High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - The J.T. Realmuto is Not Coming Here Pod (it's just a bit)

Episode Date: January 26, 2021

James Seltzer and Jack Fritz are back with a new High Hopes pod discussing the J.T. situation. The guys also address the Andrelton Simmons rumors, talk about potential trade targets for the Phillies, 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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Yo! It is another edition of the High Elms Podcast and Jack Fritz, another edition where nothing has happened. David Dombrowski, my friend, can you give us something to talk about? How are you doing? I thought you were going to trade all of our prospects. Where is that? Where is all that? I mean, I expect at least one cool trade by now.

So James, I know we just started this podcast. We're a mere 20 seconds in. I know we just talked about prior to talking about this about how we really don't have much to talk about. Can we make this the official JT Real Muto is not going to resign here

pod so that hopefully we can get this thing resolved? Yes, because you know what we need resolved? This thing. This needs it. When there are rumors about the Braves who have Travis Darnot on contract for next year who was a silver slugger last year and all that stuff, when we're at that

point of the cycle is these nonsensical your biggest rival is it is in on him stuff i'm so out on it i'm so tired of this whole thing just just freaking sign jay we all know you're coming we all think yep and i hope you're coming back. We know you're definitely not coming back here, so just sign. How about that? Yeah, just sign with the Braves. We know you don't want to come here, and it hurts, and that's okay. But let me just lay this out for everyone. I've heard a tweet about the Eagles way too much in the last play.

Oh, I actually, just to jump in. I called him out on it at work. I, the other day I was like, what's up, Mr. Eagles tweeter guy. You're just like a machine of Eagle suites. I hate it.

I don't want to tweet about the Eagles. Who cares about the Eagles? I just, I just want this to be over. I need something. I mean, I think there wasn't even good news last Thursday. Like I,

I, so, so full disclosure, James and I pushed off recording last week because there had been some rumblings about a possible JT signing, and it didn't happen on Thursday. And I felt like, James, when it didn't happen on Thursday, I was out. It just wasn't going to happen. If it didn't happen on last Thursday, it just wasn't going to happen.

So listen, we had to push it back. We not happy about it but we're here and this is the official JT is going to sign with the Atlanta Braves podcast because there's no way he's coming back here okay official officially official yeah I don't know how I could argue with that I mean all the signs were there Jack yeah the bat the arbitration thing, that wild factoid that Jason Stark put out there that no one who would ever, you know, want an arbitration hearing it ever sign that guy back, you know, like all this, all the signs are there, Jack. And we were all lulled into it just because the Mets were out and the Mets signed James again.

It's like, Oh, we're getting him back. Did we forget about the 28 other teams besides the Mets and the Phillies? Jack? 0 1 N N. And I listen, you can't put it past that brave team, which has been known to shell out big money for players. They really seem a boy. I tell you what his agent is doing some overtime to drum up the market for JT. Isn't he? He's doing doing a bad job like why wouldn't you say the nationals that that was actually something that people talked about like that actually makes sense they have Kurt granted Philly's killer Suzuki but like I mean come on it's such a natural fit uh yeah and they yeah listen I know I mean just what a like who in their right mind is sitting there like, huh? The Braves make sense. Yeah, that's like seriously this this his agent is a moron.

I mean, between between the floating out the 200 million dollar thing and and this, it's like, come on, man. Like, can we do something a little bit more believable? Like, honestly, if I had to put my guess on what's going on right now, the JT stuff is that, is that the, the union wants him to get as much money possible for a catcher. And they're just trying to get as much money out of the Phillies as possible. And I think ultimately it's going to come down to is, are the Phillies going to give him more years to give him that record

quote unquote number? Like they did with Bryce where he got the record at the time for the $330 million contract. Are they going to do that JT are they gonna blink or are they gonna be like yo there's no one else who's gonna pay you as much as we are just come back like the Blue Jays being out and the Mets being out it's like it's over like it's it's over just just come back just you lost your agent did a poor job and let's wrap this whole thing up let's get this emergency podcast out of the way well and also like it's the reality of the world like i'm sorry to tell you jd right but you became a free agent in the worst off season to ever become

a free agent in the history of your sport or at least you know in a long time it's just like it sucks for him i feel really bad obviously that guy has earned the you know top catcher contra highest paid catcher in the history of baseball like he deserves that he's that type of player and and regardless you know we'll we'll get into discussions about the length of contract and paying a catcher into their mid-30s and all that. But just right now in the moment, he's the best catcher in the sport and he deserves the title of his best catcher in the sport. And I can understand how it's frustrating that, you know, as, as up until this off season, like record contracts were just a thing. It keeps going up. It's like, Oh, he just got the biggest. Then he got the biggest. Now he got the biggest. So you

think, all right, I'm going to get the biggest catcher contract ever. It's perfect timing. I'm the best guy at my position in the sport. Like, no brainer. And a pandemic hit. Like, it sucks. But I'm sorry. At the same time, like, the union can push all at once.

At a certain point, you're going to get what you're going to get you know like the phillies aren't going to say oh like well let's let's do something stupid just so it could be a record number you know like ultimately you need two to tango you need two other teams you need another team driving up the price or else it's going to be whatever the best offer is so i you know i i think that's a really fair point i'm sure the union's been involved they They're always involved in these types of, you know, big money type guys. But I also think at a certain point that the market is bearing out the way it's bearing out. And, you know, we're a month away from spring training, you know, assuming the season starts on time. So, yeah, it's just, look, I think it's a combination of the market.

And also, like you said, his agent has played this incredibly poorly. Dave Dombrowski came in here and is acting like an adult. Very nice to see. He's not just like, F it, I'm going to sign him whatever it takes. He's playing it smart. Just like it seemed like Klintac and that organization and the guys in charge prior did too. But that could also be because they are leaning towards the cheaper side of things as well.

Regardless, it is what it is. Sure. But it does pain me to say this, James. Klintak was right. Oh, absolutely. For as bad as he was as a general manager, the guy knew how to read a market. He was right about Harper.

He was right about Arri. He's right about Arrieta. He's been right about JT. There hasn't been one that he's just- The NOLA contract was brilliant. He's had a few that when it comes to contract and economics, he's had some nice stuff. I don't think he thought that Machado would get 300. I think if I remember correctly, it was like he exceeded their evaluation at 280, if I remember correctly. I mean, I think if I remember correctly, it was like he exceeded their evaluation at 280, if I remember correctly. But overall, Klintac, you know, for his, I mean, obviously his goal is not to pay guys as much as it takes, but he did a pretty decent job, you know, reading the market.

So, you know, that's, I'm not giving Dave much credit on the JT market. This is a, this is a Mac production, baby. Well, Dave could have come in and just said, you know, I'm the new GM. I want to make a big swing and you know,

what type of move and to his credit, like, and I'm sure Middleton is, you know, we all heard the old, now that Dombrowski is here, Middleton is going to open up the checkbook. We'll see. We'll see.

We'll see. Well, there certainly is a lot on the scrap. Not so. I actually wouldn't even say scrappy, but there's, there's a, borowski's here middleton's gonna open up the checkbook we'll see we'll see we'll see well there certainly is a lot on the scrap not i actually wouldn't even say scrap heap but there's there's a there's so much freaking talent in the in the free agent market right now like it's unbelievable it's unbelievable like there's so many guys out there there are so few that have signed a big big they could they could make their bullpen good in like a minute. I know. Most of the guys we talked about in our perfect offseason, our guys are still out there. Yeah.

Yeah, it's infuriating. Well, and I do think that they will do that, at least from a bullpen perspective. I still think they'll spend some money there. But they also still have real holes. I mean, JT, whether, you know, assume he's coming back otherwise it's a we're talking about a whole different world but you're ready for uh 130 of nappy oh my god i love nappy i'm not gonna rip nappy today's not the day jack i'm not gonna rip our future starting catcher

andrew nap that's my bad all right so let's let's play this JT thing out. How confident are you that he will re-sign with the Phillies? 99.9. Yeah, I'm 99.7. I would like for them to end this charade, and he's not signing elsewhere. Again, this is how we were during the Bryce thing. It was like the agent, for as much as a moron as he is, is not not going to come back to the Phillies

to see if they're going to make a final offer. And the Phillies are offering already five years 110. I mean, they're over $100 million. That's what their reported offer already is. Like, the agent would be a moron not to come back to the Phillies if they somehow get a bigger offer than them. And I don't see the offer being out there. Like, they're rumored, you know, Robert Murray's throwing out West Coast teams.

The only team that makes sense from that standpoint is, like, the Giants, even though the Giants just – Joey Bard came up last year. I think they've kind of soured on him a little bit. But they did just draft Patrick Bailey this year, so he should be up last year. I think they've kind of soured on him a little bit. But they did just draft Patrick Bailey this year, so he should be up relatively soon. And they just signed Kurt Casali. This Posey's still there even though he's not really catching anymore. The Giants

are the team that I think is maybe showing some interest. But all this is is just trying to get the Phillies to pay more, and the Phillies are just sitting there like, why? Why do I have to pay more? We're offering a fair contract. Just end it.

Just end it. So I couldn't be more confident that JT is going to return, and if not, I will eat my words and this podcast will be deleted. I feel very, very, very, very much the same. I feel very, very, very, very much the same. Like, you know, again, I don't – I think he's coming back. The only scenario maybe you can paint is if it is something where there is one other team that is willing to – I can't even paint it.

Who? You know, it's like I just – I really don't see any situation where he's more valuable to anyone else right now based on who has already, you know, spent their money in free agency. As we talked about who already has a catcher, how the contenders shake out, who's willing to spend the type of money like he doesn't make sense anywhere else. Like there's nowhere else that makes sense. And, you know, I look if they're looking for a record contract and they're going to keep looking for that. Is there a team that steps in? I doubt it at this point, you know, like the mystery team type of crap. I don't know. I'm with you. I think he's going to be back.

So the one scene that makes sense would be the Nationals. I mean, they make a little bit of sense, but there hasn't been any buzz around what the Nationals are doing. There's been nothing. Boris did a good job by the end of the Harper negotiations where he got the Giants to finally be involved. He started leaking stuff about the Dodgers and their two-year $90 million contract or whatever. He did a good job of that, but JT's agent can't do that

because there's no one that's playing ball with him. There's no team that is trying to help out Boris saying, hey, you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. No one's doing that for JT. JT doesn't have a market outside the Phillies. I would like for them to just end it. Yeah, fight the good fight. Keep doing what you got to do and end it.

And five for 110, cool. Book it. We can discuss what that fifth year is going to look like or even the fourth year. We'll see. But five for 110 is an incredibly fair contract for JT and a good deal. I will say the one thing that drives me crazy with the whole JT stuff is the idea of him being a first baseman or DH by the end of that I would like a little bit

better of a bat for that kind of money? he's getting paid this much money for his defense mostly because he's a great catcher that's it he is a very good hitter

for a catcher. That's just what it is. That's just what it is. Especially in a day and age where catchers seem to be worse and worse as hitters. It is unbelievable. The top 10 catchers are brutal. It's unbelievable. I mean, at least when we were growing up, there were a few guys who could rake,

and there were more middling guys and all that. But I say when we were growing up, like we were young at the same time. Tell me about 70s baseball oh jack i know where's lance parishes of the world these days jack wasn't he a huge bust here he was he was he was really good in detroit though um but yeah massive bust here so that was your fault because you were well that's why i said yeah you recorded the the Lance Parrish emergency podcast. Eight-year-old James is like, Lance Parrish is definitely coming.

How high-pitched was your voice at eight years old? Oh, can you imagine? I literally can't imagine. No, it was, you know... Lance Parrish! He's a human being! Lance Parrish is coming to the Phillies! Oh! That is a high-pitched kid. he's a human being oh that is a high-pitched kid he brought it that kid he brought it um all right so let's send this

forward let's say they sign jt or you know whatever happens there um still some holes to fill in the offense you know in the in the field um we're not even getting, we'll worry about the bullpen at another time because it seems like Dave is as well. But like everyday lineup stuff, you kind of need a shortstop. Yeah, that'd be nice. Baseball champion, it seems like a relatively important position. Obviously, we've talked about Didi. We'll get back to you in a second,

but the newest rumor, and someone of you have mentioned multiple times prior to the offseason, kind of early in the offseason, and then I think in your perfect offseason mentioned them as well. Angleton Simmons. They're rumors. A one-year deal potentially. What would you think?

For those who don't know, Angleton Simmons has moved with the Angels. A superlative, all-time great defensive shortstop. Maybe the best defensive shortstop in the history of baseball. Good. Obviously, a little bit past his prime defensively, but still the best in the game. And has turned himself into a really nice hitter. He's not Francisco Lindor or something like that offensively, but he's turned himself into a really nice hitter uh certainly over the last few years what are your thoughts on andrelton simmons on a one-year deal and then we'll get

to the either or of it um so andrew allen on a one-year deal all in uh uh yeah there's a reason why i kept linking him to the phillies in my perfect off seasons but he uh yeah he's a reason why I kept linking him to the Phillies in my perfect off seasons. But he yeah, he's a guy, obviously, the bats, whatever, at this point, you know, they're signing a one year stopgap shortstop. And for your one year stopgap shortstop to possibly be Andrew on Simmons. I mean, that's a that's a pretty good stopgap. good stopgap i mean and i that's the only thing i care about is a one year kind of stopgap guy because next year if you strike out on the the great free agent class of 2022 then stott is hopefully ready and you can see what you have there in bryson stott if you are able to land one of the big fish in the in the free agent class of 2022 then you can move Stodd and help your team elsewhere. So a stopgap is literally all I care about. And the weirdest part is it seems like the Phillies were not too impressed,

I would say, with DeeDee's defense. I think that's the reason why they haven't been too in on DeeDee. Obviously, there's a couple rumors out there about it, but I think they value the defensive upgrade that Andrew Alton would bring. And when you think about it, when you have Eflin, Nola, Wheeler, those are ground ball guys.

Spencer's more of a fly ball pitcher, but those guys, they're ground ball guys. And you need someone like Andrew Alton Simmons behind them who is, I think, the best defensive shortstop I've ever seen and one of the best of all time for sure. So I think it's a perfect scenario for this team. I don't think it'll cost them much. And, yeah, I would be all in on signing Andrew Allen Simmons.

I know the bat's not great, but it would be fun to watch that guy for a year and just to see what special defense looks like at shortstop. A guy that has actually won a gold glove, not freddie galvis gold glove yeah no see he is he is light years better than freddie galvis and look freddie was a good defender but and yeah the bat's not exciting but like you know he can get on base a little bit um you know like 330 ish range potentially in the obp which obviously is not exciting but atstop, when you're talking about having a superlative gold glove, above gold glove caliber shortstop, that plays. If you can hit 280 and play the best shortstop in the game,

that's an incredibly valuable player to have on your team. So one-year deal for Angelo is an absolute no-brainer. Literally, there's nothing I could say. And I think it'll be even cheaper than, I think they get an $8 million, $9 million maybe. And even if it's more than that, anything up to $15 million for one year for Andrelton, it wouldn't cost that much. But that would still probably be value based on how great he is defensively. Probably even more.

That's a pretty high number. That's a pretty high number. That's a pretty high number. 15. It wouldn't be that. It wouldn't be close. I'm just illustrating how much of a bargain he would be at like eight or nine million, which is probably the range it would come in at. Maybe 10 million max, I would think, right?

Yeah, I think 10 million is the highest it would be. Yeah, I'm just saying that would be a legit value. I mean, someone with that type of defensive skill set. I mean, again, the best defensive shortstop in the history of the game, potentially. The best I've seen other than Ozzie Smith. Those are the only two that I've ever seen who are as good. And even then, like, Andrelton, he's, like, automatic, man.

I mean, and it would be, and I thought, we thought Didi played good defense last year, but, you know, it wasn't perfect. I mean, we're talking about having the best in the sport at the most important position of the sport, which, look, if you have JT behind the plate, you have Andrelton at short, you know, do they still consider it a JBJ type of name?

I mean, all of a sudden, you're talking about having the best up-to-middle defense in the sport. Literally. Well, and you know my age-old theory, defense wins championships in baseball. Sweet. I don't know. I don't know how you can call it.

Market inefficiency. It's Dombrowski coming in and saying defense. That's the thing in the age of home runs and strikeouts. We need defense. Yeah, you take your launch angle and shove it. Watch what we have. We have the best defense in the age of home runs and strikeouts We need defense Yeah you take your launch angle and shove it Watch what we have We have the best defense in the sport Sweet

I don't know how you can call him Can Angleton Simmons jump over the fence and catch fly balls Is that allowed or no No But does he run into the crowd at Yankee Stadium Like Derek Jeter He does not It's hard to call him the best defensive shortstop

when Derek Jeter played forever and had three gold gloves. Please, why don't you do some research over there and tell me he's better than Jeter. Oh, God. Ian, would you prefer him to Didi? I would prefer

Didi on a one-year deal. If I would prefer Didi on a one-year deal. If I could get Didi on a one-year deal, like 12 mil, I would do that. The bat's just so much better. Like, the power that Didi brings you is, you know, it's valuable at that position. And plus the smile. I mean, you've got to factor in. I like Didi. In all honesty, like, I just liked having that guy on my team. And it was, that was the thing.

We talked about it when they signed him. I think we both said some version of every Yankees fan I know loves this guy, and they said we're going to love him. And it was true. I just liked having that guy on my team. Sometimes, and you know me with the athletes are humans. Yeah, man, we know. As you know, it's not even a theory.

One of my things, one of my core beliefs you know, it's not even a theory. Like one of my, my things, one of my core beliefs is that, that, you know, while we, we want championships, we want, you know, the hardware, I was like, sports are supposed to be fun more than anything. We are taking our time, our free time. Like when we have jobs and people do, you know, all this stuff with their life and, and, and, and have so little free time in life and you're choosing you're saying i'm gonna give my free time to this team to this activity that i'm not even doing myself i'm just watching other guys do it well i don't know those games those games did take a lot out of me so i'd say i'm putting in just as much work as work as them it's a fair point but point being that like sometimes it is as much about liking the guys you're rooting for

and having fun watching the sport, even if you don't win at all. And Didi was one of those guys that it was just really fun to root for. Yeah, I tell you what, there's nothing more fun than watching the Phillies in September last year, especially the last week of the year. So really, it's a good point. It's a good point by you. 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 you're such you know heart jack it's called being a romantic I know

I know you play it up so well it's just you love rom-coms i do where's that where's that romantic heart jack uh that's for jill that's for jill that's and thinking about baseball if you want to see if you want to be serious about romantic about baseball for a second don't you just miss being at cbp like just entering into the stadium oh buddy let's let's i've been thinking about it a lot like watching the football playoffs like just entering into the stadium. Oh buddy. Let's let's say I've been thinking about it a lot. I'm watching the football playoffs and the lack of fans and you know, some fans in some places at all. And just like thinking about back to the baseball playoffs,

which we talked at how empty it felt, you know, without fans there. It's just, you know, without home team fans there. Yeah. I,

uh, it sucks. I'm, I'm, I'm done with home team fans there. Yeah, it sucks. I'm done with no fans in a baseball stadium experiment. I understand why we're doing it, and we need to do it, but the moment we could do this again, I need fans at Citizens Bank. I might. No, I will tear up when I go back into Citizens Bank Park for the first time. Like, just I will.

There will be a slight shedding of a tear when I walk to that front gate and I smell the ballpark again and I grab that first beer and I'm out by the Ashburn Alley. I just, I can't wait. I can't wait. I can't wait.

It's like 33 degrees out right now. And I'm just, I get warm. Oh, buddy, I need it. I get warm inside thinking about walking into the Citizens Bank Park again. Ah. I'm very with you, Jack. All right, so that's pretty much it. That's all I got.

Wow. What else do you got? What else? What's in the note bag? I prepared hard tonight. I brought it. Well, here's the... I spent the last 30 minutes before recording hanging out with my daughter, Jack.

And you know what? It was awesome because she's cool as hell. Dude, you've been off since two. She's a cool, honest two-year-old. You've been off since two. Okay. Do you want to hear my afternoon? Okay.

Yeah, sure. So I got done at two. I came home. I worked out. Wow. on what's what's the james shelter workout plan i just so i just started at the beginning of january it was like my you know i'm not a big resolutions guy but it was like my pseudo new year's resolution and uh it's not much i'm just doing the uh that we have an elliptical step it's like a combo elliptical stepper thing it's not like a straight elliptical in our basement.

So I just do that for like 30 or 40 minutes, and then I do some push-ups and stuff. So I'm just easing myself back in. Right. Easing my way back. Sure sounds like you're easing your way back in. Oh, yeah, buddy. Let's not get carried away here.

It's like four days a week. I'm not getting crazy. Yeah. I mean, listen, we all saw the gut. The gut was starting to come in pretty heavy. Buddy. We can't all be running around the city like you and Rocky, you know? Dude, almost every morning.

I can't pretend to be as Philly as you. Oh, dude. I get a cheesesteak every day at lunch. I mean, no one's more a Philly guy than me, especially when I see the skookle, and it's starting to look Kelly Green, which I don't know if it's a good thing. I see the skookle. Yeah, the skookle when I see the skookle. And it's starting to look Kelly Green, which I don't know if it's a good thing. I see the skookle. Yeah, the skookle. I see the skookle.

Anyway, the point is I had a lot to do. I had to cut promos today, Jack. This is something you can... A little inside baseball. Jack and I are in charge of cutting the promos for our shows, like for the Midday Show and the Afternoon Show, that air on the stream year-round.

And every four months or so, our boss will say, hey, I need a bunch of promos from you. And it's a lot of work. And it's not a big deal. It's totally cool. It's not a bad thing. But it's a lot of work. So I did a lot of promos this afternoon.

If I remember correctly, they were due on Saturday. I talked to Battle, and he said I could send them to him today. All right, you jerk? And now he has them, so we're all good. All right. I'm happy for you. So you had a busy day. I had a busy day.

That's the point. So that's all I got, Jack. All right. What do you got? What do you got? What do you carry your load here on the show? Yeah, how about this? You didn't mention Hank Aaron passing away.

Oh, you know what? That's just a horrendous job by me, Jack. Yes, Hank Aaron. Hank Aaron, who I still believe is underrated when we're talking about the GOATs. He absolutely is. Yeah, I mean, when we talk about the goats of baseball, he's always brought up, but it's not the first name. It's Ruth and Mays and Bonds and whatever,

but the first three names out of your mouth should be Hank Aaron, and it feels like it never is. And just in listening to the stories, it's just crazy that that was a world that was like real life. But yeah, just an absolute icon. And I really can't believe he's gone. Like, I can't believe Hank Aaron's not around anymore. Just an absolute legend.

So that was a tough one to go through last week. Yeah, I would actually say of the – and look, we lost – we've talked about it as it's gone on, but there's the list of like, you know, whatever, like eight or nine baseball Hall of Famers who died in the last year or so or whatever. And like Hank is definitely the biggest one. Like that is definitely the behemoth of the group, and that's like a lot of great players who all passed

away and i'm with you i mean he's on the mount rushmore of baseball as far as i'm concerned you know it's like him and ruth and you know a couple other guys jackie robinson um but he's like and willie mays like you know like that's probably it i'm sure we could do a deeper dive in the mount rushmore baseball but like hank aaron should there. Certainly should be one of the five or six names that's discussed. I mean, I know that came out as one of those ones that made the rounds, but just I don't know if as many people

realized that he could have never hit a home run and still had over 3,000 hits. That's always been one of my all-time favorite baseball nuggets that you can just drop in conversation. What is Millie doing back there? What did did you say what is millie doing back there yeah it's actually ruben i think it's one of the two i don't know the door is closed so i'm in inside baseball yet again i'm recording in zoe's room

because it's zoe's bedtime soon but i'm in her room while while emily's watching her downstairs um so i'm upstairs. And Ruben, sometimes he is afraid to walk down the stairs. I've been there. Yeah. We think he had a fall, like a terrible fall down the stairs. Because one day, all of a sudden, he just was like, screw that. I'm not doing it.

And he just hasn't walked down the stairs since. Have I ever told you about my fear of escalators? No! So anyway, the point is, I think Rube's stuck upstairs while something is happening with Emily and Zoe downstairs and he can't get down the stairs and is barking. Thus the bark.

On to your fear of escalators. I hate escalators. I always think I'm going to get trapped. Like my foot's going to get stuck. I always feel like I'm going to fall. That's like ball rats. Yeah, I hate hate escalators i remember when i was like eight yeah maybe i was maybe i was 15 but i was at the top of an escalator and i was afraid to come down so they had to get security to come help me down i'm just kidding i was not i was not 15 i was not 15 no no, buddy. I was not 15. Oh, Jack. No.

No, pal. No. I was like 17. It was last week. I'm sorry. It was yesterday. I hate escalators. They terrify me.

Not me. I know. I get that. I've never admitted that to anyone before. I'm so happy you did, man. I'm so happy you did. man. I'm so happy you did. Safe space. Trust tree.

Not a fan of escalators at all. All right. So baseball, was there a baseball point? Oh, Hank Aaron. Yes, Hank Aaron. That guy. Hank Aaron. That guy.

Yes. I think it was definitely one, too. You could even notice it on the radio where, obviously, we're a Philadelphia sports station, so we talk Eagles, we talk Phillies, all that stuff. But then every once in a while, there will be an athlete who passes away or a former athlete or whatever that will take over the show, and it becomes a running topic in addition. And that's what happened with Hank Aaron passed away. And that really rarely happens where we had people calling in and giving memories of Hank and all that type of stuff. So, um, we played the Vin Scully call, which if you haven't

heard it, uh, go look at it just as Jack was pointing, you know, out, like living in a different world. And, you know, uh, the, the call itself describes that. And, and the whole story behind it, if you've never read up on Hank Aaron's seven 15th, the story about, you know, how, you know, there were death threats and is the reason his mom ran out to hug him at home plate is because she worried someone was going to try and kill him. Like, it's a crazy story and it's a wild thing. And he is one of the all time greats and was a great man, too. civil rights all these types of things like hank aaron was a a a really great human being who left an unbelievable mark on on the world and of course on major league baseball so yeah it's a it's a big one jack yeah and he seemed like a guy that like i i don't know why baseball more than almost any other sport may because i obviously i love baseball the most but like i love hearing old people's

stories about like hank aaron and how much they love them and like what it was like growing up and because it feels like it feels like back in the day baseball players are more viewed as like heroes you know everyone look up to like mickey mannell or ted williams or luke eric or hank aaron willie mays like everyone kind of had their guy and like they they held baseball players in this like higher regard i guess back in the day baseball was what football is now oh well it's a national pastime yeah no i know and it's just it and there was so much less for people to be interested in it was a monoculture thing where it's the same thing with like how like 80 million people watch the mash finale, you

know, where like no one would ever all watch that or however many people would watch a TV show again, because every, there's so many different options for people. Now there's so many different options for people. Plus all these different sports, all these different things you can be into that. It's really cold. The, you know, the, the ability for, for athletes to be that famous, that ubiquitous throughout society, you know, the ability for athletes to be that famous, that ubiquitous throughout society, you know? Yeah, I guess I would say Tiger is probably the last one.

LeBron is close. Like, LeBron's there, like that type of range. Yeah, but he's not even bigger than Jordan was, you know? No, no. Well, I mean, Jordan was bigger than Tiger. Yeah, yeah, no, I know. Yeah. So, yeah, but again, certainly no one in baseball for a long time, you know?

Yeah, but for a good period there, it was like baseball players were like the guys that everyone looked up to. Icon. Yeah. I always liked him. yeah everyone looked up to so um icon yeah i always i always like yeah it's like hank aaron like became like a civil rights force like was like as as a result of that where he was this powerful person and was able to utilize that for for a lot of good in the world and stuff like that like these people were larger than life you know the the baseball players of that era they everyone in the world knew or everyone in

America knew who Mickey Mantle was or Willie Mays was or Hank Aaron was like, you know, no one, you know, how much of America doesn't know Mike Trout is? I'll bet you a lot, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I get it. All right. I've heard it a thousand times and I don't need to hear about the Mike Trout thing. OK, you know, everyone always has to rub it in about how Mike Trout's not that big of

a deal. I get it. All right. And listen, I hate seeing him at eagles games too but it's it's whatever okay you're not a philly guy what else you got well yeah he's a traitor to the city everyone knows that um uh-huh um all right i'm gonna i'll do this one now. Well, because the other ones, all my other stuff is so stupid. Anyway. When is it? Except when you mention Hank Aaron, of course. I would just like to extend an invite.

He has gotten it a lot from High Hopes Nation. You know, they've been tweeting at him a lot. And I would just like to say, Archie, come on the podcast, man. Like, it's time to give it up you know there's been a lot of people tagging us tagging high hopes tagging the Twitter account like Archie if you're going to come on one podcast

and really there's only one podcast to come on make it this one this is our open invitation to you come on the podcast talk to the Phill to the phillies fans that that actually care and it'll be a good time that's my promise archie yeah and here's what i'll say first and foremost thank you to everyone because when i look down through and i'm not a big check the

mentions on twitter but i checked those mentions and it felt like every other, every single one was like, I hope I have going. I hope that was like humbling and awesome. And it made us feel awesome. And we can't tell you how much we appreciate that. But now as Jack pointed out, speaking to Archie, I mean, it's hard to argue with that. I mean, you asked the question, you said, all right, Philly's Twitter, what podcast should I go on? And Philly's Twitter resoundingly gave you an answer. So, you know, we were, we're very happy to have you Archie. We would love to, but to Jack's point, I think the biggest reason you should come on this podcast is to talk to Philly's fans that matter. The Philly's fans who truly care, are diseased, who love their team with all their heart.

That's this podcast. That's this group of fans. So don't love me forever, man. Come talk to us. It'll be fun. Yeah, it would be a real shame if you didn't come on this podcast. And I would just say that it wouldn't be the best way to kick off your Phillies tenure. I would say it wouldn't be the best way to kick off your your philly's tenure

i i would say that would not be the best way i'll also say that you would it would actually hurt jack's soul yes like i i would be all right like i i would love to talk to you archie but i'm i'm gonna be okay you will actually hurt jack by not coming on this pod like he will feel emotional feelings that hurt because of you yes if you i'm just being real i am not prepared to have archie go on another podcast like it would it would crush me i just i just want to talk about your spin right in your fastball i mean it has such a nice giddy up and you know you went from 97 to 94 and it didn't matter because your fastball still explodes like i just want to talk about it like we just want to we want to welcome you to the city in the correct way and we really appreciate the opportunity to talk to you so archie come on the podcast um i the phillies

made a trade last week for uh cj chatham and do i have permission to take, James? Oh, please. Honestly, all this other stuff was just filler nonsense to get to your C.J. Chatham takeaway. He's going to be our version of the Ryan Sandberg trade. He was a throw-in in a deal with a former general manager that left that place to go take a new job much like dallas green and cj chatham is going to be our version of ryan sandberg already has great bat to ball skills now it's all about unlocking the power so first first take i'm the first one to this take uh cj chatham i i am pretty sure you are the first one in this take.

I would bet my life you're the first in this take. It feels good being the first one in this take. This one's going to explode. Is it always good to be first, Jack? That's what I'm wondering right now. Better be first than last. CJ Chatham, next Ryan Sandberg. Write that one down.

Um, I don't need to, you just set it at a new, uh, recording device. So it's, it's for everybody. Yes.

Speaking of other things that I'm going to speak into existence, I am, I am going to get Lance McCullers here. Um, I don't know how I'm going to, I'm on board with this. Whatever we can do, bring Lance McCullers to me. I like this. Yeah. I don't know how I'm going to... I'm on board with this. Whatever we can do. Bring Lance McCullers to me.

I like this. I don't know how I'm going to do it, but I will do whatever it takes to get Lance McCullers here. I was looking at it. He has one year left on his deal. He's owed about $6.5 million. I don't think he's signing there long term. I'm going to do whatever it takes

because thinking about Lance McCullers and Caleb Cotham, it's enough to make me sleep well at night. And the idea of a rotation of Nola, Wheeler, McCullers, Eflin, Spencer Howard, love it. So I will do whatever it takes.

I don't know how I'm going to figure it out, but I'm going to bring Lance McCome colors to the Philadelphia Phillies. Book it. Fully, 100%, totally on board. I have two things that I'm going to say about it. One, whatever you need from me, I'm here to support this effort. I appreciate it. Anything you need, just say it and two unlike archie until further notice i want to

make sure mccullers is coming on if this happens so you know just throw that out there yeah i'm pretty sure he will be coming on the podcast if he's a philly um well i mean if you're the reason he comes here then yeah i i think we better get him on the podcast i i totally agree i i totally agree so uh we will do whatever it takes to bring lance mccullers here uh as soon as he gets here he will be a friend of the podcast and uh i'm looking forward to it i'm looking forward to the day lance mccullers becomes um a member of the high host uh community um um other thing huh uh so the eagles they just hired uh tracy rocker who is the oh yes yes yes yes yes and he's a former uh i think his auburn defensive line coach former nfl player and his son is kumar rocker who is going to go number one overall in the MLB draft. And I would just like to say, if Tracy Rocker was a real Philly guy,

he would force his way to get his son to Philadelphia and they could both come here together. Just throw it out there. Say, hey, we're a package deal and let Kumar fall to the Phillies. Greatly appreciated. And it would be a good way to endear yourself to the Phillies. Yeah.

I mean, you're a Philly legend the day you do it, Tracy. So if you want to, I mean, just automatically be cemented among the elite of Philly legends, it's all you got to do. I mean, you got one thing. Just tell everyone your son's coming to Philly and that, you know, no one better draft him because the Phillies are. And we're good. Yeah.

Legend. Like, this is not to be taken lightly. I could care less what you do with the defensive line after this. We'll build a statue of you. We'll put it right next to Nick Foles and Doug Peterson. How about that? Yeah. Well, I mean, that statue should be taken down anyway.

Neither of them are here anymore, Jack. So I think, Tracy, I'm just putting think, Tracy, I'm putting it out there. I'm putting it out there. If you would like to endear yourself well to the city of Philadelphia, just say, hey, Kumar's only playing in Philly. Yeah. I couldn't co-sign anything more. This must happen, Tracy.

Yes. Yes. Yes. So that's all I have in my take back okay all right did you see by the way this brian adams guy uh mike adams mike adams thank you i'm thinking about the singer yeah not the canadian i'm surprised you didn't lead with this this guy so those who didn't see this guy's uh signed by the phillies 26 year old who um i guess was like a independently player quit decided to go teach baseball and as he's teaching guys out of pitch he's using himself to like practice the techniques and

stuff that he's doing and all of a sudden he finds himself throwing like mid to high 90s and now he's a philly jack like i figured you'd lead that. This is the closest to your dream story as any we've encountered. And hence why I didn't lead with it. Because he's living out my dream. You know? You are so consistent. You got any final thoughts?

Also, I have a bad history with a reliever's name Mike Adams in Philadelphia. That's fair. It's hard for me to get past that. That's fair. Yeah, he was Indie Ball teammates with my buddy. Listen, if he becomes something, we'll have him on the podcast.

It'll be a fun little story. But yes, he's living out my dreams, hence why I didn't bring it up. How ridiculous is it that he's like, all right, you know what? Here's. Hence why I didn't bring it up. How ridiculous is it that he's like, all right, you know what? Here's 98. That's why I brought it up. Here's 98. It's so silly.

You got any final thoughts? Trade for Chad Kuhl. That is your passion project. It is. I love him. He's going to be nasty here. I feel like every day I see you tweet, trade for Chad Cole. Yeah, just one day.

Just one day to listen to me. Trade for Chad Cole. Trade for Chad Cole. I like it. My final thought, get some high op scans. They look awesome. Yeah. We're now fully restocked in the Four Fingers fridges. Get some high op scans. Rate and review

the podcast. Do it for Jack. And Archie Bradley, come on the podcast. Let's get this prediction out there. This won't be our last podcast this week. Ooh. All right. I like that prediction. I will say, hopefully,

we'll be talking to you later in the week. Either way, he's Prince of Chelsea. 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 podcast. It's my passion. It's a cause I started more than two years ago. It 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.