Mammoth Playoff Update, Utes in NFL Draft, Joe Ingles future, Jazz Rumors & News, MLB Coaching Chaos

We’re going LIVE with a packed episode of DNA Sports Recap covering everything from playoff hockey drama to NFL Draft history and MLB controversy 👇

🏒 Utah Mammoth Playoff Breakdown (Games 3 & 4)

Historic first playoff game at Delta Center
Mammoth dominate Game 3 behind big nights from Crouse & Vejmelka
Game 4 turns into an instant classic 😳
Utah’s wild comeback… and Vegas steals it in OT
Series tied 2-2 heading back to Vegas
Plus: What’s up with the playoff scheduling??

🏈 Utah Football Shake-Up + NFL Draft Recap

Greg Argust resigns after 20+ years at Utah—what does it mean?
BREAKING DOWN Utah’s HUGE draft:
Spencer Fano (Top 10 pick!)
Caleb Lomu (1st round history made)
Dallen Bentley (late-round sleeper)
BYU draft + undrafted signings recap
Who got snubbed and who landed in a good spot?

🏀 Utah Jazz News & Rumors

Joe Ingles potentially heading back to Australia
Contract extension candidates: who stays, who goes?
Kevin Durant to Utah?! Yeah… we’re talking about it 😂

⚾ MLB Drama Heating Up

Red Sox fire Alex Cora — but is he really the problem?
Phillies struggling after Rob Thomson firing
Mets in meltdown mode 👀 who’s next on the hot seat?
Braves dominating despite injuries — what’s the secret?
Trevor Bauer’s “not-a-no-hitter” sparks debate



#DNASportsRecap #UtahMammoth #NFLDraft #UtahJazz #MLB #LiveSports #utahfootball 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:07

Once again, folks, welcome to another edition of the DNA Sports Recap. My name is Darren. That is AJ. And let's go ahead and jump right into it. Let's talk a little bit about the Utah Mammoth, shall we? All right, man. Well, it's been of an eventful playoff series so far for the Utah Mammoth. Last week we covered the first two games on the road, which Utah was able to earn the split and get the game two win. Bring it back to Salt Lake. And game three, man. Game three was historic for Utah. First playoff game in Utah at Delta Center. Yeah. Not the Delta Center. At Delta Center.

SPEAKER_01 0:43

Delta Center.

SPEAKER_00 0:44

If you guys know, you know. Utah jumps out to an early lead on this one, man, scoring two goals in the first period. Weager opens up the scoring with uh about five minutes into the first period and uh with a shot between the circles, basically. Uh Dylan Gunther covered, uh converted on a power play with about two minutes and 14 seconds left in that period with a slap shot of his own at the top left circle. And then we also have uh Lawson Krause who scored twice within six minutes of each other in the second period.

SPEAKER_03 1:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:11

Uh Veggie had 30 saves on the night. Uh Utah controlled the middle game pretty much all game long. And uh Mammoth came out with a win, man, four to two.

SPEAKER_01 1:20

Yeah, it was it was really a great game. And I think this game really kind of it talked about Utah's depth. You could tell that home crowd was just just really, really um engaged. And I mean, Veg you looked great the whole game. It's it's awesome to have a goaltender that just goes out there and just does a great job in the net and just keeps you in every single one of these games. Uh, it was nice to see Utah kind of control this one. You know, they needed, you know, we talked about it last week, but they needed a statement win, right? They needed to show that they could go out there and not just squeak by, but win that game in a pretty commanding way. So it was it was a really fun game to watch. It's nice to have a little bit of pressure off, knowing you know, they had a decent lead most of the game. So it was a it was a great one.

SPEAKER_00 2:03

Absolutely. Uh you know, the atmosphere outside with the party going on on the promenade out there, yeah. It was really great. It was great to see. It was great to see Utah come out and you know, really support our hockey team, pretty much as they did all year. Apparently, it was a year to the day that they brought the team to Utah that day.

SPEAKER_01 2:20

Oh, really?

SPEAKER_00 2:21

So the day that we were out there on that promenade welcoming that team into Utah was the exact same day a year later, uh, for their uh, you know, obviously not a year later, two years later for their first official um podcast.

SPEAKER_01 2:34

That's actually really cool.

SPEAKER_00 2:35

Yeah, so I thought that was awesome. Yeah. Um, yeah, I got I caught that from local news coverage, by the way. That's impressive. The one time I had the local news on. I have to talk about it.

SPEAKER_03 2:43

I was gonna say, who does that?

SPEAKER_00 2:44

Yeah, that's interesting. It's interesting. We got uh comment here from Greg Hawkins. Let's go. Thanks for joining in, man. Really appreciate it. Thanks, Craig. And then this is great. Thanks, Greg. Excellent transition work. Yeah, AJ's killing it over there. Killing it, dude. Yeah, it's great. It's great. It's his first day. It's all good. First day, it's all good. Um, we also got another comment here from a friend of the channel, Tammy Price. Let's see here. It was fun to watch. Yeah, absolutely. You know, it's definitely interesting to see, you know, especially when it comes to the Utah Mammoth. You're seeing a lot of non-traditional hockey fans enjoying this playoff series.

SPEAKER_01 3:18

Oh, yeah, dude.

SPEAKER_00 3:19

You know, and really kind of getting into it in a way that, you know, they probably might not have gotten into the regular season, at least for the last two years. And now they're like, oh, hey, this is what Utah hockey's about. I'm all in, you know. So it's probably gonna see a lot more transition into a lot more local fans, kind of casual fans, kind of tuning in a little bit more uh to the mammoth. Kind of like what we talked about uh previous episode last week.

SPEAKER_03 3:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:40

Um, so be sure to check it out. We'll be it won't be linked anywhere because neither one of us could be bothered to do that. So um, but uh let's go ahead and jump ahead to game four. Uh this is a game, uh this game was for a game that's not featuring the team from Minnesota. There were sure a lot of wild swings in this one. Yeah. Did you see what I did there? I did. There you go. I did. Yeah, just you know, just but yeah, anyway. Anyway, the Golden Knights raced out to an early 3-0 lead. Well, two goals in the first, one early in the second half. Uh sorry, in the second quarter, uh, from we got these three goals from Dorfieva. Not a probably not right. And we also have Howden and Cole Smith uh scoring those three goals. Two coming in the first period, one coming early in the second. Uh, Utah did come back by scoring full four straight unanswered goals of their own, AJ. Yeah. You got Nick Schmaltz and Ian Cole both scoring within 30 seconds of each other uh in the second period. Kind of a theme for Utah that we got going on there. Michael Carconi tied it up with another slap shot with a minute and 44 uh in the third, uh, on the clock in the third. Uh Veggie had 31 stops to Hart 27. And of course, there's that overturned goal uh by the Knights uh from the Knights in early OT that got the overturned because of the off-sides call. Uh, then you also had uh Shea Theodore Skull score on a snapshot from the high slot with 51 seconds left in overtime. Uh Vegas was able to beat the Utah Mammoth 5-4, bringing the series back to Vegas even at 2-2.

SPEAKER_01 5:14

Yeah. Yeah. Did you did you happen to watch any of the overtime? Dude, that was must-watch hockey. Yes. That was it was so intense. Like overtime started, and I couldn't. It's funny because I was I was watching it on my phone and my wife was like, just put it on the TV already. And I I put it up and I was like, this is so crazy. Like, this is it, it was high intensity. I mean, it it was it was fun to see Utah really just show the resilience, right? Going down 3-0. That is a tough storm to weather. Like, at what point do you just kind of throw in the towel, right? And you're like, okay, we're I guess we just move on to the next one. But they stayed with it, they got some goals back. The game was high scoring, it was back and forth, like the momentum was just swinging both ways. In the overtime period, it was like Utah came out storming to start it. They were like, okay, we're gonna get it. This is what we are fighting for, right? And then and then the momentum just swung back. After that, like Vegas had had kind of recaptured some of it, and they were they were really pushing a lot of pressure on the net. And then the over, you know, then the shot that was called back from the offsides, and then Utah came out screaming again, all over the place. But then you kind of saw you kind of saw the momentum swing back to Vegas. Utah couldn't get up the putt cleared back up the ice. And you know, we had a couple uh drops, and uh, it was just it was brutal. Like you could kind of feel the momentum just slipping away from the mammoth as right before they got that goal because they couldn't get the ice cleared. They could, yeah, they couldn't get it cleared.

SPEAKER_00 6:49

Yeah, no, and it's one of those things that you were looking at, man, when it comes to that game, it was clear that the uh when it got into overtime, you the mammoth is gonna have to figure out a way to combat the physicality of Vegas. Yeah. Because the speed by that point, when you score scored four unanswered goals, you're gonna get starting to get a little gassed. You can kind of see that into the the speed just wasn't there in overtime like it was in the in uh regulation. So um, yeah. But if you're gonna lose a game, AJ, that's the way you're gonna want to lose. Yeah. You're gonna you take you go down 3-0 and you punch back and you punch back hard.

SPEAKER_01 7:24

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 7:24

I love seeing that because again, to your point on game three, it showed you that this team is not just gonna get away with one and try and squeak by a win. It showed you that, hey, we're here to play. We can play with these types of these these types of players. You know, we could play this type of hockey and still, you know, we could play your style of hockey, no, our style of hockey against your style of hockey and still prevail, you know. So you absolutely love to see it. Um great to see. And obviously the game's about to the puck's about to drop here in about 20 minutes uh from our our talks. So basically by the time we post this, all this content will be irrelevant. So it's great.

SPEAKER_01 7:58

But we had to talk about it anyway.

SPEAKER_00 7:59

We needed to talk about it. We need to talk about it.

SPEAKER_01 8:01

We had to.

SPEAKER_00 8:02

I actually want to bring up I have a bone to pick with you about this one. And I I I need to ask a question. Okay, I'm ready. They had two days off between games three and four, correct? Yeah. Okay. Why is that?

SPEAKER_01 8:16

I I don't know. That actually really confused me too, especially being here.

SPEAKER_00 8:20

Yes. So why did they have two days off if it was here? And why did we only have two days off if one of the travel days were back to Vegas? So they only had two days off between game four and the game start tonight.

SPEAKER_01 8:32

Well, they only had one day off.

SPEAKER_00 8:33

Yeah, so they had one day off and a travel day.

SPEAKER_01 8:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:36

Two days between games. Yeah. So why did we have two days between games three and four when no one had to go anywhere? Yeah. And was it just the TV stuff?

SPEAKER_01 8:47

It it had to be TV scheduling. That's the only thing that I can that I can come up with.

SPEAKER_00 8:51

I thought game four was gonna be the day before. Yeah. So I was looking for the game. I'm like, well, why isn't this on here? And then it comes out, oh, it's tomorrow. I'm like, tomorrow.

unknown 9:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:01

And I started looking back at the schedule, I'm like, how many times has the has I mean, how many times I mean, do they need because you know, relatively new to hockey or new to hockey fans, right? You know, maybe they don't play a whole bunch of back-to-backs or one game off or what have you. You know, maybe this is just a scheduling thing that they do. They need no, I've seen them play two games uh with one day off plenty of times.

SPEAKER_03 9:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:23

And I'm like, okay, maybe it's just a playoff thing. No, the only thing I can see is that it's a TV thing, and I think that really hurt the mammoth and killed the momentum. Yeah. If you can't carry that, you know, that you know what whooping from game three over to game four because you gave them two days, you know. I think that really kind of hurt the mammoth's chances of coming away with a win in game four. I don't know. To me, it just kind of seemed like a little, you know.

SPEAKER_01 9:46

I agree though, because it was tough. And and you think those players, you get you get so hyped up and you can you can keep some of that rush going into game four if you're one day off, you know, go out, get a a quick practice in back to the ice the next night.

SPEAKER_00 9:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:58

I feel like you got a chance, but two days off just seemed crazy.

SPEAKER_00 10:03

Yeah, favored then swings back to the veteran team that's been there before. Yeah. Which is the knights. So I just kind of felt like it was kind of a shot towards the Utah team about having that home ice advantage. Basically, just kind of felt like it was baked in the schedule that that would be taken away from them there. Yeah. I don't know. Just didn't seem right. I didn't like it. Um, yeah, I just wanted to bring that up. What's your prediction for tonight?

SPEAKER_01 10:24

Who this this game is is pivotal. Um this this could really decide some of the series. Yeah. Uh but I think I mean, I think the mammoth got a chance. I mean, absolutely. Like you said, I think that they can they can carry some of that momentum that they that they had on the tail end of game four. Yes, I understand it was a loss, but they had a ton of momentum to to come back and prove that resilience where they they came all the way back from 3-0. Hopefully they carry some of that momentum into this next game and just and just go out firing and you know, go up early, get the momentum swung your way and just and just keep trucking through this team.

SPEAKER_00 11:01

Yeah, I I absolutely agree. I'd love to see them come away with a win in this one. However, I am not shaken if they come away with a loss in this one, because I think the Utah Mammoth have proven that they can go back to back and win one at home and on the road against this team. Yeah. So if I'm obviously they want to win tonight. You you want to win this game tonight. I think they showed that they can compete with this team, scoring four and nines for goals and just happen to blow it in overtime, you know, and at the end of regulation and then in overtime, obviously, because they give it that goal late when they had the lead. But yeah, but the point is that they've shown that they can punch back and they show that they can win on the road against this team, while Vegas is probably gonna be favored simply because that they are the veteran team that have been here before.

SPEAKER_03 11:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:43

Um, I don't think you can count Utah out either way when they come if they come away with a win tonight or not.

SPEAKER_03 11:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:50

I don't know. You want to hear from you folks? Let us know what your thoughts are in the comments down below. Uh, what are your thoughts on tonight's game? Do you think the mammoth are gonna be able to pull it out? Uh and uh phrasing. Umway with a word on this one? And uh yeah, we want to hear from you. Let us know what your thoughts are in the comments down below. We got Pacific Northwest U jumping into the chat here, saying Mammoth Comeback, uh major tusk testes.

SPEAKER_01 12:16

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 12:17

I like it. I like it. That's perfect. Love it, man. Love it. Thanks for joining us, man. Appreciate it. Love having you on there. Um, all right, man. So let's go ahead and switch on over, man. Let's go ahead and talk some about uh about some uh you football, shall we?

SPEAKER_01 12:30

Yeah, let's do it.

SPEAKER_00 12:31

All right. Let's talk youths. All right, AJ. So there was an article um in the news there about the University of Utah director of football per sports performance, Greg Argust, uh resigned shortly after being promoted uh to the role in January. Uh his departure uh is part of an ongoing staff turnover uh following the head coach of Kyle Whittigam leaving for the University of Michigan alongside uh along along with uh longtime straight coach uh Doug Elisiah.

SPEAKER_03 13:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:15

Close? Yeah, yeah, close enough. Um but anyway, he's been with the program. Uh Argus has been with the program for over 20 years. Um to see him replace and you know what Utah did is uh is he he left and they promoted uh Steve Sanders into his position, who previously worked with the Baltimore Ravens. Yeah. Um so obviously the most important question here, AJ, is what does a director of football performance do? That's my first question. Dude, I have no idea actually.

SPEAKER_01 13:44

Director of sports performance.

SPEAKER_00 13:46

I'm thinking like, okay, maybe that's just a fancy title for the strength coach, but no, no, that that's that's Doug. Yeah. So what does a director of football sports performance actually do? And why why is this a why is this a thing? Like, I'm curious. Dude, I have no idea. Oh, okay. Well then let's pivot on over to the less important question. Um sorry about that, AJ. Didn't mean to throw a curveball like that to you.

SPEAKER_01 14:10

Um that's a great question, though. Like, what does a director of sports performance do?

SPEAKER_00 14:14

Yeah, football sports.

SPEAKER_01 14:16

He's like, you guys need to perform, and I'm gonna direct you.

SPEAKER_00 14:18

Yeah, director of football, sports performance. That seems very specific type of title. You think would have a very specific type of job. Um, but yeah. Anyway, tell me what you think about this, man.

SPEAKER_01 14:29

Uh I mean, I think that this could be, you know, because taking the promotion, um I think it kind of I think it this could totally kind of relay to how demanding um just being a division one director probably is, right? And again, I don't know what this job does. You know, this guy's been with the program for a long time. And you know, he's been with Kyle Whittingham and that whole thing. I I think it really just kind of it shows you probably how demanding it is to be in one of these positions. You know what I mean? I I think it it can just be overwhelming. And you take a promotion, you're like, yeah, I can absolutely handle this, but um but you know, I think it could just be a little bit maybe maybe show to be a little bit too much.

SPEAKER_00 15:16

Yeah, I think the fact that he was dec uh declined to comment when uh the Solid Tribune asked to contact him for comment, he declined to comment. Uh there's also no explanation given as to why he resigned or what he plans to do next. So the timeline wise, he was promoted this role in January. That was prior or after Witt's decision to leave. That's after, right? That's after, yeah. So Witt leaves, and so does half the offensive coaching staff, right? Or the whole coaching staff. And then you have this guy's promoted in Janu and then in January, and then three months later he leaves. So that would kind of paint the picture that maybe what he was expecting is to your point, like maybe this is something that's a little bit too much for him to chew, or he already has something else in the I don't know, man. I just don't get this one. Like I don't understand what the role is, and then secondly, I don't understand why you somebody who just got promoted to this role is willing to walk away from it unless there's like like there's gotta be there's some type of like personal reason, totally get all that stuff. But why, if it's sports related, why would you leave this role you were just promoted before you even got a chance to play out of season?

SPEAKER_01 16:26

Yeah, yeah, that's super and and maybe it has something to do with Steve Saunders, you know, the guy that replaced him. Maybe they just thought he was gonna be a better fit. I mean, he does have some NFL experience, not a great uh you know, tenure. Um, he he was the strength coach for the Baltimore Ravens, um, but he had an F minus grade um from the NFL Players Associate in 2023 for strength staff performance. So um I mean there was players on the Ravens that that had reported that he didn't help them succeed, um, and then he left the Ravens program in 2023. So maybe somebody in in the program saw him as a better option, and maybe Argust was just you know, maybe not hitting the bar, and they're like, Well, this guy's got an FL experience. I don't I don't know. This is this is a really weird situation and and kind of crazy that that he kind of you know declined to comment on on the whole scenario.

SPEAKER_00 17:24

Yeah, I'm glad you brought that up because the Steve Saunders thing I wanted to bring that up because what we've talked about on this channel ever since we started talking about Utah football, it has been injuries.

SPEAKER_03 17:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:33

And bringing in exactly what you talked about, an F minus grade from the NFL about you know, for as a strength coach that can cause injuries, like it's that's not a good sign, dude. I don't like that. I don't know. How do you feel about it?

SPEAKER_01 17:49

I mean, not great. I mean, it's it's funny.

SPEAKER_00 17:52

He's not gonna be the strength and conditioning coach for this team, but he's gonna be that person's boss, is my guess.

SPEAKER_01 17:57

Yeah, and and the thing is is Scelly had just praised Argus during spring camp for for player development, strength gain. Um, you know, they they kind of reported that they had a really strong overall spring camp and minimal injuries, just a few hamstrings, a concussion, a minor knee issue. Like so Argus was already reducing soft tissue injuries, and and now he's gone, and now you got a guy that you know was not graded out very well in the NFL and stepping onto a Utah team that you just cannot afford injuries this year.

SPEAKER_00 18:28

No, no. So yeah, we'll have to see what happens there. Yeah, absolutely. Um, but yeah, we want to hear from you folks. Let us know where your thoughts are in the comments down below um on this odd turn of events. We'll we'll follow this, we'll see what happens. We'll see if uh if uh Greg gets a job somewhere else and kind of follow that as it goes. Um, but more importantly, man, we had the NFL draft. I don't know if you were anywhere near a TV or a radio. You couldn't get away from it even if you wanted to. As a baseball fan, trust me, I tried. Um but uh the NFL draft happened over over the last weekend there, um, over the last week. Well, since we were last on the air, basically. And what I wanted to do is I wanted to cover basically just kind of talk about some of the some of the draft that happened uh from within the state there. Uh let's start off with the players from Utah.

SPEAKER_03 19:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:14

Um when it comes to to the draft. Let's start with the first overall pick from Utah, which was the number nine overall pick in the first round to the Cleveland Browns, and that was Spencer Fano, the offensive uh offensive line from Utah.

SPEAKER_01 19:29

Yeah, I mean, Spencer Fano's a stud. He was he was projected to be one of the top offensive linemen taken, and and he was. Um I'm really excited for this opportunity for him, actually. I mean, this is this is really cool. The the Browns have struggled with their offensive line over the last couple of years. So to go out and get Spencer. Um you know, I saw a bunch of the interviews where they they talk about how elite his footwork is and you know, just how excited the Browns were to have him was was really cool to see. Um because I mean he's a he's a a born and true Utah boy, man, grew up in Spanish Fork, Utah. Uh you you just you can't beat a player like that going to um you know being a top ten pick and and and really having an opportunity to go, you know, play uh at the highest of levels.

SPEAKER_00 20:14

Yeah, became the third highest draft pick in program history, by the way. Yeah. That that I was expecting I was surprised to see that. Um and also I also saw here that he's got an immediate starting starting potential um as an NFL offensive lineman, which obviously if you watch any Utah football, you knew that already. Yeah. Um let's go ahead and talk about uh the next one there, number 28th overall pick and still in the first round. This is Caleb Lomu. Lomu. Lomu. Yep. Did not hear have not heard that one both ways.

SPEAKER_01 20:44

Yeah. Caleb Lomu. And and this is really cool because this is these are the first Utah teammates to ever be taken in the first round together. So for Utah to produce two um first round draft picks, yeah, Lomu ends up going to the Patriots. Uh the tandem of of Fono and Lomu was just unstoppable last year. So to have these two guys both make it to the NFL, um, it's it's a testament to you know the the offensive line production that they had last year. And uh, you know, you look you look forward to seeing him. He's he's also got a potential to be, you know, starting or or you know, getting some decent playing time next year, too. I mean, that's that's what you do with first-round draft picks.

SPEAKER_00 21:22

So yeah, you love to see it. Two first-round draft picks, both of them offensive linemen, which is an it's which is interesting, uh, because it definitely kind of reinforces that reputation for University of Utah as being basically an O-line factory for the NFL, which is you know, let's keep chugging that along, man. Yeah, keeps bringing those boys in here, right? Oh yeah. Um, and you obviously stepped all over my my stat. I wanted to put on their first uh two front, you know, in the same draft, but that's okay. Um next we have uh uh Dallin Bentley, uh tight end. He was the number uh two hundred and fifty sixth overall pick in the seventh round, and he is been drafted by the Denver Broncos.

SPEAKER_01 22:02

I think this is this is really funny. The the Denver Broncos apparently love Utah tight ends. Yeah. Yeah. They took a Utah tight end like in the seventh round last year too. They took Caleb Lohner. Oh that's right. Yeah. That wasn't a seventh round. Yeah, the six foot eight, you know, Baylor basketball player that transferred to Utah to play tight end and like so the Broncos and the Broncos do a lot of selecting of Utah players over the years. You you look at like if you're a Utah fan and you don't have an NFL team, just choose the Broncos because they draft so many Utah players. And I don't know if it's because of how close they are and they can get over here pretty easily and kind of scout players from a used to play in the altitude. Yeah but it's funny because the Broncos just they they draft a lot of of youth players and um yeah they went on and picked one more up in Dallin Bentley so add him into the tight end stack. Let's do it let's do it uh he's kind of seen as a more of a uh developmental prospect depth option for them at tight end uh or in as a red zone target uh for for that option there so um who do we have uh that went undrafted that signed a undrafted free agent um deal AJ yeah so there's a couple of them I mean Jaron Cump uh he went to the Chicago Bears um really cool for him you know he was a six year crew he had a six year career with Utah so he's been around a long time played in a lot of games had you know 59 games 40 of those were start primarily at center um he's one of those guys you can kind of plug and play on the offensive line you can put him in any one of those positions so he he deserved uh surprising that he didn't get drafted a little bit earlier um I know there was some there there were some issues he has had injury issues over the years so um but but a great player really cool that he went to the Bears um so yeah no that's pretty exciting yeah I have to agree yeah um he was the only one right no no no Logan Fono oh that's right yeah Spencer Fano uh Spencer Fono's brother Logan Fono also got uh signed an undrafted for undrafted free agent deal with the Cleveland Browns so they are reunited we'll be going to Cleveland together as brothers which is one of the coolest stories out of the whole draft dude like how cool is that yeah you know you probably felt like you know if at what at the point where if he didn't get drafted you were kind of hoping that that would be the that would be the case absolutely yeah yeah like hey my bro like you gotta you gotta get him yeah he's he's worth it and then uh Lander Barton also got signed an undrafted free agent deal with the Los Angeles Chargers go Chargers uh pretty cool to see him going there especially I I do cheer for the Chargers say all you want it's fine um but uh I hope that I get a chance to see Lander Barton in Chargers uniform next year because that would be awesome. That would be cool.

SPEAKER_00 24:51

Yeah yeah we want to hear from you folks let us know what your thoughts are in the comments down below when it comes to the players that were drafted by from the University of Utah and also those that send undrafted free agent calls uh just call us uh from Pacific Northwest Ute just call us Bronq U.

SPEAKER_01 25:07

Yeah hey you know there's so many players it's crazy.

SPEAKER_00 25:10

Let's just keep it going man keep it going keep that pipeline running. Yeah worth a note here BYU did have two players uh drafted Jack Kelly a linebacker was drafted sixth overall 190 sorry sixth round 193rd overall is their highest draft pick uh by the New York Giants uh was expected to be drafted a little earlier but slid down to day three you also have Carson Ryan a tight end uh who was picked up in the seventh round uh 248th overall by the Browns uh the first tight end in over a decade to be drafted out of BYU by the way and he used to play for Utah exactly exactly but also very cool that that's one more former Utah player that all went to the Browns man throw that one up in there for sure yeah the Couggs actually had eight play uh the Cougs also had eight players get signed. Uh so at the conclusion of the draft on Saturday wide receiver uh Chase Roberts uh safety tanner wall offensive lineman Isaiah Jada or is that Hatta? Probably Hatta yeah yeah I don't know if that's I don't know if that was one of the ones we do see I've heard of both ways I think we'll leave that one at Hatta. But basically those four players those three players all signed with the Las Vegas Raiders um while the uh other trio of cougars that were drafted cornerback uh sorry not uh drafted but signed uh cornerback uh Mori Bamba kicker Will Farron and long snapper Garrison Grimes announced that they are headed to New York to play for the Jets uh Sunday defensive lineman uh John uh Tom Tomeya Peyau not gonna get that one sorry John uh received a rookie camp invite to the Kansas City Chiefs and offensive lineman uh Austin Leuasa uh also got a mini camp invite uh to become the fourth cougar going to the Raiders according to BYU Cougars.com so my question on that to you AJ is that while Utah obviously had better draft day better draft coverage by having a lot more players higher in the draft BYU is sending more players to uh NFL camps so who had a better uh draft weekend was it BYU or Utah oh definitely Utah I mean no doubt you you had a first you had a top ten pick two first round picks um you know three players drafted and two players signed unrestricted free agent four undrafted free agent four or five signed un undrafted free agent was it four or five yeah okay there was I mean there was there was a few more that was just a couple of them okay yeah so you totah did great you know I mean we sent a lot of guys that are that are heading to you know to play at the next level and you know the best part is is a lot of these guys have signed undrafted free agent deals um I mean Muhammad Diabate is is a is a great one to kind of show but he plays for the Browns as well as funny as that is but he signed an undrafted free agent deal and I think he's our starting linebacker now.

SPEAKER_01 28:05

So these guys get get to these camps and yeah they might have spent they might not have spent a draft pick on him but they get out there and show and earn big contracts so great day great great couple of days to be a Ute um you know we should be proud of those guys.

SPEAKER_00 28:18

I say after like the sixth round you pretty much are just hoping that no one picks you so you can kind of decide where you want to go you have a little bit more options a little bit more optionality as they'd say yeah anyway I just want to go ahead and go through some of that option that came from the Couggs as well just to kind of let just kind of highlight that how many players came from the state of Utah uh that made it to the NFL on draft uh draft week there um again folks we want to hear from you just let us know what your thoughts are in the comments down below uh what are your thoughts are in the draft uh how did Utah make out and um you know how do you what do you think about BYU's um showing there as well we want to hear from you let us know your thoughts absolutely all right let's go ahead and jump in and speak a little bit about our Utah Jazz got some stories to talk about let's do it all right AJ so a little few a few a little bit of the news for the Utah Jazz oh yeah uh this week which is great always helpful during these times when uh we're waiting for the draft lottery and hopefully Lady Luck finds our way yeah but there's an article in KSL this week about that was talking about Joe Ingalls uh is stated on Twitter by Olgan Olock.

SPEAKER_01 29:31

Um right yeah yeah uh I heard it both ways kind of type thing there yeah that's definitely one yeah so uh Joe Ingalls a five time Olympian 12 this is what he said on Twitter five year five time Olympian 12 year MBA veteran plans to join Melbourne United ahead of the 2026 27 MBL season sources tell ESPN Ingalls is 38 years old and in a playoff campaign right now with Minnesota and once the NBA season is complete he'll move towards finalizing a deal with United tell us about Joe AJ I mean Joe Ingalls is uh is a Utah jazz legend right played for played for the jazz between 2014 and 2022 played over 600 games averaged 8.6 points per game 3.2 rebounds 3.8 assists per game shot an elite 40 point six percent from three he just he turned into that like key rotation player he was always there to shoot it when you needed him um even though he kind of had a late start and entered the league at at age of 27 um Joe kind of became one of those fan favorites because he was never scared to to defend the best player on the team always talking trash um he was the guy that that you wanted the ball in his hands because he just had ice in his veins um you know he he had that that so close to six man of the year voting when he lost it to Jordan Clarkson in 2020 2021 season so he's played for a few teams since he left Utah but he's kind of always going to be re like remembered like I I hope that the Jazz do something for him and sign him to a one day deal so he can retire at Jazz Man because that's how that's how he belongs to retire for sure.

SPEAKER_00 31:19

Oh yeah oh yeah and you said he's elite three-point shooter right absolutely and who also is elite who all of you that signs that subscribe button for Utah Jazz DNA so make sure you hit that subscribe button yeah do that smash that like button for your boy AJ right over there. Yes thank you so yeah Joe was originally picked up from the Clippers basically as kind of a babysitter to Dante XM number fifth overall pick for the jazz that year um do you remember number five overall pick man yeah last time we had a top five pick it was freaking Dante XM yeah like oh man and you know what's funny is I remember where I was when the Jazz drafted Dante XM.

SPEAKER_01 31:54

I was coming down Parley's Canyon from a work trip and I was so excited because he was supposed he was supposed to be taking like number two or three overall oh yeah and he slid and for obvious reasons apparent reasons but I was so excited about Dante Eksom I was like oh this is this is the this is the point guard of the future.

SPEAKER_00 32:12

Every time he was shut down for the season he came to everybody's like what are the Jets gonna do this offseason we're like well they basically have another player coming back like they just you know trade for somebody with Dante Eksham and everybody would just always like like that guy's never healthy. And you're right he isn't but the funny thing is is he was brought here to basically just be a fellow countryman a babysitter for our young uh rookie uh to feel comfortable with him after that he's played eight seasons finished like you mentioned second in 2021 um for the jazz there in the sorry for overall in the NBA for the sixth player of the year losing to JC who we actually got to present the award to which I thought was very very cool. Very cool. One of my you mentioned this uh one of my favorite uh was during the 2018 playoffs when the Utah Jazz were facing the Oklahoma City Thunder um and Ingalls was constantly chirping at Paul George push off P as we know him around here in Salt Lake City that's correct playing physical pesky defense and it just became a storyline in that series where you where basically Joe Ingalls was easily frustrating him out to the point where Utah could get the win out of that.

SPEAKER_01 33:13

Yeah dude absolutely love it love it Joe Ingalls slow-mo Joe like he was just that type of player that didn't care what league it was to him it was a basketball game yeah you know he didn't care if he was in the NBA if he's in the you know National Basketball League in Australia FIBA he didn't care about any of that once you're on the court you're just playing a basketball game and he didn't care who you were you know you were if he was guarding you he was gonna make it hard for you oh dude and and that's exactly what he did too like he just showed out him and he became like a really big part of the community um him and his wife um all of a sudden her name slipped my mind anyways but him and his wife like they did a bunch of cool stuff for autism because one of his children has autism and um just a just a really really cool story um and and I like me as a jazz fan like I feel lucky that we had Joe Ingalls here for the time that we had him dude like he was that guy that you were you were always excited I mean he started a bunch of games for us we had some great seasons with Joe we got I mean some of the best jazz basketball that that we've had to watch in in recent memory Joe Ingall was a part of that team and a key part of that team. So 5000 Renee Ingalls is his wife's name nice it just hit me sorry there you go I think he had over 5,000 points in a jazz uniform and and and just and it's funny because like it's not like he was just like filling up the score sheet every night. There's some nights where Joe would come out and he'd score you know four six points and but make great passes and then go into the playoffs and just just be the guy that's taking the ball up to court because he makes such good decisions. He's always throwing the ball in from the sideline.

SPEAKER_00 34:50

Joe Ingalls was the guy that he would be he would be checked in just for a ball at bound play.

SPEAKER_01 34:56

Absolutely because he's got I mean he's just that cerebral of a basketball player he just makes he makes good reads he like oh dude I just I love Joe Ingalls I'm I'm excited for him to kind of cap off his career you know in the NBA like I said I wish he could come back to Utah for even a one day deal just it's just too cool.

SPEAKER_00 35:13

SCG make it happen. Yeah make it happen SCG we want a one day contract for the Ingalls for them to be able to come back here and uh yeah be able to retire have that press conference yeah absolutely have all the current Jazz players be in there even though none of them are going to know who the heck he is but uh yeah absolutely love it you know tip of the DNA cap to Joe Ingalls on a lovely NBA career and uh yeah man you will slowly be missed man and uh hope all is well for you over there and uh yeah absolutely hope we get to see you around Salt Lake for sure um all right man so let's go ahead and pivot on over there's another article there um now this one we're basically this is kind of how we're gonna break it down this was an article about the jazz and I think this was on sportsi.com yeah I think this one was SI and it said the likelihood of players receiving a contract extension in 2026 offseason now what we're gonna do is we're gonna start from the lowest odds and go up I'm going to basically state base you know what the article is saying and then you kind of yeah and then what I'm gonna have you do is basically just kind of respond to that and tell me what you think okay and kind of just go from there. The first one is obviously Svee uh Svee McKayluke he's got a 10% chance um and is the least likely since the jazz may prefer to keep that roster spot flexible uh to explore other options uh rather than extend him now 10% seems kind of low but I definitely under I definitely agree with where they're coming from on this one.

SPEAKER_01 36:36

Yeah no and I totally agree. I mean Svee Svee had a good season on a really bad team right he shot right around 40% from three uh right about nine points two and a half rebounds just about two assists so but he was playing with with with subcaliber NBA players the whole season so he was kind of he was kind of forced into a position where he needed to you know uh be the vet on on on a on a really young team and and guys that just don't have a ton of NBA experience. So um I think the chance is higher than 10% that they sign him. I think he's a I think he's a good bench option. You can get in get some solid three-point production from him. He actually plays really good defense. I mean I I thought that he was very effective on the defensive end of the floor for you know playing with guys that miss their rotations pretty regularly and um you know kind of slough off and and leave a little bit more to him. So I I feel like I could uh you need a guy like Svee because he's not a he's not a high volume offensive weapon. He's someone you can use and and bring him in and he's not looking for the ball every single time but he plays good defense. I'm gonna say over 10% I could see them getting Svee another contract and keeping around for for a few more years.

SPEAKER_00 37:49

I see the more likely thing for SV is that he isn't with the Jazz but he is on an NBA team. Yeah. I just don't think I just don't think that SV right now is in a position where I don't think his timeline matches the jazz right now. I just think with the death we have because we always because think about our our conspiracy theory when it comes to uh um Nurkic yeah um there's a back our conspiracy theory yeah I don't know if anybody else is talking about this I think this is just an US thing I you know is there's gotta be a back you know there's no way in a contract here you convince somebody to sit out for a deviated septum you know yeah especially a producer like him there's no way unless you kind of guaranteed a contract in the back end somewhere there's like hey bud we're good you know so I think with with him there I think that's almost a guarantee that that contract's happening yeah or you know the conspiracy theory could hold true and yeah and if that's the case with the conspiracy theory in place I could see Svee being pushed just outside of making the roster so yeah exactly that's kind of where I'm sitting on that one. I will say it's above 50% though that he's on an NBA roster uh on opening day oh he'll play somewhere for sure yeah yeah absolutely absolutely the next option is going to be Kyle Philipowski with a 20% chance of getting a contract extension this offseason he's shown value as uh value uh as a rotation big uh still needs more development uh before the team commits long-term money to him what's your take on this 20% for Kyle Philipowski now keep in mind this is just of them getting an extension this season correct this offseason correct and that's all we're talking about is this offseason um so I like I don't think the Jazz are quite made a decision on flip yet and it's really tough to man and and I think the big reason is is if you got a handshake deal with Nurkic you just got Jaron Jackson Jr.

SPEAKER_01 39:42

You got Walker Kessler coming back flip is a good mixture of all of those players put together but he doesn't do anything well he's not a great defensive player he doesn't shoot the three ball great like if you're just if you see the guy that can score from five six feet you've got Walker Kessler Jaron Jackson Jr can do it like who do you pick up in this draft there's there's a lot of questions around around flip that and he's old I mean for for a for a second year NBA rookie he's 25 years old right like he played his full college career out I I do not think they will they will extend flip this offseason. I think it is much less than 20%.

SPEAKER_00 40:27

100% agree I am spot on there with you on this one and it has a lot to do with what you mentioned there which is the draft pick. I think the draft pick's gonna throw a huge wrench on all of this because you know obviously that we want the Jazz to draft a guard if possible but depending on where they land you're gonna take the best player available and that really is going to hurt Kyle's chance you know Flip's chances of being you know having meaningful minutes which he did show great showings he did have great games where he looked like oh he's a future starter in the NBA. Yeah but he also had the exact opposite in the exact same games where he showed that you're like wow this kid's got a lot to learn. Yeah so yeah I'm there with you man I almost say like him and Svee have actually the same percent chance of being extended this offseason in my opinion.

SPEAKER_01 41:05

Yeah and I think if they I think if they draft a guard I I could see them extending Flip this year.

SPEAKER_00 41:11

Not maybe well not this offseason though. I I don't know about that. I mean he's gonna be on the team absolutely yeah but I don't see a contract extension coming his way this offseason.

SPEAKER_01 41:20

Oh okay yeah I see what you're saying yeah yeah that's probably right yeah I I just don't know if he's proved enough yet man no he really hasn't really he just hasn't he hasn't been uber productive especially on the on you know on the court with a bunch of guys that as as a as a second round draft pick and you're playing with undrafted guys that are coming up from the G League and you still don't look great it's just not a good look. So hopefully he can turn it around let's let's let's plan on him making that that third year jump you know kind of like Keonta George and you know he he could be in much better shape next year.

SPEAKER_00 41:53

Absolutely 100% agree moving on up let's go ahead and talk about Bryce sensible he has a 35% chance of getting a contract extension this offseason according to this article uh he is viewed as a possible but yes less urgent extension case uh with his role and future fit being somewhat uncertain what do you what's your take on this one man I know you're a big sensiball guy I am I I think that I think this is one you probably want to make happen sooner than later.

SPEAKER_01 42:21

I think if you because of because of the situation you put Bryce sensible in with playing with some of these you know lower lever lower level guys and you know kind of kind of forcing his hand to keep losing games and I think I think Bryce can be a contributor on this team he shoots a three ball well his defense came a long way this year um I think what you shoot for is getting him on a team friendly deal because if he has an explosive if his next year playing with a bunch of guys that are really good around him you're gonna lose him so you don't want to risk him having a breakout you're playing with much better players next year and now his value is much higher I think you try to get Bryce Sensed to a team friendly deal pay him some money but you don't gotta you don't gotta throw the whole the whole barn at him you know what I mean because he's not there yet but if you can get him on a team friendly extension and and and keep him keep him with the jazz and and let him keep showing what he can do especially when you go out there and you're trying to win ball games kind of buy out that for uh restricted free agent year with a little bit yeah absolutely yeah yeah I can kind of see that here's something you're not gonna like okay I actually agree that the certainty needs to be a little bit higher on this one I think this one needs to be about 45% but the reason why I'm putting that in there is that Bryce Sensiba makes an excellent excellent trade piece on a team friendly deal.

SPEAKER_00 43:46

Yeah his value outside of the jazz is almost equal to his value within the team yeah this guy has a skill set that is unique he's you know basically he's like JC Lightman yeah with a little bit better Better size and better defense, obviously. Yeah. But this guy has a very similar skill set to that. He's a bucket getter when you need him to get in there. You know, he can scramble in plays that break down and find a way to, you know, get a good shot for either him or his teammate. I just, you know, the problem is with it, if the Jazz get the player they want to get in this draft, whether it's higher up in the draft or lower in the draft, it's probably more than likely going to be uh a guard unless they get like the number one or number two overall pick. And I just see, you know, Isaiah Collier, who are you gonna pick between Isaiah Collier and Bryce and spot and give a contract to? Because you're not giving them both a contract.

SPEAKER_01 44:33

They're such different players, though.

SPEAKER_00 44:35

But they're playing the same role, basically. They're basically, well, I guess Bryce is gonna be more of a two guard than that. Bryce is more of a two, yeah. You got Ace Bailey in that spot. Yeah, you got Ace Bailey in that spot. Then you also have when they want to go really big, you got uh uh Laurie Market in that spot. Yeah, you want to go insanely big, right? It's just depending on what happens this offseason with some other key pieces they need to do. Like, again, you're gonna run into the part where like, okay, Keontae George, Isaiah Collier, whoever they draft, and then you have I don't know, man, Bryce Sensball is right up there for me. I agree with you. But like how how they plan on extending him and why they plan on extending him, I think it's gonna be interesting to see.

SPEAKER_01 45:11

I get your point. I I absolutely do. Because that is, I mean, you bring that up, and that's that is a tough spot because it's like, where does he see minutes? You know what I mean? With with some of these rotations, does Bryce really fit in with you know the second and third guys? It's like are you gonna play him over? No, nope, you're not gonna play him over ace, like right. I I get you. I see I see her out there.

SPEAKER_00 45:36

And then like if you have Isaiah Collier come in as the one and then you have Keontae move down to the two, would you rather have Keontae at the two? Absolutely over Bryce and Spawn at the two, and that would be every single day. And you don't want to have Key playing all the time, but yeah, so I think it's interesting. It's very tricky, man. Very tricky. And I but I think we're in agreement there that that percentage is actually lower. I think it does need to be a little bit higher. Not deciding, not saying, hey, it's you know, make a break, either sign this guy in the offseason or you're gonna lose his interest going forward. Yeah. But yeah, I think we're right there on that one. But speaking of the one that they cannot let go past this offseason before they extend, and that's gonna be KG3. That's right, coined it on this show ourselves, Keontae George, top candidate for the Jazz, about a 75-70% chance uh after a strong year as the primary playmaker for this team, uh, expected to be the prior be the priority to lock in long term as a backcourt role.

SPEAKER_01 46:29

Keontae George had a great year. Um, at 23, almost 24 points a game, six assists, 3.7 rebounds, um, played in over 50 games this year. Really became the primary scorer, primary playmaker. He he had every bit of being um kind of that franchise player, right? Like he was he's just right on the brink of wow, this guy, this guy the next year could be all-star year for him. Playing with the the talent that he's got coming. Um if you don't this is the year you gotta sign Keontae because I I think the chances are higher than 70% of the Jazz re-signing Keontae, he's immediately eligible. You don't want him to hit unrestricted free agency next year. Um you gotta get the deal done. You gotta keep Keontae with this team. Uh he's he's just too good of a player, he's become too valuable. He understands the system, he loves the coach, he likes Salt Lake City. This is a guy you gotta lock up this season and keep this core together if you want the jazz to kind of start flourishing over the next couple of years.

SPEAKER_00 47:38

Yeah, I mean, what you just said there kind of throws a wrench into it. We haven't really seen this team actually try yet. Yeah. But the pot the word, the but the four-letter word in basketball potential is there for this team. This size, the skill set, it's gonna be insane. Uh, I I take extending Keontae George as a number two priority for the Jazz this this offseason. Number one priority, still, walk locking up Walker Kessler, signing him, you know, let him go test restrictive free agency and match it, whatever, or give him a great contract, rather the gay swim doesn't even test it. However, you guys want to go about it. That's priority number one.

SPEAKER_03 48:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 48:11

The moves you made in last year's trade deadline will almost certainly be affected by the decision you make with Walker Kessler. Yeah. You decide how value trip how much how valued that triple J draft was if you don't sign Kessler. Priority number one. Priority number two is extending Keontae George. You do not want him to play this next season. Um, after he's shown the dedication that he showed this offseason, yeah. I I followed him a lot on social media there, seeing some of the workouts that he did both in Utah and outside of Utah, uh and kind of really focusing on building his body, building his skill set and coming in here. You want to reward a player that puts that kind of effort in there after he had a come to Jesus moment with Coach Hardy and saying, Hey, you gotta figure this out if you want to decide what you want to do with your career here. Yep. You know, and then he stepped up, he did exactly what was asked, he didn't get his ego in check. You know, he just just did exactly what the team asked him to do, and you need to reward that, or else you're gonna have another Gordon Hayward situation on your hands.

SPEAKER_03 49:04

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 49:04

Where you let him go into restricted free agency, he signs a max deal somewhere, you match it, and the whole time he's playing for your team, he can't wait for that contract to be over so he can go sign somewhere else. Yep. You do not want to make that situation happen again with this player.

SPEAKER_01 49:16

Yeah, you you can't. Not with not with Keontae and not what he means to this team and the dedication he's shown, just like he said. He's he's right up there, dude. You've got to get Keontae back, you've got to get him under contract, you know, put him under team control. That it's gotta happen.

SPEAKER_00 49:31

Agreed, agreed. Yeah. We want to hear from you folks. Let us know where your thoughts are in the comments down below when it comes to that. Um, so AJ, we've discussed a lot of rumors on this channel involving the Utah Jazz. Yes, sir. About a year or so ago, one of our highest performing shorts for the Utah Jazz, when we talked about the potential of Dodd uh about the uh Jazz being interested in Damian Lillard. Um we talked earlier this year about the jazz being linked to Austin Reeves. Uh well today we're gonna be discussing another one of those with I think is equally, if not more, unlikely, which is the rumors that the Utah Jazz are among the 20 other teams rumored to be interested in Kevin Durant. Um, this might be easy to laugh off, right? But there are some real basketball logic, logical reasons behind this. Oh, I'm sure.

SPEAKER_01 50:18

Yeah, I'm sure. Uh I mean, probably because Kevin Durant's probably one of the greatest players to ever play. I mean, he's a top 15 all-time player, um, still an elite scorer. Uh Kevin Durant is a fantastic basketball player. And the Jazz have yeah, of course they're gonna be interested. I mean, that that's all there is to it. Like if you if you add Kevin Durant to this team, the the biggest question is is can you add him without losing enough of your core? Because you're only gonna if you're gonna get him, you got a one-year deal. Uh he's only gonna sign one-year deals. The dude's 30 365 years old. Like, he's on the tail end of his career, he can still produce, he plays great basketball. But I can tell you there's not a chance in actual hell that Kevin Durant chooses to come to Utah.

SPEAKER_00 51:11

Right, right. Okay. All right, I asked you to do this part, but I best I guess I'm gonna have to say it. Okay, so the logical reason behind whether or not this deal would actually work, because think about worst case scenario in the draft.

SPEAKER_03 51:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 51:23

Utah Jazz slide as far as they can. Yeah. Right. And they get a key piece that it's not going to be of interest to Utah. Well, now you have a top five pick that you can pair uh to trade over to Houston in order to really give this team a boost. You give and now keep in mind Kevin Durant was not supposed to be the leader of that team. Correct. That was supposed to be uh Fred Van Vliet, right? Like that's that was supposed to be his role. He wasn't supposed to be um the you know vibes guy. That was supposed to be uh what's his name? Um gosh Dylan Brooks. No, no, no. He was traded. Um big dude. Oh, it's gonna kill me.

SPEAKER_01 51:57

Oh, I can uh Sangoon.

SPEAKER_00 52:00

No, no, no, not that guy. Um he's got he's got the big mustache, long hair. He used to play for um Adams? Yes. Like he's very much a locker room vibes type guy. Yeah. He got hurt, right? So Kevin Durant was just supposed to be a player for him and just be you know, take this young core and do that. Imagine if that's on this team last next year.

SPEAKER_03 52:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 52:22

Imagine how well this team's gonna perform next year when they get a chance to do that and they get a draft pick that isn't necessarily optimal for the Jazz. You package that pick with a bunch of other of these players we mentioned before that you don't necessarily need, and some future draft capital that you also don't need, you send that to Houston for Kevin Durant and convince him that, hey, by the end of your career, we you could be raising a banner, a championship banner in Utah. Yeah, you want to cement your legacy and earning a championship outside of Golden State, which we all know that's what he's worried about. That was that's a way to do it. To raise the trophy for the first time ever in Salt Lake City, that would cement your legacy as one of the greatest players of all time.

SPEAKER_01 53:02

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 53:03

So that would be the argument for that. Yeah. Right? Um, this is never gonna happen for a myriad of reasons.

SPEAKER_01 53:11

Yeah. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 53:12

Mainly because there's no way he agrees to come here. We talked about the whole trade thing. These players, especially somebody of his caliber, would block a trade to Utah six ways from Tuesday. He's just not coming here, right? There's just no way he's doing it. And the LeBron James uh player empowerment league. That's just no way, it's not happening. Second, after watching how badly he fitted with Houston this last offseason, keep in mind it's one of his best seasons he's had in the last you know, six season six or seven years in the NBA. Ever since he left Golden State. This has actually been his one of his best regular season years. He's missed less games in the regular season than he's missed in the playoffs so far. Wow. This year. His availability has been insane with Houston. However, he was not a good fit for that team. Obviously, not a leader in the clubhouse, obviously not a leader on the floor there. And that's not why he had him for any. You know, if anything, he's just actually a bigger problem in the locker room and on the court for this team. Burner accounts. Anyway, um, so yeah, we don't need this guy on his team, and he does not want to be there. So 100, let's just flush this one down. Never happening. What's your take on that?

SPEAKER_01 54:24

Uh you're absolutely right. I mean, you can look at it every way. Does he help this team? Yeah. Do we want to give up all the pieces to get him here? Absolutely not.

SPEAKER_00 54:32

See, I don't think he helps this team at all. I I mean I think I think the the issue he has in the locker room makes him a toxic enough addition. I mean, he called one of his own players mentally handicapped.

SPEAKER_01 54:44

Yeah. Sounds like Kevin Durant. Yeah, like and you're just like I mean I'm just saying from a talent perspective, yeah. Sure. You can help any team score more points because he's elite, right? He's he's a high-level player. But but this is not this is not anywhere in the the wavelength that you're trying on the team you're trying to build with the Jazz right now.

SPEAKER_00 55:09

Definitely not.

SPEAKER_01 55:10

This is just not what you need. This doesn't help you, this doesn't further the team.

SPEAKER_00 55:13

This is almost exactly what happened in Houston, though. Like it's the exact same thing.

SPEAKER_01 55:16

It's exactly the same thing. They had a young, really talented team. They signed a couple of vets, signed a couple of vets, and you're like, okay, here we go. But but Kevin Durant's the the the odd man out of this whole team. Yeah, he probably helped them get to the playoffs. Learn from Houston. Yeah. Learn from Houston, right? Like, don't don't go in there and dive headfirst into the Houston plan because it they're not they're not championship contenders.

SPEAKER_00 55:40

Speaking of which, man, let me ask you this. In the 90s, when you had a last hurrah for Jordan going up against Bird, right, in the playoffs, right? That would have been all time. Yeah. This series, we had LeBron James against Kevin Durant. And it it it just doesn't feel that same way.

SPEAKER_01 56:03

No.

SPEAKER_00 56:04

The legends of this of this era of basketball just don't seem to have the drive to compete the way previous errors do, and that makes me sad. There's no way that Larry Bird would let a rolled ankle keep him out of a game. No. And there's no way that you know Jordan would, you know, phone in half a season and talk about golf whenever he was interviewed in the locker room after a game that last year. You know, it's just a it's unfortunate the state of basketball where it is and where these stars are at because it just really kind of hurts your feelings.

SPEAKER_01 56:33

Anyway, it does, but it also shows you why the NBA is the fastest declining professional sport right now. Ooh, I like it. It's it's just so tough to watch. It's tough to follow the players.

SPEAKER_00 56:43

Um doesn't help when a third of the team's trying not to win, a third of the league's trying not to win.

SPEAKER_01 56:47

And and the and there's only so much you can do about it, right? Like you've either gotta you've either gotta buckle down and and you know put put some chains on this NBA players association and say, if you're traded, you will play. You're never they're never gonna agree to that.

SPEAKER_00 57:03

No, players. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 57:04

Like they just they have they have too much, they own too much.

SPEAKER_00 57:08

Yeah, I agree with you on that one, man. But yeah, we'll definitely talk about the new draft rules that came into effect. We'll save that for next week.

SPEAKER_01 57:14

Yeah, we also want to see what comes all the way up them, right? Like I'm pretty sure the vote is in the next couple of weeks. So they could still be tweaked. There is some stuff. I've seen the proposals. I mean, uh, we're we're happy that the jazz are out of that area, right? We're we're glad that they're not going to be in position, but yeah, we'll break it all down.

SPEAKER_00 57:33

Absolutely. We want to hear from you folks. Let us know where your thoughts are in the comments down below when it comes to everything we talked about when it comes to the Utah Jazz. Uh, we want to hear from you, let us know your thoughts. All right, let's go ahead and pivot on over. And uh before we get out of here, let's talk some baseball, man. Let's do it. All right, man. Well, again, let's go ahead and talk a little bit about baseball, man. And this is something we wanted to bring up uh last week, but we kind of ran out of a little bit of time. Uh actually a couple weeks earlier, I want to talk about this. Uh, but let's go ahead and start with our first story, uh, which is uh about the Boston Red Sox.

SPEAKER_01 58:11

Yeah, man. And and the Red Sox, they these guys are having a tough year. You know what I mean? You open the season 10 and 17 in your first 27 games, and and as a fan, you got to start asking, right? Like, what can we do to change things? Like, there's something's got to change. This is supposed to be a competitive baseball team that we're fielding here. And when the team decides what needs to change is sometimes refreshing and sometimes it leaves you scratching your head. And on April 25th, the Boston Red Sox decide to part ways with Alex Kora. And uh, and also a pretty pretty good majority of his coaching staff as well, including um Peter Fasty, Ramon Vasquez, Kyle Hudson, Dylan Lawson, and Joe Cronin. Um, Red Sox owner John Henry talked about how um he led the organization to one of the greatest seasons in Boston Red Sox history in 2018 and thanked him for his lasting impact on the organization. Um so that I mean there's some fans and players that are upset about this, but but why?

SPEAKER_00 59:13

Why? Why are why are they upset? Okay. Um great question. Uh before we get into that, did you see what the van that pulled up to pick them up from the hotel after they got fired? I did not. Oh my gosh, it's great. A black van supposed to pick them up shuttle to take the you know what the the the company was called? The graphic on the van? What? Coaches for hire.

SPEAKER_01 59:35

No, it was not. You're kidding me.

SPEAKER_00 59:42

No, no, they literally hired a shuttle service called Coaches for Hire to take them from the team's uh team's hotel to the airport to fly the window. You couldn't script that better. Just insane. Uh, but yeah, man, just can answer your question, man. Why is everybody so upset about this? Well, I think a former player uh players had the best metaphor. He said it's like shitting your pants and then changing your shirt. It is pretty solid. The issue here is not Alex Cora. Okay, keep in mind I have a lot of reserved uh feelings on Alex Cora. He's part of my all-time Dodgers infield, by the way. Uh, you had um um Beltre at third, Cesar's Turis at short, Alex Cora at second, and Eric Karrols at first. My all-time Dodgers infield, he's part of that, part of that team that I really love. So I have a I have some love for him, but I also have some hate for him because he's part of the cheating Astros. So, you know, it's kind of like I have a I have you know, I have complicated feelings when it comes to Alex Cora. But uh, when it comes to that man, he's not the problem, man. The problem with this team is uh Greg uh Breslow, the GM, and the owner John Henry. It all goes back to something that I actually wanted to talk about on a separate conversation a few weeks back, but we ran out of time, and that is that this this team made their plans very clear to the rest of the baseball world when they traded Mookie Betts. Yeah. Uh they basically came out with a big old flag, raving it, saying, hey, profitability takes priority over anything else. Ever since then, every move they've made have has been about profitability and team flexibility over actually winning. Uh, you know, somehow Breslow convinced John Henry that it was this was a coaching issue and not a roster issue. Uh, but this is quite clear that Cora is a good coach and will be probably the first pick, have have his first choice of any team uh that's available this winter.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:45

He's a great coach for a lot of players. Um even even uh Mookie Betts said on an interview, he's like, Yeah, I still watch uh Red Sox baseball because I love I love Axe Cora. You know, when when Which is really cool, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:58

But Mookie Betts is a classic guy.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:00

Yes, when your 2018 MVP who helped lead you to a World Series, you know, probably one of the better teams in Red Sox history, you know, says I still watch because I love that coach. Definitely um definitely bodes well for that coach. Yeah, you can't beat that. Yeah, so yeah, again, this is not an this is not a coaching issue. This is a team construction issue. This is quite like we could break it down. They get rid of Mookie Best because they didn't want to sign to a mass contract. They let uh Xander Bogart's walk to San Diego, which by the way, I still let him walk on that one. I don't blame you guys, but you could have signed him earlier on a more team-friendly deal to keep some of that 2018 you know team together.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:42

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:43

And so, like, oh wow, we really screwed that up. Okay, let's go ahead and sign um oh gosh, he's playing for the Devers, Raphael Devers to a max contract, right? Like, hey, we kept our guy, we kept our guy. Yeah, and they basically screwed that up too because they moved him from third base to DH and then, oh, sorry, not DH, we want you to play first. And then when finally that guy's like, dude, you guys is not willing to play ball with this, you know, then they trade him. They're like, Yeah, no, we're actually done here. Yeah, we're trading you because we brought in Alex Bregman to cover you at third base, so ha. And guess what? He's gone the next year. He's with Chicago that year, like the next year. You're like, okay, well, that didn't make sense. So why did you trade Devers in the first place if your replacement you signed on a three-year deal with an opt-outs after the first two years? None of these decisions they've made has made any sense for this team. You know, it doesn't, it just this is not an Alex Core problem. And that's coming from somebody who isn't necessarily the Alex Core supporter. This is a front office and ownership problem. They pivoted from winning is important to us to, well, if the books look right and if it all works out, you know, maybe we can push the chips in the middle and try to make a run for it. I just think it's absolutely ridiculous. Uh, we have a comment here coming from Greg Hawkins saying, LOL, how about the Mets and Phillies fighting for the worst human baseball? Talk about a transition comment there for us, Greg. I really appreciate that. Because we're gonna go ahead and parlay that conversation that we talked about into directly into a related topic that covers our hot takes from this offseason.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:16

Um, so we will switch over to the team that we that already tried and failed to sign's cora literally the day after he got fired. Um, you mentioned that the Phillies were the team that you felt were gonna miss the playoffs this season. Well, they are under 500 right now, yes, and tied, like as Greg said, for the worst record uh in baseball. Um let's talk about that. What do you got on this?

SPEAKER_01 1:04:40

Oh, I mean, it's the Phidlies look horrible this year, right? I mean, they they've they they haven't played well. Um, the pitching hasn't been great, the coaching's been bad, and I mean they come out and they they let go of their head coach as well. Yeah. Which Rob Thompson. It just just blows me away. I mean, I I predicted at the beginning of the season that the Phillies were going to miss the playoffs. I'm gonna be honest with you, I didn't think they were gonna be this bad, Darren.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:07

No, but solid, solid prediction on your part, though. Yeah, well, that's what I'm that's what I'm here for. By the way, do you uh my hot take? Do you remember what that one was?

SPEAKER_01 1:05:14

Uh it was the A's. No. Yep. It was the A's make the A's. A's make the playoffs. Make the playoffs? Yes. Was it that? Okay, I couldn't remember if it was make the playoffs or over 500.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:27

Guess who's sitting at the top of the AOS right now?

SPEAKER_01 1:05:29

Boom.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:30

So so far, so far we're doing good.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:33

What up? So far, we're doing good. Like, subscribe, right? That's right. Right up there. Somewhere up there. Major League DNA. You know how it is. Exactly, exactly. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:41

But yeah, man, I love what uh you know uh Dombrowski said here. He said this is a this isn't this isn't a blame game. You can blame whoever you choose for us. We really don't do that. Um, like is the rest of us, you know, it we all bear responsibility, just the way things go and the we're going things are. Aren't going well enough. I don't think we're playing up to our capability. I think we are a much better club than we've played. So you have to make some tough decisions at tough times.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:12

Yeah, I mean, it's true. You have to make tough decisions, but but again, your head coach is your that's that's your first that's your first decision? Like yeah. So it's not your general manager that assembled the team. Well, no, no. Why would he why would he say that? That's his job. I know, but you know what I'm saying? Like yeah. I really love that he said that. Yeah, no, we're good. We're we're we're doing just fine. The team's assembled great.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:39

Yeah, he said this after the interview. He's like, it's in the same interview, it's not age that's caught up with us. Our guys are not aged out by any means. This coming literally six months after he said Bryce Harper is no longer an elite player. Yeah, he literally just said six months ago the exact opposite. You're basically just calling him too old.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:57

Okay, so your core is um JT Real Muto, Bryce Harper, um, uh Trey Turner, yeah, and um, gosh, I'm forgetting his name. Their DH leads off for him. Led the National League in home runs.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:19

Just played the Phillies too. I don't remember who it is.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:21

Oh my gosh, it's gonna kill me. Greg, bail me out here. Tammy, bail me out here. Kyle Schwarber, there it is. Oh, yeah, Kyle Schwarber. Kyle Schwarber. Yeah. All these guys are on the north side of 30. And you're under and you're under, you know, 30 players, Alec Boehm, some of these guys, you know, they're not playing up to potential either.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:39

Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:39

You know, when Brett when Marsh is your best player, like the guy who looks like he's homeless with his hell hair wet out in the outfield, when he's your best hitter on the team, that's scary. Now they did sign $300 million worth of contracts this offseason, but that was just to maintain their current group of players.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:54

But but that was the problem, is they went all in on this on this roster, like you said, that's on the wrong side of 30. I mean, the the Phillies really missed this offseason. They didn't go out there and get young guys, they didn't go out and replace anybody. They're like, we're solid with the core we have, which is again the general manager making that decision, saying, No, we've got enough talent already. Let's go re-sign them. Yeah, let's do what we need to do. Yeah. And then the coach is the first one that goes.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:19

Yeah. Honestly, any team that decides to run it back after the year they had last year and be like, okay, yeah, makes sense. Run it back, sign your core players, run it back. But this is like the fourth year in a row. They try to run it back with the same core of players. You did you're and they're getting diminishing returns every single year. It's insanity. You made to the World Series, then you made it to the championship series, then you lost the division series. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:40

Like let's not change anything and hope it gets better. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:44

Yeah. It was it was awful. And yes, again, not the coach's problem. It's the general manager's problem. And again, I don't know what dirt he has on his owner, but yeah, it's really, really embarrassing for sure.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:56

He's got an he's got enough good pictures that he's still got his job. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:01

Apparently. Apparently. Um, so Greg actually mentioned it here when he talked about the Mets and Phillies fighting for the blast spot. But um, yeah, let's go ahead and pivot back over to the Mets, man. Have you seen this story? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:12

The the Mets broadcaster, Gary Cohen. Yes. That's the one you were talking about, right? Yeah. Okay, yeah. Because uh, yeah, his comments in that broadcast versus the A's game where he's he's talking about, you know, how the media had had specifically talked about uh the focus on the Mets has been, you know, they continue to single out individual guys and their performances and games. Um but you know, he goes on to say, like, this team's got to do something to score more runs. Like, we we need relievers to stop, you know, allowing these teams to come in and get hard hits and put the ball into play. And um, he's got a great point. I mean, the the Mets' offense has been horrible this year. Their relievers have been bad. It allows them to, even if they can generate some offense, they're losing games late. And Gary Cohen's right. You know what I mean? So it it it really just makes you think like, what is this, what is this team's plan? You know, like almost like the Phillies, it's like you've got to change something. What is it for the Mets?

SPEAKER_00 1:10:13

Yeah, yeah. That's actually backed up by Howie Ross. He states um in that game, in that three-game series where they got swept by the Rockies. Yeah, one of them in a double header. He's like, you have to just wonder if some some kind of move is coming because there's just nothing happening here right now for the New York Mets getting swept by the Rockies today, and in a series where you drop 10 games and you're under the 500 mark. So that is broadcaster speak for thinking he's basically saying without saying, Yeah, I think uh Carlos Mendoza is gonna get fired soon.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:46

Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:47

Like that's basically what you're all your broadcaster is coming out and saying on the air without saying it.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:51

What is what are the Mets on payroll?

SPEAKER_00 1:10:53

They're the second most expensive team in baseball.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:56

That when you have that much that much payroll, and you go out and get Juan Soto and you're like, we're we're going for the Yankees.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:06

What are you doing? Yeah, like Yeah, that's the worst part is, and depending on who you look at, Sport Track actually has uh the Mets having a higher payroll, but if you take in like uh penalties and stuff like that, the Dodgers are obviously higher. But yeah, they like they're they're right up there, the most expensive team in baseball. And again, the Phillies, I think they're like fifth or sixth most expensive team in baseball, right? If not higher. Uh, yeah. So basically, man, the situation is the Mets just got swept in a three-game series against the Rocky, which against the Rockies, which included a double header. Um, you know, Rose also noted that the team is managing only one run in 18 innings of baseball. It's been horrible. One run and four runs total in a three-game span against the Colorado Rockies.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:48

At one point, they were the they were the very last team in run differential. Are they still?

SPEAKER_00 1:11:53

I don't know if they are still. That'd be worth looking at though. Yeah. Um second. Yeah, television commentary you mentioned, Gary Cohen uh said that he is actually this is embarrassing. And he says at some point you got to start calling people out. Um, you know, it's easier for you to fire a manager than it is to fire people above him. And in this case, yeah, dude, like who are you gonna? We talked about this in a previous episode of LOL Mets. We love talk about this, guys. Uh, but if you see what happened with Alice Cora and Rob Thompson both getting canned earlier this year uh because of their teams and how they're performing, then Carlos Mendoza's gotta be right behind him, dude.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:29

Yeah, absolutely. So uh the New York Mets are not last in run differential, it's the Philadelphia Phillies. Can't even script that, guys. Yeah. So they were, they were, it must have been a while that I saw that because the Mets are negative 34 on run differential and the Phillies are negative 47. So I don't think either one of them have had losses. But I mean, the next the next team is Houston and they're negative 25 in run differential. So these teams are a long ways down in run differential. Uh, just just for note, the number one team in run differential is the Atlanta Braves.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:03

We'll get to that. We'll get to that. We will get to that. We got some comments we want to hit up here. Uh, we'll get to this one. Actually, let's hide that one. We're gonna get back to you down that one. Um, we're gonna get back to that one. He's like, I think I think they I think I think there's more of that comment there, friend of the channel, Tyre Price. Um, let's see here. They put it all out last year and lost at a heartbreak. Hard to come back without ownership support. Yeah, agreed. Agreed. And that's kind of the thing. This is the difference about the Mets, though. The Mets have one of the best owners in baseball. Yeah, he's not afraid to throw money. And I think it's really funny that it's just you can't just throw money at the best players. And honestly, I bet you right now, Philly fans are loving the fact that they did not get Dante Bachet and that the Mets stole him.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:45

Guaranteed.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:45

He's been like what, a buck 25 right now?

SPEAKER_01 1:13:47

Like just playing terrible. Yeah. It's like, wow, that was a big contract.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:52

Yeah. Anyway, so we've we've we've talked enough about bad baseball. Yeah, we have. We want to hear from you folks. Let's know what your thoughts are in the comments down below. Um, did you guys think uh that this was gonna be come out this way? Like, did you think two of the top five payrolls in baseball were gonna be two of the worst baseball teams in the league so far this year? Still plenty of time to change that.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:12

Yeah, lots of time for sure. Lots of time.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:14

We'll see. We'll see. Um, but let's go ahead and move on over uh to talk a little bit about something else here, man. Um, so hey AJ, yeah, uh, we could talk about the power rankings and discuss, you know, who's the best. But I think what's what needs to be discussed right now is who the best team in baseball is right now. Uh, and that team, the only team with 21 wins right now is the Atlanta Braves.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:35

Uh actually.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:36

22 wins.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:37

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:38

22 wins, yes. I was hey, I pointed out, I saw that over there. I'm just like, hey, AJ, check that out.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:42

Yeah, somebody walked it off. I didn't see who did it.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:45

So yeah, the only team with 22 wins at the time of recording, and as we knew uh with this team, uh was set for a good season, health permitting. Like that was the asterisk we put on this team. Yeah, this team is stated. If they were healthy, they were gonna be good. But right now, uh going into spring training, actually, before this, before the season started, key players started hitting the IL. Now, even with those injuries, this team is still this team is still getting it done, AJ. Is that simply just because they hired Jeremy Hefner as their uh their uh their pitching coach?

SPEAKER_01 1:15:18

I mean, I think it helps when you get a pitching coach that's coming in and developing some of these young guys. I mean, the move with Grant Holmes, you know, they did it last year where they moved him from the bullpen and kind of rotated him in as a starter when they lost Strider last year. And Grant Holmes has come out and done a great job. Um, you got you're you're solid with with Chris Sale. You know, Ronaldo Lopez has kind of struggled in a couple of games. I think they're moving him back to the bullpen now. But that's also I mean, they just pulled J.R. Richie up from um the AAA, the Gwinnett team, and he came out and had a great start. I mean, he gave up three runs, but the Raves got the win, pitched seven innings. The kid looked great in his first major league start. Um, Braves' pitching's just it's just been good. I mean, and then you know, you go to the bullpen and the bullpen's been even better. You got Dylan Lee coming out of the bullpen, um, Rossiel Iglesias has been awesome. He's got you know three saves this year already. Uh, Bryce Elders had a couple really good games where he looked good. Um, so the pitching's been good for the Braves. Um, surprisingly good, uh, especially when you lose Spencer Strider to start the season and Spencer Schwellenbach to start the season. Our big concern was is uh can we get enough starting pitching out there to keep this team going the right direction? And we've just had guys that have just come out and thrown good games, and the Braves' offense has put enough runs up that that starting pitchers don't have to have so much pressure on them, right? They don't got to go throw a shutout. Right, they can give up two or three runs because the Braves are gonna put up eight. Like that, you know, like like I just mentioned the Braves are leading the league in in plus minus and like or sorry, run differential. I guess it's not plus minus, but run differential. And that's for a reason. This team's been great. I mean, the the pitching staff overall, the the ERA is 2.9 as a team, which isn't the highest in baseball.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:04

No, but but it's great. It's fantastic. Fantastic. So your pitch your pitching is doing just enough. Yeah, just just enough. But not like what I mean by just enough is just enough to be elite. Yeah. Without taxing everybody. Exactly. That's kind of what this guy, Jeremy Hefner, is kind of known for. He's more uh data utilization. He's basically kind of the science of pitching. He's uh what he what is like to be called a kitchen-seek approach, while he focuses on developing multiple types of pitches to improve uh strikeouts by reducing hard contact.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:38

So I think that goes a lot to what you're talking about when it comes to this. His addition, uh, because he was with the Mets before, believe it or not, surprisingly. Yeah. Uh, and now he's with this team, and you're starting to see some of that kind of that that science in pitching really kind of trickle down and allowing, like you mentioned, some of these new players, these new pitchers coming up to have a debut or like, hey, just work with this tunnel, and we're gonna have you throw five different pitches out of this exact same tunnel. Yeah, and I think it's paying off, man.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:04

Yeah, I mean that J.R. Richie, that kid that they just brought up, I believe he pitched tonight as well. Um, but he had he doesn't throw hard. I mean, I think his fastball is only 93, 94, but he's got a great like slider, a great curveball, and it all comes and starts out, and they've just done a really good job. Um you can tell that the data is there because they're throwing these guys places where they chase a lot, soft contact. Uh, the biggest thing has been the Braves, the Braves offense, right? Drake Baldwin, um, you know, National League rookie of the year last year, he's just come out fantastic. He leads the leagues in home runs and RB or leads the team in home runs and RBIs. And I mean, he's hitting over 300, got five home runs, 13 RBIs, 1.07 OPS. Baldwin's been great. Matt Olson's bats finally come into life. Ozzie Albies is always just kind of steady good. Yeah. He's gonna make contact. Yeah. Uh Matt Olson hit the the game-winning home run tonight, which is great to hear. Um, that puts him at seven home runs for the season. And I don't think he had any through the first 15-20 games, and all of a sudden his bats just come to life. So it's been really good. Acunya's he his bat's kind of coming to life the last few games. He's he's played a little bit better. He was kind of struggling for a few games there. Still great in the outfield, he's still stealing bases, but the Praves just they look tough. And it's and it's crazy because they're not doing anything that you're like, this is not sustainable. Everything they're doing is completely sustainable. They're just going out there, winning games late. You know, there's times where the offense struggles against some of the starting pitcher, but as soon as that starting pitcher comes out, they are rocking some of these relief pitchers. I mean, that's what happened tonight against you know the Tigers. Scooball goes out, they had they had a two-run shot in the first, and they come out, the relief pitcher comes out in the ninth, and Matt Olson gets a two-run home run to walk it off. So the Braves just keep doing the things that it takes to win ball games. It's so much, it's so much fun to watch, dude.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:01

Yeah, I'd have to tip your cap to the Braves fans there who had to suffer through a couple of years, basically couldn't get through the Phillies. Now it looks like the Phillies are gonna be the team that they're not gonna have to worry about. Yeah. Um, I will have to say they're, you know, as far as they're getting a lot of help in the division too in this one for sure. Oh, for sure. But I I'd have to agree with you, man. Everything is sustainable. Uh, the only thing that could really hurt this team is gonna be injuries to the lineup, I think, is really kind of the only thing that's gonna, but you know, then you're gonna have team players like Schwellenbach and Quadzilla coming back, you know, and it's just gonna solidify that starting rotation where now you don't need eight runs, you need five. Yeah. So it's just gonna, it's yeah, it's a great time to be a Braves fan. You gotta love it, you know. Uh enjoy it, guys. Enjoy it because it's you know, you guys were just dealing with the fact that you missed the missed the playoffs last year, right? So, yeah, you gotta love it. Great story in baseball for sure. Uh, we got this comment here from uh Greg Hawkins channel legend saying the Braves are having the year. The sorry, the Braves this year are having the Braves this year are what the Braves fans thought the Braves were gonna be last year, which is exactly on point. Exactly on point. Uh, we also have another comment here from Greg Hawkins saying the Cubs played the Dodgers the past series, their fans kept booing players like PCA and Bregman. Gee, I wonder why, Greg. Can't imagine why that happened. Bregman, part of the 2017 uh Houston Trash Ros, and you know, PCA trashing the Dodgers fans and doubling down when he got there, which is great. Uh kind of funny. I love that follow-up there. Hee hee. Um, I wish more ballparks were like Wrigley and Dodgers Stadium. A hundred percent yes. These legendary fields that just legendary, though.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:45

You know what I mean? Like you can't replicate Dodger Stadium, Wrigley field, like Fenway, yeah. Those are those are those are bucketless parks, right? Like if you're an MLB fan, you have to go sit in the stands at Wrigley or Fenway or Dodger Stadium. Like those are must-haves, right? Like these some of these new stadiums are beautiful, right? Truis Stadium for the Braves is a beautiful stadium. But it's not a legendary baseball stadium, right? Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:22:12

You can't say Greg Maddox pitched there. Yeah, exactly. Glavin, all of them. They weren't part of that. Yeah. But you can say Sandy Koufax pitched at Dodger Stadium. You can say, you know, some of the greats that ever played uh, you know, for the Dodgers that play at Dodger Stadium, Fernando Valenzuela, Kirk Gibson, Oral Herscher. You can go down the list. Uh, same thing with with the Cubs, you know. You've got Ryan Sandberg, you got um, gosh, who's the guy I'm thinking of? Sammy Sosa. Well, depending on how you feel about baseball, where you sit on that one.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:46

Um, it's probably a discussion for another day. Yeah, there it is.

SPEAKER_00 1:22:50

Thank you, thank you, Ernie Banks. That's the one I was thinking of. Thank you, Greg. Channel legend, jumping in there. Make sure we get it. Fedway is another great ballpark. Absolutely, man. Yeah, you'll love to see it, man. The Braves are doing well, the Cubs are doing well, um, the Yankees are doing well. All the legendary, like legacy teams are performing well at this point. Yeah, with the exception of the Phillies. Uh, the Mets are always gonna be the LOL Mets. So baseball's in a great spot, man. Like you mentioned, the only the only professional team that has considered to see consistent growth over the last three years. Yeah. Um, we got one more subject we want to hit up before we get out of here, AJ. Um Trevor Bauer. What about Trevor Bauer? It's been a while since we talked. Trevor Bauer. Yes, sir. So Trevor Bauer, um, did you hear about his last start?

SPEAKER_01 1:23:33

Yeah, his no-hitter through seven. Okay, go ahead and break it down. I don't have his no-hitter through. I just know that he had a you know, he had a start with the Long Island Ducks. Went out there, had a great outing, no hitter. I think he had one walk uh through a no-hitter through seven.

SPEAKER_00 1:23:48

Yes, seven, no hits, no runs, one walk, seven K's and 84 pitches.

SPEAKER_03 1:23:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:23:54

And 54 of those war strikes. Not bad. Not bad. Not bad at all. Also not a no-hitter. Right. To anyone calling that game a no-hitter, you are the evidentiary piece and the evidentiary example of partition participation trophy era in baseball. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:24:16

A no-hitter means you got had no people on base.

SPEAKER_00 1:24:19

A no-hitter means nobody hit, no one got no no-hitter's not no people on base. He only did it in seven innings. It was a double hitter.

SPEAKER_01 1:24:25

Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:24:25

Yeah. Nine innings is a no-hitter. Okay. Does it make it less impressive? Absolutely not. It's still very, I mean, less impressive? Absolutely, it's less impressive. But it doesn't mean it's not impressive, man. The fact that this guy goes in in this, you know, sub-A-League independent ball and throws 70 innings of no-hit ball is very, very impressive. But all the you know, people who are, you know, I mean, we're we're Bauer's boys here. You know, we're all about him getting back in the league, right? We are all about it. Yeah, but you gotta call a spade a spade. This was not a no-hitter. You you no hitter gets progressively worse each inning you pitch. And if you stop at inning seven, yeah. Why were you why didn't why did you get taken out? Finish the game. Well, it was a double header. Still, so it was only seven in a game.

SPEAKER_01 1:25:13

Oh, it's only seven?

SPEAKER_00 1:25:14

Yes. So he completed pitched a complete game shutdy.

SPEAKER_01 1:25:17

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:25:18

Seven innings, no runs, no hits, one walk, eight, seven K's, 84 pitches. It's not his fault he didn't get to finish the two innings, but he also didn't finish the next two innings. So not a no-hitter. I'm sorry. It's not a no-hitter, but also very, very impressive. It is. We love to see it, Bauer. We love to see it. Keep shoving, dude. I can't wait for someone to buy out that contract and you're back in the MLB anytime soon. Uh, hopefully sooner rather than later. I don't know. What are your thoughts on the seven inning, seven-inning no-hitter?

SPEAKER_01 1:25:50

I mean, I Trevor Bauer's still got good stuff, but he's gonna need an opportunity to throw to show it in front of guys that are not in the independent league.

SPEAKER_00 1:26:00

Yeah, he can't come off of the worst league, worst season, sorry, as the worst pitcher in the MPB, and he coming over here. Love to see that the first two starts, everybody's kind of getting ragged on him for giving up a couple runs in his first start. Yeah, but dude, it's still a quality start, man. Like he's still he'll only give up two runs in six innings. That's that's not bad. That's still a quality start. Yeah. And then his next start, he comes in here and throws a complete game shutdy, no hits through seven innings. Yes, it's a complete game shutout with no hits through seven innings, but in my opinion, and anybody who actually really cares about uh rewarding people who actually do things, it's not a no-hitter. Um, love Trevor Bauer, hope that he gets a chance to play in the major leagues, but uh yeah, unfortunately, let's hope that he doesn't post a bunch of things I threw a no-hitter. Let's hope that that doesn't come. Well, you know it's coming to because you know it's just like, come on, dude. Come on. Uh let's hope that's not that.

SPEAKER_01 1:26:52

But he pitched every every inning he was available for.

SPEAKER_00 1:26:55

Yeah, yeah. I think the same thing actually happened to um, gosh, what's his name? Get out of the ocean guy who played for uh the Giants. Gosh, what is his name? Um Madison Bumgarner. He threw a sending inning no-hitter one of his last years with the Giants. And he's like, Well, I didn't pitch all nine, so it's just not really a no-hitter. So you want that kind of attitude, right? Yeah. You want that kind of attitude. Got a couple of uh comments here from Greg Hawkins. Uh, what what you guys don't think the Atlantic League or professional baseball games of the Atlantic League of professional? Yeah. I love any type of baseball, Greg. Um, I just don't think that uh I definitely think it's a step down from the MPB and definitely a step down from the Mexican League, which he also did have a great year with the Mexican League. I also still think he has a chance to be in Major League Baseball. I think he needs to pitch in Colorado. That's been my I think he needs to be signed with Colorado.

SPEAKER_03 1:27:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:27:47

He's the only pitcher that spent a year at altitude and learned how to pitch effectively there uh for pitching a maxro Cityo bench and then having to adjust to going back to sea level.

SPEAKER_01 1:27:56

Only pitches home games for Colorado. That's It dude, yeah. We're we're we're on a road trip, so go ahead and just take the week off.

SPEAKER_00 1:28:04

Yeah, I also saw a clip uh uh that I thought was the Mexican League, which is actually impressive. Yeah, which would have been impressive.

SPEAKER_01 1:28:11

Yeah, yeah, he didn't throw any no-hitters in the Mexican League.

SPEAKER_00 1:28:14

No, no, but he did set the strikeout record, uh, which is interesting, which is pretty cool. Yeah. Um, anyway, folks, we want to hear from you. Let's know what your thoughts are in the comments down below when it comes to everything we talked about uh in baseball this week. Had a lot to cover. Um, and I think we're just over what a half hour talking baseball this time.

SPEAKER_01 1:28:30

Yeah, pretty close. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:28:32

Anyway, folks, we want to hear from you. Let us know what your thoughts are in the comments down below. As a reminder, folks, you're watching this on our live stream that our channels to everything we talked about are gonna be linked in the description down below. Major League DNA, where we're talking about baseball, Utah Jazz DNA, Utah football DNA, and also Utah Mammoth DNA, all of our sub channels. So, whatever you're watching for us this week, we have sub channels dedicated to those. Links to those channels will be in the description down below. Be sure to subscribe to those channels. And if you're watching this on our live stream here in our podcast on our main channel, D Day Sports Recap, we are still doing that $500 giveaway. Once this channel hits $500 in that sense revenue, we're giving that back to y'all. So make sure you're subscribed and make sure you watch uh you tune into our podcast every week because that's what we're doing.

SPEAKER_01 1:29:14

Yep, absolutely. And if you're watching this on our main channel, just know this, or on one of our sub channels, just know this isn't available in its entirety as a podcast, wherever you get your audio.

SPEAKER_00 1:29:24

With all that said, my name is Darren. That is AJ, and this has been an episode of the DNA sports recap.

SPEAKER_01 1:29:29

Till next time.