Talkin' Baseball (MLB Podcast) - Who Will Have the Best Second Half? | 683

Episode Date: July 3, 2023

Trevor Plouffe, Jolly Olive, and BBD are drafting the teams they think will win the most games in the second half of the MLB season!Use code TALKIN for $20 off your first SeatGeek order. https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/TALKINVisit http://get.bluemoonbeer.com/BASEBALL to see delivery options.Join us for our All-Star Game festivities in Seattle! Event is on July 11: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/jomboy-media-all-star-party-tickets-656903595337++++Timestamps:0:00 Intro6:00 Selecting Draft Order10:10 The Draft1:12:00 Alpha Dads at Youth Baseball Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices 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. Episode 683, we got second half drafts. We got youth baseball. Jake's too famous to be here. The kids are here. Let's go. Someone told me a pitch. Double.

Hello and welcome to talking baseball. Like I said, Jake is just so famous. He's doing NASCAR stuff. Now, Jimmy's humping like a rabbit putting kids out every other day, so he's at home with the family. it's me, Bieber's and Johnny Al-O-Roe

joining us today. I'm actually really stoked to do this because look, it's episode 683. Jimmy, Jake, and I and Bebes, like that crew's done so many shows together that sometimes it's fun, you know, to step outside the box

to bring some new people in and Jolly, not like you're a new guy. I mean, you're like a mainstay at the John Boy Media offices now. But to step in on talking base, I really appreciate it. Number one. And number two, I'm excited for the fans of the show to get to hear some of your thoughts because I do believe they're probably like more statistically grounded than maybe a Jake's Torreale. I think that's fair to say. Well, I mean, Jay's got his book of research. How are you doing? I'm good, man. I mean, I just had a week in Maine, which was wonderful, week vacation, didn't work on anything, didn't look at his screen, had a Madela on the beach every day. really loved it and then I drove home six hours got the text from BBD that I was getting

called up to the big leagues getting the nod for the start on Monday morning so I'm feeling good man and we got a good episode planned we do I appreciate you taking that call Maine with some medellos that's right up my alley Bieber's what you got man how are you doing how was your weekend

weekend was good because we recorded this show on Thursday I got weirdly like Friday Saturday like normal weekend because we work Sunday and then you know Jake's so famous stepped in on talking yanks I had to go find us a guest so I grabbed I grabbed john boy so that was a big get for talking yanks um so yeah and that was a good episode despite the Yankees ruining their road trip don't talk about the Yankees so much um yeah it's been a good weekend and I'm excited for

the episode we have slated for today. a little bit of behind the scenes we were trying to figure out what to do with today's episode because we knew that Jake wasn't going to be here and Jimmy like I said at home with the fam so I tried my best to get my former agent currently Shohei Otani's agent on the show and I think he's just a little hesitant to come out

I mean it's a big couple months for that whole crew come up here the next six months are going to play out probably pretty positively in their manner but I don't think you wanted to come on just yet. I'm still going to push and push, and maybe on a later talking baseball episode, he'll get there. I would imagine at least, like, put the pressure on him, at least after, like, tell us how everything goes down.

That all happens. Why not? After, for sure. I want before. Before would be really cool. And shout out Dalton. He had a bachelor party this weekend, so the other part of that saga was like, well,

we would have had to prep the sheet ourselves. Everyone was just taking time off these. days. It's been a time off week. Not me. And this one's brought to you, by the way, this draft we're about to do is brought to you by Seekkeek as this whole show is brought to you by Seeky. Use code talking, $20 off your first order. This is what I tell people.

Yes, there's all sorts of stuff going on. You can go to a play. You can go to a concert, all this stuff. But we're a baseball show. Show Hey, Otani's probably going to come to a city near you. at some point during the summer, please just go see him play. That's all I'm asking.

Just go see this guy play. There's other superstars out there, but specifically for me, go see Shohei Otani, use Seekheek, big green bubble means good. Red bubble, bad. It's so easy that Famous Jake can use it.

That's what we always say. Yeah, it's so easy. Download the app, Seat Geek, code talking for $20 off. Now let's get to this draft. I think what we're going to do is four rounds, snake draft.

We plan on answering the question, who's going to have the most wins in the second half of the Major League Baseball season? We've seen what happened in the first half. There's been some surprises. Hello, Arizona Diamondbacks. I don't know if the Texas Rangers are necessarily a surprise.

A lot of people like them preseason except for me. I'd still say there are surprise. Okay, Cincinnati Reds. Surprise. Reds definitely. Yankees. surprisingly bad. Wow.

Yeah. Just kidding. I'm a Yankees hater. Everyone knows that. But we're going to do this but before we start we have to decide an order.

So we have a random number generator up one through 100. I like to just write the number down and then show it. Yes. I guess we can, that doesn't even matter because don't run the number generator

until we put our numbers. Yeah, we will announce our numbers. I'm prepping Google right now. Now. Can you read that? You've taken 45. Believe that's 45. I've taken 45.

In honor of my friend Tyler Skaggs. See, I was going to put 43, but I didn't write it, so now I feel weird. You can take 43. I'm going to take 43 then, I think. If you take 46, Beavers, I'm going to fight you. No, I'll take the, I will take go for an over, but it'll be 69. Okay, cool. And I'll generate Jolly.

My witness, can you see this too? No way you can see this. Trev. My Nehanyos for us right now. 50. So I think Trev, you, you have earned the right to select your spot.

Wow. I'm going to go lead off. I think that's the... Because I have one ready to go, one in the chamber. Treve, I mentioned this before. Do you think there's a consensus 1-1? Because I do.

It depends what you're looking at. I think there's a lot of good teams with some momentum. I think that, I think there's, here's the thing we're going to have to talk about. We're going to have to talk about strength of schedule, which is, you know, sort of means something, momentum, how you played in the first half, injuries, and then also, I think this is the biggest caveat to this whole draft is going to be, who's going to add? Who's going to subtract? If we're just talking straight up rosters now, that's a different type of draft.

I'm thinking in the future, because it is a simulation, and basically the future is now. There's no such thing as the present or the future or the past. It's just one big magnetic pull from the from the spaces Whatever I just said I don't know I'm talking about anymore When Jake's out here you just get philosophical that was crazy I just said a bunch of words that made no sense at all That's what's going on right now but I'm taking the first pick I believe Jolly's next I'm gonna take the second pick because I just feel like that's that's comfy

You know get nice in the middle every round and I think I can still sneak my one one at one two Because I don't know what's going through Trevor's brain. I have no idea. Yeah. I'm happy you did that because I just hate being in the cycle of the two pick. Not because I'm uncomfortable with the selections, but you just always got to be on. You're a wrap-around guy. We all know this. I like to wrap around. I think I would have picked three, four. I don't know. I think we've stumbled into what might be a consensus one. I'm guessing I won't get now.

Maybe not. I'm curious. And before we get going with the first pick of the draft by Trevor, This whole draft is brought to you by Blue Moon. We, it's Fourth of July tomorrow. I think some Blue Moons might be passed around. Could be.

Either here, either amongst us, probably at whatever gathering, you at home, attend. Shout out Mom. Shout out Mom. My birthday soon.

I don't know if anyone was, we'll be in Seattle the next day. I don't know if you guys want to like be nice to me. Oh, wow. Okay. Blue Moon created a course field. We were talking pre-show about how that's been a talking point.

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They make it so easy these days. Got delivery options. The only good thing, or one of the only good things that it came out of COVID was the fact that you can get beer delivered to your doorstep now. They kept that one. They're like, we're not going back. Greatest country in the world. Yeah, that's one of the changes that we kept.

And that was smart. All right, right. All right, with the first overall pick, curious to see if this was your consensus 1-1 as well because now that I'm thinking about it there's a couple ways you can go the Atlanta Braves are an

absolute wagon like they they're just so much better than every other team I mean Jolly I know you're an NL East guy like they're just so much better than the Mets they're just so much better than anybody in the league I just watch them bludgeon teams

day the Marlins feeling hot feeling good went into Atlanta, like after a sweep in Boston, bludgeoned completely. It's crazy. I could take them. I could take them right now. I could take the Minnesota Twins. Two have the easiest strength of schedule going forward. Trev the Homer.

But I'm going to tell you something. Right now, I'm not going to take either of those teams. I believe there's a team just to wait in in the wings, ready to go. I think you found the guy. I think we're on the same page. Now according to our strength of schedule page, which doesn't mean everything. They're the 27th easy.

What does that mean? Toughest. 27th. So four. The easiest. Easiest remaining schedule. They have some guys that have been on the aisle that are coming back soon. An MVP type player.

Their pitching is intact. It's looking really good. Their offense is the thing that hasn't really come around just yet, but it's on its way back. I'm taking the Houston Astros to run through the league in the second half. Right now, the Houston Astros are 46 and 38 for a 548 winning percentage. That's not going to continue. 548, not good enough for the Houston Astros.

I expect him to play closer to 600 ball the rest of the way. Yoron Alvarez is swinging in the cage right now. He's the guy I was talking about. He's swinging at about 60% of. Should be back soon. When he comes back, it changes everything. He's a guy that can literally carry an offense by himself, but he's not going to need to because there's other pieces there that will continue to go.

You know them. It's all familiar faces. You know the Astros. You've seen a play ball before. You understand that this team can put together extreme runs with the strength of schedule, with getting your Don back, with knowing that it's go time in the second half. Like they're about to start their season because that's what the Astros do. I'm taking them with the one overall.

I mean, that's what I was thinking. You took the words out of my mouth. They were kind of head and shoulders above everybody else. Yeah, with them, I mean, it's kind of a game of who's going to play the Royals and A's a lot in the second half, which is not a super fun game to play. But they get those two teams 13 times in the second half. And I feel like that's a lot of their games. A definitive factor in all of it. Also, one thing I wanted to point out, last year, they were a better second half team.

too. I'm not sure that they had the same struggles and all that, same adversity, but they have a track record of turning things on as the season goes on. Yeah, they, I think, I would imagine over the last few years, they've been kind of a second half team, and I, a big theme in the teams I've scouted is, is how much urgency is there to their season, and they're pretty securely going to be part of the playoff mix, but they're not in first place right now, and they're, that's not a position they've really been in the last several years. There's extra, there's even more incentive for them to win than normal series of the Rangers coming up this week.

That doesn't count for this draft. But yeah, right now they're four games back of Texas. They're going to have some urgency in the second half that we haven't had to worry about with them. Man, I wish I had the first pick. Because now I'm kind of lost. That was like, the reason I took the second pick was hoping that Trev would be a homer and take the twins and then I could steal the Astros.

I mean, I watch the twins a lot, so I wasn't going to take them one overall. No offense to my guys. Might be able to get them later. They're on the board. They're definitely on the board. That's a nice hat. Now I've got to think because I got some unorthodox picks going here. But I could play it safe.

I definitely could play it safe. I think with the second overall pick in the second half wins draft, I'm not going to go strength of schedule pick here. I'm going to avoid that for the time being. And I'm going to take a team that is a proven Titan of the National League, is always in the conversation at the end of the season, and hasn't not played their best baseball yet, in my opinion. That is the Los Angeles Dodgers.

BPD gets his one and two snaked, which is tough. Yeah, they have the 15th easiest strength of schedule, which is about, you know, halfway through all the teams in baseball. They got eight against the Rockies. They got nine games against the trio of the Nats, A's, and Tigers. And they're getting some guys back. I believe in this team in September because we could see Walker Bueller back on the mound in September. We could see Blake Trinen back on the mound in their bullpen in September, which has been kind of disappointing.

I feel like their reinforcements and kind of the jelling of the team plus whoever they buy at the deadline because we all know they're going to be buying at the deadline. I think the Dodgers are a safe bet to have a really strong second half, maybe steal away the NLS, but assuredly make the playoffs. 46 and 37 are now again, this is a team that's custom to winning their division. similar to how the Astros feel and they're sitting in second place behind the Arizona Diamondbacks who have been playing great ball but I agree with you that there are going to be additions to this team whether it's guys getting back healthy

I think Daniel Hudson's another guy that maybe the bullpen has been a big issue for them you know they've been dealing with starting pitching injuries as well but they've had some guys step up Sheehan's looked really good for them in his brief major league career Kershaws can it win a Cy Young again? I guess.

I believe fully in this team as well. There's a couple teams here that just kind of understand the assignment and maybe haven't played their best baseball yet, but this is a second half draft. Exactly. So I like that pick with the number two. One last thing I want to add. I had a fun little stat about the Dodgers.

Another second half stat. Last two years, only team in baseball to have a higher than 700 winning percentage in the second half. last two years. Crazy. That's the last two years combined. Yep, 704 and 2021, 708 last year.

I like that step. 111 games they won last year. They're only at 46 now through the halfway point. So, yeah. They're going to catch fire. They're a good pick. Similar to Houston, not currently in first place. There's a level of urgency behind them

to actually win games in the second half that we haven't had to see from them before. and I'm faced with some interesting choices on my back-to-backs here. Yeah, I think it's a step down now. Yeah, it's... So I think there's room for one safe pick, and then the first real, we're taking a chance pick. Like that.

With the first pick cleanup, the first round, the one I had my three first round picks that were, I would pick. Just the Atlanta Brazer. our wagon. I don't see a fall off for them. They're potentially the most complete team. And I love what they're about. So I will take the Atlanta Braves. Dude, Jake and I just did this on Wake and Jake that isn't out yet because we pivoted to here. But like look at that NL All-Star roster. Look at all the infielders.

Eight? all these infielders either are on the Braves right now or we're on the Braves World Series team. Sean Murphy, Orlando Arcia, Freddie Freeman, Austin Riley,

Matt Olson, Ozzie Albies, Dansby Swanson. All we're on the World Series team or are currently on the Braves. By the way, they have Ronald Acuna, who very well might be NL MVP,

So he's also an all-star multiple pitchers make the cut Max Fried hasn't even been like part of this season yet He's really good so Brazier is really really good really complete If you have a friend that's a fan of an NLE East team make sure you check on them this next decade Because it's it's gonna be a long 10 years because all these guys are not going anywhere They're all locked up it's crazy they've done such a good job with keeping this core together

and they continue to add they already had like a nice core in Atlanta and then they went out and got Matt Olson and Sean Murphy and we're like let's just add you guys to this mixture and like you said

they're going to be together for a long time I love that we're picking this team and we keep saying this team's like the best team in baseball although they don't even have the best record in baseball so Tampa Bay Ray's fans

might be yelling at their screens right now what about us but yes this Braves team is they don't care about strength of schedule they're better than everybody else so why would they even look at that

that's a good pick number three pick that's what it was number three I got one more thing on the Braves just want to shout out Mike Soroka got his first win since 2019 recently in this last week so good for Mike Soroka

nice to have him back I have changed my mind on this pick on this wrap around first pick of the second round several times since I picked the Braves. I have like two and a half teams I'm considering. One of them I know for sure wouldn't make it back to me.

So I think I'm going to pick them and take my chances on maybe that other team's sneaking back around. And we did just shout them out. I will take the Tampa Bay raise. Okay. The team that doesn't have the urgency factor I've been looking for. I need to do the Braves. So that's like all my scouting kind of.

out the window. But they're just so good. They're so deep. They find ways to win games, even if they were to lose that depth. They're not going to be a bad team in the second half. So I get two safe picks off the board in the first two rounds. Yeah, I mean, those are great picks. You pick the two best teams in baseball.

There's no reason to suggest why they won't continue to be the two best teams in baseball. I can't say I necessarily believe in them. to have the two best records of the second half, but they will have good records. Yeah. Don't look now. What do you think that Ray's record was last year? Last year, I think they won 90 games.

Beaver. I feel like they, because they made the playoffs. They were the last wild card team. I do remember. Oh, yes, because they played Cleveland. I think they had 88. 86 and 13.

706 last year. And they had everything go wrong last year. Yeah, a lot of injuries. So I'm curious. I mean, like, they got up to such a great start. The offense has been otherworldy. I talked to Cash about that. Like, what has been the most surprising thing

about this year in the year that a lot of things have been going their way? And I guess, you know, there's been some surprises there. He said the offense being as good as it has been. I mean, slugging, getting on base, being able to run the bases. The team really does it all. There's so much fun to watch.

You watch them play ball. It's like, this is how you want your team to watch, or want your team to play. And there's a bunch of teams like that around the big leagues right now. Maybe not with the power that the race have,

but that are playing this aggressive type of baseball. So I love the pick. Glassnow's back. Yeah. I agree. There's just not a lot to suggest that they'll fall off. I don't know if they're going to keep this pace.

I don't see the pace. That's why I... But close to it, I mean... It won't be a huge fall. That's why I wasn't necessarily excited to make the pick. Just they're really good already. And hey, Orioles are yapping behind them. I have to believe in the Yankees eventually making them push.

They got to keep going. They're in a tough division. But they're the reason that division's so tough. I think it's worth mentioning. the race of the second hardest strength of schedule left right up there with the Colorado Rockies. Oh, Jolly, they don't care. They don't care.

The Rockies. I don't think the Rockies were getting picked. Poor Rockies. If you were thinking about them, I think they're out after that number. Sorry, Kelsey. The Reyes know they don't want to be in the wild card round. Nobody wants to be in the wild card round.

Like a three games set to decide your future is not great. They would do fine in it with the pitching and the team that they have. But I think once you experience it, you're like, let's go win a division. Let's go get out of the wild card round. So the Orioles being right behind them. The Yankees, you know, hoping to catch fire a little bit

and to keep pushing them, I think is a good thing for your pick, Beaver. So congrats on your wrap-round picks. We had Astros 1, Dodgers 2, Braves 3, Tampa 4, on pick 5 now. We haven't had any real surprises yet. No, the other team I'm picking would have got, I was considering would have gotten a reaction, I think, but they have a chance to survive to me. Rays have one, two, three, four, five, six guys with double-digit homers. That's insane. Only three all-stars for the Rays, too, which is seems, well, I think Wander's going to get in.

There'll be some fillings, but if they, if he doesn't, I wouldn't mind that guy. Wouldn't mind those guys playing with even more of a chip on their shoulder in the second half for my pick. All right. I'm going to put some spice in our draft because I think our draft needs a little bit of zest. So I think it's going to come down to which AL Central Poison do you want to pick because they both have good cases in my opinion.

And I think whichever one I pick, I think Trev's taking the other one right after. And I'm going to let them, I'm going to put the pressure on you because if you don't take your boys with the six or the seven, I think you're going to hear some things because I'm going to take the Cleveland Guardians at number five. And I know that might be a shocking pick because they have the 11th hardest strength of schedule remaining. But here is what I'll say.

Last year, they went 46 and 44 in the first half. Kind of a sluggish first half, around 500, didn't really look like they were going to run away with anything. 46 and 26 in the second half. These are the young guys that I think are ready to make a run. they've played better ball recently. They've won eight of their last 12 games, so they're back at 500 now. I think a big X factor for them that they have been missing.

Every fifth day, they have not had Sticks McKenzie on the mound, and he should be back in August. So if Cleveland buys a little bit or stands pat, whatever it might be, and they add him back to that rotation, I think they're a weapon. And I think they have a pretty easy schedule

outside of the top heavy teams they have to play. They got 10 games against the roll, Royals, seven against the White Sox, seven against the Tigers. So if you beat the guys in your division that aren't the twins, I think you put yourself in a pretty good spot. And I kind of just believe in them because one of the AL Central teams kind of has to go. I don't really think there's going to be like an 81 game winner in the division. I think some team will step up and eventually take the crown.

And I think I'm betting on Cleveland over Minnesota. Sorry, Trev. You don't have to apologize to me. I think Cleveland, it could go either way for them, to be honest with you. If they're thinking about Shop and Shane Bieber, that's a huge blow to their cost. I don't know why they would. I've heard rumors of that. If I was the GM there, I'm not trading my guy when the division is up for grabs like this.

Look, the twins, I'm not taking out with my next pick. Wow. Just FYI, okay? Look, I cover this team. They have some real offensive problems right now. The pitching stuff is great. I mean, it's been one of, if not the best starting rotations in all of baseball. And you can't just say that all the time with the Twins organization.

So with this division up for grabs, I wouldn't trade those guys. We have a little bit of life from that Cleveland offense coming. You know, Nailer's been doing his stand. Josh Bell's, I think, I think been hitting a little bit better as of late. Jose Ramirez has kind of done his thing. Yep. and maybe some of those guys who were kind of heroes last year

maybe they pick it up in the second half as the adjustments get made looking at you Quanner out there so I like it we gotta have a wild card in the mix man we can't just be playing it safe all day and if it pans out

this is looking like a nice pick I'm probably gonna play it safe but I'm glad you did that on Cleveland and Shane Bieber stuff Like, I don't know. I understand that's the way they, like, do things. This is when they trade that guy. This is what Chris Rose always says.

This is when they do. I'm like, why? Like, they're a team that, like, kind of doesn't care about what you would think is happening this year. Like, they will do what's best for the organization. But like, I don't know.

Not like his numbers to this point in the season are like so standout that it's like, he's at an all time high value and like a team's going to be like all over themselves to do it. He's still probably the best pitcher that would be available if he is. Yeah. Probably. Golito.

It would be a weird time. If I were them, I wouldn't do it. And one more thing to the twins credit, Trev, you mentioned their rotation before. This is their best starting pitcher ERA staff since 2005, not counting 2020. So it's

literally the best in two decades. And they just can't and they can't fucking hit. Hit the ball right now. Hey Polanco back soon though. That is a bit, he's like the glue. Don't make this a talking twins, bro. I'm just saying, man. I don't get to talk a lot about AL Central ball in my time.

Come on. Heart and soul guy. So is this the sixth pick then? And I have two. You have six and seven right here. Oh, well, okay, the first pick I think is I guess you would consider it safe. If you just kind of look back into what happened last year with this team,

kind of the way they're going right now, I believe they are 19 and 11 in their last 20. It's a roster full of stars that have been performing decent. They have some room to grow. There's one guy in particular who was my second favorite player in the big leagues who hasn't performed up to standards. He's an investor in our company. I'm taking the Philadelphia Phillies, baby. this is go time for them.

Like I mentioned, the last 20 games, eight games over 500. The starting pitching has actually been pretty good. Taiwan Walker's kind of like turned it on. Ranger Swarres has done his thing. Wheeler's done his thing. Nola has been okay. I think he's got room for improvement.

I mentioned the lineup, there's some guys. Harper, I think, can still go a little bit better than he's gone. Castellanos has had a great year. He got named the All-Star team. So congrats to Castellanos. We didn't think he had a chance, but he made it. That's awesome. He's been low-key great this year.

Yes. 3-16 batting average didn't have that on the board for him. Yes. Tray Turner right now has an OPS plus of 88. What? 687. Regular old OPS, 304 on-base percentage. Like there's, he's going to go. He talked about a swing change, a mechanical adjustment with his,

leg kick kind of like getting back to that because that's what he that's how he feels comfortable. This is the team that I that last year turned it on in the second half. I think in June they started going as soon as Harper went out and Topper came in. They started winning a lot of baseball games. I could see the exact same thing happening to them. Again, I think well, they're not going to catch the brace. No. They're not going to catch the brace.

So they are going to have to go in the wild card round. They're not afraid of that because they just did that last year. But I think there is incentive for them. to play better ball to make sure that at the end of the season they're not scraping to get into the playoffs. They just want to kind of be able to set themselves up for that playoff round. I think that's important not to have to go full go at the end of the year.

So whether that means they add maybe a bullpen piece here or there. The bullpen's actually been decent in the back end. Like the higher leverage guys have been pretty good. But they want to be sitting there. there with like a week left saying we're in the playoffs. So let's start to get ourselves ready for this three-game playoff set that we're going to have to go through. So I'm taking the Phillies right now.

What did I say there? There are standings. Right now, Trevor, and 39. They are the other team I was considering with that four pick. I like what they're about, obviously, if you know, my history. Philly's infield, baby. Phillies infield, always believe. and just right now they're a game and a half

out of a wild card spot with two teams between them and a spot. So there is urgency there. They still have another gear they can turn on to and have like fully, fully bangor month. They had the second best record since the start of June.

The Braz are in first, 23 and 4 since June 1. Obviously. But the Phillies are 19 and 9 since June 1st. Second best record. I got two things on the fills. One, I think that if you add a starter to this team via trade, that takes them to a new level. Because they're one through four, we know them and love them.

They've been really good recently, especially. Their five has been shared by like Bailey Falter, Christopher Sanchez has four starts, Dylan Kovi, White Sox legend, he's got a start in there. If they can find a fifth guy to just give them 15 reliable starts in the second half, that changes the formula for them. And then my other thing is, without looking, where do you guys think that the Phillies rank per team home runs in baseball? Team homers.

Team homers. In my mind, I don't think they have a lot of homers. Because some of the slug is down. That would mean to me that they don't have a lot of homers. I'm going to go middle of the pack, John. I'm going to go 15th. 15th, peeps? Yeah, there's some gamesmanship of the question

where I'm like, well, I think you're asking because I'm going to be disappointed in them. I would have guessed they were a top 10 home or team, but let's say they're like 12th. I'll take an over on Treves number. Remember when you said the raise had eight different hitters with double-digit home runs? The Phillies have two,

and they are 18th in baseball for team home runs. So this is a team that literally mashed their way to the World Series last year. Every big moment they had came via the home run. And that, I think, is the key. They got to get guys to start slugging the ball again. I think they have more home games than away games in the second half. And that could work to their advantage. But yeah, only two dudes.

It's Castellanos and Schwerver. Now, Bryce Harper has three homers in 51 games. Which is nuts. And no one's talking about it. about it. That's crazy. I mean, he's playing injured.

He hasn't hit a home run since May 25th. And they've been playing fine, which is kind of scary. Like, if Bryce Harper goes, they could really go. Is he hurt?

What do you mean? He's playing injured. He just can't throw or, I know, but that's got to affect some capacity, right? I refuse to believe

that he's just swinging fine. I love my pick even more now. If they have not hit homers yet, Bryce specifically hasn't hit homers yet That's it's a good And his numbers are good outside of that And it would be way less And Schwabo went off in June like he always does

So he has 22 homers The next highest is 12 12 I mean homers are not everything But for the Philadelphia Phillies That is like their lifeline. That's their blood Coming into the year like there And what they were last year they were probably the team.

Everyone would say, pick one team that relies too much on homers or is going to really, is going to hit a ton of homers. And you probably would have said the Phillies. I wouldn't have said the race before the season. All right, let's get off the Phillies. Yeah, we're. Because I got a wrap-around pick here. And I think that this one is either going to make me look like a genius

or make me look stupid. Because there's some teams available. Just pick the twins. I'm not picking the twins. I'm sorry. not. Maybe not now. Maybe my last pick just for fun like Jake does. Like win-win. Um,

so I could pick the Reds who have just kind of like captured the baseball world by storm. Everyone knows what I feel about their starting pitching. We don't need starting pitchy, bro. Look at our offense. Okay, chill out, bro. You're not going to score 11 runs a game. They might. They might. They might.

They might. They could just do it. They could just do it. They're so much fun. to watch. The San Francisco Giants. I feel the same way. They're kind of just like a winning machine. They're going to win series. We like everything about the organization. The young guys have come up and really helped.

I don't love young teams. Even though this year seems like if you got a young fast team, you're going to win a bunch of ball games. The Diamondbacks are the same way. I'm not picking any of those dang teams right here. I'm pretty. I'm focused on

positive regression and I don't even know if that's a real term is it just regression? I would say you have to like regression

to the mean? Yeah. But in a good way. Yeah. So do you have to say positive? I guess so. Yeah.

Positive regression. Whatever. I'm taking the San Diego Padres here. Okay. Whoa. Yes.

Yes. The pitching has been too good. okay the struggle for this team has been offense their 20th in the league in run scored

but there's too much talent offensively for that to continue I got in my mind I got an offensive explosion ready to happen with the San Diego Padres

and if they can I mean they're looking Look at what they're doing right now. Like, they are looking up. They're in fourth place in the NOS, 38 and 46. Like, they have to go. There's,

they're not trading anyone. They have all these guys. They're just like the Braves. Everyone's locked up. It's not looking as pretty as the Braves. But like, they're not going anywhere. They just sign these guys to like 10 year deals, dude.

So this, they're going to be there. What's to say they're not going to add? Preller is like a freaking, that's all he wants to do is, I don't know how they're going to do it, but he'll find a way to make it happen. And not even that.

I just expect some of these guys to start hitting the ball better. I mean, right now, if you kind of, just look at their offense, I'd mention their 20th and run score, which is kind of like the end-all-be-all metric, got to score runs. Runs per game probably is a little bit better. I think they're really poor in that, like three-point-something runs per game.

That's not going to get it done. Juan Soto has been going off. People mention him. Could he be traded? I just, not with a year and a half. You just don't need to do that right now. I don't think you have to do it. If you think you can come back at all this year,

you keep Juan Soto. If next year he's not going to sign back with you, which he probably is not going to sign an extension, I don't believe. He'll wait to test free agency. You can find the trade market in the off season or later. But it's Fernando Tati's Jr. going off with a 140 OPS. Then right below him is Hassan Kim,

who's not really an offensive guy. like where you at zander where you're at manny machado jacroninworth where are you like these guys are going to get better their baseball cards suggest it so i'm going to take them to just play some better ball match what your pitching staff is done offensively if they get it going i think there's going to be a big second half for the podras i did not realize how good the podra's rotation has been despite the team being bad man they have a like a really good one through four right now, like a playoff contender, one through four. And there is a world where they could sell, like Blake Snell is a free agent, Josh Hader, free agent at the end of the year,

Nelson Cruz, let's go. But like when you talk about the Padres and the Metsu have had like eerily similar seasons and spending big and disappointing, one of them's got to go, right? It can't just be the end for both of them. And I'm not going to be a homer on talking baseball and pick my Mets. So with the Padres, yeah, if you have your All-Star Core 4 and only half of them are hitting, you'd expect the other half to eventually start hitting. And I know Machado has been injured. And Xander, I don't really have an answer.

But yeah, there's just no way this talented team is going to sell at the deadline and then just fade into obscurity. And even if it's not this year, like you said before, all these guys are locked up for the foreseeable future. Eventually things will click and the Padres will be back in the conversation. but they are a risky pick they're a risky pick and if they get off to like a

really bad or they end before the all story this last week coming up if they just go and have a horrible week like maybe that changes their mind and maybe they do trade those guys and they say let's just revamp next year we but they just they went all in you can't trade now dude like

yeah I just don't see that happening I was ready to consider them with one of my final two picks coming up. Just one, thought they'd be there for me to, like you said, I don't see them selling and they're too goddamn talented to just keep being this. So I figured second half they got to at least be okay. I don't know if they'll be good enough to get back to the playoffs. I mean, an important thing if we're talking about schedule is that their

path to the deadline is a little deadly because they have angels who have been playing good ball the Mets who are essentially the same team as them right now and then away for Phillies and Toronto and then you get a little bit of Rangers right before the deadline

so prove it up you got to prove it step it up I like that pick Travis that's a good one my risky pick of the day it's weird that has that one has the chance to go bad But I wanted to pick them too.

Let's recap. First overall pick Astros. Then it was the Dodgers. Then it was the Braves. Then it was Tampa. Then it was the Guardians. Then Philly and San Diego. So we are right now seven picks into this draft.

I got the eight. And I kind of want to get kooky again. You want to bring some kook to the mix. I kind of want to be kooky. But what about the Reds? I'm not picking the Reds. I really don't think I am. And if they prove us wrong, then cool.

I'm down. I'm excited about everything I've seen from those. I'm done with central teams. I did my central team. I'm good. You can't double up on the central. That's crazy. There are good teams to be had here.

The Diamondbacks are here. The Giants are here. The Baltimore Orioles are here. The Yankees are here. Blue Jays. A lot to choose from. but I'm going to go a little bit kooky. I am going to win over some talking baseball haters.

And I'm going to go with a team that has been bit in the ass, pardon my French, by injuries. They were doubted heavily going into the season and have still stayed afloat. And I think that they could shock some people in the second half because I don't think that they're going to give up on this season, despite the fact that they are currently in last place. And I am going to select the Boston Red Sox with the seventh pick in this draft. The Red Sox are due to get back Trevor's story this month as their DH, which I think is a much bigger deal than some people are making it out to be. Chris Sale advancing very quickly in his rehab could be back by early August.

He was really good after his first bad three starts. They got the 10th easiest strength of schedule remaining. They have 13 games against the A's and the Royals. That's a spot where you can go 10 and 3 and really change the trajectory of your season. I mentioned it before. Path to the deadline is important with some of these middling teams. Their path, Rangers, scary, sure. A's, Cubs, A's, Mets.

That seems like a formula to be. maybe get four or five games over 500 and convince yourself that you could be a buyer. And if the Red Sox buy, there's a lot of pieces they can add that will really shape up their team because they got start talent in areas where it matters. The main thing, as it always kind of has been, has been the rotation. If they can get good starting pitching, I truly believe this team can be a wild card team. The tough part is you play in the ALE East. It helps that you've gone 12 and 1 against the Yankees and the Blue Jays,

who are the two teams right in front of you that you are trying to jump. It's a risky pick, but I kind of believe in the Boston Red Sox and they got through the tough part with all those injuries. And I think that that's going to matter in the second half.

That is not who I thought you were going to say. I thought you were going to go with the Cardinals. I was like, whoa, that blows up the whole episode. Everyone's out of the Cardinals. I like it. I like it. And I think, you know,

we see this team and the, offensive potential and you mentioned that this has been the starters Bayo's looked incredible. Paxons looked really good Hunter Crawford I think is another guy that's like holding his own in the rotation but then other than that Jolly it's it's a dicey pick

because you're banking on Chris Sale coming back maybe somebody else like figuring some stuff out but and then maybe they have to add I'm into it I like rooting for the Red Sox because I do feel like consistently that they're underrated or like kind of like just not talked about enough in this division in particular in this year in particular and they are in last place so I guess

that makes sense but I like the strength of schedule we just talked about and I think that some of these guys on this roster and this could just be in my mind I feel like there's a lot of guys that play with a chip on their shoulders and kind of like where they're at right now. And they can be talking amongst themselves being like, we're going to go get this dang thing in the second half. And that's what this show is all about right now. So I like it. Yeah.

I mean, it's not, uh, I don't like rooting for the red socks. Uh, it's not a, what teams are going to make the playoffs draft. It's, it's about just racking up wins and making a push. Uh, and I, I, I don't. see that zero for them. I believe in the core of this lineup, they get five dudes OPS in over 800, which I think is any team's best formula for winning games.

But yeah, if this is going to pan out, they got to buy at the deadline, and they got to get a starter because there's not many guys to take up those innings. But I'm telling you, if this is a team where if you can get five from your starter, you have a shot at winning every day. If the Red Sox can do that,

I'm not going to bet again. I'm looking at what they're ranked right now offensively in some of these categories because I do like the lineup a lot. Okay. Yeah, they're a top tier offense right now and a lot of metrics. Eighth and runs. Sixth or excuse me, seventh and OPS. Okay.

I like it, Jolly. How do I thought you were going to say? Let's have fun. Let's have fun. But what about the Reds? But what about the Reds? Close. Red Sox.

The Giant. fans are going to be all those. Oh, they're upset. The beavers, I don't know. You got two picks here to end your draft. Two picks here and I think I found one of them. There's some, I'm going to have to take

there's an element of I feel like, am I playing this too safe? Do I, is that what? Am I having zero fun with this draft? I don't get on here very often. I got to have fun. Yeah. Got to have fun. I think my final two

picks fall under the safe-ish category, but the first of these picks I'm going to make, there's some risk-reward there, and Reds fans are going to hate me. I think I'm going to take the Milwaukee Brewers. Whoa, not what I was expecting. At all.

I think I'm going to grab them with this pick. It'll make my last pick, I think, look better. You can game the graphic there a little bit. Gaming the graphic. That's what I... Tell me why, Jolly. Or, excuse me, Beavers. Tell me why. They are still currently in a playoff or one game out of a playoff spot in the mix.

They are close behind. They are tied for the division lead. So one game back of a wild card spot. They are the team coming into this year. You were picking between them or the Cardinals and they've for the most part been the team we think they'll be. And there's some upward, be expected just a little more from them. They've been over the last several years, one of the better run organizations.

I believe them to make some smart ad at the deadline. Don't know what it will be. They just have some natural... I think they'll keep going. They'll at least be this good in the second half. And if another team fully takes over, whether that's the Reds or someone else comes in and surprises us, sure.

the division can be taken from them, but I think they will at least be pretty good. They got a lot of interdivision games still to play 10 against the Cubs, 9 against the Reds. What about the Reds? I know. This is an interesting pick for me because every year we want them to add a bat at the deadline,

and every year I feel like we're pretty much disappointed. right now the offense still isn't really there 24th and runs 27th and OPS Yeli's had a decent year he's kind of doing his thing a little bit they're like

here's I'll give you some I'll give you some positives for your pick okay 17 and 13 in their last 20 they've beat up on the teams they need to beat up on they play really well against teams under 500 14 and 5 in 1 run

games what you kind of expect from a brewer's team. I feel like that's kind of their type of baseball. I just, I put a lot of stock into the brewers almost every single year, and I kind of get disappointed every single year. Feels like we get like 80 cents on the dollar back. Yeah.

All right, I didn't lose all my money, but this didn't overperform. When they're good, it's so fun. There's great fans in this. Milwaukee. It's a great ballpark. I think this is a really fun team. We know some of the guys on the squad.

When Willie Adomas is going, I don't think there's a hotter guy in baseball. When he's going off, having fun, that seat jolly's in, and he kind of got me going a little bit. Missed him. Sad about it. Brewer. So here's the thing. You did your central pick, which I

think is good. Trevor, you had something? Yes. You want to play the OPS Plus game. You know, we like guys overhunge. We like a lot of guys overhers. Preferably like five or six on your team. The Braves have 30. Right now. Braes have 40.

They have three. Christian Yellich is the tops with a 123 sitting at 808 OPS. Decent year. Good for Yelly. Decent year. William Contreras 109. Owen Miller 103. Hey, catcher spot.

We've talked about the value you can get added there by that guy being competent. The thing that worries me is that I don't think they're going to add, even though this is kind of a, it's a scary year for the brewers because the future is a little uncertain with some of their bigger pieces. But I really liked the offseason they had. I thought Winker would bounce back. I thought Teles would keep doing his thing. And those two haven't gone.

Willie Adomas has hit in 2003. And what do you bet on more? Do you bet on those things to turn around or for things that have gone right to go wrong? because like Julio Tehran is their best starter right now. Wade Miley. Insane. Nobody ever talks about those two guys. And like those,

that's their one too. Do you expect that to continue? Personally, I don't. But it's also, are you betting on the brewers or the Reds to win the Central? My brain kind of says brewers. My heart definitely says reds.

Oh, hearts are on the Reds. Yeah. What about the Reds? So I like the pick if you're going to make a central pick. But it's not where I thought you were going to go, honestly. The flip side to,

what we're saying on the pitching end. Corbyn Burns clearly has another level. He can catch. Freddie Peralta, I think we all believe in to have some more juice in there. Even Adrian Houser, I think he's been okay, but he has more in the tank there. They can go,

and their bullpen, the guys on the list look pretty good, so there's a tier there. Routing Willie Adamas, I do believe in to do more. Oh, Winker, I was hoping for a bounce back. The numbers haven't been good yet. We like him, though. He was really nice when he was done this,

uh, this show. So I think there's enough guys that have like big bounce back potential and like another level they, they should be able to get to the rest of the way, uh, that we've seen the ballsy pick. That's a ballsy pick.

Couple of ballsy picks this round. I like it. We got, we got kooky in the third, but you know, we're at a point in the draft. We're going to all have to make a ballsy pick. And I think last round.

I think last round in my last pick, it's less ballsy. Uh, I will take the Texas Rangers. Okay. While I do believe in Houston, they have a great chance to catch them. I don't think it's because the Rangers are going to fall off a wagon or something. They're a team with a lot of guys and they're an organization with a ton to prove.

They've already done one big trade. They needed to firm up that bullpen. They add a roll as Chapman this weekend and get the trade juices flowing. I'm taking the Texas Rangers. We've been on them basically since they proved anything to start this. year that team pitches and hits they're really good and they have one of the 10 easiest schedules remaining this year based on the website i'm looking at so 23rd hardest schedule which would be 7th or 8th easiest math so i am on the texas rangers uh to to i think shore up my my brewer's pick

i like it's an excellent pick yeah i I mean, a lot of the last round, and that helps the graph. Yeah. You game the system. Look at this. Look at, I mean, look, Peebers, this is why the, and this is a second half show. We're talking about. Not what you have done what you're going to do, but what they've done is so impressive.

Second and OPS. Third in whip for their starters, sixth in whip for their relievers, and they just added Chapman, like you said. So this is, we talk about that. The brave is kind of like being a wagon. I mean, statistically, this is wagon-esque. Yes. And what they've been able to do is very, very, very impressive egg all over my face. I said, I got to see how this clubhouse comes together and all these guys, how they mix?

Well, they mix great. It's like a fucking Long Island iced tea. It's disgusting when you actually think about it. But when you put it together, it actually tastes really good. It doesn't taste like any of this bad stuff. Yeah. I mean, and they've had, you know, we all kind of didn't notice. They've been sneaky since June.

So they've gotten some bad out of their system. They identified that and have already begun to add. And they're a hungry, hungry team. They've got some guys locked in long term that want to contend. Their lineup is so good, man. They're so good. They're one through eight. Are all 120 opus plus or better?

120. Plenty. Like, is, honest question, I don't even know if I can say that, but like, is their lineup better than the Braves right now? Because, like, that's, that's a fun World Series matchup if you're an objective fan and just want to see two teams slug it out. But they're also pitching really well without DeGrom. Like, Nate Ievaldi is a Cy Young candidate. Like, no exaggeration. 17 starts 2, 6, 4, 10 wins, two complete games.

Andrew Hini's been good. Dane Dunning, who they, they. got for Lance Lynn has been excellent. I'm not going to bet against this team. The one thing that that stood out to me, they're 21 and 22 against winning teams. So they got to start beating the big boys in the American League. They're going to get some of those matchups.

They do have an easier schedule in the second half, but they still got seven with Houston, and you're not going to win the West unless you beat Houston. And I think they lost two or three this weekend, if I'm not mistaken. I think so. They've still... Or is there one more? I think they might have a wrap round.

I think I saw it today. Rangers are really good. They're good. And they get a Houston series out of the way before the second half. You would you say 20 and 21 and 22 against teams or five? That's not that bad. It's not bad. I don't think it's something you say, hey, that's ruining their season.

Because if you play 500 ball against those teams and beat up on the lesser teams, you're going to have a really good season. Right now the teams you'd expect to be good are good in that. metric 28 and 17 for the raise 26 and 16 for the Braves. Then there's the giants sitting there at 23 and 18 against teams above 500 so

I like the pick it's a value pick if you've ever seen a value pick you know how to game the graphic. Beaver's has done these draft before I like. A nice draft for Beers to recap for you. You went Braves you went Tampa

then you went Milwaukee Milwaukee, which was the head scratcher a little bit, and then you redeemed yourself with the Rangers. You were playing the graphic game. I think you were thinking of it. So you have just taken all the good teams, and then the Brewers.

Yeah, we're just going to have to take one chance. And I knew I wanted an NL if I was going to go Rangers at the end. So I didn't want to like double up on another AL East. I don't know. So I got to go safe to end here, I think, because I've had a funky draft. There's three teams.

There's three teams. People are going to yell at us if they don't get taken. Honestly, I think there's as high as, I think there's as high as five teams that you could, that you could take. Possibly.

I think like 27 fan bases. One of them might not have a fan base that really fucks with our show or any show. I thought about the Marlins. So Trev Tees did a little bit because I think I'm going to lean towards one of the teams

that have played much better ball recently. They have a good record against winning teams, and they're right in the middle of that dog fight in the West. I'm sorry to any Snakes fans out there because I'm not taking the Arizona Diamondbacks. For my last pick, I'm going to take the San Francisco Giants. I want to get a little NL blood in here. They have the 16th easiest, or I guess hardest.

They're right in the middle for their strength of schedule remaining. But the interesting thing with me is that they have 10 games against the Rockies. seven games against the A's and Nats, and then seven against Trevor Ploof's San Diego Padres, which I think will be very interesting, because who knows, maybe the Padres have sold by then. The Giants, though,

looking very, very good. I really like what they've done with their rotation. The lineup is a little bit interesting because a lot of trust is being placed in some of the younger guys, but I don't know if you guys have watched Patrick Bailey play baseball. He is very, very good at baseball. Tyra Strata doing his thing. Conforto they should get back soon. He's injured. I like a lot of the pieces here. I don't know if they're

going to win the National League West. I'd still put my money on the Dodgers there, but I would not bet against the bullpen that's got Camila Duval, Tyler Rogers, all those names back there, Jacob Junis, who Jimmy really likes. Don't know the origin there. And then their team rankings right now, kind of all either top 10 or top 15, so they're a very well-rounded team, which I think works in their favor as well. And I just got to watch them play against my Mets. And we did take the series, but I do still think that if the Giants put their best guys out there and had everyone healthy, they look like a much better team than they did last night on Sunday night baseball. So they're going to be my last pick. Get some National League blood in there.

Almost went Diamondbacks, but I ended up going San Francisco. I watched that series between those two teams, and it was like so much fun and just good baseball being played. And whenever I talk about the Giants, I'm like, you know, it's hard to put your finger on, you know, why they've been able to be good. They're kind of, it's spread out throughout the team. Like you have, yeah, high leverage, really good end of the bullpen options. And then, you know, I'll mention some offense pieces. And then the things that Giants fans will always say is, you don't even know about the young guys that have come up and what they've done for our team. And you didn't need them.

I'm like, okay, dude, the young guys have come up and provided some energy, a jolt, if you will. Bailey, yes, he's been fantastic. Who was supposed to be their guy? It was a Bart. Joey Bart. He was supposed to be this guy. come up and be posy. And then you got Sable, who was there kind of as like an extra catcher, but he's been all

over the place playing a little bit outfield as well. But I like it. They just win games. Yeah. I think that they're, I think that they're coached well. I think that some of these young guys that come up and provided a spark. I think there's enough veteran leadership for them to go and do things to keep them like on course throughout a 162.

So I like it. There's a lot of, there's a lot of reasons why the Giants are good. They need a starter. I think because Logan Webb's been Logan Webb. Alex Cobb's been really good. Like all-star candidate worthy. But if they're going to add, I think that's where they're going to add. I think they're going to get another big name at the top of their rotation to help out their bullpen.

That's been pretty good. Yeah. I do like the Giants and a lot of their, a lot of their players, their team that I've been, I've had a weird bias against a lot of this year because I like a lot of what they do. they had the most pieces I would have been interested in a team I don't know like the Yankees looking into at a deadline

if they fell apart and they just never fell apart so I've been kind of mad at them for being too good and I've uh so they've been a little bit of a dark spot for me uh I could not bring myself to draft it's a little recency bias for me just watched them play but I like the way to look I think they're good and they've

it's been an extended period of good play so last pick I should have thought about this as I went one overall that all of this shows what word am I looking for credibility is on my hands now

because here's some teams that we haven't taken in this draft the Baltimore Orioles who right now are sitting at 49 and 33 with a 598 winning percentage say what you want about one of the hardest schedules their team in their roster

they have a hard schedule Sometimes you look at their pitching staff, you're like, okay, we'll see, but this is a team that just wins games. We have the Miami Marlins, who have not been picked. We have the Cincinnati Reds, two upstart teams who have kind of come out of nowhere and just done really, really well as of late. The Yankees have not even been mentioned. We're getting Carlos Rodan back. The thing I think that scares everyone is, what's the timeline on judge? Until I have that, I can't feel good about it.

You know? You think the Blue Jays will be in the conversation. They're sitting at 45 and 40. All that talent on that roster, they should be, it should be, they should have a better record. Yep. They should be playing better ball.

And I've seen them play and they're a really good team. And I don't. So sometimes it's just baseball happens. Yeah. So I have the credibility of the show in my hands right now. Come on, Trev. Come on. I know where your heart is.

I know where it is I'm not picking the Mariners sorry you guys I'm out on you are they dead are they dead nope I don't know

maybe maybe they're not that feels the angels are another team that I'm heavily considering with my pick because Mike Trout just came out and said the best thing that we can do to keep Shohei

is make the freaking playoffs if that is not a message to your front office to go make sure we make the playoffs. Yeah, it's ticking. The clock is ticking.

And I don't know what if this if the best player so far in franchise history is telling you that, you better listen. Now, Shohay's, maybe he's not going to have enough time to be the best player in franchise history. Oh, I'm all over the place right now, guys.

Overlorn by choice, man. You got too many. good options here. It's like I'm at Cheesecake Factory and I open the menu up and what are you supposed to do? Too extensive a menu. I, uh,

while you do your final thinking, I can discuss the Yankees a little bit. Like I, in consideration, because I don't know, they survived, they had one good month. They survived the two other months and the,

and I think they should have at least one more good month in the second half on the plate for them. No idea when judges back. They, on paper can survive and go 500 and not fall apart. I didn't believe in them more than the teams I picked. In the second half,

the New York Yankees have 20 games against the combination of the Rays, Orioles, and Astros. Yeah, they haven't done any Astros yet. Spooky. Yankees are such a mind-bender as a guy that takes them in every single time. Treyf picked the twins.

Come on. I'm not picking the twins. I'll tell you what I want to pick. I want to pick the Baltimore Orioles. as between them and Rangers last That's between them and Giants Last last I like the Baltimore Orioles I like their lineup a lot

I like the way they can score runs I mentioned that I'm I've been just I'm iffy on the starting pitching But sometimes you just don't need it If you just get a little bit of length Doesn't have to be great You know Bullpen's been really good for them this year

And like are they gonna add That's that's my that's the one thing I want to look to the few and say, are you going to add and really go for it? That was like the deciding factor for me because I don't think that they're going to add like an impact piece. I think this is the team. And this team could get to the playoffs, assuredly, but I think this is the roster. They played 49 and 33.

How much room is there to improve on that record is also what I'm considering. I think right now I'm considering the Orioles and the Reds. and I'm going to go with the Orioles. Okay. I'm going to go with the Orioles. Gosh, it pains me to not pick the Reds because I know what they're going to say in the comments. They're just going to go after our credibility. But this is a, I'm trying to win this draft, people.

And I've talked to my boy Kyle Gibson about this locker room, about this clubhouse. And I know the Reds probably have a great clubhouse as well. It really seems like they do. But I'm going to take the Orioles to, to, to, continue their winning ways. I like this lineup a lot. I do. I mean, their bullpen is so good.

I mean, they just got named multiple all-stars for the first time since I think 2016. That year could be wrong, but as a team multiple alsars? As a team multiple also. And I think they have like four because it was awesome. Hayes and Adley. They have multiple in the bullpen before any

replacements. Yenir Cano, Felix Paltista, that's a formula. Especially if you add one more reliever on top of that. I mean, that is, that's hard because it's like what I said with the Red Sox. If you can get five from your rotation, who by the way, there have been some nice standouts in that rotation.

Tyler Wells has been really, really good this season. I think he still leads baseball and whip, if I'm not mistaken, which Trev, I know you love whip. Yeah, 0.885, Tyler Wells. How about that?

So they got pieces. They're good, they're good too. Yeah, be go. Let's go, man. Take this team to the Promise land. Win me this draft. Let's just do a recap real quick. It went Astros.

It went Dodgers. It went Braves. it went Tampa, it went Guardians, it went Phillies Oh excuse me we're doing wraparounds Sorry We went Astros, Dodgers, Braves Tampa, then Milwaukee

And then the guard Am I totally messing this up? I mean that's the order we did Your team Your teams Treve you had Astros, Phillies, Padres Orioles Jolly

you had Dodgers, Guardians Red Sox Giants And I had the Braves Rays, Brewers and Rangers I believe we all three of us got two AL, 2NL, that's cute. I love that, good for us.

I like that a lot. We love all teams and all leagues. I think notable emissions would be Diamondbacks, definitely notable. Blue Jays, Yankees. They're going to be so mad at us. Diamondbacks, Reds,

Blue Jays, Yankees, although I think we're all agree. We don't know when judges are coming back. Treve, you kind of inspired me with that Angels talk, too. I was kind of surprised you didn't pick them. I was getting inspired. That was like my thought process I'm picking the angels at the last pick

Picking the Angels the last pick The Angels the last pick because they Have the incentive to go out there And just be this juggernaut But I don't know man I thought about I thought about them With one of my later picks And too many of us on this show

Have gotten burned by buying Angels stock And I I don't need to be the first one to nail it No twins No Marlins Are you guys going to add a bat? or the twins going to add a bat? I don't think so.

I think they might just draw from within. We have some guys of AAA waiting there. Jorge Polonk when he's come back. A lot of stuff happening. That's a great draft right there. Second half drafts to get some snaps to ourselves. Hope you guys enjoyed that. We're going to end the show quickly

because I do have to go to baseball today. Oh, yeah. I want to give a little story. Teddy's been playing on his All-Star team, and we're going to these tournaments and you see all sorts of dead. You see the, my favorite dad, I think, is the dad that like sets up like it's a freaking tailgate. They all got their easy ups.

They got the tables. They got like they're like grilling meat. They're just making a setup of it. I love that. These are the all in dads. They're just there to have a good time. Love that about them. Another round of dads is like kind of like living vicariously through their son dads.

Don't love these ones. They're like yelling and they're like really, really invested in the game. game and the outcomes. Mind you, these are seven-year-olds. Don't love those dads, but there's a lot of them. The third dads are the coach dads who, you know, there's a mixed bag for me there. Some of the coaches are really good. I played against the team in this tournament. I'm not going to say when, so you guys can't go research it. Didn't love the way they approached the game. I didn't love the way they were talking to their players. Didn't love the way they were talking to our players. It's like, come on, guys. Like, this is, it won't. It will.

wasn't fun. I bit my tongue guys. I was ready to say some things to them, but it's like lose-lose situation for me. I just have to say even keeled at the baseball park. Now the last group of dads who man, I've never seen them before. It's a new group of dads for me.

I'm going to call him the alpha dads. We're out there and it's hot, man. Sun's out. All of a sudden I look over and I see a shirtless dad. Oh. And then I see

another shirtless dad and then I see a gaggle of shirtless dads about six of them is coordinated my first thought was whoa guys like what is going on and then I saw

something that made me change my mind all the moms looking over at the shirtless dad and these guys give them credit they look good. So you're the dad bad.

So we're like, you know, me and a couple dads on the team are like, hey, like what the way? We're like getting out alphaed right now. We have our shirts on. TARPs are on.

Their tarps are off. And all the moms are looking at it. And they're all like, oh, that's weird. Why do they have their shirts off? I'm like, well,

you're looking. They're getting what they want. Turns out these guys were from like Seal Beach. So they're beach going dads. They're used to having their shirts off. but they just totally alphaed the rest of us. It made me think, do I have to take my shirt off? But then if I take my shirt off, now I'm copying them.

So I can't do that. I'm in a hole. My hands are tied. You guys win the tournament. I mean, you got to save the shirt off pole for like when the team's down eight nothing and they need something. Me and this one guy, coach James,

I call him. We were going to take tarps off and get out there and try to like, you know, he's a good looking dude. He's in shape. My body's okay right now. I'm not in prime physical feek but like we lost the game bro there was too many of them

the rest of dads on our team probably couldn't pull it off it would have shirtless dads man shirtless dads blue moons in hand that's what you need they probably

take it home shout out seal beach beavers hit the music what a way to end the show I don't get out alpha that off and I'm not and I'm not trying to to elf anybody but these guys just It made me think

It made me think Jake sucks Yeah I'm thinking about shirtless dads now I love shirts I thought of Jake when I saw the shirts off I was like God Jake would love guys

Jake might as well be a dad Ace It's a good draft Hey people Second half is coming up All-Star games coming up Go get your tickets Clayton Churchill

We're in Seattle Everyone on this show I'm