High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Our Dream Front Office

Episode Date: October 14, 2020

James Seltzer and Jack Fritz are excited to finally talk about a front office search. The guys discuss their top targets for president and general manager, the Realmuto situation, and much more. 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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This is the High Hopes Podcast. High Hopes! It's a bunch of baseball nerds talking about the Phillies on Radio.com and Sports Radio 94 WIP. Yo! It is another edition of the High Hopes Podcast. Jack Fritz, I have two pieces of good news for you. One, Matt Klintak is still not the general manager of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Two, John Middleton has not spoken since the last time we did a podcast. So I think we're firing all cylinders right now they've really done it huh so what you're saying is is that everything's fine uh yeah everything's great just erasing yeah yeah and then mac lansac to our knowledge is not even allowed in the building you know his key card does not work um so they said come back in 2021 we have fans in the ballpark and uh you can turn on all the hot dog stands i think that that's officially what his position is going to be well jack do you know how many fans are going to be in the stands because they don't they can't know and they can't do anything oh without knowing so we can't even possibly think

about resigning jt until we know how many fans are gonna be in the ballpark so what if the exact number i need an exit jack i want it down to the last fan if there's a if there's a child in the ballpark that came in with a parent without a ticket i want to know that too yeah well i mean it's pretty crazy that stupid money has turned into pinching pennies. Dude. I mean, yes, stupid. It is stupid. I'll say that. That moniker still works.

Love this baseball team. Yes. We'll always love them. But here's the thing, and let's get into it because there's a lot of other stuff to talk about, I think like the main thing that we care about and are going to be focused on right now is the one thing that John Middleton can actually do to like erase what just happened I mean at least for the most part because it kind of happened with the Girardi thing we had a similar type of thing though I would argue this one was far worse but the after the after the Kapler firing you know Middleton has that disastrous press conference with the 11 minute answer and all the just horrific

you know PR job that they did with that and and then he hired Joe Girardi and it kind of went away and now he has a chance on an even bigger, far more important scale than Joe Girardi. No offense, Joe. He has a chance to completely flip the narrative, Jack. Like if he does, blank check Eric Neander, please do that. Or does something smart, like sets up a smart situation, like all of a sudden we are not talking about that press conference anymore. Yeah, it's a big ask i mean

yeah i know i know i i'm not saying i have faith that he's gonna do it i'm just saying he has the opportunity to do it oh yeah i mean he listen the phillies are actually you know we we make fun of them a lot and most of it is justified because it's been a pretty frustrating go of it. But they're in a really golden opportunity here to kind of get this thing back on track. Like I tweeted last night, like if Brian Barber is here and from everything that we've seen, heard, read about, like Brian Barber is a freaking stud, man. And it seems like they figured out the draft. He did a really nice job in last year's draft. They actually took a high school pitcher with some upside.

I mean, the Phillies did that. I didn't think that was possible. Well, and also, Jack, you might not know this, but I am actually Casey Martin's biggest fan on the planet. I didn't know if you knew that, but I'm 100% all in on Casey Martin and his future. He's my guy now. I've decided that.

Listen, I like that a lot. I'm just letting you know. That's my dude. And speaking of the 2020 draft, I was watching Ian Anderson tonight, which again, the owner said it was a what was the term? A skim milk? You might have misspoke there, my friend. Bad timing on that one. Yeah, not great. But honestly, I was watching Ian Anderson tonight,

and I just couldn't stop thinking about Mick Abel's first postseason start. Playoff Abel. Playoff Abel. Playoff Abel. Is Mick Abel. That's going to be a good headline someday. You know that's coming. Listen, if I can help other industries here you know yeah no biggie if uh if matt

kane wants to come back and uh and pitch for the phillies we can have a kane and abel headline boom yeah kane lorenzo kane comes and makes a big defensive play for Mick Abel. Or, or, or, Lorenzo Cain is the last strikeout in the bottom of the ninth of a Mick Abel complete game. And the headline says, Cain is not Abel. Yeah, I like that. Except it's a Mick Abel perfect game. But, yes, agree. Well, the best part about this conversation is that we're not putting any expectations on him he's i mean it's not like he's only like 18 or maybe 19 at the most by now yeah but i mean you heard his coach two different sliders james i mean friend of the podcast make

able essentially for all intents and purposes i mean two different sliders i mean what what else do you need to know besides two different sliders? But, yeah, no, like they really are in a pretty decent spot. Like, obviously, we're annoyed with how things are going. Rightfully so. It doesn't look like JT's coming back. It doesn't look like DD's coming back. It looks like they might not spend any money this offseason. But, like, if they can – and not spending money this offseason would suck, right?

I mean, you always want your team to spend money, especially with how they opened up the window and signed Wheeler last offseason and Hoskins and Harper and Nola and King of you're not getting any younger. But, like, getting a competent front office is just more important to me. Like, it just is. Being able to knock this out of the park and getting

getting a really interesting president in here there's so many good president options that they could hire that could come in and make a difference and then they can bring in a smart young guy under them that can just take this team to a new level like knocking like the Mets kind of screw themselves by by re-signing Alderson because he's the president, and they can't go after one of the big fish and make them the president. Stephen Cohen has stupid, stupid money. He knows the game. If he wanted to just spend money on front office people, he could.

The Phillies are a big market team that has a big opening, two big openings, apparently. Apparently, Middleton wants to move McPhailail aside and hire two guys which would be great and also john you're the owner tell him that he's not the president is it is it really that hard do we really have to make this into a big complicated thing but anyway i mean in his press conference he certainly lauded andy quite a bit so yes i think he has to make it a big thing did you know that andy mcphail has won two world series jack before you just i did did you know that though yeah uh and i don't know if you remember this but steve martin is the only reason that andy mcphail is not a uh we didn't talk about that but that was like we don't curse on here, but that was bleeped up. Like that was a messed up thing to say.

I like regardless of all of it, poor Steve Bartman. I mean, this poor guy, anyone on the planet in that spot does exactly what that guy does. And he's become a pariah. He like lives in hiding still. It's crazy. But regardless of that, it's just such an asinine statement that shows, you know, nothing about the actual situation and what they still have to do and what they would have had to do to win. It's just such an asinine statement that shows you know nothing about the actual situation and what they still had to do and what they would have had to do to win.

It's just like, come on. I think that is a direct quote from Andy McPhail. Andy McPhail is such a loser. Oh, great point. Jack, Jack, thank you. That is something that Andy McPhail has said to John Middleton. You're so right. Great call.

I mean, think about it. If you just read those words, would you not think it's the same as, like, we would have the quickest turnaround in baseball history had we made the playoffs? Jack, it's really – I am 100% certain that's what happened. That's how confident I am in that call. Like, you're 100% right. Well, not only that, but I guarantee the whole stupid, like whole stupid, like,

uh, well, if you combine our wars from 17 and 18, we actually are number one in baseball. You know, it's like, it's like, Oh my God,

just, I just, everyone just clean house. I mean, for the love of everything, like, please, I just,

I mean, the best part is that press conference didn't happen but uh let's say it did happen in those and those quotes were uttered it's just like oh god it's just the worst but but but we have the driveline guys in place we have a legitimate player development guys and i and you know and brian barber is legit like he really does seem legit he's an absolute superstar and so i tweeted that last night and there's a lot of people that are like whoa who they really developed and and let me just i i think it's important to point this out james so they've been here for two years like they the real driveline you know all

the guys that they brought in player development, have really been here for two years. Alec Boehm took off. Adam Haseley took off. Mickey Moniak finally showed up. And then you factor in guys like Jojo Romero and Connor Brogdon and Ramon Rosso who saw Velo jumps and went from 93 to 97. That's called player development. That's what the freaking Dodgers do. That's why everyone that comes out of their bullpen is 100 miles an hour and also speaking of the dodgers like how the hell do they just get bruce our gratter all as a part of that

deal like there was no dude i it's like that made me so mad like they don't need him he's already unbelievable he's a legit prospect bruce like a legit prospect like it's already unbelievable. He's a legit prospect, Bruce. Like, a legit prospect. Like, it's crazy. I mean, it's just unbelievable. But with that being said, like, getting those guys Velo jumps and then getting, like, I don't know if the talent that was down in the system was that unbelievable to begin with, but the fact that they've turned them into major league players

and obviously Boehm took off and whatnot, like you're already seeing the impact those guys are having. So if you don't think the driveline guys and that stuff is making a difference or anything, like you're just simply not paying attention. So, yeah, they are a competent freaking president and GM away from really getting this thing back on the right track and honestly I I know we sound like we're down and and whatnot like it genuinely makes me giddy

thinking about what they could do will they do it is a different story yeah and look because they what they could do is is a great point because they are as you've pointed out before, one of the few legit top-tier market-type teams to have these types of openings come available. It doesn't happen that often. It doesn't happen every year. That's why you said the Alderson hire. Look, I get why he did it. Alderson's very respected.

He's got, obviously, a history there. I think he's respected and all that type of stuff, stability. But I think that was a mistake too by Steve Cohen. And obviously Steve Cohen is a smart dude who's made a lot of money and is aggressive. And, you know, I'm sure he will spend money on the front office, even if he can't, you know, even if he's going to have Aldridge as president, they'll still spend money on a new GM and they'll, they'll get something done. But having these two jobs open really does give you some flexibility or theoretically open, gives you some flexibility and the opportunity

to come into a situation that has the chance to win now with some smart moves, at least to a certain level, and then build for the future while doing it is a nice opportunity for some, you know, or two people, but, you know, a staff to come in here. It's not, it should be a nice opportunity for some you know or two people but you know a staff to come in here it's not it should be a good job i think to be blatantly honest i think john middleton is a potential deterrent you know you see what happened with middleton and glentak and this whole situation and you watch his press conferences like i don't know if he's the owner that the top tier guys are going to want to work for but he might be they might just want the money i mean there are a lot of different factors involved here and and maybe middleton's

better in the room than he is on the zoom so to speak i mean i'd hope so i mean he totally got hard for here yeah but yes yeah that i mean somehow i mean somehow it's it's still the biggest mystery of it all you know price har up in Philly. It really is crazy. And again, though, to your point, like you mentioned before, though, with the window now, and I agree with you, I think there's a good chance that this free agency period is not robust for them. But, I mean, what do you say to Bryce? If you're John Middleton, what do you say to that dude when you sold that guy on company or saying,

we're winning a trophy, I'm going to do everything it takes. middleton what do you say to that dude when you sold that guy on coming here saying i'm gonna you know we're winning a trophy i'm gonna do everything it takes you know i'm a i'm a big dog brother like what do you what do you say to bryce harper in that situation especially when you let jt romito walk when there are stories coming out as you point out to me and that we all knew but that the reason they didn't sign jt to a contract prior to the last season is because they wanted to stay under the luxury tax. I mean, if you're Bryce Harper, like in,

in Romito walks and then you have to tell him, Hey, we're not going for it this year. Like, I don't know. It feels like a tough conversation to have. Uh, yeah.

I mean, yeah, of course it's a tough conversation to have. I mean, this guy's publicly like crying that, that JT might not be here. I mean, yeah, it's, it's, it's wearing tough conversation to have i mean this guy's publicly like crying that that jt might not be here i mean yeah it's it's he's wearing his jersey right now like literally still right now yeah it's it's an impossible conversation to have and and you know it's just frustrating because it feels like it's like i'll do what it takes to win when it's convenient for me, you know? And I understand I'm losing $186 million a year.

It's like, it's like, yeah, I'll pay the money it takes when there isn't a pandemic. It's like, well, listen, you're the owner through pandemics as well. And I know you didn't see it coming, but like, you know, that's, that's part of being an owner. You assume that risk. And also, also it is not, they are not losing $186 million. No way. They were projected to make that much this year.

Like, it's just not counted as revenue that they could use. Like, they're not losing $186 million. They were projected to make that much money from ticket sales and TV revenue and parking and all and jersey sales. And guess what? They're still going to make money. They're going to have a TV deal, all that stuff. What are we talking about here?

And again, and this is one that I would like to put on a billboard if I had enough money. The Yankees are losing $430-plus million this year. The Mets are losing $246 million this year. Both teams are going to be in the JT sweepstakes. So let's stop with this whole stupid,

we're going to lose $186 million, we can't re-s sign players and make our team better nonsense when you're going to make it back next year and the play and the and the main teams that are going to be vying for the freaking catcher that you gave up pedro martinez 2.04 lost more money than you more money than you and they just signed Garrett Cole last year to a 300 plus million dollar contract so you can't use that as an excuse you can't keep making excuses it feels like we've all just become apathetic to the idea that we're going to lose JT Real Muto and we don't have to be we don't have to just be apathetic that we're going to lose2 real middle because it's on him and it has always been on him

it was never not on him it is on him to get the deal done do i do i well first off he's not gonna get 200 million dollars like no way i saw that report i was like get the hell out of here i mean you remember he's a catcher you're like are you kidding me? Yeah, and he's not like Buster Posey or Pudge Rodriguez. Dude, and I saw like an eight-year deal. People were talking about a seven-year deal. Like, no way. He's getting something in the neighborhood of five for $130, six for $150. Like, something like that.

Like, maybe slightly more. Maybe like six for $175 is like the highest end I could see. And I don't think that happens. But like there's no way he's getting your 200 million and there's no way he's getting a seven, eight year deal. None. I think it's probably a five year deal, like 131.40. That'd be my guess. Yeah.

Well, and I mean, this is just what happens. I mean, you remember the stories before Bryce was like, oh, $500 million. Like, that's what he's looking for. Yep. So, I mean, this just happens. Like, I'm not going to freak out about it. And look, to be fair, like the Mookie Betts, everyone's like, oh, clearly everyone's going to spend money. Like, the Mookie Betts contract has a bunch of deferred money.

It is not the number that they showed. has a bunch of deferred money. It is not the number that they showed. There is still a real chance, and this does not mean that I don't expect other teams to outbid John Middleton, but I do think that there is still a chance that it is a depressed free agent market, and these owners take it out on players in free agency, and we do not see the type of contracts that players are expecting. I mean, all these quote unquote reports and stuff are agent driven. That is all players, people putting that stuff out there. There's no team that's saying, Oh, I think JT is going to get 200 million. Like that's not happening. So, uh, you know, I'm still not totally convinced that the numbers are going to be as high as they would be in a normal off season, even for the top tier guys. Yeah, I mean, yeah.

And also, with all due respect to JT, like, Mookie Betts is Mookie Betts. I mean, Mookie probably should have got closer to 400. I mean, if we're being fair about things. So, yeah, I think it'll be like 5-140 at the max. And even that's on the high side. So, you know, it's nice being back at this point where I feel like me and you are kind of back on the Bryce Harper. Calm down. You know, everyone calm down.

He's not signing with the Padres after the Padres just paid $300 million to Manny Machado. Calm down. That was crazy. Calm down. Everyone calm down. So let's put it out there. There is James and I, we will eat a shoe

if JT Real Amido gets $200 million. Oh yeah, for sure. I'll eat two shoes. I'll eat one for each foot. All right. And not Zoe shoes because Zoe shoes are small. These will be grown shoes. Grown shoes are small these will be these will be grown grown shoes

grown shoes i like it grown shoes that's the new phrase for for shoes sure um all right well quickly on ramira and then i want to i want to get back to the gm search because i want to do you have a list ready for us i'm assuming you at least have a preliminary list i'm sorry did you just ask if i have a gm list i'm just making sure all right but quickly before we move off romito yeah as of right now and i'm sure this is going to change and we're going to go back and forth and when we hear stuff and let's all remember how long the bryce harper thing took all that and not expect something i know last off season was quicker but you know it could take some time but right now on october 13th how are you feeling in terms of percentage wise whether you think he's going to

stay or go so for the first time i don't think he's gonna be be back. For the longest time I thought there's no way that this team is going to let JT go after what they gave up and they're not going to just take their ball and go home and lose JT Romero to the Mets

or Yankees or Nationals or whatever. That's just not going to happen. Oh, and one more thing on the projected revenue loss. The Braves are projected to lose more than them this year, and the Braves are a small market team that, like, you know, doesn't spend money in free agency. So if I see them make a big move this year, I'm going to freak out.

But, yeah, so with JT, I just, you know, I just don't feel good about it. And it's not like the Bryce thing where I was like calm down calm down he's gonna come he's gonna be back like I just everything they're putting out it's just been like a feeler for listen we're not resigning this dude you guys better just kind of get over it which is an unbelievable position to be in um I try not to think about it because it just it just makes me way too upset and i hate being upset at the phillies but um i just i don't have a good feeling about it at all i would love to be wrong i would not love to be wrong for 200 million like

i don't want to pay like agree like jt can walk if you're like he's 100 100 not even question honestly like over 150 i I'm probably the guy. Yep, I agree. If it gets to create, I'm in the exact same spot you are, Jay. Literally, it was like I was saying exactly what you said. The longest time I thought there was just no way that he could go, considering obviously what they gave up for him, but also like we've talked about many times,

his importance to this window, to this, to this, this group of guys in this chance here. And then of course, the fact that, you know, the guy, your, your franchise cornerstone, the guy gave $332, $30 million to has been, you know, stumping for him loudly, openly all season long. Like I just thought J team was more valuable to the phillies than any other team you know whatever the price was assuming it didn't get too crazy but i'm with you now i just i don't expect them to to pay what it takes um um that i i would be um um before i was like at one point i was like 90 95 5 then down to like 80 20 then down to like 70 30 i'm like 30 70 the other way now like that's where i'm at and i don't blame you at all you know i was like i was like 99 i know i was like

there's no it really is unbelievable how they mismanage this it really is unbelievable it is unbelievable how they mismanage this all it's all because all to stay under the luxury tax and not pay three million dollars it's a shame it's a shame it really is a all it's all because all to stay under the luxury tax and not pay three million dollars it's a shame it's a shame it really is a shame it's such a shame does he i just want to know if middleton knows that that he can reset it after one year if he wants to it's crazy like that's why it just seems so short-sighted that's the problem is so many short-sighted decisions let's hope that with the list you're about to read me the people that you'll be interested that maybe some of these names end up here or one of these names end up here and we can not have these

conversations anymore jack and we can talk about what a smart team we root for and oh how clever was that that they did that thing and oh wow do you see what they're building farm system right number five and all baseball let's go you know like like give me that who's on your list who's the future who do i want talk to me well let's start off with the obvious one i mean let's get it out of the way yeah blank check blank check blank check yeah we everyone knows it's just that no one else that will be named again is is is close to this this eric neander is the sole number one choice of the high oats podcast there is no second who's third and beyond jack that that's the best way to one last thing on eric neander the the freaking rays are about to like, the sixth team ever to make the World Series with also having the number one ranked farm system.

Like, they're so freaking loaded. They're just getting better. They are, I mean, I actually hate them. Like, I hate the Rays, like, with the whole stupid, like, I want to see pitchers going deep into games and the bullpenning. And I just load it but they're so smart and so good that i would take it every single day of the week and i would just be the happiest person in the world if if eric nianer became the next president and john middleton just said blank check because like really he wants to run a small market baseball

team right so like when i get the the best small market guy out there he'll fit right in yeah he'll have no problem not going over the luxury tags john exactly so uh neander's the obvious guy um blank check all that fun stuff the next guy for for president for me is is mike chernoff um in cleveland at cleveland he's a cleveland manager. He's been there for a while. He's kind of helped build that thing up from the ground. The Indians the last 10 years have morphed into one of the smartest organizations in baseball

again without doing with little money. I mean, they don't really have money to spend and they're going to lose Francisco Lindor because of it, but he's one of those guys that's really smart. And if you, you know, if you bring him to a big market, you just think about what he can do.

The problem is I just don't think he's leaving Cleveland. Like, he turned down the Mets job a couple years ago. It would have to be for the president job, like you said, first and foremost. And I agree. Like, you know, Chris and foremost. And I agree. Chris Annanetti was the GM there before moved up to the president spot when Mark Shapiro left. It's just a factory there in Cleveland. I mean, they just breed these guys.

Look, Mark Shapiro got the Blue Jays back on track. They were in the playoffs this year, and obviously a ton of young talent going there. Sounds fun. It would be really smart. It would be really, really really really smart to go get turnoff like i i agree with you i don't expect him to leave but that would be an if it's not neander turnoff is my top choice i agree with you i agree with you he would be my top choice as well

and you know one thing that um mcphail talked about a lot in his first press conference ever was like, we want to have waves and waves of pitching. Oh, yeah, buddy. I mean. Yeah, yeah. Beaver and Clevenger and Kluber and Carrasco and so on and so on. Danny Salazar. Oh, yeah, buddy.

Talk about a friend. Now Tristan McKenzie. Yeah. Must be nice. Seems like a lot of Now Tristan McKenzie. Yeah. Yep. Must be nice. Seems like a lot of fun. It really does, doesn't it? It really does seem fun.

Like watching Shane Bieber pitch every fifth day seems really cool. Like that seems like really cool. Especially when you get him in the third round, you know? Yeah. Now this is a name that I think, you know, I think it makes a lot of sense. And I think it's a name that is actually realistic if they are going to hire a new president in GM this year. And that is Thad Levine of the Minnesota Twins. He's a GM out there.

The Twins have quietly turned into, I mean, hitting-wise, they mash. I mean, they slug. They get the most out of their guys. So, like, I mean, the Twins are a low-key, very, very smart team. And, you know, Levine, since he's taken over there, has turned them into kind of a factory in that way. And same thing with pitching now. I mean, they brought in some college guys. And you see pitchers go to Minnesota now.

And, like, if you're targeting guys in fantasy, like you're taking a shot on, on Kenta Maeda this year. Like you had a good feeling he was going to take off. Um, they always have nasty bullpens. Like they basically try to do what the Rays do with the bullpen. I mean, just nasty, nasty guys coming out of the pen all the time. Um, so, and he's a guy that kind of he took over the twins turned them into a smart factory and i think in like two years he would be considered for one of the top president job i think he's very clearly ascending and i think you'd be kind of getting him on his ascent and also he did interview here in 2015 so there is that connection a little bit so um i would love that levine uh just i think i think what he's done with the twins is super super underrated and i think he's a clear future president that the phillies will be getting on the uh ascent yeah i i like levine a lot what i

know of him uh he's done a great job minnesota like you said uh the amount of just the amount of players they keep have coming up i mean it's pretty much all homegrown there you know they added josh donaldson this year to help out but you know nelson cruz has obviously been good for them it's just unbelievable nelson cruz just oh it's unbelievable it really is truly unbelievable but for the most part it's homegrown it's a lot of you know um talent that they've developed drafted developed and all that so i'm with you i like It's a lot of talent that they've developed, drafted, developed, and all that. So I'm with you. I like Levine a lot.

Who's the next guy? I mean, Levine. If you can get me a Levine and one of these guys for the – now the names I'm about to run off are just GM candidates. So if you get Levine and one of these GM candidates, I mean, we're doing jumping jacks. We're not doing the streaking down broad if we got Neander or Chernoff. And, yeah, but if they get one of these guys and one of the GMs, I'm doing jumping jacks.

So I think this is my first choice, but I don't know. I have so many first choices. It kind of changes by the day. But, like, Bobby Owens, who's been with the Oakland A's forever, he's been viewed as, like, a savant of scouting reports, like one of the best scouts in the sport, been doing it forever, like memorizes every single player and has, like, personal information on them, like really gets into it.

And, again, you're taking a guy from the A's who have just consistently produced homegrown talent if you if you've noticed a theme with my gm candidates they're all from small market teams that do it a lot through homegrown talent which is what it seems like middleton cares about the most but um bobby owens has been with the with the the a's for 12 years one of the best guys in the sport and i think if you add a guy like Levine or someone like that for the president's role as like kind of the GM or kind of the analytics overseer guy, and then I get a real awesome,

just scout that Bobby Owens is, I just think it'd be a home run. If you, if you pair Bobby Owens and Brian, Brian Barber together, I just think you dominate drafts for the time being. Can you imagine having a general manager who knows what he's seeing and knows what he's looking at? Wouldn't that be nice, huh? Just a wonderful thing. And to be clear, and we'll keep going with the GM names,

but as far as I'm concerned, if it is Neander or Chernoff, or even someone like Levine, but particularly Neander or Chernoff, whoever the hell they hire to be their GM, I trust them. Like they've earned that. Whichever of their guys that they think is ready to run a team, like I'm sure that guy's ready to run a team. Like they know what they're doing. Totally agree.

Totally agree. And I just hope that they follow through. I just really do. I can't stop thinking about the GM. I know, I know. I think my next favorite guy, so many guys. Oh my goodness. Well, probably Matt Arnold.

He's the vice president assistant GM of the Brewers. Don't think he's as smart as David Stearns is. David Stearns is kind of just a baseball. He's unbelievable, one of the best GMs in the sport. But Matt Arnold was with the Rays for a long time before taking the Brewers, and the Brewers have kind of turned into a pitching factory. So I would like to take a shot on him, another smart guy. He was with the Rays for a while and can kind of you know take what take

great things from two of the smartest franchises in the sport and the brewers and the rays and again a small market um so seems like yeah you had me when you said race yeah when you said when he was with the he was with the rays i was like okay now how about a little bit of a local flair? Matt Foreman. I am Bloom-esque. I wish it was I am Bloom-esque. And speaking of which, you see that him and Eric Neander were both laughing over the Connor Seabold and Nick Pavetta trip. Oh, did I? Did I?

Shout out to the WIP caller who called him Chain Bloom. Right. I thought that was good. Right. How dare you disrespect the legend. I called him Chain Bloom. I thought that was good. Right.

How dare you disrespect the legend. And also, shout out to the Twitter user that said, how can he be smart when he traded Mookie Betts? The thing is, is that his first order of business there was to trade Mookie Betts by ownership. I got into an actual argument with a Red Sox fan I know about this who had that same take. And I was like, you know he didn't have a choice, right? Like, you know they would not have hired him for the job if he had not agreed to trade monkey bets

like are you serious like this is not his decision like he had zero to do with the want to trade monkey bets it's so crazy it's it's insane and maybe if we waited or maybe if i am waited one year it could be RGM, but whatever. All right, more high hopes in a second, but first a word from a sponsor. FanDuel Casino's exclusive live dealer studio has your chance at the number one feeling, winning, which beats even the 27th best feeling, saying I do. Who wants this last parachute? I do. Enjoy the number one feeling, winning, in an exciting live dealer studio,

exclusively on FanDuel Casino, where winning is undefeated. 19-plus and physically located in Ontario. Gambling problem? Call 1-866-531-2600 or visit connectsontario.ca. Please play responsibly. So Matt Foreman is the assistant GM of the Indians. He is hashtag from here. He went to Malvern Prep.

I'm so in. Him and Gosselin hanging out. It's going to be great. Let's go. Yeah, and he could actually take his kids on a tour of Malvern Prep. You said his name is Matt Foreman? Yeah. So you're saying future friend of the High Oaks podcast, Matt Foreman.

I feel like that's the case, right? Yeah. This sounds like our kind of guy. I'm already in on it. Assistant GM with the Indians? Yep. Please, give me that dude. You know who that dude was before?

It was Chernoff. You know who it was before that? Chris Antonetti. Yeah, that's a pretty successful spot. Let's go with that. Yes, and here's a little bit more about him. So before he worked for the Indians, he worked at Baseball America, which means obviously he was on the road and scouting and writing and all that.

So he was hired by the Indians in 2013, and then he became in charge of baseball operations before the 2016 season, which means that he was basically in charge of their draft since then. How does the names Shane Bieber, Nolan Jones, Aaron Saval, Zach Plesak, James Karanczak, and Moore sound to you? Yeah. I think that's it. I'm particularly a fan of Moore, but I thought it was a great list regardless.

I mean, if we could produce one of those guys. One or two of them. That would be nice. That would be nice. JJ Piccolo. Isn't he also from here, right? He's from Cherry Hill. The thing I don't love about him is that he seems pretty old school

and just going to be an old school scouting guy, which is fine and good if you get a guy like Levine to oversee everything or turn off or Neander like we all know. But I think Bacolo from the standpoint of he's basically him and Dayton Moore have rebuilt the Royals back to where, you know, they're a small market team that has to scout well to be a good organization and to and to try to compete. And he already built one world champion in the 2015 team. And I love their young core. You know, I just I love some of the guys they have out there like Brady Singer.

I love Bobby Witt Jr. Jorge Soler, obviously. They have some dudes out there. And obviously, their bullpen, they get it. Josh Stomont, Scott Barlow. Greg Holland came back this year and was good. Trevor Rosenthal was good. So they're clearly doing something right. But the reason why I'm more in on Piccolo than I would be in years past

is because this year, or I guess the last two years, he's been in charge of player performance. So he's actually gone down on the field and he's basically been involved in getting the technology on the players and using the technology and using it as a way to get the most out of guys. and using it as a way to get the most out of guys. So just the fact that he's been ingrained in what the technology is doing and seeing it for what it is I think is really, really important. So not the traditional old school scouting guy, but if they go the old school scouting guy, I would prefer Bobby Owens, but I would not be upset if they signed J.J. Piccolo. It just seems too obvious, and it's such like a Girardi kind of move where

it's old school and old school mixed with new school and that'll appease both sides of the fan base but it's not like a home run higher and not you know it's it's an overcorrection from the Matt Klintzak era so um wouldn't be upset with it I think he's a good scout, but not my first choice. Would be okay with it. Yeah, that's where I stand, too, from what I know of Piccolo. And I think you kind of nailed why he's going to be the pick. Yeah, I know. I know.

I know. You were just laying that out there. I'm like, oh, so he's the pick. It's going to be him. Got it. It's so obviously going to be JJ Piccolo. I'm like pretty locked in that that's who it's going to be now. I know. I'm just trying to do that.

I'm trying to just talk myself out of it. But if I could pick one guy, it'll be him. The next guy I did not write about, but just in talking to some people that are down, you know kind of in the area apparently this guy's a guy jackie sources it's not jackie sources it's jackie talks to baseball friends but kevin i botch is the senior director of player personnel and pro scouting for the rays and apparently he's like the next guy like there's there's obviously Neander but apparently this dude's the next guy and if I can get the next guy for the Rays I'll take the next guy for the Rays so I don't know much about him I don't know much about him but the fact that he

runs their drafts and has been involved in in the international market they've been just dominating for the last couple years like again i think i had you at raise but um oh yeah but he's another one that just i i would be excited about now this one uh emile saude he's the assistant gm and uh senior vp of the diamondbacks now before he's a dime backs he was in charge of amateur and international scouting for the red socks how do these names sound to you james Now, before he was with the Diamondbacks, he was in charge of amateur and international scouting for the Red Sox. How do these names sound to you, James? I'm here.

I'm waiting. Andrew Benintendi, Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr., Travis Shaw, Yom Mankata, and Alexander Bogarts. How do those names sound to you? I mean, they sound phenomenal. Yeah, and now the Diamondbacks, I think, have also developed into one of those secret smart teams out there. I know they struggled this year, but he's had a major hand in that. It seems like he fits the whole mix between scouting and analytics

and that stuff, which is good to have. But that's it. I mean, that's where I'm at right now. I like that list. I like that list. And as always, blank check for Neander. Blank check for Neander. That's the main thing.

I think if I could just pick one front office that is not Neander, I think it would be, and Chernoff, because I don't think Chernoff's going to happen, but it would be Levine. It would be Levine. It would be Levine and then I think all those guys, whatever. You don't have to choose now. I mean, they're not going to hire by the next time we do the pod. So come to us next time.

They're not going to hire a guy until November, but I already cannot wait. Well, obviously, and we're going to talk about it a lot. All right. Before we get out of here uh two things to get to uh one jack you're the pro here so so set this up so um lasalle baseball if you've seen this anywhere um they all of a sudden out of the blue i think two weeks ago got the email from their ad that they're cutting the baseball program and the baseball program is done um and i have a couple friends that have played there and um one of the

main guys who is organizing this is a guy named james santor and he's he's become a friend and um i've been trying to help out and obviously not as big as some of the people that have gotten involved. But so in this next little segment, you're going to hear me talking to my friend, Joe Ravert. We grew up together. He played at LaSalle. Just going to talk about just what LaSalle baseball meant to him, why they're trying to save it, and really how you can get involved in helping save LaSalle baseball, if you can, of course. And now I am being joined by my good buddy, my good pal, former two-way stud at LaSalle University, a place that gave me a courtesy email back, but not much more than that.

We're going to try to save LaSalle baseball. Rave, how's it going, brother? Jack, man, it's going well. Thanks for having me. Really appreciate it. I mean, how's the wing feeling? I mean, it's been a while since me and you have been in the spotlight of dominating

Southeastern PA high school baseball. Is the wing holding up all right? I mean, you thinking about making a comeback? Still locked and loaded. Still chucking it in the doco league, but, you know, yeah, we're still loaded. That's good to hear, Rave. So what's going on, man? They cut your baseball team?

What's happening down there at LaSalle? Why are they taking away LaSalle baseball? Yeah, man. I mean, you know, we just got an email a couple, I guess it was two weeks ago tomorrow, that, hey, we're cutting seven programs and our baseball is going to be terminated at the end of the year. And we all just kind of, like, freaked out.

The understanding that we have is that they want to, you know, take all the money from all these other sports and put them in the basketball. And to us, it's just's just like you know they just pull the rug right out on me it almost feels like like a loss of a loved one because it's part of your life that's just now being completely taken from you and you know obviously nobody like while we partially understand nobody really wants to believe or understand it and um you know obviously it's extremely frustrating and upsetting to hear and like what so it seems like this has been really really personal for you and and james santori the guy that has pretty much helped organize this whole thing i mean you guys

graduated like what three years ago four years ago at this point like why why did 2016 class 2016 so so why does this mean so much to you and and like what does LaSalle baseball mean to you and why are you so passionate about it yeah I mean look like you know you played college baseball you kind of know how it is these guys are these guys are not only you know teammates but friends but they're you really become a family um you know a lot of us are local kids. A lot of us grew up watching the eight, 10, watching the big five, wanting to stay at home and play in Philadelphia. You know, you know, at the time when we were in high school,

getting recruited Temple out of program Temple no longer has one. Drexel doesn't have one Villanova, you know, not in the city. St. Joe's not in the city, but you know, LaSalle is a place that's in the city that, you know, local kids can go and play. And for me, that's something I always wanted to do. I always wanted to stay close to home. It was really important for me, you know, stay close to home,

play for a Catholic university. And, you know, a place like LaSalle, not only is it, you know, was it a great place to play, but it was a great place to get an education, you know, an awesome business school with great connections and huge companies in the city. And, you know, these guys, like I said, they're not just teammates. They're not just friends. They're, you know, the brothers, their family, we're talking, you know, at each other's weddings.

I'm in three weddings this year of my teammates. I'm a best man. One of them. I mean, not only that, like we were very active in the community, you know, in what we did to give back between, you know, going out and being on set. I saw a football tournament called Spin, special people in the Northeast. We would do the Alex Lemonade run. We'd clean up the community in Bellfield. I mean, it's not just, you know, we're not just baseball players.

We're student athletes, and we're, you know, we're not just baseball players. We're student athletes and we're, you know, integral members, members of the community. And how many, like you mentioned the Philly field, how much of your teammates would you say are, are from the area? Like a percentage wise, how many are from the Philadelphia area?

At least 50 to 60. Again. And that's, so it's a local, right, right. It's a local's... 56%. Right, right. It's a local college program that you just mentioned it. I mean, Temple's got slashed. They could have recruited me back in the day,

and that didn't work out. Like you mentioned, Drexel doesn't have a team. If we lose LaSalle baseball, I mean, what's left? There's Penn, and is that it? I mean, what's left? There's Penn, and is that it? I mean, yeah. I mean, Nova and St. Joe's as well, but I mean, Jack, you know this, that

the Philadelphia area and the suburbs of South Houston, PA is a hotbed for talent, for baseball, and LaSalle over the last three years has had a top 75 recruiting class in the nation. And this year it was even like 63. And if you line up all the Power Five schools,

our recruiting classes were ranked ahead of some of the Power Five schools. So this is a program that was really on the up and up. And not only do we think that they could come and take over the A-10, but they can make some noise on a national level as well. I mean, this is a team that's made the World Series a couple years. It's a very rich tradition program. It dates back 70 years.

It's something that we're incredibly passionate about. To see the program go is extremely devastating. That's why we're doing everything we can to keep it from being terminated at the end of the season. Totally. Before we get to how people can get involved, Rave, me and you have played together for a long time.

You know, I would say back to when we were, what, like 14 or 15 years old, you saw the rise and probably the fall better than everyone else. I need you to inform the High Hopes listeners that at some point I was pretty good at baseball. Yeah, just wanted to let everyone know, Jack was a very solid baseball player, especially in his days at Bayard- good at baseball. Yeah, just wanted to let everyone know Jack was a very solid baseball player, especially

in his days at Bayard-Ruffin. Very tough right-handed arm to face with a real nice change-up. He's not messing around. Thank you. Thank you. And Pavetta's not all my fault. It's everyone else's fault. Pavetta is not all Jack's fault. No, no, no.

Alright, sounds good. Ray, before I get you out of here, how can people get involved and how can people help save LaSalle baseball? Yeah, absolutely. Follow us on Instagram at SaveLaSalleBaseball. Share our stuff. Repost our stuff. Comment. We have a link tree in there to our GoFundMe.

We have a petition. We have a link in there to a bat deal we're doing with a wood bat company called LB Lumber. We're soon going to have a deal, a link in there to a bat deal. We're dealing with a wood bat company called LV Lumber. We're soon going to have a deal, a link in there to purchase coffee from a company called Big League Brew. That's headed by one of the catching coaches in the affiliate organization. And you can follow us on Twitter. At James Santor is really the hub for most of our Twitter stuff.

And, you know, anything you can, anybody that wants to help, feel free to reach out to our accounts. And that's really what's kicked us all off. Really, you know, it's really taken off from a national level. Yeah, I mean, it's so cool seeing everyone kind of rally around. And, you know, I mean, you mentioned it. I went to Bloom, played two years. And even I, if I lost the Bloomsbury baseball team,

like I'd just be losing some of my best friends. So, you know, you just hate to see that happen, especially you mentioned the local ties and how important LaSalle baseball has turned into for the Philadelphia area and the kids for a chance to play high-level Division I baseball. It would really be a shame to see it go. And I appreciate all the stuff you guys are doing. And let's hope we can save the program, Rafe. Appreciate it, Jack. Thanks so much for all you've done to help us and for having me on again awesome awesome stuff that's obviously something people should get involved with and uh

you know uh it's a great cause obviously i think you know formative years important years for for baseball players and a lot of times the last like real competitive baseball that they'll get to play and all that type of stuff. All right, Jack, anything else in your note bag or take bag before we get out of here? Yes, there is. Of course there is. I'm not surprised. Would you, James Seltzer, and you and we on this podcast have never lied to the High Hopes listeners,

and I might be asking you the most important question I've ever asked you. Would you take a year of Ned Rice if it meant Theo in 2021? So. In a holistic sense, i would but i that i would rather have neander i'd rather have turnoff like there are people i'd rather have than theo at this point right now in time but in a basic sense like if it's jj piccolo or wait a year for theo yeah i'll wait a year for Theo? Yeah, I'll wait a year for Theo. What if it's Levine or wait a year for Theo? I probably take Levine, but it's really close. Oh, how the mighty have fallen, Theo. What?

Because I don't want to waste a year of my life, Jack. I want to get this move in here. Oh, you're only almost 40, buddy. I'm old, bro. I'm old. Wow, you're already playing that card? I mean, you would definitely take Levine, right? It's not even close for you?

Yeah. Yeah, I would take Levine. But honestly, I'm terrified of a Dombrowski. So if it's like a year of Ned Rice and then Dombrowski, like, yeah, I'll take a year of Ned Rice and then Theo over like a Dombrowski. Me too. That's kind of my point. Like I, I, I'm terrified. I don't, to, to tie a bow on it, there are so many exciting options. I don't trust John Middleton to take one of them.

Well, yeah. And like a Jim Hendry's, oh God, if they hire, if they hire Jim Hendry's, just fire, just hire a new podcast. Like I just, fire me into the sun for all i care like i just he is such a freaking whatever the fact that he's even being mentioned is embarrassing like he sucks man like he sucks and i don't care that he works with the yankees like i just don't care the yankees haven't done anything interesting in a while it's all cashman like whatever i i am preemptively getting furious at the idea that i love it i love it tell him jack seriously seriously i mean you're gonna need a new podcast co-host because i'm done buddy i would be i would just you're telling me if i can get them to hire henry's i get i get rid of you yeah whatever you gotta do whatever you gotta do to sink this baseball team for the next

decade you hired jim henry's well we'll be back one week from today unless they hired jim hendry's then we might not be or never again or never again but that's so frustrating oh whatever um uh what else do i have here um what were you doing in 1991 aka the last time annie mcphail uh won a world series i was watching them win the world series i remember vividly gene larkin fly ball over the brought in outfield and dan gladden trots to home i remember it vividly jack so that's what i was doing all right well like what was going on with your life was was that middle school for you was that no no that was like uh fourth grade for me.

Okay. Okay. Were you still in New York at that point, you fraud? I was. I was in New York. You f***ing idiot. Are we done here? No.

Get out of bed. Are we done here? No. I want everyone to know that you grew up in New York. I did. I did. My dad was from here. One of those.

Speaking of New York, I would just like to say that there's no better song to listen to while walking around the city than Scenes from an Italian Restaurant by Billy Joel. I liked it. Welcome to your Billy Joel phase. I'm very happy for you we all went through it i'm excited to see you get there there's just no others i know all the words that we didn't start the fire um it's his best song but uh i just would like to say it's the best song to just you know walk around the city you put a little pep in your step i was like skipping down the street today listening to scenes from an italian restaurant if only i had been there to see it by billy joel um happy anniversary to the matt stairs homer

that's a good one yes also the night uh it's probably around this time no it probably wasn't around this time no no no not even close not even close but when this podcast comes out it might be around this time it's true it's true it is true it is and may i just say the victorino home run is still underrated i mean victorino like that that doesn't happen without victorino's home run so just just give a little love to uh to shane there a little bit um where were you for the home run what was i for the stairs home run i was with emily where were we i remember i remember the tv i was watching i feel like i was at a buddy's house like i remember where i was sitting in a room and i remember the tv and the shot of the TV, but I can't piece everything together.

I think it was at a buddy's house. All right. That's uneventful. I was sitting in my lucky spot as I think my mom was folding laundry as she was like, I feel like all my memories of the 2008 World Series run like my dad in the other room asleep me in my lucky spot and my mom just like folding laundry and trying to talk to me about my school day and i was like mom kind of a big moment like this is this is not the time to ask jack about his math quiz like i probably failed it you know i'm trying to lock in on the stairs home run so

um fun memories like honestly i'm so to lock in on the stairs home run so um fun memories like honestly i'm so jealous of everyone that was old enough to like be out for the oh yeah billy's runs because like it was great yeah it was great could not like just the worst i mean just being a freshman in high school whatever um and i think the last thing here is you know freddie freeman is just a 6-5 chase utley i mean it's just unbelievable how good that guy is and it's just so refreshing better yeah well it's just so refreshing seeing that guy like crush another team besides us you know it is i will say there is a schadenfreude to it you know you do get a bit of a joy of seeing it happening to someone else when

it's happening to you so many times yeah it's just great and also as always there's fresh high hops available at four fingers brewing company and as always go in and try to talk phillies with my dad and he will not know what you're talking about i promise you love it if you mention eric neander he is going to be very confused please do that actually i think it's worth going for the the beers just for that yeah what do you think about eric neander uh he will he will not have any idea what you're talking about oh i love it i work on his face is so where the please please do this please and then tell us that you did it it'd be amazing um all right we done yes

rate and review the podcast it means the world to jack we'll be back same time same place next week he spreads himself so we'll see you later. 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 is now the most prolific national daily baseball pod there is. Another fact. So jump aboard the B.I.B. Express. Follow and listen to Baseball Isn't Boring, presented by Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts.