- 2 weeks ago
Download the Audacy app to never miss any of your favorite 96.5 The Fan content:
https://go.audacy.com/download-apple
Listen live: https://www.audacy.com/stations/965thefan
Visit our website: https://965thefan.com
https://go.audacy.com/download-apple
Listen live: https://www.audacy.com/stations/965thefan
Visit our website: https://965thefan.com
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00But it's over now.
00:03I love you, Kansas City Royals.
00:05I'm not going anywhere.
00:06Damn it.
00:06But the season's done.
00:07Yeah, they're done.
00:08They've been done for a while.
00:10What they need to do now with an off day, this is the day you make some changes, though.
00:15This is really it.
00:16Goodbye, Vance Wilson.
00:17Goodbye, Scott Sharp.
00:18Those are the two guys you get rid of.
00:20Because you've got to get rid of somebody on the coaching staff, and you've got to get rid of somebody
00:24in the front office to tell people that this is not acceptable.
00:28And what I mean by that is Vance Wilson's terrible at his job.
00:30Again, you're sending Michael Massey in that situation last night, right?
00:35You're sending Michael Massey in that situation.
00:37He's terrible at his job.
00:39And so you get rid of somebody on the coaching staff, and then you get rid of somebody in the
00:42front office who's responsible for putting this team together.
00:46Because I'm not to the point where I think J.J. and Q should be fired.
00:50I don't think Scott should.
00:50I don't think front office should be fired.
00:51But all I do, they put this roster together.
00:53They need to understand their players and do a better job of constructing the roster.
00:58All the players that are on this roster, you, Mac, myself, all agreed should be on this roster.
01:04But I'm not in that organization day to day knowing the behind the scenes stuff either.
01:09So I'm not going to jump off the boat that far.
01:11I'm admitting that the season is over because they're 22 and 34.
01:15They're 10 games out of first place, and they're five games out of the wild card.
01:18The guys that are on this roster, everybody's okay with.
01:23That's fine.
01:24I'm okay with that.
01:26But those guys aren't performing, and that's not front office.
01:29That's Vinny Pasquantino has one RBI since like May 11th, and it was a ground ball like fielder's choice.
01:36That's on Vinny.
01:38Salvador Perez is getting better in May.
01:43But before that, that's on Sal for not being able to be a humble man, and I don't know this
01:47to be a fact.
01:47I'm just spitballing here to be a humble man and do what that one guy did for went to Q's
01:54office, said, hey, I'm not the closer McCarthy or whatever his name was.
01:57I said, it ain't me, man.
01:58Put somebody else there.
01:59Sal's got to be the humble leader with the captain on your shirt on your shirt and say, I ain't
02:04the fourth hitter in this lineup.
02:06Let's put somebody else up there.
02:07So the guys that are the players that we all wanted signed, Vinny, we can go back and check the
02:12tape, but Vinny doesn't go to arbitration.
02:13We're all happy about that.
02:15That's on Vinny, man.
02:17Like, that's on him.
02:18That's on him for not being able to perform at the plate.
02:22That's on Salvador Perez for hitting 212, and those are all moves that we wanted to see.
02:28Lugo getting signed, wanted to see that.
02:30The pitching staff I have no issue with.
02:32Cameron was fine last night.
02:33The bullpen is an issue.
02:35And they built the bullpen terribly.
02:37Yeah, but the bullpen's also injured.
02:39You have Strom out.
02:40That's not Scott Sharp's fault.
02:41You have Estevez out.
02:42That's not anybody's fault.
02:43But it is, though.
02:44You need to know.
02:45How is that their fault?
02:46Because you need to know the pulse of your players.
02:48You need to know what's going on with your players, and you need to know whether or not.
02:52Strom got hurt this year.
02:53I understand that's one guy we're talking about.
02:55I'm talking about overall.
02:56You've named all these guys that aren't producing.
02:58Okay?
02:58That's the entire team.
03:00Eventually, somebody in charge has to take the fall for why the entire team is not producing right now.
03:05They're not producing because they're not hitting.
03:06But why, though?
03:07Because they have too many messages coming from too many hitting coaches that are on the bench.
03:12Like, maybe it's time to change up the things within the hitting instead of the front office.
03:15Well, to me, the front office is like, you lost 120 games.
03:18You drafted a bunch of guys that didn't get developed.
03:22That's what happened to the last regime.
03:23I know.
03:24And we're kind of looking at it right now.
03:25There's nobody in the minor leagues right now that's even worthy of coming up at any time soon.
03:29They've underdeveloped so many players.
03:31One guy who's 18 years old.
03:35They've underdeveloped a lot of hitters that have gone on and played elsewhere and have done good things.
03:39That's misses on their part.
03:40You start listing all these guys.
03:42Garcia's not performing.
03:43Vinny's not performing.
03:45Salvi's not performing.
03:46Like, when are we going to start looking at saying maybe it's the process of why they're not performing instead
03:51of the individuals?
03:52Because there are.
03:53You're right.
03:54There are a lot of guys that aren't hitting their weight right now.
03:56But there are a lot of guys that aren't hitting their weight right now.
03:59So why is that?
04:00And if a lot of guys on one team are doing something that isn't correct, then I think you have
04:05to start looking at the messaging and the process by this.
04:08And I think somebody from the front office needs to pay.
04:10And somebody from the coaching staff needs to pay.
04:12Because you need to send a message to these guys in this organization that we're not going to stand for
04:16this.
04:16Again, you have Bobby Witt Jr. that you're wasting.
04:19And I was thinking about this driving in.
04:21Every day that goes by that this team continues to lose, you're wasting a Bobby Witt day.
04:25You're wasting a Bobby Witt moment.
04:27And we can't continue to waste those things.
04:30And so that's why on this off day, yeah, a message needs to be sent.
04:33Because look what happened in Philadelphia.
04:35You fired your manager.
04:37Things changed around.
04:37Look what happened to the Vegas Golden Knights.
04:39Eight games to go in the regular season.
04:41They fired their coach.
04:43They're in the Stanley Cup Finals right now.
04:45So you make these moves not necessarily because, okay, Vance Wilson or Scott Sharp need to be fired.
04:52But somebody needs to be fired to show your players and your fans and anybody that's still supporting you that
04:59this is not going to be okay.
05:00Because every day that you go by and you don't do anything is sending a message that this is okay.
05:06And it's not okay right now to watch this baseball team play.
05:11And that's why these moves need to be made.
05:13I mean, Vance Wilson is getting people gunned down like it's nobody's business.
05:16He is awful at coaching third.
05:18And Scott Sharp is second in command in the front office.
05:21So you take somebody from each side and tell your organization that what's going on right now is not acceptable.
05:27Yeah, I just don't think that those moves do anything to this franchise as in like a shock value.
05:32Vance Wilson, I will say last night, I don't disagree with him sending that runner home.
05:35I get it.
05:36The judge is a great right fielder.
05:39You've lost, what, nine of your last ten.
05:41You haven't beaten the Yankees.
05:42You need some sort of aggression.
05:44And that was an aggressive play that didn't go the way of the Royals.
05:46It was bang, bang.
05:47It wasn't like he got thrown out by ten feet.
05:49It was a ball glove, hit the ribcage, he was out.
05:52I'm okay with the aggressiveness.
05:54I also don't know what, like, firing a third base coach does.
05:56Well, it just sends a message that everything's not going to be okay.
05:58I think when somebody gets fired in an organization, and I've gone through this before, I think probably we all
06:04have.
06:04When you see somebody get fired that you don't think was going to get fired, and you're like, oh, my
06:09God.
06:09Now I'm on the clock.
06:11To me, that'd be Zumwalt.
06:13That'd be the guy that I think that everybody in the town would be like, finally, everybody knows who he
06:18is.
06:19Ten percent of people know who Vance Wilson is.
06:21But I'm talking inside.
06:22I don't care what the fans think about that.
06:24I think that's inside, because there's a guy that's not on this team that didn't get along with the hitting
06:26coach that's now playing in New York.
06:28Yeah.
06:28There's guys on this team that are showing frustration, and he's not doing anything in New York.
06:32They want him out of there.
06:33They want him out so fast, it's not even funny.
06:35Yes.
06:35And that may be not a Zumwalt issue.
06:38And, you know, you can give Zumwalt the credit to Vinny in the past and to Bobby as well.
06:42I mean, Chad O'Shea gets credit for Randy Moss.
06:45But, like, all these things, like, that, to me, if you want to move, that's the move.
06:50Because the offense, you want to talk, Texan, about how the bullpen sucks, the offense is absolutely horrendous.
06:56But the offense is terrible, too.
06:57And, again, that's the point, Mac.
07:00That's why moves need to be made.
07:01Because this isn't an isolated one-year bad start incident.
07:05This is a trend that's been happening since the end of 24.
07:08They have not evolved as a baseball team.
07:10And that is on the front office.
07:12That is on the coaching staff.
07:13They have not evolved.
07:15They have not changed.
07:16They have not moved forward.
07:17They have not gotten better as an organization.
07:19They have basically gotten worse.
07:22Actually, they haven't gotten worse.
07:23They probably stayed about the same.
07:25Just everybody else has gotten better.
07:26And it's exposing now all of those holes.
07:29And the reason why they were able to win in 2024 and make the playoffs wasn't because they were a
07:34good team.
07:35It's because they took advantage of a couple of teams being very bad.
07:38And so, Mac, to your point, you're right.
07:40It's the second year in a row now that this is not working.
07:44So, that, to me, is grounds for termination of somebody in this organization that is going to be felt.
07:50Because, again, like I was saying, when somebody big gets fired, it has an internal effect.
07:54I've felt that before.
07:55When moves have been made and I've been around an organization and some of you are like, oh, my God,
07:59that guy got fired.
08:00It makes you look into yourself and go, am I doing everything right?
08:03Am I the next one on this list?
08:05And I think it has a message inside that locker room that Vance Wilson's been here for a while.
08:10That, man, we thought this guy had street cred in this organization.
08:12You get rid of somebody like that.
08:14Or Scott's been here for 20 years.
08:15You get rid of somebody like that.
08:16It sends an internal message to, at least I feel that way, because that's the way I would react.
08:22Holy crap, I better pick up my pace here.
08:24They're getting rid of everybody now.
08:25You want to fire for shock value.
08:27I want to fire for accountability.
08:30That's where I'm at.
08:32Like, I don't know.
08:33I mean, it's okay to disagree on the topic, but I mean, like, to me.
08:36Yeah, that's fine.
08:36I don't disagree with firing for.
08:38Somebody needs to go, Dusty.
08:39I think we're on the same page here.
08:41They need to fire somebody's ass today.
08:43I think the biggest disagreement, sorry, Dusty, is whether it's the players or whether it's the coaches.
08:48Whether it's the coaching, whether it's the front office, whether it's the players.
08:51Obviously, that would be the biggest disagreement here.
08:53What is the reason?
08:54The players.
08:55Yeah, you're saying the players.
08:56Yes, 100%.
08:57And I'm saying it's a combination of both.
08:59I think you paid Mikel Garcia.
09:01Did you invest that money properly?
09:02It's showing so far you didn't.
09:04And I've talked to so many general managers over the years in multiple sports who tell me the hardest job
09:08is knowing when to pay somebody
09:10and if they're going to continue to earn that money after you give them that big-time contract.
09:14And they've always said that's up to the general manager and the organization knowing kind of the pulse of that
09:20player.
09:20If I pay you money, are you going to continue to go out there and work and get better?
09:25Or are you going to sit back and human nature says, hey, man, I got a guaranteed contract for the
09:30next five years.
09:30I don't have to put in as much work.
09:32I don't have to work as hard.
09:34That's the line that these general managers in all sports have to try to figure out.
09:38And sometimes you pay the right guy, Bobby Witt Jr., and sometimes you get into these bad contracts.
09:43Ask the Angels about Albert Pujols or the guy who quit playing third base for them or even Mike Trout,
09:48right?
09:49Like, you have to know.
09:50And it's hard.
09:51It really is.
09:52But that's why these guys get paid the big bucks.
09:54They have to know that the guys they're about to reward are actually going to go out there and continue
09:59to earn that contract.
10:01And if they made mistakes doing that, that is on them.
10:04But, yeah, again, to Mac's point, this is two years in a row now that we've seen this offense be
10:08absolutely putrid.
10:09They know what they needed to do, and nothing has changed.
10:12And to me, I would point to coaching because I do think these players are better than what we're seeing
10:16put on the field.
10:17Yeah, I'm not in disagreement with that.
10:19That's why I said Zumwalt's on the chopping block.
10:21Yeah, I'm totally with you there.
10:22Yes, 100% agree.
10:22If the offense sucks, do we blame Andy Reid or Matt Nagy?
10:25Yeah, Andy Reid.
10:26But Matt Nagy went.
10:27Did that send shockwaves to the team?
10:29No.
10:29No, it didn't.
10:30No, it didn't.
10:31And if it happens again this year, it'll be Andy Reid.
10:34It'll be Andy Reid.
10:35Yeah.
10:35Yeah.
10:35So, yeah, Zumwalt should be the first.
10:38Yeah, I agree with you.
10:39I mean, it's the offense.
10:41It's the players.
10:42It's mixed messaging.
10:43It's not understanding what they need to do.
10:45Lack of leadership.
10:47Lack of leadership, too.
10:48Yeah.
10:48That's my biggest thing on this team.
10:50Who is that on the players?
10:51It's Q.
10:51It's on Q.
10:52It's on Q.
10:52No, my thing has been management of this team.
10:54There's no leadership in this organization.
10:56Dayton was the last real leader that this organization had.
10:59That's a leader.
11:00It's every week for the past month, pretty much.
11:02We've had one player talking smack about this organization in press conferences.
11:05Whining, complaining, bitching, moaning.
11:08It's been one thing.
11:09That is lack of leadership.
11:10That's lack of mixed messaging.
11:11And what I said last week, I believe you were maybe still gone, Dusty.
11:15No one is being heard.
11:16No one feels heard within this organization.
11:18And that's why you've got people complaining and bitching about ABS and our strategies,
11:22whether on things.
11:23And that's coaching in front of us.
11:24When I'm playing, when I'm not, inconsistencies.
11:27Yeah.
11:27No one's pleased.
11:28No one should be.
11:29And you could point at all three of the front office coaching and players to give some blame.
11:34But there's a piece of pie to all go around.
11:35It's about, okay, who's got the biggest piece?
11:36You've ever seen Bailey Falter's comments?
11:38Well, yeah, Bailey Falter's.
11:40He's just one of many.
11:40He's one of many.
11:41Yeah, what was bitching?
11:42Lugo, Salvi.
11:43That's Bailey Falter being a bitch.
11:45No, he knows what his role is because he did the exact same thing a week before.
11:50He was a fill-in swing man.
11:51That's what he does.
11:52That's your role.
11:53But it's also, again, he's the third guy, I think, this month to complain about the organization.
11:57And that's a fair point for you guys.
11:59But Bailey Falter, leave him out.
12:01The other two guys I'll give you credit for.
12:03But Bailey Falter, you knew what your role is.
12:05You got absolutely shelled.
12:07That's fine.
12:07You were emotional.
12:08And you said that.
12:09But a week before this, you did the exact same start.
12:12But he could also, too, be exposing the organization where he's just had enough.
12:16Everybody is human.
12:17And if it was just Bailey Falter, I think we'd all just, OK, it's Bailey Falter or whatever the guy's
12:21name is, right?
12:22But he's the third guy this month to bitch about the processes of this organization.
12:26Who were the other two?
12:26It was Seth Lugo and Salvador Perez.
12:28Gotcha.
12:28I was gone when that happened, so I didn't know that.
12:30Sorry.
12:30No, no, no.
12:31I'm not trying to.
12:32No.
12:32No, no, no.
12:33I literally was in a different country.
12:35Yeah.
12:35So, yeah.
12:36So, it's a rock set for the Royals because it's over now for the season.
12:40If you could have a duo.
Comments