OverDrive - OverDrive - June 26, 2025 - Hour 3

Episode Date: June 26, 2025

Join Bryan Hayes, Jeff O'Neill and Jamie McLennan for Hour 3 on OverDrive! TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun joins to discuss the Maple Leafs' contract ongoing negotiations, the new CBA and game expansion and the possibility of the Panthers signing Brad Marchand, Sam Bennett and Aaron Ekblad. Host of Diggin' Deep and Former MLB Infielder Eric Hosmer joins to discuss the perspective of the Blue Jays, the landscape in the AL East and Shohei Ohtani's dominance in the league. They also give out their best advice in the latest edition of Dear Hayesy-B and Bryan gives his FanDuel Best Bets.

Unmistakably Canadian. It's the music that raised you. The artists raising the bar. Hi, this is Bryan Adams. Hey, my name's Brett Emmons. I'm from the Glorious Sons. Hi, I'm Nellie Furtado. Made in Canada.

The station that champions Canadian music. Loud, proud, and all yours. No passports required. Just press play. Tap into Made inada now on i have radio dot c a or the free i heart radio app final hour overdrive continues powered by fando bringing everything from the opening line of the final score eric cosmer later in the hour on mac sure

there's a return last night with five innings yet looked all right you know i haven't heard anything to suggest that there's any issues today. I think this was always what it was going to be about more of kind of the recovery. How does he feel the next day? But he got out there. Five innings looked fine. You know, Jay's lost in extras last night.

They won this afternoon. So we'll see what comes of it. We're sure as they're moving forward. But it was good to see him out there, right? Yeah. No finger issues, no elbow issues. The Asher's fan shake like this. And I told you he'd go five yesterday.

Yeah, you called it. He'd go five. You always had faith. What was the bet? Three. You put 500 on it. And he was just like teetering. It started to go a little south. I'm like, they're going to pull this dude. Isn't it crazy though? It seems like 20 years ago it would have been debating between six, seven. Now five is like a mass.

To grade up. Oh yeah. You did your job to a relatively solid degree. Yeah, especially a guy like that where Scherzer, when he was winning Cy Young's, you know, with seven, eight innings, nine innings, if he only went five, he'd be pissed. Oh yeah. Like, when he was in his prime, he'd be furious at the idea of only going five. The way he described it yesterday was, I was good, I wasn't great, but I was good.

Yeah, I like that man. He's got a presence to him, man. He snarls, he just looks angry. You know like that man. He's got a presence to him man. He snarls. He just looks angry. You know he's intense. He's an intense competitor and I think that's a good thing to have. You know it's a good thing to have around your group and he's got to play in order to ultimately have those intangibles mean anything. You can't be intense on the IL every single game. Yeah exactly. You got to play but he got through it last night and we'll see what comes of it you know four or five days from now but Jay's winning this

afternoon and they take two or three against Cleveland and now they're off the Fenway tomorrow night so we'll catch up with Eric Cosmer a little bit later in the hour he played in Boston for a year long time MLBer is always great to catch up with him and Pierre Lebrun will join us here in a moment our our TSN hockey insider. We're talking about Tavares and Tree Living and his comments on that and Tree Living was also speaking on Matthew Nye's and said they're communicating. There's communication but I don't get the impression that deal, I'm not sure that's getting signed between now and July 1st. No. That doesn't sound like it. I don't get the impression that deal, I'm not sure that's getting signed between now and July 1st.

That doesn't sound like it. No, I don't know. I would love to be a fly on the wall to see how far apart the camps are as far as maybe the philosophy, whether it's a shorter term or a long term deal, all of that type of stuff. But, Hayes, you always use the verbiage like, he's got to win the negotiations. It's got to be a fair negotiation. It can't be he gets rich. There's two sides to the negotiation, Jamie. Like he's probably saying, I love being a Leaf. I love playing with Austin Matthews. And, but his agent's probably saying there

might be a team with a monster offer sheet. Hayes, you talk about PR and kind of winning over the city like he could go to the least say let's just get this done i want to stay here but there's another side to it where maybe there's some kind of monster out there waiting it just wouldn't i said the signing because he has to agree to want to sign that deal yes he does like the offer she you're saying absolutely yes he's got a want to do that and he has just because it team throws an offer sheet at you doesn't mean it's

automatic the player has to agree to sign it absolutely absolutely and your plant listen go talk to Dylan Holloway and you know maybe maybe cool with st. Louis babies not maybe he was of the belief well Edmonton will just match it and welcome and I could move on with my life and they didn't you know and then all of a sudden exactly that. You know, that could happen, I guess, with Knives or anybody else. Careful what you wish for.

That's really what it is sometimes, too. Here's Pierre Lebrun, our TSN hockey insider. Matthew Knives and the Maple Leafs. Where do you stand on this and how do you see this kind of playing out over the course of the next few days or possibly few weeks? You know, I forgot I had to look in the camera now. I was going to look at my phone and I'm waiting for this message from someone and I realize

I can't do that anymore with your new setup guys. So I got to be more professional. No it's all good man. If you got news you go for it man. You find it, you text. We can carry the weight of BP. We've done that before. haven't we? We've done that before. Which one are you asking for?

I heard like three names. Matthew Nines. Matthew Nines. Yeah, I mean listen, I know that his camp, I mean the sense I got yesterday, I checked on it that they were plugging away was the way it was, plugging away at the negotiation with the lease is the way it was described to me. So they're not there yet, obviously.

And everyone's kind of worked up about whether Tuesday matters or not in terms of other teams being able to talk to him as of Tuesday as an RFA. But I heard you guys talking about the offer sheet thing. You know that I've been in the minority compared to most media on this being the summer of the offer sheet. The cap going up gives teams the ability to match. So I'm not saying we're not going to see any. I think we're going

to see some probably on some smaller names because the compensation isn't as dramatic in terms of what you'd have to give up. But on the bigger names, you know with Mitch Marner likely walking out the door on Tuesday the Leafs can easily match anything thrown at Matthew nice So I guess what I'm saying is other than if you want to screw with the Leafs, but as another team You know, we have to go back to what the perfect storm was last summer with St. Louis and Edmonton. No cap room, so there was, although technically they could have matched and made other moves, they were really in a corner. The players were in on it, which again, I heard, oh, he's bang on.

A lot of players don't like this thing. It's like counterintuitive for me, for them, for their hockey DNA, right? Turning your back on your team. And then number three, you know, is the whole compensation part of it. So again, I'm not saying it can't happen, but this is a summer where teams feel a lot more strongly, you know, about their ability to match

compared to last summer when there was still a flat cap. So those are all things. And you heard Brad Trier living today talk about the fact that they have to keep themselves in a position July 1st where they can match. I mean, that's a pretty strong message from him to other teams in case it goes down that road. And I will say, I just hearing back from Matthew

and I as agent right now, as we're talking, they don't want to comment right now on where things are. They just want to keep that internal. So that's a good sign. I mean. These are trying to get this done. That's fair. So Pierre you've been reporting and you've been heavy on it. Your tweet was heard around the world about what you believe the the CBA and everything that looks like should look like or what the league could look like moving forward. First and foremost are you on board with 84 games? Oh, come on, man. How wants 84 games?

Yeah, well, there's no reason why anyone shouldn't be because you're eliminating a big chunk of the preseason, which I hate. Like, look at it this way. The way it's set up right now, there's 82 games and anywhere from, you know know 8 to 10 preseason games right so most any child teams play about 90 games all in every year between the preseason and the regular season now the maximum the maximum will be 88 because you got 84 regular season games and four preseason games max as part of what's in this new CBA. So I don't understand what the downside is. I mean if you're having to have this many

games anyway and of course I'm like everyone else let's shorten the season you know let's not drag this out forever but if you're gonna have that many games you might as well have real games and not meaningless games would be my point of view on it. So they're cutting the preseason and that's why by the way starting in 26-27 the idea right now is to start the regular season in late September by the way because they're cutting the preseason so they're gonna drop the puck for real in late September. Unfortunately they're still going to go all the way to the third week of June with the Stanley Cup being awarded. They're just stretching out the regular season calendar.

That's going to be lengthy, man. Like that. And that's, listen, hockey's great. We love when they're playing and you make a valid point about the volume of games being what it is. But with more teams likely coming, obviously it's about money. I get it. And it's a gate-driven league, of course, but I think for the average fan you're like this is Probably just gonna water down the league that much more, you know adding a Tuesday night game adding two more teams

That's you know an extra 45 players in the league 50 players in the league that were there We're not in the league fifty players in the league that weren't that were not in the league as of today but likely will be a two or three years and i'm curious where expansion comes into play on this kinda cba negotiation right now it's not really part of the cba negotiation brian that that's sort of out that's outside of the preview the players that's more a conversation with owners and it did come up

uh... yesterday the board of governors meeting los That's more a conversation with owners. And it did come up yesterday at the board of governors meeting in Los Angeles, the league did update governors on expressions of interest, I believe from six different groups that would like to get in on, that doesn't mean six different teams are coming, but there's interest from groups that are legitimate. Six different markets, just to clarify. Sorry, Pierre, like six different groups

from six different markets? Not six different markets, just to clarify. Sorry, Pierre, like six different groups from six different markets? Not six different markets, six different groups, because we know there's more than one group in Atlanta, right? Okay. For example. Okay. There's rival groups in Atlanta trying to get a team in Atlanta. Psst, rival groups in Atlanta.

But Atlanta and Houston. Well, whatever, there's more than one group. What can I tell you? I know, it just seems like such a hockey hotbed, Pierre. Yeah. I know, it just seems like such a hockey hotbed here. So listen, I have a theory in all this. I think that they wanted to get the CBA done, which should be announced tomorrow as long. You asked me about the CBA news, I forgot to mention.

They're down to one key issue that they need to resolve tonight in LA. The PA and the league are meeting again in LA in the next number of hours here and they hope to resolve that issue. If they resolve that issue, they finally have a CBA agreement and they can announce it tomorrow. And my sense is they will resolve it.

But once the CBA is behind them, I always thought they were waiting for that to be done before they can turn their attention to expansion. Now, Gary Bettman has denied that link to me when I've asked about it, but I think that's what's going on here is they didn't wanna mix up these different projects. Get the CBA done, then let's turn our attention to expanding

and I think that's probably gonna be a Lanter Houston over time here. But, and we're talking at least 2 billion US I think to get into the next wave of expansion. So the owners will be licking their lips at that. With Pierre LeBron, our TSN hockey insider. So if you're a fan, and there's a lot of heaviness that comes with the new CBA, going from 82 regular season games to 84, that affects fans, right?

You get one more home game and two more games for your favorite team. What else would you suggest the average fan should know about what could be coming in this new CBA? Yep. So certainly as part of that new schedule, by the way, the added games will be within the division. So there'll be more games against your rival teams in your division. So that's what they're talking about right now within that. In other words, you're not adding more games against the other conference and so on. But certainly the eight-year max deal going down the seven years is a pretty, it's a very interesting matter.

And going down from seven to six if you're leaving your team. So that's a bit of a win, I guess, for the owner side in terms of more control within the system. Although honestly, I think agents are starting to realize, or at least I'm starting to realize, it's not so bad not signing max deals if you're a superstar. And you saw us and Matthew sign for four years. And now when he's up again, he's going to make major money in this new system. I think more and more people are starting to look at that

and realize that, yeah, the security of eight years, but maybe we should go back into that market with this cap escalating. But anyway, the length of contracts certainly will be one. The playoff salary cap is huge. Now, I had reported, you guys may remember a month ago, I quoted Bill Daley saying it was coming, but it is in this CBA extension. They will close the loophole on LTIR and no salary cap in

the playoffs they have agreed to some kind of mechanism and it hasn't been explained in full detail to me yet but gone is that loophole that some teams have taken advantage of in terms of you know having 120 million dollar payroll in the playoffs they're they're they're gonna end that in this next CBA Pierre the two Canadian teams I'm gonna give you Toronto or Edmonton who has more pressure to kind of roster Construction and improve and put it together for next year So, I mean they both have immense pressure Oh, but you're making me pick a team I'll pick Edmonton because Not only do they feel they're

so close after losing the Stanley Cup final two years in a row, but part of what's happening here in the next couple of weeks is part of the conversation that the front office is having with Conor McDavid as he makes up his mind about his future. So I think I would argue that there's an extra layer to the pressure on Edmonton that the Leafs don't have to deal with, even though the Leafs have a ton of pressure in terms of appeasing 97. And again, I do think that McDavid will sign an extension, but part of those conversations is understanding what the O'ruthers plan is going forward here.

How are we going to stay a contender? How are we going to fill these holes in our lineup? So that part of it is really fascinating for me. So Edmonton has to move more money. They moved Kane, but they're going to move Victor Arvidsson over the coming weeks to create more cap room as well. And again, remember with Edmonton, it's not just that Evan Bouchard's in for a massive raise.

He's going to make two and a half times what he's making now in his next deal. But on top of that, Dry Cytle's deal, which is old news, he signed last September, but it doesn't kick in finally until now. So, you know, he's going from eight and a half to 14 million. Bouchard's going from 3.9 million to probably somewhere around 10 million. Those players are great, but they're not going to be greater by that much money. They're just going to be taking more cap room next year for Edmonton. So it's a lot. It's a lot for Edmonton the juggle. Just follow up on that. Is there, if McDavid wants to sign Max, if the CBA gets sorted out, would it be seven then? Or would it be grandfathered in? Or like what, you know,

because it's going from eight years to keep your own player to seven, right? Yeah, excellent question. No, he could still do an eight year deal. This CBA extension kicks in only in September 26. We're living with the old system for another season. Now, I know that the PA and the league have also had sidebar conversations about whether

there are a couple of elements in this new CBA that should maybe be transferred over right away. And I don't know where that sits right now. We should find more about that in the coming days. But in general, the CBA extension, the four-year extension they're going to agree to doesn't start until September of six or another year away so that means any player like mcdavid or any player that's up right now i want to extend with his own team can still do

eight years this offseason here i just don't think in mcdavid's case i don't think he will do eight years i was going to assure a shorter deal in that with the other brought to you some hockey insiders so uh... do eight years. I think he's going to do a shorter deal than that. With Pierre LeBrun our TSN hockey insider. So everyone could, you know, on their own respective teams be signed by now. We talked about Tavares, we talked about Knives. It does feel like the Florida Panthers. It's amazing. They have three straight cup finals.

They've won two in a row and they're everything when it comes to free agency. You know, like what's going to happen with Echblad and Marshawn and what's gonna happen with Sam Bennett. But as of now, you know, they won the Cup a week ago, no one signed. What is the latest on those three in Florida? Yeah, good question. So, they have made their push. So, I've talked about this on Inside of Trading here this evening for SportsCenter, but the Panthers have made their push on their big three. They've made offers to Bennett, made an offer to Brad Mersha, big presentation.

And I don't think there was an actual offer there in Eklat, but certainly a renewed conversation to try and see what it would take in his case. Because that negotiation went dormant for many, many months between Eklat and Florida. For what reason? The point being that, you know, I don't know, they just decided to shelve it for some reason that you never know whether it's one side or the other. But, you know, you actually see that very often though, during the season, during the playoffs where you don't want to deal with that stuff, but they are talking again.

I would say if I rank the three, like I feel it's Bennett most likely to sign. Doesn't mean he will necessarily, but most likely to sign. Marchand truly feels like 50-50 to me guys, right in the middle. And I think Ekblad most likely to go to market. That's my sense right now. If you ask me in 48 hours, I may have a different update, but that's where it feels like right now for me on those three. And so Florida pushing hard, trying to get those guys signed, I just don't think they'll

be able to get all three. I think two out of three is probably I think the best they can do right now. Yeah, and what's interesting is, I mean, we're getting closer to July 1st. And last year Sam Reinhart was in a similar situation and he signed right before July 1 and got his long term deal. But what's interesting is I think you can make a case, clearly it's very obvious why you'd want to keep those three guys.

But if they do, I think you've got a window of another couple of years where you're going to be very competitive. You might win another cup, maybe two more cups. But at some point it's gonna be too much you know if you're committed to everybody and Bob's 37 and he's coming up you know I understand why you'd keep the band together I totally get it for the next year or two but if Marshawn's you know four-year deal and Ekblad's seven or eight Bennett's seven or eight like at some point Florida's gonna look around and

say we got nine guys on long-term deals and they're not in the prime anymore You know, I wouldn't be shocked if they tried to stay creative and flexible down there Yeah, exactly and you know, eventually they'll have to sign Lundell's really emerging star Yeah, but that's why all the little moves seem to add up for Florida like they made a little trade today They didn't get that much attention But they went out and they replaced their backup goalie and they brought in Tarasov from Columbus. Noodles would know more than me, but I know why they traded for him. A, he has a relationship with Bobrovsky, but B, he's six foot five. And I know from talking to Roberto Luongo, who heads the goalie department there in Florida, that's one of the major

requirements to end up on the Panthers rosters is size and goal. And so not a big headline today, almost no one would be talking about it outside of Florida. But watch, it would not surprise me if we're talking about five months and Tarasov's, Brabovsky's injured and Tarasov's having this amazing run for Florida, wouldn't shock me. Yeah, there is a history there.

Obviously Zito came from Columbus, Greg Campbell came from Columbus. You know, like there is, they know the player. They know the player. Because right away I saw, oh, Tarasov to Florida? Okay. There's a direct line there that they have a history with the player. So smart move by them. They really make cagey my point is

Well, that's the thing what I'm saying is often the moves end up being big for them are the ones we didn't really talk About in the moment like when they signed for a from Tampa years ago It was like, okay good depth signing guy becomes a star. I mean, it's just So many of these have added up for them. It's's so it's the you're right brian and you know obviously wanting to resign sand and brown rush i was obvious and it's and and you understand why they're trying to do it but i think it's more the under the cover moves that they keep making is the reason why they've

you know they've distanced themselves in the rest of the leader last couple years here lebron uh... so the gratuitous mitch Marner question, we'll put it on a platter for you. You know, what's the latest with Mitch and where are things going here? Yeah, I mean listen, they've really tried to keep a lid on it. I will say I did quote Marner's agent yesterday in my piece in the athletic about the mechanics of how he sees this playing out. And I thought he gave an interesting answer in the sense that it doesn't look like they're

in a hurry on July 1st. What Farris, Darren Farris, the agent said is they're going to get all their interests brought in on July 1st. They'll take all the calls and then they want to cut that list down and then they want to see how Mitch Marner wants to proceed from there. Essentially what the answer was, and sounds kind of obvious as an answer, but my point is it also sounds like let's not think we're getting a Mitch Marner signing in the first hour on Tuesday, if that makes any sense. This might be one of those that takes a day or two. Remember

Alex Patrangelo took three days into free agency in 2020 when he left St. Louis for Vegas. Souter and Parise back in 2012 took three days. Those were the big names, remember, and then inside of Minnesota until July 4th. So I'm wondering if we're in for one of those with Mishmarner, which I'm sure will be well received in this market. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. They'll be, you know, it'll be, I'm curious to see how people react to wherever he lands, you know, and what it looks like. Like if he just goes to Vegas, signs a longer term deal and makes 12 million people, I think a lot of Lee fans will say, I get that. Like I understand. I'm on'm on board with it shouldn't matter wherever he goes. I hear you but I don't know. If he goes to Anaheim for 14 million, I'm just curious.

I don't think it's about anyone hating on it or whatever. Those are two very different avenues here. Vegas and Anaheim, very different set-ups. What if there's a team we're not talking about? I don't know who that is. I just don't. Detroit could offer him a boatload of money but will he go to Detroit? Highly unlikely man. Highly unlikely.

Yeah, so that's the thing is that I think a lot of teams want to get on it as O says. I think Detroit's one of them. Columbus Blue Jackets have the most salary cap room in the league. I know they'd love to throw a boatload at Mitch Marner, but I don't think they're even gonna be afforded. Like what's gonna happen is Ferris is gonna say, these are the teams that we get to go next level with, right? And I don't think Columbus will get in that.

Carolina has cap room. They wanna make a big offer to Mitch Marner. They tried to trade for him, as you guys know. I don't think Carolina will make the cut of that shortlist. I could be wrong. So it really comes down to which teams end up making that shortlist and get to make an offer. I think Vegas for sure will be among those.

You know, we've talked about Dallas. The thing about Dallas is I think there's interest from Marner maybe going there. I don't know how Dallas can make it work. So maybe Dallas doesn't end up in the mix only because they can't. But they're certainly trying to move money right now. So yeah, it's fascinating.

And listen, at the end of the day, let's see what happens Monday going into Tuesday. I got all my days mixed up. Certainly the Leafs would love to get in a position where they could do a sign and trade so they can get something back. But I've heard or seen no evidence so far that that's going to work, that there's interest in that kind of scenario.

So it may just be that he walks out. Yeah, that's what I think most people are bracing for at this point. All right, Pierre, we'll leave it there. It'll be a fun and busy few days enjoy it will do it again soon right all right all civilis there is pure the product yes sir hockey insider uh... right best but still to come dear hazy be coming up eric haas more of the jays being read hot what he saw to sure is a last night

uh... jason guardians go back and forth hitting batters today. I'm sure he's been in that position probably on the wrong end of it. So we'll catch up with Hosmer and we'll continue to look ahead to the NHL draft tomorrow and night two of the NBA draft tonight. Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and on TSN 2. Unmistakably Canadian. It's the music that raised you.

The artists raising the bar. Hi, this is Bryan Adams. Hey, my name's Brett Emmons. I'm from the Glorious Sons. Hi, I'm Nellie Furtado. Made in Canada. The station that champions Canadian music. Loud, proud, and all yours. No passports required. Just press play.

Tap into Made in Canada now on iHeartRadio.ca or the free iHeartRadio app. Dear Hazy B coming up, I have my own Dear Hazy B I want to kind of throw out there. It's something I think is very relatable to everybody and I'll lay it out, I'll lay the scenario out, you guys tell me how the general society is supposed to apply You know to this situation, so we'll get to that Eric Osmer coming up Do we have Eric on the line? I don't know if we do or not not yet. Okay, we're calling Eric in just a moment We'll get to our best bets coming up as well Jay's winning today. Vlad, he left the game. You got hit last, got hit again today in the forearm, but X-rays were negative,

so it's just a contusion at this point. We'll see if he's available to play tomorrow night. But Gossman, naturally, you know, and Vladdy was pissed, man. Like he was, that hurt, dude. And he got hit last night. Again, you get hit twice in the same series. You're not gonna be happy and You know then Gosman retaliated Jose Ramirez stepped in I like that they didn't throw Gosman out like just let let the Jays get their

Piece of flesh. Yeah, let's move on with the old-school unwritten code that is baseball and retaliate what that call I've always wondered I think I asked the catcher that like is a pitcher saying here comes this or is a catcher saying now it's time to go. Well let's ask our next guest a guy who played in Major League Baseball for a long long time and host of Diggin Deep he's back on overdrive here's Eric Hosmer. How you doing Eric? That was doing great appreciate you boys having me on again. Well it's great to have you on and we're just talking about what went down In Cleveland earlier today where Vlad he got hit last night He got hit again today and then Ramirez steps up and Gosman hits him I'm sure you've been on the wrong side of both of those scenarios Who makes that call like in the dugout when your best player gets hit multiple times in a series has to leave the game

like what's the discussion like in terms of retaliation and what your starter is going to do next? Yeah, you know, that's one of those things where it kind of goes without spoken or being spoken about. I think the whole dugout, everybody kind of understands what's happening, especially when you go after, you know, Vlad, he's your superstar. You protect him at all times. And honestly, even if it comes close to happening once, let alone one time, you should really stick up for your guy. The pitcher is the catcher is the bullpen.

I think that goes without spoken. And that's something that shouldn't get back to the manager. But I will say this, though, is that's one of those things after watching hockey man in that playoff, especially the Panthers, Toronto, that series is when I got hooked. It's kind of it's tough on baseball. tough look I'm not gonna lie because those guys after every whistle are punching each other in the face and we're throwing balls at each other so it's something baseball got to adapt to I'm the first one that met that okay okay I like that who makes the call like on the Vlad E

being hit like is the first one an accident or is the team saying we gotta target this guy or what's the deal with that? Yeah, you certainly look at situation, you know, if it's a situation and I should know this, but if it's a situation where Vladdy got hit with a couple guys on base or two strikes, then you know they're not doing it on purpose. But then when it happens the second time,

then it's like, okay, this is our superstar. Obviously, Jose Ramirez is Cleveland superstar, That's who you're going to go at. And Godman did everything the right way. He didn't go above the belt. He was going right to the, uh, to the hip cheek there, whatever you want to call it. And you know, Jose kind of put his hand in there and it looked like it got him in the wrist, but that's where, you know, it really hit me with the silly nonsense. If Jose's out for, you know,

four to six weeks there with something with his wrist, then that's just not a good way for baseball to retaliate. With Eric Hosmer, what if you're, and I'm sure you have at times in your career, played the role of Jose Ramirez where you're in your own dugout or in the field and you see Vladdy, you know, get hit and you're like, all right, I'm going up next and I know what's coming. Like what. What's that mentality like for Ramirez? And I'm sure you were in that spot at different times in your career.

Yeah, it's certainly uncomfortable. And that's the thing too, everyone in Cleveland, everybody in that lineup, including Jose, once Vlad gets hit the second time, it's like, okay, we kind of know it's coming. And Jose kind of figures if there's two outs or any kind of situation with an open base, it's gonna be me.

But you look at some of them back and forth with San Diego and LA, keep hitting Otani back and forth. And that's where, listen, I'm the first one to say, boys, I'm not this big tough guy that's saying we need to fight. But that's where the game kind of looks a little soft compared to hockey when these guys are punching each other every whistle and we're just throwing baseballs back and forth. So we've got to adapt on that for sure.

I like it. Yeah, I love it. Eric, what's the perception of the Blue Jays from outside the market? Obviously we live it every day but what do you make of this team, what their ceiling is and can they be a playoff team? Certainly. As of right now, I think the American League as a whole is wide open and the Blue Jays are a team where it kind of seems like the last couple years they're searching for that identity. Are they going to hold on to the Bichette Jr., obviously

Vlad is staying there for a long time now. They go out and get Mad Max, which is a key addition to their veteran staff for this pennant race that they're about to pursue. And you know the feeling in that clubhouse is let's play good baseball for another couple weeks and make the front office go out and help us out in the trade deadline. Well, and then they got Scherzer back last night. Now, Max was not a trade acquisition, but he hasn't pitched all year, and you would have faced him, I'm sure, a bunch throughout your career. Man, he's intense, dude.

He's intense. What's that like? Prime Scherzer stepping in the box, and he's got an attitude going that night. What's that experience like? know, prime Scherzer stepping in the box and he's got an attitude going that night. What's that experience like? I tell you what, he has that same intensity in fantasy football. I'm in a high stakes league with him as well. He brings it every single week in that league.

But the thing I respect most about Mad Max is anytime the situation got bigger, there's a key moment in the game. He went to his fastball right away and I think got up to about 99 100 and I really respected that a lot about Max but this is the exact reason Toronto got a guy like Max you know he's at a point in time in his career where you're not expecting him to go out and throw 200 innings throughout the season and then perform in the postseason it's we need you in the pennant race we need you to be that guy for this period of time so glad to see him back and hopefully he stays healthy throughout. We're chatting with Eric Osmer. So the Jays now are heading to Fenway and you

spent a year there with the Red Sox and you know there's this weird kind of reputation that they have like growing up as a kid they were the Sox that could never win and then when 0-4 hit all they did was win for like a decade and now you know it started with muki bets and now recently with devours ownership a lot of people wondering you know how committed they are to winning uh... you know what is your read on the socks and and how serious they are is i guess a playoff contender or eventually a world series contender

and the american league east or eventually a World Series contender in the American League East? Full turmoil out there in Boston, boys. I mean, what are we doing? You're trading Rafi Devers. That is your best player. And do we not learn from Mookie Betts? I mean, I love and football, they say you don't want these players to lead your building, especially guys that come up through your system. I love Ladi out there in Toronto.

But do you not learn from Mookie Betts? I mean, even the return, you don't get much much back and I would love for these guys to do studies on what the return is on these prospects and how they all pan out because a lot of these trades you end up getting back four or five of these guys and maybe one or two pan out but when you're talking Rafi Devers in Boston the beast of the East he's proven in that division proven in big games I mean what else are you looking for so it's full turmoil out there in Boston I really do not know what the plan is and I hate it for those guys. I hate it for Cora. I really don't know what's going on out there. Yeah it's crazy man. Like because the Sox,

like they just they again like I said like for a decade or more they were as good as anybody in baseball. And then you know you look at the Yankees and the Yankees, they've stopped their toe a little bit recently. The Jays are on their tail, Tampa's on their tail, and they've faced injuries, particularly to the rotation at times this year. What does your read on the American League East? Do you feel like it's still a crapshoot? Do you still think the Yankees are the pace car and will remain that for the rest of the year? How do you see that plan out?

Yeah certainly you know and then the cap off the Boston trade weird timing you know you just get off going at the Yankees you're feeling good and then boom it kind of deflates the clubhouse but the AL East you know you look at the standings now and again the American League wild card is wide open it does seem like the Yankees are the juggernaut of that division and they're gonna kind of run away with it again But at the same time the American League it's kind of wide open and in my opinion the National League is where it's at It's been very very strong I think if you know some of these teams battling out in the wild card were in the National League it'd be a different story

But yeah, the ALU seems like the Yankees are running away with it But it's wide open for Toronto Tampa And I don't think anybody expected that because I think Baltimore was the team everyone expected to be up there and they're essentially out of it. Does Shohei continue to impress or we just expected to see this for many years to come? Man, he continues to impress. It really, you know, it seems like the game is just too easy for him. You get up to the major leagues and it's like, all right, I'm a hitter.

I pitched in high school, I pitched in college, but the way he's treating a big league baseball game is like he's going out playing just men's pickup beer league and he's out there pitching, throwing 99 to a hundred. He's hitting homers left and right. He DHs last year and still goes 50 50. He really has, you know, him and judge have separated themselves as just different superstars in this game. And man, I tell you what, it's a, it's tough to pick between those guys because those guys what

they're doing it's great for the game. I'm chatting with long time MLB'er Eric Hosmer and the Dodgers beat Colorado today, not shockingly. I mean Colorado loses literally every single day. But Kershaw was on the mound and Clayton Kershaw I think he racked up five strikeouts today so he's got 2,997 in his career which means he's going to hit 3,000 strikeouts. Only two active guys are there, that's Verlander and Scherzer. I mean all three of those guys are Hall of Famers, all three of them are all-time greats but I don't know if we're ever going to see that again.

I'm curious with innings restrictions and with sports science, do you think there's a chance Kershaw is the last pitcher to actually hit 3,000 strikeouts in their career? Yeah, it certainly seems that way. And baseball is a game where consistency and longevity, I I think is really what shows up. You always work quick to crown guys after two, three years in the league, but to see him do it at this level for this amount of years is certainly impressive. I don't know if we see that again because of not only the craziness with all the pitching injuries and all that stuff, but the mentality of a starting pitcher alone is just so much

different than what it was when Clayton was first coming up. So I really don't know if we see that again. If we do, it's not going to be more than a handful of guys in my opinion. Is he one of those guys in the league that like you think of Kershaw in LA, like that just kind of owns the city? Like, can you think of a guy in baseball, like in a different era, different city? Like he seems to be the man in that city, does he not? He absolutely is and that's one of those moments where you kind of dream about being in LA under the bright lights like you're saying and he's on the mound and when you're out

there in LA it's well known right behind the home on deck circle, Sandy Koufax used to go out and be sitting right there so just to see him and then Clayton on the mound and you're hoping it throws you one of those big curveballs Just like you dreamed about man And yeah that's certainly a stop in the big leagues that you go to in LA is one of those you look on the schedule and kind of Hope you get matched up with Clayton that night because that's what you certainly work for as a youngster coming up Yeah, I love that attitude like you you want to face those guys You know what you're coming up you like give me Verlander give me Scherzer

Like is there a picture you missed somehow that you wish coming up, you're like, give me Verlander, give me Scherzer. Like, is there a pitcher you missed somehow that you wish you got to hit against? Scoobal was a guy in the AL Central that right when I got out is right when he was coming up. And he's a guy, like you said, I would have loved to face him one time. And then after that, I don't know how much I would have loved just to see what he had.

And then Paul Skeen is another one. This is a guy where he's so smooth in his delivery, and I'm not gonna lie I thought the fastball would get hit eventually as he worked his way throughout the league and guys just can't seem to hit it and Adjust to it. So that's got to have some funky look to it And I would love to step in the box to see what that looked like. Yeah skeins man Like what an impact that guy's and the team stinks like they'd ever win. They never supply That's crazy thanks yeah they were out there in Cincinnati Burns you guys should keep an

eye on him as well he's the real deal okay I love it he is former will be a player and host of digging deep Eric Hosmer it's always great having you on Eric we really appreciate it man we'll do it again down the road oh absolutely boys love it great talking to you guys you too there he is Eric Hosmer yeah I appreciate that attitude like you want a piece of that guy And I remember the Jays went into Dodger Stadium sort of been four three four five years ago And I think the shed hit two home runs off Kershaw That would be sick. Yes, that's a night out. That was a night out man, and he was young

I don't know if it was his rookie year, but it was early. The first couple of years in the league. Might have been his rookie year. And he took him deep twice at Dodger Stadium. And it was like, phew, man, he's young. I can't imagine what my curfew would have been taking Kershaw deep twice. Two off Kershaw in LA. Yeah.

Watch yourself. All right. Dear Hazy B, brought to you by Boston Pizza, Canada's favorite sports bar. Enjoy a $15 lunch at BP where you get an entree, a side and a drink. You'll get it all in 20 minutes or less. A fast lunch doesn't have to be fast food. See you for a $15 fast lunch at your local Boston Pizza. Let me present this scenario to you guys. It's a little bit off the beaten path of Dear Hazy B, but I think it fits.

Sure. So a more awkward scenario for a stop and chat than when you run into someone you know when they're getting their haircut and you walk in and they're mid haircut and you're like, what am I supposed, do we do a chat, am I supposed to sit down? Like I ran into my buddy the other day.

You know what I do before you get into it? I act like I don't see the person. I thought of that, and he copied. No, it's a button hook out the door again. It is. It's awkward. It's a button hook and out the door again because I think Hayes, me and you agree on the idea of when we get haircuts, it's not

a chat time. I don't know why. Why? Why? I don't know. It's a business transaction. It is. It's standing on business.

It's business. Listen, you didn't slide a bathroom door open and he's taking a dump. He's sitting in a chair getting a haircut. That's it. Like he's, and it's, is he have some fabio hair that it were unaware of it's probably the same solid the awkward fist bumps at the gym or it's like that really need to happen man it didn't it didn't the thing is like the the hairdresser's like so am i not continuing are you going to stop and turn like you know there's people trying

to work and then the way out like he left first and i'm like is he coming over to say goodbye thank god he just he knew better social skills like i'm out of here man we're not to work and then the way out, like he left first and I'm like, is he coming over to say goodbye? Thank God he just, he knew better. Social skills, like I'm out of here, man. We're not doing this again. Like on the way out. It is. And you got to be like an old school cowboy gunslinger with your phone.

It comes out of the hip and up to your ear and it's a button hooking out. Oh, you're taking a call. If you want to take it next level, you pull surveillance across the street and wait until he leaves and then you go back in. Right, because it was... That's the move. I agree. Because I'm not talking to a weird scenario, getting a haircut where it's like, oh, some

kind of half bro hug where you could fall on his lap and it's stupid. Right, he's sitting down, you're standing and he's there's a error everywhere. Yeah No, I don't think I don't think any anything to do with a haircut. It's not stop and chat Territory it's not If he was dying his hair and just sitting there then you can chat with him But there's somebody working on a salad so you're you know you're probably just in their way or whatever you say hey nice to see I'll let you get your haircut we'll chat after. What about the stop and chat at like a drugstore is that one like is it understood kind of who knows what people

are doing in there you just you kind of... I've shown you along throughout the years how you keep things moving you don't allow it yeah you don't allow it you're like great, great to see you. It's a little tap. And then you're just, you keep trucking. You keep moving. You don't want to see this guy picking up foot fungus medicine or something like that. Or worse. You're like, what is this cat up to? And this guy's got a horn growing out of his head. Sir, you need to put this on four times a day on the whatever you have on your ass.

You know, like, you can't just put this on four times a day. You can't just put this on four times a day. You can't just put this on four times a day. You can't just put this on four times a day. You can't just put this on four times a day. You can't just put this on four times a day. You can't just put this on four times a day. You can't just put this on four times a day.

You can't just put this on four times a day. You can't just put this on four times a day. You can't just put this on four times a day. You can't just put this on four times a day. You can't just put this on four times a day. You can't just put this on four times a day. You can't just put this on four times a day. You can't just put this on four times a day. You can't just put this on four times a day Sir, you need to put this on four times a day on the whatever you have on your ass. The pharmacist doesn't care. They're going to blurt it out, whatever needs to be done, the instructions.

The last thing you need is those instructions to be blurted out in front of an audience. Exactly. Exactly. That's what I think that's the classic, like you don't make eye contact, nothing. If you're at a drug store or talking to a pharmacist and you see, I don't care if you see your brother, your sister, your parent, you're like, I'm out of here. See you in the parking lot. No, dude.

We're not going to just bomb chat right now. I think we're at a point where it's totally okay to go super weirdo and just somebody and you don't want to do it You just say I don't even remember you You know what I mean? Telling you just say sorry. I don't know who are you again? That's just dream though if it's it is no well I mean yeah, and there's again right on the holster you have that thing on the holster up to the ear gotta take this call see ya that's you're right about that that phone is your friend man

you just automatic make it vibrate somehow make it noise you gotta take this call sorry i mean i get it that you know you wanna be social and you wanna chat with people but there are certain scenarios where you're like man this is just gonna be too much no haze i think you're way worse than I am. You don't want any part of a social chat at all. Well, it depends on the scenario. You're right. You're right. I mean, I'll be clear cut.

If there's no escape or anything and it's like, I just kind of want to read or I want to, you know, whatever. You run into someone at the airport, you're like, oh, are we gonna sit together for an hour and talk? Like, I just want to read. I just don't like the awkward ending where someone's like, well, what's your take on the lease? And it's just like, you give them your take,

and then you're like, OK, bye. It's just this weird ending to it. It's not about being rude or anything. It's not about that. I was, listen, you talk about airports. I run into people all the time in the airport, like all the time. And people, hey, fan of the show, what do you think? what do you think of the series? What do you think is going to

happen? I'm like, I don't know. I wish I would know. This is a perfect opportunity. It's an app, okay? You know how you can get someone's contact info if your phones zap each other? You just zap and it lets you know if you're in the circle of trust as far as a stop and chat and it's just a quick tap and it buzzes that's interesting dude if it goes red you're fully allowed to just walk away yep the stop and chat app I think that's right around the corner

stop and chap I like that a lot stop and chat GPT yes that's right around that a lot. Stop and chat GPT. Yes. That's right around the corner. Is this happening or not? Do you deserve it? Do we want it?

No. Right. Best bet still to come. Overdrive continues. TSN 1050N on TSN2. Seasoned gamer or just video game curious? This Week in Gaming is the podcast for you. We break down the latest in the world of video games, from basics to beyond.

The hottest gaming news, insight and industry leaders, and more, weekly. Join me, Naomi Kyle, and stay ahead of the game with all the latest updates. Even if you're a total newbie. Stream This Week in Gaming on the free iHeartRadio app, or wherever you get your podcasts. Is brought to you by Boston Pizza, Canada's favorite sports bar. Enjoy $15 lunch at BP where you get an entree, a side and a drink and you'll get it all

in 20 minutes or less. A fast lunch doesn't have to be fast food. See you for a $15 fast lunch at your local Boston pizza. Fast pass powered by fandual make your picks in a simple as saying the parlay in seconds on the fandual sportsbook app week for the cfl beginning tonight's if all of t s and bombers at home against the ox the ox

your boyhood team there and you know as they've their own to very familiar territory and it's not a lot of knowledge to man and i don't know what to They're 0-2, a very familiar territory for them. Yeah, this hasn't been a good run for me. They love an 0-2, man. They love an 0-2. God, they're awful. They are, and they have been for a while. I think it coincides with their name change. I think they're just known as EE's now.

People hate that Elks name. Loser, Loser, Losers. It is a loser mentality. Well, the Bombers are at home, and we know Winnipeg, they go to the Great Cup every year, and they're 2-0. I'm going to take the point, so you're getting home and we know Winnipeg to go to the great cup every year and they're 2-0 Yeah, I'm gonna take the points. So you get ten and a half tonight This is basically if you're the Alex like you got to snap out of it. You got to keep it close tonight You've got to show up put together some port some formative of an effort tonight Feels like a backdoor cover get ten and a half

I will lay I will take the points with the Alex and Winnipeg tonight on the CFL on TSM today's best bet powered by FanDuel And yeah, we'll see what comes of it tonight in the NBA draft We'll see what comes of it tomorrow in the NHL draft. Good luck tomorrow Lincoln Navigator Cup tomorrow. Yeah, it'll be a fun one Duffy versus O'Neil and Nauzum Kadri will be there Brennan Gallagher, Bob Weeks, Marissa Roberto, myself. It's going to be a full production. Can't wait for it. It's going to be a lot of fun.

All right. Thanks to everyone behind the scenes for helping out. We appreciate it. Everyone for tuning in today. TV, radio, podcast, web, and of course up on YouTube Live on the TSN YouTube channel. We're out of here. Enjoy your evenings. Enjoy the games tonight.

We're back tomorrow at 4 p.m. We'll chat then. Un're out of here. Enjoy your evenings. Enjoy the games tonight. We're back tomorrow at 4 PM. We'll chat then. Unmistakably Canadian. It's the music that raised you. The artists raising the bar. Hi, this is Brian Adams. Hey, my name is Brett Emmons. I'm from the Glorious Suns. Hi, I'm Nelly Furtado. Made in Canada, the station that champions Canadian music. Loud, proud, and all yours. No passports required, just press play. Tap into Made in Canada now on iHeartRadio.ca. Or the free iHeart Radio app.