The Astros Better Start Making Trade Moves

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Here's seven nineties Cole Thompson that works towards the middle
of the court with a bounce past to Kevin Durant's
got Grayson Allen in front of him.

Speaker 2 (00:08):
Shot clock at seven, baseline right, catch shoot chef three swish,
that's good.

Speaker 1 (00:13):
Invalving between Reed, Shepherd and Durant for the open three,
we're tied at twenty two. Thompson gets by two defenders
and then chants it down with authorough tie my goodness,
spreading his way on the left side of the floor.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
For the duce sixty six fifty six.

Speaker 1 (00:32):
Adam is about to set a screen for holiday holiday,
goes right against Gillespie baseline right.

Speaker 2 (00:36):
A man wants a three and he knocks that one in.
It's been a season of a.

Speaker 1 (00:41):
Troubles from three point range for a men Thompson, but
he's now nine to forty one.

Speaker 2 (00:46):
He's got twenty seven. At one oh four to seventy
eight down the lane, he goes, goes up for a
dunk and it's.

Speaker 1 (00:52):
Rejected by Clint Cappella.

Speaker 2 (00:55):
That's how you do it.

Speaker 3 (00:56):
That's tying in the basketball game. Uh, Clint Capella two
hand block. Game clock is at zero, which means it's
another Rockets win. Final score the Rockets one seventeen and

(01:18):
the Suns ninety eight.

Speaker 4 (01:20):
So as we all predicted it going into last night's game,
Clint Cappella was gonna be the hero. Everyone knew it
was gonna happen. Of course, was not gonna be him.
It was gonna be k D in company as Kevin
Durant enters immortality. Welcome on into space a Saturday right
here on Sports Talk seven niney Cole Thompson Rocket Show
for the next two hours as we get you prepared

(01:42):
for the world of the college football Playoff to be underway.
The Texans they take on the Kames Say Chiefs tomorrow
on Sunday Night Football. And Kevin Durant because the eighth
player in NBA history to score thirty one thousand points
as the Rockets roll passed the Phoenix Suns one set
seventeen ninety eight seven one three, two, one two five

(02:03):
seven nine. If you want him on in this is
your show as much as it is my show. I
want to hear from you. I want to be your
therapist in the world of h Town sports. I want
to be the reason why you could start off your
Saturday on a good note. So why don't we start
on what we saw last night? Kevin Durant is awesome. Oh,
spoiler alert, you already knew that. I think most people
already had a good understanding of what KD was going

(02:24):
to provide for this team when he was signed on
into the trade during the offseason. Physicality, leadership, finesse, determination,
all the skills that you want to see in terms
of what it takes to win a basketball game. But
I thought was really interesting because last night I think
we got to see what version of the Houston Rockets

(02:44):
we can expect for the remainder of the year. Stay
with me for a minute. Seven one, three, two, two
five seven ninety. So the Rockets, they were down one
of their key starters, one of the fixtures of the team,
and probably, in my opinion right now, the MVP of
the roster now for Chinn dealing with the illness. So
usually you have two guys that you can trust. It's seven,

(03:06):
it's twenty eight. So okay, so there we got problem solved. Well,
you didn't have opportunity in last night. So this was
Katie's game. This was the moment of where Kevin Durant
gets to contact center stage, nobody is going to be
around him. It's all about what Katie can do to
lead this ross. And so what did we see. Well,
Phoenix jumped up to an early lead. They were leading
by nine. Dylan Brookson his return back to Toyota Center, he

(03:28):
scored sixteen points in the first quarter. And at that point,
while you're sitting here at fourteen and five and it's
a home game and you're seven, I mean, you're six
and two at home, it's not the worst thing. And
he got it back to back tomorrow night or now
tonight against Dallas, and he figured, okay, well we can
play close and our team and our bench probably should
be able to at least make this thing interesting even

(03:49):
if we're down low, and instead you watch as a
fire clicks in the face of KD. So, Katie, if
you didn't know, played like ten minutes in the first half,
and I think he got pulled like a minute twenty.

Speaker 5 (04:00):
Three left in the first craft.

Speaker 4 (04:02):
He came back in with like ninety eight and played
the entire rest of the second quarter because he said,
basically no, no, no, no, no, no no, no, you signed
me on here to be your guy. You signed me
on here to take over games and put myself in
a position to where we're going to be a more physical,
a more enforcing, and more respected franchise in the Western Conference.

(04:23):
Because we know what Oklahoma City's doing. They're on their
way to be back back champions. We know what Denver's doing,
and we still just can't get past them. And maybe
we're gonna be able to get the number two seed,
maybe we'll get the number three seed. But you're sure
as hell not putting me in the same conversation of
what we're gonna see against Phoenix, who's not a good
team and they were down one of their key starters
with Devin Booker last night. You sure as hell are

(04:44):
not gonna put me in the same conversation as a
team like the Los Angeles Lakers. They suck. They got
our thritis. James sitting in the corner begging for the
sweet mercy of having a chance to be the all
time leading scorer, emptified and winning a championship beside him.
That way he can go off into the the sunset
and say.

Speaker 5 (05:00):
That he was the victor of the world.

Speaker 4 (05:02):
That's what you got, and you got nobody else that's
really around you besides us.

Speaker 5 (05:06):
I'm coming back in this game. I'm set in a standard.

Speaker 4 (05:08):
And again he scored twenty eight points, including the last one,
which helped him get to over thirty one thousand, which
is a record, only the eighth player in NBA history
to do so. And you kind of saw this fire
be ignited by the rest of the team, and thankfully
they started to get their act together.

Speaker 5 (05:25):
They scored forty four before halftime.

Speaker 4 (05:26):
They dropped twenty nine in the second I mean in
the third quarter, and then they're dropped twenty in the
third I mean the fourth, and by that time it
was a majority of young players looking for minutes or backups.
So you got it all figured out because of your
leader in the clubhouse said this is not our standard,
nor will it ever be our standard as long as
I'm on the court. And guess what he delivered, and

(05:47):
he made sure that everybody followed the assignment. That's what
you need to be able to have your team making
a run of the playoffs. You need to be able
to have depth, which the Rockets have already accoppished that part.
You also need to have proper leadership guys who can
look at the position and go it's early in the year.
We don't need to kill ourselves. We're still gonna be
in a pretty good spot when it comes to the
rankings in the Western Conference. We have a game tomorrow

(06:09):
night against Dallas. We still have a couple more matches
before we face off against Los Angeles on Christmas Day.
We'll be content like everything. He'll be fine if we
end up losing this one and instead you got seven
looking down the face and goes, do you know who
I am? I don't lose to Phoenix. I don't lose
to my former teams. I go ahead and I set
the standard against my former teams, and I let them
know I wasn't the problem. You and your ineptitude of

(06:31):
being able to build around me was the reason we lost.
That's what I do because I'm Kevin Bleepin Durant. That's
who I am as a person. And the fact that
he was able to once again rally the troops and
you saw that this is a KD led team. It
was really promising. A couple of other things I noticed
last night. I'm on Thompson scored a season high thirty one.
Rockets had a really, really good start when it came

(06:54):
to the three point line. I will give credit the
Rockets made sure that they were winning in the paint
before they started to shoot from downtown. It was completely
different than the game plan of what you saw with Phoenix.
But at the same time, Phoenix kind of had to
go start shooting threes if they want to make this
a game.

Speaker 5 (07:07):
In the third and fourth quarter.

Speaker 4 (07:09):
Phoenix shot five or twenty eight for the three point range.

Speaker 5 (07:12):
That's a fourteen percent success rate.

Speaker 4 (07:14):
The Rockets they only shot eighteen last night, but they
made ten fifty eight percent from downtown. You'll take that.
You'll easily take that. You'll take that from Kevin Durant
who had six. You'll take that from Jabari Smith, he
drained three. At the very end, Jay Shan Tata had
a couple of big time plays. Aaron Holliday in the
corner had a big time three in the third quarter.
I mean, there's a lot of things that you can

(07:35):
like about where this team went offensively. To put yourself
in a position where everyone seemed to kind of step
on up in place of not having Alfred Shingoon thought
that was really promising. A couple other things that you
know is last night, good depth piece. Jabari Smith's been
playing better defensively as of late. He was great at
the free throw line. Rockets were near perfect at the
free throw like I think that they made what was it,

(07:56):
thirteen of their first thirteen free throw attempts. Meanwhile, you
look at you look at Phoenix, they're fifteen and eighteen,
fifteen and eighteen for the night, it's a seventy nine
percent success rate. So doing all little things right. Great
inside the rebound to create second chance opportunities. They out
rebound Phoenix thirty four to nineteen. They out offensive rebound

(08:17):
Phoenix nineteen to eight. I mean, they did a really
good job of playing on both sides of the court
and making it a full course battle. The thing that
I'm saying now is that the Rockets know what their
ceiling is, and I think the problem is that now
we expect even more. Because you didn't have Shangoun last night,
what I will say is you probably are gonna have
KD tonight. Because everybody want to tell me what happened
last night. Well, KD only played twenty three minutes and

(08:40):
didn't play in the fourth because they were able to
say thirty two minutes by apologies, spitch those numbers around.
The only played thirteen minutes. You should be good for
tonight when they faced off against the Dallas Mavericks in Dallas.
So you may end up having a fully healthy roster
to go up against a team that right now is
struggling to find any bit of momentum when it comes

(09:00):
to the court. So I look at this and I
say to myself, now we know what the expectations are.
You're sitting here currently second place in the Western Conference,
fifteen and five. The only team that you're not able
to compete with, which, to be fair, nobody's able to
compete with, it's Oklahoma City. Oklahoma City is twenty two
and one. They're on a fourteen game win streak and
they won their last ten. I mean, like, come on, guys.

(09:22):
They're great offensively, they're great defensively. They're averaging one hundred
and twenty two point seven points per game. That's number one.
I mean, that's not number two currently in the NBA.
Outside of that, nobody should be questioning what this Rockets
team is. They have figured out what their identity can be.
But the better part is, I think the part that
I'm paying more attention to moving into what I would
say December, like late in December. They know how to

(09:45):
win when their stars are out, and as long as
both of them are now, they should feel confident against
any inferior team. Now, what does it qualify as an
inferior team? If I do not list you right here,
you are inferior Oklahoma City, the Los Angeles Lakers, the
Denver Nuggets, in.

Speaker 5 (10:00):
The Detroit Pistons.

Speaker 4 (10:01):
Outside of them, you should win almost every single game
handedly because if you play on both sides of the court,
you do a good job offensively mitigating the flaws. You
don't have a lot of turnovers, you have forced a
lot of turnovers. You're number one in the NBA when
it comes to defensive rebounds, and you're number one in
the NBA still when it comes to three point shooting
and your assassin out. And by the way, you got
a leader and a guy by the name of Makadine

(10:23):
that does not accept mediocrity. At thirty seven years old
in his nineteen season, who did not have to be
out there after being down by nine, could if easily
said we're taking the nine off. We understand, we got
to get better for tomorrow. But let's just wipe this
one clean. Let's come back, look at the tape, get
on the field, get on the court tomorrow night against Dallas,
and we'll be able to go back to being right
in the same facinity of what we want to see. Nope,

(10:45):
not the attitude you want to take. What he wanted
to say was I'm gonna come out and I'm gonna
make sure that everybody understands I'm here for a reason.
Best believe you're on the track with me, because if
you're not in my way, if you're in my way,
I'm not gonna accept your type of play.

Speaker 5 (11:00):
And that's what's necessary.

Speaker 4 (11:02):
And last night, as they're pulling away in the third
quarter and it feels like that it's now a thirty
point game, it's it's out of reach, there's no shot
possible for a comeback, it felt like looking back at
that first quarter to looking at it now, it shows
why you needed to bring in Kevin Durant because I'm
not saying that Jalen Green and Dylan Brooks gonna have

(11:23):
been good role players, but they weren't X factors. They
weren't enforcers, they weren't players who were able to set
the tone and make a giant declarative statement the way
that we saw Katie last night. This wasn't gonna happen.
But you have that now, and then you have some
good role players alongside him, but like Kevin, I mean,
like Jeff Barry Smith, like and Thompson coming off the

(11:44):
bench for once again.

Speaker 5 (11:45):
You got read Shepard.

Speaker 4 (11:47):
You played twenty one last night, I dropped ten, started
making started making the threes. It was two a seven,
so not entirely the best game possible. You're starting to
see what the identity of this team is when it's
Katie led. And then if it's not ka led, okay,
well now it's open hing goon lead and Katie gets
to play the secondary character. He's probably the best number
two in the game right now. I don't think anybody

(12:07):
could argue with me on that. One seven to one
to three two one two five seven ninety. The Texans
they play tomorrow night against KC. Chiefs. There's something that
you can correlate the Texans and the Rockets too. If
you want to be viewed as a contender. I will
explain next. We're one segment down, we got seven more
to go. We have a jam Pack Show. We gotta

(12:28):
talk college football, we gotta talk MLB. What are the
ass shows going to do in the trademarket? All that
more on Space Day Saturday right here on Sports Talk
seven ninety. Space A Saturday, rolling right along here on
Sports Talk seven ninety, it's Cole Thompson Rock with you
until one o'clock seven, one three, two, one two five.

(12:49):
So night, if you want to get in on the
phone lines, your rocket's behind a record setting night from
Katie getting.

Speaker 5 (12:55):
Another win at home over the Phoenix Suns.

Speaker 4 (12:57):
The Astros may have to pivot else when it comes
to trade conversations because of a report that came out
by Ken Rosenthal and your Texans take on the Kansas
City Chiefs tomorrow night, NBC seven to twenty kickoff time.
You can of course catch me on Monday morning along
with Dan Matthews on the Morning Drive reacting to whatever happens.

(13:17):
That'shere we're going to start in this conversation. So the
Texans are rolling hot going into this game. They're in
a four game win streak. You get back at quarterback
and CJ. Stroud, your offensive line is playing better than advertised,
and you're starting to figure out that you can pull
away from opponents even if they aren't on your same level. Now,
here's what I'm about saying, compare them to the Rockets,
because I told you that there was a comparison here.

(13:38):
So the Rockets last night, even without Devin Booker, We're
going to win their game against the Phoenix Suns because
if you have a leader like Kevin Durant set in
the tone after a slow start, that is just the
bottom line. So you have a team that right now
believes it can go on a run toward a Western

(14:01):
Conference title, an NBA title, and certainly win its first
title since nineteen nineties. Here's my point. The Rockets are
not losing on average two teams that are worse than them.
They simply aren't now one again when he uses the
Utah Jazz. Not a great loss, But look at the
games this year. The Pistons currently number one in the

(14:22):
Eastern Conference, the Thunder currently number one in the NBA,
the Spurs, a team on the come up that you
played on the court on the road court and you
were down at you're not a starter. Or two the Nuggets,
a team that right now is very much in the
conversation right alongside Houston for the number two spot currently

(14:44):
in the NBA. In the Power rankings, they're probably gonna
find themselves in the top five, maybe a little bit lower,
but that's about it. So those are your other four
losses besides the Utah jazz I brought this up on Friday,
and I want to bring this up again. Teams that
are good enough to make a run in the playoff,
teams are good enough to win a title. Teams that
feel like that they have everything ahead of them to

(15:06):
where they know that there is not gonna be a
slip up along the way they win the games that
they're supposed to. The Chiefs are coming into this matchup
banged up and bruised. On the offensive line. Two starters
are guaranteed out. The third one is more than likely out.
Josh Simmas is on the ir You're not gonna have
Jawan Taylor a tackle. It's reported that right now it's
doubtful that Trace Smith is gonna play. So those three

(15:26):
are already out. You don't have a run game whatsoever.
There is nothing that is moving on the ground in
favor Kana City. They are slow as molasses. In the
middle of December when it comes to what their rushing
attack is. Their quarterback is elite. We can all agree
that Patrick Mahomes, even with him having what I would
consider to be not an MVP year, is still one

(15:49):
of the quarterbacks that you have to say any given moment,
it can just click, everything turns and they automatically are
right back in the driver's seat and run away with
a championship. Their defense is taking a massive blow. They
can't rush the quarterback, they can't get pressure on the
defensive line, they misstackles recently, and their secondary has been
very hit or miss. You went toe to toe. They

(16:09):
just lost to the Dallas Cowboys, who just emphatically were
eviscerated by the Detroit Lions.

Speaker 5 (16:15):
What am I trying to say here? The Texans are
supposed to win this.

Speaker 4 (16:18):
Game, and I understand, well they have Patch Mahomes, Well
they're the champion. Well we've never won in the Demico
Ryans era in Arrowhead. Great story. Tell it to somebody
who cares. I don't. You're supposed to win this game
because of right now, you have the better offensive line,
you have the better number one wide receiver, just wide receiver,
not tight end. If you say Travis Kelcey versus Dalton

(16:39):
Schultze can understand that. But let's just say, wide receiver,
who are you taking one on one? Rashie Reiser Nico
Collins once a top twenty receiver, want's top ten? Who's
playing better on the offensive line? Well, they have three
backups in and you have all your starters, and it
feels like that this is going to be the starting
five for the remainder of the year. You have a
defense that is considered by many the best in the NFL,

(17:00):
so much so that some are willing to say it's
on pace to be in the same level of teams
like the twenty thirteen Legion of Boom in the nineteen
eighty five Chicago bears very possible that that becomes a
reality for you. So with all that being said, you're
supposed to win this game, and if you win this game,
you gotta feel pretty good about where you are when

(17:21):
it comes to next week facing off against Arizona, and
then the week afterwards facing off against Las Vegas, and
then the next two weeks when you go on the
road to play Los Angeles and then you play on
at home against Indianapolis. You've already beaten before you should
feel like twelve and five is very much in the horizon.
This could be a special. Y're in Houston, but you're
supposed to win this game. If you don't win this game,

(17:42):
well now you're more so at the same playing field
up a week in Kansas City roster, which means to
me that, yes, you're gonna need you could make it
to a super Bowl if a couple things go your way,
but you're gonna need to see some things go your way.
You're gonna have to switch to flip the switch. Just
that's the bottom line here. But let's say that you
win this one and then you lose next week to Arizona.

(18:05):
That's like losing to the Utah Jazz, and people are
questioning what went wrong? All right?

Speaker 5 (18:09):
Where starters out?

Speaker 4 (18:11):
Do they have just an elite game plan where they
were force feeding their tight end and Trey McBride and
you just weren't able to cover him.

Speaker 5 (18:17):
Did somebody get an injury the middle of the game.

Speaker 4 (18:20):
What's supposed to be the case. But you're not supposed
to be considering yourself a favorite in the AFC. If
you end up losing to teams like Arizona, you definitely
cannot be considered a favorite in the AFC if you
lose to a team like Las Vegas. And let me
make this clear, I don't think that Houston's losing on Sunday.
I don't at all. I do not think that Houston
is losing next Sunday to Arizona. I don't.

Speaker 5 (18:43):
I do not think that they're losing to the Chargers
on the road to begin twenty twenty six.

Speaker 2 (18:47):
I don't. I do believe that.

Speaker 5 (18:50):
There is a question mark when it comes to Las
Vegas Raiders team.

Speaker 4 (18:53):
I do, and I'll explain why because the Texans in
years past, me and the Damico Ryans era have had
a common theme. So far, they have lost to teams
fighting for the number one overall pick. Go back twenty
twenty three on the road against against Carolina Panthers. Carolina
was not a good team. Bryce Young was considered a bust.
Everyone thought that he was completely in over his head,

(19:16):
had no opportunity of fixing his career. So what happens
Houston with a young quarterback that feels like he is
in a groove that he's kind of turned the corner.
They go on in and they proceed to not only lose.
They proceed to watch their team be completely embarrassed in
that game. And you may say, fifteen to thirteam is close, guys,
CJ shown out one hundred and forty passing yards in

(19:36):
multiple interceptions. It wasn't close. Let's fast forward a year.
Houston gets wins over Indianapolis and Chicago and Buffalo and
New England and India again, and then they face off
against Dallas and they're feeling mighty high and they're coming
off of a massive Monday night football win. And here
comes to Tennessee, who right now is two and eight.
They have no direction a quarterback, They have a terrible

(19:58):
offensive line, they can't run the football to save their life.
Their defense can't generate a pass rush, and TJ strout
those two interceptions. He has a big, big, big touchdown. Late,
the defense falters. They allow a late scoring drive by
Will Levis of all people, to guarantee that they're on in.
You have up a safety on the very last two

(20:19):
plays the game, and they win thirty two to twenty seven.
One team went to the playoff, and one team went
to number one overall. Coming into next week, let me
phrase it, coming into this week, the Las Vegas Raiders
are right neck and neck with the New York Giants
for the number two overall pick, and a somehow, some way,

(20:41):
Tessity's able to get a win and Las Vegas continues
to teeter down the pecking order and they're not doing
Deadley Squad.

Speaker 5 (20:48):
This year, Las Vegas could own the number one overall pick.

Speaker 4 (20:53):
It is infuriating to have this conversation, but it feels
like that's something that could happen once again for the Texans.
Gets win the games that they're supposed to, even on
a night when they don't have their secondary punch, even
on a night when they're putting all the pressure on
a team on Katie to have to deliver, even on
a night where they start off slow and they're trailing
by nine, they finish the job. They do that against

(21:15):
a team that's not supposed to be in the same
pecking order. Conversation Stratosphere backups are able to do the
job against most starters. They're able to make play after play,
understand the assignment, and not falter when things go south.
They know how to play winning championship basketball. I view
them right now as a favorite in the Western Conference.
Ibey them is a favorite to win the War to

(21:36):
win the NBA Finals, and you should too, because they've
proven to you against the best teams they can handle
the assignment.

Speaker 5 (21:44):
Can Houston do that? Kansas City is not good this year.

Speaker 4 (21:48):
Kansas City at this point is probably looking closer towards
the NFL Draft than they're looking for awards a playoff spot.

Speaker 5 (21:53):
The Las Vegas Raiders are atrocious.

Speaker 4 (21:56):
More specifically, the Arizona Cardinals, who let me down, are
very much an underwhelming team. You're supposed to win those games,
and you're supposed to handle it. Win those games, and
if you do, know, if you lose to Los Angeles
or if you lose to Indianapolis at the end of
the year, okay, well, those two are probably considered right
alongside you as contenders for an AFC postseason bid, and

(22:20):
certainly at think one would be considered a favorite to.

Speaker 5 (22:23):
Go to the Super Bowl if they're starting to get
their act together.

Speaker 4 (22:26):
If you win those games but you lose to the
team that you're not supposed to do because if you
weren't mentally prepared because you were dealing with you know,
outside distractions, all little things that completely go against you. Ladies,
and gentlemen, I hate to be the very bad news.
This is now super Bowl winning team. And what's crazy
is this is the year that you can, I think
win it. Because when you look up and down across

(22:48):
the AFC, who scares you? Who truly scares you? If
you are a Texans fan, I don't think anybody fact.
I'll tell you right now. New England doesn't. Denver. I
cack a laugh of the fact that there's still somehow
finding ways to get wins. Pittsburgh doesn't, Buffalo doesn't. We
already beat them. Indianapolis okay, Jacksonville okay, please please spare

(23:10):
me with the Jacksonville conversation. Texans could absolutely go to
the Super Bowl this year because of their elite defense.

Speaker 5 (23:17):
But you win games against teams that you're supposed to.
If you are good enough to.

Speaker 4 (23:21):
Win a Super Bowl starts on Sunday seven twenty kick
you're supposed to be Kansas City? Can you do it?
Seven one three, two one two five seven to ninety
take quick time out. Want to bring up something that
I recently read about the MLB trade market, and it
affects the Astros in one major way. I'll explain when
we come back right here on Space Day Saturday on

(23:42):
Sports Talk seven ninety Space a Saturday, rolling right along
here on Sports Talk seven ninety seven one thirty two,
one two five, seven ninety. If you want to chime
on in on anything, Maybe on the Texans and my
thoughts on why the Texans should win easily and convincingly
on the road at Arrowhead. Maybe it's on your Rockets

(24:03):
making history last night behind Kevin rand as he becomes
the eighth player in league history to hit thirty one
thousand points in a win over the Phoenix Suns, or
anything along the lines of what you want your Astros
to do this offseason seven one three two two, five ninety.
The phone lines are wide open for you to go
ahead and have a conversation here. The Astros is where

(24:25):
I want to go next. So the Astros have been
in the market for two main things. From what we
all seem to can hear from, whether it be mctagger,
whether it be from Chandler, whether it be from anyone
from the national perspective, it's feeling like right now, starting
pitching is number one and an outfielder is probably number two. Now,
what do you do with Cam Smith? What do you
do with Hayesu Sanchez? What do you do with all

(24:47):
those pieces? Question for another day. They want to get
better in the outfield, They want to get better in
the starting rotation. So what we have been producing around
here and what we believe has been a conversation to
start for a while, has been bring into starting pitching.
And there are two names currently with the Minnesota Twins,
Joe Ryan and Pablo Lopez. Pablo Lopez is under control

(25:08):
for two years on a contract that's worked roughly around
like twenty three point five million dollars. Joe Ryan has
two more years of arbitration before he hits free agency.
So either way, those are two names that have been
very much discussed, and we brought up trade packages on
what you'd be willing to offer, what are some things
you want to part ways with? Well, apparently, according to
Ken Rosenthal, the Athletic and Fox, the Twins who not

(25:30):
anticipate in moving centerfield or Byron Buxton or right handers
Joe Ryan and Pablo Lopez. According to league sources, Minnesota's
goal is to keep those players and build around them
to compete in twenty twenty six.

Speaker 5 (25:41):
So when you hear that type of dialogue. It means
one of two things.

Speaker 4 (25:44):
Number One, they actually believe that they can compete in
the Al Central this year, and for the most part,
I don't think it's entirely out of left field.

Speaker 6 (25:52):
Now.

Speaker 4 (25:53):
Did I like the hiring of Derek Shelton, not even
a little bit. Thought it was completely over botched. He
has no reason after destroying what was the Pittsburgh Pirates,
even more so than what they were. A lot of
things that definitely are not in the vicinity of what
you want to see from a team that need to
go hit reset. But the Guardians are probably going to
take a step back unless they continue to do what
they do in the month of September, which is win

(26:14):
consistently behind Steven vote I think in a wild card spot,
I do think the Tigers are listening to question marks
surrounding the long term status of Arrek Scouble. Trek Scuble
is going to be a big, big, big time move
that could be made available this offseason, and I think

(26:35):
that also you have to look at some other names
that they're not wanting to spend money on. So right now,
Tigers are out white text, still rebuilding. I don't know
what to make a Kanas City entirely right now. So
Twins technically, with the right manager and adding into free
agent pieces, could at least be a contender in the
Al Central. I don't think they would win much, but
I think they would be a contender for sure. The

(26:57):
second thing is they're trying to move the market up
to where they're going to have a king's ransom come
to trade deadline, and I think it's the latter. Here's
the way that I think that this went for Minnesota.
Minnesota fielded calls for Joe Ryan and Pablo Lopez. Byron
Broxton said, I don't want to be here anymore because
if I want to win, so I will waive my

(27:17):
no trade clause, but you got to send me to
a winning organization.

Speaker 1 (27:21):
Now.

Speaker 4 (27:22):
Winning organization looked up and down and said, well, you know,
he's got some injury problems and he's probably not as
elite as bad as we once thought he was, even
though he still has been playing out of his mind
as of late. A lot of things to like about
him that you know, we're gonna end up putting him
in the running, but we're gonna offer low and Minnesota said, nope,
we're not gonna do that. That's not our plan. I

(27:43):
think the Pablo Lopez, he was feeling some calls want
to go to a contender, someone wanted to take on
that contract. He looked at that contract and said, we're
not gonna go ahead and move him. That's not a
good ad a n asking price. And Joe Ryan, he's
having a potential cy Young Awards season next year, probably
said the same thing. Yeah, we want a little bit more.

(28:03):
So what they're doing is they're going to still be
playing in Minnesota come Week one opening. They will roll
right around and they will be a part of the
Twins organization. And Pablo Lopez, fully healthy for the first
time since July, will be pitching at the level that
he was in twenty twenty four, and he will look
like a number two starter, And Joe Ryan will be
moving back into the ace roll and he will now

(28:24):
look like a complete and total different picture. And then
when the trade deadline comes and both the Twins and
Joe Ryan, Pablo Lopez and Viroducks are all sick and
tired of what's going on because they're losing and they're
on losing organizations, they will eventually trade them, and they
will trade them to the highest bidder for what is
going to be a mortgage board of talent coming on

(28:46):
back in. They'll rep they'll replunny their farm system, they
will repluny the overall roster. They'll get some younger pieces
around the way they can build for the long term
with and look at that. That's where the Mansesarta Twins
will go. Now, why is this the effect Astros? But
the askers can't sit and wait until the trade deadline
to go ahead and make these big time moves. They can't.

(29:07):
You have to start swinging now because Seattle went out
and they made sure that they brought in a key
element from their team in a race to War of
the World series back on a long term deal. In
Josh Naylor, I do believe that the Texas Rangers are
not moving off Nathan Devaldi.

Speaker 5 (29:22):
I do not think they won't move off Jacob deGrom.

Speaker 4 (29:24):
Therefore, that gives you at its peak and older but
still highly lethal one to two combination in a rotation,
and they still have some younger players that you can
bank on. Maybe Evan Carter, Wyatt Langford's a freaking stun.
I'll be the first say that I don't think Corey
seekers getting mood at this point. I think he already
would have if it happened. So they're gonna at least
be in the conversation for playing a little bit better.

(29:44):
And I do think that the Athletics are going to
spend money. I don't know how much money. I don't
know if it's gonna be on pitching. I don't know
if it's gonna be on position players. But I think
that they are going to go out and they're going
to build around their young core and try to be
competitive next year. I do so that's gonna be the
way that we go about it. Then the Astros have
got to start spending now in the offseason, because the

(30:07):
last thing you can afford to do is be five
games under five hundred while the Athletics are a game
behind you, but they're gaining a lot of momentum, and
the Rangers are a game above you, and they're getting
a lot of momentum, and they're starting to go make
some moves before the trade deadline, and the Mariners are
five games ahead of everybody else, and you're sitting in
fourth place, and you're like, what are we supposed to do?
We waited to the trade deadline and we want to

(30:27):
go running back with these guys. You can't have that happen,
simply put, you just can't. So now the astors have
to look at one of two things. Do you go
out do you spend money on pitchers that you believe
can be here on rental one year deals that will
elevate your rotation and be really good names, justin Berlander
being one probably and I mentioned him a lot, Zach Eflin.
I really like Zach Eflin as a number five in

(30:49):
this rotation. II think he'd be a perfect fit. Or
do you go out, do you trade and when the
time comes to go get a Pablo Lopez or go
get it Joe Ryan. You don't have the assets to
be able to move off and go get them. What's
the pathway you go? But regardless, the astros have got
to make a decision on the standpoint somehow, some way,
because I'll tell you right now, you cannot go in

(31:12):
to spring practice. You cannot go in to.

Speaker 5 (31:17):
Spring training and not have your pitching rotation figured out.

Speaker 4 (31:21):
And pitching rotation figured out means oh, we're gonna have
Christian Avier and Hunter Brown and we're gonna figure out
what we can do with aj Bluba and we just
brought it in the guy for the KBO League and
he'll probably be Nope, you gotta have bigger names. You're
the astros. You're supposed to be going out and adding
in premiere talent or at least talent that you know
is going to elevate your roster and elevate your.

Speaker 5 (31:40):
Clubhouse, and I think that they will.

Speaker 4 (31:42):
The question is which do you do? Do you lean
towards maybe giving up at least a little bit overpriced
for say a Sandy Alcanta from Miami, maybe an edward
edwind Cabreron from Miami. Do you go out and do
you spend a little bit more money on a pitcher
that you think that is worth it but only has
one or two years of arbitration? What's the move? Or
do you go out and do you make a signing
like say, hey, we're going to go land justin Berlander,

(32:05):
bring them back on a one year, fourteen million dollar deal,
call it out, even no problems questions asked there, and
we'll go out with adda zach Elthan on a one
year deal worth like ten million dollars and guess what,
we'll have a rotation. Want'll be in the three spot,
one'll be in the five spot. Look at that, we're
pretty well put together. And then when we get healthier
with some other guys who may or may not be
back in twenty twenty six, we'll call it a day.
I think both are possible. I think that we're going

(32:27):
to see the latter happen. I don't know if the
Assles will make a trade at this point when it
comes to that, because I really did think that they
were fixated on two names Joe Ryan, Pablo Lopez, the
Minnesota want to rebuild, want to go ahead and start fresh.
That would have made total sense. But now you gotta
go pivot. The names that you're probably trading for. They're
not gonna come cheap, and you don't have the prospects

(32:48):
to be able to move them without rendering your farm
systems for the long term. That's my standpoint seven one three,
two one two five seven ninety. If you're on the
guest line, we always get to you first. James, what's on, man?

Speaker 6 (33:00):
Yeah, I watched that TWU lane in North Texas game
last night and they said the winner of that game,
that's the automatic bid to the playoffs. Ye correct, yes, Okay, Well,
to Lane's number twentieth in the nation, right, So how
is that fair? How does that fair to the other
teams that are clearly better that they don't make the playoffs.
They need to change something because that's not right. I
mean to, Lane's not better than Texas. Tw Lane's not

(33:22):
better than LSU. I don't think l SU could be
two Lane. So I don't know, if you're number twentieth
in the nation, you still get to get in the
playoffs even though you win the American They need to
change something to make that fair because that's absolutely not
fair for the other teams that are actually you know,
that are better than Tulane. I just wanted your opinion
on that.

Speaker 4 (33:41):
I appreciate you, James, I really do. Here's what we're
going to do. We're going to take quick time out
when we come back. We're going to talk college football
for probably the next two segments because we got a
seven to nothing lead in Arlington as BYU is about
ready to be tied on up by Texas Tech.

Speaker 5 (33:55):
This is really interesting when it comes to playoffs.

Speaker 4 (33:57):
I got a lot of conversation on this, and you
guys know that I want to talk about college footballlayers,
but I want to get out of the way with
the Astros, Rockets, Textans, make sure that we were all
on the same page when we come back. What needs
a change for the college football playoff for the long term?
Is there a right answer? I will explain right here
on Sports SAX seven ninety Space a Saturday next it's

(34:18):
Spaced Saturday Rolling. You're right along here on Sports Talk
seven to ninety Colt Thomas Rockerts soon don't one o'clock
seven and one, three two one two five seven nine.
If you want to talk about your astros, what do
they do now? With Pablo Lopez, Joe Ryan, and Byron
bucksing off the market? Your Rockets thirty one thousand points
is the eighth player in NBA history. That title belongs
to Kevin Durant. Following a win over the Phoenix Suns

(34:39):
and your Texans, they look to keep their four game
now five game winning streak alive over the KNC Chiefs
Tomorrow night seven to twenty, kickoff time on NBC. All right, So,
James and Kline had a big time question about what
happens with Tulane getting an automatic bid for the college
football playoff.

Speaker 5 (34:56):
And this is a really interesting conversation.

Speaker 4 (34:58):
So the problem is is that when they decided to
move to a twelve team postseason conversation, they said that
we were going to give five automatic qualifiers. So five
automatic qualifiers go to the five best conference champions. They
never said who were the five best conference champions. They
never said that, hey, TWU Lane, because they play in

(35:21):
the American War is just as good record wise, and
they were in their conference title as Alabama, as Texas,
as as Michigan, then they're gonna be in the playoff. No,
what they said is that we're gonna give it to
the five highest conference champions. So right now you have

(35:41):
the Big twelve title going on. It's gonna be b Yu,
it's gonna be Texas Tech. Both of them are ranked
to head a two lane, so they're in. The Next
one is the SEC. It's gonna be Alabama or it's
gonna be Georgia, both higher than two lane. They're in.
Next up is the Big Ten. It's number one versus
number two, Indiana versus Ohio State. Naturally they're better than
two lane. They'rein. Then comes the big conundrum here, which

(36:04):
is the ACC which probably the committee when they looked
up and down and said, oh, we love this idea.
We're so smart, we know better than anybody else in
the world of college football. Ain't that Ain't that right, Franken,
ain't that right? We're the smartest people. Lie wait, now,
better than you. They probably didn't expect the ACC to
melt mentally implode on itself to where the winner of

(36:25):
the conference could be an eight and five Duke Blue
Devil's roster. And so now you have to go ahead
and throw in the five highest conference champions. So next
on the list, James is too Lane. They are higher
ranked than James Madison and their higher ranked than Duke.
But let's say that Virginia does win tonight in the

(36:46):
ACC title. Well, Virginia would then be the fourth highest
rank conference champion and the ACC representative, and then the
fifth highest conference champion at nineteen. One spot below Virginia
would be Duke, would be tu Lane over James Madison.
So the colleg Football playof Committee said, we're giving it
to the five highest conference champions because if they want

(37:06):
an inclusion. This is where we come into a fault.
All the time in the world of college football, do
we want to include everybody or do we want to
include the best teams? The committee said, we want to
include everybody. We wanted every single conference that has a
champion be given an opportunity to represent their conference at
the highest level in the College Football Playoff.

Speaker 5 (37:28):
And I understand that to a certain degree. I love
G five football.

Speaker 4 (37:31):
Last night, as I was watching the Rockets pull away
in the game against Phoenix, I had four television screens
on one with conference to USA Jacksonville State Kansas State,
one with James Madison playing very close, too close for
comfort against Troy, one with unt falling short against Tulane,
and one of Boise State versus UNLV where I took

(37:54):
the over and the line was just on it. It
was fifty nine and a half and I got at
fifty nine and I was pissed off last night drive
at home. That's the reality of it is that I
love G five football, but there's not a reason to
have them in the playoff. But we had to include them.
So therein lies the problem and why the College Football
Playoff winned. This offseason is going into a deliverance on

(38:17):
what is going to be the next course of action. Now,
let me ask you guys this. I do not believe
that Texas belongs in the College Football Playoff. I don't.
I do believe they're a better team than Tulane. And
if you ask me right now, who do I think
is a better shot of winning a national title? I
would say Texas. I think that Michigan has a better
shot of winning a national title at nine and three.
I think USC has a better shot of winning a

(38:38):
national title at nine and three. I think that you
have multiple Big twelve teams BYU that has to win
today to guarantee their spot in the College Football Playoff
has a better shot of winning a national title than Tulane.
But these are what the rule states. The problem is
is that we decided to go ahead and put our
trust in the hands of people who are corrupt and
will gladly take a pretty check to guarantee that they

(39:01):
have boosters and sponsors and people paying their way for
more expansion. And when they came with that expansion, that
meant that we had to include everyone at the party,
even though we both know that they don't belong at
the party. I like two lane. I think John Sumarl,
who's going to go to Florida after this year was
the best higher of the offseason. I love John Somerrale
as a coach. I also think that if you told

(39:23):
me that Tulane could win a national title, you're out
of your mind.

Speaker 2 (39:26):
I do so.

Speaker 4 (39:27):
The question that now we have to have is what
changes in this next few weeks when the playoff Committee
has to come up with a new formula that says
we are going to now have this be the model.
Is it now saying we're only going to allow one
G five represented in? Is it saying we're going to
allow no G five percent? Is in we're going to

(39:49):
just let the power for teams construct their resume or
are we going to see them say, here's the pecking
order of how it goes. The SEC gets this amount
of teams, the ACC gets this amount of teams, Big ten,
twelve get x amount of teams, and then the leftovers
will go ahead and consider a team from the G
five level like it's too later, like a James Masson.
That's just the case. That's just what we have to

(40:09):
kind of live with right now. Nobody can do anything
about it. Whether I like it, whether you like it.
That is just where we are the problem is that
the college Football Playoff Commante decided to expand the twelve
when they didn't have to, and now we're gonna see
more expansion for teams that don't belong in the college
football playoff whatsoever, do not have an argument to be
in the playoff whatsoever. But because of their sitting on

(40:30):
the bubble and because of the end of their season
on a high note, they think we absolutely belong in
that chatter.

Speaker 7 (40:35):
We do.

Speaker 5 (40:36):
And this is where I push back all the time.
People get pissy at me, and I don't really care.

Speaker 4 (40:41):
The numbers should have been eight, I said three years
ago when they were talking about college football playoff expansion.
The numbers should have been eight. And the reason I
said eight is because of let's just look right now
at where we are with the teams that currently are
in the top eight. And let me ask you, guys,
call on in seventy one, three, two, two, five, seven, ninety,
do you have a problem with any of these teams
being in the playoff? Ohio State, Indiana, Georgia, Texas, Tech, Oregon, Ole,

(41:06):
miss Texas, A and M And either the winner of
BYU or Alabama if they were to win today, those
would be your eight anybody got a problem with that, No,
I don't think so. And if you wanted to get
a step further, then you would take out a team
like Alabama or a team like BYU, and you would
insert a team like Virginia. That way you have a
conference champion from that vicinity. But nobody would have a

(41:28):
problem with that. But the problem is that we had
to include the G five reps. We had to include independence.
We had to reward notre name for not scheduling a
scheduling a schedule that's talent talented enough to where they're
not playing in a conference, so they get to pick
and choose and kind of decide on how they feel
about their games. And now we're called into a conundrum.
And so what's gonna happen now that we had to

(41:49):
have the conversation of head to head, to they matter?
Strength of records? Do they matter? Do we have the
include G five teams? Well, the committee's gonna do what
they always like to do, and they're gonna look and
they're gonna say, well, more money in our pocket, let's
expand it. Let's go to sixteen. And then we're gonna
have a conversation in a little while that says, hey, hey,
hey sixteen, that's seventeen team on the outside looking in,

(42:11):
it was Texas this year. Texas went nine and three,
but they finished seventeenth this year. Well, Texas, they're better
than the ECC school There are a thousand times better
than any of those schools in the Big twelve. They
belong in now and then the caveats go look up
and down and go me, you're right, we can't leave
Texas on the future. I got it. Let's go to
twenty and then we're gonna have the conversation about the
twenty eeftheam because now we have three G five representatives

(42:33):
in the chatter, and now three A G five representatives
are in, but no Texas, A and M at nine
and three, or no Missouri with a record setting year,
or no Iowa for that matter, and so now they're out.
So what's the collegeetball playoffman any gonna do?

Speaker 2 (42:46):
I got it.

Speaker 4 (42:46):
Let's expand it again. Let's just continue to move it
on down until we get to twenty four and the
regular season has no momentum and there's no more reasons
to play in these rivalry games, and there's no more
reasons to care about conference championships all be because of
we allowed people and bureaucrats to run our sport that
we love dearly that they are now cashing on in
on because if they know that we are feeble minded

(43:09):
people who are going to pay attention to the sport
regardless of if you expand or not. That's where we
are and that's how you get conversations like Tulane being
in the college football Playoff. If it was Saturday eight,
if it was always just set at eight, Tulane would
not be in the conversation. They won't They would win
a conference title, you feel really good, they'd play in
a big, bigger bowl game. They could say that they

(43:30):
were a top twenty five team. They had eleven wins
on the year, record setting year. John Somerrel goes out
as another champion in New Orleans. But now we're putting
them in the playoff. And you know who we're leaving
out of the playoff Texas, who one hundred percent is
better James than Tulane. We're leaving out Vanderbilt, who this
season not only do they have a Heisman Trophy caliber quarterback,

(43:52):
but they also had their best record in program history.
Their reward. Hey, go play in the relya Quest Bowl
in Tampa. I hear it's nice this time of year.
We're leaving out Miami potentially, who did their job, won
every one of their games, has a massive head two
head matchup over a team that currently is in the
playoff formula and willieve it, not BYU, who BYU for

(44:14):
the first time in college football playoff history since the
committee decided to go to a fourteen model, is not
ranked inside the top ten despite having an eleven to
one record, But Tulane's getting on in and if somehow,
some way Duke wins tonight, James Madison is getting on in.

(44:35):
So the playoff committee has a lot of things to
think about, and I don't know if they're gonna fix it,
because more often than not, when you let people and
you let the human mind dictate what needs to be
decided by people who actually understand the game and more specifically,
give than you let money dictate who gets in and
who gets out, ninety nine percent of the time, the
only person that benefits are those who are already rich.

(44:55):
And we the fans, and we the people that pay
to watch these games and fall in lif love with
these games are left off to the wayside, wondering what
the hell happened to my sport Seven to one to three,
two one two five seven ninet. If you want shim
on in, take quick time out, one hour down, one
more in the books. I have a bone to pick
with the college Football Playoff Committee. We'll get back to Texans,
we'll get back to Rockets, we'll get back to Astros.

(45:16):
But I got to bring this up at some point,
ladies and gentlemen, factors, just facts, and the playoff Committee
is going to have to honor that come Sunday morning.
I'll explain what that is when we come back right
here on Space Aday Saturday, Sports Talk seven ninety next,
and just like that, Texas Tech is about ready to
go up on BYU. Massive play from Baron Morton. They're

(45:40):
inside the red zone, koy Elkin making the catch of
the day. As we can see, the Red Raiders have
their best season in college football Big twelve football history.
It is space a Saturday right here on Sports Talk
seven ninety. Cole thomps from rock with two for one
more hour, seven to one to three, two one two
five seven ninety Rockets. They get by thirty one thousand

(46:02):
career night for KD as he becomes the eighth player
in history he hit the thirty one K marker and
a win over the Phoenix Suns. Texans take on the
Kanca Chiefs tomorrow night seven twenty kickoff on NBC, and
the College Football Playoff is gonna be in for a
world of questions galore depending on what happens in the

(46:22):
next few matchups. Okay, so if you were with us
at the end of last hour I teased this before,
we're talking about it now because if it's important. Now,
by the way, Hoyel Cans touchdown, just count it. It
is now ten to seven in favor of Texas Tech
over BYU. So the College Fotball Player Committee is a joke.
I've said that on multiple ocasions. I'll get Tinue to
say that as long as you have hundred eurocheck making
six seven jokes and not really caring about head to

(46:42):
head matchups, we're gonna have to have a problem. And
I'm not gonna agree with a lot of what they said.
So naturally the conversation turns to what do we do
outside of the top nine?

Speaker 5 (46:53):
Now, why do I say top nine? Because of that
means that.

Speaker 4 (46:55):
There are only there's only one spot made available for
one team to get on into the playoff. So real fast,
those of you who are paying attention at home, Ohio State, Indiana, Georgia, Texas, Tech, Oregon, Ole,
miss Texas, A and m Oklahoma and Alabama more than
likely all ninety nine percent in the College Football Playoff.
Chulane is also in the College Football Playoff because of
the air the highest ranked team from the G five level,

(47:18):
and they get an automatic bid. You really only have
a couple spots left in place outside of ACC play,
which will either be Virginia or it will be James Madison.
Now that we got that all under control, there's one
spot left. The College Football Playoff Committee at some point
is going to have to be faced with the errors
of their ways, and now is the time for them
to do it. So let me explain. Miami and Notre

(47:41):
name have been at each other's throats since the start
of the rankings about where they're supposed to fit. Both
sit at ten and two. Both have faced off against
a similar schedule, Both have won against at least one
ranked opponent. Both have been able to continue to win

(48:02):
down the stretch, and not falter. After a couple of
hiccups along the way, one team is riding on in
on a ten game win streak. One team was able
to go on the road against Virginia Tech and handle
business and do the exact same thing that Notre Dame
did on the road against pitt. So now the committee
has asking themselves why is Notre Dame ranked at number ten?
The problem here is that at some point the games

(48:24):
on the field have gotten at it. Now, for those
of you that know what I'm talking about, Miami at
home week one beat Notre Dame twenty seven to twenty four.
Carson Beck had a day, The rushing attack had led
by Jeremiah Love was stalled. Now, kay Tony made his
presence felt, and the College for Above Playoff Commune said,
you know what doesn't matter in our eyes Notre Dame

(48:47):
right now they're playing better football. We're gonna keep them ahead.
So naturally, if BYU used to lose today, which we'll
get to that in a moment, it's gonna leave one
spot available BYU if they lose today, will be knocked
down in the playoff. Now, can any of you tell
me what is significant about that? I'll save you the trouble.
Notre Dame is at number ten, b YU is at
number eleven, Miami is at number twelve. So if BYU

(49:10):
loses today, that means that the committee is going to
have number ten Notre names sitting right next to number
eleven Miami. Let's go a step further. One team strength
of schedule is thirteen in the country. The other team
strength of schedule is fourteenth. One team strength of record
is forty second in the country. Another team strength of

(49:32):
record forty third. One team is one and two against
top twenty five opponents. One team is one and now
against top twenty five opponents. One team ranks third in
the FBI rankings by ESPN. One team ranks fifth in
the FBI rankings by ESPN. One team beat Pittsburgh thirty

(49:55):
seven to fifteen, and then they proceeded to beat Stanford
forty nine. The other team destroyed Stanford thirty eight to seven,
and then that same team in the last week of
the season beat up on Pittsburgh with the final score
of thirty eight to seven. The same scores almost all

(50:18):
across the board bottom line. So when that happens, guys,
what is the last data point? When you're neck and
neck against each other.

Speaker 2 (50:28):
What is it?

Speaker 5 (50:30):
Anybody you should know the answer to this one? Pretty simple?

Speaker 4 (50:34):
Frankie, do you know the answer to this one? No? No,
head to head. The games on the field matter. So BYU,
if they are to lose today and right now they
are trailing ten to seven with ten forty two left
in the second quarter of the Big Twelve Championship, is
gonna move Miami up one spot. The playoff committee has

(50:56):
been dreading this formula forever. They have to put in Miami,
because what's the point of playing the games if you
don't end up honoring head to heads. I'll take it
a step further. A lot of you are Houston Cougar
fans right now, you're sitting at nine to three. Great year.
What if you were guaranteed a playoff spot. You have

(51:17):
to play in the Big twelve title, but you were
guaranteed a playoff spot. But let's say Arizona that you
beat is going in ahead of you. How would you feel.
What's the point of playing the game When we have
the exact same record, we have the exact same data points,
We've proven that we are hanging tall with everybody else
in our conference and they gave them the nod. Doesn't

(51:40):
matter that we're in, doesn't matter that we won the game.
They like Arizona better. It's a beauty contest. That's what
it comes down to, guys. That's all this is. And
by the way, if you're a Houston fan, you should
understand this completely because guess what happened. The College Playoff
Committee decide to unveil their rankings earlier this week. Can
anybody tell me what a significant that you beat Houston?

(52:02):
You both they're sitting at nine and three. Arizona has
ranked four spots higher than you. I would be evisceratedly
limit about that, because you want to why what's the
point of playing when everything else matters except for the
head to head and that's something that they have to fix.
Now I'll go step further and I'll say right now,
BYU should be in the playoff no matter what they

(52:25):
should BYU. This is not the first time and it
won't be the last time that those folks out in Provo,
Utah are absolutely screwed. It isn't because let me go
step further and tell you, guys, why this needs to happen.
So BYU is coming in out of lovendon one. They're
the only team in college football playoff postseason history, I
mean a playoff ranking history, to not be inside the
top ten within an e lovedon one record. They appear

(52:46):
at number eleven on the FBI rankings, they are currently fifteenth.
That's the lowest compared to Alabama, Notre Dame, and Miami.
Strength the schedule they're the highest at six. They have
a higher strength to schedule than both Alabama and Notre
Dame and Miami. They also are two and one against

(53:09):
top twenty five opponents. Do you want who else? Is too?
And one against the twenty five opponents Alabama and they
play today and Notre Dame is one and two. Strength
of record their thirty fifth. Notre Dame is forty second,
Miami is forty fourth, Alabama is eleventh. So all in all,
BYU with a tougher strength to schedule, tough first strength

(53:29):
of record, a better record overall, and having to play
in a conference title game today needs to win to
guarantee its spot in the playoff. And the reason I'm
so frustrated with that is because of everything else in
the sport. Think about this for a moment. Indiana and
I mean Indiana and Ohio State have not played against

(53:49):
each other this year. Okay, so we'll take that equation out.
BYU and Texas Tech have played against each other. BYU
lost the first game. What BYU win today? Well, are
you really gonna punish Texas Tech for losing in a
game that wasn't promised at the start of the year.
You're not gonna do that. You're definitely not gonna do that.
They're number four in the country. The most they would
move down to is like eight or nine. But you're

(54:11):
not guaranteeing them out of the playoff. You're just not
So why would you do that to b YU. Then
let's say b why you won that game? Texas Tech
wins this one, you're gonna keep them out? No, you're
not gonna do that. Georgia played to Alabama. What if
Alabama wins a second time against Georgia today, Well, was
a game that wasn't promised at the start of the year,

(54:33):
was a game that wasn't supposed to happen to begin with.
You didn't know what was gonna be the case. Are
you gonna penalize Georgia for being on out? Georgia didn't
win this one. So now are they on the outside
looking in? Probably not. I'll go one more step further.
Alabama's gonna be in the playoff this year. And if
you don't believe me, ladies and gentlemen, you don't know
who Greg Sanki is. Greg Sanki is one of the

(54:54):
most powerful men in college football. And he will turn
this playoff scenario upside down instantaneously if he gets the
opportunity to. Because you want know why he doesn't like
that that BYU in, Texas, Tech and all the ACC
schools are in the same stratosphere as him, when Texas
and Vanderbilt and countless.

Speaker 5 (55:10):
Other teams are sitting at home in the playoff pitcher.

Speaker 4 (55:12):
So if Alabama, who I might also add in, is
the number one team in the SEC. And you may
not like to hear that, but they are. They have
one loss. They have they win in a head to
head over Georgia. That's why today they will be wearing
the home jerseys. That's why they'll be in red and
Georgia will be in white. If you're gonna tell him

(55:34):
that they're out, watch out quickly. He calls Tony Batiti
and says dude, we're done. We're moving into do our
own playoff.

Speaker 2 (55:40):
Now.

Speaker 4 (55:40):
This is gonna be what we continue. This is gonna
be our game plan, and more specifically, we're gonna go
ahead and we're gonna make sure that we call the
Big ten and we're gonna call some teams with the
Big twelve and say you're welcome to go. But that's it,
and the College Worldlaoff Committe doesn't want that, So Alabama's
gonna go to the playoff. So in a loss today,
Alabama in a remap against Georgia will still be in

(56:01):
the playoff. Are you really going to tell me that
BYU is not going to be in the playoff if
they have two losses to the same team, if Georgia
also has two losses to the same team, you're really
gonna tell me that. That's why this conversation should just
be a moot. Point. BYU should be in the playoff,
and if it's not, them should be of Miami because

(56:22):
Miami number one plays in the conference, number two they
have the head to head win, and number three they
match up on near every single metric identical to Notre Dame.
So what all it comes down to is the last metric,
which is, hey, who won the football game of these
two played? That's the team that belongs on in It's
simple math, lays and gentlemen, whether you like it or not.

(56:42):
Seven one three two one two five seven nine, And
take a quick time out. Let's talk some Texans. What
do I expect to see in this matchup? What are
some things that need to be pointing in this matchup?
And more specifically, who is the player that I'm most
excited to see end up ending the reign of what
we know in Kansas City. All that more on a
Space City Saturday here at Sportstock seven ninety. Next, we

(57:06):
got a game brewing out in Arlington, Texas Tech kicker
just missed a three five yard field goal wide left
and now the ball is at midfield after BYU try
to run a fake punt on Texas Tech defense. It
is ten to seven, five minutes left in the second quarter.
This is spasically Saturday right here on Sports Talk seven
ninety Cold Thompson Rockets you until one o'clock seven to

(57:28):
one to three, two one two, five to seven ninety
if you want to chime on in your Rockets behind
a record setting thirty one thousand career point night with
kd eighth player in NBA history to accomplish that they
get the one over the Phoenix Suns. College football playoff
commute is going to be up in arms depending on
what happens out in Arlington and Charlotte tonight and your

(57:49):
Houston Texans hit the road to take on the kanc
Chiefs and improve their four game win streak to a
five game one seven one three two one two five
seven ninety. All Right, So I told you there was
one player that I'm most excited to see come tomorrow night,
It's actually two. I think you know where I'm gone
with this one. It's gonna be Will Anderson Daniel Hunter.
Will Anderson and Danil Hunter are two of the best

(58:11):
pass rushers in the NFL. And that's not me saying,
and as a Texans fan, that's not me saying. As
somebody that covers the team. That's me looking out what
the numbers have said. Both of them rank inside the
top six. And the only reason why right now you
don't have a Will Anderson in the top five is
because if he did not have a sack last week.
Besides that, nothing willing to complain about daneil Hunter with

(58:31):
eleven sacks, Will Anderson with ten point five. They're going
up against the bang and bruised Kansas City offensive line
that's already a priority Number one. No Draws Simmons, though
rookie left takuat of Ohio State that many Texans fans wanted,
He's on the IR so he's done for at least
the next four weeks. No Tray Smith, he is expected

(58:51):
not to play in this game. And now Juwan Taylor,
He's not expected to play in this game. So that
means that Janya Morris, a third round pick from Ohio State,
is expected to start at left tackle. That means that
Jalen Moore is gonna be starting to either right guard
or left tackle. And that means that a backup center

(59:13):
or a backup guard Mike Caliendo, who's only on the
left side, they're gonna be playing at the right guard spot.
Ladies and gentlemen, This is why I'm so confident the Texans.
It's because of that pass rush. It's because of the
way that we have seen Houston be able to corral
quarterbacks and to making mistakes and make them have to
feel so inferior with their game. That's just it, and

(59:35):
it starts up from what you've got in your pass
rushing sets. But Daniel Hunter and Will Anderson, and the
beauty about them is that neither one is ever off
the field.

Speaker 5 (59:43):
At the same time.

Speaker 4 (59:44):
Houston will sometimes rotate in some players, whether that be
Derek Barnett, whether that beat the Nico Watry, and fifty
five has got to come off the field, But you
don't see fifty one leave, or you see fifty one
to come off the field and you don't see if leave.
That's just the case. Ten times out of ten, you
always see continuity coming off of one side of the field.

(01:00:08):
They're both gonna be able to be on the field
for I would say a majority of the evening, and
they're going to go ahead and end the reign of
terror that has been Kansas City for the last ten
years mainly. I guess you could say eight years if
you want to go be completely honest here, but so
eight years. Pat Mahomes has never missed in his career
inn AFC title game when he started, he hasn't. He's

(01:00:30):
on the verge of missing the playoffs, and Kansas City's
on the verge from falling to below five hundred for
the second time this year. So a lot of things
that are really pointing.

Speaker 5 (01:00:39):
In this matchup.

Speaker 4 (01:00:40):
If the Texans do what they're supposed to do, which
is rush the quarterback, make sure that Patrick Mahomes is
taken down lightly, because that's the other thing that's going
to prepare yourself for, guys, is you do not want
to see them making the big time hits because the
second that you see Patrick Mahomes colliding on the ground,
games over fifteen yard flag, we're seeing the yellows be thrown.
The Zebras are gonna go ahead to make this in
favor of Mahomes because they always do, and that's gonna

(01:01:03):
caut you a game. That's what's gonna happen. So the
second that they do that and they're making clean tackles,
the game's gonna be done because they can't run the football.
Kansas City right now has not been able to see
consistency on the ground from any of their stars, Kareem Hunt,
Isaiah check O, Rashaan Smith, Elijah Mitchell. Meanwhile, Dave Tube
said earlier this week the spell teams coordinator, Hey Damian Pierce,

(01:01:25):
the guy that we brought in from Houston to play
against Houston. He's not ready. We're not gonna be playing
him this week, so now he's out of this game.
The passing attack has been very hit and miss over
the last few weeks. Rashi Rice kind of finding his
stride at this point. Xavier Worthy kind of cooling off
a little bit. You look at Taekwon Thornton, who at
the start of the year was one of the best
deep ball receivers in the game. He's averaging like twenty

(01:01:48):
two yards a catch. He's making play after play after play.
He's basically become a mobile in the last four games.
Look at his numbers after the first two weeks. Zero catches,
zero catch, zero catches, sixty one catches, I mean sixty
one yards on two catch on one catch.

Speaker 2 (01:02:05):
That's it.

Speaker 4 (01:02:06):
He hasn't scored a touchdown since Week three, but he
was averaging over twenty yards of play. He is a
deep shot guy downfield. We're gonna go ahead and feeds
you the bread basket. Juju Smith Schuster. He's got twenty
six catches for two hundred and ninety nine yards. He's
not even in their number four receiver. He's currently number five.
This is a team that right now does not have
a lot going forward offensively, and so the reason I'm

(01:02:29):
beyond excited to watch Houston be able to handle business
against Kansas City is because if you still are able
to take down a quarterback built like Patrick Mahomes, you're
doing something right. Because I'll say this until I'm blow
the face, the Texans are supposed to win this game.
You're a better matchup when it comes to the offensive side,
you're a better matchup when it comes to the defensive side.

(01:02:49):
Most of the spots outside of I would say quarterback
and head coach, you are beating Kansas City. Just straight
up blind resume. Don't look at the helmets, still look
at the logos, don't look at the conferences. To straight up,
you're seeing better wide receiver this team, better offensive line,
this team, better defensive line, this team. So you should
end up winning this game. But if you're able to

(01:03:11):
shut down Patrick Mahomes, if you're able to force him
to have multiple turnovers, if you're able to force him
to live in third and long, then guess what you
feel like that you're pretty good. You gotta feel like
that you can take on anybody because you've already taken
down one quarterback that is coming off of an MVP
season and is still gonna be in the playoffs. You

(01:03:31):
dismantled Josh Allen. The Buffalo Bills had no answers for
Will Anderson, Daniel Hunter, and what they had in the
defensive line. None. And we know this because in the
first half, Will Anderson, i mean Daniel Hunter had a
big time sack on Josh Allen and that was the
only play for the first thirty minutes. Come the final
two quarters, you have seven and you basically make them

(01:03:52):
live in third and long for over thirty hours. I mean,
like that's all we're seeing at this point. So it's
just like all all these little things that we're talking
about when it comes to Texans. They fix the faults
in certain areas on the offensive side, and they got
the defense that's so damn elite. They should be able
to go handle business against anybody, including Mahomes. But you
need to see it happen. The Texans so far in

(01:04:14):
the Demico Ryans era are zero to two. When they
faced off against Kansas City in Arrowhead, they have n't
been to there. They've never been to the AFC Conference
title game. If they were forced to go to Arrowhead
in the conference title game, and they lose this one,
then you feel like that Kansas City is destined to
once again return to where Patrick Mahomes calls home. That's
just it. But you have an opportunity to really be

(01:04:35):
able to deliver. And even though you may or may
not have Kamari Laster out there, which by the way,
according to reports he is questionable for the game. KPRC
two Sports Aaron Wilson and insider right here on Sports
Sex seven ninety said he will test it before he
ends up going out there on Sunday. They will make
a final determining factor before the game. I still like

(01:04:55):
this defense. I look at the matchups. I say, you
got a winner on almost every level outside of one
spot at wide receiver, and largely that's just due to
the fact that we don't know the SASA Kamari. But
you look at Travis Kelce. You know you didn't have
last year when he went off for a Bucks seventeen
and he found the end zone. You didn't have Jalen
Peatree playing in the nickel, So that automatically is a

(01:05:16):
massive upgrade for you in that standpoint. You gotta feel
good about Derek Sigley Junior going toe to toe with
Rashie Rice. You gotta feel good about if you have
Kamari Lester going toe to toe with a guy in
Xavier Worthy. You have to feel good about your safety
play with Kaylin Bullock, even though you do have a
question mark at the other safety.

Speaker 5 (01:05:33):
I think it's gonna be Jalen Mills. And if it's
not Jalen Mills.

Speaker 4 (01:05:35):
It's Miles Bryant. You got a defensive line that's going
up against an offensive line that's banged up and bruised
and does not have three starters, and you gotta feel
good about your linebackers playing in a good position to
where they're not gonna be out of alignment. Therefore they
take away the run game and they keep everything in
front of them. It's not me being bostful saying I
think that the Texans are a much better team than

(01:05:56):
what Kysa City is. It's me being honest. There's supposed
to do this. And if you have a pass rush
with two guys that currently are in the top ten,
and it's the only team in the NFL with two
guys in the top ten generating sacks and pressures on
both vicinities. You should feel like going up against a
backup offensive line, You're not only going to win this game,

(01:06:17):
you're going to make it so soundly convincing that people
are going to start buying into you as a legit
threat to go to the super Bowl, whether or not
you are. But that's my own two cent of the conversation.
I think the sections behind two elite pass rushers find
a way to get the job done, and I'm excited
to see how they're able to accomplish what they do
in the first half and translate on over to the

(01:06:38):
second because I do believe that we could see another
night where hey, six sacks are on the table, seven
sacks are on the table. You want to go for eight,
want to go for nine? You want to go ahead
and try to catch up with Miles Garrett as he
is inches away from Michael Strahan's record. I'm all for it,
and I think both can do it. I really do.
I'm not trying to be bolsful and put the flagging

(01:07:00):
before the horse when it comes to this game, because
I understand the Texans have not won in Arrowhead during
the tenure underneath Amiko Ryans. I'm also being honest when
I say I look at this Texans roster and I
believe right now where they are.

Speaker 5 (01:07:16):
It feels as if this is supposed to be a game.

Speaker 4 (01:07:19):
Not only do they win, but they handle business and
then catch the eyes of the public to let them
know they're not gonna go away quietly. You got Dan Orlowski,
you got Mina Coimes, you got countless others talking about
where this Texans team has come from and where they
are now. The public is still waiting to see what
this Texas team can be. You show up on Sunday night,
you deliver a performance to remember, people are gonna be
talking about you as a legit threat to go to

(01:07:40):
the playoffs. I mean, be more than just a playoff team.
Come Monday morning seven one three two one two five
seven ninety, take quick time out. We'll get to your
phone calls, We'll get to your comments. Let's go talk
a little bit more about the Astros. What's the game
plan for them when it comes to the trade market.
A lot of things that we have to see. All
that more on Sports Talk seven ninety Next Space Day

(01:08:03):
Saturday rolls all right along here on Sports Talk seven
ninety Cole Thompson Rockman Shoe until one o'clock seven one thirty, two,
one two five, seven ninety. If you want to chime
on in on your Astros? What do they do at
the winter meetings later on this month? What about the Rockets?
Feel pretty confident going into tonight's game. You can listen
to it right here on KBM Sports Talk seven ninety

(01:08:25):
that Thomas and Adam Wexler I believe on the call
as the h Town Pride full coming off of a
major win Friday night against the Phoenix Suns take on
the Dallas Mavericks and your Texans. They kick off tomorrow
night looking to expand their four game win streak to
five against the Kansas City Chiefs seven to twenty kickoff

(01:08:45):
on NBC seven one three two one two five, seven ninety.
So the Astros, what do we know about them going
into the offseason? Number One, it's gonna be a crucial
year for them to fix several minute details before they
go ahead and take control of the AL West. This offseason,
they gotta go ahead and make some moves because naturally,
you see Josh Naylor sign with the Mariners, you see

(01:09:07):
the Rangers making some adjustments. It doesn't feel like they're
going to be trained away guys like Nathan Valdi or
Corey Seeger. They did get rid of Marcus Simeon, they
did bring in Brandon Nemo. That would be an interesting
combination to see where they go next. So that would
be something that we pay attention to. I'd like to
spend money this offseason and the Angels to stake nobody
cares about them. Kurtsiu Zuki, I feel so sorry for

(01:09:28):
you on a one year contract, but the Askers have
been looking to move and fix some things with their
rotation and their outfield at this point. So recently, it
had been rumored that the Astros were interested in Joe Ryan,
starting pitcher for the Minnesota Twins. Minnesota Twins also have
another picture in Pablo Lopez, who missed majority of the

(01:09:51):
second half of last season because of an injury, but
still very solid number two pitcher. And then there was
also a report that Byron Buxton, the All Stars set fielder,
one of the best power hitting bats when healthy but
always injured, was willing to wave his no trade clause
if it meant him going to a contender. Well, according
to the athletic in Fox Sports is Ken Rosenthal. The

(01:10:12):
Twins who not anticipate moving centerfielder Byron Buckston or right
handers Joe Ryan and Pabo Lopez. They're going to try
to keep those players built around them and compete for
twenty twenty six. And this tells me one of two things,
and we'll get back to the Ashles and the man,
but number one, they really do believe that they can
compete behind Derek Shelton in twenty twenty six in the
Al Central And for the most part, this is a
wide open division.

Speaker 5 (01:10:34):
It is the Tigers may or may not sign Derek.

Speaker 4 (01:10:37):
Scougle to a long term deal, and if they don't,
they're probably gonna trade him, which means their window is closed.
The Royals, I don't know what they're doing right now.
It feels like that they want to compete, but they
don't want to spend the money. The White Sox are
still a year away from being a year away. And
the Cleveland Guardians, what they always seem to do is
trade away premier talent, get better in the farm system,
bring them on up, have a sloppy first half of

(01:10:59):
the season, and surge in the second half. But maybe
this is the end of that regime. So yes, in
a way, Minnesota with two good pictures, with some young
players like Royce Lewis, like Trevor Larnick, having a Byron
Bucks out there, they can probably compete. I don't think
it they'll win a lot, but they can compete. Now,
the second part of this is, and what I truly

(01:11:20):
believe is happening, is that every team is low balling
them for the premiere players and they don't like the packages.
They're coming back and they're saying, hmmm, let's hold out
until we get to the trade deadline in July.

Speaker 5 (01:11:31):
So think about this for a second.

Speaker 4 (01:11:33):
Probably somebody made a phone call I would say Boston
or Chicago about Joe Ryan and they said, we're gonna
offer X, Y and Z. Well, that's how good a
package for a guy that has two years of arbitration
and may end up being a top fifteen pitcher next year.

Speaker 5 (01:11:46):
Thanks, but no thanks. That was the best offer they got.

Speaker 4 (01:11:49):
Pablo Lopez coming off of a season ending injury but
still has some of the best juice in the tank.
He's quality number two. He gives you six strong, He's
got a two thirty nine and he's got a two
fifty five ur last season was a three four to
three era. We want to give you X, Y and Z. Well, no,
we want a little bit more than that. Well, we're
not want to pay more in that. Okay, nobody else called,
nobody else was around. Therefore shove it down the line.

(01:12:13):
We're not gonna move him. And then Byron Buckston oft
injured player who went healthy has a five tool position
where you can feel he is everything that you want
in a center fielder and at the plate could be
a really good designated hitter on days that you need
to go ahead and relax. Not enough of a market,
We're gonna wait. I think that all three of those
players will not be in a Twins uniform by the

(01:12:33):
end of the twenty twenty sixth season. But that doesn't
help out the Astros. The Astros need to win now.
They need to put together drives, meaningful moments and be
able to start figuring out what is gonna be the
game plan to help them go back to winning the conference.
I mean winning the winning the division for the first
time after missing last year's playoffs. So where do you go?

(01:12:55):
The first thing is you can look at the trade market,
But you got to ask yourself, we're some players that
we can actually move that we know that we're gonna
get better at. The big prize name on the market
right now is Freddy Peralta for the Milwaukee Brewers. He
went seventeen to six last season, two seventy ERA, two
hundred and four strikeouts. Definitely could be a starter. I mean,
could be an ace in your rotation. I think he's
more so in number two. He was the number three

(01:13:17):
behind Brandon Woodruff and Corbyn Burns for a while. He's
also only got one year left on the contract, So
are you willing to give up all of that when
you're only paying eight million dollars on his current deal?
But then you got to resign him and he may
want to go to a bigger market, big time question there.
The other thing that you could look at is guys
like Mackenzie Gore, who did not have a great season
last year five and fifteen four to seventeen ERA.

Speaker 5 (01:13:38):
He only earns two point nine million dollars.

Speaker 4 (01:13:40):
But at the same time, you're asking yourself the question
of is he bad because of the situation that he's
in with terrible defense behind him. The inability to score runs,
all the injuries that we dealt with, or is he
just a bad player and he's not living up to
his full potential as part of the Wan Soda deal.
That's something that is worth discussing. Luis Severino is another

(01:14:01):
name that has been flowing around. He's on a three year,
sixty seven million dollar contract that's roughly about twenty one
million dollars. Last season, he was two and nine with
a six to oh one era. The Astros clabbored him,
but he also was playing in a minor league ballpark.
When he was on the road. He actually was six
and two with the three ZHO two era, which is
actually pretty prominent for what you need in a number

(01:14:22):
two starter.

Speaker 5 (01:14:22):
Does he want to come to Houston? That's neither here
nor there.

Speaker 4 (01:14:25):
So you can go ahead and still make the trades,
but you got to ask yourself, if Joe Ryan and
Pablo Lopez were gonna cost this much, how much is
X Y or Z player gonna cost? And are we
willing to part with these type of prospects that we
feel like are better for our long term future. The
second thing is what you can do is you can
wait it out, go into a bidding war when it
comes to trade deadline and bringing a lot of guys

(01:14:46):
who right now are gonna be looking for one year contracts.

Speaker 5 (01:14:49):
Two names that come to mind. Number one is Justin Erlander.

Speaker 4 (01:14:52):
Kind of everyone's made it clear he wants to end
his career with Houston, and if he doesn't end his
career with Houston, I think he will go back to Detroit.
That's just it. He spent one year out in New York,
didn't like it. Wait there is no trade class, came
back to Houston, spent one year out in San Francisco.
Guess what. I don't think he's going back to the
Bay Area with Tony Vittello taken on over so you

(01:15:12):
can come back here be at number three. But you
also have the wonder are you going to get the
resurgence of him like we saw when he came back
to Houston after being in New York or are we
getting the version that we saw in twenty twenty five
when he took on the droll at San Francisco. That's
a bigger question the world number six. If it's the
way that he pitched it at San Francisco, he may

(01:15:33):
be a fourteen million dollar pitcher, and I'm going to
pay the price. But that's number five in your rotation.
Just bottom line, you're not putting him in your number
three spot. If he's pitching like he did in twenty
twenty three, s pitching like he did in twenty twenty two, Yeah,
I think that it's more than fair to say he
could be your number three.

Speaker 5 (01:15:50):
The other guy is Zach Eflin. Zach Eflin is coming.

Speaker 4 (01:15:52):
Off of a season ending injury. He pitched extremely well
with the with the Tampa Bay Rays, got traded to
Baltimore two years ago before the deadline, helped to make
the playoffs, did not have a good start to the season.
But maybe a change of scenery on a one year
deal is exactly what is necessary for him to kind
of get back a spark. This feels more so like
a number four, number five pitcher, and then that solves

(01:16:14):
your rotation and it allows you to still make some trades.
Other names that you can go after that are currently
on the market, Brandon Lau at second base, Brandon Donovant
and second base, even though I think both those programs
and both those organizations would want prospects over proven players.
Maybe go after Jaron Durand to play in left field. Potentially,
you can maybe go after a Stephen Kwan for the
Cleveland Guardians. They're known for making these trades as much

(01:16:37):
as possible. They love making trades before they have to
pay their star players. They do it almost every single year.
That can make a lot of sense. But either way,
one of these two deals has got to get done.
You either have to put all of your attention in
on bringing in some names one year I mean one
year contracts that are going to elevate your rotation, or

(01:16:58):
you're going to have to go ahead of make a
giant chade that I just don't think he's made necessary
right now, because honestly, I was looking at at from
the standpoint of the Twins are interested in selling. The
Twins are interested in making moves. They want to hit reset.
You got two pictures that would fit extremely well right
behind Hunter Brown and right above Christian Hobby or in

(01:17:20):
that number two spot, Pablo Lopez I'm want to pay
the price for because I think that he is a
hell of a number two picture in the LB. I'm
want to take the risk with Joe Ryan that arbitration
eventually will let him keep composure here in Houston, and
he'd want to sign here long term. That's why I
would hope. But that doesn't seem to happen. So now
I got turned the page. I think the Askers are
going to make two signings. When it comes to the

(01:17:41):
pitching market, they eventually will go after and make a
trade for a bat seven one three ninety Martin and Angleton.
What's up, dude?

Speaker 7 (01:17:49):
Hey, you know what Cole. You know, I am a
die hard Astros fan. I love him. I love him
more than anything. And the worst mistake before I go
on more mistake they made was was dismissing Luno. But
you know, I'll tell you what I think. Unfortunately, I
hope I'm wrong. God, I hope I'm wrong about the Astros.

(01:18:12):
I think the Astros are in dissension, and I think
what's going to happen to the Astros is that they're
going to be a team that's caught in the middle
of around eighty five to eighty six eighty seven wins
in the regular season, and that's about it. That's where
I think that there might be headed And I hope
I'm wrong, but I just I just don't. Part of

(01:18:36):
me says, well, let's let's go ahead and bring it
back for one more year.

Speaker 4 (01:18:42):
But I just I just have a bad.

Speaker 7 (01:18:45):
Feeling about where this Astros team is going to be
ending up in the middle all the time.

Speaker 4 (01:18:51):
I don't push back entirely Martin on that one. Appreciate
the phone call the Astros. I think window is still
open for I would say three to four years. As
long as Hoseel two base here. I think the askers
will try to compete and win. Here's gonna be the
big question that we have going into next offseason. What
do you do with guys like Jeremy panna Esak Paredes

(01:19:12):
and several others that might be able to catch you
pretty significant net gain in return for prospects. When you
don't have a prospect farm, you don't have a farm
system like it was built when you were coming on up.
Right now in the organization, there is no George Springer,
there is no Carlos Korea, there is no Alex Bregman.
You got some young names that you really do like.

(01:19:33):
I think that Walker Yannet could eventually find his way
into the major league roster and be n be a
starting catcher. I think that Zach Cole can find his
way into the outfield and be a significant number eight
or number nine hole hitter and offer you the defensive
prowess that you want.

Speaker 5 (01:19:47):
But you don't have the guys that you were accustomed
to seeing for a long time.

Speaker 4 (01:19:51):
So therefore, do you make the move of moving off
of Jeremy Pania, letting go of a Parredes, maybe going
ahead and trading away one of your star pitchers that
you know for a fact, even though you're rebuilding, it's
a soft ree build to where two or three years
down the line, you could be right back in the
conversation of winning an American league, a division American League title.
That just my two cents, But not right now. I

(01:20:15):
see the Astros being in that eighty five one marker.
I see them closer towards ninety wins. I see them
closer towards ninety two wins if they can go out
and bring in certain names. Because you still got a
good corn place, you still got some great bats, You
still feel like that the best is ahead for you
when it comes to the overall offensive competition. You just
got to be able to, I think fix your pitching
side of things. That's a lot easier said than done,

(01:20:38):
and you're taking a risk either way. You're either taking
a risk by making a trade for a dude who
may or may not have the same juice that he
had in his last stop, or picking up a free
agent that you might overpay for and they end up
having like a six point er and by the time
that you get to July, you just want to DFA them,
let them start their career elsewhere, and you're on the
books for the rest of their contract. Seven to one
three two, one two five, seven ninety will get you

(01:20:58):
caught up on what you missed heading into the final
thirty minutes of the Big twelve Championship as much more
as we close out Space Day Saturday right here on
Sports Talk seven ninety. Space d Saturday rolls right along
here on Sports Talk seven ninety Cal Thompson Rockman Schew
until one o'clock seven one thirty two one two five

(01:21:21):
seven nine. If you want shime on in your Rockets
back on the court tonight in Dallas as they take
on the Mavericks. Following Kevin Durant's thirty one thousandth career
point being scored in a win over the Phoenix Suns.
Your Rockets they take on My Bad. They Texans they
take on the kanc Chiefs tomorrow at seven twenty on

(01:21:41):
NBC Football Night in America with everyone's favorite person, Mike
Florio somehow having a job. And then of course we
have your astros on what they're going to do heading
into the winter meetings, which could really determine where they
fall in the pecking order among teams in the American
League for twenty twenty six seven one thirty two one
two five seven ninety. We're gonna end the show today

(01:22:02):
with predictions on what happens for the rest of the weekend.
Let's start off with the Rockets. So the Rockets they
take on the Dallas Mavericks tonight. You can listen to
the game right here on Sports Tarks seven ninety. Pregame
show starting at six, tip off at seven Matt Thomas
and Adam Wesler. I believe in the call my apologies,

(01:22:24):
No I had it right, No my bad kick A
pregame starts at six thirty. This game starts at seven thirty.
Adam Mark Sort and Matt Thomas on the call kbame
Sports Starks seven ninety. I think the Rockets are gonna win,
not only are they gonna win, I think you're gonna
see a little bit more of what we were accustomed
to with Reed Shepard. Sheppard last night he had ten
points coming off the bench. He was like two to

(01:22:45):
seven from downtown. I think that you're gonna see him
once again be more so close to that range of
let's go with like forty one percent. On top of that,
I will say, I think that you're also going to
watch as this is a massive signature win by points.
I think Kevin Durant's gonna play like I know that
Kad is probably not gonna be at one hundred percent

(01:23:05):
and he's only gonna be playing maybe like twenty five
minutes or so, but twenty five minutes maybe enough. What's
gonna be the sads of Alfred Chinghung probably decides on
where we see the bench get involved. But I think
the Rockets they're able to coast their way to another victory.
They improve on the season two sixteen and five Your Texans.
I think this is gonna be a four quarter game.
I really do. I think that Patrick Mahomes will always

(01:23:26):
be somebody that you have to prepare for. Whether you
think that you have this game one or not. At
the end of the day, this is about looking at
the roster's top to bottom, not just the quarterback. If
you told me I'm picking just a quarterback. I think
Patrick Mahomes was this game out right. It's the number
one defense in the NFL. It doesn't matter. It's Patrick
bleeding Mahomes.

Speaker 2 (01:23:44):
CJ.

Speaker 5 (01:23:45):
Stroud has got to prove.

Speaker 4 (01:23:46):
To me that he is not only back, but he
is back at the highest value and we can trust
him to stay healthy and more specifically make the right
reads and not put the ball in harm's way.

Speaker 5 (01:23:56):
So it's gonna be a four quarter battle.

Speaker 4 (01:23:59):
But ultimately I do not trust this Kansas City defensive
line offensive line. I don't. I think that Houston is
going to feast. I think that they're going to corral
making forcing mental mistakes. They're gonna be able to deliver
time after time after time after time after time in
the second half, and then it's gonna be very similar
to what we saw when Buffalo came to Energy Stadium

(01:24:20):
on Thursday Night Football. It's gonna be around seven sacks.
Williamson's gonna get two, Danialehunter's gonna get two, somebody else
is gonna get one or two, and the Texans find
a way with the offense to do just enough in
the second half, pulling away with the win and putting
themselves with a twenty eight twenty one victory over Kansas City.
They moved to eight and five five game win streaks,

(01:24:41):
stays alive, and therefore they are now in the driver's
seat for not just a playoff spot, but also for
the AFC South title. Because the other thing that we're
gonna find out tomorrow is where does Indianapolis fall in
this thing? And where does Jacksonville fall on this thing?
Because they play up against each other now on for
the College Football Playoffs selection committee.

Speaker 5 (01:25:00):
I think Texas Tech is gonna win today's game.

Speaker 4 (01:25:02):
They're up ten three right now, I mean ten to
seven right now, thirteen to seven right now over BYU
and Arlington when they come back. I think the Baron
Morton's could liver. I think the Red Raiders win. I
think Alabama beats Georgia, not because I'm an Alabama homer,
but because Georgia is one in seven all time underneath
Kirby Smart whenever they face off against the Crimson Tide.
So I think they're gonna win today. I think Duke

(01:25:23):
is going to beat Virginia, therefore knocking Virginia out of
the College Football Playoff and forcing James Madison to go
to the College Football Playoff. And I believe that Ohio
State will beat up on Indiana. I love Indiana, It's
my dad's alma mater. I'm pulling for the Hoosiers tonight.
I want to see a thirteen in those season. But
I think that if you told me, right now, take
the field or take the buck guys to win it all,

(01:25:45):
I would take the buck guys.

Speaker 5 (01:25:47):
Now, why is all this important?

Speaker 4 (01:25:49):
Because tomorrow we're going to see the College Football Playoff rankings.
Come on out. Here is my projected order on howard
is going to go. The number one seed will be
Ohio State, no questions asked. Thumber two seed is going
to be Texas Tech. Texas Tech won a conference title.
They will be twelve and one. They will get the
number two seed. I believe that Indiana will not be

(01:26:09):
penalized for losing in the game that wasn't promised. They
will be the number three seed. And I believe that
Alabama will go up to number four as the SEC
title champions. They will be the number four seed. Georgia
will come in at number five. They will still stay
ahead over over Oregon. Oregon will go to number six,

(01:26:30):
Almost will go to number seven, and Texas A and
M will go to number eight. Number nine is going
to be Oklahoma. You're not gonna penalize them. And number ten.
After finally realizing we have to include the head two
head matchup, Miami will get into the playoff. They will
be your number ten seed. Number eleven will be two lane.

(01:26:52):
Number twelve will be James Madison. So James Madison will
be traveling down to Athens, GA to take on the
George Bulldogs. Tulane will be traveling up north to Oudston
Stadium in Eugene. They will be taking on the They
will be taking on the Oregon Ducks. We got an
SEC versus SEC. I mean we got in Miami versus

(01:27:12):
a Ole mismatchup down in Oxford. And then Texas A
and M will play host to a former Big twelve
foe now in secfoe Oklahoma at Kyle Field, and that
will be your college football playoff for twenty twenty five.
Ladies and gentlemen, I just predicted the future at mister

(01:27:33):
Cole Thompson. If you want to go ahead and say wow,
I can't believe that you were right on every single take,
or when I'm wrong on every single take, which I
never am, you can go ahead and climb me over
there and say wow, what a dummy. Can't believe that
we ever believed that you were right to begin with.
But that does it for us here on Space Today Saturday.
Special things out to Frankie western Moreland for producing as
he always does. I am Cole Thompson. I will see

(01:27:54):
you brighton early six am Monday morning on the Morning
Job a Danna Cole as we discuss a Texans victory
at Aarrowhead Stadium and our Rockets back to back win
to close it the weekend. How good Saturday, folks, Space

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