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00:07here's Area 45 with Bashani and Creighton.
00:22Stand up and acknowledge your baseball tribal chief.
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00:30USA Today, baseball insider, Hall of Fame voter, president of the Baseball Writers Association of America,
00:38friend of the program, he's Bob Nightingale joining us on the, what's there, we have a new sponsor for the
00:45hotline.
00:45Texas Mattress Makers.
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00:49See this, you can listen to Bob and then get on your Texas Mattress Makers mattress
00:53and enjoy the sleeping after you've been educated on the baseball by our good friend Bob Nightingale.
01:01Bob, there's been a lot of conjecture lately about the Astros needing to tear it down
01:07and a lot of talk about should they trade Jordan Alvarez.
01:10I think it's insanity.
01:12Is there any world where you see the Astros trading Jordan Alvarez sometime between now and the deadline?
01:22No, zero chance.
01:24You know, I'm around baseball scouts a lot.
01:27And one guy just told me recently that Jordan Alvarez is the most feared hitter since Barry Bonds.
01:34He goes, I haven't seen a guy since Bonds is Alvarez.
01:37He's not saying Alvarez is Bonds, but that great.
01:41He's got a great cheap contract.
01:43There's zero chance the Astros are going to trade Alvarez.
01:46Oh, in that, with that in mind, this year, zero chance they trade Jordan Alvarez.
01:52Like, hypothetically speaking, and somewhat like just based in how the Astros have operated, right?
01:59In that, when Jordan's contract is up after 27, he would theoretically be in line for a big payday,
02:06maybe one of those six-year, many hundreds of millions of dollars types of deals.
02:11The Astros couldn't make that happen with Bregman, couldn't make it happen with Kyle Tucker.
02:14They traded Kyle Tucker.
02:16In the event that the Astros' downturn continues in the rest of 26 into 27,
02:24is that an opportunity in which the Astros may look at moving Jordan in hopes of getting something
02:31rather than letting him walk one day?
02:34Yeah, they don't want to let him walk.
02:37I really think he could walk away after 27.
02:39I thought his contract was longer than that.
02:42Yeah, I think it's two more years after.
02:43Yeah, yeah.
02:45Okay, yeah.
02:46I mean, he's a stud.
02:49I mean, he's the most feared hitter in all of baseball.
02:53You know, when the Padres traded Soto, when the Nationals traded Soto, I mean, he would get more than Soto
03:01got.
03:01This guy's a better player, more complete player, everything else.
03:05So, I mean, you could totally resurrect your farm system and all that.
03:10That being said, you know, Jim Crane, you know, has never been one to say, hey, I'm going to rebuild.
03:16He's always said, I'm not rebuilding.
03:19So, I can't see him taking an operation.
03:21I really can't.
03:23About two, further to that point, you know, about Jim Crane, who says, listen, the window's always open as long
03:29as he's here.
03:31You feel the Astros are more likely to try to find ways, even if it's in the margins, find ways
03:37to improve the team more than they are likely to sell people off.
03:42Be it a Jeremy Pena, an Isak Paredes, a Brian Abreu, a piece of the bullpen.
03:50Do you think they're more likely to try to find ways to bolster the team than rake it apart?
03:56As long as they have a chance, you know, throw Christian Walker in there, too.
04:00I mean, he's a high-priced guy for sure.
04:04We'll see.
04:05I mean, if they, you know, set the deadline, okay, we're going to trade guys,
04:10I still think they'd bounce back and say, you know what, we're going to try to win this thing in
04:142027.
04:16So, I can't see going too full-scale, you know, which would, you know, involve more guys.
04:23But, you know, they're just too good of a team, too talented team, but they're very injured right now.
04:28Bob Nightingale, our Odyssey MLB insider, joining us on the Texas Mattress Makers Hotline.
04:33Bob, I think it was earlier today where Joel Sherman and Mike Lowell were talking on MLB Network about the
04:39Astros
04:40and, you know, the possibility that they may have to make some decisions, some tough decisions, ahead of the trade
04:46deadline.
04:47Will Dana Brown, in your mind, be around to make some of those pivotal decisions if this team turns out
04:54that they need to be sellers?
04:55Will he be around to make those decisions?
05:00I believe so.
05:01I mean, I think Dan Brown will be doing what he's wrapped to the trade deadline.
05:05We'll see what happens after that.
05:07But, no, I believe that he'll be the guy to make the moves for sure and, you know, get approval
05:14from ownership.
05:14Like, okay, who are we going to move?
05:17Who are we going to move?
05:18Who are we going to listen to?
05:20You know, what price does it take to, you know, get somebody?
05:25So, no, but I believe that Dan Brown will be around for now, at least until late this season.
05:32We'll see what happens.
05:34In a division where the first place team is 500, and despite all their struggles, and as bad as the
05:43pitching has been,
05:44they're only four games out of first place.
05:47Like, how bad do you think it would have to be before Jim Crane would say, okay, you know what,
05:54sell off some pieces and let's retool for next year?
06:00Well, I mean, we're only a few games back, but it's only, you know, first week of May.
06:05I would think by, you know, July, you know, things would separate themselves.
06:10Say they're eight or ten games back.
06:12Then you do it.
06:13I mean, you're not going to fool yourselves.
06:14It's like, okay, you know, no winning division has a winning record.
06:19We're only four out.
06:20But we're in this thing, you know, with all the injuries, same as the AL Central.
06:24We've only got two teams in America.
06:26We need to have winning records.
06:27So, I think the team's got to be realistic and say, you know, are we really a contender?
06:33And if we are, are we really going to get out of the first round?
06:36So, I would think that they wait a little longer to see.
06:41And even if you're five or six teams back at the all-star break, you'd probably, you know, move guys
06:47if you think you're not a legitimate contender or at least a contender to get past the first round.
06:54Bob, you've been around the game a long time.
06:56You know a lot of people.
06:57I would imagine you've had the opportunity to cover your fair share of Japanese players that have come over from
07:05abroad, played Major League Baseball, tried to get assimilated in the States, and things of that sort.
07:10Can you give us a little bit of insight on some of the challenges that you know of, that you've
07:15reported on firsthand from some Japanese players that have had those challenges, in particularly with Tatsuya Imai and trying to
07:22find a good interpreter now that he's on his third one?
07:27Well, no, it's a big adjustment.
07:29You know, I was with the Dodgers, coming to the Dodgers when Hideo Nomo came over.
07:34This was in 1995.
07:35He was the first guy since Murakami in 64.
07:39So, he had an interpreter.
07:41You know, he was a nice guy.
07:42He wasn't very good.
07:43But it's a big adjustment, learning everything, whether the, you know, what restaurants to go to, the English language, and
07:52everything else.
07:53So, it can be tough.
07:55It's easier now for guys.
07:57So, with what Imai is going through, you know, it's tough.
08:01But I'm surprised that he's been so vocal about it that, okay, you know, this is the reason for my
08:07struggles and everything else,
08:08just because there's been so many more Japanese players that have integrated baseball.
08:14So, we'll see what happens.
08:16But, you know, it almost comes across as a poor excuse than, you know, what's legitimate.
08:24Bob, right now, you know, Joe Spada, Dana Brown, they are on the last year of their deals.
08:30They did not get extensions coming in before the year.
08:33And we've seen, you know, we've seen Jim Crane kind of go with very short-term deals.
08:38Dusty Baker.
08:40Even James Click, when he got hired, didn't get a very long-term deal.
08:45Which guy right now would you say more in jeopardy of losing their job?
08:51Well, it's going to be a Spada because he's the manager.
08:55You know, the manager always goes before the GM.
08:58So, I would think if they make a move, it'd be a Spada going first, and then Brown.
09:03You'd probably, you know, wait for Brown to go through the trade deadline,
09:06and then the draft, everything else, and then decide whether you want to make a move.
09:14But, you know, remember James Click wasn't dumped until after the World Series.
09:21So, in this case, if they want to make a move, it probably would not be until October,
09:27where, if you're going to move a manager, it was going to be before that.
09:31So, by the book, you know, I understand, you know, that's kind of how it has gone.
09:36You know, if a Spada goes, you know, as you're saying,
09:38maybe they'll wait for Brown to get through the draft and the deadline
09:40before they make a decision there.
09:42What, can you give us a little bit of insight on, like, the inherent risk
09:46that Jim Crane takes in letting a general manager that maybe he knows he's going to fire anyway
09:54try to find the best possible value for some pieces, like maybe a Walker or a Paredes
09:59or whoever they decide to sell at the deadline,
10:02and then drafting new talent coming into the system,
10:05the risk associated with that for a guy that's not going to be here through their development?
10:11Well, there's certainly a risk.
10:13You know, obviously, no trade's going to be done without going to the front office,
10:18whether it's, you know, Jeff Bagwell, you know, Cabell, Jim Crane, you know, that sort of thing.
10:25So, you know, no move would be made, you know, without their approval.
10:29The draft, you know, that's going to be on Dana Brown.
10:31I mean, he's a very good scout.
10:34That's his background.
10:36And, you know, you're going to get approval for the draft, too,
10:39but you're going to trust what he does.
10:41So you see that all the time.
10:43We saw him in the Colorado Rockies a year ago, you know, with Bill Schmidt and a very good scout.
10:51You know, let Bill Schmidt go to the trade deadline through the draft,
10:55and then they let him go, you know, sometime in September.
10:58So I could do the same thing here with Dana Brown.
11:01It's like, you know, we'll see what happens in September.
11:04But I think they would, I think they trust him enough to go through that process themselves.
11:10Talking with Bob Nightingale, a long-time MLB insider with us on the Texas Mattress Makers Hotline.
11:16Bob, the Astros seem like, they just seem like they've had more injuries,
11:21especially the pitching, over the last several years than anybody else.
11:24And I'm not saying it's 100% true, but it just seems that way.
11:28And one of the other things, it seems, is the guys who they get back don't seem to be returning
11:32with the same success rate that players on other teams are coming back from.
11:37It seems like Astros pitchers come back from major injury, and their velocities are down,
11:43and their command is off, and the things just aren't right with them.
11:47Is there anything that you hear from guys around the league, scouts or whatnot,
11:52about the Astros and how their guys come back to play?
11:57Why do so many players keep getting hurt, and when they come back,
12:01they're not playing as well as they used to?
12:06You know, I really have not, specifically the Astros.
12:10But you hear that same complaint throughout baseball.
12:13It's like, you know, really, you have all these therapists, massage therapists,
12:18trainers, assistant trainers, all around baseball.
12:22And I'm talking about all 30 clubs.
12:24Why are these guys all going down when guys before, you know, were playing through things?
12:29You know, why were you seeing a, you know, the Matt Olsen's playing over 800 games?
12:35You know, what happens to Nolan Ryan's?
12:37You know, that sort of thing.
12:38So that's a puzzling thing.
12:40It's like, you know, what's going on in the world of baseball that these guys can't play
12:45when the Predators did, and, you know, they didn't have the same nutritionists,
12:50everything else, the same trainers.
12:53So, no, it's an industry problem, not an Astros problem.
12:58That's the great Bob Nightingale with us, the Odyssey MLB insider,
13:01joining us on the Texas Mattress Makers Hotline.
13:03Bob, really appreciate you making some time for us tonight.
13:06We'll definitely catch up with you very soon, my friend.
13:09Have a good one.
13:10Sure, my pleasure.
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