- 6 days ago
The Braves leaked oil into the All-Star break, but retain a narrow two-game lead over the pack in the NL East. If they want to maintain and grow that lead to win the division, we know they need to be buyers at the deadline. But with so many teams in contention, who can they realistically add?
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00:00Just real quick, we were looking at potential free agents and, you know, some expiring contracts,
00:05and that's basically the only thing that AA will go for.
00:09You're not going to take on a contract unless it's a young player and you've got team control.
00:13That's always been the option.
00:15But I was just telling Carl that if you look at the standings right now, the Red Sox were dead
00:21in the water.
00:22The Red Sox were done, and they were saying sell the team.
00:25And now, because nobody in the American League is over .500, the Red Sox, Carl, just half a game out
00:30of the final wildcard spot.
00:32So for guys who want Sonny Gray and all these other pitchers, like Detroit is still mathematically alive.
00:36The Marlins are in the wildcard right now.
00:39Historically, good place to go shopping, right?
00:42So unfortunately, you don't really have the option right now.
00:44Well, that's the thing.
00:45As much as we may want Alex Antopoulos to make a deal, you've got to have a partner.
00:50And if none of these teams are willing because they're on the brink, right?
00:54They're teetering one way or the other.
00:57But what would another two weeks mean for the Red Sox?
00:59What would another two weeks mean for a team that might find themselves now two games out?
01:05I'm not giving up on Scoobo.
01:08There's just no way.
01:09So that's part of this weighing our options and seeing.
01:13Now, if you're just talking about a guy that's on a bad team, that's a totally different situation.
01:17But Mike's right.
01:18Their situation for the Red Sox has completely turned around, and that's why this is a kind
01:23of wait-and-see situation for the Braves right now.
01:26By the way, while we're talking about this specifically, when you start talking about
01:31who surprised you, who's been the biggest surprise?
01:34Obviously, raise your hand.
01:35Austin Riley's been the biggest disappointment in the first half.
01:38In the wrong direction.
01:38Right?
01:38Right.
01:40Put the injury aside with Acuna.
01:41Yes, he hasn't produced as like we'd like, but he's been injured.
01:44Riley's not injured.
01:46And who's been the biggest surprise?
01:47And then, you know, Mike, we were talking about Chris Sale.
01:49I don't even know if it's a surprise.
01:51Chris Sale's doing what Chris Sale does when he's healthy, and we've seen him healthy the
01:54last few years.
01:55And, you know, when you go win a Cy Young, Matt Olsen, you've talked about it, just quietly
02:00going about his business.
02:01He doesn't talk that much.
02:03Perennial all-star.
02:04And, you know, again, everyone loves to get it.
02:06I'm over the whole Freddie versus Matt.
02:08You can't quantify what Freddie meant to this team.
02:10Would we have won it all in 23 if Freddie was?
02:12I don't know.
02:13But anyway, Matt is right there in every category, and some of these are better than
02:16Freddie, and he'll have to wait his turn to play first base tomorrow night.
02:19But he is that guy.
02:21You know, for me, you got, I think, Mauricio Dubon has been a revelation.
02:25Because, I mean, the Astros, I think what did we say?
02:27It was going to cost him $6 million to pick up the option.
02:29They let him go.
02:30And he's been money.
02:31And then we also find out he comes in.
02:32Hi, guys.
02:33Hello, my name is.
02:34And then he becomes a leader on this team, which tells you about the lack of leadership
02:37on this team.
02:38But he's a good story.
02:40I think Mateo's a hell of a story.
02:43Jastrzemski, he has his limitations.
02:45You know, he's banged up right now.
02:46But if I'm with you, I guess I'd say Mauricio Dubon.
02:49You know?
02:50I think we had some other guys.
02:51Hasan Kim has been terrible.
02:53Yes.
02:53Yes.
02:54You throw them in the category.
02:55Checks.
02:56Pluses and minuses.
02:57He would be there with Austin Riley.
02:58That, I don't think that was on anybody's bingo card.
03:02And look, Rysel Iglesias, does he give us reason to pause every now and then?
03:07He does.
03:07But he's been solid.
03:08And it's crazy, because now he's going to be honored as such, and with the opportunity
03:12to be a participant in the All-Star game.
03:14Suarez has been great.
03:15You miss Suarez, because he's been so dependent on you.
03:17You can use Suarez anywhere, basically, from the sixth to the eighth inning.
03:20Yeah.
03:20If you want.
03:20Another guy early in the year, and he's been pretty good consistently.
03:23It was Dominic Smith, too.
03:24But I'll say Dubon.
03:26I'm with you.
03:26Look, you can chime in.
03:28And 404-726-0929, Texas, as we evaluate this first half.
03:32And it's funny, because I said, what are we going to be?
03:36And a guy on social media.
03:38Follow Mike, by the way.
03:39Mike, give me your social media handle.
03:40Oh, what the hell am I now?
03:42Yeah.
03:42ATL Bell.
03:43I tried to explain this to a friend of mine down in Naples who works in IT for a major
03:47corporation.
03:48He's like, well, that's screwy.
03:49Thanks a lot.
03:50Anyway, I am ATLBell929.
03:53Just type in Mike Bell ATL.
03:55You'll find me.
03:56I'll never get my followers back.
03:58It's gone, Carl.
03:59That ship has sailed.
04:00It's gone.
04:01Put them up.
04:01See Dukes.
04:02And follow the show at Dukes and Bell 929.
04:04Of course, follow the radio station at 929 The Game.
04:06Stay up on everything that's going on.
04:07But a guy hit us up on social media, and he was like, I'll tell you what we are.
04:12We are the most infuriating team in the major leagues.
04:18And I basically said, well, why do you say that?
04:20He says, because the way things started, we all thought we were going to a series.
04:23And I said, yeah, we know it's a long season.
04:26But then he says, the way this last month has gone, specifically June, where we didn't
04:29hit guys, we didn't do a damn thing.
04:30He says, that scares me.
04:32What if that happens, Dukes and Bell, in September?
04:36Yeah, two ways of looking at it.
04:37This is generally, for instance, 2022.
04:41You raced to catch the Mets, and then you just imploded.
04:4423, the greatest offensive output of the Braves in history, and you imploded.
04:47And you didn't have enough pitching in that series.
04:49And guys, bats went cold, and the pitching, you didn't have enough of it.
04:52So I guess you could argue, you've gone through the swoon, the roller coaster.
04:56The only thing I'm worried about is, does Olsen have one more bad streak in him?
04:59Because he always seems to have one little blip.
05:02But that aside, I think I'll make the argument of glass half full.
05:06The worker bees we just mentioned, the Dubons, the Mateos, the Dominic Smiths, all these guys
05:10showed you, just some of its parts can get you over the top.
05:14Now, you need Acuna to come back from his rehab assignment and rake.
05:16Like, you know, what would be really great for everybody is Hasan Kim gets a stroke back,
05:20comes up and actually does his job, and earns the $20 million.
05:22The thing is, it's all out there.
05:26It's all out there for the taking, but you guys have to do their jobs.
05:29But you said it.
05:31Acuna and Riley.
05:32Riley and Acuna.
05:32Pick 1A, 1B.
05:34They've got to get it right.
05:35If they do what we know they're capable of, you don't need to make any moves.
05:41I mean, I know that sounds crazy to you, but you just don't.
05:44You know, you're going to have enough arms to get you through.
05:49Now, if you were to say, okay, Dukes, who are you starting in a seven-game series against
05:53the Dodgers and the NLCS?
05:55That's a good question.
05:56Because, again, I don't know who's going to be completely 100% back.
06:00But if those guys come back, you don't need to make moves like we think they do because
06:05you're getting that production.
06:07And so that is the thing that I think Alex has to weigh, Mike.
06:11And then you go, all right, here's the other part.
06:13You know, guys, we said this.
06:15There's that marker.
06:16That's the term we use.
06:17It's not the official term.
06:18But when Knucklehead in the outfield decided to get suspended again, you know, we've got
06:24money there that is allotted that the Braves could potentially go spend and use.
06:29The $18 million from Jerickson Profar could be put in play.
06:33I think their average, they're about 12 points lower against left-handed pitching.
06:38So I'd maybe try to get another right-handed bat.
06:39Pat, the swoon is insane.
06:43They had 37 home runs in the month of April.
06:45They've had 37 home runs in June and July combined.
06:48It's nuts.
06:49And May was insane with 41.
06:51So I think these guys can get back on track.
06:54But you're right.
06:54The Austin Rye, and we come back to the same, we circle back.
06:57Austin Riley, because I think that, you know, Money Harris is a consistent player.
07:01He's now, this is what Money Harris is going to be the rest of his career.
07:03He's figured it out, right?
07:04I think so.
07:04And Ozzy's been great this year.
07:06And then you just look at Acuna and say, can Acuna, first off, can you stay healthy?
07:11And then can you hit the ground running when you come back?
07:14I just want to put this out there again as we talk about 21.
07:19Because that's the thing everybody points back to.
07:23Guys, we picked up four guys that changed the trajectory of the team.
07:27But more importantly, four guys that take the place of one.
07:30That was Ronald Acuna, who was hurt.
07:33Solaire comes in from Kansas City.
07:35Rosario, look, when we got Rosario.
07:37He was on the IL, right?
07:38He was hurt.
07:39Right.
07:40He was hitting 192.
07:42You guys laughed when we said, hey, we traded for Eddie Rosario.
07:45And you guys said, who?
07:47Eddie Rosario, he's washed.
07:49He's not even hit 200.
07:50Then we went and got Duvall.
07:52We knew Duvall, so you felt comfortable with him from Miami.
07:55He's kind of like Arsh Schwarber.
07:56It's either home run or strikeout, right?
07:58Or walk.
07:59But he's effective.
08:00And then, obviously, Jock Peterson came in.
08:02That was July 15th.
08:03That was the date that we made the trade for Jock Peterson.
08:05But my point is, if you go back and look, we got 59 home runs that year from players
08:12who began the season somewhere else.
08:15Guys, that's not going to happen this year.
08:17We're not going to get four guys.
08:18And we're not going to have, by the way, Rosario was the NLCS MVP.
08:23And you know who the MVP was in the World Series?
08:27Solaire!
08:28That ball still hasn't landed from Game 6.
08:30So, you know, he had three home runs in that series.
08:33The point is, those were guys we were counting on when the season started.
08:39Not to mention, we made some moves that we thought felt good about the bullpen.
08:42But the night shift was one of the great bullpens of all time history in baseball.
08:47But that's what I'm saying when I talked about the Braves at the top of the hour.
08:50What you need is a guy that can come in and be that impact guy in a trade.
08:56And we talked about it, and we'll ask Tony Gwynn Jr. about it tomorrow.
08:58But it's a guy that sometimes, and in our case, Jock Peterson brought swagger and attitude.
09:03Fun.
09:04And a looseness that this team didn't have.
09:07You know, and it's just a swagger, right, for lack of a better word.
09:10If you can find somebody who can come in.
09:12That's why it was so weird to hear how Mauricio Dubon comes in, and all of a sudden he's like
09:15a leader all of a sudden in the clubhouse.
09:17Which really gets back to the question about, you know, if we don't make anything happen this year, we can
09:22really re-examine the makeup of this team, Carl.
09:24But that's what we need.
09:26You need a guy, and I'd love to see the Braves for once.
09:28Actually, assign a guy, make a trade for a guy who's actually got a contract.
09:32Okay?
09:32He's actually going to be here.
09:33He's remaining.
09:33Yeah, you know, and that was the case, you know, with Jock.
09:35But it's just, this is what drives you crazy.
09:38You nailed it with Soler.
09:39Soler, I don't think half the Braves nation even knew who Soler was, right, when we picked him up from
09:43the Royals.
09:44From the Royals.
09:44Yeah.
09:464047260929.
09:46There was an element, I don't want to call it luck, but it just, I said that to Fraser earlier
09:50to you, the stars aligned.
09:51They did.
09:52In 21.
09:52They did.
09:53I just, and that's why I'm bringing this up.
09:55I want you to understand how magical that was.
09:59And it ain't ever happening again.
10:01Okay?
10:02So let that go.
10:03We're not going to go find four guys that give us 59 home runs in the second half of the
10:09season.
10:10That's the part about this.
10:12That was amazing production from four guys to take the place of one.
10:15That's literally what that was.
10:17That was money ball.
10:17That was truly money ball.
10:19So now, moving forward, we said it.
10:21It's not what you expected, but I need Riley to be the guy he was paid his big contract to
10:26be.
10:27I need Ronald to be that same guy.
10:29And then that's the rest of it.
10:30I mean, you can't really argue with what you're getting.
10:33Now, Drake, he struggled coming back.
10:35It's been a real mixed bag.
10:36You think he's going to be all right?
10:37I hope so.
10:38I hope the All-Star break is right for him.
10:39Because, you know, that's the thing.
10:40He is in the All-Star game.
10:42Ozzie.
10:42We talked about Matt Olsen.
10:44Chris Sale has been money.
10:45You know, but you're going to have to go get another arm because I don't think you can bank on
10:48these guys when the rehab starts.
10:50Coming back.
10:50Good point.
10:51And J.R. Ritchie, he's a roller coaster.
10:53Unfortunately, it's not his fault.
10:54But earlier today, I looked it up.
10:56Oren and I were looking it up.
10:57The Braves have made twice the moves the Yankees have made.
11:00Give you an idea of how they've got to do it.
11:02You can look it up.
11:03ESPN gives you a chart of every single move that's made with the roster.
11:06The Braves are making, like, twice as many moves as some of the other teams in baseball right now.
11:09He's trying to maintain, right?
11:11It's not even that we're trying to extend the lead.
11:14We're just trying to maintain.
11:15And this is, you know, I mean, my God, Cookie Carrasco.
11:18This guy couldn't get arrested in the Mexican League, right?
11:21But this guy's been up and off this team four times.
11:24By the way, you want to tick off, Rays fans, just tell them we've reused.
11:27Signed, Cookie Carrasco.
11:28And Rowdy Tellez.
11:29I mean, that was a great story, what, four years ago in Milwaukee.
11:32He's been cut and he's back.
11:33I mean, Alex, my God, he must get carpal tunnel on his computer making all these moves.
11:39Familiarity, man.
11:39That's, you know what, he can help us for a game.
11:41He can help us for five innings.
11:42I'm going to bring him back.
11:44You guys can jump in here and let us know because we're getting ready for the All-Star
11:48game tomorrow.
11:49But look, this is also a time to reevaluate.
11:51And I'll say this.
11:53Braves have been having meetings.
11:55They've been doing everything they need to do to prepare for what's about to happen.
12:00And I want to give that organization credit from the standpoint of, Mike, it's not like
12:04they're sitting on their hands.
12:06They are looking at all of these options.
12:09But you just can't go steal a player because you want him.
12:11And you certainly are not going to just go make a trade because, well, that's the guy
12:15we want.
12:16And the team goes, well, we're not trading him.
12:17And I will tell you this, too.
12:18A lot of the guys you guys are mentioning or that we're talking about have no trade
12:22clauses.
12:24They have to say, sure, I'm willing to go.
12:27Right.
12:27And as we said, and Alex always argues with me about this, not really big fans are working
12:31with Scott Boris.
12:31So if it's a Boris client, that's kind of a red flag.
12:33They're not going to take on any salary.
12:35I guess the point we're making, and you're asking, Carl, is haven't they shown you enough
12:39in the first half?
12:39We know you've got the bench depth.
12:41But unfortunately, your two alphas aren't producing.
12:44Is that worth, Alex, investing some of your rookies, or I should say, your talent in the
12:48minor leagues, to go make a trade?
12:50And we've got a pretty good minor league system.
12:51I know you guys want to believe that we don't.
12:54A little misleading.
12:55Matter of fact, I don't know if you guys saw, who was it, Caminetti?
12:59Right.
12:59Did you see Caminetti in the Futures game?
13:01One, two, three, he's done.
13:03Okay, I've seen enough of him.
13:05Lefty who can throw it, Mike.
13:07And look, I'm not telling you he's going to be up here next week, but I think the minor league
13:12system as a whole is a lot better than a lot of people think.
13:15And if you are a team that's looking to poach, those are the kind of guys we're going to
13:19be giving up.
13:20And you're going to say, well, who cares?
13:21Well, it matters when we're struggling with pitching right now, and you're looking for
13:24the next few years, there are guys in this minor league system that I think are going
13:29to be here who can really help us, especially with the uncertainty of a guy like Strider.
13:33When a team like the Braves hasn't won the division in the last two years, and is sitting
13:36atop the division, and has been able to weather all the things we've just talked about, I
13:39think that's a team that's proven it's got some fight in it.
13:42And you've got to invest in it.
13:43And you've got to give the, and the fans, you know, there's always that fine line, to
13:46your point about the minor league system.
13:48Alex has never given away the farm in any deals he's made since he's been here.
13:51Mostly cash deals, to be honest with you.
13:54And if he's moved on from a guy, like the Vaughn, we had people, we had people like pulling
13:57their hair out of a Vaughn Grissom.
13:58He wasn't going to be that good.
14:00Right.
14:00So I think sometimes people are too married.
14:02Now the kid playing in Rome, non-negotiable.
14:05Different deal.
14:05No, I agree.
14:07Rusty was in here last week, and he's like, uh, don't you ever trade that kid.
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