High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Is Cole Hamels Coming Back and Klentak Speaks

Episode Date: November 8, 2019

James Seltzer and Jack Fritz are back as it looks like Cole Hamels is coming back. They also talk about Klentak's interview on WIP today and more! See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information. 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

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It is another edition of the High Hopes Podcast. And I think you can probably tell from the yo, it's a recording in the basement. We have a sleep one, Jack. Yeah, well, you know, it's been a while since we've had one of these. I'm sitting here. Now, James, let me ask you a question before we start this whole entire podcast. Which is more likely that Jack is watching right now? Thursday Night Football or a Cole hamels start from april i well i think anyone who's ever listened to this podcast knows

that you're lit you're actually watching cole hamels right now which i am watching cole hamels right now i am i am all ready for the cole hamels reunion my body is ready for the cole hamels reunion i don't even care that both him and Deshaun Jackson both had a groin injury that I can't think of two Philly athletes less alike than Cole Hamels and Deshaun Jackson so it's good um yeah so so what if he had an oblique injury and so what if Deshaun had an oblique injury and so what if they're both a great reunion that may have only lasted you know one game or one start I'm ready for a Cole Hamels reunion I got like honestly I saw the news today and I got super excited I am I am ready for Cole Hamels to go to come home and uh yeah we can start the podcast now yeah well that's good I was gonna get there eventually

but we may as well start with it 100 100% with you. The official high hopes position on bringing Cole Hamels home is do it immediately. Bring Cole home. We are all in. I'm with you, man. I think he's still – look, he's one of those guys who's aged well into his arsenal and learned how to pitch with less velocity, and he's a smart pitcher. And he's really had nice stretches where he's looked like a really good pitcher still.

And it's just a no-brainer, man. I mean, talk about it. It's a move that makes sense on the field, obviously, because we are desperate for starting pitching. And it's not a big expenditure. It's not a long-term expenditure. But also, it's just like from a uh like think about the fans man like it'll be awesome like we have two world series mvps and one of them's mike

schmidt and this guy's the other like bring him home man and he's even out there being like love to come home guys bring me home that'd be great like let's do this like do it that's not how he sounds obviously he's more like bring me home guys yeah yeah come like let's do this like do it that's not how he sounds obviously he's more like bring me home guys yeah yeah come on can we please get in cole hamels was like sure yeah um uh yeah i'm i'm i'm all in now hold on now who would you say has aged better into their late 30s cole hamels or james elser oh Oh, buddy. Oh, man. Hold on. Wait.

Cole Hamels is 36, right? You're 38. 38. Oh, man. So he graduated high school in 2002. He was a number 17th overall pick in the first round in 2002. Does that mean that you graduated high school in 2000? It does, my friend. Class of the millennium, baby. Oh it does my friend class of the millennium

baby god you're so old yeah i can call i can call cole hamels a kid so what i'm saying 2000 bring the kid home 2000 was like my first memory it was like me going to my friend's house for the 2000 like the ball drop you are a jerk my first my first you wouldn't say this if we were in the same room together the first time we're apart you come at me i see how it is my first eagles memory was like doug peterson playing quarterback that was like your heyday yeah man i had a good time back then i'll just say so bring cole Hamels home. Bring Cole Hamels home. We agree. On MLB Trade Rumors, his layout, there is a projection or whatever.

They had him getting two years, $30 million. Wow. I don't know. It feels a little high. Yeah, it feels hefty. It feels hefty. He said he's signing a one-year deal with a contender. I think he'll end up signing a one-year deal with an option, like a one-year $ with a contender i think you'll end up signing a one-year deal with an option like uh one year you know 10 to 12 10 10 to 12 that literally that's exactly what i was thinking yeah and then give him give him an option year for the second year a team

option mutual option whatever like if it gets hurt again you want to have that kind of protection if it's a one-year deal it's perfectly fine you know i i don't love i would if they signed for two years starting a million i would not like that i would say be happy that co-annuals is back but um if it's just like a one year with a second year option i think that's a perfect way to go um but we'll see i it just it makes too much sense at this point not to happen and and i'm getting prematurely excited for it i'm way too excited for it like i'm i'm already at the point where if it doesn't happen i'm going to be incredibly disappointed which is dangerous jack no it's gonna happen it's gonna happen i'm not even worried about it like like here's the thing and and and mark c said this before the show today where he was like

where he yeah formerly of the high elf podcast, where he said, like, he said, like, we could have got Cole Hamels two years ago with the trade deadline or whatnot. And at that point, it was John Middleton that was listening to his baseball people, you know, listening to his analytics crowd. And the analytics crowd ended up being wrong on Cole Hamels. Like, Cole Hamels still had a lot left in the tank he went to Chicago and no he was not rejuvenated by a you know being in a in a hunt I mean maybe it was to an extent but what the Cubs did was they unleashed his cutter and they said you need to you need to throw this more it'll make you more effective and thus Cole Hamels became a really good pitcher I mean Cole, Cole Hamels, before the injury this year, he had a 2.96 ERA in 16 starts.

Like, I mean, from a Philly standpoint, we'll take it. I mean, he would have been the ace this year. Yeah. Yeah, so, like, we'll take it. Now John Middleton's kind of in charge, and he's going to see this Cole Hamels thing and be like, you know what, that's a no-brainer. It's an absolute no-brainer. It's just smart on every level like it's just smart like

it's smart on on the field sense and it's smart in a business sense it's a no brain like it's such an obvious move yeah it's it's a it's a he's still pretty good he's obviously not the cole hamels they they traded away in 2015 and subsequently got nothing for him in 2015. Jorge, which was part of the Romito trade, but not great. Yeah, I mean, Jared Eikhoff being non-tenant or whatever this week. Yeah. Like, that put the end of that. Nick Williams, I guess, is still in the organization, but, you know.

Until he's traded yeah let's be real let's be real um but like alfaro was obviously massive and getting and getting gt romito but it's like still the cohan was trade they didn't really get much out of it and at that point they were trading like an ace or a 1a they're getting back right now um they're getting back like a four A 4-5 pitcher For the Phillies unfortunately He'd probably be their number 3 Heading into the season

Well 2 if they didn't add someone else Which they obviously think they will They have to add someone else I agree they will And we're going to get to that I want to quickly Before we get back to free agency stuff and again bring goal hamels home um matt klentak uh was on the midday show today and we're recording

it thursday night and it was a pretty long interview like about 24 minutes um and the podcast is up if if people want to go listen to it, it's certainly worth your time. We don't. We're not setting these listeners somewhere else. Well, that's true. These are our listeners. Yeah. But if you're interested, I mean, it's fine.

You know, we have a vested interest. We're all good. I thought it was a really good interview. I thought Joe and John did a good job of asking the question that needed to be asked, but it was not a combative type of interview. And I actually thought Matt Klentak acquitted himself pretty well. And after the two press conferences, obviously the one horrendous press conference, I thought it was smart for him to do the interview.

Before getting into the specifics, what was your kind of main takeaway from it um i thought it was fine uh he's just i mean he's always a good talker yeah and he's good at deflecting yeah every time he talks i'm like oh you know what he is smart um but at the same time like how can you go into a a press conference and boast about how you had the fourth lowest second half ERA, like your bullpen of the second, fourth lowest second half ERA in baseball last year, and then also use bullpen injuries as the reason why you didn't make the playoffs, essentially. Yeah. No, you're right. You're right. Are you kidding me?

Like, can I re-listen to it on the way home? Yeah, that's quite a, you're right you're right are you kidding me like i can i really listen to it on the way home yeah that's quite uh you're right it's a you're absolutely right yeah it's like it's like yeah super we had the fourth lowest bullpen era in baseball last year but also the bullpen was the reason why we didn't make the playoffs i thought it was insane the farm system the farm system stuff is still annoying to me yeah i was I was going to get into that for sure. He's talking about all these like, you know, Kingery graduated and Hoskins graduated

and all this. It's like, well, I mean, those were River Tomorrow guys. And just because those guys have graduated doesn't mean that you can't supplant talent behind them and continue to build that way and the players you're graduating aren't all that great anyway like the the the players that nat klintzak

is drafted and got into the major leagues are adam hazley and cole irvin and i think adam hazley's a fine player and i think cole irvin is is unpitchable on the major league level i think alec bone's gonna be good i think spencer harrods gonna be good but like to say like oh we've graduated player and I think Cole Irvin is is unpitchable on the major league level I think Alec Bones gonna be good I think Spencer Howard's gonna be good but like to say like oh we've graduated all this talent to the major league level like usually that is the Juan Soto's that is the Ronald Acuna's you know if you're talking about that kind of level of of depleting your farm system you're you're bringing up those kind of guys and they're just not like they're, they're bringing up players who are good, but I don't, I don't know if they're that good.

He also said this, like no one caught it. And I didn't catch it until a second time around, but he said that we have a championship core here. And yeah, I heard, I heard him say that and I kind of raised an eyebrow. Yeah. And I would just like to say, let's add a little bit to what we're going with here to say this is a championship core.

You need to add more core pieces. You're not even really that close at this point. But it was fine. It was good. He always sounds smart. He sounds articulate. And I would like to stop picking on Matt Klintak because I don't want to be that kind of guy because this is the High Hopes Podcast,

and I would like to be behind my GM. It's just like he's smart, but he just talks in circles, and I feel like I'm being sold more than I'm believing. I think the issue is that we still haven't really seen him take accountability we still haven't really seen him say like we made mistakes like he always kind of flex and and and says our process was good or we believe in we're going to go back and analyze it but you never hear him say listen i blew that believing that for example nick pavetta was going to be a good starting pitcher, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah this season.

Like I was wrong. Like just some sort of acknowledgement. We never seem to get that. And I think that's what's kind of irksome about it. I always was skeptical of Nick Pavetta. And I have come out and said that, you said that it was wrong to bet on him. And I have admitted that I was right to be skeptical of Nick Pavetta. I never said he'd be a Cy Young candidate,

and I never said he'd automatically strike out more than 200 people this year. Yeah, or split her away, cut her away from Curt Schilling, something like that. No, well, listen, I'm just being accountable. Look at you. Look at you, Klintag. See, this is how you do it.

This is good work. All right. And by the way, Jack and I actually listed this together. First of all, he kept telling me leading up to it, tell him to tell him to go with james and tyon or or whatever knowing that all i could do when clint tag

calls up is just be like oh thanks for coming on matt let me put you up but yeah well let's let's give an accurate depiction to the people so i'm sitting in the back yes saying james i'm saying to james with basically whispering in his ear. I'm basically saying, ask him if he knows who we are. Yes. And thank you. He said,

the first thing he said was you should answer the phone and just say, Hey Matt, thanks for listening. Yeah. Or you're welcome. I mean, I mean, you're welcome for guiding you through this,

holding your hand through this off season process, Matt. That is how i would have answered the phone now what i heard from james was oh matt thank you so much for coming on we really really appreciate it matt meanwhile i'm behind them saying ask him about dd gregorius you're the one you're the one who traded for a fat shortstop, Matt. Can we focus on the important issues here? Yes, yes.

That is surprisingly accurate, as that would play out. That is surprisingly accurate. Well, I just would like to say that I had my eyes on the prize. You had your eyes on the midday show. Yeah, well. I think it's just sad, honestly. Yeah, i would like to see how you would have next time when maybe if you could actually book matt clintack on your show then you could show me how to answer the phone the right way am i right here's the thing i would have booked him for the real show which is

this and oh i like that that was a good one right there i don't think i don't think he would have said yes but i like that and when i talked to when i talked to joe gerardi i said we'll be back in 30 seconds listen we'll get brian barber on the podcast yes that's more our territory that's what we man. And that's what people want to hear from anyway. I mean, if we're being realistic, Brian Barber, more important. So, come on. I want to, with the Klintag thing, there were a few other things. And first of all, just to harp on the farm system thing, he also said,

I'm more bullish on the farm system than others. Well, so am I. Yeah, well, obviously. But I just again, just one of those situations where instead of offering some sort of answer, he kind of just defends his position. But some things that. Well, what if he's right, though? What if he's right? I think the farm system is better than a lot of people make it out.

Good. All right. You are also incredibly optimistic when it comes to young Phillies players. So what if Bryson Stott is going to be our next Corey Seager? See, that's why I'm on that contact list for the podcast. A right-handed hitting Corey Seager? I mean, Bryson Stott's a lefty, so please know your prospects. Bryson Stott's a lefty? Yes.

This is very sad. Yeah, that's a bad job by me. I'll take that one. I sent you all the videos. I know. Were you not watching? I was not watching. Oh, what is going on?

Yeah, it's a bad job by me. I'll take the L on that one. It's all right. I mean, what is it? What is it? An hour and 15 minutes past your bedtime? I'm so tired. Oh, and I curse.

Look at that. Jesus. Here we go. What are we doing? I am so tired. All right. I had an event in Westchester tonight. It's a great place.

I got up at 6 o'clock in Westchester. It took me an hour and 20 minutes to get out there through like a storm that was like awful what's the house i was white knuckling it out there i am uh i'm hurting jack yeah but you were did you walk in the wet did you did you did you step out of your car in west chester and know that you were in the town that fritz built. I didn't even think about it once. You didn't think about it once?

I should have. Now in hindsight. Oh, this is. I was 2-0 in the high school playoffs. They still talk about it. Now in hindsight. I can't believe I got him tired, Jack. That's my excuse. But I still am here doing the High House podcast because that's how much I love the listeners.

I should be sleeping right now. Yeah, apparently. Not as much. All right. A couple other things that sit out. The Kingery thing. Not ideal that he thinks Scott Kingery is the best defensive player at four different positions, Jack. Yeah, but I mean, that that's the reality of the situation

third base center field and second base he's like yeah he's best defensive player at all his positions that's crazy because because me and you both heard that and we were like well that's insane and then we talked it out we're like oh no wait yeah no he definitely is we were like wait segura can't get to any ball uh we're like hazy and centered no now kingery is better now kingery is not a good third Roman Quinn if Roman Quinn were like a real viable option as a starter you could say he's a better defensive center fielder but yeah yeah yeah and and I I think the biggest takeaway from the kingery thing from what what Klintak said was that it it feels like they are planning to use Kingery in the same kind of way that they used him last season.

And I don't think that necessarily means that Cesar Hernandez is coming back. I don't think he is. I think they'd be foolish to give him the arbitration number that is being rumored out there. But I think they would like to bring back Kingery. And let's say that they don't they don't sign a Moustakis. They don't sign a Donaldson for third base. Kingery can play third base until Boehm's ready. And obviously, we don't know if Boehm can stick at third base.

But I think the smart thing to do would be to stick at third base and let him kind of figure it out. Or Cesar's gone. And you play Segura at second base and Kingery at shortstop. Or they sign Didier Gregorius and he plays shortstop. Segura at second base and Kingery at shortstop, or they sign Didier Gregorius, and he plays shortstop, Segura plays second, someone else plays third, and Kingery's playing center. There's just a lot of options for Kingery, and it's what makes him such a unique player,

and it makes him so fun. So I was honestly more glad that he gave that answer rather than he's going to be our starting second baseman next year because I don't think that's the best allocation of the Kingery resource. Yeah, and I don't think that he would have said it even if that were the plan. Cesar is obviously still here, and that would create a lack of leverage and all that type of stuff. But I'm with you. I think Kingery, the fact that he can play all these positions at a relatively high level is a valuable asset.

And I think to not utilize it probably would be silly. So I'm with you. The Reese Hoskins answer. We both kind of looked at each other. He was asked a question about Hoskins, and he said the right things. But, man, did he pause and kind of sigh before answering and you could just tell like um it wasn't a a we love Reese he was asked about the question was about Reese's second half struggle and whether it was a long-term concern

and he didn't pounce on it and say we love Reese Reese. He's going to be fine. He's going to be. It was a much more hedgy answer, especially at the beginning. What was kind of your takeaway from that? Yeah, it was surprising because I think if Reese was still viewed as a franchise cornerstone, it would have been, we love Reese Hoskins. We have no doubt that he's going to figure it out. And he's going to be a a legit piece moving forward and if I was a Reese Hoskins fan which I am and I I I would be very very hesitant to move on from Reese Hoskins this season or this offseason because I do think

we're going to only see better from Reese I think that was just a a blip in the radar um again if I fully believed in Reese Hoskins i would have been like listen this guy's got a track record we believe in the talent and and he's going to be a really good player for us but what clintock said was like yeah you didn't really want to see that and it was like it was like hold on are we talking about reese h here? Yeah. I thought it was insane. And it really did, for the first time, make me believe that they would consider moving Reese Hoskins, whereas he would have been viewed as untouchable even last offseason. And I think a lot of that has to do with the emergence of Alec Boehm. And I was watching alec bohm this

week and the guy is just not a third baseman and i don't think he can play third base i don't think he can i think he's just too big for third base and it's not like he's either they need to dh in the nl or they need to start moving him to left field or they need to trade Reese Hoskins because the the bat is too special the bat is too special and he is just like the third base movements are weird like even in warm-ups he couldn't even throw the ball across the across the diamond it was crazy for guys played third basic and like he's played enough third base that he should be able to know how to play third base I was shocked at his inability to play third base so like maybe boom has come along so far they viewed the bat as being too special not to to bring up and have ready to play that they would consider

moving hoskins this offseason either way it was surprising to hear him not just be like reese hoskins is our guy and he's not going anywhere. Yeah. That was my takeaway too. And look, boom, I think probably from a ceiling perspective because of the average might have a higher ceiling as a, a bat than, than Hoskins. But I'm with you in,

I think that selling Hoskins now just seems foolish to me. I mean, you would be, and look, I know that I don't think they, they would trade him without finding good value for him, or at least mean, you would be, and look, I know that I don't think they, they would trade him without finding good value for him, or at least something, you know, that would help them right away. Um, but, um, I just think that that, and cause I'm sure some teams will still believe

in what he's shown at the major league level, but I just feel like trading him now feels like at his low point, I mean, he's never had such a long you know prolonged slump in his career and really look lost you know a lot of that period i just i'm with you i feel like it's a waste of hoskins and i still believe in him long term too he's shown that he's too good a hitter at the major league level i mean it'd be really crazy for someone who hit well like the most home runs in in history right between his first whatever, you know, 100 games, whatever, how many games. Like it kept going for a while at least.

I mean, like not that flash in the pan don't happen, but, I mean, he put up a good, what, 400-game stretch of really good baseball, maybe longer, you know. So you never know, but I would be surprised if he's just cooked, as it were. Another really nice thing to hear. He was asked about McCutcheon's health, and he seemed incredibly bullish that McCutcheon is on track to be ready to go for spring training.

Also said Arrieta was too, but we care a lot less about that. Really good to hear that about McCutcheon, you know, because that's a, you know, he's not a kid anymore. The question was, are Arrieta and McCutcheon on track for opening day? And I love that you're just like, yes, so McCutcheon is ready for opening day. Because who cares? It would be nice if Arrieta wasn't. Just take your money and let Spencer Howard start the season in rotation.

That's what I would want. Yeah. So, yeah. I mean, Arrieta and McCutcheon obviously being ready for day one of spring training is massive. And hopefully – because I don't know what they're planning to do with outfield. And it's such a huge question because I would love for McCutcheon

to take down center field every day. I just don't think he can do it. Yeah, coming off an ACL, he'll be 32 or 33. 32, I think. That's a big ask. He hasn't played it consistently for a while either. Listen, I'm just saying that if he didn't get hurt last year, he was going to be their center fielder.

Yeah, no. Every day. So, I don't know. But I'm glad he's back on track, and I'm excited to see what he's going to do because he was just starting a round into form before the Achilles hit, and I just want to see what a full season of a healthy percussion can do because they would be getting a really, really, really good player back. They could play multiple outfield positions.

And, yeah, last year was really unfortunate. So good to hear that he's on track. And even Arrieta, I know. I mean, Bones for Arrieta. Get those Bones for us out of there. He saves me back with throwing 98. So watch out. can't wait all right moving on two more things uh i can't believe we made it this long without you commenting on the

fact that uh matt's rooting for the giants you think right yeah so i've been uh going around the office and i've just been asking people who is Matt Klintak going to be rooting harder for next year? The San Francisco Giants or the Philadelphia Phillies? And if any of us know Matt Klintak, like I think we know Matt Klintak, he's going to be rooting way harder for the Giants next year than he is the Philadelphia Phillies. Because that dude loves Gabe Kapler. And he's just not ready to admit that he was wrong. There's no doubt in my mind.

He said something like, yeah, I love Kapler. Everyone knows I love Kapler. He said he wants him to get the Giants job. Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right, last thing before we move on. I do think the most important takeaway from what Matt Klintag has said in all three of these, you know, the two press conferences and now with Joe and John, I think at least, and look, I obviously, we know what that's going to entail this off season, but it seems like that it's a consistent message that they have to win now. And I think that matt clintag knows that if they don't

make the playoffs this year he's done would you agree with that 100 yeah i would i could not agree more all right uh speaking of what they're gonna have to do this offseason i look we're gonna talk how many podcasts are we gonna do about gary cole and strasburg and all this offseason But just like before we kind of get into the thick of it and we go along and stuff, when you look at Cole, then Strasburg, and then the tier of like Wheeler, Madbum, and Ryu, what's your just general thought of this kind of top end to lower top end free agent class of pitchers and the importance of kind of, you know, getting a top guy versus one of those other guys. Yeah.

So there's been a good amount of talk, I would say in Philly's land of like, well, you know, why would you, why would you just marry yourself to one of Strasburg or Cole? When you probably get the same kind of value out of uh Wheeler and Hamels or Wheeler and whatnot or Baumgartner and Ray Uli you probably get the same kind of value out of

those two but I just think what people are are missing there is that it's a window and it's a it's a window that you want to keep open for a long period of time it's not about next year if your only goal is to win the world series next year then sure if if if wheeler and hamels would cost you the same as steven strasburg that might provide more value to your team next season but it's not really just about next season it's about the next five years you know maximizing the Bryce Harper window the Bryce Harper window the JT Real Muto window and getting a guy like Strasburg or Cole like that is that is a move that is going to like that's a a guy you can just slot in ahead of Nola and let everything else figure it out after that that way you have a Cole NOLA or a

Strasburg NOLA and it's like you don't really have a question mark and sure you're paying way more money for one pitcher but like it allows everything else to make sense whereas you want to give Zach Wheeler I don't know five years 115 million dollars115 million. Like, that's terrifying. I mean, Zach Wheeler, I like Zach Wheeler. But giving Zach Wheeler more than $100 million is, like, terrifying. And you don't know what you're going to get out of Zach Wheeler. You have the injury history. You have all that.

And it's like, why would you not like the thought process should be go as hard as possible after one of the studs let them let them be the lead of your rotation let nola settle in behind him and then figure out the rest from there like you can still sign cole hamels if you sign one of the big guys and you have a good rotation rather than rather than let's sign wheeler and whatnot and go from there i just think that's rather than let's sign wheeler and whatnot and go from there i just think that it's it's it's a lot of flawed thinking and it's not about next season and this is about keeping the window open for as long as possible and and signing a gary cole signing steven strasburg it is keeping the window open as long as possible now um i do like

zach wheeler like i think zach wheeler is intriguing and i i would give him the money just because i think he still has the the upside and and i think that he's been really really good the second half of the last two seasons like obviously in 2018 he had the 168 era and i mean he single-handedly carried me to a fantasy baseball championship and then last year I think he had like a 263 era was still pretty good and there's just so much stuff and I think Brian Price would do a lot of good with him and the injury stuff is like he came out to the start of second half last year with just a right shoulder fatigue which I don't feel great about. But I think he's a really... At worst,

you're getting a good pitcher. Obviously, worst, worst case scenario is that he gets hurt, but just pure stuff and pitching-wise, worst case scenario, you're getting a good pitcher. The best case scenario is that you're unlocking another level of Zach Wheeler, which

with Brian Price in house makes me feel more confident in them being able to unlock. So I would give him the money, but I would just rather pay for a Cole or Strasburg and then sign a lower level guy rather than a Wheeler and a Ryu or Wheeler and Bumgarner or whatnot. Because I just don't view next year as like, we got to get get it next year I view this as a window and I want to keep the window open as long as possible yeah I 100% agree with you uh just 100% I think you nailed it and also I just think you can count more on Kohler Strasburg to give you what you expect you know like you said Wheeler there is certainly a ton upside and that deal certainly could have a chance to be a home run type of deal

but i also think there's there's way more risk than with those other two guys so yeah and also like he was so what made him really go to the next level in 2018 was he was throwing his splitter around like 8.5 percent of the time um and brian price is a splitter guy from the stuff that i've read in the past which i mean it may be leading me to another breakout pavetta production because oh man oh listen i i have tried to keep the breakout pavetta you just can't quit him oh no i can't quit i can't quit nick pavetta it's it's like love at first sight. And I'm not worried about it. Love story for the ages. Yeah.

Yeah. I mean, he's going to mention me in his Hall of Fame speech. It's going to be great. Oh, man. But. Oh, man. Oh, God. Oh, man.

Oh. You know, Smoltz was a reliever. Should we just end the podcast right now? Where do we go from here? But I would like to see him get back to his splitter. I'm a splitter's man, and I want to bring the splitter back. A splitter's man? Oh, I love a good splitter.

You know, there's nothing better than a well-executed splitter and i was looking at his game logs last year or like when when he would throw the splitter and and i kid you not his like last splitter was a was a start against the phillies in in july of 2019 and his last splitter before that was also a phillies game in like may he only threw a splitter against the phillies and maybe that's the only reason why why it's sticking out in my head right now that is really really strange um all right one last thing uh some big names potentially on the trade market, it looks like. Mookie Betts is a name that's kind of been tossed around now that J.D. Martinez opted back in.

But Francisco Lindor, a busser only, wrote, it is not a matter of if Cleveland will trade Lindor, but when. God, I love that sentence. Is there a better sentence in free agency than that sentence is there is there a better sentence in in free agency than that sentence right there i mean lindor is among my favorite non-phillies baseball players like he's he's the best man oh i love him he's so much fun to watch like both sides of the ball like he is one of the best defensive short stops in the the game and super fluid, super fun. And obviously like an outstanding hitter who packs a punch for a little guy.

And I think his nickname is smiles or something like that. Cause he's always smiling. Like he's just like, is that why the calm smile? Yeah. Like probably, I don't know. Maybe.

Yo, what would you give up for Francisco Lindor? And, I mean, obviously, we both love Mookie Betts. But the difference between Mookie and... Mookie has, yeah. He's one more year. Yeah, exactly. So Mookie has one year left. Lindor has one more year.

Francisco Lindor has two years left. And I just want Franciscoindor so bad i i francisco lindor is so perfect if you can have harper and right and him at him at shortstop it just everything just would fall into place in the world honestly like for as much as jimmy Rollins is revered in this town, like, Francisco Lindor would be on another level. Francisco Lindor is 25 years old, and he's made four All-Star teams. Yeah. He's an amazing, amazing baseball player. And, again, like, he's, like, a super likable dude who's a winner.

And, dude. Oh, this city would love him. They would eat him up. Everyone would eat him up. would eat them up yeah um so yeah because james and i were talking about this today and my my initial offer for francis guillendor would be spencer howard reese hoskins adam hazley and bryson stott and i said i would do it but that it seems like a lot but i would do do it. It seems like a lot, but I don't think you can get it with – so Stott would be their Lindor kind of replacement.

Spencer Howard would be another guy that they would turn into. Yeah, Howard's the toughest part of the deal for me. Well, I would rather give up Spencer Howard than Boehm in a deal. Like if I could do that deal with medina or like and obviously medina is not the same value but like someone like that um because i mean hoskins you're still giving up some real value i mean but i think you're probably right i think you'd have to give up more i think reese hoskins is realistically i think he's the most valuable uh like like centerpiece of the deal

that could be moved this offseason like what is another player that is going to be on the market this year i got like that is going to be the part of a package not like a centerpiece of a deal like moogie and francis gilliam door are different like they're different scenarios they're both centerpieces of deal i'm talking about like they can that can be a the main part of a deal like reese hoskins so that's four years of control left and he's already proven the big leagues that he is a legit right-handed slugger obviously the second the bad second half of the season but like you're betting on reese hoskins who has done it versus prospects who likely have not done it so So I think Reese has more value than people are really giving him credit for. But I just think that if you're the Indians,

you get a controllable first baseman for the next four years that slugs. I mean, Reese Hoskins is a good hitter that I think will figure it out. You're getting Spencer Howard who, you know, in the stupid scouting community, it's like, oh, this guy's a number two. No one's ever a number one starter. I don't see any reason why Spencer Howard can't be an ace-like starter. That's why I feel like it's tough. This is tough to give him up in this.

With Hoskins, that's a lot. Stott is a legitimate shortstop. He'll be in the big leagues in two to three years. that can, he'll be in the big leagues in two to three years. And then Adam Haisley has already proven that he can be at least an MLB serviceable outfielder and the Indians need outfielders. So it's a, it's a lot. I don't know if it would get the deal done. Like Francisco Lindoor is Francisco Lindoor.

But I think that that gets you to the, to the, the table. All right, Frenzy. Final thoughts. My final thought is I just want you to apologize to everyone in the High Hopes community for getting Matt Glintak on the Midday Show and completely disregarding the High Hopes listeners. This is what we do here. We talk about the Phillies. You guys make up Wentz topics and argue about Carson Wentz all the time. I would never do that.

Oh, sure. Yes. And I would just like you to apologize to everyone out there tonight for getting Matt Klendek on the midday show. Um, when the highest podcast is the official Phillies podcast of Phillies fans everywhere.

Um, all I can say is, um, I'm incredibly sorry. What else am I supposed to say? Horrible job. Just a horrible job, man.

That is all I want to say. Um, and my other final thought is I really, really wish the Phillies lost more games this season. I know. You said that to me earlier. I hate. I am already looking up next year's draft class. And Austin Martin is going to be that draft class's Alex Bregman.

And I am just I'm already upset that we're going to miss out on him. Although 15, it seems like we're going to get some real talent in Austin Hendricks or Blaze Jordan. And I'm already like... The draft is in June, Jack. I can't wait. I know. You're so ridiculous. I'm already ahead of free agency.

I've already had Nicole Hamill. Yeah, you're ahead of the start of next season. Yeah. No. Yep. I mean, I'm all about the important things like the draft and scouting directors and the things that actually matter. So I'm already upset that they're going to miss out on Austin Martin. I'm upset about the draft next year.

But it's all going to be okay because I think they're going to get a legit stud at 15. I'm already excited for 15. I'm okay to take a high school player. I know we've got a lot of podcasts until the draft. We have 75 guys until then. And there's like four people that care. But I'm one of them.

You might be the only one uh i am really excited about brian price that's another final thought of mine i i can i'm you're just saying you're just saying stuff right now yeah i'm just saying yeah because i i was worried i was gonna lose the baseball touch when I got the Marks and Reese job. And I would just like to let everyone know that I'm the same Jack. Breathe a sigh of relief, everybody. Yes. Everyone can breathe a sigh of relief.

We're all good. And this is going to be I'm now adopting Alex Carr, his theory of trading for James and Tyon and Kyle Crick. It is now my theory. I'm very sorry, Alex Carr, his theory of trading for Jameson Tyon and Kyle Crick. It is now my theory. I'm very sorry, Alex Carr. Alex Carr and his SB Nation simulation, I guess, that they do this thing with. They became fake GMs for a couple days. They rebuilt the Phillies in an offseason, and his main move was trading for Jamison Tyon and Kyle Crick.

And I'm very sorry, Alex, but that is now my idea. And I am now all aboard getting Jamison Tyon on the Phillies. He's going to miss all next season, but the Phillies do not have another path to getting a legit stud pitcher after Spencer Howard. And Jamison tie on is the perfect candidate to fix that. And with Kyle Crick,

I'm a sucker for a good spin rate. And that dude has the nastiest slider in baseball. And I think we're going to figure him out here. Alex, don't worry about it. Jack steals stuff from me all the time. All right. That's not true.

Yeah. Rate and review the podcast. And it makes Jack happy. And I'm going to bed. Until next time, he's for it's himself. So we'll see you later. Go to bed. All-star closer, Kenley Jansen.

We have a question. What's the best podcast of all time? Baseball isn't boring, baby. I'm Rob Bradford, and every single day I'm sitting down with the biggest names to show you this great game is the greatest game. It's my podcast. It's my passion. It's a cause I started more than two years ago, and it's now the most prolific national daily baseball pod there is.

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