WEBVTT - Chase Burns Reds extension, Toughest Trade Deadline decisions 0:00:09.400 --> 0:00:12.280 Welcome everyone to the Thursday edition of Fair Territory. I'm 0:00:12.360 --> 0:00:16.599 Ken Rosenthal here with Alana Rizzo. Alana, we're through the 0:00:16.640 --> 0:00:19.360 All Star Game, We're about to hit the trade deadline, 0:00:19.400 --> 0:00:21.320 and we start the show with a little bit of news. 0:00:21.960 --> 0:00:25.000 Chase Burns and the Cincinnati Reds in agreement on a 0:00:25.079 --> 0:00:27.800 seven year, one hundred and five million dollar extension. It 0:00:27.840 --> 0:00:31.040 starts next year. You can see right there the terms 0:00:31.080 --> 0:00:34.839 no options, no deferrals, largest guarantee to a picture with 0:00:35.000 --> 0:00:38.320 less than four years of service. This obviously is good 0:00:38.360 --> 0:00:41.600 news for the Reds. They have wanted to sign Elie 0:00:41.600 --> 0:00:44.919 Dela Cruz long term as well. That is not happening. 0:00:45.240 --> 0:00:48.760 And Dela Cruz is represented, not by the people who 0:00:48.920 --> 0:00:52.880 negotiated this deal, that was Greginsky and Eric Castro of 0:00:52.920 --> 0:00:58.560 Vayner Sports, but Scott Boris, that is, Elie Delacruz is representative. 0:00:58.600 --> 0:01:04.520 And Scott Boris rarely extensions with players that he represents 0:01:04.800 --> 0:01:08.680 unless the player absolutely says he wants to. It happens, 0:01:08.680 --> 0:01:11.600 but it doesn't happen very often. What Boris prefers as 0:01:11.640 --> 0:01:16.960 his clients to establish their market value and as free agents. 0:01:17.000 --> 0:01:20.120 So Chase Burns in the Reds. That's locked up. We 0:01:20.240 --> 0:01:22.200 go forward, and there's a lot going on in the 0:01:22.200 --> 0:01:25.520 sport right now, a lot of talk about deadline, Alana, 0:01:25.600 --> 0:01:26.639 So let's get right. 0:01:26.520 --> 0:01:27.959 To it, all right, let's get to it. 0:01:27.959 --> 0:01:30.040 Always good to be with you, Ken, really quickly before 0:01:30.040 --> 0:01:32.360 we get to the deadline stuff. Just your quick assessment 0:01:32.400 --> 0:01:33.240 of the All Star Game. 0:01:34.560 --> 0:01:38.399 Well, the game itself wasn't the most captivating, right, but 0:01:39.520 --> 0:01:43.560 still the city of Philadelphia is shown pretty brightly in 0:01:43.600 --> 0:01:46.039 my opinion. And I went to school here and I 0:01:46.080 --> 0:01:48.360 worked outside the city for a while, so I'm quite 0:01:48.360 --> 0:01:51.640 familiar with it. Citizens Bank Park has been a revelation 0:01:52.560 --> 0:01:56.760 in Philadelphia's sports because it changed the environment for the Phillies, 0:01:57.280 --> 0:02:00.480 the dull environment and Veterans Stadium into an election one. 0:02:00.640 --> 0:02:04.440 So I love the whole experience, the cave itself, Eh, it's. 0:02:04.320 --> 0:02:05.640 Just okay, all right. 0:02:05.680 --> 0:02:08.960 I love the fact the collaboration between Major League Baseball 0:02:09.240 --> 0:02:13.160 and Fox Sports. MLB on Fox an unbelievable homage to 0:02:13.320 --> 0:02:16.680 the Sandlot and the fourth of July. What a beautiful 0:02:16.720 --> 0:02:19.919 presentation and display. Good job on that, all right, all 0:02:19.960 --> 0:02:23.760 eyes now, Ken, our attention is turned to the trade deadline. 0:02:23.919 --> 0:02:26.080 Less than three weeks away. How do you think the 0:02:26.120 --> 0:02:27.440 trade deadline has evolved? 0:02:28.800 --> 0:02:30.720 Well, it's interesting, Alana. We wrote a story in The 0:02:30.760 --> 0:02:34.560 Athletic Today, myself, Patrick Mooney, Will Salmon, and Katie Wu 0:02:35.240 --> 0:02:38.200 about the deadline, and you can see the headline right there, 0:02:38.240 --> 0:02:42.160 Blockbuster Summer. Why buying and selling at MLB's trade deadline 0:02:42.200 --> 0:02:45.640 is more complicated than ever And really some changes have 0:02:45.720 --> 0:02:50.040 taken place in recent years to alter the dynamics of 0:02:50.080 --> 0:02:53.840 the deadline what we once knew starting in twenty nineteen. 0:02:54.200 --> 0:02:58.280 That was when Major League Baseball eliminated the August waiver period. 0:02:58.440 --> 0:03:01.959 So the deadline now is the true deadline. It's August 0:03:02.080 --> 0:03:05.880 third this year, and after that no trades of consequence 0:03:05.919 --> 0:03:10.040 can take place. So there's motivation certainly to make deals. 0:03:10.320 --> 0:03:12.360 As we describe it in the lead of our story, 0:03:12.600 --> 0:03:16.160 this is like a last chance to learn. Now. Come 0:03:16.200 --> 0:03:20.040 twenty twenty two, the playoffs expanded, and that has changed 0:03:20.040 --> 0:03:23.360 the deadline too because there are more teams involved in 0:03:23.400 --> 0:03:27.680 the mix less definition. We're definitely seeing that this year, 0:03:28.000 --> 0:03:30.800 and what we're seeing right now are twenty three of 0:03:30.840 --> 0:03:34.960 the thirty teams within four games of a playoff spot. 0:03:35.000 --> 0:03:38.800 It's incredible. So the buyers the sellers. Teams aren't quite 0:03:38.800 --> 0:03:41.600 sure where they are in many cases, and that has 0:03:41.720 --> 0:03:44.640 changed the dynamic. Two. And then the final thing and 0:03:44.720 --> 0:03:48.040 the thrust of this story that we wrote today is 0:03:48.080 --> 0:03:52.960 how gms today heads of baseball operations are looking at 0:03:53.000 --> 0:03:57.480 the same data. They kind of have the same mindsets 0:03:57.840 --> 0:04:01.240 as Billy being described in our story. They kind of 0:04:01.280 --> 0:04:05.800 function like actuaries. And what do actuaries for insurance companies do? 0:04:05.960 --> 0:04:08.960 They seek to mitigate risk. Here's the quote from Billy Bean. 0:04:09.640 --> 0:04:13.200 This is not a criticism, but by its nature, analytics 0:04:13.240 --> 0:04:17.839 generally are very conservative. We sort of saw ourselves as actuaries, right, 0:04:18.040 --> 0:04:22.360 actuaries from insurance companies in a very crude way. That's 0:04:22.440 --> 0:04:25.680 what we were doing. Now they're doing it in an 0:04:25.760 --> 0:04:30.120 even more sophisticated way. And what do actuaries do, as 0:04:30.160 --> 0:04:34.480 I said before, they mitigate risk. So it's a different dynamic. 0:04:34.520 --> 0:04:37.120 Then you might say, Okay, if no one's willing to 0:04:37.160 --> 0:04:39.520 take a risk, then why do we have a record 0:04:39.600 --> 0:04:44.040 number of trades on deadline day last year? Thirty six trades? 0:04:44.760 --> 0:04:47.000 We have trades. We'll have a lot of trade this 0:04:47.040 --> 0:04:50.320 season as well. The question is do we see the 0:04:50.320 --> 0:04:53.800 big impact trades that we once did occasionally, Yes, and 0:04:53.880 --> 0:04:56.640 maybe Trek Schooble, if the Tigers decide to move him, 0:04:56.800 --> 0:04:59.479 is that guy. But as we kind of describe in 0:04:59.480 --> 0:05:04.240 the story, even if Schooble moves, what team is going 0:05:04.279 --> 0:05:07.680 to be willing to meet the Tigers price in terms 0:05:07.680 --> 0:05:11.440 of both prospects and be willing to take on the 0:05:11.760 --> 0:05:13.880 nearly ten million dollars salary as well. 0:05:14.440 --> 0:05:16.960 Ken That's a perfect segue because everybody wants to know 0:05:17.040 --> 0:05:19.839 what is the market for Trek Schooble. It's the question 0:05:19.920 --> 0:05:23.040 that keeps getting asked, will the Tigers move him? 0:05:23.360 --> 0:05:25.040 And if so, where do you think he's going? 0:05:25.880 --> 0:05:28.040 Well, that's the big question. The first one alta what 0:05:28.120 --> 0:05:31.479 you just said, will the Tigers move him? I would 0:05:31.520 --> 0:05:34.280 say the odds right now are considerably less than they 0:05:34.279 --> 0:05:37.560 were on June first. Remember, on June first, and I 0:05:37.600 --> 0:05:40.279 wrote about this, and I basically consider the trade was 0:05:40.279 --> 0:05:43.279 going to happen at that point, And it looks now 0:05:43.360 --> 0:05:45.880 that I might have been wrong. On June first, the 0:05:45.880 --> 0:05:49.800 Tigers were twenty two and thirty eight, worst record in 0:05:49.839 --> 0:05:54.159 the Major leagues. Since June first, they're twenty two and fourteen, 0:05:54.760 --> 0:05:57.200 tied for the best record in the American League. So 0:05:57.880 --> 0:06:01.520 if you're the Tigers, yeah, you're games for under five hundred, 0:06:01.800 --> 0:06:03.960 but you're three and a half out in the wildcard race, 0:06:04.040 --> 0:06:06.479 only six and a half out in a week division. 0:06:06.520 --> 0:06:09.400 You see the division standings right there, you certainly have 0:06:09.440 --> 0:06:12.120 a chance. You've got a chance because Schooble is healthy, 0:06:12.360 --> 0:06:15.839 other players are healthy as well, and you're in a 0:06:15.839 --> 0:06:20.839 week division in a week league. So a lot depends 0:06:21.080 --> 0:06:23.880 not just for the Tigers but for all teams on 0:06:23.920 --> 0:06:27.240 what happens in the next two and a half weeks. 0:06:27.760 --> 0:06:30.360 It's almost going to be like a Pennant race of 0:06:30.400 --> 0:06:33.840 its own, because we're gonna see teams trying to define themselves. 0:06:34.240 --> 0:06:37.719 And it just seems to me, unless the Tigers outright 0:06:37.800 --> 0:06:41.239 collapse Alana, that they're gonna be inclined to keep Schooble 0:06:41.360 --> 0:06:43.520 and go for it. And why not. They're in a 0:06:43.600 --> 0:06:46.800 league in which, if they get hot and maybe add pieces, 0:06:47.440 --> 0:06:49.839 they can be the league champion and maybe even the 0:06:49.839 --> 0:06:50.960 World Series champion. 0:06:51.360 --> 0:06:55.159 Ken how much does the looming CBA and potential lockout 0:06:55.240 --> 0:06:57.680 kind of creep over in terms of a dark cloud 0:06:57.800 --> 0:07:03.120 on any sort of trades or movement going forward, It will. 0:07:02.880 --> 0:07:07.159 Have something of an effect, I believe, but I don't know, Alana, 0:07:07.200 --> 0:07:09.720 if it's going to have that big an effect. The 0:07:09.760 --> 0:07:13.400 group of players that would be most affected here would 0:07:13.440 --> 0:07:17.720 be the ones that are free agents after the twenty 0:07:17.840 --> 0:07:22.560 twenty seven season. So if you're in that position, what 0:07:22.600 --> 0:07:25.880 do you do with a player like that? If you're 0:07:25.880 --> 0:07:28.600 a team knowing that next season we may miss part 0:07:28.640 --> 0:07:31.720 of it, we might miss all of it, and essentially 0:07:31.720 --> 0:07:34.280 that player will be lost to you. Do you trade 0:07:34.320 --> 0:07:37.040 him now? Or do you wait and have confidence that 0:07:37.080 --> 0:07:38.760 this will all work out and you'll still have that 0:07:38.800 --> 0:07:41.760 player under control for twenty twenty seven? Do you try 0:07:41.760 --> 0:07:44.160 to extend that player now? There are all kinds of 0:07:44.200 --> 0:07:49.040 possibilities with those particular players, and yeah, that could have 0:07:49.080 --> 0:07:52.040 an effect. But I do believe most teams are simply 0:07:52.080 --> 0:07:56.800 going to try to win, and that's been the motivation 0:07:56.920 --> 0:08:00.480 at the deadline forever. That's why the deadline is so exciting. 0:08:00.520 --> 0:08:03.320 These teams are trying to make moves to better position themselves. 0:08:04.000 --> 0:08:05.600 I still see that happening. 0:08:05.600 --> 0:08:07.720 All right, so many moving parts, as so many teams 0:08:07.760 --> 0:08:10.800 are certainly in that wildcard mix in the American League. 0:08:10.840 --> 0:08:13.280 Speaking of the American League, can what are the Red 0:08:13.320 --> 0:08:15.520 Sox going to do. They finished the first half of 0:08:15.520 --> 0:08:19.480 the season winning nine straight games, forcing the issue, of course, 0:08:19.480 --> 0:08:22.080 for Craig Breslow and Sam Kennedy in that front office. 0:08:22.240 --> 0:08:23.720 Are they making moves? What do they do? 0:08:24.640 --> 0:08:28.000 Alana, you're putting it to me too directly. What they're 0:08:28.000 --> 0:08:32.120 going to do and what they do, like I just 0:08:32.200 --> 0:08:36.720 described with other teams, depends a lot on what's going 0:08:36.760 --> 0:08:39.720 to happen over the next two to three weeks. Now 0:08:40.120 --> 0:08:44.040 Here the Red Sox, they just had to end the 0:08:44.080 --> 0:08:48.040 first half a nine game road winning streak against two 0:08:48.040 --> 0:08:50.280 week opponents the Angels and Mets, and a better one. 0:08:50.320 --> 0:08:53.440 The White Sox now comes to a different kind of test, 0:08:53.960 --> 0:08:56.560 a ten game homestand and remember they haven't been as 0:08:56.559 --> 0:08:58.800 good as whole at home as they have been on 0:08:58.840 --> 0:09:04.280 the road home stand against Ale East opponents. It's Tampa 0:09:04.320 --> 0:09:08.120 Bay four games in three days, It's Baltimore, a team 0:09:08.160 --> 0:09:10.080 that's right in the middle of the wildcard race as well, 0:09:10.080 --> 0:09:12.880 and then another team in the middle of the wildcard race, Toronto. 0:09:13.760 --> 0:09:17.319 These ten games could go a long way toward defining 0:09:17.360 --> 0:09:20.600 who the Red Sox are and what their direction might be, 0:09:21.200 --> 0:09:21.840 or maybe not. 0:09:22.320 --> 0:09:25.439 We'll see all right, same boat for the Orioles. 0:09:25.640 --> 0:09:27.760 I seem like we talk about them a lot, but 0:09:27.880 --> 0:09:29.839 they don't seem to have any sort of traction. 0:09:29.920 --> 0:09:31.280 Are they in the same type of boat. 0:09:33.120 --> 0:09:36.080 It's so interesting you put it that way, Alta, because yes, 0:09:36.240 --> 0:09:38.360 they have not seemed to have any kind of traction. 0:09:38.559 --> 0:09:42.320 But like the Red Sox, they benefited from a soft schedule. 0:09:42.400 --> 0:09:44.880 At the end of the first half. They had the 0:09:45.000 --> 0:09:47.840 Royals in town in Baltimore and they beat them three 0:09:47.880 --> 0:09:50.560 straight games, had their first four game winning streak of 0:09:50.640 --> 0:09:54.320 the season. The problem was they lost Blaize Alexander. They're 0:09:54.360 --> 0:09:57.520 surging third basement to a broken hand in the final game. 0:09:58.200 --> 0:10:02.000 But yes, they have played. Are they playing well enough? 0:10:02.480 --> 0:10:04.880 I don't really think so. But there are only two 0:10:04.960 --> 0:10:07.320 games out in the race of the Turtles American League 0:10:07.320 --> 0:10:11.880 wildcard race. Yes they have a chance. I love that. 0:10:11.960 --> 0:10:13.640 The race of the Turtles. 0:10:13.640 --> 0:10:16.680 All right, National League much tighter, much more serious of 0:10:16.720 --> 0:10:19.559 a league. This seeds in ken the Milwaukee Brewers. They 0:10:19.559 --> 0:10:23.600 have added already Lance mccullors junior over from the Astros. 0:10:23.640 --> 0:10:24.320 Are they done? 0:10:24.520 --> 0:10:25.520 What do they need to do? 0:10:26.200 --> 0:10:29.959 Well? Lance mccullor's junior, all due respect, is not nearly enough. 0:10:30.160 --> 0:10:31.960 Is a guy who missed twenty three and twenty four 0:10:32.320 --> 0:10:35.280 has a six and a half ERA since returning last 0:10:35.320 --> 0:10:39.520 season and this season combined, so hopefully he's going to 0:10:39.520 --> 0:10:41.960 be healthy and hopefully he's going to pitch well for them. 0:10:42.160 --> 0:10:44.760 Lance McCullers junior has accomplished a lot and been through 0:10:44.800 --> 0:10:47.800 a lot, but the Brewers need more. And the question 0:10:47.920 --> 0:10:50.920 with them right now, and it's so interesting because this 0:10:51.040 --> 0:10:52.679 was the strength of their team in the early part 0:10:52.720 --> 0:10:55.520 of the season. The question with them is their rotation. 0:10:56.280 --> 0:10:59.920 Randon Wood he's out until at least September, Kyle Harrison 0:11:00.160 --> 0:11:03.200 on the injured list with a left forearm strain that's 0:11:03.240 --> 0:11:07.319 always ominous. And then Jacob Mizeraski as great as he 0:11:07.360 --> 0:11:10.760 has been, and he has been amazing. He ended the 0:11:10.800 --> 0:11:14.199 first half miss the starter, was scratched from his last 0:11:14.240 --> 0:11:16.280 start with arm fatigue, and then he didn't pitch in 0:11:16.320 --> 0:11:18.320 the All Star gave him no big deal there, But 0:11:19.679 --> 0:11:21.840 is miss healthy? Is he going to be what he 0:11:21.960 --> 0:11:24.280 was in the first half? Is Hale Harrison' going to 0:11:24.360 --> 0:11:29.120 come back? The Brewers have these questions and maybe it 0:11:29.280 --> 0:11:33.320 persuades them to be more aggressive with starting pitching or maybe, 0:11:33.360 --> 0:11:36.160 and this to me is perhaps the more likely scenario. 0:11:37.440 --> 0:11:40.440 They say, you know what, with all these pitching questions, 0:11:40.559 --> 0:11:42.880 maybe it's not a year to go all in for 0:11:42.960 --> 0:11:45.440 a terroek school. We maybe we do our usual thing, 0:11:46.320 --> 0:11:48.920 work around the edges, do the best we can, but 0:11:49.600 --> 0:11:52.160 we can't count on this being a World Series type year. 0:11:52.200 --> 0:11:56.920 It would be kind of I'm trying to think of 0:11:56.920 --> 0:11:59.920 the right words here, kind of a retreat, I guess. 0:12:00.400 --> 0:12:03.360 But I'm not sure they're going to push really hard 0:12:03.480 --> 0:12:06.560 and push forward in an aggressive way when they have 0:12:06.679 --> 0:12:08.280 these questions looming over them. 0:12:08.880 --> 0:12:11.920 Right now, the Milwaukee Brewers can fifty nine and thirty seven, 0:12:12.000 --> 0:12:16.000 a five game advantage in the NL es Central. As 0:12:16.040 --> 0:12:19.040 we look at our focus in terms of the AL Central, 0:12:19.120 --> 0:12:21.280 if you will, the White Sox, let's start there, and 0:12:21.320 --> 0:12:23.200 then we'll also talk about the Cards and the Nats, 0:12:23.240 --> 0:12:25.600 both in the National League. Of course, you're saying they 0:12:25.640 --> 0:12:27.600 don't want to buy, why not let's start with the 0:12:27.600 --> 0:12:28.160 White Sox. 0:12:28.440 --> 0:12:31.400 Well, in an ideal world, actually I shouldn't put it 0:12:31.480 --> 0:12:33.720 that way. It's not an ideal world. The ideal world 0:12:33.800 --> 0:12:37.360 is to win, right, but these teams enter the season 0:12:38.080 --> 0:12:41.320 not thinking they were going to win, probably anticipating that 0:12:41.360 --> 0:12:45.040 they would be sellers, and now, in varying degrees, they 0:12:45.040 --> 0:12:47.720 are all quite competitive. Now the Nationals to me, are 0:12:47.720 --> 0:12:50.959 the most likely sellers in this group. They have a 0:12:51.200 --> 0:12:54.720 great offense, terrible bullpen, blue three straight late inning leads 0:12:54.720 --> 0:12:58.000 to the Yankees entering the break one game below five hundred. 0:12:58.040 --> 0:13:01.600 Now the Cardinals, on the other hand, or one game 0:13:01.640 --> 0:13:03.920 out in the wildcard race in the National League, they 0:13:03.920 --> 0:13:06.880 are five games over five hundred. I don't know that 0:13:06.920 --> 0:13:11.120 they have enough pitching to one make the playoffs and 0:13:11.200 --> 0:13:14.240 two win a playoff series. But it's not as if 0:13:14.280 --> 0:13:16.600 they can sell here. They need to at least try 0:13:16.600 --> 0:13:19.280 to supplement what they have. And then there are the 0:13:19.280 --> 0:13:21.680 White Sox, who, of course are tied for the American 0:13:21.720 --> 0:13:24.920 League Central League same record as the Cardinals fifty and 0:13:25.000 --> 0:13:28.439 forty five. And the White Sox they're gonna try. Yes, 0:13:28.559 --> 0:13:30.880 they're gonna be aggressive. Now, They're not gonna go crazy 0:13:30.920 --> 0:13:34.920 on rentals, but for controllable players, and they need pitching. 0:13:35.360 --> 0:13:39.520 But for controllable players. Yeah, maybe they'll do something interesting 0:13:39.640 --> 0:13:42.800 and I can see them being more aggressive than the 0:13:42.840 --> 0:13:43.880 other two teams there. 0:13:44.800 --> 0:13:47.360 Ken When you think about the San Diego Padres, You 0:13:47.400 --> 0:13:50.240 automatically think aj Peler, you know that they're going to 0:13:50.280 --> 0:13:53.400 be making moves for better or for worse. What direction 0:13:53.520 --> 0:13:55.160 do you think San Diego goes in. 0:13:56.360 --> 0:13:59.440 They're another team Alana where it seemingly depends on the 0:13:59.480 --> 0:14:03.760 next few and they have not been inspired at all 0:14:04.000 --> 0:14:07.200 this season, last in the major leagues in runs per game, 0:14:07.640 --> 0:14:11.320 twenty seventh in rotation era. They are a five hundred club. 0:14:11.800 --> 0:14:14.320 They haven't played well really the whole year. And they've 0:14:14.320 --> 0:14:19.320 got perhaps Nick Pavetta and Joe Musgrove coming back in August. 0:14:19.360 --> 0:14:22.000 At least that's the expectation, and then you have to 0:14:22.040 --> 0:14:24.360 wonder what they will be and the Padres have to 0:14:24.360 --> 0:14:28.000 figure out, Okay, do we expect that these guys will 0:14:28.000 --> 0:14:31.720 be actual contributors or can we just not count on 0:14:31.760 --> 0:14:34.240 them that much? Really, there's no way to know. So 0:14:34.960 --> 0:14:38.560 AJ Peler's instinct always is to put the best possible 0:14:38.600 --> 0:14:41.440 team on the field, but in this case, if they 0:14:41.440 --> 0:14:43.120 don't play well over the next two weeks two and 0:14:43.160 --> 0:14:46.440 a half weeks, he's going to have to listen at 0:14:46.560 --> 0:14:49.920 least two offers for closer Mason Miller. Now, maybe he 0:14:49.960 --> 0:14:51.960 doesn't get what he wants. Maybe he prefers to take 0:14:52.000 --> 0:14:54.240 it into the offseason, when, of course there's going to 0:14:54.240 --> 0:14:58.320 be a lockout. I don't know, but they're kind of 0:14:58.360 --> 0:15:00.840 hanging on a thread here and it's kind of left 0:15:00.880 --> 0:15:03.480 open the possibility of them going either way. 0:15:04.200 --> 0:15:07.720 Yeah, the San Diego patter is very uninspired. Baseball Ken 0:15:07.760 --> 0:15:10.200 twelve and a half games out of the Division, three 0:15:10.200 --> 0:15:12.000 and a half out of the last wild card spot, 0:15:12.080 --> 0:15:14.720 sitting at forty eight and forty eight at an even 0:15:15.000 --> 0:15:18.000 five hundred. All right, we're gonna wrap up this first segment. 0:15:18.040 --> 0:15:20.720 Don't forget to get those questions in Grill and Ken 0:15:20.880 --> 0:15:22.400 is on deck right after this. 0:15:22.920 --> 0:15:25.680 Many people have this problem. I want to eat healthy. 0:15:25.880 --> 0:15:28.880 I have the willpower, I don't have the time and 0:15:28.920 --> 0:15:30.480 the organization. I need help. 0:15:30.520 --> 0:15:30.880 What do you do? 0:15:31.880 --> 0:15:34.080 I mean you go to factor. I got two boys 0:15:34.160 --> 0:15:36.040 that are looking for the gains and they always come 0:15:36.040 --> 0:15:40.240 in the house, which I'm looking for food. 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Head to Factor Meals dot com. 0:16:12.280 --> 0:16:16.840 Slash foul fifty off and use code Foul fifty off 0:16:16.960 --> 0:16:19.520 to get fifty percent off and free daily Green's per 0:16:19.600 --> 0:16:22.800 box with new subscription only while supplies last until nine 0:16:22.880 --> 0:16:24.240 twenty seven, twenty six. 0:16:29.520 --> 0:16:31.440 All right, is time now for Grill and Ken. Don't 0:16:31.440 --> 0:16:32.680 forget to get those questions in. 0:16:32.720 --> 0:16:35.000 We'll get to as many as possible. 0:16:35.320 --> 0:16:38.040 Let's start here with it's kind of a Major League 0:16:38.080 --> 0:16:42.600 Baseball versus a Major League Baseball Players Association question. As 0:16:42.680 --> 0:16:46.680 of course, the lockout is looming. Ken hopefully not if 0:16:46.720 --> 0:16:49.400 they can get things together. But we'll try with this 0:16:49.440 --> 0:16:53.440 first question anyway, as much as let's see, are we 0:16:53.440 --> 0:16:54.480 we're putting the question up there? 0:16:54.480 --> 0:16:55.120 All right, here we go. 0:16:55.320 --> 0:16:59.560 Are we any closer to harmony between the two sides? 0:17:00.120 --> 0:17:00.800 Harmony? 0:17:02.640 --> 0:17:06.159 We are so not closer to harmony. And both the 0:17:06.200 --> 0:17:08.200 head of the Union, Bruce Meyer and the Commissioner of 0:17:08.240 --> 0:17:13.000 Baseball Rob Mamford spoke to reporters at our annual BBWA 0:17:13.119 --> 0:17:16.480 meeting at the All Star Game, and if you had 0:17:16.640 --> 0:17:20.080 one takeaway, the one takeaway would be these two guys 0:17:20.160 --> 0:17:22.760 are not even talking the same language. Of course, Major 0:17:22.840 --> 0:17:25.639 League Baseball wants a salary cap and salary floor. The 0:17:25.800 --> 0:17:28.199 Union wants nothing of the sort. The Union has always 0:17:28.240 --> 0:17:34.359 been interested more in a free market flexibility. So that 0:17:34.520 --> 0:17:36.560 is the essence of the problem. We could talk all 0:17:36.640 --> 0:17:39.280 day about the different questions and things that came up, 0:17:39.440 --> 0:17:41.960 but that's where we are, and I don't see it 0:17:41.960 --> 0:17:45.919 getting any better anytime soon. I don't have any reason 0:17:46.280 --> 0:17:49.080 to believe that a lockout will not take a place, 0:17:49.359 --> 0:17:52.760 a take effect on June. I'm sorry on December first, 0:17:52.760 --> 0:17:55.119 I'm mixing up to my dates here. There's going to 0:17:55.160 --> 0:17:57.000 be a lockout, and the question is going to be 0:17:57.040 --> 0:17:58.160 how long it's going to go. 0:17:58.920 --> 0:18:02.000 Now, that's so unfortunate, considering baseball popularity is at an 0:18:02.040 --> 0:18:04.480 all time high. It'd be nice that these guys on 0:18:04.560 --> 0:18:07.240 both sides of the table can get it together. First question, 0:18:07.320 --> 0:18:10.199 in terms of the chat from Jim Jim Werdta. As 0:18:10.280 --> 0:18:12.760 much as he wants to ask about the Sleeping Mariners, 0:18:12.760 --> 0:18:15.399 the more juicy question is this. Do you see any 0:18:15.480 --> 0:18:19.320 owner selling all or minority shares of their team the 0:18:19.359 --> 0:18:22.200 minute a new CBA is agreed upon. 0:18:23.760 --> 0:18:26.359 It depends on a few things. What kind of CBA 0:18:26.440 --> 0:18:29.280 are we looking at. If we're looking at one that 0:18:29.359 --> 0:18:32.440 does include a salary cap and floor, the purpose of that, 0:18:33.359 --> 0:18:36.080 despite what the owners might say about wanting to honor 0:18:36.119 --> 0:18:39.320 the fans' desires, the purpose of a salary cap and 0:18:39.359 --> 0:18:43.040 floor is for the owners to enhance their franchise values. 0:18:43.080 --> 0:18:45.520 That's what a CAP would do. That's what they want. 0:18:45.760 --> 0:18:49.600 So if they get a cap, I can see teams 0:18:50.760 --> 0:18:54.720 being sold and being sold for great prices because at 0:18:54.720 --> 0:18:57.360 that point the owners will have the certainty that they 0:18:57.400 --> 0:19:00.239 want and that will make of course the franchise is 0:19:00.800 --> 0:19:03.720 in some ways more attractive. Now you can make franchise 0:19:03.760 --> 0:19:06.800 values more attractive even without a cap. We're not going 0:19:06.880 --> 0:19:10.520 to get into all that right now, but again, yeah, 0:19:10.640 --> 0:19:13.879 that's the motivation here in many ways, actually the prime 0:19:13.920 --> 0:19:18.640 motivation salary cap enhanced franchise values. That's what the owners want. 0:19:20.119 --> 0:19:23.000 Man, I wish in the next life that I was 0:19:23.040 --> 0:19:25.520 the owner of a major League baseball team or the 0:19:25.520 --> 0:19:28.960 Seattle Seahawks who just sold for gazillion dollars, all right, 0:19:29.000 --> 0:19:32.000 Jim Jim Ward that Ken has another question here, are 0:19:32.000 --> 0:19:35.639 we sleeping on the Twins or are they really a 0:19:35.760 --> 0:19:37.280 sixth seed in the wildcard? 0:19:38.200 --> 0:19:41.640 Well, I would say we've slept on them the whole season, 0:19:41.680 --> 0:19:44.160 and we've slept on them for good reason. They ripped 0:19:44.240 --> 0:19:47.680 up their entire team at last year's deadline, traded pretty 0:19:47.720 --> 0:19:49.919 much their entire bullpen, and of course got rid of 0:19:49.920 --> 0:19:54.200 Carlos Korea as well. Now they've played really well and 0:19:54.240 --> 0:19:57.399 they still need bullpen help and they're probably going to 0:19:57.440 --> 0:19:59.840 try to get it. What's interesting about the Twins is 0:20:00.080 --> 0:20:03.840 that they could be something of a surprise buyer. For 0:20:03.920 --> 0:20:06.720 all the talk of Joe Ryan and Byron Buxton going 0:20:06.760 --> 0:20:09.439 somewhere else, I don't see that happening, and they're not 0:20:09.560 --> 0:20:12.120 signaling that that's going to happen. And of course Buxton 0:20:12.520 --> 0:20:14.720 where there no trade to sing, he doesn't want it 0:20:14.760 --> 0:20:18.560 to happen. What they should do is try to go 0:20:18.600 --> 0:20:21.320 forward a little bit, and their new control person, Tompo 0:20:21.480 --> 0:20:26.560 lad has basically said he wants to do some things 0:20:26.600 --> 0:20:29.760 that will bring the franchise back to a better place 0:20:29.800 --> 0:20:32.640 within the community. Fans don't like that. Team right now. 0:20:32.640 --> 0:20:34.680 They don't like them because of the way they've been run. 0:20:34.720 --> 0:20:37.160 Not the players, it's the way that they've been run, 0:20:37.280 --> 0:20:40.119 cutting payroll after making the playoffs all of that. So 0:20:40.800 --> 0:20:43.639 I can see the team or the Twins being a 0:20:43.640 --> 0:20:44.560 bit aggressive here. 0:20:45.280 --> 0:20:47.399 All right, just flow is our final question here, and 0:20:47.480 --> 0:20:49.560 Grill and Ken wants to know who do you think 0:20:49.960 --> 0:20:53.120 was the biggest winner of the draft obviously Major League 0:20:53.160 --> 0:20:56.399 Baseball amateur draft just happening over the course of this 0:20:56.480 --> 0:20:57.080 All Star Week. 0:20:57.119 --> 0:20:58.199 Anybody that stick out to you? 0:20:59.680 --> 0:21:02.600 Honestly, Lean, I am not a draft expert, and I 0:21:02.640 --> 0:21:05.440 do not follow the draft that closely, so I would 0:21:05.440 --> 0:21:09.200 be going out of my lane if I started breaking 0:21:09.240 --> 0:21:11.920 down the draft right here. I cover all thirty teams, 0:21:11.920 --> 0:21:14.720 but really at the major league level, So I'm going 0:21:14.760 --> 0:21:17.040 to pass on this question out of ignorance. 0:21:17.640 --> 0:21:18.119 I love that. 0:21:18.160 --> 0:21:19.760 See, that's what makes you good at what you do 0:21:19.880 --> 0:21:23.880 because you do know when not to speak when you're uninformed, 0:21:23.880 --> 0:21:26.240 and I love that about you, Ken Rosenthal, all right, 0:21:26.880 --> 0:21:29.600