5/12/25 - The Mo Egger Radio Show - Mo Egger

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
To win one thousand dollars entered this nationwide keyword on
our website.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
Win.

Speaker 1 (00:05):
That's win. Enter it now. As in, the Reds did
not win yesterday, and they only won twice on their
road trip. What's not moleg or ESPN fifteen thirty. I
hope you had an austome weekend. Sobey had a great
mother's day. Yesterday was gorgeous. Today not so much. Show
rundowns available at Muleggar thanks to Emery Federal Credit Union,

(00:27):
your credit union with heart since nineteen thirty nine. Go
to EMERYFCU dot org. Go do that. So the Trey
Hendrickson content machine continues to churn, and like Tony and Austin,
I frankly could not be more appreciative. We'll get to

(00:48):
that here in just a second. I guess we have
to put a bow on what was a long road
trip that felt like it lasted more than seven games,
A miserable road trip that ended with a thud. Yesterday
the Reds go two and five against Atlanta and Houston.
They get today. I guess one could say a badly
needed day off. You might not argue it as a

(01:09):
much deserved day off, but a badly needed day off
that works, as everybody predicted. After scoring thirteen runs on Saturday,
including ten in the first inning. On Saturday night, the
red scored a wopping zero times yesterday. And it's something
that we have talked about on this show. It's a

(01:30):
bit of a quirk, right that it seems like it
happens all the time, although it really doesn't. When the
Reds have a huge game offensively, the next day, you
could almost count on them scoring zero or one runs. Yes,
you can not, because they scored thirteen runs on Saturday,
or ten runs in the first inning on Saturday, or
you know in that game against Baltimore they scored twenty

(01:52):
four and then the bats went silent again. This team
is more likely on a given night to not score
many runs and they are to score a whole bunch
of runs. So yesterday was just the continuation of the norm.
The Reds have played forty two games this season, forty
two over a quarter of their schedule. Forty two games.

(02:13):
They have scored either zero or one run in eleven
of them. Eleven out of forty two. That's more than
twenty five percent of the time. They've been shut out.
Now seven times over the last thirty eight games. So
the norm is they barely hit. The norm is they
barely score. More so than them scoring thirteen runs or

(02:35):
ten in the first those are real outliers. They're fun
when they happen. But yesterday wasn't well, they scored zero runs.
They because they scored a whole bunch of the day before.
Yesterday was they scored zero runs. Because when you have
a bad offensive team, you're likely to score zero runs.
Maybe not, you know, more likely to score zero runs
than one run or two run. But on a day

(02:56):
in a day out basis, they're more likely to score
too few to win than the artists score more runs
than they need. If that makes sense, and I hope
it does. H Terry Francona apologized to his relief pitchers.
I tell you what, for me, the most maddening individual
performance this weekend in Houston was that of Brady Singer. Dude,
you're being given ten runs in the first inning. Can

(03:18):
you give us six? There's a lot of people we
could talk about and how they've constructed the roster, and
Terry Francona and some decision making and all that. Like
the easiest job, and I talked about this with Sam
Luck here a few weeks ago. It's not always easy
to pitch with a huge lead. But my guy, you're
on the team, you were acquired, you were traded for

(03:40):
because you could eat innings. Eat innings, my man, on Saturday,
I need you to eat some innings. This team has
been ravaged by injury. The team's best starter is currently hurt.
They've had to tax their bullpen. Like I know, they

(04:01):
won the game, but for the starting pitcher that night
to not be able to get out of the third
inning is frankly inexcusable. And so there's a lot of
Red stuff to get to throughout the course of the afternoon.
The Reds don't play tonight. They have the Chicago White
Sox for the first of three and the start of
a six game homestand tomorrow night. Then there is the

(04:23):
Trey Hendrickson content machine, which continues to churn. So today
we have a statement from Trey Hendrickson to ESPN's Adam Schefter.
Chances are, if you care at all about the Bengals,
you have seen or heard somebody read this statement, but
I'll read it for you. Nonetheless, are you ready?

Speaker 3 (04:43):
Quote?

Speaker 1 (04:44):
No communication has taken place between my camp and the
organization post draft. The offers prior to the draft did
not reflect the vision we shared and were promised last
offseason if I continue to play at a high level.
The coaches are aware of these past conversations. Rather than
using collaboration to get us to a point to bring

(05:06):
me home to the team, they are no longer communicating.
This is the latest ploy to place public pressure on
the Bengals, because one thing you can do is you
can kind of play up some previously used tropes. The
Bengals have been criticized rightly so often for not communicating,

(05:27):
whether it be with a player as it relates to
us contractor at times maybe a player as it relates
to a position switch. You remember a couple of years ago, right,
Jonah Williams was told, yeah, you're gonna change positions, And
when he was told that, he's like, yeah, I never
really heard that from the team. And there's a pretty
lengthy list of players who, during the course of their

(05:48):
contract negotiations have said like, yeah, you know, we're we're
not getting that much communication from the Cincinnati Bengals. But
this is the latest and you might be on Trey
side and you might be on the Bengals side. I
frankly lean a little bit more toward Bengals here, if
we have to take sides. I'm on the side of
like Trey Hendrickson playing for the team this year and

(06:09):
the Bengals hopefully winning a Super Bowl in the upcoming season,
and Trey can and I hope is a part of that.
But I don't know. There's a lot here. Number one,
there's the public ploy. It's a ploy to get some
public heat on the Bengals, and man, good luck with that.

(06:31):
You and I both know there are a lot of
teams that maybe this would work with. There is essentially
no precedent here of a player speaking out, trying to
get some I don't know, public favor, trying to get
the trying to get the public on the side, trying
to create some public pressure on the Bengals to do
what frankly, to this point they haven't wanted to do.

(06:52):
This is probably not Trey Hendrickson's last ploy. It is
just his latest. The nugget here of what I guess
is new is he mentions promises. The offers prior to
the draft did not reflect the vision we shared and
were promised last offseason if I continued to play at

(07:15):
a high level. So a couple of things about that.
Number One, some things have changed this offseason. The market
for edge rushers has changed since last offseason. Maybe the
Bengals should have seen that coming. Maybe Trey Hendrickson should
have seen that coming. But I mean, to a degree,
what you're talking about, one off season could blow up
based on a lot of different things. Maybe Trey got hurt,

(07:38):
maybe Trey doesn't play all that well, or maybe Trey
does play well. But the market at edge rusher changes
because of Max Crosby and Miles Garrett and a handful
of others. So some things have changed. But I gotta
be honest with you here. I saw this, and I
get what he's trying to do, right, trying to villainize

(08:00):
the front office. You know, he knows what the Bengals
organizational rep is and he's trying to play off of that.
And I'm not saying I wouldn't try to do the same.
But if if the sticking point here now or the
talking point here now are promises that were made, I
guess my response to that would be, if you didn't

(08:23):
get it in writing those promises don't matter, Like my
bosses could promise me, Moe, we're gonna put a mini
bar and a snow cone machine in the studio, and
we're gonna make sure your show is catered every single day,
and you'll be allowed to do your show from whatever
city the U SEE basketball team is playing in, so

(08:45):
you could go to every game. That sounds great? Is
it in writing? If it's not, don't care, irrelevant, Like
that's just frankly how it works. Man. You know, you
could say handshake agreement, gentlemen's agreement, like are you or
what were you promised? Specifically, what were you promised? Were
you promised, Hey, we'll offer you a pay raise. My

(09:07):
assumption is that has happened where you promised, Hey, we'll
negotiate with you. I think they have. You might argue
they should keep negotiating with them. I think the Bengals
have made it clear that's not gonna happen anymore. Like, oh,
are you promised? Were you promised you were gonna be
the highest paid edge rusher in the league. Do you
really think anything we've come to know about the Bengals
that they would say that anything we've come to know

(09:29):
about maybe they did, Hey Trey, we're gonna make you
the highest paid edge rusher in the league. That I
would have said if I was Tray, well, let's get
it done now. So I kind of want to know
what promises were made here. But at the same time, like,
first of all, if you're gonna tell me about these promises,
they're just words. There's nothing on paper, So it doesn't matter.

(09:51):
It does not matter. I've been promised a lot of
things throughout the course of my radio career. Some of
them happen, some of them don't. But the only ones
that really matter are the ones that are in writing
in a contract. The rest of it irrelevant. Also, since
last off season, a lot of stuff has changed. Number One,

(10:12):
here a year ago, they were not going to sign
t Higgins. Well, guess what they've done. That's changed. They've
signed T Higgins. What else has changed, Well, they've brought
Joseph o' sieback, and they've also drafted another edge rusher.
That's changed. Also, the marketed edge rusher has changed. So

(10:33):
you know, you could say, like, well, I was promised
some stuff last year. You were promised some stuff, and
I can't blame you for you know, not being happy
that those promises haven't been delivered upon. But last off
season to this offseason, stuff with the organization has changed,
stuff with the NFL as a whole has changed. And

(10:54):
if you got nothing in writing, who cares? If they
do offer to put a man the bar in a
snow cone machine here in studio, I promise you that
day I'm getting a contract drafted that puts in specific
language most getting a snow cone machine at a mini

(11:14):
bar in the studio. In the absence of it in writing,
the promises do not matter. Sorry, And you and I
both know that sixteen after three o'clock, five one, three, seven,
four nine, fifteen thirty and eight six six, seven oh two, three, seven,
seven six I have maintained all long, and I'm probably
not gonna move from this, although we'll see that I

(11:37):
blame neither side here. I think the Bengals look at
Trey Hendrickson and see a player who has been terrific,
who's going to be thirty one by the end of
this season, and don't want to be paying for his
age twenty eight, twenty nine and thirty production when he's
thirty two, thirty three and thirty four years old. I
don't think that's wrong, and I don't blame Trey Harickson

(12:00):
for trying to get every dollar he can coming off
of really two outstanding seasons, including last year where he
was a defensive player the year finalist, leading the league
in sacks. I think, if you're a Bengals fan, which
are concerned about is the twenty twenty five season, And frankly,
that's kind of it right now. Trey's under contract for
this coming season, and so does he hold out and

(12:25):
miss games? Does he show up for the first game effort,
missing all of training camp? And could the one person
with any amount of sway in the organization change things
starting tomorrow. We'll get to that coming up here in
just a bit. You can send me a tweet on
the Delta Dental twitter feed at moleger thanks to Delta Dental,

(12:45):
which is building healthy, smart, vibrant communities for all. Go
to Delta Dental, oh dot com. Five point three seven
nine fifteen thirty is our phone number. The part of
this that I think is interesting is pointing to the
Bengals lack of communication. I think Katie Blackburn told you

(13:05):
and me weeks ago how much the Bengals would be
communicating with Trey Hendrickson. We'll get to that next. On
ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 4 (13:14):
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It's gonna be on Wednesday Night at Smoke Justice from
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nights in all of sports. Twenty three minutes after three.
This is ESPN fifteen thirty Moegar, thank you for listening. Today,
A rare guest free day. Tomorrow, a ton of guests.

(14:24):
We're broadcasting from the UC Baseball Stadium before a UC
Baseball game against Indiana. Jordan Bischell's team had a big
series against TCU over the weekend and having a great year,
played the Hoosiers tomorrow night at six. We'll be on
from three to six with a whole bunch of a
UC related guests. I think we also have Brent Jormark,

(14:46):
the Big twelve commissioner, on the phone tomorrow, which I'm
looking forward more on that as the afternoon unfolds. This
is you might say interesting, you might say not coincidental,
you might say coincidental. So we get the Bengals press
releases media advisories, which which you know, informs us of

(15:08):
things like when Zach Taylor is going to be available
to the media, when there's going to be press conferences,
to the beat writers who covered the team, you know,
when the locker room is going to be opened. So
we got one last week, and the the advisory we
got last week, which was Wednesday, I'm sorry, Thursday of
last week, last Thursday. I'm looking at it right now. Specifically,

(15:31):
it didn't indicate it said Joe Burrow news conference. In fact,
the exact verbage here news conference with Bengals QB Joe
Burrow at twelve fifteen tomorrow the thirteenth. That was the
original schedule. We just got an updated one sent here
at ten minutes after three o'clock. So the Bengals have

(15:52):
an open practice to the media tomorrow. Locker room's going
to be open. No Joe Burrow media availability that is
being moved to next week. Maybe Joe's not going to
be there tomorrow. I have no idea. Maybe Joe has
something else going on. I have no idea. I'm not
the most conspiracy fueled person. That's pretty well established. But

(16:16):
you had Trey Hendrickson today pop off to Adam Schefter
about what the Bengals aren't doing, and Joe moves or
the Bengals moved Joe Burrows press conference back a week. Coincidence,
It might be, might not be either do what you
want with that information. I think the Bengals tip their

(16:41):
hand right wrong, indifferent. I think the Bengals told us
what they were going to do. Look, the NFL Owners
meetings were in early April, so we're talking over a

(17:02):
month ago. Katie Blackburn was made available at Palm Beach.
She answered a lot of questions about a lot of
different things, stadium situation, etc. One of the things that
was discussed was Trey Hendrickson and why he was being
given permission to go explore trade possibilities. The money quote

(17:28):
as it relates to Trey Hendrickson from Katie Blackburn was quote,
I think he should be happy at certain rates that
maybe he doesn't think he'd be happy at. I think
some of it is on him to be happy at
some point. That is effectively her saying our offers out there.

(17:49):
If he wants to stay with the Bengals, he's going
to have to accept it. You may disagree with that
being their best offer. You may think the Bengals should
give Trey Hendrickson a blo check. You may believe the
Bengals are doing Trey Hendrickson dirty. You may think they
are sabotaging themselves by letting this Trey Hendrickson thing play out.
However you feel about it. I think what is really

(18:11):
hard to deny is the Bengals made it known. Bengals management,
Bengals ownership made it known weeks ago, we're kind of
done negotiating here. Our offers out there. If Trey wants
to play for the Bengals, he's gonna have to be
happy with our offer. I could just speak for myself
and nobody else. Obviously, I didn't really have a major

(18:33):
issue with that. I'm sure the offer out there represents
a pay raise, probably a contract beyond twenty twenty five.
This to me, it spoke volumes we're done. We're done here,
We're done with this. We're done with our half of
the negotiation. Like we're done going back and forth here.

Speaker 3 (18:54):
Now.

Speaker 1 (18:54):
You know, things will change if Trey finds a team
that's willing to sign him and make a tray with us,
But that trade's gonna come at a cost. Like we're
going to take care of ourselves first. In the absence
of that. If Trey wants to play for the Bengals
beyond twenty twenty five, if Trey wants a contract right
now that takes him beyond the twenty twenty five season,
one is out there. We've got an offer, take it

(19:16):
or leave it, Take it or leave it. We're not
gonna go back and forth anymore. And so I read
about communication and I get it. Man. The Bengals have
gotten and deserve criticism in the past for a lack
of communication. I think they were telling all of us
weeks ago, over a month ago, we're done communicating here

(19:39):
if this is their stance, and it clearly is, and
they're not gonna move off of it. And the only
person I think who can get them to move off
of it is Joe Burrow, who is now not talking
tomorrow when he was scheduled to What exactly are the
Bengals supposed to be calling Trey Hendrickson with he's under

(20:00):
contract for this coming season, right, So this lack of
communication thing, boy, it sounds familiar because we've done this
with the Bengals before, and it enables people to regurgitate
some of their old criticisms of the Bengals, many of
which had been true. But if their offer is out
there and they've made it known, like, dude, this is

(20:20):
what we're gonna pay you, this is what we're gonna
offer you, take it or leave it, what else should
they be communicating If they're making it known we're not
upping our offer. Do they need to call Tray every
other week and go, Hey, just FYI, that offer still
out there, but we're not upping it. I don't think
the answer is yes. I mean, like and again, I

(20:41):
get the Bengals brand. I get the Bengals way of
doing things. I have certainly over the course of my
life and certainly doing this lobbed a whole lot of
criticisms at the Bengals for how they negotiate. This one
is pretty cut and dry for me, man, Like, here's
our offer. We're not gonna keep going back and forth.
We're not gonna go round in circles every other week.

(21:04):
We're not gonna, you know, if you want to play
for us after twenty twenty five, here's the offer. Take it.
It's pretty transparent negotiation. It's pretty transparent. Lack of negotiation,
you could argue. But the keyword here is transparent. And
the other keyword is communication. If they're not changing their stands,

(21:25):
what do they have to communicate? Hey, Trey, just FYI
want to let you know we're still not going to
pay you what you want? Like, is that what he's
looking for? Just a weekly phone call? Hey Trey, Katie
Blackburn here, hope you're doing well. Hey, just Fyi, you
know that dollar figure you have in your head. Yeah,
we're not gonna do that anyway, have a great day.

(21:46):
See hope you come to minicamp. I don't know what
communication Tray should be looking for here. I know what
he's looking for in terms of, you know, a contract.
He's looking for more than the Bengals have been willing
to offer, but since they've made it known, we're not
going to give them that. What kind of communication does
he want? Hey, Trey, uh, hey, I know you're gonna

(22:07):
go on McAfee here soon, or maybe text Adam Schefter
just FYI, we're not changing our position. See ya? What
communication does Trey hendrickson?

Speaker 7 (22:18):
One?

Speaker 1 (22:19):
And maybe he's just informing Adam Schefter what's happening, and
maybe he's not complaining as much. But I think when
you do this and you're trying to muster rub some
public heat aimed at the Bengals to get them to
change their position, if you're going to use the communication
thing as a weapon to get the Bengals to cave, Okay, fine,

(22:42):
what communication are the Bengals supposed to be involved in
that They're not if they're not changing their stands. Five
point three, seven, four nine, fifteen thirty is our phone number.
You know what's interesting, We're gonna talk a lot about
the Bengals in the coming weeks and months about this
actions and however, this Hendrickson thing gets in the way

(23:03):
of a training camp. And you know with the Reds
the last couple of weeks, they've been in flux with
injuries and their roster and Terry Francona is having to
apologize to relief pictures and we've had arguments about buns,
and meanwhile, FC Cincinnati is in first place in the East.

(23:27):
You know, the sports are not apples to apples. A
few minutes on that and what went down this weekend
in Houston with the Rads coming up on ESPN fifteen
thirty Cincinnati Sports.

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Station Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

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ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati's sports station. Sports headlines are a
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kelseyshev dot Com. Off day for the Reds, first of
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(24:39):
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forty first pitch. The NFL schedule comes out on Wednesday.

(25:01):
The Bengals. According to a report in Spain Spanish news
outletas dot Com, the Bengals will not be playing the
Dolphins in Madrid. There's been a lot of speculation the
Bengals will play the Dolphins in Madrid. They're going to
play an international game here over the next couple of years.
I think this has come from Katie Blackburn where she

(25:22):
thinks it's most likely to come in twenty twenty seven. Apparently,
Jim Davila is the reporter in Spain, says the Dolphins
will be playing instead the Washington Commanders. That game is
on November sixteenth. I know a lot of folks who
have been I know someone who's like booked a hotel

(25:47):
in anticipation, and I guess you could cancel. But the Bengals,
if you believe this report, will not be headed to
Madrid more on Wednesday. The schedule lease show starting at
six o'clock. Meanwhile, Trey Hendrickson says there's been no communication
from the Bengals as it relates to a possible contract extension.

(26:09):
FC Cincinnati's Evander has been named to MLS Team of
the Match Day for match Day number twelve. Scored his
seventh goal of the season and the game winning assist
on dot of Allenzuela's seventy six minute winner in FC
Cincinnati's two to one victory over Austin FC on Saturday. Meanwhile,
FC Cincinnati has made it official. This was reported late

(26:30):
last week. Kai Kamara has signed to the twenty twenty
five season with a club option through twenty twenty six.
A stellar career, he is the second all time leading
goal scorer in Major League Soccer history with one forty
seven has appeared in nearly four hundred and fifty MLS matches,
and his FC Cincinnati signing will mean he is now

(26:51):
with his MLS record twelfth club in the league. Kai
Kamara forty years old. FC Cincinnati one, as I just mentioned,
over Austin FC on Saturday night, a home game. They
obviously have two games this weekend or this week Wednesday
and Saturday in Columbus on Saturday for the latest installment

(27:13):
of the Hell Is Real derby. You know, whether you're
a big soccer fan, a casual soccer fan, a novice, hardcore,
whatever it is, I think if you paid attention at
all to FC Cincinnati over the winter, you know there
was a lot of chaos. It's something we've talked about.
We've had one of the announcers from Apple TV for

(27:34):
every FC Cincinnati game this year, and one of the
themes we have hit on has been like, you know,
this team still figuring out a way to survive and
recently thrive in spite of roster turnover injury. I mean
they traded away the twenty twenty three league MVP. Now

(27:56):
they almost instantly got a vander but still pat Noon
in the offseason or during the preseason training was pretty
vocal about his disappointment over the number of players who
didn't come to training because of different issues. Injuries. We've
We've had players who have had to leave to go
play for their respective national teams. A bit of a
janky start to start the season, lots of travel, playing

(28:18):
in multiple competitions, and will enter mid May in first
place in their half of the league. There are excuses
and there are things you overcome. With the Reds, I
hear a lot of excuses. Well, we've had injuries, yeah,
so is everybody else. Well, you know, I mean just

(28:42):
get I get tired of I get tired of hearing them.
With FC Cincinnati, I don't hear a lot of excuses.
I see them overcome stuff. It's a sign of a
well run organization.

Speaker 3 (28:53):
Man.

Speaker 1 (28:53):
Again, I say this as a casual fan. If you
were watching the games or paying attention to the on
field results, but you were listening to all the noise
coming from preseason training and the first couple of weeks
of the regular season. You would think at times like
there's a little bit too much chaos, not dysfunction, but

(29:13):
a little bit too much chaos. And yet they've overcome
the chaos with the Reds over the last week, that
road trip was chaotic as hell. Man, a whole bunch
of transactions, guys going on the injured list. You lose
Hunter Green, Jake Frayley the latest to the injured list.
You've had to call up guys. Your roster's been in flux.
I don't believe in this last road trip they played

(29:36):
consecutive games with the same roster, and I know that
makes it hard. And I know with every team there's
only so many injuries you can handle. But over the
first six seven weeks of the year with the Reds,
there's been I think more questions than answers. A lot
of injuries, a lot of roster chaos, a lot of turnover.

(29:57):
Made a trade this week and acquiring Connor Joe from
the Padres. It's cool they have a guy with two
first names, but just a lot of moving parts. There
are two hundred five hundred coming out of Mother's Day weekend. Now,
that is obviously not something that you cannot overcome. There's
still plenty of time. Like I just I've watched the

(30:20):
first quarter plus of the season, and they can't overcome themselves.
They can't figure out a way to survive the chaos
and get through stuff while still having more wins and losses.
The sports are not comparable. I understand it. It's not
apples to apples, but what it felt like. The soccer
team in town lots of stuff being thrown at it.

(30:41):
They figured out a way to survive the rads lots
of stuff being thrown at it. By the way, they've
got a Hall of Fame manager, lots of stuff being
thrown at it. Now you could argue they have survived.
The soccer team in town has done more than that.
The baseball team in town continues to tread water yet
another cave at best, treading water sixteen minutes away from

(31:04):
four o'clock. I mean, my basic question is is this
and I you know, whether you like it or not.
The relationship that the Reds have with their fan base
is a NonStop topic. I think some sometimes get too
caught up in Red's attendance and worrying about it. I'm

(31:27):
always amused by the people who fret over Red's attendance
and then it feels like they never go to games.
I think asking people why they don't go to games
is sort of a pointless exercise because those answers, to me,
at least, are anecdotal. Everybody has their reasons for going
or not going on a given day or night, or
maybe at all. But you know, we've talked a lot

(31:47):
about impatience and the impatience that so many are wrestling
with when it comes to the Reds three decades without
advancing in the postseason. You have to go back over
a decade to find the last time they qualified for
the postseason during a full one hundred and sixty two
game season. And you know, I did the thing last

(32:10):
year where we talked about like that the more you
wait someone wait, the greater the likelihood that at one
point they go. At some point they go, screw it,
I'm done. I've used our show as a reference. I mean,
there are days where we get tons of phone calls,
and there are days we get tons of phone calls.
We have other stuff we have to do. And if
I keep telling people on hold to wait I'm going

(32:31):
to look at my call screen and eventually they're all
going to be gone. If you go to a restaurant
you put your name in and they say, okay, it's
going to be forty five minutes, you might be content
to go sit at the bar and have a drink
and wait. But then you know, like forty five minutes
have passed and you go and you say, okay, you
know how much longer is it going to be? And
they say, well, actually it's going to be another thirty minutes.
The more you keep doing that, the more they keep

(32:53):
telling you to wait, the higher the likelihood is you
just go find somewhere else. And so with the Reds,
it's you're constantly being told to wait. And I think
with this year, there was the expectation that at least
the field will be different. I mean, how many times
did you hear that back in February from the people
covering the team in Arizona or even the people on

(33:16):
the team in Arizona. Well, the vibe is different, boy,
it's a lot different this year, okay, but the results
so far haven't been and the vibe here during the
season hasn't been that different. Like all the talk to
three months ago about new vibe, new energy. By the way,

(33:37):
I bought all those things. But to your average fan,
if that's you, you care about, do the wins out
and number the losses and do they have a chance
to seriously contend for something? And whether it be with
injuries or lack of performance, or you know, sort of
fears being realized that maybe an incomplete roster was going

(33:59):
to yield so shaky offensive results, whether it be the
excuses that some will use who carry the Reds water
to tell you about how many injuries they've had, whatever
it is, the field feels different, not different at all.
It feels almost exactly the same. The twenty twenty five
Reds feel like the twenty twenty four Reds. That wasn't

(34:22):
supposed to be the case this year, and so I
think that over the first forty two games, the first
quarter of the season, most have been looking for things
that would indicate that, yes, the Reds are different than
they have been, and better start with different, then give

(34:44):
me better. What's been different this year? Legitimately, what's been
different this year? Nothing's really been that much better. There
are two games better right now than they were a
year ago. At this time. I guess mass mathematically you
could say, well, they're better, but different better in ways

(35:06):
that matter. Think it all feels the same. I mean
up to and including, Like you know, we were joking
about this on Sincy three sixty. Terry Francona his postgame
media sessions, He's starting to wear the same look we
saw during the worst of David Bell and the worst
of Brian Price. It's not a look you want to wear.

(35:28):
And there's been a lot of things beyond his control. Man,
this where this team is right now is not a
reflection of Terry Francona. I do not believe that he
suddenly forgot how to manage, but there certainly are some
common denominators. If you look over the years and start
talking about the sameness between this year's team and so

(35:50):
many that have come before, it's it's deeply frustrating. And
one of the things that we brought up before. This
team got shut out yesterday after score thirteen runs on
Saturday night, ten in the first inning. And it's a
cute little thing to do when they score thirteen runs
that all we know they're going to score one or
zero runs the next day. The problem is they scored

(36:13):
zero runs yesterday, If they scored zero runs tomorrow, that's
not going to be that surprising. They built a low
floor offensive team. They have put together a roster that
doesn't seem deep enough. We were wondering about what they
may be able to do with the deadline weeks before

(36:36):
the season actually started, which was an acknowledgement that it's
an incomplete team. Incomplete team is a term we have
used often over the last couple of decades. We continue
to use it with this one. Ten away from four
o'clock five point three, seven four nine, fifteen thirty and
eight sixty sixty seven oh two three seven seven six.

(36:59):
There are reasons to give Trey Hendrickson what he wants,
and then there's a reason to not give Trey Hendrickson
what he wants. We'll focus on that coming up at
four oh five on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports.

Speaker 8 (37:12):
Station Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

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Speaker 1 (37:48):
This report is sponsored by straight Talk Wireless. Straight Talk
comes out on the Wednesday four from four ESPN fifteen thirty. Moegger.
Anything you may miss on this show you can go
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(38:10):
to my page at ESPN fifteen thirty dot com. Podcast
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or the reds, or pretty much anything than long Next.
It's coming up on four o'clock on ESPN fifteen thirty.
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Speaker 3 (38:30):
Man happy?

Speaker 1 (38:31):
That's happy? Enter it now, happy, happy happy? What's up? Muleger,
ESPN fifteen thirty. Thanks for listening. I hope you're happened
like the greatest Monday of all time ever, I said
ever more on the Reds here in Justin Ball. Yeah,

(38:52):
I'm reading here the piece in The Athletic from July
twenty seventh, twenty twenty three. This was right after Trey
Hendrickson signed the contract extension that has him with the
Bengals in twenty twenty five. And Paul and Paul Danner
Junior and Larry Holder are the two people who collaborated

(39:15):
on this, and they broke down the contract, why it
made sense for Trey Hendrickson and why it made sense
for the Bengals. And here's the paragraph why this deal
made sense for the Bengals. The Bengals notably don't like
doing third contracts for veterans. They don't want to pay
players into their thirties expecting performance of their twenties. Conversations

(39:37):
occurred last year at this time about a new contract,
but never progressed. Nobody wanted this lingering in the background. Again.
This makes both sides happy keep Sam Hubbard and Hendrickson
both in the contract for twenty twenty five, but only
adds his age thirty one season. It allows the Bengals
to tinker with financial structures as they try to fit

(39:57):
their young stars into extensions without work about losing value
in paying for drastic cliff. So it's easy for me
to ask, well, what has changed since and this was
in July of a twenty twenty three what has changed
since his? Trey has obviously had two terrific seasons, and

(40:19):
I think Dray Hendrickson is the greatest free agent signing
in the history of the franchise. There there are some
others that you could bring up. DJ Reader would be
on that list, in a handful of others, but I
think Trey Hendrickson is the greatest free agent acquisition in
the history of the franchise, and one that didn't come
without controversy because a lot of us wondered, how do
we really put into context the sacks that he had

(40:39):
during his breakout season with the Saints. Is he really
an upgrade from Karl Lawson, et cetera. He has been terrific.
He was awesome last year. But you know, the Bengals
have long been a team that really doesn't want to
go third contract. That is something they have been given
a fair amount of credit for. They were given credit
for doing the Trey Hendrickson thing the way they did,

(41:02):
because they continue to lean into not wanting to do
a third contracts with players, and so this contract extension
for the twenty twenty five season two years ago was
seen as a bit of a compromise. Trey signed it willingly.
I have had fun before with the picture of the
Bengals sent out of Trey Hendrickson signing his contract. He's

(41:26):
there in his Bengals pullover. He's got a pen in
his hand, the piece of papers in front of him.
He has a gigantic smile on his face. He looks
completely happy. He doesn't look like he's being coerced. He
doesn't look like he's being forced. He doesn't look like
he is being told to do something that he doesn't

(41:46):
want to do. He doesn't look like there's anybody just
off the screen, off camera, pointing a gun to his head.
He is completely unwillingly doing what he is doing. I'm
sure he regrets doing this as we speak. I don't
expect the Benk, despite Trey's awesome twenty twenty four or
twenty twenty three and his even more awesome twenty twenty four,

(42:07):
to take that in dev eight from what their plan
was a couple of years ago, which is, we don't
really see the need right now to pay him for
his age thirty two season. He is going to turn
thirty one at the end of this year. This is
something that they used to be given a lot of
credit for. Look, they want players while they're in their primes,
and they don't want to have a lot of deals

(42:28):
where they're paying players for pass production. There's a very
good chance if you pay Trey hendrickson Pass twenty twenty five,
that you're really paying for pass production, especially if you
are worried about the financial ripple effects of the Jamar
and t and Joe Burrow contracts. Do you really want
to lock into a player for a whole lot of

(42:48):
money when he's past thirty one years old and you
could argue his best seasons are behind him. And so
I guess for me, why can't you use this season
as a bit of a fact finding mission. We have
gotten to a point, and I know this is not
the first time I've brought this up. I think we've
gotten to a point where it's like blasphemy to suggest
that you ask a player to play under the final

(43:11):
year of his contract. Well, they can't deal with that uncertainty. Well,
you know, maybe, but he's but he's also had a
pretty healthy NFL career behind him. He has gotten that
second contract, a major second contract from the Bengals, and
effectively a third one with a one year contract extension

(43:31):
for twenty twenty five. What is wrong with using this
as for Trey a season to prove that your age
thirty two production can still be really, really, really good
by having as equally a good a season when you

(43:51):
turn thirty one as you did during the season in
which you turned thirty, Like the best way to prove
I should I should? I should continue or I should
start getting paid top end edge rusher money should be
I would think, uh, over the course of the next season,

(44:15):
be as good as you were this past season. Like,
what's what's up in the air here? Is not what
he's being paid for twenty twenty five. It's not whether
or not the Bengals wanted for twenty twenty five. Clearly
they do and they should. I mean, you're trying to
upgrade a terrible defense from last year. Good luck doing
that without Trey Hendrickson. But what is wrong with looking

(44:39):
at him and going, dude, go do it again this year,
and we'll start to talk about twenty twenty six the
moment this season ends, and then Trey has the ability
to go, yeah, you had a shot already. I'm gonna
go hit free agency and see what else is out there,
and I don't have to figure out, you know, which
teams will be willing or able to make a trade.

(45:01):
He is and your phone calls are coming up. He
is trying to accomplish something that I don't think has
ever been done. He is trying to put public pressure
on the Bengals to do something that to this point
they have no interest in doing. The Joe Burrow thing
was a little bit different. Trey Hendrickson is not Joe Burrow.

(45:21):
Nobody in the history of this franchise is Joe Burrow.
The obvious comparison you can make is Carson Palmer back
in twenty eleven, were, you know, not exactly the height
of his popularity because the team was coming off a
four win season, But Carson Palmer tried to push around
the Bengals. We could disagree on whether or not he

(45:45):
was justified for what he was trying to do. I've
always believed Carson was right by what he did. That's
a different conversation. But he tried to push around the Bengals,
push him in a corner and say, you're starting quarterback.
The guy who you have made the franchise is going
to leave unless you do X y Z, the XYZ

(46:08):
being unless you trade me. It wasn't until it made
sense for the Bengals that they said, fine, will trade
Carson Palmer. You cannot push this team around, cannot push
this front office around. And so Trey is trying to
do something here that would make him unlike any player
in the history of the franchise. And by the way,

(46:29):
Joe pushed him around a little bit, but Joe pushed
the organization around to the degree that he did for
the sake of another player. Trey is trying to do
this for himself. If he were to somehow get the
Cincinnati Bengals to cave and come closer to him and

(46:52):
make an offer that they haven't yet come close to making,
and get his deal done at the terms that he
is looking for, where ever those terms are, he will
have accomplished something that nobody else in the history of
this franchise has accomplished. He will have successfully pushed him around.
Nobody has ever done that. Nobody has ever pushed this

(47:14):
franchise around. A couple of other things here about this.
I've brought this up a few times over the course
of the last few months. So one of the arguments
for hey, just give Trey what he wants is, you know,
for there to be a serene, calm training camp. Right.

(47:38):
How many times have we talked about the Bengals having
their first normal training camp in quite a while where
there's no thing hovering over preparations for the season, especially
for a team that's got such a bad track record
of getting out of the gates trong, Right, And so
a few years ago we had the Jesse Bates thing,
and then the last couple it's been the jamar Cha

(48:00):
t Higgins questions are they going to get? The t
Higgins thing just took on a completely different life of
its own and lasted years. It felt like we were spending
years talking about t Higgins. Right. I just sort of
feel like this is, if you have good players to

(48:22):
a degree, going to be the norm. Like every team
in the NFL would love to avoid distractions. Fans talk
all the time about how well our team during training,
Gamp has to avoid distractions. You know, I brought up
FC Cincinnati before, and again it's not apples to apples.
The amount of time and attention being paid to a
major league soccer team is different than an NFL team,

(48:43):
especially one with a premier quarterback. But I just now
assume that every offseason there's going to be a thing,
a player unhappy with his contract status, a player going
into the last year of his contract and there are
being legitimate questions about whether or not he's going to
be brought back, a player requesting a trade, whatever it is.

(49:04):
I think this is almost the price, the cost that
comes with having good players, and hopefully by the end
of this coming season we can identify more than just
a couple, because you know, honestly, in recent years it's
been just a handful of dudes. I just now assume, though,
as long as they have good players, that there's going

(49:25):
to be something, some contract thing that just exists as
a potential distraction. If you are bringing back a sixth
year quarterback who has all sorts of awesome and tangible
leadership qualities, and you're bringing back the core of players

(49:47):
that Joe wanted to have around him, and you have
the winning culture that the Bengals claim to have. What
you want to be capable of doing is getting your
work done, getting prepared to start the season, regardless of
whatever side show is over here with your edge rusher.
By the way, the Bengals should have a lot of

(50:09):
practice when it comes to figuring out how to handle distractions.
Last year, it was Jamar Chase, it was Jesse Bates
a few years ago. I've certainly read my fair share
of pieces about the bengals recent slow starts oh in
two each of the last two years, oh and three

(50:30):
last year, and it's it's the central question of the summer.
Right as we get into training camp, which is still
more than two months away, the question is going to
be how do they avoid the O two start? How
do they avoid the oh and three start? How do
they avoid stumbling out of the gate the way they
have in recent years. If what undoes all of that

(50:51):
is a Trey Hendrickson holdout during camp, then forget any
you're gonna hear about the team's winning culture, or leadership
or ability to overcome stuff, especially after having dealt with
Trey or I'm sorry, Jamar and Tea and even going
back a couple of years. Jesse Bates like, forget all

(51:16):
of it. If if you're if you're gonna be undone
this summer by a possible and Tray's an important player,
there's no denying that. But if you're gonna be undone
this summer by Trey Hendrickson's contract situation being unresolved, I
don't want to hear a damn thing about your winning culture.
And I don't want to hear a damn thing about
anybody's leadership either. If by now you can't overcome some

(51:42):
sort of distraction, what are we doing here? You got
the wrong coach, you got the wrong leaders, you got
the wrong team, you got the wrong players. I believe,
for the most part, the Bengals have a lot of
the right players. I believe, for the most part they
have a pretty good culture. I have no real opinion
about Zach Taylor, which might be the most daming indictment

(52:02):
against him that you'll find. But if one of the
arguments for getting this done and giving Trey what he
wants is avoiding the distraction, I don't know, man, miss
me with that. I think by now you ought to
be pretty good at handling distraction, and you've had an
entire offseason to prepare for You knew as an organization

(52:23):
when you kind of dug your heels in and decided,
here's our stance as it relates to our start edge rusher.
You kind of knew he wasn't going to be happy
with it. You probably knew he wasn't going to take
the offer you gave him. Probably knew you were going
to have to deal with some sort of thing as
training camp unfolds, and maybe even had to entertain the
possibility that he was going to miss actual games and
the paychecks that come with them. If at the end

(52:46):
of knowing all of that, you get ready for the
season and you can't get ready for the season because
the Trey Hendrickson thing looms. You got the wrong guys,
you got the wrong coach, You got the wrong leaders.
Minutes after four o'clock, five point three seven four nine,
fifteen thirty is our phone number. Phone calls are coming up.

(53:07):
Let's see. We got to get back to the Reds too,
which is not the most pleasant topic as we speak.
That is next on ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports.

Speaker 9 (53:15):
Station, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty traffic.

Speaker 5 (53:21):
From the UCE Health Traffic Center. You see health has
expert trauma care focusing on prevention, treating injuries, and supporting
long term recovery and rehabilitation. Learn more at u sehealth
dot com. Northbound seventy five at Western Avenue, the right
two lanes are blocked off from an accident southbound seventy
five after Norwood Lateral. It is the right lane blocked

(53:44):
from a crash southbound seventy one at two seventy five
in Ohio. Accident blocking the left lane. I'm at ezalic
with traffic.

Speaker 1 (53:52):
If you need math help. That's fourteen more losses than win,
losses than wins. Like, what's what's what's what's different about
this year's team. Last year's team had good starting pitching.
This year's team has good starting pitching. The starting pitching
has cracked a little bit here with the Hunter Green injury.
You know, Brady Singer start on Saturday night was inexcusable

(54:14):
among all the different things, and they won the game.
But of all the different things that took place during
that series in Atlanta and the series in Houston, this
a miserable seven game road trip. The most inexcusable was
Brady's singer not getting through three innings after he was
handed a ten to nothing lead. Can you imagine being
those guys in the bullpen? And I know nobody's gonna

(54:36):
feel sorry for him, But as much as Terry Francona
has had to go to those guys the one night
where you feel like, all right, we're not exactly gonna
have to play a bullpen game. Your manager is forced
to get the last twenty outs with the bullpen because
the starting pitcher can't get past the third. Deeply frustrating,

(55:01):
deeply frustrating. But I do think like I mean to
a degree. I certainly like a lot of the parts
on the team. But if I would have said, hell,
if I would have said at the end of the
twenty twenty three season that here we'll be in the
middle of May, still waiting for something that replicates the

(55:23):
feeling of Midsummer twenty twenty three. Here in mid May
twenty twenty five, you would have said, that's not going
to work. And yet here we are, and yet here
we are, twenty seven after four o'clock. I had one
other thing I was going to mention before we took
a phone call and I totally lost it, disorganized mess. Today.

(55:44):
Bob in Bowling Green happy about his streaking Saint Louis Cardinals.

Speaker 3 (55:48):
Hi, Bob, Hey, MO, how are you doing.

Speaker 1 (55:51):
I'm all right?

Speaker 3 (55:53):
Yeah, well, you know what, I actually wasn't going to
talk about that, but I am happy about that. You
should be a game winning streak, which I certainly never
saw coming. But you know what, when you brought up
the young guys playing, that's kind of what's driven them
to where they are right now. And they you know,

(56:16):
there's I think I brought it up to you last week.
There's a guy named Michael McGreevy. He's still pitching in
Memphis that I think should be here now, but until
Miles michaelis is traded and he's actually pitched better here lately. Yeah, yeah,
sure did. And but you know what, No, there's another

(56:38):
thing I wanted to talk to you about. The Savannah
bananas wearing Nashville on Saturday night and played before seventy
seven thousand people at Nissan Stadium, and there was something
that was going on in the game and I hadn't
seen it actually put in the play, but I guess

(57:01):
they've done it now for at least this year and
maybe before that, two first base bags from a safety perspective.
And I was sitting there watching and thinking, why wouldn't
that work? And I can't come up with a good
reason why it wouldn't.

Speaker 1 (57:19):
Well, they use it in college, right, They use it.

Speaker 7 (57:22):
In fact, you know what I didn't know, do they?

Speaker 3 (57:24):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (57:24):
They So they used the double bag in college, and
it's it's meant to reduce collisions at first base.

Speaker 3 (57:30):
Absolutely.

Speaker 1 (57:31):
There was a really good segment I think last week
Brendaman and Jones on Baseball talked about this, and it
was from the standpoint of Marty attending a game at
UC and notice the double bag, and you have seen that.
I think the SEC used it last year in their tournament.
I believe it's uniform through all of college baseball. Now
I could be wrong about that, but it's it's it's

(57:51):
out there to reduce collisions between the first basement standing
there waiting for the throw and a runner charging towards
a better charging towards first base, right. And I and
I would imagine, and you know, Bob, I certainly don't
get a chance to go watch many high school games,
but I would imagine at many amateur levels. Uh, you

(58:15):
see something similar. I don't know for sure, though, I
think I think I think it's probably up to each conference,
maybe each state, But I would imagine that you'll find
a lot of circumstances where the double bag is being used.
Do they use it for the Savannah bananas?

Speaker 3 (58:31):
They did?

Speaker 1 (58:31):
Yes, and typically and correct me if I'm wrong. The
bag toward the right of the on the right hand
side is colored like yellow or orange?

Speaker 3 (58:41):
Well, you know what MO in this case, I think
I'm pretty sure I believe they were both yellow because
of the bananas, you know. But I I got there
and thought about it and thought, what what negative could
I get out of this thing? And I really am

(59:02):
having a hard time finding it up.

Speaker 1 (59:04):
Find it one. No, it doesn't really change anything, right,
I mean, the first baseman can still wait for the throw,
and now the batter running toward first base can still
go through the bag, but doesn't have to necessarily step
on the same bag that the first baseman may be
straddling or may have one foot on. And so I

(59:27):
don't know how many collisions we've had in college baseball
or major league baseball or minor league baseball between first
basement and batters. But this does reduce the likelihood, and
I don't think does beyond it just sort of looking weird,
which you'll get used to after an inning or two.
I don't see the downside.

Speaker 3 (59:45):
Hey Moe. We've made so many changes over the last
couple of years in baseball that you know, it's that's
the biggest thing that people are pointing to. Then I
don't see a reason why it shouldn't be done. I mean,
and you know what, there's not a ton of collisions
done over the course of a year that way, but

(01:00:06):
usually when there is one, it can be on the
serious nature.

Speaker 1 (01:00:11):
Yeah, And the one that I think you really want
to sort of steer clear of is not so much
the first basement waiting for a throw, but a pitcher covering,
because you see that sometimes where the pitcher and the
batter get there close to the same time. And I
don't know that there's a lot of real bad collisions,
but you certainly a few times during the course of

(01:00:32):
a season you'll win right like you'll see it in
real time. Picture's coming over to field a throw on
a ball hit to the first baseman, and he and
the batter are getting there at the same time, and
you'll see some contact and you'll see some I don't know,
injury possibility. I think with that play in particular, now

(01:00:53):
you know each guy can be running toward a different base,
but basically at the same place. Right the picture can
to get his foot on the base that's on the
left hand side, and the batter can charge toward the
base that's on the right hand side, and there's less
of a chance of them running into each other.

Speaker 3 (01:01:10):
Hey mo, I was just sitting here thinking about it,
and I kind of thought for a second for those
folks who just say, oh my god, no, that just
looks so goofy, that looks so weird. I can't get
usd to that. What about if you didn't even have
a bag, you just had a square there? I mean

(01:01:30):
that the runner would touch you know what I'm.

Speaker 1 (01:01:32):
Saying, Yeah, uh.

Speaker 3 (01:01:35):
That.

Speaker 1 (01:01:36):
I don't know. I haven't thought about it too deeply
that I don't know. I don't I don't know's I
don't know why you wouldn't, I guess, but I have
noticed that at the college level, and I remember it
was a big deal when the SEC used it in
their conference tournament last year. And I think and I
could be dead wrong. I know it's used in the
Big twelve. I think that's uniform throughout all of college baseball.

Speaker 3 (01:01:59):
You know. The only place I think where you might
have an issue is, let's say, and you've seen this
where an infielder throws one that the first baseman determines
expeter that I catch this in foul territory rather than
first base, and the runners not not close enough to

(01:02:20):
where there's an issue, and he'll tag that issue or
that that that base right there, maybe maybe something like that.
But you could make almost that base now you can't
tag that when you've got to tag the one in
fair territory.

Speaker 7 (01:02:36):
And yeah, you know that that's.

Speaker 3 (01:02:39):
The only potential thing I could see that would stand
in the way of that. But I you know, if
you're if you're going to eliminate something from an injury
from an infielder, standoy mostly, but like you said, it
could be the runner as well.

Speaker 7 (01:02:55):
I say, why not do it?

Speaker 1 (01:02:58):
I have I have no issue with that. I So
what I'm I'm reading here is the collegiate rule is
that the first baseman each bag serves a specific person
a specific purpose. The first baseman is only allowed to touch
the bag on the left hand side, and the batter
is only allowed to touch the bag on the right

(01:03:19):
hand side. So let's say, let's say a first baseman
is trying. He's fielding a high throw and his momentum
takes him back and he's now stepping on the bag
on the right side. Even if that throw beats the
runner and he catches it, the runner is still not
ruled safe. I'm sorry, the runner is still not ruled out.
Does that make sense?

Speaker 3 (01:03:40):
Yeah, yeah, it does.

Speaker 7 (01:03:42):
It does.

Speaker 2 (01:03:43):
Well.

Speaker 1 (01:03:43):
I'm glad I made sense to somebody. Bob, I got
a run man. Thank you, Okay, well, thank you. Twenty
five away from five o'clock, Brandiman and Jones on Baseball,
as I mentioned, is coming up in fifteen minutes on
ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports.

Speaker 8 (01:03:56):
Station Cincinnati's ESPN fifteenth.

Speaker 5 (01:04:01):
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Speaker 8 (01:04:33):
This report a sponsored by MEL Sports Station.

Speaker 1 (01:04:36):
Sports headlines are a service of Kelsey Chevrolet, home of
lifetime powertrain protection and guarantee credit approval from their family
to yours our life, kelseyshev dot Com. Off day for
the Reds. They host the Chicago White Sox tomorrow, first
of three at GABP. Andrew Abbott will throw against Jonathan Cannon. Tomorrow.

(01:04:58):
Night's first pitch is six forty on seven hundred WLW.
Red's coming off a pretty much disastrous road trip in
Atlanta and Houston, losing three out of four to the Braves,
then two out of three to the Shows, including yesterday's
shutout loss. Meanwhile, we've got injury situations to discuss, thanks

(01:05:22):
to our friends at Postman Law, Delivered by Postman Law.
Postman delivers if you're injured and hopefully or not, but
if you are, Postman delivers, so we know. Jake Fraley
the latest read to go on the injured list with
left calf tenderness. He was scratched from the lineup just
about thirty minutes before the first pitch of Thursday's game.

(01:05:42):
MRI results revealed a bleed at the top of his calf,
and so as a result, the Reds, because of their
lack of outfield depth, went out and acquired Codder Joe
over the weekend. Couple of other things here, Wade Miley
has resumed his rehab assignment, did that with Dayton on Saturday.
Has struck out six, gave up three runs and two
and two thirds innings. Obviously, he is coming back from

(01:06:05):
Tommy John surgery. Ian Jabau has been sent on a
rehab assignment to Louisville as he tries to come back
from that right shoulder impingement. Sam Mall's rehab continues. He
has now appeared in seven games for Louisville and has
given up five runs and eight hits with three walks
and nine strikeouts. And as you probably saw over the
weekend as well, Tyler Callahan transferred to the sixty day

(01:06:28):
injured list. No major surprise there. Meanwhile, the red still
dealing with uncertainty as it relates to Hunter Green and
Noel de Marte. Rhett Lauder has been moved to a
Dayton for a rehab assignment, and after pitching three innings
for the Arizona Complex League club, he gave up two
runs and four hits with five strikeouts. What else do

(01:06:52):
we have? What else do we have? That is thanks
to Postman law, delivered by Postman law. If you're injured,
call eight four to four Postman. That's eight four to
four Postman. Meanwhile, Trey Hendrickson says the Bengals aren't communicating
with him. He wants a new contract. The Bengals will
give him one, just not for the money he wants. Mean,

(01:07:14):
while I'm dropping my papers all over the place. A
Vander named to MLS Team of the Match Day for
Match Day number twelve for his role in FC Cincinnati's
two one victory over Austin on Saturday. On top of that,
the FC Cincinnati news that was reported last week made
official today. Kayi Kamara, who has scored the second most
goals in MLS history, signs for the remainder of the

(01:07:36):
twenty twenty five season with a club option for twenty
twenty six. All right, what are we doing now, Zach?

Speaker 3 (01:07:47):
Here?

Speaker 1 (01:07:47):
I could not be more disorganized. Zach, You're on ESPN
fifteen thirty. Hi, Zach, how's it going well?

Speaker 10 (01:07:53):
Zach Jamison here is calling to say hey, I I
was told Terarn so I'm gonna complete the trifect. I
just got my tickets for the look for the Chattanooga Lookouts.

Speaker 2 (01:08:06):
I went to the Dragons Reds game this year with
the Dragon Stadium.

Speaker 10 (01:08:11):
I just went and seen a bad game last week
for the first time mm HM with my dad, and
I'm gonna go to Chattanooga to see a Lookouts game
in July.

Speaker 2 (01:08:20):
Have you been to a Lookouts game before?

Speaker 1 (01:08:22):
I have not, although I'm dying to go, I've never been. Okay, yeah,
I I was.

Speaker 7 (01:08:29):
Trying to go last year it didn't work out. We're
gonna be down to Panama City and.

Speaker 10 (01:08:33):
Gonna drive up and then go on Friday night. Me
and my son just got his tickets front right right
behind home plate.

Speaker 2 (01:08:38):
So uh, I know a lot of the.

Speaker 10 (01:08:40):
Reds top prospects are in double ware right now, so.

Speaker 1 (01:08:43):
We're gonna give a shot.

Speaker 7 (01:08:44):
So I'm gonna be coming up through there anyway. So
I didn't know if you would win or not, But yeah,
I'm looking forward to it.

Speaker 1 (01:08:49):
No of of the Reds Farm teams I've been to. Uh,
I've been to the Tortugas. I've been to, which are Daytona.
I've been to the Dayton Dragons, although it has been many,
many years, and the Louisville Bats. Chattanooga. I've never even
been to the city of Chattanooga. So I'm looking forward
to hearing about your experience.

Speaker 10 (01:09:08):
Yeah, when I when I come back, like I said,
it's on a Friday, I'll give.

Speaker 2 (01:09:11):
You a call that next week. I let you know
how it goes.

Speaker 10 (01:09:14):
I'm looking forward to I'm pretty excited about it.

Speaker 1 (01:09:15):
Please do, please do. No, it's how the drive that
Chattanooga is how long?

Speaker 7 (01:09:22):
So we'll be coming back up through Florida.

Speaker 10 (01:09:24):
So I think it's like four and a half five
hours I think from here, so I think it's probably seven.

Speaker 3 (01:09:31):
Or eight from where we're going to be at in Florida.

Speaker 10 (01:09:33):
So we're gonna go there and stay just kind of
break up the drive as opposed to putting in thirteen
hours to stick your old car sold.

Speaker 7 (01:09:40):
You get tested that having a kid, you kinda the parent.

Speaker 2 (01:09:43):
You figure that out with the.

Speaker 1 (01:09:45):
Dudes and don'ts are no question No. I love going
to minor league ballparks. I just I've never I've never
found myself in Chattanooga and been able to go. So
I will live a vicariously through you.

Speaker 2 (01:09:55):
ZAC appreciate it.

Speaker 1 (01:09:57):
Thank you, Moe. All right, enjoy it's a quarter to five,
five fifteen thirty. We got a few minutes here, Mike,
go ahead. What's up?

Speaker 7 (01:10:07):
When's the uh?

Speaker 2 (01:10:08):
How you doing?

Speaker 1 (01:10:09):
I'm wonderful yourself, I was God say, family, My family's
very well, Mike, how are you?

Speaker 3 (01:10:16):
I'm not.

Speaker 7 (01:10:16):
It's not good. I've got a real bad report today.
I'll send you an email.

Speaker 1 (01:10:20):
Okay, what's on your mind? Beyond that rule?

Speaker 7 (01:10:22):
Pretty scared anyway. Wednesday Pete Rose tribute is it? It's
this week?

Speaker 1 (01:10:28):
Right, Pete Rose Night at the Ballpark will be on Wednesday?

Speaker 7 (01:10:31):
Yes, man, I wish I could go. I'll tell you, well,
you guys aren't. You're not doing anything at the station
for that, are you? So?

Speaker 1 (01:10:41):
Uh here, I'll let the cat out of the bag.
I am not hosting my show on Wednesday. I am
going to be on uh the other station down the
hall with Eddie and Rocky on seven hundred WLW. Obviously
they're in the same time slot I am. I. I
am going to be with those guys from three to
six and I'm really looking forward to that. And then I,
because of the schedule release the same night, I am

(01:11:04):
gonna stick around and do the inside pitch until six
forty five from the grail and then do extra innings
after the game. So there's a lot going on that night.
This radio station isn't doing anything for Pete Rose night.
That's gonna be a w l W thing. But I am.
I am excited to be a part of it.

Speaker 7 (01:11:23):
Yeah, it's really really it's it's it's overdue, and I'm
real happy about it. I tell you really. When I
was growing up, you know, my dad was ambidextrous, and
so as a kid, I was just right handed, and
I as I watched Pete, I wanted to be left handed.
I wanted to hit left handed. I actually wanted to
be a left handed period and everything. But I trained myself,

(01:11:45):
with my dad's help, to be a pretty good little
switch hitter. And I owed it all to Pete Rose
just by admiring him and being in all of the
guy and and him my dad be and the dextriss
as a coach, kind of help. But I thought share
that story. But my three favorite guys over the long haul,
even the big Red Machine because of my youth, would

(01:12:07):
be Pete, Frank Robinson and Jim Maloney. He as the kid,
was a you know, a team like he was Sandy
Kopax of the years because he could strike out a lot
of guys. Jim Maloney was very popular in Cincinnati.

Speaker 1 (01:12:20):
Yeah, there's there's video of Jim Maloney's no hitter at
Wrigleyfield on YouTube. It's a fun watch.

Speaker 7 (01:12:26):
Yeah, oh really check that out. I think Burrow, I
think we might be going a little too far when
anybody suggested Burrow is going to step in like you
did with Higgins on hendrickson that listen. Burrow might be,
you know, a step below God in this whole thing,
but he he is not going to have his influence

(01:12:46):
dictate to that Bengals front office everything they do that
is not gonna happen.

Speaker 1 (01:12:52):
Uh, you know. I think as it relates to two
players getting contracts, I mean, look, I think Joe understands
even if you wield the kind of power he does,
you're going to be selective with how you wield it.
And I would imagine talked about Trey, but I think
we would all agree that the way in the manner
in which he spoke out on behalf of T Higgins

(01:13:15):
was a little bit different, and it would make you
think that he thought signing T Higgins was the most
important thing to do this offseason. My guess is he
doesn't look at Trey hendricks in the same way. So
I am going to assume that Joe says all the
right things about Trey because he is a good teammate,
because he knows that if he says anything that's you know,

(01:13:38):
out of bounds, that it's going to create a bigger
headache for him and for the team. But I'm sort
of with you there, Mike that I don't think that
Joe is going to go Okay. I wielded a lot
of power with T Higgins. Now I'm going to do
the exact same thing with Tray Hendrickson, in large part
because Trey Hendrickson's a different player than T Higgins. You know, again,
he's Joe started to talk on tsby when his contract

(01:14:01):
was expiring. Trey's contract is not expiring. Joe started to
talk on T's behalf, and when he did, he was
talking about a player looking for his second contract. Trey
Hendrickson has already had his second contract and he's effectively
and technically going on his third. So I don't think
I don't think the two are equal. But if I
were Trey Hendrickson, instead of working on Adam Schefter and

(01:14:24):
Pat McAfee and trying to get the public against the Bengals,
what I would do is I will call Joe Burrow
and Jesse Look, man, what are you able to do
for me? And will it look or sound anything like
what you were able to get done for t Higgins.
My answer is the answer would be actually no. But
if I'm Trey instead of Adam Schefter, I'm calling Joe Burrow.

Speaker 7 (01:14:45):
Well, we don't know, maybe yes, maybe yes, we don't know.

Speaker 1 (01:14:48):
Maybe maybe, man, I hope you did.

Speaker 7 (01:14:50):
I understand why Joe did with t is a vested
interest in tea. We all know that, sure, for the
team's success and for his own personal success. So that
made total sense really quick. New York Knickerbuckers, Littel Robinson.
The only thing you really got on the backboards, the
hard and soul of that team on the backboards and

(01:15:12):
shooting thirty from the free throw line, so we know
what Nazoola was going to do in Lake games if
it's tight at all. The guys I thought Shack was bad, mo,
this guy is. He doesn't care. Did you see the
interview with him today.

Speaker 1 (01:15:24):
I didn't see the interview today.

Speaker 2 (01:15:26):
No.

Speaker 1 (01:15:28):
Yeah, but look, I mean they're not waiting until the
end of the game. They they foull him as soon
as he comes in in the first quarter. He yeah.
I mean, you know that's the thing is for his career,
this isn't good. He's a fifty two percent free throw shooter.
He historically has not been as bad as he has
shown here during the postseason. I think A the Celtics

(01:15:51):
are employing the right strategy and b by them doing that,
now it's in his head. Now. It's not just about technique. Now,
it's not just about form. Now, it's not just about
the ability to can the free throw from fifteen feet out. Now.
I think the shooting is in his head. And I
think the Celtics have played this perfectly. Let's foul a
guy who's not a great free throw shooter, and if

(01:16:13):
we do it enough, the misses will come because we're
going to be in his head and unfortunately for my
team that has happened. Mike, I got a run, man.
Thank you, Thanks Brennan and Jones.

Speaker 4 (01:16:22):
On Baseball's Next Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 5 (01:16:28):
Traffic from the UCE Health Traffic Center. You See Health
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I'm at Ezelic with traffic.

Speaker 9 (01:17:00):
This report is sponsored vice PN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 1 (01:17:04):
That's the name of the radio station. I'm Olegar. This
is ESPN fifteen thirty. Thank you so much for joining
us today. I hope you've had an awesome Monday, hope
had a great weekend. And if you're a mom, hope
you had an awesome Mother's Day. An awesome Mother's Day.
I don't know what the bigger hamster wheel is. By
the way, it's the michelob Ultra five o'clock Happy Hour
thanks to our friends at Michelo Ultra. I enjoyed a

(01:17:26):
michelob Ultra yesterday in honor of Mom, and I enjoyed
some mic Ultras on Saturday, and I enjoyed It's a
mic Ultras all weekend long. It was nice. Might have
one tonight, depending on how my beloved Nick's do. Michelo
Ultra Superior Tay Superior Light Beer. I don't know what
the bigger hamster wheel is right now. You got the

(01:17:48):
Reds coming off an awful road trip, a day off today,
a game tomorrow. White Sox are here. The White Sox
are awful or will be here. I guess maybe they
are here. I have no idea awful And so we're
gonna do the whole thing again where it's like, well,
you know what, if they could just sweep this series
back over five hundred maybe maybe this team has all

(01:18:08):
sorts of offensive issues. Their pitching issues have been a
big deal. We've talked a lot about them. Over the
last couple of days. They've cracked a bit. Hunter Green's injury,
Brady Singer not being able to get past the third
in a game that they won. Chase Petty may end
up being very very good. His first two starts, he
has been the exact opposite. You could do this, and

(01:18:33):
many did. On Saturday, they score ten runs in the
first inninghom before the Astros even came to the plate.
You had folks on social media guaranteeing that the Reds
would get shut out or no hit or have a
perfect game thrown against him yesterday. And I get why
we do that, because it is odd when it happens. Right.
One day a team will score a billion points and

(01:18:54):
then next day of team points, I called him points.
One day a team will score a billion runs. The
next day they don't score any The thing is with
this team, it's not that they score a lot of
runs one day and not a lot of runs the next.
It's that they often scored not a lot of runs.
Right to have played forty two games this year, more
than a quarter of their schedule, forty two games in

(01:19:20):
uh eleven of those games they have either been shut
out or they have scored once. They've been shut out
seven times over their last thirty eight games. They've had
those you know, huge days. The twenty four against Baltimore
thirteen on Saturday, in a game that ended up being

(01:19:41):
more difficult than it needed to be. It's not frustrating
to me that they score zero after scoring thirteen. It's
that they often score zero. It's not that they scored
zero after scoring thirteen. It's that they scored zero on Friday.

(01:20:01):
It's not getting shut out after you have a huge
offensive night, it's that the norm is that they don't
hit it all. Let's just go back a couple of weeks.
Ever since the doubleheader against the Cardinals, here's what they
have scored in their losses. Zero one six one zero

(01:20:23):
one four zero zero. You heard zero and one a
lot there. When they win, chances are it's going to
be because they scored a bunch of runs. Maybe ten
in one inning is an outlier. But what's not an
outlier is the Reids not scoring and just a similar

(01:20:47):
and frustrating feel to the last couple of years. And
that's what I keep talking about, or at least that's
just for me, at least what I keep thinking about.
You know, all spring long, we heard about the vibe.
All throughout February and March, we heard about the vibe
and the feel, and I believe those things. I think

(01:21:09):
those things were true. I'm sure the vibe was different.
There's a different manager. I'm sure there was an infusion
of energy that comes with hiring a person like Terry Francona.
And then you know, you add to it players wanting
to prove that last year was not representative of what
this team is, and players coming back from injury who
are determined to show what they could do after not

(01:21:29):
being given a chance to last year. I'm sure the
vibe and energy were different. The vibe and energy don't
feel different now, they feel painfully familiar. So we'll see
yet another week where we're gonna do the Well, it's
a home stand. If they can just get just get
four out of six, just take you know what, get

(01:21:50):
a get a maybe get a sweep against the White Sox,
then get two out of three, and this team can
take off and go. And I believe that to be true.
But man, it is. It is hard to have a
road trip as bad as the one the Reds just
had and they won two games, and you hate to
do it. But in the two games they won, unfortunately,
what stood out were things that weren't good. The game

(01:22:11):
they won in Atlanta is the one where Hunter Green
got hurt, and the game they won on Saturday, they
needlessly had to use a bunch of guys in the
bullpen because Brady Singer threw batting practice and couldn't get
past the third deeply, deeply frustrating. And then you add
to it all the health issues, all the guys who

(01:22:32):
got hurt, the different roster maneuverings they've had to do here.
Their depth is being tested. They're not passing. You know,
this is something else we talked about back in February
and March and amid all the discussion of new vibe
and different energy and all that stuff more mechanically, so
many of us looked at this team and said, there's
a lot to like. And by the way, there still

(01:22:53):
is a lot to like. And there have been contributions
by newer players, players who weren't here last year. That
to what Nick Krawl did this offseason and acquiring those players.
But most of us looked at this team and said, man, offensively,
they are likely a below average offensive team, and they
still feel incomplete. Below average offensive team that still feels

(01:23:14):
incomplete when you add to an injury, you get a
very very low floor. Forget low ceiling, very very low floor.
I guess the question for me is, with that being
the case understanding, there are players who are injured. Although
let's be honest, it's not like anybody was wanting to
see more of Jamer Candelario. It's not like Christian and
carnassion Strand was lighting the place up. It's not like

(01:23:38):
Jake Frayley was having an All Star season. I mean, yes,
you would like some of those guys, and you don't
want to continue to send guys to the injured list.
But Jamber Candelaria was bat in the buck thirteen, Jake
Frayley was hitting two oh five. I know, it's just
batting average. Cees was well below one sixty. The players
that they have lost positionally on the offensive end of things,

(01:24:00):
not exactly tearing the cover off the ball, not exactly
you know, putting together all star seasons. So this kind
of becomes the question, right, Like, it's a large enough
sample size if you consider what we thought the Reds
were going to be coming into the season to make
some conclusions. It's forty two games plus what we suspected

(01:24:21):
about this team. Before the forty two game started. Offensively,
this team isn't very good. Nobody is having necessarily a
great season. Heck Ellie Dela Cruz, who did hit that
nice opposite field home run on Saturday. Ellie Dela Cruz's
OPS is seven oh five. Like I love Ellie Delacruz.
He's still making Arison shortstop, He's still striking out a lot.

(01:24:45):
The overall offensive production is okay ish. This team was
built with more than just okay ish in mind. Spencer
Steers ops is below six hundred. Matt McClain's is below
six hundred. The back end of the depth chart offensively

(01:25:08):
is not very good. Some players who are counted on
to have great seasons aren't even having good seasons. Some
players that we hoped would have good seasons aren't having
good seasons at all, and some of them are on
the injured list. How can they be true contenders with
an offense this let's be nice and say inconsistent. How

(01:25:29):
can they be genuine contenders with their offense continuing to
spin its tires? I'm being generous here. How can this
team contend when we're clinging to the idea that dudes
like will Benson and Rhese Hines are going to be solutions,

(01:25:50):
or that Connor Joe newly acquired, is going to be
a solution. It's not an overreaction to a road trip.
It's not an overreaction to a game. It's not an
overreact even to the forty two games they've played to
this point. Prior to the season, the big concern was
about the offense. Through forty two games, the biggest issue
has been the offense. That tells me that over the

(01:26:11):
course of the next three and a half four months,
the biggest issue is going to be the offense. So
the question becomes, how do they overcome their offense being
what it is, especially now when the starting pitching depth
is being compromised. It's not going to happen because they
had good vibes back in February and March. And if

(01:26:32):
the answer is what hell, just go and see what
they get at the deadline. Okay, fine, awesome, go get
what you can get at the deadline. That is eighty
days away if I'm doing my math correctly, nineteen plus
thirty one plus thirty eighty days away. Eleven weeks. Eleven

(01:26:55):
weeks were the games with the all star break in
the middle of it. If the solution is the deadline,
how many more problems will pop up between now and then?
And then will this team be even in a position
where they have but no choice but to add help?
You know, the two years ago the Reds were in
first place at the deadline and did nothing. That hovers

(01:27:18):
overall this as well, deeply frustrating road trip. The Atlanta
four days felt like forty and Houston not much better.
Brady Singer had me so mad on Saturday, like, you know,
you scored ten runs in the first inning and you're like,
you know what, just put it in cruise control. Sit back,
watch the Reds get to win here and maybe the

(01:27:39):
game wasn't really ever totally in doubt, but you would
like to think your starting pitcher, I do not care
about pitcher wins and losses, but just for the sake
of reference, you would think that he could at least
get you deep enough into the game that he could
pick up a cheap win. Couldn't even do that. Seventeen
minutes after five o'clock. While Trey Hendrickson is uh continues

(01:28:04):
to create content for us. Some of that content you'll
hear what Trey Hendrickson had to say about Adam Schefter,
and then you'll hear kind of a positive spin on
it from Ian Rappidport. Next on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports.

Speaker 9 (01:28:18):
Station Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty. Traffic from the UCE Health
Traffic Center.

Speaker 5 (01:28:26):
You see health has expert trauma care focusing on prevention,
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eastbound two seventy five, it's got the right two lanes
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one right two lanes blocked off there from a crash

(01:28:47):
at Smith Edwards eastbound Columbia Park waits an accident at
dry Run on that ezelic with traffic.

Speaker 1 (01:28:54):
This report he Spontary Bibes. NFL schedule releases Wednesday. We
are broadcasting We're In from Smoke Justice in Covington Wednesday
night from six to nine. That show stars Lance McAllister
and Tony Pike. It should be a lot of fun
as the trade turns coming up in just a second.

(01:29:14):
But first, let's not make people wait let's talk to
other folks. Dave, you're on ESPN fifteen thirty. Good afternoon, Dave.
How are you hey?

Speaker 2 (01:29:24):
I'm all right, moe hey. I was intrigued initially by
that whole four hits or less twenty percent of the
time thing you did that analysis a while ago. It's
kind of ruined the game for me now because that's
all I pay attention to.

Speaker 7 (01:29:41):
Man fifteen two hits.

Speaker 2 (01:29:44):
All great, here we go, and I'm thinking we need
to maybe reframe how we're looking at the season. Well,
actually two points one is analytically, I'm curious as how
our four hit and lower rate.

Speaker 7 (01:30:00):
First off, we need like a term for it.

Speaker 2 (01:30:02):
But then how does it compare to like historically bad teams,
Like how are the Chicago White Sox last year? I
bet they had four hits or more in better than
twenty percent of their games.

Speaker 1 (01:30:13):
Well, so, just just just to update it for you here,
I think it's it's nine times in forty two this
season the Reds have had four hits? Are fewer? Okay,
that's just to update it. And because I am a
whiz at navigating baseball reference, I am gonna look that
up for us right now. As we said. The Chicago
White Sox, obviously last year lost one hundred and twenty

(01:30:35):
one games, the worst in modern Big League history. So
I pull up betting, I go to game logs. This
is great radio, I mean navigating baseball. All right, I
have it here. Let's see one two thirty times they
had four hits or fewer.

Speaker 2 (01:30:55):
So what's that.

Speaker 1 (01:30:56):
I'm sorry, I'm sorry, No, I'm life. Thirty thirty thirty
three times they had four hits or fewer. So thirty
three into one sixty two. I get my phone out calculator,
thirty three into one sixty two. Twenty percent of the
time they had four hits or fewer. The Reds this
season twenty one percent of the time four hits or fewer.

(01:31:20):
So basically the same as the worst team that's ever
been assembled.

Speaker 2 (01:31:25):
Well, arguably a little bit a percentage point worse than
the worst team ever assembled. But that's not split hairs.
And so maybe we need to change, like how we
get excited about the Reds and simply if we get
five hits or more, that's the celebration.

Speaker 1 (01:31:40):
You know, they should do something like they do with
pizza at the ballpark right when they get ten strikeouts
are biggots pizza. If the Reds get five hits orby
I should get a prize.

Speaker 2 (01:31:48):
I like it. That's all I got for you.

Speaker 1 (01:31:50):
Moo, I am, I am a marketing genius, Dave, thank you.
That's nine times in forty two games the Reds have
gotten four hits or fewer. And what's interesting about it
is where did I read this today? I want to
say it was Red leg nation. I could be dead
wrong about that, but it was an assessment of the

(01:32:10):
team here through forty two games, and it referenced one thing.
And I'm sort of getting off topic here, but one
thing that's kind of interesting about how the Reds have
chosen to assemble their team is there's not a lot
of There aren't many guys that you look at and
go twenty five homers. Now, Ellie is still a pretty

(01:32:34):
good bet to hit between twenty five and thirty, but
it's and you know, Austin Hayes has five home runs
and he's played what sixteen seventeen games, so not that many,
not a lot of power threats. So it's it's not
a team that is especially great at getting on base.

(01:32:56):
It's not a team that collectively hits for a very
high average, but it's also not a team that hits
a lot of home runs, and they play in a
homer friendly ballpark. And the piece that I'm referencing, and
I don't have it off the top of my head,
was basically like, they've got a staff filled with guys
who aren't great at getting ground balls, and they've got

(01:33:18):
an offense filled with guys who aren't great at hitting
the ball out of the ballpark. You know, they're not
built to their park, you know. So there are some
things you can look at and go, well, you know, offensively,
you'll take a team that's not getting great at getting
on base if they get a lot of extra base
hits and if they're good at hitting the ball out

(01:33:41):
of the ballpark. But I got a bunch of guys
who get the ball out of the yard, Well, the
Reds don't have that, and I, you know, can do
a whole big thing where I could roll through where
they are. They are below league average and this is
just the nationally. They are below league average in batting average,
they are below league average in OPS, they are below

(01:34:01):
league average in OPS plus. They are slightly above average
in on base percentage, the league average is three to
twenty the Reds are three to twenty one, so they're
basically league average. They're pretty much at league average in
terms of number of home runs, and you know, it's

(01:34:29):
still early enough that you could take a couple of
games where they exploded offensively and it throws off to
a degree the overall statistical profile of the team. Offensively,
they have had four games this year where they've scored

(01:34:49):
in double figures. They won all four games. One of
those games was a twenty four run output, which I
would venture to say is the most amount of runs
a team of scored this year, although San Diego scored
twenty one the other night against Colorado the day before
they fired Bud Black, So it's I think it's still
early enough that a handful of games like that can

(01:35:12):
throw off some of the ratios and certainly throw off
some of the counting stats. But as a general rule,
they're basically league average or slightly below league average pretty
much every metric. They don't have anybody who's having JOJ.
Trevino maybe is an exception, having an all Star caliber season.
They don't have a lot of guys who hit for average.

(01:35:32):
They don't have a lot of guys who are getting
on base a ton, and they don't have a lot
of guys who hit for power. So then what do
you have a lot of guys? What do you have
a lot of That's good, It's a fair question, all right.
Trey Hendrickson says the Bengals aren't communicating with him. I
think they have I think they are.

Speaker 9 (01:35:49):
Next Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty traffic.

Speaker 5 (01:35:56):
From the UCE Health Traffic Center. You see health as
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Speaker 1 (01:36:27):
Sig mow your lawn which is happening right now? Good
to the contest or promotions page of ESPN fifteen thirty
dot com. You know we announced the winner a week
from Friday on ESPN fifteen thirty and four to thirty
five in the afternoon On this show, so the winner
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yours for life kelseyshev dot Com Reds and White Sox

(01:37:11):
Tomorrow first of three, six forty Tomorrow Night seven hundred WLW.
Jonathan Cannon throws for Chicago Andrew Abbott for Cincinnati. Of
course this series on Wednesday. Game two will be at
seven fourteen for Pete Rose Night Day game on Thursday.
According to him Davila in Spanish sports news outlet as

(01:37:35):
dot Com, the Bengals will not play the Dolphins in Madrid. Instead,
Miami will take on the Washington Commanders in Madrid on
November sixteenth. Do what you want with that information. Trey
Hendrickson says there's been no communication by the Bengals toward
him as the contract impass continues. More on that here
in just a bit of hander name to MLS Team

(01:37:57):
of the Match Day for Match Day number twelve, a
goal and an assist in FC Cincinnati's win over Austin
on Saturday, and then today FC Cincinnati made it official.
This news was reported late last week. They have signed
Kyd Kamara, the second all time leading goal scorer in
Major League Soccer history. NBA Playoffs tonight Nixon Celtics Boston

(01:38:19):
will win tonight, win the series and six game four
at MSG at seven thirty Warriors and timber Wolves, with
Minnesota leading a series two games to one. The NHL
Stanley Cup Playoffs, which have actually been very entertaining Washington
and Carolina, with Carolina holding a two to one series
lead game for tonight, and Edmonton hosting Vegas with the

(01:38:40):
Oilers leading that series game for tonight two games to one.
So the specific quote here from Trey Hendrickson, if you
haven't seen this, this is according to ESPN's Adam Schefter,
this kind of came out of the blue right. Trey
Hendrickson says, quote, no communication has taken place between my

(01:39:02):
camp and the organization post draft. The offers prior to
the draft did not reflect the vision we shared and
were promised last offseason if I continued to play at
a high level. Coaches are aware of these past conversations.
Rather than using collaboration to get us to a point

(01:39:24):
to bring me home to the team, they all caps here.
By the way, they are no longer communicating. That's Trey Hendrickson.
According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, a few things about this.
I think the Bengals made it known back in early April.

(01:39:46):
They're done communicating. If you and I are discussing something
and we're going back and forth, and maybe we're haggling,
maybe we're having a yard sale. I've held one yard
sale in my life. It was fifteen years ago, miserable
people showing up at my house trying to negotiate with
me about my old genes. Like miserable experience. But if

(01:40:07):
we're haggling, and I go like, all right, man, here's
my best offer, take it or leave it, there's nothing
else to say. Maybe not the best example, but there's
nothing else to say, right or wrong. Katie Blackburn said
this about Trey Hendrickson and his deal. Quote I think
he should be happy at certain rates that maybe he

(01:40:27):
doesn't think he'd be happy at. I think some of
it is on him to be happy at some point.
My interpretation could be wrong, is here's our offer. We're
done here. That's all the communication you need. If they're
not budging, and you might think they should budge, you
may think they should give Trey Hendrickson a blank check.
But if they're not budging, there's no need for further communication.

(01:40:53):
Call call Trey Hendrickson, just to go, Hey, just FYI,
hope you're well, hope you're enjoying the spring. Hey, just fyi,
we're not changing our offer. I think this quote here
made it known, like, dude, if he wants to play
for the Bengals, if he wants a long term contract,
if he doesn't want to deal with the uncertainteam that

(01:41:14):
comes with looming free agency, fine, he's gonna have to
be happy with our offer. In the absence of that,
we're done here. He's under contract for this coming season.
So I think what Trey is doing, it's pretty obvious
he's trying to trying to build public pressure on the Bengals,
which frankly never works. But he's also doing it using
a trope. How often have you heard about the Bengals

(01:41:35):
not communicating with a player, whether it be a player
who's under contract as it relates to a contract extension,
maybe a player changing positions a lah Jonah Williams, It's
happened before. He's using an old trope. He's using a
trope that I think you have accurately been able to
use to criticize the Bengals in this instance. Here, I
don't know what further communication is needed once you've said,

(01:41:58):
here's our offer, take it or leave it. What communication
is he supposed to hear from the Bengals. By the way,
I'd be willing to bet that if Trey Hendrickson or
his agent decided to pick up the phone and call
Katie Blackburn or Troy Blackburn or Elizabeth Blackburn or Mike
Brown or anybody else in upper management pick up the

(01:42:23):
phone and said, yeah, hey, we want to go ahead
and sign. We'll take your I'd be willing to bet
they'll be communication cool, Trey, come to town, sign the contract.
Let's get this over with. So there's one thing there,
like the communication thing is playing to a trope, and
it's not an unfair trope if you know anything about
this franchise. But what I saw on April the second

(01:42:46):
that Katie Blackburn said he should be happy at certain rates,
some of it's on him to be happy at some point.
Maybe it's just me. I took that as we're done here.
We're done talking. Take it or leave it. We're done here,
no more communication. Call us if you want to sign.
If not, we'll see a training camp. If not, we'll

(01:43:07):
see you before game. Won Now, it obviously remains to
be seen if Trey Hendrickson shows a willingness to miss
football games the count and forego the paychecks that come
with them. Ken, I want to tell Trey, like, what
communication were you expecting. They effectively said, here's our offer,

(01:43:27):
take it or leave it. The other thing about this
is and again, man, like I've said this probably two
dozen times over the course of the last couple of months.
I think neither side is really wrong here. I think
the Bengals hold all the cards here. Look at what
they did in the draft. The draft is coming gone,

(01:43:48):
no trade was done. They're not gonna trade Trey Hendrickson. Now,
I think we'd all be stunned if they did that.
Trey wants to maximize his value coming off a hillaciously
good season, and the Bengal look at that season and go.
Chances are he never repeats it, So why do we
want to pay more, especially beyond this coming season, which
he's under contract for. I don't think either side is

(01:44:09):
wrong in their stance. The other thing Trey is trying
to do is you make the Bengals look bad by
making it seem like they broke promises. Look, the quote
here is the offers prior to the draft did not
reflect the vision we shared and were promised last offseason
if I continued to play at a high level. So

(01:44:33):
maybe promises were made, Maybe assurances were made, they weren't
in writing, so they don't mean anything. Look, I work
here at iHeartMedia under a contract. I've worked here for
close to twenty seven years. There have been people that
I have worked past tens for that have made me promises.

(01:44:54):
If they weren't in writing, I didn't count on them.
Most never came to fruition. You know, my bosses could
tell me, MO, we're gonna put a mini bar in
the studio for you. Okay, cool, awesome, hope you do.
If we don't have it in writing, I'm not counting
on it. Hey, we're gonna send you on the road.

(01:45:14):
You're gonna be able to do your show from wherever
the bear Cats are playing. Okay, you're putting that in
writing too. If so, I'll hold you to it. If not,
it's they're just words. They don't mean anything. But also
like there are promises and there are assurances, but there's
also mitigating factors that change things. A year ago, at

(01:45:36):
this time, a year ago, at this time, the market
for edge rusher was different than it is right now.
Uh before the offseason began this year, there was one
edge rusher with a contract averaging at least thirty million
dollars a year, Nick Bosa. Nick Bosa. Since then, what

(01:45:57):
has happened? The edge rusher market has absolutely exploded. Max
Crosby three years, one hundred and six point five mil,
averaging thirty nine and a half a year. Miles Garrett
perennial first team All Pro, the first forty million dollars
per year non quarterback less than a week later. By

(01:46:21):
the way, the Bengals market has changed, t Higgins was
not going to be a Bengal in twenty twenty five,
A year ago. Now he's not only a Bengal in
twenty twenty five, he is a Bengal for the foreseeable future.
A year ago, at this time, t Higgins was going
to be hitting free agency once the season came to
an end. So some stuff has changed. So in the

(01:46:43):
absence of anything in writing and understanding, outside circumstances affect markets,
affective player's value. Like, dude, Trey, sorry, you might have
been given promises, but unless those promises were an offer
sheet or a contract, and unless they were specific dollar amounts,
well sorry, man, Like they're just words, they're just promises.

(01:47:06):
There's just I can't feel for him here, and I
know what he's doing. It's the Bengals. It's an unpopular
ownership group, it's an unpopular franchise when it comes to,
you know, their perception that they're cheap and impersonal. He's
trying to make it seem like the Bengals broke promises
and maybe they did. Trey get him in writing, also,
Trey understand there are gonna be circumstances that unfold that

(01:47:31):
maybe change the organization's outlook, like you know, it's it.
Maybe a real world example is this Everything's costing more now,
like you may have promised your kid a year ago
or two years ago. Hey, summer A twenty twenty five,
we're gonna go on these big elaborate vacations. What has

(01:47:51):
happened since stuff costs more? Tariffs are impacting people. Folks
have to make a certain amount of money to go
go longer like stuff changes, And I hate to say,
you gotta say to your kid, We're not gonna go
on all these big elabor vacations. Can't afford it. Right,
our dollars are being stretched. Not my fault, not your fault,
not anybody's fault. Necessarily, there are circumstances that change what

(01:48:15):
you're willing to do financially. Well, again, Trey Hendrickson and
t Higgins were not supposed to be teammates in twenty
twenty five. They signed Trey, they were gonna let Te walk,
and then Joe Burrow changed everything. So what he's trying
to do here, Look, man, good luck. If you can

(01:48:36):
somehow strong arm the Bengals into doing something they don't
want to do financially, you will have accomplished something that's
never been done in the history of the franchise. If
you could use the public against the Bengals to your benefit.
You have accomplished something that nobody has ever done in
the history of the franchise. Good luck, really good luck.
And it sounds like I'm mad at Trey Hendrickson. I'm

(01:48:58):
thrilled that Trey Hendrickson has done this and giving us
more meat on the bone to chew on.

Speaker 7 (01:49:02):
Here.

Speaker 1 (01:49:04):
Now, a slightly more optimistic take comes your way from
Ian Rapperport of NFL Media. This is, I guess from
the Pat McAfee show. Ian tends to think the Bengals
and Tray will get something done. All right, we were.

Speaker 11 (01:49:25):
Gonna trade him, it probably would have happened already. Not
the trades can't happen after the draft. We literally saw
one last week, huge trade last week. But generally generally
trades either happened before the draft or like a round
cutdown day, when there's literally no other time to get
something done and a team says, this is not gonna happen.

Speaker 1 (01:49:43):
Let's just trade you.

Speaker 11 (01:49:45):
My so, Trey Anderson is right there, Well, there's been
some communication between.

Speaker 1 (01:49:49):
Him and the team.

Speaker 11 (01:49:50):
There hasn't been contract communication, which is the only important
kind of communication, not the only important, but that's the
good stuff, right, that's what you want. You want to go,
you want offers, you want real stuff that has not happened.
But my belief and I and let me say this first,
I understand why he's upset.

Speaker 2 (01:50:08):
I do.

Speaker 11 (01:50:09):
There's no real deadline now, there's nothing to force a
team to do anything. There's not mandatory mini camp where
he's gonna show up or not. There's nothing. So he
wants a deal, but the team hasn't shown the urgency
that he wants. And he deserves a raise. He is awesome,
and he deserves more money. I believe they're gonna give
it to him. It just hasn't happened yet, and they
just haven't struck the right deal yet. You know, the

(01:50:31):
Bengals are just a little bit a little bit more
of a methodical organization than a lot of teams, and
we saw how long it took for them to do,
you know, the Jamar and T deal.

Speaker 1 (01:50:41):
I understand he's mad.

Speaker 11 (01:50:43):
I empathize with him being mad, but I do believe
they're gonna pay him properly and then eventually get this
done and he'll be on the field, rich and happy.

Speaker 12 (01:50:53):
So is that you sending a message from the Banngals
to Trey Hendrickson or is that just you hypothesizing from
what you've heard. No, Well, in hearing you say that
you do believe the Bengals are going to get a
deal done with him and move forward. I think that's
probably a big deal because I think Trey Hendrickson's big
problem is like, we haven't heard anything.

Speaker 1 (01:51:09):
Good question, good question.

Speaker 3 (01:51:11):
So this what me saying.

Speaker 11 (01:51:13):
That is from the conversations I've had with the Bengals
sources in the past, not today. I didn't like, I
didn't see the same in reach out. Okay, what now,
so this was sort of in the past. I know
that they I know they like him, they believe in him,
they value him, all of that. I do believe the
deal gets done. This is me kind of taking all
that and saying and saying like, here's where I heard

(01:51:34):
that age, here's where they're eventually it's eventually going to happen.
But this is not me sending a message, because like
the message would really be like it's going.

Speaker 1 (01:51:45):
To happen eventually.

Speaker 11 (01:51:45):
But if you're Trey Henderson, You're like, Okay, well come on,
like thanks, like you know, like so no, no message
could do anything stronger than like an actual extension offer
would do.

Speaker 1 (01:51:56):
Yeah, all right, there's an rappaport on the Pat McAfee
show on ESPN. They I don't know it. Just if
the Bengals were to suddenly go, all right, Trey, we're
coming more towards what you want, what will have changed
between now and when that happens. The only answer to

(01:52:17):
that question that I could come up with is Joe
Burrow goes to bad for Trey Hendrickson in ways he
went to bad for t Higgins. By the way, Joe
Burrow was scheduled to talk tomorrow. He's now not talking
till next Tuesday. Maybe that's coincidental, maybe it isn't, but
it's worth noting. But the lack of communication, I don't know, man, Like, Yeah,

(01:52:41):
Trey is a terrific player. I think we all certainly
hope he plays for the team this year and plays
really well, and then we'll see what happens and if
they get something done long term with Trey Hendrickson, fine,
But this lack of communication pointing that out to me
is it's trying to build upon an existing brand to
them there with the Bengals, one that they don't communicate well,

(01:53:03):
and two that they're they don't know what they're doing
because they're making promises they couldn't keep.

Speaker 7 (01:53:10):
Well.

Speaker 1 (01:53:11):
See I wish Trey well. Tomorrow. We were going to
do the show from the UC Baseball Stadium before the
baseball game tomorrow. The baseball game is not going to happen.
I guess they're expecting rain. But we are doing the
show from the Lender Center tomorrow. Wes Miller, Scott Saderfield,
Joe Royer, Katrina Merriwether, Brent your Mark, and a host
of others are guests from three to six. We look

(01:53:31):
forward to that. Thank you for listening. Hav an awesome night.
Thanks to Terran for producing. This is ESPN fifteen thirty
Cincinnati Sports.

Speaker 9 (01:53:38):
Station, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 5 (01:53:53):
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Police there on scene on that ezelic with traffic.

Speaker 1 (01:54:25):
This report is sponsored by Rob

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