00:00I love it. Not used to it.
00:04Do we do the credit thing yet or no?
00:07When it comes to the players, to the trades that they made.
00:12Because I think these are good moves.
00:15Of course they're good moves.
00:17I'm just pointing out here, I think, well, any Guardians,
00:20Buster Olney is over the moon.
00:23I don't know if there's anybody in the national media
00:25who's liked the Guardians more over the last 20 years than Buster Olney.
00:28I think that guy, he may celebrate if they win the World Series
00:31at some point here in the near future.
00:35I thought that this was a surprise.
00:37I really did.
00:39I thought that this was going to, somebody asked me,
00:40I went to the game on Friday night, and as I was walking by,
00:45somebody asked me, I go, I think you should just be excited
00:52on how Martinez is back and Jose Ramirez is back,
00:56and those are your quote-unquote additions at the trade deadline.
01:00And they didn't like the answer, and I laughed,
01:02and we laughed together because I was like, I don't like giving it to you.
01:04And then they go out and they get Foster Griffin,
01:06who is a very good starting pitcher and having a good season
01:09for a team that's not so great.
01:11This guy is such an insane story.
01:14Yes.
01:15Do you want to continue that?
01:17Because I want to get into these hitters, though.
01:18I mean, everybody loves talking to hitters, but talk about the pitcher.
01:20Talk about the pitcher.
01:21We got four hours to talk about these hitters.
01:23Just the fact that it set me right back into, what was it, 1999?
01:30When did they get Dave Berba?
01:33And they had a guy because, you know.
01:36Dave Berba.
01:37Not a bad pitcher, by the way.
01:39Yeah.
01:39Not bad at all.
01:40Well, what was the term?
01:41Crafty.
01:42Crafty.
01:43Crafty.
01:43Because this guy came back, emerged from the Orient with seven pitches.
01:50Is he technically a rookie?
01:53Apparently.
01:54This is crazy.
01:55He's in his 30s.
01:56He's had a very nice season so far.
01:59It bolsters a group that, I think that, again, they're underrated
02:07when it comes to the national perspective.
02:09I think that they are, I think they're actually given sympathy by Guardians fans
02:14in so many ways because you have these outings that end up being nothing for this team
02:20because of the hitting.
02:22And that brings us to Joe Adele and Nathaniel Lowe.
02:26Where Nathaniel Lowe, it's a weird group of how they get him.
02:32Because a guy like Joe Adele, he's not hitting the 37, was it 37 home runs the other year?
02:39Oh, yeah.
02:40He's not, I don't think you're approaching 37 ever again.
02:43But you get, I believe, a year and a half of control over him.
02:48And you have to remember where you're taking him from.
02:50You're taking him from one of the worst organizations in professional sports.
02:54It's not just one of the worst, it's not just the worst organization in baseball.
02:58It's one of the worst organizations in professional sports.
03:01And I understand that we always hone in on certain organizations,
03:04but they're the worst, they're one of the worst in professional sports.
03:07And so you have this guy who's in this more bun franchise,
03:11who's still able to hit lefties, who's certainly better at hitting lefties.
03:18And then you have a guy like Nathaniel Lowe, who, if I'm not mistaken,
03:22does not hit the righties very well.
03:23So you will move these guys around.
03:26Neither are tremendous, obviously, defensively.
03:30Like Nathaniel Lowe is going to be a DH.
03:32He's fallen off the map defensively in so many ways.
03:35I understand that they've sent down Kyle Manzardo.
03:38So I might come to rue those words at some given point here.
03:41Maybe he will play.
03:42I mean, he was a gold glove candidate at one point in his career.
03:45Joe Adele is a guy that is not the best defensive player,
03:51but you didn't get him for his defense.
03:52You didn't get him for any of that.
03:54So you will use a lot of this, which I understand brings out the P word.
03:59And people don't like the P word, but I think that you see what the P word is,
04:02this is platoon, and I think a lot more teams do it than we just realized.
04:06I think the hardcore baseball fan knows that that's kind of the way it is.
04:11You're playing your odds as best you can each and every night.
04:14And so you have a platoon situation, which it just sounds like we're just
04:20trying to piecemeal it together when you say that, but it's not the meaning of it.
04:24It's good thoughts.
04:25It's good baseball.
04:27And bringing both of these guys in, one for the righties, one for the lefties,
04:30especially for the lefties, a guy who hits the ball hard,
04:33a guy who obviously has more home runs than you have on your baseball team.
04:38It was 16.
04:39He's going to be the leader in it.
04:41I just, I think I'm surprised.
04:42I'm so pleasantly surprised.
04:44I give credit to everybody involved with it.
04:46Yes, that includes the ownership, and I'm sure we'll have a knockdown drag out
04:49over that at some point.
04:51But, again, I just, I was so surprised, elated, I think would be the word for that,
04:58that, yeah, this is an upside-down year because of everything going on
05:03with the offseason coming up here.
05:05And I thought they could have sat on their hands.
05:06I expected them to sit on their hands.
05:08They didn't.
05:09And I think it's a wide-open American League, and I think that they can go ahead,
05:12and if they gel, which is always the case, yeah, they can vie for the American League here.
05:17And I don't think I'm being over the top when I say something like that.
05:21I don't think it's just some runaway.
05:23Like, if we were in the National League, maybe we wouldn't be doing that so much.
05:26Like, maybe it's like, hey, you're going to play the Dodgers in the, okay,
05:29well, there's a difference between playing the Dodgers in the NLCS
05:32and playing the Dodgers in the World Series.
05:34All right?
05:35Like, if I go play the Dodgers in the World Series, I lose to the Dodgers in the World Series.
05:39I'm one of the three straight opponents that they were beating.
05:42I'm frustrated.
05:43I'm disappointed.
05:44But I'm not screaming at the rooftops at everybody over here
05:47because I don't think they're ruining baseball.
05:49I think it's everybody, and they're exploiting that.
05:51But still, it's a hell of a franchise, a juggernaut of a franchise.
05:55But we're in the American League, and our route to get through the postseason is, dare I say, easier.
06:03But I think they can certainly navigate that, and I think that this is a team that, yes,
06:07the American League is up for grabs, and they can go out and grab it,
06:10even though, yes, they are behind in the Central, and they are barely over .500.
06:14I don't give a damn.
06:15I think that they can go and get it, and I'm glad that they recognize that.
06:17Go ahead.
06:18Well, I think they also had to take notice of, like, what the Red Sox had been doing.
06:22The Red Sox looked like the best team in baseball over the last however many months.
06:27They had completely turned their season around.
06:29Obviously, you know the Yankees are going to be someone in your way as well.
06:33So, like, they were pretty much dead on arrival.
06:36The roster, and we said that this week, like, other than it's baseball,
06:40we had nothing else to say about really their chances to reach a higher level
06:45come postseason because this team was not built like a team that could get to the World Series.
06:50They're probably, honestly, still not in that category, but they helped themselves along,
06:57and if they get anything, I mean, this Jose Ramirez season has been just a disaster.
07:01I mean, it really has been now at this point.
07:03Well, because of the injury.
07:03Before the injury.
07:04Yeah, I know.
07:05And so he hasn't even looked remotely like the guy that's a perennial MVP,
07:13someone who gets substantial votes for the MVP.
07:16Like, he's in that conversation every year, and he won't get any this year.
07:20That's how bad he's been.
07:21So they need him to come along, but you're right.
07:25Every year we're used to saying, hey, guys that are injured, we're getting them at the deadline.
07:29That's a big deal.
07:30And then fans would roll their eyes.
07:32And, yeah, we'd still jump on board for the stretch run and get excited
07:35and try to take advantage as best we could of either a downed division
07:39or a downed set of circumstances in the American League.
07:43They basically gave up nothing.
07:45I mean, this is how additive this was compared to where your roster was,
07:49is that they made these moves.
07:51They added three players.
07:53And you gave up, what, somebody who was, I think at one point, a top 15 prospect
08:00who had kind of fallen out of it in Cozart.
08:02And that's it.
08:03Like, what else did you really give up to add these players who for sure are going to be able
08:09to help you
08:10down the stretch here?
08:11And more pop when it comes to the plate.
08:14And then you add a pitcher who's, I told you, his story is so insane that, you know,
08:19Crafty doesn't even begin to explain it.
08:22And then out of nowhere, obviously, to get him where they are, they're selling high.
08:26Who cares?
08:27I mean, who cares?
08:27He's going to be a free agent anyway.
08:29Anyway, this is awesome because it gives you the chance with your already pretty good rotation
08:38to now maybe bounce.
08:39I don't know what you think is going to happen, but Ciccone gets probably bounced to the bullpen.
08:46Yeah, because, I mean, Cantillo, I just have so much respect for him.
08:51He's probably one of my favorite guardians in some way, somehow.
08:54I understand that that's going to make some people go, what?
08:56But I just think that he could be, he just, some people took this the wrong way.
09:02He's an innings eater.
09:03I think I can count on him.
09:04And it's not one of the top three guys that you think of.
09:06It's like, all right, we're going to, like, no, he is a fourth guy in this rotation, but
09:11he's fabulous.
09:12And he probably becomes a fifth guy.
09:14But you'd be nervous.
09:15He does become the fifth guy with Foster Grimm.
09:16In an ALDS.
09:18Yeah.
09:18You'd be nervous on that day when you're getting ready to trot him out there.
09:23You know, comparatively speaking, when we're talking about trying to make
09:26a legitimate run.
09:28And Cantillo's going tonight for, I believe.
09:30Against the Mets.
09:31Francisco did not get traded.
09:33So, this is, I think this is going to be really exciting.
09:38You know, compare this to, you know, some of the moves they made in 2016 and 2017.
09:45You know, this isn't Andrew Miller, but this is, this is kind of a different kind of all-in
09:51approach that they went in.
09:53I think it's super exciting.
09:55Probably because, let's be honest, we had no expectations.
09:57I did not think they were going to do much at all.
09:59I didn't think either.
09:59In fact, I thought that first move was going to be it.
10:01And that was going to be it for the day.
10:02Well, because I, I really thought, see, now, all right, you're going to have to help me
10:06on this.
10:08Because I, I woke up this morning, 320.
10:11And I, social media is social media.
10:14What social media reactions are brought to you by, Kayla?
10:16Scheiben Jewelers, Cleveland's premier jewelry store.
10:186.14 and 43 seconds for those scoring at home.
10:21I am so surprised that I might be overdoing it a little bit.
10:29I'll admit my emotions and my foibles here.
10:31Because I said, I go credit where it's due.
10:34And you have an owner who, I understand, is not the most popular figure in town.
10:39But he has empowered his organization to make moves.
10:43And I understand it's not adding a ton to the payroll, but it's still where you, okay,
10:48fine, you hit the green light and you allowed your front office to make moves on this.
10:53And I, and I had a back and forth with some because I'm like, well, wait a minute.
10:56Like, Luis Castillo got traded and they put $40 million extra because he just got signed
11:01to that contract with the Mariners.
11:03He got traded to the White Sox.
11:04They took, so would we rather get the better pitcher and pay less?
11:07Or do we just want to pay more just so we look better on the payroll?
11:10Like that to me, it doesn't compute because I have to argue that against myself, Tony,
11:16against myself.
11:16Because yesterday I told you during the show, they're in a tough spot where, yeah, I think
11:23it's a well-run franchise.
11:24We all get that.
11:26I think they try to do their best.
11:28But I think for a frustrated Guardians fan, a Guardians fan first, it's like, when are
11:32you going to really step over the line and do this?
11:35Is this just something where we're waiting for David Blitzer?
11:37And then, of course, you and I have always said, well, you always got to be careful what
11:41you wish for.
11:41He can always just come in here with his people and just run it like a business.
11:44And hopefully, like, okay, let's keep ourselves out of it.
11:47But, I mean, we saw some of the stuff that went on with LeBron James, so maybe he would
11:53be very involved here.
11:54So it is a weird thing where I have to let the dust settle before I really stand strong
11:59with one thing or another.
12:00I just want to be as consistent as possible in an inconsistent situation.
12:05Because I got to tell you, I really, I was taken aback that they made these moves.
12:09I was.
12:10I mean, trading Bo Naylor was trading Bo Naylor.
12:12That was something that needed to happen.
12:14That's a change of scenery.
12:15But I think with everything else, it's like, well, I mean, I'm just very, very, very surprised
12:21in what they did.
12:23And I am happy.
12:25I don't want to say elated because they got to go out there and they got to play.
12:28And we're still three games down in the center.
12:30I know we got the wild card right now.
12:32But three games down in the center, like, there's a lot of things that need to happen.
12:35But I'm just glad that they went out and tried to maximize their odds for those things happening.
12:39Yeah.
12:40And I do wonder if we got it all wrong just in the lead up.
12:44I'll be honest.
12:44It's not like we did a ton of primer for the Guardians trade deadline.
12:50Kind of gave up on it.
12:51I'll be honest.
12:55I did nothing to help get the town excited about the trade deadline.
12:59No, I totally agree with you.
13:00I wanted to spend more time on whether or not it was cheap to bunt the sixth inning to lead
13:05that off.
13:06And then Steven Vogt going out there and raising hell as the rain was starting to come down
13:10and a rain delay.
13:11I thought that that was a way bigger issue because I just didn't think that they were going
13:14to do anything.
13:15We didn't either.
13:15Now, maybe we discounted a couple things.
13:17Maybe this wasn't your typical trade deadline because of all the reasons we had talked about,
13:23which was the impending, looming, almost inevitable work stoppage that maybe changed a lot of the
13:33team's philosophies.
13:35I mean, look at what you gave up to get these three players who are better than what you
13:40had.
13:42Not a ton.
13:43Yeah.
13:44Not a ton.
13:44Yeah.
13:45So maybe we underestimated what that feeling was throughout Major League Baseball and all
13:51of this.
13:51216-474-0092.
13:53How much better are you feeling?
13:54Because I don't think anybody feels worse.
13:56How much better are you feeling about their chances?
13:57Can I say that they can compete for the American League right now?
14:01Or am I being a little bit overzealous and too excited?
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