Talkin' Baseball (MLB Podcast) - Shohei Ohtani Bat Flips on the Yankees | 690

Episode Date: July 19, 2023

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Hello and welcome to talking baseball. Trevor Plouf is on the left coast. I'm on the East Coast. We're within two weeks of the deadline. We're talking ball, and we're talking a little life today. Therapy for Yankee fans. Use me the Immaculate Grid. I used them.

Hello and welcome to Talking Baseball. Some Immaculate Grid off the rip. Yesterday was Vinnie Rotino Day. That was fun. Little Brewers Fish, I believe. Warehouse legend Vinnie Retino. What's going on, everybody? Yankee fans, my God.

Everyone else, please dance on us. It's tough. And we will. Trev, and we will. And it's all brought to you by Seekek. Today's episode is sponsored by Seekek, presenting sponsor, talking baseball. Go out and watch your team.

Maybe it's the last. time your team looks like this. Maybe there's going to be a new body in right field. Maybe there's going to be a new guy on the mound. Or maybe your favorite player is getting traded. So you might want to watch them one last time before the deadline.

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talking, you will get $20 off your first purchase at Seek. $20 off your first purchase with promo code talking. Click the link in the description. Trevor Pluth. In Seattle. You say it'll be a nude guy on the mound? Might be. We haven't seen enough of that.

We haven't seen enough of that. Unbutton a couple of those. You want to go viral. Yeah. We're trying to make baseball hot in the streets, which it is. Speaking of viral, you see Cole Tucker this morning? Trev, how are you? I'm doing well. Yes, I'm in Seattle covering the twins.

It's been a nice start to the break for that organization. I don't know how it is for you guys there in New York. I did see the Kotut catch. I did texting about it. He's obviously stoked because that's how he lives his life. I have a ball here, which is, I forgot I had this. Show ball? Yeah.

So I'm happy now that I get to mess around this during the episode. and for everyone listening, Jake, BBD and I before the show kind of switched gears here a little bit. We thought it would be fun to just kind of we would just talk an episode. Talk about some topics and you know, really get into it.

Simulation talk might happen. I'm assuming it's episode 6090, which is interesting. But I think that we're going to land in a good place. I'm always happy to chop up with the boys. How, um, what's going on in New York right now? It's getting hot.

You guys are getting a little crazy. Summer in the city, you know, get some emotions going. Summer in the city is, is good unless you follow either of the baseball teams. Um, you know, had a, had a friend's B day dinner. A little grateful dead cover band there, Trev. You know, vibes are high. A little, little coarsed meal, B-Y-O-B, couple bottles of white. and then watch the Yankees get two hit again.

So I don't know, man. It's really bad. You've seen our social team literally losing their mind on the internet. Probably going to get me and Jimmy in trouble very soon. And yeah, dude, it's tough. I don't, you know, I know we're going to, there will be some team talk and we'll hop around and, you know, there's Stan Pat, trade everyone. You know, everyone, you know, Stan Pat is rarely.

the answer. But, man, I don't know. I don't know. For some of these teams that are around 500 or have losing records, it's a really weird time to be a GM. I don't know. I don't have the answers because, Trevor, whenever we do our warehouse stuff or whenever I compete in anything, like, I want to win.

Like, I think you know I don't enter the hard-oh, hardo area. But if we're doing something, if we're going to compete, I want to win. and for me it's such a weird feeling to be a GM and look at another season. And GM's, you know, what's the average GM career is, what, four years, something like that, not even, that if I'm having my opportunity to go, I want to hit that go button so hard,

but I know I also could be screwing myself and the team for five more years, and then that's your reputation, and then it's over. So I don't know, man. Did you ever have any, like, good exchange? changes with the GM? As far as like trade deadline stuff? Well, I mean, we know about your airplane.

You've been traded. We hate you. That's not what happened. Tampa to Oakland. How did that happen? Oakland to Tampa? Matt Chapman was hot. We were flying back for Miami.

Yes. And yes, I received word from Matt Chapton himself saying, hey, man, I can't wait to be your teammate, all this stuff. And I said, well, you're coming up. Wait, if you're coming up. I'm out. Actually, we were just in Oakland, the twins and I, and their radio guy,

who they're stepping in and they'll do some TV broadcast with Dallas Braden as well as they're kind of searching for our new main guy there. He told that story on the air because he remembers the fact that I went on the plane and shook everyone's hand and thanked them. Very classy of me. Yes.

I'm actually going to have Justin Morenoe on baseball today after this and one of the questions I'm going to ask him is in a clubhouse he was on a lot of teams that were in the race won a lot of divisions getting ready for the playoffs a lot of times they knew they were going to be in the playoffs and I want to ask him like what's the vibe like as far as like let's go add and shake this thing up or is it like no man like this is our team

these are the guys who got in here because there is a little bit of that dynamic. And you'll hear it from time to time. You know, beat riders will get the gauge the temperature of the clubhouse. And it's like, you know, sometimes standing pet is the answer. You got guys and there's a good chemistry there. It's you have to be careful about what you mix in there. You know, I'm on record as saying that 99% of the guys and the big leagues are good dudes and they'll fit in anywhere. but there is that 1% where, you know, for instance, you know, if you trade someone away

who's a key cog in the clubhouse, maybe he's not a key player necessarily on the team, but he's a glue guy or something like that. Like that can ruffle feathers and shake up the clubhouse in the wrong way, even though you might be getting, quote unquote, better on the field. There's a dynamic there. So I'm curious to see what he has to say about that. I wasn't on a bunch of too many teams that were looking to add a few different years. Obviously, we were.

And in my experience, I'm like, let's get everyone. Right. Let's go. Like, whatever we need to add, like, I always wanted pitching. So it didn't really affect my side, but I was like, let's go get it. Let's go get it. It didn't really ever happen, though. So, you know, there's a lot of teams.

So I think, you know, with the expanded playoffs, I'm looking at the wildcard in the AL right now. And there's, you know, there's, right now it's the or. The Boreals, the Blue Jays, and the Astroops. Those are the three wildcard teams. Behind them, Red Sox, one and a half, Yankees, two and a half, Angels, four and a half, mariners, four and a half. And then the gardens at five back. Then it drops all the way down to nine and a half. So you'd like to think that that four and a half five mark is kind of where the fringe and the buyers will lie.

But these next two weeks are going to tell us a lot. I guess it's not even two weeks. It's like 10 days. man, it's crazy. We have one more midweek leading up to the trade deadline, which is that Tuesday that you'll actually be in town, Trev. We were mapping this out. We're going to do, you know, a little behind the scenes. We're doing something kind of kooky in the morning. And then I think we're going to run back and we're going to be live for the deadline like we've been in passing. We're going to be together, right? Like trade deadline, Tuesday? Do you have family plans? We'll talk

about this off air. We'll talk about that. I'm going to map out the days. I do have stuff planned. I do have a step plan for that. Okay. Deadline's a big one. We'll figure that out.

Oh, no. So, no, no, no. The stuff that we have is Wednesday. Well, we have something in the morning Tuesday. Let's do this after. I, the one thing I do need to tap into your brain, Trev. I've got a couple things now. This Jake and Trev up is kicking off.

One, we need a better name. And Trev, we can own this forever. The time from the All-Star game to the trade deadline, those two and a half weeks, we need to rebrand the whole thing. Like, those, it should have a name. Because these games matter more, man. If the Seattle Mariners go six and one in the next week,

they're buying, the Mariners are coming. Watch out. Seattle Mariners go one in six. the next week, they're selling. Like a moving day and a golf trip. It's like moving day, but we need to be able to body the two and a half

week. So maybe people comment below or we'll see if we can tap into some late night trips. What are you got? I mean, you're usually going to go and stuff on the spot. That's crazy. I know. That's what's killing me about it because it's hard to, it's hard to, because

it's more than a week. Like, you know, and there's always restaurant week. There's rivalry week. There's, you know, sports has so many things that to do the two and a half weeks, like, and then you don't want to get corny and be like, the gauntlet. Like, I don't know. I think it's got to be something like roster-wise. We'll figure that out.

Something, you mentioned clubhouse. Was there ever, and I don't want you to do it in a way that you're throwing a player under the bus, but was there ever a clubhouse that you mentioned, you know, 25 guys on a roster? back in your day. One guy in, one guy out, depending who those guys are, you can feel that. Like, do you have an example of maybe a time

someone got called up and it felt like there was more life or a time that maybe someone traded or left? And, like, for example, I did a Wake and Jake episode with Foolish Bailey. And, you know, the Yankees have needed corner outfielders for two years now. And he said, he threw out, what if Tommy Fam came across town? And Tommy Fam is one of those, you know,

Tommy fam is a real personality. You'd be adding to your locker room that if the Yankees sent down my guy as Waldo Cabrera, who's this fun-loving 23-year-old kid with necklaces and smiling, and then in comes Tommy Fam, that changes the clubhouse a lot. So I guess I'm wondering if you have an example of that. It's just depending on the year and the need, things are so different. In 2010, my first year in the big leagues, we had a really, stacked team. We brought in some free agents that

it wasn't typical like twins move offseason moves like Jim tome came over we added we added some other guys it became like kind of like a serious thing I think JJ Hardy came as well was like okay like we already had like the core there like the bullpen all those guys like Jesse crane Matt Guerr Joe Nathan and then Mowers the more no and the Kubol's and the Kadirs,

like that core was already together. 94 wins that year, huh? 2010 twins. First team to clinch in baseball. I mean, it was good. We were, we were wrong, but Nathan goes down in spring training. Obviously, key cog to the success there.

So, you know, to counteract that, you know, it was kind of like a no-brainer for the front office. And for us as well, it's like, okay, like we have the guys that can maybe step in, to that role like John Roush yeah people remember him at all he kind of stepped in at the beginning of the year that's a whole different story

but when it became apparent that we needed somebody different somebody like with more of a proven track record because that's what this organization was used to it was like we need just we didn't need someone to come and shake things

up we needed someone to come and like stabilize and get us back to the norm and so that was the will Ramos for Matt Caps deal. And Matt Caps at the time was, you know, a proven closer. He came in. And without that trade, we don't win the division that year. And we gave up a lot.

Wilson Ramos was a really good player, went on to have a really good career. Could have used him after Joe, you know, couldn't catch anymore. It was nice to have in the organization. But that was a need that was like pretty apparent for the twins at that time. And I think that one was so small. moved and such an easy transition. Caps came in and was very well liked in the clubhouse. So it was one of those where it was just easy.

It made a lot of sense. I think sometimes that happens, but a lot of times it might not. There is that clubhouse dynamic where it's like, these are our guys. We've been through already 90 games together or in some cases years of games together. And when you start to shake things up like that,

you know, it's, you can be happy that we're trying to, to improve the team, but also the dynamic could change. It's going to be so interesting. I mean, it's, Trevor, the people might be able to hear it in our voice. And we're in a weird area right now where this part of baseball is so hot. I literally want to rename it to something. But we're also circling on a lot of conversations that we've done a lot.

Like, you know, if we brought up the Padres right now, it would be the same thing. Like, there's a lot of dudes in that. Are they buyers or sellers? Or are they both? Or should they stay pat? These are the guys, you know, button down the hatches, barren down the hatches? What's that phrase?

Hatching down the hatches? The barrel? You know, my... Bairn down the barrel? My skankies. Like, I, these teams... Blow it up.

They're going to have a real look in the mirror when that trade deadline hits and either, hey, all these guys are here, we added a little something, we had a lot of something, or we sent something away because you guys haven't earned it. And I think that's going to be the interesting moment. After we named this two and a half weeks, then maybe we named the first week after the deadline,

like the rebirth to see where these teams are at. Because I don't know, man. You just casually mentioned that, you know, you guys traded for Maddie Caps, put in, I think, snagged 16 saves for the fellas. But Wilson Ramos is, you know, major league career as a catcher that changed the outlook of the twins the next couple years.

And I, you know, if you're a GM, you have to have that cap on too because you think you're going to be in that position for 10 years. The deadline is, I mean, you can go back years for all the stories. You can just recently with the Padres. I mean, whoever they've gotten rid of. They've gotten rid of Trey Turner. They've gotten rid of Max Fried. But they also scooped in on Fernando Tatis Jr.

So there's like massive pieces that can be moving back and forth. They might not show for a few years. And I think like some of those stories definitely are, they weigh on the front office's minds. They don't want to be the front office that gave away that player. But at the same time, and you'll hear from, from everybody, especially from the players to the big league level. They're like, it's about the show.

The big league's now. It's about winning right here. It's not about that. If you do end up making a mistake, okay, did it help us at the time that you made the deal? You have to balance those two things as a front office because, you know, the potential backlash is daunting. But I think more and more, more and more we're trying, I think front office. because they're trying not to let that happen. I think the prospect hugging has become a thing

when I feel like the right GMs understand the risk there and they're willing to take it. Yeah, I don't know. It's prospects are such a... But this is the easy line to say. Prospects are such high risk outside of the main guys that it feels a little ridiculous how some teams hold on to them. But even...

You know, Cardinals fans when you started that speech, they're yelling about Randy. Like, they're yelling about Galin. They're yelling about... Adelaise Garcia. I mean, actually, I think they just let him go. So, I don't know. Treve, I want to talk a little...

I want to talk about the biggest fish, and maybe we are Clickbeat Media. I can't talk. It's fucking so stupid that I talk for a living. Just take that pearl necklace and just... Just give a yank. Just remind myself. Like a dog.

Trev, there is one thing I am passionate about besides show Hey Otani. Oh. It's Tommy John underwear. This is no joke, people. Tommy John is the one-one. Top pick, top prospect, top player, two-way underwear in the biz. Yeah. I just loaded up with this.

They said they were like, Jake, we can, you know, I think we have a relationship with Tommy John. We can probably hook it up. I said, no, I want to spend my well-earned money on T.J. And yeah, I want to keep them as like a sponsor forever. So that's, I am cooking the books. And at Tommy John, we're going to Tommyjohn.com slash talk and save 20% right now. If it's your first order, you got to punch in your email.

I'll be honest. I just did the process. just did it. I bought four pairs. I have the pair I like, my go-to pair. I bought another pair that's a little shorter. You know, when there's an opportunity for me to show a little more skin, I go that route. So I got two of them, just because I wanted to see, because I do like my main ones, but I'm going to see if these ones pass the test as well. So come join me, Send me a picture of your underwear. Tommyjohn.com slash talking 20% off your first order.

I like them as a sponsor because I feel like we can do a lot of stuff together. Like we've been talking about a photo shoot you and I for years. We have a big event in early December that I think if we can line up the photo shoot around then, we'll be feeling good about our bodies and that can kind of kick off. Give me some time. Yeah. That can kick off their spring campaign maybe. So yeah.

Trev, this one has been spinning through my little noggin. As I watch my Yankees continue to torture themselves. Shohei Otani hits a game tying two-run Homer. You know, that fastball middle away, you see that guy get his arms extended when the ball hits the barrel. There's very little doubt. There's very little doubt. He is a big man, and the ball jumps off of him.

his bat differently. Trev, he gave a a big boy bat flip. He hit a spinner. He really, uh, look at that fliggin'at wrist. And Jimmy, Johnboy, people may know him. Um, he took it as like, uh,

hey, Angels fans, you're not trading me. I'm putting the team on my back. Let's do this. Let's go. I took it a little differently. With trade season coming up, with his free agency coming up, and I think, you know, the Yankees do get a little more eyeballs. I think there was a little show to it that was for the league. That was for the, hey, if these suckers do trade me, you're welcome.

When I do hit free agency, do not be scared when I ask for that first digit that starts with a seven land in the six. But, like, I am that guy. And during the seventh inning of that Angels game, you know what sponsor was around the stadium? It was the number one cat food of Japan. So, yeah, you're going to be getting those dollars as well. So am I reading too far into this, Treve,

or did you get any of the same notes? I love that you mentioned the Japanese advertisements that are, I mean, they're all over the stadium in Anaheim. And that is, that's what he brings. I mean, he's a massive deal everywhere, but especially in Japan. We've talked about this before. I believe, well, obviously he's had two incredible years in a row. One, he wins the MVP, the other one he should have won the MVP, didn't.

Aaron Judge, Alavia, 62 hormones. great. Awesome. I think the WBC brought out a little bit of the Shohei. I'm missing the word here. The alphaism.

That's not a word I don't think, but I just you know what I'm saying. At the end of the WBC to win the gold medal, to put Japan on top of the baseball world, what did he do? He struck out the Alpha.

And you saw his reaction after them. This is his teammate. There's a lot of love there. But you just said, you're a competitor. I have you and Shohei very close in your competitive nature. Shohei wants to be the guy.

He believes he is the guy. And when you do that, too, the best player in baseball, Mike Trout, who's been that for a decade, and then but now you've entered the conversation. You won the MVP. You have an MVP, too, like I just said.

And you strike him out on the biggest stage. I mean, people, don't forget how big the WBC was this year. It was massive. Everybody was watching it. Everyone was paying attention to it. Striking Mike Trout out to end it. I think that opened a little something up and show, hey, man. Like, maybe a little bit of the FU...

I'm the man villain-ish type mentality came out because we had like that bat flip against Yankees was great but we've seen him do it throughout the year like he's he hits balls and looks disgusting. We've seen him perform. We haven't seen that. Like that was showmanship. That was, we've seen him growl off the mound.

There's been a few bat flips. There's been a few bat flips this year. We've seen him growl off the mound. We've seen him toss a couple bats, but that was that was bat flipping with the boys. That was where that was showmanship. And I.

You think he was saying, wow, you should have walked me? Could have been. Could have been. Because they did walk him the previous at bat. And we just talked to manager Aaron Boone. And, you know,

they intentionally walked him the previous at bat, but it never crossed their minds. Okay, hold on. To walk him the second at bat. I want to open up old woo. here. So it could have been that. I don't know.

What do you think is going on? Because like I said, I really believe that WBC moment was pivotal, pivotal in like a mental way for him. I really do. I think that was the first time we saw like, that was a different emotion after he struck Mike Trout out and got them to gold medal. That was his like dream. Like that was his original dream, going back to the old story with his coach and everything like that. That you're right.

That could have definitely unlocked something. And we're seeing it in his performance this year, which is just gadzooks, for lack of a better term. But I don't know. And this is pure opinion. What's gadzooks? You know, gadzooks. That's not a thing, bro.

I think that comes up if you Google it. I wouldn't say it's a word. Oh. What does Gadsukes mean? Never heard that in my life. You've never heard. An expression of surprise or shock. I'm such a fucking disaster.

And this is talking life with the boys. I don't know, man. I think there was some... The Tigers out of the cage a little bit, but I think he also wants everyone to know like if you're if you're questioning the 500, 600 million like I think he's going to let everyone know the rest of the way

like no you're getting you're getting you're not getting Babe Ruth you're getting fucking better than Babe Ruth because that's that's the point now that Michael Kay keeps driving home on the Yankees broadcasts he's like Ruth didn't do this at the same time Ruth pitched a little, Ruth pitched, and then he hit a little bit,

and then he hit it a lot a bit, and then he pitched a little bit. Like, he didn't do this. And Shohei is, and he can tap into a whole other market across the world. Like, I think him and your boy, Ness are coming, I think they're on a mission together

to, like, take down baseball. I mean, yeah, I've told you what I think it's going to take to get him. I think the contract is going to have to be, It's not just going to be about dollars here because everyone's going to offer him dollars. All right, look, we'll talk show hay for a little bit more because he is, first of all, Arty Moreno, Angel's owner has said he's not going to be available. And I kind of, this is, this is where I land.

I get the potential package what it would be. I'm not sure what it would be actually. Like I know what they want. They want several top 100 prospects. It's messy, man. It's messy. But at the same time, if you have a guy, and let's remember, he's like on pace or around the pace to break the home run record, a single season home run record in the AL, you'd kind of want that to go on this season for your squad, especially if you're out of it. You want to sell tickets, keep Shohei.

Hey, you know, show his last few games in Anaheim. Like that's going to sell tickets. He's chasing 60. Did Aaron Judge had 62 last year? He did, right? 602. Chasing 62. You know, like that sells tickets.

You're going to get a draft pick for him if you do that and that's it. And maybe a leg up in negotiations if you keep him and you just start that. I guess that's a plus. Although, you know, I don't know if a lot of people have him coming back. But that's not. We talk about all these scenarios. Like, he could come back to Anaheim. Right.

They're offered them the right thing. They're the one team that knows the actual numbers. You know, when this is a CBA pod and we talk about the mystery of it, they know how much Shohay is bringing in when you factor in, add dollars and things. The other teams are guessing and assuming what Shoehai is going to bring in. They might know in that equation of baseball that we haven't, you know, hey, Shoah is worth $700 million. Maybe he is, and maybe the,

angels know that and maybe they're willing to go there and maybe show hey does like it there and maybe his bat flip was i'm going to put this team in this city on my back maybe maybe not too um i still maybe he just really loves Disneyland that would be awesome oh you found out that he was like a disney guy yeah he's going i'm not i ain't leaving the adult show hey i've got uh you think i'm going to you think i'm going to leave Disneyland you got another thing coming if i get traded it better be to the I'm in Marlin, so I can still... I've got a funny Disneyland story for you. It's actually, it's rated R.

Maybe I'll end the episode with it. Me, a lonely businessman. Anyways, you think Shohei gets traded? I still don't. I mean, the owner's been pretty adamant about not trading them. Do I think he should be traded? I think probably.

I don't know, man. I don't know. It comes back to if you can resign. him. If they still believe there's a glimmer of hope to re-sign him, then don't trade it. If you know for sure, like, it ain't going to happen, like, if Artie Moreno's like, we're not, I'm not going to shell out

650s. Yeah, that's true. Like, so let's go restock. Ken Rosenthal's latest article, shout out Ken, short king, he talks about the Orioles. And I think that'll be a fun footnote in the history of Shohei Otani.

It's like, we know about the Angels years. And it might, Mike Trout couldn't get it done. And then wherever he goes is going to be big. And they're going to try, you know, that's going to be like the team that probably he gets remembered for. I mean, I guess the Angels too. But there's going to be a team possibly in between. They were like, what?

He played for the who? You have 55 games with who? Yeah. Exactly. Especially if it's the Orioles. No offense to the Orioles. I think they're in a great position and they have a ton of prospects. And they, as Ken lays out in this article, go check it out.

on the athletic, they have the prospect capital to get it done. And they're in essentially a tie for the ALEs. Like this is a very good ball club here and show hey, well obviously make them a ton better. Get a pitcher and a hitter. That will be interesting. Get a pitcher and a hitter. Get two dudes.

Man, you mentioned our guy Kenny, Short King. He's got an article. Passing. Oh, shut up, passing. He just did his. There's going to be so much. much Otani in these next couple weeks, a weeks that we're about to rename.

I keep saying a couple weeks. Oh, it is. It's still two. Hey, hey. Are we sending good vibes, though, Jeffrey? We are. Jeff got fucked up by a tree. So we're, you know, there's obvious, there's always jokes to make with brother Jeff, but Jeff got rocked by a tree and like messed up

his vertebrae and shit. So he's, he's good, but like, Jeff, that could have gone. Chill, bro. What's he doing? Maybe no more trees. Jeff, you're a king, bro. Trev, show... You know what?

Jeff Passon should be chopping down trees with his wallet. Like, you know, we don't need Jeff getting out there with the year. Not that guy, pal. You know? Yeah, clearly, clearly. No, seriously, though, that's scary, man. Oh, yeah, dude. He's...

You're all right. He, uh... He texted us, and we were like, He's like, yeah, I really, really got messed up. And, you know, when Jeff texts me or Jim, he's normally in a pretty silly baseball mode, and we're like, oh, wait, you're like, actually... You're actually just, like, letting us know you're okay.

You got jacked up, dude. So we'll get Brother Jeff better for the postseason. You're about to see a lot of Otani people, and you're about to see a lot of shady rays. Shady rays. We have, like, a mammoth. announcement coming soon with Shady Rays.

Say it now. Say it now. Say it now. I wish I could. My hands are tied. What I can tell you. So for now, you're just going to have to suffer with their 50% off two plus pairs of premium polarized shades. How do you like half off couple pairs of sunnies? We're in the middle of summer.

You're wearing your sunglasses. I wear my Shady Rays every day. You should wear yours too. get them as a gift for someone. Imagine that. Next time you see your buddy, you're like, hey, here you go. Here's a pair of fresh shades.

Like, what? That's sick. Right. I love if someone did that for me. Let's start getting guys. Nobody gives me anything anymore. I'm always giving people stuff. I never receive gifts.

Shady rays, the gift that keeps on giving. Code talking at shady rays.com. 50% off 2 plus pairs of premium polarized shades. Get yourself. a couple pairs. Man, Trev, I keep circling in that GM mindset. I can't, I can't shake it.

Because the other half of this, is that a second mic? Is that a second microphone? I was waiting for you to notice that. If you're the GM that's got a tradeaway show, hey man, you better get some fucking studs back, dude. And going back to the clubhouse morale, I don't want to say I got too much dog in me.

you know I do. But the different emotions between going down to that clubhouse and being like, hey, we just traded away, you know, the player you'll only see once in your lifetime. Or like, if the halos added Marcus Stroman, and they were like, hey, we're here, boys. I just brought you one of the best pitchers of the National League. He's got some attitude to him too.

Let's fucking run hard and shock the way. world. Like that energy, it might be an awful move GM wise, but to feel the energy in that room, I'd be about that. Deplete your farm system. Yes. For a 10% chance. To make the playoffs. To lose show it. That's not happening. I don't know. I can't talk about show hay anymore, because we don't know what's going to happen. And I feel like, you know, Angels fans are, I feel bad for them. You know, they're dealing with this. They've seen six years now essentially go

to waste and the whole baseball world's talking about Shohei and how he's going to leave and it's tough for them, man. I mean, like, you're, you Yankee fans are so spoiled. Yeah. You know, if this was your organization,

you guys might all be dead. Fern Stadium wouldn't be standing. It'd be crazy. So I do feel for them. But again, you know, this is, it's such an interesting time of baseball. You know, we talk about a team like the Cardinals. They have a bunch of impending free agents. What are they going to do?

You know, they have some other guys. They said are kind of untradable that they don't want to do because they don't want to have a full rebuild. I think a lot of the stuff that's out there right now is just straight up fodder. It's negotiation tactics already. If you say someone's not available, guess what that does to the price. It drives it up. So, you know, be careful to what you listen to now with beat reporters and writers. They're getting their info from people that want to give them info.

Now, sometimes that's accurate stuff and they're just being friendly, but a lot of times that's strategic. So until things go down, I mean, make sure that if you're a fan of the game, you can talk about it. It's fun. I think people really like the, you know, trying to map out what's going to happen. happen, but a lot of the reports, as we've seen over, you know, the last five years in baseball, a lot of the reports that come out are just BS.

Right. Right. There's whether it's agent smoke, whether it's smoke from the teams. I know that's why Jimmy did get excited that the, what's his name, Mozealiac, the GM of the Cardinals, came out and said, we will be trading. Because you don't get that a lot. Like, a lot of GMs would do the, you know, know, I'll give, I'm going to give this team every chance and let's see where we're at

the deadline. Like, no, he basically came up with, came out with the, it's over, which by the way, I don't disagree with him. But we still don't know what to what degree. And we debated doing a full episode on just trading the Cardinals. And the other part that gets tricky to it, man, is because, you know, we're, our guy, Jack Flaherty, Jordan Montgomery, They've always had extra outfielders. Like, I don't think they can, a team that was thin at starting pitcher, I don't think they can just trade away all their starting pitchers because now you're going to struggle to get even through the final two months of the season.

No, they're going to trade those guys. They are. What they keep saying in St. Louis is we want to trade pitching for pitching. We want to trade these guys, these rentals for controllable starters. That's not, doesn't happen. Yeah, right. Like a team that's coming after a starter needs starters. And controllable starters are like the lifeblood of an organization.

So I don't understand the thought process there. Maybe they'll make me look stupid, but trading away a guy that has four years, five years of control for a Flaherty or a Montgomery who's going to be a free agent at the end of the year. That doesn't make a lot of sense. the sense of urgency I can understand if you think one of those guys can put you over the top

then yeah you might have to give something up but you know I don't think either of those guys has warranted that necessarily

fucking not many guys do like you know we just talked about one of the guys that would warrant that and that's Shoha Tani but unless you're flush

with starters but even then again it doesn't right you wouldn't add up you wouldn't trade that for a rental starter.

Yeah. Treve, one of my final thoughts before we get into talking life is a team you just mentioned as like a funny team for Shohei to go to the Orioles. They're the team I keep circling back on. They're not a funny team, bro.

Don't. No, no, no, no, no. It would be funny to see him. It would be funny to see him in an Orioles uniform. I guess it would be. Why is that? Just the I don't know

That orange and black On Shoay I guess that's I think he would look He would look really good And actually He looks good in anything And enjoy their uniforms

I do He looks good in anything But I just I've never thought about him There You think about him You know where I guess are they on the coast

They're kind of on the coast On a coast Um By some water They are my They are my They're my kingpin Of the deadline

They have all that young talent. And I just don't know. I don't, A, I don't know if they need to put chips in because they could pass the Tampa Bay raise at any week for the best record in baseball. It would just, I believe in momentum in sports, and they have all the momentum, and I feel like if they add a little bit, not compromising their future, they're the team for me that controls everything, because they have all the young talent. They're already, you know, not, they're playing above the skis that we expected.

It's not what they expected. Then I think you got, you have to build on that. You have to build on that. They're in a great position. The payrolls, nothing. They do have a lot of prospects. Some of they've graduated to the big leagues this year. Some are still in the wings.

It's going to be interesting how aggressive they're going to be. Because, you know, for them, they're only looking at like impact impact players i'd assume because you don't want to mess up that i mean they have a core and a future and a window now that you don't want to just disrupt at the beginning of your window right like you don't want to open the window up this much and just close it again like you want to make sure like you're in the right time of this quote-unquote window so I think they're going to be aggressive, but only for like high-end,

difference-making talent. I'd assume, unless it's the exact opposite, and they're like, we just need to improve on the margins and not give up our guys. So maybe they are interesting. I don't,

it's, being a GM's got to be pretty difficult at this time for a team like the Orioles where you're just entering that window. It's mental warfare, man. I have no, you can spin your circles on that all day. And I think that's where you and I are at mentally with this part of the year is, God, we're going to, a week from today,

we're going to be talking about this team, now you have to sell. This team, now you have to buy. And it's the team that's a beautiful example of hope is the 21 Braves, who were under and around 500. they had a strong week. They traded for all those kind of outfielders that were having bad years. I think it was Duval, Rosario, Jock, and there's one more, too. So lair, my God.

That, you know, Peter Moylan, who was involved with the preimposed at that time, and pretty, you know, he's in the organization. And he said if they had a losing week that week, they were selling. Instead, they got four rental outfielders. They won the fucking World Series. So that's the optimistic dream. There's also scary sides of that, too, including when the Cubs traded away. A lot of guys people thought would be Lifetime Cubs.

Life talk? Where you want to go? Well, I think you did something nice for your wife, Olivia, that you do sometimes when you travel. Do you want to tell the young guys about that? No. No, just, you know, take care of your significant other treater. Yeah. You know, best you can.

I did, I went shopping for Olivia. We're in Seattle, man. It's the home of the original Nordstroms. You know that? I didn't know that. That makes sense, though. I've had a great time here. The downtown area is great to walk around.

I believe, like, the demise of the city is highly exaggerated. because it's had a nice time down here. I know that every city has some issues. Chris Rose was scared. He's soft. That's a great time here. No, I mean, look, life is something for me right now. The call in these games has really opened my eyes to a different side of things.

I'm really enjoying it. I don't love the travel, but everything else has been pretty cool. It's been, I think, pretty, it's been receptive pretty well by Twins fans. I'm having a good time with Mornie and Dick in the booth. I don't know, man. I'm finding my way in it, I guess. I know that the people are enjoying you, Trev. They're enjoying some Trevor Plouf in the booth.

So I'll, when we got to go to the negotiating table with Bally's North, I'm coming with you. I'll be your muscle. I don't think I need it. Okay. I don't think I need it. Well, I'll tell the people to get ready for baseball today with you and Justin Mourneau

MVP, home run derby champion. Whoops, whoops. Stole that MVP from Jeter. Trev. We'll see, I'll see you Friday. Next week, I think, is going to be our big trade deadline. Need, wants, buy, sell. It's going to be our last time to really hit that

before the next week will be the actual deadline. We talk about moves that happened. All right, but wait, hold on. Are you trying to... I want to do one thing. Okay. You did two weeks for the trade... or after the All-Star break.

Yeah. You're the trade deadline. You want to name it something. Yes. I think that we just throw one out there. Okay. I haven't even really thought about this. Okay.

I just nail my microphone. I haven't even thought about this, but I want to just do it, see it on sticks. Okay. I'm going to give you five seconds and I'll point to you. And you say it. Then you're going to give me five seconds and point to me and I'll say it.

So I've got something. I don't think this is the answer, but it's kind of the sports headspace of what the importance of this area. Like my brain just jumped to the two-minute drill. Like if you're a football fan, you know in those final two minutes, it's like score or bust. And if you have a good quarterback, you know,

that's go time and you score. That's not the answer, but that's kind of the mindset I'm in. Like, we got to go, boys. We got to run it. Five.

I don't have anything. I thought I was going to have something. Three, two, one. There's got to be something. How are we not missing that? How are we missing this?

I like, it's like the go. I want to do something with like, uh, maybe like, military terms. I keep thinking like a top gun, like,

you're always thinking time is now. Like what it, It's now or never, like that whole aspect of it. That's so corny. Moving day is the golf term. So it's something along those lines. Maybe we've got to think about them. Or leave it in the comments.

Our community will come up with someone. Is there something good with like, you know, if you play well, you're about to get rid of some of the kids? It's like. Oh, my God. I don't want to say it like that. You're also bringing in veterans ideally. Proven commodities.

I don't know. I don't know. By the next week, we better have it. The comment section is going to have us. I believe in our people will give that person credit. Because I think where we're currently at, we could make something stick in baseball history. And I think that's where you and I are a little disappointed

that we don't have it. But late night, we should take it. The gauntlet sucks, bro. It's got a lot. I know that. Two-minute drill almost doesn't make sense. So it's pathetic that we're not even close to it, but maybe late night tonight we send some texts

and figure this thing out. Don't you dare ever text me again without the hidden text? Yeah, that's a little behind the scenes. Me and Trevor are mostly hidden text texters, the little thing you have to erase to read. Just because it's like a present. Yeah, it's like...

You don't know what it's going to be until you open it. Just like those damn shady rays. Yeah, no, it's a great point. I often don't know if it's going to be a fuck you or and I love you and that's a that's the real treat of it all Hey everyone. Thank you. Our guy Jimmy YouTube only posted a he he he went deep dive Jimmer on some some possible trades and previous year trades and go check out that video We'll see you recap mode Friday Maybe we get the first trade I'm waiting Rockies

I was like we should get the first real one. He put it out there that it was going to happen. It didn't happen, though. Wow. I'm the predictor here. Shit sucks. Trade grid chicken pro far. Call up Cole Tucker.

It's obvious. I saw AJ Pollock yesterday. Oh. He was nice. He was very complimentary of my moves out there. He's like, man, typically guys in suits with a glove, not cool, but he made it look good. He didn't say any of that. Along those lines.

Ha ha ha.