OverDrive - OverDrive - August 10, 2026 - Hour 2 - Dallas Braden

Episode Date: August 10, 2026

Join Bryan Hayes and Dave Feschuk for Hour 2 on OverDrive! Former MLB Player and Baseball is Dead Podcast Dallas Braden joins to discuss the Blue Jays' confidence level, the Red Sox's leap in the AL East and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s fall-off during the season. Hayes and Feschuk dive into the perception of the Maple Leafs entering the season and Bryan hands out his FanDuel Best Bets.

There's no shortcut for saving time, but saving money is simple. Just combine your car and home insurance with Bel Air Direct and save. Get a quote at bellair direct.com. Power 2 Overdrive continues. Powered by Fandoul. A little rush to bring us in. It's great to see that they're back in action, right? Dave, a lot of buzz about Rush.

Four shows, man. That's great. Love to see that. Playing a lot of shows. Yeah. I said, man, they travel. Like Rush fans travel. that'd be a great list actually

because historically you think of I do anyway, deadheads are number one doesn't mean there were more grateful dead fans than there are Rush fans or fish fans or whatever else. Dave Matthews has always had like pilgrims that have kind of followed him around

every place and obviously every big band does for sure. But it seems like Rush fans want to let you know that they have seen Rush 78 times in five different kinds. continents. Like they want to stop you and tell you that. How many times they've seen.

Right. No, no, no, you don't understand. Yeah. I've seen it's like, awesome. Good for you. That's great stuff. No, no, no. You're not listening. I've seen them 68 times. Oh, yeah. Awesome. That's great stuff. Good for you. You're a big fan. That's great. Like, no one does that with like, I've been to the Leaf game 68 times.

Yeah, I've been to 300 leave games. Yeah. No one else does that. No one does that. But like Rush fans in particular, I find among other. Springsteen fans. are big on the count. Brainstine fans are big on account. You're right.

You're right about that. That's a big one. But, yeah. What's that, do you got? Yeah, Kiss. Kiss definitely back in the day was 100% high on that list. For sure. They were a real show.

They were. Pyro techniques and blood and makeup. Now to nowhere, they said, like, we're not doing the makeup anymore. It freaked everyone out. For sure. Like, you can't, you guys, what are you doing here? You're not good enough. I mean, you got to have the makeup on.

And, you know, with Rush, it's kind of not, unique because there's lots of bands that tour when they lose members. But, you know, to have this tour after the passing of Neil Peart and to have Anna Coniles, who from the social media clips that I've seen, looks like she's an incredible force back there playing drums. That's tough. And a three-man band where Neil Peir wrote a lot of their stuff, right? Like he was like a guy driving the lyrics. Pretty much all the lyrics, yeah.

Songs too. Yeah. He was phenomenal, three-man band. And it's great to see it. It's pretty cool. They sound really good. Getty Lee's still rocking down there. It's awesome. I mean, Getty Lee missing a lot of Jay's games.

I know. Not a bad year to be on the road. That's true. That's true. And he, I mean, he probably won't, he obviously won't be sneaking in there tonight, but he'll be keeping an eye on it. And I guess Okamoto's out of the lineup with a contusion issue. So I hope this isn't like what they just went through with Tray of Savage. Remember it was inflammation.

Right. And the next day, oh, it's a meniscus problem. We're going to really get this checked out. Like, there's a pretty big difference between. inflammation, contusion, and this guy may have torn something. I'm not saying that's happened with Okamoto. I'm just saying my guard gets up a little bit with the Blue Jays in particular. Among the other teams that play in Toronto when it comes to injury news,

they're never forthright with anything. Right. Like how many times have we seen the Austin Matthews? Always day-to-day, which turns into months-to-month, right? And that's a pretty big difference between a day and a month, but okay. Pretty significant. Yeah. Whatever.

Pretty significant. I wonder if that'll carry over with the Leafs. Like now that it's a different regime, now that Shanahan, like the whole Shanahan era basically is gone short of a couple of trainers, Matthews, Neelander, Tavares, Tavaris, Riley. I guess there's a couple other players. I mean, there's a few guys. Yeah, I guess so.

But in terms of like the staff, management, scouting, you know, they're pretty far removed from that. And, you know, Barubei always told the line. And I believe that was Tree Living, who told him, don't say anything. Just go out there and say, yeah. he's feeling good. Could be anything now. Is that going to continue with Jim Hiller and John Shika? I would guess it does.

Yeah. I would guess just the nature of the sport and this general fear within Mapley Sports and Entertainment of like the market running with information that it's probably not going to change as much as you think. I hope I'm wrong on that, but I'm not holding my breath. Now, for whatever reason, the NHL is probably the least concern or they appear to be the least concerned with injury-related transparency

in an age where sports gambling is prolific. And, you know, we know the NFL has very strict protocols on injury reporting. The NBA has made their protocols a lot stricter and penalized teams when they sort of play fast and loose with those things. But, yeah, the NHL just seems like, yeah, whatever. Go ahead. Yeah, just say game time decision, even though he's not playing or you know he is playing. And same thing with goaltending.

Find out when we get to the game. Really? You can't tell us at 1130 who's starting tonight? Like that would, how would that ever change anyone's life? That's just, that's the question. It's just bizarre. Like, it's not that deep. It really isn't. And it just becomes this sort of thing where it almost, you get the sense a lot of times

it's an ego play, right? I know, but I'm not going to tell you. Right. And, and that's, to me, that's a problem. When you've got a very small amount of people that actually have the information, that's where you get gambling issues. Well, that's true. And I, you know, the reality is the lens of gambling, you know, applies to every sport now.

Yeah. And you're in bed with every company. And it's incredibly lucrative. There's a lot of money on the line. And, you know, stuff like that can be changed. It's very easy to fix. Like I've had these conversations, you know, many times in the past about whether it's replay and review and rule changes, you know, details like this, making announcements on who, starting a net, whatever it happens to be.

The coaches and the GMs work for the owners. If the owners determine collectively this is what's happening, then that is what is going to happen. There's always been this sense, like, no, the coaches, they're not going to give that up. They don't have a choice. You're right.

They're employed. So when the board of governors say, guess what? You have to announce your goalie by noon every day. Guess what they're going to do? They're going to announce it. They're not going to lose their jobs over there. Of course. So if you give them power, they'll take it. Of course. You know, they maybe shouldn't, and not everyone does.

But if you take it away from them, guess what happens? They fall in line. Exactly. Like so, I don't even blame the coaches. I blame the owners. It's your league, commissioner, run it. Just tell them, you got to announce the goal. Whoever's starting by 12 noon, whatever.

And they're all going to do it. It would make a lot of sense. Yeah, I don't see why that is so hard to wrap anyone's head around. Anyway, Jay's Red Sox tonight, seven big games. down at the dome this week. Sox for four, Yankees for three. The Jay statistically are alive. It's a high mountain to climb here. We're generally fairly optimistic. I think our next guest is a very optimistic guy. We're going to put them on the spot, banking on some optimism here. Former MLB pitcher, host of Baseball's Dead podcast joining us on the Maple Toyota Hotline. There's our main man, Dallas

Braden. Dallas, give us some optimism here, man. The Jays. I know they've got to jump six teams. I know there's only 43 games left. I know they're dealing with injuries. What are the chances they can at least make it interesting the rest of the way? Well, let's start with what you started with. How many games do you got against the socks for to start this series? Yep. Where do you sit?

You're three and a half. You're three and a half out of the wild card right now. So within a series, within a series, boys, things could look very, very different for you. And I think that's a heavy dose of optimism, considering what the Boston Red Sox have just done. Now it was my green and gold, my athletics, who brought their series run to an end, stopped them from winning what was going to be 10 games in a row. But that's not to say that they can't pick up and start another run,

because that's exactly what the Red Sox have done is they have been world beaters. All that to say this. Sure, you guys have had some faces that left town, but you brought in a pretty good arm in Soriano. And in terms of more optimism on the mound, who's to say that Tyon's not able to get things together? Now, a bit of a bumpy start is last time out, and I understand that it's probably more about being able to account for innings at this point.

All that to say, has it been a little left to be desired offensively for the Jays this year? No question about it. You'd like to have seen more from Vlad. I don't think anybody fly in the Maple Leaf thought that George Springer was going to repeat what he did last year. I mean, darn near a career year in a lot of different ways for the elder statesman. So I think when you try to enter the fray with any sort of optimism, that's what I always think about, we have watched multiple teams this year go on great runs. There's nothing to say that your team two can't figure out how to win multiple ball games in a row at an important time

and sitting just three and a half out of the wild card. If I'm being honest, boys, just between us, that's about all the optimist. I'm not alone, man. You're not alone, man. I know. Listen, they've been baking the cake all year, right? They've played a lot of games. They haven't been able to hit. They haven't been clutched.

They've been taxing their bullpen more than any other bullpen in Major League Baseball. they perform poorly. Like they deserve the record they have. They have earned the record. They have not been very good. And I get injury issues. Okamoto's out tonight. Your savage might be done for the season.

You know, there's, it's a climb because they've earned the climb. But fundamentally, they have played better recently. And I don't know if you can point to anything in particular. Is it getting past the trade deadline? Is it finally acknowledging like,

hey, boys, we've been pretty sloppy and we've got to snap out of it? Like, what would small sample size? but the last 10 to 12 games, they have played their best baseball. And I think it's a combination of having that come to Jesus moment, right? We are past the deadline. As you look around to your left and right in the room,

this is exactly who was going to help us get to where we want to be. There's nobody else coming for help, all right? And I think you need to quit looking for the help. And I think a conversation that is permeated through the A's Clubhouse is probably one of similar status, which is we've got to play with some pride here. At the end of it, we can look up towards the end of September, And if we're able to put together diligent, fundamental baseball day in and day out, and we're able to go about our business the way we think we should be able to,

then we can look up in September, and I think you'll like where you're at, comparatively speaking to where you have ended up up into this point. So I think just being able to hold the next guy accountable to you and being able to feed off of each other, that's really all you can ask for right now, because it's not like you're going to turn in to a juggernaut that you haven't been all season long. It's not like you're going to start rolling out a rotation full of Syung candidates that just haven't been there. And to the point about potentially losing you savage, that's the whole idea of nobody else is coming to help.

So it's going to get done. It's going to get done with these guys in the room right now. And one of my favorite sayings is hold the rope. And the idea is if you've got 25 guys on this roster on one side of the cliff holding on to the rope, any given day, that 26th man sitting on top of the cliff, he's got to be willing to hold a rope until his hands bleed until they burn until they're ready to get ripped off if this club is going to go in the direction that they want to go because I just go back to being within striking distance. That's one thing I always try to maintain when I'm being serious for a minute about the optimism

is four games. I cap it at four because if you have a four game set against a team that could very well dictate your future, that means you can dictate your future. And that's where the Js sit right now, albeit against some very stiff competition. Dallas, when you look big picture at this Red Sox team, I mean, there's probably no sport that minimizes the manager, you know, the head coach, whatever you want to call it, comparing to the other sports, as much as baseball does, right? We get the sense sometimes the managers aren't even running things. It's the guys with the spreadsheets who make most of the decisions now. And yet, in the case of the Red Sox, they're 10 and 17 when they fire Alex Cora and a handful of coaches. And they've been lights out ever since. I mean, how much are you a believer that, you know,

just changing that mix in terms of the manager and some key coaches has been responsible for what's happened to the Red Sox. I tell you right now, boys, if you and I went over to Japan, tried to get on a subway and tried to figure things out, us together collectively, I don't know if you speak Japanese, but it'd be pretty tough for us to figure out which way we were going, right? We could look at some pictures, and it might take us a while to figure out the pictures. You'd like to think we could get to where we were going. but what if now stay with me here what if we had a translator what if we had someone that spoke the language

what if we had somebody that was actually familiar with what the heck we're trying to figure out and what's going on has been there and has that comfortability has that familiarity well i bet we get on the first train we need to and we get right to where we wanted to go from the beginning and i think that's what chad tracy has represented is somebody who can translate what is being said or what is being asked to be achieved from the top down through him and his staff and through the clubhouse. Because sometimes all you need is a calming, steady presence outside of maybe feeling like there's been pressure and there's been expectations and maybe not quite the communication that has bred positivity and has bred the energy that you'd like to see from a young group who's trying to figure things out. And I think that's what the Red Sox frankly have benefited from is the calming presence and the familiarity that Chad Tracy has brought to the table. Because this is a guy who knew who these kids were as they were coming up through the story. system was familiar with them. Now they're here in the big leagues. And I think he and Craig Breslo

have a great relationship. I just spent the weekend in Boston. I spent about 45 minutes catching up with my old teammate, Craig Breslo, and got a really good pulse of why things have the way they have, why he believes the team has started to trend the way they have. And I think a lot of it has to do with the respect that these players have for Chad Tracy, because I understand what you mean by almost minimizing the impact of a manager. But if it's that guy who, right, writes the lineup out in conjunction with the information he's getting from the analytics team. And it's that guy who is steadily sending the positive messages that has this group all pulling on the same end of the rope together. It's 26 guys on the top of the clip. Nobody's dangling

on the side. I think that's what you have seen with the Red Sox. Not to mention they have one of the best bullpins in baseball. They've got some absolute studs. I mean, if you're talking about getting Garrett Crochet back, you're running out a guy in Jake Bennett, 6-6-240 pounds. totally 6-6-250-plus pounds. Garrett Crochet, a behemoth of a man, 6-6-250-plus pounds of left-handed monstrosities. On top of what Sunny Gray, the boy wonder, I think, has continued to do. Even in his aging twilight has been outstanding. So I think the Red Sox, from a collective pitching standpoint, have pitched their way into the

situation they're in. And I think a lot of it has had to do with Chad Tracy and the message that he's been able to in not only to the lineup, but the staff, starter and reliever likewise. With Dallas Braden, over the weekend, Max Scher, you know, he turned back the clocks. Like, he looked, he looked good. He was, he's competitive, but he had

A-stuff. He was striking out, guys left, right, and center. Actually moved into top 10 all-time in strikeouts, passing Walter Johnson. Wow. Which is wild. He's up to 3,500-16. That's a big move, man. And we were discussing it earlier, like, of the modern

studs, you know, the Scherzer's, the Verlanders, the Kershaw's, maybe throw DeGrom into that, Chris Sale possibly into that, maybe scubles in that.

Like where would Scher rank for you of the last 15 years? Like, best of the best, where is he on your list? Oh, I think he's top five in there, no doubt.

And I think I tweeted this the other day, actually, Matt Scherzer, in my opinion, and my humble opinion, is probably the poster child for living up to slash surpassing expectations

that have come along with signing the mega contract. I think he was one of the first guys. You're talking about a guy who was a Cy Young winner, a World Series champion, a perennial All-Star. We're talking about a dude who finished top ten and MVP conversations. This is a guy who has been absolutely lights out more times than he has not.

This is a guy, I mean, and you want to talk about just quirkiness. This is a guy who battling thumb injury was like, you know what? Maybe I'll, maybe I'll do my best Chopin. Maybe I'll do my best Beethoven and I'll figure out the piano and that'll help me. Like just his desire to get better even at the age that he's at

and the competitive nature, the impact that he's had on his teammates, those are all things that I don't know that necessarily show up on the back of the baseball card because there's not much room on the back of Max Scherzer's baseball card at this point in time. He's done just about everything you could want to have a pitcher do.

So I think in terms of the pantheon of all-time greats, I do. I think about Burlander. I think about Kershaw. I think about Max Scherzer. These are guys that I got to play against and watch perform from the other side of the dug. I mean, I remember, I'll tell you a funny story. I remember sitting in Sacramento during a rehab start for myself. And the Diamondbacks brought out this guy who was also on a rehab start, Max Scherzer.

And I believe he punched out, what was it? I think it was 11 in four innings. And I remember thinking to myself, oh, my God, oh my God. I'm never, what? How am I going to stay in the big leagues? Like, I've gotten a sniff. How am I going to stay in the big leagues?

This is what happens in the big leagues? Good luck, buddy. I might as well steal the popcorn tray, because that's what I'm going to be doing. If I'm going to be performing in a ballpark, it's going to be as a popcorn bender, if this is the kind of stuff that I got to compete with. So, I mean, Matt Scherzer is at,

or near the top of that list. And without a doubt in that conversation, when we talk about all-time rates. Well, you talk about Schurzer living up to the mega contract, Dallas. Obviously, there's a lot of talk about what has ailed Vladdy here in Toronto. Now, he's had three hits in his past two games. He had a home run on the weekend, albeit that's one home run in his past 20 games. But when you look at the sort of the way he's gone from being the clutches of the clutch

in the playoffs last year with eight home runs and 18 playoff games, to what he's doing this year. How much do you think the money kicking in, the $500 million kicking in, could have something to do with it? There's always pressure. Anytime you become the face of, I think there's a layer and a level of expectation

that only a small amount of the population, not only in baseball, but the world can really understand and feel. When you are the tip of the sphere, when you are the spear in general, that is a level of responsibility that at times is very difficult to wrap your head around. And when you don't necessarily have other individuals who have experienced that, you can probably at times feel like you're on an island.

And I think for Vlad, that's absolutely had to have had an impact because he wants nothing more than to make his country proud, make the country of Canada proud. He wants to bring a World Series championship to Toronto. No question about it. And I think when you factor in who he is as an individual play, and the expectation he has for himself. And we're talking about a guy six-time All-Star, right?

Gold Glover, what, Silver Slugger, two times over, I believe. Like, he's done a lot in this game already. And he's all of, what, 26, 27 years old? So when you hand a guy that kind of money, especially with Vlad with the things he's already done, you can understand why, number one, he probably feels good and comfortable about what he's capable of, but then there comes the pressure.

And if you haven't performed up to the expectation, not only of yourself, but I think of the baseball world, then you really start to feel the weight of that. I mean, one of the crazier statistics going in this year of baseball, I believe, has got to be the fact that he is still, and correct me if I'm wrong, still yet to Homer at home? Yeah, that's a fact.

Like, he's got seven, and these are two teams, again, throughout his career. He has enjoyed playing against, Boston and New York. Like, he loves Yankee Stadium. He loves Spenway, but, like, it's a legitimate conversation. we had an hour ago, Dallas, that he's got seven home games, he's healthy, and will he hit a home run? You know, which is third, and

probably a defining reason for why they're in the position they're in right now. You know, if you're a big believer, it's got to be, right? Like, it's the number one reason. If Vladie is, if, if if Laddie is performing to expectation, they're probably a game out of the wild card.

If he's exceeding it, they're probably tied for the wild card spot. Like, he may be worth that much. He's, he should be a five win player right now based on contracts and talent, etc. He's a win. He's a one win player right now. Yeah, and I do. I think

look, for all the excitement that I think Okamoto brought to the table early on, I think what you, again, what you got from George Springer last season and what you're not getting this year, it's almost disingenuous to think about putting any sort of

I don't know, responsibility on George Springer saying, that if he would be better, of course, if he would be better than he is right now, the team would probably be performing better. But I just don't know that anybody on planet Earth expected George Springer to post the campaign he did last year. And that was a major, major reason why the Jays were in the position they were in, why they were battling for supremacy of the sport at the end of it all.

So I think you can look up and down this lineup and realize that there were some key contributors that just have not quite been those contributors up until this point. and I think when we watch young teams collectively get better and surprise folks and arrive a little early, I think the same can be said for teams that have performed well collectively and then collectively regressed, and you wonder why they haven't showed up. And I think that's where the Js are at right now. Absolutely. Great stuff, Dallas.

Always appreciate you doing this, buddy. We'll do it again soon. No problem. Have a good one, boys. Good luck this series. You got it. Thank you. There's Dallas Braden, former MLV pitcher himself,

host of the Baseball's Dead podcast joining us here on the Maple Toyota hotline. It's time to Toyota check out the Toyota Tacoma Toyota Tundra pickup trucks, both available as hybrids. Maple Toyota near Canada's Wonderland of the Maple Auto Mall. Jay's Redstocks tonight, I guess it's a big night, right? Joe Carter,

the statue. It's not a bobblehead. It's a replica statue. It's a replica statue. 15,000, which no one has ever given me the answer as to why, if you know 40,000 people are coming tonight, why can't you make 40,000 of Good question. Like I don't really understand why you can't make more than that.

Because it's standard across baseball. My understanding, every team does the same thing. Right. Got to get there early. Only 15,000. Hey, man. Which means people are walking around. I didn't get one of these things. Right.

I got a ticket to the game. Dude, I was just looking on eBay. They're already selling on eBay these replica Joe Carter statues for like $200. Crazy. And no one's got one yet. It's not even in the hands of anybody. Yeah. Or just, they're just starting to get, well, yeah, like, we're going to get one in about an hour.

People have been lining up for hours, literally hours to get a Joe Carter replica statue. And the statue is great. Like I saw, I was down there last week. It's really cool. The back-to-back rosters are up there. All the names are commemorated. It looks great. Perfect.

It's exactly what should be there. I agree. Like, it should have been there probably 25 years ago. Yeah. But that's neither. here nor there. It's there for the rest of time now. And, you know, we've had the statute conversations. What is next in the city? There isn't one, like you're not putting the Batista bat flip for a wild card moment as a statue. That's not how George Springer, Game 7, ALCS, not

statue worthy. They won the World Series. That would have been interesting, actually. What would have been this, you know what in a crazy world? This is uncalled for because it's just going to rip up wounds that are slowly starting to heal. In a separate universe, the next statue is Jeff Hoffman celebrating on the mount, jumping into the arms of Alejandro Kirk. That's the statue that would be there, like 15 years from now, Jeff Hoffman would be back in town with the 2025 team, and everyone would be out there and say, we're unveiling the statue.

That's right. And it would be Hoffman in the air with his arm in the air into the hands and arms of Alejandro Kirk. That would be the statue until Miguel Rojas stepped up to the plate and decided there will not be a statue. There's no statue. No statue for you. Isn't that bizarre, though?

Like when you consider his rep and the vibe, and now he's gone, he's moved on, he's out. I think that was it because I don't think you put, like, Bichette's home run was in the third inning, I think. That's right. Like, that's not, you're not putting a statue together for a third inning moment. not doing that. No, instead, you know, the Dodgers

had a bobblehead of that Paez Kiki Hernandez collision where Paez made the game saving catch. And, you know, that thing was going for real money on eBay too. Which is fascinating because they, like, between Rojas, Will Smith hit the winner. That's right.

The 11th, yet he's like third on the line. It's the defining, the defining moment is the catch. The defining moment is the catch to save the game. Yeah. And Rojas tying a game. Yes. Like, those are the two defining moments. and then I'd say the play at the plate with ICF. That's right.

That might be third. ICF with a short lead off. Yeah. Like the play at the plate might be. And then even just the, you know, that ends with a double play. Like that's a moment in time. I don't know.

Crazy. Some guy hit a World Series winning home run. And it's like fifth on the list. It's so true. It was just such a crazy game. Yeah, it really was. It's just such a crazy game. And the ball, you know, it's just, you think about all the plays.

It might go, like, market, you know, forget the market, forget that we're in Toronto. Like, I've heard people with no connection to Toronto say that's the greatest game in terms of the stakes and just the craziness of it and the drama of it that they've ever seen. The whole series was incredible. Yeah. Like it was, obviously, I'm not objective because I was there and we all were there and living it and it's our town. But, like, the Yamamoto performances, like that alone, the guy pitched three times. starter. Incredible.

Like, we came in in game seven. It's like, how was this guy's arm still in time? I know. He pitched last night, a gem. How was he still? How was he doing this? It was, what was it, 18 inning game? Yeah, I think it was 18 inning game.

We all stayed up. That was, maybe it was 15 innings. Whatever it was. It's a blurry. Game three. Totony on a mouth. You almost have to go over it and remember the details. Because when you live it, you forget so many of the details.

Exactly. Game five. Sanchez and Vladdy back-to-back home runs to start the game. Imagine that. Like that's a World Series game. Like the first, two of the first three pitches gone. Crazy. So much fun.

Jeff Hoffman jumping into the arms of Alejandro Kirk. That would have been a statue. Could have been. In about 10 years from now. Come on back, Jeff. Come on back, Alejandro. Everyone gather around. Vladdy's still playing.

He comes out and catches the first pitch from Jeff Hoffman. Wouldn't that have been something? Gives him a hug. Bladdi's. 38 years old. I think that's the bar for the statue. You've got to win the championship. You've got to win.

It's got to be a win. Yeah, it's mandatory. So for the Raptors, you know, they've got a championship that they haven't commemorated with the statue. You know what? It could be Kauai planting a tree. Imagine Kauai with just throwing seeds on the ground with a little watering can.

Bring them back, man. No more up there. I'm waiting for the next Pablo. Toray to drop. Oh, my God. No updates on Kauai. No updates on Kauai, except that everybody seems to expect that it's all going to be okay and he'll play for the Raptors this year.

I know. I'm, I want to believe in that, and I'm not saying that those that are reporting it aren't well-sourced and very reputable they are. I don't know. I mean, it's just until you see it. Yeah. I mean... Like, I think he'll be a Raptor, but will he be

suspended? I wouldn't be surprised. And if he's suspended for how long? Can they survive without them? I think they can. Like, I think they can. But I think there's hope that, like, you've got to hit the ground running, man. You know, like, the team you joined in 19, that was a veteran team. This team's going to win because of Scotty and Colin Murray Boyles and just Kobe Walter take another step.

Right. They're already one of the best defensive teams in the league. And they're young. Why or not? Yeah, exactly. It's like, can you execute big game moments in big game times? That's why he's here. Exactly.

Exactly. He's a bucket getter who can get to a spot with the best of them if he's healthy. And they don't have that right now. No. And if he is here, you're right. But, you know, I was talking to him to be a coach the other day. And it was like, if they suspend him like 25 games, it's almost a bonus for the Raptors. Like, he loses money and he'll be ticked about that.

And the union will be outraged and they'll grieve it. But, like, this guy just being, you know, sorry, you can't start the season until, you know, Christmas. Would that really hurt the Raptors? If he can be around, and I don't know what the ruling is on that. Is he allowed to practice with the team? Is he, you know, and if that... Well, suspensions generally just means you can do everything except play. Yeah.

You know, I mean, unless they just tailor it suspicious. Like, the idea is the only way you can really punish Balmer, the owner, because he's the richest guy in the NBA. There's no amount of money that would hurt his pocketbook. That's reasonable. They're not going to be $100 billion. And there's no C-B. mechanism to find them that much.

There's no way they can do it. The only way to really hurt them is to say, you can't be around. You've got to just take a year off. You can't be in the arena. You can't be in the practice facility. You can't be in the office. You've got to take a year away from your team. You're lucky we're not kicking out of the league for making a mockery of the salary cap.

Yep. I think that feels like it is going to happen and should happen, I think. It has to happen. It has to happen. And you've got to clip them picks. Of course. That's another thing that you've got to take two. or three first round picks away from them, penalize them.

And, you know, there will be a dollar amount to it. It'll be ridiculous. You know, it'll be a lot of money. It might be $100 million or something like that. Yeah. But, again, the bomber, it's like, go find my jeans. You take that. That's right.

It just doesn't matter to him. I mean, hundreds of billions of dollars in net worth and, you know, millions don't matter. Yeah. Yeah, that's been his reality for a long time. Okay. Best Betts coming up. Carlo on the morning show talking about people buzzing about

beliefs, Dave, are you and I having the same type of interactions? We'll get into that and more still to come overdrive continues up on YouTube live. There's no shortcut for saving time, but saving money is simple. Just combine your car and home insurance with Bel Air Direct and save. Get a quote at bellairdirect.com. Behind every night spent making the kids lunches, there's a lot of suspense. Will they finally eat the veggies? Will the pesto survive the first bite? Will the lunchbox come home empty, half full or come home at all. And will you finish episode 8 before you're done slicing the cucumbers? Get Bell Pure Fiber Internet with Craved Netflix and Disney Plus from $94 a month.

Price guaranteed for two years on internet with a two-year term and auto pay credit. Visit bell.za for details and to check availability. Bell, connection is everything. All right, Best Bet's coming up later in the hour. So I was listening to the morning guys today. I was dropping my kids off. Two different camps, Dave. I got to go to two separate camps.

Wow. Yeah. I don't know how it got to that point. I don't have much saying it. Basically, this is what's happening, and you're driving them. All right, I'll be there. Sounds good. But two different camps.

I was on the road a lot. I was listening to the guys. Shamelessly try to get free stuff. I know what they were doing this morning, talking about certain establishments. They're not wrong in any of it in terms of what they were promoting. But they were on to a few things this morning. Anyway, Carlo was talking about the excitement around East Nation and how when he's talking to people, people are buzzing.

And I have not quite had the same anecdotal experience myself. I still find it's more about the Jays. Like if I'm talking Toronto sports right now, Kauai, what's going to happen on that front? But I understand, you know, why there would be excitement for this upcoming season because you brought in I think, I would argue, three, like needle movers for sure, maybe a fourth if you include the coach. Now, you know, the interaction between a fan and the coach, I don't know. Like, no one's buying tickets to go see Jim Hiller coach.

But the hope is different system, you know, the Peru-based style last year was not exactly the greatest entertainment value. Pretty stale. Yeah, and I think people were, there's always a level of optimism and excitement. Okay, new coach, new system, new world, let's see what he brings. But between McKenna, Radish, and Bobrovsky, those are three big, like, needle-moving acquisitions.

Yes. That do have me excited, and I can understand why a lot of people would be buzzing about it. On August 10th, I don't know, maybe. September 10th, 100%. And when the lease roll through town, those three guys in particular are going to create a buzz. I think unlike we've seen

probably since like Matthews, Marner and Nealander all showed up together. You know, where it was like every offseason there was someone new. Like Shanahan's here, then Babcock's here, then Matthews has shown up with all the guys. And there's been obviously big signings. Tavares, when he signed,

that was very significant. You know, when Marlowe was acquired, when Joe Thornt was showing up, but in terms of a collection of players, all of them have the potential to have a big impact on this season, and the marketplace over at least the next three years, I would argue this is probably the biggest bundle

that I can recall in a long time. Yeah, I think that's correct. I mean, there were some, you know, there was some trade deadline moments where they, you know, Kyle Dubus went all in and the Ryan O'Reilly year, you know, that was pretty big, where it felt like that's, that's, those are the game-changing guys. And, you know, they did win a series that year, right, for the first time.

And that was important. But I think you're right. I think, because all three of these guys kind of address a specific need that everybody had been moaning about the entire season, right, last year. You know, Gavin McKenna addresses the fact that they don't have any young guys, and now they do. Now they've got the number one overall pick, a guy who'll probably be in the Calder Trophy race. You know, Bobrovsky addresses the fact they don't have a durable goalie. This guy's been super durable, if nothing else.

On top of excellent at times, winning two Stanley Cups and a couple of Veznas. But he's been a 50-game starter lock for the past five seasons, right? If you look through his career, there's been very few years where he hasn't met that standard. And they haven't had anything close to a 50-game starter since back to the Freddie Anderson days, right? And then Radish addresses the fact that the D-Corp needed some reworking. No doubt about it. Now, the other part of the reworking is going to be a healthy Chris Tanna, because they're going to need that badly.

And that's probably the other potential buzz-inducing development. If TANF shows up and looks like the Chris TANF that they want and need, to be their rock of a defensive defense, defense men, that's going to change things. So those three things, and then TANDA being healthy, I think, would be reason for buzz. Yeah. Oh, I'm all in on that buzz for sure. I think whether it doesn't guarantee or translate to success, which I think is different from the previous acquisitions, Tavares most notably, because they were a really good team at that point.

There was so much optimism at that point with the young guys. And Babcock was still well-renowned here at that point. And then you add Tavares, it's like, okay, they're not going to go backwards. Now they're really going to take off. We obviously know that never actually materialized, although he is the guy who scored the O.T. winner back in 23 when they finally won around. It was on the stick of John Tavar's. When Matthews, Marner, Nielander showed up, it was like these guys, 18, 19, 20.

It's go time for the next 15 years. This is the back end of that. and it by no means guarantees them anything because there's question marks with all of them. McKenon included this season because he's 18, but also in the grander scope of things. Like, is he going to be the next Patrick Kane? That would be phenomenal. Maybe he's not. You know, he's got to play the games.

You know, I'm not going to bet against them. And I know the talent is there, and I think they'll insulate them properly. And I think, listen, the last two first overall picks worked out really well. Wendell Clark and Austin Matthews. team's got a reputation of being able to get these guys to pop, but he's still got to go out and play. Radish, he had one phenomenal year, and now he's making a ton of money he's in his hometown.

It's a lot to deal with. Yeah. And Bob's 37 coming off a dreadful statistical season. So very different in terms of the immediate impact they're guaranteed to have. But I think that actually leads to more buzz in a way because you could sell it both ways. Yes. And that's the beauty of,

least nation is that there's always people in both ends the spectrum. There's the eternal optimist that will say McKenna's going to win the Calder and have 65 points. Radish is going to have 70 again and be a PP stud and Bob's going to be a beast. And if all that happens,

they're making the playoffs. That's going to happen. You're 100% right. You can sell that case right now because they haven't played a game. They haven't even shown up to camp. You can also sell the opposite way. That, you know, it's the growing man's league. McKenna's not doing anything unless Matthews is ready to play and pot goals or what have you.

Radish, you know, is a one-off under John Cooper and Kuterov stick. Bob's done. They're overpaid. You know, like, it really, you could make the case both ways. Oh, yeah. And I'm not here to determine one way or the other on August 10th. I think we got to wait until we get to probably October 1st to really have a better read on the way this thing's all going to work out. But that, I guess, the driving force of this chat is the buzz being created.

when it's polarizing, it creates even more because everyone can be included. Right. And that's what's happening right now with this Leaf Team. For sure. I think there's a lot of people who've been around a while who are like, hang on here. You know, let's not get swept up in the shiny new things here. Because to your point, unless it goes perfectly and like there's lots of reasons to believe it won't because maybe they bought too old on Bobrovsky, as good as he's been at times.

You know, maybe they definitely bought high on radish, right? who was among the only real defenseman options on the market, and the Leafs paid a dear price for him, right? And can he live up to that? And then McKenna, hey, I mean, two of the last three, number one overall picks have won the Calder, and yet they don't always win it. They don't always pop, right?

And you can also say, hey, you know, like this is still Austin Matthews team, right? Ultimately, no matter what those guys do, if Mr. 69 goals, who's since averaged 30 goals in the two seasons since he did that, I mean, if he's not back to being a world beater, and he's not acting like a real captain on a team that had some serious dressing room issues last year, from Anthony Stollars popping off six games into the season to, you know, nobody's sticking up for Matthews when Radko Gudass knee-capped him, and then on down the list, we could go into a bunch of other ones.

I mean, if Matthews doesn't start performing, get back to the performance that's expected of him for the money he's being paid in the stature that he's built, I mean, nothing's probably... Everything else might be around. You're right. Yeah, that may be the truth. And that probably should be the truth for the cap and the highest paid player and the best player. Like, if you wear the crown, it's heavy. You're right. Right.

And you've had two years. Two years I can still sell, and I will sell. Flip on the radar, injuries. Maybe the coach. I can't sell a third, right? You have 28 goals and you're just not looking so great or as great as you once were. Now it's beyond just a blip. Now it's a trend.

Yeah. And now you're appropriately going to be labeled this time next year as your best days are behind you. Right. You know, so it's a massive platform year for him. And that is where it's going to get. I mean, the conversation will get to him as it should. Again, you're the best player. You're the captain of the team.

Like you've got the responsibility, you know, and there were a lot of rumors. Whether they're true or not, you know, where you stand on things. Yeah. Whether the team and the organization is placating to you, bringing in people that you know or promoting people you like, you know, whatever it is. And I get the sense like that's happening in some areas. Okay. But that means you're putting your stake even further into the ground of what this organization is going to be all about. You know, you got to get the job done.

And I'm not telling Austin Matthews something he doesn't know. he's well aware of that. But you're right. I mean, I was having a conversation with someone over the weekend about this. Like, there's been a long history with this court. And I know the court is depleted now because Marna's not here anymore. But of them trying to infuse culture onto them. Right.

You know, we're going to bring in Marlowe and then Thornton and then Spezzas is coming in. And we're going to bring in all these different guys. And Ryan O'Reilly, different coaches, it's never worked in the past. Never has. Like the best guys, they have to determine what culture they're. They want to establish and be a part of, you know, Brandon Du Hame isn't going to change Austin Matthews. No.

Not going to happen because he's a raw, raw guy who hits everyone on the fourth line. It can't happen. Austin's not changing. It doesn't work that way. Locker room dynamics don't work that way, right? And so you're right. I mean, look, I mean, so much of the narrative has been put out there, you know, does Austin Matthews want to stay in Toronto?

And that's obviously a legitimate question. You need to know the answer to that question. But the bottom line is if he's just, if he's a guy that gets you 30 goals and doesn't look like the awe-inspiring sniper of old, and he's basically a guy in decline, the game has changed. The picture has changed. And, you know, whether or not he stays in Toronto isn't going to be the issue. The issue is going to be like, you know, like, what can you really, like, what can you expect if he does stay in Toronto? And what could you get from if he wants to leave? Right.

Well, that's it. value if it gets to a point where he just, he determines and they determine we're going a different direction. If it's three years of 29, 30 goals, you're not getting the premium you think you should be getting or want to get. Not even close. The league's not stupid. Like the league knows what's up.

And, you know, we're still waiting on news. And there's a power struggle in the NHL in terms of, you know, the players having power, but, you know, players under contract, maybe getting some pushback. Dylan Larkin's still at Detroit Red Wing. and Quinn Hughes is still not signed his extension of Minnesota and the further we get away from the Olympics I think the further we get away from these players living in this fantasy world

where they think they can all play together too like that I understand why they were excited I understand why they had the blast it was the moment of a lifetime they want to gold medal the way they were treated in the states as kings that's every month passes by, that becomes

more of a thing of the past. Yeah, I accept that. Guess what? If you've earned the right to free agency and you want to go play with your brother. Sure, that's different. You can damn well do it. And he might be doing that. I don't know. I mean, the owner in Minnesota seemed pretty confident that they get him signed.

But when Hughes doesn't care about that. If he doesn't want to play there, he's not going to play. That doesn't mean he won't play out this season to be great for you. But he's made up his mind. That I can assure you. If he wants, to be in Minnesota, he'll stay there and they'll work it out. If he

is determined I'm going to Jersey or we're finding a way for me and my brother to play in Tampa or something, then they're going to find a way to make that work, too. He's not humming and haying trying to figure out what he's doing, Quinn Hughes. And don't forget, he's made up his mind. We just watched a very comparable

drama play out in Ottawa, where there were years and years of, no, no, I'm good here, said Brady Kachuk. No, no, I want to be in Ottawa. And then you find out, Did he really? I'm out of here. Did he really want to be in Ottawa?

He got himself out. He got himself out. And, you know, it's sometimes the simplest explanation is the one you go with. Yeah. And even if you're a fan, you don't want to believe it. Yeah. It might be true. Doesn't want to be there.

Best Betts coming up. Jay's Sox tonight. Overdrive continues up on YouTube Live. There's no shortcut for saving time. But saving money is simple. Just combine your car and home insurance with Bel Air Direct and save. Get a quote at fellar direct.com. Behind every night spent making the kids' lunches, there's a lot of suspense.

Will they finally eat the veggies? Will the pasto survive the first bite? Will the lunchbox come home empty, half full, or come home at all? And will you finish episode 8 before you're done slicing the cucumbers? Get Bell Pure Fiber Internet with Craved Netflix and Disney Plus from $94 a month. Price guaranteed for two years on internet with a two-year term and auto pay credit. Visit bell.com for details and to check availability. Bill. Connection is everything.

All right, best bets powered by Fandu. We'll make your picks and assemble a same game parlay in seconds on the Fanduals sports book. Yeah, Bladdy Guerrero Jr. tonight. Total bases prop. Two plus. I'm not talking home run. I'm not doing the home run props anymore. But he's been on fire and they're going to need him.

They're going to need him tonight. Sunny Grand Amound. And Okamoto's out with a contusion, a knee contusion. And he's not playing George Springer back in the lineup tonight. but Vladdy at home, two plus bags. That's my prop. Paying plus money. Okay, I'm getting plus money on that.

You should. I'm glad to stay hot tonight. A couple of singles. Maybe mixing a double. Let's get that slugging percentage going here. Come on, Blattie. Best bets powered by Fandwell, same game parlay's available for every MLB game on the Fandrell Sportsbook app. Please play responsibly 19 plus physically located in Ontario.

Bet X Cup playoffs this week, right? Nice to see Rory back deciding to play. Scottie Schaeffler playing. Jackson Coyven got in on the number, number 70. Amazing. Five starts and he's into the FedEx. That's incredible. That is amazing.

He's such a good player. That's phenom stuff. Yeah, it really is. Feels like a generational talent type guy. And shout out to Michael Brennan, who had been knocking on the door for weeks and finds a way to pull off a win yesterday. Convincingly.

Convincing win. Convincing win. Yeah, that was really, really cool. All right, Dave. We'll catch you later in the week. Great stuff, as always. Looking forward to it. Looking forward to it.

Thanks to everyone behind the scenes for helping out. We appreciate it. Everyone for tuning in today. TV radio podcast web up on YouTube live and streaming shortly up on Crave. We're out of here. Enjoy your evenings. Enjoy the games tonight.

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