Talkin' Baseball (MLB Podcast) - Rafael Devers TRADED to the San Francisco Giants!

Episode Date: June 16, 2025

Use code TALKIN2025 for 10% off your next SeatGeek order*: https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/TALKIN2025. Sponsored by SeatGeek. *Restrictions apply. Max $20 discountCorona brings all baseball fans together to enjoy the moment. Be sure to get yours at https://OrderCorona.comDownload the DraftKings Sportsbook app and use promo code JMBASEBALLBook your next trip at https://www.bestwestern.com Coach Trev and Talkin’ Jake break down the HUGE Rafael Devers trade, why it happened, what this means for the Giants, Boston’s front office communication, Shohei Ohtani set to make 2025 pitching debut, and more! 0:00 Intro2:40 Rafael Devers traded to the Giants7:45 Is Devers putting on the glove??10:00 Giants infield15:55 Communication between Red Sox and Devers17:00 What Red Sox should’ve done30:45 What the Red Sox got for Devers31:20 Red Sox fans and how they are feeling39:22 Top 2021 prospects47:55 AL Burn50:27 AL Standings51:27 NL Burn54:40 NL Standings56:55 Standout Performances58:45 Reds taking 2 of 3 from Tigers is huge1:01:10 Shohei Ohtani pitching today1:06:30 En Fuego1:11:10 Players who are struggling1:13:00 Injured List update1:14:44 Awards  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello and welcome to Talking Baseball. We're here, folks. Devers traded to San Francisco. Otani's coming back. It's a baseball summer. Let's yuck. Kyle Harrison. Trevor Ploof, 2014. Get it.

Get it out of the seats. That's a foul ball. It's a foul ball. Just missed it. Hello and welcome to Talking Baseball presented to you by Seatgeek. Talk in 2025. It's a big one, folks. I'm Jake Storielie.

That is Trevor Plouf. Rob is here producing, and we are, honest, it's going to be a fun one. And we're, it's not going to be our normal episode, people. You know, we normally dive into the game,

see what we can find, relay that to you the best we can. We had one of the bigger, more surprising trades go down in Major League Baseball history. Devers from Boston to the San Francisco Giants. We're going to unpack the whole thing,

the Devers side, the Red Sox side, the giant side, what's next? And I get to do it all with the birthday boy, the father, the Holy Spirit, Trevor Plouffe. That's pretty good intro right there. Yes, yesterday, birthday, Father's Day. We would have went live yesterday.

We talked about it. Unfortunately, for our listeners, I had like 50 people at my house, like middle of a shin dig. I couldn't just break away. Although that would have been fun if we just had like a rotating cast of characters behind me. I was pretty I was I wasn't sloppy yesterday. But my thoughts would have been all over the place.

So I'm happy we waited. Uh, because yeah, man, I got my Giants hat on. I got my Ricky T-shirt on. I'm ready to talk ball. This is,

it's crazy what went down this thing. Because it's multiple big stories. And I think, I don't, I don't know. so curious to hear your side of this Devers news because it's juicy. This is like soap opera stuff. It really is.

It's where sports in general and luckily our baseball gets to steal the spotlight for a little bit, which isn't normally its strength. But you're right. Sports are still the best reality TV show. And this is, I mean, the example going forward. Rafael Devers, the star of the Red Sox that guys. They gave the bag to because, A, he's incredible. And B, they were making up for the mooky bet situation a little bit,

which I don't know how much we're going to have to circle up on that during this one. I guess although a lot of people are comparing it, so we can cover that. The trade itself, the Boston Red Sox traded away, Rafael Devers. They got back. A couple prospects, Tibbs in another Bayo. Tibbs was the 14th pick in the draft, so hey, you know, he's a real prospect. Let's see what that turns out in three years.

And then Jordan Hicks, one of those creative relief pitcher, starting pitcher contracts that we saw a couple years ago, started off strong for the Giants, really struggled this year. I almost view that as part of the money in this equation, while the Red Sox get an arm for some upside. And young Kyle Harrison, who I've talked about a lot recently, and it's one of the guys that made me interested in the Giants this year of him not making the team out of camp

because he was talented left arm, big prospect, hasn't lived up to a yet necessarily, but we still bank on talent. I guess Coach Trev, walk us through the instant reaction at the party and get us to where you're at now. It's funny because I had some, a lot of Dodgers fans over. I also had some Giants fans over, so there was a little bit of mixed reaction.

I think for Dodgers fans, they were completely, I mean, they don't like this trade. It's not good for the Dodgers. It makes this division completely different. Giants fans obviously very, very happy. This is instant reaction. Absolutely love it for the Giants. Look, I understand they're paying a lot of money

for what's essentially going to be a DH, but they have had, they've had issues bringing in free agents. I know Chapman and Adomas have come in and maybe so that, Maybe that storyline isn't as big as it was when they were missing out on Correa or they gave up on Correa. I missed out on Judge, all those things. They've had trouble kind of finding a middle of the order bat.

I think there's a better way to put it. And they've tried to go get it through free agency. You haven't really been able to do that. Domus and Chapman, I don't think are middle of the order bats. Now, are they really good players on your team? Absolutely. But Devers is a premier bat in this league. in one way to go get one rather than having to fight against 30 different teams is to go out and make a trade for one when you see a strained relationship in another organization.

So I give, I think Buster Posey has done just a phenomenal job. He's he's so active. We just talked last week about how he brought in Dom Smith and was it Daniel Johnson? I'm hoping I'm not messing that up who hit a homer yesterday. he wanted to provide a spark for his team. He said, we can do better. And they're, what, 41 and 30 right now, okay? We can do better.

So he goes and pulls that off. And then here we are now. He goes against Raphael. And doesn't, look, great. You got their number two prospect, last year's 13th overall pick, but he doesn't give up a ton to bring in this guy. Yes, it's the money is the biggest thing here.

But I think for giants, for the giants, this is a plus plus. deal for them and it makes them a completely different ball club. I mean, it makes them absolute contenders if they weren't already for the National League West. I mean, this is, it's going to be a blood bat down the stretch. Yeah, there's so many different ways to slice it up and we're just peeling one layer of the onion, but Devers is the best lefty hitter they've had since bonds. Hey, a couple nice brand and belt ears

in there. You love yourself some brand and belt, but like, we're bringing in a different caliber of hitter. And there's also a really fun new age sports versus old sports. Because in old sports, this trade never happens. In old sports, Raphael Devers, to trade for him in any matter, you'd have to empty the entire farm system, and it would have to be a rebuild, and he'd have to be unhappy, which, well, definitely unhappy.

But for Red Sox fans, coming off the best weekend of Red Sox baseball and arguably four years or so to have this be the after effect. I like that you started with a lot of the Giants and Buster Posey, who things have clearly changed there. Like, they went out and they got Willie Adomis, and they went and they got it done early.

Because if they didn't, Willie Adomis probably ends up on another team because they got the big bid out there to get the signing over with before Free Agency really took off and the Soto sweepstakes happened that if they didn't, do that, they don't get Willie. I know Willie's been struggling. He's been playing a little better lately. And also, you know, Trev, you know that this stuff actually matters. Another Dominicano brother

for Devers in the infield that lets, well, God, I can't even wait to talk about the infield stuff with you, because is Devers thrown on the glove? Because the Giants, they also happen to have the best defensive third baseman in the game. They do have a hole at first base that's just going to be such good drama. I do think I want to cover what I hit on for a second there that value-wise is going to be very interesting for this deal because Rafael Devers, and there's a lot of ways you can cut up his stats. If you remember, he started the year on an 0 for 19. If you start at that point, he's basically been a top five hitter in baseball this year, which is April 1st, ironically, which a lot of seasons used to start there. But you know, you can't cut out

every player's slump, but his was literally to start the season. Since then, he's been incredible. That for the Red Sox side of this, the money is 250 mil the rest of the way for a player that may be a DH the rest of the way. So there is a factor in that. They did come out and they said, hey, if you're a guy that, or the Boston Globe, you know, a guy that they're paying $300 million at the start of the contract, they want you to be a leader. They want you to be a leader. you to be the clubhouse guy. And we've talked about this with a guy like Marcus Simeon when he got his bag. We're like, you know, you said it.

You're like, dude, if I was a front office and I'm paying a guy, Marcus Simeon, like work ethic-wise, everything you want from a leader. And I think even if you're the biggest Devers stand in the world, you can't get in front of a mic right now and be like he was doing that part of it. But I think it was the value that Devers can potentially bring from the D.H. position or not bring from the DH position, all the young players coming up for Boston that the way they spend or handle their money

the rest of the way is going to be a huge part of this for them. For the Red Sox or for the Giants? Yeah, I don't even, there's, we got to, we got to stay on course here because there are so many different paths that we can go. Let's, let me finish some giant stuff. Okay. Red Sox to me is the juiciest part.

Okay. I was talking about. So it's so dirty. It's so dirty there. I think he is a DH for the Giants. I think it's like going to be a Wilmer Flores, Dom Smith, Gerard Incarnacion,

a little platoon over there at first base because Devers has stated he wasn't going to play versus maybe his attitude changes because he's got a new girl. You know what I'm saying? Right. Like he was mad at his old girl. He likes this new one.

He'll do different things. So maybe. he ends up playing first place. I don't think that happens, though. But I guarantee, I guarantee his, his demeanor in the way he goes about his business will change with the change of scenery. Yeah, but for the, for the giants, I think 100% DH. I think that they're getting, he brings everything you want to hit her. A left-handed bat with pop who has great, or unbelievable plate discipline. And you want him up in big spots. I mean, this is, like this is your postseason hero type guy that you have up there.

Like they needed this in the worst way. They do a lot of things really well there in San Francisco. Hitting for pop isn't one of them. And having like I said, that middle of the order scary bat that just anchors your lineup. They didn't have that. They haven't had that. So this is,

it's so massive for them. I can't even begin to, you know, overstate. how big this is for the Giants. So look, I think that's it for the Giants side. I don't think they care about the value,

the money, there's more. There's more, I got more on everything. They just want to win. And I think one of the, this isn't really anything, but baseball hot in the streets, socks and Giants playing this week.

And you could go see it with Sea Geek. Our partners at Seekek, they're bringing you this episode. They're with us all year long because they're the number one rated ticketing app. sounds good. Go see a game. Go see Devers in a Giants uni. Is he playing first? Is he not playing first? Hey, NBA and NHL, they're wrapping up. Go see a concert this summer. I got jealous. I saw some concert IG stories going on this weekend. Poppy hasn't been on his concert game lately.

Whatever you're going to see, go to it with Seat Geek. Code Talking 2025. That's going to save you 10% off your next set of tickets at Sea Geek. 10% off any tickets with promo code talking 2025 at Seek. Go see Devers. Trev, I... Coach, they're playing this weekend? Yes, Trev. I know.

You and Matthew were on the tequila shooter train. We were watching the U.S. Open yesterday, okay? Which was incredible, too. JJ Spawn, short king. You know, before we move on, JJ Spawn, this quick, because it's baseball related. Right. went to San Diego State. But I think he grew up in L.A., not sure on that.

He pulled out his, like, scorebook yesterday. Dodgers scorebook. Oh. Yeah, when he was writing, you know, finishing up, making sure he had no errors on that scorecard, Dodger's scorebook. Everything coming up. Is that what you call it, the thing they put in their back pocket?

Yeah. Whatever. Yeah, you're all over it. Okay. That was talking about it a little bit. I'm not ruling out Devers' first base at all. This year? That's the interesting part.

And that's where, so the Giants are being run by Buster Posey. Your guy Randy Wynn in the mix with the Giants front office, they brought in a bunch of ball players, Tre. Some ball players. They brought it enough of the geeks. Slash Buster, I think, is a sneaky geek. And the secret around all analytics is like they're just stats and it's how you use them. But ball players, they saw really good hitter available.

Let's go get really good hitter. I think Devers, because the whole thing was salty drama. Like, we talked about this. I think if Devers had been discussed about playing some third and first, that he would have been very open to it if they just had normal conversations, that, hey, man, you know, the early rumors out of Devers camp is that he's pretty happy, that things had gotten so negative and bad that he's stoked. Like, so many times we talk about a player getting traded

and you've got to move your family or move across the coat. Devers, early returns is he's excited that I wouldn't be shocked if he's like, screw them. I can play first base. Like, give me the glove, let's do it. I could also see them more so doing, hey, for this year, DH, knock yourself out. And hey, dude, if you're done in the field, you're done. But we have Matt Chapman.

So, like, we're being open and honest with you, which you didn't have with your other girl. they were, you know, oh, Breggie's going to play second base. Oh, why did he leave his underwear here? I think that Devers, hey, I think he wants to play defense that if the Giants say, hey, dude, for this year you're good,

but we'd love it in the offseason you trained for it and you want to come back and next year do some first base. We're in on that. If I'm Rafael Devers, one of the best athletes in the world, one of the best competitors in the world, I'd say give me one of those mitts

and let's see what happens. I don't think that's going to have. happen. I mean, that's the point I was trying to make earlier, like relating it to a broken home. I'm a proud of a broken home. So I saw my dad, we're both children. We're both speaking general terms right. We're both children of divorce is what you're saying. If, if this has played out, this scenario has played out in many new marriages where the dad goes off and starts doing things he didn't typically do with the first family. And you're like, what's going on? here? Why is dad acting so weird? Why is he doing these things? He never did that before and now he is.

Same situation here. But I do think it is, I do think that the communication aspect of this is the entire thing. The entire, it started the ball rolling, the lack of communication in the offseason with Raphael Devers. I think this does bring us probably to the Red Sox portion of this. Devers got cast in a bad light and I think he deserves some of it I think he deserves some of the way he handled the media and part of me thinks like second language is a thing still you know and like tone and context all that stuff matters

the lack of communication started this in the off season as they were trying to get Aeronado as they were trying to get Bregman I think immediately as soon as some of those things get leaked out into the press like hey rumors are they're trying to go out these guys that's Craig Breslo's or or Alex Corps I think more Breslo that's when you have to start calling your third baseman that is signed for eight years and three hundred million dollars you have to call him and say look this is what we're thinking man you're a big part of our

organization you're you're our guy you're the face of our franchise we think we can make our club better and this is how we're going to do it I I'd I want to be open with you. This is our thoughts going into the season. They didn't do that. They didn't do that. So all of a sudden, Alex Bregman is there. And everyone's like, hey, what's, what's going to happen?

And that happened pretty close to spring training, didn't it? The Bregman signing was late, yeah. Late later. So, like, there wasn't a lot of time for Devers to, like, wrap his head around it, or learn a new position in the off season. And plus, they were saying he might not play third base, which is so, the dumbest thing. that the Red Sox ever did in this situation was talk about Breggman playing second base.

That wasn't like never going to happen. He was going to play third base for them. Okay? Yes. So the lack of communication there started this entire thing. And then, yeah, going into spring training, Devers had some bad interviews, some bad quotes. It just, it looked bad. But I also, it was a product of the lack of communication from the front office.

to him. And then one thing after another. I think Craig Bressel has, he's done some really good things with the Boston Red Sox. And maybe this will turn into something that ends up being really good. You bring in crochet, you get Bregman, you bring in Chapman. But I truly believe that just that one phone call in the offseason

or the lack of that phone call in the offseason is what started this entire thing. The Boston inside is such, it's so juicy, Trev. It's, I think Boston's front office, I think they're trying to pitch a perfect game, which let's find out in a couple years, but we've got these super prospects on the way. This group of three that we've been talking about a lot with Campbell, Anthony, and Mayor. That they're hunting for playing time for these guys. They called up Mayor this weekend. By the way, they swept the Yankees.

that should have been what we led the show with and said we're not. And they couldn't really get Roman Anthony on the field. They still kind of have a log jam because Wiliierre-Brayu is supposed to come back at some point that people are wondering, you know, is Duran on the table? You know, we don't have a ton of Boston fans at the office. I heard one of them say that maybe we're going to extend Duran with that money now, which that's not what I'd expect if I'd, the T leaves I've gotten from this offense early on. So something about value, which we're going to talk about a lot with this trade.

And I mentioned with the money and how are the Red Sox going to move on next? And there's a whole Liverpool soccer side to this, Trev, that I don't know if you're even in. Yeah, that's in the weeds or John Henry. If you're in that wormhole yet. I guess for me, man, if you're someone that's debating the value of the trade and, hey, maybe we're going to wake up in three years and be like, dude, the Red Sox are stacked. They use the money on more pitching. Just incredible stuff by them. They figured it out.

Maybe Devers is struggling. It's not a great hitter's ballpark. Rafael Devers would not be available to trade if the drama wasn't happening. If the drama wasn't out, if Devers had grabbed the first base glove, they all figured it out and Devers was playing first base, he would not have been on the table. So for people going through, you know, Devers over the first base, P.S and he's a DH now and what his value would be, if the drama wasn't happening, he would not

have been available to be traded. And I just think that's one of the bigger eye-opening points for me is that, you know, oh, people don't think the contract's going to age well and what's it going to look like. I don't really care about that. You got one of the best hitters in baseball. And I do think if you go through Devere's stats year by year, there was either like one injury, it for a month, or there was the slump month, which I can't excuse a slump month for him. I think there's more in there, and he's showed that this year with the walks thing you've mentioned before. Devers was one of the bigger chase guys in baseball, and he'd also hit a lot of bad balls.

But this year, he was leading the American League in walks, which has a lot of hitters age and they get older. You get a better eye. You've seen more pitches that, like, it doesn't feel fluky that if he opens up that part of his game, there's so much more there hitting wise that the drama is the reason he got traded, which the Giants took advantage of. Now, let's see if Boston can take advantage of that. But Trev, coming off, again, what could have been one of their best weekends of baseball in four or five years, and that's quoting our guy Zoe, who's a Boston Red Sox fan,

to drop this on them after, to bank on prospects, which, man, go ask the Orioles how banking on prospects can go for you sometimes. And the Orioles aren't dead, but this year has been really tough for them. It feels like this new Boston front office thinks they're the bees knees and that they're about to set up a dynasty to rule them all. And they better hope they do because otherwise then people, yes, are going to compare this to the Muky Betts trade, which Devers isn't Muky Betts, but God, he's really damn good. Shout out the Orioles for sweeping the angels.

Yeah, they're back in there. They're back. And don't, don't you dare just drop a Lord of the Rings reference on me. I know you'd like that. Keep going. That's ridiculous right there. If Tristan Kossis doesn't get hurt,

we're not talking about this. Because Devers is still just the DH instead of they had to ask him to play for his base. And he was like, no. I think that might have been like the final nail in the coffin. I think about this, Jake. Okay. And this is pure speculation.

So let's, It's almost like a fan fiction right here. You're John Henry, you're Craig Breslow, and you get on a PJ. I got to go to Kansas City. Right. Beautiful town. Love it. Hey, it's some barbecue while we're there.

But we got to go talk to our star. We just gave $300 million to. Let's hop on the PJ and get down there. Alex Cora come in the meeting with us. You have this conversation with Devers. Probably didn't go great. You know, like whatever they said. Yeah.

Yeah, it was good, good conversation. Bullshit. Yeah. I guaranteed they left in that PJ together and we're like, man, like, how much are we paying this guy? Okay. Didn't the Yankees just get rid of Soto and completely make their team better? Oh.

By spending all the money on different pieces and not lock it into one player. Don't we have some kind of a log jam with all these position players we have? on that flight, I bet they decided we're going to get this done. Think about that. You went and saw him in Kansas City, flew in there. I guarantee that was when it was like, all right,

let's at least kick the tires on this. What would it look like if we traded Devers? What would that bring? How much money would we save? Who could we bring in next year? Cutucker. Like, this is, this is one of the,

juicier things that's happened in baseball in a long time. Do we got room in that outfield? We might need more pitching, which they get more. But I don't mean to bring the Yankees into it. But they, that is like, it's what happened with them. Soto leaves, goes to the Mets, the $40 million a year or $50 million a year that they were going to have to spend on him, they reallocated it. They brought him Max Reed. They brought him, Braddon Devin Williams, all these things. Like, they made their team better overall because they split the money around. Right, but if I asked you yesterday,

who is the best player on the Boston Red Sox? Who would you have said? I'm, oh, Crochet or Devers. Yeah, I guess I'll say position players. I think Crochet has his own argument. For me, it's Devers. You know, Duran went nuts last year, but consistency in baseball.

I don't think that's even a question. It's Devers. And that's, I guess that's what I'm saying, Tread. This is a team that came into this year with World Series aspirations, Like they quote unquote were one of the winners of the off season that you can do all of the, okay, we can't be spending that much on a D.H.

And we, you know, we've got these young guys who are going to come up and be special. And maybe they are. And maybe that's the, holy smokes. We're looking at Roman Anthony, Meyer and Campbell in a couple weeks. And we're like, damn, that's why they did this. And maybe we will. Hey, maybe that conversation wasn't ugly. Maybe they were like Devers.

Like, we might actually trade you. and he was like, alright. Let's go. I think you're right. I think you got a little hostile. I think it was one of those conversations that everyone. It probably got awkward in there, dude.

That's what kind of kind of, like if you're a player, think about it. You're in Kansas City and you want to go hit, whatever. And then all of a sudden they're like, hey, the owner's flying in.

Yeah. And so is Craig. A guy that clearly you don't have a good relationship with. And they want to have a meeting. As a player, like what? Right. Like, why?

Like what this meeting has nothing to do with me, although it really does. There's no way that meeting went well. There's no freaking way that went well. I like to think of it as, for me, personally, I think, you know, other people probably have it differently. But when you have one of

those interactions, like if someone bumps in you on the street and they're a dick or something, you replay it in your head. For me, I go back in the shower and I'm like, oh, I should have said, should have said, shove that cookie up your ass. That I feel like every person that was in that eating went back to the shower and was replaying the combo and being like, oh, I should have told

Breslo this. It's like an episode of, I mean, if you watch Succession, like, you know, like, I don't know that that's just a different type of life, you know, like a John Henry live with or it has. Man, like huge crazy decisions that have huge ramifications and across sport and oh my gosh, dude. This is. It's, it's really fun. I guess Boston Red Sox fans, let us know.

I think it's not that fun. I think you're upset. But there is the caveat of, well, let's wait and see how we reallocate the money. That's the only really joy that you can find from this. Okay, we brought in some pitching help. I don't think that is going to soften the blow enough for losing Devers after you traded the way Chrisale for Von Grissom after Moogie Betzli is, all these things. But I think.

that is your one saving grace is, show us what's what you're going to do with this money now. Like you got to do it. And now the pressure is on. Freslow and the rest of the front office to like, they have to hit a home run with whatever they do with that money. Trev, there's more.

There's more. And it's brought to you guys by Corona. You talked about how juicy this is. I mean, kick back, grab a Corona and enjoy the ride. Yeah, you did.

And you should have. I did. Birthday, Father's Day. I mean, that is. Big day for Trev. That is the one. There was a lot of coronas.

There's a lot of dads drinking coronas across this great country. And for us, baseball, guys, there's nothing quite like sharing a corona, relaxing and enjoying every unpredictable moment with friends. So go ahead. Turn the cheap seats into your own private island or your back porch into a sports bar oasis to your favorite neighbors. Trev with 50 friends there, a couple celebs, whatever. Crack open a corona, squeeze in a lime, and enjoy America's favorite pastime.

with Mexico's favorite present time. Get yours. Order Corona.com. 21 plus. Enjoy responsibly. Corona extra beer imported by Crown import, Chicago, Illinois. Can I just say one thing before you move on? Please. We started doing this thing in my neighborhood. I don't know if this happens in other states,

but in Los Angeles, like on busy street corners or just random street corners, there'll be a fruit guy. And he's got like a cart, refrigerator car and they cut up fruit for you or you can buy fruit and it's just a phenomenal thing they're all the little leagues as well it's it's just awesome uh one of my friends brought in one of the guys for a party it's like a fruit guy at the house man shopping up fruit for you so now we're like we all kind of do it it's the if you if you're having a party

okay get a fruit guy at the party it's incredible hey can i can i can have some mango some watermelon and candle i go watermelon candle melon guy but i don't know why I brought that up. It's on my mind. I want some fruit right now. Because we're here for the people. We're, we're here for the fans. So that's, that's good. And I, I wanted, I wanted, you mentioned the fans at the end. And I, I mentioned that this, this trade probably never happened. Or if it were to happen years ago, it would be the Giants traded them everything, every prospect they could to get Raphael Devers. Just because we didn't, we viewed sports through a more analytical lens at the time that. Why do you say it wouldn't happen?

Well, I think it could happen because of the drama and everything we mentioned, that it could happen. But, like, the trade would have been a lot different. This was not a salary dump. But because it's like, well, Rafi Devers gets paid a lot of money to be a DH, like the Red Sox didn't get a haul back. Like this, if money was less of a factor or back in the 90s or 2000s, we would have just viewed Devers as one of the best hitters in baseball and he gets paid this.

Because we assign war. Yes, value. Value. And because he's a DH, oh my gosh, look at, he's not providing enough value to the... Yeah, I am out on that. I know. You don't like a middle-of-the-order bat that just bangs homers and drives and runs for you? You don't like that?

That's crazy. I am on... I'm with you on that. Well, that's where the fan side of this is really messy for Red Sox fans. Sweep the Yankees, five out of six from the Yankees, the last 90s. days or so to, I don't want to say save their season because that's a little dramatic, but also save their season. They're one game above 500 now, which is actually really close to the playoffs.

Treb's going to get you those standings in a little bit, people. But to do this after that, and man, they've seen Devers on the field, I think since 2017, I think he was 20 years old, that part of being a fan, and especially baseball where you're on the ride with a lot of baseball fans are every day. A lot of baseball fans are every day. Like, life starts getting in the way, but it's part of the beauties of being a baseball fan. You throw it on at 7 p.m.

It's part of the frustration with baseball being on a ton of different networks. Like, you go on the ride with these guys that you learn their personalities and you know who they are, endeavors taking the deep breath before each pitch and closing his eyes. Like a lot of Red Sox fans have watched this guy, you know, almost every day during the summer months for eight, nine years, that there is something sad that the Red Sox have now gotten rid of three guys who would have been retired numbers, like Red Sox Hall of Famers.

There's a fan aspect to the player movement that they A, should have never traded Mooki. And I think everyone knows that. I mean, the money that got offered to Bogarts, go off, King. Knock yourself off. Not going to knock yourself off. What? Don't do that. And then Devers, we mentioned the drama side to it that, I guess what I'm,

tying to my original part of this is the drama and the new front office, you're trading away what should be a Boston legend. And there's just something wrong to that in general in the game of baseball, but also a lot of it is because of literally the drama show that we talked about that led into this with Breslow, with Devers is a part of it, with Cora, like the, you know, you don't need your glove anymore like what are we doing i'm i was i'm googling alex cora quotes trying to see if he's spoken i guess on instagram he put a picture of him endeavors and said gracius like nice that's all we've have so far i'm so curious to hear what he has to say i can't wait i i this series this weekend

jake right is you you said it man it's the best reality show like this is so good i can't wait i can't wait to see his first a bat. I don't know, man. I don't know where we go from here. I guess it's a waiting game in Boston to see what they do. To see, I mean, are there moves to be made now for this season? Or is this a play for the off season in 2026? Like, are there more moves coming?

Is this, which way does it go? Is this Boston saying, all right, got this money off the book? reallocated to next year. We got, we still have, you know, a lot of players for certain positions. Do they make more moves and trade away more guys? Or is this like, no, no, no, no. This is for this year. And we're going to go acquire this dude.

And where does it go from here? That's going to be the big, like for San Francisco, that's the thing. In back of the wild card right now. Standing's coming up. For San Francisco, you know what you signed up for. in one of the most consistent best hitters in baseball for the last five years, however you want to butter knife it, Devers is one of those guys.

And I genuinely, and I think I could just point to the walks, and that's the easy way out, I think if you go year by year, Devers hasn't put together the full season that I personally believe he can. And we'll see how that comes together for San Francisco. For Red Sox fans, it just feels so icky. because the whole giveheim some time stuff. Like we got through that and we didn't give him time.

But now these top prospects are along the way, which Breslo and the gang are acting like, hey, look what we got. Like we can trade away Raphael Devers. Like, this next crop is going to be the guys. I obviously, I'm a Yankees fan. We do fan media here. I'm not rooting for the Red Sox.

If I was a Red Sox fan, I really hope those guys are dudes, man. Because, like, okay, I'll take a shot at the Yankees a little backhandedly. Like Anthony Volpe was a top five prospect. He's a very good baseball player. He plays great defense at shortstop. He's having a breakout offensive season,

which is like a 110 OPS plus, which that's not a guy who can carry you offensively. It's a very solid good ball player. Adley Rushman down in Baltimore. Number one prospect, one-one pick, came out of the gates pretty hot. It's been a weird two years. years. I don't know where baseball's at with Adley Rushman. You're putting a lot of pressure on

these kids that I'm not going to go into the sample sizes, but like Christian Campbell, rookie of the month for April, he's now a negative war player on the year. He's been the worst defensive second baseman. He had a big slump his second month. Meyer, I've been a Meyer guy from the start. I think it's the hair and just the M&M name. I think he's a ball player. But what does that mean? Like, if he becomes an 830 OPS a year guy, like, then you would want to pay him the money you'd give to Devers to become that. Roman Anthony, and he's the one that if we're being honest, I think they're putting all their eggs in his basket. They're banking on him becoming a dude. Like, a dude. And that's just really hard and kind of unfair to the prospects in this

situation. But do you think, okay, yeah, we have these guys, they're all up now, okay, regardless of how they're playing at the moment, I think they're all going to be good big leaguers, okay? And I guess that is yet to be seen. But you had Devers going off, you know, one of the best stretches of his career, and you're still one game over 500. So does that signal to you, we need to try something different, right? I think, I think that's how you can look at it. We need we need help at different areas because we have all these guys and you want us to keep it

and make our team so good if we have these guys up endeavors but they've had it maybe not for so long with Meyer and Anthony but I guess look you know what

I take all that back because since they've been up they're eight and two over the last 10 games standing's coming up later I don't know man it's crazy to me this is I don't know

there's just so much oh here you go Yeah. Craig Breslow and Sam Kennedy will speak to reporters at 8 p.m. Eastern. Saw some people not happy it's a Zoom. I'm not really one of those people. What does that mean? Why? Why? I think a lot of people want you to do that in person and kind of feel the... Feel the heat? Feel that you just traded away a generational hitter. Like, some people are what... Some people are tiptoeing around Devers and being like, yeah, you know, he's good. I don't know.

You don't give a good player 300 mil, bro. I... You don't. I tend to agree with that. You know, you have Matt Olson date my daughter, and I have... Previously, I had a new one. Yeah, yeah, you know. I have Marcel Omeyer date my babysitter.

That's real. That's real. That's real. That's real shit. Hey, this is completely unfair, but just... I brought up top prospects from 2021, just to see... You know I love this game. I know.

You know I love this game. Number one, I'll keep this moving quick with no commentary. Wander Franco. Number two is Adley. Number three, Spencer Torkelson. Number four, Jared Kelnick. Number five, Julio. So again, we...

That's pretty good. There's talent in there. But, okay, it's taken Torkelson how many years to get it going? Like... He's changed the tiger season, but yes, it's... He was a negative war player before the season. But that's where it all ties in for the Red Sox. Okay, how quickly are these rookies going to get going?

If it's not this year, that's still a massive fail, dude. They were, at the end of this preseason, they became kind of your favorites in the American League. I picked him to win the World Series this year. Or no, lose the World Series of the Dodgers. Excuse me. I don't know. Like, there's a very good chance this team doesn't make the postseason.

I mean, I don't know about a very good chance. 50, 50, like coin toss? Yeah, man. And then the money side of this, again, this could be nothing. This could be a lot of stuff. The ownership group that owns the Boston Red Sox, they own Liverpool. And congrats to them on winning this year. Talking soccer, talking golf this episode.

They just played a guy, Florian Wirtz. You're Florian Wirtz. a good chunk of money, not too dissimilar to what Devers is getting. I don't know. Oh, stop. If you're John Henry and you look at your bank accounts and you say, you're stoked, you're stoke, you're dancing. Here's a hundred.

Okay, so we're paying that guy 150 mil. Okay. Ooh, I wouldn't hate if we got rid of that 250 mil. I don't know. I don't know. He just reaches in his pocket. Oh, wait, there's another 100 mil. We'll be okay.

Maybe the kids are stud. Maybe the Red Sox are going to spend on pitching, which we've asked them to do more of in the coming years. And they got some more pitching. I don't know. If I'm a Red Sox fan, I'm horrified. I'm sad. And it feels like the Red Sox for an office is trying to be perfect.

And it's just rare that that happens. So maybe in two years we're talking about them absolutely set up. I just hope this isn't reactionary to a bit. like the drama because you can you should be able to get over the drama this is professional sports you need to get past it put the best team possible on the field i hope this isn't a reaction to them you know i don't like his attitude i don't like that attitude because i don't think and i haven't heard this from from guys i don't think there's like a clubhouse issue uh they created sort of one i'm sure some guys weren't stoked that he was like i'm not playing that

I'm sure there are some guys are like, come on, man, like, you know, just do it for the team. But overall, I haven't heard like bad clubhouse vibes there. So, you know, if this is their reaction to like not like feeling disrespectful, like that's, that should never come into play. Like it should be about let's put the best product on the field possible, especially if you're the Boston Red Sox. But it, I feel like it definitely came into play. It was everything.

It was everything. The human element was for sure a part of the reason that he's now with the San Francisco Giants. And if I'm raiding the trade for the Giants, you can't give it as many A's. There's just so many A's that you give this. And for the Red Sox,

it's right now it's a D with a chance to be an F, but a chance to get to a C plus. And maybe that's a place to land at, Trow, because that for me is there's a lot of, there's a lot of baseball people thinking, and that's not always our strength.

You know, we're ball players. There's a lot of people thinking, and they're like, oh, you know, the Devers and aging and the D.H. I saw a great baseball player go to a different team, and what came back, I don't know what it is. So, again, maybe there are smarter than us. Breslow played the game.

Maybe they are smarter than us, and they've played this, perfectly, it just does not feel that way. One more, just pat on the back for Buster Posey and my Giants? Yeah. Okay. On the free agent market, what are the costs to acquire a middle of the ordered bat right now? $800 million for Soto.

$500 million for Vladdy. What is Kyle Tucker going to get? you got a guy $250 million, it feels like a freaking bargain for the San Francisco Giants. Am I right? If the Devers

walk thing stays real. Again, I think since April 1st he's been a 960 OPS, which that is higher than his career numbers. But it feels like that's who he is, or in the nines. That yes,

if Devers hit free agency at the end of this season, you're probably looking at 400 mil, and him being glad to play first base for a team. So, no, I think, I think they've done well their value-wise. For the last, since 2021, okay, that's his age 24 season through now. He's got a 359 on base percentage. The walk to strike out is one to two. Like, it's perfectly fine and it's getting better this year. So I'm not worried about that at all. I think that part's gotten better. It makes sense

that it's gotten better. It's going to be interesting to see him in a Giants uniform. They play Cleveland Tuesday through Thursday and then Boston heads to San Francisco. Do you think he's going to hit a fly ball to left field and be like, hell, yeah, that's a double

and then realize it's just a POP, F7 and be like, oh shit, I'm in San Francisco. Yeah, I do think he's telling. Why is that massive wall in right field and why is it so freaking cold here in the summertime? I do. Yeah, my,

not like that. I do think there's, I think he's a skilled enough hitter that he, not change his swing, but knowing that left field isn't a free fly ball double. I could see him making tweaks along the way, but man, last buster snaps. Giants can't bring in anyone. Jung Hulie was the star to start off this season. Willie Adomis and Matt Chapman and now Devers. I got two lefty righties. I've got one bona fide masher.

I've got three defensive studs. Like the Giants. I forget Blake Snell was there too. Snow was there. He's not anymore. He's on that other team. Robbie Rye gets paid. Can't wait to see the next parts of this story.

For both teams and for baseball, we thought the best hitter that might get traded this year was Brandon Low. No offense, Brandon. You know, a lot of teams would still like to have him. Trev, let's get on to the rest of the show, and we're going to figure this out on the fly a little bit. It's brought to you by the Draft King's Sportsbook. Baseball fans, the season is heating up.

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That was a Kendrick reference. Oh, the Red Sox swept the Yankees. That's interesting. I didn't even know this series. It happened. Erased it from my memory. The Boston Red Sox got good pitching, which they've needed and they got more of Devers homered in the last game. Yankee fans said, bad defense and base running. Scary flashbacks for Yankee fans.

They get swept Boston's back in it. We just did that whole thing. The Reds took two or three from the Tigers after dropping the first game. They take the final two, Brady Singer with a nice start. And Ellie de la Cruz back in the middle. mix. You might hear more about him coming up. It was a sweep week in baseball. We had a ton of them, and Trev's twins got the business from My Astros, including two one-run games to wrap it up. A pair of walk-offs, Cam Smith and Mauricio Du Bon. Brandon Walter, gross arm angle. They have depth.

They're a problem. We'll talk about that. My Mariners bounce back against Chris Rose's Guardians. I got a little age thinking about Chris Rose just sleeping in Europe while all this baseball drama was happening. We haven't even talked about Shohei pitching tonight. Mariners, they swept the Guardians to get back on their winning ways. Jorge Polanco is back hitting for them. That is a good part of the formula. And J.P. Crawford has been so, so good.

Let's go Mariners. The Orioles are back. They sweep the Angels. And some dramatics in the final game, Carrie Sanchez Grand Slam. He's there. Charlie Morton, five-inning shut? Can the Orioles get involved?

Baseball? So long of a season? I don't know. The A's sweep the Royals. I'll tell you who's happy there is a Devers trade. The Kansas City Royals, because they are down and out in a bad way. They get swept by the A's savvy with a good start.

Kurtz, comma, Nick, back hitting. And the final AL series, the Texas Rangers, they sweep the Chicago White Sox. and that should be obvious. Kumar Rocker is just hammering pickle shots. We're getting dehydrated. Rangers are winning games. They're in the mix.

The whole ale is Trev's going to give you the standings right now. Pickle juice is good for hydration and blisters. Is this a miracle beverage? Love that for us. Yes, I will give you the standings in the American League. I'll start out in my central where the Tigers just have a commanding lead, a nine-game lead over my twins. Tigers, 46 and 27.

Twins, one game over five, decimated by injuries, 36 and 35. Cleveland Guardians right at 500, 35 and 35. The Kansas City Royals, 34 and 38. They're on an L6 right now. The Chicago White Sox, 23 and 49. In your east, Jake, the Yankees, still a three and a half game lead over the Tampa Bay Reyes. They're 42 and 28, raised 39 and 32.

Toronto's still right there, 38 and 33. As we mentioned, Boston. in one game over five, they're on a W5 and an 8 and 2, 37 and 36. That's a lot of numbers, just right in a row right there. In Baltimore, around 30 and 40 out west, yes, the Houston Astros are an absolute problem. 41 and 30, a four and a half game lead over the Mariners who are two games over five at 36 and 34. The Rangers on a W4 get back to 500, 36 and 36, the Angels 33 and 37 and the athletics, 29 and 44 in the wild card for the American League.

We have Tampa Bay with the number one spot. Toronto with the number two spot. It's always been the AL East people. And then Seattle with a half game lead in the three spot over Minnesota, Boston, one game above, Texas, Cleveland. That's going to be an interesting race. Those are the standings in the American League. Jake, let's burn that National League baby go.

Oh, just keep cooking. I love it. Those San Francisco Giants, they played the Los Angeles Dodgers. They split the first two. If the Giants could get another win, they could tie for first place. They don't. The Dodgers don't care about your trade. They care about Dustin May.

And oh, yeah, Shohei Otani, three hits. And why don't you grab the pill and pitch tomorrow? We need to talk about that at some point. The Padres and the Diamondbacks. D-backs take two out of three, and they do it in the most Diamondback fashion. We got a four-run comeback in the ninth, Perdomo, with the three-run triple to tie it. Padres end up salvaging the series, full-pension Piv with a nice start in that last game. Cubbies take three out of four from the Pirates, and that's obvious.

Ian Hap, walk off RBI single. Fetch me my wine, he yelled to Trev. The Brewers take three out of four from the Cardinals, and that's obvious, question mark? Brewer's playing a little bit of better baseball, and Jacob, Jacob Bezorowski. That kid can throw the pill, huh? Brewers, where does he come from? Where does he go?

Where did you come from? Cotton Eye, Joe. The Toronto Blue Jays, they get swept by the Phillies. The Phillies, after a little June swoon. They are back at it. You might hear something about Zach Wheeler in a little bit. He's going to retire in a couple years.

Okay, Zach, thanks for the update. Otto Kemp keeps having nice games for them. And I like that. Ranger Suarez is good again. The Braves take two out of three from the Rockies, which is slightly disappointing as the Rockies beat them 10 to 1 on that final game. And the series everyone's talking about, the Marlins swept the nationals.

Let's give so Augustine Ramirez back with a two homer game. Chance and Junk on the all-time names list. And your final series, The Best Western Road Warriors, brought to you by Best Western Hotels and Resorts. about the Tampa Bay Rays. They sweep the New York Mets. The Devers trade was great for both New York teams.

The Rays outscored the Mets 24 to 9 in the series. The Rays are hot. They've won 18 out of 24. And the Mets really struggle against them. I think if you go back, the Mets are 5 and 16 against the Rays. Your Best Western Road Warriors. Life's a trip. Make the most of it at bestwestern.com.

That is what happened in the national. you're the best poppy shout out andy paehes with the homer last night my cuban ball player i got the standings in the national league east the new york metropolitans two and a half games up on the phillies they're 45 and 27 they're sitting on an l3 though while the phillies are on w4 they're 42 and 29 the braves i don't know what to do with the braves they ain't the astros i think that's my new take on them thought they were just going to come back and figure it out astros have Braves have not. They're 31 and 39. 13 games back.

Washington Nationals, 30 and 41, and Augustine Ramirez is Miami. Can you just be a better catcher at all? Just like, please do something defensively because you can make a lot of money. You're a good hitter. They're 28 and 41. That's my advice for you, Augustine, okay? In the central, five and a half game lead for the Cubs over the Brewers.

They're 44 and 28. Brewers 39 and 34. More and Mizorowski later. I got some things to tell you. The Reds, 37 and 35. They're 7 and 3 in their last 10. The Cardinals matching that record, 37 and 35, and the Pirates, 29 and 44. And then, oh, yeah, out west, the Dodgers.

Two-game lead over the Giants after that series win. They're 43 and 29. Giants, 41 and 31. Padres sitting three games back, kind of lurking, I would say. Big series against the Dodgers coming up here. They're 39 and 31. Snakes, one game over five now. 36 and 35.

Rockies, 14 and 57. In the wild card for the National League, the Phillies have the number one seed, two and a half games up on everybody. San Francisco has a two seed, and San Diego has the three seed. They are one and a half games up on the Milwaukee Brewers, and then it kind of goes down from there,

three games up on Cincinnati, St. Louis, three and a half on Arizona. Those are the standings in the National League pop. Go us go. Go us, go. We're juggling a lot of ball. I, Trev, I, I think we're going to hit the series a little bit on the rest of the show, or at least highlight some studs from the weekend, but I think the people understand.

We had to talk dev. We had to talk dev, and I think we crushed. Comment below crushed. Let's get into the standout performances, because I think that's going to, we can start hitting some of the series along the way. It's time for standout performance. This guy stood out for Trev Ellie always stands out just like walking around and he had a big series against the Detroit Tigers

hit 500 with three homers, six runs driven in in the series he's had a very, very good month of June in the month of June he's sitting 378 with a 481 on base percentage and he's slugging 800 for the 1.2 Reds, we talk about you all the time. Need you just go on. Just step on the gas, just a little bit more.

You got to love to see him. He had a great throw and outfield assist in this game. I think he has four of the top five fastest out or infield assists since the stat cast era. L.A. Dele Cruz. Love watching you play ball. There was that sick a couple weeks ago. He threw out Corbyn Carroll kind of speed versus speed and he got him.

Yeah. The offense is back. There was a little bit there with Ellie where it's like, what? The season numbers aren't where the Reds need him to be and not where he should be. Dude, I just like, and it's why there was some preseason like MVP hype, if you were not betting Otani. I just, dude, everything's up.

The batting average is up. The on base is up. The slugging is up. That, like, that's what we looked at last year. And, man, it's getting better. as a ball player, whether you're Devers, whether you're judge, whether whoever you are, you kind of have to continuously

because if you're not, you're not in the rest of the league catches up. The offense, I think will continue to get better for him as he sees more pitches. For the Reds to go in and take two or three from Detroit, it's huge and they did it against Flaherty, who's been great for them. And then whenever they have Tyler Houghton in like a bullpen game,

that's, I would say it's scobs and then Flaherty and then that for like who you don't want to see. And they take two. a three. That's a big statement series. For the Reds, I think the Tigers just shrug it off. Like, hey, we got the best record in baseball. Who cares? But for the Reds, I think

it's a great litmus test. They passed it, Jake. We're flying colors. Trev, I've tried to quit them, and here we are again. The Reds have a lot of numbers you can like. They're 500 against teams, 500 or better, which that's tough to do. Like, that's kind of high level stuff.

Plus 41 run differential. That's better than the Padres. That's better than the Phillies. Like, their pitching has good. It's people know my Reds conundrum. They're seven and three in their last 10. Three games out of the wild card. So like they just, they have to keep going. But if you want to buy Redstock, you need to buy it over Padres Giants, Philly stock, which that's real tough. That's real tough.

Trev, I'm doing a last minute hot route because that's what this whole episode is. That for my standout, my apologies to Zach Wheeler, I was going to talk about, him just dropping it on the table and saying, hey, I'm retiring after 27. Does anyone, does anyone care? Like, that's what I'm doing. How did that conversation happen? Did I miss like, did someone ask him, hey, you're retiring after 2027 or he'd just come out and say it?

I don't know if it was a bad day at the office or a good day at the office. He actually shoved this weekend. I mean, his contract is up after 27 and he's, I guess he's going to be 37 years old and had made like a buck 50. So maybe, yeah, no, I'm, I'm good. after all this. I'm not giving it to Zach Wheeler, six innings, one-e-run run.

I'm going to go Shohei Otani, because sometimes we don't give him the standout performer a lot, even though he did hit two homers on Saturday, and I believe he's still leading all of baseball in that statistic, which... or excuse me, the National League. Big Dumpers got him in the ale.

25 home runs. He leads the National League and runs scored slugging. OPS. OPS Plus, R-O-Bah, I don't even use that, but why not? Trev, he's pitching today in a major league game. And this is a topic we talked about this last week. We've daydreamed what it could look like. It sounds like Shohei, who again did hit two homers on Saturday.

If I gave him my standout and he wasn't Shohei Otani, that'd still be fine. He's pitching today against San Diego. And it sounds like he's going to go one inning in an opener roll. So we were wondering, like, how are they going to? to use that. And, you know, people are saying rush timeline because the Dodgers originally said August, but I think that's also fully stretched out. But we're figuring this all out on the fly.

So again, now that we're here, I'd love to know what you're thinking on it. I think teams need to stop saying like, yeah, this is the timeline. And just be honest, we don't really know. Like, we haven't really dealt with a guy that hits all the time and is also one of the best pitchers in the game. So we're just kind of playing it by a year. We're going to see how he feels. That's what you got to say.

Who can't rehab. That's part of the reason it's a full comment. He can't rehab in the minor. Yeah, you can't. I think that's exactly what they're doing. They realize if we're just going to keep pitching him in these simulated games, might as well put him in real games. It doesn't have to be stretched out.

I thought they were going to wait until he got to a 75 pitch bullpen. Apparently they don't need to do that. Let's just get him in there. He's looked great. Mark Pryor says he's doing whatever he wants with every single pitch. That's a terrifying state. if you're a hitter. Look out.

He probably added a new pitch in his rehab, whatever. So I think that's the route they took. Like, might as well have them because you can't simulate game speed and he can't go on a rehab. And even if he did go to AAA, that's not the same as the big league. So let's just throw him out there. I believe when they do that, what does the extra roster spot mean? When he starts pitching again, they get to have another pitcher?

I got a maybe we get. I keep seeing that. And I don't understand it. Otani's return a way to help reinforce the bullpen. Yeah, I mean, I thought it, I thought it's just he can pitch, stop pitching and still hit. Like, I didn't, I didn't think that gives them, I don't think you get another pitcher. We're running hot here, people, so we're doing this on the fly. But hey, I'm stoked for Othani to be back.

Jake, there's two people that are one dotting it this year. And you know who they are. Yeah. I mean the two new faces of baseball. And I would like to... For people who are they? I would like to leave another note here. Red Sox Yankees, Hunter Dobbins,

drops it on the Yankees again. And he was the guy that said I would never... My favorite player in baseball. Love it. And by the way, it turns out part of that was a misunderstanding because his dad had told him the Yankees drafted him and didn't sign him. And that was just a lie.

but I don't, hey, if you're going to use the hate in your heart to shove against the Yankees and it works, knock yourself out. Sports, people got to love that. So that's where I wanted to go because Trev, we have, well, now we have a Padres conglomerant at our office, but, you know, Padres fan Ryan Cohen, who if you meet him in. Shout to Molly, too. Molly, we got, we've got like a small army for me here. Maddie Bregman. Anyways, Ryan Cohen, you meet him in person. he's one of the most like happy go lucky.

Like, does he know what anxiety is? I don't think so. Like, he's just like a straightforward, happy guy. He loves baseball. He loves the Padres. When it was announced that Shohei was starting the Dodgers game against his Padres, he said, you know what? I love it.

Let's go out there and ruin his return. And that is what sports is supposed to be. Screw those guys up north. Like, great your back, show. hey, we're going to knock you around the yard, pa. Absolutely. That's that. I gave that advice to my youth team who got their ass kick this weekend, by the way.

It was 100 degrees and we got absolutely just, it was brutal for us. But I told you guys can't be scared of the good people, the good players, the good teams. That's exactly why you play sports to beat those guys. You want to face the best. I've always had that attitude, even though it's probably bad for my career, but I'm like, fuck, yeah, man. I'm not trying to skip Justin Verland. or Scherzerdey.

Like, I want to be in there. I want to see what that ball looks like and I'm going to get them. I didn't get them very often. But I wanted to. You should have skipped Scher Day. I should have skipped Scher Day. That would have been a fine one.

You know what? For my good pal, Mike Mustakis, who got to skip a lot of tough lefties. I always tell him, I'm like, dude, you got to skip all the hard pitchers. Right. You got an extra rest day and got to miss the tough lefties. That's...

Hey, Mike, let's go golfing, bro. Come on. Oh, wow. We're doing that live. We're doing that live. Trev again we got a lot of guys that need to get some love and luckily this part this part of the show is where people do get love it's in Fuego dirt nasty's on Fuego that means I'm on fire baby like Waco I love starting off with my guy J.P. Cropter my tri-tip king I'm the king though you can come at the king but you ain't gonna you ain't gonna get me uh 7 for 11 in

the series. He had a grand slam in it, five runs driven in total. He's actually having a great season, Jake. A.L. ranks among shortstop. Two 96 batting areas. That's third. He's, 411 OBP. That's not a, that's not a misprint. Oh my gosh. That's first among short stops. Third in OPS, second in rated runs created plus and fourth in F-4. He's a good guy and have a ball player. just kind of like un unrivaled swag love love it for my boy jp uh day myires also just a guy love watching play he went eight for 13 a double a homer and three runs driven in on the series frano tautis junior love watching him play it's a bunch of guys i like watching play ball jake eight for 13 three doubles three runs driven in uh against the debacks in his career he's hitting

three 35 uh in 53 games he's got 20 homers and 46 runs driven in my goodness glaber torres or i believe The Red Series off with a lead off Homer. And they won that first game, but lost the next two. He went five for 11, a double, two homers, four runs driven in. Brooks Lee, there's the twins, love. Yes, swept, by the way. They're struggling. Royce Lewis is injured again.

Byron Buxton might be too. Ouch. Brooks Lee goes five for 11 in the series. He extends his major league leading, active hitting streak to 15 games. He's a ball player. You would love him. absolute ballplay we were looking at real estate together he wants to buy something he said i can't believe how expensive it is yeah join the club bro uh for the week we talked about ellie a little bit

so i don't need to go into this one we went 12 for 26 on the week that was all road games uh four homer seven runs driven in he's an absolute study joins eric davis look him up in his stats johnny bench and frank robinson as the only reds age 23 he's 23 23 or younger to homer in four consecutive games that a boy gasey smit looked real real good for San Francisco. Seven for 20. Three homers. 11 runs driven in. He had a grand slam in his second straight game versus the Dodgers.

He became the first Giants player ever to hit grand slams in back to back games. One of them was against Kike. We didn't even talk about that. Okay. Hey, all the people they were banging on me for saying, I don't like position players pitching. And Kike came out and did it again. And they had to bring in Banda to end the game. They were in my mention saying, maybe you're right, Coach Tref. So it was like a

Redemption weekend for me. Love that. Josh Smith goes 11 for 26, 200, 400 runs driven in. Alec Baum, he'd go on, big fella. 10 for 24, 200, 9 runs driven in for the pitchers. I want to get my talk out real quick about Jacob Mizoroski. Okay. Drafted in the second round.

Remember the draft I did for the twins? Yeah. He went after that guy, Connor prelip, who might be in the twins bullpen at the end of this year. Second round, how are teams not picking this guy? He's an absolute monster. Good question. I don't know. So, okay, that's kind of on me.

Because I pick con- Yeah, you could have said anything. You could have said anything up there. How, what if I was like, no, Jacob Mizorowski. Zerowski, folks. He went five no-hit innings in his debut, but he had to leave because he had some cramping

in his right cast and his quad. I don't know if we have an update, if that's actual just cramping, or did he pull it? Not sure. He threw 14 pitches, Jake, of at least 100 miles an hour on Thursday. Coming into the game, Brewer starters, since 2008,

had only thrown eight combined pitches 100 miles an hour or more. So that's, they get VLO. Love that for them. Jacob Lopez for the A's. Second career win. His first one was on October 1st,

2023. They're searching for pitching. I saw this guy throw, actually. And he diced the twins up. Six-eem-pitched pitch. No-er runs 9K. He's a little lefty, little Tommy Mill one.

Oh. type stuff. You would love them. Spencer Strider, nice game. 16-in-pitched pitch, 13-Ks. He recorded his first double-digit strike-old game since September 19th of 2023. I'm happy for Strider. I like that. I think he's a good guy. I think his first at bat was 97-98-98-strikeout, and everyone was like, okay, here we go. Like that for us. Emerson Hancock goes seven-nings pitched with one walk in four K's. He has a 153-ERA, 153-ERA, and 3 June starts. Your guy Brandon Walter, are you talking a little bit later about him?

So I'll save that. Grant Holmes needs to be on this. He struck out 15 people. They still got the L against the Rockies. Yeah. So how about that? Now, Jake, bring us into the guys that are struggling. Yeah.

Yeah, that sounds about right. Wow. Some Yankees talk, Ben Rice. Five for his last 39. Batting 156 on pitches in the strike zone the last two weeks. That's of note, because sometimes he's the guy hitting behind Aaron Judge, and you can't really afford that

because they'll just throw up the fours or Boston will just throw up the threes and punches ticket all weekend. Anyways, Tyler Fitzgerald, you know, a couple of these giants infielders. We didn't talk too much about Casey Schmidt and Tyler Fitzgerald being like, no, we're, we don't, we didn't need devours. Six for 41. Second low is hard hit rate on fastballs.

that's bad. It's a bad formula. Most pitchers throw that. Josh Lowe, 6 for 46. 0-81 against Wrighties the past two weeks. Baseball is a sick sport, man. When that guy runs into a ball, geez. Zanda Bogatz kid. Former Red Sock.

9 for 48. Slugging 0-0-0 on high 95-mile-per-hour pitches. So the high fastball, I guess maybe a high slug. slider. It's been a big stat for us lately. Pitches over 95 miles. I don't know. I guess that shows if you're hitting V-Lo or not. And Bogatz is not. Mason Wynn, you love yourself some Mason Wynn.

So do I, to be honest. But he's been 11 for his last 55, and he is chasing pitches out of the zone the most the past two weeks. So those guys are struggling. We talk about their struggles to get them out of it and hopefully see them on. and Fuego coming up soon. On the aisle side of things, guys who's leaving, who's coming back? Last time we talked to you,

we knew Sanga got hurt. They're saying four weeks, he shut down for two, probably going to be a little longer than that, especially the Mets taking care of their prize pitcher. Andrew Chafin, with a right hammy as well.

Young Jacob Melton, the prospect called up for Houston. He's going to be out for four weeks. Kyle Freeland with some lower back stuff for Colorado. You mentioned Royce Lewis, Trev. Another hammy. It's hammy season. Come on, people.

Stretch him out. Tyler Malley. You always call me out on that one. Right shoulder fatigue. So that's a scary one. No timeline. And Jackson Meryl, concussion I. The baseball's better with Jackson Meryl.

That's one of my confident. statements. Who's back? A pair of catchers with different games. Austin Hedges is back, framing it up and leading for your Cleveland Guardians. Carrie Sanchez is back in Baltimore and he went to the deep part of the ballpark for the Grand Slam. Jordan Walker, he was on a couple of those top prospect list, just a reminder. He's coming back and it's about to click. So that's the good news. Austin Gomber One of the pieces in the Aronado trade

that we're going to dive into later That was a lie Because We're going to start everyone's week Awards are brought to you by Us Thank you guys for tuning in We love when we get a big episode like this

You guys are the best If you've made it this far Subscribe Make sure you're checking out everything John Boy Media Shout out Casey Lynch Yeah. Fathers Day.

Father's Day. Shout out all the fathers out there, man. Putting in that work. You don't get days off. I pay that much right now. My award is called There is Crying in Baseball. And, you know, if you haven't watched a league of their own, what are you doing? What's the guy's name? Jimmy Dugan?

Yeah, that's the manager. Jimmy Dugan. Who's the actor that plays him? Why am I drawn a blanket? Tom Hanks. Tom Hanks. Pretty famous. What other trivia?

questions you got for me. I'm a little foggy after this weekend, if we're being honest. Tom Hanks, Jimmy Dugan, classic scene. I'm not going to give it away. A league of their own is pro. People always say, what's your favorite baseball movie? I think it's a league of the own. I think it's a league of their own are our top two. Like you have major league for love of the game, all these things. I think Sanlott and a league of their own are my two. But we saw some crying in baseball and it was awesome. It was Mauricio DuBahn, who by the way, it was his first father's day. I just had a kid. And he walked off my twins, took a cutter from Cole Sands in the 10th. There was two outs. So he had to get the knock. It wasn't like a sack fly situation.

Brings Harrison Bader back to the wall, that weird like bullpen wall in left field. You got to go around the Crawford boxes. Bader made a nice attempt at it. It ends up getting the walk off. But Dubon is going to learn something about being a father. As soon as you have kids, you just start crying in certain instances. When you watch movies, movies that are like a little bit sad or happy. Right. You start crying. You're at least,

at least tearing up. So he needs to get used to this. Shout out the assholes. I wanted to do this award because we were talking about them. Yordon has even done anything for them this year. They have Jose Altuvae playing. They're basically trying to hide him from the baseball. Like they just don't want him touching the baseball.

It's a weird year for them, but here they are with, tradable assets with a four and a half game lead in the A.L. West, just super quietly being the team that they've been over the last decade. And a nice sweep over my twins for them. But shout out, Maricio DuBond. You're going to be crying a lot more than you think, just so you know. Congrats to all the new baseball dads.

That's awesome. Look at that. Look at that smile. All the old baseball dads. He's, Maricio DuBond, he's kind of got one of those. story Ellie baby faces. I feel like we're going to see him in 10 years and he's still going to look like he can get it done. I'll give a shout out to Brandon Walter here, Trev, because I watched some of his game this weekend and I was like, oh, they got another one. Houston might have tapped into something with this guy. It's a funky arm angle. It's one of those guys you wonder if the league sees him a couple times.

Will it start changing the results? But he has been nasty. He was 26th round draft pick by the Boston Red Sox. And he was just released. Houston just signed him as a free agent. He's 27. And he's thrown with some absolute funk right now that guys are struggling with. But that's not going to be my award,

Trev, because I'm going to give out the Shoot Me Straight Award. You know, Trev, I probably need it more from you. You know, get some more of our late-night convoes going. You know, shoot me straight. Tell me the truth. Was I bad today? Do I need more of this? Do I need less of that? That's us. A different thing happened with the Chicago Cubs, who Cubby fans have been a little mad at us just because they're like, hey, the Cubs are good. Can you talk about them more? And it's almost been like the Cubs have been too good. They just keep winning series that it's just

unfortunately become par for the course that they took three out of four from the pirates. Trev, sometimes we look at the Cubs pitching and we're like, I don't know. Feels like there could be a little more juice. And it's not shots fired. It could also be a compliment to the lineup because there's only so many places in that lineup that you could really improve.

Ryan Presley, one of the big pieces they got this offseason. He came over and he wasn't looking like Ryan Presley. Trev, this is one of the guys you played with. You always love when that's going on. And it was a slow start. And bullpens can be tough and father time can be tough that, you know, Ryan Presley, after a zero out eight earned run performance, his ERA sat at 762.

He had a slow April and it was, I don't know, where are we at? He asked our guy, Ian Hap, in the locker room. Hey, what's the scouting report? Like, if you're coming up to face me, what do you got? Like, be real with me. Since that conversation, Ryan Presley is yet to give up an earned run. And his last 16 games, 15 innings pitch, a zero ERA,

a strikeout an inning. And he was a guy that before the season, we talked about how Houston operates, differently and, you know, a part of a couple big Cubs Astros transactions. Ryan Presley, shoot me straight, man. He got it and he's looked great for the Cubbies. Sometimes I think that's great to go, you know, either way. Talk to somebody that's faced you before or, you know, knows how they would approach you.

It goes for the hitter as well. You can have shot it right back at him. Like, what do you think? What would you do to me? Right. But those are some excellent ball conversations. And yeah, it has led to him. him kind of finding himself,

stabilizing that Cubs bullpen. And yeah, like we do, maybe we'll sit down next episode and give the Cubs some proper love. There's a few teams that, you know, we skipped over today

because we had some big news that maybe we'll dive a little bit deeper and give them some love, Cubs being one of them. It was a big, I mean, baseball doesn't own 24 hours a lot. And between Shohei coming back,

the Devers trade, even after just the Yankees getting swept in the Reds, Sox are back. A big weekend for baseball. We can't thank you guys enough. We will be back midweek. I don't think we're here Friday because we're Fanatics Live show.

We'll figure out some logistics behind that, but we love you either way. Jake sucks. What's up, Jake? Big freaking ep-pop. Jacob Mizorowski, supposed to make his second start, Wednesday against the Cubs. Here we go. Former twin, Jacob Misarowski.

Could have been. Could have been. You had the power. I don't think you did. Not really sure.