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Speaker 1: After one hundred and ten games. What your team is

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Speaker 1: and what your odds are, and what you should do

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Speaker 1: for now and for down the road.

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Speaker 2: Jason Stark from the Athletic joining us right now. Jason,

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Speaker 2: it's so great to see you. Thank you for joining us.

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Speaker 2: How are you and how was your All Star coverage?

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Speaker 1: I'm great, guys, happy second half to you. Saw Eric Scott,

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Speaker 1: I saw your father. Never did lay eyes on you,

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Speaker 1: but had a great time in Atlanta. The swing off

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Speaker 1: was just one of those moments where I was so

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Speaker 1: glad I was in the park with a computer I

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Speaker 1: write about that.

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Speaker 2: Well, let me ask you about that, Jason, because you've

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Speaker 2: done a lot of reporting over the years on changes

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Speaker 2: and the evolution of rules within the league. Do you

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Speaker 2: think that we'll see more of this now? I'm not

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Speaker 2: even necessarily saying regular season, but can they even figure

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Speaker 2: out a way to incorporate this into more All Star

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Speaker 2: Games if it doesn't involve extra innings? What are your thoughts?

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Speaker 2: What have you seen?

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Speaker 1: Wait, just explain to me what you're conjecturing here. That

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Speaker 1: there would be home run derby busting out in the

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Speaker 1: middle of regulation before we even got text trainings.

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Speaker 2: So here was one thing I was coming up with yesterday.

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Speaker 2: Either two options. Either you play the game and then

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Speaker 2: at the end of the game you do a derby

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Speaker 2: and if let's say the AL was winning six to two,

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Speaker 2: each team gets three swings. The AL has a four

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Speaker 2: run lead, so they get four bonus swings. Or mid

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Speaker 2: game you do a derby and that can lead to

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Speaker 2: an extra run with a three swing swing off. It's

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Speaker 2: an exhibition game, Okay. We debated a lot yesterday, Jason

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Speaker 2: about if we would ever see it in a regular

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Speaker 2: season game, maybe from the twelfth inning on. What are

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Speaker 2: your thoughts on that? And do you think that messing

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Speaker 2: with the All Star Game is too much or it's

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Speaker 2: okay because it's an exhibition.

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Speaker 1: Okay, let's do these one thing at a time. First off,

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Speaker 1: I love this. It was so much fun. Every once

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Speaker 1: in a while, you know, given the stuff I write

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Speaker 1: about all the time, when something like this breaks out,

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Speaker 1: I almost feel like I somehow willed it to happen,

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Speaker 1: you know what I mean? Just why I could write

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Speaker 1: about it. It was so entertaining and the way the

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Speaker 1: crowd got into it and those players got into it.

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Speaker 1: It was awesome for the All Star Game. I am

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Speaker 1: not a proponent of doing this in any other context.

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Speaker 1: But one thing I couldn't help but think about was

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Speaker 1: all the powers that be in the sport were in

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Speaker 1: the park watching that and seeing how people reacted, hearing

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Speaker 1: the buzz, just watching the reaction to those Kyle Schwerber

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Speaker 1: bombs and thinking they're gonna be tempted to do this.

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Speaker 1: I don't know, guys, how do you feel about the

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Speaker 1: idea that the last pitch of a game that counts

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Speaker 1: would be thrown by a coach. I'm not there yet, Jason.

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Speaker 3: Sorry that Scott just wasted your time with what he

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Speaker 3: was saying, because I've tried to stop him. They try

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Speaker 3: to stop me when I say just as nine things,

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Speaker 3: and this is my chance to just stop Scott from

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Speaker 3: constantly talking about this. But no, it's not. We don't

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Speaker 3: want coaches on the field like the game's played for players.

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Speaker 3: It was so awesome. I completely agree with you that

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Speaker 3: it was awesome. But from that game, besides that, what

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Speaker 3: is the storyline that is going to bleed into the

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Speaker 3: second half from the All Star Game? Because obviously everyone's like, oh,

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Speaker 3: Kyle Raley's going to be so tired because he played

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Speaker 3: in the home run derby in the game and all

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Speaker 3: of stuff. But what do you feel like is going

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Speaker 3: to bleed into the second half as we left the

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Speaker 3: All Star Game in.

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Speaker 1: Atlanta, something from the game besides that, that's going to

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Speaker 1: be the thing we talk about most. I think, I mean,

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Speaker 1: I've been honestly thinking about what does this do for

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Speaker 1: Kyle Schwarber's trip to free agency. I think he was

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Speaker 1: going to get paid, even though there's really no precedent

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Speaker 1: I think for a contract for a guy who fits

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Speaker 1: his profile. But you saw it, you. I mean, I

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Speaker 1: talked to players in that National League clubhouse about that

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Speaker 1: guy afterwards, and just hearing Kyle Staras say that guy's

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Speaker 1: a legend and this just made him more of a legend.

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Speaker 1: Does this help Kyle Schwarber's trip to free agency? Because

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna vote yes, understandably.

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Speaker 4: So. The guy's an absolute beast. He's been doing it

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Speaker 4: for years. My question to you is I'm jumping to

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Speaker 4: a team here. The Arizona Diamondbacks have been okay the

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Speaker 4: past couple of years, made it to the playoffs, almost

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Speaker 4: made a run, you know, and won the whole thing.

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Speaker 4: And now they're in a stance here are they going

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Speaker 4: to be sellers, are they not? They got a couple

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Speaker 4: of pieces they can get rid of. In my opinion,

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Speaker 4: I feel like they should be sellers. Talk to me

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Speaker 4: a little bit about the Diamondbacks with this trade deadline coming.

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Speaker 1: Up, tad. From what I'm hearing, they are set up

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Speaker 1: to sell. They're clearly the team to watch here these

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Speaker 1: next two weeks, and just think of how the planets

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Speaker 1: are lining up. They have the perfect excuse to sell,

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Speaker 1: don't they. They can just stand there and say, we

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Speaker 1: loved our team, we couldn't stay healthy. We're in a

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Speaker 1: tough division, so we're going to trade these guys and

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Speaker 1: then try to sign them all again as free agents.

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Speaker 1: And I honestly think that's what's gonna happen. So I

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Speaker 1: don't know, isn't there a world where au Haneo and

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Speaker 1: Josh Nayler become the two best bats traded? I think so.

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Speaker 1: And I don't know if they deal both Merrill Kelly

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Speaker 1: and Zach Gallan, But I mean, what are the odds

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Speaker 1: whichever one of those two they do sign becomes the

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Speaker 1: best starting pitcher traded. I think they're really high that

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Speaker 1: that's a team that I think now controls the deadline.

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Speaker 1: They're perfectly positioned and they know it.

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Speaker 3: But is this team they're not looking to rebuild, They're

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Speaker 3: not even looking to really necessarily build their farm system.

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Speaker 3: So this might be my favorite team because they could

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Speaker 3: make a baseball trade where they're like, hey, we'll take

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Speaker 3: your you know, we'll take your already established big leaguer

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Speaker 3: with one year of time for our rental that we have.

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Speaker 3: Is there a team that they match up the best

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Speaker 3: in that type of trade?

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Speaker 1: I mean, I think they match up with about ten teams.

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Speaker 1: You know. They look, they've got the walk year All Stars,

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Speaker 1: you know, so the value of rent of players has

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Speaker 1: been falling in this market. But for them to get

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Speaker 1: one young piece of the puzzle, I mean, that fits

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Speaker 1: infinite number of teams, you know. I don't again, I

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Speaker 1: don't know if how many teams that are in a

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Speaker 1: race want to trade a player who's actually on their

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Speaker 1: big league roster right now. But they're going to do fine,

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Speaker 1: I think. And you know what, you just described a

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Speaker 1: team looking to make trades that are good baseball trades

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Speaker 1: that set them up to compete again next year. That

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Speaker 1: describes the Diamondbacks perfectly for me.

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Speaker 2: Krats I am actually in the market for a new car. Yes, wow,

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Speaker 2: car up north so I can drive very far to

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Speaker 2: todd father studio and to my house and to your house.

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Speaker 3: I don't want to be confused.

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Speaker 2: Yes, because parent this is big on our show and

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Speaker 2: just fat.

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Speaker 3: To The confidence part is what I stick with because

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Speaker 3: it's like did I I gotta check another site? I

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Speaker 3: gotta check this site or that site. It's all in

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Speaker 3: one place. I know I got the best deal for

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Speaker 3: what I'm getting. Take the guesswork out. It's called car

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Speaker 3: guruscar gurus dot com. To be exact, you can buy

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Speaker 2: They are super popular. Go give them a look. Car

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Speaker 2: gurus dot com, c r g u r us dot com.

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Speaker 2: Hey Jason, I want to ask you about the trade

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Speaker 2: deadline in general. Your colleague got the Athletic and our

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Speaker 2: buddy on this show. Jim Bowden recently put out an

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Speaker 2: article saying that he thinks the trade deadline should be

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Speaker 2: pushed back a bit after years now of a case study,

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Speaker 2: with the third wildcard team added and more teams with

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Speaker 2: a decent percentage of making the playoffs. Are you okay

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Speaker 2: with where we're at or do you feel like we're

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Speaker 2: hurting ourselves as a game by preventing trades from happening

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Speaker 2: because too many teams are still on the fence, and

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Speaker 2: it would give them a little bit more time after

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Speaker 2: the draft to collect thoughts, right, because it seems like

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Speaker 2: generally most teams are not doing much until after the draft,

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Speaker 2: which is three days ago.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, Scott, both those things are true, and I agree

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Speaker 1: with Jim to that point. But I think there comes

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Speaker 1: a time when teams need to make a decision about

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Speaker 1: what they are. And I think teams can waffle until

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Speaker 1: August fifteenth just as easily as they can waffle till

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Speaker 1: Live thirty first. And when I look at these teams

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Speaker 1: that can't decide, I just think you should understand after

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Speaker 1: one hundred and ten games or whatever it is, what

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Speaker 1: your team is and what your odds are, and what

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Speaker 1: you should do for now and for down the road.

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Speaker 1: And I just think it's an excuse. I don't know

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Speaker 1: how much it clarifies anything to wait until August fifteenth.

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Speaker 1: I do think it's an issue the teams that have

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Speaker 1: some big injury after July thirty first have no vehicle

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Speaker 1: to make a trade that gets them a replacement. I

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Speaker 1: would like the sport to think about that, but otherwise

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Speaker 1: I like it where it is.

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Speaker 3: I couldn't agree more. I got traded plenty of times

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Speaker 3: on August thirtieth. I'm not a big I'm not a

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Speaker 3: big playoff contributor, but I still think teams need to

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Speaker 3: have that out where they get that August thirtieth deadline

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Speaker 3: back again because big guys get moved. Justin Verlander gets

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Speaker 3: moved during that time.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, you know that Justin Verlander trade is one of

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Speaker 1: the biggest, most difference making deals of the last ten years.

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Speaker 1: And it happened not in July but in August. And

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Speaker 1: just the all the anecdotes about out what happened that

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Speaker 1: night with the Astros people waiting in a car outside

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Speaker 1: his house right and him running down the stairs so

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Speaker 1: he could sign and approve the deal right before midnight tremendous.

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Speaker 1: Give me as many tales like that as we can

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Speaker 1: put together.

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Speaker 3: I don't know all those stories. I like reading all

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Speaker 3: those stories, but they don't all line up right for me,

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Speaker 3: Like like they got the call in by eleven fifty

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Speaker 3: nine and supposedly he's still signed it. Anyway, we don't

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Speaker 3: need to make up stories to be friends, Jason, but

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Speaker 3: I do. I do have to ask you about the Phillies.

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Speaker 3: Dave Dombrowski is like he is waiting with his hand

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Speaker 3: on the button to trade for somebody. How big of

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Speaker 3: a move or moves is Dave Dombrowski looking to make

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Speaker 3: right now, all the way up until the trade deadline?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I Eric. I think he has this sense about

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Speaker 1: his team that with the right move or moves, they

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Speaker 1: can win the World Series. That everybody else is beatable

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Speaker 1: their team too, but they have that team that nobody

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Speaker 1: wants to play because of their pitching. Right. And I

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Speaker 1: ran into a guy in Atlanta who has talked to Dave,

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Speaker 1: and he said he thinks Dave is geared up to

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Speaker 1: do something huge. He's got his prospect chips ready to go,

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Speaker 1: and look, his ideal trade is not gonna happen. His

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Speaker 1: ideal trade is the twins for Byron Buxton and Johann Duran.

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Speaker 1: That that's not gonna happen. The Twins aren't gonna do that.

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Speaker 1: But that's what I think David do in an ideal world.

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Speaker 1: Give up a ton of prospects for a big bat,

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Speaker 1: a huge arm, and two guys he can control beyond

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Speaker 1: this year.

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Speaker 4: Okay, so let's go to this. So ABS challenge was

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Speaker 4: used in the All Star Game. I thought that was

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Speaker 4: pretty cool. You saw guys like Wilson understand his strike zone.

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Speaker 4: You saw men Machado actually strike out. Do you think

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Speaker 4: this is a lock for next year?

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Speaker 1: I do. It really sounds that way, and you know

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Speaker 1: I hear I've heard you guys talk about it. I've

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Speaker 1: thought about it a lot, mister rule change. You know,

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Speaker 1: I love using technology to make the sport better, but

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Speaker 1: I'm just not sold that introducing a challenge system without

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Speaker 1: some sort of buffer zone makes sense. I know Rob

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Speaker 1: Manford shot that down when I asked him that about

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Speaker 1: in the Baseball Writers meeting the other day. But do

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Speaker 1: you guys want a game decided by a call overturned

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Speaker 1: on a pitch one one hundredth of an inch outside

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Speaker 1: Because I'm not comfortable with that. I'm really not.

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Speaker 3: Well, you're not comfortable with it? So then shrink the

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Speaker 3: strike zone, and then when it hits the edge, it's

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Speaker 3: a strike. Like Jason, it's a strike. One of an

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Speaker 3: inch off is a ball on. It's a strike. Now

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Speaker 3: if you can tell me that it's not, if you

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Speaker 3: can tell me that it's not that accurate, like the

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Speaker 3: distance for the home runs and the home run derby,

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Speaker 3: like they just made up. They wanted right and they

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Speaker 3: wanted cal Raley to move on. But to me, there's

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Speaker 3: no there's no buffer zone. We don't need a buffer zone.

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Speaker 3: The strike zone is what they made it, and if

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Speaker 3: it's too big, make it smaller. But if it hits

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Speaker 3: that smaller strike zone, it is a strike.

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Speaker 1: Okay, So I think I can tell you that we

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Speaker 1: know that Major League Baseball acknowledged to the players on

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Speaker 1: the Competition Committee earlier this year that there is a

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Speaker 1: margin for err with abs of up to half an

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Speaker 1: inch half an inch. And so when you've got that

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Speaker 1: much wiggle room, that much margin for error, how does

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Speaker 1: it not make sense to have some kind of buffer zone.

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Speaker 1: I think there are a lot of different ways to

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Speaker 1: introduce that, But like I know that you have to

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Speaker 1: draw the line somewhere between what's a ball and what's

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Speaker 1: a strike? I get it, but I just don't want

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Speaker 1: with two outs in the ninth the picture to pop

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Speaker 1: the mit, the umpire to call strike three, and then

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Speaker 1: it's challenged and the game changes based on a call

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Speaker 1: that technologically may or may not be correct. I also

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Speaker 1: wonder about whether the up down portion of ABS is

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Speaker 1: technologically correct. I know that they they've experimented with a

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Speaker 1: lot of different permutations of this, but there's no surefire

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Speaker 1: way to especially gauge height, and so they're doing it

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Speaker 1: by percentage of height. And this like a guy who

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Speaker 1: is up there in a crouch, his strike zone is

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Speaker 1: not the same as the guy who's upright, but his

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Speaker 1: ABS strike zone is the same. And so I look,

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Speaker 1: these are things that I've got to work through in

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Speaker 1: my brain. And you know, you heard Tony Clark the

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Speaker 1: other day say the Union feels like there needs to

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Speaker 1: be a buffer zone. They're gonna clash on this, but

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Speaker 1: Rob Manford MLB, they hold the cards, so whatever they

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Speaker 1: decide is what's going to happen.

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Speaker 3: But isn't there gamesmanship in this? Isn't there gamesmanship in

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Speaker 3: the fact that when you go into Texas, AH, the

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Speaker 3: ABS is a little bit wider. Oh, every time we

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Speaker 3: go into Sacramento because their cameras are the lower angle, Like,

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Speaker 3: isn't there gamesmanship? Well, why is Jacob Wilson squatting a

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Speaker 3: little bit lower this year? Like there's a gamesmanship to

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Speaker 3: that that. Don't you think teams will be able to

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Speaker 3: work through? Like it's not going to be catastrophic like

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Speaker 3: a Jim Joyce missed out call at first base for

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Speaker 3: a perfect game.

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Speaker 1: So you're basically saying that pitchers and catchers and even

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Speaker 1: hitters right have to adjust to the abs strikes zone

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Speaker 1: in a given city, the way that you guys have

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Speaker 1: spent your lives adjusting to umpire strike zones. Is that

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Speaker 1: what you want? Yeah? And I think there's murd in

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Speaker 1: that I can't. Here's my problem, Eric, We're talking about

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Speaker 1: the use of technology, and how are you selling it

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Speaker 1: to your fans. You're telling them we don't worry about

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Speaker 1: those egregious calls that humans make because we've now got

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Speaker 1: robots and they're going to get this right. But are

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Speaker 1: we sure about that? And if they don't, there are

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Speaker 1: games riding on it, There are postseasons riding on it,

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Speaker 1: there are legacies riding on it. One more thing I

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Speaker 1: can't get out of my head. There are wagers, okay

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Speaker 1: on DraftKings riding on it. So if you're going to

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Speaker 1: use this, doesn't it have to be right? Think about it.

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Speaker 2: Here's the one thing I feel like we can all

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Speaker 2: agree on right now. It's fun at the current setup.

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Speaker 2: I think it's fun. Two challenges and then you keep

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Speaker 2: them if the yump's wrong. That part I think has

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Speaker 2: resonated well in the minor leagues, in spring training and

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Speaker 2: now from the All Star Game the other day, I

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Speaker 2: didn't hear anybody, and most of my social media browsing

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Speaker 2: saw people be like, oh, that took ten seconds and haha,

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Speaker 2: got it wrong on three out of four or four

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Speaker 2: or five whatever it was. Can we agree on that?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it's fun. Like I don't know how much fun

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Speaker 1: the umpires think it is. It's fun. I mean the

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Speaker 1: wait for the animation to appear in that scoreboard and

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Speaker 1: then sometimes like one of my favorite things in spring

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Speaker 1: training was fans would boo the cartoon. What are they booing?

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Speaker 2: That's fun?

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Speaker 3: Though I agree, it's like them always booing the Astros jersey.

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Speaker 3: Like none of the guys except for Joseel Tuve were

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Speaker 3: on the team, and they said they just boo the jersey,

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Speaker 3: so why not boo an animation.

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Speaker 2: Fans are looking for something to cheer for and looking

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Speaker 2: for something to do, and this is another.

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Speaker 3: And that's engagement with the arsenal. That's engagement, his engagement.

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Speaker 2: I'm more locked into a game if I can say, oh,

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Speaker 2: they should challenge that one. That one's off, whether I'm

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Speaker 2: at home or at the ballpark. But yes, to be continued, Jason,

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Speaker 2: we'd love to keep the colm going. I'm sure there

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Speaker 2: will be more articles in the Athletic about it. Great

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Speaker 2: to talk to you. Happy second half of the season

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Speaker 2: to you.

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Speaker 1: I always enjoyed talking to you guys. Thanks