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Speaker 1: What's up, everybody. Welcome into another edition of Crush City Territory.

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Speaker 1: I'm Channeler Rome, joined as always by Tyler Stafford, and

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Speaker 1: today a very special guest, new Astros assistant Major League

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Speaker 1: pitching coach Ethan Katz. Ethan, I know you're in snowy

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Speaker 1: Chicago right now, but I hope you're staying warm. How

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Speaker 1: are you and thanks for being here?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm great. Thanks for having me. It's yeah, it's

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Speaker 2: kind of cold out here, but we're making most of it.

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Speaker 1: I think a lot of people are eager to get

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Speaker 1: to know you, eager to get to kind of put

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Speaker 1: a face to a name. You're a name that's been

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Speaker 1: in baseball for a while now. A lot of people

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Speaker 1: know about you, but maybe haven't heard a ton from you,

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Speaker 1: and especially Astras fans certainly want to put a face

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Speaker 1: to a name. Can you just kind of give us

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Speaker 1: a little bit of background of how this offseason has

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Speaker 1: been for you and kind of how this opportunity with

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Speaker 1: the Astros came about out and what intrigued you about

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Speaker 1: coming to Houston.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean the you know, the off season was

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Speaker 2: kind of care I talked to a bunch of teams

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Speaker 2: and you know, Joe reached out one night I was

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Speaker 2: cooking dinner, reached back out and he wanted to give

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Speaker 2: me out to Houston and got a chance to meet everybody,

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Speaker 2: which was great. It was a really good experience for

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Speaker 2: me when trying to make it a really you know,

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Speaker 2: tough decision for me in my future, but getting to

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Speaker 2: meet everybody from Joe, Josh, Dana, like, it was great

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Speaker 2: and I really got to see kind of like, you know,

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Speaker 2: the inner workings upstairs and how everybody communicates well along

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Speaker 2: with you know, interviewing with you know, eight various panels.

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Speaker 2: So it was really good from my standpoint just to

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Speaker 2: kind of get to see the organization, understand the organization.

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Speaker 2: It's much better than doing a zoom and you know,

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Speaker 2: obviously that's part of the process doing that, but like

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Speaker 2: when you get to meet somebody face to face and

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Speaker 2: talk to it, it really was like this is a

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Speaker 2: great place. And it really wasn't on my my BINGO

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Speaker 2: card because I know the astros of Ventoriosi is doing

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Speaker 2: a great job developing pitchers and you know the people within,

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Speaker 2: they've always kind of promoted from within, So it wasn't

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Speaker 2: something that I really thought that that was an option

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Speaker 2: or opportunity really and then when when they called, it

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Speaker 2: was like, this is this could be a great opportunity

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Speaker 2: for me, and you know, obviously this is where I'm at.

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Speaker 2: So I'm very excited. I know, with.

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Speaker 3: Any sort of coaching or you know, things like that,

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Speaker 3: there's a line of industry secrets that we we don't

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Speaker 3: want to let out. But do you do you have

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Speaker 3: a sense of what made you so valuable to Joe,

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Speaker 3: Like what what is it about you or your coaching

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Speaker 3: style that you think you bring to the astros that

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Speaker 3: they were looking for?

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Speaker 2: Well, I know, you know one thing that you know, a

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Speaker 2: lot of teams do. They do a lot of homework, right, like,

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Speaker 2: so they talked to various players, front offices, coaches, So

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Speaker 2: I think they got to learn a lot about me

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Speaker 2: before I even walked into the building and got to

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Speaker 2: talk to them. So I think they got you know,

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Speaker 2: they had to hear about how I connect really well

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Speaker 2: with players, like all the different aspects I've been able

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Speaker 2: to really help players while connecting with them. So I

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Speaker 2: think that really was probably something that was very intriguing.

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Speaker 2: That's something that's been you know, I'm very blessed that

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Speaker 2: a lot of people have talked well about me in

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Speaker 2: this game, and players have vowed for me, So I

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Speaker 2: think that was like a starting point, right, So, like

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Speaker 2: they kind of had an idea about what I was

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Speaker 2: about how I go about my business every day. So

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Speaker 2: I think that that really helped me getting the opportunity

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Speaker 2: to talk to the Astros.

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Speaker 1: You have a lengthy list of players that you have

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Speaker 1: coach and the players that have really really succeeded under

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Speaker 1: your watch, and I want to get to those in

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Speaker 1: a minute. But something you did say is that you

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Speaker 1: talk to a number of teams this offseason. I'm sure

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Speaker 1: you were very highly sought after because of the work

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Speaker 1: you did in Chicago. I'm curious what made the Astros

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Speaker 1: the team that of you're talking all these teams. What

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Speaker 1: made the Astros the place that you thought, you know,

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Speaker 1: all right, these other teams are great and all, but

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Speaker 1: I want to be here.

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Speaker 2: Well, I mean playing against them in twenty one in

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Speaker 2: the playoffs, I mean you can't be in them joining them, right,

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Speaker 2: So it's like it was. It was something that has

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Speaker 2: always been intriguing to me. I've always like watched them,

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Speaker 2: even in the minor leagues, watching kind of the innovation

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Speaker 2: of the astros, right, Like I remember being in low

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Speaker 2: Way and and there's you know, we're our guys are hitting,

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Speaker 2: we have they have a shift on. We're grounding into

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Speaker 2: double plays when I'm thinking it's a base hit, I'm like,

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Speaker 2: what's going on here? They're just the head of the curve, right,

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Speaker 2: And it just was really something that for me, it

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Speaker 2: was just kind of I wanted to challenge myself a

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Speaker 2: different opportunity, and it was, you know, just everything they've done,

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Speaker 2: they're winning. You know, that's that's important to me. I

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Speaker 2: want to win. I want to be able to see,

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Speaker 2: you know, help guys along the way. But also they're

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Speaker 2: a very good pitching development program, which I thought, you know,

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Speaker 2: would be exciting for me to kind of get on

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Speaker 2: board and trying to help.

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Speaker 1: I wonder what your conversations were like with Josh Miller,

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Speaker 1: the lead pitch For those that are not listening, those

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Speaker 1: that don't know that are listening, Josh Miller, the lead

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Speaker 1: pitching coach has been is one of those guys Ethan

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Speaker 1: that you mentioned has been in the Ashers organization forever

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Speaker 1: and just worked his way up. He's one of those

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Speaker 1: kind of internal promotion guys that every time somebody left,

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Speaker 1: Josh just kept getting going up the hierarchy. I wonder

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Speaker 1: what you guys's conversations were like during this process and

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Speaker 1: whether there's some commonalities in the way you guys view

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Speaker 1: pitching and view pitching development.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, me and him

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Speaker 2: have kind of a very similar background in a sense

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Speaker 2: of like he's done a lot throughout the system to

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Speaker 2: kind of get to where he's at. I've done it

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Speaker 2: through various different organizations to get there. But you know,

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Speaker 2: we both have pretty much worn every single hat and

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Speaker 2: so like. But just like his personality was very warming

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Speaker 2: when I talked to him and I was able to

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Speaker 2: kind of talk about what I've done, you talked about

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Speaker 2: what he did, and it was kind of like, Okay,

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Speaker 2: this really gels really well because you know a lot

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Speaker 2: of things where I've been and sometimes in the minor

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Speaker 2: league seing it from a different view, like if the

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Speaker 2: cohesiveness of the two that are three nowadays is not there,

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Speaker 2: it really suffers on the field and for the players

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Speaker 2: as well. But we really meshed really well. I kind

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Speaker 2: of talked a lot about It was more obviously I

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Speaker 2: was being interviewed so kind of explaining my process and

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Speaker 2: stuff that I did. But we seem to really mesh

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Speaker 2: with everything we've talked about and really looking forward to

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Speaker 2: continuing our conversations and working together with this process.

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Speaker 3: When I hear the word mesh, I think there are

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Speaker 3: two possibilities. There's like, we're exactly the same, right, and

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Speaker 3: so we mesh because we do things exactly the same,

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Speaker 3: we think along the same line, so we just divvy

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Speaker 3: up task. But there's also mesh in the sense of like, well,

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Speaker 3: you do these things really well, and I do these

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Speaker 3: things really well, and together we kind of create that.

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Speaker 3: Do you have a sense of with y'all sorts of

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Speaker 3: I mean, I know it's been a week, but you know,

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Speaker 3: do you have a sense of kind of which category

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Speaker 3: you would say you guys fall into.

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Speaker 2: I think it's a little early right now, because my

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Speaker 2: part of my job is I need to kind of

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Speaker 2: help him out right and kind of figure out what

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Speaker 2: he needs and kind of not you know, they talk

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Speaker 2: the world about Gomer. I'm taking over for right, and

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Speaker 2: so like kind of figure out what did he do

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Speaker 2: to kind of support Josh or how they work together, right,

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Speaker 2: So you know, we'll have deeper conversations right now, it's

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Speaker 2: just trying to like, hey, let's get you situated with

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Speaker 2: the organization, let's get you your computer, let's kind of

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Speaker 2: get you up and up and running. So we haven't

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Speaker 2: had those conversations just yet, but like you know, obviously

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Speaker 2: I want to do whatever I can to take things

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Speaker 2: off his plate from my experiences, try to help him

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Speaker 2: in any way possible. You know, I do have a

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Speaker 2: relationship with bennets Us, So he got to talk to me.

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Speaker 2: We talked yesterday and we were talking a little bit

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Speaker 2: about everything about the Astros, and he talked about Josh

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Speaker 2: and how great he is and his personality, and it's

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Speaker 2: like we have it seems like a very similar personality

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Speaker 2: the way he was describing it is how we go

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Speaker 2: about our business. So I think from that standpoint, it

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Speaker 2: should be very, very beneficial to the players.

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Speaker 1: Was there any part of you that, as you're going

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Speaker 1: through this and the ad and Joe calls you, you

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Speaker 1: mentioned like you've played against this team for a very

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Speaker 1: long time. You've been in the other dugout in the

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Speaker 1: minor leagues and the major leagues. You have seen how

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Speaker 1: they have taken pictures that maybe some other teams couldn't

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Speaker 1: unlock and they have unlocked. Was there any part of

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Speaker 1: you that was just curious as to like how they're

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Speaker 1: doing this and maybe you wanted to to to see,

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Speaker 1: like maybe see under the hood and kind of how

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Speaker 1: how this all works. Was there any party that was

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Speaker 1: just curious about how they keep doing this?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I think definitely, Right, that's that's kind

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Speaker 2: of like you want to put your put your going

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Speaker 2: to the place where you feel like you can help,

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Speaker 2: but also like there's an opportunity to kind of see

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Speaker 2: what is different here, right because I've done it, you know,

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Speaker 2: running it for the White Sox for five years, Like

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Speaker 2: you know, that's you know, now you're getting to go

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Speaker 2: to a different organization and kind of see what was different.

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Speaker 2: Like when I went from San Francisco to the White Sox,

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Speaker 2: it was a completely different situation just from you know,

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Speaker 2: the infrastructure, how they communicate and stuff like that. So

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Speaker 2: learning a different organization is always new, but it's also

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Speaker 2: exciting too at the same time because it gives you

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Speaker 2: a chance to kind of give it an opportunity to

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Speaker 2: kind of grow and you kind of spread your wings

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Speaker 2: and try to maximize your coaching talents to help the

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Speaker 2: players even more so it's something that I'm looking forward

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Speaker 2: to and kind of seeing, yeah, because I mean there's

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Speaker 2: been a lot of successful pitchers, There's been a lot

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Speaker 2: of deep playoff runs, and you know, being a part

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Speaker 2: of that, I'm excited to see what goes on to

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Speaker 2: kind of help support.

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Speaker 3: That real quickie. So I am a former teacher and coach,

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Speaker 3: So I do want to talk about high school baseball here?

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Speaker 3: And did you teach it all? Were you just coaching?

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Speaker 1: No?

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Speaker 2: I was just coaching.

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Speaker 3: Had they had a full time pitching coach at a

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Speaker 3: high school that didn't have to teach?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I I honestly fell into coaching by accident.

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Speaker 2: I was The intentions were to continue playing, and I

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Speaker 2: was playing after I got released from the Rockies playing

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Speaker 2: pinning ball one year. I wanted to go back again.

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Speaker 2: But I was working out at the school because I

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Speaker 2: knew the assistant pitching coach and he was just like, hey,

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Speaker 2: do you mind helping some of these pitchers? And I

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Speaker 2: was like sure, no problem, Like I enjoy talking to

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Speaker 2: a lot of them. I'll hang out and you know,

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Speaker 2: I'm gonna go play. And so they hired me for

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Speaker 2: like basically half of a semester, I guess you could say,

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Speaker 2: and then it was like, you know what, I really

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Speaker 2: enjoy this, and I just walked away. So I didn't.

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Speaker 2: I just I came into coaching by accident. So I

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Speaker 2: was like, once I got into coaching, it was like,

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Speaker 2: you know, part time job, and then I was doing

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Speaker 2: like club ball to private less to kind of supplement

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Speaker 2: everything else, and then it just kind of grew after that.

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Speaker 3: So when I was coaching, I coached for like five years.

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Speaker 4: Now.

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Speaker 3: Granted, Baytown, Texas is not the hotbed of talent that

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Speaker 3: the greater Los Angeles area is, so I'm aware that

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Speaker 3: we're on a little bit of a different playing field.

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Speaker 3: But in my five years of coaching, I had one

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Speaker 3: kid who went on to play D two college basketball,

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Speaker 3: and that kid was so much better than everyone else

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Speaker 3: in seventh grade it was laughable, Like we could tell

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Speaker 3: day one of practice like this kid is special. You

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Speaker 3: had three big leaguers on your high school baseball team,

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Speaker 3: for those of you that don't know, Eden coach Max Freed,

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Speaker 3: Lucas Gilito, and Jack Flaherty at the Harvard Westlake High School.

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Speaker 1: Just what did that look like?

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Speaker 3: As like fifteen year olds and six year olds are

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Speaker 3: facing off guys who not only made the big leagues

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Speaker 3: but are like legitimate, staying power, big leaders. What what

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Speaker 3: did that look like on a on a Friday night.

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Speaker 2: It was you know, first of all, when I started

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Speaker 2: coaching him, I had no idea, Like I loved really

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Speaker 2: kid like Lucas's, but he was a mess when I messed.

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Speaker 2: When I first met him, he was playing bullpens. He

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Speaker 2: was falling down as a sophomore. I mean, he's come

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Speaker 2: a long way, but there was high upside. The arm

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Speaker 2: talent was through the roof. So it was like, you know,

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Speaker 2: Jack was a lot more polished. He was a great

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Speaker 2: strike thrower, but the villa was a tick down. But

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Speaker 2: he could throw three pitches really well. We were able

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Speaker 2: to add a slider, which is like, you know, was

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Speaker 2: staple to get to the big leagues. And then Max

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Speaker 2: was you know, a big time left He with that

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Speaker 2: same curve boy he displays today. So it was like

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Speaker 2: I had no idea I knew what really good players

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Speaker 2: look like then guys going to pro ball based on

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Speaker 2: my time playing, I had no idea they were going

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Speaker 2: to be like, you know, there's a World Series All

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Speaker 2: Star appearances, Like I had no idea that that was

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Speaker 2: going to be kind of like the end result. And

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Speaker 2: they're still you know, writing their book, but it's kind

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Speaker 2: of you know, it's exciting. But they were, I mean,

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Speaker 2: they were dominant. They were dominant. I mean it was

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Speaker 2: it was, you know, pretty special. Like we actually did

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Speaker 2: not we won a national championship after Lucas and Max

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Speaker 2: left with just Jack because Jack was two years younger.

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Speaker 2: So it was it was I and I didn't know

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Speaker 2: from there that I would be coaching in pro ball

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Speaker 2: and all the you know, various stops I've had throughout

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Speaker 2: the I just was enjoying the moment and thought I

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Speaker 2: would like coaching, and you know, we developed some guys

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Speaker 2: and we still have very very close relationships to this day.

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Speaker 3: They have national championships for high school baseball. Oh yeah,

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Speaker 3: oh yeah, I'm missing out again.

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Speaker 4: Yeah.

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Speaker 3: So, although I did see Yankees legend Brett Marshall pitch

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Speaker 3: for my high school team, that's that's the only big

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Speaker 3: leaguer I ever saw growing up.

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Speaker 1: Ethan another big leaguer. You've been fortunate to be around

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Speaker 1: a good bit, Dylan Cees. You know, I remember Opening

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Speaker 1: Day I believe it was twenty twenty three. I believe

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Speaker 1: it was the I believe it was the opener when

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Speaker 1: the Ashers got their twenty twenty two World Series rings. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: Dylan went out there and absolutely shoved against Fromber on

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Speaker 1: opening day in twenty twenty three. You worked with him

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Speaker 1: obviously extensively with the White Sox. It became official yesterday

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Speaker 1: that he is going to be a very, very very

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Speaker 1: rich man for a very long time. Seven years, two

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Speaker 1: hundred and ten million dollars at the Blue Jays. How

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Speaker 1: happy are you for Dylan to get that deal and

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Speaker 1: to secure what you know, he's been working toward his

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Speaker 1: whole life and maybe through your eyes kind of how

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Speaker 1: he evolved to get to that point.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I'm a static, but they can really

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Speaker 2: secure years and financial stability like that for lifetime generator.

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Speaker 2: It's it's amazing, right, But it was, you know, it

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Speaker 2: was a process that was like one of my biggest

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Speaker 2: challenges when I took on the job with the White Sox.

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Speaker 2: It was a very talented picture that you know, let's

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Speaker 2: identify what he does, well, there's a strike zone and

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Speaker 2: just try to get as many you know, strikes out

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Speaker 2: of him, but then really understanding that, you know, there

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Speaker 2: was a slider that was underutilized that could really help him.

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Speaker 2: And it got better as time went on. You know,

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Speaker 2: we made some changes with his delivery, we challenged him

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Speaker 2: day to day, and to his credit, he worked extremely

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Speaker 2: hard to get to where he's at today. You know,

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Speaker 2: we we had a great relationship. We're still where. He

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Speaker 2: called me right after it happened to tell me that,

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Speaker 2: and I couldn't be more happy for him. But it

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Speaker 2: was it's something he worked extremely hard. If you watch

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Speaker 2: the evolution of Dylan to like where he is today,

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Speaker 2: kind of watching even like where he was in the leagues,

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Speaker 2: it's it's credit, it's a great story. It's it's it's

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Speaker 2: something that this guy was like like Lucas when I

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Speaker 2: met him, extremely talented, just needs some polishing, right and

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Speaker 2: you know, when you have talent and you're just a coach,

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Speaker 2: is just a little bit of a support system. But

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Speaker 2: it was like something that we really gelled really well together,

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Speaker 2: and the time was right in his career and we

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Speaker 2: were able to kind of send him on his way

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Speaker 2: after we traded him, and now he's up in Canada

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Speaker 2: and he's done very well. From stuff. I'm very proud

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Speaker 2: from him.

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Speaker 3: I know the answer to this is all of the above.

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Speaker 3: So I'm taking that answer away from you preemptively. So

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Speaker 3: you got to you got to pick one of these.

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Speaker 3: But when you're when you're evaluating a picture, when you're

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Speaker 3: trying to help them, you know, improve, there are a

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Speaker 3: lot of different ways to do that, whether it's watching

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Speaker 3: them in person, kind of seeing them there, watching on video,

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Speaker 3: looking at mechanical stuff, and then also the analytics side

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Speaker 3: of things of looking at you know, spin rates and

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Speaker 3: arm extension and those types of things. Of those three,

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Speaker 3: which one do you feel is like closest to home

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Speaker 3: to you, where you feel like most comfortable helping a

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Speaker 3: picture out?

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Speaker 2: It is all I would say, it is all the above,

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Speaker 2: and I know that's not the It's something like you know,

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Speaker 2: there's always like I'll give it an example, like when

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Speaker 2: I got the job with the White Sox, right, like,

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Speaker 2: Carlos Rodin was a guy that was he wasn't in

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Speaker 2: the best spot. Let's just say, like just watching where

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Speaker 2: he was, the vello had declined, the mechanics had changed,

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Speaker 2: and you know, so I went back and I had

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Speaker 2: to watch like YouTube of him in college and kind

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Speaker 2: of see where he was to make him a top

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Speaker 2: pick and kind of okay, now let's try to restore

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Speaker 2: that right, whether it's you know, Dylan tapping into a

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Speaker 2: slider more like, along with mechanics. So there's like there's

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Speaker 2: different avenues where you you know, you can up usage,

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Speaker 2: you can fix mechanics, you can change mechanics, like Lucas

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Speaker 2: completely we changed his arm actually completely from where he

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Speaker 2: was because an adjustment was needed. So there's different variations

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Speaker 2: of what a player might need at the given time.

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Speaker 2: So it's just like I feel comfortable with anything. It's

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Speaker 2: just kind of understanding what's what's needed in the in

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Speaker 2: certain moment.

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Speaker 3: So were you involved in the the arm slot for

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Speaker 3: Giulido with the kind of short arming that that we

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Speaker 3: talked about it in our last episode of that has

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Speaker 3: seemed to be a little bit more in vogue recently.

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Speaker 3: Was that something specifically for him or is that more

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Speaker 3: of a league wide thing? You know, what's the thought

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Speaker 3: process behind kind of that shorter arm slot.

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Speaker 2: Well, he had a terrible eighteen I think it was eighteen,

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Speaker 2: right eighteen, and it was like offseason came we at

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Speaker 2: that time. It was you know, him Jack and Max

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Speaker 2: were all in LA, so we always worked out together.

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Speaker 2: But he was like, that's cool, Ethn give me everything

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Speaker 2: he got.

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Speaker 1: I don't.

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Speaker 2: I something's got to change or I'm not going to

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Speaker 2: be a big league anymore. Like that, That's kind of

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Speaker 2: where he was. And literally I just I handed him

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Speaker 2: apply a ball and I was like, throw this ball

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Speaker 2: and he was like out on my shoulder. I said,

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Speaker 2: that's my point, like, you're not getting in good spots.

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Speaker 2: And then like literally ten minutes, there was an arm

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Speaker 2: change and it happened fast, rapidly. You know, he had

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Speaker 2: a great offseason then was an All Star in nineteen

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Speaker 2: and that was like, you know, his descent to who

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Speaker 2: he is today. So yeah, it was it was basically

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Speaker 2: a one day process and then obviously there was like

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Speaker 2: maintenance throughout the whole off season to get to that point.

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Speaker 2: But yeah, there was that, there was a change.

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Speaker 1: I know there's a ton of people listening right now

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Speaker 1: that are begging us to just go down the Astros

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Speaker 1: roster and ask you your thoughts on all these pictures.

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Speaker 1: I'm not going to do that to you, because, as

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Speaker 1: you said, you're trying to get your laptop, You're trying

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Speaker 1: to get onboarded.

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Speaker 3: You're trying to take an email phishing HR training right.

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Speaker 1: Right, Like, let's I want to I want to give

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Speaker 1: you some time to really digest what you have here.

400
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Speaker 1: But I do want to ask about one guy because

401
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Speaker 1: I think he I think what he did last year

402
00:20:03,040 --> 00:20:05,480
Speaker 1: certainly resonated around the league and he's certainly a guy

403
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Speaker 1: that maybe from the other dugout you saw, evolved as

404
00:20:09,160 --> 00:20:12,160
Speaker 1: his career is going on. But Hunter Brown obviously top

405
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Speaker 1: three al Cy Young final is finished in the top

406
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Speaker 1: three in Cy Young voting. Just from afar, What have

407
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Speaker 1: your impressions been of watching Hunter Brown and how excited

408
00:20:20,960 --> 00:20:22,680
Speaker 1: are you to now, you know, get your hands on

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Speaker 1: him and be able to work with him day to

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Speaker 1: day and be able to see what he's like in person.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean it's impressive, right, like it the he's

412
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Speaker 2: able to do so much with the baseball along with

413
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Speaker 2: like plus plus stuff and kind of just watching you know,

414
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Speaker 2: the year he had obviously not the same division, so

415
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Speaker 2: I get to see him as much. But obviously there's

416
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Speaker 2: a lot of highlights of him over and over again,

417
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Speaker 2: but extremely talented arm you know, obviously the year he had,

418
00:20:52,640 --> 00:20:55,920
Speaker 2: the evolution of him it kind of does remind me

419
00:20:55,960 --> 00:20:57,679
Speaker 2: a little bit of Dylan, just kind of like how

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Speaker 2: he's really stepped to the scene and kind of really

421
00:21:00,640 --> 00:21:03,880
Speaker 2: stepped up over the years. So it's I'm really looking

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Speaker 2: forward to, you know, Like I said, I talked to Bennisuza.

423
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Speaker 2: He gave me like a little bit of rundown of

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Speaker 2: each guy and stuff like that. And you know, I

425
00:21:09,560 --> 00:21:12,680
Speaker 2: from Afar like just watching him and how he's a bulldog.

426
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Speaker 2: He's a competitor, which you that's what you want from

427
00:21:16,119 --> 00:21:19,080
Speaker 2: the top dog on the mount. So getting looking forward

428
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Speaker 2: to meeting him and getting to know him a little

429
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Speaker 2: bit more. But like he's he's everything he wanted in

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Speaker 2: a number one. It's pretty impressive.

431
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Speaker 1: He will be that. He will be the Astros number one,

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Speaker 1: presumed opening day starter, ace of the staff heading into

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty six, a staff that Ethan Katz will help

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Speaker 1: to guide through the twenty twenty sixties. And Ethan, we

435
00:21:39,359 --> 00:21:42,120
Speaker 1: really appreciate you taking some time. I know, I told

436
00:21:42,119 --> 00:21:43,960
Speaker 1: you i'd keep you for ten or fifteen minutes. We're

437
00:21:43,960 --> 00:21:45,800
Speaker 1: crossing the twenty two minute marks. I want to be

438
00:21:45,840 --> 00:21:47,800
Speaker 1: a man on my word and uh and let you

439
00:21:47,880 --> 00:21:50,200
Speaker 1: get on. I know, you've got a busy day, maybe

440
00:21:50,280 --> 00:21:52,399
Speaker 1: have some hr stuff to do. I don't know, but

441
00:21:53,560 --> 00:21:55,840
Speaker 1: we appreciate this. This was great. Thank you so much

442
00:21:55,880 --> 00:21:58,240
Speaker 1: for your insight and look forward to seeing you in

443
00:21:58,320 --> 00:22:00,240
Speaker 1: West Palm Beach in a couple of months. It's for

444
00:22:00,400 --> 00:22:01,000
Speaker 1: spring training.

445
00:22:01,480 --> 00:22:03,320
Speaker 2: Yeah, looking forward to it. Thanks for having me guys,

446
00:22:03,359 --> 00:22:04,760
Speaker 2: Thank you, Thanks Ethan.

447
00:22:05,840 --> 00:22:07,760
Speaker 1: We will be back right after this message from our

448
00:22:07,840 --> 00:22:10,120
Speaker 1: friends of foul Territory.

449
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Speaker 1: That was fun, Tyler, Yeah all right, I know again,

469
00:23:15,600 --> 00:23:17,440
Speaker 1: like I mentioned it in the interview, I know, people

470
00:23:17,520 --> 00:23:19,119
Speaker 1: just wanted me to sit here and run down the

471
00:23:19,640 --> 00:23:22,000
Speaker 1: roster of pictures to see what he had to do.

472
00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:24,440
Speaker 1: But I mean, I wanted to be fair to Ethan

473
00:23:24,520 --> 00:23:26,760
Speaker 1: that he hasn't been He hasn't been officially in the

474
00:23:26,880 --> 00:23:29,239
Speaker 1: organization very long, and I didn't want to put him

475
00:23:29,280 --> 00:23:29,760
Speaker 1: on the spot.

476
00:23:29,880 --> 00:23:33,840
Speaker 3: So it's been two business days, I think. I mean,

477
00:23:33,880 --> 00:23:38,399
Speaker 3: he got hired over the Thanksgiving break Wednesdays.

478
00:23:37,840 --> 00:23:39,639
Speaker 1: So there will be a time and place for that.

479
00:23:39,800 --> 00:23:43,000
Speaker 1: But I thought, you know, I thought even then, I

480
00:23:43,280 --> 00:23:45,639
Speaker 1: thought his insight was fascinating. I thought the way he

481
00:23:45,760 --> 00:23:49,920
Speaker 1: got into the profession, the connections he has, and the

482
00:23:50,200 --> 00:23:52,760
Speaker 1: amount of talent that he has worked with. I thought

483
00:23:52,760 --> 00:23:54,960
Speaker 1: it was fascinating to hear about guys. If you like

484
00:23:55,040 --> 00:23:57,560
Speaker 1: hearing this stuff, if you like, if you like the

485
00:23:57,640 --> 00:24:02,760
Speaker 1: interviews we get, we please subscribe to Apple Spotify, Please

486
00:24:02,840 --> 00:24:05,280
Speaker 1: hit like. If you're watching on YouTube, please hit like on.

487
00:24:05,359 --> 00:24:07,640
Speaker 3: That one helps us a lot more than you would think,

488
00:24:08,200 --> 00:24:10,600
Speaker 3: So just just click the button every time and it

489
00:24:10,720 --> 00:24:11,200
Speaker 3: is very.

490
00:24:12,720 --> 00:24:14,320
Speaker 1: Yeah, all you got to do is just hit like.

491
00:24:14,880 --> 00:24:18,159
Speaker 1: You can subscribe to the YouTube channel, subscribe to Apple,

492
00:24:18,280 --> 00:24:20,240
Speaker 1: and Spotify really helps us out a lot. We usually

493
00:24:20,240 --> 00:24:22,520
Speaker 1: say that at the end of the episode, but our

494
00:24:22,600 --> 00:24:24,960
Speaker 1: overlords have said that maybe saying it earlier in the

495
00:24:25,000 --> 00:24:26,439
Speaker 1: episode catches ears.

496
00:24:26,520 --> 00:24:29,680
Speaker 3: So if you could get some of the Spotify wrap

497
00:24:29,880 --> 00:24:33,080
Speaker 3: stuff today, I have, like, we're pretty hard cool man.

498
00:24:33,600 --> 00:24:37,199
Speaker 1: It's like me, It's like us, Sabrina Carpenter, Taylor Swift,

499
00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:38,760
Speaker 1: It's like we're up there.

500
00:24:39,400 --> 00:24:44,200
Speaker 3: Mine was all frozen soundtrack stuff because our our Alexa

501
00:24:44,320 --> 00:24:47,119
Speaker 3: is tied to my Spotify. So anytime we listen to

502
00:24:47,240 --> 00:24:49,640
Speaker 3: Let It Go in the house, it thinks that I'm

503
00:24:49,720 --> 00:24:53,280
Speaker 3: listening to it two hundred times throughout the year. But

504
00:24:53,560 --> 00:24:56,520
Speaker 3: I will say, just very briefly, like we started this

505
00:24:56,600 --> 00:25:01,160
Speaker 3: a year ago. We had no idea if anyone would

506
00:25:01,160 --> 00:25:03,520
Speaker 3: listen to this or like it. And I'm aware that

507
00:25:03,600 --> 00:25:06,280
Speaker 3: we're putting out two or three of these a week,

508
00:25:06,359 --> 00:25:08,399
Speaker 3: and they're like an hour long, and so I know

509
00:25:08,600 --> 00:25:12,000
Speaker 3: that that time adds up, but seeing it written out,

510
00:25:12,240 --> 00:25:15,680
Speaker 3: like someone tweeted us today that had like eight thousand

511
00:25:15,840 --> 00:25:19,560
Speaker 3: minutes listen to us, which was like sixty two or

512
00:25:19,640 --> 00:25:24,720
Speaker 3: sixty three hours or something. That's crazy. And I'm so

513
00:25:24,960 --> 00:25:28,280
Speaker 3: grateful for everybody that is listening and enjoying this because

514
00:25:28,320 --> 00:25:30,480
Speaker 3: it's really fun. Chandler and I would do this anyway

515
00:25:30,560 --> 00:25:32,320
Speaker 3: even if none of you were. We were doing it

516
00:25:32,920 --> 00:25:34,720
Speaker 3: not to put it out, but Chandler and I were

517
00:25:34,920 --> 00:25:38,879
Speaker 3: talking about all of these things just through text anyway.

518
00:25:38,920 --> 00:25:40,639
Speaker 3: When he asked me to start the podcast, I was like,

519
00:25:40,840 --> 00:25:42,520
Speaker 3: I was going to ask you these things anyway, we

520
00:25:42,600 --> 00:25:45,720
Speaker 3: might as well do it on a microphone. So it's

521
00:25:46,040 --> 00:25:49,000
Speaker 3: really great. Thank you guys for listening and supporting and

522
00:25:49,080 --> 00:25:51,520
Speaker 3: sharing it with people. It's really cool.

523
00:25:52,200 --> 00:25:56,760
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's been It's exceeded my expectations. Certainly, maybe for

524
00:25:56,880 --> 00:26:00,399
Speaker 1: this next year we can further exceed I expectations. But

525
00:26:01,760 --> 00:26:05,760
Speaker 1: some some housekeeping, some some stuff before the winter meetings

526
00:26:05,800 --> 00:26:07,480
Speaker 1: in the next couple of days, the Ashers did sign

527
00:26:07,520 --> 00:26:13,439
Speaker 1: a pitcher agreed my Josh Reddick impression sure, how are

528
00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:16,680
Speaker 1: you going to give two point six million dollars to

529
00:26:16,800 --> 00:26:19,119
Speaker 1: a guy that's never thrown a pitch in the big leagues.

530
00:26:20,880 --> 00:26:22,760
Speaker 1: Hope for the Ashers, they have to hope this goes

531
00:26:22,800 --> 00:26:25,159
Speaker 1: as well as you should become about him. I'm certainly

532
00:26:25,240 --> 00:26:27,800
Speaker 1: less expensive, and I will get into that as to

533
00:26:27,960 --> 00:26:30,040
Speaker 1: kind of the full scope of it. But yeah, the

534
00:26:30,119 --> 00:26:33,120
Speaker 1: Ashers have agreed to a one year, two point six

535
00:26:33,200 --> 00:26:36,520
Speaker 1: million dollar deal with Ryan Weiss, a right hander that

536
00:26:37,400 --> 00:26:40,000
Speaker 1: really put himself on the map and turned his career

537
00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:43,000
Speaker 1: around the last two years in the KBO in Korea.

538
00:26:43,520 --> 00:26:45,920
Speaker 1: He started forty six games in the KBO, had a

539
00:26:46,040 --> 00:26:50,399
Speaker 1: sub three e r A last season. More importantly, probably

540
00:26:50,480 --> 00:26:52,600
Speaker 1: for the Ashers, through one hundred and seventy eight innings

541
00:26:52,680 --> 00:26:55,120
Speaker 1: last year, and that is volume that they are desperately

542
00:26:55,160 --> 00:26:59,959
Speaker 1: going to need because, as we've discussed Fromerveldes is very

543
00:27:00,040 --> 00:27:02,720
Speaker 1: very likely not coming back. Ryan Gusto definitely is not

544
00:27:02,800 --> 00:27:06,960
Speaker 1: coming back. Those are two of your four most thrown

545
00:27:07,320 --> 00:27:09,280
Speaker 1: guys that threw the most innings on your team last year.

546
00:27:09,359 --> 00:27:11,520
Speaker 1: Hunter Brown is the only guy returning that has thrown

547
00:27:11,600 --> 00:27:13,520
Speaker 1: more than eighty six innings.

548
00:27:13,280 --> 00:27:16,240
Speaker 3: For this team, and Gusto was fourth on the team and.

549
00:27:16,359 --> 00:27:18,920
Speaker 1: Colton Gordon were He and Colton Gordon were tied for third.

550
00:27:18,920 --> 00:27:21,800
Speaker 1: They both threw eighty six innings and the Trouber and

551
00:27:21,920 --> 00:27:25,480
Speaker 1: Hunter through one hundred and something each. Yeah, that's where

552
00:27:25,480 --> 00:27:25,760
Speaker 1: they are.

553
00:27:26,119 --> 00:27:30,160
Speaker 3: That's crazy. He got traded at the deadline. That's that's nut.

554
00:27:31,080 --> 00:27:33,520
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's why they need innings. That's why they are

555
00:27:33,840 --> 00:27:38,160
Speaker 1: That's why they are doing this, And maybe that segues

556
00:27:38,200 --> 00:27:43,879
Speaker 1: into why they did this. As we have discussed, the

557
00:27:43,960 --> 00:27:49,239
Speaker 1: Astros are wary if not avoiding the luxury tax, at

558
00:27:49,320 --> 00:27:51,920
Speaker 1: least for the offseason. As we've seen with Jim Crane before,

559
00:27:52,320 --> 00:27:54,920
Speaker 1: he'll do this in the off season where he says

560
00:27:55,160 --> 00:27:57,760
Speaker 1: very firmly, I'm not going over the luxury tax. But

561
00:27:57,880 --> 00:28:00,280
Speaker 1: then if they get to the trade deadline and they're

562
00:28:00,320 --> 00:28:03,520
Speaker 1: in contention, he has shown a willingness to to to

563
00:28:03,680 --> 00:28:06,320
Speaker 1: bend on that stance and to allow the team to

564
00:28:06,320 --> 00:28:10,359
Speaker 1: cross the threshold. But for right now, they are not playing,

565
00:28:10,440 --> 00:28:12,240
Speaker 1: They are not operating as if they're going to be

566
00:28:12,280 --> 00:28:15,320
Speaker 1: able to have the financial wherewithal to cross selectory tax.

567
00:28:16,560 --> 00:28:16,960
Speaker 2: They need.

568
00:28:17,600 --> 00:28:20,720
Speaker 1: They need another left handed bat, They need at least

569
00:28:20,760 --> 00:28:23,399
Speaker 1: one more starting pitcher. I think they'd like another reliever.

570
00:28:23,960 --> 00:28:28,680
Speaker 1: All that to say, like their financial constraints coupled with

571
00:28:29,920 --> 00:28:32,680
Speaker 1: how high the prices are on the free agent market

572
00:28:32,800 --> 00:28:36,880
Speaker 1: right now see Dylan Ceese, even see Lucas Giolito, who

573
00:28:38,280 --> 00:28:40,920
Speaker 1: I think I still think would make a lot of

574
00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:44,880
Speaker 1: sense for this team, But in talking and in snooping around,

575
00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:47,640
Speaker 1: sounds like right now his price is too high and

576
00:28:47,920 --> 00:28:49,960
Speaker 1: it could be one of those things where if he's

577
00:28:50,000 --> 00:28:52,640
Speaker 1: not signed in early February and the price comes down,

578
00:28:52,720 --> 00:28:55,000
Speaker 1: maybe the Astros are certainly in the market for that,

579
00:28:55,160 --> 00:28:59,720
Speaker 1: but they are giving themselves a lot of high upside,

580
00:28:59,760 --> 00:29:03,040
Speaker 1: low risk insurance. They did it with Nate Pearson, friend

581
00:29:03,080 --> 00:29:07,160
Speaker 1: of the Pod, for on one point three five million

582
00:29:07,200 --> 00:29:09,959
Speaker 1: dollars for a year. Ryan Weiss is a little bit

583
00:29:10,040 --> 00:29:13,280
Speaker 1: more of a known commodity just in terms of durability,

584
00:29:13,480 --> 00:29:16,000
Speaker 1: in terms of being able to post. You know, Nate

585
00:29:16,040 --> 00:29:18,240
Speaker 1: Pearson has not been a starter for a very long time.

586
00:29:18,520 --> 00:29:20,480
Speaker 1: Ryan Weiss just came off one hundred and eighty innings

587
00:29:20,520 --> 00:29:24,840
Speaker 1: and the KBO. How the KBO translates to MLB is

588
00:29:25,760 --> 00:29:28,560
Speaker 1: It's a fascinating question. I'm not sure how it's going

589
00:29:28,600 --> 00:29:30,720
Speaker 1: to go for him, but I can tell you that

590
00:29:30,800 --> 00:29:33,280
Speaker 1: the Astros were very intrigued by a lot of the

591
00:29:33,400 --> 00:29:37,320
Speaker 1: KBO crop this year. They were very interested in Cody Ponce,

592
00:29:37,600 --> 00:29:40,960
Speaker 1: who was the KBO MVP. He signed with the Blue

593
00:29:41,040 --> 00:29:44,480
Speaker 1: Jays last night for three years and thirty million dollars. Again,

594
00:29:44,600 --> 00:29:49,360
Speaker 1: we're getting too prices that the Astros right now are

595
00:29:49,440 --> 00:29:51,440
Speaker 1: not able to meet or don't want to meet. So

596
00:29:51,920 --> 00:29:54,000
Speaker 1: what does that mean for the future of their rotation?

597
00:29:54,120 --> 00:29:55,880
Speaker 1: What does that mean for the future of the off season.

598
00:29:56,480 --> 00:29:59,320
Speaker 1: It has been it has been reiterated to me over

599
00:29:59,360 --> 00:30:02,640
Speaker 1: and over ti Or that if the Ashers are going

600
00:30:02,720 --> 00:30:04,760
Speaker 1: to keep addressing their rotation, they are going to get

601
00:30:04,920 --> 00:30:11,040
Speaker 1: another established starting pitcher with big league experience in this rotation.

602
00:30:11,720 --> 00:30:14,760
Speaker 1: It is reiterated to me, however, that that is going

603
00:30:14,840 --> 00:30:19,120
Speaker 1: to come via trade. It is far, far, far more

604
00:30:19,320 --> 00:30:24,240
Speaker 1: likely that the Ashros trade for a controllable, youngish starting

605
00:30:24,320 --> 00:30:27,200
Speaker 1: pitcher than it is they go on the free agent

606
00:30:27,280 --> 00:30:29,560
Speaker 1: market and sign one of the guys that's out there.

607
00:30:31,280 --> 00:30:36,040
Speaker 1: It's it's it's a tact that I quite frankly didn't

608
00:30:36,120 --> 00:30:38,600
Speaker 1: think that they'd have enough AMMO just in their in

609
00:30:38,640 --> 00:30:41,240
Speaker 1: their farm system, even on their major league roster to

610
00:30:41,440 --> 00:30:44,440
Speaker 1: go do that. But in talking to people, it does

611
00:30:44,560 --> 00:30:47,400
Speaker 1: sound like they've got, you know, some irons in the fire,

612
00:30:47,440 --> 00:30:50,280
Speaker 1: and it sounds like they're they're pretty encouraged by just

613
00:30:50,560 --> 00:30:54,640
Speaker 1: the initial conversations they've had with teams in terms of

614
00:30:55,120 --> 00:30:57,880
Speaker 1: what trade, what the trade market could look like, and

615
00:30:58,200 --> 00:31:01,040
Speaker 1: possibly what starting pictures they could have. Look.

616
00:31:02,280 --> 00:31:04,360
Speaker 3: Yeah, the Astros are not gonna be able to pull

617
00:31:04,440 --> 00:31:08,240
Speaker 3: off like the Wan Soto deal from a couple, you know,

618
00:31:08,360 --> 00:31:12,200
Speaker 3: like they don't have those types of guys. But the Astros,

619
00:31:12,440 --> 00:31:16,120
Speaker 3: even the worst farm system in baseball, has enough guys

620
00:31:16,200 --> 00:31:21,480
Speaker 3: to acquire role players like they they are capable of

621
00:31:22,040 --> 00:31:25,400
Speaker 3: packaging to you know, them together. And also there's some

622
00:31:25,560 --> 00:31:28,760
Speaker 3: salesmanship to it as well, you know, like it's not

623
00:31:28,960 --> 00:31:31,840
Speaker 3: just numbers on a on a spreadsheet. You know, like

624
00:31:32,200 --> 00:31:35,200
Speaker 3: depending on how you talk about Bryce Matthews, you know,

625
00:31:35,440 --> 00:31:38,719
Speaker 3: you can you can sell this guy, ask. I mean,

626
00:31:38,760 --> 00:31:41,480
Speaker 3: look at his speed, Look at the defense that is there.

627
00:31:41,560 --> 00:31:43,400
Speaker 3: You know, there's pop you know, you know what I mean.

628
00:31:43,440 --> 00:31:46,440
Speaker 3: Like you have to be able to communicate these things well.

629
00:31:46,480 --> 00:31:50,160
Speaker 3: And I think that's what good gms and good organizations do.

630
00:31:50,640 --> 00:31:55,040
Speaker 3: And look, these are the types of moves with is

631
00:31:55,120 --> 00:31:55,920
Speaker 3: it Weese or wise.

632
00:31:56,760 --> 00:31:59,680
Speaker 1: I think it's wise. I probably should have checked on that,

633
00:31:59,760 --> 00:32:00,840
Speaker 1: but I'm gonna go with weis.

634
00:32:01,080 --> 00:32:06,840
Speaker 3: Okay, so wish That is the type of move that

635
00:32:08,080 --> 00:32:11,520
Speaker 3: you forget about and you look up in June and

636
00:32:11,640 --> 00:32:15,240
Speaker 3: you go like, oh, that guy's just there every fifth day,

637
00:32:15,720 --> 00:32:18,840
Speaker 3: And those are the types of players that you need

638
00:32:19,080 --> 00:32:24,160
Speaker 3: in one hundred and sixty two game season. I just

639
00:32:24,320 --> 00:32:28,600
Speaker 3: for fun, I pulled up there as a war calculator.

640
00:32:30,160 --> 00:32:33,440
Speaker 3: So again, war wins replacement. I know most people know that,

641
00:32:33,600 --> 00:32:35,280
Speaker 3: but it's just a it's just a general idea of

642
00:32:35,360 --> 00:32:39,680
Speaker 3: how valuable you were as a player. To give you context,

643
00:32:40,000 --> 00:32:44,440
Speaker 3: last season, Mauricio Dubon was worth one point seven war,

644
00:32:45,360 --> 00:32:48,120
Speaker 3: so he's worth about two wins to the Astros over

645
00:32:48,200 --> 00:32:52,320
Speaker 3: the course of a season. He signed for what five

646
00:32:52,360 --> 00:32:55,840
Speaker 3: and a half million, six millions five something between.

647
00:32:56,200 --> 00:32:57,720
Speaker 1: Happened between five and a half and six.

648
00:32:57,680 --> 00:33:01,400
Speaker 3: Now, a lot of that is defensive value. Actually literally

649
00:33:01,440 --> 00:33:02,920
Speaker 3: all of it is defensive value.

650
00:33:03,000 --> 00:33:03,360
Speaker 4: He was.

651
00:33:05,280 --> 00:33:07,040
Speaker 3: That's that's where all of his value came from. Was

652
00:33:07,040 --> 00:33:09,840
Speaker 3: one point seven war and he also played it tone.

653
00:33:09,880 --> 00:33:12,080
Speaker 3: He played one hundred and thirty three games. To give

654
00:33:12,160 --> 00:33:17,840
Speaker 3: you context for the value of bulk starting pitching, so again,

655
00:33:17,960 --> 00:33:21,800
Speaker 3: Dubon was worth one point seven war. In this war calculator,

656
00:33:22,680 --> 00:33:25,400
Speaker 3: I just put in an era of four. That might

657
00:33:25,480 --> 00:33:29,640
Speaker 3: be a little low for Weiss, but let's just let's

658
00:33:29,680 --> 00:33:32,920
Speaker 3: say he has a four ERA, which most people would

659
00:33:32,960 --> 00:33:36,280
Speaker 3: not look at as anything to be excited about. But

660
00:33:36,360 --> 00:33:38,760
Speaker 3: if he throws one hundred and fifty innings for the

661
00:33:38,840 --> 00:33:41,960
Speaker 3: Astros with a four ERA, would you like to take

662
00:33:41,960 --> 00:33:44,280
Speaker 3: a guess at what that war is.

663
00:33:44,800 --> 00:33:46,440
Speaker 1: I'm gonna guess at least two and a half.

664
00:33:46,720 --> 00:33:50,160
Speaker 3: It's one point seven. I did it just to match Dubon.

665
00:33:50,560 --> 00:33:54,160
Speaker 3: But my point is a four ERA in one hundred

666
00:33:54,160 --> 00:33:57,560
Speaker 3: and fifty innings, So that's not even you know that

667
00:33:57,720 --> 00:34:00,520
Speaker 3: that would be every fifth day. There some games he

668
00:34:01,080 --> 00:34:02,760
Speaker 3: gets taken out in the second inning because he gave

669
00:34:02,840 --> 00:34:05,880
Speaker 3: up nine runs. Whatever, one hundred and fifty innings for

670
00:34:06,560 --> 00:34:11,399
Speaker 3: a four ERA is worth what Mauricio Dubon did last year,

671
00:34:11,520 --> 00:34:14,840
Speaker 3: and you got him for two point six million. And

672
00:34:15,120 --> 00:34:20,640
Speaker 3: the Astros need outs more than they need defense right now.

673
00:34:20,719 --> 00:34:24,040
Speaker 3: They need people who can last a season and can

674
00:34:24,120 --> 00:34:28,680
Speaker 3: get out consistently. So not everything has to be pardon

675
00:34:28,760 --> 00:34:31,960
Speaker 3: the pun, a home run, right like you don't always

676
00:34:32,080 --> 00:34:35,520
Speaker 3: have to get the top end guys. Sometimes you just

677
00:34:35,680 --> 00:34:39,400
Speaker 3: need people who aren't bad. And I've talked about this

678
00:34:39,480 --> 00:34:44,080
Speaker 3: a lot, but I remember reading when Jeff Luno took

679
00:34:44,080 --> 00:34:47,759
Speaker 3: over the Astros and front of one friend of the

680
00:34:47,840 --> 00:34:54,640
Speaker 3: pod shout out Jeff. I could talk about that forever.

681
00:34:55,320 --> 00:34:57,680
Speaker 3: That was very cool for me whenever he took over.

682
00:34:57,719 --> 00:34:59,920
Speaker 3: But anyway, my point is one of the things I'm

683
00:35:00,280 --> 00:35:03,200
Speaker 3: him talking about was when you look at the good

684
00:35:03,239 --> 00:35:08,200
Speaker 3: teams around the league, it's not it's not necessarily the

685
00:35:08,280 --> 00:35:12,520
Speaker 3: top heavy. You would rather have a team of twenty

686
00:35:12,680 --> 00:35:19,040
Speaker 3: five average players than four exceptional and fifteen bad players.

687
00:35:19,280 --> 00:35:19,400
Speaker 1: Right.

688
00:35:19,520 --> 00:35:21,240
Speaker 3: And now, of course the team that he was taking

689
00:35:21,280 --> 00:35:25,799
Speaker 3: over was all bad, with the exception of jose L Tuve.

690
00:35:26,000 --> 00:35:27,880
Speaker 3: But you know that was one of the things that

691
00:35:27,920 --> 00:35:30,680
Speaker 3: he really focused on was, look, we got twenty five

692
00:35:30,840 --> 00:35:36,280
Speaker 3: now twenty six roster spots. I just need an average

693
00:35:36,360 --> 00:35:38,920
Speaker 3: player at all of those. And some are gonna be

694
00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:41,640
Speaker 3: above you know, they're gonna have careers. You're gonna have

695
00:35:41,640 --> 00:35:44,319
Speaker 3: a Jake Myers year, Right, You're gonna have a Hunter

696
00:35:44,400 --> 00:35:48,080
Speaker 3: Brown come out of nowhere and carry your team. But

697
00:35:48,200 --> 00:35:51,000
Speaker 3: if you can go into the season and looking at

698
00:35:51,040 --> 00:35:54,520
Speaker 3: your roster and go like there's not a hole, right, Like,

699
00:35:54,840 --> 00:35:59,000
Speaker 3: everybody's okay at this I know that's not exciting for fans,

700
00:35:59,080 --> 00:36:01,400
Speaker 3: but over the course of one hundred and sixty two games,

701
00:36:02,080 --> 00:36:07,480
Speaker 3: just being okay at every position is immensely valuable. So

702
00:36:07,640 --> 00:36:10,640
Speaker 3: these are the types of moves that good organizations make

703
00:36:11,160 --> 00:36:14,480
Speaker 3: when they recognize we're losing a lot of innings. We

704
00:36:14,640 --> 00:36:20,120
Speaker 3: need somebody who can competently pitch every fifth day. We

705
00:36:20,200 --> 00:36:24,759
Speaker 3: don't necessarily need to break the bank and sign you know,

706
00:36:25,840 --> 00:36:28,560
Speaker 3: Dylan ce'es for two hundred and ten million dollars. We'd

707
00:36:28,680 --> 00:36:32,720
Speaker 3: rather have three guys that we pay six million dollars

708
00:36:32,800 --> 00:36:36,040
Speaker 3: next year who can just get out, because again, you're

709
00:36:36,080 --> 00:36:39,879
Speaker 3: gonna have guys that can rise above what what you think,

710
00:36:40,280 --> 00:36:42,680
Speaker 3: and then you can also make those moves later. That's

711
00:36:42,719 --> 00:36:44,200
Speaker 3: the other thing that you have to think about, is

712
00:36:44,280 --> 00:36:47,560
Speaker 3: like when you get to July, that's when you can

713
00:36:47,640 --> 00:36:50,200
Speaker 3: look around the league and go like, all right, we

714
00:36:50,320 --> 00:36:52,600
Speaker 3: need a number two starter. This team is good enough,

715
00:36:52,680 --> 00:36:55,359
Speaker 3: but as we look to the playoffs, that's where we're

716
00:36:55,360 --> 00:36:57,239
Speaker 3: really gonna focus, and we're gonna put in all of

717
00:36:57,280 --> 00:37:01,360
Speaker 3: our chips on this guy you know of orlander trade

718
00:37:01,440 --> 00:37:03,840
Speaker 3: or even like Kakouchi or you know things like tried it.

719
00:37:03,880 --> 00:37:06,000
Speaker 1: They tried it last year with Dylan See's, right, that

720
00:37:06,239 --> 00:37:08,520
Speaker 1: was the literal thinking last year with Dylan SE's.

721
00:37:08,920 --> 00:37:13,040
Speaker 3: But the real trick of baseball is you just have

722
00:37:13,200 --> 00:37:16,040
Speaker 3: to get to the playoffs. And as we saw last year,

723
00:37:17,360 --> 00:37:21,080
Speaker 3: the Astros just ran out of bodies. They just did they.

724
00:37:21,239 --> 00:37:22,840
Speaker 3: I mean a lot of that was injury luck, that

725
00:37:23,000 --> 00:37:28,400
Speaker 3: wasn't necessarily a roster construction issue. But look, if the

726
00:37:28,440 --> 00:37:33,040
Speaker 3: Astros just had everyone on their team play most of

727
00:37:33,160 --> 00:37:36,280
Speaker 3: the season, they're they're in the playoffs, and then anything

728
00:37:36,640 --> 00:37:40,040
Speaker 3: can happen. As you saw, I mean the World Series

729
00:37:40,080 --> 00:37:45,080
Speaker 3: went to Game seven against a juggernaut. He went to

730
00:37:45,160 --> 00:37:48,719
Speaker 3: Game seven, right, am? I making that up way, Look,

731
00:37:48,800 --> 00:37:51,120
Speaker 3: I forget everything as soon as it's over, but my

732
00:37:51,239 --> 00:37:53,279
Speaker 3: point is is you just you just have to get in.

733
00:37:53,480 --> 00:37:58,239
Speaker 3: So right now, what the Astros need is depth and

734
00:38:00,040 --> 00:38:01,839
Speaker 3: the ability to get through one hundred and sixty two

735
00:38:01,880 --> 00:38:05,319
Speaker 3: game season. So I love the move. Again, he may

736
00:38:05,360 --> 00:38:08,040
Speaker 3: be DFAD in May because he has a twelve VR

737
00:38:08,280 --> 00:38:10,480
Speaker 3: and he's throwing eighty seven miles an hour. I don't know,

738
00:38:11,239 --> 00:38:15,719
Speaker 3: but it's two point six million dollars. And again, even

739
00:38:15,800 --> 00:38:19,479
Speaker 3: a like average year from him for ERA one hundred

740
00:38:19,480 --> 00:38:22,640
Speaker 3: and fifty innings is worth what Mauricio Dubon just did

741
00:38:23,600 --> 00:38:26,920
Speaker 3: for the team. So anyway, that was just my general

742
00:38:26,960 --> 00:38:28,319
Speaker 3: thoughts reading those things.

743
00:38:28,880 --> 00:38:31,560
Speaker 1: Yeah, and let's not forget like they did this last

744
00:38:31,640 --> 00:38:34,920
Speaker 1: year too. It didn't get talked about in the Tucker

745
00:38:35,000 --> 00:38:38,359
Speaker 1: trade because cam Smith and Estock paraders. But I mean

746
00:38:38,440 --> 00:38:40,840
Speaker 1: that was Hayden was Eski, Yeah, that was him. I

747
00:38:40,880 --> 00:38:43,160
Speaker 1: mean he got hurt. I mean it was unfortunate, but

748
00:38:43,600 --> 00:38:45,719
Speaker 1: I mean he was pitching pretty well before he blew

749
00:38:45,760 --> 00:38:48,000
Speaker 1: out his elbow. And I mean, yeah, they did it

750
00:38:48,120 --> 00:38:50,600
Speaker 1: last year. Just wasn't like a signing. It was like

751
00:38:50,880 --> 00:38:53,840
Speaker 1: they'll take with Meski in the trade too, Like that

752
00:38:54,160 --> 00:38:57,040
Speaker 1: was that was part of their calculus. And I mean

753
00:38:57,080 --> 00:39:00,760
Speaker 1: I get it, like fans want the the big names.

754
00:39:01,080 --> 00:39:03,880
Speaker 1: I completely understand it. And as you see other teams

755
00:39:03,960 --> 00:39:07,440
Speaker 1: spending a bunch of money, I get it, but this

756
00:39:07,600 --> 00:39:08,840
Speaker 1: team has never done that.

757
00:39:09,320 --> 00:39:12,080
Speaker 3: Like you have big names, man, Like it's not like

758
00:39:12,160 --> 00:39:16,800
Speaker 3: the ass are anonymous, you know, like the Yeah, but

759
00:39:17,239 --> 00:39:19,680
Speaker 3: I guess like your opening day lineup is going to

760
00:39:19,719 --> 00:39:25,800
Speaker 3: be Altuve, Korea, yord On, Jeremy Pana so and probably

761
00:39:26,040 --> 00:39:28,640
Speaker 3: East operates unless they find some crazy deal. But like

762
00:39:29,440 --> 00:39:32,560
Speaker 3: that top five of the lineup is all You're already fine.

763
00:39:32,680 --> 00:39:34,480
Speaker 3: All you need is the rest of the lineup to

764
00:39:34,680 --> 00:39:38,200
Speaker 3: just be not bad, and you need the pitching to

765
00:39:38,320 --> 00:39:41,120
Speaker 3: carry you through. You've got an ace. You're probably gonna

766
00:39:41,120 --> 00:39:44,799
Speaker 3: need to find a solid number two, but you've got

767
00:39:45,120 --> 00:39:47,640
Speaker 3: twelve guys on the team. One of them is probably

768
00:39:47,640 --> 00:39:50,040
Speaker 3: going to emerge as a number two, and even if

769
00:39:50,080 --> 00:39:53,600
Speaker 3: they don't, you can go get one throughout the season.

770
00:39:53,800 --> 00:39:56,080
Speaker 3: Right right now, you just have to You just have

771
00:39:56,200 --> 00:39:59,800
Speaker 3: to win what was the what was the Mariners G

772
00:40:01,719 --> 00:40:04,239
Speaker 3: fifty four? That's all you gotta do. You gotta win

773
00:40:04,320 --> 00:40:07,239
Speaker 3: fifty four percent of your games. And you're already there,

774
00:40:07,560 --> 00:40:09,759
Speaker 3: Like you already have a good enough core of your

775
00:40:09,800 --> 00:40:13,760
Speaker 3: team where you're gonna expect to win sixty five seventy

776
00:40:13,800 --> 00:40:16,399
Speaker 3: percent of Hunter Brown starts. You have a top five

777
00:40:16,480 --> 00:40:19,879
Speaker 3: of your lineup that should be favored over the other

778
00:40:20,000 --> 00:40:23,480
Speaker 3: lineup in most games that you're playing. Now, you just

779
00:40:23,560 --> 00:40:25,879
Speaker 3: got to get to where there's not a black hole

780
00:40:26,640 --> 00:40:30,800
Speaker 3: that just you know, crushes your your team. After you

781
00:40:30,960 --> 00:40:33,360
Speaker 3: get through the top of your lineup or after you

782
00:40:33,480 --> 00:40:35,680
Speaker 3: get through the first two guys in your rotation. That's

783
00:40:35,760 --> 00:40:39,279
Speaker 3: the hard part is you can't have sixty percent of

784
00:40:39,360 --> 00:40:44,640
Speaker 3: your game started by you know, just people that is

785
00:40:44,719 --> 00:40:48,200
Speaker 3: starting games as a as a pitcher, you just you

786
00:40:48,360 --> 00:40:51,560
Speaker 3: just need people that are capable of getting out the

787
00:40:51,680 --> 00:40:54,759
Speaker 3: majority of the time. And again it's hard to say

788
00:40:54,800 --> 00:40:56,640
Speaker 3: that when you look at like the Dodgers or you

789
00:40:56,719 --> 00:40:59,600
Speaker 3: know whoever. But look, you just have to get into

790
00:40:59,600 --> 00:41:02,280
Speaker 3: the playof and right now, the Astros are making moves

791
00:41:03,040 --> 00:41:07,960
Speaker 3: that can help solidify a team and give themselves the

792
00:41:08,880 --> 00:41:11,480
Speaker 3: chance of playoffs not only this year but in the

793
00:41:11,560 --> 00:41:15,840
Speaker 3: coming seasons because they're not just going all in and

794
00:41:15,960 --> 00:41:19,839
Speaker 3: then you know, being ruined for the for the years

795
00:41:19,880 --> 00:41:20,239
Speaker 3: after that.

796
00:41:20,960 --> 00:41:22,240
Speaker 1: They're giving themselves options.

797
00:41:22,400 --> 00:41:25,960
Speaker 3: They're giving themselves like hot hot take a good organization.

798
00:41:26,239 --> 00:41:28,640
Speaker 3: The Houston Astros, they're they're pretty good at this.

799
00:41:29,239 --> 00:41:33,840
Speaker 1: They're giving themselves competent options to where no offense to

800
00:41:34,320 --> 00:41:36,959
Speaker 1: your favorite but like the world is not on aj

801
00:41:37,080 --> 00:41:39,680
Speaker 1: blue Ball's shoulders to get out of spring training as

802
00:41:39,719 --> 00:41:43,479
Speaker 1: the fourth starter. Same thing with Jason Alexander or Brandon Walter,

803
00:41:43,560 --> 00:41:47,360
Speaker 1: if Brandon Walter even pitches next year. Same thing honestly

804
00:41:47,400 --> 00:41:50,239
Speaker 1: with Lance mccullors, like, you don't want to You don't

805
00:41:50,280 --> 00:41:52,680
Speaker 1: want to be counting on so many unknowns.

806
00:41:52,719 --> 00:41:54,680
Speaker 3: And look, I'm not saying anything on his shoulders.

807
00:41:55,200 --> 00:41:58,439
Speaker 1: I'm not sitting here. I'm not sitting here saying Ryan

808
00:41:58,480 --> 00:42:02,360
Speaker 1: Weiss is some like known commodity. But I mean he

809
00:42:02,600 --> 00:42:04,760
Speaker 1: threw one hundred and eighty innings of Sub three era

810
00:42:04,960 --> 00:42:08,000
Speaker 1: baseball the KBO last year, and like KBO is not MLB,

811
00:42:08,239 --> 00:42:10,520
Speaker 1: there is going to be some There's going to be

812
00:42:10,560 --> 00:42:12,960
Speaker 1: some growing pains. I'd imagine. This is a guy that

813
00:42:13,400 --> 00:42:16,120
Speaker 1: was in affiliated ball for a while, was got up

814
00:42:16,200 --> 00:42:19,640
Speaker 1: to Triple A in both the Diamondbacks and the Royals organizations,

815
00:42:19,760 --> 00:42:22,040
Speaker 1: and just could he has not pitched in a Major

816
00:42:22,160 --> 00:42:26,799
Speaker 1: League game, as Tyler alluded to, so certainly not any

817
00:42:27,160 --> 00:42:33,640
Speaker 1: certainty here, but an option and just depth and insurance.

818
00:42:33,800 --> 00:42:36,320
Speaker 1: And look, if they're giving him almost three million dollars

819
00:42:36,760 --> 00:42:38,759
Speaker 1: and have a club option in the deal that could

820
00:42:38,880 --> 00:42:41,680
Speaker 1: maybe take it to around ten million dollars by the

821
00:42:41,800 --> 00:42:45,880
Speaker 1: end of next year, they must have some And he

822
00:42:46,000 --> 00:42:48,600
Speaker 1: had interest from other teams as well, like they must

823
00:42:48,680 --> 00:42:51,400
Speaker 1: have some faith. This guy can can be a competent

824
00:42:51,560 --> 00:42:52,600
Speaker 1: back end starter, but.

825
00:42:53,400 --> 00:42:56,000
Speaker 3: Chandler can you can. You remind the people who led

826
00:42:56,040 --> 00:42:59,040
Speaker 3: the Astros and innings in twenty seventeen when they won

827
00:42:59,080 --> 00:43:02,879
Speaker 3: the World Series, that'd be Mike Fires. Yep, you don't

828
00:43:02,960 --> 00:43:07,040
Speaker 3: have to have a superstar that you're putting all. I mean,

829
00:43:07,400 --> 00:43:10,200
Speaker 3: granted that was an offensive team, but the point is

830
00:43:10,320 --> 00:43:13,400
Speaker 3: is you just need people who it was Mike Fires

831
00:43:13,440 --> 00:43:16,800
Speaker 3: and then Charlie Morton. Those are your two innings leaders

832
00:43:16,840 --> 00:43:19,439
Speaker 3: than Kykele who is good, and then staff as Brad

833
00:43:19,520 --> 00:43:23,799
Speaker 3: Peacock obviously, but look, you just have to have guys

834
00:43:23,840 --> 00:43:28,000
Speaker 3: who can get through five innings and give up three runs.

835
00:43:28,520 --> 00:43:28,560
Speaker 4: Like.

836
00:43:28,640 --> 00:43:30,920
Speaker 3: If you can do that consistently, you are going to

837
00:43:31,040 --> 00:43:34,160
Speaker 3: win the majority of your games, and then you get

838
00:43:34,200 --> 00:43:37,480
Speaker 3: to the playoffs and that's when the top end talent

839
00:43:38,120 --> 00:43:41,840
Speaker 3: really rises. Because the series are shortened, you can use

840
00:43:41,880 --> 00:43:45,880
Speaker 3: your bullpen guys longer. The Astros have weapons in the bullpen.

841
00:43:46,440 --> 00:43:48,560
Speaker 3: You know, that's what you need to do. But you

842
00:43:48,640 --> 00:43:51,720
Speaker 3: have to get there first. And these are the ways

843
00:43:51,760 --> 00:43:54,360
Speaker 3: that you get to the playoffs in Major League Baseball.

844
00:43:55,400 --> 00:43:57,800
Speaker 1: Yeah, we say all this, and I do expect that

845
00:43:57,880 --> 00:44:01,560
Speaker 1: there will be a more recognizable starter added to this

846
00:44:01,680 --> 00:44:05,160
Speaker 1: team this year. There will be a guy that more

847
00:44:05,200 --> 00:44:07,320
Speaker 1: people have heard of. There will be a guy that

848
00:44:07,760 --> 00:44:12,320
Speaker 1: has a higher ceiling certainly than what they have added.

849
00:44:13,239 --> 00:44:17,600
Speaker 1: I just don't think, actually, I would be very surprised

850
00:44:17,640 --> 00:44:19,759
Speaker 1: if it comes from the free agent pool, if it

851
00:44:19,840 --> 00:44:22,920
Speaker 1: comes from this pool of free agent pitchers, if it

852
00:44:23,000 --> 00:44:26,840
Speaker 1: comes from a Ranger Suarez or a Lucas Giolito or

853
00:44:27,160 --> 00:44:30,000
Speaker 1: Michael King like, I would be very surprised if the

854
00:44:30,080 --> 00:44:33,960
Speaker 1: Astros get into that Forray, just because of the prices.

855
00:44:34,040 --> 00:44:38,000
Speaker 1: The prices right now are through the roof Dylan Cees

856
00:44:38,320 --> 00:44:41,280
Speaker 1: getting the deal that he got, like set the market

857
00:44:41,719 --> 00:44:45,719
Speaker 1: very very high. Now there's always a possibility that we

858
00:44:45,840 --> 00:44:48,359
Speaker 1: get in the late January or early February, and if

859
00:44:48,400 --> 00:44:50,600
Speaker 1: some of these dudes aren't signed and they need to

860
00:44:51,080 --> 00:44:52,719
Speaker 1: be able to get to a camp and know where

861
00:44:52,719 --> 00:44:55,279
Speaker 1: they're going to play, certainly the prices can come down

862
00:44:55,360 --> 00:44:58,279
Speaker 1: and then maybe the Astros it's more amenable to them

863
00:44:58,320 --> 00:45:02,000
Speaker 1: and they jump into that competition. Right now, I don't

864
00:45:02,000 --> 00:45:05,920
Speaker 1: see that happening. I think you will see. I think

865
00:45:06,000 --> 00:45:08,239
Speaker 1: it's inevitable at this point that there will be a

866
00:45:08,640 --> 00:45:14,320
Speaker 1: consequential trade need to acquire a starting pitcher, to acquire

867
00:45:14,840 --> 00:45:19,279
Speaker 1: a starting pitcher with multiple years of control. Everybody wants

868
00:45:19,280 --> 00:45:20,759
Speaker 1: to know who's going to be in that trade. From

869
00:45:20,760 --> 00:45:24,600
Speaker 1: the astro side, I'll continue to tell you that teams

870
00:45:24,760 --> 00:45:28,160
Speaker 1: really really like Jake Myers. I'll continue like, I don't

871
00:45:28,200 --> 00:45:29,839
Speaker 1: know how much more I can say it. I don't

872
00:45:29,920 --> 00:45:32,160
Speaker 1: know how many different ways I can say it, Like

873
00:45:33,080 --> 00:45:35,520
Speaker 1: he is, He's getting a lot of interest, and I

874
00:45:35,560 --> 00:45:38,600
Speaker 1: would not be surprised if Jake is part of a

875
00:45:38,640 --> 00:45:41,879
Speaker 1: trade to get a starting pitcher, because you have heard

876
00:45:41,960 --> 00:45:44,400
Speaker 1: how much. If you've listened to Dana Brown talking all

877
00:45:44,480 --> 00:45:47,439
Speaker 1: this offseason, if you've listened to Joe Espada, they're talking

878
00:45:47,480 --> 00:45:50,680
Speaker 1: about Zach Cole and Jacob Melton like without even prompting,

879
00:45:51,239 --> 00:45:55,560
Speaker 1: And to me, that signals that they they want to

880
00:45:55,640 --> 00:45:58,400
Speaker 1: give them a chance and they think that they can

881
00:45:58,560 --> 00:46:02,160
Speaker 1: backfill center field with those two guys. So or one

882
00:46:02,200 --> 00:46:03,960
Speaker 1: of them, maybe maybe one of those guys is also

883
00:46:04,040 --> 00:46:07,000
Speaker 1: in the trade, because both of those guys have prospect value,

884
00:46:07,080 --> 00:46:09,080
Speaker 1: Jacob Melton especially, I know he hasn't shown at the

885
00:46:09,120 --> 00:46:12,120
Speaker 1: big league level, but there are there are teams that

886
00:46:12,160 --> 00:46:15,680
Speaker 1: are interested in Jacob Melton. So certainly Jake Myers is

887
00:46:15,719 --> 00:46:18,480
Speaker 1: at the maybe the top of that list. You know,

888
00:46:18,920 --> 00:46:22,919
Speaker 1: teams are interested in. You seem to think they're certain

889
00:46:22,960 --> 00:46:28,880
Speaker 1: Hayesu Sanchez, who, Yeah, well that value is not that

890
00:46:29,040 --> 00:46:31,680
Speaker 1: value has done, that value has diminished.

891
00:46:31,920 --> 00:46:37,040
Speaker 3: But uh, you also have to think, and I don't

892
00:46:37,080 --> 00:46:41,080
Speaker 3: mean to be a bummer here, but Jim Crane is

893
00:46:41,160 --> 00:46:46,200
Speaker 3: pretty aware that this may be the last full season

894
00:46:46,680 --> 00:46:50,040
Speaker 3: for for a little bit. We've got we've got to

895
00:46:50,080 --> 00:46:55,200
Speaker 3: lock out very imminent after this season for those of

896
00:46:55,320 --> 00:46:59,080
Speaker 3: you who are not aware, that the CBA expires after

897
00:46:59,239 --> 00:47:03,680
Speaker 3: next season. And it is already very clear that the

898
00:47:03,760 --> 00:47:07,920
Speaker 3: ownership and players are very very far apart on what

899
00:47:08,080 --> 00:47:12,040
Speaker 3: they're looking for. And I think both sides are really

900
00:47:12,080 --> 00:47:15,279
Speaker 3: digging in now. That would be a tragedy, you know,

901
00:47:15,600 --> 00:47:17,799
Speaker 3: Like I think baseball's in a better spot than it's

902
00:47:17,840 --> 00:47:21,640
Speaker 3: been since like the ninety eight home run race. I

903
00:47:21,640 --> 00:47:25,520
Speaker 3: would argue as far as like just the general cultural relevance.

904
00:47:25,560 --> 00:47:30,560
Speaker 3: You've got a international superstar in shohe Atani. I know

905
00:47:30,680 --> 00:47:35,319
Speaker 3: people get fussy whenever MLB tweets about him every time,

906
00:47:35,360 --> 00:47:39,480
Speaker 3: but every time they do, it gets thirty million views

907
00:47:39,600 --> 00:47:43,279
Speaker 3: because the whole world is watching Otana. You've got a

908
00:47:43,400 --> 00:47:46,320
Speaker 3: ton of great young superstars around the league.

909
00:47:46,360 --> 00:47:46,520
Speaker 4: You know.

910
00:47:46,560 --> 00:47:50,399
Speaker 3: I mean, Wan Soto, Joe Buck would tell you he's

911
00:47:50,400 --> 00:47:53,799
Speaker 3: still nineteen or whatever he was from from the World's right,

912
00:47:53,840 --> 00:47:56,279
Speaker 3: I mean, he's still super like. There are guys like that,

913
00:47:56,640 --> 00:47:59,360
Speaker 3: and so obviously it would be a tragedy for that

914
00:47:59,520 --> 00:48:03,640
Speaker 3: to happen, but it's it's going to happen. Like there

915
00:48:03,800 --> 00:48:08,640
Speaker 3: is a real gap there, And I think, look, when

916
00:48:08,640 --> 00:48:11,240
Speaker 3: you're handing out big contracts, you got to think about

917
00:48:12,920 --> 00:48:15,279
Speaker 3: these guys might not play in twenty twenty seven, or

918
00:48:15,280 --> 00:48:18,600
Speaker 3: it might be a shortened season or whatever. So you know,

919
00:48:18,800 --> 00:48:23,040
Speaker 3: if you're an owner, you might just say, all right,

920
00:48:23,040 --> 00:48:25,320
Speaker 3: I'm gonna get my team set for this year and

921
00:48:25,400 --> 00:48:27,840
Speaker 3: then I'll worry about long term contracts after that, because

922
00:48:27,880 --> 00:48:30,120
Speaker 3: I just I don't know that I'm willing to pay

923
00:48:30,200 --> 00:48:34,000
Speaker 3: somebody thirty million dollars in twenty well, I mean, I

924
00:48:34,040 --> 00:48:35,520
Speaker 3: know they wouldn't be paying them. That's the point of

925
00:48:35,560 --> 00:48:37,759
Speaker 3: a lockout. But the point is is that I don't

926
00:48:37,760 --> 00:48:39,360
Speaker 3: know that don't want to be locked into these things,

927
00:48:40,520 --> 00:48:43,960
Speaker 3: you know, especially ones that expire like in the next

928
00:48:44,080 --> 00:48:46,920
Speaker 3: year or two, right, because you just you don't know

929
00:48:47,200 --> 00:48:51,359
Speaker 3: what baseball is going to look like there. But yeah,

930
00:48:51,400 --> 00:48:56,200
Speaker 3: I mean I think I think the Ashers are doing

931
00:48:56,280 --> 00:48:58,919
Speaker 3: what they need to do to put together a team

932
00:48:59,120 --> 00:49:01,560
Speaker 3: that all they need now is one or two more

933
00:49:02,360 --> 00:49:07,360
Speaker 3: pieces to feel solid going into the season.

934
00:49:07,520 --> 00:49:08,919
Speaker 1: But I mean they.

935
00:49:10,480 --> 00:49:13,120
Speaker 3: I've liked the move so far, is what I'll say.

936
00:49:14,080 --> 00:49:16,879
Speaker 1: Yeah, and there are more to come. They're not done.

937
00:49:16,960 --> 00:49:18,759
Speaker 1: They're not done yet. I think that's what I think.

938
00:49:18,800 --> 00:49:21,960
Speaker 1: That's what I don't know. Frustrates is the right word.

939
00:49:22,000 --> 00:49:24,799
Speaker 1: I think that's what fans get paranoid about. Is that, oh,

940
00:49:24,880 --> 00:49:27,840
Speaker 1: this is it, like Ryan Weiss and Nate Pearson like

941
00:49:27,920 --> 00:49:30,560
Speaker 1: that's it, Like no, like they have more coming, believe me.

942
00:49:31,560 --> 00:49:35,120
Speaker 1: But these are, like Tyler Aptley said, these are necessary.

943
00:49:35,239 --> 00:49:38,920
Speaker 1: These are necessary moves to make sure that I mean

944
00:49:39,120 --> 00:49:41,680
Speaker 1: no offense to these guys, but these are necessary moves

945
00:49:41,719 --> 00:49:45,600
Speaker 1: to ensure that you're not calling up like aj blue

946
00:49:45,640 --> 00:49:48,880
Speaker 1: Ball late in the season to pitch meaningful games like

947
00:49:49,360 --> 00:49:51,680
Speaker 1: Jaden Murty like. And again, these guys did very well

948
00:49:51,760 --> 00:49:53,400
Speaker 1: for the Ashers last year. Don't get me wrong. It

949
00:49:53,520 --> 00:49:56,600
Speaker 1: was a best case scenario situation where it seemed like

950
00:49:56,800 --> 00:49:59,640
Speaker 1: every pitcher they called up late in the season came

951
00:49:59,719 --> 00:50:01,120
Speaker 1: in and and pitched really well.

952
00:50:01,640 --> 00:50:04,880
Speaker 3: That's why you have the solid average guys, so that

953
00:50:04,960 --> 00:50:07,799
Speaker 3: if you do have someone come up and outperform them,

954
00:50:08,480 --> 00:50:12,160
Speaker 3: now it's okay, you're getting this spot because you've shown

955
00:50:12,239 --> 00:50:15,560
Speaker 3: it and you've you've earned it, and we think that

956
00:50:15,640 --> 00:50:18,800
Speaker 3: you're better than this person as opposed to who is

957
00:50:18,880 --> 00:50:22,440
Speaker 3: starting on Tuesday. We don't have enough arms right now.

958
00:50:22,560 --> 00:50:25,880
Speaker 3: And so like you said, they they're just acquiring options

959
00:50:26,520 --> 00:50:29,600
Speaker 3: to figure out who they've got and where they're gonna

960
00:50:29,640 --> 00:50:33,040
Speaker 3: go and and all of those things. And again, look,

961
00:50:33,120 --> 00:50:39,880
Speaker 3: if if you know, if Wise is good and you know,

962
00:50:40,719 --> 00:50:43,640
Speaker 3: establishes himself as a as a good starter, well now

963
00:50:44,040 --> 00:50:47,920
Speaker 3: at the trade deadline, you have the flexibility to go like, okay,

964
00:50:48,000 --> 00:50:51,200
Speaker 3: well maybe do we want to trade these other pitching

965
00:50:51,280 --> 00:50:54,160
Speaker 3: prospects who we were thinking we might need, but now

966
00:50:54,200 --> 00:50:56,279
Speaker 3: we don't because you have this It doesn't. The point

967
00:50:56,400 --> 00:50:58,640
Speaker 3: is is you just got to find those five guys

968
00:50:58,680 --> 00:51:01,120
Speaker 3: that can fill out a rotation, and you're just throwing

969
00:51:01,160 --> 00:51:05,759
Speaker 3: darts out of board hoping that you find somebody. But look,

970
00:51:05,880 --> 00:51:10,120
Speaker 3: nobody makes it through a season with healthy starters. I

971
00:51:10,160 --> 00:51:13,600
Speaker 3: mean the Dodgers. You know Yamamoto threw one hundred and

972
00:51:13,640 --> 00:51:16,440
Speaker 3: seventy three innings. Do you know who threw the second

973
00:51:16,480 --> 00:51:18,160
Speaker 3: most innings on the Dodgers last year.

974
00:51:19,160 --> 00:51:22,400
Speaker 1: I'm gonna take a wild guess. I'mnna say Emmitt Sheean, good.

975
00:51:22,280 --> 00:51:25,520
Speaker 3: Guess he is fifth Clayton Kershaw with one hundred and

976
00:51:25,520 --> 00:51:28,600
Speaker 3: twelve innings, and then Dustin May with one hundred and

977
00:51:28,640 --> 00:51:32,279
Speaker 3: four innings. They won the World Series and were the

978
00:51:32,440 --> 00:51:35,400
Speaker 3: scary juggernaut of the now. I mean again, a lot

979
00:51:35,440 --> 00:51:38,759
Speaker 3: of those guys, you know, Otani came back. But the

980
00:51:38,840 --> 00:51:42,040
Speaker 3: point is is, like, you're not making it through. This

981
00:51:42,239 --> 00:51:44,520
Speaker 3: isn't baseball of thirty years ago, where you've got five

982
00:51:44,600 --> 00:51:46,680
Speaker 3: starters and they all throw two hundred innings and you're

983
00:51:46,680 --> 00:51:50,560
Speaker 3: gonna see him every day, like you need eleven starters

984
00:51:51,360 --> 00:51:53,160
Speaker 3: to make it through because some of those guys are

985
00:51:53,200 --> 00:51:55,319
Speaker 3: going to be your bulk bullpen guys. Some of them

986
00:51:55,320 --> 00:51:57,520
Speaker 3: are gonna get hurt, some of them are bad. But

987
00:51:57,640 --> 00:52:00,400
Speaker 3: you got to go into a season with you know

988
00:52:01,760 --> 00:52:04,960
Speaker 3: as much as you can as someone in sales, I

989
00:52:05,120 --> 00:52:09,800
Speaker 3: know I'm in the pipeline building mode. I'm not in sales.

990
00:52:10,560 --> 00:52:14,200
Speaker 3: Sales is just a result of what you have in

991
00:52:14,320 --> 00:52:17,359
Speaker 3: the pipeline. So in sales, you know, you're constantly trying

992
00:52:17,360 --> 00:52:19,560
Speaker 3: to get three to five times as much in your

993
00:52:19,600 --> 00:52:22,440
Speaker 3: pipeline as you need for your sales quota, because you

994
00:52:22,560 --> 00:52:24,520
Speaker 3: know not all of them are going to come through.

995
00:52:24,560 --> 00:52:26,239
Speaker 3: And I think the Astros are doing the same thing

996
00:52:26,360 --> 00:52:29,080
Speaker 3: with roster construction, and I think that's smart.

997
00:52:30,120 --> 00:52:33,279
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I'll reiterate what I've said for a while now.

998
00:52:33,840 --> 00:52:36,879
Speaker 1: The twenty eighteen Astros spoiled a lot of people when

999
00:52:37,360 --> 00:52:41,439
Speaker 1: all five members of their starting rotation were at either

1000
00:52:41,560 --> 00:52:45,560
Speaker 1: that year or in previous years, all Stars, and none

1001
00:52:45,600 --> 00:52:48,839
Speaker 1: of them missed a start until Lance mccullors blew out

1002
00:52:48,960 --> 00:52:54,880
Speaker 1: at Dodger Stadium in that August. That's not how normal

1003
00:52:55,040 --> 00:52:58,080
Speaker 1: rotations function, Like you don't have five guys that were

1004
00:52:58,080 --> 00:53:01,560
Speaker 1: All Stars at one point. You don't have I mean,

1005
00:53:02,480 --> 00:53:06,120
Speaker 1: in twenty nineteen, like Wade Miley was your fourth starter

1006
00:53:06,400 --> 00:53:08,640
Speaker 1: and he like led the league in er for like

1007
00:53:08,719 --> 00:53:12,799
Speaker 1: three months. Twenty eighteen, like all five guys took every

1008
00:53:12,840 --> 00:53:16,360
Speaker 1: turn in the rotation until mid August, Like that doesn't happen.

1009
00:53:16,640 --> 00:53:21,040
Speaker 1: So I think I think the Ashers are being prudent

1010
00:53:21,120 --> 00:53:24,040
Speaker 1: in how they're addressing this. I understand some frustration from

1011
00:53:24,080 --> 00:53:26,560
Speaker 1: fans that, you know, they see Michael King out there,

1012
00:53:26,600 --> 00:53:29,960
Speaker 1: they see Rangers, Suarez. They see Giolito cease and they

1013
00:53:30,040 --> 00:53:31,719
Speaker 1: want to go get all these guys, and I get it,

1014
00:53:33,040 --> 00:53:35,839
Speaker 1: but that's just not the way that they are right now.

1015
00:53:36,040 --> 00:53:39,759
Speaker 1: That's not their reality right now. They I mean they could,

1016
00:53:39,840 --> 00:53:41,960
Speaker 1: I guess, I mean, Jim Creen has a lot of money,

1017
00:53:42,239 --> 00:53:44,920
Speaker 1: but that's not that's not the way they're gonna run this.

1018
00:53:45,080 --> 00:53:49,160
Speaker 1: So I would expect at the Winter meetings next week,

1019
00:53:49,360 --> 00:53:52,440
Speaker 1: I would expect a lot of talk about potential trades.

1020
00:53:53,280 --> 00:53:56,640
Speaker 1: I know everyone's gonna ask me who are they talking to?

1021
00:53:56,800 --> 00:53:58,879
Speaker 1: Who are they targeting? If I knew, I would tell

1022
00:53:58,920 --> 00:54:03,560
Speaker 1: you you can just go look at some of the

1023
00:54:03,640 --> 00:54:08,920
Speaker 1: teams out there with starting pitching available. And this is

1024
00:54:09,080 --> 00:54:11,839
Speaker 1: what I say this every offseason. I say this every

1025
00:54:11,880 --> 00:54:14,920
Speaker 1: trade deadline. If there is a team out there that

1026
00:54:15,080 --> 00:54:18,200
Speaker 1: is dangling starting pitching, the Ashers have probably checked in

1027
00:54:18,280 --> 00:54:21,000
Speaker 1: with them. So no, it is not news next week

1028
00:54:21,040 --> 00:54:22,920
Speaker 1: when you're going to hear like, oh, the Astros have

1029
00:54:23,160 --> 00:54:25,600
Speaker 1: talked to the Twins maybe about Joe Ryan, well, they

1030
00:54:25,600 --> 00:54:28,479
Speaker 1: should have, Or the Ashers talk to the Royals about

1031
00:54:28,520 --> 00:54:32,120
Speaker 1: Chris Bubick, like, I mean, they probably should have. They've

1032
00:54:32,200 --> 00:54:34,120
Speaker 1: talked to all of these teams, so as far as

1033
00:54:34,480 --> 00:54:37,520
Speaker 1: have they narrowed it down to you know, fit things

1034
00:54:37,640 --> 00:54:40,839
Speaker 1: like that, which team has the best package? I don't

1035
00:54:40,880 --> 00:54:42,719
Speaker 1: know that, but I can't tell you that they have

1036
00:54:42,800 --> 00:54:44,840
Speaker 1: been very active in trade talks, and I would imagine,

1037
00:54:45,000 --> 00:54:48,239
Speaker 1: actually I more than imagine. I'm pretty convinced at this

1038
00:54:48,360 --> 00:54:52,720
Speaker 1: point that their big pitching edition will come via trade.

1039
00:54:52,760 --> 00:54:54,920
Speaker 1: And who knows, maybe it'll happen at the Winter Meetings

1040
00:54:55,000 --> 00:54:58,960
Speaker 1: next week in Orlando, where Dana Brown and all of

1041
00:54:59,000 --> 00:55:02,239
Speaker 1: his lieutenants will be there, whole front office will be there.

1042
00:55:02,400 --> 00:55:04,960
Speaker 1: That's where these things usually get done. I don't have

1043
00:55:05,040 --> 00:55:08,839
Speaker 1: to remind everyone that the Ashers traded Kyle Tucker last

1044
00:55:08,920 --> 00:55:13,840
Speaker 1: year the day after the Winter Meetings ended, and that

1045
00:55:13,960 --> 00:55:17,560
Speaker 1: was coincidentally the day we started the podcast, so full circle.

1046
00:55:18,280 --> 00:55:20,480
Speaker 1: Who knows. Maybe we'll have something to talk about as

1047
00:55:20,560 --> 00:55:22,880
Speaker 1: consequential as that next week. But until then, you can

1048
00:55:22,920 --> 00:55:24,920
Speaker 1: follow me on X at Chandler Underscore Room. You can

1049
00:55:24,960 --> 00:55:27,560
Speaker 1: follow Tyler at Tyler she Stafford. As we said earlier,

1050
00:55:27,600 --> 00:55:31,320
Speaker 1: please rate, review, subscribe on Apple and Spotify. Please like

1051
00:55:31,400 --> 00:55:34,200
Speaker 1: the video on YouTube. Please subscribe on YouTube really helps

1052
00:55:34,280 --> 00:55:37,360
Speaker 1: us out. We'll be back later this week to really

1053
00:55:37,640 --> 00:55:41,239
Speaker 1: set up the winter meetings and see where we are

1054
00:55:41,440 --> 00:55:43,680
Speaker 1: from there. But until then, thank you all for listening

1055
00:55:43,719 --> 00:55:44,719
Speaker 1: and we'll talk to you soon.

1056
00:55:45,320 --> 00:55:45,600
Speaker 3: Bye.