Speaker 1: Welcome one to knowledge of the Hammer Territory Podcast. My
Speaker 1: name is Sean Coleman. Hope, wherever you are and wherever
Speaker 1: you are listening, you are having a great week so far.
Speaker 1: And the other wonderful thing about Hammer Territory. We're here
Speaker 1: to make the week even better for you when we can.
Speaker 1: Are not confident we're going to be able to do that.
Speaker 1: On today's episode, a very special episode here momentarily, we
Speaker 1: will hear from MLB insider Ken Rosenthal, who today had
Speaker 1: a very insightful story about the fact that the Tigers
Speaker 1: could finally be open for business for Tarks Google and
Speaker 1: one of the primary players for his services could be
Speaker 1: Stephen the Atlanta Braves.
Speaker 2: Yeah, what's up, buddy, So, yeah, we got a special
Speaker 2: show tonight. Obviously, with Ken joining the show, we reached out.
Speaker 2: It's obviously trade deadline season. Ken. Obviously, he's on the
Speaker 2: Foul Territory Network quite a bit rights for the Athletic,
Speaker 2: one of the premier insiders in baseball quite honestly, and
Speaker 2: so when he said yes, obviously we wanted to get
Speaker 2: him on the show as fast as possible and see
Speaker 2: what he had to say.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, So more on Tark Schooble, what the Braves could
Speaker 1: potentially do if they were to pivot, and is everything
Speaker 1: aligning in place for Alex and Thopolis to be as
Speaker 1: aggressive as possible at this trade deadline without further ado.
Speaker 1: The great Ken Rosenthal welcome back and with us now
Speaker 1: is mob insider Ken Rosenthal. Ken, It's an honor to
Speaker 1: talk with you. Of course, we're here to talk all
Speaker 1: about the Braves, and they certainly have been a topic
Speaker 1: of discussion, and the big topic of discussion around baseball
Speaker 1: is Tark Schooble and Kim want to get right to it.
Speaker 1: You talked today about how action's starting to be there
Speaker 1: on the Tark Schooble front, and the Braves could be
Speaker 1: at the forefront of that. What's the latest you can
Speaker 1: shared with us on what once was a pipe dream
Speaker 1: but now could be a reality of tart school will
Speaker 1: maybe going to the Braves.
Speaker 3: Well, the only thing I can really say is that
Speaker 3: if he is made available, which I expect he will be,
Speaker 3: then the Braves are going to be in and they're
Speaker 3: gonna see what the price is and they're gonna check
Speaker 3: and see if this is doable for them. Now, maybe
Speaker 3: a year ago it probably wouldn't have been their system
Speaker 3: wasn't maybe as strong as it is now. And then
Speaker 3: the question becomes, Okay, if the system is strong enough,
Speaker 3: and it seems that it is, would they be willing
Speaker 3: to part with the cream of that system if that's
Speaker 3: what it takes for a rental. And that's something that
Speaker 3: Alexanthopolis has not done really much of in Atlanta at all.
Speaker 3: He's been active at the deadline at times, He's been
Speaker 3: really active twenty one right, but he hasn't made this
Speaker 3: kind of move. Hasn't made it since he acquired David
Speaker 3: Price for the Toronto Blue Jays in twenty fifteen, and
Speaker 3: that had some similarities. Price was like, Schoogle is now
Speaker 3: a potential difference maker, and for a potential difference maker,
Speaker 3: then maybe you go for it.
Speaker 2: So let me ask you this because I saw you
Speaker 2: doing your spot earlier and you were talking about the
Speaker 2: Rangers and you were talking about how they don't really
Speaker 2: want to add payroll, and I was curious because so
Speaker 2: the Braves have this jerks and profile money that's just
Speaker 2: been sitting there all year. We've talked about it a lot.
Speaker 2: There is a pending lockout coming. I do wonder do
Speaker 2: the Braves having this ability to spend money, maybe at
Speaker 2: a level other teams don't, and maybe at a level
Speaker 2: that they haven't had before. Does that give them an
Speaker 2: advantage in a market where there may be a number
Speaker 2: of teams, especially with a lockout pending, who might be
Speaker 2: a little tighter with the purse strings.
Speaker 3: It could certainly, and with certain teams the money will
Speaker 3: be a factor. School is going to be over about
Speaker 3: nine and a half million at the deadline, didn't you
Speaker 3: guys mention profar money is sitting there, it's waiting to
Speaker 3: be spent. Indeed, the Braves plan to spend it. So
Speaker 3: for a team like Tampa Bay, a team like Milwaukee,
Speaker 3: the money is a problem. Giving up that many prospects
Speaker 3: or that quality of prospect is a problem, and they
Speaker 3: might be disinclined to do it. But at the same time,
Speaker 3: Tampa Bay is in a unique spot, best record in
Speaker 3: the American League. They can maybe do this this year.
Speaker 3: They have a good system, but it depends again on
Speaker 3: what the Tigers want, Tampa Bay's willingness to do it.
Speaker 3: And then way out yonder you have the Dodgers sitting there.
Speaker 3: They're sitting there with one of the game's best farm systems.
Speaker 3: They've got I believe, six outfielders in the top one
Speaker 3: hundred ten outfielders overall. That's MLB dot COM's top hundred,
Speaker 3: So they certainly are equipped to do this. Money is
Speaker 3: no object to them, and I would expect that what
Speaker 3: they're gonna do is wait around and see if someone
Speaker 3: jumps out, and if no one does, they tell the Tigers, hey, guys,
Speaker 3: here we are. And the other thing with the Dodgers
Speaker 3: that I can see happen here is them staying involved.
Speaker 3: If they think the Braves or the Phillies or the
Speaker 3: Cubs are going to be involved in the schoobls sweep stakes.
Speaker 3: They love nothing better than to muddy the waters. They've
Speaker 3: done it in the past, and at times, not only
Speaker 3: are they done in the past, they've come away with
Speaker 3: the player. So it's a really complicated landscape. I couldn't
Speaker 3: predict what's going to happen. I couldn't even predict necessarily
Speaker 3: what the Tigers are going to do. But what we
Speaker 3: reported today is that simply teams are now starting to
Speaker 3: talk to the Tigers and say, guys, we need to
Speaker 3: know a little bit more. Up until now, teams have
Speaker 3: been like, well, Tigers are trying to stay in it.
Speaker 3: We're going to be respectful. I love this respectful. It's
Speaker 3: six days out. Time to start doing business.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And of course the Tigers the only allegiances that
Speaker 1: they have is to themselves in their future. And you
Speaker 1: mentioned it in one of your spots today. There's a bar, right,
Speaker 1: there's a bar that they want to be met. And
Speaker 1: as willing as the Braves may be to deal their
Speaker 1: top prospects, there may just be other teams, like the
Speaker 1: Brewers or the Dodgers, who simply have other prospects that
Speaker 1: meet the Tigers once more than the Braves. So what
Speaker 1: if the Braves have to pivot? What if Scooball is
Speaker 1: not the answer for whatever reason, that money is still there,
Speaker 1: there are multiple needs that are still there. Do you
Speaker 1: kind of what direction do you feel would be the
Speaker 1: priority for the Braves to pivot it too? Maybe it's
Speaker 1: a controllable starter. Does a more significant hitter come into play?
Speaker 1: What are the alternatives for the Braves if Scooball does
Speaker 1: not wind up being a realistic option.
Speaker 3: I'm sure they'd love a controllable starter. All teams would.
Speaker 3: Casey Mize would be a possibility because the Tigers conceivably
Speaker 3: could trade him too. He's a potential free agent. We
Speaker 3: come at a much lesser cost like Josh Peterson and
Speaker 3: Sol there and all those guys did at twenty one.
Speaker 3: So that's one way. Robbie Ray is out there. Freddy Peralta,
Speaker 3: I don't know if the Mets and Braves will do that.
Speaker 3: I don't know if the Braves and want Freddy Paralta.
Speaker 3: There are starters to be had. Foster Griffin from the
Speaker 3: Nationals another one. The question is always is going to
Speaker 3: be the competition. It's going to be the price, the
Speaker 3: Braves willingness to stomach what the price might be. And
Speaker 3: as for the other needs, I remember, coming out of
Speaker 3: the break, I reported that the Braves were worried about
Speaker 3: their offense, kind of focused on offense, and since then
Speaker 3: their offense has come around. Right, Raccoon is back, Riley
Speaker 3: looks better, Baldwin, it's Baldwin again. So I don't know
Speaker 3: that that's such a priority right now. Certainly shortstop, yes,
Speaker 3: could be. But to me, pitching is the focus and
Speaker 3: it should be the focus.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's I mean, I think I think everybody in
Speaker 2: Braves country and We've been saying this all off season.
Speaker 2: I saw you say it all off season multiple times.
Speaker 2: Everybody expected the Braves to get an impact starter, a
Speaker 2: playoff caliber starter, and it just hasn't happened. I do
Speaker 2: want to ask you about a specific team and a
Speaker 2: specific name, because I've heard it, and I I'm just
Speaker 2: curious if there's any any heat behind it, you know,
Speaker 2: the Braves. Alex Adopolis has traded for Kevin Gosman in
Speaker 2: the past, Like in twenty eighteen, one of his first
Speaker 2: moves ever was trading for Kevin Gosman. It didn't work out.
Speaker 2: They ended up, you know, kind of going their separate ways.
Speaker 2: He then turned into a very good picture. Over like
Speaker 2: the last five or six years. The Blue Jays are
Speaker 2: having a rough year. Do you see any world where
Speaker 2: the blue Jays sell off some pieces and would Gosman
Speaker 2: be a guy that they could potentially pivot to.
Speaker 3: I see that world. I definitely see the Blue Jays
Speaker 3: potentially selling pieces. What I have a harder time seeing
Speaker 3: is the Blue Jays trading with Alex Anthopolis. There are
Speaker 3: feelings there.
Speaker 2: Let's got that way.
Speaker 3: There are emotions there, and Anthopolis, of course would not
Speaker 3: work for Mark Chapyro, who is now the team president.
Speaker 3: I would think Toronto would have a hard time dealing
Speaker 3: with Alex now if he makes the best offer for
Speaker 3: Gosman and it's from the best interest of both. I
Speaker 3: don't know why you wouldn't you put all that Pas
Speaker 3: stuff aside. It's been ten years now almost, But you
Speaker 3: guys know, sometimes personal feelings do come into play, and
Speaker 3: I could see it in this case more than maybe
Speaker 3: in some others. If like a GM doesn't like another GM.
Speaker 3: Granted again, if the deal is something both sides desire
Speaker 3: and is helpful to both sides, sure you get it done.
Speaker 3: But that could be a roadblock.
Speaker 2: Interesting.
Speaker 1: So then, Kim, one last question, and this is in
Speaker 1: general when it comes to Alex and thoughtless. I know
Speaker 1: that you have covered Alex quite a bit. You know,
Speaker 1: in his decade plus of being a GM. You've referenced
Speaker 1: it multiple times. Going after a Taric Scoople type deal
Speaker 1: would be something he's done in the past, but it
Speaker 1: was in Toronto versus Atlanta. He's been very, very resistant
Speaker 1: to give away top prospects and deals in Atlanta. But
Speaker 1: this year, as you've also mentioned, with the draft that
Speaker 1: just happened with some emerging prospects. There's more resources now
Speaker 1: on that, in more money on that in the question
Speaker 1: that I have for you, with the needs that are there,
Speaker 1: but the act the brains are clear contenders. It just
Speaker 1: seems like everything makes common sense for alex and Thoughtless
Speaker 1: to go for it, for him to be more aggressive
Speaker 1: and be more at the top of the food chain
Speaker 1: when it comes to his moves at this trade deadline.
Speaker 1: Would that be a fair assessment.
Speaker 3: I believe that is a fair assessment. Now how Alexander
Speaker 3: THOUGHTFULSS might see it could be completely different. But yes,
Speaker 3: it does line up. The system is in a good place.
Speaker 3: They have the profile, money, they have a team that
Speaker 3: is potentially capable of winning the World Series. All that said,
Speaker 3: there are other teams involved, other teams that were trying
Speaker 3: to get Schooble or whoever else, And that's kind of
Speaker 3: how this works, right. So I agree with everything you
Speaker 3: just said. I just don't know that it plays out
Speaker 3: exactly as you might be in a visioning. It could,
Speaker 3: and it certainly would make sense if it did. It's
Speaker 3: just the deadline, guys. It's so hard to predict anything.
Speaker 3: And I know we all do these lists and we
Speaker 3: have these projected trades and all this and then connerly
Speaker 3: early for Curtis meat happens a couple days ago and
Speaker 3: nobody had any clue either one of those guys was
Speaker 3: getting traded. That's the trade deadline. That's what we're dealing with.
Speaker 1: Absolutely. Well, his name is Ken Rosenthal. Can I will
Speaker 1: sprgive me I will ask you just one last question.
Speaker 1: My guess is from a timeline perspective, we're probably looking
Speaker 1: this weekend for everything to kind of pick up probably
Speaker 1: Saturday and the Sunday and to Monday. It seems like
Speaker 1: it's going to be right at the last minute type
Speaker 1: activity deadline.
Speaker 3: That would be my expectation.
Speaker 1: Yes, well, his name is Ken Rosenthal, a legend in
Speaker 1: the business. Ken, thank you so much for your time.
Speaker 1: It was a pleasure to talk with you. Hope you
Speaker 1: have a wonderful day and hope you enjoyed this time
Speaker 1: of year.
Speaker 3: As always, Thanks guys could be with you. Thanks guys.
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Speaker 1: So Stephen Ken had obviously plenty of great insight when
Speaker 1: it came to tart school and the braves, and let's
Speaker 1: start there. You know, another notable revelation from this past
Speaker 1: weekend heesus cano of the Athletic who covers the braves.
Speaker 1: You know Ken Rosenthal so obviously writes Graham will be
Speaker 1: with the Athletic. He discussed the fact that some teams
Speaker 1: had some scouts at room where a lot of the
Speaker 1: bravestop prospects are and that included the Detroit Tigers. So evidently,
Speaker 1: and the tide may just be due diligence at this point.
Speaker 1: But the one thing that I got from Ken from
Speaker 1: his story today and with what he just told us
Speaker 1: the idea of Tark schoobl in a Braves uniform make
Speaker 1: a World Series run has gone from a pipe dream
Speaker 1: to a potential reality, a really encouraging sign. But the
Speaker 1: one thing I will say is is that while we
Speaker 1: did get the insight that the Brads are gonna do
Speaker 1: what they can to make it happen, I don't necessarily
Speaker 1: think that they're gonna go all out because there are
Speaker 1: gonna be other teams involved in this race as well.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I mean, you heard him just talk about it, that
Speaker 2: everybody is pressing Detroit for an answer. Like he just said,
Speaker 2: you know, teams are trying to be respectful, but like
Speaker 2: at a certain point, respect goes out the window. We
Speaker 2: just got to get stuff done. And you know, I
Speaker 2: thought one of the more fascinating bits that's come out
Speaker 2: was when Ken wrote about the Tigers last week, talking
Speaker 2: about how, you know, they might want to trade Schooble
Speaker 2: and contend at the same time. You know, losing a
Speaker 2: guy like Schooble for absolutely nothing in free agency is
Speaker 2: a really tough pill to swallow for an organization like Detroit,
Speaker 2: Like they just don't have the resources to be able
Speaker 2: to just let a guy like Schooble walk for nothing
Speaker 2: at the end of the year, and you know, they're
Speaker 2: all so far enough out now where it's tough to
Speaker 2: go all in on this group for them. But I
Speaker 2: could see a world where, like, you know, maybe they
Speaker 2: try to trade Schooble, they get a controllable starter who's
Speaker 2: close to the majors, somebody like a J. Smithschav for instance,
Speaker 2: who has got high upside, who is can help the
Speaker 2: twenty twenty six team. Right, So it's not immediately punting
Speaker 2: twenty twenty six. Obviously AJ Smith Schalver is gonna come
Speaker 2: up tomorrow and pitch for the Braids. We're gonna talk
Speaker 2: about that a little bit later. But like, I could
Speaker 2: see a world where that sort of, you know, that
Speaker 2: sort of trade makes sense, where they're trading Schooble because
Speaker 2: he's a he's gonna be a free agent two months.
Speaker 2: They don't want to lose him for nothing. But they're
Speaker 2: also are not ready to punt on twenty twenty six,
Speaker 2: so they try to get some pitching back that's ready
Speaker 2: to contribute at the major league level. Now, obviously it
Speaker 2: wouldn't just be a J. Smithschavro, it would be a J.
Speaker 2: Smith schalv plus more. But you know that article by
Speaker 2: Ken saying that might be a direction they want to
Speaker 2: go made me think like the Braves do really have
Speaker 2: a shout, a real shot because they have the money,
Speaker 2: they have the prospects. Not only do they have the prospects,
Speaker 2: they have the major league ready pitching prospects that Detroit
Speaker 2: specifically has, according to reports, has been targeting to potentially
Speaker 2: make a run even after they trade Scoople. So I
Speaker 2: do get the sense that Detroit is going to move him.
Speaker 2: I've kind of landed on that. I do think he's
Speaker 2: going to get traded. The question now, obviously for this
Speaker 2: podcast for our fan base, is can the Braves pull
Speaker 2: it off? And you know, we haven't seen Alex do
Speaker 2: something like this since he's been with the Braves. This
Speaker 2: would be a massive swing at the top, top player
Speaker 2: on the trade market at the deadline, and you know,
Speaker 2: you got to get him away from the Dodgers and
Speaker 2: the Brewers and the Phillies and it's not going to
Speaker 2: be easy, but it's pretty fascinating once you settle on
Speaker 2: the fact that it does look like Detroit's going to
Speaker 2: trade him.
Speaker 1: And I think there's two levels of reality here that
Speaker 1: needs to be noted. I do think reality to where
Speaker 1: Alex and Thopless is going to be aggressive. I think
Speaker 1: that he will be willing to trade some of his
Speaker 1: stop prospects to get someone to the level of a
Speaker 1: Tark School. But I also think there's a reality that
Speaker 1: needs to be realized. The Braves aren't going to be
Speaker 1: the best farm system. They're not going to be the
Speaker 1: deepest farm system in this pursuit. The Dodgers the Brewers
Speaker 1: can probably put together a better package. The thing is
Speaker 1: will they. I don't think Alex and Topplss is going
Speaker 1: to try to overcome that by offering like Eric Hartman
Speaker 1: takes South the Scene and cam Camminitty on a package
Speaker 1: FORER Tark School. But I also don't think you're going
Speaker 1: to be able to put many more filters on there
Speaker 1: where you're like, oh, well, I'd rather trade JR. Richie
Speaker 1: and a J. Smith Schaffer. It's likely going to cost
Speaker 1: you a J. Smith Schoffer. Garav vidat Friend of the
Speaker 1: Show he mentioned to Scott Coleman on Twitter yesterday he
Speaker 1: felt that the Tigers were scouting Alex Lodiz the shortstop
Speaker 1: prospect for the Braves. It's going to take probably two
Speaker 1: or three top ten starters are top ten prospects, along
Speaker 1: with one of the Braves young arms to get this
Speaker 1: deal done. But if you're Alex with the resourcefulness that
Speaker 1: you have, go get it done. Oh way, if it's
Speaker 1: a reality, go get it done to give yourself the
Speaker 1: best chance to win this year because you know that
Speaker 1: you have the resourcefulness to continue to move your prospect,
Speaker 1: to remove your farm system in the right direction while
Speaker 1: also really improving your chances of getting a World Series
Speaker 1: this year.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean that is going to be ultimately like
Speaker 2: And this is the part that's fascinating, because every single
Speaker 2: team has to decide how much a rental is worth,
Speaker 2: even at the very top of the market rental, how
Speaker 2: much a rental is worth, and every other team is
Speaker 2: going to send what they think a rental is worth,
Speaker 2: and which team is willing to go above that, Like,
Speaker 2: which team is willing to say, yes, a schoobl on
Speaker 2: a two month contract is worth this much, I'm willing
Speaker 2: to go like one step more to make sure I
Speaker 2: get the guy I want. And will the Braves do it?
Speaker 2: And that's the part I don't know, And I don't
Speaker 2: know how much the Tigers are going to ask for
Speaker 2: and I don't know how much it's going to take
Speaker 2: to actually win the bidding war, because that's what you
Speaker 2: have to be. You have to be the last team
Speaker 2: standing the best offer among probably what's going to be
Speaker 2: you know, probably at least five or six teams that
Speaker 2: can realistically take in Schooble's contract and has the prospects
Speaker 2: to get the deal done, you have to have the
Speaker 2: best offer of all of those teams. So it's not
Speaker 2: easy and it's probably not likely. Like even as we
Speaker 2: sit here today, even as I say I do think
Speaker 2: Schooble will get traded, I still don't think it's likely
Speaker 2: that he ends up in Atlanta, just because there's just
Speaker 2: too many other teams that also very very much want
Speaker 2: him and obviously believe he would be the difference between
Speaker 2: potentially winning a World Series and not. So that is
Speaker 2: going to be the question is what are teams wanting
Speaker 2: to give up? And our teams want to go maybe
Speaker 2: a little bit more to make sure their offer is
Speaker 2: the best one on the board.
Speaker 1: One other note from Ken Rosenthal's segment with us that
Speaker 1: I certainly open my eyes a little bit, is that, Okay,
Speaker 1: say you don't land Tark School. For the reason we
Speaker 1: just mentioned, somebody else just simply offered a better package,
Speaker 1: and the Tigers are only, you know, their only allegiances
Speaker 1: to get in the best package for their future. The
Speaker 1: Braves may not be able to meet that. So where
Speaker 1: could the Braves potentially pivot? Toronto comes into focus. Toronto
Speaker 1: just had a World series run. Names like Kevin Gosman
Speaker 1: and George Springer were big parts of that World series run.
Speaker 1: They're both rentals, they both could feel needs for the Braves,
Speaker 1: So you would think that would be a natural pivot
Speaker 1: partner for the Braves to go and talk to. But
Speaker 1: not so fast, my friend, to quote the legendary League
Speaker 1: of course. So Ken Rosenthal had a pretty interesting nugget
Speaker 1: in which, hey, while the relationship between Scott Harris and
Speaker 1: Alex and Thoughtless between the Tigers and the Braves may
Speaker 1: be strong, that may not necessarily be the case everywhere.
Speaker 2: Yeah that was so if you obviously you just listened
Speaker 2: to Ken talk about how Alex originally came from the
Speaker 2: Blue Jays A long time ago, is about a decade
Speaker 2: ago this two thousand. I think he started there. I
Speaker 2: mean he starts there like twenty years ago, in like
Speaker 2: two thousand and six or two thousand and seven, worked
Speaker 2: his way all the way up to being the GM.
Speaker 2: I think in around twenty eleven or twenty twelve. He
Speaker 2: was the GM there for their big run. People remember
Speaker 2: like Jose Bautista and Josh Donaldson and Edwin and Carnacion,
Speaker 2: and they made the big trade for David Price and
Speaker 2: all those guys. Well, it did not end well in
Speaker 2: Toronto for Alex. You heard Ken just talk about how
Speaker 2: their president, Mars Shapiro, him and Alex don't get along,
Speaker 2: and in Ken's opinion, it could be to the point
Speaker 2: where they don't want to deal with him. And you know,
Speaker 2: you don't hear that a lot most teams, especially this
Speaker 2: far removed from that kind of put that stuff aside,
Speaker 2: and you know, just whatever the best offer is, the
Speaker 2: best offer is, and maybe that happens. Maybe there's a
Speaker 2: level of professionalism that that can happen here where just
Speaker 2: the best offer wins the day. But if two offers
Speaker 2: are kind of the same, it wouldn't surprise me if
Speaker 2: Toronto was like, we'll just trade, We'll trade with the
Speaker 2: other team instead of the Braves. Like relationships like this matter,
Speaker 2: and I don't Sean correct me if I'm wrong. I
Speaker 2: don't remember the Braves and the Blue Jays since Alex
Speaker 2: has been on the with the organization, I don't remember
Speaker 2: too many Braves in Blue Jays trades, so that there
Speaker 2: might be real smoke. There are real fire to that smoke.
Speaker 2: And that's significant because Golsman is one of the best
Speaker 2: arms on the market that not named three Schooble and
Speaker 2: if if, if that's not a team the Braves can
Speaker 2: do business with, and that that is a significant you
Speaker 2: know uh fact. And we'll obviously have to wait and
Speaker 2: see if it ends up playing out that way. But
Speaker 2: it's not something I'd really thought about. That's a that
Speaker 2: could be a big deal.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And it just goes to show again that as
Speaker 1: good as it is that we have an emergency forum system,
Speaker 1: as much as we can make the case like I did,
Speaker 1: we can you know, hey, so many things, so many
Speaker 1: factors are in place for Alex to be as aggressive
Speaker 1: as possible. The money's there, the prospects are there, the
Speaker 1: needs are there, the realistic chance of a world series
Speaker 1: is there. All that can be aggressive as much as
Speaker 1: that can be in place from your perspective, it's got
Speaker 1: to be there to make sense on the other team's end,
Speaker 1: and so that's what redefines what potentially is out there.
Speaker 1: We're going to have much more when it comes to
Speaker 1: trade talk in the week coming up to the trade deadline.
Speaker 1: Can't thank Kid Rosenthal enough for joining us. But there's
Speaker 1: also action on the field to certainly discuss in some
Speaker 1: notable moves that the Brays are likely going to make
Speaker 1: before tomorrow's doubleheader with the Mets. Moral man in just
Speaker 1: a moment after award from our.
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Speaker 1: So Stephen, of course the Braves, when last time they
Speaker 1: were on the field was on Monday night, I didn't
Speaker 1: go to will what was it a fourteen to thirty
Speaker 1: three loss. It was really one of those games that
Speaker 1: you had to punt because at some point you had
Speaker 1: to give your bullpen a bit of a break, well
Speaker 1: a little bit of fortune in the fact that on
Speaker 1: Tuesday the Braves game is rained out, so they're actually
Speaker 1: going to have a double header on Wednesday. And Stephen,
Speaker 1: I'll let you break it down. An off day, unexpected
Speaker 1: off day which the Braves will will I'm sure as
Speaker 1: many of those as possible in the second half of
Speaker 1: the feended, but it now makes for a pretty exciting
Speaker 1: pitching setup on Wednesday with a familiar name. Make it
Speaker 1: his return to the majors.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So obviously the game got rained out for Tuesday and
Speaker 2: that and the original setup was gonna be Chris Sale
Speaker 2: pitched tonight and then Grant Holmes was gonna pitch the
Speaker 2: series finale, And so when the game got rained out,
Speaker 2: there was speculation, are they just gonna go Sale Homes
Speaker 2: again tomorrow for both games. The problem with that is
Speaker 2: the Braves have four games in Washington before their next
Speaker 2: off day. So if you just did Sale in Holmes
Speaker 2: tomorrow for both games, you wouldn't have enough starters to
Speaker 2: get through the Washington series before you get an off
Speaker 2: day without having to make a move. So the Braves
Speaker 2: are gonna probably what I'm guessing is use the twenty
Speaker 2: seventh man rule. What you get in a doubleheader, you
Speaker 2: get a twenty seventh man. I'm guessing the Braves are
Speaker 2: gonna call up AJ's Smith Schalver as the twenty seventh man.
Speaker 2: He's gonna make his return from Tommy John, which of
Speaker 2: course he had last summer. He's been recovering this whole time.
Speaker 2: He's looked good in Triple A. I think they're gonna
Speaker 2: call him up as the twenty seventh man tomorrow. He's
Speaker 2: gonna start in game one, which means Sale can pitch
Speaker 2: in game two, and then Grant Holmes can pitch in
Speaker 2: the first game in the Washington series, and then you
Speaker 2: can go Holmes Elder Lopez Paredes without having to make
Speaker 2: a move in the Washington series for a starter, and
Speaker 2: then that gives you to the off day, and then
Speaker 2: the off day will help you reset the rotation after that.
Speaker 2: So that's why they're doing this. Obviously, Smith Shava was
Speaker 2: going to make his way back up here at some point. Anyways,
Speaker 2: this is a very natural just point where they can
Speaker 2: do it because it helps them not have to make
Speaker 2: a move. The one thing that is gonna be notable is,
Speaker 2: you know, the bullpen is gonna have to help cover
Speaker 2: two games in one day.
Speaker 6: Now.
Speaker 2: The bullpen is basically gonna get two full days off
Speaker 2: because they didn't pitch on Monday because you know, the
Speaker 2: Brays kind of punted the game. And then obviously today
Speaker 2: is an off day because it's a rainout, so it's
Speaker 2: it's basically two full off days for the main guys
Speaker 2: in the pen, but they're gonna have to help cover
Speaker 2: two games tomorrow, and one of them is a Chris
Speaker 2: Sales start, so hopefully it won't be too many innings,
Speaker 2: but one is an A. J. Smith Schover start, and
Speaker 2: you know, we just don't know what we're gonna get
Speaker 2: from him in his first start in over a year
Speaker 2: in the big league, so it will be fascinating to
Speaker 2: watch though. I'm excited to watch the kid pitch. Haven't
Speaker 2: seen him since last June, I think is when his
Speaker 2: last start was maybe May. I don't exactly remember when
Speaker 2: he got hurt. I think it might have been May actually,
Speaker 2: so it's been a minute and it's gonna be fun
Speaker 2: to see him. Reports in Gwinnett are that he's looked
Speaker 2: very good, velocity looks fantastic, So it's gonna be exciting
Speaker 2: to see what a J.
Speaker 1: Smith Shov looks like tomorrow, and I'm gonna butcher his
Speaker 1: name as I always do. One other somewhat notable development
Speaker 1: is that Alyssi or Hernandez is back up with the team.
Speaker 1: They brought him back after he was DFA, and of
Speaker 1: course he showed that he can go multiple innings and
Speaker 1: be pretty effective from that Baltimore series over the weekend.
Speaker 1: So that's the thing that I did want to point out.
Speaker 1: The ripple effect of this is that the bullpen got
Speaker 1: the day off on Monday. They're getting the day off today,
Speaker 1: and it's also of note is that they're going to
Speaker 1: get the day off on trade deadline day, which is
Speaker 1: August third. So while we've gone through about four or
Speaker 1: five days where the bullpen availability was kind of up
Speaker 1: in the air, this is there for a reset and
Speaker 1: that should give Walt Weiss once again the green light
Speaker 1: to be as aggressive as possible to get wins. And
Speaker 1: it also allows for you to kind of position your
Speaker 1: pitching staff where you need to because there's a stretch
Speaker 1: right now where the Braves are going against the NL East.
Speaker 1: They could do some real good damage in a positive
Speaker 1: way to get themselves continue to allow for themselves to
Speaker 1: have a pretty spacious lead over the Phillies and the
Speaker 1: rest of the division because it's going to get real
Speaker 1: tough mid August going into September. So now is the
Speaker 1: time to get aggressive and get wins. So to Walt
Speaker 1: Weiss and the coaching staff take advantage of this break.
Speaker 1: Use the bullpen as aggressively as you can to get
Speaker 1: wins now because it will certainly pay off later.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I saw some people giving Walt some crap
Speaker 2: for punting the game on Monday. It's exactly what I
Speaker 2: would have done. Listen, the Braves are pretty comfortable right now.
Speaker 2: The Phillies and the Marlins are really kind of falling off.
Speaker 2: You know, I'm not saying it's post mode, but like,
Speaker 2: you can punt a couple of games if it helps
Speaker 2: reset your bullpen for like the next stretch of games.
Speaker 2: And of course, Walt, I'm sure is hoping that there's
Speaker 2: some reinforcements coming at the trade deadline. So it's basically like,
Speaker 2: get to the end of this week, get to the
Speaker 2: end of the Washington series on Sunday, and see where
Speaker 2: you're at. Because you got an off day on Monday,
Speaker 2: and you got the trade deadline with potential reinforcements coming.
Speaker 2: So I was perfectly fine with the decision. You know,
Speaker 2: I think Connor Thomas was the guy, the reliever that
Speaker 2: got left out to dry Monday night. Listen, it's crap
Speaker 2: what happened to him. Like, it's a crappy situation. But
Speaker 2: you know, talk to Rob Manford about the pitcher limit
Speaker 2: on a roster, like and not only that, but like
Speaker 2: there's limits on when you can bring a position player
Speaker 2: in the pitch. You know, it just leads to situations
Speaker 2: like that, Like I would love to the Braves to
Speaker 2: be able to run fourteen fifteen pitchers on the roster,
Speaker 2: but it's just not allowed. So that's gonna happen sometimes.
Speaker 2: And I felt bad for the kid, but it is
Speaker 2: what it is. And yeah, for the Braves, just get
Speaker 2: to just get to Monday, just get through the Washington series.
Speaker 2: You know, I think they're set up pretty well to
Speaker 2: do it now. I want to see what AJ looks like.
Speaker 2: But they're set up now where they've got six pitchers
Speaker 2: to pitch the next six games. You know, they're okay,
Speaker 2: and they've got a big enough lead where they you
Speaker 2: know know, none of these games are going to be
Speaker 2: must wins by any stretch, but you know, just play
Speaker 2: solid ball. The offense. Scoring some runs would certainly help.
Speaker 2: The offense is cool down a little bit, Scoring some
Speaker 2: runs to help the pitching staff would definitely help. But
Speaker 2: what's gonna help most of all is Alex going to
Speaker 2: get some reinforcements by Monday.
Speaker 1: Yeah, out and Ronald being back he is certainly a
Speaker 1: good development, But you hit the nail on the head.
Speaker 1: The offense needs to show up because while you're gonna
Speaker 1: have the advantage tomorrow offensively, hopefully you can get both win,
Speaker 1: You're going to face one of the clearly best offenses
Speaker 1: in baseball with Washington over the weekend. We're going to
Speaker 1: have to score runs then, so it's imperative for this
Speaker 1: Braves offense to get going once again as it has
Speaker 1: for most of July. Cannot thank Ken Rosenthal enough for
Speaker 1: joining us some really great insight you know from you know,
Speaker 1: one of the best sources in the history of baseball
Speaker 1: when it comes to MLB insight. Of course, you can
Speaker 1: buy myself at Sean Coleman or show me at Stat's
Speaker 1: sac on Twitter, slash x at Stephen Tolbert, a Beat
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