Speaker 1: Hey, it's Patrick Mooney from Northside Territory and The Athletic.
Speaker 1: He covers the Cubs.
Speaker 2: Patrick, good to see you. I know you just put
Speaker 2: something out on Justin Steele. I did want to actually
Speaker 2: start there and relate it to really what the pitching
Speaker 2: plan is going to look like for the Cubs, who
Speaker 2: actually have to still play the next month, but should
Speaker 2: be in somewhat of a postseason prep mode, too.
Speaker 1: So what are we thinking here?
Speaker 3: And I feel like start to start, you're wondering, you know,
Speaker 3: who's up, who's down, who's going to get that game
Speaker 3: one win. Simon and Kevin Gosman looked awesome Monday night
Speaker 3: at Chase Field. You had Craig Council managing with a
Speaker 3: lot of urgency the day before in Seattle and pulling
Speaker 3: Shota Minaga pretty quickly. And then they have this kind
Speaker 3: of fleet of pitchers waiting in the wings here. They
Speaker 3: got a very crowded Arizona complex of guys rehabbing and
Speaker 3: coming back and they're probably going to need some of
Speaker 3: those guys seeing as how they're, you know, likely making
Speaker 3: the playoffs as a wildcard team and having to win
Speaker 3: four rounds if they want to achieve their ultimate goal.
Speaker 4: And, you know, Steele is.
Speaker 3: One of those guys I would kind of, you know,
Speaker 3: Craig Council made a point to temper some of those expectations.
Speaker 3: You know, this is someone who hasn't pitched in a
Speaker 3: real game since April, 2025, but he's been making nice
Speaker 3: progress and, they could probably use some of his talent
Speaker 3: from the left side, particularly if they keep advancing.
Speaker 5: Patrick, would he be a bullpen option? Would they be
Speaker 5: willing to put him into the bullpen and let him pitch,
Speaker 5: even though he's mainly been a starter his entire career
Speaker 5: and he's been out for so long?
Speaker 4: Is that an option for Justin Steele?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think he'd have to jump ahead of a
Speaker 3: couple guys. The Cubs are already dealing with this roster crunch.
Speaker 3: I mean, Javier Assad's been so good for them, and
Speaker 3: he just got options to AAA Iowa again. I think
Speaker 3: Ben Brown is someone who's going to factor into this
Speaker 3: as well. Today's a busy day over at the Mesa Complex.
Speaker 3: Ben Brown and Justin Steele scheduled to throw live batting
Speaker 3: practice sessions today.
Speaker 4: Edward Cabrera throwing a bullpen. They're going to have options.
Speaker 3: I think Steele's point was like, I was a reliever
Speaker 3: when I broke into the majors and did pretty good
Speaker 3: job with that. And then took, just took advantage after
Speaker 3: the Cubs, you know, did their sell-off at the 21 deadline.
Speaker 3: You know, I think Brown is the guy that is
Speaker 3: just on a quicker path back and has done both
Speaker 3: roles this year, but certainly The point I made was
Speaker 3: I was at Chase Field when Kyle Schwarber crashed into
Speaker 3: Dexter Fowler, and we thought this was a season-ending, career-altering injury,
Speaker 3: and it was just in a totally different way. He
Speaker 3: did surprise everyone and make it back, and that's why
Speaker 3: I think you have to allow for that possibility that
Speaker 3: maybe he does finally get that moment in October after
Speaker 3: what's been a really long road back from a major
Speaker 3: arm injury.
Speaker 6: All right, so you're saying Steele's going to be used
Speaker 6: for a short burst. Cabrera could be used as short bursts.
Speaker 6: Ben Brown, all those guys are used. Does that change
Speaker 6: how they would build that playoff rotation? Or do you
Speaker 6: still think if Gossman trends the way he did in
Speaker 6: his last start, he's the number one starter, and then
Speaker 6: you save all these short bursts for Boyd, for Imanaga,
Speaker 6: guys who have a tougher time third time through the order,
Speaker 6: even maybe even second time through a platoon order.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: You guys know how managers run their pitching staffs in
Speaker 3: the playoffs now, like, you know, getting three and two
Speaker 3: thirds or four and a third. And, you know, there's like,
Speaker 3: you get a standing ovation, you know, walking off the field.
Speaker 3: And yes, I think Gosman and Clay Holmes were acquired
Speaker 3: to be starting pitchers in a playoff rotation and, Matthew
Speaker 3: Boyd was a Game 1 playoff starter last year, opening
Speaker 3: day starter this year, an All-Star the year before, has
Speaker 3: a nice baseline of playoff experience. I would figure that
Speaker 3: he would operate as a starter, and all these guys
Speaker 3: are going to have short leashes. You guys know how
Speaker 3: Craig Council operates. They put this puzzle together. They've done
Speaker 3: a really good job with it amidst just a barrage
Speaker 3: of pitching injuries. And so you also have, you know,
Speaker 3: if you're working backwards as well, you know, Daniel Palencia
Speaker 3: just came back and he was, you know, just an
Speaker 3: electric reliever last year. He brings something totally different, you know,
Speaker 3: 100 mile hour fastball, swing and miss stuff. Jacob Webb
Speaker 3: has been really good in the interim as a closer.
Speaker 3: And so while I feel like I'm being way too
Speaker 3: positive for AJ's taste, I feel like they will have
Speaker 3: a lot of options and they can see if it
Speaker 3: works down the stretch here.
Speaker 6: AJ is not a negative person. How dare you offend
Speaker 6: my friend like that? He's just not a positive person
Speaker 6: towards the Cubs.
Speaker 4: That's it. Gotcha. That's fair. That's totally fair. That's totally fair.
Speaker 6: Is there a drop-dead date on any of these guys
Speaker 6: because they're filtering into a new role in the sense
Speaker 6: of if Edward Cabrera's bullpen, you know, this whole thing
Speaker 6: slowly and we get to September 15th, You can't just
Speaker 6: throw starters into the pen and be like, you get
Speaker 6: one outing, and then we need you in the playoffs.
Speaker 6: That's not the reality that we live in.
Speaker 3: Eric, I think you could probably speak to this even
Speaker 3: better than I could, that Craig Council is a very
Speaker 3: direct communicator. He gives players good news, bad news, whatever
Speaker 3: it is. He tells them the truth, and they've gotten
Speaker 3: some pretty good buy-in really recently.
Speaker 4: All phases of their roster.
Speaker 3: Obviously, Ian Happ wants to be playing every single day,
Speaker 3: but they went out and acquired a nice role player
Speaker 3: at the trade deadline. That cuts into his playing time.
Speaker 3: David Peterson, we haven't even mentioned him yet. He kind
Speaker 3: of saved this rotation when they acquired him from the
Speaker 3: Mets in late June, and he got bounced after the
Speaker 3: trade deadline to make room for Cabrera, and he got
Speaker 3: You know, four big outs in a win over the
Speaker 3: White Sox at Wrigley Field and then went back into
Speaker 3: the rotation in Seattle and, you know, pitched a really
Speaker 3: nice game there. So, you know, if you look at
Speaker 3: this rotation right now, I think it's like five guys
Speaker 3: who've been an all-star at some point in their career,
Speaker 3: but not that traditional number one starter. You know, that's
Speaker 3: why they gave Craig Council that huge contract is to
Speaker 3: go figure it out.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, well.
Speaker 5: He'll figure it out, Patrick. By the way, I'm not
Speaker 5: negative at all. And I don't even agree with that.
Speaker 5: I've been actually very positive on the Cubs for a
Speaker 5: long time. When we talked when I was at Wrigley,
Speaker 5: I said PCS would be the MVP for a while.
Speaker 5: I mean, I've been very positive on the Cubs for
Speaker 5: this entire year or so. I don't appreciate that, Patrick.
Speaker 5: But what I don't understand is Craig Council the other
Speaker 5: day took Shodan Minaga out.
Speaker 4: After, what was it, two and a third?
Speaker 5: Two plus two plus yeah two plus yeah and they
Speaker 5: and and he's like okay with the three run lead
Speaker 5: and he's like all right we're it's go time so
Speaker 5: is he just prepping for the playoffs and by the
Speaker 5: way before you answer this question cub fans when they
Speaker 5: released jameson tyon i said jameson tyon has been serviceable
Speaker 5: they annihilated for me for saying that their big stat
Speaker 5: that they said was he had given up so many
Speaker 5: home runs should aminaga has given up 30 home runs
Speaker 5: should they release him too.
Speaker 3: Uh, no, they shouldn't. He's been their best pitcher this year.
Speaker 4: Oh, I mean, he's been the most consistent thing. Home
Speaker 4: runs aren't the most. Okay. Just checking. Just trying to
Speaker 4: figure this out. Cup fans love you.
Speaker 3: Well, I would actually say that. I don't, I feel
Speaker 3: like cups fans really focus on show does bad outings that,
Speaker 3: you know, his body of work over almost three full
Speaker 3: seasons in the majors has been really impressive. Uh, you know, he,
Speaker 3: He's performed at an all-star level, but he just did
Speaker 3: not have it on Sunday afternoon in Seattle. And your
Speaker 3: counsel looks at this bullpen. He's got a bunch of
Speaker 3: long relievers there. He basically said as soon as Ian
Speaker 3: Happ hit that home run. he started thinking, like, if
Speaker 3: Shota doesn't pick it up here, we're going to make
Speaker 3: a change. And his velo was down a little bit.
Speaker 3: I think it took 72 pitches to get six outs,
Speaker 3: three first-pitch strikes to 14 batters. I just think Shota,
Speaker 3: the way last season ended for Shota really just kind
Speaker 3: of stands out the way they avoided using him for
Speaker 3: that game five in Milwaukee. I don't think that's like
Speaker 3: totally fair, but like that's why they went out and
Speaker 3: got a ton of pitching at the deadline so that
Speaker 3: they would not run out, you know, almost after that
Speaker 3: wildcard round. I mean, you saw it, they kind of
Speaker 3: poured all their resources into being the Padres and then
Speaker 3: Matt Boyd, starting on short rest, game one Milwaukee, that
Speaker 3: was not a very competitive game. And even council acknowledged
Speaker 3: if they had somehow won that game five, it was
Speaker 3: really difficult to see them having enough pitching to win
Speaker 3: two more playoff rounds. And so I think that while
Speaker 3: Shota's probably not getting the ball for game one of
Speaker 3: the playoffs, I think for them to get to where
Speaker 3: they want to go, they'll need The version of him
Speaker 3: that he's been for most of his time in Chicago
Speaker 3: is just the home runs and the blowout outings really
Speaker 3: just stand out in your memory as you watch this team.
Speaker 6: Maybe a little exhausted from being used throughout the entire season,
Speaker 6: the bullpen.
Speaker 4: But hey, you know what?
Speaker 6: You just got to get hot in the playoffs. Let's
Speaker 6: go to the one big free agent acquisition that the
Speaker 6: Cubs had this offseason. You wrote an article about Alex
Speaker 6: Bregman and what he has meant to this team. Has
Speaker 6: he been worth every penny, even though his numbers wouldn't say, ooh,
Speaker 6: all-star MVP type of numbers? Has he been worth it
Speaker 6: based on the fact that this team is where they are?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I guess it depends on, you know, kind of
Speaker 3: what you value. And I think with Bregman, the Cubs
Speaker 3: thought he would have this high floor, you know, just
Speaker 3: with his defense at that particular position. That's a spot
Speaker 3: where you can accumulate value. and as well as they
Speaker 3: thought he would bring a ton of intangibles. And this
Speaker 3: is a very model-driven team, a very unsentimental operation, but
Speaker 3: they thought that he could be a special connector in
Speaker 3: their group. And I think he's just fit in really
Speaker 3: well in that regard. He's finally getting hot. I mean,
Speaker 3: I was there one late night at Wrigley where he
Speaker 3: spoke to a small group of us and just said,
Speaker 3: I've been terrible. Like he did the thumbs down gesture
Speaker 3: at Wrigley at one point too. It's been interesting to cover.
Speaker 3: I'm sure Cubs fans at various points were like, why
Speaker 3: were they so obsessed with this guy? Because they were
Speaker 3: over multiple off seasons as a free agent, but watching
Speaker 3: him day to day, he is a really, really nice
Speaker 3: defender at third base, a position that's been kind of
Speaker 3: hard to fill for the Cubs over the years. I
Speaker 3: think he fits well in this lineup when you piece
Speaker 3: it together kind of left-right and having different skills and
Speaker 3: different ways to beat your opponent. And he has this
Speaker 3: reputation for being a baseball gym rat and that he
Speaker 3: was not going to stop until he found that feel
Speaker 3: to have a better sense of his mechanics. And I
Speaker 3: think you're kind of seeing it now. I mean, walking
Speaker 3: away last October, I think the Cubs felt they were
Speaker 3: a little short on the position player side. They knew
Speaker 3: that Kyle Tucker was leaving and that this is the
Speaker 3: guy that they had circled. They knew kind of how
Speaker 3: weak this upcoming free agent class would be. They felt
Speaker 3: that he would just be a good solid overall investment.
Speaker 3: And I think you're, you're seeing that now.
Speaker 5: Patrick, can you do me a favor? Can you go like,
Speaker 5: can you put both hands above like this? Can you
Speaker 5: just go like this for me?
Speaker 6: Oh, why?
Speaker 4: What's this? Just, just do it. It's not bad. No,
Speaker 4: it's not a trap at all. Okay.
Speaker 5: Now last night when you were sitting in the press box,
Speaker 5: were you the one signaling to Quentin Barry when Merrill
Speaker 5: Kelly was going changeups?
Speaker 4: Okay. It was, you have like a, a flash, a pen,
Speaker 4: like the, your laser pointer.
Speaker 3: Uh, no, it's hard to hear to like, uh, you know,
Speaker 3: hear your own thoughts at Chase Fields sometimes. Cause they
Speaker 3: have a lot of piped in noise and things like that. But, uh, yeah,
Speaker 3: that was a good one. I actually noticed it more, uh,
Speaker 3: on the foul territory popped up on my, uh, Twitter
Speaker 3: field there, uh, Twitter feed there. Um, you know, I
Speaker 3: would actually like Eric's thoughts on this because I feel
Speaker 3: like he's been on the show before saying how the
Speaker 3: Brewers were pretty good at, uh, you know, finding the
Speaker 3: Cubs weaknesses in that regards when they weren't totally buttoned up. But,
Speaker 3: you know, there'll be something to follow up for sure
Speaker 3: on today. I think it's two teams competing. Craig Council
Speaker 3: called it gamesmanship that happens every single day in this league.
Speaker 3: And yeah, I'm curious what you guys as former players think.
Speaker 3: Is there anything to see there?
Speaker 6: I mean, of course, there's something to see there. But
Speaker 6: my question to you is, you've been around this team.
Speaker 6: Are they a fiery, feisty team that when the Diamondbacks
Speaker 6: throw at one of their players today, they will just say, eh, whatever?
Speaker 6: Because you sense those kinds of things when you're in
Speaker 6: a clubhouse talking to both teams. Do you think there
Speaker 6: will be some type of retaliation? Do the Diamondbacks do
Speaker 6: something tonight and the Cubs, what's their reaction to it?
Speaker 3: I don't know the Diamondbacks well enough in that regard.
Speaker 3: I do feel like these are two teams competing for
Speaker 3: a playoff spot. I think the Cubs in general, like
Speaker 3: this group, why Bregman was such a fit is because
Speaker 3: they do have these baseball gym rats who do like
Speaker 3: to study the game and kind of obsess over their
Speaker 3: craft and look.
Speaker 4: At the finer details. Within the game, this is not
Speaker 4: a group.
Speaker 3: That all shows up on the late bus or is
Speaker 3: kind of just sitting at their lockers looking at their
Speaker 3: phone for hours and hours before the game.
Speaker 4: They're pretty engaged.
Speaker 3: I think if you look at Quentin Berry's resume, the
Speaker 3: job that he carved out in the majors required as
Speaker 3: a designated pinch runner on some great teams required a
Speaker 3: really high level of attention to detail um so yeah
Speaker 3: i'll certainly be asking around about that uh today as
Speaker 3: when we were in the clubhouse i was in the
Speaker 3: cubs visiting clubhouse so i wasn't really aware of uh
Speaker 3: kelly's comments until my colleague at the athletic johnny floris
Speaker 3: alerted me he wrote up a good story uh on
Speaker 3: the athletic and i would recommend you check that out
Speaker 3: i think it's It'll be fun to watch tonight. I
Speaker 3: feel like at Chase Field when the Cubs come into town,
Speaker 3: there's usually a couple unusual things that happen. We'll see
Speaker 3: how much spillover there is tonight.
Speaker 2: And we're going to continue this combo with AJ and Kratz.
Speaker 2: We have that Merrill Kelly sound too. So we'll let
Speaker 2: Patrick jump and get ready for the next round of
Speaker 2: a potential boxing match with those two.
Speaker 1: Patrick, thank you. Appreciate you.
Speaker 4: You got it, guys. Thank you. Bella.
Speaker 1: Bella.
Speaker 4: Bella, where?
Speaker 6: I don't know where Bella is, but I know how
Speaker 6: to take care of my pup.
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Speaker 2: and is not engaged in the business of insurance. Hey,
Speaker 2: let's talk to Marty Caswell about the new look San
Speaker 2: Diego Padres.
Speaker 1: You can hear her on Friar Territory, of course. Marty,
Speaker 1: great to catch up with you again.
Speaker 2: I say new look because, I don't know, do we
Speaker 2: want to go the route of how well the team
Speaker 2: is playing in August, best team in baseball this month,
Speaker 2: and how it correlates with the ownership group taking over?
Speaker 2: Let's start with the ownership group because you were at
Speaker 2: the pomp and circumstance, right, yesterday.
Speaker 1: So how was it? How are the new owners making
Speaker 1: themselves seen and heard on day one?
Speaker 8: Hi, Scott. Hi, Eric. And hi, AJ.
Speaker 9: I have never been to a press conference like that
Speaker 9: in my entire life. And I've covered, I told this
Speaker 9: to Prowler afterwards, I've covered like hundreds of press conferences.
Speaker 9: And it started differently with like this music, this energetic music.
Speaker 9: And it's something that Kwanzaa Jones, the co-owner of the Padres,
Speaker 9: produced and wrote. And she was apparently inspired by a
Speaker 9: key phrase from a grand slam that Fernando Tatis robbed.
Speaker 9: So it was unlike anything I've ever seen at Petco Park.
Speaker 9: The enthusiasm coming from her was just contagious. The vibe
Speaker 9: that she and her husband, Jose, the synergy they had,
Speaker 9: it was a lot.
Speaker 8: Of fun to watch.
Speaker 9: So if you're a Padres fan watching it, They hit
Speaker 9: all the right notes. They said all the right things,
Speaker 9: wanting to go ahead and win, invest in San Diego,
Speaker 9: invest in the Padres, and also honor Peter Siler's legacy.
Speaker 9: So they hit all the right notes. It was a
Speaker 9: pretty fun day until the game started.
Speaker 5: Marty, one thing they said that was interesting, you said
Speaker 5: they want to win, but they said they want to win,
Speaker 5: what is it?
Speaker 4: I forget the exact, responsibly? Yes. Right? Not like Peter.
Speaker 1: Judiciously.
Speaker 9: Yeah, because they were asked about, you know, because Peter
Speaker 9: Seidler was aggressive in free agency, right?
Speaker 8: This is the guy that wasn't afraid to go ahead.
Speaker 9: And throw $ 300 million at Manny Machado and then, oh,
Speaker 9: by the way, give him another 10-year extension. This is
Speaker 9: the guy who went after Xander Bogarts. This is the
Speaker 9: guy who flew out, who sent his private jet to
Speaker 9: pick up Aaron Judge and try.
Speaker 8: And sign him. So, So Peter Seidler was.
Speaker 9: Aggressive, and the line that stood out to me was
Speaker 9: they were going to go ahead and spend within their means.
Speaker 9: I'm waiting to find out what that means. I know
Speaker 9: Padres fans are as well. They've paid $ 3. 95 billion for
Speaker 9: the Padres, and what we know about them right now,
Speaker 9: they are the richest ownership group the Padres have ever had.
Speaker 9: So perhaps within their means could mean something good. We're
Speaker 9: not going to find out, though, until the offseason really
Speaker 9: kicks in.
Speaker 8: I hope they spend though.
Speaker 5: Yeah, we all hope they spend because San Diego is
Speaker 5: an awesome place to watch a game. It's incredible. But
Speaker 5: what I want to know is, did you get a bonus?
Speaker 5: Because apparently you get a bonus. I get a bonus.
Speaker 4: Scott gets a bonus. The usher in the ticket thing
Speaker 4: gets a bonus, right?
Speaker 5: The scoreboard operator, the guy who paints the foul poles
Speaker 5: gets a bonus.
Speaker 4: And Marty, did you get a bonus?
Speaker 8: I should get a bonus.
Speaker 9: I'm going to go ahead and check my inbox after
Speaker 9: this and see if I'm getting a share. I did
Speaker 9: see that story that every full-time and part-time employee of
Speaker 9: the Padres is going to get a bonus because the
Speaker 9: partners of the Padres, those who have shares in the Padres,
Speaker 9: are contributing towards a bonus pool.
Speaker 8: And they're all going to make some money. What a
Speaker 8: nice gesture on the way out.
Speaker 9: I like that.
Speaker 4: Everybody likes Christmas money. I did not.
Speaker 1: Kratz, she does get a bonus, actually. Just bring it
Speaker 1: in for a sec.
Speaker 2: I heard the bonus for you, Marty, is that you
Speaker 2: get an exclusive interview with A.J. Preller at some undetermined time.
Speaker 4: Good luck.
Speaker 9: It's going to happen. I'm going to follow this. I
Speaker 9: will break this man down. I got him on camera.
Speaker 9: I let him know he's under oath.
Speaker 8: And he did say, okay, Friar Territory won't be this week.
Speaker 8: It'll be next week.
Speaker 9: But he did mention they've got a tough, you know,
Speaker 9: wildcard chase going.
Speaker 8: He'll come on. Big fan of the show.
Speaker 4: 100%.
Speaker 9: What's the one burning question you'd want to ask AJ
Speaker 9: Preller when that time does come?
Speaker 4: Why he won't come on foul territory?
Speaker 1: That's the one burning question.
Speaker 4: That's the one burning question. Because then if we get
Speaker 4: him on, we can ask him like 20 questions. Right.
Speaker 5: And by the way, Marty, I just wanted to say this.
Speaker 5: When I saw Preller in San Diego, last time I
Speaker 5: was in San Diego, it was last year now. I
Speaker 5: talked to him and I said something to him about
Speaker 5: coming on. He's like, Oh no, you know, I don't
Speaker 5: really watch those shows. I don't, I don't really know
Speaker 5: what you're talking about. And then two minutes later in
Speaker 5: the conversation, he's like, but I saw this thing that
Speaker 5: you said on your show. And I was like, wait.
Speaker 4: I thought you didn't watch.
Speaker 5: It was Ken and I were talking to him and
Speaker 5: he dresses like a surfer guy. I mean, he's got
Speaker 5: the San Diego vibe down.
Speaker 4: I'll give him that.
Speaker 8: Definitely.
Speaker 9: You guys are the right guys to ask this question.
Speaker 9: When players say, because Manny Machado is the ultimate guy
Speaker 9: who'll say, I don't pay attention to what they say
Speaker 9: on social media. This is a guy that deleted his
Speaker 9: Instagram account, I think, last year. But Manny Machado sees
Speaker 9: and hears everything because when he's mad at us, he
Speaker 9: will say, but you guys said this and you guys
Speaker 9: don't believe in us. So when players say they don't
Speaker 9: hear it, they don't read it, they don't.
Speaker 8: Pay attention, I don't believe you. They see everything. And
Speaker 8: so does AJ Prowler.
Speaker 6: Marty, AJ watches all your stuff. And so when AJ
Speaker 6: watches this interview, just make sure he knows that we
Speaker 6: will mic each other up and he and I will
Speaker 6: play one-on-one basketball at his, whatever court he chooses so
Speaker 6: he can have home field advantage. And I'll ask questions
Speaker 6: while I lock him down on, in a one-on-one game.
Speaker 6: So we meet him at his court.
Speaker 9: You think you could take him because this, this is,
Speaker 9: this is the base. This is how you loop him
Speaker 9: into an interview.
Speaker 8: You've seen him.
Speaker 4: I've seen it.
Speaker 6: I've seen it back in 2016. I mean, there's a
Speaker 6: difference in height and defensive ability. So he's a good player.
Speaker 6: He's a good player, but we're not playing horse. He
Speaker 6: would beat me in a game of horse. But anyway, AJ,
Speaker 6: thank you for watching Marty's stuff. But now I have
Speaker 6: to ask the team on the field. Because Steven Souza
Speaker 6: was getting absolutely ripped, asked if he should be fired,
Speaker 6: the hitting coach for the Padres, should Steven Souza get
Speaker 6: a three-year extension based on the changes that he made
Speaker 6: during the All-Star game?
Speaker 9: Okay, Eric, I don't know that the Padres ever give
Speaker 9: three years extensions to their hitting coach.
Speaker 8: The advice I always give.
Speaker 9: Them is you don't buy, you rent in San Diego
Speaker 9: because you never know. They've got, I think I've counted,
Speaker 9: they've gone through like 14 different hitting coaches, like in the,
Speaker 9: I'm not sure under AJ Prowler, but like in the
Speaker 9: Petco Park area, it's a revolving door there. And by
Speaker 9: the way, I know when, when Craig Stammen was asked about,
Speaker 9: you know, the adjustments, like what's been changing for Neno Tatis,
Speaker 9: And he credited Steven Souza, but he also credited another
Speaker 9: hitting coach, Rolo Padron, and the impact he's had on
Speaker 9: these players. So I don't think it's any one guy.
Speaker 9: They'll talk about players now buying into the message and
Speaker 9: taking the information and executing.
Speaker 8: But I don't know.
Speaker 9: Again, it can be feast or famine. They can go
Speaker 9: from one series looking like the best offensive team in baseball,
Speaker 9: and then they can have a night like last night
Speaker 9: where they struggle to go and execute and do anything
Speaker 9: with runners in scoring position.
Speaker 8: So he does get credit. Does he get credit? Yes,
Speaker 8: because he got a ton of blame.
Speaker 9: But you have players like Ty France and Gavin Sheets
Speaker 9: who are crediting Steven Souza for his consistent messaging and
Speaker 9: what he is teaching them.
Speaker 8: So it remains to be seen.
Speaker 9: But no, the Padres never give extensions to their hitting
Speaker 9: coaches because that is the ultimate revolving door.
Speaker 4: All right, Marty, last one real quick.
Speaker 5: Since Don and mud, Don or solo and mud have
Speaker 5: been mud grant, have been awarded for the second year
Speaker 5: row as the best local television announcers. Can Don or
Speaker 5: silos mug fit through the doors of Petco park when
Speaker 5: he walks around now?
Speaker 1: Yes.
Speaker 4: Oh, I don't know. That dome is still fits.
Speaker 8: It still fits. It still fits. Now if he, Yes,
Speaker 8: he's a gem. Maybe you get his bobblehead.
Speaker 9: They are so wildly popular that not only do they
Speaker 9: have the Don and Mud first bobblehead night a couple
Speaker 9: of weeks ago, but by popular demand, it's returning in
Speaker 9: a couple of weeks. So Don and Mud, they're quite
Speaker 9: the pair together, but I think for him, the ultimate
Speaker 9: prize isn't winning best broadcaster. It's catching the big fish.
Speaker 9: If you follow Don or Solo on IG, you will
Speaker 9: always see when he's catching in the waters off the Coronado.
Speaker 8: His big one's about fishing.
Speaker 4: Yeah, his big one is about this big, too, by
Speaker 4: the way. His big one is about 8 inches, 9,
Speaker 4: 10 inches.
Speaker 5: Because he calls his mini-yacht, and he can't take more
Speaker 5: than one person on his mini-yacht because the weight limit
Speaker 5: is like 300 pounds. I'm like, Don, why can't we
Speaker 5: go fishing? And Don said, well, the weight limit on
Speaker 5: the mini-yacht is like 300 pounds.
Speaker 1: It's a one-seater?
Speaker 4: Well, it's a two-seater, but they better be small people.
Speaker 4: And Don isn't exactly... Checking in at about 120.
Speaker 8: No, he's lost some weight.
Speaker 4: Yeah, but he's still not 120.
Speaker 9: Not 120, but he's felt.
Speaker 8: He's buying into the San Diego lifestyle.
Speaker 1: He's eating like me. Marty, thank you so much. Good
Speaker 1: to see you.
Speaker 8: Great seeing you guys.
Speaker 4: Marty, tell Don I asked that too, by the way.
Speaker 1: Marty and Darren. Friar Territory, part of the FT Network.
Speaker 4: New ownership group.
Speaker 1: They talked about it.