OverDrive - OverDrive - April 1, 2025 - Hour 3

Episode Date: April 1, 2025

Join Bryan Hayes, Jeff O'Neill and Dave Feschuk for Hour 3 on OverDrive! TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button joins to discuss the biggest headlines around the NHL. Former MLB Pitcher and Athletics Analyst Dallas Braden joins to discuss the comprehensive insight on the torpedo bats, the league's views of the bat and the Blue Jays' pitching viewpoints and Bryan hands out his FanDuel Best Bets.

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Made in Canada, played in Canada. On the free iHeartRadio app and that i have radio dot c final hour overdrive continues powered by fando bringing you everything from the opening line of the final score brian hazel dot jeff o'neill state that's a good for most are you going to think uh... Jeff O'Neill, Dave Fest, Chuck of the Toronto Star. You okay? You think Jimmy Nance is going to be received at the Augusta National? You think he's going to show up after announcing he's retiring in 2036?

You think people are going to be like, ah, Jimmy, we're going to miss you. Can't believe it. Yeah, that one, I've never seen anything like that. An 11 year victory lap by Jim Nance. I don't believe he's a member at Augusta, but. He will be. Don't you think they would offer that? Like I saw someone post it,

and this is where I couldn't tell, it wasn't in April Fool's, because it was a week ago. I couldn't tell if someone was, this was kind of goofing online, but someone had suggested that he thought he would get a green jacket after he retired. Like 50 years, green jacket, maybe an honorary membership. I think, like I could see Augusta doing that for Jim Nance.

They don't have to. They don't give him the jacket. I'm pretty sure he'd be welcomed back to just show up and. I don't know, man. Augusta's weird, man. Dave, you've been down there a lot. You know how they operate show up and I don't know man, just is weird man. Dave, you've been down there a lot. You know how they operate. Yeah.

They don't really let anybody in there. You don't get a jacket if you're not a member, okay? Yeah. If you buy one on eBay. Well what does Jim Hanks have to do? So how do they select the members? Like Peyton Manning's just all of a sudden a member there. Is that because he's just made his.

Yeah, and now Eli. Eli got in too. So how do they select Eli and Peyton Manning? How do they get hand picked by these guys? I'm not sure how that works. I don't know if someone has to sponsor you. Do you have to know somebody else there that puts you up? There's got to be a limitation on how many members they have.

I don't know what that number would be. It's a few hundred. Yeah, they don't have a ton. They don't want a ton. Yeah, exactly. And the bottom line is they don't tell anybody anything right anything you hear about how it operates it's all hearsay it's all

whispers and murmurs is a big tree outside the club hosted a guest national everybody kind of gathers around during master's weekend you know you talk to this guy who knows a member knowing i've i've come to know a few members that you get a little friendly with because they're working with media. They have to be there. Yeah, they work. They have to be there. The members are overseeing the tournament. That's right. They're walking around in their green jackets and their ties and their ball caps and they're overseeing

the tournament. Yeah, it's remarkable to see. What does that mean though, overseeing the tournament? They're running the tournament. Obviously they have people working for them and the PGA Tour is there. But Eli Manning's not wheeling around on the range. The way it was expressed to me is if you are a member you are obligated to be at Augusta National during the Masters. You're obligated to be there. You can get a doctor's note to get out but literally if you're a member it is an obligation to be there in your green jacket everyday representing the club right and basically welcoming people and working within you know within reason they're not out there sawing the green. But you see them in a

range picker, Eli and Payton. But they will be there. Eli and Payton will be there in their green jacket walking around. Oh yeah, they have to be. I've seen seen paid and yet they have to be i've been there a few times and i've seen paid me see linds one the great receiver that it's recedes hall of fame football receiver you see goodell hang around now and then you know i think i'm going to lose a rice and i was a rock and around she wanted to get those of member of the government show he's walking around there occasionally is green jacket

they have to do them you know condoleezza's usually playing on the sunday i saw her play with sheffler sister last week last year on the sunday they scott he was in the group to and got his sister and then condoleezza another person i'm not sure who was uh... but obviously probably a very wealthy person who is the power of the power play the united states minutes that it's the you gotta it's the power play of the United States, man. It's the, it's the. You gotta be there, man. And the thing is, you can't ask to be a member.

You have to be asked. Right, and you can't turn them down and say, can you come back to me in five years? No. Like you're, you have about an hour. It's like Mission Impossible. You know, this will self-destruct in five minutes. You're in, you're in, you can write the check to here and you can show up and we'll fire up a jacket for you.

You gotta be here every single year when the Masters is on. You gotta be here welcoming party, you gotta walk around with your jacket. It's amazing. Like again, I was walking, like I was there last year for a few days and you see the people, you know who's a member. The guys, they're walking around with their jacket on and suits. Like they gotta, it's got, they gotta be ties, they gotta wear pants, they gotta look presentable. Like it's crazy. The weird look. It's like a private school thing. It is. It's a weird look because you're wearing a tie, a jacket and a ball cap generally.

Yes. And it might be 30 degrees out of where. And it's like everyone else in shorts and golf shirts and crazy hot at three o'clock in the afternoon. These guys are walking around in green jackets jackets and suits I think it's right up our next guest alley Craig would look Greg would rock a Masters green jacket and it would look phenomenal you're right it would look phenomenal here he is our good friend Craig Button TSN director of scouting and potential member at Augusta National in the future can you confirm with an i that correct

well that's a total one hundred percent tonight first of all you have to have you have to like it be able to golf like to a reasonable level like not even close like if they had like a putt-putt i wouldn't even be able to get into augusta that's disappointing we need to get you in there we need you to get in so you can bring us. And if they ever call you, direct the call to me if you don't want to be a member. I will certainly direct the call to you, but like Jeff, I mean your buddy on the panel, James,

like I mean like I think he's got pull there. Oh he's a big shooter down there. Oh yeah. You know what grossed me out the last time, last game we had? Puff, who is one of our producers, he has played the course and I was like, no way, man. It's like as they have a media lottery after every Monday of the tournament and Puff played the course. And he says his favorite thing on earth to do is just sit and have beers with random guys that he's met at hockey tournaments and stuff. And he tosses this one out there. What's the best course you ever played at? And then he comes over the top and says, I've

played Augusta National. And they can't believe it. They don't believe him. That's kind of greasy for you to start the conversation. Hey conversation hey let's go around the table where have you played golf did you know i was getting to i would crawl or i would jump on somebody if they ever did that let's go around the table here and see what's the best course you play out all that's a good one ever heard of well costa national i have to play the custom as you played it but i i would not bring it up i would not bring it out how are you not bringing it up. How are you not bringing it up before?

I don't like to brag. I mean, I got lucky. I won a lottery. It wasn't exactly a great accomplishment, but I... It absolutely is a great accomplishment. Yeah. Whose clubs did you use? I used the guys whose house we were renting. Really? Do you play well? No, but I birdied seven. Got up and down on the short side on six Wow look at this guy I'll bet you could relive that whole experience. I mean I hit up I piped I piped one down ten Which is the nicest feeling about that's beautiful down the hill And I'll tell you the one more thing cuz it's very Craig But the most nervous I've ever been in my life and I'm talking, you know first kiss first time Yeah, anything was on the

first tee at Augusta National. Oh man, you'd be terrified. Like, there's a bunch of green jackets standing around. It's a media lot, like there's no crowd. The media lottery is the day after the Masters. Right. There's a lot of people around. Plus all your fellow media members that are already at the tee-off. And I was so nervous. But the guy in front of me, guy from New Zealand I think he was, writer from New Zealand, he zealand and he was writer from new zealand

he goes up he was actually turn out to be a pretty good player he goes up and chops one takes a deal with his driver it goes straight up in the ass sickening i'd leave i'd be out there and said it actually loosen me up i'm like that he's worse than that he was in front of me okay i said okay i can do better than that and i say i put one and i put one down the middle in the fairway got on the ground i can't even just learning this that's why i put it okay that's fine you got on and all the matters

uh... brian week we need a poll yes okay so so jeff just uh... first of all jeff it's the memory of parents and life isn't fair like happy with that late at the statement right life isn't fair that possibly gets to get to do it got to my i'm amazed here so like what was that what was the bigger break

also on the table or what's up chuck just it i'd say fast charges one national tv radio i mean this is going to be everywhere now every people stop in the streets asking you questions about this and i think it was a tour of a lot of all of us chuck did holding that in for so long and then just coming over the top at the very end saying i did that as well just for the record but i never bring it up other national team you know you did it was very naturally a product now in very natural tone and i've heard each other

and i had a lot of the or was i like to have a job or a little bit this guy from new zealand we got a lot of people in the water on 12. Okay that's fine. Still looking for that one. At least you get to play it man. What are you expecting at the Bell Center tonight Craig? We got a good one we got a rematch here Montreal and Florida and the Habs have played Florida really really well the last couple of times. Bigger game for them clearly than Florida but the Panthers are you know they're chasing the Leafs now in the top seed in the Atlantic. This should be a great game what are you know they're chasing the least down the top senior black

uh... this should be a great game we expecting tonight yeah i'd i'm expecting a great atmosphere at the bell center uh... you know the much or canadians were stumbling a bum one to say the least and they want to floor down sunday and they play a great game and the intensity picked up the color decided that he was going to act like a jackass so i, uh, you know, that, that, that raises the temperature a little bit, but Florida needs the points as well. I mean, they come into Toronto on Wednesday night and I don't think,

I think if you ask Florida, they don't want to play Tampa Bay. I, Toronto, they don't want to play Florida or Tampa Bay first place in that division is important. And playoffs now for the Montreal Canadiens keep winning keep showing that you can do it and I don't think there's a better atmosphere than the Bell Center come playoff time it'll be a playoff atmosphere in there tonight. Yeah it sure will be and when you look at Montreal what is it you've seen over the last few weeks uh I guess go back to the foreign nations face-off like what have you seen from the Habs that have put themselves in this position were there the pace card now for that second wild card spot? Yeah I think it's a couple of

things Brian number one is the top line has been outstanding I mean Slavkovsky really has taken his game up a notch and certainly Suzuki and Caulfield have been outstanding we know what Lane Hudson has done and one of the other things that I think has been really important, kind of understated is that Alex Newhook has moved into the second line center spot and he hasn't just played like in that spot like with some goals and some offense. He's been a really good player in there and I think it's really really helped their overall game.

The other player, Alex Carrier, they traded Justin Barron to get Alex Carrier and he's just a stable steady player. Not a lot of flash, just gets in there, plays, doesn't make mistakes, plays his 20 minutes and I think that that's been really important as well as Montembeau. So you get all these different areas of the game in order and now you have a chance to win more games and that's exactly what Montreal has done. Craig, a couple of young kids joining NHL teams, Americans, Perot and Leonard going to Washington.

Do you expect those guys to jump right in and kind of be contributors or learning curve or what are you expecting out of those guys? Well, Jeff, you've seen those two guys play at the World Junior Tournament and you know that they're really good players. I think that Ryan Leonard has a little bit better chance to come in there and really settle in. He doesn't have to step up and provide significant offense or something. They have that all in order.

I think that Ryan Leonard is like a great trade deadline, in this case college NCAA edition, because he's coming right in there to help your team and he doesn't have to play up in the lineup. He can just play there. He's a big time competitor. He's smart. He can skate. He can add offense, but you don't have to put him in a frontline role. He's a big-time competitor. He's smart. He can skate. He can add offense.

But you don't have to put him in a front line role. Gabe is a little bit different. I mean the Rangers might be looking for him to come and give him a little bit of offensive pop. And I think that expectation is a little bit bigger on Gabe than it is on Ryan going into going into Washington. But if you're looking for some offense, Gabe Perot has been a really good offensive player and ryan lennard i think this makes a strong team that much stronger in washington craig if you're in the front office uh... tonight and

would you want your coach to send a message about how to deal with the mcgillis situation here like in the haves afford to sort of deal with it or or should they let this thing slide for another day were the points don't mean as much, the stakes aren't quite as high and take his number and get him back down the road? Yeah, what I would say, Dave, is that the focus has to be on two points. You know, what Nikola did the other day, like I said, was a dumb move, Department of Player

Safety find them. You know, like it's just one of those unsportsmanlike moves. Nobody got hurt. And so what I would, I would say is let's just get the two points. Let's zero in on that. If there comes a time somewhere down the road where somebody feels they have to deal with it or they should deal with it. Well, fine. We'll do with it then.

But for Marty St. Louis, that should not be any type of, uh, of comment or focus in my view. You need two points and making the playoffs would be significant for this I think making the playoffs and getting two points is way more significant for the Montreal Canadiens To try to deal with with what it's what it did on Sunday with Craig Button So Ottawa's in action tonight, and they've done their part like they banked likely enough points to hold on to a playoff spot They're gonna get more down the stretch pretty much laid out now they're the they're the first wild card so they're gonna play whoever wins the Atlantic Division based on what you've seen out of them presuming health

and Brady Kuchek won't play tonight he's been banged up since the four nations but presuming health how dangerous do you think Ottawa could be to any of the three teams they might face Toronto Florida or Tampa dangerous do you think Ottawa could be to any of the three teams they might face? Toronto, Florida or Tampa? I don't think it could be dangerous to all three of them. You know, one of the things that happens when you're a team such as Ottawa, you come into the playoffs in that spot in the seating, you have nothing to lose. You have zero to lose.

You go in there, I'm not going to, that it's a scenario where you're not feeling excited or not feeling some pressure, but you get into the playoffs now and you get a healthy group, you get playing and you get that excitement of playing in the playoffs without the pressure of having to win. Florida, Toronto, Tampa, they all have pressure to win. Ottawa get in in the playoffs I think their pressure was to get in the playoffs they won't feel

that they'll just feel hey let's just leave it all on the table there and you're not playing with house money but you have a little bit of house money to play with so to speak. With Craig Button so I'm just seeing I guess Rick Tauke had been speaking in the last little while and Alias Patterson still not even really skating like who knows if we're gonna see him again I guess Phillip he'll he'd all is done for the year likely done for the year Courtesy of Rick Tauke and the Canucks and I'm curious what you see happening with Vancouver this offseason Like how much change could be a foot out there?

How crazy could the offseason get the future of Rick of Rick Tocket appears to be up in the air. Like what should we be bracing for in Vancouver? Amazing, isn't it? What a year's difference does. I mean, last year after losing in game seven, isn't it Jeff, like game seven, they lose to the Edmonton Oilers, all the, everything that had gone right

for the Vancouver Canucks, a good team, lots of happiness in Vancouver. And now, you know, the season, I mean, injuries from the summer, I mean, the drama with JT Miller and now the uncertainty with Rick Tauke. And I think the uncertainty with Rick Tauke is big. And when you think about, you know, I think he's done a hell of a job in there. I think he did a hell of a job last year. He's had to deal with a lot of things that I would label as distractions this year. And I was in Winnipeg on Sunday with Vancouver and a coach's job is to max

out the potential of the team, make sure you get everything you can out of a team. He did that. They just didn't have enough to beat a really good Winnipeg team. And I think Rick Tauke is a really good coach. Now, when we start to beat a really good Winnipeg team. And I think Rick Taukett is a really good coach. Now, when we start talking about a really good coach and talk, we're also talking about timing, whether it be a, a potential free agent, having a career year, uh, somebody coming up for a new contract or a coach that has a place that would covet him. Oh yeah.

The Philadelphia Flyers. I mean, Rick Taukett embodies everything the Flyers are. I think that if the Flyers, Rick Tauk in the bodies, everything the Flyers are, I think that if the Flyers named Rick Tauk as their head coach, there would be a parade. And I think that Rick Tauk, much like Mike Babcock coming to Toronto in 2014, could provide, or 2015 he came, excuse me, could provide a real significant boost

for the organization organization because everybody loves talk in Philadelphia and he's a good coach and right now I look at the Vancouver Connux and with all the uncertainty surrounding it you know Rick Dawkins is going to have some choices and what the connection is with him in Philadelphia, Philadelphia and him I think it's pretty strong. Craig, as far as Vancouver, we had a little odds on putting a percentage on next year making the playoffs. Like, what percentage would you give Vann of next year qualifying for the playoffs? Probably where they're at, like I mean right now, probably about 40 to 50 percent. Jim Robbiford is the one that even said it best in my view and he's the one that's got

his fingers on the controls. When they traded JT Miller he said we're going to have to find a way to get another center in here to get more moves. It's not going to be one move, it's going to be multiple moves. Heedle's out, Heedle's a good player, but that team struggles to score. That team really has a struggle to score. You need more offense, and I don't think they have enough offense. You know, obviously they're counting on Elias Pedersen to come back, but now you're asking Elias Pedersen to come back after 125 games of off performance.

And certainly, you know, we know he's had the talent, but you know, now it gets longer and you start to question what's he going to come back to? And so I don't see them right now that they got work to do to be able to, you know, get into a better odds of making the playoffs next year. And if they don't have Rick Tuckett that also puts them into another spot because as you try to attract free agents they want to know who your coach is going to be. If you were another GM how difficult would it be for you to fall under the trap of acquiring Elias Pedersen on a different team or would you be interested in something like

that? $11.6 million for the next seven years on a player whose plane is dramatically falling off i would be scared to death yes yeah that's it man i don't see how you couldn't do it but i don't know how you couldn't it's scary is scared but great craig i mean we think about that scene i mean is it

isn't there some way to cut of turn that around quickly? To your point, like, talk, it's a great coach, but maybe you need a new voice, maybe you need a crop of free agents that come in there and sort of change the dynamic to some degree, but you get some better goaltending, which wouldn't hurt to shore up Demko's situation. You know, it doesn't seem like it's impossible to make Pedersen back into the 100-point player he was. If indeed he wants to be that guy, we don't know that, but you could change the environment around him and hopefully, you know, change the result.

You're paying a guy $11.6 million and you're trying to change the environment around him. When I pay a guy $11.6 million, he's the guy that drives it. He's the guy that changes the environment and you just listed a number of things today that lead me to believe that there ain't no quick fix in Vancouver well you're stuck with him though I mean like you got to try and change something to bring back the guy he was right you know he can be that guy you know there wasn't too far you know too long ago that he was that guy and you know like you lost all hope that he could be that guy he has to give me any

indication that he can be that guy again much like Johnson Hubertoe Trotter Hubertoe is playing really well for the Calgary Flames not anywhere close to what he was when he came over from the Florida Panthers and I think Elias Pedersen is right on the same path and you can buy a boat yeah you're not stuck with anybody terrifying man there is a really so you're thinking about the by a you'd be looking at the by a artist under say you're not stuck with i a m you don't have to be stuck

with anybody well the idea of a bio would literally haunt my dreams like that but it would make me throw up. Can you imagine sending that email to the owner? Can we meet for lunch? I have a proposal for you. You know what has to happen? I'll tell you what has to happen there. What has to happen there is what LA did and what Washington did. You got two scenarios where Pierre-Luc Dubois was clearly not working out in LA and they needed to change him out and he had a lot of years left on

his contract they believed in him and a change of scenery worked out for Pierre-Luc Dubois and That was the decision now There was a lot of rumors last year that they were going to buy out Pierre-Luc Dubois But the Stanley Cup final ended up going till June 24th and Pierre-Luc Dubois turned 26 so the buyout was going to two thirds instead of one third. And that's not the case with Elias Pedersen. But when you start to look at the scenario of how they moved them and how they traded them,

that to me is what you're gonna have to try to look at doing. And it doesn't change the fact that as a GM, you know, what are you getting for you? Because you got 11.6 times seven and Dave, you just talked about it. What do you got to do to get players making that much money? You have to drive your team. Leon dry side all has had nothing on his wings this year and this guy's in the MVP conversation. That's what I want for 11.6 million. I don't want to try to find players to get 11.6 million out of my guy.

Yep. Yeah, you put, listen, they paid him. They gave him the money. It's on him to pull his weight. He's got to fulfill that contract, man. And it has not been a good calendar year for him. All right, Craig, we'll leave it there. We'll do it again soon.

Thank you for this. Hey, did I tell you the best golf course I ever was? Andrews That's over the top. He's saying and I can compete Yeah, St. Andrews is okay. I mean, but it reminded me of that first key you know, they call your name the four ball, yeah, and you get up there and everybody's watching and You only want to make one good shot and that's the t-shot on one. Absolutely man. I've heard some stories over there that the starter, like if you're chopping it around he may say sorry you're not playing St. Andrews today. Yeah. That's not, that's, it's just not,

it's not an option for you. You cannot be playing. That is terrifying. Next time I'm on the show remind me to tell you my Luke Richardsonardson story it's pretty funny target mark that do you will bring it up next time thank you craig okay have a great day at craig button as saint andrews is when you come over the top but you know is he i'll make it the one day when we're old and gray will go to saint andrews and watch because it's around the same time i think

and wimbledon we will go to the final at Wimbledon and we'll play st. Andrews okay now they're pretty far like ones in Scotland one's in London right it's a train ride okay by the way round it round at st. Andrews and the Wimbledon final by the way I played that one final you played st. Andrews. Okay you What are you talking about? I got lucky on that one, too. I got invited to play your terrible golfer Like I've seen you play you can play out there now that you're selling yourself short You can play golf like you would not be a fish out of water at any of these places

So anything else you want to reveal you know, are you a member at Pine Valley? Is there anything else you want to reveal? Are you a member at Pine Valley? No, sadly not. Cypress Point? Is there anything else? No, it's pretty boring other than that. Those are my two career highlights. Shadow Creek, have you played Pebble?

Those are my two career highlights. I mean, you can't really beat that. I don't think you could beat Augusta and St. Andrews. There's no other two-pack you can drop on any golfer that can compete with that. Yeah, Augusta's just one because it's so hard to get on. So exclusive. Yeah, like Sam Metz was played August gas because he had a friend that was a member and he and he he i remember that i can send about it

sam said he could get us on the idea and i thought that was lying to us here's awesome garbage he was he's not he's not using agal play at a gust of on our spell like actually we had to be but i gotta be honest with sam and i were both saying like it's the one thing you can say it like, even to pro athletes with tens of millions of dollars, the one thing you can say that can impress them. Absolutely.

Because they can't get on. Right. They don't know how to get on. You can't just call and say I want to come play. No. All the money in the world and you can't buy around. There's nothing. You can pay a thousand bucks to play Pebble Beach.

You can pay to play St. Andrews. You can pay most. I mean, Pine Valley is another one. Pine Valley's another line values it doesn't have the mystique because it doesn't have the master like you got to be a golf freak to to know pinebell right again if you know it you know it and you're and then you know what we're talking about like that would be a bucket list for a lot of guys that that's all they want to play is pine valleys rated ahead of augusta national yeah plenty of courses are and consider the number one course in the world for

thirty years you know pine valley now you might argue cypress point maybe there's a couple in ireland scotland et cetera but right now spreading coming up his take on mac shurs or his take on bound frances who look great again last night what we can expect that a hosie burrios he owes his team a start after opening day was terrible opening day

He's got to give him one tonight Torpedo bats and the Sacramento athletics that more coming up with the Dallas Brayden overdrive continues TSN 1050 and on TSN 2 The best of our great nation one song at a time Justin Bieber hi, this is Terry Clark We are Nickelback made in Canada on iHeartRadio. Rock, pop, hip hop, and when it comes to country, it's the true north all the way. Loud and proud. An all new digital radio station from coast to coast. Made in Canada, played in Canada on the free iHeartRadio app and at iHeartRadio.ca.

It's gonna get loud. radio app and at iHeartRadio.ca. Alright, best best powered by Fandro later in the hour. Jays Nationals tonight. See how many torpedo bats are put in play tonight. We need to track this. Not that I'm aware of. Davis Schneider was looking at you. I think he tried it. Okay, so I think he put it in play. I'll tell you who doesn't need one right now is Andreas. Him is. This guy is Cecil Fielder, dude. This guy, three home runs, second base, 165 pounds, and he's

mashing. He's mashing. And then he stole a base last night. Like that's what I expected. Like get on base, steal a base, Kirk will hit you in. It happened last night. He had three runs. He's mashing and then he stole a base last night like that's what I expected like get on base, steal a base, Kirk will hit you in. It happened last night. He had three runs. He also hit a home run. Three home runs and five starts for Jimenez. Guy's been a beast. He's been an absolute beast and I don't think he's got the torpedo bat in play but maybe

he'll look into that in the future. I think there's a lot of orders on the books for torpedo bats. I think there should be. I think there should be. Fed orders. I think there's a torpedo back. I think there should be that X is gonna be busy Here's longtime MLB pitcher host of baseball is dead and athletics analyst. Here's Dallas Braden Dallas is a former pitcher yourself. Are you pro or? anti torpedo bat Well boys first of all, thanks for having me on it's good to be back with our neighbors to the north

Yeah, let me let me start here. And I think I'm trying to look at it from a different perspective, but, um, as a pitcher, if you're telling me you want to take wood away from the portions of the bat that I would love for you to hit the baseball on, I am all for that. I am all for that. And what does that mean? Well, as you've heard people sort of talk about and describe it, we're taking wood from the end of the bat and maybe the handle of the bat, the two places where you would not like to hit the ball, and we're putting it all together in a place that you specifically get the ball most frequently.

And that's what we've all tried to learn as young players coming up is barrel awareness, right? Get familiar with where the barrel of the bat is. So you can put that barrel on the baseball. Well, as you get older and you learn your swing and you understand that velocity is something that you're going to have to contend with. It's here to stay. It's only going to get harder. You have to adjust. How do we do that? The hitters are starting to figure out, well, if I can get to the baseball consistently with this type of swing and I can put this portion of the bat, or I

do put this portion of the bat on the baseball consistently, why don't we make this the hardest part of the bat for me? And so that's what hitters are doing. So it's been, say, it's been said in different ways. There's been players who have come out and said, you're not just moving the barrel, bro. You're just putting more wood in the... So then, I mean, effectively isn't that moving the barrel? Like we're taking wood from one part of the bat and we're compiling it in another place. Therefore creating a barrel, the location of the barrel that was not

consistent before. That's exactly what we're doing. And our folks over at Birdman Bats out in San Francisco, California, incredible company already ahead of the curve. They've been entertaining this. And I've got one on the way. It's at the ballpark waiting for me right now. I can't wait to go look at that thing. Not that I can do damage with it, but it's just going to be fun to explore. Um, but, but it's, it's something that I think when we start to evaluate players like, you know, John Carlos Stanton the last year he's, he's been talked about, it's come out that, you know, the bat was designed for him or he got the bat

designed for him. And anytime you associate that kind of power and the results that comes with that kind of power, I think everybody's sort of interested if they can gather another 10 to 15 feet on their fly ball. I think they'd be happy with that. But this really for me is all about who you are as a hitter, understanding who you are as a hitter, and being able to adjust accordingly. Because it's not going to be for everybody, but for the folks who are really interested in understanding the science behind it and trying to match that up with what they do physically, I think it's a great opportunity for the offensive side of the game to try to

catch up, to try to close the gap between what's happening on the mound as far as technology and resources and being able to translate that into productivity. Right. We have the ability to get in the lab and watch with slow mo cameras where the baseball is coming off of our fingers how efficient the spin is on any given pitch and how we're able to duplicate that how we're able to repeat that now for hitters what they're

finally figuring out or what it seems like they're figuring out is if I can put this barrel on this bat that I use in a place where I consistently hit the baseball now maybe I might be on to something. What do you think the trajectory is Dallas? Is this just something where guys are all geeked up about it and they're starting to launch balls? Do you think it'll level off?

What would have to happen for the league to take a look at this? Would guys have to just completely start mashing all throughout the league and then they're going to say we got to do something about this or what do you think their trajectory is? Well, I guess my question would be, you know, what would you have the league do because remember these bats are all 100% legal completely within the specifications and the guidelines of the protocol for Major League Baseball and the wooden bat requirements. So in terms of the league taking a look at it, the only look that the league quote-unquote would be taking a look at, and when I say league I mean organizations, is all right is this

really something and from player to player is this something that you're comfortable with? Because that's really going to be the key is if you're a player who is comfortable making adjustments, this may be something that you start to entertain. I believe that the data that you would want to be referencing is going to have to be convincing for you to want to make that adjustment or be willing really to even entertain that adjustment.

But when I think about a guy like Anthony Volpe on the Yankees who was using the bat and he's a guy that's been talked about and his swing. I also think about a former Yankee by the name of Derek Jeter, a guy who was well known, had the ability to inside out the baseball. I had no problem shooting the ball the other way. Now if you start to move the barrel down on his bat a bit, or you start to give him a concentrated point to focus on with that swing, does he become even more dangerous?

And that's where the curiosity for me comes in because would Derek Jeter turn into a 30 homer, 35 homer a year guy, because he's now got a barrel oriented in a place that he's more comfortable with, the place where he has consistently hit the baseball. That's where I think when we start talking about the launch angle revolution that has occurred where guys who are not 25 to 30 homerun a year guys fancy themselves that because they're just trying to lift the ball because they're being told you can cash in on the other side of the wall, right? They're not paying you to hit the doubles. They're not paying you to hit the ball because they're being told that you can cash in on the other side of the wall, right?

They're not paying you to hit the doubles. They're not paying you to hit the singles. They're paying you to hit the homers and they're, they're turning their blind eye to the 220 average. If you can pop 40 and give us 80 stakes plus, and you got an OPS 850 plus 900, right? So that's where I think this is going to be another interesting frontier for players to explore. Is this an adjustment worth making?

Is this something they feel competent that they can make in a quick amount of time? And from there, I think we'll start to evaluate. But I think it's going to be just like everything else in this game that pops up, is we're going to give it a try. It's the new favorite flavor of the week. And then from there, if you like it, when you go back next time, you'll probably get two scoops of it. If you don't like it, you'll probably just stick to your vanilla. The Dallas, the Jays had high hopes when they signed Max Scherzer despite the fact he's

a 40-year-old pitcher, despite the fact he only pitched 43 innings last year due to injuries. What does it say to you that he's been having this thumb trouble, goes down to see a specialist in Pennsylvania, and now has come home having received a cortisone shot to the thumb? Well it's discouraging I think first and foremost because of the expectations that that you have if you're a Jays fan that I know that Jays had and obviously Max being the uber competitor that he is has of himself. So I think initially you know like there's really no other way to say it. It just sucks. It's tough because you know what he could represent. Should he be healthy enough to take the baseball 20, 25 plus times?

That would be great. Um, unfortunately, what he has found out, and what he has discovered, what he's long known is that this thumb is, is nothing to, to, to turn your nose up at you. He has to pay attention to this and he has been able to correlate how that thumb feels really with the rest of his body. And I think if you listen to what he said last time after coming out of the ball game, like, Hey, I could feel the lack. I could feel everything.

It was compromised. If I was going to continue to pitch through this, it was just going to be a matter of time before it blows. And he absolutely attributes it to the health or lack of, for the thumb. So when you look at the rotation and how it shapes up and some of the arms that you have there, when you look at this blue cage rotation, if it's healthy, you feel pretty good about things. You feel pretty good about your ability to get through five, six, seven innings and handing

it over to the bullpen. Now that's probably a different question considering the lack of performance last year and I'm sure they've got, you know, hopes to be better. But ultimately losing a guy like Max Scherzer, who could absolutely be that veteran presence, is a tough blow, especially for a team that is trying to figure things out in a division where it looks like the Yankees and the way that they have retooled are looking to plant their flag, even with the struggles of the Boston Red Sox. Yeah and Baltimore winning again last night so they're three and two. Jays are three and two though I mean the Jays are in a decent spot to start the year and Bowden Francis sure he did it again last night

Dallas I mean this guy ever since the beginning of August last year his pitch he's been an ace like and I'm he's not there yet you know he's the fifth man in the rotation coming out of camp he's still there yet in his the fifth man in the rotation coming out of camp is to get a earn his keep but i'm curious like what what is the sample size you need to maybe move past okay who is bad bad frances to right this is bad frances he's a legit major league pitcher he's a guy you can rely on is a guy that if he's healthy can give you a certain

amount of starts in a certain amount innings how much more there's a young pitcher like frances using as the example, how much more does he have to show before he's officially made it? Well I think what you focus on and what I personally focus on for the young guys are their ability to go out and command the strike zone with frequency and efficiency and that's so I don't want to call it a hallmark of his but he's been able to fill up the zone he's been able to limit traffic to an extent and that's a I don't want to call it a hallmark of his, but he's been able to fill up the zone. He's been able to limit traffic to an extent and that's a big deal.

So I think as you start to see a young guy, I mean, cause how many starts does he have under his belt career wise? What 10, 15, I think maybe 14 total. You include the one, you know, this, this outing this year, but I mean, what six solid innings, right? Four punch outs and the stuff plays. So I think again, when you have somebody like Max go down, this is an opportunity for Bowden to show you exactly what he's all about and who he is. So I think for him, it's just about the regular reps.

It's about being able to pitch to an extent where you have bought yourself the next outing. And I don't know that he's in a position to have to buy himself the next outing, but it's really just about making sure you're polished the biggest name of the game is attack the strike zone if he can do that Like I said with his stuff. I think he's gonna be fine. Yeah, and he's not he's not young and he's 28 years old I believe but still he is in terms of the major leagues and him being you know an everyday pitcher and It was a great debut for him last night. It was not for Jose Barrios on opening day. He's a veteran.

He's back in the mountains tonight. Curious in your experience, like when you're coming off a rough start, especially a big platform game like opening day, do you put like, I know it's a marathon. He's been very consistent throughout his career for the most part. He's a guy that remains healthy. He's likely going to give him 31 or 32 starts but start two after a rough start one like how much of it is in your head once you get out there tonight like i gotta throw strikes i gotta get some outs and i gotta redeem myself here yeah i think there is a little bit of that for sure because you have those expectations of yourself

right and i think barrios is is an intrinsically motivated guy. He knows what it takes to compete at this level and those juices get bubbled up inside with this dude. And that's something that I really liked about him is the competitive street, competitive nature. So I think it's, I can remember going out. I mean, my opening day start, the, the, the start I made on opening day, um, felt like a pitch. Well, things didn't quite work out well for our club, but what you take away from that is, you know what I can pitch.

I'm fine. Everything's going to be all right. It's the first start of the year. So you just go back at the, you go back to the drawing board. You take a look at where you went wrong, where things sort of fell apart and you get back on the horse and ride. And I know that's extremely cliche to say, but what would you have him do after start one?

Would you have him start to make wholesale changes and a complete overhaul of things? Right? He'd be looked at like he has four heads if he walked in and we're telling the boys, all right, boys, here we go. We're switching it up. It's a completely different pitch mix. I'm going out of the stretch only and we're going to see how it goes. Hold on. What are we doing, Jose? We're switching it up. It's completely different pitch mix. I'm going out of the stretch only and we're going to see how it go. Go home.

Hold on. What are we doing Jose? And because of the veteran he is, he knows that it's just a matter of iron and the kinks out here early. Absolutely. It's weird, man. You go to like mov.com ESPN.com, the AL West, Los Angeles angels, Texas Rangers, Houston Astros, Seattle Mariners, athletics. Like it's not Sacramento athletics, it's not Oakland athletics. You got a great connection with that team, with the city of Oakland, the Bay Area.

What was it like last night? I guess that home opener looked like a sold out barn, but what do you make of this whole transition up in Sacramento? Yeah, no, there was a ton of people. There was a ton of people. The berms were packed. Every place, every seat in the house was sold. Uh,

there were folks walking around standing, yelling and having a good time. Um, obviously it's a very different feeling, you know, and I think a lot of people were intrigued on how this was going to go and what it was going to feel like. I walked around, um, old Sacramento, which is right across the river from the ballpark with my family before the game. And there were a ton of fans out. There were a ton of fans who wanted to say hi and take pictures and just very excited about the opportunity to have big league baseball in their backyard now. And I think that's what I took away from it first and foremost.

And I did take away some, some very, uh, emotional exchanges because there were fans that I had met that had said, man, I've been a fan since 68, since they got to Oakland, I've been a fan since the late seventies, right after they're, you know, right after their triplet run. And those are fans who were telling me, and you know what? I was able to, I was able to just sort of put a bandaid back on it and realize that I love this team.

I love the game of baseball and I'll be there to support. So I hope that's the energy and the mantra that wins out over the season. But I think as far as the accommodations go and what these players have available to them, when you say minor league ballpark on the surface, I think there's a negative connotation attached to it. Understandably so, because this is the big leagues and you expect everything to be big league from top to bottom and i think with the

with the space that they have and with the resources that they were given they have absolutely maximized every opportunity that they had to turn this into a big league accommodating facility and i think the players for the most part have seen that responded great catching up with you dallas we appreciate you doing this man. We'll do it again soon Anytime boys always glad to talk ball with you you got it dallas brayden the host of the baseball is dead podcast athletics analyst up in sacramento Yeah, it's got somewhat of an arizona coyotes vibe to it mullet arena vibe mullet arena I did that thing.

We moved to Carolina and you get there and it's like, by the way, you're not playing here. You're going to drive to Greensboro for a couple years and play. And by the way, when you get there, there's going to be a tarp on the top of the arena so nobody can see the empty stands up top. And you're like... The National Hockey League. Yeah, you're like, this is not the NHL.

You're driving 85 miles for a home game, 85 miles back. At the end of the day, we had a bunch of good guys where they were like, it's not that big a deal. At the end of the day, it's not that big a deal. But you don't feel like you're in the NHL. There's 2,500 people and the top's tarped off. It just doesn't feel like you're in the NHL. There's 2,500 people and the tops tarped off. It just doesn't feel like that, man. Well that's what's like in Sacramento.

Listen, it's new. It's a market that does have a sports history to an extent with the NBA. And maybe they support it all year. Maybe it's a packed house. But this team's not very good either. And there's a chance you're going to get into June, July and August. And there's a chance you're gonna get into June July and August and there's and they're good players are gonna be like I don't know they're yeah they got one of their good players are gonna be like I don't want to be doing

yeah exactly this is not the big leagues now I'm out they're going to Vegas and I think a lot of players would be like I wouldn't mind getting to Vegas but that's still how can this be that they're going to Vegas how was this plan be like well I get it you're leaving Oakland but this was the temporary plan on the way to Vegas like come on best best power by Fandor coming up rappers and J's in action tonight overdrive continues TSN 1050 and on TSN 2 the best of our great nation one song at a time

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hits home run tonight among bloody hitting home run he has not hit one yet this season. It's early, but it just feels like a night where Vladie goes off. Torpedo bat home run? Torpedo bat home run for Vladie Jr. Torpedo bat, $550 million dollars in a home run tonight. And I think Barrios bounces back. Alternate strikeout number five plus tonight. Five plus for Barrios. Vladie hits a home run. That's paying like plus 700 on FanDuel I love that parlay tonight today's best bets powered by FanDuel live same-game parlays are now available for every MLB game on the FanDuel sportsbook app please play responsibly 19 plus physically located in Ontario

alright Dave good seeing you thanks for doing this great to be here Dave Festjock of the Toronto Star played played August at one point. Want everyone to know that. And St. Andrews. And St. Andrews. Mic drop times two. Thanks to everyone behind the scenes for helping out. Appreciate it. Everyone for tuning in today.

TV, radio, podcast, web. We appreciate that. We're outta here. Enjoy your evenings. Enjoy the games tonight. We're back tomorrow at. Sid, you're off the power plays. The dumbest comment in Overdrive history, 4 PM.

Get them out, man. Get them out. No, get you out. We'll chat then. That just happened with me, Vashi Kapelos, Candidate Asides 2025. Stay informed with my exclusive iHeartRadio podcast, available Friday afternoon, straight through till election day and beyond. I'll have your weekly highlights and my unvarnished analysis of the campaign of a lifetime.

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