August 29, 2023 • 38 mins
We discuss the free agent pursuit of Shohei Ohtani now that he may not be able to pitch. Rich Hammond joins us to talk about the Rams' roster cuts. Ronald Acuna jr. was rushed by fans on the field in Colorado. The mother of the President of the Spanish Soccer Federation is on a hunger strike
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
And we continue on Fred Rogan andRodney Peat five seventy LA Sports. Rich
Hammond will be on here maybe onetwenty one, twenty five. We'll talk
about the comments with Kelly Stafford andit was cut down day in the NFL.
So Rodney, what was that likefor guys? Yeah, the reaper,
when the reaper coming around, thereaper showing up? Yeah, how
(00:20):
does that work? It's, uh, it's not a good feeling. It's
not a good day, you knowhow Guys that deal with it, that
are on the bubble, you don'tknow. And you're just dreading the day
of going into the going into thefacility and somebody pulling you asides and coach
wants to see it or bring yourplaybook. So that's that's that's a tough
(00:43):
thing. And it used to beyou know, in the eighties and nineties
when I've played, usually they triedto get the guys before they got to
the facility, so it was youknow, not done so publicly. But
ye know it became later I themore I played, in the later years
I played, it was more almostcold hearted that guys would get there,
uh and then be asked to packtheir bags up. But it's a it's
(01:07):
a it's a tough day. It'sa tough day because you get to know
guys. Training camp is one ofthose times where you really get to know
people, and you get to knowyour teammates because you're around them so much,
and you're meeting all day and you'repracticing all day, you're living together
all those things. And then tosee, uh, you know, a
person's dreams maybe uh shattered or cutshort. Uh, it's just it's tough.
(01:30):
It's tough to take. And thenwhen that happens, Uh, their
agents obviously know almost immediately. Whatis it? The rush to find a
job. Yeah, yeah, Imean everybody's watching, right, everybody.
Every team is watching who releases who. So if you another team had their
eye on a linebacker, receiver oran offensive lineman, uh, and they
(01:52):
know that guy's on the bubble.Uh. The agents are already making calls
to different teams, and then theythey watch the wire and see who's gotten
released, and immediately they'll try topick up a guy. So yeah,
it's a very active day, andyou just hope that if you do get
released by one team, that there'sanother team waiting to pick you up.
Okay, so rich Hand will beyondhere and we'll get into that. Now.
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Let's talk about Joho Tani. Ofcourse, the Angels have just really
fallen flat. Ah, so sadweight before all right, Fred, when
you and I and I listen,I I applauded them, even though I
thought it was the wrong move too. I was with you. I think
though I thought they, you know, try to try to get as much
as they could for him, andif they didn't, they didn't do it
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obviously before the season, but atthe trade trade deadline, but then you
know, they were kind of init. They were around four or five
games out and it was, hey, they're going for it. They're going
for it. Good for the Angels, going for it. They made an
announcement they weren't going to trade him, so let's go for it. Picked
up a couple of players. Imean, come on, let's go,
Angels, let's do it. Andthen it just went the other way,
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went the other way. For It'ssad. It's gonna be a sad said
off season for the Angels. Yeah, if you're an Angel fan, you
just have to sit there and gonow what now? What? What do
you have to be excited? Aboutnow what, really, what do you
have to be excited about? Thiswas it? This is the big push,
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this is all they had. Allthe chips are in the middle of
the table. We're all in.We're all in. Yeah, and this
it doesn't make you feel warm andfuzzy, go oh god, here we
are again, same deal and we'lljust see how it plays out. So
to that end, next up onthe Angels dance card is trying to hold
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on to Otani because that's really whatyou have to look forward to, right,
holding onto Otani. Yeah, Sonow it comes down to remember,
he said he wanted to win.That didn't happen. It hasn't happened since
he's been there. He wants togo to the play offs, all right,
that has not happened for him.So some people would suggest, well,
but he's comfortable and they let himdo what they want, whatever he
(04:08):
wants to do. And every timeI hear that, I cringe. Well,
you know why he likes it.There. They let him do whatever
he wants to do. So nobodyelse would do that. Nobody else would
let him do that, correct,nobody, nobody would let him practice the
way he wants to practice. Noone would let him have the routine.
He has no one but the angels, so that's the reason he'd stay.
(04:30):
My god, they let him dowhat he wants to do. Anybody would
do that. Okay, So canwe just dispel that immediately? Yes,
yes, the angels are not uniquein that fashion. I mean how many
times we had people on to go, well, you know, my god,
they let him do whatever he wants, so obviously he'd be happy.
Yeah, that's the reason why he'llstay. No, no, anybody will
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let him do what he wants todo. So just remove that from the
thinking. So now we get downtoo. Does he really believe that they
can get over the hump? Wealso had Vic's theory at one point that
given his Japanese culture, he wouldnever leave because he would not leave Mike
Trout by himself and it would bedishonorable to do. So, okay,
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can we eliminate that now this isbusiness. Can we throw that out?
I mean not going with that theory. Don't want to leave Choudy. I'm
not gonna go with that. Imean, based on that theory, he
wouldn't have come to the Majors tobegin with. He wouldn't have left his
teammates in Japan. Right, Okay, So I'm throwing that theory out and
I'm throwing out there he can dowhatever he wants theory. So now we
get down to real business. Doeshe want to stay in a situation where
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where he has not been to theplayoffs and quite honestly, probably would not
get there next year with him either. They need time, and they need
players, and they need to build. Perry Manazzi and the GM. It's
not a nice job he has tryingto put that thing back together. But
his deal is up next year,so we don't know. We don't know
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what will happen. If that's thecase, all right, then we go
to the free agent market and itleads us to this. According to all
indications, Yeah, the Dodgers arestill interested in Otani, and why wouldn't
they be because he is one ofthe top hitters in baseball, but with
the the UCL he may not beone of the top pitchers. He's one
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of the top hitters. You wanthim in your lineup? Can you imagine
having Mookie and Freddie Freeman and thenWill Smith and then show hey Otani or
whatever order they put him in,followed by Munsey, I mean, good
luck. Oh wow. We knowthat lineup can hit, and we know
they can get on base, allright, so you want him. But
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if he can't pitch, he can'tget paid as much money. He simply
can't. He's got to be paidas one of the top hitters in baseball,
but he can't be paid as thetop guy because he can't pitch as
well. I'm thinking Rodney, whetherhe can pitch or not, the Dodgers
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definitely want him. But let methrow this into the equation and we'll see
how this season plays out. There'sone thing we can't agree to. They
can hit. That they can do. They've got to line up full of
guys that can hit. And thenif you go forward, do they have
guys that will be able to pitch? Now? They have a young staff.
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You hope Walker Bueller's back, Youhope Dustin May comes back. You
have Bobby Miller, you have Peppio, you have Stone, you have Shean.
That's an awfully young rotation, right, So maybe Clayton comes back for
another year. I don't see whyhe wouldn't, but that's on him.
And that not leads you to Julio, who struggled, has performed better.
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And as a free agent, ifthat's the case and you can sign one,
would you sign the picture, Julioor they hit her? Oh Tony
the pitcher, Julio, you wouldyou'd pass on oh Tony if it came
down to one. He could ifhe couldn't pitch, Yeah, because the
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reason you want him, if you'rethe Dodgers, you're the reason you want
him is to first of all,anybody really wants him to play both and
how you manage that and really that'sup to you. But the benefit is
him being on the mound. Andwe've said it, you've said it,
we've seen it this year. Ijust have no no trouble on offense.
They can score runs with the bestof them, they can hit with the
best of them. That lineup isgreat and it would it be better with
(08:37):
him, and absolutely would be betterin him. But when you got to
look down and go, what arewhat are our needs? What have we
struggled with? What do we needto get us over the top? And
it's pitching and you've got a guythat has kind of been in that cy
Young conversation hasn't won it should havewon it when he won twenty games and
nobody else did. He's your guyyou brought up since he was seventeen and
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has shown you he can deliver foryou. Yeah, I'm I'm trying to
resign Julio first. Yeah, nodisrespect to Otani, but I need pitching.
I need pitching, so you know, and they're hard to come by,
as we found, and just goout there and just get anybody say
Okay, then we're gonna throw themin there. They're gonna be They're gonna
be good on the hill. Andyou, as much as you like to
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believe it, which is why itmakes everybody nervous, is that you can
score runs, but there's gonna comea time into playoffs where you're not gonna
score eight runs. You're gonna it'sgonna be a two run game. And
can your pitching staff hold the otherteam down? That's where it comes down
for me. Let me toss thisinto the mix. First of all,
a ucl and Rodney, you played, so you understand these things better than
(09:48):
I do. And they're saying,well, he's gonna get a second opinion
on whether or not he should havesurgery. The guy he should go to
for any opinion is doctor Neil Elatrosh, and I wouldn't be surprised if he
has not gone there. If hedoes not have surgery, Surgery is no
guarantee that it works. But ifyou don't have surgery and he just does
the old rehab, I'm coming backon my own. I got a feeling
(10:09):
is going to happen again. That'sme. I'm not a doctor, but
this does not seem like something like, well, you know, I'll take
it easier for six weeks here andI'll be right back and ready to go.
So first, if he has surgery, how long is it before he
can pitch again? That's my question. I'm just passing it out there,
and I don't know if you're Kevinknow that, and then he comes back
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to pitch, I would think thatyou cannot use him as a starter.
I would think I would think thatyou use him as a closer. It's
a possibility. We tossed that arounda little bit yesterday, but it's still
going to be strained on the arm. It's still going to be strained on
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the arm. Whether you're I know, throwing one hundred pitches is different than
throwing twenty. But if you're acloser. How often are you gonna use
him as the closer? Is hegonna Is he gonna pitch on multiple nights
or you use him once a weekas a closer. I mean, it's
still going to be a strain andare you willing to take that chance with
him? So it's tough the shelflife of him doing both. We always
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knew there was gonna come a timewhere he was not gonna allow to be
allowed to do both. It justwasn't gonna It wasn't gonna last. He
can't do it. His body wasnot gonna hold up. From a pitching
standpoint. He can hit too,he's blew in the face, but being
a starting pitcher, that was thatwas going to end at some point during
his career, in the middle ofit. So it's unfortunate because it happened.
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This happened right in his free agentyear where he could have been a
six hundred million dollar guy, ifyou know, if he's out there on
the market as being both a pitcherand a hitter. But right now I
think teams are really heading their betsgoing we may get one or two years
out of him being a pitcher.You say he doesn't have surgery right and
able to rehab it and comes backand it's fine. You still only got
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one or two more years of himbeing a guy that can trot out there
twenty times a year on the onthe hill as a starter. Yeah,
yeah, See, I think theDodgers are interested either way. I think
they're interested either way. Oh,I think they're interested. Just the price
tag is going to be determining factoras opposed to when he was doing both,
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it didn't matter whatever it took toget him. They were gonna get
him. And I also think itis an interesting point you make, and
probably a valid point. They needpitching. They sure they want Otani,
but they're going to need pitching.And how much will that affect their decision
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making during the offseason. Well,kid Thomas the Second got some bad news
today, Yeah he did. Yeah. Quinndell Johnson also got some bad news
today. Now Johnson got bad news, yea, TJ. Carter got it,
t J. Come on, baby, Mike McCalister, Cameron mccutcheen,
Grant Miller, Damn, Robert Rochellgot some bad news today. And we'll
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go into that bad news with RichHammond next. Annon Dodges a winning football
season is getting ready to start sseason one to Oh come on, Fred,
it don't get better light than this, tell you what it really doesn't.
Let's bring on Rich Hammond, aco host of the eleven Personnel podcast
on the RAM, senior editor atThe Athletic, and he is all over
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the Ram. So Rich, thanksfor jumping on today. Of course,
Fred, Ronnie Conna be with you, all right, So let's just go
over this. It's been a badday for Logan, Bruce Tanner, Brown,
Ajacurrie, Cameron Mccutcheen, Grant Miller, Robert Rochelle, Xavier Smith,
Kier Thomas Austin Trammell, Dreece,Win, Jaden Wood Bay and let's see
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anybody else, Daniel Hardy. It'sbeen a bad day for them, Rich,
The Rams waived all of them today. And do you know who any
of those guys are? I do, Fred, I don't know if we
put a Q test out there forthe general southern California area, I don't
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know how well we do. Butthere's a couple of notable names in there.
I mean, if you want tostart with Logan Press, I mean
that's a guy who they used ahigh draft pick on I mean relative for
the Ram it's not a first roundpick, but they never have first round
picks. As we know. That'ssomebody who they really invested in and they
thought he could be a starter atone of those guard positions, maybe as
soon as this year, and itjust did not work out. And I
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mean obviously last year there was abig injury there. He missed the entire
season. I'm sure that was ahuge set back to his development. But
that name jumps out to me,guys, is just that's a big miss.
And I don't want to be youknow, hot taky about it or
whatever, but when you use apick like that, just you know,
two years ago, two seasons agoon a guy like that and now you're
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cutting him, that means it didn'twork, especially in a position where they
really really need some stability and theyneed some good play on that offensive line.
So that that one really jumped outto me. Yeah, stability on
the offensive line. Also another areais wide receiver rich How how do you
see that group coming together this yearand working with Matthew Stafford. I obviously
they they need to be more productivethan they were the last year in order
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for the Rams have any kind ofchance for sure. You know, I
look at it, and I'm tryingto be you know, realistic in both
of these things. I just mentionedthe negative on the offensive line. I'm
looking at the list of receivers hereand on paper, I like the mix.
And that doesn't mean it's going towork. It doesn't mean that it's
it's going to give you the results. But I'm looking at the types of
guys that they have here. Obviously, we know what Cooper cup can bring,
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you know, Vat Jefferson's the guywho's established him themself as kind of
a known quantity to two out wellas a big swing guy like he's got
to be able to produce, especiallywith some of those you know, longer
plays. He's he's more of ahome run than a single or a double
guy, so they've got to beable to connect with him. Pukainakua is
a guy who I really like comingout of the draft. I don't know
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what type of role he's gonna fillexactly, especially early in the season,
but I think you could see himgetting in that mix as like a slot
receiver, a guy who's gonna makesome tough catches over the middle that sort
of thing. And then DeMarcus Robinsonis this guy who they brought the end,
you know for some depth. Hehas some experience. They need those
guys to stay healthy. Of courseit starts with Cooper Cup, you know,
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being able to come back from thishamstring injury that he's had. If
you don't have a healthy Cooper Cup, the whole thing falls apart. But
I honestly, I'm intrigued is theword that I would use with that receiver's
group, because I think they've gotsome options. I think they've got some
versatile guys there, but it stillneeds to work, it still needs to
fit together. Well, you mentionedCooper Cup real quick, How is he
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looked? How is he feeling?Obviously he's a guy that they absolutely cannot
lose. Yeah, he is?He almost full go? Are they going
to utili open a week? Yeah? I think it's a situation Ronnie Ward,
like if if if week one hadbeen you know, this past weekend,
you probably see him out there.There's there's just they were in that
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situation. I'm sure you've been inor you've got a teammates that there's as
there was absolutely no benefit to puttinghim on the field. He was coming
back from a hamstring injury. Hewas almost completely healed, if not completely
healed. He has nothing to prove. He knows this offense, knows the
quarterback, he knows his other receivers. The only thing that could happen would
have been for him to reinjure thatthing. And that's the one thing that
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you absolutely could not have happened.So I know it was probably scary for
Rams fans to see him sitting out. No, he wasn't in any of
the preseason games, but that's bydesign. They did not want even if
there was a one percent chance thathe was going to reinjure that thing,
they weren't going to take that chance. But but he should be good to
go for a week one. RichHammon is our guest. When you look
at the early part of the schedule, if you just think about how they
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start, Seattle and San Francisco aregoing to be two top goes form right
off the bat ridge. Yeah theyare. And it's not the way if
you want to start, if ifyou're the Rams, I mean, especially
knowing that the early part of theseason, for a lot of these reasons
that we just mentioned, you don'tI don't want to say you're you're not
confident, but you don't go inwith that feeling of your clicking on all
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cylinders. I mean, we haven'teven talked about some of the issues on
defense that still need to come together. And when you face two division opponents
right off the bat, I mean, that's rough. Seattle always gives them
a rough game. You know,that's a team that's always going to be
well prepared. And then obviously SanFrancisco of a top contender in the conference.
I need Look, I don't wantto be pessimistic, but if if
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you look at it a certain way, you know, you could be staring
down and oh and two start andnot only are those two losses, but
they're two division losses, which justmagnifies it even more so. It's just
to the point we just made.They need that offense to be clicking,
They need those receivers to come together, they need Matthew Stafford to be on
his game. Because I'm a littleconcerned that that defense maybe it is going
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to be a work in progress,especially over the first couple of weeks of
the season. Here. Well,it doesn't stop there. Rich They got
to play Cincinnati, go to Cincinnatiin Week three, and then and then
and then they may have a breakin Indianapolis with the rookie quarterback, but
man, then they come back andplay the Philadelphia Eagles. So I mean
the four of their first five games, are you talking about staring down to
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barrel? This staring down to barrelof one and four and that are one
in three in that first four gamesor five games. Man, it is
it is a murderous row. Andthen you talked about the defense. Talk
about that defense right now for usreal quick. Where you see the concern.
Yeah, it's a little bit.I'm a little worried how they're going
to spend the run early on.I mean, we haven't seen that particular
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defense with Aaron Donald in it yet, which can change things. Obviously he's
a game changer. But I sawsome some warning signs there in those preseason
games that guys who are going tobe needed to be contributing in these games
just just quite getting the job done. And then you know, they guys
they've got some depth in the secondary, but it's almost like they're gonna need
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some of these guys to really stepup. I mean, they have guys
back there who have played. Youknow, Killer Witherspoon has played a lot
of corner you know, Kobe Duranthad some experience for them, Darien Kendrick,
Trey, Tomlins and I thought showedout well as a rookie and some
of the preseason games. And thenat safety, Jordan Fuller, you know,
John Johnson coming back in. Theythey've got some guys there, but
they really need some guys to stepup. They don't have that top level
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talent like they had with Jaylen Ramsey. So that especially when you're talking about
playing some of these division games earlyon, they're gonna need those defensive backs
to play well. And when youtalk about San Francisco coming in week two,
they are going to need to beable to stop the run. So
I just think there's a lot ofpieces that are going to have to come
together on that defense, and I'mjust a little concerned about how that's going
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to look in these first couple ofweeks as they try to put those pieces
together. And Rich, do youhave any concerns about what Kelly staffordson on
our podcast about man a few feelingas if he's the old guy and these
guys aren't relating well to him anyconcern about that, Well, that's that's
a really interesting thing. I meanI can relate to it being an older
man myself. Now it's it's alittle bit different, you know, I
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I don't. It's probably you doreach that stage of your career where you're
closer to the age of the coachthan you than you are to the players,
which would which can be a weirdsituation to be in. But but
they still look to him as aleader. And that's the big thing.
It's it's not so much those interpersonalrelationships all the time, especially when you're
a quarterback, it's are you stillcommanding the huddle? Do you still have
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the faith of your team, yourteammates? And I think all that is
still there. Is he as closewith some guys as he was? Maybe
not? I mean there's been alot of roster movement and the Rams are
now the youngest team in the NFL, So just by nature of the of
the roster, I mean, he'sgot a lot more you know, twenty
three to twenty five year old teammatesthan he did a year ago. But
but now I wouldn't see that asa as a huge concern, all right,
(22:00):
And Rich what about I'm sorry,real quick, Rich, I want
to ask you about Sean McVeigh becauseit was it a year ago, a
year two years ago that he was, you know, talking about possibly retiring,
being burnt out all those things.Uh, if it if it starts
to be a struggle for the Rams, are we going to hear that that
rumble, that rumor that story comingout of Rams camp, then maybe this
(22:23):
might be the end of Sean McVeigh, because, like you talked about this,
could they could be struggling, Theycould be looking up at you know,
first half of the season with onlyone or two wins, and and
then it gets really bad. Whatdo you think about him and his future?
Is this that he's ready to rideit out and got rejuvenated or are
we going to hear those things startto creep up again? Well? I
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think probably both, Rodney, ifwe're being honest, like I think he
did, Let's put this way,I think he put the pieces in place
to sustain this thing longer than itwas going to. Like, he made
some changes in the coaching staff,he made some changes in his own life
that should be able to sustain it. I don't at all think that that
will prevent those rumors and stories andyou know, chatter on the certain networks
(23:10):
about his future. I don't thinkthat that will change. I think,
yeah, you're exactly right. Ifthey start off one and three, you're
absolutely going to hear about that sortof thing. But I don't think that's
in Sean mcvay's head right now.I think that the changes that he made
are designed to get him through atleast a couple of years here. I
still would not be shocked if atsome point he did step away, whether
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it's you know, two years ornow, three years from now, whatever
it is. But I don't thinkit's going to be a reaction to this
year, is the way that Iwould put it. I don't think it's
going to be, Oh, theteam just lost three games, so I
think it's time for me to goaway. I think it's going to be
based on the changes that he made, whether or not he thinks he's being
you know, kind of healthy withinhimself, and whether or not he thinks
he consists sustain this. But toyour point, Robbie, I would absolutely
(23:53):
expect that to still be a storyline, whether or not it comes from the
Rams camper or not. Right,Well, our story today has come to
an end. Rich, So weappreciate your coming on. Thank you very
much. All right, there hegoes Rich Hammond, eleven personnel podcast and
one of the associate executive Top Cheeseeditors at the Athletic and just a great
(24:14):
guy. We appreciate Rich coming up. Did you see a kunya last night?
Oh? Man? See, that'swhat I'm talking about. Where you
know, people you know, wantto come down hard on athletes. Anything
can happen. You got what kindof security you got in Colorado for that
to even be remotely possible? Fred, Come on, now, I know,
(24:36):
I know, and what it wasshocking to see these people come out.
They just wanted to hug him andtake a picture of him. What
took security so long to get there? Now? I know Colorado is a
big field, Yeah, but mygod, it took him like forever to
get out there. They weren't evenin the picture until the guy was on
akunya. I mean, come on. And on top of that, and
(24:59):
I don't know, I don't knowhow you know specifically the bullpit is situated
there, but where were his teammates? I mean, I saw he saw
a couple of catchers come out atthe end. But you know, you
kind of can see that happening froma ways away. It is a big
park, and to get to theoutfield, you gotta run a little ways
as soon as they see that happening, don't you don't don't you gotta kind
(25:21):
of kind of hit that off atthe pass. Well, everybody's got to
start moving, Yes, everybody's gotto start moving. Yes, Look,
if you're a fan, if you'rea fan, you have to know this.
You should not be on the fieldof play. Like the players should
not go into the crowd. Youshould not be on the field of play.
If you do that, you haveopened yourself up to something and you're
(25:41):
gonna have to pay the price.It was like that guy with at the
Rams and forty nine Ers game wherehe ran out of the field right and
Bobby Wagner just took him out runningalong the sideline. Yeah. Then the
guy turned around and wanted to soonand said, you hit me too hard.
I know that's what you get.Yeah, that's what you get.
You don't go where you're not supposedto go. When I was growing up
(26:03):
in Phoenix, we moved from Detroit, we got the Phoenix and I was
a huge hockey guy, and theydidn't have NHL Hockey. They had Western
Hockey League. And I think I'vetold the story where they had chicken wire.
They didn't even have glass in theWestern Hockey League. It was chicken
wire around to protect people. Andthey're playing a game against Vancouver and we're
(26:26):
sitting there, me and my dad, and I went, oh my god,
look and you see a guy startingto climb up the chicken wire and
his plan is to come over thetop because you can climb chicken wire and
get down on the ice. Andmy dad says, man, I hope
he gets down there. I said, why, he said, because watch
they'll beat the hell out of himwith their sticks. I want to see
(26:48):
that happen. I want to bea part of that, I said,
But I was, you know,what was like eleven twelve, and so
why would they do that? Hegoes, because you don't know what anybody's
doing where they shouldn't be, whereare not supposed to be. You have
no idea what they're gonna do,how they're going to react. What are
they doing there? Right? Dothey have a knife, a gun,
anything? They may have a weapon, you know, no somebody crazy enough
(27:11):
to climb and run onto the fieldto player or the ice. Then no
telling where their mindset is. Theygotta knock you gotta knock them out.
You don't even take that chance,or you don't even give any money that
opportunity. I'll Bobby Wagner or whowas the one back, the old Baltimore
coke player that knocked one of theguys out of a good was It was
(27:32):
a classic. They keep showing itall the time. But he laid him
out like he was running back.But yeah, no, yeah, Monica
sellis you mentioned she got stabbed?Right? I think back a couple of
years ago Dodger Stadium. Somebody goton the field I can't remember exactly.
And then the security guys weren't quitethe same shape they are today. And
(27:53):
remember the ball girl chased him downand took him out. Remember then,
I do I do a bad girltoo? Yeah, she just planted him.
Yeah and now and then okay,so security changed a little bit.
And there, you know, yougo down there to the stadium, you
see those guys. Let me tellyou what. These guys are in shape
and ready to go. And therewas a guy that jumped on the field.
(28:17):
I think over by the first baseside. Was it last year?
I can't remember. That guy camedown and just planted him. It was
like a textbook play, like amiddle linebacker taking somebody out. You have
to understand. And in Colorado,it's like the security guys are grabbing him
by the Yeah, it was Yeah, it was weak. That's the only
(28:38):
way I could describe it. Wasweak and grabbing a guy. And one
guy's grabbing him. He fell allthe way down the guy's ankles and couldn't
get him to the ground. Andthen there's another guy that runs in that
they don't even know. He comesin, he knocks cooing you down.
He went the world the world.What I'm saying, I did know the
(29:00):
bullpen A couple of catchers showed upinto the frame late. But if you
know the teammate, wise, whyare they not like swarming over those guys?
Yeah? Why wouldn't everybody just eathim down and ask questions later?
Right? Right? And that's thething. So then you say, well,
you know what, I was justhaving fun. I just goofing around.
How about the guy that wanted topropose to his girlfriend? Remember that
(29:21):
guy? Was that at Dodger Stadium. I can't remember. Was that a
guy got down in the field andhe kneeled and looked up into the crowd
because he thought it would be greatto propose to his girlfriend, and he
just got flat. I think itwas a Dodger stadium. Some guy ran
out of the field to propose tohis girlfriend. So it's like he's in
the outfield. I don't remember that. Kevin was it. I can't remember
(29:41):
that. When Adam Sandler in amovie, No, No, this happened.
I think I remember that. Ithink it was Dodgers Stadium, but
I'm not one hundred percent sure.Yeah, Katie, I think it was.
And a guy runs because then theyhad like the woman with him and
the tweet, and she talked abouthow you know it was nice he did
it. Probably would have done itlike that, this guy would I would
(30:02):
have said no, but well,sure, you know, you would have
said, Katie. I mean,I was just it looked funny, all
right, Katie, this is agood question. You wouldn't have You wouldn't
have said, Oh, then whata gesture he risked himself to you,
idiot? Sorry, I step Yes, this absolutely happened at Dodger Stadium.
Yes, right, and that guygot planeted, got destroyed. Oh yeah,
(30:23):
I'll just be like oh then,because then you know, people will
be like, oh, your fiance'sthe one. You're like, oh god,
yeah, that was enough. Iwant to have a long term relationship
with it. You dumb enough todo that. I don't know if we're
good enough to have a relation.Seriously, is that what you're saying,
Katie, If he's dumb enough todo that, I mean, yeah,
you know I want to be withat least get away with it. Run
away, you know, run away, run faster. You gotta work on
(30:47):
that cardio first, hardcore, Katie. The thing is this, If you
think it's funny, if you thinkit's cute, if you think, ah,
this will be fun, hey,you know, somebody's gonna get that
picture. Oh, they'll make thatvideo and I'll be able to tell my
kids for years. When you sufferbroken ribs because of it, when real
security guys come out and take itdown, you can't complain. You can't
(31:11):
do that. You can't turn aroundand go they hit me too hard.
They shouldn't have done that. Iwas just fooling around. That's like jumping
into the ocean and there are sharks, and the shark eat you, and
then you wonder to yourself, well, why did that happen? Why would
the shark attack me? Because youshouldn't be with the shark. Why should
you be. What's going to happenif you run out of the field except
(31:33):
in Colorado, Well you're going toget taken out Why because you shouldn't be
there. Pretty simple to me,Rodney, Yeah, very simple. That
was Actually, when you really breakit down, that's a very scary moment
because you're I mean, you're right, and nowadays you don't know what people
are thinking, you know, themotives that people have to do something to
(31:56):
someone. It could come from anywhere. It's so there's some crazies out there
nowadays. People are very bold nowadays. So for that to happen, you
know, we we we're talking aboutit, and it's glad. We're glad
that nothing really came of it.But that could have been an ugly situation
where somebody got out there with withsomething dangerous and and really got to a
(32:20):
kunya in a way that they shouldn'thave. David Basset, I'll jump on
next hour from the stadium. Okay, mom says, I don't like the
way you're treating my son, andtherefore I'm going on a hunger strike.
We'll talk about that next you goagain. Come on, Fred, Yeah,
(32:42):
come on, give me a littleFleetwood, Mado Mac, come on,
baby Fred Rogan. Yeah, littleStevie Nicks on a Tuesday afternoon.
And nothing wrong with that, Rodney. So later, I'm gonna tell you
a story about my mother. Wedon't have enough time now, but I'm
gonna tell you a story about mymother during the two o'clock hour because this
story reminded me of that. Sowe have talked about the man that holds
(33:05):
the reins of the Spain's soccer group, the guy that oversees the whole thing.
Ruby Allis is his name, Luisruby Allis, and you know he
got himself into trouble after the Spanishwomen won the World Cup and he walked
up and he grabbed the star ofthe team and just kissed her right on
the lips. He was so excited, he was so thripe. And then
(33:29):
we heard, of course that duringthe match the princess was sitting next to
him, and Spain took the ladand he stood up and grabbed his crotch
and it was right next to thesixteen year old girl. So obviously,
you know, this guy made somemistakes. This guy, this guy's has
some issues. Yeah, all right, So then everybody wanted him to resign.
(33:50):
The women wanted him to resign.They say, he's not They're not
gonna play if he's there. Themayor of the city wants him to resign.
Everybody wants him to go. Andthe guy said, I'm not going
anywhere, no matter what you say, I'm not going. So now his
mother's involved. His mother is steppingup, and she has decided that she
(34:14):
is going to lock herself into achurch and go out of hunger strike to
protest her son's treatment. So she'sgoing to be in church. She's not
gonna eat until people stop treating herson the way they are. Not even
communion wafers, She's not eating.She's not even gonna have communion wafers.
(34:38):
That's it. She's gonna be inchurch. She's going to be with a
Lord, and she's gonna let theLord oversee all of this until the treatment
of her son stops, meaning butthat they allow him to resume his duties.
(34:58):
I don't know, Fred, whywhat. First of all, somebody
needs to bring her some pa,because you know, something that sticks to
the ribs a little bit fed.Maybe doing that a long time. Oh
(35:22):
my god, that's not gonna work. That's not gonna work. And a
hunger strike, come on, comeon, good hey, Okay, I
bet you people in charge he wasmaking that decisions. Okay, if you
want to go to hunger strike,that's fine with me. At least he's
in her in the church. Theycanna have someone to pay the last respects
(35:44):
right there in the church. Comeon, come on. And she one
of those that her son didn't doanything wrong I mean, and then had
to say it was consensual when hegrabbed her by the ears and pulled her
tight. The girls basic. Thegirl almost came off the floor the way
he grabbed her so hard and kissedher on the lips. Oh my god.
(36:07):
And then said, oh no,it was consensual. Everybody knew that.
Mama. I know you love yourson. Look, my mom loved
me. Ali loves our three boys. But wrong is wrong, and she's
not going on any hunger strike forthem. Wait. Apparently it has been
reported she said it would continue indefinitely, day and night until her son was
(36:32):
vindicated. Day and night. Well, I hope, so day and night?
Is she going on hunger strike?Is she gonna I'm only gonna do
a fast for eight hours and thenthat's the strike. I'm gonna eat at
night, intermittent fast strike. Idon't know what it is, but you
know, I come on, Ithink it speaks for what what moms would
do for their sons. Yes,it does speak to that. However,
(37:00):
I in this case, I believethere the better choice would be some tough
love. Fred, Yeah, toughlove to the sun. Well, that's
not that's not happening. You're goingon a hunger strike. She's on a
hunger strike, and she's well,would make you going on hunger strike?
Fred? Look at me? Nothing, take one look at me. I
usually don't miss a meal. Rodney, with all due respect, he either
(37:23):
right either not going on hunger strike. I never got that, the hunger
strike thing. I just no,no, there's this a better way to
fight this thing. First of all, he's I mean, he probably should
step down, right you think atthis point? Yeah? Yeah, when
the team says we're not playing ifhe's in charge, Yeah, you know
(37:44):
it. It's gotten to a pointwhere it's not gonna get better. No,
it's it's gonna get worse. AndMom's gonna get hungry. She better
you better believe she's gonna get hungry. You know. It got me to
thinking, how can you let yourmom starve like that? You better call
the dogs off and reside, stepdown, or at the very least bring
your bowl, paiea. It gotme to thinking, and I'll do it
(38:07):
next hour. I'll tell you astory of something my mom did for me
when I was a kid. Ihad committed just a stupid act and what
my mom did to get me outof it. And oh yeah, just
give you two words. This willtease it for next hour. Uncle,
yav a pappy? Uncle, yava pappy? Uncle you have a pappy?
(38:30):
Yeah, Uncle, you have apappy. I said that, and
then my mom jumped into action.A pappy, Yeah, uncle, you
have a pappy. He was aman that lived in the mountains. That
will be the tease while we comeback. Before we get to uncle you
have a pappy. David Vassey willjoin us and let's find out what's going
on with JD. Martinez.
And we continue on Fred Rogan andRodney Peat five seventy LA Sports. Rich
Hammond will be on here maybe onetwenty one, twenty five. We'll talk
about the comments with Kelly Stafford andit was cut down day in the NFL.
So Rodney, what was that likefor guys? Yeah, the reaper,
when the reaper coming around, thereaper showing up? Yeah, how
(00:20):
does that work? It's, uh, it's not a good feeling. It's
not a good day, you knowhow Guys that deal with it, that
are on the bubble, you don'tknow. And you're just dreading the day
of going into the going into thefacility and somebody pulling you asides and coach
wants to see it or bring yourplaybook. So that's that's that's a tough
(00:43):
thing. And it used to beyou know, in the eighties and nineties
when I've played, usually they triedto get the guys before they got to
the facility, so it was youknow, not done so publicly. But
ye know it became later I themore I played, in the later years
I played, it was more almostcold hearted that guys would get there,
uh and then be asked to packtheir bags up. But it's a it's
(01:07):
a it's a tough day. It'sa tough day because you get to know
guys. Training camp is one ofthose times where you really get to know
people, and you get to knowyour teammates because you're around them so much,
and you're meeting all day and you'repracticing all day, you're living together
all those things. And then tosee, uh, you know, a
person's dreams maybe uh shattered or cutshort. Uh, it's just it's tough.
(01:30):
It's tough to take. And thenwhen that happens, Uh, their
agents obviously know almost immediately. Whatis it? The rush to find a
job. Yeah, yeah, Imean everybody's watching, right, everybody.
Every team is watching who releases who. So if you another team had their
eye on a linebacker, receiver oran offensive lineman, uh, and they
(01:52):
know that guy's on the bubble.Uh. The agents are already making calls
to different teams, and then theythey watch the wire and see who's gotten
released, and immediately they'll try topick up a guy. So yeah,
it's a very active day, andyou just hope that if you do get
released by one team, that there'sanother team waiting to pick you up.
Okay, so rich Hand will beyondhere and we'll get into that. Now.
(02:14):
Let's talk about Joho Tani. Ofcourse, the Angels have just really
fallen flat. Ah, so sadweight before all right, Fred, when
you and I and I listen,I I applauded them, even though I
thought it was the wrong move too. I was with you. I think
though I thought they, you know, try to try to get as much
as they could for him, andif they didn't, they didn't do it
(02:37):
obviously before the season, but atthe trade trade deadline, but then you
know, they were kind of init. They were around four or five
games out and it was, hey, they're going for it. They're going
for it. Good for the Angels, going for it. They made an
announcement they weren't going to trade him, so let's go for it. Picked
up a couple of players. Imean, come on, let's go,
Angels, let's do it. Andthen it just went the other way,
(02:57):
went the other way. For It'ssad. It's gonna be a sad said
off season for the Angels. Yeah, if you're an Angel fan, you
just have to sit there and gonow what now? What? What do
you have to be excited? Aboutnow what, really, what do you
have to be excited about? Thiswas it? This is the big push,
(03:20):
this is all they had. Allthe chips are in the middle of
the table. We're all in.We're all in. Yeah, and this
it doesn't make you feel warm andfuzzy, go oh god, here we
are again, same deal and we'lljust see how it plays out. So
to that end, next up onthe Angels dance card is trying to hold
(03:44):
on to Otani because that's really whatyou have to look forward to, right,
holding onto Otani. Yeah, Sonow it comes down to remember,
he said he wanted to win.That didn't happen. It hasn't happened since
he's been there. He wants togo to the play offs, all right,
that has not happened for him.So some people would suggest, well,
but he's comfortable and they let himdo what they want, whatever he
(04:08):
wants to do. And every timeI hear that, I cringe. Well,
you know why he likes it.There. They let him do whatever
he wants to do. So nobodyelse would do that. Nobody else would
let him do that, correct,nobody, nobody would let him practice the
way he wants to practice. Noone would let him have the routine.
He has no one but the angels, so that's the reason he'd stay.
(04:30):
My god, they let him dowhat he wants to do. Anybody would
do that. Okay, So canwe just dispel that immediately? Yes,
yes, the angels are not uniquein that fashion. I mean how many
times we had people on to go, well, you know, my god,
they let him do whatever he wants, so obviously he'd be happy.
Yeah, that's the reason why he'llstay. No, no, anybody will
(04:50):
let him do what he wants todo. So just remove that from the
thinking. So now we get downtoo. Does he really believe that they
can get over the hump? Wealso had Vic's theory at one point that
given his Japanese culture, he wouldnever leave because he would not leave Mike
Trout by himself and it would bedishonorable to do. So, okay,
(05:11):
can we eliminate that now this isbusiness. Can we throw that out?
I mean not going with that theory. Don't want to leave Choudy. I'm
not gonna go with that. Imean, based on that theory, he
wouldn't have come to the Majors tobegin with. He wouldn't have left his
teammates in Japan. Right, Okay, So I'm throwing that theory out and
I'm throwing out there he can dowhatever he wants theory. So now we
get down to real business. Doeshe want to stay in a situation where
(05:33):
where he has not been to theplayoffs and quite honestly, probably would not
get there next year with him either. They need time, and they need
players, and they need to build. Perry Manazzi and the GM. It's
not a nice job he has tryingto put that thing back together. But
his deal is up next year,so we don't know. We don't know
(05:55):
what will happen. If that's thecase, all right, then we go
to the free agent market and itleads us to this. According to all
indications, Yeah, the Dodgers arestill interested in Otani, and why wouldn't
they be because he is one ofthe top hitters in baseball, but with
the the UCL he may not beone of the top pitchers. He's one
(06:17):
of the top hitters. You wanthim in your lineup? Can you imagine
having Mookie and Freddie Freeman and thenWill Smith and then show hey Otani or
whatever order they put him in,followed by Munsey, I mean, good
luck. Oh wow. We knowthat lineup can hit, and we know
they can get on base, allright, so you want him. But
(06:40):
if he can't pitch, he can'tget paid as much money. He simply
can't. He's got to be paidas one of the top hitters in baseball,
but he can't be paid as thetop guy because he can't pitch as
well. I'm thinking Rodney, whetherhe can pitch or not, the Dodgers
(07:00):
definitely want him. But let methrow this into the equation and we'll see
how this season plays out. There'sone thing we can't agree to. They
can hit. That they can do. They've got to line up full of
guys that can hit. And thenif you go forward, do they have
guys that will be able to pitch? Now? They have a young staff.
(07:25):
You hope Walker Bueller's back, Youhope Dustin May comes back. You
have Bobby Miller, you have Peppio, you have Stone, you have Shean.
That's an awfully young rotation, right, So maybe Clayton comes back for
another year. I don't see whyhe wouldn't, but that's on him.
And that not leads you to Julio, who struggled, has performed better.
(07:50):
And as a free agent, ifthat's the case and you can sign one,
would you sign the picture, Julioor they hit her? Oh Tony
the pitcher, Julio, you wouldyou'd pass on oh Tony if it came
down to one. He could ifhe couldn't pitch, Yeah, because the
(08:13):
reason you want him, if you'rethe Dodgers, you're the reason you want
him is to first of all,anybody really wants him to play both and
how you manage that and really that'sup to you. But the benefit is
him being on the mound. Andwe've said it, you've said it,
we've seen it this year. Ijust have no no trouble on offense.
They can score runs with the bestof them, they can hit with the
best of them. That lineup isgreat and it would it be better with
(08:37):
him, and absolutely would be betterin him. But when you got to
look down and go, what arewhat are our needs? What have we
struggled with? What do we needto get us over the top? And
it's pitching and you've got a guythat has kind of been in that cy
Young conversation hasn't won it should havewon it when he won twenty games and
nobody else did. He's your guyyou brought up since he was seventeen and
(09:03):
has shown you he can deliver foryou. Yeah, I'm I'm trying to
resign Julio first. Yeah, nodisrespect to Otani, but I need pitching.
I need pitching, so you know, and they're hard to come by,
as we found, and just goout there and just get anybody say
Okay, then we're gonna throw themin there. They're gonna be They're gonna
be good on the hill. Andyou, as much as you like to
(09:26):
believe it, which is why itmakes everybody nervous, is that you can
score runs, but there's gonna comea time into playoffs where you're not gonna
score eight runs. You're gonna it'sgonna be a two run game. And
can your pitching staff hold the otherteam down? That's where it comes down
for me. Let me toss thisinto the mix. First of all,
a ucl and Rodney, you played, so you understand these things better than
(09:48):
I do. And they're saying,well, he's gonna get a second opinion
on whether or not he should havesurgery. The guy he should go to
for any opinion is doctor Neil Elatrosh, and I wouldn't be surprised if he
has not gone there. If hedoes not have surgery, Surgery is no
guarantee that it works. But ifyou don't have surgery and he just does
the old rehab, I'm coming backon my own. I got a feeling
(10:09):
is going to happen again. That'sme. I'm not a doctor, but
this does not seem like something like, well, you know, I'll take
it easier for six weeks here andI'll be right back and ready to go.
So first, if he has surgery, how long is it before he
can pitch again? That's my question. I'm just passing it out there,
and I don't know if you're Kevinknow that, and then he comes back
(10:33):
to pitch, I would think thatyou cannot use him as a starter.
I would think I would think thatyou use him as a closer. It's
a possibility. We tossed that arounda little bit yesterday, but it's still
going to be strained on the arm. It's still going to be strained on
(10:54):
the arm. Whether you're I know, throwing one hundred pitches is different than
throwing twenty. But if you're acloser. How often are you gonna use
him as the closer? Is hegonna Is he gonna pitch on multiple nights
or you use him once a weekas a closer. I mean, it's
still going to be a strain andare you willing to take that chance with
him? So it's tough the shelflife of him doing both. We always
(11:20):
knew there was gonna come a timewhere he was not gonna allow to be
allowed to do both. It justwasn't gonna It wasn't gonna last. He
can't do it. His body wasnot gonna hold up. From a pitching
standpoint. He can hit too,he's blew in the face, but being
a starting pitcher, that was thatwas going to end at some point during
his career, in the middle ofit. So it's unfortunate because it happened.
(11:43):
This happened right in his free agentyear where he could have been a
six hundred million dollar guy, ifyou know, if he's out there on
the market as being both a pitcherand a hitter. But right now I
think teams are really heading their betsgoing we may get one or two years
out of him being a pitcher.You say he doesn't have surgery right and
able to rehab it and comes backand it's fine. You still only got
(12:07):
one or two more years of himbeing a guy that can trot out there
twenty times a year on the onthe hill as a starter. Yeah,
yeah, See, I think theDodgers are interested either way. I think
they're interested either way. Oh,I think they're interested. Just the price
tag is going to be determining factoras opposed to when he was doing both,
(12:28):
it didn't matter whatever it took toget him. They were gonna get
him. And I also think itis an interesting point you make, and
probably a valid point. They needpitching. They sure they want Otani,
but they're going to need pitching.And how much will that affect their decision
(12:48):
making during the offseason. Well,kid Thomas the Second got some bad news
today, Yeah he did. Yeah. Quinndell Johnson also got some bad news
today. Now Johnson got bad news, yea, TJ. Carter got it,
t J. Come on, baby, Mike McCalister, Cameron mccutcheen,
Grant Miller, Damn, Robert Rochellgot some bad news today. And we'll
(13:11):
go into that bad news with RichHammond next. Annon Dodges a winning football
season is getting ready to start sseason one to Oh come on, Fred,
it don't get better light than this, tell you what it really doesn't.
Let's bring on Rich Hammond, aco host of the eleven Personnel podcast
on the RAM, senior editor atThe Athletic, and he is all over
(13:31):
the Ram. So Rich, thanksfor jumping on today. Of course,
Fred, Ronnie Conna be with you, all right, So let's just go
over this. It's been a badday for Logan, Bruce Tanner, Brown,
Ajacurrie, Cameron Mccutcheen, Grant Miller, Robert Rochelle, Xavier Smith,
Kier Thomas Austin Trammell, Dreece,Win, Jaden Wood Bay and let's see
(13:54):
anybody else, Daniel Hardy. It'sbeen a bad day for them, Rich,
The Rams waived all of them today. And do you know who any
of those guys are? I do, Fred, I don't know if we
put a Q test out there forthe general southern California area, I don't
(14:15):
know how well we do. Butthere's a couple of notable names in there.
I mean, if you want tostart with Logan Press, I mean
that's a guy who they used ahigh draft pick on I mean relative for
the Ram it's not a first roundpick, but they never have first round
picks. As we know. That'ssomebody who they really invested in and they
thought he could be a starter atone of those guard positions, maybe as
soon as this year, and itjust did not work out. And I
(14:37):
mean obviously last year there was abig injury there. He missed the entire
season. I'm sure that was ahuge set back to his development. But
that name jumps out to me,guys, is just that's a big miss.
And I don't want to be youknow, hot taky about it or
whatever, but when you use apick like that, just you know,
two years ago, two seasons agoon a guy like that and now you're
(14:58):
cutting him, that means it didn'twork, especially in a position where they
really really need some stability and theyneed some good play on that offensive line.
So that that one really jumped outto me. Yeah, stability on
the offensive line. Also another areais wide receiver rich How how do you
see that group coming together this yearand working with Matthew Stafford. I obviously
they they need to be more productivethan they were the last year in order
(15:24):
for the Rams have any kind ofchance for sure. You know, I
look at it, and I'm tryingto be you know, realistic in both
of these things. I just mentionedthe negative on the offensive line. I'm
looking at the list of receivers hereand on paper, I like the mix.
And that doesn't mean it's going towork. It doesn't mean that it's
it's going to give you the results. But I'm looking at the types of
guys that they have here. Obviously, we know what Cooper cup can bring,
(15:46):
you know, Vat Jefferson's the guywho's established him themself as kind of
a known quantity to two out wellas a big swing guy like he's got
to be able to produce, especiallywith some of those you know, longer
plays. He's he's more of ahome run than a single or a double
guy, so they've got to beable to connect with him. Pukainakua is
a guy who I really like comingout of the draft. I don't know
(16:07):
what type of role he's gonna fillexactly, especially early in the season,
but I think you could see himgetting in that mix as like a slot
receiver, a guy who's gonna makesome tough catches over the middle that sort
of thing. And then DeMarcus Robinsonis this guy who they brought the end,
you know for some depth. Hehas some experience. They need those
guys to stay healthy. Of courseit starts with Cooper Cup, you know,
(16:29):
being able to come back from thishamstring injury that he's had. If
you don't have a healthy Cooper Cup, the whole thing falls apart. But
I honestly, I'm intrigued is theword that I would use with that receiver's
group, because I think they've gotsome options. I think they've got some
versatile guys there, but it stillneeds to work, it still needs to
fit together. Well, you mentionedCooper Cup real quick, How is he
(16:49):
looked? How is he feeling?Obviously he's a guy that they absolutely cannot
lose. Yeah, he is?He almost full go? Are they going
to utili open a week? Yeah? I think it's a situation Ronnie Ward,
like if if if week one hadbeen you know, this past weekend,
you probably see him out there.There's there's just they were in that
(17:11):
situation. I'm sure you've been inor you've got a teammates that there's as
there was absolutely no benefit to puttinghim on the field. He was coming
back from a hamstring injury. Hewas almost completely healed, if not completely
healed. He has nothing to prove. He knows this offense, knows the
quarterback, he knows his other receivers. The only thing that could happen would
have been for him to reinjure thatthing. And that's the one thing that
(17:33):
you absolutely could not have happened.So I know it was probably scary for
Rams fans to see him sitting out. No, he wasn't in any of
the preseason games, but that's bydesign. They did not want even if
there was a one percent chance thathe was going to reinjure that thing,
they weren't going to take that chance. But but he should be good to
go for a week one. RichHammon is our guest. When you look
at the early part of the schedule, if you just think about how they
(17:56):
start, Seattle and San Francisco aregoing to be two top goes form right
off the bat ridge. Yeah theyare. And it's not the way if
you want to start, if ifyou're the Rams, I mean, especially
knowing that the early part of theseason, for a lot of these reasons
that we just mentioned, you don'tI don't want to say you're you're not
confident, but you don't go inwith that feeling of your clicking on all
(18:18):
cylinders. I mean, we haven'teven talked about some of the issues on
defense that still need to come together. And when you face two division opponents
right off the bat, I mean, that's rough. Seattle always gives them
a rough game. You know,that's a team that's always going to be
well prepared. And then obviously SanFrancisco of a top contender in the conference.
I need Look, I don't wantto be pessimistic, but if if
(18:40):
you look at it a certain way, you know, you could be staring
down and oh and two start andnot only are those two losses, but
they're two division losses, which justmagnifies it even more so. It's just
to the point we just made.They need that offense to be clicking,
They need those receivers to come together, they need Matthew Stafford to be on
his game. Because I'm a littleconcerned that that defense maybe it is going
(19:00):
to be a work in progress,especially over the first couple of weeks of
the season. Here. Well,it doesn't stop there. Rich They got
to play Cincinnati, go to Cincinnatiin Week three, and then and then
and then they may have a breakin Indianapolis with the rookie quarterback, but
man, then they come back andplay the Philadelphia Eagles. So I mean
the four of their first five games, are you talking about staring down to
(19:22):
barrel? This staring down to barrelof one and four and that are one
in three in that first four gamesor five games. Man, it is
it is a murderous row. Andthen you talked about the defense. Talk
about that defense right now for usreal quick. Where you see the concern.
Yeah, it's a little bit.I'm a little worried how they're going
to spend the run early on.I mean, we haven't seen that particular
(19:45):
defense with Aaron Donald in it yet, which can change things. Obviously he's
a game changer. But I sawsome some warning signs there in those preseason
games that guys who are going tobe needed to be contributing in these games
just just quite getting the job done. And then you know, they guys
they've got some depth in the secondary, but it's almost like they're gonna need
(20:06):
some of these guys to really stepup. I mean, they have guys
back there who have played. Youknow, Killer Witherspoon has played a lot
of corner you know, Kobe Duranthad some experience for them, Darien Kendrick,
Trey, Tomlins and I thought showedout well as a rookie and some
of the preseason games. And thenat safety, Jordan Fuller, you know,
John Johnson coming back in. Theythey've got some guys there, but
they really need some guys to stepup. They don't have that top level
(20:30):
talent like they had with Jaylen Ramsey. So that especially when you're talking about
playing some of these division games earlyon, they're gonna need those defensive backs
to play well. And when youtalk about San Francisco coming in week two,
they are going to need to beable to stop the run. So
I just think there's a lot ofpieces that are going to have to come
together on that defense, and I'mjust a little concerned about how that's going
(20:52):
to look in these first couple ofweeks as they try to put those pieces
together. And Rich, do youhave any concerns about what Kelly staffordson on
our podcast about man a few feelingas if he's the old guy and these
guys aren't relating well to him anyconcern about that, Well, that's that's
a really interesting thing. I meanI can relate to it being an older
man myself. Now it's it's alittle bit different, you know, I
(21:15):
I don't. It's probably you doreach that stage of your career where you're
closer to the age of the coachthan you than you are to the players,
which would which can be a weirdsituation to be in. But but
they still look to him as aleader. And that's the big thing.
It's it's not so much those interpersonalrelationships all the time, especially when you're
a quarterback, it's are you stillcommanding the huddle? Do you still have
(21:36):
the faith of your team, yourteammates? And I think all that is
still there. Is he as closewith some guys as he was? Maybe
not? I mean there's been alot of roster movement and the Rams are
now the youngest team in the NFL, So just by nature of the of
the roster, I mean, he'sgot a lot more you know, twenty
three to twenty five year old teammatesthan he did a year ago. But
but now I wouldn't see that asa as a huge concern, all right,
(22:00):
And Rich what about I'm sorry,real quick, Rich, I want
to ask you about Sean McVeigh becauseit was it a year ago, a
year two years ago that he was, you know, talking about possibly retiring,
being burnt out all those things.Uh, if it if it starts
to be a struggle for the Rams, are we going to hear that that
rumble, that rumor that story comingout of Rams camp, then maybe this
(22:23):
might be the end of Sean McVeigh, because, like you talked about this,
could they could be struggling, Theycould be looking up at you know,
first half of the season with onlyone or two wins, and and
then it gets really bad. Whatdo you think about him and his future?
Is this that he's ready to rideit out and got rejuvenated or are
we going to hear those things startto creep up again? Well? I
(22:45):
think probably both, Rodney, ifwe're being honest, like I think he
did, Let's put this way,I think he put the pieces in place
to sustain this thing longer than itwas going to. Like, he made
some changes in the coaching staff,he made some changes in his own life
that should be able to sustain it. I don't at all think that that
will prevent those rumors and stories andyou know, chatter on the certain networks
(23:10):
about his future. I don't thinkthat that will change. I think,
yeah, you're exactly right. Ifthey start off one and three, you're
absolutely going to hear about that sortof thing. But I don't think that's
in Sean mcvay's head right now.I think that the changes that he made
are designed to get him through atleast a couple of years here. I
still would not be shocked if atsome point he did step away, whether
(23:30):
it's you know, two years ornow, three years from now, whatever
it is. But I don't thinkit's going to be a reaction to this
year, is the way that Iwould put it. I don't think it's
going to be, Oh, theteam just lost three games, so I
think it's time for me to goaway. I think it's going to be
based on the changes that he made, whether or not he thinks he's being
you know, kind of healthy withinhimself, and whether or not he thinks
he consists sustain this. But toyour point, Robbie, I would absolutely
(23:53):
expect that to still be a storyline, whether or not it comes from the
Rams camper or not. Right,Well, our story today has come to
an end. Rich, So weappreciate your coming on. Thank you very
much. All right, there hegoes Rich Hammond, eleven personnel podcast and
one of the associate executive Top Cheeseeditors at the Athletic and just a great
(24:14):
guy. We appreciate Rich coming up. Did you see a kunya last night?
Oh? Man? See, that'swhat I'm talking about. Where you
know, people you know, wantto come down hard on athletes. Anything
can happen. You got what kindof security you got in Colorado for that
to even be remotely possible? Fred, Come on, now, I know,
(24:36):
I know, and what it wasshocking to see these people come out.
They just wanted to hug him andtake a picture of him. What
took security so long to get there? Now? I know Colorado is a
big field, Yeah, but mygod, it took him like forever to
get out there. They weren't evenin the picture until the guy was on
akunya. I mean, come on. And on top of that, and
(24:59):
I don't know, I don't knowhow you know specifically the bullpit is situated
there, but where were his teammates? I mean, I saw he saw
a couple of catchers come out atthe end. But you know, you
kind of can see that happening froma ways away. It is a big
park, and to get to theoutfield, you gotta run a little ways
as soon as they see that happening, don't you don't don't you gotta kind
(25:21):
of kind of hit that off atthe pass. Well, everybody's got to
start moving, Yes, everybody's gotto start moving. Yes, Look,
if you're a fan, if you'rea fan, you have to know this.
You should not be on the fieldof play. Like the players should
not go into the crowd. Youshould not be on the field of play.
If you do that, you haveopened yourself up to something and you're
(25:41):
gonna have to pay the price.It was like that guy with at the
Rams and forty nine Ers game wherehe ran out of the field right and
Bobby Wagner just took him out runningalong the sideline. Yeah. Then the
guy turned around and wanted to soonand said, you hit me too hard.
I know that's what you get.Yeah, that's what you get.
You don't go where you're not supposedto go. When I was growing up
(26:03):
in Phoenix, we moved from Detroit, we got the Phoenix and I was
a huge hockey guy, and theydidn't have NHL Hockey. They had Western
Hockey League. And I think I'vetold the story where they had chicken wire.
They didn't even have glass in theWestern Hockey League. It was chicken
wire around to protect people. Andthey're playing a game against Vancouver and we're
(26:26):
sitting there, me and my dad, and I went, oh my god,
look and you see a guy startingto climb up the chicken wire and
his plan is to come over thetop because you can climb chicken wire and
get down on the ice. Andmy dad says, man, I hope
he gets down there. I said, why, he said, because watch
they'll beat the hell out of himwith their sticks. I want to see
(26:48):
that happen. I want to bea part of that, I said,
But I was, you know,what was like eleven twelve, and so
why would they do that? Hegoes, because you don't know what anybody's
doing where they shouldn't be, whereare not supposed to be. You have
no idea what they're gonna do,how they're going to react. What are
they doing there? Right? Dothey have a knife, a gun,
anything? They may have a weapon, you know, no somebody crazy enough
(27:11):
to climb and run onto the fieldto player or the ice. Then no
telling where their mindset is. Theygotta knock you gotta knock them out.
You don't even take that chance,or you don't even give any money that
opportunity. I'll Bobby Wagner or whowas the one back, the old Baltimore
coke player that knocked one of theguys out of a good was It was
(27:32):
a classic. They keep showing itall the time. But he laid him
out like he was running back.But yeah, no, yeah, Monica
sellis you mentioned she got stabbed?Right? I think back a couple of
years ago Dodger Stadium. Somebody goton the field I can't remember exactly.
And then the security guys weren't quitethe same shape they are today. And
(27:53):
remember the ball girl chased him downand took him out. Remember then,
I do I do a bad girltoo? Yeah, she just planted him.
Yeah and now and then okay,so security changed a little bit.
And there, you know, yougo down there to the stadium, you
see those guys. Let me tellyou what. These guys are in shape
and ready to go. And therewas a guy that jumped on the field.
(28:17):
I think over by the first baseside. Was it last year?
I can't remember. That guy camedown and just planted him. It was
like a textbook play, like amiddle linebacker taking somebody out. You have
to understand. And in Colorado,it's like the security guys are grabbing him
by the Yeah, it was Yeah, it was weak. That's the only
(28:38):
way I could describe it. Wasweak and grabbing a guy. And one
guy's grabbing him. He fell allthe way down the guy's ankles and couldn't
get him to the ground. Andthen there's another guy that runs in that
they don't even know. He comesin, he knocks cooing you down.
He went the world the world.What I'm saying, I did know the
(29:00):
bullpen A couple of catchers showed upinto the frame late. But if you
know the teammate, wise, whyare they not like swarming over those guys?
Yeah? Why wouldn't everybody just eathim down and ask questions later?
Right? Right? And that's thething. So then you say, well,
you know what, I was justhaving fun. I just goofing around.
How about the guy that wanted topropose to his girlfriend? Remember that
(29:21):
guy? Was that at Dodger Stadium. I can't remember. Was that a
guy got down in the field andhe kneeled and looked up into the crowd
because he thought it would be greatto propose to his girlfriend, and he
just got flat. I think itwas a Dodger stadium. Some guy ran
out of the field to propose tohis girlfriend. So it's like he's in
the outfield. I don't remember that. Kevin was it. I can't remember
(29:41):
that. When Adam Sandler in amovie, No, No, this happened.
I think I remember that. Ithink it was Dodgers Stadium, but
I'm not one hundred percent sure.Yeah, Katie, I think it was.
And a guy runs because then theyhad like the woman with him and
the tweet, and she talked abouthow you know it was nice he did
it. Probably would have done itlike that, this guy would I would
(30:02):
have said no, but well,sure, you know, you would have
said, Katie. I mean,I was just it looked funny, all
right, Katie, this is agood question. You wouldn't have You wouldn't
have said, Oh, then whata gesture he risked himself to you,
idiot? Sorry, I step Yes, this absolutely happened at Dodger Stadium.
Yes, right, and that guygot planeted, got destroyed. Oh yeah,
(30:23):
I'll just be like oh then,because then you know, people will
be like, oh, your fiance'sthe one. You're like, oh god,
yeah, that was enough. Iwant to have a long term relationship
with it. You dumb enough todo that. I don't know if we're
good enough to have a relation.Seriously, is that what you're saying,
Katie, If he's dumb enough todo that, I mean, yeah,
you know I want to be withat least get away with it. Run
away, you know, run away, run faster. You gotta work on
(30:47):
that cardio first, hardcore, Katie. The thing is this, If you
think it's funny, if you thinkit's cute, if you think, ah,
this will be fun, hey,you know, somebody's gonna get that
picture. Oh, they'll make thatvideo and I'll be able to tell my
kids for years. When you sufferbroken ribs because of it, when real
security guys come out and take itdown, you can't complain. You can't
(31:11):
do that. You can't turn aroundand go they hit me too hard.
They shouldn't have done that. Iwas just fooling around. That's like jumping
into the ocean and there are sharks, and the shark eat you, and
then you wonder to yourself, well, why did that happen? Why would
the shark attack me? Because youshouldn't be with the shark. Why should
you be. What's going to happenif you run out of the field except
(31:33):
in Colorado, Well you're going toget taken out Why because you shouldn't be
there. Pretty simple to me,Rodney, Yeah, very simple. That
was Actually, when you really breakit down, that's a very scary moment
because you're I mean, you're right, and nowadays you don't know what people
are thinking, you know, themotives that people have to do something to
(31:56):
someone. It could come from anywhere. It's so there's some crazies out there
nowadays. People are very bold nowadays. So for that to happen, you
know, we we we're talking aboutit, and it's glad. We're glad
that nothing really came of it.But that could have been an ugly situation
where somebody got out there with withsomething dangerous and and really got to a
(32:20):
kunya in a way that they shouldn'thave. David Basset, I'll jump on
next hour from the stadium. Okay, mom says, I don't like the
way you're treating my son, andtherefore I'm going on a hunger strike.
We'll talk about that next you goagain. Come on, Fred, Yeah,
(32:42):
come on, give me a littleFleetwood, Mado Mac, come on,
baby Fred Rogan. Yeah, littleStevie Nicks on a Tuesday afternoon.
And nothing wrong with that, Rodney. So later, I'm gonna tell you
a story about my mother. Wedon't have enough time now, but I'm
gonna tell you a story about mymother during the two o'clock hour because this
story reminded me of that. Sowe have talked about the man that holds
(33:05):
the reins of the Spain's soccer group, the guy that oversees the whole thing.
Ruby Allis is his name, Luisruby Allis, and you know he
got himself into trouble after the Spanishwomen won the World Cup and he walked
up and he grabbed the star ofthe team and just kissed her right on
the lips. He was so excited, he was so thripe. And then
(33:29):
we heard, of course that duringthe match the princess was sitting next to
him, and Spain took the ladand he stood up and grabbed his crotch
and it was right next to thesixteen year old girl. So obviously,
you know, this guy made somemistakes. This guy, this guy's has
some issues. Yeah, all right, So then everybody wanted him to resign.
(33:50):
The women wanted him to resign.They say, he's not They're not
gonna play if he's there. Themayor of the city wants him to resign.
Everybody wants him to go. Andthe guy said, I'm not going
anywhere, no matter what you say, I'm not going. So now his
mother's involved. His mother is steppingup, and she has decided that she
(34:14):
is going to lock herself into achurch and go out of hunger strike to
protest her son's treatment. So she'sgoing to be in church. She's not
gonna eat until people stop treating herson the way they are. Not even
communion wafers, She's not eating.She's not even gonna have communion wafers.
(34:38):
That's it. She's gonna be inchurch. She's going to be with a
Lord, and she's gonna let theLord oversee all of this until the treatment
of her son stops, meaning butthat they allow him to resume his duties.
(34:58):
I don't know, Fred, whywhat. First of all, somebody
needs to bring her some pa,because you know, something that sticks to
the ribs a little bit fed.Maybe doing that a long time. Oh
(35:22):
my god, that's not gonna work. That's not gonna work. And a
hunger strike, come on, comeon, good hey, Okay, I
bet you people in charge he wasmaking that decisions. Okay, if you
want to go to hunger strike,that's fine with me. At least he's
in her in the church. Theycanna have someone to pay the last respects
(35:44):
right there in the church. Comeon, come on. And she one
of those that her son didn't doanything wrong I mean, and then had
to say it was consensual when hegrabbed her by the ears and pulled her
tight. The girls basic. Thegirl almost came off the floor the way
he grabbed her so hard and kissedher on the lips. Oh my god.
(36:07):
And then said, oh no,it was consensual. Everybody knew that.
Mama. I know you love yourson. Look, my mom loved
me. Ali loves our three boys. But wrong is wrong, and she's
not going on any hunger strike forthem. Wait. Apparently it has been
reported she said it would continue indefinitely, day and night until her son was
(36:32):
vindicated. Day and night. Well, I hope, so day and night?
Is she going on hunger strike?Is she gonna I'm only gonna do
a fast for eight hours and thenthat's the strike. I'm gonna eat at
night, intermittent fast strike. Idon't know what it is, but you
know, I come on, Ithink it speaks for what what moms would
do for their sons. Yes,it does speak to that. However,
(37:00):
I in this case, I believethere the better choice would be some tough
love. Fred, Yeah, toughlove to the sun. Well, that's
not that's not happening. You're goingon a hunger strike. She's on a
hunger strike, and she's well,would make you going on hunger strike?
Fred? Look at me? Nothing, take one look at me. I
usually don't miss a meal. Rodney, with all due respect, he either
(37:23):
right either not going on hunger strike. I never got that, the hunger
strike thing. I just no,no, there's this a better way to
fight this thing. First of all, he's I mean, he probably should
step down, right you think atthis point? Yeah? Yeah, when
the team says we're not playing ifhe's in charge, Yeah, you know
(37:44):
it. It's gotten to a pointwhere it's not gonna get better. No,
it's it's gonna get worse. AndMom's gonna get hungry. She better
you better believe she's gonna get hungry. You know. It got me to
thinking, how can you let yourmom starve like that? You better call
the dogs off and reside, stepdown, or at the very least bring
your bowl, paiea. It gotme to thinking, and I'll do it
(38:07):
next hour. I'll tell you astory of something my mom did for me
when I was a kid. Ihad committed just a stupid act and what
my mom did to get me outof it. And oh yeah, just
give you two words. This willtease it for next hour. Uncle,
yav a pappy? Uncle, yava pappy? Uncle you have a pappy?
(38:30):
Yeah, Uncle, you have apappy. I said that, and
then my mom jumped into action.A pappy, Yeah, uncle, you
have a pappy. He was aman that lived in the mountains. That
will be the tease while we comeback. Before we get to uncle you
have a pappy. David Vassey willjoin us and let's find out what's going
on with JD. Martinez.
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