- 26 minutes ago
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00John, Jed Hoyer, who's been a guest on our show before, it's really been a busy year, right?
00:06Lots of extensions, lots of work in the offseason, especially Bregman, and he didn't stop.
00:11They've been in go-for-it mode, including acquiring two Met pitchers, David Peterson and Clay Holmes, not to mention
00:18Tyrone Taylor.
00:19And he's our guest this week as they try to track down the Brewers.
00:23Yeah, a lot going on in the Windy City.
00:25Jed's one of our favorites, been on many times on the show now, so give him credit for enduring the
00:31two of us.
00:31But they got the White Sox, the Red Hot White Sox, first place White Sox coming in starting today.
00:39So that's big.
00:41And certainly they were big at the deadline, and they got a lot of injuries, so a lot to talk
00:45about with Jed.
00:47Yeah, a little north side, south side in your college town.
00:50Is it this week, right, with the Cubs and the White Sox?
00:54It's been shocking that the White Sox are in.
00:56We expected the Cubs, but it's really a surprise.
00:59We expected New York, New York to both be contending at this time.
01:03Also, we only have half of that with the Yankees.
01:06We're going to talk a lot about their offense.
01:07We'll sneak in a little on the Mets.
01:09We'll play hit and error at the end.
01:10If you stick with us, on the show with Joel Sherman and John Haven.
01:18John, another week of bad offense by the New York Yankees this week.
01:26And yet, can I offer just some big picture stuff?
01:29They've pretty much held the second best record in the American League, pretty much either the best or the second
01:34best the entire season.
01:36They're 69-55 as we talk.
01:39As much as they misjudge, they actually are 33-32 without them.
01:43They're over .500, not as much as you'd hope for.
01:47They're pitching.
01:49Their ERA is the best in the sport.
01:50And, John, it just feels terrible watching it, right, because they can score, and they're not capitalizing on terrific pitching.
01:58Where if their offense had just been slightly below average for the last six, seven weeks, they'd probably be in
02:05first place.
02:07What's your thoughts about watching this and how bad this offense has been for now since the middle of June?
02:16Yeah, it's terrible.
02:17Their offense is just abysmal.
02:19Their last in batting average, near the bottom on base, terrible with runners in scoring position.
02:28Since Judge went out, I mean, to be one game over in this league when it's not a very good
02:34league is not that impressive.
02:36To be this far behind Tampa Bay, which spends nothing, is completely unimpressive.
02:43I can't believe that if this is the team in October that they're going to go very far, other than
02:49the fact that the competition isn't that strong.
02:52I still believe, and we've been talking about this from the beginning, the best teams are all in the National
02:58League.
02:59I think the four best teams are in the National League, and they are fortunate for that.
03:04Look, I give Tampa Bay credit on record.
03:06They're probably one of the best four teams.
03:08They're probably in the top four.
03:10But, you know, I think they're benefiting from the weak league as well.
03:14Certainly, they're in a better division than the other divisions in the American League, but they're not good.
03:20They cannot hit.
03:21None of them have really been hitting since Judge went out.
03:25You know, it's missing Judge, but then everybody else has slid back down, too.
03:29Yeah, you know, John, I think if you watch them right now, I don't know that I could say anything
03:34worse about them,
03:35or maybe this is something good to say about George Lombard Jr.
03:38He takes the best at-bats on the team.
03:41He uses the whole field.
03:43He's not afraid to hit with two strikes.
03:45He doesn't swing and miss a ton.
03:47I actually think that the results might not be there.
03:50I actually think Spencer Jones' at-bats are good.
03:52He works counts deep.
03:54When he squares up a ball, he hits it well.
03:56He also seems not afraid to try to hit with two strikes.
04:00Wells has hit a little better now for four or five weeks.
04:03To me, John, the thing that stands out is the Yankees are a walk-home run team.
04:08And when opposing pitchers recognize, especially in a judgeless lineup,
04:14hey, you know what?
04:15We're not walking you.
04:17We'll take a shot at seeing if we can find places in the zone not to give up slug.
04:22Because this is a batting average free lineup.
04:25They just don't hit enough to produce runs when they don't.
04:30You know, you mentioned runners in scoring position.
04:32Runners in scoring position generally means you need a hit.
04:35You know, you could get a sacrifice fly, etc.
04:38But they do not accumulate batting average.
04:42There's no multi-hit innings.
04:44There's just like one, two, three in the first inning all the time without Judge,
04:49who was such a great first inning force and I think helped everyone else.
04:53I'm blown away by how little they successfully land the ball for a hit.
04:58Yeah, we're past that era where teams would go for walks and home runs and that was it.
05:04The Astros were a team that put the ball in play.
05:07I know they did some other stuff that people don't like and I get that.
05:10Last year, Toronto put the ball in play better than anybody.
05:14They made it all the way to the World Series.
05:15Should have won the World Series.
05:17Yeah, I mean, if you're hitting 220 over 65 games,
05:22you're not really going to win a lot of games.
05:25They are slightly over 500 in that period.
05:28I get it.
05:28Their pitching has been spectacular.
05:31Their starting pitching is the best in the American League, I believe.
05:34I mean, Boston's pretty good, but I think theirs is the best.
05:38Can you win with great starting pitching and no hitting?
05:41I doubt it.
05:42I really do.
05:43I really don't see that happening.
05:45They need to hit better.
05:47Certainly, Bellinger, when he comes back,
05:50I think I was told that probably around September 1st,
05:53might be a few days before.
05:55We'll see.
05:56That will help a little bit, but they need Judge.
05:59And we still have no clear idea of when Judge is coming back, right?
06:03We really don't know.
06:04They've said they believe he's coming back.
06:06At the beginning, it was where he's coming back.
06:09We know he's going to come back.
06:11Then it was we believe he's coming back.
06:13I mean, he's certainly not coming back in August, right?
06:15So their best hope at this point is the middle of September
06:18in a couple of weeks.
06:20Can they win the World Series without Aaron Judge?
06:23I don't believe that they can.
06:25I think they need him.
06:27You know, and even with them, I'm concerned about that offense.
06:31I really am.
06:32They got too many guys hitting in the low 200s.
06:34And you're right about Lombard.
06:35Lombard's been great.
06:36And he's their best defensive player as well.
06:39Yeah, it's been really, really impressive.
06:41John, just to put a fine line, starting in mid-June,
06:46which was like it was about June 18th or so.
06:48It's the last 52 games where it's been particularly terrible.
06:52Like, okay, when they give up no runs, you know,
06:55a starter gives up no runs, they're 8-3.
06:58Okay?
06:59When a starter gives up one run, they're 9-8.
07:03They're one game over 500 when they're starting.
07:05When a starter gives up two runs, they're 3-4.
07:09When a starter gives up three runs, they're 2-5.
07:14I mean, it's like they always – and so the question to me, John,
07:18is also it's not just wasting, but there's zero pitches being thrown
07:24without stress by this Yankee team.
07:26Like even winning yesterday, Ryan Weathers was really good.
07:29That was, you know, like a high stressful, you can't give up a run,
07:33seven-ish innings.
07:35Right.
07:35Well, they were facing Cease, yes.
07:37Yes.
07:38And Cease may win the –
07:39But Shane Bieber the night before hasn't pitched –
07:43Well, it's been going on 65 games, right, without Judge.
07:46Yeah, it's bad.
07:47It's been bad since June 1st, since Judge went out.
07:51And, you know, there's a history of when Judge misses games,
07:54they end up losing in every year.
07:57But I didn't think – they have a losing record or barely a winning record
08:01over 65 games with this team.
08:05It should be better.
08:07They should hit better.
08:09We would think overall, Wells would be better.
08:13McMahon would be better.
08:14Grisham, although he's been better lately, would be better.
08:18You know, they just – they have not hit as a team.
08:21They really have not.
08:21But, you know, the guy who I think has killed him the most is Chisholm.
08:25You know, I think I might have mentioned on this show,
08:28and I know I did on the webcast we do on the Yankees,
08:33before the season began, I did worry about Chisholm
08:36because I think he is a certain – has a certain mindset,
08:40a certain kind of player, that him in his walk year,
08:44especially when he started talking about how much money he wanted
08:46over 10 years, he's the kind of guy –
08:49I think it was eight years, but okay.
08:51He could talk himself into hitting 200 with 200 strikeouts,
08:55and I think that's kind of like where we're at with him,
08:58and I think it's affected him on both sides of the ball.
09:02It's just not winning baseball that he's bringing.
09:05They did start – Boone started against a righty,
09:10Jose Caballero, on Sunday.
09:12I think he needs to do more of it.
09:15You know, Caballero is a nuisance.
09:16He brings some energy.
09:18He's also, you know, imperfect.
09:20But, like, it feels to me like Jazz is a weight right now.
09:24Like, he's feeling it so much, and he's still hitting the guy
09:27fifth in the lineup often, or sixth.
09:29I just – it's just not bringing enough to the party.
09:32Yeah, you brought that up.
09:34It was the last week or the week before, and I said,
09:35I mean, they've got to keep playing Chisholm.
09:37He's a 30 home run guy.
09:38He's a 30 steal guy.
09:40He's got better range than anybody.
09:42But isn't it that he calories a little bit?
09:45Yeah, that's what I'm saying.
09:46I'm going with you now.
09:48He's Stephon Marbury.
09:49Right.
09:49Like, I know you hate basketball now.
09:51He's Stephon Marbury.
09:52Well, I mean, not even – he has bad stats now.
09:55I mean, even Stephon Marbury didn't have a year where he had, you know,
09:58averaged 11 points a game and had a 38% shooting percentage.
10:04Right.
10:05You know, he's been bad.
10:08You know, I'm kind of with you.
10:10And we addressed this early on the show about Covey being a nuisance.
10:14And, yeah, that annoyed me.
10:15But he's – even without that part of the game, he's been helpful.
10:23He really has.
10:24He's done good stuff.
10:25So I know Boone said it was just one day off.
10:29You know, what's he going to – of course he's going to say that.
10:32And I think he may be – we're going to see a lot more of Caballero at second base.
10:37And as you pointed out, it was against a righty, not just any righty.
10:40But a righty, that's a sign.
10:43That's a sign.
10:44You know, we can listen to Boone's words, but we kind of sometimes have to,
10:48you know, wonder what's behind the words, you know.
10:53Yeah.
10:53I wouldn't be – look, if he's going to bring something to the party,
10:58I wouldn't say that Chisholm or McMahon have earned the right to play against every righty.
11:03Like I'd have to see more.
11:05And I would play Caballero at second or third with some popularity
11:09and get his speed, energy, et cetera, into the lineup.
11:13John, can I ask, as a way to wrap up the Yankees perhaps, two big picture questions.
11:18I'll break them up.
11:19The first one is I do – do you wonder and have any level of concern if you're the Yankees
11:27that you're kind of going to burn out the pitching by, you know,
11:31the fact that they're – these are 1-0, 2-1, 3-2 games every day.
11:36I think they hope to get Rodon back maybe this next term at Clark Schmidt not too far down.
11:42And that should add to his circle of trust.
11:45But, like, going forward here, do you worry about it?
11:48I mean, I think every team is worried about that, right?
11:51I mean, we've seen attrition with just about every team.
11:54Even the Dodgers are worried about it.
11:56I get that.
11:57But, you know, they're in better shape than almost everybody else in terms of their pitching.
12:02So I'm not going to worry too much.
12:04We're worrying enough about the offense.
12:06I think that takes up all the energy and rightfully so at this point.
12:09So at least a second question.
12:12So as we're speaking, they're 5-1 behind Tampa Bay.
12:17They're 3-up on the Red Sox and they're 8-1-2 up on a playoff spot in general.
12:22At some point, I'm with you.
12:25Nothing's going to matter much if they don't get Judge and Judge back right,
12:29which means when he comes back, I think there's got to be an expectation by the Yankees and their fans.
12:34He's probably going to do some – I mean, Aaron Judge, he's kind of a little bit superhuman.
12:39We've seen him do great things, but I would think there's going to be some adjustment period.
12:44He hasn't faced live Major League pitching for three-ish months now since literally the last day of May.
12:49If the Yankees kind of stay in this general area, which is comfortably in a wild card but too far
12:55behind Tampa Bay,
12:56is there a moment they have to kind of back off?
13:00Like to me, they've used Hedrick too much.
13:02They've used Paul Blackburn too much.
13:04Guys like Coles coming back from Tommy John surgery.
13:07Freed and Rodon will be from arm stuff.
13:11Weathers and Schlittler are way beyond what they've ever done in a Major League season.
13:17I just feel like there might be a moment.
13:19We're not there yet.
13:21But sometime in September where it's like you've got to concede the embarrassment of, again, not doing better than the
13:29Rays
13:30and just accept, hey, man, we're going to get judge ready and not push our pitching.
13:35I hear with you.
13:36I hear you.
13:37I see that point.
13:38I'm kind of with you on that one.
13:40I think there's no chance that they do that.
13:42Those teams are so fearful of that best-of-three series and being pushed out.
13:47I mean, the Dodgers played it last year, and they played the Reds, and it was a complete walkover.
13:53But teams want that bye badly, and the Yankees have tried hard for that bye.
13:58Remember last year, they tried so hard for it.
14:00They won the last eight games, ended up in a tie, didn't get it, had to play that series against
14:06the Red Sox.
14:07They survived that.
14:08But I'm with you.
14:10You want to be going into, I think it's more important to go into October in great shape
14:16than getting that bye.
14:18Because if you're not in great shape physically, you're not going to win the World Series anyway.
14:22If you play the bye, you still might win the World Series, as the Dodgers proved last year.
14:27Yeah.
14:27You want to say anything about the Mets before we wrap this?
14:31Well, good for them.
14:32They're finally winning a few games.
14:34Is that enough?
14:35Yeah.
14:36Their history is they always play best when you think the least of them
14:39and always play worse when you think the best of them.
14:41I can't.
14:41It's interesting.
14:42I mean, look, Senga's closing games.
14:44They got that guy jumping around the mound like, you know, like crazy.
14:48And they finally put Ewing in center field.
14:51I'm not sure what the holdup was on that one, because I think that Andy Green and the rest of
14:56them
14:57have made good moves.
14:58The Senga move, moving Ewing up to lead off.
15:01Do you have any idea why Robert was still in center?
15:04I mean, what is the point of it?
15:06He's not going to be their center fielder next year, right?
15:09Ewing is their center fielder, hopefully, for the next 15 years, right?
15:13John, am I missing something?
15:15There were some people who have written and talked about the Mets bringing Robert back.
15:20What am I missing?
15:21Nothing.
15:22You're missing the fact that they think he's a nice guy or something?
15:27I mean, I don't know.
15:29I mean, I heard that from one Mets person.
15:31Well, we're not picking up the option, but we could bring him back for half the call, whatever.
15:36Half the call?
15:37The guy doesn't play baseball.
15:39Is it because he's a friend of Soto?
15:43Is that good enough to get you $10 million?
15:45I don't know.
15:46I don't get it.
15:47He needs to go somewhere else.
15:49Maybe he'll be great.
15:50He was great.
15:51What year was that?
15:52I don't know.
15:53Three, four years ago.
15:54He was great that year, right?
15:56But you can't.
15:57I mean, they're obviously not picking up the $20 million, as I've suggested.
16:01That's not happening.
16:02But I don't see the point of bringing him back.
16:05And why would he even want to come back?
16:07The Mets have a starting outfield, right?
16:09They already have three outfielders, right?
16:11Unless they think Soto's going to be the DH.
16:14And I think you need that spot for Polanco anyway, right?
16:18Yeah, I wouldn't make any plans around Polanco.
16:21You know, if he plays, he plays.
16:23You know, like I get it.
16:25Look, I would still think he's probably a good major league hitter who's had a bad year.
16:28If I were going to be encouraged about something with the Mets, and I'm curious,
16:32maybe this is the way to kind of finish up the first block here, John, is Bichette finally
16:38looks comfortable hitting.
16:40I think there's a fair chance he does not opt out in this marketplace, which will be a
16:48strange marketplace since I think we're anticipating a lockout on December 1st.
16:52So we'll be like-
16:53Yeah, I don't see why he'd opt out.
16:54I mean, you know, is it-
16:56Unless he hates it here.
16:57Like, that would be the only-
16:59Everybody goes by the money.
17:01Nobody goes by the hate.
17:02You know, people endure the hate.
17:04They don't endure making a little bit less.
17:06That's the world that we live in, right?
17:10I'm not blaming him or saying anything about him.
17:12And, you know, he certainly has adjusted.
17:15So even if he hated it at the beginning, you know, how much can you hate it?
17:20He's got a nice-
17:20He's doing okay.
17:21He's doing all right for me.
17:22I think he lives on Long Island.
17:23I think it's nice and lovely.
17:24I know you're not a Long Island fan, but I am from Long Island, so I can see that.
17:29I mean, he's making $42 million a year.
17:33He's not a $42 million player.
17:35He never was a $42 million player, but he certainly isn't now.
17:38And he's still got another opt-out.
17:40He is a very good player who's adjusted nicely to third base.
17:44And, you know, to me, he's not going to-
17:47The Phillies offered, what, a 7 for $200 last year?
17:50I guess he was close.
17:51He's not going to get a 7 for $200.
17:53He's a year older with an average offensive season now under his belt after the previous year,
18:00which was excellent.
18:00So he's not getting that offer anyway.
18:03So I don't-
18:05To me, it makes no sense for him to opt out.
18:07Now, I mean, we still have, well, how many weeks left?
18:10Six weeks left in the season?
18:12If he hits a .450 during those six weeks, okay, maybe then.
18:16But other than that, I think it would be crazy from top down.
18:19You know who needs him?
18:20The Yankees.
18:21That's batting average.
18:23That's how-
18:23Yeah, he puts the ball in play.
18:25Yeah.
18:26And he hits in-
18:27And I-
18:28Look, he didn't do it for the first few months, but he's done it now.
18:31He's unafraid to take a bigot bat against a good pitcher late in the game,
18:36and he's good at it.
18:37We'll do the, we'll start working on, we're going to have a lockout.
18:40We'll do fake trades between the Yankees and Mets in the offseason.
18:43Somebody who did make a couple of trades with the Mets and was very, very busy at the trade
18:48deadline was the Cubs president of baseball operations, Jed Hoyer.
18:52He joins us next on the show.
18:58Jed Hoyer, 15th season with the Cubs, the last six as president of baseball operations.
19:05As we speak, the number one wild card seed, trying to track down the Brewers who have
19:10the best record in the National League.
19:12I believe you're, you're five back.
19:14It's you're 72 and 53.
19:16Jed, thank you so much for joining us on the show.
19:19Always.
19:20Thank you guys.
19:22Jed, it's been a fascinating kind of year for you.
19:26Like if you go back, really two huge extensions, a huge free agent sign in Bregman, plus a lot
19:32of other smaller ones, and you were as busy as any team at the trade deadline, especially
19:37trying to address deepening your rotation.
19:42I'm sure when I feel silly to say, hey, do you feel a sense of urgency?
19:46Because I'm sure you feel urgent every year.
19:49But the team has only made the playoffs, I think, once in the previous five years.
19:53It was last year.
19:54You won a round, then lost in Milwaukee.
19:55Is part of this about a different level of urgency, trying to solve issues in a much,
20:04in a, in this aggressive of a way?
20:07Well, I mean, I think aggressiveness is, I mean, it's kind of relative, but I do think
20:12that when I think about our team and where we are right now, I think every year you're
20:17evaluating your roster, you're evaluating, you know, where the team is sort of in its
20:22life cycle and in terms of players being in their prime and all those different things.
20:26And, you know, I think for us this year, the deadline, you look at our team, we have
20:31a fantastic position player group, you know, both offensively and defensively.
20:36We played exceptionally well.
20:38We've kind of fought through a lot of pitching injuries, you know, obviously losing Horton
20:42early, Steele hasn't come back, you know, Boyd and Cabrera spent a lot of time on the
20:47IL.
20:47So this team really, in my view, kind of battled and survived really well and felt like a team
20:55that if we could, you know, kind of get our starting pitching stabilized and sort of get
20:59some of these guys back and healthy, it felt like a team that, you know, can make a real
21:05run and can make some noise late in the season.
21:08And I think you have to evaluate your team every single year.
21:11I think going into this offseason, we felt like we had a really good team and a team
21:15that we wanted to, you know, to continue to add to.
21:19And we felt the exact same way at this deadline.
21:21I think that's a big part of the job is evaluating your team and trying to figure out, you know,
21:26what there's years you're going to do more.
21:28There's years you're going to probably do less.
21:29And I think some of that depends, you know, you have to feel your roster and feel where
21:33you are, like I said, in your life cycle.
21:34And those are the decisions we make every day.
21:37Speaking of the deadline, I thought you did a really good job of filling needs.
21:41And it wasn't easy in this environment, right?
21:44There weren't really many relief pitchers, for instance.
21:47There were a couple starters, but you ended up with a few multiple starters.
21:52I'm interested now in how a Holmes trade came about.
21:56If you could talk a little bit about the specifics of where you were, what else you were looking
22:01at and how that came about and why you decided to give up Rojas.
22:06And you got the two players, Tyrone Taylor, who was a very useful player, and why you believed
22:11in Holmes, even though he hadn't really pitched at the major league level at that point in
22:16his comeback anyway.
22:17Yeah, I think the fit with Holmes to us was pretty clear.
22:20You know, we have terrific infield defense, and he's a ground ball guy.
22:24We have some pitchers that, you know, throughout the year have given up homers.
22:28He generally keeps the ball in the ballpark.
22:30So the fit with our team, we felt really, really good about.
22:34And, you know, this year for us, I mean, I've had years where your needs aren't as clear,
22:39I guess is the best way I would say it.
22:41You're looking at your roster, and you're like, okay, what upgrades can we make?
22:46And this year, it was really, really obvious.
22:48You know, we needed to bolster the rotation, like I said, with the injuries we had had.
22:56And, you know, we had kind of grinded for months with, you know, a rotation that probably wasn't
23:03strong enough to make a real run.
23:05So I think that that was a big part of it.
23:07Sometimes you have, your needs aren't quite as certain.
23:10Our needs were very certain.
23:11Our position player group, I think, was strong and deep.
23:14And I felt like, you know, the rotation needed to be bolstered.
23:17And we talked a lot about controllable starters.
23:21I think, you know, as always, I think, you know, we looked at a bunch of different guys
23:25that we would control beyond this year.
23:26Ultimately, we weren't able to line up on price.
23:30And that's two years in a row at the deadline.
23:32That's been there.
23:35This year, the rental starting pitcher market was a little deeper than last year.
23:38Last year, there was very few rental starters available.
23:42This year, there was a few more.
23:45So obviously, you know, you would love to be able to add controllable starters at the
23:49deadline.
23:50That wasn't something we could do.
23:51And so Gosman and Holmes, you know, fit nicely for us.
23:55Obviously, we have you on.
23:56We're a national show.
23:57We talk to people all over the game.
23:59But we have a lot of interest because of my and John's background with New York.
24:05You did make two trades with David Stearns, who you used to compete against with the Milwaukee
24:11Brewers.
24:11And I'm sure you weren't making trades regularly with the Brewers.
24:15Can you, John talked about the need for Holmes.
24:17Can you take us into the trade dynamic?
24:20Give us some insight.
24:21You acquired David Peterson about a month ago.
24:24Also a ground ball pitcher to work with your infield, right?
24:27And Holmes and Taylor here.
24:30Tell us about the dynamic.
24:32How is it to work with Stearns and try to do deals?
24:36Oh, I mean, so yes, David and I have known each other for a long time.
24:39But, you know, when he was with the Brewers, we really didn't talk about trades.
24:43And I ended up making a deal with John Mazalek as well with the Angels.
24:48And that was another guy I've known for 25 years that we never did deals with the Cardinals.
24:52So David is, you know, obviously incredibly talented, incredibly bright, and a very straight
24:59shooter and very clear.
25:01And I think that it helps to make deals.
25:04He's very certain about, you know, kind of what he's looking for.
25:07He delivers really clear feedback when you go through deals.
25:12And I think that's something that's really appreciated.
25:14You kind of know where you stand.
25:15You know the players that they're interested in, that the Mets are interested in.
25:20And that really does aid the process.
25:22So he made a lot of trades at the deadline.
25:26And I think really good trades.
25:28I think, you know, in this job, you know, there are, you know, unfortunately, you know,
25:33you only have, you look at like a simulation of seasons.
25:38And you might, you know, you take a thousand seasons and you simulate them.
25:41And I think the Mets, you know, on paper were a really good team going into the year.
25:46Unfortunately, this season, through injuries and performance, it just didn't work out that way.
25:50I think the Mets did a great job of being opportunistic.
25:53They gathered a lot of talent for their future.
25:56And they can kind of redouble their efforts to be good again next year really quickly.
26:00So I think he was doing the absolute right thing for the New York Mets in a season that hasn't
26:05gone as they planned.
26:06But there's no reason to think they can't be good again quickly.
26:11And I think they made some really good deals.
26:13And I think David did a really good job of being clear about his goals.
26:16Now, counting Peterson, who came earlier, you acquired four starting pitchers,
26:22which kind of reflects how many pitching injuries you've had in that rotation.
26:27So I want to just try to get updates on where things stand.
26:30Now, you've got Cabrera.
26:32I think he had some issue yesterday.
26:35So is he going to be on the I.L. for a little while?
26:39Does Peterson move back in?
26:41And then, I mean, Brown was outstanding when he was healthy.
26:44And we know Steele has the potential to be outstanding.
26:48It feels like from reading the Chicago papers that Brown is a little bit more of a chance to come
26:53back this year than Steele.
26:55Where does that stand now?
26:56Could Steele even be maybe a bullpen option at the end?
26:59Or are we looking at next year for him?
27:01So a lot of things to touch on there.
27:03Cabrera, Peterson, Brown, Steele.
27:05But you've had a number of injuries.
27:07Yeah.
27:08So unclear.
27:09So right now about Cabrera's blister.
27:12We do have some depth if he ends up having to go on the I.L.
27:16And, you know, Peterson would slot right back in there.
27:20I think you probably read that right.
27:21I think Brown, you know, both those guys are working their way back.
27:25I think Brown probably is a bit ahead of Steele's schedule.
27:31The ability to stretch those guys out is incredibly difficult at this time.
27:34You know, and so I think that shorter stints is probably the likely outcome there.
27:40But whatever we can get out of those guys would be great.
27:43I mean, I can't say enough about Ben Brown this year.
27:47That was a really tough injury.
27:48I think we slotted him.
27:51He was great in the bullpen early in the year.
27:53We had some injuries.
27:54We stretched him out.
27:55He was our best starter.
27:57Him getting hurt really did hurt us.
27:59And, you know, that was one of those days that we were in New York.
28:02We were playing the Mets.
28:04We had a rain out the day before.
28:07And in the same day, Brown, his neck kind of got to a point where he couldn't go on.
28:13And then Cabrera hurt his hamstring.
28:15And so we lost, you know, 40% of our rotation in one day.
28:18You kind of think to yourself, like, ooh, it's going to be tough sledding for a while.
28:21And then we ended up sweeping the Mets and kind of going on a run.
28:24And this sport is really hard to figure sometimes, you know.
28:27I would have not guessed that we were about to go on a run when we lost those two guys
28:31on top of, you know, Boyd already being out, Steele, you know, Steele and Horton.
28:37But like I said, our team was really resilient, you know, through those injuries.
28:40But Brown was outstanding for us.
28:42And, you know, the hope would be certainly that he could, you know, his trajectory is good
28:46and he can come back and help us, you know, in the words of Craig Council,
28:51is be an out-getter for us late in the season.
28:54You know, you're usually, as proven, because you've been a guest with us so often,
28:58a very accessible guy.
28:59And when you were at Citi Field, when your pitches were getting heard,
29:03you were like the shiftiest running back in the NFL.
29:06I couldn't get you.
29:07I should have figured out you were trying to get David Peterson,
29:10which you left down with.
29:12A bad job by me there.
29:15Do you do this much as you've done, where you've had to give up collateral
29:21from your organization to get it done, if you don't think you could still win the division?
29:26And what do you think about that, tracking down the Brewers?
29:30Well, I mean, they're the best record in baseball right now, and they've earned that.
29:34And so, yeah, I think in a lot of divisions right now, we'd be in a really good position to
29:38do that.
29:38We've got some real work to do to pull that off.
29:41Obviously, we got to three.
29:43They won the last two.
29:44We lost the last two.
29:45So they spread that out a little bit.
29:47But we play them seven times at the end of August and early September,
29:51and that's helpful in that regard.
29:54In general, I think, yes, there's no question that getting a bye in today's world
30:01is so incredibly valuable.
30:04And so tracking them down is really important.
30:07But like I said, we're tracking down a team that has the best record in baseball.
30:11They're going to make it difficult for us, and it's our job to put some pressure on them
30:15over the next 35, 40 games.
30:18Yeah, the rarely hurt gamer, Dansby Swanson, who had, I think, 30 RBIs in a three-game series
30:24against the Mets.
30:26Looks like he might have to go on the IL at this point.
30:28He's getting an MRI, I believe, on his left side.
30:32That normally is right before at least a short IL stint.
30:38I mean, am I crazy?
30:40Is Nico Horner a possibility for shortstop?
30:42Is Matt Shaw?
30:42Do you have something else in mind there?
30:44Or are those two guys possibilities to play shortstop?
30:48Yeah, Nico's going to play most of the shortstop now.
30:52I think Pedro Ramirez will play a lot of second base.
30:56Shaw's working his way back from injury.
30:58The hope is that he's pretty close to going out on a rehab assignment here.
31:03So hopefully getting him back will allow us that depth.
31:07So, I mean, listen, you don't expect a guy like Dansby to get hurt.
31:10He's been really durable.
31:12But that's just the game.
31:13And even with the pitching injuries we talked about, you can't make excuses about it.
31:18You just got to deal with it.
31:19That's the game.
31:21Some years you have a lot of injuries.
31:23Some years you don't.
31:25So, yeah, it's unfortunate for us that Dansby went down.
31:30But our job is to have depth behind that.
31:34And hopefully, you know, Pedro can – he's played great for us all year.
31:37Hopefully, you know, in a role where he was kind of spelling different people, hopefully he can continue to do
31:42that for us.
31:42Yeah.
31:43You know, I wasn't even that familiar with Pedro Ramirez.
31:45And then you – I thought he had the best at-bats on your team pretty much against the Yankees
31:50when you were playing them.
31:51They were really good.
31:52He looks like a good young hitter.
31:54Can I just go back to the Brewers?
31:56How much of an annoyance is this to you?
32:00You obviously did something very, very public and huge when you bring in Craig Council from them and give him
32:06a record contract.
32:08And you've now finished behind them in the first two years under Craig.
32:12You're behind them again.
32:13They beat you in the playoffs last year.
32:14They're your little brother city-wise, not too far away.
32:20What is the – I'll use annoyance of this being the Brewers over and over again.
32:26But, yeah, I mean, they have – I mean, they've been the best organization in the sport for the last,
32:33you know, the last two and a half years.
32:35There's no way around it.
32:36I mean, Pat Murphy's one-two manager of the years.
32:38Matt Arnold's been executive of the year twice.
32:40They've just continued no matter what is thrown at them to survive.
32:46You know, the thing for me that's the most impressive about the Brewers is that, you know, there's been times
32:53over this two and a half year period where, like, they got pretty banged up.
32:56They, you know, their depth was tested.
32:58And they always, you know, come up with some player or some set of players that handle the challenge, you
33:06know.
33:06And you've got to give them a ton of credit that, you know, they signed Andrew Vaughn last year.
33:12I had a trade for Andrew Vaughn last year as an example.
33:14And he, you know, ends up hitting third or fourth for them the end of the year in the postseason.
33:19And they do a great job of finding, you know, undervalued talent.
33:23They do a great job developing talent.
33:25And so I don't see it as an annoyance.
33:29I see it as, you know, they probably, I assume they've won the most games in baseball over that stretch.
33:36And, you know, we've had a lot of success too, but, you know, not to their level.
33:39And that's our job and that's our challenge to overcome that.
33:43And it is a challenge.
33:45Like, when I was with the Red Sox, that was the Yankees, right?
33:47Like, how do you get past the Yankees?
33:48And this is a smaller market version of that where they've got everything going the right direction.
33:55And it's our job to try to knock them off that.
33:58The most famous trade, at least in New York over the past, I don't know how many years,
34:03most famous deadline trade is the P. Crow Armstrong trade for obvious reasons.
34:08So a good job again by you on that one.
34:11Now, you traded a pretty good prospect in Jefferson Rojas to get rentals with the Mets.
34:19How hard was that for you?
34:20And what do you think on Jefferson?
34:23Where do you think he stands?
34:25He's a really good player.
34:26And I think that's always the challenge, right?
34:28Is that you're at the deadline, you know, when you're in the race and in contention,
34:34you know, especially in, like I said, a year, I feel like this team has really been resilient.
34:38You want to, you know, honor the team and you want to make deals to make the team better.
34:45And I think that is, that's our job.
34:48I think, you know, for us, one of the things we focused on is we have, you know,
34:53significant infield depth.
34:54As I mentioned, you know, we lost Dansby, you know, we have Pedro Ramirez, we have Matt Shaw,
34:57not to mention, you know, Nico and Dansby and Alex Bregman.
35:01And so you're trying to look at areas of depth where you can, you know,
35:06where you can afford to make those kinds of trades.
35:08But yeah, we gave up a number of good prospects at the deadline.
35:11You know, Rojas being one of them, you know, Ballesteros, we, you know,
35:13we gave up to get Zephyr John.
35:16Obviously we, you know, Bateman and Southestine, you know, to get Gaussman.
35:19That's, it never feels comfortable.
35:22You want, in general, you want to keep all your prospects.
35:24You want them to keep developing.
35:25But I also feel like it is important, you know, when you, every,
35:29as I just kind of mentioned with the Mets, every season, you know,
35:33doesn't go as you hope, right?
35:34And there are going to be seasons where you could be on the other side of that equation,
35:39you know, and the Mets in 21 were on the other side of that.
35:42The Cubs in 21 were on the other side of that equation.
35:44And obviously the Mets were.
35:46So there's, there are seasons where you're able to kind of gather more prospects
35:50and make those trades.
35:51And there are seasons where it's important to kind of use the,
35:54like I said, the, the, the areas of, of, of depth in your organization to try to,
35:58you know, you know, win here, you know, because ultimately like that,
36:02that is the most important thing is to try to win at the, at the major league level.
36:05Jetty mentioned his name, PCA Pete Crowe Armstrong.
36:10Perhaps the most fascinating awards race this year will be him versus Shohei for NL MVP.
36:17I suspect you have a bias in this.
36:19Would you like to make the case here why you think at least three quarters of the way through
36:24the season, Pete Crowe Armstrong is the national league MVP?
36:27Well, yeah, I mean, I think he's a top 10 hitter in the, in the league and he's the
36:30best defender on the planet.
36:32And so I think that that's the, that's the reason.
36:35And listen, I think he's meant so much to this team that to, for us to have the number
36:40of injuries we have, have had, and to be able to, to be where we are.
36:44I think his defense is a huge part of that.
36:45His offense is a huge part of that.
36:47And, you know, listen, I, you know, obviously I want him to win the award.
36:53I think that, that, that's clear.
36:54But I also feel like, listen, he's the guy he's trying to knock off is the best, the most
36:59talented baseball player that's ever lived.
37:01And so that's a real challenge.
37:02And I think the next, you know, a month and a half is ultimately going to determine the
37:07award.
37:07I think that MVP awards are won at the end of the season, not at the beginning, you know,
37:11and there's just countless examples of, you know, guys having great finishing kicks and
37:18winning and winning the award.
37:20So I don't want to get ahead of ourselves.
37:21It feels like a conversation better had on, you know, September 17th and August 17th, because
37:28we got a ways to go.
37:29But the year that Pete has had is sensational.
37:33I mean, to be like, what are the eight win player right now here in the middle of August
37:38to, you know, really overcome some struggles early in the season offensively to like, to
37:43mature the way he has at the plate, drawing the number of walks he has really being our
37:48offensive catalyst in the leadoff spot.
37:50But I think he's meant more to our team than I would think any player in baseball has meant
37:55to their team.
37:56I think that's the definition of value.
37:58Yeah.
37:59One more thing I want to ask you about the deadline.
38:01You did as much as just about anybody at the deadline.
38:05You obviously didn't get the biggest player, but you got four starters, starting with the
38:09Peterson at the beginning.
38:10I actually think Braxton Garrett could come into play.
38:13He's, you know, a very good minor league pitcher at this point, but could be a major league
38:19pitcher.
38:19Zephyr, John, you got a reliever in a market where there just wasn't, weren't very many
38:24of them.
38:25And we all like Taylor here.
38:28Obviously, the biggest piece out there was Skubal, and you were one of the many teams
38:32that at least connected with them.
38:35Was this, it seems like you believe in a very strong everyday team, and that's where you
38:41kind of put your eggs in anyway.
38:42So it seemed like you were a little bit of a long shot for us, at least the last few
38:47weeks.
38:48I'm just going to ask you my final question is whether, you know, you had multiple conversations.
38:54Was there ever any point where you thought, well, maybe it could happen?
38:58Or did you just have too many needs with the relief also that it was never going to work?
39:05I mean, I talked to Scott Harris a lot about him.
39:08We had a lot of conversations.
39:11So much of the deadline game is a matchmaking game.
39:15You know, who likes your players and, you know, which players you're unwilling to give
39:21up.
39:22And we just didn't match up.
39:23That's as simple as that.
39:24You know, the guys that we were open to talking about were not guys that they had interest
39:28in, uh, and that's just, that's how this goes.
39:31And I think I, I say this every year that I think that's the part of the deadline that
39:34I think is the hardest for people to understand is that, you know, there's just times you're
39:40not going to be able to get a certain player or make a certain deal because the other team
39:43that's either likes another team's players more, or it doesn't, doesn't like your prospects
39:48or players that much.
39:49And that's just the nature of the deadline.
39:51And so you have to put a ton of lines in the water because, you know, you know, 10
39:58of them might not get any bites, but if one of them gets a bite, then all of a sudden
40:01you have a chance to make a deal.
40:03Um, rejection is the most common thing, probably the deadline.
40:08Right.
40:08And so I feel like when people ask about like this school, it's like, yeah, we didn't match
40:13up.
40:13Uh, would we have loved to have him?
40:15Of course, he's one of the best pitchers in baseball.
40:17And I think he's going to, you know, he's the kind of guy that has a, has a massive
40:21impact on every series he pitches in.
40:23He has a massive impact on, on, on the post-season.
40:27We just didn't match up there and, you know, good for the Dodgers on, on matching up.
40:30You know, Jed, as a way to wrap this up, uh, I wonder just a big picture question, uh, what
40:39would make this successful now?
40:41Uh, you, you, again, I literally don't think anybody's done more.
40:46If you think about why, wherever we start the calendar for a new season from the end
40:52of last year to this moment, than you, uh, we talked about pressure and aggressiveness
40:58early.
40:59Uh, what, what's a successful conclusion now for the Cubs?
41:04Yeah.
41:04I don't want to put, put any limits on it.
41:06I mean, I think, I think we have a really good team, like really good from top to bottom.
41:10Um, I think we have a lot of depth.
41:12I think we have, you know, on paper we've had, you know, I think we have, you know,
41:17we've had the most talented, most successful position player group this year.
41:20You know, I think that, you know, we needed to improve our pitching.
41:23I think we, we did that.
41:24Um, so I don't want to put any limits on it.
41:27I think this is a really good team and obviously it's baseball.
41:30Um, you know, but, uh, I think we have a chance to make a real noise over the next month
41:35and
41:35a half and, and hopefully we can, uh, we can get hot at the right time, but we have a
41:40really
41:40good team and it, we're fun to watch, you know, on a nightly basis.
41:44And, um, like I said, I don't want to put any limits on it.
41:47I think this team can do special things.
41:48It is a really good team.
41:49As we talked to you in 19 games over 500, uh, it is a bear in the national league.
41:54As you know, though, that only gives you the fourth best record in league.
41:57Uh, uh, I think John mentioned, uh, when we opened the show that the four best teams in
42:04the sport, he believes are in the national league.
42:06I'm not going to argue with them.
42:08It's a bear, but you've put together a terrific team, Jed, uh, uh, and John and I wish you
42:14nothing but the best of luck down the stretch.
42:16And as always, you mentioned a few times, you've been, you've been a guest, uh, uh, somewhat
42:20regularly over the years, and we do appreciate you joining us on the show.
42:23Always.
42:24Thank you guys.
42:25I appreciate it.
42:26Thanks, Jed.
42:33John and I, of course, thank Jed Hoyer for joining us on the show.
42:36John hit or error?
42:38Well, I'm going to give it a hit probably at the end of the season when an American league
42:42team is in the playoffs with a losing record, I'll probably give it an error, but I, I,
42:47right now I like the chaos in the American league playoffs.
42:49Uh, it is crazy what's going on now.
42:52Uh, many, many, many, not just one or two, many teams that sold at the deadline are in
42:58the race and not only are in the race, uh, some of them have worked their way into the
43:02race since they sold.
43:03Toronto, uh, Toronto shockingly is in the race.
43:05Baltimore, as we do this, is in the playoffs if they started today, uh, with a losing record.
43:11Of course, Texas, which tried to trade their, its best pitchers still hanging in the race.
43:16Uh, you know, we, we've got, Detroit is not a shock, right?
43:21We, we kind of knew Detroit was going to sell and probably stay in the race, right?
43:25But they made, uh, you know, I know a lot of people criticized them.
43:29I think they kind of made the mature decision to sell the, to trade school ball.
43:34It was a free Asian and you could get a huge prospect and they did, they got your hope for
43:38them.
43:38Uh, so I, I got that one and they'd done it before and they're in a terrible division.
43:43So I kind of, I kind of thought they'd still be in a, I can't believe Toronto has worked
43:48its way into the race.
43:49What do we have four teams from the AL East in the playoffs?
43:52I was just about to say that we, I probably began this year thinking that, uh, like the
43:57AL East had four or five of the best, whatever number.
44:01Well, it might not have included Tampa Bay.
44:03We might've thought for not including Tampa Bay, who's been the best team pretty much the
44:07whole time.
44:07I looked at it before, uh, John, two and a half games.
44:11Uh, there are six teams within two and a half games of that last wild card spot who are
44:16not in it right now.
44:18Six teams within two and a half games.
44:21There's a lot, a lot, a lot of, a lot of, uh, chaos there.
44:24I, uh, on the air on the first MLB now on MLB network after the trade deadline, I bet a
44:32dinner with our good friend, Brian Kenny.
44:34He was talking about that the Tigers and the Orioles, why'd they give up?
44:37Why'd they give up?
44:38And I said, Brian, I bet you one or both of those teams is playing important games on
44:43September 15th.
44:44I'm getting closer to that dinner.
44:46Uh, I mean, what kind of a bet was that?
44:48I got to make more bets with, with Brian Kenny.
44:50I mean, what is it?
44:51What kind of a bet is that playing important game?
44:54How do you even decide what's important?
44:55I said he could decide it.
44:57I said he could decide.
44:58I mean, they're going to be at least one or the other to win that bet.
45:03Yeah.
45:04All right.
45:05Good job.
45:05Good job.
45:06I'm going to give a hit to Dave Roberts, uh, a guest, uh, a few times on this show.
45:12He really laid into his team a few times recently, including sounding a lot like what I think
45:18Aaron Boone should be sounding like right now.
45:20He literally said, we have not played well for six weeks.
45:23Sound like anyone.
45:24Uh, they haven't, we haven't hit.
45:25We haven't defended.
45:26He benched Kyle Tucker on Saturday.
45:31Tucker went over 19 on this homestand and made a key error on a Sunday.
45:36Uh, he got booed, uh, Edwin Diaz on, on a Thursday night, blew a save.
45:42He's blown three of his three of the last five times he's in a game.
45:45He's blown a save.
45:46He's got a 10 66 ERA.
45:47Both him and Tucker will boot off the field.
45:50It might turn out that the best thing that happened to the Mets this season is they didn't
45:53sign either of those two guys.
45:54Yeah.
45:55That's what I was going to say.
45:56They tried real hard to do so.
45:58Uh, but I give Dave Roberts, who's trying to make some more history there this year,
46:04not just wanting his team to throw their gloves on the field there.
46:08The Dodgers have some issues.
46:09They have fewer than other teams because they're great and they're deep and they spend their
46:14money, et cetera.
46:15But they, I, I watched a lot of the Brewers and Dodgers over the weekends.
46:20Now keep in mind, John, the Brewers went six and oh, in the regular season against the
46:25Dodgers last year, and then got swept four games in the post season.
46:28The Dodgers are going to go into the post season, heavy favorites.
46:31Uh, but I liked that their manager.
46:33Isn't just accepting three championships and all in the last two and they're trying to make
46:39history.
46:39And I like that he went after his team hard over the weekend and specifically after the
46:45game yesterday.
46:46Yeah.
46:47I mean, this is one of the reasons he's a Hall of Fame manager.
46:50The roster helps as well.
46:52Uh, you know, Dave is fantastic.
46:55Uh, yeah.
46:55Good for him.
46:57Uh, I, I don't, back in the old days, they'd go after specific players too.
47:02I, I don't know if he went to that, went over that line, but, uh, I mean, you're absolutely
47:06right about Diaz.
47:08And I was in favor of Diaz for the Mets or the Yankees.
47:11Me too.
47:11Me too.
47:12Diaz and Tucker have been terrible.
47:15Now the Mets fallbacks to those were Devin Williams and Bichette.
47:20Now Bichette's been good lately.
47:22And, uh, you know, out of the four, uh, he's been the best, you know, he's the closest to
47:26his career norm, I guess.
47:28Uh, but Tucker is just terrible.
47:30I mean, it's the highest paid player in the major leagues.
47:34Uh, you know, nobody wanted him back in Chicago yet.
47:37There were teams clamoring for, when they not paying attention to what was going on in
47:41Chicago.
47:41Now he had a great first half with the Cubs.
47:44I get, he's a great talent.
47:46I just don't give that kind of money to a guy who isn't, I think, driven to be great.
47:52You know, at least Soto, I think, I know he's out right now.
47:55I think he's driven to be great.
47:57You know, uh, $60 million a year.
48:01That's another guy should not opt out ever.
48:04Uh, that deal is ridiculous.
48:06So I think I know Dodger people were making fun of them, not making fun, but they were critical
48:10of the Soto deal that the Mets made.
48:12That's a better deal.
48:13Uh, I'm sorry.
48:14It's a, he's a, he's a, he's a player.
48:17I think who, you know, is, is, is worth that kind of, I don't know about worth, but he's
48:22a, he's a player.
48:23I'd be more apt to give a big deal to than, than Tucker.
48:27Uh, but we know that, that Soto is driven by at minimum history.
48:31He wants to be known as one of, if not the greatest, you know, he's liked all the comparisons,
48:37best hit, one of the best hitters ever at age 24, 25, 26.
48:40Uh, some of that's going to get messed up now because of how many games he's missed this
48:44year in what is age 26 or 27 season.
48:47But he's historically an important player and it motivates him.
48:52Uh, you know, some people might look at that as selfish, whatever it gets them on the field
48:56and gets them producing.
48:57I don't know what, there's a motivating factor, uh, for Tucker who, you know, the hope was
49:03the Dodgers were thinking if he's the 10th most important guy on the team and the media
49:07doesn't bother him because they want to talk to Freeman and bets and, you know, Otani,
49:11et cetera.
49:12The media will not bother him because the other guys are bigger stars and they're more interesting.
49:17The media wanted to bother him yesterday.
49:18He didn't talk after the game.
49:19He didn't talk really.
49:21After he completed an over 19 homestand and made a error that really stretched out,
49:26uh, what was already an inefficient start by Scooble, uh, made Scooble throw, I think
49:30his most pitches this year, maybe the most in his career at all, uh, you know, which was
49:36interesting in, in his walk.
49:38Yeah.
49:38I will say this.
49:38The Dodgers are playing terribly.
49:40I mean, they, Edmund dropped the ball that was, was going to end the inning.
49:44Yeah.
49:44Scooble had 70% strikes yesterday.
49:47Uh, he was throwing 99, struck out the side in the sixth inning.
49:50It was the most pitches he's ever thrown.
49:52Uh, so it, it doesn't look like a great outing, but.
49:56The defense was terrible.
49:58So, uh, it was better.
49:59It looks the same as the previous two, but, uh, it was actually a good outing with a bad
50:04team behind him, or at least, you know, played badly.
50:07It's interesting because for six weeks or about the period where the Yankees have really wobbled
50:12again, since mid to June, Dave Roberts is saying what, again, I think you could say that Aaron
50:18Boone should say, we haven't played well on offense.
50:20We haven't played well on defense.
50:21We're not honoring our pitching and the Dodgers aren't doing it either.
50:24They come off of it as two-time defending champions and with a much better record once they started
50:29not playing well.
50:30And they're winning a little more, uh, even while not playing well.
50:34Uh, but it is something.
50:36But they deserve it.
50:36They have a $400 million team.
50:37They have a better team than the Yankees.
50:39So if they're playing worse than the Yankees, they deserve what he said.
50:42So, but I'm going to, you know, I'd like to see Boone, Boone's, you know, he's never going
50:48to do it, but, uh, you know, I, I, I, I get it.
50:53He's, he's just not that kind of guy.
50:55He's, he's a modern, he's a modern manager.
50:58You know, he's not going to, he's not going to do it.
51:00I mean, Roberts didn't go full out like maybe Leland would have in the days or whatever.
51:05And that's not that long ago, but, uh, I mean, somebody needs to light a fire under
51:10Tucker, uh, you know, somebody's making $60 million.
51:14He's making 30 times what Shohei Ohtani's making.
51:18Who's, you know, maybe the MVP.
51:21That's going to be, that'll be interesting debate for another day.
51:23Is he the, is he the MVP?
51:26So, uh, we'll, we'll have that discussion along the way.
51:29Our MVP of course, uh, is Tommy Hogan, our great producer.
51:33Thanks as always, Tommy.
51:34Apple, Spotify, wherever you listen to podcasts, please rate and review us.
51:38It always helps the show, the New York post, uh, uh, sports YouTube page.
51:43Give us a view and we're hitting the stretch run here.
51:46Please continue to stick with us on the show with Joel Sherman and John Haven.
Comments