Speaker 1: Look who's back. It's the Inside Scoop with FT Senior
Speaker 1: Insider Ken Rosenthal. Ken, it is good to see you.
Speaker 1: And I'm going to dive into the Red Sox first.
Speaker 1: We'll eventually get to the Astros and the Marlins and
Speaker 1: some storylines there. Roman Anthony is going to come back
Speaker 1: this week. I don't know if we have the exact
Speaker 1: day down yet, but it's crazy. They've done this without him.
Speaker 1: And I remember most of the season talking to you
Speaker 1: and being like, hey, the Red Sox were hoping he
Speaker 1: was going to be their main man. Well, can he
Speaker 1: do that for the last month?
Speaker 2: What will he be when he comes back?
Speaker 3: It's the question we always have with injured players. What
Speaker 3: will Aaron Judge be when he comes back? They've got
Speaker 3: Trevor Story and Isaiah Kainer-Falefa coming back as well. A
Speaker 3: severe roster crunch awaits because some of the players who
Speaker 3: have replaced the injured guys have done really well. And
Speaker 3: now we're seeing it with Nick Sogard. We've seen it
Speaker 3: with Monasterio and some of the others. So it's a
Speaker 3: really interesting situation there. And obviously with Roman Anthony..
Speaker 2: If he can.
Speaker 3: Produce at anywhere near the level that he expected, it
Speaker 3: gives them a further boost.
Speaker 4: Ken, is there an expectation on crochet? Is he going
Speaker 4: to come back and be in the bullpen? Isn't that
Speaker 4: kind of what they're talking about with crochet?
Speaker 3: There is, I wouldn't say an expectation, but a possibility
Speaker 3: of that happening. And yeah, it would not be as
Speaker 3: a starter. There's not enough time to build up as
Speaker 3: a starter, but perhaps as a reliever and we'll see
Speaker 3: where that goes.
Speaker 4: Is it expected? Roman Anthony is supposed to be back when? Soon, right? Today?
Speaker 4: Next week. Darn it, Ken. I was hoping he'd be
Speaker 4: in the lineup on Saturday when you get to talk
Speaker 4: about him on Fox.
Speaker 2: I don't expect that to happen.
Speaker 3: From what I'm reading, and this is coming from the
Speaker 3: Red Sox beat reporters, that Story and Isaiah Kainafalefa are
Speaker 3: expected back shortly, any day now. So those moves are
Speaker 3: going to happen, and then they're going to have a
Speaker 3: situation with Anthony where Their outfield's crowded already.
Speaker 2: We know that. And they're going to have to make
Speaker 2: some decisions.
Speaker 5: Of those other two, Isaiah Conner for left and Trevor Story,
Speaker 5: is there an expectation that maybe they don't slot into starting?
Speaker 5: Not that it's going to delay their rehab, but there's,
Speaker 5: like you said, guys that are having success since they've
Speaker 5: been out.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't know how they're going to play it.
Speaker 3: And Eric, it's going to be an interesting thing because
Speaker 3: you've seen with this team, The players that we just discussed,
Speaker 3: Sigler and Monasterio and Sogard, these are the guys who
Speaker 3: have done a really good job in the absences of
Speaker 3: these other players and kind of helped the Red Sox
Speaker 3: get where they were. The roster became more functional with
Speaker 3: these guys kind of doing their thing and they're very versatile.
Speaker 2: So I don't know how this plays out.
Speaker 3: And there is a risk, I guess, some risk that
Speaker 3: Things aren't as good with these guys coming back as
Speaker 3: they were with the replacements. That's a challenge that manager
Speaker 3: Chad Tracy is going to face, and it's going to
Speaker 3: be a difficult one for him, I imagine. I'm sure
Speaker 3: we'll be discussing it on our broadcast Saturday because it's
Speaker 3: going to be live at that point.
Speaker 4: Ken, let's go to a different manager that's staying around,
Speaker 4: and that's Joe Espada. Dana Brown was let go by
Speaker 4: the Astros. Weird timing. I know Jim Crane isn't afraid
Speaker 4: to do this in the middle of a season. Was
Speaker 4: Joe Espada really told that he's not being brought back
Speaker 4: and then he elected to stick around for the rest
Speaker 4: of the year?
Speaker 3: Not from what our reporter Chandler Rome understands. And the
Speaker 3: Astros vehemently denied that. It was a report by Bob
Speaker 3: Nightingale yesterday. And Joe Espada, if he was in that position,
Speaker 3: he certainly has not acknowledged it.
Speaker 2: So I don't want to.
Speaker 3: Dump on anybody's report, but this was roundly denied.
Speaker 2: Now, is Joe Espada in trouble?
Speaker 3: By definition, he is in trouble, one, because he's in
Speaker 3: the last year of his contract, two, because the guy
Speaker 3: who hired him just got fired.
Speaker 2: So put those.
Speaker 3: Two things together and the fact that this team, I
Speaker 3: don't know if it's fair to say they've underachieved because
Speaker 3: a lot of what Dana Brown did did not work out.
Speaker 3: The pitchers he brought in, they never addressed the outfield adequately.
Speaker 3: That's on the GM, not the manager, and perhaps that's
Speaker 3: why the GM was fired when he was. But Joe Espada,
Speaker 3: at the very least, will have to deal with a
Speaker 3: new GM above him, and that always is perilous for
Speaker 3: a manager.
Speaker 4: Jim Crane doesn't fire managers, he fires GMs.
Speaker 5: Is it fair to say that this isn't a good
Speaker 5: move with other organizations, but has been decently successful for
Speaker 5: Jim Crane to fire GMs, even when he fired Click
Speaker 5: after they won a World Series?
Speaker 3: I don't know that the firing of Click can now
Speaker 3: be remembered as positive because, frankly, they've had more trouble
Speaker 3: under Dana Brown than they did under Click.
Speaker 2: And what Dana.
Speaker 3: Brown was brought in to do, one of the things
Speaker 3: was boost the farm system. He's a scouting background guy,
Speaker 3: and that really hasn't happened. Their farm system is not
Speaker 3: in great shape. Now, granted, they lost some picks back
Speaker 3: in 20 and 21 because of the scandal, but it's still...
Speaker 3: a good amount of time has passed and it should
Speaker 3: have been better by now. It's not better. So that
Speaker 3: is on Dana Brown. And it's also on Dana Brown,
Speaker 3: what I just said, the outfield, the pitching.
Speaker 2: Staff, the fact that this team is not all there.
Speaker 4: And he didn't.
Speaker 3: Sign as many players to his extent to extensions as
Speaker 3: he indicated he might. So I would not say that
Speaker 3: this worked out well for them. Dana Brown is well-liked.
Speaker 2: He's respected.
Speaker 3: He's smart, but he's, Did he do the optimal job there?
Speaker 3: I don't know that even Dana would say that.
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Speaker 4: All right. Can I have to ask a question then?
Speaker 4: Is Jim Crane the reason why this is happening? Because
Speaker 4: he doesn't love the extensions. He doesn't love long-term deals
Speaker 4: for pitchers. He doesn't, you know, from what we've heard,
Speaker 4: they were handcuffed by pick, pick, you know, the things
Speaker 4: with the cheating thing, all that stuff. So then you
Speaker 4: look at it and you say, okay, Dana Brown, did
Speaker 4: he want to trade for Carlos Correa? Apparently that was
Speaker 4: maybe a Jim crane thing, bringing Carlos Correa back, right?
Speaker 4: The extensions are on the owner. If Jeremy Pena, if,
Speaker 4: You know, whoever wants an extension, the owner has to
Speaker 4: agree to it. The GM, I'm sure, goes to him
Speaker 4: and says, hey, Jeremy, you want an extension? What do
Speaker 4: you want? If he says five years, 100, Jim Crane goes, no,
Speaker 4: too much. Well, then it ain't on Dana Brown. So
Speaker 4: how much does Jim Crane have to have to take
Speaker 4: for blame for this?
Speaker 2: Certainly a good amount.
Speaker 3: And they've made some bad decisions with contracts that were
Speaker 3: Jim Crane driven over the years as well. So, AJ,
Speaker 3: when you look at the whole thing, it's like with
Speaker 3: any team. It's always hard to discern, not always, but
Speaker 3: in many cases with clubs, it's hard to discern how
Speaker 3: much is the GM's fault and how much is the
Speaker 3: fault of the owner who might not be providing the
Speaker 3: resources that the GM would want. I can give you
Speaker 3: any number of examples in the game where that distinction
Speaker 3: is difficult to draw, where I don't know exactly if
Speaker 3: it's a money thing, if it's the GM's balking at
Speaker 3: certain things. There are all kinds of things that go on.
Speaker 3: But certainly, Crane is the owner of the team. He
Speaker 3: is the one who has said, we're not ever going
Speaker 3: to rebuild. Well, there are indications or times where perhaps
Speaker 3: you should rebuild. And you can make the case that
Speaker 3: the Astros could have done some things along those lines,
Speaker 3: but that's not the direction they chose.
Speaker 2: So here they are, and it's going to be.
Speaker 3: Really interesting to see who they replace Dana Brown with.
Speaker 3: Is it going to be Another first-time GM? That's what
Speaker 3: they've done. Luno, Click, Dana Brown, all were first-time guys.
Speaker 2: Or do they get someone more experienced?
Speaker 3: Or do they turn it to Jack Bagwell, who is
Speaker 3: in the front office and clearly has influence?
Speaker 4: Does he want it?
Speaker 2: Do they want him? All these questions.
Speaker 3: And there's going to be some other teams, of course,
Speaker 3: looking for GMs as well. Two in their own division
Speaker 3: right now are unsettled.
Speaker 2: So it's going to be an interesting offseason.
Speaker 4: Ken, you mentioned they don't want to rebuild. Last time
Speaker 4: they rebuilt, they tore it down. They came back stronger
Speaker 4: than ever. Correa, Bregman, all these guys, right? Altuve. And
Speaker 4: they won two World Series, went to the postseason for
Speaker 4: a bunch of years. Why is this organization so anti-rebuild
Speaker 4: after they were kind of the model franchise for doing it?
Speaker 3: Well, for one thing, AJ, you can't do it the
Speaker 3: same way anymore. There's a draft lottery now, and it's
Speaker 3: just different.
Speaker 1: You cannot..
Speaker 2: Tank the way you once did.
Speaker 3: There are disincentives to doing that and properly so. We
Speaker 3: needed that in the game. The other part of that is,
Speaker 3: and I'll say this on behalf of Jim Crane, you
Speaker 3: want an owner who is going to compete and you
Speaker 3: want an owner who says we're going for it every
Speaker 3: year in the way that they go for it. Obviously,
Speaker 3: it's not all in financially.
Speaker 2: We know that.
Speaker 3: But that is his approach, and that is an approach, frankly,
Speaker 3: we should applaud. Now, at the same time, there are
Speaker 3: moments in a franchise's evolution where it is time to
Speaker 3: take a step back, retool, and kind.
Speaker 2: Of keep going forward. There are teams that do that
Speaker 2: very well. Tampa Bay, Milwaukee, they.
Speaker 3: Can constantly retool and yet stay competitive.
Speaker 2: The Astros needed more of that, and they haven't done it.
Speaker 5: A team in a constant rebuild is the Marlins. You
Speaker 5: wrote a short little article about them getting rid of
Speaker 5: the scouts. Do you have any more information since that
Speaker 5: article came out about how many they got rid of,
Speaker 5: what their next step is with doing mostly video scouting?
Speaker 3: Well, this is something that has gone on with a
Speaker 3: number of teams and we don't know the exact number
Speaker 3: of people that were let go. My initial source told
Speaker 3: me six to eight. That sounds like the proper range
Speaker 3: or at least the accurate range for what this was.
Speaker 3: What the Marlins are doing is saying we can do
Speaker 3: this by video and they're going to have some in-person scouting.
Speaker 3: I don't know how much, but essentially they're going to
Speaker 3: do this by video. A lot of teams have made
Speaker 3: that choice in my opinion, It's not the right choice.
Speaker 2: Video is fine. And video gets you a lot. Does
Speaker 2: it get you everything?
Speaker 6: No.
Speaker 3: Now teams will say that having a scout in the
Speaker 3: ballpark and what he might pick up either on players,
Speaker 3: I don't know, personal lives or different quirks in their
Speaker 3: work habits, whatever they might pick up is not worth
Speaker 3: the investment of having them on the road. I don't
Speaker 3: know about that being true. I don't necessarily buy that.
Speaker 3: To me, having eyes in the ballpark, there is value
Speaker 3: in it. And can I economically quantify it to maximize
Speaker 3: the efficiency, which is what all the teams want?
Speaker 2: No, I can't do that.
Speaker 3: But if you're telling me there's no value in that,
Speaker 3: that I would disagree with. At the same time, this
Speaker 3: is an economic decision teams have made. And it's not
Speaker 3: like the Marlins are the only one.
Speaker 5: Asking a few people around since you wrote this. they
Speaker 5: don't necessarily think it's all economic. Have you heard anything
Speaker 5: about the fact that video can be evaluated by artificial intelligence, AI,
Speaker 5: and teams are leaning into that and the Marlins are
Speaker 5: the most thought of as the most progressive, but have
Speaker 5: teams had success going to this model of video and
Speaker 5: less scouting?
Speaker 2: I don't know the exact answer to that, Eric.
Speaker 3: Obviously they do it And they do it because they
Speaker 3: believe it's going to lead to more success.
Speaker 2: And they believe it's a more efficient way of scouting.
Speaker 2: Is it making teams better or teams that were at
Speaker 2: the forefront of this better off than teams that weren't?
Speaker 2: I don't know the answer to that.
Speaker 4: Ken, there was a team that tried this a few,
Speaker 4: I don't know, about 20 years. I don't know how
Speaker 4: many years ago. It was the Oakland Athletics. And their
Speaker 4: drafts then went on to be some of the worst. Remember,
Speaker 4: they fired all their scouts right after Moneyball. Billy Bean
Speaker 4: had it all figured out. You know, him and Billy Bean,
Speaker 4: Paul DePodesta, who's actually, you know, now in Colorado. But,
Speaker 4: you know, they had it all figured out.
Speaker 3: Right.
Speaker 4: Because just have guys that walk. And then they went
Speaker 4: and did all video scouting. Remember, they just looked at
Speaker 4: the numbers of guys in college and every draft was
Speaker 4: college hitters, college hitters. And they thought they all had
Speaker 4: it figured out and it didn't really work. And now
Speaker 4: they've gone back to having scouts. Is this a case
Speaker 4: where the Marlins could do this and then have to
Speaker 4: bring back scouts later?
Speaker 3: It is, but the trend in the game is not
Speaker 3: that way. And again, it's not something I agree with.
Speaker 3: And there are a lot of good people in baseball
Speaker 3: who have either lost influence or lost their jobs in
Speaker 3: recent years. And I know, as I said before, the
Speaker 3: answer that clubs will give you is these guys weren't
Speaker 3: all that and they weren't contributing as much as people
Speaker 3: like me think they were. And that may be all
Speaker 3: well and good. But what we don't hear about is
Speaker 3: what is missing with the video scouting and what teams
Speaker 3: might be missing and the decisions that are made that
Speaker 3: maybe aren't as shrewd as they should be. There are
Speaker 3: a lot of bad decisions made with all these clubs
Speaker 3: operating under this maximum efficiency that they claim to be pursuing.
Speaker 2: So yeah, they.
Speaker 3: Can operate how they want to operate and I understand
Speaker 3: it and I understand the economics of it and why
Speaker 3: they're doing it and they believe it's a better way
Speaker 3: to go about it. But You're telling me that it's
Speaker 3: improved decision-making across the game? I don't know that that
Speaker 3: is necessarily the case.
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Speaker 1: That's the letter K, the number 12.com slash F-O-U-L, k12. com
Speaker 1: slash foul. One clarification here too, can pro scouting department.
Speaker 1: So they're looking at minor league players via trades, waiver wire, scouting,
Speaker 1: obviously for the team itself on, hey, picking up tendencies, right? Like,
Speaker 1: can you, explain anything on that front and how that
Speaker 1: could affect the way that actually a team like the
Speaker 1: Marlins finds a diamond in the rough. They just feel
Speaker 1: like we can find the diamond in the rough via video.
Speaker 1: We don't need to have guys out or girls on
Speaker 1: the scene, finding a waiver claim that ends up being
Speaker 1: the next big thing for us.
Speaker 3: Well, you're right, Scott, that people should understand there are
Speaker 3: pro scouts who scout professional baseball and There are amateur
Speaker 3: scouts who scout amateurs, guys that are going to be drafted,
Speaker 3: and there are international scouts looking at the international players. Again,
Speaker 3: with the pro scouting, it has definitely been diminished across
Speaker 3: the board in recent years. Now, the Marlins have taken
Speaker 3: what seems to be a pretty severe step. It basically
Speaker 3: sounds like they've eliminated the entire department. They deny that,
Speaker 3: but it's certainly the guts of the department have been removed.
Speaker 2: There are other ways to scout.
Speaker 3: Yes. And that's what we're talking about here. Again, do
Speaker 3: you get everything you might get otherwise? These teams say no.
Speaker 3: And these teams say this is the way to go.
Speaker 3: And I don't have an exact answer. What I was
Speaker 3: just saying before is that, and this is a complaint
Speaker 3: I hear from more.
Speaker 2: Old school baseball people. Okay, they say.
Speaker 3: We hear about our bad decisions and we make mistakes.
Speaker 3: Everybody in baseball misses. That's the beauty of the game.
Speaker 3: It's a game of failure, not just on the field,
Speaker 3: but off the field.
Speaker 4: Fine.
Speaker 3: But what about the misses that occur under these new systems?
Speaker 2: They're not talked about.
Speaker 3: And that to me is a fair assessment that, yes,
Speaker 3: we've changed the game or the game has changed in
Speaker 3: many ways. And in some ways, definitely for the better,
Speaker 3: the technology and all the things that are available now, data,
Speaker 3: everything has given us a greater understanding as fans, media,
Speaker 3: and of course, from.
Speaker 2: A club perspective. But you still see mistakes.
Speaker 3: And that's the old school people's complaint.
Speaker 2: Hey, we made mistakes, sure.
Speaker 3: But there are mistakes still being made.
Speaker 4: Ken, it's so hard to replicate having a guy in
Speaker 4: the stands. You know this when you do games. In
Speaker 4: the stands, the atmosphere, watching a guy, the way they
Speaker 4: react to situations.
Speaker 2: Absolutely.
Speaker 4: That's the thing that I think the video– fine, you
Speaker 4: can measure bat speed. You can measure launch angle. You
Speaker 4: can measure all those things, pitch spin, all those things.
Speaker 4: But you can't measure a guy unless– I'm telling you,
Speaker 4: unless you're sitting in a dugout, unless you're sitting in
Speaker 4: the stands watching a guy, how they react to situations.
Speaker 4: And that's what I think we'll be missing. That's my comment.
Speaker 4: I mean, I think scouts are very valuable. I think
Speaker 4: video is very valuable. I think there should be a
Speaker 4: mix of the two. That's it. It's just really hard.
Speaker 4: to evaluate a guy's heart makeup, all those things without
Speaker 4: actually putting eyeballs on the guy.
Speaker 2: I want to see everything.
Speaker 3: I want to see what he's doing pregame in his
Speaker 3: pregame work. I want to see AJ, just what you said,
Speaker 3: how he's reacting to situations, body language, all of these things.
Speaker 2: You're not picking all of that up on video.
Speaker 4: I'm sorry.
Speaker 1: You're not.
Speaker 3: So AJ, yeah, there is something that is lost when
Speaker 3: you eliminate the scout in the ballpark. And again, this
Speaker 3: is an argument that's been going on in the sport
Speaker 3: for years, and there are two sides of it.
Speaker 2: I just feel that the value.
Speaker 3: Of those in-person scouts has been diminished to the point
Speaker 3: where it's not right.
Speaker 2: These guys do have value.
Speaker 4: All right, last one, Ken.
Speaker 5: This weekend, you're the Yankees' the Vaunted, the unbelievable Yankees
Speaker 5: Red Sox series.
Speaker 4: What do you see or what are you intrigued.
Speaker 5: About seeing in the coming week and this weekend with
Speaker 5: the Yankees?
Speaker 4: With the Yankees?
Speaker 2: Well, obviously we're monitoring their injuries, right? Judge and Freed and.
Speaker 3: Who's coming back when. But they're trying to stay in
Speaker 3: the race in the AL East.
Speaker 2: With Tampa Bay, right?
Speaker 3: They're trying to possibly win the division title. So how
Speaker 3: are they going to respond to that? That's what we've
Speaker 3: been watching for a couple of months now with the
Speaker 3: injury situation. And Ryan Weathers is the latest. John Carlos
Speaker 3: Stanton's not coming back, it seems. So they still remain
Speaker 3: in this spot where they're not fully healthy, and they
Speaker 3: are still trying to compete. Every team is in this position,
Speaker 3: but they're missing some key pieces. So what we will
Speaker 3: see on the field, okay, it's pretty good.
Speaker 2: It's always pretty good. They're the Yankees. They're a quality team.
Speaker 3: But this is a big series for them because the
Speaker 3: Red Sox are chasing them, too, for that top wildcard spot.
Speaker 3: And It's always interesting when these teams get together, guys.
Speaker 1: Things seem to happen.
Speaker 3: And that's the nature of a rivalry game in many ways.
Speaker 3: But we never anticipated early in the season that this
Speaker 3: particular series would be meaningful.
Speaker 2: It's meaningful now.
Speaker 1: Oh, yeah. I love it. Always good fun to have
Speaker 1: the rivalry back.
Speaker 4: But, Ken, you're going to be in Atlanta, right, on
Speaker 4: Thursday for Dodgers Brewers?
Speaker 2: I will not be.
Speaker 4: Oh, sorry.
Speaker 2: Dodgers are playing the Brewers in Atlanta? That's interesting.
Speaker 4: I mean, Dodgers are great.
Speaker 2: Sorry.
Speaker 4: Sorry, Dodgers-Braves. Oh, the Braves used to be in Milwaukee, so,
Speaker 4: you know, you can understand why. They did, AJ.
Speaker 2: That's right.
Speaker 1: You're going to be in Atlanta for that game.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I thought Ken might come for that game. You know,
Speaker 4: it's two first-place teams, you know. Oh, but it's only
Speaker 4: on FS1. Should have known, Ken. Should have known. It's
Speaker 4: on Fox 1, but it's not on Big Fox. So,
Speaker 4: Ken only does Big Fox.
Speaker 2: That is not true, but okay.
Speaker 1: Ken's like, Ken's very refreshed right now, just back from assignment. So, Ken,
Speaker 1: it's good to see you.
Speaker 4: Thanks, guys.
Speaker 2: Good to see you as well.
Speaker 1: All right, welcome back. See you soon. Ken Rosenthal, FT
Speaker 1: Senior Insider. You can catch him this weekend on Big
Speaker 1: Fox or on the Fox One app. You can catch
Speaker 1: AJ on Dodgers Braves Thursday. It's Yamamoto against Sale.
Speaker 4: I know, it's a great matchup.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 4: And Saturday with Ken, little Kenny.
Speaker 1: Oh, wow, you're on the Saturday.
Speaker 4: Yeah, Red Sox Yankees.
Speaker 1: The big boy.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Red Sox Yankees. All right, so at home or on
Speaker 1: the go, live or on demand, never miss a moment.
Speaker 1: Stream now. Start your Fox One three-day free trial today
Speaker 1: at foxone.com. Can we talk more about Kinley Rasmus, Little
Speaker 1: League World Series coverage presented by New York Life, the
Speaker 1: official financial guidance partner of Little League Baseball? You weren't
Speaker 1: on with us the other day. No. Kinley can sling it. Who?
Speaker 1: Kinley Rasmus, less than a week after tying Monet Davis,
Speaker 1: you remember Monet Davis in her run, who actually made
Speaker 1: a sick catch, went viral the other day in center field.
Speaker 4: Monet Davis?
Speaker 1: Yeah, she's playing as a college or pro.
Speaker 4: I think it's a pro league.
Speaker 1: It's a pro league. Okay. So after tying her for
Speaker 1: the strikeout record by a girl pitching in the Boys
Speaker 1: Little League World Series, right? She brought that total up
Speaker 1: to 14 for the tournament now overall, which ties Davis.
Speaker 1: And she helped lead Alabama to a 6-5 win in
Speaker 1: an elimination game against Pennsylvania.
Speaker 4: Yeah, of course she beat Pennsylvania.
Speaker 1: Corey Rasmus, her dad. knows how to pitch, and he
Speaker 1: taught her well if he was teaching her. Whoever taught
Speaker 1: her taught her well.
Speaker 4: Is she related to Colby Rasmus? It's got to be. Yeah.
Speaker 4: That's her uncle.
Speaker 3: Oh.
Speaker 4: Yeah. I didn't know you didn't say Colby. You said Corey.
Speaker 1: Well, I'm giving you both now.
Speaker 4: Jackass.
Speaker 1: Last time I said Colby, and then Kratz, didn't you
Speaker 1: say Corey? Because you know Corey, right? Did you play
Speaker 1: with Corey?
Speaker 7: No, no.
Speaker 4: I know Colby.
Speaker 5: And Corey is one of the four brothers in the
Speaker 5: Razzle Dazzle house.
Speaker 4: I homered off him. Corey Rasmus? Yeah.
Speaker 1: Nice.
Speaker 4: That's good. He's booked.
Speaker 1: There you go. Good. We're learning a lot here.
Speaker 4: I'm pretty sure.
Speaker 1: No, you better be sure.
Speaker 4: I think it's so cool. I'll let you find that.
Speaker 5: But Colby told me when we played together that his
Speaker 5: dad was always like, you boys, you got to make
Speaker 5: sure that your kids are athletic. I mean, these are
Speaker 5: guys that grew up in like a one-room house. The
Speaker 5: four Rasmus boys all grew up in this tiny little
Speaker 5: house together. And his dad was very much their hitting coach,
Speaker 5: pitching coach, all that. And he was like, he would
Speaker 5: instill it in their boys. Colby's like, yeah, my dad
Speaker 5: always said, we got to make sure my grandkids are
Speaker 5: athletic too. And like, that was like a thing. So
Speaker 5: the fact that Kenley... is following in both her uncle
Speaker 5: and father's footsteps.
Speaker 4: She's good.
Speaker 5: Like, yeah, she pitches really well, but that double play,
Speaker 5: she made another play where she fielded it.
Speaker 4: She can swing a little bit too.
Speaker 5: It's so cool to see, like guys you played with
Speaker 5: kids playing in the Little League World Series.
Speaker 1: It's time to remind everyone why baseball is glorious, especially
Speaker 1: nowadays where you could think your team is out of it,
Speaker 1: but they might be back in it again. Let me
Speaker 1: introduce you to the American League wildcard kp and let's
Speaker 1: tell everyone why they might need to head back to
Speaker 1: see geek grab some more tickets for what is a
Speaker 1: playoff race before the playoffs actually begin.
Speaker 7: Well speaking about being out of it i'm an american
Speaker 7: league east guy and i'm talking to you toronto fans
Speaker 7: i'm talking to you baltimore fans a couple weeks ago
Speaker 7: probably not a reason to come out to the games
Speaker 7: look at the standings right now both of you teams
Speaker 7: are right back in this.
Speaker 1: Wildcard race rangers fans we can go on and on
Speaker 1: Mariners fans, you might be feeling a little queasy, but
Speaker 1: you're still in this thing too. So all of you
Speaker 1: should head to SeatGeek and get yourself 10% off your
Speaker 1: next set of MLB tickets. 10% off MLB tickets with
Speaker 1: the promo code TERRITORY10. Make sure you click the link
Speaker 1: in the description to download the app and have the
Speaker 1: code automatically added to your account so that you can
Speaker 1: use it later.
Speaker 4: Sorry about it. Booked. One for one. One homer. One RBI. Whoops. Oopsie.
Speaker 5: I guess that's... I always wonder. I always wonder that. Like,
Speaker 5: I hit 31 big league homers. I wonder how many
Speaker 5: AJ could get right.
Speaker 4: What do you have? Do you have over 200? No, 180-something, 88, 89,
Speaker 4: something like that.
Speaker 5: How many do you think you could get right? Maybe
Speaker 5: this will be like extra content for everybody who subscribes.
Speaker 5: We can do extra content. Hit the like and subscribe button.
Speaker 5: But how many do you think.
Speaker 4: You could get right? Could you get half? Could you
Speaker 4: get three-quarters? I wouldn't get all of them, but I
Speaker 4: could give you a pretty good run. What would be easier?
Speaker 1: Half?
Speaker 4: What do you mean?
Speaker 1: Could you name half the pitchers, not right now, but
Speaker 1: that you homered off of if we sat down with you?
Speaker 4: I mean, it'd take me a while. I mean, if
Speaker 4: you threw me a name, I could give you a
Speaker 4: yes or no.
Speaker 1: Okay.
Speaker 4: That actually might be a fun game. I don't know
Speaker 4: if I could get all of them, but I could get–
Speaker 4: I feel like I could get most of them. I
Speaker 4: always said everybody– If you threw CeCe at me, yes.
Speaker 4: If you threw Verlander, yes. Scherzer, yes. Like those names.
Speaker 1: I want the Corey Rasmus name.
Speaker 4: I don't even know how that just popped in my head.
Speaker 4: But then I saw him pitch and I was like,
Speaker 4: I hit a homer off that dude. See, I love that.
Speaker 4: I love that.
Speaker 1: By the way, Monet Davis is in the Women's Professional
Speaker 1: Baseball League. That's where the clip was. And one more
Speaker 1: thing from the Little League World Series right now. Remember
Speaker 1: the Brewers and the Braves were there over the weekend.
Speaker 1: We got a little bit more from the weekend. Bryce Terang.
Speaker 1: and some of the Brew Crew players bought Little League
Speaker 1: World Series hats, and then they traded pins with the
Speaker 1: players so that they could pin up the hats. It's
Speaker 1: a big thing out there.
Speaker 4: But did they get to become pen pals?
Speaker 1: Pin pals.
Speaker 4: Pin pals.
Speaker 1: That's what it is.
Speaker 4: That's what they were saying. Pin pals. That's right. Kratz
Speaker 4: wasn't on for that yesterday. He doesn't get it. Kratz,
Speaker 4: are you pen pals with anybody? No.
Speaker 1: Pin pals?
Speaker 4: When's the last time you wrote a letter to somebody,
Speaker 4: handwritten letter?
Speaker 5: Uh my last in 2020 i wrote it to i
Speaker 5: tried to write it to clubbies when there was something
Speaker 5: so i know 2020 was the last time i wrote
Speaker 5: a letter besides my wife i write love letters to
Speaker 5: my wife probably not as much as she would like
Speaker 5: but i need to do more yeah.
Speaker 1: But that's not a pen pal that's a pen pal
Speaker 1: he's writing a letter.
Speaker 4: To a pal yeah you're not mailing it Pen pals
Speaker 4: used to be like you'd have a friend in China
Speaker 4: that you would send a letter to, right? And they
Speaker 4: would send you a letter back. That was a pen pal.
Speaker 4: Or prison.
Speaker 5: I think AJ wrote letters to people in prison.
Speaker 4: Nothing gets you more excited when someone used to– you
Speaker 4: used to get baseball cards from people in prison. And
Speaker 4: they would say, hey, I'm in prison collecting baseball cards.
Speaker 4: You're like, I'm signing this one. This one's going back.
Speaker 2: That was always what we'd always say.
Speaker 4: You'd get one from somebody in prison. You're like– Like,
Speaker 4: how long are you in there? How are you getting
Speaker 4: baseball cards? And, yes, I'm definitely sending this back. Yes.
Speaker 1: Stay out of trouble.
Speaker 4: Anyways, Kratz, the reason this came up is yesterday Todd
Speaker 4: did his thing from the Little League World Series. And
Speaker 4: he's like, oh, you get to meet people that you
Speaker 4: become pen pals with. And I was like, man, when's
Speaker 4: the last time anybody was a– now, you might Snapchat them.
Speaker 4: You might DM them. You know, you might send them
Speaker 4: a tweet back and forth. But ain't nobody writing letters
Speaker 4: back and forth. We might type them an email. But
Speaker 4: ain't nobody handwriting letters anymore.
Speaker 1: Digital pen pal or pin pal. I gave him two
Speaker 1: options now instead of pen pal.
Speaker 4: Pin pal.
Speaker 1: Pin pal. I like that. I think that's cool. Okay.
Speaker 4: Anyways, Little League World Series is awesome. It's on as
Speaker 4: we speak right now. Yes, Every big league clubhouse it's on.
Speaker 4: Every guy's watching it. Every guy's hoping, every guy's hoping
Speaker 4: that the team, some kid on the team says they're
Speaker 4: their favorite player.
Speaker 1: Yes.
Speaker 4: Right. Every kid is going, please. Every guy in the
Speaker 4: big leagues, like, please say you're my favorite. So please God,
Speaker 4: let someone say that.
Speaker 1: There was one kid just now. Cause we watch it
Speaker 1: during the daytime right now, AJ and I, when the
Speaker 1: show's going on, right. We're watching Japan and Mexico right now.
Speaker 1: And there was one that popped up and threw a
Speaker 1: basketball player out there instead of baseball said Curry's his favorite.
Speaker 1: So I can only imagine in some big league clubhouse, some,
Speaker 1: players sitting there like maybe it's me maybe it's me
Speaker 1: coming up and it's a basketball.
Speaker 6: Player right like there's no way like there's no like
Speaker 6: there's no way I watched the entire I watched I
Speaker 6: watched the intros just to see who their favorite players
Speaker 6: are I watched Australia not one Travis Bazana.
Speaker 5: Kid said anything and I'm like so I was thinking
Speaker 5: being in the Cleveland clubhouse being the Guardians clubhouse how
Speaker 5: much how much trash they're talking to him like ah
Speaker 5: mate nobody even knows.
Speaker 1: Who you are Not enough dirt in his spikes yet.
Speaker 4: True.
Speaker 1: Got to make more of a name for himself.
Speaker 4: I love it.
Speaker 1: First year in the bigs.
Speaker 4: Yeah, but you would think those would be the kids,
Speaker 4: the 12-year-olds that are, that's the guy.
Speaker 1: Graham Balfour pitched too long ago for them. Liam Hendricks.
Speaker 1: Did we have a Liam Hendricks?
Speaker 4: I mean, did we have a Peter Moylan?
Speaker 1: Peter Moylan? Who did we have? Did we get any
Speaker 1: Aussies or was it just straight like Ohtani and Judge?
Speaker 4: It was like Mookie Betts, two Ohtanis.
Speaker 5: And I think the one kid said, Ellie De La Cruz.
Speaker 5: And I was like, What is going on? Like, Australia,
Speaker 5: we need to get more foul territory in Australia. Hit
Speaker 5: like and subscribe, and you in Australia can.
Speaker 4: Also watch our show.
Speaker 5: I'm not sure what time it is right now there,
Speaker 5: but it might work out.
Speaker 4: Does Todd have his own pin? I think he does.
Speaker 4: I don't need a huge one. We just need like
Speaker 4: a smaller one.
Speaker 1: He's a big pin guy, Todd. He is.
Speaker 4: He's a pin pal.
Speaker 1: He's a pin pal. He's talked about it. I've been
Speaker 1: with him, so he does.
Speaker 4: Have a pin. It's a huge. It's like a plate.
Speaker 4: Because Todd's a collector.
Speaker 1: So he likes that stuff when he's out there. He's,
Speaker 1: you know, finding someone like, hey, I got the.
Speaker 4: Todd Father pin. You want my giant pin? And here,
Speaker 4: you give me your little giant, you give me your
Speaker 4: pin here. I'll give you mine for yours.
Speaker 1: Yep. There's a lot of wheeling and dealing with Todd Father.
Speaker 1: He likes a good deal. I'm serious. I've heard him
Speaker 1: talk about the pins for years. Yep. All right.
Speaker 7: Anyway.
Speaker 1: New York Life knows the importance of celebrating milestones, so
Speaker 1: they're giving you the opportunity to commemorate your first MLB
Speaker 1: game with a special lineup card certificate, but also you
Speaker 1: can enter to win a trip for two to a
Speaker 1: 2026 World Series game. Winners get access to the field
Speaker 1: before the game to watch batting practice with round trip, flight,
Speaker 1: and hotel accommodations included. Please see official rules for complete details.
Speaker 1: Those details sit at mlb.com slash myfirstgamesweeps for more information.