Talkin' Baseball (MLB Podcast) - Trade Deadline Rumors That Will Happen

Episode Date: July 23, 2025

Use code TALKIN2025 for 10% off your next SeatGeek order*: https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/TALKIN2025. Sponsored by SeatGeek. *Restrictions apply. Max $20 discountBook your next trip at https://www.bestwestern.comCheck out the Best Network in the Game at https://T-Mobile.com/Network  Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app and use promo code JMBASEBALL Coach Trev and Talkin’ Jake discuss which teams will be the biggest buyers and sellers at the trade deadline, who WILL be traded, Jomboy joins to check in on position units draft and more! 0:00 intro  5:00 Diamondbacks sellers at deadline?14:22 Trading Eugenio Suarez to the Yankees?17:00 Do fans like rebuilds?20:20 Charlie Morton should be traded22:30 Seth Lugo24:30 Steven Kwan25:15 Mets willing to trade young infield core32:30 Trades that can happen33:20 Reds are interesting trade candidates36:33 Teams that are in between buying and selling39:00 Cardinals dealing Ryan Helsley?44:00 Rangers in the mix45:00 What are the Angels going to do?46:00 Mason Miller  49:30 Positions unit draft check in 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 are a week away from the trade deadline. Let's check in on what we got. And a little check in on some position units. Big unit. Randy Johnson. I don't know. Jamie Moyer.

I'm so tired. Hello and welcome to Talking Baseball presented to you by Seekheek. I am Jake Storeeally. That is Trevor Plouf. Rob is producing. And we are. It's here, Trev. we are here.

We're schedule watching for a couple of these borderline teams, which is insane that it's like, oh, well, if they have a good week, let's try to win the World Series. If we have a bad week, let's trade away everyone. Was that an everything fake out of you?

Yeah, because all front offices ever talk about us, we don't dive into small sample sizes, and then seven games decide what they're going to do. That's insane. It's insane. same. Feeling like, I, we just talked about F war and B war. I don't know, man.

I want my manager smoking cigarettes. That's what I want. I want to go back to those days. Got out to Jim Leland. Yeah. Yeah, Trev, I want to, well, A, I want to get some general thoughts. B, I want, we can do a little schedule watch and see what's going to go on this deadline, because I flip-flop every hour.

Every hour I'm like, wait, there's, there's, there's, all these contenders that have needs that, you know, every team has their individual argument for their quote-unquote window or whatever it may be that, you know, there's rumors about the quiet deadline this year. And I'm like, how can that be possible? There's too many teams that, like, you got to go. You got to do something that I don't know.

I flip-flop on that every hour. It's interesting because what was the expanded playoffs for? more teams to be involved in the playoff push. But now, like, people still want everyone to trade all their assets away. Like, I've gotten on the train where I'm like, why are we trading? Like, what are we doing?

Like, if you're completely out of it and you want to flip some of your rental, sure. But, like, if you're French, like, even these teams, like in the AL, we got teams that are four games out, four games out, and we still have 60 games to play. Like you, that could, you should be trying to win. Right. Right. Like if that's the premise of expanded playoffs.

But I don't know, man. I think a lot of people just like the chaos. I mean, I do too. Like when we get the passing bombs, I love it. But at the root of the playoff expansion, it was for more teams to be involved. And I guess it has happened. But it's, we just call for all these trades.

And sometimes, don't you. you, like, as a fan of a team, like, okay, just, let's just call it my twins right now. Everyone in the, all the fan base wants, uh, the players traded. I'm like, why? Like, why do you want that? Don't you want the rest of the summer to like, at least have a chance? Isn't that what it's all about? Twins are a very interesting case and I, you know, I don't normally say that, but Cincinnati, St. Louis, you're three and a half games out. Like, you should be adding.

Well, let's, let's get into the realness of it, coach. Shrevin, it's all brought to us by our friends. It's Sikh. Make sure you guys go see these teams. Go see it. Go see them now. It could be your last week to watch Griffin Jacks in Minnesota. I don't do that.

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That's 10% off any tickets with promo code talking 2025. Coach, where to begin? I mean, I honestly loved what we were just yucking about. But okay, you have your hands. hand race, please. Yeah, I want to piss our sales team off a little bit. Beautiful. This ad is so sick and it's by a former big leaguer, Micah Johnson, turned artist and he's got this collab with New Era out right now. It's a cool hat. Not every team is available. Go check it out. I just want to support them. Sorry to our sales team. Yeah, sorry guys. Trev, does it, do we start

with snakes? Are they still the kingpin in all this of their major league talent and what they have to sell? Or does it not? Yeah, I think it's snakes of my twins. I think that's like what everyone's Yeah. That's what everyone's saying. Um, snakes five and a half games out of a wild card spot. Two games under 500. I mean, yeah, they're the most interesting team because they have big decisions. And I think what everyone forgets about when you have these guys that are impending free agents is, is the compensatory pick that you get if player signed for X amount of money leaving your organization. And they have some talent there that surely would net them those. You offer the qualifying offer, they turn it down, they go somewhere else.

You get a draft pick, which, you know, depending on the organization, maybe they value that more than the return that they would get for dealing ex-player at the deadline. And I think that's what, when teams decide not to trade, I think that's more often the case is they're like, yeah, the returns light. We'd rather be able to decide later in the draft next year. So I think they have a couple guys there that they'd be able to offer qualifying offers too. Eugenio is one of them. Zach Gallen's one of them. I believe Merrill Kelly would be one of them as well.

So they have to make these decisions. I'm not in on the Josh Naler qualifying offer just yet. I don't think. Interesting. But yeah, I mean, they're, yeah, them. For one year? Here, what's that? For one year, though, like, you know, I know what you're saying.

I think value-wise, and we're probably going to end up on a bad war rant at the end of this episode. Oh, like, would you extend him the qualifying offer? He takes it. It's still a good thing. Sure. Yeah, right. I was more on the lines of, like, is he going to get the qualifying offer and decline it? Okay.

Okay. And then my twins, it's more like, those are all. those are not rentals those are all impending for agents for the twins it's all guys that have massive amounts of control left which i think if you're really looking at that they're going to be harder to pry away and you're not to give up obviously more prospect capital or maybe even more major league ready talent i think that's what if i'm a team like the twins that's what i'd be doing is not give me your fifth best prospect that keith law said is good uh like give me someone that can help me now like let's go strength for strength and

and do that. So let's start with Arizona. I think we have. Yeah, they, the, you know, sometimes I wonder how much of this speech we've done and we haven't done. For me, I think it's very interesting that, like, Mike Hazen,

the GM, has good job security. So if you're, you know, if they sell and the season falls out from them, it's not like Mike Jaysen's going to be let go at the end of the season. So he's got that working for him. And yet, with the wildest,

card and we're still figuring out this new format, if we're being honest. Like, yes, the dimebacks are five and a half games out, which, you know, back in the day, if we were talking about division races, you'd be like, yeah, you know, they still got a chance. They kind of got to get on their horse and get after it. The dimebacks would have to jump four teams to get into the playoffs. So if you're the dimebacks, you not only do you need to make up those five games, but I guess that's the difference. When we used to say that number, five and a half used to mean, like, that's one.

One team. So if they have the bad times in baseball kicking, you have the good times in baseball kicking, you can see that a race. But if you're the dimebacks, you can't look at four teams ahead of you. And like all four of them aren't going to eat it. Like two of them are probably going to be good the rest of the way. So you'd have to be, you'd have to believe in your team being special for the final two months. And I don't think they feel that right now. But here's the thing. This is sports, right? Like we, and we're trying to a war. fan bases. Like their fan base is what makes this business work. Like you have to have people interested in your product. So what's going to be interesting about the dimebacks? They trade away all these guys. Like what's going to bring people to the ballpark? Like I get that you want to continuously flood your organization with talent. I get that. But I think they're in an interesting spot because this is a pretty good team. And they've gone on like runs before. They can point to 2023 when they got in and made it to the ship.

You know, that's still in their fan base's mind. And sometimes as an ownership, don't you want to, like, reward your fans and say, go for it? And they could offer all four of those guys the qualifying offer. And maybe Josh Naylor accepts it and he comes back and plays with them. And then they get three picks and they gave their fan base an extra, you know, 60 games to be interested in their team in 2025. I don't know. Like, don't you think about that as an ownership? just out and we're just like, well, these guys, this is their trade values at their highest.

Like what? Like, why is that always the most important thing? Well, I think, I think what we're walking in. Am I just an old man yelling at all? Yes, yes, it's happened. You're unk. We're both unc for being honest. Is that, am I crazy to think that way? Like, can we give the fan base, like some hope? I think, I think the part that we're currently missing right now is the scouting side of things and the potential return. Like that goes into, okay, so what draft pick are we going to get and who do we think is going to be there compared to whatever prospect we might bring in and what we actually

think they could be that I think that's the game you're playing. Because in Arizona, if you're talking about selling tickets, like, hey, the offense has been there and like Corbyn Carroll's still going to be there and Cotel Marte will be there. So, you know, they can still put a product on the field. It's not like they're signaling L on the season if you trade away all of those. those guys. And look, you can say it's good business to do it and that's what you can sell your fans, but I get it. If they're, if they really like the offer, sure, go do it. I mean, that's kind of where I stand with these teams who are quote unquote leading the way here at the trade deadline.

Like, you better be freaking blown away. That's, that's my new stance on trades. Unless you're, you're talking about guys on the peripheral. Like, if the, if, I don't know, if the twins want to trade away, Danny Kuyom or if, you know, like somebody like that, like who's been really, really, really good. Right. And, you know, he's not going to get the qualifying offer extended to him. So like you're, you know, like I understand stuff like that. But we're talking about giving away four of your best players. I would think twice about it.

And like, I'd have to be blown away. That's, I think that's the part of the deadline that I'm the most fascinated to see this year. because if you go through trades the past couple years, I mean, it's the most hilarious part of baseball on the internet. And Trev, I think it's where a lot of your perspective is coming in, because it's Danny Colum, who's been a really good lefty reliever. I think he leads, all the major leagues relievers in ERA, I'm pretty sure. Every team needs Danny Colum.

A good lefty reliever. Like, that's every team has a spot for him. But we have this narrative of the price tag for Danny Calum being a mid-tier prospect, right? Like a lefty rental reliever. So I, and Trevor, I'm kind of with you that it's, okay, if you're the twins and you still have a sliver of hope, like I don't know, going a win streak.

They did that earlier this year. You still have a sliver of hope. You're going to trade Danny Kulum for your number 14 prospect on the other team. And it's like, what does that actually do for your franchise? Where I think things are getting interesting. and we've seen this more in the NBA and NFL. Is teams have stopped valuing picks so much. Like, you know, Trev, you have a friend Matthew, his team for years just traded away their first round pick because they're like, you know, give us good NFL players.

Like that's what we're trying to get out of this anyways. That's different. NFL job picks are so different. And in the NBA, the end of first round picks, like people used to just just. be like, oh, first round pick. Turns out at the NBA, the end of the first round, like you don't know what you're going to get at all. Last year, the Padres and the Tanner Scott trade,

lefty rental reliever. They got another reliever back in that, Brian Hoeing. But Tanner Scott was like kind of the alpha dog on the market. They traded their two, three, and four prospects in that trade. That it's like, oh, that I'm very interested to see with all the different rumors around Eugenio Suarez. Like what you're saying, if the diamondbacks want to trade Eugenio Suarez, who I think in his last 162 games has 55 homers, if they're going to trade him, it's got to be outside of the

qualifying offer. And it's got to be outside of like anything. Like they are valuing Eugenio Suarez as the third baseman who's hit 55 homers over the last calendar year or whatever that stat is. So I'm laughing because I'm hearing teams The Yankees desperately need a third baseman And I'm you know The Spencer Jones has been brought up

He's top prospect 6, 7 is he the next lefty judge And there's some people that are like You want to trade Spencer Jones For a rental of Aeohenio Suarez And there's other people that are like We wouldn't trade Aohenio Suarez for Spencer Jones Because not all 6, 7 outfielders work out It, in fact, normally goes the other way that I'm very interested to see the first real trade of this deadline.

Like Devers was its own drama show. The first trade of this deadline that shows us what the market is because no one's flinched yet. No, I mean, it's surprising. We got a few, what do we get? We've had a couple trades early, early on, but nothing dramatic. And yeah, we're seven days away, a week away from the trade deadline. being here. I'm always so curious why that doesn't happen more. Maybe teams are valuing this last week so much, which is, again, it's crazy to think about. But,

and then there's the whole, I want to keep my leverage. So I'm not going to, I'm just going to keep my, you know, my cards close. So I keep it. I think that's what's happening. I think that makes sense. I don't know what I just said. If you're any of these selling teams, like, and you have a deal for the the prospect you kind of want, why not wait seven days to see if you get another prospect thrown in or another team ups the ante? Like that if you're one of the selling teams,

you have no pressure on you right now. You know, like you're talking about Danny Kulom and what's he going to fetch you? The problem with what's going on with the twins right now is they've hit a couple of those. Like did they miss on the Spencer Steer and Encarnacion Strand trade? Sure. Those guys, I mean, they haven't done a ton

at the Major League level, but you would say they missed on that because Tyler Malley really never threw the ball for them. But they got Joe Ryan for Nelson Cruz. They got Yohan Duran for Eddie Escobar. So it's like, that's still fresh at everyone's mind. Yeah.

You can hit 1,000% and like if you think if you've got a real good beat on a guy, sure, do it. But man, like I just, such an interesting time. My mind has gone so like back and forth with all this. like, yeah, like, this is highest value.

Go get them. And then I'm like, but what about the fans? Like, what about the fans? Does any fan actually like a rebuild or like a soft rebuild? Wouldn't you just want to go for? Isn't that like the whole point? Yeah, I mean, there's a lot of anger out there now that if there's so much anger. If teams, teams almost some fan bases, if they're not seeing what they like from their team, they almost want the sell because that means the front office has to admit

they were bad. Yeah, yeah, exactly. You guys did bad. I told you, I've been saying it all year long. It's like, dude, don't you just want to root for your deal with you? No. There are a lot of baseball fans. You know what?

Here's what I'll say. Enjoy baseball however you want. Yeah, that's true. You want to be, if you want to hate it, you want to get your hate out, go for it. If that's, you need to get it out and that makes you a better person in every part of your life and you hate tweet Trevor Plouf, knock yourself out. I gave my Carlos Carrera rant on the air last night When you know, you gets obviously crushed at Dodger Stadium Right

So I gave my little rant about who you should be booing Oh, that's why you're tired Well, dude, yeah, it was a crazy thing last night Holy smokes. You're right? No, I'm great. Do you eat after the game? I came home last night

And Olivia had ordered me a matzo ball soup From our local deli and so I had like a little bit of matz ball soup and just went to bed. My voice sucks right now, huh? It's very raspy. I feel like I'm a country singer right now. Yeah.

It was me. It was Jim Leland. It was Nikki Pumto. Sounds awesome. Treve, let's get into a couple individual players and maybe we'll do a little thumbs up, thumbs down on who you think is

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Coach Tre. Okay, let's, I'll just start rattling off name. and you tell me if you get excited. Charlie Morton. Boom. Yep. Charlie Morton. Ground Chuck.

347 ERA in his last 12 appearances. Is this like, is he going to get traded or not? That's what we're doing? I think he's getting traded. I don't know if that's a knock. I think if you're the Orioles, yeah. You trade Charlie Morton. You try to get any value.

Like you're not in this season. Okay. Like the teams that we were talking about before, they're not part of that. So yes, I would look for him to be traded. and this is this is another interesting part of the trade deadline. A lot of,

you know, a lot of teams covet their prospects. So the big name free agents are like, nah, like, it's a lot. We can go and get a guy like Charlie who's got, you know,

experience and we don't need them to be the ace. We just need them to give us, you know, some innings to save our bullpen down the road. I like trades like that. Like, you know, especially if you have,

let's say you have, two really good starters or two guys you can really rely on. Maybe like a fringe third, you're just looking for back end of the rotation, like help to eat those innings. Charlie Morton's the perfect guy for he's not going to cost a ton. And those guys can be as impactful as, well,

not as impactful, but they can be impactful because they save your both of them. Yeah. Yeah, laughing that he's the top name on our list because I think he's going. Rich Hill made a start last night. Rich Hill. made a start last night.

45? Justin Turner, who's 40, stole a base of Rich Hill, who's 45. A couple... You're not 40 yet. You're not 40 yet. A couple A.L. Central ones I'm interested

from you about. Let me start, Seth Lugo, because it... On our sheet, it's listed as likely to trade Seth Lugo, which a couple months ago, I think, would have shocked Royals fans.

He has a $15 million player. option for 26 that you would assume the way he's pitching he's going to turn down because like you just mentioned rich hill got the start last night like if you could still throw the ball you're going to get paid a lot of money so basically the rental of set lugo i think if you're kansas city you need offense so whether that's you know um an outfielder they can hit like any type of offense you take and I think if you can get that for a guy that's probably on his way out, I would do that because I do think that they want to be in contention.

Maybe they wouldn't want the draft pick that would be attached to him. That's interesting. They're a little closer, you know, in their window. They got Bobby Witt locked up right now. Vinny's there. They want to run it back next year. I think they want to, I think there'd be like a soft rebuild instead of, you know, they're not in that stage.

So I think I can see that happening. Yeah. Okay. See, I love that, Trev, because what we've now stumbled into, that was great by you. God. Sleepy Trev kicking in a gear. What do I do? The Kansas City Royals outfield, negative 4.4 war this year.

We have that from our position units draft. So, yeah, that's something that makes sense to me. If you can offer the Royals, maybe even like you're saying, maybe a major league outfielder. The Red Sox have a bunch of outfielder, and they need starting pitching. I don't know if Seth Lugo fetches, maybe there'd be something else with that.

Those outfielders with the Red Sox are pretty dang valuable. But if the Red Sox believe in their team, yeah, that's strength for strength. Interesting. Yeah, I mean, Duran probably more value than Lugo there. But yeah. Oh, yeah. But that's how something can get started and get done. Stephen Kwan listed.

I guess you can hear from the tone in my voice. He's got two and a half years of control left and the way Cleveland operates. Like I think they just want to keep that guy. Well, they've had so much trouble finding outfielders that can hit. I don't see that happening unless they're super, super overwhelmed. What does that even mean?

And by the way, eight and two in their last 10, the Guardians are two and a half games out of a postseason spot. So I'm out on all of that. Okay. Marlins. Okay, how about this is a note that turned my head when I was reading the document this morning. The Mets are willing to trade from their young infield core. The Mets have Luis Angelicunya, Brett Bady, Ronnie Maricio, and Mark Vientos.

They're quote unquote looking for an elite outfielder. that's nice, and bullpen help. Also looking at the starting pitching market. But for me, that first note is one of the most tangible. If I'm trading with the Mets, whether it's outfield or pitching, I am getting a young baseball player with potential who's already show ready. Like that is a different offering than you're going to get from a lot of teams that when I was looking up and down our document, for me, that turned my head is like,

the Mets are going to be very involved. Mets and Royals are interesting trade partners as well. You know, I think it's going to be my line for the rest of the episode. I like strength for strength trades, probably more than I like prospect trades, just because I'm not super in tuned with all that. And I don't, I don't, the odds aren't on your side. Lottery ticket, right? That's exactly what that would be.

So for a team, like the Mets or like the Royals, who are they want to be in contention. next year. I think that's an interesting fit between them. And again, like sometimes, you know, like the Red Sox and, you know, with all the outfielders that they have, you know, majorly ready talent. And same thing with the Mets and like their young infield core. And you have to make room. Right. You know, it's like I know my famous line is you used to call that depth. But there are times when you have a glaring need that you got to, you know, deal from that depth. Look at that.

I can't wait. I cannot wait for you to just yell at our analytics nerds about depth one day. Oh, dude, I was, I was calling for a bunt last night up five runs, which I think was the right call. We don't, you don't need to get in. Then let's not. Then let's not. And then, yeah, I mean, I guess for me, Coach Shreve, I want to, I want to, I want to, I don't. I want to maybe tidy up this last segment.

It's not true at all. I guess here's where I keep running into trouble. My New York Yankees have a lot of flaws. It's very clear. It's third base. It's pitching. That they have to go. And not an obnoxious Yankee fan way,

but Aaron Judge is getting a year older. Like, Garrett Cole's contract. He just had Tommy John. He's getting a year older. They just paid Max Free to a ton of money. Like, I know people don't care about the Yankees financials, but windows change pretty quickly in baseball that there's going to be, there's going to be a day probably soonish where Aaron Judge isn't the best hitter

to ever play baseball. That Yankees, the Red Sox, back in the mix. They've got outfield that they've got needs. They've got to go and do something. I mean, Toronto, in a way, doesn't. Like, they've just been playing out of their dome, but also this opportunity that's been presented to them, you have to think Toronto is going to be active

with a shot to win the division and to make noise in the American League that's wide open. That was just the AL East. Like, this is before getting to San Diego and the Dodgers and the Giants who have already made a massive trade out west. The Cubs and Brewers are competing for the best team in baseball. that when I get into all of these competitive teams, I guess my one sad thought is in the National League

are these front offices that now believe the playoffs are a crapshoot, just believe the whole thing's a crapshoot? Like, they don't try to elevate each other because there's so many good teams in the National League where maybe we see more action in the American League where if the Tigers add, they're almost the clear favorites. I guess there's so many teams that I can tell you the story of why their opportunity right now is an awesome opportunity that you have to be buying. It's why it's so difficult to have episodes like this or write articles like this.

It's just you don't know anything. That's the truth, dude. Okay, yeah, this guy's likely to be traded. To whom? Who's willing to do it? You know, you brought up financials. I think that plays a huge part in all of this. Like what's ownership saying?

What can you do? Sometimes your GM is being told behind closed doors. No, like we're not doing this. I don't want to add. And like that comes into place. So we can talk. All this is is like dreamland, dude. Until something happens, then that's when it's fun to talk about it.

But, you know, when we do these episodes, I like to talk about it too. It's fun. It's like fan fiction. Oh, this could happen. This could be great. It's like it gets people talking. But the reality is that. that nobody has any idea.

Even our big guy, Jeff Passon, I got his own, look at it's just, yeah, I heard this might be a case. From who, you know, are people using Jeff Passon? Is he being a puppet right now? Am I a puppet?

I think we're all puppets, dude. I think you're a puppet. I think, like Booney hopped on our Zoom yesterday, and he's like, you know, could be a quiet deadline. Like, did he just want to whisper that to us for me to say that now? Dude, I don't know. Like, legit talk to our front office, and the twins a lot.

Like, I try to have like real deal baseball conversations with them. They're great. And like, I mean, essentially that's what they'll tell you. It's like, yeah, like, we sometimes we really, really want to make trades and it just like doesn't happen. And sometimes we don't want to make trades and all of a sudden an opportunity gets put out in front of you. Like it just, you just kind of never know. And maybe that's why it's so exciting. Maybe that's why it's so fun to talk about.

And it just brings up. Yeah, I think it brings up a lot of emotions with fans. you know, like, like you said before. Some guys, some people just want to like, oh, this front office. Like I want them to trade because they admit that it's a failure of a roster. And then on the flip side, it's like, whoa, we weren't supposed to be here. Let's go for it. Like, it's, it's fun, man.

Like, it's, you know, I think a lot of people are like, well, let's, let's talk about the Cincinnati Reds. What are they going to do? Who knows? Are they going to deal from their starting pitching depth? Are they going to go get a bat? Like, I would love to see that. We don't know. Like, yeah, under our Reds note for this episode,

they're like looking into guys like Stephen Kwan. So is everyone. And yeah, think about how those two front offices have operated. We've seen the Reds kind of put chips on the table at different points. Like they want to be in the mix, where we've seen the Guardians operating like a completely different franchise, that they have different goals. And they're constantly just churning over different players

that if they got the right office, for Kwan and they're saving money on Kwan's contract and they get three prospects that they think are going to play for them. They could do that. Or Cleveland's front office would be laughing at this whole conversation because they're like, oh, no, we're trading Stephen Kwan in one and a half years. Let's give some fan fiction because the Passan does have something that I think is interesting in his article. You know, the Reds would like an outfielder. They can go get it and hit, just like every team would like an outfit. They can go get it and hit, right? And they do have a surplus of starting pitching. A lot of control.

controllable assets there. They had Hunter Green on a on a team friendly deal, I would say, you know, Chase Burns looks the part. Andrew Abbott's like, is he the best pitcher in baseball? I don't know. And so on and so on. They have a full, full, Ret Loudor, Nick Ladola, keep naming names,

which why do people always just start naming names? I don't know. It's like it's informative, kind of. Everybody knows who the starting pitchers for the Reds are. If they're listening to this, they probably know. Right. Yeah. People do it all the time. I just did it. But they're an interesting, like, I, that's my thing. My new take. I just want to talk about like strength for strength NLB level trades. Like that's what gets me fired up. Passon has Reds dealing with the Red Sox. Red Sox have a plethora of outfield. I like that. Reds have a plethora of starting pitching. Like that would be awesome. Those are the trades that get me fired up. Like is what could probably. Jerry and Duran. Like who's who's the guy? What would the Reds do? Like would Andrew Abbott fetched Jaron Duran? In my head, Abbott's value is higher because more control and how he's pitching

right now. What is Duran? What's the control on Duran? Duran's a little surprising because he's I'm looking right now. He's been around. I forget if he's a year and a half or two and a He has a team option for 2026. No, hold on. He's a, he's on a free until 2029. Uh, let's double check that. I'm on it, coach. I know, I'm, I'm on that too, but sometimes baseball ref isn't. It doesn't sound right. Because how can you have a team option and still be in, like, arbitration?

He has, right now, I mean, going into 2025, he was a super two, I think. So, yeah, he's got a ton of control. So does Andrew Abbott. That's an interesting one, right? Maybe I'm overvali. Am I overvaluing Andrew Abbott, who I just called maybe the best pitcher in the It's got a 2-13 this year. He's on a free age until 2030.

Who says no? Swapses. Yeah, I don't even know anymore. I don't know. And these front offices don't know either. Like, I think, I think that's the funny, that's the other funny thing where we'd love to shadow a front office. Like, there's, how different team,

how do you value Abbott and Duran? Jaron Duran had an eight war season last year. Abbott, like you see. Abbott's got a 3-8 right now. 17 game started. He's 8 and 1. That doesn't mean anything. 213.

He's got a 1.089 whip. Like, this guy's doing it this year. It wasn't All-Star. Call Sam fold. Right now. Sam. Used to be referenced. Used to be referenced a lot on this show.

Yeah, I got all these GMs, right? My pocket. Just kidding, Sam. I love you. Sam probably wouldn't pick up my phone call right now. No. That's the other thing I don't like with GMs. They just pretend.

like they're constantly busy and I don't know if they are. It's not true. Like I was literally texting the Twins GM last night during the game. Right. I got Jay-Z. Shout out. Shout out. Jay-Z, huh?

Jeremy Zole. Don't forget you were catching. That could get confusing. I always tell them that said, don't forget you were a catcher. Wow. You tell them basically don't forget ball. Shut up, you loser. Just call the games.

I guess maybe our last informative piece of deadline. information before we're on our way there and we're just enjoying the breeze. I guess the tweeners, man. I went through the buyers quick and I left out, you know, Mariners, Tigers, Astros, like, you know, every team that should be buying. Every team needs a third baseman, a starting pitcher, and a reliever. That's your whole trade. Trev.

Trev, in an all universe, I'm training you about a month ago because half the, half the league could use 2014 Trevor Plouf right now. Oh my gosh, a menace. It's nuts. It's nuts. It's nuts that like a league average

third baseman right now for about five teams would be like a massive deadline haul. A league act Sorry to call you league average coach. Sorry to call you league average. I know that's your money year. I don't.

And I just know how good you would have been in the postseason. How many four-war seasons these guys got? I want you to start saying that to the front office people. Hey, I got a question. How many four-war season you got? Huh? Say that to Jay-Z. You need a third basin right now that's in the league that's like they might be trading.

Ryan McMahon have a four-war season checking it out right now. Oh, interesting. It's got to be close. I'm going to say no. I think he does. Oh, man. He gets dinged by Corse Field pretty hard. He's got one.

And it's a 4-0 out of 4-2. Maybe that can be a new club for you to start, Trev. The 4-4-Wor-W-W-W-W-W-W-S club for one summer. Some guys rack up four-war like the first two months of the season. Judge is at 7 right now. Got it. Hey, I guess in the comment section, let us know below. What's the trade that's coming?

Who are we missing? What team we're missing? Oh, the tweener teams that I wanted to burn through kind of quick. Rays are always interesting because we just talk about, they have pitching depth and they're looking for an outfielder. Like I'm seeing Taj Bradley on trade list, and it's like, wait, he's breaking out for the race, but they have depth and they don't care about that.

They operate differently. I'm wondering if this is going to be a big raise deadline or are we just not going to hear about them because they're a good team. Cardinals feel like they're getting closer and closer to the cell meter. We haven't talked Ryan Helsley a lot, but he goes back into, if he's available, he probably fetches more than a potential qualifying offer or the potential compensatory prospect.

Like, if you look at Tanner Scott's last year, which again, those two are probably comparable, it's real prospects to get that guy because he's pitching real playoff innings for your team. I missed who you said. Hellsley. Oh, yeah. Right?

That's an interesting one. He was supposed to be one of the stories before the season, and because... He's 100% of qualifying offer guy. I think so. Yeah, like, I don't think there's any doubt about it. That I think, I think the trade package that they're going to get offered is going to be above that. And like, what are the... Trevor, we said we don't know what these teams are doing.

The Cardinals have two general managers right now. Like, what is their owner saying to them? Them's. That's interesting. the guy on the way out's like well can i just get one last hurrah what if we win the whole damn thing i've been here a long time heim you know give me some time hym let me cook for one more summer they're they're they're a great the cardinals are a great example of a team that's like man don't you owe it to your fan base to just go for it i don't think they think that way

they should dude like the further away i get from playing the more i'm like dude the fans are the most important thing in the world so like let's figure that out and you can see you can sit i mean look again when i was a player i would have said hey man like i'm focusing on my career and uh i want what's best for on-field product i'm like yeah i okay that still makes sense but like there are times where you got to give it up this is what i said with the angels and show hey and And I applauded the angels for not trading games. I'm like, dude, like, that fan base has been like through the mud. Right.

Like, and they were at 500 at the All Star or the trade deadline. I was like, okay, like they gave them that last bit of Shohei. And I think that, you know, you could say, oh, what would they have got? I don't know. Maybe it would have been a franchise altering player. But like, you have a chance to keep Shohei Otani and give your fans something there for the last two months of the season. and I feel like it means something, dude. And Angels fans are like, no, we still hate.

Yeah, I mean, there should be a show hey asterisk there because he's actually one of one when that phrase has gotten ruined. I guess the only fan counter I'd give you from the Cardinals perspective is they didn't sign anyone this offseason. They brought Phil Maeton was their only free agent and has been a nice signing. That if you're the Cardinals, So I guess this is the fun stuff of, okay, so there's a little bit of, well, the front office

all have the mentality of the playoffs is a crapshoot. Hey, you got to get hot, blah, blah, blah. At the same time, if we asked every front office, hey, if the Cardinals snuck in the postseason, how do you like their odds this year in the National League? I think you'd get a lot of no chances. And the nicest way to the Cardinals, like these other teams were looking at,

the Phillies, the Dodgers, the Padres, the Cubs, the Brewers. It is baseball, though. And, like, as much as I hate them saying, it's a crap shoot, I just watched the Dodgers have the worst inning I've ever seen in Major League Baseball last night. They had, they walked three dudes in a row with pitches not even close. And then a swinging bunt to the pitcher, he took the ball and chucked it. Jake, it hit the right field. wall. That's how bad he threw this ball.

Rob. Watch this. It goes three runs scored. It went all the way to the wall, Jake. Oh my God. This is the Dodgers, bro. This is the team. People were like, they broke baseball. This is not good for baseball. Super team. Baseball happens, man. It's true. I'd like to think front office's tones when they... Rob, how the hell did you have that? That guy, man. Always ready. Come on. Born ready.

Got a tattooed on his triceps. Not yet. It was his fourth big league game ever, first this year. It was a really sad. It was sad. There was a guy on my college basketball team that had, like, I'm blessed on his triceps or something, and I've always, or no, God's gift.

God's gift. so I always really like that. I knew a guy with a God's gift tattoo. Yeah? Yeah. Is that about them being God's gift? Because isn't that kind of... Feels like it's going against the whole process.

Yeah, I don't... I don't know. I don't want to go there. I'm just... Let's get away from that. Hey, I know you're always looking for the standings from Trev, but the Texas Rangers are a game and a half out of the wild card with an impressive pitching staff

that that's why I keep hammering that home. Guardians, twins, royals, the whole central is in the middle. And Trev, the other team that I have no idea what we'll be saying at the deadline, what the hell are the angels going to do? Because I think I know the answer or you think you should know the answer. I have no clue.

Let's see what Papa Jeff has to say about the angels. Best asset, Reed Detmer's. I've been saying that for how. long have I been saying trade redemers. You've been saying that for a year. Set him free. If you love something, let him go. Yeah. Best fit Sandy. Sandy's been getting shelled this year. Sandy's been getting rocked. Yeah, the other, the, the, the, the rumor is most run runs in all of baseball.

Is that Edward Cabrera is getting more interest in Sandy because he's pre-arb and pitching well. Yeah. Analytics. Little analytics there. Crushed it. Sorry. That's on me. Yeah, I mean, the angels are like, they have a core of players of young players. They do. I mean, they need pitching. Yeah. They need more.

And like the guys that have real value are like the guys that are their core that you don't really want them to trade away. So to me, that's like they don't do anything. They might, you know, on the edges, sure. but like impact, impact for impact player? Like, they're not doing that. I, uh, my one wild card to get traded, I could see Mason Miller happening. Like every team's on the hunt for impact bullpen.

And, you know, last year this was like a fake storyline and it was like, oh, they're going to Vegas and how, you know, how do you even value a guy with that many years of control and bullpen? And then, you know, Mason Miller, took a baby step back this year that it's, I don't want to say he's entered the realm of like all the relievers. But like last year he kind of wasn't. It was like, is this guy going to be one of the best pitchers to ever play?

And now it's like, oh, Mason Miller's good. Like he throws cheese and yeah, he's pretty nasty. That I don't know, all these teams hunting for relief pitching, if I'm having to give up real prospects for a reliever, give me the guy that I might have for five years and still has a chance to be so special that I, I could see someone putting the chips on the table for Mason Miller. Mason Miller has a ton of value still.

A ton of value, yeah. But last year it was almost like blasphemous. Like could they possibly the A's? And now if it happened, I think we'd all be like, yeah, they got real prospects back. They've got a young lineup. I mean, dude, he's only given up earned runs in like six games this year. He's thrown in 36. I don't know.

He's had a couple big blowups. He gave five runs against Mike. Miami at Miami. Philly got to him a little bit. Yeah, but Kansas City got to him. Like that's the thing with like relievers and their numbers. It just kind of gets skewed by one or two out. Is he still striking out the world?

What is his strikeouts per nine right now? 14.3. It's very, very similar to last year. But, you know, again, when we're chopping up reliever numbers, I understand what you're saying. But like the whip has gone, gone up a little bit. He's walked more players this year. walks have gone up.

Yeah, the shine just feels a little different. Like if Mason Miller took a step up from last year, we'd be talking about like, is this the next? Like, all-time reliever? We're not having those conversations. And it's just really tough to be a reliever. Civilized. What was that?

Don't worry about it. Okay. Let's talk position unit draft. A little position unit draft catch-up is brought to you by Best Western. Today's episode is sponsored by Best Western hotels and resorts. Life's a trip. This season's been a trip, and we've been on it with Best Western from opening day of Riggling when we stayed at the Best Western there.

The We Got Ice Boys doing their first pitch series. Best Western has been along for the ride with us. And wherever the ride takes you, whether it's planned or not, Best Western is going to be there for you. 4,000, over 4,000. hotels worldwide. Best Western just gets it. They're there for you.

So plan the road trip with Best Western. Or if you end up off the map, like I said, there's probably a Best Western there. So go check them out with Best Western. Life's a trip. Make the most of it at bestwestern.com. Hello. Hey, James.

How are you guys doing? Hey, Jim. How are you? How's it to be on top? Yeah, you come in here. to gloat bro um nailed it just it's the season's not over yet we're off to a really good start yeah

feel great about it wow you know what we're like boon we're all doing better than the sleeper picks yeah and not only do i want to like i am not mad at you guys at all but i'm mad at If you look at the responses on Twitter or Instagram, no one was like, actually I saw one guy. It was like Jimmy, good draft. So the amount of people that listen and interact with the show, they don't know shit. Thank you for listening.

And yeah, catching everyone up a little bit. Jimmy is in first place right now with 39.7F war. Getting Dalton on that B war. Jolly is at 28.7 and second. place. I'm at 26 and Trev is at 23. The fan just missed team, 22 and a half. And what Jimmy has been killing it with, the outfield, the New York Yankees. One out of 30. One out of 30. Helped carry you last year to the title, I believe. The Philly rotation. One out of 30. Which Treve and Jolly screwed up, so that's their fault. And then the Minnesota Twins, Bullpen. One out of 30. Trev, I thought, I thought that's

your team. Oh, I drafted it because I didn't want to have to take it. Look at that. In front of me. I can't even see that little graphic. Who did I pick first? It doesn't want to see you. And then the Texas Rangers infield, which 18 out of 30.

Miss. Yeah. But Seager's back and they're going to have a huge second half. The draft order, which is probably how I should go through it, I took the Dodgers infield with the first pick, which they're the highest drafted infield. A couple infields off the board. Toronto, Arizona, and St. Louis are the only teams ahead of them, but they were not drafted.

Jimmy took the Yankees outfield with that second overall pick. They have number one outfield again. Judge Guy, pretty dang good. Jolly took the Cubs outfield, which is the second outfield. Third pick in the first round, which... Straight pick. You know, Kyle Tucker, obviously, joining and I guess... PCA.

What PCA has turned into in Seah Suzuki. I'd like to see Jolly's comments on that. What's he say about PCA? He's a nice piece. He might rack up some more with his legs. Little did he know he's going to have 25 homers and 80 runs driven in by the All-Star Brady. And he's a good kid.

Maybe he just knows ball. Okay. If I lose the Jolly, I'm going to be really upset. Well, get ready. It's early, Jake. Trev, you took the Phillies infield with your first overall pick and then you flip that with the Mariners as the wraparound. The rotation.

The rotation. God awful this year. As far as war. As far as war, 18th. Which is kind of the whole thing here. Yeah, the whole thing. Right. We draft.

We know we're going to get greater on F war. So that's where you guys kind of punted the whole thing because you went, you went Mariners, Jolly went Dodgers pitching, which just left the Phillies there for Jimmy to feast on. Yep. I know, Jimmy, we know what you're going to say about the Phillies starting pitching. I already prefaced our audience about it. They're warmongers.

Innings. And they're nasty. Yeah, that's where you- Christopher Sanchez keeps growing. That's the problem. I forgot about that. Another great start last night. I know.

So that's where I'm mad at you two, because that changes the whole tenor of it all. I took the Yankees rotation. It was the final pick of the draft because everyone took their, rotations. This was before Garrett Cole got hurt, so that could have changed the game plan a little bit. And Luis Heel. And Luis Heel. So what have...

And Clark Schmidt. Well, Louis Heel's coming back. Let's see. I rounded out my team with the Padres Outfield, which they haven't really racked of war. The Bullpen stuff's pretty wild, because I took the Brewers who were third in Bullpen ERA, but they have half the war of the twins, which I don't love... I don't love that.

We'll have to look at that next CBA. Jolly took the Mets for something infield. They even have it. Lendor, he's got Alonzo. He probably thought Vientos was going to be good. Luis Hennel, Acuna. Like, I get that. I think there's a dream upon that.

The worst pick of the draft has been my Braves. The Atlanta Braves Outfield, you know, pro far had a three-war season last year. You get the DH as well. Marcelo Zuna, I think was MVP-2 last year or something like that. He has not been that. They're like 28 or 27. It's the worst pick by far.

Yeah. Well, Mariners rotation might also be good at ball. Mariners rotation also a bad pick. Yeah. Because no rotation I've been taken at that point. What's wrong with the Mariners rotation? Coming into last year, there was nothing wrong with the Mariners rotation. We're a predictive stat, dude.

Yeah. What? They're not going to get F war. You got a thing about the NRA. East pitching staffs and the lineups they face. A bunch of buggerheads. Marlins, pirates, nationals. Did let my Phillies pitchers eat.

That's an extra. I'm so glad you came on the show. It's an extra central. We'll clear that up. I just said national league teams. Yeah. The bad national league teams pitch don't hit. The bad American league teams hit don't pitch.

Is it is the generalities that I think in my. head. I don't know if those are true. That's how I view it. I think the more interesting spot here because I think Jimmy's already won like there. I don't think anyone can catch him at this point. Just wait. I mean, yeah, I retain title of ball no or no. Louis. Seals coming back. I'd like to see your, I don't think it's locked up. But I'm, I'm as long as judge is healthy. I think you're, I think, I think it is locked up. I'd like to see your, did you give like a whole like playoff, uh, like in division winners, uh, pick before the season? I don't know. I did bets, right?

We did, I came on the betting show. I didn't do the Siam. We covered that recently. Yeah, how are my bets looking? B. Lau's got to hit my owners. Belao just went on the IL. Ma! That's your one that's going to be tight.

Get healthy. I think the interesting thing to look at is like what units didn't get drafted even by the fans that are doing really, really well. Texas Rangers rotation is the second team for F-war. I don't think anybody saw that. coming. Kansas City Royals, we could have. Oh, they, okay, no, we didn't get that. We could have seen that coming. They're another team that I think, you know, could have, your big brain could have seen that, right, Jim? I don't know. I think, because last year was

the first year, like next year, I think we should be, but they were facing AAL Central teams. That's kind of what you're alluding to. No, I think it's not too good in the ALE Central. That's not how I think of it. I think of like the twins can hit, can't pitch, but they've actually flipped like recently kind of. Yeah. So I think part of that conversation is so when we were doing at the end of the draft. Wow. The central can pitch can't hit.

That's interesting. Atlanta and Kansas City went undrafted pitching wise after being the two best units last year. And then Kansas City, we were also their infield racked up war last year that we thought that was a unit that was going to hurt us. But it's kind of a lot of Bobby Witt and he hasn't fully. fully sprinted yet that they they haven't popped up um infield wise St. Louis's infield was not on anybody's radar

well we thought Aronado might get traded by the time we were doing this so Toronto with the top infield and that it shows like the way they're playing right now um they're so fun to watch play unless you're playing against them if i was a blue jays fan this recent stretch of baseball and the style in which they're playing would have me so just happy every night. There's nothing better than having the bottom of your lineup produce. There's nothing better in all of baseball than like these guys at the bottom lineup, like getting on, getting them over, driving in runs, two out hits.

You're like, this is the best. They don't have a single easy at bat. The first two strikes were easy for the Yankees last night. And then it was like battle on. It was crazy. I'm sorry if you mention them. Boston's outfield. I do remember after the draft.

that was one of the units that it was like, they should be pretty good. Like, Duran, because we were talking about how special players can really turn this. Like a judge and Otani, like when they have the special season, that can cook the books a little bit, that Duran coming off an eight war season. But it's kind of been Williare and Raphaela that that unit's kind of a miss. I'll take the blame for that.

Do you have the bets? What other bets did I make besides Brain and Loud? Did you guys ready do that? Bob has them somewhere. We did them a couple ups ago. I don't think they're on this sheet, but we can get them out. Am I doing bad? Let's see

Could you make that a little bigger, Bob? You can cover me, not Trev. That's what the people are here for. And maybe I can find the document. You guys talk about how the train deadline's dead? Yeah. Okay, Jim. So this would catch you up on your bets here.

Brandon Lau, and that was plus 275 for 30 homers. So he went nuts for a while. What's he at? Let me get you there. Clause's been lights out. Are they winning enough games? I know he's been, he's got like... They started winning again.

I know he's got one-something ER. I was got 19. Oh, get healthy. What's his injury? Broken heart? I think it's a broken heart. Left ankle foot. Oh.

Same thing. That's fine. That is his swing foot. Class 10thitis. Okay. He's fine. Class A has 22 saves. So to get to 35, that's going to be tight.

Well, yeah, but down the stretch, are they in a race or they got out of it? A little bit of both. Everyone's in it. A little bit of both. Everyone's in it. Maybe they trade them. They're not trading them. And then you had under... Less than three teams will win 100 games.

That's looking great. I think that's looking great. It's like the longest it ever took for one team to get to 60. Congrats, Tigers. Congrats. Central teams. Is that minus 280? We're allowed to do that?

That was a safe under. He went risky with the Lao homers. So he got leaving. way there. Treves Pete Alonzo RBI's. What are you comparing? Look at my, look at my sprinkle compared to yours.

Plus 1,300's pretty good sprinkle. Mine's plus 2,500. The sprinkles aren't happening this year. None of our sprinkles are happening. Justin Martinez is out for the year. So that's not looking good. Red Sox's taking the playoffs for your lock, Treve, that's looking risky.

Is Bregman over 260 and not coming back? Or is he coming back? He's back. Oh, wow. By the way, Boston in the playoffs right now. It's close. Bregman hitting 291. Belly was my lock to hit over 260,

which Trev was critical of. After today, Cody Bellinger's hitting 285, and he's been playing great, so hopefully he keeps that up. And I had Mariners less wins than the Brewers, which for a while was looking bad because the mariners were hot to trot out of the gate, but then Pat Murphy coached him up.

You know what I'm saying? Man, those are two teams like, they're like cousins that see each other once a year at a reunion. And when they do, they just fucking ruin everyone else's time. But they have a blast. That's those two teams, fan bases together.

Like, on their own, pretty benign. You put those two together. You're going to get mayhem. Brewer's Mariners? Yeah. Yeah. The vibe of those fans are like very nice. But I feel like if you put them with the right company,

they're going to, like, pull a lot of pranks on you. Seattle's got a little more piss and vinegar. Yeah, I was the same Milwaukee's not like that. Oh, but the Milwaukee fans, egg him on. Like, they like watching, they like watching a good time. They can't believe their crazy cousin out west. Yeah. Yeah.

They're going to be jumping off bridges. Yeah. How many, this isn't necessary, how many games has Clossey pitched in and not gotten the safe? My God, God, do you. Guardians just fucking them over. Let's see. I mean, if you remember that. Because that was my lock.

Like he, well, he got bench very briefly. That was like a week he got. taken out of the closer roll. And then I think they've just been bad. That's what I'm saying. His appearances in history, that was... He's also going to get traded, so that's probably good for you. I don't know.

I might wait for the offseason. That's a big move. Three years left on his deal. Of his last eight appearances, he's gotten... Oh, no. Oh, no. I miss read that. He's gotten four saves.

So that's still not the ratio you're looking for. That's not great. They haven't been winning a ton. That's bad. They haven't been winning a ton. What were you saying your deadline hot take was that you were trying to get off your chest? It was so hot. You were like, I got to save this for the end.

I don't, now I'm worried we're not having a good deadline. It seems like everyone was geared up. Now the whispers we heard yesterday was that it's like dead, dead. But we're puppets, dude. That's my, that's my team shouldn't be trading. The whole point of the expanded playoffs is more teams should be going for it. that's i like it you guys want just breaking news episodes with jeff pass and i'm like what about the fans i'm always about the fans you're just scared your twins are going to sell and you're

man i didn't say i think of like a big i'm quitting i'm not calling any more games as an entertainment industry trades get people going think about some of the biggest news in sports this year i think both were trades right 24 hours ever's trade luka trade those are big news You know what? Doesn't make anyone care when a bad team makes the playoffs and loses two day games on a Tuesday and Wednesday and clap their back and say we made the playoffs. But that's rewarding casuals.

I'm about rewarding fans of the teams. Yeah, but it's a funnel. You can't get, can't get, uh, diehard fans without them being casuals first. Much more to rewarding a casual fan than like a flashy trade. Just that they'll forget about the next day. It's like one new cycle, it's gone. Half the league. I'd rather reward the fans that are coming at the ballpark.

I like trades and good rentals going to playoff teams. Your team. No, no, playoff teams. Like when Mani Machado went to the Dodgers, like when you have good rentals go places, that's fun. There's so many. I don't like the wild car system. I've been very open about that. Wait, I thought aren't these guys with MLB?

now and he's saying he doesn't like the wildcar for him? What the heck? How many games out do you consider a team that's still in contention, James? Contention for what? At the deadline. Contention for a wild card. Losing that the trot for two games. No one's at or watches.

Steinbrenner Field this year. Simonerfield. It would all depend on the division. and their remaining schedule, right? Like if you're four games back, but you have four games against that team, you're in it. If you're four games back

and you don't play the two teams ahead of you at all anymore, that's really hard. Do you know what I'm saying? Like, if you can't do your own bidding, the numbers bigger. Yeah, yeah, I'm talking, like, I was saying like last month of the season. I like you, you've pointed a lot to how many teams are ahead of you

because there's something, and this is what I was talking with the NL wild card before, like there's something, if there's one team ahead of you and you're three and a half games back, it's like, okay, yeah, we got to be better than those cats. If you're five and a half games back and there's four teams ahead of you, two of those teams are going to be good. Yeah. I don't think, I think you look at it like, how many wins do we have to have to make the playoffs?

And like, you can pretty, you can figure that out. So that's, you play to that. No matter who, no matter who's in front of you. 80, 80 in the, in the, in the AL, I'd say 86 wins gets you into the playoffs. then you just focus on that. Yeah, I think it's a good way to look at it. I mean, division games are count as extra. So also like the Yankees, once they run out of games against the Blue Jays,

that number gets harder to chase down. Yeah, I'm more so talking about the wild card than division, yes. Well, but same thing. If you have games remaining against the teams ahead of you, it's much easier to track down. And Treve, I just think you're, you need to put your player hat back on a little bit because, I mean, it's 2014 and you get. trade away pieces.

You get traded to the New York Yankees and you get to put on the pinstripes and show everyone how good you were in the postseason. Come on. Players want people to get traded to their team. Yeah. Or maybe they don't. Maybe we like the guys in the building. That's not all of them.

All of them. I like the showers. Remember how mad the Astros were in 2017 that they didn't go out and trade anyone so much so that they're like, all right, fuck, we'll go get Verlander and waiver wires. And then they were like, thank you. No dugout or clubhouse said, like openly like, yeah, we were pissed.

You didn't get us any help. Like, we have a good team. Now look. And they went got Verlander, slap some sticky shit on his fingers. Won the whole damn thing. Hmm. Congrats to the Houston Astros.

Congrats to you, Jim. This episode, why? Yeah. That's premature. Okay. I like that. But thank you. I don't think it's,

I would say it's a good draft either way. I don't know. I'm not saying. Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I didn't embarrass myself like that. I got to be closer to you in the draft. I can't leave you around.

I mean, I don't know. You just don't leave me. If I win and then you guys leave me the same exact players, it's not a keeper league, you know. I'll take Yankees outfield and Philly's starting rotation until I lose with them. It's just facts. Unless we changed. and not use F-Wore anymore,

because then I'll just find the teams that spam B-Wore. It hurts. Thanks, Sean Boy. Me too. F-Wor stinks. I don't know. Speaking of, let's end it with Draft Kings bet the cycle,

like we do on Wednesdays. Brought to you by Draft Kings. Use code J.M. Baseball when you sign up for the Draft King's Sports Book. Trev, you got the big stick today or no? Yeah, I don't really like the single. Okay, I'll go for it because this was Rob in the Lab. Charlie Morton will have a quality start with at least three Ks before being traded this deadline. Struck out three plus in all nine starts since being added to the rotation.

And he's gone five plus and two earn runs. in six of his last night. So it's, hey, it's trade deadline saying, we need you to show out Charlie Moore. And I'll go with the salt, man. So does he have like one chance to do that? Yeah, that's it. That's it.

Okay. Sure. For the double, one or more runs driven in from Addison Barger versus the Tigers in their series opener on Thursday. He's got 18 runs driven in in 17 July games. He's got a one daughter. in July, and you know I'm a big. I was the first guy on Addison Barger, so you're welcome.

That kid is a dog. I like that one, maybe more than a single. Francisco Lindor, triple time, get the legs loose. Francisco Lindor breaks out of his hitless slump with a homer tonight against the Angels. Oh, for his last 30, longest hitless streak of the career. It can come for anyone, people. fractured his toe on June 4th, and the numbers are tough since then. We believe.

You know, he got in the content game. That's what's going on. It's wearing it. It's not easy. Everyone wants it. Heavy is the crown. For the Homer. The White Sox continue a strong start to the second half with a win over the Crosstown rivals.

The Cubs? Adrian Houser over 18 and a half outs recorded so he's got to get into the 7th and record an out I believe that's the math. The White Sox are 4 and 1 since the all-star break. They scored 38 runs over those five games. And our guy,

Hauser, a 189 ERA, a 26 B-WR in 10 starts. He's recorded 19 plus outs in four of his last 5. So he's been going deep, Jake, just like you, baby. When are we making a J-War? Like, if there's going to be two, let's be three, right? Laws of three. The laws of three we're always talking about.

So go check that out at the Draft King's Sportsbook. Bet the cycle with us every Wednesday. A big up. Trade gossip. The John Bino. Jimmy just came in and flexed on us for fucking seven minutes. Hey, I, uh, you know, me and Jim can do our brotherly bicker. He did good.

He did good. Three ones. And I get to blame you in Jop. So that was kind of a win for me, too. I just can't lose the Jolly. He can't. There's a lot of ball left, dude. Gully. Gully. Gilly, Jolly.

Charlie bit my finger. You don't know what that is. Some people don't. Real ones do. Charlie. That's the real internet. That was when the end. internet was the internet.