Halford & Brough in the Morning - NHL Free Agency Could Be Nuts This Year

Episode Date: June 3, 2025

In hour two, Mike & Jason tell us what they learned (3:00), plus they speak with The Denver Post's Patrick Saunders (26:07), who tell us what's going on with this season's Colorado Rockies, one of the worst teams in MLB history.  This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

Music 702 on a big band Tuesday here on the Haliford and Brev show on Sportsnet 650. Haliford and Brev of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates, BC's first and trusted choice for debt help with over 3000 five star reviews. Visit them online at Sands-Trustee.com. We are now in hour two of the program. Patrick Saunders, beat writer for the Colorado Rockies for the Denver Post, is going to join us at 7.30 this morning. 7.30.

Did you oopsie? Little bit. Little bit of an oopsie. Although, I did just really get an early tease in there. I was really excited to put it out there. You're just so good at your job. It's not often You get a chance to talk to someone who's covering maybe the worst team in MLB history right now And the Denver Post is doing this with semi regularity. They're checking in on the 1899 Cleveland spiders

Often regarded as the low bar for the worst team ever MLB history. You know if you're being compared to the Cleveland Spiders, you're not having a good time. The Cleveland Spiders in 1899 I believe won a single one of their final 41 games of the regular season. One and 40 down the stretches. That's tough. That's a long stretch. Yeah. That was tough for the Spiders that year.

Anyway. Why would you name your team the spiders? It's a cool name. There should be more spiders. They thought about re when they were renaming Cleveland They thought about going back to the spiders. Yeah decided on garden. Yeah cool logo So spooky though. Yeah, no, it's great. You should love it as a Halloween enthusiast. Yeah in October That's when you pay play your best baseball not the Cleveland spiders. They were done in the regular season. Anyway, Patrick Saunders, Rocky's Beat Riders is going to join us at seven 30. So real quick, we are still in our two of the program.

Our two is brought to you by Jason Hominuck at Jason dot mortgage. If you love giving the banks more of your money, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit them online at Jason dot mortgage. And we are coming to you live from the Kintec studio, Kintec footwear and orthotics working together with you in step. So there's a lot going on in the national hockey league right now in terms of rumors and rumblings from here and there.

But there are some signings that are coming down the pipe. And I do want to mention this one in Tampa Bay from yesterday, not necessarily because of the deal itself, but what the deal means. So in case you missed it, veteran, gritty forward, Yanni Gord signed a contract extension with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Again, on the surface, not that big of a deal.

It's a middle six winger who's 33 years old, deciding to stay with the Tampa Bay Lightning, a team that he's very familiar with rather than go to free agency Yeah, I need to tell me if this was a core deal or not. Oh get out of here Hey dog Well the times I hate you're interrupting not this time though anyway So why do you get a six-year deal?

Anyway, yeah, so why do you get a six-year deal 33 years old Yanni Gord got a six-year deal? With a total value of thirteen point nine eight million spread it out a little bit So it's still almost 14 million bucks like you're gonna get that money even just spread it out over six years He becomes the first player since the NHL introduced the salary cap To sign a six-year contract at the age of 33 First player since first players of the game. I gave it the salary cap came in we're talking 20 plus years now So it's very interesting on a couple of fronts one The deal is very very specific and very very intriguing It has signing bonus payments due each year and that mitigates any future risk of a buyout.

What's more, he has a full no trade clause, meaning the only way he leaves Tampa is if he chooses to leave Tampa. Otherwise he can stay there for the remainder of that contract until he's 39 years old. That one screams, he's not going to play anymore. LTIR in a few, in a few years, but anyway. But those little. Who cares about that stuff? What was the main takeaway that you had from this? So a week ago, I was scouring through the

potential free agent list. Who's going to go UFA on July 1? Who might be a semi-decent fit for the Vancouver Canucks? And I half-heartedly, and I stress the word half-heartedly, kind of thought, oh, maybe, I don't know, Yanni Gord would be a guy. He's got some grit. He's tenacious.

We had that conversation about, do the Canucks need to add some veteran leadership? He's 33 years old. He's won Stanley cups Hey Why not? So not only did Johnny Gord not make it to July 1st He barely made it to June 1st. He signed on June 2nd like that's how quickly that option was wiped off the table Mm-hmm. It's the entire month of June to go and now you can cross Johnny Gord off whatever

the table. It's the entire month of June to go. And now you can cross Yanni Gordoff, whatever unrestricted free agent list. And he actually chose to pass up going to free agency to take this deal. Yeah. Which I mean, on the surface, it's fine. It's, it's great for him. And the lightning know him.

They're familiar with what he does. And they have the advantage of no state tax because they play in Florida. So all of it. He spent, he spent four years in Seattle. He was like, get me out of the rain. Just get me back. I'm going to handle this. Get me back.

I want my chance too much. The team is boring. I don't even know what we're doing here. I want my jet ski. I want to be back in Florida. I want it all. I I wonder over the next couple of weeks, how many of these guys that everyone thought

were gonna go to UFA get retained by their clubs? Because the club might look at it and say, hey, we've got the cap space, we like you, we know what you bring to the table, your stuff is already here. We're definitely gonna have the rights to players traded, right? And what would you, I mean,

I would maybe set the over under on, we don't see that as much anymore, but with the dearth of available unrestricted free agents and a lot of teams not wanting to wait until July 1st to get that done, I wonder if we're going to see a little bit of that. Like is, are Marner's, could Marner's rights be traded? I'm not talking about for much, but just for teams to get ahead of things.

I think, I think it's a very good call on your part because we've been looking at this landscape for weeks now. I mean, the Canucks haven't played seemingly in eight years, it feels like, but it's been less than that. And we've looked at the one, the tasks at hand for this front office. And then because it's so overwhelming in scope, you start looking at what the solutions are out there and the free agent list. When it first became available and everyone saw it wasn't overwhelming to begin

with. And you will see guys re up with their teams or, as you mentioned, teams jump the queue. Like, here's the six round pick, give us his negotiating rights and let us, you know, spend a few days trying to convince him to come to San Jose or wherever else I see San Jose being a big player, can see Chicago being a big player. I can imagine there's no worse feeling for a team than July 1st is over, the frenzy is over, and you're still like, ooh, we've got a lot of pieces still to fill.

And then you go and talk to other teams and they're like, yeah, we're good. Yeah. We've got our team now. I think we did our homework. I think the trade front is going to be incredibly active over the next little bit. I think what we saw and heard and felt out of Dallas

yesterday was maybe just the first one. I mean, you've got to consider this right now. You throw, and I did not consider Dallas to be a team in a pivotal moment prior to the start of these playoffs, but it feels like they certainly are now. Toronto, a team that is obviously going in a different direction, is a big money, big market team that's had a massive front office shakeup and is now entrusted the entire future and the reimagining of its DNA almost exclusively to Brad Tree

Living and Craig Barube. Okay. Right. And that's entirely different than the Shannon plan. So that's something that's entirely different than the Shannon plan So that's something that you take a look at how's it gonna affect the 32 teams have money now So everyone's gonna go crazy. They'll be like kids in a candy store. It's like oh my god. No more flat cap We finally have money everyone's gonna be spending or trying to spend it's gonna be probably very exciting Okay, we didn't say we were gonna do this But this is our gonna be our version of what we learned because we got guests in the next three segments. And by the way, our final hour, two big guests, Nathan Rourke and Jesse Marsh.

So stay tuned for that. Give him a moocow on that, not a mooner. I wanted a mooner. Classic. Just a regular moocow. So I just saw this one, so I'm going to mention it briefly. The Chicago Fire have plans to build a new privately funded soccer stadium in Chicago's South Loop.

That's interesting news, isn't it? But I think it's downtown somewhere. Their owner is investing $650 million to fully finance the project, and the stadium aims to open ahead of the 2028 MLS season. So the Fire have played in a couple of stadiums already. They started out at Soldier Field where the Bears play and then they did build, correct me if I'm wrong here.

They did build another stadium, but no one went to it cause it was in the burbs and they were like, we're going back to Soldier Field. But I think the plan was always to build a soccer specific stadium somewhere and now they're in the downtown area. Again, I don't really know the geography. I don't know where the South Loop is in Chicago, but I think it's an area where they've been trying to figure something out for a while. They've had countless, it's on the north side of Chicago. They don't

want to stay at Soldier Field because it's too big it's too big and This it's good that the parcel of land is called the 78 We're going way deep in the weeds here But just to give you an idea of what we're talking about here as it maybe relates to the Vancouver Canuck or Vancouver Whitecaps in The city of Vancouver. They've had countless Different ideas and plans hatched, but nothing's come to fruition It's considered like one of Chicago's largest undeveloped parcels of land.

Okay. And now the idea is not just to build a stadium, but everything that goes along with the modern stadium build, right? So I think my point in bringing this up is just that the multi-use stadiums are the exception rather than the rule in MLS right now, which brings us to the whitecaps and their need to find something to

replace BC Play Stadium. Now, a lot of people will say, doesn't Seattle Stadium or the Seahawks play? Lumen Field, doesn't that work well for them? There's more and more talk out of Seattle about getting a stadium built for them. Work. Yes. Works well. No, I've been to Sanders games before. Yeah. It's they love their own stadium. It's too big.

Your sight lines to the pitch aren't great. Sometimes you can feel like you're a million miles away from it. You don't need a Stadium of that size for ml. MLS right now Their crowds are let's just call it 20,000. Yeah, that's what you want That's the ideal number, right? If you get anything larger than that great you can jack up the ticket prices and gouge the public to try and get in But well a lot of these other teams down south could also move the game to another football, to a football stadium. It's really easy to do that. I think Montreal's done that a few times at

Olympic Stadium, right? The Atlanta United, when they started, using Mercedes-Benz Stadium was amazing because they were getting massive, massive crowds. But once the novelty wore off and the team stopped winning as much as it did, it becomes a problem. And suddenly you're playing in a cavernous arena that has bad atmosphere. So we sound familiar. So here are the remaining multi-use stadiums. You mentioned the one in Atlanta, and I don't know what they have plans to build a new stadium there. There's one in Charlotte too.

They play at Bank of America Stadium where the Panthers play. Soldier Field, we just mentioned that, and by the sounds of it, they won't be playing in Soldier Field in a few years. Gillette Stadium, where the Patriots play. That thing looks awful. It looks one of the worst aesthetically, like in terms of a visual, like the aesthetics on it are awful. Yeah.

Yankee Stadium, and they've got plans, NYCFC, which is always tough to say, they're building a new stadium. Actually, I take it back. The worst in terms of aesthetics is when they play games at Yankee Stadium. It is awful. Okay, but they got a plan. It is awful. They're building a new stadium.

Yeah, I know, but I'm saying, yeah. Yeah, there's a reason they all want to get out. Yeah, and then Lumen Field, which we've mentioned, and BC Place, that's it. It's a big league, and most of them are playing in soccer-specific stadiums. And I know the Whitecaps have, you could say there's a plan to build a new stadium, but man, it needs approval

from the city and it needs someone to pay for it. Because the current owners aren't going to pay for it. Their idea is they're going to sell the white caps. They would like to sell the white caps with the wheels in motion on a new stadium. Now, how fast those wheels are actually turning, if they're able to sell, remains to be seen. But our big concern with the white caps, and I hate to go a little bit quote unquote negative after they had that great run in the, in the

CONCACAF champions, but our great concern is that the Whitecaps are going to get left behind. Sure. And they're not going to have the potential to make the revenue that some of these other teams that have soccer specific stadiums and perhaps more importantly, control the stadiums. They are in control.

They don't get kicked out in case there's a motocross there. They get food and beverage, they get parking, all the things that you get when you control your stadium. Their revenue might be the lowest in MLS, the Vancouver Whitecaps. And that is not a place you want to be, especially in a league that has huge ambitions. MLS has massive ambitions with the money behind it,

with the market, with the World Cup coming to North America. It's happening right now. There is a soccer boom going on in North America. It's happening with kids, it is happening with adults. More and more people are into this sport. And they might not say it publicly, but you know that this league says in 20 years, we wanna be a top five league in the world.

And the owners- Top three league in the world, maybe. The owners that are on board now in the league reflect that. I'm probably, I'm gonna butcher the pronunciation of the name, but I believe it's Joe Manciuto is the owner of the name, I believe, is Joe Manciuto is the owner of the Chicago Fire. That's a billionaire owner on the Forbes 400 list that is proposing at this stage of the proceedings anyway

to put up 650 million of his own money to get this stadium and surrounding entertainment district built. That's the kind of money that you're talking about with MLS now, which is what? The fifth, sixth largest league in North America? Yeah. I mean, nevermind the big dogs where they go eat.

This is kind of where you're at with the amount of capital that's being invested in MLS. It's funny, if you wanna look at a big picture thing and even take it away from the white caps and their stadium issues. You talk about like them getting left behind the leagues growing at a really rapid pace. And if you even just look at the players that they've been able to bring in,

a lot of it has to do with the fact that MLS has the type of money to attract high end players that, quite frankly, a lot of leagues can't anymore. I mean, they're willing. I mean, outside of the Premier League, quite frankly, a lot of leagues can't anymore. I mean, they're willing, outside of the Premier League, they've got the kind of money where they can take swings at big players that they're basically competing, granted, with older players that are on their last legs. They're competing with the Saudi League

to try and get some of these guys. Messi was a huge game changer in terms of league branding, league recognition, solidifying the Apple deal. And look at the facilities now. It's crazy. You know, it's getting to the point now where players won't have to play that often. We should talk.

On artificial turf. I don't know if we'll have the time today, but we should talk to Jesse Marsh about this. Cause Jesse Marsh played over a decade in MLS in the early stages, right? Where they had the funky shootouts. We've got to talk to him about that. How much has MLS changed and early stages, right? Where they had the funky shootouts. We gotta talk to them about that.

How much has MLS changed and where do you think it's going? A lot of, like there's franchises just straight up failed, right? Sheevis failed, Tampa Bay failed. It was a totally different league because it was new and it was unique, but it was niche-y. If you were to follow it, you had to be a very type of specific soccer fan,

whereas now, I mean, Inter Miami is working on being a global brand in large part because it's being fueled by Messi. Some of the former stadiums that they played in. Oh my God. Remember they played at Arrowhead in Kansas City? Yep. The Cotton Bowl.

Yep. In Dallas. Giant Stadium, Invesco Field at, they played at mile high stadium. I think that was the New York, New Jersey Metro stars played there. If I'm not mistaken, there's a lot of teams that have moved out of big football stadiums to soccer specific stadiums. Uh, I'm going to end that with a moocow.

Okay. Let's do a quick reset here. Cause we got a lot to get into on the program. Uh, friendly reminder that the eight o'clock hour we're going to have Beastly Lions quarterback Nathan Rourke on the program. Now the Lions kick off their CFL regular season this Saturday. That is Saturday, June 7th. It's a seven o'clock start.

But of course at 5 4545, prior to kickoff, Snoop is gonna be headlining the concert kickoff series at BC Play. So we'll talk to Nathan about that. We'll also ask him obviously about working with his new head coach, Buck Pierce, the new look offense. I wouldn't mind asking him a couple questions

about his brother Curtis Rourke, who's now a member of the San Francisco 49ers. At 8.30 as we mentioned, we're gonna get Jesse Marsh on the program. That of course is in advance of the San Francisco 49ers at 830. As we mentioned, we're going to get Jesse Marsh on the program. That, of course, is in advance of the Canadian men's national team with a pair of friendlies against Ukraine and the Ivory Coast. And that is before they start the gold cup at B.C. Place. I'll remind you, Tuesday, June 17th.

It's a 730 kickoff. Lots of tickets available. If you want to see the Canadian men's national team play its first and only game of the gold cup that's going to be played in Canada. That's on Tuesday, June 17th. So two weeks from tonight, we're also giving away a $50 gift card to white spot. Uh, that's going to be at eight 15 this morning. It's going to be caller number five at eight 15. The phone number here is six oh four two eight oh zero six 50. That number,

again, six oh four280-0650. Every day this week, we're giving away a 50-50 gift card to a white spot. It'll be caller number five at 815, white spot, BC spot to celebrate all of life's big and little moments. Can you get the what we learned read up? Yes. Okay, let's print out some submissions

into the Dunbar lumber text line. That's 650-650, and you can text in on the Dunbar Lumber Text Line. Metro Vancouver's trusted choice for contractors and rental warriors for over 50 years. Visit them at one of the three locations to serve you or online at dunbarlumber.com. Well, we learned Humanity Edition brought to you by AJ's Pizza on East Broadway. You got to try this bar pie, 14 inches of cracker thin crust topped with tomato sauce, matzo and cheddar only at AJ's Pizza. Order online at ajs.pizza. 14 inches of cracker, not 14 crackers.

Robin Surrey with what we learned. I learned that former Canuck alum David Booth now plays for the Melbourne Ice of the Australian Ice Hockey League. I kind of saw this. I didn't read about it. Did anyone read about this? What is going on? What I saw about the Australian ice hockey league. I kind of saw this, I didn't read about it. Did anyone read about this? What is going on?

What I saw about the Australian league was they had a fan incident like a week ago where a guy jumped down from the crowd and tried to run after a player into the dressing room. That's my knowledge of the Australian hockey league. He gets paid $300 dues a week. Goalie, that's amazing. I'd like to see what he looks like.

They stream on YouTube, you can probably check it out. You know what, I said I wanted to see what the Australian ice hockey league looked like. Do you think he hunts in the outback in the offseason? I don't know if he's part of the selling point. Yeah, crocodiles. And hey, all joking aside, if you followed David Booth's career, none of you have, but if you followed it, he's clearly doing this one-man odyssey to try and play in every single league imaginable.

So over the last six years, he's played in Norway, Germany, ended up in Hungary, and now is on his way to Australia. It's a good way to see the world. Can you imagine, will you pay for my plane ticket to get there? Like, yep. All right, I'll bring my gear. A family member of ours used to billet players

for Coquillam. Yeah. BC Junior, what is that now? I don't even know how the leagues work anymore. BCHL. Is it? Okay, I don't even know. Anyway, so there was a lot of guys,

and they'd come from fairly good, like either hockey schools down in the states or played you know We could hockey pedigree sure not anywhere going to even the American League or the the NHL But all of them had this very clear path to go to Europe and they all said the same thing that you just said It's like I'm in my you know early 20s. I could still make money playing hockey. I'm good enough to do it at that level I'm going to play in the Netherlands, right? And then when you, yeah, like what a great way to see Europe and to like, I mean,

imagine the time you'd have. It's a good experience. Especially if you have a parent who's from one of those countries and you don't have to be an import player. You can be a naturalized player. Yeah, and it's just easy, easy for them. That is one of the hiccups

that some players have to deal with. There are import rules in, I guess, all of the European. Pretty strict import rules. Yeah. So I actually sometimes wonder about players that stick it out for years and years in the AHL. I'm like, go to Europe and go see the world. Get a good experience. Make some money.

Right? Like, you don't have the, yeah, well, yeah, you make more money, right? You're not on a two-way NHL deal, but maybe some of them run into that. It sure. Maybe some of them just don't want to see the world. Give us a moocow on that. What do we got coming up next? We are going to Denver.

We're going to be joined by Patrick Saunders, Rocky beat writers of the Denver post. What's it like covering one of the worst teams in the history of major league baseball? That's what the Rockies are right now. We're going to find out more about it on the other side of the break. Patrick Saunders from the Denver Post. You're listening to the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Hey, it's Vic Nazar. Have your say and join me on the People's Show with big takes and even bigger bets. Weekdays three to four on Sportsnet 650 or wherever you get your podcasts. One-oh is grounded out to second.

They get one, they get two. The Rockies have their 10th win of the season and they take game one of this three game series from the Marlins by a final score six to four. Do you know what the crowd was at the Marlins Stadium to see the Rockies get their tenth win? Sadly I do. 5,894. What a time.

5,894. I know we've seen crowds like that at Major League Baseball games. Man, of teams that fold. I hate to say it. They were in Oakland. So that call that we just played coming back from break, that was the Marlins call. A very dejected. Pure pain. Marlins call. Pure pain.

After they handed the Colorado Rockies their 10th win of the season, bringing the Rockies to 10 and 50 on the year. It is the worst start in the MLB's modern era after 60 games. You are listening to the Halford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650. Halford and Bruff of the morning

is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal reduces your debt by up to 80% with no more interest. Visit them online at sans-trustee.com. A reminder, we are in hour two of the program. Patrick Saunders, Rocky's beat writer for the Denver Post is going to join us in just a moment here in hour two. Hour two of this program is brought to you by Jason Hominock at jason.mortgage. If you love paying too much for your mortgage, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you.

Visit him online at Jason.Mortgage. Let's go now to the phone lines, the hotline powered by Power West Industries. As mentioned, our next guest covers one of the worst teams as it currently stands in the history of major league baseball. Patrick Saunders, Rocky's beat writer for the Denver Post joins us now on the Haliford and Bref show on Sportsnet 650. Good morning, Patrick, how are you?

Good morning. That's quite an introduction. It's a pretty unique story, I'm not gonna lie. Like we've been following it from afar. We're obviously in Vancouver and we, you know, all the things going on in Major League Baseball. You know, it's not often we look all the way down in the standings, but we looked the other day

and we're like, oh my God, this is awful. So we thought we have to reach out. And my first question for you is, what's it been like covering a team that has won 10 of its first 60 games of a season? You know, it's really interesting. I went to this party the other day and normally the Rockies are pretty much out of sight, out of mind because they're just so far down on the totem pole in Colorado sports.

But they were the hot topic, which I guess is kind of the old adage that you prefer to cover a team that's really good and competitive or a team that's really bad and I guess it's very interesting to cover a team that's historically bad because people start reading it and people start taking an interest in kind of a perverse way but I'm not going to lie it is frustrating the guys on the team difficult to talk to they're frustrated I don't know if they're embarrassed, but they certainly should be. So it hasn't been easy. That's for sure. Okay. So walk us through how they got to this point. The Rockies were obviously built to be not good this year, but were they built to be historically bad?

No, they weren't. I think if you talk to most people who pay attention to the Rockies, not just reporters, there was a feeling that this was a transition year, but that they were getting ready in a youth movement to kind of turn the corner. I had predicted they'd go 72 and 90 this year. That shows you how off base I was. And there was a feeling that maybe even come next year, some of the young guys hit, uh, that they'd be close to a 500 team, maybe even sneak into a wild card in 2026. Uh, but the youth movement has not gone as they expected. They had some injuries early, uh,

and truthfully some of their veterans have stunk. And so it's been a perfect storm of futility. And now they're just scrambling to find a way forward. And who knows if they'll make major changes going forward. I mean, they already fired the hitting coast, they already fired the manager. Everybody's saying they need to clean house in the front office. It's not the Rockies way. We'll see if they do anything major, but clearly what they're trying to do is not working. So tell us a little bit more about trying to talk to these guys. You know, you go in there, I know they won yesterday, but you go in there and it's another

loss, like, God, how do they handle it and how do you handle it? Yeah, that's a great point. See, going to club outs, let's say particularly the Rockies Club Outs at Coors Field, which is massive, and it's opulent. It's just a gorgeous club out. But it's like a ghost town a lot of times. I mean, the starting pitcher is obligated to talk to the media. And then a few, a select few guys will make their way through. Off the record, they'll tell you about their frustration. And a lot of the guys have covered the team so long, they trust me knowing that I'm not going to spill the beans publicly about their frustrations or what they think should change. But on record, it's always the same old, you know, spill the beans publicly about their frustrations or what they think should change.

But on record, it's always the same old, you know, we're so close, a hit there, a hit there, or, you know, a couple pitches, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And, you know, we're almost there. But after a while you stop listening because it's kind of pathetic to tell you the truth. And the new manager, Warren Schaeffer, supplanted by Black, he obviously is trying to put any positive spin he can on the situation,

but sometimes it's almost comical because, you know, he's always talking about, we're making progress, blah, blah, blah. And yet, they've had four eight game losing streaks this season. At some point, somebody's gotta come out and just say, this is unacceptable. So far, nobody's really said it. That's incredible that nobody's come out and said that's unacceptable.

I was gonna ask you, what was it like after the 21-0 loss to San Diego? Were you guys just a hit away in this one? Yeah, exactly. That's when Bud Black was still the manager. I'm pretty tight with Bud Black. He's a terrific person and a great communicator, etc. The ironic part about it is they lose 21 to nothing at home to the Padres the next day they finally win

And then after the game they can't even celebrate because they fire bud black like 10 minutes after the game It's it's been a funky season. No question about that without betraying confidences or anything like that What does like how does bud black react to getting fired when it's clearly not his fault? Like, he's got an inferior team in terms of talent, and they're going out and getting beat because they're bad at baseball. What does he say in the aftermath of a terrible season in which he's fired early?

You know what? He has not spoken on the record to anybody about his being fired. I've texted with him multiple times. We haven't really gone there, but I can tell you conversations I would have with Buddy off the record through the course of the last couple of seasons. You know, the Rockies have lost 100 games in two consecutive seasons losing or heading into this year, he knew he's been

around baseball a long time. He knew this team wasn't talented enough to compete on a day-to-day basis. Nonetheless, he was disappointed in a number of things, particularly the offense. The Rockies always struggle with pitching because of course they compete at Coors Field but the offense given that Coors Field is their home ballpark has been one of the worst in baseball for about three or four years running and it is just it's it is so ineffective they strike out at a high rate they don't hit home runs very often they don't score runs. The

problem is this team has no identity, right? Are they going to go back to being the Blake Street Bombers of days of yore to where, you know, visiting teams cringe at having to come to Coors Field because they know their pitchers are going to be beat up by this powerful lineup? Well, that's not the case. Are they going to try to be more pitching conscious as they were under Bud Black in 17 and 18 when they made the playoffs and they had a pretty decent starting pitching rotation in the salty bullpen? Well that's not the case either. Are they going to go all in with the youth movement? Well they're trying to but a lot of their young players have come up empty and so there's a number of

things that just aren't going right. And I proposed for a long time, the Rockies need to clean house in the front office. They need to bring in some new blood. They need to bring in some new ideas and create a team, at least a Coors field that's going to scare the opponent. But right now that's not the case. We're speaking to Patrick Saunders, Rock's B writer from the Denver post here on the Halford and Brough show on sports net six 50, uh, talking about one of the worst teams,

at least through 60 games of an MLB season in the history of major league baseball. Um, so it's interesting that you brought up the history of the team and what they used to be known for. And you know, we cover hockey a lot up here and we've seen teams in the race to try and get to the bottom become really bad, but then never find their way out of it. And the brand and the identity takes a massive hit in the process.

You mentioned earlier in the call about where the Rockies are at in the totem pole in terms of sports in Denver, but how big a battering has the brand taken with all this losing? Oh, it's huge, huge. I mean, and the weird thing is guys, they still draw to Coors Field, right? I mean, attendance is, attendance is down. I haven't crunched the numbers lately, but it's

down by a few thousand per game. Uh, yet they always end up in the top half, sometimes the top third of attendance, home attendance, because Coors Field is a beautiful ballpark. Summer nights in Colorado are fantastic. People plan their vacations to Colorado in the mountains. And let's say they're from Chicago and they plan it around a Cub Series or they come from LA and they plan it around a Dodger series or whatever.

And you know, it's 30,000 a night and it's a great atmosphere and a lot of fans don't care one way or another if the Rockies win or lose. But in terms of their brand and what their reputation is, uh, they're kind of a joke. And the butt of the joke is owner Dick Monfort, who has been out of sight, out of mind, and he has made some really bad decisions, for instance, it was his decision to sign Chris Bryant, biggest free agent position player contract in franchise history, seven years, $182 million before the 2022 season. Well, Chris Bryan has been a complete bust.

He's injured again. He may never play again for the Rockies, but they're stuck with his contract. Those kinds of things are solely on Dick Monfort's shoulders. And he's, if he's not villain number one in Colorado, it Colorado, I can't think of anybody else who'd even come close. Well, tell us more about these owners because they're locals, right? They're a Colorado family. Yes. So are they embarrassed by this? Because the other thing I wanted to get into with you is we've had this conversation about say the Pittsburgh Pirates or even the Seattle Mariners down the road, with the revenue

sharing in baseball that goes on, we were wondering like, do they need to make some sort of changes? Because Pittsburgh is a great example of a place that has a great ballpark. I've been to a few ballparks in major league baseball and I think of the new ones, that's my favorite.

I'd go there just to hang out. Wouldn't care if the pirates, if I lived in Pittsburgh, I'd go there anyway. Wouldn't care if the pirates were good or bad. I'd want them to be good, but I'd still go if they were bad. And it sounds like there's kind of a similar thing going on in Colorado. So what is the, what is the real motivation to put together a winning team? That's a great point. And Dick Monfort has said, the few times he's talked to the media, has said he thinks the

business model for Major League Baseball has to change. He thinks they need a salary cap and if not a salary cap, certainly more revenue sharing to where the Rockies and the Pirates and some of the other traditionally bad teams can compete with the likes of the Yankees, the Dodgers, the Red Sox on and on and on. But I'm not sure that's going to happen anytime soon. You know, there's a new collective bargaining agreement has to come up in 2026 and we'll see what happens there. But I agree with you, it is kind of sad. And I agree with you 100% on the PNC park in Pittsburgh. It is my favorite ballpark of all 30 that I've been to. I think it's phenomenal.

But they get paltry crowds to watch the Pirates. So I think baseball has to do something, but I don't think they're gonna get a salary cap because the players union in baseball is so strong. It's never gonna allow it, but they have to figure out something, be it revenue sharing through TV, be it increased revenue sharing through basic profits from all the organizations. I don't know what's going to happen though, because I think MLB doesn't mind it the way it is, right? They love that the Dodgers are a powerhouse and the Mets and the Yeets and the Big Names

and the Cubs now. They're all these powerhouse teams and you know what, okay, so what? There's a bunch of teams like the Rockies and the Pirates and the Orioles again who are just kind of Backwater teams now. I don't think MLB really cares. That's my opinion anyway Well, the Rockies are on a one game winning streak. So there's no gonna turn it around. You never know. Oh my god guys They have had They have had one two-game winning streak all season. And I went back, I did a story this last Sunday

about the 1899 Cleveland Spiders who are the worst team in Major League history. And the Spiders, I couldn't believe so in the numbers, the Spiders, they won twice, won two games consecutive game once all season once. And they went one in 40, I think in their last 41 games. So I don't think the Rockies are going to be quite that bad. I don't know if they'll beat the White Sox who the White Sox of course lost 121 games last year.

I don't think they're going to make that kind of infamy, although they're certainly on pace to. I just think they'll get their act together a little bit to where they'll only lose 115, some like that. Yeah. That Spiders team had some problems. Yeah. Oh my God. Yeah. They really struggled team had some problems. Yeah. Oh my God. Yeah. They really struggled. I remember that.

They really struggled. That was really interesting. Thanks for joining us today. I will be thinking about you covering the Rockies after losses and what questions you're going to ask. Is it about to turn around guys? You guys got a few hits today, so that's nice. So good luck.

There's how many games left? Like 80 games, a hundred games left? A hundred and twenty something. Yeah, exactly. All right. Well, Patrick, thanks for joining us today. It was fun. Yeah, again guys, this was fun.

Check in again. Okay. Thanks Patrick. Okay, good. That's Patrick Saunders, Rocky's beat writer from the Denver Post here on the Haliford and Bref show on Sportsnet 650. Little bit of NHL news trickled in.

The Philadelphia Flyers extended forward Noah Cates four year contract extension, a cap hit of $4 million. I did see some talk about maybe him being an offer sheet target. But you know how I feel about offer sheets. I kind of roll my eyes a little bit. Um, the player has to want to move.

Yes. You know, and there's opportunity in Philadelphia for a guy like Noah Cates. Just another guy off the board though. He's off the board. Yanny Gord, gone, Noah Cates, gone. June 3rd, we're running out of all of our targets here. Speaking of targets, by the way,

did you see Nick Kiprios's off-season trade board 1.0? It dropped yesterday. Sat and Dan were talking about it on Canucks Central because Marty Nacius made an appearance on the old trade board there, which is an interesting development. Was there talk that he didn't enjoy his experience in Colorado?

Mm-hmm. He's like Nathan McGinnon yelling me a lot do not like Okay, so let me eat pasta The impression that I put that fork down laddie seems like he's into this the impression that I got was that Randon and natures both were caught entirely off guard by the trade. Maybe Nate just less so Because he had kind of just he'd already been in rumors, but he got off to such a great start were caught entirely off guard by the trade maybe Nate just less so because he had kind of just he'd already been in rumors but he got off to such a great start but I think he thought like okay I've maybe found my fault I heard from Avs fans was that Nate chess's usage was kind of weird yes because they brought

him in specifically they got rid of middle stat they needed a second line center they brought in sorry I'm drawing a blank theatesh, and he ended up playing the wing. He never even got a sniff playing the second. Well, that's because after that, they brought in Brock Nelson and Charlie Coyle. You think they would have just given him a shot at some point to try, but yeah, never happened. So Natesh had a problem in Carolina,

like so many guys have had a problem in Carolina where they couldn't come to an agreement on an extension. And that was part of the reason why he signed that short term deal and then was ultimately traded. So there's this kind of window now, like everyone else is in, where the Avs can start negotiations on an extension as we get closer. You know, I think it's after July 1. But whatever the case, they also have to make a decision if he's long for the team,

because they're another team that got bounced early from the playoffs that were bitterly disappointed about how their season ended They felt like they left a lot on the table especially after picking up Nacius and Nelson and making this push to put together a team to try and win another stand losing to Rantanen Right probably stun. So there's that as well. I was thinking the other day about how the Avs have actually wildly underachieved with this core. It's one of the biggest talking points every time Chris McFarland talks about that team.

Yeah. Well, what was the famous quote from McKinnon in the post game after they were eliminated the year before they won the Cup? I haven't won bleep, right? Yeah. Yeah. Cause it had been a while and they've been good.

They had Rantonin, McKinnon and McCarr for a few years. And I know those three weren't together this year. They should have been. Yeah. But they weren't. And you just watch them play sometimes and you're like, this team is amazing. And when they did win the cup, I've said this a few times, I was like, I think that's the best team I've seen in the salary cap era. They should have more.

So kind of like they haven't reached it quite yet, but the Bruins for all the success they had kind of underachieved with just one title so the reason that nature's is was brought up yesterday on Canucks Central was sat and Dan is partly because Marty Natures was one of the central figures in those much rumored trades and the speculation between the Vancouver Canucks and the Carolina Hurricanes when Elias Patterson was being floated as a potential target to be moved and landed in Carolina nature's bring up the nation's for PD rumors again. We're gonna start that again? You can if you want because. Oh yeah, Petey and McKinnon, they'll get along great. McKinnon's like, what is going on with this guy? He's not moving his feet.

It could be an odd couple type of thing. Can you imagine Petey? I'm just glad to go to a team where there's not like one real alpha that yells at me all the time. That's nice. Hi Nathan, I'm Elias. Hello. So here's what.

Your handshake is limp. Work on it. Here's what. Too much pasta. Here's what Nick Kiprios wrote about Natus and the potential of him moving. After the Avalanche moved Rantnan, because of how difficult they perceived

contract extension talks to be going, how much patience they'll have with Natus, not a homegrown player or superstar talent. If negotiations on an extension start slowly this July, there was a sense that Natchez wasn't overly thrilled with his experience in Colorado and that he wants to explore other options. Again, start piecing things together. Free agency might well be dried up and it's never been a great way to, it's a nice way to accentuate a good roster, it's not a good way to try and build out the trade route

and boards like this between daily face-offs and the one we have up on Sportsnet.ca from Nick Kipra, I think are gonna become more and more important, more and more talked about when everyone realizes the free agency this year is going to be an abject disaster. I think teams are gonna hold on to guys more than we expect. I think fewer guys are gonna shake loose. And I think the guys that do go to July 1 are gonna be so overpaid that unless you've got

a lot of cap space and a lot of faith, you're gonna be left not getting a lot of shopping done on July 1 finally the time has come for pew suitor Could you think I mean that guy's gonna be paid? He's in a great situation. He's like. I'm a selkie candidate All right, you see got one fifth place vote and it came from a guy in Vancouver, but still it's a fifth place selkie vote I thought you can actually try and keep him somehow Yeah, well, I mean I mean I know it's probably not possible. They're not going to pay him what he wants, but I just, I would love it if they could figure out how to keep him.

But then you're just locking into players that aren't really going to get you over the top. No, I mean, no, but it's just, that's a good complimentary center that could play at any land. The test for the test, the test for a free agency contract is if you were to trade that contract as soon as you signed it, how hard would it be? Because there's some contracts that get signed that you're like, I think that has exactly no...

I'm not saying the player is bad. Guys get overpaid in free agency. Yeah, is bad. Guys get overpaid in free agency. Yeah, yeah. Most guys get overpaid in free agency. Like the value in the deal has been eclipsed. So you remember when- I'm not explaining that, right? No, I know what you mean.

Because guys get overpaid in free agency and more often than not, after free agency is done, those contracts are hard to move. They just don't perform up to the contract. Because they get paid right to the limit. Yeah. Of their ability. Especially if there's demand, which there is for the the contract. Because they get paid right to the limit. Yeah. Of their ability. Especially if there's demand,

which there is for the center position. Let's use a real life example here. And you've talked about this before too. Remember when Nick Bonino was the ideal 3C? Mm-hmm. And then he got paid to be a 2C? Yeah. He got 2C money and he got 2C minutes and-

In Nashville. Deployment. And it wasn't right. You could tell right away that he was miscast. He was perfectly cast when he was making the money that he was making and playing the minutes he was playing as a three. And I could see that exact scenario

happening for Pugh's suitor this year. You're our 2C. Whoa. That's a bit, to do it over an 82 game season is a lot. To do it at six games at the end of the year, it's a lot different. Maybe he'll blossom in that role. How you know do you know but you know I was in Slovenia no I did not know that yeah Nikki oh she was in Australia it's the

hot league everyone's going there we got to go to break we have an incredible final hour of the program here on the Haliford and Bruff show on sportsnet 650 8 o'clock starting quarterback for your BC Lions. Nathan Rourke is going to join the program at eight thirty. Canadian men's national team manager Jesse Marsh is going to join the program to guest in the final hour of the program. We're very excited for these two interviews, so don't go anywhere. Keep it on the dial.

You're listening to the Halford and Bref show on Sportsnet. Six fifty. They're frustrated. I don't know if they're embarrassed, but they certainly should be. Loser! You're a loser! Are you feeling sorry for yourself? Well, you should be, because you are dirt!

You make me sick, you big baby! Baby, want a bottle? A big dirt bottle?