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Speaker 1: Hey, and we're back with Sam Blum joining us right now.

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Speaker 1: We're going to first get into where he's been for

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Speaker 1: the majority of his life. Over the last few months,

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Speaker 1: Sam writes for The Athletic, of course, covering the Angels

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Speaker 1: and many other topics, including this court case that involves

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Speaker 1: the Angels in the wrong full death lawsuit that has

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Speaker 1: been brought by the Tyler Skaggs family and parties. So Sam,

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Speaker 1: let's first get an update on where we're at, as

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Speaker 1: it appears that we are getting close to a verdict.

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Speaker 1: Is that correct.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, they started deliberating about twenty five hours ago. They

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Speaker 2: had a night off. I should make that clear. But yeah,

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Speaker 2: I mean, this is this is the very end. I mean,

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Speaker 2: this is three months. This trial started September twenty second.

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Speaker 2: I think the jury started actually hearing the case on

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Speaker 2: October fourteenth, So it's been you know, over two months

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Speaker 2: of listening to testimony, and so I don't know when

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Speaker 2: they're going to have a verdict. It could be while

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Speaker 2: we're sitting here talking. It could be you know, tomorrow,

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Speaker 2: next week. But yeah, I mean it's it's it's just

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Speaker 2: been a really intense heavy story, intense heavy case, and

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Speaker 2: I don't know what's where it's gonna land, but I

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Speaker 2: tend to think the longer this goes, you know, they

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Speaker 2: have to there's a lot of questions on that. There's

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Speaker 2: twenty six questions for the jury answer, and they have

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Speaker 2: to go through a lot of different elements. Like if

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Speaker 2: they do find that the Angels are somewhat responsible, they're

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Speaker 2: gonna have to go through and find the portionment like

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Speaker 2: the percentage of responsibility that Tyler had, that the Angels

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Speaker 2: have that Eric Kay had. They have to determine, you know,

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Speaker 2: is Eric k working in the course and scope of

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Speaker 2: his job when he did all this. So you know,

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Speaker 2: if they want to find for punitive damages, that changes everything.

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Speaker 2: That could add a lot of money to whatever the

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Speaker 2: payoff potentially could be. So uh and even if they

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Speaker 2: do find for punitive damages, then they have to do

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Speaker 2: a whole separate hearing to determine the actual value of

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Speaker 2: the Los Angeles Angels. So there's still a lot to

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Speaker 2: be done, but it's it's getting to the end and

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Speaker 2: there's a lot of questions for that for that jury

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Speaker 2: to work through.

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Speaker 1: Right now, Sam, I know this is a loaded question.

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Speaker 1: I've been following your articles in the athletic and we'll

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Speaker 1: only get to one percent sliver of what you've read about,

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Speaker 1: but can you point out some notables to get people

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Speaker 1: caught up on what's happening there. I think the way

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Speaker 1: to do it is to help fans relate to some

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Speaker 1: names that they really know, Mike Trout, Matt Harvey, even

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Speaker 1: Dan Duquette I know recently sitting up there and answering questions,

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Speaker 1: and everyone had some uniqueness to it in terms of

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Speaker 1: having to get really open about, you know, whether it's

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Speaker 1: how Tyler was a teammate or getting into you know,

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Speaker 1: painkiller medicine, stuff like that. And then for Dan most recently,

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Speaker 1: he was actually from what I understand in your article,

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Speaker 1: paid to speak and essentially talk down his value so

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Speaker 1: that if the Skags family is entitled to money, wouldn't

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Speaker 1: be as much money.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, So that's I'll get into that first because I

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Speaker 2: think it's interesting they had, you know, an ex major

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Speaker 2: League baseball general manager as a paid expert witness. The

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Speaker 2: Skag side had Jeff Fanell, who was a longtime union lawyer,

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Speaker 2: come in and argue on their behalf earlier in the trial.

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Speaker 2: This has been kind of the trial within the trial,

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Speaker 2: because I think it is the most tangible thing that

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Speaker 2: either side could argue, is what would Tyler Skaggs have earned.

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Speaker 2: It's it's you know, it's it's a really dark arbitration case. Essentially,

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Speaker 2: what would he have earned had he been had he

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Speaker 2: finished his career at he had this not all happened, essentially,

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Speaker 2: because that's you know, that's damages that the Skags side

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Speaker 2: is trying to recoup, essentially. And so, you know, I

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Speaker 2: was a little surprised by by Dan Neukt's testimony. I

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Speaker 2: felt like a lot of the the stats he utilized

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Speaker 2: were way out of context to my opinion. You know,

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Speaker 2: they had all slide up there saying Tyler Skaggs was

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Speaker 2: declining in his career, and if you look at his

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Speaker 2: numbers from twenty eighteen and the first half of twenty

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Speaker 2: nineteen before he died, I mean, he was having the

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Speaker 2: two best seasons and healthiest seasons of his career. You know,

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Speaker 2: they use numbers like curveball spin rate, stuff like that

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Speaker 2: to show that they were declining, But in no way

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Speaker 2: was Tyler Skaggs declining as an actual pitcher at that

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Speaker 2: point in his career. You know, I think the Angels

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Speaker 2: can make a case, well, if he had been found out,

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Speaker 2: you know, that impacts his value and things like that,

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Speaker 2: as you know, been found out as someone that was

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Speaker 2: you know, involved in this in this drug kind of

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Speaker 2: situation and using drugs and of helping to facilitate to

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Speaker 2: other players, certainly that would have impacted his value.

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Speaker 3: But in terms of actual pitching, he was.

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Speaker 2: He was the best pitcher on a really bad pitching

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Speaker 2: team and ultimately was kind of getting better as he went.

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Speaker 2: So that that was an interesting thing to me, like

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Speaker 2: why the Angels are trying to you know, really diminish

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Speaker 2: his value as a pitcher and why a GM would

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Speaker 2: go up there and you know make that case for them.

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Speaker 2: But you know, it's what it is in terms of

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Speaker 2: the actual like arguments, Mike Trout, I mean, you know,

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Speaker 2: this this case ultimately comes down to the where the

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Speaker 2: Angels negligent in their supervising of Eric k who's now

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Speaker 2: in prison, who the person who provided the lethal fentanyl

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Speaker 2: pill to Tyler Skaggs that killed him in twenty nineteen.

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Speaker 3: And so that's that's the crux of this case.

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Speaker 2: You know, Mike Trout came in as a witness for

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Speaker 2: the Skag side and you know, I think ultimately more

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Speaker 2: as a neutral third person essentially, but you know, he

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Speaker 2: talked about knowing about Erica's drug addiction right, knowing that

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Speaker 2: you know, he was dealing with this, and offering to

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Speaker 2: actually one point pay for his rehabilitation if they needed it,

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Speaker 2: if he needed it.

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Speaker 3: So you know, that's why some of these witnesses have

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Speaker 3: been coming in.

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Speaker 2: I mean, I think you saw, like Trevor pluf tweet

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Speaker 2: about this the other day, and you know, he's he

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Speaker 2: was a witness on behalf of the Skag sid They

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Speaker 2: didn't end up calling him, but that's there's been a

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Speaker 2: lot of players that have come in. Mike Moriane, a

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Speaker 2: former picture Matt Harvey testified, testified for you know, as

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Speaker 2: part of the Angel's case about you know, being a

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Speaker 2: source of drugs for Skags in the last month of

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Speaker 2: his life and even you know, having pills with him

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Speaker 2: that came from from Matt Harvey than the day that

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Speaker 2: he died.

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Speaker 3: So but they were not ultimately the lethal pills that

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Speaker 3: the leath of pill that killed him.

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Speaker 2: So you know, that's that's kind of been the crux

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Speaker 2: of this case. There's so many things. It's so nuanced.

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Speaker 2: There's so much context that goes with every single thing

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Speaker 2: we talked about, so it's hard to get into all

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Speaker 2: of it. But you know, I think that that's what

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Speaker 2: ultimately the jury is deciding is were the Angels negligent

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Speaker 2: and they're supervising of arricage? Did they follow their own policies?

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Speaker 2: Did they you know, did they act reasonably in dealing

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Speaker 2: with him? And and you know, was Tyler Skaggs, you know,

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Speaker 2: from the Angel side of it, how complicit is Tyler

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Speaker 2: Skagg's in his own death right, how you know, taking

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Speaker 2: that pill? You know, what role does that have and

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Speaker 2: kind of how the jury looks at this, you know,

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Speaker 2: his own choice that he made to do that. So

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Speaker 2: I think it's a really interesting, complicated set of questions

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Speaker 2: that they face.

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Speaker 3: And you know, there's no really easy answer to that.

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Speaker 2: But you know, if they've for nine weeks of testimony

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Speaker 2: so that they'll have enough information to work with, you.

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Speaker 4: Have been there for thirty days, you have seen this.

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Speaker 4: You've been day in and day out in the court.

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Speaker 4: The big names we hear, obviously, Tyler Skaggs died, Mike

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Speaker 4: Trout's on the stand, Harvey used drugs, Eric Kays in prison,

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Speaker 4: the Angels are Is there any one group that's really

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Speaker 4: kind of sliding by a person or maybe like a

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Speaker 4: group of people, like say Major League Baseball who's accepting

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Speaker 4: zero responsibility for this and kind of not really being

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Speaker 4: the ones that are at the forefront because of all

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Speaker 4: those big names and exactly what happened and Eric Kays

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Speaker 4: in prison. Is there a group of people or a

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Speaker 4: certain person that's like kind of sliding by and not

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Speaker 4: getting not getting I don't even know what the right

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Speaker 4: word is.

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Speaker 2: But trouble, you know, I don't I don't look at

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Speaker 2: this as MLB's fault here and and these and I

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Speaker 2: say that is I mean, I know that the Skags,

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Speaker 2: I would have probably included them, and they had other

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Speaker 2: They had Tim Mead and Eric k listed as defendants

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Speaker 2: initially in this lawsuit, and they and Tim Mead was,

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Speaker 2: you know, a long time PR guy for the Angels,

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Speaker 2: led the PR department and is kind of at the

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Speaker 2: crux of, you know, someone that allegedly knew about the

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Speaker 2: dynamic between Skags and and k. But I don't look

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Speaker 2: at MLB as being complicit here because MLB's policies and

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Speaker 2: that's really what One of the main arguments here is

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Speaker 2: and they've come up a lot in this trial because

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Speaker 2: at one point an Angels witness, their VP for HR,

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Speaker 2: said that the Angels notified MLB about Erk's drug addiction

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Speaker 2: and there's no evidence and I should they notified and

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Speaker 2: said they worked with them, and there's no evidence of

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Speaker 2: that it did. You know, MLB has come out and

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Speaker 2: said that didn't happen. H So you know, they actually

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Speaker 2: went out, they actually went on the record and you know,

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Speaker 2: kind of refuted what was testified to by by that

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Speaker 2: Angel's VP. So I don't look at MLB as super

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Speaker 2: complicit in this. They have pretty set policies on what

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Speaker 2: should have happened here. They have a drug Oversight committee

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Speaker 2: that wasn't that that theory should have been involved in this.

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Speaker 2: You know. I think the Angels, we are arguing that

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Speaker 2: they that they followed at the very least, they followed

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Speaker 2: the policy of you know, utilizing you know, a team

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Speaker 2: doctor essentially to help treat Eric, and that would have

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Speaker 2: been what MLB would have done. But I just I

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Speaker 2: don't MLB wasn't a part of this, and I think

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Speaker 2: if they had their way, they would have been you know,

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Speaker 2: but you have to be notified.

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Speaker 3: I mean they don't.

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Speaker 2: They don't know what's going on on the ground every

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Speaker 2: day in Anaheim. And I think that's that's the role

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Speaker 2: of the team, and that's ultimately what is being argued here.

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Speaker 2: You know, why why weren't their policies followed. Why wasn't

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Speaker 2: MLB's policies followed. Why weren't people notified of this when

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Speaker 2: when there were multiple episodes alleged about er K utilizing

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Speaker 2: you know, drugs at work and things like that.

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Speaker 1: How surprising was that part of the case. To me,

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Speaker 1: that was incredibly surprising based on how the league is

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Speaker 1: usually so lockstep with the teams and the owners. But

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Speaker 1: almost sounds like an accusations made the league's like whoa, whoa,

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Speaker 1: whoa hold up that is not true, and they push

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Speaker 1: it back. It usually sounds like something that would be

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Speaker 1: taken care of behind the scenes before it actually gets

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Speaker 1: to court, and makes it look like the group overseeing

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Speaker 1: another group and really in cahoots with a group is

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Speaker 1: battling within this case.

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Speaker 2: I think that that testimony surprised people, right. I think

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Speaker 2: that's where this you know, MLB is. I think it,

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Speaker 2: from my understanding, is kind of allowed the Angels to

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Speaker 2: to do what they need to do here, right like

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Speaker 2: it's it's there to I mean, it's there all ultimately

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Speaker 2: already Moreno's business. He can decide if he wants to,

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Speaker 2: you know, how he wants to approach you know, this case.

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Speaker 2: Do you want to settle it? Do you want to

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Speaker 2: where you want to go to trial?

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Speaker 3: Like that?

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Speaker 2: That's I think the League has kind of allowed them

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Speaker 2: to be autonomous in that front at the very least.

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Speaker 2: But you know, once that accusation comes up that they're

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Speaker 2: were working together and that Erk was you know, tested

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Speaker 2: under MLV policy and things like that, I think that's

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Speaker 2: where MLB was kind of like, we we can't allow

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Speaker 2: that to be at that narrative. I mean, I'm gonna

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Speaker 2: don't want to speak for the league, so I probably

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Speaker 2: shouldn't even say that. I just I think they put

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Speaker 2: that statement out there because you're you're you know, there

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Speaker 2: was a narrative and this is a legal case, and

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Speaker 2: I don't think that UHMLBI wants to be part of

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Speaker 2: that legal case. And you know, when you say that

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Speaker 2: MLB was involved in his treatment and in any capacity,

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Speaker 2: that that brings him into it.

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Speaker 3: So I agree with you. It surprised me, and that

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Speaker 3: was why I reached out.

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Speaker 2: To the league, you know, right after that testimony happened,

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Speaker 2: and asked them if they had any comments on it.

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Speaker 2: And you know, like you said, you don't usually see

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Speaker 2: that kind of dispute happening between teams, especially in an

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Speaker 2: ongoing legal matter, So it surprised me certainly. And that

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Speaker 2: statement ended up kind of being read in court. Another

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Speaker 2: ex team president, Frank Kunley, former Pirates president, longtime MLB

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Speaker 2: in you know, general Council, testified on behalf of the

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Speaker 2: Angels and he ended up getting handed that statement by

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Speaker 2: one of this GAG's lawyers and was read and because

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Speaker 2: he was kind of implying some similar things about, you know,

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Speaker 2: basically the league, basically the Angels working under league policy

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Speaker 2: essentially to treat Eric K. I don't remember exactly what

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Speaker 2: I want to speak out of line of what exactly said,

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Speaker 2: but it was, you know, basically saying that the team's EAP,

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Speaker 2: their employee assistance professional, was treating Eric K and that

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Speaker 2: that would have been kind of adequate under the policy. So,

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Speaker 2: you know, I think that MLB is a little frustrated,

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Speaker 2: at least at that particular you know comment by Debora Johnson,

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Speaker 2: the team, the Angel's VP. But I know we're going

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Speaker 2: through a lot of different names here, so it's probably

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Speaker 2: confusing some of the audience. But it's a complicated case,

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Speaker 2: and I apologize if I'm going astray here.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, But the point also is that if someone's checking

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Speaker 1: this out for ten minutes, there's a world of information.

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Speaker 1: You can know almost everything there is to know from

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Speaker 1: a public standpoint if they read your work. So this

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Speaker 1: is just a slivery. Like I said, you're doing great

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Speaker 1: on it, and I want to spin it forward, kind

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Speaker 1: of last topic on this. Then we'll get to the Angels.

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Speaker 1: But we're going to get a verdict. So what could

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Speaker 1: we be looking at right? Could we look at nothing

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Speaker 1: and the Angels are you know, whatever, the terminology is innocent,

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Speaker 1: They don't have to pay anything to the Skag's family.

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Speaker 1: Could we see hundreds of millions of dollars go to

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Speaker 1: the Skags family? Could we see that? Then get to

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Speaker 1: the next level of whatever they call it. You know,

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Speaker 1: I'm forgetting a lot of the legal terminology right now,

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Speaker 1: or they challenge it and then it goes back to

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Speaker 1: court again. So I know that's kind of a two parter.

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Speaker 1: And then the last part here that you can all

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Speaker 1: answer together, because I think it's all related, is if

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Speaker 1: the Skag side does win something here, does it get

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Speaker 1: looked at as something that could be you know, precedent

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Speaker 1: going forward for this specifics thing. But when something happens

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Speaker 1: within an organization and a player feels like he missed

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Speaker 1: out on career earnings for it or his family that

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Speaker 1: he left.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, So to answer like the first question right like

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Speaker 2: this this could be appealed, I imagine it would be

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Speaker 2: assuming there's you know, any sort of judgment against the

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Speaker 2: Angels and maybe even the Skags, I could appeal if

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Speaker 2: there's a judgment, not judgment against them. But if they

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Speaker 2: don't win, you know, I I don't know exactly what

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Speaker 2: will happen and how we'll all play out. But yeah,

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Speaker 2: I mean to answer your last question, like the precedent

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Speaker 2: side of this, I mean there's now I don't as

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Speaker 2: far as I'm aware, there's never been a professional sports

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Speaker 2: team that's been found responsible for the death of a player, right,

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Speaker 2: this is a wrongful death case. That's ultimately the question here,

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Speaker 2: Like the responsibility, Now, there are different machinations of what

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Speaker 2: that responsibility could look like they could say the Angels

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Speaker 2: are ten percent responsible, and you know, then that dollar

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Speaker 2: value is ten percent of it, and you could say

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Speaker 2: Tyler Scaggs is ninety. I don't know what they'll come

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Speaker 2: up with. I know that the skag side asked the

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Speaker 2: jury essentially to find the Angels like eighty seventy to

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Speaker 2: ninety percent responsible for this, and you know the rest

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Speaker 2: either goes to er K or to Tyler Skaggs. So

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Speaker 2: but that's how this works. I mean, they're gonna find

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Speaker 2: a apportionment of responsibility. They're going to find a dollar value,

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Speaker 2: and then that will basically be you know, or it

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Speaker 2: could be zero. The Angels could just come out with,

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Speaker 2: you know, winning this case outright for all we know.

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Speaker 2: So I don't know what will happen. There's so many

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Speaker 2: questions that will have to be answered, and it might

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Speaker 2: go on for a little while. And I certainly expect

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Speaker 2: an appeal regardless of kind of the results. I believe

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Speaker 2: there were even some there might have been even a

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Speaker 2: request for a mistrial that was not granted. So you know,

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Speaker 2: there's there's still a lot to happen here, and I

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Speaker 2: they re have to redo this trial. That would be

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Speaker 2: another three months of my life. But we'll see not.

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Speaker 1: Oh boy, oh boy, yep, may not in your control.

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Speaker 1: And you're doing a great job covering it. What'd you say, No.

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Speaker 3: I said, I don't think that'll happen, but we'll see.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I hope something like this just from

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Speaker 1: the outside perspective gets resolved soon, because no matter how

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Speaker 1: you slice it, it is ugly. It's it's awkward, it's uncomfortable.

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Speaker 1: You're talking about someone who passed away tragedy and then

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Speaker 1: bringing up the value of that person as a player

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Speaker 1: and what he did off the field, like a lot

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Speaker 1: of personal and private information on both sides. You know,

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Speaker 1: it's not like the angels are having fun with this,

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Speaker 1: but they're challenging it. So anyway, you're doing a great job.

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Speaker 1: It's it's been cool to read everything just from an

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Speaker 1: insider perspective, to see what's going on inside the courthouse, since,

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Speaker 1: of course I appreciate both of us cannot be there,

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Speaker 1: So thanks for that. And then I'm going to make

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Speaker 1: life a little bit easier on you now because the

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Speaker 1: second portion of our conversation is baseball moves off season

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Speaker 1: to do list. Let's hit the Angels. They've done some

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Speaker 1: things already. But Sam, what do you think's on the

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Speaker 1: docket for them?

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Speaker 3: Well, okay, I think I put together a little list.

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Speaker 2: The top thing that I find interesting is how they're

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Speaker 2: going to navigate Mike Trout and Hori Hilaire, because this,

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Speaker 2: to me is, you know, it's not the most important question,

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Speaker 2: but it's really interesting because both these guys. I mean, Trout,

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Speaker 2: I know, is going into the season wanting to play

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Speaker 2: at the outfield, but he also wanted the last season

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Speaker 2: wanted to play outfield, and then by the end of

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Speaker 2: April he didn't play another game defensively the whole season.

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Speaker 2: And you're kind of also looking at a lot of injuries.

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Speaker 2: You're looking at him being a year older. You know,

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Speaker 2: you've already had issues keeping him on the field, so

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Speaker 2: I think at the very least you're gonna expect a

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Speaker 2: lot of dh I mean, that's just that's just.

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Speaker 3: My read on this.

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Speaker 2: And then you have Hori Solaire, who really you know,

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Speaker 2: he got injured all that last year and he directly

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Speaker 2: said it's because I'm playing the outfield a lot, like

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Speaker 2: he doesn't really want to play the outfield. I don't

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Speaker 2: think you know when he's out there, it's not He's

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Speaker 2: just not a natural I mean maybe at earlier points

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Speaker 2: in his career was a better defensive player, but just

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Speaker 2: not a good defensive player at this point. So and

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Speaker 2: it's hurting him physically. So I don't know how you

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Speaker 2: handle that. I don't know if there's like a trade

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Speaker 2: partner for Solaire or if there's, you know, some way

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Speaker 2: to work through this. I mean in theory, you know,

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Speaker 2: they traded Taylor Ward, so there's there's space in the outfield.

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Speaker 2: I just don't know exactly how they're gonna feel that

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Speaker 2: if they're going to want to go and add more

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Speaker 2: players and you know what you do with Joe Adele,

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Speaker 2: because then you're also working with the reality that Joe Adele,

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Speaker 2: if you look at his numbers, was a really bad

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Speaker 2: defensive center fielder, but a really good defensive right fielder.

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Speaker 2: So is Trout going to go back to center? That

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Speaker 2: was brought up and as a possibility at the winter meetings.

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Speaker 2: So I just think that they kind of have to

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Speaker 2: work through this problem. You know, is it a problem

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Speaker 2: to have too good hitters? Know, but it is something

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Speaker 2: you got to, you know, navigate when you're talking about players,

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Speaker 2: then maybe just aren't capable of playing every day defensively.

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Speaker 4: All right, well then let's go with let's go with

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Speaker 4: your first Your first note there Solaire and Trout. Obviously

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Speaker 4: you want to keep Mike Trout healthy, he's got more

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Speaker 4: years left on his contract. Is Jorge Solaire's market completely

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Speaker 4: diminished in the sense that it's really only a one year,

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Speaker 4: fourteen million dollar deal. I'm not sure how much of

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Speaker 4: it's backloaded, if there's more than that, but essentially that's

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Speaker 4: what it comes out to, is his power if you're

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Speaker 4: if a team is able to be found to have

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Speaker 4: it at DH worth the fourteen million, because if not,

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Speaker 4: why the heck did they trade for him last year?

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Speaker 4: They put themselves in this situation knowing what's happened to

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Speaker 4: Mike Trout the last few years.

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Speaker 2: I think you had me on like the day after

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Speaker 2: they traded for there, we had this exact conversation and

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Speaker 2: I was like, yeah, I could see this definitely becoming

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Speaker 2: a problem, and then that it definitely has been. And

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Speaker 2: so I mean, listen, I think if you're trading Solaire,

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Speaker 2: it's probably for another bad contract, right, because at this point,

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Speaker 2: I don't think Solaia has looked at as like highly valuable.

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Speaker 3: I mean, he had a bad year last year.

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Speaker 2: He was hurt last year, so you know, I know

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Speaker 2: Perry's talked about well, he tends to do well on

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Speaker 2: contract years, but he's also I think, like thirty five now,

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Speaker 2: so he's never been thirty five in those contract years before.

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Speaker 3: So if you're in.

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Speaker 2: A trade him, I think it would you know, you

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Speaker 2: maybe could trade for a similar contract or something like that.

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Speaker 2: I think that would be the the and they might

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Speaker 2: they might decide to do that because I just I

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Speaker 2: don't know how you're going to navigate this issue. I mean,

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Speaker 2: it's it's just kind of like they're stuck on it.

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Speaker 2: The best the best solution would be Mike Trap playing

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Speaker 2: defense every day, but I mean I wouldn't rely on

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Speaker 2: that at this point. I mean, you know, going into

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Speaker 2: the season, that will be the plan, I'm sure, but

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Speaker 2: it's not.

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Speaker 3: You know, it's just not a reliable plan. Everything we

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Speaker 3: know from the last five seasons.

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Speaker 2: So yeah, I would I would think they should try

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Speaker 2: to trade them if they can, maybe for a picture

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Speaker 2: that's similar and or you know, a starting picture with

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Speaker 2: a similar type of contract. If not necessarily reliable, but

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Speaker 2: you hope that you can get something out of it.

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Speaker 1: Hey, Sam, we're on a show every day, so we're

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Speaker 1: wrong a lot, we're right sometimes. I'm glad you brought

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Speaker 1: that up. Just dming with Kratz. I'm like, we smash

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Speaker 1: that move last year, respectfully, Like this isn't against Torgues

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Speaker 1: sol Layer and we know that the Angels needed power.

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Speaker 1: I remember everything about it because I start to harp

431
00:19:34,880 --> 00:19:37,960
Speaker 1: on certain things and it was like, Oh, Trout's going

432
00:19:38,040 --> 00:19:40,359
Speaker 1: to take too many swings if he's at DH And

433
00:19:40,359 --> 00:19:43,440
Speaker 1: I'm with you on this pushing forward part too. Really

434
00:19:43,480 --> 00:19:46,920
Speaker 1: going to throw Mike Trout into the outfield regularly center field?

435
00:19:46,960 --> 00:19:48,840
Speaker 1: Get out of here. You're gonna put Trout running around

436
00:19:48,840 --> 00:19:51,360
Speaker 1: center field at the age and the injuries that he's

437
00:19:51,359 --> 00:19:53,919
Speaker 1: gone through, some of which seem chronic at this point

438
00:19:54,440 --> 00:19:56,960
Speaker 1: to me, I think Mike Trout still has value as

439
00:19:56,960 --> 00:20:00,640
Speaker 1: a bat, and I think he can feel significant h time.

440
00:20:00,720 --> 00:20:03,879
Speaker 1: I mean, he's certainly being paid to contribute as much

441
00:20:03,920 --> 00:20:05,920
Speaker 1: as possible, so I would figure that out. That's why

442
00:20:05,960 --> 00:20:08,240
Speaker 1: for me, the move baffled me so much last year.

443
00:20:08,240 --> 00:20:11,359
Speaker 1: It's not against or Laier, it's not against the dh spot,

444
00:20:11,480 --> 00:20:13,879
Speaker 1: but how they looked at it. For Mike Trout to

445
00:20:13,880 --> 00:20:15,920
Speaker 1: get himself back on the field. I'm sure there's pushback

446
00:20:15,920 --> 00:20:17,840
Speaker 1: from Mike, as you're a competitor and one of the

447
00:20:17,840 --> 00:20:20,080
Speaker 1: best in the sport for a long period of time.

448
00:20:20,119 --> 00:20:22,199
Speaker 1: You want to see that. But the organization is to

449
00:20:22,200 --> 00:20:24,119
Speaker 1: push back, like, hey, dude, paying a ton of money,

450
00:20:24,480 --> 00:20:26,160
Speaker 1: we want to take care of you and make sure

451
00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:28,399
Speaker 1: that you get as many AB's as possible. That's your

452
00:20:28,480 --> 00:20:29,879
Speaker 1: value at this point in your career.

453
00:20:30,600 --> 00:20:32,000
Speaker 2: I mean, if you look at their lineup last year,

454
00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:33,520
Speaker 2: I mean they had the second most strikeouts in the

455
00:20:33,520 --> 00:20:35,280
Speaker 2: history of baseball last year. That team, I mean, this

456
00:20:35,400 --> 00:20:37,480
Speaker 2: was a team that just was not putting the ball

457
00:20:37,520 --> 00:20:39,720
Speaker 2: in play. So you're at this point, I mean, you

458
00:20:39,720 --> 00:20:43,520
Speaker 2: know you got to be you know, having horses Hilaire

459
00:20:43,520 --> 00:20:46,040
Speaker 2: in your lineup is they wanted puplic They needed like

460
00:20:46,200 --> 00:20:49,360
Speaker 2: that type of power after last offseasons, So I think

461
00:20:49,359 --> 00:20:51,359
Speaker 2: that was like kind of the idea behind it, but

462
00:20:51,400 --> 00:20:52,280
Speaker 2: it didn't really.

463
00:20:52,080 --> 00:20:53,200
Speaker 3: Pay off in any capacity.

464
00:20:53,240 --> 00:20:54,840
Speaker 2: I mean, he hit some home runs, but it wasn't

465
00:20:54,920 --> 00:20:57,040
Speaker 2: you know, he wasn't even available for much of the season.

466
00:20:57,080 --> 00:20:58,400
Speaker 3: And you know.

467
00:20:58,400 --> 00:21:00,320
Speaker 2: That even goes devtails into the other things, which which is,

468
00:21:00,359 --> 00:21:02,359
Speaker 2: you know, what do you do at third base? I mean,

469
00:21:02,400 --> 00:21:04,520
Speaker 2: you keep a Christian more out there, or you know,

470
00:21:04,840 --> 00:21:07,520
Speaker 2: you got von Grissom, or you know, Oswald Peroza. But

471
00:21:07,560 --> 00:21:09,320
Speaker 2: you're also dealing with a lot of players that continue

472
00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:11,879
Speaker 2: to have strikeout these strikeout issues. So I don't you know,

473
00:21:12,040 --> 00:21:13,480
Speaker 2: I don't know what they're going to do. They need

474
00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:15,280
Speaker 2: to have a third basement. They just this has been

475
00:21:15,280 --> 00:21:17,840
Speaker 2: this position since they signed Rendon. It's just been one

476
00:21:17,880 --> 00:21:19,520
Speaker 2: after the other after the other after the other. It

477
00:21:19,520 --> 00:21:22,760
Speaker 2: has been nothing but like disaster at that position. So

478
00:21:22,960 --> 00:21:24,119
Speaker 2: I don't know if they're going to just try to

479
00:21:24,160 --> 00:21:25,479
Speaker 2: run out one of the guys they already have, if

480
00:21:25,480 --> 00:21:27,440
Speaker 2: they're going to try to make an acquisition of some kind.

481
00:21:27,440 --> 00:21:29,280
Speaker 2: But I think the players that you're working with on

482
00:21:29,320 --> 00:21:33,200
Speaker 2: your roster are huge strikeout prone players at this point. Now,

483
00:21:33,560 --> 00:21:34,800
Speaker 2: you know, I don't know if that's a coaching thing.

484
00:21:34,800 --> 00:21:37,119
Speaker 2: They've got a new coach, whole new coaching staff, new manager,

485
00:21:37,200 --> 00:21:39,160
Speaker 2: everything like that, so maybe there's a different approach that's

486
00:21:39,200 --> 00:21:41,639
Speaker 2: coming up. But I think my concern would be for

487
00:21:41,680 --> 00:21:43,080
Speaker 2: this lineup is that it's still going to be really

488
00:21:43,119 --> 00:21:43,800
Speaker 2: strikeout heavy.

489
00:21:45,520 --> 00:21:48,200
Speaker 5: I want to hit on Rendon a little bit here

490
00:21:48,240 --> 00:21:51,040
Speaker 5: for the off season topic number two. You talked about

491
00:21:51,080 --> 00:21:54,920
Speaker 5: his replacement. Fine, okay, understandable. That's you know, if you're

492
00:21:54,920 --> 00:21:57,800
Speaker 5: an Angels fan, that's frustrating here because ultimately you're looking

493
00:21:57,800 --> 00:22:00,399
Speaker 5: for somebody to solidify that spot. Are they working on

494
00:22:00,440 --> 00:22:04,359
Speaker 5: a buyout plan for Anthony? Or is are they talking

495
00:22:04,359 --> 00:22:05,719
Speaker 5: about something about him?

496
00:22:05,760 --> 00:22:08,080
Speaker 2: I think take a preliminary stage right now, if I

497
00:22:08,119 --> 00:22:10,159
Speaker 2: had to kind of read between the lines of you know,

498
00:22:10,520 --> 00:22:12,639
Speaker 2: I think that's what Perry would love, if I had

499
00:22:12,680 --> 00:22:13,000
Speaker 2: to guess.

500
00:22:13,080 --> 00:22:14,879
Speaker 3: I mean, you know, he's on the last year of

501
00:22:14,880 --> 00:22:15,520
Speaker 3: his contract.

502
00:22:16,040 --> 00:22:18,440
Speaker 2: So my question with Rindon is always, is it really

503
00:22:18,440 --> 00:22:20,440
Speaker 2: even valuable to them to work on this buy out?

504
00:22:20,440 --> 00:22:23,200
Speaker 2: I kind of waffle between that those two competing thoughts

505
00:22:23,200 --> 00:22:25,840
Speaker 2: because I mean, the Angels really going to be competitive

506
00:22:25,840 --> 00:22:27,920
Speaker 2: in twenty twenty six given what we saw last year,

507
00:22:27,920 --> 00:22:29,720
Speaker 2: given the roster, I mean, is this really a team

508
00:22:29,760 --> 00:22:32,439
Speaker 2: that you expect to like be a playoff team next year?

509
00:22:32,480 --> 00:22:36,720
Speaker 2: And I mean I wouldn't personally, So doesn't make sense

510
00:22:36,720 --> 00:22:38,920
Speaker 2: to just like pay this contract out, get it over,

511
00:22:38,960 --> 00:22:40,480
Speaker 2: get it off your books, get it out of your life.

512
00:22:40,480 --> 00:22:42,520
Speaker 2: Get it out of your headspace or do you want

513
00:22:42,560 --> 00:22:44,639
Speaker 2: to because any sort of buyout would probably mean a

514
00:22:44,680 --> 00:22:47,160
Speaker 2: deferral of some kind. So if then you're paying him

515
00:22:47,440 --> 00:22:50,320
Speaker 2: more money next year of the year after, So that's

516
00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:54,560
Speaker 2: that's really the question, you know, for me, And you

517
00:22:54,560 --> 00:22:57,200
Speaker 2: know it's the we already know already hates these deferrals.

518
00:22:57,240 --> 00:22:59,560
Speaker 2: We saw that with show A. Obviously this is not

519
00:22:59,640 --> 00:23:02,720
Speaker 2: something he typically does. So I think that if the

520
00:23:02,720 --> 00:23:05,159
Speaker 2: front office, I think everyone maybe below Ardy would love

521
00:23:05,200 --> 00:23:07,120
Speaker 2: to see some sort of deferral plan. But I don't

522
00:23:07,119 --> 00:23:08,760
Speaker 2: know exactly where it all stands, and I do think

523
00:23:08,800 --> 00:23:11,199
Speaker 2: this will ultimately be an already conversation with Boris and

524
00:23:11,200 --> 00:23:15,000
Speaker 2: with with Anthony, with everybody that's you know, directly involved

525
00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:17,240
Speaker 2: in that process. I don't I just don't think through that.

526
00:23:17,280 --> 00:23:17,520
Speaker 3: I don't.

527
00:23:17,560 --> 00:23:19,560
Speaker 2: I don't want to report exactly. I don't know for sure,

528
00:23:19,560 --> 00:23:21,920
Speaker 2: but I don't think it's like on the doorstep or anything.

529
00:23:21,920 --> 00:23:24,480
Speaker 2: It could be wrong, but that's not the sense I've gotten.

530
00:23:25,520 --> 00:23:27,280
Speaker 2: But again, I don't know if it's the smart thing

531
00:23:27,280 --> 00:23:29,680
Speaker 2: for them to do. Part of me just says get

532
00:23:29,760 --> 00:23:33,160
Speaker 2: get Let this contract be this contract, and we shouldn't,

533
00:23:33,200 --> 00:23:36,240
Speaker 2: you know, worry about you know, is Perry gonna get

534
00:23:36,240 --> 00:23:38,160
Speaker 2: his shot at a playoff team or at more money

535
00:23:38,200 --> 00:23:40,800
Speaker 2: in free agency this season when I'm not sure the

536
00:23:40,840 --> 00:23:44,040
Speaker 2: Angels have justified spending big this offseason, and you know,

537
00:23:44,119 --> 00:23:45,880
Speaker 2: trying to really go for it next year, even though

538
00:23:45,920 --> 00:23:47,439
Speaker 2: that's kind of what they do every year, is just

539
00:23:47,600 --> 00:23:49,320
Speaker 2: you know, pretend to go for it.

540
00:23:50,600 --> 00:23:54,800
Speaker 4: Your third point is find reliable starting pitching is almost

541
00:23:54,880 --> 00:23:59,320
Speaker 4: a laughable comment when Ardi Moreno is still your owner

542
00:23:59,359 --> 00:24:02,240
Speaker 4: of a team. I feel like for years he's hamstrung

543
00:24:02,880 --> 00:24:10,000
Speaker 4: his GMS into finding that reliable starting pitching because I

544
00:24:10,040 --> 00:24:13,520
Speaker 4: think the number that you sent over was sixty percent

545
00:24:13,560 --> 00:24:16,040
Speaker 4: of their starting rotation hasn't made a start in a

546
00:24:16,040 --> 00:24:18,120
Speaker 4: Big League since twenty twenty four.

547
00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:20,640
Speaker 2: Yeah, I guess it depends on how you view men. Noah,

548
00:24:20,720 --> 00:24:22,480
Speaker 2: is he look in the rotation to see a bullpen guy?

549
00:24:22,520 --> 00:24:23,959
Speaker 2: Is he someone that has to earn it? But I mean,

550
00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:26,520
Speaker 2: if you you know, you look at Rodriguez and you

551
00:24:26,520 --> 00:24:29,680
Speaker 2: look at Reed Detmer's who was in the bullpenal last year,

552
00:24:29,920 --> 00:24:33,760
Speaker 2: I mean that's kind of you know that those guys

553
00:24:33,760 --> 00:24:37,359
Speaker 2: have more solidified spots at this point, so you know,

554
00:24:37,440 --> 00:24:41,000
Speaker 2: and then I think your most reliable guy is probably Usiekikuchi.

555
00:24:41,080 --> 00:24:43,240
Speaker 2: This guy's always made his starts, He's always been available.

556
00:24:43,240 --> 00:24:45,040
Speaker 2: That's kind of his calling card, and I think it's

557
00:24:45,080 --> 00:24:46,879
Speaker 2: what makes him very valuable in a lot of ways.

558
00:24:47,240 --> 00:24:51,760
Speaker 2: But you know, Soriano is good. He's a really good pitterer.

559
00:24:51,800 --> 00:24:54,320
Speaker 2: I think he's all Star caliber, if not better than that.

560
00:24:54,680 --> 00:24:56,840
Speaker 2: But you know, he's also had the wildly inconsistent I

561
00:24:56,840 --> 00:24:58,840
Speaker 2: think the one thing that the Angels have done really

562
00:24:58,880 --> 00:25:01,480
Speaker 2: well the offseason they hired my maddis now that you

563
00:25:01,520 --> 00:25:03,400
Speaker 2: know what difference that makes in this and this whole

564
00:25:03,440 --> 00:25:05,800
Speaker 2: equation is to be seen, I think, but I would

565
00:25:05,800 --> 00:25:07,520
Speaker 2: give them credit for that higher I think that is,

566
00:25:08,359 --> 00:25:10,800
Speaker 2: you know, that's a that's a good addition, right this guy.

567
00:25:10,640 --> 00:25:13,000
Speaker 2: The Texas Rangers have the best pitching staff in baseball

568
00:25:13,080 --> 00:25:15,240
Speaker 2: last year, and I don't necessarily think that equates to

569
00:25:15,280 --> 00:25:17,080
Speaker 2: the Angels will have the best pitching staff in baseball,

570
00:25:17,080 --> 00:25:19,840
Speaker 2: But you know, it's good to have someone with with

571
00:25:19,880 --> 00:25:22,480
Speaker 2: that pedigree at least overseeing some of these younger pitchers

572
00:25:22,760 --> 00:25:25,720
Speaker 2: and overseeing some of these reclamation projects because ultimately, those

573
00:25:25,920 --> 00:25:27,680
Speaker 2: who are who the Angels seem to do that, they're

574
00:25:27,680 --> 00:25:28,840
Speaker 2: going to be relying on you know.

575
00:25:28,760 --> 00:25:30,200
Speaker 3: They can make they can make more moves.

576
00:25:30,240 --> 00:25:32,760
Speaker 2: I still think that that is very much on the

577
00:25:32,800 --> 00:25:35,160
Speaker 2: table to add a starting pitching. But for right now,

578
00:25:35,240 --> 00:25:37,200
Speaker 2: what they're what it looks like is is a lot

579
00:25:37,200 --> 00:25:39,320
Speaker 2: of guys that you can't really count on and you

580
00:25:39,359 --> 00:25:40,480
Speaker 2: just kind of hope work out.

581
00:25:45,320 --> 00:25:47,920
Speaker 1: That's all we got. Sam's off the hot seat. Sam,

582
00:25:48,000 --> 00:25:48,800
Speaker 1: that was great stuff.

583
00:25:48,840 --> 00:25:49,040
Speaker 4: Man.

584
00:25:50,119 --> 00:25:52,679
Speaker 1: Thanks for Evan, although I'm sure you probably have been

585
00:25:53,080 --> 00:25:55,560
Speaker 1: doing a lot of listening in the courthouse.

586
00:25:55,640 --> 00:25:58,720
Speaker 3: So a verdict though.

587
00:25:59,560 --> 00:26:01,280
Speaker 1: Is that what that's where you are right now? Right

588
00:26:01,280 --> 00:26:02,200
Speaker 1: you're sitting waiting for.

589
00:26:02,200 --> 00:26:05,280
Speaker 3: Me on my car outside the courthouse. Yeah, I'm gonna

590
00:26:05,320 --> 00:26:06,000
Speaker 3: do it from the courthouse.

591
00:26:06,040 --> 00:26:07,399
Speaker 2: And then your producer said that there was a lot

592
00:26:07,400 --> 00:26:08,639
Speaker 2: of talk back, and I was like, I gotta get

593
00:26:08,640 --> 00:26:09,320
Speaker 2: at it.

594
00:26:09,440 --> 00:26:11,280
Speaker 1: Yeah, probably better to be outside the courthouse.

595
00:26:11,280 --> 00:26:13,040
Speaker 3: And there's a variety of reasons.

596
00:26:13,160 --> 00:26:15,840
Speaker 1: Yeah, producer lady is tough.

597
00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:16,679
Speaker 2: She's the best.

598
00:26:17,040 --> 00:26:19,960
Speaker 1: Sam, you too, Man, great work on this. Really appreciate it.

599
00:26:19,960 --> 00:26:22,920
Speaker 1: It's been fascinating to read all about what's going on here.

600
00:26:23,320 --> 00:26:25,360
Speaker 1: And we'll catch it from where Angels talk at some.

601
00:26:25,320 --> 00:26:27,680
Speaker 3: Point soon thany time. Thank you guys for having me

602
00:26:27,720 --> 00:26:28,400
Speaker 3: I appreciate it,