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Speaker 1: I think the talent has always been there. He's certainly

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Speaker 1: someone that has the physicality. I think the floor here

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Speaker 1: is if you know, he doesn't find a way to

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Speaker 1: sort of command his full arsenal.

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Speaker 2: The name is Kamar Rocker.

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Speaker 3: If you're a college baseball fan, you've heard that name

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Speaker 3: for a while now. He is the top prospect in

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Speaker 3: the Texas Rangers farm system and he could make a

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Speaker 3: big impact in Major League Baseball this year. Let's hit

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Speaker 3: a prospect profile Scott Brown along with Baseball Americas, JJ

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Speaker 3: Cooper and Jeff Ponce. Let's get to it, JJ, Kamara

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Speaker 3: Rocker this year for the Rangers in the rotation making

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Speaker 3: a big impact.

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Speaker 4: What do you think I would say that we saw

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Speaker 4: him at the end of last year, it would be

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Speaker 4: I think they need him to make an impact this year.

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Speaker 4: There's only one big hurdle, and you mentioned it. You know,

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Speaker 4: Kamar Rocker has been a guy that we've been everyone

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Speaker 4: has been watching, paying attention to for years now. I

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Speaker 4: remember watching them high school and he was already a dude,

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Speaker 4: and he was already physically a dude when he was

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Speaker 4: in high school. But goes to Vandy has one of

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Speaker 4: the better freshman years, especially one of the best postseasons

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Speaker 4: we'll ever see in college baseball, and you think at

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Speaker 4: that point, Okay, by now we're talking about a guy

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Speaker 4: who's years into his big league career and then the

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Speaker 4: injury strike and even like later in his Vanderbilt career,

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Speaker 4: like in his draft year, you would see that velocity

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Speaker 4: kind of wax and Wayne depending on the outing. The

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Speaker 4: Mets draft him and then they don't sign him and

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Speaker 4: they say the medicals they had to back away. The

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Speaker 4: Rangers then go out and draft him, and then he

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Speaker 4: blew out his elbow, and so that's why we're still

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Speaker 4: talking about him as a prospect coming into twenty five.

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Speaker 4: But that's also the question that the biggest question I

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Speaker 4: would say that we face with Rocker in twenty five.

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Speaker 4: You want to see him improve his secondaries, the third

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Speaker 4: pitch to kind of help him that better as a starter.

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Speaker 4: But the big thing is is how many innings are

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Speaker 4: they going to be comfortable letting him go this year?

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Speaker 4: Because of the injuries. We are years away from the

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Speaker 4: last time that Comar Rocker went one hundred innings in

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Speaker 4: a season or close to it. Are they gonna be willing?

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Speaker 4: Are they going to be able to basically hand him

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Speaker 4: the ball and say, okay, we can expect twenty twenty

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Speaker 4: five starts out of you.

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Speaker 5: Jeff.

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Speaker 4: That's to me, that's the question that we It's gonna

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Speaker 4: be really interesting to see because stuff wise, there shouldn't

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Speaker 4: be as much of a question.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I think, you know, there's probably a bigger question

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Speaker 1: in terms of health. I do think there's some stuff

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Speaker 1: that popped up and sort of showed itself in the

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Speaker 1: major leagues. In particular, he's probably gonna have to switch

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Speaker 1: off of that four seam fastball. It graded really poorly

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Speaker 1: on a ton of stuff models the public ones like

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Speaker 1: you know, you know, Cyrus's stuff plus et cetera. That's

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Speaker 1: on fangrabs. The sinker grades out as a plus pitch.

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Speaker 1: I think he probably ends up having to go there.

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Speaker 1: He's lost some rides since his college days. I think

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Speaker 1: some of that was attracking devices. Some of it might

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Speaker 1: also be, you know, some of the elbow and shoulder

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Speaker 1: injuries that he's dealt with. We've seen that happen with

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Speaker 1: other prospects. Forrest Whitley's a guy that sort of lost

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Speaker 1: some of his ride over time and switched to a sinker.

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Speaker 1: The sinker plays pretty well, might make him a little

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Speaker 1: bit less of a strikeout guy and more of a

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Speaker 1: bad contact guy that can miss bats with that slider. Certainly,

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Speaker 1: the development of a third pitch, you know, whether that

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Speaker 1: ends up being you know, his cutter or his change up,

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Speaker 1: or sort of a combination of the two, it should

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Speaker 1: be interesting to see, you know, how that stuff develops

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Speaker 1: over the course of the year, how the Rangers decide

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Speaker 1: to sort of develop him, and you know where where

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Speaker 1: the arsenal sort of goes from there.

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Speaker 2: It is. It is an interesting pitch mix.

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Speaker 1: I think just the big question is, you know, what's

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Speaker 1: the third pitch and does he really make that switch

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Speaker 1: to a primary sort of two seam sinker type of

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Speaker 1: fastball and maybe only throw the four seamer in certain counts.

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Speaker 4: I kind of think with that also, like this is

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Speaker 4: going to be the crucial year for this of because

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Speaker 4: of the timetable and all, Okay, we really are going

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Speaker 4: to see on that third pitch. You know, maybe it

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Speaker 4: is a cutter. Maybe again it could be a change up,

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Speaker 4: but I especially say it's going to throw in a

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Speaker 4: curve as well. But I would love to see kind

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Speaker 4: of a cutter that just gives him something else in

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Speaker 4: the zone that really kind of would start pushing Rocker

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Speaker 4: to being more of that bad contact, that weak contact

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Speaker 4: kind of guy, not the you know, maybe a little

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Speaker 4: less than the strikeouts than maybe people expected if you

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Speaker 4: saw him back in twenty nineteen in the postseason for

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Speaker 4: Vandyan all. But the slider's still really good. But I

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Speaker 4: would also say with that, like, if that doesn't come along,

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Speaker 4: and I think he's gonna have plenty of time to

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Speaker 4: work here as a starter, receive it does, but it

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Speaker 4: also is a mix. Jeff to me that that does

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Speaker 4: say like if it didn't work out as a starter

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Speaker 4: long term, it could be he could be a really

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Speaker 4: good reliever. I don't want to pitt you know, I

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Speaker 4: think he's going to end up as a starter, but

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Speaker 4: the fallback options I feel like here are pretty good

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Speaker 4: as well as long as he stays healthy.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I totally agree, And I think you know, you

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Speaker 1: brought up a good point. You know, the slider is

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Speaker 1: a really good pitch. I think some people probably refer

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Speaker 1: to as a cutter, and then you know, call the

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Speaker 1: curve ball slider.

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Speaker 2: It's just sort of how how the pitches are shaped.

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Speaker 1: But could get a little bit more of like a

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Speaker 1: ride traditional maybe like a like a cut fastball. You know,

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Speaker 1: that might be another another you know, element that he

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Speaker 1: could sort of add to his game. But once again,

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Speaker 1: we don't know what the medicals are. Fully, we don't

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Speaker 1: know what his limitations are in terms of like what

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Speaker 1: types of pitches he can throw. But I think the

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Speaker 1: talent has always been there. He's certainly someone that has

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Speaker 1: the physicality. I think the floor here is if you know,

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Speaker 1: he doesn't find a way to sort of command his

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Speaker 1: full arsenal, which was a little bit of an issue

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Speaker 1: in the major leagues in terms of hitting his spots

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Speaker 1: and showing consistent command, and isn't able to handle a

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Speaker 1: huge workload. Maybe he's a multi inning reliever that can

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Speaker 1: be really nasty and you know, high leverage situations. So

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Speaker 1: I think he does have the stuff to be successful

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Speaker 1: as a major leaguer. It's just does he have the durability,

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Speaker 1: Does he have the track record, you know, a strike throwing,

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Speaker 1: all those sort of things to be you know, a

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Speaker 1: starter that can go out there and give you twenty

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Speaker 1: five plus starts a year. And I think that question

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Speaker 1: is still just very much up in the air.

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Speaker 4: The other thing that does stand out to me, though,

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Speaker 4: is this is an organization that there's two number one prospects.

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Speaker 4: There's one A and one B. Rocker is basically big

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Speaker 4: league ready. Sebastian Walcott's not. But if you're a Rangers fan,

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Speaker 4: after you just graduated White Langford, you dressed graduated Evan Carter,

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Speaker 4: now you have Rocker and you have Walcott knocking on

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Speaker 4: the door before too long, that's a pretty good situation

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Speaker 4: to be in, you know, especially I know last year

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Speaker 4: was not twenty twenty four was not the year that

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Speaker 4: Rangers fans wanted, but you know, that World Series, the

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Speaker 4: champagne smell is just kind of coming out after that

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Speaker 4: twenty three season. So it does feel like that the

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Speaker 4: Rangers are in a pretty decent spot right now.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and Walcott was a riser, right.

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Speaker 3: We weren't talking a lot about him in this kind

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Speaker 3: of conversation a year ago. So you love to see

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Speaker 3: that when you're not excited about someone or you just

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Speaker 3: don't know about someone, and then all of a sudden

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Speaker 3: he hits the equation here for this team, I want

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Speaker 3: to finish with this. I didn't hear the word that

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Speaker 3: I was looking for from from Rocker. Can we call

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Speaker 3: it a death ball? Is that still a thing? Remember

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Speaker 3: when that was a thing last year? Like the little

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Speaker 3: baby curve? I think he calls it a curve. Can

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Speaker 3: we say that he has a death ball just because

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Speaker 3: it's good marketing?

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Speaker 4: I think, well, like I wouldn't say death I would say,

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Speaker 4: like it can it can cut you.

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Speaker 5: But I don't know if you're going to bleed.

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Speaker 3: Out, Okay, doomball, Jeff doomball, Like it's a minor version

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Speaker 3: of the death ball.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean it's a it's a harder curveball with

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Speaker 1: you know, less vertical drop.

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Speaker 2: It's sort of slurvy in nature.

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Speaker 1: Maybe has like a little bit more like drop than

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Speaker 1: your typical slurve. But it's a hard it's a hard curveball.

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Speaker 1: Certainly based on like how tread was sort of marketing

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Speaker 1: the pitch when they start sorted to talk and have

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Speaker 1: the conversation around the whole death ball Moniker, it's certainly

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Speaker 1: from like a movement perspective fits into that. I just

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Speaker 1: don't know that it's you know, it's not a pitch

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Speaker 1: that he's throwing thirty percent of the time or anything,

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Speaker 1: which you know, if you're gonna have something like a

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Speaker 1: death ball, that kind of label on a pitch. It's

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Speaker 1: the type of pitch that you're going to be leading

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Speaker 1: on quite a bit, because yeah, you're killing it back.

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Speaker 5: I would say, you can't give her that's the death ball.

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Speaker 2: Okay, mm hmm.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, we're just trying to come up with

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Speaker 3: some other names, right that the ghost fork. Obviously that

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Speaker 3: that earns its nickname. It's ridiculous for Sega, and he

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Speaker 3: uses it plenty, So all right, doomball, maybe you're I

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Speaker 3: don't know if he even uses enough to be able

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Speaker 3: to call it that, but I think Rangers fans will

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Speaker 3: just settle for twenty five plus starts and keeping him

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Speaker 3: in the rotation and seeing him do good things for

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Speaker 3: them and finally kind of live up to what we

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Speaker 3: saw back in college from him.

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Speaker 2: So thanks for watching this one.

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Speaker 3: Of course, if you are a fan of other teams

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Speaker 3: and you'd like to learn about their top prospects, we

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Speaker 3: have videos for you, and if you don't see your

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Speaker 3: team yet, it will be coming out on a day

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Speaker 3: by day basis here during spring training.

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Speaker 4: This is the team that never has that year where

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Speaker 4: they say, you know what, we know that realistically, we're

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Speaker 4: just not there. You need to take a step back

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Speaker 4: to take a step forward. That's not been something that

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Speaker 4: the Angels have been willing to do.

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Speaker 3: All right, let's be quick because we're covering the Angels

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Speaker 3: and their top prospect while he is still a prospect.

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Speaker 2: If you know, you know as a.

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Speaker 3: Prospect profile, the name of that prospect is Caden Dana,

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Speaker 3: Scott Brown, JJ Cooper, Jeff Ponce and JJ. I mentioned

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Speaker 3: this because the Angels like to rush their prospects. So

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Speaker 3: talk me through their game plan here.

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Speaker 4: Okay, their game plan is we saw Kat and Dana

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Speaker 4: reach the big leagues last year. The Angels are not

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Speaker 4: an organization that that preaches a whole lot of patience.

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Speaker 4: So I would say that, you know, we're looking at

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Speaker 4: him in spring training and a healthy Kate Dana is

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Speaker 4: battling for a spot rotation. And then I would say, hey,

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Speaker 4: what we've seen in recent years, especially with the pictures,

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Speaker 4: I would just ask for a little bit of patience.

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Speaker 4: We're talking about a picture who is younger than some

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Speaker 4: of the pictures who will be drafted in the twenty

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Speaker 4: twenty five MB draft, and I think he could use

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Speaker 4: some additional time as additional seasoning. I don't think that

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Speaker 4: not having Caden Dana in the big leagues on opening

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Speaker 4: day is going to be the difference between this club

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Speaker 4: making a deep playoff run or not. I think I

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Speaker 4: can feel comfortable saying that's probably not gonna be the

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Speaker 4: case with that being the idea. Like let's you know,

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Speaker 4: we've seen with Patrick Sandival and Read Deptmer's and Griffin Canning,

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Speaker 4: and we could go through this list. There are a

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Speaker 4: lot of guys who move quickly for them starting pictures

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Speaker 4: and got a lot of up and down performances out

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Speaker 4: of them. And Jeff, I just don't know if I

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Speaker 4: would say right now we like Caten Dan as a

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Speaker 4: prospect stop on a prospect, But I do think that

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Speaker 4: we're not talking about a fully finished, a fully polished

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Speaker 4: Oh this guy has checked off every box you need

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Speaker 4: to see to say he's ready to be a big

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Speaker 4: league starter.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, And I think we even saw it when he

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Speaker 1: came up to the big leagues last year. You know,

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Speaker 1: he's a guy that gets by on really good pitch ability.

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Speaker 1: You know, he throws strikes, he competes in the zone consistently,

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Speaker 1: he gets deeper into starts. There's a lot to be

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Speaker 1: said for that. He certainly handled you know, double a

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Speaker 1: as well as one could be expected at how old

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Speaker 1: he was.

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Speaker 2: But I think when you dig into some of the.

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Speaker 1: Numbers, and I'm not the first person to call this,

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Speaker 1: you know, to the forefront with Dana, his release spot,

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Speaker 1: his release heights on his pitches are all over the place.

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Speaker 1: What that means it's a little bit easier to pick

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Speaker 1: everything up. You know, He's thrown from a seventy three

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Speaker 1: inch release height on the fastball, and then it drops

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Speaker 1: down four or five inches for the slider, it drops

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Speaker 1: down about four or five inches for the for the changeup,

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Speaker 1: and he mixes in a curve ball that actually comes

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Speaker 1: from a higher slot than his fastball. All these teams

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Speaker 1: have access to this information. It's going to be out

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Speaker 1: there and pre game scouting reports. After the first you know,

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Speaker 1: at bat or even the first couple of pitches, guys

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Speaker 1: are going to start picking up you know, where the

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Speaker 1: ball's coming out of the hand.

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Speaker 2: These are major league hitters.

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Speaker 1: These guys are great at adjusting, great at picking up

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Speaker 1: little you know, details and little etiosyncrasies of each one

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Speaker 1: of these players that I think Dana probably is best

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Speaker 1: serve spending more time at Double A. If they'd actually

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Speaker 1: want to send a prospect a Triple A for the

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Speaker 1: first time in a very long time, perhaps that's where

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Speaker 1: he ends up.

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Speaker 5: You know.

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Speaker 1: I think there's even a case that could be made

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Speaker 1: that maybe Dana shouldn't have been a number one prospect.

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Speaker 1: Maybe really Christian Moore might be the more upside guy

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Speaker 1: when you think about all the tools that he has

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Speaker 1: and some of the stuff that maybe he needs to refine.

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Speaker 1: Isn't quite the gap to get to major league regular

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Speaker 1: that I think it is with Dana right now. There's

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Speaker 1: four different pitch shapes. Like I said, he can compete

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Speaker 1: with all of them. He throws them for strikes, He

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Speaker 1: gets deep into starts. You know, he showed efficiency and

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Speaker 1: the ability to get outs consistently at the Double A level.

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Speaker 1: I still think he needs a little bit more time

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Speaker 1: just to be nurtured a little bit more in terms of,

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Speaker 1: you know, making sure the release heights are just a

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Speaker 1: little bit more consistent, because those gaps are four or

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Speaker 1: five inches are pretty big gaps. When you're talking about

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Speaker 1: a guy who doesn't you know, that isn't throwing a

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Speaker 1: slider that's you know, outlier movement or outlier velocity, or

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Speaker 1: a combination of the both. It's kind of stock sort

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Speaker 1: of pitch mix, and there's some elements that I feel

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Speaker 1: like lack deception, and I think that's an element that

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Speaker 1: sometimes it's hard to measure with the numbers, but when

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Speaker 1: we see it in the release heights, I think it's

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Speaker 1: really quite a big issue. So needs a little bit

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Speaker 1: more time. I think he was rushed a little bit

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Speaker 1: too quickly to the major leagues, but that's kind of

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Speaker 1: been the mo for the Angels of the last three

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Speaker 1: four seasons.

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Speaker 4: I do want to kind of in positive, you know,

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Speaker 4: say something positive on data here, which is we do

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Speaker 4: like them. This is a guy who has big league

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Speaker 4: starter or potential. Most of his peers, most of his contemporaries,

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Speaker 4: are hoping to get to double A in twenty twenty five.

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Speaker 4: He's already reached the majors. It's just that, Yeah, you

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Speaker 4: want to see him get to add this polish. You

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Speaker 4: want to see him the things Jeff mentioned, these aren't

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Speaker 4: unsolvable problems. They're just things that ideally you want to

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Speaker 4: fix while you're in the minors, not the majors. So

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Speaker 4: I would say with all of this it is it's like,

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Speaker 4: please a little bit of patience here, and kind of

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Speaker 4: could say the same thing. Christian Moore reached Double A

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Speaker 4: last year pretty much, you know, seemingly a couple of

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Speaker 4: hours after he signed, which is not that unusual for

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Speaker 4: the Angels and what they do at their top picks.

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Speaker 4: As Jeff mentioned, this is really kind of a strange

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Speaker 4: situation where the Angels don't really use their High A

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Speaker 4: or their Triple A clubs a whole lot for their

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Speaker 4: best prospects, which kind of.

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Speaker 5: Makes for an uneven.

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Speaker 4: Development process because you're asking guys a lot of the times.

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Speaker 4: Nelson Rod is another one we saw this with, who

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Speaker 4: jumped straight to Double A and was one of the

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Speaker 4: youngest players in that league. Probably should have been in

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Speaker 4: hig A. But the Angels don't really send their top

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Speaker 4: prospects to HIE. Their top college draftees often go to

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Speaker 4: Double A, you know, almost straight from the draft. We

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Speaker 4: see that over and over and yeah, there are examples

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Speaker 4: where it's worked out. Zac Netto's a guy where it

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Speaker 4: worked out. There's also a lot of guys where it

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Speaker 4: hasn't worked out, where you look back and say, okay,

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Speaker 4: you know, Nolan Shaniel has already burned a year plus

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Speaker 4: of service time trying to figure it out in the

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Speaker 4: big leagues, and he's not like completely lost up there,

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Speaker 4: but he's nothing. He's not making a big impact or

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Speaker 4: anything like that. And by pushing guys that quickly, you

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Speaker 4: kind of are asking them to figure out some of

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Speaker 4: the toughest things to figure out at the toughest level,

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Speaker 4: rather than letting them figure that out in the minors

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Speaker 4: in games that don't count the same way that they

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Speaker 4: count the big leagues.

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Speaker 3: JJ philosophical question for you why, I mean, you know,

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Speaker 3: do the locker rooms smell in triple A? Why would

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Speaker 3: they do this? And the reason I ask it with

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Speaker 3: such curiosity is it's one thing. If this is being

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Speaker 3: done by many other organizations, I don't feel like the

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Speaker 3: Angels have earned the recent right to be going against

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Speaker 3: the grain or setting a tone and saying, you know what,

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Speaker 3: this is the right way to develop prospects.

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Speaker 2: That's what confuses me.

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Speaker 3: I mean, I obviously always have this cynical brain that says,

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Speaker 3: you know, does ownership want to see who he picks

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Speaker 3: as a shiny toy in the big leagues too quickly?

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Speaker 3: But you can maybe bring me back down to Earth

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Speaker 3: and tell me what's happening here.

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Speaker 4: I'd say two things. One I do follow like, Salt

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Speaker 4: Lake is not a fun place to pitch, so there

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Speaker 4: is a little bit of an aversion not just there.

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Speaker 4: But you're playing salt Lake, you're Reno, You're in parks

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Speaker 4: that are really tough pitchers parks, So okay, maybe you

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Speaker 4: want to avoid some of that, and that there's some

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Speaker 4: logic to that. But the other thing is that we've

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Speaker 4: just seen over and over is that it's kind of

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Speaker 4: this never ending cycle, which is the team has lacked

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Speaker 4: upper level minor league depth, which kind of then means

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Speaker 4: that your best options sometimes are these players who really

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Speaker 4: may not be ready. Right, So it could be something

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Speaker 4: where you say, Okay, you know, well this guy could

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Speaker 4: use some more time. But if you're really looking and

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Speaker 4: asking the question, saying, well, who's our best option, in

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Speaker 4: a lot of these cases, these have been the best options,

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Speaker 4: these players who may not be fully ready. But the

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Speaker 4: Angels kind of have never. We saw this with the

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Speaker 4: show Eyotani final year of his contract, right, there's just never.

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Speaker 4: Even though this is a team that has not gone

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Speaker 4: to the playoffs in a really long time, you know,

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Speaker 4: and Mike Trout is still sitting on one career postseason hit.

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Speaker 4: This is the team that never has that year where

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Speaker 4: they say, you know what, we know that realistically we're

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Speaker 4: just not there. We need to take a step back,

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Speaker 4: to take a step forward. That's not been something that

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Speaker 4: the Angels have been willing to do. And again, I

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Speaker 4: would say under this ownership, under multiple front offices, under

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Speaker 4: this ownership, because of that, you see guys kind of

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Speaker 4: pushed up there faster than maybe they're ready in some

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Speaker 4: cases because well, we don't really have another good option.

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Speaker 4: This is a team that has not had a whole

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Speaker 4: lot of triple A kind of that depth that you

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Speaker 4: can just plug in when an injury arises, and there

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Speaker 4: have been plenty of injuries also obviously for the Angels.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a very unique organization and of course it

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Speaker 3: always looks weird when you match them up with the

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Speaker 3: team that's pretty close by in the Dodgers. But it

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Speaker 3: is what it is right now and they're going through

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Speaker 3: it still as an organization. Hope you enjoyed this one.

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Speaker 3: Obviously got some good Caden Dana and a little bit

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Speaker 3: of Christian Mortok in there, and if you get yourself

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Speaker 3: a Baseball America's subscription. You can learn a lot more

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Speaker 3: about the Angels organization, specifically their farm system. We do

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Speaker 3: these for every single team, going through Top prospect by

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Speaker 3: top prospect, so check out some other videos.

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Speaker 2: Let's see how this goes.

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Speaker 1: Let's see if this guy can turn into something, and

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Speaker 1: I do think he has the upside, you know, to

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Speaker 1: potentially be a fringe sort of All star level player.

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Speaker 3: Let's hit the top prospect in the Houston Ashers organize.

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Speaker 3: The name is Cam Smith. It's prospect profile time Scott

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Speaker 3: Bron with Baseball Americas, JJ Cooper and Jeff Ponce. Jeff

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Speaker 3: tell us about Cam Smith, acquired in the Kyle Tucker deal,

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Speaker 3: and obviously Astros fans have been looking for that next

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Speaker 3: big star to attach themselves to and follow, hopefully to

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Speaker 3: the big leagues, maybe even this year.

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Speaker 1: I think it's possible, probably less likely that he sees

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Speaker 1: an extensive amount of time, depending upon what the injuries are.

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Speaker 1: Where he ends up shaking out defensively is all big

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Speaker 1: part of it. That being said, I think this is

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Speaker 1: one of the first prospects the Astros have had in

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Speaker 1: quite a long time that you could be really really

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Speaker 1: excited about. He was a slam dunk top one hundred prospect,

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Speaker 1: right inside of our top fifty. The feedback that we

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Speaker 1: got throughout the top one hundred process of getting better

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Speaker 1: and better and better, even the feedback that I was

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Speaker 1: getting when I put together my Cubs. Listen, we put

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Speaker 1: out those top tens, and he was inside that Cub's

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Speaker 1: top ten. Obviously was still a Cub in the handbook

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Speaker 1: ends up. You know, the trade happens after our deadline

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Speaker 1: with Tucker moving to the the Cubs.

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Speaker 2: This was the big.

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Speaker 1: Piece that the Astros asked for in that trade. More

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Speaker 1: so than Parades or Wesneesky, it was Smith.

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Speaker 2: That they wanted.

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Speaker 1: It was a player that they were on and just

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Speaker 1: didn't have access to in the draft. Really really good athlete,

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Speaker 1: somebody that over the last couple of years since I

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Speaker 1: saw him as a draft eligible sophomore after his freshman

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Speaker 1: season on the Cape. Throughout that summer working with Tino,

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Speaker 1: Martinez took some massive steps forward in terms of the

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Speaker 1: bats of ball ability, the hit tool, knowing what to

437
00:20:28,800 --> 00:20:31,840
Speaker 1: swing at, getting into his power more consistently, and that

438
00:20:31,920 --> 00:20:36,399
Speaker 1: continued to track upward as he went to FSU and

439
00:20:36,400 --> 00:20:38,880
Speaker 1: then obviously had one of the best debuts of anybody

440
00:20:38,880 --> 00:20:42,000
Speaker 1: in that twenty twenty four draft. Really really good athlete.

441
00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:44,840
Speaker 1: He hasn't necessarily translated to the defensive side of the ball,

442
00:20:45,119 --> 00:20:48,520
Speaker 1: but moves well for his size. There's power output, you know,

443
00:20:48,680 --> 00:20:50,640
Speaker 1: the hit tool, like I said, has come along. He's

444
00:20:50,640 --> 00:20:54,800
Speaker 1: always had pretty good swing decisions. You know, doesn't chase

445
00:20:54,840 --> 00:20:56,879
Speaker 1: a whole lot, keeps it pretty tighty zone. He's going

446
00:20:56,960 --> 00:20:58,880
Speaker 1: to get on base. He can run a little bit.

447
00:20:59,160 --> 00:21:01,240
Speaker 1: The big question though, is does he end up at

448
00:21:01,280 --> 00:21:04,080
Speaker 1: third base long term, which is his natural position. He

449
00:21:04,200 --> 00:21:06,560
Speaker 1: has sort of the tools to maybe play a corner

450
00:21:06,560 --> 00:21:09,560
Speaker 1: outfield spot, including the arm and enough foot speed to

451
00:21:09,600 --> 00:21:13,040
Speaker 1: handle enough range in an outfield corner. Or he's big

452
00:21:13,119 --> 00:21:15,200
Speaker 1: enough that he and has sort of the offensive profile

453
00:21:15,240 --> 00:21:18,240
Speaker 1: that maybe he moves to first base. Now they committed

454
00:21:18,280 --> 00:21:21,240
Speaker 1: some money to Christian Walker in a few years, it

455
00:21:21,320 --> 00:21:23,119
Speaker 1: might be a few years away. That's not going to

456
00:21:23,160 --> 00:21:26,520
Speaker 1: stop the Astros from potentially giving him looks at a

457
00:21:26,600 --> 00:21:29,560
Speaker 1: variety of different positions. Not the same level of prospect,

458
00:21:29,600 --> 00:21:31,920
Speaker 1: but we did see like a Joey Lauperfido last year

459
00:21:32,240 --> 00:21:34,000
Speaker 1: play it or the last couple of years play second

460
00:21:34,040 --> 00:21:37,320
Speaker 1: base play, you know, some first base play, some center field,

461
00:21:37,359 --> 00:21:40,359
Speaker 1: some other corner outfield spots. So I do think they'll

462
00:21:40,359 --> 00:21:43,400
Speaker 1: focus on positional versatility with Smith, hoping that he sort

463
00:21:43,400 --> 00:21:44,600
Speaker 1: of locks down a position.

464
00:21:46,240 --> 00:21:48,040
Speaker 5: I would say with that, we saw that.

465
00:21:48,119 --> 00:21:50,200
Speaker 4: You know, Dana Brown has said that he's going to

466
00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:51,800
Speaker 4: look him at third base, They're going to look him

467
00:21:51,800 --> 00:21:53,399
Speaker 4: at Ryan Field, They're gona look him at first base.

468
00:21:54,280 --> 00:21:55,560
Speaker 5: In the long term.

469
00:21:56,359 --> 00:21:58,960
Speaker 4: Generally, when you hear something like that, that does not

470
00:21:59,160 --> 00:22:01,160
Speaker 4: mean you can kind of look at the defensive spectrum

471
00:22:01,160 --> 00:22:03,359
Speaker 4: and say he's probably not going to end up at

472
00:22:03,400 --> 00:22:06,360
Speaker 4: the toughest of those positions. There are exceptions to that

473
00:22:06,680 --> 00:22:09,119
Speaker 4: doesn't mean it's not going to happen. But if you

474
00:22:09,200 --> 00:22:11,240
Speaker 4: told me that this means that Cam Smith's more likely

475
00:22:11,240 --> 00:22:13,720
Speaker 4: to be an outfielder as an Astro, wouldn't shock me.

476
00:22:13,920 --> 00:22:16,080
Speaker 4: And I think that there's going to be the opportunity

477
00:22:16,119 --> 00:22:19,199
Speaker 4: there that they could use him in the outfield. I

478
00:22:19,240 --> 00:22:21,719
Speaker 4: think third base. If he can pull off being a

479
00:22:21,720 --> 00:22:24,400
Speaker 4: third basement long term, obviously say that's best for him

480
00:22:24,400 --> 00:22:27,120
Speaker 4: and best for the Astros. But the key thing here

481
00:22:27,160 --> 00:22:29,480
Speaker 4: is Jeff mentioned is the bat, and if the bat

482
00:22:29,520 --> 00:22:32,240
Speaker 4: is as good as we think it could be it's

483
00:22:32,280 --> 00:22:34,080
Speaker 4: not really going to matter that much because he could

484
00:22:34,080 --> 00:22:38,680
Speaker 4: be a very productive outfielder, you know, has the bat

485
00:22:38,720 --> 00:22:41,760
Speaker 4: to kind of carry that, and I do think that again,

486
00:22:41,840 --> 00:22:44,480
Speaker 4: working on that versatility this year while he's still in

487
00:22:44,480 --> 00:22:47,800
Speaker 4: the minors also kind of does kind of provide those

488
00:22:47,880 --> 00:22:50,879
Speaker 4: multiple options. As Jeff mentioned, you got Christian Walker, but

489
00:22:51,080 --> 00:22:53,160
Speaker 4: if there's an injury at first base, he could fit in.

490
00:22:53,520 --> 00:22:56,879
Speaker 4: As applause, Blancher there, you know, let's see what, you know,

491
00:22:56,920 --> 00:22:59,080
Speaker 4: what third base looks like. Obviously Bregman's gone, the zac

492
00:22:59,119 --> 00:23:02,440
Speaker 4: parades is there. Let's see kind of by the time

493
00:23:02,480 --> 00:23:04,480
Speaker 4: Cam Smith is ready, is third base a bigger need

494
00:23:04,600 --> 00:23:06,639
Speaker 4: or is an outfield spot a bigger need where they

495
00:23:06,680 --> 00:23:09,000
Speaker 4: have an astroisk do have a number of kind of candidates,

496
00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:11,880
Speaker 4: but they don't have Kyle Tucker anymore. So I think

497
00:23:11,920 --> 00:23:15,199
Speaker 4: that really the Astros, what they're getting here is a

498
00:23:15,240 --> 00:23:18,199
Speaker 4: really good bat, and thankfully for them, a guy with

499
00:23:18,320 --> 00:23:21,840
Speaker 4: enough athleticism, enough versatility that he could be kind of

500
00:23:21,880 --> 00:23:25,679
Speaker 4: a viable option at multiple different positions depending on what

501
00:23:25,720 --> 00:23:28,600
Speaker 4: the team needs. But you know, Jeff, kind of with that,

502
00:23:29,040 --> 00:23:31,560
Speaker 4: as you mentioned, is probably a late this year, you know,

503
00:23:31,640 --> 00:23:35,440
Speaker 4: late late twenty five, but realistically probably twenty six. We're

504
00:23:35,480 --> 00:23:39,320
Speaker 4: hoping to see him in Houston long term. There, you

505
00:23:39,359 --> 00:23:41,200
Speaker 4: know what, We're gonna know a lot more I would

506
00:23:41,200 --> 00:23:44,000
Speaker 4: say by then about how this lineup kind of sets up.

507
00:23:45,359 --> 00:23:48,080
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think it's it's gonna depend on sort

508
00:23:48,080 --> 00:23:51,480
Speaker 1: of who ends up shaking out as the potential outfield

509
00:23:51,720 --> 00:23:55,000
Speaker 1: day outfield, they're in Houston with Tucker to partying. You know,

510
00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:56,959
Speaker 1: there's been some talk about jose L two they move

511
00:23:57,000 --> 00:24:01,160
Speaker 1: into left field, even after Alex Bragman signed in Boston.

512
00:24:01,560 --> 00:24:03,840
Speaker 1: You know, al Tuove moving to left seems like it's

513
00:24:03,840 --> 00:24:06,400
Speaker 1: a viable option, a place that he might see some

514
00:24:06,400 --> 00:24:08,600
Speaker 1: some run and some opportunities. I think he's keeping the

515
00:24:08,640 --> 00:24:10,960
Speaker 1: seat warm, whether it's for a Jacob Melton, you know,

516
00:24:10,960 --> 00:24:13,919
Speaker 1: who is number two in this system, you know, or

517
00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:16,000
Speaker 1: Cam Smith if he moves there long term. I do

518
00:24:16,080 --> 00:24:18,160
Speaker 1: think he has the tools, and I think it's sort

519
00:24:18,160 --> 00:24:20,880
Speaker 1: of an interesting question as like, you know, when Cam

520
00:24:20,960 --> 00:24:24,280
Speaker 1: Smith moved in, how close was he to Melton? Melton

521
00:24:24,400 --> 00:24:26,440
Speaker 1: was sort of the de facto won the last couple

522
00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:28,600
Speaker 1: of years. He was the number one in the handbook.

523
00:24:28,920 --> 00:24:32,159
Speaker 1: The trade happens, Smith moves ahead of him. For me,

524
00:24:32,280 --> 00:24:34,400
Speaker 1: it wasn't much of a question. I just think when

525
00:24:34,440 --> 00:24:37,440
Speaker 1: you look at Melton's a very good player. He hit

526
00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:39,679
Speaker 1: you know well when he was at Oregon State. The

527
00:24:39,800 --> 00:24:42,800
Speaker 1: all around profile is very good there. But I think

528
00:24:42,840 --> 00:24:46,640
Speaker 1: when you talk about offensive impact and tools, Smith has

529
00:24:46,720 --> 00:24:49,879
Speaker 1: more power, has more feel to hit, has sort of

530
00:24:49,880 --> 00:24:53,280
Speaker 1: that athleticism, that bigger body. There's there's more maybe to

531
00:24:53,400 --> 00:24:55,560
Speaker 1: come as well that I think when you look at

532
00:24:55,600 --> 00:24:57,120
Speaker 1: the overall player, and he was young, I mean he's

533
00:24:57,160 --> 00:24:59,359
Speaker 1: a you know, for a draft eligible softomore, was just

534
00:24:59,480 --> 00:25:01,959
Speaker 1: eligible for the draft. I think when you look at

535
00:25:01,960 --> 00:25:04,920
Speaker 1: all those things, he's really the number one guy. Maybe

536
00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:06,879
Speaker 1: him and Melton end up sort of fitting in with

537
00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:09,879
Speaker 1: Myers or whoever it might be, you know, in center field,

538
00:25:10,040 --> 00:25:12,159
Speaker 1: or you know, maybe Melton ends up in center field

539
00:25:12,160 --> 00:25:15,200
Speaker 1: and they move Meyers over to a corner. I think

540
00:25:15,320 --> 00:25:17,600
Speaker 1: ultimately that's how this is all going to shake out.

541
00:25:17,920 --> 00:25:20,760
Speaker 1: He has the offensive upside, He has the big power

542
00:25:20,800 --> 00:25:23,080
Speaker 1: with the hit tool to match. And I think, you know,

543
00:25:23,119 --> 00:25:26,400
Speaker 1: if you're a Houston Astros fan, this is kind of exciting.

544
00:25:26,760 --> 00:25:30,240
Speaker 1: Yeah you lost Kyle Tucker, Yeah you did lose Alex Bregman.

545
00:25:30,560 --> 00:25:33,480
Speaker 1: You know, two major cogs in that machine that won

546
00:25:33,520 --> 00:25:37,439
Speaker 1: you multiple championships, but you know, downsizing a little bit

547
00:25:37,440 --> 00:25:39,720
Speaker 1: to a young player with some upside that. I think

548
00:25:39,960 --> 00:25:42,080
Speaker 1: the Astros have also done a really good job of

549
00:25:42,160 --> 00:25:45,280
Speaker 1: developing their internal players and making them better, regardless of

550
00:25:45,480 --> 00:25:48,080
Speaker 1: what their pedigree was. I think you have to sort

551
00:25:48,080 --> 00:25:50,560
Speaker 1: of trust the process a little bit and say, all right,

552
00:25:50,760 --> 00:25:52,640
Speaker 1: let's see how this goes. Let's see if this guy

553
00:25:52,680 --> 00:25:54,320
Speaker 1: can turn into something. And I do think he has

554
00:25:54,359 --> 00:25:57,080
Speaker 1: the upside, you know, to potentially be a fringe sort

555
00:25:57,119 --> 00:26:02,080
Speaker 1: of all star level player. All right, So to bring

556
00:26:02,160 --> 00:26:05,879
Speaker 1: us to what's happening right now with the current club, JJ,

557
00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:10,320
Speaker 1: the Astros, like Jeff mentioned, lose some of those superstars

558
00:26:10,359 --> 00:26:15,240
Speaker 1: for a variety of reasons. It's very difficult to maintain

559
00:26:15,440 --> 00:26:18,640
Speaker 1: the consistency that they've had for a very long time.

560
00:26:18,680 --> 00:26:18,840
Speaker 4: Now.

561
00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:21,320
Speaker 3: It's super impressive when you look at the big league

562
00:26:21,400 --> 00:26:23,440
Speaker 3: roster as of now, as of when we're doing this,

563
00:26:24,160 --> 00:26:27,359
Speaker 3: their outfield hitting wise, looks like it's projected to be

564
00:26:27,400 --> 00:26:30,280
Speaker 3: one of the worst in baseball. It could be their seven,

565
00:26:30,359 --> 00:26:33,320
Speaker 3: eight to nine hitters, which you rarely ever see. Okay,

566
00:26:33,400 --> 00:26:36,560
Speaker 3: so we're having this conversation, I start to think back to,

567
00:26:37,359 --> 00:26:41,200
Speaker 3: you know, the Verlander trade, right when they deal away

568
00:26:41,840 --> 00:26:45,160
Speaker 3: who was at Gilbert and Clifford. Maybe that doesn't necessarily matter.

569
00:26:45,280 --> 00:26:47,760
Speaker 3: Just want to get your scope of where they're at

570
00:26:47,800 --> 00:26:50,919
Speaker 3: as a farm system to be able to replenish enough

571
00:26:51,200 --> 00:26:54,119
Speaker 3: to be playoff contenders every year and not have pain.

572
00:26:55,760 --> 00:26:57,920
Speaker 4: So I'll say this for them, like they've made, yes,

573
00:26:57,960 --> 00:27:01,439
Speaker 4: they have. They are understandable thinner on the farm system.

574
00:27:01,760 --> 00:27:05,360
Speaker 4: They had penalties, they had draft penalties, they had international

575
00:27:05,359 --> 00:27:08,200
Speaker 4: penalties for you know, for trash can gaate or whatever

576
00:27:08,200 --> 00:27:11,719
Speaker 4: you want to call it. They also did make trades

577
00:27:11,760 --> 00:27:14,919
Speaker 4: that they've made multiple trades to try to fix up

578
00:27:14,960 --> 00:27:18,439
Speaker 4: the big league club as they're making postseason runs. But Jeff,

579
00:27:18,440 --> 00:27:20,120
Speaker 4: the thing that does jump out to me, I'm looking

580
00:27:20,200 --> 00:27:23,600
Speaker 4: back on those trades. I can't really think of much

581
00:27:23,600 --> 00:27:26,320
Speaker 4: of any of them that you look at and say, oh,

582
00:27:26,520 --> 00:27:31,920
Speaker 4: they really would want to have that as a do over, right, Like, okay, yes,

583
00:27:31,920 --> 00:27:34,040
Speaker 4: they would help to have their outfield delp to still

584
00:27:34,080 --> 00:27:36,800
Speaker 4: have a Drew Gilbert. But it's not like Drew Gilbert

585
00:27:37,160 --> 00:27:40,160
Speaker 4: has blossom into one of the best prospects in baseball.

586
00:27:40,440 --> 00:27:41,920
Speaker 4: He's kind of still the question.

587
00:27:41,800 --> 00:27:43,160
Speaker 5: Still out on him very much.

588
00:27:43,240 --> 00:27:45,360
Speaker 4: So kind of as you look at this, is there

589
00:27:45,400 --> 00:27:47,560
Speaker 4: any of these trades that have happened with this over

590
00:27:47,560 --> 00:27:48,960
Speaker 4: the last couple of years, as you've been doing these

591
00:27:49,000 --> 00:27:51,800
Speaker 4: astros lists that you look at and say, oh, man,

592
00:27:51,840 --> 00:27:53,440
Speaker 4: they wish they could have that one over again.

593
00:27:54,520 --> 00:27:54,600
Speaker 3: No.

594
00:27:54,840 --> 00:27:58,720
Speaker 1: I think they scout their system internally really really well,

595
00:27:59,040 --> 00:28:01,159
Speaker 1: that the guys that they move moved away from. I

596
00:28:01,200 --> 00:28:04,280
Speaker 1: think you could argue that it was a potential overpay

597
00:28:04,320 --> 00:28:07,240
Speaker 1: by you know, moving a couple of prospects who were

598
00:28:07,640 --> 00:28:09,919
Speaker 1: ascending at that point in time. I think Gilbert at

599
00:28:09,920 --> 00:28:11,800
Speaker 1: the time of the trade was a top one hundred prospect.

600
00:28:11,800 --> 00:28:14,560
Speaker 1: But there were some whispers, you know, internally that the

601
00:28:14,680 --> 00:28:17,440
Speaker 1: team thought that Melton was better than Gilbert.

602
00:28:17,480 --> 00:28:18,400
Speaker 2: I had people with the.

603
00:28:18,440 --> 00:28:21,080
Speaker 1: Organization say that flat out to me, and you usually

604
00:28:21,119 --> 00:28:24,720
Speaker 1: don't hear someone you know, speak that directly about their

605
00:28:24,760 --> 00:28:27,600
Speaker 1: own players. I think when you look at Gilbert, he

606
00:28:27,680 --> 00:28:30,400
Speaker 1: really hasn't progressed much from the guy that we saw

607
00:28:30,400 --> 00:28:33,280
Speaker 1: at Tennessee. You know, I don't know that he would

608
00:28:33,280 --> 00:28:36,080
Speaker 1: necessarily be fighting, you know, fighting for a job here.

609
00:28:36,160 --> 00:28:38,280
Speaker 1: Maybe he'd fit in left field over Ben Gammele. That

610
00:28:38,400 --> 00:28:41,280
Speaker 1: might be a slight upgrade Clifford at this point, the

611
00:28:41,360 --> 00:28:43,120
Speaker 1: jury is still out if he's going to make enough

612
00:28:43,160 --> 00:28:44,320
Speaker 1: contact long term.

613
00:28:44,600 --> 00:28:45,960
Speaker 2: So I don't know if I if.

614
00:28:45,880 --> 00:28:48,120
Speaker 1: Those trades really hurt them, especially when you sort of

615
00:28:48,160 --> 00:28:52,040
Speaker 1: consider Melton still here could come up reinforce that outfield.

616
00:28:52,360 --> 00:28:54,800
Speaker 1: Cam Smith, as we've talked about throughout this, you know,

617
00:28:54,880 --> 00:28:58,400
Speaker 1: could be developed as a corner outfielder certainly has bigger

618
00:28:58,440 --> 00:29:02,480
Speaker 1: offensive upside than Iver Clifford, or Gilbert or Melton.

619
00:29:02,200 --> 00:29:02,840
Speaker 2: For that matter.

620
00:29:03,000 --> 00:29:05,520
Speaker 1: So I think the other thing you sort of have

621
00:29:05,600 --> 00:29:07,760
Speaker 1: to say about the Astros is, you know, we've had

622
00:29:07,800 --> 00:29:10,200
Speaker 1: him as sort of a bottom tier farm system over

623
00:29:10,200 --> 00:29:14,520
Speaker 1: the last four or five seasons, but they've consistently produced

624
00:29:14,560 --> 00:29:18,520
Speaker 1: players that in the major leagues outperform what their pedigree

625
00:29:18,640 --> 00:29:21,680
Speaker 1: was or what their prospect rank was. I think, like

626
00:29:21,800 --> 00:29:24,400
Speaker 1: Yaner Diaz, we were one of the earlier outlets on them,

627
00:29:24,440 --> 00:29:28,280
Speaker 1: but generally I think the overall spectrum of you know,

628
00:29:28,320 --> 00:29:31,000
Speaker 1: outlets out there ranking prospects were a little slower to

629
00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:33,640
Speaker 1: move on him. Jeremy Paina sort of came off of

630
00:29:33,640 --> 00:29:36,520
Speaker 1: an injured year with a very small sample size and

631
00:29:36,560 --> 00:29:39,840
Speaker 1: then jumped in and you know, was the World Series MVP.

632
00:29:40,320 --> 00:29:41,920
Speaker 1: You know, so I think you sort of factor all

633
00:29:41,920 --> 00:29:45,160
Speaker 1: those things in, it's still a really good lineup one

634
00:29:45,200 --> 00:29:48,959
Speaker 1: through seven, one through six, it's you know, probably as

635
00:29:48,960 --> 00:29:52,320
Speaker 1: strong as just about any lineup in baseball, especially when

636
00:29:52,360 --> 00:29:54,920
Speaker 1: you have yord On Alvarez in the middle. And you know,

637
00:29:54,960 --> 00:29:57,760
Speaker 1: I know, Christian Walker doesn't necessarily get the fanfare that

638
00:29:57,800 --> 00:29:59,800
Speaker 1: he deserves. This is one of the best home run

639
00:29:59,840 --> 00:30:01,680
Speaker 1: hit is one of the best power hitters in the game,

640
00:30:02,120 --> 00:30:04,320
Speaker 1: and he's now gonna be a you know, he's a

641
00:30:04,400 --> 00:30:05,880
Speaker 1: right hander, he's gonna be able to.

642
00:30:05,840 --> 00:30:07,480
Speaker 2: Take advantage of those Crawford boxes.

643
00:30:07,600 --> 00:30:09,720
Speaker 1: So I think when you look at the overall picture,

644
00:30:09,760 --> 00:30:13,240
Speaker 1: there's still really strong offensively, there's still a really solid

645
00:30:13,240 --> 00:30:15,920
Speaker 1: defensive team, and then you look at the pitching. They

646
00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:17,920
Speaker 1: still have plenty of pitching that's under control for a

647
00:30:17,920 --> 00:30:20,320
Speaker 1: couple of years, so they could still win this division.

648
00:30:20,400 --> 00:30:23,480
Speaker 1: I still think they're going to compete. I'd love to

649
00:30:23,480 --> 00:30:26,080
Speaker 1: see them make another move and try to reinforce that outfield,

650
00:30:26,160 --> 00:30:28,320
Speaker 1: but maybe that comes internally.

651
00:30:29,040 --> 00:30:30,000
Speaker 2: Well, good, you did it.

652
00:30:30,240 --> 00:30:33,360
Speaker 3: You made Astros fans feel better just now with all

653
00:30:33,360 --> 00:30:33,640
Speaker 3: of that.

654
00:30:33,760 --> 00:30:34,440
Speaker 2: So there you go.

655
00:30:34,520 --> 00:30:37,400
Speaker 3: Astros fans. Much more coverage over at Baseball America dot Com.

656
00:30:37,440 --> 00:30:40,440
Speaker 3: Go get yourself a subscription. Subscribe to this YouTube channel

657
00:30:40,440 --> 00:30:43,760
Speaker 3: for many more videos, including ones that cover each top

658
00:30:43,800 --> 00:30:47,080
Speaker 3: prospect per organization being unveiled throughout spring training.

659
00:30:47,120 --> 00:30:48,160
Speaker 2: We'll see on the next one.

660
00:30:48,360 --> 00:30:51,120
Speaker 1: I don't think Emerson, like, are you gonna get Emerson's peak?

661
00:30:51,160 --> 00:30:52,040
Speaker 2: Maybe with those guys.

662
00:30:52,120 --> 00:30:54,320
Speaker 1: I don't know, but I think there's a runway here

663
00:30:54,320 --> 00:30:56,280
Speaker 1: for those guys in the next year or two. Like

664
00:30:56,360 --> 00:30:58,320
Speaker 1: a lot of these hitters to be knocking on the door.

665
00:30:58,720 --> 00:31:00,640
Speaker 1: We've seen it over and over and over again.

666
00:31:00,920 --> 00:31:03,520
Speaker 3: The Seattle Mariners have a very strong farm system. Let's

667
00:31:03,560 --> 00:31:07,959
Speaker 3: get into their top prospect right now, Colt Emerson your

668
00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:11,280
Speaker 3: prospect profile Scott brun along with Baseball Americas JJ Cooper

669
00:31:11,280 --> 00:31:14,040
Speaker 3: and Jeff Ponce. Jeff Colt Emerson has a chance to

670
00:31:14,080 --> 00:31:15,680
Speaker 3: be a star factor of fiction.

671
00:31:15,680 --> 00:31:16,240
Speaker 2: That's fact.

672
00:31:17,040 --> 00:31:20,200
Speaker 1: Had an opportunity to see him in person over a

673
00:31:20,200 --> 00:31:23,000
Speaker 1: couple of games during the Arizona Fall League during the

674
00:31:23,040 --> 00:31:26,160
Speaker 1: first week only had thirteen games out there. You know,

675
00:31:26,160 --> 00:31:28,160
Speaker 1: it was one of the younger players, was actually I

676
00:31:28,160 --> 00:31:30,920
Speaker 1: think over four years younger than the average player in

677
00:31:30,960 --> 00:31:33,680
Speaker 1: the AFL, so you know, obviously was showing off really

678
00:31:33,720 --> 00:31:36,200
Speaker 1: well against good competition. Hit three seventy four to thirty

679
00:31:36,240 --> 00:31:41,000
Speaker 1: six five thirty seven, had nine runs scored over thirteen games.

680
00:31:41,240 --> 00:31:44,280
Speaker 1: It's an offensive league, but even as far as you know,

681
00:31:44,360 --> 00:31:48,320
Speaker 1: standout offensive performances for as young as he was as

682
00:31:48,320 --> 00:31:50,960
Speaker 1: a as a nineteen year old in that league, you know,

683
00:31:51,000 --> 00:31:55,080
Speaker 1: somebody that didn't have any experience outside a ball I

684
00:31:55,120 --> 00:31:59,280
Speaker 1: thought he really really showed well. Maybe wasn't the greatest season,

685
00:31:59,400 --> 00:32:02,400
Speaker 1: Maybe he didn't necessarily meet full expectations of what we

686
00:32:02,480 --> 00:32:07,240
Speaker 1: had anticipated or expected from him in twenty twenty four.

687
00:32:07,360 --> 00:32:09,200
Speaker 1: I think some of that was Obviously he was dealing

688
00:32:09,240 --> 00:32:11,440
Speaker 1: with injuries. That's one of the reasons that he ended

689
00:32:11,520 --> 00:32:14,360
Speaker 1: up in the Arizona Fall League because he was limited

690
00:32:14,400 --> 00:32:17,480
Speaker 1: to seventy games. But when we look at the underlying data,

691
00:32:17,640 --> 00:32:21,600
Speaker 1: it's just like great bats of ball skills. There's no

692
00:32:21,840 --> 00:32:25,680
Speaker 1: questions about that at all. Twelve point six percent miss rate,

693
00:32:25,720 --> 00:32:29,320
Speaker 1: which is pretty goofy, you know, doesn't swing and miss,

694
00:32:29,520 --> 00:32:33,240
Speaker 1: doesn't chase or expand the zone very much. Is still

695
00:32:33,920 --> 00:32:36,160
Speaker 1: the type of a player that you know, isn't passive

696
00:32:36,200 --> 00:32:39,160
Speaker 1: in the zone. He's attacking strikes when he has those opportunities.

697
00:32:39,440 --> 00:32:43,680
Speaker 1: Shows above average power for his age and level. I

698
00:32:43,720 --> 00:32:47,720
Speaker 1: think this is, you know, the Corey Seeger comp. You know,

699
00:32:47,760 --> 00:32:51,440
Speaker 1: the bat first bigger shortstop comps get thrown around a lot.

700
00:32:51,760 --> 00:32:53,120
Speaker 1: I think it is app to here. I think he

701
00:32:53,200 --> 00:32:56,320
Speaker 1: is definitely somebody that sort of fits into that category

702
00:32:56,480 --> 00:32:59,840
Speaker 1: of a guy who could hit for average. The power

703
00:32:59,800 --> 00:33:02,320
Speaker 1: should grow. He doesn't necessarily have to sell out for

704
00:33:02,360 --> 00:33:04,560
Speaker 1: that power as well. But I think when we come

705
00:33:04,640 --> 00:33:07,760
Speaker 1: back to this video in five, six, seven years and

706
00:33:08,120 --> 00:33:10,360
Speaker 1: he's had a couple of years of service time in MLB,

707
00:33:10,760 --> 00:33:12,280
Speaker 1: I think we're gonna be talking about, you know, a

708
00:33:12,320 --> 00:33:15,200
Speaker 1: twenty five home run bat that can hit two eighty plus,

709
00:33:15,520 --> 00:33:18,400
Speaker 1: you know, play a solid shortstop, maybe a really good

710
00:33:18,440 --> 00:33:20,200
Speaker 1: third base, but it's going to stick on that left

711
00:33:20,240 --> 00:33:21,120
Speaker 1: side of the infield.

712
00:33:21,480 --> 00:33:23,400
Speaker 2: Just a really talented all around player.

713
00:33:25,360 --> 00:33:27,840
Speaker 4: I got good news Mariners fans. I know that there's

714
00:33:27,880 --> 00:33:31,400
Speaker 4: a lot of understandable frustration. I feel like there might

715
00:33:31,440 --> 00:33:34,600
Speaker 4: even be a little bit of anger about the Mariners'

716
00:33:34,640 --> 00:33:37,640
Speaker 4: lineup and the lack of production they've gotten. Obviously, ad

717
00:33:37,680 --> 00:33:40,600
Speaker 4: middedly it's a pitcher's park, but Emerson is one of

718
00:33:40,640 --> 00:33:45,560
Speaker 4: a number of very very impressive Mariners bets who.

719
00:33:45,440 --> 00:33:46,800
Speaker 5: Are on the way up.

720
00:33:47,320 --> 00:33:49,160
Speaker 4: The thing that's the thing that really does jump out

721
00:33:49,200 --> 00:33:52,480
Speaker 4: with him is you just feel really confident that he's

722
00:33:52,480 --> 00:33:54,640
Speaker 4: going to hit for average, he's going to get on base,

723
00:33:55,520 --> 00:33:57,920
Speaker 4: the power is going to be there. But you know,

724
00:33:58,240 --> 00:34:01,560
Speaker 4: if you said that speaking of Seegers, you know, if

725
00:34:01,600 --> 00:34:03,680
Speaker 4: you said that it was a Kyle Seger type power

726
00:34:03,680 --> 00:34:05,240
Speaker 4: down the road, if you've said that it's kind of

727
00:34:05,240 --> 00:34:07,360
Speaker 4: that prime and profile down the road, I actually would

728
00:34:07,400 --> 00:34:09,960
Speaker 4: think that that's not a bad profile either, which is

729
00:34:10,440 --> 00:34:12,279
Speaker 4: maybe he ends up at third base, maybe he ends

730
00:34:12,360 --> 00:34:14,400
Speaker 4: up being a high average guy, gets on base and

731
00:34:14,800 --> 00:34:18,520
Speaker 4: shows above average power, but not like thirty plus home

732
00:34:18,560 --> 00:34:21,439
Speaker 4: run type power. That would be great and that would

733
00:34:21,440 --> 00:34:24,040
Speaker 4: be a star like to answer Scott's question, that, to me,

734
00:34:24,480 --> 00:34:26,600
Speaker 4: that's the kind of guy who goes to All Star Games.

735
00:34:26,719 --> 00:34:29,520
Speaker 4: And the thing that's going to be interesting to see

736
00:34:29,520 --> 00:34:34,080
Speaker 4: with this Mariner's group of prospects coming up is there

737
00:34:34,160 --> 00:34:35,799
Speaker 4: is going to be a lot of figuring out who

738
00:34:35,840 --> 00:34:38,680
Speaker 4: fits where because there are a number of these guys

739
00:34:38,719 --> 00:34:42,000
Speaker 4: who you know, Jeff, when I look at it, there's

740
00:34:42,040 --> 00:34:45,799
Speaker 4: a healthy competition going on here because when we say

741
00:34:45,800 --> 00:34:48,200
Speaker 4: who's the number one prospect of the Mariner system, it's

742
00:34:48,239 --> 00:34:51,839
Speaker 4: called Emerson. But if you said who's two, three, four,

743
00:34:52,040 --> 00:34:53,880
Speaker 4: five six, you could make a whole lot of different

744
00:34:53,960 --> 00:34:57,239
Speaker 4: arguments because there's a lot of these guys who you

745
00:34:57,280 --> 00:34:59,200
Speaker 4: could look up at the end of this year and say, oh,

746
00:34:59,239 --> 00:35:01,759
Speaker 4: that guy's one of the best offensive prospects in the

747
00:35:01,760 --> 00:35:02,640
Speaker 4: minor leagues, could you?

748
00:35:04,719 --> 00:35:05,000
Speaker 5: Yeah?

749
00:35:05,040 --> 00:35:07,680
Speaker 1: And I think you know, when you consider that and

750
00:35:07,719 --> 00:35:11,960
Speaker 1: you consider what the talent they have in their player

751
00:35:11,960 --> 00:35:15,080
Speaker 1: development system, just in terms of getting the best out

752
00:35:15,080 --> 00:35:17,880
Speaker 1: of their pitching prospects, I think it's really exciting that

753
00:35:17,920 --> 00:35:20,319
Speaker 1: they have all of these talented hitters up at the top.

754
00:35:20,400 --> 00:35:23,120
Speaker 1: You have guys like Cole Young. You know, he's a

755
00:35:23,160 --> 00:35:25,320
Speaker 1: really good all around player. The tools are maybe a

756
00:35:25,360 --> 00:35:27,319
Speaker 1: little bit less loud than others around him.

757
00:35:27,560 --> 00:35:30,920
Speaker 2: Johnny Farmelo is pretty tooled up. I think has big upside.

758
00:35:30,960 --> 00:35:35,360
Speaker 1: Michael Arroyo just from a pure bats ball power age

759
00:35:35,400 --> 00:35:39,720
Speaker 1: two level production sort of standpoint, checks all those boxes

760
00:35:39,719 --> 00:35:41,560
Speaker 1: in a really high level way. I know, we put

761
00:35:41,560 --> 00:35:44,800
Speaker 1: out our robo Scout Top one hundred during the offseason.

762
00:35:44,840 --> 00:35:47,759
Speaker 1: He was number two, much to my surprise. But that's

763
00:35:47,800 --> 00:35:50,360
Speaker 1: sort of how the model views him. It's very similar

764
00:35:50,360 --> 00:35:52,480
Speaker 1: to a lot of models that teams use we roll

765
00:35:52,480 --> 00:35:55,279
Speaker 1: in some data to that as well, so I think

766
00:35:55,280 --> 00:35:57,400
Speaker 1: it kind of puts into perspective all these guys, and

767
00:35:57,440 --> 00:36:00,439
Speaker 1: we haven't even talked about Felnon Sellston, who's a very

768
00:36:00,480 --> 00:36:03,120
Speaker 1: talented international prospect which just hasn't been on the field

769
00:36:03,160 --> 00:36:05,960
Speaker 1: all that much, Harry Ford, lazarro Mantes, and then we

770
00:36:06,000 --> 00:36:08,000
Speaker 1: start to get into some of the pitching prospects who,

771
00:36:08,360 --> 00:36:10,480
Speaker 1: as we just talked about, with their play development system,

772
00:36:10,520 --> 00:36:13,760
Speaker 1: I think anytime a talented arm gets into the Mariners system,

773
00:36:14,000 --> 00:36:15,560
Speaker 1: you maybe boost them a little bit, the same way

774
00:36:15,560 --> 00:36:16,000
Speaker 1: you would with.

775
00:36:16,040 --> 00:36:17,520
Speaker 2: The Dodgers prospect et cetera.

776
00:36:17,680 --> 00:36:20,040
Speaker 1: So the fact that they have this young core of

777
00:36:20,120 --> 00:36:22,319
Speaker 1: hitters that are all kind of coming up around the

778
00:36:22,360 --> 00:36:24,960
Speaker 1: same time, really really talented, is going to be interesting

779
00:36:24,960 --> 00:36:26,360
Speaker 1: to see how it all shakes out.

780
00:36:26,520 --> 00:36:28,760
Speaker 2: And it's something that Seattle certainly needs.

781
00:36:28,840 --> 00:36:32,080
Speaker 1: They need some firepower offensively kind of match up with

782
00:36:32,120 --> 00:36:36,120
Speaker 1: Julio Rodriguez, who's still very very young in the future

783
00:36:36,200 --> 00:36:38,320
Speaker 1: and in the coming years. So I think there's a

784
00:36:38,360 --> 00:36:41,239
Speaker 1: lot of reasons for excitement, especially in the infield. We

785
00:36:41,280 --> 00:36:43,160
Speaker 1: talk about some of these Mariners prospects.

786
00:36:44,719 --> 00:36:48,279
Speaker 3: JJ I'm not a Mariners fan, but I watched this

787
00:36:48,360 --> 00:36:51,399
Speaker 3: team a lot, and I feel the frustration I think

788
00:36:51,440 --> 00:36:54,160
Speaker 3: many people in baseball field of frustration when you see

789
00:36:54,280 --> 00:36:56,759
Speaker 3: the starting staff that they put together, especially over the

790
00:36:56,800 --> 00:36:59,239
Speaker 3: last couple of years, and how good they've been from

791
00:36:59,280 --> 00:37:00,680
Speaker 3: start to finish in a season.

792
00:37:00,840 --> 00:37:02,440
Speaker 2: And you know, I haven't even.

793
00:37:02,280 --> 00:37:04,080
Speaker 3: Made the playoffs for these last couple of years.

794
00:37:04,440 --> 00:37:05,399
Speaker 2: So let me ask you this.

795
00:37:05,880 --> 00:37:12,000
Speaker 3: We're talking up Mariners prospects, including Emerson. Are they going

796
00:37:12,040 --> 00:37:15,840
Speaker 3: to match up their timetable, their ETA with the starting

797
00:37:15,880 --> 00:37:19,280
Speaker 3: staff that they have. If not, it's a big problem. Okay,

798
00:37:19,400 --> 00:37:22,640
Speaker 3: that's because those guys are stars. They're going to get expensive,

799
00:37:22,640 --> 00:37:24,319
Speaker 3: and some of them are going to leave if not

800
00:37:24,480 --> 00:37:27,840
Speaker 3: gets traded. So I've seen this happen before. I couldn't

801
00:37:27,880 --> 00:37:29,799
Speaker 3: think of one in the last thirty seconds, but there

802
00:37:29,840 --> 00:37:33,040
Speaker 3: are examples, if I think deeply enough, about teams that

803
00:37:33,120 --> 00:37:36,319
Speaker 3: have one stage coming, but the other stage is already there,

804
00:37:36,360 --> 00:37:38,680
Speaker 3: and by the time the position players all get to

805
00:37:38,719 --> 00:37:41,279
Speaker 3: the show, they're like, damn, we don't really have the

806
00:37:41,320 --> 00:37:43,359
Speaker 3: aces like we used to have, so we didn't time

807
00:37:43,440 --> 00:37:43,759
Speaker 3: this up.

808
00:37:43,800 --> 00:37:47,480
Speaker 4: Well, that's the great question, and the answer is no,

809
00:37:47,719 --> 00:37:50,880
Speaker 4: because the time is now like you would have to

810
00:37:50,920 --> 00:37:53,320
Speaker 4: have all these guys ready to go, because I don't

811
00:37:53,320 --> 00:37:55,839
Speaker 4: know where you could point to and say that this

812
00:37:55,920 --> 00:37:58,520
Speaker 4: is not the time for the marriage rotation you know

813
00:37:58,640 --> 00:38:02,000
Speaker 4: they have. I'm not saying that maybe you know, George

814
00:38:02,080 --> 00:38:05,040
Speaker 4: Kirby or Brian wu or take your pick, someone has

815
00:38:05,080 --> 00:38:08,880
Speaker 4: a better year in their future. But they're pitching staffs

816
00:38:09,040 --> 00:38:11,480
Speaker 4: one of the best in baseball right now. They're starting

817
00:38:11,560 --> 00:38:17,320
Speaker 4: rotation and Luis Castillo and these are guys who ideally,

818
00:38:17,400 --> 00:38:21,560
Speaker 4: if you had this group of prospects all ready to

819
00:38:21,800 --> 00:38:26,200
Speaker 4: arrive this year for Opening Day, which you don't, then

820
00:38:26,239 --> 00:38:28,880
Speaker 4: that would be when it's matching up pretty well. Really,

821
00:38:29,080 --> 00:38:31,280
Speaker 4: to be honest, it would be them arriving the midpoint

822
00:38:31,320 --> 00:38:33,799
Speaker 4: of last year so that this year they go into

823
00:38:33,800 --> 00:38:36,320
Speaker 4: the season having already checked off the know what the

824
00:38:36,360 --> 00:38:38,680
Speaker 4: big leagues are like. And we're talking about a number

825
00:38:38,680 --> 00:38:41,560
Speaker 4: of guys who are n a ball So I think

826
00:38:41,600 --> 00:38:44,480
Speaker 4: the other way you could approach this, and it doesn't

827
00:38:44,520 --> 00:38:46,880
Speaker 4: seem like this is the way that really they're they're

828
00:38:47,600 --> 00:38:51,839
Speaker 4: you know, there are the Depoto quotes about sustainability. This

829
00:38:51,920 --> 00:38:56,399
Speaker 4: is a team that this wave of hitters could arrive

830
00:38:56,520 --> 00:39:00,520
Speaker 4: in time to kind of keep the team above five

831
00:39:00,600 --> 00:39:04,759
Speaker 4: hundred above above heads above water as the pitching gets expensive,

832
00:39:04,800 --> 00:39:07,680
Speaker 4: as the pitching starts to hit free agency, even in

833
00:39:07,760 --> 00:39:11,080
Speaker 4: some cases. But I don't think it's going to arrive

834
00:39:11,160 --> 00:39:14,680
Speaker 4: in time to say, oh, it's synced up perfectly, because

835
00:39:15,000 --> 00:39:17,200
Speaker 4: if it syncd up perfectly, they'd already be there.

836
00:39:18,440 --> 00:39:18,840
Speaker 2: Yeah.

837
00:39:18,880 --> 00:39:21,320
Speaker 3: And that kind of led me into my conclusion here,

838
00:39:21,480 --> 00:39:24,800
Speaker 3: which is, for a team that's been run by a

839
00:39:24,920 --> 00:39:28,160
Speaker 3: GM president baseball ops who loves to make trades, it's

840
00:39:28,200 --> 00:39:31,719
Speaker 3: been shocking to see them kind of toned down the

841
00:39:31,760 --> 00:39:34,200
Speaker 3: trade activity at a time when I thought, maybe they

842
00:39:34,200 --> 00:39:36,880
Speaker 3: should turn it up if they don't have the budget,

843
00:39:37,040 --> 00:39:41,560
Speaker 3: acquire those cheaper league minimum bats that are potential stars

844
00:39:41,600 --> 00:39:43,960
Speaker 3: who can give you more of return now and sacrifice

845
00:39:44,000 --> 00:39:45,920
Speaker 3: a little bit more of the future because who cares.

846
00:39:46,160 --> 00:39:47,640
Speaker 3: I know you want to keep it rolling for a

847
00:39:47,680 --> 00:39:50,160
Speaker 3: long period of time, but now you're shaking your head, Jep.

848
00:39:50,200 --> 00:39:53,160
Speaker 3: I mean the fifty four that thing only works so much.

849
00:39:53,239 --> 00:39:55,520
Speaker 3: I'd rather have sixty percent for a few years and

850
00:39:55,520 --> 00:39:57,640
Speaker 3: then go back down to forty five to fifty percent

851
00:39:57,680 --> 00:39:58,600
Speaker 3: wins for a few years.

852
00:39:58,640 --> 00:39:59,480
Speaker 2: Up, I'm the Mariners.

853
00:40:00,120 --> 00:40:02,640
Speaker 1: Well, you got Gilbert until twenty seven. You got Kirby

854
00:40:02,719 --> 00:40:05,279
Speaker 1: until twenty twenty eight, that the final season that they're

855
00:40:05,320 --> 00:40:07,839
Speaker 1: under contract, and then you got Miller and Wu until

856
00:40:07,880 --> 00:40:10,680
Speaker 1: twenty nine. So like there is a runway here. I

857
00:40:10,719 --> 00:40:13,400
Speaker 1: don't think Emerson, like, are you going to get Emerson's peak?

858
00:40:13,440 --> 00:40:14,320
Speaker 2: Maybe with those guys.

859
00:40:14,400 --> 00:40:16,600
Speaker 1: I don't know, but I think there's a runway here

860
00:40:16,600 --> 00:40:18,560
Speaker 1: for those guys in the next year or two. Like

861
00:40:18,640 --> 00:40:20,600
Speaker 1: a lot of these hitters to be knocking on the door.

862
00:40:20,960 --> 00:40:23,880
Speaker 1: We've seen it over and over and over again. A

863
00:40:23,960 --> 00:40:26,319
Speaker 1: guy gets up a double A. He is not that

864
00:40:26,520 --> 00:40:28,759
Speaker 1: far off for making the jump of the major leagues

865
00:40:28,800 --> 00:40:30,799
Speaker 1: that it wouldn't shock me if Emerson and a couple

866
00:40:30,880 --> 00:40:33,239
Speaker 1: of these other guys debut in twenty twenty six, twenty

867
00:40:33,239 --> 00:40:35,759
Speaker 1: twenty five, probably out of the question, But there is

868
00:40:35,800 --> 00:40:37,960
Speaker 1: a window there where they could get those guys together

869
00:40:38,080 --> 00:40:40,239
Speaker 1: for two or three years. Gilbert would be the one

870
00:40:40,280 --> 00:40:42,239
Speaker 1: they would have to extend. I don't think Castillo is

871
00:40:42,239 --> 00:40:44,600
Speaker 1: really in this equation for me. I'm thinking about the

872
00:40:44,640 --> 00:40:47,240
Speaker 1: young pitchers that they have, and you know, they drafted

873
00:40:47,320 --> 00:40:51,239
Speaker 1: Ryan Sloan, They've gotten you know, Jurangela Senia, Like, they

874
00:40:51,280 --> 00:40:54,000
Speaker 1: have some arms here that you know, potentially could sort

875
00:40:54,000 --> 00:40:57,120
Speaker 1: of backfill Castillo and Gilbert in the future.

876
00:40:57,239 --> 00:41:00,240
Speaker 2: So I don't know. I feel like they have anne

877
00:41:00,280 --> 00:41:01,120
Speaker 2: homegrown corps.

878
00:41:01,160 --> 00:41:03,439
Speaker 1: And the other part of it, too is you got

879
00:41:03,440 --> 00:41:05,520
Speaker 1: to expect that any hitters you go out and get,

880
00:41:05,560 --> 00:41:08,160
Speaker 1: the production is probably gonna plummet a little bit when

881
00:41:08,160 --> 00:41:09,960
Speaker 1: they go into that ballpark. They got to figure out

882
00:41:10,000 --> 00:41:12,320
Speaker 1: the ballpark and how to make it a better offensive environment.

883
00:41:12,360 --> 00:41:15,759
Speaker 4: Frankly, the thing I would say with all of this

884
00:41:15,880 --> 00:41:18,160
Speaker 4: is is much like we talk about with the Orioles,

885
00:41:18,160 --> 00:41:20,160
Speaker 4: the Orioles are we talk about the Oriols, wehre's like

886
00:41:20,239 --> 00:41:23,879
Speaker 4: their one playoff series win away from putting a lot

887
00:41:23,920 --> 00:41:28,480
Speaker 4: of this question behind them. The Mariners are one really

888
00:41:28,520 --> 00:41:32,799
Speaker 4: good season away. If everything comes together this year, then

889
00:41:32,840 --> 00:41:36,319
Speaker 4: this will seem kind of like an obsolete thought. But

890
00:41:36,480 --> 00:41:38,920
Speaker 4: until they do, this is a very fair question to

891
00:41:38,960 --> 00:41:40,279
Speaker 4: ask because we.

892
00:41:40,239 --> 00:41:42,520
Speaker 5: Saw a young core come up together.

893
00:41:42,640 --> 00:41:45,160
Speaker 4: When we just mentioned all those pictures throwing a Julio

894
00:41:45,239 --> 00:41:48,360
Speaker 4: Rodriguez throwing a cal Riley, you got to win something

895
00:41:48,360 --> 00:41:51,239
Speaker 4: with it, and so far that hadn't happened. It very

896
00:41:51,239 --> 00:41:53,840
Speaker 4: well could this year or in the future. But until

897
00:41:53,880 --> 00:41:55,800
Speaker 4: you do, there's gonna be that pressure. There's gonna be

898
00:41:55,840 --> 00:41:59,360
Speaker 4: that frustration, understandably from a really good fan base to

899
00:42:00,040 --> 00:42:00,920
Speaker 4: see them get over.

900
00:42:00,800 --> 00:42:04,600
Speaker 5: That what's been really a long drought. Let's just be honest.

901
00:42:04,640 --> 00:42:05,360
Speaker 5: This is a team.

902
00:42:05,719 --> 00:42:08,279
Speaker 4: If you're a Seattle Mariners fan, you've known heartbreak more

903
00:42:08,320 --> 00:42:09,600
Speaker 4: than you've known success.

904
00:42:10,040 --> 00:42:12,759
Speaker 3: Yeah, you deserve better. So that's why we're here to

905
00:42:12,800 --> 00:42:14,799
Speaker 3: talk it out. And you do have a really good

906
00:42:14,840 --> 00:42:17,200
Speaker 3: farm system right now with some depth to it. So

907
00:42:17,239 --> 00:42:19,600
Speaker 3: thanks for watching this one. We do this on every

908
00:42:19,640 --> 00:42:22,080
Speaker 3: single team here in spring training, so if you've missed

909
00:42:22,080 --> 00:42:23,560
Speaker 3: any and go back and check them out and look

910
00:42:23,600 --> 00:42:26,160
Speaker 3: forward to more here on the Baseball America YouTube channel.

911
00:42:26,200 --> 00:42:28,360
Speaker 4: Do not kind of lump the A's in with the

912
00:42:28,640 --> 00:42:31,799
Speaker 4: bottom feeders, because I promise you if you compare this

913
00:42:31,920 --> 00:42:36,000
Speaker 4: A's lineup to say the Rockies lineup or the Marlins

914
00:42:36,000 --> 00:42:38,759
Speaker 4: lineup or the White Sox lineup, it's not in that

915
00:42:38,800 --> 00:42:39,640
Speaker 4: same comparison.

916
00:42:39,840 --> 00:42:43,480
Speaker 3: Okay, A's fans, let's talk about Nick Kurtz, their top prospect.

917
00:42:43,760 --> 00:42:46,120
Speaker 2: Is he coming to the show in twenty twenty five.

918
00:42:47,640 --> 00:42:51,320
Speaker 3: It's a Baseball America Prospect profile Scott bron with ba's

919
00:42:51,400 --> 00:42:54,040
Speaker 3: JJ Cooper and Jeff Ponce. Obviously, I want to get

920
00:42:54,040 --> 00:42:56,960
Speaker 3: your take on Nick overall, But JJ, do you think

921
00:42:57,000 --> 00:42:59,040
Speaker 3: that he will make an impact on the twenty twenty

922
00:42:59,080 --> 00:43:01,520
Speaker 3: five A's a team that could surprise some people and

923
00:43:01,560 --> 00:43:03,880
Speaker 3: certainly could use some more help to the lineup if.

924
00:43:03,719 --> 00:43:05,600
Speaker 4: He's healthy, and that's a big gift because he's had

925
00:43:05,600 --> 00:43:07,520
Speaker 4: some injury issues when he was at Wake Forest. But

926
00:43:07,600 --> 00:43:10,680
Speaker 4: if he's healthy, I would say I'd be surprised if

927
00:43:10,680 --> 00:43:13,640
Speaker 4: he doesn't. The best way I could lay this out

928
00:43:13,680 --> 00:43:15,759
Speaker 4: is if you look at Jacob Wilson kind of his

929
00:43:15,880 --> 00:43:19,400
Speaker 4: path and him last year, Nick Kurtz should, if anything,

930
00:43:19,440 --> 00:43:23,680
Speaker 4: move faster than Jacob Wilson. Nick Kurtz is has less

931
00:43:23,719 --> 00:43:25,399
Speaker 4: concerned about the defense. He's a great you know, he's

932
00:43:25,400 --> 00:43:27,200
Speaker 4: a very good defender, but he's a first baseman, so

933
00:43:27,239 --> 00:43:28,959
Speaker 4: we're not really having to worry about that too much.

934
00:43:29,320 --> 00:43:30,840
Speaker 4: And then on top of that, you talk about his

935
00:43:30,920 --> 00:43:33,359
Speaker 4: polish at the plate, Well, this is the guy who

936
00:43:33,360 --> 00:43:36,520
Speaker 4: came out of Wake for us, it's not a little

937
00:43:36,560 --> 00:43:39,480
Speaker 4: bit more, you know, higher, you know, a tougher conference

938
00:43:39,520 --> 00:43:42,960
Speaker 4: in college ball and everything we've seen so far as

939
00:43:42,960 --> 00:43:45,600
Speaker 4: a pro which admittedly is about that much.

940
00:43:46,080 --> 00:43:47,240
Speaker 5: So you know, it's it's.

941
00:43:47,120 --> 00:43:50,480
Speaker 4: A very short pro career so far, but everything that

942
00:43:50,520 --> 00:43:53,480
Speaker 4: the A's have seen so far seems to indicate that

943
00:43:53,600 --> 00:43:57,600
Speaker 4: Nick Kurtz could absolutely be a fast mover. The way

944
00:43:57,640 --> 00:43:59,880
Speaker 4: I would put it is is if I was Tyler Soderstrom.

945
00:44:00,160 --> 00:44:03,319
Speaker 4: Obviously you can kind of fit Soldstrum in a couple

946
00:44:03,320 --> 00:44:06,120
Speaker 4: of places, could d H. But if I was telling Salidstrum,

947
00:44:06,120 --> 00:44:07,600
Speaker 4: I would really want to get off to a really

948
00:44:07,640 --> 00:44:10,919
Speaker 4: good start because there is a Nick Kurtz sized freight

949
00:44:10,960 --> 00:44:13,240
Speaker 4: train coming down the tracks behind him, and it would

950
00:44:13,239 --> 00:44:16,920
Speaker 4: not shock me at all if by mid season a

951
00:44:16,960 --> 00:44:19,320
Speaker 4: little bit after that, we see Kurts in the big leagues,

952
00:44:19,840 --> 00:44:23,000
Speaker 4: and I wouldn't be surprised at all if he kind

953
00:44:23,000 --> 00:44:25,440
Speaker 4: of hit the ground running the majors, because Jeff, this

954
00:44:25,600 --> 00:44:28,759
Speaker 4: is a really impressive and a really polished bat, isn't it.

955
00:44:30,400 --> 00:44:33,160
Speaker 1: Yeah, And I think, you know, even the athleticism Occurts

956
00:44:33,239 --> 00:44:36,320
Speaker 1: is probably a little bit under sold. He's going to

957
00:44:36,360 --> 00:44:37,880
Speaker 1: stick at first base, but I think it'd be a

958
00:44:37,880 --> 00:44:40,319
Speaker 1: plus for first baseman. I don't think we'd necessarily talk

959
00:44:40,400 --> 00:44:43,640
Speaker 1: about first base defense and care that much about it,

960
00:44:43,719 --> 00:44:45,880
Speaker 1: but it is important and I think it does make

961
00:44:45,920 --> 00:44:48,200
Speaker 1: a difference. I sort of look at the lineup right now.

962
00:44:48,520 --> 00:44:50,680
Speaker 1: They have Ruker kind of penciled in a DH. It

963
00:44:50,680 --> 00:44:53,120
Speaker 1: wouldn't shock me if the hint, you know, if Kurtz

964
00:44:53,160 --> 00:44:55,880
Speaker 1: comes up and they want to keep Soderstrom's bat in

965
00:44:55,920 --> 00:44:59,240
Speaker 1: the lineup, maybe Soderstrom moves to DH, they move Ruker

966
00:44:59,320 --> 00:45:01,520
Speaker 1: to the outfield, and he kind of pushes out Seth Brown.

967
00:45:02,040 --> 00:45:05,520
Speaker 1: I could see Kurtz coming up by July, maybe even

968
00:45:05,520 --> 00:45:08,160
Speaker 1: a little bit earlier than that, but by mid season

969
00:45:08,239 --> 00:45:10,879
Speaker 1: and kind of holding down that a's first base job.

970
00:45:10,920 --> 00:45:13,719
Speaker 1: They need something to get the fans excited. It could

971
00:45:13,800 --> 00:45:16,480
Speaker 1: be a better team than people expect to think. Scott

972
00:45:16,560 --> 00:45:18,120
Speaker 1: hit the nail on the head when he said that,

973
00:45:18,440 --> 00:45:20,600
Speaker 1: But I look at Kurtz and I think he's also

974
00:45:20,800 --> 00:45:23,759
Speaker 1: super polished. You know, the bats of ball skills are

975
00:45:23,760 --> 00:45:27,840
Speaker 1: well above average, the swing decisions are plus, the power

976
00:45:27,920 --> 00:45:31,279
Speaker 1: is plus, Like his raw power isn't that far off

977
00:45:31,320 --> 00:45:34,360
Speaker 1: from Jack kglianone, and he has much better plate skills,

978
00:45:34,480 --> 00:45:37,160
Speaker 1: is a better first baseman. I think this was one

979
00:45:37,160 --> 00:45:38,680
Speaker 1: of the best hitters in the draft. It was a

980
00:45:38,719 --> 00:45:43,279
Speaker 1: really talented college positional class with Bizana, with Kurtz, with

981
00:45:43,320 --> 00:45:46,520
Speaker 1: weather Hall, with Cagnianon and others, and It wouldn't shock

982
00:45:46,600 --> 00:45:48,080
Speaker 1: me if we come back to this in a few

983
00:45:48,160 --> 00:45:51,080
Speaker 1: years and say, all right, like Nick Kurtz might actually

984
00:45:51,080 --> 00:45:54,000
Speaker 1: be the most impactful hitter. Maybe not all around player,

985
00:45:54,400 --> 00:45:56,200
Speaker 1: but just in terms of what he can do. The

986
00:45:56,239 --> 00:45:58,799
Speaker 1: big question is just staying healthy. He really hasn't made

987
00:45:58,840 --> 00:46:02,080
Speaker 1: it through a fully or healthy Every single summer during

988
00:46:02,400 --> 00:46:05,359
Speaker 1: his college tenure at Wake Forest, he was shut down,

989
00:46:05,840 --> 00:46:07,000
Speaker 1: had some sort of procedure.

990
00:46:07,120 --> 00:46:08,800
Speaker 2: He had the same thing when he came into.

991
00:46:08,680 --> 00:46:11,800
Speaker 1: Pro ball last year, and then it arrived in AFL

992
00:46:11,840 --> 00:46:14,080
Speaker 1: a little bit late because of it. So I think

993
00:46:14,080 --> 00:46:15,920
Speaker 1: the big thing with Kurtz is just staying on the

994
00:46:15,920 --> 00:46:18,800
Speaker 1: field and staying healthy. We've seen this with hitters before.

995
00:46:18,840 --> 00:46:21,080
Speaker 1: He can go back and you know, you know, bring

996
00:46:21,080 --> 00:46:23,040
Speaker 1: a name up like Ian Kinsler, a guy that was

997
00:46:23,120 --> 00:46:25,480
Speaker 1: really injured over the early part of his career and

998
00:46:25,480 --> 00:46:27,839
Speaker 1: then kind of became an iron man. Like I've heard

999
00:46:27,840 --> 00:46:30,640
Speaker 1: this expression before when it comes to hit her injuries.

1000
00:46:30,680 --> 00:46:33,360
Speaker 1: But you know, with pictures, it's kind of, you know,

1001
00:46:33,440 --> 00:46:36,000
Speaker 1: a sign of things to come. When there's injuries early

1002
00:46:36,080 --> 00:46:38,839
Speaker 1: on with hitters, sometimes it's just little stuff and even

1003
00:46:38,920 --> 00:46:41,120
Speaker 1: some of the tissue injuries can go away over time.

1004
00:46:41,480 --> 00:46:43,320
Speaker 1: That's not to say that it's it's something that you

1005
00:46:43,320 --> 00:46:45,319
Speaker 1: should sort of like just you know, wave away with

1006
00:46:45,360 --> 00:46:49,520
Speaker 1: one hand and you know, ignore. But I do think

1007
00:46:49,520 --> 00:46:51,279
Speaker 1: as long as he stays on the field and is

1008
00:46:51,320 --> 00:46:53,919
Speaker 1: healthy and gets a full first half, it wouldn't shock

1009
00:46:53,960 --> 00:46:55,560
Speaker 1: me if he spends the second half of the season

1010
00:46:55,600 --> 00:46:57,680
Speaker 1: in the major leagues and really hits, because I think

1011
00:46:57,680 --> 00:47:00,480
Speaker 1: he's not that far off from being a major league

1012
00:47:00,560 --> 00:47:02,480
Speaker 1: quality hitter now, just a matter of maybe just seeing

1013
00:47:02,480 --> 00:47:03,200
Speaker 1: it a little bit more.

1014
00:47:04,560 --> 00:47:06,600
Speaker 4: I will offer one counterpoint as far as a hitter,

1015
00:47:06,680 --> 00:47:10,160
Speaker 4: a top draft pick hitter who started out with seeming

1016
00:47:10,400 --> 00:47:13,880
Speaker 4: like an injury played career, then had a stretch of success,

1017
00:47:14,080 --> 00:47:15,719
Speaker 4: and then the injuries came back, and that would be

1018
00:47:15,719 --> 00:47:19,280
Speaker 4: Anthony Rendon, who you know, a kind of the unfortunate

1019
00:47:19,360 --> 00:47:21,560
Speaker 4: example of that. But no, I agree with you in general.

1020
00:47:21,560 --> 00:47:23,439
Speaker 4: And the thing that does stand out Kurts is it's

1021
00:47:23,480 --> 00:47:25,800
Speaker 4: not like he has a back injury that causes his problems.

1022
00:47:25,800 --> 00:47:27,840
Speaker 4: A year after year he had a rib injury, he

1023
00:47:27,880 --> 00:47:31,520
Speaker 4: had a shoulder injury. And that shoulder injury, I remember

1024
00:47:31,520 --> 00:47:33,560
Speaker 4: when that happened last year, there was some thought like, Okay,

1025
00:47:33,600 --> 00:47:36,279
Speaker 4: are we going to see Nick Kurts again during the

1026
00:47:36,480 --> 00:47:39,000
Speaker 4: uh you know, during the regular season for for Wake

1027
00:47:39,080 --> 00:47:41,800
Speaker 4: and he was back really quick, had a hamstring injury.

1028
00:47:42,080 --> 00:47:43,600
Speaker 5: These are the kind of injuries that.

1029
00:47:43,520 --> 00:47:46,759
Speaker 4: They happen and obviously it's not great, but they're not

1030
00:47:46,880 --> 00:47:49,960
Speaker 4: things where you say, oh, that's a chronic shoulder injury

1031
00:47:50,080 --> 00:47:53,120
Speaker 4: or a rib injury. That's the kind of thing that uh,

1032
00:47:53,320 --> 00:47:55,680
Speaker 4: you know that that you say, Okay, it may just

1033
00:47:55,760 --> 00:47:58,399
Speaker 4: be a fluke. And if you put that, whenever he's

1034
00:47:58,400 --> 00:48:01,480
Speaker 4: been on the field, Nick Kurt has always performed. So

1035
00:48:01,520 --> 00:48:03,200
Speaker 4: it's not even something where it takes him a long

1036
00:48:03,200 --> 00:48:05,279
Speaker 4: time when he gets back. When he gets back, he's

1037
00:48:05,360 --> 00:48:08,200
Speaker 4: usually back. He has that swing, he really knows his

1038
00:48:08,239 --> 00:48:10,400
Speaker 4: swing where he just kind of hits the ground running

1039
00:48:10,400 --> 00:48:13,560
Speaker 4: and back to being a Polish hitter almost from day

1040
00:48:13,600 --> 00:48:15,000
Speaker 4: one when he comes back off the aisle.

1041
00:48:15,440 --> 00:48:15,720
Speaker 2: Okay.

1042
00:48:15,760 --> 00:48:17,799
Speaker 3: And then I'm going to take the global picture, of

1043
00:48:17,840 --> 00:48:22,080
Speaker 3: course for this A's team, because they're trying to get

1044
00:48:22,120 --> 00:48:26,120
Speaker 3: themselves into a better public sphere as they head to

1045
00:48:26,400 --> 00:48:28,719
Speaker 3: Vegas at some point maybe but at least spend some

1046
00:48:28,800 --> 00:48:31,120
Speaker 3: time in Sacramento. And I think this is the team

1047
00:48:31,160 --> 00:48:34,799
Speaker 3: that has really gotten the most negative attention in our

1048
00:48:34,840 --> 00:48:38,799
Speaker 3: sport for the last at least half decade. Is there

1049
00:48:39,160 --> 00:48:42,120
Speaker 3: a future here just based on the farm system right

1050
00:48:42,160 --> 00:48:45,080
Speaker 3: because I mean this team still gets tied on a

1051
00:48:45,080 --> 00:48:48,880
Speaker 3: casual basis JJ to the movie that came out a

1052
00:48:48,880 --> 00:48:52,200
Speaker 3: couple decades ago in Moneyball, and really they haven't been

1053
00:48:52,480 --> 00:48:55,479
Speaker 3: ahead of the curve, I would say for a while now.

1054
00:48:56,000 --> 00:48:58,080
Speaker 3: So do you think they're at a point here where

1055
00:48:58,080 --> 00:49:00,640
Speaker 3: at least the losing has led to some success with

1056
00:49:00,680 --> 00:49:03,040
Speaker 3: their farm system that's able to supplement a team that's

1057
00:49:03,040 --> 00:49:05,560
Speaker 3: now at least spending a little bit more and could

1058
00:49:05,560 --> 00:49:07,640
Speaker 3: turn them into a wildcard contender.

1059
00:49:08,480 --> 00:49:10,359
Speaker 4: Well, I think so, because I think that you look

1060
00:49:10,400 --> 00:49:12,640
Speaker 4: at this team right now. Jeff mentioned Brent Rooker. Brent

1061
00:49:12,719 --> 00:49:16,880
Speaker 4: Rooker had a breakout year last year. Lawrence Butler, you know,

1062
00:49:16,960 --> 00:49:20,719
Speaker 4: had a great half of the season last year. This

1063
00:49:20,800 --> 00:49:24,000
Speaker 4: is the team that now, do not kind of lump

1064
00:49:24,040 --> 00:49:27,440
Speaker 4: the A's in with the bottom feeders, because I promise

1065
00:49:27,480 --> 00:49:30,719
Speaker 4: you if you compare this A's lineup to say the

1066
00:49:30,880 --> 00:49:34,240
Speaker 4: Rockies lineup or the Marlins lineup or the White Sox lineup,

1067
00:49:34,760 --> 00:49:36,919
Speaker 4: it's not in that same comparison. This is a team

1068
00:49:36,960 --> 00:49:42,600
Speaker 4: that right now can put a reasonably reputable lineup onto

1069
00:49:42,600 --> 00:49:45,040
Speaker 4: the field and then you throw in Fa Kurtz and

1070
00:49:45,080 --> 00:49:48,240
Speaker 4: guys like this arrive before long. It could get even better.

1071
00:49:48,440 --> 00:49:51,960
Speaker 4: Now the AO West is wide open. It does not

1072
00:49:52,080 --> 00:49:54,560
Speaker 4: look like that the Astros are the Astros that dominated

1073
00:49:54,600 --> 00:49:57,239
Speaker 4: this division for years. We'll see if the Rangers can

1074
00:49:57,280 --> 00:49:59,439
Speaker 4: get back to the team that won the World Series

1075
00:49:59,480 --> 00:50:02,200
Speaker 4: two years ago. So all that being said, the A's

1076
00:50:02,280 --> 00:50:06,879
Speaker 4: look like a competitive team, and that's a big improvement,

1077
00:50:07,520 --> 00:50:10,240
Speaker 4: even if, okay, they're gonna be a competitive team playing

1078
00:50:10,239 --> 00:50:11,280
Speaker 4: in a minor league ballpark.

1079
00:50:11,920 --> 00:50:12,359
Speaker 2: That's right.

1080
00:50:12,719 --> 00:50:14,680
Speaker 3: Yeah, this team could make some noise in twenty twenty

1081
00:50:14,680 --> 00:50:17,520
Speaker 3: five and some promise here going forward, including also a

1082
00:50:17,560 --> 00:50:20,719
Speaker 3: pretty good manager who they extended recently as well. And

1083
00:50:20,760 --> 00:50:22,560
Speaker 3: that seems to be the formula, man if I'm the

1084
00:50:22,600 --> 00:50:25,360
Speaker 3: A's trying to pinpoint that young talent and get some

1085
00:50:25,440 --> 00:50:28,520
Speaker 3: extensions going because you know, otherwise you're going to get

1086
00:50:28,880 --> 00:50:32,040
Speaker 3: closer to free agency and probably have to move those

1087
00:50:32,040 --> 00:50:34,080
Speaker 3: guys unless they're suddenly going to be spending at a

1088
00:50:34,120 --> 00:50:37,120
Speaker 3: different level. I highly doubt that I'm worried about them

1089
00:50:37,160 --> 00:50:41,200
Speaker 3: paying their construction bills for Vegas if that happens. So anyway,

1090
00:50:41,480 --> 00:50:44,560
Speaker 3: as fans and anyone else. Hope you enjoyed this one.

1091
00:50:44,640 --> 00:50:49,000
Speaker 3: We have prospect by prospect team number one prospect profiles

1092
00:50:49,040 --> 00:50:50,600
Speaker 3: for you, so if you want to learn about the

1093
00:50:50,680 --> 00:50:53,000
Speaker 3: number one prospect on each team, we're here for you.

1094
00:50:53,080 --> 00:50:54,879
Speaker 3: We've got all of them, and if you don't see one,

1095
00:50:54,920 --> 00:50:57,560
Speaker 3: then it's coming soon. And make sure you subscribe to

1096
00:50:57,640 --> 00:51:00,760
Speaker 3: Baseball America over at baseball america dot com opert way

1097
00:51:00,960 --> 00:51:01,719
Speaker 3: more info there