Rates & Barrels - Deadline Approaches of Recent World Series Teams & The 2024 Hall of Fame Class

Episode Date: July 23, 2024

Britt and DVR look back the approach of a few recent teams that made it to the World Series and discuss the value of making smaller moves that still make an impact without being a splashy mid-season blockbuster. Can the 2021 Trade Deadline plan of the Braves be replicated as a template, or was it a perfect storm?  Rundown 4:22 Recent World Series Teams' Trade Deadlines 14:42 The Perfect Deadline? Atlanta's 2021 Approach 20:09 Standing Pat v. Looking to the Future 25:29 The 2024 Hall of Fame Class 41:39 Key Series as Teams Try to Pick a Lane 44:45 Why Are the Cubs Content to Look to 2025? 49:33 The Astros' Desire for a 'Star' First Baseman Follow DVR on Twitter: @DerekVanRiper Follow Britt on Twitter: @Britt_Ghiroli e-mail: [e-mail] Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/FyBa9f3wFe Join us Thursday at 1p ET/10a PT for our weekly live episode with Trevor May! Subscribe to The Athletic: theathletic.com/ratesandbarrels Hosts: Derek VanRiper & Britt Ghiroli Executive Producer: Derek VanRiper Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is an advertisement from BetterHelp. Everyone knows therapy is great for solving problems, but turns out therapy has some issues of its own. Finding the right therapist, fitting into their schedule, and of course, the cost. BetterHelp can help solve these problems. It's online, convenient, built around your schedule, and surprisingly affordable too.

Connect with a credentialed therapist by phone, video, or online chat. Visit betterhelp.com to learn more. That's betterHELP.com. This episode is brought to you by LEGO Fortnight. LEGO Fortnight is the ultimate survival crafting game found within Fortnite. It's not just Fortnite Battle Royale with minifigures. It's an entirely new experience that combines the best of LEGO Play and Fortnite. Created to give players of all ages,

including kids and families, a safe digital space to play in. Download Fortnite on consoles, PC, cloud services, or Android, and play LEGO Fortnite for free. Rated ESRB E10+. Welcome to Rates and Barrels. It's Tuesday, July 23. Derek Van Riper ritual, the two player show today, Eno on vacation, still enjoying all the great beers and I assume probably meats of Seattle, mostly fish from what I hear, but I think he's having a good time on a nice nice vacation here, well-deserved.

Britt, how's it going for you on this Tuesday? Going well, it'll be really exciting as you know over the next week to see what who changed his hands, right? I think we're exactly a week from the trade deadline. So most moves now unfortunately happen within that 24, 48 hour period right around the deadline. But there's still plenty to discuss that we're going to get into because it's just a really interesting time of year for baseball, a time when baseball certainly

takes center stage. Absolutely. Now we've got to look back at a few of the recent deadlines. One thing we wanted to do, we were kind of planning this show yesterday, is let's look back at what the teams that appeared in the World Series the last three seasons, what they did at the deadline, because there's a lot of different ways you can attack it. You don't have to make a splashy move. The things you do at the deadline help, but they don't always put you over the top.

Sometimes they simply keep you afloat. So we're going to dig into that. We'll talk about the Hall of Fame class that was just inducted on Sunday in Cooperstown. Britt had a great piece with Chad Jennings. It was an oral history of Adrian Beltre, a player that I think was maybe just a little early in terms of maximizing his attention, but I think it was right on time for him

because he doesn't sound like a guy that necessarily craved the spotlight. We'll also talk about what we're watching here in this week leading into the deadline There are some teams right in the thick of things where these next six or seven games these next two two and a half series Are going to shape the final decisions that their front offices make at next Tuesday's deadline So plenty of ground to cover. I thought about this too with Eno gone on Monday. We got Victor Robles under the rundown. On Tuesday, I was going to open the show by asking you if you watched this weekend's World Series preview.

There was a two game series that happened this weekend. I think it's the World Series preview for 2024. Did you watch it? I'm trying to think of what I watched. I watched the Sunday night baseball game. I don't think the Dodgers red Sox are the World Series preview. That's not the one. I'm curious, having eliminated the Dodgers and the Orioles, who I think are two strong

candidates, who you believe, who did the Brewers play? We're going to have the all-central World Series this year. It's going to drive all of you crazy. It was a Brewers twin series. I don't know why it was only a two-gamer. Okay, that was the World Series matchup? Sure, why not? Could be.

Sure, sure. I should have just directly off the cuff asked you who the Brewers were playing because I was busy watching Shohei Otani hit a 473 foot bomb. It was just a ridiculous display. Honestly, I was doing something else while watching the game. Had to get my MLB TV remote and rewind it and watched it a couple of times. I was like, he did what? He hit it.

How far? Uh, just remarkable. I think the second furthest ever at Dodger Stadium. Yeah, it was the kind of home run that the people that watch the Dodgers like every day and even Clayton Kershaw was just kind of in awe of it, right? And people said, you don't usually see balls hit out there. It was one of those pitches too. It was like an 86 mile an hour cutter from Cutter Crawford, no less, that was just perfectly grooved into the Nitro Zone. You couldn't throw a better crushable pitch to Shohei Otani if you tried. It just,

pitch to Shohei Otani if you tried. And it just, it went, it went a mile. But all right, I'll put the Brewer talk aside. I'll save it. You know what? Maybe I'll start a Brewer's podcast again someday, just to scratch the itch. Every year we hear about this and then every year we have to console you when they lose in the first round. Yeah, I know.

It is an exhausting cycle. Get the Kleenex when it's on sale at Costco. It'll be on sale. It'll be like $3 off a case of 10 boxes. Make sure you get it while it's on sale. We're going to need it. So let's take a look back at the recent World Series teams trade deadlines. Last year, Rangers Diamondbacks was the matchup, right? And I count anything that kind of happens within a month of the deadline as part of your deadline moves. We don't see a ton of April and May trades anyway, if any of them had happened, I would have included them for this exercise. But people probably remember, the Rangers made a handful of moves, right?

They made the early move to add a world's Chapman to the bullpen. At the time, Cole Regans and Ronnie Cabrera going to Kansas City was kind of, okay, yeah, the Rangers got a reliever. So what? And then maybe the Royals got a future reliever, nice lefty.

It turns out they got Cole Reagans. It ended up being a huge move for both sides. Yeah, just no big deal. Like a frontline starter just kind of available in June in a trade. We don't see that very often. Other trades though the Rangers made a month later, July 30th, they got Jordan Montgomery and Chris Stratton

in a big trade with the Cardinals, Tiko Roby, Thomas Jasey and John King went back to St. Louis in that trade. And then they made the deal for Max Scherzer on the same day with the Mets, right? They got Scherzer and cash for Luis Angel Acuna in a somewhat rare or an increasingly rare bigger name prospect getting moved at the deadline deal. Those have become a little harder to come by in recent years. So I look back, July 30th, the day they made those second two trades,

the Rangers were 60 and 46. They had a one game lead over the Astros at the time. The Angels and Mariners were within reach of the division title as well at the time. The Rangers hold on, they go 30 and 26, they get into the postseason, kind of sweating it out. And the contributions they got from the guys they traded for definitely mattered, right? Max Scherzer made eight starts, had a 320 ERA, a whip below one.

Jordan Montgomery made 11 starts, had a 279 ERA, a whip just above one. They needed that fortification of the rotation in a big way. So they got high quality innings from both of those guys and it was such a close battle for those last playoff spots. It mattered. Chapman and Stratton made their impact in the bullpen. Chapman, by results, wasn't actually quite as good as Stratton, just by ERA, at least. But they needed bullpen help, too.

They had a weak bullpen going into the second half of last season. So I look back at this and I say, OK, like they made some moves. The thing that was surprising or that actually really kind of disappointed me was that they didn't get a lot from Scherzer because of the injury in the postseason. It's really nine and two-thirds innings last year in the playoffs. It was Jordan Montgomery chewing up 31 innings with a sub-three ERA, kind of walking the tightrope at times that ended up being the more impactful postseason acquisition just by availability for them.

That to me, though, is one of the bigger, you know, we talked about this yesterday, that's one of the bigger trade deadlines by a team that wanted to win the World Series because of the names, because of the impact. The Rangers still had a really weak bullpen in the playoffs. It was a huge ordeal. Like how getting to that bullpen and that's why a guy like Montgomery kind of giving them the innings that he did really was able to save them. Jose Leclerc became like the guy they could rely on in the clutch. You know Chapman like you said

was really, you look at that trade now and it was such a win for Kansas City, such a no-brainer for Kansas City. But I think the Rangers, if we're going to rank teams that won it all, this was a solid trade deadline. I mean, the Scherzer deal, yeah, he's past his prime. Yes, he's an older pitcher. He's injury-prone now. His body is starting to fail him because he's such a Max Hefford guy, high-energy pitcher.

But that's as close as you're going to get to like a blockbuster with a lot of these teams nowadays to get a guy who's going to be a Hall of Famer at the trade deadline. And then march your way to the World Series. So that's a solid, solid deadline. Yeah, I think, you know, deadlines years ago used to feature more top prospects going places and some splashier looking moves. Now it kind of seems like if you have an appetite as an organization to take on more payroll, that opens the door for some of the bigger name players that can be moved. And in this case, the Mets had to take on some of the money left on Scherzer's deal

for the Rangers to even take the contract back in the return. So you look at that and say, okay, they maybe don't win the World Series without the moves they made at the deadline because everything was so close. It's at least close enough where you say it mattered. There's no argument against that. On the other side, I was surprised looking back at how little impact the Diamondbacks got on their way to the postseason from the guys they added because they added Paul Seawald. Like the Rangers,

they needed a reliever. They gave up Brian Bliss, Dominic Canzone, and Josh Rojas to get Seawald. And Seawald wasn't a rental, so it made a lot of sense because even as a team that was on the rise and was not a guarantee to make the playoffs, we could look at them and say, hey, 2024, they're going to need Seawald then too. He's a nice impact, high leverage sort of reliever for a team that desperately needs one. Jace Peterson was a bench guy, and Tommy Pham was kind of a semi-regular for them. Pham was okay down the stretch in the regular season, kind of did typical Tommy Pham was kind of a semi-regular for them. Pham was okay down the stretch in the regular season, kind of did typical Tommy Pham stuff,

some power, some speed, lower OBP than you'd expect. They got a little more impact in the postseason though. Paul Seewald had eight scoreless innings the first three rounds of the playoffs. So when the Diamondbacks were stunning everybody in those early series, he was a huge part of that. 11 Ks against one walk. I mean, so if you don't have Seawald, that's one fewer great reliever.

And given how tight some of those games were, it probably mattered once they got to the postseason that they actually had one more high quality reliever they could lean to, especially at the back end. Yeah, there are a team in my mind that like five teams this year can look at and say, look what they did. They were not guaranteed at all to make the playoffs. All we have to do is get there. All I have to do is get in there. And then we can get hot, right? And this has been the case. This is why so many front offices are tepid now is that, you know, you make a little tweaks, you make these tiny moves and it doesn't work out. Okay. You didn't cost yourself three years of prospects, right?

If it does work out, you roll the dice, you look like geniuses, and you still got a good chunk of your farm system intact, you know, because you didn't make these huge moves. So this is what you're seeing now more and more across the league are trade deadlines like the Diamondbacks, especially because the Diamondbacks are not a large market team for the large payroll that has that margin for error. They're not the Boston Red Sox or the Yankees. So for them, you're never going to really see a all in and let's burn the farm. So I think a lot of teams should look at what Arizona did and how they did it and probably

say this is what we're hoping for. We'll see if we get hot in October. I had to look at this multiple times on baseball reference, but I thought, I was remembering last season, try off the cuff remembering last season saying, I think Arizona played a little bit better leading into the deadline and that's what led them to buy. Nope, they were eight and 16 in July, which is really interesting

because I think we always look at these series and what's happening in this month in particular and say, this is what spurs the action. Not always, it really depends on what you need and, and what's available too, because they kind of did the quiet deadline thing, got a couple of things that helped them. And it was just enough to make the run that they had to make. But some of it is also the way playoff baseball works, like just playing really well in a limited sample can make a huge difference so that just get there.

Sort of mentality definitely permeates more clubs now because you have an expanded postseason field. I think what you see when you look back at some of these deadlines though, is you see the case for doing something. Like it doesn't have to be splashy, but doing something generally helps.

The 2022 Astros won the World Series over the Phillies, didn't do that much. The Deadline tried to. Added Trey Mancini in that three team deal. Mancini didn't hit for them. Added Will Smith for Jacob de Rizzi in a swap with Atlanta. Got another catcher in Christian Vasquez for William Abreu and Emmanuel Valdez. They don't really miss any of the players they gave up other than probably Jose Ciri,

but they've got plenty of outfield depth, so they really don't miss him anyway. And you look back like Mancini didn't hit, Vasquez didn't give them much. Will Smith was a nice extra reliever in the regular season. He was on the roster for the World Series and didn't pitch. I don't think he gave them a single inning the entire postseason that year. So part of that just like the team was so good that year. They didn't need a lot, but it's also that proof of, proof of hey we didn't do anything but our team was good and we could still win the world series anyway which i think is a really hard thing for fans to accept if that's if that's the script your team follows yeah well i think most teams even if they're really good are looking for like a reliever which is probably not enough to get fans excited but but also, like you said, it's becoming increasingly difficult to remake your whole team in July.

There's too many teams in it. I think the deadline is two weeks too early. Parody has created this, like, let's just be slightly over 500 and see how it goes. So there aren't as many true sellers anymore. I think if you're going into it saying, you know, we're going to remake this whole roster is just not going to happen. If you're already a good team and you have a few tweaks, yes. Now the Rangers were able to make some bigger moves as we talked about, but that's because

they were willing to give up, you know, some serious prospects. You know, they traded an All-Star for Aldis Chapman and Cole Regans. So you know, it comes with a big price and many teams are not willing to pay that price now, especially when you look at teams like the Astros, who have been good for a very sustained stretch. You don't get that by going all in at the trade deadline and by burning your farm system to the ground. I do like what the Phillies did in 22, even though they didn't win, by the way, they added

Brandon Marsh in that trade for Logan O'Hoppe, which was a fun trade at the time because the Phillies needed a center fielder and the Angels were looking for a long-term catcher. And since the Phillies already had JT Real Muto, Ohapi was expendable. Marsh was kind of an extra outfielder given what the Angels had in their organization. So that was like a good trade that helped both sides

short-term and long-term potentially. So this is classic, like Dave Dombrowski stuff, like be aggressive, just go out and make moves. They got added Muno Sosa as a bench guy. They added David Robertson to the bullpen. They added Noah Sendergaard, who at that point was starting to show warts, could have been worse,

at least ate up some innings in the regular season. It was actually okay in the bullpen and occasionally in the rotation, the playoffs that year too. It didn't make a huge difference because they didn't win, but it made enough of a difference to get them to the World Series.

If you're shopping while working, eating, or even listening to this podcast, then you know and love the thrill of the hunt, but are you getting the thrill of the best deals? Rakuten shoppers do. They get the brands they love with the most savings and cash back, and you can get it too. Start getting cash back at your favorite stores like Old Navy, Best Buy, and Expedia,

and even stack sales on top of cash back. It's easy to use and you get your cash back through PayPal or check. The idea is simple. Stores pay Rakuten for sending them shoppers and Rakuten shares the money with you as cash back. Download the free Rakuten app and never miss a deal or go to rakuten.ca to start getting the most bang for your buck. That's R-A-K-U-T-E-N. The deadline that everybody wants to copy

in terms of being inexpensive but impactful is what Atlanta did in 2021. That was the year in mid-July, they added Jock Peterson. They also had Steven Vogt as a backup catcher. They got a bullpen piece in Richard Rodriguez and they got Jorge Soler, Adam Duvall, and Eddie Rosario in three separate trades. And they gave up nothing of long-term consequence for those outfielders, nothing. Bryce Ball for Peterson, Casey Kalich in the deal for Soler, Alex Jackson in the deal for Duvall, and Pablo Sandoval in the deal for Rosario.

And this is a team, they were two below 500 on July 30th when they made that last series of trades, but the division was really tight that year. That was the year of Cunña Torres ACL for the first time. They were four back in the division, 51 and 53. They went 37 and 20 after the trade deadline. The problem is I don't think it was only because the guys they traded for were good, which they were.

Rosario had a 136 WRC plus after the trade. Saler had a 135 with 14 homers. Duvall was a little better than league average with 15 homers. They just they threaded the needle perfectly. They just said, let's patch up the roster we have. We like the core even with the Cunha down and let's just let's play it out. We're close enough. And that is the thing you would look at. If you're a team within a couple games of 500 right now in the NL in particular, you'd say, why don't we just do something like that? We're going to give up some guys that are lower ranked prospects

that aren't even necessarily future big leaguers, take on some payroll, take a chance on some high variance veterans, especially in position players that have power. I just feel like you can get lucky. And I think that's sort of what happened. They had a good plan and it went as well as it could possibly go. I don't know if you could even replicate it, Britt, but I think teams are going to be tempted to try. And but also the Braves were a good team. It's not those three guys adding those guys, you know, skyrocketed them.

They were already a good team. Kind of reminds me of like the 19 Nationals who like added Daniel Hudson and made some smaller moves. But like they got to the playoffs because they played well in the second half because guys who weren't available, whether that was Ray Turner, Anthony Rendon, came off the IL. You know, Sean Doolittle came off the IL, he was overused and he pitched better. So a big part of this is your current team playing better. So you have to also have those pieces in place. So if I'm'm NL team, I'm looking at my roster and saying like, do we have guys who are wildly underperforming or hurt that we believe are going to get better? Right? Like I think the Yankees are a good example.

They've been awful for six weeks. They did just have a kind of a big statement win for Karl Frohdon yesterday over Tampa Bay. But a lot of the Yankees issues are going to have to be resolved internally. DJ LeMahieu and Stanton getting healthy and coming back, like, you know, having Rodin find things like a lot of the trade deadline stuff gets overblown. Sometimes you also have to have your current roster play to the level that you think they can play at. And that's what happened, I think, in the case of the Atlanta Braves. Yeah, a bit of a perfect storm, right? I mean, that was the the Freddy Freeman, Austin Reilly, Dansby Swanson, Ozzy Albee's core still in place on the position player side

even after they lost to Cunha. So I think it was a phenomenal read by the front office to say we're better than a team that's two games below 500. And I wonder which team or teams currently in a similar position, look at themselves and say, wait a minute, we have a core like that. We have two, three, maybe even four guys that could be really good and healthy down the stretch. Let's add to that.

I wonder if that could be the Rangers. I mean, defending champs have been kind of written off at a few different points this year, just as maybe being. Unable to make up ground and repeat what they did last season, but they have been dealing with a lot of pitching injuries. They have some guys coming back in the second half. We've talked about that as one way they're going to get better.

And then you start thinking about them as a team that maybe get more from Marcus Simeon in the second half, have a completely healthy half from Corey Seager, who wasn't quite himself at the very beginning of the season. Maybe Wyatt Langford starts to take a step. I mean, they were just there, they just won it. So I think people might be sleeping a little bit on the Rangers trying to nudge them into the seller bucket because, oh, we want teams to acquire pitching and the Rangers have pitching. What if they say, hey, let's just do what Atlanta did a few years ago and try to make another run at this thing because we just did it last year? Yeah, they're a team who I think is not going to raise the white flag at all.

And I know there were early rumors about that, but they just they're in a an incredibly winnable division. Still, you saw Houston get off to that terrible start and then rebound. So, you know, the Rangers have the pieces like I was saying that the Braves did. They have the pieces to be good. They don't need to go out and revamp their whole roster at the trade deadline. They just need to get healthy and play to that level. So they're a great example, I think, in my mind of something like that. I mean, the Red Sox too have the potential, I think, and have the talent on that roster

that like they could just make a few tweaks and you know, they're not going to challenge for the division. But like to me, should not be sitting around saying, let's sell. You know, you're, you're finally in a, in a, maybe a little bit of a, of a better spot than you have been the last couple of years. You're better than people to expect or that you should be. Um, you know, I think there's a lot of teams that are in this situation where you're like, well, I think we can go for it because the alternative is what? You know, if the Tigers, who have been on a little bit of a run here these last two

weeks after being really abysmal, like if the Tigers sell Scubal, what are they selling their fans? Wait another three, four years? Right? You know, what are you doing here? You're going to give up a guy who you could win a Cy Young? Yeah, you'll get a lot of good prospects, but the people of Detroit have been waiting pretty patiently for a team to contend, for a team to root for again.

You're going to restart the whole thing all over again? Right? I just don't see how some of these teams, how selling is an avenue you can even remotely sell to your fans. There's going to be a lot of stand patters, I think, which is probably even more frustrating, right? The Cubs pretty much said they're gonna stand pat, right? Unless it helps them for the future.

The Reds are having that stand pat category, right? You got a lot of these front offices that just aren't really built to sell for parts, but also really shouldn't be buying. So in my mind, like the stand pack category could be like the most frustrating category of the trade deadline. I think if your team projected to be a 500 team or better at the beginning of the season is still within like two games of that, you should be a buyer.

You should still say, why not? Why not us? That should be the mentality you have. And I think you have the 2023 World Series as proof of trying being a good thing. I don't think you need to look any further than that. How big though, how big do you buy and have like, you know, say you're, say you're in a contract here and you're the GM.

How big you buying? I think you're buying the way Atlanta did in 21, to whatever degree that's possible. So you're asking ownership to take on payroll for a team that could miss the playoffs. It's a hard sell for your job. Yeah, but if you miss the playoffs, are you keeping your job anyway? Like if you don't, if you do nothing and miss. If you're keeping the team profitable and sustainable and fans engaged, yeah, you could be. I guess that's the tough conversation you got to have. That's going to vary from team to team. Like you don't always have the same response, the same appetite. You don't say ownership group either. Many ownership groups are going to say,

we're not adding payroll. So then what do you do? You have to, as the GM, take the bullets. I think oftentimes we look at GMs and we blame GMs. GMs can only do what the ownership allows them to do. Yeah. They get hamstrung quite a bit. Yeah. So can they add? Will the owner be okay adding 15, 20 million to a team that could stumble into the wild card, but could also be sitting home? So he just shelled out this extra money for what? For nothing? For a few extra tickets sold? I think it's a tough thing to balance. I think if you're a front office the same year and you don't have a clear seller and a clear buyer, that's why I think you're going to see a lot of Stan Patters. So what are you going to do? But that's where I think the Tigers do get

tempted by a potentially overwhelming offer for Scoobble. Like Scoobble is not a normal trade deadline acquisition given that he has several years of control left. I think it's a long shot he gets moved, but I do think the Orioles, yeah, two after this year. So you got the rest of 24 plus 25, 26. Okay, let's shut it down now. The Orioles aren't trading Jackson Holiday for Scoobl. I would love to know who even started this rumor because it's insane. They're not trading a guy who has yet to even start, he's barely been in the big leagues, who's projected to be an all-star

for two years at Tarik Scoobles, already had Tommy John surgery. And yeah, he's under team control, but Jackson Holliday, like, the world's really interested, sure, he's not, Jackson Holliday is not going to be moved for Tarik Scooble. No, he's not. The Tigers are not going to be overwhelmed

that kind of an offer. This is not what front offices do now. Absent of Jerry DiPoto and AJ Preller, we live in a very safe, safe world of GMs. If it wasn't for AJ Preller, the Nationals couldn't have moved Juan Soto. Hmm, yeah, maybe they wouldn't have got an offer they liked. It's funny because it would change so much

about their franchise. No, they couldn't. I was told flat out that was the only offer that was even remotely acceptable. They would not have moved him. It changed a lot about what they did the last couple of years. Correct. It's kind of a fun alternate universe to think about for national fans. These blockbusters are just very hard to come by because front offices are now very much thinking about the future and not sacrificing the future and keeping these top prospects.

And you're not playing with maybe 10, 20 years ago, you would see a Jackson holiday and we know it would bat an eye. Um, it's just not going to happen. The Orals would be actually selling low. He hasn't even been playing, didn't even play well in that short stint in the big leagues. Yeah. It's that's, but that's the thing is like, maybe that is part of what makes

it even possible for them to do it aside from their depth They have phenomenal depth they could trade other prospects Offer like Kyle Stowers. They've got Norby. They've got other guys that they would offer Before they even get to the Jackson Holley, I wouldn't be surprised if they tell teams just Jackson holidays on touch of all He's off the table. Wow, there's still 10 back even with that recent surge to one below 500 entering play on Tuesday. So I know AJ Hinch wants them to buy. I don't know if they're necessarily buyers either.

They're kind of a stand pack because they don't have a ton of things to move that aren't going to be there for the future. It might just be like a reliever or two that they end up flipping at the deadline. Maybe we were surprised. That's the that's the hope. Anyway, let's talk about the Hall of Fame class for a few minutes. Adrian Beltre, Todd Helton, Joe Mauer and Jim Leland all inducted into Cooperstown this weekend. You were not there this weekend. You've been to Cooperstown before. Have you been on an actual induction weekend before?

No, it's on my bucket list, but I want to go when a player that I covered pretty extensively is inducted because I think that'll make it cooler. I have heard it's an awesome bucket list item. It was on my bucket list to go in general. I went last year for Memorial Day, which is really cool weekend. So if you want to avoid the induction week crowds, but still there's a lot of events going on. They have like an old timers game. This year the Players Alliance had a whole contingent of like former black players who played in that game. And so it's really a cool weekend if you're looking for a weekend that's not quite as expensive to go. But it's just a magical place. You feel like you're on a movie set. Everything is off of Main Street, right? And you're like how is this place real? So it's a really

right? And you're like, how is this place real? So it's a really cool place if you like baseball. Even if like you're not a big baseball fan, I was struck by how pretty it was. It's on a lake, and I don't think people realize how beautiful upstate New York can be. So even if you're like, oh, I want to go with my wife or my husband, whoever doesn't like baseball, they would have a great time sitting at these, the Osa-Waga Inn, which is right on the lake there, and enjoying the view, watching the boats come in and out, having a drink, you know, exploring Main Street. So you don't have to be quite the hardcore baseball nerd to enjoy it. Though obviously if you are, there's like a ton of history and a ton of really cool stuff. You can spend several days there. There's also like Randy Johnson's got photos in the art museum across the street and like we didn't get to everything

that we wanted to do in four days. And you would think oh Cooper Sound, just the Hall of Fame. It's not. There's a lot more cool stuff going on. Really, really encourage people to put it on their list. The hardest part is getting there. Not gonna lie. It's very out of the way on purpose, but it's just, it's terrific. people to put it on their list. The hardest part is getting there. Not not going to lie. It's very out of the way on purpose, but it's just it's terrific and it's awesome. And I cannot wait someday to go when a player that I covered is inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Yeah, it's I have not been, but it's it's on my my near future list of places I want to go. I don't want to go on the induction weekend the first time because it sounds like it's complete chaos even though it's awesome. I want to go and be able to just sort of take it in with smaller crowds like midweek, maybe not even in the summer, just at a time when it's not quite as busy out there. Cooperstown also has a brewery, the Omegang Brewery by the way, if you're into that, a lot of good Belgian beers.

So it's like an all week, a lot of good Belgian beers. So it's like an all week or a half week sort of thing. The other thing I was told, and I'm glad you've kind of spoken to this, is that you can't see everything even in the Hall of Fame within a day. You really have to plan like two days to see all of that stuff. And then if you want to get out around Cooperstown, you got to budget extra days for that. So try not to squeeze it all into like a day or two, because I think you'll be a little bit disappointed at some of the things that you end up missing

based on everything I've been told about Cooperstown over the years. Now, Adrian Beltre led this group because Adrian Beltre, we knew as his career was winding down, we're like, this guy's going to the Hall of Fame. He's got the resume, complete player, excellent long career, power, great defense, just an all round great player. You wrote an oral history along with Chad Jennings where there's so much more to Beltre than people realize. I think that the main thing people saw over the years, highlight wise, as far as things he didn't do just with the bat or with the glove,

was that he didn't like having his head touched. And you have some background on that. It just became such a game over the years for everybody to do it. I love that you got John Daniels in here, the former GM of the Rangers. I was too fearful for my own well-being. I never tried to do that. And did you see the induction Ortiz touched his head? Ortiz got him, yeah.

Yeah. With a hot cup of coffee in his hand too. You knew someone was going to get Elvis. Andrews kept telling me this spring when I talked to him for the story that he was going to do it because he was like the main antagonist when he was in Texas, you know, of the head touching. But certainly that became a thing. No one knows how it started.

It's so fun because I did, you know, I was covering baseball when he was in the league. I did actually get to see his 3,000th hit. It was against the Orioles. And I remember they stopped the entire game and the whole Orioles dugout was stopped watching him. I mean, this was a guy who was your favorite player's favorite player, right? Like everybody loved him on both sides of the dugout. And remember what a cool moment it was, like how long they stopped. They have never seen them stop the game for this long. I may never again. The whole his family came out, like there was

this huge celebration, right? And you know come to find out he has a party that night. He's inviting everyone down to the the people who clean the clubhouse, right? Because that's who Adrian Beltre was. And those were the people that were invited to the Hall of Fame with him. You know, it wasn't just Michael Young and Ian Kinsler and Colby Lewis. It was the massage therapist who helped get him on the field and the clubbies and, you know, the PR people. Like, he wanted everybody included. And like you said, he was just at the beginning of, like, the GIF era, which is a shame because there's so many funny things he did. Like he just brought joy to the game. And as I was writing this,

I was kind of sad that like we no longer see him play baseball anymore because we're never gonna see a guy like that again who was that tough? Who literally was playing through just like ridiculous injuries. You know, couldn't walk, but he'd be in the game. Had one swing in him, but he was gonna make sure that swing, you know, won he'd be in the game. Had one swing in him, but he was going to make sure that swing won the Rangers a playoff game. It was just legendary stuff that you wouldn't think you could make up. Couldn't hold the steering wheel because his finger was broken, but decided he was going to play the whole second half of the season and hit over 300.

Just folklore stuff. And to top it all off, was a Hall of Fame guy. And you don't, as someone who's been in clubhouses for 15, 16 years, the best player on the team is never the best guy. He's almost never the best personality, the guy who wants to include everyone, but with Adrian Beltre, he was. So it was just such a rare thing. And again, I had so much fun reporting that, and also I was so sad that I will never see him play again. And I think, you know, it's just such a, he was such a guy that you turned on the TV every night wanting to see his at-bass, wanting to see what he did at their base.

So, so, so many guys still idolize him. Yeah, there's a bunch of gems in here. There's another one from Jerx and Profar that speaks to the toughness of Adrian Beltrae. You really couldn't give him days off unless something was really, really bothering him. Profar said, sometimes Adrian had off days, so I had to play third. I'd be on the field at 12, one o'clock, already excited doing my drills, then Wash would have to call me back in the office and be like, sorry, Profar, you aren't playing today. I know. Poor guy. Unreal. I know. Poor guy. Unreal.

I know. I think that was the thing that surprised me the most though, just learning a little more about him from the people that were around him. He was a great teammate and you're right, a lot of times the best player on the team is not the person bringing the clubhouse together. It seems like that brings a lot of extra value to a club when it happens to be that guy. It just, Eno's talked a lot about some of the factions you see in a clubhouse, just different groups of players that sort of stick together. Things can be a little bit clicky. I think when the best player is the guy in the clubhouse, it breaks some of that down.

Absolutely. I think it's no coincidence that the Rangers were, you know, a good team for a while, and they had a good core when he was there. You know, they didn't, I think the one big regret is they didn't win a World Series ring when he was there. But you look at that team that was really led by him and Michael Young and there were never clubhouse issues. That was a really solid core. It's a really fun team to be around. And I think it all stemmed from Adrian Beltran. I mean, Ron Washington said it like he set the tone.

Like if somebody needed to be talked to, Adrian Beltran would get on him. And then he'd ask, like, you know why I did that, right? Like he had this level of like respect, but also awe and also fear. And I think one of the best lines in that is when, I think it's Joey Gallo that calls him the Godfather. He said he's the Godfather of baseball. And that was just such a perfect description for him

because he also happened to be the best player on the field too. And so it's remarkable and it's no surprise to anyone the support he got. How many people? I think there were close to 50 that were there just for Adrian Beltre to see him get inducted on Sunday. And certainly just the love that he has, I think league wide, is so warranted. So many guys, like I said, who are current stars, had posters of Adrien Beltre growing up. And so I always like when guys get inducted there because we kind of forget how good they were. Like Joe Mower is

another great example. Like now a whole generation of kids who had no idea who Joe Mower is are kind of like looking him up and figuring out, you know, they're in the spotlight again because they kind of have disappeared from our consciousness. And I think it's really cool when we have these hall of fame inductions to again, honor these guys who were such big, big parts of people's, you know, game, childhood lives for such a long period of time. Yeah. Mauer, if you're a kid that grew up in Minnesota as a twins fan, I mean,

he's like the dream ball player to like grow up, play for the hometown team, your whole career, and be one one in your draft class on top of all that. Like what more could you ask for? Maybe better health is the only thing for Joe Mauer. I think that's the kind of the footnote on his career. You say, what would this guy have done if he wasn't playing through all the stuff he dealt with? He didn't have the concussions and the bilateral leg weakness and all those things.

He was a phenomenal player. I mean, he got the MVP back in 09, a phenomenal defender. Just could have accumulated even better numbers with better health on his side. I'm actually really glad that Maurer was a part of this class. I thought his case was going to be a much tougher, longer argument for him to get in. So glad to see him get in. And then I was thinking about Todd Helton a little bit as we're getting ready for the show too. I think it's really hard, even though Coors Field boosts offense in ways that make it impossible to pitch there. I think it's very hard as a hitter to put together a resume

as a Rocky that convinces people that you are more than the byproduct of an amazing home park to hit in. And Todd Hilton was able to do it in part because he also was a great defender. Right. Was a complete player. I don't think even with the universal DH, I don't think you could DH in Colorado for 15 years, be amazing and make it to the hall of fame. I feel like you'd still have a resume that falls short for too many voters and you'd never get in.

The other thing I've come to appreciate though, about Colorado over the years is that yes, the home park helps you, but going on the road is tougher. It's probably the most difficult team to play for in terms of what happens when you start a series on the road because the ball moves differently. So anytime you look at a Rockies player, you look at the home road splits, the home splits are going to be better. That's expected. But Helton was a very good player away from Coors Field too. And what I think we really can't do without simulations is pull back and say, what if Todd Helton had played his whole career in a neutral environment?

Well, his home numbers might not have been as good, but his road numbers probably would have been better. And I think sometimes that part of the argument gets lost for players in Colorado, and I think that's always gonna be an uphill battle for Rocky's position players to get into the Hall of Fame. Yeah, I agree. He's another one who I felt like he was up there with Mauer,

that I'm glad that we aren't sitting here still debating the merits of Fame. Yeah, I agree He's another one who I felt like it was up there with Mauer that I'm glad that you know We aren't sitting here still debating the merits of Todd Helton because as you mentioned he was the complete package for me It wasn't just what he did in Colorado. I think the road splits were really important I think the defense was really important You know, he's a guy who you know, even if you didn't grow up in Colorado Like I remember watching him, you know, as a little kid, like he just kind of being in awe of what he was able to do. So you know, I think, you know, you can also make the case that what if Todd Hilton spent

his years in New York? Would he have been a bigger star? Of course he would have, right? So we can't penalize guys for where their careers were. We just have to look at it and see, you know, what, especially now we have so many things we can do with numbers have so many things we can do with numbers and so many ways we can adjust for, for factors like park and things like that, you know, and say this guy deserved to be in no matter where he played.

If anything, I thought he was a little underrated. I think a lot of that was because of playing out in Colorado. So I was really, I thought this was a really good hall of fame class. And then Jim Leland, of course, um, you know, finally being a hall of famer, it felt like he should have been a hall of famer a while ago, just a hell of a career. A guy who's still around baseball, still involved in baseball. The epitome of a baseball lifer, uh, Jim Leland, I was fortunate to, you know, fill in on Tigers games when he was the manager and he's a guy who would sit.

And after you were done with the media, you know, he would tell you to take it, turn your recorders off. He'd tell you what he really thought. He'd give you stories, he'd give you anecdotes. He'd tell you what he thought about the team. You know, I remember the guy was 21 interning, billing in for Jason Beck who covers the Tigers. And I was, I remember leaving that office and he was smoking cigarettes in his underwear with socks on and it was like you know would never happen now it's like 2008 you know no tv in there or anything and I leave and I'm like man this guy just told us he thinks his

whole team is just like you know I can't swear on this show it was just a lot of exletives and I'm like god you know it was so refreshing and you know that is a lost generation you know of you know what we're seeing now from managers and how the game has changed. But this is a guy who very much lives and dies by baseball has had a terrific career and it was just really cool to see him rewarded as well. Yeah, I mean, his World Series win came with the 97 Marlins.

They went from winning the title to winning 54 games in 1998. He had a stop in Colorado for one year, went 72 and 90 that year, and then had the long run with the Tigers from 06 to 13. They won the AL pennant twice. I always think it's hard to evaluate a manager and kind of separate what the manager did from what the team would have done without the manager. We talk about when the manager of the year award comes up every couple of years, Eno has to vote on that award. I think you've had to vote on that one before. Eno's like, oh, manager of the year again. How do I do this? I think trying to evaluate a manager's

entire career and say who's a hall of fame manager and who isn't is even more difficult than trying to figure out who the best manager was in any given season. Yeah, that's fair. I think at that point in time, you have to look at the body of work. You have to look at the contributions to the game, things like that, minus, you know, obviously the wins and losses matter. But I think, again, with a guy like Leland, I mean, this is a guy who's been in the game much longer than he hasn't been in the game in terms of his life. And I think he's, is he still, for a while he was still a special assistant with the Tigers. I feel like everybody's a special assistant somewhere.

I know, or maybe the commissioner's office. Now he's still involved. You still see him at all the big events, the winter meetings or wherever. He's usually outside smoking because that's Jim Leland, right? That's what he does. They're doing a bobblehead giveaway, I think,

in August, the Tigers are, like, I think August 2nd or 3rd around there, Jim Leland, and I'm just full, I'm just floored that it's Jim Leland bobblehead and he doesn't have a cigarette somewhere. They probably would have gotten in trouble if they had done it, but I've never, I've just never seen the guy outside of literally in the game, not with a cigarette. So there was a real opportunity there for them marketing marketing wise, to make that a can't miss giveaway. Probably would have gotten in trouble giving it to kids. Yeah, probably can't give that one to children.

I think they would have got the buzz from attempting it, then they would have got the, no, you're not doing this. And then the bobbleheads would have mysteriously showed up on eBay and they would have been highly coveted thousand dollar bobbleheads as a result. One of the things we'll just we're never going to get to see is the smoking Jim Leland bobbleheads. The bobbles are made for the kids.

One more topic here before we go Brit kind of bridging the first things we were talking about with what we're looking at this week. What series are you circling? For this week and the beginning of next week the deadline of course Tuesday 6 p.m. Eastern. So a lot of series will begin on Monday and then Tuesday right before the game start. We're going to have all this news breaking about some moves and some things

being shaken up around the league. But I was looking at the schedule earlier today and I think the Cubs actually have three pretty important series. If they do want to move more into a buyer group, it sounds like they're more of a stand pat team, but they're playing the Brewers right now. They've got the Royals coming up at the end of the week. That's a series that's really important for both teams, too, because I think the Royals are trying to probably convince their ownership group that they should be allocating more

toward this season, trying to make a run. And then the series that the Cubs have wrapping around the deadline is against the Reds another team that's kind of in a critical stretch trying to figure out which direction they might go if they're not going to just play it down the middle. Yeah my issue with the Cubs being getting having a few wins and turning into sellers is they haven't hit all year they haven't shown stretches of being that team all year so does winning one series change it? I don't know.

You know, I think the Mets Yankees is going to be a big series because the Mets are one of those teams that's on the wild card fringe and people keep panicking about the Yankees. But guess what? They won 60 games. We know what they're going to do. We know they're going to buy. How aggressively they're going to buy. You know, I'm not sure.

There are things that they could do. I think getting an upgrade at third base is important. Looking at the pitching is important. But I was looking at these series, and it's so easy to make a knee-jerk reaction about what's going to happen, especially with these wild card teams. I don't think when we talk about the Padres and AJ Pellar, they're always going to be in the we want to compete mode.

So really what happens here doesn't really matter that much. And they're right in the thick of it, right? They're 52 and 50, they're half a game out. I think Pittsburgh is an interesting team to watch over the next week. Their fate could change a lot. They're in the same boat as San Diego was in, though their front office obviously operates

much differently than San Diego. I think the Reds are going to be in, withstand patterns along with the Cubs. I think the Reds are going to be in with Stan Patters along with the Cubs. I think they just had a crushing, they got swept by the Nationals, just like a crushing series and it feels like even if they have a good final week, it's a little too little too late for me. So you know there are some some teams that I think like we mentioned Texas could make a run. I think we got to put a fork in Tampa Bay.

Detroit's really interesting if they keep playing really well, like Tampa Bay has some interesting relievers. I mean, or do they sell for parts all the way down and go Yandy Diaz and Randy Arosa Raina, right? Like what level do they sell? That really could affect, I think the market and what happens here because Tampa Bay is just never in that sell mode. So they're an interesting kind of wild card here a little bit. I don't think Toronto is going to make a run. So I think there's very few teams that these next couple days are going to really, really change things, no matter what people say. Like, do you see

a scenario where the Cubs are like, let's go for it this year? We just won three games in a row. They haven't, they haven't done anything all year to make you feel good about that. They just had Jed Hoyer come out and say, we're turning our attention to 2025. They're not built to sell. They are the epitome of Stan Patters to me. I don't I don't know. Convince me otherwise. I think you have to look at what they've already invested in that roster. And we've wondered like for as much as they're spending, how are they not better?

That's that's sort of been the running question with the Cubs. You mentioned before like they've been a below average team at the plate so far this season. It's not way below. And if you look at the underperforming players here, I mean, Dansby Swanson being almost 20% worse than league average is a surprise. I thought he'd be kind of a league average or slightly better than league average bat. It wouldn't surprise me if he's better the rest of the way.

You look at Nico Horner, he's been just kind of okay right around league average, so maybe he's a little better in the second half. I guess the hard part is how do you convince yourself that the players you have already are going to be a lot better than they are so far? That's the part that's trickier with the Cubs where I think the number of players you'd be looking at would be pretty significant to make an impact.

And I think they're a team that because their system's pretty good, they still have that longer view. Like that's part of why Ched probably said what he did. But if you're a Cubs fan, you're probably not happy with that. Because you're a big market team. You're in that division that should be controlled by you as the biggest market team in it, and it's not.

So I could see why the frustration is mounting there. I think the bullpen's been a problem for pretty much the entire season. So they're in the long list of teams that could use bullpen help, but they need a lot of bullpen help if they're going to try and patch things up. So if they became a buyer, maybe it's not the splashy move that I think they need. Maybe it's two or three relievers and saying, we're going to play the middle. We're going to trust our core. Maybe we're going to bring a prospect or two up. We're going to keep an eye on 25. We're not going to give up this year,

but we're not going to sell out for this year either. That might be the move they make. And even saying that out loud would have been better than saying, we're just looking to 2025. But are the relievers in your mind, do they have another year team control too, or are they rentals? If they're rentals, it won't impact the long term

viability of the system. And if they're not rentals, even even that might not cost you a lot because they've got some depth to trade from. So I would rather spend in free agency on relievers or would you rather give up a couple of prospects for guys that will be there beyond this season? I mean, ideally, I feel like the teams that we look at as consistently overperforming are often the teams that do look at as consistently overperforming are often the teams that do the best at developing relievers or finding them on the cheap.

It's finding guys that got DFA'd, waived, finding guys from Indieball, finding guys that are minor league free agents and just adding something, tweaking something, right? That's the thing you wish you had as an organization all the time, because then if you are trading for something, it's not the thing that everybody else out there is trying to upgrade for. And you could allocate the resource to something else. Yeah, that's the double upsell for me with the Cubs. Like let's add a reliever.

Let's add Tanner Scott. Well, there's 10 other teams after Tanner Scott, many who are already playoff bound pretty much, right? So the price on a guy like Tanner Scott, is that worth it for the Cubs? Probably not. You know, like it's more worth it for an Orioles or a Yankees or teams that are already going down the road of playoff contention. So I don't know if them adding a few rental relievers makes fans go, okay, we're trying,

we tried, yay. I think it's a little bit of a lost year, unfortunately, for Chicago. The offense has just been disappointing, and they had a huge splash, they start off getting counsel right. I think they had such big expectations for the first time in a while, that we just haven't seen,

we haven't seen them at all come close to showing signs. It's not like they had a brilliant April, like Arizona and jumping out to that early lead. That's how Arizona was able to be buyers, right? Because last year they kind of came out of nowhere and they were winning the West for a while. They had a terrible July, but the Cubs have never, we've never really seen this big stretch of like, oh, here come the Cubs. We just kind of kept waiting for the Cubs and we're still waiting for the Cubs.

Yeah, you just have to, if they were going to become buyers, and all the occasions are that they won't, you have to believe that your best two months are your last two months with what you already have and then supplement that accordingly. I was thinking about this after reading the, the all 30 on the athletic, the Astros, this is from Chandler Rome. The prediction is the Astros acquire a star first basement. I'm not sure they will. I think they want to. I believe that part. I'm not sure there's a star first basement available

unless you think two things. One, the Mets become sellers and two, that you think Pete Alonso scratches that itch. I think we're split on this. I think you are more down on Pete Alonso than I am. So what do you think the odds are that the Mets are actually moving Alonso this time next week as opposed to maybe buying, quietly buying because they're one of the teams that will spend more money when the opportunity makes sense. They could easily look at this deadline and say, well, why not us? We're hanging around Yeah, and they're getting Kota Sanga back. They're going to a six-man rotation Which should help the rest of those guys kind of stay healthy and fresh. I don't see them selling Pete Alonso

Maybe if they lose the next seven games in a row sure that changes things I also don't think Pete Alonso on track to have his worst year of his career Is this guy who's going to command a lot. I think the time to trade Pete Alonso would have been last year when they traded Scherzer and Verlander and blew the whole thing up and when Alonso had a lot of value. I mean, his OPS is going down, his hard hit percentage, the way, you know, his exit below, all those numbers have been slowly declining. You saw it at the home run derby.

He just doesn't hit balls as hard as he used to. He's approaching his age 30 season. The Mets in particular. I was one more right now. What are you getting back? A defensive liability who can occasionally run into it. Pete Alonso has been terrible with runners in scoring position, terrible with runners on base. So if you're a contender right now, you're looking at it, and I guess, I don't know, this again, Pete Alonso is the topic of almost the entire show. I was on I don't know. This again, Pitalanzo is the topic. Almost the entire show was on SNY last night.

Maybe you feel differently, Derek, but in New York, people are like, Pitalanzo needs to get it going, not we should treat Pitalanzo because we're gonna get this great prospect back. That was last deadline, I think. Not now. Well, last year, the overall numbers were as bad as we've seen from Pete Alonso and part of that was just bad luck on balls and play and he's not going to be the kind of guy that has a high babbitt all the time.

Anyways, a slugger they have bad at ball tendencies and certain things that keep that number low. But he had 46 homers a year ago. He had 40 in 2022. He had 37 homers a year ago. He had 40 in 2022. He had 37 in 2021. There's still a ton of power there even if you see slight declines in something like average exit velocity. I don't think we want to look at that and say, ah, he's completely done. So I'm wondering if, I think New York, New York tends to react in a way that's maybe less than sober? Is that a polite way to say that?

I think they're being a little harsh on their guy here. He's still 20% better than league average. Okay. A player that's 20% better than league average is an impact player. But that WRC plus has gone down every year. I mean, it went from 141 to 121 to 120 the last three years. So he's basically the same guy he was last year. Like the numbers are keep going in the wrong direction. It's a small long-term concern. But if you look at Pete Alonso and say,

oh, he's just not good anymore, I think that's a bad conclusion too. But I think if you look at him as he's our star, we're going to acquire this star and get this huge prospect haul for two months of Pete Alonso. That's probably not happening either. I don't think David Stearns believes that. I think Mets fans might believe that. If Mets probably where they're going to be disappointed. I think there was probably a gap all along between what Pete Alonso

was likely to be paid as a free agent someday versus what he wanted to get. I get that. We all want to make as much money as possible. The league does not pay free agent first baseman boatloads of money on seven, eight, nine, 10 year deals. That's not gonna happen. Pete Alonzo is gonna turn 30 on the 7th of December.

So more likely than not, it'll be 30 when he signs his new deal. So what are we talking about really? Three, four years at most? Well, he turned down seven. Yeah, I think that was a mistake. If that's how that played out, that was a mistake. But I think there's still gonna be teams that are very interested because power is actually still hard to come by. And he's got enough of it even in a slightly declined state, where that's still going to make an impact? If you said Pete Alonso is the

third best position player on the Mets behind Lindor and Nimmo, would people really push back that hard on that? No, I think that's fair, but I think people in a walk here expected him to kind of bounce back. And especially, like I said, he's been brutal, particularly in these leverage situations. So you wonder if the contract is a factor or not, I'm not sure. But then the Mets who are in the thick of the wildcard race, you're not gonna trade a guy who stock is low, who is streaky, could get on a run in August and keep the team on his back.

Power guys are always very streaky. It makes almost no sense in my mind unless the Mets decide, hey, this isn't our year. But if they think there's even a chance and they've kind of said since the beginning Stearns that they think they could be a wild card team, I don't know why you would trade P. Alonso. I think if they see themselves, the Mets see a path to the postseason P. Alonso heating up and being 40 percent better than league average for two months and hitting another 20 home runs in two months, that's part of how they do it,

right? It's having him come through in situations where he typically does. I think that makes much more sense than trying to trade him and getting what will probably be a somewhat underwhelming return. Not because he's not good, but just because there's a misalignment between his actual trade value and where people think that should be. You could read the All 30 that I was referencing, by the way, just a look of a prediction for All 30 teams. There's some fun ones in there, some stuff that I didn't see coming, and we'll see how much of it actually comes true.

It's that time of year, you try to speak things into existence, and you just get to celebrate if you're actually right. Theathletic.com, slash rates and barrels, that gets you in the door for $2 a month. You can also read the great oral history of Adrian Beltray that we had from Britt and Chad Jennings. That went up last week now, I think.

It's been up for a little while. So be sure to check that out. Find Britt on Twitter at Britt underscore Jiroli. Find me at Derek van Ryneper. Find the pod at rates and barrels. That's going to do it for this episode of Rates and Barrels. We're live on Thursday at 1 o'clock Eastern.