Mid season frustration!

What's it like to experience the Appalachian League All-Star festivities firsthand? Dallas Danger shares his memorable moments from the Home Run Derby, Skills Competition, and the Celebrity Softball Game featuring stars like Kirby Cannell and Rick Ankiel. From humorous anecdotes of young players missing the home plate to the desire to join a celebrity softball game themselves, this episode kicks off with a perfect blend of nostalgia and laughter. We then transition to major league discussions, highlighting the Dodgers' upcoming roster reinforcements, including the return of Mookie Betts and Max Muncy, and the impact of recent trades, filling us with optimism for the upcoming games.

The episode takes a heated turn as we delve into the frustrations surrounding the Cubs' recent trades and management decisions. With Brian Logan leading a passionate rant, we scrutinize Jed Hoyer's strategy and the questionable acquisitions that seem to harm more than help the team. The intense discussion covers the impact on team morale and future performance, leaving listeners with a sense of shared exasperation over missed opportunities and dubious trade moves. This part of the episode captures the raw emotions of true baseball fans grappling with the decisions of their team's management.

Finally, we pivot to heartwarming moments and historical milestones in baseball. We celebrate the retirement of Layla, Clearwater Threshers' beloved 13-year-old bat dog, and her touching farewell celebration. The joy continues as we recount Jackson Holliday's and Travis Buzana's historic home runs, adding a touch of magic to the episode. Wrapping up, we dive into the recent MLB trades and their implications for the teams involved, from the Dodgers' new additions to the strategic moves by the Royals. This episode promises a rollercoaster of emotions, from passionate rants to nostalgic celebrations, making it a must-listen for all baseball enthusiasts.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:20

Hello everyone, welcome inside the Three Crows studio here in lovely Morristown, tennessee. This is Two Guys Talking Baseball. My name is Dallas Danger. I'm joined, as always, by my best friend and colleague, brian Logan, and we'll get to Brian in a minute. He's got quite a bit to get off his chest, so I'm going to kind of take the brunt of the early talking here and let brian get uh get prepared for what he's about to unload onto your under your ears get, get myself composed, so to say um, you know, I want to go ahead at the very top and say I'm sorry for the language, because brian's probably going to get a little, a little.

Speaker 1: 1:00

Uh, he's, he's not happy. He's not happy today, so happy today. So we're just going to let him get it off his chest. If you haven't noticed from the title of this episode, we have some frustrations, mid-season frustrations, that we want to get off our chest, and we will do that today. But before we get into that, I want to apologize for us missing last week. We didn't do an episode last week, won't get do an episode last week. Won't get into the details because it's not important to your lives, but Brian and I both just had a week last week. Yeah, it was just tough on both of us and we just decided we put it off and put it off, and put it off two, three days and finally we just said you know what, let's just take the week off, won't hurt anything. We hate doing that, but we just really needed the week. So we're back and we're refreshed, ready to go. Yeah, we're ready to go. We're ready to talk baseball, we're ready to talk Major League Baseball trade deadline. And that's going to segue me into a couple things.

Speaker 1: 2:01

First off, I went to the Appalachian League All-Star Festivities. By the time you hear this it's probably been about two weeks. It was Monday and Tuesday of last week as we were recording the Home Run Derby Skills Competition and Celebrity using that term very loosely Celebrity Softball Game. Basically, if your company gave enough money to the team, you got to be on the on the celebrity softball team. It was kind of how that worked, but it was cool. Uh did get to see kirby canal from the national champion, tennessee volunteers yeah, that's right, a little softball, surprising, didn't, didn't, didn't? You know? They didn't really advertise who was going to be in this celebrity game, so we didn't know. We just thought, you know, be local news anchors and radio djs, which it was. But we get there and kirby cannell's on one team and then rick ain't kill.

Speaker 1: 2:50

Uh, very famous in johnson city baseball. Lore, not once but twice, was a johnson city cardinal when they were the rookie uh affiliate of the st louis cardinals, once as a pitcher and then, um, I think he had the yips for a little while. I mean he was bad, I mean he was, he was. He went from like a star pitcher to being pretty much out of the game and then went all the way back from the bottom to the majors again as a hitter and outfielder, and so that was. It was very cool to see rick and kill back in johnson city, um, as part of the festivities. Now he um his first at bat. He put a slow pitch softball off the wall in right field nice, so he's staying in pretty good shape. Yeah, uh, he looked very. He still looked like an athlete, looked like he could go out there and compete today if he really wanted to. Um, and with that I'm going to look up how old Rick Enkel is.

Speaker 2: 3:43

Well, yeah, I mean that's cool that they all got out there and that you got to see the national champions, one of their teammates, and those celebrity softball games are always fun, because if the players take it about halfway seriously, you don't want them to take it full seriously, right, but you want them to play just enough to where they can screw it up yeah, well, it was cool because there were a couple of kids I don't know whose kids they were, how they got on the team, but there were a couple like kids, like like still in school, yeah, um type of kids and then one of them at one point missed the bag, okay, and so the whole crowd is going.

Speaker 1: 4:22

He missed the bag, he didn't touch home plate, blah, blah. So he literally came back, took took off, running from the dugout back towards home plate and did a flip onto and landed on home plate. Nice, spectacular, fantastic, um. So so that was very cool. Um, to see, you know, just, you know it was loose and everybody hanging out and there's not much. You know it's different than a normal ballpark experience. You know, where you care who wins or you're trying to pay attention to the game, there's a lot of loose, you know. Hang time, downtime.

Speaker 1: 4:56

I'm sure beer sales were great that night.

Speaker 2: 4:59

We need to get involved with a celebrity softball game man. That's what we need to do. We need to get out there and play.

Speaker 1: 5:07

Yeah, so if you're listening or watching, tell your friends, so our viewer count can get high enough that we can be considered half-ass celebrities.

Speaker 2: 5:16

Well, my family and my other friend says it's spectacular. Well, good, that's great, that's great.

Speaker 1: 5:23

I mean we're pleasing the audience we do have yeah yeah.

Speaker 1: 5:27

So, anyway. So then after that was the skills competition, which basically was throwing. Outfielders threw to home. They had big, like you know the big like industrial trash cans. Well, like the big trash can like you've got in your kitchen, right, you know the big barrel trash can they put one of those upside down and put like a bucket, like a five-gallon bucket on top of that. So you got like five points if you hit the big bucket and ten points if you hit the little bucket. Yeah, so outfielders threw from right field into home and then they had infielders throw from shortstop to first okay, and then they had catchers throw down to second base and the winner was actually johnson city doughboys own chase bloomer, one of my favorite players, one of their all-stars, okay, um, plays a little bit all over the infield, really solid, uh, really solid young player. So that was cool. Then the main event of the evening, of course, was the Home Run Derby and another Johnson City Doughboy, gunnar Boree, who goes to Brown, which is like a whole thing. We could talk all day about a guy playing that high a level of baseball going to an ivy league school. Yeah, that's impressive, yeah, um, but anyways, he got all the way to the finals.

Speaker 1: 6:51

Um, there was some weather. He in in his first round at bat. The storm was kind of blowing in and he was not doing well, so they they got everybody off the field a little bit of a delay, maybe 30, 45 minutes, while they let the storm pass. So we're all just sitting in the stands and Johnson City is great because it's pretty covered. I mean, we still got a little wet, but not as bad as it could have been. The good news is people rushed to get into the bleachers rather than rush to get to the concourse, so everybody's crowded on the concourse trying to stay dry. But after the delay they let him start over, which I thought was fair, and he made his way into the next round and then into the finals on a tiebreaker and by the time he got to the finals a good portion of the Doughboys players who were not All-Stars were in the stands in the season ticket seats down on the net cheering him on, and for the finals they ended up going down on the field. It was really cool to see all his teammates come out and support him.

Speaker 1: 7:58

He ended up losing in the finals to Michael Callen-Moss, who is a monster to begin with and broke a single-round record for the Appalachian League Home Run Derby, which has only been a thing for a few years, but still, he hit first in the finals, put up 16 points and that was a record. And of course, gunnar, just you know how do you follow a guy who just set a record. Oh, I'm going to go out here and break the record again. It's a tough hill to climb, you know, especially when he had hit. You know quite a bit more than callan moss had number one. He had a tiebreaker, um, which was an extra 30 seconds of hitting, but he also went almost a full two minutes. That didn't count because the storm blew in. So, um, you know, impressive nonetheless. And he's not really a home run hitterter, he's more of a line drive hitter. He hit nine or ten in a row at one point. That would have been base hits, easy, but you've got to get them up in the air and get them out in the home run derby. So that was a lot of fun. We really had a good time.

Speaker 1: 8:58

And then the following night, the All-Star game, which was also very fun very cool, packed house. The All-Star game, which was also very fun, very cool, packed house the Monday festivities, you know, decent attendance but nothing crazy. But the All-Star game, it was packed and there were several girls' softball teams. Apparently I didn't realize this until that night some national championship softball tournament was in johnson city. So they told they apparently because I sat next to one of the coaches for a little while that night and talked to him, but they apparently the organizer of the tournament told him hey, go and you'll get in, your team will get in for free if you want to go, take your team to see this. And so the the girls that were the teams that did attend. They were down on the field for the player introductions of the national anthem, which was super cool, you know. Give them a nice big moment to add to their national championship experience, because these girls are from all over the place, you know, all over the country. So, yeah, just a really fun night. Got to see Rintaro Sasaki play he. Just a really, really fun night. Got to see Rintaro Sasaki play. He actually drove in the eventual game-winning run for the West All-Stars Nice and got to look up the young man's name who won the MVP. He had a great game, played a really, really impressive third base, made some nice plays, hit a home run, just really dominant performance, especially in an all-star game. As I scroll, brody Johnston. Brody Johnston starting third baseman for the West All-Stars and was named the MVP Nice. So a really great couple of days.

Speaker 1: 11:01

I live in Johnson City so I go to a lot of games there at tva credit union ballpark, home of the doughboys, and you know, obviously, when I'm not in johnson city, most of my away games are usually appalachian league, because it's they're all the closest. Uh, you, you know, everything's within. Uh, I think four hours for me is the longest drive. I think Danville and Burlington get to be about four hours. But, um, yeah, really, really, really impressed with the league. Um, they did a fantastic job. Um, you know the dough boys did a great job hosting. Um, you know it was. It was a great. It was a great, uh, great couple of nights at the ballpark and I'm really glad that I was able to attend.

Speaker 1: 11:45

Um, uh, didn't didn't take a lot of pictures and video, just cause I'm not the type of person to do that. I know that's probably not the best quality in a, in a podcast host, but I like to live in the moment. But I did take a few pictures and if you want to see uh, want to see those there on our Twitter, at 2GTB pod, I made a post with four or five pictures that I took, a couple of Rintaro and then just some general on-the-field stuff through the netting. So, yeah, so I just wanted to give a shout-out to the Appalachian League, because I always want to shout-out the Appy League. It's my home league and always has been and always will be, probably, and I just want to give them kudos for such a good job with the all-star festivities. Um, that season is wrapping up this week and switching into playoff mode. I think the happy league playoffs start tonight.

Speaker 1: 12:36

Okay, but uh, pivoting to our major league affiliations, which are pretty obvious today, as they are most of the time, uh, I'm, I'm, I'm a little frustrated with the dodgers, but not in the same way that brian is going to convey his frustration with his beloved cubs. Um, we're just at a point talking about the dodgers, where the squad that's on the field every day right now is not the squad that's going to be on the field in a couple of weeks. In addition to adding, at the trade deadline, which we'll get into more specifically here in a minute, the Dodgers have several injured players who are on their way back. We currently have three relievers rehabbing in AAA that are going to be on the roster when their rehab assignment's done they're going to be on the big league roster, their big league arms. So you know that's exciting. Mookie Betts is getting very close. You know he's taking some swings, taking BP, and we're looking at maybe two weeks on Mookie Betts.

Speaker 1: 13:46

And then yesterday it was reported that Max Muncy, who's been dealing with an oblique, saw a chiropractor and they quote, crossed a hurdle in his rehab, which is very encouraging because we've not heard much good out of that lately. Stagnant was the last we heard on his rehab. Here's the thing you can say what you want about Max Muncy. There's a lot of people that discount him because of certain numbers, numbers that don't really matter in the way he plays the game. But they look at it and go, oh well, he bats under 200 or he doesn't bat 250. It's like, well, yeah, but he hits 30 home runs every year and gets on base because he's got one of the best eyes in all of baseball. You know he draws walks, he gets on base, um.

Speaker 1: 14:32

But ever since he went down with injury, the Dodgers have been atrocious at third base. We have we're 30th in major leagues and pretty much every offensive category from the third base position since Max went down. So you know he's not going to be the worst hitting third baseman when he comes back. So obviously it would be an upgrade to get him back on the field, so you know. And then again we talk about the guys reporting this week, this weekend, that were traded, you know. And then Tommy Edmond, who's still a little ways away from returning from an injury that we picked up at the trade deadline. So a lot of reinforcements coming in and the roster's going to look very different very soon.

Speaker 1: 15:16

So the lead in the division is down to four and a half games, which is certainly not ideal. Getting smaller it is. But when you look at the last 15 days, the two hottest teams are the second and third place teams in our division and we've been the opposite of that. We've been pretty mediocre over the last month really, or more. But we're staying the course. We're still going to be there, you know. I don't think there's any question we're going to be in the playoffs. I think there's little question we're still going to win the division. Yes, they've made up some ground. But I just, you know, I just see, I see August every year for the Dodgers as a time when they start to hit their stride, because it seems like every year August hits and all the doubt and all the worry goes away for Dodger fans because we just, we just seem to own August. So hopefully that trend continues this year. Uh, still feeling very positive. You know, um Clayton Kershaw's come back and um, you know his first start. He looked great yeah he did.

Speaker 1: 16:25

Second start, not so much, but enough positive from the first start that I think once he gets back and gets in the swing I think he's probably going to be closer to that first start on a consistent basis. I hope you know I was listening to some Dodger talk on the way to the studio today in my car and there was some speculation that if he goes a couple more starts and they look more like the start from last night, his second start that he might retire. I don't see that. The conversation with Kershaw and whether or not he comes back every year, at least lately, has largely been he and his wife, ellen, believe there's unfinished business, right, and if there's unfinished business he's not going to pack it up, even if that would, in his mind, help the team. I just don't see Ellen allowing him to do that. I think Ellen's going to push him and say no, you're Clayton fucking Kershaw for crying out loud. You can get through this, you can get back to who you need to be to help the ball club. And we'll talk about Michael Kopech a little bit when we get to the trade deadline talk.

Speaker 1: 17:41

But he looked really great in his Dodger debut as well, which is reinforcement for a very tired, very run-down bullpen, overworked and just not looking good right now. But you can explain why. It's not like they're just randomly not good anymore, they're overworked. Guys are in positions that they wouldn't normally be in because our starters have not been going deep into games. So you know, things don't look good right now. But if you contextualize everything and you go well, there's probably four guys in the lineup currently that aren't even going to be on the roster in two weeks.

Speaker 1: 18:19

You know, is it as bad as it seems? I guess Right. And the record since the All-Star break is still as bad as it seems? I guess the record since the All-Star break is still not bad. We've won some games since the All-Star break. This is a good ball club and the expectation is very high. It's easy anytime there's two losses in a row, three losses out of five or six or seven out of ten, like we had there before the All-Star break. You know it's easy to sort of like go into panic mode automatically if you're used to winning and competing and being good all the time, you know. So you know I'm a little frustrated, but that's because you know I watch every day and it's hard to watch your team lose more than win, as Brian can attest more than I can the last decade, oh, I'm going to attest. All right, so I guess with that, I'm going to give the floor to Brian Logan and let him just kind of go off on the Chicago Cubs.

Speaker 2: 19:21

Brian, well, it's a great week for baseball, unless you live in the Chicagoland area, because President and Mein Kampf leader of the Cubs, jed Hoyer, has went out there and destroyed the team for the sake of money. I tell you what I cannot believe. This asshole, this guy, goes out there. The Ricketts family has to be blamed too. The Ricketts family went out there and they bought up all the surrounding Chicagoland area, all of Wrigleyville. They screwed the woman at the bar out of her business completely by putting the sign up and they offered her a measly $2 million for her business. That was the top business there in the area and had been for multiple decades. All right, so they've put all of these renovations into the field by making a handicap accessible, which is great and awesome, but now they're feeling the crunch of it, as if they didn't plan that they were going to have to pay that money back. It's like all of a sudden it's 2024. Oh, we got to pay for this concrete that we put over there. Well, come on, guys, there's a team to be played here, and I said two weeks ago I said that what they were going to do was they were going to kill the morale of the team. Well, not only was I correct. But they went out there and they took the heart and soul of the team and just shipped him off to Florida.

Speaker 2: 20:46

So let me read just my first quote from here, commandant Jed Hoyer. This is a quote. As we have stated, our goal is to add players that will help us not just this season but into the future, really Okay. Well, how is this helping us? Right now? This is not helping us one bit. You went out there and you got, uh, four players that are not going to bring anything to the club now. Now, yes, you're looking towards the future. I get that, I'm going to get there in just a second. But we got paradeysis, we got Pinson, neely and Cowes.

Speaker 2: 21:25

Let's start with Cowes. Cowes decides two days before the trade to hit a brick wall and broke his hand. So that guy, right there, is a genius. To begin with, you play with your hands, you're an athlete, and you hit the wall and you're out. And then Jed Hoyer decides well, I love that guy, I love his spirit, let's bring him on. He'll never play a damn bit for us, but definitely not this season. But I tell you what? Let's get him. Oh, yeah, that's genius, that's completely genius. So Hoyer went on to say that in the last two days we feel that we have worked towards that by trading for those types of controllable players Controllable- Well, he just means team control, in the sense that the team has full control of that player for a number of years.

Speaker 1: 22:25

They're not going to hit arbitration, they're not going to hit free agency.

Speaker 2: 22:29

They're not going to be seen on the field.

Speaker 1: 22:31

Well, maybe not, but you know it's, I don't know.

Speaker 2: 22:34

Anyways, please continue field. Well, maybe not, but you know it's, it's, I don't know. Anyways, please continue. Yes, so, uh, acquiring paredes adds a proven bat to our lineup immediately for years to come. Jed hoyer. Well, look here, you little sawed off piece of shit. Let me tell you what I think about that. You have no clue what you're doing. You have nothing. You've got you on the game two nights ago and then you went on a sports talk show last night saying that they just didn't want to do business with us. They just didn't want. We had trades lined up. Hey, guess what? Dallas, I got trades. We're going to bring in Babe Ruth. We're going to have Otani. I can come up with anything on paper. Paper is the greatest whore there ever is.

Speaker 1: 23:20

Hold on, I done lost my I done got so mad I've lost my Brian has gotten so worked up. We've lost his microphone.

Speaker 2: 23:31

Okay, there we go, there we go. All right, sorry, what was I saying, jed, hoy?

Speaker 1: 23:36

hoyer you're a sawed off piece of shit and he doesn't know what he's doing yeah, he doesn't.

Speaker 2: 23:41

So he basically said that they wanted to make deals and that nobody would make deals with them. Well, again, like I was saying, you can lay a piece of paper, is the biggest whore in the world. It'll lay down and let you write anything you want on it or do anything to it. Yeah, he sits there like a little kid in the corner with his crayons, coming up with this deal and that deal. Well, guess what? If you're an asshole, you're not going to get those deals.

Speaker 2: 24:04

First of all, you looked exhausted. I bet you were, because you was out there trying to screw everybody in the baseball world Gimme, gimme, gimme. And I'm going to give you all this. Matter of fact. Give me all your farm teams, every farm team, give me every player you got, and I'm going to give you the heart and soul of our team, which, by the way, that whole thing didn't work out, did it so far? Two days in, and Murrell's playing like the man, and Paredes is barely just trucking along. I mean, he did play good last night. But here's the thing with last night All nine players got a hit and they all produced and I think they had 12 or 13 runs 12 to 4, 13 to 4. It didn't matter because Jed Hoyer didn't approve of us winning. So you know we're not going to win this season. So it doesn't matter, kids, it really doesn't matter, we're not going to win this season.

Speaker 1: 24:56

So it doesn't matter, kids, it really doesn't matter. Okay, so the quote I saw from Hoyer was that the deals we wanted or were pursuing were not there and that, to me, more than we had ideas in our head and they were unrealistic as far as what we were going to get in return. I think that meant that he you know and this is all speculation I think that meant he went and tried to sell cody bellinger and other players, jameson, tyon, and here's the thing there was an interest from the other side. I mean, first off, who wants to deal with a boris client when they don't have to? Talking about Cody Bellinger, who I obviously love, always will, from his time with the Dodgers, rookie of the year, mvp, won a World Series. A lot of big hits for us in those playoff runs. But yeah, it's, I don't know, man, it's tough. It's tough because you try to make sense of it, of what the Cubs are doing and what they've done, and it just I don't think there's any other way to look at it other than they don't know what their goals are or something's not going right at all in the pursuit of those goals. Right, they weren't really buyers or sellers. No, yes, they picked up a major league ready bat who's 25 years old, years old but again they give up a guy.

Speaker 1: 26:44

That, to a lot of fans, was maybe the reason to be excited about this cubs team into the future, which is what jed hoyer is so apparently concerned with, right, you know. Is parade a's that big of an upgrade on paper from Morrell that it's worth giving up that fan favorite, that heart and soul, as you put it, type of player? I just don't see it. I mean it, you know, and Passon made an interesting tweet that was like look, this doesn't mean they're buyers, this doesn't mean anything other than there's anything other than, basically, it's not black and white, it's not as black and white as you're either a buyer or a seller.

Speaker 1: 27:20

From a business sense, teams are viewing themselves as collectors of value. So obviously, somewhere along the way they. Here's the other thing If you're giving up Muriel for Parades, why are you also giving up two prospects? Yeah, that feels like a major overpay. Yeah, I could see Murrell and one prospect to make up for the difference in the numbers, but two prospects and Murrell for Paredes. I just don't know about that deal, man, and it just I don't know. Sorry to cut you off.

Speaker 2: 27:58

Well, no, no, it's okay. I mean, riddle me this, okay. So what is better for the team? Now, let's say the statistics are slightly better on paper, like you were saying, but I'm talking about practical application. That a kid comes out there smiling, happy, hugging, shaking hands, playing great ball, hustling, and just acts like he's a kid having a great time there. Or this sullen face paredes, who may or may not hit, who may or may not be a star, who may or may not be a defensive genius, we don't know, but I know he's coming out there looking pathetic with a shitty smirk on his face. That doesn't impress me at all.

Speaker 2: 28:43

And here's the thing that that I really want to drive home. Why, as a fan, should I spend any more money this year on the chicago cubs? Why should I buy merchandise? Why should I take a trip to Wrigley? Why should I buy food when I'm in Wrigley? You've already said screw you. Fuck this season, and with the decisions you made, it might have been fuck next season too. But this jock sniffer thinks he's got the whole fucking thing figured out. Well, by day three of these trades, right after the deadline, he looked like he couldn't even straighten his fucking tie or put on his fucking pants. I'm telling you, him and the Ricketts family are ruining Chicago. They're definitely ruining Chicago and Biggie Johnson, pinanego and Rivera to get prospects and parades. I mean it doesn't make any sense why you would trade off all this other stuff just to get this guy, unless you're sniffing his jock, and that's exactly what Jed Hoyer's doing.

Speaker 1: 29:54

Okay. So I've pulled up side-by-side just this season. Okay, paredes and Murrell. Paredes' war is a lot higher. If you're a believer in a war stat, which I am to a certain degree, that tells me that there's more defensively for parade ace now that I think, partially at least, is due to the fact that since morel got to the big leagues, the cubs have not known what to do with him. No, um, he's obviously a bat first guy, not the best defender at any of the positions he's played. But I argued two years ago find a spot in the lineup for this guy. You've got the dh now, yeah, he's perfect for the dh. So you're looking at war.

Speaker 1: 30:48

Um, a little bit more power out of morel. Four more home runs in eight less plate appearances. Paredes has not stolen a base, murrell's stolen seven, which is pretty good, not league leader, but you know that's For this day. It's not bad, that's valuable. Then you start getting into batting average on base, slugging OPS. That's where you start to see parade A's with much higher numbers. Morales are okay. I'll put it to you this way OPS plus, which is a number where you're compared to the rest of the league, 100 is league average. Anything below is below average. Anything above is above average. Morels ops plus this season is 92. He's slightly below average as an overall hitter parade ace is 127, which means he's 27 better than the league average. Hitter parade ace is better on paper, but is that a big enough difference to not only give up two prospects and a major league guy? But your major league guy is again the guy that kind of like stirs the drink for you a little bit.

Speaker 2: 32:06

I just, I mean, paredes showed up the first day and didn't do anything. Nothing, had a couple good defensive plays, but they were routine. I mean he should have had them. Okay, there wasn't anything spectacular about them. The second day, again, he got hits, drove in some runs, but everybody was doing that and I'm not discounting it. I'm just saying, statistically, the whole team, the whole starting nine, was doing it. Of course he was doing it, right, you know.

Speaker 2: 32:35

But Murrell, he immediately added to the other team, to the Rays, right, and I'll tell you what. And you know, yes, I'm having a little fun cussing this guy and all this. But here's the main real, real point, besides the money and I hope the sponsors out there somehow listen, I hope some brother's cousin's uncle who's listening to this podcast takes it to the sponsors, like Jack Vukovich and all those guys I turned the channel, I turned the game off and then the next day I watched the rays. Yep, so is that good business? Because mr genius has to think about that too, right? Yeah, mr head of baseball operations? Well, mr Head of Baseball Operations? Well, how about Head of Sponsorships? I bet that person's a little pissed at him, yeah.

Speaker 1: 33:24

Well, it's not good. No, it's not good. It was not a good deadline for the Cubs. I've not seen one Cubs fan excited about the team coming out of it. I've not seen one Cubs fan bring up Jed Hoyer's name in a very nice way yeah, well.

Speaker 2: 33:44

Well, while you're at that, let me. Let me interrupt for just one minute. There are, there's two. There's two ass kissers, because there always are derrick doddry and lucas md tucker. You can go fuck yourself. You can literally bend over and take a tree or some other wooden object and shove it up your ass Because, on Bleacher Nation, you want to tell me that I'm to be embarrassed. Wrong fucking guy to say to be embarrassed. So to hell with you. Two jock sniffers and to hell with you and your opinions, just like you tried to say to hell with mine, go fuck yourself, okay.

Speaker 1: 34:19

I'm going to cut this short just because I need a quick break. But we will be right back with some quick hits and then we're going to talk trade deadline but, as you can tell Brian Logan not happy with.

Speaker 2: 34:28

Jed Hoyer, I'm okay.

Speaker 1: 34:31

Yeah, he's in a jovial mood overall. It's just Jed Hoyer who's grinding his game. Right, right, I'm good, I'm good, all right, we, I'm good, all right, we'll be right back with more Two Guys Talking Baseball right after this and we're back on the flip side. Brian, you mentioned you had one last point you wanted to make on your Cubs rant before we moved on.

Speaker 2: 34:48

Yes, so a couple days ago. I'm so fired up I don't even remember who the players are. So please forgive me, but you'll know if you're a Cubs fan there was a home run hit and they then took the pitcher out and the new pitcher was making his debut. This is his first time in the big leagues and what does he do? He beans the guy in the head and the guy says for Cincinnati. And he says you've got to be fucking kidding me. What are you doing? Hitting me in the head?

Speaker 2: 35:21

Now this kid's scared to death, right, which I bet the catcher told him to do it, but he gets thrown out of the ball game just in case. Well, craig council comes out and his first thing is what the fuck are you doing? Because you can read their lips and he's like well, you know what I gotta fucking do now. Yeah, call in the spot and ranting and raving, and as soon as he turned his back, the uh, they threw him out. So they put the new one in. And I just want to say what I would have done in that situation. Okay, if I would have been whoever was the in charge at that point, I would have had the new pitcher, do a pick off move at first and beam him again just to let him know that's right.

Speaker 1: 36:11

We did it on purpose. You have to understand something. Uh, if, if you don't know brian logan very, or you've never really watched baseball with him, as I have done quite a bit over the last few years, in Brian's mind it's still 1975. Right, and we're running catchers over. We're spikes up at second.

Speaker 2: 36:37

It's just like wrestling there's a right way and a wrong way. No, there's just a right way. But yes, I would like to say that the previous comments that were made Dallas Danger had nothing to do with that. I did let it happen. So when I said that Hoyer was a jock-sniffing midget, dallas did not believe in that. I just want to make that clear. So in case y'all get mad, don't get mad at Dallas, get mad at me. It's been a great week for baseball.

Speaker 1: 37:18

All right, so with that, we we're gonna move on I got him, I got him.

Speaker 1: 37:28

I finally got. He got me good. He got me good. All right, we got a couple of quick hits this week, not much, but a couple things I wanted to touch on. Brian, you ready for these quick hits? I am all right. So we're totally changing gears here because if you've listened to us at all, you've listened to us at all, you've watched our show at all, you understand the level of animal lovers we are. Yes, absolutely, brian's dogs will make an appearance, uh, from time to time, whether you see them on camera, you hear them. Uh, I'm a big cat lover and, uh, you know, we, we, we make it a point in our shop 2gtbstore to have pet products bowls, collars, leashes, mats for their dishes. Rex somewhere has a great 2gtb sweater.

Speaker 2: 38:14

Yeah, it's a jersey. A pet jersey is what I call it. Yeah, it's a pet jersey, it's a storm shirt, kind of thing.

Speaker 1: 38:19

Yeah, yeah, it's very cool yeah he loves it lots of good, good stuff there, but we love animals, so we we had to mention, uh, the clearwater threshers, who are the phillies, uh, single a affiliate. July 19th, their 13 year old bat dog, layla, who had been their bat dog for six years, retired and, um, if you're interested in seeing a lot of Layla content over the last month or so, the Clearwater Threshers Twitter has been great.

Speaker 2: 38:46

They not only filmed the last bat, Right, which was adorable her coming out there and getting her last bat.

Speaker 1: 38:56

They also, excuse me, they also at one point, around Layla's last bat, shared the video of her first ever bat. Oh, that's from six years ago. So that's on there if you want to find it. But it was so cool because they they had her get her retrieve her last bat in the third inning and then in the fourth inning they set up a little like retirement party for her. They had cake, you could get a pawtograph, which I guess is her stamp and her paw in ink for you. Yeah, very cool the way they did this.

Speaker 1: 39:27

Very very cool and as baseball lovers, but also as dog lovers and animal lovers. We were big fans of this, so we wanted to touch on it, Brian.

Speaker 2: 39:35

Yeah, I mean I think it's great, I mean it's sad. I wish that all the puppies could work and attend. Bark in the park should be every day. I mean I think that would be awesome. I know that would annoy people, but I'd rather sit with the dogs, that would annoy me. Yeah Well, I mean, you know.

Speaker 1: 39:52

I'd love it. My problem is that a lot of people's dogs don't know how to act in public. Right right, right right. They can't leave them at home, but when they go out in public they act like serial killers.

Speaker 2: 40:02

Yeah, and it's like just you know if you can't, you've got to give them a hot dog.

Speaker 1: 40:06

Well, you know what about? Did you see that little tiny dog at the Mets game a while back eating a hot dog? I don't think so. Did you see that I've got?

Speaker 2: 40:15

to find that and send it to you.

Speaker 1: 40:16

dog, a little teeny tiny, teeny, tiny, like a, like a purse dog you know, he had his little he had his little shirt and his little hat and his little sunglasses on and he's just going at that.

Speaker 2: 40:26

That that's cool.

Speaker 1: 40:27

That's very cool but uh, yeah, congratulations to leila congratulations on a great career and hopefully um post bat dog is is, uh, full of treats and open fields and whatever toys Layla likes moving forward and kudos to the Threshers for doing such a great job of sending Layla off and honoring their bat dog of six years. And yeah, so we're big fans now of the Threshers and we're going to keep an eye on that.

Speaker 2: 40:57

Yeah, yeah, I mean, the bat dogs are awesome, and you know she wasn't the only one right. What do you mean there? The the bat dogs are awesome, uh, and you know she wasn't the only one right. What do you mean?

Speaker 1: 41:05

there's other bad oh yeah, there's bad. Uh, durham has a bat dog named ripken yeah, my hometown johnson city, doughboys have a bat dog named rocky who is like I mean, I say it all the time he could run for mayor in johnson city and I hear he's a big fan of the show well, uh, we have been.

Speaker 1: 41:19

We have been in contact with the Rocky Foundation, which is a charitable organization that Rocky and his family have founded in response to his popularity in my local area in Johnson City, and we're hoping to have a representative of the Rocky Foundation on the show in the next couple of weeks to talk about what they're doing and just talk about being. You know what I mean. I'm interested to know what goes into becoming a BatDog.

Speaker 2: 41:49

Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 1: 41:51

You know. So we're going to dive into all that. Typically when we do interviews we only do like a portion of the show, that one might take up a good chunk of the show.

Speaker 2: 42:00

Yeah, because it's something we both love.

Speaker 1: 42:02

Yeah, it's so interesting yeah, we'll have to see what our time constraints are there, but but we might do a little bit longer interview than we normally would, um yeah, just because we're so excited about it.

Speaker 1: 42:13

Yeah, all right, one little cool thing that happened yesterday. As we're recording, that would have been wednesday. Uh, the last day, last day of July. Jackson Holiday, number one prospect in all of baseball, baltimore Orioles. He gets called up largely because Connor Norby, who was kind of blocking him, uh, at the shortstop position, uh got traded at the deadline and, uh, you know, when Jackson Holiday got called up the first time, it didn't really go well.

Speaker 1: 42:37

There was a lot of talk about you, you know. Ooh, is he a bust already? What's going on? Right, he comes up second trip to the big leagues, after, of course, crushing it in AAA. Just like 931, I think, was his OPS, this go-around Just really ridiculous numbers in AAA. First game back up in the majors, though, he hits his first career Major League home run, which was a grand slam. Can't get any better than that, can't at all. And that made him the youngest player in that franchise's history whether it was the orioles or before they went to baltimore, and they were the cleveland browns, yeah, excuse me, the saint louis browns um, uh, the youngest player in that franchise's history to hit a grand slam.

Speaker 1: 43:14

So that's, you know, he's already making history yeah, that's incredible yeah, something we've expected since he was taken no 1 overall in the draft two years ago. And on the same day, the 2024 no 1 overall pick of the Cleveland Guardians, travis Buzana, playing for High A Lake County. The captains hit his first professional home run and guess what, brian, it was a grand slam too. He's got a great name, buzana.

Speaker 2: 43:38

Buzana, yeah, buzana.

Speaker 1: 43:43

Yeah, things are looking up for the Guardians right now and we're going to get into that more with the trade deadline talk. But you know, I mean we talk all the time about the things that happen in baseball that couldn't happen anywhere else. I mean, this is two of the last three no 1 overall picks in the draft hitting a grand slam on the same day and for both of them it's like a first Jackson Holiday's first Major League home run, travis Bozzana's first professional home run. They happen on the same day, both Grand Slams. Just one of those things where you have to put your arms up in the air and go. Only baseball, right, right.

Speaker 2: 44:19

Only baseball. What's the word here I'm looking at?

Speaker 1: 44:23

uh poetic yeah, very poetic yeah yeah, there's other words, but I don't know no, poetic was poetic's good, I mean, and there's, there's, there's, there's just so much that's romantic about baseball, you know, and this, this is an example, a small minute example of that. Yeah, I mean, it's symmetry, that's the word I'm looking for.

Speaker 2: 44:41

There's a lot of symmetry in baseball, and this is a small minute example of that. Yeah, symmetry, that's the word I'm looking for. There's a lot of symmetry in baseball. Now, sometimes it takes time, sometimes years, but the stories of baseball, like. I hear a lot of people say well, baseball is boring and so slow. Well then, pay attention to the stories. I mean they're amazing, I mean, and I'm not going backwards. The stories I mean they're amazing, I mean and I'm not going backwards. But morel gets fired, traded in the middle of a game, hugs everybody goodbye cries, sends out a tweet, goes to the next town and picks up right where he left off.

Speaker 1: 45:14

That's a hell of a story and something I didn't didn't get out um earlier when we were talking about that um and and we'll get more into that trade here in a minute. But it wouldn't surprise me at all if Morrell's. We looked at the numbers side-by-side Paredes and Morrell it wouldn't surprise me one bit if that gap closes. Oh, without a doubt Because Morrell so far has played at a really high level for the Rays and I think that's going to continue. So yeah, but very cool there for Jackson Holliday, glad to see him working out at the big league level. I'm sure the Orioles are ecstatic about that because if they can get him going at the big league level that's just going to help them more down the road.

Speaker 1: 45:56

Yeah, they're looking very good, very good, and that's a good segue into our trade deadline talk we're gonna go through. Uh, there were so many trades this year. I think there was a lot of worry, brian, that the new playoff format and having more teams at this juncture of the season that believe their contenders would ruin the trade deadline because there wouldn't be enough people selling off players, right, my god everybody did something right.

Speaker 1: 46:28

I mean, there was so much movement and in years past. It's like you sit around for three days checking your phone nothing happening. Check your phone nothing happening and then all of a sudden in the last couple hours, yeah, boom, boom, boom the big one and the last couple hours.

Speaker 2: 46:43

This time I mean a couple of things. Well, I mean there was quite a bit.

Speaker 1: 46:48

I mean, you know, and, and right down to the wire, on, on. For me the biggest one, right, um, and for a lot, of, a lot of people, I think, in a lot of people's estimation, the biggest one, the best, the best picture moved at the deadline. Yeah, was it right at the last second? Yeah, you know, because I remember um, seeing, you know we're within the last 15 minutes. And I see the kiermeier trade. We get kevin kiermeier for ryan yarbrough, which is a nothing trade really, because yarbrough, we'd already dfa'd him, we had to move him somehow. Yeah, we ship him off and we get a guy who's who's really high level defensively in center field. And if you're thinking October, okay, maybe that's a late inning defensive replacement in center field. But then boom, dodgers get Jack Flaherty, and that was the big one. Dodgers had done a lot on the fringes, but that was the big one. Dodgers had done a lot on the fringes, but that was the big one, relatively speaking, didn't give up all that much for them?

Speaker 2: 47:48

No, not much at all. That's going to fill out that rotation for the Dodgers.

Speaker 1: 47:53

Well, more importantly, I think it's adding another guy that you can envision in Game 1 or Game 2 of a playoff series taking the mound for you and being quality.

Speaker 1: 48:02

Yeah, and not having to worry about it, which is what the Dodgers need. We got a ton of starting pitching, but right now there's not a lot. You feel good game one going out there and setting the tone for you in a playoff series yeah, and that's been our problem the last couple years in the playoffs is we go out game one and the first starter just gets rocked and it just sets a horrible tone for the whole series. So with the Dodgers we'll just kind of go down the list here and talk about some of these trades. First off, a three-team trade which I was watching the last couple hours leading up to the deadline. The other day I was watching the MLB Network coverage, which was great, by the way.

Speaker 1: 48:43

Dan O'Dowd, who I really like hearing talk about things like the trade deadline, as a very seasoned GM and a successful general manager at the big league level. And also Steve Phillips, who had some success as a GM, more known for his philandering but, you know, still has some inside knowledge as to how that job works. So I love hearing about that. He's got to keep his average up somehow. Well, there you go. He's got a Hogan-esque tan as well. I don't know if you saw Steve Phillips' tan. The other day.

Speaker 2: 49:15

No, I didn't notice it, but that's awesome.

Speaker 1: 49:16

I mean the guys that just stained their deck are a little jealous. Anyways, point being three-team trade hard to pull off and Dan O'Dowd said it's hard enough to get everybody in your own front office to agree, much less to get three whole front offices to agree on this deal. And in that trade the Dodgers got Michael Kopech, relief pitcher from the White Sox, and Tommy Edmond, sort of a relief pitcher from the White Sox, and Tommy Edmond, sort of a super utility guy from the Cardinals. The Dodgers gave the White Sox Miguel Vargas. We're leaving out prospects. We're not going to get into a lot of the prospects. We're going to focus more on how this impacts teams right away.

Speaker 1: 49:56

And then Tommy Pham on the move again, going from the White Sox back to the Cardinals where he has been before. So, brian, when you look at this trade number one, the White Sox were just getting rid of everybody they could. So Kopech gets to go from a White Sox team that might be the worst team in history to a really exciting team in the in the dodgers, and he pitched for the first time in dodger blue last night and looked incredible, struck out. The side ended his outing with 101 up in the zone, or up above the zone. I should say uh, looked really good. So that's a piece that the dodgers really need, because this bullpen has beat all too crap right now yeah, I mean they got.

Speaker 2: 50:41

They got a good piece there and uh, the trade seemed to work it out so far for everybody. In that that doesn't seem like a bad trade, even though it took a little extra effort yeah, no, I think everybody got a little something out of it.

Speaker 1: 50:53

You know, and, and and um, you know tommy edmund. I'm excited to see him with the dodgers because you know the dodgers love guys that can play multiple positions. We got a ton of them. I mean, we just got loads of guys that can play all over the place Kike Hernandez, chris Taylor. You even look at Mookie Betts. Mookie Betts has played three positions in the majors at a high level. Yeah, so you know this is a team that likes that versatility.

Speaker 1: 51:21

Edmund is a reliable bat. He's a switch hitter, which we do not have, so that's great. Dave Roberts loves a good platoon, so you don't have to worry about that. With a switch hitter, you know you put him in the lineup. It doesn't matter if they bring in a. You know if he's starting against a righty and they bring in a lefty early, you can keep him in there. Right, I haven't seen his splits to know how he is one side versus the other. That might come into play. But you know, I'm happy for Miguel Vargas. Yeah, I like the kid. He's baseball royalty in Cuba, like his dad is on postage stamps and currency in Cuba. Yeah, and he's a very solid, very talented player Just on a team like the Dodgers didn't have a spot.

Speaker 1: 52:09

And he goes to the White Sox now and they can kind of play around and say is he a DH, can he play left field? Can we move him to the infield again and get something out of him defensively? Or is he just a guy that's going to hit and not be a big contributor defensively? Or is he just a guy that's going to hit and and not, you know, be, you know not be a big um, you know, be a big contributor defensively well, the white socks need all the help they can get.

Speaker 2: 52:29

Well, I mean all of it. I can't state that enough. I mean they really, truly are, if they lose a few more games, the worst in the history of the sport yeah, I.

Speaker 1: 52:40

I mean they're having a historically bad year. Things are not going well. There's already some speculation about the manager and the GM and you know some people making the decisions there going ahead and you know making some changes before the end of the season. So it's ugly there. It's ugly, but you know, for them to be able to trade some pieces, get some guys I think Miguel Vargas is a guy they can try to build around moving forward to try and get this ship righted out there in Chicago. So that was the three-team deal.

Speaker 2: 53:19

Tough times in Chicago. Not going back, not getting started I'm just real tough sports in chicago. I mean way off topic. If the bears are terrible again this year, chicago people are going to move. There's going to be a mass exodus. Weren't the blackhawks really bad? Yes, they were. Yes, I mean, it's just tough living in Chicago nowadays.

Speaker 1: 53:39

That's okay, they listen. They've won enough. They can deal with a couple bad years.

Speaker 2: 53:46

I hear they're looking to bring us in. Yeah, that's how bad they are.

Speaker 1: 53:50

Brian's been out in the yard keeping his arm good and loose.

Speaker 2: 53:53

I've been playing out there, I've been throwing the ball. Rex has been going and bringing it back. Yeah, I'm not really hitting any target, I'm just throwing right. I don't want to pace myself.

Speaker 1: 54:04

Yeah, that's what I want to do. Yeah, so uh just kind of going down the list here. Uh, the royals, uh, my american league championship pick this season, uh, acquire michael lorenzen from the rangers, another, another arm. And brian, if you're, if you're trying to compete in october, you can use all the arms you can get absolutely you.

Speaker 2: 54:20

You've got to have that pitching. That's the one thing you've got to have, without a doubt. You've got to have that bullpen ready to roll and you've got to have that starting locked in.

Speaker 1: 54:29

Yeah, so Lorenzen will help the Royals do that, and some teams maybe even a little surprisingly. Going back to guys they used to have you look at the Braves. Yeah, they trade with the Giants. Who will get into how confusing their day was? Um, they trade with the Giants and get Jorge Soler and Luke Jackson, who they, who both were on the 21 World Series Championship team, and Soler, they got at the deadline that year, um, you know, and so there is a, an impact bat yeah, yeah, no, I really liked it when he played for chicago.

Speaker 2: 55:06

Uh, in fact, a little side trivia note, uh, uh, quinny ann, our other corgi, the female corgi, the older, the big sissy, she uh was almost named jorge after him. Yeah, because I liked him so much, but we traded him and the name went with him, so she became Quinny Ann. But yeah, no, he's a really good player. I really like him. I think he's going to help.

Speaker 1: 55:29

Yeah Well, they need some help. In Atlanta. They're dealing with a lot of injury issues and getting really deep in that organization and that roster and Jorge Soler has been really dynamite this year so far. And in the same breath, the Dodgers, for the second year in a row, trade for Ahmed Rosario at the deadline and again we're looking at a guy who's played four different positions at a high level and hitting over .300 this year and last year it was basically we need help against left-handed pitching. Well, this year he's getting a lot more opportunity against righties and he's hitting well against both lefties and righties. So this could be an impact bat for sure for the Dodgers and again he's going to be able to plug a lot of different places which they like. So you know, just looking at the potential playoff roster and feeling a lot better about the Dodgers after this deadline.

Speaker 2: 56:31

Well, you know, the Rays were big sellers.

Speaker 1: 56:33

Yeah, they were early and late, they were in there, well you know, but they weren't just selling, they did trade a lot of guys away. But that's sort of the Rays' business model. They did pick up Dylan Carlson from the Cardinals, which I thought was rather interesting. Carlson not a huge star, but a guy that can make a difference for you. A good player, you know, plays the outfield really well, can hit a little bit. So you know, the Rays did some different things, mostly getting rid of guys. But I mean they picked up Murrell who's been good for them so far. They picked up Dylan Carlson.

Speaker 1: 57:14

I mean the Rays have this knack and this ability to appear like they're selling but then make their team better. Yeah, you know, for instance, in the offseason they traded Tyler Glass now to the Dodgers and got Ryan Pepeo, a great young pitcher who was just sort of lost in the shuffle with the Dodgers, because I mean we got great young pitchers in spades. Yeah, but on the raise he's, he's in the rotation, he's pitching every five days. He's making a difference. You know he's pitching pretty well. Had some weird freak injury stuff going on lately, but other than that he's had a pretty good go of it in Tampa. So you know the Rays, you know you can't ever look at the Rays and view them like you do. The White Sox yeah.

Speaker 2: 57:54

No, I agree.

Speaker 1: 57:55

Because even though they're in last place, you know well, I don't think they're in last place, I think they're in fourth place, I think place you know well they're. I don't think they're in last place, I think they're in fourth place. I think the jays, I think the jays, I don't think they're in last place now, but even though they're kind of out of it, not really in the thick of things, they're close enough and this is just how they do business. Yeah, it is. You know, it's not buy or sell with them, it's how can we cut money off the bottom line and still make our team better? And I think they did that. Yeah, you know they dumped Rosarena, they dumped Paredes, yes, but you know, picking up some guys that, while they're not that level of star, I think are going to be really, really good additions for the Rays.

Speaker 2: 58:38

Well, and they inked the contract. I know we talked about it on previous episodes, but they ink the contract for the new stadium yeah, huge, and it's going to be built in the parking lot of the current stadium, so literally it'll be tore down when the season starts. They'll just swap it. And they were talking on the game that one of the things they want to do is they want to do stuff like the battery in Atlantalanta, where everything is very walkable. Yeah, that they're going to bring in some really good vendors, some really good restaurants and they're going to make a whole little baseball city, just like in atlanta, which I love in atlanta, right and and and make it very fan accessible yeah, truest in atl Atlanta was sort of the prototype of that.

Speaker 1: 59:22

Yeah, because they were one of the first to go. We're going to buy some land that's maybe off the beaten path, not right in the thick of the city, because the trend before that was downtown. Yeah, yeah, turner Field, camden, yard Way, downtown Jacobs Field, right in the thick of everything in the city, because that was sort of the old, traditional way of the ballpark. Well, now it's like we want to buy enough land that not only can we build a state-of-the-art ballpark but we can build, like you said, almost like a village around that that consists of all these before and after the game hangouts and things to do and see and places to eat and get a drink In Atlanta. The setup there is great.

Speaker 2: 1:00:08

Now, good luck getting anywhere near one of them restaurants on game day, but it's there. See, I lived in Atlanta in 96 and 97, and I did not attend any games because it was too far downtown. I lived in Ackworth, which was right out of Smyrna. Smyrna is Wind, windy hill. It's. Smyrna. Windy hill is literally the top of the hill, and the bottom of the hill they had a hoity-toity mall there.

Speaker 2: 1:00:30

That was all that was really there, and maybe a community college, and that was the only thing you went there for. There was literally a hill, yeah, um, that's now where baseball city, the battery and uh tourist park is, yeah, and they took that whole land and just made it into all that. And it's so cool because that was the perfect place, cause it's up on a hill and it's very close to the interstate, very close to where people actually live, not having to go downtown, cause nobody wants to be downtown Atlanta after midnight, right, and it just it's amazing and honestly, I think I'm going to make the trip to Tampa one day just to see this thing. Now it'll be done in 28, so I got a long ways to wait, but I want to go down there and see it.

Speaker 1: 1:01:17

Yeah, me too, and good on the city and the team for coming to this agreement, because it was looking like the rays were maybe going to leave town. Yeah, you know, um, and, and let's just be honest, man, the, the, the trop is not a great place to play baseball no, it's not it's not a great ballpark and, um, this is going to be an upgrade, I would I'd have a hard time believing it would be.

Speaker 2: 1:01:43

Well, one of the things they were saying was is they were used to a dome, but this time it's going to be climate controlled. Yeah, and I don't know if they're saying I didn't catch it enough to know if the roof's going to open and close. Probably, probably is my guess too, because they just kept saying how it was going to be a more comfortable environment.

Speaker 1: 1:02:02

Yes, much like Arizona's done, much like the Rangers have done these new fangled sort of retractable roof. But it's like more than just a roof that retracts. I think Houston's like that too. That little Cracker Jack box they've got over there is like that where when you open the roof it it opens up more than the top. There's like windows that open and and it's that it can be the full outdoor experience. Or you can close it up and say we're going to turn the humidor and the ac on and keep it cool and comfortable. You know so, you know. And in a place like florida, you gotta that's something you got to think about is how comfortable are your fans sitting watching this game? Because if they're fully sitting outside and it's, you know, 110 degrees outside Not going to happen, yeah, you're not going to sell a lot of tickets.

Speaker 2: 1:02:51

Well, one of the things, too, that impressed me about the guy and I wish I would have got his name because I really enjoyed listening to him talk about this. He was overwhelmed and admitted it, but he was excited and jubilant to get this new project done. And he said that not only I mean their number one thing is baseball obviously, right, that's. But he was talking about um, other things concerts, everything and one of the things he mentioned was wrestling. Oh, okay, so when you're talking about that, you're talking about wwe, you're talking about first raterate stadiums to get that kind of entertainment. So this thing's going to be amazing if they're looking at that as a secondary income stream. So imagine how good it's going to be for the players when they can get in there and play and the fans to sit and watch a game.

Speaker 1: 1:03:40

For sure. Yeah, so good on the Rays on st petersburg for making that happen and keeping the team around when it looked like that might not be the case. All right, back to some trades. Yeah, back to the trade. So the astros get, you say, kikuchi from the blue jays pretty big for the astros shoring up their rotation, as we've mentioned. Uh, if you're heading to October, you need as many arms as you can get. Here's the interesting thing about this trade. It was one of the first like front-line starter trades to happen, one of the only ones really. There weren't a ton of front-line starters traded, but I think everyone's reaction when they saw the get for the Blue Jays, the package that they got for Kikuchi, everybody thought, well, that's a bit of an overpay. So what is it going to take to get a guy like Jack Flaherty or a guy like Garrett Crochet or Blake Snell, who were being talked about at the time as potentially being traded? Those guys didn't get traded. But when the Dodgers got Jack Flaherty right at the last second man, it was just like, okay, now what did they have to give up? Yeah. And when you get the return and you go oh, that was it. Yeah, and I don't remember who, probably the GM, but someone from the Tigers got asked about that. You know, hey, how does it feel to not get as much back for Jack Flaherty as the Blue Jays got for Yusei Kikuchi? And he immediately said I don't agree with the premise because we're very excited about these players we got and we think they're going to turn into big leaguers and we think they're going to help our organization. And you know, probably just saying what you're supposed to say. But you know there was also some speculation. I know there was one report that I never really saw get enough behind it to really verify it, but there was some thought that maybe the Yankees had a deal in place and then nixed it because Jack Flaherty's had some issues with his back this season. He's had some injections over the last month, I think, for his back. Flaherty says he feels great, there's nothing to it, he's ready to go Right. You know no big deal, but yeah, let's talk about Flaherty to the Dodgers while we're on it. Okay, huge, best pitcher to get traded at the deadline. And I don't think there's much argument there.

Speaker 1: 1:06:17

La kid grew up a Dodger fan. If you've seen anything about Jack Flaherty over the last few days. You've seen the picture of him as a small child that his mom posted on Twitter and he's in his little Dodger outfit. And you know I heard him be interviewed in the dugout yesterday after joining the team for the first time, and he talked about how special it was for him. You know, because the way he put it was kind of like well, everybody dreams of playing for their hometown team, right, that's everybody's dream. Everybody would love to do that. So to get to do it is special. You know he talked about what a great organization it is, what a great team it is, and you know he's excited and I'm excited. You know he's excited and I'm excited. You know he gets his first start for the Dodgers Saturday in Oakland and couldn't come at a better time.

Speaker 1: 1:07:07

We need some relief on our pitching staff. We need some guys, especially starters, that can go deep into games and he's done that at a high level. I think I saw he's gone through six 12 out of 18 starts this year, which is, you know, two-thirds. That's substantial and yeah, and, and I'd imagine in those other six, most of the time he's pitching into the sixth inning.

Speaker 1: 1:07:27

So you know, big get for the dodgers and I mean they're just doing what the dodgers do uh, improved on the fringes leading up to the deadline and then, right at right, at the last second, made the big splash, got the, got the guy they wanted, that they needed and, um, you know, made, made the biggest deal in my estimation. I mean, I think that was the biggest. That was either that or tanner scott to the padres. I think were was the biggest uh mover, you know, because I think number one, that sures up the dodgers to have another guy that can start game one or game two in a playoff series. But for the Padres they get Jason Adam from the Rays, they get Tanner Scott from the Marlins and man, I don't want to play the Padres in a playoff series.

Speaker 2: 1:08:16

Well, here's my question for you. Okay, you ready for this? Put your fandom aside. You're not even a Dodgers fan, okay, you're just Joe Blow. Hell, you may not even watch baseball, I don't know. Anyway, yes, the Padres are having the best bullpen around, okay, but if the Dodgers all get healthy at the same time, is that the best roster in baseball? It would have to be right, it's gotta be. I mean, the only thing holding them back is injuries, and they're not that. They're huge injuries, but they're not massive as far as well decapitating the team.

Speaker 1: 1:08:55

well, right, I mean we don't have a lot of guys that it's like they're not coming back right, pretty much all of our injuries. We're looking at what's the timeline for them to be back this year. Now we got guys that we knew weren't going to be in the equation tony gonsolin, dustin may, um, you know guys like that but mookie's back in a couple weeks. Max muncy's turned a a corner. He's probably going to be back for the stretch run. Brandon Gomes, the GM, was interviewed after the deadline and he said that their expectation as an organization is still that Max Muncy's going to be there when the games matter the most. Right. Yoshinobu Yamamoto is about to start throwing off of a mound for the first time. We got three relievers Gratterall Brazier and Michael Grove all You've got three relievers Gratterall Brazier and Michael Grove all three in OKC on rehabs right now.

Speaker 1: 1:09:48

Then you look at the guys we've acquired and them joining the team and Tommy Edmond getting healthy here I think he's a couple weeks out but getting close to ready to play and this roster, I mean it's them, it's them, or I mean just on paper. It's got to be either the Dodgers or the Padres. Right, it's got to be. You know there are teams that have played better. Don't get me wrong, there are teams with better records. But when you just look at the roster and go, do I want this or do I want that? I think you look at the Dodgers roster and most of the time you're saying that's what you would take. Yeah, because it's stacked Head-to-head, so it's all about performance and execution. Now for this Dodger team, well, we've got to get everybody on the roster and healthy and built up to be ready to play in October. But I think we're going to have an opportunity to do that. I mean, it's looking good, yeah. So, to answer your question, yeah, I think it is the best roster in the game.

Speaker 2: 1:10:51

Yeah, I do too. I think it is for sure. But the Padres look pretty good man yeah the Padres pitching is just getting it done and going to. They're going to be a problem.

Speaker 1: 1:11:02

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 1:11:02

But I mean, what a great way to try to combat them.

Speaker 1: 1:11:06

Yeah, you know, yeah, I mean great way to try to combat them yeah, you know.

Speaker 2: 1:11:08

Yeah, I mean.

Speaker 1: 1:11:09

So that's the name of game field a better team and and the dodgers are like okay well, we'll do that yeah, you know so, so that's something to look forward to yeah, and and the other thing that I look at, you know, because the comparisons between the dodgers and the padres are made a lot, obviously same division, really close geographically, sort of the old established organization versus the one that's kind of been a laughing stock and they're trying to do away with that. I look at the future and the dodgers did everything they did at the deadline and made themselves better, in my estimation, gave up one top 15 prospect.

Speaker 2: 1:11:53

Okay.

Speaker 1: 1:11:55

The Padres have traded every top prospect. They've had the last like three years. They are trying to win right now really badly, yeah, and I'm not saying the Dodgers aren't, but the Dodgers are also set up for a long time to compete. They seem to be completists, really complete team, yeah, organization. I mean just when you look at you know there's four mvps on the on the current roster. Well, I mean including mookie, who's hurt but, and freddie, who's not with the team currently, but when, when you've got everybody together, there's four MVPs. Three of those are the top of your lineup. The other one is Kershaw. You've got one of the top three or four farm systems in the majors, yeah, and you've got an organization that develops talent really well, not just at the minor league level but at the major league level too.

Speaker 1: 1:12:52

So you look at a guy like Michael Kopech, former top prospect, former starter, kind of fledgling, still has some stuff, though Put him in that Mark Pryor, connor McGinnis pitching lab with the Dodgers. Who knows what's in there? Right, because now he's got an opportunity to tap in fully and it hasn't worked out 100% of the time. There's still the Noah Sindergards of the world that we brought in and it just didn't work out. But for the most part, that's what this dodger team does.

Speaker 1: 1:13:30

You know, and you you go past the mookies and the freddies and the shohays. The big trade acquisitions, the big free agency acquisitions max muncie we got him off the scrap pile. Chris taylor traded zach lee for him. Justin turner off the scrap pile. I mean, there are countless examples not just of pitchers but of position players too, where the Dodgers take a guy that nobody else wants because they see something they can hone in on and fix. And I also think it feels good to go to a team like the Dodgers. Yeah, you know, if you're, if you're, if you get DFA and you don't have a job and the Dodgers call you, yeah, that's huge it feels good, right?

Speaker 2: 1:14:11

Well, let's be honest. There's a few teams, like you know the Dodgers, the Cubs, the Yankees, the prestige is there, Exactly the Red Sox. You know, you're not necessarily going there because you want to play, play, play. You're going there because you want to be part of the organization, organization, organization, right.

Speaker 1: 1:14:32

And then there's another level to that, where what team, over the last decade plus, has given themselves a better opportunity to win than the Dodgers? Yeah, so there's the prestige of the history and the you know putting on that uniform, and there's also this is an organization that at every level, every office in that building, everybody, their goal is to win in October. Yeah, and we've not done that to the level we feel like we should have. So there's a sense of urgency now too. So it's all these elements coming together. And to me, if I'm Michael Kopech and I'm going from the worst team in major league history, who doesn't really know what my role is or you know what I'm doing, to a team that is competing, wants to win now and it's going to go, okay, let's see what you got. Oh, this is going to be your role.

Speaker 2: 1:15:28

How long you think it took him, when he stepped on the field there, to realize, wow, we're not in chicago south side anymore not long because that first pitch was smoking not long, not long at all, man, and that's great.

Speaker 1: 1:15:41

Then that's what you want. If you're the dodgers, you want guys to notice the difference when they get on that field compared to playing, even, I mean, for another major league team there's a difference.

Speaker 1: 1:15:53

Because here's the thing and Mookie said it at FanFest this year for a lot of teams, the series against the Dodgers this year, that's their World Series. Yeah, absolutely so. Not only are you getting players best, you're getting the crowds when you go on the road that are like playoff crowds because it's sold out, because everybody wants to see the dodgers and the dodger fans travel. Well, and there's dodger fans everywhere now. So you know, it's the atmosphere. You know as well.

Speaker 1: 1:16:21

There's a lot of elements that make playing for the dodgers maybe not necessarily better for everybody, but different than playing for a team like the White Sox. Speaking of the Dodgers and Dodger Stadium, justin Turner goes from the Blue Jays to the Mariners, mostly whatever trade. Except Justin Turner has not played a game at Dodger Stadium since the 2022 Division Series and the Mariners are scheduled to play at Dodger Stadium later in August. So we're going to get Justin Turner's return to Dodger Stadium out of this trade and that'll be fun and cool and good to see Justin Turner beloved in Dodger land, probably always be.

Speaker 1: 1:17:09

Just, you know, for for a multitude of reasons, including, but not limited to he and his wife's charity work in the city of LA, and you know the two the home run in 2018 that everybody talks about. You know he was a part of that World Series team in 2020. Was looked at for a long time as the guy to become a coach and maybe one day take over for Dave Roberts when Dave was done managing the team. So it'll be cool to see him back at Dodger Stadium. Kevin Kiermaier, we talked about him. The Dodgers get him from the Blue Jays. Well, hold on a second, let's back up to the mariners.

Speaker 2: 1:17:50

Okay, the mariners said that they just needed one big bat and they're in it. Well, now they got two, arguably. What do you think? You think they're in it?

Speaker 1: 1:18:00

no, no, they needed more than one big bat and they got one kind of big bat yeah, because the Because a Rosarena is not in my opinion. Personally, I don't view a Rosarena as a big bat, really Now when he's on big bat, but he's not being consistent enough for me to go oh, that's the guy we need to get over the hump Now. Does he make them better? Absolutely, because they've been terrible offensively, but they just I mean, come on, you're going to tell me that they can beat the Orioles in a playoff series.

Speaker 1: 1:18:36

That's a good point. You're going to tell me they can beat the Yankees, the Guardians. I mean I just don't see it, man. Well, they think they can, well, and that's important. If they think they can, that's half the battle, yeah. But I don't know, I don't see it. I don't see it with the Mariners. Plus, you know, houston's already overtaken them for the division lead. The Rangers are kind of coming on strong now. I think the Mariners are fighting for a playoff spot, not for actually competing in October. Right, right, I mean they got bigger fish to fry there for sure. So we talked about the Padres and Tanner Scott. We talked about the Rays and Dylan Carlson.

Speaker 1: 1:19:13

Here's a bit of a head scratcher. So the Orioles were very active. They did a lot during the trade deadline. Some argue that they did a lot but didn't get a ton better. But this one really was a head-scratcher for pretty much everybody. They get Aloy Jimenez from the White Sox and Aloy has been really injury-ridden. Cubs fans know all about him and his injury problems. But he just doesn't really fit there. I mean he's a DH first off. I mean Camden Yards has a really tough outfield to play and you can't put him in left field. There I mean, can you? I mean, I just don't see it. I don't know, this is a weird one. This is a weird one and it's a bit of a head scratcher. There's got to be something else going on here.

Speaker 2: 1:20:10

Brian, that we don't know about. Yeah, made this happen. Yeah, I don't know what the deal is with it either. I agree with you completely and you know maybe they were just throwing the white socks of bone there give them. Yeah, maybe look there you go, little buddy. It'll be okay, little buddy, we'll help you, it's okay, all right.

Speaker 1: 1:20:29

So we've talked quite a bit already about Izaak Paredes for Christopher Murrell. But the Cubs made another trade. They sent Mark Leiter Jr to the Yankees and that sort of speaks to one of the bigger trends of this trade deadline a lot of relief pitchers. A lot of relief pitchers yeah of this trade deadline a lot of relief pitchers, A lot of relief pitchers yeah.

Speaker 1: 1:20:49

And you know, on the surface it makes sense because everybody needs bullpen help. But relievers are such low-value players that they're not typically moved like this. I mean, that was another new wrinkle to this trade deadline was. So many relievers, including Mark Leiter Jr, got traded, and I can live with that trade if we would have got something.

Speaker 2: 1:21:14

Sure, we got one guy with a broke arm. Now it's the whole arm. It started with a pinky finger.

Speaker 1: 1:21:22

Now it's the whole arm. By the end of the episode he's going to be in a body cast.

Speaker 2: 1:21:26

Yeah, I mean I can live with getting rid of him.

Speaker 1: 1:21:30

we just got nothing in return yeah yeah, you know, so I, I just don't understand it um the royals, you know, uh, again, they're, they're, they're trying, they're really, they're really looking to get better, and they've been hot lately. So, uh, paul deong from the white socks gives them a little bit of uh, a little bit of depth in the middle infield. Paul deong can play a couple of different positions, I think, and he's, he's, he's hit for a lot of power this year too. So that's, you know, that's encouraging uh for the royals who, uh, again, I want to mention where my al championship pick yeah, I'm, I'm, did I say the orioles?

Speaker 2: 1:22:11

I think you did pick the oriole. I think I did. I mean I want to say, because I usually go with the rays and I know I didn't do that this year no, I think you went orioles philly. I think I did.

Speaker 1: 1:22:19

I think I did orioles philly yeah, so, uh, just kind of moving down the list, the astros acquire caleb ferguson from the Yankees. I only bring this up because Caleb Ferguson was on the 2020 Dodger championship team, so I'm not sure how he feels about being shipped to Houston. Yeah, we'll see. I mean, he can grow some facial hair back out Alien territory man, a little bit, a little bit. So he's not the first guy from that team to play for the Astros, but it's just weird.

Speaker 2: 1:22:51

How long do you think the orientation takes to get them on how to cheat, like when you sign them up, until you put them on the field? How long does it take them to smarten them up to all their schemes and connivingness?

Speaker 1: 1:23:03

Unlike a lot of Dodger fans and baseball fans, I do not think the Astros are still cheating at the level they were cheating in 2017.

Speaker 2: 1:23:11

Well, not at that level, but they're still cheating. Well, everybody's cheating. Well, I got to tell you that Assad, the other day the boog was, this was like three days ago was asking what's wrong with his pants? Why has he got dirt on his pants? Yeah, what's wrong with his pants? Why has he got dirt on his pants? Yeah, and so he's they. They give the wide shot to show that he gets the grip from the dirt and he wipes it on his pants, and but they, they zero in and he and they, he takes the ball and rubs it on the dark, on the dirt.

Speaker 2: 1:23:44

Uh-huh, nobody said a word and that camera panned out awful quickly and I was like I said to Ashley did you see that she missed it? I was like he's rubbing dirt on that ball.

Speaker 1: 1:23:56

Yeah, yeah, I mean, everybody cheats, but there's levels to it, and when they brought the technology in, that's when I was like, no, this is no, they got more gadgets than this podcast has gadgets, yeah yeah, the Guardians. The Guardians had a good deadline. Yeah, they get starting pitcher Alex Cobb from the Giants, outfielder Lane Thomas from the Nationals. The Guardians are good people and Brian, they are going for it. Yeah, they're going for it.

Speaker 2: 1:24:24

Well, that's good, that's what you got to do. Cleveland Guardians, the Cleveland, that's it.

Speaker 1: 1:24:29

Major leagues all over again, yeah man, I mean Alex Cobb, is a solid arm in that rotation for him. You know, lane Thomas is a really good outfielder that I think just needed out of the national system to really kind of reach his full potential.

Speaker 2: 1:24:47

There's only one thing left to do Win the whole damn thing.

Speaker 1: 1:24:53

Yeah, yeah wouldn't that be something, wouldn't it? It really would be, because they've got the longest drought now, right, yeah, yeah, yeah, they've got the. They've got the longest existing drought, now that they, now that they uh, you know, after 2016 they need epstein to come in there and break right right right don't get me down that road either.

Speaker 1: 1:25:13

Yeah, please don't few more, uh, notable traits here. The rangers get andrew chafin from the tigers and that's cool. I mean, the potential of seeing andrew chafin pitch in october is is pretty exciting. Yeah, he's, he's a. He's a fun guy to watch and the rangers fans are going to love him for sure. Uh, the brewers, who are kind of already known for their starting pitching. They get frankie montas from the reds interesting pickup there. Um, probably not a guy you're going to see a lot of in october, if, if things go to plan for the brewers, but definitely lengthening the depth of of their rotation, which is important.

Speaker 1: 1:25:54

And then we got to talk, finally, about the Diamondbacks getting Josh Bell from the Marlins. The Marlins traded like half their team and I'm not even exaggerating that much. They traded a bunch of guys away. And Josh Bell goes to the Diamondbacks, pretty clearly a reaction to Christian Walker, who was having a monster year, should have been an all-star. He goes down to injury, he's on the IL. So, josh Bell, they're clearly pretty concerned about that. So, josh Bell, not only going to take over at first base but hopefully take over with the power and the production You've got to be happy with the Walker injury.

Speaker 2: 1:26:27

I mean not that he's hurt, but you've got to be.

Speaker 1: 1:26:31

Yeah, it's hard to say you're happy when a guy gets hurt.

Speaker 2: 1:26:34

Right, right right.

Speaker 1: 1:26:34

But you know it's interesting. Yeah, if he never shows up at Dodger Stadium again it'll be too soon, he won't be heartbroken at all. Free agent at the end of this year, I'm pretty sure to Christian Walker. There you go, free agent at the end of this year. I'm pretty sure to Christian Walker. Maybe he'll go way the fuck away from the NL West. That'd be nice, wouldn't it.

Speaker 2: 1:26:55

We covered every team just about. Was there any team that didn't do anything?

Speaker 1: 1:26:59

No, all 30 teams made it. I remember the Twins. I don't remember what the trade was, but the Twins made a deal on deadline day and they were the last of the 30 teams who hadn't made any deal at all. All 30 teams did something at the deadline. Okay, so you know that, and that's. The other thing is, I don't know if that's true every year no, I don't know if that it seemed like a.

Speaker 2: 1:27:19

You know that there was a lot that that went on yeah, tons that went on, not as many big, huge.

Speaker 1: 1:27:25

You know names. Um, louisa rise had already been traded earlier in the season. That probably helped things, but I just think that for some guys, uh well, you know, we haven't talked about Garrett Crochet, so Garrett Crochet was looked at as like the best arm available from the White Sox. Obviously, you know they're. They want rid of everybody because, they're trying to build prospect.

Speaker 1: 1:27:47

You know capital, anybody's got to be better for him. Sure, and he comes out a couple days before the deadline, or his agent does, and says number one, if he doesn't get a contract extension, he's not pitching in October because he's already over what he was supposed to be pitching this year for the White Sox, and that just I don't know. And then he doesn't want to pitch out of the bullpen and he starts making all these demands. And then you add to that that his price tag is already going to be really high because this was a seller's market. That's why the Marlins and the White Sox and the Rays are just shipping everybody out. Because it was a seller's market. Right, there's so many teams buying because so many teams feel like they're still in it. Yeah, man, I just. You know it was a really busy trade deadline and honestly that was fun.

Speaker 2: 1:28:41

Yeah, it was. And I went from at the beginning of the show saying, well, not much really happened. And then we go over it and I'm like, well, that's a lot of stuff and this isn't even everything.

Speaker 1: 1:28:51

This is just sort of the highlights that I came across. There's other trades that were made. The Angels traded their closer, carlos Estevez I think that's his name, sorry if I got that wrong, I don't have it in front of me. But yeah, I mean, everybody did, did something, everybody was involved in one way or the other and, and you know, all 30 teams look differently, yeah, now than they did, you know, a couple days ago, um, or a week ago, you know, so, um, you know a fun deadline.

Speaker 1: 1:29:23

You know there was always something going on again a lot of times with the deadline. I'm looking at my phone every so often nothing's happening and it's like come on, somebody do something, uh. But this year it wasn't like that. This year it was constant movement, constantly something going on, um, and, and I felt like there was less of the oh well, this guy might go to this team, this team, this team or this team, or he's close with these two teams, and these two teams are still. I saw less of that and more of oh, this is happening, and I think that's because things again were happening so quickly there wasn't time for reporters to go. Well, I got to report something, so I'm going to go off the wall with these crazy predictions.

Speaker 2: 1:30:03

Yeah, yeah, it was. It was a good trade deadline. It worked out, some better than others, others worse than some. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

Speaker 1: 1:30:16

One more thing on Jack Flaherty, and this is where he really won me over. Okay, jack Flaherty is wearing the number zero for the.

Speaker 2: 1:30:24

Dodgers, I wonder how long it was going to take you to mention that and I thought that was the coolest damn thing I've ever seen.

Speaker 1: 1:30:30

Yeah, um, so I'm in. I'm in on jack flaherty. Let's do this, let's win. Let's win some rings, jack flaherty absolutely, absolutely.

Speaker 2: 1:30:39

I'm looking forward to seeing him pitch too.

Speaker 1: 1:30:41

So yeah, saturday in oakland. Uh, as we're recording, that'll be what? Well, that's the thing.

Speaker 2: 1:30:46

What did oakland do? I mean, I know we don't have a note and I'm putting you on the spot, but what do they do?

Speaker 1: 1:30:52

I don't know packed up and moved I don't know. They probably they probably traded some guys away. All right, ursig, I know, uh, ursig, the relief pitcher went uh to the royals. Okay, I want to say that was another one of the moves the royals made. Boy, you pulled that one out.

Speaker 2: 1:31:07

He's a virtual encyclopedia.

Speaker 1: 1:31:11

But they didn't move Mason Miller. A lot of people thought their closer Mason Miller, would get moved. Some thought that Brent Rooker, their best hitter, would get moved. Those guys stayed put. So I don't know if the price tag was too high or the players just all got with their teams and said do whatever you want, but please don't trade us to Oakland. We don't want to play in a minor league ballpark in 117-degree heat next year. Please don't do that to us.

Speaker 2: 1:31:40

Good news is you're not going back to the minors. The bad news is you're going to Oakland.

Speaker 1: 1:31:48

Who won't even be Oakland next year. They're just going to be the Athletics next year.

Speaker 2: 1:31:51

Just the Athletics. They have no team.

Speaker 1: 1:31:53

They don't even have a home city. Yeah, my goodness. Well, that's another topic for another day.

Speaker 2: 1:31:58

Yes, yes, yes, yes.

Speaker 1: 1:32:00

So that's the trade deadline. We're happy to be back after taking a week off, yeah we had a great show man. Yeah, we really appreciate y'all listening. I had some personal therapy issues worked out. Yeah, Brian had a little therapy session here with us. Do you feel better?

Speaker 2: 1:32:14

No.

Speaker 1: 1:32:15

No.

Speaker 2: 1:32:15

I do. I feel better. I mean I'm kind of just messing around, but I was hot. I was hot at him. I mean I'm not going to be having no dinners with him, yeah.

Speaker 1: 1:32:24

That's for sure?

Speaker 2: 1:32:25

Well, first of all I'd have to get him a stepladder so he can look me in the eye. But I mean, you know, that's one reason we're not going to have dinner. But I mean, there's many of us, okay.

Speaker 1: 1:32:36

So before we go back down that road again. We're going to get out of here. Thanks, as always for checking us out. We're still just on YouTube, is that correct? We're?

Speaker 2: 1:32:45

just on YouTube, but we're closer than ever. I know I say that every week, but we're getting there, gangbusters, we're coming out, we'll be everywhere.

Speaker 1: 1:32:53

Yeah, we'll be everywhere soon, but YouTube for now. So obviously, if you're hearing this, you're seeing us. Please hit the subscribe button, tell your friends. We're trying to get our YouTube subscriptions up so we can do some more things with our YouTube channel. Follow us on Twitter. At 2GTBpod. You can follow me. I'm at Dallas. Danger Brian is at 3CrowsBri. We love interacting with y'all on Twitter. Oh, and one more thing If you comment on one of our posts and we are not following you and your account is set to private, I have no idea who you even are, so I don't even know that I need to follow you to see you. So please keep that in mind. Now, if you want to comment a bunch of crap and us not see it, then keep doing what you're doing, you're doing great then.

Speaker 1: 1:33:41

But I noticed the other day that there was a one next to the comment button on one of our posts and it wouldn't show me the comment. Oh wow, it has to be somebody whose account is set to private that we're not following. So if that was you um, I don't know figure out a way to let us know and we'll. We'll follow you back so we can see your comments, as long as they're nice and not you know well, mean, I'll tell you who it was.

Speaker 2: 1:34:04

No, no, no, we're not, we're not doing it buy.

Speaker 1: 1:34:08

Uh, buy your 2g tv merchandise. Shirts, hats we got all kinds of stuff stickers, phone cases, all the good stuff for your puppy friends. Uh, something for the ladies, something for the men, something for everybody at 2gtbstore. And then our patreon, we're. We haven't added a lot of new content to the Patreon, but we've added a lot of classic content to the Patreon recently Our original 11 episodes from 2022, as well as Brian's podcast he did with his wife Married with Baseball for a brief time. After that, how many episodes did you do?

Speaker 2: 1:34:41

There were two, two episodes.

Speaker 1: 1:34:43

They were actually really good. They were very good. I remember he begged me to listen to them when I didn't want to and I listened to one and I really was very impressed. And then she quit on me.

Speaker 2: 1:34:58

Well, you know that was a trend for you in 2022, podcast teammates yeah, and I tried to do one by myself and I was like I'm just not that damn entertaining, and he actually recorded it.

Speaker 1: 1:35:05

Oh yeah, I recorded it. No one could ever hear this it's terrible.

Speaker 2: 1:35:08

I mean it's like me reading the phone book.

Speaker 1: 1:35:11

Patreoncom slash 2gtb. We're going to be adding a lot more stuff to that. Just uh, there's some bonus videos of us talking about things we don't touch on on the podcast. Just cool little fun extras, um, and we're going to be adding more and more into that as we go along. But the more of you, uh that subscribe, the more we're going to be motivated to do that. So please check us out on patreoncom slash 2GTB and Brian, unless you've got anything else today, we'll see you at the ballpark. For Brian, I'm Dallas. We'll holler at you next week. Have a good one.