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Speaker 1: As the general manager of the Astros, Dana Brown told

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Speaker 1: the Athletics chandler Rome, I don't see any scenario where

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Speaker 1: we are selling. We're going to be buyers. Welcome everyone

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Speaker 1: to the Monday edition of Fair Territory. I'm coming to

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Speaker 1: you today not for my home studio, but a residence

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Speaker 1: in somewhere in North America. The only reason I say

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Speaker 1: that is because on Foul Territory, aj Perzinski is always

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Speaker 1: demanding to know where I am. He would actually like

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Speaker 1: to know the exact location, but I'm not going to

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Speaker 1: reveal that. I don't want him stalking me or anyone

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Speaker 1: else coming by. I'm where I need to be for

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Speaker 1: my work assignments. Now, nary a week passes in the

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Speaker 1: sport of Major League Baseball without some kind of scandal occurring,

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Speaker 1: and we've got a doozy this week as we tape.

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Speaker 1: It has just been announced by Major League Baseball that

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Speaker 1: five players have received suspensions, one of which Tukupita Marcano,

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Speaker 1: has received a lifetime ban for betting on baseball and

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Speaker 1: games involving his team. Marcano was a member of the

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Speaker 1: Pittsburgh Pirates last season. He was on the injured list

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Speaker 1: when it was found through a legal sports book maker

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Speaker 1: that he has bet or did bet on games involving

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Speaker 1: the Pirates. That's a lifetime ban when you bet on

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Speaker 1: games involving the team that employs you, lifetime ban. When

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Speaker 1: you bet on games that do not involve your particular team,

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Speaker 1: that's a one year suspension. And that is what the

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Speaker 1: other four players received. And let's go over the names

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Speaker 1: right now and just to see who exactly was penalized

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Speaker 1: by Major League Baseball today. The names, as I mentioned

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Speaker 1: are took A Peda Marcano, he now is a Padres infielder,

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Speaker 1: or at least was. He's banned permanently, Michael Kelly Oakland,

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Speaker 1: A's pitcher, and minor leaguers, three of them, Jay grum

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Speaker 1: of Padres pitcher, Jose Rodriguez, a Phillies infielder, and Andrew Salfrank,

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Speaker 1: who's been up with the Diamondbacks at various times. He's

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Speaker 1: been in the minor leagues this year. He also received

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Speaker 1: a one year band, so again permanent from Marcano, one

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Speaker 1: year band for the others. Now, it was inevitable, inevitable

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Speaker 1: that this kind of thing was going to occur in baseball,

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Speaker 1: just as it occurred in the NBA. Legalized sports gambling

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Speaker 1: is now something that is a fact of life in

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Speaker 1: thirty eight of the fifty states. And we've seen some

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Speaker 1: things flare up already in Major League Baseball with illegal

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Speaker 1: book makers. Of course, that's the Ibe Muzuhara story, and

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Speaker 1: we've also learned of an investigation into David Fletcher for

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Speaker 1: betting with an illegal book maker, the same one Misihara

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Speaker 1: used as well. Sports leagues are now involved with gambling companies.

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Speaker 1: Sports media companies, including the three that employ me, are

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Speaker 1: now involved with sports gambling companies. People around North America,

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Speaker 1: actually all over the world, but I'm talking specifically about

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Speaker 1: our part of the world, are inundating daily with gambling ads,

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Speaker 1: appeals to bet on whatever sport you might want to

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Speaker 1: bet on. So that's why it was inevitable that something

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Speaker 1: like this was going to happen. There's simply too much

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Speaker 1: out there now. There's a distinction clearly between betting on

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Speaker 1: legalized sports books or with legalized sports books and illegal

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Speaker 1: book makers. The legalized sports books at least are regulated

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Speaker 1: very severely by the federal government. Okay, And it's actually

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Speaker 1: something that's interesting here because that is how MLB learned

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Speaker 1: of this through one of the legalized sports books, and

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Speaker 1: the details in MLB's statement on the suspensions are rather vivid.

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Speaker 1: They had all the information here. This was not an

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Speaker 1: investigation that needed to take six months apparently, So these

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Speaker 1: things are going to happen, And you might say, well,

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Speaker 1: Commissioner Rob Manford should have stepped in here. Baseball has

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Speaker 1: a different relationship than the other sports with gambling because

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Speaker 1: of its past, because of the nineteen nineteen Black Sox,

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Speaker 1: because of Pete Rose. Baseball should have been more careful. Well,

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Speaker 1: that's a nice idealistic way to look at the world,

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Speaker 1: but it's not realistic. And I would have been shocked

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Speaker 1: if MLB was the one sports league that drew the

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Speaker 1: line and said we are going to take a stand here,

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Speaker 1: we are going to occupy the moral high ground. It

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Speaker 1: would be just unrealistic to expect baseball to stand out

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Speaker 1: in that fashion. But here's the tradeoff. The trade off

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Speaker 1: is exactly what happened on Tuesday. Marcano banned for life,

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Speaker 1: four others banned for a year. This is going to

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Speaker 1: happen again. It might happen in a more serious, vivid way,

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Speaker 1: And this is the tradeoff all leagues are making. They

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Speaker 1: want that they got it, and from time to time, MLB, NBA, NHL, NFL,

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Speaker 1: you're gonna have to deal with stories like this, all right,

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Speaker 1: Moving on to the actual sport of baseball. Yes, they

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Speaker 1: actually play baseball at this time of year, rather than

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Speaker 1: just having stuff going on off the field. And there

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Speaker 1: is a huge story in the game right now, and

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Speaker 1: it's one we've talked about at various points. But dive

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Speaker 1: a little bit deeper into the New York Yankees and

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Speaker 1: what they've accomplished. And I know Fansy oh Man talking

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Speaker 1: about the we talk about every team here, don't even

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Speaker 1: go there. The Yankees right now forty two and nineteen

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Speaker 1: tied for the Phillies for the best record in the

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Speaker 1: major leagues. And while we saw some of this coming,

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Speaker 1: I think we saw the Judge Soto offense being quite dynamic.

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Speaker 1: I don't know that anyone saw the starting pitching being

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Speaker 1: what it has been for the Yankees, and especially after,

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Speaker 1: of course, the Yankees in spring training lost Garrett Cole.

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Speaker 1: Here is a rotation that, if you remember, had significant

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Speaker 1: questions coming into the season. Clark Schmidt was not really established.

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Speaker 1: He was an okay pitcher last year, but he was

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Speaker 1: kind of finding his way. Carlos Rodin, Nestra Cortes Junior.

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Speaker 1: Those guys were trying to come off injuries. They had

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Speaker 1: rough seasons last year. Rodin faced the question of whether

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Speaker 1: he could even succeed in New York. And then there

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Speaker 1: was Marcus Stroman coming over as a free agent and

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Speaker 1: would he fit in four pretty significant questions. And I'm

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Speaker 1: not even counting Cole at that point because Cole during

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Speaker 1: the offseason was not hurt Luis Heal. We did not

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Speaker 1: know much about him. He had pitched a little bit

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Speaker 1: last year and done well, but he was not anything

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Speaker 1: close to what he has become. So let's look at

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Speaker 1: just where the Yankees are rotation wise, because this is

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Speaker 1: the foundation of their success, even more so in my

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Speaker 1: opinion than Judge and Soto rotation era. Phillies lead the

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Speaker 1: Majors two point seven to one. The Yankees are right

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Speaker 1: behind them two point seven to eight, followed by the Orioles,

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Speaker 1: the Royals the rotation the backbone of their success as well,

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Speaker 1: and then the Red Sox, who have faded a little

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Speaker 1: bit of late as far as the rotation is concerned.

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Speaker 1: And now let's look at the individuals with the Yankees.

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Speaker 1: These five guys have made all but two of the

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Speaker 1: starts for the New York Yankees this year, and again

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Speaker 1: Garrett Cole has yet to make one. He starts his

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Speaker 1: rehabilitation assignment Tuesday at Double A. It's close to coming back.

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Speaker 1: Louis Heel one point nine to nine, Clark Schmidt now

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Speaker 1: on the injured list with a right latch strain two

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Speaker 1: point five to two, Strowman at two point seventy three,

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Speaker 1: Rodin three point nine, Nestra Cortes three point four to six.

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Speaker 1: That is impressive, folks, And when Garret Cole comes back,

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Speaker 1: presuming he is healthy, this group gets even better. Clearly,

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Speaker 1: the loss of Schmidt in a breakout season is a problem. Clearly,

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Speaker 1: heal because he had Tommy John surgery relatively recently, is

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Speaker 1: not going to pitch two hundred things this season. But

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Speaker 1: it seems to me they're in a pretty good spot.

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Speaker 1: They've got some younger starters as well that can fill in.

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Speaker 1: We've seen Cody Petite make two spot starts for the

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Speaker 1: Yankees so far, and they have others as well. So

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Speaker 1: they'll have to add to their bullpen at some point.

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Speaker 1: Most likely, they might have to address their corner infield

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Speaker 1: a little bit if Rizzo doesn't come around, and a

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Speaker 1: dj Lemayhew who is coming off the injured list doesn't

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Speaker 1: really come around either. But my gosh, the Yankees are

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Speaker 1: the team that they have wanted to be for quite

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Speaker 1: some time now now and when Garret Cole comes back,

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Speaker 1: Aaron Brun has said at least two rehab starts, they're

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Speaker 1: going to be even better. Seek Geek is the official

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Speaker 1: the app. On the other side of the coin we've

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Speaker 1: got Blake Snell. Now, Blake Snell is a guy that

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Speaker 1: has won cy Young Awards in each league, including last

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Speaker 1: year in the National League when he had that amazing

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Speaker 1: finish one point two zero ERA in his last twenty

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Speaker 1: eight starts.

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Speaker 2: I believe it was.

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Speaker 1: It was an amazing season. And yet we know what

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Speaker 1: happened in free agency. He lingered on the market, did

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Speaker 1: not get what a lot of us thought he was

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Speaker 1: going to get, winds up signing with the Giants two years,

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Speaker 1: sixty two million with an opt out after this season.

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Speaker 1: Now we know what has happened to Snell. Second trip

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Speaker 1: to the injured list. Right now, he's on the injured

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Speaker 1: list again with a left growing strain. And when you

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Speaker 1: look at the timeline of his season, it is rather ugly.

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Speaker 1: This is a guy who did not sign until late.

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Speaker 1: Of course, it was almost at the end of spring

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Speaker 1: training when Blake still signed. It was I believe March nineteenth,

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Speaker 1: or he come to dates March nineteenth. Two years sixty

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Speaker 1: two million with the Giants. Does it make his season

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Speaker 1: debut until April eighth, And he does that without any

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Speaker 1: spring training starts and without going to the minor leagues.

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Speaker 1: Then after three starts, placed on the IL with a

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Speaker 1: left adductor strain, comes off the IL May twenty second,

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Speaker 1: makes three more starts, and then goes back on the

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Speaker 1: injured list with a left growing stream. He's pitched a

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Speaker 1: total of twenty three and two thirds innings this season,

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Speaker 1: twenty three and two thirds. We're in June, and he

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Speaker 1: has a nine point five to one ERRA. Now. I

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Speaker 1: alluded to this in a recent Notes column, the idea

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Speaker 1: that Snell and Montgomery both miss spring training and how

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Speaker 1: much it might have affected them. Montgomery's eras and the

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Speaker 1: high fives as well. He's been healthy and he had

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Speaker 1: started his season with a couple of minor league starts,

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Speaker 1: but he has not been as effective as he would

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Speaker 1: want to be, and both players were quoted recently as saying, man,

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Speaker 1: we really did miss spring training. Now, who is responsible

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Speaker 1: for that? That is a debate that we can have forever.

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Speaker 1: Was it the agent Scott Boris holding out too long

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Speaker 1: having expectations that were too high, Or was it the teams,

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Speaker 1: as Boris and Snell have contended, not reacting to the market,

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Speaker 1: or should have been the market and making better offers sooner. Regardless,

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Speaker 1: I think we've seen here. The value of a major

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Speaker 1: league pitcher pitching in spring training, not simply at Scott

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Speaker 1: Boris's training institute. Boris has had success over the years

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Speaker 1: with other pitchers who have been out for a long

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Speaker 1: time or not signed right away. Kyle Losch was one,

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Speaker 1: Dallas Kichel was another. These guys had success after doing

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Speaker 1: pretty much the program that Snell and Montgomery did. But

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Speaker 1: it's not for everyone. And obviously spring training has value

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Speaker 1: to starting pitchers. There is value to that build up,

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Speaker 1: value to facing major league hitters, value to being on

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Speaker 1: the field and spikes, going through drills, all of that,

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Speaker 1: and Snell and Montgomery, at least early on season's hardly over.

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Speaker 1: It seems they've paid the price for being out so

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Speaker 1: long time. Now for the Inside Dish, this is the

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Speaker 1: part of the show where I talk about maybe a

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Speaker 1: story i've written, maybe a trend in the game, maybe

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Speaker 1: a particular team. And this week I want to focus

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Speaker 1: on the Houston Astros and what their approach might be

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Speaker 1: at the trade deadline. But before getting into the particulars,

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Speaker 1: I want to go back in time a little bit. First.

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Speaker 1: I want to go back to the twenty two World Series,

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty two World Series, just as the Astros were

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Speaker 1: closing in on their second title in six years. I

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Speaker 1: was on Fox doing the game that night as a

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Speaker 1: dugout reporter, and I talked about where the Astros twenty

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Speaker 1: twenty two teams stood in the context of their recent history,

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Speaker 1: the sign stealing scandal, which of course had taken place

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Speaker 1: five to six years before that, And I remember what

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Speaker 1: I said that night, and what I said was that

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Speaker 1: the second title, the twenty twenty two title, does not

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Speaker 1: validate what had happened before, does not vindicate the sign

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Speaker 1: stealing scandal, does not make that team any more legitimate.

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Speaker 1: But I also said that the twenty twenty two team

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Speaker 1: has to be viewed as a separate entity, that the

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Speaker 1: sport was playing under different rules now harsher sign stealing rules,

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Speaker 1: and that what had happened in the past, even though

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Speaker 1: some of the same players remained, should not be held

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Speaker 1: against that particular team. Well, naturally, Astros fans were mad

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Speaker 1: at me, as they often seemed to be mad at

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Speaker 1: me for even bringing up the scandal at that moment,

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Speaker 1: and then other fans were mad at me for saying,

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Speaker 1: wait a second, that twenty twenty two team the one

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Speaker 1: winning that night. Uh huh, we don't like them either.

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Speaker 1: So the following year, as the ALCS came to a

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Speaker 1: close with the Texas Rangers about to beat the Astros,

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Speaker 1: I spoke again on Fox We had that series as well,

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Speaker 1: and I mentioned using very careful language, that this team

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Speaker 1: was approaching at crossroads, that it was unfair to say

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Speaker 1: the Astros were done. The Astros era was no more.

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Speaker 1: But at the same time, the following season, the one

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Speaker 1: that we are currently playing, Alex Bregman was going to

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Speaker 1: be in his free agent year, and the year after that,

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Speaker 1: Kyle Tucker and From ber Valdez were going to be

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Speaker 1: in their free agent years, and that the Astros eventually

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Speaker 1: were going to face some hard decisions. At that time,

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Speaker 1: I don't think any of us expected the Astros would

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Speaker 1: be in the position they are on Tuesday, June fourth,

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Speaker 1: seven games out in the AL West, seven games out

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Speaker 1: in the wildcard race with an expanded format, end with

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Speaker 1: the fourth worst record in the American League. This is

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Speaker 1: a team that you would think is trending towards selling.

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Speaker 1: They can do some really interesting things of the deadline.

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Speaker 1: Ryan Presley and Justin Verlander are two other players that

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Speaker 1: are on relatively short term deals. Twenty twenty four they're

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Speaker 1: good for, but twenty twenty five there are options involved.

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Speaker 1: So again, if the Astros wanted to, they can make

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Speaker 1: some really interesting moves. But as the general manager of

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Speaker 1: the Astros, Dana Brown told the Athletics Chandler Rome, I

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Speaker 1: don't see any scenario where we are sellers. We're going

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Speaker 1: to be buyers. Now again, it's June fourth. The Astros

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Speaker 1: have plenty of time to write the ship. But we've

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Speaker 1: been saying that for two months now. The thing is

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Speaker 1: with the expanded postseason, teams and not just the Astros

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Speaker 1: can get sucked into this. We're gonna be okay mentality

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Speaker 1: because the season is so long and because the expanded

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Speaker 1: postseason offers such hope. Go back to last year the

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Speaker 1: Arizona Diamondbacks. In early August, it looked like they were buried.

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Speaker 1: What happened. They had a pretty good run to the

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Speaker 1: end of the season, finished with eighty four wins and

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Speaker 1: somehow beat the Dodgers and the Phillies in the National

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Speaker 1: League Playoffs and then in the World Series. Fell short,

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Speaker 1: but they got to the World Series for the first

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Speaker 1: time since two thousand and one great season loose to

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Speaker 1: the Rangers. Okay, but you're there. So teams like the Astros,

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Speaker 1: teams especially like the Astros who have had recent success,

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Speaker 1: are not going to concede easily. Now, on the other

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Speaker 1: end of the spectrum, you might look at the Mets

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Speaker 1: and say, well, why shouldn't they look at this the

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Speaker 1: same way? And maybe they will. Maybe if the Mets

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Speaker 1: show any signs of life in the next time two months,

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Speaker 1: will decide we're not going to sell off. But they

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Speaker 1: don't have the same recent tradition of the Astros, where

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Speaker 1: the Astros have routinely contended, competed, and of course gone

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Speaker 1: to the Alcs similarly every year seven straight in fact.

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Speaker 1: So I don't expect the Astros to become sellers, even

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Speaker 1: though they have an issue with Jose Keati having a setback,

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Speaker 1: even though they've had all these things go against them.

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Speaker 1: They are a team that has an owner, Jim Crane,

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Speaker 1: who is basically said in the past, that's not the

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Speaker 1: way I'm going to do it. We're going to compete.

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Speaker 1: We're going to compete every year. Now, should they sell

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Speaker 1: different question, should you trade Bregman who is finally getting hot.

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Speaker 1: I don't know, maybe you take a shot at resigning him,

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Speaker 1: though I don't know that the odds of the Astros

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Speaker 1: keeping Alex Bregman are any more than like five to

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Speaker 1: ten percent. But they can look at it that way

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Speaker 1: and they can say, this is our team. We don't

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Speaker 1: want to betray our ticket holders for the rest of

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Speaker 1: the season and trade off our parts. We want to

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Speaker 1: put the best product out there possible. Again, you can

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Speaker 1: trade Bregman, you can maybe trade Valdez, you can do

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Speaker 1: some things. You can look at trading Justin Erlander, but

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Speaker 1: the Astros don't seem inclined on June fourth, at least

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Speaker 1: to do that. We'll see if that stance changes, but frankly,

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Speaker 1: I do not expect that it will. Not from Jim Crane,

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Speaker 1: not from Dana Brown, not from anyone else involved with

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Speaker 1: this team. They are going to stay in this thing,

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Speaker 1: or at least try to stay in this thing as

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Speaker 1: long as they possibly can, believing in what they've accomplished

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Speaker 1: over the last seven years. We'll be back after a

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Speaker 1: quick word from our Foul Territory friends, Scott Braun and

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Speaker 1: All Right, time now for grilling Ken. Let's get to

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Speaker 1: your questions. First question comes from Skyler Timmins, who asks

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Speaker 1: do you see the Rockies doing anything trade wise. We've

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Speaker 1: heard about the Jay's interest in Ryan McMahon, but the

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Speaker 1: Rocks don't want to trade him. But can anyone else

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Speaker 1: potentially be a trade chip teams could be interested in.

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Speaker 1: The Rockies are an interesting team, Skyler, and they have

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Speaker 1: some talented players, most of them are younger, so they

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Speaker 1: don't want to trade those guys. I'm talking about Tovar

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Speaker 1: and Doyle, that group. Those are in their minds, the

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Speaker 1: guys who are going to form the foundation for their future.

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Speaker 1: They do have a two potential free agents who could

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Speaker 1: attract interest. I'm talking about the catcher LEAs Diaz and

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Speaker 1: the reliever who's had a really good season, Jalen Beaks.

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Speaker 1: They also have some starting pitchers, some veteran guys who

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Speaker 1: have a year of control after this one, who are

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Speaker 1: kind of all performing pretty well. Cal Quantrell is one,

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Speaker 1: Austin Gomber another, Dakota Hudson a third. And as the

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Speaker 1: Rockies get some of their injured pitchers back, I'm talking

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Speaker 1: about the guys on the IL right now, like Freeland

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Speaker 1: and Marquez and Senzatela, It's conceivable that they might be

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Speaker 1: open to trading one of those starting pitchers none of

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Speaker 1: them is going to bring back anything great in return.

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Speaker 1: I wouldn't imagine. But if I were the Rockies, given

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Speaker 1: the pitching problems that they have historically had, I would

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Speaker 1: want to hold on to all of my depth unless

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Speaker 1: I could get something really special in return. Gomber is

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Speaker 1: a guy maybe that could bring you that kind of package,

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Speaker 1: But at the same time, I'd be real protective of

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Speaker 1: my pitching. All right, now to the next question. This

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Speaker 1: one comes from Josh Newman, who asks do you think

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Speaker 1: the Yankees would even entertain letting Garret Cole use his

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Speaker 1: unique opt out clause at the end of the season

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Speaker 1: in order to retain Juan Soto long term. So the

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Speaker 1: way that opt out clause works, Cole can opt out

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Speaker 1: and the Yankees convoid that by adding a tenth year

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Speaker 1: to his contract at thirty six million. So what Josh

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Speaker 1: is asking, I guess, is whether the Yankees will simply

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Speaker 1: let Gary Cole go to make more salary space for

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Speaker 1: Juan Soto. Now, if you're a Yankees fan, I know

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Speaker 1: exactly what you're thinking, and it's what you should be thinking.

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Speaker 1: The Yankees can afford both Garret Cole and Juan Soto

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Speaker 1: if Cole opts out if I'm the Yankees, assuming he's healthy,

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Speaker 1: and that's a reasonable question at this point, assuming he's healthy,

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Speaker 1: I am avoiding that opt out, picking up the tenth

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Speaker 1: year at thirty six million, keeping Garret Cole for at

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Speaker 1: least one year. I would even consider negotiating an extension

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Speaker 1: with him, maybe to lower the number a little bit,

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Speaker 1: but give him more guaranteed money over time. And I'm

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Speaker 1: still going all out for Juan Soto. When they made

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Speaker 1: that trade, it was not with the idea of letting

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Speaker 1: Garret Cole co it was with the idea of keeping Cole,

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Speaker 1: keeping Juan Soto, going for it. That's what the Yankees

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Speaker 1: should do. I expect that is what they will do,

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Speaker 1: all right. Now for the final question, This one comes

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Speaker 1: from Ryan O'Neil, who asks a good question, what does

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Speaker 1: Torkosen's demotion Spencer Torkolsen's demotion mean for his future in Detroit.

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Speaker 1: I don't know that it jeopardizes his immediate future. They

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Speaker 1: want him to get straightened out. But the real question

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Speaker 1: is what is Spencer Torkelsen, a former number one overall

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Speaker 1: pick in the Major League Baseball Draft, going to be

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Speaker 1: long term? We saw last year thirty one home runs,

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Speaker 1: ninety four RBIs, seven to fifty eight ops. Look like

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Speaker 1: he had turned a corner. Looked like he was gonna

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Speaker 1: be a guy that was going to be a contributor

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Speaker 1: for years to come. This year he struggled two ZHO

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Speaker 1: one batting average, five ninety seven ops, just four homers.

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Speaker 1: So far. He is going to slug at times. I

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Speaker 1: think we've seen that. The question is whether he can

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Speaker 1: hit well enough to be a successful major leaguer. Is

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Speaker 1: the hit tool, as baseball people call it, good enough.

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Speaker 1: That's something that only Spencer Torkelsen will determine. And as

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Speaker 1: for his future in Detroit, the Tigers want him to succeed.

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Speaker 1: There's no doubt about that. They sent him down so

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Speaker 1: in their minds, hopefully in his mind as well, he

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Speaker 1: can get straightened out, come back to the big leagues

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Speaker 1: and be the player that they envisioned him becoming. I

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Speaker 1: don't know that that's going to happen. I don't know

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Speaker 1: that it's not going to happen. I would bet on

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Speaker 1: a guy who was a number one overall pick. I

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Speaker 1: would bet on a guy who has a track record

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Speaker 1: of success. At the same time, the sport is difficult.

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Speaker 1: I say it time and time again. There's no guarantee

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Speaker 1: and Spencer Torkelsen is going to be the player that

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Speaker 1: the Tigers want him to be. I want to thank

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Speaker 1: everyone for their questions, everyone for watching, listening. You know

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Speaker 1: where to find us YouTube, Apple, Spotify, like us, subscribe

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Speaker 1: to us. We will be back Thursday with Alana Rizza

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Speaker 1: or our usual Thursday show, and then I'll be back

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Speaker 1: again next Monday, regularly schedule time with another edition of

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Speaker 1: Fair Territory