00:00Let's go over to the National League.
00:02Are you surprised that the Phillies have closed the gap?
00:05I mean, when they had Rob Thompson managing the team, you know,
00:09they went in there and Dave Dombrowski made a move and said, okay,
00:11let's elevate, you know, the bench coach there, Don Mattingly.
00:15And Don Mattingly has done a hell of a job.
00:17This kid works in the front office, David.
00:19And maybe he's kind of managing himself into that position where at the end
00:23of the year, he remains, you know, as manager of that baseball team.
00:27And they don't give it to Alex Cora, bud.
00:29Are you surprised they've closed the gap on the Braves?
00:32No, because I thought the Phillies were the best team in this division all
00:35along at the beginning of the year.
00:36I think they're playing what they should have been playing early.
00:38I think it's more of a surprise about how bad they started the year under
00:41Thompson and Dave Dombrowski, not afraid to make moves.
00:44Have we seen in Miami and we've seen in Boston, we've seen in Detroit.
00:48The surprise it was, it's Don Mattingly because we've been exposed to Don
00:51Mattingly in the, in the decade he coached the Marlins and didn't really
00:54amount to much. I know, obviously he's a big name in baseball,
00:57but I was disappointed in his managerial run in Miami,
01:00but to see what he's doing with Philadelphia.
01:02And the key there is they got one of the best pitching staffs in baseball
01:05that is pitching unbelievably well. And the hitters are finally stepping up.
01:08If you look at that roster,
01:10I have the Phillies as a top five roster in baseball.
01:12So they should be on the top of that division.
01:15And it's actually surprising that it took that long.
01:17The Braves weren't supposed to be good this year.
01:20They were good a couple of years ago when they won the world series,
01:22they tillered off last year.
01:23And there weren't that many changes between last year and this year where the
01:26Braves were not considered a front runner.
01:28The gap is closed because the Braves played over what they should have.
01:32And the Phillies played under what they should have.
01:34And now that gap is closing way.
01:36It should have been all along at the end of the day.
01:38I think the Phillies win that division.
01:40David, you know,
01:41you mentioned Andrew Friedman earlier because he was with the Tampa Bay Rays as
01:45their general manager.
01:46And man,
01:47he's just done a whale of a job running that Dodger organization because people
01:51don't realize they got one of the best minor league systems in all of baseball
01:55too.
01:56I mean,
01:56he took that philosophy,
01:58what he did with the Rays and he brought it to Los Angeles and he elevated a
02:04guy off of Bud Black's bench in San Diego and Dave Roberts and Dave Roberts has
02:10turned out to be, I don't know,
02:11a smaller version potentially of a guy like a Joe Maddon.
02:15How impressive is Andrew Friedman?
02:17I mean,
02:18Theo Epstein,
02:18maybe in the last couple of years,
02:20he would say one of the greatest GMs.
02:21How good do you think Andrew Friedman is?
02:24I think Friedman's better than Epstein.
02:25Obviously you give Epstein credit for,
02:27for,
02:27for winning it in Boston and winning it in Chicago.
02:29But you take a guy who knows the game,
02:33a guy who knows scouting and who knows drafting,
02:35did it with Tampa,
02:37built Tampa with no money whatsoever.
02:39And then you give them an open budget that magic Johnson and company have
02:42given him in Los Angeles.
02:44And you're seeing what they're building.
02:45I think when all is said and done,
02:47and I know rules are much different now than they were 50,
02:5160 years ago,
02:52what he's building in Los Angeles,
02:53I think will at some point,
02:55unless they change the rules rival,
02:57what we saw out of the Yankees in the forties and fifties and the Yankees of
03:01the late nineties and early two thousands,
03:03that dynasty is not going anywhere anytime soon,
03:05because you got the money,
03:07you got the GM,
03:08you got the talent and they have the best players in baseball.
03:11That roster is ridiculous.
03:13I know we talk about murderers row way back with the Yankees a hundred years
03:16ago,
03:17what they're building in Los Angeles could absolutely rival this.
03:21If they don't change the salary cap rules in the upcoming CBA.
03:26You know,
03:27I'm not going to ask this question any longer on show.
03:29Hail tiny.
03:30If he's the greatest player in the history of the game,
03:33would this be a fair statement to make about him?
03:36He's the most unique player in baseball history.
03:39Could we make that comment?
03:42Absolutely.
03:42Because the,
03:43the,
03:43the,
03:43the players considered the best of all time is Babe Ruth.
03:46And he did exactly what Otani is doing,
03:48setting records on both sides as a pitcher and a batter,
03:51but we're seeing it a hundred years later when you're not supposed to be
03:54doing that.
03:55Cause everything is specialized.
03:56You got your starter,
03:56you got your middle reliever,
03:57you got your closer,
03:58you have your infielders and outfielders back then.
04:01Those guys did everything.
04:02Now you don't have that.
04:03He's doing what Babe Ruth was doing in an error where you're not supposed to
04:07be doing that.
04:07You're not pitching 45 times a year with 37 complete games.
04:12Like,
04:12you know,
04:12some Cy Young was doing,
04:13these guys are pitching once every five days and he's dominating on both
04:17sides of the plate.
04:18I would absolutely agree with that statement that he's the best player in the
04:20history of the sport.
04:21And you're seeing it every single year.
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