Speaker 1: If A J.
Speaker 2: Perzinski is saying you're an MVP at the age twenty three, well,
Speaker 2: working at Wrigley Field, you must be doing something extraordinary.
Speaker 3: All right. We want to welcome in Paton Youlways appreciate
Speaker 3: him being on the show. Of course, he's the senior
Speaker 3: writer for The Athletic covering the Chicago Cubs, a contributor
Speaker 3: on Foul Territory TV and North Side Territory. Patrick, Great
Speaker 3: to see you. Let's start with the conversation surrounding PCA.
Speaker 3: In one convo, I hear they're going to extend him.
Speaker 3: In another convo, I hear that they might trade him.
Speaker 3: What's going on with him?
Speaker 2: Oh, they're definitely not trading him. But you know, our
Speaker 2: kind of rule of thumb at the Athletic now is
Speaker 2: just you cannot overwrite Pete crow Armstrong. It seems like
Speaker 2: every time he steps to the plate something might happen.
Speaker 4: You crazy, crazy.
Speaker 2: In center field and just causing havoc on the basis
Speaker 2: So I don't those extension talks have not been totally
Speaker 2: extinguished or the Cubs have not shut the door on that.
Speaker 4: There's a lot of time for that to happen. But
Speaker 4: he is certainly playing.
Speaker 2: At an MVP level where he might might be his
Speaker 2: best interest to wait, you.
Speaker 5: Have any idea if this was a knee jerk reaction
Speaker 5: to his start of the season, Because last year all
Speaker 5: we heard about PCA was great defense man. He's barely
Speaker 5: even in the big leagues unless Craig Counsel, the eight
Speaker 5: million dollar manager, approved him to be in the big leagues.
Speaker 5: The ORG didn't really seem like they were too high
Speaker 5: on him or they expected more. I'm not sure what
Speaker 5: it was, but now does this feel like a two
Speaker 5: month knee jerk reaction.
Speaker 4: No.
Speaker 2: I think he just because he's such a great athlete,
Speaker 2: as Jed Hoyer said the other day, that.
Speaker 4: He's able to do special things.
Speaker 2: And I do you think Counsel was big for helping
Speaker 2: his development of telling him when he came up, like, look,
Speaker 2: just play defense, you know, make a difference on the
Speaker 2: basis so you.
Speaker 4: Don't worry about your hitting.
Speaker 2: But behind the scenes, the Cubs hitting group did a
Speaker 2: great job of, you know, getting his stance and his
Speaker 2: swing into a place where he can do damage. I
Speaker 2: think part of it is just the game teaching him
Speaker 2: how to slow.
Speaker 4: It down, channel some of his wild energy.
Speaker 2: And you know, I do think the Cubs have a
Speaker 2: good group of like steady veteran players who are those
Speaker 2: baseball Jim rats and helped him develop a routine. But look,
Speaker 2: I mean in the middle of April he was barely hitting.
Speaker 2: I mean, no one saw this coming this fast, and
Speaker 2: that's why people can stop talking about him.
Speaker 6: Are you ready for this? Are you ready, Patrick, for
Speaker 6: what I'm about to say right now? Peter Armstrong is
Speaker 6: by MVP of the National League for what he's done
Speaker 6: offensively and defensively. So you should record that and show
Speaker 6: all your little Cub friends that I said something good
Speaker 6: about the Cubs. Okay, you've always been this homer and apologist.
Speaker 6: We all get it, no doubt, there's no doubt, no doubt.
Speaker 6: But no, I'm serious, Like, he has been incredible. I
Speaker 6: know it's been a month, but if he continues this,
Speaker 6: he's at least in.
Speaker 4: The conversation for sure.
Speaker 6: I mean with his defense, his stolen bases, his hitting,
Speaker 6: and the thing is, he gets big hits. He's aren't
Speaker 6: like down nine to two and he hits a stolen homer.
Speaker 6: I mean he's sitting grand slams, He's sitting these home
Speaker 6: runs that are that are huge. So I don't know
Speaker 6: what else there is to say. And if I was him,
Speaker 6: I would not sign an extension. I would wait till
Speaker 6: the end of the year and then be like, look, guys,
Speaker 6: here's my whole year's work. This is only going to
Speaker 6: get better. This is the baseline. Now come to me
Speaker 6: Rickett's family, which they won't, but that's fine.
Speaker 2: Well, he's definitely not, you know, putting up garbage time numbers.
Speaker 2: He's definitely not like just a long for the ride,
Speaker 2: you know. It's you got to remember, this is someone
Speaker 2: who started playing for Team USA on like their twelve
Speaker 2: and underteam you went to Harvard, Westlake could have gone
Speaker 2: to Vanderbilt first round pick without even having like a
Speaker 2: true senior year in twenty twenty, so like this was
Speaker 2: always in there. I think he's had a ton of confidence.
Speaker 2: That's what has become clear in talking to people who've
Speaker 2: worked with him over the years. But he's also like
Speaker 2: very self aware. He loves just kind of the day
Speaker 2: to day, you know craft aspect to that, working on
Speaker 2: his craft, learning more about the game, and so that
Speaker 2: very well, maybe what happens of them ultimately kind of
Speaker 2: punting on this, but you know why I've written about
Speaker 2: the extension stuff is that you know, they talked at
Speaker 2: length right around the Tokyo series is where it came
Speaker 2: to a head and they decided to you know, kind
Speaker 2: of table thing. But it leaked out a couple weeks later.
Speaker 2: But there was no sense of like this was a
Speaker 2: take it or leave it offer. I think it's become
Speaker 2: clear that Jed Hoyer, though he's in the last year
Speaker 2: of his contract, has the authority and interest to think
Speaker 2: well beyond just the end of this season. Pete says
Speaker 2: he loves it here, wants to be in Chicago for
Speaker 2: a long time. His dad grew up in the suburbs
Speaker 2: of Chicago. I mean, Pete is someone who grew up
Speaker 2: in a house that had the Anthony Rizzo framed Sports
Speaker 2: Illustrated cover celebrating the twenty sixteen World Series. And this
Speaker 2: front office to Eric, yeah that work, that work, kid,
Speaker 2: you know, So like this front office wants to build
Speaker 2: around him, so like, I don't know, it's it could
Speaker 2: still happen. I think that's kind of the point of
Speaker 2: this conversation here of like, you know, our listeners, our readers,
Speaker 2: like shouldn't be totally blindsided if something does pop up,
Speaker 2: because there's a lot of you know, mutual interest here
Speaker 2: at the same time. Yeah, like if you're an MVP.
Speaker 2: If aj Perzinsky is saying you're an MVP at the
Speaker 2: age twenty three, well, working at Wrigley Field, you must
Speaker 2: be doing something extraordinary.
Speaker 6: Either that hold on or I've lost my bloody mind.
Speaker 6: I don't know what's one it is I'm poisoning.
Speaker 4: I'm not sure about one of the others.
Speaker 3: Yeah, or he was taken over by aliens Patrick anytime, Yes,
Speaker 3: anything positive about the Cubs. He has had an out
Speaker 3: of body experience. How do you go though, from that
Speaker 3: kid that overslept on the first day of instructional league
Speaker 3: to a kid that perhaps gets an extension and is
Speaker 3: a huge piece of the puzzle for what the Cubs
Speaker 3: want to do doing forward. I would imagine maturity, but
Speaker 3: it seems like something else has a switch has flipped
Speaker 3: for him. It appears.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I think it's someone who has great raw talent that
Speaker 2: is able to do things on a baseball field that
Speaker 2: most people cannot. And it's also someone who is very
Speaker 2: self aware, extremely articulate, can really break down the game
Speaker 2: and understand personalities and like, you know, he has inside
Speaker 2: jokes with like Saya Suzuki. And then he's also you know,
Speaker 2: kind of bouncing around the clubhouse talking to everyone like
Speaker 2: he's not withdrawn, he's eager to learn. And you know
Speaker 2: Aj knows this, like the Cubs, you know, historically are
Speaker 2: in a market that kind of you know, over hype
Speaker 2: prospects maybe jumps to conclusions, but there is a support
Speaker 2: system here of the eight million dollar manager that Eric mentioned,
Speaker 2: who had a really nice reputation for developing young talent
Speaker 2: in Milwaukee at Sky's, like Dansby Swanson, Nico Horner, Ian
Speaker 2: Happ who were in his ear encouraging him when his
Speaker 2: numbers were terrible offensively at the start of the year
Speaker 2: and saying like, stick with the process.
Speaker 4: It's a long year.
Speaker 2: We all know how Wrigly can play in April, like,
Speaker 2: just keep doing your thing, things are going to turn.
Speaker 4: And that is what's happened.
Speaker 2: It's just like the degree to which has happened is
Speaker 2: still kind of stunning.
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Speaker 4: Patrick, I need a number.
Speaker 5: What's it gonna take?
Speaker 4: Where?
Speaker 5: I mean obviously any extension Cubs fans are gonna be like, wow,
Speaker 5: the Rickets are actually spending money. Like, we're good with that.
Speaker 4: Whatever the number is, But what's.
Speaker 5: It gonna take what's it gonna take today, because tomorrow
Speaker 5: he might hit another big hit and that number just
Speaker 5: keeps going up.
Speaker 2: Well, I think, you know, before the start of the season,
Speaker 2: I think Corman Carroll's deal, which was put together by CIA,
Speaker 2: the same agency that represents Pete, that would have been
Speaker 2: not even a high end but probably unrealistic, like not
Speaker 2: even worth talking about. But now that might be a
Speaker 2: little outdated, and so clearly it's a nine figure commitment.
Speaker 2: It would be from Pete's side, I'm sure they would
Speaker 2: want to limit their those club option years, those free
Speaker 2: agent years. You want to preserve flexibility for that. But
Speaker 2: I think part of it, too is his floor is
Speaker 2: really high, like even like a worst case scenario for
Speaker 2: pie Crow Armstrong, it's probably being a ten year big
Speaker 2: leaguer and you know, maybe it's bouncing around on shorter
Speaker 2: term deals but collecting nice money as a gold glove
Speaker 2: center fielder who brings great speed and has you know,
Speaker 2: you know, charisma and you know, good connections throughout the game.
Speaker 2: But you know, his ceiling is kind of unlimited at
Speaker 2: this point. And that's that's kind of the the not
Speaker 2: even friction here. But that's just the forces at play
Speaker 2: of why it hasn't happened. I think it's clear that
Speaker 2: how it unfolded around the start of the season. It
Speaker 2: was not you know, an Anthony Rizzo situation a couple
Speaker 2: of years ago where he made it clear like I
Speaker 2: don't want to continue this.
Speaker 4: Discussion at all, don't bother.
Speaker 2: This was more of a okay, each side understands where
Speaker 2: the others coming from. There wasn't enough common ground at
Speaker 2: that moment. Both sides are getting a lot more information,
Speaker 2: and I do think if you look back at that
Speaker 2: last great era of Cubs baseball, there was a frustration
Speaker 2: or a they kind of paid the price for not
Speaker 2: extending some of those guys. That's why they all kind
Speaker 2: of came up together, came to the end at that
Speaker 2: twenty twenty one trade deadline.
Speaker 4: They got Rizzo done early.
Speaker 2: They got Kyle Hendrickstone on the pitching side, how he
Speaker 2: might have gotten done if not for the pandemic. But
Speaker 2: at the ownership level within the front office, ideally they
Speaker 2: would like to not see one of those cliffs again
Speaker 2: and to have guys to build around and to have
Speaker 2: waves of talent coming in after Pete.
Speaker 6: Patrick, who's more important to this offense, sayas Azuki or
Speaker 6: Kyle Tucker. Saya Azuki is having a heck of view,
Speaker 6: he leads the league in RBI is right, and then
Speaker 6: Kyle Tucker's come in and obviously changed the lineup completely.
Speaker 6: But who's more important, Saya Azuki or Kyle Tucker.
Speaker 4: I still think it's Tucker.
Speaker 2: I mean Saya acknowledge this the other day that you
Speaker 2: know through his interpreter that he's learned a lot from
Speaker 2: watching Kyle Tucker, seeing how he makes adjustments, seeing how
Speaker 2: Kyle Tucker is very steady, even Keel. I think hitting
Speaker 2: in the middle of this lineup, in between you know Tucker,
Speaker 2: you have Ian Happ setting the table, you have Pek
Speaker 2: Armstrong a bush behind you.
Speaker 4: It just kind of opens things up.
Speaker 2: And I think say has learned to be more aggressive.
Speaker 2: Part of that was just through experience, but Tucker is
Speaker 2: a great example. There are times where Sayah was a
Speaker 2: little too passive that like his physical abilities, the kind
Speaker 2: of bat at ball data, it all just like didn't
Speaker 2: add up, like there should should have been more in there.
Speaker 2: And I think that's what you're seeing, And to me,
Speaker 2: Kyle Tucker is a big, big part of that.
Speaker 3: Patrick do you think that the Cubs would pay both
Speaker 3: PCA and Kyle Tucker.
Speaker 4: Uh, probably not.
Speaker 2: And I don't even know, Like I just I think
Speaker 2: Kyle Tucker, we have no evidence to suggest that, Like
Speaker 2: the Cubs are going to do that sort of deal
Speaker 2: between Vladimir Guerrero and Juan Soto to make it come.
Speaker 2: It meant, you know, a decade plus, they've never done
Speaker 2: that before. I think, what you know, Pete, you know,
Speaker 2: what would make sense for Pete is not unreasonable in
Speaker 2: kind of the grand scheme of baseball economics.
Speaker 4: Plus there's a lot of time.
Speaker 2: I think Pete's under club control through twenty thirty, so
Speaker 2: like you could make the prediction, and you have a lot.
Speaker 4: Of chances to get that right.
Speaker 2: I think with Tucker, you know, it's certainly a possibility,
Speaker 2: it's just not the Cubs just have not That's not
Speaker 2: their business plan thus far. And maybe Kyle Tucker is
Speaker 2: the ultimate exception. Maybe this year goes so well, Maybe
Speaker 2: there are other forces out there that his free agency
Speaker 2: doesn't quite go the way we expect, But right now
Speaker 2: I would certainly expect a Pete extension to be more
Speaker 2: likely than a Kyle Tucker extension.
Speaker 5: No, doubt, right, Patrick, Is this is this the Craig
Speaker 5: Council contract coming to fruition the way the last five series,
Speaker 5: this bullpen without Porter hadje without two big time starting
Speaker 5: rotation pieces that alleviate some of the stress on the bullpen.
Speaker 5: Is this the contract? This is what they paid Craig
Speaker 5: Council to do because they kept watching it year in and
Speaker 5: year out in Milwaukee.
Speaker 4: Yeah, no doubt.
Speaker 2: And I think that's part of why you look at
Speaker 2: sort of the Cubs payroll over the years, and you know,
Speaker 2: some of the frustrations of like why why can't the
Speaker 2: Cubs do this when they you know, when they spend
Speaker 2: more than Milwaukee in it. It's a lot more complicated
Speaker 2: than that, but that was a big reason of why
Speaker 2: they went out and made the very uncomfortable decision to
Speaker 2: fire David Ross, who, did you know, a very good
Speaker 2: job under the circumstances, who was building towards this.
Speaker 5: Uh.
Speaker 2: But yeah, counsel, is this, as you know, Eric, kind
Speaker 2: of an extension another front office. Part of the checks
Speaker 2: and balances with an organization council is certainly that force
Speaker 2: of asking questions, of wondering, is there a different way
Speaker 2: to do this? Of trusting in young talent, whether it's P.
Speaker 2: Krow Armstrong or whether it's some of these guys. They
Speaker 2: essentially got off the scrap heap, like the Cubs have
Speaker 2: built up this pitching infrastructure over the years, and I
Speaker 2: definitely think Counsel's sense of calm, his kind of common
Speaker 2: sense approach, all of those things are coming together here.
Speaker 2: I think people just thought there might have been it
Speaker 2: would have shown up a little sooner, maybe last year.
Speaker 2: I mean, eighty three wins under David Ross and Craig Counsel.
Speaker 2: But this is what the Cubs have been building for
Speaker 2: of getting a Kyle Tucker, seeing p. Crow Armstrong emerge,
Speaker 2: and then just figuring out the pitching on a day
Speaker 2: to day basis.
Speaker 4: That does seem to be a strength of Greig Counsel.
Speaker 4: It's one they're a big market team.
Speaker 6: Go spend some money, okay, and don't give me so
Speaker 6: Let's let's not act like we're a mid market team.
Speaker 4: We're the Cubs.
Speaker 6: Okay, go spend money. Have you have the McDonald's across
Speaker 6: the street that make some billion dollars?
Speaker 4: You have the hotel? Okay, let's stop with that. Okay.
Speaker 6: I didn't get to even mention that, but let's go
Speaker 6: out and spend the money you need to spend. Now, Poalencia,
Speaker 6: is he the closer?
Speaker 4: You're right? Yeah, no, no doubt.
Speaker 6: Is Polencia the closer going forward? I know Porter hodges
Speaker 6: out and uh there's been struggles with other guys, but
Speaker 6: is he going to be the closer? You think of
Speaker 6: the future, not only this year, but going forward.
Speaker 2: I think council being counseled, they'll still they could still
Speaker 2: do some matching up, like if there are certain you know,
Speaker 2: to use the manager speak, like certain pockets of the
Speaker 2: lineup that they want to feature a different picture. I
Speaker 2: could see that. But Polentcia, no doubt, has shown a
Speaker 2: lot here of just he's got that you know, crazy
Speaker 2: high end velocity that this bullpen had been kind of lacking.
Speaker 4: It's the swing and this stuff.
Speaker 2: He's really grown up and needed time to become comfortable
Speaker 2: at this level. You're seeing that. I do think you
Speaker 2: guys know it's different. You know those last three outs,
Speaker 2: and thus far he's passed the test. I mean, granted
Speaker 2: it might have been the worst. You know, he might
Speaker 2: have been facing the worst team of all time. In
Speaker 2: the twenty twenty five Colorado Rockies, but no doubt a
Speaker 2: guy that they trust has earned the opportunity. And this
Speaker 2: is the council effect that Eric talked about, pumping confidence
Speaker 2: into these young pitchers, not overreacting, and also managing with
Speaker 2: the long season in mind. Like he's not a guy
Speaker 2: that's has a history of wearing out relievers. He tries
Speaker 2: to find spots to rest guys really kind of use
Speaker 2: it as one kind of cohesive unit.
Speaker 4: So I would certainly see like Plancy is one of those.
Speaker 2: As counsel would say, you need good surprises for like
Speaker 2: good seasons to happen, and he is certainly one of those.
Speaker 3: Yeah, maybe no surprise to anybody. Patrick. The Cubs with
Speaker 3: the lead in the division, a three game lead, eight
Speaker 3: and two in their last ten. They take on the
Speaker 3: Cincinnati Reds beginning tomorrow. Patrick, we appreciate you taking the
Speaker 3: time to be with us, and obviously you can catch
Speaker 3: Patrick on North Side Territory. Speaking of which, check out
Speaker 3: North Side Territory with Patrick and sahadiv Sharma whenever wherever
Speaker 3: you get your podcasts and on YouTube. We will be
Speaker 3: right back with Pinstripe Territories. Derek Lewandowski next.
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Speaker 3: All right, we welcome our friend Derek Lewandowski to the show.
Speaker 3: Of course, the host of Pinstripe Territory Yankees podcaster. He's
Speaker 3: been doing it a ton of time, sixty seven thousand
Speaker 3: on YouTube. Derek, what is up, my friend? How are you?
Speaker 1: Oh? I'm just looking forward to this fun weekend rematch
Speaker 1: we got going on.
Speaker 3: Shall you and I make a little bit of a
Speaker 3: bet on that.
Speaker 1: Let's do it, Let's go. I'm ready, all right, all right.
Speaker 3: I'm gonna say, just straight up, just straight up, for
Speaker 3: series win. If the Yankees win, I donate to a
Speaker 3: charity of your choice fifty bucks. If the Dodgers win,
Speaker 3: you donate fifty bucks to my charity. Is that fair?
Speaker 1: Let's do it.
Speaker 3: Let's do it. Let's do it for the pops, all right.
Speaker 3: I've been the first to say I don't think we're
Speaker 3: talking about the Yankees enough, Derek. This is a team
Speaker 3: that has a seven game leading the division, the largest
Speaker 3: division lead. Aj S piss because he can't hear us,
Speaker 3: or we can't hear him. Probably Yankees. We always give
Speaker 3: Cashman grief. Let's give him some praise. What's making them
Speaker 3: feel good? And kind of running away with things?
Speaker 1: You know, Plan B has turned out to be an
Speaker 1: a plus. I mean, the plan was to sign Juan
Speaker 1: Soto and to probably do something similar like they did
Speaker 1: last year with Judge and Center, Soto and Wright. They
Speaker 1: you know, spent that money elsewhere. Obviously, Paul Goldschmith sitting
Speaker 1: in about three fifties on pace for I believe about
Speaker 1: two hundred hits. Max Freed is pitching like a Cy
Speaker 1: Young Award winner, and I mean Bellinger has really turned
Speaker 1: it on lately, so right now, the backup plan has
Speaker 1: made the Yankees, in my opinion, a much more well
Speaker 1: rounded team than the one that you guys spent all
Speaker 1: winter dunking on for not being fundamentally sound and all
Speaker 1: the problems we had in the World Series. I think
Speaker 1: you should be prepared for a much tighter baseball team
Speaker 1: and a much better base running team and a much
Speaker 1: better contact hitting team as we approach this weekend.
Speaker 5: Wait, so you're saying Cashman did a good job? Is
Speaker 5: that what I heard you say?
Speaker 1: I know, I mean that sound you hear is the
Speaker 1: four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Just you know, hell freezing over.
Speaker 1: That crackling noise is me admitting that Cashman did a
Speaker 1: fantastic job. And by the way, I love the mustache.
Speaker 1: You got that feel of like the nineteen seventies rockin'.
Speaker 1: I love it. I mean that suits you, man.
Speaker 5: I appreciate that you're not the first person to acknowledge
Speaker 5: that I wasn't good looking before the mustache, And really
Speaker 5: it's not hurting anything that was going on. But so
Speaker 5: cash Cashman's moves. Obviously he took all that money that
Speaker 5: he wasn't gonna spend on Wan and he put it elsewhere.
Speaker 5: So does this mean the next time Wan comes back
Speaker 5: to the Bronx he gets cheered because the Booze were
Speaker 5: kind of eyewashed because they didn't want him back. Look
Speaker 5: at what they got in place of them.
Speaker 1: Well, I think a lot of Yankees fans still view him,
Speaker 1: regardless of what happened afterwards, as being kind of a
Speaker 1: turncoat for going to our city rival for really a
Speaker 1: small amount of money in the grand scheme of things,
Speaker 1: over what the Yankees offered. I believe it's five million,
Speaker 1: but one less year so I'll hire aav and saying
Speaker 1: it was a Mets town. I think that was what
Speaker 1: really set fans off, and I don't think that they'll
Speaker 1: ever stop booing him just for that. I mean, Jesus,
Speaker 1: Rice could come back from wherever he is and say
Speaker 1: it's a Mets town, and he would get booed at
Speaker 1: Yankee Stadium. It doesn't matter who says it's a Mets town,
Speaker 1: they're getting booed and and Soto. I'm sorry, you know exception, Derek.
Speaker 6: Can I just say this first of all? Can we
Speaker 6: bring on a lawna at the same time a lana?
Speaker 4: You work?
Speaker 6: You love the Dodgers, Okay, they have a pretty high payroll.
Speaker 6: You also work for the Red Sox. They have a
Speaker 6: lot of money. They're kind of like the Cubs.
Speaker 4: They play cheap.
Speaker 6: Okay, Derek, you root for the Yankees.
Speaker 4: You do a show about the Yankees. You guys are
Speaker 4: big markets. Fifty dollars, fifty dollars, that's where're going. Fifty
Speaker 4: dollars wager?
Speaker 1: Can we do one hundred?
Speaker 3: I mean I don't have I don't have big league
Speaker 3: money like you do, Pierzinski, with your Toro toilets and
Speaker 3: all of the crap that you have in your house
Speaker 3: and all of these things. I'm happy to do one hundred.
Speaker 3: I just didn't want to assume that Derek wanted to
Speaker 3: do that. I don't even know what his charity of
Speaker 3: choice is. Mine is my my own charity. My own nonprofits,
Speaker 3: so I didn't want to be assumptive, if you will.
Speaker 1: So honestly, Alana, it's gonna be the true dogs versus
Speaker 1: cats because I'm a cat charity guy, so it's really
Speaker 1: gonna We're gonna be helping animals either way, So no
Speaker 1: matter who wins, and I'm happy to do one hundred
Speaker 1: dollars because I don't think that the Dodgers are going
Speaker 1: to win.
Speaker 3: Wow, Okay, now here is the bet we're shaking, all right?
Speaker 3: But yeah, that's that's perfect. Are they buyers at the
Speaker 3: trade deadline? Derek Lewandowski? This squad is obviously headed towards
Speaker 3: the postseason. What's their biggest need?
Speaker 4: You know?
Speaker 1: Obviously third base has been kind of a shuffle. It
Speaker 1: would be nice if there was somebody out there, but
Speaker 1: I don't see an obvious fit. Every team needs pitching,
Speaker 1: you know, a starting pitcher would be nice, but I'm
Speaker 1: not sure who you're gonna get that's better than what
Speaker 1: they've got. Will Warren has been fantastic over his last month. Uh.
Speaker 1: He has a two point five e RA. As I mentioned,
Speaker 1: Max Freed and Carlos Rodond both dominating Rodond six and
Speaker 1: oh in his last eight appearances with a one point
Speaker 1: twenty seven max Freed is insane, and you got Clark
Speaker 1: Schmidt as a potential piece to that playoff rotation. You
Speaker 1: only need four starters in the rotation, so if you
Speaker 1: go out and get a starter, you're probably getting a
Speaker 1: depth piece because I don't know who's better than those guys.
Speaker 1: And you got Luis Heo coming back from injury. We'll
Speaker 1: see what he can do. I hope he's strong, but
Speaker 1: coming back from an injury, you never know. So I
Speaker 1: would say third base would be the spot, but again,
Speaker 1: I'm not sure who they could go out and get.
Speaker 1: That is a real upgrade. So if I'm Brian Cashman,
Speaker 1: I'm looking at the bullpen, I want to strengthen the bullpen.
Speaker 1: I'm looking at teams that have fallen out of it.
Speaker 1: Then maybe have an arm that gives you a funky look.
Speaker 1: Maybe somebody you don't even need, somebody who has insane numbers,
Speaker 1: just somebody who's a different look, maybe misses some bats,
Speaker 1: can get some of those middle inning outs, because right
Speaker 1: now the Yankees are a little bit thin in the bullpen,
Speaker 1: despite the stats for the bullpen being pretty good. I
Speaker 1: don't know if the Orioles would make Felix Bautista available
Speaker 1: if they really fall out of it, But that would
Speaker 1: be the guy that if I'm cashman, I'm willing to
Speaker 1: overpay a little bit, even though it's kind of an
Speaker 1: indivision trade. They have done that before with Zach Britton.
Speaker 1: That's the guy I've been promoting on my trade, Cashman,
Speaker 1: go do it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Felix Batista. The Orioles are out of it. They've
Speaker 3: not fallen. If they fall out of it, they're falling
Speaker 3: out of it, all right. What about judgism though, Derek
Speaker 3: saying that he's willing to play third Are you are
Speaker 3: you buying that?
Speaker 1: I do buy it. You know, We've got Dj Lemayhew back,
Speaker 1: and he's looked really good defensively at second base and
Speaker 1: he's a Gold Glover, but he still isn't hitting very much.
Speaker 1: I think his swing has looked better than it did
Speaker 1: last year when his legs were clearly not under him.
Speaker 1: We've seen him drive the ball with more authority, but
Speaker 1: it hasn't translated into a lot of stats yet. Over
Speaker 1: the next week, I guess we'll find out what Dj
Speaker 1: Lemayhew can do. As we approach Jazz's return. As long
Speaker 1: as Jazz is in the lineup, I don't really care
Speaker 1: where he plays second base and third base. He looked
Speaker 1: good to me both both spots. I want him to
Speaker 1: hit a little bit better than he was right before
Speaker 1: he got injured. He hit all these home runs coming
Speaker 1: out of the gate with the torpedo bat, and I
Speaker 1: think he got it into his mind. You know, he
Speaker 1: had this friendly wager with Aaron Judge about who would
Speaker 1: hit a more combined home runs and stolen bases. How
Speaker 1: about who gets on base? How about who sets the table.
Speaker 1: That's what I want from Jazz jais and when he
Speaker 1: comes back DJ, I'm comfortable with him at either second
Speaker 1: or third base if he hits so I don't think
Speaker 1: I think it's you know, six and one half dozen
Speaker 1: of the other. But it is good to have Jazz
Speaker 1: coming back because he does disrupt the pitcher when he's
Speaker 1: on base. If he can get on base.
Speaker 5: I feel like Carlos Rodin anytime Cole is out has
Speaker 5: stepped up for this. Oh yeah, name do you feel
Speaker 5: like he's going to surpass Max Freed at some point
Speaker 5: this year? Max obviously coming in with a new contract,
Speaker 5: and everybody has a stinker here and there. Max hasn't yet.
Speaker 5: Is there a chance that Rodin's trajectory that he's I
Speaker 5: think it's his last eight starts, he's been like career
Speaker 5: best eight starts. Does he pass Max Freed as the
Speaker 5: number one in this rotation?
Speaker 1: It's hard to say. I mean, he has looked tremendous
Speaker 1: and you don't see guys rebound the way that Carlos
Speaker 1: Rodin has. When he first got to the Yankees, you know,
Speaker 1: he had problems not only with his health, he had
Speaker 1: a back injury that kind of limited him that first year.
Speaker 1: Gave up a ton of home runs. He had two
Speaker 1: games where he gave up eight runs in the first inning.
Speaker 1: There was a game where Matt Blake, the pitching coach,
Speaker 1: came out to the mound and Carlos turned his back.
Speaker 1: He had the blow and the kiss incident on you know,
Speaker 1: on the road to some Yankees fans. But last year
Speaker 1: he committed himself. He got into better shape. I think
Speaker 1: he got to a better place mentally. He had two
Speaker 1: really great stretches that kind of sandwiched a bad stretch.
Speaker 1: This year. He got out of the gate kind of
Speaker 1: rough with the three run home run ball, you know
Speaker 1: in I think three of his first four starts and
Speaker 1: then it's like he just flipped the switch and he's
Speaker 1: been lights out. I don't know if he's going to
Speaker 1: pass Max Freed at this point. I don't think that
Speaker 1: really matters. You know, when the playoffs rolled around, I
Speaker 1: think they'll go with, you know, whoever they feel is
Speaker 1: the better fit for that matchup. But I just want
Speaker 1: to say, whatever Carlos Rodin has done to a just
Speaker 1: is commendable, not only in terms of his pitching, but
Speaker 1: his physical fitness. He's lost a lot of weight. He's
Speaker 1: pitching with more confidence. I wonder if the beard has
Speaker 1: something to do with that. He just looks like the
Speaker 1: serial killer that we saw with you know, the White
Speaker 1: Sox and the Giants, much more so than we saw
Speaker 1: the last two seasons with the Yankees.
Speaker 5: Oh yeah, yeah, the facial hair is definitely what's going
Speaker 5: to bring the World Series trophy. But here's my question.
Speaker 5: The Wan Soto trade is still paying dividends for the Yankees.
Speaker 5: Trent Grisham has been otherworldly, kind of falling off a
Speaker 5: tick now, but does he continue to play well enough
Speaker 5: that your Boo Jay som Domingez loses playing time when
Speaker 5: there's a situation where they have to choose between the
Speaker 5: two of them, or are there paths crossing here where
Speaker 5: Domingos is going up and Grisson's coming down.
Speaker 1: I think that Grisham is reverting to the mean a
Speaker 1: little bit, regressing to the mean. I mean, he's not
Speaker 1: a guy who's ever hit three hundred in his career.
Speaker 1: So when he was hitting three hundred for the first
Speaker 1: month and a half, with you know, a home run
Speaker 1: every other day, you knew that it just was not sustainable.
Speaker 1: He has made some adjustments to his stance. He's getting
Speaker 1: his hands a little bit further away. It looks like
Speaker 1: maybe either his timing is a little bit off right
Speaker 1: now or the league has kind of adjusted kind of
Speaker 1: getting in under those hands a little bit more. He's
Speaker 1: struggling a little bit with the down in and breaking ball,
Speaker 1: which is something he was really doing a good job
Speaker 1: hitting early on in the season, Jason, you know, until
Speaker 1: he hits left handed pitching a little bit better, I
Speaker 1: think he's at risk of losing a little bit of
Speaker 1: playing time. That's one great thing about switch hitters in
Speaker 1: general is you can just plug them in any given
Speaker 1: day because it doesn't matter who's on the male, lefty, righty,
Speaker 1: but he's really really struggled from the right side. But
Speaker 1: from the left side, he's got about an eight fifty ops.
Speaker 1: He had the three home run game where two of
Speaker 1: the home runs were from the left side. He recently
Speaker 1: had that walkoff Grand Slam. He was the only player,
Speaker 1: I think in Major League history to have a three
Speaker 1: home run game, a Grand Slam, and a walkoff in
Speaker 1: the same month. And he did it as a twenty
Speaker 1: two year old rookie. I do think to a certain extent,
Speaker 1: they are passing cross or crossing paths rather. I think Dimingez,
Speaker 1: while he got off to kind of a little bit
Speaker 1: of a slow start in whose major league career, is
Speaker 1: starting to show that potential and starting to transform it
Speaker 1: into stats a little bit. And look, he's an excellent
Speaker 1: base runner too. He gives you more than just you know,
Speaker 1: the offensive numbers, the power. He's a great base runner.
Speaker 1: And we know how important that is. We saw it
Speaker 1: last year. Base running costs him in a lot of situations.
Speaker 1: And I can't tell you how many times this year
Speaker 1: I've said, man, that was a great That was a
Speaker 1: great read by Domingez on the bases or wow, I
Speaker 1: didn't think he'd score from first on that double, But
Speaker 1: the guy can cook on the basis, Derek, Before.
Speaker 3: We let you go, I want to ask you this
Speaker 3: question legitimately. Do you believe the Yankees are back in
Speaker 3: the World Series or do you worry that the Tigers
Speaker 3: will surpass them getting to the you know, the Winter Classic,
Speaker 3: Winter Classic like in hockey.
Speaker 1: Well, I do worry about the Tigers. I think the
Speaker 1: Tigers are probably right now the toughest team in the
Speaker 1: American League. In Tarik's school. I don't know if you
Speaker 1: guys saw his last outing. I happen to be watching
Speaker 1: that game live, and it was one of the best
Speaker 1: games I've ever seen pitched. I mean, it was up
Speaker 1: there with Carrie Wood in his twenty strikeout game in
Speaker 1: just terms of stuff, the best stuff I've ever seen live.
Speaker 1: You're talking about one hundred and two and in the
Speaker 1: ninth inning from a lefty. I can't see beating him
Speaker 1: twice in a short game series. Now, if you get
Speaker 1: to a seven game series, I think anything can happen,
Speaker 1: and a lot of it depends on who has home
Speaker 1: field advantage. I would rather not play, you know, four
Speaker 1: games in Detroit, that would you know, we've seen that
Speaker 1: match up well for the Yankees back in I believe
Speaker 1: it was two thousand and six and again in twenty twelve. Look,
Speaker 1: the Tigers are are no joke, and I think you
Speaker 1: just gotta, you know, let this thing play out, and
Speaker 1: you know, we'll see where everybody is at the end
Speaker 1: of the year.
Speaker 5: One of the questions we had earlier, what we're more
Speaker 5: surprised about the Mariners start, or are the location where
Speaker 5: the Mariners are in the West or the Yankees are
Speaker 5: in the East? Is the American League East, not the Beast.
Speaker 5: It's more the American League least this year. Or is
Speaker 5: it just a is it just a little bit of
Speaker 5: a slowdown in waiting for all the other teams to
Speaker 5: start to get hot.
Speaker 1: Well, what really surprises me is how the Orioles have
Speaker 1: fallen off. I mean, I thought they were going to
Speaker 1: be top of the division for a decade when they
Speaker 1: won one hundred games a couple of years ago. Their
Speaker 1: pitching has fallen off, their hitting hasn't developed like we
Speaker 1: thought it would. You know, the Blue Jays always seemed
Speaker 1: to be a team that hovers around five hundred, and
Speaker 1: you keep waiting for them to take that next step,
Speaker 1: and they just haven't. The Red Sox were a team
Speaker 1: that everybody was very high on this year because of
Speaker 1: their young talent, but right now they're under five hundred
Speaker 1: and they just lost Bragman. You know, the Rays are
Speaker 1: always tough, but I don't think that they have what
Speaker 1: it takes in terms of just talent on their roster
Speaker 1: right now to overcome the Yankees. So I've been saying
Speaker 1: the Yankees need to seize this opportunity where they're playing well,
Speaker 1: and that's one of the reasons why this weekend is
Speaker 1: so important. To run away and hide, you know, get
Speaker 1: a twelve or thirteen game lead in the division, and
Speaker 1: then maybe you can rest some guys down the stretch.
Speaker 1: You can maybe take it easy a little bit with Luis.
Speaker 1: He'll not rush him back and have him be at
Speaker 1: full strength coming into the postseason. Maybe you don't have
Speaker 1: to be as desperate at the trade deadline and trade
Speaker 1: your top prospect. But you know, the Mariners, obviously we
Speaker 1: faced them a couple of weeks ago. They played three
Speaker 1: very tough games against the Yankees. They've obviously got good pitching.
Speaker 1: They're hitting has been better this year. You know, the
Speaker 1: n West is always tough. The Astros probably are going
Speaker 1: to contend with them all year long. But I do
Speaker 1: think that in terms of the division strength, the East
Speaker 1: is probably the least competitive. I mean, you look at
Speaker 1: the Central you got four teams legitimately who could be
Speaker 1: in the playoffs right now the A at least it
Speaker 1: looks like it's Yankees and maybe one other is going
Speaker 1: to compete.
Speaker 3: Derek, What is over your right shoulder? What are all
Speaker 3: those things over your right shoulder? They look like CDs? No, no, no,
Speaker 3: all the way towards the wall. Towards the wall.
Speaker 1: So I have a Blu Ray collection. I'm a big
Speaker 1: movie collector, and I'm a very smart investor too, So
Speaker 1: over the years I've invested thousands and thousands of dollars
Speaker 1: in physical media, which I don't use anymore. So, you know,
Speaker 1: so you know, I might have to sell a few
Speaker 1: of them to pay off this bed. If the Yankees don't,
Speaker 1: don't don't come through for me one.
Speaker 3: Hundred dollars to Guidry's Guardian Foundation after the Dodgers take
Speaker 3: the Yankees at Dodger Stadium. Derek, we appreciate you very much.
Speaker 3: Thank you. So much for your time and don't forge guys.
Speaker 3: You can check out Derek on pinstripe Territory. He does
Speaker 3: a tremendous job wherever you get your podcast check him
Speaker 3: out on YouTube as well. We'll be right back with
Speaker 3: hot Corner