00:00A big injury news yesterday and potentially altering the odds markets, of course, not just
00:06for the Yankees themselves, but also the American League MVP. You know, we're certainly going to
00:10find a new MVP, I think, awarded at the end of the year because Aaron Judge has an injury that
00:15they say is going to cost him four to six weeks. And you know, as well as I know, that's
00:20what
00:20teams do. They put out the best case scenario initially. Now, obviously, nobody wants to
00:24even hear the words thoracic outlet surgery. But I know that he did see a doctor that has
00:30some expertise in that. We'll go and give the Yankees the benefit of the doubt with this
00:34initially, Jack. But there was a lot of CT scans and a lot of medical updates before we even
00:40got this late yesterday. Yeah, there was interesting reporting in regards to this, right? Because
00:45initially it was a bone bruise in his shoulder that he's been dealing with for a couple of
00:49weeks. And then all of a sudden it was a top rib issue. And top rib is almost always related
00:54to thoracic outlet, right? So you hope that it's not that case. And it turns out it's just
00:59a stress fracture in his top rib. What is the correlation there with the shoulder? I don't
01:03know. I'm not a doctor. I'm not going to pretend to be a doctor. The big word here carrying a
01:08lot of weight from Brian Hoke is re-imaged in four to six weeks. So it seems like we could
01:13be looking at two, two and a half months with Judge out of the Yankee lineup. And to your point
01:18as it pertains to the AL MVP, we're going to have a new one. I think I saw, what, first
01:23time since 2020 that it won't be Ohtani or Judge in the American League MVP chair. So somebody else
01:29is going to win AL MVP. Is this finally the year that Bobby Witt Jr. gets his American League MVP?
01:34Julio Rodriguez is heating up earlier than he really ever has before. Is Julio going to be
01:39that guy if Seattle climbs to the top of the American League West and never looks back? There
01:44are plenty of other guys. Jordan Alvarez, how can he swing it? Ben Rice, can he carry the load?
01:48Nick Kurtz, is he going to be an on-base machine and hit 45 to 50 home runs this year?
01:53There are a
01:54whole bunch of guys that are in this conversation right now, and it's a wide open field. I'm not
01:59going to say it's fun because we are deprived of the best hitter in Major League Baseball, but
02:03it is different. It's unique to see a wide open MVP race. Honestly, over the last couple of years,
02:09I view the NL MVP as the Ohtani Invitational and the AL MVP as the Judge Invitational, and that's just
02:15not
02:15the case this year. Do you think, by the way, let's throw those odds back up there. Do you think,
02:22Jack, that the MVP, if it's not Ben Rice, comes from a team that loses 90 or 100 games? Because,
02:31man, there's a legit shot of that happening. If the Royals just play to their skis right now,
02:37they're probably not going to finish 500 or even close. I don't think the Astros are coming anywhere
02:42close, and dare I say, I mean, the A's at some point, I think, are going to fall back a
02:46little
02:47bit. I mean, Ben Rice is the only one out of these top four odds that could even be a
02:52500 team this
02:53year. That's kind of crazy in June. And that's why Julio sticks out like a sore thumb right there
02:58on the odds right now, because Seattle looks like a team that is going to be in position
03:03to make the postseason. But everybody loves the Bobby Wood Jr., Alex Rodriguez comps. This is another
03:08one right here, right? Where if Bobby Wood Jr. is on the outside of the postseason picture looking
03:13in, and he's putting up A-Rod type of numbers in Kansas City, why couldn't you give it to him?
03:19A-Rod, when he signed that huge contract with Texas, he was the best player on a not very good
03:23team with
03:24the Texas Rangers. So the A-Rod comps are becoming uncanny for Bobby Wood Jr. at this point. But
03:29yeah, I mean, Bobby Wood is probably, and through the eyes of war, wins of a replacement, he has been
03:34the best player in baseball to this point. There is a world that that happens. Jordan Alvarez,
03:40how much value does a DH have? Can a DH that doesn't even have the opportunity to pitch in
03:45Otani win an MVP? I have no idea. My eyes go to Bobby Wood at the top and then Julio
03:51Rodriguez as well.
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