Speaker 1: do you do you go under.
Speaker 2: We swim out. It's not even a joke. We swim
Speaker 2: outside the outdoor pool until November. There would be snow
Speaker 2: coming down and you would just go as quick as
Speaker 2: you could from the door into the pool because the
Speaker 2: pool was heated, but obviously the air around it was not,
Speaker 2: so we moved inside after that. But November in Michigan
Speaker 2: gets pretty cold, especially in the mornings, so it toughened
Speaker 2: me up for those rough winters in the press box
Speaker 2: in April, guys, for Toronto and April. Every time I
Speaker 2: was on the bea, it's like, oh god, Toronto and April.
Speaker 1: Yeah, inside it really was re tough getting there. Oh
Speaker 1: you had to walk. Sorry, sorry, you had to take
Speaker 1: the car, you had to take the taxi down into
Speaker 1: the loading dog you know inside. So yeah, it's tough, tough, tough,
Speaker 1: tough times for these reporters, KP. You'll learn one day
Speaker 1: as a media member how tough the media always has it.
Speaker 1: They'll always let you know, oh rough travel day to day.
Speaker 1: I got in at noon and got to sleep till two.
Speaker 1: So anyway, let's talk buster posey here. I'm a medium
Speaker 1: a guy, now, Britt, I understand the rulers of rough
Speaker 1: travel life. Okay, let's get into this Buster Posey article
Speaker 1: that you wrote. It's one of the more fascinating things
Speaker 1: for me because as a former catcher, former player, you know,
Speaker 1: people say, do you want to manage? I think being
Speaker 1: in charge of a team would be way cooler, meaning
Speaker 1: getting to make all the decisions. And I always thought
Speaker 1: it was fascinating to see how ex players do we
Speaker 1: have Chris Young, obviously, we have Craig Breslow, we have
Speaker 1: Buster Posey, and Buster's kind of the poster child because
Speaker 1: he was a franchise icon for the Giants. So what
Speaker 1: did you figure out now that? And how complicated is
Speaker 1: this situation with him now?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think two things can be true. Regressed. I
Speaker 2: think it's early in his legacy. It's only the second year,
Speaker 2: and most president of mixedbal operations nowadays get four or
Speaker 2: five years before we really evaluate them. Buster happened to
Speaker 2: sign a three year deal, but because he's part ownership,
Speaker 2: I don't think that really matters. I think he will
Speaker 2: continue to oversee them as long as they think that
Speaker 2: he's the guy. But what's interesting is you mentioned us
Speaker 2: Young and Craig Breslow, Craig Breslow went to the Cubs,
Speaker 2: Chris Young went and spent some time in the commissioner's office.
Speaker 2: And also Chris Young was under John Daniels before they
Speaker 2: fired John Daniels, so in both of those scenarios they
Speaker 2: had a little bit of experience before they got the
Speaker 2: head job. Buster went directly from playing to president, and
Speaker 2: there really wasn't a whole lot of other president for it,
Speaker 2: except for Derek Jeter, who obviously went from playing to
Speaker 2: CEO of the Marlins. Derek Jeter is also an icon,
Speaker 2: won a lot of World Series, but he didn't win
Speaker 2: them for the Marlins. He won them for the Yankees.
Speaker 2: So what Posey is doing is virtually unprecedented. Chris Young
Speaker 2: isn't like it would be like Nolan Ryan taking over
Speaker 2: the Texas Rangers. You would need that stature of a player.
Speaker 2: David Ortiz the sign he's going to be president of
Speaker 2: the Boston Red Sox, right, So there's all these different
Speaker 2: factors here, and I think to some extent Buster has
Speaker 2: been graded harshly because people thought he was going to
Speaker 2: step in and did what he did as a player,
Speaker 2: which is win three World Series in five years and
Speaker 2: be a savior and be an icon, and it's a
Speaker 2: lot harder to build an organization. I think he's learning
Speaker 2: that firsthand than it is for all of us to
Speaker 2: sit here and say, well, Buster's just got to go
Speaker 2: in and sign a few big name players and that's it.
Speaker 2: And there has been a lot of big swings, and
Speaker 2: there's been some hits, and there's been some misses, and
Speaker 2: I just think it's fascinating to look at where he's at.
Speaker 2: It's certainly an inflection point right now for the Giants
Speaker 2: in terms of where do they go from here and
Speaker 2: how do they manage this roster to be a winner
Speaker 2: in a division that, let's face it, is an incredibly
Speaker 2: difficult division because you have the Dodgers.
Speaker 3: Do you believe is he getting criticized more? You talked
Speaker 3: about taking some big swings and misses. You believe he's
Speaker 3: getting more criticized for the hiring of Tony Vitella, or
Speaker 3: acquiring some of those veteran guys, the Rafael Devers, signing
Speaker 3: a Matt Chapman, the Williadomas moves.
Speaker 4: I think the.
Speaker 2: Potello was probably the most criticism. And I think you
Speaker 2: can look at Adamis and Chapman endeavors now and say
Speaker 2: that maybe that wasn't a good idea, But at the
Speaker 2: time people universally praised Buster getting the Chapman deal done
Speaker 2: and kind of overstepping far hans Ad, who was in
Speaker 2: charge of baseball operations at the time. People understood the
Speaker 2: Devers deal for what it was, which was making a
Speaker 2: trade that was probably going to look good on the
Speaker 2: front end, but on the back end of that long
Speaker 2: of a deal wasn't going to look great. But they
Speaker 2: were getting the big name slugger, the big name free
Speaker 2: agent that they couldn't attract right, so they traded for
Speaker 2: him a Dames. They are again going out getting offense.
Speaker 2: Devers and a Damis are still profile ast two of
Speaker 2: their better offensive players, So I think on the surface,
Speaker 2: every one of those moves was defensible. I think Tony
Speaker 2: Battello's getting him as manager the year when there were
Speaker 2: nine managerial openings and for a team that was a
Speaker 2: win now team, when they fired Bob Melvin and said
Speaker 2: the standards were high and they missed the playoffs, I
Speaker 2: think that was probably the most in a vacuum, head
Speaker 2: scratching decision. And also, guys, I think that's probably the
Speaker 2: biggest decision you can make as a president or a
Speaker 2: GM is who is going to be in your dugout,
Speaker 2: Who is going to set the tone, who is going
Speaker 2: to set the cult culture. I think that was probably
Speaker 2: the biggest risk of them all because everyone whips on
Speaker 2: free agency. Everyone makes trades great, but then don't age well.
Speaker 2: But for me, I think the manager position was probably
Speaker 2: the one that was the riskiest for Buster, And certainly
Speaker 2: right now you look at it and and it just
Speaker 2: has not worked out.
Speaker 1: Was this one hundred percent Buster's call on Vitello? Does
Speaker 1: he did the ownership? Did anyone else have any say in?
Speaker 1: This was his? Buster's call? Because he's only been there.
Speaker 1: He has been there less than a year. But you know,
Speaker 1: we're hearing rumblings. People are starting to say will he
Speaker 1: be there next year? He's had some quotes from the
Speaker 1: beginning of the year. He talks a lot. We all
Speaker 1: know that which we love is the media, right, but
Speaker 1: sometimes he says some things and a lot of people
Speaker 1: are like, wait, what is he talking about? So was
Speaker 1: this Busters higher alone for Tony Vitello?
Speaker 2: Well, I think that a couple things. People forget that
Speaker 2: when this search went down. Nick Conley was the guy
Speaker 2: and they had kind of tabbed him, and Nick Conley,
Speaker 2: currently with the Texas Rangers' front office, chose to take
Speaker 2: himself out of the running, and once that happened, it
Speaker 2: became very clear that it was going to be Tony Mattello.
Speaker 2: And I think it was a collaborative group within that
Speaker 2: front office. But one thing I learned from talking to
Speaker 2: dozens of people inside the organization and out is that
Speaker 2: Buster is the final say. Buster is not just the
Speaker 2: face of the organization and a figurehead. He makes the decisions.
Speaker 2: He is decisive. That is one thing that people consistently said.
Speaker 2: So at the end of the day, this was Buster
Speaker 2: who made this call. And I think on the surface,
Speaker 2: the way they defended it and why he thought Tony
Speaker 2: was the guy and still could be the guy could
Speaker 2: grow into this role certainly was the culture. And he
Speaker 2: thought that what he did in Tennessee, in creating a culture,
Speaker 2: in recruiting guys, in what he was able to build there,
Speaker 2: was what he wanted to build with the giants. I
Speaker 2: think there have been some very public growing pains when
Speaker 2: it comes to bullpen management, when it comes to leading
Speaker 2: guys who aren't seventeen to twenty two years old and
Speaker 2: you're talking about guys who are in their thirties making
Speaker 2: thirty million dollars a year. I think that has been
Speaker 2: a little bit different, but that is what Buster was
Speaker 2: trying to do, is create this culture and going with
Speaker 2: a new manager I think he thought would bring some energy.
Speaker 2: I do think Bettello is getting better. I do think
Speaker 2: he's growing into this role. But I think what people
Speaker 2: around baseball questioned at the time, and it is a
Speaker 2: fair criticism, is whether that was the right move for
Speaker 2: a Giants team that was built to win. Now that
Speaker 2: fired Bob Melvin because they missed the playoffs in back
Speaker 2: to back years, and because Buster said our bar's up here,
Speaker 2: we have a very high bar. I think it's then
Speaker 2: hard to rectify that with what has transpired this year.
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Speaker 4: All right.
Speaker 3: Dating back to the rumors of Aaron Judge signing in
Speaker 3: Sansco not signing in San Francisco, Sama Tisco is a tough.
Speaker 4: Place to hit offensively.
Speaker 3: It's also the city has gone a little bit downhill.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna say that nicely.
Speaker 3: Does Buster Posey and his front office have a plan
Speaker 3: of a better way of attracting free agents?
Speaker 2: That's that great question. I don't know if they have
Speaker 2: a specific plan in place other than winning, right. I
Speaker 2: think the only thing, the only way you get guys
Speaker 2: to come there is if you're going to win and
Speaker 2: if you're going to make them better. And that's I
Speaker 2: think what you sell people on, whether it's a pitcher
Speaker 2: or a hitter, you sell them on the organization's success,
Speaker 2: and you sell them on Listen, we think you should
Speaker 2: tweak this or do this with your delivery or your
Speaker 2: batting stance, and we think that this will happen. These
Speaker 2: are the numbers we have projected for you. So I
Speaker 2: think a lot of the proof of that stuff is
Speaker 2: in the put in. I also think for the Giants,
Speaker 2: and Buster said this numerous times, that they have to
Speaker 2: build from within, that their farm system has to be
Speaker 2: a big source of how they get better, how they
Speaker 2: get younger, and we're starting to see that. Baseball America
Speaker 2: yesterday said they were the fourth best farm system. That's
Speaker 2: up from about the middle of the pack. To start
Speaker 2: the season, we saw the trade deadline them trade not
Speaker 2: only free agents but also players under club control. We
Speaker 2: saw them kind of emphasize getting younger collecting prospects. Now,
Speaker 2: the issue is going to be that Chapman, Devers, Adamees
Speaker 2: are only getting older and they're expensive, so they're going
Speaker 2: to have to, in my mind, spend next year maybe
Speaker 2: papering over problems with free agents, but then looking to
Speaker 2: the future, looking at busters fourth, fifth, sixth year. If
Speaker 2: he stays in that position, I think that's when you're
Speaker 2: going to see those young guys that are in low
Speaker 2: A ball, those young prospects that are highly touted come up,
Speaker 2: and that might be a time for the organization to say, Okay,
Speaker 2: we're selling off these big contracts. Our young guys are
Speaker 2: here and there in the way, But I think the
Speaker 2: next year or two might be like a little bit
Speaker 2: of ugly transitions as they move forward. They certainly have
Speaker 2: the money and could spend the money to compete next year.
Speaker 2: And his Buster reminded me several times the years they
Speaker 2: didn't win the World Series, they didn't make the playoffs,
Speaker 2: So a lot can change from one year to the next,
Speaker 2: especially when you have the resources of a San Francisco
Speaker 2: Giants team. I do think they're going to go out
Speaker 2: and have to fix the pitching that's really been what's
Speaker 2: doomed them is that relief pitching. But I think as
Speaker 2: you look at the health of this organization moving forward,
Speaker 2: it's all going to stem from what they've done in
Speaker 2: the minor leagues and whether or not Buster gets a
Speaker 2: chance to see that through. I'm not sure they cannot
Speaker 2: afford another season like they had this year. But I
Speaker 2: think as they turn this corner, they have to look
Speaker 2: at it as getting back to pitching defense and just
Speaker 2: getting a lot.
Speaker 1: Younger bright as somebody that knows that the Giants fans
Speaker 1: can be a little bit not nice to people at times.
Speaker 1: Do they have the patients? Do they have the patience
Speaker 1: for that? The Giants fans have the patience to wait
Speaker 1: three four more years?
Speaker 4: Right?
Speaker 1: Because this is every week we have GMS. We have
Speaker 1: Jim Bowden on, we have Jim Duqutt, we have Dan Dukett,
Speaker 1: all these guys who've been GMS, and it's always the
Speaker 1: new wave of GMS is, oh, give me five years
Speaker 1: and then or give me three years to clean it
Speaker 1: out and then give me five years, so then I
Speaker 1: really get eight years to get my players in. Well,
Speaker 1: the Giants are a win now franchise, especially when they
Speaker 1: look up and they see, oh, the Dodgers are winning
Speaker 1: every year, Dodgers, Dodgers, Dodgers being thrown down their throat.
Speaker 1: Do they have the patience to wait two or three,
Speaker 1: four more years.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't know. I think that's a great question.
Speaker 2: I think that's the reason they haven't embraced rebuild to
Speaker 2: begin with. I think had they really been honest with themselves,
Speaker 2: they would have maybe let far Han after they had
Speaker 2: that terrific year and then they kind of struggled, they
Speaker 2: would have maybe let far Han just kind of sell
Speaker 2: off some pieces and rebuild and start back over. I
Speaker 2: think Buster looked at this team, and you know, as
Speaker 2: early as last year when they started off really well,
Speaker 2: and said, we are a win now team. We're going
Speaker 2: to push our chips in. I think this fan base
Speaker 2: hasn't seen a rebuild, and I think at this point
Speaker 2: in time, they're not really set up because of the
Speaker 2: core that they owe so much money to in the infield,
Speaker 2: to be a rebuilding team. So I think realistically they
Speaker 2: have to continue to go for it while also being
Speaker 2: really good and really judicious with their prospects down below,
Speaker 2: and that's a tough thing to juggle. We've seen an
Speaker 2: executive struggle to do that. We saw Hein Bloom with
Speaker 2: Boston really struggled to keep the Red Sox really as
Speaker 2: a competitive team on the field. And then also improve
Speaker 2: them in the minor league system. It's a tough juggling act.
Speaker 2: The Tampa Bay Rays are really good at that. Obviously,
Speaker 2: they've won a nine in a row. They're also ranked
Speaker 2: the number one system. Eric Neander's one of the best
Speaker 2: executives in the game. We're asking Buster Posey, who had
Speaker 2: no front office experience before taking this role, to do
Speaker 2: what is probably the most difficult thing in baseball, which
Speaker 2: is to win now but also set the organization up
Speaker 2: for the future. And so I think that is also
Speaker 2: what's making this whole situation difficult.
Speaker 4: Right.
Speaker 2: Most of the time, when you come in and you're
Speaker 2: a president, you're inheriting like Peter Bendex and or Paul Taboni,
Speaker 2: and you have the five years because you got to
Speaker 2: burn it to the studs. We are grading Buster a
Speaker 2: little bit on a curve because we feel like the
Speaker 2: Giants should be good now because they're constantly built to
Speaker 2: win now. And now we're being told, well, we care
Speaker 2: about the minor league system. So it's a really interesting
Speaker 2: point that they're at right now. I don't know if
Speaker 2: the fan base would be okay with saying, hey, we're
Speaker 2: gonna be bad for three years. But I don't think
Speaker 2: the Giants have to do that. I think they have
Speaker 2: the money to compete for a wildcard team next year
Speaker 2: and to also be good down below. And it's worth
Speaker 2: pointing out, guys that as bad as the Giants have
Speaker 2: been this year, like they've never been over five hundred
Speaker 2: all year, they are still six best in base in
Speaker 2: home attendance, They're drawing over thirty six thousand fans a night.
Speaker 2: There is no Oakland A's anymore. They are the only
Speaker 2: team in the Bay Area, and so I think that
Speaker 2: also affords them the ability to maybe go out and
Speaker 2: take more risks, because if you want to see a
Speaker 2: baseball game, you're going to see the Giants. There is
Speaker 2: no other alternative.
Speaker 1: You're not going to Sacramento.
Speaker 2: No, I don't think you're on a Sacramento to see that.
Speaker 2: So you know they have a monopoly on that market.
Speaker 2: They're also one of the three teams that own the stadium.
Speaker 2: They have a lot of money. They were ranked top
Speaker 2: five and the latest Forbes valuations like their ey team
Speaker 2: that I think, and I think we do this with
Speaker 2: David Stearns too, is like if you're inheriting Peter Mendix
Speaker 2: and the Marlins. We're going to grade you on a
Speaker 2: different scale than if you inherit a team that has
Speaker 2: the resources to compete. Right, No one wants to sit
Speaker 2: through a five year plan of David Stearns like you're
Speaker 2: in charge of the Mets. It's the same thing with
Speaker 2: Buster Posey with the Giants. Yes, this is a hard
Speaker 2: thing to turn around. Yes it's only second year, but
Speaker 2: fans see the Giants as this story for franchise, as
Speaker 2: a group that has a big payroll, it's not afraid
Speaker 2: to spend, and they want them turned around, and they
Speaker 2: want them turned around quickly.
Speaker 3: You kind of answered my question. But are we having
Speaker 3: this conversation because it is Buster Posey? Are we having
Speaker 3: this conversation because he has no presidential experience? Are we
Speaker 3: having this conversation if the Giants would have gone out
Speaker 3: and got someone from a different organization that maybe sat
Speaker 3: underneath the president.
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 2: I think, well we're having this conversation because I was
Speaker 2: interested and wrote a story about this. But I think
Speaker 2: that if you look at it, it's a couple of
Speaker 2: different things. If it wasn't Buster Posey in charge and
Speaker 2: it was a far hanziety type but it wasn't still
Speaker 2: far Han, who had been there for I think seven years.
Speaker 2: If they had hired somebody else knew, we'd say, this
Speaker 2: is only their second year, let's give them some time.
Speaker 2: Because it's Buster and he was an icon. I think
Speaker 2: people thought he was going to save the franchise. I
Speaker 2: don't think people realized that they weren't really in this
Speaker 2: grade of a spot to begin with, So that, I
Speaker 2: think is one piece of this. I think another piece
Speaker 2: of this is that the Giants are a group of
Speaker 2: fans who win, who are used to winning, who won
Speaker 2: three World Series in five years, outside of like the
Speaker 2: Dodgers right now, I mean they were an absolute die
Speaker 2: and the Houston Astros, like, we're looking at a dynasty.
Speaker 2: So the people that grew up with that expect that.
Speaker 2: And the Giants right now are headed toward their fifth
Speaker 2: non winning season. That's the most they've had in their history.
Speaker 2: They've never had five non winning seasons in a row.
Speaker 2: So that's another fact. Is like the Natives are getting
Speaker 2: restless and they would like to see the Giants return
Speaker 2: to glory. So I think that there's a lot of
Speaker 2: different factors at play. And yes, Buster doesn't have the
Speaker 2: experience and so this is also a big risk, even
Speaker 2: though it's an icon like Buster Posey. So there's a
Speaker 2: lot of different things that I think make the situation
Speaker 2: so unique and so fascinating as we look at the
Speaker 2: beginning of this Buster Posy era.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's it's amazing. You don't see it happen very often.
Speaker 1: This is why it's so fascinating to me that someone
Speaker 1: on this level goes into the front office. Nolan and
Speaker 1: Ryan did do it. He was the president of the
Speaker 1: Raging Jersey. He was president of the Astros, but he
Speaker 1: wasn't the day to day baseball guy. I don't think
Speaker 1: that Buster Posey is right. I think Nolan probably had
Speaker 1: a say in it, but he had John Daniels when
Speaker 1: I was in Texas, right, and he had other people
Speaker 1: in Houston that would make the day to day decisions,
Speaker 1: and he was just kind of I'm in charge, and
Speaker 1: I got the sponsors to come in. So you don't
Speaker 1: see this happen. I can only look back and see
Speaker 1: I think of Ozzie Gean, right, because I played for
Speaker 1: Ozzy and he just had his number retire. A player
Speaker 1: that was not he wasn't a good of a player
Speaker 1: as Buster Posey, Right, but then he comes back to
Speaker 1: manage we win a World Series and then he gets everything.
Speaker 1: But he also got fired. Well, no, he didn't quit,
Speaker 1: but he didn't get fired. I don't know he left. Okay,
Speaker 1: he didn't leave on great terms. Let's just say that. Right,
Speaker 1: So it ends. And that's the thing that I think
Speaker 1: is so fascinating is will Giants fans still love Buster
Speaker 1: Posey if this doesn't work the way they did before?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think they will. I think they should. You're
Speaker 2: right with Nolan Ryan, Like that was back in the
Speaker 2: day when a president was like the real president of business. Right,
Speaker 2: We've now seen this evolve into president of baseball operations. Right,
Speaker 2: that has now become a thing over the last decade
Speaker 2: or so that you know that person is in charge
Speaker 2: of baseball operations. Same thing with Jeter. Jeter was CEO,
Speaker 2: but then he hired Kim Ing, so it was a
Speaker 2: little bit of a different situation. I think Giants fans
Speaker 2: will still and should still appreciate and love Buster Posey
Speaker 2: for a couple of reasons. Like one, as I wrote
Speaker 2: my story, he didn't have to do this, Like he
Speaker 2: could have gone fished, grown a beard showed up, the
Speaker 2: World Series reunions, and like his legacy would have been intact.
Speaker 2: He wanted to do this because he wants the Giants
Speaker 2: to win so badly, and he feels like he could
Speaker 2: do a better job than far On and than anyone else,
Speaker 2: and that he can be the guy to restore them
Speaker 2: back to their glory. And there's a certain amount of
Speaker 2: respect for that, Like he is putting it on the line,
Speaker 2: he's putting his name out there. He could have stayed
Speaker 2: in ownership right and just been this like silent guy
Speaker 2: behind the strings, behind the scenes, pulling strings, but he
Speaker 2: wanted to be the guy. And with that comes the negative,
Speaker 2: and with that comes to the risk. And I think
Speaker 2: people should appreciate that a franchise icon cares enough to
Speaker 2: want to put skin in the game, and that's what
Speaker 2: Buster is doing. He's probably gonna go to Cooper Sound,
Speaker 2: maybe as early as next year when he's on the ballot,
Speaker 2: and that is such a unique thing. I don't think
Speaker 2: it takes away from what he did as a player,
Speaker 2: but I think the bar is up here in terms
Speaker 2: of adding to his legacy, right, Like, if he doesn't
Speaker 2: win as an executive, if he doesn't win a World
Speaker 2: series as an executive that will be seen as a
Speaker 2: failure because of what he was as a player. He
Speaker 2: was such a winner as a player, and because the
Speaker 2: Giants are, as he said, a organization of high standards.
Speaker 2: So I don't think this should tarnish his legacy. I
Speaker 2: don't think this should take away from anything he did
Speaker 2: as a player. But I do think this is fascinating
Speaker 2: because it is such a risk. He doesn't need the money,
Speaker 2: he doesn't need the spotlight. He's doing this for the
Speaker 2: right reasons. Will it have the right outcome? We don't know.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, Britt, you're comparing him to Derek Jeter. That
Speaker 1: didn't go so well for him as few years in Miami.
Speaker 1: So let's hope that it goes better for Buster than
Speaker 1: it does for what Derek Jeter did. If you haven't
Speaker 1: seen what David Sampson said about Derek Jeter at wow,
Speaker 1: that's that was not nice. I'll just say I'll I'll
Speaker 1: just leave it at that that David Sampson took some
Speaker 1: some real shots at the captain. So, Frett, thank you
Speaker 1: so much. It's always a pleasure to see you in
Speaker 1: your Michigan Blue. We really appreciate it. If you want
Speaker 1: to read the full article. Oh wait, sorry, Sparty, go
Speaker 1: click on that full article in The Athletic from brid Giolie.
Speaker 1: She's the best. Thank you Britt for coming on and
Speaker 1: discussing this just completely fascinating article.
Speaker 2: Thanks guys, thanks for having me.
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Speaker 7: Welcome everyone to the Thursday edition of Fair Territory. I'm
Speaker 7: Ken Rosenthal here with my friend and colleague Alana Rizzo. Alana,
Speaker 7: Our friend and colleague Joel Sherman wrote a column I
Speaker 7: don't know about two weeks ago in which he was
Speaker 7: talking about the Red Sox and he was saying, man,
Speaker 7: it's a long season and we all forget it always,
Speaker 7: and the Red Sox for one example.
Speaker 4: The Blue Jays will talk about them there another. But
Speaker 4: the one we want.
Speaker 7: To start the show with is the San Diego Padres
Speaker 7: from the what y Yeah?
Speaker 8: The latest in terms of this right coming back from
Speaker 8: the dead.
Speaker 9: Tell me more?
Speaker 4: Well, they won.
Speaker 7: Fifteen of nineteen and if you remember mid June, mid June,
Speaker 7: not that long ago, six weeks ago, they were last
Speaker 7: in the National League and runs per game.
Speaker 4: Short time after that, the rotation was in tatters.
Speaker 7: Michael King, a guy who is really their mooth, solid starter,
Speaker 7: was kind of holding up the rotation. A number of
Speaker 7: their others were injured other starting pitchers or ineffective. Now
Speaker 7: they've traded for Robbie Ray, traded for Casey Miies, Joe
Speaker 7: Musgrove is on his way back, and suddenly they are
Speaker 7: hitting again.
Speaker 4: Actually not so suddenly.
Speaker 7: This has been building, and this run that they're on
Speaker 7: it started against Miami, Colorado and San Francisco, three teams
Speaker 7: that are not or at least at that time were
Speaker 7: struggling or not really in a place where you would
Speaker 7: say they're contending.
Speaker 4: But then even when.
Speaker 7: You thought, okay, the Padres are kind of doing it
Speaker 7: against weaker teams, their schedule got tougher and they started
Speaker 7: playing tougher teams. Split a series with Arizona two of
Speaker 7: three from Houston, and now they just have swept Milwaukee
Speaker 7: and here they are Tatis. Remember he had no homers.
Speaker 7: He's up to twelve homers. OPS is up to seven
Speaker 7: seventy three. Merrill Jackson Merrill since July nineteen has been
Speaker 7: on fire. Three seventy six batting average, nine home runs,
Speaker 7: eleven hundred OPS, and Manny but Chado, while he's not
Speaker 7: really hitting seven to ten OPS, two hundred batting average
Speaker 7: in August, still has twenty three homers so they look
Speaker 7: like the Padres again, even with all their injuries, and
Speaker 7: to me, it's impressive what they've done. And it's just
Speaker 7: another example, Alana of a long season. So here we go,
Speaker 7: the San Diego Padres. They're back in the playoff mix.
Speaker 7: They're holding the second spot in the wildcard race right now.
Speaker 4: Good for them.
Speaker 8: It's insane to think that Ken, we had written them off.
Speaker 8: Some people would have even used as sharpie and said
Speaker 8: that the San Diego Padres were done, but it is
Speaker 8: not to be. Let's talk about another team, or really
Speaker 8: another division that's interesting, and that is the AL East.
Speaker 8: Three of the best teams in the league all coming
Speaker 8: from that division, and Ken, it doesn't seem like the
Speaker 8: Rays have any thought of stopping anytime soon.
Speaker 7: No, and they're coming off a nine to zero road trip,
Speaker 7: admittedly again against weaker or struggling teams it's Colorado, Seattle
Speaker 7: and the A's, but hey, you have to win the
Speaker 7: games in front of you, and we just saw Arizona
Speaker 7: lose two or three at home to Colorado, so it's
Speaker 7: not as easy as you think.
Speaker 4: And the Rays, they have done this all season long.
Speaker 7: We've talked about this and what's interesting to me is
Speaker 7: the effect that Liam Hicks seems to be having in
Speaker 7: a very short time since arriving from the Tampa I'm
Speaker 7: the Miami Marlins. Remember the Rays were talking about adding
Speaker 7: another hitter really could do it at any position.
Speaker 4: They wanted a compliment, a fourth compliment to.
Speaker 7: Their big three of Junior Caminero, Yondi Diaz and Jonathan Ronda.
Speaker 4: Hicks looks like he can be that guy. Now.
Speaker 7: I know it's a small sample, but he's eight for
Speaker 7: twenty six since the trade. He is a guy with
Speaker 7: two home runs, three doubles during that time ops about
Speaker 7: eleven hundred and yes, you'll say small sample, can well
Speaker 7: guess what a trade acquisition is designed to help you
Speaker 7: over a small sample. Obviously, Hicks will be with the
Speaker 7: team beyond this season, but this is the boost that
Speaker 7: they were looking for. They've got Chandler Simpson hot as well.
Speaker 7: They're doing some really good things, and of course they
Speaker 7: have the pitching both at the back end of the
Speaker 7: bullpen and in the rotation. So the Rays, We've talked
Speaker 7: about this endlessly.
Speaker 4: They're not going away. They've got a huge lead in
Speaker 4: the AL East. They are the best team in the
Speaker 4: American League.
Speaker 8: Ken the Blue Jays or one of those teams we
Speaker 8: talked about in terms of being streaky again, kind of
Speaker 8: writing them off as many did with the San Diego Padres.
Speaker 8: But hang on because Toronto Ken is saying, not so
Speaker 8: fast is their life.
Speaker 9: For these Blue Jays, there.
Speaker 7: Seems to be alana and it's shocking to see because
Speaker 7: this team is another one kind of like the Padres,
Speaker 7: below expectations all season long, rotation, battered by injuries, still
Speaker 7: having problems in that regard you. Savage is now out,
Speaker 7: but they've won ten of their last fourteen. They're a
Speaker 7: game and a half back in the wild card race,
Speaker 7: and they've gotten a real boost from Brit Bateman, who
Speaker 7: came over in the Gossman trade, as well as Charles
Speaker 7: McAdoo at the top of their order. Vlad still does
Speaker 7: not have a home run at Rogers Center, and there's
Speaker 7: still questions in the rotation beyond Cease and now Soriano
Speaker 7: along with Schrzer and Bieber, there really is no fifth
Speaker 7: and one are injury more and they're going to be
Speaker 7: in real trouble again with that rotation.
Speaker 4: But they're playing again again.
Speaker 7: The way we saw them play not so much in October,
Speaker 7: but down the stretch last season in October.
Speaker 4: They were on another level. But one and a half
Speaker 4: games back in the wild Card. You cannot rule them out.
Speaker 7: And it's been interesting to see this team evolve over
Speaker 7: the course of the season as well.
Speaker 8: I cannot believe Vladimir ger Junior does not have a
Speaker 8: home run yet this season at home. I will say
Speaker 8: this though, I just love saying Charles McAdoo. I love
Speaker 8: this kid's name. What a great baseball name. All right,
Speaker 8: as far as the Boston Red Sox are concerned, Ken,
Speaker 8: they were going on a meteoric tear going into the
Speaker 8: All Star Break. Coming out of the All Star Break,
Speaker 8: they looked unbeatable. We never thought they were going to
Speaker 8: lose again. But not only did they lose again, Ken,
Speaker 8: they've dropped five straight. What's going on with them?
Speaker 7: Their offense is stalled a little bit. Wilson Contrari's a
Speaker 7: little bit banged up. I'm not terribly worried. And when
Speaker 7: you're as hot as they were, there is simply no
Speaker 7: way you can sustain that. We all knew this was
Speaker 7: coming to some degree. The good news for the Red
Speaker 7: Sox is that Roman Anthony seems to be on his
Speaker 7: way back. There's a chance Croche could come back. Now
Speaker 7: Whitlock is suddenly a concern. He's got an elbow problem.
Speaker 7: We'll know more about that as the day.
Speaker 4: And perhaps the weekend goes on.
Speaker 7: But the Red Sox still are in a commanding position,
Speaker 7: four and a half games up in the wildcard race,
Speaker 7: holding that lead over the third place team. So they're
Speaker 7: in a good spot and I don't expect them to
Speaker 7: go all the way backwards.
Speaker 4: But at the same time, this was coming.
Speaker 8: Yeah, all right, let's go to the National League for
Speaker 8: a hot second. Well, actually, I guess two teams, one
Speaker 8: in the NL, one in the AL. The Phillies Field
Speaker 8: of Dreams game tonight against the Twins, Bryce Harper in
Speaker 8: right field. First of all, let's talk about the game itself.
Speaker 8: This is something that I absolutely love. It's the one
Speaker 8: thing in my career I've not been able to cover
Speaker 8: and not being able to attend, and I'm excited about that.
Speaker 8: I'd like your take on the Field of Dreams. And
Speaker 8: then what the heck is going on in terms of
Speaker 8: Bryce Harper and moving him back to the right, you know,
Speaker 8: to right field, and everything going on with the Phills.
Speaker 7: Well, I did the first two Field of Dreams games
Speaker 7: for Fox, and they've been on hiatus with this game
Speaker 7: for a couple of years now, and tonight it will
Speaker 7: be on Netflix, and I'm interested to see whether it
Speaker 7: kind of captures the magic of what it was that
Speaker 7: first year when the Yankees played the White Sox that
Speaker 7: was amazing. The next year, I believe was Reds and
Speaker 7: Cubs not so amazing. The novelty kind of wore off.
Speaker 4: But here it is.
Speaker 7: Back after a few years away, and we'll see if
Speaker 7: it becomes again this big event that MLB wants.
Speaker 4: It to be.
Speaker 7: Now, the Phillies we talked about this at the deadline
Speaker 7: when they got a rise and they started moving in
Speaker 7: field pieces all over the place. What was going to
Speaker 7: be the impact And one of the possibilities, certainly, was
Speaker 7: that Bryce Harper having to run a little bit more
Speaker 7: than he would at first base, maybe a lot more
Speaker 7: in right field. Who knows what that would mean to him,
Speaker 7: And obviously he's having a left knee issue. His quote
Speaker 7: was to Charlotte Farnes of the Athletic, I feel like
Speaker 7: I'm going to spring training game with my arms, legs.
Speaker 7: Every he feels like he's going to be okay. He
Speaker 7: wants to play every game. I've noticed a lot of
Speaker 7: Phillies fans online saying, what are we doing? Why isn't
Speaker 7: Harper at first? Why isn't Bohm on the bench? If
Speaker 7: you're going to play Bryce and Scott at third? There
Speaker 7: were easier ways to go about this. Now, their outfield
Speaker 7: is very thin, and they didn't really acquire an outfielder,
Speaker 7: so that was one problem with that idea. But I
Speaker 7: can see the point there.
Speaker 4: And it's going to be interesting to see at.
Speaker 7: Some point if they sacrificed in the outfield, which has
Speaker 7: been a problem all season, put Harper back at first,
Speaker 7: and say to Bom, listen, you're gonna be a part
Speaker 7: time player now. It maybe should have been what they
Speaker 7: did in the first place. Then you could have gone
Speaker 7: and signed Austin Hayes like the Padres did. I know
Speaker 7: the Phillies had.
Speaker 4: Him before, but there were ways out here.
Speaker 7: This is the path they chose, and it's a perilous path,
Speaker 7: there's no question about it.
Speaker 4: It's been that way from the very start.
Speaker 8: And ken Rice Harper was an outfielder, and then he
Speaker 8: became a first baseman, then he was a he was
Speaker 8: a first baseman, then he's an outfielder again. Now he's back,
Speaker 8: but his body is feeling it. He's feeling the change
Speaker 8: in terms of position.
Speaker 9: What do you make of that.
Speaker 4: Well, they're giving him some DH days and they're going
Speaker 4: to continue to do that. But it's not surprising to me.
Speaker 4: I remember a lot of asking Mookie Betts.
Speaker 7: About playing right field and going to shortstop, and he
Speaker 7: was telling me what a relief it was for him.
Speaker 4: Physically, and I was like, wooke, what are you talking about.
Speaker 7: He goes, hey, man, you try running back and forth
Speaker 7: to the outfield nine times a game and then running
Speaker 7: around in the outfield.
Speaker 4: It does take a toll.
Speaker 7: It's might sounds silly to fans because these guys are,
Speaker 7: of course, highly trained athletes. But it's more of a toll,
Speaker 7: there's no question about that. So it's not surprising that
Speaker 7: this is taking more of a toll on Harper, and
Speaker 7: they're going to have to find ways around it by
Speaker 7: dhing him certain days and also maybe by revising this plan.
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Speaker 8: On deck is present in by the Fox one app
Speaker 8: appreciate the partnership with Fox one. Ken you have brewers
Speaker 8: at the Dodgers Saturday on Fox, Jacob Mazerowski versus Justin Robleski.
Speaker 9: Potentially a Battle of the All Stars. What are you
Speaker 9: looking forward to?
Speaker 4: Battle of the All Stars?
Speaker 7: Battle of the skis if only aj Prazinski was in
Speaker 7: the booth being noted.
Speaker 1: But what I'm looking.
Speaker 7: Forward to, of course, is seeing the Miz. But Robleski
Speaker 7: has been a guy for the Dodgers all year long
Speaker 7: who has quietly just been excellent. So the Miz is
Speaker 7: going to command all the attention, and rightly so. He's
Speaker 7: at two hundred plus strikeouts already. It's incredible what he
Speaker 7: is doing, throwing a million miles an hour, all of that,
Speaker 7: and we're going to have him on the broadcast. Smoltz
Speaker 7: will be in the booth. Smoltz is always a great
Speaker 7: win it comes to starting pitchers. I'm interested to hear
Speaker 7: his analysis as this game goes on of Jacob Mizerowski,
Speaker 7: and interested to see as well how these two teams
Speaker 7: fare in this series. The Brewers are coming off getting
Speaker 7: swept in San Diego. Now, the Padres are red hot
Speaker 7: right now, and the Brewers kind of got in their
Speaker 7: way and that was that. And the Brewers are dealing
Speaker 7: with some injuries as well on the left side of
Speaker 7: their infield, but they've been a remarkable team all year
Speaker 7: and their manager Pat Murphy said yesterday, Hey, we've got
Speaker 7: the most wins in baseball. There's a reason for that.
Speaker 4: And even when you have.
Speaker 7: The most wins in baseball, doesn't mean that struggles are impossible.
Speaker 7: Doesn't mean that they're not going to happen. And we've
Speaker 7: seen this and again it goes back to the long season.
Speaker 7: Long season stuff happens. So the Brewers will be looking
Speaker 7: to bounce back against the Dodgers. The Dodgers just got
Speaker 7: their gift playing three against the Kansas City Royals and
Speaker 7: sweeping them.
Speaker 4: To end their one and eight slide.
Speaker 7: So it's two teams kind of trying to get back
Speaker 7: into gear. But remember the calendar says it's only mid August.
Speaker 9: Yeah, August twelfth.
Speaker 8: Pat Mnfree was saying it, as you mentioned, Ken, you're
Speaker 8: still going to go through tough times like this. MLB
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Speaker 8: making our way right in to Grill and Ken your opportunity,
Speaker 8: of course, to ask Ken Rosenthal some questions. Let's talk
Speaker 8: about the Cubs and the Cardinals, and then of course
Speaker 8: White Sox, Mariners and d Backs up next. But let's
Speaker 8: talk the first question Ken, in terms of Mike g
Speaker 8: fifteen has just got here.
Speaker 9: L Oh, yeah, what did I miss? Are we talking
Speaker 9: about how the Cubs are on an absolute wagon?
Speaker 8: Mike wants to know, Ken, what do you make of
Speaker 8: these Cubs and Alexgmen.
Speaker 9: In his three home runs?
Speaker 7: Mike, glad you asked, because we haven't talked about the
Speaker 7: Cubs and we should be talking about the Cubs.
Speaker 4: Guess what?
Speaker 7: They are only three games behind the Brewers right now.
Speaker 7: They won I believe eight of nine. Their offense again
Speaker 7: is on fire.
Speaker 4: And I remember it.
Speaker 7: Was about a week ago, either on foul territory or
Speaker 7: fair territory, I was asked, can the Cubs catch the Brewers?
Speaker 7: And I said, Nah, probably not leave the deficit was
Speaker 7: six or six and a half at that time, and
Speaker 7: you just do the math.
Speaker 4: It's not that easy to do.
Speaker 7: But they have games left with each other, and these
Speaker 7: are teams that are going to be battling, perhaps to
Speaker 7: the end. But we'll see if the Cubs can sustain this,
Speaker 7: because remember, they've had their highs this year and they've
Speaker 7: been extreme, and they've also had some extreme lows. So
Speaker 7: I don't rule anything out in this division race. And
Speaker 7: the Brewers they've got some things going on, as I said,
Speaker 7: with injuries right now, they're a little bit dicey for them.
Speaker 7: But I loved what the Cubs did at the deadline,
Speaker 7: and maybe that is the impetus they needed to catch
Speaker 7: Milwaukee in at NL.
Speaker 8: Central Ken we haven't talked much about the Brewer or
Speaker 8: excuse me, of the Mariners.
Speaker 9: We've talked a lot about the Brewers, but of the Mariners.
Speaker 8: Lance Johnson fifty oh four would like to ask you
Speaker 8: Seattle fire Scott Service because of their lack of hitting,
Speaker 8: will they do the same to Dan Wilson? How much
Speaker 8: of a leash does he have?
Speaker 7: I don't know, and I will say to Lance Johnson
Speaker 7: five to four, that question has crossed my mind.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 4: It's late in the season for a managerial change.
Speaker 7: But they fired their third hitting coach a couple of
Speaker 7: weeks ago, Bobby Magayanis. That didn't do the trick, and
Speaker 7: it was kind of a silly move anyway, you're firing
Speaker 7: your third hitting coach, your assistant to the assistant. You
Speaker 7: got Edgar Martinez up top. You got Kevin Sitzer right
Speaker 7: after that, and Bobby Magianis.
Speaker 4: Was after him. That didn't do it. But this team
Speaker 4: does look like it needs a kick in the rear. Now.
Speaker 7: I don't know that fire and the manager would do it,
Speaker 7: but it's a really interesting question right now where the
Speaker 7: Mariners are going with this and what happens to Dan Wilson.
Speaker 4: Maybe not right away, but at the end of the
Speaker 4: season if.
Speaker 7: They do not pick it up, and we've been waiting
Speaker 7: for them to get hot all.
Speaker 8: Year long, cal Rawley not hitting perhaps a reason for
Speaker 8: that too. Ken Marvislten wants to ask you, Ken, do
Speaker 8: you think there will be more off season activity like
Speaker 8: trades and signings before or after the CBA gets settled.
Speaker 7: If settled I would say both, and the real question
Speaker 7: will be November. And we know that the CBA expires
Speaker 7: December first, and we know in twenty twenty two, the
Speaker 7: last time the sport was in this situation, there was
Speaker 7: a flurry of activity right before the lockout started on
Speaker 7: December first. The guy I've been thinking about here is Schooble,
Speaker 7: because if you're Schooble, it probably want to sign before
Speaker 7: we have any kind of new system in place.
Speaker 4: Now.
Speaker 7: The new system is not going to take effect immediately
Speaker 7: if indeed it's a cap system, and even if it's not,
Speaker 7: we might have some grandfathering in. I would think if
Speaker 7: they kept the current luxury tax plan in place then
Speaker 7: it wouldn't be like that.
Speaker 4: But either way, it.
Speaker 7: Might behoove Scooble to act sooner rather than later. And
Speaker 7: his agent, Scott Bores, is not one who always moves quickly,
Speaker 7: but in certain periods does so that's the one to watch.
Speaker 7: I would say there has a chance a good chance
Speaker 7: of happening, perhaps before December first.
Speaker 8: Yeah, I would like if I'm Schooble, to lock down
Speaker 8: that big contract as soon as possible, certainly before a lockout.
Speaker 8: Along the same lines of a lockout, Ken armand our
Speaker 8: friend is amazing wants to know, with the recent sale
Speaker 8: of the Lakers obviously twelve billion dollars, which is bananas
Speaker 8: and MLB owners seeing that price and drooling over it,
Speaker 8: what percentage would you put the entire twenty twenty seven
Speaker 8: season as locked out? And is there a correlation in
Speaker 8: your mind?
Speaker 7: Certainly MLB owners have looked at the NBA and NFL
Speaker 7: valuations of the franchises and been jealous.
Speaker 4: For lack of a credit's round and envious of that situation.
Speaker 7: Now, the Yankees just were valued at ten over ten billion,
Speaker 7: So I don't know that it's as dire as circumstance
Speaker 7: as you would think. But certainly MLB owners are quite
Speaker 7: worried about their franchise valuations.
Speaker 4: That's why they want a salary cap.
Speaker 7: That's the number one reason they can talk about competitive
Speaker 7: balance all they want. Now, do I think the twenty
Speaker 7: twenty seven season will be entirely missed?
Speaker 4: I do not think that.
Speaker 7: I think that would be the height repeat the height
Speaker 7: of stupidity at a time when the sport is experiencing
Speaker 7: a renaissance. Are the owners capable of that kind of
Speaker 7: conduct when they're intent on getting a salary cap Absolutely,
Speaker 7: they are capable of it, but at some point, cooler
Speaker 7: heads must prevail, and there are a lot of implications
Speaker 7: from television contracts to fan discontent to all kinds of
Speaker 7: things that would happen if you miss an entire season.
Speaker 7: Sport would come back, but it would take some time,
Speaker 7: and your franchise valuations might suffer a little bit in
Speaker 7: the process.
Speaker 8: I absolutely love that the height of stupidity. You my
Speaker 8: friends are absolutely right. All right, we crowned dude and
Speaker 8: dork of the Week next.
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Speaker 9: I'm the dude, so that's what you call me, all right, Ken?
Speaker 9: I know somebody in the chat who already.
Speaker 8: Is going to agree with your pick of dude of
Speaker 8: the week, Christian A three. Why don't you tell everybody, Ken,
Speaker 8: who you're due to the week?
Speaker 1: Is?
Speaker 4: It is Alex Bregman of the Chicago Cubs three homer
Speaker 4: game last night. His OPS is up to seven fifty eight,
Speaker 4: and we've been talking about it the entire show. It's
Speaker 4: a long.
Speaker 7: Season and it's started off for Alex Bregman not so great.
Speaker 7: You often see this when a free agent signs a
Speaker 7: big contract with a new team. It is not always
Speaker 7: easy for that player to get going right away. It's
Speaker 7: a big transition. We see it time and time again.
Speaker 7: Gregman is a guy who is as serious about it
Speaker 7: craft as any player in the major leagues. He can
Speaker 7: overthink it at times, perhaps, and I'm sure he was
Speaker 7: in his head a little bit while he was struggling
Speaker 7: in the first half, but he is back. The three
Speaker 7: homer game proved it, and he again is the dude
Speaker 7: of the week for me.
Speaker 9: Alex Bregman very studied.
Speaker 8: He is a guy that absolutely pays attentions, always trying
Speaker 8: to get better, always studies. Obviously, congrats on getting more
Speaker 8: than ten years of service time for Alex Bragman this season.
Speaker 9: My dude of the week is a couple of pitchers.
Speaker 8: I'm going to start with Dean Kramer throwing seven innings
Speaker 8: of one run, one hit ball against your longtime team
Speaker 8: Ken nine days after they traded you away. That had
Speaker 8: to feel pretty darn good for him. And I'm also
Speaker 8: going to give an honorable mention. I know you're going
Speaker 8: to roll your eyes to Blake Snell just because he
Speaker 8: came off the il hasn't pitched since May ninth.
Speaker 9: He's always a second half pitcher. He wants to take
Speaker 9: half the season off. Good for him.
Speaker 8: Six innings, three hits, one earned run, one walk. But
Speaker 8: the ten punchies can. That's why Blake Snell gets an
Speaker 8: honorable mention for me. All right time now for the
Speaker 8: dork of the Week. Ken, you and I are in
Speaker 8: agreement upon this, and I will let you go first,
Speaker 8: because this was absolutely bananas, the four.
Speaker 7: Out fiasco in Toronto involving the Red Sox and the
Speaker 7: Blue Jays. Now, initially my thought was the Red Sox players,
Speaker 7: the two guys on base who forgot the number of
Speaker 7: outs there were or didn't know the number of outs
Speaker 7: there were, Well, that's on them, but the scoreboard showed
Speaker 7: two outs. They were kind of obviously not totally aware,
Speaker 7: but it was a confusing situation for them.
Speaker 4: But they're not the dorks of the week for that alone.
Speaker 7: There was so much going on, There was so much
Speaker 7: Dorktom and John Boy in his latest video it's fifteen
Speaker 7: minutes long, he detailed it all and he shows he
Speaker 7: shows in that video that the Blue Jays could have
Speaker 7: avoided this whole matter by throwing to third base instead
Speaker 7: of first base for the fourth out of the inning
Speaker 7: or end, as well the umpire by signaling and waving
Speaker 7: the run off. Initially, that caused confusion, so everybody on
Speaker 7: the field seemed to be confused.
Speaker 4: Now, in fairness to everyone involved, I don't know how
Speaker 4: many of us knew this rule.
Speaker 7: I certainly didn't, and a lot of people fans, people
Speaker 7: in the game didn't really know it that well either,
Speaker 7: or the entire sequence that involved these rules. So I'll
Speaker 7: give it a little bit of a break to everyone involved.
Speaker 7: But you can't just blame the Red Sox, you can't
Speaker 7: just blame the Blue Jays, you can't just blame the obs.
Speaker 4: Everybody had a role in this fiasco.
Speaker 9: Ken, I'm in agreement with you.
Speaker 8: They also are my dorks of the week, a lot
Speaker 8: of dorkdom, as you put it. I was sitting there
Speaker 8: watching this unfold in real time, and I was watching
Speaker 8: it with Chris, and he was like, wait a minute,
Speaker 8: shouldn't the players know how many outs are going in
Speaker 8: the inning right now?
Speaker 9: Because he was he also.
Speaker 8: Said, you're always told the scoreboard isn't right, like, don't
Speaker 8: pay attention to the scoreboard, Like you always have to
Speaker 8: be mentally in the game, because that type of stuff happens, right,
Speaker 8: whether it was an individual that accidentally put two outs
Speaker 8: up on the scoreboard, or whether it was an automatic
Speaker 8: system or however, it went down. You can't always rely
Speaker 8: on the scoreboard, right, so it would behoove you to
Speaker 8: make sure you know what's happening in terms of being
Speaker 8: in the game. I think the only person in real
Speaker 8: time that kind of was spot on with the rule
Speaker 8: was Lumer Lone of the Nessen broadcast. He seemed to
Speaker 8: be able to break it down before the seventeen other
Speaker 8: explanations of what was happening. I certainly didn't know what
Speaker 8: was going on, but you would think that the players
Speaker 8: on the field would have a better sense of how
Speaker 8: many outs were in the game. But Ken, before we
Speaker 8: let you go, it is official. Garrett Whitlock is on
Speaker 8: the IL for Boston with that elbow inflammation, and they
Speaker 8: have recalled Greg Weissert from Triple A. So how concerned
Speaker 8: should they be in terms of Whitlock's arm issue.
Speaker 4: Anytime it's an elbow, you have to be concerned. It's
Speaker 4: as simple as that. And I don't know what this
Speaker 4: means for him.
Speaker 7: Maybe it's a short term thing, but again, elbows are
Speaker 7: a problem, all right.
Speaker 9: Ken, Great to be with you as always. That is
Speaker 9: it for us.
Speaker 8: Here on Fair with Ken Rosenthal. Foul territory is coming
Speaker 8: up next A. J. Pierzinski, Kevin Palar are your host.
Speaker 8: Brit Girleis, You're always going to be on Chandler Room,
Speaker 8: will be on Plus Rangers Reporter Sean McFarland Fair returns
Speaker 8: on Monday.
Speaker 9: Have a great weekend.
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