WEBVTT - Fixing The Braves In Five Steps At The MLB Trade Deadline 0:00:22.400 --> 0:00:24.800 Hello, everyone, Welcome back to the Hmmer Territory Podcast. It's 0:00:24.840 --> 0:00:28.120 this episode four one five. My name is Brad Roland. 0:00:28.240 --> 0:00:32.360 It's a Wednesday evening and I'm joined by Scott Coleman. Scott, 0:00:32.800 --> 0:00:35.000 it's an All Star break. It's time to rest, but 0:00:35.080 --> 0:00:36.160 here we are podcasting. 0:00:36.280 --> 0:00:40.000 How are you hello, Brad? That's right. The podcast rests 0:00:40.159 --> 0:00:43.240 for no one. The players get a very earned four 0:00:43.280 --> 0:00:45.640 days off. I hope they are having an opportunity to 0:00:45.680 --> 0:00:47.920 just kind of get away from baseball. I think we 0:00:47.920 --> 0:00:50.000 would all agree that the All Star Break came at 0:00:50.040 --> 0:00:53.000 the perfect time for the Braves. Of course, a rough 0:00:53.080 --> 0:00:55.760 couple of weeks going into the break, but hopefully a 0:00:55.800 --> 0:00:58.280 good chance to hit the reset button, get back on track, 0:00:58.320 --> 0:01:00.520 get back to winning baseball games, and as we're going 0:01:00.560 --> 0:01:03.080 to talk about on the show tonight, hopefully an opportunity 0:01:03.080 --> 0:01:06.919 in the near future to reinforce this roster for sure. 0:01:07.080 --> 0:01:09.720 And we also had a show yesterday from our guys 0:01:09.760 --> 0:01:13.560 Sean and Steven, some extra All Star Break content you 0:01:13.640 --> 0:01:16.200 and I talked on Sunday. So if everybody missed those episodes, 0:01:16.280 --> 0:01:19.000 good Tomic subscribe catch up on those in the past, 0:01:19.040 --> 0:01:21.160 and of course today we are engineered by Fast and 0:01:21.200 --> 0:01:23.039 All as always, and I actually want to throw it 0:01:23.040 --> 0:01:25.560 back to you, Scott. I am the de facto host 0:01:25.680 --> 0:01:27.160 most of the time when you and I talk, but 0:01:27.200 --> 0:01:29.240 I'm going to make you do this because it's your 0:01:29.280 --> 0:01:32.039 idea the show, which people probably already saw the headline 0:01:32.040 --> 0:01:33.400 out other probably an idea of what we're going to 0:01:33.440 --> 0:01:36.440 talk about, but explain to folks what our goal is 0:01:37.040 --> 0:01:37.760 on this episode. 0:01:38.640 --> 0:01:41.960 So the idea of this episode is maybe not necessarily 0:01:42.000 --> 0:01:44.920 to run through fifty names of players of you know, 0:01:45.000 --> 0:01:48.000 identifying what it would cost to acquire X and player Y, 0:01:48.120 --> 0:01:51.320 but kind of the archetypes of players the Braves really 0:01:51.360 --> 0:01:53.720 need to try to acquire in the next three weeks 0:01:53.760 --> 0:01:54.760 before the deadline. 0:01:55.120 --> 0:01:55.880 I will hold. 0:01:55.720 --> 0:01:58.680 Firm that even though the last month has been challenging, 0:01:58.720 --> 0:02:01.760 and yes there are big holes on this roster, there 0:02:01.800 --> 0:02:04.840 are still some really strong components of this team that 0:02:04.920 --> 0:02:08.440 should play up well in October should we get there. 0:02:08.720 --> 0:02:10.880 I really don't think it's going to require like a 0:02:11.000 --> 0:02:14.320 massive amount of maneuvering from Alexanthopolis in the next few weeks. 0:02:14.440 --> 0:02:16.240 I think there's clear needs and we're going to talk 0:02:16.240 --> 0:02:18.560 about the ways they can be addressed in this episode, 0:02:18.880 --> 0:02:20.919 but there are still a lot of things this team 0:02:20.960 --> 0:02:24.680 can do well that kind of generally translate pretty well 0:02:24.680 --> 0:02:27.840 when October baseball comes and the games do change. Whether 0:02:27.880 --> 0:02:28.800 you want to admit it or. 0:02:28.800 --> 0:02:33.440 Not, Yeah, definitely, And you know there are just to 0:02:33.440 --> 0:02:35.920 say this out loud, there are other things that Braves 0:02:35.960 --> 0:02:38.239 could do. This is going to be like the only 0:02:38.280 --> 0:02:40.520 thing that Braves could do. But I think that in 0:02:40.840 --> 0:02:42.880 basically five easy steps is the way we're kind of 0:02:42.880 --> 0:02:46.280 framing this to fix the Atlanta Braves will go through 0:02:46.639 --> 0:02:49.200 some of them in general, And yeah, like you said, 0:02:49.240 --> 0:02:51.799 more archetypal than anything else, you want to dive right 0:02:51.840 --> 0:02:53.600 into the first one. Let's just go ahead and do that, 0:02:53.639 --> 0:02:56.560 shall we. It's one that you and I have talked 0:02:56.560 --> 0:02:59.960 about probably more than anything over the last NIUS this season, 0:03:00.040 --> 0:03:04.440 since November October September, since the phrase were out of 0:03:04.440 --> 0:03:06.920 it last year, and that is that they need more pitching, 0:03:07.000 --> 0:03:11.080 and in particular, really a number two starting pitcher like 0:03:11.560 --> 0:03:14.320 non Chris Sale. Chris Sales number one obviously, but that's 0:03:14.320 --> 0:03:15.880 they kind of need a number two starter. Is that? 0:03:15.960 --> 0:03:17.800 Is that a reasonable thing to say that they need 0:03:17.880 --> 0:03:21.120 to fix in between now and post deadline. 0:03:21.440 --> 0:03:23.800 They really do. And just for a housekeeping note, the 0:03:23.800 --> 0:03:26.160 deadline this year is August third, so it's a few 0:03:26.240 --> 0:03:29.000 days later than it usually is. Probably gives some of them, 0:03:29.560 --> 0:03:33.280 by the way, it's just yeah, why you know, pushing 0:03:33.280 --> 0:03:35.880 the deadline back a little bit probably makes sense with 0:03:35.960 --> 0:03:37.560 how many teams you're going to be in the playoff 0:03:37.600 --> 0:03:40.480 push with the expanded playoffs, but it also is another 0:03:40.560 --> 0:03:43.040 three agonizing days that we all have to wait around 0:03:43.040 --> 0:03:46.080 and see what's going to happen. But I mean very clearly, captain, 0:03:46.080 --> 0:03:48.840 obviously they have to add a reliable number two starter 0:03:49.400 --> 0:03:52.560 for the postseason push and the playoffs. And as a reminder, 0:03:52.840 --> 0:03:55.800 while you might need five starters to get to the postseason, 0:03:56.080 --> 0:03:59.440 you don't need five starters in October. You need two, 0:03:59.680 --> 0:04:02.680 maybe three. I mean, famously, in twenty twenty one, the 0:04:02.720 --> 0:04:05.800 Braves road Max Freed and Charlie Morton and they sprinkled 0:04:05.840 --> 0:04:08.320 in a little bit of Ian Anderson and some bullpen games. 0:04:08.600 --> 0:04:11.400 Obviously it resulted in a World Series. So yes, it'd 0:04:11.400 --> 0:04:13.119 be awesome if they can go out and acquire three 0:04:13.160 --> 0:04:15.520 aces over the next couple weeks. I don't really think 0:04:15.560 --> 0:04:18.960 that's a realistic outcome, but if they can just add one, 0:04:19.440 --> 0:04:22.960 like one really reliable, tried and true, give the ball 0:04:23.000 --> 0:04:25.080 to them in game two of a playoff series. You're 0:04:25.080 --> 0:04:27.600 gonna feel good about it. Obviously, it's only gonna help 0:04:27.640 --> 0:04:29.839 you in August in September try to win the division 0:04:29.880 --> 0:04:33.000 and maybe get that first round by But very clearly 0:04:33.040 --> 0:04:35.520 the number one priority for me is adding an impact 0:04:35.560 --> 0:04:37.920 starter to slot in behind Chris Sale. 0:04:39.600 --> 0:04:43.839 Yes, and look, we'll talk about later. There are pathways 0:04:43.839 --> 0:04:47.919 to just bludgeoning things. Like your offense could be so 0:04:48.000 --> 0:04:50.520 good that you could overcome the pitching loows. That's been 0:04:50.560 --> 0:04:52.400 the case that Tomas in the past, of the Braves 0:04:52.480 --> 0:04:54.400 and twenty three in particular, when they had this all 0:04:54.440 --> 0:04:57.320 time great offense. And they need offense too. It's not 0:04:57.360 --> 0:05:00.040 like we're gonna say that they only need pitching. But 0:05:00.120 --> 0:05:03.279 you know, it's not a secret how decimated the protection 0:05:03.360 --> 0:05:05.600 has been. It was kind of foreseeable, even though it's 0:05:05.600 --> 0:05:07.320 been worse than even we expected it to be. I 0:05:07.320 --> 0:05:09.040 gotta be honest with you about that. It's god even 0:05:09.080 --> 0:05:12.560 worse than we thought. But yeah, they need this, and 0:05:12.600 --> 0:05:15.719 look there's also trickle down effects. The bullpen's awesome, but 0:05:15.760 --> 0:05:18.520 you can also strengthen it by adding another big time 0:05:18.640 --> 0:05:20.800 arm because you have a lot of guys. Honestly, this 0:05:20.839 --> 0:05:22.680 is one of the bright sides. They have a lot 0:05:22.720 --> 0:05:25.320 of guys that could go to the bullpen that are 0:05:25.320 --> 0:05:30.520 starters in theory, your great Holmes types. Smith Shaver could 0:05:30.520 --> 0:05:33.320 be one of those, like obviously a hard thrower we've 0:05:33.320 --> 0:05:34.960 already seen Jr. Rich you do it a little bit, 0:05:35.000 --> 0:05:37.040 maybe owen Murphy down the lot, et cetera, et cetera, 0:05:37.839 --> 0:05:41.000 so where everything so just feels so much better instantly 0:05:41.120 --> 0:05:43.279 if you added I'll let you pick a name of 0:05:43.320 --> 0:05:45.440 to you know, you know what. I'll say your name 0:05:45.480 --> 0:05:47.520 and I'll make you pick out of one. Sonny Gray 0:05:47.560 --> 0:05:49.839 is always Scott's name, so I'll just say Sonny Gray's 0:05:49.880 --> 0:05:52.520 name out loud. If it's not Sunny Gray, sue me. 0:05:52.800 --> 0:05:55.760 But like that archetype of guy would just make everything 0:05:56.640 --> 0:05:58.040 slide into place so much easier. 0:05:58.720 --> 0:05:58.840 You know. 0:05:58.920 --> 0:06:01.360 That's kind of a theme of night's show is Yes, 0:06:01.440 --> 0:06:03.480 they do acquire a player, and that would help, but 0:06:03.640 --> 0:06:06.479 in all of these situations there is a trickle down 0:06:06.480 --> 0:06:10.279 effect of acquiring starting pitching and spoiler alert, acquiring a 0:06:10.279 --> 0:06:12.039 couple of bats, which we're going to talk about in 0:06:12.080 --> 0:06:15.520 the next segment, it really does. So let's say hypothetically 0:06:15.520 --> 0:06:18.039 they acquire Joe Ryan from the Twins, or they go 0:06:18.120 --> 0:06:20.400 out west and get Reed Debt Meers from the Angels, 0:06:20.440 --> 0:06:23.280 or if Boston sells, they get Sonny Gray, or if 0:06:23.360 --> 0:06:26.880 Detroit sells, Trek Skuball or Casey Meyes or a name 0:06:26.920 --> 0:06:28.640 we haven't talked about a lot, but I was looking 0:06:28.680 --> 0:06:31.799 into as Kevin Gosman from the Toronto Blue Jays, of course, 0:06:31.880 --> 0:06:34.120 an old friend of the Braves. Well, even if it 0:06:34.120 --> 0:06:37.360 didn't go super well, Basically, ever since Gosman left Atlanta, 0:06:37.400 --> 0:06:40.560 he's been an ace type of pitcher. Regardless of what 0:06:40.720 --> 0:06:43.320 number two starter you add. You could send Grant Holmes 0:06:43.360 --> 0:06:45.960 to the bullpen, and I think I speak for all 0:06:46.400 --> 0:06:48.400 of the hosts on this podcast and a lot of fans, 0:06:48.600 --> 0:06:52.040 I'd be encouraged and excited to see what Grant Holmes 0:06:52.040 --> 0:06:53.839 could do in a full time bullpen roll, where he 0:06:53.839 --> 0:06:55.839 could be a hybrid arm, he could be an opener, 0:06:55.880 --> 0:06:58.000 he could be a multi inning guy, he could be 0:06:58.040 --> 0:07:01.600 a righty specialist. So there's adding just a couple of 0:07:01.640 --> 0:07:04.640 players to this roster really does make one through twenty six. 0:07:04.760 --> 0:07:06.040 Look a lot better. 0:07:06.200 --> 0:07:09.080 And hopefully, I mean obviously Alex and Thopless isn't a dummy. 0:07:09.120 --> 0:07:09.960 He knows this too. 0:07:10.800 --> 0:07:10.960 You know. 0:07:11.000 --> 0:07:12.640 It's not like they need to go out and acquire 0:07:12.680 --> 0:07:14.920 eight players in the next three weeks in order to 0:07:14.960 --> 0:07:16.760 accomplish everything we're going to talk about. 0:07:18.400 --> 0:07:21.840 Yes, that's the It's hard, and you know, I've tried 0:07:21.880 --> 0:07:25.440 to shy away from like this giant shopping list, like 0:07:25.480 --> 0:07:27.440 you know, we're doing it try. We're trying to be 0:07:27.440 --> 0:07:31.440 responsible on this episode even constructing these these five ways 0:07:31.480 --> 0:07:33.640 to help kind of fix the Braves. But at the 0:07:33.680 --> 0:07:37.240 same time, a couple of them are combinations that they 0:07:37.240 --> 0:07:40.400 could kind of do to make things easier because the 0:07:40.440 --> 0:07:42.480 one thing that Alex has done consistently over the last 0:07:42.480 --> 0:07:44.880 couple of years at the deadline is add relievers, and 0:07:44.960 --> 0:07:48.160 ironically that's what they kind of don't need right now, 0:07:48.320 --> 0:07:50.720 is a reliever. Like you can ever have too many relievers. 0:07:50.720 --> 0:07:52.400 So if there's somebody that they can get for cheap, 0:07:52.440 --> 0:07:55.080 then I'm not going to be against it, But I 0:07:55.080 --> 0:07:57.400 think I'd rather go to this obviously clear by go 0:07:57.440 --> 0:07:59.560 to the star route and then maybe slot in someone 0:07:59.640 --> 0:08:02.400 like hold Smith shov into a relief role to help 0:08:02.520 --> 0:08:07.080 maximize things in October. But I mean it's like you said, 0:08:07.120 --> 0:08:09.360 captain obvious is maybe the term, and we're not breaking 0:08:09.400 --> 0:08:12.840 any ground here, but we've been saying it since at 0:08:12.920 --> 0:08:17.600 least November. Scott. They need a real starting pitching edition. 0:08:17.880 --> 0:08:19.960 They always have needed a one, and it's even more 0:08:20.000 --> 0:08:22.600 clear now and they've got three weeks left to find one. 0:08:23.520 --> 0:08:25.800 And the real question for me is what kind of 0:08:25.840 --> 0:08:28.920 starting pitcher is it going to be? From a contractual perspective, 0:08:29.200 --> 0:08:31.920 right like Sunny Gray is very likely going to be 0:08:31.920 --> 0:08:35.920 a rental, Derek Scougble, Casey Maize rentals, Kevin Gosman rental. 0:08:36.440 --> 0:08:38.480 On the other hand, Joe Ryan has a year and 0:08:38.520 --> 0:08:40.640 a half of control. More than likely he has kind 0:08:40.679 --> 0:08:43.120 of an interesting contract setup, but very likely you'll have 0:08:43.200 --> 0:08:45.439 Joe Ryan for the rest of this year and all 0:08:45.480 --> 0:08:48.040 of next year. Ryan has been phenomenal with the Twins 0:08:48.080 --> 0:08:51.040 for multiple years at this point. Read debtmers is an 0:08:51.080 --> 0:08:53.880 interesting name under control even longer than that, I believe 0:08:53.920 --> 0:08:55.880 for the next two and a half years, although Debt 0:08:55.920 --> 0:08:58.280 Meres has really struggled over the last few weeks, so 0:08:58.320 --> 0:09:01.200 we'll see if the Angels ultimately sell and of course 0:09:01.240 --> 0:09:03.800 there's going to be others. Jose Soriano from the Angels 0:09:03.840 --> 0:09:06.280 is another popular name, and really it just comes down 0:09:06.320 --> 0:09:08.720 to who is selling and who is buying at the deadline. 0:09:08.840 --> 0:09:10.720 I guess if you're a Braves fan, you are rooting 0:09:10.760 --> 0:09:14.920 for these kind of fringe contenders, especially in the American League, 0:09:14.920 --> 0:09:16.880 to lose. And that's kind of the opposite of what 0:09:16.960 --> 0:09:19.640 happened before the break. We want the Tigers to lose, 0:09:19.679 --> 0:09:22.200 we want the Red Sox to lose. We want teams 0:09:22.200 --> 0:09:24.480 that might buy, might sell. We want those teams to 0:09:24.520 --> 0:09:27.480 lose because then you just have more sellers in the market, 0:09:27.520 --> 0:09:31.000 and that, in theory, will probably help suppress the trade 0:09:31.200 --> 0:09:33.040 values that you're going to have to give up, because 0:09:33.080 --> 0:09:34.599 to be clear, if you're going to acquire one of 0:09:34.640 --> 0:09:37.040 these shouting pitchers, you're going to have to give up 0:09:37.080 --> 0:09:39.439 some real prospect capital in order to make it happen. 0:09:41.040 --> 0:09:42.959 Yeah, it's going to change on a daily basis. I mean, 0:09:43.000 --> 0:09:43.960 we're talking about Wednesday night. 0:09:44.000 --> 0:09:44.080 Now. 0:09:44.200 --> 0:09:46.560 The games will happen until Friday. But some of this 0:09:46.600 --> 0:09:50.400 stuff has shifted, at least in theory, because of teams 0:09:50.400 --> 0:09:52.920 winning a bunch and like maybe convincing themselves not to sell. 0:09:52.920 --> 0:09:55.120 And that's why the like you said before, the date 0:09:55.240 --> 0:09:59.320 being pushed back only a few days actually might change things. 0:09:59.440 --> 0:10:01.640 Is in sales that might sound you might have a 0:10:01.679 --> 0:10:04.280 team convince themselves that they shouldn't sell or should sell 0:10:04.280 --> 0:10:06.840 based on a week of sample. I mean, the Mets 0:10:06.880 --> 0:10:08.320 are way out of it. Like we talked about Freddy 0:10:08.360 --> 0:10:10.440 Peralta on a recent show, he could be on this 0:10:10.480 --> 0:10:15.000 list too. It's all kinds of names to varying degrees 0:10:15.000 --> 0:10:19.280 of contract of effectiveness of big names and big dollars, 0:10:19.280 --> 0:10:21.679 and the breaks up might have spend and we've filled 0:10:21.720 --> 0:10:23.880 all out before, but it really is the priority. It's 0:10:23.880 --> 0:10:25.520 probably number one. And then there's a reason why I 0:10:25.520 --> 0:10:27.560 was number one on this list, because we all understand 0:10:27.600 --> 0:10:28.920 that's what they have to do at some point. 0:10:29.679 --> 0:10:32.520 Hey, I will take a Chris Sale and good number 0:10:32.559 --> 0:10:35.400 two starter and put that up against anybody, you know, 0:10:35.559 --> 0:10:39.000 like the Phillies have a dominant one two with Wheeler 0:10:39.200 --> 0:10:42.760 and Sanchez, and the Dodgers can throw out really good arms. 0:10:42.800 --> 0:10:44.880 The Brewers have a really good one two punch, like 0:10:45.200 --> 0:10:47.440 you know it so often it comes down to starting 0:10:47.440 --> 0:10:49.800 pitching in October, and if you can have a dominant 0:10:49.800 --> 0:10:52.280 one two that you can ride and hopefully get to 0:10:52.280 --> 0:10:54.719 the finish line and be healthy. The entire way, I 0:10:54.760 --> 0:10:57.680 would take Sale and one of those names against basically anybody, 0:10:57.679 --> 0:11:00.960 and hopefully you have a bullpen that continues to perform. 0:11:01.000 --> 0:11:03.000 And as we're going to talk about here in a minute, 0:11:03.240 --> 0:11:05.199 the lineup will be a little better, a little more 0:11:05.240 --> 0:11:07.640 consistent with the additions that we're going to talk about. 0:11:08.160 --> 0:11:10.000 But I still feel, in my heart of hearts, maybe 0:11:10.040 --> 0:11:14.160 I'm a blind optimist rose colored glasses. I still think 0:11:14.200 --> 0:11:16.560 this team, although it does have holes, and although they 0:11:16.600 --> 0:11:19.360 have played poorly for the last month, I just have 0:11:19.440 --> 0:11:21.760 to think there's enough here to kind of get the 0:11:21.760 --> 0:11:24.840 ship back on track and really have a chance to 0:11:24.880 --> 0:11:26.160 make some noise in October. 0:11:27.760 --> 0:11:29.720 We're Alma, say, Page, and if they can find someone 0:11:29.760 --> 0:11:32.800 to approximate the late prime version of Charlie Morton that 0:11:32.840 --> 0:11:34.760 you referenced earlier from twenty twenty one, that would be 0:11:34.800 --> 0:11:39.079 all they need. Sale that guy and figure the rest out. 0:11:39.120 --> 0:11:40.560 I feel pretty good about that. But they have to 0:11:40.559 --> 0:11:42.480 get that guy, and we'll see if they're able to 0:11:42.600 --> 0:11:45.320 in the next three weeks, all right, Scott. In a second, 0:11:45.360 --> 0:11:48.000 we'll dive into more of our ways to fix the Braves. 0:11:48.040 --> 0:11:50.559 But first it is now time for Daily Dinger is 0:11:50.600 --> 0:11:55.000 presented by FanDuel all Right, Scott, we want to spotlight 0:11:55.080 --> 0:11:59.000 a player real quick on this fan duel segment today 0:11:59.720 --> 0:12:04.000 and collective we decided, how about Ozzie Albis. Ozzie has 0:12:04.040 --> 0:12:06.760 not had like this like crazy stretch lately. He was 0:12:06.800 --> 0:12:09.240 hot early, he had kind of a down turn after that, 0:12:09.320 --> 0:12:11.680 but he just played in the All Star Game on Tuesday. 0:12:11.880 --> 0:12:14.400 He's having a very very nice season. Is he in 0:12:14.480 --> 0:12:15.560 his absolute prime? 0:12:16.280 --> 0:12:16.360 No? 0:12:16.920 --> 0:12:19.479 But you remember when we talked at least briefly about 0:12:19.520 --> 0:12:22.480 the consideration that they might decline Ozzie's team option. We 0:12:22.600 --> 0:12:24.839 landed on NOA on that this winter, but they we 0:12:25.200 --> 0:12:27.000 talked about it, and that would have been very silly. 0:12:27.000 --> 0:12:29.760 He has already well surpassed what he needed to do 0:12:29.920 --> 0:12:33.240 to earn his team option and shots to Ozzie Alby's right. 0:12:33.600 --> 0:12:36.600 Yeah, yeah, great story for Ozzie. I mean, I'll raise 0:12:36.640 --> 0:12:40.240 my hand. I was nervous and concerned after a pretty 0:12:40.240 --> 0:12:42.600 poor couple of years from Ozzie, from his once lofty 0:12:42.600 --> 0:12:45.400 standards and really an impressive player. You know, he had 0:12:45.440 --> 0:12:47.800 a little bit of a downturn in May, but since 0:12:47.840 --> 0:12:50.560 then he's been really, really good. And of course, if 0:12:50.600 --> 0:12:53.920 you turned back the calendar to opening day, Ozzie hit 0:12:53.920 --> 0:12:56.680 a first inning home run to begin the season against 0:12:56.679 --> 0:12:59.320 the Kansas City Royals. So let's pick as the Braves 0:12:59.320 --> 0:13:02.160 get back out for the I guess official start of 0:13:02.200 --> 0:13:05.160 the quote unquote second half, Let's say that Ozzy once 0:13:05.200 --> 0:13:07.560 again leads the boys out there, hits an early inning 0:13:07.600 --> 0:13:10.800 homer and just let's you know, makes a statement on 0:13:11.240 --> 0:13:12.679 the first game of the second half. 0:13:14.240 --> 0:13:16.880 Yes, so officially we are taking a joint pick this 0:13:16.920 --> 0:13:19.959 time around. On Friday, Ozzie Albeats is our daily Diinger 0:13:19.960 --> 0:13:23.320 pick for the opener to the quote unquote second half 0:13:23.400 --> 0:13:25.679 for the Braves on Friday, and the will be season 0:13:25.880 --> 0:13:27.320 is of course in full swing. If it was giving 0:13:27.320 --> 0:13:28.839 me a chance to call your shot. With daily dingers 0:13:28.960 --> 0:13:31.480 joining the action is easy. Just make a free pick 0:13:31.520 --> 0:13:33.360 who's gon to hit a home run in the game. 0:13:33.640 --> 0:13:35.560 If you're right, you get a profit boost to use 0:13:35.600 --> 0:13:37.319 on your next bet for a chance at extra winnings. 0:13:37.559 --> 0:13:40.840 There's another reason why fandel is the home of home runs. 0:13:41.000 --> 0:13:44.319 So are you ready to play your game? Head over 0:13:44.360 --> 0:13:47.760 to FanDuel dot com Slash podcast to get started. That's 0:13:47.800 --> 0:13:50.800 FanDuel dot com Slash podcast, Optive Daily Dingers. 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One Scott Coleman is 0:15:29.240 --> 0:15:31.880 responsible for this plan, and I'll tell Alex at the 0:15:31.960 --> 0:15:33.720 end of the podcast that he can follow it just 0:15:34.120 --> 0:15:37.640 one by one. We led with the starting pitcher acquisition 0:15:37.760 --> 0:15:40.800 number two starter biggest need number two on the list. 0:15:41.480 --> 0:15:44.280 How about the need for a left handed bat, either 0:15:44.320 --> 0:15:47.840 in the outfield or at DH. How about that from 0:15:48.120 --> 0:15:51.440 I think that's kind of been maybe underdiscussed, maybe maybe 0:15:51.480 --> 0:15:53.840 more lately from us, but it's kind of a need, 0:15:53.920 --> 0:15:58.200 especially in the Donald Smith is very ordinary era of baseball. 0:15:58.480 --> 0:16:00.440 Yeah, you know, as good of a story as Smith 0:16:00.600 --> 0:16:02.720 was early in the year, he's he's come on hard 0:16:02.760 --> 0:16:06.800 times since late April. He's hitting two twenty four and 0:16:06.960 --> 0:16:11.160 ops in like five hundred's and a sixty three WORC 0:16:11.280 --> 0:16:14.200 plus for Dom Smith. And the problem with that, of course, 0:16:14.280 --> 0:16:17.000 is that Dom Smith is in there basically every single 0:16:17.080 --> 0:16:20.880 night against right handed pitching as the team's primary DH. 0:16:21.120 --> 0:16:25.000 So to say it pretty bluntly, that's not good enough. 0:16:25.200 --> 0:16:28.120 You need a better hitter. I think ideally is we're 0:16:28.160 --> 0:16:29.560 going to talk about they need to add both a 0:16:29.640 --> 0:16:32.840 lefty bat and a righty bat, ideally in the outfield, 0:16:32.920 --> 0:16:35.560 and we'll get into the reasons why. But I guess 0:16:35.560 --> 0:16:36.960 at the end of the day, I will take the 0:16:36.960 --> 0:16:40.040 best bat period that they can acquire and figure out 0:16:40.080 --> 0:16:42.320 the rest between playing time with the DH and all that. 0:16:42.920 --> 0:16:45.200 But for me, I think the number two priority is 0:16:45.240 --> 0:16:47.480 pretty clearly a left handed bat for the middle of 0:16:47.480 --> 0:16:48.000 this order. 0:16:50.000 --> 0:16:54.240 There is a debate you could have between lefty bat 0:16:54.280 --> 0:16:56.560 and righty bat, so we'll kind of maybe combine these 0:16:56.560 --> 0:17:00.160 two together, and I think I'm on your side. Think 0:17:00.200 --> 0:17:03.840 lefty bad is probably the higher priority because of the 0:17:03.880 --> 0:17:07.160 way the lineup shakes out. Because even even when they 0:17:07.200 --> 0:17:09.880 have even when they have Yaz, who I think has 0:17:09.920 --> 0:17:12.919 been like a little bit undervalued, like he's not he 0:17:13.040 --> 0:17:17.040 hasn't been good, but he's been playable, you still can 0:17:17.080 --> 0:17:19.080 You still probably did another one. So that's why it 0:17:19.160 --> 0:17:21.920 leans this way. Like with the righty bat you could 0:17:21.960 --> 0:17:24.919 at least talk yourself into the fact that they are 0:17:25.040 --> 0:17:27.000 going to have Ronnie Back and you're gonna have Sean 0:17:27.080 --> 0:17:28.879 Murphy at some point and if you care about that, 0:17:30.040 --> 0:17:32.520 But with the Dallas Smith era coming to a hopeful 0:17:32.640 --> 0:17:35.359 close based on what he's done so far, the DuPont 0:17:35.440 --> 0:17:37.680 On angle, like having Duban be able to play shortstop 0:17:37.680 --> 0:17:40.560 at some point would be very helpful. Even if I'm 0:17:40.560 --> 0:17:42.720 not not to knock Jim Jarvis, but I'm going to 0:17:43.040 --> 0:17:45.520 assume that probably he's not a Fultiason solution. Maybe I'll 0:17:45.560 --> 0:17:47.200 be wrong. I'd happy. I'd be happy to be wrong 0:17:47.240 --> 0:17:50.320 if Jim Jarvis was awesome. I just usually bet against 0:17:50.640 --> 0:17:53.800 this kind of thing continuing. So yeah, I'm with you. 0:17:53.920 --> 0:17:56.560 Left handed bad is massive and were talking about names. 0:17:56.560 --> 0:17:58.159 If you want to, we don't. I mean, it's not 0:17:58.200 --> 0:18:01.320 that hard. On the bright side of this, mar say 0:18:01.320 --> 0:18:04.520 this out loud, it actually shouldn't be that difficult to 0:18:04.600 --> 0:18:08.520 find this player. Yeah, like a non star. No one's 0:18:08.560 --> 0:18:10.480 saying that they have to add a star Latana bat 0:18:10.480 --> 0:18:13.720 at DH. But like typically in a lot of times, 0:18:13.720 --> 0:18:16.639 it's a cornfielder basically like a first basement type like 0:18:16.680 --> 0:18:19.920 Dom Smith. Honestly, like you can find the better version 0:18:19.960 --> 0:18:22.000 of Don Smith for not that much money and not 0:18:22.000 --> 0:18:24.119 that much prospect capital if you want to go that route, 0:18:25.040 --> 0:18:27.960 because you know a lot of teams have their version 0:18:28.000 --> 0:18:30.399 of Matt Olsen, then maybe have their guy be blocked 0:18:30.400 --> 0:18:34.119 and the DH only types are valuable until they're not 0:18:34.320 --> 0:18:35.720 you know what I mean, Like they don't have a 0:18:35.720 --> 0:18:37.680 ton of utility, but on this team, they just need 0:18:37.680 --> 0:18:40.280 another guy who can hit right handed pitching, and that's 0:18:40.480 --> 0:18:42.880 what we're asking for essentially totally. 0:18:42.960 --> 0:18:45.480