September 29, 2025 • 19 mins
White Sox Player Personnel Director Gene Watson breaks down all four MLB Wild Card series and shares his thoughts on the Mets and Astros' late-season collapses on this edition of the Craig Way Show!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
A man who knows Vegas very well, but who knows
the baseball scene even better, joins us for a weekly conversation.
It's Geene Watson from the Chicago White Socks front office. There,
GINO the first thing that I'm going to get. And
you've known me a long time. You know me over
forty years, so we've known each other a long time,
and you know me to be a very very positive person.
(00:24):
I believe in the upbeat. I believe in the posit
and not the negative. Now, having said that, I am
curious to get your thoughts now because of the way
things ended with this crazy ending of the regular season
of baseball, your thoughts on the Mets, what's been called
a historic colossal collapse. The Tigers almost wound up in
that same thing after leading by fifteen and a half
(00:47):
on July eighth over the Guardians, but still manage to
get in the playoffs because of the Astros collapse down
the stretch and all of that in the nationally helped
the Reds get in. And you got the Guardians and
Tigers both getting into the American League, no Texas teams
getting in from the American League, and then the other
resulting fallout, the managerial changes. Rockleball Deli dismissed from the
(01:10):
Minnesota Twins, Bob Melvin from the Giants that that kind
of stuff always seems to follow at the end of
the year. But your thoughts on how this all came
to the screeching haul.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
At the end of the regular season, Well, it.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Was kind of a crazy final week. I don't think
anybody expected, in including myself, the Mets to collapse as
badly as they did.
Speaker 4 (01:32):
And you know, the fact of.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
The matter is the Marlins over the second half of
the season were about fourteen games better than the Mets,
which is incredible. And you're talking about sixty seven million
dollar payroll as opposed to a three hundred and forty
million dollars payroll. But I think it's a good time to,
you know, evaluate and assess everything that you're doing, from
you know, your advanced scouting to your game prep to
(01:55):
your pro scouting, the things you're doing at the upper levels.
But I don't know that there's ever been a collapse
like this before.
Speaker 4 (02:04):
You know, I felt like Houston.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
Was running out of gas a little bit the final
month and that came to fruition. But nobody could have
expected what the Cleveland Indians did the last twenty seven games,
going twenty and seven, coupled with the Tigers, you know,
doing what they did the last two weeks of the season.
That was like a thirteen and a half game lead
(02:27):
in July and like an eleven game lead in September.
And so I don't think anybody expected this. I think
it speaks to the parody in baseball right now, and
it's going to be an exciting October for the teams
that didn't make it.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
All right, before we get to previewing the Division Series,
I asked you this a couple of weeks ago, just
checking back in with you. With regard to MVP voting,
cal Rawley, the big dumper, winds up with sixty home runs.
Obviously every other offensive category was pretty much dominated by
(03:00):
Aaron Judge. But then folks are countering for cal Rawly,
seeing the dude is an everyday player, is a catcher
and a switch hitter. But the numbers are pretty pretty distinct.
They're in terms of favoring Aaron Judge and all the
other big offensive categories.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
How do you see the MVP situation right now?
Speaker 3 (03:20):
You know, Craig, I still think it comes down to
an entire body of work. I know we talk about
the twenty twenty five season, but you know, when you
look back in the past years at gold Gloves, it's
kind of a body of work award and to throwing
somebody from that takes a lot, and I think we're
still there. When it comes to the MVP, I think
what Calra now, I will tell you I think cal
(03:42):
Rawly has been more important too the Seattle Mariters, But
when it comes to the Most Valuable Player, I think
there's just so much, you know, precedence with it, so
much lack of mobility. I think that at the end
the judge will still be the most valuable player in nationally.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Show Tommy hit his fifty fifth yesterday, so passed last
year's landmark total of fifty four to go with the
fifty stolen bases. Is there any thought in your mind
that anybody else could unset him as nationally MVP?
Speaker 2 (04:11):
No, And I was.
Speaker 4 (04:12):
Wrong on that.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
I thought that once show a not like he logged
a ton of innings this year, but I felt like,
you know, having spent twenty twenty one with him and
seeing what he put into his time on the mound
that that just prep work would would hamper his numbers
a little bit, and he just shows you know how
incredible he is. Even though he didn't log like two
hundred innings, he still pitched and he still put up.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
You know, monumental offensive numbers. And I can't see it
change there at all.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
All.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
Right, talk of baseball with Gene Watson. Let's let's let's
jump to these wildcards series. They're pretty interesting. When I
look and I'm starting the American League, Toronto makes that
that that final push. They win their last four games,
even though the Yankees won their last eight games, and
Toronto held on by virtue of a tiebreaker to win
the American Leagues. Not only win the American League East,
(05:02):
they get the number one seed. Seattle, had they not
gotten swept by the Dodgers over the weekend at home,
might have had a shot to try to catch Toronto.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
They ended up not.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
They'll be the two, so they get the buye. Then
you got this unique thing where you have Cleveland is
the three, the Yankees and Red Sox are the four
and the five, and so you've got two wildcard games
at least maybe three set up at Yankee stadium since
the wildcard higher seed plays all the home games. And
then you've got Detroit playing in Cleveland. They just got
(05:34):
through playing two series against one another. The Tigers ended
up winning only two of their last ten games. The Guardians,
like you said, went twenty to seven of the last
twenty seven. Let's talk about these two wildcard series. Let
me start with that one, the three seed versus the
sixth seed Cleveland and Detroit, and gets your thoughts on that, well.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
I think the advantage that you have in most best
of three is you don't get the breath of the
twenty six man. You don't get the full impact and
depth of the twenty six man roster, and so that
can play to a team's advantage. You know, when you
look at Cleveland going twenty and seven in the last month,
and you look at the struggles that the Tigers have
(06:14):
had just to get in and then you look at
the last series where you know, the the Guardians may
have you know, exposed Detroit a little bit putting the
ball in play, you know, small ball, putting the game
in motion, creating havoc on the base pass, moving scooble
off the mound. I'm not so sure you won't see
(06:35):
that again and this series, but I'm not sure that
they maybe wanted to tip their hand had they known
they were going to be playing them again a week later.
Speaker 4 (06:42):
In a three game series.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
And so you know, momentum in the playoffs is the
next day starting pitcher and Tariq Scuble is arguably the
best in the game. And so for what it's been,
I still think the Tigers have a decent.
Speaker 4 (06:56):
Chance of winning that series.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
But you know, the Cleveland it's all about Jose Ramirez
and Stephen Kwan. Kwan has to set the table. Jose
Ramirez has to be the guy that drives in the runs,
and Collamon Zardo has been, you know, somewhat of a
power back in the middle of the order. I just
think that Tigers, for as bad as they've played coming
into it, their pitching is really good and they can
(07:18):
beat you and you know, carry Carper, they can beat
you a few more ways offensively than the Indians can.
So you know, I would probably take Detroit in three
games in that series.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
Wow, okay, Tiger's over Guardians and three okay, now the
other and by the way, Gino, how good might Cleveland
be or maybe the chemistry in the clubhouse, you know
about such things better than a lot of folks. Might
have been different had they held on to Josh Naylor
and and and what would it have done to the
(07:48):
Mariners who clearly leaned on him. Not as much as
Rawleigh obviously, but he and Julio Rodriguez had big closing
stretches for the Ems.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
Yeah, I think I think there's a couple things you
can say about Cleveland. I mean, when you talk about
the gambling investigations and the deals that they did make,
you know, Shane Bieber are going away. I think that that,
you know, they could look back. But they're very, very,
you know, meticulous in.
Speaker 4 (08:15):
What they do.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
They know who they are as an organization. They do
a tremendous job and this year has been no different.
This may be the best season they've had ever for
all the things that have happened and for them to
just keep coming together. Steven Vote is arguably one of
the best managers in baseball. He's going to be there
a very long time, and it just speaks to what
they have going on their culture wise and process wise.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
Okay, let's jump to that other Wildcard series and discuss
Yankees Red Sox. I guess it probably didn't get much
better than that. I remember in twenty twenty one. I
guess it was the one year in the last thirteen
the Dodger did not win the Nation League West. The
Giants won it by one game, like one hundred and
seven wins two hundred and six, and yet they wound
up playing in the Division Series and was incredible Division Series.
(09:01):
What about this Wildcard series between the Yankees and Red
Sox at Yankee Stadium.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
I think the fact that it's in Yankee Stadium helps
New york Er a little bit. You know, Boston won
nine of the thirteen meetings this year. They won seven
of the first eight. They can beat you different ways.
When you talk about Jorann Durant and Raphael Sedana and
the things that they do. Trevor Story with the long ball,
wiler A Bray you with the long ball. But the
(09:27):
key is going to be for me Boston's young arms
and how they're used in this series. Peyton Toley, a
kid out of Texas Christian University, has been fast tracked
to the big leagues. Michael Early, another young left hander,
has been called up in the last three weeks and
They've both come up and been very, very good. They
have a really good veteran bullpen and Justin Wilson and
(09:50):
Steven Matts and arguably the best closer in the history
of the game in er Otis Chapman, and so I
feel like if Boston can play their style of play,
they have a chance. But in a three game series
in Yankee Stadium, one swing of the bat changes everything,
and Aaron Judge has to have a great series. They're
(10:10):
gonna get great pitching from Max Freed and Luis Hill
and Carlos rode On, but they've got to get big
swings of the bat, two or three run Crik. They've
got to put up some crooked number innings for them
to be successful. And I think it's going to be
a tremendous series. If you know, made me really really
pick one, I would say the Yankees probably take care
(10:34):
of business in their ballpark.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
Okay, talking baseball with Jean Watson here on thirteen hundreds
unless jump to the National League. Well, you said back
several weeks ago, you thought the most dangerous team in
baseball was the Philadelphia Phillies, and they almost caught Milwaukee.
They finished one game back of them for the one seed,
so they'll be the two seed. The Brewers, with a
(10:57):
historic season in terms of wins, ninety seven wins, they
capture the one seed in Philadelphia.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
The two we've already.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
Talked about, the claps of the Mets, who had a
chance to get in there, couldn't do it. The three
seed goes to the defending champion Dodgers, who did finish
the regular season on a high note. They won eight
of their last ten and finally you managed to keep
the Podreys at arms link. But the Podres won ninety
ball games. They're the five seed. The Cubs will be
(11:24):
at home against the Podreys. So how about these two
a wildcard series? The Cubs was the Padres and then
the Reds who just hung around and hung around, and
somebody said, you can't kill us, and they found a
way to slide in there at eighty three and seventy nine,
holding the tiebreaker over the Mets. So it'll be the
Reds at Dodgers Stadium to play Los Angeles starting tomorrow night.
(11:47):
Cubs will play the Padres. How do you see these
two wildcard series?
Speaker 4 (11:51):
Well, I think you got to really tip your cap
to the Reds.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
I mean, including myself, I didn't give them a chance
for weeks and weeks I didn't think there would be
much movement in the bottom of the National League wild
card race, and they just kept fighting.
Speaker 4 (12:04):
And this is gonna be a fun club.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
They may not last long, and they're certainly going up
against a giant in the Dodgers, but you know, Nicolodolo
is one of the best young pitchers in the game
from Texas Christian University. Andrew Abbott a really good young pitcher.
Hunter Green, who will go in Game one, a very
good young pitcher. They've got some young pitching, and they've
got some young position for Elie Dela Cruz will finally
(12:28):
get to be on a national stage in the national
audience will get a chance to watch him. Matt McClain
is a tremendous young baseball player. So the Reds are
kind of the feel good story for twenty twenty five
out of the National League. And they've got very young,
talented players with a tremendous manager. So to me, this
could be just the very beginning of them, you know,
(12:49):
going on a couple of year run, two, three, four,
five year run in the National League. But certainly going
up against the Dodgers is going to be very, very tough.
I just don't see where, you know, they could pull
that off. And the Cubs, you know, I really like
their position players and the way they go about at
Dansby Swanson, Michael Bush, Saya Suzuki, Pete Crow Armstrong, and
(13:11):
they've got a very very talented group and they're very
very tough at home in that ballpark. So the Padres
are going to have to get great production out of
Manning Manchado. Xander Bogart, who's back from the foot injury,
is going to have to be very productive.
Speaker 4 (13:25):
Jake Cronenworth is going to have to step up.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
But they've got to get really good starting pitching because
the Cubs at home can put it on you in
a hurry, and one swinging the bat can swing that series. Again,
a seven game series, I don't feel like this as
much of a series because it's three games and all
three games are Wrigley Field. I think the Cubs have
a real good chance of winning the series, but I'll
still take the Padres.
Speaker 4 (13:47):
In three games.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
Wow, Okay, all right, now I want to jump back
to the Dodgers for a moment because I saw a
couple of things today online where some people were shocked, shocked,
as they call her stunning move. Some called that Clayton
Kershaw was not added to the wild card roster, and
I didn't think it was stunning at all. He looked
(14:08):
great in his final level regular season start yesterday, but
it's been clear he's not going to be in the
rotation no matter how the long, how long the Dodgers
are going in this thing, They're gonna go with Blake's
NOEW tomorrow. There's probably gonna be Yama motive for Game two,
and then they could pitch show Ao Tani or they
they could come back with Glass now if he's resting enough,
if it gets to an if necessary Game three. And
(14:31):
my thought on all this is that assuming they handle
their business and beat the Reds, Kershaw will be on
the Division Series roster for the Phillies because they're probably
gonna need him out of the pen, and he's done
well out of the pin in his two outings. And
then they've got Roki Sasaki back off injury, and they've
got and they've got m and she In back in
the The pin has been the underbelly clearly for the
(14:52):
Dodgers of the month of September. At times the eer
was over five for for the bullpit. But I wasn't
shot the kershaw or even surprised that he wasn't named
the wild card roster, were you.
Speaker 4 (15:06):
Not at all?
Speaker 3 (15:07):
And when you're when you're talking about October baseball, especially
in short series, you know, one pitch continue to decide everything.
And October baseball is about power pitching and power hitting.
And he certainly knows, you know, Clayton is a ultimate professional,
and he certainly knows that when measured up against the
other power arms and the rotation, it's not going to
(15:29):
be a fit. And when you start looking at matchups
and the lineup you're facing, and you start looking at
pockets for him to even have an opportunity to pitch,
they may not be there. And so they certainly, you know,
and they'll have him ready to go. He'll either you know,
he'll probably you know, go to Arizona and throw the
ball around a little bit and throw some bullpens to
live hitters in Arizona, or they'll keep him in La
(15:50):
and do it there. But he's certainly in a seven
game series brings a little more linked ad to your
roster than he does in a series where it's shortened
and every pitch matters and power pitching is key.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
Well, clearly that would be the case if they do
manage advance, because then they're playing the Phillies. Do you
still feel the Phillies are the team to beat not
only in the National League but in all of baseball?
And we can revise this as we go forward, but
at least at the start of this postseason, do you
still feel that the Phillies are the team to be?
Speaker 4 (16:20):
I do.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
I think the Dodgers have great momentum right now. I
think they're playing good baseball. They've got so much versatility
and depth to their roster. But the Phillies are just
kind of below the radar. They've got an incredible offense,
They're very, very tough to be in their ballpark in Philadelphia.
Have they not had the injuries that they've had to
that rotation this year, they would clearly be the best
(16:43):
team in baseball. But I certainly feel like they have
a chance to be the best team in the National
League moving forward.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
Okay, and then finally, your thoughts on the two one seeds,
that being Toronto in the American League and Milwaukee in
the National League.
Speaker 3 (16:56):
Well, great stories in two different styles of play. Toronto
has done an amazing job when they really struggled in
the first half, they've addressed their pitching and they've done
a great job and they've come together as a unit offensively.
And you talk about a really difficult place to play,
Rogers Center is no joke. It's more of a European
soccer crowd than it is a baseball crowd.
Speaker 4 (17:15):
And so they're going to be very, very, very very
tough to play.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
In Milwaukee, what can you say about Pat Murphy, They
just they played just an incredible style of baseball. They
do all the little things right on the baseball field,
and you've got to come with your a game to
beat them because they're going to do all the little
things every night what it takes to win a baseball game.
But those are two really, really good teams. And when
you look at Seattle, you know they're going to pitch.
(17:42):
Naylor's been huge for them. They're feeling it a little
bit out there in Seattle. And as I said in August,
I felt like Seattle and Philly might be the two
best teams in baseball and I'm gonna stick with.
Speaker 4 (17:52):
That right now.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
All right, Okay, by the way, and we close with this,
our resident Guardians fan just checked it in and said,
we don't hit, we just win.
Speaker 4 (18:01):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (18:01):
I just find ways to win. And that starts with
Jose Ramirez h and Max Kwan. They do a great
job Stephen Kwan, and they have the one arguably the
best manager in baseball, and they find a way to
get it done every night. And that that's going to
be an electric place and that's gonna be a lot
of fun.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
He's Gene Watson, and we'll we'll preview the division series
when those come about. Will do that, you know, appreciate
the time. Thanks so much for joining us as always. Okay, guys,
take care, Thanks so much. All that's Gean Watson from
the Chicago White Sox are MLB insider, so he likes
to review the in review, he likes the Tigers the
(18:38):
succeed to beat the three seed the Guardians in three games, yep.
And he likes the Yankees to beat the Red Sox.
Speaker 5 (18:45):
Yeah, he didn't say how many. I just feel like
if Roman Anthony was playing maybe a different story. But yeah,
I will I'll go Yankees there too, and.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
Then in the Nation League.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
He likes the Cubs to beat the Padres and he
likes the Dodgers to beat the Reds.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
He went, he went San Diego. That's right, he did.
He did. He picked the Padres in three.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
So he picked the Padres in three, and he picked
the Dodgers to beat the Reds to win that series.
Speaker 5 (19:06):
And I think his point's exactly right. I was going
to ask him if he didn't bring it up. Does
the fact that this is such a short series. I
feel like in that series more than any other, it
plays into the Cub's favor.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
It does, and I.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
Don't know that it necessarily plays some Dodgers favorite. Remember
two years ago they got swept by the Diamondbacks who
went onto the World Series and they ended up they
ended up losing that series. So but we'll see, we'll
see if it works out for them now that they
seem to have the training back on the tracks there
in LA.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
We'll find out, all right.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
We'll hear more from Coach Sart coming up on thirteen
Under the Zone
A man who knows Vegas very well, but who knows
the baseball scene even better, joins us for a weekly conversation.
It's Geene Watson from the Chicago White Socks front office. There,
GINO the first thing that I'm going to get. And
you've known me a long time. You know me over
forty years, so we've known each other a long time,
and you know me to be a very very positive person.
(00:24):
I believe in the upbeat. I believe in the posit
and not the negative. Now, having said that, I am
curious to get your thoughts now because of the way
things ended with this crazy ending of the regular season
of baseball, your thoughts on the Mets, what's been called
a historic colossal collapse. The Tigers almost wound up in
that same thing after leading by fifteen and a half
(00:47):
on July eighth over the Guardians, but still manage to
get in the playoffs because of the Astros collapse down
the stretch and all of that in the nationally helped
the Reds get in. And you got the Guardians and
Tigers both getting into the American League, no Texas teams
getting in from the American League, and then the other
resulting fallout, the managerial changes. Rockleball Deli dismissed from the
(01:10):
Minnesota Twins, Bob Melvin from the Giants that that kind
of stuff always seems to follow at the end of
the year. But your thoughts on how this all came
to the screeching haul.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
At the end of the regular season, Well, it.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Was kind of a crazy final week. I don't think
anybody expected, in including myself, the Mets to collapse as
badly as they did.
Speaker 4 (01:32):
And you know, the fact of.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
The matter is the Marlins over the second half of
the season were about fourteen games better than the Mets,
which is incredible. And you're talking about sixty seven million
dollar payroll as opposed to a three hundred and forty
million dollars payroll. But I think it's a good time to,
you know, evaluate and assess everything that you're doing, from
you know, your advanced scouting to your game prep to
(01:55):
your pro scouting, the things you're doing at the upper levels.
But I don't know that there's ever been a collapse
like this before.
Speaker 4 (02:04):
You know, I felt like Houston.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
Was running out of gas a little bit the final
month and that came to fruition. But nobody could have
expected what the Cleveland Indians did the last twenty seven games,
going twenty and seven, coupled with the Tigers, you know,
doing what they did the last two weeks of the season.
That was like a thirteen and a half game lead
(02:27):
in July and like an eleven game lead in September.
And so I don't think anybody expected this. I think
it speaks to the parody in baseball right now, and
it's going to be an exciting October for the teams
that didn't make it.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
All right, before we get to previewing the Division Series,
I asked you this a couple of weeks ago, just
checking back in with you. With regard to MVP voting,
cal Rawley, the big dumper, winds up with sixty home runs.
Obviously every other offensive category was pretty much dominated by
(03:00):
Aaron Judge. But then folks are countering for cal Rawly,
seeing the dude is an everyday player, is a catcher
and a switch hitter. But the numbers are pretty pretty distinct.
They're in terms of favoring Aaron Judge and all the
other big offensive categories.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
How do you see the MVP situation right now?
Speaker 3 (03:20):
You know, Craig, I still think it comes down to
an entire body of work. I know we talk about
the twenty twenty five season, but you know, when you
look back in the past years at gold Gloves, it's
kind of a body of work award and to throwing
somebody from that takes a lot, and I think we're
still there. When it comes to the MVP, I think
what Calra now, I will tell you I think cal
(03:42):
Rawly has been more important too the Seattle Mariters, But
when it comes to the Most Valuable Player, I think
there's just so much, you know, precedence with it, so
much lack of mobility. I think that at the end
the judge will still be the most valuable player in nationally.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Show Tommy hit his fifty fifth yesterday, so passed last
year's landmark total of fifty four to go with the
fifty stolen bases. Is there any thought in your mind
that anybody else could unset him as nationally MVP?
Speaker 2 (04:11):
No, And I was.
Speaker 4 (04:12):
Wrong on that.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
I thought that once show a not like he logged
a ton of innings this year, but I felt like,
you know, having spent twenty twenty one with him and
seeing what he put into his time on the mound
that that just prep work would would hamper his numbers
a little bit, and he just shows you know how
incredible he is. Even though he didn't log like two
hundred innings, he still pitched and he still put up.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
You know, monumental offensive numbers. And I can't see it
change there at all.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
All.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
Right, talk of baseball with Gene Watson. Let's let's let's
jump to these wildcards series. They're pretty interesting. When I
look and I'm starting the American League, Toronto makes that
that that final push. They win their last four games,
even though the Yankees won their last eight games, and
Toronto held on by virtue of a tiebreaker to win
the American Leagues. Not only win the American League East,
(05:02):
they get the number one seed. Seattle, had they not
gotten swept by the Dodgers over the weekend at home,
might have had a shot to try to catch Toronto.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
They ended up not.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
They'll be the two, so they get the buye. Then
you got this unique thing where you have Cleveland is
the three, the Yankees and Red Sox are the four
and the five, and so you've got two wildcard games
at least maybe three set up at Yankee stadium since
the wildcard higher seed plays all the home games. And
then you've got Detroit playing in Cleveland. They just got
(05:34):
through playing two series against one another. The Tigers ended
up winning only two of their last ten games. The Guardians,
like you said, went twenty to seven of the last
twenty seven. Let's talk about these two wildcard series. Let
me start with that one, the three seed versus the
sixth seed Cleveland and Detroit, and gets your thoughts on that, well.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
I think the advantage that you have in most best
of three is you don't get the breath of the
twenty six man. You don't get the full impact and
depth of the twenty six man roster, and so that
can play to a team's advantage. You know, when you
look at Cleveland going twenty and seven in the last month,
and you look at the struggles that the Tigers have
(06:14):
had just to get in and then you look at
the last series where you know, the the Guardians may
have you know, exposed Detroit a little bit putting the
ball in play, you know, small ball, putting the game
in motion, creating havoc on the base pass, moving scooble
off the mound. I'm not so sure you won't see
(06:35):
that again and this series, but I'm not sure that
they maybe wanted to tip their hand had they known
they were going to be playing them again a week later.
Speaker 4 (06:42):
In a three game series.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
And so you know, momentum in the playoffs is the
next day starting pitcher and Tariq Scuble is arguably the
best in the game. And so for what it's been,
I still think the Tigers have a decent.
Speaker 4 (06:56):
Chance of winning that series.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
But you know, the Cleveland it's all about Jose Ramirez
and Stephen Kwan. Kwan has to set the table. Jose
Ramirez has to be the guy that drives in the runs,
and Collamon Zardo has been, you know, somewhat of a
power back in the middle of the order. I just
think that Tigers, for as bad as they've played coming
into it, their pitching is really good and they can
(07:18):
beat you and you know, carry Carper, they can beat
you a few more ways offensively than the Indians can.
So you know, I would probably take Detroit in three
games in that series.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
Wow, okay, Tiger's over Guardians and three okay, now the
other and by the way, Gino, how good might Cleveland
be or maybe the chemistry in the clubhouse, you know
about such things better than a lot of folks. Might
have been different had they held on to Josh Naylor
and and and what would it have done to the
(07:48):
Mariners who clearly leaned on him. Not as much as
Rawleigh obviously, but he and Julio Rodriguez had big closing
stretches for the Ems.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
Yeah, I think I think there's a couple things you
can say about Cleveland. I mean, when you talk about
the gambling investigations and the deals that they did make,
you know, Shane Bieber are going away. I think that that,
you know, they could look back. But they're very, very,
you know, meticulous in.
Speaker 4 (08:15):
What they do.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
They know who they are as an organization. They do
a tremendous job and this year has been no different.
This may be the best season they've had ever for
all the things that have happened and for them to
just keep coming together. Steven Vote is arguably one of
the best managers in baseball. He's going to be there
a very long time, and it just speaks to what
they have going on their culture wise and process wise.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
Okay, let's jump to that other Wildcard series and discuss
Yankees Red Sox. I guess it probably didn't get much
better than that. I remember in twenty twenty one. I
guess it was the one year in the last thirteen
the Dodger did not win the Nation League West. The
Giants won it by one game, like one hundred and
seven wins two hundred and six, and yet they wound
up playing in the Division Series and was incredible Division Series.
(09:01):
What about this Wildcard series between the Yankees and Red
Sox at Yankee Stadium.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
I think the fact that it's in Yankee Stadium helps
New york Er a little bit. You know, Boston won
nine of the thirteen meetings this year. They won seven
of the first eight. They can beat you different ways.
When you talk about Jorann Durant and Raphael Sedana and
the things that they do. Trevor Story with the long ball,
wiler A Bray you with the long ball. But the
(09:27):
key is going to be for me Boston's young arms
and how they're used in this series. Peyton Toley, a
kid out of Texas Christian University, has been fast tracked
to the big leagues. Michael Early, another young left hander,
has been called up in the last three weeks and
They've both come up and been very, very good. They
have a really good veteran bullpen and Justin Wilson and
(09:50):
Steven Matts and arguably the best closer in the history
of the game in er Otis Chapman, and so I
feel like if Boston can play their style of play,
they have a chance. But in a three game series
in Yankee Stadium, one swing of the bat changes everything,
and Aaron Judge has to have a great series. They're
(10:10):
gonna get great pitching from Max Freed and Luis Hill
and Carlos rode On, but they've got to get big
swings of the bat, two or three run Crik. They've
got to put up some crooked number innings for them
to be successful. And I think it's going to be
a tremendous series. If you know, made me really really
pick one, I would say the Yankees probably take care
(10:34):
of business in their ballpark.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
Okay, talking baseball with Jean Watson here on thirteen hundreds
unless jump to the National League. Well, you said back
several weeks ago, you thought the most dangerous team in
baseball was the Philadelphia Phillies, and they almost caught Milwaukee.
They finished one game back of them for the one seed,
so they'll be the two seed. The Brewers, with a
(10:57):
historic season in terms of wins, ninety seven wins, they
capture the one seed in Philadelphia.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
The two we've already.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
Talked about, the claps of the Mets, who had a
chance to get in there, couldn't do it. The three
seed goes to the defending champion Dodgers, who did finish
the regular season on a high note. They won eight
of their last ten and finally you managed to keep
the Podreys at arms link. But the Podres won ninety
ball games. They're the five seed. The Cubs will be
(11:24):
at home against the Podreys. So how about these two
a wildcard series? The Cubs was the Padres and then
the Reds who just hung around and hung around, and
somebody said, you can't kill us, and they found a
way to slide in there at eighty three and seventy nine,
holding the tiebreaker over the Mets. So it'll be the
Reds at Dodgers Stadium to play Los Angeles starting tomorrow night.
(11:47):
Cubs will play the Padres. How do you see these
two wildcard series?
Speaker 4 (11:51):
Well, I think you got to really tip your cap
to the Reds.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
I mean, including myself, I didn't give them a chance
for weeks and weeks I didn't think there would be
much movement in the bottom of the National League wild
card race, and they just kept fighting.
Speaker 4 (12:04):
And this is gonna be a fun club.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
They may not last long, and they're certainly going up
against a giant in the Dodgers, but you know, Nicolodolo
is one of the best young pitchers in the game
from Texas Christian University. Andrew Abbott a really good young pitcher.
Hunter Green, who will go in Game one, a very
good young pitcher. They've got some young pitching, and they've
got some young position for Elie Dela Cruz will finally
(12:28):
get to be on a national stage in the national
audience will get a chance to watch him. Matt McClain
is a tremendous young baseball player. So the Reds are
kind of the feel good story for twenty twenty five
out of the National League. And they've got very young,
talented players with a tremendous manager. So to me, this
could be just the very beginning of them, you know,
(12:49):
going on a couple of year run, two, three, four,
five year run in the National League. But certainly going
up against the Dodgers is going to be very, very tough.
I just don't see where, you know, they could pull
that off. And the Cubs, you know, I really like
their position players and the way they go about at
Dansby Swanson, Michael Bush, Saya Suzuki, Pete Crow Armstrong, and
(13:11):
they've got a very very talented group and they're very
very tough at home in that ballpark. So the Padres
are going to have to get great production out of
Manning Manchado. Xander Bogart, who's back from the foot injury,
is going to have to be very productive.
Speaker 4 (13:25):
Jake Cronenworth is going to have to step up.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
But they've got to get really good starting pitching because
the Cubs at home can put it on you in
a hurry, and one swinging the bat can swing that series. Again,
a seven game series, I don't feel like this as
much of a series because it's three games and all
three games are Wrigley Field. I think the Cubs have
a real good chance of winning the series, but I'll
still take the Padres.
Speaker 4 (13:47):
In three games.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
Wow, Okay, all right, now I want to jump back
to the Dodgers for a moment because I saw a
couple of things today online where some people were shocked, shocked,
as they call her stunning move. Some called that Clayton
Kershaw was not added to the wild card roster, and
I didn't think it was stunning at all. He looked
(14:08):
great in his final level regular season start yesterday, but
it's been clear he's not going to be in the
rotation no matter how the long, how long the Dodgers
are going in this thing, They're gonna go with Blake's
NOEW tomorrow. There's probably gonna be Yama motive for Game two,
and then they could pitch show Ao Tani or they
they could come back with Glass now if he's resting enough,
if it gets to an if necessary Game three. And
(14:31):
my thought on all this is that assuming they handle
their business and beat the Reds, Kershaw will be on
the Division Series roster for the Phillies because they're probably
gonna need him out of the pen, and he's done
well out of the pin in his two outings. And
then they've got Roki Sasaki back off injury, and they've
got and they've got m and she In back in
the The pin has been the underbelly clearly for the
(14:52):
Dodgers of the month of September. At times the eer
was over five for for the bullpit. But I wasn't
shot the kershaw or even surprised that he wasn't named
the wild card roster, were you.
Speaker 4 (15:06):
Not at all?
Speaker 3 (15:07):
And when you're when you're talking about October baseball, especially
in short series, you know, one pitch continue to decide everything.
And October baseball is about power pitching and power hitting.
And he certainly knows, you know, Clayton is a ultimate professional,
and he certainly knows that when measured up against the
other power arms and the rotation, it's not going to
(15:29):
be a fit. And when you start looking at matchups
and the lineup you're facing, and you start looking at
pockets for him to even have an opportunity to pitch,
they may not be there. And so they certainly, you know,
and they'll have him ready to go. He'll either you know,
he'll probably you know, go to Arizona and throw the
ball around a little bit and throw some bullpens to
live hitters in Arizona, or they'll keep him in La
(15:50):
and do it there. But he's certainly in a seven
game series brings a little more linked ad to your
roster than he does in a series where it's shortened
and every pitch matters and power pitching is key.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
Well, clearly that would be the case if they do
manage advance, because then they're playing the Phillies. Do you
still feel the Phillies are the team to beat not
only in the National League but in all of baseball?
And we can revise this as we go forward, but
at least at the start of this postseason, do you
still feel that the Phillies are the team to be?
Speaker 4 (16:20):
I do.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
I think the Dodgers have great momentum right now. I
think they're playing good baseball. They've got so much versatility
and depth to their roster. But the Phillies are just
kind of below the radar. They've got an incredible offense,
They're very, very tough to be in their ballpark in Philadelphia.
Have they not had the injuries that they've had to
that rotation this year, they would clearly be the best
(16:43):
team in baseball. But I certainly feel like they have
a chance to be the best team in the National
League moving forward.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
Okay, and then finally, your thoughts on the two one seeds,
that being Toronto in the American League and Milwaukee in
the National League.
Speaker 3 (16:56):
Well, great stories in two different styles of play. Toronto
has done an amazing job when they really struggled in
the first half, they've addressed their pitching and they've done
a great job and they've come together as a unit offensively.
And you talk about a really difficult place to play,
Rogers Center is no joke. It's more of a European
soccer crowd than it is a baseball crowd.
Speaker 4 (17:15):
And so they're going to be very, very, very very
tough to play.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
In Milwaukee, what can you say about Pat Murphy, They
just they played just an incredible style of baseball. They
do all the little things right on the baseball field,
and you've got to come with your a game to
beat them because they're going to do all the little
things every night what it takes to win a baseball game.
But those are two really, really good teams. And when
you look at Seattle, you know they're going to pitch.
(17:42):
Naylor's been huge for them. They're feeling it a little
bit out there in Seattle. And as I said in August,
I felt like Seattle and Philly might be the two
best teams in baseball and I'm gonna stick with.
Speaker 4 (17:52):
That right now.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
All right, Okay, by the way, and we close with this,
our resident Guardians fan just checked it in and said,
we don't hit, we just win.
Speaker 4 (18:01):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (18:01):
I just find ways to win. And that starts with
Jose Ramirez h and Max Kwan. They do a great
job Stephen Kwan, and they have the one arguably the
best manager in baseball, and they find a way to
get it done every night. And that that's going to
be an electric place and that's gonna be a lot
of fun.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
He's Gene Watson, and we'll we'll preview the division series
when those come about. Will do that, you know, appreciate
the time. Thanks so much for joining us as always. Okay, guys,
take care, Thanks so much. All that's Gean Watson from
the Chicago White Sox are MLB insider, so he likes
to review the in review, he likes the Tigers the
(18:38):
succeed to beat the three seed the Guardians in three games, yep.
And he likes the Yankees to beat the Red Sox.
Speaker 5 (18:45):
Yeah, he didn't say how many. I just feel like
if Roman Anthony was playing maybe a different story. But yeah,
I will I'll go Yankees there too, and.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
Then in the Nation League.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
He likes the Cubs to beat the Padres and he
likes the Dodgers to beat the Reds.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
He went, he went San Diego. That's right, he did.
He did. He picked the Padres in three.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
So he picked the Padres in three, and he picked
the Dodgers to beat the Reds to win that series.
Speaker 5 (19:06):
And I think his point's exactly right. I was going
to ask him if he didn't bring it up. Does
the fact that this is such a short series. I
feel like in that series more than any other, it
plays into the Cub's favor.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
It does, and I.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
Don't know that it necessarily plays some Dodgers favorite. Remember
two years ago they got swept by the Diamondbacks who
went onto the World Series and they ended up they
ended up losing that series. So but we'll see, we'll
see if it works out for them now that they
seem to have the training back on the tracks there
in LA.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
We'll find out, all right.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
We'll hear more from Coach Sart coming up on thirteen
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