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Speaker 1: Thanks, hello everyone, and welcome to another edition of Fair Territory.

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Speaker 1: I am coming to you this week from Parts unknown,

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Speaker 1: actually not parts unknown. I am somewhere in California. I

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Speaker 1: had Padres Brewers on Saturday in San Diego. I've got

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Speaker 1: Mets Giants in San Francisco this weekend, so that's why

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Speaker 1: I'm staying out here. But We've got a lot to

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Speaker 1: discuss this week, and I want to start with a

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Speaker 1: little bit of a controversy that erupted Saturday at Yankee Stadium,

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Speaker 1: and it involved sticky stuff. It involved Domingo Herman, and

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Speaker 1: it was actually a very interesting situation. Now I'm going

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Speaker 1: to address this, and I know fans in New York

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Speaker 1: and fans in Minnesota are going to have much different

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Speaker 1: perspectives on this, and fans around the country will as well.

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Speaker 1: I actually sort of see both sides here, But let

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Speaker 1: me explain what happened first. So, Herman gets asked by

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Speaker 1: the crew chief, James Hoy to clean his hands a

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Speaker 1: row on his hands. He doesn't clean his hands. He

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Speaker 1: comes back out, they see it again, and at that

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Speaker 1: point the Twins felt he should have been ejected. He

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Speaker 1: didn't comply with the umpire's wishes. You can make that case.

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Speaker 1: But the umpire's position, Hoys's position was, he's not using

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Speaker 1: anything illegal. What he's using is the rosin, which is

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Speaker 1: perfectly permissible. That's right behind the mound, the rosen bag.

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Speaker 1: The guys pick it up all the time. Twins feel, Hey,

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Speaker 1: you don't comply, you're out. I guess Hoy could have

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Speaker 1: made that decision. But if he had made that decision,

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Speaker 1: here's where it gets really dicey. The Yankees' point would

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Speaker 1: have been, whoa, whoa, whoa. You're throwing a guy out

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Speaker 1: for using something that isn't illegal. What is the problem here?

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Speaker 1: And yeah, he should have cleaned his hand, but I

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Speaker 1: don't know if that's an injectable offense. If you're James

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Speaker 1: Hoy obviously wasn't so by the letter of the law.

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Speaker 1: I guess yes, he could have been ejected, and perhaps

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Speaker 1: that's what should have happened, because he failed to do

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Speaker 1: what he was asked to do. And that was the

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Speaker 1: twins whole point. Remember Roccobaldelli, the manager said, I'm not

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Speaker 1: saying he's using anything illegal. I'm saying he didn't comply. Okay,

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Speaker 1: but again, go back to playing this out and if

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Speaker 1: he does get ejected, well again, if you're the Yankees,

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Speaker 1: you're screaming, hey, this is not right. So it was

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Speaker 1: Yankee stadium. Opposing teams often feel the Yankees are not

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Speaker 1: favored necessarily a Yankee stadium, but that the umpires sometimes

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Speaker 1: are concerned about acting against them given the crowd and

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Speaker 1: given that it's always a lot of people there. But

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Speaker 1: I don't know that that is what swayed this. And

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Speaker 1: the Twins also were upset that the Yankees while the

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Speaker 1: umpires were gathering to discuss this, we're all kind of

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Speaker 1: gathered around players and coaches kind of in the meeting

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Speaker 1: with the umpires. I get that too. That's a concern.

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Speaker 1: And the other thing that came up with regard to

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Speaker 1: this issue, and this is perhaps the most stallient point

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Speaker 1: if you're questioning whether Herman was indeed violating the rules,

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Speaker 1: his spin rates did drop after the third inning. According

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Speaker 1: to some pitching analysts who were tweeting about them. His

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Speaker 1: spin rates dropped after he had to clean his hand.

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Speaker 1: He didn't clean entirely, okay, but they were not fully

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Speaker 1: what they were before. And the Twins said afterward. Byron

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Speaker 1: Buxton specifically told Dan Hayes, the athletic hey that ball

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Speaker 1: was moving in ways we hadn't seen it move before,

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Speaker 1: in ways the scouting reports told us it wouldn't move before. That,

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Speaker 1: I guess is the more legitimate concern of the twins.

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Speaker 1: But I'll tell you something, the fact that this happened,

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Speaker 1: the fact that Herman is effectively unnoticed, it would seem

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Speaker 1: to me that it's not going to happen again. And

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Speaker 1: that's no consolation for the twins if indeed, in their

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Speaker 1: view he was using something illegal again. The umpire said

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Speaker 1: he wasn't, But I would think Dominga Herman's going to

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Speaker 1: be extra careful from here on out, all right, So

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Speaker 1: that's issue number one now. As I said, I was

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Speaker 1: in San Diego over the weekend, and that's of course

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Speaker 1: one of the most interesting, fascinating teams in all of baseball,

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Speaker 1: and one of the things looming for them, a very

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Speaker 1: exciting thing looming for them, is the return of Fernando

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Speaker 1: Tatist Junior Thursday. He's coming back from his eighty game suspension,

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Speaker 1: also coming back from injuries that he's sustained over the

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Speaker 1: last couple of years, a number of them, a number

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Speaker 1: of surgeries, but you've seen what he's done at El

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Speaker 1: Paso at Triple A on his rehab assignment. He's basically

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Speaker 1: gone nuts, hitting home runs all over the place. He

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Speaker 1: looks like he's ready. His timing is down, at least

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Speaker 1: at the Triple A level. So the question becomes, Okay,

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Speaker 1: what happens with the padres when he returns. We know

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Speaker 1: where he's going to play. He's going to play right field.

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Speaker 1: He's not going to play short stuff. They signed Xander

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Speaker 1: Bogart's for two hundred and eighty million. Where he's going

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Speaker 1: to hit and where everyone else is going to hit

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Speaker 1: is perhaps the more interesting part of this, and I

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Speaker 1: wrote about it today for The Athletic. Now. The ideal order,

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Speaker 1: the one that they figured to use is Tatis's first

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Speaker 1: right handed, one Sodo second left handed, two more right

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Speaker 1: handed hitters Machado and Bogarts, and then the other lefty,

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Speaker 1: J Croninworth. The reason to do it that way is

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Speaker 1: so Soto would never see a left handed reliever right

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Speaker 1: They're not going to spring in a left handed reliever

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Speaker 1: for him. With the two right handers behind him and

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Speaker 1: the three batter minimum, you don't want a lefty facing

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Speaker 1: Bogarts and Machado or Machado and Bogarts, So that is

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Speaker 1: what makes the most sense. The complicating factor is that

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Speaker 1: Soto told me, and he's been pretty public about this,

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Speaker 1: that he prefers hitting thirties, just more comfortable there. He

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Speaker 1: sees second as kind of a spot where you move

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Speaker 1: runners over more, and third through fifth he said he's

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Speaker 1: comfortable in any of those as run producing areas. Okay,

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Speaker 1: and we all get certain hitters and more comfortable in

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Speaker 1: certain places. Some teams like putting their best hitter second.

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Speaker 1: Aaron Judge hit second, Mike Trout hit second, Freddy Freeman

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Speaker 1: hit second. It's not a bad place to be. You

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Speaker 1: generally see more fastballs, more strikes, get another time at bat.

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Speaker 1: For whatever reason, Soto has not been comfortable now. The

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Speaker 1: other thing with Sodo is that he has not really

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Speaker 1: hit at all since going to the Padres, since the

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Speaker 1: trade last August. I shouldn't say at all. He has hit,

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Speaker 1: but not to his previous levels, and they want to

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Speaker 1: get him going. But again, with the way they are

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Speaker 1: constructed now, it looks best in my opinion, the way

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Speaker 1: I just described it. Tatis Soto, Marichado, Bogart's crona Worth.

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Speaker 1: It's a heck of a top five. It will be

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Speaker 1: potent and Sodo will get everything he wants, or I

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Speaker 1: would think the pitches he wants batting second. The other concern,

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Speaker 1: if it is a concern, is how tattoos will fit in.

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Speaker 1: Remember there was some disappointment expressed in that clubhouse after

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Speaker 1: he tested positive for an illegal performance dancing drug last

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Speaker 1: year and got hit with an eighty game suspension. We'll

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Speaker 1: remember he was with the Padres again in spring training,

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Speaker 1: and I expect it's not going to be a problem.

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Speaker 1: I interviewed Jay Kroniworth's postgame on Saturday after his too

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Speaker 1: homer game, and he seemed excited by the emotions that

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Speaker 1: Tatis is going to bring the good emotions, the fire

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Speaker 1: and I would expect that at this point it's not

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Speaker 1: going to be a problem. This team does have a

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Speaker 1: lot of big personalities, there's no question about that. Superstars,

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Speaker 1: and when you put superstars together, occasionally you have some fireworks.

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Speaker 1: We've seen that at times at the Padres. Remember that

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Speaker 1: Machado Tatis dug out. I don't want to call it

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Speaker 1: an incident. I don't even want to call it a confrontation.

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Speaker 1: But there was some emotions expressed. The good thing is

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Speaker 1: Padres have Nelson Cruz right now, who is kind of

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Speaker 1: an elder statement. They've got Xander Bogartz, who is one

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Speaker 1: of the classiest people in the game and a leader.

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Speaker 1: Manny has grown over the years. I don't expect that

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Speaker 1: to be an issue. I'm quite excited to watch them play.

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Speaker 1: They've been so far at disappointment eight and nine going

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Speaker 1: into Monday, just haven't clicked quite yet. They've also got

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Speaker 1: some pitching concerns, but Musgrove is coming back. That also

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Speaker 1: is expected to happen this week, so they should be

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Speaker 1: in position now to kind of take off a little

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Speaker 1: bit at least that would be their hope. Finally, as

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Speaker 1: we start off today, the clock. We cannot get away

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Speaker 1: from the clock. I don't want to get away from

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Speaker 1: the clock. It's a fascinating subject. It has changed our sport.

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Speaker 1: But there is one thing, well one thing I'll discuss

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Speaker 1: here that has come up in recent weeks, both from

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Speaker 1: players and from executives and coaches and managers. A concern

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Speaker 1: and that concern is starting pictures fatiguing because of the

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Speaker 1: accelerated pace. Now we don't really have a large enough

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Speaker 1: sample yet to judge this right. But over time we

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Speaker 1: will whether more pictures get hurt, and more importantly, perhaps

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Speaker 1: whether the hot summer months places in the Northeast and

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Speaker 1: Midwest in particular, things get a little diceier. Fatigue becomes

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Speaker 1: even more of an issue, and that's going to possibly

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Speaker 1: lead to some injuries. That's the concern. Anyway, we'll see

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Speaker 1: if it happens. Pitchers seem to get hurt every year,

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Speaker 1: regardless of clock, no clock, It just happens. But I

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Speaker 1: get this concern, and I also see it as a

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Speaker 1: particular problem perhaps for teams that are using six man rotations,

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Speaker 1: And you ask why, keep in mind thirteen man limit

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Speaker 1: on size of our pitching staff. You can only have

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Speaker 1: seven relievers if you're using a six man rotation, so

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Speaker 1: you're one short where you would be if you had five.

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Speaker 1: When that happens, and then when you have starters going

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Speaker 1: not as deep into games, it can really tax your bullpen. Now,

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Speaker 1: some teams are using six at different points. The Padres

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Speaker 1: are using six right now. They might abandon that at

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Speaker 1: some point, but they've got the seeming surplus of starters.

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Speaker 1: The Angels have to use six because of course Shoho

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Speaker 1: Tani is part of their mix, and they want to

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Speaker 1: give him as much rest as possible. This is the

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Speaker 1: kind of thing that we don't know the answer to yet,

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Speaker 1: whether picture fatigue is going to lead to injuries, whether

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Speaker 1: it actually will be an issue. Remember the minor league pictures,

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Speaker 1: the starters, guys who have come from the miners, I

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Speaker 1: should say, they've been dealing with this for several years now.

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Speaker 1: They are not uncomfortable necessarily with it. They're accustomed to

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Speaker 1: the pace, and I would assume physically they've adjusted. But

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Speaker 1: for older pictures, perhaps there will be a greater adjustment period,

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Speaker 1: and that is something to watch in the months ahead.

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Speaker 1: All right. When we started the show, I promised that

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Speaker 1: occasionally I would go deeper into some stories I've written,

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Speaker 1: kind of explained the process a little bit when appropriate,

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Speaker 1: Not going to give away all of my secrets, but

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Speaker 1: I wrote to last week that I do think are

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Speaker 1: worthy of discussion because they were a little bit different,

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Speaker 1: and maybe I can give a little bit more insight

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Speaker 1: into how they came about. Now, I'll start with the

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Speaker 1: second story first, because it's the more recent one, and

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Speaker 1: that was an interview I did with umpire Dan Bellino, now.

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Speaker 1: Dan Bellino is a guy who's been a full time

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Speaker 1: Major League Empire for the past fifteen seasons. Actually this

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Speaker 1: is his fifteenth coming up. And he's a guy that

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Speaker 1: I met during the WBC and we talked a little bit.

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Speaker 1: I got his number and I asked, just you know,

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Speaker 1: I we can talk from time to time over whatever

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Speaker 1: issue might arise, and he said, yeah, that's fine, but

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Speaker 1: on something like this, when you're interviewing an umpire about

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Speaker 1: Major League rules, there is actually a process you go

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Speaker 1: through and I can't just call him up and start

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Speaker 1: an interview. He is basically under instructions to clear that

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Speaker 1: with Major League Baseball, which is something I did in

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Speaker 1: this case. Major League Baseball I feared would not be

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Speaker 1: willing to have me talk to umpires. It's not something

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Speaker 1: they're always comfortable doing. You'll notice sometimes when there's controversial stuff,

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Speaker 1: such as the Herman thing we discussed in the first segment,

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Speaker 1: there will be a pool reporter that talks to the

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Speaker 1: The pool reporter is a designated reporter who will go

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Speaker 1: downstairs talk to that umpire and then give the quotes

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Speaker 1: to all of the other reporters. That's the way a

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Speaker 1: pool reporter works. It's not necessarily the ideal circumstance want

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Speaker 1: other reporters to maybe ask other questions, but that's the

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Speaker 1: way generally it's done. So Major League Baseball is protective

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Speaker 1: of umpires, but in this case they did allow me

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Speaker 1: to speak to Dan Bellino, and if you read the article,

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Speaker 1: I thought it was really interesting, just in the way

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Speaker 1: he discussed the different things that umpires are facing with

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Speaker 1: the clock, the different challenges they've got to learn, an

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Speaker 1: entire new set of rules, an entire new set of

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Speaker 1: hand signals. There is a lot going on with the

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Speaker 1: game now that wasn't going on before. He described how

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Speaker 1: it used to be. He just lock in on balls

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Speaker 1: and strikes. That was the job at the plate. It

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Speaker 1: was mentally exhausting. It was really difficult to do. It

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Speaker 1: was an umpire's primary responsibility. Well, now at the clock,

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Speaker 1: you've got something else to worry about. And that was

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Speaker 1: just one aspect of it. And he also mentioned about

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Speaker 1: how the interactions at home plate with the players are different.

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Speaker 1: They're shorter because they have to be shorter with the

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Speaker 1: clock ticking. He mentioned an instant. It's when he got

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Speaker 1: into an exchange with Tommy Edmund and Tommy Edmund's like, whoa,

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Speaker 1: WHOAOA cannot talk right now? The clock is going, and

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Speaker 1: it was just kind of interesting to hear all of

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Speaker 1: this from an umpire's perspective. We've heard from Major League Baseball,

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Speaker 1: we've heard from managers, coaches, executives, and we've heard from players,

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Speaker 1: but we hadn't heard from an umpire. So I was

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Speaker 1: grateful to MLB for allowing this interview to happen. I

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Speaker 1: was grateful to Dan for participating and being willing to participate.

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Speaker 1: A lot of umpires, I shouldn't say a lot, but

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Speaker 1: a number of them can be rather guarded for reasons.

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Speaker 1: You can understand. They are guys who have a really

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Speaker 1: difficult job, and we only hear about them when something

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Speaker 1: is a miss, shall we say so? That was the

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Speaker 1: umpire story. The other story was the one earlier in

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Speaker 1: the week, in which I talked about a stolen based

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Speaker 1: technique that has been around for over fifty years but

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Speaker 1: is now becoming more in vogue because of the new rules,

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Speaker 1: the larger bases, the fewer disengagements, all of the things

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Speaker 1: that have been done to enhance base dealing. And I

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Speaker 1: got this idea from a guy I've known for a

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Speaker 1: long time, and sometimes being in this business for a

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Speaker 1: while does benefit you. And it benefits you because some

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Speaker 1: people you just stay in touch with and they come

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Speaker 1: around and occasionally they have a really interesting idea. The

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Speaker 1: person I'm talking about is Mike Roberts. Mike Roberts is

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Speaker 1: the former coach at the University of North Carolina. He

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Speaker 1: was the coach there for some twenty years. He's still

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Speaker 1: the manager in the Cape Coyle League. He's seventy three now.

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Speaker 1: And if he's also the father of Brian Roberts, the

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Speaker 1: former Orioles second baseman who had a fine Major league career.

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Speaker 1: So Mike gets in touch with me shortly after opening Day.

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Speaker 1: He starts texting me and he says, hey, look at this.

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Speaker 1: Look at this technique. This is something we've been teaching.

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Speaker 1: I learned at the Kansas City Royals Baseball Academy in

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Speaker 1: the early seventies. This is going to be a big

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Speaker 1: thing and the Yankees are using it. They're at the

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Speaker 1: forefront of it. You should look into this. I get

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Speaker 1: these kinds of texts and calls quite a bit, people

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Speaker 1: telling me, look at this, look at that. Often it's

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Speaker 1: with people who have an agenda, who want me to

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Speaker 1: write about them, perhaps write about their team, perhaps write

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Speaker 1: about a product. It could be anything. Now, Mike I've

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Speaker 1: known for a long time, but I was still a

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Speaker 1: little skeptical, like, why is he so enthusiastic? Well, Mike

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Speaker 1: is always enthusiastic, That's one reason. But then I called

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Speaker 1: the Yankees director of Speed and base Running, I think

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Speaker 1: that is his title. His name is Matt Tallerico, and

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Speaker 1: he is sort of a disciple of Mike's. There are

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Speaker 1: many in the game base running instructors along those lines,

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Speaker 1: and he explained to me the whole thing. It is,

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Speaker 1: indeed a thing I found it really interesting to write about.

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Speaker 1: I talked to about a dozen people for this story,

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Speaker 1: and I thought came up with something a little bit different. Now,

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Speaker 1: it had been written about before by Fangrabs a week

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Speaker 1: before or so just what it was, but my story

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Speaker 1: was deeper. It went into the history, It went into

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Speaker 1: all these different personalities, these people who were involved in

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Speaker 1: this process. And actually even before the Fangraft story, there

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Speaker 1: had been a tweet from Jerry Weinstein, who is a coach,

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Speaker 1: an older coach with the Rockies. He's been around forever too,

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Speaker 1: a catching instructor, legendary, and he tweeted, this is going

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Speaker 1: to be a thing, This is going to be big,

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Speaker 1: this stolen based technique, and that is the first thing

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Speaker 1: that Mike sent to me. So that is how those

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Speaker 1: two stories came about. I hope you found it interesting.

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Speaker 1: I find it interesting. People often ask me what are

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Speaker 1: you doing? How are you going about this with your

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Speaker 1: different processes, and in this case, it was a little

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Speaker 1: bit different than me simply getting on the phone and

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Speaker 1: asking people questions, which is basically normally what I do.

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Speaker 1: Time now for the dude and dork of the week. Now,

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Speaker 1: I know everyone is going to have their opinions. A

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Speaker 1: lot of players had big weeks. I don't know who

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Speaker 1: the player of the week is yet I don't care.

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Speaker 1: My dude of the week is going to be a

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Speaker 1: guy that I see as an emerging superstar. That's right,

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna say it. Just like that emerging superstar, he's

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Speaker 1: not there yet, needs to play a bit longer. But

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Speaker 1: Orioles Catcher Adley Rushman is a guy who looks like

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Speaker 1: he is going to be a big name in this

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Speaker 1: sport for a long time to come. You saw what

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Speaker 1: he did in this past week. The walk off homer.

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Speaker 1: He's got four homers on the season. Now he's hitting

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Speaker 1: three forty four with one thousand ops. He is the center,

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Speaker 1: it seems of everything the Orioles do, and the Oriols

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Speaker 1: are a fun team to watch, a team on the rise.

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Speaker 1: He is terrific behind the plate. He is a great

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Speaker 1: communicator with their pitchers. I just love the way this

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Speaker 1: guy goes about it and for that, he is the

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Speaker 1: dude of the week, and I expect this is not

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Speaker 1: going to be the last time he is the dude

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Speaker 1: of the week. Now again, not a superstar yet, but

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Speaker 1: I would say emerging. We had this debate on foul territory.

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Speaker 1: When does a guy become a star or superstar? It

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Speaker 1: takes time, no question. But Adli Rushman to me like,

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Speaker 1: HU has that written all over him. Dork of the week.

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Speaker 1: It's going to be a dork of the week with

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Speaker 1: a bit of an asterisk. Now, I'm going to give

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Speaker 1: it to plate umpire Jim Wolf. The guy was behind

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Speaker 1: the plate when Cody Bellinger got that violation while fans

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Speaker 1: were cheering him for coming back to Los Angeles to

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Speaker 1: Dodger Stadium over the weekend, and he should never have

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Speaker 1: gotten that violation. It was ridiculous, and Jim Wolf was

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Speaker 1: the guy who rang him up, started him at one

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Speaker 1: in the bat when he was simply basking of the applause,

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Speaker 1: and that is something that should not have happened. Then, Yes,

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Speaker 1: Jim Wolf, as the umpire, should have had a better

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Speaker 1: feel in that moment. But I will say this, and

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Speaker 1: I wrote about this today in The Athletic there is

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Speaker 1: a process that Major League Baseball has instructed clubs to

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Speaker 1: follow when they feel a moment like this coming on.

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Speaker 1: For instance, Aaron Judge when he stepped to the plate

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Speaker 1: for the first time with the Yankees this season after

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Speaker 1: signing the contract. People knew that he'd be getting a

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Speaker 1: big ovation and the Yankees wanted to make sure that

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Speaker 1: he would not get a violation. MLB's instructed them in

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Speaker 1: that situation. Same with the Pirates from a cutcheon, let

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Speaker 1: us know, we'll let the umpires know, we'll be taking

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Speaker 1: care of it. There will be no violation. That's the

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Speaker 1: process teams are supposed to follow. And again in those

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Speaker 1: two cases I just mentioned, it was followed quite well.

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Speaker 1: It went off without a hitch. Bellinger's situation was different,

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Speaker 1: a little bit of a loophole, i'd say, And the

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Speaker 1: reason it was different is because he was a visiting player.

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Speaker 1: So what are the Cubs supposed to do? Call MLB

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Speaker 1: and say, Hey, our guy is going to get a

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Speaker 1: big ovation in Dodger Stadium. It's not their stadium. Oh

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Speaker 1: they're supposed to know. I mean, they might sense it,

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Speaker 1: but it's not something that would occur naturally to them.

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Speaker 1: It's a bit awkward likewise, a bit awkward for the

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Speaker 1: Dodgers to say to MLB, this visiting player is coming

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Speaker 1: here and we expect him to get a big ovation,

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Speaker 1: and let's have a delay. It doesn't really work in

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Speaker 1: the way it's supposed to work. This is not a

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Speaker 1: huge deal. I know Bellinger did ground out, it wasn't

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Speaker 1: a great bat for him, But in the future this

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Speaker 1: has to be addressed. Now, Yes, Jim Wolf, he's dork

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Speaker 1: of the week because he should have just figured it

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Speaker 1: out right there. His brother Randy is a former player.

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Speaker 1: But I would say there are extenuating circumstances for him.

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Speaker 1: He had not received any instructions that this was going

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Speaker 1: to happen in the moment. Sure, yes, he should have

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Speaker 1: reacted better, but this is a league issue and I

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Speaker 1: expect in the future it's going to be addressed. And

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Speaker 1: finally we've got some news. On this Monday morning, Craig

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Speaker 1: missed the first to report that the Twins are closing

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Speaker 1: in on an extension with Pablo Lopez. It's going to

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Speaker 1: be if completed, four years, seventy three point five million now.

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Speaker 1: The Twins acquired Pablo, of course, in the offseason in

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Speaker 1: the Luis Ariaz trade, a trade that right now looks

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Speaker 1: really good for both teams. Lopez has been brilliant for

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Speaker 1: the Twins also Arias, we've seen what he's done. He's

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Speaker 1: basically hitting five hundred for the Marlins. But let's talk

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Speaker 1: about Lopez a little bit. When the Twins acquired him,

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Speaker 1: he had two years of club control remaining. Arias had three,

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Speaker 1: which is why the Twins got two prospects, including Jose

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Speaker 1: Salas as well, in the deal. He was coming. Pablo

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Speaker 1: Lopez was with fewer years of control, one fewer year,

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Speaker 1: and that is why the Twins felt, hey, we need

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Speaker 1: a little bit more in this deal. Lopez is a

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Speaker 1: guy that is one of the more beloved people in

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Speaker 1: the game by his teammates, by the people who employ him.

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Speaker 1: He is just a guy that has a transcendence about him.

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Speaker 1: It's a great person and I'm sure that was part

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Speaker 1: of the Twins rationale here for locking him up. This

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00:21:38,680 --> 00:21:42,840
Speaker 1: deal will cover it appears, his final year of arbitration

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Speaker 1: and then three free agent years. And with pictures, extensions,

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00:21:47,280 --> 00:21:51,560
Speaker 1: to me, are always more viable than with position players.

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Speaker 1: And when I say viable, I mean more attractive, because

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Speaker 1: if you're a picture the risk of injury is greater.

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Speaker 1: When you're a position player going year to year, it's

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Speaker 1: not as big a risk. You can even look at

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Speaker 1: a guy like Ronald Acuna Junior. He signed long term, right,

410
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Speaker 1: but he had the knee injury, he blew out and

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Speaker 1: he's come back. Yes, he lost some time, He would

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Speaker 1: have lost some money if he had not signed the deal,

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Speaker 1: but he's fine. He's gonna be a really good player

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Speaker 1: for a long time, a great player for a long time.

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Speaker 1: With pitchers, you have a greater risk and everybody knows that.

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Speaker 1: So for Pablo Lopez, this is a good deal. For

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Speaker 1: the Twins as well, it would seem to be a

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Speaker 1: good deal. I haven't broken down the financials yet and

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Speaker 1: gotten into just what it looks like year by year,

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Speaker 1: but I'm sure Lopez welcomes the security, and the Twins

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Speaker 1: welcome the fact that they've got this guy under control

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Speaker 1: now for several years. So far, so good for that

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Speaker 1: trade looks like a winner, Arise, Well, will he be

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Speaker 1: with the Marlins long term? He's got two years after

425
00:22:50,600 --> 00:22:52,959
Speaker 1: this one. We'll see if they can get him done.

426
00:22:53,160 --> 00:22:55,080
Speaker 1: I don't know that that's going to happen, given what

427
00:22:55,119 --> 00:22:58,080
Speaker 1: the Marlins have been like financially, the way they've operated,

428
00:22:58,119 --> 00:23:01,680
Speaker 1: I should say over the past well, I don't know decades.

429
00:23:02,359 --> 00:23:04,439
Speaker 1: All Right, with that, let's get to the fan questions.

430
00:23:04,480 --> 00:23:06,560
Speaker 1: We've got some really good ones this week. I want

431
00:23:06,560 --> 00:23:11,399
Speaker 1: to start with this. The Orioles drew nine three hundred,

432
00:23:11,480 --> 00:23:14,399
Speaker 1: twelve thousand, ten thousand, and eleven thousand, five hundred on

433
00:23:14,440 --> 00:23:17,320
Speaker 1: a good weather week. Supposedly the Oriols are a team

434
00:23:17,440 --> 00:23:20,240
Speaker 1: on the rise. Ray Mitton says, why aren't fans going

435
00:23:20,280 --> 00:23:25,320
Speaker 1: to Baltimore and why is the oriols poor attendance so underreported? Okay,

436
00:23:25,920 --> 00:23:29,239
Speaker 1: context is important here. Oils drew just fine for their

437
00:23:29,240 --> 00:23:32,960
Speaker 1: opening series against the Yankees. Those numbers that y you

438
00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:36,159
Speaker 1: were talking about right there, That was first series that

439
00:23:36,200 --> 00:23:40,159
Speaker 1: went from Monday to Thursday against the Oakland Athletics. Not

440
00:23:40,280 --> 00:23:43,800
Speaker 1: exactly a team full of gate attractions. So school is

441
00:23:43,840 --> 00:23:47,960
Speaker 1: not out yet. The Ools are just getting started. They

442
00:23:47,960 --> 00:23:50,560
Speaker 1: didn't have any big free agent signings or big trades

443
00:23:50,640 --> 00:23:53,040
Speaker 1: really in the off season. They brought in Kyle Gibson,

444
00:23:53,080 --> 00:23:56,440
Speaker 1: they've already demoted Cole Irvin. It's not as if they

445
00:23:56,440 --> 00:23:58,560
Speaker 1: brought in someone that's going to sell tickets for them.

446
00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:04,000
Speaker 1: I've been concerns in years past about people going downtown

447
00:24:04,080 --> 00:24:06,359
Speaker 1: to Baltimore. Now it's not as safe as it once was.

448
00:24:06,400 --> 00:24:09,400
Speaker 1: But my goodness, the Ravens play Saturday nights from time

449
00:24:09,440 --> 00:24:12,000
Speaker 1: to time. Nobody seems to have a problem finding the

450
00:24:12,040 --> 00:24:14,840
Speaker 1: stadium for those games. So I would just chuck this

451
00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:19,680
Speaker 1: up to a matter of the opponent, the time of year,

452
00:24:20,280 --> 00:24:23,000
Speaker 1: and just the early part of the season. I don't

453
00:24:23,040 --> 00:24:25,360
Speaker 1: really put much stock into this. If the Oriols win,

454
00:24:25,840 --> 00:24:28,480
Speaker 1: people will come out there. I worked in Baltimore for

455
00:24:28,560 --> 00:24:32,080
Speaker 1: a long long time. The people in Baltimore love that team,

456
00:24:32,359 --> 00:24:34,920
Speaker 1: and they're just looking for a reason, a better reason

457
00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:37,040
Speaker 1: to come out than they've had in the past few years.

458
00:24:37,080 --> 00:24:40,680
Speaker 1: That team is rising, yes, agreed, but it takes time

459
00:24:40,720 --> 00:24:43,640
Speaker 1: to build attendance for all teams when they're on the rise.

460
00:24:43,760 --> 00:24:47,199
Speaker 1: Like this second question from Ryan Miller, this is a

461
00:24:47,240 --> 00:24:50,840
Speaker 1: bit of a doozy. What do the Cardinals need to

462
00:24:50,880 --> 00:24:56,080
Speaker 1: do to turn this season around? Good question, because the

463
00:24:56,080 --> 00:24:59,119
Speaker 1: Cardinals are one of the more disappointing teams right now,

464
00:24:59,240 --> 00:25:02,480
Speaker 1: and initially and I saw that question, I thought, it's

465
00:25:02,480 --> 00:25:04,280
Speaker 1: a starting pitching. They've just got to fix the starting

466
00:25:04,359 --> 00:25:08,199
Speaker 1: pitching and they'll be fine. Rotation e A entering Monday

467
00:25:08,920 --> 00:25:12,960
Speaker 1: is five five point zero zero ranks twenty second in

468
00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:16,760
Speaker 1: the majors. Most of us projected the Cardinals rotation to

469
00:25:16,880 --> 00:25:20,560
Speaker 1: potentially be an issue. It is an issue. The thing

470
00:25:20,560 --> 00:25:23,960
Speaker 1: that surprised me when looking at the Cardinals statistics is

471
00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:27,960
Speaker 1: that their offense hasn't been all that great either. They're

472
00:25:27,960 --> 00:25:31,000
Speaker 1: twenty first in the league in the majors in runs

473
00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:33,720
Speaker 1: per game, averaging just over four runs per game twenty

474
00:25:33,800 --> 00:25:37,280
Speaker 1: first sale was Cardinals. Now, it's not gold Smith that's

475
00:25:37,320 --> 00:25:39,440
Speaker 1: the problem. It's not arn out Or that's the problem.

476
00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:43,120
Speaker 1: It's not Nolan Gorman. He's had a good start too.

477
00:25:43,520 --> 00:25:46,359
Speaker 1: Alex Burlston's pretty good. Of course, Jordan Walker had that

478
00:25:46,480 --> 00:25:50,360
Speaker 1: nice start, hits every game, but wasn't necessarily the impact

479
00:25:50,440 --> 00:25:53,560
Speaker 1: he'll later provide. Those guys have been fine, but they've

480
00:25:53,560 --> 00:25:56,879
Speaker 1: had a number of players who have not been as fine.

481
00:25:57,000 --> 00:26:02,119
Speaker 1: Wilson Contrara's foremost among them, really slow start Tyler O'Neil,

482
00:26:02,240 --> 00:26:05,840
Speaker 1: Dylan Carlson, some guys who have struggled offensively. They just

483
00:26:05,880 --> 00:26:08,720
Speaker 1: haven't clicked yet. So do I expect them to Yes?

484
00:26:09,680 --> 00:26:12,280
Speaker 1: Do I expect them to need a starting pitcher at

485
00:26:12,280 --> 00:26:15,440
Speaker 1: the deadline? Yes? Again, And their bullpen also has had

486
00:26:15,480 --> 00:26:18,639
Speaker 1: some issues. Jordan Hicks has had some problems. Of course,

487
00:26:19,040 --> 00:26:21,879
Speaker 1: they have not gotten him on track. So kind of

488
00:26:21,960 --> 00:26:27,040
Speaker 1: team wide, they've struggled, and the offensive part has been

489
00:26:27,040 --> 00:26:30,520
Speaker 1: the one surprise, the starting pitching that was going to

490
00:26:30,520 --> 00:26:33,159
Speaker 1: be an issue. We just talked about Pablo Lopez. I

491
00:26:33,200 --> 00:26:35,960
Speaker 1: am still of the belief the Cardinals should have traded

492
00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:39,239
Speaker 1: from their outfield surplus to get Pablo Lopez. They had

493
00:26:39,280 --> 00:26:42,200
Speaker 1: the pieces to do it, chose not to. Oh boy,

494
00:26:42,280 --> 00:26:45,119
Speaker 1: here we go. Here is the question that I believe

495
00:26:45,280 --> 00:26:50,400
Speaker 1: most Yankee fans want answered and answered immediately. Zachary Goldstein

496
00:26:50,480 --> 00:26:54,879
Speaker 1: asks will Aaron Hicks be dfa'd when Bader comes back? Now,

497
00:26:54,880 --> 00:26:57,000
Speaker 1: first of all, I love how in baseball now we

498
00:26:57,160 --> 00:27:00,159
Speaker 1: use DFA as a verb. It's designated for assignment, and

499
00:27:00,200 --> 00:27:02,560
Speaker 1: we say all the time, not just Zachary, I say it,

500
00:27:02,760 --> 00:27:07,640
Speaker 1: this guy's getting dfayed. Will Aaron Hicks get DFAYD when

501
00:27:07,680 --> 00:27:11,000
Speaker 1: Harrison Beta returns. I sort of doubt it. The Yankees

502
00:27:11,080 --> 00:27:14,199
Speaker 1: starting this season owed him thirty point five million, so

503
00:27:14,200 --> 00:27:16,760
Speaker 1: that number is a little bit less now, still a

504
00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:18,920
Speaker 1: lot of money. At the same time, if you're a

505
00:27:19,000 --> 00:27:22,000
Speaker 1: Yankee fan, you can say, what's the difference. He's not producing,

506
00:27:22,560 --> 00:27:24,800
Speaker 1: we don't need him, he's taking up a roster spot.

507
00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:29,280
Speaker 1: Just let him go. Teams generally take the path of

508
00:27:29,359 --> 00:27:33,280
Speaker 1: least resistance until they have no more paths like that left.

509
00:27:34,200 --> 00:27:37,840
Speaker 1: The Yankees can dfa Willie Calhoun. They can probably do

510
00:27:37,920 --> 00:27:40,919
Speaker 1: some other things as well. I just don't know that

511
00:27:40,960 --> 00:27:43,400
Speaker 1: they want to give up on Hicks just yet yet.

512
00:27:43,400 --> 00:27:46,160
Speaker 1: At the same time, and I asked the Athletics Brendon

513
00:27:46,359 --> 00:27:51,040
Speaker 1: Cutty about this last night, Hicks has fallen behind Isaiah

514
00:27:51,119 --> 00:27:54,960
Speaker 1: Kiner Filefa on the centerfield depth chart in Baltimore. The

515
00:27:55,040 --> 00:27:57,560
Speaker 1: Yankees even hit kind of Philifa in a spot where

516
00:27:57,600 --> 00:28:01,919
Speaker 1: they could have used Hicks for Francis Cordera. So it

517
00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:04,720
Speaker 1: is fair to ask, if you're a fan, what is

518
00:28:04,760 --> 00:28:06,880
Speaker 1: this guy's place on the roster, what is his purpose

519
00:28:07,040 --> 00:28:10,680
Speaker 1: with our club? That's a fair question, and it's something

520
00:28:10,720 --> 00:28:13,280
Speaker 1: that's going to linger for the Yankees. I will add this,

521
00:28:13,480 --> 00:28:15,400
Speaker 1: and Brendan cunning made this point to me as well.

522
00:28:16,200 --> 00:28:18,800
Speaker 1: Hicks would be the more likely guy to be DFAD

523
00:28:19,200 --> 00:28:21,879
Speaker 1: than Josh Jonaallson. And I'm not saying he's likely again

524
00:28:22,080 --> 00:28:23,760
Speaker 1: for all the reasons I just said, I don't know

525
00:28:23,800 --> 00:28:26,440
Speaker 1: that it's going to happen just yet. Donaldson still has

526
00:28:26,480 --> 00:28:29,320
Speaker 1: defensive value, gives them depth in the infield. It's not

527
00:28:29,400 --> 00:28:34,120
Speaker 1: quite the same dire situation it seems to be with Hicks. Hey,

528
00:28:34,160 --> 00:28:36,320
Speaker 1: thanks for all those questions. Those are some really good ones.

529
00:28:36,359 --> 00:28:39,240
Speaker 1: This week, really pertinent and to the point. This week,

530
00:28:39,280 --> 00:28:42,480
Speaker 1: I'm staying in San Francisco. I've got Mets at Giants

531
00:28:42,600 --> 00:28:45,760
Speaker 1: on Saturday on Fox. Excited to see the Mets now

532
00:28:45,760 --> 00:28:49,640
Speaker 1: with Brett Bady up, with Alvarez catching. Perhaps they're starting

533
00:28:49,640 --> 00:28:53,840
Speaker 1: to incorporate their young players now offensively, you might think

534
00:28:53,840 --> 00:28:55,840
Speaker 1: they've been a bit of a disappointment, but I've got

535
00:28:55,840 --> 00:28:58,160
Speaker 1: a note in my column today about how they've been

536
00:28:58,240 --> 00:29:01,600
Speaker 1: Also a bit unlucky. So maybe now with baby coming up,

537
00:29:01,640 --> 00:29:04,040
Speaker 1: they get untracked. It's going to be really interesting to

538
00:29:04,080 --> 00:29:06,760
Speaker 1: see just how they unfold as it is. As I

539
00:29:06,960 --> 00:29:09,480
Speaker 1: talked about at the start of the show with the Padres,

540
00:29:09,680 --> 00:29:13,720
Speaker 1: will these teams now as the season keeps going, start

541
00:29:13,760 --> 00:29:16,480
Speaker 1: to get untracked start to play a little bit better.

542
00:29:17,120 --> 00:29:20,320
Speaker 1: I want to thank everyone were listening for watching. You

543
00:29:20,320 --> 00:29:23,200
Speaker 1: can subscribe to us wherever you subscribe to your podcast.

544
00:29:23,480 --> 00:29:26,840
Speaker 1: You can watch us on YouTube every week. We'll be

545
00:29:26,880 --> 00:29:27,680
Speaker 1: back next week.

546
00:29:27,880 --> 00:29:31,120
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