Best of The Doug Gottlieb Show BKR Edition: 08/16/2018

Dan Beyer and Jonas Knox fill in for Doug to give you their thoughts on the unwritten rules of baseball. They also explain why Colin Kaepernick still doesn't have a job in the NFL. They talk to 3 time Super Bowl champ and NFL on FOX analyst Mark Schlereth about the quarterback situations in Cleveland and Denver.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the best of the Doug Gottlip
Show podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday
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(00:22):
of the Doug Gottlieb Show on Fox Sports Radio. And boom,
that's what we've got here on a Thursday of The
Doug Gottlieb Show. So used to sing and Johnny Ramos
as well, but there's no John Ramos today. We got
Joe Elliott sitting in for a while. Johnny dealing with

(00:42):
the first day of school with the kids. I'm on
that I didn't know that first day school. This show,
by the way, starts at three o'clock Eastern time noon
Pacific Jonas it is my understanding, kids usually go to
school at like eight o'clock in the morning. Isn't that
about right? It sounds about right. But John Ramos needs
to take the entire day off because of the first

(01:02):
day of school. That's all right, We'll have John back tomorrow,
but I have Joel with us, and Ryn will be
checking and Ryan Music are executive producer. A lot to
get to today here on the Doug gott Leap Show
as we are in for Doug, and it's the topic
of conversation well pretty much everywhere. Who would have thought
showed us we would be talking about Marlin's Braves in
the August leading into an NFL preseason week, in the

(01:25):
middle of training camps, that Marlin's Braves would grab our attention.
But there's a reason that it grabs our attention because
last night in Atlanta, as Ronald Acuna Jr. Was stepping
to the plate trying to homer for the fourth straight
game in the leadoff spot, actually would be a sixth
straight game with a home run if he was able
to connect. Last night, he stepped in the box and well,

(01:47):
this is how it played out. The first pitch hit him.
Oh drilled him in the left elbow, walking in the
direct in Urania, and now he stops. He's in a
lot of pain, and the Braves are coming out onto
the field, and the Marlins are coming out onto the field.

(02:08):
Brian snickers right in the middle of it, barking and
Josan Urania that on the Braves radio network last night
is then Ronald Kuna had to leave the game. By
the way, the update day to day with that elbow contusion,
but plunked after home ring in five straight games, three
straight games where they lead off home run for Kuna
plunk last night against the Marlins. Many people, including the

(02:31):
Atlanta Braves, were not too happy with what we saw
last evening. Yeah, and I can understand why they took
it as a cheap shot. A guy was red hot
and so they thought, Okay, well, let's let's cool this
guy down now. It should be said. I don't know
if this is an indictment on the Marlins or just
um Urania for beating him, because it seems like it
was just one guy out for to try and cool

(02:53):
down a guy who's been red hot over the past
several games. But I mean, it's not like this is
a first in major League baseball. It's not like we
we haven't seen these bean ball wars before. This is
part of what comes with major League baseball. I wasn't
so outraged by it as everybody else. And that doesn't
mean that my opinion is right or that I'm in
the right with this. Maybe I'm just used to seeing

(03:16):
things like this playout in baseball, and so I wasn't
that surprised by it. I don't think that this is
part of the unwritten rules though. This is this is
my issue with it. I get if a guy's hot
and you can say what you want with a bat flip,
that is a whole another conversation that that will dive into.
But Jonas pitching inside is one thing to plump the

(03:37):
guy on the first at bat for the reason that
so many of us are watching. To me, is is ridiculous.
I think it's reckless on the account of the Miami
Marlins and Jose Urania, but the simple fact of the
Braves are actually playing for something. So you may not
like that a player is head a home run in
five straight games, that has let off the last three
games with a home run. You may not like the

(03:58):
way that he bat flips, but guess what, The Braves
are actually playing for a division title, and this guy
is a big, big part of why they are near
the top and at the top of the NL East.
This is why it is so ridiculous, because the Marlins
aren't even close to making the playoffs. They are irrelevant,
They are just there. This is all about the Braves.

(04:19):
And to do this because you have hurt feelings torect
the possible chance that the Braves could make it into
the postseason by injuring one of their top players. To me,
that's ridiculous. That that's that's absurd about it. And when
we talk about the unwritten rules in Major League Baseball,
there may be home runs in a game where somebody
is his hits some maybe there was a previous previous

(04:42):
instance like Hunter Strickland and Bryce Harper had with the
Giants and Nationals. This didn't seem to be the case.
This was right off the bat of just plunking him
mad because he hit home runs. That to me, is
not in the unwritten rules of baseball. Um, it's it's
it's the difference between old old school and new school mentality.
But it's not like this is just exclusive to baseball.
You hear commentators talk in the NBA, like if you're

(05:05):
watching NBA on t NT Thursday night games and a
guy is red hot and there's no defense downlow or whatnot,
you'll hear Charles Barkley or Shaquille O'Neal or Kenny Smith say, listen,
next time that guy gets in the lane, you gotta
knock him on his ass. That's not exactly the way
you're supposed to play basketball, but it's the old school mentality,

(05:26):
and it is part of the game. You've seen guys
in the NFL talk about the new rules as far
as a defenseless receiver or lowering the helmet or whatnot,
and you'll hear old school players say, well, I mean
back when I played, that was a legal hit, so
I don't know what they expect anymore. And so now
you're hearing a lot of people and some old time
baseball players and people around the game saying, look, that's

(05:49):
part of the game. So it turns into this new
school versus old school mentality. I'm not saying that that
I again that I am right in this. I just
wasn't that outrage or surprised by it because I grew
up watching baseball and that's kind of what I grew
up watching. I think that the bat flip was mild.
I don't think that it was showing anybody up. I
have seen worse. I think that what we have seen

(06:09):
with the Kuna is actually great for baseball. And one
of the themes that we've heard in Major League Baseball
all season long, it's really been centered around Mike Trot
of the Angels and why Mike Trout isn't a bigger star.
And we have even the commissioner jumping out in weighing in, Gee,
I wonder why we don't have stars if they're getting
plunked because they are hitting home runs at a great

(06:29):
rate over a certain team like this is this, to
me is a bigger part of a problem in baseball.
We hear, we hear the act like you've been there before.
I remember Jeffrey Leonard back in the in the eighties
playing for the San Francisco Giants. I have no idea
on how many home runs Jeffrey Leonard hit in his career,
but I can tell you when he rounded the basis,
he had one flat down. And that was one of

(06:50):
the things that you knew that Jeffrey Leonard and his
home run trot would bring some excitement to baseball. It
was a part of what he was doing. Now we
can't even find out if a guy can home humer
in four straight leadoff at bats of a game and
do it in six straight games because the other team
has hurt feelings. We are limiting stars from doing what
they were made to do just because the other team

(07:12):
feels showed up or as hurt feelings. And that's ridiculous.
What if what if Ronald Lacuna broke his elbow last
night from that pitch and missed two months? Now, not
only are the Braves shorthanded going into a pennant race,
but they are also without a big star, young star
that could help grow major League baseball, all because some
Miami Marlins didn't like what he did the night before.

(07:33):
And that is, I think is a huge issue, is
why are we Why are we so sensitive that we
have to be but hurt over something that's is so minor. Yeah,
and it's and and I agree with you on the
point of you don't allow these guys to celebrate pictures
get a red ass if a guy flips his bat.
Jose Batista flipping his bat got all sorts of reaction

(07:54):
in the postseason several years ago. People get get piste
off of some of the Latin players in the way
they they celebrate, or they taunt, or they run the
bases or they make a play. I have no issue
with any of that stuff. That I do agree that
major League Baseball could do something with and and could
could try and help these guys build their brand, not

(08:15):
just Major League Baseball, with their own personal brands by
showcasing some of the talent. Like Hobby Bias is another one.
A lot of people don't like Hobby Bias because of
the antics. Wilson Contreras of the Cubs is another one.
There's other Latin players around the league who's celebrating show
boat and it's like major League Baseball and some of
the old people, like the people in Major League Baseball,

(08:35):
some of the guys that have been around for years
and years don't like that sort of behavior. My whole
point being, this has been a part of the game
for so long. It doesn't make it right, but it's
just part of the game. And the fact that that
people are tuning in and now saying, well, the well,
that's the problem with major League Baseball. That's why your
sport is dying. That's why nobody cares about your sport anymore.

(08:58):
For me and you, like, we've seen bean ball wars before, right,
We've seen people get hit with pitches before, and and
and a player shows off, shows up somebody else, and
and a picture goes up the next bat and hits him.
I've seen it my whole life. For us growing up
watching baseball, this isn't going to make us not want
to watch baseball. But for the new breed, for people

(09:20):
out there that are trying to get into baseball and
they see this sort of thing, they think, what the
hell is this Like? I think it would limit your
growth moving forward, but I don't think it dampens the
opinions of people that are watching the game currently. See
I just look at it is. I know we've seen
this in baseball, but I don't think we've seen this.
I know that we've seen beatings, and I know that
we've seen retaliations, and we've seen benches be warned in pictures,

(09:41):
be warned because of history between teams. This guy was
on a roll. That's what it was. That this guy
was hot, and the Marlins and Jose Urina for some
reason felt offended or they felt that the only way
to stop him. You know what you do. If you
don't like how Acunia has been hit, or you can't
figure a way to get him out, you know what

(10:02):
you do you walk him. You don't plunk him. You
walk him, You let him go to first base. If
you don't want to face him, that's what you do.
I don't think that this was I don't know why
the Marlins would get so hurt about this, or why
Jose Urania would feel so hurt. And that's the problem
that I have. And I I know the unwritten rules,
I just don't think that they apply in this situation.
I know what they did previously, that's not this situation.

(10:24):
Nothing happened in the midst of a game. Nothing happened
previously between these two teams. This kid is just hitting
the the snot out of the ball and doing it
at an impressive rate that robbed all of us of
more action because the Marlins couldn't take it. I don't
think it falls under the unwritten rules of baseball because
this situation doesn't call for the team that's out of
the pennant race plunking one of the top stars for

(10:47):
a team that's going for a pennant. That's not a
part of unwritten rules of baseball. That's just stupid. And
I also thought that a couple of things to so
none of the Braves really made an aggressive attempt to
try and get at him, like I think they were
trying to figure out what the hell was going on
because they didn't expect it, and I don't think anybody
on the Marlins expected it either, because this this felt
like a guy going rogue and a guy who just

(11:09):
sort of ignored and and forgot about there. They're going
to play again, I guess next week or within the
next couple of weeks, they're going to meet up again,
and I'm curious to see what happens if he gets
in a bat, if he's not still suspended. I'm curious
see how it's handled from there, because if the Braves
go out and they tag a Marlin hitter, that goes

(11:29):
to show you that the Braves feel like that was
a team plan, like the plan was in place as
a team. We're gonna send this guy a message. But
if the Braves go out and there is no retaliation,
they're gonna wait until they get their next shot at Urania.
I mean that's gonna happen. It's it's you know, uh
I for an eye. Uh, two rights don't make it
wrong or two wrongs don't make it right, and whatever

(11:51):
they are going to get some sort of justice. I'm
curious see when it happens. Don Maddingly, the skiper of
the Marlins, has the tied the major league record for
most home runs and executive games with eight. So I
don't think that, as you said, like this seems to
be maybe be Urania going off on his own. Like,
it doesn't seem to me that Don Manningly, who never
got plunked in those eight games where he was heating

(12:12):
home runs and was allowed to do so, would do that.
I mean, could you imagine the look of that, Like
it would be like, I don't want him to tie
or break my record. Ken Griff Junior also hit eight
straight games. That's why you know your point about him
doing it by himself, I think is of Urena doing
it on his own. Is is very legitimate because it
would be an awful look for Manningly, the skipper of
the Marlins. You know, I mean to be Hecky holds

(12:34):
the major League Baseball record for how pissed do you
think the Braves were that he got thrown out of
the game so that he couldn't get in a bat?
Oh yeah, because look and and we can we can
talk about well you know it was wrong what they did.
But if you're the Braves, you were just hoping he
was going to get one turn at bat because he
was getting going to get one in the ribs guaranteed,
and it was gonna happen. So yeah, you just gotta

(12:55):
wait until next time. But a congratulations in Major League
Baseball popping up on the national stage in August. Good
for you, Go League Baseball. You guys aren't talking about us, Well,
you can talk about us now. And why you aren't
talking about us, that's the reason why Major League Baseball
shows again. Why people aren't talking about it's ridiculous. I

(13:15):
would have watched you would have break ins on MLB
Network of whenever a Kuna went to bat. Remember that,
like with hitting streaks, you would have that. Or with
Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa, that is something that you
could have got with the Cuney. If Hee Homer's last night,
now it's six straight games and he leads off the
four straight games with leadoff home runs, you would have
break ins with that. You would have something else to find.
I have always felt John Us that a hitting streak,

(13:37):
like a forty game hitting streaking, major League baseball would
do wonders for the sport to get us all really
in and this could have been something and it's all
wasted because of a team that's out of the playoff picture.
Be sure to catch live editions of The Doug gott
Leap Show week days in noon eastern three pm Pacific
on Fox Sports Radio and the I Heart Radio app.

(13:57):
Mark Slareth Stink joins us here on the Gottlieb Show. Hey, Mark,
thanks so much for coming on. It's my pleasure man,
gonna be on with you guy. Yeah, So, what is
what is your favorite week of the NFL preseason? The
week it's over? Yes, six, there it is, weeks six.
Absolutely absolutely. Hey, there's some news in your city of Denver.
John Elway coming out today and he made comments earlier

(14:20):
this week of saying, hey, they may not be they
might not be set at quarterback. Maybe they'll look elsewhere
for a number two behind case Keenum. And he was
asked today about Colin Kaepernick. Can we know that Denver
went down that road two years ago? And Elway brought
up that conversation. He brought up the point of being
we offered him a contract two years ago. It didn't work.

(14:40):
Out we moved on. Is that a fair statement from
John Elway in in assessing the possibility of of bringing
in someone like Colin Kaepernick. Yeah. I mean they're said
at the starting quarterback position. So I think the one
thing that you have to look at from Denvers, Yeah,
they did go down that road. They did try to
give him an opportunity come in and start and you know,

(15:01):
at least compete for a starting job. And he didn't
want to negotiate with him. He had a figure in
his head. They had a figure in their head. Um
they couldn't come to you know, they can't come to
an agreement. And one thing I know about John is
once you say no to John, he's done with you.
You know, I'm like, I'm moving on. The other thing
is here and never They finally have some stability with

(15:23):
case Keenum, or at least they feel like they have stability.
It has been the last two years an absolute gong
show here with Paxton Lynch and the fact that Paxton
Lynch was a first round draft choice and now for
three straight years he's been beat out in the competition
by a seventh round er twice by Trevor Simeon. Now
by Chad Kelly, and they're through with all those questions

(15:44):
everybody has to ask about the backup quarterback, the backup quarterback,
the backup quarterback. They are through with that, so they
don't want to bring any of that in here. And
like I said, Kae Kaepernick was given an opportunity to
come here two years ago and he turned them down.
So they're just done with that. Mark, what happened to
Paxton Lynch? Well, I mean Paston Lynch, just Paston Lynch

(16:05):
just can't process. It can't process information quickly enough. And
you know, oftentimes you say that and then people think
and misconstrue that is, oh, the guy's dumb. That's not
the case. There's a lot of really smart people that
don't process information quickly. Just like you have an elite
level forty times you have an elite level ability to process.
Some guys have it, some guys don't. And I would

(16:27):
argue that the reason you see these collegian players that
are phenomenal and get to the NFL and can't play
is because their physical freak shows and they can dominate
a college football game, you know, two or three times
a year, or four or five times a year when
they're not faced like competition. You know, you go to
a big school and there's two times a year or

(16:47):
three times a year, or you're facing somebody who's at
your level athletically. So those guys just beat up on
the smaller conference guys and this and the lesser players.
But they get to the NFL and everybody's physically gifted.
Then it comes down to how quickly do you process information.
And just like there's an elite level athleticism, there's guys

(17:07):
that have elite level processing skills. And doesn't mean that
you're intelligent. It doesn't mean that you articulate well. It
just means that you can see things on a football
field and have instant reaction. That's why sometimes a guy
like they drafted here in Denver, Josie Jewell, you know,
everybody said, well, he just didn't he just didn't run
very fast, he didn't have a great forty times combine.
And I'm like, yeah, but he made every play. Every

(17:28):
time you turn on the film. He's just at the
point of attack making a tackle for a one yard game.
Like there's something to that. And and that's what I
think ends up costing guys opportunities and costing guys careers
and for whatever reason, Paxson Lynch just couldn't process uh
an NFL defense to speed in NFL defense and the
variation of an NFL defense. Mark Slayer, three time Super

(17:51):
Bowl champion, Fox Sports One, Fox Sports Radio NFL analyst
with us here on FSR, Dan Buyer, Jonas Knox him
for Doug Gottlieb. How fair is the criticism that John
Elway has gotten from some people in not being able
to find that next great quarterback. I would say, how
many of them are there? Like three four in the league.

(18:13):
Like it's not like they're just growing on trees and
you pluck them. I mean, I think part of I
think part of if you want to be critical, and
I think this comes with John and and positions you play.
You know, when I'm analyzing a game on Fox and
I'm watching this game, it's really easy for me to
watch the game through a straw hole, you know, just

(18:33):
to go whoop, right to my position, you know, right
to what I'm used to, right to that line of scrimmage,
right to that front seven and not seeing anything else.
And you've got to look at the totality of the picture.
But that's what I'm comfortable with. So I think a
lot of times when you've played and you're so as
good as you are, I think John has done a
phenomenal job of scouting defensive players. A guy like Malik

(18:54):
Jackson who went to a Pro Bowl, was drafted in
the fifth round and then got a big money contract
with Jacksonville. You know, a guy like Von Miller. You know,
guy like Chris Harris Jr. Guys that And maybe he
wasn't here when they when they drafted Chris Harris Junion.
But the point being is he played quarterback. You're used
to seeing what a good defensive player looks like from
You're used to seeing the band, the reaction time, all

(19:16):
that stuff. I think sometimes, you know, you get clouded
by that's what you've seen your whole career, and then
you get enamored by talent from a quarterback position, but
maybe you lose some of the intangible stuff that you've
got to have to play the position. Well, um, I
would just say one, you know, I think you're so
used to looking at defensive players to the college game

(19:38):
doesn't prepare UH college quarterbacks for the most part, and
it's not their job to do it. But it doesn't
prepare them to play in the NFL. And I think
that's an issue that you have as well. But I
think it's just hard to evaluate quarterbacks. And you know,
we're gonna see a whole draft class full of them
in the top ten picks this year, and let's face it, uh,
maybe one of those top ten guys is gonna go

(20:00):
on to have a, you know, a stellar NFL career.
NFL on Fox analyst Mark Schlereth joining us here at
the Doug Gottlip Show on Fox Sports Radio. He's Jonas Knox.
I'm Dan buyer in for Doug one more on Denver
and in the quarterback situation. Did was there a point
where they thought Kirk Cousins was maybe a foregone conclusion?
Because the only reason I asked think is because it
seemed like before he went to Minnesota, all we talked

(20:22):
about was Denver and the Jets. The Jets in Denver
as possibilities for Cousins, and then Denver dropped the first
domino when they signed case Keenum. And I'm wondering if
Cousins let them know, was there at any point where
they thought they were really in on the Cousins race.
I think they were in on it, and I think
Cousins basically said, no thanks, he's putting the roster. I

(20:42):
think one thing you have to understand is Kirk Cousins
was represented by the same agent that Trevor Simeon was
represented by. Trevor Simeons started four teen games, played hurt,
play tough. Yeah, you know what. He lacks pure NFL
skill at the quarterback, but he's as smart as anybody's
you've ever met. He'll make the right decision. Sometimes he
won't deliver the ball on time or he wants to

(21:03):
deliver the ball accurately, but like he's not gonna hurt you,
you know, from the standpoint of not knowing what to do.
And he's represented by the same Asian as Kirk Cousins,
and he did all these things and he comes in
um into training camp not as the incumbent after starting
fourteen games and literally playing with his shoulder having to
be like duct taped to his body, and he plays

(21:25):
the whole season that way. And then they open up
the competition and they try to give it to Paston Lynch,
who is the last guy in the in the facility,
the first guy out of the facility, doesn't study, they
can't find him for meetings. You know, I mean, how
would you feel if you're Trevor Seemi. Go wait a minute,
I played. I mean I played injured for you guys.
I shouldn't even played last year. I played injured for

(21:46):
you guys. And I walk into training camp and you're
giving this. You know, you're given this, dude, an opportunity.
You're like, an opportunity hasn't earned. I mean, if you
don't think that travels through the agent over to Kirk
Cousins and says, hey, listen, we're not a very talented Emore.
Offensive line is not very good. We can't run the ball.
And oh, by the way, this is how I got
treated over there, Like I think Kirk Cousins just basically

(22:07):
told told them thank you, but no thank you. I'm
moving to a different organization. Um, last one for me
for Mark Slayer at the three time Super Bowl champion
NFL on Fox Analyst here on Fox Sports Radio, Dan
Buyer Jonas knocks him for Doug Gottlieb. There's so it's
looking more and more like Sam donald is Is is
getting more reps with the starters. The talk is he's

(22:28):
going to make his debut and he's going to start
the season as the starting quarterback for the New York Jets.
How concerned would you be as a veteran on that
team with Sam Donald opening up Monday night at Detroit
against Matt Patrician and the Lions. Yeah, i'd be I mean,
I would certainly be concerned. But you know, we all
have to get our initial start, and you start to realize,

(22:50):
you know, depending on where you are and how old
you are, like you get very few opportunities to actually
be good. And so I think you would have to
look at that, like, if that guy gives us the
best opportunity to at least to at least get to
ourselves to a position where we're decent at the end
of the season and then have a chance to really compete. Uh.

(23:10):
You know, he's in a great situation in New York
because McCown is one of those guys that loves to
mentor young players. He understands the value of that. Not
that he doesn't want to start, he doesn't want to play,
but he's the one guy that's not looking to say,
hey man, I need to be in the mix. And
if you guys, don't you know, if you guys don't
starve me, I'm gonna be a sour apple. He's the
guy that will say, let me mentor a young kid.

(23:32):
He's just he's wired that way, he's built that way.
He loves that. It's kind of like the John Titna
of today's era of football. So I think those are
great things, and I think you would look at it.
If the kid is talented, if he's working hard, if
he's making them, if he's if he's jumped into the
mental aspect of this game, then I think there's no
question that guys will support the heck out of that

(23:52):
and hopes that, hey, maybe by the end of the
season we're racing for eight and eight, or maybe we're
racing for you know, for for respectability, and we're gonna
be really good the next couple of years. Two quick
ones before we let you go stink. Number one? How
long would you wait to play Baker Mayfield if you're
Hugh Jackson in Cleveland, Um, I'd probably go for like
like they're in a unique situation because let's face it,

(24:16):
um he wasn't the pick of that general manager, you know.
I mean, that's like they just retained him. So if
you want to retain that job, you're gonna have to
You're gonna have to win. I mean, that's what it
comes down to. So the best chance to win is
playing a veteran quarterback in Tyrod Taylor, who took a
Buffalo team to the playoffs even even um, even while

(24:39):
you know they were they were benching him for Peterman,
you know, because of the front office. So I mean,
he went through some controversy last year, still took a
team to the playoffs. Now, they didn't perform well in
the playoffs, but they got there. So I look at
that and would would say probably six weeks and then
if we're out of it, they're probably gonna make a
change anyhow. But I gotta do the best best thing

(25:00):
I can do for my guys to win. There's no
question that Cleveland Browns are four more talented team than
they've been. Um, you just look at their roster construction.
So if I don't, if I don't play the veteran,
we're not gonna win and I'm gonna be out of
a job after week three. So I think that at
least six weeks before you make that move as an
organization and is Royce framing the real deal in Denver?

(25:23):
You know what I think? So, but they are I
don't understand. Like today on my radio show, I called
the von Booker. Um, I look at him and I
was like, he sir mix a lot. He just loves
to run on the big butt of his offensive Lineman's
sold down, Like like, I don't understand why you continue

(25:44):
to give Sir mix a lot opportunity after opportunity. They
have been in a constant rocation the running back position
and and very much like last year with the rotation
of the quarterback position, at some point, pick a guy
and let that guy be the man, and I think
it will be Royce Freeman. Um. I just think he's
a more talented guy. But he needs some mesh and

(26:05):
he needs some carries and more than Hey, you get
one carry here and then the next guy gets one,
and then you get a pass pro. The next guy
gets passed pro and then when it mixing, the third
back in there, Like he needs to be in there
for three drives straight and get some attempts and get
some pass protection opportunities. He needs that. Um, But they like,

(26:25):
I don't understand, there's not one play that Devon Booker
has ever made or whatever his name is, Booker, Yeah,
DeVante Booker. See, I can't. That's how innocuous he is
to make. Um. I've never one time we won, he's
had two carries, he's never broken a twenty yard run
in two fifty attempts. I've never one time rewind the

(26:48):
film while I was watching him, going whoa, whoa, what
was that? Let me see that again? Like like, there's
no rewindable moments in his career. So I don't know
if he's got pictures or what, but uh well, just
keep rotating them here and I'm at camp every day,
so I don't get it. Don't rewind you fast forward,
that's what you do. He's Mark Schlereth, NFL on Fox
analyst three times Super Bowl champ stank. We appreciate it,

(27:11):
and yeah, Njoe, the rest of your summer my pleasure,
you guys to take care of. Be sure to catch
live edition So the Doug Dot Leap Show week days
at noon eastern three pm Pacific. The Cleveland Browns are
gonna be taking on the Buffalo Bills, I believe on Friday,
those those teams play in Cleveland and the Browns in
the news again. And it's not just because Dez Bryant

(27:32):
is visiting with the team today as the free as
wide receiver looks for work. It's more news about what
do you know the quarterback situation in Cleveland surrounding Tyrod Taylor,
Baker Mayfield, and I guess you could say Drew Stanton Jonas.
From the comments that Hugh Jackson made earlier at training camp,
I've said from the beginning, you know, again, I think

(27:52):
experience is important. So right now, Drew still has that
experience and we'll see how that all unfolds as we go.
I know what you're asking. I haven't made that that
choice just yet, but I think his veteran presence says
a lot. You know, he's playing a lot of games,
I guess a lot of teams we're gonna start off
against and play again. So I think that's important to

(28:13):
definitely consider that from Hugh Jackson. So Baker Mayfield may
not be the starting quarterback and heck may not be
the second string quarterback to start the NFL regular season.
Now I can appreciate what Hugh Jackson did there. A
little little gift to the radio god say that here's
a segment for you guys, toy around with this Baker
Mayfield not being uh not being second string. It's really

(28:34):
not that big of a deal. Um, And it's not
a big of a deal. And it actually kind of
makes sense when you think about it in terms of
responsibility of a backup quarterback to if he's brought into
a game. Now, if Baker Mayfield plays his ass off
the rest of the preseason, who knows, maybe he beats
out Tyrod Taylor for the job period. But what he's

(28:54):
saying is not that Drew Stanton is a better quarterback
than Baker Mayfield right now, because I still think Baker
Mayfield is the second best quarterback right now on the roster.
But in an emergency situation, do you really want to
usher in Baker Mayfield into into a starting spot in
the middle of a game or would you rather turn

(29:14):
it over to Drew Stanton? And it makes all the
sense in the world, Like I actually get why Baker
Mayfield is number three on the depth chart right now.
The fact of when you look at how the Browns
are approaching this season and we're gonna bring back some
of what Mark slaira the NFL on Fox analysts told
us about what he thinks of the Brown situation, and
I completely agree with him. But when you look at

(29:36):
the situation, there's a short term aspect, Jonas, and there's
a long term aspect. And while Sting is gonna deal
with the short term when we hear from him, the
long term aspect is this as well. If Baker Mayfield
isn't ready, you know, as you say, there's there's you
don't want to put him in, and you if you
put him in, you can't turn back. That is the thing.

(29:56):
If if you were to be down twenty eight points
in Tyrod Taylor pulled u Odd just a minor injury
or tweaked an ankle, You're gonna need a quarterback to
finish that game. And guess what the defense is in
a in a prevent defense, Baker Mayfield takes the team down,
goes down and let's say scores a touchdown, and all
of a sudden, now you're heading into Week two and
you have a quarterback controversy. You can't turn back from

(30:17):
Baker Mayfield if he is your second string quarterback. I
think that there's going to be a time when Baker
Mayfield takes over the controls, but when that time comes,
he is not going to lose the reins of that team.
It is going to be his team. And by making
Drew Stanton the second string quarterback behind Tyrod Taylor, it
allows them that lead way in case Tyrod Taylor gets injured,

(30:39):
that they don't have to turn over the team to
Baker Mayfield kind of to the point of before he's ready.
But it also means that they can't go back to
Tyrod Taylor if Baker Mayfield had any sort of success
on the football field. Um, I know that that is
the thought. And you know that's something we've always heard,
is that if you turn over the starting job to
a rookie quarterback and they struggle, you can't go back,

(30:59):
you can't bench him and then put the veteran back in.
It would just it would hurt his confidence. But like,
just if we could talk about just that mentality for
a second, isn't that kind of alarming that if a
guy gets punished because he isn't playing well, that you
that hurts his confidence to the point to where you

(31:20):
scar the rest of his career, like like and and
and it's so like, say, Baker Mayfield goes in and
he struggles, and he's punished because he didn't play well,
and they bench him. The idea that, well, no, you're
not allowed to bench him because that would hurt his confidence.
You can't once you, you know, give him the job,
you can't turn back. And I know and it's not

(31:42):
just you thinking that. We've all known this as NFL fans.
We've heard this from coaches, organizations. But the idea of
that a guy would be so fragile that benching him
for poor play would would somehow hurt his confidence moving forward,
as opposed to guy plays the best, keeps his job.
I just I don't understand that mentality. I can see why.

(32:05):
I think it's that way at pretty much every position
in the NFL except quarterback. It's the And it's not
saying that Baker Mayfield is. It's not saying that he's fragile.
It's just that you don't want to go back and
forth because you've got to find a leader of the team,
and the leader of the team in more times than not,
is the quarterback, So you can't tag go between the two.

(32:27):
Once it's given to Once the job is given to
Baker Mayfield, not only is he the starting quarterback, he's
the leader of that team. And I think that has
an effect on the other guys that if you're going
back and forth between Tyrod Taylor and Baker Mayfield, you
don't know who the leader is, and so that's in
that position is so unique. So I don't know if
it's I don't think it's even as as Baker being fragile.

(32:49):
I think it's the the weight of that position that
causes you to do that, To have that, because you're
right at any other it seems odd to think that
somebody would be so fragile because if they're still fragile,
why would they be in that position anyway? How are
they going to succeed? I think it's the quarterback position
that the reason that occurs is because you need someone
to be a leader. Because I wonder what the message

(33:10):
is to the rest of the team, to how many
guys on that team should Baker Mayfield go in there
and struggle a little bit but still keep his job.
How many guys on the team if they struggle and
lose their job, would not point a Baker Mayfield and say, wait,
so he can play like crap and he still keeps
his gig, but I struggle a little bit, and you
guys don't stand by me. It's always been something I
found interesting, and it's not not to to pick on

(33:31):
your point at all, because your point is valid. That's
the way the thought process has been in the NFL
for a long time. I also wonder because and it
all kind of comes full circle because the Bills did
that exact thing to Nathan Peterman last year. They gave
Nathan Peterman one half of football at the Chargers, one
of the better defenses in the league, and it was embarrassing,

(33:54):
and I am That's why I've been curious to see
how Nathan Peterson meet Peterman recovers from that, because he
played one half through five interceptions and they could not
bench him fast enough. And then, if you're Hugh Jackson,
didn't he bench to Shaun Kaiser at one point and
then put him back in the game at one point?
There's Houston And that was the game that you could

(34:15):
argue that the Browns passed on to Shaun Watson because
they ended up making the trade and allow the Texans
to get him. And I felt at the time that
you Jackson was like, all right, we don't want to
Shaun against de Shaun because there Sean is gonna be
a lot better than hours. But yeah, bench them for
Kevin Hogan. It's it's always been an interesting thought process
when it comes to rookie quarterbacks and now you handle them. Um,

(34:36):
that is just to your point, different than any other
position on the field. Because if you're a running back
and you're averaging two point to a clip and and
the veterans playing better than you, Sorry, pal, you're not
You're not getting on the field. Yeah, well, there's there's
another point of that when you talk about the the
veterans and other guys performing realistically, if you're the Cleveland
Browns and I know that Baker Mayfield and his future

(34:57):
is the biggest issue for Cleveland's success or the biggest
factor of Cleveland's success going forward, but who do you
get a real judge of amongst the other players on
that offense with your quarterback being either Tyrod Taylor or
Baker Mayfield. I think that you can find out a
lot more about David and Joeku. You can find out
a lot more about who your running backs are when

(35:19):
you actually have stability at quarterback. If you put Baker
Mayfield in there. Maybe you don't get a read on
some of these other guys that you want to know.
Maybe you don't get a read on Antonio Callaway, and
if he's ready for that spot, maybe maybe you do
and and and maybe that's a risk that you take.
But I also wonder Jonas, if you're the Cleveland Browns
and you're trying to analyze all these new pieces that

(35:40):
you have on offense or pieces that you want to
see developed, maybe the best way that those pieces developed
is with Tyrod Taylor and not worrying about Baker Mayfield's development.
And mixed in with this whole dynamic is the fact
that you've got a head coach. He's gotta win games. Yeah,
there is no like it is year three. You have
to win games. You've got one win at a thirty

(36:01):
two games. He's in a bad spot. And that was
the point that Mark Slare at the NFL on Fox
Analysts made for us earlier on the show when he
joined us talking Cleveland Browns and Hugh Jackson. Let's face it,
he wasn't the pick of that general manager. So if
you want to retain that job, you're gonna have to
win the best chance to win is playing a veteran
quarterback in Tyrod Taylor who took a Buffalo team to

(36:23):
the playoffs. There's no question that Cleveland Browns are four
more talented team than they've been. Um, you just look
at their roster construction. So if I don't play the veteran,
We're not gonna win and I'm gonna be out of
a job after week three. So I think at least
six weeks before you make that move as an organization.
That was Mark slareth on when he would put Baker
Mayfield into the starting lineup for the Cleveland Browns and

(36:46):
at least stick with Tyrod Taylor early, just for as
you mentioned, Hugh Jackson's job security. Yeah, I mean, look
what was Hugh Jackson's big issue last year at quarterback
with the Cleveland Browns turnovers. Deshaun Kaiser couldn't stop turning
the ball over at least to get at least that
much from Tyrod Taylor, you know, it's one less thing
to worry about. It's like if you've got a bunch
of debts and you finally pay off one of them,

(37:07):
or you pay off one credit cards, like Okay, look,
I'm not wealthy by any means, but at least I
have that not to worry about anymore. So at least
he knows with Tyrod Taylor, he's not going to turn
the ball over. That's the strength of Tyrod Taylor historically
is one of the best ever as far as a
touchdown to interception ratio and turning the ball over. And
so it just becomes this weird sort of dynamic in

(37:30):
Cleveland where at some point, like you've got to see
what you got in Baker Mayfield, but your head coach
wants to keep his job, Like and and John Dorsey,
he's cool because he's got job security. He just got
there and he's trying to build a winner. And that
wasn't the coach that he hired. So that's why I

(37:51):
just I wonder how many of those players in that
locker room are sitting around looking at Hugh Jackson going yeah, no,
we hear are you you? But uh yeah, we're gonna
be here next year, are you? Because I really it's
it's a it's a strange dynamic there in Cleveland, which
is why it's it's been fascinating to see inside the
coaches room, inside the locker room, what it's like there,

(38:14):
you know, whether it's Todd Haley or Hugh Jackson or
whoever handing down the controls to to some of these
players on Hard Knocks, and we get to see how
it plays out every single Tuesday of what's going on
at Brown's camp. And maybe we'll see Dez Bryant in
the next episode is again he's visiting with the Browns today.
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Fox Sports

(38:35):
Radio dot com and within the I Heart Radio apps.
Search f s R to listen live talking baseball with
our good friend form the MLB Network and check out
the Morning Lineup podcast and MLB dot Com. Correspondent covering baseball,
Richard Justice joins us here on Fox Sports Radio. Hey Richard,
thanks so much with the time. Yeah, thank you for
having me. Let's uh start out with Ronald Lacuna. When

(38:57):
you saw the beating last night, your first imp asians
were initial reaction on what you saw between the Marlins
and Braves. I was in rage, and there's no no
question that it was intentional. And my second thought was, Okay,
who told this kid to do this? I knew it
wasn't Don Mattingly. He was just a young guy hyped
up and he did something that could have had a

(39:18):
terrible outcome. I think Acuna is in the lineup tonight,
So you know, look at what I felt so terrible
about is the Braves have been maybe the best story
in baseball this year. And this guy, how often does
a guy that gets super hyped, how often is he
as good as we as advertising? Then some that's what
this kid has been homed in his second game and

(39:39):
he has just you know, he was he took off
in spring training twenty years old, and you think he
can't be this good. He's that good. And there are
two young guys, two of the three youngest players in baseball.
They're a second basement azzi albits of what had made
the race, part of what had made the Bravest is
a great story this year. So yeah, I didn't like it,
and I would I would imagine that on maddingly. And

(40:00):
the Marlins are going to punish the kid, uh, And
I know they're going to be playing each other again
coming up actually next week if my math is correct here,
So if if that's the case, and and and say
they meet up again do you expect any sort of
retribution or is this just a one off scenario and
it's one player basically against an entire team. Yeah, I

(40:21):
think that's exactly it. I think it was one player
against fifty and uh, it's just like we're getting away
from that. You know. I covered the Orioles in the
eighties and nineties, and their philosophy was, why don't we
just get the next hit around? You know, let's just
assist to our job. And I think more and more
that's the way teams are approaching if there's not a
lot of that stuff. He used to see when Tony

(40:43):
Lewis and Dusty Baker would play Cardinals Cardinals Cubs games,
when it looked like the abt to take it out
on the street and let the player, let the managers fight,
and the players play. Richard Justice joining us here on
Fox Sports Radio. He's Jonas Knocks. I'm Dan Buyer in
for Doug Gottlieb on The Doug Gottlieb Show. There was
a lot that bothered me about it, Richard, one of
which was the Braves are in the thick of it,

(41:04):
They're leading the division. This is one of their young
guys in the Marlins weren't out of it. Is that
something in the what we were talking about, the unwritten
rules of baseball or things that come up. That was
one of the things that that bothers me. Was that
rare for for for you to see something like this
with a with a team that has a lot on
the line losing it because one team was not even

(41:26):
in it was reckless. I know, I think you're just
overthinking it. It was young, one young guy that thought
he was going to make a statement for his team
on a guy that had torched against the guy that
had tortured them. His manager didn't like it, you know,
his teammates didn't like it, and the Braves obviously went
bananas about it, as they should have. I think the
only upshot is that that a Kuno wasn't hurt worse.

(41:48):
I mean, it looked like it was gonna be bad,
So yeah, I don't I think it was one guy
doing something and I don't think he paid was paying
any attention to the standings or anything else. He just
didn't want the guy to hit a home run off him.
Richard Justice with us here on Fox Sports Radio. Dan
Byer Jonas knocks in for Doug gottlieb Um, is there
any team in the National League who you give a

(42:09):
realistic shot in the World Series against what looks to
be most likely to Boston Red Sox. Yo, you mean
which team has the best chance? You know? I I
think it. I think the way the Philippias pitching has
held up, and the way their bullpen is held up,
and the postseason is a bullpen game, I think they're

(42:30):
in the mix. I think Arizona's in the mix. Um.
I don't see the Dodgers doing it unless they get
Kenny Jansen back. You know, it's fine. All those other
arms behind him, Scott Asander Values and all those guys
are are really good. But there's a difference in pitching
the seventh inning and pitching the ninth, and you've got
to have a particular mentality to pitch to. Then. I
think Kenny Jansen was the best in baseball. I still

(42:52):
like the Cubs. I think they've got a shot, you
know it. Jim Leland always said, don't tell me who's
the best team in the regular season, tell me whose
gets to the postseason. They're healthy, their pictures aren't exhausted,
and they've got a good vibe about them. So, you know,
I mean, Houston won the World Series last year, but
look how they did it. They had If Alex Bregman
doesn't home or off Chris sailing game for the Division Series,

(43:14):
they're headed back to Houston for a Game five. The
Astros had to win two elimination games at home against
the Yankees to go to the World Series. And then
you know, the World Series won seven games, and Games
two and five were as crazy as I'll ever see.
It's it's like a thousand little pieces of confetti after
fall into play. Richard Justice joining us here on Fox
Sports Radio. You can see him on the MLB Network,
read him on MLBAT, read him on MLB dot com,

(43:35):
and also check out the Morning Lineup podcast. Is Mike
Matheny's firing the reason for this Cardinals resurgence? Um, yeah,
you don't discount it, you know, you it clearly changed
the environment. I'm not you know, Matt Carpenter was asked
that question the other day, and what Matt said was, look,
we're winning now, and so that we're it's gonna look

(43:57):
like we're having more fun. It's gonna look like the
environment a lighter and there's more energy. And all that. Basically,
John mose Like turned over his team. He turned the
pitching staff over. I think half the pitching staff is
twenty five or younger, young guys like Harrison Bader or
playing every day, and Matt Carpenter got insanely hot. But
I do think the environment is part of it. Sometimes
you just have to change the voice. And it's never

(44:20):
just one thing, but it's It showed you that the
Cardinals believed in their team and they were going to
keep changing the mix, so they tried to get it right.
Richard Justice of MLB dot Com with us here on
the Fox Sports Radio, Dan Buyer Jonas knocks in for
Doug Gottlieb. Is there a team that's in the hunt
for a playoff spot that you just don't buy? You

(44:40):
think it's a little smoke in mirrors at this point,
and if they get to the postseason, you don't take
him as a serious threat. Uh No, I mean, like
we talked earlier about about the Dodgers of that Kenny Jansen,
they can't win a championship, But no, I think all
the teams that have a chance to go, you know
s actually in the American League. I know you guys

(45:01):
agree with that because Cleveland is hurt without Trevor Bauer,
but they have a big time bullpen and they have
a couple of guys at the front of the rotation
that are capable of winning. You know, until the Yankees
get their pitching straightened out, they're not going to win
a championship. And I don't know how you do that.
You know, out of you know, Severino has suddenly looked

(45:21):
human and say, Sabbathia cannaka pitch well today, Sabathia has
hurt all of that. I mean, it's kind of a
worst case scenario for those guys. Richard Justice here on
Fox Sports Radio, he's Jonas knocks, I'm Dan buyer. What
about the Mariners? Another only two and a half out,
but now you've got injuries to the pitching staff as well.
I mean, is this it's just two and a half games,

(45:42):
but it seems a lot bigger in that a LS
at least for the second wild card behind Oakland. Well,
Oakland looks like the best team in baseball, right you know,
I mean, they look they can they can play with
the Red Sox right now, um um. And you say, well,
I'm not buying the pitching. I'm not buying the pitching either,
but Brett Anderson pitch is good at Aim as you
will see this year, uh yesterday against Seattle and then

(46:04):
look what they're getting out of Trevor k. Hill and
Chris Bassett and Edwin Jackson. Now they added Mike Fires.
I don't quite It's not what we expected, but that's
part of the fun of it. And Houston finally is
going to be whole again, almost whole they have. You know,
they had their three pillars, Springer, grand Al, Twoba all out.
Two of them are back. We'll be back tomorrow when
they play at Oakland, now to maybe a few days away.

(46:25):
I think he's going to be back at some point soon. Yeah, um,
but you know Oakland, I mean, Seattle now has Cano
back and they need to They just have to hold
their breath that that Paxton is not gone for for
for a long time and that King Felix can replace him.
It would be a crime that the Mariners breath the

(46:45):
seventeen year drought and King Felix, who has been so
great for the franchise, the city and just one of
the great people that ever put on the uniform, that
he can't play a more prominent role than he has
so far. Being use somebody who's covered baseball for so long,
and you talked to so many people who are in
in the sport, and and I watched these teams and
know the minor league systems, and now they developed. Did

(47:07):
anybody see this happening with Oakland this year? And if so,
when did it start? When was the building When did
the building block start for this this organization in the
second half of last year when they put the two
mats at the corner impield spot, I mean it changed
match Chapman and Metals and it changed everything. Matt Chapman,
he's going to give votes for American League MVP. He's
the best defensive player in the game. He's an impact player.

(47:28):
Those two guys just it was all of a sudden.
You could see it. Bob Melvin would tell you, I, I,
you know, we all had a different spring in our step.
And Chris, you know, we knew Piscotty getting him that
was a good addition. I think we knew they would
score enough runs. I don't think anybody saw Blake trying
and the lu Travino becoming these dominant guys in the
eighth and ninth inning. But the biggest thing and the
thing that no one's will come in was how good

(47:51):
that rotation has been among you know, guys that you
would not expect. Brett Anderson has started opening day for
the for their AIDS. In the past, he's been a
round and around. He's been hurt a lot. I think
he was just a matter of him staying healthy. But
the other guy, you just know you didn't see it coming.
I mean, I I think that with the no no
earlier this year, I thought, oh, that'll be the eighth
headline of the season. Far from it. Richard Justice again.

(48:13):
See him on MLB Network, check out the Morning Line
of podcast, rid him on MLB dot com, and find
him on Twitter. Simple enough at Richard Justice. We appreciate it, Richard,
enjoy the rest of your Thursday. Thank you for having me.