August 13, 2025 • 21 mins
FT Resident GM Jim Bowden talks up the organizational W for the baby TV market team in Milwaukee and answers how the Brewers can prevent an early playoff exit. He also covers the struggling big market teams like the Mets, Yankees & Dodgers. Who is to blame for the Yanks' issues? Is a Wild Card series the worst-case scenario for the Dodgers? How far can the Mets go in the playoffs?
Hosts: AJ Pierzynski, Erik Kratz, Scott Braun
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Front Office, unfiltered resident GM Jim Bowden joining us right now, JB.
I actually want to start with a statement for you,
just like our old days when we still host some
radio shows together. So I'm just gonna start with this statement.
The game is broken, JB. It is broken. We have
the smallest TV market in Major League Baseball with by
far the best record in baseball. This is exactly what
(00:30):
everyone said all off season long, JB. Everyone was like,
it's so unfair. The smallest TV markets always are the best.
It's not fair that the Dodgers always stink. They get
to spend all the money and yet they're looking behind
them and the Padres might catch them. Oh wait, that's
not anything that we said. Most people said, one hundred
and twenty wins for the Dodgers. No one else has
a chance. Small markets have no chance. Oh wait, maybe
(00:53):
the Brewers are just run well. So what do you
think about where we're at as a sport in mid August.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Yeah, it's been exciting, hasn't it. The fact that we
have so many middle of small market teams that are
in the middle of a race. It's been a lot
of fun. And as you mentioned, the Milwaukee Brewers. I mean,
they have been the best team in baseball, and it's
been really fun to watch, right, the first team since
twenty nineteen to put together two ten game winning streaks
in the same season, Like that's just incredible. And yet
(01:18):
you look at their team and you understand why they
have three number one starters. Right. Freddy Peralta, who faces
Paul Skins today, has thirteen wins and a three o ERA.
Before Missarowski got hurt, he had four and one with
a two seven ERA, and Brandon Woodruff looks like the
ace was before he got hurt. He's four and oh
with a two two ERA, and oh, by the way,
(01:38):
the fourth starter, Jose Cantana, has ten wins in a
three four ERA, and Quinn Priestra has eleven wins and
a three four ERA, and oh, by the way, they
have an impact closer and Trevor McGill who's converted twenty
eight to thirty one save opportunities with a two to
two ERA, and oh, we'll talk about the offense fifth
in baseball and run score second in stolen bases, and
(01:59):
depending on what the defensive metrics you like, they're either
fourth or fifth or sixth. Right, pick your poison whatever
you want, but this is a complete team. Their manager
Pat Murphy's done unbelievable job. Their GM, Matt Arnold is
the reigning executive of the Year in Major League Baseball.
It's a small market team that is going out there
and is legitimately has a chance to not only win
(02:20):
this division, but get to the World Series and maybe
win the World Series. So it's been great for baseball.
It's a lot of fun to watch in the vibe
that's going on in Milwaukee is just sick.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
I love it if you're the GM of this team.
Besides like saying, hey, these guys are winning, like I'm
just gonna let them, let them do what they do.
You've lost. Matt Arnold's been there before when David Stearns
was there, and this team just bows out in the playoffs.
Is there some kind of message that you're sending down saying, hey, okay, analytically,
we need to make sure that our manager makes this
(02:53):
adjustment because in the playoffs this hasn't worked because all
those names that you just said, it's all the same numbers,
just rinse and recycle different names. Besides Freddy Peralta in
Big WU, like it's a new closer. They've had the
best closer for the last six years in baseball. Like
it's just constantly they're just rinsing new names in. But
they haven't been able to push it through in the playoffs.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Yeah, that is true. And you know, I think when
we go back and we look at the ccs of
Atthew days when he was pitching on two in three
days rest just to go out there and try to win.
And then we had the run when they had Hater
and they were babying him, right, they weren't pushing the
envelope with him, which you know, maybe not caused them
a chance to get there. But I think this particular
(03:37):
team is a little bit different than the rest. I mean,
when you have three guys of Paralta, Mazerowski, and Woodruff
pitching up to their capabilities. With McGill and what he's
done the first time All Star this year, and the
way they play defense, the way they're so athletic, the
way they move the chains, and yet they have the
(03:58):
veterans like Christian Yell that can also carry the team.
I think this team is a little bit different. I
think this team has a better ceiling just because of
how deep they are. And again and I think, I
think Pat Murphy has just done a brilliant job with
this group. They're very close. They can beat you in
so many different ways, right, and you know Bryce Terank
(04:18):
can make a diving play up the middle, uh to
win your game. Durbin's jerseys dirty by the national anthem.
They're just knit. There's grit, there's it's a complete team.
So I actually like this team a lot better than
any Brewer team since Sabbathia was on the bump.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
Everyone loves when Cec was pitching those games with the
Brewers because he pitched on two days resting, went nine
innings every time, Jim, So it's tough to fault anybody.
Oh hey, Cec, go throw a shut up. Okay, guys,
I pitched, Go do it again. Okay, I'll do that.
I mean, that's pretty tough to beat that. Speaking of
CC one of his other teams, I thought you were
talking about the Yankees and we were talking about a
complete team athleticism, well managed, pitching, defense, all. Oh wait, no,
(05:00):
you were not talking about them. What's going on in
the Yankee lamb? And who's to blame? I keep saying,
it's not Aaron Boon's fault. He's given a roster, he
does the best he can, he stands up for his players.
But who's really to blame for Yankee woes?
Speaker 2 (05:11):
Well, first of all, you're completely right about it not
being on Aaron Boone, who, by the way, is a
defending American League champion manager and not only managed into
the World Series last year. But you know, look, this
team is built on their offense and more I guess
better said their power right, their first in the American
League and run scored, they lead Major League Baseball and homers,
(05:33):
they lead Major League Baseball and slug We know Aaron
Judge has most to do with that, But the fact is,
as a team, that's not the part of the team
we're worried about that. That part's good. It's how they
win games. They have to win with their power, but
they can do that. But then we get to the
pitching part, and I'm looking for Garrett Cole but oh,
I guess he had Tommy John surgery. Oh I was
looking for Clark Schmidt. He's not there. I didn't get
(05:56):
to see Lewis heel in the first half. Marcus Stroman
got released, and there's seventeenth and TmrA. The starting pitching
is tenth because you know, when you have freedom, you
have Rodon and now heelback's that's okay, and the kids
a pitch well, right, Schuittler has been really good for them,
which is a positive sign. Will Warren pitch great last night.
So the starting pitching kind of gives you a shot.
(06:18):
And then we go to the pen, which has been
a huge problem. Right they're twenty second in baseball and
TMRI back there. Devin Williams has been a nightmare as
we all know. But GM Brian Cashman does what he
always does. He stepped up of the deadline, went and
got David Bednar and made some other moves to try
to fortify it defensively. As you guys know, it's not
a good defensive team, right, It's in the middle of
(06:39):
the pack no matter how you want to break down.
They're not very athletic, they're kind of one dimensional offensively,
and they're a team that you know, maybe gets a
wild card and maybe goes home. It's kind of a
it's kind of a borderline team right now, it's going
to come down to pitching, and that's that's gonna be
the focus. They're gonna have enough offense, the defenses are
going to be great. But at the same time, how
(07:01):
do you pitch the rest of the way. He's going
to determine if they're a playoff team and how far
they go. But to sit there and blame any of
this on the manager's foolish. I love the way he
stands up for the players, and by the way, behind
the scenes, he's a pretty good communicator, and you know
he'll get tough on a player in his office one
on one. But he doesn't embarrass players, right, not publicly
and not privately does he embarrass him. He's done a
(07:25):
great job and as I said, American League champion. But
we all know what it's like in New York, right
if you're not in first place, everyone needs to be fired.
I remember coming home from the World Series game in
New York in the taxi cab and the cab driver goes,
you know, if we don't win tonight, boom boone's gonna
get fired. He's gotta go. It's like, okay, okay, enough.
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(08:44):
surf Shark today. JB. That was not a perfect roster
last year. That was evident, right, that was a clunky
roster that Aaron bood led to a world series. And
also we know the front offices have as much, if
not a bigger impact than ever on our sport. Right
help on some sides to side lineups they script games
the whole deal. So my follow up here, because I'm
(09:06):
getting into many debates with Yankee fans, including some right
now that are in our YouTube chat, revolves around Devin Williams.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
Two parter for you.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
One, do you fall to any of the usage Like
I believe it was Friday's game when Boonie said afterward
he can't really find a soft landing spine. You got
to use your relievers. So essentially it's like, unless you're
cutting this guy, you got to put him in some
games if they're all tight games. That's the first portion.
The second portion I'm getting into right now with a
fan who's who wanted to ask you why they didn't
(09:34):
trade Devin Williams at the deadline, and he said, they
already have two closes they brought in, why would they
have another? So can you explain how teams like to
gather high leverage relievers. And also, if Devin Williams was
that broken that a contender's trading him away, then what
team would even want him at that point?
Speaker 2 (09:49):
Yeah, they're not gonna want them. And look, when you
have a talent like Devin Williams that has a bugs
bunny change up, you know, you're hoping you can get
him back on track. You know, we've seen a lot
of relievers go through bad slumps and all of a
sudden they figured out and they can be dominant. We
have six weeks left in the season. But I think
there's an argument that sometimes Devin Williams has been brought
(10:11):
into games where you know, I probably would have done
something differently, right, I mean, you got to win, and
I can't sit there and hope that I'm going to
get the Devin Williams of last year. I have to
understand that I had the Devin Williams of this year,
and I have to use them accordingly. I mean, that's
why it was great that Cash went on got Bednar.
You've got your closer. Now Bednar could be that guy.
(10:33):
Weaver can get to him. And yeah, there's gonna be
games where you know, you have to use Devin Williams
in high leverage just because that's you know, he's one
of thirteen guys and everyone's got to be used. But yeah,
I think you can manage that. But look that this
Yankee team is flawed, but it's still as a team
that could get to the playoffs, and they're going to
have to earn it. And let's wait and see.
Speaker 4 (10:55):
We talked about the Yankees, Let's talk about two other
teams with high expectations, the Mets and the Dodgers. I mean,
the Dodgers are only one game in front.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
The Mets have.
Speaker 4 (11:03):
Fallen well well behind, six games behind the Phillies at
this point. Which one has the better opportunity? Well, the
first of all, I'm asking you this, do you think
the Dodgers will win the division? And then if they
get to the playoffs, do you think the Dodgers by
far have a better chance to make a deep run
over the Mets.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
I think they have a better chance to run a
deeper run than the Mets. But I think the Padres
win the division, so kind of kind of go through that.
And I worry a little bit about the Mets rotation.
I think they'll turn things around. They're not where they
won to nine in their last ten. I know they're
not playing well. And I'll ask you this, AJ, what
do you do when your star players aren't hitting right?
(11:42):
Alonzo last games hitting one ninety, Lindner hitting one sixty eight,
Nimo's hitting two oh five in the last twenty games.
I mean I'll ask you, what do you do to
turn and a Roundron Soto is hitting two o two
in the last twenty games. Those are your star players.
So normally when one slumps, the others are carrying you.
And now all of a sudden, none of them are
at the same time. I mean, my guess is they're
(12:03):
going to turn it around and get hot, and then
they'll win eight out of nine and turn things around.
But I'll ask you, how do you how do you
fix those guys when in August they've had a twenty
game slump?
Speaker 4 (12:15):
Bench them be them all, gimp, send them down, no
trade up. No, no, Well there used to be Mark
Grace used to have a great idea, but we can't
do that anymore. So I honestly don't know.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
I don't.
Speaker 4 (12:31):
You just hope they all get hot, because, like you said, normally,
they don't all get cold at the same time. So yeah,
I just I'm just I'm going to go back to
the other thing you said. Do you think the Padres
are going to win the West? How disappointing for Dodger fans,
Dodger organization, Dodger everything if the Padres somehow win the West.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Yeah, of course, I think a couple couple of things.
With the Padres, they made the back end of that
bullpen so ridiculously dominant that if they get into the seventh,
eight to ninth with the Dodgers, and they're going to
play him two weekends in a row, this weekend in
La the next weekend in San Diego, and this is
going to be playoff baseball in August. I can't wait.
I'm so excited for this. But that bullpen, you know
(13:12):
you watched them last night, right when you get Miller
and Sorez in those last two aning ball games over
and so in that strata's dominant, Adam's dominant. I mean,
that bullpen is so deep and strong, and it's so
much better than the Dodgers, and I think that's going
to be a huge factor. The other thing is the Dodgers' rotation.
It's good, it's solid, some of it's getting healthier, but
(13:33):
they're not as elite. And on the other side, King
just came off the il. We'll see how he looks
at his second start off. Darvis last night looked great.
He was throwing his twelve pitches, including in the kitchen sink,
didn't walk anybody, punched out six and looked really good.
And then you know, the biggest problem with the Padres
has been the bottom third of the lineup. You know,
(13:55):
just wasn't producing all year. AJ Preler went out the
deadline and said, no problem, here's Ramon Loriano, no problem,
here's Ryan O'Hearn, right, And all of a sudden, Lewis
Arrise has gotten hot after a relatively slow start even
for him, and now you're getting production up and down
the lineup been. In fact, in the last twenty days,
Xander Bogartz has been their best power hitter. Right, He's
(14:17):
got five home runs over that time to lead the team.
So their lineup now top, the bottom is there, and
the bullpen is unbelievable, and of course the vibe at
Petco is tremendous as well. So yeah, I think it's
gonna be a fun raise between the Padres and Dodgers.
I think it'll go to the end. I'm gonna pick
the Padres to win because of the bullpen and the
(14:38):
depth of the lineup now, which I think AJ corrected.
And then in terms of the nets, look, I think
they get the last spot over the Reds because I
think they're not as bad as what they're showing right now,
and I think they'll they'll turn around. I think they're
better than Cincinnati because the lineup should be much better
than Cincinnati's, and I think that'll be the difference down
(14:59):
the stretch. But in the postseason, if I had to
rank the playoff teams, if the Mets get that six spot,
I would rank them six out of the playoff teams.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
All right, you said about the Dodgers not winning the West.
You know it's gonna be close. But isn't that the
worst case scenario in the sense that a team that
wants to play the least amount of games because their
team that's built around a lot of guys that get hurt,
needing to play an extra wildcard series could be the
worst case scenario for them. And did the Dodgers go
(15:31):
to all in on guys that are essentially injury risks
and now they could be up against needing to play
extra games to get to where they want to be.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
Yeah, I think that's fair. I mean, you know, Andrew
Friedman has always tried to offset those risks by building
so much depth, right, I mean to think of the
injuries they've had to twelve starters and now to still
be in first place today, I mean, how many teams
could ever do that, right, especially when names that were
down were like Snell and glass now and Sasaki and
(16:04):
you're still in first place today. That's that's incredible. So
they've tried to build it with depth. And you know
the one thing that Dodgers just need to make sure
is that their starting pitchers are healthy come October, that
their big guys are ready to go, and then they
can clearly, you know, possibly run the table here. They
can afford to make those gambling risks that most teams can't.
(16:27):
They can keep signing injury prone guys just because they
can spend whatever they want. They don't have a salary cap,
they don't have a limit. They don't have a problem
spending three hundred million more than the Marlins this year
on payroll because they can. And if you can, why not.
So yeah, I mean, but yeah, I think health is
going to play a big part of how far the
(16:47):
Dodgers go when they get to October. They'll get there
even as a maybe as a wild card team, but
playing the extra round with injury risk players, sure that's
going to be a factor.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
Yeah, It's funny we said the same thing last year
because was not a shiny rotation and they won a
World Series. I would make the case the Padres are
stronger this year. The Phillies are stronger this year, so
it'll be a tough competition for them.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
But JB.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
Good catching up with you. JB.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Yeah, you have crouchouts.
Speaker 4 (17:13):
We need to do JB's hoodie. So what's what's the
hoodie today? Because I don't see a giant name brand.
Speaker 3 (17:18):
On that one.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
Yeah, we're just alo today, AJ that that's my goat.
When the going gets tough, I just grab an aloe. Okay,
it's good. I actually had another one on. It was purple.
My wife said I look fatin, so she made me change.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
DUPD sweatshirt. Hey.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
Hey, she's a wonderful lady, so we give her all
of the credit in the world, right, JB. She's only
got your back, She's looking out for you. Yes, exactly,
And I love the black. It looks good.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
They kill you, JB.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Good stuff. We'll catch you soon.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
Okay, sounds good.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
I was going back and forth with Stephen in the
chat during that conversation with JB. The question we didn't
get to of his was about the Mets. He said,
do you think that David Stearns will go after those
big money Ace Bulldog guys in future off seasons? That's
one of his things. He likes to avoid that. He
doesn't believe in it. But I just wonder, Krats, when
(18:13):
you spend so much on your team that's going to
hurt you, is it worth taking that risk every once
in a while. Frankie Montas has been an absolute disaster
contract And I get it. It's not burning them. It's
two years, thirty four million. I mean, for other teams
it could really hurt. That's seventeen million dollars on a
guy who hasn't pitched much this year and has been
(18:33):
really bad since he returned. Those are the kind of
guys that they hope they sprinkle a little Jeremy Hefner
magic dust on and he turns into a star and
some of them work. Not saying don't do that. I'm
just saying they're not all going to work. And if
you have a year like last year and then this
year a few of them don't pan out, boom here
you are.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (18:52):
I mean, I think I don't think they'll I don't
know I guess. I guess if this year doesn't pan
out the way he wants it to, maybe he'll revisit it.
But there's contracts that are not the Frankie Montas sized
contracts and not the Corbyn Burns contracts. There's stuff in
the middle, like if you remember Zach Wheeler came over
to the Phillies a few years ago for you know,
(19:14):
one hundred million. I think he'll dip his toe in there.
But some guys just really are afraid of that six
to eight year contract for thirty five to forty million
may have to change though, because you need that horse.
You need a guy every five days to give everybody
in a pan of blow yep.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
I should have signed Foravetta.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
Hey.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
We have some stat Cast numbers that were pointed out. Man,
I forget who tweeted it, but it was pretty cool.
Oh here Red sox Enjoyer I think was the one
who put out some of the all timers stat Cast numbers.
So I think the stat cast era is since twenty fifteen.
I want to say, you know, it's funny we used
to not be allowed to say stat castra. They wanted
(19:59):
us to say since stat cast started or something.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
Like that.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
Yeah, it was a MLB thing.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
I didn't ask. Anyway, we can show you some of
the red and who's on the leader board if we
have it there. It is Batting run value judge from
twenty four Billy Hamilton still has the top base running
value number from twenty sixteen. Fielding run value number is
Posey in twenty sixteen. Most out out above average range
(20:26):
wise Nick Ahmed twenty eighteen. Thirty four plus thirty four.
Arm value was Adam Eaton in twenty sixteen. Armed strength
was O'Neil Cruz. Last year sprint speed Byron Buxton in
twenty fifteen, tied with Victor Roeblace in twenty seventeen. I
don't have time to read all of the others on here,
but a lot of Aaron Judge and Luis Arise Arise
(20:47):
for contact Judge for strength. What do you guys think?
Speaker 3 (20:53):
I'm trying to look at the one that Alex Avila
is on La sweet Spot.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
Launching Laundjangle sweet Spot.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
So that's good.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
I guess I think it's going, but I think it's cool.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
But it's not anything. It's not anything we didn't know.
That's why I was looking at all that stuff like
it's like, yeah, you knew those guys were all going
to be at the top. I didn't know when That's cool.
Was the Byron Buckson. We talked about it the other day.
Byron Buckson's just more faster than Simpson.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Yeah, than Chandler Simpson. That's true.
Front Office, unfiltered resident GM Jim Bowden joining us right now, JB.
I actually want to start with a statement for you,
just like our old days when we still host some
radio shows together. So I'm just gonna start with this statement.
The game is broken, JB. It is broken. We have
the smallest TV market in Major League Baseball with by
far the best record in baseball. This is exactly what
(00:30):
everyone said all off season long, JB. Everyone was like,
it's so unfair. The smallest TV markets always are the best.
It's not fair that the Dodgers always stink. They get
to spend all the money and yet they're looking behind
them and the Padres might catch them. Oh wait, that's
not anything that we said. Most people said, one hundred
and twenty wins for the Dodgers. No one else has
a chance. Small markets have no chance. Oh wait, maybe
(00:53):
the Brewers are just run well. So what do you
think about where we're at as a sport in mid August.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Yeah, it's been exciting, hasn't it. The fact that we
have so many middle of small market teams that are
in the middle of a race. It's been a lot
of fun. And as you mentioned, the Milwaukee Brewers. I mean,
they have been the best team in baseball, and it's
been really fun to watch, right, the first team since
twenty nineteen to put together two ten game winning streaks
in the same season, Like that's just incredible. And yet
(01:18):
you look at their team and you understand why they
have three number one starters. Right. Freddy Peralta, who faces
Paul Skins today, has thirteen wins and a three o ERA.
Before Missarowski got hurt, he had four and one with
a two seven ERA, and Brandon Woodruff looks like the
ace was before he got hurt. He's four and oh
with a two two ERA, and oh, by the way,
(01:38):
the fourth starter, Jose Cantana, has ten wins in a
three four ERA, and Quinn Priestra has eleven wins and
a three four ERA, and oh, by the way, they
have an impact closer and Trevor McGill who's converted twenty
eight to thirty one save opportunities with a two to
two ERA, and oh, we'll talk about the offense fifth
in baseball and run score second in stolen bases, and
(01:59):
depending on what the defensive metrics you like, they're either
fourth or fifth or sixth. Right, pick your poison whatever
you want, but this is a complete team. Their manager
Pat Murphy's done unbelievable job. Their GM, Matt Arnold is
the reigning executive of the Year in Major League Baseball.
It's a small market team that is going out there
and is legitimately has a chance to not only win
(02:20):
this division, but get to the World Series and maybe
win the World Series. So it's been great for baseball.
It's a lot of fun to watch in the vibe
that's going on in Milwaukee is just sick.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
I love it if you're the GM of this team.
Besides like saying, hey, these guys are winning, like I'm
just gonna let them, let them do what they do.
You've lost. Matt Arnold's been there before when David Stearns
was there, and this team just bows out in the playoffs.
Is there some kind of message that you're sending down saying, hey, okay, analytically,
we need to make sure that our manager makes this
(02:53):
adjustment because in the playoffs this hasn't worked because all
those names that you just said, it's all the same numbers,
just rinse and recycle different names. Besides Freddy Peralta in
Big WU, like it's a new closer. They've had the
best closer for the last six years in baseball. Like
it's just constantly they're just rinsing new names in. But
they haven't been able to push it through in the playoffs.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Yeah, that is true. And you know, I think when
we go back and we look at the ccs of
Atthew days when he was pitching on two in three
days rest just to go out there and try to win.
And then we had the run when they had Hater
and they were babying him, right, they weren't pushing the
envelope with him, which you know, maybe not caused them
a chance to get there. But I think this particular
(03:37):
team is a little bit different than the rest. I mean,
when you have three guys of Paralta, Mazerowski, and Woodruff
pitching up to their capabilities. With McGill and what he's
done the first time All Star this year, and the
way they play defense, the way they're so athletic, the
way they move the chains, and yet they have the
(03:58):
veterans like Christian Yell that can also carry the team.
I think this team is a little bit different. I
think this team has a better ceiling just because of
how deep they are. And again and I think, I
think Pat Murphy has just done a brilliant job with
this group. They're very close. They can beat you in
so many different ways, right, and you know Bryce Terank
(04:18):
can make a diving play up the middle, uh to
win your game. Durbin's jerseys dirty by the national anthem.
They're just knit. There's grit, there's it's a complete team.
So I actually like this team a lot better than
any Brewer team since Sabbathia was on the bump.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
Everyone loves when Cec was pitching those games with the
Brewers because he pitched on two days resting, went nine
innings every time, Jim, So it's tough to fault anybody.
Oh hey, Cec, go throw a shut up. Okay, guys,
I pitched, Go do it again. Okay, I'll do that.
I mean, that's pretty tough to beat that. Speaking of
CC one of his other teams, I thought you were
talking about the Yankees and we were talking about a
complete team athleticism, well managed, pitching, defense, all. Oh wait, no,
(05:00):
you were not talking about them. What's going on in
the Yankee lamb? And who's to blame? I keep saying,
it's not Aaron Boon's fault. He's given a roster, he
does the best he can, he stands up for his players.
But who's really to blame for Yankee woes?
Speaker 2 (05:11):
Well, first of all, you're completely right about it not
being on Aaron Boone, who, by the way, is a
defending American League champion manager and not only managed into
the World Series last year. But you know, look, this
team is built on their offense and more I guess
better said their power right, their first in the American
League and run scored, they lead Major League Baseball and homers,
(05:33):
they lead Major League Baseball and slug We know Aaron
Judge has most to do with that, But the fact is,
as a team, that's not the part of the team
we're worried about that. That part's good. It's how they
win games. They have to win with their power, but
they can do that. But then we get to the
pitching part, and I'm looking for Garrett Cole but oh,
I guess he had Tommy John surgery. Oh I was
looking for Clark Schmidt. He's not there. I didn't get
(05:56):
to see Lewis heel in the first half. Marcus Stroman
got released, and there's seventeenth and TmrA. The starting pitching
is tenth because you know, when you have freedom, you
have Rodon and now heelback's that's okay, and the kids
a pitch well, right, Schuittler has been really good for them,
which is a positive sign. Will Warren pitch great last night.
So the starting pitching kind of gives you a shot.
(06:18):
And then we go to the pen, which has been
a huge problem. Right they're twenty second in baseball and
TMRI back there. Devin Williams has been a nightmare as
we all know. But GM Brian Cashman does what he
always does. He stepped up of the deadline, went and
got David Bednar and made some other moves to try
to fortify it defensively. As you guys know, it's not
a good defensive team, right, It's in the middle of
(06:39):
the pack no matter how you want to break down.
They're not very athletic, they're kind of one dimensional offensively,
and they're a team that you know, maybe gets a
wild card and maybe goes home. It's kind of a
it's kind of a borderline team right now, it's going
to come down to pitching, and that's that's gonna be
the focus. They're gonna have enough offense, the defenses are
going to be great. But at the same time, how
(07:01):
do you pitch the rest of the way. He's going
to determine if they're a playoff team and how far
they go. But to sit there and blame any of
this on the manager's foolish. I love the way he
stands up for the players, and by the way, behind
the scenes, he's a pretty good communicator, and you know
he'll get tough on a player in his office one
on one. But he doesn't embarrass players, right, not publicly
and not privately does he embarrass him. He's done a
(07:25):
great job and as I said, American League champion. But
we all know what it's like in New York, right
if you're not in first place, everyone needs to be fired.
I remember coming home from the World Series game in
New York in the taxi cab and the cab driver goes,
you know, if we don't win tonight, boom boone's gonna
get fired. He's gotta go. It's like, okay, okay, enough.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
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(08:44):
surf Shark today. JB. That was not a perfect roster
last year. That was evident, right, that was a clunky
roster that Aaron bood led to a world series. And
also we know the front offices have as much, if
not a bigger impact than ever on our sport. Right
help on some sides to side lineups they script games
the whole deal. So my follow up here, because I'm
(09:06):
getting into many debates with Yankee fans, including some right
now that are in our YouTube chat, revolves around Devin Williams.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
Two parter for you.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
One, do you fall to any of the usage Like
I believe it was Friday's game when Boonie said afterward
he can't really find a soft landing spine. You got
to use your relievers. So essentially it's like, unless you're
cutting this guy, you got to put him in some
games if they're all tight games. That's the first portion.
The second portion I'm getting into right now with a
fan who's who wanted to ask you why they didn't
(09:34):
trade Devin Williams at the deadline, and he said, they
already have two closes they brought in, why would they
have another? So can you explain how teams like to
gather high leverage relievers. And also, if Devin Williams was
that broken that a contender's trading him away, then what
team would even want him at that point?
Speaker 2 (09:49):
Yeah, they're not gonna want them. And look, when you
have a talent like Devin Williams that has a bugs
bunny change up, you know, you're hoping you can get
him back on track. You know, we've seen a lot
of relievers go through bad slumps and all of a
sudden they figured out and they can be dominant. We
have six weeks left in the season. But I think
there's an argument that sometimes Devin Williams has been brought
(10:11):
into games where you know, I probably would have done
something differently, right, I mean, you got to win, and
I can't sit there and hope that I'm going to
get the Devin Williams of last year. I have to
understand that I had the Devin Williams of this year,
and I have to use them accordingly. I mean, that's
why it was great that Cash went on got Bednar.
You've got your closer. Now Bednar could be that guy.
(10:33):
Weaver can get to him. And yeah, there's gonna be
games where you know, you have to use Devin Williams
in high leverage just because that's you know, he's one
of thirteen guys and everyone's got to be used. But yeah,
I think you can manage that. But look that this
Yankee team is flawed, but it's still as a team
that could get to the playoffs, and they're going to
have to earn it. And let's wait and see.
Speaker 4 (10:55):
We talked about the Yankees, Let's talk about two other
teams with high expectations, the Mets and the Dodgers. I mean,
the Dodgers are only one game in front.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
The Mets have.
Speaker 4 (11:03):
Fallen well well behind, six games behind the Phillies at
this point. Which one has the better opportunity? Well, the
first of all, I'm asking you this, do you think
the Dodgers will win the division? And then if they
get to the playoffs, do you think the Dodgers by
far have a better chance to make a deep run
over the Mets.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
I think they have a better chance to run a
deeper run than the Mets. But I think the Padres
win the division, so kind of kind of go through that.
And I worry a little bit about the Mets rotation.
I think they'll turn things around. They're not where they
won to nine in their last ten. I know they're
not playing well. And I'll ask you this, AJ, what
do you do when your star players aren't hitting right?
(11:42):
Alonzo last games hitting one ninety, Lindner hitting one sixty eight,
Nimo's hitting two oh five in the last twenty games.
I mean I'll ask you, what do you do to
turn and a Roundron Soto is hitting two o two
in the last twenty games. Those are your star players.
So normally when one slumps, the others are carrying you.
And now all of a sudden, none of them are
at the same time. I mean, my guess is they're
(12:03):
going to turn it around and get hot, and then
they'll win eight out of nine and turn things around.
But I'll ask you, how do you how do you
fix those guys when in August they've had a twenty
game slump?
Speaker 4 (12:15):
Bench them be them all, gimp, send them down, no
trade up. No, no, Well there used to be Mark
Grace used to have a great idea, but we can't
do that anymore. So I honestly don't know.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
I don't.
Speaker 4 (12:31):
You just hope they all get hot, because, like you said, normally,
they don't all get cold at the same time. So yeah,
I just I'm just I'm going to go back to
the other thing you said. Do you think the Padres
are going to win the West? How disappointing for Dodger fans,
Dodger organization, Dodger everything if the Padres somehow win the West.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Yeah, of course, I think a couple couple of things.
With the Padres, they made the back end of that
bullpen so ridiculously dominant that if they get into the seventh,
eight to ninth with the Dodgers, and they're going to
play him two weekends in a row, this weekend in
La the next weekend in San Diego, and this is
going to be playoff baseball in August. I can't wait.
I'm so excited for this. But that bullpen, you know
(13:12):
you watched them last night, right when you get Miller
and Sorez in those last two aning ball games over
and so in that strata's dominant, Adam's dominant. I mean,
that bullpen is so deep and strong, and it's so
much better than the Dodgers, and I think that's going
to be a huge factor. The other thing is the Dodgers' rotation.
It's good, it's solid, some of it's getting healthier, but
(13:33):
they're not as elite. And on the other side, King
just came off the il. We'll see how he looks
at his second start off. Darvis last night looked great.
He was throwing his twelve pitches, including in the kitchen sink,
didn't walk anybody, punched out six and looked really good.
And then you know, the biggest problem with the Padres
has been the bottom third of the lineup. You know,
(13:55):
just wasn't producing all year. AJ Preler went out the
deadline and said, no problem, here's Ramon Loriano, no problem,
here's Ryan O'Hearn, right, And all of a sudden, Lewis
Arrise has gotten hot after a relatively slow start even
for him, and now you're getting production up and down
the lineup been. In fact, in the last twenty days,
Xander Bogartz has been their best power hitter. Right, He's
(14:17):
got five home runs over that time to lead the team.
So their lineup now top, the bottom is there, and
the bullpen is unbelievable, and of course the vibe at
Petco is tremendous as well. So yeah, I think it's
gonna be a fun raise between the Padres and Dodgers.
I think it'll go to the end. I'm gonna pick
the Padres to win because of the bullpen and the
(14:38):
depth of the lineup now, which I think AJ corrected.
And then in terms of the nets, look, I think
they get the last spot over the Reds because I
think they're not as bad as what they're showing right now,
and I think they'll they'll turn around. I think they're
better than Cincinnati because the lineup should be much better
than Cincinnati's, and I think that'll be the difference down
(14:59):
the stretch. But in the postseason, if I had to
rank the playoff teams, if the Mets get that six spot,
I would rank them six out of the playoff teams.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
All right, you said about the Dodgers not winning the West.
You know it's gonna be close. But isn't that the
worst case scenario in the sense that a team that
wants to play the least amount of games because their
team that's built around a lot of guys that get hurt,
needing to play an extra wildcard series could be the
worst case scenario for them. And did the Dodgers go
(15:31):
to all in on guys that are essentially injury risks
and now they could be up against needing to play
extra games to get to where they want to be.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
Yeah, I think that's fair. I mean, you know, Andrew
Friedman has always tried to offset those risks by building
so much depth, right, I mean to think of the
injuries they've had to twelve starters and now to still
be in first place today, I mean, how many teams
could ever do that, right, especially when names that were
down were like Snell and glass now and Sasaki and
(16:04):
you're still in first place today. That's that's incredible. So
they've tried to build it with depth. And you know
the one thing that Dodgers just need to make sure
is that their starting pitchers are healthy come October, that
their big guys are ready to go, and then they
can clearly, you know, possibly run the table here. They
can afford to make those gambling risks that most teams can't.
(16:27):
They can keep signing injury prone guys just because they
can spend whatever they want. They don't have a salary cap,
they don't have a limit. They don't have a problem
spending three hundred million more than the Marlins this year
on payroll because they can. And if you can, why not.
So yeah, I mean, but yeah, I think health is
going to play a big part of how far the
(16:47):
Dodgers go when they get to October. They'll get there
even as a maybe as a wild card team, but
playing the extra round with injury risk players, sure that's
going to be a factor.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
Yeah, It's funny we said the same thing last year
because was not a shiny rotation and they won a
World Series. I would make the case the Padres are
stronger this year. The Phillies are stronger this year, so
it'll be a tough competition for them.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
But JB.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
Good catching up with you. JB.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Yeah, you have crouchouts.
Speaker 4 (17:13):
We need to do JB's hoodie. So what's what's the
hoodie today? Because I don't see a giant name brand.
Speaker 3 (17:18):
On that one.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
Yeah, we're just alo today, AJ that that's my goat.
When the going gets tough, I just grab an aloe. Okay,
it's good. I actually had another one on. It was purple.
My wife said I look fatin, so she made me change.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
DUPD sweatshirt. Hey.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
Hey, she's a wonderful lady, so we give her all
of the credit in the world, right, JB. She's only
got your back, She's looking out for you. Yes, exactly,
And I love the black. It looks good.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
They kill you, JB.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Good stuff. We'll catch you soon.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
Okay, sounds good.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
I was going back and forth with Stephen in the
chat during that conversation with JB. The question we didn't
get to of his was about the Mets. He said,
do you think that David Stearns will go after those
big money Ace Bulldog guys in future off seasons? That's
one of his things. He likes to avoid that. He
doesn't believe in it. But I just wonder, Krats, when
(18:13):
you spend so much on your team that's going to
hurt you, is it worth taking that risk every once
in a while. Frankie Montas has been an absolute disaster
contract And I get it. It's not burning them. It's
two years, thirty four million. I mean, for other teams
it could really hurt. That's seventeen million dollars on a
guy who hasn't pitched much this year and has been
(18:33):
really bad since he returned. Those are the kind of
guys that they hope they sprinkle a little Jeremy Hefner
magic dust on and he turns into a star and
some of them work. Not saying don't do that. I'm
just saying they're not all going to work. And if
you have a year like last year and then this
year a few of them don't pan out, boom here
you are.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (18:52):
I mean, I think I don't think they'll I don't
know I guess. I guess if this year doesn't pan
out the way he wants it to, maybe he'll revisit it.
But there's contracts that are not the Frankie Montas sized
contracts and not the Corbyn Burns contracts. There's stuff in
the middle, like if you remember Zach Wheeler came over
to the Phillies a few years ago for you know,
(19:14):
one hundred million. I think he'll dip his toe in there.
But some guys just really are afraid of that six
to eight year contract for thirty five to forty million
may have to change though, because you need that horse.
You need a guy every five days to give everybody
in a pan of blow yep.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
I should have signed Foravetta.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
Hey.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
We have some stat Cast numbers that were pointed out. Man,
I forget who tweeted it, but it was pretty cool.
Oh here Red sox Enjoyer I think was the one
who put out some of the all timers stat Cast numbers.
So I think the stat cast era is since twenty fifteen.
I want to say, you know, it's funny we used
to not be allowed to say stat castra. They wanted
(19:59):
us to say since stat cast started or something.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
Like that.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
Yeah, it was a MLB thing.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
I didn't ask. Anyway, we can show you some of
the red and who's on the leader board if we
have it there. It is Batting run value judge from
twenty four Billy Hamilton still has the top base running
value number from twenty sixteen. Fielding run value number is
Posey in twenty sixteen. Most out out above average range
(20:26):
wise Nick Ahmed twenty eighteen. Thirty four plus thirty four.
Arm value was Adam Eaton in twenty sixteen. Armed strength
was O'Neil Cruz. Last year sprint speed Byron Buxton in
twenty fifteen, tied with Victor Roeblace in twenty seventeen. I
don't have time to read all of the others on here,
but a lot of Aaron Judge and Luis Arise Arise
(20:47):
for contact Judge for strength. What do you guys think?
Speaker 3 (20:53):
I'm trying to look at the one that Alex Avila
is on La sweet Spot.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
Launching Laundjangle sweet Spot.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
So that's good.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
I guess I think it's going, but I think it's cool.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
But it's not anything. It's not anything we didn't know.
That's why I was looking at all that stuff like
it's like, yeah, you knew those guys were all going
to be at the top. I didn't know when That's cool.
Was the Byron Buckson. We talked about it the other day.
Byron Buckson's just more faster than Simpson.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Yeah, than Chandler Simpson. That's true.
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