00:00I'd rather see this guy than the other Suarez, who as Mark Bowman points out from MLB, has more teams
00:06than starts since the start of 2025.
00:09Two teams, one start. He's a bum. He's a journeyman. He's at the end of the string.
00:13And we know because we've seen a lot of these guys over the years, and sometimes they work, and they
00:18kind of find some form.
00:19Like Gosman reinvented his career here in Atlanta and made a lot of money afterwards.
00:22Sometimes they're like Yori Chorizo or Chorino, or whatever his name is, or Frank Odorizzi, or whatever the hell his
00:30name was.
00:31These are the bums that we traffic in because we don't spend money.
00:34And this year you have a marker, as you laid out, with jerks and profars.
00:39I'm not putting words in Alex Anthopoulos' mouth. I believe the pressure comes from above him.
00:44He'll never cop to it, Abe.
00:46They could have spent money on pitching in the offseason.
00:49They said it was a priority, and they didn't.
00:51And so here we are.
00:52Well, they never felt like they were in for the big money pitchers.
00:55And even at that point, I can understand back a couple seasons ago, Zach Wheeler was going to cost $100
01:00million.
01:01And there was a push to maybe go after that, and it didn't happen, whatever.
01:06You got lucky with Chris Sale, right?
01:07You bought low, and he turned out to be a Cy Young winner, and all that worked out well so
01:12far.
01:13Same with a late career resurgence for Charlie Morton, which was relatively of value.
01:17Although, as he got older, $20 million every year started to become a little more questionable.
01:23You were going to be playing in the mid-tier or the top end of the low tier of starting
01:29pitching.
01:29You were going to add a 4 or a 5.
01:31You were never going to add a 2 or a 3.
01:33And it's frustrating, Mike.
01:35Right?
01:35And I've mentioned this, and with the $18 million or $15 million, whatever it is, that you're no longer playing
01:42pro-far,
01:43you went from like 7th to 10th on the payroll list.
01:46And for everyone who's going to be like top third of MLB or top 10 payroll, you're so far away
01:52from the teams you're competing against.
01:54And I don't even mean the Dodgers.
01:55Forget about that.
01:56I mean specifically the Phillies or the Mets.
01:58There's such a gap there.
01:59And I've mentioned this to you before.
02:02I'm probably going to harp on this over the next couple of months because it to me feels like the
02:07only thing I can hold on to, Mike,
02:09is that I'm hopeful that they're not paying money now with the flexibility to make a serious move at the
02:16trade deadline.
02:16If the Braves are in position to where they think that move will get them where they need to be,
02:21and they then have that piggy bank at the trade deadline.
02:24I'll be even more frustrated if in three months, four months, however long we are from the trade deadline,
02:30they're in position, don't make a move, and then you just sit there in the playoffs and you're like,
02:35all right, we're in a five-game series.
02:36Again, if they make moves, it's going to be more bums.
02:38It's going to be more of these.
02:39Well, I'm hoping.
02:40Yeah, again, hope is not a plan.
02:42John Heyman is about 105 years old now for coverage of Major League Baseball.
02:46Braves absolutely need to sign Lucas Giolito.
02:49Strider is the latest loss.
02:50Other recent hits, he talks about Schwellenbach, Waldrop, Pence.
02:52He goes, and since they're owned by a public company, we know they make a huge profit.
02:57Ding, ding, ding.
02:59Yes, but they don't like, for whatever reason, to put it back in to the ball club.
03:03I know that we can look at Major League Baseball's payroll and say, hey, they're top 10.
03:06But there's a big disparity between where they are and where the Phillies are in this division.
03:10That's always my rallying cry.
03:11I'm not expecting a Mabe to spend like the Yankees or the Mets or the Red Sox or the Dodgers,
03:15which are at a stratospheric level.
03:17I'm just saying, compete with a team in your division that is more clutch than you
03:20every time you play each other in the postseason.
03:22Giolito last year, and he's going to be the name that people attach to right now.
03:26He's only a few names left that can eat some innings for you.
03:28Yeah, 10-4 last year, a 1.29 whip, 3.41 ERA.
03:32And so we'll see if that's the plan.
03:34Look, I'm with you.
03:35Like, I would have been on the phone.
03:37Whenever you found out about, well, really, weeks ago, I would have been on the phone
03:40with him.
03:41But whenever you found out about the Strider thing, yeah, I would have called the guy.
03:45And now, look, starting the season here, is this a guy that's willing to wait and maybe
03:49get his chance with a different contender?
03:51Or is he so concerned now that, hey, the season's here and still no one's called?
03:55Can you maybe find a little bit of value there?
03:58Like, Lucas Giolito, I'm not paying $15 million to at this point.
04:02No, the market is softened.
04:04You're going to get him cheaper.
04:05And does he, Giolito, maybe as an individual start to panic?
04:08Like, I don't know if the team's going to pick me up.
04:10I'll just, yeah, I'll come play for $7.5 million.
04:13Right, and that's maybe where, like, the Braves play.
04:15I don't know what the Braves play.
04:17I just know that Alex, I don't know if he has, from a philosophical standpoint and aversion
04:22to signing guys, in hindsight, Max Freed, you wish he was still here.
04:26Because ironically, after he had some wobbles with his health, he's been durable for the
04:29Yankees.
04:30Unfortunately, at the time, you can't have it both ways.
04:33Knowing how the Braves operated, I just always assumed that Max was going to leave.
04:37Right.
04:37And they'd never come close, and they didn't.
04:39So I didn't get, I mean, it doesn't mean that they shouldn't have, but you know where
04:44they go with this.
04:45They just don't, for whatever reason.
04:46I think it's a combination, part of Alex's philosophy, how he builds a team, and how McGurk
04:51and the money guys, you know, again, guys, we are a publicly traded company, but the
04:55major shareholders of Braves Holdings are all the Liberty Media Mafia.
04:58It's the same guys.
04:59So, and I think there is some accountability that he just can't spend to the level, which
05:03I think they need to, when you were in your window to win a World Series in those
05:07years that you blew it.
05:07When you're still underpaying a guy like Ronald Acuna Jr., and you've got a couple of other
05:12deals.
05:12Drake Baldwin, obviously, is on a relatively cheap deal, and you've got Strider and Michael
05:16Harris, you know, based on the, you paid them early.
05:19Unless they looked at this team and said, we're running it back, a team that didn't win the
05:22division for the first time in a couple years, and they're going to be pragmatic, to your
05:25point, and then maybe go bargain shopping at the trade deadline.
05:28Well, then you're not, then you're telling your fans you're not in the business of trying
05:31to win a championship, Abe.
05:32I mean, that's, you're not trying, you've got a nucleus, and I get it, Riley's got
05:35a hit, and so far, look, again, spring training, if this continues in the regular season, ironically
05:40now, they look good, okay?
05:42I don't know Mike Yastrzemski from a hole in the wall, other than a few highlights of
05:45him with the Giants.
05:46He looks really good.
05:47Now, will he do that at Truist Park?
05:49We're going to find out.
05:50But it's just a shame, though, when you're basically starting your season knowing that
05:53Bryce Elder's going to throw batting practice every five days, that you've got a guy throwing
05:57in the low 90s, if I'm lucky, in Ronaldo Lopez.
06:00That was only for one outing.
06:02And now, of course, Strider is being Strider, and something happened.
06:05You know what's funny is I sent the group that comment about Ronaldo.
06:08I was like, oh boy, here we go.
06:10And then that was before the Strider stuff came out.
06:13I was like, oh, I really thought our concern about Ronaldo Lopez was going to be the biggest
06:16thing we had to discuss today, and it certainly wasn't.
06:19But it does go to the comment you made about Riley and Harris and Olsen and Acuna coming
06:25off of the World Baseball Classic.
06:26That's how you're going to have to win games now.
06:29And if Bryce Elder has a 4.9 ERA, then you have to make the other pitcher have a 5
06:36.3 ERA.
06:37You're going to have to out-slug teams.
06:39There's no doubt about it.
06:40I do counter where we differ on the one discussion, and I certainly don't blame you for feeling
06:46that even at the trade deadline, it's going to be bargain bins.
06:49But if there's any bit of optimism and hope for me, it is that they actually make a move
06:55at the deadline if the team is there.
06:57And I don't know that they will.
07:00Obviously, you're right.
07:01The past has shown that it's bargain bin stuff.
07:04It's the corners and the edges that they're trying to shore up at the deadline.
07:09I'm just hopeful that maybe they can spend more money this deadline, especially because
07:14of the pro-far money coming off.
07:15And hopefully the bats stay hot, to Abe's point, and they force their hand.
07:18But I mean, it's just, we always shop with a Groupon.
07:21I mean, it's just, you're in a big market, one of the biggest markets in the country with
07:24a fan base that sells out that place.
07:27Even last year when the things were down, you still made money in the final quarter.
07:30Just very frustrating for fans.
07:31Hey man, we've got plenty to dive into today.
07:33This is our program brought to you by Wise Guys Pro Wash.
07:35As we said, that pollen's out there.
07:37Let those guys get that stuff off your house when everything's said and done, when it's all
07:40done falling off the trees.
07:41Also coming up, we'll get into the tournament.
07:43I hate to see Florida lose.
07:44Ha ha ha ha ha, no I don't.
07:45We'll get into some of that.
07:47Also, Tech Names, a new head coach.
07:48He got to speak to the media today.
07:50And we'll get into the Hawks.
07:52Disappointing down in Houston, but they bounced back for a big win at home, and they're going
07:55for another win tonight.
07:56And they are, they're kind of percentage-wise in that sixth seed.
07:58It'll all come up in the daily download next on Dukes and Bell.
08:01See you.
08:02See you.
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