Sing Us a Song....OR the End of the Astros Losing Streak, Billy Joel

Amid conversations of Billy Joel's love life and beratement of bandmates over the unseen Part 1 of a documentary, Wex and AC recap Monday's loss to the Nationals, plus discuss who are the top names the Houston Astros must target as the MLB trade deadline. Plus, who is standing out after another day of Houston Texans training camp? And how stupid are umps? Find out in Say What!!!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
The two lifelong Houston sports guys named Adam.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
Raised by Earl.

Speaker 1 (00:10):
Nolan, vaulted by the magnificent roller coaster ride.

Speaker 2 (00:17):
That is Houston Sports.

Speaker 1 (00:22):
Chill late down for the only homegrown afternoon team is
talking your teams? Adam Clinton and Adam Wettler are the
A teams a A.

Speaker 2 (00:53):
It is the A team.

Speaker 3 (00:55):
It's Sports Talk seven ninety on a Tuesday afternoon.

Speaker 4 (01:00):
Gosh, it smells like Big City Wings, like National Wing Day.
Oh my gosh, seventy five cents per wing.

Speaker 5 (01:08):
No, we appreciate them being partners here on the A
team as we kick off the Tuesday show, and note
that it is a National Wing Day and we have
wings here in front of us. And there are plenty
of places of theirs fourteen Houston area locations as a
matter of fact, where you can enjoy the same tremendous flavors,
tremendous deal today at Big City Wings.

Speaker 3 (01:29):
The economy is roarings. You can get all the wings
you want at Big City Wings. No, it is we
love Sam and all the amazing people over there. And
because of that day, there are how many flavors you
got one time about.

Speaker 5 (01:41):
Giving us something to celebrate despite the fact that we
are just about five hours and eight minutes away from
first pitch tonight.

Speaker 3 (01:48):
How about the fact that I'm trying my best to
not talk about the latest Astros loss for as long
as possible.

Speaker 5 (01:55):
The details of it should be starting to be less
important to you because I keep saying this and it's
no fun.

Speaker 4 (02:02):
But these are the facts.

Speaker 5 (02:04):
You should not be looking at the Astros lineup and saying, man,
I don't know how they're losing, because it's pretty obvious
why they are losing again.

Speaker 4 (02:13):
And with that in mind, Jacob Melton joins us next segment.

Speaker 5 (02:16):
Yeah, Jacob Melton, our weekly guest from the Astros. He
will be that weekly guest. He will join us at
about two fifteen, So next segment. He has not been
here for all of this. He's been here since one
game he played last night, his first game backs. We'll
get a handle on where he thinks things stand and
if the time from his major league debut and the

(02:36):
several games he got to play before the injury and
then the time away kind of taking a step back
and rehabbing and now getting back into the swing of things. Obviously,
I meant that literally what he thinks as he did
come into the season is the astros number two overall prospect,
and he and Bryce Matthews have now both played for
the Astros this season, and we're both in last night's lineup.

(02:56):
Just a handful of hits, just the one run. They've
only scored eight times so far in the five games
they've played. Four against Oakland and then last night against
the Nationals. Took more than the first four innings for
them to even have a base runner, and unfortunately, a
start from from Rivaldez that looked just like all of
the others he's made for the past three months, basically
did not result in a win. For the first time

(03:18):
in forever, Astros have lost five games in a row
for the first time this season, and one of the
two teams chasing them most closely in their division actually
won last night. That was the Mariners getting a three
to one victory and they closed the gap to three games.
The Rangers are taking on the Angels they lost last night,
so four games is what separates the Astros and the

(03:39):
Rangers heading into play tonight game tonight game tomorrow, so
two games before we visit with you next tomorrow afternoon
for the tenth inning show and the remainder of the
A team, and then a much needed day off for
the Astros before beginning a road trip against the Boston
Red Sox. Thursday will also be an off day for
the Houston Texans. They will practice again tomorrow, again in

(04:02):
front of the fans, as they have each of the
last three days. The last two days, including this morning's practice,
were done in pads, so looking forward to emptying the
notebook for you, give you some WEX notes on what
was seen out there if you had not heard already
when I stopped by the Matt Thomas Show a little
less than two hours ago to shed a little light
on what was seen out there, I've got four hours
worth of nuggets to deliver to you here on this show.

(04:25):
And similar to yesterday, the amount of work they got
in a lot more seven on seven stuff than eleven
on eleven, but parts of both different place on the field. Yesterday,
most of their eleven on eleven work came inside the
ten or inside the red zone. Most of their eleven
on eleven work today came from ninety nine yards away
from the end zone.

Speaker 4 (04:45):
Or close to it.

Speaker 5 (04:47):
To see how things stack up when the defense kind
of knows what's coming, even without stealing signs, which I
think in the NFL probably does happen. We've seen people
get caught for that, Bill Belichick. But nonetheless, bring both
of those items two and see what else is in
store for you, Melton. As we mentioned, joins at two
fifteen three point thirty, we'll hear from the manager, Joe

(05:07):
Aspota on them getting ready for this game, doctor Aspota
basically if you heard some of his visit earlier today,
and of course our signature segment on a Tuesday is
say what, no shortage of I can't believe what I
just saw or heard in the sports world right there
on say.

Speaker 3 (05:24):
What, Yeah, I just last night was just the latest
example of telling yourself what's actually going on repeatedly so
that you don't you know, harm furniture or windows nearby
or anything like that.

Speaker 4 (05:40):
You know, you know me, you know how knee jerk
I am.

Speaker 3 (05:44):
You know how I'm not built for baseball, and when
it comes to I guess it's because of who they're playing.
I know, I know what you said for four games
about the athletics, and maybe even some of it was true.

Speaker 4 (05:55):
It's definitely true about the athletics. I didn't. They're not
the same team they were even at beining of this
shit year.

Speaker 5 (06:00):
Though it doesn't even matter. That team's better than the
team the Astros putting on the field. But yeah, Nick
Kurtz had not been called up yet. Heck Jack Wilts
Jacob Wilson, though was awesome then, he doesn't even play now.

Speaker 4 (06:10):
He sucks now he's in a.

Speaker 5 (06:11):
Huge swamp and obviously his kit keeping him on the
sidelines for other reason. The Nationals aren't that though. That's
more unfortunate here you have. They're not doing anything special.
Their best player didn't even play last night because you
started a left handed pitcher, James Wood was not in
the lineup, and obviously the pitching wasn't the reason that
that one was.

Speaker 4 (06:29):
Tough to take.

Speaker 5 (06:30):
It was tough to take because you just never figured
out a way to put any of the After the
fourth inning, when they started to have a handful of
base runners, they just couldn't get any hit of significance.
They've now gone through the last six games with one
home run. It's difficult to win games playing walk with
only walks and singles, and the big portion of the
season that's exactly what we were talking about. They spent

(06:52):
about five weeks finally slugging, and no surprise, that's when
they got to a eighteen games over five hundred. Regardless
of who was out there. Beginning of the year, they
were healthy and they weren't slugging at all. Currently they
are very unhealthy and not slugging at all. Designated hitter
tonight and presumably batting leadoff where the Sugarland Space Cowboys
will be Jeremy Payana Joe spot I said he'll DH tonight.

(07:15):
I don't know if that means they also want him
to play Wednesday's game in at Constellation Field at shortstop
as maybe there's concern about both and they'll see how
it goes. But definitely doesn't sound like a one night er.
I was like, at least a handful of days. As
they begin a six game homestand against the Mariner's Triple

(07:36):
A team tonight over in Sugarland.

Speaker 3 (07:38):
Well, again, I can't get to upset until some of
the reinforcements come back. But I do have to disagree
with something you said on You know, the pitching was
not a reason to be upset about last night's loss.
That's exactly why I was upset about last night's loss
because the pitching was amazing. The pitching was from Frommer
was amazing.

Speaker 5 (07:56):
I mean, bat on Brian King for on July twenty eighth,
his first run of the month.

Speaker 4 (08:01):
He stinks well in a two to one game. That
does stink.

Speaker 5 (08:05):
Yeah, I mean they should absolutely every pitcher in the
bullpen should have a zero points.

Speaker 3 (08:11):
I don't need Nathaniel Lowe in my life. I've had
enough of him.

Speaker 5 (08:15):
You don't want Nathaniel low grounding to first for a
RBI double with a runner on first. And that's what
actually came out of last night's game. The starting pitcher
was not happy with how the Astros deployed their defense
behind him in that situation. It was a ground ball
to first base with Christian Walker holding the runner on
Josh Bell, who obviously was moving with the pitch. He

(08:37):
just was unable to get over. There was a clean single,
but that single quite easily turned into a double because
of the positioning of the Astros right fielder for that
particular situation, Taylor Tremmell took him forever to get to
the ball, no fault of his own.

Speaker 4 (08:50):
That's where they wanted him and.

Speaker 5 (08:52):
By the time he got over there, made his throat
to get it relayed on home. Josh Bell, who's not fast,
was able to go from first to home and score
a run, the only run of the game that scored
while Framber Valdez was on the mound, and he said
he wasn't happy about it after the game, and it's
not normal for you know, players, we don't hear it

(09:12):
as much publicly for players to be as clear as
they were, and Frommer was very clear he was. He
said he was uncomfortable with it. You know, we have
a center fielder that's playing center field. Why wasn't our
right fielder in right field? Essentially where was what he
was talking about? It It led to an extra base
for the hitter and obviously led to a much more
important extra base for the runner. Also, during several at

(09:37):
bats last night, a very very questionable strike zone once again,
Oh my gosh.

Speaker 3 (09:42):
Lands barkstales behind home plate. Yeah, it's gonna suck a
couple times or ten tonight.

Speaker 6 (09:46):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (09:47):
For some reason, he's spent a lot of time in
Major League baseball and has avoided being regarded as c. B.
Buckner or Angel her And he's terrible He is definitely
one of the five worst umpires behind the plate in
baseball both. I mean, I don't I'm not saying it's
okay because it's bad for both teams. I'm just saying

(10:09):
he wasn't playing favorites. His favorite thing to do was
miss calls right. It didn't really matter who was throwing
the baseball or who was standing as a play. Just
wasn't sure where the strike zone was yet again during
his major league umpiring career. So you had a frustrated
pitcher that has to work around that. On the same
night where we got plenty of video of Juan Soto

(10:30):
being upset, and he wasn't even the batter that got
screwed over the most. The hitter in front of him
faced three pitches, none of them were in the strike zone,
and it was a three pitch strikeout. It's it's not,
I don't know, an epidemic maybe, but my goodness, it's
we have a at.

Speaker 4 (10:49):
Least a partial solution.

Speaker 5 (10:50):
We have it, and everybody on a national stage got
to see it during the All Star Game. A couple
other baseball items, one of which is pretty significant to
the trade deadline. It went down yesterday. We didn't get
to regarding the Guardians. We will get to today. There
have been a couple of minor deals made and there
are likely several more to come. Dana Brown talking about
a little bit during yesterday's broadcasts over on Space City

(11:14):
Home Network and here with the Astros over the last
couple of days, what we think the Astros actually can
do and we'll do for.

Speaker 4 (11:22):
The trade Deadline'll get it all that next.

Speaker 5 (11:24):
We also welcome Jacob Melton, Astros outfielder, into the program
when we come back here on the A team.

Speaker 1 (11:32):
The ag on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 3 (11:53):
It is the eighteen Sports Talk seven ninety smell so
good in here. Can we just get Big c Wings
to bring wings every single day so that the studio
will smell like all of the flavors at the same time.
I'll tell you what I do, man ten flavors at
the same time, and I think I hooked that up
because chicks dig dudes that have wings, no doubt.

Speaker 4 (12:13):
I'm just changing the script on the fly right now.

Speaker 3 (12:16):
So yeah, thanks again to Sam and everybody over at
Big City Wings for bringing these on by and we
are expected to be joined any second now by Jacob Melton,
who is part of an Astros team.

Speaker 4 (12:28):
Let's face it.

Speaker 3 (12:29):
If you always hear about the dog days of summer,
that's one thing, but with the injuries that the Astros
have been facing, it is it is that and so
much more. The good news is, like Wex mentioned in
the first segment, the reinforcements are on the way. You
heard a ton from Dana Brown over the weekend about this,
and now you're actually seeing it. You know, come into play.
I know all of the pictures that were taking part

(12:51):
in Why do I feel like they were all going
to be in Corpus and then all of a sudden
they were in Sugarland?

Speaker 4 (12:57):
Am I crazy?

Speaker 7 (12:58):
Well?

Speaker 5 (12:58):
All of them did pitch in Corpse except for Christian
He pitched Thursday. The Space Cowboys went in three consecutive
starts for Corpus Christie.

Speaker 3 (13:07):
But Jeremy Paine is starting for sugar Land and dhing
I don't whatever whatever gets him here the fastest, and
then everybody behind him.

Speaker 5 (13:16):
I'm also his return in and of itself is obviously
a major significant addition, but it's really doubly that because
they were able to withstand some of his time missed
as the leadoff hitter, because He's like Peretta stepped in
and was perfectly fine as the latest third leadoff hitter
for the Astros this year. Well, when he went down,

(13:36):
everything changed. They have not had a replacement for him
as leadoff hitter, and I think Taylor Tremmell did a
fine job when he was in that spot. You know,
he did see a lot of pitches, he did draw
a couple of walks, He had a couple of games
where he hit well. He also is not going to
be in the lineup when they face a left handed pitcher,
and so there's not much you can do about that.
But he's not clearly what those three players adding Altuve

(13:56):
to the mix were before him. Cam Smith did not
enjoy success as the leadoff hitter, and it's just an
everyday thing now for Joe to figure out who might
be able to get into that spot.

Speaker 4 (14:06):
It's Jeremy Payne.

Speaker 5 (14:07):
You spot the moment he returns to this team, and
I would suspect, as Joe noted yesterday over at the ballpark,
odds are pretty good that is in Boston, he's probably
gonna get at least two games, if not more, in
with the Space Cowboys. But when the team leaves for Boston.
I'm not sure if they're leaving Wednesday. They have a
day game Wednesday a lot of times when they have
the opportunity to get there a day early so the

(14:29):
off day can be spent in Boston. But a couple
of notes on those players this month will get to momentarily.
As mentioned, we do have Astro's outfielder Jacob Melton joining
us here on the A team. Jacob, we always make
it easier for those guests that join us in the
two to six portion of our day. It's Adam and
Adam here with you on the A team. Certainly appreciate

(14:49):
your time and obviously welcome you back to the team.
What was the last month and change like for you
as you had to be kept out of play due
to that injury.

Speaker 8 (15:01):
Yeah, for sure, obviously super excited to be back and
very grateful for the opportunity. Past a month and a
half or so, I mean it's been good, tough. I
mean it's been a tough year I think in general,
kind of for a lot of guys. For me specific,
I mean, I've had a handful of things that have
came up that are kind of unforeseen, and especially at
the ankle. I mean, I feel like it's such a

(15:22):
fluke thing and really has the time to work through
it and step back and kind of evaluate how the.

Speaker 9 (15:28):
First handful of games in the Big League since it.

Speaker 2 (15:31):
Went for me.

Speaker 8 (15:31):
So I felt like I got to make some mental
changes and I have the body in a good good
spot physically, and like I said, I'm super excited to
be back and be around.

Speaker 9 (15:40):
The guys again.

Speaker 5 (15:41):
You mentioned what exactly what it was a fluke thing?

Speaker 4 (15:44):
Did you.

Speaker 5 (15:45):
Did you realize what had happened and maybe the severity
of it when it did, No, not at all.

Speaker 8 (15:51):
I mean, obviously I realized that I said I'd rolled it,
and I didn't think it was gonna be anything big.
I mean, I inficipated coming back into the dug out
again it taped up, and going back out that next
next day.

Speaker 9 (16:03):
I didn't really think it was too big of a deal.

Speaker 8 (16:06):
And I mean, obviously we worked through it and got
the pleet some stuff off, and it was, like I kaid,
it's pretty small and part pretty bad. But even at
that point, I didn't realize I think the severity of it,
that it was going to take as long as it did.
Obviously fortunate that it wasn't any worse than I was,
and it was something that I was going to be

(16:26):
able to come back from this year, obviously, So try
to stay stay positive with it and see the right
side of everything. And like I said, it gave me
a lot of time to kind of sit back and
evaluate how the perk tenor sgames.

Speaker 9 (16:39):
Went for me.

Speaker 3 (16:40):
Jacob Melton joining us here on Sports Talk seven ninety.
You know, you mentioned the mental side of this game,
and I think, along with golf, it's probably the two
most mentally taxing at times professions that you could be
as an athlete. And it's not just you know, adjustments
at the plate, but just the situation where you're going
going from Triple A up to the majors and back

(17:02):
again and things like that. Just how much of that
plays into it for people who just cannot relate to
what guys like you go through on a day to
day basis when it comes to trying to be successful
at this very very frustrating at times sport.

Speaker 8 (17:18):
Yeah, I mean, I think that's a lot of it.
You kind of hit the nail on the head. It's
it's really hard to explain kind of how tough this
game is and campaign mentally on people. So I mean,
I think we have a good group of guys here
that they're able to keep it pretty level headed and
definitely makes a lot easier. Like you said, they can

(17:39):
jump from from Triple A to here. But yeah, I
mean it's it's tough at times. I mean, especially when
you're struggling and trying to figure some things out. I mean,
it can it can wear on you to you let it.
So I think that's that's a big fun anshasis for
a lot of guys, and self included, is just the
kind of approach every day is it's own day, and
and do what you need to do to get ready
to play and go out and form at your best level.

Speaker 3 (18:00):
I asked this a lot of the guys like you,
the young up and comers, if you will, Is there
anybody in that major league clubhouse that you kind of
gravitate to or has taken you under their wing that
if you've learned a lot from.

Speaker 8 (18:14):
You know, to be honest, I don't think it's any
one person in particular. I think this group is so
good here that it's a well round the clubhouse. I mean,
I think you can go up to anybody at any
time and pick their brain on pretty much anything related
to baseball, And I mean it makes it a lot
easier to make that transition up here when you have
such a good group and guys that are willing to

(18:36):
teach and help you learn the game at this level.
I think the one so far that's been the most
impressive and most welcoming to me is Altuve. Obviously a
guy that's been around forever and done it at the
highest level for a really, really long time. It's very
interesting to pick his brain on how he approaches the
bass against different pictures and just the consistency that he

(18:59):
brings every day. It's really impressive to watch.

Speaker 5 (19:01):
Is the consistency and his attitude something to marvel at
in that it seems like he's having the best day
of his life every day he's in a baseball uniform.

Speaker 9 (19:09):
For sure.

Speaker 8 (19:11):
You know the guy, and the guy is the most
consistent I've seen mentally probably ever, Doesn't it really seem
like there's too many ups and downs on the mental
game with him. It's the same guy every day. It's
coming as a smile. He's going to be a great teammate,
great person. Yeah, definitely, super appreciative, of the time that
I got to be around him.

Speaker 5 (19:31):
Jacob, you had mentioned a minute ago about the you know,
the time while you were heard a chance to kind
of reflect on those first eleven games, those first twenty
nine at bats. When you think back to your first
go around, the first eleven games or so, what what
did you think of how that went for you?

Speaker 8 (19:47):
You know, I thought, I thought I handled the situation well.
I think, I mean, without a doubt this stuff to
improve on it and get better at it, and they're they're
always builty. But I think for the most part, had
had good at bats up here, maybe not.

Speaker 9 (20:00):
The results that I was looking for.

Speaker 8 (20:03):
But then looking back as i've i've as I've got
back in the game here, I think I was just
putting a lot of a lot of pressure on myself,
as you do when you first come up and are
trying to get activated. But I think that's gonna be
the biggest thing that I'll be able to improve upon,
is just going as a better approach to a better
game plan, just be me more calm and be able
to execute what I want to do a little better.

(20:26):
I think the less stress and pressure that you can
put on yourself, the better position will be in. I mean,
the game is already hard enough as is, and you
started adding pressure. I mean, it can it can pursue
in a hole pretty quick.

Speaker 5 (20:39):
Is there some comfort in who's in this clubhouse? And
that obviously you spent some time in spring training with
a lot of guys, But as the course of this
injury riddled season for the Astros, a lot of the
guys who you played with throughouts much of this year
in sure Land are currently your teammates here in Houston
because so many reinforcements are inside your clubhouse.

Speaker 9 (20:59):
Yeah, for sure.

Speaker 8 (21:01):
I mean a lot of these guys have been around
for a handful of years now, and I mean we
have great people here.

Speaker 9 (21:07):
I mean, honestly, there.

Speaker 8 (21:08):
Are people I'm gonna be friends with for life, and
I'm very fortunate to be to.

Speaker 9 (21:13):
Be in this organization and be around such a great.

Speaker 8 (21:15):
Group of guys. So definitely, definitely very special and something
that I'm want to care for a long time.

Speaker 3 (21:21):
BFF. Jacob Melton joining us here on the program. Hey,
you know, Joe Espota is a guy who has a
lot of respect around the majors and a lot of
people I think would like to play for him. And
I think if if you had a vote, you would
probably put his name up for Manager of the Year.
What's it like when you come up to the big
league level and you you play for a guy like

(21:43):
him who is obviously managing a lot of issues this year,
He's literally managing a lot of issues, And and how
has he gone about this with all of these injuries
this year?

Speaker 4 (21:52):
What have you noticed about being around him?

Speaker 8 (21:57):
Yeah, I mean I think you kind of hit a
lot of right there itself. Obviously, I don't think anybody
saw this year going how it has, especially for us
to be in the position that we are as a team.
But no, it's been amazing to be around and watch.
I mean, it doesn't seem like there's any past panic
from anybody in the clubhouse. And I think he's done

(22:19):
a really good job of keeping a level head.

Speaker 9 (22:21):
Throughout the group.

Speaker 8 (22:22):
And we just approach every day with with what we have,
and really that's all that's all you can do. You
go to work with what you got and I feel
like we've done a really good job of that as
a team here.

Speaker 5 (22:34):
Well, before I let you go, Jake ab I know
when you made your debut in Houston and there at
Dyke and Park on TV, you were able to shout
out your wife, Mazie, and we'll give you that opportunity here.
What what has it been like for you to have
her on this journey and help you make it to
this level and now back off of injury to this
level again.

Speaker 8 (22:53):
Yeah, I mean she everything to me. I mean, really,
I can't even put it into words how much as
help me through and my baseball career and in my
life in general. I mean, I think she's got me
through a lot of dark times and spots where I
felt like I wouldn't be able to overcome something, and
she's always been there for me and encouraging me. And really,

(23:16):
I think just the thought of her being there through
through whatever it is, baseball like anything at this point,
I think that's that's a really comforting feeling and it
makes it a lot easier to go out and enjoy
what I do. At the end of the day, it
is a blessing to be able to put on this uniform,
and so on baseball uniform in general, there's a lot

(23:36):
of people that don't get to do it, and you know,
you don't know when your time is going to be up,
so Having somebody that I know is going to be
there for me regardless is very comforting, feeling awesome stuff.

Speaker 4 (23:47):
Appreciate you joining us.

Speaker 5 (23:49):
Good luck as you continue to get in the line up,
probably more often than not here in the coming days.

Speaker 4 (23:53):
And appreciate you joining us. Jacob.

Speaker 9 (23:56):
Yeah, absolutely, thank you, guys.

Speaker 4 (23:57):
You got it.

Speaker 5 (23:58):
Jacob Melton Astros out funeral last night in centerfield as
their starter into very likely more of the same coming
as they wrap up this home stand tonight and tomorrow
afternoon before the trip to Boston first meeting of the
season between the Astros and former Astros bench coach Alex Cora.

Speaker 4 (24:16):
More than the eighteen best of X Next.

Speaker 1 (24:19):
The Age on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 4 (24:26):
Did you all see this?

Speaker 10 (24:27):
We should be putting out Between five and fifteen posts
a day.

Speaker 5 (24:31):
Four hundred people were arrested for things that they said
on social media.

Speaker 10 (24:34):
History repeats itself type banguels succeed.

Speaker 4 (24:39):
Never doubt that you're the one two postle, no one building.
You're the best.

Speaker 6 (24:46):
X.

Speaker 10 (24:47):
Nothing's gonna ever top you know, you're the best of
X posting ever seen day and you're the best of
X breaking.

Speaker 4 (24:57):
The entire in toney.

Speaker 3 (25:08):
All Right, it's that time of day where we go
on to the mean streets of social media and we
find out what the best of X can present to us. Like,
for example, if I were to tell you that Chris
Paul was introduced to his new slash old team, one

(25:30):
in which he would be reunited with his good buddy,
and I use that term very loosely, James Harden, And
among the things that he had to say was that quote,
we have unfinished business now again. This is specifically about
teaming up with James Harden for the second time, not
about getting on the clippers again where he started his career.

(25:52):
Actually hedn't even started his career there, but he really
made his bones there in LA because, let's face it,
he didn't do anything with whatever they were calling themselves
at the time before that. But Chris Paul James Harden
teaming up again, we have unfinished business.

Speaker 4 (26:08):
What do you think the comments are like for something
like that. What's the post saying? Well, this is ap hoops.

Speaker 3 (26:13):
It's a video actually of Chris Paul saying this, we
have unfinished business and it's about Chris Paul teaming up
with James Harden again. That's the caption so Joey says,
just bring us a ring already. Holy bleep. He does
not say s. He uses another word, but the next
one down, stay healthy, unk. This isn't twenty eighteen. Like

(26:36):
I get it. This was going to happen no matter what.
But it's like, it's so obvious what's going to happen.

Speaker 5 (26:43):
Yeah, so many people cover these press conference, so many
different outlets, whether the reporters are like you suggested, other
people just grabbing it and posting it. So I found
a different one, it says Chris Paul says he's excited
to reunite with James harden Comma, adding colon parentheses quotation marks.
We definitely have unfinished business period quotation marks. And it
has a picture of the two of them bumping hips

(27:06):
like they can jump off the ground wearing their Rockets uniforms,
with Clint Capella in the background in a rocket's uniform.
Another time, if you will at Heisman, Dave says Jerry
Rice Dan marinodap up video meme chat, Davidson has attached
a gift of three old ladies in the hospital playing
majong and it's captioned the Unfinished Business.

Speaker 6 (27:26):
R J.

Speaker 5 (27:27):
Says ring season. So does X say they're gonna win
a ring this time?

Speaker 4 (27:33):
I know it?

Speaker 5 (27:34):
Rich says the same. I really think they're actually gonna
do it this time. Got a picture of John Cena
and Cody Rhad's about to high five in the ring together.
I don't know if this is some sort of picture
of them near retirement, but don't think either one of
them are so not sure. Goat says Clippers winning the
twenty seventeen title.

Speaker 4 (27:55):
There's others, don't worry.

Speaker 5 (27:57):
Yeah, there are plenty of others, and there is a
real opportunity for the Clippers with the lineup they used
most or lineups they use most, and even just the
roster in general. Certainly for this era and maybe for
even further this, they're going to field one of the
oldest teams competitive teams ever.

Speaker 3 (28:14):
Well, yeah, that's why I liked some of the meaner ones,
like nobody is scared of this duo six years later,
or this one which will still remain unfinished business.

Speaker 5 (28:23):
Yeah, a different time in the West, maybe this actually
could happen now, I do.

Speaker 4 (28:27):
I'd like what the Clippers.

Speaker 5 (28:28):
Did, the idea that these two are joining forces to
complete their unfinished business.

Speaker 4 (28:34):
That obviously is not going to be the case.

Speaker 5 (28:36):
If the Clippers are gonna win, It's not likely to
be because in the postseason, in a series, in the
last few minutes of a competitive game or series, that
Chris Paul and James Harden are leading the Clippers to victory,
some of the other players that are now Chris Paul's
new teammates, like James and Kawhi and Bradley Beal and
Robin Lopez and John Collins and Zubots, those players might

(29:01):
help lead the Clippers to victory, but Chris Paul will
probably spend an enormous amount of time talking to Jeff
Van Gunny and Tyron Lou on the Clippers bench.

Speaker 3 (29:12):
I'll continue, yes, unfinished business in the retirement home poetic justice.
Watching the Rockets sweep these dudes in the first round
all love though. That's my favorite part.

Speaker 5 (29:24):
So Rockets Clippers first round series, I would love that.
What would you suspect the Seeds would be if they
actually meet in the first round two versus seven?

Speaker 3 (29:33):
Yeah, and I'm giving Oklahoma City the first seed only
because they're going to stay healthy.

Speaker 4 (29:38):
If they don't, well, think.

Speaker 5 (29:40):
About it, just from the other side of it. Giving
the Rockets too is fine. They worked too and they
probably got better marginally or significantly.

Speaker 4 (29:48):
But the Clippers, they didn't get worse.

Speaker 5 (29:51):
They did get older, but the players they added are
playing good basketball well. And John Collins is not making
them older. I think he's making them better. And Bradley
Beal a hole that they lost with Norm Powell and
Brook Lopez fills a hole that nobody else left. They
added three players to their rotation while only losing one,
and they already went to a seven game series with

(30:11):
the Nuggets a year ago.

Speaker 4 (30:12):
Now they're all a year older. I get that.

Speaker 3 (30:13):
Yeah, And Chris Paul is nothing more than a coach
on the bench at this point.

Speaker 4 (30:19):
I just don't.

Speaker 3 (30:19):
I don't look for Chris Paul to change anything good
or bad about the Clippers on the floor.

Speaker 4 (30:25):
I just don't.

Speaker 5 (30:25):
I'm talking about how Litly's gonna play a significant minutes,
but he did play every game last year.

Speaker 4 (30:31):
He does have value.

Speaker 5 (30:32):
He's had valued every team he's been on, including Houston,
including Oklahoma City, including Phoenix, and including San Antonio. But
none of those teams after Houston. I don't believe we're
at the top of the heap now. Clearly Phoenix was
and he was a different player there. And I did
want to add one more best of X's comment. When
Chris Paul posts, or the Clippers post, Chris Paul is

(30:53):
home all the fields, and they show him getting emotional
on the stage.

Speaker 4 (30:58):
They pan out to the entire crowd.

Speaker 5 (31:00):
And everyone's cheering, and he's you know, he's not whimpering,
but he's won't even pick up the mic yet to
speak because he is feeling all of this, because this
is done in front of their fans, at their facility.
And one of the comments is from a Jay Harden
thirteen all caps, cracking exclamation point.

Speaker 4 (31:19):
That's only that's James Harden. That's only to be surpassed
by Sway. I think that. I think he's moved past that.

Speaker 9 (31:25):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (31:26):
It is.

Speaker 3 (31:28):
The other thing, though, is Bradley Beal go ahead and
tell me which franchise that he's been such a winner for. Yeah,
that's fair, but because he's actually going to play.

Speaker 5 (31:38):
Yeah, but Norm Powell? Is Norm Powell a winner? No,
I wouldn't call him a winner. He played for a
very good team last year. Bradley Beal played for a
bad basketball team in Washington. Miraculously he and John Wall
actually got them into a reasonable situation briefly during their
time there. And then he went to Phoenix like we're
blaming him, and I did it myself, Like look at

(31:59):
this guy, he's like he can't help them win. Well,
he played less than Kevin Durant and Devin Booker.

Speaker 4 (32:05):
Did you know who this is?

Speaker 5 (32:06):
He's the one catching all the heat for them not
winning this when it should be them.

Speaker 3 (32:10):
This is a lesser version of the four Lakers. And
I don't even mean O four because they went to
the finals scary Peyton and Carl Loane, but a lesser
version in that I think you think this is worse. Yeah,
I think it's better.

Speaker 4 (32:24):
If they don't have prime Shaq and Kobe. Okay, you
know what I mean. Like that team went to the finals.

Speaker 3 (32:30):
People forget they got spanked by Theistemically.

Speaker 5 (32:33):
They were good enough to win it all if things
worked out, and then they added these old timers that
just didn't do anything, so they were already good enough
to win without them, and then they played with them
quote unquote also still without them because they weren't very good.

Speaker 4 (32:45):
Second round exit. I think that's an upgrade. Last year
was a first round exit.

Speaker 11 (32:50):
Ye.

Speaker 3 (32:50):
Well, and it's all about matchups, and maybe they will
match up with somebody who gets them all the way
to the Western Conference Finals where they'll fall to the Rockets.

Speaker 5 (32:56):
Now, because they're teammates, I can't really ask this, but
i'll ask it, Hype a se one of them wins
a title, who would you actually feel better for if
only one of them won a title before they retired? Well,
if one of us wins the title, then I'd be
surprised because I don't think either one of them is
playing for another NBA team the rest of their NBA.

Speaker 3 (33:17):
And when you torpedo my organization on your way out
the door, help them start the rebuild.

Speaker 4 (33:22):
Yeah, that's how you look at it. Here's how I
look at it. You screw that.

Speaker 3 (33:27):
They're still gonna give the defending champion Thunder a first
round draft pick because of this guy's trade he forced
for Russell Westbrook.

Speaker 4 (33:36):
His own trade. Excellent. I get it.

Speaker 5 (33:39):
The trade, the James Harden trade away from Houston. It's
the Prairie bal of the other trade had to happen. Well,
it was definitely going to happen. That's the thing I
want five years right, But it was definitely going to happen,
no matter if he went to Vegas to work out
and then got everybody mad on the team and held
his postgame press. He was going to be gone regard
but that was his choice. Yes, he's forced it, which

(34:02):
is finding of it.

Speaker 3 (34:03):
James Harden should be in an argument every single day
with people about Hakim olij want of him as to
who is the all time greatest rocket. Of course Hakeem
would still win. But like if he had just not
been him, there's he would have been here. He would
have set all sorts of franchise records. They could have
remade the roster on the fly, first of all. And look,

(34:26):
I'm not not putting Chris Paul at any fault as
to why that breakup happened, but come on, who's the
who's got the line's share of the blood? Who is
the coach slash superstar killer. It's James Harden. Yep, Lebron,
that's best of that. Say you're here on the eighteen.

Speaker 1 (34:48):
The eight on Sports Talk seven ninety coming out.

Speaker 6 (34:59):
Of my ca.

Speaker 3 (35:01):
Fine, I wish you guys could see.

Speaker 4 (35:04):
WEX just crushing these wings in here.

Speaker 5 (35:07):
Rankings will be coming out shortly Oh my god. One
left six varieties here and I'll write them all for you.
The last one I got to hit is the spicy
to him got two dry rubs in here, Crawdaddy among them,
to hem the other. Give you a full review of
our friends over to Big City Wing Flavors.

Speaker 3 (35:22):
Well, what's what's impressive is how fast you plowed through
those during the break.

Speaker 4 (35:28):
These breaks today are a.

Speaker 3 (35:29):
Little bit a little bit shorter than I'm used to
and you are absolutely it's no problem for you, no problem.
So Big City Wings dropping on by and uh again,
like you heard there, Just every single flavor you can
imagine is sitting on our console here in the studio.
We appreciate it, and Sam and everybody over there always
taking such good care of us. And we'll tell you
more about the specials as we continue here on National

(35:53):
Wing Day. But if you've missed it so far, throughout
the two o'clock hour, we had Jacob Melton stop fresh
off of last night's fifth consecutive loss by your astros.
Now at least at least the Blue Jays are getting
trounced by the Orioles today. That's the best I can
do for optimism.

Speaker 5 (36:12):
They had a position player pitch, just so you know
they got a second game coming up.

Speaker 4 (36:17):
Yes he did. I believe it was by Joey loperfdo
sixteen to four. Oh, he hit the homer.

Speaker 5 (36:23):
When he was facing an Orioles pitcher in a game
they lopsided game. Nonetheless, Yeah, last night with the Astros
is ongoing with these five games during this homestand sorry
to say, but across the board, it's the worst offense
in baseball and it should not be a huge surprise.
They've scored the fewest runs, they have the lowest ope. Yes,

(36:43):
they have lowest batting average, they have the little slugging,
and obviously that means they have the lowest ops.

Speaker 4 (36:49):
Scored eight runs in five days.

Speaker 5 (36:50):
I've had back to back games or three consecutive games
now of scoring one run. And I know there are
some pointing at the regulars that are there and saying
it's on them big picture.

Speaker 4 (37:03):
That's clearly accurate.

Speaker 5 (37:04):
It is on them, and for the regulars, some of
them to have had the kind of seasons they've had,
specifically Walker and Diaz, it has been troublesome. It has
been very difficult to win and play around that. But
this month of July, which will, by far, no matter
what happens today and tomorrow, be the worst month of
the Astros season. Jose Altuve has been out there throughout

(37:26):
the whole month. He's got a ten to fifteen OPS
in July. Christian Walker's been out there the entire month.
He's got an eight forty one OPS. Altwov's hitting three
forty one. Walker's hitting three twenty one. Even Jiner Diaz
is slightly better this month than his previous months this
season ops of seven to twenty three, hitting two fifty.

(37:48):
Victor Krattini has become a regular. He's hitting three to
eight this month. He's got an eight forty six OPS.
The guys you actually think should be hitting and need
to be hitting are not every single at bat, not
every single game, and certainly not a whole lot over
the last five games. But if you think their ten

(38:08):
win month is bad, if these guys weren't doing what
they have done, it would be a five win month.
They would not be in first place. Expectations for them
should be high, and it's twofold in what they have
with the rest of their lineup. But the other part
of it is the other teams know what the rest
of their lineup is. They might have given Altuve and

(38:31):
Karattini and Christian Walker pitches to hit at other times
in the year, but why would they give that to
them now?

Speaker 4 (38:38):
There's no reason to.

Speaker 5 (38:40):
The other guys clearly aren't going to beat them, and
every team they face knows it, and every team in
the last five games is watching that exact thing happen,
And so that means you're up against it to begin with,
and now you're doubly up against it because Zach Schortz
not going to be doing that. Cooper Hummel's not going
to be doing I mean celebrating Cooper Humble getting a hit.

(39:01):
He just doubled his hit total for his last twelve games. Yeah,
it's putt Jo's in a bad spot. A little surprised
that maybe there are considerations about who's actually on the
roster and who they don't want to lose because of
the injuries they still have. There's a lot of players Guillorme,
John Singleton that are immediately out of the organization. If

(39:24):
they're the ones you have to take off the roster
they're DF eight, Maybe they accept an assignment after they
clear waivers to come back here. Maybe they don't, but
it's these are all things they have to factor in
when they don't add some other younger player that's at
the Triple A level, or don't figure out a way
to get this other player onto the forty man. There's
a lot of things that go into it, which is
just kind of an explanation as to why we've basically

(39:46):
seen the same group go out there for two or
three weeks with almost no change and no designs on
change as they slowly wait for Jacob Melton came back yesterday.
Jeremy Pania will likely be in at least one lineup
in Boston over the weekend, and I think the early
portion of August will bring Spencer Raghedti back into the rotation.

(40:06):
And I do feel comfortable at least hoping and believing
that sometime before we're halfway through with August, ord On
Alvarez will be hitting for Houston the Astros, not in
the minors, not on a live VP, not on a
rehab start, not in an FCL game. But for the Astros,

(40:27):
what they can get from Jake Myers and Esach Peretis
is a much much different story. I don't know that
they will literally get anything from them before it's twenty
twenty six, but we don't have a super clear picture
on their long term prognosis.

Speaker 3 (40:41):
You know what I didn't like, and it's a small thing,
But yesterday we were in here and we always have
the MLB Network on this time of year in the studio,
much like during the fall, we'll have you know, NFL
Live whatever it's seasonal here in the studio next to
your on Alvarez his name because they were talking about
the Astros and all their injuries, and they had a
graphic up and next to Jordon Alvarez his name, along

(41:02):
with Estac Perettis's name, they had out indefinitely.

Speaker 4 (41:06):
Well, I don't think that's accurate with him, it's.

Speaker 5 (41:08):
Accurate with the Jordan because he's been out so long
and they have never given a timetable for his return.
And I know Dana Brown's been pretty clear with his
recent interviews that you know, the expectations are because he's
picked up a bat, because he's taken swings, because he
hasn't felt pain again, we feel like we're making progress,
we're on the right track. We're seeing forward motion towards
him back on the roster. It's said indefinite, what should

(41:33):
it have said three weeks, two weeks, twenty days. It
was still a guessing game to a certain extent, unfortunately
accurate in Parretis's case, as a second opinion may no
definitive answer was that Wednesday or Thursday before they start
their series with Boston. According to Dana, he was hopeful
that getting a second opinion would deliver some more clarity

(41:55):
that he could hopefully deliver to all of us about
Peretis's season, which does appear to be in jeopardy.

Speaker 3 (42:01):
Yeah, I feel like he feels more indefinite at this
point than Jordan does, even though there isn't any sort
of clarity on either one of those guys for very
different reasons. So again, it's about piecing the healthy roster
back together as quickly as possible with as many of
those pieces as possible, which is easier said than done
for a guy like Joe Spot. I'm willing to say

(42:22):
at this point that if they get to the end
of the season, then they manage to win this division.
I know there's maybe sexier picks because they have the best.

Speaker 4 (42:32):
Record in the league or what have you. I don't know.

Speaker 3 (42:33):
How you don't give Joe a spot a Manager of
the Year award. I believe he will win the award
if they win the division. Record doesn't matter. Okay, Well,
I hope that's the case, because the record matters for
this reason.

Speaker 5 (42:45):
Unless the Blue Jays continue what they've done this month
for the rest of the season, nobody's winning one hundred games.
How much different is the Astros eighty nine win division
winner or eighty eight division eighty eight win division winner
then the Blue Jays ninety two wins ninety three wins.
I don't think there's enough of a gap between what
they'll finish with and what somebody else might finish with,

(43:06):
And clearly nobody's faced with they have faced thus far.
Getting wins, though, still the name of the game and
still something they are pushing up against recently unsuccessfully. Trade
deadline thoughts open up a three o'clock hour and obviously
a trip over to Texans practice here on the A
Team comes next.

Speaker 2 (43:25):
The A Team on Sports Talks Devin.

Speaker 1 (43:28):
Ninety two lifelong Houston sports guys named Adam Talking Your Team,
Adam Clinton and Adam Wexler are the eighteen.

Speaker 3 (43:47):
Straight up three o'clock here on a Tuesday edition of
the program. It is Sports Talks seven to ninety and
Space City Home Network, and it is the A Team.

Speaker 4 (43:55):
WEX is over there ac right here.

Speaker 3 (43:58):
Cole Thompson is our producer as per usual, and I've
gotten a lot of conversation in on that first.

Speaker 4 (44:04):
Hour, mostly of the Astros variety.

Speaker 3 (44:06):
Jacob Melton joining us for a little chat in the
second segment of the show. If you missed any or
all of that, we'll have that up on the podcast
asap and you'll be able to hear what he had
to say, which, again, like a lot of guys his age,
or at least in his stage of their pro baseball
playing career, a lot of mental hurdles to overcome when

(44:27):
you're trying to stick with a big league roster, get
to the big league roster, deal with going back and
forth in his case, from the big league roster, the TRIPLEA,
and things of that nature. But a good conversation with him.
We talked a little bit about the fact that Chris
Paul and James harden A reunited on the Clippers after
having their time here in Houston. I don't think it's
going to be as successful there, but they did say

(44:49):
there was unfinished business, so that we had a good
laugh about that, and of course the Houston Texans back
to work today on a day where in addition to that,
we'll get into that here shortly that that shooting up
in New York City. Apparently the reports are that the
shooter was targeting NFL headquarters and it was a building

(45:10):
where there was a lot of different, you know, major businesses.
But the fact that that ended up being like I
remember last night hearing news reports about it, and they
would just like kind of mention the fact that, oh,
here are some of the things that were in this building,
and one of them was NFL headquarters, which I guess
was on the fifth floor. He wound up on the
thirty third or the forty third, I can't remember which. Anyway,

(45:30):
a horrible story obviously, with with casualties up there and injuries,
but the fact that that was the target and the
reasoning that he the investigators think he gave for targeting
the NFL with regards to CTE and whatnot. Just a
wild turn of events late yesterday in New York City.
So that's obviously been in the news. Back back here
at home, uh, Texans you know, continuing to try and

(45:54):
prepare for what will be a very interesting season. A
lot of changes underway, then a lot of mainstay You
have Demiko Ryans, you have CJ. Stroud, and you have
your quarterback looking to bounce back if you will, here
in year three from a lackluster sophomore performance, and all
of that goes into and all of this is magnified

(46:15):
so much more at a time of year like this,
where it's July twenty ninth, you're in you're basically finishing
up your first full week of training camp and looking
forward to getting games underway that actually matter.

Speaker 5 (46:25):
Yeah, definitely, I would say bouncing back. You wanted to
were very happy with last season. The offense was a
very good last season. It would definitely be categorized as
a bounce back season. It's not relative to anything other
than the facts. The facts are they were not a
very good offense. Your quarterback is a huge, huge part
of that. Clearly, plenty of other things are and fixing them.
If you weren't very good, then they were broken, and

(46:47):
they were. Zex's offense was broken last year from every
which way you want to look at. From their wide
receiver group, which unfortunately took on a much more literal
meeting in that Nico Tank and Stefan Diggs were all
broken injured, broken in that your OC lasted only two
years and was fired after his second year. Broken in

(47:08):
that Chris Strasser lasted only two years under Demiko Ryans,
and he was essentially fired, I think being termed. He
walked away and retired. He's not coaching, so you could
he could tell me he retired. He was fired. They
didn't want him to coach anymore. That's a firing and
elevating Cole Popovich in there. And then clearly of the
personnel moves that were made along that offensive line you

(47:29):
headed out to open up your season last year with
Kenyon Green, Jack Mason, and Laramie Tunsell making up sixty
percent of your offensive line and Titus Howard another twenty percent,
but now at a different spot for this upcoming season.
Just dramatic changes for a line that was not very successful.
Blocking for Joe Mixon or much more specifically, blocking for

(47:51):
CJ Strout all went hand in hand on having a
very underwhelming, very very unsatisfying production from their offense. They're
not going any further than they did a year ago.
If the offense is similar, the defense cannot win on
their own. No defense in the NFL can. There's nothing
like what defenses of the Ravens and defenses of the Bears.

(48:15):
If you want to go fifteen years before that, remember
the Ravens Ray Lewis led defense. Winning the Super Bowl
was not five years ago or ten years ago or
fifteen years ago, was forever ago. Good defense, great, you
need it. The Texans have it, and so do most
teams that advance in the NFL. The team that was
the AFC champion last year, they had a great defense,

(48:36):
they probably win the Super Bowl if they also had
a great offense.

Speaker 4 (48:40):
They didn't.

Speaker 5 (48:41):
For the first time in a long time, the Kansas
City Chiefs enter this upcoming season thinking similar things about
their own offense that the Texans do. It was underwhelming.
It is not the caliber offense that wins big and
the playoffs or wins a Super Bowl. We'll get to
the Chiefs later on when we're looking at everybody, but
that's so clearly is the focus of the Texans. One player,

(49:03):
maybe two, Sheldon Rankins, CJ. Gardner Johnson. They're two outsiders
that will have an impact on the Texans defense this year.
Both of them will probably start, and everybody else was
here last year, and everybody else was making this team
awesome defensively last year offensively, at least in Week one,
CJ will start, Titus Howard will start, Nico will start,

(49:27):
and Dalton Schultz will probably start, and then that will
make seven new starters on an offense. That's that's good
in series because they last year, so change should be
good for the upcoming year. But most of that change,
even if it's a number of seven, a lot of

(49:47):
that change, if not most, is right there on the
offensive line. And I'm not gonna lie to our show
when I said it earlier today. They didn't add talent
on the offensive line in the offseason, outside of the
pick of Tay Nursery. They just added bodies. They're just
different bodies who have had bodies of work in the NFL.
Cam Robinson has a long history in the NFL of starting.
Laken Tomlinson has a long history in the NFL of starting.
We talked to him today and that's great, But they

(50:11):
don't have a long history of starting and playing great.
Tomlinson had one Pro Bowl season. He's not very closely
close to that season and is obviously available because the
team is ready to move on Cam Robinson's available for
the second time in one season.

Speaker 4 (50:24):
He was available from Jacksonville. Last year.

Speaker 5 (50:26):
They sent him to the Vikings, who were in desperate
need of a tackle when Darrisaw went down, and as
soon as they season ended they had no interest in
bringing Robinson back, and the Texans have him now. Their
talent is not better, Their play probably will be, but
at what level bar was super low.

Speaker 3 (50:47):
I think the interesting aspect about all this change on
the offensive side of the ball is that it was
forced for various reasons. The offensive line change was forced because, well,
they weren't protecting their quarterback enough, and you can I
have had several conversations and they've all gone several different
ways about the reasons Laramie Tonsel was moved on from

(51:09):
traded away, whatever, you know, the reasoning they think, these
people think that it happened.

Speaker 4 (51:15):
Was it, you know, was it locker room chemistry? Maybe
maybe not.

Speaker 5 (51:19):
Maybe there's some confusion about why it's not here, or
debate about why it's not here.

Speaker 3 (51:23):
Maybe confusion and debate aren't the words, but certainly not.
I haven't gotten a consistent opinion across the border here, what.

Speaker 5 (51:30):
You gonna have gone? Because I think they're all going
to fall in the same super.

Speaker 4 (51:33):
Yeah, they're gonna be under the same umbrella.

Speaker 3 (51:35):
But I guess it's maybe I should have said the
percentage with which each type of reasoning given is the
main culprit or not, Like, do you think it was
chemistry in the locker room. I think most people think
that might have had a little bit to do with it,
but it's not the overlying reason.

Speaker 4 (51:51):
I think just change for the stake of change.

Speaker 3 (51:54):
Some people think because because the results weren't there collectively
as a unit, But if you think about it, who
else could they have moved and gotten any quote unquote
value for anyway?

Speaker 4 (52:06):
Yeah, moving him because of where he is salary wise
is also that definitely factors into it as well.

Speaker 5 (52:12):
Yeah, you're I wish they were paying even less for
their left tackle this year. They are taking a huge
savings going from Laramie to camp Robinson. Robinson's getting paid
fourteen million dollars to be one of the ten worst
tackles in the NFL on the left side, unfortunately, but
that's all they're left with this year, and it's not
an exorbitant number. It just sounds like a lot for
a player whose expectations are on the floor.

Speaker 4 (52:34):
But that's what they decided to do.

Speaker 5 (52:35):
The Tunsil departure is for everything we've brought up for
the past four months, and all of them are valid
because they're all true. Every little piece of why he's
not here is a factor and is real, is not
made up. I'm not trying to pay him as a
bad guy. He had a bunch of different factors all
falling into place at the same time. We're spending a
ton of money on our offensive line, So is it good? No, well,

(52:56):
then we better do something about that. Why would we
spend bad money after bad money for the third consecutive year.
I mean reupping with Titus Howard, re upping with Shaq Mason,
and obviously Nick Cassaria has re upped with Laramie Tunzel
once for a line that can't play well. Here's no
sense so moving on from them. Regardless of is he
not good in the locker room? Is it not good

(53:16):
that your best player doesn't practice all the time, even
though he practiced way more than a lot of people
who don't cover practice think he did. All those attitude
like things. He's a leader, but what leadership example is
he setting. They're all part of it. But you could
scrap it all and say he makes too much money.
With him making too much money, with him making too

(53:38):
much money for a line that can't play well, Why
would we keep paying for a line that can't play well?

Speaker 4 (53:43):
And he was at the top end of that. But
you and you've.

Speaker 3 (53:47):
Been less harsh on him than I have and others have.
Do you think he's a top five left tackle in
the NFL?

Speaker 5 (53:53):
I don't think he's a top five left tackle because
there's more to playing left tackle than just pass blocking.
He's probably five pass blocking left tackle, and I think
there's a bunch of players now, probably the top eight
are pretty close. There's maybe one or two at the
top of the list that are a little bit better
than the next five or six. But he's in that
group of the next five or six as a pass
blocker only. And it's kind of like what I say

(54:16):
about Jake Myers. Jake Myers is one of the three
best fielding center fielders, but he's not one of the
three best defensive center fielders because he has a tear
a arm and that's part of it. And Laramie Tunsel
is a below average run blocker. He is a penalty machine.
Guess what their left tackle jumped off sides twice today
and it wasn't him. And this is just practice. But

(54:38):
there's more to the game than just you heard it here. First,
you should make a ton of money. Jack Myers is
the astros. Laramie Tunsil the only, the one way I
just right anywhere else, just the one way only our show.
I mean, did you guys say, Dana, did you have
to cut Jake Myers loose because a he was making
too much money and b he is creating a negative

(55:01):
vibe in your clubhouse?

Speaker 3 (55:03):
You can answer whatever you're ready. Yeah, you're not gonna
be asked to finish those sentences that you're asking him
the question. But yeah, it's it's going to be an
interesting season from that standpoint. But yeah, lots of changes
on the offensive on the offensive side of the football too.

Speaker 5 (55:17):
About what was seen at practice today, Yes, we'll have
that for you next.

Speaker 1 (55:24):
The eighteen on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 3 (55:49):
It is the eighteen Sports Talk seven ninety Space City
Home Network Tuesday edition of the program. We's ac Cole
Thompson with you as we wind it down until six
o'clock to night where the Astros will look to bounce
back for the latest outing. It's the Nationals, and last
night was about as frustrating as it can get, especially

(56:10):
with fromber Just. That was an excruciating way to get
a no decision, but at least didn't take the l
Let's put it that way so that you know, small
victories here during the dog days of this Astros twenty
twenty five campaign as they tried to get everybody healthy. Meanwhile,
over at Texans training camp, more progress towards what we

(56:31):
hope will be a better bounce back, if you will
season for CJ as we mentioned, and the offensive line
that blocks for him. I know that yesterday very controversial.
I'm playing it up for you.

Speaker 4 (56:45):
Wex this. I can't wait to even though your joke
can get mad. That's what you did yesterday. I probably
will again. Let's go.

Speaker 3 (56:53):
Did you like how I tried to phrase it as
drama and our guest Sam Warren was having none of
it yesterday.

Speaker 4 (57:00):
Was it even preppedow? It was awesome?

Speaker 3 (57:03):
I still say it's I still say that when he's
responding that way to a very I think reasonable question
about Joe Mixon.

Speaker 4 (57:12):
His response was reasonable.

Speaker 3 (57:15):
He said, we don't care enough about the players. That's
not reasonable, So.

Speaker 4 (57:19):
I want people here that care about our guys. Well,
then go get.

Speaker 5 (57:23):
A the guys that as a motivational speaker there. It's
nobody here said anything like that. People that aren't here
said that, So why he was addressing the people that
were there, even though everybody has access to the audio.
And maybe that's your answer. He was very normal, very
demico like with his response. Talked to him for three

(57:46):
years as a coach, parts of three years as the
head coach, and for all his time as a player,
and honestly, he's no different than when he was a player. Yeah,
he's just answering questions for the whole team now instead
of just what the linebackers next to him should have
done and the guys in front of him should have done,
or maybe the head coach from time to time should
have called. But yeah, he's saying to me, he's the
same guy at the podium, even on the training camp

(58:06):
days like during the season, he's talking to us after
they had a walk through inside the stadium. And it's
been twenty five minutes since practice has ended, and he's
cool and comfortable and indoors. Yesterday, today, the four other practices,
he's talking to us less than five minutes some days
after they've finished a two and a half practice, two

(58:28):
and a half hour practice out in the blazing sun.

Speaker 6 (58:31):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (58:31):
But like I said yesterday, if this were CJ.

Speaker 3 (58:34):
Stroud and not Joe Mixon, okay, So because it's not
the quarterback, it's okay to say to the media with
a straight face. You know, if you don't really care
about our players, then why are you even asking me
about this?

Speaker 4 (58:45):
Because that's essentially what he said.

Speaker 5 (58:47):
Yeah, I guess it isn't I can't wait to see
what does happen. If that happens, I'm not asking for it,
but I guess it'd be different.

Speaker 4 (58:53):
I don't know.

Speaker 5 (58:54):
It's never gonna change for me. I'm not bothered by it.
People that aren't there seem to be nothing that he said. Yes,
nothing today or the other four days. It wasn't dramatic
to me, wasn't even worthy of discussion. He's the only
player that matters for the team that wasn't there. Demiko Ryans,

(59:14):
like most coaches prefers to talk about the players that
are there. Even David Cully likes to do that. Okay,
hang on a second, how on just stop.

Speaker 3 (59:22):
If someone was there and saw him answer this question,
it would be different than just hearing him say what
he said, and they can't have the same reaction.

Speaker 4 (59:31):
That's what you're saying.

Speaker 3 (59:32):
If they weren't there yesterday, then they're blowing this all
out of proportion.

Speaker 5 (59:37):
I mean all the I didn't see any reaction from
hardly anybody that was there, to be honest with you,
and I've two other people that I've talked to about it.
I think it was I mean, I get it, what
we do, we got to talk about it more. We
have four hours to fill the show before us saying
the show before us, before them the same. I just
I'm not trying to not talk about it. I just
didn't view it as drama like Texans drama, maybe because

(59:59):
the barely is any.

Speaker 3 (01:00:01):
But it's just it's the starting running back and he's
been in a walking boot and now he's not playing.

Speaker 4 (01:00:05):
You know, there's no harm.

Speaker 5 (01:00:07):
Now he's not playing. He hasn't done anything for months
because of this injury.

Speaker 3 (01:00:10):
Night, so nothing new happening at the start of the
season for a guy who was very productive for you.

Speaker 4 (01:00:15):
And if you don't have him, Nick Chubb or no
Nick Chubb.

Speaker 3 (01:00:18):
That's not good when your quarterback is already getting pummeled.

Speaker 5 (01:00:21):
That's because the what we should be talking about is
did they do what they should have done? When did
Jill Mixon get hurt almost twelve months ago?

Speaker 4 (01:00:30):
Yeah, it was what four weeks ago in the season. Oh,
he got hurt in the second game. Well that was
a different injury though, rigid.

Speaker 5 (01:00:36):
He hurt his ankle because the league a lot of
players to illegally tackle people without dropping and nobody.

Speaker 3 (01:00:42):
Did anything about it because they don't really care and
they try to act like they do just like.

Speaker 5 (01:00:46):
CTE see Tamiko. That's so he should be talking to
the league. They don't care about the player.

Speaker 4 (01:00:49):
Listen, Demiko wants me to do it, I'll do it.
I don't care.

Speaker 5 (01:00:52):
But that was the first time he had a foot
ankle injury. It was obviously his ankle, and he played
through it. He missed only three they're nineteen games last
year when you count playoffs, and you mentioned the injury
suffered later in the year.

Speaker 4 (01:01:04):
Now, the foot injury that he has.

Speaker 5 (01:01:05):
Now, I think he's been dealing with something foot ankle
related from that point in time, what exactly happened even
this offseason, because we're clearly not going to get it
from that source to Miko's not gonna say here's what happened,
Here's what happened away from the facility, which is why
he's on the NFL list. There's a there's essentially total
confusion about this externally, so he can't, like I know,

(01:01:29):
he's told us on and off the record hundreds of
times already in two plus years. I had a lot
of respect for what you guys do. But when you
say things like that, you're indicating that you don't. And
I don't think he means it that way. But who's
going to cover their that practice, Who's gonna have him
on their show on the radio, Who's going to have
him interviewed and not ask him? And it's like he

(01:01:50):
thinks we shouldn't, only we can only ask so many people.
We talked to Nick Chubb that yesterday. Also, Nick, how's
Joe coming along with his recovery? I don't know, and
we would take it because he probably doesn't even though
he's probably seen him in the rehab room. I saw
Joe Mixon in the Texans training room within the week
because Tank, I believe, posted an ig story wishing him

(01:02:14):
happy birthday. A couple of his other teammates were on
their respective cushions getting treatment, Damian Pierce among them, and
they were just wishing unk happy birthday.

Speaker 4 (01:02:24):
As Joe Mixon number fifty eight in the top.

Speaker 5 (01:02:27):
One hundred players in the NFL according to the number
list release today, he was in there now. I think
some people saw him, what was this at the airport
in a walking boot, which got a lot of This
is kind of why a report took place. Walking boots
to people who aren't dealing with the rehab process, US reporters,

(01:02:48):
not the doctor, not the team training staff doesn't always
mean the same thing, but it is certainly a cause
for you're telling us you wanted immobilized. You're telling us
it's it's not where you it should be. I would
think that's what it sounds like. So I'm all for
the football side of it, like this does matter. The
Texans are about to play the Rams, and I think

(01:03:09):
we're at forty three days now and Nick Chubb very
likely is the starter, and maybe Juar Jordan is his
backup along with Daria and Bombawally and what he marks
is active for the game in his rookie season. Because
we haven't seen Damian Pierce on the field for months,
and obviously Joe Mixon same. Neither one of them participate
in any offseason workouts, and neither one of them is

(01:03:30):
returned from their respective you're not practicing lists pop in
Pierce's case NFI and Mixon's case. The drama of it
and the manner in which he spoke the words he
chose to use perfectly good fodder for us. It's not
changing how Nick and Demiko and the personnel side decided
to address the running back position in the offseason Right now,

(01:03:53):
I think most would call it well, they did so
in a rather unsatisfactory form, underwhelming. If this is is
not a surprise to them, I don't know.

Speaker 3 (01:04:03):
If that is or not. Well, there's no way it's
a surprise to them, because they they're closer to him
than anybody else.

Speaker 5 (01:04:10):
There was a setback unless something didn't heal properly from
a procedure that may or may not have taken place.
They decided not to have a procedure and felt it
like a lot of players, baseball players more than any Well,
we're gonna see if it can be healed on its own.
We're gonna give it rest, and then it doesn't heal,
and then two or three months later, they ultimately have

(01:04:30):
to have a procedure that happens all the time, and
it certainly could be applicable in this case.

Speaker 3 (01:04:35):
I can't do this all over again with the Texans
like we've been doing with the actual No, and I don't.

Speaker 4 (01:04:39):
Think they will.

Speaker 5 (01:04:39):
And it's a little different in season with how things
get treated. Bottom line, they'll they'll put them on a list.
We'll know he's out for this number of games. He'll
be healthy, he'll be active, he'll return to practice, whatever
the case may be. And this is I mean, they
got fifty three man roster, they got ninety guys out
there right now, but.

Speaker 3 (01:04:54):
He ain't wont again his words. I'm sensitive this. It's
always sensitive to me because I've been there, I've went
through that because as a player, so it's not just
to report something, to report something. I want people here
who truly care about our guys. I care about our
guys and what they're doing throughout their process, and it'll
continue to be that way.

Speaker 4 (01:05:14):
I mean, I I just.

Speaker 3 (01:05:17):
I think that if he's looking for reporters or media
or whatever you want to call, whoever's there or not
there at any given time, to first priority is to
care about the guy's Yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:05:28):
What he said will have exactly zero impact on how
his train is reported on by the reporters, national or otherwise.

Speaker 4 (01:05:34):
Right, So that's why I just thought it would do
their jobs. You know, they had a job to do.

Speaker 3 (01:05:39):
Everybody involved here is trying to do their jobs, including him.

Speaker 4 (01:05:42):
I get it.

Speaker 3 (01:05:43):
Yeah, but you know, I'm not gonna He's not going
to respond to that question that way and not have
people like me say huh like just not gonna happen. Like,
could you imagine if Bill Belichick said that when in
the middle of the Patriots heyday, Oh.

Speaker 4 (01:05:57):
We're not really I want people here who care about
the play. Come on. That's why it's a thing, that's
just saying. That's why.

Speaker 3 (01:06:04):
All right, we got plenty more to get to on this,
plus the Texans talent overall. We'll get to that a
little bit later, but coming up first, Joe Aspata on
Fromber's reaction on the field to last night's loss and
more when he stopped by the station earlier today.

Speaker 4 (01:06:20):
That's Straight Ahead.

Speaker 1 (01:06:23):
The A team on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 5 (01:06:37):
Space citing on Network, that's the head of Dan Matthews,
who hosts with Sean Salisbury in the morning. He had
to get himself some big city wings here in studio.
Don't mind him as we deliver you a little bit
of the visit from Joe Aspota earlier today. Made himself
available as he does he should every week on The
Matt Thomas Show with Ross plenty to discuss and obviously

(01:06:58):
with the way the team is playing in the health
of the team, some of it not so super.

Speaker 4 (01:07:03):
But something else came up last night.

Speaker 5 (01:07:05):
We talked about it at length already over the first
ninety minutes of the show. Not only did the Astros
come up a run short, one of the runs scored
by their opponents last night is one that their starting pitcher,
fromber Valdez doesn't believe should have in that I didn't
like the positioning of the defense and said as much
after the game pretty clearly through his interpreter. They just
didn't feel like his right fielder, Taylor Tremmell in this

(01:07:27):
case was positioned properly and that a ground ball to
first base that got through the hole for what normally
would be a single that turned into a double and
an RBI double at that for the runner on first
that was running with the pitch. The one run he allowed.
Add that to the one run that Brian King allowed
in his one inning of work. That's two twice as
many as the Astros, unfortunately were only able to score

(01:07:48):
any two to one l That specific topic is where
this portion of the conversation for you guys to hear
begins with a spot of talking about Fromber's reaction after
the game to what took place during the ball game.

Speaker 6 (01:08:01):
Listen, So you know, for me, I like to make
it clear that you know, teams go through stretches like
this in a one sixty two seasons. You know there's
going to be ten twelve twelve days where you're having
a tough time to score runs, or you're having a
tough time to getting you know, quality starts, or you're
having a tough time making you know, you make.

Speaker 9 (01:08:21):
Defensive mistake happens.

Speaker 6 (01:08:23):
This is this is baseball, and as a club you
have to know how to navigate those moments. Right, you
have to find ways to press the reset button. Tomorrow's
a new day. Let's try to find a way to
win today. And we're going through that stretch right. When
it comes to Framber, Framber is a competitors, passionate, he
wants to win. He's a winner. You know, there was
some frustration. He threw the ball extremely well, and there

(01:08:46):
was that one particular play that I will sit down
with him and I'll address that. I do like when
people show passion and they care about every single detail
about our preparation because that's.

Speaker 9 (01:08:58):
What we do.

Speaker 6 (01:08:58):
We are really good as a team, and we take
pride on our defense and our strategy behind our defense. Now,
I wish he would have come to me first, but
he's that's his emotion and I don't. That's what makes
Ramberg the person that I care for and I love.
He's passionate and I will have that conversation with him today.
But again, that happened yesterday. Today we have a today's

(01:09:22):
a new day and we got to find a way
to win today.

Speaker 12 (01:09:24):
Yeah, last question about that, because I honestly think Joe. Look,
every company, whether it's the Houston Astros, this radio station,
or the restaurant that.

Speaker 4 (01:09:32):
You'd like to go to. Some days, not everybody's on
the same page.

Speaker 12 (01:09:36):
Some days guys have got to be frustrated, but you have.
I mean, my guess is Joe and your time as
a manager and as a bench coach and being in
a clubhouse that times the door gets shut and things
are said, and I guess the only question would be
is would it have been better if he would have
just told you, hey, I got a problem with this.
It's compared to kind of just on his own saying
what he said to the reporters that were in front

(01:09:57):
of his locker last night.

Speaker 6 (01:09:58):
You know what, I'm going to have a conversation with
Framberg today. You know, it's his emotional moment for him,
and I'll address that today with him. We'll have a
conversation and we'll put.

Speaker 4 (01:10:10):
This behind us.

Speaker 9 (01:10:11):
It's just not you know, it's not it's not a.

Speaker 6 (01:10:13):
Big deal doing doing time of competition and when you're
trying to accomplish what we're trying to accomplish and motion
mistakes over.

Speaker 9 (01:10:20):
We all will address that today.

Speaker 12 (01:10:22):
Is there any part of you that wants to sneak
a little shuttle over to Sugarland to see how your
short stops doing tonight.

Speaker 6 (01:10:29):
No, he's going He's going to be just fine. He's
going to go there today. He's going to dh try
to get you know, as many as the bats as possible.
But he was here yesterday. He looked good. You know,
we are really happy with where he's at right now
physically and mentally. We can't wait to have him back.

Speaker 13 (01:10:46):
Do you feel like you should get a medical degree?
With all the injuries you've had to deal with this year?
I mean, how many different muscles and wrists and elbows?
What have you learned about? Have you learned everything about
the human body this year?

Speaker 6 (01:10:57):
You know, I I learned a lot of terminology and
I did not know there was ligaments in certain places,
you know, bones in certain areas. You know, it's been
it's been a crazy experience. But you know what I'm
looking at the fact that these guys are coming back.
They're really closer to having our full squad back, and

(01:11:18):
we're going to continue to grind to we'll get we
get everyone on the.

Speaker 13 (01:11:21):
Field, ashows manager Joe spottleos here on Sports Talk seven
ninety and with that, weighing getting guys back and where
they are and projecting they are both on the pitching
and position player sides. What if conversations with Dana been
about is it has it been more difficult this year
as far as it's not as necessarily as cut and
dry about team needs.

Speaker 6 (01:11:38):
No, you know what, we were taken in consideration that
we have some guys coming back, right, so we're trying
to strategize around that, trying to improve our roster, taking
again consideration of the guys that we having back and
how close they are getting back. So we are just
exploring different areas and you know, hopefully we can you know,

(01:11:59):
if there's something that fits our club and makes sense,
I'm sure Dana and his staff and we'll talk about
it and we and we'll we'll address that and make
our club better.

Speaker 4 (01:12:09):
How much without naming names? Do run?

Speaker 12 (01:12:11):
Do the guys in the active roster come to your room,
shut the door and say, hey, skip, my agent's hearing this.
I'm hearing this on social media. Do what do I
make of it? And what do you say to them?

Speaker 3 (01:12:21):
Yeah?

Speaker 8 (01:12:21):
You know what?

Speaker 6 (01:12:22):
They it's hard not it's hard to avoid not avoid
you know, the rumors, and there's always guys who have
questions and I I have an open door policy, and
those guys come in and you know, they understand the
business side of things. I haven't had that many conversations
with with our guys in the last couple of years,
but if I sense there is something going on, they

(01:12:43):
have a questions, I like just to put them on
the side, on the outfield grass or in the club house,
in the kitchen, and we will talk. I want to
make sure that they all were on the same page
that we all are. This is a family and I
want them to there's any concerns, let's talk about things.
But you know, but but they happen, and it's hard
not to have this conversation when they social media and

(01:13:03):
there's so much information out there in today's game.

Speaker 5 (01:13:06):
Always a tough time is people that don't care about
the players. All they are doing is they're on hashtag
hug watch watching Randall Gritchik walk through the Arizona Serpientos
a dugout the other night, taken out of the game
because he has been moved.

Speaker 4 (01:13:24):
But he's right, it's difficult to deal with all that.

Speaker 5 (01:13:25):
In the beginning of the conversation about the first couple
of minutes, Worth was on what His response was, because
if you're not familiar with the timing of everything, Astro's
game ends, media heads down to talk to Joe Aspota first,
and when they're done with Joe Aspota, then the clubhouse
is open and you talk to the players in there,
and you don't retalk to Joe a spotty. You can say,
oh my god, listen to what this player said. Can

(01:13:47):
we get Joe again? I mean, you can ask, but
it doesn't usually work that way. So the response from
the manager just something that might have been said in
the clubhouse to the media after the game comes the
next day, is you're there with Matt properly getting him
to kind of go into the details of how he
feels about Fromber's comments, how he handles them, how he
wants to have them handled. No issue with any of it,

(01:14:07):
no issue with how Joe wants to handle it, no
issue with him recognizing the emotions of trying to win
baseball games. And honestly, I don't really mind a player
speaking their mind. It's okay to think that. I'm sure
he's been talked into certain scenarios all the time. I'm
sure he's asked them to play certain players behind him.
And they've obliged many many times over because he's a
ground ball machine. He got a ground ball, and of couse,

(01:14:28):
the Astros are run with where they've positioned it.

Speaker 4 (01:14:31):
You've seen some of these spray charts also.

Speaker 5 (01:14:34):
I think both Chandler, Matt Kawahara and others grab some
of that data as to why the Astros placed Trummel
where he was for this very specific against the left
handed batter that was low kind of a bat didn't
work out for the Astros more often than not. Ten
years running, the Astros advanced statistics as it relates to

(01:14:54):
where to place their fielders, at least under the new
rules and shifting and whatnot, is as good as any
buddies in baseball.

Speaker 4 (01:15:01):
Doesn't always work until they change the rules on them.

Speaker 5 (01:15:03):
It doesn't always work, but it certainly helps their cause
more often than not. A little bit more on the
Astros and that we can tell you how things line
up for the day and some other things on the
horizon for this team trying to hold off the Rangers
and the Mariners in the Al West.

Speaker 1 (01:15:19):
The eighteen on Sports Talk seven ninety it.

Speaker 3 (01:15:34):
Is the It is the eighteen Sports Talks seven ninety
Space City Home Network.

Speaker 2 (01:15:38):
Don't mind me.

Speaker 3 (01:15:40):
I was just making Cole Thompson laugh during the break
with all the things. I was saying, all right, I'm
gonna need the customary Dallas imaging.

Speaker 5 (01:15:50):
There are sports Talks seven ninety your Southwest, your deep
Southwest home for your Dallas sports Southwest. All right, So
what do you have to say? We're talking Rangers baseball here,
A lot of at got to deliver that for the people.

Speaker 4 (01:16:06):
But if you'd like, we can talk about the Rangers
or Cowboys.

Speaker 3 (01:16:10):
I guess, well, according to Adam Schefter.

Speaker 4 (01:16:15):
Oh sweet, the Rangers. Why would you say that?

Speaker 3 (01:16:19):
Because I'm kidding the Cowboys and Micah Parsons have gone
quote backwards in negotiations. You remember when I kept saying
he's not going to play there long term. He's going
to leave some way, somehow, some way, somehow, He's I
do remember that. Don't you think that's really gonna happen?

Speaker 6 (01:16:41):
Now?

Speaker 4 (01:16:42):
Long term is different than three years, But.

Speaker 5 (01:16:45):
Isn't that term in the NFL It is for a
running back. Well, you're trying to say he's not gonna
play their long term. So you're saying he's not going
to sign a long term contract. Yeah, not necessarily going
to disagree with that, but I don't think he's going
to be playing for anybody else in the next three
years because he's under contract for this year. Yeah, and
he's too good of a player to, I think, move
on from. So they got a franchise tag him and

(01:17:07):
with him showing up at camp because he wants to,
because he's a good teammate, because he still thinks it's
the better way in the NFL to do things. Terry
mclaurin's now doing the same thing. James Cook is now
doing the same thing. They're at the facility, they're part
of the team. They're also not getting fined daily. And
then when things don't work out two years from now,

(01:17:27):
they'll franchise tag him again.

Speaker 3 (01:17:30):
And all of that is perfectly logical and sounds a
whole lot like something that happened here in Houston with
a pass rusher to an extent. But I don't ever recall,
and I could be wrong, but I don't remember this
when Jideveon Clowney and the idiot who was playing GM
at the time named Bill O'Brien, we're not getting a

(01:17:50):
deal done, and he was getting franchised I don't ever
remember hearing a national type like Adam Schefter say that
it is a bit more personal for both sides. That
definitely happened with DeAndre Hopkins.

Speaker 5 (01:18:02):
I think there's a one huge difference in just how
it's categorized. There's no other side to the Micah Parsons
football player conversation. He's one of the five best players
on defense in the our edge rushers in the NFL
end of story, no debate, nobody's arguing with you.

Speaker 4 (01:18:19):
He's elite.

Speaker 5 (01:18:21):
There was such an argument with Jadevian will Is he
the kind of player you want to walk up? Football wise?
Is he going to continue to be this player and
everything else that goes with it? Is he the kind
of person you want? Is he kind of the health
that you want? You already have JJ Watt. He's never
going to be your best defensive player. You have another
player at the opposite side of the line who's better

(01:18:43):
than him. So all those things make it very, very different.
The fact that you have two bozos as gms makes
it comparable. The Texans did not have a very good
situation at GM, and I don't think the Cowboys have
a very good situation at GM. I can't remember a
player's an elite players negotiations ever being categorized as they're

(01:19:04):
going backwards.

Speaker 4 (01:19:05):
Well, and so this is this would be rather unique.

Speaker 3 (01:19:08):
Yeah, and he's saying there is no negotiation because there's
no conversation, and it gets worse. He said, you know
that could change next week, it could change shortly before
the season. We've seen how long And you know this.
Dallas sometimes waits on some of these deals, Ceedee Lamb,
Dak Prescott last season. This sounds different to me. This
sounds a little bit more personal from both sides. It

(01:19:29):
sounds like Dallas is upset with a fact it felt
like it was getting closer to a deal and that
deal went sideways. And I think Micah Parsons feels like
this deal should have been done. Here's the money shot
right here. I don't think Mike is real happy with them.
I don't think they're real happy with him. I don't
think anybody's real happy with anybody. And I don't think

(01:19:50):
there's a deal that's being discussed right now. Not to
mention being close. He is so gone.

Speaker 5 (01:19:56):
So here's the entire thing you just said. That's a
quote from like a schefter t appearance or something. Yeah,
I want I didn't want to play.

Speaker 4 (01:20:03):
I just wanted to make sure that's not a source
has indicated this.

Speaker 3 (01:20:05):
Yeah, it's a quote. And so here's what you're right
about the franchise thing. When's deal up again.

Speaker 4 (01:20:11):
This is the fifth year of his rookie contract, so
the option.

Speaker 3 (01:20:14):
Year it wouldn't and again for both sides, because he's
clearly not happy and getting franchise is going to probably
make him even less happy.

Speaker 5 (01:20:21):
And potentially make him more likely to not be a
part of things. Well, you can franchise tag me and
we'll have to figure out how the finds were.

Speaker 4 (01:20:30):
But I'm not coming.

Speaker 3 (01:20:31):
But I'm not the way that you said, which is true.
He's not Jadevion Clowney. He is one of the five
best of what he does. If it's not gonna work out,
because it doesn't. Micah Parsons has publicly said multiple times
things that make me think he's not long for Dallas.
I said that a year ago. Why wouldn't you, especially

(01:20:52):
since you're dumb and knee jerk and all the things
that are horrible about a GM that you could have
going for you and your Jerry. Why wouldn't you get
something of value for him? Why wouldn't you trade him?
You could get a king's ransom for him.

Speaker 4 (01:21:05):
I'm not sure even what to compare it to.

Speaker 5 (01:21:06):
And I've thought about this and still really just haven't
come up with anything.

Speaker 4 (01:21:10):
What's what's the comp And I.

Speaker 3 (01:21:12):
Don't for trading an edge rusher like this, well, I'm
I'll open it up to a McCaffrey level player.

Speaker 5 (01:21:16):
This is a McCaffrey level player. Do you like the return?
And I'm not sure which other deals you'd bring into
the conversation. Do you like the return the teams have
gotten for the elite player they're saying goodbye to. Are
you better off keeping him and hoping things work out?
Ultimately paying him knowing that he's gonna help your football
team if you can at least make him and everybody
happy enough that he plays under there four or five
year contract.

Speaker 3 (01:21:37):
Try forgetting all of the legal stuff, and try forgetting
what happened right after he got traded. Isn't this the
same position the Texans around with Deshaun Watson before they
got a king's ransom for him? And I know it's
a quarterback, so that's more. It's not the same.

Speaker 5 (01:21:49):
No, but that's a pretty good just in it. In
terms of a high elite.

Speaker 3 (01:21:53):
His trade value is never gonna be higher than it
is right now. It's for sure.

Speaker 5 (01:21:57):
You're gonna you're going to have to thee for the
Texans was not only were the teams that they were looking,
they needed to be able to get high picks, not
just firsts, and you can't guarantee it, but they went
pretty nice route to close to guarantee it. And that's
what the Cowboys would have to do. There's only so
many teams you can trade it. You can't trade him

(01:22:18):
to do a good team. You're not getting anything for
him if you're trading him to do good no matter
how many number one picks you get, because you can't
even one.

Speaker 4 (01:22:24):
Number one picks.

Speaker 5 (01:22:25):
Well, yeah, to get the great number one pick, because
you're trying to replace him, like you need an an
impact player wherever you want to play this player, a
shutdown corner, an ace, wide receiver. Probably don't need that quarterback,
whatever it is. You have to replace him with that
quality of a player, and you're very unlikely Jerry's very
unlikely getting that at twenty one through thirty two nineteen

(01:22:48):
through thirty two a playoff team, so that eliminates fourteen
of the teams you should be trading him to. Or
you're just banking on this team falling apart after you've
gotten two first round picks from them.

Speaker 3 (01:22:57):
Well don't you think if you're a Dallas and you
want to stick it to him the most, you would
trade him to a crappy team, So A, he's going
somewhere he hates, and B you're getting a great pick
for sure.

Speaker 4 (01:23:06):
Whatever.

Speaker 5 (01:23:07):
Yeah, you're just a little limited on who you're talking
to and what they might be willing to offer. And
if you're a bad team, why would you give up
your cheap first round pick assets while you're bad to
somebody else so you can pick up a twenty six
year old fifth or sixth year player who's probably not
going to turn your team around because you're bad.

Speaker 3 (01:23:26):
Don't you feel like this is the beginning of the
end for yet another era of Dallas football? I do
it very well could be, yeah, because you've got dak
uh huh. And that's meant what the last how many
years he's got a playoff teams just nothing to show
up for him?

Speaker 4 (01:23:38):
That's all over again. Yeah, only he played for thirty
years into this he played way more. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:23:43):
So there you go, Dallas, you have that to look
forward to. Twenty twenty five Cowboys football the ad on
Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 1 (01:23:57):
Two lifelong Houston sports guys named at him talking your team.
Adam Clinton and Adam Wexler are the A team.

Speaker 4 (01:24:11):
Two hours in.

Speaker 5 (01:24:12):
Two more still to go, and then we'll get you
into Astros Baseball. The on Deck Show at six Astros
first pitch here on Sports Talk seven to ninety and
Space City Home Network coming your way. Just after seven
o'clock tonight, Jason Alexander gets the ball for the Astros
to open up tonight's game. The home standing Astros will
throw tonight's first pitch, non ceremonial, and I hope it's

(01:24:33):
a lot better than it was last time for Alexander.

Speaker 4 (01:24:36):
This is what the Astros believe they are left with.

Speaker 5 (01:24:38):
There are other options, They've chosen this route at least
for this third start of the season for Alexander gets
the Nationals, who gave it five straight losses for the
Astros after last night's two to one Nationals victory. With
fromber Valdez on the mound behind Alexander tonight for the Astros.
Jose al Tuve will be in the lineup, he just
won't be behind him. He's the designated hitter tonight, and

(01:25:00):
batting second goes like this, Tremmell in left field as
supposed to right field. He'll bat lead off again. Altuove
bats second, Christian Walker over at first, bats third. Cam Smith,
following his day off, reinserted into the lineup and right field,
and it is the cleanup hitter tonight. Jacob Melton back
in action tonight. Made his return to the club off
of the injured list last night and started in center

(01:25:21):
field to do the same again Tonight, bat fifth in
front of the Yanner Dizo.

Speaker 4 (01:25:24):
We'll catch for Alexander.

Speaker 5 (01:25:26):
The rest of the Astros infield around Christian Walker, Maurice
dubonnet third, batting seventh, shay Wickham at second, batting eighth,
Zach Short at short batting ninth, and that bottom of
the order along with the Tremmel Melton portion of the
order as five of you're at nine.

Speaker 4 (01:25:45):
A lot of where their issues.

Speaker 5 (01:25:46):
Two score runs lie again, be nice if Altuve or
Walker or Smith or Diaz, you know, cranked out a
home run or an extra base hit or a key
hit with runners in scoring position. They've had pretty unspectacular
seasons all Altuve with an OPS now after last night,
just a shade under eight hundred. If everything else was
going as it should be for the Astros. And I

(01:26:08):
told you Jose al Tuvey had a seven ninety five
OPS this year, you'd say awesome, a slight improvement from
last year. I don't think anybody's really looking at it
like that because of their daily lineup issues. But that's
just the facts of what Jose Altuve's offensive season has been,
like perfectly fine. There's really nobody else you can say
that about, because everybody else who's had a perfectly fine

(01:26:29):
or better offensive season is not in the lineup. And
that's Esak Peretis, that's Jake Myers, that's Jeremy Pania. Jeremy
Panya will be in the lineup tonight just in Sugarland
for the Space Cowboys, who will DH and hopefully get
four maybe five at bats in tonight's game, probably play
shortstop in one of their next two games, and then

(01:26:50):
likely joined the Astros in Boston for their series against
the Red Sox. They've got the Nationals tonight, and I
mentioned earlier James would not in the lineup last night.

Speaker 4 (01:26:58):
For the Nationals with the Astros throwing a lefty.

Speaker 5 (01:27:00):
He is in the lineup tonight, so that means they've
added twenty four homers seventy RBIs an eight sixty eight
ops by a good margin. He's their most productive and
feared hitter and they only scored two runs last night
without him. We'll see if anything changes tonight. Not long ago,
Chandler Rome wrote about the Astros trade targets. Been talking

(01:27:21):
about this for a couple of days. Chandler was on
with us on Friday and he set a player that
I was ready to put my name on it. As
some shows might say. I think the Astros will add
one of the players mentioned in Chandler's most recent article
just put out a couple of minutes ago, and that's
Willie Castro.

Speaker 4 (01:27:36):
We'll talk about him in a moment.

Speaker 5 (01:27:38):
Plays infield and could play outfield for you, but most
likely second base. The story is essentially written because the belief,
according to Chandler's sources, is that the Astros have set
their sights on Dylan Cease Padres, right handed starting pitcher,
as who they would like to add to the rotation.

Speaker 3 (01:27:59):
Are they getting shook? Iago White Sox in his prime
Dylan Cease.

Speaker 5 (01:28:02):
Dylan Cees has the following things going for him. I
haven't looked it up, but I imagine in that he
led the league in starts in twenty twenty one, twenty
twenty three, twenty twenty four, twenty twenty five, and made
thirty two starts in twenty twenty two, the only season
I didn't mention probably number one in the Majors and starts.
Over the last five years, he has been crazy durable. Now,

(01:28:24):
he doesn't throw a ton of innings, which some people
think is part of the reason why he's able to
make all those starts, throws plenty of pitches, mainly because
he's also led the league in walks twice. Is it
prime Dylan Cease from the White Sox. No, that lasted
one season. He had a two twenty ERA in twenty
twenty two. He's hadn't had an ERA under three four

(01:28:46):
seven in any of his other major league seasons, though
he has finished top five in the cy Young voting
twice that year and last year. Last year, he was
fourth in National League cy Young voting in a very
successful season for a very good Padres team this year.
You want the wet blanket first or the dry blanket first?

(01:29:08):
Wet blanket, I have to give you the dry blanket first.
Who met the wet blank then? Why did you ask?
Because as I was asking, I realized it wouldn't play
that way. I've got to play the game a certain way.
Do you know who is number one in the majors in.

Speaker 4 (01:29:25):
Strikeouts per nine innings?

Speaker 5 (01:29:27):
Uh, it's not a trick question, Nope.

Speaker 3 (01:29:35):
Paul Skeins is thirteenth from Bravaldes, he's nineteenth, Dylan Cees,
he's first.

Speaker 4 (01:29:42):
He's the answer.

Speaker 5 (01:29:43):
He's really number one in baseball in strikeouts per nine
inning of the top forty pitchers on that list.

Speaker 3 (01:29:52):
Guess who's fortieth in era Dylan Cees correct. So, and
you said he doesn't get through a lot of like a.

Speaker 5 (01:30:00):
Five innings six inning outing is pretty much what he's
going to give you. He throws a lot of pitches,
he works a lot of accounts go along. A strikeout
pitcher often is a high pitch count pitcher to begin with,
but his results this year have lagged behind most of
his other recent years, and he are a close to five.
He's again he's not walking an outrageous number for him,

(01:30:21):
but he walks a lot of batters. There are a
lot of base runners. His whip is at one three, three, five,
which is worse than his career numbers, much worse than
either of the two seasons where he finished near the
Cy Young race.

Speaker 4 (01:30:32):
But he's in the Astros rotation. You know what he's
gonna do.

Speaker 5 (01:30:36):
He's gonna take the ball twelve times, ten times, eleven
times the rest of the season and give you five
or six innings where you probably have a chance to
win the game. Maybe we give a little credit to
the Astros system and that they can do to for
him what they've done with every pitcher. It seems like
they've added it from a starting standpoint, even from a
reliever standpoint, even in short order. You only have to

(01:30:57):
turn the clock back twelve months. You say, Cakuchi's numbers
last year when they added him from the Blue Jays
not real pleasing. They liked his stuff. How can you
not like Dylan cees stuff.

Speaker 3 (01:31:10):
You're talking about a pitcher who has any sort of
modicum of success in the recent past coming to the
Astros organization, like one hundred percent of the time. That's
good news for the Astros because one hundred percent of
the time they come here in absolutely wreck shop.

Speaker 4 (01:31:28):
Certainly seems like there's an open door for that to happen.

Speaker 5 (01:31:30):
Two of the last get well, And how are you
paying for him? He's heading into a contract years so
he's a rental. He's a rental. He's clearly not having
this type of season he would hope for, So the
value is a little bit down, and it's just a
matter of how many other teams think there's a better option.
If they do, Uh, he's a very good arm and
if the Astros covet him, they're by no means the

(01:31:52):
only team coveting him.

Speaker 3 (01:31:54):
He's a trade deadline primary target. According to this, this
mean he's.

Speaker 5 (01:31:59):
The best picture out there. It means he's their primary target.

Speaker 9 (01:32:01):
Right.

Speaker 3 (01:32:02):
But that's just so strange, like two days before the deadline,
that all of this seems like it's out of nowhere.

Speaker 5 (01:32:09):
I don't think so. We just haven't particularly focused on
his name. This was a picture, long thought of it,
but I haven't seen anybody else focusing on his name.
With regards to the Astros.

Speaker 4 (01:32:19):
Congratulations to Chandler for having it first.

Speaker 3 (01:32:21):
Well, but I mean there's all sorts of names that
are thrown out there that I'm not.

Speaker 4 (01:32:26):
Even talking about, like the list done.

Speaker 3 (01:32:28):
No, but I just I'm saying this seems like it's
out of nowhere, because in no way, shape or form
have I seen Dylan sees his name linked to the
Astros by anybody until today.

Speaker 5 (01:32:41):
Okay, you I mean he's a starting pitcher. Yeah, but
every starting picture has been linked to the Astros for
the obvious reasons, but none of them.

Speaker 4 (01:32:50):
Have been described as their primary target.

Speaker 5 (01:32:53):
Right the closer you get to the deadline, things usually crystallize.
At least it's just strangely get information like are you unhappy?
But do you think this is a mistake?

Speaker 4 (01:33:02):
No?

Speaker 5 (01:33:02):
You, I think they should be targeting somebody else. Or
do you think he's ungettable?

Speaker 3 (01:33:05):
No, well I think he's I think he's ungettable for
them because the padres are going to want something. I
know it's a rental, so the price, like you said,
will be lower, and his numbers probably helped the cause.
So maybe he is this year's Kakouchi. And believe me,
if fromber Valdez, Hunter Brown and Dylan Seese doesn't get
your juices flowing for a playoff rotation.

Speaker 4 (01:33:25):
I don't know what will.

Speaker 3 (01:33:26):
Especially when you're trying to now, all of a sudden
salvage your division lead.

Speaker 5 (01:33:31):
That's down to three games. Do you want me to
make it even worse? Wet that blank a little more,
dip it in, maybe something worse than just water. Just
make that kerosene and light it on fire.

Speaker 4 (01:33:40):
You're gonna trade a major league talent for no Dylan
Seas has postseason experience.

Speaker 5 (01:33:45):
Oh I know, four games, three starts, very awful, very awful.

Speaker 4 (01:33:50):
One of them was against the Astros. Wasn't it? What
year did they play the White Sox? Twenty one?

Speaker 5 (01:33:55):
So twenty twenty one? He did pitch against the Astros.
You usually know, like exactly what happened?

Speaker 4 (01:34:03):
Do you?

Speaker 14 (01:34:04):
Uh?

Speaker 4 (01:34:06):
They won that series in four game?

Speaker 3 (01:34:08):
Yes, in the series, I mean specific to his performance.
Did he start that series or was he Deptember two?
I believe he pitched in game two as a starter. Okay,
they won game two because they lost game one?

Speaker 4 (01:34:21):
Right? Uh?

Speaker 3 (01:34:22):
Yeah, so they must have shelled him. They did at
here in Houston minute mate, Yeah, so this is twelve.
It was game three? Oh, he started Game three so
that's in Chicago.

Speaker 5 (01:34:33):
Yeah, with the Astros putting three runs on the board
in the second inning, that was it for him.

Speaker 3 (01:34:38):
He lasted five outs. Oh good, and that's when he
was really good.

Speaker 5 (01:34:43):
So he's had a couple of starts that one and
two others they've been awful.

Speaker 4 (01:34:49):
But I'm not joking. I'm not joking.

Speaker 3 (01:34:51):
When I say guys, come to Houston pitchers, I should
say come to Houston and it just turns around.

Speaker 4 (01:35:00):
Yeah, very well.

Speaker 5 (01:35:00):
Could started a couple of games for the Padres and
last year's postseason for those that don't recall, both against
the Dodgers, he lasted five innings total in two starts.
He gave up eight runs and ten hits and walked
three batters and did Joe Hay got five of those.
They did not win either game. Dylan Cees makes a
lot of sense, though, for what the Astros probably have,
what it might take to get him, and how it

(01:35:22):
could easily stabilize things for this team, even though unfortunately
he's a rental and we'll always keep an eye on
what the three players traded to Toronto will do. Low
Perfito playing on an irregular basis with the first place
Toronto Blue Jays a year now, basically since that deal
was made. A couple other names worth mentioning for some
interest that the Astros might have in trying to get

(01:35:42):
this team to the finish line. They're still in first place.
We remind you as we continue here on the A.

Speaker 1 (01:35:47):
Team the Age on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 3 (01:36:02):
We are one segment away from our signature segment, say What.
It's a doozy today. I'm very happy. I'm very excited
about it. I'm very happy about it because it solidifies
one of my sports opinions that I think the majority
of the world supports me on.

Speaker 4 (01:36:19):
Certainly everybody in this room does.

Speaker 5 (01:36:21):
So we'll get to that in about fifteen minutes when
we bring you say What a continuation of some of
what Ken Rosenthal and Channel Roam of the Athletics suggests
could be the Astros line of thinking as they approach
the deadline. The deadline is rapidly approaching. We are forty
nine hours away from it, just under forty nine hours
away five o'clock Central time on Thursday and off day

(01:36:42):
for the Astros in between their home stand ending against
the Washington Nationals and the road trip beginning and it
begins in Boston. Willie Castro is another name that has
been mentioned here on this show before by Chandler, and
I mentioned that last segment. I think that's a real
likely possibility. Someone with a little positional flexibility, bats from
the left side and can play what is clearly a

(01:37:03):
vacant spot. Still, there's no permanent second base on the Astros,
and there hasn't been for the entire season, and they
went into the season knowing that because they anticipated playing
Jose Altuve a tremendous amount of outfield and at DH
and Bryce Matthews obviously is not the current answer at
second base, though in two months when the season ends,
he's very likely the answer at second base when the

(01:37:24):
new year begins. The name Heyesus Sanchez, We've mentioned, I
think on two or three occasions the last month or so,
because the Marlins are one of the very few teams
that enters the season as a seller every year just
about so you knew that they had the possibility to
be looking to move on from certain players. Jesus Sanchez
might make some sense for what he can be. I

(01:37:45):
hope it's not for just what he has been a
player I think is viewed has been viewed as someone
that should be better, that should be doing more, but
pretty consistent the last three years, including this year. OPS
plus of one oh four by one oh one followed
by one oh three one hundred is average. That is
what he's been and for the Astros in the outfield

(01:38:09):
and in the lineup, that's a huge upgrade. If the
Astros field in a lineup with five average hitters beyond
the four regulars that are out there every day, they
would be winning most of these games that they aren't.
And as much as it doesn't blow you away with
maybe who this player is another player that I absolutely
could see them being able to land and being able

(01:38:30):
to immediately insert in the lineup and see themselves get
a little bit better. Has a little bit of experience
essentially across the outfield. Most likely would play wherever the
Astros have an opening on any particular day. Obviously he
could DH, but between al Twove and what's available in
center field and Tremmel and obviously Cam Smith, I'm sure

(01:38:51):
there's no lack of options for Joe Aspota with Jesu's Sanchez.
The other name mentioned in the article is Jake McCarthy
Astros just played the Diamondbacks, and Zach Gallan's name obviously
was also included in a lot of people's lists, because,
as I said last segment, he's the starting pitcher. The
asker has been linked to just about all of them,
and I said, no, thank you. And that was before

(01:39:11):
he pitched poorly against the Astros, because he's pitched poorly
against almost everybody else. I totally get why Jake McCarthy
would be desirable, but it's all for what he had
done in his career prior to this year. It's also
why he's available this year. I don't know what happened,
but he can't hit at all in twenty twenty five

(01:39:34):
a career ops in the seven twenties, career batting average
in the two sixties, but this year he's batting one
fifty eight with a five on nine ops. Very good
defensive outfielder and has some speed, some very good speed.
But man, you're just saying, somehow, some way, for no
actual tangible reason, he's going to hit for us when

(01:39:57):
he spent the entire year not hitting.

Speaker 4 (01:39:58):
Yeah, I don't like that.

Speaker 3 (01:40:00):
That is the complete opposite of what happens with pitchers
when they come here.

Speaker 4 (01:40:05):
Yeah, it's it's Trey Mancini.

Speaker 5 (01:40:08):
I mean, he at least had a hiss of a
longer term history of being a productive player. But the
time that they added him was comparable now the way
he had played when they added him.

Speaker 4 (01:40:18):
His one catch, well, when the ball him.

Speaker 5 (01:40:21):
Even wet blanket over here, you know, I basically pooh
pooed that. Well, how could he miss it? He was
hit right at him. He fell on the ball with
his glove.

Speaker 3 (01:40:30):
And yet if he doesn't make it, things would be very,
very different.

Speaker 4 (01:40:33):
That alone was worth a trade right there. It was.
It was very helpful.

Speaker 5 (01:40:36):
I didn't there are there are several trays that we
don't talk about a ton Christian Vasquez is probably also
at the top of that list bad trades.

Speaker 4 (01:40:44):
I mean they just flat out work. He padded the
lead in Game six.

Speaker 5 (01:40:47):
And getting him I thought was totally unnecessary. What he
provided for you was extremely underwhelming, and what you gave
up for him. Now, Valdez was the guy I thought
was going to be the better of the two. It
was Valdez and a bray you sent to Boston. Abra
has been awesome, Will You're a brave has been awesome.
This year, probably the most consistent best offensive player for

(01:41:09):
the Red Sox, not best young player, not best rookie,
best offensive player. And that's one of the two players
you gave up for a backup catcher Rental Well. I mean,
he did play during a very good time during the
Astros winning times.

Speaker 4 (01:41:27):
Yeah, I get it.

Speaker 5 (01:41:30):
So I thought it was a little much for the
caliber of player and the length he was going to
spend here to give up. I don't even think they
have those caliber players to give up. But any one
of these four players mentioned last segment or now by
via the article in the Athletic all gettable in my opinion,
and I'd be shocked if one of them wasn't an Astros.

(01:41:50):
Possible two could be pum Astros. I just I guess
more so this season than any other. I just don't
know how they're getting these guys like who they're using.
Just take it back one year you traded, you know,
I don't even for the Astros. Low Perfido was not
really ever considered a top prospect for the Astros. He

(01:42:11):
had an unbelievable power surge last year, which I think
made everybody think this guy's an I can't miss. But
that's not really who he was during his prospect status
career for the Astros. Clearly Jake Bloss wasn't that either.
He had a very fast rise through the Astros system,
but because his stuff wasn't blow you away stuff, nobody
really regarded him as elite level looked good in the

(01:42:32):
Astros' rankings because it was so bereft of greatness. And
then the third players, Will Wagner, he was even further
down the list the Astros list because there's nothing that
wows you about him either.

Speaker 4 (01:42:44):
It was enough to get you.

Speaker 5 (01:42:45):
You say, Kakuchi, a player we just last segment said
was comparable to Dylan Ceese. They have those players in
the system still, those caliber players.

Speaker 3 (01:42:53):
Daring anybody that you're gonna have to part ways with
that's actually going to hurt, Then.

Speaker 5 (01:42:57):
It would be I would find out about it much later,
but I would sit here and say, I can't believe
they gave that player up. I would be lying in
two years from I was. If I said, man, I
really wish they wouldn't have given him.

Speaker 3 (01:43:07):
It sounds like William or Bray, who was like the
first guy since this run began, that you're really like, ah,
that one kind of hurt.

Speaker 4 (01:43:15):
Uh, there might be already need to stick out.

Speaker 5 (01:43:17):
Well. I know that McTaggart brought it up a couple
of times during one of the days he was on
three times that to the trade of ti Oscar Hernandez.
I think a lot of people thought he was way
too much of what could have been your future. He
was very good, He was always highly thought of. His
opportunity with the Astros was short lived because of the
collision he had right when he joined the team and
this first day out there, and then ultimately he was

(01:43:39):
used in a trade, and he clearly had an awesome
post Astros run of things.

Speaker 3 (01:43:44):
Super productive. Care that's two in nine ten years. Yeah,
for sure.

Speaker 5 (01:43:50):
It's heavy, heavy, heavy, and we focused in on the
three pitchers all the time. I'll do it again, Zach Grinky,
Garrett Cole and Justin Verlander. The first time you gave
up Joe Musgrove and you got all those pitchers in return, I.

Speaker 4 (01:44:05):
Mean, that's what you gave up, and it was ten players.

Speaker 5 (01:44:08):
I mean, Jake Rogers is the starting catcher for the
Tigers currently, but I hope no one thinks they shouldn't
have included him in that deal. He's just another guy
Josh Hater at the major league level.

Speaker 4 (01:44:21):
Josh Hater could be part of this list technically.

Speaker 5 (01:44:23):
Well, the Josh Hater, like Adriene Hauser, was part of
that trade. Also, Josh Hater and Adriene Hauser and Brett
Phillips were all part of the Carlos Gomez rat trade
that the Astros made.

Speaker 3 (01:44:34):
My fires, it's negated now because you have Hater, because
he's here, even though you're paying him a lot of money.

Speaker 5 (01:44:40):
So you say the same thing about JV when you
actually traded two better prospects, better prospects to get him
the second time. Neither of them have gotten to the
Mets yet, Drew Gilbert or Ryan Clifford. Gilbert's having the
best month of his minor league career this month for
their Triple A team, so they're winning and they're going
to the playoffs. Don't know that he makes it there

(01:45:02):
this year, but he's playing well enough that a call
up could happen.

Speaker 4 (01:45:05):
But you also paid nothing of Verlander's salary because of that.

Speaker 5 (01:45:08):
Yes, they paid you to so you would give them
your best prospects. I'm always worried about deals like that.
You're saving some money but it's actually costing you because
you're letting them buy better players.

Speaker 4 (01:45:21):
So he almost won the World Series.

Speaker 5 (01:45:23):
I get it is is this team on the verge
of doing that with any deal we've just discussed. Plus
Arraghetti's back in the rotation, Hoavier's pitching for you, Payna
has returned. Maybe yard On Alvarez returns to form. If
all those if just if just those, what did I
say five things or five? I just those five things happen.

(01:45:43):
I've already told you. I think the American League is
super winnable and nobody is great. Everybody is pretty good. Yeah,
I think they could win it. I certainly wouldn't pay
the Astros' favorites pretty much under any circumstances. Blue Jay
has made a deal this day to bolster today, to
bolster their bullpen. It's kind of what the Astros almost
surely will do in the next two days.

Speaker 4 (01:46:02):
Who do they get. I couldn't give you a bullpen name. No,
I'm talking about the Rodriguez Stranson.

Speaker 5 (01:46:09):
Domingez excuse me from the remember him with the Phillies,
pitched against the Astros in the postseason.

Speaker 4 (01:46:14):
Name sounds vaguely familiar.

Speaker 5 (01:46:15):
He's been extremely successful in the postseason over seventeen innings
out of the bullpen. He's got our era at one
oh two. He's now a Blue Jays reliever.

Speaker 3 (01:46:24):
You know who hasn't been extremely successful. A bunch of
guys behind the plate, and we're going to highlight one
of them because they can't call balls and strikes, primarily strikes.
When we come back.

Speaker 2 (01:46:36):
The eight on Sports Talk seven.

Speaker 1 (01:46:38):
Ninety this is Adam and Adams weekly chowned through mind
buckling moments that make you.

Speaker 11 (01:46:47):
Go, Hey, what what?

Speaker 8 (01:46:54):
Ted is here? What are you talking about? Man?

Speaker 4 (01:46:57):
On a Tuesday?

Speaker 2 (01:46:59):
What I tell you? Now?

Speaker 6 (01:47:02):
Say what?

Speaker 5 (01:47:05):
It's right signature segment time each and every weekday afternoon,
we hit you with that halfway through our number three,
that's four thirty tuesdays.

Speaker 4 (01:47:12):
Say what.

Speaker 5 (01:47:13):
This is a pretty easy call since it was an
easy call, but it was botched.

Speaker 4 (01:47:19):
Easy call for us to deliver this to you today.

Speaker 5 (01:47:21):
Among the other things, we'll get to and say what potentially,
but had to start here, long running conversation. As the
technology has advanced to the point where they believe enough
in the box you can digitize and put on television,
the box that you can use for the strike zone
for grading out umpires after the fact. However, Major League

(01:47:43):
Baseball does it where they give them eight miles of
grace on all possible sides of the plate and up
and down when they shouldn't. But nonetheless seems pretty obvious
when almost everybody on earth except for the home plate
umpire knows this pitch was a strike and not called
that way, pretty easy to determine who in the booth

(01:48:04):
thought the very same thing Orioles yesterday, Zach Efflin on
the mound for the Orioles. He had a two zero count.
He was ready to deliver the pitch. I give you Orioles.
Broadcasters Kevin Brown, not that one, and Ben McDonald.

Speaker 7 (01:48:19):
I've got to get one past Ernie Clement. What is
going on at home plate?

Speaker 4 (01:48:28):
Brian walsh Man, that's literally right down the middle.

Speaker 3 (01:48:32):
I mean, you couldn't set it on a tee in
the heart of the plate any better than look at.

Speaker 4 (01:48:36):
His pitch right here. How do you miss that?

Speaker 1 (01:48:38):
Get that right, ongoing, Brian, should.

Speaker 4 (01:48:44):
Have been strike three.

Speaker 5 (01:48:46):
It's an interesting delivery. We got it interesting. He of
course gave up a single afterwards. Same kind of thing
happened in last night's game with from Ervaldez. Oh yeah,
umpire scorecards exists, and pretty good job of actually charting
the location of questionable calls. Was described as middle middle,

(01:49:06):
which I would have said the exact same thing about
I even I can't recall and I look at this
way too much a pitch being that close to the
exact middle of the presumed strike zone that was missed
by any umpire in any game at the major league level.
Like I said that, I can recall, it's not close
to the left side or right side of home plate.
It's not close to the bottom or the top of

(01:49:28):
the plate of the strike zone. I should say it
is so obviously and clearly a strike, even though the
catcher Adlee Rutchman was set up in a really odd
spot and that he had to reach inside with clear view,
he could not have been blocking the umpire any less
because of where he was positioned in order to catch
the baseball which caught all of the plate and for

(01:49:48):
some reason was taken by the hitter and it was missed.
And having said all that, and having you listen to
Ben McDonald, by the way, if you're not familiar, he's
a former major League baseball pitcher and LSU star, and
I think it has a pretty good idea.

Speaker 4 (01:50:02):
You know, I call that.

Speaker 5 (01:50:05):
This call was anti Orioles. It was a bad call
that benefited Toronto. And way our par scorecard works is
they valuate each of these missed pitches and call them
impactful missed calls. This particular call doesn't even make the
top three the single that was allowed, and apparently the

(01:50:25):
situation of the game didn't qualify it for even one
of the three most impactful calls. It was one of
seven pitches that were called balls that should have been
called strikes. So is accurately rate was at ninety three percent,
And like I said, this was a pro Toronto mistake,
and yet the overall favor of the game benefited Baltimore

(01:50:47):
by almost a full run. That's how bad the rest
of the game was. And that's the point both of
us made earlier in the show about yesterday's Astros game.
Lance Bark's Days Afternoon was so bad. I don't even
know which of the missed calls would be rated worse
than the others because there were so many. You have

(01:51:10):
the technology like it is, I don't have to go
six million dollar man on everybody.

Speaker 4 (01:51:15):
We have the technology.

Speaker 3 (01:51:17):
Well, okay, so fast forward to let's just say, best
case scenario, they install it next season in time for
next season. They're doing it in spring training games, you know,
to get all the kinks out, even though they like,
was it a.

Speaker 5 (01:51:30):
Huge overwhelming, arduous task to, as you say, get it
installed at the All Star Game?

Speaker 4 (01:51:38):
Apparently not, because we didn't hear anything about that. No,
we did not.

Speaker 3 (01:51:41):
And so just repeat that in every major league stadium
and the stadiums which they should be familiar with.

Speaker 4 (01:51:48):
We should be down to one next year. I think
Tampa's good to go next.

Speaker 3 (01:51:50):
Well, actually they shouldn't have to do it because don't
those already have them installed, because they're not all like.

Speaker 5 (01:51:56):
The Astros facility, Nationals Astros facility does not not have
it this spring. Well, come on, Jim, But the exhibition
like where the minor league baseball team plays in West Sacramento, Yeah,
it's there.

Speaker 4 (01:52:06):
Yeah, so that's one less one you have to do
it in and just do it.

Speaker 3 (01:52:11):
Like the format will inevitably disappoint me and maybe you
and definitely a lot of other people because it's just
it's like I don't even know what to compare it to,
Like you're gonna go to your favorite restaurant and you're
gonna get some of the things you like. But some
of the items on the menu you normally get, they
just won't be offered for no apparent reason. There's no

(01:52:32):
rhyme or reason to it. You're just not gonna be
able to order them. But it's your favorite restaurant, and
you still get to get some of the things you like.
That's that's what this will be. But you can challenge,
and you'll be able to successfully challenge, and then you'll
only have enough to get you to I don't even
know what's it gonna be. You're gonna get two challenges,
and even if you are successful, that's your limit.

Speaker 4 (01:52:54):
Do you keep getting challenges?

Speaker 5 (01:52:56):
Yeah, just for example, I would presume, because there's gonna
be some limit on how many you get and how
many you get to keep when you're successful. Last night's
big moment, the one that Joespotta was asked about by
Matt and Ross, the one that fron Bervaldez was ticked
off about after the game because it was the only
batter he allowed to get an RBI hit off of him.
And last night's game, well, the two to two pitch

(01:53:19):
was strike three taken but called a ball. If you
have abs, presumably in the sixth inning of a game
that's that tight, you would have one still available to you,
if not two, if not three, you would use it
and the inning would end and it would still not
be there would be no runs on the board in

(01:53:39):
the sixth inning of a game that you might have
a better chance to win even if you could only
score one time.

Speaker 3 (01:53:46):
So they'll ultimately come up with something that's good but
not great, just like they'll ultimately what with the collective
Bargaining Agreement as a pertain source.

Speaker 5 (01:53:58):
Style that because of this pacific topic about thirty seconds,
what do you describe use the word you said, good
but not great? How do you describe the NBA's challenge system.

Speaker 4 (01:54:07):
Good but not great? Good but not great? Because what
would make it great? Unlimited challenges as long as you
don't screw up email.

Speaker 5 (01:54:14):
So two challenges, but if they're both wrong, you're done,
or an unlimited number of challenges provided to have one
left and you keep getting it right.

Speaker 3 (01:54:21):
If you keep getting it right, and these idiots you've
hired can't do their job, you should be able to
challenge them all night long.

Speaker 4 (01:54:26):
Do you think that's ever a reality? No, unlimited.

Speaker 5 (01:54:29):
Do you think we can get the number increased though
from where it is today? Just not to unlimited like
there's three.

Speaker 4 (01:54:34):
Get to four?

Speaker 3 (01:54:35):
Maybe baseball. They're so focused on pace of game. We're
so upset that our product that's been around since the
beginning of time now all of a sudden in this,
you know, twenty four hour news cycle world we live
in with social media, people just can't pay attention enough
that we're not gonna get We can't.

Speaker 4 (01:54:52):
We just can't get it one hundred percent right, we'll
give you ninety.

Speaker 5 (01:54:56):
Yeah, and basketball is now a bad example, So I'll
take it back to baseball. If you had fifteen challenges
in baseball, then you would be adding eight to ten
seconds times fifteen to the game, which doesn't sound like
a whole Jiftgates it, Yes, very odd, say what he
missed that call?

Speaker 4 (01:55:13):
I don't believe it.

Speaker 2 (01:55:16):
The eight on Sports Talk seven.

Speaker 3 (01:55:19):
Ninety winding down the four o'clock hour, we have football
at five coming up at the top of the hour.
I can't wait to tell you something you don't already know,

(01:55:40):
of course, about the Texans talent pool and how people
around the country view the Houston Texans going into the
twenty twenty five season.

Speaker 4 (01:55:48):
But that's next segment.

Speaker 3 (01:55:50):
This segment, we've been talking a lot about the Astros
and their injury woes in kind of combine that with
the trade targets. Dylan Ceese is apparently their primary target.
Those are Chandler Rome and Ken Rosenthal's words in today's
article in the athletic primary trade target. We've heard about

(01:56:11):
left handed bats, We've heard about back of the rotation starters,
maybe bullpen help. Nope, Dylan sees that's the primary trade target.

Speaker 4 (01:56:22):
I just did not see that coming. The same thing
from last like, what is why not? I don't understand.

Speaker 5 (01:56:28):
I know we wouldn't go around around about that particular name,
but every starting pitch, like we brought it up in
case you missed it, maybe two weeks ago, and there
was a list of the twenty players and then their
trade probability, the likelihood that they'd be moved. There were
eight starting pitchers among the top fourteen on that list.
All eight of them best fit. The Astros were listed,

(01:56:51):
every single one of them. Not that they talked to them,
that was that their top target, not anything like that.
But they need starting pitching and if you're available and
you're a starting pitcher, and now it's just a matter
of figuring out whose who's gettable with what you have
and who do you want?

Speaker 3 (01:57:04):
And landing on Dylan Ceas doesn't surprise me one bit.
Where is he in their rotation? Is he like their
number three this year?

Speaker 5 (01:57:14):
Based on success? I don't think he'd rate that high,
but I think entering the season he was in their
top two.

Speaker 3 (01:57:23):
Michael King, Dylan Cee, Snick Pavetta, you Darvish like Pavetta
has been great.

Speaker 5 (01:57:28):
King was great, play pitched very well against Houston before
he was sidelined, and obviously very clearly they've both pitched
much better than Dylan. But like I said, what does
he do that kind of sets him apart from everybody
he's there. He pitches, he takes the ball every opportunity
he gets. He's not giving you eighteen starts in a year.

(01:57:50):
He doesn't need three weeks off, at least not at
netty point. In the last several years, they have three
pitchers who've essentially made all their starts. And it's not
Michael and it's not some of the some of the
guys you would have hoped it would be obviously not
Darvish either. Darvish has made four starts. King has made
ten starts, but Cease has made twenty two. Paveta, like

(01:58:10):
I said, has been great and has made twenty one starts,
and I think very unheralded. Randy Vastus has also made
twenty one starts, and they're at the top of the rotation.

Speaker 3 (01:58:19):
Their prime motivation, as they are second in their division
at fifty eight and forty nine, is to get out
from under his money.

Speaker 5 (01:58:26):
I mean, he's on an expiring deal and he only
he doesn't make some money that is untenable.

Speaker 3 (01:58:31):
For like obviously if you're trading him, you're not planning
on resigning him that offseason anyway.

Speaker 5 (01:58:35):
That's that's most of it, and they believe they have
the arms to sustain the final two monch.

Speaker 4 (01:58:40):
Yeah, and you've got you, Darvish, you are set well.

Speaker 5 (01:58:43):
They've had several other pitchers make multiple starts that could
fit in there.

Speaker 4 (01:58:46):
I'm just being mean.

Speaker 5 (01:58:48):
Darvish isn't even next necessarily the guy that is going
to be the answer. They've had enough injuries that he's
one of three other pitchers to make at least six
starts for them or at least four starts for them
this year. Randy Vasquez, Well, he's been one of their
elite pitchers. He's been very, very good. He's made twenty
one starts. They feel comfortable with their depth, They could

(01:59:10):
that they can do it, and it is a lot
of it is stemmed from we're not going to resign him,
and we don't believe we're weakening this year's team, so
let's do it. They've spent too much money, by the way,
the last several years, they've pretty much gone way out
what seems like, way outside their means with some of
the other play I don't mind the contracts they'd give

(01:59:32):
into Tatis or what they're paying Manny Machado. I mean
some of the other deals they've made to bump their
payroll up into a territory I didn't believe they could support.

Speaker 4 (01:59:41):
Maybe they feel the same. Xander Bogarts, that's one of them.

Speaker 5 (01:59:46):
He's you know, I think Javi or Bias usually gets
the most heat for man What was Detroit thinking, Well,
now that Hovey Bias is a viable part of a
first place team and having a very good season, it
should probably fall much more on Xander Bogart's Boston First.
Much as we're like, this team has all the money
and they keep sending some of their best players elsewhere,
we're not gonna be the one who gets caught paying them.

(02:00:09):
Bogarts has been crazy underwhelming with the Padres and his
three seasons there for megabucks. They'd love to get out
from under that, but good luck. I'm fascinated to see
what actually ends up happening. If anything, they've got to
do something. Yeah, there's almost no way Jim Crane's team
would do nothing. He wants to keep the window open

(02:00:31):
in season. Each time he's had the opportunity to take
a good team and maybe give him the boost, or
a great team and maybe give him a boost. He
has and I don't see why this year, even though
it's pretty clear they're not the same team, and there's
a lot of reasons why. But we went into this
year with a different view of this Astros team, unlike
most of the years prior in this Golden era. But
Jimsey's results and results are first place, team wide, open

(02:00:55):
American League. Add this piece, add this piece, get three
healthy players back, go win it all.

Speaker 3 (02:01:01):
You know, what But okay, let's just say for the
sake of argument, they go get Dylan Ce's. It doesn't
cost them an arm and a leg, no pun intended.
So great, you've got you've got a nice top flight front,
you know, three three man rotation that's sexy going into
the postseason, which I think you would be able to
say that with them if Dylan cz is your number

(02:01:21):
three starter, even if you get some of these guys back.
And I know I'm looking at like Knights like last night,
where it's just like trying to just get any sort
of offense going. It's been more often than not, it's
just been.

Speaker 5 (02:01:38):
So Everything about last night's game, except for the offense,
was textbook Astros baseball. Yeah, Valdez dominant for six Your
seven eight to nine guys go in seven eight nine
fashion and you win the game. Frommer gave up one
and the bullpen gave up one. Otherwise, it seemed pretty
freaking dominant when you struck out nineteen battles.

Speaker 4 (02:01:59):
Yeah, but you have no offense.

Speaker 3 (02:02:00):
That's why I was just like, oh, like, I know
what's going on with the team. I know that it's
frustrating because of it's because strictly because of injuries for
the most part, although not always like you know, there's
there's still guys that get up to the plate like
the Altuves of the world, and it just you can't
muster more than that, and it's it sucks because of
the type of night you're pitching.

Speaker 5 (02:02:21):
Did have it's home run based. You're saying Altuve or
you could pick any of the names. If Altuve or
Diaz or Walker or Carotini homers, then they score who
went just left the last night that was very late
in the game, and it was hopeful it was our guy,
Jacob Melton.

Speaker 4 (02:02:38):
That's right. For some days I thought that was Treummeel.
I don't know why I thought it was him. It
was Melton.

Speaker 3 (02:02:43):
Yeah, that would have been awesome because wasn't a man
on base. Would have been a solo shot to tie it,
and then they would have gone to extras and then
they might have.

Speaker 5 (02:02:53):
Been able to get a runner who was already halfway
home home. What a stupid more than halfway. This is
what makes me so mad at the Abs.

Speaker 3 (02:03:01):
You can put that moron out there on second base
that has no business being there, but you can't get
it right.

Speaker 4 (02:03:05):
Calling balls and strikes. Stupid league.

Speaker 3 (02:03:08):
It's just so unnecessarily frustrating, kind of like the Astros
offense right now, but it's injuries based all right. Five
o'clock hours coming up next, It is going to begin
as usual unless Chandler Rome joins us with our Football
at five conversation, and it is going to be an
example of just how good potentially the Houston Texans can be,

(02:03:33):
because that's how I'm looking at this season, even with
all my offensive line concerns, and even with the looming
starter is Nick Chubb situation at running back potentially all
of that coming up next in the discussion here in
the five o'clock hour on a Tuesday edition of the show.

Speaker 1 (02:03:50):
The A Team on Sports Talk seven ninety, Adam Clinton
and Adam Weckfler area a.

Speaker 5 (02:04:07):
Couple of very specific things to get to here in
football at five final hour of the program, an hour
shy of delivering you to Astros Baseball with the Astros
on Deck show Astros and Nationals, Game six of the
seven game homestand Astros looking for win number one, an
opportunity to still win this series if they take tonight
and tomorrow's tilt. Jason Alexander Thros for the Astros. Friend

(02:04:29):
of the show, Jacob Melton back in center field and
batting fifth.

Speaker 4 (02:04:33):
He was on with us earlier.

Speaker 5 (02:04:34):
If you missed that, catch it via Sports Talk seven
ninety dot com or via the iHeartRadio app.

Speaker 4 (02:04:40):
Subscribe to our podcast there.

Speaker 5 (02:04:43):
The Texans held their sixth practice today, the second in
a row with pads on yesterday and today, So some.

Speaker 4 (02:04:50):
Observations from out there.

Speaker 5 (02:04:51):
I wanted to deliver to you this segment some of
the notebook that I have for you to empty, but
also wanted to remind you that no matter what is
on the field for the Texans in the future and
how this all goes around the NFL, this is widely
regarded as arguably the best group of young talents in

(02:05:12):
the entire league. It's a thirty two team league. And
we'll give you the obvious complaints and very well deserved
complaints about how this team has rostered their offensive line
and how how poorly a job they have done drafting
for their offensive line. Mentioned it just yesterday. I think
tay Erser, they took with a forty eighth pick this year,

(02:05:32):
will not only start at right tackle this year, but
when Cam Robinson is not re signed. He will start
at left tackle next year, and for I hope if
he's good the duration of his contract, however long that
might be. He'll have a four year deal, initially no
option year because he was a second round pick, but
obviously things can work out if he plays well. I'm
taking a pretty huge leap in that it's the fourth

(02:05:55):
consecutive year they've drafted a offensive lineman in the first
or second round, and each of the three before him
have been exceptionally underwhelming. A year ago it was Blake Fisher,
a year before that, it was the heavily overdrafted Juice Scruggs,
who's now running with the third team, and a year
before that it was Philadelphia Eagles reserve interior alignman Kenyon Green.

(02:06:17):
He's already been moved now. Granted for value, you got CJ.
Gardner Johnson for him, But obviously each of those three
players before Erstria were very underwhelming. Having said that, that's
eight or nine spots on your fifty three men roster.
The other forty four or forty five spots are incredible,
and it's being recognized league wide.

Speaker 3 (02:06:39):
Yeah, and look, we've been doing lists like this all
off season long, you know, mainly position groups and where
they're ranked, and too much to the chagrin of myself
when it came to the quarterback because as we all know,
Justin Herbert's just so much better than CJ.

Speaker 4 (02:06:54):
Stroud. Just ask anyone.

Speaker 3 (02:06:57):
But in this case, being the powers to be the
national media if you will, and in this case specifically
ESPN are in lockstep with what wex just said about
the young talent, because the Texans for the second consecutive
year have the number one ranked you know, top NFL

(02:07:19):
twenty five at young What is this?

Speaker 4 (02:07:21):
What's the NFL team talent under twenty five?

Speaker 3 (02:07:23):
That's what I'm trying to say. What he said right there,
age of twenty five. And they talk about the fact
that CJ. Stroud's birthday is October third, and happy birthday,
Will Anderson's September second. You should have added his first,
and both players are going to turn twenty four. He
comes first, and then what they did in their rookie
year and all that.

Speaker 4 (02:07:43):
But it is CJ.

Speaker 3 (02:07:46):
It's Will Anderson, it's Derek Stingley junior, it's Kamari Lassiter,
notable graduated players. I love that they graduated, they can
no longer be included Tank Dellen. They're too old, too old,
they're twenty six.

Speaker 5 (02:08:00):
Notable graduated players. I mean, come on, man, well it's
part of the gast year's list included them and they
were ranked number one, So now that they're graduated, we
should note this.

Speaker 4 (02:08:12):
It's Tank Dell and Jewe Scrugs.

Speaker 5 (02:08:15):
I mean, I was pretty non complimentary of Juice Scruggs
for like the fifth time today already just a moment ago. Again,
It's true he made their positive list last year, but
now that he's too old, he's notable that he's graduated.
This team is crazy good and crazy young. You draft
these players and they immediately are awesome. And I even
think Derek Singley Junior still fits that term, because I

(02:08:38):
don't think there's anything wrong with what he did as
a rookie, all things considered. He was only out there
for half the year. He played in a stupidly ill
conceived defense that asked him to not be good and
not utilize his assets, and the second that stopped when
Demiko arrived. Oh look, this guy's an elite corner, arguably
the best corner in football, certainly no worse than second,
and he fits that.

Speaker 4 (02:08:58):
Under twenty five.

Speaker 5 (02:08:59):
Will Anderson Junior is gonna be probably even better this
year than he was last year. And he was pretty
awesome last year, and that was coming off a Rookie
of the Year season. And we can go in detail
about CJ. Stroud, but we always do things like that,
and this is just again under twenty five talent. It's
not just those guys, but when you hit on those guys,

(02:09:21):
it's very astro's like these are top of the draft
players that are supposed to crush.

Speaker 4 (02:09:25):
And that's exactly what they're doing. Henry Toto is twenty four.

Speaker 5 (02:09:31):
And that's definitely one of those here's where you really
earned your money. Not a top pick, not a Day
one pick, not a Day two pick. He's a starter
and he earned it. He started last year out of need,
stayed the starter, and starts this year as the starter
because he earned it.

Speaker 3 (02:09:48):
Arianta Rasii they just picked. He's twenty three. It's the
offensive tackle. Obviously, twenty two year old receivers Jayden Higgins
and Jalen Nowell, those were obviously just taken as well.
And then of course they drafted twenty one year old
corner Jalen Smith. So that rounds out the under twenty

(02:10:09):
five list.

Speaker 5 (02:10:10):
And for all this stuff we keep saying about good
and bad of Nick, the top four picks from this
year's draft are all listed there.

Speaker 4 (02:10:19):
Obviously they're under twenty four.

Speaker 5 (02:10:21):
But Higgins Noel have immediately shown they're a part of
this offense. They're not just making the team. They're not
going to find their way onto the field here and there.
They're a part of this offense. And Noel might end
up being their return man.

Speaker 4 (02:10:34):
On top of it.

Speaker 5 (02:10:36):
Ersrie, I'm fairly certain it's going to play his way
into a starting role, and Jalen Smith, I'm shocked. And
I wonder if their local ESPN beat reporter djb Enemy
contributed to this to tell them what he's seen out
of practice, because obviously he's been out there every day.
Today was just another day six day of practice where
he stood out. He makes a ton of plays, a

(02:10:58):
lot of pass breakups. Really looks like he understands the
nature of how to play out on an island, so
to speak. Really nice break on the ball and probably
a player. Back in April at the draft, most people
said I don't know about taking him at ninety seven.
He probably would have been there at one twenty five
or one forty eight or one sixty even, And everything

(02:11:19):
that I've seen out there looks like, yeah, this might
be another player to add to the list. The two
guys they drafted last year, by the way, Kaitlyn Bullock
and Kamari Lasser.

Speaker 4 (02:11:26):
Again, not nobody they've draft.

Speaker 5 (02:11:28):
They haven't had a first round pick in either of
the last two drafts after they got rid of it
both times.

Speaker 3 (02:11:34):
Yea.

Speaker 5 (02:11:35):
And these players like Lasters not pretty good for a
first year guy, or maybe he'll be even better in
his second year, and Bullock the same thing. These are
difference making, franchise changing, elite defensive talents arriving, emerging, and
ascending at the exact same time as first and now

(02:11:55):
second year players. I wrote in our show tweet today
or in the Walking Out with Wex video, I can't
remember which kln Bullock I int.

Speaker 4 (02:12:04):
What's new? He does it every day if he doesn't
drop it.

Speaker 11 (02:12:08):
You know how you know you drafted really well when
the two players that we're talking about would be taken
in the first thirty two picks in a redraft. Yeah,
the redrafts fably a little early for some of those
redrafts on twenty four, certainly twenty five because no games
have been played. But Cole's absolutely right, and you'll see
it in a couple of years with each of the
recent drafts, and that's it just makes such a huge,

(02:12:29):
huge difference. We go on and on about the Chiefs
how they reshape their offensive line with a second round
pick and a sixth round pick. Well, the Texans used
a second round pick and a sixth round pick on
an offensive lineman. I believe it was two drafts after
the Chiefs did it. It was Jews Scruggs and Jared Patterson.
Very different when it's not Creed Humphrey and Tray Smith.

Speaker 4 (02:12:48):
But this is what frustrates me.

Speaker 3 (02:12:49):
He's so good, as I've said him a billion times
at drafting everywhere.

Speaker 5 (02:12:54):
Else, Like what actually happens to Superman when you bring
Kryptonite into the room starts to wilt. His strength is gone,
He barely can stand up. All his power, his literal
standing up strength is gone. In the new movie, he's
got some wicked vein situations. So what happens in the
new movie with technology? I was referring to Chris Reeve
back in the seventies.

Speaker 4 (02:13:14):
It's the same basic thing, the same press. He's in
a little glass box of misery. Drafting offensive lineman is
nick kryptonite.

Speaker 7 (02:13:22):
I know.

Speaker 4 (02:13:23):
So get somebody in there that does it. Well kill
this year maybe.

Speaker 5 (02:13:26):
And I've said it, I was way too promised, way
too hopeful in Blake Fisher last year. I mean, if
you guys don't remember, I'll just tell you, Well, if
Joe Alt hadn't gone to Notre Dame, or maybe he
had left a year earlier, if Blake Fisher had stayed
another year, well, he's the starting left tackle at Notre
Dame and he's probably gonna be one of the top
twenty five draft picks in the twenty twenty five draft.

(02:13:48):
But he felt so good about his possibilities of ending
up in a good situation. He left school early as
a right tackle and got to the NFL, and the
Texans said, he's on the board at fifty nine, he's ours,
and he's gonna start for this team very soon. He did,
but out of necessity an injury, and as we know now,
he's been replaced already by a player who's been a

(02:14:08):
Texan for April May June July four months.

Speaker 11 (02:14:12):
Yeah, but at the same time, even I'm gonna agree
with you, I feel really good about tay Her.

Speaker 5 (02:14:16):
Sorry, yeah, I mean it's not hyperbole. I don't think
I might actually get this one right. But I don't
really think anybody else sees something different. You're out there
every day with me. I mentioned DJ John, Alexander, Sam Warren,
all these guys that are covering the team every day,
we're all we talk amongst each other. In addition to
the articles we write, are the things we say on
the radio. We're all saying and seeing the same things.

(02:14:37):
And clearly the team is too, or else they wouldn't.
He's he's getting an incredible workload. He takes reps with
the first team in eleven on eleven, takes a break
for the five to eight plays the number two line gets,
comes back out there for the third offensive line group
when he's lined up at left tackle, and then immediately
after the third oer line group works well, there's no
fourth line. They go back to the one.

Speaker 4 (02:14:59):
CJ.

Speaker 5 (02:14:59):
Strouden, the number one offensive line goes back out there,
and Ursery stays out there and flips back over to
the right side. He's getting a tremendous amount of work,
and I don't see any reason why he would be
disappointing to Cole Popovich, Nick Kayley, or anybody else involved
in the offense, or else they would go a different route,
even six days in, and I expect that to continue.

(02:15:19):
He's gonna get tested by Will and Daniel, and I
do think it's worth noting. I think their two's Dylan
Horton and Darryl Taylor. I say Turner too often. Darryl Taylor.
I think Taylor is the least talked about strongest acquisition
made by the Texans this offseason.

Speaker 4 (02:15:38):
Another football at five.

Speaker 5 (02:15:39):
He'll get his just due, But the Texans enough respect
to be ranked number one on any list that we
totally agree with.

Speaker 4 (02:15:47):
Well that's something for Nick Casario.

Speaker 1 (02:15:50):
The Age on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 15 (02:16:00):
Hey, wex, Hey, what you remember before the show when
you just like casually dropped it on me that you
watched part two of the New Billy Joel documentary.

Speaker 4 (02:16:11):
This is long, but yeah, I remember. How would you
know you started with part two?

Speaker 5 (02:16:17):
Well, when you flip through the channels and it's on
and it says part two and you're interested, you watch it.

Speaker 4 (02:16:23):
You start out and say, WHOA, I can't watch that.
I better watch part one first.

Speaker 3 (02:16:26):
So back in the day, you were like, oh, Jaws two,
I'll start there if it was on, I'd already seen
Jaws one. Though, No, you hadn't, ye, not in this scenario.

Speaker 4 (02:16:37):
Well it's a different scenario. You picked a hypothetical. No.
All I said was why did you start with part two?

Speaker 5 (02:16:42):
I had to teach and guide my daughter through Jaws
two the other day was on and we were watching it.
She has not seen Jaws one, so I was telling
her about the story. It's on, man, it's okay to
watch it. It's just a shark movie. Why has your

(02:17:03):
daughter not seen Jaws one? Because she's no longer a
teenager close to a teenager. But you don't understand this
is a movie from the seventies. It's okay, exactly.

Speaker 3 (02:17:12):
So that's why this is even more offensive because you
watched Jaws two it was on, but you don't shot
after the kids, the poor Brodie's kids.

Speaker 4 (02:17:21):
Could you imaginelarious? Could you imagine if you just watched.

Speaker 3 (02:17:24):
Stay on the Boat? Oh my gosh, I just Stay
on Land. I like when the one chick gets eaten.
But you don't see if you hear it. I like
when the one actress just losing car chick.

Speaker 4 (02:17:35):
It's okay, it was funny.

Speaker 3 (02:17:36):
It's twenty twenty five. No one can be offended now
when the movie was made. We won't cancel you for
calling your chick, just like you know, call me a dude.

Speaker 4 (02:17:44):
I won't be offended. It's fine. Seems very different. Same thing,
doesn't say the same thing. So you watched part two,
which is long.

Speaker 3 (02:17:51):
Yeah, there's no way you're gonna watch part one now
knowing how long it is.

Speaker 5 (02:17:56):
You know what to a guarantee, I'll watch it if
it's two fifteen the morning and it's on no problem.

Speaker 3 (02:18:02):
Okay, stop because this is one of those it's not scheduled.

Speaker 4 (02:18:06):
It's on an app. I mean I on HBO.

Speaker 5 (02:18:10):
Yeah, and they show it on their multiple movie channels
that which I get, and there it is, so because
it was scheduled. Because if I don't want to watch
what's John Oliver's show last night again last night tonight,
I don't watch Late night last night this night because
there you go, that's on a bunch. And then if

(02:18:32):
it's on I'll go to the next HBO and see
what's there, and it will be like Fantastic Beasts or
something stupid, and then I'll go to the next.

Speaker 4 (02:18:39):
One, Animals Attack.

Speaker 5 (02:18:41):
Look, well, that's more of a Discovery Channel show. And
then Billy Joel's documentary Part two discovered.

Speaker 4 (02:18:47):
Because it might not.

Speaker 5 (02:18:48):
Be it could be anyone. It could be National Geographic
for all I know.

Speaker 4 (02:18:53):
I don't know. I don't know. It's not HBO.

Speaker 3 (02:18:57):
Listen to you generalizing and stereotyping. It's one of those channels,
one of the ones. I don't watch those channels.

Speaker 5 (02:19:03):
Yeah, So if it's that's how I watch television, I
watch it because it's on. You watch it like an
old man? Yes, do you sit down and watch the
news still?

Speaker 3 (02:19:12):
Oh well, I've got to watch my Do you watch
your programs like Matt Thomas?

Speaker 4 (02:19:16):
Do you watch your soap operas? Your programs?

Speaker 5 (02:19:17):
Soap opera viewing and game show viewing is very singled
out for just one of these six daily six A
to six p hosts.

Speaker 4 (02:19:27):
It's all Matt, all the time, nobody else.

Speaker 3 (02:19:29):
Like that meme that dropped recently where it's the Young
and the Restless theme song, and it said, if you
recognize this, then you had a great childhood staying home,
sick at Grandma's house or something like that, and it's
the Young and the rest I'm butchering the meme for sure,
but it's the Young and the Restless theme song. Or
the addendum to this is or you hung out with

(02:19:49):
Matt Thomas yesterday?

Speaker 4 (02:19:50):
Bingo? Just yes? So how could you? So it's scheduled.

Speaker 3 (02:19:55):
You know that you can just go into your little
cable system and say, well, I would like to see
part one first, because that's the order.

Speaker 4 (02:20:03):
No, you started with Christy Brinkley, So here's what you
want me to do.

Speaker 5 (02:20:06):
It's late at night, probably should be asleep, flipping channels,
and I see the documentary is on.

Speaker 4 (02:20:13):
You see the part two?

Speaker 5 (02:20:15):
No, I don't know what it is like literally it
says part two on it. If I'm reading that rather
than I'm just seeing it, Okay, it's part two.

Speaker 4 (02:20:23):
Whoa stop.

Speaker 5 (02:20:25):
Go to the guide, go to the search, go to
the menu. Know that there's a part one. Click on that.
Get it started from the beginning. Boom, that's what you're
telling me to do, everest, I'm doing it hitting a
couple of buttons. Are you that lazy? I'm not sitting
down for part two. Even why would I go out
of my way.

Speaker 4 (02:20:43):
To see you?

Speaker 3 (02:20:44):
Just said you you dedicated three hours of life to
watch more two anything?

Speaker 4 (02:20:48):
It was on and there I was, so you're frazy different,
You're doing the same thing. Did you finish it?

Speaker 5 (02:20:56):
He was, he wasn't going to do any more shows,
and then he decided MSG and the bun.

Speaker 4 (02:21:03):
It's already happened, man, people.

Speaker 3 (02:21:05):
Haven't finished it. Like my wife who has forty three
his newest wife, current wife, she's the fourth one.

Speaker 5 (02:21:12):
Yeah, he probably doesn't need to do my current wife
trend because it would be confusing with so many.

Speaker 3 (02:21:16):
People make fun of Ross for getting married and divorced
three times on friends. Billy Joel laughs at that. How
long a span was it for Billy his marriages?

Speaker 5 (02:21:25):
Like thirty years between the first one and the most
recent one. More, what would you say, more or less
than Ross? More by a lot, more by a country mile?

Speaker 4 (02:21:35):
Well in one of his marriages was like in Vegas.

Speaker 5 (02:21:37):
And which of Billy Joel's former wives was so turned
off by Billy she now preferred the same sex like
Ross's wife?

Speaker 4 (02:21:46):
None of them?

Speaker 5 (02:21:47):
There you go, I didn't think so so not? I
mean not in my opinion, not a great compare.

Speaker 3 (02:21:51):
But my favorite part of part two as far as
the wives go, was number three. She's the one that
was like on the cooking channel or what she was
the one asking Jewel, yeah her whatever, she's not Joel
now that was her name then the artist formally known she.

Speaker 4 (02:22:03):
I'm a fan. She does a nice job. Oh does
she do a nice job. She turned in a nice
little cooking show.

Speaker 2 (02:22:10):
She's hot.

Speaker 11 (02:22:11):
Please tell me, tell me what's your favorite? Clearly not
the hottest, what's yeah? Exactly like Cole said, what's her
favorite recipe that you like? Because she's done so well well, she's.

Speaker 5 (02:22:20):
More on the hosting side now as opposed to sitting
in her kitchen making dishes.

Speaker 4 (02:22:24):
Nobody wants your favors of hers. She's on the kitchen.
I don't have a favorite episode. There's five of them
out there. Her and the Sandwich King of Chicago.

Speaker 3 (02:22:33):
They're on this private jet and she's like, I don't know,
sixty years younger than him, and the narration is her
voice saying we just knew it wasn't gonna work.

Speaker 5 (02:22:44):
Yeah, at the wedding, before the wedding, so what's so great?
Why did you bring this up just out of curiosity.

Speaker 3 (02:22:50):
There's something because I thought of the fact just now
to ask you, really you started with Part two.

Speaker 4 (02:22:56):
It's just the weirdest thing ever. It's the most wet
thing ever.

Speaker 5 (02:22:59):
Part two documentary about a seventy five.

Speaker 4 (02:23:03):
Year old artist. He's in his seventies.

Speaker 5 (02:23:05):
I probably know enough that it doesn't matter at all.
This isn't groundbreaking information about some reclusive public figures that
all this brand new information is gonna come out.

Speaker 4 (02:23:16):
I found I didn't. I know everything about him.

Speaker 5 (02:23:19):
He has problems, he had rehab problems, he has all
sorts of musical problems, and here you go in six
hours of his life.

Speaker 4 (02:23:25):
He's kind of a jerk if you were in his
band ever.

Speaker 5 (02:23:28):
But you wouldn't know that if you watched part two first.
Is what you're trying to say, that's actually true?

Speaker 3 (02:23:34):
Okay, because at the end of part one is when
he like fires half the band.

Speaker 4 (02:23:38):
Oh Billy, even the longest time crew. I think actually
they were on for that. I take that back.

Speaker 3 (02:23:44):
I think he fires most of them after the bridge,
well only the.

Speaker 4 (02:23:48):
Good die young. Anyways, I didn't kill him, he just
fired him. Yeah, one of them is dead. Well, he
didn't do it. No, but the guy did.

Speaker 3 (02:23:57):
I understand, He dug stack Meyer, you didn't have to
do that just because Billy fired you. Liberty didn't do that.
After he got fired, he just sued him. Who's Liberty
this drummer? His original drummer is a one namer Liberty
de vito.

Speaker 4 (02:24:11):
Liberty dvito. Now, if that's not a long island name,
I don't know what is.

Speaker 5 (02:24:15):
Yeah, And from part two I was able to glean
that Billy has New York roots?

Speaker 3 (02:24:20):
Did you like when Liberty said that? Billy asked him, hey,
do you think I should get married? And he goes, yeah,
I do you know what he wanted to say? It's
Christy Brinkley, you moron. Of course you should. And by
the way, a couple things about her. She's seventy one
and still a smoke show, and she's still clearly in
love with him.

Speaker 4 (02:24:40):
It's insane.

Speaker 3 (02:24:41):
She's like weeping during the documentary and he's over here
with wife number four.

Speaker 4 (02:24:46):
Now I thought it was three.

Speaker 3 (02:24:48):
No, I guess I gotta go see part one, second
and third child fantastic stuff.

Speaker 4 (02:24:53):
Man can't wait to see.

Speaker 5 (02:24:55):
Part one If you're never gonna watch it, it's probably
gonna be on I'll see it.

Speaker 3 (02:25:00):
It's just sometimes I just wonder about you.

Speaker 5 (02:25:03):
You wonder if I ask the other people in my house,
why don't you ever watch television? Because you're you're watching
something constantly only on streaming services.

Speaker 3 (02:25:13):
They probably think more like, I don't want to watch
television with you.

Speaker 4 (02:25:17):
How long have you wondered about him?

Speaker 5 (02:25:18):
Acing they want the longest time. They're all all the
streaming programs. They're binging or not.

Speaker 4 (02:25:26):
Tender moment alone here, Okay, right there.

Speaker 5 (02:25:28):
See that's you're doing. You're playing my game being a
dad joke guy. I mean, you guys can have it
with Bill. I don't need to add to it. By
the way, his first wife kept calling him that Bill.
His name's Billy. As a performer, you call.

Speaker 4 (02:25:43):
Him William every time you refer to him. He's in
the most underrated Disney movie of all time, the One
with the Dogs Oliver and Company.

Speaker 11 (02:25:53):
Okay, what's actually top five? Because Treasure Playing it's the
most underrated movie of all time?

Speaker 4 (02:25:56):
Well, he did, Billy, Joel did write a pretty catchy
for that.

Speaker 6 (02:26:00):
An.

Speaker 4 (02:26:00):
I should not worry.

Speaker 11 (02:26:01):
It's still on my playlist all the time. I love
that one song that's interesting El eat stuff.

Speaker 5 (02:26:06):
You only get that here on the eighteen segment fourteen Tuesday,
July twenty ninth, twenty twenty nine, Be Laconic, All Billy Joel,
all the time.

Speaker 3 (02:26:16):
One segment on Billy Joel. This guy's about to drive
into a tree like Billy.

Speaker 5 (02:26:20):
If you don't subscribe to the eighteen podcast, you know
why you should.

Speaker 4 (02:26:24):
Now don't drink any furniture pologies. Uring the break.

Speaker 1 (02:26:29):
The eighteen on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 4 (02:26:36):
Do you know what that music means?

Speaker 3 (02:26:37):
Here?

Speaker 5 (02:26:37):
Halfway Home in the final hour of the show, following
the greatest segment in the history of the A Team
this week between five and five thirty on a Tuesday,
July twenty ninth only, So it just leaves two. I
want to mention we will have tickets to give away
in the final segment of the show, So listen up closely.
You will hear something, if not this segment either the
previous two segments, So it could be a Billy Joel question.

Speaker 4 (02:26:58):
We'll ask you about it next segment. You could win
a pair of.

Speaker 3 (02:27:01):
Tickets to go see the Big Three this Saturday at
Toyota Center.

Speaker 4 (02:27:04):
That is August second, all.

Speaker 5 (02:27:05):
Four of those games, including the rig Hans Houston's rig
hands the squad coach by the Great Calvin Murphy. So
we'll have tickets to give away to that when we
come back for our final segment.

Speaker 4 (02:27:16):
Here's where we hit you with in case you missed it.

Speaker 5 (02:27:19):
In case you missed it, sugar Land Space Cowboys will
be employing shortstop Jeremy Payana tonight, though tonight he'll be
designated hitter Jeremy Payana this evening. Christian Xavier continuing his
rehab work, and the friendly people over at the Sugarland
Space Cowboys making note of that just a little while ago,

(02:27:39):
as they posted the Christian Xavier is getting set to
start for the Space Cowboys tomorrow, probably have another rehab
start after that, and that could signal the end of
his rehab work and potential return to the Astros. This week,
Spencer Arraghetti should make his final rehab start, and then
in the next seven to ten days maybe all three
of those players are suiting up for the Houston Astros.

(02:28:02):
But too, Cole, what do we have in case you
missed it?

Speaker 11 (02:28:05):
Yeah, you guys probably prefaced this a little bit a
while ago, and you never really got to it, which
is why, in case you missed, it exists.

Speaker 4 (02:28:10):
But much like you.

Speaker 11 (02:28:11):
Started part two of the Billy Joel documentary, teams are
looking to start these second.

Speaker 5 (02:28:15):
Not even at the beginning of part two. By the way,
I didn't make that clear last.

Speaker 4 (02:28:18):
Ext Okay, see that's what. Are you a serial killer?
What's the matter with you? You really are?

Speaker 5 (02:28:24):
You're going to make another Mark David Chapman reference here
twice in one day.

Speaker 4 (02:28:28):
Anyways, that was different. God, wow, we got dark.

Speaker 2 (02:28:32):
But you know what else is really dark?

Speaker 11 (02:28:33):
The future of the Cleveland Guardians because of Hey, they
were thinking about making some trades. Well, Mayo Classe is
not gonna be one of them, because we'll know what
we're gonna see him again. He was placed on the
non disclinary played leave list through August thirty first, as
part of Major League Baseball investigation into the same thing
that they were investigating with Luis Ortiz. Luis Ortiz, who

(02:28:54):
was caught back on July third with some unusually gambling
activity after two pitches that were thrown for balls. Now
the same thing is going on with the Miniual Class A.
The twenty seven year old two time winner of the
Mariano Rivera Award and the three time All Start was.

Speaker 4 (02:29:09):
Regarded as the best relief pitcher.

Speaker 11 (02:29:10):
In the American League the last two seasons, especially last
year when he posted a point six point one er. Well,
he was a name that many people thought if the
right price was there, was going to be moved. Yeah,
you can kind of take him off. Jahngo Suarez leaves
last night's game with a hand injury. The x rays
are negative. He's not expected to play today. But the
bigger name that people were focusing.

Speaker 4 (02:29:31):
On was a manual class A.

Speaker 11 (02:29:33):
Because of Cleveland, who likes to move players before they
have to pay them, they're gonna be on the books
for at least another season.

Speaker 5 (02:29:40):
The only thing that I get any kind of oh,
this is kind of cool out of all these gambling
allegations we've seen now with professional athletes at the highest
level and investigated for potentially not performing to their capabilities
specifically for a gambling play, is.

Speaker 4 (02:29:59):
The internet sleuths a.

Speaker 5 (02:30:01):
Barrage of look at these pitches from Emmanuel class A,
and the thought is you're able to get so super
specific with your individual wagers. You're betting on literal individual acts.
The first pitch will be a and in this case, well,
let's go ahead and say the first pitch is going
to be a ball. The strike zone is a very

(02:30:23):
finite area. The ball zone is almost immeasurable. You could
throw the ball pretty much anywhere you can get the mascot.
You can throw it at the hitter, you throw it
into the.

Speaker 4 (02:30:32):
Grass, sparksdale, behind the plate, it will be a ball.

Speaker 5 (02:30:35):
And the amount of sleuthing, the amount of video I've seen,
look at this first pitch after he came into the game,
no matter the score, no matter the situation, foolish baseball,
give them the props here shot stop pitching, nindrip No,
I mean, I'm sure they had it too. Class has
come into the game at the beginning of the nine
that and forty times this season. Here's his stat cast

(02:30:56):
waste percentage. Waste percentages pitches that aren't close to the zone.
Every other pitch he threw, five point two percent would
be considered waste. Pitches not close to the zone the
first pitch of the ninth inning.

Speaker 4 (02:31:09):
In those forty.

Speaker 5 (02:31:09):
Instances, seventeen and a half percent were considered waste pitches
or obvious impossible for even the worst umpire in baseball
to call this bounce ball that bounced ten feet in
front of the plate a ball a strike three times
as likely. Nearly twenty percent of his first pitches in

(02:31:30):
those ninth innings were balls.

Speaker 4 (02:31:33):
If you wager that his first pitch.

Speaker 5 (02:31:34):
Is going to over a ball, and he was that accommodating,
he gets investigated.

Speaker 3 (02:31:38):
Now all of this is amusing to me because this
guy could have been potentially and literally throwing the game
and there will be.

Speaker 14 (02:31:50):
A fraction of the outcry well as she was throwing
in certain basketball, when you impact the line without throwing
the game.

Speaker 4 (02:32:02):
It's I think it's viewed very similar to that.

Speaker 5 (02:32:04):
I got five pitches, six pitches to get this guy out.
Bounce the first one, and then I'll get after it.

Speaker 4 (02:32:09):
Nobody's gonna notice.

Speaker 3 (02:32:11):
Nobody did until he got investigated, but he is, but
he is now, and it's it is absolutely an integrity
of the game thing.

Speaker 5 (02:32:18):
And I do think in his case, and Cole kind
of gave you some of the Oh by the way,
he was the best reliever in baseball, and we talked
about him last year when he was essentially untouchable, like
arguably one of the best seasons from a closer in
the history of the game. And now he's throwing pitches
first pitches of his entrance into the game in the

(02:32:38):
ninth inning that are going fifty two feet regularly.

Speaker 4 (02:32:42):
And he thought nobody would notice things.

Speaker 3 (02:32:44):
Like this, things like Tim donaghy and there's a fraction
of the outcry. But anytime the Astros come to town,
they vehemently boo the one guy who didn't.

Speaker 4 (02:32:53):
Use the thing. Wait till class hit visiting first fans.

Speaker 3 (02:32:57):
They're stupid, by and large, just dumb, dumb, not arguing what.

Speaker 4 (02:33:03):
Else do we have?

Speaker 11 (02:33:04):
So you know, the Baltimore Ravens have a couple of
players that are gonna be up for a new contract,
and one of them was Isaiah Likely and it's likely
that if he misses time, it's gonna hurt this mega
extension that they were working out because of Apparently, according
to reports today, he was carried off the field after
he limped the locker room during one on one drills
in practice. According to head coach Sean Harbaugh, he's expected to.

Speaker 4 (02:33:27):
Miss a few weeks.

Speaker 11 (02:33:28):
He was expected to sign a major contract at some
point this week because he's during the final year of
his three point four million dollar contract this season. Last
year really took on over with career highs and forty
two catches, six touchdowns and four hundred and seventy seven
receiving yards, had proven that he had really become the
focal point of the offensive place of Mark Andrews. Well,

(02:33:49):
now he is going to miss at least the beginning
of training camp and it could enter the success the
Baltimore Ravens passing attack for Lamar Jackson.

Speaker 4 (02:33:56):
Yeah, it's very I think.

Speaker 5 (02:33:58):
More I think about this or in the need to
make away, this is impactful for the individual for all
the contractual reasons that Cole pointed out. Yeah, will impact
their team and impact their football and their success potentially
more so that this is a if it's as significant
as some unbelieve it could be, it's rather unfortunate in football.

(02:34:18):
I do think I do understand a sum of the point.
It's it's not like the guaranteed money and the obvious
nature of you're just.

Speaker 4 (02:34:25):
Gonna play another year.

Speaker 5 (02:34:26):
You're playing another year in the other sports, It's not
like that in football. I don't know if he's ever
gonna be or was ever going to be the top
group of tight ends, but he certainly can take over
for Mark Andrews. And I hate to do that to
Mark Andrews immediately after his last me all last year
with my fantasy team. So you go right ahead, but
you're also you're playing for a team fantasy football wise.

(02:34:49):
I mean, I'm not looking. I haven't looked at any
of their receivers on a regular basis. A week here,
a week there, got to pick somebody up. Nobody for
them from a receiving standpoint, is blowing things up. Mark
Andrews is the only player that was of value in
the passing game for years.

Speaker 4 (02:35:02):
He was in value in the dropping game at the
end of the year. He did that from time to
time as well as mentioned.

Speaker 5 (02:35:08):
Tickets to the Big Three come on the other side
of this final break of the show. After the final
break of the total show, in fifteen minutes, we're ready
for Astros and Nationals on deck coverage here on Sports
Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 1 (02:35:21):
The eighteen on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 5 (02:35:28):
All right, for two of the people on this show,
this is for you as we give away tickets to
go see the Big Three again, that Big Three event,
and it is just an event in and of itself,
musical acts to perform at halftime. There are four games
fifty minutes each. One of those four games features your team,
the Houston Righans, coach by Rocket, great Hall of Famer

(02:35:50):
Calvin Murphy. Should be a whole lot of fun over
Toyota Center. And it's all this Saturday, Saturday, August second.
So we got a pair of tickets to go see
the Big Three. You don't win tickets here. You can't
get tickets via Toyitter Center dot com. They are on
sale now. I said, two of the three people will
enjoy this question. I'm sure they know the answers, just
like many of you out there. If you were listening,
you will know the answer and you can win these tickets.

(02:36:11):
Seven to one three two one two five seven ninety
seven to one three two one two five seven ninety
In the extremely successful, highly rated, likely award winning second
segment of this hour, so after football at five and
before in case you missed it, we were sports intensive
talking about the documentary being aired on one of the

(02:36:32):
premium cable channels and via stream, about Billy Joel, and
we went on and on and on and on and
on about nonsense about watching things out of order, but
very specific to Billy and his personal life. We mentioned
by name two of his four wives, never mentioned the
name of his current wife, never mentioned the name of

(02:36:55):
his first wife. Obviously, we mentioned the name of uptown girl,
that's Christy Brinkley.

Speaker 4 (02:37:02):
We want to know the name.

Speaker 5 (02:37:03):
Of his third wife, the other wife of Billy Joel,
whose name we gave you during our extremely interesting and
sports intensive discussion during the second segment of this five o'clock.

Speaker 4 (02:37:15):
Hours A woman.

Speaker 5 (02:37:16):
To me, she's and to everybody else, because that's what
she is. She's got away, she does, she's a television
star on food channels, travel.

Speaker 4 (02:37:25):
Channels, and give less.

Speaker 5 (02:37:27):
Hence she's his apparently third wife. What's her name? Seven
one three two one two five seven ninety. So thank
you for listening to Sports Talk seven nineties the A team,
so we can win tickets to go see basketball Big
three Basketball at Toyota Center. Because you have knowledge about
Billy Joel's third wife, which you learned here on the eighteen.

Speaker 4 (02:37:50):
Well you know you're welcome.

Speaker 3 (02:37:53):
There are different little idiosyncrasies about me that people that
listen every day to the show know, and not all
of them have to do with sports.

Speaker 5 (02:38:02):
I know they know things about you. The only things
they know about me is that I do it wrong.
I'm a stupid idiot. What was the first name that
he called me? Built different? I'm built different.

Speaker 4 (02:38:13):
I also called you a serial killer.

Speaker 3 (02:38:14):
A serial killer. That's the I mean, I give some bit.
I daily call you a cyborg. And your nickname officially
on the show is wet Blanket. That's how could you
miss the show?

Speaker 6 (02:38:25):
More?

Speaker 4 (02:38:25):
Do you want to know? I mean you're totally on
the inside.

Speaker 3 (02:38:27):
Now, I mean, I all tell us, I absolutely sell
just the whole concept of this show.

Speaker 5 (02:38:32):
Every day one actual NFL item with the trend being
set by Terry McLaurin and basically by Michah Parsons. Now
Trey Hendrickson is doing the same in Cincinnati. Trey Henderson,
Michah Parsons Terry McLaurin are three of the best players
at their respective positions. All have played themselves into believing

(02:38:52):
they have earned an additional amount of years in money
and would prefer to not play into the final year
of their respective contract, and in doing so, two of
them truly did miss practice and held out Hendrickson and McLaurin,
But earlier this week McLaurin returned to the facility. Michael
Parsons has been with the Cowboys throughout their training camp,
and now Trey Hendrickson, per Adam Schefter and others, has

(02:39:16):
ended his holdout and is planning to be at Bengals
camp on Wednesday, even though like the other two, a
deal does not appear to be imminent, but this does
seem to be the way that NFL players and agents
have decided is still the best way to go about
trying to get a new contract while doing as many

(02:39:39):
of the right things as they can in hopes that
ultimately they get a deal before the game start, because
I don't know that these three players will all feel
the same way. The week prior to the Commanders, Cowboys,
and Bengals opening game of the season all a month away,
are over a month away.

Speaker 4 (02:39:56):
In each case. Micah Parson's not going to get a
deal done before.

Speaker 5 (02:40:01):
Especially if as was indicated earlier today, they're not currently.

Speaker 4 (02:40:05):
It's not even and it's personal. Don't forget that part, yea.

Speaker 5 (02:40:09):
Jerry's said things on both sides, you know, when he
talked the other day about well, you never know what
you're gonna get. I mean he missed six games last year,
which was wrong miss Forrest Gump. And but then earlier
he said he's in one of a kind player and
he's you know, the kind of players. He said good
and bad things publicly where it's just so much easier
to say that and do the right things with the
player with the agent internally in negotiations. Saying the right

(02:40:32):
thing publicly is also easy to do, and he never
seems to get there. Texans have been in similar situations
with a lot of other players on their roster concerning extensions,
but specific to Parsons, they have only really this group
hasn't faced it at all. They really only could have

(02:40:53):
faced it once with Stingley and they just didn't ever
even let it get close to that, and they made
him what Parson wants to be. It makes me one
honest paid player at his position is what Derek Stingley
Junior became and by a pretty good chunk of change,
which of course beating it.

Speaker 3 (02:41:08):
Yeah, you know, it makes me think that both CJ
and Will Anderson's deals get done in the middle of
this year.

Speaker 5 (02:41:15):
You've said that before, and I don't think your point
is wrong. You think they're smart enough to get it
done quote unquote early.

Speaker 4 (02:41:22):
It's also cheaper earlier you get it done.

Speaker 5 (02:41:25):
It's it's not gonna happen during the year. Why, because
it's crazy early. Getting it done in the off season
after your third season is early.

Speaker 3 (02:41:35):
Yeah, that's well for a quarterback, especially a guy who
had a sophomore slump.

Speaker 4 (02:41:39):
But I get that.

Speaker 5 (02:41:40):
And it's not because they're concerned or they want to wait.
It's just it's not time. If they do it during
the year, say let's call it week eight before halftime,
that's would you imagine that's half of their contract all
still remains. They won't even have played half of their
presumed five year deal locked up. I mean, technically it's
a four year deal until they pick up the options

(02:42:01):
security for both sides. It's not even halfway there yet.

Speaker 3 (02:42:04):
No I know, but I think if you really love
a guy in this case too, you don't need They.

Speaker 4 (02:42:09):
Don't need to do it during the year.

Speaker 3 (02:42:10):
They don't even need to do it this offseason for
to say that they do it all seriously, they definitely
love him.

Speaker 4 (02:42:15):
They're no debate.

Speaker 3 (02:42:16):
If they locked both of these guys up, they will
be steals by the time their contemporary signed their next deals.

Speaker 5 (02:42:24):
If they do what they what the Chiefs did with
Pat Mahomes, and I think there's a chance the Texans will.
He will get one of the biggest uh uh. The
amount he's going to sign for, if he earns it
all will be among the biggest ever. But his average
annual value and the length of the deal, which I

(02:42:44):
believe is going to be eight to ten years, is
going to pull him down to mahomes territory. Mahomes is
nowhere near the paid quarterback's league on average annual value.

Speaker 4 (02:42:55):
They will do that.

Speaker 3 (02:42:57):
They have to because they drafted Will Anderson with an
two top three picks.

Speaker 5 (02:43:02):
It's interesting because none of the other quarterbacks are doing that.
Josh Allen is signed, Joe Burrow is signed, and all
the other riff raft quarterbacks like John Allen.

Speaker 3 (02:43:10):
The offseason ben pretty good hood How much money does
he make? A three hundred and thirty was the total value?

Speaker 4 (02:43:17):
And he married Hailey Seinfeld. That's the more important part. Okay,
that's good.

Speaker 5 (02:43:20):
That's a good twenty twenty five of the season for
the first time ever with an MVP trophy and a wife.
Same results on the field though for the Bills, though
every year of their existence.

Speaker 4 (02:43:31):
You'll get nothing unlike it out of the AFC.

Speaker 5 (02:43:33):
The Astros on Deck shows next Astros and Nationals two
times tonight and tomorrow afternoon before we talk to you again.
But Astros tenth inning show duties are ours tomorrow afternoon.

Speaker 4 (02:43:44):
We'll talk to you then

Speaker 2 (02:43:47):
The A on Sports Talk seven ninety