Speaker 1: It's time to place your bets. Let's talk to the pros.
Speaker 1: Welcome in everybody to betting pros. It's me Joey P
Speaker 1: Joe Pizzapia, and we got a great show for you
Speaker 1: today because a third of the Major League Baseball season
Speaker 1: is in the books, if you can believe it, already
Speaker 1: we got two thirds left. But it's an important time
Speaker 1: to take a pause and kind of take the temperature.
Speaker 1: Where are we right now in the MLB season, but
Speaker 1: more importantly, where are we with our MLB future? So
Speaker 1: I wanted to bring in one of my absolute favorite
Speaker 1: people to talk to about wagering, and it's certainly about
Speaker 1: baseball as well. Yes, his name is also Joe. That
Speaker 1: doesn't hurt either. You might know him from wager talk
Speaker 1: from Sirius XM Radio channel two o four, and of
Speaker 1: course all the stuff he does at Sports Greed because
Speaker 1: he's on everything, everywhere, all the time. He's the one,
Speaker 1: the only Joe Ranaire. Hey, Joe, welcome to the program,
Speaker 1: my friend, how are you?
Speaker 2: Joe?
Speaker 3: I love it because it covers the whole room right now.
Speaker 3: It's fantastic, Joe P. It is a pleasure to be
Speaker 3: back with you. My friend, you look fantastic, and congratu
Speaker 3: license on the show.
Speaker 1: Man, very nice, look at us still kicking around after
Speaker 1: all this time a year ago. We were laughing before
Speaker 1: the show because a year ago at this time, Joe
Speaker 1: and I were working together during the pandemic and part
Speaker 1: of a network that was running by the I don't know,
Speaker 1: by the seat of its pants. It was flying. I
Speaker 1: guess you could say it was all new to everybody.
Speaker 1: And here we are a year later, and all of
Speaker 1: this this technological advancements, doing shows remotely and all these things.
Speaker 1: It's like second nature now, and it's just so funny.
Speaker 1: A difference of year makes man. And I know for you,
Speaker 1: you know, with your New York Yankees, and I know
Speaker 1: it's been a tough road here in the month of May.
Speaker 1: But May's over. We're on to June. In the words
Speaker 1: of Bill Belichick, we're on the Cincinnati So I won't
Speaker 1: dive too much. I don't want to hand any sore
Speaker 1: points with you. But let's start, if we may, with
Speaker 1: the National League MVP race, because I think this is
Speaker 1: a fascinating one. And once again, if you go to
Speaker 1: bettingpros dot com, you can see the consensus of all
Speaker 1: the different books where you can get which bet which wager,
Speaker 1: and what we do here is we give you the
Speaker 1: consensus number, basically what the average is across the board.
Speaker 1: So right now Ronacuney is plus two hundred on consensus
Speaker 1: betting pros. Then you got Fernando Teptis Junior, who may
Speaker 1: or may not go on the IL with this little
Speaker 1: bit of a tightness in his side. I tell you what, Joe,
Speaker 1: I hate that word, obleique. I don't want anybody to
Speaker 1: say it to me. Ever as soon as I hear it,
Speaker 1: I know I'm not gonna see that player for six
Speaker 1: to eight weeks. Let's hope for the best. But he's
Speaker 1: plus three hundred. Then you have Jacob deGrom, who just
Speaker 1: came back from injury at plus thirteen hundred. Noan Arnatto's
Speaker 1: at thirteen hundred and Wans's at seventeen. WANs is going
Speaker 1: to heat up. That number is going to probably decrease
Speaker 1: for him in terms of odds. But right now, is
Speaker 1: it a two horse race or can you really start
Speaker 1: to make a case for de Grom because his number's
Speaker 1: gone up exponentially after the injury, But he's doing something
Speaker 1: that nobody else is doing when he takes that mound, Joe,
Speaker 1: He's going out there. He's throwing one hundred miles an hour,
Speaker 1: you know, thirty in a row, and it's nuts. And
Speaker 1: I'm exaggerating, but slightly. So. What's your take on NLMVP
Speaker 1: so far?
Speaker 3: Listen, there's nothing not to like about a Cooder, right
Speaker 3: is he twenty two to twenty three years old? The
Speaker 3: numbers are astonishing, but unfortunately he's on a team that
Speaker 3: is about as big an underperformer, certainly offensively as the
Speaker 3: New York Yankees have been in many aspects of it,
Speaker 3: he too had he was dealing with that injury back
Speaker 3: and forth, and I'm with you when I hear that
Speaker 3: word oblique, I'm I'm worried that I'm gonna have seventy
Speaker 3: sixty five seventy percent of what that player could be
Speaker 3: and should be, because it's certainly an injury that never
Speaker 3: goes away, and the only thing that prevents it or
Speaker 3: lets it go away is rest, and that's not good
Speaker 3: for anybody. And then when you've got a guy who
Speaker 3: swings and his shoulder pops out, that's a different story.
Speaker 3: But to me, the focus is on de Groam. It's
Speaker 3: all de Grom. You can't watch Garrett Cole. And we'll
Speaker 3: talk about the big guns.
Speaker 2: Right. So you've got Garrett.
Speaker 3: Cole up at the top of everyone's list, and you've
Speaker 3: got you know, Bueler, You've got some of these frontline
Speaker 3: top pitchers and watching them on any given Tuesday night,
Speaker 3: Wednesday night, and you watch the Grom.
Speaker 2: You tell me it's just not different, like you think.
Speaker 3: It doesn't get any better than like Garret Cole. You
Speaker 3: got three hundred million dollars, he's our number one. You
Speaker 3: watch the Grom, watch the mannerisms of his teammates around him,
Speaker 3: when he takes when he takes him out. What he
Speaker 3: just did to Arizona and his last start was it
Speaker 3: was ridiculous. I mean, he struck out five of the
Speaker 3: first eight guys one hundred miles an hour, one hundred
Speaker 3: and one, one hundred one's and it's ninety slider.
Speaker 1: That's the thing that's crazy to me is that it's
Speaker 1: so easy looking. You know, you see these guys with
Speaker 1: the max effort velocity, but not the Gram. It just
Speaker 1: looks so effortless. And and you know, this is why
Speaker 1: I love doing these shows. Once a month. We try
Speaker 1: to like update everybody on this because it's such a
Speaker 1: fluid thing. To Grom at one point was I've saw
Speaker 1: in some books somewhere around four to one, five to
Speaker 1: one this award. He has the injury that it sets
Speaker 1: him back a little bit. Now you're some spots again,
Speaker 1: thirteen to one, you're getting this, And look, I know
Speaker 1: Akooni has been consistent and maybe that will get rewarded.
Speaker 1: Tatis overcoming the shoulder, overcoming COVID if he hopefully this
Speaker 1: injury doesn't keep him off, that's on the shelf very long.
Speaker 1: But I wonder if we're in root for a thirty
Speaker 1: thirty thirty season from Tetus where thirty home runs, thirty
Speaker 1: steals in thirty days on the il, nobody's ever done that.
Speaker 1: If he does that, I don't know how you don't
Speaker 1: give him the award. But I'm kind of with you
Speaker 1: that de Gram is fascinating and this is obviously the time,
Speaker 1: right if you think de Gram is back and being
Speaker 1: da Gram again, thirteen to one seems like the spot
Speaker 1: to get in, right.
Speaker 3: Absolutely, I'm kind of upset that aid and granted ahead
Speaker 3: of time, because listen, this is the problem with guys.
Speaker 2: Like the grom the truly elite of delete right.
Speaker 3: We tend to take them for granted, not only as fans,
Speaker 3: but certainly as better as in many aspects too when
Speaker 3: we see them, and it's hard to take a step.
Speaker 2: Back and just he's different.
Speaker 3: Everything about him is different when he's pitching in the game,
Speaker 3: when he's on the mound, his teammates are different. The
Speaker 3: team he's playing has that you see it, Joe, They
Speaker 3: have a certain look in there. I gotta go off,
Speaker 3: I gotta go and try and to hit this.
Speaker 2: You don't get that. It's once in a generation kind.
Speaker 3: And because he's on the Mets, and because they never
Speaker 3: score any runs for him, or at least that's the
Speaker 3: m O become.
Speaker 1: A Mets fan, I can tell you, yeah, you take
Speaker 1: it for granted.
Speaker 2: It's absolute siated well.
Speaker 1: And speaking of getting in at the right time, now,
Speaker 1: I got in on my shares of show atani at
Speaker 1: six and a half. Oh, that's where I got them at.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: I had an inkling when it was up at twenty
Speaker 1: before the season, and I gotta tell you, in the
Speaker 1: American League, even with that, I said, look, I gotta
Speaker 1: see it a little bit more but then I jumped
Speaker 1: in and it was before Trout got hurt. And then
Speaker 1: when Trout got hurt, I knew that number that was gone.
Speaker 1: You never gonna see that six again in the American
Speaker 1: League Right now, the consensus number at show you Otanio
Speaker 1: again before the season started was around the twenties. Now
Speaker 1: it's plus one to twenty. Vlad Guerrero Junior, who just
Speaker 1: look like he's playing out of his mind right now
Speaker 1: in incredible hot streak. He's at plus two seventy five.
Speaker 1: Trout's falling back to the pack with the rest of
Speaker 1: the guys, he's at plus seventeen. To me, this is
Speaker 1: that two man race. And I pose this question this
Speaker 1: morning on the Baseball Show on Fantasy Pros, and I'm
Speaker 1: curious to hear your answer. Even if Ladd hits thirty
Speaker 1: something home runs this year and Otani hits thirty something,
Speaker 1: Otani always has that trump card, which is, oh yeah,
Speaker 1: and I'm pitching too. By the way, how can anyone
Speaker 1: compete with that? If Otani can take the ball about
Speaker 1: every fifth day and throw one hundred and twenty something
Speaker 1: innings this year, can anybody compete with that?
Speaker 3: If I have to go look at film that is
Speaker 3: basically silent and black and white. To see the last
Speaker 3: player in Major League Baseball that was both that was
Speaker 3: hitting ball, pitchings, been playing the field, then you have
Speaker 3: something very special here. The problem is we know the
Speaker 3: injury history, right, you know, how healthy can he be?
Speaker 3: One of the other big questions was were they gonna
Speaker 3: be were they gonna baby him, you know, how much?
Speaker 3: Were they gonna use him, Were they gonna be extra
Speaker 3: careful with him? What was Madden gonna do with him?
Speaker 3: So far, they've done a massivel job the guy. I mean,
Speaker 3: his power numbers are ridiculous home runs, but his pitching too.
Speaker 2: When he's on the mound.
Speaker 3: When you got a guy in a mount pitching and
Speaker 3: then they bring in a relief pitcher and they send
Speaker 3: you to right field, it's like shades of a twelve
Speaker 3: year old little league again, like all right, great job, Joey,
Speaker 3: great go play left field? Like what's like, what are
Speaker 3: we doing right now? That's what you have. The problem
Speaker 3: I have with Joe is that, and I think there
Speaker 3: will continue to be value with him because he plays
Speaker 3: for the Angels and he's never going to be front
Speaker 3: page news there being in the same town as the Dodgers.
Speaker 2: It's just not gonna happen. So I don't think half.
Speaker 3: This country even realizes how special what he's doing is
Speaker 3: because the Angels and the big markets pay no attention.
Speaker 1: So oh, if this was happening in New York or
Speaker 1: Boston or Chicago, forget it, forget it. Absolutely, it'd be
Speaker 1: a whole. There would be statues already built to him,
Speaker 1: two statues, one for the pitcher, one for the hitter.
Speaker 1: They would be all kinds of different things. But that
Speaker 1: it is an unreal thing. It's and it's just baseball
Speaker 1: is hard, you know, I know we played the game.
Speaker 1: It is hard. He makes it look so easy, and
Speaker 1: it is insane right now now in terms of the
Speaker 1: National League, Cy Young. Look, we all think Jacob Degroma,
Speaker 1: the fact that it's only minus one sixty seven, I
Speaker 1: think is actually kind of ludicrous. The other guys out there,
Speaker 1: Corbyn Burns and Woodriff, Jack Flaherty was at eighteen to one,
Speaker 1: Woods and Bird Juesday, Burns and Woodroff were in that
Speaker 1: seven to seven and a half range. I really have
Speaker 1: a hard time looking for anybody, so I don't really
Speaker 1: want to waste anybody's time with long shots and stuff
Speaker 1: like that. Burns has been terrific, Bower has been good too,
Speaker 1: but de Gram is just in a different universe the
Speaker 1: American League. It feels like Garrick Cole right now he
Speaker 1: is at minus one forty eight, and then you got
Speaker 1: Shane Bieber at plus four hundred, you got Tyler Glass
Speaker 1: now it's six fifty, and then you've got Lance Lynn
Speaker 1: at plus fourteen and Carols Rodonno's at a brilliant season
Speaker 1: at plus eighteen. Now, awards are always media driven their narratives, right,
Speaker 1: That's why the Jotani narrative, especially with Trout going down,
Speaker 1: is such a good narrative. Is there another narrative to
Speaker 1: be built besides Garret Cole right now in the American League?
Speaker 1: Because Glass now in the Rays, it kind of feels
Speaker 1: like that could be one and six fifty is a
Speaker 1: fascinating spot to be in. That's the one that I've
Speaker 1: kind of got circled right now because he's kind of
Speaker 1: getting it done and I don't think people are really noticing,
Speaker 1: but it feels like it's starting to build momentum. What
Speaker 1: are your thoughts on him? Or is it just again
Speaker 1: Garrett Coles to lose.
Speaker 3: Basically, it's always going to be Garrett Coles to lose
Speaker 3: because he's a Yankee, so let's be realistic with that.
Speaker 2: And again just a cut above.
Speaker 3: But the interesting part about glasshow coming into this season,
Speaker 3: was how is he going to react being the number one?
Speaker 3: You know, he was behind Snell, so he didn't have
Speaker 3: as much pressure there. Plus, you play at the Trop
Speaker 3: It doesn't get any better for pitchers there than the Trop.
Speaker 3: I mean, I wouldn't want to be a hitter and
Speaker 3: have to play my games at the Trop in Tampa.
Speaker 2: It's a terrible ballpark.
Speaker 3: Uh, and certainly not one that's induced him to a
Speaker 3: whole lot of offense.
Speaker 2: So I think he's got that going for him.
Speaker 3: But who knew when you're going up against the two
Speaker 3: and threes, now you've got to go up against the
Speaker 3: number ones? What we're we going to get from him?
Speaker 3: And the answer is pretty simple. I mean he's been
Speaker 3: absolutely phenomenal. Uh Renduonta Carl Carlos Ardon has redone has
Speaker 3: been unbelievable to me, especially the backstory with this guy,
Speaker 3: not one what two shoulder you know, surgeries, he had
Speaker 3: elbow he I mean, this guy was.
Speaker 2: Trying and trying and trying and.
Speaker 3: Trying to get there, and uh, just what a year
Speaker 3: and a half ago or so, they were like, we
Speaker 3: don't know if he's going to be able to come back,
Speaker 3: we don't know what his career is going to be like.
Speaker 3: And what we're seeing from him this year is unbelievable.
Speaker 3: Dare I say a million times better than Giolito what
Speaker 3: we're seeing, uh from him?
Speaker 1: Geos picked it up a little bit. Yeah, Geos came
Speaker 1: up a little bit recently. A bad stretch there. You
Speaker 1: had that bad day game in Boston and then that's
Speaker 1: spiral to another start, and then he had an injury
Speaker 1: thing and then there was like a rain game. He
Speaker 1: had like the worst run there. But that's all coming
Speaker 1: back to earth and it's funny. As great as the
Speaker 1: Rodn's story has been, he's probably still not gonna win
Speaker 1: Comeback Player of the Year because of Trey Mancini. Like
Speaker 1: that's the thing you want to look for odds on that.
Speaker 1: I don't know why I even looked at them today,
Speaker 1: but I can't imagine they're not in the negative. In
Speaker 1: terms of trade manca He's been brilliant.
Speaker 3: I don't go on, but Gostan too. Anybody see that
Speaker 3: coming from the Giants.
Speaker 1: The whole Giants rotation him, Alex Wood, you got a
Speaker 1: little web striking out ten guys. It's been madness there
Speaker 1: and good on Gosmin and you know what, bad job
Speaker 1: on the Orioles, who continue to show you that they
Speaker 1: have no idea how to develop pitching. For the last decade,
Speaker 1: it's been crazy. Cabrian Hayes still leads everybody in terms
Speaker 1: of Rookie of the Year in consensus wagering, which I
Speaker 1: think is hilarious. Ian Anderson's at plus six hundred, Dylan
Speaker 1: Carlson's at plus seven hundred. I kind of like the
Speaker 1: I mean Ian Anderson, that dude's just basically going out
Speaker 1: there and just been great every single start for the
Speaker 1: most part. He's not going to give you seventy eight
Speaker 1: innings because of where he's at, and I don't know
Speaker 1: what he's gonna look like come August and September, but
Speaker 1: right now I think the six to one is actually
Speaker 1: one of the more intriguing wagers on this award. Futures
Speaker 1: kind of sleep and Hayes hasn't played all year, so
Speaker 1: I don't know, I mean, I know Carlson's a good player,
Speaker 1: he's in a position player, but it kind of feels
Speaker 1: like Ian Anderson's to lose. What's your thoughts on this?
Speaker 3: Absolutely, I think the kid has got a tremendous and
Speaker 3: I mean an absolute tremendous future ahead of him. I
Speaker 3: think he's in the right organization at the right time
Speaker 3: he's gonna get and I think this is going to
Speaker 3: be important too as we get a little bit closer
Speaker 3: after the All Star break, He's gonna get a lot
Speaker 3: of national exposure to come that time because he's going
Speaker 3: to be pitching some meaningful games here when you get
Speaker 3: into August and September. They are going to need him.
Speaker 3: But there's nothing not to like. His metrics are fantastic,
Speaker 3: the numbers are really good. Had a little bit of
Speaker 3: a rough outing last time out, but you know, he
Speaker 3: is a kid that if they can get it together,
Speaker 3: certainly offensively all over there, he is going to He's
Speaker 3: going to be up there because really, who else.
Speaker 1: And you don't really see a lot of National League
Speaker 1: rookies coming through that pipeline this year, whereas in the
Speaker 1: American League when you look over there right now, you're
Speaker 1: still waiting on Wander Franco, who's a ten to one.
Speaker 1: Jared Tllna came up, He's ten to one. Randy rose
Speaker 1: Arena is the clear favorite plus three hundred three fifty.
Speaker 1: But we just had Alec Minoa come up last week
Speaker 1: have his debut and Yankee Stadium. We'll see how he
Speaker 1: makes his second start in the third start and what not,
Speaker 1: how that goes. That boy's a hass.
Speaker 2: That you know what, I think I Jet signed him.
Speaker 2: I'm not sure.
Speaker 1: I think he might be the right guard for the
Speaker 1: Jets in the offseason. It's very possible. I don't know.
Speaker 1: But what I do know is I think the American
Speaker 1: League is a little bit more fluid right now. The
Speaker 1: National League. Guy like Ian Anderson rose Arein has been
Speaker 1: there from day one. I can understand him being the favorite.
Speaker 1: But even so, that plus three fifty, that's a pretty
Speaker 1: good number on a Rose Arena if you don't want
Speaker 1: to wait for Wonder Franco and Fidal Boujean and those
Speaker 1: guys who come up for the raise. But do you
Speaker 1: think it's worth waiting on or do you speculate now
Speaker 1: in those rays hoping to hit on a Wonder Franco
Speaker 1: in the second half just coming up and being gazzling.
Speaker 2: It's where we're gonna find out.
Speaker 3: You bring up a good point there, though I would
Speaker 3: tend to jump on at because of the nature of
Speaker 3: that award too, and I don't. To me, the fact
Speaker 3: that we're even talking about two or three guys means
Speaker 3: there's really no clear cut, you know, heads and tails
Speaker 3: above anything else here.
Speaker 2: But I do think we're just too much into the season.
Speaker 3: I do think Franco and others have a chance to
Speaker 3: make a really big push for this award. Incluing Anderson there,
Speaker 3: I think there's gonna be an opportunity to get to
Speaker 3: get a little votes as the season moves on. But
Speaker 3: I'm looking forward tell you the truth, it's the next generation.
Speaker 3: I'm looking forward to seeing even at the end of
Speaker 3: your forget the award, I can't wait to see who's
Speaker 3: left standing among these among.
Speaker 2: These players at the end, I think it's gonna be
Speaker 2: a lot of fun.
Speaker 1: Well, it's gonna be a lot of fun that American
Speaker 1: League eest too, because we've got to raise right now,
Speaker 1: Boom plus one fifty, the Yankees plus one sixty. This
Speaker 1: is to win the division and the Red Sox sitting
Speaker 1: all the way back at plus three eighty five, which
Speaker 1: is and I understand why they're not getting respect, And
Speaker 1: I think it's because you look at that rotation, you worry,
Speaker 1: is it a paper tiger. The bullpen's been brilliant over
Speaker 1: the last couple of weeks. The offense is there. The
Speaker 1: bottom of the lineup is still a little troubling, but
Speaker 1: the main guys have carried them. When you have JD
Speaker 1: and Raphael Devers and Xander Bogarts being great, you can
Speaker 1: get by. Where do you want to put your money here?
Speaker 1: If at all? Because this is a tight race, and
Speaker 1: it seems like the Rays the last couple of years
Speaker 1: have kind of had the Yankees' number and they're able
Speaker 1: to You know, I said last year, and I know
Speaker 1: we did a lot of shows together, but I said
Speaker 1: going into last year that season was built for the
Speaker 1: Rays because you knew nobody was gonna be able to
Speaker 1: make big trays and bring in big salaries, and the
Speaker 1: Yankees weren't going to do that. In the Red Sox
Speaker 1: were building, so the Rays at a un position to
Speaker 1: really be a playoff team go to the World Series potentially,
Speaker 1: And I thought that this was just a perfect setup.
Speaker 1: Now this year again, they're not gonna be able to
Speaker 1: do that. But they can bring up these kids, and
Speaker 1: they can bring up these guys. The Yankees have had
Speaker 1: some injuries here. Stan's been hurt. We know Luke Voight
Speaker 1: was back and then back on the il. Corey Klueber's
Speaker 1: gonna miss some time tie on. We don't know how
Speaker 1: long he's gonna last. There's some issues here with the Yankees.
Speaker 1: Is it a good wager right now to get in
Speaker 1: on the rais or do you think the Red Sox
Speaker 1: are actually more fun considering you're getting the better odds there?
Speaker 3: So I believe they're either third or fourth best in
Speaker 3: the America League and run differential they were at plus
Speaker 3: forty four, forty five somewhere along those lines heading into
Speaker 3: the week, and that they can flat out they can
Speaker 3: flat out ball.
Speaker 2: Now. The starting pitching is what everyone is looking.
Speaker 3: And saying, Oh, I'll slow down, right, You got and
Speaker 3: aren't got crushed a little bit here Rodriguez.
Speaker 2: But the bullpen. Look what that bullpen has done.
Speaker 3: Matt Barnes with twelve saves, Garrett went, I mean, I
Speaker 3: don't know anybody saw the bullpen as possibly one of
Speaker 3: the strengths of the Red Sox, the starting pitching. I
Speaker 3: think it's hit or miss, obviously, but with those bats,
Speaker 3: and the problem I have with Tampa is they're two
Speaker 3: different teams home and away. The way they win games
Speaker 3: on the road is not the way they win games
Speaker 3: at home. So I think from a consistency standpoint, and
Speaker 3: even though their record right now in the road has
Speaker 3: been absolutely phenomenal, I still think a dark horse here
Speaker 3: is the Red Sox. I don't want to count out
Speaker 3: Toronto just yet, but I think the Red Sox will
Speaker 3: as long as they can grind away from the starting
Speaker 3: pitching what they've been getting from that bullpen, and that
Speaker 3: lineup as good as anybody. I'll put them up against anybody,
Speaker 3: including the Astros this week.
Speaker 1: Well, the interesting thing is the Blue Jays are sitting
Speaker 1: at plus six hundred, so if you really want to
Speaker 1: take the long shot there, Robby Ray has been brilliant.
Speaker 1: All of a sudden, Robby Ray doesn't walk anybody. I
Speaker 1: don't know what's happened there. Obviously, it's some mechanical fix,
Speaker 1: whatever it's.
Speaker 2: I've been a pitching coach.
Speaker 1: I don't know.
Speaker 3: Because that guy's a he's a pitching whisper whatever it is.
Speaker 3: When he's done to Robbie Ray is unbelievable.
Speaker 1: And Hunjin Rio has been good since he came over
Speaker 1: there too. I mean he was good with the Dodgers.
Speaker 1: Everybody wanted to freak out when he went to the
Speaker 1: American League, and he's been very good. The trick is,
Speaker 1: what do you get after those two guys? Now? Once again,
Speaker 1: if Alec Manoa could be that guy, I don't know
Speaker 1: if he can. But you add in a real legit
Speaker 1: third picture to that rotation, you get George Springer back healthy.
Speaker 1: You want to speculate on the Blue Jays, this is
Speaker 1: the time because this number can only shrink Joe that
Speaker 1: in as far as this is going to be a
Speaker 1: really tight race here, and if you like the J's
Speaker 1: and you believe in what they can do, yeah, and look,
Speaker 1: they're playing in Dneed and they're playing in Buffalo, they
Speaker 1: have no home. It's a fascinating story the central I
Speaker 1: think we all kind of feel like it's the White
Speaker 1: Sox to lose. So I'm gonna waste people's time there
Speaker 1: with that. But I want to talk about the Astros
Speaker 1: and A's because they are deadlocked here minus one eighteen
Speaker 1: for the Astros, minus one zher six on the A's.
Speaker 1: Is this even a smart because I look at this
Speaker 1: and I think all the pitching that the Astros have
Speaker 1: shown you this year, even despite injuries, and now they
Speaker 1: got fran ber Valadez back, I think this is the
Speaker 1: Astros division to lose. Personally, I don't even as much
Speaker 1: as I think the A's are always there and the
Speaker 1: always show up. At the same time, I think you
Speaker 1: have to acknowledge the Astros still have a very good
Speaker 1: core offensively, and in terms of the pitching rotation, they
Speaker 1: have more depth than a lot of other teams. They
Speaker 1: send Javier to the bullpen now for a little while.
Speaker 1: That means he's gonna be fresh in the second half
Speaker 1: if they need to call on him. So what's your
Speaker 1: thoughts on the West in the American League.
Speaker 3: It's interesting because Houston, I trust Auckland's bullpen more than
Speaker 3: I trust Houston's bullpen. I think we can probably say
Speaker 3: at this particular point, looking at Pettitt and Dykeman and
Speaker 3: Guerer and what these guys have done for Aalkland, I
Speaker 3: like their book didn't start off great against Houston, by
Speaker 3: the way, but wouldn't that be a little foreshadowing to
Speaker 3: what we're going to anticipate here at the end of
Speaker 3: the end of the season, where these two are going
Speaker 3: to be doing that the starting pitching. All right, I
Speaker 3: give the nod obviously to Houston. I think both teams
Speaker 3: they hit the contact. These aren't teams that are going
Speaker 3: to These guys aren't going to walk a lot. These
Speaker 3: guys are going to put the ball in play, which
Speaker 3: seems to be what a lot of pitchers are referring
Speaker 3: to do this year, is pitch to contact because they
Speaker 3: don't seem too worried about barrels hitting the balls here
Speaker 3: these days for some reason.
Speaker 2: There, Joe, it's interesting.
Speaker 3: So instead of strikeout, home run, or walk, pitchers seem
Speaker 3: to be saying, all right, go ahead, put the ball
Speaker 3: in play here, and let's see what happens.
Speaker 1: Because of the shift. You put the ball in play.
Speaker 1: I got twelve guys in one spot where you hit, don't.
Speaker 2: Have to strike out, don't have to strike down.
Speaker 3: Just got to get you to swing at my pitch,
Speaker 3: which both of these teams do. I think huge run
Speaker 3: potential from both. I would give the nod to the
Speaker 3: A's right now. Just because I bass it. I mean,
Speaker 3: you look at the names here, what Cole, Irvin, Bassett, Maneya.
Speaker 3: You go through it, You're like they're solid. Nothing's gonna wow,
Speaker 3: you know. But I think both are very comparable. Offensively,
Speaker 3: I do like Oakland a. I like that bullpen a
Speaker 3: little bit more for Oakland. And what an interesting ballpark
Speaker 3: is still playing it.
Speaker 1: Oh, interesting is a nice word for Surry. I've been there.
Speaker 1: I've seen a baseball game in Oakland is the absolute worst.
Speaker 1: It is the biggest dump. And I used to go
Speaker 1: to games all the time in the old VET, which
Speaker 1: was also an epic dump. Not even close. This is
Speaker 1: the worst baseball plays ever. And I hope they go
Speaker 1: play somewhere else someday in a better spot. Let's talk
Speaker 1: about some National League Division winners. The Central just got
Speaker 1: real interesting with that Jack Flaherty injury because he is
Speaker 1: going to miss some time. After Flaherty and that rotation,
Speaker 1: I got concerns. They're at plus one thirty. The Brewers,
Speaker 1: who I was all in on, Oh my god, the
Speaker 1: beginning of the year, I wanted nothing but Brewers all along.
Speaker 1: Then the yellis back injury creeps up, and I'm jumping ship,
Speaker 1: and I said, well, I can't do it anymore. I'm
Speaker 1: out there plus one thirty. The Cubs had an epic
Speaker 1: month of May, somehow worked themselves into relevancy. They are
Speaker 1: a plus four hundred. I gotta say the Flawherty injury
Speaker 1: is thrown a wrinkle here of epic proportions. And if
Speaker 1: Saint Louis doesn't make a move for a Means or
Speaker 1: Matthew Boyd or somebody like that, they're in a little
Speaker 1: bit of trouble here right now, because I don't know
Speaker 1: how much they can sustain with the guys they've got
Speaker 1: in that rotation. But the Brewers have a three that
Speaker 1: nobody else can match outside of probably the Dodgers in
Speaker 1: the National League, or maybe the Padres too on if
Speaker 1: every Blake'snell can find himself again. But the Brewers have
Speaker 1: something special here with these three arms. What do you
Speaker 1: want to do here? Is this a stay away? Do
Speaker 1: you have a favorite here in the central? What does
Speaker 1: this look like to you?
Speaker 3: I think the Cardinals, and I think we talked about
Speaker 3: this ahead of time. I think the Cardinals are overrated
Speaker 3: to begin with. I think their offenses overrated. There was
Speaker 3: a lot of questions about Aaronatto when he came into
Speaker 3: the season ride you know, the whole curse of you know,
Speaker 3: is he got that Colorado Rocky swing kind of thing
Speaker 3: where it works great in Colorado. But when he's out
Speaker 3: there he has been good. But I don't trust Martinez,
Speaker 3: I mean outside you mentioned Flaherty, who was also and
Speaker 3: I hate to break this Cardinals fans. I mean I
Speaker 3: had faded him against Bauer there because he's due for
Speaker 3: some regression here.
Speaker 1: It was gonna come, like you, too many hard hit.
Speaker 3: Too many hard hits, too many barrels on the ball,
Speaker 3: started to walk more guys than what we would like
Speaker 3: to see for a guy that's going to give up.
Speaker 2: He's a fly ball pitcher who's going to give up
Speaker 2: home runs. So it was coming.
Speaker 3: I think they did an amazing job of winning and
Speaker 3: scoring runs for him when he did pitch thus far,
Speaker 3: but I think that was coming. And then after that, yeah,
Speaker 3: what eighty five year old what Wayne Wright like you
Speaker 3: got who can only pitch at home? You better only
Speaker 3: schedule Wayne Wright and Bush because he can't pitch any
Speaker 3: place else. So to me, you mentioned it only the
Speaker 3: big three that I I will refer to and I
Speaker 3: know you're talking about Woodruff and you're talking about Peralter
Speaker 3: and of course uh Barns. But talk to me about
Speaker 3: suitor Devin Williams and hater. You give me a lead
Speaker 3: when I get into the sixth Enning. Guys, it's over,
Speaker 3: it is over. And yes, I think the Adams trade
Speaker 3: with Tampa a couple of weeks ago fantastic for them, too.
Speaker 1: Well, they need offense. They know what they did not
Speaker 1: do enough this offseason to surround and again, Trey Mancini
Speaker 1: was the guy SA at the beginning of the year,
Speaker 1: and that should be your number one target. As soon
Speaker 1: as he shows he's how to go out there, overpay
Speaker 1: for him. You know, he can play first base, he
Speaker 1: can play the outfield. You can move him around. If
Speaker 1: Yellwich isn't good, you all of a sudden surround Yellows.
Speaker 1: There was a little bit more protection. I mean, what
Speaker 1: more do you want this guy to do. It's a
Speaker 1: very difficult spot there. I don't understand how. I mean.
Speaker 1: Vegas is very smart, smarter than me, obviously, That's why
Speaker 1: they build all those hotels. Here's my question to you.
Speaker 1: The Mets have been favorites since the get go for
Speaker 1: the most part. They've had the worst string of luck.
Speaker 1: They've even had the Grom miss time. Noah Cindergard has
Speaker 1: been shut down, Carrasco hasn't thrown a pitch this year,
Speaker 1: and there's still a consensus minus two twenty five. Hin
Speaker 1: is two twenty five? How in the hell is that
Speaker 1: possible to win the East? The Braves are plus two eighty.
Speaker 1: I know they lost Ozuna, right and I get it,
Speaker 1: Like the Mets are built well, they have depth, and
Speaker 1: this is the first time a Mets team has had depth.
Speaker 1: You've seen Kevin Polar, Jonathan Vr, You've seen all these
Speaker 1: guys step up into this void and these are real
Speaker 1: major league players for a chance and for a change,
Speaker 1: and that's something the Mets have not done a good
Speaker 1: job with historically on their bench. Of having they have that.
Speaker 1: It's showing they're still winning games despite that. But should
Speaker 1: they be these kind of prohibitive favorites right now? I mean,
Speaker 1: I'm a Mets fan. Maybe I'm just self loathing, but
Speaker 1: to me plus two eighty on Atlanta, how do you
Speaker 1: not kind of jump in on that? I just don't
Speaker 1: get it. Do you see the Mets winning this division?
Speaker 3: I absolutely do okay, and I'll tell you why. And
Speaker 3: I don't think there's crazy. I think it's more an
Speaker 3: indictment on what the market thinks of the Phillies, the Marlins,
Speaker 3: the Nationals, like go down the list here.
Speaker 1: Well, I think we can forget the natsaff Stephen Strasbourg
Speaker 1: last night. I think we can finally say, you know what,
Speaker 1: I think that's two hundred million dollars that was not
Speaker 1: well spent. That's I think we can move onward on that.
Speaker 3: Yes, And I think a lot of met fans in
Speaker 3: you Knowice, how much money do you spend for Lindor
Speaker 3: between mccam lindor. But to me, the talent is there
Speaker 3: offensively and for them going into this week, I think
Speaker 3: going into Monday night in the Memorial Day on a
Speaker 3: thirty first that end the month of May.
Speaker 2: You're talking about a Mets team with all that injuries
Speaker 2: and everyone's for the last couple of weeks.
Speaker 3: Who to hell is this play? How are they going
Speaker 3: to score a run? They're five games over five hundred.
Speaker 1: It's crazy.
Speaker 2: It's not so if they're.
Speaker 3: Doing it, if they can sustain that when all the
Speaker 3: chips are against them and they're losing guys.
Speaker 2: Now they got Alonso back. What's he do?
Speaker 3: First game back? He's mashing the ball all over the place.
Speaker 3: Solidified the middle of that order. I still like the
Speaker 3: bullpen obviously, I you know, the starting pitching, the two
Speaker 3: guys at the top there between Stroman. Anybody see Walker
Speaker 3: having the kind of year He's wow.
Speaker 1: That's the guy. And I love that sign. I thought
Speaker 1: that was low key one of the best signings of
Speaker 1: the offseason. He was very good last year for Toronto.
Speaker 1: Nobody seen the Karen notice. And this was a player
Speaker 1: people forget. It was a very highly thought of prospect
Speaker 1: back in the Seattle days going it was him and
Speaker 1: Danny holtzon. Remember they were gonna change the Seattle rotation.
Speaker 1: And here we go, all these years later, like ten
Speaker 1: years now, there's Taiwan Walker finally putting it together. All right.
Speaker 1: Before we get to A and NL winners in World Series,
Speaker 1: I want to ask you about the West because the
Speaker 1: Dodgers are still prohibitive favorites minus two twenty. The Padres
Speaker 1: consent is numbers plus one seventy five. You know, I
Speaker 1: know the Padres like this volatile stop because you know,
Speaker 1: Tatisa is so good and Machado's so great, But then
Speaker 1: they've had some guys who had been struggling. Tommy fam
Speaker 1: just started to hit. Blake Snell's got a five and
Speaker 1: a half era, but you, Darbish and Joe Musgrove have
Speaker 1: been great. It has been all over the place. You
Speaker 1: never know what you're gonna get from Paddock. Is it
Speaker 1: safe to say that it's still the Dodgers, They're still
Speaker 1: the favorites, and it's probably still not the best way
Speaker 1: to make money, or do you see the padres is
Speaker 1: maybe finding a way to somehow put all these pieces
Speaker 1: together and actually make a run here as we get
Speaker 1: to the last two thirds of the.
Speaker 3: Season, I think I think all the money, if you
Speaker 3: were gonna vetit a West, would be fading the Dodgers,
Speaker 3: who I think, have we knew were they're gonna win
Speaker 3: one hundred and eight games? One hundred and seven here
Speaker 3: and say, I mean, what was the the preseason win
Speaker 3: tight or something?
Speaker 2: What it was?
Speaker 1: It was absurd?
Speaker 2: Five eight?
Speaker 1: Is something crazy like that?
Speaker 3: It's not going to happen. They've had to deal with
Speaker 3: some injuries. They just get Mookie Betts back. Obviously, that
Speaker 3: lineup and the names in it are starting to be
Speaker 3: more of familiar. But they certainly don't have that same
Speaker 3: kind of feel that they did last year, which I
Speaker 3: think is acceptable because now that they've won it, they've
Speaker 3: been there and done that, they understand it is a marathon,
Speaker 3: it's not a sprint. The interesting teams there, of course,
Speaker 3: I don't think anybody saw the Giants, uh and the
Speaker 3: top end of that rotation doing what they still don't
Speaker 3: like the bullpen all that much. But you know, between
Speaker 3: Crawford Longoria and these guys that all of a sudden
Speaker 3: are you know, they're doing some pretty special things right now,
Speaker 3: getting enough run support the ballpark that they play in.
Speaker 3: But it's the Padres to lose as far as I'm concerned. Here, Listen,
Speaker 3: SNeW Granted, you're gonna get three innings, the best three
Speaker 3: innings with all these six walks out of him, ever,
Speaker 3: it's gonna be fantastic.
Speaker 1: Well, you know, it's funny because you look at the
Speaker 1: second you know, and this is where the fantasy nerd
Speaker 1: me comes out a little bit, because you look at
Speaker 1: some of the deeper numbers and you say, well, the
Speaker 1: FIP is much better than the era. That's gonna start
Speaker 1: to marginalize a little bit. He's never been a guy
Speaker 1: who's gonna you know, you know, throw complete games. That's
Speaker 1: not his deal. But yep, I'm with you. I think
Speaker 1: the Padres are dangerous and I think you know it's
Speaker 1: it's chasing. Chasing makes you dangerous when you're the team
Speaker 1: that's chasing, when you're being chased, when you're at the
Speaker 1: top of the mountain. It takes a lot, you know,
Speaker 1: those teams that are great perennially, it is tough, man,
Speaker 1: because everybody's gunning for you, and the Padres are gunning
Speaker 1: for him. And I think the Padres will be aggressive
Speaker 1: and get you.
Speaker 3: You to add pieces, how many people even knew okay
Speaker 3: they Machatta wasn't playing for the last month, like most
Speaker 3: people don't even realize.
Speaker 2: He wasn't even in the lineup.
Speaker 3: And now to tease, obviously hopefully he'll be able to
Speaker 3: get back. But now you've got Machado back on that
Speaker 3: line up, there are dangerous.
Speaker 2: They will mark they are good luck and what gets back.
Speaker 1: Way to get back with that, let's let's get to
Speaker 1: the American League and National League winners here right now,
Speaker 1: the American League favorite is the Chicago White sow as
Speaker 1: they should be. The look this, They've got the rotation,
Speaker 1: they've got the offense. At some point, theoretically they're gonna
Speaker 1: get a Layamnez and Louis Robert back for the playoffs. Theoretically,
Speaker 1: right now, they have the bullpen, they have all the pieces,
Speaker 1: and they got a little swagger, you know, Tim Anderson,
Speaker 1: those guys, they've got a little bit of that swag,
Speaker 1: and I think that is great. Mercedes has been terrific
Speaker 1: for them, but Bray you is, you know, coming off
Speaker 1: an MVP caliber season. I think Tony Larus is the
Speaker 1: only thing that could be their undoing. I know that
Speaker 1: sounds crazy, Like I love this plus two seventy five.
Speaker 1: The Yankees are a plus three ninety, the Ras are
Speaker 1: at plus four fifty. The Astros are a plus seven
Speaker 1: to fifty. There's only two wagers I like, and it's
Speaker 1: the Astros at seven fifty, which everyone's gonna hate because
Speaker 1: there's that negative energy about them that people don't want
Speaker 1: to see them. I don't care if you want to
Speaker 1: see them or not. Pitching's going to win out and
Speaker 1: they've got pitching, and they've got depth, and they've got
Speaker 1: a chip on their shoulder. Also, which is kind of fun.
Speaker 1: So for me, it's the Astros and it's the White Sox.
Speaker 1: Do you see anybody else in this mix where you
Speaker 1: would want to put money on at this stage in
Speaker 1: the season, even though it's very early.
Speaker 3: So it's interesting because we all know in the marketplace, right,
Speaker 3: two teams that are always going to be overinflated in
Speaker 3: the market Yankees and the dollarss right always. So the
Speaker 3: fact that we can get the Yankees of what plus
Speaker 3: four plus four hundred plus three ninety somewhere in that
Speaker 3: Ball of Fame if you are of the mind that
Speaker 3: Yankees hermand getting back into it, get back looking better
Speaker 3: and better at each outing right at the top with
Speaker 3: Garrett Cole, the bullpen just flat out bawling, just exactly
Speaker 3: what you thought.
Speaker 2: If you believe the.
Speaker 3: Pitching is going to maintain and the bats are gonna
Speaker 3: come around, then at plus four hundred plus, you're gonna
Speaker 3: get four to one.
Speaker 2: I'll take the Yankees.
Speaker 3: I'll take the Yankees now, I would have never taken
Speaker 3: them prior to season, But I think much like an
Speaker 3: in game, live betting type of situation where it's for
Speaker 3: the Yankees exactly, and I.
Speaker 2: Think the bats are gonna come around.
Speaker 3: They're gonna start mashing and destroying people, and then that
Speaker 3: bullpen is gonna go to work where they're gonna win
Speaker 3: them a lot of games late as the season moves on,
Speaker 3: and then we're all gonna sit here in a couple
Speaker 3: of months be like, how did we not choose the
Speaker 3: Yankees at four to one.
Speaker 1: I look, I think this is the time if you
Speaker 1: like the Yankee Zach Britain making his rehab start just
Speaker 1: fifteen minutes from my house at Somerset for the double
Speaker 1: A Yankees. Can't believe they're double A Yankees. Now crazy
Speaker 1: fifteen minutes for my house. All right, let's go to
Speaker 1: the other side. You mentioned about the premium pay for
Speaker 1: the Dodgers plus one seventy on them. The Padres are
Speaker 1: a plus three to fifty, the Mets at plus four fifty.
Speaker 1: The Braves are not a good playoff team because they
Speaker 1: don't play well in short series. They don't match up
Speaker 1: very well. But if the Mets could get right with Carrasco, Walker,
Speaker 1: Stroman de Gram at four fifty, to me, that's the
Speaker 1: one where again I still don't like them to win
Speaker 1: the division. Somehow, I feel like again maybe I'm just torture,
Speaker 1: but it feels like at plus four to fifty, it's
Speaker 1: kind of like that other equivalent where you look at
Speaker 1: it and go, you know, in a short series, this
Speaker 1: is a team that when they do get healthy, they
Speaker 1: can create runs, whereas some teams like the Yankees, they
Speaker 1: have to hit the home runs. Lindor can start to
Speaker 1: be Lindor, and that's starting to happen a little bit.
Speaker 1: They're a very different team, and I think Jonathan vr
Speaker 1: is gonna play a lot more for this team, even
Speaker 1: when JD. Davis comes back. So what are your thoughts here?
Speaker 1: Do you go for the Padres at three fifty, the
Speaker 1: Mets at four fifty, or the favorite, the Dodgers, or
Speaker 1: maybe somebody else.
Speaker 3: I don't think you are going to be able to
Speaker 3: get the Padres any better than what you can get
Speaker 3: them right now if you did not bet them preseason.
Speaker 3: Right if you are the Blade of Dodgers, I think
Speaker 3: the team that another one of these plus three fifty
Speaker 3: plus three sixty somewhere in that ballpark pitching the top
Speaker 3: of the top of the rotation.
Speaker 2: There, I love you, Darbyship top there. I love the bats.
Speaker 3: I think they're gonna be able to outscore anybody, even
Speaker 3: when they're not.
Speaker 2: Getting necessarily the best pitching.
Speaker 3: I think they're going to beat the Dodgers out in
Speaker 3: the West, and I think as the season progresses that
Speaker 3: number is only going to get closer and closer to
Speaker 3: even money. So I think having the Padres at plus
Speaker 3: three to fifty right now, them and the Yankees, yeah, preseason, you'd.
Speaker 2: Have laughed me and said, yeah, yeah, okay.
Speaker 3: Well I also wouldn't have been getting that price at preseason,
Speaker 3: So I think now's the time for both.
Speaker 1: All right, well, now's the time to go follow Joe
Speaker 1: Vernierrio on Twitter at Joe Ranieri. You can go check
Speaker 1: him out at wager Talk and of course on Sports
Speaker 1: Grid all the time, all over that network, as he
Speaker 1: should be because he knows what he's doing, and he's
Speaker 1: fun and he's good people. He's the pride of Florida. Joe.
Speaker 1: I can't thank you enough. It's always fun. Hopefully we'll
Speaker 1: get you back on against Sutok's more baseball, and then
Speaker 1: football is right around the corner too. We'll get you
Speaker 1: around for that, my friend. Thanks for the time.
Speaker 2: We appreciate it, Jojoe, I appreciate it. Best of law.
Speaker 2: Cash and tickets.
Speaker 1: There you go, cash your way. That'll do it for us.
Speaker 1: But the story of the game goes on for one Joe.
Speaker 1: This is the other Joe. We'll see you next time.
Speaker 2: Kids,