High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - A Phils Sweep and the Perfect Trade Deadline Pod??

Episode Date: July 31, 2022

James Seltzer and Jack Fritz react to the Phillies 4-game sweep in Pittsburgh and look ahead to Tuesday's MLB Trade Deadline. The guys react to the Phillies recent hot streak, give their perfect trade deadlines, and more. Presented by Miller Lite. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is the High Hopes Podcast. High Hopes! It's a bunch of baseball nerds talking about the Phillies on Odyssey and Sports Radio 94 WIP. Oh! It is another edition of the High Ops Podcast. Jack Fritz, how could it not be that way when, you know, we do a pod after the Cubs series. We're morose.

How could they come out of the all-star break like that? God, we were like, season's not over. We know they can turn around, but, like, that was disappointing. And then, bam, dude, then they come out and take two or three from the Braves, and then second four-game sweep of the season for this team, and almost had that one in L.A., too, if Kniebel hadn't blown that one. Like, it's impressive stuff, man. They keep bouncing back.

I think for the first time this season, eight games above.500 for this team, and we are on the precipice of the trade deadline, Fritzy. We've got a lot to get into by the way presented by miller light and we'll get a lot more into that uh in a sec but um but fritzy uh of course it's got to be a big yo it would have been a solid yo even if it were just a hey it's the perfect deadline pod because that's super fun and we love it but it's a big yo because the phillies are freaking back dude they're a playoff team right now. They're creeping up on the pods.

They're a game up on the Cardinals, and they're playing good baseball, and they got moves to be made and guys to come back. I'm really excited today. This is as exciting. Normally, you know me, inside baseball for everyone. I'm definitely a Sunday pod grumbler normally and i we always joke because i'm always like uh it's sunday you know it's a day off my only day where i don't have a show or this or that i'm not wip whatever and i'm always like man uh and then every time we record i'm like that

was so much fun i had the best time today i'm like super ready to go i'm i'm pumped fritzy how you doing pal well i mean in all, they usually always lose that game. You know, when that's part of it, that's part of it. They always ruin our pods like that. Yeah. It's like, oh, like if we recorded after last night, it's like, oh, this would be the we would be melting down in happiness. And they always they never capitalize on the momentum when we need it.

But, man, how I feel right now is that for the first time in, again, it's been a long time. For the first time in a legitimate decade, we have actual winning baseball. The things that we saw this weekend out in Pittsburgh is winning baseball. The things that we saw this weekend out in Pittsburgh is winning baseball. And frankly, I know they had to go to extra innings for a couple of games. I don't care. Even the worst teams in baseball are going to win

60 plus games. They just lost three straight to the Cubs, Jack. We can't care. They won. Right. And this is a team that has historically struggled against bad teams. They would play down a competition. And the other thing that's so wild james is like they're a really good road team like we for the last couple years they've been dreadful how many times we talked about that jack that's been like a running theme on the pot over the years yeah like enola's has a like the fourth

best road era in baseball this year, which is wild. Him just being normal, good Aaron Nola today was a mild upset. It's really good vibes. And, James, the next time the Phillies take the field, Gene Segura will be at second base. And the fact that I know it's cliche, I know it's not totally true, but they're going to make a Gene Segura level addition to the trade deadline. And later this month, they're going to get Bryce Harper back to a team that has figured out how to win without two of their best players. And I just don't think that can be overstated enough. It can't be said enough. What they've done since Bryce Harper's gone down,

what they've done since Sheen's gone down, what they've done since Tomper's taken over. The only thing that causes me dread now is there's only three things. Oduble at bats, Didi at bats, and Jerry Sommelier. And I think at least by Tuesday, one of those is going to be taken care of.

I think we just saw Jerry Sommelier's last outing as a Philly. Thank God. Oh, my God, dude. Oh, my God. He went out in style, classic Philly style. I had a buddy text me heading into the ninth sweep things, and I was like, as Familiar was pitching, he's like, sweep, sweep, sweep. And I was like, not if Famia has anything to say about it.

Like, come on, man. What a loser. God, honestly, between him and Odubel, I don't remember the last time, especially a good Phillies team, where there were two players I so desperately wanted DFA'd, Jack. But, like, to your point, it's so true. I mean, if you just, like, you know, look like last year at this exact time, trade deadline time, the Kyle Gibson trade, they were in Pittsburgh.

I was actually at one of the games and they lost two or three heading right into the deadline, you know, and this year they go and sweep the pirates like that. And they had a worse record the time last year. You know, that's that's impressive. You know, it is different. And especially with the injuries they've had. I mean, you know, obviously it doesn't work this way, and, you know, weird things like the Braves lose a Cunha and win the World Series and whatever. But, you know, think about what this team would look like

if they had just had Segura and Bryce, or even just Bryce. If Bryce doesn't get hurt, are they like, are they a playoff team by like three games over the Padres and the Cards? You know what I mean? Like, so I've been, I've been so impressed. Hold on. Hold on. Do you,

do you think that they'd be better if it was price Harper and the Castellanos situation? Yeah. You think, Oh, but Hey, what a weekend. All right.

All right. All right. I think this weekend was literally a shot at my, uh, when I took a shot, everyone who was like, yeah, he leads a team and hits.

He's like, I'm going to get a bunch of hits. A couple of them were good. Jack, here's what I'll say. He's like, I'm going to get a bunch of hits. A couple of them were good, Jack. Here's what I'll say. I feel like none of his hits are ever good. And he had four hits today. I think three the other night, whatever. Like, he was, whatever, better this series.

But he did pull two balls. Like, he did have a double down the line that was, like, kind of vintage. And then today had that rip-flop. But we'll get to that quickly. Before we dive into the four-game sweep i want to i want to do all that we're going to do our perfect deadline coming up even if it might be a little anticlimactic in the sense that it seems like the market is dry or not exactly but we'll dive into it i got a lot of names to throw out there um but first i mentioned miller right before i wanted. We've obviously clearly loved the Miller Lite partnership so far,

and the Miller Lites for Phil's wins. Everyone who's been in on that, it's been just awesome. A Fritz bit does it again. I hate to give Jack too much credit, but he's a magician. I'm speaking for Jack here, but I feel confident in doing it the single coolest thing about this Miller Lite partnership and the single thing we're happiest about with it is that it gets

us out there more and gets us the opportunity like the High Hopes night we had at the ballpark we'll have another coming up we're going to talk about but it gave us the opportunity of High Hopes watch party the other night for the Thursday game the game where Familia desperately tried to blow it and we were there for the end of it. And just before we wrap,

I just got to say, I know Jack and I were honestly blown away, humbled, honestly surreal. I don't know what the right words are for the amount of people that went out to skip back PA, which is, you know, not super close to a lot of places. Like it was awesome. The place was great. Timeout sports. We had the best time. Like it was awesome. But it's, you know, it's a tough, a tough ask for certain people. I know certain people came from Philadelphia and from like 20, 40 minutes and all that stuff. And I'm like, we had the best time talking to everybody. I feel like I barely watched the game until the end. Cause I talked to everybody just having the best time. But, um, I know, uh, and I'll let Jack speak for himself,

but I'm, I'm speaking for Jack here and saying like, we, uh, we don't curse here. We bleeping love everyone who listens to this podcast it's the coolest community that i've ever been a part of and uh and and you know the high ups watch party was a real uh example of that for me so thank you to everyone who came and and all the people who make this happen fritzy i'll let you speak for yourself now instead of just totally speaking for you yeah i mean uh i i don't you know love jerry simelier trying to ruin it. No, and he tried his hardest, dude. He really did, and I didn't respect that.

Everyone there was having a great time. It should have been one of those kick your feet up and watch the Phillies cruise to a win. He made it tight. But at the same time, James, as Jerry Sommelier was making that game closer than it needed to be, I really felt like it was the most high hopes night possible. I agree.

I agree. It's like, oh, the hopes are high. Everyone's feeling good. And then there's that Sommelier, and we all came together. But this year's different. That's why I love that, because in past years, and same thing with the night at the ballpark, they won that game too. It's different.

Like normally high hopes nights of any kind just completely and totally submarine this team. Like even Familia couldn't, with his best efforts, Jack, and the history of high hopes nights behind him, not submarine that night. It's different. What more example do you need that this seems different, Jack? Yeah, that's probably the biggest reason why it's okay to believe in this.

And again, that we're doing this pod tonight, and they actually swept and didn't lose a lame one. And we're like, oh, it's parade deadline. And they won three of four and mock excitement when we were like, we could have had a super fun pod. No, there's no mocking excitement here. By the way, let the record show, one of us never bailed on this team. We never did half a pod where one of us was like, you know,

desperately out and the other, you know, just throwing that out there. Well, yeah, and that's fair. But I was also super down because the best hitter in baseball over the month of July. Okay, you know what? Let me give you a man-culp here. I got to be honest. We be honest we never lie to those listeners and i'm having a blast and i'm in the moment right now i'll just be honest with you like in hindsight like thinking about that half a we were both back in when bone was healthy like in hindsight like i was so wrong like if they had

lost bone there if that had been six weeks or something and like they're screwed like he has been the most important person on this team the best hitter by a mile like the most consistent hitter having the best july one of the better julys i remember a phillies player ever having like i was wrong jack and i will actually because so and more inside baseball my notes i have a let the record show and uh that i never doubted them and jack did uh no i'm literally that i've kept there since then just so i can keep bringing up deleted gotta be real you were right if they if they had lost boom like they would have been screwed what is that man what is what a monster this guy is well well and it's so funny um because like all of a sudden you start doing what we've basically been asking him to do.

And, you know, for what he's doing right now, I thought Alec Baum is his rookie year. It was like, OK, here's a futures double champion and, you know, going to be a 300 hitter for a long time, I think. Like, I really, really believed in him. But now, like, I believe in this version ofc baum more than i believe in his rookie year version uh and it you know he's finally hitting the ball in the air more you know he's finally pulling the ball with some actual authority it's not just these little slap hits to to right field which are fine um but you have to be able to do damage in another way and what he's doing right now um you know he talked about how watching Goldschmidt kind of gave him the blueprint for

what he wanted to do. And he talked after the game, how him and Kay long had been working on getting his foot down earlier, just so he can get just yet literally just so he can get started earlier. And you're just seeing the dividends. I mean, the Paul, like,

it's just so funny. It's like, you know, team Akra Franski will be like, and here's Alec Boehm. And there's a single, you know what I mean? Like it's,

you're right. It's like immediate, dude. I actually, it's funny. Cause I, you know, everyone,

we joke about how I am behind when I watch on TV, whenever I have to like, go walk the dog or like, you know, go play with Zoe upstairs or whatever. I'll never always listen to the, the game. And I'll always put it on before I leave the basement.

And it's always so funny. Cause I'll like, I'll like see Alec Boehm step to the plate and then I'll put my thing on and they'll be like, Oh, I'm on first base singles on the first pitch. And I'm like, okay.

So I just missed it. Cause he just like, it's, it's hilarious. I love that anecdote. You're definitely right. Um, and,

and the other interesting thing is that dude, I mean, I'm pretty sure that any team in baseball could have traded for Alec Boehm in spring training. Like, I don't think he was really a part of this team's plans. You know, I think they'd kind of moved on to Stott's going to be the third baseman, Didi's going to play short, and Gene's going to play second. I mean, one of the luckiest things that happened to this team

is that, you know, so many injuries happened and Boe and bone had to play and he's played, I mean, you know, he had a little bit of a struggle there, obviously, but this month of July he's batting for 84, I think like as a 1,088 OPS. I mean, it's insane. And honestly, I I'm watching him now and I'm not even thinking about the player he is right now, which has obviously been really fun. I love watching it. There's something aesthetically pleasing about a throwback like 300 hitter.

But I'm starting to think more about his future, too, and how good he's going to be, hopefully, even two years from now. Because what you're seeing right now is really good bat-to-ball skills, driving the ball, but it's still that power is going to come eventually. And when that power comes eventually, we could be talking about like 280 to 320 with 25 to 30 homers. And that's a really, really impactful player. I know this Saturday night or two Saturdays ago against the Cubs, like disaster defensively. I think he's been pretty good.

Absolutely. At least passable. At least passable. Not something I really thought. No one did. But I think what we're seeing now is that Alec Boehm is turning into an offensive force, and you can start dreaming and thinking about 27, 28-year-old Alec Boehm and how good that hitter is going to be so um it's been really fun it's been a good run

and it just he must be seeing beach balls right now oh my god it is ridiculous it's like yeah is there what's bigger than a beach ball dude i saw a few thoughts on this and i think you nailed a lot of it and you know especially how exciting it is about the future, especially when you consider what this kid has gone through the last couple years, right? Does have that – hits through the minors, had some ups and downs. We all remember Jack Fritz's hands, wrists, weak hands thing that we all went through and all that, and has had ups and downs, and still needs to lift the ball more.

Obviously, we saw that today. Regardless, to Jack's point, if you're a 320 homer guy in today's game, 283 hundred, that's so much more valuable than it used to be. Guys don't do that anymore. The average, average, there you go, wordsmith over here, is way down. The average on base percentage is way down over the last few years, all that type of stuff. So, you know, you have a guy who can put the bat on the ball, and he is really good, even if he's not driving the ball, at being able to put the ball where he wants it to go.

You know, really directional hitting, and that's not just, that doesn't just show up in the average. It shows up in a lot of other spots, too. And, you know, the old school baseball stuff that's not just important, you know, during the season, but we know is especially important in the playoffs. I think Alec Boehm has a potential to be a real kind of, you know, guy could have some big hits for this team if they can really, you know, put it all together and get where we want them to go. And then when you consider all the adversities gone through the last two years, you know, having the awesome rookie star and hitting, you know, mostly all the way through the minors and then having that, you know, really tough season last year,

you know, where we talk so many times, talk about a theme of a season, us talking about how he looked lost and there was no one there to grab him and it seemed like no one was kind of helping him along. And this season, you know, such a completely different story. And then even this season goes through real adversity. And I think we can point to that as such a defining moment for him but handled it perfectly and it really changed things and you know i i think when you see guys who who come up and hit well in our pedigree again he's that third pick in the draft we don't mention that enough um i think to see them go through this and

bounce back and come back the come out the other side and be the hitter you projected they could be you know it just feels like it's that much more easy to believe you know what i mean like it feels like it's not like fluky at all it's like oh yeah like this is the alec bohm and he's beginning to be and can turn into the the the high-end projections of the alec bohm we hoped and thought he could be you know what i mean oh so you mean that we shouldn't just completely give up on a down player because he had a down season? What a thought. What a thought.

I know. Well, it is actually a really good reminder for a player like him who had such a good first year, was pretty dreadful last year, had to get sent down. We don't always have to just give up on players, especially in baseball, really, really fast. More than any other sport, I would even say, Jack. So, I mean, he comes back from my bleeping hate this place.

He's been in a good spot ever since. His defense has been good. And James, like, I just, I really love the, and I'm sure we'll get to this later, but whatever. I just really love the vibes of him, Bierling, and Stott. Like, I just – I like watching those three guys play. You know, obviously, it's – you always have a stronger connection to homegrown guys.

You know, they come through the system. Such a great program. So it's always easier to – It's like the bone thing. Like, watching him go through that adversity and come out the other side makes us even more attached to him. Yeah. So – and you look at Stottott it's like professional at bats he i think he struck

out six times in july which is which is like insane jack that's insane man especially especially when you think about uh the how many lefties those like left-handed guys face late in games like you know his ability to hang in there and foul balls off and work at bats. Like you're crazy. If you haven't been impressed with it, considering his agent and obviously, you know, service level, so to speak. Yeah. And, and frankly, I don't care. Yeah. He struck out six times in July. I just wanted to make sure.

You know what, Jack? I don't care. Made me think of, let's just, let's just say this. We're no longer mentioning his average. With Bryson Stott, don't care. I don't care what his average is. I don't want to hear that he's batting 196 or 200 or 195 or whatever. Don't care. Watch the games. Watch him bat.

And if he sucks, we'll know. But guess what? Right now, he definitely doesn't. Well, you read my mind because I was literally going to say the same thing. No way. Oh, I love it. We're the best, man. It's so fun.

I'm having such a good time tonight. I just don't care what his average is. He consistently works good at bats. He seems to come up with big hits when they need it. He doesn't strike out. And I think we're seeing what could possibly – Listen, I think Schwarber's been – I have no qualms with him being at the

leadoff spot for some reason there's been this like sort of meltdown recently oh it's rbi this rbi that like dude the guy is it the guy's at 30 leadoff homers this year or something like i i'll take it if he feels comfortable the mvp of the team this year like flat out i there's no both both obviously on the field alone and also as a locker room guy, the toes, the winning cultural and stuff. Schwarber is the most – with Harper out, obviously, Schwarber has been the most important Philly without a doubt. No question.

Yeah, but if you want to make the case, okay, next year Stock can be the leadoff hitter and he can move Schwarber down to a more run batters in kind of position, sure, you can make that case. But regardless, like doesn't strike out, puts the bat on the ball, seems to come up clutch. I think the defense is really good. Seems like his instincts are just really, really good. And I just think that the more and more he plays, the more and more stats going to get better. So stat boom. And then Veerling, you know, I think that they are definitely going to go out and try to make a center field upgrade. I'm good with it.

It's just I want Matt Verling to play every day. Priority is making the playoffs, obviously. But I also want to see that guy play because I think he consistently makes good contact, seems to be pretty good in the field. And, yeah, you can go get a center fielder. They did a lot. They did twice this series where Schwarber was DH and Vierling was in left and Oduble or whatever would be in center field.

It's a pretty good defensive outfield. So regardless, making sure Matt Vierling is still in the lineup every day and playing and whatever, that still has to be a priority for this team because I think he's a winner. So you're starting to see what the... I know they call him Philly's Daycare, whatever. You're starting to see three young guys that are contributing

around a team that, frankly, they haven't had in years past. That's really important. It makes this run ever since Rob Thompson has taken over that much more fun to me is watching what the young kids are doing. So shout out to Phil's Daycare.

And again, deadline comes Tuesday. They want to get us in our field, I'm pretty sure. But I need my guy Matty V to play every day. Yeah, and we'll get to the deadline stuff. I just texted Emily and said it's obviously going to be a longer one tonight. Oh, I know. Yes. We're going for it.

But to your point there, first and foremost with Veerling, it's funny because he's a guy where you talk about the boom thing with what his future could be. Veerling's a guy where I actually think about the future a lot and I do want him to play more and whatnot, but I'm actually really excited just, as we've talked about so many times,

I don't need to dive into it again, but just the idea of the, and he's not as good a player, but of the Zobristian nature of him and just how valuable. Yeah, you like that? You like that? Thank you. We're on point tonight. I'm really excited.

I'm in a great mood, everybody. But seriously, he's a guy who is, even if he doesn't start every day, but starts, let's say, 125, 130 games a year and fills in in other spots and pinch hits and whatever. What a valuable player to have who can play third and play second and play outfield and play first if you need him to or whatever. That's such a, you know, we used to bring this phrase up, I think, more on the pod than in recent years. It's kind of to go back in the, you know, wayside.

But, you know, money ball, it's a market in efficiency. Having someone like that, you only have so many roster spots. When you have someone in your roster who can adequately play all those positions and offer you something as an offensive player, it's such a valuable thing. And to your point about the daycare guys like not just have they you know is it great to see them grow and contribute and both boom and stop perfect examples of what we were just talking about about giving guys time like you're not just going to come up and be awesome all the time like in stats case like you know it takes time for you to adjust to major league pitching like there is no bigger jump you will ever take in your life

than minor league to major league pitching you know it's like that type of like absurd level of jump you know if you're a professional player obviously if i pitch against major minor league pitching that would be a bigger jump but you know what i mean um so i um that alone and then the boom thing giving him a chance with the down season and then with the the bleep and hate this place and all this stuff like it is they're both really good stop just in this season the way he had his july that he had the bats if you just watch the games the way he's been like that that stuff should be a lesson like like especially when they're pedigree guys especially when they're the third and the 14th pick in the draft when they're you know

both top 100 prospects but in the sport before they come up, don't just bail. If they struggle, don't, hey, Joe Girardi, if you ever get another managing job, which I'm sorry to whatever team that is. Looking less likely by the day. Yeah, I'm sorry to whatever team that is if it does happen. Don't not give them an opportunity to play. And I know, Stott, you never know what happens if there weren't the injuries and all that stuff but but but thank goodness you know because that guy's mattered

and for those guys they've also contributed in a meaningful way in games that have mattered for a team that's in it like what better you know you know we talk about reps in life and whatever you do like what better reps are there than that i I think I'm really, for a franchise that, as we know, and as we'll talk about coming up with the trade deadline, guys, we talk about guys that trade, has really struggled to draft and develop guys. Bowman, Stott are both looking like guys who have a chance to be quote-unquote legitimate wins.

And it feels foreign, Jack, foreign jack honestly yeah and i got two quick thoughts before i'm sure we move on but um i you you can't tell me there's not a coincidence between these guys playing with confidence and jojo already not being here no doubt like you just you can't convince me that him being out of here doesn't help these guys and when we're talking the other the other thought i have while you're going there is that when we talk about the future, these guys getting these reps right now is really important. We're talking about the direction of this team and the next four or five years really being this team's window to win a championship. Getting BOM and STOT in big game, big reps, and so that you don't have to go out and fill every need by trading away

your prospects as soon as you get them or spending hundreds of millions of dollars in free agency. Letting these guys play and develop and becoming a key part of your future just makes the whole team make more sense. So when you're evaluating, could this be like, uh, again, we've talked about it when, when, um, Girardi is fired, but about like the Abreu trade in 06, it's not the same thing, but it, you know, and how that led Rollins, Utley and Howard kind of be the leaders of that team. You're seeing the young kids ever since the Girardi fire has happened, um, feel comfortable and they legitimately feel like pieces of this team's future. So, yeah, it's just it's been it's been ridiculous, been a lot of fun.

But yeah, shout out to those guys. Yeah. I mean, the numbers are astounding. I think it's 33 and 18 now without Girardi, 33 and 18 under Thompson. You know, that's like I mean, I just it's really hard to to present a case that at least in some way and maybe it's overkill or this or that or whatever but i mean you can't look at where they were and what they are now and just again especially if you're like us and you watch them every night and i know literally the people every single person listens pod like we're

diseased when you watch them every night like i don't know how you could possibly watch him under Girardi, not just this season, but any of the seasons that he's been under Girardi, and watch them now. And I know the talent level is different from, you know, 2020 or whatever. And last season even, you know, at points with Harper, you know, Schwerber, whatever you want to kind of change it out with. But I just don't know how you can't see, a completely different feel around this club all right um we're gonna get

to the trade deadline in a bit um i want to uh and again i'm sure you'll get to other stuff in the tape bag but i want to fire off just uh uh two other guys i want to talk about from the weekend if there's anything else you want to adding um, we can. And again, just a really strong weekend. I know it's the Pirates, but after the Cubs thing, after winning 2-3 against the Braves, to go in and not just win 3-4, but sweep, take 2X for inning games, get some big hits, some big spots. The Reese Homer, what a big hit. So much stuff.

But two specific I want to ask you about. One definitively positive. One, we'll see and let's start with that. And you know who it is. Really strong weekend numbers-wise. If you just look at the box scores, at least in a couple spots. And confidence-wise maybe for Nick Castellanos. Four it today, three the other night.

I think he batted over 500 for the weekend or close to 500 for the weekend um you know what do you think about nick who's at least you know starting to maybe show potentially signs of of life i don't know what do you think uh by the way jack like there's nothing i need more in my life. I love this team. I'm happy they're winning games. But if Nick could even just be solid and not just horrible the rest of the year, it would mean so much to my soul. Anyway, go ahead. One time. Go ahead.

Yeah, I mean, I legitimately thought that he had a good weekend at the plate just from the standpoint of, I thought his at-bats looked a little bit better. But then he would have something where it's like the ground ball double play today yeah or the strikeout the bases loaded last night and it's like oh come on Nick um but I do think overall I thought that he had better at bats this weekend I didn't think he was chasing as much I do need him to stop swinging at first pitches every time because like what do you think they're

gonna throw you Nick um you're going to get a fastball. But I do think he actually swung the bat with like, I felt like he was some authority, like for the first time in two months, it felt like he was hitting a baseball angrily. Yeah. Again, honestly,

Jack, I joked about, I can't remember if it was you and me or someone else where we were joking about how, like, I honestly don't remember. This was before the weekend. I don't remember him pulling before the weekend I don't

remember him pulling a ball for like two months or something and then you know he rips up that double and I was like that's like the first Castellanos hit I feel like I've seen since early May that actually felt like I was watching Nick Castellanos at the plate yeah and between that and like actually you know trying to do damage rather than just say let me just foul some pitches off and maybe i'll flip one into right or yeah just check swing one softly into the gap and right exactly yeah that's how he bats 250 every he gets one hit a game it's a little bloop soft hit and it's like oh most hits on the team sorry right you really you're really not handling the Cassianos.

It's because I feel like the people we interact with are smarter than that. Go ahead. Right. But I do think that he legitimately, I thought, had a good at-bats weekend. But now it's like, okay, good start. He got away from Philly. I think he needed to get away from Philly for a weekend. But capitalize on it. You know, this is, you know, it's time to hit some balls out of the yard.

I mean, you still have eight homers on the year, which is ridiculous. Embarrassing. So I thought it was going to be – I think it was Johnny Heller who tweeted out, Aaron Judge has as many homers since the All-Star break as Nick Castaneda has all season. Yeah, well, listen, Aaron Judge is currently probably, what, the third best in baseball?

I know, I know, dude. I know, dude, but it's July 31st, so I can say this. It's not August yet, and we're talking about him having as many as Castellanos all season since, like, July, you know, 13th or whatever, dude, or July 15th

or July 18th or whatever it is. Like, come on. Like, that's... Oh, damn it! 14th or whatever dude or july 15th or july 18th or whatever it is like come on they get up damn it it's embarrassing i'll believe it i won't forget i won't and if i do it'll be hilarious i didn't even say it i said the beginning but i'm still gonna believe it anyway that was hilarious and by the way that's how fired up i am about this i know you're like nick there there is so you had a funny thing recently i don't remember i. I think it was with, um, we were talking to Elliot or texting or whatever. And you were like, you know, what's like of all the, you know, opinions takes the every now what's when you like really hope is your most right about.

And like, in my head, I'm like, I don't even have any others. Like I only care about Castellanos. I don't, I honestly don't care if I'm ever right about anything else again, ever. If this guy can just not suck. That's how much this hurts my soul jack all right go ahead i'm sorry well it hurts your soul so much that you didn't even like let me get the joke out before you jumped all over it i'm sorry i'm so fired up about it go ahead go ahead it's my bad i'm so sorry i mean i again aaron judge is cute but he's what the third best hitter in baseball in July behind Alec Boehm and Austin Riley? Austin Riley is tough.

I like it. I know. I mean, you know, I don't know if my – I guess my Boehm is better than Austin Riley take is, like, aging pretty bad. But at least Boehm's starting to show some signs of life, so maybe it's not that bad. Maybe it's a win-win. Maybe it's a win-win take for everyone.

Because, hold on, you're misrepresenting your take. Your take was Austin Riley sucks. And that is aging horrendously. Let's be real. I was real about my Nick Castellanos-ness, all right? Horrible take, Jack. I don't think I ever said that Austin Riley sucks. I don't think that was ever something i said on this i love that one of my favorite things is that we have a a diseased fan base listenership high

hopes community where we can't get away with stuff because they listen so long and listen religiously that everyone knows jag it's i'm worth saying it's all right i'd still rather have boom um so yeah the Castellanos thing, I just hope that this weekend kind of gets them going. I genuinely would rate it as a positive Castellanos weekend and not a disaster. So that's a win, right? It is a win.

All right, one more guy I wanted to ask you about. And outside of the, like, I'm not going to ask you about it. We both want Familiano Dubal off this team in any way, shape, or form. The base running thing on whatever that was two nights ago, three nights ago. I don't remember. I think two. And the fact that he didn't get benched. The fact that he's in the lineup today.

Like, I can't. I'm done with my bandwidth for that. I'm not even talking. Just like I'm not talking about Bryson Stout's average anymore. I'm not talking about Dubel. Like, I just want him to be gone. The last guy i want to ask you about and i saw an effusive tweet from you with stats and and everything to back it

up he's back who am i talking about jack oh we're talking about ranger danger yeah buddy tell me what you're thinking yeah um uh so at the beginning of the year, before he got hurt, it was like, yeah, some of the outings are fine, but it felt like there was a lot of traffic on the base pass. And there was like, even like, what was the Dodgers game? He went seven innings and allowed one run. It was like, yeah, you know, it was fine. It didn't lead me to believing that he was what he was going to be last year.

And I was actually surprised. So he wasn't getting as many whiffs, wasn't striking out as many guys. Strikeout rate dropped to 18% at the beginning of this year. And what made Rangers so great last year was just a very simple plan, I felt like, to hitters every single night. It would be righties, it would be fastballs, in, in, in, in, in, change up away. Bang, there's an out. With lefties, it's that sinker under the hands,

and then the curveball slash slider running away from them, change up. That can go under the hands. And I felt like genuinely it was a really good plan. It was a really good plan for Ranger Suarez. And this year, like, never had the control. Never had, well, he never had the command. The command is different than control. And I didn't think that Ranger had it.

And since he's come back from his little IL stint, strikeout rate has jumped to 26%. And what it was last year when he was a starter was 25%. So we're legitimately seeing what Ranger did last year right now, which is, I mean, you're adding a guy possibly who had like, what, a 1.5 ERA? Yeah, not like a 1.5. Yeah, it's insane. After being like the most effective closer in baseball for a month or whatever.

Yeah, so Rangers last year was ridiculous and i don't expect him to pitch to a low two for the rest of the year or under two for the rest of the year but i think he's even two let's be honest we'll let him we'll let him pitch to a two whatever um so it's so magnanimous of you i i appreciate that no pressure you would never let kyle gib let Kyle Gibson pitch to a four or a three or whatever. So I appreciate that. Well, that would have to be possible. So that's the key difference. But, yeah, no. And last night it was like the fifth inning.

And I was sitting there and I was like, is this last year? Like, genuinely, I felt like I was watching last year Ranger last night where it's like, oh, and we start the bottom of the third, and the bottom of the third's over. You know, it was so fast, so done, so quick. Which was last year, Jack. That's like such a – like, it felt like he worked so quick. He just mowed dudes down.

He threw strikes. I could describe what I felt like Rangers' year was last year in an emotion. It was quick. The dude just moved. It was easy. It was really easy. Easy is better. Easy is better.

Let's official high hopes pod. Rangers 2021 was easy. It was just like okay rangers gonna go seven innings and allow like one run so and it'll take like an hour and a half or two hours yeah but but legitimately it just raises such a floor for this team with the way he's pitching right now like imagine if they go out well that was my point i was about to say it's almost like a trade deadline guy like right like it's almost like adding a freaking stud at the deadline. It's that, but it's also imagine if they go get a real difference maker starting pitcher. Yeah, well, we'll get to that, won't we, buddy?

Yeah. So, like, you start dreaming on this rotation, you know, whether it's Ranger as the three or whoever they trade, wherever they trade for. And then Ranger's the four. If it's like this, like between last year and that version of Ranger and we'll get to them,

but like a legit dude as the three and four in whatever order they're pitching best, like you could like, again, that Jack to our point, and we just want to make the playoffs, but that's how you make the playoffs and do real damage

is when you get those kinds of dudes, you yeah and they they can't they can't head into this like second half of the year um banking on anything from zach eflin like i just think that would be a foolish way to go about it if zach eflin comes back and is is fine again and i believe me i want him to come back and be fine because i love zach eflin, but you can't bank on him coming back and giving them much. So you have to almost head into this trade deadline with the thought that Zach Eflin's not pitching again this year. But regardless, then you go possible future rotation of Wheeler, Nola, blank, Ranger, or Ranger blank, and then Kyle Gibson.

I mean, you want to talk about winning a postseason series. I mean, that's how you do it. So shout out to Ranger. Seems like he's definitely back, definitely getting whiffs. His sinker was finally running, I felt like, for the first time last night. He was dotting both sides of the plate. Welcome back, Ranger. Missed you, kiddo.

Yeah, and just from a mentality perspective, if you just totally take stuff out of the equation, you think about like what philly purely from a mentality perspective would i trust most in a playoff tight game scenario either starting out the bullpen whatever stranger it's what we talk about the dude's got freaking ice in his veins we saw it so many times so i think he'd be a really interesting guy to watch and those type of see how that translates to true pressure situations. All right.

Uh, we're going to get to the take back later coming up in a second. We're doing it. We're going to do our perfect deadline. I got a lot of names to fire off for. It's a lot of stuff to get into and we'll give our perfect, perfect deadline. But again,

one more time, I just want to shout out, obviously, uh, shout out all the people who came out to skip back, but also timeout sports bar. Like this place was awesome. They were so accommodating food beers.

They just, I just kept getting handed Miller lights and a shout out to neighbor, Dan, shout out to neighbor, Dan, give me a ride out there because I was able to drink a little bit and have a good time, which was pretty sweet.

A lot of Miller lights. They kept coming. And that's because timeout Sports Bar was a freaking blast. If you're in the area, even if you're not, it's worth a trip. Time Out Sports Bar and Skip Back, again, where we just had our first Miller Light watch party. The place was huge, multiple rooms, tons of patios, TVs, and, again, $3 Miller Light specials for Games Plus

in light of that. And for the first time, I feel like, with a game, that last time, it all happened quickly. Miller Lite came on board, and it was like, oh, we're going to a game right now. We're given some time here. Like, this is event update. As a shout-out to our sales guy, Stiney, Michael Steinberg.

We love him. As Michael would say, event alert. We got another High Hopes game coming up. What? Yeah, buddy. So it's going to be August 26. Our next Ring the Bell, Miller Lite, Liberty Landing at Citizens Bank Park,

Friday, August 26, versus, ironically, the Pirates, pretty hilarious coming out of this series. 7.05 first pitch first pitch will be at the miller light liberty landing uh from 6 p.m on hanging out and anyone who's coming to these games and i know so many of our peeps have and even people we saw last night like i know michael and his mother lisa have come to uh a bunch of games i saw michael i saw michael there not lisa i'm just michael michael was at timeout and skip back and lives in Philadelphia, by the way.

So like Hike City, Lisa wasn't there. I'm just saying. So I'm just throwing that out there. But she can redeem. I think it's fair to question her. That's what I'm saying. So I'm saying, you know, they're usually there together. And that's what we love about it and appreciate it.

She can redeem herself, though. August 26th, a chance to come, and WIP List in the game will be giving tickets away, leaning up to it. And, Jack, you want me to give you a little potential exclusive that, I don't know, might tip the scales either one way or the other. It might make people not want to come,

but I'm guessing it might make people maybe not come because of it, but certainly excited that they could meet someone. Jax, there will be someone at that game. Do you know who it is? Chase Utley. Way less cool for most people than that. But for me, no one cooler.

Rumors, Zoe Seltzer might be making an appearance at that game. Emily as well. That's the word on this free as of now. Jack and I will be hanging in the Miller Lite Liberty Landing which is an awesome place to watch a game and hang out. It's a really cool spot and potentially likely I will say

Emily and Zoe Seltzer hanging out. How about it Jack? Yeah it's not as cool as Chase Utley but it seems like I know buddy I know but for me it's my favorite but I get that it's for literally I was gonna say

99% for a hundred percent except me and Emily and maybe like you know her grandmother and my you know her uncle and whatnot yeah pretty much everyone else. Even my Uncle Peter. I love Uncle Peter. He might want to meet Chase Utley more.

I don't know. So, yeah. Now, is Zoe going to, I mean, Zoe knows the plan here, though. Like, we're going to have to take a lot of photos. Oh, yeah. I mean, is she ready to go? Like, is she photogenic? Dude.

All right. Here's the thing. Photogenic, for those who have not seen her classic Miller Lite for Phil's Wins photo, there's one photo there's one out there where she which actually jack i'm not even kidding is the background of my phone now is the zoe miller holding up my miller light on my phone shout out to miller light um but yeah zoe's not only photogenic but she is also like the most people like she is like we always joke she is about as seltzy as it gets in terms of like she loves to meet new

people she loves everyone she loves to be the center of attention she loves to like be like look at me i'm gonna tell you something oh this that like she is like super seltzy so if you come like zoe will probably be be excited to meet you literally no matter who you are. So, you know, just saying. Good. Yeah. Good. Yeah. So I do respect both Miller Lite and Steinberg. They seem to pick the correct opponents to have like the Diamondbacks. Let's get some wins, baby. Let's get some wins. We need them.

Yeah. Miller Lite for Phil's wins. Pretty much guaranteed against the Pirates. Yeah. So we're going to be announcing how we can get more tickets for those games, but obviously you can also get them online or just get tickets for the games, but we will be giving some away as well. So you will be there.

We'll be hanging out at the Motorlight Liberty Landing, whether you win them or not. So come say hi, come hang out, come meet Zoe and Emily and Jack Fritz. We're there, buddy. Take bag coming up later. It's time. Perfect trade deadline. I'd like to thank the Phillies

for basically making no trades except like a baffling one with the literal team they're most directly competing with where they bring in Edmundo Sosa who's like basically worse hitting Yoan Camargo so they can put Yoan Camargo in the minors and bring Sosa up and he's better defensively I suppose but um real quick before we dive into the names out there

and then our perfect trades um what did you make of this kind of I think a lot of people were like what yeah it was really weird i i i mean like it's i guess it's fine you know i guess if you want to look they're not losing because of it right it's not like yeah yeah my my first thought was like annie's back in the lab man like i like that i love that spin on it buddy that's such a fritz yeah i love it yeah listen it's okay it didn't take me long to start believing in the uh the oddiness of that trade um but yeah like my other thought was are they really gonna dfa dd like i wonder if they had the um if they had the the kind of stones to do that i will say though you know uh last year i thought he really did have a chance. I mean, he did play. He played 113 games, batted 270, 735 OPS.

Like, his numbers in the second half, I think he had an 830 OPS in the second half of last year. So maybe they're just viewing it as, like, a devalued asset on an organization that, like, not the, you know, most forward thing. Yeah, so from Augustst uh until the end of last year he batted 307 with an 860 ops and classically walked by joe gerardi leading to a philly's loss let's not forget that too do you remember that i do remember that it's a game yeah oh horrible um so yeah i mean maybe they're just viewing it as like a an asset that had a chance a

year ago that just got off to a really bad year. They gave up Jojo, who, you know, the Red Bull gifts are amazing and I like his stuff. But like does he raise over seven in the big leagues? So it's definitely a weird one. But I guess if you're it's never a bad idea to have another elite defensive player on this team. So, sure. I think they have control of him until 2027. So, you know, they have him for a couple years here.

They didn't give up much to get him. Maybe he has a chance, but I still think he's just like a, you know, starts once a week, late inning, second shortstop, third baseman. I don't think there's like star potential here, but sure. I guess it's a move that winning teams would make. All right. Let's get to our perfect deadlines. second shortstop third baseman i don't think there's like star potential here but sure i guess it's a team that a move that winning teams would make all right let's get to our perfect deadlines let's first though i want to go through i'm going to fire names and situations off you i'm going to kind of go through the majority of and again for people who don't know how we do our perfect

deadline we usually try and be realistic about it we're not like i want him to trade for show a otani and like you know we're usually by the way holy crap if show it gets traded like how do you gauge the value for the most talented player we've seen in our lifetime um when you take it all into account um and obviously the juan soto thing like i think the nationals are foolish we've already talked about this to rush the the biggest organizational decision you might make in the next decade and to exclude teams. It's not like it's an asset that's depreciating. It's Juan Soto.

There might be a bunch of teams who aren't going forward to be more in. It's like down to three teams and the Cardinals, the Dodgers, and the Padres or whatever. You don't think those three teams will still be interested when the season's over? You think they're going to decrease their offer when maybe these other teams are in too for whatever reasons like anyway whatever i hope they wait till the offseason for their own sake but you know what screw the nuts um but but we try and talk about like the real names that are realistic possibilities

for the phillies so i want to fire off names that you know and again they're more high and more low and we don't know what they're gonna do but'm going to fire up the names that I think are feasible for the Phillies. And you tell me if they're anyone to add quickly. I think we can both agree that, and we'll get to names, but I'm going to focus on starting pitching and some bats. I think that over the last month plus, where the bullpen has been as good as it has been, I think it's more interesting to kind of focus on the other stuff.

They might add a bullpen arm. They might not. But would we agree that maybe a bat and a starting pitcher are the two clear needs, or at least the things we think they're going to invest in the most? Yeah, I think they'll invest. I mean, starter 100%. Maybe try to do the Gibson trade last year

where they get a starter and a bullpen option. Hopefully it's Nadia and Kennedy. Although, he's still the closer in Arizona. Uh-oh. So Mark Melanson fell apart? Oh, Mark Melanson, yeah. I don't know. I've been waiting years for Mark Melanson

to finally lose a closer job. What a miracle. Mark Melanson was in the 09 Yankees. No one has held on to closer jobs more. And again know i watch a lot of baseball but i don't see every mark melanzani but where i'm more mystified by it when i watch the guy pitch i'm like how does this guy have like whatever he has 300 crew saves or whatever absurd number i'm sure it is yeah so um i think starters priority salisbury keeps mentioning that

uh center field is definitely something they're interested in um and then i i would still like another legitimate bullpen weapon uh bullpen option and they are legitimately getting some good pieces back though i mean like kuhnrod's on his way um eric miller they've kind of transitioned into a bullpen guy we'll see if they trade him heading into this uh deadline but um yeah just like if we can just have coon rod take the familiar role um you know like they could be they could be ridiculous here so i still think another bullpen option but a starter is definitely priority number one all right melanson 258 crusades overshot a little bit but still insane um all right um so i've grouped them i'm gonna fire off the the high end options the like middle group and then kind of the like

all right we're just gonna get a starter I think if you look at the the guys on the list I think they're they're at least guys who have been realistically mentioned as real options for the Phillies and correct me if I'm wrong I think that you know top two and you know they're talking about Hector Redon maybe getting traded and you this stuff. But guys who we really could see the Phillies maybe trading for, would you say Montas, Pablo, and Mele would be the top three with Mele maybe a notch behind those top two? Because that's the way I would look at it. Yeah, I think it goes Montas and Pablo Lopez, same tier.

And then Mele below them for sure. But I still like Tyler Mailey. So I love Mailey in terms of compared to this. If I had to look at this list and say, all right, who do I think might be the best deal? And again, it all comes down to what the market becomes. But I think Mailey is good. So for reference sake, for saving you the trip to SpotTrack,

Mailey is signed for one season after this. There's not like all three of these guys as they are signed past this season. Maile signed through next season. Montas through next season. Pablo through 2024. So an extra year of Pablo, I think, will probably cost more. And if I had to bet on which of these guys is most likely to not get traded, Pablo would be that.

But break down these three for me, what you'd be willing to give up for them in general before we get to our own trades, and just the likelihood of you think that these guys could be Phillies. I like Montas a lot. I said I would probably put Abel on the trade package to bring him here. I think his stuff is really good. I think him pitching in a pennant chase I think would be good,

and I think it would raise his level of talent. Not raise level of talent, but raise his want to. It's hard to be totally locked in when you're playing on a team that's trying to lose. So I love Montas. I love Pablo Lopez. I was surprised that they're going to make him available, and I agree. If they're going to put him on the market, they are looking for legitimate. Able is starting that package.

It's like Able plus Ohabi, that kind of level. Exactly. Yeah. So listen, we'll see. And then I think they would be able to get Manly without giving up Abel, Painter, or Griff. That's where I'm at too, by the way, buddy. That's what I think. I think they'd be able to do that.

But if you're asking me what, it's just I can't get a read on what he's going to do. Like it's so weird because we talk about the old Dombrowski and he'd always go for it and he'd trade prospects and he'd do all this. He just hasn't done that since he's gotten here. You know, he's been tasked with rebuilding the franchise and getting them to look like a well-functioning machine. And I think he's definitely done a pretty good job of that. He's, you know, identified some, some pieces that have helped, uh, help this team a lot. Um, I going for a rental, I'm not a huge fan of there's some interesting names that make sense. So, you know, I, I, again, I wouldn't hate putting those guys

on the table. One of those guys to go get one of these starters to help this team and help next year's team. So, um, I'm in on all these trades and I, but I just, I don't know if he's really going to do it. I think they're finally linked to mainly today by Jason Stark. So that was good to see and, and whatnot. But yeah,

it just for such an ace guy that Dave Dombrowski has been, it doesn't seem like he's really going for a big swing here. Yeah, it doesn't. And so perfect segue. And you mentioned that Stark tweet, the other two guys in it are guys who are on the last years of their contract who are rentals. And you would assume if Dombrowski's do what he's not going to, that's a point, right? Like he's, he's not in on, on making the big deals if the market's not there, cause he doesn't want to give up those prospects, thus give up less to get a rental,

which if it's enough less, we're good on. So let's mention those two guys who are in that deal, and then I'll add two more. I'll just combine those two in a group. I separated them mostly because they were in that Sark tweet, but let's just do the four guys who, if you got them, were a one-year or half-a-year, end-of-the-season, done type of thing, outside of Rodon and Evaldi who

can opt out after the year and I think both will and Rodon especially I think expense won't be in the Phillies target market but Cindergarten Quintana obviously we just saw Quintana are the two guys in that stark tweet who are both uh contract up at the end of the season and then the other two names that have been floated about over this time, Chad Kuhl or Kuhl. I still don't know how to say it in Colorado. I think it's Kuhl. I thought so. I'm just excited to say Edmundo Sosa. But Kuhl and Martin Perez, the other two guys who are up at the end of the year,

have been kind of floated over this general trade deadline portion. Those four names, the likelihood, and if you had to bet on one of those forks, it seems like, you know, forgetting what you want, it seems like the way you're talking, you're leaning towards the Phillies getting one of these type of guys more so than a Maley or even a Montas or whatever it appears. Yeah, I think that's fair. Let me just put this out there now um i do not like noah cinderguard i he's my least favorite he's my least favorite i don't think he's a good pitcher uh i think he is more name than actual production i don't like he doesn't strike anyone out anymore i i watch his start um a couple starts ago and i'm just like, yeah, this is not that interesting.

And he's not even pitching like one, three, fifth day. I think they're giving him extra days in between just to make him healthier or whatever. So I'm not a Noah Syndergaard fan. I've never been a Noah Syndergaard fan. He has allowed the most steals in baseball. I think he's like top three of most steals allowed, so whatever. But I think Noah Syndergaard's probably going to be a Philly just because like I don't like him at all so

like generally they do yep we've documented many of this where it's I'm not a big fan but they'll do it and I'll be like okay I guess I'll talk myself into this so let the record show I think they trade for Noah Syndergaard I don't

like Noah Syndergaard but I will obviously talk myself into him being 2015 2016 uh cinder guard here um martin perez i don't think they're really gonna trade you know i i they probably should probably yeah i just i don't know look they're not making the playoffs it's a shame do you know they have the worst record in one-run games through this point in the season in the history of baseball? Oh, that sounds so familiar. Yeah, they've gotten pretty unlucky. But, like, dude, like, what are you doing?

Get whatever you can for the guy. You know, what are we doing here? Yeah, and I would agree with you, but it seems like they're not going to move him. So I think that's weird. He would cost, I think, a decent amount. He wouldn't cost Abel, Painter, or Griff, but definitely a lot of the lower-level guys.

But I would be in. You know, he's been really good. Ever since I've said he was falling apart, he's had, like, two straight dominant starts, which has helped my fantasy game. And was a former pedigree guy. Like, he was a top prospect once upon a time. I always like those guys who have the pedigree and then, you know,

maybe figure it out later or all that. Yes. Quintana, I like a lot. If you were labeling my favorite of those guys, it would probably be Quintana just because like – Look at us. Me too, buddy. Look at us.

Well, I just think he's going to give them a good outing every time he's out there. You know, is it going to be super high end? No. Is it going to be super high end no um is it going to be super terrible no but i think on most nights he's going to give them six or seven innings of pretty well-pitched baseball and you know i can kind of go to bed feeling pretty good about jose cantana being in my starting rotation so yeah i'd be fine with the jose cantana trade maybe they can finally do the the christian hernandez he can be in the trade on like last year uh for tyler anderson by the way it's been funny you

know tyler anderson the affiliates tried to trade for last year and had a trade done he's been like one of the best pitchers oh he's been a stud for the dodgers shocking it's hilarious um so phil's new phil's new first well dave's gotta get it done, man. Dave's got to get it done. And this podcast, more so than any, knows my deep love of Chad Cole. Oh, I know. Yeah. I'd rather have him than Syndergaard. And I'm sure that's a very, you know, I'm sure we're in the minority there. Yeah.

I just, I have little interest in Noah Syndergaard. But Chad Cole, you know, he's had a pretty good year out there in Colorado. It seems like he'll have one bad start, one good start. Definitely does not seem like he pitches very well at home. Obviously, it's a tough place to pitch at. But, yeah, always has had good stuff. I've always loved Chad Kuhl. But yeah, I've always had good stuff.

I've always loved Chad Cole. But when you're talking about evaluating a guy you like versus trying to make the playoffs, I would rather have like a Jose Quintana. Yeah, so Quintana is my favorite too. I mean, he just has the longest track record of success of those guys we just talked about, the four we just talked about. All right, let's get to it because I think we both have trades involving center fielders. So I don't think we need to get to the other names there because we're both going to talk about it. All right. Let's get to it. Cause we, I think we both have trades involving center fielders. So I don't think we need to get to the other names there. Cause we're both going to talk about it in a sec.

I feel like I should go first. Cause I feel like whenever we do these, you know, look, I'm not an ego guy. I don't care. I think people get it more excited for yours than mine. So I feel like we should save that.

And I'm serious and I'm totally good with it. There are other things I'm great at it's all good you know we've got a beautiful thing but let's save you for the last I'm gonna do mine especially and there's another reason for it it's not just that you know you know me being magnanimous

and you know just being a generally good dude but the other guy is like oh the guy I do the pod with but whatever I mine's also incredibly boring where the other guy is like, oh, the guy I do the pod with, but whatever. Mine's also incredibly boring. Now, because it's so boring, I did give you a perfect and a likely. So at least I have that. But my perfect trade deadline moves, deals, whatever, is pretty lame because not only is it just one trade,

but it's the one trade we've talked about like 8 billion times. Like honestly, it feels like for 15 years and it's really been like a year plus. But like, I honestly think when you look at the market, all the names we talked about, the situation they're in, like I think it's worth giving up, you know, whether it's Abel and Rojas and Brown plus or Ohapi and this or whatever the package is. Like, I just think if for now and the next couple years, like, I think Montas and Laureano just make so much sense for this team. I look at where this team is at.

I look at what are the biggest holes that I care about now and in the playoffs, and it's a starting pitcher and it's a center fielder. Like you have to believe Harper's coming back. So Gurro's coming back. Like we're filling other holes naturally. Ranger's been better, like whatever. But like, I feel like if you can get a guy in Laureano, a guy who's having a bounce back season, who at the age of 24 years old had an 860 OPS in 123 games, 24 homers, had some, you know, a steroid suspension and some, you know, injuries and all that, but like seems to have bounced back as an above average center fielder. And oh, by the way, is, is signed for a while. He signed through his 2019. So he's 27

right now. You'd have him for the rest of this year, his 28 age, 28 season and his age 29 season like that's like you know the physical peak of your career at a really solid price at a desperately needed position in Montas like we talked about we just went through the names who we think are realistically going to get traded or at least realistically in the Phillies market and Montas is the best of them so like I as we've talked about so many times like I don't particularly, I'm not looking to trade McCable. I'm not looking to get rid of prospects in an organization where drafting and developing has been the most important thing forever.

But like, I think this core, especially if you're making a move where you're getting one guy through next season, the other guy for two more seasons, like I just think it makes a lot of sense and it makes your team so much better right now and moving forward. I'm going to give you what I think is a much more likely center fielder starting pitcher combo. But what do you think of that as just like a very lame, predictable response? Yeah, I mean, I would do it. I love Nick Abel, but I just we've talked about this a lot. You know, we talked about how this team is in their prime right now to go for it.

It's both like it's their time to go for it, and I actually believe they know what they're doing when it comes to developing pitchers. It's an all-in move. It's a move that requires giving up a top prospect for, but you get a guy in center field in Laureano who you hope that by the time that contract's over that Justin Crawford's ready to go

or is close to being ready to go. So that's good to see. And then Montas, again, you walk into a playoff series with Wheeler, Nola, Montas, Ranger. That's tough. And Harper back and Laureano in center, and Segura at second, and Stoddard short. And it's like, crap.

Like, I got like a real team all of a sudden. Yeah. And next year, you know, they have more. You know, they have those guys back and then some. A lot of dead weight off the books. Yes. Yes. And no more Oduble. So that's dead weight off the books. Yes. And no more

Oduble. So that's the biggest win of all of this. I didn't think I would be in, James, but I am in. And I know it's so lame because Jack and I have literally talked about whether Trevina's been in it or not over the last year and a half. We've talked about that exact

trade for so long, but it almost feels like fate. It feels like this is the trade they should have made all along. All right, I'll give you really quick, and then I'll get to Jax, but really quick, the more likely, and it's Maile we talked about, but I think Maile will be cheaper than Montaz and certainly cheaper than a Montaz-Oriano trade. I think he'd give up like Ohapi or maybe even Rojas plus Ben Brown

and something else and get Mailey. And I think it's worth it. He's signed through next season. And I'll give you a center fielder name who's not like doesn't light the world on fire. But if we're just talking about like a cheap trade, like trading a lower or mid to lower level prospect for a guy who lets you not play Odubel and fill some holes for you. And shout out to my brother. Shout out to Peter because Peter texted me this.

And I was like, I don't know. And then I looked into it and he's literally by a lot of metrics been the literal best defensive center fielder in baseball. And he's someone I'm sure you have to have owned him in fantasy like 15 times, dropped on, dropped me on over the years. And I don't love someone who's like kind of having a resurgence here offensively at 31. But like Michael Taylor in Kansas City probably would not cost much.

And he is, again, by many metrics, the best defensive center fielder in the sport this year. And the way the team has been put together, he's batting like 270-something, 275. He's got not much pop, 6'7 homers, a touch of pop. He's, I think, got a 740 OPS or something like that. Like, look, it's not anything special. But if we're talking about like a realistic give up like a lower level prospect and hang on to the guys that matter type of move.

It's someone I hadn't thought about a lot because it's not like a name top of mind. But and he is signed through next season to it at like four million, like super cheap. of mine but um and he is signed through next season to it at like four million like super cheap um you know i think if you're looking for a guy come in and and you know if you're especially with them hitting a little better and harper coming back and maybe the offensive side of things it's more that get oduble out of my lineup side of things and if you get someone who potentially could give you like a plus you know defense in that spot and and hit enough it it seems like something that could really make this team better when it matters. So an interesting name to throw out there.

Fritzie, the floor is yours. Boring, first of all. I know. I said it. I said lame. I said lame and boring. That's why I said Montaz and Luriana, which was lame. Not boring, but lame.

And then I said I'll give you a more practical, boring one. Blame Peter. All right. Jeez. You're taking crap on my brother. Sorry, Peter. The Jack's such a jerk. That's what you know.

No, it's classic Peter being boring as anything. I mean, come on. Luckily, he's way too busy to be listening an hour and 10 minutes into a podcast. Well, listen, Michael A. Taylor, whatever. Luckily, he's way too busy to be listening an hour and 10 minutes into a podcast. Well, listen, Michael A. Taylor is fine. But again, I was trying to be sorry for being like real. All right. For once. Sorry, buddy.

Not like you. Oh, the Phillies, the best team I've ever seen. Well, we're getting there, especially after this perfect deadline. So I'm just happy you made it here for this pod all right that's all i'm saying i just want you to sit here and and i want you to just dream marvel i'm sitting back i'm not even gonna be just go ahead i'm not gonna talk i just want you to dream with me for a second here um obviously my first uh perfect trade deadline trade is um able painter boom start to the angels for show

hey ohtani yes and is that enough is the question yeah i think you might have to give up justin crawford and whoever else not tradable but don't let facts get in the way of a good story so here's it it's not it's not a crazy amount um but here's what I would do in my perfect trade deadline. I would trade Logan Ohapi, Ethan Wilson, Bailey Falter, and Eric Miller to the Chicago Cubs for Ian Happ and Scotty Frost. I'm set real quick just to show why we're so good. Ian Happ, the only center fielder name that I didn't mention that I had on my list that I was going to bring up afterwards.

But I, I, for some reason waited and just like, I was like, I'm not going to mention it yet. If Jack doesn't mention it, I'll mention it. I don't know what to say.

It's magic, buddy. It's magic. So Ian Happ is now, you talk to the metrics, whatever, not a great defensive center fielder. But if they want to stick with the plan they've had until Bryce comes back where it's like Schwarber's the DH, and you go Veerling in center, Happ in left left I love that um he is signed through next year he's done a really good job of not chasing this year

um I you know how I've been on a big growth mindset kick James um oh yeah buddy I do yes yes Ian have single-handedly ruined my fancy baseball year last year so for me being willing to even oh wow yeah. Oh, wow. Yeah, it says a lot. It says a lot really about where you're at in your growth mindset process. Yes, thank you. So you get Ian Happ, and next year, whether you want to put him in center, whether you want to put him left, second,

I'm pretty sure he can play almost anywhere in the infield. He becomes like your Chris Taylor kind of player um i'm getting ian hap and i'll figure it out when we go from there and scotty for us is just like a little sidewinding righty that um like just advanced stats love so i'm just getting a good little bullpen option in addition to that and i only have two trades so it's not like a big trade but i'm getting a center field option and ian happen another left-handed bat that I think would help. I know he's a switch hitter, but, you know, if they're looking for left-handed hitters, whatever.

My second trade is Johan Rojas, Ben Brown, and Donnie Sands to the Cincinnati Reds for Tyler May. There it is. There it is, buddy. I'm getting a three. So that part of my second trade wasn't too boring. All right, good, good, good. Yeah, so I'm going to go get Tyler May Lee.

I'm going to kind of bank on Great American Ballpark being a very annoying park to pitch in. I love the stuff. He raised like 2.8 in his last 13 starts. So that's good to see. And again, I just kind of believe in this stuff. And one of his really good years was with Caleb Coffin as the assistant pitching coach out there.

So, you know, getting them back together. I've always loved his fastball. So I'm going to get Tyler Maley, Ian Happ, and Scottie Frost. And, you know, talk about a future NLCS champion level team. I mean, that sounds like that. Also, just two quick things on the deadline. I know you mentioned him as kind of like a not, you know, I guess he has like an opt-in or whatever. But I do wonder about Nate Evaldi.

Like I would go trade for Evaldi. The only thing is I guess his fastball velo is the lowest it's been since 2016. And it seems like he could be hurt. Like talking to some people up in Boston, they think he could be battling something. So while I love the idea of Nate Evaldi and I would probably still do it, and I would be shocked do it. Um, and I would be shocked if, if Dave wasn't interested because obviously he got him in 2018 and he was

ridiculous. Um, there is some injury concerns. So I want to make sure the medicals, um, are good before trading for Evaldi. And then this is just like personal, but if they can find some way to get Alex Lang,

who I think is the next Clay Holmes from the Tigers, like just, just doing that as well. Love it. Love it. as well. Love it. Love it, love it, love it. And I'm in on Maley, too, again. I would be very happy. He's on my fantasy team, so look at that, Jack.

I believed him when you didn't. I said, should I pick up Tyler Maley? He got dropped from my league, and Jack's like, I don't know, man. And I picked him up, and let me tell you, I'm happy I did, Jack. Six one-run innings, seven Ks yesterday,. Six one-run innings, seven Ks yesterday, or six two-run innings, seven Ks yesterday. Let's go, buddy! Okay.

Anything else on the trade-down before we get to the take-back and I guess finish the pot? Look at this. How fun is it to not have me being like, am I going to bed? We ever finishing? We only need to do the bit. I'm chilling.

This is great. What do you want to say? No, I mean. The floor is yours, Jack. I guess last thing on the deadline. It is, again, I genuinely, I did my perfect offseason. I did that. I usually have a good idea of what they're going to do, James,

but I genuinely don't. And I do wonder if this weekend going out and sweeping and kind of seeing the vibes around the team, Dave Dombrowski's nature, um, John Middleton, obviously, you know, they talk about his competitiveness and, and want to, to win. There's one thing though, that I, that I've been thinking about is, and, you know, I think they'll make it. I'm all in. It's just like just like i i can't totally do the whole 11 years since they made the postseason thing it's like an excuse for mortgaging a lot i guess in a way like you almost have to separate it like yeah they it's been 11 years but they've really been competing for the last four so i just want to make sure you know that they're smart about it but um it's just

really interesting i genuinely don't know what they're gonna do i can't wait to see what they're gonna do we'll obviously do a live reaction pod uh we'll be yeah tuesday night at six o'clock when the deadline ends we will pod flat out 100 yeah so it's gonna be interesting i can't wait by the way the m's it's funny that you bring them up they did go out and you know get castillo so we might not uh that that that might change. It might be like the actual longest if things go poorly. And then sadly Julio, uh, you know,

got hit on the wrist. So, Oh, how does that feel to have like the most important person in a baseball uniform to you in your life, get hit in the hand with the baseball and be writhing in pain. How's that feel Jack? Cause I wouldn't know cannot relate all right uh you got anything in the take bag or or do we cover it all in the

hour and a quarter whatever we're at that we've we've uh talked no i got some stuff in the take of course i should have just said what's in the take back. Go ahead, pal. Go ahead. Let me just put this on the record now. One hour and 15 minutes-ish into this podcast. Either Trey Turner or Raphael Devers are going to be Phils next year. Oh, my God. Be still my heart. Come on. What are you doing to us right now?

Really? They're going to be Phils. One of them is going to be is gonna be a film from your lips to god's ears jack the turner one for me was the first one that kind of jumped out um so he's a free agent this offseason bryce had a quote like a month and a half ago of like yeah well i well, I can't wait to see where Trey Turner ends up. So that kind of perks my ears up. And then, you know, they were linked to it again. Buster Owens on the podcast and like pretty much only labeled the fills as Trey Turner for this off season night and Gail, like a month ago said Trey Turner and the Phillies is off season.

There just seems to be a lot of little whispers about this. And I think that's interesting. So you, but then you start thinking about the wall, they can't afford another big contract. and there just seems to be a lot of little whispers about this, and I think that's interesting. But then you start thinking about it. It's like, well, they can't afford another big contract. Then you think about DeeDee off the books, Gene off the books. I would definitely consider it. If they make the Devos trade this offseason, I would definitely bring Gene back.

But obviously, you have Stott at short and Turner. Stott at second, Turner at short. But Turner, it's just like you have all the stuff about the insiders and linking into the fills. You look at all the money coming off the books, you know, Familia, Knable, Hand, possibly Eflin, Gibson, Oduble, Segura, and Didi, that's a good amount of money freed up. So I just have a weird feeling that Trey Turner will be a fill this offseason.

If not, you know, if they have it, like, Rafi Devers is like Dave Dombrowski's guy, you know. And mine. And mine. And a lot of smart people in baseball. I said if I had to bet on anyone under 25 to get 3,000 hits, I would bet on no one. But if I had to bet on anyone, it would be Devers.

Yeah. And, I mean, Devers is so good at a young age that Dave didn't put him in the trade for Chris Sale. You know, he put Mankata and Kopech in it. So he definitely has liked him forever. Apparently they offered him like $150 million when he's looking for 300 million so it seems like a uh bad negotiating tactic there i mean they're gonna they could possibly lose like zander endeavors

and zander is insane i mean even losing mookie alone is insane yeah and you know like how are you crying poor you're the red socks anyway um if they do move them i i do wonder if they approach this trade deadline with the eye on possibly going after rafi devers this offseason so uh i just want to put that into the universe at the end of this podcast love i love just love love love love i know that was for you pal thanks buddy the one guy that we didn't mention in this uh yeah one other guy that we didn't mention in this podcast. One other guy that we didn't mention in the offense. Dude, JT, we've been tough on JT. No, you're right.

You're right. He's been awesome. We've been tough on JT. But, man, you're starting to see he's starting to drive the ball. You're starting to see a classic right field line home runs that we weren't seeing at the beginning of the year. Has a really, really good hard contact rate in July. So, shout out to JT.

I know we've been tough on you. but just smoke the ball all weekend long. Yeah, I couldn't agree more. We've been like really, really, really tough. And I've said play Garrett Stubbs more and all this stuff. And look, right now that looks silly. Like he's been awesome. And it's him and Boehm have been like the two guys, if you're watching games outside of just a Schwarber home run potential.

I think like the last couple weeks you've been watching games, it's him and JT that have, for the most part, been the most important guys in the lineup, which is crazy. Yep. Corey Kniebel. You know what season ERA is 2.59? That's great. Now, he did have the one game where it was like a ton of 100 runs.

You remember that? Where we had like a ton of iron runs. Um, you remember that where we like four or 500 runs, but, um, yeah, I was at the Met seven, one game. I don't know either way.

Um, either way. It's great. He looked awesome. Two innings. The other night was like lights out big spot. Um, he's really,

really settled in after, you know, kind of getting demoted and all that. Well, the biggest shock was that an inside move worked. Like, I've never seen one actually work in a game before, but, like, a pure inside move was able to fool O'Neal Cruz. So, yeah, man, Knable's been awesome when not in the closer role. And, like, yeah, Seranthi is a closer.

That's fine. Hand is in there at some points. But, like, Knable and Bilotti. Bilotti was also disgusting. Oh, dude. Yeah, struck out the closer. That's fine. Hand is in there at some points. But like Knable and Bilotti. Bilotti was also disgusting. Oh, dude. Yeah, struck out the side. He was nasty last night. Nasty.

What a find. Yeah, what a find. What a find, Ani. Let's go. There was a report earlier today. You still have more? Really? Good.

I have two more. I'm just kidding. There was a report from earlier today about like, yeah phil's don't want to put like ben brown or logan oh happy in a trade package it's like listen this has to be posturing like there's just there's just no way that you wouldn't put those guys in a trade package like in the right deal obviously you don't want to give them away but like in in logan oh happy's case i think it's gonna be really good but like jt signed and and you have a bunch of catchers ready to go in the pipeline. So I hope it's just like playing hardball and trying to get prices down

and saying, okay, we'll put O'Hobby in to get the deal done. But other than that, a very, very surprising report. Yeah, Ben Brown, I think a 33rd round pick who's having a breakout season. 34th, there you go. Who's having a breakout season 34th, there you go Who's having a breakout season It's exciting, but let's not get carried away With the untouchable tab on Ben freaking Brown Okay? Yeah, so I hope Dave is playing chess

While everyone else is playing checkers You bet everybody And then last one here for you Would you rather The Phillies had fired Girardi when they did or fired him this offseason but Rob Thompson is not here? Oh, when they did. Save the season. Honestly, I would have rather they fired him a week into the season

and gave rob thompson the job but yeah either way to the heart of your question yeah i'll take what we what what had happened and if we end up with rob thompson moving forward that's fine the rob thompson doesn't hurt you like he's not great or anything like or who knows but i don't think he's like super great but like he's fine like i think what we saw with gerardi is that you just need a guy who's not going to freaking kill you. Like, you're not going to win the World Series because your manager is, like, amazing. Like, Kevin Cash has not won the World Series. He came close.

Not won the World Series. You don't go in the World Series because your manager freaking wins games for you. Like, you know what you can do, though? Not make the playoffs because your manager is so horrible that he costs you, like, four games in a season where it matters. Like, so, no. I don't care. That's fine.

I want to win games. Let's fine. I want to win games. Let's go. I need to be in the playoffs, Jack. Enough. Enough. You made the whole thing like, oh, I don't want to get carried away in the 11 years of this. I'm not going to get carried away either,

but it's been 11 years, Jack. Enough. And plus, the Miller Lite watch parties for Phil's postseason games, I'm sure, would be electric. Oh, my God. let's go august 26 don't forget we'll talk more about it coming up but august 26 uh miller lights high hopes ring the bell night down the same all right fritzy um i have no final thoughts uh an hour 20 whatever in uh it's always bedtime i i have actually gotten to the point where I'm done. I have nothing to say.

So the floor is yours. Any final thoughts, my friend? It was a long podcast, but generally it flew by as usual. And worth it. Like if there was ever a time after a four-game sweep, you know, six or seven or whatever it is, a bounce-back series, the trade last time we talked before the deadline, we'll talk right when the deadline happens. Like, you know, sometimes the situation calls for a long pot,

and that's what we're here for, to give you a long pot. 100%. So, buddy, happy trade deadline season. Dave Dombrowski, let's see the real Dave. I would love a cool little trade. The legend. Where's the legend right the guy we heard about yeah like where's the where's the trade that's gonna put this team

into the postseason um i tweeted about this i'm sure you saw it uh and yes i'm pretty sure that only uh me and neighbor dan care but the the reese oskins homer uh from over the weekend is just gonna look so great on the Phil's yearbook. You're correct. You're the only Duke here. That's right. I can't wait for it. So, man, trade deadline season.

They're actually in it. They're actually playing good winning baseball. If they come out of this with a freaking like Wilson Ramos, Estrepo Cabrera, whatever trade deadline, I will be furious. So, let's have a real trade deadline, I will be furious. So let's have a real trade deadline and two games in Atlanta, a bullpen game against Spencer Strider, which I don't feel great about. Oh, really?

You don't want Nick Nelson going out there to start a game for you in any situation? If Nick Nelson didn't get tasked with having to be the opener. In Atlanta. How about that? How funny is that? His numbers would be really really good we can get all the shots of oh remember when you know gerardi kept anything else in the game instead of knave after the harper homer we can see that because he's starting so that'll be really fun right yeah yeah um i try i've tried to uh eliminate the joe gerardi Bills era out of my head.

But every once in a while, I've got to be reminded of just how dreadful it was. Yeah, well, they would be like six games up in the playoff chase if we weren't for it. All right, last thing, and again, we will be back Tuesday at 6, I guess. We'll be recording at 6. Well, unless they make a big trade tomorrow night. Sure, that's possible.

Make a big deal, we'll be back after that instead, whatever. But either way, we'll be back in the next couple days night. Sure, that's possible. Make a big deal. We'll be back after that instead. Whatever. But either way, we'll be back in the next couple days based on trades, what they do. I will leave you with this, which I've often admonished Jack for, but it feels appropriate. Who let the Philz get hot? He's Fred's himself, so We'll talk to you later.