Speaker 1: This is a lot.
Speaker 2: He's time to say your legs.
Speaker 1: The girls. Frizzy sits here. We will sit in.
Speaker 2: Jos the Gunner.
Speaker 3: Welcome to.
Speaker 2: It's the mail bag. Welcome to the Just Baseball Show.
Speaker 2: It is Wednesday, August twenty third. That's arm Lady and
Speaker 2: I'm Peter Apple, and we are here to answer all
Speaker 2: the great questions that you left on our Instagram at
Speaker 2: Just Baseball Show and on our Twitter at just BB
Speaker 2: on Underscore Media, I get dms all the time. How
Speaker 2: do I submit questions? Remember, we drop those the morning
Speaker 2: before we will do the show. So for a Wednesday show,
Speaker 2: we dropped them on Tuesday morning. You leave all of
Speaker 2: the questions in the comments, and then we picked the
Speaker 2: best seven and we had a ton to choose from
Speaker 2: arm Laton. But before we get to any of those questions,
Speaker 2: we are brought to you by bet mgm, the King
Speaker 2: of sportsbooks. Use promo code just Baseball when you sign
Speaker 2: up a deposit into your newly created account. Download the
Speaker 2: Betmgmsports app on iOS or Android, or visit betmgm dot com.
Speaker 2: Plase your first bet offer and receive up to one
Speaker 2: thousand dollars back in bonus bets if it loses, and
Speaker 2: if the bet does lose, your bonus bets will be
Speaker 2: available once the wager is settled. Gambling problem call or
Speaker 2: text one eight hundred gambler and must be twenty one
Speaker 2: or older. Arm We were talking as we configured our list.
Speaker 2: A lot of bangers, A lot of bangers.
Speaker 3: Yeah, this is a fun one because I think we're
Speaker 3: at the point now where we can really start diving
Speaker 3: into the playoff race. You know, I know we already
Speaker 3: have been doing that, but I think, you know, from
Speaker 3: a mail bag perspective. And then also we get to
Speaker 3: mix in just some fun philosophical like I almost call
Speaker 3: these like off season type questions, but they're they're nice
Speaker 3: palette cleansers this time of year that you know, just
Speaker 3: stuff that that you know, you could probably end up
Speaker 3: debating about, and it probably will start some debates and
Speaker 3: uh listeners, group chats, you know when when when we
Speaker 3: get through some of this with two of the questions
Speaker 3: that we have in here. So yeah, I'm excited to
Speaker 3: talk a little bit more about the playoff hunts players,
Speaker 3: key players, and then some some kind of fun I
Speaker 3: wouldn't say whimsical, but like fun philosophical type questions about
Speaker 3: like kind of building a team and.
Speaker 2: Stuff like that. Definitely, and if you're watching this on YouTube,
Speaker 2: quick shameless plug. A lot of people watch these mail
Speaker 2: bag episodes on YouTube, hit that subscribe button, hit the
Speaker 2: like button, and comment anything that we said that it's
Speaker 2: crazy or if you agree with us. ARM, without further ado,
Speaker 2: I say, we get straight into it, because, like I said,
Speaker 2: a lot of great questions, and we will be talking
Speaker 2: like you and I normally do. We say we'll probably
Speaker 2: do fifty five minutes to an hour, ends up being
Speaker 2: four hours. So let's just get straight into it. The
Speaker 2: first question, who is the most impactful player for every
Speaker 2: current playoff team? This was to ask by at just
Speaker 2: underscore Lions on Twitter. ARM. I have the teams loaded
Speaker 2: up and they said playoff team, contending team. So what
Speaker 2: I'm going to do? In the American League and the
Speaker 2: National League, there are the of course first playoff teams,
Speaker 2: as in the leaders of each division. But instead of
Speaker 2: going through every team that could possibly be within contention,
Speaker 2: I say we limit it to the first four wild
Speaker 2: card teams. So all three first place teams and then
Speaker 2: the first four in the wildcard hunt start. In the
Speaker 2: American League, East the first place, Orioles. Who's the most
Speaker 2: impactful player for the Orioles.
Speaker 3: That's funny we're starting with, like, I think one of
Speaker 3: the more debatable ones where there's a lot of different directions.
Speaker 3: I think you can go with Baltimore because here's one
Speaker 3: thing before we get into this is it is it
Speaker 3: more like impactful in terms of like this is like
Speaker 3: their best player or the player that could make the
Speaker 3: biggest difference, right, Because if you're looking at like we'll
Speaker 3: get to the Dodgers in a second, I don't really
Speaker 3: have any questions about what Mooki bats or Freddie Freeman
Speaker 3: are gonna do. Would it be more impactful for somebody
Speaker 3: else to step up? You know what I'm saying. What's
Speaker 3: the way that you kind of interpret this one?
Speaker 2: The way I interpret it is if they're in a
Speaker 2: playoff race and this team were to get or this
Speaker 2: player were to get injured and they would be out,
Speaker 2: you feel a lot less positive about their chances of winning.
Speaker 2: So the most important player it doesn't necessarily.
Speaker 1: Mean most talented.
Speaker 3: Or more or not even most productive technically, you know,
Speaker 3: it could just be the most impactful. So with the Orioles,
Speaker 3: I think we might have the same answer here. For me,
Speaker 3: it's going to be Adelie Rutchman, right, because when you
Speaker 3: look at the drop off from you know, an Adlie
Speaker 3: to a James McCann, like, that's a big difference. You
Speaker 3: talk about the offensive side of things with just did
Speaker 3: an episode about how they are They're winning percentages like
Speaker 3: two x. When Adalie Rutchman is on the field, not
Speaker 3: only is he a key bat for them, but I
Speaker 3: think what he does defensively, what he brings to the table,
Speaker 3: the way he handles.
Speaker 1: The staff, also as a switch hitter as well.
Speaker 3: I think you got to go Adelie Rutchman with the
Speaker 3: Orioles and I would be extremely concerned about them if
Speaker 3: he got hurt. To your point, I don't know if
Speaker 3: there's anybody else where. I'm like fully fully changing my
Speaker 3: outlook on them if they went down.
Speaker 1: You took the words right out of my mouth. Minnesota wins.
Speaker 2: This is a more interesting one because you could go
Speaker 2: to a pitcher, whether that be Sonny Gray or Pablo Lopez,
Speaker 2: or you could find someone offensively. And my answer might
Speaker 2: surprise some people because this player has not lived up
Speaker 2: to his enormous contract that he signed in the off season.
Speaker 2: But I think potentially the most impactful player for the
Speaker 2: Twins has to be Carlos Korea because right there leading
Speaker 2: this division right now, and it's hard to pick a
Speaker 2: certain pitcher, like is Sonny Gray more important or impactful
Speaker 2: than Pablo Lopez or Joe Ryan or Bailey Ober Probably
Speaker 2: not Dallas Kyleston. Yeah, Dallas Kichel Buxton is not quite
Speaker 2: the answer because he's just so hit or miss at
Speaker 2: this point. But if Carlos Korea is on and we've
Speaker 2: only seen it in spurts this year, I think he's
Speaker 2: the most impactful player. But then again, I'm kind of
Speaker 2: going back on my original point of if Carlos Korea
Speaker 2: was hurt for the Twins, he's kind of not been
Speaker 2: that great for them this year. But that's the first
Speaker 2: name that comes to my mind when I think impactful
Speaker 2: for the Twins.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but you know, we're talking about playoff contenders, and
Speaker 3: Carlos Correa is already one of the most accomplished postseason
Speaker 3: players in the history of the game. Like I don't like,
Speaker 3: I'm floored every time I look at the all time
Speaker 3: leaders and ex playoff stat and Correa is among the best.
Speaker 1: And it's like what, He's only been.
Speaker 3: Here for like five six years, So I think that's
Speaker 3: the number one answer, because one, even with him not
Speaker 3: playing well, like, he's still one of their most consistent,
Speaker 3: you know, back to ball guys, he's still been somewhat
Speaker 3: productive and he's still a pretty solid defender. And again,
Speaker 3: what you get in the postseason. For the sake of
Speaker 3: being different, I'm gonna go with Pablo Lopez here because
Speaker 3: I love the way he's been throwing the baseball and
Speaker 3: I feel like, yes, you've got Sonny Gray. I trust
Speaker 3: Bailey Ober in the regular season, but now with the
Speaker 3: way the rotation kind of looks, it's like, Okay, you
Speaker 3: trust Pablo Lopez, you trust Sonny Gray, but now, like,
Speaker 3: who gets the Ballgame three that you really trust is
Speaker 3: a kenam Eta? Is it Bailey Ober? Like those guys
Speaker 3: might be able to hold it down, but it's not
Speaker 3: the same level of hey, like go out and shove
Speaker 3: that I can feel with Lopez or Gray when they're
Speaker 3: on so offensively, I'm with.
Speaker 1: You with Carlos Correa.
Speaker 3: But for the sake of being different, and also because
Speaker 3: I do think that Lopez has turned into a really
Speaker 3: important piece for them, I'll go Pablo Lopez.
Speaker 2: Here the first place. Rangers have a obvious answer, but
Speaker 2: I'm not going to go obvious. Marcus Semion, I think
Speaker 2: is the most impactful player for the Rangers. First off,
Speaker 2: He's played every single day, So the Rangers don't know
Speaker 2: what it's like playing without Marcus Semion. They stayed afloat
Speaker 2: without Corey Seeger. Now Cory Seger is putting up a
Speaker 2: historic season for a shortstop. Offensively, he is amazing, But
Speaker 2: I think Marcus Semion is the most important player to
Speaker 2: get this offense going. Without him, they don't really have
Speaker 2: a leadoff type hitter, right. You could go to Ezekiel Duran,
Speaker 2: but I'd much rather have Marcus Semion. With how balanced
Speaker 2: and deep the Rangers offense is. If they were to
Speaker 2: lose Semion, I think it'd be more impactful to their
Speaker 2: team than it would be losing Corey Seger, even though
Speaker 2: Seeger is the better player.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, it's interesting.
Speaker 3: I like the point of they don't really know what
Speaker 3: it's like not to play with Marcus Semien. I think
Speaker 3: if Marcus Semion, god forbid, went down, I think Bruce
Speaker 3: Bochi would still write his name in the lineup because
Speaker 3: he's so used to just like having him in there
Speaker 3: every single day.
Speaker 1: Seger.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean what he's doing offensively is otherworldly, But
Speaker 3: like you said, they've been performing without him. I look
Speaker 3: at the rotation though with this team, and I'm like, man,
Speaker 3: who do I really trust? And all in an underrated
Speaker 3: aspect of I think someone that if he went down
Speaker 3: they'd be in trouble is Jordan Montgomery. I know that
Speaker 3: sounds crazy, but again, like I want to try to
Speaker 3: give a different answer than than what you gave, and
Speaker 3: I think that this is right there too. Jamn just
Speaker 3: went eight shutty against Arizona. Arizona, who's been playing good ball,
Speaker 3: by the way, and his four starts with Texas so far,
Speaker 3: it's been six innings, two runs, six innings, two runs,
Speaker 3: six innings, one run, eight innings, shutty.
Speaker 1: And you look at this rotation. Yes, they got Max
Speaker 1: Schurzer at this point. I know you guys were talking
Speaker 1: about it.
Speaker 3: I think I almost trust Jamon right now more than
Speaker 3: I trust Max Schurzer, as crazy as that sounds. And
Speaker 3: then you look get like John Gray, Sure he's fine,
Speaker 3: Andrew Keeney, you know, sure he has his moments. Dane
Speaker 3: Dunning like it's been a nice story. Who do you
Speaker 3: trust in this rotation right now? For me, I'll trust Mat.
Speaker 3: I'll die on the Max Schurzer Hill. I understand that
Speaker 3: you signed up to die on the Max Schurzer hill.
Speaker 3: But right now, I think big game. You know we
Speaker 3: need to win one. I think I've given the ball
Speaker 3: to jam On and if they lost him, I'd be
Speaker 3: real nervous.
Speaker 2: Outside of Max Scherzer, I know they lost that game
Speaker 2: to the Diamondbacks. When Joran Montgomery threw those eight shutout innings,
Speaker 2: it really happened because he threw eight shutout there, winning
Speaker 2: one zero, and then a rolled as Chapman gave up
Speaker 2: the home run to Ketel marte In. I think it
Speaker 2: was the bottom of the ninth inning, and then they
Speaker 2: ended up losing four to three. But that start in itself,
Speaker 2: those eight innings were so impactful because the series before
Speaker 2: against the Brewers, none of the starters got past the
Speaker 2: fifth inning. That bullpen was completely taxed. Right they went
Speaker 2: to will Smith, even though will Smith had been getting
Speaker 2: a ton of work in the past couple of days,
Speaker 2: and he ended up blowing in an extra innings. So
Speaker 2: Jordan Montgomery did all that he could. They needed length.
Speaker 2: That's what he gave him. And not only did he
Speaker 2: give him length eight Shutty love that answer from you.
Speaker 2: Now we go to the four teams in the wild
Speaker 2: card in the American League, and number one is the
Speaker 2: Tampa Bay Rays, who are four and a half games up.
Speaker 2: This one, for me, I'm going between two different players,
Speaker 2: but I think with all the injuries to the starting rotation,
Speaker 2: Tyler Glass now has to be the answer because if
Speaker 2: they were to lose Tyler Glass now and then it's Eflyn, Sevally,
Speaker 2: Zach Lettel that just and Zach Efflin's been fantastic, right,
Speaker 2: but Tyler Glass now injects a little bit more life
Speaker 2: than as Zach Efflyin does.
Speaker 1: That together can just go you can go win you
Speaker 1: a ball game. That's say like he will win you
Speaker 1: a ball game if he's.
Speaker 2: Right, put the team on his back. That's what glassnow
Speaker 2: can do. Efflyn has done that in spurts. But game one,
Speaker 2: who do you think is getting the ball? Tyler Glass now,
Speaker 2: the big damn horse with the six foot eight curve
Speaker 2: ball from hell. I mean, he is just a bad
Speaker 2: man and if they were if he were to go down,
Speaker 2: it's great.
Speaker 1: It's a wrap.
Speaker 3: I can't even give you, like a Devil's advocate different
Speaker 3: answer because as much as I'd like to say, like
Speaker 3: Yandy Diaz or whatever, like, we've learned very like it's
Speaker 3: abundantly clear that the Rays will find a way to
Speaker 3: kind of platoon and piece it together and put together
Speaker 3: a good offensive team. And like you know, they've brought
Speaker 3: up a Ronda and Mead, and I don't know if
Speaker 3: these rookies will perform right away, and they definitely won't
Speaker 3: replace Yandy Diaz, but at least I feel decent about
Speaker 3: that contingency plan. I don't feel good about whoever the
Speaker 3: hell they're bringing up to replace Tyler Glass now in
Speaker 3: that rotation. I don't even feel good about what they're
Speaker 3: doing right now with the rotation. So yeah, I can't
Speaker 3: even give a different answer. As much as we're going
Speaker 3: to try to give two different perspectives as we fly
Speaker 3: through these teams, it's Glass now, and it's not particularly
Speaker 3: close and they need him to be right.
Speaker 2: You can make a good argument for YONDI Diez, but
Speaker 2: I agree it's Glass now. So moving on, the Houston
Speaker 2: Astros are a half game above the Seattle Mariners in
Speaker 2: Wildcard chase. As we speak here today, the Astros is
Speaker 2: an interesting one because you look at their rotation. Javier
Speaker 2: continues to disappoint Framburger. I mean, if he were to
Speaker 2: go down, that would be pretty impactful. But you do
Speaker 2: have Verlander and JP Frantz like I keep pointing to
Speaker 2: the expected numbers and the peripherals, and he just keeps saying,
Speaker 2: fuck you, I don't care. I'm just gonna keep shoving.
Speaker 2: So they have enough. And of course Hunter Brown the
Speaker 2: bullpen knows we got to pick a hitter. Now, Jordon
Speaker 2: went out, but they still did okay. I think for
Speaker 2: an all around game and the clutch factor too, Kyle
Speaker 2: Tucker is the dog because not only has he been
Speaker 2: one of the best offensive players in the American League,
Speaker 2: he is one of the best defenders in the outfield.
Speaker 2: So just from an all around game, and then we've
Speaker 2: seen Kyle Tucker play center field, right, he won't have
Speaker 2: to because Chas McCormick is now hitting fifth and he's
Speaker 2: been his beast. But I just think the best overall
Speaker 2: player now, Jordan is the best hitter. Altuve is the
Speaker 2: spark plug, Bregman is the model of consistency, but the
Speaker 2: best all around player, and if he were to go down,
Speaker 2: I think it's Kyle Tucker.
Speaker 3: Yep, I'm with you on that. Kyle Tucker is the
Speaker 3: glue of this team now. And you know Al Twove
Speaker 3: as you mentioned, awesome, Bregman, awesome. But I think those
Speaker 3: guys are I think it'd be severely underselling them to
Speaker 3: say like they're like, you know, the Robbins at this point,
Speaker 3: because they're you know, there's a good chance at Al Twove's. Yeah,
Speaker 3: he just picked up his two thousand and ted He's
Speaker 3: well on his way to the Hall of Fame and
Speaker 3: is still playing at an extremely high level. But you know,
Speaker 3: you're seeing Kyle Tucker just enter his prime. And we're
Speaker 3: talking about now with three straight for win seasons, I
Speaker 3: think Kyle Tucker is the most important guy offensively for them.
Speaker 3: But I'm still a little concerned about this rotation, man.
Speaker 3: Like it just I agree with you, like they have
Speaker 3: had guys piece it together to get them through the
Speaker 3: regular season, but we know what this Astros teammates World
Speaker 3: Series or bust as it's always going to be. And
Speaker 3: Framber's the guy that's gotten them there and put together.
Speaker 3: The quality starts on the big stage every single time,
Speaker 3: it feels like and he's been a little bit inconsistent.
Speaker 3: I think if you take Framber out of this rotation,
Speaker 3: I am a lot more worried about this team in
Speaker 3: the postseason, just because again you mentioned Javier struggles. You know,
Speaker 3: Hunter Brown's been solid and France has been really solid,
Speaker 3: better than solid, But again in the postseason, I don't
Speaker 3: I don't trust those guys at the same level. Like
Speaker 3: you could have Framber Valdez limp into the playoffs and
Speaker 3: I'm still feeling good when I give him the ball
Speaker 3: in the first, you know, in the first postseason game,
Speaker 3: and for me, that's that's gonna be the guy that
Speaker 3: I need to have any optimism around the the Houston Astros.
Speaker 3: It's not much of a consolation prize, but Michael Brantley
Speaker 3: coming back mate helped the offense a little bit. We
Speaker 3: don't know what we're going to get from him, but yeah,
Speaker 3: Framber is just that dog. He's for me, he's the
Speaker 3: most consistent arm in baseball, even though he's had a
Speaker 3: little bit.
Speaker 1: Of a hiccup lately.
Speaker 2: If it wasn't for JP Frantz, I would have chosen Framberg. Yeah, seriously.
Speaker 2: I know that's like a crazy sentence, but.
Speaker 3: Yeah, imagine if you said that's just that sentence in
Speaker 3: a vacuum like in April, I would have just been like, what, nurse.
Speaker 2: I think it's maybe the easiest outside of Baltimore. Julio
Speaker 2: Rodriguez makes this team go. Yeah, I can't even should
Speaker 2: we move on?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 3: I mean come on, I mean look look at look
Speaker 3: look at what he's doing right now, look at what
Speaker 3: the Mariners are doing. It's that simple, that's ridiculous. So
Speaker 3: like you can plug and play.
Speaker 2: Toronto Blue Jays, I think there are two key answers here.
Speaker 2: If Kevin Gosman were to go down, this team may
Speaker 2: be screwed. But at the same time, like Kucci has
Speaker 2: been great, Barrios has been great, Bassett has been pretty
Speaker 2: damn good. Not at to the level of those two,
Speaker 2: but still solid. I think Bob Bashett is so important
Speaker 2: for this Blue Jays team, dude, because if he went down,
Speaker 2: the rest of this Blue Jays lineup has simply not
Speaker 2: hit to the level of expectations that fans everywhere thought
Speaker 2: they would, especially Blue Jays fans. You could point to
Speaker 2: George Springer and Vladdie and Chapman. But all three of
Speaker 2: those guys have got great seasons. Bashett is the guy
Speaker 2: that's keeping this team.
Speaker 3: It's funny, man, I look at the I look at
Speaker 3: the lineup and you kind of go through it and
Speaker 3: it's like we Merrifield is great, but Brandon Belt disappointing.
Speaker 3: I know he Homer twice the other day, Vad Guerrero
Speaker 3: Junior disappointing, George Springer somewhat disappointing, Matt Chapman pretty much
Speaker 3: since the second month of the season, disappointing, Alejanjo Kirk, disappointing,
Speaker 3: Dalton Varshow disappointing. And it's relative right. They haven't been disasters,
Speaker 3: but none of those guys have performed to the way
Speaker 3: that you want to see them perform. Bo Bashett has
Speaker 3: performed and continues to get better and better, and this
Speaker 3: looks like another guy who's kind of entering that prime.
Speaker 1: So I'm with you.
Speaker 3: Offensively, it's it's Bashett on the pitching side, though, Man,
Speaker 3: Chris Bassett's a good regular season arm. Kakuchi's a good
Speaker 3: regular season arm. But I mean, I need I need
Speaker 3: a guy that I can really trust. It's it's got
Speaker 3: to be Kevin Gosman. So for me, I think it's
Speaker 3: a tie between Gosman and Bashett and and I think
Speaker 3: it's them and then nobody else. Like, I don't think
Speaker 3: it's close with anybody else. I'm one hundred percent on
Speaker 3: the on the Bichette train, but Gosman as well.
Speaker 2: So that's it for the American League. Let's move on
Speaker 2: to the National League and we'll start with the first
Speaker 2: place Braves. This is a challenging one arm because I
Speaker 2: think you can could give an answer and all would
Speaker 2: make sense, right, because they're all so good. But man,
Speaker 2: I look at this rotation. But then again, like I'm
Speaker 2: about to say, like I want to pick a pitcher,
Speaker 2: but if Freed goes down, he's been down kind of
Speaker 2: for the entire year. But I'm more thinking about the
Speaker 2: playoff hunt. Right, if it's just Streider, Morton and Elder,
Speaker 2: they're gonna have to really really hit. So for me,
Speaker 2: and kind of similar to what you were talking about
Speaker 2: with Framber in the playoffs, Freed in the playoffs has
Speaker 2: been amazing. So while the Braves have been so amazing
Speaker 2: without Freed, I think Freed is so important to the
Speaker 2: Braves in the playoffs. You could say a Kunya, sure,
Speaker 2: but damn they can just put Ozzie Albi's in the
Speaker 2: leadoff spot and I'm sure they would still hit. You
Speaker 2: could get Olsen, they still got Murphy and Riley. You
Speaker 2: could take out Riley, they still got Olsen. So I
Speaker 2: can't pick an offensive player. I think the answer, if
Speaker 2: you were to choose a player on offense, would be
Speaker 2: a Kunya, and I think you'd be right. But I
Speaker 2: think if this team were to be without freedom, I'm
Speaker 2: looking at that rotation going into October, I'm a lot
Speaker 2: more scared about the Braves than if they were to
Speaker 2: lose a Kunya, which is crazy and I don't even
Speaker 2: know if I believe it.
Speaker 1: I think I thought you were gonna pick Nicky Lopez.
Speaker 2: I should pick Nicki Lope. Like if we were to
Speaker 2: if we were to do our top five, Nicki Lopez
Speaker 2: would be like three.
Speaker 1: It's not like three.
Speaker 3: No, they won a World Series without Ronald Acuna junior man.
Speaker 3: And that's not to diminish him. Like he's he's like
Speaker 3: the MVP favorite. He's unbelievable. He's everything that you could
Speaker 3: want out of a baseball player. I agree, though, Like
Speaker 3: I still think this offense is a fucking wagon without
Speaker 3: Ronald Acunya Junior, Like, look at it, look at what
Speaker 3: Matt Olson's doing, look at what Murphy's doing, look at
Speaker 3: what Ozuna's gonna hit thirty bombs this year. Like it's
Speaker 3: crazy what they're getting. I would go with with Free, Well,
Speaker 3: I think you could say Strider or Freed.
Speaker 1: I trust Freed more.
Speaker 3: Obviously Stryder's kind of working through some things in terms
Speaker 3: of consistency, So I'm with you Max Freed is the answer.
Speaker 3: I mean, that's a guy that is just as consistent
Speaker 3: as they come on the bump and a lefty that
Speaker 3: just I think rises to the occasion every single time.
Speaker 2: Moving on to the National League Central, the Milwaukee Brewers
Speaker 2: arm this is easy. If they don't have Christian Yelich.
Speaker 2: This team is not hitting anything like William Katurz, Willia Domes. Please,
Speaker 2: nice hitters, please. Christian Yelich has put up a near
Speaker 2: MVP level season. If he's out of the light up,
Speaker 2: the Brewers are not hitting anybody, no matter who steps
Speaker 2: on the mount.
Speaker 1: Uh what you don't like?
Speaker 3: South Fridlick's been awesome, but just like a playoff lineup
Speaker 3: of like Carlos Santana, Salfrie Lick, Rowdy Telez, Andrew Monastario,
Speaker 3: Bryce Terrang.
Speaker 1: And Tyrone Taylor like, and Joey Weimer like.
Speaker 3: I like a lot of those players long term, But
Speaker 3: for the playoffs in twenty twenty three, I don't know
Speaker 3: about that.
Speaker 1: No, I'm with you, Yelich.
Speaker 3: I mean, the big reason why the Brewers are where
Speaker 3: they are, maybe this is the best I think the
Speaker 3: Brewers are looked in a little bit is because they
Speaker 3: have Christian Yelich looking like Christian Yelich. So yeah, without
Speaker 3: a doubt, I think you could go with You know,
Speaker 3: if Brandon Woodrooff wasn't back, Corbyn.
Speaker 1: Burns is the answer.
Speaker 3: But now Woodroff is back, Peralta is starting to show
Speaker 3: more flashes of Freddy Peralta, and you know, Miley and
Speaker 3: and Houser plugged in and been fined, and then the
Speaker 3: Bullpen has really stepped up in a lot of ways
Speaker 3: and been really solid this year. Yeah, I think you
Speaker 3: gotta go with with a Christian Yelich here.
Speaker 2: The Dodgers is almost impossible because if you say Mookie Betts,
Speaker 2: you're correct. If you say Freddy Freeman, you're correct. So
Speaker 2: just to not say either of those, I'm gonna go
Speaker 2: with Clayton Kershaw. I think Clayton Kershaw is so unbelievably
Speaker 2: important to this Dodgers team, and that's why I see
Speaker 2: I think they've limited his innings right moving forward, Right,
Speaker 2: they need him as healthy as possible because you look
Speaker 2: at Julio Arius and while he's also been a stud
Speaker 2: in the playoffs, he hasn't been that great this regular season.
Speaker 2: And those studley performances followed second in National League SYNG voting, right,
Speaker 2: followed incredible regular seasons. He's not a guy who I'm
Speaker 2: incredibly hyped to see in Game one. Right. Walker Buehler
Speaker 2: comes on the Just Baseball Show every Monday. We love him.
Speaker 2: He's incredibly important towards the Dodgers' success, but it's hard
Speaker 2: to add him because he hasn't pitched the game for
Speaker 2: them this year.
Speaker 3: I don't think he would tell you, like, yeah, give
Speaker 3: me the give me the ball game one, I'm going
Speaker 3: seven shutout, like I think he knows he can, but
Speaker 3: you don't know what you can physically do as you
Speaker 3: come back from your second TJ. So I mean that's
Speaker 3: that's a question as well.
Speaker 1: So it's very fair. And then you look at the rotation.
Speaker 3: This is the weakest Dodgers rotation, you know, not not
Speaker 3: by any faults of their own, similar to the Rays,
Speaker 3: where it's just been guys going down left and right,
Speaker 3: and you know, now Gonsolin goes down as well. We
Speaker 3: know May's been out for a while. Of course, Kershaw
Speaker 3: is the best of the bunch. I think you could
Speaker 3: say Arius just because of what he's capable of doing
Speaker 3: in the postseason, but he's looked like a subdued version
Speaker 3: of himself. And I don't even think it would be
Speaker 3: crazy to say Bobby Miller, because that guy's been nails
Speaker 3: over the course of the year. But Kershaw is the
Speaker 3: number one answer. But I think you can kind of
Speaker 3: pick anybody in the rotation. I'm gonna pick the Hall
Speaker 3: of Famer, so I'm with you.
Speaker 1: But I think.
Speaker 3: Basically the answer should be any of their starters, because
Speaker 3: even lance Lynn, like he has been a godsend for them.
Speaker 3: This pitching staff would be in absolute hell right now
Speaker 3: if it weren't for lance Lynn and Bobby Miller's stepping
Speaker 3: up and plugging in, which is crazy to say about
Speaker 3: the La Dodgers, but that's where they're at the Phillies.
Speaker 2: You can talk about the rotation and this guy doesn't
Speaker 2: really feeld. But if Bryce Harper is not in the lineup,
Speaker 2: I'm not very excited about the Phillies And I don't
Speaker 2: even care, don't even care on if Bryce Harper in
Speaker 2: the lineup, I feel a lot less confident about the Phillies.
Speaker 2: And you could talk about, well, there's more impactful like Wheeler.
Speaker 2: If they don't have Wheeler, you know, the rotation looks
Speaker 2: really really thin. If they don't have you know, Trey
Speaker 2: Turner or no, it's Bryce Harper. That's my answer.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean Harper's I mean, like again, the word him,
Speaker 3: the adjective descriptor like it gets the way too much.
Speaker 3: He is legitimately him, he has been him since he's
Speaker 3: been sixteen. That guy's as important as they come. But
Speaker 3: when I look at this rotation as well, Michael Lorenzen
Speaker 3: being acquired definitely helps hedge a lot of my concern
Speaker 3: around this rotation.
Speaker 1: And I like the back end of this this bullpen.
Speaker 3: But if you get a short start from a guy
Speaker 3: like I could just see things kind of get away
Speaker 3: relatively quickly. And I've just I don't trust Aaron Nola
Speaker 3: at all. I know he's coming off one of his
Speaker 3: best starts that we've seen, and even then he gave
Speaker 3: up a pair of long balls.
Speaker 1: Fortunately they were you know, solo shots.
Speaker 3: I'm gonna go with Wheeler on this one, just because
Speaker 3: he might be the only arm I trust.
Speaker 1: In a big game right now.
Speaker 3: I know Lorenzins looks good, but I know you don't
Speaker 3: trust Taiwan Walker and Christopher Sanchez like Ranger Suarez continues
Speaker 3: to get banged up and just can't stay on the field.
Speaker 3: I'm gonna go with Zach Wheeler because in a big game,
Speaker 3: this guy's probably end up thrown on short rests, like
Speaker 3: they're gonna need him to pretty much carry that pitching staff.
Speaker 3: But again, if you say Bryce Harper is the answer
Speaker 3: to anything as it pertains to success, it's not going
Speaker 3: to be incorrect.
Speaker 1: Ever.
Speaker 2: Ever, the Chicago Cubs, now, I think Cody Bellinger has
Speaker 2: been amazing for them, not just offensively, but his defense
Speaker 2: is center field and then himI Even's sliding over the
Speaker 2: first base when needed. But the addition of Himrik Candelario
Speaker 2: has been huge. You can talk about Dansby Swanson because
Speaker 2: while He's a one to fifteen WRC plus guy. The
Speaker 2: defense at shortstop is all world Nico Horner the definition
Speaker 2: of solid for the Cups. But that's the point, right,
Speaker 2: they have a lot of different important pieces on offense.
Speaker 2: If Justin Steele ain't on the bump, they're screwed.
Speaker 3: Right.
Speaker 2: We've gotten some good starts from Javier Asad, who I like,
Speaker 2: Stroman is banged up. Ty On is as hit or
Speaker 2: miss as any major league starter. Right now, Justin Steele
Speaker 2: is so important to the Cub's success. If he is
Speaker 2: to go down, they are screwed.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean they're already trying to figure out who's
Speaker 3: gonna plug in for Stroll, Right, It's like True Smiley.
Speaker 3: If Smiley doesn't work, it's gonna be was 'n Esky.
Speaker 3: If it was n Esky doesn't work, they might bring
Speaker 3: up Jordan Wicks from TRIPAA. Like that is that is
Speaker 3: a tough spot to be Hendrick's assad. Again, those are
Speaker 3: guys that I think can get you through the regular
Speaker 3: season and keep you afloat when they're on. But this
Speaker 3: offense has been performing, and yeah, Bellinger's I think Bellinger
Speaker 3: is the most important. I think obviously the most important
Speaker 3: guy in their lineup, and he's playing like an MVP,
Speaker 3: and I don't think I don't think they're where they
Speaker 3: are without him, But you know, you do have some
Speaker 3: contingency plans at least, whereas your contingency plan to Justin
Speaker 3: Steel is kind of like it's a rap. Your contingency
Speaker 3: plan to Justin Steel is Jordan Wicks. So you get
Speaker 3: you take one of the best left handed pitchers in
Speaker 3: Major League Baseball this year, and now you bring up
Speaker 3: a really solid pitch ability guy in trip a A.
Speaker 1: That's that's the drop off.
Speaker 2: Whereas Beer, yeah, like Wess like like those guys are
Speaker 2: not filling in for Justin Steele. If Bellinger were to
Speaker 2: go down, they're able to mix and match. Maybe you
Speaker 2: plug Morell.
Speaker 3: Out there, or you just somebody around you make things happen,
Speaker 3: like you have an outfield that still includes Ian Happ,
Speaker 3: says Azuki, And you know, I think they find a
Speaker 3: way to.
Speaker 1: Make that work in a vacuum.
Speaker 3: I think Bellinger is a more valuable player, but as
Speaker 3: it pertains to the roster, I'm with you.
Speaker 1: It's it's got to be Justin Steele.
Speaker 2: San Francisco Giants are interesting because they have a lot
Speaker 2: of pitching, and they've been good in bullpen games, but
Speaker 2: there's not one offensive piece on this team that if
Speaker 2: he were to go down, I would be much more
Speaker 2: concerned about the offense. A couple of names that come
Speaker 2: to mind. Wilmer Flores has been just on a heater
Speaker 2: all year, Hiro Estrada has been good, Confordo's been good,
Speaker 2: Peterson has been good. But if Logan Web goes down,
Speaker 2: say good night, bro.
Speaker 3: Look at the roster resource for the Giants on Fangrass
Speaker 3: right now. It's actually fucking nuts. It's Logan Web. It's
Speaker 3: a red line of Kyle Harrison will start on Tuesday,
Speaker 3: August twenty second, and then it's Alex That's the whole
Speaker 3: fucking roster resource.
Speaker 1: That's it.
Speaker 3: I have nothing to add, dude, are you kidding me?
Speaker 3: Like they're bringing up a prospect who could be great?
Speaker 3: Kyle Harrison long term? He's walking and this is going
Speaker 3: to age poorly. I'm sure he's gonna throw a no
Speaker 3: hitter today. He's walking nearly seven per nine at the
Speaker 3: triple A level. I've never seen a roster resource like this.
Speaker 3: It's two names and a guy in red with a
Speaker 3: little asterisk next to it.
Speaker 2: So, yeah, that's all we have to say. That's all
Speaker 2: we have to say. And then the last team, the
Speaker 2: Arizona Diamondbacks. Again, I'm gonna go to another pitcher. If
Speaker 2: this team news is Zach Allen, it's over. And it's
Speaker 2: easy because like Christian Walker has been fantastic, Corden Carroll
Speaker 2: is obviously incredibly impactful, could tell Marte has been great
Speaker 2: this season, Lord Screel Junior or Gabriel Breno. We could
Speaker 2: keep going like, we could just keep listing offensive players
Speaker 2: and if one of them were to go down, it
Speaker 2: would stink sucks. But if they lose, if they lose
Speaker 2: the prohibitive favor to win the National League, siye young,
Speaker 2: they are done.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, oh, you don't like Brandon thought, Meryll
Speaker 3: Kelly and Slaye JACONI.
Speaker 2: I like maryle Kelly.
Speaker 3: I do like Mary Kelly a lot too, but I
Speaker 3: don't like Merril Kelly like that to your point, you know,
Speaker 3: you could to the people that would say, well, Corbyn Carroll,
Speaker 3: he's playing like one of the best players in the league.
Speaker 3: Corbyn Carroll since he kind of messed that shoulder up,
Speaker 3: has not played well. He's been well off of his
Speaker 3: season numbers, and they're eight and two in their last ten.
Speaker 3: They're playing great ball. All of a sudden, when we
Speaker 3: thought the d Backs were dead, they're right back in it.
Speaker 3: You know. I was just on on the morning after
Speaker 3: with our friend Ben Stevens and Yeah, he was saying, like,
Speaker 3: who stands out to you in that?
Speaker 1: And that hunts?
Speaker 3: And I'm like the fact that the d Backs have
Speaker 3: come back from the dead with their best offensive player
Speaker 3: not really playing right now and the acquisition of Tommy
Speaker 3: fam and you know, I think he's fitting really well
Speaker 3: to help them against leftist Yeah, I think they're they're
Speaker 3: fine offensively. Is that callen out of that rotation? It's
Speaker 3: a It's a damn rap.
Speaker 2: It's a rap, all right. So now we move on
Speaker 2: to our next question, which is going to be a
Speaker 2: fun one. The question is, if you get to create
Speaker 2: your franchise with any three players, who would they beat?
Speaker 2: Could be veterans, all stars, prospects, et cetera. Asked by
Speaker 2: Tully P. Toolly on Twitter. So basically, what we're gonna
Speaker 2: do this is a snake draft. We're gonna go back
Speaker 2: and forth and we're gonna draft the three best players
Speaker 2: that we want to start a franchise with. The only
Speaker 2: caveat is no show Hao Tawny, and you have to
Speaker 2: draft a pitcher, yeap arm Instead of doing a snake draft,
Speaker 2: We'll just go back and forth. Yes, because we only
Speaker 2: have to pick three two hitters, one pitcher.
Speaker 3: You go first, Okay, Number one, I gotta go Ronald
Speaker 3: Acunya Jr. I'm going youth. I'm going and getting I'm
Speaker 3: getting a young MVP. Like it's it's that simple. I
Speaker 3: got them forever. Uh, It's it's a no brainer to
Speaker 3: get Ronald here for me.
Speaker 2: My first pick is Mookie Betts. He's very similar to Junr.
Speaker 2: He actually has the highest F four in all of
Speaker 2: Major League Baseball. We're talking about home runs. He's one
Speaker 2: of the league leaders in home runs. But on top
Speaker 2: of it, plays in all world defensive right field.
Speaker 1: He's just that dude. Give me Mookie Bets.
Speaker 2: Ah.
Speaker 3: I'm pissed now because I thought you were gonna make
Speaker 3: my life easier. I got I gotta take Jay Rod
Speaker 3: with the next pick. I'm leaning j Rod because look
Speaker 3: you look at Since the start of the twenty twenty
Speaker 3: two season, j Rod is second among all players in
Speaker 3: f War, I like behind only show. Hey, TONI so
Speaker 3: second among all players in f War. I gotta go
Speaker 3: with the guy that's what twenty What is he twenty two? Now,
Speaker 3: I don't even All of these guys are so ridiculously young.
Speaker 3: If they're younger than me, I try to forget what
Speaker 3: their exact age is. I'm going with the guy that's
Speaker 3: extremely young, fought off a slow start, is playing out
Speaker 3: of his freaking mind, had one the best rookie campaigns
Speaker 3: we've seen. Give me j Rod as a center fielder
Speaker 3: who you know can just absolutely defend the hell out
Speaker 3: of it out there too.
Speaker 2: So for my next pick, it's interesting because I have
Speaker 2: to go with a hitter or I could go with
Speaker 2: my pitcher. Now you know what, I am gonna go
Speaker 2: with my pitcher. Now for my second pick, I'm taking
Speaker 2: all reliable, mister durable, every fifth day punching out guys.
Speaker 2: Give me Garrett Cole. Yeah, Garret Cole is gonna make
Speaker 2: thirty two starts a year. He's old though, he's gonna
Speaker 2: throw two hundred innings, but he's not battled. Right now,
Speaker 2: give me Garret Cole.
Speaker 3: That's fair, that's fair. I so my thing is like
Speaker 3: I'm trying to there's a sliding scale here of like
Speaker 3: dominance and youth, and it's like, Okay, this guy might
Speaker 3: not be quite as good, but he's young and I
Speaker 3: got him on my franchise.
Speaker 1: But like Garrett Cole is.
Speaker 3: Gonna he's gonna throw two hundred innings, I think till
Speaker 3: he like gets bored. I really think he's just going
Speaker 3: to be one of those guys. So now I have
Speaker 3: to take a picture. And you know, with I've made
Speaker 3: it well documented, especially in the call up, how much
Speaker 3: I cannot tolerate like picture risk. And you could go
Speaker 3: like Uri Perez and say, like you know, oh, he's
Speaker 3: twenty years old, and then this wonder can and like, okay,
Speaker 3: what he just did to the Dodgers. I need durability.
Speaker 3: That is like number one for me. I need durability.
Speaker 3: I'm going to go with my Homer pick. I'm going
Speaker 3: to go Sandy al Contra because you look at the age,
Speaker 3: you look at what he's able to do.
Speaker 1: I mean, even when this guy.
Speaker 3: Was struggling, like struggling through the first half of the year,
Speaker 3: he was still among the top twenty pitchers in f
Speaker 3: war because he still gave you six innings he's or
Speaker 3: seven innings like he made a gave up four earned,
Speaker 3: but at least your bullpen didn't get destroyed. You know,
Speaker 3: you're just talking about the Rangers. Like Max Schurzer. He
Speaker 3: used to be like this, but you know, struggled, only
Speaker 3: went three and two thirds. They had to pull him.
Speaker 3: Like Sam even when he's bad, we'll get out and
Speaker 3: give you six or seven. Now he's come, you know,
Speaker 3: full circle, and since the All Star break has been
Speaker 3: cy young Sandy again, and I think that's who he's
Speaker 3: going to be. Talk about another guy that's I think,
Speaker 3: same conversation with Garrett Cole in terms of two hundred
Speaker 3: innings every year, knock on wood, you never have to
Speaker 3: worry about health, gets ground balls, gets enough with and
Speaker 3: again every fifth day, I know that he's going to
Speaker 3: preserve my bullpen and there's a chance that he may
Speaker 3: just go the distance. Sandy al Contra is a throwback
Speaker 3: starter that I mean, I would love to start my
Speaker 3: franchise with.
Speaker 2: And I think you're hearing you know in this draft
Speaker 2: that arm and I really rely on durability being there
Speaker 2: every day. And I'm trying to decide between three players
Speaker 2: I'm trying to decide between jord On Alvarez, Aaron Judge,
Speaker 2: and Freddie Freeman. And who is the one name that
Speaker 2: is there every day, always hitting. It's Freddy Freeman. That
Speaker 2: is my next pick. He is third in Major League
Speaker 2: Ball and four among all hitters I know. The one
Speaker 2: I turn on a Dodgers game, Freddie Freeman is going
Speaker 2: two for four and he might even steal you a bag.
Speaker 2: He's just so consistent, so reliable. Aaron Judge is more
Speaker 2: talented of an all around player. Jordan Alvarez is a
Speaker 2: better hitter, maybe maybe, but maybe like maybe not really
Speaker 2: at this point. Freddy Freeman is just that dude.
Speaker 3: Well, if you're going to take a guy over the
Speaker 3: age of thirty to start your franchise, you should take
Speaker 3: the guy who defies the age curve. And I think
Speaker 3: Freddie Freeman absolutely defies the age car He actually reversed
Speaker 3: the age curve. I've never seen it before. He's reverse
Speaker 3: who knowed that the age curve?
Speaker 1: You know?
Speaker 3: And I'm a guy that likes to like lean young.
Speaker 3: Can I tell you someone that I seriously was considering here?
Speaker 2: Absolutely?
Speaker 3: And I was so pumped that you brought him up
Speaker 3: earlier Kyle Tucker. I was seriously considering because Kyle Tucker
Speaker 3: might not win me MVPs. But I know that if
Speaker 3: I have Kyle Tucker on my ball club, and again
Speaker 3: he's young, I got ten plus years of four to
Speaker 3: five win seasons every single year moving forward. Like even
Speaker 3: if Kyle Tucker, I think he's gonna keep improving. We've
Speaker 3: been kind of waiting for that MVP ascension. It hasn't
Speaker 3: happened yet, but like the last three seasons, man, it's absurd.
Speaker 3: Twenty twenty one four point seven f F four one
Speaker 3: forty five WRC plus, thirty home runs, twenty twenty two
Speaker 3: four point eight f four thirty home runs, one twenty
Speaker 3: nine WRC plus, and then this year so far four
Speaker 3: point two f four, twenty four home runs a one
Speaker 3: forty five WRC plus.
Speaker 1: Sign me the fuck up for that every single year?
Speaker 1: Are you kidding me?
Speaker 3: With the defense, as you mentioned, the ability to play center,
Speaker 3: he's stealing bags more than ever, by the way, he
Speaker 3: had twenty five bags last year, twenty four already this year,
Speaker 3: Like this, dude is a walking model of consistency and
Speaker 3: by the way, walking more than he ever has, striking
Speaker 3: out less than he ever has. I really considered Kyle
Speaker 3: Tucker with the pick set of j Rod, But you know, Jay,
Speaker 3: Rodd's younger and I could still keep getting better.
Speaker 2: You went younger, and I there was a part of
Speaker 2: me that wanted to lean younger, right. I was even
Speaker 2: thinking about potentially taking Bobby with Junior, that was one
Speaker 2: of the best players in baseball. I was thinking about
Speaker 2: taking Adleie Rutchman, but you're betting on betting on Carrol.
Speaker 2: But it's just like the best bets in sports, Mookie bets,
Speaker 2: Garrett Cole and Freddie Freeman are going to be there
Speaker 2: every day just hitting home runs and impacting the game
Speaker 2: on all different facets and also being leaders in the clubhouse.
Speaker 2: They are just the gold standard. I think ronalccuney Junior
Speaker 2: should be the first overall pick because I think outside
Speaker 2: of Otani, he is the most talented, gifted player that
Speaker 2: we have in the game, and he's also been incredibly
Speaker 2: durable outside of an ACL injury, but he even played
Speaker 2: on one leg last year and was still a good
Speaker 2: player and now healthy. He's the runaway MVP. But when
Speaker 2: I do say runaway, the only people that are competing
Speaker 2: with him are Mookie Bets and Freddie Freeman, a couple
Speaker 2: other guys that I considered Francisco Lindor. At this point,
Speaker 2: there is no shortstop that is close. Yeah, when you
Speaker 2: rank shortstops, Lindor is one. He is fifth in Major
Speaker 2: League Baseball in f war twenty three bombs, twenty stolen bases,
Speaker 2: world class defense at besides catcher, the most impactful defensive position. Yeah, pitchers.
Speaker 2: Gosman every fifth day is getting his And I'll continue
Speaker 2: to say that. I think Gosman is as safe of
Speaker 2: a pitcher. What's funny? I mean, when are we gonna
Speaker 2: give Logan Webb his respect? Is just a guy who
Speaker 2: has a two to nine ERA every year. It just
Speaker 2: puts up a fifty eight percent ground ball rate and
Speaker 2: you just know what you're gonna get. Now. I'd like
Speaker 2: to see him in a very hit or friendly ballpark, right,
Speaker 2: he gets to play out there at Oracle where the
Speaker 2: weather is normally good for pitchers, and the and the
Speaker 2: park is huge. But at the same time, like he
Speaker 2: just keeps the ball on the ground so it doesn't
Speaker 2: really matter. Was there anybody else that came across your
Speaker 2: big board and you were like, I had to take him?
Speaker 3: I seriously considered Corbin, and honestly, if it weren't for
Speaker 3: like the repetitive shoulder stuff, I would have I would
Speaker 3: have taken him. But like you know, he had the
Speaker 3: surgery his his first professional season. Now since that thing
Speaker 3: like sublex again, he's I don't think it reportedly sublex,
Speaker 3: but whatever that was where he was holding holding his
Speaker 3: arm and I was like gasping for air, freaking out
Speaker 3: about him, you know it just he hasn't been the
Speaker 3: same since, and I'm like worried that that could be
Speaker 3: a repetitive thing.
Speaker 1: He's a smaller dude.
Speaker 3: But I definitely considered Corbin Carrol because he's one of
Speaker 3: my favorite players in a long, long, long time.
Speaker 1: But now I would say.
Speaker 3: It was Bobby White, like you said, Yuri Perez was
Speaker 3: a serious consideration, but like.
Speaker 1: I want to see him stretched out.
Speaker 3: I want to see, you know, it's doings, see.
Speaker 1: Him doing a little bit more. Grayson Grace Rodriguez.
Speaker 2: Ever since he's gotten called up three point zero three
Speaker 2: e R in terms of stuff plus, which grades the
Speaker 2: physical characteristics of each pitch like velocity, spin rate, all
Speaker 2: that kind of stuff, ranked sixth, right by behind Corbyn Burns.
Speaker 2: He has been a train engine for the Baltimore Oriols.
Speaker 2: So we're talking about young pitchers. Grayson Rodriguez needs to
Speaker 2: be in that conversation. And one more name for you.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I was gonna say I had one more too.
Speaker 3: That's playing out of his mind right now.
Speaker 2: Talking about durability. Who's there every day, Marcus Semeon, Yeah,
Speaker 2: the engine that goes Yeah, he's just he's becoming my
Speaker 2: favorite player in baseball. It's just he's just so relized, heable,
Speaker 2: so reliable, and so good. Like he's not just like
Speaker 2: pretty good. He's one of the best players in baseball.
Speaker 2: Great defensively, does everything you need on the baseball field.
Speaker 2: I love him. I love Marcus Semeon. I'm I'm I'd
Speaker 2: get on a knee for Marcus. I would.
Speaker 3: The last one I would say is Gunnar Henderson. You know,
Speaker 3: slow start. I think a little bit of a reach,
Speaker 3: a little bit of area. You're going young and starting
Speaker 3: a franchise, totally get it. But like shit, he I'm saying,
Speaker 3: not going young and starting a franchise. Gunner Henderson is
Speaker 3: I think could kind of play his way into that conversation.
Speaker 3: He like cycle Pluss the other day, yeah, which was
Speaker 3: which was sick, But no, I know that one's a
Speaker 3: little bit of a reach. But at twenty he just
Speaker 3: turned twenty two, like, holy shit, and he can play.
Speaker 3: He's been playing third short like he's an awesome talent too.
Speaker 3: But I agree he's a little bit more of a
Speaker 3: reach than the other guys.
Speaker 2: All right, Question number three, which teams that are out
Speaker 2: of the hunt this year? Are you most optimistic could
Speaker 2: make a playoff push in twenty twenty four? A's by
Speaker 2: Riley mcelwine two on Instagram mcee l W A I
Speaker 2: N two. Sorry people, I'm horrible with names, but thank you, Riley.
Speaker 3: I think.
Speaker 2: Mclwayanne mcawayne, arm who's the first team that comes to
Speaker 2: your mind?
Speaker 1: It's it's just.
Speaker 3: This is gonna be the new fucking Angels, the padres
Speaker 3: Man like, it has to be like they're gonna be
Speaker 3: the new La Angels and they're gonna fucking ruin my
Speaker 3: life every single year because I've always been on them.
Speaker 3: But in terms of sheer talent, like come on, like
Speaker 3: it's gotta be. There's no team that has been more
Speaker 3: loaded and been sixty and sixty six that I can
Speaker 3: remember than the Padres. So like the boring answer is
Speaker 3: them to start who are.
Speaker 1: You looking at?
Speaker 3: And then I'll give a more exciting answer.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm so done with the Padres. Like there's a reason, right,
Speaker 2: there's plenty of players on the Padres that we could
Speaker 2: have chosen to build a franchise around. Juan Soto is
Speaker 2: one of them. He's gonna get seven hundred trillion dollars,
Speaker 2: most likely Fernando Tatis Junior. It's having a great year
Speaker 2: kind of. He's got an no Ps under eight hundred,
Speaker 2: which not a lot of people are talking about, but
Speaker 2: he's still been incredible in right field. Twenty home runs,
Speaker 2: twenty stone bases. We know a good is Manny Machado.
Speaker 2: They can't play together like there's something there, right, They're
Speaker 2: too damn good. They have the second place finished sure
Speaker 2: in the National League. Saying, as we sit here today
Speaker 2: in Blake Snell, Joe Musgrove, you Darvish, Michael Waka has
Speaker 2: been awesome, but they don't win any games, Like you
Speaker 2: can't just point to the middle of the bullpen being
Speaker 2: the reason why they've lost games. They go down in games,
Speaker 2: they don't fight back, they go up in games. The
Speaker 2: bullpen blows it. They are not a winning team. No,
Speaker 2: it's not the same as the Blue Jays. But there's
Speaker 2: something there that is not indicative to winning, and I
Speaker 2: don't know what it is. It could be a clubhouse thing,
Speaker 2: could be a managerial thing, could be a culture thing.
Speaker 2: I don't know, but we've seen it too many times
Speaker 2: now to put our eggs in that basket. Similar with
Speaker 2: the Angels, I can't do it anymore. I don't care
Speaker 2: if Atani's on the team. I don't care if they
Speaker 2: get another O Tani.
Speaker 3: They're not winnings or just no, it's not happening.
Speaker 2: So of the teams that are not in contention, like
Speaker 2: the Reds would be my answer, but they are in contention, right,
Speaker 2: So I want to go with kind of a last
Speaker 2: place team and a team that's showing so much art,
Speaker 2: but it's hard to make an actual argument for them.
Speaker 2: But man, they show fight. The Washington Nationals. Dude, Hey,
Speaker 2: like we love c j Abrams Ling, Thomas's has stud
Speaker 2: at the play, Joey Manessa's Stone. Garrett is just raking balls.
Speaker 3: I couldn't believe that he was just let go in
Speaker 3: the minor league free agency. Basically that was crazy to me.
Speaker 2: McKenzie Gore has been good in spots, but you can
Speaker 2: see what he could possibly be. Of course, Josiah Gray
Speaker 2: and then the bullpen is horrible, but like sometimes they
Speaker 2: get out and like they just win games. Sometimes they're
Speaker 2: not like them. I like watching them.
Speaker 3: I actually don't hate that answer at all. You're also
Speaker 3: not investing in the bullpen when your team sucks, like
Speaker 3: I bet they invest a little bit more into the
Speaker 3: bullpen this coming year. And look, Dylan Cruz just skipped
Speaker 3: h A. You know he's going straight to double I
Speaker 3: guarantee the plan is for Dylan Cruz to be up
Speaker 3: next year. Will he succeed? I think at least moderately.
Speaker 3: He's Dylan fucking Cruise. So you have Dylan Cruz coming
Speaker 3: into the fold yere you hope that you get k
Speaker 3: Cavali back. I think that this team could be sneaky
Speaker 3: good next year. I also think they're gonna spend a
Speaker 3: little bit of money. The Nationals are, you know, not
Speaker 3: not to break the bank team, but they're definitely not
Speaker 3: this like perpetually cheap team. You know, I know they
Speaker 3: didn't want to pay you know, Juan Soto all of
Speaker 3: the money that he wanted, or renown all the money
Speaker 3: that he wanted.
Speaker 1: Or whatever it may be.
Speaker 3: But I do think that they're gonna spend some money
Speaker 3: this coming off season and go pick up some guys.
Speaker 3: They've got catching locked up and keep it release. They've
Speaker 3: got shorts up, as you mentioned, locked up with CJ. Abrams,
Speaker 3: They've got a couple spots in the rotation set with
Speaker 3: Josiah Gray and Mackenzie Gore. I think they can find
Speaker 3: a way to kind of piece this team together and
Speaker 3: make it not bad at all. Another boring answer would
Speaker 3: be the Cardinals, because I do like the youth that's
Speaker 3: coming up, and you know that they're kind of fun. No, no, no, no.
Speaker 2: I mean, yes, obviously Cardinals fans obviously, but yeah, no,
Speaker 2: I I want to buy into a team that actually stinks.
Speaker 1: Yeah you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the Cardinals, like the Cardinals, the Padres, Like there's
Speaker 2: teams that you know that this year they be our answer.
Speaker 2: But like, let's let me, let's let's let's let's you know,
Speaker 2: find the diamond in the rough here. Let's fuck Tigers
Speaker 2: for a second.
Speaker 3: Okay, well okay, here it's Tigers versus Pirates for me
Speaker 3: right here, and you know, I look at the Pirates,
Speaker 3: you know I'm gonna go with the fucking Tigers. I'm
Speaker 3: gonna go with the fucking Tigers.
Speaker 1: I like the Tigers because I saw a couple of
Speaker 1: questions that we got kind of like. I actually kind
Speaker 1: of like them too.
Speaker 3: And God, if they just didn't have Javier Bayas, I'd
Speaker 3: feel so much better. But Riley Green is coming into
Speaker 3: his own, no doubt about it. I have talked about
Speaker 3: Carry Carpenter on this podcast for like two years now,
Speaker 3: and we're finally seeing Kerry Carpenter really really blossom into
Speaker 3: the guy who just flat out Rakes Torkosin. I hope
Speaker 3: this keeps rolling books sex Spencer Torkleson has found it
Speaker 3: like this offense is coming together. They're gonna clear some
Speaker 3: money now with Miguel Cabrera coming off the books, right
Speaker 3: I Javier Baias, he's opting in, no doubt about that.
Speaker 1: But you know, the pitching is coming together a little bit.
Speaker 2: I wants to stay a Tiger, clearly, he wants to
Speaker 2: be a career Tiger, good for Clearly he.
Speaker 1: Doesn't want to go anywhere.
Speaker 3: But they got Trek Scuogl back Matt Manning actually looks
Speaker 3: like a big league arm Like they've got guys kind
Speaker 3: of coming together here. I think this team is not
Speaker 3: bad at all as is, and I think it's gonna
Speaker 3: get stronger and stronger. I do think that they're going
Speaker 3: to spend a little bit of money too and and
Speaker 3: put this together. And they also have a pretty decent
Speaker 3: farm system. So consider me in on on the Tigers
Speaker 3: long term. I'll make that my my team here that
Speaker 3: I kind of believe in. And again, they've got other
Speaker 3: guys that are coming up through the pipeline that I
Speaker 3: think can help them.
Speaker 2: Here's my one issue with the Tigers and people who've
Speaker 2: been following my picks all year, you know, they are
Speaker 2: my one band team, and it's because I believe in
Speaker 2: them more than they believe in themselves. I keep betting
Speaker 2: on Alex Viyodo and he keeps giving up home runs.
Speaker 2: I keep betting on Resoulson and he keeps sucking. But
Speaker 2: I see something there like the expected year right, like
Speaker 2: they're all way lower because these guys have strikeout stuff.
Speaker 2: They don't really walk anyone in The hard hit rate
Speaker 2: isn't enormous. But then I bet on them and the
Speaker 2: wind is blowing in at co America and they still
Speaker 2: give up a four hundred and twenty five foot home run,
Speaker 2: and you're like, what like that would have been four
Speaker 2: eighty everywhere else, Like what is going on here? And
Speaker 2: I think that's more of just I'm betting on them
Speaker 2: in the wrong spots or something. But you talked about
Speaker 2: those first guys, like one of those pictures I fully
Speaker 2: believe is going to work. Well, both of them work.
Speaker 2: I don't know. Yeah, I agree, maybe both of them won't,
Speaker 2: but I believe that one of them is here to stay.
Speaker 2: But jeg Els, Fido and Rees Holson, I agree.
Speaker 3: And then you've got Scooball and then you've got the
Speaker 3: guys you mentioned. You've got time Adden coming up, You've
Speaker 3: got job not too too far away, and then Cole
Speaker 3: Keith is one of my favorite bats in the minor leagues.
Speaker 3: He I think he's a September call up. He's a
Speaker 3: little bit limited defensively. He is either gonna play first
Speaker 3: or third. Probably end up playing third since Torque is,
Speaker 3: you know, anchoring that that first base spot.
Speaker 1: But again that's a mash or two.
Speaker 3: I think the Tigers could be one of the more
Speaker 3: underrated young lineups and baseball the next next season.
Speaker 2: It's been agree with you more. Let's move on to
Speaker 2: our next question, but before we do, let's hear from
Speaker 2: our friends at ALT.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Well, by the way, that is a card that I
Speaker 3: am buying Colt Keith. I've bought plenty of and the
Speaker 3: place that you can do that is at all dot xyz.
Speaker 3: The baseball card market is heating up during the second
Speaker 3: half of the season here and as we get into
Speaker 3: the playoffs, and the only place to search for cards
Speaker 3: is all dot xyz. It's the only platform that allows
Speaker 3: you to search all the major marketplaces and eBay at once.
Speaker 3: Just download the free All app in our episode description
Speaker 3: type of player card into the search bar, and All
Speaker 3: will return every graded card available for sale. Even better,
Speaker 3: you can save the search and be notified every time
Speaker 3: that a card is available. So for me, when I'm
Speaker 3: looking for Cold Keith, don't see anything on the market
Speaker 3: at that moment, I put a little you know, save
Speaker 3: search mark there and I'll be notified anytime somebody lists
Speaker 3: a Cold Keith card, and then like Psycho, I will
Speaker 3: go and scoop that up immediately. You'll never want to
Speaker 3: use another app for researching and buying baseball cards. Ever again,
Speaker 3: it's also a great way to get a price guide
Speaker 3: on maybe a card that you pulled, a card that
Speaker 3: you bought a while ago. They have a really really
Speaker 3: advanced pricing system to get an idea of what recent
Speaker 3: sales were and what your card is worth. So go
Speaker 3: check out that link in our episode description so they
Speaker 3: know that we sent you, and I think you will
Speaker 3: never use any other app to track your baseball cards
Speaker 3: sports cards in general, and buy or sell on there
Speaker 3: as well.
Speaker 2: Our next question, out of all the teams in contention,
Speaker 2: who do you have the least faith in when it
Speaker 2: actually comes down to winning a playoff series? Asked by
Speaker 2: Alex Cornell twenty six on Instagram. I think we should
Speaker 2: give an answer for both the American League and the
Speaker 2: National League. And my National League team is very easy.
Speaker 2: My American League team is very hard. So I'll just
Speaker 2: start with the National League. If the Giants make it
Speaker 2: in the postseason, I don't see them winning against anyone.
Speaker 2: I like them. I think they can win games in
Speaker 2: the regular season in low scoring battles when they're using
Speaker 2: the bullpen. But at the end of the day, you
Speaker 2: spelled it out with their rotation. If Logan Webb loses
Speaker 2: Game one, which is possible, of course it is, it's
Speaker 2: the playoffs. They're done. It's right like they won't be
Speaker 2: able to hit enough. They don't have the power, they
Speaker 2: don't their depth in the lineup is not good. Like
Speaker 2: at sometimes they look like a last place team when
Speaker 2: they play, and then sometimes they beat the Braves four
Speaker 2: to three with Jacob Junas versus Max Free Like, sometimes
Speaker 2: that happens and it looks awesome and I'm in, But
Speaker 2: more often than not you get into the playoffs. I
Speaker 2: cannot see the Giants winning a playoff series against anyone
Speaker 2: in that's in contention right now. I really don't, cause
Speaker 2: I think other teams have upside. Right, we talk about
Speaker 2: the Diamondbacks like Gallen Kelly, you can win those games.
Speaker 2: Right If we're looking at other teams on the fringe,
Speaker 2: like the Marlins. I think the Marlins beat the Giants
Speaker 2: in a playoff series. The Phillies do, right, I think
Speaker 2: the Cubs could beat them. I think the Reds could
Speaker 2: beat them. I think the Giants of all the remaining contenders,
Speaker 2: have the least amount of upside. Decently high floor, but
Speaker 2: it's not even that high of a floor.
Speaker 3: Yeah, now, I'm with you. It's it's the Giants. I mean,
Speaker 3: we're seeing a team that's again only I think their
Speaker 3: roster moves kind of scream panic mode.
Speaker 1: Right, it's fight or flight a little bit. With this team.
Speaker 3: They didn't even need to add Weay Mechwork to the
Speaker 3: forty for another year or two now, or for several
Speaker 3: more years, I believe, And now they're going to have to,
Speaker 3: you know, have a little bit more of a forty
Speaker 3: man crunch because they panicked and brought Mechler up and
Speaker 3: thought that he could be a better option than you know,
Speaker 3: Elliott Ramos or Luis Manto. So we're also kind of
Speaker 3: panic options, and you know, and how they pick up
Speaker 3: Paul de Young and like they're just trying everything right now.
Speaker 3: And I think a team that's throwing shit at the
Speaker 3: wall and hoping it sticks it kind of tips their
Speaker 3: hand already as probably one of the more vulnerable teams
Speaker 3: in the Hunts. You know, I would I would highlight
Speaker 3: the Marlins, but when you have, I mean, you saw
Speaker 3: what Uri Perez did to the Dodgers. I mean that
Speaker 3: was unbelieva. I was one of the best rookie pitching
Speaker 3: performances I've seen basically since Spencer Strider. But besides that,
Speaker 3: like I can't remember a much better rookie pitching performance recently.
Speaker 3: Then you have, you know, you hope Lizardo turns it around.
Speaker 3: Like they just have so many arms and the bats
Speaker 3: have come alive a little bit. I feel better about
Speaker 3: that team being a little bit more complete than the Giants.
Speaker 3: I'd highlight the Reds, but they're gonna get Lodolo back
Speaker 3: very soon.
Speaker 1: They have greenback.
Speaker 3: I know his first start was a disaster, but you know,
Speaker 3: he's still better than Luke Weaver. And they've been hanging
Speaker 3: around and Ellie's playing better. I'm with you. I think
Speaker 3: I think the Giants are the obvious answer here.
Speaker 2: Who's your team in the American League? Because this one
Speaker 2: is is interesting because it's not the Ashos, it's not
Speaker 2: the Rangers, it's not the Mariners. It's probably not the Twins,
Speaker 2: because I think that the Twins can get you if
Speaker 2: their bats are hot, their pitching is so good, and
Speaker 2: their bullpen, when Rocco Baldelli puts in the right arms
Speaker 2: in the right situations, they can be good. It's not
Speaker 2: the Orioles. I still think that if the Rays have
Speaker 2: Efflin Civalian Glass, now it's tough to beat. So I'm
Speaker 2: trying to decide between the Blue Jays and the Red Sox,
Speaker 2: and you might say, yeah, it's definitely the Red Sox.
Speaker 2: They they keep winning, like the Blue Jays are so
Speaker 2: disappointing on them. They can't hit Vlattie. I mean, I
Speaker 2: could just go for days about how disappointed I am
Speaker 2: in him. But when the Blue Jays and the Red
Speaker 2: Sox play each other, the Red Sox win. When the
Speaker 2: Blue Jays play the Organs, the Orioles wine. The Blue
Speaker 2: Jays an't winning it against the eliast but they can't
Speaker 2: really hit at home. Why he is an ops under
Speaker 2: seven hundred at home?
Speaker 1: I think what's with the Canada effect on some of
Speaker 1: these guys.
Speaker 2: Both in Jordan Romano pitches in the United States that
Speaker 2: he's like a decent reliever that he pitches in Canada.
Speaker 3: He's bar yeah, Rivera. It's it's bizarre. And to your point, though,
Speaker 3: the Red Sox against teams over five hundred, thirty three
Speaker 3: and thirty three, you look at the Blue Jays against
Speaker 3: teams over five hundred, the thirty seven and forty. That
Speaker 3: might not sound like the biggest difference, but when you're
Speaker 3: a team that's three games behind them, you shouldn't have,
Speaker 3: you know, a better record against teams better than five hundred. Again, Boston,
Speaker 3: now they struggle with them. They kind of play down
Speaker 3: to their competition. We saw them lose the series to
Speaker 3: the Nationals. We saw them struggle with the Royals. They're
Speaker 3: thirty one in I gotta find below five hundred. I
Speaker 3: don't think it's been very good for them. And you know,
Speaker 3: you look at what the Blue Jays have done. They
Speaker 3: just torch teams that are below five. So you know,
Speaker 3: for me, it's one of those interesting spots where I,
Speaker 3: on paper, I don't trust the Red Sox pitching, but
Speaker 3: like shit, man, then fucking Cutter Crawford goes out there
Speaker 3: and gives you a gem, you know, and then you know,
Speaker 3: Chris Martin to Kenley Jansen right now.
Speaker 1: Is lights out. It's lights out with those two. So
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go with the Twins.
Speaker 3: I know you you eliminated them, and I love the Twins,
Speaker 3: like I've tried to talk myself into this Twins team,
Speaker 3: but this offense, man, I just see them stalling out
Speaker 3: the same way we saw the Mariners stall out last
Speaker 3: year against the Astros, where you're just like, holy shit,
Speaker 3: they're not gonna score a run, like, oh my god,
Speaker 3: and even when the pitching holds up there under the bargain,
Speaker 3: you're sitting there and you're like, they're not gonna get
Speaker 3: the one run that they need to get. Everyone's punching out,
Speaker 3: like Edward Julian like has this like come down to
Speaker 3: Earth moment in the playoffs, or hey, Polonco gets banged
Speaker 3: up again, Correa keeps being a shell of himself, kepler
Speaker 3: like faces a lefty. I don't know, I just see it, like, oh,
Speaker 3: Royce Lewis like runs into the first baseman, and then
Speaker 3: it's like Matt Woner, Ryan Jefferson, Joey Gallows striking out
Speaker 3: and then Michael A. Taylor rounding things like I already
Speaker 3: see it, bro, Like I just I already see it.
Speaker 3: And it kills me because I fucking love this team.
Speaker 3: They're so there's so much fun. They're like my MLB
Speaker 3: the Show team. But fuck, I can't watch them anymore.
Speaker 1: I can't.
Speaker 3: I'm so sick of it, and I think they're very
Speaker 3: flawed and I follow some Twins folks.
Speaker 1: They can't stand their own team.
Speaker 3: I just saw a headline the other day that was
Speaker 3: Twins considering Byron Buxton in the outfield.
Speaker 1: The fuck you mean?
Speaker 3: Like I understand why that they haven't had him out there,
Speaker 3: but like, that's a headline that they're considering Byron Buxton
Speaker 3: in the outfield. Like, I can't do it with this
Speaker 3: fucking team, man, I I'm most concerned about them.
Speaker 1: That's it. Like, that's it.
Speaker 2: Max Kepler faces the left team. That was beautiful. I'm
Speaker 2: switching my answer to the Twins. You're right, like the
Speaker 2: Jays versus Twins, who's winning that series? The Blue Jays
Speaker 2: are really How.
Speaker 3: Was Kaiko gets the ball in Game five? Spinning it
Speaker 3: like eighty five mile an hour sinker? Like I can't
Speaker 3: do it, man, You and Jack are obsessed with the Twins.
Speaker 3: I feel like I've always known them. They're just not
Speaker 3: they're frauds. They're frauds.
Speaker 2: I've just I you know, it's funny because I've seen
Speaker 2: the Yankees so many times in the playoffs when I
Speaker 2: didn't think the Yankees were good enough, and then they
Speaker 2: fuck up the Twins, and I'm like, Okay, but we
Speaker 2: have a shot. Then we get Steve rold By the
Speaker 2: Ashos or somebody else. I'm like, well, there you go.
Speaker 2: Like it was like the Yankees against the Guardians last year,
Speaker 2: where they at least like the Guardians took them to five. Yeah,
Speaker 2: they've taken the Yankees to five. Like there's not a team.
Speaker 2: There may be a gentleman's.
Speaker 3: They're not a team that battles to me and and
Speaker 3: grinds it out and steals one.
Speaker 1: It's like that, and well.
Speaker 2: Deli puts, oh yeah, Martin in a tie game because
Speaker 2: it's a lefty when the lefty is reverse splits like,
Speaker 2: come on, we gotta be better. And then I hear
Speaker 2: from Twins Twitter, It's like, what do you mean, Gravonni
Speaker 2: moranz is our lefty? Get a better lefty because it
Speaker 2: ain't working.
Speaker 3: I'm with you, I'm with you, God you it.
Speaker 2: I just fucking read the Twins. I'm sorry Twins fans,
Speaker 2: but come on, we see what you see what we're seeing.
Speaker 2: All right, let's keep going. This is a good one,
Speaker 2: arm and this one, this one's for you. But I
Speaker 2: have my answer, but I'm sure you have multiple answers.
Speaker 2: Which trade has the highest chance of flaming out at
Speaker 2: this deadline. From last season, it was probably the Tyler
Speaker 2: Malley deal. So what is it this season? If we
Speaker 2: remember Tyler Mallley was traded in exchange for Spencer Steer
Speaker 2: and Christian and Carnacion Strand, who are both contributors this
Speaker 2: year for the Reds, and Tyler Mallley has not really
Speaker 2: pitched for the Minnesota Twins. That was asked by Naoki
Speaker 2: Baseball nerd on Instagram. I'm just gonna give you my
Speaker 2: answer first, and then you can agree or disagree, because
Speaker 2: I know you're gonna have multiple answers. Yeah, Kyle Manzardo
Speaker 2: was traded for Aaron Savali. Now, Aaron Savali is a
Speaker 2: good pitcher, but Kyle Manzardo is one of those guys
Speaker 2: that I think you're gonna put in a lineup for
Speaker 2: a long time and he's gonna hit fifth for a decade.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Like you look at his stats, right, you even look
Speaker 2: at his swing. It's a sweet swing, but there's no
Speaker 2: real swing and miss. There are tons of walks, there's doubles,
Speaker 2: there's home runs. Like that was a big piece to
Speaker 2: give up. Now I understand it from the race perspective,
Speaker 2: they had a crunch. They have so many first base
Speaker 2: third base prospects. So I'm not saying the Rays were
Speaker 2: completely wrong to trade him. It wasn't like they needed
Speaker 2: him anyway. But just looking back on that trade, I
Speaker 2: think Manzardo is gonna be one of the better hitters
Speaker 2: for the Guardians for a long time. Well, Aaron Savali
Speaker 2: is probably gonna be pretty good for the race for
Speaker 2: a season or two.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, that's the thing is like it's tough
Speaker 3: because it's like there's the lens of yes.
Speaker 1: Savali is probably one of the only reasons why they have.
Speaker 3: A pulse at this point. Well, okay, great, you have
Speaker 3: a pulse, you get balanced in the wild card round,
Speaker 3: and and now you don't have a first baseman for
Speaker 3: seven years, like you traded away a guaranteed starting first
Speaker 3: basement with you know, six seven years of control. For
Speaker 3: what I mean, there's a reason why the Guardians moved
Speaker 3: Josh Bell won financially two. It was that they believe
Speaker 3: in Menzarto to the degree that I think he can,
Speaker 3: you know, be that first basement for them, nailor can
Speaker 3: dh and play a little outfield whatever. They'll they'll move
Speaker 3: it around they'll figure it out, but I think Menzarto
Speaker 3: was a big part of that, and I think he's
Speaker 3: one of these. I have him in my right up
Speaker 3: on top of on our top one hundred list as
Speaker 3: the one of the safest offensive profiles in the minor league.
Speaker 3: So you know, I thought that that easily could be
Speaker 3: one that they regret. I weirdly a small deal that
Speaker 3: and I'll get to a more exciting one, but I
Speaker 3: just want to mention before I forgot. I think it's
Speaker 3: weird that the Brewers just decided to move off Luis
Speaker 3: Arias so quickly for what like Bradley Blaylocks. And you know,
Speaker 3: you know, a random right handed pitcher like Arius has
Speaker 3: already swung it pretty well. We've seen him in the
Speaker 3: past swing it really well. I thought that was a weird,
Speaker 3: random kind of like dump off there. But I think
Speaker 3: the number one, number one, number one, number one thing,
Speaker 3: it's gonna be the Lucas Giolito trade. I I just
Speaker 3: I wanted the Angels to stand pat. I wanted him
Speaker 3: to maybe even soft buy like we saw the Padres
Speaker 3: do right and go get a rich Hill might end
Speaker 3: up giving similar production to what they got from Lucas Giolito.
Speaker 2: That's that's so beat to Giliito. Rich Hill has been horrible,
Speaker 2: has been bad too.
Speaker 1: How bad is rich Oban? Can you pull the numbers up?
Speaker 2: It's three innings, like I know what it is. Okay, Okay,
Speaker 2: maybe three innings, seven hits, five earned every single outing.
Speaker 3: Okay, well, at least thank you for holding me accountable.
Speaker 3: I won't I won't be too hyperbolic, but because that is,
Speaker 3: he has been horrible. Okay, has been bad. Okay, last start,
Speaker 3: last last start from rich Hill, five innings, two hits,
Speaker 3: three runs, three.
Speaker 2: K's okay, Okay, you don't want to take it back.
Speaker 3: But no, my point being now, like Gilito was never
Speaker 3: gonna move the needle for you, like he's a mid
Speaker 3: four ZR guy. You knew that when you got him
Speaker 3: and Raynaldo Lopez like if he had control, I'd get it.
Speaker 3: Rental reliever, rental starter. That's crazy. I was pounding the
Speaker 3: table for the Angels to keep Otani and I stand
Speaker 3: by that, and I would have liked them to add
Speaker 3: that's fine too, but they they added I think an
Speaker 3: asset that doesn't help them that much, that is a
Speaker 3: rental and they also traded somebody for that like in
Speaker 3: that deal that I think is there was probably their
Speaker 3: best prospect and probably one of their better options. And
Speaker 3: since the trade, by the way, Edgar Caro, switch hitting
Speaker 3: catcher who's twenty years old in double A three twenty eight,
Speaker 3: three eighty nine four fifty nine slash line as a
Speaker 3: switch hitting catcher with a ten percent walk rate and
Speaker 3: fifteen percent k rate in double A, Caro is going
Speaker 3: to be their starting catcher at some point next year,
Speaker 3: and Lucas Gilito will be pitching in LA or something
Speaker 3: like that, and not not for the Angels, for like
Speaker 3: the Dodgers or something like that. That one blows my
Speaker 3: mind because Carol, I think they sold him at the
Speaker 3: lowest possible value and for two rentals that that was.
Speaker 1: That's one that I think they'll regret for a really
Speaker 1: long time.
Speaker 2: The thing is they do have logan Ohapi though kind
Speaker 2: of similar to the race they could trade from you know,
Speaker 2: a surplus.
Speaker 3: No doubt, and I would have used that to go
Speaker 3: get Lorenzen or you know, somebody else, just anything else.
Speaker 2: The Phillies got Lorenzen for their an infield prospect that
Speaker 2: I'm how you don't care about.
Speaker 3: How you lee who is like a similar offensive profile,
Speaker 3: slightly diminished and set like stuck at second base, so
Speaker 3: like you have a catcher.
Speaker 2: Like football Tigers, Like what are we doing there? Right?
Speaker 1: Like, yeah, I thought they could have.
Speaker 2: Done the prospects. They're gonna regret the prospects, like Tigers,
Speaker 2: can we be better?
Speaker 3: Yeah? Well, you just you just saw what Edgar Carrow
Speaker 3: got you. If you attached Folly or something, you could
Speaker 3: have got a haul. And that's kind of what I'm
Speaker 3: talking about here, is like if you dangled Caro elsewhere,
Speaker 3: to me, it was just like a panic move. A
Speaker 3: lot of teams I think would have given up more
Speaker 3: for Edgar Caro. And you know that's I don't mind
Speaker 3: trading Carrow. I floated him as one of the best
Speaker 3: trade chips going into the season and going into the
Speaker 3: trade deadline, like that's what you cash it in for
Speaker 3: a rental Giolito and a rental Reinaldo Lopez when you
Speaker 3: know it's unlikely that you make the playoffs Like that
Speaker 3: one I think is really going to uh sting for
Speaker 3: them for a while, because I do think he's gonna
Speaker 3: be a big league piece for for a good time.
Speaker 3: And then I don't think that the I don't think
Speaker 3: that the Blue Jays are gonna miss Matt Swanson very much. Uh,
Speaker 3: because I won't pretend to know anything about Matt Savonson.
Speaker 3: But he acquired Paul de Young and then just defade
Speaker 3: him three weeks later, So you basically just gave away
Speaker 3: Matt savonsin that one's got to be in the conversation too.
Speaker 2: I saw this question from our guy Kyle Taylor Portraits,
Speaker 2: who again shout out, made all of these behind me
Speaker 2: go check them out on Instagram, just to wrap up,
Speaker 2: because that was our last question. But he said, and
Speaker 2: I'm not sure exactly what he said, but I know
Speaker 2: it was about the Cardinals, because I think he's a
Speaker 2: Cardinals fan. He was like, does it say anything about
Speaker 2: the Cardinals front office that they kept Paul the Young
Speaker 2: this entire time, kind of traded him for nothing, and
Speaker 2: that a team gets Paul the Young and DFAs him
Speaker 2: three weeks later? Does it say anything about the Cardinals?
Speaker 2: It made me laugh, I'm not sure exactly made laugh.
Speaker 3: It kind of does like the Cardinals are sit on
Speaker 3: their hands like none others are you? How excited are
Speaker 3: you to talk about the Cardinals this offseason.
Speaker 2: Absolutely not at all, because they said the team is different,
Speaker 2: same thing, Cardinals fans. I'm going to scream into this mic. Yeah,
Speaker 2: they said arting pitching. They said the team's going to
Speaker 2: look different, and I think by that they're just going
Speaker 2: to like change the jersey color or something like that's
Speaker 2: your fire. Yeah, they're actually there, gonna come up with
Speaker 2: some sick jerseys Cardinals wherever they are, whether it's the
Speaker 2: baby blue weather, it's just the whites of the reds
Speaker 2: fire jerseys. The problem is they don't really win baseball
Speaker 2: games and are them I'm not patting myself on the
Speaker 2: back because I didn't even end up betting it, but
Speaker 2: I'm gonna keep bringing it up. And that's the reason, folks,
Speaker 2: because I always sometimes get dms like why do you
Speaker 2: guys bring up odds so much? Because sometimes the odds
Speaker 2: makers know more than we do at the beginning of
Speaker 2: the season and not sometimes kind of all of them
Speaker 2: all the time. But there's sometimes where you can go
Speaker 2: into the market and win bets, obviously, But like there's
Speaker 2: a reason Vegas is so shiny with all the water.
Speaker 1: Say, there's a reason why there's castles in the Desert Man.
Speaker 2: On bet MGM, the Cardinals were minus one ten to
Speaker 2: win the Central and I stared at that line on
Speaker 2: this podcast and I was like, I'm not saying the
Speaker 2: Cardinals are not gonna win the division, but there's no
Speaker 2: fucking way I'm betting on the Cardinals to win this division.
Speaker 2: Look at that stinky ass line. But we did hit
Speaker 2: the market Arizona, and i'mbacks over seventy four and a
Speaker 2: half wins. Our biggest bet on this podcast bombs. They're
Speaker 2: eleven wins away. Baby, it is in the middle of August.
Speaker 3: Give us the give us a castle in the desert.
Speaker 1: They botched that one.
Speaker 2: Well, thank you bet MGM for the free money, and
Speaker 2: thank you all for listening to this episode. This was
Speaker 2: the mail bag. We had a bunch of other questions,
Speaker 2: but of course arm and I get talking, and we'll
Speaker 2: have plenty of mail bags downline, and plenty of one
Speaker 2: in the off season two. Not a lot of team specific,
Speaker 2: but I feel like we did touch I feel like
Speaker 2: on every single team, and if we didn't touch on
Speaker 2: your team, let us know when. The comment section will
Speaker 2: be sure to answer your questions moving forward. But the
Speaker 2: best way to support the just Baseball Show is to
Speaker 2: get yourself some Just Baseball merch. You can find that
Speaker 2: end of the episode description. Arms, Rock in the fire
Speaker 2: Polo you can find those in the episode description. Check
Speaker 2: out our sponsors right card collectors, go get all it's free.
Speaker 2: It's in the episode. It's going to save you money
Speaker 2: on cards for all my gamblers out there. Bonus bets
Speaker 2: every Wednesday, every Saturday on bet MGM and then when
Speaker 2: you use KOJ Just Baseball up to one thousand dollars
Speaker 2: in bonus bets when you sign up. But if you
Speaker 2: don't like cards, you don't like gambling, you don't want
Speaker 2: to leave a comment, you don't want to do anything,
Speaker 2: you don't want to spend a time, we get it.
Speaker 2: I mean it'd be nice if you did, but I
Speaker 2: get it. If you could at least rate and review
Speaker 2: this podcast five stars, whether it be on Spotify or
Speaker 2: Apple Podcasts. And if you're feeling generous, we'd love a
Speaker 2: written review. Sometimes when I'm having a bad day, I
Speaker 2: go check out those written reviews. They're phenomenal. We love you, guys.
Speaker 2: We'll be back tomorrow. That's arm I'm Peter, And with that,
Speaker 2: thank you everybody,