00:00Good morning.
00:01Good morning.
00:02How are you guys?
00:03It's a little steamy this morning.
00:05Yeah, what's going on in the studio here?
00:07Well, it's a little steamy in the studio.
00:08It's a little steamy outside.
00:09It's a little stinky in the studio.
00:11I would like to just point out I was the last one here.
00:14And I double checked.
00:14I put on deodorant today.
00:15It's not me.
00:16I mean, Brendan was here for a while.
00:18Are you pointing fingers?
00:20No, it doesn't necessarily smell like a human scent.
00:23It's just...
00:26Like mildewy?
00:27Yeah, a little mildewy.
00:28Mildewy, just a little...
00:30A little stank going on.
00:31Do you want heat?
00:33No.
00:33Do you want AC?
00:34We got to get something blowing through here.
00:36I think you have to have AC.
00:36Okay.
00:37Yeah.
00:37I don't want to be cold, but yeah, it needs some circulation.
00:41Stench.
00:41Do you have a second blanket?
00:42You normally have a blanket.
00:43I do have a blanket.
00:44It's at my desk.
00:45Heather's going to be bundled up.
00:45It's your Tigers blanket.
00:46There you go.
00:47All covered.
00:47Yes.
00:48Unlike the Tigers.
00:49No kidding.
00:51We really are going to be starting to transition to football.
00:54We have a Big Ten media poll.
00:55We have a Tuesday touchdown with training camp beginning today.
00:59We are going to make an honest effort to get more football talk in the mix, especially
01:03John, as the Tigers season is coming to a close.
01:06It is.
01:07But here's the thing.
01:11We can have the Tigers season going on in the background like we did back in 24.
01:19They have a very similar record.
01:21They should do a very similar thing.
01:23Now, selling Jack Flaherty versus selling Tarek Skubal, completely different levels in regards
01:28to what you're going to get in return.
01:29And so the excitement of, okay, well, let's take a look at these prospects.
01:33Let's see what we get back in return.
01:35There will be more discussion about that than what we got for Jack Flaherty.
01:40But they are right now five.
01:44What are they?
01:4550 and 57.
01:47Seven games below 500.
01:50And back in 2024, they were seven and a half back.
01:54So they're not that much dissimilar to where they were.
01:58And we all know that they sold in 24, brought up the young guys and made a run, made the
02:04postseason.
02:05That's exactly what they should do.
02:07And we will monitor that in the background.
02:11Yeah.
02:12Three straight losses, 50 and 57.
02:17They will spend more than 90 consecutive days with a losing record.
02:21Yep.
02:21They will have a losing record on trade deadline day.
02:24No way.
02:24No way to get back to 500 before Monday.
02:27There is no more if, what if they go on it.
02:32It's done.
02:33They're sellers at the deadline.
02:34Teams with losing records sell at the deadline.
02:37And Scott Harris, we get to find out what he's made of.
02:40Does he have the chops to pull off this Scooble deal?
02:43Because it's the clear cut, obvious choice now.
02:47I don't think there's really any need to fight it.
02:49If you'd like to throw a tantrum, the team had 100 games to play better baseball.
02:53They haven't.
02:54So the question now is, do they sell Scooble and try and do what they did in 24?
03:01Still be able to compete, which is possible.
03:05Yeah, look, I don't think they should stop trying to win games.
03:08But if, hey, what we're going to see now is, what is the philosophy of Scott Harris?
03:15Is it not just Tarek Scooble, but it's Mize, it's Torres, it's anybody on an expiring contract?
03:22Then you're looking at it going, hey, it is waving the white flag.
03:25I don't think that's what they do.
03:27That is a possibility.
03:29I don't want anybody to be shocked if that's what Scott Harris decides to do.
03:34And ultimately, that may be what is best for the Tigers long term.
03:40Not going to be fun for the rest of the season, but it may be best for what's the long
03:46-term
03:46prospects of this team.
03:47Let me take each of those names quickly.
03:49Should they move Torres?
03:51Hayuli has played well since June 1st.
03:53He would deserve extended playing time down the stretch.
03:55You could make peace with it.
03:56Torres could be an attractive piece for a contender, right?
03:59Professional approach at the plate.
04:00Makes sense if you want to move him.
04:02Yes.
04:02Mize, I think, is a little tricky.
04:04Because I think there's a chance you could re-sign him.
04:06I don't feel the same way about Scooble.
04:08And you get a comp pick, could be comp A pick for Mize.
04:12I'm not sure if you're getting top 100 caliber prospects or A prospect for Mize.
04:17So that's a stickier one.
04:19The Scooble one is nobody believes he's here beyond this season.
04:22The price tag is going to be too high.
04:23He'll go to the highest bidder.
04:24And you should be able to get a haul for him.
04:27So he's the one you have to move.
04:29I agree.
04:29I'm just saying, if it's not stapled down, it could be moved.
04:34But I think we find out what Scott Harris is made of.
04:36Yeah.
04:37Because it's not a, well, I can't sell because I'm still in it.
04:41Excuse, defense.
04:42No, you got to, I know, it's tough to stomach trading your ace pitcher.
04:47But we've been telling you, this is the way it's got to go if you don't turn it around.
04:51And they haven't turned it around.
04:52So you can't fight it anymore.
04:53I don't know how you sell Mize and you try to sell and compete.
04:58No, no, no.
04:58Like, to me, Mize is the white flag.
05:01Like, that's them saying, we're not trying to do what we did in 2024.
05:06I don't expect them to do that.
05:08If they trade Scoobal, I still think they're going to try to compete.
05:11I think the buy would just be a bullpen arm.
05:14Something Finnegan-like from last year.
05:16That kind of guy.
05:17And I do think you should trade Torres if you can get something of value in return.
05:23I think you can compete selling, I think there's a world where you could compete selling Torres
05:28and Scoobal.
05:30I think you can as well because you still have a really good pitching staff and you've got
05:35how you leave that, especially in July, now that he's more comfortable at the major league
05:39level, has played extremely well.
05:41But I don't think there's a chance in hell they're buying a right-handed bat.
05:46Nope.
05:46Oh, no.
05:47They're not buyers.
05:48They're not going to buy a bullpen arm.
05:52They're not going to buy anything.
05:56Oh, I think there's a world where they would sell Scoobal and try to buy, like I said,
05:59some sort of a Finnegan-like move from last year just to add depth to the bullpen.
06:05Give up something in the farm that they don't really care about.
06:08In this world that I'm presenting, you wanted to say...
06:10You're saying you give up your 19th rated prospect to get a seventh-inning arm?
06:16Is that what you're proposing?
06:18Yeah, yeah.
06:18Something minuscule that is kind of harmless.
06:20And this is all based on what you said, John.
06:24They're in the background.
06:26That you sell Scoobal and maybe Torres, and maybe you can pull off a repeat of 2024.
06:32I think the issue is they have to realize they're more than just one bullpen arm away from having
06:41a responsible bullpen.
06:44And unfortunately, that's what has cost them so many games.
06:49And can we also acknowledge that 2024 was miraculous?
06:54It is not to be expected.
06:56It is not to be planned for.
06:59It is not...
07:00Look, get your hopes up if you'd like, but understand part of what made 2024 so special is it was
07:06rare.
07:07It does not happen every time you sell at the deadline, you catch lightning in a bottle and
07:12come back and make the postseason.
07:14They should be preparing to miss the playoffs because they've played losing baseball for
07:18almost 100 days.
07:20I totally agree with you.
07:21I'm not saying they're going to do anything here.
07:23I'm just saying that you absolutely have to sell Scoobal at this point.
07:26And whatever happens, happens after that.
07:28I don't think they're going to be full sellers to where you trade anything you can get.
07:33I don't think they'll trade Mize because I think they're going to try to sell.
07:37They're going to sell to the fans that we're still going to try to compete here.
07:41They're going to try to sell that Baez is their right-handed bat.
07:43His return is imminent.
07:45It could be tonight.
07:46Like an outman could be gone.
07:48That could happen.
07:49Job is coming soon.
07:52Right.
07:52And if they don't sell Mize, if they don't sell Torres, if it's not stapled down and they
08:01decide that they're going to try and compete and we're going to keep them in the background,
08:05see how they do, the only one that I could accept not selling would be Mize because I
08:13do think it would be of great value for them to resign him and have him a part of the
08:19staff
08:19last year.
08:20Everything else I think should be, should be gone.
08:23You, you, I still want to compete.
08:25There's no question.
08:26I want to compete, but if what's going to be best for this team in whenever they play
08:33baseball next, well, you mentioned it's time for Scott to play hardball.
08:38Hardball is Mize to a degree.
08:40Like you better have an idea if you can resign him.
08:43He's the team's player rep.
08:45Yeah.
08:45So he's definitely going to be fighting for dollars.
08:48Like he should hardball is.
08:51All right.
08:51Do we, we're having conversations with his agent.
08:53Is this something that we're going to be able to get done?
08:56If not, what do you do?
08:58Move them.
09:00But only if you're going to get more than you would get for him, him walking.
09:03Right.
09:04Which I think is murkier.
09:07There's no question.
09:08It's murkier.
09:08With Scoobl, it's obvious.
09:09You should be able to get more.
09:10You have a premium pitcher who would submit someone as a World Series, I don't know, favorite,
09:14co-favorite, or threat to the Dodgers.
09:16That piece is on the block.
09:17It should be on the block.
09:18He should be dealt ASAP for the right move.
09:21Right.
09:23The question is, what is it that you're going to get back in return?
09:28And is it, in the long term, going to be of value to this franchise?
09:33And if you can re-sign Mize, and I think that they should.
09:35They should put together every effort to sign him for what his value is.
09:40Because his value is going to be about half of what Scoobl ends up signing for.
09:46248-539-9797, we're on to training camp.
09:516.35, Tuesday touchdown, all Lions questions as the team vets report today.
09:57So much fun.
09:59As the Tigers limp to the deadline, football season is here.
10:03Coming up next, a Big Ten media poll and a little snippet of what to expect from our local
10:10teams, the favorite in the Big Ten, this year's Indiana, and more.
10:14That's coming up next, 97.1.
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