Welcome back to the show everybody. We are back. We took a week off. We have a lot to cover in the last two weeks of the Major League Baseball season.
I've got Brady and Kenji with me. We're talking trade deadline. We're talking the Angels. They're not selling no Tony sneak peek.
Uh and a lot of different fun series to watch. So let's get right into it.
Yeah, Joe's not here with us. We're really sad. So don't don't turn off listening right now if you guys are listening to this and you're mad Joe's not here.
But um we are said Joe's not here. So Joe we love you. Um I hope you're back next week. But we have a really good crowd on hand today for an action packed episode.
We got Brady and Kenji with us. We're talking the trade deadline. A whole bunch of other things to cover.
and Kenji with us. We're talking the trade deadline, a whole bunch of other things.
First and foremost, Kenji, how are you holding up, man?
I'm happy that we're not trading on Tani and we're buyers, not sellers.
Yeah. We'll get into the angels philosophy in a little bit, but I guess that's-
But that's not what I'm saying. Like that's, I'm happy. That's all that matters.
You're just happy. Okay. Hey, no, we'll take it. We'll take it.
Brady, how are you doing, sir?
Oh, you know, we're the opposite around here. Really dumpster fire. It's not looking good.
Yeah. Philly's been struggling a little bit. Yeah. Well, we're going to get into both teams,
how they've been playing. And we're going to even talk about Joe's Rangers. So a little sneak peek.
They've been kind of going crazy the last 48 hours or sad he's not here. Oh, probably get a
little FaceTime instant reaction from Joe here in a little bit. But yeah, so without further ado,
hopping straight in, the deadline is on Tuesday. We're recording this Sunday afternoon. So the
deadline is in the morning of August 1st. So yeah, that would be Tuesday. So it's coming up quick.
It's been a really interesting trade deadline. Do any of you guys want to cover it or should I
just run through the trades we've been seeing? Or actually you guys give me the biggest trade,
the best trade you've thought so far for either team, anything you guys have seen. Brady?
Brady? Well, I've seen the news that the Cardinals aren't trading.
Can you see all the trades anywhere? Kenji?
Hold on. I want to know, can you see the trades? Is there a place where you can see all the trades?
Yes, there is. Yes, there is. There's a trade tracker. Yeah.
Yeah. Okay. Back to what I was saying. Obviously the news that the Cardinals are going to build
around and not trade Nolan Aronato. Big move. And then today they've made two big trades. They
traded away Jordan Hicks and Jordan Montgomery. Yeah.
Both away to get, I'm not sure what they got. They didn't announce what they got.
I have it right here. So the Rangers acquired Jordan Montgomery and right-handed pitcher Chris
Stratton for a bunch of minor leaguers. Thomas Geese, that's the last name, Sag Geese. And then
Tekoa Roby, John King. And then they traded Jordan Hicks to the Blue Jays for Adam Klopfenstein
and Sam Roberts. Klopfenstein, that sounds like a guy who should work at the North Pole. You know
what I'm saying? Yeah.
Totally. I mean, that's basically what Toronto is at this point.
Effectively, yeah. So then what's the take on that? Because as an O's fan,
we were looking at both of those guys. So to see them both go elsewhere kind of makes me
sad. But what do you guys think of those two trades, Brady?
Well, the Rangers are really building the high velocity team with acquiring Chapman
and Jordan Hicks. I'm really kind of curious. Toronto got Hicks. Texas got Montgomery.
Oh, even still Montgomery still got that VELO, but it's another big starter with DeGrom being
made of glass. You know, Eofaldi, Montgomery, and Scherzer now, which is going to be pretty good.
Hopefully it can keep them going down the stretch, even though they're getting hurt like crazy.
Yeah. We wish we had Joe to talk about the injuries that have kind of ravaged the Rangers
of late. Kenji, any trades stand out to you first and foremost?
I mean, like, G-Ludo is cool, but he's like average. I'm not really sure if I'm happy to
have him. Yeah.
Our pitching staff already, you know, has a thousand average pitchers.
Yeah. Is he really going to help us win?
No. But I think the Marlins one, what's his face again?
Robertson? Yeah, Robertson was really good.
Yeah, David Robertson to the Marlins for- He's solid. He doesn't get a lot of runs.
He does his job. It's just the Mets never gave him or put him in a position to actually
do his job. Right. And the Marlins are great at giving closers an opportunity. It's just
unfortunate that their guy looks like a toad and-
Who? AJ Puck? Is that what you're talking about?
AJ Puck just can't save the game. He just can't save the game.
Kenji's a guy. We're so ready to castle out home run
at the bottom of the line, thinning every tiny pitches. So what a good thing.
First and background, everybody, Kenji in our fantasy baseball league, which is the most
important thing in all of our lives, I traded AJ Puck to Kenji and Puck has done nothing but be
horrible for him. He's been horrendous. Yeah. So I mean, I'm glad I got him off my hands,
but now Robertson is the closer for Miami and that'll be good because Miami's contending,
they're playing good. I know they've struggled out of the break, but they've been playing well.
The one that stands out to me the most, I mean, actually, before we get to that,
did you guys see the return for the Gio Leto trade with the angels that had to give up to get them?
They gave up their number two and number three overall prospect to get Gio Leto and Lopez.
Gio Leto is like their third best pitcher on the white side.
Yeah, no, it's unbelievable. There were a bunch of people that were talking about it
and I couldn't believe the market for like a mid tier, like a number three starter they're giving up.
Kai Bush, is that the guy you're talking about? Kai Bush and Edgar Caro. Caro is their better
prospect. Caro, I think aside from Logan Ohapi was their best prospect.
Ohapi might come back to shoot, man. Yeah, Ohapi might come back, but still,
they're kind of empty in the farm for Otani to show that they're going to keep him. We'll get
into more of Otani and the angels in a little bit, but I thought it was fascinating the return for
a guy like Gio Leto. The big one, I mean, we have to talk about this one. Max Schurz are going to Texas
to from the Mets in exchange for Ronald Acuna Jr's little brother.
So Brady, you know more about the Acuna brother than I do. What do the people need to know about him?
Well, I saw this thing that in double A ball right now, he has 42 stolen bases and an 830 LPS, which is
pretty good. Yeah, I would like to say so. I don't think it'll be too long before he ends up
out there because let's be honest, the Mets are going to Met. So hopefully he gets some time
there towards Seattle. It doesn't even say. I don't know. I don't remember exactly where,
but I know he's an infielder, but it won't be too long before we can maybe see some action from him.
Shortstop slash second level. Because obviously they have Francisco, but who plays second?
Is it McNeil? Yeah, no, they haven't been playing McNeil. I thought he has been playing second.
They had him in the outfield day that day. I don't know. I watched Mets games occasionally.
Their outfield is kind of crowded, isn't it? But what's crazy about this Acuna guy, Brady,
you were telling me this a little bit yesterday in how many games has he played in the minors?
So 84 games in the minors this year for Texas. He's stolen 42 backs. So Buddy can fly.
And he doesn't have that much pop, only seven homers, 51 Rubies, but 42 stolen bases is crazy.
He's got an 830 OPS. So the Acuna brother is good. And Scherzer was pitching not that great this year.
And so he's more of a rental anyway, because he's owed like $44 million over the next two years.
But Acuna was a good return. That one was one I wanted to mention. That'd be something Joe
would talk about a lot if he was here. Joe was happy about the Scherzer trade.
Joe's what? He was super happy about it. He was super happy about it.
Yeah, no, I see. Let's see how it works for him. Certainly. I mean, it's better than Perez.
John Gray. Perez has been bad. Gray's been bad. Gray's been bad.
Dane Dunning just, you know, is a go. And he's, of course, best pitcher in the league, but also
not that good. Yeah. Yeah. And then you have all these slowing down, right? He's
down. So I think it's only going to benefit him. I think it's a good trade for him. I think that
with how good their staff has been so far this year, even without DeGrom,
even though some of their guys are getting hurt lately, it's impressive to see how well, like
their rotation, I think is top five in the league in ERA. And so a new ad, a guy in Scherzer who has
the potential to be that guy. I think that that's a good trade for both teams because the Mets were
not going to make it. They're selling. And now you get the Rangers obviously get a premier line
starting pitcher. So I like that one. The last one I'm going to talk about in a little bit of
detail is the Dodgers getting Lancelin and Joe Kelly. I love Joe Kelly. We love Joe Kelly here
on the program, friend of the show. Not really. That is the man on the planet to ladies and
gentlemen. Yeah. His little crybaby face he did to Correa a couple of years ago was the best. And
then in return, the White Sox gave him Trace Thompson, who's Clay Thompson's brother for
anybody that might have lived under a rock over the last few years. Except for the first two weeks of
the season. Yeah. A guy named Nick Nostraini and Jordan Leisure. That's a fun last name, Leisure.
But yeah, Lancelin is one of those guys. He has his highest strikeout rate of his career this year.
And you think the Dodgers and the Rays were the two guys interested in Lynn. And that's probably
because, I mean, their pitching staffs are better than any, if you're rooting for any other team,
they'll probably have better pitching coaches than you do the Rays and the Dodgers. And you think
that they can unlock that strikeout potential, maybe get his walks down. But that's what I got
for the trades. Now moving forward with the deadline coming up, we're going to talk about our ideal
trade. So whether it's for our favorite team or just for the league, who would you love to see go
somewhere? We've been stewing on this for a minute, Brady and Kenji. Who are we thinking? Kenji, we'll
start with you. Can I just say one that I wish would happen? Not that I think would happen.
Sure. In my dream world, I would love for the Angels to trade for Cody Bellinger.
Wow. I would love nothing more to have Mike Trout come back and then see Mike Trout, Mickey
Moniac, Cody Bellinger in my outfield. And then Taylor Ward. I like him a little more now. And
then we can put Cody at first base and then stop playing all these old slobs that we picked up from
random teams throughout the season. We'll hit 250 and make my team a little bit better.
He's hot right now. Mike Trout, Cody and him and Ohtani in the lineup, I think would be
a really good way to give a lot of energy to this team.
Okay. All right. I got some respect for that one. Brady, who you got? So we have Bellinger to the
Angels. That's kind of a hot take. I'll give you a little sizzle.
They said no, though. They said they're not going to trade them. They came out and said,
we're going to keep them. Yeah. That's what I was going to say is that the Cubs have won, what,
seven in a row, eight in a row, or maybe did they lose yesterday? I can't remember.
Who cares? You're not going to win the playoffs. You guys suck.
Bellinger's only on the rental too. So it's like they're not going to re-sign him because
he'll get paid way more money to go to somewhere else. True. Brady?
So for me, I would love any starting pitcher that is remotely half decent would be fantastic.
To the Phillies? Yes, absolutely. My ideal choice, also a Cub actually, my man, Marcus Stroman,
I would love since he's basically, he's one of the hottest guys on the market right now.
Yeah. Yeah, for sure. I would say. I think it would be
big time if we go and snag him. I don't know what we'd give up. I have frankly no idea, but
I think it would be worth it. Whatever it may be. Do you guys have a strong farm system? Trey Turner?
I mean, we do, but we just had our number one prospect, Andrew Painter, go on and get Tommy John.
Yeah. Okay. Other than that, I think it's pretty good for the most part. So we could
throw some of those out there, maybe give them Garrett Stubbs, our backup catcher,
who's pretty good, but just doesn't see the light of day because-
So you want to trade for the premier starting pitcher on the market with a backup catcher?
Well, no. Okay. I'm just trying to understand. I promise you, I'm not trying to make funny.
I'm just curious. Is Garrett Stubbs like that? He's a piece we can add to the trade.
He's not that guy, but he's a piece to add to the trade. Because even in the world baseball classic,
he plays for a team that no one really watches. But he's not bad, but he just doesn't see the
light of day as much as he probably should because we have JT. So you could throw him in there. He'd
have some value. You can throw in some prospects, just some of our prospects that we would want.
I don't know. I guess I can't really think of what the Cubs desperately need.
So just give them a bunch of prospects that are all over the board.
I'll give you relievers.
And I would love to give them some of our relievers. That would be great. Just get them
out of there. But I would love to see Marcus Stroman in the Phillies red pinstripes instead of the blue.
That would look really sick.
That would look good. Stroman would look good in that.
It would look very nice.
It would look very nice. I got a couple of interesting ones. I want to get your opinion
on these. The one I'm most intrigued by, the team I'm most intrigued by that I think will be selling,
the Padres. I know in the past I've said that I think that they'll sneak into the wild card.
They just haven't played good out of the break. They just are still mediocre. And the NL wild
card is an unbelievable place to be. Brady can attest to that. But Juan Soto to the Tampa Bay race.
Oh, that would be quite crazy. But I don't think there's any plausible way.
Listen, this would be hilarious. I think it would be crazy. I'm just for the sake of entertainment.
Just hear me out on this. Juan Soto to Tampa Bay.
I would say that. Tampa has the prospects to go after him. They have the prospects to go after.
Soto's a rental. He's a free agent. And so they wouldn't have to give up a crap ton to get him.
And then they get a premier and on base guy who can hit for pop at the trop. I didn't intentionally
mean to rhyme there. But Juan Soto to the Tampa Bay race, it's really probably unlikely it's going
to happen because it's a superstar to a really contending team. But he's the thing the Padres
would ask for an arm and a leg in return. But that's kind of my sneaky one. Can you get a good
reaction to that? Juan Soto to start off that lineup. And if those are going to get out of
this slump a little bit, I'm going to be a seriously deadly. It would be really cool.
I don't think there's any way that gets done though. You don't think so? I don't think so.
I don't think the Padres are going to ship out as much as people think. Okay. So then that brings
me to my next one as an O's fan. I know I have the Mets hat on today, but as an O's fan,
I would love to see Josh Hader go to Baltimore. Josh Hader to Bautista would be the most unbelievable
one to in the history of the league. I would quit. Why would you quit? Why would you quit?
That is my boy. And I would hate to see him in the orange where he's not needed anymore.
He was originally a member of our organization. He's originally an order.
Peter is drafted. I'm aware of this, but he's not even going to be needed. That's the problem.
You have Felix and Kano. He's not needed. Yeah, but Kano's given up hits now. Kano
is kind of struggling. Kano has a, on the bat bit, it's one of my favorite stats for pitchers,
batting average on balls in play. It tells you basically how hard are they hitting the ball and
what their average is on the ball. Kano's bat bit right now is 330. So when people put the ball in
play, they're hitting 330 off of him. And so I don't trust Kano as much. Fuji has looked gross.
I love Fuji. When he can control the ball, I'm a fan of Shintaro. But I think the O's need another
reliever in the middle. And what better way to get a reliever in the middle than by adding the
best one at the back end? No, no. Then it's like, it's such a, Brady's really upset. No!
Have that. That would ruin everything for him. I would hate that. Brady would get no more saves.
I'm just saying the O's have the prospect base to be able to give up. What if they got Blake
Snell and Josh Hader for like four bucks? Oh, I saw this meme today. And it was Soto, Snell, and
Hader. And then it was for like Westberg, Kouser, and some other prospect. Oh, I know what you're
talking about. It goes Orioles will literally hear this on the call and hang up. Or I said
Phillies. The Orioles. Yeah, the Orioles would. Orioles would hang up the phone on that trade.
I think it'd be stupid not to. If they got Soto, Hader, and Snell in a package for four
prospects, I think you have to answer that call because then you get a great bat. It's not going
to happen. So I don't want to entertain it. But I think that it's a joke because I know what the
meme you're referring to, because it was from an Orioles Twitter account originally. And I saw it
and I was like, really? You mean we would hang up the phone if Soto and Hader were getting offered
to do us? But I'd love to see that I was getting a reliever. A starter would be better. They just
sent down Tyler Wells today because he's been really struggling with command and he's been
getting rocked. Aaron Judge, I hate that guy. I can't believe he came back three for five with
a home run in the first game. I can't stand that dude. Can't stand him. I don't want to talk about
it. We're moving right past Aaron Judge. Jaden, Ben, if you guys are listening, we don't care.
But I mean, I would love to see us getting our reliever. I think Hader is like the premier guy
on the market still. I don't think the Cubs are going to be willing to part with a guy like
Alzolai. I love Alzolai as well as some of those other middle relief guys. I just don't see it
happening. But yeah, it's a weird deadline for me because in the past couple years, we've had these
huge blockbusters. But this year it's kind of like just almost in the middle where there's so many
contending teams that have good pieces but don't want to sell them because they think they can
sneak in. So it's a bit of a weird situation. But those are my two crazy ones, Juan Soto to Tampa
and Josh Hader to Baltimore. What about Stroman in the desert? What about Stroman going to the desert?
I'll stay on for Joe. Do you imagine him in Arizona? What about Stroman in the desert? Kenji,
hear me out for a second. Marcus Stroman to the Dbacks? What about that?
Hemingallen? Hemingallen, front end. The problem with the Diamondbacks, they need a closer.
That's true. They've rotated like three guys and they're all just horrendous. Yeah, they do need
to close it desperately. They need good relievers. They would be a great fit for Hader, honestly.
Yeah, but I don't think they would trade them in division. That's fair. Me and Joe joked about
if Hader went to the Rangers. Hader to the Rangers? Rangers could do that. No. Because
Chapman is great. But I don't know if I would want Chapman as my day-to-day closer. Is he closing
for them right now? No, him and Smith rotate. Okay. But if you brought Hader in, Smith is a great
ERA guy. He doesn't allow a lot of runs, right? He can just be like a setter rapper. Is that what
it's called in English? Set up man. Yeah, a set up man and some Chapman. And then for bullpen's fine.
The bullpen's what's been the Rangers problem all year. You have those three guys who you can really
rely on, all lefties too. And then you have your other righties, which they have a couple of decent
ones mixed in. They fix their pitching. And I think with that one, once everybody comes back,
they'll make such a good push to playoffs. But you think they add another lefty? They have two
lefties in the back end right now. I mean, if they could get Hader, I don't know why they wouldn't
hesitate because that is just, that's scary. I would like Hader to go to a calm and safe place
that is neither of these, please. Okay, Brady. So then as a resident Hader sexual, where's
where do you want Josh Hager to go? Obviously, really would be cool, but that's not gonna happen.
No, that's not gonna happen. Gregory Soto for a World Series MVP. No, that's even worse. That's
that's that's just a that's a felony right there. Right then and there. But somewhere safe and sound.
I like him in San Diego. I really do. I don't mind it. I loved him in Milwaukee because this is
another safe and sound place that isn't in a dumpster that won't be a dumpster fire with three
lefties in our bullpen. Not the O's. Come on, man. No, no. But that's what he wants. He wanted to
close. You want him to be the man. He just wants to stop. He is the clothes. He's the closer. He's
the guy. He's the dog. He's the man. Okay. All right. It shouldn't. If you are a lefty reliever,
who faces a righty dominant lineup in the ninth inning and you're still that good,
like, how can you not? How can you not keep that guy there? So then let me ask you a question. So
where do you where where's the most likely so say he's getting traded hypothetically,
he's going somewhere. Where is the best fit for him in the way you see it?
Where is the best fit for him in the way you see it? Let's see here. Toronto just lost their
closer for the IO Jordan. I wouldn't mind that one. I'm not going to lie. That's where they
traded for Hicks, right? They did get Hicks, but Hicks has been so inconsistent. It's kind of one
of those weird ones to me. Well, they had, they also got a guy named Garcia from, I can't remember
he pitched today. He's a he's actually he has command. Yeah, Toronto got this guard like this
lefty named Garcia today and I watched the pitch. They actually got a really disgusting slider.
Okay. 9596. Gotcha. Okay, I think my favorite place here we go. Here we go. Hear me out. I
think my favorite place for him to go would be Tampa. I do. I think it would be so waste.
That's such a waste. It is. Pitches like twice a week. It's the same thing because Fairbanks is
their guy. Yeah. That's just saying it's Josh Hader. And if you really need to make a run,
is Kittredge going to be the guy to do it for you? I don't know. Fairbanks is their guy.
Fairbanks is their closing. Sorry. Fairbanks can be the guy to get it done in this push that you need
for the World Series. He looks the most boring guy ever. Fairbanks? Yeah. I remember the first
time I saw him in the 2020 playoffs, I had COVID. I was in the the U hotel room and I remember
watching him on TV and I was like, that guy did coke before he came out on the field. Because
he's got these big old bulging eyes and he just looks like he's like, he's like, cracked out of his
mind out there. That's my take on Fairbanks. I think Tampa or Toronto would be ideal. I do.
Okay. Because both of them are looking to make a playoff push. Yankees? No, absolutely not.
You should be locked up just for even saying that. I'm just saying, man. I'm just saying.
I wouldn't cry. We're running a sports podcast here. We've got to be realistic with that.
That's worse than him going to the Orioles. What? That is worse than him going to the Orioles.
Sure. You're right, Kenji. Let's move on. Otani is not getting traded. We can go there next.
We'll do a little bit of update on the variety of different teams here. We can start with the
Angels and Otani. Kenji, you want to talk about the update? I do want to mention, if you're not
going to, that double header he had against Detroit, I hope you were, as well as what the team's
going to be doing now that they have Jalito. That double header was very cool. Tell them. Tell
the people. Well, a complete shout out was pretty awesome. Nine strikeouts, one hit. Yep. Went all
for five, then went two for three with two home runs. Kind of a weird bonkers, honestly.
Now, here, you sound so excited to be here. It's because I was upset because I didn't get the
complete game. Yeah, Kenji was mad because he has Shohei on his fantasy team and he only lets you
put him at one position. Kenji forgot to put him as a pitcher. No, no. When you have a double header
in fantasy, for some reason, you can't take him out of the lineup after the game and move him.
It doesn't make any sense. So either start pitching or hit him. And I thought two games
were hitting or one game of pitching. There's no way he's going to throw a complete game shout out,
right? He hasn't thrown a shout out outing since the first game of the year. Yeah. And finally does
it. And he's been, oh my gosh. That's why I wasn't excited because I was so off watching.
Yeah. But I'm going to talk about that for just a second. Maybe the most impressive feat in the
history of professional sports, to be honest with you from what Otani did in that double header.
I mean, for reference, that's like Patrick Mahomes throwing for 400 yards and three touchdowns,
and then going out and getting like five sacks. I mean, we've never seen anything like it. An hour
after throwing a complete game shout out, it was Detroit, but still. He goes out and hits two homers
in a game. Like I just, we've never seen anything like it. And one of those, one of those homers was
mushed rocket. Yeah. It was the right center, right? The right center homers. So pretty. It was so
pretty. Yeah. I, everybody go listen and watch it. Cause it's, it's just, it's gorgeous.
490 foot one that he hit like a month ago, but yeah, that one was nice. Yeah. Yeah. It was a
really nice one. Um, yesterday against, I think it was yesterday or two days ago against Gosman.
Okay. Only one Gosman allowed was in the first inning to a, a pulled by Otani. And I don't know
if you guys saw this. You guys see Chapman start chirping at his coach. Yeah. He was like, he's
like, why the fluff would he throw it to him? Because he's the only dude that can hit.
I'm, I don't, if I was him, I would cut Chapman. Cause that boy sucks. Are you kidding me?
You had one good month in May and you think you're, dude, you, you have 112 strikeouts this year
and you think you can talk to your manager about who to walk? That guy's a moron. I hate Chapman.
Honestly, I think he's terrible at baseball. Okay. All right. He's my DFA, whatever my jigger,
like get the freak out of here. Okay. You're DFA guy. Yeah. All right. Okay. Oh, actually going
back really fast. Um, nevermind. You, you said hater to the Rangers, right? You already,
that was Joe's trade that you mentioned with him. I mean, Joe like joked about it. Okay. Nevermind.
Sorry. Continue with the angels. What's their, what's their path to the playoffs? What is it?
What's the, how do they, how do they get there? What do they need to do? When did,
what's trout's availability to, uh, I don't think trouts coming back for at least two more weeks
from if we count the six to eight weeks. Yeah. I pretty much look every week. I count the weeks
calendar since he got hurt. And I'm like, when six to eight never changes, but you know, I keep
hoping that the month changes. Um, but until he comes back, I don't see us doing much. We keep,
we pull up so many prospects. We've traded for so many guys because of injuries. It's just like not
working. Like Zach nettles hurt again. Taylor. Honestly, did they rush nettle back? No, he
hurts back a little bit, but he's not on IO. He's just resting. Okay. Taylor ward just got hit in
the face. I don't know how long he's out for. He's been our hall hitter.
For Taylor ward, man. That boy got hurt. Yeah. I mean, I actually, I didn't like Taylor ward in
the beginning, but I really like him. Yeah. Fat boy Alec Manoa through right. It's true. That guy
sucks. Yeah. Send him back down to the Florida Gulf coast.
Yes. No, but honestly, the angels, it's, it's hard to watch them play. Like our hitting is horrendous.
There's no spark, especially when they keep intentionally walking on a tiny, there's like,
just nothing gets the team going anymore. Right. Out trout is like, no, we'll live.
You're a real leader. Okay. Pitching is just so mediocre. Our leaders are dying. So yeah, I hate
being an angels fan. We warned you, man. We told you before you started the season that being an
angel fan is one of the most demoralizing experiences somebody can put themselves through.
I know that we're not talking football. We're not talking football, but Dylan, my good friend,
Dylan Chargers fan hates his life. Not really. I love you Dylan, but that's kind of the same thing
for being an angels fan. So yeah, Brady, you want to talk about the fans? Yeah. Yeah.
Brady, you want to talk about the Phillies briefly? Let's run through these team recaps just a little
bit. Well, we're a giant dumpster fire. That's all I can, that's all it is. We suck. We are making
terrible mental, physical mistakes. How about Harper getting thrown out last night from,
on that single? So bad. It's so funny. They were playing Pittsburgh and Harper hits like a single
to the gap and Henry Davis is out there in right field. And the best picture I've seen of the
season is Harper touching first base as Henry Davis is throwing the ball back in the second.
And Harper tries to push for two and he's out by like five feet. Brady's shaking his head.
So stupid. That's the kind of stuff we've been doing since the All-Star break. It's so bad.
Wait, so Harper hit to right and he got thrown out first base?
At second. No, at second. It was like just a single to right. And he tried going to second,
had no real reason to go to second, except for thinking that Davis's arm was bad.
Dude, Davis is like an insane arm. I don't know what he's thinking.
He's got a good arm and Harper was out by five feet and then just immediately got up and walked
right off the field. He knew exactly, he was like, yeah, that was a mistake and just walked right off.
It's so stupid. I hate everything. It's so bad. The only way our playoff or postseason push would
do any good is if we just turn on the jets again. We figure it out again and make another insane run.
But I honestly, at this point, I would be really, really happy to see it happen,
but I don't think it's going to happen. I think we'll go into the wild card and do nothing.
Do you know what inning it was in?
I have no idea. I can try and find you the video and send it to you, Kenj.
I'm like looking it up because they don't have the specific video. So I'm just going to see if I can
find it on the highlights from yesterday. Okay.
Brady, do you remember what part of the game it was on?
No, I don't remember. But anyway, terrible, absolute blasphemy. I'm so upset. I hate everything.
Philly suck. Thank you and good night. They did take two out of three from the O's,
though. They did. Absolutely. That's the only good thing I've seen since the All-Star break.
Yeah. Yep. I'm trying to find a way, Kenj. I think I'm kind of close. I watched Bryce Harper
strike out twice on Balls in the Dirt. Yeah. He got thrown out again today.
Oh, yes. But it wasn't his fault. So Trey hits a sack.
Brady, what's going on with your team, homie? Dude, we're falling apart.
What is going on, bro? This is a disaster class.
It's so bad. So Trey Turner hits a fly baller with... So we're in the 10th inning. There's
runners on third and second with nobody out. Trey hits a sack fly to right and Harper draws
the throw because it was too close for him to go home. So he draws the throw, but as he draws
the throw, Bohm is halfway to third base. So then they throw back to second to get Bohm.
But then when they did that, then Harper goes home and is thrown out by like a foot again.
It is so bad. It is the epitome. I'm so sick of it. Can we figure it out? Please.
We have to put in a headphone warning for everybody. Help me. Please.
That's pretty great. So bad.
So then what's next for Phillies? What's next for the Phillies fans? What's your reason to live?
What's your reason to watch games, Brady? Hope and pray they figured out and actually
be productive. Hopefully. What really makes me upset. Another thing that makes me upset.
The Phillies hitting actually comes through for once and Aaron Nola
throws it away in the garbage can into the dumpster into the garbage truck.
It is so bad when our hitting has been the it's been very inconsistent. But as soon as it is
consistent and we put up like five runs in the first three innings or two innings and Nola throws
it away and lets up seven. I think it was it was close to that. Tell us how you really feel, man.
Hope and pray that we figure it out. That's it. That's all I got.
I'll go briefly into somebody's other team. So Joe's Texas Rangers are four and six in their
last 10. I don't make a habit of watching too many Rangers games, but four and six in the last 10.
Isn't good, especially when Houston is a game and a halfback and they've been six and four in their
last 10 injuries, man. Yeah. Andries are kind of ravaging them. Hopefully Scherzer can come in and
give them a little jolt as well as Montgomery. Do they pick up any bats? Do they sign it? They
get any bats? Probably not. I don't think so. No, they like my bats really because there's no room.
That's true. Yeah. And that lineup is gross when they get hot. They need Perez to stop pitching.
Period. He was an all star last year, right? Yeah, he was. What was weird was he accepted a
qualifying offer because most players usually don't accept their one-year qualifying offer
because they can go get more money for a longer term elsewhere. But Perez accepted his one-year,
$20 million deal. Maybe because he knew he was bad.
But then if you know you're bad, why would you not? Why would you not? Exactly. Exactly.
But he did. Maybe he was just stupid, honestly. Maybe he was just stupid.
But so that's kind of the update over there in the West. The AL mid is still mid. The O's are
only a game up on Tampa Bay in the East. Tampa has gotten a little bit better. They're four and six
in the last 10. O's are six and four. Did you see them get spanked yesterday? Yeah, that was so fun.
Wasn't it? Four to 17 or something. That was so fun. I can't stand Tampa Bay. Who pitched
yesterday, Brady? I know you have a couple of Tampa guys on your fantasy team.
Neither of them. I don't know who it was. Okay. So none of the big guys. Probably Bradley. That
guy has kind of got a problem. Probably. Excuse me. Atlanta still running away with the East.
Cincinnati and Milwaukee are tied in the central. Milwaukee's beating Cincinnati in their head to
heads. But Milwaukee hasn't played as good outside of that. And then the Dodgers are three up on the
Giants in the West. Padres still suck. But yeah, I think tonight the O's have a big game, I think,
in just an hour and a half or so. The rubber match against the Yankees on Sunday night baseball,
which will be the first time they've been on Sunday night baseball in like seven years,
six years. So it's like the Lions getting a prime time game on NFL. But hey, we'll take it. We need
a win tonight. Luis Evarino, hopefully he gets shell tonight against Kramer. But now we're moving
into the best segment of the show. Maybe, maybe, maybe not. Kenji wants to talk about intentional
walks. We were going through our plan before we hopped on and started recording. And Kenji said,
make sure we talk intentional walks. So maybe not the most exhilarating thing in the sport,
but here we are. Kenji, let's have at it. I'll do what I do best, just complain.
Self-described complainer.
Nothing but complaints about the Blue Jays manager, a little torp bag,
sits all high and mighty on his bench, with his stupid looking sunglasses and his stupid beard,
and walks Ohtani on the fourth inning, just because he's afraid of letting up for one
run in the fourth inning. I was so pissed off. Because last week, I think he got walked like
10 times. He got walked, I think, seven times or six times in two games. Intentionally, like half
of them too. I'm like, I'm so bored watching. And then, you know, Chapman's getting mad for pitching
him, which, you know, freak him again. But I know it's part of the game and everything,
but it's so boring. And I know, I don't know, for them, their lives are on the line or their jobs
are on the line, as if one game makes a difference or anything. But it's just, it's just,
it's stupid to me. I think there should be a rule that you can intentionally walk to,
like, after the seventh inning or something. Those are lifeless eyes right there, coming from you,
Kenji. That's a sad look. I'm just casually watching baseball right before Joe talks at
churches with Austin next to me. And we're like, oh, Ohtani's up, perfect. You know,
Ranheef just hit a double. We're like, oh, great. He hits a single and then they walk.
Fourth inning with two outs. I was like, are you kidding me?
Don't want to let him beat you.
Next inning, next time he's up to bat. Two outs, runner's on first, pass ball,
runner goes to second. Oh, let's walk him again. Cause there's a free base. Oh my gosh.
It's been so boring watching Ohtani play because the guy just can't get pitches.
Welcome to the Barry Bonds special.
Yeah, it's effectively Barry Bonds.
So I like to just call out any coach that intentionally walks anybody that I think are
an absolute loser. I would never intentionally walk anybody. All right. I don't know how good
they were. So I hope.
We'll come back to you. We'll come back to you in the playoffs when they're
playing like the Yankees or something and judge is up to bat in the eighth inning.
And you're just walking.
They should have a commitment before the game be like, I want to intentionally walk judging.
You don't want to intentionally walk Ohtani and we'll have a lot. And if you walk,
it's actually a free base walking is a post move.
Okay. All right. Hot take. I don't really want to talk about intentional walks anymore.
Brady, do you want to? Yeah. Okay. Cool. Thanks.
Coach Kent Murphy is writhing in his grave listening to Kenji talk about intentional walks.
We'll quickly move forward then. Just a fun, just a few fun series to watch this week.
O's at Blue Jays, Monday through Thursday, Astros at Yankees this coming weekend,
Blue Jays Red Sox also this coming weekend.
And then one that Kenji I'm sure will be watching Mariners at Angels.
You might be asking why the Mariners gave the Yankees a chance to win.
You might be asking why the Mariners gave they suck. And you'd be right. They do suck.
But they're both kind of meddling for that. The bottom of the wild card right now,
Mariners are trying to kickstart it and the Angels are just trying to get something going offensively.
So it could be a battle of like, you know, you win a series and you can separate yourself.
Or if you lose a series, then you're kind of out of it.
So that might be a fun one to watch. And then rolling into the last part of the show, everybody,
the different watches. So we got our DFA watch and our players to watch.
It's everybody's favorite part of the show.
Brady, Kenji, how we DFA watch. You guys got somebody in mind?
I do. I have both of them.
Okay. Kenji is a professional hater, everybody. Kenji, who's getting DFA'd?
Should I do somebody on the Angels or somewhere else?
Whatever you want. I know you already mentioned Matt Chapman.
Yeah. Matt Chapman, get him out of there. Andrew Velasquez on the Angels, get him out of there.
You've said him before too, yeah.
I've said him before. Me and Austin hate him. We're both Angels fans, you know.
But no, a guy that I would say that should honestly just
leave baseball in general. I think is, I've talked about this before. Oh, Javier Baez.
I talked about him, I think.
Oh, yeah. Send him to the Florida league.
I think Javier Baez needs to just disappear.
I don't understand how somebody looks at that swing and says, I want that on my team.
That's like a $300 million swing from what the Tigers paid him.
Dude, I don't get it. The guy sucks.
I don't know why pitchers throw fastballs. Literally. Oh, I do want to say one thing.
This is actually kind of funny. I want to ask you guys, if you could confidently step on the mound
and face a batter, which batter would you want to face? In full out, I think you can strike him out.
Who do you think you could strike out in the MLB?
Javier Baez.
My Javier Baez. All you do is you throw a slider or curveball. Throw it from the outside part of
the half, outside the strike zone, and he goes. Every time. Every time.
Get him out of there.
Nice. Javier Baez. Brady?
What? DFA Watch, the entire Phillies organization as a whole. Just kidding. No.
Person I just can't stand watching right now. I guess I wouldn't say DFA Watch. He's just
been really, really bad lately. It's Lourdes Guerrero. He's not playing very well. He hasn't
gotten a hit in a week and a half. I don't think he's gotten a hit since the All-Star break,
for all I know. It's so bad. And he got it today, actually. He got one hit today.
And that's his first hit since the All-Star break. It's so bad. He's just so bad.
Just so, so bad.
Okay. All right. Well, I'll give you my DFA Watch. I'm kind of shuffled back and forth between a few
guys. I know I mentioned Ryan McKenna before. The O's have such bad middle relief. I can't stand
Brian Baker every time he comes in the game because he has no change up. And it's like this
weird overhand breaking ball and a fastball that just gets hammered. So he would be one.
Tyler Wells just got sent down, but Tyler had a good first half. So I don't want to hate on him
too much. How did he drop off so bad? He was really, really good.
He's reached his career high in the most that he's ever thrown in a season, and it's July.
I think it's fatigue. I think teams are just getting a little bit better. He's facing guys for
the second, third time this year. And I think they're just hitting him better.
Which is sad.
Was his deeper stats pretty bad? Because I know his ERA was nice. Now that doesn't tell the full
story. What are they called? Not deeper stats.
The expected stats, things like advanced.
Yeah, advanced stats. Were those poor for him?
No, they weren't poor. They were just barely average, but above average. And so it wasn't
anything where you were like, oh, you knew he was going to get shelled. But lately he's struggled
with command. He's walking two, three, four guys a game. And then on top of that, he's not locating
very well. So for example, yesterday, he got ahead of Judge, I think a one, and it was a one,
one count or something. And Adley went down to the low and away and wanted the fastball low and away.
And Wells threw it middle high and Judge smacked it. And I was like, oh, great. Cool. Thanks.
It's just that kind of guy. But I wouldn't even say to DFA him.
It's Haunton Dare.
No, but he had a walk off Homer the other night.
Oh, he's been bad lately though.
Yeah, he hasn't been badly. I'm not going to say it's on there. I guess I'll go with Brian Baker
then. I can't stand Brian Baker. That guy looks stupid. He looks like, what's the name? What's
the comedian? Bill Burr. He looks like Bill Burr. But I, so I'm going to DFA that guy. And then
we'll quickly go into our players to watch and then we'll let everybody get on their merry old
way. So Brady, who we, who's supposed to be watched this week? Who's, who's popping off?
As the weeks continue, he just stays on the list. Mr. Bryson Stott, the man himself,
still hitting over 300. About the only good thing the Phillies have going right now.
That's about it. I wish he would have done this last year in his rookie year, but here we are.
I'm going to pray the Phillies get it going. Kenji?
Justin Casas.
Yeah, he's been good. He's been winning for the Red Sox.
Yeah. 426 since All-Star break. Is he hitting with Pop too?
Or is it just him? He's hitting Pop. He's got six homers. Yeah.
Oh, right. He's got like, I think 10 plus RBI. I mean, he's hot.
Yeah. He only plays against righties or righties, but I think he's going to start earning more time
with lefties just because of how good he's played. Just because of how hot he is. Yeah.
And I'll say Trey Turner can play second base really easily. So it opens up their hole in
field for them. Gotcha. Side note watch, Cody Bellinger.
Yeah. Okay. If you haven't been watching Cody Bellinger for the last month,
then you're just stupid. So no.
Cody's been one of the best players in the league the last month.
Unreal how good he's hitting. Yeah. I'll go with, I like my guy,
Riley Green. He's had a great start coming back out of the All-Star break. He gives you a little
bit of speed, but he's got great hands, good average, good Pop. So I'll go Riley Green,
Ronald Acuna Jr., NL MVP. Does it count?
I know. Listen, no, I'm just kind of spitting off guys here. Acuna just stole his what? 40th
bag or something. I don't know. 50th bag.
This is 50th? No, it's 40th. Sorry, 40th.
Oh, I was going to say. He'll be at 50 next week anyways.
He'll be at 50 next week. Yeah. And I know I said Ha Sung Kim last week,
but I'm going to go with Ha Sung Kim again, because I freaking love that guy.
It was 50. Thank you very much.
Well, it's 50? Oh my goodness.
Oh my gosh. He'll get to 70 before the end of the season.
That's crazy, dude. That's a crazy number.
And to hit for 330. That's just stupid. That's so crazy.
It's so dumb how someone can play that good. Yeah. But so those are my guys. I would say too,
actually, Aaron Savali, Cleveland pitcher. He's pitched great his last couple of times out
Kansas City. And then today, I believe against the White Sox, he pitches in the AL mid. So it's like,
if he pitched in the East, he wouldn't be as good. But when you're going up against the Royals and
the White Sox half the time, you're pretty good. But those are our players to watch and our DFA
watch. That's kind of our episode. Kenji, Brady, what do you, you guys got any last things you
want to say? Should we, I mean, what are we thinking? Trade deadline, anything crazy about
to happen? Hot, super hot take? Or we just, we're just getting out of here.
Bobby Whit Jr. is my favorite player after, uh, okay. Yeah, that's worth noting.
Send somebody to Philly. I don't care who it is. Help is on the way. Help is on the way.
Somebody send help. Yes. That's about it. It's all I got.
Like the Shannon Sharp. Okay. All right. Mets are selling Padres. We will remain to be seen if the
Padres are going to sell here in the next couple of days. Um, yeah. Go O's tonight and, uh,
yeah, Joe, we miss you. We love you. Hope you're on next time.