High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Reaction to the Phillies Signing Taijuan Walker and Matt Strahm

Episode Date: December 16, 2022

James Seltzer and Jack Fritz react to the Taijuan Walker and Matt Strahm signings, talk about what's next for the Phils, and more. Presented by Miller Lite. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is the High Hopes Podcast. High Hopes! It's a bunch of baseball nerds talking about the Phillies on Radio.com and Sports Radio 94 WIP. Yo! It is another edition of the IOS Podcast. Almost weird, Jack Fritz, to just do a normal... Yo, no offense to Tywin Walker.

I'm excited. Matt Strom, excited. We're going to talk about it all. Carlos Rodon just got paid, what, like 20 minutes ago. That dream officially over. We'll get into all of it. But, you know, just a ho-hum. We're back.

We're going about our business yo what up buddy how you doing we're taking this day by day james i guess i guess that's that kind of yo that you were given there is like listen this is a business uh like uh attitude that we take to this uh take this podcast we take it we take it one podcast at a time we don't get too far ahead of ourselves you know we just now these are are the dog days of the off season. I guess the worst thing we're talking lineup for the next, like we got, we got tonight.

We can talk about some signs and then it's like lineup for the next, you know, six weeks or so. I mean, whoever said that, that everything needs to get done at the winter meetings. I mean, it's the first time ever.

It's like, it's like NBA free agency or NFL free agency. It's like, it's all everybody's. I know. I know. Honestly, it's,

we all complained about it forever too. And we're like, Oh, it'd be so good for baseball. Oh, I get it. It'd be like the other sports. And we get it.

And we're like, wait, hold up. Oh, it's done. It's like, we're good. Well, and we're like, wait, hold up. Oh, it's done? It's like, we're good? Well, and just like we always said, buddy, baseball always gets it right.

You know, they always have the pulse of what sports fans are thinking. There's no sport that is on people's minds 24 hours a day 365 days a year 24 seven days a week 365 days a year like it's just constantly not just on people's minds in the dialogue in the national dialogue on a daily basis oh dude skip it shannon debated every day you know like uh carlos ronald too much money for a left-handed starter? What do you think, Skip? Yeah, it's, I mean, boring. Again, there is nothing better. Now that we look back fondly on our younger years, James, there is nothing better than reading into the Heyman tweets

or getting excited about a possible signing. The thing that was so crazy about the Turner and then into Taiwan Walker and Strom was just like, hey, the Phillies signed these guys. There's no hearing the Phillies are close on

this. Yeah, you're right. You're right. There was not a single tweet about any... I mean, the Turner stuff was a little bit before because it was like oh where's trade turning because he's like the biggest guy on the market or one of the you know three or four biggest guys in the market but you're right like other than that it's just like like tywin walker came out of nowhere like obviously we knew it was possible he's a free agent but at no point before the tywin walker to the phill tweet, ironically, John Heyman. Like at no point before that,

did we hear one word about Walker meeting with the Phillies? They weren't even linked to him. They weren't even linked to him. You know, it's, it kind of seems like looking back, whoever would assign a Tyone or Walker probably would have been their guy. Like it seems like, it seems like they're pretty fairly, you know, on the same level.

It's almost the exact same thing. Yeah. Walker got like four of a 72 and Tyone four of a 68. So basically who says yes first, we'll sign you. But yeah, it's just been weird. And like,

I mean, who's the biggest free agent left? Like all these relievers. Well now after, I mean, Swanson, right. Dan, I'd be counts, I guess. Like, yeah, but I mean, who's the biggest free agent left? Like all these relievers. Well, now after, I mean, Swanson, right? Dan, I'd be counts, I guess. Like, yeah, but I mean, that's pretty sad that he's like the big dog on the market now.

Well, yeah, it's not great. And at the same time, like if the Braves don't resign him, what's the what's the plan down there, Atlanta? Oh, trouble in paradise. I guess our Grissom and then Sean Murphy play shortstop. I don't think so, dude. I know. I know we'll get into time on Walker and,

uh, and Matt Strom, but let me just make an official statement here. Uh, Sean Murphy stinks, man. I didn't get like, honestly,

I know he's a much better defensive player, but like, I kind of like William Contreras better. Oh, a hundred percent. That's what I'm saying dude rakes man dude just keep travis darno like travis it was a really weird everyone's like oh rich get richer i was like really dude am i okay he's like maybe it's 20 homers and plays good defense like cool

also just i mean i guess they they need to get allsen but he could have kept Shea Langeleers and whatever it's just like I don't know like he's fine it's just I don't think he's a good player he's like a 250-20 homer great defense catcher that is a valuable player

especially in today's game the way catchers hit but they were acting like they traded for Romito or something like that it's like relax they traded for like a difference maker i mean he's a he's an important piece i guess but like sean murphy's like i'm supposed to be shaking in my shorts because he yeah he signed sean murphy i don't know it's just a bit of a weird do it again oh best front office in the history of baseball um so yeah it's like danzy is the biggest one next and you know i mean something's probably gonna have to overpay because he's the

last like pretty good free agent uh guy on the market but then after that it's like all those relievers like the script like the the kimbrills the chapmans the um you know those guys are all are all kind of the next guys that go, like we're starting to, I mean, there's, there's just no real intrigue left before Christmas. It's crazy. Now it's smart, you know,

get the holiday shopping out of the way. You could, as we said, Hey, Hey, it's great. Um, but yeah,

man, it's just, we're, we're, we're, we're like, you know, two months away from pitchers and catchers, and it's almost all done.

So I guess this is the new norm. Look, I actually think this could be fun if people expected it. You know, like NFL and NBA where it becomes a thing, and it's like, okay, it's middle of December. Get ready, baby. Like, let's go nuts. Like, refresh Twitter all day, every day. It's coming.

Then it can be fun. Like it can be a thing that they can capitalize on, but I'm with you this year. It just felt like, cause we weren't expecting it. It was like, Oh, it was anticlimactic in a way, which is crazy. Specifically to the Turner contract, they will say, you know, and I know this is not a uh is a pretty common refrain right now but you know great job the phillies logging that up quick

because the way the market has played out i mean i would much much rather have turner at 11 for 3 than bogarts at 11 for 280 is crazy i don't know what swans is going to go, but I can tell you I'd much rather have Turner in his contract. And I'd much rather have Turner than Cray, but I liked him better. The Cray one I get, but still like, you know, big time freaking money. Your thoughts on how the market shaked out with these like big men. And look, Rodon just signed for six for 160.

You know, pretty big, pretty strong amount of money there. Your thoughts on kind of how the market shook out with these guys? Well, the interesting part about the Correa thing is that it came out, what, I think like a day or two later that it was pretty much Turner was obviously their main target. Which is wild. It means the Giants, Padres, and Phillies were all in on Turner. We won.

That's what we do. That's what we do, man. It's just what we do. Again, it doesn't happen without Citizens Bank Park being the coolest place in sports for a month. It's true. It came out that the Phillies' second choice was 100%

Correa. I guess they woke up But it came out that the Phillies' second choice was 100% Correa. As it should have been. Because I guess they woke up that Monday morning, and it was kind of like Harper, where they were like, I don't think we're going to get Turner. We might want to start coming up with another plan here. And then obviously things changed. I'm sure Bryce got in his ear and was like,

you sure you want to be a San Diego Padre? But I just wonder, like, I mean, we were very close to probably having a signed career for like 13, 350. Like we could, we could be sitting here with another huge contract like that. Now the intern is a huge contract too. Don't get me wrong. A hundred percent.

But just the sticker shock of another contract that's bigger than prices, like on, you know, whole dot like 350 is well especially for the fan especially for the fan base where right or wrong and obviously time will bear it out but the fan base clearly preferred turner so i think if they end up signing korea for that contract everyone's like why didn't you just sign turn with the bleep? You know, and they lose it. Yeah. And then us, voice of reason, they came in and said, because he's a good player. He's great. And do you really want to sign Xander Belgarts for 11 through the 80?

Like, is that really the other thing? That's the crazy one. I mean, that's just like the Padres just panicked after Turner didn't take their deal. I mean, wild. I mean, like, I'm'm speechless what was that contract what was the thing that came out they they offered like a billion dollars to like three different players and none of none of them took it until bogarts yeah unbelievable man i mean it really is good it is well now i will say it is slightly disappointing that like you know other than the yankees maybe you know an american league

team could decide to spend some freaking money like other than rangers irrelevant like you know i don't know could not all these guys not go to the national league what the hell's the deal with that why are all these national league teams signing all these big guys like we know the are gonna do it like really does the nl west have to beef up to really Jack really well so here's my thing is like I definitely I definitely hear you but man is it going to be a lot of fun next year like it's going to be it's going to be awesome the

one thing that actually is bum me out a little bit James is that you know for the first time in my life mostly I would say I keep forgetting I'm almost like 30, so I'm cooked. Yeah, that's good.

That's great, dear. But for the first time, I'm like the Braves, Mets, and us all realistically have a chance to go to the World Series. Oh, yeah. It just kind of sucks. I mean, you could argue

there are three of the, I don't know, six best teams in baseball going into the season. It just kind of sucks that this is the year they're changing the schedule around to where you're not playing the NLU. I know. Well, I mean, it is good. I mean, I get it, and I love the heart of competition, the beats inside of you. Winner. This is amazing, and I love your the the heart of competition the beats inside of you winner um this is amazing

and I'm ecstatic that it's a the the balance schedule and then we will not stop why it's great because we get to face all these other teams instead of facing the Mets and Braves a million times why do you want to face the Mets and Braves a million times because they're good and we can start hating things again oh buddy I want to hate you know you know when we can you good and we can start hating things again. Oh, buddy. We can start hatred. You know when we can play good teams? In the playoffs. Let's worry about that. Let's freaking get there, all right?

I don't need to beat up on each other 19 games a season. Give me the Pirates more. Give me the Reds more. Give me the freaking Diamondbacks and the Rockies and all these trash teams. Give me all these American League teams that everyone gets to face. Like just tee off on the freaking Royals and Rangers and the A's now. I mean, geez Louise, like give me all these teams.

Love it. Love the unbalanced or the balanced schedule. Give it to me. I get it. I get your point. And as a sportsman, I appreciate it, but I want to win Jack. We almost won the World Series. I don't care.

I don't care. I just want the ring. I want the trophy. Nothing else matters to me. I don't care how we get there. It's like the whole, I don't want guys to get hurt. I mean, not our players.

If guys get, oh, you're facing the Padres. Oh, Juan Soto got hurt. I wanted to beat them at their best. Not me. Don't care. I'll face a minor league squad as far as I'm concerned. That's my mentality right now. I want to win the world series at all costs. Well, uh, two, one, five, five, nine, two 94 94. If you want to

get in and join the phones here, James Seltzer known loser, uh, wants to see more of royals reds uh the the bad teams in the nl and al me i'm on the side i'm on the side of give me more national league competition because james here's the one thing that you're not i want to win games win games here's the one thing i want to win more than you i guess i'm just a in reality the the bigger competitor. That's the truth. Here's the thing. And again, 215-592-9494. We'll get to your calls in one minute. But this team, how are they going to be battle tested heading into the playoffs if they aren't playing against top level competition?

They're still going to play them. They just don't need to play them as much. They're still going to play all these teams. You get more battle tested the more that you go along, I need that. I tested that you win 85 games and miss the playoffs. That sounds awesome. Let's do that. There were so battle tested that they only,

they pretty much the only reason they made the playoffs last year is because they beat the nationals 17 out of 19. Yeah. The nationals, the only part of it, that's a bit depressing that we lose all those games, but I'll take it for more Royals and Rangers games, let me tell you. I mean, to be fair, seeing Bobby Witt Jr. would be a lot of fun, for sure. Oh, especially he's on my fantasy team, keeper team. All right, 14 minutes.

Really good job by us. Tyrone Walker, Jack. It was good. I expected to go like a few minutes without talking about the signing. Didn't expect to get almost a quarter of an hour into the pod without even just really talking about it at all. You know what my thing is, James, is that I really like doing this podcast.

And I just like, you know, we'll get to it. We'll get to it. We'll get to it. We'll get there. We're not going anywhere. Yeah. I mean, whatever. I just,

sometimes I just want to, I want to have fun talking about sports every once in a while. I get it. I totally get it. God, this Eagles thing's been boring. Am I right? It's,

it's tough watching an all time great team. I'm right there with you. Just watching them dominate people. It's just like, Oh God, Jack sends me a, this is boring text every Sunday. Like just like, oh, God. I will say. Jack sends me a this is boring text every Sunday. No, that's Elliot.

That's Elliot. Oh, you're right. It is Elliot. But then you'll be like, yeah, it is. And I'll be like, you guys are the worst. Well, no. What I usually do is that when the Eagles go down their first drive, I'm like, sweet, a blowout.

This is easy. The team always comes back. I will say this. I will say this. An official update on my uh on my eagles uh fandom um this is appropriate we need like a drum i'm just saying uh my official update is that i'm back you know it took me it took me a good like i thought i was gonna get over the world series and the high and that like a, a lot faster than I really did.

Like, in reality, the first time I felt anything about the Eagles was when they beat the Titans. Me too. I had the exact same thing. It was the Titans. They just whooped them. And I was like, okay. I was like, this is fun.

I was like, let's get them back. Well, and then in classic, like, Phillies fashion, they destroy the Titans. I'm like, oh, they're back, locked to go to the Super Bowl. And then 20 minutes later, they sign Trey Turner. I'm like, you dogs, man. You can't let me get too far away, can you?

They're like, just when they thought I was maybe going to start tweeting about the Eagles again. Bang! There's Trey Turner. I wonder if it's a coincidence. Probably not. Yeah, they probably heard me on the radio. I mean, they probably heard you. Oh, birds! Oh, and you're

tweeting, by the way. Actually, you know, we'll get to that one more later. Speaking of tweets, since you brought it up, maybe in the history of Jack Fritz, the most Jack Fritz tweet of all time, you is your top five things that you're mostly looking forward to or that matter the most to me for next year like it

it is art this tweet this is jack fritz art all the way down to adding a sixth and a separate tweet like it is just, but, but, but obviously, you know, everything else is good. You know, it's all solid,

but, but you going with, with win the world series at two eclipse by trade. It's like, it's like, it's almost like the bit becoming self-aware it's almost too much it's almost hard to to and what am i supposed to say here what do you what am i supposed to say jack would you rather see the cycle streak end that's that's the question i have to ask you like

for everybody i have to ask if you could just have one of these things on the list happen next year, would you really take the Cycle Over the World series? Because I fear the answer is yes. So if you gave me the option. Oh, man. This is already wrong. This is already the wrong answer. Whatever's going to happen next, It's already wrong. It's already the wrong answer. Whatever's going to happen to exit's already wrong.

If you gave me the option of 100% lock, like Trey Turner hits the cycle, and just make the World Series, you don't necessarily win the World Series, I'll take the Trey Turner cycle. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. I want you to imagine. Can we just take a timeout? I'll take the Trey Turner cycle. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Just think.

I want you to imagine. Can we just hit a – can I take a timeout? Timeout on the podcast. Timeout. Timeout. Okay, good. But I'm just saying. Is this like when I curse?

Is this the same thing? No, this is staying in, but I want you to calm down. So don't just put a huge bleep over this whole time. No, no, this is timeout. This is timeout, but keep listening because we're not really going anywhere. I want you to just envision for me, like, okay, awesome. Sir Anthony Close's Otherworld series. That's very exciting, and the rally towels are going. It's awesome.

But imagine when Trey Turner starts making the turn for third base and just the reaction of that fan base when they know that the david bell era has officially come to a close and we no longer have to be haunted with the with the uh replay every year that talk about david bell's the last fill it here for the cycle like it's gonna be great and the other thing james i was thinking about this and i wanted to know um if i could run this by you slash uh slash start a new movement oh good i love when you do this thank you great yeah so i don't know if you've seen the tape of the david bell uh cycle but i'm pretty sure that his last at bat or one of his last at bats where he

hit the triple, I'm pretty sure that's a home run. And I, Oh, you want a petition? I would just like to go back. I think it's a good idea right here. I like this.

This, this is, this is strong. This is really good work. Whatever. This whole thing is good. I just want to, I want to, I want to change the ruling. If you can just change it

to a home run, get the replay on it, get the A-Rod second camera, get the Zapruder film out. We got more important things than JFK. We need to figure out. We got to figure out. Honestly, I'm impressed you knew

what the Zapruder film was. That's good work by you i'm shocked i mean no big deal to me um i mean let's not get carried away i mean i'm impressed that you knew it not that any human knew it hold on man hold on man yeah if i wasn't doing this i was going to school to be a history teacher what yeah whoa bombshell on the pod so if you were not you like the baseball holding by the way it's gonna work i've been been holding baseballs all the time lately around the house you know what it's really good at it's really good for keeping you away from your phone when you're watching stuff i mean we all know like you go to grab your phone you want to like oh i missed that i should have paid i have to rewind it or I don't or I miss whatever.

Like, holding a baseball is a really good, like, life hack or whatever that crap is. Like, it really is. It's really good at, like, keeping you away from your phone because you're just playing with a baseball. I want to see a grip. You want me to see a grip. Can you get a four-seamer off for me or what?

What I see is four-seamers like that. Like, none of those. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It doesn of those. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It doesn't. It's so spread apart. I mean, knuckler Jack. Yeah.

No, no. What do you hold a four seamer with? Like, I mean, because I'm throwing from the catcher position or third base. I'm not a pitcher. You're not getting any zip on that.

I'm just holding a baseball. It's fun to hold. Anyway, back to the point i was making um which honestly i i think i've completely lost in the moment here um i was going to be a history teacher yes thank you what what so explain explain someone who's like often kind of like shirked history or uh i mean you're not bad you're not bad but you definitely have done the whole you know hating on the old people and you know things along those lines i wouldn't i wouldn't have taken you for someone who respects history jack

um yeah i mean i've definitely gotten way worse as honestly is the only subject in like high school that i was pretty good at. And that's only because I'll just teach it. It's because I'm going to remember a lot of stuff. So, no, I vividly remember after getting a one seven GPA my freshman year. Wow. Wow. I was a finance major while playing baseball.

And I'm horrible at that. One seven? Dude, it was so bad. It was so bad. I remember I vividly, I left my- Wow. You almost have to try to be that bad. Dude, it was so bad. It was so bad.

I mean, I'm sure that I'm just, I'm shattering so many, people are like, had this image of me as a scholar. Oh, yeah. I think that's what people thought. Yeah. Yeah. They're like, wow, this guy. Every time I listen to him, it's's just like he's a super genius um well now to be fair like i i so

i was sitting anyway i'll get to my future gpa because that's the one that really matters um your your future gpa in what the world in life no like in the rest of college okay yeah good good i appreciate my freshman year i'm coming off a hot one seven or whatever i think it was and maybe the two two i don't know um it was one seven don't try and clean this up probably but but i was like sitting on a on a bench and i was like what do i want to do like you know i was like on one hand it'd probably be i'd like to be a history teacher you know like you know get to coach high school baseball and that was really the key of it right it's like how what kind of teacher could i be where i could coach high school history history is the one sure um but then but then on the other

hand i was like well what do i really want to do and? And what I really wanted to do was give opinions on stuff. Look at you, buddy. Here we are. So I switched to mass communications, and I had a 3.3 GPA in my major. I want that to let the record show. 3.3? You were doing a 3.8 in grad school?

Yeah, well well it's because you're a nerd so so that's the story of me almost becoming a history teacher although i probably would have hated it and uh i'm way glad that i chose this so here we are here we are buddy that was really that was something i did not see that coming after that though, plowed ahead. And here you are. It's a story of perseverance, dedication, and you know, and you know, stardom,

let's be honest, right? Sure. All right. What do you think? Taiwan Walker, 25 minutes. Is that an appropriate amount of time to talk about the signing that is

going to probably be some form of the title of the podcast, or at least the title of the broadcast that we're doing right now? Well, I think it's like, by the way, by the way, for people who don't know, if you just listen to the pod,

we're doing them live now. Check us out, check out the Twitter and stuff. We'll do it on the WIP YouTube page. So if you ever want to watch, see the baseball, I'm holding, make fun of how dumb we look.

See the Miller lights that we drink during the podcast. Shout out to Miller Light. Check out the video. All right, Jack. Tywon. So I guess my official position is that Tywon Walker is fine, but there's a part of me. He's better than fine.

He's good. He's good. He's good. For me, he's a low end three high end four. I think it's a perfect way to put it. Um, perfect way to put it, but my,

he's better than Zach Eflin. My problem is, is I, I just, I kind of think they missed an opportunity. Like I just, I, I,

I feel that way. Well, not even Rodone. Like I still think there could have been a trade out there for a, for a better starter, whether it's Bieber, whatnot. That's the weird part about this free agency. No trades.

There hasn't been any big trades. Like a zero. Not a single big trade. And maybe they're, I don't know, does this even matter, but maybe they're waiting until after the holidays so people don't have to move during Christmas. Does that matter at all?

It seems like something a team, that would be like a really next level thoughtful I guess yeah yeah I doubt it um but you know I I just I so I think that you're heading into next year and it's it's still Wheeler Nola um who are great but I I just I have this fear in the back of my head like he's got Nola pitched 230-some innings. Wheeler pitched a ton. And then he had a dip in the playoffs where they couldn't pitch him on less than six days rest. Ranger was great. But I love Ranger.

And I think he's really good. But it seems like every year it's like really good for like three weeks and then three weeks it's down and everyone's like oh get him back in the bullpen you know every year i mean it's gonna happen this year um where it's like he's obviously a number two starter and then he goes back to like not being great and then hopefully he gets on a run in the second half of the year and it's good but i think we're just we're putting ranger into a category that i'm not sure that he's ready for yet like i like i had a vision of heading into this year with ranger as like my souped up superstar four you know what i mean um so like i just think they like they're still heading into a postseason um you know a series where you know they got their one two ranger i

hope is good and then it's like tyler walker should be good but is he is he a difference maker and i think he's more of a guy that gets you to the playoffs rather than through the playoffs yeah i agree with that i do think though ranger has the upside to be a guy gets you through the playoffs as we've seen just because of his demeanor and the way he goes about his business I agree with that. I do think, though, Ranger has the upside to be a guy who gets you through the playoffs, as we've seen, just because of his demeanor and the way he goes about his business. And look, I don't think this is necessarily the year, but there is, depending on how they manage him, Andrew Painter is the kind of guy who theoretically could be a difference maker.

Now, he's young, and I think, as you've talked about, I think it's unfair to ask him to be that right now. But I do think that that potential is there, and that's what you're hoping for. But I'm right there with you, man. Especially, and it's not just the high end, it's the depth of the rotation too. I mean, you look at what the Mets have done, and annoying as it is, and we talked about it. Look, I think Steve Cohen is great for baseball.

It sucks. He's made Middleton better, like we've talked about. And you see these owners, the fricking John Fisher. I mean, talk about the Sean Murphy trade. The embarrassing part of that is just another guy. The A's just are going to trade away and not pay.

Like, like they never pay anybody. Like, um, so, but you look what the Mets are doing. I mean, they,

they are literally like eight guys deep in that rotation and their rumors, they might trade grass go away or whatever. They have some maneuverability, but like they got a bunch of guys and yeah, they got some old guys, potential injury risk, this and that. But you look at it in terms of getting through the season from a starting

pitcher perspective, you know, they just got dudes that they can just kind of keep cycling in. That's something the Braves have been really good at the last few years with having guys in the high minors that they can kind of move up and move out the, you know, bad example of this, but like even Sean Newcomb had a year where he was good.

Like those type of guys where, you know, you know bad example of this but like even sean newcomb had a year we was good like those type of guys where you know you know i mean it's just the first thing that popped in my mind of guys you can move up and down i'm not talking about the guys who stay in the rotation like i'm just saying like dudes you know and the phillies you have not had that so i like it's not just the high end part which does worry me i agree with you um but because i do think look the the five if it's ultimately painter and i do think they're gonna have to add someone else you know i do think there's gonna have to be a little more depth here well i guess it comes down to what do you feel about falter you know oh yeah yeah well falter is the depth and look i the point i was gonna make is like it is still a good rotation you know don't get me wrong when you look at the rest of rotations of baseball like

it's up there it probably goes into the season as a top 10 type of rotation like it's good it's just to jack's point i mean we just saw them lose the world series because they went against you know a do-do-no-hit-em and then you know frambo valdez being freaking nasty twice and like they just ran into it and you saw what and then the best bullpen maybe we've ever seen, you know, you see what that could do and how that can win you a world series. And, and as excited as I am at the ovens and I am,

I'm through, through the, you know, over the moon. Like I do still, I think they still have to fill this out more like right now, because right now I don't think they have the depth at, you know,

and again, look, they, they came two games away from the World Series. I'm not saying they can't win the World Series. But we can't. In terms of where they should be going in the season, they're a little light still.

My thing is I can't use that World Series as a reference point for how it usually works. We talked a lot about this with the Eagles winning in 17. It's like that's not a blueprint. They brought in a bunch of one-year guys, Nick falls on the Super Bowl and got insanely hot. Like that's not something you can replicate. And they had like a magical chemistry culture thing that, you know, is once in a generation, which, which, yeah, which,

which is part of what the, I think that's part of what it was. And like, and you said that right after the season, you're like, it's hard to replicate that. It is. It is a hard thing to replicate. So, you know, I can't just use the whole, I can't just keep saying, well, they got the game six of the World Series, so, like, everything's fine. You know, like, they had things that went their way as well. So I just, I'm trying to plan against having to go on a streak of our lives again to get to the world series like

things are going to be different you know going forward those magical runs just don't happen um and my thing is like i think andrew painter is going to be insane and like i've already got i've got his hall of fame plaque already up and coming down like no pressure i can't wait to see what he does but i think that peak Andrew Painter is still two years away. I think minimum, like starting to really turn into like a star is still two or three years away. Like he's going to come up,

he's going to flash, but there's going to be some growing pains with them. Like, I mean, he's 20. Is he even 20? I think he just turned 20. Maybe he's like,

I think he just, I think he's 19. He might be 19. So that's the way he's's super duper young, man. Jose Fernandez came up and was unbelievable and just didn't stop being unbelievable until, obviously, unfortunately, he passed away. But I'm just trying to think of...

Guys who came up that young as pitchers who were that good. And were just good. Bumgarner came up and was really good. There aren't many. I mean, you see it with hitters sometimes, like the Bryces of the world and stuff, were just good like bum garner came up and was really good um you know aren't many i mean you see it with hitters sometimes like the prices of the world and stuff but that are just like tatis was unbelievable from day one yeah i mean trout was young when he came i mean there are guys who are just you know super i'm just saying like usually usually pitchers come up and like

they flash and wander there's another super young kid who came up and flashed and it's been good yeah it's a great, it's really rare. I'm trying to think. I'm racking my, there are definitely examples, and I'm sure there are people listening to this right now who are like, how could you not think of this person or that? Like, Dwight Gooden was pretty young when he came up. I don't even know if he was that young, though.

I mean, it's really rare. Walker Bueller's always been pretty good. Yeah, he's been great, but he wasn't even, like, 1920. He was, like, was he that't even like 1920s like see that young because 1920s no well he was drafted out of vanderbilt so yeah like it's 1920 to come up and and have success right away as a pitcher is like uber rare it is and and and hey if answer painters the exception like can't wait we'll take it yeah like i'll take it um it's just a big ask and the last time that dembrowski did this was bonderman and bonderman wasn't anything that was

great no um so um again it's just it's just a big ask and falter you know i like some of the things we saw from the last year i think people are overreacting a little bit too much to one playoff start yeah i think so too especially a game that he hadn't pitched in what like 15 days or whatever it was and it's like hey kid go out in the playoffs and do it and then he got shelled didn't get through an inning it's like he's the worst pitcher i've ever seen get him off the team especially i do think i don't think the phillies i don't blame them but i think the phillies immediately taking him off the world series or not putting him on the world series roster didn't help people's perception of him like the whole thing was just like a disaster he was we trusted

him more than guys we were like oh i trust him more than nola at one point well they don't make the like straight up they don't make the playoffs that falter doesn't do what he did in the middle season i mean he was the stopper at one point bailey falter yeah um so like i'm i'm i i'm excited to see what he does you know this year like he's fine um again like i just think they missed not like the the window we've talked about it's a lot but like the window is they missed it not like the the window we've talked about it's a lot but like the window is now and and it's kind of you push all your chips in and if that costs you a mick able that costs you a mick able like you i i have trusted the pitching development staff enough to where they can go out and they can keep finding finding guys so um

so but tyler walker on the surface like yeah i'm i'm happy you know i've liked him a lot you know i i drafted him in 2013 and oh buddy i've owned him many times in his diamondback days oh seattle oh seattle the year the blue jays were in a two something era um so he's and he throws hard man he brings it sort of i mean like he's like 99 95 not anymore not anymore no he's like he's like 93 to 96 in most of the starts that i watched uh and i have watched a couple starts since they signed i could have sworn i saw him hitting 99 last year at the mets i would be i i don't think so but it much better at this speed than I am The thing that I'm really excited about

And the thing is Is that if you gave me a choice Of Tyone or Tywon Walker I would have rather had Tywon Walker He probably isn't as durable As Tyone which is weird to say But I just like the stuff more

I like the stuff from from tyone walker more still has a good you know high spin four seamer that you know it's not as powerful as it used to be but still does it but i i genuinely i can't wait for the splitter man like i i'm a sucker for a good splitter um and tyone walker splitter is awesome so um i look forward to now kyle schwarber not having to hit home runs off of him you know that should that should bring his era down by a little bit um and uh that is the big problem with the unbalanced scheduling is schwarber can't face the mats as much i know i know at least june still exists if they think out june might be in trouble but i don't think they're going to do that.

If they get rid of June, we're screwed. Yeah. So, you know, he's good. I think him as a four is a luxury. The weird part about him, but something that I actually am turning into a positive, is that the last two years, first half has been unbelievable. You know, ERAs in the two. You know, a lot of buzz about Tywin Walker. And then, like, his second half has kind of fallen apart.

Black Wheeler-esque back in the day. But he is now a full two off-seasons removed from Tommy John. You know, I kind of anticipate that the more and more he throws and the more and more his body continues to get adjusted to this, that, like, I think he's continues to get adjusted to this, that like, I think he's going to be able to power his way through and get, you know, head into the home stretch and in second halves pitching really well.

So I actually think it's a, it's a bit of an upside play, you know, his, he hasn't pitched a ton like for, for a guy that's 30 and it's been around for so long. It's not like he's pitched a ton. Like I think 2019 was like his first full year in the majors.

Yeah, well, I remember promoting him in Fantasy and it always felt like I owned him and he was injured and out for the year. I felt like that was the Tywin Walker story. Maybe there's more upside there, but overall, a really, really good number four, a low-end three

that is going to help them get to the playoffs again. But again, what happens in the playoffs again um but again what happens in the playoffs like having to start thor in a world series game like is is pretty much my nightmare um so we're just got one year 13 million too i know i know arc it's wild this market is why why did tyler anderson sign so early i know what a mistake he blew it what is it good for the angels did something good for the first time ever yeah um so yeah it's fine and uh and uh i'm definitely excited for tyler walker doesn't seem like it you're very you've probably said fine like 13 times about it i like time on walker i'm excited about time on walker i just can't help but feel like

there should have been a bigger i'm with you look i'm the one who said go get rodone you know look the yankees signed judge and rodone can't be the yankees whatever no big deal um what about straw i know you're really excited about straw. Oh, come on, man. I'm not going to sign any lefty reliever. I feel like I'm getting that response from you. No, I mean, you want to talk about, you know, wheelhouse. If you want to talk about looking for 2016 fantasy guys. Actually, you know, I feel like 2016 was like closer in years than it really was.

Like 2016 was like seven years ago. A while ago. Yeah, it was a while ago anyway um maybe more like 2018 2019 uh fantasy hype matt strom so uh last year was his first year converting to a full-time reliever role i know he had talked about that he wanted to start again they didn't sign him to start you. And he was never a good starter. So he seems like a guy. You want to know my comp for Matt Stramas? Sure. 2016 Brad Hand.

How's that? How's that for a comp? Not a good starter. It's a good pitcher. Has really, really good stuff and blossoms. Well, if he blossoms into what Brad Hand did in San Diego, like, I mean, we're getting a steal. Yeah, he'd be the closer for the team, like shutting games down.

Probably won't be that. But, like, there's legitimate upside here that we just haven't seen from the last couple of free agent signings, especially in the bullpen. There's legitimate upside that has me excited. I think we could be looking back a year from now and be like seven and a half millions of steel. Well, especially the way the other prices have been. It made it look even better. It's insane.

So just from the looks of it, fastball seems like it's hard to pick up. The overall scouting report just in watching them seems like it's hard to pick up um it seems like the overall scouting report in you know just in watching them is seems like stuff's really good moves all over the place um tough to square up but doesn't know where it's going all the time which is classic so he's definitely frustrated us at some points but listen man if they could make jose alvarado like like not be a heart attack to watch i'll take a shot on a lefty that has control issues possibly figuring it out here um so yeah matt strong i'm really really excited about something that i thought was fascinating that he did last year um is so generally speaking for right-handed pitchers, they were, we're always taught to

stay on the right side of the mound because it creates the angle to where it looks like the ball is being released behind their head. Um, and it's just like harder to pick up supposedly. So, um, like starting on the left side of the mound, it gives the right-handed batter more time to pick up pitcher throwing so the the the idea is starting the right side of the rubber to be more deception what matt strom did last year was against lefties he went all the way to the left side of the mound and against righties he went all the way to the right side of the mound so like i've never seen pitchers change sides. That's really interesting, though.

I mean, why not? It's a tiny advantage, you know? Just stay in one spot. So that's just something to look for. That's really interesting. That is really interesting. Yeah, it's fun. It's kind of funky. I like that.

I like that. I'm intrigued to watch it. And I think the thing that I like the most about Strauman and Tywon Walker is that they continue to look for guys that just seem like great dudes like they keep like schwarber um uh like strom taiwan walker culture culture matters jack great guys that everyone wants to be around look it mattered we talked about it a zillion times how important we thought that was you know so um i think there's gonna be some control issues there but uh i think it fixed jose al-raz control issues i had pretty

confident that a former starter that you know has some stuff can can figure it out so i'm definitely excited about match drum my big thing now is it's like what's next you know that was gonna be my next question because i'm right there with you on Strom. Everything you said, look, he's a bad ham replacement. Like, win. We're great. What's next?

That was my next question to you. And at this point, looking at the reliever market, you know, there's some, like, interesting little names, but you're kind of still, like, how confident are we supposed to be heading into next year?

And Sir Anthony and Alvarado are great. But also, to the point you made about Nolan Wheeler, Sir Anthony and Alvarado asked to pitch into November, coming back after a short offseason and all that. Bullpen pitchers year to year, it's so fluctuating. I can't just say they're locks i feel great about sir anthony but like i'm not i'm not sure they're going to be as dominant as they were last season i hope they were but you know what i mean like well there's uncertainty

there i mean sir anthony alvarado's had like you know what like three good months right i mean three great months but like prior he got sent down in june or whatever it was so you know like you know it you know i you're asking a lot if you're saying all right we got these two studs and we're set like you know well and the other thing about sir anthony is is that dude when he when he got hurt for the month or whatever it was the bullpen was a disaster like it was a freaking mess it felt like they lost like the the linchpin of the bullpen they were just they lost everything it was awful um and like i love brogdon i love baladi

but like you know brogdon was unpitchable at one point and then he got hot which is great but we've seen every year like relievers get hot i i just think that you know and sir anthony i mean sir anthony alvarado actually i mean by the end of the world series like they didn't have they didn't have their best stuff like they were they didn't look they didn't look how awesome they look you know in the cs and the and the ds um so that's a real big concern for me like they were linked to seth lugo today from from hayman it's like that's fine sure you know sethie spin rates um currently wants to start those what they're saying that cute seth that's the phillies wanted him as a reliever and uh and so it's not like that so you know i think that you know there hasn't been many trades so far this off season, but I mean, it seems like maybe Liam Hendricks is available.

You know, if you want to go lock down the back end and let everyone else fall into a role, um, you know, you could sign a bunch of these like semi cooked guys and like last year, like, oh,

geez. Um, Dombo's guy. I, you know, this might come back to buy me. I actually wouldn't hate signing Zach Britton just to see if there's anything left.

You know, I mean, I know they saw you are like the world's biggest Zach Britton sucker and always have it. He's a great pitcher, but like you, you are, you are the guy.

Everyone has those guys that they're still in on like six years after they're out of the league. Zach Britton's your guy. Yeah. Me and Buck show author, leaving them in the bullpen. You wouldn't have done that. You know, I would have brought him in in the third. Zach Britton's your guy. Yeah, me and Buck Showalter, leaving him in the bullpen. You wouldn't have done that. No, I would have brought him in in the third.

You get me? Yeah, exactly. Dude, I'm just saying that, like, what, 2015 Zach Britton, that's the best pitch I've ever seen in my life. Thank you. Well, besides second half, second half Arrieta or whatever. That was a good one too Yeah, you are right I've always

I know, I know I don't appreciate being called out And stuff like that at all It completely threw me off my rhythm But Because I started thinking about that sinker Are you kidding me? I mean, that's disgusting.

No, but yeah, I just don't know what the... I think those guys are fine. I think they're good. And I just think that there needs to be more bullpen moves is my overall take. Big time. Big time. Whether it's signing one of these free agent guys,

I would have signed Pierce Johnson. I was a little annoyed they didn't sign him i know you're a big pierce johnson guy big pierce johnson guy loved it um but i just why you know maybe there's a trade out there you know maybe after the maybe that's the next domino of uh of this market is is these these free agent trades so are these um these reliever trades but i are these, um, these reliever trades, but I, I, it's one of those, those things you look at and it's like, man, I,

it's just, I can't, I can't sit here and say everything's fine. When I, when I look at the bullpen, when I'm thinking about one, one 62 again. So,

you know, um, which I think, I don't think they're looking at and saying it's fine. I do think there are more moves to come. Yeah. Whether it's trades or not. Look,

we've heard so many, you know, Jason Stark and all these people being like, they're going to go further. They're still spending all that stuff. So I believe there'll be more stuff that happens. But I'm with you. Like, I hope it's not retread signs. Like, I hope Dave learned from the Familia signing last year.

I mean, we helped him, though. I mean, we did, but that's that exact same signing. I mean, it's exactly like signing Craig Kimbrell would be the exact same thing as signing Familia last year. Like, it's the exact same signing. I mean, it's exactly like signing Craig Kimbrell would be the exact same thing as signing familiar last year. Like it's the exact same idea, you know, the one guy,

the one guy I am, I am talking myself into, um, that, that, you know, that's not Zach Britton, um,

of the, uh, of the cooked, the cooked crew, um, is, is Trevor may the, one of the baby aces. Oh, bring him home.

So so here's my here's my reasoning. I know if you look at the overall ERA, you're like, oh, my God, what a terrible idea. Apparently, he was not tunneling his slider in his fastball until late in the season. You got a tunnel final two months. Yeah, right. Playing on Twitch or whatever it is yeah uh final two months in the array around two so um i would i would take a look at trevor may um other than and he actually is from here like wasn't just uh like uh i believe right like he's actually a from

here guy too no he's a he's a uh he's a baby a so it's not like he's from here. I know he was, but I think he is also from here. Let's see. No, he is from Washington State. I don't believe you. I don't believe you. The only guys I absolutely do not want to sign are... Look at myself. He is not from Washington State.

He is from... He is from... Hold on. Not Washington. Washington State. He is from... He is from... Hold on. Not Washington. Washington State. No, he's from here. Look. Yeah, he's from here. Yep. Turns out he's from here. That's right, though.

Washington State. The state of Washington. No, it's Washington, Philadelphia. Yep. All right. The only pitchers I don't want out of the bullpen is Chapman, Kimbrell, Will Smith. I don't really want Knable again.

Will Harris, Brad Hand, Michael Givens, Michael Fulmer, Ian Kennedy, Rosenthal, Adam Odovino. Oh, my God. If they sign Adam Odovino, I'd be so furious. And Archie Bradley. There was one guy in there you said who I wouldn't have hated and now I'm blanking on who it was.

I know. Who was the one? Who was two before Odovino? Michael Gibbons? Michael Fulmer? Michael Fulmer. I would sign Michael Fulmer. I'd be all right with that.

Man, we really are 2016. Michael Fulmer michael fulmer i would sign michael fulmer i'd be right with that man we really are 2016 michael fulmer michael fulmer traded traded for who former mets prospect top mets prospect traded for who um so he's traded to the tigers ah who is he traded for? All right, tell me. Jonas Cespedes. Oh, yeah, that makes sense. Cespedes trade.

That jives. That jives. All right. What else? I guess that's it from Take Back. I feel like we're 50 minutes in. I feel like we're firmly in Take Back territory here. First thing at Take Back,

I do, you know, we're just talking about relievers. I wonder if Griff McGarry is going to have a bigger role on this team. You want to talk about a possible impact reliever. Yeah, no, it's a really interesting point. We've only talked about trades and signs of that. We've not thought at all about internal options and,

you know, Griff's good. That could be cool. Griff, especially out of the bullpen. Yeah. I mean, he's already out of the bullpen.

If he could just go max effort for an inning or two, like that's, you know, honestly, screw it. I don't even need him to be a starter anymore. Give me an elite reliever. Yeah, an elite reliever. Even if you could have an elite reliever.

Like, if you had another Sir Anthony, essentially, for like, you know, six years of team control or whatever, like, it's a freaking valuable piece, man. A really valuable guy. So, it's an interesting thought. Yeah, I just, yeah, I keep looking guy so it's an interesting thought yeah i just um yeah i i keep looking back and it's like well man maybe maybe griff's a big part of their plan um so that that's a thought on that um this is gonna make you mad but i need to just give me just give me two minutes just give me two gosh okay yeah should i two minutes. Oh, gosh. Okay.

Yeah. Should I read my book or should I actually pay attention? What should I do here? Well, the worst part about doing these on camera now is I can see your facial reactions and stuff. So, are you ready? Yeah, I'm ready. So, the Phillies hired a new minor league hitting coordinator. This is fine.

This is fine. This is what we do here. I'm okay with this. Go ahead. So they hired Luke Merton, who was a cross checker for the Padres. Obviously worked with Preston Mattingly and all that stuff. So he's a former, another Yankee guy. He was a Yankee farmhand. Actually owned his own hitting advancement company.

He's owned it since 2009. So he's pretty well versed in hitting. I'm not going to say I know a ton about him, obviously. But in a long article by Gelb today, just detailing the new philosophical changes for the Phillies hitting organizational structure or whatever, I leave it feeling pretty happy. Basically, what they tried to do is try to recreate what they did with Brian Kaplan and the pitching side. And the pitching side is just a freaking monster.

But you look what they did with, they brought in Brian Kaplan as like the major league pitching coordinator, but he also has a ton of influence over what they do in the minor leagues. So essentially what it seems like is that top down, they have guys in the major leagues and you know, the whole from there to Lehigh to Redding, to Jersey shore to Clearwater. They're all on the same page, all on the pitching side.

But the hitting side, they're all over the place. So now with Kevin Long and Luke Merton at the top, they are instituting a top-down approach on the same thing. They're going to bring in, I think, more hitting guys on that side. So they're trying something to get the the hitting figured out because the pitching has been figured out and i'm just saying i i like that they're going the padres kind of way here and what has me the most excited about it is that you know the padres well well i think they have one homegrown player on the roster,

if I'm looking at all trades or free agent signings, you don't be able to make those trades. Without all the prospects. Yeah, no doubt. Correct. And they've had... Trey Turner, originally. Exactly.

But even though that was like a... A different... No, I know. I'm just saying like pointing out the, the, that those people can turn into great players. Right. But,

um, they have hit on a lot of high school bats over the last couple of years. So they figured out high school pitching. I mean, Mick Abel, Andrew painter, it's a pretty good start. Now,

if you can figure out high school bats and get the upside out of those guys, like the Padres had Robert hassleel and James Wood and C.J. Abrams. And like they've had a lot of guys, you know, and I just I have a vision, James, that they figure out the hitting side paired with the pitching side already unbelievable. And then you have the foundation they already have in the major leagues with waves and waves of young talent that can possibly come up and be facilitated in trades and just make everything even better. Look at you. I can see your face, too. I can see you glowing right now.

I mean, I'm just sitting here thinking about a world where our payroll is still like in the 250s. We got superstars in the roster, and they also have a dope minor league system. I just think that they are on the verge of being a freaking juggernaut, man. I think the Phillies and the Eagles are so far and away the best-run teams in the city. Not a bold statement right there. But I think they're both like...

I just think these next 10 years for both teams are going to be pretty, pretty insane. So it was an interesting hire. I'm interested to see how it goes from here. But I love the idea of just like everyone getting on the same page, bringing in smart hitting people. This guy's gonna help in the draft and he's he's a cross checker for the padres and again padres have been really good at drafting high school hitters um so maybe he has the eye you know barbara's done a really good job on the pitching side hitting is leaving a little

bit to be desired so you get everyone going you get everything on the same page. Man, it's like, I mean, how do you not get giddy about this? I don't know how. It sounds like, you know, dare I say, the things smart baseball teams do, you know? It sounds smart.

You know, what a thought. Begged for years for a smart baseball team. And we might have finally got it but uh that's all i got okay that's all i got good good bedtime for your boy how about it uh right on time yeah this is good honestly this is really fun i had a great time i always do i'm pretty tired i yawn like 15 times i'm so tired i had a i had can tell. I had a Zoe daddy night tonight. Emily was out with friends having drinks. And let me tell you, a lot to handle tonight, Jack.

Get ready, pal. Get ready. Some of those nights. I was like, yeah, at the end of my rope or whatever the phrase is. Yeah. Yeah, at the end of my rope or whatever the phrase is. Yeah, I haven't... I feel like I need to get more mentally prepared for it. Yeah, it takes it out of you sometimes, buddy. It really does.

I'm sitting next to my crib, which is interesting. Why are you such a jerk? Like that kind of feeling. Yeah, that's good. Sounds good. It sounds fun. Be nice to me. I'm your father.

I love you more than anything in the world like could you could you please that kind of i'm just trying to channel where i was at earlier like an hour and a half ago and then he came into this podcast and then i and then i brought it and no one had any idea until i just told him see it's called being a professional jack yep although i think i'm getting kicked out of my podcast studio. Cause this is going to be the nursery and like, Oh, yeah, that's a change.

You should talk to a little baby boy Fritz and be like, yo kid. Yeah. WTF, man. Yeah. Get that, get the bleep out.

All right. Who do you think you are? Yeah. We got the fills, kiddo. Do you even, Do you even know who Trey Turner is? Yeah. Why aren't you throwing a baseball yet, kid?

I clocked you earlier. It was a half a mile per hour. It's unacceptable. Yeah. And then we'll start working on reflexes. It's going to be great. Poor kid. Yeah. Way too much, you might say. Yes. It's going to be great. Poor kid. It's a poor kid. I know. A lot of pressure.

Yeah. Way too much, you might say. Yes. Please, please be good at baseball. It just feels like this kid is so doomed if he can't throw a baseball. It just feels so bad for him. By the way, the freaking Niners defense playing for me in fantasy just almost had a touchdown. Guess what?

They didn't get a touchdown, Jack. Did they pick it off? Fumble recovery. I got Seahawks money line. Got down to the seven. Not looking at 7-3, but the Niners are moving. All right. That's more than enough of that.

That was our football drop into the night. I figure you're always allowed to make gambling comments. I talk about my fancy team in the playoffs. All right. I never said anything about your fancy team in the playoffs. All right. I never said anything about your fancy team. I know. It was a comment. All right.

I'm done. You got anything else? I could really use Tyler Lockett scoring a touchdown tonight. Okay. I'm going to root for that for you, buddy, because I don't really care. Otherwise, I guess against the Niners defense, but whatever. Can we get a Niners defensive touchdown? That'd be cool for me.

Honestly, I don't really care. This is is you know who cares it's fantasy i really don't care you know i care about as football care about the phillies make some moves so we could talk about it and that'd be fun um so i mean next week next week we'll get into a lineup talk oh yeah get ready next week we're gonna talk the week after that we will definitely not be doing a podcast so that's the schedule because i'm off that week so um all right uh this is really fun i needed this right now i'm gonna go back and make sure that my daughter is not you know drove my wife crazy now because she just got home so it should be good um all right uh we'll be back soon. He's friends with something.