October 13, 2025 • 17 mins
Just four teams remain with the championship series underway in Major League Baseball.
White Sox Director of Player Personnel Gene Watson joins the show to analyze last round's results and look ahead to a pair of exciting series starting this week.
Hear Gene's predictions and keys to both Mariners-Blue Jays and Brewers-Dodgers!
White Sox Director of Player Personnel Gene Watson joins the show to analyze last round's results and look ahead to a pair of exciting series starting this week.
Hear Gene's predictions and keys to both Mariners-Blue Jays and Brewers-Dodgers!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Time game. It's the big dumper when the Maritals Newton most.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
You welcome you back to our program here on thirteen
hundred the Zone. As we continue here on this h
I say long Worts money is and we'll hear more
from long Ort's head coach Steve Sarcasian coming up. But
I mentioned we're going to talk to Baseball. We haven't
had a chance to visit with Gene Watson since prior
to the start of the Wildcard series, so that is
(00:44):
coming gone, and the Division Series is coming gone. And
now we're up to the ALCS and the NLCS and
one game in the books in the American League Championship
Series and Game one of the NLCS coming up tonight.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
So Gene Watson joins us.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Not now you're out in Arizona with the developmental stuff
going on with the White Sox organization, Is that the deal?
Speaker 4 (01:05):
Yeah, We've got uh, We've got some stuff going on
in our complex with our performance camps, and then uh,
the Arizona Fall League is going on. We had a
Mexican League tournament, the Fiesta Mexicana, which is always a
great event, and also Major League Baseball has their Young
Executive Pipe plaining event going on, which I'm gonna speak
at in about forty five minutes, So it's.
Speaker 5 (01:26):
A lot happening. Uh it's a great time of year.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Yeah, it is.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
I mean I think about all the traditions and stuff
in Texas, so you obviously we just come off that
being a tradition, and there's other football traditions, but for you,
one of your traditions is being in Arizona every autumn,
isn't it?
Speaker 5 (01:44):
It really is. It's a it's a great time.
Speaker 4 (01:46):
We've had a lot of flooding here the last four
days and more expected to come later tonight, so we
haven't been on the field in about four days for games.
But uh no, it's a wonderful time of year. You
just hit the reset button. You begin your off season planning.
I literally reached out to all twenty nine other clubs
today to talk about where they were moving into the
(02:07):
off season. So you start gathering that information and some
clubs are ahead of others with you know what their
plans are. But you begin to have the conversations of
what you want to accomplish this winner, and how you
match up with other teams and trades, and certainly how
you match up with free agents.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Before we get to talking about the two series that
are going on this week, the ALCS and the NLCS.
I'm always interested in getting your thoughts on the constant
moving and shaking that goes on major League Baseball, with
the front offices and with the field manager positions as well.
Today we hear Mike shild Is retiring as the manager
(02:47):
of the San Diego Padres. He had two years left
on his deal, but he said, and here was the quote,
the grind of the baseball season has taken a severe
toll on me mentally, physically, and emotionally. He's fifty seven
years of age, and on Saturday he was when he
apparently he informed the team of his his impending retirement.
(03:08):
And I know this goes beyond Mike Schult deciding that
he had and he's an outstanding manager, deciding that he
was going to retire.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
I mean, this.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Game, even if you're a lifer, it can it can
take a toll long you can it, Craig.
Speaker 5 (03:24):
There's no question. I mean, I'm fifty seven.
Speaker 4 (03:26):
Years old as well, and you begin to start to
think about, Okay, you know the trip that used to
be nothing to you four or five six years ago
becomes a lot to you when you start to measure
it versus you know, seenior grandkids play baseball, or being
with your family at a certain event, and you know,
this is twenty four seven, three sixty five. Your time
(03:48):
is not of your own. Even when you're say at
a Longhorn game or a Notre Dame game, you know,
you're you're on the phone with agents, You're on the
phone with players trying to recruit him to your organization.
Speaker 5 (03:59):
It it never ever ends.
Speaker 4 (04:01):
And you know, my wife could write a book on
the stories of things that I've had to do, you know,
while we're on family trips. And so for some it
just becomes a real reflective time in their life where
they feel like, you know what, I've had enough, and
they move forward with their lives and there's keep going.
But it is a taxing it's it's it's literally the
(04:23):
conversation I'm about to have with these young executives about
getting in the game for the right reasons and understanding
the toll it takes on you mentally and physically, more importantly,
what it does to your families.
Speaker 5 (04:35):
And it is a lot every.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Day talking baseball with team Watson from the Chicago White
Sox front office here on thirteen hundreds. All right, let's
shift our attention to the playoff series. Let's start in
the American League. One game is already in the books.
I remember asking you several weeks ago about the Seattle Mariners,
and you said, they're coming, They're coming, They're coming, They're coming.
Speaker 5 (04:53):
On.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
You weren't surprised when they won the American League West,
and has anything necessarily just about the Mariners. But is
anything in the al right now in the American League
playoffs surprised you to this point to where we see
right now, Seattle in Toronto in the ALCS.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
I don't.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
I don't think so, because I mean, Seattle's been my
pick since really, you know, late July, early August. I
think the one thing that you could kind of see
is the momentum of the Toronto Blue Jays coming, losing, losing, Moba.
Speaker 5 (05:28):
Shit, it's just just it's just enormous for them.
Speaker 4 (05:31):
You know, I know he was running the basis yesterday,
reaggravated some things, but that that's.
Speaker 5 (05:37):
Just a huge blow.
Speaker 4 (05:38):
And and you know you're gonna get a treat tonight.
They have a young man named Trey Yesovich that's gonna
throw tonight. That was their first round pick out of
East Carolina, that started the year at a ball and
he's worked his way all the way up and just
a tremendous talent. He's already a fan favorite Toronto off
his last start.
Speaker 5 (05:58):
So for for baseball fans.
Speaker 4 (05:59):
Of may be familiar with the name, this is one
of the best young pitchers in the game of baseball.
He's gonna have a lot on his shoulders tonight, being
down one to Oho and having to.
Speaker 5 (06:09):
Go back to Seattle.
Speaker 4 (06:10):
He's he's got a lot of pressure, but he certainly
entered the bell last time.
Speaker 5 (06:14):
But I don't think so.
Speaker 4 (06:14):
I think that that we're right where, you know, we
felt like we would be, and Seattle proved in the
last series in that fifteen inning game what starting pitching
depth does to a team. And and you know, to
be able to bring out Luis Castillo out of the
pen and Logan Gilbert out of the pen, and just
the starters that they have, that's kind of what it
(06:37):
gets down to. Now, your your pen days are out
the window, and you're trying to figure out, you know,
when can when you use these guys in high leverage
situations in the series to get more workload out of them,
more impact out of him. And that's where for me,
the Dodgers and the Mariners really really hold hold the
panel right now.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Okay, so you know, Mariners were really impressive to me
last night, Geno, where they could be in as tired
as they were, having to go fifteen innings and spend
all that pitching to grind out that win in Game
five against Detroit. Get on the plane the next day,
fly across the country and cross an international border by
the way, and get to Toronto and on Saturday, and
(07:21):
then play last night. And George Springer Homer's on the
first pitch he sees in the bottom of the first
I'm sure everybody's thinking, yeah, they don't have it tonight.
And boy did they stem the tide and turn it around.
And then and then some of their best players really
became clutch. Obviously, Cal Rawley's playing really well in the postseason.
He's did in the regular season. Julio Rodriguez as well,
(07:43):
and Hori Polanco, what more can you say about what
he's done in this postseason?
Speaker 4 (07:48):
Yeah, and Leo Revis, who had you know, nine hundred
that bats nine hundred games in the minor leagues, comes
up and gets a big hit. Eugenio Suarez, who can
be a streaky hitter, you know, hits a big home runs.
That's kind of what they're about. It's somebody different every
night pulling the rope. And you know, Josh Naylor hasn't really,
you know, completely taken off what he's capable of doing.
(08:11):
So it's just a really dangerous team.
Speaker 5 (08:14):
And you know, I know you know this.
Speaker 4 (08:16):
But Seattle travels more miles than anybody, any professional sports team.
And you know, Jerry Depoto, their president, a very close
friend of mine years ago.
Speaker 5 (08:26):
Began him and Andy McKay.
Speaker 4 (08:28):
Andy McKay started doing studies on sports science and the
travel effects, and they felt like after.
Speaker 5 (08:34):
That fifteen inning game, it was.
Speaker 4 (08:36):
Better for guys to go home and get a good
night's sleep and then fly that day rather than you know,
you do you do your celebration, you got press conference interviews.
Speaker 5 (08:46):
Now you've got to get on a plane.
Speaker 4 (08:47):
In flat cross country and land at six seven o'clock
in the morning and play.
Speaker 5 (08:51):
It just didn't make a lot of sense.
Speaker 4 (08:52):
So they did a great thing, and they've done a
lot of study on that, and it's certainly paying off
for them. But this is a very danger team because
of their pitching and because it's it's some of all
of its parts and not.
Speaker 5 (09:05):
You know, two or three superstars.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
So safe to say you're sticking with your pickup Seattle,
who you landed on a few weeks ago and said,
this is a dangerous team. You're you're picking Seattle to
knock out the one seed Toronto to win the American League.
Speaker 5 (09:19):
I do.
Speaker 4 (09:20):
I think it could take six games, but I think
they're pitching and just the way they can work around
the pitching is just the biggest strength that they have.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
We're talking baseball, Gene Watson, our MLB inside. All right,
let's jump to the Nation League. I'm gonna give you
credit for something. Even though even though you thought the
Phillies were the best team in the National League, you said,
the one thing if they wind up playing the Dodgers,
and you thought they would, you thought LA would go
ahead and beat Cincinnati.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
And this is the last time we visited.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
And then yet you said the one thing LA's got
going for him the experience and the starting pitching. And
how big was the starting pitching for Los Angeles in
that series with the Phillies. And I know you've played
enough baseball and coached enough baseball and seen enough base
ball to feel just feel horrible for Oriyan Kirkering and
the way that that division series ended on the throat
(10:07):
of the plate. But it really started, certainly with the
starting pitching and then Roki Sasaki really emerging. Now it's
a true closure for Los Angeles. Uh, let's talk a
little bit about them and then we're going to talk
about the one seed overall Milwaukee.
Speaker 5 (10:22):
Well, it's what a what a great series.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
And Kirkering with the throw, I mean, gee, he just
feels so terrible for the player, and he really is
one of the most talented relievers in the game, and
he's young man, he's he's got a bright future for them.
But what a weapon so Osaki has been. And again,
much like Yesovich with Toronto, this is a guy that
was really really struggling early in the season and you know,
(10:46):
they had to send them back to Triple A and
it wasn't going great then and they kind of got
him going again and then just kind of chteam back
in and for him to be that weapon ou of
the bullpen just another weapon for them to have is enormous.
Speaker 5 (10:59):
But but for me, it begins and ends with starting pitching.
Speaker 4 (11:03):
And when you look at the Dodgers, I mean, if
the Dodgers play the Maritors, which is what.
Speaker 5 (11:08):
I expect it to be, it is going to be.
Speaker 4 (11:11):
I mean, offense is going to be at a premium
and watch it, like early in the playoffs, watch how
teams change their game plan to try to play for
every run. When you look at Seattle with Josh Naylor
stealing third, you look at guys that wouldn't normally try
to steal bases. Stealing bases, They've done all the work
on the situations in which they.
Speaker 5 (11:31):
Can do that to try to create just.
Speaker 4 (11:34):
The opportunity to pick up one run. I talked to
Aja Inch yesterday morning, and that was the one thing
he said is they had so many opportunities to inch
out a run and they just couldn't get the big
hit to do it.
Speaker 5 (11:46):
And that was the difference in that series.
Speaker 4 (11:48):
But I just think that the Dodgers are so strong
and so powerful with that pitching and the star power,
and you get them in Dodger Stadium in October, they're
really tough.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
To be when the Dodgers and Brewers fashioned their twenty
six man rosters, there's a couple of different changes from
what each had in the Division Series. The Dodgers have
added Ben Casaparius, who gave the Dodgers some good innings
during the course of year. They sent him down to
Oklahoma City late in the season. Now they brought him back.
He's on the roster. They sent Dalton Rushing. He's not
(12:21):
on the roster because Ben Rourtvett has done a tremendous
job catching while Will Smith was healing up. Now Will
Smith is healthy again, and they got rope Vett as
a left handed bat off the bench that they need,
plus he's an outstanding defensive catcher. And then they've got
Caspirius and they added Justin Rableski, who got added to
(12:42):
the NLDS roster because Tanner Scott had that indominal infection,
so he's had to go off and not eligible for this.
So there's that, and then Milwaukee leaving Nick Neer's off
the roster for the NLCS, and they're gonna have a
right hand or Tobias Meyer who was not on the
roster in the Division Series against the Cubs. How about
(13:04):
your thoughts on the Brewers and what they had to
do to tough out that series win over Chicago.
Speaker 4 (13:10):
Well, the Dodgers are the most talented team. The Brewers
are the best baseball team. They play really clean baseball,
and it's really a testimony to Matt Arnold in the
way that they go about their minor league system and
the operations, in the detail and the little things in
winning a gate baseball game, which Pat Murphy certainly resonnates
coming from the college game, and they just have such
(13:33):
an attention to detail and doing all the whole things right,
running the bases, hitting the cutoff man, you know, all
those little things that help getting a bunt down when
you have to hitting behind runners, all the little things
that come with winning baseball games. They are They're not
that They've got a lot of young Tallis, South Frelich,
(13:54):
Brice Terrain, and what they did with Andrew Vaughn coming
over from US and rejuvenating his career.
Speaker 5 (14:01):
They just have a way of going around the.
Speaker 4 (14:03):
League and finding guys that may be underachieving, bring them
in Milwaukee, fixing them, and them being a part of
the twenty six man roster. It's for me two completely
different styles of play. And when you talk about the Dodgers,
like Dalton Rushing is going to be one of the
best offensive catchers in the game of baseball. But if
you have Will Smith, and Will Smith is ready to
(14:23):
go and did what he did, you got to spend
that roster spot on something, and they spend it on
pitching linked with Casparrek who's going to give you linked
in the middle, and power with Robleski, who is arguably
one of the best young left handed pitching prospects of
the game.
Speaker 5 (14:39):
And so that's where Rushing kind of gets pushed off.
Speaker 4 (14:42):
But I just think that in this matchup, like Milwaukee's
gonna have to pitch flawlessly out of their rotation. They
can't afford crooked numbers early in the game because once
the Dodgers get rolling, they're tough to beat. And their
starting pitching is just so tough that Will has.
Speaker 5 (15:00):
The ability to do it. But they got to play
really clean baseball for pitch one.
Speaker 3 (15:04):
All right, So your pick for the National League is.
Speaker 5 (15:09):
I will take the Dodgers in six.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Okay, all right, Hey, appreciate it. As always, I know
you got to get to the speaking engagement. We'll check
again next week and we'll see if we're still talking
League Championship Series or for previewing the World Series. But
I appreciate the time as always, Gino. And by the way,
your Notre Dame Fighting Irish are surging big game with
USC this week.
Speaker 5 (15:32):
I'm headed to South ben Thursday afternoon.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
Okay, all right, have a good one.
Speaker 4 (15:38):
Actually, Actually, Aaron Boone, Jim Tolmy, Ray Montgomery, Phil Nevin,
we're all meeting in Chicago Thursday and we're rolling over
to South Bend Friday morning, so it's going to be
a big baseball weekend for us in South Bend.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
I know you were also very pleased for your second
favorite team because you texted me right after the Long
Horns beat Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday.
Speaker 4 (15:58):
Oh, I've had so much fun with my friends north
of the Red River.
Speaker 5 (16:00):
It's been a great week.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
All right, Geno, thanks travel safe.
Speaker 5 (16:05):
Okay, y'all take care.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
All right.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
That's Jeene Watson from the Chicago White Sox front office,
and Gino knows his baseball inside out, so he likes
the Mariners and the Dodgers to be in the World Series.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
He'll get no argument from me. I hope it works
if it works out that way.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
As a Dodger fan, I'm happy because the Dodgers would
have home field advantage if that happens in the World Series.
Speaker 6 (16:27):
Right, And you know that the topic I brought up
last week, the Dodgers and Brewers kind of as a
proxy for can can the Dodgers make history write and
repeat for the first time in over twenty five years?
And what does that mean for where baseball is coming
into the next CBA. That article just came out earlier
(16:50):
today from Jeff Passing.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
It's very interesting.
Speaker 6 (16:53):
But like Jean brought up, the Brewers and Dodgers both
built their roster mostly through trade. It's not as if
you can oversimplify, well, one team has homegrown talent and
the other doesn't. It kind of cuts both ways the
way those rosters came to be.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
Yeah, yeah, it did, and it'll be interesting to see
how that all plays out.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
All Right.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
Up next, we'll hear from Long War and said coach
Steve Sarkisian, where we continue on thirteen under the zone
Time game. It's the big dumper when the Maritals Newton most.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
You welcome you back to our program here on thirteen
hundred the Zone. As we continue here on this h
I say long Worts money is and we'll hear more
from long Ort's head coach Steve Sarcasian coming up. But
I mentioned we're going to talk to Baseball. We haven't
had a chance to visit with Gene Watson since prior
to the start of the Wildcard series, so that is
(00:44):
coming gone, and the Division Series is coming gone. And
now we're up to the ALCS and the NLCS and
one game in the books in the American League Championship
Series and Game one of the NLCS coming up tonight.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
So Gene Watson joins us.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Not now you're out in Arizona with the developmental stuff
going on with the White Sox organization, Is that the deal?
Speaker 4 (01:05):
Yeah, We've got uh, We've got some stuff going on
in our complex with our performance camps, and then uh,
the Arizona Fall League is going on. We had a
Mexican League tournament, the Fiesta Mexicana, which is always a
great event, and also Major League Baseball has their Young
Executive Pipe plaining event going on, which I'm gonna speak
at in about forty five minutes, So it's.
Speaker 5 (01:26):
A lot happening. Uh it's a great time of year.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Yeah, it is.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
I mean I think about all the traditions and stuff
in Texas, so you obviously we just come off that
being a tradition, and there's other football traditions, but for you,
one of your traditions is being in Arizona every autumn,
isn't it?
Speaker 5 (01:44):
It really is. It's a it's a great time.
Speaker 4 (01:46):
We've had a lot of flooding here the last four
days and more expected to come later tonight, so we
haven't been on the field in about four days for games.
But uh no, it's a wonderful time of year. You
just hit the reset button. You begin your off season planning.
I literally reached out to all twenty nine other clubs
today to talk about where they were moving into the
(02:07):
off season. So you start gathering that information and some
clubs are ahead of others with you know what their
plans are. But you begin to have the conversations of
what you want to accomplish this winner, and how you
match up with other teams and trades, and certainly how
you match up with free agents.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Before we get to talking about the two series that
are going on this week, the ALCS and the NLCS.
I'm always interested in getting your thoughts on the constant
moving and shaking that goes on major League Baseball, with
the front offices and with the field manager positions as well.
Today we hear Mike shild Is retiring as the manager
(02:47):
of the San Diego Padres. He had two years left
on his deal, but he said, and here was the quote,
the grind of the baseball season has taken a severe
toll on me mentally, physically, and emotionally. He's fifty seven
years of age, and on Saturday he was when he
apparently he informed the team of his his impending retirement.
(03:08):
And I know this goes beyond Mike Schult deciding that
he had and he's an outstanding manager, deciding that he
was going to retire.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
I mean, this.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Game, even if you're a lifer, it can it can
take a toll long you can it, Craig.
Speaker 5 (03:24):
There's no question. I mean, I'm fifty seven.
Speaker 4 (03:26):
Years old as well, and you begin to start to
think about, Okay, you know the trip that used to
be nothing to you four or five six years ago
becomes a lot to you when you start to measure
it versus you know, seenior grandkids play baseball, or being
with your family at a certain event, and you know,
this is twenty four seven, three sixty five. Your time
(03:48):
is not of your own. Even when you're say at
a Longhorn game or a Notre Dame game, you know,
you're you're on the phone with agents, You're on the
phone with players trying to recruit him to your organization.
Speaker 5 (03:59):
It it never ever ends.
Speaker 4 (04:01):
And you know, my wife could write a book on
the stories of things that I've had to do, you know,
while we're on family trips. And so for some it
just becomes a real reflective time in their life where
they feel like, you know what, I've had enough, and
they move forward with their lives and there's keep going.
But it is a taxing it's it's it's literally the
(04:23):
conversation I'm about to have with these young executives about
getting in the game for the right reasons and understanding
the toll it takes on you mentally and physically, more importantly,
what it does to your families.
Speaker 5 (04:35):
And it is a lot every.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Day talking baseball with team Watson from the Chicago White
Sox front office here on thirteen hundreds. All right, let's
shift our attention to the playoff series. Let's start in
the American League. One game is already in the books.
I remember asking you several weeks ago about the Seattle Mariners,
and you said, they're coming, They're coming, They're coming, They're coming.
Speaker 5 (04:53):
On.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
You weren't surprised when they won the American League West,
and has anything necessarily just about the Mariners. But is
anything in the al right now in the American League
playoffs surprised you to this point to where we see
right now, Seattle in Toronto in the ALCS.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
I don't.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
I don't think so, because I mean, Seattle's been my
pick since really, you know, late July, early August. I
think the one thing that you could kind of see
is the momentum of the Toronto Blue Jays coming, losing, losing, Moba.
Speaker 5 (05:28):
Shit, it's just just it's just enormous for them.
Speaker 4 (05:31):
You know, I know he was running the basis yesterday,
reaggravated some things, but that that's.
Speaker 5 (05:37):
Just a huge blow.
Speaker 4 (05:38):
And and you know you're gonna get a treat tonight.
They have a young man named Trey Yesovich that's gonna
throw tonight. That was their first round pick out of
East Carolina, that started the year at a ball and
he's worked his way all the way up and just
a tremendous talent. He's already a fan favorite Toronto off
his last start.
Speaker 5 (05:58):
So for for baseball fans.
Speaker 4 (05:59):
Of may be familiar with the name, this is one
of the best young pitchers in the game of baseball.
He's gonna have a lot on his shoulders tonight, being
down one to Oho and having to.
Speaker 5 (06:09):
Go back to Seattle.
Speaker 4 (06:10):
He's he's got a lot of pressure, but he certainly
entered the bell last time.
Speaker 5 (06:14):
But I don't think so.
Speaker 4 (06:14):
I think that that we're right where, you know, we
felt like we would be, and Seattle proved in the
last series in that fifteen inning game what starting pitching
depth does to a team. And and you know, to
be able to bring out Luis Castillo out of the
pen and Logan Gilbert out of the pen, and just
the starters that they have, that's kind of what it
(06:37):
gets down to. Now, your your pen days are out
the window, and you're trying to figure out, you know,
when can when you use these guys in high leverage
situations in the series to get more workload out of them,
more impact out of him. And that's where for me,
the Dodgers and the Mariners really really hold hold the
panel right now.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Okay, so you know, Mariners were really impressive to me
last night, Geno, where they could be in as tired
as they were, having to go fifteen innings and spend
all that pitching to grind out that win in Game
five against Detroit. Get on the plane the next day,
fly across the country and cross an international border by
the way, and get to Toronto and on Saturday, and
(07:21):
then play last night. And George Springer Homer's on the
first pitch he sees in the bottom of the first
I'm sure everybody's thinking, yeah, they don't have it tonight.
And boy did they stem the tide and turn it around.
And then and then some of their best players really
became clutch. Obviously, Cal Rawley's playing really well in the postseason.
He's did in the regular season. Julio Rodriguez as well,
(07:43):
and Hori Polanco, what more can you say about what
he's done in this postseason?
Speaker 4 (07:48):
Yeah, and Leo Revis, who had you know, nine hundred
that bats nine hundred games in the minor leagues, comes
up and gets a big hit. Eugenio Suarez, who can
be a streaky hitter, you know, hits a big home runs.
That's kind of what they're about. It's somebody different every
night pulling the rope. And you know, Josh Naylor hasn't really,
you know, completely taken off what he's capable of doing.
(08:11):
So it's just a really dangerous team.
Speaker 5 (08:14):
And you know, I know you know this.
Speaker 4 (08:16):
But Seattle travels more miles than anybody, any professional sports team.
And you know, Jerry Depoto, their president, a very close
friend of mine years ago.
Speaker 5 (08:26):
Began him and Andy McKay.
Speaker 4 (08:28):
Andy McKay started doing studies on sports science and the
travel effects, and they felt like after.
Speaker 5 (08:34):
That fifteen inning game, it was.
Speaker 4 (08:36):
Better for guys to go home and get a good
night's sleep and then fly that day rather than you know,
you do you do your celebration, you got press conference interviews.
Speaker 5 (08:46):
Now you've got to get on a plane.
Speaker 4 (08:47):
In flat cross country and land at six seven o'clock
in the morning and play.
Speaker 5 (08:51):
It just didn't make a lot of sense.
Speaker 4 (08:52):
So they did a great thing, and they've done a
lot of study on that, and it's certainly paying off
for them. But this is a very danger team because
of their pitching and because it's it's some of all
of its parts and not.
Speaker 5 (09:05):
You know, two or three superstars.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
So safe to say you're sticking with your pickup Seattle,
who you landed on a few weeks ago and said,
this is a dangerous team. You're you're picking Seattle to
knock out the one seed Toronto to win the American League.
Speaker 5 (09:19):
I do.
Speaker 4 (09:20):
I think it could take six games, but I think
they're pitching and just the way they can work around
the pitching is just the biggest strength that they have.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
We're talking baseball, Gene Watson, our MLB inside. All right,
let's jump to the Nation League. I'm gonna give you
credit for something. Even though even though you thought the
Phillies were the best team in the National League, you said,
the one thing if they wind up playing the Dodgers,
and you thought they would, you thought LA would go
ahead and beat Cincinnati.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
And this is the last time we visited.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
And then yet you said the one thing LA's got
going for him the experience and the starting pitching. And
how big was the starting pitching for Los Angeles in
that series with the Phillies. And I know you've played
enough baseball and coached enough baseball and seen enough base
ball to feel just feel horrible for Oriyan Kirkering and
the way that that division series ended on the throat
(10:07):
of the plate. But it really started, certainly with the
starting pitching and then Roki Sasaki really emerging. Now it's
a true closure for Los Angeles. Uh, let's talk a
little bit about them and then we're going to talk
about the one seed overall Milwaukee.
Speaker 5 (10:22):
Well, it's what a what a great series.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
And Kirkering with the throw, I mean, gee, he just
feels so terrible for the player, and he really is
one of the most talented relievers in the game, and
he's young man, he's he's got a bright future for them.
But what a weapon so Osaki has been. And again,
much like Yesovich with Toronto, this is a guy that
was really really struggling early in the season and you know,
(10:46):
they had to send them back to Triple A and
it wasn't going great then and they kind of got
him going again and then just kind of chteam back
in and for him to be that weapon ou of
the bullpen just another weapon for them to have is enormous.
Speaker 5 (10:59):
But but for me, it begins and ends with starting pitching.
Speaker 4 (11:03):
And when you look at the Dodgers, I mean, if
the Dodgers play the Maritors, which is what.
Speaker 5 (11:08):
I expect it to be, it is going to be.
Speaker 4 (11:11):
I mean, offense is going to be at a premium
and watch it, like early in the playoffs, watch how
teams change their game plan to try to play for
every run. When you look at Seattle with Josh Naylor
stealing third, you look at guys that wouldn't normally try
to steal bases. Stealing bases, They've done all the work
on the situations in which they.
Speaker 5 (11:31):
Can do that to try to create just.
Speaker 4 (11:34):
The opportunity to pick up one run. I talked to
Aja Inch yesterday morning, and that was the one thing
he said is they had so many opportunities to inch
out a run and they just couldn't get the big
hit to do it.
Speaker 5 (11:46):
And that was the difference in that series.
Speaker 4 (11:48):
But I just think that the Dodgers are so strong
and so powerful with that pitching and the star power,
and you get them in Dodger Stadium in October, they're
really tough.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
To be when the Dodgers and Brewers fashioned their twenty
six man rosters, there's a couple of different changes from
what each had in the Division Series. The Dodgers have
added Ben Casaparius, who gave the Dodgers some good innings
during the course of year. They sent him down to
Oklahoma City late in the season. Now they brought him back.
He's on the roster. They sent Dalton Rushing. He's not
(12:21):
on the roster because Ben Rourtvett has done a tremendous
job catching while Will Smith was healing up. Now Will
Smith is healthy again, and they got rope Vett as
a left handed bat off the bench that they need,
plus he's an outstanding defensive catcher. And then they've got
Caspirius and they added Justin Rableski, who got added to
(12:42):
the NLDS roster because Tanner Scott had that indominal infection,
so he's had to go off and not eligible for this.
So there's that, and then Milwaukee leaving Nick Neer's off
the roster for the NLCS, and they're gonna have a
right hand or Tobias Meyer who was not on the
roster in the Division Series against the Cubs. How about
(13:04):
your thoughts on the Brewers and what they had to
do to tough out that series win over Chicago.
Speaker 4 (13:10):
Well, the Dodgers are the most talented team. The Brewers
are the best baseball team. They play really clean baseball,
and it's really a testimony to Matt Arnold in the
way that they go about their minor league system and
the operations, in the detail and the little things in
winning a gate baseball game, which Pat Murphy certainly resonnates
coming from the college game, and they just have such
(13:33):
an attention to detail and doing all the whole things right,
running the bases, hitting the cutoff man, you know, all
those little things that help getting a bunt down when
you have to hitting behind runners, all the little things
that come with winning baseball games. They are They're not
that They've got a lot of young Tallis, South Frelich,
(13:54):
Brice Terrain, and what they did with Andrew Vaughn coming
over from US and rejuvenating his career.
Speaker 5 (14:01):
They just have a way of going around the.
Speaker 4 (14:03):
League and finding guys that may be underachieving, bring them
in Milwaukee, fixing them, and them being a part of
the twenty six man roster. It's for me two completely
different styles of play. And when you talk about the Dodgers,
like Dalton Rushing is going to be one of the
best offensive catchers in the game of baseball. But if
you have Will Smith, and Will Smith is ready to
(14:23):
go and did what he did, you got to spend
that roster spot on something, and they spend it on
pitching linked with Casparrek who's going to give you linked
in the middle, and power with Robleski, who is arguably
one of the best young left handed pitching prospects of
the game.
Speaker 5 (14:39):
And so that's where Rushing kind of gets pushed off.
Speaker 4 (14:42):
But I just think that in this matchup, like Milwaukee's
gonna have to pitch flawlessly out of their rotation. They
can't afford crooked numbers early in the game because once
the Dodgers get rolling, they're tough to beat. And their
starting pitching is just so tough that Will has.
Speaker 5 (15:00):
The ability to do it. But they got to play
really clean baseball for pitch one.
Speaker 3 (15:04):
All right, So your pick for the National League is.
Speaker 5 (15:09):
I will take the Dodgers in six.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Okay, all right, Hey, appreciate it. As always, I know
you got to get to the speaking engagement. We'll check
again next week and we'll see if we're still talking
League Championship Series or for previewing the World Series. But
I appreciate the time as always, Gino. And by the way,
your Notre Dame Fighting Irish are surging big game with
USC this week.
Speaker 5 (15:32):
I'm headed to South ben Thursday afternoon.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
Okay, all right, have a good one.
Speaker 4 (15:38):
Actually, Actually, Aaron Boone, Jim Tolmy, Ray Montgomery, Phil Nevin,
we're all meeting in Chicago Thursday and we're rolling over
to South Bend Friday morning, so it's going to be
a big baseball weekend for us in South Bend.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
I know you were also very pleased for your second
favorite team because you texted me right after the Long
Horns beat Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday.
Speaker 4 (15:58):
Oh, I've had so much fun with my friends north
of the Red River.
Speaker 5 (16:00):
It's been a great week.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
All right, Geno, thanks travel safe.
Speaker 5 (16:05):
Okay, y'all take care.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
All right.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
That's Jeene Watson from the Chicago White Sox front office,
and Gino knows his baseball inside out, so he likes
the Mariners and the Dodgers to be in the World Series.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
He'll get no argument from me. I hope it works
if it works out that way.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
As a Dodger fan, I'm happy because the Dodgers would
have home field advantage if that happens in the World Series.
Speaker 6 (16:27):
Right, And you know that the topic I brought up
last week, the Dodgers and Brewers kind of as a
proxy for can can the Dodgers make history write and
repeat for the first time in over twenty five years?
And what does that mean for where baseball is coming
into the next CBA. That article just came out earlier
(16:50):
today from Jeff Passing.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
It's very interesting.
Speaker 6 (16:53):
But like Jean brought up, the Brewers and Dodgers both
built their roster mostly through trade. It's not as if
you can oversimplify, well, one team has homegrown talent and
the other doesn't. It kind of cuts both ways the
way those rosters came to be.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
Yeah, yeah, it did, and it'll be interesting to see
how that all plays out.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
All Right.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
Up next, we'll hear from Long War and said coach
Steve Sarkisian, where we continue on thirteen under the zone
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