WEBVTT - Devers DRAMA, Tigers & D'backs trade plans, Orioles top Dodgers 0:00:01.040 --> 0:00:04.200 Welcome everyone to the Monday edition of Fair Territory. Now. 0:00:04.240 --> 0:00:07.400 I know the World Cup is going on, but baseball 0:00:07.480 --> 0:00:09.920 is sizzling right now. We've got a ton of things 0:00:09.960 --> 0:00:14.480 that are really interesting in play, starting with some very 0:00:14.480 --> 0:00:18.439 intriguing series this week. Guardians at White Sox. Who would 0:00:18.440 --> 0:00:20.880 have thought this one would be intriguing, but it's for 0:00:20.960 --> 0:00:24.040 first place in the Ale Central. The Guardians have one 0:00:24.120 --> 0:00:27.840 game lead. The Yankees are in Detroit as the Tigers 0:00:27.840 --> 0:00:30.920 try to climb out of their mess. Swept the White 0:00:30.960 --> 0:00:34.519 Sox over the weekend, Phillies at Nationals, Nationals up at 0:00:34.520 --> 0:00:37.360 a hot club. Phillies of course wrecked the Mets this weekend. 0:00:37.760 --> 0:00:41.680 And Braves at Padres as the Padres try to get 0:00:41.720 --> 0:00:44.559 something going here. They're finally starting to get some of 0:00:44.600 --> 0:00:48.640 their star players in a better place. Offensively okay, But 0:00:48.840 --> 0:00:51.800 with all of that, I want to start the show 0:00:51.840 --> 0:00:54.800 with what was the biggest story yesterday, and we'll be 0:00:54.960 --> 0:00:59.600 a big story. The Raphael Devers finger waving get away 0:00:59.640 --> 0:01:02.880 from me. I don't want a pinch runner in Miami 0:01:03.120 --> 0:01:06.600 against the Miami Marlins. Here was the situation. In case 0:01:06.640 --> 0:01:08.200 you missed it, I'll lay it all out for you 0:01:08.880 --> 0:01:11.440 the Giants were trailing two to one. In the ninth inning, 0:01:11.920 --> 0:01:15.400 Devers comes back from two to draw a lead off walk. 0:01:15.600 --> 0:01:20.120 All good so far, time run is on base. Manager 0:01:20.160 --> 0:01:24.560 Tony Vaitello inserts a pinch runner, Jonah Cox. You can 0:01:24.600 --> 0:01:27.240 see right there in the photo. Or Rafael Devers was 0:01:27.280 --> 0:01:30.360 having none of it. Now, why was there a pinch runner? 0:01:30.400 --> 0:01:34.000 Any baseball fan understands why there was a pinch runner 0:01:34.160 --> 0:01:37.000 because Jonah Cox is on the team to run and 0:01:37.080 --> 0:01:39.640 has a better chance of scoring from first on a 0:01:39.720 --> 0:01:43.759 double than Devers. Even if Jonah Cox doesn't steal second, 0:01:43.840 --> 0:01:47.120 doesn't matter. You want the best runner in there. Devers 0:01:47.160 --> 0:01:50.760 sprint speed bottom twenty two percent of the league. And 0:01:50.880 --> 0:01:54.120 yet Ralphaeld Devers shook his finger at the dugout, tried 0:01:54.160 --> 0:01:59.320 to wave off. Cox, gets in the dugout, slips away 0:01:59.360 --> 0:02:02.280 from my button app from the bench coach Jays Tangler. 0:02:03.120 --> 0:02:06.600 Not a good look, to say the least. Now, you 0:02:06.640 --> 0:02:09.840 may remember Ralphield Devers looked selfish in Boston when he 0:02:09.880 --> 0:02:14.000 refused to play first base. There were mitigating circumstances with 0:02:14.040 --> 0:02:17.160 that last season. Remember they had already moved hto DH. 0:02:17.320 --> 0:02:22.280 Communication was terrible and they seemingly had turned what had 0:02:22.320 --> 0:02:25.760 seemingly been a sweet kid Ralphield Devers into some kind 0:02:25.760 --> 0:02:28.720 of latter day Carl Everett. It was not a good 0:02:28.720 --> 0:02:30.959 look for Devers. It was also not a good look 0:02:30.960 --> 0:02:34.760 for Red Sox, and it resulted in the big trade 0:02:34.800 --> 0:02:38.080 that is still generating a lot of talk and a 0:02:38.080 --> 0:02:42.200 lot of controversy. All right, In that case, I didn't 0:02:42.280 --> 0:02:46.280 necessarily forgive Devors, but I understood where he was coming from. 0:02:46.720 --> 0:02:51.440 This one inexcusable. You cannot do what he did yesterday. 0:02:51.560 --> 0:02:56.840 It was basically in subordination. And I know fans will say, well, 0:02:57.080 --> 0:02:59.560 what about the manager, Why won't the manager bench him? 0:02:59.560 --> 0:03:04.280 Why won't Tony Vitello erupt at Devers? Not so easy 0:03:04.320 --> 0:03:07.399 to do when the player is owed more than two 0:03:07.440 --> 0:03:11.000 hundred million dollars. The major league manager has only so 0:03:11.160 --> 0:03:15.720 much power. So here we are in this situation. The Giants, 0:03:15.800 --> 0:03:19.280 of course, are in cell mode. Yeah, they'd love the 0:03:19.320 --> 0:03:22.280 trade Ralphael Devers. Ha ha ha, good luck with that. 0:03:22.840 --> 0:03:26.119 And I was amused by the MLB dot com headline 0:03:26.160 --> 0:03:30.080 on this story today in which it said Giants clear 0:03:30.120 --> 0:03:33.560 the air after Devers tries to wave off pinch runner. 0:03:34.240 --> 0:03:37.360 There was no clearing of the air. Devers did not 0:03:37.560 --> 0:03:40.760 comment after the game, another bad look for him. And 0:03:40.840 --> 0:03:43.960 here are the Giants. They are going nowhere, fifteen games 0:03:44.000 --> 0:03:47.000 under five hundred, only a game and a half ahead 0:03:47.000 --> 0:03:50.800 of the Rockies for the worst team in the National League. 0:03:51.240 --> 0:03:55.640 Good luck figuring out how to fix that particular mess. Now, 0:03:56.040 --> 0:03:59.000 on the bright side of this equation, we have the Marlins. 0:03:59.400 --> 0:04:03.160 The Miami Marlins, who you guys might recall. I don't 0:04:03.160 --> 0:04:05.360 say this often because I'm usually wrong, but I like 0:04:05.440 --> 0:04:07.800 them going into the season, and now I'm gonna pat 0:04:07.880 --> 0:04:11.200 myself on the back just a little bit. The Marlins 0:04:11.240 --> 0:04:13.760 are fourteen and four in June, and they're doing this 0:04:13.840 --> 0:04:16.640 at a time when it looked like they were going 0:04:16.680 --> 0:04:20.839 to claps. They lost three starting pitchers to injuries, Ury Perez, 0:04:21.160 --> 0:04:25.000 Jansen Junk and Robbie Snelling. And yet now they're only 0:04:25.040 --> 0:04:26.960 a half game out in the wild card race. They're 0:04:27.000 --> 0:04:30.240 tied with the Padres. They've got four players that I 0:04:30.240 --> 0:04:33.719 wrote about last week who are legitimate All Star candidates. 0:04:34.040 --> 0:04:36.800 They won't all make the team, of course, but Oto 0:04:36.880 --> 0:04:39.520 Lopez up among the league leaders in the National League 0:04:39.520 --> 0:04:42.960 in war Max Meyer having a terrific breakout season for 0:04:43.000 --> 0:04:46.080 the Fish. Liam Hicks went on the IL yesterday, so 0:04:46.160 --> 0:04:48.840 he probably won't be heading to the All Star Game. 0:04:49.160 --> 0:04:51.960 And Xavier Edwards, who's a second basement at a very 0:04:52.000 --> 0:04:55.560 difficult position, competitive one in the NL. Okay, they're not 0:04:55.600 --> 0:04:57.719 all going to make the All Star team, but good 0:04:57.720 --> 0:04:59.680 for the Marlins and it's going to be really interesting 0:04:59.720 --> 0:05:03.320 to see if they can keep this up because Kyle Stowers, 0:05:03.320 --> 0:05:06.520 who now is coming on, was quoted as saying, Hey, 0:05:06.600 --> 0:05:11.080 we're starting to play to our capabilities. Our best baseball 0:05:11.320 --> 0:05:14.479 might be ahead of uskrats. 0:05:14.600 --> 0:05:20.160 Mintmobile plans still just fifteen bucks a month, and. 0:05:20.040 --> 0:05:22.719 You're getting a ton from that fifteen dollars. 0:05:23.120 --> 0:05:25.159 That's right, And we've talked about this for a while. 0:05:25.760 --> 0:05:28.520 It hasn't changed. It's still all there for you. 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At minmobile dot com slash Territory. 0:06:00.600 --> 0:06:03.520 Forty five dollars upfront payment required equivalent to fifteen bucks 0:06:03.560 --> 0:06:06.120 a month. New customers on first three month plan only. 0:06:06.240 --> 0:06:10.200 Speed slower above forty gigabytes on unlimited plan. Additional taxes, fees, 0:06:10.240 --> 0:06:13.000 and restrictions apply. See mint mobile for details. 0:06:13.400 --> 0:06:16.440 Another team that feels its best baseball might be ahead 0:06:16.440 --> 0:06:20.279 of them the Baltimore Orioles. Now, the Oriols over the 0:06:20.279 --> 0:06:24.719 weekend took two of three at Dodger Stadium. Not easy 0:06:24.760 --> 0:06:28.000 to do, and really it should have been a sweep. 0:06:28.240 --> 0:06:32.080 They blew the Friday night game with some defensive misplays 0:06:32.120 --> 0:06:35.760 in the ninth inning behind Ryan Helsley, and really that 0:06:35.839 --> 0:06:38.120 game was one that they should have won. As well. 0:06:38.480 --> 0:06:42.240 Yesterday twelve to one victory, four home runs in that game. 0:06:42.560 --> 0:06:46.320 And suddenly the Orioles are feeling better about themselves. Their manager, 0:06:46.600 --> 0:06:49.279 Craig Alban has said, we can show that we can 0:06:49.360 --> 0:06:54.599 play with anyone. Okay, maybe the Orioles have yet to 0:06:54.640 --> 0:06:56.880 win more than three games in a row this season, 0:06:57.240 --> 0:06:59.680 and I wrote with Fritch Gieroli last week about their 0:06:59.720 --> 0:07:02.920 fun mental lapses, which we saw again on Friday night. 0:07:03.000 --> 0:07:06.000 Even Saturday, they tried to blow that game, and they're 0:07:06.000 --> 0:07:09.279 going to need to play a cleaner brand of baseball. 0:07:09.360 --> 0:07:12.600 But they're in pretty good shape here, pretty good shape 0:07:12.600 --> 0:07:16.200 in the wildcard race. Pretty good shape overall, considering that 0:07:16.520 --> 0:07:20.560 they haven't played all that well in the aggregate this season. 0:07:20.720 --> 0:07:23.760 So we'll see what the Orioles do now. Keeping it 0:07:23.800 --> 0:07:26.080 going here. The Tigers, I mentioned them at the top 0:07:26.160 --> 0:07:29.680 of the show. The Tigers swept the White Sox this weekend. 0:07:29.800 --> 0:07:32.840 The Tiger's right now seven and a half back in 0:07:32.880 --> 0:07:36.440 the AL Central five, back in the Wildcard. They've got 0:07:36.440 --> 0:07:39.600 the Guardians coming up this I'm sorry that they have 0:07:39.640 --> 0:07:43.120 the Yankees coming up this week. And they are finally 0:07:43.160 --> 0:07:46.160 starting to play better now. You might recall I wrote 0:07:46.160 --> 0:07:48.680 when they were sixteen games under five hundred that they 0:07:48.680 --> 0:07:51.720 were going to trade Trek Scooble. Things have changed a 0:07:51.720 --> 0:07:55.160 little bit since then. They're now eleven under. The Guardians 0:07:55.200 --> 0:07:59.040 are dealing with a number of injuries. Jose Ramirez on 0:07:59.200 --> 0:08:02.520 hel Martinez Chase the Laughter and the White Sox are 0:08:02.560 --> 0:08:06.480 a team that definitely has competed at extremely high level 0:08:06.560 --> 0:08:09.960 this season, but a team that most people believe eventually 0:08:10.000 --> 0:08:13.440 will come back to earth somewhat. So no, it's not 0:08:13.560 --> 0:08:17.480 over for the Tigers. But the problem they have is 0:08:17.640 --> 0:08:22.200 when you're eleven games under five hundred, you cannot afford 0:08:22.800 --> 0:08:26.320 another losing spell. And maybe they won't have one Schooble's back. 0:08:26.360 --> 0:08:28.160 Maybe they can avoid that, and maybe they can keep 0:08:28.200 --> 0:08:32.080 this going okay, And then if that is the case 0:08:32.160 --> 0:08:34.600 at the end of July, going into the August third 0:08:34.600 --> 0:08:38.400 trade deadline, at that point they'll have a decision. But 0:08:38.480 --> 0:08:41.240 the decision might not be can we make the playoffs 0:08:41.320 --> 0:08:44.120 with Trek Scooble. It might be Okay, how far can 0:08:44.160 --> 0:08:47.080 we go? Because they've got to be realistic about this thing. 0:08:47.880 --> 0:08:50.199 If he leaves the free agent, which he's going to do, 0:08:50.920 --> 0:08:53.360 they're only going to get a draft pick in return. 0:08:53.600 --> 0:08:56.840 So do you bank on that and try to do 0:08:56.920 --> 0:08:59.000 it one more time with Trek Scooble that was the 0:08:59.040 --> 0:09:03.040 original premise this season for the Tigers, or you cut 0:09:03.040 --> 0:09:06.200 bait and say, you know what, let's regroup here, let's 0:09:06.200 --> 0:09:08.680 get what we can for a guy who can be 0:09:09.160 --> 0:09:11.960 an elite starting pitcher in the postseason, which of course 0:09:12.520 --> 0:09:15.320 is the reason you keep Schooble as well. So the 0:09:15.360 --> 0:09:19.240 Tigers saga continues to unfold. One more team I want 0:09:19.280 --> 0:09:22.640 to mention in this first segment of the show, the 0:09:22.679 --> 0:09:27.160 Arizona Diamondbacks. Last week, their GM Mike Hayson goes on 0:09:27.200 --> 0:09:30.720 a local radio show in Phoenix and says, we're planning 0:09:30.800 --> 0:09:35.040 on buying good intention. The right intention, of course, but 0:09:35.880 --> 0:09:39.680 Hazen might have spoken too soon in a four day span. 0:09:39.840 --> 0:09:43.200 Listen to what happened to the Diamondbacks. It's awful. Corbyn 0:09:43.240 --> 0:09:46.360 Burns and aj Puck both coming back from Tommy John surgeries. 0:09:46.640 --> 0:09:49.960 The Diamondbacks were expecting them around the All Star break, 0:09:50.000 --> 0:09:52.880 maybe even a little sooner in Puck's case, and they 0:09:52.920 --> 0:09:56.800 both suffered new injuries that amounted to setbacks. They're out 0:09:57.080 --> 0:09:59.600 until late in the season. Ryan Nelson, one of them 0:10:00.000 --> 0:10:03.880 assistant starters, he gets hurt. Michael Soroka, another one of 0:10:03.920 --> 0:10:08.400 their consistent starters, gets hurt. Outfielder Jordan Lawler also goes 0:10:08.440 --> 0:10:12.199 on the il and Zach Allen another poor start. He's 0:10:12.240 --> 0:10:16.240 having a miserable season, and the Diamondbacks. Yeah, they planned 0:10:16.280 --> 0:10:19.199 on buying, and maybe Mike Haysen still plans on buying. 0:10:19.200 --> 0:10:22.320 And my goodness, the deadline is still six weeks away. 0:10:22.679 --> 0:10:26.200 But they've got a long way to go here, and 0:10:26.360 --> 0:10:28.679 a long way to go just to get healthy again. 0:10:28.800 --> 0:10:32.720 So this all happened once more in a four day span, 0:10:33.240 --> 0:10:38.040 four days, all these injuries, and it just shows how 0:10:38.120 --> 0:10:40.600 quickly things can change at this time of year, and 0:10:40.640 --> 0:10:44.680 how for anyone to draw sweeping conclusions about anything going 0:10:44.679 --> 0:10:47.640 on and to say, Oh, this guy's getting traded, that 0:10:47.679 --> 0:10:50.439 guy's getting traded. This team's a seller, this team's a buyer. 0:10:51.000 --> 0:10:54.600 Hold on, got a long way to go before the deadline. 0:10:54.840 --> 0:10:57.080 All right, We will be right back after this with 0:10:57.200 --> 0:10:59.600 the Inside Dish, and I'm going to talk about the 0:10:59.720 --> 0:11:09.840 New York Mets. Time now for the Inside Dish, the 0:11:09.880 --> 0:11:11.520 part of the show where I talk about a trend 0:11:11.520 --> 0:11:14.440 in the game, something I've written, something I've seen, And 0:11:14.480 --> 0:11:16.560 as I warned you at the end of the first segment, 0:11:16.679 --> 0:11:19.440 I'm going to talk about the New York Mets. Now, 0:11:19.480 --> 0:11:22.160 we had the Mets on Fox Saturday night. It was 0:11:22.200 --> 0:11:25.160 the game they lost fifteen to three to the Phillies. 0:11:25.440 --> 0:11:27.920 But I want to go back to the days before, 0:11:28.160 --> 0:11:31.439 as I was prepping for the broadcast, particularly after they 0:11:31.480 --> 0:11:35.079 won the first game of the series in Philadelphia on Thursday. 0:11:35.640 --> 0:11:37.680 Then they had an off day Friday going into the 0:11:37.720 --> 0:11:40.880 Saturday game. So I'm preparing my notes for the broadcast, 0:11:40.920 --> 0:11:45.320 getting ready, and I'm starting to picture in my head 0:11:46.240 --> 0:11:50.320 the possibility of the Mets bouncing back. I can kind 0:11:50.320 --> 0:11:53.280 of see it, putting things together again. They had won 0:11:53.320 --> 0:11:55.760 the first game of the series. They were twenty four 0:11:55.760 --> 0:11:59.480 and twenty at that moment since May first. Also since 0:11:59.520 --> 0:12:01.839 May first, they were twelve in the majors and runs 0:12:01.880 --> 0:12:05.960 per game. They finally were performing at a higher level Offensively, 0:12:06.520 --> 0:12:09.680 they had Francisco Lindoor coming back. That will happen this week. 0:12:09.920 --> 0:12:13.000 They had Tyrone Taylor close to coming back, Ronnie Maurisio, 0:12:13.160 --> 0:12:17.560 all these guys making progress, and you're thinking, Okay, maybe 0:12:17.559 --> 0:12:20.360 there's a chance here, maybe there is a ray of light. 0:12:21.240 --> 0:12:24.360 But the problem, as I said on the broadcast early 0:12:24.400 --> 0:12:27.280 in the broadcast, after Freddy Peralta started getting lit up, 0:12:27.960 --> 0:12:31.600 is that they entered the game Saturday still seven games 0:12:31.679 --> 0:12:34.480 under five hundred, and now of course it's nine. After 0:12:34.520 --> 0:12:37.920 they get shellacked the last two games in Philadelphia, So 0:12:38.000 --> 0:12:40.400 to get to eighty five wins, and that's probably the 0:12:40.440 --> 0:12:42.800 bottom range for a wild card. The Reds got in 0:12:42.840 --> 0:12:45.000 with eighty three last year, but let's look at eighty 0:12:45.000 --> 0:12:48.079 five as a potential target. To get to eighty five, 0:12:48.640 --> 0:12:51.400 they're going to need to go fifty one and thirty 0:12:51.440 --> 0:12:55.120 four the rest of the way. Fifty one and thirty four. Now, 0:12:55.120 --> 0:12:57.560 how do you do that? The way to get back 0:12:57.559 --> 0:13:00.800 to five hundred. The first obstacle for the Mets is 0:13:00.840 --> 0:13:04.920 to get strong starting pitching, and you have to kind 0:13:04.920 --> 0:13:07.280 of do that night after night. That's how the Phillies 0:13:07.840 --> 0:13:12.000 got back into contention under Don Maddingly, Wheeler came back, 0:13:12.080 --> 0:13:15.960 they had Sanchez, Lozardo's been good. They put some things 0:13:15.960 --> 0:13:19.080 together with their rotation, even with Nola inconsistent and Painter 0:13:19.559 --> 0:13:23.960 not good, they were able to mount this surge. The Mets. 0:13:25.040 --> 0:13:28.040 It's difficult to see how they're going to do that. 0:13:28.480 --> 0:13:31.160 Peralta was acquired to be, if not the ace, a 0:13:31.240 --> 0:13:35.880 top of the rotation starter. Awful and his season by 0:13:35.920 --> 0:13:38.920 and large has been disappointing. He was awful Saturday night, 0:13:39.080 --> 0:13:43.920 disappointing overall. Sean and Iyah, he came on of late 0:13:44.160 --> 0:13:46.000 and has had two good starts in a row, but 0:13:46.080 --> 0:13:49.560 still a question. The guy who is the presumptive ace now, 0:13:49.600 --> 0:13:51.720 Nola McLain had a little bit of a rocky period, 0:13:51.800 --> 0:13:55.160 understandable in his second season, but he's coming off a 0:13:55.200 --> 0:13:58.559 strong start in Cincinnati, so you could see okay going 0:13:58.559 --> 0:14:03.760 into the Peralta game. Paralta McLean. Maniah, that's not bad, 0:14:04.240 --> 0:14:09.960 but again Paralta hugely disappointing on Saturday, overall disappointing as well. 0:14:10.640 --> 0:14:14.440 Maniah Okay, perhaps he'll be okay, but again there's just 0:14:14.520 --> 0:14:17.559 not enough there. David Peterson, a guy who was an 0:14:17.600 --> 0:14:20.720 All Star last year, has lost it. He's been bad 0:14:20.720 --> 0:14:24.600 all season, bad again Sunday night. Who knows what they'll 0:14:24.600 --> 0:14:27.360 get from Senga. He's still in the rotation. Christian Scott 0:14:27.400 --> 0:14:30.960 coming back from the injured list relatively soon. That should help. 0:14:31.240 --> 0:14:34.600 But you're piecing this together and you're seeing the Mets 0:14:34.680 --> 0:14:38.760 and you're recalling that the Clayholmes injury, the fracture of tibula, 0:14:39.200 --> 0:14:42.280 that was absolutely crushing for them because if they had 0:14:42.320 --> 0:14:45.800 a chance to really mount something here, it was going 0:14:45.880 --> 0:14:48.560 to be with their pitching healthy and Clay Holmes had 0:14:48.600 --> 0:14:53.440 to be healthy. He was arguably their top starter, accepting MacLean, 0:14:53.480 --> 0:14:56.320 who is in his second year. So I don't see 0:14:56.360 --> 0:14:59.920 it with this rotation. So then you ask the question, Okay, then, 0:15:00.000 --> 0:15:03.600 and what's next? Lindor is back this week, but the 0:15:03.640 --> 0:15:06.520 Mets need to get hot in a hurry to avoid 0:15:06.640 --> 0:15:10.480 becoming a seller. And yes, they are trending toward becoming 0:15:10.480 --> 0:15:13.560 a seller. And yet you ask, what is there to sell? 0:15:14.080 --> 0:15:16.960 Peralta not only is hurting the team, he's hurting his 0:15:17.040 --> 0:15:21.040 trade value. You've got Peterson, another potential free agent. Perhaps 0:15:21.080 --> 0:15:23.720 a team will take a shot on him, but they're 0:15:23.760 --> 0:15:26.480 not going to give you much in return. You've got 0:15:26.480 --> 0:15:29.760 some bullpen pieces, some lefties AJ Minter and Brooks rally 0:15:29.800 --> 0:15:34.200 potential free agents. They'll bring B level prospects, probably back 0:15:34.240 --> 0:15:36.640 to you. And you've got Clay Holmes, who if a 0:15:36.640 --> 0:15:39.040 team is willing to take a chance the way that 0:15:39.240 --> 0:15:41.680 Blue Jays did with Shane Bieber last season and trade 0:15:41.680 --> 0:15:44.280 for a guy in the injured list, they may think, Okay, 0:15:44.280 --> 0:15:46.520 in the final six weeks or so, we can get 0:15:46.560 --> 0:15:49.560 something out of Clay Holmes. But again, none of these 0:15:49.600 --> 0:15:53.000 deals is going to be a blockbuster. For the Mets. 0:15:53.320 --> 0:15:56.240 Maybe a trade, Luke Weaver. I don't know you can 0:15:56.280 --> 0:16:00.120 do that. The one strength they've had this season has 0:16:00.160 --> 0:16:03.640 been bullpen management and their bullpen overall. And when I 0:16:03.640 --> 0:16:06.200 say bullpen management, I had this stat ready to go 0:16:06.320 --> 0:16:08.640 Saturday night. We never got to it because the Mets 0:16:08.640 --> 0:16:13.480 got crushed. Carlos Mendoza, for all his difficulties this year, 0:16:13.520 --> 0:16:16.480 for whatever concerns the Mets might have about him, or 0:16:16.520 --> 0:16:18.440 the Mets fans I should say might have about him, 0:16:18.480 --> 0:16:22.360 they've obviously stuck with him. They have the fewest back 0:16:22.400 --> 0:16:24.320 to backs this year. What I mean by that is 0:16:24.360 --> 0:16:27.880 the fewest times a reliever has pitched on consecutive days 0:16:27.920 --> 0:16:31.080 this season. That shows you that Mendoza has run the 0:16:31.120 --> 0:16:34.520 bullpen pretty well because they've had, of course, all of 0:16:34.560 --> 0:16:38.000 these short starts, and he has still managed to run 0:16:38.080 --> 0:16:40.720 the bullpen in a way where he hasn't crushed any reliever. 0:16:40.880 --> 0:16:45.320 So okay, good on that end, but a good bullpen 0:16:45.480 --> 0:16:47.360 doesn't do you much good when you've got a team 0:16:47.400 --> 0:16:50.280 that is falling behind all the time, and that is 0:16:50.320 --> 0:16:54.360 a frequent occurrence with the Mets. Now. Stearns is going 0:16:54.360 --> 0:16:57.480 to be the question here, and that's The biggest issue 0:16:57.480 --> 0:16:59.800 with the Mets. The question that's going to be going forward, 0:17:00.440 --> 0:17:03.040 what do you do with David Stearns if your owner 0:17:03.240 --> 0:17:07.120 Steve Cohen. Now, a lot of fans want Stearns gone, 0:17:07.160 --> 0:17:10.560 and understandably so. This season has been a mess coming 0:17:10.600 --> 0:17:13.679 off last season, which for the final four months was 0:17:13.720 --> 0:17:18.200 a mess. What Stearns did was he reacted to that disappointment, 0:17:18.240 --> 0:17:23.480 the disappointment of twenty twenty five, by orchestrating a dramatic makeover. 0:17:23.880 --> 0:17:27.960 And the makeover in the eyes of many fans, and 0:17:28.440 --> 0:17:30.480 a lot of people seem to have forgotten they thought this. 0:17:31.000 --> 0:17:33.159 A lot of people wanted Pete a Lonzo gone and 0:17:33.160 --> 0:17:36.160 Brandon Nimo gone and Jeff McNeil gone, and the idea 0:17:36.680 --> 0:17:40.920 of starting over understandable. They had not one with that group. 0:17:40.960 --> 0:17:43.840 And if you want to start over, okay, the problem 0:17:43.880 --> 0:17:47.440 with that is you've got to have good answers. And 0:17:47.960 --> 0:17:51.680 I questioned in January whether they had chosen the right players, 0:17:52.040 --> 0:17:54.159 and it turns out in many cases they have not. 0:17:54.840 --> 0:17:56.760 And the problem I had I mentioned this on the 0:17:56.760 --> 0:17:59.480 broadcast as well, was that you brought in a series 0:17:59.520 --> 0:18:03.040 of guys who have lent the injury histories and also 0:18:03.080 --> 0:18:07.320 a guy Marcus Simeon in decline, Robert Junior injury history, 0:18:07.400 --> 0:18:10.719 Polanco injury history, Bobaschet for that matter. He's been healthy. 0:18:11.040 --> 0:18:13.280 He's had leg problems in the past too. They've been 0:18:13.320 --> 0:18:18.280 lucky with him. So you did all that. It hasn't worked. 0:18:18.520 --> 0:18:20.840 At least it hasn't worked to this point. You can say, well, 0:18:20.840 --> 0:18:23.680 the injury to Holmes was crushing. No no, no, no no. 0:18:23.920 --> 0:18:26.760 When you've got the game's second highest payroll, the loss 0:18:26.760 --> 0:18:29.600 of one picture shouldn't hit you so or hurt you 0:18:29.640 --> 0:18:34.480 that much. So people are going to want David Stearns gone, 0:18:34.600 --> 0:18:37.480 and people are gonna think, well, Carlos Mendoza has to go. Maybe, 0:18:37.520 --> 0:18:40.200 so you have to change your manager in this circumstance. 0:18:40.280 --> 0:18:43.440 I get it, But David Stearns, be careful what you 0:18:43.480 --> 0:18:46.439 wish for, because the Mets have had a lot of 0:18:46.520 --> 0:18:49.800 turnover in that position. The head of baseball operations under 0:18:49.840 --> 0:18:54.159 Cohen and Stearns has done some good things. Rebuilt the 0:18:54.200 --> 0:18:58.640 processes in the farm system, created an environment where aj 0:18:58.840 --> 0:19:01.959 Ewing and Carson benj in particular could come up. There 0:19:01.960 --> 0:19:05.320 were spots available to them. Ewing's case because of Robert's injury. 0:19:05.600 --> 0:19:08.640 But they created an opportunity for benj and they're doing 0:19:08.680 --> 0:19:12.439 that for other young players as well. Now has it 0:19:12.480 --> 0:19:14.840 all worked out? No, it has not all worked out. 0:19:14.920 --> 0:19:17.760 But you change your head at baseball operations and you're 0:19:17.880 --> 0:19:21.480 kind of starting all over again. Maybe that's the appropriate 0:19:21.680 --> 0:19:24.679 decision here, but I'm not sure it is. I'm not 0:19:24.800 --> 0:19:28.160 sure that's the way to go when again, you've had 0:19:28.200 --> 0:19:31.440 all that turnover, you've had some good things happen under 0:19:31.480 --> 0:19:35.440 Stearn's he just needs to make better decisions now. If 0:19:35.480 --> 0:19:38.280 he proves incapable of that, if for instance, they have 0:19:38.320 --> 0:19:42.080 another bad offseason and they don't improve next year, then 0:19:42.119 --> 0:19:45.400 I think you're talking about something else. But Steve Cohen 0:19:45.440 --> 0:19:47.920 has invested a lot in David Sterns signed him to 0:19:48.000 --> 0:19:51.440 a huge contract. That was the guy they wanted all along. 0:19:52.480 --> 0:19:55.800 So we'll see how this all plays out going forward. 0:19:56.240 --> 0:20:00.480 Sterns clearly is going to have to make better decis 0:20:00.800 --> 0:20:03.840 choose better players for lack of a better term, And 0:20:03.880 --> 0:20:07.440 then the question becomes how much confidence does Steve Cohen 0:20:07.560 --> 0:20:10.760 still have in him to do that? All Right, we'll 0:20:10.800 --> 0:20:16.119 be back with grilling Ken right after this. When my 0:20:16.200 --> 0:20:19.040 puppy Bella has something wrong. I'm not going to go 0:20:19.080 --> 0:20:20.840 around googling what to do. 0:20:21.160 --> 0:20:23.480 Yeah, Kratz, let's have a better plan. Today's episode is 0:20:23.520 --> 0:20:27.600 sponsored by the ASPCA Pet Health Insurance Program. It offers 0:20:27.680 --> 0:20:30.560 customizable accident and illness plans that can fit your budget, 0:20:30.560 --> 0:20:33.720 your lifestyle, and even your pets particular quirks. Because, let's 0:20:33.760 --> 0:20:36.880 be honest, VET bills can add up fast. ASPCA Pet 0:20:36.920 --> 0:20:39.520 Health Insurance has been around for almost thirty years and 0:20:39.560 --> 0:20:42.200 has covered over one million pets. And when it's time 0:20:42.200 --> 0:20:44.320 to submit a claim, it's easy. Just use their app 0:20:44.359 --> 0:20:47.359 and receive reimbursement for eligible VET bills directly into your 0:20:47.400 --> 0:20:49.560 bank account, so you can get back to focusing on 0:20:49.640 --> 0:20:53.720 what really matters your pet. To explore coverage, visit ASPCA 0:20:53.800 --> 0:20:57.400 Pet Insurance dot com slash foul. That's ASPCA Pet Insurance 0:20:57.440 --> 0:21:00.960 dot com. Slash foul. Again, that's ASPC Pet Insurance dot 0:21:01.000 --> 0:21:03.720 Com slash foul. This is a paid advertisement. Insurance is 0:21:03.760 --> 0:21:07.320 underwritten by either Independent American Insurance Company or United States 0:21:07.400 --> 0:21:10.879 Fire Insurance Company and produced by PTZ Insurance Agency Limited. 0:21:11.000 --> 0:21:13.640 The ASPCA is not an insurance and is not engaged 0:21:13.640 --> 0:21:14.840 in the business of insurance. 0:21:21.040 --> 0:21:23.119 All Right, here we go with grilling Ken. Time for 0:21:23.240 --> 0:21:27.120 your questions. Let's get to them. First. One comes from 0:21:27.200 --> 0:21:31.240 John C Underscore ninety, who asks, the Dodgers are flushing 0:21:31.440 --> 0:21:33.480 way too many games right now, but is that the 0:21:33.520 --> 0:21:36.600 October plan? Again, John, I would suggest the answer to 0:21:36.720 --> 0:21:41.040 that question is yes. And the Dodgers are a funny 0:21:41.080 --> 0:21:44.600 team to follow during the regular season because we all 0:21:44.680 --> 0:21:48.000 know they're going to get to October and they are 0:21:48.040 --> 0:21:52.240 playing essentially for October. No Snell right now, no Glass now, 0:21:52.280 --> 0:21:55.800 They're on the injured list. They have River Ryan stashed 0:21:55.800 --> 0:21:58.720 a triple A, another starting pitcher they like him. He 0:21:58.800 --> 0:22:02.800 can come up and can tribute, and Taoscar Hernandez is 0:22:02.800 --> 0:22:05.400 on the il. They've got all these things going on, 0:22:05.800 --> 0:22:11.880 none of them terribly awful, but they at various points 0:22:11.920 --> 0:22:13.760 in the regular season. This has happened over the last 0:22:13.800 --> 0:22:17.680 couple of years. Look like the motivation isn't totally there. 0:22:17.720 --> 0:22:19.640 It's not that they're not trying, it's just that they 0:22:19.640 --> 0:22:22.400 don't play with the same urgency that they will play 0:22:22.440 --> 0:22:25.520 with in October. So yeah, I would say they're flushing 0:22:25.600 --> 0:22:27.439 too many games right now. At the same time, I 0:22:27.440 --> 0:22:30.520 would say it's just not that great a concern. They 0:22:30.520 --> 0:22:34.120 don't have their whole team for one thing, and they 0:22:34.119 --> 0:22:37.080 don't have that carrot in front of them, and they're 0:22:37.160 --> 0:22:39.359 human beings. They need that carrot. It's one hundred and 0:22:39.400 --> 0:22:41.680 sixty two games. They're not going to play with an 0:22:41.760 --> 0:22:45.000 urgency the entire year when they know the whole thing 0:22:45.119 --> 0:22:49.160 comes down to what they do in the postseason. All right, 0:22:49.240 --> 0:22:51.520