1
00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,680
Speaker 1: Again. Though, the person that this is hardest on is

2
00:00:02,720 --> 00:00:05,800
Speaker 1: the guy who's got to go through this long rehab

3
00:00:06,120 --> 00:00:09,920
Speaker 1: once again. He knows what it's like. Yes, that doesn't

4
00:00:09,920 --> 00:00:17,600
Speaker 1: make it any easier. Welcome everyone to this week's edition

5
00:00:17,760 --> 00:00:20,280
Speaker 1: of Fair Territory. The Monday edition will be back on

6
00:00:20,360 --> 00:00:24,040
Speaker 1: Thursday with Alana Rizzo and Man that a lot happened

7
00:00:24,079 --> 00:00:27,120
Speaker 1: over the Memorial Day weekend in the sport that we love.

8
00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:31,200
Speaker 1: First off, the biggest news of the weekend, news that

9
00:00:31,280 --> 00:00:33,360
Speaker 1: a lot of fans have been waiting for for a

10
00:00:33,440 --> 00:00:37,239
Speaker 1: long time. I would call it Baseball's ding dong, the

11
00:00:37,280 --> 00:00:41,240
Speaker 1: Witch's dead moment. Obviously, Angel Hernandez is not dead, that's good.

12
00:00:41,720 --> 00:00:45,199
Speaker 1: He is, however retiring. He is no longer going to

13
00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:49,720
Speaker 1: be an umpire in Major League Baseball, effective immediately. And

14
00:00:49,760 --> 00:00:53,120
Speaker 1: this has been, of course, a long time coming. Angel

15
00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:55,120
Speaker 1: might not be the worst umpire in the game, but

16
00:00:55,240 --> 00:00:58,360
Speaker 1: he certainly was the most polarizing. And I know a

17
00:00:58,400 --> 00:01:01,360
Speaker 1: lot of fans are asking this morning, why didn't this

18
00:01:01,400 --> 00:01:05,600
Speaker 1: happen sooner? Why did an MLB act? Well, MLB simply

19
00:01:05,680 --> 00:01:09,280
Speaker 1: cannot act by decree the umpires. The union offers the

20
00:01:09,400 --> 00:01:13,600
Speaker 1: arms protection and that protection while it might frustrate some

21
00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:16,760
Speaker 1: fans at times when they see certain umps continuing to

22
00:01:16,800 --> 00:01:21,000
Speaker 1: work like Angel. It's not a bad thing. We've seen

23
00:01:21,080 --> 00:01:24,120
Speaker 1: how minor leaguers need protection from the league. Well, the

24
00:01:24,160 --> 00:01:28,880
Speaker 1: same concept applies here. What happened with Angel is that

25
00:01:29,120 --> 00:01:32,280
Speaker 1: Major League Baseball approached him and his attorney several weeks

26
00:01:32,319 --> 00:01:36,880
Speaker 1: ago and said, Okay, what are you thinking here? Do

27
00:01:36,920 --> 00:01:38,959
Speaker 1: you think you might want to retire? Angels going to

28
00:01:38,959 --> 00:01:42,280
Speaker 1: be sixty three, I believe in August thirty fourth season.

29
00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:46,479
Speaker 1: It's a time in his career when other umpires have retired.

30
00:01:47,080 --> 00:01:50,640
Speaker 1: So they opened the door. They asked him. Angel was amenable.

31
00:01:50,840 --> 00:01:54,280
Speaker 1: The two sides reached a financial settlement. So here we are.

32
00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:58,160
Speaker 1: As Angel's attorney made it clear to the athletic Sam Blum,

33
00:01:58,200 --> 00:02:01,480
Speaker 1: he was not forced out. This was not a firing.

34
00:02:02,040 --> 00:02:05,000
Speaker 1: This was a mutual agreement that it was time to

35
00:02:05,200 --> 00:02:07,840
Speaker 1: go now. As I said, MLB will tell you they

36
00:02:07,840 --> 00:02:11,600
Speaker 1: have the numbers. Angel was not the worst umpire. He was,

37
00:02:11,720 --> 00:02:15,160
Speaker 1: as I said, the most polarizing. He had a knack,

38
00:02:15,880 --> 00:02:22,000
Speaker 1: an incredible knack for making bad calls, yes, but making

39
00:02:22,080 --> 00:02:25,560
Speaker 1: bad calls at the wrong times, and bad calls that

40
00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:29,880
Speaker 1: were just huge screw ups, and of course because of that,

41
00:02:30,200 --> 00:02:35,320
Speaker 1: he attracted unreal social media attention constantly. And I wonder

42
00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:37,280
Speaker 1: we don't know this, but I wonder if the tipping

43
00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:40,320
Speaker 1: point was that Wyatt Langford a bat a few weeks back.

44
00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:42,400
Speaker 1: You remember it. It was one pitch out of the

45
00:02:42,480 --> 00:02:45,440
Speaker 1: zone after another, and Angel rang him up, this rookie

46
00:02:45,480 --> 00:02:49,079
Speaker 1: from the Texas Rangers. But he's been doing this for years.

47
00:02:49,320 --> 00:02:51,440
Speaker 1: We had a story just last Friday in The Athletic

48
00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:56,000
Speaker 1: by Sam Blum and Cody Stavenhagen detailing Angel's greatest misses

49
00:02:56,080 --> 00:02:58,640
Speaker 1: over the years. I will call him greatest hits. And

50
00:02:58,680 --> 00:03:01,800
Speaker 1: the story was actually very well balanced. It gave the

51
00:03:01,840 --> 00:03:03,880
Speaker 1: other side of Angel too, the side that a lot

52
00:03:03,919 --> 00:03:07,000
Speaker 1: of umpires see that we don't. They love this guy.

53
00:03:07,440 --> 00:03:09,640
Speaker 1: They think he is one of the finer people they know,

54
00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:13,400
Speaker 1: and yet at the same time we all know on

55
00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:17,800
Speaker 1: the field, Angel certainly was lacking. The reaction to this

56
00:03:17,919 --> 00:03:21,840
Speaker 1: story amazed me. The writers were accused in the comments,

57
00:03:21,919 --> 00:03:24,280
Speaker 1: more than a thousand comments in counting, by the way

58
00:03:24,720 --> 00:03:27,600
Speaker 1: of writing a puff piece. Well, a lot of the

59
00:03:27,639 --> 00:03:30,160
Speaker 1: commenters don't know what a puff piece is. A puff

60
00:03:30,200 --> 00:03:32,640
Speaker 1: piece is when you leave out all the bad stuff.

61
00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:36,680
Speaker 1: This story had all the bad stuff, it just had

62
00:03:36,840 --> 00:03:40,280
Speaker 1: also some balance to it. It was actually a really

63
00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:43,800
Speaker 1: well known story from a journalistic standpoint, but it showed

64
00:03:43,840 --> 00:03:47,920
Speaker 1: you the comments did, at least just how unhinged fans

65
00:03:47,960 --> 00:03:52,320
Speaker 1: can get when even thinking about Angel Hernandez now comments

66
00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:55,440
Speaker 1: on an athletic story, comments on Twitter X, whatever you

67
00:03:55,520 --> 00:03:58,880
Speaker 1: want to call it, they're not often a reflection of

68
00:03:59,160 --> 00:04:01,760
Speaker 1: the real world general population. You have a lot of

69
00:04:01,760 --> 00:04:05,080
Speaker 1: people just screaming. I understand that, but I was taken

70
00:04:05,080 --> 00:04:08,680
Speaker 1: aback by the reaction to that story because as balanced

71
00:04:08,680 --> 00:04:14,360
Speaker 1: as it was, as much as it pointed out a'sbcdefg

72
00:04:14,600 --> 00:04:19,920
Speaker 1: all of Angel's problems, people just didn't want to hear it.

73
00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:23,159
Speaker 1: So they didn't want to hear it because Angel was

74
00:04:23,200 --> 00:04:25,559
Speaker 1: not a very good umpire and he had a way

75
00:04:25,640 --> 00:04:28,520
Speaker 1: of screwing up and screwing up big. Now on to

76
00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:32,920
Speaker 1: bigger and better things. Aaron Judge. You might remember earlier

77
00:04:32,960 --> 00:04:36,200
Speaker 1: in the season he was struggling and people were starting

78
00:04:36,240 --> 00:04:39,080
Speaker 1: to wonder, Hey, what's with Aaron Judge? Is that toe

79
00:04:39,200 --> 00:04:42,479
Speaker 1: injury still affecting him? What's going on here? It was

80
00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:46,080
Speaker 1: basically a month in which he struggled and he wasn't

81
00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:48,640
Speaker 1: the same. Now, no one with the Yankees at the

82
00:04:48,720 --> 00:04:52,800
Speaker 1: time seemed particularly concerned, and we now know why they

83
00:04:52,800 --> 00:04:56,960
Speaker 1: weren't particularly concerned. Let's look at Aaron Judge in really

84
00:04:57,000 --> 00:05:00,560
Speaker 1: the first month versus the last month, because the difference

85
00:05:00,760 --> 00:05:06,240
Speaker 1: is astounding. Aaron Judge first twenty seven games, one seventy

86
00:05:06,240 --> 00:05:10,320
Speaker 1: eight batting average, four home runs six to seventy four OPS.

87
00:05:10,400 --> 00:05:14,279
Speaker 1: Not very good. Last twenty eight games basically an even split. Here,

88
00:05:15,120 --> 00:05:18,200
Speaker 1: three eighty five batting average, thirteen home runs, a one

89
00:05:18,279 --> 00:05:22,600
Speaker 1: point four to two to one OPS. Okay, now that's

90
00:05:22,640 --> 00:05:25,360
Speaker 1: impressive in its own right, but if you look at

91
00:05:25,360 --> 00:05:29,720
Speaker 1: this twenty game span, it is absolutely unbelievable. Let's take

92
00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:33,480
Speaker 1: a look here, Aaron Judge May fourth through May twenty fifth.

93
00:05:33,600 --> 00:05:35,720
Speaker 1: He did something no player has ever done in a

94
00:05:35,760 --> 00:05:39,200
Speaker 1: twenty game span. Eleven home runs and twelve doubles. That's

95
00:05:39,240 --> 00:05:42,880
Speaker 1: the historic aspect of this OPS a mere one point

96
00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:48,000
Speaker 1: sixty three four and not surprisingly, the Yankees were sixteen

97
00:05:48,160 --> 00:05:51,760
Speaker 1: and four. So there's a good lesson here, and the

98
00:05:51,880 --> 00:05:54,800
Speaker 1: lesson is one that is reinforced every season, but we

99
00:05:54,920 --> 00:05:59,320
Speaker 1: all forget it at times. It's a long season for

100
00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:02,320
Speaker 1: the great hit there's things off in turn, and they

101
00:06:02,360 --> 00:06:05,760
Speaker 1: often turn rather quickly. Now, not this quickly, necessarily, and

102
00:06:05,800 --> 00:06:10,520
Speaker 1: not this dramatically. There's only one Aaron Judge. But my goodness,

103
00:06:11,040 --> 00:06:15,599
Speaker 1: small samples, even month long samples, can fool us. Now

104
00:06:15,640 --> 00:06:17,760
Speaker 1: onto the third thing. I want to talk about this

105
00:06:18,120 --> 00:06:21,320
Speaker 1: particular segment, and it is something I can long to

106
00:06:21,360 --> 00:06:25,599
Speaker 1: talk about, really the whole season the Cleveland Guardians. Now,

107
00:06:25,600 --> 00:06:28,840
Speaker 1: I'm gonna start with the true confession here. My true

108
00:06:28,839 --> 00:06:31,240
Speaker 1: confession is that I did not even go to see

109
00:06:31,240 --> 00:06:34,920
Speaker 1: the Guardians in spring training. Normally I don't hit all

110
00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:38,560
Speaker 1: thirty and the teams I don't hit are the teams

111
00:06:38,600 --> 00:06:42,520
Speaker 1: that usually didn't do much in the offseason, don't seem

112
00:06:42,600 --> 00:06:47,760
Speaker 1: particularly interesting, don't seem particularly competitive. Granted, the Guardians had

113
00:06:47,760 --> 00:06:50,919
Speaker 1: a new manager, Steven Vote, and that alone was reason

114
00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:53,599
Speaker 1: to go see them, But eh, I knew Stephen Vote

115
00:06:53,600 --> 00:06:55,240
Speaker 1: as a player. I figured I could catch up with

116
00:06:55,320 --> 00:07:01,400
Speaker 1: him whenever. Well, clearly I was missing out. And clearly

117
00:07:01,440 --> 00:07:04,080
Speaker 1: what I did not know, and what writers covering the

118
00:07:04,120 --> 00:07:08,680
Speaker 1: team detailed but not many people took seriously, was that

119
00:07:08,720 --> 00:07:13,440
Speaker 1: the Guardians were transforming their entire offensive approach. They were

120
00:07:13,480 --> 00:07:16,400
Speaker 1: going from this punch and Judy team to a team

121
00:07:16,480 --> 00:07:20,360
Speaker 1: that was focusing on hitting the ball hard, driving the ball.

122
00:07:20,880 --> 00:07:23,360
Speaker 1: You might say, well, don't all teams do that, Yes,

123
00:07:24,200 --> 00:07:27,760
Speaker 1: but the Guardians last season were not that kind of team.

124
00:07:28,080 --> 00:07:30,200
Speaker 1: They were not a team that sought to hit the

125
00:07:30,200 --> 00:07:32,320
Speaker 1: ball hard. They sprayed the ball all over the place.

126
00:07:32,400 --> 00:07:35,440
Speaker 1: That was kind of how they were doing it. So

127
00:07:35,720 --> 00:07:39,520
Speaker 1: they were transforming their offense and that transformation has been

128
00:07:39,560 --> 00:07:43,880
Speaker 1: nothing short of insane. The Guardians trailed the New York

129
00:07:43,960 --> 00:07:47,440
Speaker 1: Yankees by one half game for the best record in

130
00:07:47,480 --> 00:07:51,480
Speaker 1: the American League. They are third in the majors in

131
00:07:51,600 --> 00:07:57,119
Speaker 1: run scored after finishing twenty seventh twenty seventh last year,

132
00:07:57,640 --> 00:08:01,080
Speaker 1: and their bullpen, anchored by Emmanuel claus Say, has been

133
00:08:01,120 --> 00:08:03,840
Speaker 1: the absolute foundation of all that has been going on.

134
00:08:04,320 --> 00:08:06,680
Speaker 1: It's the offense that is so different, but it's the

135
00:08:06,720 --> 00:08:09,640
Speaker 1: bullpen really that is the rock of all this. So

136
00:08:09,760 --> 00:08:12,440
Speaker 1: let's look at some breakdowns here of just what the

137
00:08:12,480 --> 00:08:16,160
Speaker 1: Guardians are doing, because again it's rather amazing. Okay, let's

138
00:08:16,160 --> 00:08:18,440
Speaker 1: start with the home runs. It's the team that did

139
00:08:18,440 --> 00:08:20,720
Speaker 1: not hit home runs last year. They were thirtieth in

140
00:08:20,760 --> 00:08:23,960
Speaker 1: the majors one hundred and twenty four home runs, right,

141
00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:27,040
Speaker 1: now they've got fifty nine. They're tenth in the majors.

142
00:08:27,080 --> 00:08:30,400
Speaker 1: They're almost halfway to last year's total, and we're not

143
00:08:30,520 --> 00:08:33,880
Speaker 1: halfway to the end of the season. Okay. The other thing,

144
00:08:33,920 --> 00:08:37,160
Speaker 1: the bullpen here leading after eight innings. This is classe.

145
00:08:37,559 --> 00:08:40,440
Speaker 1: They're thirty one to zero, leading after six, and this

146
00:08:40,520 --> 00:08:43,720
Speaker 1: is a reflection of their middle inning relief. They're twenty

147
00:08:43,880 --> 00:08:47,600
Speaker 1: seven and one, still really good. The most amazing thing

148
00:08:47,640 --> 00:08:50,720
Speaker 1: despite all of this, yes, is what they have done

149
00:08:50,840 --> 00:08:54,240
Speaker 1: since Stephen Kwan heard his hamstring. You remember, at the

150
00:08:54,240 --> 00:08:57,240
Speaker 1: time Stephen Kwan was leading the American League and hitting

151
00:08:57,360 --> 00:08:59,480
Speaker 1: He's patting three to fifty three. He was kind of

152
00:08:59,520 --> 00:09:03,040
Speaker 1: the key to their offense. With Stephen Kwan, the Guardians

153
00:09:03,040 --> 00:09:06,319
Speaker 1: were twenty one and twelve to six, thirty six winning percentage,

154
00:09:06,520 --> 00:09:10,800
Speaker 1: averaging four point nine to seven runs per game. Without him,

155
00:09:11,080 --> 00:09:15,360
Speaker 1: without their leading here the American League leading here, they're

156
00:09:15,400 --> 00:09:18,920
Speaker 1: fifteen and six, seven to fourteen winning percentage, even better

157
00:09:18,920 --> 00:09:22,400
Speaker 1: than with Kwan, and they're averaging slightly more runs per game,

158
00:09:22,640 --> 00:09:27,400
Speaker 1: five runs even each night. That is astonishing, and it's

159
00:09:27,440 --> 00:09:31,160
Speaker 1: a tribute to what they've done offensively. To tribute to

160
00:09:31,320 --> 00:09:34,240
Speaker 1: Jose Ramirez, who might be the most underrated superstar in

161
00:09:34,280 --> 00:09:36,720
Speaker 1: this game who seems to have an epic at bat

162
00:09:36,760 --> 00:09:39,640
Speaker 1: every three or four days. A tribute to Josh Naylor

163
00:09:39,800 --> 00:09:43,520
Speaker 1: who is emerging as a superstar, and really their whole team.

164
00:09:43,920 --> 00:09:47,439
Speaker 1: How's the Francisco Lindor trade looking right now? Andres Jimenez

165
00:09:47,440 --> 00:09:49,760
Speaker 1: has been a star for quite some time. And I

166
00:09:49,800 --> 00:09:53,000
Speaker 1: could go on and on and on, but hats off

167
00:09:53,040 --> 00:09:56,880
Speaker 1: to the Guardians and shame on me for blowing them

168
00:09:56,880 --> 00:09:59,840
Speaker 1: off this spring time. Now for the inside Dish. This

169
00:09:59,920 --> 00:10:01,680
Speaker 1: is the part of the show where I talk about

170
00:10:01,720 --> 00:10:05,200
Speaker 1: something I've written, something going on inside the game, and

171
00:10:05,240 --> 00:10:06,600
Speaker 1: today I'm going to do a little bit of a

172
00:10:06,640 --> 00:10:10,640
Speaker 1: combination of both. The one big story in baseball that

173
00:10:10,720 --> 00:10:13,800
Speaker 1: I did not talk about in the first segment was

174
00:10:13,840 --> 00:10:18,000
Speaker 1: the season ending injury to Ronald Acunya Junior, the torn

175
00:10:18,080 --> 00:10:22,200
Speaker 1: acl in his left knee, The event that happened just

176
00:10:22,240 --> 00:10:26,280
Speaker 1: the other night on a seemingly innocent play, Akunya retreating

177
00:10:26,360 --> 00:10:29,280
Speaker 1: as he aborted a stolen base attempt trying to get

178
00:10:29,280 --> 00:10:32,360
Speaker 1: back to second base. When something like this happens, people

179
00:10:32,400 --> 00:10:35,240
Speaker 1: often say, oh, man, what are the Braves going to do?

180
00:10:35,280 --> 00:10:37,880
Speaker 1: Who are they going to get to replace Acunya to

181
00:10:38,000 --> 00:10:41,200
Speaker 1: natural reaction and other people will say, man, this is

182
00:10:41,280 --> 00:10:44,560
Speaker 1: terrible for the game of baseball. Here's a great player

183
00:10:44,640 --> 00:10:46,760
Speaker 1: and he's not going to be on the field anymore

184
00:10:46,840 --> 00:10:51,360
Speaker 1: this season. What a shame for the sport as a whole. Well,

185
00:10:51,360 --> 00:10:54,520
Speaker 1: all that is true, but the person who is affected

186
00:10:54,559 --> 00:10:57,680
Speaker 1: most here, the guy who really is suffering, is Ronald

187
00:10:57,679 --> 00:10:59,960
Speaker 1: Acunya Junior. I want to talk about what this means

188
00:11:00,120 --> 00:11:03,080
Speaker 1: for the player, because to me, that's the thing that

189
00:11:03,160 --> 00:11:07,320
Speaker 1: sometimes gets overlooked. Now, Kunya, you guys know this has

190
00:11:07,360 --> 00:11:10,720
Speaker 1: been through this once before. In July twenty twenty one,

191
00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:14,480
Speaker 1: he did the same thing to his other knee, and

192
00:11:14,559 --> 00:11:18,600
Speaker 1: that was a devastating injury to him emotionally. His mother

193
00:11:18,720 --> 00:11:21,880
Speaker 1: told espn OH about a year and a half after

194
00:11:21,920 --> 00:11:26,079
Speaker 1: that that he cried every day, and not just every

195
00:11:26,160 --> 00:11:30,240
Speaker 1: day all day. Now, Kunya was twenty three, then he's

196
00:11:30,280 --> 00:11:32,880
Speaker 1: twenty six. Now he's a more mature guy, no question,

197
00:11:33,080 --> 00:11:36,160
Speaker 1: He's married with two children, he's been in the league

198
00:11:36,240 --> 00:11:40,640
Speaker 1: seven years. But all of that doesn't make this any easier.

199
00:11:41,440 --> 00:11:44,320
Speaker 1: And what concerns me, and what I'm sure is going

200
00:11:44,320 --> 00:11:47,760
Speaker 1: through Acuna's mind as well, is that he is losing

201
00:11:48,160 --> 00:11:51,840
Speaker 1: some of the best years of his career. Like Mike Trout,

202
00:11:51,960 --> 00:11:54,559
Speaker 1: Ronald Akunyer Junior was a Rookie of the Year at

203
00:11:54,600 --> 00:11:59,520
Speaker 1: age twenty. Trout, though, won three MVPs and finished second

204
00:11:59,720 --> 00:12:04,960
Speaker 1: four times before injuries really started to derail him. Acunya

205
00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:08,079
Speaker 1: has won one MVP. And let's look at his games

206
00:12:08,120 --> 00:12:11,559
Speaker 1: played in recent years, because this is what is truly disturbing.

207
00:12:12,040 --> 00:12:15,560
Speaker 1: Here's Ronald lacuna games played ages twenty three to twenty

208
00:12:15,640 --> 00:12:18,240
Speaker 1: six seasons. You see in twenty one, that was the

209
00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:20,880
Speaker 1: year he got hurt eighty three games. Came back in

210
00:12:20,960 --> 00:12:23,640
Speaker 1: twenty two, wasn't the same, played in one hundred and

211
00:12:23,720 --> 00:12:28,839
Speaker 1: nineteen games. Twenty twenty three, his historic MVP forty homer

212
00:12:28,920 --> 00:12:32,600
Speaker 1: seventies stolen based season. That was amazing. He was Ronald

213
00:12:32,640 --> 00:12:36,760
Speaker 1: Lacunya Junior in full and then this year twenty twenty four,

214
00:12:37,200 --> 00:12:40,480
Speaker 1: he will appear in only forty nine games. Now, this

215
00:12:40,559 --> 00:12:44,240
Speaker 1: injury occurred two months earlier than the one in twenty one,

216
00:12:44,400 --> 00:12:48,760
Speaker 1: but based on Acunya's first recovery, it stands to reason

217
00:12:49,240 --> 00:12:52,400
Speaker 1: that he might not be entirely the same next season.

218
00:12:52,520 --> 00:12:55,800
Speaker 1: You remember in twenty two he was kind of struggling

219
00:12:55,840 --> 00:13:00,520
Speaker 1: to find himself. So that's another year twenty twenty five,

220
00:13:00,640 --> 00:13:03,440
Speaker 1: in which Acunya might not be the guy that we

221
00:13:03,520 --> 00:13:06,240
Speaker 1: saw last season. So that's a total of four seasons

222
00:13:06,280 --> 00:13:08,720
Speaker 1: compromised in the middle of a brilliant career. And if

223
00:13:08,720 --> 00:13:11,520
Speaker 1: you don't want to count twenty twenty the COVID year

224
00:13:11,840 --> 00:13:14,040
Speaker 1: in which no one played a full season, it was

225
00:13:14,040 --> 00:13:17,920
Speaker 1: only sixty games. That's five. Now the Braves are going

226
00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:21,000
Speaker 1: to figure this out. Little add an outfielder at some point.

227
00:13:21,040 --> 00:13:23,160
Speaker 1: If you remember, in twenty one, they did some brilliant

228
00:13:23,160 --> 00:13:27,040
Speaker 1: things so later Jack Peterson, any Rosario, they went on

229
00:13:27,160 --> 00:13:31,920
Speaker 1: to win the World Series. Without Acunya, Baseball will continue

230
00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:34,920
Speaker 1: generating new stars and Ronald Loacuna Junior. His career is

231
00:13:34,960 --> 00:13:37,839
Speaker 1: not over, but the sport goes on. That's my point

232
00:13:37,880 --> 00:13:40,560
Speaker 1: here again, though, the person that this is hardest on

233
00:13:41,120 --> 00:13:43,440
Speaker 1: is the guy who's got to go through this long

234
00:13:43,760 --> 00:13:48,200
Speaker 1: rehab once again. He knows what it's like, Yes, he's

235
00:13:48,240 --> 00:13:51,280
Speaker 1: been through it before. Yes he'll understand and know what

236
00:13:51,400 --> 00:13:55,360
Speaker 1: it entails. That doesn't make it any easier, and he

237
00:13:55,480 --> 00:13:57,720
Speaker 1: might go on. He might come back at age twenty

238
00:13:57,760 --> 00:14:01,240
Speaker 1: eight or so and be himself again. And not really

239
00:14:01,280 --> 00:14:03,800
Speaker 1: have any more injuries like this the rest of the career,

240
00:14:04,160 --> 00:14:05,880
Speaker 1: and he might go on to be a Hall of Famer.

241
00:14:06,720 --> 00:14:10,600
Speaker 1: But a career lasts only so long. These major leaguers,

242
00:14:10,720 --> 00:14:13,679
Speaker 1: they do not play forever. And that's the part that

243
00:14:14,200 --> 00:14:17,480
Speaker 1: is most disturbing to me, and I'm sure most troubling

244
00:14:17,480 --> 00:14:21,800
Speaker 1: to Acunya. He can't get these years back. Time Now

245
00:14:21,880 --> 00:14:23,600
Speaker 1: for Grill and Ken, the part of the show where

246
00:14:23,600 --> 00:14:26,080
Speaker 1: you guys get to ask me questions. Let's get right

247
00:14:26,120 --> 00:14:30,680
Speaker 1: to it. First question comes from Jason C who asks,

248
00:14:31,080 --> 00:14:34,160
Speaker 1: what does the outfield market look like at the trade deadline?

249
00:14:34,480 --> 00:14:38,480
Speaker 1: Does Craig Breslow move an outfielder? Well, this actually relates

250
00:14:38,480 --> 00:14:41,320
Speaker 1: to the previous segment talking about Acunya. I'm sure a

251
00:14:41,360 --> 00:14:44,320
Speaker 1: lot of Braves fans are wondering about which outfielders might

252
00:14:44,320 --> 00:14:46,960
Speaker 1: be available. And yes, as specifically it relates to the

253
00:14:46,960 --> 00:14:49,760
Speaker 1: Red Sox. Tyler O'Neil would look to be a guy

254
00:14:49,840 --> 00:14:52,880
Speaker 1: that possibly could get moved. In fact, I would even

255
00:14:52,920 --> 00:14:55,600
Speaker 1: say likely gets moved free agent at the end of

256
00:14:55,640 --> 00:14:58,720
Speaker 1: the season. Having a good year, the Red Sox are

257
00:14:59,400 --> 00:15:02,520
Speaker 1: probably not going to be in contention. They're playing better

258
00:15:02,560 --> 00:15:05,000
Speaker 1: than some people thought but with all of their injuries

259
00:15:05,040 --> 00:15:07,800
Speaker 1: and all the different young players are trying to mix in,

260
00:15:07,960 --> 00:15:10,560
Speaker 1: it's not a year where they're going for it. It's

261
00:15:10,640 --> 00:15:14,880
Speaker 1: kind of a year of transition. So Tyler O'Neill, one player,

262
00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:17,360
Speaker 1: one outfielder who will be available, and I can give

263
00:15:17,400 --> 00:15:20,760
Speaker 1: you a bunch of others. This is generally a position

264
00:15:20,800 --> 00:15:24,440
Speaker 1: where players are in ample supply at the deadline. You

265
00:15:24,520 --> 00:15:29,000
Speaker 1: can start with the Mets Starling Marte, Harrison Bader. The

266
00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:31,800
Speaker 1: Mets don't look like they're going to be buying this year.

267
00:15:31,840 --> 00:15:34,200
Speaker 1: They look like more of a seller. Then there are

268
00:15:34,200 --> 00:15:36,680
Speaker 1: some veteran guys like Tommy Famm with the White Sox,

269
00:15:36,760 --> 00:15:39,200
Speaker 1: Kevin Palar with the Angels, both of whom are playing

270
00:15:39,240 --> 00:15:42,640
Speaker 1: well and could be solid auditions for a team. I

271
00:15:42,680 --> 00:15:44,920
Speaker 1: look at Brent Rooker from the Oakland A's. They are

272
00:15:44,960 --> 00:15:48,480
Speaker 1: always willing to trade, Taylor Ward from Los Angeles Angels,

273
00:15:48,880 --> 00:15:52,120
Speaker 1: Jesse Winker from the Nats, Brian de Lacruz from the Marlins,

274
00:15:52,160 --> 00:15:54,880
Speaker 1: Kevin Kiermeier from the Blue Jays if the Blue Jays sell.

275
00:15:55,320 --> 00:15:57,280
Speaker 1: Those are just some of the names that will be

276
00:15:57,280 --> 00:16:00,480
Speaker 1: out there. So if you want an outfielder, you can

277
00:16:00,520 --> 00:16:03,200
Speaker 1: go get an outfielder, and of course I'm excluding from

278
00:16:03,200 --> 00:16:07,200
Speaker 1: this particular conversation Luis Robert Junior because he's kind of

279
00:16:07,480 --> 00:16:11,040
Speaker 1: a different level. He's a superstar caliber player. I think

280
00:16:11,040 --> 00:16:14,080
Speaker 1: the question was more focused on the fringe of your

281
00:16:14,120 --> 00:16:16,280
Speaker 1: guys who will be available, not that Tyler O'Neil is

282
00:16:16,320 --> 00:16:18,520
Speaker 1: a fringe guy. He's a pretty good player. But you

283
00:16:18,600 --> 00:16:20,960
Speaker 1: know what I'm getting at. There will be plenty of

284
00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:24,520
Speaker 1: outfielders out there, plenty of outfielders who get traded in July.

285
00:16:25,960 --> 00:16:30,280
Speaker 1: Next question, this one comes from KTA, who asks what's

286
00:16:30,320 --> 00:16:35,440
Speaker 1: the relationship rapport like between American and Japanese baseball journalists

287
00:16:35,440 --> 00:16:38,960
Speaker 1: inside and outside of the ballpark? This is an interesting question,

288
00:16:39,040 --> 00:16:42,800
Speaker 1: Glad you asked it. The relationship is really good, and

289
00:16:42,840 --> 00:16:46,520
Speaker 1: in fact, one of the great things to me about

290
00:16:46,640 --> 00:16:48,800
Speaker 1: the fact that we have players from all over the

291
00:16:48,840 --> 00:16:51,280
Speaker 1: world in our sport is that you get to meet

292
00:16:51,320 --> 00:16:55,120
Speaker 1: reporters from all over the world. And the Japanese contingent

293
00:16:55,240 --> 00:16:58,880
Speaker 1: is larger than any other contingent, in part because they

294
00:16:58,880 --> 00:17:03,480
Speaker 1: have superstar players, and also because the country's media is

295
00:17:03,600 --> 00:17:08,480
Speaker 1: a little bit more i don't know, intense, rabid, deeper

296
00:17:08,840 --> 00:17:11,560
Speaker 1: than in other spots, and maybe there's more money in

297
00:17:11,600 --> 00:17:14,600
Speaker 1: Japan to travel than there is in certain Latin American countries.

298
00:17:14,640 --> 00:17:17,800
Speaker 1: It stands to reason that that is the case. I

299
00:17:17,840 --> 00:17:21,760
Speaker 1: am friends with a number of Japanese reporters, one in particular,

300
00:17:22,240 --> 00:17:27,359
Speaker 1: and most American reporters, I would say, have yes relationships

301
00:17:27,359 --> 00:17:29,880
Speaker 1: with the Japanese reporters. I don't know that there are

302
00:17:30,240 --> 00:17:33,040
Speaker 1: social relationships where guys and women are going out with

303
00:17:33,080 --> 00:17:35,800
Speaker 1: the Japanese reporters. None of us go out very much

304
00:17:35,880 --> 00:17:38,880
Speaker 1: because we're working. But at the same time, these are

305
00:17:38,960 --> 00:17:43,520
Speaker 1: good relationships. And in fact, my relationships with one Japanese

306
00:17:43,520 --> 00:17:46,120
Speaker 1: reporter in particular has led to some stories. He's kind

307
00:17:46,119 --> 00:17:49,399
Speaker 1: of tipped me off to some stuff that would just

308
00:17:49,520 --> 00:17:53,200
Speaker 1: be interesting to our readers. So it's a great thing

309
00:17:53,600 --> 00:17:55,639
Speaker 1: that we get to meet people from all over the world,

310
00:17:55,680 --> 00:17:58,480
Speaker 1: not just players. That's cool, but it's cool to meet

311
00:17:58,480 --> 00:18:00,880
Speaker 1: people who are doing our jobs who live in other

312
00:18:00,960 --> 00:18:05,080
Speaker 1: countries as well. All Right, the final question today comes

313
00:18:05,119 --> 00:18:10,520
Speaker 1: from Chris, who asks a good question, is CJ Abrams underrated? Now?

314
00:18:10,600 --> 00:18:13,480
Speaker 1: You might remember last week, well, if you were reading,

315
00:18:13,680 --> 00:18:16,240
Speaker 1: you might remember that I wrote a story about Gunner

316
00:18:16,320 --> 00:18:19,920
Speaker 1: Henderson and Bobby Witch Junior. Basically posing the question, well,

317
00:18:20,000 --> 00:18:22,520
Speaker 1: which young shortstop is going to be the American League

318
00:18:22,520 --> 00:18:25,040
Speaker 1: starter in the All Star Game, Which player would you

319
00:18:25,160 --> 00:18:29,160
Speaker 1: rather have, etc. I mentioned in that story that these

320
00:18:29,160 --> 00:18:32,080
Speaker 1: were only two of the great young shortstops in the

321
00:18:32,119 --> 00:18:35,160
Speaker 1: game right now. Elie de la Cruz the National League.

322
00:18:35,200 --> 00:18:39,280
Speaker 1: Mason winn is another one, and yes cj. Abrams belongs

323
00:18:39,359 --> 00:18:42,520
Speaker 1: on that list. He of course was the centerpiece of

324
00:18:42,560 --> 00:18:45,159
Speaker 1: the wan Sota trade along with Mackenzie Gore between the

325
00:18:45,280 --> 00:18:49,120
Speaker 1: Nationals and the Padres, and he is looking like a

326
00:18:49,160 --> 00:18:53,240
Speaker 1: really good player now. Is he underrated? I would say

327
00:18:53,240 --> 00:18:55,760
Speaker 1: he's underrated because he's on the Nationals, a team that's

328
00:18:55,840 --> 00:18:59,000
Speaker 1: kind of out of the general conversation right now, and

329
00:18:59,320 --> 00:19:01,360
Speaker 1: he doesn't get a lot of attention because of that.

330
00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:04,879
Speaker 1: But I would also say that he's probably not at

331
00:19:04,880 --> 00:19:07,119
Speaker 1: the same level. Definitely not at the same level as

332
00:19:07,160 --> 00:19:10,840
Speaker 1: Henderson and Wick Junior. He's kind of on that next tier.

333
00:19:11,080 --> 00:19:13,040
Speaker 1: Elie de la Cruz is a little bit different to

334
00:19:13,240 --> 00:19:16,840
Speaker 1: O'Neil Cruz. Those are different kinds of players, but C. J.

335
00:19:16,960 --> 00:19:20,160
Speaker 1: Abrams is an interesting player for sure. He's twenty three

336
00:19:20,200 --> 00:19:23,679
Speaker 1: years old, still quite young. His on base percentage is

337
00:19:23,720 --> 00:19:26,000
Speaker 1: why he is not an elite guy. Yet it's only

338
00:19:26,040 --> 00:19:29,600
Speaker 1: three ten, but he's got nine home runs already. He

339
00:19:29,680 --> 00:19:32,679
Speaker 1: hit eighteen last year. He's a guy that if you

340
00:19:32,680 --> 00:19:34,720
Speaker 1: look at him, you wouldn't think would be hitting for power.

341
00:19:35,240 --> 00:19:38,160
Speaker 1: But he is a player who offensively is well above

342
00:19:38,240 --> 00:19:42,040
Speaker 1: league average based on ops Plus. And he's a guy

343
00:19:42,040 --> 00:19:44,879
Speaker 1: who I would imagine is going to continue to get better.

344
00:19:44,920 --> 00:19:47,159
Speaker 1: So cj. Abrams might not be at the level of

345
00:19:47,240 --> 00:19:49,960
Speaker 1: some of these other young shortstops, but he's a pretty

346
00:19:50,040 --> 00:19:52,200
Speaker 1: dawn good player. I would not be surprised to see

347
00:19:52,280 --> 00:19:56,120
Speaker 1: him make multiple All Star appearances in the future. Thanks

348
00:19:56,119 --> 00:19:59,200
Speaker 1: everyone for your questions, Thanks everyone for watching, for listening.

349
00:19:59,440 --> 00:20:02,959
Speaker 1: You know where to f YouTube, Apple, Spotify, like us,

350
00:20:03,000 --> 00:20:06,320
Speaker 1: subscribe to us, follow us however you would want. We

351
00:20:06,400 --> 00:20:09,200
Speaker 1: will be back on Thursday the second edition of Fair

352
00:20:09,280 --> 00:20:12,000
Speaker 1: Territory this week, the one with Alana Rizzo. We're looking

353
00:20:12,040 --> 00:20:14,359
Speaker 1: forward to that. We'll see you guys in a couple

354
00:20:14,359 --> 00:20:14,800
Speaker 1: of days.

355
00:20:15,080 --> 00:20:17,520
Speaker 2: So if you're new to the BETMGM party, the bonus

356
00:20:17,560 --> 00:20:19,560
Speaker 2: code is foul. Sign up and deposit at least ten

357
00:20:19,600 --> 00:20:21,639
Speaker 2: bucks into your account and then place a wager and

358
00:20:21,640 --> 00:20:23,920
Speaker 2: receive up to fifteen hundred dollars back in bonus bets

359
00:20:23,920 --> 00:20:26,359
Speaker 2: if the bet loses, and if that happens, your bonus

360
00:20:26,359 --> 00:20:28,480
Speaker 2: bets will be available once your initial wager is settled.

361
00:20:28,560 --> 00:20:30,800
Speaker 2: Gambling problem work concerned called one hundred Gambling