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June 14, 2024 • 80 mins
Stan Norfleet and Chris Gordy of Next Up preview the Houston Astros hosting the Detroit Tigers for a three-game series starting Friday. Stan and Chris also react to general manager Dana Brown's latest comments on the Astros attempting to get back in the division lead race, talk with Houston Chronicle writer Jonathan Alexander about the probable starters for the Texans in week one of the NFL season and more.
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(00:02):
Now what's next? Next up?It's the next man up, next up,
the next step, take the nextstep, next up, stop next,
next up. This team wants tobe next. This is next up
with Tad Northfleeten Chris Gordy. Let'ssee what's next next next? Feeling good,

(00:24):
feeling great on a Friday line fromthe Sports Talk seven ninety studios,
Nelton in between Uptown Park and riverOaks for the next two hours. This
is the number one sports talk showin Houston, all due respect. Next
up, Stan Fleet Me, ChrisGordy, him Connadie mcgovernn. What up.
He's on the other side of theglass. There, he's got the
run down. We're up on socialat Sports Talk seven ninety. Interesting Friday

(00:47):
thanks to Astros general manager Dana Browndropped by the Sewan Salisbury Show. Gordy
want to make sure that I salutethose guys. Thought Sean did a hell
of a job, as he doeseach and every week. A little different
schedule this week, but Dana Brownwas kind of enough to accommodate. Shawn
Salisbury, Brian Delima emmanual. Theydo a fantastic job. We wake up
and rock with them each and everyweekday morning six to ten am. Tons

(01:10):
of Astros conversation today as the Strollsare back in action tonight over at minute
May you'll get some astros on deckat the conclusion of the A team at
six, then we'll go into theAstros radio network, and then shortly after
seven we'll get first pitched Detroit Tigersin town for a three game series this
Father's Day weekend. Shout out toall the fathers and those that are like

(01:33):
myself operating in conjunction or instead ofDad's RP the popa fleet mission. Brother,
appreciate that. Chris Gordon, goodmorning to you. Maps. Will
they get swept tonight? Down upthe way forty five going to the North
Side Rockets NBA draft a couple weeksaway. We got to get a couple

(01:53):
of Rockets nuggets in and then Iwill seek relationship advice. Speaking of children
and the light. Good morning toyou, sir. You're rocking the orange
Astros jersey. Is that a precursor? So is that like your lucky Astro
jersey? How do you describe thisorange when you got on here? What
is that? Jordan Alvarez, thisis one of the newer This was the

(02:14):
Nike one when they started making ease, I had all the ones I had
prior to this were the majestic,remember those. But I woke up this
morning grateful to the Chicago White Sox. Shot out White Sox, they got
it done. So I was listeningto Ross and the Nightcap last night and
he was like, well, tomorrowwe're gonna wake up and the askers are
gonna be eight and a half backin the division. Blah blah blah.
Shout out White Sox. Avoid thesweep at the hands of the Mariners as

(02:38):
Emerson Hancock, former Georgia Bulldog,pitched well for the Mariners, went seven
innings, two runs allowed. ButMunyos, they're outstanding closer and ear of
one sixty one on the yar twelvesaves. They had some extra inning bad
luck stand in the White Sox.It us a three to two win over
the Mariners. Shout out White Soxhelping stop the bleeding a little bit here

(03:00):
and Astros stend just eight games backin the division where it could have been
a little bit worse this morning.So I'm thankful for Andres Muno's stinking.
I can't re I can't wait toreact to this Dana Brown audio, I'm
sorry, I just saw that.We posted it on the seven ninety side
blog and be up shortly. Yes, Astros game a half game, just

(03:20):
eight games back in the division.Steal seven games back from five hundred.
One of the things that Dana Brownsaid during the interview was in terms of
his thought process, He's saying thegoal right now for the team is get
the five hundred. You get thefive hundred, and then you're in position
to do all the other things thatthe Astros would like to do. To
start the show. What are yourexpectations for the Astros this Father's Day weekend?

(03:47):
When you look at who's scheduled totake the bump and I see Hunter
Brown tonight. I got justin Verlandon Saturday afternoon. We get Spencer Arraghetti
earlier on Sunday afternoon. Yeah,a few things here. You're going up
against the best pitcher in the AmericanLeague. Targ school Ball is the He

(04:08):
is the third best ERA in allof baseball, but number one in the
American League. He's the only AmericanLeague starter with an e RA sub two
in his whip like point nine toeight or something crazy and point eight nine
yeah, point eight nine. Solike school boys, cely not go yea.
Now, the Askers did face hima couple of weeks ago, and

(04:28):
as that game went on, theywere able to get a couple of runs
across on him. They it washe went six and a third and they
were able to get two runs offof him. But he did have seven
strikeouts and so he's tough. Now. On the flip side, Hodter Brown,
that was when he kind of startedto have his resurgence. Remember they
they they they brought him out ofthe bullpen in that game in Detroit,
and he's a Michigan kid and heyou know, it was it was you

(04:51):
know, he was happy to beback home. He had tons of family
and friends in the stands and itwas a game the Asker was lost,
but he came in to relief becausethat was game Javier like was terror It
was his first game back from theneck injury and he and he gave up
a ton of runs and Hunter Browncame in and kind of stabilize the things
and went five innings of one runball had seven strikeouts. So I think,

(05:13):
you know, look all things considered, like we said, hunder Brown
pitched well against this Detroit team acouple of weeks ago, so we'll see.
But really, if we're being realistic, Stan, your best bet is
against Jack Flaherty on Saturday, who'sgot pretty good numbers three twenty two ERA.
The kent to my EIGHTA on Sundayof five eighty nine e RA.
So, but you said, whatare expectations. Expectations have to be to
take two out of three. Imean, that's this whole month is expectations

(05:35):
should be. You know, wecan't get greedy and say sweeping teams,
but you gotta keep winning series.You gotta keep taking two out of three,
two out of three, and today'sgonna be your toughest challenge of this
series. Yeah, my expectations wouldnot be for the Houston Astros to win
a night. I just think it'sunfair to put Hunter Brown, who's had
some really bright spots. No disrespectto him, just calling the full resume

(05:58):
at his season. What it isnow next week in Chicago, but you
could go sweep the White Sox,you know, staying with Detroit school ball.
He's really good now, he's awesome. Yeah, he's really really good.
So expectations So I went back andlooked at as you just chronicled dead
how this thing went in Detroit?Where was this? I had it up
a few minutes ago. Nine,I can't find it. So I look

(06:20):
at the run production and I don'tknow why I can't find this. Gordon,
give me, you might have itin front of you. I don't
know why the control at Then theylost eight to two in the jave Aer
blow up game, and then theywon nine to three. So against this
same Detroit team you took two orthree in their place with from Berd you
mentioned Javier and JV. All right, cool, the bats were cracking.

(06:43):
You scored five runs in game one, school ball, you lost that when
you only scored two runs, andthen you come back in game three,
nine runs difference. Kyle Tucker notin the lineup tonight. We are still
awaiting to hear what's going on withyanniy Dz in terms of his return.
Dana Brown said this morn on it. Thankfully he didn't go on the IL.
All right, So how are wegoing to supplement that run production from

(07:06):
those two? I lean on AlexBragman on the fourteen game hit Streek,
Mauricio dubon seven game hit streak.I believe you have to be a part
of that. Jordan Alvarez has wokenup. He's not looking more like your
daddy. And then now Twove atsome point is going to get into a
groove and look more like himself.There's still plenty enough guys to put some

(07:26):
runs on the board here, evenwith Tuck and yannier Ds being outside of
the lineup. If you can taketwo from three. Having faced Schooball in
Detroit, I expect them to comehere a minute May where the Astros have
been playing much better this year asopposed to last. My expectation will be
they should win this series. Andlet me give a little love again to
Hunter Brown because again this playing theDetroit Tigers is the team he grew up

(07:47):
watching, and a lost team,it means a little something extra to him.
And like you said, pitts verywell in relief last time around when
he faced this team. And lookat Hunter Brown and his two starts so
far in them ofth to Junior again, he was much better. Remember April,
it was the disasters April. Theyhad that nine runs in that first
inning against the Royals. He hadan array of almost twelve in the month
of April. Got a lot betterin the month of May and era of

(08:09):
three forty two in four of hisfive starts a in May two runs or
less. He was awesome, andhis one bad start with four runs in
five innings, and ironically it washis first win of the season against Milwaukee
in that one. But look atus two starts so far in in June,
and again it's the Twins and theAngel so it's not like these are
star set of lineups, but oftwo twenty five in these two starts,

(08:33):
Hunter Brown has really turned a cornerman. And I can't say enough about
I mean, we were ready toin April. Remember when they sent a
bray you over to West Palm.We were joking, say take Hunter Brown
with you, like we were readythrow him under the bus. And so
I just think it's you can't talkenough about how much this kid has gotten
better and it's important they need himnow. It's not you know, it

(08:54):
was kind of a if Hunter Brownturns the corner now it's you have to
have him. And he's pitched sowell, and so that that's what you
hope tonight is that Hudder goes outthere and executes his pitchers pitches well,
but with scooball on the mound,this just feels like it's gonna be a
low scoring game. Jordan, hewas looking at you, kid. I
saw some All Star al All Starpredictors. Jordan Alvarez, his name was

(09:16):
in there. I saw Jose twoVay's name was in there, as was
Kyle Tucker. Jordan, June hasbeen good to him. Eleven games this
month, He's slashing three ninety fivefour to sixty nine, nine oh seven,
five home runs, five dubs,a trip and thirteen RBIs. That
exceeds his career slash line for June, says The Houston Chronicle. I also

(09:39):
mentioned Alex bregman fourteen game hit streetmatches a twenty seventeen run for the longest
of his career. He's batting threesixty four during this hit streak, taking
his average from two oh six andMay to two forty. Now it's gonna
have to be the bats, that'swhat That's what propelled them to victory in

(10:01):
the series in Detroit. I believeit's is what's going to propel them to
victory here at home. All right, come back, We'll take your phone
calls. On expectation set one,three, two, two, five,
seven ninety. Couple other Astros things. I want to get to Gordy as
the power rankings are out, andanother baseball man says, look out for
the Astros to make these moves aswe're approached to trade the inline next month.

(10:22):
Getting warmed up on a Friday.Next up Sports Talk seven ninety when
Fleet streets Houston listens. Yes,I have a great shot already a huge
France. I'm liking yourself. StatnOr Fleet ten Chris Gordy are next up
on Sports Talk seven ninety. Adversityis what makes him build your character.

(10:46):
I've been in this I've been withthis team for seven years, and I
believe in this group. Man.That's the best thing I can describe you.
You know, it hasn't been easy, but I know that we there's
a team that can do this.It's this club. Uh, the talent
of that group in that in thatroom, it's it's remarkable and and we

(11:09):
have to all continue to push together. You know, the the way we
are going about our business, ourpreparation are. You know, the guys
are playing their bought off. Youknow they're not They're not quitting and and
that's all we could ask about thisgroup. This is not about me and
how I feel my first year managingand things not turning around. And listen,

(11:31):
there's no there's no time here tofeel sorry for for anyone. We
just got to find a way toplay better, more consistent baseball and and
I and I know that we cando this. Appreciate at skipper Joe A.
Spotta echoing some of the same sentimentsthat was yesterday with Matt Thomas on

(11:52):
the Matt Thomas Show. He andRossberry A. He echoed the sentiments Gordy
of Dana Brown, who joined theSean Salisbury Show at nine thirty this morning.
We will repurpose some of that soundand uh pass through what Dana had
to say coming up any eleven o'clockhour taking your phone calls. Astros expectations
for this weekend three game set versusthe Detroit Tigers. They should come in

(12:15):
Gordon with confidence having beaten the Tigersin Detroit, they should come in with
confidence that the Tigers are also grantedjust two games under five hundred. Now,
yes, the Tigers are seventeen andsixteen away from Uh, what is
that Camerica that they're at so theyhad a rest day yesterday, they're at

(12:37):
home. I would expect the Astrosto take at least two of three.
Anything other than that is unacceptable.Now I'll ask one other thing or make
one other point before we go tothe phone lines seven one three two one
two five seven ninety. They haveto have a sense of urgency given where
they are, eight games back inat the Vision, seven games back,

(13:01):
you have to make it way herein the month of June. If they
don't, things get considerably more difficulthere with Baltimore coming up just after the
White Sox. We're talking next weekend. Yeah, it's it's go time,
man. I mean, it's frustrating. You've had a lot of close losses

(13:24):
games, You've been in games,you've had leads and let them blow away,
and those are gonna happen in thegrand scheme of things. But you
had such a bad start to theseason and dug yourself such a hole.
I mean, did it give Iknow they were ten games blow five hundred,
did it get worse? Saying Ithink it was twelve at one point
four at one point? So youknow, this thing got so bad and

(13:45):
yeah, that's it stands at sevenright now, and so yes, you've
made headway, but dude, like, I'm sorry, you got to you
gotta start. You gotta start thinkingwin, win, win, win every
night. And it's just you losea game four to three and ten innings,
you lose a game four to two, four to three, four to
two, two to one. Imean, I can't tell you, Stan,

(14:07):
It's like how many one run andtwo run losses they've had when you're
right there in the game, andthen once you've had the lead and blown
you got to come in with abetter mentality and say, we are winning
tonight. We are gonna find away to win. And I like what
they've done, at least recently withfinding ways of manufacturing runs. Like the
other day, Al two Vey,you know, you have the leadoff double,
you advance them over to second andl two veight grounds out and you

(14:28):
score the run. U the extrainning game the other night we had butt
singles moving runners over that that whatI'm sick of seeing is a runner with
a leadoff double or triple and heand he's wasted and he doesn't come home.
You got to keep finding ways toexecute and get runners home and manufacture
runs, and that's gonna be importanttonight against School. Well, but you're

(14:48):
right, the mentality has to beis go time. It's it's not panic
time, it's go time. It'scoming into the ballpark with the confidence in
yourself and we're gonna come out kicksmasks. Obviously winning the game whenever it
concludes is all that matters. Butspecific to the formula for the twenty twenty
four Astros, they routinely start slow, but if the game gets tight,

(15:13):
they don't win. If the gamegoes to extras, they don't win.
Even if they're leading after seven.I told you about the graphics Space City
on Network put up the other day. I'm gonna reference it in again here.
Now Astros have the first, second, third, fourth worst winning percentage
when tied or leading at the endof the seventh inning. So they got

(15:35):
like this finite ass window. Gordon, Well, they got to do their
work, and I would expect fortwo of these three games for that to
be the case. They just simplydon't have a choice. Again more Dana
Brown audio and you know, letme hear from a spot real quick.
I'm sorry I referenced that joege Spotof Matt Thomas Show yesterday mentioned where the
current state of things offer the Astrosand how to navigate this storm. There's

(15:58):
a process for evaluation us do everycoach, not only the manager, for
every individual in that in that room, players, coaches, pitching coaches,
hitting coaches, what can we dobest? And that's part of the process.
If if if it's second guessing,you call it second guesting. But
we need to self evaluate ourselves andhold each other accountable, and everyone does

(16:21):
that. I'm one of those guys. But my job is to continue to
ah remind our players how good thisteam is, how good we've been in
the past, and this this forumwe call past and and and and it
will there is no time to againto look back and then I wish I

(16:45):
would have done this because those gamesare over. That's in the past.
We need to look forward and continueto move forward and find ways to put
our players in our team in betterposition to win major league games. Thanks
Joe Spot on what Matt Thomas yesterday, He and Ross Virria Gordon, He
and Dana Brown, and that's whatmy thoughts went. Joege Spott and Dana

(17:07):
Brown come up with some new creativeways to simply reinforce their belief is in
back of the baseball car and historyof the franchise, that's it, or
the recent history of the franchise.They creatively. What did Dana Brown say
with Shawn this morning the grit ofthis team and he twenty four ashtros I
ain't seen a lot of grit.I ain't saying it's been all bad,

(17:30):
of course, but I'm like,hey, I just want better baseball to
be played. Well. What Idid, like with Dana said this morning
was he kept talking about He's like, this is a talented team and like
he said, the cream always risesto the to the top, Like there's
no way this team could keep losingand playing poorly over the course of one

(17:53):
sixty two. It's just it's notthere's too many damn talented guys. And
we've talked about this before, likewhat are the odds that Jordan Alvarez,
Alex Bregman, jose A Bray,like all these guys are just gonna have
the worst seasons they've ever had theircareers, Like it can't happen now,
they can all have the worst inaprils they've ever had. But like the
cream has to rise to the topsomebody, it has to level out.

(18:15):
Eventually they're going to go on arun. The question remains, has the
damage already been done through the firsttwo seasons. Injuries had something to do
with that, but poor performance isthe bulk of that. How much ground
will be left to be made upby the time we get there? And
I like the positive attitude. Imean, you got it. I guess
you got to have that from themanager in the GM, but I do

(18:37):
think there comes a point where youdo have to take a step back and
go, guys, this isn't acceptable. I mean, what I always think
back to is that twenty eleven Eaglesteam. Remember Dream Team, Dream Team.
They went eight and eight. Onpaper, that was one of the
most talented rosters in the NFL,but they didn't execute. And so I
think there's something to be said,like you can acknowledge on paper we are
super talented, but execution's part ofyou gotta go out and prove it.

(19:00):
Joe Spoder said there in that SoundBiteat the end, hold each other accountable.
Who does that? Start with?I don't believe Joe's doing that.
I don't believe Joe can do that. It's not Dana's place to do that.
But what does that mean? Holdsomebody account. We'll answer that question
on the other side, Sports Talkseven ninety and Homer Strokes Baseball, the
legendary k to the b tod Thisis next time stuff with Stan Northfleet and

(19:26):
Chris Gordy during this next stage onSports Talk seven ninety. Oh if that
was only the case, if Icould have whatever I like, I'd like
for the Astros to win this series. Detroit Tiger's in town. Appreciate you
guys hanging out with us. We'rehalf an hour into a Friday here.
Next up, name of the show, Stan Fleet, Gordon going to the

(19:48):
phone lines now seven one three twopoint two five, seven ninety. Expectations
for the Astros this weekend, Michaeland the Heights, Friend of the station,
Friend of the show, been holdingfor a while. Appreciate your patients
per usual. Go ahead, dog, Good morning, Hey man, Good
morning. All that Joe a Spotaaudio made me think of a joke.
Humor me, hear me, knockknock, who's Joe? Joe? Joe

(20:15):
ass is fired after this year,So you sucked? No man, Hey,
you are not alone though, Michaeland nice Red's all one of our
other listeners. My man Cope.On social he tagged me and Gordy.
He said, in my opinion,Stroes need a new, experienced voices manager.

(20:36):
So you are not alone that thereare some people not feeling Joe.
Yeah, man, I'm not feelingeither. But hey, let's play a
game. If you guys had todo it, what you guys can because
you have you need stuff to talkabout, because right now is almost the
dead time in sports. Right it'sreally only baseball is going to be popping
off because the Mavericks that are goingto gonna get swept. In my opinion,

(20:57):
if you had to make a bit, how many days if you couldn't
talk about the Astros until they werefive hundred? How many days do you
think that would be? How manyweeks do you think that would take for
them to get to five hundred andthen you can start talking about the Astros.
So I'm looking at an article inthe Athletic right now, and they
asked that question a different way.Gordy. The article says road to the

(21:21):
Astros to be five hundred by theAll Star break. I do not believe
the Houston Astros will be five hundredby the All Star break. It's a
tough ass now. I mean thethought was these last couple weeks you could
have chipped away again if you finishedthat game against the Angels, you finish
that game against the Giants. Imean they're probably sitting at five back right
now, and that's doable. Butyou know, eight is just a little

(21:42):
bit more too much to close thegap with the Mariners. But seven games
back of five hundred, just it'sgonna take. It's gonna take a sweep
or two to get there by thebreak. Appreciate your Michael, thank you
for holding brother. Still standing onthe phone lines. Let's go to al
on the south side. What up? Mygy cried to man. You know
I can't wait till tomorrow. Goget that picture. Oh you you saw

(22:04):
the picture. Now now you're excited. Yeah, put your own side.
You know what I'm saying. Yeah, put your put your own your Assros.
You won't be spotting all that borebecause you'll realizing they can't you make
ball for what saying the last halfyears. Yeah, so you know,
I'm how, I'm howh sumission,I'm okay, I'm cool with whatever.

(22:26):
Happened. I ain't down, Iain't too up. I'm cool with it,
because, man, this happens tothe best of them. We got
to quit this notion that for Astros, Iron steel Ball Club and this ain't
gonna never happen. One thing Johnalways said, and I hang up the
list. He said, one thingabout a loss, to show you where
your weakness is. That. Soguess what, when you get down and

(22:48):
don't win a division or whatever,it'll wake up their eyes in the front
office and show them, hey,this we can start needing doing because we
used to win it. Y'all havea good time. I appreciate you.
Add on the south side, somewherein the damn skating rink, who was
that zipping by on some mike?Didn't it sound like he was an ice
rinkers? I'm no, I soundlike cars gone by my man's outside.
Maybe he was doing secreunity service pickingup some tracks. So here's I wanna

(23:11):
Yeah, I want to comment onthat. So our's point is he appreciates
the run the Astros have been on. Okay, you get a blip in
the radar, not that big deal. You got so many you got so
much emotional currency. From the rideand the euphoria and and everything, I
look at it differently, although Iappreciate and respect the plight to get to

(23:33):
this point when you start, whenyou came out of spring training, the
team that took the field for theAstros in twenty four, all you can
ask for any team in any sporton any day is just to go play
up to the level commensurate or equalto your talent. When that doesn't happen,
and these twenty four Astros have notdone that, Gordon, it makes

(23:56):
me feel some type of way.If they were playing well, and I
know it's going to be ups anddowns, says Baseball, it's one sixty
two, but consistently, if theywere playing the way that Al two Bay
can play, if they were playingthe way that your noon normally plays,
if they were playing the way thatBregman normally plays, if Fromber was good
Fromber, if everything was how itnormally is, I don't know that I

(24:22):
would be saying barking as loud asI have been thus far. They haven't
been doing it, and there areseveral reasons why so. I just feel
differently about that emotional capital that theyhave in the bank. They got a
damn thing to do with twenty four. Yeah, I just again, I
want to see some bulldog mentality.I mean, I know it's about coming
to the to the ballpark every dayand going about your business and you can't

(24:45):
tell us you're on a five gamewin streak, a five game losing streaks
and mentality. But I just thisteam, Like I've been around this team
in the postseason every year, stayingand when they get to this postseason,
that team is focused. Bregman,you know, at times during the season
he's laughing and jokes and stuff,But when you get Bragmann postseason mode,
Bregman gets very serious when the mediatalks to him, Yeah, we're just

(25:06):
going out there trying to execut youknow, he gets very like there's some
guys you see the difference when thepostseason gets there, and I just almost
feel like they need to kind ofswitch to that mentality. You're not saying
you can't laugh and joke and beloose and that kind of thing. But
I just want to see that thatmentality from this team to say enough's enough.
We're coming to the ballpark today andwe're gonna whoop your ass, Like,
where're the Houston Astros. We're theteam that is played in the ALCS

(25:29):
for whatever seven straight years, Like, this is the team that we're supposed
to be, and forget who themanager is or the GM or whatever.
These players majority of this lineup waspart of the twenty twenty two World Series
team. Bring that mentality, andI guess sometimes, yeah, when you
have so much success, you reston your laurels, you feel like you've
achieved. You know, It's it'shard to come back to the ballpark every

(25:51):
day with that hunger. I alwaystalking about this in college football, like
the Aggie fan base is so hungrythey haven't had a championship. They're willing
to throw whatever it takes. Thisin the Alabama's those fans are kind of
like, you know, we winchampionships all the time. You know,
sometimes that that gets in your mindsetwhere you feel like, yeah, I've
done so much. Yeah I'd begreat to win another World Series, But
are you coming to that ballpark everyday with that same hunger and that same

(26:12):
mentality. I like what you saidthere. I think there is a level
and that's why I'm saying they shouldwin this series. Astros don't have any
excuses. I get it. Tuckis not gonna play. If you saw
him limping in San Francisco, Tuck'snot gonna go this weekend. That's me
saying that, Yannidy is we're waitingto hear with Stills. That being said,

(26:33):
there's still enough talent out there.You had an off day yesterday,
you're at home, right, youget JV deamar like, there's still enough
there to be highly competitive against aDetroit Tigers team that what are they in
the Central? I think they're inthird or fourth place in the Central where
they Detroit is in fourth place inthe Al Central. There are two games

(26:56):
under five hundred. This is awinnable series. I would expect the guys
to go out there and take careof business. What say you, I'm
gonna do this. Let's take thislast call. Gordon will break will come
back and want to talk about you'vegot a new name that come trade dead
line popped up? Phil and Marreland. Good morning, Yeah man, check

(27:17):
this out. Okay when the seasonfirst started, right, first game of
the season, what happened in thatgame? Do you recall the jumped out?
Yeah, we have a the astrojunk out to afford enough lead off
those East Coast bums and couldn't holdit. If they had held that lead,
it would like we always put theYankees even doing the season and in

(27:38):
the playoffs. That's what broke theirbacks. They could not hold their lead
in each game on that four gameseries we had to lead. It was
it was almost a precursor for theseason, right Phil, Like you you
win that game, you win gametwo, you set the tone for the
season. You're two and zero,whooping up on the Yankees. But it's
like you let us slip away,and it's almost like that mentality is just

(28:00):
over the whole season. Gordion,I met you years ago over here on
in Western Areas, the Heights atthe other club I had on the Saints,
uh thing on here. I'm thebig Saints fan from the watch the
games at the boot of course,this is Houston Radio, all right,

(28:22):
Peel, that's all my bone talkingabout damn New Oran. They got get
crawfish at the boot fill and milandI appreciate it. I actually forgotten the
context of that four game series sweepby the Yankees to open up the year.
And yeah, like the Astros,at some point they've got to take
their destiny in their own hands andrewrite this narrative. You can't wait till

(28:44):
the All Star break and get rightin the All Star break, and then
we're gonna come out of there onfire. Because guess who you got going
into the All Star break? Athree game series versus the Rangers. Guess
who you have in Melatey coming outof the All Star break a three game
series in Seattle. You just theschedule has not been good to the Astros,
given how rough it's been to startthe season. All right, speaking

(29:07):
of the All Star break, Shortlythereafter will be the trade deadline. Gord's
got a new name, and I'vegot a new baseball man, mentioning some
avenues the Astros might explore as well. Next up on Sports Talk seven ninety
and when you're making a way ofmaking your way rather around Houston, is
Father's Day? Consider for the dassIs it time to remodel a little bit?
Maybe you just want to you knowwhat, this year we're gonna construct

(29:29):
our new residents. Maybe this isthe forever home. Maybe you're a young
entrepreneur at heart. You don't reallyknow much about the real estate game,
but you know you need to layyour head somewhere. I would like to
recommend the good people at JB.Thibodeau Homes and Properties. They are not
your average home builders. Wherever youare in your thinking process the construction process,

(29:52):
their expertise will bring your vision toreality, whether you have your own
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at Jbthibodeau dot com are more thanwilling, and they do it with such
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make sure you are happy from startto finish with your custom construction needs.

(30:15):
Duplex specials still running starting into twohundreds. For more detail, go to
JB. Thibodeau dot com. Tellthem stan Fleet told you. Go to
JB. Thibodeau dot com. Tothe neck to the dirt Road. This
is Next Up. Everything I wantedto say with stan Norfleet and Chris Gordy
on Sports Talk seven ninety. Let'swrap up our one here of Next Up

(30:37):
Sports Talk seven ninety, number onesports talk show in Houston, last three
months. Chris Gordon, stan Fleet, Connedy McGovern. Thanks to you,
Houston. We're getting ready for someweekend Baseball Father's Day weekend. Shout out
to the dads in the city thosethat are listening via stream courtesy of Iheartradios
free app seven ninety dot com blogwhere you will find the Dana audio.

(31:00):
We will get to this in theeleven o'clock hour. General manager of the
Houston Astros joined the Shawn Salisbury Showat nine point thirty this morning, and
I want to react to some ofthe things that Dana had to say in
the eleven o'clock hour. Also,Gordy. To start the eleven o'clock hour,
we will hear from Jonathan m Alexander. He's on the Texans beat.

(31:21):
He has some new work up onthe chronicle, and we will talk more
about the Houston Texans. Kind ofa quiet period now training camp approaches in
July. You and I had agood bout yesterday going back and forth on
your LSU mate chandlerme he writes forThe Athletic in response to, like the

(31:42):
three question primer for the Astros goinginto the trade deadline. You know who's
calling the shots, what pieces areavailable to be moved, What are some
of the names that could be broughtaboard to try and make a push and
get this team into the postseason.We have discussed who is it? Is
it Spencer Doolittle of ESPN. We'vetalked about Buster Olney. You and I

(32:07):
have talked about Jeff Passon. Wetalked about Chandler Room yesterday. And I
would like to add one more gentlemanto that, a man that I used
to work with when I was inthe Washington Nationals front office in a sales
capacity. Stan Casten was the president. I referenced him this week. Jim
Bowden now also with the Athletic.He writes the proper where it is here,

(32:30):
he writes our latest hits as itpertains to the Astros. He says
Peter Alonzo is expected to be thebiggest power back traded at the deadline.
The Mariners, Yankees, Giants,Cubs, Twins, and Astros are possible
landing spots for the three time AllStar. He goes on to say,

(32:51):
even though it's probably a rental,he likes to come back to New York.
We know that Peter Lonzo's nickname isthe polar Bear Bowden Continent. The
Saint Louis Cardinals planning on buying atthe deadline, likely acquiring a veteran starting
pitcher Da Da Da Da da.He continues, However, if things go

(33:12):
south in Saint Louis, don't besurprised if they deal veteran first baseman Paul
gold Schmidt. Teams likely to beinterested. Uh. In that scenario,
gold Schmidt goes to Houston, Seattleor the Yankees. Making a ton of
sense, Jim Bowden says first basePaul Goldsmith, Peter Alonzo, he's hearing

(33:32):
or seeing some connectors there, Gordon, Yeah, we'll see. You know.
The first story of business, theygotta they gotta figure out what they're
doing with their Brady thing. Youknow, I don't think that they would
make any acquisitions of another first baseon while he's still on the roster.
You know, I've seen some peoplesay, if they're so dead set on,

(33:53):
we're paying this money to a braidyou and we don't want to just
kick him to the curb. Youknow, one option would be to move
on from John Singleton and bring inanother first basement and have a bray you
be the backup to him. Youknow, Toms Singings is not making any
money right and and he's and hisnumbers are slightly better. It's kind of

(34:13):
funny to the just see the Astrostwitter account tweeted out yesterday, you know
they're doing all the vote for AllStars. Oh yeah this I saw.
Somebody made a joke one about tobray you and it's you know, it's
kind of funny. You make agraphic let's vote Jose Brady the All Star
Game. But they did one.This is legit tweet out yesterday for John
Singleton. It said John send JohnSingleton the All Star Game. And basically
what they put is an eight twentyfive ops with runners on base and eight

(34:37):
multi hit games of twenty five playersor something like that. I mean,
like, okay, I mean we'llspend it how we can, but come
on, John Sigles is not anAll Star Like he's no, no,
he's not a nice I get it. You want to vote as many as
many of your players in. Butthat's that one's a little bit of a
stretch, Like I'd rather just putall the resources into Tucker and going on

(34:58):
and whoever else, But you gottado something with Frohm. But we're doing
it. But yeah, two ofthe new newer names that have come up.
One one we had mentioned I thinkabout a week ago, Garrett Garrett
Crochet of the of the White Soxon a terrible team. You know,
lefty, lefty pitcher. It's havinga strong year six and five with his
three sixteen ERA, but go lookat his last three starts, or really

(35:19):
his last like six or seven starts. He has been outstanding. I mean
three starts in the month of Juneso far, one forty two ERA,
including you know, a game thathe pitched last night against Seattle and held
them to one run on just twohits, with thirteen strikeouts and seven innings.
His name is gonna keep getting floated. But that dude, the price
on him is going up by theday. I don't even think he'll be

(35:39):
able to be in play for theAstros because I think you're gonna have teams
like the Yankees and you know whoever, Origoles, whoever like they're they're gonna
be more in on this guy becausehe's an absolute stud. Another one that
I think, you know, kindof blasts in the past. Hazus Lozardo
had some really nice years in Oaklandand obviously saw the Astros a ton when
he was pitching in the Division.And he's been with the Miami Marlin's the

(36:00):
last handful of years three and fivewith a five eleven e RA. I
understand the numbers aren't gonna blow youaway, but this is a guy we
talked about is more of a fouror five option. A guy with you're
one to five right now is solid, but it's also no room for error.
If if you have any injuries,you're you're kind of screwed it.
So I think Lozardo is a guythat again, like if you don't have

(36:20):
to break the bank, you giveup any high level prospects. Only the
problem is I was looking at theMarlins, you know, depth chart Jazz
Chisholm as they're starting every day centerfielder, and he's awesome, perennial All Star,
you're not moving him, So thatout goes the window of trade of
oh symptom Jake Myers or whatever.So I think for the Marlins, would
they be willing to go for twolike high A pitchers or a high A

(36:42):
pitcher and a high A outfield ortwo A outfield or something like that,
like two lower level prospects that we'regonna come to the Astros anytime soon.
It doesn't hurt you as much andthe Marlins are going nowhere fast. I
mean, Lazarro does nothing for them. So I'm wondering if that's a name
you could get that not a tonof people are gonna be calling about,
and you could get and he couldbe, you know, your fourth or
fifth option, and just gives yousome wiggle room, particularly when you get

(37:06):
you know, particularly like Luis Garcian, possibly even the Colors back, you
know, just gives you another optionbecause right now, to your point,
we've been talking about it at nauseum, like you have no room for error.
One through five right now was fines, Raic Getty and Hunter Browner are
kicking butt. I have faith inFromber and Verlander, and obviously Ronelle's having
an awesome year, but you haveno one else right now, like it
would be nice to have that extrasixth arm and those guys on what happened

(37:30):
to FROMBA A couple of days ago, Frama gets shelled and one of those
guys, it has happened to JV. Those guys start allowing you know,
four or five six runs. Youhave to keep them me because now your
bullpen gets taxed. Now they've hada day to risk, and we'll see
where they are you know, andhow the the context of tonight's game goes.

(37:53):
Yeah, I'm cool with those names. I don't know a ton about
those names, but listening to youand remembering some of the things we were
saying about one of those nights,just because we said a couple of weeks
ago we talked about We're like,is there a guy that you know you
wouldn't have to break the bank andgive up a ton of prospects for.
And look, you're not gonna beable to get the names, like I
said, the Garrett Crochet who's justcrushing it like there's gonna be too many

(38:15):
bidders for him. This is aguy that, again, like I said,
I think you could get And hedid get shelled the other night by
the Tampa Rays, but that washis worst start of the of the year.
Prior to that, he had hehad been pretty solid. You'd got
in his ARA under five prior tothat start. So again, I'm just
saying it's it's a nice left.He he was twenty six years old,
and you know you just asked himto be can you be our number four?

(38:36):
An option at number five? Andthen even when you get to the
postseason, Let's say Luis Garcia comesback and he's pitching well like you.
That could be a bullpen option.A guy come in to pitch multiple innings
out of the pullpen for you.Astros hosting the Tigers three game set Father's
Day weekend beginning tonight. First pitchshortly after seven pm over at the rail
yard. You'll stay locked right hereon Sports Talk seven ninety home Astros Baseball

(39:00):
throughout the course of today into tonightFave's Day weekend, Gordy. People are
moving around the city. What's thestop day should make for their automotive needs?
Well, if you want to makedad feel good, how about getting
them an upgrade on his vehicle.And Fred has Tooda World is having their
biggest used car sil this summer.Right now, Fred has to to World,

(39:20):
they're the number one to a dealerin Houston. You can buy to
day with Fred Has's biggest savings ofthe summer on the biggest use car inventory
in Houston. Chop over one hundredused cars priced under fifteen grand. Again,
they're not going to break the bankfor you. You've got a little
bit in your savings. Whatever itis, you know, head on over
there. And get Dad an upgrade. Maybe he's a Tundra driver, whatever
it is. Fred has Toda World. They got plenty of selection for you.

(39:43):
You get that complimentary lifetime agent warrantyon any used car purchase and they're
gonna give you top dollar for yourtrade in. So if you got a
dad and it's Father's Day and he'sbeen driving that old Gilapi and man,
you've been talking about it and putit off, let's get an upgrade.
Head on over. Fred has toto the world. They're open every Sunday.
So if you can get over theretoday, mark the calendar Sunday,
take that over there and upgrade yourride. Over there, Fred hausto the

(40:05):
world. Now what's next? Nextup? It's the next man, Next
up, the next step, Takethe next step, next up, stop
next next up. This team wantsto be next. This is next up
with Tad Northfleeten Chris Gordy. Let'ssee what's next next next The final hour

(40:30):
of the week of the week hasa or get ready for the weekend?
Fin out the week is upon usGordon. This is next up Stand Fleet
Chris Gordy, Connor de McGovern talka lot of astros exclusively Astros in the
first hour. We will come backto that the bottom of this album.
As general manager Dana Brown dropped bythe Shawn Salisbury Show this morning, I

(40:51):
would like to react to some ofthat audio. Not only are we the
home of Astros Baseball, real Texanstalk and listen to Sports Talk seven ninety
and it's been a little slow froma Texan standpoint since Mini Camp last week.
But I read some things in thechronicle by particular friend of mine,
friend of the station, friend ofthe show. We all read his work.
Jonathan m Alexander joins us now courtesyof the guest line JMA, Good

(41:15):
morning to you, brother. Howyou feel. I'm good? How are
y'all? I can't complain? Man, all right, we've been fussing and
cussing and doing all the things asit pertained to the Astros Texans kind of
flying under the radar. We finallyhear from Stefan Diggs. And so this
was Mini Camp last week. Justyour overall observations, like the top couple

(41:37):
things that stood out to you fromlast week as we do a dive here
on the Texans. Yeah, therewere a few things. First we start
off, let's talk about Kamari Lasser, the rookie cornerback where they drafted with
that forty second pick. Man,he's he he looks really good and so

(41:57):
early on too. You know,I mentioned this in the up on my
stories. You know, usually rookiesthey take a little time to get adjusted.
We didn't see c J. Stroudcome around so training camp. Will
Anderson, the same Damian Pierce whenhe was a rookie training camp. But
Kamar Laster is really showing out playingagainst Stephan Diggs, getting deflections and he's
against c J. Stroud throws.He's playing with the first team. He

(42:20):
looks like he's probed to be astarter and and that is great news for
the Texans. Another observation you mentionedit Stephan Diggs, you know, coming
in that was this kind of perceptionthat he was a diva. And I
don't know, listening to him,he sounded like a guy who was mature.
Maybe he's a guy who's passionate aboutabout football, really wants to win.
Sure, maybe he butt says,but I think men and you both

(42:42):
know, we want if we wantto wide receiver, if we building a
team with a wide receiver, wewant a diva as long as he's not
a cancer. So I don't know. I just yeah, so I just
I just feel like Stefon Diggs isa guy who kind of understands his role.
He's only here one year, whichis good for the Texans because he's
set to prove himself. He's gotyoung stars around the movie gets along with
obviously he looks at he's friends withTank Dell and and had high praises for

(43:07):
Nico Collins. So those are kindof two of the biggest things. The
CJ looks great taking on a bigof a leadership role. The defense.
The only thing about the defense Iwonder about is defensive tackle position. That's
the biggest question mark, Tim Settle, folly fout of content to meet as
a big step back from what theyhad last year. So those are the
big things that took away. I'mwith you on on that part about the

(43:28):
interior defensive line. I want togo back to last real quick. Yeah.
Look, it's he played on ona lot in a lot of big
games, on a big stage,and with the Georgia Bulldogs, who obviously
had their greatest run during his tenurethere with them and almost going for a
three peat this past year, butlast year, what's what's more likely.
I know it's early, we onlysaw him through rookie camp and mini camp

(43:49):
and they still got training camp togo through. But what's more likely in
your opinion that he starts at thatnumber two corner spot week one opposite Derek
Stingley, or maybe holds down thatthat nickel spot over over Desmond King.
What's more likely for week one inyour opinion? For a week one in
my opinion, I think it's moreand more likely as he starts the outside
corner. Wow. You know,I think I think the fact that Desmond

(44:10):
King really kind of came on strongin that second half of the season when
he came back and returned, Ithink that gives him a little bit of
a leg up. Now. Havingsaid that, I think the Texans are
going to keep the door open.I think they're still going to rotate Kamar
Laster in a nickel cornerback during trainingcamp and play him at two different positions
just in case things don't work out. You know, I didn't see much

(44:32):
from Miles Bryant that gave me alot of confidence. You know, you
know, hear from people who coverthe Patriots that he was a solid nickel
cornerback, but he didn't seem toget a lot of reps in during the
parts that we were able to watch, So you know, I think and
Kamari was making most of his playswhen he was playing the outside cornerback,

(44:52):
so you know, I think he'smore likely to start there. Jeff Okudas
kind of fell down, kind offalling in the in the ranks of he
hasn't really made many plays from whatI've seen, And I think CJ.
Henderson is a really good backup cornerbackwho can come in in case you do
have an injury. So I thinkKamar Lassiter could be that Week one starter

(45:14):
outside cornerback Week one. Interesting Jonathanm Alexander joining us here on Next Up
courtesy of the Houston Chronicle, wherehe does great work. I'm looking at
some and stuff here. Let's continueto talk about this Texans roster. Maybe
it's Jeff me and y'all know I'mprone to say some things that are different

(45:35):
and then y'all all come back andtell me. You know, I'm saying
I thought you los off your rockon that one. But I said that
when they made the pick this BlakeFisher right tackle in the second round.
Uh yeah, with that, withthat that second second round pick. What's
your your thoughts on could we seeBlake Fisher taking the majority of reps?

(45:57):
I don't know, and I knowhe wasn't practicing. I'm talking about Titus
Howard. Could we start to getwith Blake Fisher. I think it totally
depends on where Titus Howard is.Like. He's expected to return in time
for camp, which is a goodsign, which should give him enough time.
Now, how does his knee respond? He's coming off a major injury.
How does his knee respond during trainingcamp? Does he look like the

(46:21):
same tightest Howard? Does he stillfeel comfortable? I think probably the most
likely circumstance in which Blake Fisher startsat right tackles one if Titus Howard isn't
ready, and two if left guardnone of the left guards work out and
they decide that they want to moveTitus Howard back to left guard. I
think that's also a possibility. Ithink it's still on the table. However,

(46:44):
having said that, I think KenyanGreen has performed better this offseason than
he had previously, and I thinkthat he'll have a legitimate shot to compete
for that starting role. So whileI say it's still on the table,
I think it's a less less likelypossibility. But I see them bringing Blake

(47:05):
Fisher on a little bit slower.You know, you could tell that it
was a difference when he was goingup against the Neil Hunter and Will Anderson.
They got by him on a coupleoccasions. And this wasn't even a
full pads So I think he stillhas a little bit to learn, and
I think they would rather have TysHoward out there and then bring Blake Fisher
along a little more slowly. Trainingcamp will be here before we know it.

(47:27):
Jonathan, if I said you couldonly watch one position battle throughout training
camp, which one would would youwould you devote most of your time to?
And it's most intriguing to you.Most intriguing to me really is a
wide receiver. Because you know,they kept six last year, so let's
assume they keep six this year.They got a lot of guys that went

(47:47):
for that final spot, who werewere talented, who were here last year,
who played big, who were bigcontributors. I think two guys,
potentially, you could see two guyswho were on the roster last year,
because you know, you look atRobert Woods, Xavier Hudginson, Stephen Simms,

(48:07):
Ben Scaronic battling for that final spot. I think even Noah Brown might
be up for trying to figure outwhether he kind of fits. He hasn't
practiced this offseason because of the injuryhe's coming back from. I think he'll
he'll be uh, he'll have away of climb when it comes to training
camp. I think he is.He's shown that he can be a really

(48:30):
good piece for them, so Ithink that's what's going to help him.
But the injury certainly doesn't help.But that final spot, you know,
I've seen Robert Woods play well,but they could save almost five million dollars
by cutting him, so that wouldmake a lot of sense. David Hudginson
is a guy who they thought maybehad some promise, but I think the
other guys are performing well, soit's gonna be an interesting battle. If

(48:52):
you had to bet on it,Jonathan who has a better year from a
skill position standpoint, John Met theThird or Brevin Jordan, who I keep
hearing good things about Demico raved abouthim during minicamp. That's a good question.
I think Brevin Jordan is going tohave more run because he's going to

(49:12):
come in and become the clear numbertwo. I think John is going to
well over Stover. You know I'minterrupting you, but they out of Ohio
state obviously, the connection with CJ. Brewns getting more run than Stover.
Yeah, I think you know.Brevan is going to be on what his
fourth year in the league. Stoveris only in his first. He's only
played tight end through years of hislife. I think he still has a

(49:36):
little bit to learn. I thinkhe definitely certainly has potential, but I
think he still has a little bitto learn. I think they anticipate him
eventually replacing Brevian if if Brevian isn'tresigned, I think that's the plan for
Stover. But yeah, when youlook at so I see Brevin coming.
As long as he stays healthy,he's clear number two of them. Showed

(49:57):
that he can be a big playthreat at times, especially when all the
attentions on Dalton shows. I thinkJohn Many's gonna have a better year,
without a doubt, but he's behindreally good wide receivers and Tank Dell,
Stefan Diggs and Nico Collins. Whoall one thousand yard receiver type of guy.
And I think that's the only reasonyou might not see Meshi have such

(50:19):
a big year. But I thinkhe'll be more improved than he was last
year. Jonathan. One position thatreally just intrigues me is the backup quarterback
spot. I mean, it's onewe don't want to focus on because we
want to hype up CJ and wewant to talk about how Grady is.
But let's not forget I mean CJmissed a little time last year in his
rookie year and you had to leanon a case Keenum to go out there
and get it done. I'm justcurious, And look, we were excited

(50:43):
about what Case did in that quarterbackroom. You know, we've heard he
was in a valuable piece to helpingcoach up CJ and be an extra coach
in that room with Rod Johnson,and they have Davis Mills still. But
I just I look at it andgo, why not look to maybe upgrade
there in the chance that, let'ssay, CJ, this is four weeks
of the season like that could makeor break your postseason hopes if you know,

(51:06):
knowing that the schedule gets a lottougher. So I'm just curious when
we look around the league at someof the backup quarterback spots, why they
didn't maybe look to upgrade there andjust bring back the same guys. Yeah,
I think that's a good point thatyou mentioned. I think it was
about sixty sixty four guys started aquarterback last year, so it's a big

(51:27):
chance. But you know, whenyou look to upgrade at quarterback for backup
quarterback, you're going to pay topdollar and detections. I think the reason
why they didn't try that is becausethey feel like they wanted to pay in
other areas and they're essentially taking agamble that TV is going to remain healthy
and that he won't suffer an injury, and that case Keenum or Davis Mills,

(51:50):
if he does have to miss itone or two games, can handle
a couple of games. So Ithink they're essentially betting that TV is going
to be remain healthy. But you'reright, you know, always a possibility
for an injury and you need agood, solid backup. And maybe that's
to say they believe in case Keenumand Davis Mills. Growth Davis Mills,
the enter in Pimodal year year four. He's on a contract year, so

(52:14):
this should be his best year andthey should want him to play well because
you know, if teams are inneed of a quarterback, which they will
be, yep, you know,he can be a valuable trade if he
looks good during the preseason. Soyeah, you know, I think you
bring up a great point, andbut I think it's technical. Were essentially

(52:34):
betting that, you know, cej Strout would be healthy this year.
All right, Jonathan, we appreciateit, man, Houston. Continue to
follow the work. And if youhadn't already, what are you doing?
Press follow John j O n theletter m Alexander at John m Alexander.
He joins us here on next Upcourtesy of the Houston Chronicles. Upgraded that

(52:55):
profile pick too. Look how studioushe looks in that pick. There's what
we do. We get things doneto JMA. Go ahead, all right,
man, we'll talk to enjoy theweekend. Alright, my man,
JMA talking some Texas. Let's continueto do so. C. J.
Stroud's a happy man. I'll tellyou why. On the other side,
Real Texas talking. Listen Sports Talkseven ninety do it again on to next

(53:23):
to, What's next of Next Upcontinues now on Sports Talk seven ninety,
home of your world champion Houston Astros. Sports Talk seven ninety your home in
Houston sports were Real Texans Talk andlisten thanks to Jonathan m Alexander of the
Houston Chronicle just drive by to giveus his mini camp report. Sounds like

(53:46):
Kamar Lassiter, second round rookie outof Georgia getting some action, some high
praise at the outside corner corner backtwo, says Jonathan m Alexander. We'll
see how healthy Titus High is atthe right tackle spot. Perhaps Blake Fisher
gets reps there, or perhaps theTexans elected to move Titus Howard back in

(54:07):
the left guard and Blake Fisher theright tack out of Notre Dame. Also
a second round pick gets run.For full context of the interview with Jonathan
m Alexander the Chronicle on the Texansmandatory mini camp, go to Sports seven
ninety dot com. You can alsouse the free iHeartRadio app. We'll pivot
back in the Astros coming up inabout nine minutes or so. As Dana

(54:30):
Brown joined the Shawn Salisbury Show forhis weekly visit this morning at nine thirty.
The biggest news, and this doeshave some tentacles that reach NRG Stadium.
The biggest news in the NFL yesterdaywas the massive extension signed by Goldilocks
himself, Trevor Lawrence in the divisionhim happy five years, two hundred and

(54:54):
seventy five million dollar extension guarantees himtwo hundred million dollars one hundred and forty
two of that at signing, tyinghere with Joe Burrow for the highest average
annual value for a quarterback in theleague at fifty five million a year.
Should he have been paid that?Yes? And this is what I put

(55:15):
I put on Twitter on my Twitterat stand sportsman. Why are you all
some of you that are surprised?He was always going to get that money?
They there's no way they weren't goingto give Trevor that. When you
look around the league, look atnumber one overall picks given how Trevor who
has one playoff win under his belt, given the numbers he put up,

(55:37):
Yeah, banged up a little bitlast year. The coaching carousel that he
has been through in Jacksonville. Look, they're like Houston. Look at where
the organization was before he got there. And look at how they're being talked
about now. Now they're not beingtalked about in the same light as Houston.
What I'm saying is the Jaguars arerelevant sixteens under center. He was

(56:00):
always going to get that money.Thank you don't like you don't, I
don't. I don't believe we shouldkeep rewarding mediocrity. And Trevor Lawrence is
an is an average quarterback right now. I mean he just is. They
went eight and eight last season,eight and eight as as a starter last
year, he threw twenty one touchdownsat fourteen interceptions. At what point,

(56:23):
looking at those stats, do yougo that's a top tier quarterback, that
is one of the best quarterbacks inthe NFL. We need to reward him
as such, like we need toget back to rewarding great play, like
Patrick Mahomes should be the highest paidquarterback in the league. Yes, sure,
Lamar Jackson should be up there.Yes, you know you want to
make a case for Golf and whathe did with the Lions. I'll hear

(56:45):
that out, Herbert. I stilldon't like waiting for light to come on,
waiting to see it on the field, but rewarding the Kyler Murray's and
the Daniel Jones and paying them asmaking them some of the highest paid quarterbacks
in the league. I think issilly. It's like, what are we
doing here, Let's ward the reallygood quarterbacks. I just like these agents
hold all the hold these quarterbacks bythe by the groin, going if you

(57:08):
don't have a quarterback, you ain'tgot nothing, and they go, oh
my god, yes, you're right. Fear of the unknown. If I
don't have a quarterback, I mightnot even be five hundred. I mean,
you get scared into it. Andnow it's look good on DeShawn,
like Deshaun is gonna get paid nomatter what he's category. I just think
we need to we need to getback to It's a thing of like we

(57:28):
went to that with running backs,and teams finally started wising up. They're
like, okay, you're a goodrunning back, but like I can find
another one. Rewarding mediocre quarterback playand paying him as the top five in
the league. What are we doing? Draw line is saying, go,
this is not We'll pay you asthe eleventh highest pig quarterback in Jacksonville,
jackuarse, and your franchise is wortha billion or two. You cannot when

(57:50):
you have Trevor Lawrence in your building, roll the dice. Then I'm going
to go find somebody better. Notsaying that, but like they they had
no choice. So if you lookat I'm looking at a graphic now,
compare Trevor Lawrence's career to Daniel Jones. The numbers are comparable. But when
you look at it's his time up. They're going to give him the bag.

(58:12):
And if you're Cee J. Stroud, you're looking at this, Trevor
Lawrence is getting fifty five a year. Trevor Lawrence got two hundred million dollars.
That's two hundred million guaranteed. That'sless than Deshaun Watson, Patrick Mahomes
and Joe Burrow, but that's aheadof Jayalen Hurt has been to a super
Bowl and Lamar Jackson a two timein Ragning MVP. Know what I'm saying

(58:34):
is the Jaguars. You go tothat meeting and you go, look,
we love Trevor well, obviously wetook a number one overall. We believe
in them, we hope, butlet's also look at what he's done and
he you know, his injury historyand this and that, and I don't
think they did. You don't thinkthe organization pushed back. Here's the last
they did forty five million a year, and and you haven't done. Joeffer

(58:57):
one. God, he's got anumber. He's Daniel Jakes. The owners
are scared now, of course theyare, and right shually, common sense
prevail here, rightfully in their position, they should be here in Houston.
Do we remember what life was beforeCJ showed up. CJ changed all of
this. Shawn DeShawn had with theexpectations once once the thing went down,

(59:20):
DeShawn had the organization up. Theywere up twenty four zip. Okay,
Deshaun some off the field. Movehim aside. The three years before she
CJ showed up, it was ugly. You don't think when it comes time,
David Margetta is gonna remind Nick Casarioand cal and Hannah and Demico.
Hey remember for coll Ridge Bernard andhis damn s two cognition tests is going

(59:45):
to get sixty five million dollars ayear. Well again, let's see him
do it again. It was arookie season, so they can't get money
this year, he can't get moneynext year. So two seasons removed.
Yeah, well no, if he'sperforming, going to get sixty five,
I think I don't think there's anyTexas right. I don't think there's a

(01:00:07):
saying that would argue that Jacksonville Lawrenceain't worth fifty five million. I don't
think people in Jacksonville would argue Trevoris worth the money. Yes they would.
I don't believe that that's stupid moneyfor him twenty one and fourteen.
I can sign Ryan Tannel off thestreet tomorrow. You would have to remember
the salary cap is going up exponentially. This is the cost of doing business

(01:00:29):
today's and it should be if you'rean elite quarterback like Lamar Jackson and Patrick
Mahomes, you get top dollars.Should be Well, let's go back to
Lamar. Why did Lamar get thistype of deal? Because the league decided
because it's Lamar with an MVP underhis belt at that point, they weren't
going to allow him to get this. I'm not gonna get into that because
I'll get heated on what but it'swhat I'm saying is there are levels and

(01:00:52):
the GM should have these conversations withthese agents that go there're tiers Trevor Lawrence
is not you want Tier one money? He and a Tier one quarterback?
Go ahead. You don't think theteams push back, they're afraid. Look
look at look at the Bears.The Bears are awful and they were willing
to do whatever it took to getCaleb, Mike. Look at the dudes

(01:01:14):
getting paid. Oh let me tellyou who also made some money yesterday.
I know we're up against We gottacome back and talk to strolls to a
tongue of our lord is gonna dothe same thing? And quarterback who is
going to get fifty plus million dollarsa year? But you're saying, yes,
that's gonna happen. But I'm askinggive me your opinion. You stand
northly, do you think those guysare worth it? To me, it
doesn't matter what I think. I'mtelling you what's happening. The checks being

(01:01:37):
signed dictators. It's stupid, Prescottis whether it's from Jerry or somebody else,
they're just getting smart. Is goingto get sixty million dollars from somebody?
I don't know, Dak Prescott,you watched this? You what mock
mind words? Right? That?Mark my wor excuse me Dak Prescott,
who you go? And I sawthe graphic. I know we gotta get
out, but I saw this graphicand it's gonna blow some of you away.

(01:01:59):
Oh this is infl on CBS.The last fifty starts. Dak Prescott
and Patrick Mahomes winning percentage comparable passingtouchdowns equal. Yeah, Mahomes, I'm
just can I get out the stafplace because people can't hear when you're talking
interceptions. Mahomes has one more thanDak passer rating. Dak has a hire

(01:02:20):
yard's per attempt Dak higher complete apercentage Dak hire if Jerry doesn't pay him,
and I don't think Jerry should.Dak Prescott's gonna get sixty million dollars
a year from somebody. But lookaround the league. How many quarterback needy
teams are? I don't think anybody'sgonna do that. It's not how many
quarterback needy teams are there, it'scan you upgrade at that position? And
I am assuring you somebody's gonna payyou. Tour made some money, Jordan

(01:02:43):
Love, you made money. DakPrescott, you made money. And Cale
Ridge Bernard Stroud is sitting back knowingtwo years from now that Nick their family
is going to have to give mea guarantee fifty million, happily walk to
the table and hand him a blackjack like I don't think I don't even
think that's worth of the debate.What I'm talking about is the crappy quarterbacks
like Trevor Lawrence getting overpaid, paidout the ass and the owner sitting there

(01:03:06):
going homadumas, great, congratulations,pat on the back. Enjoy your another
eight win season with Trevor Lawrence.Where we keep asking when will the light
come on? Never bomb bomb Gladyou paid them, Trevor, really like
you cool dust, hope you takea al Houston Texans. This is what's
at in there right now. Let'scome back. Let's do a deep dive.
I I heard Dana Brown, hewas on the Shawn Salisbury Show.

(01:03:29):
I want to react to some things. Homa Astros Baseball seven ninety and back
up now down door Fleet and ChrisGordy on next up on Sports Talk seven
ninety. Yeah, it's a goodroster. I mean, like I said,

(01:03:51):
make no mistake about it. Theroster's good. It's just that we
have, you know, some playersthat are underperforming. You know, and
we got to get these players hot, to get these players to turn the
corner. And so, you know, if you would have told me,
you know, that Bregman would havegotten off to the start that he got
off to, I would I wouldhave said, you know, there's no
way. I know. He's usuallyyou know, a slow starter, but

(01:04:13):
not that slow, you know.And so now he's heating up with the
fourteen game hitting street. I thinkwe're right at the brink of turning this
thing around, and good things aregoing to happen for this organization. You
can't keep a good team down.It's just you know, it's impossible.
And I just poleheartedly believe that.I have been in the game for thirty
four years, and I've never seena good team like this fall apart.

(01:04:38):
The good the cream always rises tothe top. These guys will deliver,
They'll be good. I don't I'venever seen a good team just give it
up and fall apart. These guyswill turn the corner. I really believe
in it got you. Astro's generalmanager Dana Brown dropped by The Sean Salisbury
Show on a Feeling good, FeelingGreat Friday, Father's Day edition. This

(01:04:59):
show, how well it's next uptwenty four minutes from now. We'll get
you over to Matt Thomas and Rossville, Rea for the Matt Thomas Show.
Astros in action at the rail Yardtonight shortly after seven o'clock, will get
first pitch Hunter Brown right hand.It takes the mound going up against a
bad man out of Detroit, TarkScooball and his one point nine two era

(01:05:20):
and his point eight to nine whip. It's gonna be a tall task,
but the Astros are arrested. Theyhad a day off yesterday. The Astros
have had time to refocus and theyshould have confidence, having beat these same
Tigers in their place earlier this seasontwo games to three NA series that Schooball

(01:05:42):
also pitched. My expectation would befor the Astros to win this series at
home. They have no choice.Danna Brown right there just said this team
is going to put it together atsome point. What exactly does that look
like? How many games is arow? How many series in a row?
I don't know. I told youall my line of demarcation was this

(01:06:04):
weekend. We'll see how this weekendlooks, and we'll have conversation on Monday
Gordy, I come to you nowbefore we get back to the Dana Brown
audio, Dana Brown says, essentiallya win streak is coming. This team
is too talented. He's been inbaseball thirty plus years. He knows this
team is going to make a run. Will it be enough by the time

(01:06:26):
we add it all up at theseason's conclusion, Gordon, I mean he's
been saying this for weeks. Nothing'schanged. It's not you know, it's
not like some revelation that Dana Brownsays this team's gonna get hard. I
mean he's been saying it for weeksand they haven't. So that's where it's
like, I trust you know again, I go back to Dana and who's
manager, Joe Spotta need to beThey need to be positive, They need

(01:06:50):
to say all the right things,and they need to harbor that positive atmosphere.
But also it gets to a pointwhere you do have to step aside
and go what we're doing is notgood enough. And you know, like
you said, like some guys needto get hot. Some guys have not
had great seasons, Okay, butmy question is why is that are guys

(01:07:13):
just are they not responding to themanagers, the hitting coaches falling on white
noise in the ears. Are someguys trying to do too much in the
box? Are some guys pressing likeI need to know why? Because again,
yes, this team on paper isone of the most talented teams.
But I go back to the twentyeleven Philadelphia Eagles were one of the most
talented teams on paper, yet theyunderachieved. Why is this team underachieving right

(01:07:36):
now? What's different? Why areall these guys having awful years? And
again, yes, everything he saysis truth. They have to get hot,
they have to get on a hotstreak. But if they don't,
you know, this is gonna godown as one of the most disappointing seasons
in over a decade in Astro's history. And there's no question about that.
Dana Brown All Star Break is typicallya line of demarcation for many people that

(01:07:57):
follow baseball. Tell me about thestrolls by the time we get to the
break coming up next month. Yeah, I mean that would be very disappointing
because the team is very good.You know, I don't foresee that happening,
you know, so that's a hypothetical. I just don't foresee it happening.
I just think the rotation is toogood right now. And I mean
our pitcher has been thrown very well. We've been getting pretty good starts.
You know, we got to arough start the other day with Ramburg,

(01:08:18):
but he's been good, and sowe've been getting really good starts. And
as I mentioned, once we getall on all cylinders, I think that's
when things are going to change.We just you know, we will have
good starts and then you know,we'll blow the lead. You know,
we'll have good starts, but wewon't get the timely hits. And so
we got to get on all cylindersin order for this thing to start to

(01:08:41):
click, which I believe will happensooner rather than later. Uh, definitely
before the next twenty seven games.Which is that that's the point of All
Star Break. Dana Brown, whenasked about this team potentially being eight games
back as they are now in thedivision come All Star Break, Gordy,
if they're eight games back the AllStar break, that is mondayju Lied the

(01:09:03):
fifteenth through the eighteen, are theydone eight games back at the All Star
break? Done with a three gameseries in Seattle coming out of the break,
right, would you stam is donenou again mathematically or not. I'm
gonna say it. If the Strowsare eight games back or more eight games

(01:09:23):
break Seattle eight games back in thedivision? Okay, but what but here,
here's the caveat there. What arethe Astros win twenty five in the
next thirty and the Mariners do thesame. You're still eight games back of
Seattle, but you've now suddenly putyourself in a driver's seat of a walk
card spot. So what That's whatI'm saying, Like, it's not we
can't fully put it on back ofthe Mariners. I would just say this,
you want to be closer to fivehundred. If you're still not eight

(01:09:45):
nine games back of five hundred,then a break as well, then that
is yes, that's an indicator ofthis is a very big hole to day
out of. I still think theywon't blow it up now. The danger
is twelve thirteen back at the deadline. If you're twelve or thirteen games below
five hundred at the deadline, thenyes. The Houston Astros currently thirty one
and thirty eight on the season,ninety three games left, eight games behind

(01:10:11):
Seattle top of the AL West.Magic numbers. They need to get to
one hundred and one to win adivision. They need to get to one
hundred to make the playoffs. Lastten games stros five and five. Yikes,
But look at some of these gamesin the second half of the season.
You mentioned with Seattle. They ain'tgot Oakland, they ain't got Tampa,

(01:10:32):
they ain't got Pittsburgh. I meanagain, these are all teams that
are winnable games on your schedule.All right, let's step aside, come
back. Continue to hear from DanaBrown as we wrap up a Friday here
in the Sports Talk seven ninety studios. Appreciate you guys hanging out with us,
allowing us to maintain our status yourhome of Houston sports. You know
what, you love it the legendaryKB and ME Sports Talk seven ninety.

(01:10:54):
Next up continues on your fall SportsTalks seven on any device with our free
iHeartRadio app. Yeah. I mean, the most impressive thing is that we
have the grit that it's going tobe necessary to get through this tough time.

(01:11:15):
Uh. You know, these guysbattle and they've been through this before,
and so I would say the mostimpressive thing is grit. You know,
we have talent. Well, ifyou have talent with no grit,
it's not that good. So weknow that we got to you know,
heal the climb, and our guysare prepared to climate, and so you

(01:11:35):
know, we're looking to get hot. General manager Dana Brown says this team
has grit. Clearly, we allknow they're talented. He says, the
team has been here before. No, they haven't. It hadn't been this
bad, not at this point inthe season, not with this many injuries.
I'm not telling this guy's falling.I still believe today that they will

(01:11:59):
make the whole season. Eight gamesback from Seattle, don't know how seven
games from five hundred. That linefrom Dana Brown reminded me. I just
pictured Dane at the Golden Nugget withhis big cup full of coins and he's
down. They go with are youdown? I'm down about a grand?
He goes, I'm looking to gethot here, let's go fifty dollars buy
in. I'm in. He's pushinghis chips in there, going because I'm

(01:12:21):
talented, and the people with methere year that stop. I don't know
if you know my history. Icome from Jersey in Atlantic City looking to
get hoppy. The back of baseball. Oh, that's another thing. You
know what I'm going to apply applaudexcuse me. Joe Spoder and Dana Brown.
They come up with the most creativeways to continue to say. Back

(01:12:43):
of the baseball card is how we'regonna get back in it. Jose Brow,
you're still at first by the way. Danny Brown was asked by Shawn
Salisbury specifically about jose Bray. Youwhat is this I want to have?
Oh? He says, they're havingconversations. Let me hear Dana Brown four
please, Well, I say,look, we're having conversations. We know
that the guy is struggling. Youknow, there's a human element to this

(01:13:06):
that I think some people don't know. You know, the guy who's been
a Warriors entire life. We've givenhim some opportunity to make some adjustments,
and you know, quite frankly,we're having conversations as to, you know,
what we could do to get thisthing moving, and so you know,
he's part of the conversation. Butyou know, at some point,

(01:13:28):
you know, we you know,as Joe mentioned, you know, there
is a timeline, so you knowwe're going to have to make some decisions
and and and as we continue totalk through this, you know, you
know we'll do what's best for theteam for sure. Yeah, he's telling
you right there. I mean it'slook, we're not stupid. We get
it. The guy's not playing welland we're having conversations. When he says

(01:13:48):
we're having conversations, that means we'veset a date that this dude doesn't turn
like this is our date where we'regoing to buy him out and he's going
wrong. That's that's what they're saying. Dana Brown, you have some options
on your minor league and major leagueroster, and you keep giving you you
keep giving no Oakie dok to adude named Joey Lo Pafito, the kid
who never plays first base ever.No, he hadn't played first base in

(01:14:11):
the majors. He plays first basein Sugar like three games. Dana Brown,
Low, Balffito is this option atfirst what we're doing well, I
mean he's gonna play some He's gonnaplay some first base in Triple A.
So we don't know that yet.You know, we still we're still evaluating
them, but we're not afraid.If he makes the most sense, we're

(01:14:31):
not afraid to do it. Well, we'll try to get his bat in
the lineup somewhere or the other.We haven't given him any big league games
at first base yet, but ultimatelyI feel like he's going to be a
part of this run, whether it'sat first base or right field or wherever.
Not right field but left field.Sorry Sean low Perfido or who are

(01:14:53):
you stay? Yeah he was onSean Salbership. Love Field played two games
of sugar Land Wednesday and Thursday.Care I guess where he played with position?
Oh field, centerfield, Ye,I mean he's don't don't peel my
shit, don't sell me something I'mnot buying. Like you. You say
that, but you've clearly you've donenothing this show. Like if that were

(01:15:13):
the case. And this is whyI don't get even if Julie Loperveto is
telling you I'm mista field or I'ma centerfielder. If you're the Astros,
you go, no, You're adamn first baseman. That's your path to
playing time in the big leagues.Go play first base every day. And
maybe he's open to it. Maybeit's the Astro saying, well, you
know, with the future, JakeMyers and Chaz and Kyle Tucker might leave
like maybe they're thinking low Perveto isthe future at center field. Maybe that's

(01:15:35):
what But you gotta pivot when firstbase is so bad and the kid can
can at least get by at firstbase, do that that's his path to
the field, that's his path toplay. Or is this Dana Brown telling
us, hey, guys, we'regonna get a break. You out staying,
We hear you, petere A LonzoGohos. I'm working on some stuff

(01:15:56):
instead. I got the Astros twittercup creed out, send John Singleton to
the All Star Game? What arewe doing? This is legit tweet.
I thought this was a joke.And then the stats they put up,
Ops, I'm going away, ops, And they say real small thought with
runners on base. Okay, DanaBrown, whether it's Lopa Fido or Pedro

(01:16:17):
Leon or whoever else it is,Dana Brown, you open to moving away,
moving prospects to try and get somehelp in here at first base and
maybe on this starting rotation. Imean, we've done it in the past.
I would say that we will dowhat we have to do to try
to get this team over the hump. But ultimately it has to make sense
for the organization, you know,it has to make sense that we can

(01:16:38):
get a guy that still have youknow, some time, whether he's got
you know, we can get himthis the rest of this year and all
of next year. You know,that makes sense, you know, But
for a rental it'd be a littlebit more difficult. That'd be a tougher
decision that we would have to makeof the trade that line. And so
we will, you know, we'regonna have We've already started to have some

(01:16:59):
discussions. I bet you different trades, but you know, not that I
could talk about it over there.Ultimately, you know, we're we're we're
talking about these things, and sowe won't make the right decision, Gordy,
we have confidence to Astros. Wedon't make the right decision personnel wise.
As we approach the deadline coming upto end of next month. I

(01:17:20):
mean, they're gonna make what whatthat can make happen. I think you're
again, you're limited. I don'tthink you It's like you ever go to
a neighborhood that has a garage sale, and you know, you go to
one of those houses and go,why is this house even involved in they
got nothing good here, Like that'skind of what the Astros are right now.
They're trying to make a buck,but they ain't got much to offer

(01:17:41):
other teams do. And again,I reiterated again when the when the MLB
expanded the extra waldcard spots a coupleof years ago, you got more playoff
teams and more teams in the hunt. At the deadline, price goes higher
and higher. Dana Brown exactly onthat. Pitch pitching has been an issue
through out the course of the season, in varying levels. Dana Brown,

(01:18:02):
pitcher staff, what can we doby the deadline? Yeah, I mean,
I don't know if a front linepitcher is going to be available.
You know a lot of the frontline pictures. You know, teams are
going to hold on to one becausethey're in the postseason or and making a
run for the postation, or twoyou may have a front line guy that's
young and you want to keep themlong term. So I don't think the
front line guys are you know,growing on trees. But I would say

(01:18:27):
this, getting Garcia back, youknow, that's going to be a big
help. And I think right now, as you know, the way our
rotation is it's a good rotation.This rotation could definitely get you back to
the postseason without a question. Andthen if you add Garcia in there,
you know, in six weeks orso, the rotation is even better.

(01:18:50):
So I think we're good enough.I think we still have some depth in
the minor leagues, although we areinto our depth right now. But we're
good enough. It's just a matterof, like I said, getting on
all cylinders. H Dana, youknow where I'm at. You have more
options to start the year. Itis what it is. Don't get me

(01:19:11):
stuck. I'm sure Matt Thomas andRossviery I will give you tomorrow. On
that NBA Finals game four tonight,Gordon, I don't know how, but
according to ESPN BET, Mavericks arefavored by appoint and a half tonight.
We don't expect Christops Porzingis to play. The Mavericks could get swept at the
American Airlines Center in Dallas. Quicknugget. Celtics have a three oh lead.

(01:19:31):
As we know in NBA playoff history, teams are one hundred and fifty
five and oh after taking the threeto lead, including fourteen and oh in
the NBA Finals. Gordon with amass win Game four, unplugged a toaster.
They're toasted. I had to doit for us, Carnadey McGovern,
Chris Gordon stamp Link. We've hada great week here next up courtesy to

(01:19:54):
you, YESU City in Houston thatallowed us to maintain our status as the
number one sports talks rated that waythe last three months and counting. God
bless all of you. To mydad's I've went to ash all some relationship
advice, but I ran out oftown, ran out of time. Excuse
me. We'll do it on theother side. Enjoyed follows that weekend.
Enjoy Astros baseball. God bless seey'allo money
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