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Speaker 1: It's the inside Scoop with that FT senior insider Ken Rosenthal.

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Speaker 1: He is fresh and ready to go.

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Speaker 2: Ken.

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Speaker 1: Good to see you, and it's been about a week

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Speaker 1: since we've seen you on Foul Territory. Actually a lot

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Speaker 1: has changed. I'm going to start with the Dodgers and

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Speaker 1: the Padres is a big one coming up this weekend.

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Speaker 1: Padres are officially right now in first, although whoever wins

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Speaker 1: the series this weekend, we'll leap frog that team. How

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Speaker 1: surprised are you to see the Padres in this spot

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Speaker 1: so quickly, being that it's been, as you mentioned on

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Speaker 1: Fair Territory, less than six weeks since they were nine

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Speaker 1: games back.

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Speaker 3: Well, from that perspective, Scott, you have to be surprised.

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Speaker 3: And the way they erase that deficit so quickly, yes,

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Speaker 3: that is surprising. But when you look at the two

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Speaker 3: rosters right now, and when you take a step back

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Speaker 3: and look at the way the Dodgers have played the

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Speaker 3: whole season, they've kind of slow played the entire season,

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Speaker 3: right And I get it. I said this on Fair

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Speaker 3: Territory yesterday. You're coming off a World Series title. There

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Speaker 3: is an understandable let down that can occur. There is

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Speaker 3: an understandable desire to protect your pitchers because they went

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Speaker 3: deep into October, they had some injuries coming out of that,

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Speaker 3: and yes, you're in that position, but it just seems

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Speaker 3: to me the entire season they've played knowing that they

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Speaker 3: would get into the playoffs and thinking, Okay, we can

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Speaker 3: turn it on whenever we need to. That to me

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Speaker 3: is not so easy to do. And now you've got

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Speaker 3: the Padres who are playing like attack dogs. They're right there.

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Speaker 3: In fact, they're ahead of the Dodgers. So it's not

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Speaker 3: so easy to try to accomplish what the Dodgers are doing.

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Speaker 3: And it speaks again to the difficulty of winning back

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Speaker 3: to back championships. It's going to be very interesting over

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Speaker 3: these next ten days when they play six times, just

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Speaker 3: to see if the Dodgers respond and how they respond.

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Speaker 3: Still they're banged up, some they don't have some of

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Speaker 3: their believers Tanner Si and Kirby Yates and Kopek is

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Speaker 3: still not back. But it's time to go right and

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Speaker 3: they have not gone yet, at least not fired the

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Speaker 3: way that we all expected they would at some point

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Speaker 3: in the season.

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Speaker 4: Now I do hear the concern in your voice. I

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Speaker 4: was going to talk a little bit about that bullpen.

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Speaker 4: You know what happened to it a little bit, but

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Speaker 4: understandably ebbs and flows of the year, some injuries that

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Speaker 4: can occur during the season. Now for you, these two

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Speaker 4: teams right here, eventually, what usually does happens or the

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Speaker 4: Padres end up folding at the end of the year.

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Speaker 4: Do you see that happening or do you see the

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Speaker 4: Padres finally taking that next step?

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Speaker 3: No, I don't see them folding. And really they didn't

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Speaker 3: fold last year. They did lose the last two games

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Speaker 3: of that division series, but they got out pitched and

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Speaker 3: that was the reason why that happened. The Padres reinforced

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Speaker 3: themselves to the deadline in a big way. We will

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Speaker 3: know what happened Loreano, o'hearne and Freddy for me and

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Speaker 3: from the offensive and then Mason Miller and JP Sears.

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Speaker 3: On the pitching end, Seriares has been demoted. That bullpen,

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Speaker 3: which was already the league's best, is now even better now.

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Speaker 3: One concern I heard from a club this morning about them.

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Speaker 3: Another club was that they still have three or four

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Speaker 3: relievers right in the top of appearances this season, and

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Speaker 3: could that bullpen wear out because they're playing kind of

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Speaker 3: playoff style baseball every night. Yes, I guess that's possible,

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Speaker 3: even with his number, the number of relievers, the quality

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Speaker 3: relievers that they have. But I don't see them folding.

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Speaker 3: If anything, they have this burning desire to finish the

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Speaker 3: job that they did not finish last year. And that

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Speaker 3: plays into this too, in my head at least. I

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Speaker 3: don't know what you guys think about that, but not

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Speaker 3: that the Dodgers are complacent. But they won last year.

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Speaker 3: The Padres got knocked out after leading the Division Series

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Speaker 3: two games to one at home with a chance to

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Speaker 3: close it out, and that can definitely affect the team's

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Speaker 3: psychology and make them They're always hungry. Players are always hungry.

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Speaker 3: But there's a certain edge that the Padres have. They

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Speaker 3: kind of had it last year too, That to me

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Speaker 3: right now is different, and that to me is going

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Speaker 3: to carry them to wherever they're going. And whether they

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Speaker 3: beat the Dodgers or not for the Division, whether they

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Speaker 3: get to the World Series or not, I don't know.

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Speaker 3: But that edge is what you want to see from

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Speaker 3: a team, and they've got that.

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Speaker 2: You mentioned it. The reason they didn't go to the

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Speaker 2: World Series was because the last two games, the either Dodgers'

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Speaker 2: bullpen shut them down or the offense collapsed. They didn't

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Speaker 2: adjust their offense. I get it, it's a very very

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Speaker 2: powerful offense, but do they hit enough home runs? Do

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Speaker 2: they do the things that will lead them to success?

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Speaker 2: And have they improved that from last year? Because the

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Speaker 2: offense is ultimately what costs them, not the fact that

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Speaker 2: they didn't have a deep enough bullpen.

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Speaker 3: Fair Enough, Eric and I would say this Bogarts is

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Speaker 3: a lot better than he was last year. That's one

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Speaker 3: thing that has happened. And the players that I mentioned

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Speaker 3: O'Hearn and Loriano and for mean, they are additions that

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Speaker 3: deepened the lineup. They addressed the catching position, they addressed

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Speaker 3: left field, which was a black hole for them. Now

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Speaker 3: are they always a dynamic offensive team. No, They've kind

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Speaker 3: of had some lulls this year which were a little weird,

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Speaker 3: quite frankly, given the talent that they have on their roster.

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Speaker 3: But Sheets is on the team now too, Gavin Sheets,

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Speaker 3: and he wasn't with them last year, so overall they

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Speaker 3: have more depth. It's fair to question their offense because

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Speaker 3: that's been a bugaboo at times for them this season.

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Speaker 3: But it just seems to me that they took care

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Speaker 3: of that at the deadline. Now, who knows what happens

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Speaker 3: in the postseason. And if the Dodgers ever get their

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Speaker 3: bullpen healthy, big if, then yes, they've got an unbelievably

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Speaker 3: dynamic bullpen. Every bit is good. Perhaps is the Padres,

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Speaker 3: but I'll believe that when I see it. It hasn't

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Speaker 3: happened yet with regard to their health.

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Speaker 1: We have a little breaking news on HelloFresh. We've talked

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Speaker 1: about them for a long time, but this summer they

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Speaker 1: have their biggest menu upgrade yet. Ready for this, Todd Father,

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Speaker 1: to me, they have doubled their menu doubled. Now you

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Speaker 1: can choose from one hundred options each week, including new

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Speaker 1: seasonal dishes and recipes from around the world. One hundred

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Speaker 1: options per week.

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Speaker 5: That's incredible. But to start out, what they had before

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Speaker 5: was absolutely perfect. Now to add even more to your

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Speaker 5: go Guys like me, I got baseball in the morning,

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Speaker 5: I got baseball afternoon all day every day. I need

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Speaker 5: something to get going, I need something to eat, and

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Speaker 5: it's absolutely delicious. Scott.

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Speaker 2: All right, let's hit the Astros for a little bit here.

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Speaker 2: Good sign for the Astros. Jordan Alvarez is going to

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Speaker 2: face some live pitching. Obviously he needs to progress and

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Speaker 2: maybe playing games, maybe not. But the big blow is

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Speaker 2: Hater and how that thins out a bullpen that is

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Speaker 2: now seeing the Mariners they've dropped a little bit recently,

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Speaker 2: but making a surge at them. How do they combat

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Speaker 2: the fact that you can never replace the best or

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Speaker 2: one of the top three closers in the game. But

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Speaker 2: how do they do that? Because I mentioned the other

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Speaker 2: day about back to back games are going to be

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Speaker 2: tough to win, which is what you need to do

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Speaker 2: to keep off a team like the Mariners.

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Speaker 3: And that was a great point, Eric, And when you

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Speaker 3: lose the lynchpin of your bullpen, everybody obviously has to

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Speaker 3: move up a role or move back an inning, and

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Speaker 3: it thins you out, and it gives you fewer options

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Speaker 3: as you play close games, which is what happens in

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Speaker 3: Pennant races and in the postseason. So I'm confident Brian

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Speaker 3: Abray will be fine as their closer, and I'm confident

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Speaker 3: that they've got other pieces in place to do good

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Speaker 3: things in the bullpen. But without Hater, it's a huge

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Speaker 3: piece that is missing. There's no doubt about that. Now.

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Speaker 3: One way to combat the bullpen issue that they're going

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Speaker 3: to have inevitably is by improving the offense, and if

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Speaker 3: Jordon ever gets back, the offense should be that much better. Remember,

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Speaker 3: the other thing that's been such an issue for them

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Speaker 3: all season is they've been so overly right handed. Jordan Alvarez,

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Speaker 3: one of the top left handed hitters in the game,

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Speaker 3: will help address that. So the Hater thing, it looks

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Speaker 3: like it's serious, or at least serious enough to be

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Speaker 3: where the manager, Joe Spotta has said it will be

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Speaker 3: more than two weeks, and who knows what that means,

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Speaker 3: because then we'll have to build back up again. But

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Speaker 3: the Astros have shown this year over and over again

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Speaker 3: with a team players on the aisle at one point

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Speaker 3: with eight starting pitchers on the ale at that point,

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Speaker 3: that they are resilient, that they will find ways to win. Now,

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Speaker 3: without Hater, it becomes more difficult. No one should sugarcoat that,

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Speaker 3: but they're a team that I'll believe they're knocked off

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Speaker 3: when I see it. They're that kind of club, and

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Speaker 3: they've shown us time and time again over the years

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Speaker 3: that they're especially resilient, resourceful, know how to win. They

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Speaker 3: do all those things. Yes, without Hater, it becomes more difficult.

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Speaker 2: All right, Before we go to the East coast, we

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Speaker 2: got to hit the Midwest a little bit more. Since

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Speaker 2: you've been gone, since you haven't been on our show,

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Speaker 2: the Brewers still haven't lost. They're waiting for you to

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Speaker 2: come back. But my question is, and I said this

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Speaker 2: to the last few guests that we've had, the Brewers

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Speaker 2: are just washed rints and recycle. It's three great starting

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Speaker 2: pitching pitchers. Maybe this year they have four. It's a

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Speaker 2: dominant closer they've had Devin Williams, Josh Hater. Now the

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Speaker 2: offense is take picking up a little bit. Are have

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Speaker 2: they built this team, because obviously there's no more trades.

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Speaker 2: Have they built this team to go farther than the

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Speaker 2: last team in twenty eighteen with the Brewers that made

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Speaker 2: it to Game seven of the NLCS.

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Speaker 3: That remains to be seen. And as hot as they

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Speaker 3: are right now, and it's fifty one and sixteen since

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Speaker 3: May twenty fifth, which is just ridiculous, Obviously at some

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Speaker 3: point there's going to be some regression. And I'm not

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Speaker 3: trying to be negative, but if you look at some

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Speaker 3: other expected stats during this run, they're high and they're outperformed.

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Speaker 3: Actually I should say it this way, they're outperforming they're

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Speaker 3: expected stats. So yes, there's a little bit of luck

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Speaker 3: perhaps involved, at least in terms of batted balllock. Okay,

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Speaker 3: but the way they play the game, the way they pitch,

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Speaker 3: the way they just play defense and run the bases,

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Speaker 3: all the things that they do, that should ensure not

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Speaker 3: that they're slump proof, but it should give them a

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Speaker 3: level of consistency that, yes, should carry into October. Now

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Speaker 3: do they have enough power for October? Can they manufacture

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Speaker 3: the way they have? I would think yes, is the

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Speaker 3: answer to that. But it remains to be seen. And

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Speaker 3: the one thing that has haunted the Brewers is as

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Speaker 3: successful as they have been, and this would be if

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Speaker 3: they get there. There's seventh playoff appearance in the last

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Speaker 3: eight years. They've not gotten beyond the first round or

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Speaker 3: first game that they're played. This team is certainly capable

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Speaker 3: of doing that, and they have an edge about them.

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Speaker 3: It's different than the Padres edge, but there is a

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Speaker 3: hunger there and that's just the way that they play.

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Speaker 3: So I love them. I love watching them, and I

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Speaker 3: can't say what they're going to do in the postseason.

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Speaker 3: I have no idea, but the fact that right now

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Speaker 3: I believe they have the best record in the Majors

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Speaker 3: by six and a half games.

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Speaker 4: It's astonishing, absolutely, and I couldn't agree with you anymore

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Speaker 4: on that. I'm going to go a little further to

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Speaker 4: the East New York teams. I mean, the Mets have

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Speaker 4: just imploded. They are struggling big time. The Yankees. You know,

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Speaker 4: you don't know what you're gonna get with either of

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Speaker 4: these teams. I see the Mets are playing against the Mariners,

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Speaker 4: who are absolutely scorching hot. You got the Yankees. I

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Speaker 4: think you're in Saint Louis right now, are doing the

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Speaker 4: game in Saint Louis. Talk a little bit about you

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Speaker 4: know what you're going to see from these two teams.

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Speaker 4: Are they going to are they gonna make the playoffs?

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Speaker 3: Like?

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Speaker 4: What is going on here?

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Speaker 3: I don't know that the Mets can be any worse

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Speaker 3: than they've been recently. And I was looking at some

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Speaker 3: expected stats this morning, and they're at the bottom pretty

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Speaker 3: much of everything, which means that they should be performing

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Speaker 3: better than they are based on the quality of contact

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Speaker 3: and all that. It sounds like excuse making at some point,

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Speaker 3: and hey, at some point, you've got to produce. Expected

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Speaker 3: stats don't help you in any regard. But I still

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Speaker 3: believe they're going to hit better now. The starting pitching

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Speaker 3: is the main problem, and we've seen this trend now

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Speaker 3: where they haven't gotten six from anybody with David Peterson

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Speaker 3: since what early June or whatever the date is. That

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Speaker 3: obviously is a problem. They've got the kid McClain coming

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Speaker 3: up to pitch tomorrow, and they have some top pitching

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Speaker 3: prospects that maybe we'll figure into the mix down the

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Speaker 3: stretch that need to figure into the mix to get

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Speaker 3: them first of the postseason and then maybe where they

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Speaker 3: want to be. It's troubling what's happened, and Hellsley has

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Speaker 3: not succeeded since coming over in a big way. He's

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Speaker 3: basically flopped. That's a problem too, But I still see

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Speaker 3: them coming out of it now, coming out of it

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Speaker 3: to go to the World Series, I don't know, but

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Speaker 3: I do expect them to play better. The Yankees. I'm

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Speaker 3: worried about the Yankees in a number of different ways.

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Speaker 3: Bullpen obviously, with Williams not doing what he's done. Yes,

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Speaker 3: Bednar has come in, but they still have some questions there.

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Speaker 3: Starting rotation. Max Fried pitches tomorrow. He has not been

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Speaker 3: as good as he was early in the season. They

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Speaker 3: need him to be as good. And then you look

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Speaker 3: at the offense. It's streaky. They've got to play Grisham.

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Speaker 3: In the eyes of a lot of people over Dominguez,

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Speaker 3: there are a lot of things that are just kind

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Speaker 3: of curious there. What has happened to Austin Wells. I

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Speaker 3: don't know where the Yankees are ending up here. To

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Speaker 3: lose a playoff spot to Cleveland, you saw the standings

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Speaker 3: right there would be sort of incredible, considering that Cleveland

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Speaker 3: lost two of their best pitchers to the gambling investigation

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Speaker 3: and really did nothing at the deadline other than trade

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Speaker 3: Shane Bieber. They've kind of just punted on the season

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Speaker 3: in a sense, not the players, but the front office

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Speaker 3: said we're not gonna add here. We've just lost two

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Speaker 3: of our key guys. So they obviously have been a

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Speaker 3: story all season long. After their good start and the

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Speaker 3: way that they've played, they've been kind of the anti Brewers,

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Speaker 3: right with their lack of consistent fundamental play. Are they

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Speaker 3: better than they've shown? Yes, And what Aaron Boone is

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Speaker 3: saying and has said consistently that it is from one

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Speaker 3: of them and they are a talented team. All of

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Speaker 3: that is true, as much as the Yankee fans don't

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Speaker 3: want to hear it. But it's like anything else, at

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Speaker 3: some point you have to show it. They have not

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Speaker 3: shown it consistently enough, and two out of three against

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Speaker 3: the Twins they're perennial punching bags. That's not an answer

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Speaker 3: long term. Ken.

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Speaker 1: Last one we're talking today about the Brewers is the

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Speaker 1: best record in baseball. We just talked about both New

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Speaker 1: York teams struggling mightily. Oh funny, We talked about the

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Speaker 1: smallest TV market in baseball and the top TV market

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Speaker 1: in baseball, which is of course tied to revenue your

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Speaker 1: thoughts on where we are here. Regardless of what happens

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Speaker 1: in the postseason, it can often be somewhat of a crapshoot.

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Speaker 1: Right we're in mid August. The best record in baseball

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Speaker 1: belongs to Milwaukee. Is the sport really broken? When everybody

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Speaker 1: not everybody, When many people think that the Dodgers are

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Speaker 1: going to cruise through the regular season and now we

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Speaker 1: don't even think they're going to win the division?

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Speaker 3: Scott, the sport has not been broken at any point,

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Speaker 3: and it was not broken when the Dodgers were low

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Speaker 3: up and all these things were happening. We've seen consistently

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Speaker 3: over the years small market teams compete at a high level.

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Speaker 3: Now the argument has always been, well, they can't sustain it.

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Speaker 3: All right, let's talk about the Milwaukee Brewers. I just

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Speaker 3: mentioned this will be if they get there. There's seventh

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Speaker 3: Playoff appearance in the past eight years. No, they haven't

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Speaker 3: won a World Series, But to me, that's not the measure.

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Speaker 3: The measure is getting there. How have they been able

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Speaker 3: to sustain it? How in this incredible sport that just

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Speaker 3: pedalizes every team in a small market, can they do it? Well?

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Speaker 3: Obviously they've done it. They have certain answers, answers that

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Speaker 3: teams like Pittsburgh others can look at and say, you

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Speaker 3: know what that should be us. And I'm not saying

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Speaker 3: the economic system in the sport is perfect. But what

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Speaker 3: I'm saying is to suggest that the salary cap is

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Speaker 3: the only answer that is just simply absurd. The sowary

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Speaker 3: cap is not about competitive balance. What it's about is

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Speaker 3: the owners wanting cost restraints and cost certainty and enhancing

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Speaker 3: their franchise values competitive balance. There are better ways we

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Speaker 3: can do things, There's no question about that. It's still

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Speaker 3: not perfect, it probably will never be perfect under this system.

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Speaker 3: But to say teams can't compete, well, we have examples

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Speaker 3: every year that prove the other prove otherwise. And that's

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Speaker 3: what the Brewers are doing right now, It's what the

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Speaker 3: Rays have done over the years. It's what the Guardians

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Speaker 3: do almost every year. Yes, these teams are at disadvantages.

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Speaker 3: No one would argue that. No one would argue that

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Speaker 3: certain things can be done to enhance their competitive ability.

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Speaker 3: But to suggest the sport is broken, Scott, to answer

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Speaker 3: your question, the sport is absolutely not broken and people

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Speaker 3: should stop talking about it that way, though, of course

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Speaker 3: that talk is going to continue, Oh no doubt.

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Speaker 1: And that's why we have to play some defense here

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Speaker 1: and be like everybody relaxed, We're having fun. This is

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Speaker 1: an unpredictable season. Yankees Dodgers World Series last year not

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Speaker 1: happen every year. The year before was Texas and Arizona.

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Speaker 1: So with the news this week about Minnesota, I felt

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Speaker 1: like it was important to ask because it feels like

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Speaker 1: that ownership group is definitely holding on tight to see

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Speaker 1: if things can change in a CBA and get their price,

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Speaker 1: and it's just really grinded my ears. So anyway, Ken,

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Speaker 1: thank you very much. You know, and hey, you did

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Speaker 1: a little bit of it on Dork of the Week

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Speaker 1: for Fair Territory, so I'll give everyone the preview there.

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Speaker 1: If you want to hear more about the twins in

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Speaker 1: their situation from Ken, make sure you tune into Fair Territory.

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Speaker 4: Ken, thank you.

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Speaker 1: I have a great call this weekend.

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Speaker 3: Thanks guys.

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Speaker 1: You can catch Ken on Saturday Yankees Cardinals matching up,

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Speaker 1: but you can also catch Ken on Fair Territory on

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Speaker 1: Monday recapping the weekend, plus listen to yesterday's episode. Still

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Speaker 1: everything's super relevant and fresh, including Dude and dork of

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Speaker 1: the Week from Alana and Ken