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Speaker 1: Fish Bites podcast is back for episode two. I'm arm Layton,

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Speaker 1: joined by v Fishtripes Managing editor Eli Susman. How are

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Speaker 1: you doing, Eli, Aram?

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Speaker 2: I've never been better, So let's get these guys some

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Speaker 2: tasty fish bites to chow down on you already.

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Speaker 1: I'm ready to go. So that the Marlins are in

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Speaker 1: last place, the sky is also blue and the Pope

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Speaker 1: is still Catholic. But the Marlins are not the worst

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Speaker 1: team in the league. That's the silver lining. The Reds

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Speaker 1: actually just fired Brian Price, if you've been keeping up

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Speaker 1: with the news, and they're three and fifteen, and Luis

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Speaker 1: Castillo hasn't looked that good. Not that we are going

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Speaker 1: to root against him, but that trade still irritates me

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Speaker 1: a little bit. The Marlins are coming off of a

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Speaker 1: huge win against the Yankees, absolutely dominated them, which was

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Speaker 1: nice to see after being dominated the day before. So

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Speaker 1: obviously there's a lot going on and a lot to

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Speaker 1: talk about. So what's on your mind right now so

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Speaker 1: far three weeks into the season with the Marlins.

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Speaker 2: Oh, My general feeling, and I don't know how this

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Speaker 2: actually jives with the general public, is that this is

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Speaker 2: pretty similar to what my expectations were like coming straight

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Speaker 2: into the year. As you said, they were five and

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Speaker 2: twelve in the first seventeen games, and all that except

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Speaker 2: the most recent one against Yankees was without Real Muto

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Speaker 2: a catcher, And we knew they had all these little

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Speaker 2: injuries pop up right at the end of spring, with

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Speaker 2: the rotation with Dan Streili, with Wayne Chen with Martin

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Speaker 2: Prado taking longer to get back than was originally hoped.

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Speaker 2: And they played a lot of good teams, the Red

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Speaker 2: Sox and the Yankees and the Mets who have gone

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Speaker 2: off to an amazing start as well. So they were

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Speaker 2: going up against this great competition and with the exception

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Speaker 2: of a few games, most of them have been really

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Speaker 2: competitive games as well. So, I mean, record wise, this

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Speaker 2: is kind of what I saw coming into the year.

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Speaker 2: And you're right, even though they're like right at the

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Speaker 2: bottom of the league with some of the worst team teams,

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Speaker 2: they're adding a lot of reputable veterans, you know, surrounding

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Speaker 2: all these unproven players that they had in their lineup.

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Speaker 2: They I mean, they had more youth on the opening

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Speaker 2: day roster than we've ever seen before. It was nine

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Speaker 2: or ten different guys on the opening roster, for the

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Speaker 2: first time, and most of those guys have stuck around

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Speaker 2: since then, but generally slowly, we're going to see those

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Speaker 2: guys get put back where they're more comfortable in and

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Speaker 2: we're just heading towards this chunk of the season where

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Speaker 2: we'll be following all the veterans now to see how

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Speaker 2: well they do perform, because every single one of them.

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Speaker 2: As we get closer to the middle of the season,

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Speaker 2: you're starting to think of them as trade debate to

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Speaker 2: contending teams. Even though we have all this depth coming

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Speaker 2: to the major league roster now that we didn't have

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Speaker 2: the first few weeks, it's still going to be like

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Speaker 2: a shaky team we're expecting. So I'm just excited, you know,

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Speaker 2: to see the combination of the vets coming back, but

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Speaker 2: also seeing what we learned about all the young guys.

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Speaker 1: Well, you talk about trade bait, it really seems like

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Speaker 1: almost the Marlins are showcasing some of their players just

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Speaker 1: hoping they can start to perform to trade them because

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Speaker 1: you look at the minor leagues right now the Marlins

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Speaker 1: farm system. They have some exciting prospects obviously that they

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Speaker 1: acquired in the offseason, but a lot of them are underperforming.

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Speaker 1: We're going to talk about that a little bit later.

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Speaker 1: But even if they weren't underperforming, my argument has been

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Speaker 1: all along that they don't have enough right now to say, like, hey,

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Speaker 1: if every single one of these prospects panned out, the

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Speaker 1: Marlins would be great in a couple of years. I

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Speaker 1: don't think you can say that because just with what

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Speaker 1: they have right now, I just don't think it's enough

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Speaker 1: to be able to look into the future and say, Okay,

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Speaker 1: they're gonna be good in a few years. I think

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Speaker 1: there still needs to be more trades going down. I

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Speaker 1: think Rio Muto is obviously the biggest blue chip, you know,

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Speaker 1: trade piece that they have. He's the only guy that's

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Speaker 1: really gonna net a top fifty potential prospect also start

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Speaker 1: on cashro if he keeps sitting at a high level,

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Speaker 1: maybe net you a top one hundred guy. But I

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Speaker 1: still think they need to do a lot more in

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Speaker 1: regards to boot bolstering that farm system, because I, like

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Speaker 1: I said, I don't think it's enough, But I'm curious

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Speaker 1: what you think.

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Speaker 2: No, that's spot on, and it's gonna be a combination

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Speaker 2: between you know, actually getting higher quality talent in the

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Speaker 2: system and then also kind of what the new VP

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Speaker 2: of player Development, Gary Denbo is going to do, because

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Speaker 2: they brought him over for the Yankees. And I mean

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Speaker 2: a big thing that he did with the Yankees that

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Speaker 2: has them in a position to be a consistent contender

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Speaker 2: is that they acquired prospects and then those guys got better.

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Speaker 2: Those prospects that were unheralded coming out of Latin America

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Speaker 2: or just overlooked coming in on trades, they got better,

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Speaker 2: Like they developed skills that they didn't have before, and

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Speaker 2: they turned into special players. Like Aaron Judge is one

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Speaker 2: of those guys that was a late first round draft

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Speaker 2: pick a few years ago, but now is someone that's

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Speaker 2: on the precipice of being one of the best players

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Speaker 2: in the game. And it just countless examples on their

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Speaker 2: team now and guys that are coming up in the

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Speaker 2: future that got better. And that's a big part of

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Speaker 2: improving your farm system is having the right structure in

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Speaker 2: place to mentor these young players. So I'm coming into

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Speaker 2: this year the Marlins farm system. If you ask most

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Speaker 2: of the experts, it's still in the bottom half in

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Speaker 2: terms of quality. It's closer to the middle of the pack.

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Speaker 2: I mean entering the offseason. The obvious reason why they

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Speaker 2: had to go through this in the first place is

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Speaker 2: because entering the offseason they were right at the very bottom.

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Speaker 2: They just had no depth in their farm system. And

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Speaker 2: then they had no guys that you could really look

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Speaker 2: to as having a superstar ceiling. And you know, they

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Speaker 2: made strides in both of those areas with the trades

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Speaker 2: that they made, with getting some guys like Lewis Brinston

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Speaker 2: and Monte Harrison who have that high ceiling if everything

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Speaker 2: goes right for them, but then just also adding a

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Speaker 2: lot of depth just overall bringing in it was fourteen

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Speaker 2: different players in the trades of Gordon, Yelich, Ozuna, and Danson,

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Speaker 2: and that with all that depth, probably the majority of

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Speaker 2: those guys aren't regulars in the major league level, but

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Speaker 2: if just a handful of them are, then you're already

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Speaker 2: making a lot of progress towards the core of the

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Speaker 2: next team.

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Speaker 1: Absolutely, and my only issue with all of the players

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Speaker 1: that they acquired so far is that when you're giving

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Speaker 1: up a guy like Yelich, you know they got a

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Speaker 1: great return of that Hall at Milwaukee. I will not

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Speaker 1: criticize at all between Monty Harrison and Lewis Brinson. The

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Speaker 1: only thing that makes me a little nervous is, yeah,

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Speaker 1: those guys have high ceilings, but they have pretty low floors.

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Speaker 1: And I mean, we've seen Lewis Brinton struggle at the

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Speaker 1: major league level so far. I know it's early. He

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Speaker 1: struggled in his small sample size last year. One of

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Speaker 1: the biggest issues that scouts have had with Brinton isn't

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Speaker 1: his tools. It's it's simply just his ability to hit

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Speaker 1: and whether he will be able to hit at a

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Speaker 1: higher level. And you know, we saw we see examples

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Speaker 1: of Byron Buxton, who who took years and years and

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Speaker 1: the Twins who are really patient with him. And now

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Speaker 1: he's come out and he's looking like the prospect that

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Speaker 1: everyone thought he could be. But I don't think the

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Speaker 1: Marlins are in a position where they can wait that

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Speaker 1: long for Lewis Brinson to really figure it out. I'm

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Speaker 1: not saying he needs to figure it out tomorrow or

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Speaker 1: next month, but he is supposed to be that guy

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Speaker 1: that is the face of the new franchise, you know,

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Speaker 1: the face of the new movement. And if he can't

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Speaker 1: do that, I'm kind of a little nervous as to

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Speaker 1: what the Marlins are gonna do because you really need

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Speaker 1: that one center piece that's gonna be the reason why

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Speaker 1: fans can look forward to the future. And I don't

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Speaker 1: know if Brinson's gonna be that guy, And I don't know.

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna ask you here, I'll defer to you. Is

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Speaker 1: it time to get worried about Louis Prinson?

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Speaker 2: Well, I mean, let's be very clear about what he's

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Speaker 2: been this year. He is hitting like a picture exactly

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Speaker 2: like you expect a pitcher to hit, where there's been

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Speaker 2: no power, zero extra base hits, and just very little

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Speaker 2: on bas skills and the super high strikeout rate nearly

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Speaker 2: a third at the time. So it's it's about as

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Speaker 2: bad as it could be for a guy that's been

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Speaker 2: getting consistent starting action until that Yankee series where he

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Speaker 2: was benched a couple of games, so it's been tough

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Speaker 2: to see. He is getting a little unlucky in my opinion.

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Speaker 2: If you dig into the stats, he is hitting the ball,

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Speaker 2: not hard, but closer to major league average than you

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Speaker 2: might suspect. The issue is a lot of the times

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Speaker 2: that he does make contact, it goes straight into the ground,

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Speaker 2: and ground balls are almost automatic outlets in the majors

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Speaker 2: the way that they're not exactly the case in the minors.

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Speaker 2: So there's clearly something off mechanically, and you do wonder

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Speaker 2: whether it make more sense to fine tune that in

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Speaker 2: Triple A. But it's just so hard to send him down.

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Speaker 2: Also because he had been at Triple A for significant

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Speaker 2: chunks the last two years and he had dominated that

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Speaker 2: pretty consistently. There's really nothing for him approved down there.

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Speaker 2: So I mean, it's a tough call about whether to

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Speaker 2: send it, whether to work through his issues up here

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Speaker 2: or down there, and I think just a lot of that.

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Speaker 2: It's gonna be decided pretty soon, I think on this

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Speaker 2: road trip in Milwaukee and against the Dodgers, as they

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Speaker 2: face a little bit of a roster crunch coming up

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Speaker 2: if Martine Prado comes back, and maybe not further after JT.

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Speaker 2: Riddle comes back, they just have a lot of position

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Speaker 2: players to fit on the active roster at the same time,

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Speaker 2: and so far this year they've only been carrying twelve

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Speaker 2: position players. It used to the standard used to be

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Speaker 2: like thirteen, but now they've been stocking up on arms

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Speaker 2: that a guy on the bench. There's just not much

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Speaker 2: of a bench to begin with. At the major league

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Speaker 2: level and guys on the bench don't see a lot

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Speaker 2: of action, so I'd say they don't need to make

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Speaker 2: a call right now on that. But yeah, the one

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Speaker 2: thing is that the young prospects and the high miners

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Speaker 2: aren't exactly knocking down the door either. They had brax

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Speaker 2: and Lee up with a major league club earlier this year,

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Speaker 2: and he's got elite speed and he's got really good

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Speaker 2: defense that's going to help a team immediately, but he

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Speaker 2: wasn't hitting, and he hasn't been hitting since they sent

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Speaker 2: him back down. The same thing with Magner Sierra, who

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Speaker 2: came in the Ozuna trade with the Cardinals. He's been

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Speaker 2: at TRIPA A the whole time, and he's striking out

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Speaker 2: a third of his plate appearances. He's batting one fifty

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Speaker 2: four with no power, so he doesn't seem fully ready yet.

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Speaker 2: And then in Double A they have Monte Harrison, and

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Speaker 2: it's a lot the same story. It was striking out

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Speaker 2: constantly and the power is not really translating at this

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Speaker 2: point in the season. So it's it's all in that

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Speaker 2: one department, in this outfield department. And that was such

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Speaker 2: a big topic of conversation coming into the year because

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Speaker 2: they depleted that star outfield that they had. It's been

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Speaker 2: from that standpoint, it's been about as bad as possible.

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Speaker 2: Where they went from again having the gold standard of

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Speaker 2: production from that position to having just a really questionable future.

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Speaker 2: If you're overreacting to the small sample. The small sample

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Speaker 2: has been about as discouraging as you could fear. Possibly

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Speaker 2: it's been as bad as possible.

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Speaker 1: And the thing with Sierra that's really alarming is that,

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Speaker 1: you know, all or nothing approach is not his game.

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Speaker 1: He needs to put the ball in play. He's a

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Speaker 1: speed guy. You know when when I looked at his

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Speaker 1: numbers in his brief sample size with the Cardinals last year,

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Speaker 1: it was exciting to an extent. But then when you

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Speaker 1: looked at the velocity of the balls put in play

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Speaker 1: and you looked at the at the advanced statistics, it

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Speaker 1: suggests that a lot of it had to do with luck.

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Speaker 1: You look now and see how he's performing at Triple A.

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Speaker 1: You wonder if it's evening out now or if he

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Speaker 1: is just in a little bit of a slump. Like

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Speaker 1: we said, it's early. You don't want to make too

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Speaker 1: many assumptions a few weeks into the season. But you

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Speaker 1: can't help but be alarmed. So far with some of

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Speaker 1: these prospects that the Marlins have brought in, at least

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Speaker 1: one of them would be figuring it out. We also

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Speaker 1: haven't mentioned E'snan Diez, who is also just not doing

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Speaker 1: well and also striking out a lot and not putting

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Speaker 1: the ball in play a lot. So my only concern

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Speaker 1: here is that it seems like as a whole, the

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Speaker 1: Marlins have kind of acquired a lot of guys that

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Speaker 1: all have the same issue, where it's not something that's

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Speaker 1: got very balanced in the minor leagues right now with

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Speaker 1: the Marlins, it's a lot of guys that are just

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Speaker 1: all or nothing approaches that can have potential to hit

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Speaker 1: thirty plus home runs in the major leagues, but also

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Speaker 1: have the potential to strike out over two hundred times.

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Speaker 1: And I thought that was something that the Marlins might

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Speaker 1: try to get away from when they traded Stanton, but

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Speaker 1: it seems like in Ozuna also, I mean, it's a

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Speaker 1: high volume strikeout guy as well. And I'm generally personally

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Speaker 1: I'm opposed to having a lineup stacked with guys like that.

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Speaker 1: You look at the Yankees, they could potentially break the

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Speaker 1: all time strikeout record for a team, and I think

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Speaker 1: that has a lot to do with what their struggles

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Speaker 1: are so far. I was actually the only guy and

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Speaker 1: not take the Yankees to win the Division in our

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Speaker 1: fifth Stripe staff predictions, and I'm going to brag about

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Speaker 1: that right now a little bit, even though it's early.

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Speaker 1: But the reason why I made that selection was not

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Speaker 1: because I thought the Red Sox were going to be

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Speaker 1: this good. I will not lie. I won't lie stand

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Speaker 1: here and say that I knew the Red Sox were

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Speaker 1: going to be this good. But I did think the

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Speaker 1: Yankees were going to struggle, and it's because I did

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Speaker 1: not think they'd be able to manufacture runs. Yeah, they're

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Speaker 1: going to hit their home runs, but they're also going

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Speaker 1: to strike out at an astronomical rate. Between Judge Sanchez,

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Speaker 1: Stanton and the list can go on. I mean, Brek

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Speaker 1: Gardner strikes out of good amount. I think that's going

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Speaker 1: to be an issue for them, and I'd really hate

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Speaker 1: to see that become an issue for the Marlins.

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Speaker 2: All right, And we saw some of that front end

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Speaker 2: center first hands. The second game of the Yankee series,

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Speaker 2: started by Harlan Garcia, where he was not sharp at all.

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Speaker 2: He walked five different guys in just five innings, and

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Speaker 2: he gave them all these opportunities with runners on base,

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Speaker 2: and they would either strike out or hit a groundball

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Speaker 2: double play in those situations and just let all those

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Speaker 2: opportunities waste away. You're prone to, yeah, on all or

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Speaker 2: nothing type of result where when things aren't going right,

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Speaker 2: you just don't produce. Like so, the average run production

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Speaker 2: is going to be among the league leaders, but you're

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Speaker 2: gonna lose a lot of games on the bottom end

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Speaker 2: of that because there's just a lot of variants. There's

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Speaker 2: those times where guys are are not contributing to a

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Speaker 2: successful team offensive strategy, and so Stanton unfortunately, he's been

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Speaker 2: like right in the middle of that struggles where he's

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Speaker 2: striking out forty percent of the time, nearly double the

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Speaker 2: league average. And so even though he's still running into

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Speaker 2: his home runs, and even though this is the kind

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Speaker 2: of slump that we saw sometimes when he was in Miami, it's, yeah,

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Speaker 2: it's really difficult to win that way when a guy's

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Speaker 2: especially when he's coming up with runners in scoring position

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Speaker 2: and just not contributing to the cause. So, I mean,

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Speaker 2: he's been a slow starter in the past, but especially

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Speaker 2: in this series, like he was as as struggled as

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Speaker 2: we've ever seen, where he went completely hitless, zero for

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Speaker 2: seven with four strikeouts, and just looked bad against some

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Speaker 2: really mediocre pitchers that the Marlins have right now. I mean,

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Speaker 2: I think highly of Harlan Garcia, but I had the bullpen.

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Speaker 2: Chris O'Grady was embarrassing him starting in that first game.

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Speaker 2: Caleb Smith got him whipping on some you know, just

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Speaker 2: some very ordinary pitches. So it looks bad with some

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Speaker 2: of those guys, even when they turn out to be MVPs.

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Speaker 2: It turns it just it gets really ugly when they're

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Speaker 2: not in sync.

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Speaker 1: And what's interesting is that the trend in the three

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Speaker 1: pitchers that you just named that embarrassed Stanton were all

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Speaker 1: three were lefties and historically had a lot of success

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Speaker 1: against lefties. He doesn't. He stays through the wall much better,

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Speaker 1: he doesn't pull off, and he doesn't have to worry

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Speaker 1: about that slider that's been his nemesis since he's been

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Speaker 1: in the major leagues. And so I'm really that has

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Speaker 1: to be alarming for some fans, Yankee fans specifically, because

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Speaker 1: he's not hitting lefties, so he's just off period. If

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Speaker 1: he's not hitting lefties, that's got to be something that's

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Speaker 1: making fans nervous. And we were talking about it before

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Speaker 1: we even got on the show. This is something that

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Speaker 1: you know, we've heard just within the people that just

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Speaker 1: within talk around fits Strips and some of the other

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Speaker 1: writers and people that cover sports in South Florida that

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Speaker 1: Stanton's historically not been a huge fan of the media.

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Speaker 1: Not all athletes are, but Stanton has been historically a

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Speaker 1: little standoffish, doesn't love to do interviews and stuff like that.

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Speaker 1: And he kind of got away with it because it's Miami.

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Speaker 1: It's a small market and people don't really care. But

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Speaker 1: now he's in New York and you can't get away

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Speaker 1: with that. In New York, you cannot get away with

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Speaker 1: avoiding the media, and he seems to be very uncomfortable

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Speaker 1: with it so far. Do you think that New York

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Speaker 1: is part of the reason why he's We know that

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Speaker 1: he's a slow starter, notoriously, but do you think that

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Speaker 1: the big market is putting a little extra pressure on him.

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Speaker 2: I've never been a fan of that thinking, and this

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Speaker 2: is somebody that I grew up in New York, so

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Speaker 2: I mean, I heard those cliches all the time. My

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Speaker 2: father was a big Yankee van and he's a guy

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Speaker 2: that would just get furious when thinking back as some

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Speaker 2: of the really big failures where they've had this history

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Speaker 2: of course with high profile acquisitions and some of them

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Speaker 2: really hit it off and a lot of them don't

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Speaker 2: for whatever reason. So I'm not again, I'm not really

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Speaker 2: a big fan of that. Where admittedly baseball has a

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Speaker 2: big mental side to it, I just don't know if

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Speaker 2: that's something that a lot of players think about too much,

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Speaker 2: especially Stanton, because you're I mean, you're right, that is,

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Speaker 2: he has that history of kind of being standoffish and

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Speaker 2: not embracing those like requirement into the job of being

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Speaker 2: really transparent with the media. But I again, there's just

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Speaker 2: there seems to be some similarities between some of the

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Speaker 2: slumps that he had with the Marlins yet to go

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Speaker 2: back a couple of years, because I mean, one of

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Speaker 2: the big reasons why Marlins were able to trade Stanton

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Speaker 2: is because he was so great last year. I mean,

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Speaker 2: he took off in the second half, but really for

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Speaker 2: the majority of the season, like he was just consistently great.

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Speaker 2: He was striking out less than he ever had before.

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Speaker 2: But if you go back a few years, you can

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Speaker 2: find other early parts of his season where he's struggling

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Speaker 2: to make contacts where he just wasn't recognizing pissage. Because

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Speaker 2: that's what concerns you, is that it seems like he

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Speaker 2: doesn't recognize when a slider is coming and he just

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Speaker 2: waves at it so like defenselessly. And it does look bad,

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Speaker 2: But I mean, I'm not ready to necessarily put it

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Speaker 2: on the change in scenery. What I do think is

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Speaker 2: that this assumption that he is who he was last year,

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Speaker 2: I've never totally bought into that, because even by his standards,

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Speaker 2: last year was above and beyond anything we'd never seen before.

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Speaker 2: And you could say, maybe that's what the peak Stanton

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Speaker 2: looks like. I just he was human before that. He

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Speaker 2: was human in his other years he was excellent, and

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Speaker 2: he was on a Hall of Fame trajectory, and he

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Speaker 2: still is. But he's human. So I think in hindsight,

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Speaker 2: the Marlins got to feel pretty grateful that they did

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Speaker 2: trade him when they did. As unpopular as it was

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Speaker 2: initially and as bad as it looked, it was a

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Speaker 2: difficult decision to make that the new regime kind of

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Speaker 2: just had to make considering the finances of the club

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Speaker 2: and the depth or lack of depth that they had

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Speaker 2: in the minors. But these are the kind of stretches

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Speaker 2: that scared you with Stanton, that made you think he

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Speaker 2: would never be movable because you never know for sure

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Speaker 2: that he's going to snap out of it. But I mean,

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Speaker 2: I personally, I'm still pretty sure that he's going to

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Speaker 2: get back to being a star player in due time.

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Speaker 1: And my only I agree with you partly, and then

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Speaker 1: the other part of me that doesn't want to agree

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Speaker 1: with you is saying, when is the last time fifty

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Speaker 1: thousand fans in Marlins Park booed John Carlos Stanton. And

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Speaker 1: that's something that I don't care who you are, I'm

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Speaker 1: gonna say that's going to get in your head a

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Speaker 1: little bit. And I do think he'll work out of it,

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Speaker 1: and I do think it's an adjustment period for him,

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Speaker 1: but I do think it is something that has to

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Speaker 1: have a little bit of an impact on him. You

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Speaker 1: even see that that two home run game he had

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Speaker 1: was away from home. He comes his opening series zero

396
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Speaker 1: for five with five k's continues to struggle at home,

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Speaker 1: but we'll see, and I think it's going to be

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Speaker 1: a process, and I think Yankees fans have to be patient.

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Speaker 1: But let's hop back to the Marlins now. Like we said,

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Speaker 1: Harlen Garcia has absolutely been dominant. He didn't have his

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Speaker 1: best stuff against the Yankees, which was fine, But what

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Speaker 1: I really liked about what I saw is he didn't

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Speaker 1: have his best stuff and he was still effective. That

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Speaker 1: is what makes a good pitcher. A good pitcher is

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Speaker 1: not how many people they strike out when they're on.

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Speaker 1: It's about how they pitch when they don't have their

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Speaker 1: best stuff and how they make the best of what

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Speaker 1: they have working with them. And he looked really good

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Speaker 1: despite the fact that he walked five people, if that

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Speaker 1: makes sense. But I really liked what I saw from him,

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Speaker 1: and I really am excited that the Marlins have another prospect.

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Speaker 1: I know he's not really a prospect anymore, but in

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Speaker 1: terms of being in the rotation, I would say he's

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Speaker 1: a prospect someone that they can put a little hope

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Speaker 1: into and say, maybe this guy could pan out, maybe

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Speaker 1: this guy could be a diamond in the rough. But

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Speaker 1: in terms of the rest of the team, I really

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Speaker 1: don't know what the future is for some of these guys.

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Speaker 1: I think Starlin Castro is taking up space at second base.

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Speaker 1: He's hitting the ball well, and he's been great for

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Speaker 1: the team, but he has no purpose on being in

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Speaker 1: the Marlins right now. I think, especially with Prado coming back,

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Speaker 1: the Marlins should just sell high on Starlin. You know,

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Speaker 1: his power numbers are going to be down going from

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Speaker 1: me Stadium the Marlins Park. He doesn't have a home

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Speaker 1: run yet this year. He had fifteen last year. I

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Speaker 1: think he's playing good defense so far this year too.

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Speaker 1: The Marlins really just need to ship him out while

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Speaker 1: they can get what they can and let Prado boost

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Speaker 1: his stock at second base play as much as he can,

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Speaker 1: and let the Marlins get rid of that contract as well.

432
00:22:18,960 --> 00:22:20,879
Speaker 1: But I really do think the Marlins need to get

433
00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:23,159
Speaker 1: rid of Starlin. And like we talked about before, with

434
00:22:23,240 --> 00:22:26,960
Speaker 1: the Marlins not having a great farm system still, I

435
00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:28,600
Speaker 1: think Real Muta has got to be the next guy

436
00:22:28,640 --> 00:22:31,680
Speaker 1: to go to, and the Mets obviously have said they're interested,

437
00:22:33,040 --> 00:22:35,200
Speaker 1: but the Mets don't have the pieces. So I like

438
00:22:35,280 --> 00:22:37,040
Speaker 1: to hear what you think about a potential Real Muto

439
00:22:37,119 --> 00:22:39,080
Speaker 1: trade and also going back to what you think about

440
00:22:39,119 --> 00:22:40,280
Speaker 1: Starlin Castro.

441
00:22:41,840 --> 00:22:45,240
Speaker 2: Well, So to be clear, the reason why Castro, You're right,

442
00:22:45,280 --> 00:22:47,840
Speaker 2: and I agree that Castro seems so expendable is because

443
00:22:47,840 --> 00:22:51,359
Speaker 2: of his contract situation where he has. He is this year,

444
00:22:51,800 --> 00:22:54,680
Speaker 2: he is next year, and let me just double check

445
00:22:54,760 --> 00:22:59,040
Speaker 2: for a second, but he's not very long term and

446
00:22:59,440 --> 00:23:01,119
Speaker 2: it probably not going to be a great team in

447
00:23:01,119 --> 00:23:03,000
Speaker 2: these next few years. He also has a twenty twenty

448
00:23:03,040 --> 00:23:06,440
Speaker 2: team option on top of those this year in twenty nineteen,

449
00:23:07,600 --> 00:23:11,560
Speaker 2: but yeah, he's not a guy that's vastly outperforming that contract.

450
00:23:12,560 --> 00:23:15,240
Speaker 2: So it's a thing where if he does head into

451
00:23:15,280 --> 00:23:17,360
Speaker 2: a significant slump, he gets a point where he may

452
00:23:17,400 --> 00:23:19,520
Speaker 2: be stuck with him these next couple of years, even

453
00:23:19,560 --> 00:23:23,760
Speaker 2: when he's not really a part of the team the

454
00:23:23,800 --> 00:23:26,399
Speaker 2: direction of the team, and he doesn't fit in the

455
00:23:26,440 --> 00:23:28,760
Speaker 2: window that the team is looking to contend, which is

456
00:23:28,800 --> 00:23:32,800
Speaker 2: going to be in the early twenty twenties probably, So yeah,

457
00:23:32,840 --> 00:23:34,880
Speaker 2: you want to get rid of him when you can.

458
00:23:36,680 --> 00:23:39,800
Speaker 2: He's a guy that only plays second base, like he

459
00:23:39,920 --> 00:23:42,240
Speaker 2: was a shortstop coming up in the first few years,

460
00:23:42,280 --> 00:23:45,040
Speaker 2: but he's pretty stuck in this role now, and so

461
00:23:45,320 --> 00:23:48,240
Speaker 2: without that versatility, you wonder what his market's going to

462
00:23:48,320 --> 00:23:51,760
Speaker 2: look like, and other teams aren't really looking to make

463
00:23:51,840 --> 00:23:54,760
Speaker 2: trades right now or for the next couple of months really,

464
00:23:55,200 --> 00:23:58,360
Speaker 2: So it's something that it always makes you nervous when

465
00:23:58,400 --> 00:24:01,439
Speaker 2: you have this guy on a significant cond tracked and

466
00:24:01,480 --> 00:24:03,960
Speaker 2: you worry about whether it's a slump or an injury,

467
00:24:04,119 --> 00:24:07,080
Speaker 2: something that would take him out of being a trade candidate.

468
00:24:07,840 --> 00:24:12,679
Speaker 2: But I do agree that he's a guy that you

469
00:24:12,760 --> 00:24:15,320
Speaker 2: want to do what you can to move and get

470
00:24:15,440 --> 00:24:19,680
Speaker 2: any sort of prospect in return, just something that will

471
00:24:19,680 --> 00:24:22,960
Speaker 2: fit in your window a few years from now and real,

472
00:24:23,160 --> 00:24:25,520
Speaker 2: real new too. I mean, his first came back was

473
00:24:25,760 --> 00:24:30,760
Speaker 2: as amazing as possible, So it's going to be interesting

474
00:24:31,160 --> 00:24:33,679
Speaker 2: to see exactly who he is. So he's been in

475
00:24:33,680 --> 00:24:36,160
Speaker 2: the starting job for a few years and like he's

476
00:24:36,359 --> 00:24:38,679
Speaker 2: one of the best well rounded catchers in baseball, and

477
00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:44,000
Speaker 2: there's really no denying that, and once I'm sure every

478
00:24:44,080 --> 00:24:47,639
Speaker 2: other team accepts that, even if the fans nationally don't

479
00:24:47,680 --> 00:24:51,400
Speaker 2: all see it yet, just because of the visibility down

480
00:24:51,400 --> 00:24:55,240
Speaker 2: in Miami. Like he's he's great, And so the question

481
00:24:55,400 --> 00:24:58,639
Speaker 2: is how high is his ceiling as a hitter, Like

482
00:24:58,800 --> 00:25:01,760
Speaker 2: is he the one? He's He's solid at pretty much

483
00:25:01,760 --> 00:25:05,320
Speaker 2: every single skill you want, offensively and defensively, but you

484
00:25:05,359 --> 00:25:07,320
Speaker 2: wonder if he could be even more than that, if

485
00:25:07,359 --> 00:25:09,600
Speaker 2: he's gonna be a point where he is an above

486
00:25:09,600 --> 00:25:13,280
Speaker 2: average power hitter, or he's a guy that's gonna get

487
00:25:13,320 --> 00:25:15,639
Speaker 2: on base at an even higher level, like is he

488
00:25:15,680 --> 00:25:19,159
Speaker 2: gonna move up even in that positional ranking and be

489
00:25:19,240 --> 00:25:22,879
Speaker 2: someone that challenges Gary Sanchez or Buster Posey for the

490
00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:28,280
Speaker 2: title of very best at his position. So I'm generally

491
00:25:28,520 --> 00:25:32,280
Speaker 2: not someone who sees it looking like he'll be traded

492
00:25:32,440 --> 00:25:34,800
Speaker 2: this year at the deadline. I think it might be

493
00:25:34,840 --> 00:25:39,439
Speaker 2: more towards after the season when he has as I mean,

494
00:25:39,480 --> 00:25:42,480
Speaker 2: he has plenty of time between now and the trade deadline.

495
00:25:42,920 --> 00:25:45,159
Speaker 2: But because he still has a couple of years of

496
00:25:45,200 --> 00:25:52,000
Speaker 2: control beyond this year, and in terms of the agent

497
00:25:52,040 --> 00:25:55,080
Speaker 2: that he has, he's someone that might be agreeable to

498
00:25:55,080 --> 00:25:58,840
Speaker 2: an extension. He doesn't necessarily seem dead said on free agency,

499
00:25:59,240 --> 00:26:02,160
Speaker 2: like he's gonna have just a huge market of interested

500
00:26:02,240 --> 00:26:04,639
Speaker 2: teams if they do make it all the way to

501
00:26:04,680 --> 00:26:08,879
Speaker 2: the offseason. So I don't know if he's gone at

502
00:26:08,880 --> 00:26:14,919
Speaker 2: the deadline. Castro definitely prato if he is able to

503
00:26:14,960 --> 00:26:17,360
Speaker 2: rebuild his value the next couple months, if he's able

504
00:26:17,359 --> 00:26:20,520
Speaker 2: to stay healthy, I'm sure the Marlins would even eat

505
00:26:20,560 --> 00:26:24,040
Speaker 2: some of that contract to get him away. Dan Straley

506
00:26:24,520 --> 00:26:28,919
Speaker 2: maybe as a guy that's cheap and controllable for a

507
00:26:28,960 --> 00:26:31,760
Speaker 2: few years, but not quite in their window. And then

508
00:26:31,800 --> 00:26:33,919
Speaker 2: obviously in the bullpen, those are the guys that are

509
00:26:33,920 --> 00:26:37,480
Speaker 2: easiest to move at the deadline every year because you

510
00:26:37,520 --> 00:26:40,640
Speaker 2: can never have enough pitching for these contending teams going

511
00:26:40,680 --> 00:26:44,439
Speaker 2: down the stretch. So with all the pending free agents,

512
00:26:44,440 --> 00:26:49,359
Speaker 2: which are Brad Ziegler and Tazawa, and you might even

513
00:26:49,440 --> 00:26:52,919
Speaker 2: look into the more controllable guys, someone like Kyle Berklaw,

514
00:26:53,359 --> 00:26:57,720
Speaker 2: who I mean, you'd like to keep him. But there's

515
00:26:57,760 --> 00:27:00,480
Speaker 2: so many options for creating a relief pitcher from either

516
00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:03,320
Speaker 2: within your own system or just stumbling on somebody special

517
00:27:03,840 --> 00:27:06,720
Speaker 2: that if any reliever is heading towards middle of the

518
00:27:06,800 --> 00:27:09,840
Speaker 2: year and they're just red hot and they're striking out

519
00:27:09,880 --> 00:27:13,040
Speaker 2: hitters and they're putting together a lot of clean innings,

520
00:27:13,160 --> 00:27:15,920
Speaker 2: then they're going to have a market. And the Marlins

521
00:27:15,920 --> 00:27:18,760
Speaker 2: should be open to you whatever offers they get from

522
00:27:18,760 --> 00:27:21,080
Speaker 2: those guys, anything that will add to the farm system.

523
00:27:21,280 --> 00:27:23,720
Speaker 1: Well, the thing about Barra Clause he has closer stuff.

524
00:27:24,200 --> 00:27:26,960
Speaker 1: I mean, he is as good as it gets in

525
00:27:27,040 --> 00:27:31,440
Speaker 1: terms of striking out batters. He has an astronomical rate

526
00:27:31,680 --> 00:27:34,679
Speaker 1: of strikeouts per nine innings as slider is unbelievable. But

527
00:27:35,200 --> 00:27:37,840
Speaker 1: he has become a little bit more expendable in my opinion,

528
00:27:37,880 --> 00:27:41,520
Speaker 1: because you look at the Marlins rotation or bullpen. Rather

529
00:27:42,520 --> 00:27:44,760
Speaker 1: you have a guy like stecond Rider who's looked really

530
00:27:44,800 --> 00:27:47,280
Speaker 1: good so far. I think he got to give up

531
00:27:47,280 --> 00:27:51,080
Speaker 1: a run Tearan Guerrero. His numbers don't reflect how good

532
00:27:51,080 --> 00:27:53,800
Speaker 1: he's really been. Once he hones in on his control

533
00:27:53,800 --> 00:27:57,080
Speaker 1: a little bit, I think he has closer stuff obviously.

534
00:27:57,119 --> 00:27:59,960
Speaker 1: I mean he touches triple digits with a wipeout slot,

535
00:28:01,040 --> 00:28:02,880
Speaker 1: and then you have you have a few other pieces

536
00:28:02,880 --> 00:28:05,560
Speaker 1: in the minor leagues as well. Uh, you know Jorge

537
00:28:05,600 --> 00:28:08,040
Speaker 1: Guzman the Martins are hoping, hoping will be a starter,

538
00:28:08,480 --> 00:28:11,520
Speaker 1: but he does seem to have back end of the

539
00:28:11,520 --> 00:28:14,720
Speaker 1: bullpen stuff that we'll wait and see on that. But

540
00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:20,040
Speaker 1: bearakuav really is expendable and he really could net a

541
00:28:20,119 --> 00:28:22,600
Speaker 1: nice return if he continues to throw well. And that's

542
00:28:22,640 --> 00:28:25,280
Speaker 1: that's an excellent point. I also want to clarify one

543
00:28:25,320 --> 00:28:28,600
Speaker 1: thing too, is I would not be excited about a

544
00:28:28,680 --> 00:28:31,359
Speaker 1: J T. Realmuts trade. Of course, I love him in

545
00:28:31,359 --> 00:28:33,439
Speaker 1: a Marlin's uniform. I think he's one of the premier

546
00:28:33,480 --> 00:28:37,960
Speaker 1: catchers in the league. He's young, he's the twentieth fastest

547
00:28:37,960 --> 00:28:40,480
Speaker 1: sprint speed in the league, which is unbelievable as of

548
00:28:40,560 --> 00:28:44,520
Speaker 1: last year. At least, he's just as well rounded as

549
00:28:44,520 --> 00:28:48,680
Speaker 1: you can get. I think he's he's Russell Martin on steroids, and.

550
00:28:49,640 --> 00:28:51,120
Speaker 2: He has, but he's not on steroids.

551
00:28:51,200 --> 00:28:56,440
Speaker 1: Yeah, to clarify, yes, yes, figuratively speaking on steroids. And

552
00:28:57,000 --> 00:29:00,000
Speaker 1: he's just he's just an absolute stud of a catcher.

553
00:29:00,600 --> 00:29:03,640
Speaker 1: But like we were saying before, I think if you

554
00:29:03,680 --> 00:29:07,240
Speaker 1: look at it right now, if every Marlins pitching prospect

555
00:29:07,320 --> 00:29:10,479
Speaker 1: fans out, and Lewis Princeton starts hitting the ball and

556
00:29:10,480 --> 00:29:13,920
Speaker 1: Monty Harrison starts hitting the ball, that team's still not good.

557
00:29:14,200 --> 00:29:17,960
Speaker 1: So they really need to maximize their potential here, and

558
00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:19,720
Speaker 1: I think the only way to do that is trading

559
00:29:19,760 --> 00:29:22,000
Speaker 1: real Muto. But you look at the Mets. The Mets

560
00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:24,440
Speaker 1: are interested, and I think it takes a team like

561
00:29:24,480 --> 00:29:27,480
Speaker 1: the Mets that are surprisingly in contention. They're like, oh wait, crap,

562
00:29:27,520 --> 00:29:30,040
Speaker 1: we need a catcher still because Travis Darnaul can't play

563
00:29:30,080 --> 00:29:31,840
Speaker 1: for five games without getting hurt. And they don't have

564
00:29:31,880 --> 00:29:34,160
Speaker 1: anyone in the farm system. I mean, catching is really

565
00:29:34,200 --> 00:29:36,480
Speaker 1: thin in the major leagues. Not a lot of teams

566
00:29:36,480 --> 00:29:39,920
Speaker 1: have catchers, so the market is huge. The market is

567
00:29:39,960 --> 00:29:43,440
Speaker 1: basically everyone except for five teams that have Buster Posey,

568
00:29:43,560 --> 00:29:48,520
Speaker 1: Gary Sanchez, etc. So I think with the market being

569
00:29:48,560 --> 00:29:51,200
Speaker 1: how it is, and there's always a few surprising teams

570
00:29:51,200 --> 00:29:55,880
Speaker 1: in contention that have an automatic way to upgrade themselves.

571
00:29:56,160 --> 00:29:58,400
Speaker 1: Here you go on a silver platter, this can put

572
00:29:58,480 --> 00:30:02,880
Speaker 1: us in playoff contention. I think it's obvious that Real

573
00:30:02,960 --> 00:30:07,000
Speaker 1: Muto will have an absolutely incredible market, and I think

574
00:30:08,120 --> 00:30:10,480
Speaker 1: it could cause a bidding war, something like what happened

575
00:30:10,480 --> 00:30:12,840
Speaker 1: with Yelich and the Brewers ended up ponying up. I

576
00:30:12,840 --> 00:30:14,760
Speaker 1: think someone will end up ponying up for Rio Muto,

577
00:30:14,800 --> 00:30:16,240
Speaker 1: and it won't be the Mats because they don't have

578
00:30:16,280 --> 00:30:19,440
Speaker 1: what it takes. But in conclusion, here, as we're about

579
00:30:19,440 --> 00:30:21,960
Speaker 1: to wrap up, who do you think could get the

580
00:30:22,600 --> 00:30:24,720
Speaker 1: real Muto? Who has what it takes and who could

581
00:30:24,720 --> 00:30:28,320
Speaker 1: be a candidate to give up a significant haul because

582
00:30:28,320 --> 00:30:29,520
Speaker 1: we know it's a big price.

583
00:30:31,840 --> 00:30:34,120
Speaker 2: Early in the off season, the team I thought made

584
00:30:34,160 --> 00:30:36,440
Speaker 2: a lot of sense for the Diamondbacks, where the dim

585
00:30:36,520 --> 00:30:40,400
Speaker 2: Dacks are coming off this surprisingly good year and they

586
00:30:40,560 --> 00:30:42,480
Speaker 2: had a little bit of a void at catcher because

587
00:30:42,520 --> 00:30:45,120
Speaker 2: they're starting catcher was Chris Iyanetta last year. He was

588
00:30:45,160 --> 00:30:47,200
Speaker 2: like a solid average guy, but he went to the

589
00:30:47,280 --> 00:30:50,520
Speaker 2: Rockies and so they're set there. They ended up signing

590
00:30:50,520 --> 00:30:53,800
Speaker 2: Alex Avila, who's coming off a huge year, but he

591
00:30:53,960 --> 00:31:00,280
Speaker 2: since really regressed. So they're catchers right now are Alexavila, old,

592
00:31:00,360 --> 00:31:03,040
Speaker 2: Jeff Mathis he's still arounds and he still can't hit,

593
00:31:03,640 --> 00:31:06,480
Speaker 2: and John Ryan Murphy, and all three of them have

594
00:31:06,560 --> 00:31:09,640
Speaker 2: seen like significant time in the majors. Actually all three

595
00:31:09,640 --> 00:31:11,920
Speaker 2: of them are on the active roster as we speak.

596
00:31:11,920 --> 00:31:14,520
Speaker 2: They're carrying three catchers in the way that the Marlins were.

597
00:31:14,960 --> 00:31:19,000
Speaker 2: But they're having another pretty good year at least at

598
00:31:19,000 --> 00:31:21,000
Speaker 2: this very start, and they're just not getting a lot

599
00:31:21,000 --> 00:31:24,000
Speaker 2: of production at all from that position. So they're ones

600
00:31:24,480 --> 00:31:27,680
Speaker 2: that they do have a little bit more prospect depth.

601
00:31:28,240 --> 00:31:31,479
Speaker 2: They also they have some young, controllable major leaguers as

602
00:31:31,520 --> 00:31:35,800
Speaker 2: well that might make more sense, like their second baseman,

603
00:31:35,840 --> 00:31:39,320
Speaker 2: Katel Marte, who they just signed him to an extension. Yeah,

604
00:31:39,320 --> 00:31:42,440
Speaker 2: all the way for the next five years. But also

605
00:31:42,480 --> 00:31:45,080
Speaker 2: with team options all the way through to twenty twenty four.

606
00:31:45,680 --> 00:31:49,440
Speaker 2: So he's a guy who's really controllable in a way

607
00:31:49,440 --> 00:31:53,600
Speaker 2: that real Muto isn't quite controllable, but someone that would

608
00:31:54,080 --> 00:31:56,880
Speaker 2: help the Marlins set up, you know, a stable foundation

609
00:31:57,080 --> 00:31:59,840
Speaker 2: at the major league level going forward. They had a

610
00:32:00,040 --> 00:32:05,280
Speaker 2: breakout pitcher John Duplantier last year, and uh, he came

611
00:32:05,320 --> 00:32:09,840
Speaker 2: out of nowhere as a really interesting starting pitching candidate,

612
00:32:09,880 --> 00:32:13,480
Speaker 2: a guy that's really long and lean and just has

613
00:32:13,760 --> 00:32:17,520
Speaker 2: great command. So he's a guy that busted into the

614
00:32:17,560 --> 00:32:20,120
Speaker 2: top one hundred prospects. And that's the thing is that

615
00:32:20,160 --> 00:32:22,280
Speaker 2: the Marlins want one of those guys, one of those

616
00:32:22,280 --> 00:32:25,560
Speaker 2: top one hundred prospects that the Mets don't have. And yeah,

617
00:32:25,600 --> 00:32:28,840
Speaker 2: that even though that Mets fit is like it's a

618
00:32:28,880 --> 00:32:32,360
Speaker 2: popular talking point, it's, yeah, it just doesn't make sense.

619
00:32:32,440 --> 00:32:35,720
Speaker 2: The assets don't line up. So the Diamondbacks were one

620
00:32:35,760 --> 00:32:39,200
Speaker 2: that came to mind, But you're right, it's just it's

621
00:32:39,280 --> 00:32:43,800
Speaker 2: pretty wide open, just depending if they do surprise and

622
00:32:43,800 --> 00:32:46,480
Speaker 2: if they do actually find a trade at the deadline

623
00:32:46,520 --> 00:32:48,680
Speaker 2: rather than after the season. You know, it could just

624
00:32:48,720 --> 00:32:52,720
Speaker 2: depend on which of these significant teams has has a

625
00:32:52,760 --> 00:32:55,040
Speaker 2: little bit of a need that catcher, but is in

626
00:32:55,080 --> 00:32:59,040
Speaker 2: contention at the moment. Yeah, So one that might be

627
00:32:59,600 --> 00:33:02,400
Speaker 2: a cure fit, and really an exciting one is the

628
00:33:02,400 --> 00:33:06,160
Speaker 2: blue Jays because so the Blue Jays also, like the Dimonbacks,

629
00:33:06,200 --> 00:33:08,840
Speaker 2: off to a pretty good start in a tough division,

630
00:33:09,200 --> 00:33:12,240
Speaker 2: and they owe Russell Martin a lot of money this

631
00:33:12,360 --> 00:33:14,440
Speaker 2: year and next year, but he's just not producing the

632
00:33:14,520 --> 00:33:18,880
Speaker 2: way he used to, and they have got I think

633
00:33:18,880 --> 00:33:21,640
Speaker 2: anybody knows that the Blue Jays have as high end

634
00:33:21,720 --> 00:33:26,240
Speaker 2: prospects as anybody, with Vladimir Gerrero Junior and with Bobashett,

635
00:33:26,400 --> 00:33:31,360
Speaker 2: guys that have major league bloodlines but are just absolutely

636
00:33:32,440 --> 00:33:37,840
Speaker 2: terrific offensive prospects, guys that have higher floors. As you said,

637
00:33:38,000 --> 00:33:40,160
Speaker 2: you said you don't want to worry about these guys

638
00:33:40,200 --> 00:33:43,280
Speaker 2: that have a lot of potential a bust. But in

639
00:33:43,320 --> 00:33:45,800
Speaker 2: the Blue Jays system in particular, you have guys that are,

640
00:33:45,960 --> 00:33:50,000
Speaker 2: no doubt like difference makers and at their very best

641
00:33:50,320 --> 00:33:54,479
Speaker 2: could be totally special and be that kind of featured

642
00:33:54,480 --> 00:33:57,920
Speaker 2: player that you build around. So both of those guys

643
00:33:57,960 --> 00:33:59,760
Speaker 2: aren't in the big leagues yet, but they could be

644
00:34:01,200 --> 00:34:05,920
Speaker 2: next year pretty soon. And so the question with that

645
00:34:06,280 --> 00:34:09,000
Speaker 2: is that if real Mutoh was able to have a

646
00:34:09,080 --> 00:34:12,400
Speaker 2: career year. A guy who's ready established this great baseline

647
00:34:12,400 --> 00:34:14,600
Speaker 2: of performance. If he takes it to a higher level,

648
00:34:15,200 --> 00:34:17,880
Speaker 2: then all of a sudden, are you talking about the

649
00:34:17,880 --> 00:34:20,560
Speaker 2: best prospects in the game that somebody would be willing

650
00:34:20,560 --> 00:34:24,640
Speaker 2: to offer for him, considering his production, considering that he's underpaid,

651
00:34:24,640 --> 00:34:27,319
Speaker 2: and considering his position, a position that has a lot

652
00:34:27,320 --> 00:34:30,720
Speaker 2: of scarcity. So that's I'd love to see that happen,

653
00:34:30,800 --> 00:34:33,120
Speaker 2: you know. I'd love to see him have the breakout

654
00:34:33,120 --> 00:34:36,160
Speaker 2: of all breakouts and the Blue Jays to be desperate

655
00:34:36,360 --> 00:34:43,120
Speaker 2: and give some one of those like super superstar prospects

656
00:34:43,160 --> 00:34:46,279
Speaker 2: that they have that just no other team will be

657
00:34:46,320 --> 00:34:49,560
Speaker 2: able to offer. But we're still a long lay away

658
00:34:49,560 --> 00:34:52,960
Speaker 2: from that, you know. So in the meantime, it's we're

659
00:34:53,000 --> 00:34:55,640
Speaker 2: gonna learn a lot about this team just because there's

660
00:34:55,640 --> 00:34:59,000
Speaker 2: gonna be more veterans in the mix than we're the

661
00:34:59,000 --> 00:35:02,680
Speaker 2: first few weeks and really moved too, being like the

662
00:35:02,719 --> 00:35:03,959
Speaker 2: one right in the middle of it.

663
00:35:06,840 --> 00:35:10,520
Speaker 1: And that's that's I would love to pledtream for me

664
00:35:10,600 --> 00:35:13,400
Speaker 1: to have one of those top prospects for the Marlins

665
00:35:13,440 --> 00:35:16,239
Speaker 1: to come. I Boba Schett is an absolute stud. I

666
00:35:16,280 --> 00:35:19,800
Speaker 1: think Vladimir Guerrero is almost untouchable at this point, uh

667
00:35:20,640 --> 00:35:23,280
Speaker 1: with with the way he's just bursting onto the scene.

668
00:35:23,680 --> 00:35:26,400
Speaker 1: But you look at the Rockies too, they got a

669
00:35:26,400 --> 00:35:28,880
Speaker 1: guy like Brendan Rodgers. The Marlins really do need an

670
00:35:28,880 --> 00:35:31,480
Speaker 1: answer at shortstop. As much as I like Miguel Rojas

671
00:35:31,480 --> 00:35:33,640
Speaker 1: and I even tweeted the other day that he has

672
00:35:33,719 --> 00:35:36,920
Speaker 1: played himself into an everyday role, I think he's definitely

673
00:35:36,960 --> 00:35:40,319
Speaker 1: above replacement player, but at the end of the day,

674
00:35:40,840 --> 00:35:43,920
Speaker 1: he's not your answer at shortstop. Boba Schet. Brandon Rodgers

675
00:35:44,040 --> 00:35:46,719
Speaker 1: is something that you can really get excited about. So

676
00:35:46,760 --> 00:35:49,120
Speaker 1: I do think it is very dependent on how Rio

677
00:35:49,200 --> 00:35:50,920
Speaker 1: Muto plays, and that's why I do think it is

678
00:35:51,560 --> 00:35:56,000
Speaker 1: it is ideal to wait, opposite of what the situation

679
00:35:56,120 --> 00:35:58,160
Speaker 1: is with Starlen Castro, where I think if if you

680
00:35:58,200 --> 00:36:00,759
Speaker 1: can get something for him as soon as someone has

681
00:36:00,760 --> 00:36:03,080
Speaker 1: a second basement go down, then that might be the

682
00:36:03,080 --> 00:36:06,040
Speaker 1: best options. But now that we're three weeks into the season,

683
00:36:06,920 --> 00:36:11,360
Speaker 1: in conclusion, here, tell me, have your predictions for the

684
00:36:11,400 --> 00:36:14,400
Speaker 1: Marlins changed at all or is it exactly how you

685
00:36:14,440 --> 00:36:15,239
Speaker 1: thought it was going to go.

686
00:36:17,120 --> 00:36:21,560
Speaker 2: It's I mean, the record wise, it's lining up pretty

687
00:36:21,560 --> 00:36:26,560
Speaker 2: closely my expectations. I mean, for the near it's a

688
00:36:26,600 --> 00:36:30,480
Speaker 2: lot of contingent on those veterans that are rehabbing, making

689
00:36:30,520 --> 00:36:34,279
Speaker 2: it back and staying healthy where coming into the year.

690
00:36:34,600 --> 00:36:36,799
Speaker 2: The reason why I didn't think the team would be

691
00:36:36,880 --> 00:36:40,160
Speaker 2: dramatically worse at least before the trade deadline than they

692
00:36:40,160 --> 00:36:43,319
Speaker 2: were last year is because their pitching really couldn't have

693
00:36:43,320 --> 00:36:45,680
Speaker 2: gotten much worse than it was last year. A lot

694
00:36:45,719 --> 00:36:48,800
Speaker 2: went wrong with guys that they thought had track records

695
00:36:48,840 --> 00:36:52,360
Speaker 2: and who disappointed with the replacement players that are calling

696
00:36:52,440 --> 00:36:56,440
Speaker 2: up somehow being worse than replacement level. And I thought

697
00:36:56,480 --> 00:37:01,000
Speaker 2: just by by just running get back out there with

698
00:37:01,120 --> 00:37:03,480
Speaker 2: the guys they had in their organization, just by handing

699
00:37:03,560 --> 00:37:07,319
Speaker 2: out minor league deals to some guys with major league

700
00:37:07,400 --> 00:37:10,200
Speaker 2: track record, that they would get better production. And so

701
00:37:10,320 --> 00:37:14,759
Speaker 2: far it's been. Yeah, the pitching staff hasn't. It's been

702
00:37:14,840 --> 00:37:17,160
Speaker 2: rough in the rotation, but the bullpen is the one

703
00:37:17,200 --> 00:37:22,879
Speaker 2: that has really carried them pretty well despite a huge workload. Though.

704
00:37:23,239 --> 00:37:25,120
Speaker 2: I mean, and what also we expected is that the

705
00:37:25,160 --> 00:37:27,279
Speaker 2: offense would take a huge step back, and it has

706
00:37:27,960 --> 00:37:31,720
Speaker 2: because most obviously it just doesn't have the power anymore.

707
00:37:31,760 --> 00:37:34,920
Speaker 2: They're right along the bottom of the majors in slugging

708
00:37:35,040 --> 00:37:37,960
Speaker 2: and in home run totals and even in doubles and triples.

709
00:37:38,000 --> 00:37:41,480
Speaker 2: They just they I joke that they're the single greatest

710
00:37:41,480 --> 00:37:43,920
Speaker 2: team in baseball because they're going to get more singles

711
00:37:43,920 --> 00:37:47,919
Speaker 2: than just about anybody else. And it's hard to keep up,

712
00:37:48,000 --> 00:37:51,040
Speaker 2: like in baseball today where across the league there's as

713
00:37:51,080 --> 00:37:53,680
Speaker 2: many home runs being hit as ever before. So and

714
00:37:53,680 --> 00:37:55,839
Speaker 2: if you're a team that's trying to string along two

715
00:37:56,000 --> 00:37:58,560
Speaker 2: or three hits just to get a run, you're not

716
00:37:58,600 --> 00:38:00,640
Speaker 2: gonna be able to keep up. And so what's going

717
00:38:00,719 --> 00:38:04,719
Speaker 2: to take is those the rookies in the everyday roles

718
00:38:04,800 --> 00:38:08,400
Speaker 2: right now, Lewis Brinton and Brian Anderson, showing it a

719
00:38:08,400 --> 00:38:11,400
Speaker 2: little more because those were skills that they were supposed

720
00:38:11,400 --> 00:38:15,319
Speaker 2: to have. There were some questions about just their hit

721
00:38:15,400 --> 00:38:19,960
Speaker 2: tool and maybe their plate discipline, but the power was

722
00:38:19,960 --> 00:38:23,000
Speaker 2: supposed to be respectable from those guys, and it was

723
00:38:23,160 --> 00:38:24,799
Speaker 2: supposed to in the same thing with some of these

724
00:38:24,840 --> 00:38:27,799
Speaker 2: prospects that are knocking on the door below them. And

725
00:38:28,840 --> 00:38:32,480
Speaker 2: so the question is, yeah, I mean, how extreme is

726
00:38:32,520 --> 00:38:34,439
Speaker 2: this offense going to be? Is it going to get

727
00:38:34,960 --> 00:38:38,040
Speaker 2: any power from any position? I mean, you could trust

728
00:38:38,120 --> 00:38:40,480
Speaker 2: Justin Borr who's finally heating up from a slow start.

729
00:38:40,960 --> 00:38:44,000
Speaker 2: And yeah, you are really curious what they get from

730
00:38:44,040 --> 00:38:46,600
Speaker 2: real Muto, whether it's going to be something more than

731
00:38:46,640 --> 00:38:48,680
Speaker 2: we've ever seen before now that he's square in the

732
00:38:48,680 --> 00:38:52,360
Speaker 2: middle of his prime. But yeah, my expectations haven't really

733
00:38:52,520 --> 00:38:54,839
Speaker 2: changed the whole lot. I had them getting sixty nine

734
00:38:54,880 --> 00:38:58,359
Speaker 2: wins and having a nice year entering the season, and

735
00:38:58,719 --> 00:39:01,880
Speaker 2: they might be a little bit below that, just depending

736
00:39:01,880 --> 00:39:03,680
Speaker 2: on how many of these veterans get healthy and how

737
00:39:03,680 --> 00:39:06,040
Speaker 2: many of them have a trade market in the middle

738
00:39:06,040 --> 00:39:09,360
Speaker 2: of the year. But the next wave that they have

739
00:39:09,480 --> 00:39:12,480
Speaker 2: in tripa A, I think it's better than they had

740
00:39:12,560 --> 00:39:15,600
Speaker 2: last year. It's where if they do have significant injuries,

741
00:39:17,160 --> 00:39:19,960
Speaker 2: they have guys that are gonna come up and not

742
00:39:20,120 --> 00:39:24,760
Speaker 2: be dramatically worse. So it's yeah, it's a strange team.

743
00:39:25,160 --> 00:39:31,200
Speaker 2: I mean, it's weird that, but we'll see. I mean, overall, though,

744
00:39:31,239 --> 00:39:34,200
Speaker 2: I think we're pretty close to what I expected.

745
00:39:34,640 --> 00:39:38,719
Speaker 1: It's definitely been unique to cover for US. I can

746
00:39:38,760 --> 00:39:42,440
Speaker 1: definitely say that it's been unlike any other team I've

747
00:39:42,520 --> 00:39:47,520
Speaker 1: followed in my baseball life so far, which is good

748
00:39:47,520 --> 00:39:51,200
Speaker 1: and bad, but it's good definitely gonna be an exciting year.

749
00:39:51,320 --> 00:39:53,520
Speaker 1: There's gonna be a lot of new things that we're

750
00:39:53,520 --> 00:39:55,280
Speaker 1: going to see, a lot of things we haven't seen before,

751
00:39:55,560 --> 00:39:58,880
Speaker 1: and that's exciting. I'm actually headed out to Milwaukee this

752
00:39:58,960 --> 00:40:04,160
Speaker 1: weekend to catch the Marlins game. It's Friday and Saturday,

753
00:40:04,719 --> 00:40:06,920
Speaker 1: so I'll see if i can have some coverage from

754
00:40:06,960 --> 00:40:08,680
Speaker 1: there for Fish Stripes and I'm looking forward to that,

755
00:40:09,239 --> 00:40:12,719
Speaker 1: and i'll see if Yelich wants to talk to us

756
00:40:12,719 --> 00:40:13,840
Speaker 1: at all, I doubt.

757
00:40:13,880 --> 00:40:17,440
Speaker 2: Hey tell the folks real quick that you have you're

758
00:40:17,480 --> 00:40:20,280
Speaker 2: on a mission to go to all thirty Major League ballparks.

759
00:40:20,360 --> 00:40:24,520
Speaker 1: Yeah, yes, is yeah, that would be This will be

760
00:40:24,560 --> 00:40:27,320
Speaker 1: twenty three for me, So yeah, I had the story

761
00:40:27,320 --> 00:40:30,040
Speaker 1: come out about a month ago about going to all

762
00:40:30,080 --> 00:40:35,200
Speaker 1: thirty ballparks, and I'm trucking along here. That'll be about

763
00:40:35,239 --> 00:40:38,160
Speaker 1: twenty three. So we're moving along and I'm excited to

764
00:40:38,239 --> 00:40:41,799
Speaker 1: keep going. This was kind of a last second impulse move,

765
00:40:41,920 --> 00:40:45,279
Speaker 1: but usually I plan in advance, and as you know,

766
00:40:45,320 --> 00:40:49,120
Speaker 1: I'm taking like you know, children from from local hospitals.

767
00:40:49,920 --> 00:40:51,560
Speaker 1: Most of the stops that I'm going to go at,

768
00:40:51,680 --> 00:40:54,440
Speaker 1: especially in Texas. I have some contact down there, so

769
00:40:54,480 --> 00:40:57,560
Speaker 1: I'm looking forward to it, but I'm excited to see

770
00:40:57,920 --> 00:41:00,800
Speaker 1: not that excited, to be honest, but I'm intrigued to

771
00:41:00,840 --> 00:41:04,400
Speaker 1: see Christian Yelich in a different uniform. But other than that,

772
00:41:04,680 --> 00:41:08,399
Speaker 1: I'm looking forward to it. And in regards to my predictions,

773
00:41:08,760 --> 00:41:12,040
Speaker 1: I was probably a little overly optimistic, and I'll scale

774
00:41:12,080 --> 00:41:13,680
Speaker 1: it down now because I said they're going to win

775
00:41:13,719 --> 00:41:16,120
Speaker 1: seventy games, and I think that's crazy. I think they're

776
00:41:16,120 --> 00:41:19,839
Speaker 1: definitely going to be in the sixty range. But I

777
00:41:19,840 --> 00:41:21,600
Speaker 1: have no problem with having the first pick in the

778
00:41:21,680 --> 00:41:26,320
Speaker 1: draft next year. So I know tanking doesn't work in baseball,

779
00:41:26,360 --> 00:41:29,880
Speaker 1: but I'd like a little redemption for Tyler Kullich and

780
00:41:29,960 --> 00:41:33,520
Speaker 1: the second pick in that spot back in twenty was

781
00:41:33,560 --> 00:41:37,200
Speaker 1: it twenty twelve, twenty thirteen, So I would love to

782
00:41:37,200 --> 00:41:39,359
Speaker 1: have a little redemption there because the Marlins haven't had

783
00:41:39,360 --> 00:41:41,160
Speaker 1: a top five pick since then.

784
00:41:41,719 --> 00:41:45,520
Speaker 2: So just a quick note on that, because you know

785
00:41:45,560 --> 00:41:49,359
Speaker 2: you were expressing concern that, yeah, this organization doesn't have

786
00:41:50,640 --> 00:41:52,680
Speaker 2: You're concerned about some of the prospects they have right

787
00:41:52,719 --> 00:41:55,160
Speaker 2: now at the higher levels, and that if these guys

788
00:41:55,200 --> 00:41:57,520
Speaker 2: continue slumping, then all of a sudden, it looks like

789
00:41:57,560 --> 00:41:59,720
Speaker 2: you're starting from scratch, And I mean the civil answer

790
00:41:59,800 --> 00:42:02,200
Speaker 2: is that they're supposed to be bad this year to

791
00:42:02,320 --> 00:42:04,719
Speaker 2: get that really high draft pick, and not just in

792
00:42:04,760 --> 00:42:06,600
Speaker 2: the first round, but one of the first choices in

793
00:42:06,640 --> 00:42:09,600
Speaker 2: the second round, in the third round, and etc. Throughout

794
00:42:09,640 --> 00:42:13,080
Speaker 2: the whole draft. That's why it is tanking. It is tanking,

795
00:42:13,280 --> 00:42:16,040
Speaker 2: and like the only people denying that would be the

796
00:42:16,080 --> 00:42:19,560
Speaker 2: team itself that the intention is to get more added

797
00:42:19,640 --> 00:42:22,080
Speaker 2: talent into the system. You have these guys, they might

798
00:42:22,160 --> 00:42:24,960
Speaker 2: trade at the deadline, but there's a lot of uncertainty there.

799
00:42:24,960 --> 00:42:26,799
Speaker 2: Those guys need to stay healthy and they need to

800
00:42:26,840 --> 00:42:30,080
Speaker 2: pitch and pitch and hit as well or better than

801
00:42:30,080 --> 00:42:32,880
Speaker 2: they ever had before to create a market. And even

802
00:42:32,920 --> 00:42:35,600
Speaker 2: when you trade those assets, there's not a whole lot

803
00:42:35,640 --> 00:42:38,200
Speaker 2: of major league assets left they have to trade in

804
00:42:38,280 --> 00:42:43,280
Speaker 2: order to build like a truly stable, long term contender.

805
00:42:43,680 --> 00:42:47,160
Speaker 2: They're gonna need They're gonna need more, and they're gonna

806
00:42:47,200 --> 00:42:49,480
Speaker 2: get some of that trades, but they're gonna get probably

807
00:42:49,520 --> 00:42:53,480
Speaker 2: the majority of that in the draft and internationally. And

808
00:42:53,680 --> 00:42:57,640
Speaker 2: the hope is that the prospect evaluators, the scouts that

809
00:42:57,680 --> 00:43:00,799
Speaker 2: they have in their system right now are more in

810
00:43:00,840 --> 00:43:04,160
Speaker 2: the previous regime. And again, it all starts with the opportunity,

811
00:43:04,280 --> 00:43:06,720
Speaker 2: and they're gonna have a big opportunity if they finished

812
00:43:06,719 --> 00:43:09,919
Speaker 2: with a bad record this year and maybe next year too,

813
00:43:10,239 --> 00:43:14,239
Speaker 2: before you really start looking to put that together at

814
00:43:14,280 --> 00:43:15,160
Speaker 2: the major league level.

815
00:43:15,600 --> 00:43:19,960
Speaker 1: Yeah, and they do have the most international bonus pool money,

816
00:43:20,000 --> 00:43:23,000
Speaker 1: and they do have among the worst records in the league,

817
00:43:23,000 --> 00:43:25,799
Speaker 1: and they have had a terrible history of drafting, so

818
00:43:25,880 --> 00:43:28,719
Speaker 1: that is a very easy way to turn things around.

819
00:43:28,760 --> 00:43:31,840
Speaker 1: It's just draft better because they have not drafted well.

820
00:43:32,239 --> 00:43:35,880
Speaker 1: But in conclusion, the Marlins are not that good. We

821
00:43:35,960 --> 00:43:39,279
Speaker 1: knew that three weeks in. It's not a surprise. But

822
00:43:39,320 --> 00:43:43,000
Speaker 1: there is plenty to be excited about, and hopefully the

823
00:43:43,120 --> 00:43:46,280
Speaker 1: turnaround of Lowis Printon will start in his old hometown

824
00:43:46,280 --> 00:43:50,160
Speaker 1: of Milwaukee. But anyway, Eli, it's always fun. Thanks for

825
00:43:50,200 --> 00:43:52,680
Speaker 1: being on, and keep looking out for our podcast. It'll

826
00:43:52,719 --> 00:43:55,480
Speaker 1: be every two weeks. I'm sure Eli will be on

827
00:43:55,560 --> 00:43:58,319
Speaker 1: a lot more. I always have fun with Elis. Every

828
00:43:58,440 --> 00:43:59,759
Speaker 1: once in a while, I might have a host from

829
00:43:59,760 --> 00:44:03,640
Speaker 1: another eSPI Nation site, which we've always had a good

830
00:44:03,719 --> 00:44:06,160
Speaker 1: job of doing and always enjoyed doing as well. But Eli,

831
00:44:06,200 --> 00:44:06,799
Speaker 1: thanks for being on.

832
00:44:06,920 --> 00:44:09,799
Speaker 2: Like always, it's a pleasure, Thank you,