00:00Bob Nightingale from USA Today joins us.
00:02And, Bob, first of all, thanks for coming out with us.
00:04We really appreciate it.
00:06Sure, my pleasure.
00:06So, Bob, as we were just saying, no one would have ever expected that this Red Sox team would be
00:12in this position right now where, God forbid, they're going to be buyers potentially.
00:17What are you hearing and what do you think this Red Sox team will do as the trade deadline approaches?
00:24I think they will be buyers.
00:25You know, the way they're playing, you know, down the stretch, just that 16-game stretch, you know, whatnot, whether
00:32they went 14-2, you know, that 9-0 road trip, it'd be crazy to sell.
00:39I mean, you're right there.
00:40And, you know, it's not like they're in the National League, you know, they don't have to beat out the
00:44Dodgers or the Phillies or Atlanta.
00:47The American League is wide open.
00:48There's no super team out there.
00:50So, all you got to do is just get into the dance, and they could be playing the World Series.
00:54So, knowing Craig Breslow and the way that he operates and really the position he's in right now where a
01:01couple of weeks ago, you know, his job was in jeopardy and may still be, how do you think he
01:06is going to act coming up this trade deadline?
01:09And do you think they will be aggressive, or is it going to kind of be some half measures as
01:14we've seen this team make in the past?
01:17Probably more a half measure, but you can say that about a lot of teams.
01:21You know, it's not like they're going in after Terrence Kubel, and, you know, they don't need Robbie Ray or
01:27things like that.
01:28There's just not a whole lot out there.
01:30So, that's why I say, you know, there's no reason to be, you know, real aggressive.
01:34All I can do is, you know, stay healthy and stay the course, you know, perhaps get, you know, crochet
01:40back, get story playing better, you know, that sort of thing.
01:43And you never know.
01:45But, I mean, that thing's so wide open.
01:48I mean, there's, what, 23 teams within a playoff spot right now.
01:52Who, of the sellers, who's an obvious seller, Bob, and, like, that would be, obviously, they need a bat and
01:58probably a right-handed bat.
01:58What are the candidates out there that, what teams should they even be thinking about?
02:03If you're a Sox fan, like, oh, this is an obvious team.
02:05We should check out their roster.
02:08Yeah.
02:08I mean, I think the, you know, the two big ones, of course, is San Francisco Giants and the New
02:14York Mets.
02:15You know, could they go after a, you know, a Luis Arise there?
02:19You know, could Jung-Hoo Lee, the outfielder, do they want to spend that kind of money?
02:24You know, Matt Chapman, do they really want to spend over $100 million to get him?
02:28And he does have a no-trade clause, you know, that sort of thing.
02:32You know, yeah, I think Lador could be available at some point.
02:37I just don't see them trading him now.
02:39You know, maybe, you know, maybe the Mets trade him in the offseason.
02:43You know, otherwise, you know, there's smaller candidates, too, whether it's a, you know, a Mickey Moniac, you know, those
02:50type of guys, you know, out of Chicago.
02:52I mean, I'm sorry, out of Colorado or Jake McCarthy.
02:55Hey, Bob, since the three wildcard team's been implemented since in 2022, is it just much harder to make a
03:03trade of any real significance at this time of year because it feels like everyone's in it?
03:09Yeah, absolutely.
03:10Like 60 transactions last year at the deadline.
03:14But, you know, it's a seller's market.
03:17I mean, people say who's going to be the winner, you know, winner-lose at the trading line.
03:21Well, the winner is going to be whoever sells because you're going to get a lot more for your players
03:25than you normally would.
03:27But, you know, I mean, look at just a couple years ago when Arizona Diamondbacks barely got in.
03:33Texas Rangers blew the division lead the last weekend.
03:35And those are the two teams in the World Series.
03:38Cleveland was dead and buried last year.
03:40You know, in August, they even sold.
03:42You know, then they're in the playoffs.
03:44So, it's wide open.
03:47Chad Tracy, we've had a lot of discussions about the job that he's done so far.
03:51And I personally think that, you know, if you take a look at how this team did not fold and
03:56the team did not turn on each other and become apathetic, which many teams that are that far out will
04:03usually do, I give the manager credit.
04:05When you take a look at the job Chad Tracy's done, how would you measure his performance up to this
04:10point?
04:12Well, I think he's done a very good job in the sense that, you know, when things were kept going
04:16bad and it looked like, you know, like you referenced to June 24th, they could easily quit and say, okay,
04:22we're done.
04:23Where are we going to be trading next?
04:25And for them to just, you know, have the belief that they can come back and do that, you know,
04:29that's a testament to Tracy.
04:31So, I would think if they make the playoffs or certainly come close, I would think you might as well,
04:38you know, keep the job.
04:39Yeah, I really would.
04:41But took it to make the playoffs.
04:42You know, you got to, you got to hang on to them.
04:45So, Bob, we had Buster only on a couple of, man, it was when things were at their worst.
04:49It was probably like six weeks ago, maybe.
04:51And he was saying that even when they were at their worst at that point, that ownership had been making
04:58calls trying to find a big bat.
05:01Have you heard anything about that?
05:03And how, like, how strange is that, that ownership would be going over the heads and making those phone calls?
05:12Yeah, you don't hear that.
05:16But I think when Buster reported that, you know, I haven't talked to Buster about it, but it was right
05:20after the owners' meetings.
05:22So, the owners talk all the time and they'll say, hey, what about a trade here?
05:26Just kind of playing armchair quarterback.
05:29You know, at those owners' meetings, as much as there's a big rivalry between the Yankees and Red Sox, those
05:34guys hang around the most, talking to each other, having some adult beverages, the Yankees and the Red Sox, you
05:41know, front office and ownership.
05:43So, it could have been something like that, where, you know, owners are doing that.
05:47They'll do that, you know, among themselves.
05:50And then, of course, you know, go back to their own GM and say, hey, what do you think?
05:54You know, I've talked to so-and-so, and he might be intrigued about something.
05:57Bob, do you think it's inevitable that this labor dispute is going to end up in a lockout?
06:01And how do you think that impacts the trade deadline here for some teams?
06:04Are they more aggressive because of it or less aggressive?
06:08Yeah, what I've heard from talking to GMs is just that there'll be less aggressive trading away young prospects.
06:15Say there is a salary cap.
06:17Those guys can be more valuable than ever because they're not making money, and you need those guys if you
06:22do need a slash payroll, that sort of thing.
06:25So, just that those guys are more valuable.
06:27Otherwise, I don't think it'll have much of an impact at all.
06:30And I really believe there'll be a season next year.
06:33We'll see if it's a hard six-two games, but I do believe there'll still be, you know, at least
06:39a hard 40 games played.
06:40We're talking to Bob Nightingale.
06:41And, Bob, are you hearing anything, any details about how the Red Sox just sent Roman Anthony down to Florida
06:48away from the team after his hand injury?
06:52Do you know any more details about that?
06:55And what does that mean to you that after all this time they've said, you're going down to Florida, come
07:03back when you're better?
07:05Like, what do you read from all this?
07:08I think just to get away with, you know, getting him away from answering questions all the time, people asking
07:14how you're doing, that sort of thing.
07:16And maybe just, you know, on his timetable and maybe more of a mental rest than anything else, you know,
07:22without being constantly asked about it, whether it's by reporters, coaches, his teammates, you know, that sort of thing.
07:29That's all.
07:30I mean, I saw him a lot of, you know, WBC, you know, that wasn't, I mean, it wasn't an
07:34issue at all.
07:34So, I don't know what happened when he got back to the WC, you know, if his workouts compounded the
07:41problem or something else.
07:43But, yeah, maybe just, it might be just more of a mental break than anything else.
07:46This is strange.
07:47I have to admit, I mean, it's so weird because the injury isn't like anything I've seen before, and it
07:52seems like it's a pain tolerance thing.
07:54Do you, have you heard anything more about, like, what it is and what they expect as far as when
08:00he comes back and what the attitude of management is about all of this happening?
08:06No, I'm sure they've got to look and say, okay, what do we do wrong here?
08:09Why is this taking so long?
08:11And, you know, was he swinging too much?
08:13And what were you guys doing here?
08:15So, you see that.
08:17You see that more and more times where, you know, teams are misdiagnosing something or just the wrong, you know,
08:24cure, what have you.
08:25So, I think it's actually smart having him get away to Florida and just, you know, come back at his
08:31own timetable, make sure he's 100% without feeling pressure to, hey, I've got to come back now to help
08:37this team on this volleyball.
08:39Got the big contract and everything else.
08:40All right, well, Bob Nightingale from USA Today, awesome having you on, and it's going to be an interesting couple
08:46of weeks here.
08:46I know that none of us expected to be talking about this team possibly buying at the trade deadline, but
08:53nonetheless, it'll be interesting to see what Breslow does.
08:57Yeah, no, it's wide open.
08:59Like I said, particularly American League, you get in the dance, you could be playing in late October.
09:04Awesome.
09:04Well, thanks so much, Bob Nightingale.
09:06Thanks for coming on with us.
09:06We appreciate it.
09:07Take care.
09:08All right, be good.
Comments