Halford & Brough in the Morning - Will Shane Bieber Solve The Blue Jays Pitching Woes?

Episode Date: July 31, 2025

In hour two, Mike & Jason talk the latest big baseball moves ahead of today's trade deadline with MLB Network's Adnan Virk (1:35), plus they look ahead to the start Seahawks preseason, as ESPN's Brady Henderson (26:04) joins the show.  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.

It's time to chat with Adnan. It's Adnan Burke. He's on the show. We're going to talk some baseball and take a trip to the silver screen. That's right, it's time for Adnan. Yes, Adnan Burkey joins us now We'll head out to the ball game

And talk about all the films he's seen 7.03 on a Tuesday. No, what Thursday? Not a Tuesday. What am I doing? We are so checked out. Yeah, it could be Tuesday. I wish it was Friday.

You're listening to the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Halford and Brough in the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates, It's B.C.'s first and trusted choice for debt help with over 3,000 five-star reviews. Visit them online at Sands dash trustee.com. We are now in hour two of the program. I know that much.

Hour two is brought to you by Jason hominock at Jason. Dot 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 them online at jason.orgage. We are coming to live from the Kintech studio, Kintech, footwear and orthotics working together with you in step. We go now to the Power West Industries hotline. Adnan Verk, MLB Network, joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on Sports Night 650. More than Adnan, how are you?

Mike Jason, it's a great day, fellas. It is not only trade deadline, but I cannot wait to go and take one of my kids to go see the naked gun tonight. People ask you, what movie excited to go see? What six summer movies? Superman, Fantastic Four, Eelio, no, naked gun reboot. And by the way, there's a lot of riding on this movie. That's just the fact that we rarely get some. summer comedy is coming on the summer.

But like, if this is a gigantic hit, maybe it'd go back to days these you get, there's something about Mary or the hangover, all these great comedies. So I can't wait, boys. It's 7 o'clock showing tonight. I'm locked in. Don't you think Liam Neeson took on a pretty big risk taking this role and, you know, hoping to live up to what Leslie Nielsen did? Without question, Jay.

Listen, we love Leslie Nielsen, fellow Canadian. And the fact that that first movie is so iconic and it's hysterical for people of our age. I mean, 89 it came out. I was 11 years old. I must have watched it so many times on BHS, giggling inappropriately at like parts I really don't understand, but there was like innuendo and stuff. My dad took whatever. This kid's laughing is hard. It's all good. But like Leslie Nielsen and then dead pain coming, no one's better at that. So for Liam Neeson, they're like, strap on the boots and I think I can do this. I'm like, it's amazing. Now I do think, Liam Neeson underrated comedian chops. Like, he's in a remarkable career.

You're thinking like the high points of the dramatic side of Schindler's list, obviously he becomes an action star would take him. But like, there's a lot. There's comedic moments within Liam Neeson. Like, I think he does a great deadpan. So I look forward to seeing it. Apparently him and Pamela Anderson now canoodling off the set. So hopefully on set chemistry as well, speaking opinions. Good to see Pam back on the big screen.

Okay, you've got a busy trade deadline day lined up, not only the deadline, but also some movie watching as well. But let's get to the deadline stuff. So this one just came down about five minutes ago. The Blue Jays have made it official that they have acquired two-time All-Star, All-Star MVP, and 2020 Cy Young winner, Shane B. Shane Bieber from the Guardians. Now, when we were talking tennis this morning and this came across our desks,

the first thing I thought was, God, when's the last time Shane Bieber's actually pitched? The answer is technically 2024, but his last full season was really 2023. So my first question for you, Adnan, what can the Jays realistically expect from Shane Bieber this season? Yeah, the good news is the resume is fantastic.

As you said, Mike, If somebody just, you know, he's casually falling base, like, dude, this guy's sick, two-time All-Star. You want to sigh young, all-star game MVP, triple crowd winner, like Cole Glover, like, yeah, that's a few years ago, though. Like, what have you done for me lately? It's a decent risk move because he's still rehabbing, but it's not that they gave up a ton.

Kai Stevens, the number 80 prospect on fan graphs. He gave him a prospect, and this guy should help your rotation. Again, I don't know when he's going to be back. I'm assuming you don't make this trade unless he can be an impact guy for you. So let's say rehabbing a couple more weeks. comes back in mid-August, let's say a handful of starts. And you really do have your eye for the Blue Jays on the postseason and beyond. And certainly, he's been a big game pitcher.

He's pitched in big games. So I like it. I think if you look at the starting pitching market, a part of the pirates have pulled Mitch Keller, so he may not move. Edward Cabrera is by the best pitcher variable in the mallings, because he's really good. And he's in the club control for three years. I don't think Sandy Alcantor gets traded because he has had a bad year, even though he's a former signing award winner. And the other guys are Merrill Kelly and Zach Alton, Arizona. I do think will definitely get dealt.

They've already dealt Suarez, of course. That's the biggest move so far to Seattle. And they also treated Josh Naylor as well to Seattle. So I think for the Jays, you go, okay, do we want Merrill Kelly, Zach from Arizona, or Bieber's probably got higher upside. He hasn't shown it lately. Let's go with Beaver and see what we can get. So I like it.

Good move by the Jays. Let's talk about the Mariners now. They've made the two big swings in yesterday, probably the biggest of the deadline so far, bringing Eugenio Suarez back into the mix. I believe there was a stat floating around out there that he is the player-traded mid-season with the most home run since Mark McGuire back in 1997

to give you an idea of the kind of offense that the M's are adding to their lineup and in the case of the Mariners, reacquiring a guy that they're familiar with. Do you think this is going to work for the Mariners? Do you think between Naylor and Suarez that's going to give them enough juice in that lineup to hit what's been a constant problem for them,

getting an offense and getting them into the playoffs and then maybe making a run? this postseason. So, Mike, because honestly, this has been a team which you've talked about for years. They've been plagued by this lack of offense. And we've been talking how many of our years together here, the fact that they just never get consistent run

production. And then this year, why it was such an anomaly is that their pitching was middle of the pack in their office is pretty good. Like guys like Jorge Polanco were stepping up, J.P. Crawford. Then there was that natural regression. But now, if I just looked at this lot, and I said to myself, Cal Raleigh is the MVP frontrunner, especially with Judge being out

right now. Huling Rodriguez, I know He can be maddening at times to expect more, but he's an all-star player. Randy Rosaraine is an all-star, hitting home runs in bunches recently. And then you've got Naler, who hits around 300, and is clearly a good hitter, drives in a ton of runs. And Suarez, as you said, there's nobody been better in terms of driving and runs in the National League. 87 RVIs, and he's fifth to the 36 home runs. Like that's those five guys, and that I'm throwing in Polanco, car, but that's a legit line that should be one of those dangerous in baseball. Now, rotation-wise, Gilbert's healthy now, Kirby's back, Brian Wu, Castillo, the bullpen, you've got Andreas Munoz, Matt Brasch, the pride of Kingston, Ontario, Kayla Ferguson they just got, like, this is a really good team on paper.

But it's going to be a dog fight. They're tied for the final wildcard spot with Rangers, whom they're hosting for a four-game series starting tonight. So massive series, you're five games above 500, but everybody knew the most coveted bat available is Suarez, and this really helps Phil avoid a third. Ben Williamson was playing there, good defense, but 294 on base, 3-10 slug. He wasn't doing much. Swarer is a below-average player at third base, but who cares? He's going to thump. And I like to move.

Quite honestly, Mike, you've got to try to get in the playoffs at some point. We know that Seattle's been up and down. Houston, by the way, having a down season. Like, they're in the first place. I just got swept by the A's. Don't tell me Houston can't be had, and Yorda Alvarez is a non-factor. Now, Seattle's five games back. They've got work to do.

But, yes, on paper, improve the offense. Naylor and Suarez, I'm in. I know this sounds crazy because they're not even winning their division, but considering how wide open it looks in the AL, this has got to be one of the best chances the Mariners have ever had to reach a World Series.

I completely agree, Jay. Don't look at the five games back in the West. Don't look at 57 and 52. Just look at the names I just mentioned, their track records and what they're capable of. And you, okay, stack those up with the other rosters. Like, how is that not better than Houston? especially if they don't have Alvarez.

Christian Walker's having a down season. Altuva is great. I got that. Jeremy Pena's back. Framberval, this, Hunter Brown, great top two. But, like, Seattle could absolutely, if I just said to you right now at Dead Heat, which two is better, you'd say Seattle. There's no doubt about it. You've got to make up the five games. I get that.

Okay, Detroit was thought to be the very favorite. What happened to them? They have this awful swoon. They lost 11 of 12 games. They're going to win the center because they're nine games up on Cleveland, but don't tell me that they're a sure shot. And then, of course, the Blugays, who are a great story. but everybody within baseball keeps telling me,

hey, they're really good, but like, this is a bit of a who's who. Like, Miles Straw hitting his second home around the season. Like, at what point will Ernie Clement wake up and realize he's not really upshot? Like, it's a good story, and I do think it's sustainable to a point, but nobody feels like the Blue Jays are like an overwhelming contender. And then there's the Yankees lurking four games back. Again, they've had issues. Boston's five games back.

To your point, if I say to you, Seattle, with those teams I just mentioned, Houston, Detroit, J's, Yankees, Red Sox, you can absolutely see with the strength that they're starting pitching and on offense that could bang that Seattle is poised to make a deep run they're going to get there now we're speaking to Adnan Verk

from MLB Network on the day of the MLB trade deadline here on the Halford & Brough show on Sports Net 650 Adnan what did you think of the Phillies acquiring closer Joanne Duran from Minnesota yesterday seems like a pretty big move for their bullpen

I love it one thing about Dave Dombrowski man he's not going to mess around he knows to push the pedal to the medal Schorber has a excuse me an outstanding season he's a pending free agent GTREL Luce is a free agent so they know like this isn't quite

the window is over but it's win now mode for the Phillies especially Schrober's in the ball Harper's been really hot recently and they're a top heavy rotation which is all in their mid-30s you know especially Zach Wheeler's outstanding could win a Cy Young this season with Sanchez and Sanger Suarez so the issue of course is their bullpen

they got the fifth worst bullpen in baseball I don't care how good your line it how good you're starting pitching. If your bullpen doesn't improve, you're not going to win. And they have Alvarado, who's coming back soon, but because the PEDs, he can't pitch in October. They signed Jordan Romano, the pride of Maple, Ontario. He has struggled for much of the season. Go out and get the ran. This guy's fastball is 100.2 miles an hour, and he's going to wipe out slatter, which is 85 miles an hour. Like, that difference on those two pitches is incredible. ERA just above two. You give up a couple prospects. Okay, Tate is supposed to be a good player,

little man, Tate. You've got Mick Able. We'll see if A. Cain is Able, Able is Cain, whatever pun you want to use there. This guy's one of their top prospects. Okay, sure. Prospects are suspects. Let's see what happens. Duran is an absolute stud. Now he's locking down the 9th.

And it's really important, Mike, because the Mets made their own move to Eddie Ryan Halesley. Now, Helzley last year was outstanding for the Cardinals not as strong this year, but he's now a set up guy for Edwin Diaz, and that helps bolster a Mets bullpen which have been beaten up. They also get Rogers, a submariner. So that's a great race right now in the National League East to the Mets and the Phillies. I like Duran better. but I think that the Mets adding healthy is a good move as well, Ann Rogers.

So on the field, now I know we're talking about all the transactions that are going down today, but on the field, I did notice last night in Cincinnati what happened to show A. Otani. I think it was six straight balls that he threw and then exited the game with what's being described as cramping in his right hip. How much did this one land on your guys is at MLB Network radar yesterday? Because any time Otani's on the bump and he leaves with any sort of ailment, there's always a concern about injury. well 100% Mike you take a deep breath going I hope this is nothing serious and this previous why the Dodgers are so careful to him like I've been the guy clamoring saying come on

let him throw five innings for God takes enough for the two innings three innings two and a third but this is why because you want to just be so careful because he's so critical but thank when the news comes out cramping you go oh okay it could have been much much worse you know for a 31 year old to go out there he was scheduled to go four innings it was a hot human night against the reds and as you said credit to dave roberts he figured it out very quickly Like once he could not get out in the fourth, the six straight balls, including two consecutive wild pitches, like you're done. And Otani said through his interpreter, I just tried to work around it. I was able to do so up until a third, didn't quite work out in the fourth, like all good.

You know, that weather, 90 degrees at first pitch, a heat index near 100. So I think it's totally understandable. This isn't like situation where you go, ah, they're saying cramping might be something worse. Like, no, that's a legit reason. It does happen. Thankfully, he was okay. The fact he stayed in the game is amazingly, but 0 for 5 and struck out four times. So a game at a time, I'd like to flush down the toilet.

But thank God he's okay and still in line with the MVP. So I think I know the answer, but I'm going to ask anyway. We said that the AL is pretty wide open. There's a lot of teams atop the NL that are 60 plus wins, including the Padres, who just got there with a really good series against the Mets. And the Mets are in there as well. But is it still the Dodgers to beat in the NL or do you have time for Milwaukee in Chicago, both of whom have a higher winning percentage?

Yeah, they're great stories, Mike, but I'll still go Dodgers, only because I think once they get healthy, watch out. Like, they're pitchers, and maybe not everybody comes back, but Glastown's now back, Blake's now coming back soon. If I'm pairing those two guys with Yamamoto, and I'm throwing it a little Kershaw, May, Gonsland. Like, I feel pretty good about that stuff, man. That's tough to ignore it.

And then the offense, yes, Mookie Betts is in a down season, and you can't just flip the switch and expect him to go back to the MVP Mookie. Maybe it'll just be that year. OPS down 200 points. Freddie Freeman not as strong. But that's where your other players step up. That's where your Andy Pahas show us the depth of this team. Chatska Hernandez is still having a good season.

And as I mentioned, Otani is still the favorite to win the MEPs, got three at home runs. So I just ultimately, I'll look at that collection of talent, and I'll believe it when I see it that someone can dethrone the Dodgers. Milwaukee is a great, great story. Make no mistake. As you said, they just played the Cubs in a massive series. They took two or three against Chicago in Milwaukee. They've got a great starting three now.

Like, their rotation is fun because of Peralta, Mizorowski, who everyone's in love with, and now Brandon Woodruff back. But offensively, they don't scare me. Like, they score runs, they play great defense. They run the base as well. But Yelich, Churio, Terang, these guys are not scared me. Vaughn's had a really good story coming here from Chicago.

But Cove's offense is fearsome because they've got Tucker and Pete Farmsstrong in Sanchez, Suzuki. Their pitching isn't quite strong enough. So I do still think the Dodgers are the team to beat, but Milwaukee's Chicago making things awfully fun right now in the Central. and then we were talking about I mean it's kind of an age-old topic when it comes to baseball would you rather have a good pitching team or a good hitting team

going into the playoffs where does that conversation stand now in the new age of baseball well I remember you once asked me a great question today so what's worse to lose a game 2-1 or lose it 9-8 and I asked a bunch of guys who are working Dana to have the former Rockies James are you kidding I used to be the guy running the team in college It's absolutely 2-1.

He's like, 9-8 kills you because every day, like, oh, my God, we're wasting all this offense. At least that you can't score, it's one thing. But to your point, I think in today's age, ultimately, because the pitching is so strong, run prevention to me is so critical. To me, if I have a team that can score runs, I feel good about my team. Like, that's ultimately where it's at, because I feel like everybody pitches good. And at any given day, good pitching can be beat. Like, guys just have off days. That happens.

Whereas, like, this Blue Jays run, and I keep looking up those numbers, and you can put out the rotation, None of those guys are studs. Like, Gossman, Bass at Brannis are good starters, add Bieber now in the mix. But nobody has an ERA lower than like 3.8. Like, there's nobody there who's skiing, who's Gary Crochet, et cetera. But their offense, all these numbers keep saying,

over the last 22 games, the Blue Jins are averaging six runs for a game, hitting 294, runners and scoring, et cetera. If you can bang, if you can score runs, that to me is critical. Now, sometimes with the Yankees, you see what happens is they have a good offense and then come playoff time, what happens?

Well, they can't beat good pitching. So they have a great offense because the bad teams can't keep it up. Ultimately, my answer would be, I want an offense that can score runs no matter what kind of pitching I'm facing. What explains, and I know this question has been banged around a lot in Toronto, but I'd love to get your takes. Like, why can't Vladie hit more home runs? Is it just all about launch angle or what's going on? Like 15 home runs in 108 games, he's a $500 million player.

Yeah, it's amazing because what's happened is, you know, this Nathan Lucas. is stepping up. If that's a good story. Like all these randomly anonymous players have taken the heat off the fact it's like the Blue J's stars are that great. Bobbushed, two-run single yesterday. I had a bad series previously.

Again, he might lead the league in hits again. He's a subpar defender, but like Bow is a pretty good player. I get that. But to your point with Vlad, if they weren't having this kind of season, you'd be saying his numbers are rather pedestrian. Like, it's kind of shocking that he's not leading

this team in slugging percentage and they're thought to be the best team in the American League. As you said, you can't get that kind of numbers. he's got a 465 slug like that's basically a little bit above league average but nothing special like he's got Addison Barger 5.05 slug

Springer over 500% is low Perfito 585 I think it does come down to launch angle Steve Phillips is a great job for us to lead off spot former Mets GM he said to me it's launch angle he said the average is 12 degrees and blad's is six so he said he hits the ball really hard he ranks him on the top 10 I believe in exit velocity so clearly his bat speed is there but he doesn't hit it high enough

so at some point if someone wants to tell him buddy you want to just lift it up a little bit we'll get some more home runs i suppose they could the jays are content with it because he's hitting 295 again i love the 400 on base he's a good hitter he will get on base but as you said for 500 million dollars i'd like some more slug um what do you what are you hearing on erin judge's injury at first it was like deep breath i sell oh my god season's over and then it was like okay it's concerning but like they definitely dogged the bullet here's where it becomes a problem so 10 days just rest okay, no worries, just hang out, do your thing.

You come back, you're going to DH at first. That sounds fine, but then what happens as John Carlos Stanton is one of the most important bats. Apparently I've been working him out in right field, and listen, I'll be very skeptical it ends up happening. I mean, you could argue if you throw anybody in right field, you can make a catch, but Jean-Colostan has not played the field in years. Like, he is their prototypical DH.

Do you think of anybody in baseball is a D.H.? Like, yeah, it's Stanton? So when Judge comes back and he has to D.H. at first, because the elbow is still not 100%. And let's say there's a week. week and a half or, you know, 10 games, let's say, Stanton's not playing. Like, really? Like, you're losing a top-free bat after Bellinger and Judge in Stanton. But I don't know how that's going to all play out. Again, if his defense is that porous,

you can't risk it? Fine. But how quickly does it become, hey, Judge, are you okay? Seriously, can you just play the right field? Because we've got to get Stanton's bad in here. And I think what it ends up being is that, listen, he can just make a catch and gingerly toss the ball in, but everybody's competitive spirit will come in. This is his throwing elbow. Imagine runner-on-third, nine-bending, you know, one-out. here comes John. He's going to throw all he can. And all of a sudden he throws that ball

and it damages his elbow worse. And that's an absolute catastrophe. So I think they're really going to have to manage expectations and say, okay, just DH first, being effective player. And then if you can play the field, please do. If not, let's try to get standing some at batts somewhere. Adnan, finally, before we let you go, have you watched Happy Gilmore 2 yet?

Thankfully, I have not. It was my birthday earlier this week. My birthday present to myself was not to have to watch. Happy Gilmore. to. I saw the reviews for it, and of course they're scathing. You know, friends of mine have been texting saying, worst way I've seen him 15 years. I said, well, what else would you expect? I'm reading William Goldman's book. He's the great, great screenwriter. He wrote misery, all the presence men, which cast in the Sundance Kid. I read his first book called

Adventures in the Screen Trade, which is awesome. In which he said, nobody in Hollywood knows nothing. Nobody knows what's going to be hit. Nobody knows anything. His second book is called Which Lie Did I Tell? And I apologize for the coarse language, but he referred to all sequels. I just read this yesterday. He referred to all sequels. So whatever they are, it's horrors money. So anytime you see a sequel coming out, he said there's no way it's going to be good. He, by the way, this book came out in 2000. He was talking about Phantom Menace, which came out in 98.

Because you all know this was not going to be a good movie. Of course, it's going to be awful. It's horrors money. That's what sequels are, no matter what. So especially this many years, fellas, since the original Happy Gilmore, you knew it wasn't going to be good. I met Adam's Salem before. He's a nice guy. I appreciate some of his more dramatic work, to be honest.

The Uncad Jems is a great movie. But I'm going to be avoiding Happy Gilmore. work to like the plague. Did either review suffer through it? No, I, I haven't seen it yet. I feel like I saw the trailer and I'm like, yep, I saw the movie. Someone said, one of the reviews said it felt like a series of TikToks just spliced together into one movie. Like, here's a cameo, here's a callback, here's another cameo, here's another callback, and then the movie ended. So I think I'm going to pass for now,

although when it gets slow on vacation, I might end up watching it. Anyway, Adnan, we're up against it for time. Enjoy the Naked Gun tonight. It should be a lot of fun. Also, that MLB trade deadline thing. Thanks again for doing this. Lieutenant Colonel Frank Trebin. Nobody better.

Thanks so much, boys. Appreciate you. Thanks. Adnan Verk here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet, 650. Naked Gun is getting 91% early on Rotten Tomatoes after 155 reviews. That's insanely high for a comedy. Were you a big fan of those types of movies like Airplane and... Yeah.

I mean, hot shots. Hot shots. Yeah. Hot shots part of them. I like the Mel Brooks ones the most. Probably, although his are a little more, you know, intelligent. When I saw... Higher brow, which is what A-Dog is always looking for.

History of the World Part 2, that sort of thing? Well, like, I always think, like, Robin Hood Men Tights, obviously, spaceballs. Like, loaded weapon was a huge thing in our family. We really love a load weapon. Yeah, those kinds of comedies were always really enjoyable to watch, and obviously they kind of just disappeared. So it's nice that they're back. When I saw, I don't even know what...

It might have been the first naked gun that I saw, or maybe airplane. I was like, this is amazing. Yeah. That you can just do this stuff. Yeah. And it is incredible. And you're right. It went away because.

Well, they started to get really bad in the early 2000s. There were a lot of them that were like that but just weren't good. And it sort of killed the genre. You need to be, well, I mean, any movie. Like, it needs to be good. Yeah. Right. And I mean, Liam Neeson, if you've ever watched his skit with Ricky Jervais, like, Stephen Merchant.

It's like, honestly, man, he is so. funny. He's perfect for it. I'd like to work on some improvisational comedy. Please don't quote. I can't really quote any of the highlights because it's not suitable for you, but it's such a good if you've seen it, you know what I'm talking about. Just YouTube, Liam Nees and Ricky Chavez, and you'll understand. Hey, since we're on a subject of movies, and I was reading about this last night, are you

familiar or aware of this upcoming horror film is coming out in? Weapons? Yeah, we were just talking about it. I'm not a big horror guy, but honestly, it looks really cool. Again, you need to enunciate horror better. I'm not a big horror guy But so my My take on all this is that Horror movies Too cheap

Horror movies You still know where to go Horror movies have gotten too scary They become too real They're too disturbing And they're too jarring And this comedy movies have gotten too funny No no no that's okay

Too many explosions They don't stick with you Comedy doesn't stick with you in a negative way You're just a wuss I don't think that's it I think they're too psychologically terrifying They're supposed to be! I haven't heard someone call someone a wuss in a really long time.

That's pretty good. I'm bringing it back. Don't sensitive shame me, okay? I have my limit. He's an empath. Look, I feel. He feels everything. This movie, except love.

Right, that one doesn't exist. This one is done by the guy that did Barbarian, which I haven't seen, but Arash says is really good. But this one is supposed to be excellent. Like Josh Brolin, it's got a great cast. But in limited screening so far, it's got 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. And the thing, the other thing with the genre is it feels like, like every new director sets out to make a more disturbing film than the one prior. That's fair.

What's this guy's name? Cleger, I think, is the, yeah. Yeah. Anyway, God, I'm looking at the poster for weapons. It's terrified. It's a scary child that's kind of made up like a clown. That's scary child and a clown. The concept is really cool.

It honestly sounds like an episode of the X-Files, so it's right up my alley. It's all the kids in one class disappear one night, except for one. But except for one, yeah. Ooh, I bet he did it. Don't spoil it, man. Got him. Got him. All right, we got to go to break.

When we come back, we're going to go to Seattle for Seahawks training camp. Brady Henderson from ESPN is going to join the show. Big news yesterday is that Seahawks General Manager, John Schneider, has been extended through 2031. If he plays out or manages out the entirety of this extension, he will have been on the job for more than two decades in Seattle. So we'll talk to Brady Henderson about that next. Coming up on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet, 650. 734 on a Thursday. Happy Thursday, everybody, Halford Brough, Sportsnet, 650.

Halford in the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates, B.C.'s first and trusted choice for that help. with over 3,000 five-star reviews, visit them online at Sands dash trustee.com. We are now in hour two of the program. We're at the midway point of the show. Brady Henderson from ESPN is going to join us from Seahawks Camp in just a moment here to kick off the midway point of the show.

Hour two of this program is brought to by Jason hominock at jason.morgage. If you love paying too much for your mortgage, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit them online at jason. com mortgage to the PowerWest Industries hotline we go our Seahawks insider from ESPN. Brady Henderson joins us here now on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650.

Morning, Brady. How are you? What's up, fellas? Great to be talking to you again. How's it going? It's good. We're excited to be doing this today, not just because it's training camp. And actually, the NFL preseason starts today with the Hall of Fame game, but there's some real tangible news from Seahawk land, and that is that General Manager John Schneider has been extended all the way through the 2031 season, And meaning that, if he survives all the way, he'll have been on the job in Seattle for over two decades. Was this extension expected Brady or did this catch you guys by surprise yesterday?

Well, it did not catch me by surprise. No, I had heard a few months ago that this was in the works and that there was a good chance it was going to happen at some point in the summer. And so, you know, he did have two years left on his contract. He was signed through the 2007 draft. But as he explained to us yesterday, when he was asked about the timing, he said there was some sort of trigger in his contract that kind of made it so that it made sense to start negotiating, which they started doing right after the draft. So, no, it's not surprising also in the sense that, you know, Jody Allen made a rare appearance at training camp a couple days ago along with, you know, Bert Cole, who's the vice chair, and they were there with the team president. And so, you know, when you see Jody Allen at Seahawks practice, there's a good chance something's going on. And so in kind of the bigger picture sense, it's also not surprising in that, you know, I know some fans might kind of bulk at, you know,

maybe some of the trades that haven't worked out or the three-agent signings last year. You know, they also have really won, I think it's one playoff game in the past, what, the 2017. Don't quote me on that. I actually don't have that in front of me, but I think that's right. The only playoff game I can remember is the 2019 wildcard game. But I think Jody Allen sees a long list of wins outside of that, you know, since his last contract,

starting with the Russell Wilson trade and, you know, how that was such a bold move, and it was really turned out to be a very prescient move because they got rid of Wilson right before he, you know, his career really started going down the drain, and they avoided, you know, paying him a massive contract. and also got a humongous hall in return. Well, that's the kind of thing that really catches an owner's attention. And there's been, you know, other wins since that, including, you know,

how he guided them through the Pete Carroll ouster and the hiring of Mike McDonald, which I imagine that Jody Allen is nothing but happy about how that has gone, how Mike McDonald's first season went. So, you know, fans may kind of look at that and say, well, what did he do to deserve that? I think in Jody Allen's eyes, there was quite a bit. The ownership of the Seahawks, is it going to be just indefinitely in the estate of the late Paul Allen and overlooked by Jody Allen? Yeah, so my understanding on that is that, what she has said in a statement before, that the team will eventually be sold in accordance with her brother's wishes, which he had in as will,

that it would be sold and the profits would be given to charity. What I have always heard was that, is that, you know, Paul Allen, being Paul Allen, I mean, that is such a massive, massive estate that he was a philanthropist and he was a collector and had all of these different interests in life and all these different belongings. And so, you know, estates of that size, I think they've said, can take, you know, decades to wind down. And if you're Jody Allen and you're eventually selling off everything, what's the one thing that you're going to hang on to for as long as you can? It's probably the thing that's making money hand over a fist every single year. So I think the team was always going to be the last piece or one of the last pieces of that estate that's going to be settled because why not hang on to it and continue to make fun? I mean, she's not keeping the money. It's going to charity, but all the same, you're going to want to hang on to it.

So I think the fact that the trailblazers are, you know, sounds like the ball is rolling on that sale, I think that does start to give you an indication that, okay, maybe, maybe, you know, the ball could at some point in the not too distant future get rolling on this one. They're also, I think this past May, there was a kind of a trigger in the agreement, in the sale agreement that he had when he bought the team way back when,

which basically made it that, Up until this point, it would not really be feasible to sell the team because they would have had to pay so much, I think it was 10% of the sale price back to either the county or the state. So think about that. If it's a five, for the sake of round numbers, if it's a $5 billion sale price, well, my journalism math tells me that that's, what is that, $500 million that they would have to pay back. Again, don't quote me on that because I'm a journalist. But so the point is up until, I think, this past May, it was going to be prohibitive to sell the team before that. But now that that clause has basically expired, that's one more reason to think that, okay, now the ball could eventually start to really get rolling on a Seahawks sale. I'm just curious how Jody Allen operates and how she thinks about winning on the field and those sorts of things.

because Paul Allen, I mean, he was passionate about a lot of things, but he was clearly passionate about sports because he decided to buy some teams and he wanted to win and he enjoyed winning. Man, I still remember one of my memories as, I don't know, early 20s was going down to a Trailblazers game and watching the Blazers in the playoffs. And Paul Allen and Bill Gates were sitting courtside. I was like, wow, those are some rich guys. because they love

or he loved sports right so how does Jody Allen run this business does she look just at how much money the team is making or like does she does she care as much about the wins as losses as her brother did

I'm going to give you three words that you don't often hear you know people in my position say because we always love to pretend that we know everything we're talking about, but the three words are, I don't know. And I don't know that because she is such a mystery. Like, you know, she has, she took over control of the team in, what was it, October of 2018 when her brother passed away. And not once since then, has she given the single media interview? You know, I tried to track her down at the owner's meetings, I think last year,

and I just kind of waited her out and, you know, introduced myself and said, Brady Henderson, I would love to interview you if you're ever willing to talk. He said, okay, thanks, and walk away. I mean, it's very nice, but she's just not interested in talking, in talking, in doing any sort of interviews, doing any sort of media.

Again, it's been, you know, coming up on seven years, and she hasn't done a single one. So there's just so much about her that is a mystery, and the only things we ever really hear about her are kind of what the, you know, what the coach here or what the GM says about her, and they say that she's

you know she loves football and she's very involved um i have never really gotten the sense that she's quite as involved as her brother was um you know but she is you know there's a few years there where she wasn't even going to the owner's meeting she would sort of have uh you know burke cold who i mentioned kind of sort of as a stand-in but she has been going there more often in recent years um it's just again if i if i started telling you so much about jody allen I would just be talking out of my rear end because I just frankly don't know and nobody really knows outside that building.

We're speaking to Brady Henderson from ESPN, our Seahawks Insider on the Halford & Brough Show on Sports 9-650. Okay, back to the on-field product and what to expect this season. I watched a lot and listened to a lot of John Schneider's remarks yesterday, not just about his contract extension, but talking about the season ahead and what's going on in camp.

I thought one of the interesting takeaways was when he said with regards to the coaching staff that it's much more of a well-oiled machine this time around and this year. And I guess that makes sense given the last year. It was new for everyone, including the head coach, Mike McDonald. Are you getting that sense or that feeling going into McDonald's second training camp that the group collectively, all the coaches, maybe even working in lockstep with the executive and the management, that everything is a more well-oiled machine in Seattle? Yes, definitely. And that's not to say I really had the sense that it was not

in the moment last year, but just in retrospect, I think that really has become clear. And, you know, part of the issue was that, you remember, they hired McDonald late. They hired him at the end of January. So now you're talking about beginning of February that he's really starting to assemble his staff. And we've talked about this before, but I think that's played a big role in why they ended up with Ryan Grub, I think, because, you know, certainly, you know, McDonald had interest in him. I just don't think he had a lot of alternatives by that point because, you know, when he started really looking, by that point, a lot of the really good OC candidates had already been picked over.

So he didn't really have, you know, a lot of viable alternatives to grub. And then that also affected just the hiring of the staff. I mean, one of the fascinating, you know, dynamics of the coaching staff last year was that typically when you hire an offensive coordinator and you're bringing in a whole new system, you have that coordinator bring in some of his guys to help ease that transition. And it's just, you know, guys that speak his language and can help teach it.

And there was really the offensive line coach, Scott Huff, and really nobody else. And I think, you know, there is an argument to be made that, okay, well, you don't just want the coaches to hire their buddies for the sake of, you know, giving their friends jobs. You want to hire the best teachers. But, again, there is a very,

real component of that is of that it's a lot easier for that guy for that transition when there's kind of people who are coming from the same scheme and again who speak the same language well that is really the case this year you know they hired Clint Cuviac and let him hire

a big handful of his assistance wherever it was you know Rick Denison Justin Outen the offensive line coach Andrew Janoco the quarterback's coach so I think that's what he's referring to when he said it's much more of a well-oiled machine because they're not, you know,

importing a college scheme and having everybody learn this new college scheme that they're also sort of building up. It's bringing in a well-established system with a bunch of established coaches who all know each other very well. So Schneider was also asked if anyone had stood out in camp so far, and the question didn't even get out of the guy's mouth before he jumped in. He's like, AJ Barner, and he was talking about the second year tight end from the University of Michigan.

And I thought that was interesting because this morning, Noah Fant, former Seahawks signed with the Bengals. And Fant getting cut right before training camp made some waves. It was kind of a big deal. I'm like, I wonder what they're going to do with the tight end position. Then A.J. Barner's name gets mentioned. And I know Arroyo has really turned a lot of heads as well. They drafted the second round out of Miami.

And you could do worse than getting a tight end out of Miami, given the school's history of it. Are we on the precipice of maybe actually having some production from the tight end position for the Seahawks? because it feels like it's been forever since they've had one. Maybe they just mean it's really good blocking because they want to get the running game going. See, now that could be the downside of this, is they're not catching passes.

They're blocking for the guy that's going to throw them. But I like to think that maybe they've got something here because it feels like the tight end's been kind of a black hole for the Seahawks for a while. I mean, forever. Yeah, I mean, believe it or not, the most productive tight end in franchise history is Jimmy Graham. The University of Miami, Jimmy Graham.

Speaking of not blocking. and you. I mean, I think that speaks to how his tenure was a little better than some people give it credit for, but also just the fact that the bar has not been set very high for tight ends in the Seahawks history. But yeah, they have a pretty good room right now. That was obviously part of the reason why they moved on from no event. There was definitely serious financial considerations there. Frankly, he was overpaid for what he had produced. And in terms of the timing, they don't want to bring him to camp. knowing that, okay, if he gets hurt, suffers a serious injury, well, now all of a sudden you're on the hook for $9 million against your cap and cash, that for a guy who may not have been on the team anyways, because I do think that this has been a question all offseason for them,

is the contract justifying, or is the production justifying the contract? But the other piece of that is they feel really good about the guys that they had in Barner, you know, for a guy who was billed as more of a blocking specialist going into the draft last year, he ends up leading the team with four touchdown catches. And you know, Arroyo is

I just think he has kind of a similar skill set to fans. And so certainly when they drafted Arroyo that was sent off alarm bells in my head. But yeah, I'm not going to be on the team this year. Right. You know, both those guys are, you know, six, four

is around 250 pounds with 4 or 5 speed I think the difference to me in their speed is that you know no offense ran a 4 or 5 at the combine in 2019 but I don't know how many times in three years with the Seahawks I saw him actually run away from somebody I mean can you picture a time where you really felt 4 or 5 speed out of no offense no the point is you know some guys are fast in a 40 it's one thing to be fast in a 40 it's another thing to actually have that translate onto the field. And I am going to reserve some judgment on Royal because I haven't seen him playing NFL game this season.

But, you know, from what I have seen on the field, it does look like he actually is fast in reality and not just fast on paper. I mentioned the tight end position because I feel like they might need more, given that the wide receiving group, there's some question marks there, right? Like, Jason and I were talking about it before the show. Like, you love JSN. I think he's going to be a stud. Cooper Cup, the biggest issue there is if he's going to be able to stay on the field,

because that was a real issue with the Rams the last couple of years. And all due respect to Marcus Valdus Scanling, prior to joining the Saints last year, like he was barely playing in the first half of the year. And even with JSN, you know, what's the impact of DK not being there? So, yeah, what is your outlook for the receiver group right now? Yeah, there's, I think the two kind of interesting points there are the kind of supposed overlap. I should say supposed.

is a good deal of overlap in the skill sets of their top two guys. And, you know, JSN and Cooper Cup are two guys who really have made most of their living in the slot. And that's kind of been one question is, what is that going to look like when, you know, your

top two guys have sort of played a similar position. I think that the counterpoint to that is that, yes, those guys mostly have been slot guys, but we've also seen JSN win a good deal from the outside. And I think he showed that again the other day when, you know, he lines up wide, you know, outside the numbers,

beats the cornerback on a go route, and he hauls in a deep ball from Sam Darnold. So he doesn't have that, like, elite outside speed, but I think he's fast enough at a good enough route runner to where he can, on occasion, win from the outside. And then, you know, Cooper Cup, he's kind of done the same thing throughout his career. Another guy who has mostly operated out of the slot, but has shown the ability to line up out wide and win. And I think that is maybe more a question for him at this stage of his career just because he's never really been a speed guy

and you don't get faster when you're in year 8 of your career and you're above 30 years old. You know, Mark Vos Valdez Scantling is the guy, the quote, take the top off guy. And I think it's starting to wonder, yeah, what are they going to get out of him at 30 years old and coming off the season where he bounced around? You know, I will say that, yeah, there's no doubt

that you want a guy in your receiver core to be able to do that. I do think it's interesting, too, that if you look back at the Seahawks Super Bowl teams, who was that guy? I don't know. It was supposed to be Percy Harbin. Yeah. He played one or two games. I mean, that was, they got by, they more than got by with, you know, guys who weren't

those traditional deep threats. Doug Baldwin, you know, Jermaine Curse, Golden Tate. A Golden Tate could do a little bit of that. He's not, you know, he's not, was not an elite speed guy either. Same thing about their 2005 Super Bowl team. Daryl Jackson, Bobby Ingram, you know, Joe Jerovicious was a big guy. So, yeah, you want that guy. And maybe they can get some of that from NBS.

But I think their recent history has shown that you can win without having a truly elite stretch and field kind of guy. A Joe Jerovicious callback. I love it. Brady, thanks for doing this today, bud. We are on vacation for the next few weeks. bid you farewell. Enjoy the rest of camp. We'll get caught up with you later on in August. All right. Sounds good, fellas. Thanks for having me. See you.

See you later, buddy. That's Brady Henderson, ESPN, Seahawks, insider here on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet, 650. Okay, so we haven't had much Canucks talk this week, because there hasn't been much going on with the Canucks. There has not. But Thomas Drance is going to join us next, and we've just decided on a topic. We're going to talk about the coaching staff.

Sounds good. Because the coaching staff, is new and there is certainly some inexperience there and some names that some of us are familiar with like a Scott Young but some of us aren't as familiar with some other guys like Brett McLean. Tell me all you know about Brett McLean, Halford. He used to coach the Iowa Wild and I believe he was a member of the Colorado Avalanche. Did he play for the Minnesota Wild as well? I'm really stretching my Brett McLean knowledge. You don't even know any of this. I'm telling you stuff right now. No, I knew about the Iowa stuff.

I can't remember where else his NHL career took him. It doesn't matter. He played briefly for the Blackhawks, the abs, and the Panthers. Not the wild? I don't see the wild in his thing here now. Dang it. All right. Close enough. We're going to talk to Thomas Drenzbo. The Connect's coaching staff coming up next on the

Alfred Obrough Show on SportsNet 650.